Follow Compass Rose as she travels across a world infested with cannibalistic ponies.
In the near future, the land of Equestria has been overrun with slow-walking cannibalistic ponies known as Lurkers. Compass Rose, a young navigator, has just been sent out on her first mission through the wasteland, accompanied by Opal Star, an experienced fighter, and Cobalt, a blind misfit. theories and truths slowly unravel throughout their journey.
Well, I should probably start from the beginning. About 17 years ago, when I was just a filly, it started. It started with just one pony. They started biting others for no known reason. It spread like wild fire, with ponies running for the safety of their homes, only to be dragged out by these creatures. screaming and snot bubbling, they were dragged out the door, molars that were meant for shearing lettuce tearing through their flesh. There was nothing they could do. I was only one year old. I grew up with a rich family, so I was one of the lucky ones. My family hid in our hurricane shelter deep beneath the earth, in utter blackness for months (it could have been years, I gave up counting.), on end.
once we got out, we discovered the horror that was the remnants of Equestria. plants were deing with nopony to water them, the starting of three major cities throughout the wasteland, and worst of all; the death of Celestia. the cities that were created were: A huge walled in town, Fort Evergreen, run by Twilight and was mostly covered in fields of wheat. An underground bunker, Stone Haeven, witch was run by Luna and home of the miners. and lastly, an organization run in the mountains, The Northern Summit, which was ran by Cadence, and specialized in technology. My family joined in with Fort Evergreen. The ponies there told us about everything that had happened, the death's of Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Flutter Shy being one of them. Devastated by there lost, Apple Jack decided to create a group of messengers, witch eventually turned into a full cadet squad. Joining the training corp's to become a messenger was an option for young foals and fillies, were they learned how to fight of lurkers, avoid wasting rations and so forth. Messengers would take scrolls written by several ponies from one city to the next, and were accompanied by one navigator. it just so happens that I am a navigator. I am Compass Rose, and this is my story.
“Good morning people of Fort Evergreen. I’m Your host DJ-pon3 here to give you whats up in this fantastic city…”
The sound of the morning radio awoke me from my sleep. I don't want to get up. I don't want to leave the warmth of my bed, but sadly there is work to be done. As much as it sucks, I need to do it. I slowly get up and walk over to the mirror, studying my mint fur and my Cutie Mark, witch was a black compass. I levitate a brown brush over to my blue mane and start brushing, untangling the pink streaks. I enter my small but cozy kitchen, were the counters are littered with maps, plates, and food. I sigh and push the stuff aside as I grab some cereal.
Today was going to be just like any other. I would wake up, head to my office, and work non-stop all day. Sure the pay was good, but sitting around studying maps isn’t my definition of fun. I missed the days back at the academy, where we were trained in navigation and survival. I missed the lessons on how to defend ourselves against lurkers outside the city. However, it seems like the skills they taught us were useless now. That training was to prepare us for journeys outside the walls, where we would travel to another city to assist a messenger. Those missions are rare. Only about once every couple months. I’ve never been on one of those missions but I’ve always dreamt about it. I sigh imagining how cool it would be to travel outside, fighting off lurkers and visiting the other cities.
I finish my cereal and grabbed my saddlebag from the table, “One day” I say to myself “One day”
The walk to my office was probably one of the most enjoyable parts of my day. I would get to say hi my neighbors, see what was for sale at the bargain mart, and I would also get to check the news bulletin for any upcoming events and activities. The activities were always the most exciting because it gave me an excuse not to go to work, but sadly there was nothing. When I get to the office building the secretary, Scarlet, Greeted me.
“G’day Ms Rose” she said with a cheery smile that I couldn't help but return.
“Morning Scarlet” I replied “Any new assignments coming up?"
“Not that i'm aware of” She said frowning a bit. “I’ll let you know if something arises”
I frown, disappointed, “Thanks anyway” I say sadly “have nice day Scarlet.”
“You too, Ms Rose.” She said beaming again. “See you later.”
With that, I turn and head toward my office room. I sit down and open my bags. I pull out some maps and some pens and start working. My job at the navigation headquarters was to label maps once they’ve finished being drawn. It was boring, but it gave me something to do. The morning seemed to drag on forever. Map after map, label after label, my hooves begin to hurt. At long last the bell for lunch rang. I get up and head for my office door. Glad to finally have a break from all the work i’ve had to do. Until…
“Can Compass Rose please report to Chief Prime’s office, Immediately”
I groan at this. Hours of work and when a break finally arises i’ve got to go and see The Chief. Chief Prime (Short for Chief Prime Meridian) was the head navigator, and regrettably, My Boss. He was probably the meanest, cruelest, and by far the most judgemental boss ever. I sigh and head to his office, wondering what I could have done to get him to want me in his office.
When I get to the door I look at the picture hanging next to it. It was a picture of an orange mare with a yellow mane and she wore a faded brown cowboy hat. Below the picture were the words ‘In memory of our beloved founder: Applejack. Every time I see that picture, I wish that she was our boss instead of the buck I was about to see. After a while of staring at the picture I reached out a hoof and knocked on the door. For a while there was silence, but then came the loud booming voice of Chief Prime. “Come in.”
I slowly opened the door. “You wanted to see me sir?” I asked stepping inside, preparing myself for what was about to come next.
He looked at me with that stern look that he always has. “Yes, Close the door and sit down.” He commanded.
I obey, closing the door and taking a seat across the desk from him.
“I've been thinking...” He said, sternly looking at me
‘Uh oh’ i think to myself
“About the work you've done…”
‘Be prepared’
“And I'm not always happy about making this decision but i thinks its time…”
‘Here it comes’
“For you to head out on your first navigation mission”
The walls that I had built up to prepare for what I thought he would say shattered, replaced by shock and relief, and then excitement. “P-pardon me sir?” I ask, trying to keep my composure.
“I think its time that you went out on you first mission” He repeats. “I always find it hard to send someone out there, especially someone with very little experience, but I think its time for me to send you out there.”
“Really?” I say, barely able to keep in my excitement.
“Yes” He says, smiling a little “You’ll go and meet the messenger you will be traveling with in the lobby and you will head out tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you sir!” I say jumping with excitement “You won’t regret this.” and before anything else could be said, I run out the door.
I manage to keep my calm as I enter the lobby of the office building. The lobby was empty, even Scarlet was on lunch break. I look around but can't see anyone. I start to feel sad when a pony walked through the lobby doors. The pony was a pink unicorn mare with a light yellow mane. She looked around until she saw me, then she smiled and walked over. “You must be Compass Rose” She said when she reached me.
“Yeah,” I say, smiling awkwardly. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Opal Star” She says, matching my weird smile. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. I don't remember ever seeing you before. Are you from here?”
She laughs a little “No, I’m from Stonehaven. I just arrived here this morning.”
“If you traveled here you must have had a navigator… What happened to them?” I ask, although I feel like I know the answer.
Opal frowns sadly “Lets just say he didn’t make the trip.”
I frown too. “I’m sorry I asked”
She smiles again although it seems a little forced. “It’s OK, you couldn’t have known.”
After a while of silence Opal finally smiles happily again. “Well, I’ve got some things I’ve got to take care of before tonight,” She states. “You should probably go and pack, we’ve got a long journey ahead of us."
The next morning I head to the fort's front gates, my saddlebags loaded with food, water, maps, a compass, and a pistol (for safety). When I get to the gates I see Opal Star already waiting for me. When she see's me she smiles.
“You ready to go?” She ask's.
I nod confidently.
Her smile grows. “Perfect.”
The door to the city slowly start's to rise, revealing the darkened forest outside. The air was cool and the ground was damp. I know this was what I had prepared for my whole life, and I was ready. Without a second thought I started walking, Opal by my side, away from the city and into the wilderness.
So we set out from the fort, walking through the forest. Just one foot in front of another. I have my blank paper levitating in front of me, along with a quill, for mapping out the area. Opal and I don't say much to each other, just some warnings every now and then to tread carefully. She's kind of my look out, seeing as I'm constantly dragging the feather quill across the parchment. I take note of her cutie mark, a circle with a plus sign in it. I'm not an expert, but I'm guessing it's the target from a sniper rifle. It just reminds me even more that even though she looks cute and innocent, she has been training in the Messenger Corps longer than I have, and that she is a force to be reckoned with. I let out a long shaky breath as I continue to walk and map.
"So, how long have you been in the business?" Opal inquirers, obviously trying to break the awkward silence.
"Business?"
"You know, being a navigator?"
"O-oh, well…" I put the end of the quill in my mouth, thinking. "I think it's been about three years."
"hmm," she nods. "I think I have been officially in the messenger corps for about a year."
"Oh. If I was a messenger that long, I would be long dead by now." I say, trying to lighten up the situation.
Opal puts on a forced smile. We both know it wasn't funny, but I still silently thank her for the notion.
"We should probably stop for lunch, I don't know about you but I'm starving!" Opal laughs. I don't know why, but her laugh is strangely comforting. I can't help but chuckle a bit, too.
"Sounds good."
So we find a nice spot under a tree where we sit down to have a quick snack "We probably shouldn't do this often, we might run out of food sooner." Says Opal.
I nod in agreement. I hadn't thought of that. I then take out an apple from my saddle bag, and attempt to break in in half.
"Here, I'll help." Opal offers.
"T-thanks." I say.
She leans over and picks up the apple with her magic, then swiftly breaks in in half, handing me a piece.
"Thank you." I smile, picking it up.
We both sit in silence for a few minutes, just enjoying the meal. A crow caws somewhere in the forest, startling me. It is at this point that I remember that this was no picnic. A lurker could rush into the clearing at any moment. With that thought in mind, I scarf down the rest of my apple and stand up. This forest suddenly seems… eery. I can see my breath coming in puffs before my eyes, the tip of my snout chilled. Morning dew still clings to the pale leaves and grass, the sky a light grey. I feel… unsafe. I silently urge Opal to hurry up, we should keep moving.
"Alright. We should keep moving." Says Opal.
At that moment, we hear it. a low moaning sound coming from a few feet away. I tense my muscles and levitate my pistol in front of me.
"D-d-did you hear that?!" I ask.
"Don't worry, it's just one of them. Oh yeah, I keep forgetting that this is your first time out." She says. And with that, she levitates a pistol to her face and silently clings to the back of a tree. She gestures me to do the same. The moaning is louder now, and I can hear hoof-steps coming closer. Suddenly I wish I hadn't gone on this trip. Then, we see it. A faded purple head, then its neck, then it's full body. It's ribcage is gleaming in the morning light, some bones smashed and hanging by a few fibres. I can't even make out It's cutie mark from the ripped flesh on it's rear. It's cold, dead eyes lock onto me. I can't move. I screech, dropping my pistol and falling to the damp earth. I scramble backwards as it limps it's way over to me. Suddenly, a baseball bat collides with it's head and it falls to the floor. I regain control of my body and stand up, picking up my pistol. The creature swivels it's distorted head on Opal.
"Rose, it's best if you look away." Say's Opal dryly.
I obey and turn my head around. I hear a collision, a deep snapping noise, the creatures head being bashed in with a blunt object. I hear it again, then again, then again… After a while i hear Opas voice. "Don't worry, its safe now.”
I slowly turn my head around to see the lurker's head a bloody mess. It's remaining eye has been popped like a grape, the pale blood everywhere, already starting to clot. I feel sick to my stomach. suddenly that apple doesn't seem like it was a good idea. I look over at Opal, whose fore legs are sticky with cold, black sludge. Blood. Opal had used her own hooves to bash the creatures head to a pulp. I felt sick, the sight of all the blood and the gore made my stomach churn. I didn’t know what to think, I had never seen anything like that before. I had seen ponies killed before, but nothing like the way Opal killed that lurker, so brutally and without hesitation. I wish I hadn’t seen the body. I wish she hadn’t killed it. But more importantly I started to wish I had never left the fort.
The view from the rock outcropping where we set up camp was beautiful. The evening sky illuminated the valley below in a dull pink light. The treetops rose up like pillars. The lakes glistened with the reflection of the sky. The view was absolutely gorgeous, but it didn’t make me feel better.
What I had seen earlier today still scared me. The groan of the lurker, the liquified thump as Opal kicked it, and the sights of its head torn to bits. She had explained to me that what was done needed to be done. She told me that it wasn’t the same as killing a pony because those things weren't ponies, just monsters in a pony shaped shell. I understood what happened and why it needed to happen but it still scared me.
I heard Opal approaching behind me. “You should really come eat something,” She said, placing a hoof on my shoulder. “You’ll need you strength if we’re planning on continuing tomorrow.”
With a sigh I turned and followed Opal to the campfire, which was surrounded by a wall of rocks about knee high. “Why is the fire pit so big?” I asked curiously.
“Its to reduce the amount of light it gives off.” She turned to me saw I was still confused “Those Lurkers will be able to spot an uncovered flame from about a mile away and we don’t any to show up when we’re sleeping.”
I nodded and took a seat by the fire and levitated a bowl of what looked to be some sort of stew over to me and started eating. The taste in my mouth wasn’t the best feeling in the world. but it was warm, and on a cold night in the middle of a forest, warm was good.
“So.” I started awkwardly “What made you want to become a messenger?”
Opal put her bowl down and thought for a moment “Well i guess a big reason is for the adventure. Being locked up in a underground city doesn’t exactly fall under my definition of fun.” Opal then turned to me. “Why did you become a navigator?”
“When I was younger I used to listen to stories that the navigators told to the children. They always made them sound so exciting and action packed, and i guess I just wanted to have a story like that. My very own story.” I said worried, hoping it wouldn’t seem to selfish.
“Well, stick with me and you’re certain to have plenty of stories to tell!” she said with a laugh.
I laughed as well. “No doubt.”
After that we were silent. Only the crackling of the flame could be heard. The silence was calming. It made me feel secure. I lie down and look up at the sky. The stars are glistening up high overhead and the moon was at its fullest. I stare up for a long while. My eyes begin to close. I try fighting sleep for a while, but it was no use. I let fatigue take over as I fall asleep, hoping for peaceful night.
What I got was far from peaceful.
I was standing in clearing. The cool air brushed past my face and through my mane. The night sky sparkled with millions of stars. The grass beneath my feet was as soft as a cloud and the trees around me were covered in green leaves. The scene was amazing, but it didn’t last.
The air around me started to feel more cold and unforgiving. The sky and the stars went dark as they were covered by grey clouds. The trees around me lost their leaves, revealing dark creepy branches. The grass beneath me turned brown and died. I then heard a noise from behind me. When I turned I saw Opal, But this was not the normal Opal. This version of her had blood covering most of her now pale pink fur, most of her mane had been torn away, cuts were scattered all across her body, and lastly there was a bite mark on her neck.
Opal was dead, at least in the sense that none of what made her her, really remained. What was left was this empty shell, filled with some sort of evil.
Opal opened her mouth and let out a loud defining moan. Then more moans came from all around me as more lurkers appeared from the shadows of the trees. I had nowhere to run. The lurkers slowly got closer and closer, Opal in the lead. She got close enough to the point I could feel her dark, raspy, dead breath down my neck.. She then pushed me onto the ground in a tackle. I tried to fight back but her strength was too much. She let out another blood curdling moan and then, with the forces to crush bones, she bit.
~
I shot up, awake, sweat running down my face and neck. Thank Celestia that it was a dream. I didn’t know what would’ve happened if it wasn’t.
I then felt a hoof on my shoulder, making me jump back in surprise.
“Oops, Sorry.” Opal said flinching “I saw how scared you looked so I came over to see what was wrong.”
I stay silent for a moment, shocked in Opals taking notice to what had happened. “I’m fine, just a little nightmare, nothing to worry about.” I say with a forced smile
“Are you sure?” She replied, still worried “You seemed pretty scared...”
“I'm Fine.” I push.
She was about to argue more but was interrupted by a rustling in the bushes behind her. Opal raised her pistol toward the sound. She took a second before lining up the shot Just before she started squeezing the trigger a voice came from the bushes where she was aiming.
“I would rather you didn't” A figure emerged from the trees. It was a colt, a unicorn buck to be exact. His charcoal fur blended with the shadows behind him. His white mane and tail seemed to glow against his body. His cutie mark was what looked to be iron. What really intrigued me about him though, were his eyes, they weren't normal. They were cloudy, grey and lifeless. I realized the pony was blind, unable to see, but that didn't seem to effect him.
“After all I've been through with the undead, it would suck to die from a gun.” He said, taking some more steps forward into our base.
“Who are you?” I ask approaching the black and white unicorn. “What do you want?”
“You first.” He says, calmly.
“My name is Compass rose, and this is Opal Star.” I say, hesitantly.
After that, Cobalt had sat down and we had talked. We had decided it was best if we teamed up, Cobalt said he didn't really have anything to lose. "I grew up in Stonehaven," he had said. "I was a miner with my brother, Quick silver. we snuck out on a carriage of supplies, jumping off of it when we thought it was right. we were young and stupid, we didn't realize the danger. Quick silver was…" he swallowed hard. "Killed by them. I still remember it like it was yesterday. his screams, the blood squirting in my eyes… that's... why I'm blind."
We didn't talk much after that, except for a few apologies from me and Opal.
It's my turn to take watch. Opal and Cobalt are asleep by the empty campfire. I am tired beyond my ears (it turns out that my nightmare-filled sleep earlier had only been about an hour and a half), and I refused to let Cobalt take watch, so I took his place. I don't necessarily trust him. I have heard stories about scavengers, ponies who act like harmless wanderers then take all of your stuff when you've let your guard down. I shiver from the cold and levitate a blanket from my saddle bag. as I wrap it around myself, I see little glimmers of light from beyond the distant mountains. we still sat on that rock, overlooking a portion Equestria.
I try to remember what it was like when ponies roamed without fear of being eaten. the wind buffets my face. the vermillion sunrise and the orange light painted over everything are beautiful. at least the lurkers couldn't take away that. I hear a groan coming from behind me. I whirl around, my blanket falling to the stone ground. I loosen up, it was only Opal waking up.
"Good morning," yawns Opal. "Rose, you should get some sleep. you look awful."
I yawn. "yeah, I probably should. would that be ok?"
She nods, standing up. "lucky bastard gets to sleep all night." Says Opal, gesturing to Cobalt.
I chuckle and levitate my blanket over to me, wrapping it around myself and lying down.
I wake up to Opal nudging my flank. I sit up.
"What time is it?" I ask.
"Around noon." says Opal.
"I slept that long?!"
"Well you didn't get any sleep last night, so it's understandable." Opal says. I sigh and rub my neck. Cobalt is sitting by the edge of the rock, looking at the sky. "What have you two been doing all day?" I ask.
"Mainly sorting out supplies and gathering fruit." says Opal.
I nod and stand up. It seems they have packed up everything.
"Ready to go?" Opal asks to me and Cobalt.
"Yup." I say.
Cobalt stands up and walks over to us, not saying anything.
"Okay then, lets move out!" Opal says as she trot's into the forest.
I make a swift glance towards Cobalt, then follow her into the woods.
"So, I think we should look for some sort of landmark." I suggest.
"Why would we need to?" Asks Opal.
"Well, this IS my first time out. I just want to make sure we're going the right way."
"I guess… so where is the nearest one?"
"Let's see.. the castle of the two sisters." I say, looking at my map.
"Sweet. wait, if you already have a map, why are you mapping the area as we walk?"
"Ponies found it inaccurate to copy other ones, so to make a new one somepony must go outside, to make it accurate." I explain.
Opal nods, understanding. we walk over old bricks and the ruins of houses. I see a piece of rubble that looks like gingerbread, and a broken sign that says "sug r cub orn r" on it. most of the letters have been scratched out, so I can't make out what it says. I trip over a log of some sort and fall to the dusty floor. "uwah!"
"Are you ok?" says Opal as she helps me up.
"Yeah, I'm fine…" I stand up and dust off my legs.
Cobalt stands a few feet in front of us, waiting patiently. I still don't trust him very much. we keep walking, and eventually the ruined village stops and is now an unforgiving forest. I look at my map.
"We're getting close," I say excitedly. Opal smiles and changes from a walk to a trot, her saddle bags bouncing up and down.
Through the trees I can see a great stone castle. I change too a run. "Were here!" I say, grinding to a halt.
"Awesome!" shouts Opal.
Cobalt just stands in silence, listening to the trees.
"You shouldn't shout like that," he says. "someone, or something, might hear you."
Opal's ears flop down. "sorry." "Should we go inside? or is it enough that we found it?" I ask.
"I think we should keep moving." says Opal.
Just as I am about to step forward, I hear leaves rumble deep within the thicket.
"Uhm, did anyone hear that?" I ask warily.
Opal looks into the trees, the silence booming in my ears. Then a ghastly head breaks through the trees, and I shriek.
"Don't worry, theres only one. it shouldn't be a problem." says Opal as she runs up to it and bashes its head in with a baseball bat.
I breathe out, but it just turns into another warning cry as a few more lurkers come out of the tree line. Opal backs up in shock.
"Um, cancel what I said earlier, we should get inside!"
All i could hear was the constant groaning of the lurkers as we ran through the door of The Castle Of The Two Sisters. Opal slams the door shut and holds it in place as the lurkers slam into it, trying to get in.
She turns her head to me. “Rose, find something to hold this closed.”
I look around and spy an old flag post. I run over and pick it up, bringing it over to Opal, who slides it between the door handles. The lurkers continue to slam into the door.
“That won’t hold them off for long.” Cobalt says.
“Your right, we’ve got to find a way out of here!” Opal replies. “Rose, find out where we’ve got to go from here. I’ll look around for another exit.”
I sit down in a corner of the room and pull out my maps and compass. After a while Opal returns.
“I think we could get out on the second floor. There are some thick vines hanging from a nearby tree we could slide down.” At that moment, a lurker smashed a hoof sized hole into the door “Shit!” Opal says in surprise. “We’ve got to move.”
“You’re not going anywhere girly” a heavily accented voice says from behind us. We turn around to see an older unicorn pony with a brown coat and a gray mane. He looked like he hadn’t showered in years and with all likelihood he hadn’t. He was levitating a shotgun which was aimed straight at Opals head.
I step forward “Who are you?”
“Who I am doesn't matter. Who are you.” The stranger said in an accent i couldn’t quite pinpoint.
“I’m Rose, and this is Opal, and Cobalt” I reply gesturing to my friends. “What do you want?”
“Simple” Said the stranger. “I want your supplies, all of them."
“WHAT?!” I yell in shock “We need these supplies in order to survive!”
“That is none of my concern.” The stranger said with a smirk “Drop your supplies on the floor now.”
The three of us do so reluctantly. The stranger slowly steps forward, reaching for the bags. Within an instant Cobalt swung around and bucked the brown unicorn in a skull crushing kick to the head. I shrieked, I was not expecting that. “How did you do that?” I say looking at Cobalt.
Cobalt turned his head toward me. “What do you mean?”
“Kick that pony. How did you see him?”
He smiled “I didn't. I just guessed where he was by the sound of his voice”
I only stare in shock. Opal interrupts “I’d love to sit around and chat all day but we’ve got a horde just outside the door, so we need to get out of here.” As if on cue a few more lurkers smashed holes into the door. We didn’t have a lot of time.
“Even if we get out of here, they’ll just follow us.” Cobalt says with a frown.
“What do we do?” I ask
Opal looks at the door of lurkers and then at the body of the brown unicorn. “I've got an idea.”
~
“ARE YOU INSANE?!” I yell after Opal finished explaining the plan. “That's sick and cruel!”
“I’m afraid we don’t have a choice.” Opal replied sadly “Its the only way we're getting out of this alive.”
“But that's inhumane!” I counter. “Its not right.”
“Opal's correct.” Cobalt says “If we don't do this, we will all die.”
I wanted to argue some more but they were right. There was no other option. we would have to use the unicorns body as a distraction to get away. “Fine.” I say through gritted teeth.
We drag the body up to the second floor window. I peek over to see dozens of lurkers smashing against the walls of the castle. They’d break through any second. We slide the body on the windowsill and push it off. All at once the lurkers turned toward the dead unicorn and begin to approach it. Sweet celestia I wished I’d looked away. The lurkers tore the body to shreds. Blood going everywhere, limbs being ripped away. One of his eyeballs was torn from his socket and flung toward me. I shrieked as it bounced on the windowsill next to me.
Opal stared at me, pity in her eyes. she turned away “We've got to move!” She exclaimed and the three of us made our way to the opposite end of the castle where we slid down a steep ramp made out of a collapse ceiling. We ran far away from the castle before we stopped to take a break.
I walk over to a tree and lean against it. I still couldn't get over what we did back there. Sure the unicorn threatened us but he didn’t deserve that, even if he was already dead.
Cobalt walks over to me “You feeling ok?” He asks
“Im fine.” I lie, not wanting to show my fear of what happened.
“I’m sorry for what we did back there. It was inhumane but it had to be done or all three of us would’ve ended up like him. except we would've been eaten alive.”
“Its ok, I understand.” I reply, looking at the ground.
Cobalt opens his mouth to say more but decides against it. He turns and walks over to a nearby tree where he lies down.
For a while we rest, not saying a word. We just sat there and rested. What happened at the castle affected all of us. After a while Opal looks over to me. “You got any idea where we head next?”
I slide off my saddlebags and reach in for my maps only to find they weren't there. “Shit,” i say under my breath “They’re not here.”
Opal jumps up “What?”
“The maps, they're not here!” I say, panicking now.
“Where could they be?” Opal asks frantically.
“I must have left them at the ruins!”
“What do we do?” Opal says, pacing back and forth. “Can we go back for them”
“No” Cobalt says standing up as well “Those lurkers will still be there and will remain there for some time.”
The maps were gone, and so was the compass. we had no idea where we were nor did we know where to go. We were lost.
"Dammit!" I shout, bucking the leafless tree behind me with my weak hind legs.
It turns out that not only did I leave the maps behind, but also the messages that we were delivering. I guess they slipped out or something, I don't know. all that I know is that it's all gone, and it's my fault.
"Rose, it's ok." Says Opal. I can tell she's frustrated but she doesn't want to show it.
"No it's not! now we're completely lost, and we don't even have the messages with us! We might as well go home!" I shout to the sky.
"Not to rain on your parade, but you shouldn't shout like that." Cobalt pitches in.
I dig my hooves into the dirt and flop to the ground. without the messages from all the ponies in the Fort, our mission was now meaningless. what should we do? we could go back to the Fort, or we could continue meaninglessly to the Summit. we are about halfway between the two, so neither would be shorter. I see Opal shuffling around next to me out of the corner of my eye.
"Wait! we have one message left!" She says excitedly.
I bolt up from my sad position in the dirt to look at it. written in black ink are the words; "To Cadence, From Twilight".
This was the most important letter we were delivering! at least we could let Cadence hear out whatever "princess" stuff Twilight had planned.
"This is great! now we have a reason to continue." I say, still partly solemn that all the others had been left behind.
"So, I guess we should continue then." Opal chirps. "Lets go!"
So we keep walking through the wasteland. I'm still frustrated, but I don't let my anger show. As we walk, I start to drift into deep thought….
SNAP
A branch from a lonesome tree right above me starts to break apart from the trunk. I gasp, frozen stiff to the ground.
"Rose!" I hear Opal shout, a few feet in front of me. "get out of there!"
Cobalt seems to notice I'm frozen, because the next thing I know, I'm on the ground, the huge branch right where I was standing only a few seconds ago.
He saved me! he pushed me out of the way!
He stands up.
"Sorry." He says.
"Sorry for what? you just saved my life!"
"Well, I pushed you…"
I shake my head. "I would be dead right now if it weren't for you, I'm not worried about a little push."
He smiles.
I think its safe to trust him, i thought and then I smile to myself.
As we trot, I notice a browning piece of paper, fluttering in the wind. out of boredom, I levitate it over to my face.
"Whats that?" Opal inquires, slowing her pace so she can trot alongside me.
"Some kind of newspaper… it’s all torn and aging, its really hard to read." I say, squinting at the printing. wait… what?! this was published 17 years ago! when this hell started!
"This was printed 17 years ago!" I tell Opal.
"Sweet Celestia, it was!" She says, checking the small printing in the right corner.
I scroll my eyes down the page to the headline.
Scientists’ "cure" goes bad when ponies start biting each other!' it read.
"A scientist was behind this? no one ever told me that." I say, frowning.
Cobalt looks at the paper. "I don't think anyone remembers this!" He says.
Deep in his underground tunnel, a pasty white unicorn stares at the 3 ponies on his monitor, two mares, one pink and one a minty green, and one grey colt. "they're learning."
Through the forest we walked. The moon and stars shone high above our heads but the tree canopy prevented any of their light from reaching us. Except for the faint glow of Opal’s horn, we were in complete blackness. We slowly traveled through the trees, taking slow and cautions steps, not wanting to alert anything or anyone of our presence. I begin to grow tired, We had been traveling non-stop for more than a day. My eyes begin to close and I fight off the urge to fall asleep.
Opal notices this and stops. “We should rest" she whispers. "I think we're close to a town."
I walk on, fighting to stay awake. After about half an hour sleep gets the better of me and i fall to the ground. I feel something lift me up and i open my eyes. Cobalt had lifted me up onto his back and was carrying me. "No, you don't have to carry me" I protest "I can walk"
Cobalt continues walking "You're to weak to walk right now" He says sincerely "Just Rest."
I want to protest more but am too tired to do so. I lay, slung over cobalts back, staring at the ground.
“How much farther do you think we have to go?” Cobalt asked
“I don’t know.” I heard Opal reply. “Not much, I hope.”
“Me too, Another days travel and I’ll end up like our little navigator back here.” He said with a slight chuckle
“Hey!” I scold weakly. “Thats not very nice.”
Cobalt only smiles.
Opal looks back at me “You should get some sleep Rose, You need it.”
I nod and relax looking at the ground again. I wonder what would happen once we got to The Summit. Would they be happy when we got there? Would they be mad that we lost most of the messages? What if they didn’t let us in? Question after question raced through my head until eventually the urge to sleep grows too much, I close my eyes. ______________________________________________________________________________
I open my eyes to find myself lying in grass. Slowly I get up and look around. I appeared to be in some sort of clearing. The moon shone overhead and I can't see much through the trees around me. Cobalt and Opal are nowhere to be seen.
"Hello?" I call out. When nobody responded I began to panic. Where are thy? Did something happen? Why did they leave me here? I hear a rustling from the bushes behind me and I turn, hoping to see one of my companions. A see a figure approaching through the trees. "Cobalt? Opal? Is that you?" I ask stepping toward the figure. A loud moan lets out as the reanimated body of a lurker steps into the clearing. Surprised, i take a step back and pull out my knife. The lurker turns and starts walking toward me. Instinctively I lunged at it and dug the knife into its head.
The dead body fell to the floor with a loud thud. I begin to relax when another moan comes from the forest behind me. I turn to see another lurker appear from the thicket. I groan, turn back toward the dead lurker and yank my knife out of its head. I turn toward the newest arrival to find that it wasn't alone. 3 more lurkers had emerged from the trees next to it. I take a step back as another one appears to my right. Then one to my left. Then another, and another, and another. More and more lurkers appeared from the forest, Surrounding me.
"Shit." The lurker nearest me lunged and i stuck the knife into its skull. Another one came from behind and i bucked as hard as I could against its head. One after the other they came. I took them all out but more just kept coming. As a pale blue lurker stepped toward me I plunged my blade into his brain, lodging it into his skull. I tried to pull the knife out but it was no use. It was stuck.
I reared up and kicked a lurker directly behind me which took it out instantly but it also knocked me off balance. I fell to the ground and started panicking. I push myself back trying to get away from the Lurkers deadly teeth. I push myself against a tree and slowly the undead approached closer and closer.
The nearest one fell to his knees and lunged at my neck. ______________________________________________________________________________
"Rose. Wake up. We're almost there."
"I slowly open my eyes to see Opal standing over me. "Where?" I ask groggily.
"To our destination silly. We're almost at The Summit."
We had (with great effort) climbed the mountain, and now we finally stood in front of the great doors.
I gulp nervously. Its not that I'm scared of it, it's just, I'm not good around crowds, especially new crowds.
Opal knocks on the huge wooden door using her magic. Cobalt is standing a few feet away, listening to the rabbits scurrying across the path that previous ponies had created. I can see my breath in front of my face, coming out in drawn out puffs.
The door slowly opens, revealing two muscly guards aiming pistols at us.
"Whoa, calm down!" says Opal, taking a step back.
"Have any of you been bit?" one of the guards asks.
Opal shakes her head.
One of the guards does a quick inspection of all three of us, checking for any bite marks. he falls back to his previous spot and gestures for us to continue walking. Opal trots
ahead into the small cave. wait, small? Shouldn't it be huge? It is a city, after all. Curious, I walk into the cave, Cobalt behind me. Opal is staring at one of the walls. I walk up
to her, and she looks behind her to make sure we're both by her side. she snickers and pulls a lever. The rocky floor cuts off just behind my back hooves, and the end of the
cave where we are standing descends deeper into the mountain. I just managed to see the doors closing before we were completely underground. After a few moments of
falling slowly enough so that we wouldn't bang around the still-rocky end of the cave, the elevator screeches to a halt. a double door opens up behind us.
"This is it!" Opal squeaks.
"You said that already." Cobalt points out.
Opal started to retort but seemed to decide against it as the doors opened.
We step out onto a gravely path and gape at the city. I have to say, the builders did a good job at carving out the inside of this mountain! We were standing on a gravel path
which was bracketed by two buildings, a town hall and a library. The gravel path dipped down in a hill like fashion, and below was a cluster of small but cozy houses. On the
wall of the mountain behind this all, a big, long staircase leads up to a fancy door in the mountain wall, this is obviously princess Cadence's palace. Several separate stairways
surround her palace; leading up to doors in the mountain side which I assume belong to the higher-up ponies here.
"Wow! This is amazing!" I say.
Opal nods. Even though she had been here many times before she was still taken aback by the city's beauty.
"I just wish I could see it…" Cobalt says sadly.
I look over at Cobalt's milky, pale eyes.
"don't worry! when we have time I'll tell you what it looks like." I reassure him. He smiles half-heartedly.
"Alright, we should get going. we have to deliver this message to Cadence!" Opal says as she trots down the dirt path.
As we arrive at Princess Cadence's 'palace', two guards stand on either side of the door. Opal and I show them our messenger badges, and they let me and Opal enter but
hold their spears in an X form when Cobalt tries to follow.
"Only authorized personnel may enter the princess's palace." one of them says.
Cobalt blushed out of embarrassment; he clearly didn't like being singled out.
"Don't worry, just wait outside. We'll be back soon." Opal says soothingly.
Cobalt nods and walks away. I feel bad, but the thought melts away when I see the room.
inside is a big, well decorated (and well lit) room. at the end of it, five steps lead up to a pink throne, and sitting on said throne is Princess Cadence, sipping some tea and
chatting about politics with a guard. when she sees us enter, she places her tea cup delicately on the arm of the chair and signals for us to come forth.
wow, I've never seen her in person before! even though she's sitting down, she's so tall!
Opal steps forward and I follow her close behind. after a few seconds of awkwardly standing in front of her throne, Opal nudges me. oh, right! the letter…
I levitate the envelope out of my saddle bag, and the princess levitates it close to her face, but doesn't open it yet.
"Is this it?" she asks.
"Yes. We were put in a difficult situation, and all the other letters were left behind." Opal reports.
Cadence ponders this, but doesn't say anything. after a few seconds of silence, she speaks.
"I appreciate the work you've done. I have a suite prepared for you, and you will leave in three days."
Opal and I bow walk out of the room.
"That was fast." Cobalt says as we approach him outside the gate.
"Yeah, the meetings usually are." Opal says from experience.
But was it worth coming all this way, nearly dying several times? I wonder.
"So uh, where's the suite?" I ask.
As if on cue, a white colt with a red mane walks up to us. he wears a badge on his armour so we know we can trust him.
"Allow me to escort you to your room." he says politely.
Opal looks at the colt, smiles then nods. As we're following him, I notice he keeps glancing over to Cobalt. I don't say anything though; I don't like drawing attention to
myself. as we're walking up to a long staircase that leads to a door in the mountain, the colt stops.
"Here we are." he says, gesturing to the staircase.
"Thanks." Opal says, starting to walk up the stairs, me following quietly.
Just as Cobalt was about to follow me, the colt stands in his path, blocking him.
"Who are you? I was not informed there would be more then two ponies delivering the messages." he says firmly.
Cobalt looks flustered, not knowing what to say.
"We found him on the way here. you can trust him." Opal says reassuringly.
The guard still looks suspicious, but lets Cobalt pass. Cobalt dips his head out of shame. the awkward feeling suddenly washed away when we reached the door to the suite.
Opal was smiling widely as she opened the big door. we were greeted with a big room. there were two beds next to the wall, and a big window on the end. there were two
desks on opposite sides of the room, most likely for maps and such.
"Isn't the window dangerous?" I ask.
"Nah, the mountains steep enough so its very unlikely that the lurkers could climb up. plus, they spent years modifying this glass. its practically unbreakable." Opal says,
walking over to them and tapping hard on them with her hoof.
I nod and walk around the room, eventually collapsing on the bed closest to the window.
"There are only two beds." Opal says. "I guess they weren't expecting us to have brought another pony with us."
"I can sleep on the floor." Cobalt says nonchalantly.
"no, I should." I say. I look at Opal.
"hey, I'm sleeping on a bed. you two can argue about whoever sleeps on the floor." she says, falling onto the bed closest to the door.
I look at Cobalt, making a puppy dog face.
"In case you're wondering, she's looking at you with big puppy eyes." Opal says to Cobalt.
Cobalt rolls his eyes. "If you really want to."
Obviously I would rather lie in a bed, but I didn't want to have to go through the guilt of making some pony sleep on the floor. I smile. "Yay!"
"I'm gonna go into town and get a mattress for you to sleep on." Opal says.
"I'll come with you." I say, not wanting to be left here with nothing to do.
"I'll stay here." Cobalt says, sitting on a bed.
I nod. "okay. good bye!" I say as Opal and I walk out the door.
The town folk bustle around, going about their daily lives. I notice several ponies staring at me and Opal, but I don't know why. maybe they're curious 'cause they've never
met us? I hope they don't come up to us; I don't like talking to ponies I don't know.
"Alright, which shop do you think sells them?" Opal asks, looking around.
"I'm not sure. They should've given us a map."
"Good idea! We should find some way to get a map..
"There!" she runs over to a small building.
I follow her, looking at the building. the words 'Maps and Compasses. Everything for your navigational needs' is scrawled on its top. A scrawny looking old earth pony sits at
the front desk. Maps, snow globes, posters and such were behind him.
"May I help you?" he asks.
"Yes, we would like one map, please." Opal says.
The colt walks back into the shop and takes a map off the wall, then walks back over to us.
"That'll be five bits." he says.
Opal bites her lip, but still produces five copper coins. "thanks."
We both walk away.
"Why did you make a face?" I inquire.
"I only had ten bits with me, so we only have five now. I didn't think a map would be that expensive. I think mattress can cost up to twenty bits." she says.
"Oh. Well, I have some money, but its evergreen money. Do you think they accept evergreen dollars here?" I say.
"No, I don't think so. I think we can convert it, though." she says. "Let's go to the bank." she pulls out the map and searches for one, and off she trots. as we're walking, a
light brown mare walks up to us.
"Excuse me, are you two messengers?" she asks.
I nod, and Opal says; "yep."
"Do you have a message from Gum Drop?" she asks.
I look at Opal, silently pleading for her to explain for me.
"I'm sorry; we were attacked by lurkers on the way here. We only managed to save the letter for the princess. All the others were… left behind." she says grimly.
the expression on the brown mare saddens, but she doesn't say anything.
"Oh, okay then." she says, walking away sadly.
I feel a strong pang of guilt in my chest. Opal looks sad, too.
"Let's keep moving." she says, beginning to walk towards the bank.
After we convert my evergreen bits into Summit bits, we start to walk to a shop called "beds and comfort". Once we arrive, we are greeted with a slightly bigger shop filled
with mattresses, duvets, pillows and other bedroom novelties. it still baffles me how these ponies can live in such peace with such a hell going on outside this mountain.
After about an hour of awkwardly lugging the mattress, we finally arrived at out room. taking it up the stairs had been a real challenge, and by the time we were in out room I
was extremely sweaty and uncomfortable. we dropped the mattress on the floor and I collapsed on it. We didn't get a bed frame or anything since we were only gonna be
there for a few days.
"Took you long enough." Cobalt said as we arrived. He was sharpening his knife.
"Sorry, it was really awkward to carry through the crowd." I say, still lying on the mattress. "you should explore the city, Cobalt. it's beautiful." I regretted the words almost as
soon as they left my mouth. "I mean- it's great to listen to."
Opal looks at me with a sarcastic 'good job' look.
"Its fine, you don't need to be sorry for my eyes. I'm used to it." he says.
"Okay. I'm sorry." I say.
Cobalt rolls his blind eyes and smiles.
We spent the rest of the day telling stories and talking.
On the last day of our stay at the summit, we decided to spend it exploring the city. our previous days had been OK, mostly just buying maps of the outside and planning.
"Ok, let's go!" Opal says, walking out the door.
we trot down the steps, me lagging behind. all those years stuck working inside have made me almost incapable of doing physical work.
"Where should we go first?" Opal asks excitedly.
"Let's get ice cream!" I say.
Cobalt shrugs in agreement.
"OK." she says, looking at our map of the summit.
"What flavour should I get?" Opal asks, looking at the extremely limited selection of flavours.
The flavours were vanilla, chocolate, straw berry, mint and wild berry. I decided on wild berry, Cobalt chocolate and eventually, Opal decided on mint. we decided to walk
around for a bit, admiring the architecture and the busy ponies. Suddenly two Pegasus ponies, a mare and a colt, walk up to us. I cringe silently, not wanting to disappoint
anymore ponies. I notice that they must be twins, because they share the same colours, white fur with a green and turquoise mane and blue eyes. The mare spoke first.
"Hey! My brother and I noticed you a few days ago, and we've seen you walking around a lot. We wanted to say hi." The Pegasus mare says.
"Oh, well, hi!" Opal says.
Cobalt and I aren't very intrigued by the new comers. I smile awkwardly.
"I'm Sea spray and this is Starry sky." she smiles politely.
"I'm Opal. This is Compass rose," she gestures to me. "And this is Cobalt." she gestures to Cobalt.
Sea spray seemed to blush a little when Opal gestured to Cobalt. I could tell they were a lot younger than us.
Opal looks like she's about to ask them to hang out, and I pleadingly look at her, silently begging her to not ask them.
"Wanna walk with us?" Opal asks despite my silent plead.
I whimper inwardly, but try not to show it on my face.
"Sure!" Sea spray says.
Starry sky nods.
"okay." she says.
Opal starts walking, the twins walking to our sides. Sea spray walks next to Cobalt. I could tell Cobalt was feeling awkward. I ponder saying something to him to break the
awkwardness, but I don't want the twins talking to me. nothing personal, I just don't like talking to ponies.
"Soo.. how old are you two?" Opal asks. I could tell she had noticed that they were younger that us.
"Sixteen." Sea spray says.
"Oh." Opal says. "I'm twenty."
I didn't know that.
"But you know what they say, age is just a number. ammiright?" Opal says.
"Who says that?" Starry sky asks. it was the first time he had spoken since we met.
I head back to our room, collapse on the mattress and fall asleep
I awake to Opal pressing her hoof against my face.
"It's time to go." she says.
I groan but get up. "Okay."
I start packing up my stuff. Mostly stuff we had gotten while here, though. since, you know, we had lost most our other stuff.
"Ready." I say.
"Me too!" Opal says.
Cobalt nods.
"What should we do with the mattress?" I ask, looking at where I had been sleeping.
"I heard there were some homeless foals nearby. From what I've been told all they have are blankets. We should give it to them." Cobalt says starting to levitate the mattress.
I smile at him. how sweet!
"How sweet of you!" Opal says, echoing my thoughts.
"What? Isn't that what most people would do?" he asks, legitimately confused.
Opal sighs. "Unfortunately, most people wouldn't have thought of that."
Cobalt still looks confused, but he goes back to lifting the mattress. I go to help him.
Once we get down the stairs, we see the two foals, sitting against a shop wall. they looked scrawny and tattered, wearing dishevelled blankets. a small cup that read 'change'
sat in front of them. my heart swarms with pity as we see them. we lay the mattress in front of them and they look up at us, knowingly.
"Thank you, miss." one of them says to me.
I blush. it was hardly anything. a small mattress was barely enough to comfort two homeless foals, yet it was all we could do at the moment.
"I'm sorry I can't help more." I say.
They shake their head and move towards the mattress.
We continue on to the gate.
"Here we are." Opal says.
We stood outside the doors, the doors that lead back into hell. we nervously walked back into the stone elevator (after checking in with two guards) and went back up to the
small cave. the guards open the door, and I can see one of them eyeing our group suspiciously. I shrug it off and continue to walk. I stop a step before the door, take a deep
breath and step onto the mountainside.
"Good luck" one of the guards says, and the doors close with a slam.
We were back.
I hear giggling next to me, and it didn't belong to Opal. I turn around quickly. the slightly small form of Sea spray stands there (Starry sky next to her), giggling like a maniac.
"SEA SPRAY?!" Opal booms. "Why are you here?!"
"We snuck out with you!" she says.
Opal sighs angrily. "Why?"
"Because you made it sound so fun and… we just wanted a journey of our own." Starry sky says, ashamed.
I saw myself in them but they didn't have the training that I did.
"Being out here isn't much fun at all. It's dangerous. You two should go back inside."
"Even if we wanted to, we couldn't" Sea Spray retorts with a hint of annoyance. She obviously hadn't expected to be turned away.
"Why is that?" Cobalt asks. I notice that he didn't seem to be for or against the new arrivals.
"It's against the law to leave the city without proper certification." Starry Sky put in.
"Ok so you can't go back in. But what makes you think you can come with us?" Opal says taking a step toward the white Pegasus colt.
"Because" Sea spray says stepping between Opal and her brother "You're not the type of people to leave two ponies stranded, right?" She turned to look at Cobalt on the last word.
"I have no objections to them coming along." Cobalt says his cheeks turning a slight red. Wait was he blushing?
I didn't have time to think about it since the Pegasus Mare turned to me next. "Well?"
As much as I hated it I just couldn't see myself leaving them behind. "I'm fine with it." I say reluctantly.
Sea spray turns back to Opal, a look of victory on her face.
"Ugh. Fine, but don't expect to be babysat. If we get into a mess, you're getting yourselves out, got it."
"Got it" Sea Spray responds.
"With that, we head off, away from the safety of the city and into the godforsaken forest once again.
