Chapters Chapter 1: Be Brave. Be Bold.
Everyone has something worth fighting for...but what happens when that something is taken away from them?
Twilight was sitting happily in the library reading. Like she always did when she had free time. She was happy. She was only disturbed by a loud knock at the door. She sighed and walked to the door. On the other side were two royal guard ponies. One of them spoke up.
"Miss Sparkle? Princess Celestia requests you presence at the castle" the pony said in a deep gruff voice.
"That's weird...Princess Celestia would usually send me a letter if she needed me. Why the change?" Twilight thought to herself. "Okay then, lead the way".
The guards trotted to a chariot and waited for Twilight. She climbed on and they took off for Canterlot. Several minutes past before they arrived. The castle looked empty. Motionless. Twilight was getting more and more curious about everything . She walked into the throne room of the castle to find Celestia and Luna but her brother, Cadence and her five friends as well. They all looked very worried and nervous.
"I'm very glad you could all make it here on such short notice. I would not request your presence here so urgently unless it was important" said Celestia.
"Princess whats going on?" asked Fluttershy.
"Yeah I was taking a nap" said Rainbow receiving a punch in the shoulder from Applejack.
"Sombra has returned..." said Celestia receiving shocked gasps from everypony.
"But how?" asked Cadence.
"I do not know. All I know is that he broke into the castle testing labs and used the portals that were being developed" said Celestia with a concerned look at the large metal glowing rind on the wall. "I had it moved up here so we could study it better.
"Where did he go?" asked Rarity.
"Another world miss Rarity. A world much different to ours. A world filled with war, death and sorrow" said Celestia.
"What are we going to do?" asked Rainbow. "Are we going to go through and kick his flank or what!?"
"I believe that the Elements will solve the problem miss Dash. That is why I must ask you all to go through this portal and find Sombra" said Celestia with a solemn look to the floor.
"Isn't there any other way?" asked Shining as he hugged his sister close.
"Shining please, I'm the Element of Magic and as an Element of Harmony it's my duty to help Equestria in it's time of need" said Twilight with a determined look at her friends and the portal.
The Elements all looked at each other before putting on their individual Elements and walking to the portal. Twilight reached the portal first and put her hoof to it. She touched it causing small ripples of glowing black magic to fly across the surface. She gulped before stepping through the portal followed by her friends.
Blackness...that was all she could see...just blackness. Twilight called out to her friends, but all she could hear was her own echo. Suddenly a voice came fro the darkness. It was a deep evil voice that echoed all around Twilight.
"Well well well. Twilight Sparkle. What are you doing here bitch?" the voice called out around her.
"I'm here for you Sombra! You can't fight the power of the Elements and you know it!" Twilight shouted out to the darkness.
"I won't have to. Muhahahahaha!" Sombra laughed.
"What do you mean!?" Shouted Twilight.
"This world is a war zone. Filled with beings and creatures that want nothing more than to skin you alive and feast on your flesh! Do you really think the Elements of Harmony will help you here!? AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Your more stupid than you look then!" Sombra shouted.
Suddenly the darkness started to turn a more dark gray and Twilight could hear her friends voices. She woke up on the cold ground with her friends looking over her. The sky was dull and cloudy and the air smelt of fire and smoke. Twilight felt rain splash her face and she sat up.
"You alright there sugar cube? You hit yer head pretty bad when we came through that portal" said Applejack as she helped Twilight off the ground.
Twilight looked around. They were standing on a road, but it was covered in plants and badly damaged. She noticed on the left side of the road there was long rows of buildings that were crumbling and mostly destroyed. She couldn't make out many of the signs. On the left side of the road was a hill that led down into a large oped grassy area. Most of the plants were dead and any that were alive were overgrowing. However, the one thing that stood out the most was the large castle that sat on top of a massive hill. It wasn't anything like Canterlot castle but it was still impressive.
"Where are we?" asked Rainbow as she looked around. "It looks like a city".
"What does that sign say darling?" asked Rarity.
Rainbow flew up to the sign and rubbed the muck away with her hoof. "Edinburgh? What kind of name is Edinburgh?" Rainbow asked.
"Hmmm. Maybe it's the name of this city" said Twilight.
Suddenly a loud bang rang out from behind them and Rainbow Dash's wing was hit with something causing her to fall the the ground in pain. They all turned to see several tall bipedal creatures moving towards them.
"Finally! Some fresh meat!" the creature at the front shouted as he aimed a long tube at them.
More bangs rang out from the area causing the bipedal creatures' heads to explode in a flurry of blood and gore. Three more creatures revealed themselves from the shadows of the nearby buildings holding tubes and other things similar to the ones the dead creatures were carrying. The Elements stayed still.
"Ha! Get it up yeh yah murdering group of cunts!" one of the creatures shouted as he kicked one of the corpses.
"Ross! Fuck sake man, have you seen these fucking horses mate?" another creature asked as he pointed at the girls.
The girls were terrified now. They all closed their eyes and prayed to Celestia that they would be alright.
"Umm...hello horses..." one of the creatures said as it approached the girls with it's claw outstretched. "Are you alright?"
"What do you want with us?" asked Applejack as she took a defensive stance.
"Did that horse just fuckin talk lads?" the creature asked.
"Fuck me! I told you two that we were going mental but nooooo I'm just a fuckin nutcase!" the creature apparently named Ross said.
"Look we're ponies and we are real. If you don't mean us harm we could use your help please" said Twilight.
"Umm...okay then?" the creature in front of the girls said.
"Great! Thank you so much sir! Now can you help our friend?" asked Fluttershy as she fluttered over to the creature.
"Umm okay then. By the way I'm Kyran, the boy behind me is Ross and the lad way over at that building is Kyle" said Kyran as he pulled out a green pack with a white cross on the front of it. He walked over to Rainbow who had passed out. Her wind had a large gaping wound in it and was bleeding heavily. "Hmm he shot her with a 12 gauge slug. That wing is fucked. Well bandage it now and try to properly fix it later".
"What's a 12 gauge slug?" asked Rarity.
"It's a shotgun shell. You know a shotgun?" asked Kyran.
"What's a gun?" asked Applejack. "Is it like a crossbow?"
"Sort of. It's got a much bigger punch than a crossbow though" said Kyran.
"Why did they attack us?" asked Pinkie.
"They were hungry. You apparently looked tasty". said Ross as he sat on a large piece of metal.
"Why would they want to eat us?" asked Twilight.
"It's not really easy to get food now a days. You either find food or you hunt it" said Kyran as he put a bandage around Rainbow's wing. "Look how about you come back to our camp and we get you something to eat? It's getting cold".
"That would be wonderful. Thank you so much" said Fluttershy.
"No problem darlin" said Kyran.
The group walked to a massive building and opened a door. As the girls walked in they noticed how dark and gloomy it was. Kyran walked to the far end of the building and pressed a button on the wall. Two doors slid open to reveal an elevator. Everyone got into the elevator and the doors slid shut. After several seconds the doors opened to reveal a large room filled with food, more of the strange metal weapons and some beds. It was fairly well lit and there was a fire blazing in the middle of the floor. There was also a hole in the top right corner. The girls looked around before looking up at the guys.
"Well make yourselves at home. You seem like your going to be here for a while" said Ross as he pulled off the wool hat and bandana he was wearing to reveal his face. He had a large scar running from above his left eye to his right cheek and had brown eyes and hair.
Kyran done the same revealing his relatively untouched face. He also had brown eyes and short dark hair.
Kyle pulled off the ski mask he was wearing to reveal blue eyes and light brown hair. He had a scar running across his right eye to his right cheek.
The girls sat down on some padding around the fire to get warm. Their minds were reeling from the events that had just taken place over the last twenty minutes and needed some sleep. They all slowly started to fall into a deep sleep.
Just as Twilight fell asleep, she heard Sombra's voice one more time.
"Just give up Twilight~" Sombra whispered as she fell asleep.
Author's Note
This is my second story. Sorry if it's terrible but I really don't care :D
Chapter 2: Realisations & Confusion
The girls awoke in the same crumbling room. They all looked around but couldn't find the guys anywhere. The room was overgrown in some areas and every surface was damaged to a degree. Rarity was really having a hard time coping with all the dirt but she was getting by.
"Girls I think we need to get out of here" Twilight whispered quickly.
"I know. These things are always carrying weapons around and killing other creatures. We need to get out of here now" Rainbow replied in the same whisper.
"Who's idea was it to go with these fellers again?" AJ asked.
"I don't know, we just kind of...did" Twilight replied.
"But they've been nice to us and they even patched up Rainbow Dash" said Fluttershy. "I'm sure if they wanted to eat us they wouldn't have gone to the trouble of doing that".
"I guess your right Flutters" said Rainbow as she looked at her bandaged wing.
"And you have to remember that we didn't ask them any other questions. Most ponies use the don't ask don't tell thing, maybe these creatures do to" Fluttershy said.
Suddenly a loud ear splitting bang radiated from outside. The girls all yelped in surprise and fell to the floor. A roar rang out seconds after the bang but suddenly went quiet. The air was still and the girls could see snowflakes falling through the hole above them. For a second the girls forgot about everything. Sombra, the portal, this awful world...everything. Just by looking at those wonderful white crystals fluttering through the air. The elevator door opened to reveal the guys. They were carrying big bags full of something.
"Morning girls. Hungry?" asked Kyran as he put his bag on the table. It was full of small metal cylinders.
The girls walked over to the table and looked curiously at the metal shapes. Twilight picked one up with her magic.
"Umm...what are we supposed to do with these? You can't eat metal" Twilight said curiously.
"How the fuck are you picking that up?" asked Ross with his hands on his shotgun.
"Umm magic. You know magic?" said Twilight fearing the metal tube Ross had his hands on.
"No I fucking don't" said Ross razing his shotgun up to Twilight as he took a few steps back.
"Ross put the shotgun down" said Kyle as he walked towards him.
"Get out of the way Kyle. Right now!" Ross shouted scaring the girls.
"Put the fuckin shotgun down!" shouted Kyle.
Ross threw the shotgun to the ground and started pacing around the room.
"They're probably infected! They're some new infected that tricks you with it's looks and then kills you with that magic shit! We're probably infected now because we got to close to them!" Ross shouted.
"Right sit down, Sit the fuck down!" Shouted Kyle as he pushed Ross into a seat.
"Umm Ross? If it makes you feel any better...we aren't infected with anything" Fluttershy said with a smile.
Ross just looked at her and walked into another room.
"Oh goodness, I didn't upset him did I?" Fluttershy asked Kyle.
"No darlin he's just a crabit cunt" Kyle said as he scratched Fluttershy's ear.
The girls were on edge a lot now. This world was so dangerous and angry.
"Right are you lot hungry or what?" asked Kyran.
The girls all nodded their heads. Kyran then demonstrated how to open the metal cylinder to reveal the food inside. It was...beans?
"Umm is this all you have?" asked Rainbow.
"Heh heh. There isn't exactly mountains of food around here darlin. Sorry but...that's all we've got" said Kyle as he ate the hole tin in a couple of mouthfuls.
"Umm if you don't mind me asking...why is your world like this?" asked Twilight.
"War. War is why our world is like this. Chemical warfare was used the most in Europe, because of the narrow streets and buildings. When they used artillery shells, people just hid under the rubble. Moved under the streets. So they used gas. Tons of the stuff. Dropped it in pods and it went everywhere. We didn't stand a chance. Hundreds of thousands of people used to live here. Now this once great city is filled with bandits, psychos, and infected" Kyran finished with a look to a nearby window.
The girls all gasped at the story. How could anypony do that to their own kind? Why would they? Fluttershy was crying quietly into Pinkies shoulder as she hugged her.
"What are the infected?" asked Rarity.
"People that got more of the gas than usual. It's not too common but when you find one, they're tough mother fuckers. I've seen one take a 12 gauge slug to the face and keep running" Kyle said as he dismantled one of the weapons and clean the insides.
"Umm...can I see one of those weapons please?" asked Twilight.
"Which one?" asked Kyle as he examined the crates and racks of weapons behind him.
"Umm..that one?" Twilight said pointing her hoof towards a light grey weapon. It was about 6 hooves long (3 feet) and was surprisingly light. It had a large cylinder sticking out the bottom and had some letters printed at the back. "AA-12?"
"That thing is a beast. Fuckin watch yourself when that thing is kicking about" said Kyran.
"How does it work?" asked AJ as her and the girls crowded round to look at the strange device.
"Well that's a shotgun. It automatic though which means it can fire multiple shot in quick succession. It fires these 12 gauge shells out of that drum magazine" said Kyle as he pointed to the different parts of the gun. "And this is the charging handle. You pull that back to load the weapon and pull the trigger to fire".
The girls all looked at the surreal weapon that lay before them. They wondered why anypony would need something like this.
"Why would you need this?" asked Twilight.
"To defend or attack. What else?" asked Kyle.
"Why would you hurt your own kind? And why would you do it with such awful weapons?" asked Rarity.
"Why? War is why...because war...war never changes" said Kyle.
"You nailed that mate" said Kyran as he high fived Kyle.
"I know right?" said Kyle.
"You guys seem very happy considering you situation" said Rainbow with a smile.
"Well just smile. Smiling makes everything a bit better. Laughing makes life worth living" said Kyle as he sat back in his seat.
Pinkie squealed and hopped into the air. "YAY! Do you guys like parties?".
"Umm I guess" said Kyran as he drank a bottle of water.
"Well get ready to pa-...Oh dang! I left my party cannon in Equestria" Pinkie pouted and sat back down. "Hey? You? Write my party cannon in now!"
(What? How the fuck did you? No it's out and it's staying out).
"Pinkie who are you talking to?" asked Twilight.
"The writer guy. You know...the guy who's writing this?"
"Pinkie there's nopony there" Rainbow said with a laugh.
(I'm watching you mister writer...)
(I need a break...)
Author's Note
Chapter 2 WOOPEE!!!
Twilight explained their situation to the guys as they all got some gear together. The guys told them they had seen a weird looking creature, matching the description of Sombra head North West towards Stirling. It was a long journey to get there. Made even more difficult by the massive radiation zone between Edinburgh and Stirling. This meant they would have to travel West to Glasgow and then North East to Stirling.
"How long do you think the journey will take?" Asked Rainbow Dash as she stared wide eyed at the massive cities spread out on the screen before the group.
"Five days give or take, maybe longer if the weather gets patchy" said Kyle as he relaxed in a chair in front of the screen.
"Does the weather get bad around here?" asked Fluttershy quietly.
"If by bad you mean 'skin you alive or melt your eyes' then yes it gets pretty damn bad" said Kyran with a chuckle.
The girls just stared at Kyran, horrified at what he had just said.
"How can weather do that?" asked Rarity with a face of pure disgust.
"The storms are full of glass and debris. The wind tears at you so you have to watch what you're doing when you're out in the open" said Kyle.
"We'll take the M8 motorway. It goes straight from Edinburgh to Glasgow and is relatively safe" said Kyran as Kyle nodded.
"Ross!? Get in here you fuckwitt!" Kyle shouted before Ross entered the room.
"If I get infected from those things I'll kill you" Ross growled before walking fully into the room and sitting down by the screen.
"They're not infected you stupid cunt. We've been over this" said Kyran as he smacked Ross on the back of the head.
"You guys sure do fight a lot" Rainbow said with a little grin on her muzzle.
"Well we're Scottish. What else would we do?" laughed Kyle along with the girls and the other guys.
They packed up everything they'd need on the trip to Sterling and set out. Walking onto the cold dark streets of Edinburgh. The air was thick and damp and after a little while the girls started to cough a bit. Shortly after that, so did the guys.
"Shit. Must be a gas storm coming in" said Ross as he pulled out a gas mask from his bag.
"What about us?" asked Twilight with a worried look on her face.
"Don't worry darlin, me and the lads made you these" said Kyle as he put a gas mask on each of the girls. Each mask had the owners cutie mark on it. "Oh put these on too". Kyle said as he gave each of the girls a black hooded and lightly armored long coat".
Rarity really wasn't handling the new fashion well.
"Ugh! These new clothes are awful, why do we have to wear them?" Rarity asked.
"Well the mask will help you breathe and the jacket is to make you harder to spot. You lot are bright as fuck and we won't make it a quarter of the way to Glasgow with you guys sticking out like that. Oh and the jackets will stop small arms fire too so they'll help you stay alive longer" said Kyran as he loaded a bolt into a large black crossbow.
Rarity looked at the gear and sighed. After all it was either wear it or die, she didn't have much choice. The girls put on the jackets and looked at the guys.
"There you go" Kyran said with a smile. "It isn't that bad is it?".
"They're actually very comfortable. What are they made from?" Rarity asked with a smile.
"Leather" said Ross with a glance at the guys.
"Isn't leather...animal skin?" asked Rarity as she stared at the material on her foreleg.
"Aye..." said Ross biting his lip.
"Look Rarity it's that or die. We don't have any other options and the animals here aren't slaughtered for fun. They're feral beasts who need to be put out of their misery" said Kyran as he put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Just don't think about it".
The girls were in a hard situation. They felt wrong wearing the skin of an animal but the animals were in pain to begin with. They didn't know what to do. Fluttershy was surprisingly calm.
"Fluttershy aren't you bothered by this at all?" asked Twilight.
"No, not really. Sure I feel bad for the animals but it's the circle of life and some animals kill other animals. It's just the way it is" said Fluttershy.
The girls sighed and wore the jackets. It was better than freezing to death. Once the girls had their masks on they could breathe easily again. The masks helped keep their faces warm too.
As the group set off again down the dull streets. They could hear muffled sounds come from below them. Worrying sounds. Growls, grunts and snarls could just be made out. Twilight walked beside Kyran.
"What are those sound under the ground?" asked Twilight.
"Mutants. It'll be a pack of them from the sound of it. We'll have to be really quiet so we don't annoy them too much" said Kyran.
Twilight fell back to walk beside Rainbow Dash and sighed. What could Sombra hope to achieve from coming to this place. Maybe she'd never find out but she was determined too. She looked around at the buildings with a sad expression on her face. To think that somepony could just give the order to destroy so much made her feel sick. She sighed and returned her eyes to the road ahead.
Author's Note
Woo!!! First update in forever. Hope you enjoy whoever you are.
