Fallout: Equestria - Beyond the Looking Glass

by Prorook363

VI. The Looking Glass

"The night is far spent, the day is at hand..."

“Are you sure this is what you want ma’am?” a crimson trooper in rusted armor asked me as I turned away from the pack of survivors, carrying only my weight and burdens. The camp had already been evacuated, most slavers had been either chased out or exterminated, and slaves were already being promised to be relocated elsewhere. It was a bright new future for all – all but one.

“Yes, I am sure,” I responded factually, staring down at the bright HUD that glared from the pony’s armor, “There are still some things that I must do.”

At first he was hesitant, taking note of my broken state not long ago. He stared from beyond those dark slit visors that shielded a stallion’s somber eyes, stirring a dead feeling inside my hollow self. He seemed set on aiding me from thereon out. But it was not his task to finish my battle. I was on my own, and I could drag no other pony alongside me. I was a danger to all.

I gave the soldier a meek smile, ignoring my swollen eyes that grieved with anguish, assuring that I could take care of myself and that “he had already done a great service for me and many others.”

After a long while, in what seemed to be an eternity, the steel ranger finally nodded, offering me his deepest prayers.

“If you ever want to change your mind,” he continued, “return back the way you came. Applejack’s Rangers will wait idly by for any and all wanderers.”

He then turned around and followed after the group. From where I stood, I saw a full view of the young foals that pranced between the troops and slaves as they ascended deeper into the land, laughing and chuckling as all fear had fled their vibrant rejuvenated hearts like a demon of the night.

The sight caused my mouth to tremble as something begin to churn and stir within my gut once more, and it made me reconsider my state of isolation. I did not want to be alone, stranded out in this desolate world of destruction and coarse apathy.

I could not join them yet though. Although my quest had once started in a journey to find ponies, I realized that I was not ready to fulfill that goal. Not with this thing inside of me, trying to rip me from my very remnants of what it means to be a pony.

And it was angry. I felt it burn inside of me, tearing away at anything it could as I tried to stave off its corrupted power that tried to surge its way into my heart. It was a task that I could not combat with mere thought; it was like a virus, one that attempted to seize my body with every second I stood motionless.

So I turned away from the remnants of the camp, trudging onward back into the unknown as I walked a lonesome road.

{***}

My stomach began to growl as my legs began to grow weary and pain-stricken. My nose turned numb as I felt my ears shrivel before the chilly winds that swept forth through the nimble corpses of trees. My body shook as my coat failed to trap the fleeting warmth from inside of me, and each breath I took sent a wisp of faint smoke from my mouth as it moved with the winds.

A day had passed since I moved away from the remnants of my desolate cage, along with the opportunity to start anew. And as the hunger began to consume me, I had felt portions of my mind dissolve into that of savagery and impulsive bitterness that frequently threatened to consume what was left of my collectivity and solemnity.

The creature inside of me lay dormant, never shifting as it lay in the bottom of my heart. It did nothing as I tore myself from inside out, letting me alone do the very dirty work it thrived on. It sickened me and enraged me, but the hate I had for myself overpowered the hate for the entity.

I despised myself for what I was, and everything I ever did. I was a basis of all failures, wrongs, and burdens. I despised more than the world then. I despised the very overseer that could give it any form of meaning.

I desired to murmur and spit without constraint, going so far as to actually embody this savage enigma inside of me in methods to actually destroy myself. I tried to bite my tongue, but even I had an urge to let it break me down.

My mind bled internally as searing burns scorched my brain, offsetting disastrous migraines that led me astray from my lonesome path towards a worn down log. I bot on my lip as I twirled on the scorched soil in agony, fighting myself on the floor like a fool.

I began to regret my attempt to journey alone as the pain began to split my head into two, fueling the rage I had for every single component of the dreaded concept known as life. It created a strong shift in my rage, and I could not deter it from my mind; it could only redirect it as I felt my hate resonate into the world and the harbinger of chaos.

With tears in my eyes, I looked up at the dark shattered sky and screamed aloud at some unknown embodiment of life itself, whom I wished suffered a slow, terrifying death.

“Fuck you!” I screamed as I shouted at the top of my lungs, “How could you let this happen to the world! WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING TO PONIES!? TO ME?!”

I began to bang my hooves on the ground and log, cursing aloud at the world and myself.

“You stupid mare…you had the chance to escape such pain, but you shrugged off the opportunity like every other you were exposed to - ”

“SHUT THE FUCK UP!” I screamed at the creature in my mind, and without thought began to bash my head harshly with my hooves. It reminded me of everything that was, and once was.

“Get the fuck out of my head….Get out!!!”

“You pathetic idiot…”

“LEAVE ME ALONE!”

I yelled in futility as I began to sob and sputter like a filly on the floor. The first day of freedom had offered one thing in return for liberation: my emotions. And it immediately set forth on destroying me.

“End it now…do it…kill yourself, be done with me…it’s the only thing that can and will liberate you.”

I cried as I began to glance around, hoping that maybe there was hope of fleeing. To run from the voice was meaningless, but I was desperate, and with a broken mind, logic simply seeped through the cracks.

I got up and ran. I trotted forward, ignoring my tired legs and howling gut. My lungs burned and my mouth became dirt. My vision was blurred, and everything escaped from the world as it all became a blur.

I could hear only the sound of my heart beating, my lungs racing…

…and soon the sound of my shrilling cry that as I toppled downward, spiraling over rock and rubble as the land spun out of control. I had tripped, and I was tumbling down some unknown landscape that bruised and tore my skin with each heavy thud.

I thought I was screaming. But I also thought I was crying. In short, I was falling…literally.

As I continued to spin and twirl, I had begun to strategize how to avoid the pain. But by the time I had strategized an idea, I fell on hard bedrock. Gravity had brought me crashing down on my chest, so all air had escaped my body, leaving me with a deflated, sputtering vessel.

I lay there for a minute, attempting to recollect myself after my dreadful fall, but with each attempt to get up I was knocked down by my frail, torn body. My body felt as if a thousand stings and blisters had plagued it from every side, and my head felt as if it was shifted in the opposite direction.

With worrisome eyes, I bleakly began to examine my surrounding, blinking in every direction to make out anything. But I was concealed in nothing but darkness. The trees and dirt were gone, and the smell of sulfur was absent.
It smelled bleak, absent, like dry earth. I was concealed in silence, left with only the sound of my heart and breath.

But not long after, the smell of sulfur returned, accompanied by the grotesque essence of death .The dark texture of my environment had begun to peel away as the ominous glow of rainbow colors began to resonate from multiple directions, showing itself on large rocks and boulders. They moved like a ghost, sifting from rock to rock – first blue, then green, then purple. Each color twirled and danced around each other as they drew closer to me, causing me to turn my head forward.

And then I saw them.

Dark shadows outlined only by the very colors that resonated off the walls. The three entities were textured silhouettes, each one bearing an individual color of their own inheritance. A blue one, a green one, a purple one. And, along with each patch of the horrid glow that illuminated fragments of their body, they had slit red irises that narrowed down at me in hunger and madness.

The sounds of growling began to ring in my ears, the noise of jaws snapping began to breakout, and the sight of these three monsters began to tear through the darkness as they grew closer to me.

Out of fear I tried to move back, away from the approaching predators, but each attempt left me crawling across the floor. I dragged my body frenetically as fear began to infect my mind, and each time I stared back at those things they seemed to be only inches away.

I prayed that the darkness would hide me, protect me. But I felt my soggy coat press against steel cold rock…they had a scent of my blood, and knew of every step I would eventually attempt.

I cried as I heard the rock before me become scratched and smoothened. All desires of death I ever had were no more; it was the basis of all my fears, and I couldn’t deny that any longer.

“Please…go…” I pleaded at the three creatures that had finally reached their prey. I was answered by a powerful grip wrapping around my hoof and dragging me back towards the very space I crawled from and beyond. My body became enflamed as the hard floor scorched any flesh it left unturned, and I screamed aloud as I felt daggers sink around my other hoof, causing me to spiral out of fear.

“No…no please!” I cried as I began to kick and swat at the very things I could not see. I flailed with insanity, moving my desecrated body like a mace. I had managed to get up and move afar from my attackers, whom had remained idly back as they saw me stumble away.

In a matter of seconds however, I was tackled to the floor by a hard jagged object that caused me to moan and squeal. I sobbed as I felt a cold jagged piece of wood press into the back of my neck. My eyes shrunk as I saw droplets of green goo drop down beside me, only to release a toxic wisp of smoke as it touched the ground.

It was the end of me. Without a single doubt, I was certain death was to come. All attempts to fight fled. I was left with cowardice, and the only thing that I could think of was how I was to be tortured alongside Orion for eternity, forced to flee this cursed purgatory only to run into the mouth of hell.

But the ground soon began to quake.

The rocks began to shift.

The world began to shutter.

The weight upon my body loosened.

The air became alive as a terrifying roar erupted like a loud echo.

And then everything became quiet for a second, before everything blossomed forth like a desert flower.

The sound of a loud yelp shot through the air, followed by the sound of powerful jaws snapping shut. Despite the absence of trees, the sound of wood being chopped could be heard, alongside the interchanging combat of animal noises. Roars, Yelps, Howls, Barks…

I stood up from where I laid, and turned back to the source of the noises, hoping to catch sight of the battle happening before me.

And as I turned, my eyes froze widely as I felt my mouth tremble, for I was concealed in a flurry of emotions.

The ghastly pigments of the creatures blared brightly as they became trapped by a large glimmering glass frame that brushed their hollow glow onto the rocks, removing all impurities and leaving only perfections. The Red, Green, and Purple beasts moved wildly as they attempted to attack the shimmering wall, reflecting the very attackers it faced. But alongside that, it radiated hints of ebony and blue, combatting the very colors of death with its own.

The grotesque outlines climbed the glimmering beast, but were swatted off without remorse. Another had attempted to climb upon an appendage, but was caught by white shimmering daggers that quickly snapped the green beast in two. It let out a loud yelp before falling to the floor, leaving only the pulsating glow of its blood to highlight its corpse.

Seeing their fallen comrade, the remaining two creatures backed away from the large monster, moving to the left side of my vision while the leviathan remained on my right. The two creatures began to bow, but not out of attempt to submit, but to pounce. These things would not bow, nor break before the monster, despite what they saw became of their partner.

Before the things could react however, the sound of air being vacuumed had caused the entire chasm to turn silent. My eyes, once wide, quickly sealed as a bright blue flame shut them out, followed by the searing sensation of warmth conceal my entire body.

The frosty air became vibrant, and the darkness I knew for so long escaped as my shut eyes could only make out a light blue sheet. The sounds of flaring winds that sizzled and roared echoed from the walls and penetrated my ears, sending a chill down my spine as wood began to crack.

And soon it was all over. The sound had vanished, leaving only the whispers of flickering flames that cracked and popped over an unknown host.

So I opened my eyes, and saw the large beast retract the plume of blue flames like a lasso, leaving two burning mounds of scorching flames. The red one had expired, burning brightly as blue and red flames began to twirl around one another. The purple one, however, remained standing, causing my ears to wilt and my eyes to open in terror.

The creature trembled as it remained standing, the blue flame burning like a torch over its terrifying frame that was finally visible. It’s thin, sleek wooden body that remained cracked and broken as it pulsated vibrantly. The violet hue danced under the blue fire, trying to climb over its successor, but had no chance. The air was still, and only the sounds of cackling flames were present.

The purple creature then shifted, attempting to take a step towards the victor, but upon the first step, it crumbled beneath its own weight, breaking apart as the blue flame finally concealed it whole. It fell, crumbling before the mysterious enigma whom I now feared.

But my mind and body was destroyed once more, and all senses were absent. I tried to move back and retreat, but there was no use. It was a redundant cycle of futility and rage, one that I could not escape. Like a cycle, I was moving forth between the line of insanity only to recede back into the realm of apathy. I was truly lost, left without structure.

I fell to the ground, submitting to gravity as I stared blankly onward at the vibrant flames that concealed the cave in a fluorescent hue of blue. And before my eyes closed shut, hoping to embrace an eternal slumber, a loud wisp of wind came forth like strong exhalation, extinguishing the blaring flames that withered in the open air and died.

New Perk: Roads Untraveled – Weep not for the journey disregarded, but for the inevitabilities of your self-proclaimed path. Whenever your health drops below 25%, your DR increases by +2, but your agility falls by -2.

Author's Note:

As a token for your gratitude, I have presented the first song of many others that fall in line with the thesis of "Beyond The Looking Glass". Enjoy...

1. Heaven

Comments

[Turtledude]

3914840 NOTE TO SELF: Do not read comments until caught up.

Thanks, Chief...

(lol)