It's been… ten years now? We have nothing to keep track of the days, and keeping somepony posted outside would be too dangerous. I'm just guessing now… just like most of us are.

Sorry. My manners have… faded. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Protégé of Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria. Not that it matters anymore. I'm one of six ‘Elements of Harmony’. A group of ponies connected to six magical artifacts that represent the magic of friendship. You can laugh, but those necklaces and my tiara have saved me and my friends more times than I can remember. But… nowadays ponies would laugh if we tried using that to our benefit. It's not like the Elements can handle an entire army. Or feed thousands of starving ponies.

I'm rambling, just like I used to. It's almost curfew, but I still have enough time to write this down. If I'm going to die, I'll want somepony… or something to know we were here.

Now, where to start? From the beginning, I suppose. Maybe… that day. Ponies call it first contact, a day of discovery… a dark day… or as a majority of this camp refers to it:

The beginning of the end.

It was a warm summer afternoon, and me and my assistant, Spike, a very young dragon at the time, were on our way to a picnic just outside Ponyville, a small but friendly town just south of Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Spike was smaller back then, and weaker, but he was sort of humorous and dedicated to us as his friends. And he was an excellent cook, too. He would ride on my back, the two of us just going on about whatever crazy things were happening in our not-so-quiet town. I remember his laughter… my own laughter.

But back to the story, we made it out of the town and into the fields surrounding it. They were filled with flowers and animals of almost any kind. We kept away from the eastern part of the fields, since the Everfree Forest was near there. No pony is completely sure why, but the Forest is contaminated with dark, twisted magics and ferocious animals and creatures. We've had a few run-ins in the past, which were terrifying, to say the least. So me and Spike made it to the picnic, saying hi to everypony there.

My best friends. Before we all changed.

There was Rainbow Dash, one of the fastest and most skilled fliers in Equestria and loyal to a fault. Rainbow had a cyan coat and, as her name suggests, a rainbow mane and tail. She was the only pony who could perform the sonic rainboom. Pinkie Pie, the most energetic pony I've ever met. I used to get so confused whenever she did something impossible, like pulling out large cannons and objects from her tail or hair. Her coat was a bubbly pink, and her hair was a poofy blob of darker pink. She loved putting smiles on everypony's face. Rarity, our seamstress friend, had an alabaster coat with a violet, curled mane. She was very mannered and formal, mostly, and she was the most generous out of the six of us. Spike had an adorable crush on her, and I'm sure she'd seen it more than enough to know.

Next was Applejack, or AJ as we sometimes called her. Her family owned a portion of Ponyville, since her family practically started the town from the farm. Sweet Apple Acres, best place to get, of course, apples and cider. Her brother, Big Mac, little sister, Applebloom, and grandmare, Granny Smith, all worked the hundreds of acres of farmland each year. She was honest and dedicated, almost as much as Spike. Her mane and tail were a dirt blonde color, from all her hard work, and her coat was a light orange. Then there was Fluttershy, the shyest mare in Ponyville. She had a yellow coat, and a bubblegum-pink mane. Her special talent was with animals, and she always had a dozen or so in her house.

"Hey, Twilight!" Pinkie shouted, zipping over and hugging me and Spike. "Rainbow was gonna show us a new trick!"

"Don't ruin it!" Rainbow called, taking flight.

I set down the sandwiches I'd brought, thanks to Spike, and it went on like most of our meetings. Laughing, watching Rainbow's stunts, a bit of Rarity's gossip, and Pinkie planning some pranks for Nightmare Night.

That is, until we heard the explosion.

It was… horrific. Half of Canterlot was gone. The half still standing was under siege, and ablaze. There was a ship in the sky, smoke trailing from its front from the main cannon. The sky got darker and darker as hundreds of smaller ships started to take flight. And that's when we got a good look at them.

There were the smaller ones, ferocious and deadly. They were dropped in large pods, like cannon fodder or bombs. Me and the girls ran as fast as we could to the town, but it was all for nothing. They were pouring into the streets, the fighter ships above hammering the shops and homes with bright beams that tore them and anypony unlucky enough to be in its way to shreds. I watched a filly… no more than six years old… get obliterated as she screamed. It was chaos, but it was only thanks to Discord, god of chaos, that we survived. We were all brought to a chamber inside the castle in Canterlot. We all screamed and cried as we tried to figure out what was going on, but all we could do was run. They easily breached the castle, pushing at each other to get in and rip the guards apart.

My brother, Shining Armor, led the guards in the first wave, barely making it out with a deep gash in his chest and his left shoulder mauled savagely. There was nothing more to do, and so we went into the city to get as many ponies as we could. The only reason we didn't die in the streets was because the horde was focused on the theatre, which became a bloody mess with limbs and organs and blood spread around the inside. There was a chamber inside the mountain, an escape route in case a siege of Canterlot ever succeeded. Out of 4,688 ponies…

…only 652 ponies made it out.

Most of which were middle-class ponies, all sobbing and weeping for their loved ones. Many demanded to be let back in, but Celestia and Luna wouldn't have any of it. For the first time, in front of me, they ordered the ponies into the tunnels. I was shocked to see my loving and warm-hearted teacher yelling. And then… she wept. Her and Luna sobbed like fillies… but we weren't any different. We all sat there, Shining Armor grumbling curses and trying to console me, and just cried. But we had to move when we heard the monsters on the other side of the door, clawing at the diamond to get inside.

A month went quickly, and we had settled in an underground bunker as big as a city. Slowly, ponies poured in from Manehatten and Ponyville. We saw many of our other friends… distraught and sickened by what they had seen. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were shaking, Mayor Mare was too shocked to say anything… and Big Macintosh carried a covered body. It was the first emotion I ever saw from him. Sadness… at the loss of his and Applejack's grandmare. They mourned for a year, but by then most of us were pushing on. We tried to connect with the ponies stuck in the catacombs of Appleoosa. Then we sent messengers to the Griffon Empire, and the Minotaur Republic, even the Dragon Kingdom. But they were all under siege as well, and most of the messenger volunteers died.

After a year of famine and overcrowding, the guards attempted to launch a counter-attack and retake Canterlot. A force of 2,000 went in… and none ever returned. And that was the day that we decided that the only way we would ever survive, was to expand underground and never return to the surface. The only ones allowed were recon patrols and scavengers. Not like they brought anything useful. With Cadence here we were able to keep just a bit more order, but lots of groups left to fend for themselves, saying the princesses couldn't protect us.

And we all knew it.

But me and the girls would never say anything, because we were terrified, hungry, and weak. They were wise, and through their wisdom we lasted ten more years.

Me and some of the girls became recon leaders, sometimes even searching together. Spike became a chef, making whatever he could to keep ponies bellies full, and he grew up strong. He might have caught Rarity's eye, but they were both too focused on surviving. Just like the rest of us. Our only light was gems in the ceiling that grew naturally, and our only water came from a stream that ran through the mountain. Supplies were always strained, but we made it somehow.

But there was never any hope of going to our homes. Fillies and colts grew up with ideas of taking down the monsters, but those of us who had seen them up close would quickly fill their minds with fear and terror. Pumpkin and Pound, the only foals we knew closely, grew up to fear the monsters and help their mother and father without question. Our lives were based on fear. Our lives depended on fear. Our lives were restricted by fear.

I was tired of it, we all were. I wanted to live a life where fear didn't dictate my actions, where it was created from trivial things instead of horrific reasons.

But that fear vanished… the day we met him.

Author's Note

Gonna try my hand at some dark stuff… getting ready for my next major project, which will include lots of DARKNESS. It won't be psychological or nothing… but it will be pretty fucked up. So, if you're new to my stories and actually like it, like, fav, comment, and have an awesome day or night! Peaces!