End of Days Again

Chapter 2: Beside the Flickering Light

Earl sat, stone faced by a lamp in Fluttershy's living room as the hours went by. The timid pegasus had experienced more than enough for the evening and went to bed soon after, followed by Twilight, but not Static. Earl watched as the pony stood, staring out of the hole in the window as time passed, watching for anything that might be coming up to the cottage.

The grey unicorn looked down to his hooves as the light from the lamp flickered across the darkness of the cottage, casting ominous shadows against the furniture and decor. Pictures of Fluttershy and her friends could be viewed for a moment as the tiny flame danced, along with the usually bright-colors of her cottage. Thoughts crammed themselves into Earl's numbed brain like a rush-hour traffic jam. Things like possible safe spots, or teaching ponies to fight. It was easy to deal with something on such a small scale, but something like this was huge. He cursed under his breath at his foolishness. It was his fault, he knew that much, but why? Jackson had been killed, the zombies were dying out on Earth, but something had still brought it here.

The pony thought for a moment that the creatures he'd seen outside were nothing more than a couple of crazy denizens of ponyville. He'd seen ponies lose it before, maybe it was just one of those times?

But Twilight had seemed so sure. It would've been different if Static or Fluttershy would've informed him, but his own marefriend looked him in the eye and said; "They're here"

He shook his head and slammed a hoof to the floorboards with a frustrated sigh.

"Oi!" Static snapped in a hushed tone, craning his neck in Earl's direction. "Keep it down... Mare's are trying to sleep." he continued, staring daggers at the unicorn with two blue irises.

Earl sighed once more and nodded, bringing his hooves back to his face.

"Right... Sorry..." he said quietly.

Static paused for a moment, before looking to the floor of the cottage and sighing as well.

A shadow crept slowly into Earl's view as Static moved towards the center of the living room, and took a seat across from the sulking unicorn.

"So..." Static said, breaking the silence.

The blue pegasus cleared his throat once and looked to Earl.

"You... Really weren't in your right mind... When you yelled at 'Shy?" he continued.

Earl shook his head for a moment and shrugged, a manic, exhausted chuckled exiting his lips, followed by a quick clear of his throat.

"I-I don't know. I have no idea what is my right mind anymore..." he said, wiping a bit of nervous sweat from his brow.

His mood was already terrible, and getting another sparking hoof in his face wasn't going to make it better. He looked up and met the pony's eyes across from him.

"I've known Fluttershy for a while, and I wouldn't do that... Believe me if you want... S'up to you..." Earl said, aiming his head back to the floor.

Static swallowed and cleared his throat, looking off into the distance around the cottage he shared with Fluttershy.

"I'll take your word for it, mate... Lying wouldn't help either of us in this situation."

I know that all too well... Earl thought, chuckling to himself for a moment.

"Thanks..." he said, trailing off.

A long silence was hanging through the cottage, save for the gentle creak of the floorboards as the two ponies sitting opposite to each other shifted nervously. Static searched quickly for something to say, opening his mouth momentarily before his thoughts had been gathered. After a few more moments, he looked to Earl once more.

"So... How did you meet Twilight?" the pegasus asked.

"It was a... Science experiment." Earl said, pausing momentarily. "You?"

"Friend of Fluttershy's."

Earl nodded in response, trying to get past mandatory introductions as fast as possible. The previous events had left little time for a friendly introduction, and there was one question burning on Earl's mind. The unicorn looked to Static, scanning his forelegs, examining them closely. They had been so quickly engulfed in a ball of sparks, like some kind of spell. He paused for a moment, and shifted his eyes to Static's forehead.

No horn.

"Looking for a horn, mate?" Static said, cutting Earl out of his examination.

The grey stallion shook his head dumbly and then opened his mouth to speak.

"Save it, I aint' royalty." the pegasus continued, smirking and bringing his hoof into view.

With a flick of his foreleg, the appendage was instantly shrouded in a brightly-glowing field of blue sparks, in-sync with a low hum of electricity that echoed throughout the walls of the cottage. Earl fell back slightly upon seeing the hoof light up again, and smirked slightly.

"Christ, man... You're gonna' kill me by heart attack before that thing even gets close." Earl said nervously, adding a chuckle to try and seem comfortable.

Static's smirk faded into a shy smile, and the sparks disappeared. His hoof returned to the wooden floor of the cottage as the lamp continued casting a small amount of light throughout the room.

"How do you... Y'know...?" Earl said, mimicking electricity around his left hoof.

The pegasus chuckled softly at his crude interpretation of the ability.

"Got it in a storm.... 'S a long story... Maybe another time, lad." he said with a slight smirk.

Earl nodded and looked back to the lamp. It was a better answer than getting a few million volts traveling through his body, so it would have to suffice.

Weariness so began to take over Earl's body, and his eyelids felt heavy for a moment. They fell slightly and feathered before he brought them back up urgently, trying to keep himself awake, and shook his head for effect. It did no good however, when they began to falter once more, and shut. Static chuckled to himself and nodded towards the pony in front of him, dosing off as the seconds went by.

"Cottage is secure." Static said, causing Earl to spring upwards again, and meet the pegasi's eyes. "Save for the one window." he continued, pointing to the previously broken window.

Earl nodded slowly, looking to the lamp as his vision started to blur.

"Why don't you call it a night. Go join your mare." the pegasus said, pointing a hoof down one of the nearby hallways.

The unicorn nodded and groggily made his way to his hooves, and gave a small stretch before looking to Static once more.

"I'm glad we could, you know, settle our differences. I mean no harm, and I won't." he said.

Static gave a simple nod, and Earl made his way down the hallway, eager to feel the warmth of sheets again.

Upon reaching the door, he lightly turned the handle with his tired and achy hoof. Thankfully the old wooden door made almost no noise upon opening, and allowed him to silently enter the room.

"Hey." he heard Twilight call from the darkness, her voice soft and cracking slightly.

Earl raised an eyebrow and made his way towards the bed in the center of the guest room. With a small thought of afternoon sunlight, a gentle ball of white formed at the tip of his horn, whisking away some of the darkness that enveloped the room. He noticed Twilight's eyes first, bloodshot and showing obvious signs of exhaustion.

"What's up? You seemed so tired earlier." he said softly, taking a seat at the foot of the bed.

She shrugged and sighed, sitting up in the bed.

"I haven't slept in three days, and even then I was running off of an hour." she said, rubbing her eye.

"Well, what's on your mind?" he said, scooting closer to her.

"It's the apocalypse, Earl. Not on your world. My world. Our world." she said, her voice desperate and shaky. "I only know that Fluttershy and Static are OK, but we couldn't leave until you woke up. I don't know if Rarity...Pinkie, or Applejack, or Rainbow, or anypony else is OK! For the first few days I just... I just cried, and cried. I felt lost, I-It's... It's driving me nuts-" she said, her words growing louder and speeding up.

"Hey." he said, resting a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to stop and take a deep breath.

"I just... I'm not losing my friends. I can't. I need to know they're OK... And my parents?! I just..." she said, tears beginning to fall from her eyes. "I lost my brother... Wasn't that enough?!"

Earl looked to the sheets of the bed, trying to avoid seeing her cry.

"Look... I... I'm awake now. I'll go look for them tomorrow. I'll bring them back safe and sound, alright?" he said, shaking his head and looking to his marefriend.

She shook her head in return and fell back, letting her neck rest against the headboard of the bed.

"What if they're already gone.... Or infected?" she asked, tears sliding down her face.

Earl shook his head, fighting back his own tears. He crawled into the bed the rest of the way, and worked his way under the sheets, placing a foreleg around Twilight.

"Don't think like that... We've got to stay strong, you know?" he said softly.

The mare grabbed the hoof wrapped around her and squeezed it tightly, sliding back down onto the mattress until her head rested on the pillow, and her mane was sprawled upwards.

"I know." she said almost inaudibly with a nod.

Earl nodded as well, and pressed his body further into hers, and tightened his grip. The mare reacted the same, placing her forelegs onto his, and closing her eyes.

"Don't worry anymore, Twi... I'm going to fix this... Just get some sleep." he said quietly, as the mare slowly shut her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.