//------------------------------// // Chapter Two: Soldiers of the Wasteland // Story: Fallen World // by Final Draft //------------------------------// “You’re gonna go blind if you keep staring out there,” a voice from behind me said. I jumped as a cart load of rocks was dumped next to me. A few rolled down the mountainside and splashed into the lava with a hiss. I turned to see a massive red earth pony looking down at me. Sweat was pouring down from his black mane, and he took a seat next to me. “I won’t go blind,” I replied. He laughed and picked up a rock with one of his massive hooves. “That’s good; because we already have to make sure the old stallion doesn’t go falling in.” I looked behind me to the other six survivors. At the edge of the group was a very old stallion, just staring out at the lava not unlike how I had been. “How did he even get up here?” I asked. The stallion was likely a hundred years old and there was no way he had the strength to climb a mountain. “There was a path on the other side of where you and I climbed up. He, the fat one, and the pregnant couple came up that way.” The red pony gestured to the others of the group. “The zebra and the unicorn climbed up with us. You nearly took out that poor mare with the stallion you kicked down.” The unicorn mare sat off to the side, drawing small circles on the ground with a stick. Both lenses in her glasses had been cracked, but she wore them regardless. After a moment, she sighed and stared out toward Canterlot. “Hey,” the red stallion said, holding out his hoof in front of me. “Name’s Cobble Crusher.” I looked at it for a moment, then up to his face. He had kind, blue eyes that seemed out of place on his rough exterior. “Storm Rider,” I said, bringing my hoof up to his. “So, what are you doing with all these rocks?” “Well, I was gonna build a wall,” he answered before throwing the rock he’d been holding, “but I don’t have enough rocks.” “I don’t think a wall would do us much good,” I said bluntly. The rock that Cobble Crusher had thrown burst into flames as it hit the lava far out in the distance. “Still, building a wall beats sitting around arguing like the rest of them,” Cobble said, standing up. He hitched up to his now empty cart and trotted off to wherever he’d gotten the rocks. Of all the companions I had on my journey, I think I liked Cobble Crusher the most…and Crumpet the least. Shortly after Cobble went back to work, Crumpet had another fit of hysterical crying. The fat brown unicorn mare had been nothing but an emotional wreck since she’d arrived. “Why?! Why does this have to happen to ME?!” she wailed. The folds of her chin rippled as she sobbed, and tears poured down from her beady, black eyes. At this point, everypony else had learned to ignore her. She’d stop eventually and go back to stuffing her face with the fruits we’d harvested. “Hey!” a voice shouted. I turned to see the zebra of our group smacking the fruit from Crumpet’s hoof. I’d never considered myself racist, but zebras always gave me a bad vibe; this one especially. Well, at first anyway. He had a very offsetting exterior; I couldn’t even decipher his cutie mark from the tattoos and scars that covered his body. And his eyes? Completely red; like a friggin’ demon. “You been tinkin’ only ‘bout yourself dis entire time!” he said with a thick Zebronian accent. Ignoring Crumpet’s continuing sobs, he picked the fruit off the ground and carried it over to a pregnant earth pony. “Dere be others in dis group too, ya know!” I watched as he gave the pregnant mare the fruit and asked the stallion with her if he needed anything. The stallion only smiled and shook his head in objection, choosing to make sure the mare was fed before he was. The zebra nodded and then looked around, his eyes eventually stopping on me. I turned back around quickly, hoping he wouldn’t approach me, but sure enough— “You hungry?” He stood right behind me, holding out one of the strange apples that grew upon the mountain. “Uh, not really,” I replied. In actuality, I was starving. The coffee I’d drank at the diner was the only thing I’d had in almost a day. My stomach growled loudly and I heard the zebra laugh. “You’re hungry. Here, eat dis before da fat one does,” he said, prodding me in the back with the apple. Reluctantly, I turned to accept the apple, and as soon as it was in my hooves, I turned back around. “Thank you,” I said quietly. The rocks next to me shuffled and I turned to see the zebra making room to sit. His black and white striped mane blew wildly in the unnatural wind. Before I had to talk to him one on one, Cobble Crusher came by with another load of rocks. “Cobble, take a break, go grab some food,” the zebra said as Cobble emptied the cart. He wiped the sweat from his face and looked back toward the group. “Has Dandelion eaten yet? We need to make sure she’s kept healthy, for the foal’s sake.” Dandelion, the pregnant mare, had finished her apple and curled up with, what I had assumed was her husband. She closed her eyes and smiled as the stallion rubbed her swollen abdomen. Occasionally, they would open their eyes in surprise after feeling a kick. They would then smile at each other, kiss, and resume feeling for the foal. “She’s fine, but we runnin’ outta food fast,” the zebra replied. He looked over at me as if I could offer some sort of solution to our problem. All I could do was shrug and look down at the apple in my hoof. “I’ll see if Candela has come up with anything,” Cobble said, walking off toward the unicorn mare. Unlike Crumpet, Candela was very thin, and very intelligent. The light blue mare looked like she’d stuck her hoof in an electrical socket, because her white mane and tail were perpetually frizzed. If I remember right, that’s actually how she said she got her cutie mark; a light bulb. Left alone with the zebra, I took a bite out of the apple he’d given me. He watched as I ate, and for a minute, I thought he was checking me out. His gaze eventually went down to my flank, and remained fixed there until I turned to look at him. “Don’t mind me askin’, but what are ya good at?” He pointed to my thundercloud cutie mark and I realized he wasn’t checking me out, he was sizing me up. “Riding out storms,” I replied. I didn’t want to go into detail about how the storms I’d ridden were mostly metaphoric. The worst of which was my parent’s divorce. A smile formed on the zebra’s face. “You’re gonna help us ride out dis storm, right?” Before I could say anything, the zebra wrapped his forearm around my shoulders and squeezed. “Ahh, look at you! You already workin’ on a plan!” Candela and Cobble Crusher walked over to us with curiosity. “What’s going on Zan?” the unicorn mare asked, addressing the zebra. Zan smiled and prodded me in the chest proudly, like he was displaying a prize he’d won. I did not like being the center of attention, but suddenly everypony else in the camp started to gather around. “Dis is Storm Ridah! He’s gonna get us through dis!” Zan shouted. Some of the ponies looked at me skeptically, and others like some sort of messiah, as if I could bring them to a promised land. “Now hold on,” I intervened. “I, uh, I never—” “You have a plan? Please, tell us what to do!” Dandelion’s lover shouted. The green earth pony stallion stared at me, his brown eyes pleading for direction. I looked around nervously, trying to think my way out of this awkward situation. “We’re going to have to get to Canterlot,” I said at last. “Surely you aren’t serious?” Crumpet asked in her shrill voice. “Look, if we can just get in contact with Celestia, maybe she’ll—” “If Celestia has not stopped this, then she is either dead or the one who caused it.” The old stallion made his way to the front of the group and looked up at me with foggy blue eyes. “This is not a storm we can ride out.” He wrapped his beard around his neck and trod off back to his spot overlooking the lava. His words seemed to have completely demotivated the others, and they went back to moping. Candela and Zan stayed next to me, hoping I would still offer up a solution. When I had nothing to say, they too wandered off. I set my apple on the ground and walked over to the old stallion. He couldn’t see me, but he knew it was me when I stood next to him. “I’m sorry about that,” the old stallion said, continuing to stare blindly out at the lava. “I am simply a forecaster of doom.” I looked at the old white stallion’s cutie mark and saw it was a clock with the hands stopped two minutes before twelve o’clock. “So this was fated to happen?” I asked. He nodded and turned to look at me. “I have seen it coming for quite some time. Equestria needed to be purged of the criminals,” He looked from Zan and then to Crumpet, “and the sinners,” Finally, his gaze turned to Dandelion and her lover, “and the products of incest.” “That’s her brother?” I asked quietly. The old stallion nodded and I felt foolish for not noticing sooner. They both had green fur and yellow manes, the only difference was Dandelion had blue eyes and her brother had brown. “Toadstool and Dandelion; they’re nothing more than weeds upon this earth.” He turned to look at me, and likely tell me how I’d also had a hoof in bringing the apocalypse, but his ears perked up. “Something’s coming,” he muttered. Zan took notice of the stallion’s behavior and shouted, “You got sometin’ Fin?” “You will call me Final Hour, and nothing less!” he shouted back. Suddenly, the stallion turned and stared up at the sky. The rest of us looked up as well and watched as a small formation of pegasi swooped out of the clouds. “Hey! Down here! Help us!” we shouted, waving our hooves in the air for attention. The pegasi took no notice of us as they flew past, weaving in and out of the lava pillars. A bright light came from above as a new pillar punctured through the clouds. One of the unlucky pegasi clipped its wing on the lava as it tried to get out of the way. We all watched as the pegasus spiraled out of control, trailing dark smoke behind it as it struggled to maintain flight. One of the other pegasi suddenly changed direction to go back for its injured brethren. The wounded pegasus finally gave up the fight and allowed itself to fall toward the lava. Its comrade however dove in for a heroic rescue, catching the pegasus in mid-fall. “Everypony down!” Cobble Crusher shouted as the laden pegasus targeted our island for a crash landing. I ducked and waited for the crunching noise of bones breaking. A black pegasus mare hit the ground and dropped the blue pegasus stallion she’d caught. Both tumbled painfully across the ground, eventually coming to a stop after hitting Cobble Crusher’s wall. Several rocks were dislodged and fell into the lava below. “Why did you do that?!” the pegasus stallion asked, standing up. His remaining wing flared as he approached the pegasus mare. Before she could get up, he pressed his hoof on her throat. “I WANTED to die! Look at me! What good am I now?!” I was overcome with a strange anger and galloped toward the pegasi. I’m not a large stallion by any means, but I put all my weight into slamming that pegasus. He was knocked to the ground and I put my hoof on HIS throat. “Calm down!” I shouted as authoritatively as I could. He looked up at me angrily with his piercing yellow eyes. “Do it!” he shouted, pulling my hoof harder into his neck. “End it! I want you to!” Suddenly his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp. I looked around nervously at the others. “He went into shock, that’s all,” the pegasus mare said, standing up and brushing off her wings. “I’m gonna have to bandage him up now…He won’t let me when he wakes up.” I looked at the steaming nub on the unconscious pegasus’ back. The lava had cauterized it, but there was still risk for infection. “What about you,” I asked, turning to the mare. “Are you okay?” She smiled at me and brushed a strand of her black mane out of her face. Her purple eyes were, well, definitely checking me out. “I’m fine, thanks to you,” she said, planting a kiss on my cheek. Hell, if I’d had wings, they woulda been flared out several feet on each side. “So even the pegasi can’t escape from The Storm?” Crumpet asked. The pegasus nodded. “DOOMED! We’re all DOOMED!” Crumpet cried out in her obnoxious voice. “Cloudsdale has fallen,” the pegasus explained. “Hailstorm and I were lucky enough to make it this far…even if he didn’t want to.” She began bandaging the unconscious pegasus with amazing skill. “We’re all scared and don’t know where to go.” “Have you tried Canterlot?” Candela asked. “That’s where this all started, it’d be suicide to try and get near it. So…none of you have come up with a plan?” “Well, we have da Storm Ridah, he’s done dis like fifty times,” Zan said, once again putting me on the spot. I have no idea where he kept getting such ridiculous notions. “Storm Rider, hmm?” the pegasus asked, getting REALLY close to my face. “It rain lava often where you’re from?” “No, it’s just, uh…damn it…” I looked around at the anxious stares from my audience. They wanted, NEEDED, to hear something, ANYTHING, to let them know we’d be alright. And then I saw where Cobble Crusher had been getting his rocks from. He’d been digging a pit in the center of the mountaintop, and it hit me. “We’re going to tunnel to Canterlot.” They looked at me in confusion, trying to judge if I was being serious or not. But slowly, one by one they started nodding and agreeing with each other. “There is no reason to go to Canterlot!” Final Hour objected over the noise. “Luna is dead! Celestia is dead! There is nothing left we can do!” Suddenly the ideas came to me. I could get us to weather this storm. “We have two unicorns, do we not? Surely in the Canterlot Library there is a spell that can undo this.” Candela tapped me on the shoulder nervously and pulled me away from the crowd. “There’s a reason I haven’t suggested tunneling,” she said, taking me to the circles she’d been drawing earlier. She’d drawn the mountaintop and had measurements and calculations that meant nothing to me. “If we don’t tunnel down at the perfect spot, the walls may not be able to hold back the force of the lava.” “Can you find the perfect spot?” I asked.