Author's Note

Didn't originally have a name for this chapter, thus we get "Time Passed". We get introduced to several new monsters in this one. This new beasty, that gets the color coated dialogue, will be making a return as it's not the only one of its kind. Also yes... sad news. I will be starting a Kill Feed in the Author's Notes. Normally they will be found at the bottom, but this one goes here. So here we go.

Dead) Granny Smith. Cause of Death: torn to shreds by a Crawling One.

Dead) Zephyr Breeze. Cause of Death: Eaten Alive by a pack of Crawling Ones.

Dead) The Cakes. All of them. Causes of Death: Swarmed and torn to shreds by Soaring Ones. Starvation.

Dead) Windy Whistles and Beau Hothoof. Cause of Death: Helped Rainbow get away with supplies, covered her escape from The Black One.

Dead) Mr. and Mrs. Shy. Cause of Death: Remained with Fluttershy's critters at the sanctuary when a pack of Crawling Ones swarmed the sanctuary.

Dead) Coach Iron Will. Cause of Death: Stayed at the school while students escaped, fending off attacks by un-named creatures.

Dead) Principal Celestia Morningstar (Giving Celestia and Luna last names in this). Cause of Death: Wendigo.

Dead) Most of the Population. Cause of Death: Monsters.

Time Passed

Sunset stared out over the decimated city streets, her vantage point just barely out of reach of the Hated. Resting against her shoulder was a rifle. Nothing fancy, just a rifle. The magazine held thirteen rounds, one of which had been used. She couldn’t leave. Couldn’t get back to her friends with the supplies they so desperately needed, couldn’t contact them with her dead phone. She couldn’t even use her powers to jump from rooftop to rooftop to get back.

The Hated had taken the entire city. Corpses lined the streets; buildings lie in ruins and vehicles lie untouched. Rubbing the back of her hand against her eye, she looked at her hand and winced. Remembering how beautiful this city used to be always drew in them. She stood up and walked over to an awning she’d set up, crouching down under its protection. The Soaring Ones had arrived not long after the Hated appeared. They were blind, almost, and rarely landed except to feed. They were drawn to their targets by sadness.

Luna had outlawed sadness. As one of the only sane Adults left, she had to keep face for everyone else. Cinch was no help, always trying to short-change her. Luna would make one rule that would ensure everyone’s safety, Cinch would try and change it to ensure only the elites safety. Peering out from under her awning, Sunset saw one of them. It was circling now. It knew something was down here. Now she had to leave. Walking into the building, she closed the door and headed down the ladder. Months of doing this same routine had worn the ladder rungs down so the quickest way down was simply to slide.

Fifteen flights down, Sunset finally reached the point where she had to stop herself from colliding with the ground. The Hated and the Soaring Ones weren’t the only threats anymore. Ground Crawlers were just as blind as Soaring Ones, but they relied on the sound and feel of vibrations. If you stepped to hard or jumped down from something, an army of one and a half foot tall imps would swarm you and tear you apart. Stepping lightly, Sunset tip-toed out of the building and over to her car. What she wouldn’t give to have Rose back but the bike was too easy for the Soaring Ones to pluck you from. Getting into the car silently, she started the engine, gunned out of the parking space, and drove down the road.

Scavenging successful. The entire back of the car, and the passenger seat, held food and supplies. This much should last them at most three weeks before they had to go get more. And this was just her haul. There was no telling how much AJ, Pinkie and Big Mac had gotten in the truck. Taking the turn back to Twilight’s house, Sunset slammed on the breaks. When the car squealed to a halt, she pulled out her rifle and leveled it out the front window. The Black One stared directly at her, its soul-less gaze boring into her own.

There was only one of these… and it never failed to kill someone. Swallowing hard, Sunset wished she’d gotten to see Twilight again. At the very least managed to get the supplies back. It didn’t make a sound, just stared at her. She waited, holding her breath as she aimed. And waited. And waited… and then it walked away. She couldn’t believe her luck. The Black One, the deadliest monster roaming the countryside, walked away from her. She waited a while before gunning the engine. Twilight’s house was just up the road. If she just made it there…

The explosion was deafening. Sunset was thrown from her car, her rifle flying off into the trees as she tumbled end over end across the asphalt. Her car, and the supplies, were gone. She was so close…

Getting up onto her feet proved impossible… her leg was broken… crawling to a tree where she could prop herself up to at least look at the Black One as it killed her, she turned over and stared at the smoldering wreckage of her car. Even from here she could smell the steaks, hot dogs, and hamburgers she’d found cooking. A waste. Even a desperate dog wouldn’t eat gasoline soaked hotdog. Her leg lay upside down. Broken, yes, but not un-fixable. Not that it mattered, she was dead. Her rifle was in the trees somewhere, her car was gone, and the Black One was near.

Closing her eyes, she tried to think about her friends. Maybe, somehow, their connection was still there and they’d hear her and come to her side. A shriek stunned her out of her thoughts. Opening her eyes, she stared at the wreckage of her car… and the Black One standing in the flames staring at her. Its endless shriek merely emphasized that it had a mouth. Yet it didn’t move. It merely stood in the flames shrieking at her. Was it in pain? Was it… killing itself, unable to move closer to her? Closing her eyes for just a moment, she opened them again to find it still standing there shrieking.

A gunshot.

A bowstring twang.

A canon?

The Black One shrieked louder before tearing off into the trees on the other side of the road. Sunset watched it run away before blacking out. The last thing she heard was her own name.

What felt like an eternity later, Sunset woke up screaming. “Whoa there, easy darlin’. We gotta set that leg or it’ll never heal proper.” A warm southern drawl told her and she teared up as she lay flat on her back. “It’s alright sugarcube, it’s just a broken leg. Nothin’ major. Yall’ll still be able t’ help gather supplies once we get you a new car.”

“Applejack you idiot…” Sunset said and she heard AJ huff. Just huff. It set Sunset to crying again.

“Ah’m glad yer ok otherwise Sunset… sorry about the car.”

“It’s just a car…”

“Rainbow got yer rifle.”

“Thanks.”

AJ didn’t reply, but Sunset could picture her smiling. “Alright then, yer all set. Now don’t go doin’ nothin’ stupid ya hear? We lose to many good people that way.”

“Is the journal here?” Sunset asked and Applejack nodded and handed it to her.

“Sure is. Still nothin’. Luna thinks that when the mirror was destroyed, the journal lost it’s magic. There ain’t no way fer them t’ contact us. Or us them.” Sunset sighed and nodded.

“Thanks… anyway… AJ. It’s… it still feels wrong not to write something. To keep a record of what’s going on.” Sunset said and Applejack nodded.

“Ah know how ya feel. But the way ya write Sunset… it ain’t healthy. Yer skippin’ pages, expectin’ to hear back, and writin’ like you’re still talkin’ to ‘em. Ya gotta let go.”

“No. I can’t… Applejack. That was my home. I was going back before all of this started. I… I can’t stop writing or I’ll feel like my home was destroyed…” Sunset said and Applejack stopped, sighed and sat next to her.

“Sunset… just… please. This is yer home…we’re yer family and we love ya. We just want ya t’ be ok.”

“Would you stop… if this was the only way to contact Big Mac?” Sunset asked and Applejack froze.

“That ain’t fair… you know it ain’t fair.”

“Would you?”

“Course not… but… Big Mac’s gone. So’s Granny and the farm.” Applejack said and Sunset nodded, gently touching her friends hand.

“I know, Applejack, but that’s why I can’t stop. I have to hold out hope that they’ll think of something. That Princess Twilight will think of something.” Applejack sat in silence for a moment before standing up, gently gripping Sunset’s hand before letting go.

“Ah better head back up. There’s a crutch next t’ the bed when ya feel like joinin’ us.” She said before heading back to the main part of the building. Sunset sat alone for a while, simply thinking about how things could have gone differently. How she nearly died. The Black One had her… he was right there…

“How… am I still here…?” she asked herself, not expecting to get an answer.

“Apparently he doesn’t like canons.” A deep voice said and she looked up. He was back. The Hunter. She knew he came from Equestria, the way he acted didn’t come off as completely human. But she didn’t know his name.

“Is he dead?”

“No. Just deterred for the moment. We’re in luck, most of the other supply runs went off without a problem. We won’t have to do another one for a few months.” He said and she stared at him. “Optimistically speaking.”

“You’re not much of an optimist… and you know I don’t like being lied to.”

“Two and a half months.” He said and she fell backwards onto the bed.

“I need to be better before then… to help.” She said. He didn’t reply and she started to sit up to see if he’d left until she felt his knees against hers. Blushing, she just stared at the ceiling. He didn’t do anything to her. Simply stood there. Silently telling her to recover. Don’t rush it, don’t push herself to get better faster, just recover. She sighed and nodded, feeling him step back after a moment. Then she felt a weight across her stomach and looked down her body. Gasping, she shot into a sitting position, and immediately regret it when her vision started swimming, and grabbed her rifle.

“You got it for me.”

“It wasn’t hard. Once the Black One ran off, I just had to dig it out of some bushes” he said and she hugged her rifle to her chest. She’d personalized this thing, there was no way she was letting it disappear in the woods.

“Thank you.”

Silence greeted her and she looked up. He’d left. The door closing gave her some idea of where he went, but she didn’t care. She got her rifle, her leg would heal, and she’d be able to help again.

One month later, Sunset sat on a chair on the roof, rifle in hand. Specially built guns kept Soaring Ones and other smaller monsters away so she didn’t have to worry. Up here, she could see nearly to the school. The swirling mass of energy leaking from the school courtyard was as ominous as ever.

“I brought you some coffee.” Twilight said and Sunset smiled at her friend as the former bookworm sat beside her. Twilight Sparkle hadn’t stopped reading, of course, but now she was more content with writing. No new books coming out had made her bored, so she’d decided to write her own. The only ones she’d printed out and bound in leather were of happier times. An alternate reality to their own, with green grass, smiling families, happy children and a sun not forced to peer through smog.

“Thank you Twilight.” Sunset said and Twilight nodded. She’d forgone glasses today, probably wearing contacts, and was dressed in a pair of AJ’s old overalls that were rolled up past her knees. The T-Shirt was a hand me down of Dash’s, but the ensemble was relatively cute. They sat in silence for a while, sipping at their coffee. Every now and then, one of them went for their weapon as a Soaring One flew overhead only to get shot down.

“The one good thing about these things… they don’t leave a mess and decay when they die.” Twilight said as the dead body disintegrated as it fell. It was dust when it hit the road. Dust that was swiftly blown away in the breeze.

“That’s the only good thing about them… if only we could do something about the bigger ones.” Sunset said and Twilight swallowed a drink of her coffee.

“About the bigger ones… a new one has been discovered. We got word in from Everfree. They called it the Snake. It’s content to live in the river for now, venturing to the lake for food. It’s estimated to be fifty feet long and three people wide at the jaw.”

“Great… a man eater… just what we need when we already have that black skinned jack ass running around out there. Not to mention the Drake, the Titan, and the Ogre. Another fucking man eater…”

“At least it’s in Everfree… and docile for now.”

“For now… but what happens when it gets hungry and it’s main food source runs out?” Sunset asked and Twilight sighed.

“I don’t know… but it won’t be good.”

“No it…”

“Help…”

The two girls froze. Seven voices, all at once… but one all too familiar voice at the top of them, asking for help. All sounds from inside stopped as well. Everyone had heard it. Twilight stood up slowly, picking up Sunset’s rifle.

“Help..!”

The voices were more urgent now, but there was something different. Much more sinister. “Twi…”

“Heelp!!”

The two girls flinched. That scream sounded like so many people all at the same time. Sunset slowly pushed herself up so she could see better. Standing in the middle of the road, staring off down the street… was a creature. Neither of them recognized it. But they recognized one of the voices.

“Help!”

Celestia’s voice rang out to them. From the creature. As it opened its mouth. It had Celestia’s voice. Hearing the door below them open, Sunset peered over the edge. Luna. She’d heard Celestia’s voice calling for help. “Luna wait! It’s not Celestia!”

“It is. My sister needs help! Can’t you hear her!?” Luna asked as she walked towards the creature. She was nearly to it when a gunshot rang out. She flinched; the creature flinched for just a moment… then fell dead. Luna stopped and stared at the creature before backing away from the gate. Sunset looked down at the entrance of the house and would have cheered if she didn’t nearly lose her balance. Pinkie Pie had found a rifle.

One hour later found everyone inside the main foyer. “Ok… that one was new. It could talk. And it could mimic voices.”

“How did it have my sister’s voice? How could it have had Celestia’s voice? We haven’t seen her in weeks.”

“I can only think of one thing, Luna. You’re going to want to sit down.” The Hunter said and Luna stared at him for a moment before sitting down. Almost instinctively, Former Dean Cadance gripped Luna’s shoulder. “There was a creature in a game I used to play. Called a Wendigo. It could mimic the voices of people it killed.”

“No…”

“It did so by tearing out the throats and devouring their voice boxes.”

“Please no…”

“The only way it could have Celestia’s voice… after so long… is if she’s dead.”

The silence that followed was shattered soon after by Luna’s wail of anguish. Her sister, the one woman she looked up to in all the world, was gone.