Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale

Fallout Equestria: A Wastelander Tale, Chapter Thirteen

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I was getting a bit concerned with how vivid my dreams had been for the last few days, As I had woken up thinking something was wrong, but finding myself in good condition. No pain or nothing stuck in me, but a sense of embarrassment did linger, remembering what Onyx had done with me.

There was a point when I had passed out, so I must have exhausted myself. Likely I had too much to drink, as I did have a hangover when I woke up. But before that Onyx had seemed just as focused on me as I had been with Tripwire, and that left me feeling a bit… disgusted to tell the truth.

I could only guess that I was just not into other mares, even if I was with a stallion. It just didn't feel right to me, even if Onyx was rather good at it. At least, from what I could remember, I had learned a few things. Things I will never tell my family even on my deathbed.

With a sigh, I finished attaching my wasteland scout armor. The thing was still as uncomfortable as it was before, but I found myself more used to it now. It had the marks from the raider I fought; a dent on the chest, long scratched on the forelegs armor.

The bent and useless armor piece brought back bad memories. Even now with those raiders gone, I couldn't help but think of what could have happened if I had not gotten lucky, if I was too slow. Becoming the plaything of such vile ponies was a nightmare I almost lived. The thought of it caused my hoof to shake, though now not as much.

Putting the armor piece away, I resolved myself to be more careful. Next time I'm in such a situation, if I'm ever in an opportunity to back away, I will. That way I can come up with a better plan of action.

The bear trap was still with me, having kept it out of habit, but an idea was beginning to form in my head on how I can use it. That one dream I had with it was brutal, but not a bad idea. Just needed to figure out how to add a rope snare to a bear trap.

Shrugging, that was planning for another time.

Trotting out I saw Tripwire and Onyx Heart waiting for me. Tripwire was in his normal suit, not sporting the rifle and armor like he had before. He looked quite handsome with his revolver on his hip.

Onyx was in a new red dress, it was not as flashy as what she had before. Over and under the dress was some nice looking leather armor, it being as clean as she was. But catching me off guard was the massive rifle she had by her side. The thing had a matted tan paint job, with the things barrel and a scope being far bigger than that of my hunting rifle.

Trotting over to Onyx, my eyes on her rifle, "What is that?!"

She smiled as she lifted the thing that was as long as herself. "You mean my Desert Rose? It's a classic Equestria Military sniper rifle, made for warfare in dry, dusty, or sandy environments. Unlike it's normal sisters, this rifle requires far less maintenance to keep in good condition."

"Onyx here will be acting as our sniper, her sharp eye for detail has ended most engagements before they could even start." Tripwire explained as he trotted to me, lifting my face up with his hoof, as though checking for something.

"Is something wrong?" I asked.

Lowering his hoof, he shook his head. "No, I was just making sure you're alright. You had a lot to drink last night and over exerted yourself, that's all, fortunately."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "Ya, even had a minor nightmare too. Still can't quite remember everything though."

The feeling of Onyx rubbing her flank onto mine sent a cold shiver down my spine as she said to me. "Oh that's a shame. You made such lovely sounds as I played with you. Maybe we should try it again, see if I can jog your memory."

Taking a step away from her, I was finding it far better when she was being a bitch to me. "How about we not… I'm not into mares, that I'm sure of."

She frowned at me. "A shame."

"A damn shame." I said to her before quickly turning my attention to Tripwire. "So where exactly are we heading out to? You might have mentioned it before, but I'm having a hard time remembering."

Tripwire took in a deep breath, showing no signs of any irritation with me before he began explaining. "We're heading to a place known as Old Haven, one of the early settlements from right after the war, built-up from a temporary shelter. It was abandoned after a series of disasters, with almost nopony alive to remember its existence. Among the few who knew about it were distant relatives of mine, as well as my father. He would tell stories to me about it when I was a foal, mainly to scare me into being good."

"And that's where he hid your family artifact!" I guessed out loud.

A nod came from Tripwire as he continued. "Yes, and thanks to the documents you helped me recover, Onyx had been able to narrow down Old Haven's location."

"A bitch of a job to be sure, but I know this region like the back of my hoof." Onyx chimed in pridefully.

"Yes, and a wonderful job you did." Tripwire complemented her before turning his attention back to me. "Fortunately the place should be a void of ponies, so no raiders or any large group that can be trouble. Unfortunately, if my fathers old tales are true, the area around it is filled with dangers made from old magic. Mutated monsters and the dead that still trot around, hunting the living."

I cocked an eyebrow. "Wait, how is that any different from, well, the wasteland itself?"

"I asked my father that too, and he told me that the wasteland was made from new magic, chaotic magic. This magic that surrounds Old Haven is old magic, which very much has a purpose to its madness." Tripwire told me as he scratched his chin and added, "I guess we will find out when we get there. After all, my father was likely embellishing the story."

A familiar bellowing laughter caught our attention as we turned to see Grinder trot over, followed by Angel. Grinder was in some rather heavy looking armor with a just as heavy looking gun hanging off a battle saddle. The armor was made from thick quilted cloth under blackened metal plates that were held together with rivets, even riveted in places without the plates.

"That's why we're bringing Fifty Deuces, he will kill any monster, mutant or not." Grinder boasted as he showed off the big boxy rifle. "It is an Old Equestria military 50cal machine gun. This baby will reliably kill anything I point it at, and trust me, I've killed a lot with Fifty Deuces."

"That I have no doubt." Tripwire commented. "Grinder and some of his ponies will be dealing with any major threats on our way to Old Haven. Fortunately, between where we are going, and what we may be dealing with, it will be safe to go loud this time."

Grinder again laughed loudly. "Been too long since I had a good fight."

Looking past him I saw that Angel looked no different from before. Seeing my curiosity, Tripwire then explained to me. "Angel here knows how to project a protective barrier, along with two of his acolytes, he will be our defense in case we need it."

Angel smiled from under his hood. "The great and powerful Goddess had shared with me some of her secrets, all so that I may protect her flock and spread her word."

Tripwire then looked at me, pulling out from a small saddlebag two magazines of 308 rounds and passing them to me. "Your job is to be our spearhead and find a route to Old Haven once we enter its cursed lands. I have full confidence in your ability in this endeavor, and once we are victorious, things will become so much easier."

"We will be able to bring order to the wasteland and become heroes!" I said back to them.

"Legends even." He said, smiling at me.

With the meet and greet done, we trotted out of Ursa's Rest, and down the road for nearly an hour. There I saw a cart attached to two Brahmin, the large beasts grazing on what plant matter they could find. Next to it were six ponies, two in robes like Angel, and four in similar armor to what Grinder had.

It wasn't long before we then loaded up and headed out. Though the Brahmin weren't as fast as me, they were clearly faster then the others. It was also nice not to actually have to move around as much, letting some other creature move us around.

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It had taken over a week of travel to reach our destination, a trip that I found quite boring. Surprisingly, if I was not moving around, I found myself fidgeting a lot, or getting chatty. Unfortunately the other ponies didn't have all that much to say, mostly similar lives in the wasteland.

So to pass the time I would jump out and scout ahead, even do some hunting with my .22 rifle. Though Tripwire had made sure to stock up enough supplies for everypony, the added meat and wild veggies let everypony eat more hardily. And though the other ponies still didn't say much, they did seem a lot friendly to me.

One thing that had begun bothering me was the lack of privacy when I was with Tripwire. With other ponies so close all the time, it just killed any mood for more private activities. Worse, Onyx would taunt me when she could, insisting on teaching me more about pleasuring a stallion. So when Tripwire did go to the bunker through his portal, Onyx would always come with us as well.

Though I got some relief from it, I never enjoyed how Onyx touched me. Though it did feel good, it also felt wrong. But I wanted to be with Tripwire, so I endured it.

I also didn't like the looks I got from Grinder, or from his ponies. It reminded me of the eyes of predators, waiting for their opportunity to pounce. It only made me want to go to the bunker with Tripwire even more. Even if I had to let Onyx touch me.

Finally I heard the words I had been waiting for.

"We're here!" Tripwire exclaimed.

Here being a pass between two mountains, under a dark cloud cover that snow drifted down from. The place felt wrong, like the cold here was unnatural and… evil.

Tossed at my hooves were some thick looking furry clothes. Looking back I saw Tripwire plucking more out from his portal. "Put those on, I got them in case my father wasn't lying about the unending winter here." He told us.

Putting on the warm clothes over my armor, I couldn't help but be reminded of a story my Ma would tell my brothers and I. "It's like the old breezy tale of the long winter, a snow storm in summer that took many lives. Where the hero of hope slew the lord of the dead, saving every pony from freezing to death and joining his army of the dead."

"I remember that tale as well, though my father insisted that it very much happened. Said it was the cause for Old Haven to finally be abandoned." Tripwire said as he trotted over. "He said that by the time the undead relented their assault, the majority of Old Haven had joined them. Even now, they wander this cursed land, aimlessly, always hunting."

I honestly felt a shiver of true fear creep up my spine. "And we must go through here, there must be some secret passage or something?"

"If there is, but I don't know of it." Tripwire answered with a sigh.

"Oy, I see the damned place!" Onyx called out as she looked through her rifle's scope. "A bit hard to see, but it's there. Looks like some old manor, gives me some real creepy vibe."

She then frowned. "Also see the road up there, there's at least two landslides and a broken bridge. If there's a way around, It's going to be rough."

"I expected as much." Tripwire said knowingly as he looked up at where this manor was, concern on his face. "Though I was hoping it was not so."

Giving both of my rifles a quick maintenance check and making sure my gear was easily accessible I turned to Tripwire once more, doing my best to not show my nervousness. "So all I need to do is find a way around, it can't be all that hard. And I'm sure if there's anything dangerous still here, a .308 round can easily take it out."

Tripwire looked at me and sighed. "That I'm sure, but do try not to take any risks. I have a feeling that they'll be more than what we can see out there. Also taking these," from the cart, Tripwire levitated several sticks with a bulbus cylinder on top. " magical flares, I got this just in case. When you find a path around, plant them in the ground and pull the string, we will be able to follow them."

"Y… ya." I said as I took the flares and leaned in, wanting a kiss.

"If you ever get scared I'll comfort you all night!" Grinder shouted out, getting a laugh from the other armed ponies.

With the mood ruined, I took a step back and turned to the road ahead. "Alright Lottery, this is like the adventure I always wanted, so keep it together." I told myself.

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To say it was cold here was an understatement, I hadn't even gone that far up the path before I started shivering. Just breathing felt like my own life force was leaving me as I was taking in the cold air and letting out my own warmth. Even my surroundings gave off a feeling of death, all bone white, to the point it was almost blinding despite the cloud cover.

Using my scarf to cover my mouth, it helped a little to keep myself warm as I pushed ever onward into the unending white. Thankfully the flat path made it easy to follow, as without it I could have easily gotten lost out here. As I looked around there were no animal tracks, just the muted silence and with the crunching of my hooves the only thing I could hear.

As I had been warned, I came to the first roadblock, a large landslide of snow that formed a wall. Something caught my eye in the landslide, as I saw a sign sticking out of the snow, likely caught up in the landslide. Trotting over, I reached up and banged on it a few times to knock the ice and snow off. Only after seeing the badly damaged and illegible sign did I wonder what I expected to happen.

As I stood there, a ruffling sound came from within the landslide. Curiously I pulled out my .22 rifle and slowly extended it two whatever was that made the sound. Maybe there was life here, just underground. Maybe mole rats!

Though not ideal, mole rats did make nests big enough for a pony to fit in, and with several exits. So it could be used as a passageway through.

With a poke the snow slid off a section of the mound and I suppressed a scream. The skull of a pony looked back at me, half buried and frozen. With a skeletal hoof reaching out, it looked as if it had struggled to free itself before it had died.

When the moment passed, and I managed to calm down, the fear was replaced by pity. "Poor pony, how long have you been left here?"

I had seen dead like this before, but those skeletons felt reigned in their fate, in positions of relaxation. This pony looked like they had died in horror, its jaw wide open.

Then it's jaw slammed shut, the hollow clunk of the bone echoed around me. The skeletal hoof now flailed at me, causing me to stumble back in shock. I was unsure at what I was even looking at. More snow fell off in sheets, revealing more bones, more skulls, all clumped in the dirt, rock, and ice. All moving about wildly, making the clunking noise unending.

Crawling backwards, to my horror the mound of bones began moving, inching its way to me. The legs of long dead ponies scraping into the ground, kicking up dirt as the skulls snapped at me.

I aimed and fired my rifle, the .22 round managing to blow open a skull. One of what had to be twenty? Fifty? Maybe even more skeletons in that mound.

The mound retaliated as what looked like several spines connected together, whipped out at me. It landing next to me with a loud thud, kicking up even more snow.

Panicked, I turned to run, stumbling in the snow as I tried to get away from this abomination.

Another slam hit down next to me and the world then spun. Ground, then sky, then ground again, my face landing into the snow. It only just now registered that the spine whip had nearly got me, flipping me violently.

As I again stumbled up, the snow gave way in front of me, revealing the cliff I almost ran over.

Looking back, the mound was making its way to me, slowly, and with no way to stop it.

Then I looked from the cliff to the hill above, and a dumb idea formed. It's an idea nonetheless.

Seeing another whip strake come at me I jumped back, making sure I didn't go off the cliff, but stayed near the edge.

The closer the mound got, the further it crawled, the more it moved to the edge. As long as I kept an eye on it, I found that it was easy to read it's move, and I could avoid the whip.

Closer, and closer still. It eventually made its way to the cliff as planned. Pulling out my flare gun, I prayed and hoped, pointing it at the hill above. Then fired.

As the cloud of smoke dispersed, the bone whip hit me, cutting my cheek as I was launched back, the wind knocked out of me.

Brushing the snow from my face, I watched stunned as the mound continued its way to me. I couldn't move, though I wanted to, but my legs just wouldn't respond. Nothing would move as I watched the mound grow closer, not even my mouth would scream in horror.

Several loud bangs then echoed past me, the sound so loud it hurt my ears.

There was then a roar that drowned all sound, followed by a wave of white snow which slammed into the mound. For a brief moment everything was consumed in the purest white, like it had all been reduced to a colorless state.

Then as soon as it came, it had passed, and I was encased in darkness.

Regaining my wits, I pushed the snow out of my way. Before me was an old snow covered cracked road. The mound was gone along with most of the snow in the area with it.

Taking a long moment to catch my breath, I pulled out my hunting rifle to look down at the caravan through the scope. Looking back at me was Onyx, waving at me, her Desert Rose at the ready. Lowering my rifle, I waved back in thanks.

Moving on, I dare not look over the cliff edge, or even go near it. If there was a chance of getting dragged down, I didn't want to risk it.

But with the mound gone, and the road was clear, so yay… for now.

As I trotted up, my hoof stepped on something metal, and I saw a pony hole cover underhoof. Taking a mental note of it, I then moved on, wanting to get this journey over before more horrors appeared.

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The feeling of any hope faded as I looked over the ruined bridge, seeing no simple way across to the other side. But the road did continue past the bridge, and following the slight shadows with my eyes, I saw that it went down.

The road disappeared a few times into what looked like a mess of trees and snow. Where it eventually came out onto the other side, likely reconnecting to where we were going.

I didn't like it, but I had to go down.

Placing a flare at where the road began to dip down, bathing everything in an orange glow. The road was barely visible to the eye, so I hoped this would be enough to point the others in the right direction. Though I had a feeling I would need to do more the further down I went.

Things only felt colder as I reached the bottom, finding myself in what looked like a town. Though it appeared to be ancient, it lacked the aesthetics of the old world, feeling like a settlement, but more sophisticated. At least that's how it appeared to me.

Again placing a flare and lighting it, I trotted into the ancient settlement, the eerie silence setting my fur on its ends.

With my head on a swivel, looking for any movement, possible moving mounds or, well, anything. I took in my surroundings, only feeling a deep dread.

Though in ruins, this place truly had once been a home to ponies, with most of the buildings still standing. Where it was both figuratively, and literally frozen in time.

There was what had to be a shop, strange trinkets still on display, rotten and frozen. Nearby looked to be a bar, with tables turned over and cracked glass mugs littering the floor. I even saw what must be bottles of booze left untouched inside.

Not that I had any interest in touching, much less drinking anything in this place.

Homes were all over, with now ragged clothes hung by wire between the buildings, having never been collected. I could even see what looked like a young filly looking down at me…

No… it was a young filly, and she had no eyes. As we looked at each other, she slowly backed away and out of sight.

My heart thumped and I kicked up snow as I dashed away, needing to get to the other side of this place and fast. Galloping, I could hear the sounds of movement erupted all around me as things fell over and clattered from the homes. Yet as I moved, I seemed to go nowhere. This settlement was far bigger than it first appeared, or was I going in circles?

I could not see the end of this place, only more buildings.

A unicorn ghoul burst out from the snow, colliding with me as a small rusty scythe struck my leg armor. It made a screeching sound as it cut through the leather and grinded on the metal underneath.

Kicking it off me, I pulled my hunting rifle, aimed and fired. Managing to blast a hole through its head with a lucky shot. But the ghoul didn't go down, neither did its scythe, still levitating in the air. It took a step closer and racked another round and fire, and again, and again, and again.

The undying ghoul finally went down, but only because I blasted off its front legs. But the thing was still moving, swinging its scythe at me.

Looking back, more of the ghouls had gathered in the street, many with their own crude weapons, and each in a different state of frozen decay. With how much it took to just stop the one, I was not going to tangle with a settlement full of them.

Again galloping off, I almost fell over as I slid to a stop, seeing a new monster before me. A tall thin thing stood in my way, the smell of rot coming off it. It was as though its legs had outgrown its skin, causing the skin to tear off and flapping in the wind as it stood on brown skeleton legs. Its head was no different, with a fanged filled skeletal muzzle extended out of a stretched out mouth. On top of its head were two miss matched antlers with string woven between them. Tangled in the string looked like a rotting foal, yet it was very small, furless with translucent skin.

The more I looked at it, the more terrifying it became, yet I could not look away, I could not move. I could not escape.

Right there I puked, sending the warm bile over my chin and under my armor. The action freeing me from a frozen in horror state. Bolting down an alley, I heard the monster let out an unnatural roar, so loud it made my ears ring.

Bursting out from the alleyway, I found myself back near the bar and shop, somehow back where I started. Yet I could not see the way I had come from, just more of this place. It didn't feel right, this place was too big, and all so cold. Even running didn't warm me up.

A rusty axe landed near me, having been thrown by one of the undead monsters, with more of them trotting my way.

Picking any direction, I chose to go through the bar, hoping to lose them. Slamming into something hard and heavy, again I had to suppress a scream as the bar was filled with corpses hanging from rope by their neck. Pushing through them, I found a door in the back and smashed my way to the other side.

Again I was back where I had started, seeing my own hoof tracks leading into the bar. Emerging from the bar was the tall thin monster. just looking at it felt like I was being penetrated all over by cold tendrils.

Wanting to get away, I dashed to the shop, doing my best to not to look at what was inside. But as I scrambled through the trinket shop, knocking things over, I peeked. Everything was made from bones and flesh. Horrifyingly, I saw many cutie-marks stretched out inside hoops, hanging like decorations. All decorated with ominously glowing gemstones.

Hopelessly coming out the other side and back where I started, the tall thin monster was waiting for me. It somehow was bigger, thinner, longer. It reached out, it's leg impossibly long, placing a cracked hoof on my head.

Again I puked, sending out a red glowing bile. The monster recoiled, letting out a loud and unnatural roar that hurt as everything rumbled and blurred.

For a brief moment things became strangely clear. In front of me was a frozen skull with miss matched antlers and the small dead foal tangled between them.

The monster roared again, and reached out to grab me with its hooves. Its bones splintered, which dug into me painfully. But I just knew what I needed to do. Though it hurt, the pain much like when my leg broke, I ignored it, punning out my axe.

It tried to stop me, slamming its hooves down onto me hard, but I managed to rear back and swing down. The gold plated axe hitting something, causing the world to shake. Again I reared my head back as the monster impaled me with its splintering hoof, and again I brought it down.

With one more swing, everything became still, silent.

It hurt all over as I found myself sitting in front of some decrepit shrine. There it was, the skull of the monster, it having been smashed by my axe, and the unborn foal trapped by it was now free.

Again I puked, a line of sweet tasting glowing red liquid escaping from my mouth. Splattering onto the shrine, bubbling and evaporating. A blue flame then burst to life on the shrine, causing it to then crack and soon after the skull disintegrated.

The flame stuck around for a while, its soft blue light filling me with warmth, as though telling me that things will be okay in the end, that all I need is hope. Then the light simply faded, and with it gone, the cold returned.

Unsure what had just happened, I pulled my axe from the ruined shrine. A strange mist came off the axe, almost moving about like a tendril, making me worried about my own sanity. Quickly putting my axe away, I looked around.

I was still in the settlement, with a light layer of snow on me, and under me was a pile of frozen corpses. A sense of numb panic came over me as I scrambled to get off it, slipping and rolling off. My face stopped an inch from the ground. Hanging there for a few seconds, I slowly regained my wits.

Looking back, my armored leg was stuck in the mouth of a half rotten corpse, it trying to chew on me. After several kicks I managed to break the jaw to free myself, and crawl away.

Now with some distance I could see that it was a mound of dead, much like the one before, but far smaller. It reached out for me, but only caused itself to start breaking apart. Several jumbled up corpses then free themselves, clumsily moving around.

Backing away, I ran from the undead and through the very quiet and dead settlement. From the corner of my eye I could see more mangled corpses watching me, mouths agape and empty eyes.

To my relief I found the other side of the settlement, and ran up onto the road leading out of this place. Placing down and activating the magical flare, I took a moment to truly catch my breath, looking back into the settlement. There I saw many dead standing about, some just rotten corpses, others a mess of flesh and bone haphazard thrown together. Some had weapons, others not, and none moved towards me.

They just stared up at me. The sight filled me with both pity and horror.

Were they still alive, like some ghouls, or were they soulless abominations. This I didn't know. But I did know that I dreaded having to go through there again on my way back.

This was truly a cursed place.

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My body had become heavy, between the cold, the trot up the road, and all the brahmin shit that happened down below, I was drained. So when I saw the last roadblock up ahead, all I felt was dread.

It had to be another mound of the dead, I was sure of it. Worse was that there was no cliff it could fall off, or no snow above to hit it with. Both sides of the road were raised up, and the mound blocked any way through.

I considered just climbing around it, but the thick snow hid any danger that could lay beneath. I could also just wait for the others, but with how cold I was getting, that didn't appeal to me.

Thinking, I remembered the pony hole cover from before, and maybe it could be a solution to this problem.

Pulling out my .22 rifle, I got in what I thought was the center of the road. Trotted backwards as I dragged the axe head through the snow, I could only hope for this to work. After a while it made a clunk sound of metal on metal, and I knew I found it. Clearing the snow, there it was, a big scuffed up steel disk.

Again using my .22 rifle to pry open the pony hole cover, and with much effort, pull it to the side. The effort took more energy than I thought it would, and I had to take a break for a minute before looking down.

Darkness was all I really saw, like a black endless void.

Taking one of the flairs, I lit it and tossed it in, bathing it all in its orange light, revealing… concrete. No bodies, or anything that screamed horror, just cold concrete.

Lighting another flare and leaving it at the entrance to the pony hole, I then descended. Though still cold, I found it far more tolerable underground, and a bit humid. Just like above, there was no sound, other than my own echoing hooves.

Picking up the flare I had dropped down here, I made my way through the tunnel, making a mental guess where the mound was.

With each step I could swear my eyes saw something. My ears kept picking up hoofsteps other than my own. My nose twitched at odd smells for the briefest of moments. I think, no, I knew eyes were on me, watching me, gazing at me. The sound of my breath was not my own, my hooves weren't my own.

I had to run, to get away!

"Lottery, over here." My head snapped to the voice, the voice of Tripwire. He was standing at an exit, light behind him, shadowing him out.

"H...how did you get here?" I asked, only now noticing how raw my throat felt, as though I had been screaming at some point.

"Over here Lottery, come over here!" Tripwire called me.

Trotting his way, my heavy legs found the strength to pick up the speed. He cared enough to come help me, like I knew he would. It was just a little bit further now.

As I reached him, something grabbed me, held me down. Struggling, I hit something soft and I heard a yelp, which seemingly snapped me out of a daze.

"Stop struggling, I'm trying to help you, you dumb mare!" A stallion huffed out.

Slowly I did just that, noticing that the light I saw was gone. Illuminated by my flair was a sudden drop into murky water.

"Wh… what happened?" I asked.

The stallion got off me, taking a moment to catch his breath before giving me an answer. "A curse, unfortunately. It plays with your mind to get you to trot into that water and drown."

Taking a few steps back from the edge, I looked at the pony who saved me. Strangely he looked a bit like Tripwire, but with a longer messy mane that partially draped over his face and had a poorly maintained goatee. The unicorn wore a rather old but also nice looking brown suit jacket with thick patches where the legs bent, and topping it off was a pair of thick glasses on his muzzle.

He gave off the look of a smart pony, but not of a well organized one.

"Right, thank you for saving me… you are real, right?" I asked, hoping he was not just some ghost.

"Oh yes, alive, very much alive. Here, let me help you to the manor. Before some other necro cursed being comes sneaking up on us." He said, offering me his hoof.

Taking it, I saw that it was made of metal, not covered in metal, but actually made of it.

Seeing me stare at it, he reflexively hid it behind his other hoof. "Oh sorry about that, I'm not some cybernetics killer or anything, I promise."

"N… no, I shouldn't have started like that. Just never seen something like that, and the only pony I ever heard to have any was Redeye." I said.

The stallion grimaced at the name Redeye before turning around. "Less talking until we're out of here."

Picking up the flare, I then followed him down the tunnel, where not long after we came to a ladder with light beaming down. Climbing, the cold air returned, nipping at my nose as he helped me up and out. Now back on the road, I looked around and then dropped the flare in shock at what I saw.

Not far from it was a closed metal gate, and sticking through the bars were the skeleton legs of a mass of dead, dirt, and frost. Each leg moved, reaching out, grasping at the air.

"Horrendous isn't it." The unicorn stallion said, sounding dejected. "It's magic is beyond us, and truly nightmarish. Now let's not disturb the dead any longer, come this way."

Nodding I followed, finding it more bearable here, the sense of evil far less powerful now. Turning a bend, I then saw it, the manor. The place must have been three stories high, and half the size of Ursa's Den, maybe. It also looked absolutely ancient, like a place from a horror story.

Actually, after what I had been through, It was a place out of a horror story.

The stallion then stopped to look back at me. "Oh, my father will want to talk to you."

I gulped, "You're father, he doesn't want me for some experiment or something?"

It was hard to tell through his glasses and mane, but he seemed to look a bit confused. "What, by Celestial no, he's a good stallion, and wants to help ponies… Well, he wanted to help ponies. My father is just going to want to know how you got this far. His name is Arcane Fuse Neighsay, and this is our family home, Neighsay Manor."

"Neighsay!" I said in surprise. "And you are?"

"Oh, where are my manners!" He said in genuine apologetic shock before, giving me a bow. "My name is Spell Circuit Neighsay."

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