Prologue - Dawn's Early Light

Equestria, Ponyville, Castle of Friendship

10:00 AM Local Time

"Twilight, please."

"No, Spike. I'm not doing it."

Spike the dragon, number-one assistant to Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Magic, slapped his claw to his forehead and groaned loudly. Twilight sat quietly at her desk, watching her magical journal, the one connected to the human world and her student Sunset Shimmer.

About three weeks ago, Sunset had written to Twilight telling her school was cancelled for the foreseeable future due to a supposed flu epidemic across the United States. There hadn't been a single message from Sunset since that date. By the first week's end, Twilight was worried for her student. Now, she knew after three weeks that something was wrong, very wrong.

However, due to her royal duties and constant work that needed done in Equestria, Twilight had little time to even power up the Mirror Portal, let alone journey through it to find Sunset. Eventually she resigned herself to the possibility that it wouldn't be happening anytime soon.

Which led Spike to his current predicament of trying to convince her to take a break in order to go through the Portal. Twilight had been obstinate in her refusals, citing her load of work and the excuse that "Sunset will be fine, she always is". Spike, on the other hand, knew that this wasn't Twilight talking to him, it was her barely controlling her worry and anxiety.

"Twilight, for the love of Celestia, just go." Spike said. "I'll go with you if you want, but..."

Then, the journal lit up, signalling a message. Twilight smirked triumphantly as she picked it up to read Sunset's message, only to drop it in shock once it was opened.

"Spike?" she whispered. "Look at this."

Inside the pages of the journal were countless messages scrawled over each other, almost as if they were water inside a clogged pipe. And now it seemed the figurative pipe had burst.

"I can't even read this." Spike said. "But it doesn't look good."

"I'll see if I can sort it out." Twilight replied, beginning to fix the messages inscribed in the book. Eventually, the messages were descrambled, and they began to read through them.

And with each line, they grew more and more horrified. The last message was early in the month of November, but judging from the written times, these messages had been sent later than that.

December, 2019.

Twilight, this is bad. Really bad. Remember that flu epidemic that I told you about? It's not flu, and it's not just an epidemic anymore. Apparently it's some kind of Smallpox, and according to the news, it's being spread by bank notes. The National Guard's moving into Manhattan to help keep the peace. Supplies are starting to disappear from store shelves, and here in Canter City, they've closed the school and everyone's been ordered to stay home.

I had trouble sending this through to you. Whatever magic that's in this book is being interfered with by...something. I'll try to keep you updated.

Sunset.

January, 2020.

Twilight...my god. I can't...look, this Smallpox is even worse than we thought. It's some kind of weaponized version called "Green Poison". The Army's moved into Manhattan, half the time there's no cell service or internet, and the President's declared a state of nationwide emergency. The Apple Family's been giving away their harvest to help keep everyone here fed, but it won't last long. The Grocery store ran out of food a while ago, and the Gas station gave away the last it had three hours ago. Even Sugarcube Corner is out of food, Pinkie hasn't baked a single thing in days. It's starting to show on her.

Luckily, we've got enough supplies to last us a while. The TV news is our only source of information right now. We're hearing rumors that a Joint Task Force is heading into Manhattan to keep the city under control, but there's also rumors of the Rikers Island inmates breaking out, and get this...people with hazmat suits and homemade flamethrowers roaming the streets on garbage trucks and burning whatever they can find.

Please send a reply soon, Twilight.

Sunset.

February, 2020

Twilight, things have somehow gotten even worse. No cell service, and no more internet. Power's barely on, and we're running out of food. Granny Smith died on the 17th from old age. We had a funeral, but it was a small one. The trees aren't growing apples, and a few of us are sick now. Spitfire, Flash Sentry, and Thunderlane were running our jeep into some nearby towns to look for supplies and came back with some food, water, and fuel, but two hours later they're sick. Haven't heard anything since then.

Also, we've learned from the radio that an elite government agency called "The Division" has deployed a "Second Wave" of responders to Manhattan, which apparently has fallen into complete anarchy. The flamethrower guys, they're called Cleaners, and they're real. There's also Rikers inmates running amok, and even mercenaries from some company called the LMB controlling the UN.

And my magic is starting to fade. Twilight, if you're getting these...I hate to say it, but we need your help. This is all I have left, Twilight. Please hurry. We can't last much longer.

Sunset.

As Twilight and Spike continued to read through the accounts of the rapidly- deteriorating world, it wasn't long before Twilight broke down crying.

"Twilight?" Spike asked. "Are you okay?"

"NO, SPIKE. I'M NOT!" Twilight yelled, causing Spike to gasp. "How could all this have happened and I didn't know about it! Sunset could be dead or sick for all we know! We need to go find and rescue her!"

"Twilight, breathe." Spike gasped. "We can't just go through and be okay ourselves. We need to prepare."

Twilight nodded, and wiped her tears away, before nodding in a resolute manner.

"Spike, take a letter." she said. "We're going over."

====

It wasn't long after Twilight sent the letter that two Solar Guard Platoons were preparing their weapons and armor inside Twilight's castle, and the Elements of Harmony were loading supplies into magical chests that could be summoned at will.

"What are our orders, Princess?" Lieutenant Quick Shot asked.

"We're going into the human world to find Sunset Shimmer and help aid whoever's left on the other side." Twilight said. "I'll get the portal ready."

As Twilight sprinted out, Applejack wiped some sweat from her brow as she loaded bag after bag of apples into a chest alongside bread and other foodstuffs.

"I sure hope that they're all okay." she said. "Whatever happened must've spooked Twilight a new one."

"That's true, because I've never seen her like this before." Fluttershy said, as Twilight reentered with a frantic aura around her.

"Okay, the Portal is open!" she said. "Once you're ready, head on through! Spike, you're clear on the instructions I gave you?"

"Yep!" the dragon replied. "Good luck!"

As Twilight gave him one last hug, she, the Element Bearers, and the Guards entered the portal. As it closed behind them, Spike began writing a letter to Celestia.

====

As the vision of the combined ponies returned to normal, they all dropped their jaws at the state of Canterlot High and the city around it.

"What happened here?" Pinkie Pie gasped, staring at the scene of chaos and destruction around her. The school was covered in Caution tape, with graffiti and broken windows covering the sides. Each building looked burnt-out, looted, or both. In fact, the only thing that seemed untouched by evident carnage was the portal itself.

"Sweet Celestia...what caused this?" Rarity gaped. As they came together for protection, they heard a mechanical pump and click come from behind them, then a voice.

"Twilight, is that you?"

Twilight spun around to see the human version of Applejack standing behind them, holding a shotgun. As she lowered it, she sighed in relief.

"Applejack?" Twilight asked. "What's happened? Where is every...one?"

"Long story." human Applejack replied. "We need to get you all to Sweet Apple Acres before it gets dark. Trust me, Twilight, this isn't the world we used to know anymore."

As the ponies followed human Applejack through the desolate streets, she explained that six months ago, the global pandemic of Green Poison essentially crippled the entire world. The internet had died long ago, the phone lies were shot, and nearly every city in the United States was in a state of barely controlled anarchy.

And apparently, very few of Canter City's residents had survived. At Sweet Apple Acres, the human versions of Applejack, Big Mac, Cheerilee, Redheart, Scootaloo, Pinkie, and Sweetie Belle were still alive. Everyone else had died, gone away to look for supplies, or was missing. Furthermore, supplies were running low, and the farm barely had enough electricity to run a ceiling fan, let alone their entire farm. The apple trees were half-gone, used for firewood or chopped down when they died.

In any case, the entire United States was in a state of complete collapse.

"So, if everypony here's dead..." Rainbow Dash asked. "Why did you stay?"

"Because I need to take care of this town." human Applejack replied. "Every so often, drifters and scavengers come by to look around for supplies or barter with us. We're running low on basically everything, and already I've lost too many friends to just leave them behind."

"I know how you feel." Twilight said as they entered the orchard.

"Do you?" Applejack said bitterly. "Sunset's been trying to contact you for months and you didn't reply."

"We only just got her messages. Something was interfering with the journal." Twilight replied. "We brought supplies with us. Speaking of, where is Sunset?"

"Last I heard, she was heading to Washington, DC in order to find help." human Applejack said. "Apparently she heard rumors that some elite government force is going there from Manhattan to retake the capital. That was three weeks ago, haven't heard from her since."

Twilight nodded as they entered the farmhouse, now looking much more run-down, but suitable for a base of operations. As the Guards began unloading supplies, Pinkie took to helping her human self begin making dinner, while everypony else took jobs from human Applejack.

Twilight sat down in the family room, and looked at her hooves. All this had happened and she didn't even know about it until a few hours ago. As tears began to form in her eyes, she looked up at someone clearing their throat.

"Twilight, don't blame yourself." human Applejack said, sitting down next to her. "Sunset's magic hadn't been working for months. Sending all those messages at once was kind of a last resort before she left for the capital."

"And it worked." Twilight replied. "And now she isn't here. Applejack, how can we get to Washington, DC and fast?"

Human Applejack smiled and motioned to a door marked with "garage".

Twilight couldn't believe what lay on the other side of the door. The Canterlot High school bus, now armored and loaded with supplies and fuel, lay inside the old barn, ready to go.

"We were gonna use it to reach DC ourselves, but I figure you'll have better luck." human Applejack smiled. "It's got all the fuel you'll need to reach DC inside, along with whatever supplies we can spare."

"Thanks, Applejack." Twilight said. "Thank you so much."

"Don't mention it." she replied. "You'd best be off soon. We've got work to do here, and you've got to find Sunset. I'm glad you showed up, though."

"I am too." Twilight said as they entered the main house. "Hopefully Sunset's doing alright."

====
Washington, DC

Near the White House Lawn

The rain howled and the wind tore through the deserted streets in such a manner that any living person wouldn't dare try to traverse such a place.

Except for Sunset Shimmer. Ever since she made it to DC, about one month ago, she had been trying to locate whatever it was that had snuffed out her magical link to Equestria, with no success. As she flung her sidebag over her shoulder and loaded her Remington shotgun, she looked down at her wristwatch with a sigh.

While on her way to DC, she had crossed paths with two men. One was a Russian Virologist, the other...she didn't know. What she did know was that the other man had given her the watch and told her to take it to the White House, now the Base of Operations for the DC JTF, and show it to their "Division Coordinator".

Sunset continued to trudge along the overgrown lawn of the White House as the shotgun in her hands glistened in the rain. Finally, she reached the gate and knocked.

"Who's there?" one of the civilian JTF called out. "ID yourself!"

"I need to see your Division Coordinator." Sunset replied. "Something about a wristwatch that I got from some guy and his Russian friend?"

The gate slowly opened, and Sunset was hustled inside. As she handed her shotgun to the quartermaster, a man came down the stairs wearing a similar watch. Sunset came forward and they eyed each other.

"You're the Division Coordinator?" Sunset asked.

"Yep, Manny Ortega." he replied. "Where'd you get that watch?"

"Some guy I met outside of Manhattan gave it to me." Sunset replied. "Didn't get his name, but his Russian pal's apparently a virologist. You got any clues about what that means?"

"Yeah, I do." Manny said. "Inside my office, now."

As Sunset was brought inside Manny's office, the Division Coordinator headed for the SHD radio system, linked to Manhattan's Post Office.

"Captain Benitez? Yeah, it's Manny Ortega here. Listen, we've got a possible lead on Keener and Tchernenko here in DC. I need Agents here ASAP." he said. "And send 'em quick before the storm gets worse."

As Manny got his reply from the New York JTF Commander, he sighed as the rain continued to lash against the White House windows.

Author's Note

Yep, we're going to take back DC, bitches.

Get pysched.