[Grimdark] [Adventure]
Author: Mystic
Description: Through fire and fear, and darkness and shadow, when the end of the world came, it came swiftly to the peaceful land of Equestria. Now, almost ten years after this cataclysm, a lone mare and her daughter embark on an epic journey of survival across the wasted Equestrian landscape to find hope and meaning in a world where harmony is nothing but a memory.All Links after the break!
Inspired by Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’.
All Paths Lead Home Part 1
All Paths Lead Home Part 2
All Paths Lead Home Part 3
All Paths Lead Home Part 4
All Paths Lead Home Part 5
All Paths Lead Home Part 6
All Paths Lead Home Part 7
All Paths Lead Home Part 8
All Paths Lead Home Part 9
All Paths Lead Home Part 10 (New!)
All Paths Lead Home (All Links)
Additional Tags: Post-apocalyptic, hope, family, death, survival
53 comments:
I sure do love me some grimdark!
ReplyDeleteInspired by The Road? Okay, count me in.
ReplyDelete"Trough fire and fear " " Trough the fire and flame " hummm .
ReplyDeleteCormac McCarthy + ponies? Fuck, this better be good.
ReplyDeletePlease please please tell me the pre readers didn't make you add quotation marks.
ReplyDeleteIf not, why do I see quotation marks
This sorry feel sad make me cry. "World where harmony is nothing but a memory". NO!
ReplyDeleteNo! The original was too sad!
ReplyDeleteWell well, I shall most certainly have to read this when I have the chance! I do love Mr. McCarthy's fiction. Has anyone written "No Country for Old Mares" yet?
ReplyDeleteVery first thing I said upon seeing the cover and synopsis was "This looks like The Road". Then I saw it was inspired by it!
ReplyDeleteMight have to give this a read later.
Hey Applejack!Should i read this?
ReplyDeleteAJ:hmmm.......Nah.
I dont read these kinds of fics.I read comedies!
OC Ponies in Post-apocalyptic settings?
ReplyDeleteSorry. I will pass this time.
I perfer read End of Ponies.
Thank you for telling us that you are not going to read something for no good reason. This information is very helpful and we are truly honored to be granted the privilege of knowing what you will not be reading.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! Good job finally getting this on here!
ReplyDeleteI knew you could do it! :)
The road was great, but sad... so very sad. It was hard enough to cope with portraying humans, I don't think I could handle it with ponies.
ReplyDeleteA fan fic like The Road....How much like it. Some...Things I don't want to see happen to ponies happened in that book.
ReplyDelete@ombutescentdin
ReplyDeleteThere's no cannibalism, and by extent, no baby eating if that's what you're concerned about.
I was actually a little disappointed at that. I love me a good baby-eating story!
Ooooh. The Road. Count me in.
ReplyDeleteYum. I have an unhealthy affection for grimdark tales, devouring anything with either premise or promise to make my emotions stir. Fear and pain are good teachers; best to be reminded what bad feels like so we can enjoy the good, I figure.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very normal. Who is? Eh.
The Road is one of the only more contemporary novels I would legitimately call a classic. It's a dark, haunting masterpiece that will be very, VERY difficult to measure up to.
ReplyDeleteFrom the first chapter, I have no doubt that this will be an enjoyable read. It's just a shame that it will constantly be in the unenviable position of being compared to one of the best novels of the 21st century.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteReading of prologue compiling....
ReplyDeleteWill post shortly.
Reading of prologue complete.
ReplyDeletehttp://soundcloud.com/stoferin/all-paths-lead-home-prologue
Feedback = awesome.
@GWGV
ReplyDeleteTell me about it!
I have to say, that was one of the most difficult things about writing this. I knew that I could never live up to McCarthy's quality of writing and so I fought long and hard with myself over many stylistic choices and plot points as a result. In the end, I tried to stay close to the original, yet as far away as I could. Why? Because it can never be as good as the original, haha. (Even though I do try my best!)
The end result is something a little more character driven with a tad more "adventure", to keep it mine, while still trying to maintain that 'feel' of The Road.
In either regard, I really hope you enjoy!
@Stoferin
ReplyDeleteThat is so unbelievably cool! Like... wow!
@ombutescentdin
ReplyDeleteHahah, yeah! There isn't anything too excessive in this...
Cannibalism was something that I didn't want (to the disappointment of Sessalisk! Haha). Even though it's been done in fics like FO:E, to me it just didn't fit considering they are vegetarians. (Regardless of any hot dog eating contests!)
Of course, it's still a grim world out there...
@ponydoraprancypants
ReplyDeleteWell Hiya there, Ponydora! I hope you enjoy if you read! (However, let the next chapter of The Flight of the Alicorn be your priority! Haha)
As for No Country for Old Mares... give it time... Haha I'm sure someone might try to write it yet.
The Road?
ReplyDeletePonyfied?
SHIT JUST GOT REAL.
Really enjoyed this. I have always been a fan of survival stories, and now I have a pony version of it. Can't wait to read the next chapter.
ReplyDelete@Mystic Yes, cannibalism or predation for that matter wouldn't make any sense given equine physiology, which we see more or less maintained in the cartoon. While any creature will eat what it can find when starving, pure herbivores (especially ungulates) cannot tolerate meat products very well at all. They become very ill, as they lack the digestive enzymes to properly break down many animal proteins and deal with the long-chain fatty acids present in animal tissue. I'm not sure how they'd manage with muscle glycogen... hmmm.. I need to study that.
ReplyDeleteNot to mention all the prion diseases. But then again, prion diseases often take years or even decades to manifest, and these ponies probably don't have a very long life expectancy.
ReplyDeleteOMG I loved the road, now theres a pony version!!!!
ReplyDeleteWow that first chapter, to me this is like a realistic version of Fallout, no mutant monsters or laser guns. Can't wait for the next chapter :)
ReplyDelete@Alondro
ReplyDeleteHa. As if that's EVER stopped anypony in a Grimdark fic before. :D
I mean come on, cannibalism practically is to Grimdark what kissing is to Shipfics....
Haha, I was waiting for Road crossover for ages! Count on me :D
ReplyDeleteGreat story, not extremely dark despite being apocalyptic
ReplyDeleteooooooooooooooh this is soooo good and i just CANT wait for part 3 :O
ReplyDeleteConsidering the source material, I found the quotation marks a little jarring. Fucking pre-readers lol
ReplyDelete@mycutiemarkisagun
ReplyDeleteThat's pretty funny you mention that, actually. Who would have thought that the presence of quotation marks would have made something jarring! Haha. But yeah, with them in there I had to try and rely on sentence structure to keep the tone of the dialogue intact. Even then, it's still not completely the same!
yeeh yeeh yeeh yeeh!
ReplyDeleteActually hadn't heard of The Road before reading this page (tho I glanced over the Wikipedia article and it sounds interesting--may have to at least watch the movie based on it at some point), so there's at least one person out there who won't be comparing this story to that =P
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I'm usually not too interested in Grimdark, but this is an amazing story. I find myself letting out a sigh of relief whenever they find food or something, so that's always a good sign XD
I keep wondering how this'll end--I'm guessing a happy ending isn't possible, but I hope it at least won't end on TOO much of a downer =P
Will we ever find out what happened to Celestia and Luna, or is it one of those things that will just be left open to interpretation?
@cyborcats Thanks so much for the comment; I really appreciate it!
ReplyDeleteTo begin with, I will say that I cannot recommend 'The Road' enough. It's one of my favourite pieces of fiction of all time. If you like APLH, then read the original because my story pales in comparison! Haha.
As for the happy ending, all I'll say is keep reading, and I hope I don't disappoint!
About Celestia and Luna... well, imagination is a powerful thing. :P Hints and red herrings are everywhere!
Thanks so much for the comment, and I am really glad you are enjoying the story!
hope this is about derpy and dinky
ReplyDeleteon part 3 when the story almost ended i seen some spelling errors and part 4 i seen some spelling errors too around the middle of the story
ReplyDelete@i love horeses I'm not quite sure what parts exactly, sorry! Would you mind pointing out a few specific examples? Thanks! :)
ReplyDeleteI love this story.
ReplyDelete@Twifight Sparkill I'm glad to hear it! :D
ReplyDeleteMOAR! FOR THE LOVE OF CELESTIA MOAR!!
ReplyDeleteOld comment system.. we meet again.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like something lots would like. I might read it if I have the time. (I feel like I have barely enough free time to even check the site!)
ReplyDeleteJust loved the final chapter. I'd go into all the things that impressed me so much but I don't want to reveal any spoilers. Bravo!
ReplyDeleteCan somebody gather up the chapters and post them as a epub?
ReplyDelete@Prince Aeon Already done! http://jlryan.deviantart.com/#/d4ygli1
ReplyDeleteI hope you enjoy it! Let me know how you find it! :)
@Prince Aeon
ReplyDeleteepub link:
http://www.fimfiction.net/download_epub.php?story=15020