A horrible Cataclysm has turned all of Equestria into a Wasteland of barren ash and twilight desolation. The Sun and the Moon have been destroyed. Everypony has died--including Princesses Luna and Celestia. But one pony miraculously survives; she is a lone wanderer, the last of her kind, surrounded by menacing creatures that hate her. She navigates the Wastes in an airship and scavenges off the blighted landscape to keep herself alive.
Then one day she meets an old companion who grants her a gift, the chance to go back in time to the warm and sunny days of Ponyville, where her dead friends live in happiness. How far will the last pony venture into this joyous age of Equestria, even if she fully knows that there is no way to change the horrible fate of everypony she loves?
2013 Edition: Smaller Chapters, Better Grammar, and a Few New Scenes
(A shout-out to Vimbert, pre-reader and gentlecolt)
You have absolutely no idea how happy it makes me to see this posted in more than one place. I want you to know just how captivating your story is. I don't cry often - I cry when I see this story update (well, I should anyway). You, sir, are a dream-weaver of the topmost quality. In any case, I believe I have expressed my sentiments on the matter quite thoroughly.
On a more relevant note: You can do it, gluestick!
That is... If that's okay with you. I'm a patient pony, I can wait for quality... So, you know, update when you're ready. 
Now give me MOAR!!!!
14106
Oh, and in case my previous comment was indicative enough, read this. Read it now. It's great. This is up there on my list, tying for first along with FO:E, FO:E-PH, Macintosh, and It's Dangerous Business. For all that is good and pony, read it.
Only just read this, but I'm likin it!
Good to see you on here, man. Still lovin' the story!
Wow....this chapter just blew me away emotionally...
At almost every line there was a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye, it was just so moving. It's been years since I've read a story that has moved me so much. Heh, maybe it's silly to be moved so much from fiction about ponies, but I'm very glad that I stumbled upon this story. It's an incredible tale of "the last pony" and the hardships she has endured and it's not even finished yet! Plus I haven't even gotten to what is probably going to be the even more emotionally moving part of this story. To go back in time and see the ponies that you know are just going to only end up as a pile of bones and ash...I can't even think of how that would feel. I really can't wait to read the next chapter as well as the ones that are to follow it, but alas, it's 2:40am here and bed is calling me.
Have a good one.
Perfect 5.0 after 17 ratings. SEVENTEEN CONSECUTIVE PERFECT SCORES.
And it's STILL underrated.
Wow, what a story. This is incredible. Will definitely continue reading.
Up to 23 5.0s,
yep, still underrated.
That. Was. Incredible. The intro was amazing, the action was amazing, the ending was amazing. With only a few keystrokes and a vivid imagination, you have created a beautifully crafted dystopia on par with the original Fallout: Equestria and it's various spin-offs. The sheer amount of detail you go into creating a scene is phenomenal; from the descriptions of a barren Canterlot, to the dregs of a rusted airship. Each scene allows you enough detail to envision it as though it were a movie, right down to action sequences that seem ripped from the scripts of some Hollywood blockbuster. This has easily become one of my favorite fictions on this site and goes to show how unbelievably awesome this fandom is. Just the idea that someone could take a show aimed at adolecent girls and turn it into this is a testament to both you as a writer and the quality of the source material. I just wish I had more stars to give.
Decided to read the next chapter even though it's 1 in the morning and I got to be at work in a few hours. Confound these ponies, they drive me to read!
So many manly tears were shed.
Around the time I got near the end, I found myself remembering a quote from the Watchmen movie. I believe it went: " Why should I save a world I no longer have a stake in?". From the readers point of view it may seem like a simple decision, but you have made it clear that Scoots has some reservations of going back. From what I've read, she realizes after him saying that time is immutable that the only thing she can do is watch events from her foalhood play into the worst moment in her life, all in the slim chance that she could find a way to help a present that she has no stake in.
You, my friend, have crafted a narrative that, within less than five chapters, has proven more thought-provoking and riveting than most popular literature today. With ponies.
To quote Rainbow Dash: "ohhh. You're good."
Loved every moment of it. Bravo! Steampunk + post-apocalyptic epic + ponies = awesome. There needs to be a reading of this.
Up to 47 consecutive perfects...
...still underrated.
Absolutely amazing story!
136,000 words.
Damn, i have trouble writing about 1,000 words
Excellent work though
This story is one of those few that has ascended to GODLIKE status. On par with Past Sins. You know, the level of awesomeness in which Chuck Norris resides. It's that good.
CEWL
I don't want to read this. It hurts to read, but I am forced to finish because it's so damn good.
One of the more painfull storys I have read. Scootaloo is actualy one of my favorate ponys, it hurts to see her suffer so. Yet, in a way, the pain she has suffered is part of what makes her as strong as she is, as capable as she is. She fights and risks her life for a hope, a dream that she knows will not happen, yet she continues to fight, continues to pay the price in pain and blood. I will not comment more, as much of what I might say would be spoilers, and its best you read the whole thing, not skip parts cause I say this or that.
this is really good. will continue reading!
, but oh well...
unfortunately, its also slow moving and dense
Wondering why the latest four chapters aren't here. I'm dying to know the word count D:
looooong chapter.
good, but buck its long!
A good fic!
wooo! go spike! awesome as always
.
(both spike and the massively long chapter)
this is fantastic!
for some reason i really liked this:
"She then did something that she hadn't done since she was a little foal; she touched down with pegasus hooves onto the wispy surface of the overcast cloudbanks."
Keep writing!
*yay*
Though, it is a VERY long read. Good, but set aside an afternoon to take a good chunk out of it.
i knew it be ponyville! Awesome fic!
love the length, just leaves me wanting more!
its interesting how you personify spike as a grown, aged and wise dragon when he is basically the same age as scootaloo... nevertheless a great chapter indeed.
Oh My GOD! That was hands down one of the best things I have ever read! You have single handedly crafted a masterwork of words that have left me speachless! You are the first person to have actually made me cry with written words alone. I will admit, I came close to crying before with 'My Little Dashie' but this blew me out of the water! I don't know if I'm going to be able to write more of my own story simply because this has left such a profoun impression on me that I may never be the same again. Your imagery, your wordcraft, your simply astounding mastery over the English language are just so beautiful. I truly can not express how grateful I am to you for blessing us with such a gift! If you EVER need help or ANYTHING I will do anything in my power to answer your call.
30650 and here i am thinking its dinky hooves
i guess your right though
i normally dont like the cmc,
but in this case i will make an exception
Chapters 11-15 are out on GDocs. Not sure why not uploaded here yet. See EqD post for links.
ITS very hare to explain how i feel when i read this
i can say with a sense of finality that i like the story
but i just am not sure how to react to this amount of dessolation,
everything... everything is just.... gone............
This is just an absolute masterpiece. I think your characterization of Applejack is just breathtaking.
My only criticism would be that Fluttershy does not actually seem like Fluttershy, but what you've done is just amazing.
Good show.
Oh yeah, and this has now moved up to my second favourite, coming just after Paradise.
...Congratulations. You have have comitted an act which I thought impossible - you have crafted something even more depressing than FO:E. And considering I can feel portions of my soul die with every chapter of that I read, imagine what that means about your story.
Despite this, however, the style of your writing has me hooked, and whilst I despair at the mere thought of reading another chapter, the idea that I stop reading is simply unthinkable. So promise me two things, please. Firstly - a happy ending (I know, I know. T'aint gonna happen. Had to ask though). Secondly, and most importantly - keep writing this fic. As much as I dread each chapter to come, I don't like the prospect of not knowing the conclusion to this.
Wow, spoilers before I even start. Either claim there is only one surviving pony, or put the whole mane cast in the character list. One or the other.
I find it hard to describe how i feel when I read this fic.
Im not sad or depressed, nor am I ever happy,
I would guess that the only way I could describe how I feel is....
Indifferent, a strong feeling of indifference toward the events that happen around me.
and non of these faces show indifference
first fic where i have loved spike
ME GUSTA!
MY FEELERS!!!!!!
MY FEELERS THEYRE JUST ALL OVER THE PLACE
i want to hack this for 111111111111111111111111 perfect 10'
31106
There is only One living pony. What your seeing with Applejack and her family is nothing more than Scoot going back in time.
PLOT TWIST!
....... dat second to last line...
i cried
i cried out in pain, joy, and sorrow with this story
sir you have you idea what you have done for me
no amotocon can describe how i feel right now
Oh my god.
That is all.
woo! great chapter!
Honestly, I can't say I'm as fascinated by this story as everyone else seems to be.
Well, that'd be a wrong way of putting it, anyway. I'm fascinated by the story, and coming from someone who normally thinks little of grimdark-esque MLP fics, that's saying a ton. I'm already guessing to myself how this story can end, and both main endings I'm thinking of have the power to be incredibly moving.
Furthermore, it's incredibly emotional. Part of that is due to your writing style, faults and all (more below), but when it works, it really works. I'd have to say that the emotionally strongest part I remember is Scootaloo returning to Sweet Apple Acres at the end of the "Applejack arc" and seeing their bodies. Just an all-around fantastic bit of writing that makes the reader feel the contrasting elicitation of emotions that she had to have been feeling.
Regardless of how I feel about the story, it's got my attention till the very end of the road. However, it'll feel like a bumpy road all the same. One thing I can't deny about your writing style is that it's colorful, with an extensive vocabulary. It does amazingly well in painting imagery and describing the sheer crapsackness of post-apocalyptic Equestria, but it also slows the pacing to an almost painfully slow crawl at times. I'd be lying if I said I never skimmed anything in the story when reading it, but when I went back and observed the parts I mostly skipped through, I noticed that most of what I skimmed didn't seem to add too much. Too superfluous a description, is what I guess I'm trying to say here. It works amazingly well in some chapters, but in others it turns them into little more than a chore to fully read and analyze.
Also, the characterization in this seems to be pretty hit or miss. Now, I absolutely love how you portrayed older Spike in this. He's wise enough to show his age in his philosophy, but retains enough humor in his dialogue to show his relative youthfulness. The fact that he spent most of those few centuries researching the causes of the catastrophe would explain his extensive vocabulary. It's for the other ponies who display the same level of linguistic sophistication at times -- Scootaloo and Fluttershy, in particular -- that that manner of speaking doesn't fit quite so well.
I gave it 4* all the same, and I still can't wait to see where it goes from here.
wooo!
A good chapter; though its toooooo long to make any direct criticism on.
a couple of times, AJ's lines seemed a tad off, but (as i have said before) this is likely a subtly different interpretation. But, it is still a FANTASTIC fic.
And a long one
why do i get the feeling that now, as i have finished reading the EPIC, it will be updated? with another bazillion-word chapter.
Its a good thing, but i have to agree with RunsWithScissors: the pacing when in the wastes is... a bit slow. no, scratch that; its SO slow, it makes my mind boggle as to how you can write it; its good, but so slow and sooooo long! its also sooooooo good!
so far, my favorite bit (and the bit that i hated the most) was when
went to the clubhouse. that was... one of the most depressing things i have read in a while.
(tl;dr version: Fantastic. bit slow in spots. kinda depressing)