"Late, per usual." Emerald May sighed to herself. "Can Photo Finish for once be on time to a shoot? I'm not being paid to sit in this lobby waiting for her." Emerald looked around the studio. There was nopony else in there besides the secretary and a few photographers.
Being a model wasn't an easy job if you don't have a lot of patience. Especially with a manager like Photo Finish. She was always late, simply because she didn't care. She didn't care about about Emerald's patience, or any of her model's for that matter. It was only about two things. Money and fame.
According to Photo Finish, everypony who's anypony wants to be rich and famous, and the only reason Emerald is a model anyway is because she harassed her into it. Emerald just cracked, and because she wasn't doing well financially anyway, what with her perfume shop being shut down, she agreed and signed a contract that practically sold her soul to the company.
Emerald can't even leave for another 3 years of modelling, and she was already tired of it. But hey, easy money. But it still didn't feel right. It wasn't what she wanted to do, or even felt happy doing. Celestia knows her family didn't approve. They all reacted as if she was going into porn.
Emerald wasn't a very famous model. Nopony had really recognized her yet. Which was okay, because she didn't all together love attention. She had few friends. Palette Swap and Line Code were her two main friends. Other than that, she didn't really hangout with any other pony.
So here she was, just sitting in the Studio waiting room, waiting for Photo Finish. Minutes felt like hours as she waited. The shoot was supposed to have started at 1:30. It was now 2:27. The shoot was supposed to have ended a half hour ago. I mean, they didn't even have magazines in the waiting room. So you can expect it was pretty boring just waiting there for an hour. To keep herself busy she just counted the tiles on the floor. They were really small white tiles. There were 538, excluding places she couldn't see. She was too lazy to get up and count the tiles. It was already hard enough just waiting there.
Suddenly, the door in the lobby opened. Emerald turned her head to see who it was, but it was just another photographer. It was already 2:45 and she really wanted to go outside. She quickly got up from her seat and went over to the secretary's desk.
"Um, excuse me?" Emerald asked. The secretary slowly brought her face up from the book she was reading. "Yes?" She asked. "Do you know when Photo Finish will be here? I was supposed to have a shoo-" "No, she's not coming in today." The secretary interrupted. "What? Why? I've been sitting here for an hour and a half waiting for her, and she's not even coming in? Did she say why?" Emerald questioned. "No, the only thing I know is that she can't come in today. Now if you'll excuse me." She said impatiently. "When did you hear about this? Why didn't she tell me?" Emerald went on.
The secretary sighed. "I knew about it since yesterday. Why you weren't told, I have no idea." She said, not looking up from her book. "So you mean I never had to come in here? Why didn't you tell me?" She was starting to get frustrated, and her wings slowly stood up.
The secretary looked up from her book again. "Look, if I had known, I would've told you. But I didn't know you were her model. So I didn't." She said quickly. "Fine. It's almost 3 now, and I've wasted most of a perfect afternoon in here. That's just great." Emerald said on her way to the door. "I can't believe she wouldn't even tell me that the shoot is canceled." She said under her breath. "I can't stand that crazy blue mare sometimes."
As Emerald pushed open the door of the studio, she was greeted by the outside world with the warm, bright sun bathing the land in light. The grass was warm, and the air smelled of apples and freshly plowed earth. The trees swayed in the light wind. There was a slight breeze, as well.. But in the distance she could see some pegasi gathering dark rain clouds. She didn't have much time to enjoy the perfect day anymore. It was all wasted inside a stupid studio.
Emerald trotted down the street to go meet her friend Palette Swap by the tall oak tree they originally met at when they were fillies. As she went the street, she glanced around, and noticed something strange. Nopony else was outside anymore. It was still a nice day outside, but there wasn't a soul around. Rose wasn't at her flower shop, nopony was out walking, no families together, no fillies laughing and playing. There was nopony for as far as she could see. Strange, indeed, she thought. Maybe everypony was at the park.
When Emerald arrived at the park, nopony was there except for Palette Swap sitting by the oak on a wood bench, who looked somewhat concerned. "Palette Swap!" Emerald greeted cheerily as she walked towards her. "You won't believe what happened to me today. So I was waiting in the stu-" "Uh, Em, can I talk to you for a second?" Palette interrupted slowly. "Yeah, sure. What's up?" Emerald asked, sitting down next to her.
Palette was never one to get angry. She was always a happy, friendly earth pony. She loves drawing and painting, but she was bullied as a filly, and was never very brave. "Well, um, today, as I was walking down Mane Street, I realized everypony was suddenly gone. I mean, they were there one moment, and then, it's like they vanished." Palette explained. "Then as I was looking around, I saw a tall stallion dressed in all black standing at the end of the road. He just stood there, staring at me. I couldn't see his face. He just watched me until suddenly he turned left down an alley. I was very scared, so I came here looking for you. I haven't seen anypony since." Palette said.
"That's really weird. As I was walking here, I didn't see any black-clothed stallion, but I did notice everypony was suddenly gone." Said Emerald, confused. She looked to the sky to see if the pegasi from earlier were still there. They weren't, but the rainclouds were already placed, and it started to get darker rather quickly, and the wind started to pick up.
Suddenly, Palette perked up at the sight of a dark brown-maned stallion. His coat was a lighter brown, and he walked slowly, a scared look on his face. He wore a mailbag around his waist. Emerald turned her head to see what Palette was looking at and cocked her slightly. "He looks lost, Palette. We should go talk to him." Emerald suggested. "Sure. We can see if he knows what's going on." Palette added.
As Emerald and Palette walked over to the stallion, they noticed that the wind got even faster, and it got darker. "Excuse me?" Emerald called out. "Sir? We could use some help." The stallion turned his head towards the two mares, and gave a look of relief. "Are you Emerald May?" He asked as he trotted over quickly. "Uh, yes. Yes I am. How do you know my na-" "I've got this letter for you." He interrupted. "But I'm not coming this far anymore. Tell your friends to get a train ticket here if they want to talk to you." "What? What are you talking about? What friends?" Emerald asked as she took the letter. It seemed to glow like a lantern as she held in in her mouth. "What did these ponies look like?" She said through clenched teeth. "Tall. Creepy fellows," He said as he backed away. "Couldn't see their faces. They all wore the same black robes. Anyway, I've gotta go! That storm is rolling in right quick. Ciao!" He said as he ran off.
"Wait!" Emerald called after him, but he obviously didn't hear her. By now it had slightly started to rain. Emerald looked back at Palette with a scared look on her face. Palette looked no different. Suddenly, a loud and bright strike of lightning hit somewhere nearby. "We should get inside." Palette said. "My art studio is closest. Come on, quick."
By the time the two ponies got inside the art studio, they were drenched with water from head to hoof. "I'll go get us some towels." Palette said as she walked up the stairs to the housing-area of the studio, where she lived. In the meanwhile, Emerald stood dripping with rain on a rug by the door, still holding the glowing letter in her mouth. She listened to the now-heavy falling of the rain outside, before examining the studio.
The walls were a shade of green, which closely resembled the color of Emerald's mane. There were various paintings placed around, all with a signature at the bottom reading, "-PRS". There were two blank canvases in the far left corner, and another in the closest right corner, with what looked to be a drawing of a sandy beach on it, with the sun setting in the background. In the center of the room there was a small table, and a clipboard and a cup of paint brushes on it. The clipboard read, "Palette's Painting Ideas Of Boredom". To the right were stairs leading to the housing part of the studio, where Palette lived. The floor was a white tile, easy for cleaning spilled paint off of. Emerald had only been in Palette's studio about three to four times before surprisingly, considering nopony really spent anytime indoors during the day.
Emerald went over and set her letter on the table. She was beginning to dry off, and was very curious as to why Palette was taking so long. She could hear her hoofsteps upstairs. They sounded normally paced. Suddenly, she heard a loud bump, and the sound of something spilling over, near the top of the staircase.
But then a few paint brushes and a wood cup rolled down the stairs, and soon after came Palette holding two towels on her back. "Sorry I took so long Em, I couldn't find my extra paint brushes." Palette said. "It's fine. You nearly scared me half to death though, with the paint brushes." Emerald chuckled. "Yeah, sorry about that. I tried to balance it on my head. Turns out I can't do that quite well." Palette giggled. She handed Emerald a towel, and they both began drying themselves off quickly. Emerald balanced herself on the table and stood on two legs, bringing the towel over her damp mane until it was dry. Palette did the same, and once they were both finished she set them on the table.
"So, are you going to open that letter?" Palette asked, eyeing it suspiciously. "I suppose I have to," Replied Emerald hesitantly. "I'm still creeped out by how when that mail-stallion referred to these people as my 'friends'." "And how he mentioned how he came very far, as well." Palette added. "Yeah." Emerald said as she tore the top off of the letter and spit out the top.
She slowly pulled the letter out with her teeth, and let the envelope fall to the ground. She placed the still-glowing letter on the table before picking the envelope back up and putting it in the trash can next to the door. "Alright, let's open it, I guess." Emerald said sheepishly. Palette slowly leaned in closer. Then Emerald laughed. "I don't know why we're getting so scared. It's just a letter." "Heh, yeah." Said Palette, looking over to Emerald, still wearing a concerned look on her face.
Emerald took one flap of the letter and pulled the letter open. Both of their eyes went wide with confusion and fear as they read it. On it, it read "We're out of time. Your assistance is requested. Please hurry." "What? What is this supposed to mean?" Emerald asked nopony in particular. Palette seemed fairly shocked. "Wha... How..." She said with eyes as wide as a full moon. "How are we supposed to know who this is? Or where they are?" Palette blurted out. "I don't know." Emerald said coldly.
Emerald decided to spend the night at Palette's studio instead of walking back to her house. They fell asleep around 11:21 in the studio, drawing portraits of each other, trying to forget the letter. "Make sure you get my sexy side." Emerald had said. Palette just stared blankly before laughing her head off. Now the clock read 2:04 A.M. Emerald and Palette were abruptly woken from a knock on the front door, loud as can be.
Palette's head shot up and looked at the door, and then at Emerald. Palette hated being scared, and having the doors knocked on at night scared her, for an unknown reason. Emerald just nodded toward the door before pointing at the clock. Emerald mouthed the words "Who could that be?" to Palette. She just shook her head.
Emerald stood up off the cold tile floor and stretched, before slowly approaching the door. When she came face to face with it, there was another loud knock. Emerald promptly jumped out of her skin. She looked back at Palette, now standing up as well, and cocked her head. Palette nodded towards the door, and Emerald placed her hoof on the cold brass handle, and slowly started to turn.
Emerald opened the door quickly to a point where she could just see outside. Nopony. There was nopony outside. Just a windy, desolate Ponyville. She closed the door quickly, and looked back to Palette, who now had her head cocked to the side. "There's...nopony out there." Emerald said slowly. "What?" Palette looked confused. "I... I have no idea. You heard that knocking too, right?" Emerald asked. "Of course. How could I not? It was so loud." "Maybe it was the wind getting behind the door." Emerald contemplated, trotting over to the sink in the back of the room for some water.
"Maybe," Palette said. "But... then why did it only happen now? It's been windy all night long." "Beats me." Emerald said as she swallowed a mouthful of water. "Mayb-" Emerald was cut off by the knock on the door again. Palette's ears went down, and she slowly backed away. Emerald beckoned to the door with her hoof. She was currently washing her hoofs so she couldn't really check who it was. Palette, surely but hesitantly, made her way to the door, before slowly sliding it open.
Palette screamed the loudest Emerald had ever heard her scream before, and she turned her head ever so quickly to see Palette trying to shut the door, but it was being held open. By what? She couldn't tell. "Emerald! Help!" Palette squeaked. "It's...him!" "What?!" Emerald cried out. "Who?" Palette successfully shut the door before yelling back, "It's the black stallion I saw before!" There was a sudden slam on the door. Palette fell over with a thump, and the door burst open.
There he was, as black as night. Emerald almost didn't see him. Palette continued screaming, and eventually started crying. But then there was a sudden flash of white. It blinded Emerald temporarily, and she shut her eyes. When she finally regained the ability to see, Palette was gone, her screaming and crying abruptly silent. And he was where Palette used to be. Emerald let out a muffled scream.
Then there was another flash of white.
Then there was only black.
And then there was nothing.
When Emerald woke, she could see nothing. Everything was black. She could barely hear anything as well, except for a faint sound in the distance. It sounded like crying. A soft voice, weeping in the darkness. Stripped from life for the rest of eternity. Always longing to see the light, but living in the shadows. It sounded like sadness.
The ground was cold and lifeless. Emerald tried to move, but when she did her muscles screamed in protest. She was unsure of why. There was a sudden light, and revealed to her was a dark starry sky. The sobbing was still audible. When Emerald got off the ground, she found she was sprawled across the dirt, in the middle of nowhere. Beyond Canterlot was a large grassland, and an occasional rise of a hill. There weren't any towns out there, and nopony had a reason to go out there.
She lifted her head and looked around, ignoring the sobbing. She was in the middle of nowhere alright. There wasn't a light for miles. But in the very distance, she could see Canterlot. But it was so far away it was simply a speck of light against the mountain range. How far had they gotten, and over what period of time? The rest of the area was just grass and a few trees.
She then tried to figure out where the sound was coming from, and she looked around once more. She saw a white figure with a red mane on the ground, not too far away. It was Palette. She was bent over, shaking, and crying. "P-Pallete?" Emerald said slowly. "Are you alright?" Palette ignored her and continued to sob uncontrollably.
Emerald made her way to where Palette was sitting, and sat down next to her. She tried to comfort her, but she couldn't stop crying. "It's alright, Palette. I don't know what happened, or why we're out here, but... I'll..." Emerald didn't know what to do. Why promise Palette something, and not be able to keep it? Emerald felt calm, strangely. As if nothing happened. She felt no emotion at all, really. She tried to grasp the whole situation that they were in. They were in the middle of nowhere, many miles from Canterlot. They have no idea how they got there. They can barely remember what had happened before...he arrived. They have no idea how much time has passed.
"Palette...I...I can't sugar coat this. We're in deep. Really deep." Said Emerald, looking at the ground in front of them. She turned her head to Palette. "But, you and me, we've been known to get out of tight spots." Emerald laughed. "Remember that summer, when you dared me to trip the mail-pony, and he chased us for a few blocks?" Emerald laughed again. Palette stopped sobbing, but tears ran down her cheeks as she looked toward Emerald. "Yeah, we... we we're stupid back then." Emerald added.
"What do you remember, Palette, of last night?" Emerald asked after a long silence. "I...I remember..." Palette started, through sobs. "I remember the b-black stallion, in the studio. He...He kicked in the door, and I looked to you. A-And then...there was a flash of white. And then...it was all black. Then I woke up here, and you were still unconscious. I have no idea... where we are." Palette started to look desperately . "How did we get here? W-Where are we?!" She started to yell.
"Calm down, Palette. We'll find a wa-" "Calm down? How can I calm down?! We're in the middle of nowhere, we were taken here by some tall black stallion, and we're probably going to die out here!" Palette exclaimed. "L-Let's not go so far yet." Emerald said, cocking her head at Palette. "Let's just walk, maybe we'll find somepony." "Somepony? Out here? No way, Em. C'mon, look around." Palette said. "We should at least try." Emerald suggested sheepishly. Palette sighed. "Alright, we can try. But I doubt we'll find anypony all the way out here."
Emerald and Palette continued on toward what seemed to be Canterlot. It was so distant it seemed like just a speck of light from a star against the dark night. "Em...I...I'm tired, and hungry." Palette said in despair. "I know Palette. I am too. I don't know when we'll find some food." "This is hopeless! We're going to die out here!" Palette exclaimed. "Don't say that, Palette. We can make it through." Emerald said with a tinge of forced hope in her voice.
Palette sat down in the soft grass and dirt of the small hill they were currently on. Tears started to stream down her face again. "I don't want to die." She murmured. "We're not going to die." Emerald said. "I won't let us." "Face it, Em. How are we going to survive out here?" Palette said, her cheeks still wet with tears. Then it struck Emerald. Palette was right. She was right all along. They were going to die.
Emerald said nothing, and sat down next to Palette. "Palette, I just want you to know you are my best friend. We've been through the thin and thick. I love you, Palette. Sincerely. You are the best friend I've ever had." Emerald said to her without turning towards her friend.
Palette started to sob again, except quieter than before. Emerald laid down in the grass on her back and closed her eyes. If she was going to die, let it be painlessly in her sleep. But she knew she would still be alive by morning, she hoped it would end sooner. A week of wondering the grasslands would be a living hell.
Emerald could hardly imagine what it would be like to wander the grasslands aimlessly, lost, and hungry. Having Death stare you down behind your flank every second of every day you were out there. Just waiting for the perfect time to strike. To make you give in to his command. To make you his.
Just imagining watching her own body crumple to the ground was enough to get Emerald to just stop thinking at all. As if Death was already inside her mind, the thoughts just kept coming back. She just couldn't shake the persistent annoyance. No matter what she tried to think of, her family, getting home safely, being rescued from that godawful wasteland of grass, it just always made it's way back into her thoughts. It was enough to drive a sane pony crazy.
So, Emerald closed her eyes, and whilst listening to Palette sob softly, drifted to an endless sleep of nightmares.
Emerald woke to the sound of a clanging of chains. It was loud and close. She lifted her head and looked around. Palette was laying a few feet away from her on her side turned away from Emerald, curled up in a ball. The sun was bright in the sky. She looked back to where the sound was coming from. It was getting louder. Then she started to hear voices.
A few ponies trotted up on the rise of the hill they were on. They all wore the same outfit, like a uniform. They all wore half-white, half-blue vests on their torsos. Some wore blue caps. A pony in the back carried empty shackles. Emerald heaved a large sigh and her head dropped in the dirt again. One of the ponies in the front of the group seemed to notice both of the mares. He was a pegasus, with a a black mane and a brown coat. "Hey!" The broad stallion exclaimed. "We've got two mares over there! On the top of the rise." "Do they look like them? Are they wearing the same uniform?" Another stallion with a deep voice asked. He was simply an earth pony, with a lighter brown coat and a reddish-brown mane. "No, sir. They're not wearing anything, it seems. No uniforms at all."
"Go scout ahead then, see if they're okay." The deep-voiced stallion replied. And with that, the other broad stallion carefully made his way to their place on the top of the hill. As he reached the top of the hill, he called out, "Excuse me? Ladies? Are you alright?" Emerald lifted her head to see him again, but Palette refused to move. "One of them is moving, sir!" The stallion called back. "Good! Help her up!"
The stallion made his way over to Emerald. "Here." He said as he offered her his hoof. There was a certain glint in his green eyes. "T-Thank you." Emerald stammered, as she pulled herself off of the ground and cleaned off her wings. Now a few other ponies from his group were making their way over to help Palette. "Are you an Operator?" The stallion asked. "What? What do you mean? Like a phone operator, or-" Emerald's sentence was cut short, because the stallion interrupted, saying, "Never mind. I can clearly tell you have no idea what is going on." "Yeah, your definitely right." Emerald replied.
"That your friend?" The stallion asked Emerald. "Yeah, she...had a bit of a rough night." Emerald said. "What happened?" The stallion asked. "It's a long story. But I received a letter, I think two days ago, about some ponies up north needing assistance, the-" Emerald was cut off again by the stallion. "Really? You got that letter?" The stallion asked sounding excited.
"Yeah," Emerald replied. "Did you send that tall black stallion after us?" Emerald asked in an accusing tone. "He kidnapped us and left us in the middle of nowhere!" "What are you talking about?" The stallion asked. "We didn't send any black stallion after you." "Well, somepony did, because he sure as hell came after us!" Emerald started to shout, her wings slowly rising. "I have no idea what you're talking about. We didn't send any 'black stallion' after you." He said, looking confused.
"Then...who did?" Emerald said to nopony in particular. "Look, we'll figure this all out when we get back to our camp." The stallion replied. "Your...camp?" "Yeah, where we've set up. Stationed ourselves for the war." "What war? Since when was there a war going on?" Emerald questioned. "I'll explain everything to you when we get to the camp." He repeated. "Okay." Emerald said in a quiet voice. "Oh, and by the way, I'm Silver. Silver Fire. But everypony just calls me Silver." "I'm Emerald May." "Well, nice to meet you, Emerald." Silver said. And with that, he turned and trotted off down the hill.
Once Silver was gone, Emerald walked over to where Palette was sitting. She had her head low, looking at the ground. "Hey Palette." Emerald greeted. "Hi." Palette said sadly. "These ponies are going to try to help us. They're going to bring us to their 'camp'." Emerald said. "I know," Palette replied. "But I still don't see how we'll get home." "Don't get discouraged, Palette." Emerald reassured her friend. "We'll get home, somehow," "I hope you're right, Em."
Emerald walked along side Palette in silence to the camp. Silver was in front of her, and was reciting a poem to himself.
Demons run when a good one goes to war
Night will fall and drown in sun
When a good one goes to war
Friendship dies and true love lies
Night will fall and the dark will rise
When a good one goes to war
Emerald kept her pace with Palette through the soft grass, under the now starry night sky. The sound of chains was close behind her. Emerald felt the beginning of fatigue coming on, and she yawned. When she opened her eyes again, she could see a faint light in the distance. "That's our camp, right there." Silver pointed out to Emerald and Palette.
When they entered the camp, they received many strange looks. All the ponies wore the same thing. The same uniforms. A white and blue vest, some wearing blue caps. As the group trotted past through the camp, past the brown tents, Emerald noticed something odd. There was a loud, but indistinguishable clicking sound. Everything else seemed normal. They continued to make their way through the camp to the large blue tent in the back of the camp.
When the group got inside the tent, Emerald and Palette found that it was much smaller inside than out. The tent was plain and simple. There was a long brown table in the middle of the tent with a map on it, a few chairs, and a light blue unicorn mare staring intently at the map. She had a green mane, with lighter green streaks in it. She wore the same uniform as everypony else, except with a badge on the front. The badge was silver, with two streaks in the center and one diagonal streak going to the right. She seemed not to notice their presence for a few moments.
The mare lifted her head, and looked at the bunch. "Who are these ponies? Why are they here, Silver?" She asked him. "Uh, we found them unconscious in the middle of nowhere on patrol today." "Why in Celestia's name did you bring them here?" She started to raise her voice. "Well, Sarge told us to." Silver replied. Emerald looked around for the lead pony in the group before, "Sarge", as Silver called him, but he was nowhere to be found. "They could be spies!" The mare started to yell. "But they weren't wearing any uniforms, ma'am. And they were unconscious in the middle of nowhere!" Silver explained.
"I don't care! You don't just bring anypony in that you find on the streets!" The mare continued to shout. "I don't trust them. I don't want them here. Now escort them out, will you?" "Yes, Commander Crimson." Silver replied. He then turned to Emerald and Palette, who was looking awfully frightened. "I guess you ladies will just have to come with me." He said, slowly making his way out of the tent. Emerald looked to Palette with a look of doubt, then followed after Silver.
Palette was one to hesitate.
