Chapter 1 - A warm welcome
How the heck did this happen? was the only thought that came to your mind, as you gazed upon the ruins of what used to be a beautiful town, now filled with nothing more than destruction and smoke. When, how, and who were the main questions that came to your mind as you slowly started to walk through the ruins. As much as you tried, you could not believe that this was the same Ponyville as in the show.
Where is everypony? Why is nopony around? What the hell happened here? All those questions raced through your mind, alongside growing desperation. You were paralyzed as soon as you heard a growl not so far away, closing in on you. Many questions fill your mind. Imagination is playing with you. A timberwolf? A seberus? The Manticore? You could see a figure approaching through the smoke-filled path ahead of you as you stood there paralyzed to the tips of your fingers. shape started to create a form, a very well known form, that of a pony. You felt a slight sense of relief that there was someone who could help you, even to explain and answer your questions. However, this sense of relief was short-lived, as the creature before you passed through the smoke. A pony, to be sure, but something felt... off. A pony that you would expect to be colorful, happy, with a big ole smile across its face, but this creature was not a pony, not entirely. As the pony approached you closer and closer, you noticed that its hair color was very faint red, and that it had a faint yellowish body. As the creature got closer, you were horrified to find no eyes anywhere. All that met your shocked gaze were two empty holes in the head. You began to back away slowly, unsure of its intentions, slowly regaining control of your paralyzed body, when you heard a weak, barely audible word come from its mouth. "Soul". With that, you are sure that you have had enough. Your mind knew exactly what to do, and you did as well, but your body did not. As you were trying to slowly retreat with increasing speed, you tripped over the sign that you had crossed before. You fell on your back, accompanied by the pain in your back, finally experiencing something other than paralysis. With that, you accepted the reality of the situation. This may be Ponyville, but it will not be your grave. With this newly found confidence, you look at the sign under your legs. An idea, not the brightest but the only possibility at the moment, comes to your mind. You stand up now, with the sign in both your hands, preparing for whatever the creature before you may do. The distance between you and the creature started to close. When it was almost within swinging distance, the creature came to a halt, its head turning down and its backside lifting slightly. Don't tell me it's going to... was your only thought before the creature suddenly jumped at your face with a wide open mouth. You quickly put the sign in front of your face to defend it. Sh*t. The creature bit the stick as its full body came after it and pinned you to the ground. Trying to bite through the wooden stick, only for you to realize that it´s teeth are missing. The intensity of the bite caused its cheeks to start tearing apart. With each attempt to bite through, the cheeks became more torn and spread. You disgustedly looked at the creature right into those big empty eyes. Nothing but emptiness, a void, nothing. You´ve had enough of this rough foreplay. You positioned your right leg right under the belly of the creature, and with the sound of another torn mussle in the creatures' cheeks, you slammed your knee into the belly of the beast, only for it to get more aggressive and encouraged to bite more and more into the stick. You tried once more, this time aiming at the thigh, and once again slammed into it with as much force as you could muster. The creature briefly stopped, showing signs of pain being registered, until it resumed trying to get through the stick to your face. With knowledge of this weak spot, you slammed both of your knees into its right thigh. The creature started to lose its balance, and with one final knee slam followed by the crack of the bone, the creature landed next to you. You quickly rolled away, and stood up as fast as you could, before once again looking at the creature in front of you. Even now, as soon as the creature found you, it continued to crawl towards you. "Soul... soul" was all that could be heard from it. You stepped back, collapsing upon the nearby wall, and slid down it's way to the ground. You caught your breath and analyzed what was crawling towards you. An empty vessel, with nothing left but its body, no purpose other than what you assumed was gathering souls. No memories or signs of any personality, or humanity, as you would call it in your world. With that knowledge, you stood up and approached the pale, desperate creature with the sign in your right hand. You stopped slightly before it, to make sure it didn't reach more than it needed to. You lifted the sign with both hands, preparing to deliver the final blow. Welcome to Ponyville my ass, and with that, you slammed the square part of the board into the creatures' head, finishing off whichever conciousness it had left.
Chapter 2-Center of the Town
You took a step back as you watched the creatures' last movements seize. Finally you thought to yourself, before realizing one slightly important thing. You didn't say a word the entire time you were here. This revelation came with a little shock. Even if you were never the type to shout to the skies about how great he is, you couldn't imagine going through such a messed up situation without a single scream, shout, or even a sarcastic comment. You tried once again to say something, anything in that manner, but all you could muster was to open your mouth, only for no sound to come out of it. The buck is going down. You thought as you grabbed your head with frustration. It is now that a certain idea comes to mind. Although unpleasing, you wanted to be sure. And so, with one hand slowly rising to your mouth, your heart has begun to pound harder with anticipation. You opened your mouth and started to check every piece of it. Lips, check, teeth, check, tongue, tongue, TONGUE. You started to quicken the pace of your check. However, no matter how hard you tried to find it, or how intensively you searched, you didn't find it. Well, not all of it, at least. It seems like half of it remained, and somehow it made you calmer. Had your tongue been missing, you would have started to laugh in sarcastic desperation. But the only thing that you managed to do is to kneel, nevertheless, still in desperation. I bucking swear, if I will one day find the one behind this BUCKING MIRACLE, I will cut of his own BUCKING tongue off, and shove it up his BUCKING... your thought was interrupted by another sound coming from the smoke, from which the creature originally approached you. Another one? Bucking great. As far as you could think, you have only three options. Fight, flight, or freeze. Two of them are irrational, heroic, and most likely stupid, while the third is rational but cowardly. As far as you were concerned , you didn't need to think twice; this world doesn't need another hero to join their ranks. And with that decision, you stood up, took your new and only trusted companion, the sign, from the creatures' heads and ran away into one of those destroyed buildings to hide in.
You jumped through a hole in the wall, crouched down and hoped for the best. The same sound greeted your ears as another, similar creature stepped out of the smoke-filled path. Its color was faded, but it was different in color. From that, you could only conclude that these were not clones but Ponyville villagers. You partially remembered the show, and became a little more traumatized. If these were not clones but different ponies, only in Ponyville, there were a bunch of them, at least in the series. If this world is indeed some kind of recreation or if it is that world directly, that would mean that... You put your hand on your head with greater concern, then Celestia decided which cake to eat first, and you realized. There´s a bunch of these motherbuckers out there, waiting for me isn´t there..., shit. You should contain your dissatisfaction with your current situation as much as you can. Calm down. Even though this is bucked up, there must be a way out of this place. You thought about your options, taking into consideration what you know about the show, as you watched another creature walk towards the mess you've made. If you assumed correctly, even though this seems like a distopian world, it is very much the same Equestria, just with a less friendly attitude, but if it is, then it should have the same layout of cities and places, in which case, there should be a town hall more inside that smoke if you are correct about your assumption, but you must be sure. You turned your head towards the path by which you came to this place, and indeed, a little further in the distance, there s a forest. You turned your head back to the creature, now wondering, hardly even registering the death of his friend. If that forest is the Everfree forest, then I am at the south-west entrance of Ponyville. If so, then behind me should be a river and in front of me should be a railroad, but I need to confirm it before making any more plans to more foward.
With that assumption in your head, you slowly backed away from the hole in the wall in front of you so the creature wouldn't notice. Turning towards the wall behind you, you found a door, which was intact. You approach it and begin to slowly open it, going ever so slowly and praying that the door won't squeak. Having successfully opened them, you checked the situation behind you. The creature disappeared, presumably wandering off. You turned your attention back towards your front, slowly peeking out of the door, with one hand grabbing the doorframe and the other holding the sign, with anticipation for another conflict. Left, nothing, right, nothing, front, nothing. All clear. You slowly begin to take steps outside the building, trying your best to look through the smoke surrounding you. No sound, no steps, only your pounding heart and adrenaline. Good. You continue to take one step at a time, with increasing vigilance. Checking both sides before the next step was the best strategy you could come up with right now, and so you proceeded, until you started to recognize an edge of the building. A corner of it, to be precise. With increasing confidence, you began to move faster, still being vigilant.
When you had reached the corner, you started to hear something. Not a creature's growl, not a tearing skin or breaking of bones, but water, a slight, almost unnoticeable sound of water making its way down the dug path. However, you were not satisfied. You needed a visual confirmation, as as you know, the sound of water could be coming from multiple sources, not just a river. A damaged watertower would certainly do the trick. And so you move closer through the smoke. As you were closing in on the source, you could hear something else as well: the sound of drinking. Rather, the sound of the tongue repeatedly being smashed with water. Please be a dog and not a timberwolf, you prayed as you approached. You started to recognize the shadows of the place before you. A form of a path, spread from your left to your right nad a figure, on all fours, indeed drinking. With every step, you started to see a slight light coming from the creatures' eyes, a green light, and followingly it´s dark, wooden body. It just has to be them, huh. You cursed, but also felt relieved that this was the confirmation you needed. You stopped, and slowly began to backtrack your way here, eyes pinned on that big wooden form, peacefully drinking the liquid of life. Good doggy, no need for any sort of bucking reaction. Each step back you made, you made sure that the supposed timberwolf, didn´t move. Once step a a time. Until you reach that corner...
You are stopped by the sound you have made, by stepping on a stick. You quickly look down, scared, then look up, scared even more. You could tell that the sound of the feast had stopped, which was confirmed by two green points in the smoke, looking directly at you. You were once again paralyzed, and you began to panic. Come on, nothing to see here, doggy, just a tree with a strange brach in the form of a sign, nothing else. The tension could be cut by a knife, as you and the creature in the smoke locked eyes. As you stood there, paralyzed and possibly with dirty pants, you noticed that there was a different kind of sound behind you. You have heard this one before, and one could say it was imprinted into your brain after your last experience with its source. You've got to be kidding me. A growling not from a the creature before you, but rather behind you, closing in. As far as you know, there are three options here that you are aware of. First, die like a trapped rat. Second, wait until one notices you and tears you apart. Or third.
And so, without anymore hesitation, you grabbed onto your trusted sign a little bit more, turned slowly, and finally ran. As soon as you started your new soon-to-be record for the Olympics, the creature over the river was indeed a timberwolf. How could you tell? Well, perhaps because of that intense howling in the background coming towards you. You sprinted towards the creature that you knew would go down in a simple swing. You just had to aim it right. Running through the smoke, you begin to see the form. Revenge, you motherbucker. You thought as you closed in on your target with the sign in your hand, ready for the next homerun of the season. Closer, closer, closer, NOW. And with that, you have decapitated the creature who nearly backstabbed you. Once through, you turn right and run straight towards the town hall. If your theory is correct, then there should be a square right in front of you. Also, what you didn't include in your theory was the fact that it was a BUCKING SQUARE. And so, as you approached the center of the town, you noticed more and more creatures along your way. OF BUCKING COURSE. You cursed yourself momentarily, before you were reminded why you had chosen such a stupid approach. The increasing growls of timberwolves were closing in on you, and what's worse, he was not alone. It sounded like the entire pack was invited to the party. You tried to run faster, but your poor physical condition reminded you that you really should have done some exercise back at home. Dammit, there must be something. You thought, as you have seen it, a structure, red roof, body-colored walls, and two doors as an entrance. Bingo. You've increased your speed, against all the protests of your body, and sprinted straight into the building, nearly avoiding the jumps of those "ponies" across the road.
Once inside, you turned and saw multiple green points of light in the smoke not far away from you. You quickly begin to close the doors. When the supposed alpha of the pack was making his way through all those "ponies", he, as the only one, was solely focused on you and you only. You quickly shut the second door, straight into his face as he jumped to bite your face off. You hold both doors shut until you've heard a loud sound of impact and a quick whine from the other side. He won't stay down for long. You have a few seconds to react. You looked down and saw three locks on the lower side of the door. You quickly kneeled down, and began to lock all three of them. Again, a loud sound of impact could be heard. The door didn't open, but it would be an overstatement to say that they didn't budge. You looked up and noticed another three additional locks at the top. You turned around and started searching for a way up there. One staircase, one on the left and one on the right. Left it is. In a few seconds, you reach your destination on the inner balcony. Even though there were attempts to enter after those locks were shut, the door remained closed for good. It was then that you noticed that this building was, luckily for you, empty but nevertheless, vandalised. At least I won't have to deal with those monsters for now. You thought as you began to walk through the remains of what quite possibly once was a meeting place for special events. You looked down from the balcony, and a flashback from the show began to play before your eyes. You saw Mayor Mare standing on the main platform announcing a summer sun celebration and the arrival of a special guest. Nice times, huh. You thought as you explored more. On the one hand, you've managed to get to the center, to which you would eventually set sail. On the other hand, the approach could have been more stealthy-ish, as now there are a couple, if not dozens, of those creatures who successfully acknowledged your presence. You stopped for a while, resting your hands on the railing, thinking about what to do next. Although a quiet location, Ponyville itself could be described as the so-called epicenter of most catastrophic events, such as invasions, escapes of unnatural beings, or being the first target of the villians of the series. This aside, this city also has a castle for Princess Twilight Sparkle and a school for all creatures located on the outskirts, closer to the hills. Whatever happened here, you are sure that someone like Twilight or the Mane Six in general wouldn't do anything about it, which brings another question. Where are they? If they were here, surely there would be something like a sign of their presence. But there is nothing, just those things outside; wild life gone unchecked, ruins and destroyed buildings filled with fog. Another possibility is that they would be somewhere else, solving whatever caused this to happen. You grabbed your head in frustration. Think dammit, think. You needed to get out of this world. Unfortunately, the only... pony who has some kind of experience with this is Twilight, which is nowhere to be found. Maybe there were some clues around about the past events that took place. You are in the town hall. Mayor Mare is sure to have some kind of office here. You started to look for any kind of entrance that would get you there. Only the stage for the announcements, torn or scrached flags with the Equestria symbol, and the now-locked front door and cracked windows along the walls remain. On the balcony is another announciation stage with torn curtains and two stairs, one behind you and one in front of you. On top of you, only roof. Wait, the roof is a circle, the addic, would be suitable for some kind of office for one worker alone. If that's the case, then there must be stairs leading to it. You've pulled away from the railing and started to walk towards the higher announciation stage. When there, you pulled aside the remaining curtains, what was left of them anyway, and looked inside, and indeed, there were doors in the back of the stage. Bingo. You opened the door to find yet another set of stairs, leading up, supposadly, into the addic.
After a little while, you arrived at another door, which, after opening, confirmed your assumption. A small, at the time, even comfortable office, filled with cabinets, which were now chaotically and randomly opened, a desk with papers, and a few architectural plans and photos on the wall. You stepped inside, looking around to find anything that could give you a clue as to what happened here. On the floor, you noticed papers spread everywhere. Based on their appearance, they looked like letters. Kneeling down, you picked one of them up.
Your majesty,
The new invention for Ponyville is greatly appreciated, both by myself and the ponies living in this town. We hope to repay this gift somehow. Should you find anything of need from us, do not hesitate to contact us about the issue.
Mayor mare of Ponyville
This must be one of the older letters, and by its content, it looks like a letter to Celestia, but if it was supposed to be sent, why is it still here? You picked up another letter.
Dear Mayor Mare,
I am terribly sorry for our tea party being short-lived. I hope we can make up another one with more time to discuss the issues you informed me about. I hope to see you again soon.
Princess Celestia
From the old to the older it would appear. Celestia and her tea, of course she would.
Dear Mayor Mare,
It is imperative that the security measures are not lowered by any means. The danger we are currently facing must not be allowed to advance any further. Please take care of yourself as well as the citizens. More reinforcements are on their way. Friendship shall prevail.
Princess Celestia
This must be it, at least some part of it. A danger, but what exactly? If it was big enough to force Celestia to deploy royal guards in the town, it must have been something that the mane six was unable to stop. Not everything can be solved by the magic of friendship, it seems. You put the letters back down and walked to the desk. Another letter
Your majestly,
I have troubling news. It would appear that your suspicions were correct. There have been spotted multiple smoke signals from the scouting teams both in the forest and on the railroads. What is more, the trains that were supposed to bring our buffalo friends and the rescue unit have not yet arrived. Although it was expected for this mission to last three days, it has already been a week. I must share my worries. I am afraid that they have been too late. We await your instructions. I am praying that the magic of friendship will prevail.
Mayor mare
So there was a kind of bigger conflict. The Buffalos had been more or less isolated, at least in the show, so it was strange for them to seek help from Canterlot. Maybe some kind of infection or a virus, a disease. But that wouldn't explain the guards, which means that some sort of military conflict would be more fitting. You pick up another letter, which, unlike others, seems to be written in a hurry and isn t even finished.
Princess, I don't have any time to explain. You must be prepared. He is here, and he is with them. You must
What the hell? Jackpot. However, this raises more questions than answers. Who is "he" and "them", those were the answers that you do not want to find out and so after a little information suppresion, you concentrated on where to go next. As far as you're concerned, you knew about two places which would make sense to visit. Either the castle of friendship or the canterlot city. Since the castle is much more closer, you though of searching there first, that is until you realized. If the whole town was in ruins, then even such a hard structure would be. If it was still intact, it would most likely be some sort of an outpost, meaning that there would be some kind of noise, like resistance cries and the noise of battleing guards against these ghouls outside. So the castle is out of the question, which means that you would have to find a way up into the canterlot. If you remember correctly, it should be connected by a railroad, and if luck is on your side, the train would be at the station. You momentarily made a praying gesture, looking up to the roof, and prayed that the train was there and functional.
Chapter 3 - Catch the train
After your little prayer session, which you consider pathetic, at least in the real world, whenever walking past a church, you make your way back down to the ground floor. Once there, you carefully slipped near one of the windows and looked outside. No timberwolf in sight. That was your only concern, as you now knew how to deal with these...ghouls. You looked at the window lock before you and unlocked it. Better keep the gate up if I will need to get back here. You carefully crawled through the window and stepped outside. Still no timberwolfs or ghouls in sight. You slowly looked for a path which should lead straight to the train station. If your sense of direction is correct, then the north-west path is the way. You made your way to the path leading to the station slowly, crouching and listening carefully for any sounds of danger. Once you located the correct path, you walked slowly forward. As soon as you saw the first building on the path's left side, you nearly wallslammed it and continued forward.
After a little walk of fear, you arrived at the station's front desk. Empty, no wonder, I wouldn´t like this job either. You commented in your head as you proceeded to the left, where a tourniquet was located. You jumped over, trying to make as little sound as possible, and proceeded further. You nearly started to cry because of what stood before you. A bucking train, how the hell am I so bucking lucky so suddenly. You thought and started to make your way towards it, with a little victory grin on your face, and slightly faster movement. Once you approached the cabin, you crouched again and slowly took a peek inside. Empty, now this job I would gladly accept, you complimented and entered.
And now, how to run this bucking thing, you thought as you search for some clues to start the train up. You have three levers before you located over what you assumed was the boiler. One red, one white and one green. If you assume correctly, then the green would start the train, the red would stop it, so logically the last one was for basic brakes and the red one for emergency brakes. And a button next to the boiler saying "start". Without hesitation, you pressed it, and the train came to life, and judging by the smoke that came from the boiler, it must have been quite some time. As you grabbed onto the green lever, you heard a recognisable sound. Buck. You quickly pulled down the lever, but without any effect. What the, you thought as you looked at the supposedly empty boiler in front of you. Celestia, fraking dammit, I didn´t ask for you to be bucking empty, you cursed as you´ve turned to find some coal laying around. The ghouls' sound could be heard nearer and nearer, as you intensified your collecting. After a few quick collect and throw sessions, you hoped that it was enough to get this metal box moving. You again took the green lever, ready to pull it down when you heard a very close growl coming from your right. You turned your head in the direction of the sound, only to be faced with a pair a empty eyes, looking directly into yours. You stood there paralyzed for a moment. The creature slowly came through a hole in the train station. You snapped out of your paralyzed state yet again to finally pull the green lever down, with hopes, that the coal thrown into the fire was enough. After a few seconds, the train begins to move, slowly but surely. You looked back at the creature, who was still walking towards you. You should have bought a ticket motherbucker, you thought as the ghoul started to disappear behind the train.
You looked in every direction to make sure that no back passenger was onboard, and after a confirmation, for the first time you relaxed. You slammed yourself against the metal wall behind you and slided into the little coal pile that remained. It is not going to get you far, but it will get you to Canterlot. As the train picked up speed, you looked to your right. Twilight's castle and the school of friendship are both in ruins. You were relieved that you chose the train station and watched as Ponyville slowly faded behind the train. You turned your head back to the front, noticing the railroad ahead of you and a tunnel inside the hill, which should get you to Canterlot. The wind was bruising through your hair gently as you wiped the seat off your forehead, noticing it also brought a picture to you. You picked it up and analyzed it. A family, a stallion, a mare, and a little pony. You looked at the photo, noticing their friendly faces and big smiles, until you´ve thrown it from the train without a second thought. No point in recalling good moments if they're gone. With that, you rested your head on the metal wall behind you and closed your eyes. Perhaps what awaits you at Canterlot are answers. Perhaps it is only more ghouls, perhaps even clues on how to escape from this nightmare of a world, or perhaps someone who would become your only ally.