Forty-Six Days to Rise

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.