In the Time We have Left...

        Sounds of talking echoed through the darkness that surrounded Sonnet Write. She could hardly make out anything of what was being said. Merely blips and sounds that grew in intensity before almost immediately fading away. She heard things that sounded like casual conversation, laughter, and the sound of somepony struggling and crying next to her… Though Sonnet couldn’t quite see what was going on, nor feel anything around her, she was fearing for her life.

        She and her colt friend, Apple Remedy, had been simply out for a walk in the grasslands when all of it went downhill. The gatherers caught them off guard, and what was suppose to be a romantic date turned into a race for their lives. Remedy told her to run while he distracted them and that he would meet her by the road when the coast was finally clear.

        So that was exactly what she did, she ran, and she kept running until she had reached the road. When she was getting close, she noticed two figures on the road through the haze of the grass. Figuring that they were the local patrol hunting the gatherers, she immediately called out in hope that the patrol would hear her and would assist her in getting both Remedy and her back to town.

        However, much to her horror, she broke the grassline to find that she had not run into a patrol. She instead had found herself in the presence of two large bipedal monsters, one which was aiming a gun at her. In a panic, she tried to change directions. However, only succeeded to trip; falling on her head and immediately blacking out.

        Ever since then, she had been in darkness, listening to the disturbing sounds around her. She was starting to believe that she had not ended up in good hooves. She only hoped that it wasn’t the gatherers that found her. If she had control at the moment, she would have shuddered at the thought of what they might be doing to her unconscious body right now if they were the case.

        The voices had started to talk once again, however this time they were becoming much clearer.

“When are we going to move anyways? The sun should be rising soon.” She heard a young stallion say.

        “Whenever she wakes up and gives us the chance to explain the situation to her. Then we will get a move on. I just hope that she didn’t hit her head too hard.” A gruff voice replied, the voice sounded like it came from an older stallion.

        “Oh, I am sure she will be fine! It isn’t like she hit her head THAT hard!” The voice of the young stallion replied back.

        “Well at least you managed to get her gender right…” another stallion grumbled next to her, his voice sounded familiar.

“OH COME ON! You are still on that! It was an honest mistake! With the tone of your voice, anyone would have thought you were a girl!” She heard the yonger stallion’s voice complain

“Buck you! I was nervous! Can you honestly blame me for being in my bravest tone of voice at that moment!” He heard the familiar voice shouted back. At this point, she could tell it belonged to her coltfriend.

“Least when I’m scared, I don’t sound like a little bi- Wait, did you just say… Buck you? What the fuck does that even mean!? Is that like pony slang for ‘Fuck you?’ Holy shit, you ponies are weird!”

“I have control over my tongue, unlike you it seems! You cuss every other sentence you ruffian!!!”

“I may not have control over my tongue, but at least I have control of my voice and don’t sound like a little bitch when I am scared.” The younger stallion’s voice mocked.

“OH WHY YOU LITTLE-” She heard Remedy’s voice yell.

        “CAN IT!!! My Christ! You two are like children! Both of you, get this campsite cleaned up! If I hear another word to each other out of either one of you, I am going to knock you the fuck out!” The older stallion’s voice yelled. His voice was strained, but still held it’s intimidation.

        “But what about-” Remedy’s voice was about to protest.

        “She’ll be fine, I will keep an eye on her. Both of you. Campsite. Clean up. Now.” The older stallion commanded darkly.

        “Fine…” Both the young stallion and Remedy said in unison. Sonnet could hear Remedy begin to walk away from her as she hear another pony, assumingly the older stallion, walk over and sit down next to her.

        She heard him let out a sigh. “I sure hope I don’t have another brat to take care of whenever you wake up. Can’t take much more of this bullshit…” She heard him say.

        She suddenly began to feel a pressure on her neck, on top of her jugular vein. It felt like a bundle consisting of two sticks being pressed against her neck. She felt her entire body twitch due to the sudden pressure, causing the two sticks to retreat from her neck and the older stallion sitting next to her to give out a surprised grunt. That was when the realization hit her that she was waking up.

        Sonnet began to regain consciousness and control over her body. Her eyes and face twitched as she tried to force her eyes open. She groaned when the pain from her head finally began to register. Judging by the surprised sounds that the stallion next to her was making, he seemed to take notice.

“Hey, Remedy, your girlfriend seems to be waking up here. Try to make sure she doesn’t freak out.” The older stallion said. She heard him get up and walk off and heard the sound of who she assumed was her colt friend walking over.

She felt herself grabbed and slowly lifted up into a sitting position. “Hey, Sonnet, are you with us?” She heard Remedy whisper into her ear. The sudden sound caused her ear to twitch.

Sonnet opened her eyes only to a mere slit, afraid that opening her eyes and further would inflict more pain into her throbbing head. In front of her she could only see a brown blur in front of her. However, as she opened her eyes further, the vision began to clear and she could finally make out the blur in front of her. It was her coltfriend with a mixed expression of joy, relief, and concern.

        After a few moment, she finally found her voice. “I’m here, I think…” She muttered softly.

        Remedy smiled and pulled her into a hug. Slowly, she smiled returned it. “Oh thank Celestia! I thought for a moment that you would never wake up!”

        “The gatherers… Did you…” She mumbled quietly.

        “Don’t worry, we lost them! They are not after us, we can go home.”

        “Alright…” She replied.

        The hug continued, and it felt like it could go on for another few hours. However, that moment of peace was interrupted by some pony yelling.

        “Oh my fucking god, would you two just kiss already so we can move on!” A voiced yelled at them, she recognized the voice as the young stallion she was hearing earlier.

        Turning her head towards the sound, her eyes widened and she froze in fear as she immediately recognized the offending creature. It was one of the bipedal monsters she had ran into on the road, the ones who were pointing a gun at her. She debated running a screaming, but her aching muscles and the pain in her head told her that was not a great idea; any movement and/or loud sound irritated her sensitive head. So she resorted to the next best thing.

        Picking up the closest and biggest rock she could find with her telekinesis spell, she threw the rock as hard as her magic would allow her at the monster. Although she was aiming for the monster’s head, she ended up hitting dead center between the monster’s legs.

        The beast let out a fillyish like cry and he keeled over, its hand over the part that she had just hit. The beast started rolling on the ground, crying out in pain and shouting a huge variety of colorful words.

        “WAH! SHIT MOTHERFUCKING SON OF HORSE SHIT!! MOTHER OF FUCK!! MY BALLS ARE ON FIRE!!! ERRAHHHHHRHHH!! WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAAAHAAT!!”

        “Tell her to stop what she is doing, NOW!” The stern voice of the old stallion barked behind her. Sonnet immediately came to assume the voice belonged to another one of the monsters, the one with the gun.

The expression of panic and fear that formed on Remedy’s face as he stared at the unknown stallion behind her confirmed Sonnet’s suspicions, they were in serious trouble now.

“Sonnet, don’t use your magic, they’re not going to hurt us! They already offered to bring us back to town so long as we can vouch for them! He even Pinkie promised to not hurt anypony! Please, power down your magic!” Remedy began to say as calmly as he possibly could managed. However, it was quite apparent that whoever was behind them was very dangerous.

In a panic, she relented. “A-alright! I stopped, I stopped!!! D-don’t hurt us please!” she cried. She was about to turn her head to catch view of the monster yelling at them, but was quickly snapped at again.

“Don’t look at me! Keep looking at your boyfriend. If you turn around, you will regret it.” the monster snapped. Sonnet immediately turned her head straight back to her coltfriend, she was now shivering in fear.

“P-please! It was an accident, she is just scared!” Remedy tried to reason.

“I am sure it was, but I am afraid I cannot trust you anymore at this point. How do I know she isn’t going to pull that shit again? How do I know she isn’t going to try taking the gun from me when I am not paying attention using that voodoo bullshit she just pulled? Give me one reason why I should trust you now!?” The stallion snapped.

Remedy seemed to be thinking rapidly for something to defuse the situation, but seemed to come up with nothing. Sonnet began desperately searching through her own mind for a solution, but could only come up with one. It was a stupid chance that this would work, but she had to try. Otherwise this monster was likely going to kill them both.

“I PINKIE PROMISE!!!” Sonnet shouted in panic.

The stallion didn’t reply right away, allowing the scene to fall to silence for an awkward ten seconds before responding.

“What?” The stallion asked in a ‘are you serious?’ tone.

“I-I said I pinkie promise that I won’t use my magic against you in intent to harm. Cross my heart! Hope to fly! Stick a cupcake in my eye!” She replied, awkwardly doing the gestures.

The stallion remained silent for another few moments. “Why would you think that your promises mean anything to me at this point?”

“Be-because you c-can’t ever break a pinkie promise! Everypony knows that! If you ever break a pinkie promise, bad things will happen to you!” Sonnet explained.

The stallion paused once more, as if he was actually thinking about the implications of what she said. “How do I know you are not making this up?”

“You don’t, you’re just going to have to trust me.” Sonnet answered. Her ears folded back against her skull upon answering his question, she knew that this was going to be the one answer that will either make or break this situation. All she could do now was wait and pray.

The stallion waited for another long pause before she began to hear the him approaching from behind. Seeing that her colt friend’s expression has not changed, she immediately assumed the worse. Closing her eyes, she prepared for what she believed would be the end.

The stallion’s footsteps stopped behind her, it was at this point she believed that she and her coltfriend were going to get shot. However, after an intense moment, she instead felt a small pat on her head. Opening her eyes, she could see the relieved expression on Remedy’s face.

Finally feeling safe enough to turn her head and look at the monster threatening their lives, she found another bipedal creature kneeling right next to her. One of his paws were on her head while the other paw held the weapon he was just threatening them with. He was just like the other bipedal monster, except he looked a lot older, had more hair on his face, and was far more intimidating. However, despite his scary looks, the friendly smirk he wore made her feel a bit more comfortable; if only by a small amount.

“You’re brave, kiddo, but also extremely stupid. You know that right?” He said with a laugh.

“Y-yeah, I guess…” Sonnet muttered, not entirely understanding what he meant.

“That was a nice shot by the way, but I suggest for both of our sanities and his children that you don’t try that again.” Derrick said simply. He ruffled up her mane with his paw before got up and walked up to the other bipedal; who was still rolling on the ground in pain.

“Oh please, for the love of god! Make it stoooooop!” the younger bipedal cried.

“Oh, get up, you big fucking baby.” The older bipedal said.

Sonnet turned her attention back to her colt friend. It seemed as if he was still recovering from his panic, shaking from his recent adrenaline rush while trying to keep himself from hyperventilating. “Dear Celestia… That was bucking intense!” Remedy said through shaky breaths.

Sonnet pulled him into a hug and starting to weep hysterically into her coltfriend’s coat. Everything that had just occurred became an emotional overload for her, and now she needed to let it all out. Slowly, but surely, Remedy returned the hug. At this moment, Sonnet couldn’t feel more happy to be alive.

        Derrick, as he waited for John to get his panzy ass up, looked over the the couple hugging each other for dear life. The pony, now known to him as “Sonnet”, was crying into the other pony’s, Remedy’s, body. She was likely crying off the trauma and stress that Derrick had just imposed upon her with the little dramatic situation.

He wore a somber expression as he watched the two ponies continue to hold each other, one single thought pulsed through his mind over and over again.

“Why didn’t I kill them?” Derrick thought darkly.

        Derrick knew that he was quite easily making the biggest mistake of his life letting them live. They had presented themselves as an obvious threat, more so than he ever thought before. It will only take one slip up, and that horned pony could take his shotgun with her telekinetic ability and blow him and John away without a second of hesitation. It was quite obvious the ponies knew what guns were, who was to say that they didn’t know how to use them? They couldn’t be trusted, they shouldn’t be trusted. However, he did trust them. At the moment, he was trusting them with his and John’s very lives.

        First, it was the “pinkie promise”, she had pinkie promised not to use her magic to harm them as reason for Derrick to trust them. It was silly, almost a joke, but for some reason Derrick could see sincerity and truth in it. Remedy had made him make the promise not to hurt anypony earlier using the same silly promise, immediately after words he had gained Remedy’s trust. So Derrick figured that it had to mean something in this alien culture, something very significant.

        And then there was the last thing she said. That one sentence she said in response to Derrick questioning whether she was making everything she said up.

“You will just have to trust me.”

“The way she said it, the exact tone… It is so familiar… so… reassuring.”

Not everything has to be black and white, Derrick. Not everyone can prove their trustworthiness… Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and see where you end up. If it is someplace bad, you can always find a way out. If it is someplace good, you will thankful you took the risk.

With a sigh, Derrick shook away his thoughts, refocusing his attention back on John. “Come on John, we are wasting daylight. You can put your balls on ice whenever we get to town.” Derrick said.

“I think she... might of popped one…” John groaned. Derrick paid no mind to John’s complaint as he focused his attention back on the two ponies hugging each other, walking over to them.

“Sorry if I am interrupting something, but we got to move. I would prefer we got to town as soon as possible.”

“Oh, right… Yeah… good idea. We probably should.” Remedy replied awkwardly and nervously as he and Sonnet separated; Sonnet did not quite let go as quickly as Remedy.

As Remedy helped Sonnet onto her hooves, Derrick walked back over to John to help him up. Grabbing John’s left arm, Derrick yanked John up onto his feet, much to his displeasure.

“Are you going to be alright walk?” Derrick asked.

“Yeah, sure, if I don’t mind each step being made up of excruciating pain from my nuts!” John complained, gesturing to his nether regions

“So you can walk, good. We’ll start now.” Derrick said simply as he turned around and walked back towards the ponies. He could hear John mutter something along the lines of ‘Fucking asshole...’ as he walked away.

Stopping by the ponies once again, Derrick asked Sonnet. “Are you going to be able to walk?”

“I-I think so…” Sonnet replied shyly.

“No ‘I think so’s, it is a yes or no question. Can you walk, or do you need assistance?” Derrick asked calmly as his patience would allow.

Sonnet took a few steps forward, seemingly testing the strength of her legs. Completing the few steps without trouble, she responded with a nod. “Yes, I can walk.” She said.

“Alright, don’t be afraid to ask for help if you really need it. Otherwise, I am pretty sure your boyfriend here will be more than willing to help you out.” Derrick responded, turning around and heading back to the road nearby.

“Alright, lets move people! We are wasting daylight!” Derrick shouted to everyone behind him. Derrick didn’t need to look back to see that everyone was beginning to follow him; one particularly more begrudgingly than the others.

Casting one last glance behind him he saw the two ponies, they were walking  close together. Side by side as if trying to create some field or sense of safety between the two of them. Despite this seemingly innocent act, Derrick couldn’t help but scowl. he couldn’t help but feel like they were plotting against him. Thinking up some sort of plan to catch him off guard and kill both him and John.

The paranoia made him want to turn around and do what he should have done a few minutes ago. However, a voice in his head reminded him of why he let them live in the first place.

“You will just have to trust me.”

Turning back around, he focused on the road ahead. The familiar sentence of a long lost past repeating in Derrick’s mind, comforting him and reminding him of one important lesson; given to him by someone he once knew.

“Not everyone can prove their trustworthiness… Sometimes you just have to take a leap of faith and see where you end up... If it is someplace good, you will thankful you took the risk.”