The Wasteland
Princess Twilight Takes A Walk
by
Jake The Army Guy
Chapter One: The Wasteland
The rising sun blazed before her. Twilight closed her eyes and basked in the warmth, the light glinting off of her polished silver regalia. The caress of the wind through her feathers and the rocking sway of the carriage soothed her into a deep calm.
Sighing quietly, Twilight took a few deep breaths, drinking in the sensation, until a sharp tang hit her nose, acrid and sour. With a sigh, she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the sprawling hills of Scaleback Ridge, as it had been named sometime in the last century. Seeming so tiny from the palace in Everfree City, they now dominated her field of vision. The sudden sensation served a grim reminder of why she was here, where she was going. What she was going to do.
Twilight creased her brow and peeked over the side of the carriage, only to frown deeper. The rolling fields of lush green were gone. In their place was a scraggly wasteland of sickly brown blades, interspersed with scabs of jet black. This was not the Equestria she loved, the land she had watched grow and prosper for so long.
A weight fell upon her once more as she looked upon the death and desolation that was slowly eating away at the heart of Equestria. Every year a little bit more of the fertile land went barren due to the looming ridge line draining it of magic, sucking the very soul from the land. Now, because she had put it off for so long, so many ponies had to be moved; the Royal Guard was evacuating nearly a quarter of Everfree City.
And it's all because of my selfishness...
The chariot gave a downward jerk. She looked to her left, sharing a glance with the muscular stallion next to her, then looked back to the heaving pegasi pulling the carriage. "Everything alright, Lieutenant?"
The leftmost pegasus gulped. "Ju–nrgh—just fine, your Majesty."
Twilight's eyes narrowed a bit and she lit her horn, opening her mind to the aether of the world, and what she saw confirmed what the dull ache in her wings and the tightness of the Lieutenant's jaw were telling her: what few lines of magic remained in the air were flickering pitifully, thin and anemic. The pegasi's wings, no longer boyoued with magic, would not hold them aloft much longer.
Twilight turned back to the front, to where the pegasi were grunting and straining their relatively small wings, trying desperately to stay in the air. She leaned over to the earth pony beside her. "We're close enough, Captain."
Beside her, the stallion blinked. "Your Majesty?"
"I don't want to risk going any further into the no-fly zone. I can walk from here."
"Majesty, I really think we should—"
She cut him off with a practiced, beatific smile. "Take us down, Stalwart."
The captain hesitated for just a breath before nodding and turning back to the front. "All right, colts, you heard her. Take us into an approach vector, as rehearsed.”
"Yes... yes, sir!" Then under his breath, "Thank Twilight."
"You're welcome," she whispered under the blow of the breeze.
Beside her, Stalwart was barking orders into a sound stone in his hoof. "All right, gentlecolts, were on approach. Keep a tight formation as long as you can. Once we touch down, I want a full perimeter set up. Ensure you do your fives and twenty-fives before you get out. Dead spots are everywhere, and those little buggers will sap the life out of you damn quick. Make sure we..."
His voice melded with the howl of the wind as the carriage eased into a lazy spiral, canted slightly to the side as they began their descent. The wind picked up as they gained speed, though the nebulous mass of her mane swirled as gently as ever. Twilight's eyes teared, but she kept them open as the ground approached. The carriage bucked violently several times, always followed by a pained grunt from one of the pilots, as they hit invisible eddies of magic carried by the wind. The ley lines flowed ever faster towards the looming ridge, coalescing into a massive whirlpool swirling above it, drawn by the very reason she was on this trek in the first place.
After several minutes of pained struggle, the pegasi both sighed in relief as they finally touched the scorched earth below. The audible crunch of dead grass accompanied tiny plumes of dust from beneath the wheels of the cart. Several particles made their way upwards to them, causing both the princess and her captain to snuffle loudly in protest. Twilight's keen hearing picked the crunch of the other chariots landing beside them, as well as the slight groan Captain Stalwart let out from gritted teeth.
The pegasi unhitched themselves from the carriage even as the rest of the Guardsponies, all pegasi and unicorns, leapt from theirs and fanned out in a pre-planned formation around them. Twilight dutifully held her place until a cry of "all clear" came from the lead pony.
The instant her hooves touched the scorched earth, a deep tremor lit up in her legs. The normal scratchy feeling of dead grass was missing; in its place was a pins-and-needles-like shock that encompassed her hooves. Years of practice with the tertiary nature of being an alicorn allowed her to override her earth pony instincts, the sparks jumping through her muscles urging her to flee the soured land, and she strode purposefully away from the carriage and faced the ridge line. From this distance, she could just make out the tinge of lavender cresting the tips of the range, barely distinguishable from the lifeless brown of rocks jutting up from the dead ground. "Captain," she spoke over her shoulder, "how goes the evacuation?"
When nopony answered her, she tore her eyes from the cliffs and turned to see Captain Stalwart still in the cart. His ivory ears and cerulean tail were twitching furiously, and his tongue was making laps around his mouth behind his teeth. Every now and then he would lift a sweaty hoof to step down over the lip of the carriage, but each time he pulled it back sharply, as of the ground itself had burned him. Twilight could all but hear his grinding teeth as he danced almost imperceptibly on his hooves.
She walked back towards him. "This is why I ordered no earth ponies to accompany me, Captain, and why I pleaded you to not come. You may be the Captain of my Dawn Guard, but you have a very strong link with your magic, and—"
His jaw tight, the captain leapt from the carriage and landed on the dead earth with a loud crunch of grass and an even louder groan of effort. He took several exploratory steps before turning a shaky, yet wholly determined gaze. "Not a p-problem, Your Highness."
Twilight's beatific aura faltered for just a beat, her affection for the the stallion breaking over her face, before being buried under professionalism. "Very well, Captain. How are the preparations progressing?"
Stalwart raised the sound stone back to his ear. "Operations, this is Dawn Six. Status update?" Several moments followed as the Guardspony listened, muttering the occasional "Uh-huh," or offering the odd question. Finally, he lowered the stone and turned to his Princess. "Evacuation of the eastern quarter of Everfree City is at 80%. Our mages have set up a grid of integrity-buffing spells across the entire quadrant. Once Princess Luna arrives to shore them up, it should be enough to keep the damage minimal, providing our estimations were accurate."
Twilight's lip curled upwards ever so slightly. "You doubting my mathematical abilities, Captain?"
"Of course not, Highness," he replied without flinching. "It's just that, if I've been briefed properly, nothing like this has ever even been attempted before. Once you..." He hesitated when the swirling miasma of her mane flickered for an instant. "We just need to be prepared for anything."
"You're right. You've done a fine job, Captain, but I can handle things from here. Pull your team back to the safety zone and oversee the rest of the evacuation." When he didn't answer, she turned to look at him. Though his face remained stoic and set, she could see the tightness of his lips, a look she was intimately familiar with. "Something on your mind, Captain?"
"Tw... Majesty, are you sure about this?"
Her only response was a flick of her ear.
He continued. "Why can't Princess Celestia do it? Or Cadance? Why does it have to be you?"
"You know why."
"Yes, but..." Stalwart cast a brief glance over his shoulder at his guards. Finding them all still scanning the surrounding wasteland for threats, he turned back and swiftly crossed the distance between him and her. Though he was a pony of envious stature, both in height and build, he still had to reach up to nuzzle into the alicorn's neck. "You're sure you don't want me to come with you?" he whispered.
Twilight smiled and laid a gentle wing across his broad shoulders. "You're doing it again, Worry Wart."
He only leaned in tighter. "I'm your Captain and your husband. I'm required by law."
A tightness made itself known in her chest. Allowing a tiny crack in her royal visage, she squeezed him just a bit tighter. "I know," she whispered.
"You're not alone. You're never alone."
Just a bit tighter. "I know."
The pair remained in their embrace for a few long moments, whether for his benefit or hers, unknown and unimportant. Her mane swirled around him, and she could feel his strength: not just his muscles, but his heart, his eternally deep connection to the earth. She allowed her own magic to seep down and intertwine with his. She allowed herself to fall for a bit.
Finally, she pulled back slowly, perhaps her subconscious not wanting to end, or knowing that while she was here, she wouldn’t have to go. She locked eyes with him for a moment, then leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on his lips. "Oversee the evacuation. I'll see you after."
Just like that, his body tensed back to rigid precision. "Yes, ma'am." He stepped back and snapped a sharp salute, which she returned with a nod, then turned back to the carriages. "All right, gentlecolts, mount up!"
Twilight watched him work, but eventually turned her back to him, facing the looming ridge. A light breeze carried a curtain of dust across her face, but her eyes stayed open, locked on the leftmost hilltop.
She took her first step.
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It's always the cliffhangers that are the most evil. Continue.
3465550
Dis guys speaks da truth!
Awesome so far. I will be watching with interest.
And so begins what appears to be the start of an epic adventure. Though I won't hold my breath on that notion since the [Adventure] tag itself has been excluded, nonetheless I'm certain some serious world building is ahead, though I suspect there'll be some decent character development as well. Twilight herself seems to act incredibly diligent and just plainly more mature than the show currently presents her has. That should be expected, though, since we're already in the future. It's interesting to note evacuation, a literal "no fly" zone, and that things are looking straight up bleak. There's really not much to go off of outside of what's been implied, so as the unknown unravels I'm sure I'll have more to take apart. But this is a real good opening you have here.
You have my attention. It's a rare treat to get such an intriguing setup on so few words.
Dammit Twilight...
This is why we cannot have nice things.
"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." — Laozi
Great things are coming. I can feel it in the wind.
So did the capital move from Canterlot to Everfree city or is that just where Twilight rules? And just how far into the future are we? Anyway this looks really good and I can't wait for more.
So is this happening in the same world as your other stories? I'm interested in your take of how the whole alicornization process happens if this is so.
The chapter title had me worried for a bit. I saw it and I was thinking 'Please, please don't make Jake the Army Guy write a Fallout Equestria fic.' You also certainly caught me off-guard. I thought that Eye of the Beholder was your next big project, but this looks like another big one.
As for the story itself. It's an interesting start. I was worried when Twilight was thinking things like "This is all because of my selfishness" that you would make this exposition heavy complete with flashbacks. Or worse, an entire chapter where Twilight lies on her bed and cries about how sad the current state of affairs are. Instead, you've put us through a good bit of action sequence and balanced out enough bits of exposition to keep the reader intrigued. Nice characterization too by playing with the difficult balancing act of maintaining a monarch-servant, husband-wife dynamic. A good start all in all. I just hope you know what you're doing by deciding to start working on this.
3466526
I have no idea what I am doing, but I thought we all knew that by now.
No, this is not within the Luminous Sky universe... and there will be flashbacks. I'd ask you t trust me, but... eh, just let me know if ya like it.
Fascinating. I find myself reminded a bit of Scale, in the sense of a setting that feels staggeringly vast and hopeless and a protagonist determined to cross it. Definitely looking forward to seeing where you go with this. The story's only begun, but I already find myself worried about what form the ending will take. Patience, FoME. Time will tell.
Alright...you have my attention sir.
I'm looking forward to seeing what you have in store for us.
Oh sweet baby Jesus, I demand moar!
You have taken my interest.
Carry on, faithful believer.
this could wind up being quite interesting, please, give us more.
It's not that you've peaked my interest as much as it is that you've confused me as to what this is supposed to be. Your intro, while flawed, would probably work for the story in the tone that it is written in; however, there was no point in ending this chapter where you did and it served almost no poetic effect. It would have been great if you led it into another scene or just continued on with that being a dramatic line, but starting there with no explanation of the situation did not make me want to read further, it made me ask myself what exactly what I was reading.
Still can't tell, nor do I really care in this situation, so I'm just going to walk away from this one. No like/dislike, but I believe the way you introduced this story came across with the opposite effect versus what you were intending it to.
At first I thought this was a one-shot... Had this been, I would have had Pinkie reach though your monitor and give you a chat...
3474475
First off, thank you very much for leaving the comment. I hate it when people read and then just leave without saying why, so hat off to ya.
I can see where you are coming from. My intent was to make this a bit mysterious, and yes, a bit segmented. I took great influence from the story Austreoh and Scale, two stories which start out vague and leaving you guessing. Also like those, this will update semi-frequently; the next chapter should be up today, so the idea is bit by bit the real story comes into focus. If you're saying I started off TOO vague, I guess I can see that. But again, that was my intent, so... uh, yeah!
Anywho, thanks for at least giving it a shot! Maybe come back in a few days when things are a bit more clear?