Fallout: Equestria - Across the Divide

by Rainium

Chapter Two: The Divide

After a few hours of fitful sleep, and a couple more hours to pack all her things and make sure everything was ready, Eden trotted out of New Pegas's north gate and down the cloud bridge to the ground below, three securitrons in tow behind her. She didn't know what kind of threats or situations she was going to get into on her journey, so she packed everything she might possibly need; weapons, ammo, and medicine, along with enough food and supplies for at least two weeks.

She wore her Stable 54 armored barding and had her plasma rifle, Remembrance, slung behind her back, her full saddlebags pressed against her flanks. After some thought, she had also pulled her PipBuck out of storage and attached it to her left foreleg, her gait a little unsteady as she got readjusted to the extra weight. It was old, but it was still reliable... and the mapping system and Eyes-Forward Sparkle would be useful in a new, unfamiliar area. She had never been to the Stable that she bore on her collar... but the outfit was passed down to her by ponies who were no longer with her, and she felt like she was honoring them by wearing it.

With all her equipment, Eden looked like a real killing machine... but she wasn't even the deadliest member of her group. She had three literal killing machines following her every move, securitrons armed with guns, energy rifles, and shoulder mounted grenade and missile launchers, able to locate and eliminate hostiles at a second's notice. Just their intimidating appearance was enough to make any potential attackers steer clear, and that's exactly what Eden was hoping they would do.

The cloud bridge led them right down into the heart of Applewood, half of the city obscured in shadow from the cloud city floating above them. It was a very impressive sight from the ground, the towering clouds and flashing buildings giving it a sort of heaven-like aura and appearance. Especially compared to the state of Applewood, with its crumbling buildings and shattered streets, torn apart by hundreds of years of infighting. Now, it was as stable as it had ever been... but it was still a sight that made Eden's heart sink.

The city was quiet today, with only the Countess patrols out and about making sure that the streets were in order. Occasionally, Eden would spot a pegasus, but they always fluttered away out of sight before she got close. Most of the pegasi encampments must've been on the other half of the town, underneath New Pegas and perpetually in shadow.

Eden flagged down one of the passing Countess members and whispered, "You're not... giving the refugees a hard time, are you?"

"'ope," was the simple response from the seafoam-colored pony, though her dye-job wasn't nearly as convincing as the main Countess. "They're jus' normally skittish like that. Celestia knows why, guess they're jus'... scared of acts of retribution from ground ponies, bein' former Enclave 'n all that. Maybe those death machines you got scared 'em, I 'unno."

Eden glanced over at the securitrons as the other pony waved a hoof at them, one of the robots letting out an idle beep. "SITUATION NORMAL. NO LETHAL FORCE NECESSARY AT THIS TIME."

"Yeah... maybe you're right," Eden muttered under her breath before patting the Countess member on the shoulder, letting her carry on.

The rest of the journey through Applewood was quiet and routine, and soon the pony and three robots were outside the city limits in the expanse of the wasteland itself, the irradiated water of the South Luna Ocean to their left and the mountains containing the APPLEWOOD sign to their right. The game plan was simple: follow the train tracks north through Shattered Hoof Ridge and the Smokey Mountains, and it should lead them to where Tall Tale should be. Hopefully.

To save time, Eden decided to hitch a ride on top of one of the Securitrons, perched on its shoulder like a parrot as they rumbled along beside the train tracks, their mechanized wheels allowing them to roll faster than she could trot or gallop... without having to stop for breaks.

Trusting the securitron's sensors to detect any enemies, Eden turned her attention to her PipBuck, brushing dust off the screen before flicking through the different pages. She had tried to do a bit of research on Tall Tale before she left, but New Pegas didn't exactly have libraries or government facilities like Tenpony Tower to pull information from. High Horse was of no help either, though that wasn't a surprise. As a computer program, it was bound by its programming to obey her commands... but it sure loved making it difficult. As its programmers intended. Stable-Tech must've had a huge grudge against the pre-war rulers of New Pegas, for some reason.

Rather than listening to the whir of the securitrons as they rolled along, Eden flicked to the radio tab on her PipBuck and was given two choices: Countess Radio and DJ PON3. She picked the Countess and was immediately introduced to the familiar mare's voice.

"-had a wonderful reopening ceremony for one of New Pegas's most iconic landmarks, the High Roller casino. Clean, well-staffed, and no asses rubbed in your face every five seconds. Might be worth a stop... if you have the caps to get in the city. Credit checks, who came up with those? Preventing less-reputable ponies from entering, my ass. Obviously isn't doing a very good job, because all the ponies living up there have some kind of mental problem, I swear.

"In other news... with the destruction of Gambit and his 'Sombr's Legion', the southern badlands have been freed up for trade routes, and Klugetown has made contact with Applewood and New Pegas about doing just that! So if you see any weird, bipedal, anthropomorphic creatures walking around Applewood soon, don't blame it on the Dash.

"...Well, don't immediately blame in on the Dash, I know how much of that stuff you fuckers are huffing. Celestia knows what fucked-up shit you ponies are seeing when you hit the peak of that high.

"Guess it's time to go back to the music. You can't get these tunes anywhere else, ponies! This is Countess Radio, the exclusive home of Countess Coloratura! Here's one of our favorites, The Magic Inside!

"I'm here to show you who I am
Throw off the veil, it's finally time
There's more to me than glitz and glam,
And now I feel my stars align..."

Countess Radio wasn't connected to the S.P.P. towers like DJ PON3 was, so the range was very limited, but she was able to listen for a few hours before the signal cut out. There wasn't much variety, but they had songs that PON3 didn't. She toggled over to the PON3 station now, and she was given just music, no news updates... the stallion must still be on his "quest" that he referred to a little while back. Fighting the good fight, as he always liked to say.

Sweetie Belle's voice serenaded the tan and blue unicorn as she traveled north up the coastline, the mountains to the east transitioning to the maple trees of Whitetail Woods, leafless branches clawing at the sky. Quiet, serene... and extremely poisonous. Eden shuddered and made sure the securitrons steered clear of the forest edge as her PipBuck's radiation detector started to click.

To the west, the South Luna Ocean turned into the land bridge separating Equestria from the zebra homelands, the cloud-covered Littlehorn Valley barely visible from their place on the train tracks. The isthmus separated the upper and lower parts of the Lunar Ocean, with New Pegas on the south coastline and Tall Tail on the north. However, instead of cutting straight north, the train tracks started to wind east as the Whitetail Woods gave way to the Equestrian Heartland. The towering mountains to the north showed her that there was no easy route to Tall Tale. They just had to trust the tracks to take them through the divide.

After riding all day, with the sun starting to dip below the horizon, Eden's eyes began to sag slightly, her mostly sleepless night catching up to her. But she pressed on, and soon, she saw lights on the horizon. Her PipBuck's mapping system helpfully called it out for her: JUNCTION R-7.

So this was the home of the New Canterlot Republic. As the name suggested, it was situated on the junction between two tracks, one of the railroads continuing further east to what she assumed as Ponyville and the mountain that formerly held the fallen city of Canterlot, while the other turned back northwest, the way she needed to go.

As much as she wanted to see the new capital for herself, the vision from her dream kept prodding at the back of her mind, and she felt she couldn't waste time. Eden gave the securitrons instructions to cut across the wasteland to meet up with the tracks on the other side, instead of making her way through the town. However, before the securitrons could follow her command, a shadow flashed past her on the ground, signaling something coming from the air. Her E.F.S. flashed yellow for friendly, and soon a familiar griffon touched down in front of her.

"Mayor Eden?" Gannon asked, looking a bit winded, as if he had been flying for the majority of the day. He must've left New Pegas for Junction R-7 a few hours after Eden did.

"Oh, hey Gannon," the mare replied as she hopped down from atop the securitron, signaling for them to stay put. "What's up?"

"What are you doing here? I didn't realize you had left, we could have traveled together," Gannon replied, folding his eagle wings against his sides. "Are you coming to see President Grimfeathers?"

"No, it's fine, I'm in a bit of a hurry," Eden said, waving a hoof. "Not here for that. I've got a bit of a personal quest to take care of, you could say."

Gannon tilted his head. "Oh yeah? Where are you going?"

"A prewar town named Tall Tail. It's on the other side of the Smokey Mountains, bordering the North Luna Ocean," Eden explained, her waving hoof moving to point along her route to the northwest.

"Ah, across the divide," Gannon surmised with a nod. "Very dangerous."

Now it was Eden's turn to headtilt. "Really? What do you know?"

"Not much," Gannon admitted. "Few creatures dare brave the crossing for what's on the other side. I know of a Talon that was hired on a mission across the divide, and they never returned."

"Hm, that's ominous," Eden said matter-of-factly, rubbing her chin with a hoof. "Any idea what's on the other side?"

Gannon shook his head. "All we know are rumors. The weather acts differently on the other side of the divide. Even with the skies cleared in most of Equestria, the clouds and the mist still remain."

"How? I thought the Stable Dweller was controlling the weather now," Eden asked, her eyes focusing on one of the still-standing white towers, towering up into the heavens.

"She doesn't have full control yet, as I've heard from President Grimfeathers and the Light Bringer's friends," Gannon explained. "And the white tower at Shattered Hoof was destroyed during the Enclave invasion, so maybe it's impossible for her to control it there. But for as long as I've been alive, the Smokey Mountains have been covered in mist."

"Must be because of the name," Eden said with a snort. "Any idea of how I would get there?"

Gannon's beak twitched in thought. "Um... I would follow the tracks up to the Shattered Hoof Re-Educational Facility, and then... keep following the tracks upwards, I suppose. Supplies had to get through on rail before the war, right? The trains should lead you right through."

That name sounded familiar. "Re-Educational Facility... are there still raiders there?"

"No, the place has been cleared out for months now. It's joined the NCR, so they shouldn't give you any trouble," Gannon reassured her.

Eden nodded. "Alright, thanks Gannon."

"Safe travels, Eden," the griffon replied, using her words from before back at her with a smirk before he turned and padded away to Junction R-7, now just a few minutes walk away.

Eden waited until Gannon was out of earshot before letting out a loud, long yawn she had been holding in during the conversation. A fitful night's sleep and a long day of traveling had taken its toll on her, and if she stayed up any longer, she might fall asleep right on top of the securitron she was riding. And if that happened, they might keep driving and leave her behind without even noticing. However, she wanted to keep moving, in case the trouble in Tall Tale was time sensitive. She needed a new plan.

The unicorn thought for a moment, then trotted up to the securitron she had been riding and waved a hoof in front of its screen. "High Horse, can you hear me?"

"...Ugh, yes, unfortunately," The computer program replied after a second of silence, its screen face flickering to the familiar cartoon depiction. "I had hoped you would be out of range by this point."

"Tough luck," Eden chaffed, lowering her hoof. "How's the city doing? You busy?"

High Horse beeped in annoyance. "Y'know, we're just floating around, dealing with drunks and idiots running off on stupid quests. Definitely something I want to spend all of eternity doing."

Eden ignored the sarcasm dripping off its computerized voice and shrugged her shoulders. "Well, since you don't seem busy, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Can I say no?" High Horse asked, then paused as it searched itself for an answer. "...I can't say no, my programming overrides me. What do you want?"

"I'm gonna try to get some shuteye, but we have to keep moving towards Tall Tale, I don't want to waste any time," Eden explained, glancing at the sun as it was almost completely swallowed up by the horizon. "Can you keep an eye on the securitrons while they pull me along, make sure they don't... blow themselves up? Or drive off a cliff?"

"...You just keep coming up with stupid idea after stupid idea. But if I must," the robot groaned.

"Thanks. And wake me up immediately if we're under attack. Oh, and you're not authorized to bring me or the securitrons under peril. Take detours if you must, but no risks. No... intentionally driving to a raider den or anything like that," Eden stammered, waving a hoof in thought as she tried to eliminate any possibility of the computer program killing her in her sleep.

High Horse beeped. "Ugh, fine."

"Alright, stay here, I'll be right back," Eden said with a nod.

After making sure the securitrons wouldn't follow her — showing up with heavily armed death machines was probably not a good first impression to make — Eden slipped into the Junction R-7 marketplace to buy a rather unusual item, but one they had in stock: a pony-pulled wooden cart, small enough to not be a hindrance when pulled, long enough for her to lay in. And after towing it back out to the securitrons, and a bit of tinkering, she was able to attach the harness above the wheel housing of one of the securitrons. The unicorn climbed in, using her saddlebags as a rather bumpy and uncomfortable pillow as she stared up at the stars. Something that used to be a rare occurrence, now a daily sight with the Enclave gone.

"Alright... I think this will work..." Eden mumbled as she shifted around to get comfortable, hooves behind her head. "High Horse, go for it."

"Moving..." High Horse chimed before the securitron's gears whirred into action.

There was a lurch as the robot started to move, then just the rumbling of the cracked road and dirt underneath her as they rolled along yet again, the securitron not bothered one bit by the extra weight. Perfect! She should've thought of this sooner.

Eden rolled over onto her side and closed her eyes, keeping her ears open for anything unusual. If something happened that required her attention... she was sure that the sounds of missile explosions would wake her up.

Eden was awoken from her uneasy sleep by the sound of her PipBuck beeping on her leg, her Eyes-Forward Sparkle alerting her to a detected presence. One red dot, along with three yellow ones.

"HOSTILE ENCOUNTERED," chimed a securitron, letting her know they spotted the threat as well. There were several thump sounds as their shoulder-mounted grenade launchers fired, followed by several explosions that caused the red light on her E.F.S. to blink out. "HOSTILE ELIMINATED."

The three securitrons started moving just as quickly as they had stopped, and Eden poked her head out of the cart to watch as they rolled past a smoldering crater in the road. Whatever had attacked them was nothing more than ash and rubble now.

The unicorn rubbed her heavy eyes before glancing around at her surroundings. Her PipBuck told her that she was on the Shattered Hoof Ridge, and the tall, ridged peaks surrounding her were unmistakable. The entire area was full of high points and low ravines, the rocks and slopes made of crumbling gravel and shale. Down in the valley below, she could see the fractured remains of one of the weather control towers, its normally pristine white exterior torn away and scorched black from the explosion that had toppled it down into the ravine.

They were on a small mountain path carved out on the slope, most of what had been the railroad tracks ripped away leaving only unstable gravel underneath. The road had narrowed enough so that the securitrons had to roll in single file, with Eden in the middle, their rolling wheels kicking up rocks and gravel, thumping against the wood sides of her cart. The sight of the mountain sloping away underneath her made her look away. Darn heights again... why can't I go somewhere flat?

"Urgh... High Horse? You there?" she muttered softly as she got more comfortable inside the cart, wooden splinters digging at her exposed fur.

"You're finally awake," the rearmost securitron pinged, its screen changing to the High Horse cartoon as Eden rolled onto her back to look up at it. "Thought you never would. Kind of hoped you wouldn't, to be honest."

"Very professional," Eden grumbled, checking the time on her PipBuck and seeing it was still early morning. "How did it go?"

"You're alive," it beeped matter-of-factly. "The securitrons are alive. We passed the Re-Education Facility a few hours ago, but no one came out to bother us. We're currently about 38.6% of the way to the Smokey Mountains. You're welcome."

"Very good, High Horse, you did everything I asked of you. Thank you," Eden responded with no hint of sarcasm in return. Maybe if she was nice and praised the program, it would return the favor. "How are things back home?"

"Hard to tell, since I'm using most of my processing power babysitting you. But it's hard to imagine anything going wrong, especially since you aren't around to fuck things up," High Horse replied with its monotone, yet scalding tone.

Okay, the nice approach wasn't going to work. It was a computer program after all; it was only doing what it was programmed to do: be as annoying as possible.

Eden huffed and sat up in the cart, propping her back up against her saddlebags as she adjusted her armored barding. "Well, now that I'm awake, I don't need you to control the securitrons anymore. I can take things from here again. I'll let you know if I need anything else from you."

"Fine," High Horse chimed. "Back to harassing drunks on the strip I go..."

When the securitron's face flickered back to normal, Eden waited a few more seconds to make sure the program was gone before signaling for the robots to stop so she could jump out and stretch her legs. The gravel underneath her hooves felt sharp and biting against her frogs, and whenever she scuffed a hoof across the surface, it sent up a fine cloud of white powder, the wheels of the securitrons already covered with the stuff.

Shattered Hoof Ridge was barren and rocky, full of deep crags and ravines that made traveling it treacherous. It was here that the zebras had hatched a plot to assassinate the Princess, using the mountainous region to their advantage, and Eden could definitely see why it almost worked. The train path they were currently on seemed stable enough, but the shale and the crumbling rock had created this unstable terrain, and they needed to be careful to avoid plummeting down into the many ravines along the path like the weather tower below them.

"Let's get moving," Eden ordered the securitrons as she floated her saddlebags out of the cart and onto her back. "Hopefully we can make it off the ridge by dusk."

The four of them had been hiking for hours. Eden hadn't trusted the one-legged securitrons to carry her around on such a narrow, unstable pathway, so she put her fate in her own four hooves instead. She hugged the far side of the path, shoulder brushing the rock slope to avoid looking down at the valley far below. But the road seemed to get narrower and narrower, and soon she had no choice but to stare down the steep incline. The wind had picked up as well as they got towards the cloudy, foggy area of the mountains, and she had to dig her hooves into the gravel at points to stop herself from being blown right off the edge.

At least her magic was working again after her unintentional teleport. Two days of rest had given her her telekinesis back, but she kept her usage to a minimum in order to charge it up enough to hopefully use defense spells again. She had no idea what they were walking, or rolling, into, and she wanted to be at full effectiveness before she got there.

The Re-Educational Facility and the decaying S.P.P. tower were far behind them now, and even with their pace severely reduced by the conditions, they were almost to the Smokey Mountains and its excess of fog. The sight of the thick mist obscuring the tips of the mountains and what lay beyond them gave her a flashback to her dream, the vision of being surrounded by tentacle ponies in a thick haze, and she shuddered.

She didn't have much time to dwell on the thought, as she heard a crack in the rock underneath her, and she froze in place in horror. The cracking continued to grow as the three securitrons behind her rolled up, and suddenly, a piece of the mountain path broke off, taking one of the securitrons with it.

"ERROR. ERROR. ERROR," It beeped as it tumbled down the mountain face, followed by an explosion in the valley below.

"Ah!" Eden yelped as she scampered back away from the unstable ground, the two remaining securitrons having the good sense to wheel away as well until the ground stopped creaking and groaning underneath them.

Sweet Faust, she really wished she could still swear. Was this journey going to keep triggering all her phobias like this?

"...O-Okay, new plan," Eden gasped as she caught her breath, slowly climbing back to her hooves. "Keep a 10 hooflength distance between all of us. If the path goes again, it won't take all of us with it. Understand?"

"AFFIRMATIVE," was the response. And then they continued.

Eden went first, terrified that the weight of the two securitrons was what was causing the ground to become unstable. Her much lighter frame wouldn't disrupt anything, and if the path did give way behind her, she would be on the other side and able to continue on. Luckily, her fears were unfounded, and the path no longer gave them any problems as they continued on. She kept the spacing pattern, just in case.

Using the sorting spell on her PipBuck, Eden located a snack cake in her saddle bags and floated it out with her magic, unwrapping the pre-war delicacy and taking a nervous bite as she walked. It tasted like preservatives, preservatives, and more preservatives, but it successfully quelled the rumbling of her stomach and the anxious worrying of her mind. She followed it down with a swing of purified water before tossing the wrapper off the edge, watching the plastic float through the air like a fallen feather.

Suddenly, her E.F.S. let out an alarmed beep. A red blip appeared, from behind! The alert was quickly followed by an animalistic cry, and the screeching of claws on reinforced steel.

Eden spun around to see... something... had jumped onto the back of the rearmost securitron and was gouging it with its long claws, long teeth trying to sink into its neck... if the headless robot had a neck. Instead, it just gnawed at the top of its casing as the robot swung its arms around in an attempt to throw its assaulter off. It eventually succeeded, one of its arm-mounted weapons catching the creature and dislodging off its back, launching it off the edge of the narrow path.

Eden drew her plasma rifle off her back and galloped to the edge, hoping to see the yellow-green blur tumbling down the mountainside into the valley below... but she wasn't that lucky. The four-legged creature was digging its claws into the gravel and rock of the slope, sparks flying as it slowly slid down before coming to a halt.

Eden had a split second to get a good look at the creature; it was undoubtedly feline, quadruped, larger than her but smaller than the securitrons. All four paws were equipped with sharp claws that dug into the slope to stop its descent, its beady eyes staring her down as it snarled, revealing a mouthful of teeth and two large fangs that looked too long to fit in its mouth. It looked like it had pale yellow fur, but green growths pulsed and swelled along its body, flickering with balefire radiation. This animal was nothing she had seen before.

Eden raised Remembrance to fire, but the intact securitron beside her shot first, firing several grenades from its shoulders that forced the creature to leap to the side, the explosions causing a mini avalanche of gravel to rumble down the mountainside. Eden aimed and fired as well, but again the feline was too quick, and the plasma shot melted an unfortunate rock into green goo instead.

"It's too fast for explosives!" Eden called out to the securitron as she shifted her aim. "Lasers and bullets should be more effective!"

The robot obliged and raised its two arms instead, the 9mm submachine gun and magical energy rifle embedded in each of its hands opening fire on the creature as it scampered back up the slope towards them, weaving side to side as bullets and lasers impacted off its reinforced hide and did little to slow it down. Then, finally, it leaped right at Eden, arcing through the air, claws extended and reaching for her.

Eden activated S.A.T.S., and the world slowed to a crawl around her.

The spell system helpfully had a name for the creature currently intent on ripping her head off: Mountain Lion. At least, that was its pre-war name. It was probably called something like Radamount, or Deathclaw now. Wastelanders loved giving creatures like this nicknames.

Its fangs snarled, and she could see radioactive spittle flying out of its mouth as it slowly moved through the air towards her. Shooting it from here would eviscerate it, yes, but the viscous goo it would melt into would still carry its momentum forward, splashing the boiling, superheated goo all over her as well. But there was no time to pull out another weapon or move out of the way while frozen in this slow-motion state, and the Mountain Lion was growing closer every second. She really hoped her horn had healed enough for this...

Everything happened at once. S.A.T.S. targeted the soft underbelly the cougar's leap had exposed, Remembrance unleashing three plasma bolts into its gut and causing its body to melt immediately, the spell pulling her back into real time with the threat eliminated. As soon as it did, her horn ignited with a blue hue, and a translucent shield formed in front of her, the molecular mess splashing against the magic and sizzling against the rocks around her. Yuck.

Eden backed away from the shield and deactivated it, causing the viscous liquid to fall down to the ground, steam rising from the ground around it as it melted the rocks underneath as well.

A Radamount... that's what she was gonna call it. The first new enemy the Divide had thrown at her. And if the rumors were true, there were bound to be more. A lot more. Hopefully, they wouldn't be as fierce as this one... but she doubted it. She wouldn't have been called to this quest if what awaited her there was easy. She just hoped she was ready.

Eden's thoughts were interrupted by a pained beep from the clawed-up securitron, and she glanced over to see that its face-screen was instead flashing error messages, sparks flying from where the Radamount had exposed its wired innards with its claws.

"ALERT: CRITICAL DAMAGE. I MUST RUN AUTO-REPAIR PROGRAM IN ORDER TO PROCEED," it stated matter-of-factly, with none of the emotion of a wounded soldier.

Eden waved a hoof as she caught her breath. "Go ahead. I need a rest anyway."

Eden allowed the securitron two hours to heal as much as it could before forcing it to continue. Being exposed on the mountainside made her anxious, and she wanted to make it off the path before the sun fell and their visibility was drastically reduced. Navigating the narrow path was hard enough while she was able to see where she was putting her hooves.

Luckily, two hours was enough for the securitron to repair its critical systems and most of the serious damage. It still leaked smoke and sparks, but it was able to roll and able to fight, and that's all Eden needed for now. She would allow it to do a more thorough repair once they weren't suspended hundreds of hooflengths off the ground.

By the time on her PipBuck, the sun would be starting to set by now, but the mist they were walking towards shielded their view of the horizon, so the only clue she had to go off was the sky back to the east starting to turn a dark orange. Eventually, their view was completely obscured by clouds and mist overhead, as the three of them finally stepped off the mountain path into the dirt and grass of the Smokey Mountains.

Eden yelped in relief and leaned down to give the earth a kiss. "Finally! Thank Faust we made it. I'm gonna be pulling gravel out of my hooves for days..."

Her securitrons said nothing, and she trotted up to the non-damaged one, the one still hauling her trailer. "High Horse, you there?"

This time, she was greeted with nothing from the program. Either it was ignoring her, or the terrain had finally cut her off from New Pegas. And despite the computer's obvious hatred of her, everything, and everyone, it was still duty bound to respond to her hails. She was alone and all in now.

Here, with the tall peaks and trees shielding the area from the winds that Shattered Hoof Ridge had failed to hold back, the train tracks were in much better shape, leading Eden northwest through the valley, snow-capped mountains surrounding her on all sides. The trees around her were evergreen, pine, with some of them still miraculously keeping their color and leaves, though most were just as dead and scraggly as the rest of the wasteland.

Rather than push through an unfamiliar area during the night, Eden decided to set up camp right at the end of the mountain path, pulling her sleeping bag out and intent on getting a proper night's rest. And soon, she had a small campfire going, cooking some real food instead of the over-processed junk she had settled on during the crossing.

"You, start on repairs again, I want you at 100% before we head into the woods. You, guard duty. You'll be alone, so make sure you cover all approaches," she ordered her last two companions, and she was immediately greeted with silent cooperation as they carried out her orders.

Before closing her eyes, she turned on her PipBuck's screen and scrolled over to the radio tab. Just as she suspected, there were no signals available. At least she knew now why no one had been able to make contact with anything on the other side. She wondered what was blocking the signals... maybe it was the shapes of the mountains that deflected the radio waves, or the fog that absorbed it and stopped them from penetrating through. Maybe there was a signal jammer in Tall Tale. Who knew?

She hoped she would find answers once she reached Tall Tale. One part of her wished that there was actually a problem there, so that this whole journey wouldn't be a waste, while the other wished that it actually is just a poorly thought out trap so that she could just go home without worrying about the fate of the world once again. Being an adventurer wasn't her first profession... but she had to grow to fill the horseshoes she had been given.

Eden forced her wandering thoughts to stop and closed her eyes. She would worry about those things tomorrow.

Mines.

Someone had mined the train tracks. And if she hadn't had her E.F.S. up looking for enemies, she would've stepped right on them.

Eden sat at the edge of the minefield, searching through her PipBuck's map for an alternate route around while her securitrons idled next to her. The train tracks had taken her off the mountain path on Shattered Hoof Ridge down into the valley of the Smokey Mountains, and with the mountains towering around her, there wasn't a lot of room for her to move around this new obstruction. An effective choke point.

Who had buried these mines here? It obviously wasn't left over from the war, as the trains traveling these tracks would have set them off. Someone must've recognized the potential for an ambush in this narrow valley surrounded by tall crests... but these areas didn’t have ponies going through them, Gannon had told her as much. Maybe that rumor wasn't as solid as he claimed.

The two tall hills that created the valley in front of her weren’t nearly as tall as the mountains surrounding her, so their peaks weren’t shrouded by the ever present fog. If she peered her eyes, Eden could make out two structures, one on top of each hill positioned to look out over the valley. They looked to be pre-war structures, but anything or anyone could be hidden inside them, just waiting for her to pass by. She effectively had two options: flank the minefield, which involved climbing one of the two peaks and risking being attacked from the houses; or find a way through the mines, and risk being ambushed by both houses at the same time as she traveled through the valley.

Both options were bad. But working her way through a minefield was by far the riskier plan.

"Okay, new plan," Eden told the securitrons next to her as she lowered her PipBuck. "The mines are only in the valley here. If we head up one of these large hills and come down the other side, we should avoid all of them. There are structures atop each of the peaks, so be on the lookout for any hostiles within. Got it?"

The robots just silently whirred in place as they stared at her. They didn't need the plan spelled out for them — they would follow obediently wherever she went. The explanation was more to calm her own doubts before they proceeded. At least the injured securitron had fully repaired to 100% effectiveness; they were down one already, and she felt like she needed all the firepower she could get.

Eden still had one more choice to make. The hill to the right had a dirt path leading up it, but all of the trees were chopped down, leaving them no cover on the way up, and atop the crest was a large fort with tall-reinforced walls and tattered, waving flags, a perfect place for any attackers to be hunkered down. The other hill looked like it used to be used as farmland, but the land had since overgrown in the 200 years since the war, leaving it a mess of trees and vines which would be a mess to slog through. However, the structure on the tip was only a mixture of poorly held-together shacks and sheds, a much easier place to fight.

In the end, she settled on the right-side path. Yes, there was the fortress on top, but there was a path up to the top, which made the hill much easier to climb, especially with two large, burly securitrons in tow that wouldn't be able to push through the overgrowth with their wheels. And the hills were so close together that if anyone was in the fortress, they could just attack them across the valley once they reached the huts, where they would be at a major disadvantage.

"Follow me," Eden waved her hoof to her two robotic companions as she trotted off to the right, using her E.F.S. to make sure she made her way around all the mines before turning upwards, up the hill.

The climb was slow-going, with the securitrons struggling a bit on the steepness of the slope, and with Eden taking a slow pace to search for any more mines as they made their way up the winding path, which had faded with age, a thin layer of grass growing overtop the previously dirt road. She made sure to keep her horn ready to cast a shield spell at a moment's notice; with a complete lack of cover on this hill, her magic would be the only protection they would get.

As they got closer to the fortress-like structure, Eden was able to get a better look at it. It was definitely pre-war, given the state of disrepair it was in, but it still held up surprisingly well for how old it was. It was made entirely of wood, which explained all the stumps and lack of trees on this side of the hill, with a wall made of tree trunks sharpened to points at the tip surrounding the entirety of the compound. The path that they were traveling on led them straight to the sealed-up gate, and two watchtowers poked out above the wall; the only structures that were visible from the outside. No one appeared to be inside the towers, or else they would've been spotted on the approach. A ping from her PipBuck's mapping system gave her a name: Fort McColt.

When they got close, Eden's E.F.S. started to light up with red dots, all in front of her and contained in the fortress. As soon as she saw just how many there were, she froze in place and held out a hoof to silently order the securitrons as well, though their idle humming and whirring was still just as loud when they were standing still. If there were fewer enemies, she would've felt more comfortable taking them out to avoid being attacked on the return journey... but she didn't want to risk health and ammo this early on in the journey when she didn't know what she was walking into. Maybe they could sneak around the back to the other side, and the walls would shield them from anyone inside seeing them...

However, Eden's plan was rendered moot just as soon as it entered her mind, because at that moment, a pony's head poked up over the wall, eyes focusing right onto her as if it had heard her thoughts. It was a stallion, his mane roughly cut and shaped into a spiky mohawk, his face splattered with dirt and dried blood. When he saw her, he bared his teeth, and Eden was able to see that he had sharpened them down into fangs. Raiders? All the way out here?

"Outsider! Outsider is here!" he screamed with a whoop of bloodthirsty joy. "The Mist has given us a gift!"

His yell was answered by several more hoots and hollers from inside, the red dots on her E.F.S. spell moving and shifting around as the rest of the ponies inside prepared for battle. The stallion straightened up so that most of his body became visible now; his entire body was covered in (self-inflicted?) scars, as well as the same blood and dirt that caked his face. His clothing consisted of a weird mixture of ropes and pieces of sheet metal, as if he had tied the plates onto himself that way. In his mouth was now a pipe rifle — a makeshift gun of wood and spare parts, highly customizable. And he was pointing it right at her.

"Great..." Eden grumbled, her horn igniting to float Remembrance off her back while also preparing to cast a shield spell when the shooting started. "Securitrons, you are authorized to fire."

"ENGAGING," the robots chimed in response, raising their arms and opening fire with both bullets and lasers at the only enemy in sight.

The raider on top of the wall fired as well, and Eden threw up a translucent blue shield wide enough to cover the three of them, blocking the bullets coming from in front of them while letting bullets shot from behind the shield pass through. His small caliber bullets bounced off her spell, while the lasers from the securitrons sliced into the stallion in several places, the impacts knocking him back off the wall with a death squeal.

"No grenades, no explosives!" Eden ordered the securitrons as she lowered the spell, the robots beginning to roll forward to attack the base. "There could be hostages in there!"

The two death machines silently acknowledged her order, the flaps folding back up over their missile and grenade launchers as they rolled towards the gate, the only way for them to enter the base. One of them tried nudging the double doors open with its arm, but the gate only rattled slightly with the sound of a lock. No way in. Maybe they could blow the doors open, or find a stealthier way in...

However, her thoughts were interrupted by more gunfire, but this time, bullets were whizzing past her from the side! Eden yelped and threw up another shield around herself, rounds impacting off the left side as she spun to face the new threat. Across the valley on the other hilltop, more raiders were emerging from the seemingly derelict huts and opening fire on them from across the gap! Even with their broken down weapons, they were still surprisingly good shots from all that distance away, round after round pinging off her shield and causing the unicorn to flinch from the drain of each impact.

"...Okay, I changed my mind," Eden sighed. "You, target the other side with everything you've got. You, come with me, I'm going over the wall and opening that gate!"

"ALERT. USE OF FORCE HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED," The first securitron beeped, turning to face the new threats on the other hill, its shoulders opening up and launching five missiles at the other raiders as they continued to fire, bullets sparking off its steel plating.

The rockets left smoke trails in the air as they curled and swirled in the air before slamming into their targets, several large explosions rocking the hilltop and blowing the ransack sheds into the air! Several raiders were obliterated into meaty chunks immediately from the force, while several others were blown back from the shockwave, fur catching on fire. One of the unlucky ponies was launched right off the edge and down into the valley below, his broken body landing directly into the poorly-spaced minefield along the path.

The resulting explosion caused the ground to shudder under Eden's hooves, the unicorn falling back in shock as a large firecloud billowed up in between the two hills, heat washing over her and singeing her fur! She was suddenly glad she was watching her E.F.S. and didn't accidentally step on one of those mines.

With the raiders across the ravine taken care of with the well-placed volley of rockets, the securitron turned its attention back to the wooden fortress as the raiders finally started to climb up onto the wall to open fire, the robot distracting the ragged group of ponies long enough for Eden to climb back onto her hooves and slip her way to the back of the fort with the other securitron in tow.

The wall surrounding the compound was way too tall for Eden to climb or jump over, but in the back, there was a small part where the top portion of the wall was either blown or eroded away, leaving it slightly shorter than the rest of the defenses. The small unicorn was able to first climb up on top of the securitron, then jump up onto the top of the wall, completely undetected by the raiders as they continued to attack the one securitron they could see.

"Alright..." Eden muttered under her breath as she made sure she wasn't seen before turning back to the robot. "Go back to the gate and help draw their attention, be ready to charge through the door once I get it unlocked."

"AFFIRMATIVE. MOVING TO SUPPORT," the securitron beeped obediently before rolling off back around the corner, the sound of its laser rifle firing audible soon after, followed by another screech from a dead raider as the firefight picked up.

Eden looked around one more time for any raiders before silently hopping down to the ground, the rustling of her gear inside her saddlebags inaudible over the gunfire. Using the base of one of the watchtowers to keep her hidden, she slinked along the wood structure to peek out around the corner, looking out into the open area of the compound.

Now that she was actually inside the fortress, she could get a good look at what they were dealing with. Along with the two watchtowers, there was a two-story homestead in the corner, in the same crumbling pre-war condition as the rest of the place. There was a small stable without walls hugging the perimeter as well, with old mangers and feeding troughs filled with rotten hay, the animals that lived there long dead. What lived here now was lots and lots of raiders.

About half of them were up on top of the wall, trading fire with the securitrons down on the other side of the gate, one of them occasionally sticking their head out for too long and taking a bullet to the forehead, toppling them back into the courtyard. The other half were concentrated near the homestead, distributing weapons and ammo and letting out animalistic hoots of excitement.

The securitrons may be tough, but they weren't invincible, and they were taking a lot of fire from the raiders smart enough to take cover... she needed to hurry before they became disabled and she was left on her own. Her attention turned to the gate, and she was able to see that the two barn-like doors were secured with only a large lock and chain, the key nowhere to be seen. No time to look, and even if she knew how to pick it, she would be shot up halfway to the door if she tried to make a run for it.

Luckily, her plan B was just as effective. Eden floated Remembrance up and activated S.A.T.S. once again, the sounds of gunfire slowing and becoming an almost alien noise as everything halted around her. Except this time, she used it to target the lock on the door, firing a single shot of superheated plasma at the door. The unicorn backed out of the spell and time sped back up to normal, the projectile slamming into the padlock and melting it instantly, the chains falling limply into the dirt.

The sound of her rifle firing and the sight of the green projectile flying across the courtyard drew the attention of the raiders still by the homestead, their eyes turning and their weapons raising... but at the same time, the gate was smashed open by the two securitrons, drawing their attention right back to the heavily armed machines of death.

"UNACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR HAS BEEN NOTED. RESPONSE IN PROGRESS. INNOCENT VISITORS, PLEASE DISPERSE," both robots chimed before opening up their grenade launcher shoulders, firing several metal apples without stems at the group of raiders before they had a chance to move.

Eden ducked back around the corner as fire and shrapnel billowed out of the explosion and past her hiding spot, followed closely by several singed chunks of flesh. She checked her E.F.S. again — no yellow signals, no innocent ponies. Just red dots that were rapidly dwindling by the second as the barrage of grenades transitioned to flashes of red magical energy. Let's hope that means we weren't too late...

Eden poked her head back around the corner with her plasma rifle floating beside her, targeting the raiders still on top of the wall while the securitrons took care of the ponies in the courtyard. One of them caught sight of her and fired a few rounds at her, impacting against the wood of her hiding spot while she fired shots of her own without the aid of S.A.T.S. Her own rounds missed as well, but one of the plasma bolts smacked right into the wood underneath his hooves, turning the wood a superhot green that melted his hooves as well. He let out a shocked scream of pain before the weakened structure collapsed underneath him, dumping him onto the ground.

A new round of bullets from the raiders forced Eden to duck back behind the corner, but her magic levitated her rifle out to fire without exposing her body, another plasma bolt striking a mare in the shoulder and melting her down with a cut-off scream as her lungs turned to goo. Eden took aim and fired once again, this time striking the wood boards underneath the raiders and causing the support to melt; the unicorn did this several times until the guard post completely gave way underneath the ponies, dropping them all onto the ground with a thud of wood and a sizzle of melted ooze.

By that time, the securitrons had finished clearing out the homestead and had rolled back out into the courtyard, and any surviving raiders still struggling in the rubble were gunned down with their submachine guns. After a few more shots, the fortress finally went quiet.

While the securitrons ran their auto-repair programs in the courtyard, Eden busied herself with searching the compound for anything useful. There wasn't much in terms of... anything in the place, the isolated area clearly not the best place to do any raiding. The interior of the homestead was, by raider standards, surprisingly clean. Though there were a few blood splatters and strange skulls mounted on the walls. Eden chalked that up to a lack of ponies traveling through, giving them a shortage of pony guts to use for decoration.

Other than a few old pieces of unfamiliar meat and the ragtag collection of pipe rifles, the only thing of note was a terminal in one of the upper room floors, miraculously still glowing with its green apple hue. It didn't have any encryption either, as the raiders probably didn't have the tech skills to set anything up. With nothing better to do, Eden clicked into the personal files and started reading.

Entry One
I was finally able to figure out how to erase all the old entries in this terminal, thank Celestia. The previous owners just kept rambling about Hooffield this, Hooffield that, how they were gonna shoot the Hooffields up and slit their throats in their sleep... I tried reading through it, but the grammar (or lack thereof) and the nonsense ranting was too much. According to Sway, the other place was just as run down and insane, talking about lighting the McColts on fire and what not. They must've wiped each other out, because there was no one around when we showed up.

This place seems like a really nice place to settle down. The nearest pre-war town is miles away, so there's not much to scavenge, but there's not a lot of radiation or taint, and the mountains are full of wildlife to hunt and trap. It's a trapper's paradise! And if we clean up the weeds and overgrowth on the other side, we could try planting some seeds and actually becoming self-sustainable. It's our nice little hidden paradise, no one should be bothering us here.

Entry Two
Valier broke down coughing again, scared off the Radstag we had been tracking for hours. At first I was pissed, but then I noticed the blood he had splattered all over the ground. Gravel had a look at him and said he had radiation poisoning. I say bullshit. There's no rad spikes anywhere in the valley, where could he have gone to get like this? We gave him the last of the RadAway, and he calmed down a bit. I don't know where we're gonna find any more, so hopefully it's nothing serious.

Entry Three
Valier's condition got worse, even though he hasn't left the house since we gave him the RadAway. Where is he picking these rads up from? I told Gravel that his theory was bullshit, and we had to be separated.

I can hear Valier down there now while I'm typing this, talking incomprehensibly to himself. He wasn't the most stable stallion to begin with, but he was at least functional. What is getting him like this? Gravel said he didn't have a fever, or chills, or any sign of infection... I hope he didn't breathe in something toxic from the local flora, because I've been breathing in the same shit he has.

Entry Four
Sweet fucking Luna, Valier's fucking lost it. He broke out of his room, raided the armory, and just fucking shot Sway in the back of the head. Blew his fucking brains out all over the wall. Managed to shoot Ivy in the leg too before me and Gravel were able to take the gun from him. Had to lock him in the sturdiest room we had, and now he keeps slamming something against the door. Maybe his head. There's blood seeping under the door.

Gravel was trying to fix Ivy's leg when he broke down into a coughing fit too, sprayed the poor mare with his blood while she's bleeding out already. We got her to stop bleeding before we immediately locked Gravel away as well. If Valier's infected our only doctor too... I don't know what we're going to do. I don't know what we're gonna do with Valier either. Code says we kill him... but he's obviously mad, I don't know if he even knows what he's doing.

I've been getting really bad headaches. Maybe I should start sleeping with my gun.

Entry Five
Valier's been screaming for hours. Top of his lungs, full pitched, no stopping for breaths. How is that possible? Can't hear myself think. Head's swimming, buzzing, keep hearing voices.

Coughed into my hoof and it came away bloody. Wiped it off before anyone saw, I think... No, I think Snowflake saw. She looked at me funny.

I need to find a way to keep her quiet. She doesn't understand.

Entry Six
Ivy dragged herself off the operating table to unlock the door for Gravel. I heard gunshots about an hour ago. Haven't heard anything since. Nothing but the voices. More blood.

I locked myself in my room, don't think they know I'm here. Keep coughing. Can't stop. How can they not hear me? How can they not hear the voices?

The voices keep talking.

Entry xndwed
Do you hear it? Does it speak to you? It gets to everyone.

When Eden reached the end, she realized that she had been holding her breath, and she forced herself to exhale and back away from the terminal screen. So these ponies weren't raiders... they were something else, poisoned and corrupted by something in these mountains. Something in the air that she was breathing in at that very moment.

Her haste to get out of the crumbling place suddenly increased tenfold.

"Uh, hey, maybe we shouldn't stick around too long," she sheepishly called out to the securitrons as she trotted out of there as fast as she could.

Eden was already starting to grow sick of the clouds.

She had grown up her whole life barely seeing anything but overcast sky, sure. But for three months, she had grown to love and appreciate, and then get used to, the bright blue sky and the shining sun overhead. Now, she had to go back into the dull gray darkness again, and it wasn't a change she appreciated.

The three of them had reached the end of the valley, so the train tracks were once again winding up along the sides of the mountains, taking them closer to the clouds and the mist that clung to the peaks. As they got higher, Eden's PipBuck occasionally started clicking as its radiation detector started to announce the presence of balefire, though it was in very low amounts and often went away entirely.

Eden was used to encountering pockets of rads, so it didn't bother her, but what made her concerned was just where the radiation was coming from. The land they had passed through was relatively untouched by any megaspells as far as she could tell, as the sparsely populated area was probably not very high on the zebra's target list. However, the higher they got from the ground and the closer they got to the mist above them, the more frequent these rad detections became. Was the mountain fog radioactive? That would be interesting... it would make sense that the water droplets would readily absorb the balefire radiation and hold it, even after all these years. But Eden wasn't in the mood to go up high enough to find out; heights and radiation poisoning were both on her NO NO NO NO NO list.

After their encounter at the Hooffields and McColts, the journey was rather uneventful, only interrupted by a few bloatsprites and the occasional radhog... no more sightings of Radamounts, or crazy insane ponies. The securitrons were running low on grenades and missiles from their fight at the fort, and Eden hoped she would be able to find more once they were in Tall Tale... the launchers were very useful, and she'd hate to run out and not have any more heavy rounds if they ever came across tougher enemies.

With this mountain path a lot wider, and with stable dirt instead of the crumbling shale and gravel of Shattered Hoof Ridge, Eden hopped back into the cart and allowed herself to be towed along once again, speeding up their travel time considerably. According to her PipBuck's map, this path traveled up to get them out of the mountains, before taking them down to the shoreline and into the city. They were almost out of the divide... and they would get a pretty good view of Tall Tale out of the journey as well. The highest point of the mountain pass would overlook the coastal city and give her her first good look at what she was dealing with.

After about an hour more of riding, they finally crested the top of the path as it split two mountains, the peaks towering up on either side of them as the ground sloped away from them in both directions. Behind them was the valley of the Smokey Mountains, and in front of them... was Tall Tale.

"Woah..." Eden uttered under her breath as the securitrons came to a stop, allowing her to jump out of the cart and trot forward to get a better look at the area sprawling out in front of her.

The city was still a few miles out, but she was still able to see much of it from where she was; she fished a pair of binoculars out of her saddlebags to make the task even easier. The entire area was covered in clouds like the mountains were, with a dense mist hanging over everything that even dropped as far down as street level closer to the coast, swallowing up most of the city with clinging fog. She could understand that there were clouds around the divide, where the S.P.P. tower had been destroyed, but they were days away from it now... why was the weather here still overcast and unaffected? Maybe the Lightbringer was still gaining access to the weather in this region.

The coastal city had seemingly once been perched above the water of the North Luna Ocean, providing a docking area for ships to load and unload before sailing out for the zebra homelands and the landbridge settlements... but over the last 200 years, the sea had reclaimed several parts of the now-sunken city, the roads leading into Tall Tale also becoming swamped and covered in marshland. It would be a slog to even get into the city, much less searching the place for the sender of the mysterious letter.

Tall Tale was a rather large, industrial town, with lots of factories and loading docks outside of the main downtown area, which surprisingly had quite a few skyscrapers for a city this isolated. The tallest building was... not exactly a building at all; it looked like a freestanding tower, with a base that got narrower as it got taller, topped with a large, bulbous head and a large spire sticking out towards the heavens. It looked very much like the design for the High Roller back in New Pegas, and she suddenly wondered which one came first.

Looking at the strange tower, Eden also got her answer for why the weather was still so dreary and overcast. The white S.P.P. tower in this area had been toppled over, crushing several buildings underneath it, with its pointed tip leaning on the top of the spire's observation deck and miraculously not toppling it as well. But this station hadn't been blown up or destroyed by an explosion; the towers were much too strong for any conventional explosive to shatter it. Instead, it had been uprooted like a tree, its supports ripped from the ground by what looked like an earthquake, large crevices opened up in the earth around where it had previously stood at the edge of the city.

The bay was full of ship carcasses and flotsam, some of the boats large military vessels while others were small civilian sailboats, gentle waves causing the debris to float calmly across the murky waters. A pony-made river ran through the northern part of the city, along with locks to keep the water level in check, allowing for ships to continue further inland from the sea. The city looked as if it had escaped the megaspell bombings miraculously intact; there was no apparent craters or damage from explosives that she could see, just the effects of the weather tower collapsing and the general passing of time.

"There it is... Tall Tale," Eden mumbled to herself as she reached into the breast pocket of her Stable barding, pulling out a small waterproof container which held her paper belongings, as well as the mysterious letter that had sent her on this journey. "A long lost, forgotten city... a place filled with apparently world-endangering threats, and I have no instructions other than 'meet me there'."

The unicorn sighed and read the letter over one last time before folding it back up and slipping it back into its case. "Well, I guess we'd better start looking then. Let's get moving."