When Starlight tampers with the past and prevents the Sonic Rainboom, it is up to Twilight to stop her. Their conflict, however, becomes one uphill struggle after another. Twilight and Spike have endured countless changes to the present. Whether it be an Equestria ruled by King Sombra, or their whole society being reduced to tribalism in the wake of the changeling attack, there seems to be no way for Twilight and Spike to resolve this situation peacefully.
In the aftermath of their fight, they find themselves trapped within the barren wastelands of Equestria. Now, they must find a way back to the past and set everything right before all hope of a bright future for them is lost. Will they succeed, or will the harsh environment of the wastelands be the end of them?
This is the first of three stories lined up in my 50 follower special, written as thanks for all the support that I have been given since joining this site. Thank you! 
Proofread by princeps, a simply amazing friend.
You got my like. Now look what you did Starlight, you doomed yourself as well!
8201353
This story has been a long time coming.
8201354 Was worth the wait.
8201356
It sure was. This was much more satisfying than my first draft.
8201358 Then, I hope others see it so as well when they read this story,
8201362
I just realized I had left it on as incomplete.
8201367 It happens
You know, they never explained the wasteland, so I like to imagine its either a Fallout or Mad Max AU. And then I like to imagine Celestia wearing a full suit of power armor and wielding a Fat Man, shouting "WHAT A LOVELY DAY" while blowing up Mutants.
I guess I should read the story now.
Very atmospheric, tense and well-written. Great job with the characters and why it became what it became, here. The alt. Twilight makes sense, too. Quite nice, Chill. :)
8201379
Thank you for your kind words! There's only one path from here, and that's up! I shall continue to strive toward higher levels of writing.
8201940
The wasteland in the show was left open to interpretation as to what happened on purpose. I merely superimposed my own theory into what has happened in this timeline. I hope you enjoyed the piece.
8202341
Thank you, Striker. I really loved this piece. I have a feeling that a lot more of my future stories will shine as brilliantly as this one has. I intend to put forth my best effort in all of them.
Gimme a few days and I'll leave some feedback. :)
8202362 I believe that all your future stories will just as good, if not better than this
Now, all aboard the new ship, the S.S. no spoilers lol
This looks very good! I will follow this story.
8203345
Thank you so very much! I shall endeavor to create more work like this as well as continue my progress as a writer.
8202764
That is indeed the next story I will be releasing. I just have to get through my speed writing challenge first...
8202567
That's kind of you, both for the thought of taking on this story to review yourself and the fact that you will still be considering to give it feedback after a few days.
Well, this was certainly an interesting read. I enjoyed it, a nice little dilemma/What-if story to the season 5 finale. The wasteland really was an unknown to tap into and I think you've done it well enough here. An interesting way to have Equestria destroy itself with what's essentially its own magic. I did something similar but in a different way. The whole idea that pure magic was the cause was an easy conclusion to draw.
I enjoyed how Twilight got to meet herself and see what could have happened if she had ignored friendship. As much as this is Starlight's fault right here, everything would have been vastly different if Twilight had chosen to go face Nightmare Moon alone like she initially wanted to.
I felt sorry for the unicorn Twilight, having to live alone thinking that she'd failed. However, as Twilight said you only really fail if you completely give up. She didn't and thus a solution came to her. She gets to live the life she was always meant to, after having gotten a glimpse of it. Usually, these stories go by the multiverse theory but the hope in Unicorn Twilight's eyes that this one will not is a happier ending for her to cling to.
The writing was solid and things were described very well. I got a good sense of how horrific this world is and just how hopeless Unicorn Twilight was feeling. Twilight at the end of her tether was a nice change of pace in the intro as well. She was rather calm in the episode and it would have been good to see her lose it a bit. Being dragged through futures, again and again, was undoubtedly difficult.
Spike's whole part felt a little unnecessary in my opinion. He was lost trying to help someone, that's a noble thing for him to do and well within character. However, nothing really happened about it. Twilight found him with a dragon, despite the fact that we are then told all dragons were destroyed by the outpour of magic. I'm guessing it was an older version of Spike, having hatched and grown naturally through greed in this timeline. Though, the little tidbit he also gives Spike doesn't really add up either. The Princess caused it. Well, in a way yes since it is Celestia's magic but that's explained later anyway. I don't know. I could very well be missing something but that scene just did not do it for me. Other than explain more about the nature of the storm it felt unnecessary.
Another little suggestion I have is to tag this as an Alternate Universe story. As it directly contradicts and goes a different line from canon that's what it is. It helps avoid confusion and keeps you above board just in case people are particularly nitpicky. Though, it does make me wonder what happened after this. If Starlight never came to the wasteland, how was she convinced or if she even was convinced? Those are interesting questions. Whether you answer them or leave them up to reader discretion is up to you, Anyway, overall I really enjoyed this, despite my big problems with the Spike scene. It was a good narrative and a nice look into that particular future. Have a thumbs up and a nice day! Also have a mini essay too, hehe.
8204019
Aww, I really liked the Spike scene.
I'll send you a private message in a little bit concerning my reasoning behind the construction of that scene and what it means to me. The purpose of this is so that you know my thought process so that you can tell me what I could have done better about it. If we just left it at this, I'm just going to make the same mistake again or, worse yet, worry that I do something like that again and not put in a piece of narration that could be great. I don't think I would want to remove this scene or completely rewrite it.
But I do want you to know, I did try really hard to make this story as good as I possibly could make it. I spent over two months writing it. I'm sorry I didn't sell you on every point of the narration.
Also, I would appreciate it if you added a spoiler to parts of your comment to avoid giving away too much information just in case somebody accidentally reads it before they read the story. Thank you very much, darling!
8204256 Yeah, I can tell you worked hard on it. It wasn't a bad scene by any stretch of the imagination it just felt like it needed more to really mesh with the overall narrative. It needed more impact for both characters. The struggle to find Spike from Twilight's perspective I can understand but it just felt very sudden. I get that these situations can be but this bordered on jarring. I still liked the story though, I'm sorry if I came across as too negative.
Wow, Chill. You've really outdone yourself with this story. If I had to sum it up in one word, that word would be 'amazing', exactly what Barren is. I was hooked the entire time, and not one moment didn't leave me impressed.
This is definitely going onto my top ten stories list.
This is a very fine story, both nicely focused and dramatic.
8208107
Thank you very much. This has become my favorite story that I've ever released to the general public. I'll continue my personal endeavors for even greater success with future projects.
8205589
Hehe, there were some pretty awesome moments in it, weren't there?
8204826
Why thank you very kindly. I am stoked that I was able to make it on you personal top ten list, although it appears that I have made it to your top five favorite list as well. Do you really put it on the same level of greatness as "My Little Dashie"?
I'm so flattered. 
8208218
If you continue making stories this good... You might be second person to have two of their stories on my top five list.
Yep, it's that good. Out of nearly the thousand stories I've read, yours is one of the five that became my all time favorites.
8208233
Considering I know several avenues I have yet to broach with regards to my storytelling, I'd say that that would be inevitable then.
This has been a very interesting read. At first it’s been rather slow, ‘just’ recalling the events of the show, but then it started escalating very quickly. The search for Spike already had me on the edge of my seat. Then the fight between the two and the ending... pardon me, I have to get myself a new pack of tissues
Furthermore, the description of the cave was stunning!
8587186
the rest of my catalogue isnt executed as well. Before this piece, I didnt do as heavy editing as I do now and it was prior to my growth as a writer. Possibly the only other story of mine thats worth reading is Love Like a Diamond. Although if you dont mind a somewhat awkward execution, DiamondBloom's Hangout Time might also be worth reading.
Yay! I think you saw the beauty in my vision for this piece.
Regardless, moving forward with this, I will take all that I have learned and create more entertaining works. Maybe, one day, I can even achieve the highly sought out follow from you!
8587494
It’s just that romance stories really aren’t my thing. I’m more on the dark and adventurous side...
You’re welcome! Well, I’ll consider checking them out
Well, whenever you post a new story, feel free to contact me and I’ll gladly check it out. I find this system better than simple follows
8587523
I think my best genres are romance and adventure. I'm not too sure about the dark genre.
That's fine I guess.
I shouldn't really advertise my stories directly to people because I think, at least the some, that might be viewed upon as begging for attention. So if I haven't won over your viewership, then I haven't done enough to warrant that naturally through a follow. I should respect what you naturally would want to read, not ask you to consider them. I apologize for the recommendations.
8587740
Truth be told, I don't use the Follow button very often, but I'm mostly just forgetting about it 
No problem dear, I believe it was me back then who asked about what you think your best works are and also to be notified about your newer works