Two months had passed since Jason told his story to us, and winter had started to set in... Twilight, Applejack, and Joel were out trying to harvest firewood out in a dead forest to keep us warm for the next few months. As Twilight and I chopped away at logs, Joel and Applejack kept watch until it was their turn as a small cluster of snowflakes slowly floated down to the floor.

As they were gathering firewood, I was being trained in my new Siren abilities by Sonata and Aria.

“Remember... you’ll have to gather negative energy in order to use these powers, so... just make sure you don't get obsessed with the power, okay?” Sonata asked me.

I glanced at her and nodded.

“I promise, sis’.” I said to her.

I turned towards a nearby roaming zombie and concentrated, keeping my focus on it as I began humming, slowly feeling the energy inside the amulet reach out to the dead creature. After a moment, my amulet began glowing red, and the zombie stood solid, not moving as I stopped for a moment and saw what I did to it.

“Hmm. Not bad...” Aria said from the side, crossing her arms as I concentrated again, luring the zombie closer to me.

Once it was close enough, I signaled to Joel, and he swung his axe into the creature’s face, splitting it open and staining the heavy iron with its blood.

“Hey, Twi’... how’re you holding up?” I asked her.

She only responded by furiously chopping into a log, splitting it in half as I simply nodded and went back to chopping and loading. Once we saw that Applejack’s truck bed was filled with logs, we strapped the top of the bed and we all got inside, driving off to return home... as we started driving off, I looked out to see what I thought was a figure in the sky with glowing red eyes...

I glanced up again to see that it was gone, probably a figment of my imagination.

I had to do this.

I had to open that door and ask Jet Set everything he knew—he had been locked up for almost 3 months, now, and we haven’t gotten a word out of him. I took a deep breath and opened the door, seeing him in the cell, sitting against a wall, glancing at me for a second before looking back at the floor...

I slowly walked towards him and took a seat by the bars.

“Jet Set... you’ve been here for a while, now. I was hoping we could talk about Apple Bloom and her witch friends, at least what you wanna share...” I said to him.

He hesitated for a moment before standing up and walking over to the bars.

“What is there to say? They abandoned me, after everything I did for them—the missions I carried out for the greater good of the New World Order... but it was all for nothing...” He sighed as he sat and I saw tears flow from his face.

“I’m sorry about what happened... but we need to learn more than we already know, please...”

His few tears turned into cries as he slowly got up and went back to his corner.

“They told me... that no-one would die if I helped them. They lied to me... I want to tell you what I know, but... I’ve seen what happens when you betray them...” He said to me.

I couldn’t... I couldn’t push him like I did Frank, not again...

“Okay... okay. Take some time, we’ll try again some other time, when you’re ready.” I said to him as I marched upstairs and shut the door, silently cursing at myself for being unable to talk to him.

I already knew I wasn’t going to hurt him, but could I stop myself?

“Uh... hey.” That guy from the clearing— I think he’s said his name was Blazing— called to me, and he clearly saw me walk out and pace around for a second.

“Oh. Hey...” I said back, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

After a moment of silence where I thought he left, I sighed and saw that he was still there.

“Having trouble with him?” He asked me.

“Yeah... I know that I can get him to talk, it’s just... the last time I interrogated someone, I was... in a darker place. It didn’t help that he abused Scootaloo back in the day—the last thing I wanted then was a gentle talk. I almost killed him and I can’t help but feel that I’ll do it again...” I said, venting to someone who I couldn’t help but feel like I knew, but I just couldn’t put my finger on where I knew him from...

He sighed after a moment and sat on a nearby bench.

“Yeah... I know what you’re talking about. Back at the Caverns, Apple Bloom’s interrogations weren’t so gentle, either...” He said.

“No, that wasn’t really the main reason why. Don’t get me wrong, it helped, but like I said, I was in a darker place. I thought that Kyle and my other friends were weak, that they weren’t going to make it... so I snapped.” I said, the memories returning to me of hurting my friends, almost killing Kyle and hurting Fluttershy and Sunset...

He nodded, clearly knowing what I was talking about.

“I was in 4 groups before I found Apple Bloom’s people. The question just became how long until I was alone again... but do you wanna know why I stayed?” He asked me.

I smiled a bit and decided to have a little fun.

“Because they slept with you?” I asked.

He chuckled for a moment and shook his head.

“Maybe a little—but they also believed that this world was... our second chance. We messed it all up the first time and look what happened. Sure, the NWO isn’t any better, but they acknowledged what happened. We can change... we can make things better than how they were, we just have to be better ourselves. And I don’t know anything about what you did, but I think it’s time you recognized how you’ve changed.” He said to me, resting his hand on my shoulder before walking off.

As I processed everything he just told me, I felt a hint of heat grow on my face as I slowly rose up and was about to go back down and try again when I heard the gates open and Kyle, Applejack, Joel, Jason, and Twilight entered the gate.

“Hey! How was the log chopping?” I asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Tiring, also kinda tense…” Joel said as he pulled in the load of firewood…

As he unloaded the logs, I stepped over to Kyle and Twilight, with Jason and Applejack not too far behind.

“Now all we have to do is install fireplaces—- we should be able to heat up most of these houses before winter really starts…” Kyle said as we all began walking towards our house, with Jason and Applejack heading into theirs.

Our...

It had been a few weeks of us together and I was finally getting used to it. I knew what we had wouldn’t last forever—there was no way it could. Besides, with how complicated things were between Kyle and I back at Sanctuary...

Not to mention that Scootaloo was almost a sister to me...

It was probably a good idea not to dwell on it too much.

“So how’s your dad? Have you heard from him recently?” Twilight asked Kyle.

He smiled and nodded.

“Yeah-- he and Celestia had a letter sent the other day. They’re doing good—Celestia wanted to get away from Canterlot and Dad probably wanted to keep an eye on Chrysalis. They said they should be back soon with the final decision about trade between us.” Kyle shrugged, clearly nervous about doing trade with them again-- especially with who’s running the place now.

“Either way, I’m glad they got together... they always seemed like a good match.” Twilight smiled as she set her hand on Kyle’s shoulder.

Right as we were about to enter the house and settle down for the night, the sound of distant thunder stopped us.

We turned to see black clouds forming in the distance—not dark grey like your average storm, but deep black...

“That can’t be good...” I said as Kyle looked on as it slowly made its way closer towards us.

“It’s the Trix. It has to be, it’s the only thing that makes sense.” Blazing said from his new seat.

“Even if it was them or not, we have to go—even if it’s just for a couple days, we won’t be able to survive that storm.” I said to the council.

“But where would we go? We can’t just wander around out there during... that." Sunset pondered out loud.

It took a few minutes of thinking, but I eventually reached my decision.

“Canterlot High. I remember there being a lower level meant for maintenance and stuff like that. I don’t think the Caribou went through there, and it could still be intact.” I said to them.

Everyone in the room glanced at me and after a moment of silence, we all seemed to agree.

“Yeah-- that could work. It could hold us all and it should be warmer than out in the open, we just have to make our way over there before that storm hits.” Luna said from her seat.

“Then we shouldn’t waste any more time—Twilight, spread the word to the others, and Jason, you gather everything you can from the pantry, and Rainbow with the armory—by tonight, we will be in that lower level waiting this storm out.” Kyle said to Twilight, Rainbow, and I.

In a matter of hours, we were all out on the road, marching towards the ruins of Canterlot High as snowflakes began to fall. I glanced at Joel and decided to make my way towards him.

“Hey, man...” I said, not sure how else to start a conversation between us.

After a moment, he glanced at me and sighed.

“Hey.” He said back, something in his hands...

The tape that Cinch made Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet record. The one that got his family killed...

“You... still have it?” I asked him.

He didn’t look at me, but he didn’t have to.

“Yeah. I do. I don’t regret it, it’s just... this got my family killed and now it’s like it meant nothing... we’re just pretending like it didn’t happen.” He lamented, and I listened to him, stroking my chin as a lot of water had gone under the bridge.

“Maybe so, but this is war. All we can afford to do right now is push all that to the side and make sure no-one else has to die. After that? We’ll be sure to properly discuss what we’ve all done and see how we can move forward-- I promise.” I told him as I saw Diamond walk up from Joel’s left.

“Hey, Kyle.” She said to me as I glanced at her taking Joel’s hand.

“Hey...” I said as I decided to give them their space.

Speaking of Sugarcoat and Sour Sweet, I spotted them in the back of the crowd of 64. I walked over to them and decided to make things clear with them.

“Hey.” I said to them, staying at their side.

“...Hey...” Sugarcoat said, clearly not sure what to say to me.

In the corner of my eye, I saw Jet Set with his hands tied behind his back, being escorted by Blossom and Rainbow.

“If you think that I’m here to berate you for what he did, don’t. I was... a bit crude with what I said about what would happen if one of you did anything.” I said to them.

Sugarcoat glanced at me, and I cleared my throat.

“Don’t get me wrong, you’ve both done awful things, and the time will come when you have to answer to them. But we’ve all done awful things to stay alive over the last 3 years, myself included. I just want you to know that whatever comes next... I trust you. So please, please don’t let that be a mistake.” I said to them, not wanting to say much else.

Sugarcoat’s eyes widened, along with Sour Sweet, as I simply walked off, catching Jason nearby with Applejack, Rich, and Aunt Jess—with a bit of a baby-bump forming in her stomach. I walked over to the two and decided to catch up.

“So, how’re you holding up?” I asked my cousin.

He chuckled and tilted his head.

“All things considered? Never better.” He said to me.

I chuckled along and stayed near them as Joel and Diamond walked past, their hands still interlocked.

“Hmm... I don’t really like him.” Jason muttered.

I turned to him confused for a brief moment, but then...

“Jason... you won’t believe this— I forgot. For a hint of a second, I forgot the shit he put me through, all the days I came home bruised and beaten. All that aside, Joel isn’t that person anymore—he's changed, and he’s suffered like all of us have.” I said to him.

Jason clicked his tongue and sighed.

“Maybe, but he should still answer for how he treated you.”

“But he did. He did the first time we met since the dead started coming back, and believe me, I was as angry as you are now. In that one moment, all I wanted to do was kill him... but I knew that wouldn’t have changed anything. What you did, with the Caribou, that was different—they needed to die, just like the Trix do, but with Joel... he changed. A lot of people can, if you stop and think about it... all we have to do is give them the chance to prove that they’re different than they were.” I spoke to Jason as I saw a few others glance at me during my speech, including Rainbow, Blazing, and Jet Set.

After another half-hour of marching, the destroyed high school became visible, just as the sky began growing pure black and thunder began to roar.

“Come on, we gotta go!” I said as we all started lightly running towards the building, careful not to trample anyone over as we felt the snow begin to come down harder and harder by the second.

We entered the demolished building, with chunks of the roof missing and blood staining the walls as we went along. We found the basement stairs and made our way down—the carts of food and other supplies being carried by Blossom and Buttercup. As we made our way down the flight of stairs, it started getting a tad warmer, most likely because of how deep we were underground, at least 6 feet.

Once we reached the bottom, we looked at our new home for the next few days—an abandoned, dirty and somewhat damp basement level, but Celestia was right—there is most definitely enough room for all of us.

“Okay, everyone... fan out and get comfortable, we might be down here for a while.” I said as Jason and Sunset signaled to me.

We walked over to another room in the basement, away from the others...

“What is it?” I asked them.

Sunset looked at the supplie cashe and sighed.

“We counted what we had before we left Canterlot... we have enough to last us maybe a month, if we ration.” She said before turning to Jason.

“Along with that, something doesn’t feel right about this storm—it seems deliberate, like the Trix wanted to wipe us out.” Jason said as a loud boom of thunder rang from outside, scaring us a bit along with everyone outside.

“We’re... safe down here, right?” Sunset pondered.

I looked around for a second, and Jason nodded.

“I volunteered with the Apples down here before I attended, this basement was made to hold the entire student body in case of emergency.”

I nodded, thanking him, and went deeper into the basement, pulling out the radio Apple Bloom gave me and turning it on.

“Apple Bloom, you there?” I asked, waiting for a response.

A moment passed, but I heard the radio static spike for a second before...

“Yeah?” She asked me.

I sighed for a moment before pushing the button again.

“Hey, the Trix know how to manipulate weather, right? I’m asking because we’re in a bit of a storm and could use their help repelling it.” I said to her.

Silence. Not a word from her and I spoke again.

“Please-- we don’t have enough supplies to outlast whatever storm this is. And if any of us die, you know what that means...” I said to her.

Still just silence. Until...

“I’m sorry, Kyle.”

I sighed, knowing she wouldn’t talk again and pocketed the radio, heading back to the main area, ready to talk to the others.

I entered the main area to see almost everyone hunched over and coughing, one person stepping to another room and vomiting...

“Oh, no...” I said as I ran over to the others, checking on them, “What happened?!”

Jason looked on in horror as he saw Applejack barely standing, and Rich on the ground, pale and sweating.

“We don’t know, everyone just... got sick.” Applejack faintly said.

Jason held her for a moment before... something changed in him. A purple-ish aura emitted from his eyes and his voice sounded... fused with someone else’s as he laughed and turned to me.

“Ah, Kyle... so brave, so dumb.” This new person said as Blazings eyes widened...

“Kyle... it’s Darcy!” He panicked as I quickly grabbed him... or her, and pinned... them against the wall.

I kept them there as I felt my anger and fear begin to boil over as I took a sharp breath.

“What did you do?! What did you do to him?! Tell me!” I screamed at her.

She only laughed for a moment before leaning in and whispering.

“It’s Anthrax... in the water you made Jason load up.”

Like that, I pushed them onto the ground as I turned to see Twilight collapse to the ground, starting to cough up blood...

Author's Note

Hey everyone, sorry about the delay on this one, got caught up in a vacation and the notorious writer's block. I intend on writing more on this story now that its about to get serious, so buckle up and get ready for closer calls, new characters, and a battle unlike any other.