Equestria: As We Know It

Chapter 2.

A Constellation Still Unfinished.

SPINET.

My eyes connected into reality, but sadly my reality was more of a nightmare. Silver metal bars kept me in a perimeter of a short stick. I noticed Aim Fire crouched beside me, shaking furiously from the frozen atmosphere we were condemned in. I motioned my body standing, starting to observe my surroundings. The moon had been overboard so some light had been a nice engagement in my observations. Aim Fire, I figured, was fast asleep. In the corner of the containment, three alicorns lied. A filly, mane frizzled and puffy of candy corn gazed at me worriedly. I stood where I was awkwardly. I hadn't a clue of this little ponies identification. She had clearly been born in the havoc we now had live in.

Her eyes were like baby green emeralds on a shore of a beach, blasted by Luna's casting night-light.

"Are you one of them?" She questioned, bravely.

I was remarked on how calm she had asked me, considering the experiences I had with See Saw. "One of who?" I knew what she meant, obviously but my ears were ringing in curiosity.

"The meanies."

Well, it was worth a try.

"No. No, I'm not."

I could sense some of her strained muscles began to decrease. I took awareness of the others behind her shifting. One awoke and his eyes bulged out of his sockets. He dashed up to the young filly that I had been conversing with.

"Stay back!"

He commanded roughly. He held the filly as if he was her father, so with magical assumptions I figured that he was in fact the father. The other pony behind him began toward me as well.

In the name of Equestria.. Cetus? I didn't want to believe Cetus was in front of me, I shook my head and faced the stallion again. Nope. This really was nightmare. Me and Cetus had a very historical time-line that dated back even when I had befriended Pyros. He was my special somepony for quite a while 'till I left him eventually. A realization transported to me. Atlas had been the one coddling the young filly, I recall Cetus's mother carrying a filly inside her stomach near the time of the Reanimation.

"Stay back, or else," Cetus threatened "heroically".

He had apparently not remembered me. I jumped into a rabbits fur at her lack of noisy movement upon rising from Aim Fire's sleep.

"Who do you think yah are? Where the hell are we?" She inquired.

Cetus heightened his level as he seemed to retain Aim Fire's existence.

"Aim Fire?"

Yeah, a sad piano melody ruptured me into a little pain. It wasn't delightful that he could remember Aim Fire instead of me, considering he never really had knowledge on who she was but I guess I had been trivial with my thoughts.

"Huh? How do yah know my name?"

Taking a step back in void of thought. "It's me, Cetus."

Aim Fire left herself in a state of mind-boggling agitation. I felt a sensation in my skull, it was my own brain sighing.

"Aim Fire, Cetus lived in Ponyville with us, remember?"

The moments went by in sickening silence, then with transit of thought, "Oh, right," she exclaimed in neglect, "Weren't yah the one who hung out with Fluttershy?"

"Yeah," He nodded his head, "Yeah, that was me."

Aim Fire slandered into her less sinister mood, most likely because she took caution of the young filly. She casted her eyes at the cages bottom, trotting to the dull back corner. Atlas had ceased Sweet Tooth, but not removing his eye off of me and especially my red and gray color coded ally. I estimated that he had found himself in her chaos, she was rather the trouble maker, at least from what I had witnessed.

A chill breeze tumbled into my coat, causing me to shiver lightly. The metallic surface didnt give a slight friendship, since it was a conductor it would seem much more like it was possible that absolute zero had been existent. To the best of all of our luck, my back had felt bits of drizzle pounding against it, so rain, like that could possible accommodate our suffering. Cetus reversed himself from his view, aiding his father to cover his young sister from the incoming rain.

I cleared my throat for my question to be brought out clearly.

"May I ask who has captured us?"

"A pack of wild ponies, that's for certain," answered Atlas, voice shaken.

Then, it hit me like a baseball bat clunked the ball into a home run. The team of stallions had brought us here, after I was knocked out by the one I let out of my grasp, so in all logical sense that one mistake converted our mindless walking to this containment that could lead us to death. Well, great. How fantastic is this situation we're stuck in now. I was highly tempted to challenge Cetus where his mother was, but I had the decency of knowledge that she could be long gone and bringing up memories that could shatter glass tears would make matter much worse.

See Saw hadn't been acknowledged in the cage, she had retreated in the beginning. So much for her support, but I was more in worry if she was safe. I'm at least a tad satisfied at her escape. Cetus had been eying me ever since I positioned my body next to Aim Fire, who had been day dreaming. My hoof found it's essence on top of her shoulder.

She began to speak balefully. "See Saw isn't even here, instead she's probably cowarding behind the tree still."

So, she had been at the back of the tree stationed behind us. Aim Fire gave a detail on how she had known of her whereabouts around the time.

"I told her to wait there, not to come out. I saw the two making their way toward us while it was mah turn to guard." She sighed, hinting a bit of pity.

"I wanted tah reassure that I had the situation under control, then when I saw the guns, yah know."

She had tore my sleep open like a giant birthday present, revealing my consciousness to an unaware situation. She let out a dash of gas-like dry ice and settled herself into a sleeping place. I went along beside her, allowing my warmth to satisfy with hers. Outside the bars that held us into this, not a star beamed in the sky, only the moon casted at the out lands. Only in the fraction of one out of four sides had a dull metal blockage, I took in my analysis to assume that fraction that was blocked off, had been the campsite in which the stallions that had been residing there. Throughout this forever-lasting shiver blasting night, I heard a few sneezes and coughing so I had been precise on my accusations.

Cetus.

I had my reasons for pretending to only recognizing Aim Fire instead Spinet. We had a history and I wanted to reduce any type of conflict that could've been brought on. I mean, she broke up with me so I figured she not wanted to have even a thought of my existence. I soon told myself that I may have hurt her feelings, but it's not like I meant to, or even wanted too. I spent the night hovering my adolescent sister and keeping watch of my father. Gladly on my behalf, his panic attack from earlier gave him lack of energy and instead allowed him persistence to sleep. After forcing myself to make absolute sure he and Sweet Tooth was asleep, I fell into a dream.

I have a mental ability, it's lucid dreaming. I am able to take action in my dreams and have full awareness that it is a dream, it's a great advantage for no reoccurring nightmares like the partial of my filly-hood. Usually, the dream would always be jam packed with objects I love of, of course this world being safe again. If only, this all would be a dream, but it isn't. I did hope that one day, just one day the lands of Equestria would began anew, with harmony.

By the next dawn, I morphed into a frosted window pane, breaking the ice by a mini jump scare from a nearby banging sound. I was as ear-screeching as a knife scraping across a schoolroom chalkboard. I sprinted up to investigate throughly where the shrilling noise had been coming from. I appeared to be the other side of the closed wall that defending their camp aside from us. When I had been fully cautious and awake, I captivated insight it was the guillotine. I recollected my findings in short exploration from being shoved in this cage of scrutiny, having to be in the scents of droppings because they didn't provide us that luxury, and they had cleaned the guillotine every morning so they were offered by it's infamous glory and its speed of killing.

We've been stuck here for three days now. Day after day, my family and I were in vigor to overhear the sufferings and fleshy cracks of heads being chopped from the neck or limbs if the murderers were feeling frolic to make the ponies die slowly with the pain still attached. My stomach would swerve into wanting to vomit but I held back to be brave for my sister and father. Every pony was all eyes like a filly in fear of lightning from the immense sound of the gruesome murder machine. Spinet and Aim Fire had been more terrified at where the arcane music of hideous howls created by cleaning the guillotine was, I brought them the explanation they deserved. "It's a guillotine," strengthening my lungs to overpower the noise.

"What the hell?" Aim Fire, in a fretful gaze at the forbidden wall, spoke.

In time of what seemed to be a million decades, the noise was footprints on a winter moon. I felt the feeble shaken breaths seize out of her mouth, telling me I should coddle her closer to me to make positive she was absolutely warm. For a few hours of ringing silence and the distant voices and actions from the camp hidden behind the furtive wall, a voice spoke taking me aback.

"Pst. Hey." The voice called to our focus.

I steamed my eyes to shape the figure and then I understood it was her. Quartet, the one who defended us the night of my mothers end and our capture, speak to us every round of Celestia's sun to confirm progression on how getting us out of here was looking. She'd been trying to obtain a key but I could see how it's a harsh statement. I rose myself off my sister who was still aching from a frozen state, promising that I wouldn't take a while planning with Quartet. Her mane was swooped in charming silver with a bobby pin and her coat was chanting wounds that burrowed into her beautiful blue fur. Her oral soundings eased my ears as she the whiff of food coiled my nostrils.

A sack of carrots, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, apples, and more choices that I was dying to consume was there in the reflection of my eyes.

"I brought plenty more for the other residents, I didn't want to let them feel left out," she whispered serenely.

She hoofed me to bag and I gathered all of its contents, of course leaving the occasional apple and few other foods she very much enjoyed. As much as I desired food, I never let greed succeed to me, I was a selfless stallion then.

"Thank you so much, Quartet," I said in mouthwatering gratitude.

She stretched her face in a faint smile, acting skittish as that was one of her personality traits. She induced a reminder of Fluttershy and our days before this world that we once knew as a peaceful, crazy yet fun-loving place where the cupcakes in everyponys heart was pure and innocent. But, now all those happy memories are just sentimental value that calms my nerves and ties me in knots of hope. Sweet Tooth trotted her way up to me and I gave her the food so she and my father could fill themselves with the control that feeds the grumbling that lurks when unfed.

Aim Fire set fire to our distance, interrogating Quartet as if she was a suspect in a crime of a murderous rampage that went about, hunting fillies or so.

"Free us now, whore!" Spinet reared up behind, granting her lack of strength to stinking her hoof out of the box that binded us in on room and damaging her.

"Aim Fire!" She spat out like blood gushing wound, "Stop!" Quartet's beautiful lime eyes shimmered in such awe, her mouth had been gaping out a bit aside of that.

Her eyes became watery in disbelief. The way she stared at Spinet was odd, I asked myself did they know each other?

"Spi-Spinny?" Quartet coughed up in a stutter.

Spinet's mouth drooped within a moments period as she was riddled in recognition at the drop of that name.

"Quarrel?"

Everypony asked that same question from their positions, my father barely awake in the back with my little sister slightly ahead of him. Aim Fire had the most expressioned look of "What in the living hell are these idiots talking about?" where I stood there confused as an apple on a banana tree. The sky had been an icicle of insane penguin weather, even the metal beneath us began to feel as slick as a thief. My breath soared out into clouds eager to figure out what the situation is bringing us. I then had an epiphany. Their coats had been closely identical. . .

"Oh my god, I thought you were dead," Spinet had gentle flowing tears, recycling in her muzzle. "Me too," Quartet replied in gleeful shock. I just had to have a crush on her sister, didn't I?

Spinet.

Right before my eyes, I found her. Quartet, my sister. You know that sensation when you borrow an item from a friend and then you shatter its way of existing, drilling a hole of disbelief in your sprinkling chest. That's what I experienced, intense disbelief that my sister had been surviving this whole time in this rebuilt Equestria. She was a touch older than I, therefore she was already living in her own home in Canterlot, owning a part time job that involved musical talents. I lived in Ponyville, attending my last year in school, so we didn't get to see each other much. We visited each other time to time but we had been so caught up in our studies, we hadn't spoke about 3 months prior of the Reanimation. So, seeing her there in front of me, safe and sound.

The necklace, the necklace had belonged to her. A distant memory persuaded me, taking me aback a time where her special somepony had given her the necklace, Fathom. It came clear to me that that was her necklace, and that was why it stalked me into figuring why its pressure was so seemingly informal.

"This is unbelievable," Quartet laughed intently, "I mean all this time, I'd thought you-"

"Right back at you," I said, my mind still in a frantic knot.

I noticed Aim Fire let loose of her eagerness to go into a temper fit, Cetus had been fairly surprised as well. Cetus had not an idea she even existed, as far as I've said. All he really did was talk about himself, so I never had a chance as close as to mention her. A question swerved in my thoughts as opposed to where we were.

"What are you doing here? I mean, why aren't you in a cage or anything?"

"I'm one of the soldiers here, "She hesitated, "I come to visit Cetus and his family to give them proper food and..keep them.. Spinet?"

"Huh?" I said, my teeth clenched and my head was in a was able to tell I was a bit enraged.

I felt as if though it was a convulsion of jealousy but I meant it to be concern for where her relationship with Cetus was heading, I had experienced her in a tremendous state of depression from stallion heartbreak and there was no way, even in this living hell I was gonna let an ass like Cetus take a single tear from her.

"Wait, you guys are blood related?" Cetus, probably with a million thoughts spreading inside his shriveled toddler brain of his, questioned.

"Yes," answered Quartet, "How ironic she gets placed in this cage."

Come to have a thought of it, it was queer that we ended up here. What are the odds? I held up a conversation on how she had ended up in the pair of my eyes. She had been existing in her home with her special somepony, Phantom.

He had been cool, a director but he was uncool when she brought amongst the fact he left her for some hotshot actress. Cetus repetitively paced eagerly, most like in regret for thinking he can cross horns with my sister. Aim Fire kept her mouth to a glimpse a while, then open sesame.

"Oy, hoof over the bobby pin," she ordered, walking over to her expecting her to magically give it up without thought from her mane.

Well what do you know, in Aim Fire's possession it went. not even a sliver of hesitation came to her. After an interval, Aim Fire put all her focus into hacking into the door's lock. A cramp could be detected with a great amount of excessive cursing. The bobby pin then reappeared out of its primitive form, broken in half. Sweet Tooth galloped up to my ferocious ally, shaking her puffy mane. Out arrived a few candy wrappers, a cupcake tray, cookie crumbs, a three bobby pins. Aim festered in excitement, but made certain it was kept to herself.

After her second attempt, the cage squealed ajar in conclusion, leaving Aim with one bobby pin. In Apple Jack's element of honesty, I was astounded beyond belief. With over easy sagacity, Aim Fire had the handy dexterity of picking a lock and the door to our cell had been set free. I laughed contently at this marvelous sight, a gap of hope indented itself in my chest.

Aim Fire, her crimson mane frizzled from the cold and the skies shivering tears, heightened her hoof to serve her statement.

"Now, clearly our items and collectibles aren't with us, but with yur help," glaring at Quartet, her wrench portrait like mane dangled along her lashes, having to tuck her mane behind her ears, "we can retrieve them."

"Then be on our way, right? "I asked, well knowing Aim Fire wouldn't agree to leave without a fight.

"No. There are many other cages that need an empty'n will be our final step, but first we need to raise some hell, pony style."

"But, that'll attract the cannibals!" Atlas, impartial able the plan Aim fire was conducting, "They'll be tracking our way."

"No, it'll be tracking their way." Aim fire protested, "I've got an alarm grenade in my bag."

The alarm grenade had been invented from in the herd by a mare named Retro Nostalgia, she was very crafty in mechanics if you were to gossip to me about her but she had been gamare by flank. The AG(alarm grenade) had been activated if only ripping off the cap, and letting it blaze loudly, only to be petrified when contacted with water, but it also contained a hint of caesium so a short distance was to be known at its biggest caution when settling down. It's very useful but they were to be at watch from since they were sensitive to the max.

After about a rabbits thump, Aim Fire flooded us with her escape plan she thought so rigorously about. She had been in a below transit in hopes her plan would be attained without a sudden extra bunk of this bed we were trying to make.

Those stallions were in for a real treat tonight.