Author's Note

Been a while. That dream chapter shouldn't have been made. I'll probably put it in later down the road.

Chapter 4

Twilight

My eyes open wide to see to see a shadowy face inches from mine. I let a shriek slip out but a hand was immediately palmed over my mouth. I struggled briefly against and sputtered out Jacob's name. I expected a hit of some kind but when none came, I managed a peek at who was pinning me. Through the darkness revealed, to my relieve, a familiar face. It was Davey looking down at me, holding a single finger to his lips while simultaneously whispering out a shush. The gesture obviously meant to be quiet.

He gave me a second to get up and adjust from the rude awakening before he removed his hand. "Breathe easy. Be quiet. Don't speak and listen." I attempt to respond but he cuts me off, he didn't need an answer to proceed anyways. He just kept going. "The noise trap went off. People are in the building right now. Jacob went out to check and see who we're dealing with." A sharp crash down below followed.

This was bad. I didn't expect to meet trouble so soon, to be facing a real danger here. On the other chance, it could've been some animal that triggered the trap. Perhaps it stumbled in here seeking shelter. I secretly hoped it was a stray dog, but the alarmed voices from the intruders quickly shot down that idea. There were multiple humans in this office building. From what I was informed, it was everyone for themselves so this could very well put us in jeopardy.

I strained my ears to make out any words. Anything to know why they were here. I did managed to pick out at least 4 different voices. Many of them sort-of just blended together, with them being a couple of floors down, it was too hard to pick out any single word from the bunch.

I shuddered. "What are we going to do?"

"I'm pretty sure they aren't here to say hello. We're likely going into a fight." Oh no.

"Do I...have to get involved?" He nods. My stomach suddenly turned for the worst and stayed that way. "Oh Celestia...I'm so sorry." I didn't have much of a choice. Whatever happens here today, I hope my friends will forgive me.

"Hey now. We'll get through this, don't worry. Me and Jacob got you covered."

"I trust you Davey. I just don't want blood on my hooves."

"Out here, it was bound to happen. There's no escaping it, Twilight."

Davey left it as that and stood up from his crouched position. He then went over to his sleeping area, slung his gun over his shoulder and started padding through his things to check if everything was there. As he was doing that, I noticed that Jacob left the wrench behind. Finding it near Davey's sleeping bag, I levitated it over to me and onto my back. The cold metal sent chills down my back. I didn't like the idea of using this so soon.

Davey was done assorting through his things and faced me. "You good to go?"

"No. Not really."

Just as he was going to respond, the door opened with a slight creak. With gun ready, Davey aimed at the door. The figure in the door frame hushed out a "It's Jacob." His grip on the gun relaxed and he slung it back over his shoulder. Jacob walked carefully to us trying not to make a sound. Once he got to us, we formed a misshapen circle and leaned our heads in. In the same hushed voice, he spoke. "We're dealing with Mutha's. Cannibals." He said, making sure I knew. "There's a three man group searching the stairs right now. More are waiting in the lobby. Are you ready for this Sparkle?"

My imagination was truly running wild at this point. All from the world cannibal. These "mutha's" must be vile to commit such a crime. Eating their own race? This was beyond anything grizzly I've ever heard. If they could eat humans, I'm sure they wouldn't mind eating me. Appealing to my cowardice, I make one last protest.

"Jacob, I know I agreed to do this, but you can't expect me to fight cannibals. I'd just freeze up and they'll get me." Before Jacob was to reiterate his reason for me to fight, Davey cut him short with his own speech.

"Look Twilight. This decision is fully your own. You can decide whether to kill these bandits or not." I was relieved to hear him say that while Jacob looked ready to complain. "But if you decide not to help defend this group, we will part ways here. Like Jacob said before, it's kill or be killed. You can choose to live a life without having to kill a single soul. But that will be a very short lived life. I understand your world is a land of peace and harmony but you have to understand that this place is not. If you don't start pulling your own weight around here and stop acting like a damn child, we could very well all die here in some fucking office building. You will help us kill these cannibals. If you do, we will keep you safe under our watch. If not, you'll be left here to die. Please Twilight. Make the right choice."

All my hope was shattered throughout his speech but he did stake the claim. I had a decision to make. A snivel made me realizing that I was crying once again but not as harshly as the other time. They were silent tears. Davey was right when he said I was acting like a child. So it was with a heavy heart that I would set aside my ideals of friendship and will my body to do something no pony should bring themselves to do. I wouldn't ever be the same pony again when I fully committed to this.

When I was to make my decision, infuriated death threats could be heard through the open door. Malicious jokes about killing us off and grilling us over a fire. They were laughing and howling for our death. This tactic was meant to strike fear, which affected me to the fullest possible way. I couldn't take my eyes away from the dark door frame. Expecting at any moment for them to jump out of the dark and slaughter us all. Force me to watch as they killed the only beings I could consider friends in this miserable world. Then they'd surely murder me in the end. Maybe even keep my head as a souvenir to remind them the time they ate a real life unicorn.

Davey blocked my view from the door and I refocused onto him. "Make the right choice."

I knew my choice. "I will. I'll help fight back."

Davey let a sigh of relief. "As much as I don't want you in harm's way, this will be a good way to get you some experience dealing with these thugs."

"Me and Davey got your back. We'll live through this." added Jacob.

Their words offered little reassurance to me. Going in one ear and out the other.

This was it, no turning back now.

Jacob quickly went over to his equipment and sheathed a spare knife into his right boot while also grabbing the bat he was lugging around. Similarly, Davey picked up his own blade and stuffed it into the pocket of his hoodie. I couldn't exactly prepare for the fight we were getting ready for. The only thing I had was the wrench and that was already with me. I merely waited patiently and mentally prepared myself, clearing my thoughts of any doubts or last minute changes.

"Alright team, this is how it's going to play out," Jacob started "That 3 man group I mentioned is currently searching the stairs. We're gonna set up an ambush a floor higher and take them out. Twilight, you're going to be bait in this one."

"Hold up, this is too sudden for me. Is it truly wise to put me into th-"

"It's like we keep saying Twilight. We have your back." Davey said.

I sigh in defeat. None of this boded well for me. "...Alright Jacob."

"Hey, if this goes right, you won't need to muddy your...hooves...in blood. For now. Do what you're told and you'll be fine. Now let's move before we lose our chance."

We proceeded to make our way to the door and down the stairs. The sick feeling never leaving my stomach the entire way.

Sneaking in the dark, we stopped at the second floor and enter to a long, wide hallway which was filled with various office debris scattered all over the floor. As quietly as we have been, Jacob closed behind him and started whispering his plan. "This floor is next to be searched by the trio. We're doing this ambush right in these halls. Sparkle, you'll stay in the middle and try to get their attention. Hopefully they'll think of you as some random animal. Try to sell it though. Davey, I want you to go down this hall, find some cover, and take aim at the door. When the time comes, you know when, you'll sound out 'duck' so Sparkle will give you a clear shot at close range. We got it?"

"Got it." "Y-yeah." We sounded out simultaneously.

"Good. I'll stick behind this door frame," he pointed with his thumb, "and get them from behind after I hear your first shot. Now move."

Davey and I lightly shuffled to our places with him hiding over a fallen filing cabinet and with me a few feet from him and out in the open, shaking and scared to the bone. Jacob has already gone to his spot. It would be several minutes of siting and staring at the door until those monsters would enter our floor. For the entire time I ran scenarios of how badly this could turn out, especially my role. What if they just pulled out a gun and shot me on sight? Maybe the rest of them would just come here and do away with us for good.

Footsteps could be heard. They were coming up and were now on our floor level. My mind went blank as I waited in suspense, staring at the door handle to jingle and for the door to creak open.

But it didn't go that way. They weren't quiet when they kicked the door open almost off the hinges. The brutes filled the hall, shoulder to shoulder.

Thanks to my eyesight, I took notice of their faces, clothing and weapons. All three were extremely filthy with tattered clothing and messy manes. Their odor was intense and violated my nostrils. I had to hold back from gagging, it was so bad. As for their weapons, the sides carried rusty crowbars while the middle one carried a long blade. The blade looked dull. So much so, that it probably wouldn't cut so cleanly in a first swing.

I couldn't help but freeze up at the sight of them. So intimidating, so menacing. Because of this, one of the brutes were about to enter the doorway Jacob was hiding at. His cover would be blown and the the three would surely gang him resulting in his violent death.

It wasn't until Davey poked me with the barrel of his rifle, that I let out a yelp and alerted them. I saw their heads sharply turn to me and a small silence occurred. No going back now, I started walking forward and attempted to look oblivious. My hooves made clip clop sounds against the floor as I slowly walked.

"Is that a deer?" "No...I think it's a...horse?" "I don't care which, it's going to be my meal right now."

That last comment halted my approach and I stared in horror as the man walked to me, clutching his knife. I started going in reverse "Don't be afraid of little 'ol me, horsie!" He said wickedly, showing off his disgusting yellow teeth. I was certain that this was the end until a loud "DUCK!" sounded out. By instinct, I dropped to the floor with a thud as a loud whizzing something passed overhead followed by another, heavier thud, dropping to the floor.

"What the hell?!" One brute who voiced his confusion. Just as quick as it all began, Jacob darted out of the doorway with a knife in his hand. With it, he lodged it into the neck of the nearest brute and sickeningly twisted it in its place. His victim hardly put up a struggle, only grabbing Jacob's forearm that was looped around his neck before falling limp and lifeless. Leaving the dagger in his neck, Jacob quickly followed with a swing of his fists to the last of the trio who had his back to the wall. His fist smashed into his nose which slammed him to the wall and slide down to the floor. A sharp cry for mercy were his last words before Jacob's foot made impact with his skull. He lifted his booted foot and repeatedly stomped on the man's head which resulted into many fleshy pops. He finally stops after some seconds now lightly panting from the exertion.

My eyes were open the entire time watching Jacob take out two men in but a minute. This worked so well for us but the end result was something I couldn't handle. The air had the blood of our attackers which didn't stop me from shaking. I trotted over to the closest body, the one Davey shot, and looked at him. He had the cleanest of deaths but that didn't make it any better.

The entry wound was in the forehead and passed through the back. Through the hole in his head, I saw the destroyed bits of brain, ripped flesh, and a well of blood. The well was slowly being emptied onto the floor behind the man's head. The soon-to-be puddle was expanding rapidly and nearly touched my hooves before I jerked backwards and promptly vomited next to his head.

My eyes burned just as much as my throat did. Davey patted my head, to which I horribly flinched to, and said "You did great, Twilight. Nice job." Why did he sound so proud for this? This was just too wrong, too sudden, too much to handle right now. I had to forgo my emotions when Davey patted my side this time and told me to come along. He goes off down the hall to Jacob and I follow unsteadily after him, trying not to look at the fresh corpses that lied on the floor. Jacob had his ear to the door, likely to hear if anyone was coming up after us. After a while he moved back from the door.

"Don't think they're coming up. We shouldn't keep them waiting." He looks down to one of his victims and goes over to it. He flips the body over and removes the backpack he had. He empties out the contents of the pack then turns to me saying, "You're gonna need one of these. Know how to put it on?"

"Yeah, of course." My magic grabs a hold of it and I bring it over to me. I noticed speckles of blood soaked into the fabric. Some of it belonged to the owner while some were faded. It felt so wrong to use a dead man's backpack. A dirty one on that. Rather than complaining, I slid the straps over my front legs to where it rested on my back along with sliding my wrench into the biggest pocket.

"It looks to be in decent condition. Must have been stolen." Davey commented.

I tried not to think about the origins of this backpack, instead fiddling with the the straps to a more comfortable feel. They were set to fit a man's arms, not a ponies legs, and because of that it was far too tight. To save up on magic, I opted for using my teeth to tighten it. It proved to be much more difficult with my teeth only clicking at air.

"Let's just tighten it for you and go." Jacob stated. With my companions to my sides, they loosen the straps to where it was snug against my shoulders. "You're good?" I give a little shake to adjust to the weight before nodding. "Good."

And so we moved back to the door that led to stairwell. Jacob slipped in first before motioning us to follow after him. Every time we were on a new floor, one of the two made a quick survey of the floor to see if any of the brutes were hiding. When they disappeared into the shadows, I was stricken with worry that they would fall prey to an ambush just like how we ambushed the last group. They'd return back unscathed but my anxiety would grow the more floors we descended.

During our descent, Jacob noticed my fretting and bumped his leg into mine. "Relax kid. Being tense won't help you." He assured me. I give a smile, a deep breath and a thank you for his concern of me.

We made short work of the floors before we ended at the base floor. Cautiously, we stepped toward the door with Davey and Jacob taking a side to the door; I was directly behind Jacob. Jacob peered through a small rectangular window on the door and stared into the dark. Tucking his head out of view he reported seeing: two at the back of the room behind a long desk, one behind the arrow-shaped office desk, and two behind lounge chairs close to the door. How could he have known that? It's far too dark to even see a foot in front you let alone spot everyone in the room. For now I took his word mostly because Davey seemed to believe him.

"Those odds don't look good...maybe we can-" a series of shots disrupted Davey as they penetrated through the door and left small holes behind. They shouted jeers for our cowardice. Yelling for us to give it up.

"Goddammit." Jacob cursed.

The two men stared at each other. A silent discussion for plans to go about this. For taking too long, more shots blared out and went through the door. "Come on out fuckers!" This was turning bad. I had to help.

"Jacob, maybe I can do something." I whispered to the floor.

"What? How?" He turned to me now.

"I can make a distraction. With magic."

Unsure, Jacob turned to Davey for his input. "It's our only choice. We gotta try it. What do you have in mind Twilight?"

"I can...conjure up a ball of light. It would detonate as a bright flash of light. Stun them for a good while."

"Kinda like a flash bomb. I like it Sparkle. Do it."

I had my duty and it was time to follow through with it. Gathering whatever magic I can, I concentrated on the spell. This was not an overly complicated spell, but fatigue was quickly weighing down on me. Despite that, I persevered through it. My eyes were clenched shut but I was able to hear the brutes on the other side. They were confused, shouting about an orb of light. Fired shots erupted in frenzy, none of them directed to us, but to my orb of light. With some exertion, I forced the light to burst outwards, bathing the entire lobby in the purest of white light.

"Move in!" Shouted Jacob. With no time for me to recover, we pushed through the door and into the lobby filled with the dazed attackers. I was right next to Davey as we made cover behind the chairs closest to us. Lifting his rifle, Davey butted the man to the ground before pulling his trigger and killing his foe. Jacob clubs his opponent against the side of his head. The blow dropped him to ground and without a second to spare, his windpipe was crushed under Jacob's heavy boot.

The adrenaline in my veins heightened my senses. The room was clear and I was determined.

Finally getting over the flash, the maniac behind the arrow desk vaulted over and made a mad dash to Jacob. The cleaver in his hand was raised high over his head ready to strike down. Focusing on my magic, I grabbed a hold of his foot while it was in motion. He tripped down and face planted practically near Jacob's feet. Withdrawing his knife, Jacob pierced the side of his head with a smooth arc of his arm. He had trouble taking the knife out which gave an attacker the perfect opportunity to fire a shot into Jacob's arm making him recoil back into cover.

I couldn't help but let a gasp escape me. We were doing so well with no injuries. Now Jacob is wounded and quite possibly out of the fight. Davey rose from his spot and fired his own rounds back. None of them made contact. This was a standstill and for a brief period, all was mute.

It was soon broken when an individual was moving around. I peeked my head from the couch and saw this man moving from cover to cover and closer to Jacob who was still cupping his wound. "There's only one with a gun. The other is making a move for Jacob. Go to him and protect him. I'll give you some cover fire. Now go." It was only now that I realized how far apart we are from Jacob. Through this stretch, there was a chance to get shot and killed, but Davey said he'd cover for me. I was running out of time and had to move now for my friend's sake. I finally decided to gallop to Jacob's side.

In the midpoint between Jacob and Davey, I was nearly shot by the gunner. The projectile impacted with the floor, a couple of inches from my leg. Another round blared, this time coming from Davey. His strike aimed true and ended the gunner's life with his body dropping with a thud. I reached Jacob's side but it was already too late. I was beat by the last member of the bandit group. With Jacob's bat in hand, he made repeated strike's against the downed man. Trying to stop the assault, Jacob shielded himself with his unhurt arm only for it to get swatted aside with the wooden bat.

Beaten and bruised, Jacob was nearly gone. The killer lifted the bat and dealt his finishing blow. Summoning all my might, I erected a bubble shield around Jacob's body. For only lasting a second, it managed to block the attack before shattering to nothingness. It bought enough time for Davey to react and fire his last shot that did away with the bandit's life.

Davey ran past me and straight to Jacob. "Jacob. Talk to me!"

He let out a pained groan. "We get 'em?"

"Yeah, we're fine. But what about you? Let me see your arms." Davey crouched down and gently turned Jacob onto his back. He tentatively slid down Jacob's sleeves and lifted his bruised arm. "Well, it's not that bad." I walked up next to Davey and looked over our injured companion.

Jacob laid with closed eyes trying to maintain his breathing. His left arm had some red bruises that went from his forearm and shoulder. It didn't look like there were any broken bones and his hand seemed fine. His right arm had rivulets of blood coming from the tiny entry wound. Whatever whizzed into his shoulder didn't leave.

I wasn't in any way, shape, or form able to provide medical advice.

Davey was quickly reacting to the situation. He set down his backpack and pulled out some white rags plus a red and white plastic bottle. He unscrewed the bottle and popped out two similarly red and white pills.

"Swallow these." Jacob opened his mouth and Davey dropped the pills into his mouth. He then went to work by gently wrapping the rags over the hole wound. He quickly secured it with a tight tug.

"Are they kicking in yet?"

He took a while to respond. "Yeah, they are. Help me up." Davey goes to pull him up but I take the initiative and lift him up with magic. There was a strain when I used my magic, but I put my pain aside. He was soon upright and leaning onto a table. "Thanks Sparkle. And thanks for saving me back there with that bubble thing you conjured up. Saved my life."

"You would've done the same for me." I said with a smile.

He chuckled. "I can't do magic."

"You know what I mean." I took the time to look at the lobby that was littered with bodies. "Now what do we do?"

"Well," He started as he bent down to retrieve his bat back. "We pick 'em clean. Check for valuables."

"You sure you can walk?" asked Davey.

"My arms hurt, not my legs." Davey nodded and they went to pillage the bodies.

I needed a moment. Just some time to regulate my beating chest and assess the situation that just transpired. Once the adrenaline died down, I took some things to mind. There were more dead bodies. I withheld my vomit this time around and took deep breathes. It didn't really help because I was inhaling the fumes of death which made me throw up anyways.

"Oh Celestia." I whispered out.

"Hey," Jacob called for my attention from across the room. "You gonna help or not?"

"You want my search their bodies?"

"That's exactly what I want you to do. Get their shoes first. Then check the pockets. Then their packs if they have one on. Come to me with anything you think is useful." He resumed his pillaging.

I turned to the corpse closest to me and that was the one that wielded the cleavers. He did not wear any shoes and the lack of them resulted in many callouses over his bare feet. I then walked over to his pants and reluctantly patted down his sides. Feeling something inside, I levitated out it's contents. There were only red berries, string, and some yellow plastic container. The container had some mechanism that required human fingers to function so I placed it into my pack.

I moved on to the next body which was the one attacking Jacob with his own bat. This one actually had a single boot on. It wasn't in good condition either since the soles were ripping away. Regardless, I took it with me and placed in my pack. I quickly rifled through the pockets and found pebbles and some mushrooms. Odd. There was a backpack on him and inside it was a water bottle with a questionable liquid inside. It looked like urine. I didn't take the time to confirm it. Other than the bottle, there was just some sticks and more string. The pack itself was torn at parts and had a hole at the bottom of it. Guess we won't be taking it with us.

By that time, we were done salvaging the corpses. They didn't tell me what they found but I did see Davey insert new 'bullets' into his rifle as well as carrying another rifle that most likely belonged to the man he shot. He got some strap and attached it to the new rifle. He then slung it over his left shoulder.

I walked over to them and showed them what I got. A boot and a plastic yellow thing.

"Hey, a lighter. Not a bad find." Jacob swiped it from me and gave it a shake. "It still has some to it! We were having a stroke of bad luck finding these things."

"Well what does it do?"

He demonstrated its function by running his thumb over the mechanism. A small ember ignited. It's incredible what human technology can create. I remember Applejack showing me how to create a campfire. It is basically bashing together some flint or using sticks as friction over kindling. With this, it'll be a lot easier to get a fire going.

"Go ahead and keep it." He tossed it to me and I caught it in my aura. I placed it back in my pack. "Keep the boot too. Me and Davey are getting a little heavy with some stuff." And so I kept the boot. "Despite me getting shot and bashed, I think we came out a little richer. Davey, re-set that trap again. We're going back to our camp." We made our way back to our floor and back to the sleeping bags. The two let out heavy sighs as they sat down and took off their backpacks.

"So. How's your first day in Michigan?" Davey asked with half a smile.

I laughed with little emotion. "It's terrible. But I am glad that you guys found me. I don't know where I'd be if you hadn't."

"Dead probably."

"Thank you Jacob."

"Yep." He massaged his bruised arm.

"It's time to rest now. We hardly have enough time to sleep but we should get what we can. I got watch."

Jacob grumbled but didn't protest. "Fine." He went over to his sleeping bag but he stopped and stared at it for a moment.

"Fucking Christ. Sparkle! You got fur all over it." Indeed there was my purple fur in the inside of his mummy bag.

"Oh gosh. I'm really sorry Jacob. I can clean it out for you? Just let me-"

"It's fine. I'll take Davey's." He grumbled some more choice words and zipped himself in.

I looked to Davey for advice. He merely shrugged. "Goodnight Twilight."

I crawled back into Jacob's sleeping bag. "Goodnight Davey." I closed my eyes and drifted to a dreamless sleep.