Ancient evils

Chapter 18: Memories

"Star! You have to wake up!"

Topaz and the mysterious filly had been hiding out in the ruins of Fillydelphia, which had been hit the hardest by Sin. The filly slowly awoke, as Topaz shook her.

"Raiders!" screamed Topaz

"Alright, i'm getting up." she said. "These Raiders better have a damn good reason for waking me this early."

She threw on her cloak, and headed out the half of a door that was closing their shelter. It sort of locked, so that was the only reason they kept it. It was easy enough to pop open though. Outside were three large stallions. Topaz headed out behind her.

"Alright, what the buck is your excuse for being here so early?" she yelled.

"You'd better keep your mouth shut and hand over all you've got." said one of the stallions. "'else i'll bash your face in."

"Wrong answer." said Star.

She jammed her blade into the throat of the one who was talking, and swung around on her blade to kick another in the face, taking him down. She then slit his throat as she landed. The third one was terrified and shocked, and started to run.

"Can't we just let him go?" said Topaz

"I would, but it's five in the bucking morning." she said.

She quickly closed in on him, and threw her left blade, wounding his leg. She then stabbed him in the heart, and quickly fell dead. She took her blade back and headed back inside, as though nothing had even happened.

"Goddamn Sin." muttered Star as she headed back to sleep.

Topaz headed back in, not even needed. He was never needed, at least as far as he saw it. His sister always was better than him, but he didn't mind. He knew that better than anyone. He wished he could go back to traveling the world, a scholar observing places both new and ancient. He made maps, charts, and observations. It truly made him feel free, as if nothing held him back. But tough times came, and he and his sister had to move to Ponyville. They needed to take whatever jobs they could find. Once the war hit, him and his sister both joined the resistance movement to support Luna. Now that Sin has been revived, he's given up on that dream. He headed out to check to see if the plants had grown at all. They were all withered and dying. So better than yesterday. The soil seemed as if the very essence of sin seeped inside of it.

"This world is dying." he thought

All around him buildings were torn to shreds, burnt to the ground, or just plain gone. The area looked as if nature was trying to reclaim it, but couldn't muster the effort. He took a walk through the ruins, to see if he could scavenge anything good. After a few streets of bleak destruction and emptiness, he was ready to give up. Ahead of him was a familiar house. It wasn't intact, but he remembered some of the parts and how they would fit together. This was where he lived as a colt. He checked out the inside. Most everything was burnt to the ground, but one picture remained. An old family photo, with him still a young colt.

"I should show this to big sis'" he said.

He headed back, taking the picture with him. Star was awake, and sharpening her blades.

"I found this picture of us back in the old house!" he said. "Its from back when you were still "Big sis""

"I'm still older than you, even if I don't age,"  she replied

"I didn't expect that caster to be capable of such powerful magic," he said.

"That's in the past now, we should just move on," she said.

"I checked the crops, and they don't look well," he said.

"Have they ever?" she asked.

"We have to stop Sin now, this world can't take much more," he said grimly.

"We can't do it alone,"  she said.

"We don't even know if anyone else is around who will help," he said.

"I'm sure Zecora and her friends survived this, we need to find them," she said.

"If they have, they could help us attack Sin, if we could find him," he said.

"We should check nearby towns, they might be there," she said.

"Manehattan would be a good start," he said.

"Alright, let's go," she said.

They packed their things, took what little food they had, and left this forsaken city behind them.