Sunset's human world origin

Mac Carthaigh old gun range
Date: July 18th, time: 10:00 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

Brigid had brought Sunset out to an area that Great Nana and Great Grandpappy had set up to be a gun range. Cleaning it up yesterday was a challenge because of how overgrown the place was. Emi protested vehemently when she was told she couldn’t come with them. Her main argument points were that cousin Cara was being taught how to shoot at her age. It was a good argument, but Brigid’s counter of this place being a warzone at the time was better. Emi tried to counter with Sunset’s encounter with Platinum being proof that Canterlot was a dangerous enough place to warrant her learning to use a gun. Brigid countered with the gun violence rates in Canterville, that she’s always with her whenever she goes into Canterlot, and that they live next to three war veterans that have and can use guns. It was so funny to see Emi do her angry sulking pose. The horses were secured a fair distance away and given ear protection to reduce the amount of gunshot noise they heard. Brigid and Sunset also had their own ear protection.

The gun range was built in a large clearing. The targets were made of large wooden slabs. They were obviously originally from a diseased tree. Sunset asked Brigid about it, but Brigid didn’t know what it was. Without much else to talk about, the lessons began. Brigid first taught Sunset about gun safety. Never aim your weapon at someone, unless you intend to shoot them. Don’t place your finger inside the trigger guard until you're ready to shoot. Don’t be a dumbass. That sort of thing. When they actually got to firing the guns, Brigid first taught her how to fire a pistol. All of the weapons they were using were low caliber and low power, but the recoil Sunset felt still shocked her. The noise also produced a small panic response. Brigid was able to calm her, and they modified the lesson plan to include frequent breaks in order to let Sunset calm down. Eventually, Sunset needed fewer and fewer breaks, but she still didn’t like the sound. Although now, it had more to do with the fact that an explosion was going off just not even two feet away from her ears and being amplified by a metal tube. Sunset’s aim left something to be desired, but Brigid assured her that she would get better with practice. They then moved onto shotguns. Brigid brought slugs and birdshot. They had to get closer to the targets. They’re apparently used for short range combat, and that’s why they are often used for home defence. The phrases “You couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn.” and “I call shotgun.” both had direct links to the weapon, according to Brigid. The first one became clear to Sunset after firing the birdshot, and the second one dated back to ye olden times back when horse drawn carriages were the norm. Back then, someone would sit next to the driver, holding a shotgun, and was responsible for protecting the carriage.

“If dey had machine guns back den, people taday would be callin’ “Ah call machine gun!”.”, Brigid said.

“And if they were available f’r civilian use.”, Sunset added.

“Well-” “Don’t tell me. They are available f’r civilian use.” “Dey are in America, at least.” “Fucking Americans, they take everything insane about this species and turn it up to eleven.” “Ya think dey’re bad. We should take ya ta Australia. Dey are like da unholy love child a’ America n’ da British Isles.” “Wasn’t Australia originally a prison colony?” “Yeah, but back den, being Scottish was considered a crime. Dey’d send ya dere f’r stealin’ a pie.” “No wonder you have a “dislike” of the British government.” “Don’t f’rget da Potato Famine.” “Fat chance of that.”

Sunset could see the merits of the shotgun, but she preferred the more accurate handgun. Once Sunset got the hang of the shotgun, they moved further back than when they were using handguns, and Brigid pulled out two rifles. Hers was the same one from their patrols.

“Y’ll hear many different names for rifles. Da only one dat really matters is da addition a’ “semi-automatic”. Dat means dat da rifle c’n shoot faster but is less accurate den da standard rifle. All da others, hunting, sniper, etcetera, only denote what y’r aimin’ at.”, Brigid said.

Sunset found that she most liked the rifle. Not only was the tip of the barrel farther away, but the rifle most reminded her of the crossbow. She saw why Brigid liked the rifle the best too. When you first meet her, Brigid seems like a big, dumb, pretty farm girl, but as you talk to her, you realize that she’s one of the smartest and well educated people you’ll ever meet. In a way, the rifle is much the same. When you first look at a gun this big, you see a lumbering mass of metal that can blow you to bits, but as you become familiar with the weapon, it becomes a fine tuned machine that can blow you to bits.

They continued practicing until the sun started to set. Brigid said that night shooting was going to be a future lesson. They packed up their gear, mounted their horses, and rode off.

It truly amazed Sunset just how much humans managed to do without magic. These weapons were just the “tip of the iceberg”, as humans say. So much of Equestria’s modern technology was heavily reliant on magic. If Equestria ever lost its magic, it’d be propelled back into the stone age. To be fair, humans would also be thrown back a few thousand years if, as Micro Chips put it, the sun farts in the wrong direction at the wrong time. Still, humans did all this without laws of physics breaking magic. They put humans on the motherfucking moon. If humans had access to magic, - well, they would weaponize it, but after that, who knows what they could do. Sunset looked over to Brigid. Humans truly are a species worth extensive study, and clearly, they thought so too.

Mac Carthaigh farmhouse
Date: July 20th, time: too late to be woken up

*Sunset’s perspective*

“Sunset, Sunset, wake up.”, Emi said.

“Emi, it’s the middle of the night. We have ta be up by six thirty.”

“Ah know, but the man in my room is freaking me out. Can Ah sleep in your room?”

If Sunset wasn’t awake before, she was now. Sunset shot up, propping herself up with the full length of her arms. “What man?” Sunset had gone straight into fight mode.

“A ghost, and he’s really scary lookin’. He kinda looks like Grandpappy, but with a large scar going down the right side of his face.”

Sunset was now sitting cross legged, having come out of fight mode. “Grandpappy didn’t have a scar on his face, but if it looked like Grandpappy, he was most likely one of the attacking O’Floinns.” Sunset’s speaking slowed as all the dots connected in her head. Emi’s face showed clear evidence that the same dots were connecting in hers. Whoever was in Emi’s room was a most likely malevolent spirit.

Sunset’s hackles became raised, and she looked to the open door. Whether Emi noticed Sunset’s actions or sensed it herself, Emi also turned to look at the open door. The two continued to stare into the hallway for a few seconds. Both nearly jumped out of their skin when a tall, dark shadowy figure ran straight past the door. ‘Ran’ wasn’t the correct word. The figure itself didn’t move. It just slid across the floor. The figure was ramrod straight, and it didn’t make a single sound. Those last three things are what made that thing truly unnerving. Nothing of this world, or Equoes for that matter, could move like that. Neither girl moved. They were too scared. Before either could fully process what they had seen, the figure came back. This time, it stopped right in front of the door and stared at the girls. The figure was tall, gangly, and stood ramrod straight. The figure was stiller than a manikin. How that was possible, Sunset didn’t know, but it was. The figure was clad in darkness, but Sunset could make out the features. Just as Emi said, it looked similar to Grandpappy but was clearly not him. That scar made that clear. Sunset, absentmindedly, brought her hand up to her own facial scar. Looking to its eyes, there was something very wrong with it. It wasn’t physical, there was nothing physically wrong with them, but just looking at them made Sunset feel “off”. She had no other way to explain it. It was similar to the feelings she would get when she looked at her own eyes when she first got to Earth or when she looked at Platinum, but this was different. When looking at her own eyes, she knew she was looking into the eyes of a predator. When looking at Platinum, she knew that she was looking at pure evil. This was like those feelings but very different and even more unsettling.

The figure charged at the girls with the same speed, but this time, it ran and pounced like a mountain lion and had a face of pure hatred. Moving at a speed Sunset did not think humans capable of, Sunset pulled Emi closer and shot out her hand. “No!”, Sunset shouted. Sunset could feel something emitting from her and reverberating with her voice. The figure had made it to within a few inches of the girls before evaporating (dissolving?). Either way, the figure was nowhere to be seen, and the room seemed to get a bit brighter.

“How’d ya do that?”, Emi asked.

“I have no idea.”, Sunset responded.

“Girls, are you alright?”, both their parents asked. They were both standing just outside the door frame. Sunset hadn’t noticed them approaching, and Brigid’s not a quiet one.

“We’re fine, now.”, Sunset said.

“There was this freaking shadowy dark, unmoving monster that had been watching me in my room, and then it charged at us, and the Sunset physic blasted it back to wherever it came from.”, Emi said a mile a minute.

“What?”, both their parents asked. Emi’s explanation was hard to understand.

The girls explained what happened to their parents the best they could. The figure was hard to explain. None of the ten and two half of languages Sunset knew had words that could effectively describe that thing. Not even the words specifically created for the pony of shadows did justice to that thing. If Sunset had magic, she could use the memory transfer spell to show them.

“You know what it is or was.”, Sunset said. As Sunset and Emi described the scar and feeling the figure emitted, Brigid’s brow furrowed. A human specific expression that meant “I know what you’re talking about, and I don't like it”.

“Ah knew da man when he was alive. He was one of da attackers dat died in da house. His name was Sullivan, and his name was a fittin’ one. Even though he had green eyes in life, anyone who looked at him could’ve sworn dey were pitch black. Dere was some‘hin’ very very wrong with him from da moment he was born n’ gowin’ up smack dab cente’ in a warzone didn’t help with dat. At first, Ah thought he had psychopathy, but dat didn’t match up. He was da reason Ah took extra psychology classes in college, but no matter what Ah researched, Ah couldn’t match what he had. Although, given that what Ah once considered paranormal is becoming normal, Ah’m startin’ ta consider dat he was a demon.”

“Demon?”, Emi asked.

“Well, whatever creature biblical demons were based on. Ah don’t f’r a second believe dat God n’ Satan exist, but Ah’m startin’ ta believe dat demons were more dan jus’ da artistic representations a’ humanity’s darker sides.”

“In Equestrian mythology, demons are created when strong magic users “break”, as you put it. Their mental turmoil or “negative emotions”” Sunset put in actual air quotes, “becomes its own entity and takes over their body; their body mutating as a result. The most famous being Nightmare Moon.”

“Sounds like an Oni.”, Anzhong commented.

“Interestin’.” Brigid shook her head. “We’re gettin’ sidetracked. Do ya think what ya did scared him off f’r good?”

“I have no idea what I did. I’ve never done anything like that.”, Sunset said.

“You were trying to protect us when you did it. It was probably an instit-instita-”, Emi tried to pronounce.

“Instinctual response.”, Sunset finished for her.

“Yeah, that. That means ya can do it again.”

“That sounds like a good theory.”

“Well, so long as he’s gone, I think it would be good to go back to bed or at least try.”, Anzhong said. “If either of you need anything, just shout.”

“Good night, girls.”, Brigid added.

“Good night.”, both girls said.

Emi turned to Sunset and fixed her with a serious face. “There is no way Ah’m sleeping alone tonight.”

“What, do you seriously expect me to be able to sleep at all after that?”, Sunset half jokingly asked. “Hop into bed. I’m going to close the door.” Sunset climbed out of bed and walked over to the door. Before she closed it, Sunset peered out into the hallway and checked for - anything really. Sunset then grabbed the chair from in front of the (make-up desk thing?); whatever it is. Just like she’d seen in the movies, Sunset jammed the chair under the door knob. Walking back to the bed, Sunset got a scary idea. Once she was close enough, Sunset checked under the bed and then walked over to the closet to check there. Finding nothing, Sunset climbed back into bed but didn’t sleep until the sun came up.

Mac Carthaigh farm
Date: July 25th, time: 11:00 am

*Sunset’s perspective*

Over the last few days, Sunset’s skill with her guns had greatly improved. She was still using lower powered guns, but that’s more of a “Sunset’s size” issue. Now, they had moved on from stationary targets to moving targets. They were hunting for grey squirrels, hares, or any other small rodents. The only expectations to their hunt were mice and rats. According to Brigid, they carry diseases that are deadly to humans. Apparently, one of the diseases carried by rats, the bubonic plague, wiped out a third of Europe’s population in the 1400’s. It was apparently so bad that it’s often referred to as the plague. None of them were wearing ear protection this time. Brigid said that they all needed all their senses on alert, and they aren’t going to be firing round after round in quick succession.

So far, Sunset hasn't gotten anything. Brigid had managed to get a few kills, but Sunset just couldn’t hit anything.

“Try aimin’ from a bit furthe’ away. Dese are prey animals n’ skittish ones at dat. Dey’ll run at da slightest provocation.”

Sunset spotted a hare and raised her rifle. She was far enough away from it that it wouldn’t run. However, this also meant that Sunset had more difficulty aiming. This was slightly mitigated by the fact that this thing was huge. It had to weigh at least twelve pounds. Sunset slowed her breathing and did her best to steady her hands, like she was taught. Sunset fired and the bullet went flying through the air. The hare had no time to react as the bullet blasted straight through its head.

Sunset and Brigid rode over and hopped off their horses to look at the kill. “Nice shot, Sunset.”, Brigid said.

Sunset felt a sense of pride swell up inside herself. Just like shooting a crossbow. Brigid packed up the kill. With that, they had enough for the hare soup Anzhong wanted to make.

Mac Carthaigh farmhouse
Date: July 27th, time: 12:00pm

*Brigid’s perspective*

“Girls, ya almost read ta go?”, Brigid asked. Brigid walked into the girls’ room. They had been sharing a room since the Sullivan incident. As Brigid looked around the room, she couldn’t find the girls. “Girls, ya in here?”

“Right behind ya.”

Brigid jumped what felt like three feet in the air and spun around. When she looked to who spoke, she found Sunset and Emi laughing their asses off. “Ya two bloody melters think dat was funny, don’t ya?”

“Hahaha, yeah.”, both girls said.

Brigid shook her head but then got a devilish idea. As the girls were laughing, Brigid scooped both of them up and brought them into an Irish bear hug. Even with Sunset having grown a lot in the last six months, Brigid could still pick her up with one arm. Sunset and Emi squirmed around, trying to escape their mother’s grasp, but Brigid just squeezed tighter.

“Oxygen - becoming - issue.”, Sunset wheezed out. Brigid lowered the girls back to the ground, and the girls flopped to the floor in an exaggerated manner.

“Hmhmhm, be ready ta go in an hour.”, Brigid said before walking out of the room.