Fallen World

by Final Draft

Chapter One: Through the Fire and the Flames

It had been three days without the sun and my internal body clock didn’t know what to do. I needed caffeine; just something to keep me awake long enough to get home. I stopped into a place called Shorty’s and slumped over into an empty booth. A few moments passed and the waiter approached me. I ordered my usual black coffee and stared up at the fluorescent light bulbs. The Hoof Beats memorabilia clock above the door struck nine, and one of their hit songs started playing. I couldn’t recognize the song, and I couldn’t tell if it was nine A.M. or nine P.M.

Two burly stallions sat at the counter watching the morning news on a small television set while sipping their coffee. Morning news. It was morning. An aged stallion with a toupe'e faced the screen going over statistics that meant nothing to me. One of the stallions scoffed and the other grunted in agreement.

“Your coffee, sir,” the waiter said, placing my coffee on the table.

“Huh? Oh, thanks.” I rubbed my eyes and took a sip of the hot beverage. An alarm started blaring out in the street and I flinched, nearly spilling my coffee. The stallions at the counter glanced out the window, and when they couldn’t find the source of the alarm, they turned the volume on the television up.

“—and in sports, the Manehatten Manes beat the Red Hooves 6-3. They play again at Manehatten Stadium tonight at seven…Now I’m going to turn it over to Icy Nimbus with the weather forecast—is there any sun in our forecast, Icy?”

“Even if Celestia were to raise the sun, we wouldn’t see it today, Cue Card. Weather Control is moving in a MASSIVE storm front—expect high winds, thunder, lightning, and torrential downpours across most of Equestria.”

I tried to tune out the television, the siren, and just focus on drinking my coffee. The bottom of the cup was nothing but grounds and I swirled the remnants around absentmindedly. The news went to commercial break and the alarm continued blaring. Even with the noise, I found myself nodding off until the short Clydesdale waiter appeared and refilled my cup for me. Now I could see the grounds floating around in the liquid.

“AND THE FIGHTING CONTINUES IN FRONT OF CANTERLOT CASTLE. WE GO TO OUR FIELD REPORTER—”

“Hey! Would you turn that down!” I shouted after one of the stallions decided the television was still not loud enough. He couldn’t hear me so I stood up and approached the counter.

“AS YOU CAN SEE, I’M HERE LIVE IN FRONT OF CANTERLOT CASTLE—”

I grabbed the control away from the preoccupied stallion and smashed down on the volume button. He turned to look at me and stood up—towering a full foot taller than I.

“Wait wait wait! Turn it back up!” the other stallion shouted, still engrossed. I looked at the screen and saw hundreds of pegasi flying across the sky. Small lights were beginning to appear in the clouds above. One of the lights punctured through the cloud and the camera followed it as it crashed to earth. I turned the volume up to a reasonable level and both the stallion and I took a seat.

“—of pegasi appeared out of nowhere and now something has fallen from the sky!” The camera bobbed as the camera pony struggled to keep the lens up and follow the reporter. They approached a group of rebels and Canterlot guards who had gathered around the fallen object.

Live news never gets censored, and what I saw was not meant for the public to see. The ball of light that had fallen from the sky was a pegasus; a horribly burnt and broken pegasus. It lay writhing and smoking as the camera panned over its horrible, warped features. It had no mane and the ears had been melted, literally MELTED, off. The rest was a blurred mess as the camera pony struggled to keep filming. Slowly, the pegasus raised its hoof and a member of the guard leaned in to listen as it spoke.

“Fire…From the sky.”

The camera panned upward in time to see the clouds break open and dozens of pillars of fire began raining down. The signal cut out and went to a Technicolor screen with a high pitched hum.

The noise of the alarm outside was slowly becoming shadowed by something even louder. Both the cook and waiter walked out of the kitchen to listen. I approached the door cautiously while the other four stood back, waiting. I pressed my face against the glass and fought with the glare of the diner lights.

“What is it?” the stallion I’d taken the remote from asked. “Do you see anything?” Before I could answer his question, the power went out and I could see through the glass clearly. Lava was pouring down upon the city, and the citizens were fleeing for their lives. They screamed and cried as they climbed over one another through the crowded streets.

I froze. My legs locked up and my mind came to a screeching halt after being unable to comprehend what I was looking at. Before I knew what was going on, I was being pushed out the door to join the exodus. I eventually came to grips and pulled ahead of the mindless crowd. The last thing I wanted was to get trampled…well… the last thing aside from being incinerated.

I could see hundreds of lava spouts forming in the clouds above. The phenomenon was happening from Manehatten to Canterlot, and likely the rest of Equestria. Running was my only option and I couldn’t help but doubt if it mattered.

The first of the lava flows to touch down began pouring down over the Equestrian State Building. Ponies still inside jumped from the windows and landed on the street below. I imagine they made a sickening thud but there was too much screaming to tell. I could feel the heat of the melting building and tried to run faster.

The streets and buildings were a blur, and I had no idea where I was. The sirens, the screaming, the heat, the sound of my pounding heart—everything made it harder to focus on staying alive.

Other lava flows began engulfing the city, and all too soon the streets became fiery death traps. Twice I turned down an alley only to see a river of molten rock flowing towards me. I watched as helpless ponies were swallowed up and disappeared beneath the fiery surface. I wanted to help them, but I couldn’t risk my own life.

Suddenly, I saw ponies running towards me by the dozen and I knew something was wrong. I screeched to a halt and darted down an alleyway. Two and half ponies managed to follow me in my last second decision. I say half, because the third pony didn’t quite make it into the alley as a wave of lava pooled out over the street. The stallion and the mare that had accompanied me didn’t so much as glance back as they ran past.

“Help me! Please!”

I looked at the torso that was dragging itself towards me and fought the urge to vomit. I could only watch as the lava slowly oozed into the alley and covered the screaming stallion. His eyes were pleading with me, but there was nothing I could do.

Thunder crashed above and even more spouts opened in the clouds. It shook me from my trance and I finally realized where I was. After jumping a couple of chain link fences, I was looking at a clear break from the city. A trickle of survivors galloped out into the country side, and I joined them.

The city behind us burned until not even the tallest sky scraper stood above the glowing glob. It continued expanding as (would we measure lava in tons or gallons?) more lava poured from the unnatural clouds.

The path in front of us was dismal as well. There was no end to this storm. All I could see for miles were the glowing pillars reaching to the sky. This was the end. I could run all I wanted, there was no where to go. I watched as some of the survivors simply sat down and accepted their fate.

“Mommy,” one filly said to her mother; tears in both their eyes, “I don’t wanna die.” The mare then broke down into hysterical crying as she held her daughter to her chest.

Some of the less morally upright chose to indulge in a few final sins before their time was up. I tried to not to look at the fornicating couples that couldn’t even be bothered to use the privacy of a bush.

The further we walked, the more apparent it became that there was no “promised land” waiting in the distance. There was only more fire. There was a hill we climbed that allowed us to see all the way to Canterlot without any visual obstructions. The valley below had become a bubbling lake that was threatening to burst its banks.

I watched as a few survivors broke from the group and simply walked into the lake of fire. They didn’t utter so much as a whimper as their fur and manes caught fire, and they slowly sunk beneath the surface. No way could I do that.

To my left and right were some pretty steep mountains and I tried to judge which was taller. They went pretty far up, but there wasn’t enough light to see the tops of either. So I just picked one and began climbing. I set my hooves into whatever cracks or hold places I could find. Several of the ponies followed my example; other’s walked the base of the mountains looking for an easier way up. With the lake at its bursting point, I wasn’t sure there was time for such a thing.

Below me, I heard screaming as the lake burst its bank and lava began flowing freely up the path. The ponies below gathered around the mountain bases like ants to sugar cubes. I climbed faster, determined not to be swallowed up. I felt a tug on my tail and nearly lost my holds as the survivor below me attempted to pull me off. I reacted by kicking him in the face. He released my tail and fell backward, taking out two mares as he fell into the pool below.

I just ended three lives. I put the thought out of my head and continued climbing. A pillar of lava began descending dangerously close to my mountain, and I shuffled as far away from it as I could. I thought my fur might catch fire from the heat of the molten rock as it poured past me. More screams came from below as those under the pillar were burnt off of the mountainside.

After hours of nerve wracking climbing, I reached the top of the mountain and found I had chosen the taller of the two. The peak was quite large and even had a few fruit trees growing from it. A couple of the other survivors climbed their way up behind me and a few more crossed from the opposite side of the peak. We looked around at each other nervously before deciding, “This is it. Better make the best of it.”

Comments

[Final Draft]

3614683

This is several hundred years after the mane six have died. And one hundred years after my other story, Spiel der Untoten, which explains more of my headcanon

[Jake8765]

3614696 Well this seems interesting. I hope to see more Discord in this? But besides from the lava, where does the Minecraft cross into this? Aside from the story pic.

[Final Draft]

3614715

Once they are underground they start encountering creatures such as creepers, enderponies, skeletons, and so on. Eventually, they come to a city constructed below ground and run by a tyrannical mayor running a diamond mining operation. Eventually the survivors will use the nether to reach Canterlot.

That's all I can say without spoiling too much

And yes, more Discord antics

[Bootsy Slickmane]

A very interesting concept, I must say, even if it is borrowed a bit. I've never read that old story, though, so it's fresh to me. I'm looking forward to getting to know the survivors.

[Final Draft]

3614729
Thank you, and with ten OC's, there are some you'll get to know well...and others you won't.

[Final Draft]

3614969
Shocking, I know.

[That One Hunter]

coooooollll!!!!!!!

[SketchPadPony]

So far, this story is very good, cant wait for more!