Life in the Wasteland had taken a turn for the mundane for many Wastelanders like Ashen Crest ever since Watchtower had come into play. From the moment they appeared and established themselves and out of nowhere at that, what could have been called the beginning of an economy seeded itself within the few factions willing to cooperate with them. Their hooves, shady as they were, shook with many others and soon enough jobs were plenty and offered to those willing to make a few caps for some honest to goodness labor. Some didn't like it, Raiders and Slavers mostly, but others like settlements and a few select others were all in for a little assistance in bringing the Wasteland back onto it's feet. 

Ashen was another one of these workers despite being known as a vigilante from the Old World. He had a specific role that catered to his line of expertise in [i]"just sort of succeeding at whatever and coincidentally not dying"[/i] and got to take care of special drops. He would receive an unmarked package, didn't know from who, and was told to never open it under any circumstances and to deliver it to a seemingly random location. And he loved every moment of it! Because it typically meant that he didn't have to shoot anything, and nothing, usually, would shoot at him. Though there would occasionally be the stray Raider or Scavenger that got too curious. Nothing that caused him too much trouble. It was that, drop it off, and head back for a nice hefty sack full of cold hard caps.

Another day, another drop. Ashen was eagerly taking off, waving to his contractor and stepping out the door. He took one look at his package, smiled, then flipped his hood up and pulled his mask over his muzzle. He looked up. He found himself amongst some beautiful trees, surrounded by a lush, green forest, a delightful summer breeze caressing him. What a beautiful night it was! Wait. Night? ...Ashen froze. He looked back. The Watchtower Office was no longer there. The package was also missing. Swinging his head from side to side, eyes darting back and forth as he took a cautious stance. No, there was a feasible explanation for all of this, he thought to himself and looked up to the clear night sky. Of course, an overhead view would provide more information. Ashen extended his wings and gave a few powerful flaps, lifting him into the air, and above the canopy.

His eyes went wide.

It was... the most beautiful sight he'd ever seen. Equestria, as it was before the war. He could see Canterlot off in the far distance. Without a pink cloud surrounding it. He could see the vast green landscapes, the running rivers, and cities completely intact, as well as the fact that it seemed there was an eclipse currently. He could feel his heart nearly bursting it was beating so fast. He had never been more terrified in his life. 

This was wrong. All wrong. Everything was wrong. Landing back on the ground, Ashen leaned against a tree while he lowered his mask so he could breathe easier. His chest was heaving with each short and spastic inhale-exhale. Eyes stinging with tears. The taste of bile on his tongue cause him to heave. Ashen was having a full on panic attack, and he couldn't for the life of him understand why his reality had just been torn asunder. Why he couldn't find the Office, why he was stuck in this perfect world that was like a vision of heaven. Head spinning, Ashen soon found his eyelids growing quite heavy.


...


Ashen awoke under the cool shade of a tree, the amount of time that had passed unknown to him. The sky was still in it's twilit state. The need for survival sprang into the forefront of his mind. Calm now, at least as much as he could be before he gained full cognition, all Ashen could think about was surviving. Establishing his surroundings, finding resources, a place to set up shelter, he was not going to simply leave this forest to go to one of the many cities he recalled seeing on the horizon. No. Ashen was far too cautious to fall for what could be a trap. There was a reason he was in a forest, he imagined. A curse, perhaps? The work of Zebra's? There was something so, so wrong with this that he simply refused to take what he had seen at face value.

First things were first, he needed to get a lay of the land. The forest was endless, no exit for as far as he could see, and as far as he could tell it just had to be the most dangerous Forest in all of Equestria... If he was right, he was smack dab in the middle of the Everfree. Knowing this, he started moving as quickly as he could. Keeping in the shadows while stalking about. Deep marks were cut into the trees, each one unique enough that it would remind him where he was. If there were certainties about that spot, he would put it into the design, such as a river, or fall logs to be used for wood. No food yet, but that would come later. After an hour of wandering, coming to understand his current situation, Ashen decided once again to fly into the air to get another overhead view of the forest. This time, however, as he did, he noticed something... peculiar. Smoke. From a few different locations that he somehow had not noticed before.

This was almost certainly a sign that things were not as they seemed in this forest, as it never usually WAS in the Everfree. There was one smokestack that was near the Sister's old castle if he recalled his various teachings correctly. If there was ever any place he'd want to begin, there would be the best. 

There was no telling what he was going to find. Caution with him always, his weapon was drawn by a slim tendril of what appeared to be a mobile shadow. The source of the smoke was close, in a clearing ahead there was a strange craft the likes he had never seen before... in a heaping wreckage. It appeared to have crashed. But, this was something the Wasteland was familiar with, strange... "occurrence" like these, where the paranormal seemed to be afoot. It was a ridiculous theory, he knew, but could it have been that this was the ship of... aliens? 

That very well could have been the case, as he began to quietly patrol the outer parameter of this clearing. The Sister's old castle in the background, as he had predicted it would be. He began to hear things. Voices, coming from the other side of the wreckage. Were they voices? Or were they simply... hums? Or, musically inclined noises? Singsong... That, mixed with something else. Actual Equestrian, but just out of earshot so that he could not make it all out. Upon reaching a point where he could see the other side, Ashen saw them. He was right. Strange, bipedal aliens. But... a unicorn as well? And... He blinked. No.

It couldn't have been.

That couldn't have been... The Princess...

But there she was. She was unmistakable. Her grace, her beauty. Her divine radiance. Ashen furrowed his brow. This was an illusion, trying to draw him out. And he wasn't going to fall for it.