DayZ of Our Lives.

By Flash Frame

Chapter 1: Awakening and Remembering.

The first thing that Sunset Shimmer noticed, was blackness... at least it was the natural kind, unlike a year prior when she'd gotten her ass handed to her by one Twilight Sparkle with the Elements of Harmony. Waking up in that crater moments later had been quite the experience she didn't want to relive.

The second thing she noticed, was the sound of waves crashing apon the shore. “The ocean? But...Canterlot is a good ways away from the...” Her thoughts stopped as she cracked open her eyes, only to be met with sensory overload from the brightness. Slamming her eyelids back shut she groaned, and rolled over onto her chest... which made it quite obvious that she wasn't in her pony form. “Well at least I know I'm still on human earth.” she slowly got her arms and legs under her and pushed herself up, slowly cracking her eyes open to try to lessen the impact of the light on her poor eyes.

Thankfully, the sand on the shore was soft, though not entirely pleasant against her bared legs. Standing up, she saw a good 30 or so feet ahead, a few shacks and homes and what looked like tool sheds. Further out she noticed the farming community. “Ok, where in Tartarus am I?” she asked herself as she brushed the sand from her legs, then grumbled. Her orange skirt was pretty much in rags, as was her purple tank top with her cutie mark. The only thing that seemed to be hanging on to her body without want to fall off, were her undergarments. She seemed no worse for wear otherwise as she checked herself for injury. Though her Boots were pretty much unsalvageable.

“H...hello?!” She called towards the little community ahead. “Is… IS THERE ANYONE THERE?!” her voice sounded fairly parched. And she could feel the pangs of hunger setting in. Making her wonder just how long she'd been out, and how she'd ended up on a beach. She ran a hand through her fiery locks as the other stayed crossed over her chest, trying to give herself some bit of modesty. And hide the lacy black underwear she had chosen.

No answer came to her calls. For all intents, it seemed as if the small settlement, smaller even than ponyville, was deserted. Walking slowly in her busted boots, she took a breath. “Ok Sunset, no need to panic, you wake up, in a strange place, not the first time.” she reminded herself. She'd gotten up to a few adventures in Equestria, and had, more than once, ended up out on her own, having to make her way back to Canterlot with naught but her magic and wits... “And now, you don't even have a single Cantrip do you?” She reminded herself and grimaced at the thought. At least she still had her wits.

She came to the first house, an old run down green and yellow number. The windows mostly busted out, she peeked inside, “Hello?” She called... only to get no reply. Deciding the town was likely a ghost town, she took a quick look around, before ducking into the small shack. It had a couple of rooms, a stove which seemed to have seen better days, a table and chairs, but that wasn't her interest, her first focus, was some replacement clothes. Turning into what she figured was the bedroom area, she was rewarded when rifling through the drawers with a pair of jeans in her size, a belt, and a green shirt. As well as a pair of old tennis shoes that she'd have to settle for, thankfully everything seemed to be in her size. “Lucky me.” she said, stripping the offending old clothing from her body, she gazed for a moment at the symbol that adorned her Tanktop... her cutie mark... not wanting to part with it, she stuffed the shirt into the back of the jeans, just to keep close for the moment before making her way to the kitchen.

The Kitchen held a treasure or two of its own. A Kitchen knife, worn, but still sharp, was on the counter, and a can of tuna, which if her memory of the date was correct, was still good. She broke into the can, using the flat of the knife as an eating utensil. Once finished with the can of tuna, and feeling a bit better. She took a moment to sit back and relax, trying to remember what had happened to leave her stranded on a beach with no one around.

-2 Days Prior-

Laughter could be heard on the pier, as various teens milled around. A rather luxurious boat, the S.S. Faust, was anchored in, with a banner across the Stern “Congratulations 2015 CHS Graduates!” it proclaimed.

“WOWIE YOWIE! This cruse was the BEST IDEA EVER!!!” The pink hair of Pinkie Pie bounced just as much as she did, as she threw a hug around Sunset and Rarity, who'd been discussing a replacement for Sunset's old leather jacket, which had seen a rather sad end when she'd been helping out Snips and Snails with a science project.

“It was a pretty good idea Pinkie, I'm glad Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were in agreement.” The flame haired ex-unicorn beamed to her friend as Rarity smiled, resting a hand demurely on Sunset's arm.

“Oh I absolutely agree Darling. A seven day cruse in the Bahamas, all expenses paid for the graduating class... I'm quite impressed really.” Even the purple haired fashionista couldn't hide her excitement for the trip. Though she did fall in to Applejack's side once the blond teen arrived, slipping a pale arm around one of Applejack's as the farm girl smiled brightly.

“Ah reckon ah'm just as excited as the lot of ya.” AJ admitted. “Though, ah ain't too happy about being out on the water that long, ain't ever been offshore ya know.”

Rainbow Dash had seen her friends gathering and decided to join them. “Aw… lighten up AJ, it's not like you don't have tons of friends around who can't help if something goes wrong, besides I'm a pretty good swimmer too you know, not just good at Soccer and Football y'know.” She said, pointing a thumb at herself with a cocky grin on her face.

The quite voice of the chiffon haired Fluttershy could be heard, even above all the other noise. “After the past two years... I'm not even worried about this trip, it'll be wonderful to have a week just relaxing. And I'm really looking forward to seeing all the sea life in an undersea dive Principal Celestia said she had lined up for our third day!” the small sound of a squee escaped the other as Pinkie Pie glomped her.

“Oh I know right!” The girls set in to chatting between one another. Sunset smiling brightly. They'd made it, they had made it through High School, without any real issues beyond the Sirens. Even Sonata Dusk was here, having chosen to continue her education at CHS. Sunset shot a wave to the blue haired girl, who waved back, but was distracted by the blond haired teen Ditzy Doo. And started chatting breezily with her.

Principal Celestia coughed through the Megaphone “Ahem, Attention Canterlot High School's Graduating Class of 2015, it's my absolute pleasure to say that this class, has been the most eventful in the history of CHS. And without further adue, let's get this cruse going!” With a cheer, the teens began to file onto the boat. Sunset and her five friends arm in arm as they went onto the boat. Not at all thinking that anything would go wrong...

-Present-
Sunset started as she sat up. Glancing out the windows, a couple of hours had passed and she realised she'd fallen asleep. Slowly gathered her bearings, and looked around. She felt rested and ready to try to find some other survivors. Remembering how she'd ended up on the trip, had her very concerned now. “Guys...I really hope you all made it to the shore...” She took a slow, deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. Her friends were missing, or she was missing from them, she wasn't sure. Her memory hadn't entirely returned yet, and she wasn't sure what had happened to everypon...everybody else. But she knew that she had to keep moving, she had to find a larger town, a population center, something, some way to make contact and let people know she was still alive.

Slipping from the chair, she grabbed the knife and slid it against her hip between the belt and jeans. Ensured the blade wouldn't cut her, she began moving. Out the door and towards the small set of what looked like barns not far from her. She noticed the sun's angle, and caculated for a moment. It was either morning, or afternoon now, she couldn't be sure, so she was either heading south, or north. “Alright just keep an eye on the shadows...” she reminded herself, making a note of which way the shadows were pointing. If they got shorter, she'd know it was morning....longer afternoon, from then she could navigate, since the sun set in the west, and rose in the east. If it was setting, then she'd be traveling north.

It didn't take her long to notice how...beat up everything looked. Abandoned buildings abound, she settled into her stride, keeping her eyes searching. There was practically no sign of anyone around. Then, she saw it, a shuffle of movement. “Oh..oh hey!” she called. It only took her a moment to wish she'd just stayed quiet.

The being turned, and while it looked human, Sunset had seen enough horror films to know that this, wasn't human. Red bloodstains around the mouth, clothes tattered, eyes crazed and dead looking at the same time. The woman, if it could be called that anymore, with long redish-brown hair, wearing a skirt and blouse, practically roared at Sunset, before barreling down the street towards her!

“Oh FUCK!” she drew the knife, holding it out in front of her. She was not much of a physical fighter, but whatever this was, it wanted her dead. Her fight or flight reflex tuned firmly to “flight” she ran, hard, beating dirt towards the nearest barn. Slipping inside, she rounded the corner, and waited. It only took a second for the creature to turn the corner, and Sunset lunged. “FUCK YOU!!” she burred the blade of the knife into its shoulder, and it turned, swatting her hard... knocking her back and away from it and seemingly ignoring the knife, still buried into its shoulder. With a thud, Sunset landed hard on her back. “Ohhh...yeah ok, not the best idea.” but the creature was right on top of her. She looked around franticly there had to be... YES! An Axe, old and warn, it would still be better than the knife. Rolling to the right, she dodged the things clumsy lunge for her, and grabbed the shaft of the axe, before getting up and taking as mighty a swing as she could, burring the blade of the axe with a heavy thud into the skull of the creature that had attacked her.

It felt, with a dull thump, twitching slightly on the ground before going still. Stumbling back, Sunset was shivering, she slumped against the wall of the barn. “C..celesta...forgive me... I just I... it was trying to kill me and...” she looked down at her shaking hands. She'd just killed someone, or something, with her own two hands. Never had she done that, never had she CONSIDERED doing that, at least not while in her right mind. Her mind flashed to the fall formal, standing with eldritch energy crackling around her, a ball of it flying towards Twilight Sparkle and her friends. “NOO!” she slammed her fist against the wall, the pain of the impact bringing her out of her worries, and back into the now... she winced a bit. “Ok, ok it was trying to kill me. It was self defense.” She stood back up, and grabbed the axe... wrenching it free with a sick 'schlick' sound as she pulled it from the woman's' head. She then rolled the woman over face up for a closer look.

It was clearly human, but it wasn't bleeding, at least not heavily. “Could this be a-” her thoughts were interrupted then when she heard something, something that spooked her even more than the creature... It sounded to be a ways off, but... it sounded like, the crack of a gunshot! And judging by the shadows around her... it was to the west.

Author's Note

I've sat on this for a little while, deciding if I really wanted to put myself back out in the fanfiction world or not.

Figured why not. so here we go. Chapter one of who knows how many... if you guys like it, there will be more. Just be sure to let me know in the comments. And, thanks for at least giving it a read.

Also, if you're curious where she woke up. she's on the southern shore, near Prigorodki. One of my personal, favorite areas.