No one was prepared for the second Chernobyl disaster.

The first one was already bad enough, scaring and poisoning the land with no possibility of future habitation. The second one was infinitely worse. In an instant, the ancient Ukrainian forests and decaying Soviet apartment blocks were made into something wholly other. Local wildlife was twisted and mutated beyond recognition, none residing within the zone at the time survived. A new unseen force moved throughout the landscape, twisting reality on a whim. And still, there are those either brave, stupid, or desperate enough to travel into this forsaken place. Their ideologies vary greatly, some seek to understand the Zone. Other's seek to destroy it in order to protect the outside world. And other's seek simply to profit off of it.

Regardless of their goals, they all go by the same broad term.

Stalkers.

One such Stalker, a man by the name of Nikolai, suddenly finds himself thrown into an entirely different kind of zone. One that you cannot escape from, and with a completely different set of hazards than the one he is used to.

The Equestrian Wasteland.

Elias Bright is a survivor. He has survived the end of the world. He has survived the deaths of his family. He has survived the death of all that he has built. On the run from a past that haunts him to his core, he finds himself in Equestria, a land of tranquility and peace. Elias now has a choice. Does he give up the only life he has known, that of a survivor, and settle with the ponies of Equestria, or will his past deeds come to drag him back into the dark past he has tried to bury?

Everypony has a story. Some tell of heroic feats and grand adventure. Others tell of villainy against the forces of Harmony. The story of an average guard, however, is one of obscurity. They live in the background, unnoticed but ever-present.

Silent Knight assumed his tale would be like that of his father's: join the Royal Guard and serve Equestria. He would be just another helmet and spear, part of the rank and file. And that was all he ever wanted.

However, when Captain Shining Armor asked for volunteers to form a House Guard for the recently returned Princess Luna, it was Silent's hooves that stepped forwards to set his new life in motion.

Baked Bean is but one of the thousands of tourists in Canterlot, and he's looking for some inspiration to help launch his writing career. To this end, he pays a visit to the Royal Gardens, but while there he quickly and quite accidentally invokes a long-forgotten law that will completely upend his life and thrust him into the spotlight...

As Celestia's husband.

And all this because of noses.

As seen on Equestria Daily!

With an audio reading by Fire Hearth Studios!

Cover art graciously provided by the Right Most Awesome Backlash91!
Original cover art provided the Right Most Awesome Sipioc!

Proofreading and prereading services provided by Georg, Sipioc, and Moon Fire!

Fan Art for this story can be found right here!

A most worthy review by Cyonix!

Inspired by the song Bismarck by the amazing band Sabaton!

When the Allies sunk the great battleship Bismarck, they thought it would be gone for good, left at the bottom of the Atlantic to rust as the Second World War raged on. What they didn't know was that the ship never made it to the ocean floor. Instead, the hulking battle machine was transported to someplace entirely unknown to mankind, with its sole survivor taken along for the ride.

The Gryphon Empire had been expanding its borders for centuries, gaining power and influence over the majority of the planet while at the same time stretching themselves ever thinner. Now, with food shortages threatening to tear the Empire apart, they look towards the only hope of salvation they have, Equestria.

Yet the pride of a predatory race would never allow for them to stoop to begging or trading for what they need. In their very blood there is a cry for war that cannot be denied if they are to save all that they have built. However, only a fool would dare go against the magical might of the pony nations, even taking into account the abysmal state of their military. Yet all of that changes when the hulk of a massive war vessel appears on the shores of their homeland, with a very strange pony the only being aboard.

Will Equestria fall under the power of one of mankind's most infamous warships? How will our lone human-turned-pony react to being in both a new body and world? You'll just have to take a look inside and see for yourself.

Thank you to my new Editors Grau and Helping Hoof for their help in making this an even better book for all of you to enjoy.