Darkness Fell. . . (REMASTERED)

“See anything?” Wallflower called from within the convenience store she and Sweet Leaf were currently looting.

“Nope, nothing.” Flash called back, letting his axe drop to the side as he spared a glance inside the store to look at his two friends moving in and out of the various isles grabbing whatever they could and throwing it in whatever bags they found. “How’s it coming along?”

“We’re almost done, don’t worry.” Came Sweet Leafs reply. Flash nodded his head, before going back to surveying the city around them for any signs of the infected. Even after all this time, none of them could agree on what exactly to call those that were victims of the darkness. “Infected” had a nice ring to it, but it sounded too cliche since it was a word normally associated with zombies, and while those affected did share many traits with zombies, it still didn’t quite fit since the darkness wasn’t a virus, rather a force, something that just exists like gravity. “Corrupted” seemed to be the better term, but the three used the two interchangably.

“Done!” Came Wallflowers voice from inside, followed by her and Sweet Leaf emerging from inside the store carrying draw string bags on their backs filled to the brim with whatever food and drinks would fit. As well as food items, they had also found weapons, Flash noticed, the two now carrying large knifes that still had retail tags on them.

“HEY! YOU!”

“Shh! Did you guys hear that?” Flash said.

“Hear what?” Wallflower questioned.

“Voices, from that direction.” Flash said, pointing northeast of their current postion on one of the main roads in the center of the city. “Come on, let’s go see what it was.”

“Don’t you think we should be running away from noises and not towards them?” Sweet Leaf asked. “What are the odds that what you just heard are other survivors and not just more of those things?”

“Well it’s a risk I’m willing to take.” Flash said. “Besides, we don’t even have to get close, now come on!” He said, taking off into a quiet sprint. Wallflower followed close behind, Sweet Leaf too after she let out a groan of frustration.

”W-wait, what?! What are you doing?”

“Was that. . .” Sweet Leaf asked. “. . .Diamond?”

“Yeah! I think it was!” Flash called back while turning to look down the next block they were heading down towards the commotion. “See! I told you this was worth it!” He exclaimed, causing Sweet Leaf to roll her eyes.

“Do you see them?” Wallflower asked from directly behind him.

“Yeah, I think I do.” Flash said. “Wait a second. . .” He said, trailing off.

“What is it?”

“I think there’s some kind of altercation going on- Wait! She’s being chased by someone!” Flash exclaimed.

“Is it one of those things?” Sweet Leaf asked.

“It- doesn’t seem like it? I can’t see enough from here.” He said back. “Come on, we gotta go help her!”

“I’m not sure whether it’s better or worse that Diamond wasn’t being chased by those ‘corruption’ things.” Sweet Leaf commented while peering out from behind the corner of another building she and the others were using to stay out of sight.

“Well, it makes sense if you think about it.” Wallflower replied. “Not everyone wants to be friends, that could be said even before all this started happening. Like it or not, some people are greedy and self serving, even more so when things like food and water are limited.” She said matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, but, Sunset?” Flash said in a hurt voice, coming up behind Sweet Leaf to peer over her shoulder at the confrontation currently playing out between the Dazzlings, Diamond, who he thought was Sunset, and one stranger. “I thought she changed. . .”

“Well, maybe that’s not Sunset.” Wallflower said.

“Huh?” Flash questioned.

“I don’t know! Maybe it’s some other equestrian magic thing that has something to do with this corruption stuff. Besides, last time I saw Sunset, which was very recently, she did not have a tattoo or dress like a friggin emo.”

Flash paused, pondering what she said.

“Well, why sit here speculating when we can just go ask them ourselves?” Sweef Leaf said. “They’re just people at the end of the day, right? Besides, we have better weapons than any of them, if need be.”

“-Right.” Flash said. “Well, we haven’t got anything to lose I guess.” He said while stepping outside from their hiding place and calling out to them, followed quickly by the other two.

“Welcome to the party.” Aria said upon them drawing within earshot. “I see you brought snacks.” She said, gesturing to the bags on the backs of Wallflower and Sweet Leaf.

“Well, it’s nice to see that more of you have made it this long.” Adagio said. “I was starting to think we were the only ones.”

“Yeah, we were thinking the same.” Flash said.

Adagios eyes widened suddenly. “Uh, is that blood on that axe you’re carrying?” She asked cautiously.

Flash looked down, only noticing because Adagio had pointed it out that the blade of his axe was coated in dried blood.

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Flash replied. “We haven’t exactly had it easy, to say the very least.”

“If Flash hadn’t dismembered one of those things, Wallflower wouldn’t be alive right now.” Sweef Leaf chimed in.

Wallflower nodded.

“Wow, I’m impressed.” Adagio said. “You don’t strike me as the kind of person who’d kill, even in self defense. Though I guess it doesn’t matter since it’s questionable if those things are even human anymore.”

“Adrenaline’s a hell of a drug.” Wallflower said with a shrug. “Moving on, what’s going on here? We heard the commotion with Diamond and that’s how we found you.”

“Well, to make a long story short.” Aria said. “These two tried to rob us of the supplies Diamond was gathering for us.” She paused. “But, I told them we’d overlook that if they agreed to work together.” She finished, casting a side eye towards the two.

“You let Diamond go out by herself? While the city is crawling with those things?” Wallflower exclaimed.

“For the record, she volunteered to do that. Right Diamond?” Aria said, turning back towards the house where Diamond and Sonata were standing in the doorway of the front entrance.

“Yeah, I did.” Diamond answered. “I uh, wanted to be useful, is all. Besides, I thought I could be sneaky and quick enough to stay out of trouble. I was right! Sort of. I mean, I managed to outrun those two!” She said, pointing towards Sunset and Starlight while giving a nervous chuckle.

“H-hey, Sunset-” Flash started. “I’ve been meaning to ask you-”

Adagio chuckled.

“What? Flash asked.

“That’s not our Sunset.” She said, continuing to chuckle with a hand placed over her mouth.

“What do you mean that’s not our. . .” Flash said, trailing off as his mind started to put two and two together.

Aria laughed. “That’s the reaction Adagio had too.”

“See? Told you Flash.” Wallflower interjected. “It’s some equestrian magic thing.”

“Can someone explain to me what the hell is going on?” Sunset exclaimed. “Is there just another me roaming around here? A doppelgangar?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Aria said. “Though if it’s worth anything, besides sharing a name and body, you two are nothing alike. It’s a shame that this is how we had to meet, I think we could’ve gotten along if we’d met sooner.”

Sunset facepalmed. “Ugh, whatever, I have bigger things to worry about than some identity thief running around with my name. Are we working together or not?”

“Sure.” Aria said with a shrug before glancing over to the other three. “Are you guys in too? We could really use the extra supplies you’re carrying.”

“-Yeah, we’re in.” Flash said answering for them. He walked over to the fence separating the yard of the suburban home they were in front of from the road, placing himself in front of everyone in the group. “Our first order of business should be finding a better place to stay. There’s not enough room in any of the houses here, and going back into the main city will give us easier access to food, water and weapons.”

Adagio raised an eyebrow. “Who said you were the leader?”

“Uh, no one?” Flash said. “I don’t see any of you rushing to be the leader.”

“Give him a chance Adagio.” Sweet Leaf said. “If it weren’t for him the three of us wouldn’t have survived this long.”

“Okay, fine then.” Adagio said. “I’m curious though, what made you all of a sudden start playing hero? First you waltz in here with a blood stained axe and admit to dismembering one of those things, which, don’t get me wrong, is pretty hardcore; but then as soon as we all agree to work together, you make yourself the leader. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t impressed, so what made this ‘hero’ come out?”

“Oh, well, um. . .” Flash said, scratching the back of his neck. “You know Sunset and her friends, always saving the day whenever some new magical crisis comes up. . .”

Sunset raised an eyebrow.

“Not you.” Flash said hurriedly. “Anyway, I’ve just, always wanted to take part, do something to help others like she does and, feel important, have people look up to me like they do to them.” He finished, blushing slightly.

“So, you’re doing all of this badassery just to impress your ex?” Aria questioned. “Who we don’t even know is still alive or not?”

“Don’t talk like that!” Flash snapped back. “If I’ve made it this far with nothing but my wits and an axe, then I’m sure Sunset and her friends are still out there somewhere.”

“Woah, calm down. I didn’t expect you to take it so seriously.” Aria said apolegetically. “I hope they’re still alive too, because as much as I still don’t like them, they’re our best chance.”

“I’ve got it!” Sweet Leaf suddenly exclaimed from the back of the group, holding up her phone for everyone to see.

“Got what?” Wallflower asked.

“I know where we can move to.” She said in a hopeful tone. “Canterlot mall!”

“The mall? what makes you think that would be a good spot?” Adagio questioned.

“Well, think about it, all the abandoned stores there will have everything we need for the long-term. Beds, food, water, and we can use whatever we don’t need to make barricades! Plus, it’ll place us right in the center of the shopping district, so even if we can’t find everything in the mall, like say, weapons, I’m sure there’ll be other places to find them anyway.”

“I think that’s a pretty solid plan.” Wallflower stated.

“Me too, but how are we supposed to get there?” Aria asked. “Do any of you happen to know where we are right now?”

Nobody answered.

“Exactly. We’ve all been too focused on either escaping that corruption or being killed by those turned by it to keep track of where we are. All we know is that we’re in some kind of suburb on the outskirts of the city, which does next to nothing to narrow it down.”

“That’s why I held up my phone.” Sweet Leaf said after Aria finished. “I have a map downloaded on my phone. There’s no cell service, so it’s not telling me exactly where we are, but if we can find some kind of landmark then I might just be able to figure this out and get us there. It might take a while though, because we’ll have to walk the whole way.”

“You have a map of the city downloaded on your phone? Why?” Flash asked.

“Well, I’m one of the eco kids, remember? We go out into the wilderness for conservation projects pretty often, so it’d be stupid not to have a map downloaded.”

“Huh.” Flash said. “Well, I guess that settles it, we’re heading for the mall.”