//------------------------------//
// A Great Star from Heaven 
// Story: Rebirth of Magic: Find your Voice 
// by JimmyHook19 
//------------------------------//

"How can we be here?" I asked.

"Where?" Hitch asked, looking at me.

I pointed down below. "Does that building not look familiar to you?"

Hitch looked closer. "I guess to a degree it does. But how can the Chernobyl nuclear plant be here in Equestria?"

I had a horrifying thought. What if the magic that had pulled me here and turned me into a pony had also pulled bits of the world in with us?

I had to stay focused. "Come on, Hitch. We need to stay focused and continue through here. We started, so we might as well finish."

Hitch nodded. "Agreed. I'm guessing we'll be walking through pony Pripyat next."

We began to make our way down the hill and gently dropped down the slopes and terrain of the area, seeing the trees gradually vanish. To one side stood a series of graveyards. These graveyards were full of gravestones, many faded and weather beaten with age.

I stopped and took a look at one. All of the dates of death were within a few days of one another. They had all perished in something terrible. I moved onwards, sensing I was stepping into a place that the unicorns desperately wanted to forget.

The pathway began to weave towards a small town, and outside it stood a sign.

WELCOME TO GOLDEN HILLS

HOME OF THE UFUR EXPERIMENTAL ENERGY PROGRAM

TO A BETTER FUTURE FOR ALL UNICORNS.

Hitch looked to one side. "Sure seems that didn't end well for them," he said. "Come on. There's a street this way."

We stepped onwards into the streets of Golden Hills, and I found the place creepy. But not in the fun creepy sort of way. The sort where your skin itches and you really just want to leave.

The geiger counters we carried were still beeping as we walked along. Radiation levels were everywhere. Just what had happened to result in these sorts of levels? I'm no nuclear scientist, but radiation levels are usually not good, right? I didn't fancy growing an extra ear, because who wants that, amiright?

We turned a bend and saw a huge sculpture standing in the center of the town. We stopped and looked at it, slowly reading the text on it as we stood there.

THIS MEMORIAL STANDS TO THE HEROES OF GOLDEN VALLEY, WHO CONTAINED THE AFTERMATH OF THE MAYONNAISE BLAST OF 986.

THEIR NAMES LIVE FOREVER IN THE PAGES OF HISTORY.

I looked at Hitch. "So this is why unicorns fear the word mayonnaise!" I said. "It was the cause of a disaster!"

Hitch nodded. "That was not what I was expecting. Based on something Izzy said unicorns find mayo toxic, so there's probably a double meaning there." He indicated ahead. "There's a path going that way."

I was beginning to think Hitch didn't have a clue where he was going, but I would much rather be with somepony else than lost on my own in such an awful environment.

As we continued on our way, the large station loomed into view before us. It seemed very ominous, especially with the angular lines and vast amounts of concrete that was plastered on top of the structure and made it seem like an alien city had been dumped in the middle of the countryside.

We continued getting closer, before suddenly the ground started to shift! "Is that an earthquake?" I asked.

"No!" said a voice. "But it is your end!"

I looked around to see who had spoken, before suddenly there was a heavy impact on the back of my head. The next few moments are something of a blur, I'm afraid, but I do recall some strange shapes moving about in the distance.





Once I had regained my consciousness, I looked about to find myself stuck in a room. "Hitch?" I called out. Luckily I was still in my gas mask and HAZMAT suit (without it I wouldn't be here to tell you my story), so there was that. I looked at my geiger counter and noticed a changed reading.

"I'm OK, Pipp!" Hitch called, and trotted over to me. "I'm getting a reading of 3.6. Not great, not terrible."

"Are we inside the plant?" I asked.

Suddenly, one of the screens on the plant wall started up, and I saw a face of a human looking at us. He had a very mean look on his face. "Of course you are, you vapid airhead," he said, cruelly.

"You take that back!" I said. "I am not vapid! And I'm not an airhead!"

The figure laughed. "Just keep telling yourself that, Rarity clone. The same goes to the diet Fluttershy over there."

"Hitch and Fluttershy actually don't have particularly similar personalities," Hitch answered. "Both can talk to animals, but one is a confident local leader whilst the other can be, well, shy."

"Wrong," the figure said. "But none of that matters as I have you here now. Do you know where you are?"

"Golden Valley Power Station?" I ventured. "It doesn't seem like a nice place at all."

"Correct, much like this dystopian world that should be scrubbed off the boot of history," the figure said. "This place was the site of an accident, where mayo resulted in the deaths of thousands and the region had to be sealed off. They estimate it will still be contaminated for thousands of years.

"But both of you are trapped here. The other one keeps meddling in the world and constantly revives the characters, no matter how many of them I seem to kill. Hopefully this time I can permanently finish them off before they can replace them yet again."

What?

That was alarming. Somehow I was beginning to think that voice I heard at the campsite was connected to all this. Had that voice brought be here because this person had killed the original Pipp? And given most of the ponies I had met were transformed humans, had he killed them too?

This guy had one chip on his shoulder!

"Know that this time you were bested by the great and powerful Chris Chan!" He laughed loudly as the feed shut off.

I looked at Hitch. "We have to figure out a way out of here."

"Sounds good to me," Hitch said. "Provided it doesn't involve walking past an exposed reactor core, as that would be fatal."

We stepped up to the door and looked for traps, and as we opened it we saw an access corridor towards the light. One section had a sign saying 'exit'. "That seems like an obvious way to go," Hitch said.

"What if that Chris guy swapped the signs about?" I suggested.

"Good point," Hitch replied. "Walk slowly and we should be fine."

We stepped out of the room and headed along the corridor, with only creaking corridors and the occasional dripping of water from overhead interrupting our thoughts. The lights had gone out a long time ago, and the pathways below us continued to wobble and shift as we trotted along.

"This is seriously spooky," I said quietly.

"No wonder people often think places like this are haunted," Hitch replied. "But that's not our concern right now. Keep an eye out, and make sure to use the torches."

I stepped round the bend and soon found another door, which opened without too much difficulty. Though I soon found out why. The floor beyond had collapsed, and simply fell into a bottomless pit below. I didn't fancy breaking my neck, so I stepped back and shut the door, turning back. "Hole in the floor," I replied. "We need to find another route."

Hitch nodded. "Should we try the next door?"

I nodded, so we did. This door led out onto an open walkway, and we stepped along it along the outside of the building. This, at least, was leading away from the disaster zone and towards an escape platform, which we were soon off and out on our way.

Somehow, we had escaped after what felt like hours. Clearly that place wasn't as inescapable as we had thought. Once we were well clear and the geiger counters had stopped beeping, we removed our masks and continued on our way. You have no idea how glad I would be to finally take that thing off. Not only did my wings get really cramped under all that fabric, I smelled once I had it off! My fur was full of sweat!

But that bonding experience had other positive effects. Hitch had really helped me out there. So it was an honor to consider him a friend, considering what he had done.

We were soon on a mountaintop, and saw Bridlewood ahead of us. Our friends were there, too. Sunny and Izzy looked like they'd fought hard, whilst Misty had a new friend- Sprout, the last pony I'd been expecting to see.

But our quest was nearly at an end. Finally! I could have a shower and put some conditioner in my mane! That motivated me as we set off for Bridlewood, and Izzy's house. Here's hoping she has running water- though I was only wanting a shower. I only do bubble baths on Saturdays!