Prologue
The leaves of trees around me rustled against a moderate wind as the land began to dim. The sky was in an orange haze, and the sun remained to be seen from the clearing I stood in, as the forest stood in the way.
The beautiful things were always the most dangerous...
Birds went without songs. Crickets ceased their chirps. No animals wandered the forest. No twigs snapped under the steps of another.
There was a time long ago where silent forests resembled danger. While it was still the case, silence was the lesser of two evils. Sound was to be feared.
I worked the three, dark grey claws of my left forehoof around the grip of my crossbow as I quietly stepped up onto the porch of the old house I had found sitting out here in the woodwork. I had circled the area entirely, and I saw no signs of anyone residing in the area.
Night approached...
Whether someone was inside or not, it was them or me, and I chose me...
I rammed my shoulder against the front door, forcing my way into a living room covered in a thick layer of dust and decay. The smell was rancid; mixed with rot and a phantom mustiness.
Instantly, I aimed my crossbow ahead of me, waving it around the room as I optically scanned the area.
There were no rushed movements or panicked stomps against creaky floorboards, rushing to defend their shelter.
Just pure still silence...
I stepped in as a grey aura enveloped my horn moments before wrapping around the nail-embedded 2x4 attached to the makeshift holster I wore on my side. I swung it out, wincing as my magic flickered from the sudden movement.
Hastily, I lowered my head and closed my eyes, filling my world with darkness as I focused all my willpower on not dropping my weapon.
The mental strain developed mild headaches, but after some recollection, my eyes opened as my magic stabilized itself. I lifted my head, looking at the 2x4 levitating beside me to find it went without any sudden drops.
I closed my mouth and breathed in through my nostrils, before looking to my left, toward an open doorway of what appeared to be a bedroom at one time, judging by the old, torn mattress I caught a glimpse of.
I stepped toward it, and along the way, several floorboards groaned underneath my weight.
I swung the 2x4 around, ready to strike anything that may have heard me. My crossbow remained aiming forward.
Hastily, I rushed in, ready to swing or shoot, depending on how close my potential target may have been.
But instead, I was greeted with a room devoid of life. The stench of death grew stronger in here.
There was a dresser pressed up against one of the windows, which had been boarded up by the previous tenant. The bed wasn't in the best condition, but it would have to do.
My attention turned to the closet door that remained shut. Some of the blinds had fallen apart as the years went by, granting me a hint of a silhouette within.
Cautiously, I stepped forward, pulling my 2x4 back, ready for a downward swing once those doors opened.
As I got closer to the doors however, the stench grew stronger still. A smell I was used to at this point...
My eyes began to focus through a gap in the blinds, figuring a still, slender shape...
"Ah..." I muttered under my breath, casting my eyes down as I sighed. "I see..."
I lowered both of my weapons and swung the doors open, revealing to me in its entirety, the corpse of a mare, strung up by the neck from a belt. Hardly any meat remained of her, and her hide had deteriorated enough that I could see parts of her bone structure.
I looked up at her, knitting my brows. Her eyes, now black pits, stared down at me from where she remained. Her horn was burnt like mine. Her coat was a dull purple, and her mane - or what was left of it - was a mixture of pink and a darker shade of her coat.
I cast my eyes below her rear hooves that dangled about a foot off the ground, next to kicked over stool, discovering a tattered piece of paper.
Glancing up at her for a brief second, I ducked down and picked it up with my claws, before turning around and studying the distressed scribblings of emotions.
These are my final thoughts. If the party for which this is intended by some off chance reads this... I'm so sorry, Fluttershy. I know Tartarus awaits me now for the actions I have made. I know this isn't how you would want to see me, but I can't live with this... I messed up...
Applejack... her screaming... I tried so hard to save her, but my magic... It stopped working. I can't get her screaming out of my head.
I don't know where the others are. I haven't had any contact with the outside world, if that even exists anymore... It's like everypony just disappeared...
Tartarus awaits me for my sins. May it be merciful... though I do not deserve it...
I should have listened to you...
Goodbye...
My eyes lingered on that final word...
Goodbye...
It was like looking into a mirror... The only one to hear the goodbye was the one to voice it...
"You and me both..." I whispered as I dropped the note on the floor.
I knew not of who these ponies were, and I had no interest in finding out. It wasn't important. The only thing that mattered now was survival.
I readied my weapons once more as I proceeded to search the rest of the house and make sure everything was clear.
The bathroom housed a generator with enough fuel that would last me about a quarter of the night. I wasn't worried, though. I carried a gas can with me for such occasions.
The kitchen housed a stove with the proper compounds that burnt essence, though it remained unlit. Beside that was a lamp.
It was no surprise to me that I wasn't the first person to discover this place. The mare in the closet would have had to off herself around the time the Everfree took over, considering the state of her deterioration.
Someone else paid a visit in order for an essence cook set up to be here, since it hadn't been discovered around the time of the disaster. It was astonishing that anyone was left alive in the time it took for the essence to be discovered. The shadows weren't able to take all of us in the time they had, it seemed.
A series of metal venting pipes protruded from the oven, before dispersing to different areas of the house along the ceiling.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that all the windows remained boarded up, and that the only way in, apart from brute force, was the front door.
The alarm tucked away in the chest pocket of my trench coat beeped continuously. With the desire for silence, I raced to turn it off, tracing my claws around its blocky structure through the fabric of my apparel, until I found the switch at the top that I had sought.
After a moment of silence, keeping my ear open for anything that could be approaching to investigate, I let out a sigh of relief with the knowledge that nothing was coming. No twigs snapped, no steps, no wooden floorboards creaking within or without of the structure... No screams of the lost, or the monsters that lived in the forest...
I reached into my saddle bags, muttering to myself. "One hour left..." I pulled a carton of matches out.
After lighting the oven, I went back for the bathroom. As I approached the generator, I pulled the gas can from the pouch I had made for it on the opposite side of where I stored my 2x4.
The fill line along the side of the transparent housing was of great help in preserving the fuel I had. I wasn't sticking around for long, so I needed as much as I could save.
I put just enough in to last me the night. Give or take, a few extra minutes.
By the conclusion of my preparation for the darkness, I set up one of the spare bear traps I had made the night prior, at the front door.
The lamp came with me to the bedroom, as that was going to be where I held my defense.
I covered the two windows with black sheeting to prevent the lamp light from being seen from the outside, through the gaps of the planks that helped fortify my position.
Upon sitting on the edge of the evidently squeaky bed, I closed my eyes and let out a satisfied exhale from the relief to my sore haunches.
After giving a moment to myself, I took my saddle bags off, before pulling a ham radio out of one of the pouches. I flicked the switch on, and as the dim amber glow enveloped around the rustic red needle of the dial, I lifted the accompanying mic to my lips.
The needle pointed at the right channel that we had agreed upon in previous conversations. 80.
I pressed the button down before the mic, before speaking in a normal volume.
Heh... normal... as if such a concept existed anymore...
"It's me... Freeseas... I'm hunkered down in some old house for the night." I paused as I turned and looked at the corpse in the closet, watching me... "How..." I shook my head and focused back on the radio. "How is everyone? How's Stargaze holding up?" I bit my lip as dread grew in my chest, morphing into a storm of emotions. Anger, doubt, depression, sadness... fear... "I mean... can you even hear me? Am I talking to ghosts? Are you still alive?" My voice started to raise for a moment, but I stopped myself before it escalated any further. I took a deep breath in attempts to collect myself. "Stay safe... and keep Stargaze safe, but don't sacrifice your life for her..." I let go of the button, letting static emit from the receiver for some time. Hoping I'd get a response from them... Hoping...
...
... But after several minutes, I was still left with white noise.
I hung my head down as I held the button down again.
"I'll try again, same time tomorrow..."
And with that, I shut the radio down, to once again be surrounded by silence.
I tucked it back into my saddle bags, before hopping off the bed and landing on my hooves, walking across the house to turn on the generator. I was going to save the looting for tomorrow, before I left.
Upon sitting back down in a lamp-lit room, I turned my head, regarding the corpse in the closet. She reminded me of just how alone I truly was out here... She reminded me of death. What they could have been...
I was almost tempted to have a conversation with the deceased mare staring down at me, because of the realization that I was alone. I would have done almost anything to not feel alone...
My mouth opened.
"Who...?"
...
That was all I could get out...
I stared for... I don't know how long. Studying her decayed form. Almost hoping she'd say something back... Anything.
Crazy ponies spoke to the dead, though. I was not going to give in to the Everfree's way. I was not crazy...
I turned my head away as I worked on stripping myself of my jacket after removing the saddle bags. I draped it over my body, up to my neck as I rested my back against the mattress. Both my 2x4 and crossbow stayed within arm's reach of me.
The moment I laid down, I had already felt myself drifting away into the realm of sleep...
An air raid siren blared all around me, at ear deafening levels. My eyes shot open wide as fear drove a bullet to my rapidly beating heart.
And there I stood...
Back in Canterlot...
Ponies cried and ran all in one direction, towards the castle as pegasi flew overhead in formation, alongside an armada of zeppelins that bore Celestia's sigil of a blazing sun along their sides with pride. A phoenix extended their wings in the center.
They all flew away from her castle, towards the outskirts of the city.
The voice of a stallion emanated through the speaker system of one of the zeppelins as it passed by. Explosions roared in the distance as heat grew in the air. The scent of ash filled my nostrils as smoke rose up to the stormy heavens.
"This is an Apollyon threat level announcement. Vacate to the nearest bunker immediately. If you cannot reach a bunker, seek shelter in alternative underground solutions and keep a radio on you. Check your radio once every six hours. Preserve your battery life. Maintain your food and water supply. Do not, for any reason, go outside."
The operation of heavy treads squeaked as diesel engines rumbled. The ground shook as two lines of Solarflare tanks rolled on down through the Canterlot streets, toward the entrance of the city... Straight for the front lines...
Soldiers of the Solar Syndicate sat along the sides of these tanks, watching as the civilian lives fled for the safety of bunkers.
"Do not interfere with military operations." The stallion over the speaker proceeded to say. "Looters will be shot on sight."
I looked back to the skies as the stallion repeated the instructions, and at that exact moment, did the hatch doors descend and split apart along the middle of each zeppelin.
Seconds passed, before bulky steel shells rained down on the surface in the distance. A blazing inferno reached up for the skies; its roar mixing in with the air raid sirens, the screams of terror, the rumble of engines, and the instructions that were spoken through the intercom, which were now incomprehensive.
I shot up, gasping as I looked around frantically in the bedroom I awoke back in.
"Fuck!" I hissed under my breath as thunder roared outside in a moment's notice. A heavy rain pattered against the roof of the house.
I put my clawed hoof over my chest, feeling as my heart pounded aggressively from the loud noise mixed with the nightmare... from the memory... which was ripped out of the dreamscape and thrown into this world in the form of a thunderstorm.
The day Equestria was lost.
The house rattled as lightning struck, and thunder shook.
I collapsed back on the bed, sighing as I looked up at the ceiling.
Well, I wasn't getting anymore sleep tonight...
But at least any sound that occurred within the house was drowned out by the storm...
A rhythmic stomping soon shook the ground as it started to pass by. With each thud, the furniture jumped a bit.
I stayed silent as wood creaked and groaned on the other side of the wall with a heavy breathing, right outside the house. A deep, distorted, guttural growl bellowed out from it, as if its heavy, earth shaking steps didn't already imply it was big.
Thunder cloaked sounds I would have made here, but I didn't favor even the smallest percent chance of alerting a crag wolf behemoth of my presence.
I listened as its steps faded with each stomp, until the thunder and rain overtook it.
By morning, I sat on the top step of the front porch. The storm had passed with the night.
An empty can of Granny Smith's Apple Slices sat next to me. Having a can of these every morning was about the only thing I looked forward to in the day. I was lucky to have stumbled upon a truck shipment of the stuff last month, in a ditch.
The night was uneventful, save for the crag wolf that passed by, and a few savages in the area. But nothing set off the bear trap I left at the front door, which meant that nothing got in.
I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out a match I took from the carton before stepping outside, along with a pack of cigarettes and a polaroid photo, ready to start my daily routine before taking the rest of the day on.
I lit the end of a cigarette after sticking it between my lips and pulling on it as I flipped the photo of better days around.
I sat in the middle of the group portrait, clean and well groomed, at a dining table, smiling back at my present self.
Steel grey coat, purple eyes, white, medium length mane and tail with blue at the bangs. My horn poked out from my head, standing tall. No scars, mutations, or fears that seemed to matter anymore...
I was unmolested... normal... a pony. Not this thing I was becoming now.
I was happy back then. I had a good life, before the Everfree took it all away.
I was surrounded by friends.
Friends...
My crew... they weren't just friends. They were family.
I had to keep hope that I'd see them again. I couldn't let that go... Losing hope meant defeat...
"New meat?" A deep voice spoke from the tree line ahead of me, causing me to jump to my hooves and raise my crossbow up to where I thought I heard it. The voice chuckled. "Relax... I'm not here to hurt you."
"W..." I looked around frantically, trying to catch a sight of whoever it was that was talking. "Where are you?"
My eyes deceived me as a figure stepped out from the darkness of the tree's shadows. About as large as an alicorn, if not larger, was a changeling. He grinned, revealing to me two rows of sharp teeth. His body was made up of a thick, scratched up carapace, and a purple glow emanated from ten dots that formed a zig zag motion in two sets of five; one set on either side of his face.
His muzzle was thick and stretched out, but not quite like an alicorn's. This seemed more... reptilian, in nature. His pointy ears were folded back, looking almost like horns. His unicorn horn was serrated and curved back slightly, and his tail was thick and made up of a more flexible material that was unknown to me.
"Put your weapon down, or this'll go another way." He declared, stepping forward slowly.
"What do you want?" I asked as I lowered it halfway, but keeping my guard up, nonetheless.
"That's a good question." He replied as he came to a stop a few feet away from me. "But there's too many answers to that question." He nodded to the door, before focusing back on me. "I take it you saw the mare in the closet?"
Hesitantly, I nodded, not taking my eyes off him. "What of it?"
His smile widened. "You stumbled over a gold mine, Meat." He took a few more steps forward, before coming to a stop at the bottom step. We were eye level with each other. "Listen closely..." He spoke softer as he looked up at the sky, still grinning as a deep growl purred under his breath, which reeked of rotted flesh. "Do you hear the Apollyon sirens sing to us of salvation?" He paused for a moment, stuck in place as he stared up at the morning skies, before the light in his eyes dimmed to nothing, as if basking in the cold morning air.
I heard nothing but the wind dance around the leaves of trees and branches. There were no sirens.
"Listen, Meat..." He continued, as if he sensed that I heard not of what he spoke. "Their voice... is it not enticing?" He looked back down at me as the glow in his eyes grew again, and his lips finally made contact with each other. Two fangs stuck out just slightly from his mouth from the top rows of teeth on either corner of his lips. "They call to us, they want us to come... But it can't be done alone." He glanced down at the photo, just before I stuffed it back in my jacket pocket. His smile grew again as he looked back up into my eyes. "You seek someone." He stated matter of factly.
"It's not your business." I replied with a glare.
He chuckled. "Oh, but that's where you're mistaken. See, I'm all about business... So... Let's bargain." He sat down on his haunches before me. "Your friends. Where were their last whereabouts?"
I stayed silent as my eyes stayed fixated on the glowing dots that resembled his eyes.
"Ah, come now..." He smirked. "Let's help each other out. We're both after something."
"Not around here." I replied quickly. I wasn't comfortable giving away their direct location. "Somewhere else. Far."
His smile brightened. "Well, then... Perhaps we're after the same treasure. Granted, for different rewards."
I raised a brow, but remained quiet, all the same.
He took a deep breath, before standing back up and turning around. "You'll find me five miles east of here. We can discuss more there. And..." He paused as he looked over his shoulder at me. "Do come prepared. The forest between carries the heavy dark. We wouldn't want you to wind up like the last candidate for this promising treasure..."
"And if I choose to go a different way?" I asked.
He scoffed, though I heard a faint snarl behind it. "Then that is your choice, Meat... But ask yourself... Why would you pass up your best opportunity to leave this place? That is what you seek, yes...?"
My silence answered his question. He knew it...
With that, he turned back to the tree line that he first emerged from as he walked away. "See you on the other side, then..."
Author's Note
I'm glad to have started this project. I had gotten into Darkwood last year, and I was deeply inspired by the atmosphere and story of that game. I wanted to add to that. Consider this prologue a pilot chapter of what's to come. Feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Chapter 1
Rays of the sun's light beamed through the leaves of the trees, but looking further into the forest around me was only darkness to greet.
A gentle breeze blew against the rustling leaves, replacing the once lively song of birds.
I stood in a grassy plain, atop a hill that nearly reached the average height of a tree that the Everfree offered. I could still see the horizon, though; each tree like a blade of grass in a field, much like the one I stood in.
I closed my eyes and exhaled as the sun's warmth touched me. I wasn't able to experience this very often, as most of the land that I was aware of was shrouded in the Everfree's ways. Nothing was safe...
But it was moment's like this that gave me hope. This was a beauty that couldn't be molested. Something I held onto dearly.
Without hope, what else was there to lose? What was the purpose of going on in a nightmare, if there was no hope for better things at the end?
I lifted my eyes to the Canterlot ruins on the mountain side, far off in the distance. I had certainly come a long way since the whole thing started, hadn't I?
I couldn't remember the last time I was able to see Canterlot and its stillness.
But I remembered the day it all started.
It made me wonder...
Did anyone survive? Aside from me and the group that saved me...?
Surely others made it out. There was no way we could have been the only ones...
I ran through the streets of Canterlot as Celestia's Solar Syndicate ran for the chaos, ready to torch it with the flamethrowers attached to their suits and send it back to whatever hell it crawled out of.
I glanced over my shoulder for just a moment to see the entire street behind me getting set aflame as the forest crept in.
Vines wrapped around a tank that spewed endless torrents of fire at the invasion, before pulling it in deeper.
The treads went into reverse, tearing up the road in attempts to escape before it was rolled over on its side. It was dragged out of view seconds after.
Spinning back ahead, I ran face first into something, causing me to fall back.
As I rubbed my head, lifting myself off the ground, I looked up at a guard, who looked down at me.
"Get to the bunker!" He shouted in attempts to be heard over the heavy bombing runs from the air units.
"No, I need to get to an airship and get out of here! I need to get back to my ship!"
"It's not happening!" He barked with what sounded like fear in his voice. "Equestria is gone! Now get your ass to the bunker! That's the only safe place now!"
With that, he ran for the frontlines, ready to aid his allies in combat against the Everfree.
I looked back at him, struck from his words like a buck to the gut. Was there really no hope to prevent the spread...?
I turned and continued my canter to the last remnants of alleged safety...
Equestria was gone...
That soldier knew. He braced himself for it. When he said that, I refused to believe him. Losing hope for something like that was dangerous.
But he was right.
Equestria was gone.
But a part of me still clung to the idea that things could go back to normal again. Right there alongside my ship still being in one piece, and my crew still being alive.
Equestria may have died. But that didn't mean it couldn't be brought back. Reborn.
The light of the sun dimmed through the tree's shade as I trekked the endless woods.
I was eventually brought to a trail of railroad tracks that had gotten overrun with vegetation.
I stopped at a tree to my right as I dug my claw into my coat pocket, pulling out a worn shirt. I tore a strip off the once white apparel and tied it to a branch at my eye level, before shoving the rest of the fabric in my pocket again.
Judging by the way the light was cast, the sun was just starting to descend. I had some time to kill before nightfall.
I started north along the tracks, using the sun as my compass to help keep track of where I was going.
One would think it'd be relatively easy to get a hold of one, but evidently not. I've had to make a habit of using time, instead.
Kinda ironic for a captain to not have his compass on him... Sounded like the beginning of a bad joke.
Not even a minute passed as I walked along the tracks, before I heard the abrupt snap of a branch break, like the bones of a leg.
Immediately following the sound, I slipped my crossbow from it's holster, aiming it around as I studied my surroundings intently.
A deep growl came from the shades. I barely heard it, as my head was turned away, and the mutilated deformity that was my left ear didn't pick up sound too well anymore.
I quickly spun towards where the sound came from, aiming my crossbow at a thick shrub.
Two green lights stared back at me through the vegetation, and right then, I knew what I was in for.
I shoved the crossbow back in its holster and whipped out the 2x4 with my magic. I had a better chance of doing more against this with a heavier weapon.
Just as I pulled the crudely made weapon out, the green glow darted out with a timberwolf, not yet deformed by the forest.
It lunged at me, ready to tear into my body. I jumped to the side; the two of us grazing each other.
I spun around as it did the same, growling and snarling at me.
I swung the 2x4 around, glaring at the wolf as we circled each other. He glared back, revealing the splintering teeth in his maw, dripping with his green saliva.
He lunged again, to which I struck his head with the nail embedded end of the board.
He yelped, but upon coming down on me, his fangs sank into my foreleg just as I held it between him and my face.
The wolf growled as his eyes stared into mine. I swung the 2x4 again, embedding the nails in the back of his head. I grit my teeth as his fangs sank deeper into my arm, causing me to lose my grasp of the weapon. It remained stuck to him as he threw his head around, and me with it.
I rolled along the ground before jumping to my hooves just in time to see the wolf charging in for round two.
I grabbed a rock from the ground before charging for him in turn, ready to meet him halfway.
As we collided, I struck the corner of his jaw with the rock. Splinters flew every which way as his jaw became unhinged, but that didn't stop him from clawing at my chest and stomach as he tackled me.
I cried out as blood spilled from my barrel, but I delivered another strike to the wolf's face with the rock I clung tight to, distorting his facial structure further.
He staggered for a brief moment, but refused to get off. I struck his face a third time, to which he finally staggered off to the side, growling.
I rolled onto my hooves and pushed him down to the earth before he had a chance to recover. He snarled at me and began to thrash around before I shoved his nose deep into the dirt.
He fought to break free before I struck the back of his head. Then he began to stall. Whimpering as I sent another blow, destroying his body.
Just as I was about to land another hit in, did I hear a series of whines. I froze for a moment, before looking over at the shrubbery that the wolf came out of.
A litter of pups sat there. Some whined, and others growled. The wolf under me had stopped fighting...
"Shit..." I sighed, looking back down at the timberwolf. He was quiet...
He was just trying to protect what was his. We all were, in some way. The ones that didn't submit to the forest, that is...
I dropped the rock beside the wolf and pulled the 2x4 out of the back of his head. He yelped and jolted, but otherwise remained calm.
I got up and backed away from both him and the litter.
He looked up at me in silence as he got up. I levitated my weapon to my side, ready to swing if he had any ideas.
"Don't try it..." I spoke gravely. "You have a lot to live for. I don't want to kill you... But I will if I have to..."
He stared in dead silence. There was a tension between us. My heart pounded in my chest for fear of doing something I didn't want to.
He took a step forward, snarling at me. At that moment, his entire litter ran to his side, whining as they rubbed up against his legs.
He looked down at them, going silent again. After about a second, he looked back at me, taking a step back.
His children yipped as they stuck close to him; some of them keeping their eyes on me. I kept my distance.
The father bent his head down and nuzzled his children. Some of them licked and pressed into his face, while one of them - the youngest one of the litter, by the looks of it - climbed up on his muzzle and hopped up atop his head before residing on his back. They poked their head up over his, regarding me.
The adult wolf stared on with a strong distaste for me, but after a moment in the mutual gaze, he turned and walked clumsily back to the shrubbery; the litter running close behind him.
The father looked back at me for a moment. His eyes lingered on mine, but I wasn't seeing any anger or frustration towards me anymore...
No, I saw relief...
He turned away from me again and proceeded forward, breaking line of sight with me.
My legs shook from failure to support my own weight as my adrenaline wore off. I collapsed on my haunches, moaning softly as the cut along my chest, stomach, and forehoof burnt.
I took my saddle bags off and flicked the fold up with the dark grey aura of my magic, before digging my claw in.
Among the various bundles of cloth, bandages, and even a few shotgun shells, my claws traced along the neck of a bottle. I grasped it, pulling it out to reveal to me the green substance that I was seeking within.
I unscrewed the cap and dumped some of the slimy contents over the bite mark on my left hoof, just below where my claws began.
The pain sharpened as I grit my teeth, lifting my head to the sky as I tried to refrain from screaming. The last thing I needed to do was attract attention to myself out here...
While the pain lingered, it was slowly starting to subside. The deep holes in my hoof were closing, slowly but surely. There was a time this worked a lot faster...
I dunked about a quarter of the bottle over the wounds in my chest and stomach, which resulted in me lying down on the train tracks, gasping as the medicine did its diminishing magic on me.
I looked up at the bright blue skies overhead, past all the toxic vegetation...
There was still beauty out here... I just couldn't quite reach it yet...
But I was going to. I was going to get back to them...
My friends. My family.
I pulled out the photo from my duster, holding it above me as I observed every detail in the memory frozen in time.
I was a different pony back then. That bright grin on my face told me how happy I was. The shark pony that my arm rested around was a part of my joy.
They all were.
But she showed me a romance I never thought I'd have with my life as a ship captain.
A bright light flashed from the camera that aimed at us as we all huddled up together, laughing and smiling.
Just before the shot was taken, Obsidia landed a kiss on my cheek. I turned to her, laughing after the picture was taken.
She beamed at me, before nuzzling my nose.
I pushed in a little; our lips meeting as my eyes closed.
"Should we expect to hear more surf and turf action in your quarters tonight, captain?" Aroko asked from behind me, which resulted in a shade of red growing on my cheeks as I pulled away from the kiss.
The rest of the crew shared a chuckle as Obsidia bit her bottom lip in a seductive manner. Her deep blue eyes remained half lidded, gazing into mine. I ran a hoof along the back of her black mane, which shared an almost identical color to the rest of her body, save for the shimmering blue streak that ran through her hair like a bolt of lightning.
"I'm definitely not opposed to it." I replied, keeping my eyes locked on hers for a moment longer. She giggled as she wrapped her hooves around me, holding me close in a loving manner.
"Damn straight..." She whispered into my ear, before nibbling at it.
"I'll take charge while you both have your fun." Midnight Winds stated, before adding under his breath. "Unless, of course, Aroko and I start getting it on, too..."
I looked over my shoulder at the zebra and the pegasus that were giving each other dirty looks while the griffin and the dragon known as Starclaw and Solar Shadow observed the interaction, sitting at the dining table beside each other.
"No mutiny aboard my ship!" I barked. "You freaked me out when you barricaded me in the lower decks last year!"
Obsidia stifled a giggle behind her hoof, to which I gave her a puzzled look, before Midnight resumed.
"No promises, captain!" He said as he brought the pinion of his wing to his forehead in a salute, winking as he did so.
I sighed and shook my head, smiling softly. "Set a course for Zebrica, Aroko. Faster we get these supplies out of Equestria, the better."
She nodded happily before kissing Midnight on the cheek and leaving the scene after he returned it.
The propellers soon whirred to life as the engines began to hum.
I ran my claws along what was left of my left ear. If it could even be registered as one anymore...
I studied Obsidia in an eternal kiss as I tried to remember the feeling of her playful tenderness.
"Of all the ears to destroy, it had to be your favorite." I chuckled dryly, shaking my head as I kept my eyes on her.
"You're gonna lose your shit, hun..."
The pain in my chest and stomach had subsided a great deal, and upon sliding my claws along my fur, I found no open cuts.
I lifted my head up from the rail of the tracks before sitting up, checking my surroundings only to find I was still in the clear.
I put the photo back in the interior pocket of my coat, but upon doing so, I pulled a necklace from the same pocket. The pendant was that of a shark tooth. Something that belonged to her.
I traced a claw along its smooth surface, before pressing it to my lips and closing my eyes.
"I'll be back home..." I whispered as I shoved it back into the pocket.
I screwed the cap back on the bottle of the medicine and stored it back in my saddle bags, before slipping them back over my flanks and standing up, resuming course down the tracks of old.
About ten minutes in, I spotted a train tipped over on its side, along the tracks.
The corpse of the steel snake consisted of the main locomotive and five and a half cars. The rest of the train seemed to have been ripped away...
The long since abandoned vehicle was covered in vegetation. Moss covered various parts of its body like sores from a disease, and the tendrils of vines wrapped around its mass in a possessive manner, as if to claim it as its own.
As I approached, I heard something repeatedly slam into the hull with brief but frequent breaks in between. A series of grunts and incomprehensive gibberish accompanied it.
I pulled my crossbow from the holster, aiming at the corner of the front of the engine as I walked around to the right side.
Upon peeking my head around, I was greeted with a unicorn covered in dirt, mud, and blood, pounding their head into the roof of a car.
To call them a unicorn was a loose definition at this point... Most of their horn was missing, and what remained was a jagged stump.
Blood dripped down his face, and fragments of his horn chipped away with each strike against the metal.
Enough of that...
I aimed down the sights of the crossbow before delivering a swift bolt to his skull.
His body fell under the pull of his weight as blood slid out from the hole in the side of his head. His body remained motionless.
I loaded a new bolt into the weapon before approaching; keeping my guard up in case there was anything else lurking about.
If there was one savage here, then there was a very good chance there were more in the area. They liked to stick in groups.
I stopped at the corpse before the aura of my magic enveloped the bolt sticking out of the side of his head.
With one quick jolt, it slid out, revealing bits of brain on the tip.
I swung the bolt back and forth a few times, shaking the matter off before wiping it clean of the blood with my jacket and sticking it arrow first into the quiver with the others.
With the body being naked, there wasn't anything to take off him, and I wasn't eager or desperate enough to do a body-cavity search.
To my right was a long stretch of wooden plank, flat against the ground. It wasn't yet overwhelmed by the roots or grass, which meant it was recently put there.
I studied the area around it further and found that a trail of flattened grass led from one end of the plank closer to the train car that the savage had been getting into a fight with.
I looked up at the top of the car for a moment, before turning back to the plank.
I holstered my weapon and grabbed a hold of it before sliding it along the trail of crushed grass.
As I brought it closer to the car, I lifted it over my head, looking up as I aimed to set one end of the plank down on the edge of the steel block.
Once it was carefully set along the top, I walked around to the bottom of the incline, gently applying my weight down on it, one hoof at a time.
The further up I got, the more it creaked and bent from the pressure.
Still, I maintained a slow but steady pace.
The wood beneath me began to snap about halfway up, urging me to move at least a little faster.
As I reached the top, I sped up. Upon my hooves meeting the steel surface, I took in a deep gulp of air to my lungs, realizing just then that I had been holding my breath the entire climb.
I looked around my surroundings from the higher point. I didn't hear or see any other savages in the area, and they weren't exactly the stealthiest.
I cast my eyes down at the open hatch. There was some net tied to the door, draping down into the car. Inside, I saw a series of crates, and atop one of them that sat in the center was a crudely made doll, consisting of branches, worn fabric, buttons, parts of dead animals, and other assortments. The unlit candles around it gave me an idea what the savages were using this doll as.
I climbed down the net and looked at the crate on the other side of it to find it still had some contents left.
Food rations!
I dug my hooves in, but all I felt were empty packages of M.R.E.s
Of course... It was too good to be true.
I sighed as I turned around to the doll.
Beyond it, plastered on the wall, was a poster of a time before the forest took control.
It displayed to me, a zebra with menacing red eyes, staring back at me. In bold black letters at the top, it read, "A ZEBRA DOESN'T CHANGE THEIR STRIPES." Along the bottom followed with, "They would see this land die. Enlist in the Syndicate today. Keep your home safe."
I shook my head at the propaganda before focusing back on the doll.
That's when I witnessed a glint of light twinkle at me from within the skull of a bird that had been portrayed as its head.
I picked up the doll, studying the darkness in the eyes, until I caught another glint of light within.
Interesting...
I ripped the skull off the rest of the body, to which a rock fell out, landing on the steel floor with a clang.
Even in the dim setting, it shined, as if collecting a light that wasn't there.
It was pretty...
I picked it up, and upon touching it, was presented with a welcoming warmth.
I grasped it tightly, moving it around as I studied its glow. It twinkled at me.
Fascinating...
I stuffed it in my saddle bags before climbing up the net.
There wasn't anything really of use to me in any of the other cars with the exception of a half empty gas can.
I headed back to the shelter I stayed at the night prior. Darkness was approaching with the setting sun.
The generator hummed within the confines of the bathroom as the lights enveloped the interior of the house with sanctum from the darkness of night.
I had barricaded the front door out of paranoia. I didn't generally like staying in one place for more than a night. It was asking for trouble.
For extra protection, I put the bear trap next to the front door again. The windows were curtained by the black fabric once more. The fortification over them helped put my mind a little more at ease.
My dinner consisted of more canned apple slices. That was about the only enjoyment I got out of a day, as of late.
It was short lived, considering it was followed by the worst part of the day.
As I sat on the worn out mattress, I pulled out my radio and switched it on.
White noise enveloped the room for a moment as I listened, hoping that a voice would come through to me.
After several minutes of dead air, I brought the mic to my lips.
"It's Freeseas." I spoke softly. "I'm holed up in the same place as last night." I paused for a moment, looking at the corpse in the closet. Her dead eyes stared down at me... Telling me everything I feared...
They're dead, buddy.
I shook my head, averting my haunted gaze. Turning back to the radio, I continued.
"I fought a timber wolf today. Almost killed it, too." I sighed softly, lifting my head to the cracked, stained ceiling.
They're dead, Freeseas. You'll soon be with them. Stop running, fool. They're-
"I'll tell you all about it when I get back home." A hopeful smile curled on my lips as I released the button that broadcasted my words to the unknown.
Static filled the room once more. Just as my claws were about to flick the switch to shut the device down for the night, did a voice speak through the static. It was faint, but it was there!
"Hello?" A mare with a soft, gentle voice called out.
I was awestruck... For a moment, I forgot how to speak. I quickly held the button down.
"Hello! Who is this?"
Only static answered my calling.
"Hello? Can you hear me, are you there?"
This time, I had received an answer. But it wasn't the one I sought. It didn't come from the radio, but instead, a whisper at the front door.
"Come to me..."
The violent grunt of a savage immediately followed, muffled from outside as wood cracked and splintered my fortifications.
I shot up in alarm, pulling my crossbow from its holster via my magic. I brought it to my claw, to which I worked them around the grip and trigger.
I levitated my 2x4 to my side immediately after as I aimed out at the front door, watching through the dim setting as my defenses were chipped away.
I didn't have any time to slip back into my duster, so if I got hit, the pain was gonna be a bit worse than usual. But that also gave me some incentive to try and be more careful. More so than usual, anyways.
There was another aggressive slam against the door before a second intruder came to my attention.
I spun around to the window behind me as I heard the planks that blocked access crack.
"Fucking savages..." I kept my crossbow aimed at the window, standing next to the bedroom door, flicking my ear back every so often to check if the living room had been broken into yet.
They must have followed me from the train...
The front door swung open, smacking the wall that held its frame with a bang.
A set of hooves ran along the creaky floorboards, and as I turned to face them, I saw before me, a savage with a head piece of a jawless timberwolf, acting as armor.
Just as he turned and looked back at me, the teeth of the bear trap snapped down on a forehoof as he took the wrong step, and he let out a pained howl as he worked on freeing himself.
I aimed the crossbow at him, but just before I could pull the trigger, the defenses for the window were no more.
I spun back around to the window just in time to see another savage crawl through, taking the fabric with them. They were covered in elements of the unnatural Everfree.
Her crazed eyes locked onto mine, just before she charged for me.
Upon pulling the trigger, a bolt stabbed into her chest, causing her to cry out and stumble before me, collapsing on her stomach.
At once, I heard heavy hoof falls moving across the floorboards. I swung back around to the living room just in time for a wooden branch to strike me in the face.
I fell back over the mare I had just shot, which resulted in my rear hoof getting too close to her mouth. Her rotted teeth sank into my leg as the first intruder approached me, ready to end my life.
I struck my free rear hoof against the back of the mare's head, forcing her to let go, to which I immediately crawled away, facing the two of them.
It soon came to my attention that I had dropped my 2x4 when I was struck, and that it had been lying behind him.
I had the upper hoof again, however.
The aura of my magic fitted around the weapon before it raised off the ground. I quickly swung it around while I had the chance to do so, as my magic was drastically limited. The nails dug into his flank.
He grunted from the impact, but that was the only semblance of pain he showed to me, apart from his movement.
I yanked the weapon back out as he limped toward me, but my magic lost its grip again, causing it to fling across the room.
He pulled the branch back to the side, biting down on one end almost as if he were attempting to chew through it. He swung it around for my head.
With the back of my head pressed up against the dresser, I had only one option left.
I lunged forward, tackling the savage over the downed mare.
The side of the branch impacted with the side of my head, directly below my ear. Blood rushed to my head as I pinned him down, refusing to back down for even a second. The head of the wolf fell off him in his collapse.
I pulled the branch from his mouth, and in doing so, pulled a few of his teeth out with it.
He snarled at me, struggling underneath me to attack. I quickly dismissed his actions with a swing of the branch, from right to left.
He went still for a moment, stunned by my retaliative efforts.
Left to right.
Blood dripped from his head as his eyes fell into a daze, focusing on the nothing that lurked in the air.
One final swing made the light leave his eyes. His body went limp, and as I spun to the mare behind me, it came to my knowledge that blood loss had taken her away.
I sighed as I lifted my 2x4 back up with my faulty magic, dropping the now broken branch. I loaded a bolt into the crossbow as I pulled the spare from the mare's chest.
That was when I noticed it...
I brushed the hanging moss and leaves aside, along her side...
She wasn't an earth pony...
It wasn't every day I came across this...
"You poor soul..." I whispered as I took notice in how her wings had been fused to her hide. The Everfree was not kind to her...
She was one of the ones that chose to stay. For her friends. Her family... Her lover, if she had one. She could have left with the others, but she stayed.... The price of admission for her loyalty was her sanity and a world of agony...
I slid a hoof over her eyes in a gentle manner, curtaining them with her eyelids.
Voices began to whisper from the shadows of the outside. Speaking to me, studying me... Trying to lure me to them...
I averted my gaze from her to the window for a moment, before grabbing my gear. The voices whispered to me through the static of the radio.
"Come to me, Freeseas... Be with them..."
I shut the radio off and slipped back into my duster, before sheltering my presence with the side of the dresser, sitting in the corner of the room as the impact to my head started to catch up with me.
With the window left open, I had to stay up for a good while. Trying to barricade it at this time would have been a fruitless task, as the noise would only attract attention. Assuming the light didn't...
The best thing I could do the rest of that night was sit in silence and wait for the sun's light to touch this land again... Hoping I would live another night to feel her warmth.
The sirens sang to me of the end. Not of bombs and guns, but of a forest developing sentience and obtaining the goal for conquest. To take more of the land, after thousands of years, lying in wait...
Ahead of me, in the opening just before reaching the castle, was the bunker of Canterlot.
Ponies ran in upon being waved through by the Lunar Syndicate that stood guard.
The crowd grew impatient. Even through their armor, I could tell the soldiers were on edge.
I was certain the mob would have tried forcing their way in through the entrance of the bunker, had they not been held at gunpoint. There wasn't enough of us to take them on.
Ponies clung tight to their loved ones as they wept.
Just as I reached the rear of the crowd, the screaming went from anger and frustration to fear as the mob quickly disbanded every which way but forward.
The soldiers opened fire on a series of vines that whipped out from the bunker, grabbing their allies and pulling them in as they screamed for help.
More emerged from what was supposed to be our safety from the disaster, spreading out and taking over.
The soldiers quickly began to retreat when they saw they were facing a losing battle. Many of them had been snatched. I counted two left alive before I turned and ran to where I came from.
But just as I started to break into a full canter, the Everfree crept into view from around the corner of a building.
I spun back to the bunker, running out of options.
A pod opened up from the vines with the teeth of a fly trap. They hissed at their prey, before lunging in for the kill like a snake and swallowing ponies whole.
The castle, I saw, was being overrun by the intruders from the other side.
I stepped closer to the edge that overlooked the landscapes of Equestria, finding that I was cornered. I had only one option left at my disposal.
I looked down over the railing, at the waterfall that descended to the base of the mountain...
I awoke to a loud thud against the wooden floorboards of the bedroom, shooting up in alarm as I witnessed a bulky figure of a yak standing in the doorway, looking down at me.
Her thick fur was covered in moss and dirt. I caught fungal growth here and there. Vine wrapped around her horns.
She smiled softly and shook her head, before grabbing a large leaf from the satchel at her side. She began scribbling on it with a piece of charcoal, before flipping it around to me.
"No wory. Yak com in pees."
I sighed softly, relaxing myself a bit from the reassurance.
Beside her was a large cloth bag, to which she began to open and rummage around in. She pulled out a can of gasoline and beamed at me, before writing more on the leaf. After a moment of scribbling another message down, she seemed to contemplate to herself for a moment, before adding more.
"Gift 4 u. Wee r ~~toogeter~~ toogether in the forest."
I raised a brow to her generosity. I've never seen someone so kind since the disaster.
"Don't you need it?" I asked.
She shook her head and beamed, before scooting the can forward toward me as she regarded the two corpses and the destruction they left behind, to which she started writing on a new leaf.
"Ruff nite?"
"I've had worse..." I stated, glancing down at the two for a second.
She nodded slowly, studying my appearance before she began writing again.
"Never seen u b4. Nu here?"
"Depends where 'here' is."
She paused for a moment, thinking to herself. Suddenly, as if something sparked inside her, she hastily wrote on the other side of the leaf, then turned it to me.
"Sah old barn 2 nites ago. Sine sed Sweet Aple ~~Achers~~ ~~Ac~~ ~~Ackrs~~ Ackrrrs."
I chuckled softly to the slaughter she committed to her attempt at correcting her spelling. "Then yes. I'm new here. I've never heard of Sweet Apple Acres before."
She beamed at me for a moment before tossing the leaf down and pulling a new one out.
"Yak naem is Yona. Wat urs, frend?"
"Freeseas." I replied with a faint smile.
"Nice 2 meet u!" She grinned for a moment, before turning the leaf over and writing some more. "Doo u have a destinaeshun?"
With a nod, I answered. "I'm trying to get back to the west coast. I came from Canterlot. I thought by now I'd have met my destination, but alas..." I sighed as I leaned my back against the wall.
She regarded me with a sad glint in her eyes for a moment, before writing on the empty side of the leaf. She flipped it over to me with that somber expression etched on her face.
"All rodes leed deeper in too the forest..." She flipped it back over and resumed writing. "The forest allways changes. Allways ree shaepes itself. Too escaep meens needing luk."
"I met someone that knows of a way out." I stated. "I'm gonna-"
She quickly interrupted me with a firm shake of her head, before scribbling madly on a new leaf.
"Chaengling bad. Meen. Yak don't trust. Yak gets bad feeling off him." She scowled at me, shaking her head again.
"Believe me, I'm wary too... But if he has a way out of here, I gotta take the chance."
Her expression softened, to which she nodded slowly. She turned the leaf over and began writing more.
"Yak get it... B caerfull... U will need sooplies. Want 2 traed?"
"Of course." I pulled my saddle bags off and opened them as she did the same.
She first pulled out things like scrap metal, gun parts, and even an axe blade with most of the grip being obliterated.
She split the inventory she was willing to part with in groups.
Weaponry and spare parts were in one pile, food and beverages, as well as drinking bottles, were in another, and medicine and first aid was in a third. I noticed that some mushrooms had found their way in the first aid pile.
I knew why... I suffered some effects of that experiment. It had its positive outcomes, but I wasn't feeding that crap into my system anymore. After the excruciating growth in my hoof that took the form of claws, that was it for me.
"I'll take some bandages and some alcohol." I stated as I emptied my saddle bags of the contents I had collected in my ventures.
Yona's eyes immediately fixated on the glowing rock as it fell in the pile. She smiled brightly and pointed at it.
"You want the rock?" I raised a brow, to which she nodded happily.
Well... I didn't know what good I was gonna get out of it...
"Don't you want something more... useful?"
She frowned at me, before pointing at the rock again.
"Alright." I shrugged and took a deep breath, before removing it from my pile and putting it between us, to which she placed my request beside it and stowed the mineral away in her bag.
As I grabbed her offering, she began writing on yet a new leaf. By the time she turned it over to me, I was packing up my inventory again.
"Thank u!"
She drew a little heart beside her literate appreciation, forcing a little smile to form on my lips.
"No problem, Yona."
She flipped it back over and scribbled her charcoal over the leaf once more.
"B saef, frend!"
"You too."
She quickly packed up the rest of her findings, to which we parted ways from there, leaving me to my daily morning routine, which involved a can of apple slices and a photograph of better times.
There was a new addition to this routine this morning.
The pegasus deserved proper burial...
Author's Note
Sorry for the long wait.
