Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

Sunset groaned.

She was gradually regaining consciousness and the first thing she realized when she came to was that her “everything” hurt.

As Sunset tried to move a sharp pain in her chest made her groan even louder this time.

When she opened her eyes everything looked blurry at first and the dim light that was dancing on the walls of the room she found herself in didn't help much. Sunset blinked once and the hazy white and purple blob in front of her finally came into focus.

It turned out to be Rarity. She was standing over Sunset with a scared look on her face and ... and a big boulder in her hands, ready to drop it and smash her head in.

Sunset's eyes widened as the adrenaline rushed through her system. She rolled to the side and, despite a sharp stab of pain in her limbs, tried to stand up but failed. "What the fuck do you think you're doing!?" She shouted, glaring at Rarity.

"Well, that sounded rather human to me." Sounded a dry laugh from somewhere in the dark.

Rarity, for her part, threw the rock aside and raised hands, trying to show that she means no harm. "Oh my God. Sunset, please forgive me!"

"Forgive you!?” Sunset tried to get up again, but only managed to fall on her side. “You were about to pulp my head!" She quickly glanced over her own body, trying to figure out why it was so hard to move, and it turned out that her arms and legs were tied up with some torn rags.

"No! Well... Only if..." Rarity stuttered, trying to think of an explanation. "You were groaning so much, we were afraid that you've turned. And after what happened to Daisy..." She trailed off, glancing somewhere to the side.

Seeing that she wasn’t in immediate danger Sunset managed to calm down a bit, she sat up straight and looked around. It looked like they were in some sort of a cave, if the wall made of a somewhat smooth rock were anything to go by. The area around them was illuminated by a small bonfire and in its light Sunset could see four injured, dirty and tired looking CHS students huddled near each other on the opposite side of the cave.

Micro Chips, the nerdy guy, sat close to the fire and occasionally poked the burning logs with a long stick. “Welcome back to our shitty world, Shimmer.” He said not looking at her. It sounded like he was the one who laughed at her earlier.

Behind him sat Sandalwood and Roseluck. The girl was still as a statue, she was hugging her knees and staring at the fire with unblinking eyes. Sandalwood sat right next to her and had his arm wrapped around Roseluck’s shoulders. When his eyes met with Sunset’s he gave her a small nod.

Farthest away was High Winds, an athlete girl Sunset knew next to nothing about. She had in her hands something that looked like a makeshift spear made of a long stick and a sharp looking piece of metal tied to its end. She was looking at the tunnel that led out of this chamber and had her spear pointed that way. The girl spared Sunset only a quick glance and returned back to her vigil.

‘What in the tartarus happened? Where are we? Where are the rest of us?’ Thought Sunset but, remembering the crush, she feared that she knew the answer already.

Sunset looked down at her tied up hands and tugged at the rags a few times, trying to loose the knots, but they held firmly. “Untie me.” Sunset demanded in a stern voice, turning back to look at Rarity.

“Of course.” The white girl kneeled in front of her and began to undo the knots on Sunset’s bindings. Her legs were free in no time, finally giving the fiery headed girl an opportunity to sit more comfortably, but the knots around her hands didn’t want to give up that easily. Apparently Sunset accidentally tightened them up while trying to stand up. Rarity frowned, tugging onto the strands of fabric, but after a few failed attempts she shook her head and took a small penknife from her pocket. As soon as she unfurled its blade, she saw Sunset stiffen. “No, no, darling, don’t worry! I’ll just quickly cut this rags, that’s all.”After a few quick movements, the pieces of cloth fell to the floor, freeing the girl's hands. "There, all done." Rarity folded the knife and put it back in her pocket. "Now you can—"

*Slap!*

"That’s for scaring me half to death!" Sunset hissed, shaking her now numb hand.

“I...” Rarity put her hand to her cheek, which now bore Sunset's slap print. “I guess I deserved that.” She said, hanging her head.

Sunset was about to snide something, but then she heard a soft moan coming from behind. Turning around, she saw Fluttershy lying on the floor, covered with a bright yellow emergency blanket. The girl looked terrible. Most of her skin, that Sunset could see, was covered in red rashes and looked sore, her forehead glistened with sweat and her breathing was labored with each exhale accompanied by a low moan.

“Fluttershy.” Rarity moved past Sunset, completely forgetting about the slap, and kneeled beside the yellow girl. She took a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from her forehead. “There, there, its okay.” She said, stroking her cheek. “Are you thirsty?”

“Rarity?” Fluttershy croaked, barely audible. “It hurts...”

“I know, dear.” Rarity whispered and brought the bottle of water to the girl's lips, tilting it slightly so that she could take a sip.

“What happened to her?” Asked Sunset, stepping closer.

“We don’t know.” Rarity shook her head in frustration. “First Strike thinks that this might be a radiation poisoning.”

“Radiation?” Sunset’s eyes widened. “Are we in a hot spot?”

“No idea.” Rarity shook her head again. “But when we came back from that” -she shuddered- “hellish place and the bus crashed, Fluttershy was the first one to come to her senses. She said that it was raining, a real downpour, with something black, like soot, mixed in with the water. It probably was the radioactive ashes from the explosion, and it was obviously not safe to stay in the wrecked bus, which was gradually filling with this water. That is why she dragged us into this cave. Well, it’s actually an old bear burrow that is connected to a small cave.” Rarity smiled and brushed a lock of hair off Fluttershy’s face. “She said that a rabbit showed her the way here.”

“She brought us here?” Sunset had a hard time believing that Fluttershy, who usually can barely lift her own backpack, managed to carry several people to safety. 'Never underestimate the power of the adrenaline I guess.' Sunset thought.

“Some of us, yes. Me, you, Roseluck and Chips.” Rarity nodded. “Then First Strike woke up and helped with the rest. Plus it’s not far, the bus in the clearing right behind the tree line. Nevertheless Fluttershy was exposed to that rain the longest. Soon this rash appeared on her skin and and she got a fever, in the late afternoon she said that her legs hurt, and yesterday morning she could not stand up at all.”

Sunset looked back at the injured girl. Once again she managed to surprise Sunset. Not only Fluttershy saved several people but she actually dragged her, of all people, to safety. And got hurt in the process. The fire-headed girl had to admit that since the start of this... apocalypse she began to actually respect this timid girl.

’Wait a second... Yesterday morning?’ Sunset frowned. “Wait. How long was I out?”

“Two, well, almost three days, I think. It’s quite hard to keep track of time here, everything just blends together.” Rarity shrugged.

Upon hearing this, Sunset became acutely aware of how ravenously hungry she was. And that immediately was confirmed by her stomach with a drown out growling.

“Hey, Shimmer.” Micro Chips called her from behind. “Catch.” He said as soon as she turned he tossed something to her. With a bit of fumbling Sunset managed to not drop the object on the floor. It turned out to be an apple. It was not large, its side was mushed and turned brown. “That’s all for now. We’re on a strict rationing, living on what we managed to scavenge from the lunch boxes and some MREs leftovers.” Said Chips and went back to poking the bonfire with a stick.

Sunset looked back at the apple in her hand. She was sure that they had some better food stashed away but it was better than nothing, so she just shrugged and took a bite. She had worse.

While Sunset chewed on the apple, Rarity continued to tend to Fluttershy. She put a wet compress on the girl's head and proceeded to straightening the blanket with which she was covered. But as soon as her hands touched the yellow girl’s legs, Fluttershy shuddered and moaned painfully.

“I’m sorry, darling, I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Rarity apologized. She looked over the emergency blanket in thought, trying to find a way to lift it without hurting Fluttershy even more, but the way she was tucked in made it quite difficult. “Sunset, can you land me a hand, please?” She asked looking at the amber girl.

“Yeah, sure.” Sunset had just finished eating the apple, even the core, and walked over to the two girls. "What do you want me to do?"

“Can you lift her up a little? I want to see how her legs are doing, the rash on them was most prevalent." Rarity pointed at the blanket. “But please be careful.”

Sunset nodded, knelt down and gently grabbed Fluttershy's shoulders, she lifted her up a bit and tilted her slightly to the side so that Rarity could lift the covers up. The girl moaned quietly, but her breathing did not quicken and she didn’t shudder this time, so Sunset decided that she had succeeded with her task.

“Thank you.” Rarity nodded and grabbed the blanket. “Now let’s see what...” Her eyes widened and her hands covered her mouth as she gasped in shock!

“Stars above...” Whispered Sunset. She had to imply a hefty amount of willpower so as not to drop the yellow girl and recoil in a mixture of confusion fear and disgust.

Fluttershy’s legs were covered in long deep gashes that started at her hips and went all the way down to her toes. There were three gashes on each leg, one on the front and two on the sides of the legs. The skin around those wounds was sore and red with the rashes and almost no of her original yellow color could be seen. But the worst thing was that through those gashes Sunset could see red inflamed muscles, but oddly enough there was no blood at all. It looked almost as if there was some kind of a transparent membrane stretched over the wounds, giving everyone a gruesome sight to behold.

Sunset’s stomach churned and the apple she just ate threatened to come back outside.

“Holy shit, what the fuck is that!?” Shouted High Winds, pointing at Fluttershy’s legs with her spear.

“That is DEFINITELY not a radiation poisoning...” Mumbled Micro Chips staring at the gashes slack-jawed.

Silence hung in the cave for a few long moments as everyone were trying to comprehend what exactly they were looking at.

High Winds was the first to speak. “We must get her outside.” She pointed at Fluttershy with her spear again.

“What!?” Gasped Rarity. She sprung to her feet and faced the athletic girl. “Absolutely not!”

“We have no idea what’s going on with her! What if it’s contagious!?” Shouted High Winds.

“Keep it down, you two! You want the whole damn forest to know that we are in here?” Hissed Sandalwood. “Besides, she might be right.” He added regretfully.

“Not you too!” Pleaded Rarity looking at the teen.

Sunset, who was still holding Fluttershy, looked down at the yellow girl. It looked like she passed out right before they made this disturbing discovery regarding her legs. Now, with her head resting on Sunset’s knees she almost looked at peace, even her breathing got noticeably less labored.

’It’s good that she can’t hear this.’ Sunset thought. ’I bet that she would agree to be thrown out of the cave if her presence could threaten our health. But does it?’ Sunset looked up at the arguing girls and scrutinized Rarity as she continued to protest. She was just as dirty as everyone else and had scratches and bruises on her arms, face and neck, but there was no sign of the rash, it would have been obvious on her alabaster skin. And judging by her quickly she jumped up from her sitting position, she had no problems with her legs either. “It’s not contagious.” Sunset finally concluded.

The arguing stopped as everyone looked at her.

“How can you be sure?” Asked Chips, looking uncertain.

“Think about it. Rarity was the one tending to Fluttershy this entire time, right?” Sunset asked, to which the white girl nodded affirmatively. “Well, look at her. She’s fine. Besides, I laid next to her for several days and I am also still healthy.”

“See? She’s right!” Exclaimed Rarity. “Please, everyone, let’s be reasonable.”

The rest of the teens mulled it over and, after almost a full minute, High Winds gave a reluctant nod. “Fine. She can stay.” She said. But before either Sunset or Rarity could breathe a sigh of relief, she added, “But under one condition. You’ll have to tie her up.” She held out her hand, holding another makeshift rope.

“I will not...” Rarity began to protest again but the athletic girl interrupted her.

"Please, Rarity." This time, there was a distinct plea in her voice. “I understand you perfectly, and I do not want to harm her in any way, I’m not a monster. But you also have to understand me, we are already at risk as is, and Shy... She is getting worse with each passing hour. She may...”Winds looked at Roseluck. “We simply cannot allow the repeat of the previous ... incident."

At first Rarity glared at Winds, trying to think of any arguments that could change her mind, but then her shoulders drooped and she lowered her head, taking the rope from her. “You’re right. I’ll do that.” She approached her injured friend and kneeled down beside her. “I’m sorry, darling.” She whispered and she began tying Fluttershy’s wrists together.

While Rarity worked on the knot, Sunset gently lifted Fluttershy's head off her lap, moved to the side, and carefully rested Shy’s head on someone's backpack as if it was a pillow, to which Rarity nodded approvingly. She then stood up, dusted herself and moved to sit by the bonfire opposite of Micro Chips. It was a bit chilly in the cave, and Sunset outstretched her hands towards the fire to warm up a bit.

“Legs too.” Said High Winds as the white girl finished tying Fluttershy’ hands.

“But that will hurt her!” Rarity turned around and shot her a glare.

“Don’t make it tight, just... you know...” Winds waved her hand around, “so that it would hinder her movement, that’s all.”

Grumbling something under her breath, Rarity took another rope, the one that was previously used to tie Sunset, and got back to work.

“What’s this all about?” Asked Sunset as she watched Rarity make a loose loop around Shy’s feet.

"There were more of us at first." Chips started, not taking his eyes off the fire. “I have no idea how, but most of us survived the crash without much injury. Well, considering how long you spent unconscious, you got it pretty bad. You and Rover."

Upon hearing Diamond Dog's name, Sunset looked up at the nerd. She already figured that something had happened to Rover when she did not see him in the cave, but only now she finally realized that he was probably dead. “W-what happened to him?” She asked.

“He got badly injured, his neck was twisted at a strange angle and swollen. Fluttershy tried to help him, but there was an internal bleeding and there’s only that much a vet in training can do with a first aid kit. He died in the evening of the first day." Chips threw some branches into the fire.

Hearing this Sunset hugged her knees and lowered her head. The gang member saved her life, twice. 'Have I thanked him at least once?' Sunset thought. An unpleasant feeling of regret crept into her heart as she realized that, no, she did not.

“We covered his body and laid him over there against the wall.” Chips pointed at the furthest corner of the cave. “We were going to bury him in the morning. But a few hours later, at night, he began to moan. We thought that he was actually still alive, that we simply failed to check his pulse or something and jumped to a conclusion, so Daisy went to check on him, and Rover— "

Roseluck, who this whole time did even move, suddenly shuddered and began to cry and sob quietly. Sandalwood hugged her tightly and, after kicking Micro Chips in the back, began whispering something to her.

“Sorry.” Mumbled Chips. “Good thing that First Strike was guarding the entrance and not patrolling somewhere. He heard us and rushed inside.”

“He turned?” Asked Sunset incredulous. “B-but when did he get infected?”

“I don’t know.” Chips shrugged. “But he did enter the strange smoke cloud to help you.”

Sunset went cold inside as her heart skipped a beat, she knew perfectly well what he was hinting at. "B-but I'm fine, I didn't turn into a zombie!"

“You didn’t. So it probably wasn’t the smoke that infected him.” Chip shrugged. “But now you should understand why we tied you up. And considering that we have no idea what is going on with Fluttershy, we must be extra cautious.”

Sunset nodded at that. ’Maybe I should apologize to Rarity for slapping her?’ She thought looking back at the white girl.

***

They set around the fire for what felt like a few hours, but it could as well be just thirty minutes, Rarity was right when she said that the time just blends together in that cave. During this time, Sunset noticed that she was not the only one who’s belly was growling. It seemed like everyone’s stomachs occasionally reminded their owners that they haven’t eaten for a long while. Apparently they were dead serious about that strict rationing.

“Heads up!” Whispered High Winds all of a sudden, pointing her spear at the tunnel. “I heard something.”

Everyone froze, straining their ears. There indeed was a sound of movement coming from the tunnel, a sound of fabric rubbing on the stone.

“Hey, are you guys okay in there?” Sounded the voice of the private. A moment later First Strike squeezed into the cave and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

The soldier looked worn out. He had bags under his eyes, his uniform was stained with mud and caked blood from the battle with the shadow monster and his right shoulder was covered with not-so-clean-looking bandages.

“Oh, you’re finally awake.” First Strike perked up a little when he saw Sunset sitting by the fire. “And just in time actually. I have some good news, everyone.” He said with a smile. “I figured out where we are and how to get to the Refugee Center!”

“Just this morning you had no idea where we are.” Said Sandalwood, raising his eyebrow. “What changed?”

“The sky has finally cleared.” Strike pointed backwards with his thumb. “And my Pa taught me how to navigate by the stars. The Center is up north, we’ll be able to get there in about three or four days by foot. We’ll head out tomorrow morning.”

The survivors exchanged glances and turned to look at the far corner of the cave.

“Yeah, about that...” Muttered Chips.

“Fluttershy.” Strike nodded as his smile vanished almost instantly and he let out a heavy sigh. “Not good.”

“Sir, you should take a look.” Said High Winds, ignoring the glare that Rarity shot at her.

The soldier looked at the two girls with a raised eyebrow and headed towards Fluttershy. He carefully lifted the edge of the blanket and pulled it aside. “My God...” Strike muttered, shocked by what he saw.

“Now, before you jump to any conclusions, we already determined that it is not contagious since the rest of us are fine.” Said Sunset coming from behind. Both she and Rarity anticipated his reaction and followed him.

“But as you can see, she is in no condition to go anywhere.” Rarity set down next to Fluttershy and took her bound hands. “We must wait for a few more days and see if she’ll get better.”

“What?” First Strike finally managed to stop staring at Fluttershy’s wounds and looked at the white girl. “Rarity, we can’t afford to wait a few days, not even one day, I didn’t want to mention it earlier, but the evacuation won’t last forever. Sooner or later they will stop letting people in and we are four days late already. Besides, you know that we are almost out of food. And this...” Strike looked back at the gashes, “I don’t think this can get better...” He added with a shiver in his voice.

“Maybe we still have some time? And if it’s food you’re worried about, then take my share and spread it among the others, I’ll be fine.” Offered Rarity, pretending that she didn’t hear his last comment.

’I wonder if she really believes that Fluttershy will get better?’ Sunset thought, looking at the two girls. She didn’t want to say it out loud, but she agreed with the soldier, there was no way something like that could heal on its own.

“No, you won’t.” First Strike shook his head. “We’ll have to go through the woods and it requires a lot of energy to traverse rugged terrain. And most of you, guys, are already malnourished.” He said, looking at the rest of the survivors. “We must go tomorrow, or we simply might not make it in time, if at all.”

“We can try foraging.” Offered Sunset. She knew some stuff about survival in the wilderness, but most of that knowledge she picked up just-in-case while surfing the internet, so she had little to no idea how viable that knowledge actually was.

“It’s too early for being reliable.” Strike shook his head again. “Sure, we might find something, but it won’t be enough to sustain us in any meaningful way.”

“Then...” Rarity looked around, desperately trying to think of something that might help. “If we’re really have to go, we can make a stretcher from the clothes and carry her.” She pointed at the pile of clothes that the survivors were using as sheets and blankets.

“I don’t think that this is a good idea.” Muttered Sunset, looking at Fluttershy. “If a mere touch caused her so much pain... I don’t think she’ll make it.”

“And even if she would, carrying someone like that, it would slow us down considerably.” First Strike sounded genuinely regretful when he said that. “And again, time is a luxury we can’t afford.” He added, looking away.

”So what do you suggest?” Rarity almost hissed through her teeth, “To just leave her here!?” She was beginning to hyperventilate as tears appeared in her eyes.

“There is another way...” Said First Strike quietly, still not looking at them.

’Another way?’ Sunset tilted her head a little, looking at the soldier, ’What is he...’ It was always easy for her to read the body language of others, be they ponies or humans, it is one of the essential skills for being successful in manipulating people, but now, even if she’d had absolutely no experience, just one glance at Strike was enough to understand what he meant. The regret on his face, the way he was avoiding looking at them, the nervous twitch of his hand that he put on his holster...

That was wrong.

“No.” Before Sunset could truly comprehend what she was doing, she stood between the soldier and the wounded girl.

At first Rarity was confused by Sunset’s action, but as soon as she looked at First Strike her eyes widened. “Are you... Are you insane!?” She shouted, jumped to her feet and stood beside Sunset, spreading her arms to shield her friend. “How can you even think about doing something like that!?”

“That would be mercy for her.” Said Strike, still not looking at them.

“I said no.” Sunset stood her ground.

”Over my dead body.” Hissed Rarity, it looked like she was ready to pounce at the soldier at the slightest provocation on his part.

Strike nodded and took a step back. He turned around and looked at the rest of survivors, who were silently observing the situation, even Rose stopped sobbing and raised her eyes to see what was going on. “What do the rest of you think?” He asked with a heavy sigh.

“About leaving tomorrow, or—“ Began Chips after shearing a glance with High Winds.

“Yes, about leaving!” First Strike interrupted him.

“Well... I mean... you are right about the food.” Micro Chips said.

“And about us being malnourished.” Added Sandalwood.

“And that they simply may not let us in, if we’ll take too long to get there.” Nodded High Winds.

The awkward silence hung in the air. Everyone, including Sunset, knew that the soldier was right, but no one wanted to be the first to admit that they’ll have to abandon Fluttershy to her doom.

“Just go...” Whispered Rarity, but everyone could clearly hear her in this silence. “I’ll stay with her.”

Sunset turned her head and saw the white girl sitting down beside her friend. The tears were now flowing down her face.

“Rarity—“ First Strike began to speak, but she cut him off

“No! I will not leave her!” She cried. “I abandoned my little sister all alone in that forsaken city! I won’t abandon anyone else!” She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them, burying her face. “I won’t leave Fluttershy to die alone in some dark cave. I won’t abandon my friend. Not again...”

The last phrase caused Sunset to flinch slightly as she felt a pang of guilt. She saw the results of her actions before, saw people crying because of something she did, but never before it felt so... personal? It was one thing to see someone crying over their ruined friendship in the school hallway, but to see them crying in some dimly lit cave during the actual apocalypse? That hit differently.

She didn’t know what to do, or say, or even how to feel about this other than self conscious, so with a heavy sigh she returned to the bonfire.

“We’ll head out with the first light.”Strike said to the crying girl, before following after Sunset. “Please, think this over, okay?”

Soon after they set by the fire Strike opened his backpack and pulled out two small brown plastic bags. “Alright, let’s have something to eat.” He said and gave one of the bags to Micro Chips, who proceeded to distribute its contents between the survivors. “And that’s for you.” Strike held out his hand with two long pieces of beef jerky to Sunset, “You are probably very hungry right now.”

Sunset’s stomach immediately growled loudly and she snatched up the food faster than her own mind caught up with the situation. “Thank you.” She muttered, feeling her face go red at the soldier’s chuckle.

“You’re welcome.” He said with a smile. Strike turned around and asked if Rarity would join them, but his question remained unanswered.

“So what is this Center anyway?” Sunset asked, munching on a piece of beef jerky. It was dry, tasteless and had a texture of a boot sole, but at that moment she was ready to scratch out the eyes of anyone who would dare to try and take this piece of dried meat away from her.

“As far as I know, it is some sort of an underground nuclear vault built to survive practically anything. Hopefully we’ll be safe there until the situation gets better.” Strike answered, taking a bite out of his piece of jerky, and, after swallowing, he added quietly, “If that’s even possible...”

After their small dinner Strike told everyone to get some shut-eye, as they had a long day ahead of them and soon everyone in the cave were fast asleep. Even Rarity, who still sat near Fluttershy in the far corner of the cave had her head drooped and was snuffling quietly.

As for Sunset, she had no idea how everyone managed to fall asleep so quickly. Three days in a coma left her feeling like she would never sleep again, plus the memory of her nightmare was still fresh in her mind, so she was in no hurry to return to the dream realm. Instead she was deep in thought.

’So it’s a vault.’ Sunset thought, looking at the embers of a dying bonfire. ’It is most likely to be run by the military now and I bet once we get there, they will seal the doors, if they haven’t done that already, and I’ll be stuck here, in this world. But it’s probably my best bet at survival. The only alternative is to get back to Equestria, but... how do I get back to Canterlot?’ She looked at the survivors, ‘Yeah, there’s no way in tartarus that I can convince them to go back to the city...’

Sunset spent what felt like house contemplating and weighting her options until the sleep quietly crept up to her and she slipped into a deep dreamless slumber.

***

When morning came everyone were awakened by the insistent beeping of Strike’s electric watch. Following his commands and in the light of a flashlight their meager possessions, mostly just clothes, were packed into the backpacks, and in just a few minutes they were ready to move out.

“Alright guys, get ready. We’ll have our breakfast on the go.” Said the soldier. He then walked over to Rarity, who silently watched as everyone were packing up, and looked her in the eyes. “This is it Rarity, the last chance. Are you coming with us?”

“I already told you everything yesterday, darling.” The white girl closed her eyes and shook her head, “I am not leaving Fluttershy.” She said defiantly.

“I was afraid that you would say that.” First Strike let out a sad sigh. “Well, I left a bottle of water and a day worth of food for you by the bonfire. There’s also a lighter, so you won’t have to sit in the dark. And...” he placed his hand on Rarity’s shoulder, “good luck.”

Rarity just hugged herself, looked to the side and nodded silently.

“Okay, everyone, let’s move out!” Commanded Strike and the group started to move towards the tunnel that led outside.

’Well, now or never...’ Thought Sunset. “I am staying!” She announced loudly, probably a bit too loud, because she was still trying to convince herself that she made the right decision.

Everyone stopped and stared at her.

“What?” Asked Strike after a few moments of stunned silence.

“I said that I am staying.” Repeated Sunset this time more firmly.

“Sunset?” She heard Rarity whispering behind her.

’I really hope this will win me some points with her.’ Thought Sunset as she glanced back briefly. “Look, I understand that this Center is our best bet.” She began, looking at the soldier, “But it’s just wrong to leave them here by themselves.”

Everyone stared at her like she sprouted a second head all of a sudden, even Roseluck snapped out of her perpetual stupor of a brief moment. The students of CHS knew that Sunset Shimmer had many characteristics and that selflessness was most definitely not one of them.

And they were right about that.

Strike meanwhile kept staring her in the eyes. After almost a minute he simply asked, “Is that your final decision?”

“Yes.” Sunset nodded without hesitation.

“Fine. Be it your way.” The soldier just sighed and shook his head. He had no desire or mental strength to argue again. Strike took off his backpack, opened it and rummaged through its contents for a bit, then he pulled out a sheath with a combat knife in it and held it out to Sunset. “This is LT’s knife, take it, I have a feeling that you’ll need it.”

Sunset took the knife with a nod and attached it to her belt like she did in the bus.

“Okay everyone, show’s over!” Strike announced, turning on his heels. “And unless anyone else wants to stay, we must move!” He said, going towards the tunnel.

Everyone gave the three girls one last look and followed the soldier, mumbling something about good luck or apologizing.

Sunset didn’t listen. She simply stood there, watching how they leave.

There was a sound of movement from behind and her right hand was squeezed tight by the white palms. “Thank you, Sunset.” Whispered Rarity.

“Yeah, don’t mention it.” She whispered back just as the last person entered the tunnel and the light of their flashlight vanished, casting the cave into inky darkness.

‘I really hope that my plan works...’