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Darkness Arrives

proluge

Proluge

The sun's dull rays beam down on to a purple mare's back. The mare sighs, kicking a pile of debris over. Ponyville's desserted streets shown that very little ponies have survived. Farmer ponies have stopped harvesting their crops and many ponies all around Equestria are dying of starvation, some may be killing themselves. The purple mare sighs once again when she spots something sparkling in the distance. "What is that?" Curiousity made the mare's coat tingle as she walked closer and closer. Using her magic, the mare swept away a decaying corspe and levatated the sparkling gem. A dull, rusty red lightning bolt outlined with chipping gold. Hope sparked inside the mare when she realized what was floating in front of her. "An Element of Harmony!" The mysterious pony was looking at the gem when a strong gust of wind swept past the mare, turning the shard to red dust. The mare watched in horror as a vision filled her thoughts.

Twilight looked around in her library as tree branches and other things smashed into her windows. "Spike?! Hurry up!" The unicorn raced outside just to find a stallion using his magic against Rainbow Dash "Stop! Come on midnight! leave my friends alone!" Twilight screamed over the blaring sirens. Midnight's eyes were pure white as he spoke. "I'm finishing what I did here if you like it or not, Twilight!" With a nod of his head, the struggling Rainbow Dash was thrown at great speed, into Twilight's tree. The purple unicorn winced as she her the bone-breaking crunch when her friend hit the tree. "You monster...?" the stallion was gone when Twilight turned to confront him. Months have past and bones and rotting corpses scattered the ground most of them were the dead corpse of Twilight's friends. A red lightning bolt laid beside Rainbow's corpse. Should I pick it up? No what good is it now... The purple unicorn sighed and walked past her rotting friend holding back her tears.

Twilight walked upstairs to her room and looked out of her window. "Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity... who else is going to die?" Twilight laid down into her pillow and cried softly into it to muffle it so Spike wouldn't hear it. I could of stopped it and now everypony in Equestria! All my friends are dead other then Fluttershy and there's no stopping this now that it has started! The purple unicorn gasped in surprise when spike tapped on her shoulder. "Spike go away, please?" Twilight begged her friend and when he wouldn't go away the purple mare turned on him and smacked him. "Damn it, spike!" the young dragon looked hurt when he looked into the unicorn's eyes. Twilight's eyes darkened with pain "I'm so sorry, Spike!" Oh Celestia what have I done! Twilight jumped up and raced out of the library. Within minutes the unicorn was soaking wet from ear to tail. "What have I done to deserve this? and why can't you fix it Princess Celestia?!" Twilight's eyes were red and puffy. "Celestia help me!" Twilight bent her head down and sighed as she looked down a hill at the barn. Big Mac and Applebloom was mourning another dead pony. Twilight had to squint to make out the greenish-yellowish coat and white tied up mane. "Not Granny Smith too!" The unicorn couldn't take all of the pain. Maybe I should just end it! End everything! Twilight shook her head to clear the thought. "No I can't! I'm not a quitter!" Twilight walked back to her home and opened the door with a gasp of sadness "What in Celestia's name!" Twilight ran to the middle of the main room and started to cry. Spike dangled from the ceiling with a rope around his neck. I should of never of left! this is all my Fucking fault! Twilight ran out of the library once again but this time she isn't coming back.

The purple mare rubbed the back of her head, trying to get rid of the horror. "I'm so sorry! I don't know where you are or how to end this but I promise you that I won't fail you!" The mare grabbed some of the powder. "Will this be useful? Maybe..." The mare put some of it in a sandwich bag and poured the powder in it. |Maybe I can find something at the library!| The mare thought to herself after she put the powder back into her saddlebag. A telescope with a compass for a lens was stitched onto the front of her saddlebag. After arriving at the library the mare had to force herself to enter. Another voice fought for her opinion inside her head.

Come on! Just open the damn door! You were taught to do this, star-scope!

"No! I can't it's not right!?" Star-Scope fought the urge. Her mother was a Hunter and her father was a grave digger. The mare was taught to be a fighter and she knew how to use a gun if she needed too. "I know I promised but is it really right to raid Twilight house?" Star-Scope sighed before pushing open the front door. "Fine... I guess I could check?" She stopped in front of the dangling body in the middle of the room. "Ew!" Spike's body had rotten in many areas and it seemed as if his eyes were dried up.

Don't mind him! Your gonna see a lot more like him... Just focus on what you came here for!

Star-Scope sighed and walked over to a shelf and started checking each and everyone of them when she stumbled on a book about the Elements of Harmony. After stuffing the book into her saddlebag, she went upstairs. A pistol was hidden underneath of Twilight's bed. "What? What was Twilight doing with a Desert Eagle?" Star-Scope shook her head before grabbing the ammunition and the belt that she found with it. "That's enough raiding! I don't like it and I don't care what you say!" The mare slid the belt over her and put the pistol into it's rightful place and then put the ammunition into the saddlebag along with everything else.

What about food? Or bits? Your gonna need both of them to survive! Can't you do anything?
"Shut up, Voice!"
What? Am I making you mad? Is the little filly getting mad?
"I said, Shut up!" Star-Scope tried to argue with the voice inside her head.
Call me Grim! I'm your instincts, I'm you! Now...
"No!"
Shut up and listen. There are bits in Twilight's saddlebag over there! Go and grab the whole thing!

Star sighed and did as her 'instincts' told her. After putting that other saddlebag on, Star-Scope walked out of the library to be stopped by another yellow figure. "Drop it!" She said quietly almost to where Star couldn't hear her. "I said DROP IT!" The yellow mare's ribs were showing and her coat looked dull and dirty. "Um! Drop what?" Star-Scope's eyes flashed with fear. "You know what!" The mare pointed towards Twilight's bag. "I'm sorry!" Star bolted past the mare as fast as she could. After awhile Star slowed down to catch her breath, "Okay Grim! If your so special then tell me is she following me?" Star waited for an answer that never came. "Wow thanks for the help!" Star-Scope mumbled to herself as she started to walk again. A soft breeze flew by, tickling Star on the nose.

Well! Aren't you going to check what you found?
"Why?"
Because their might be some good stuff!
"Ugh! fine if it'll make you happy!"

Star-scope used her magic to take both saddlebags off and dump everything out of them. "Okay Grim! Are you seeing all of this?" The mare asked her instincts and never got a reply back. "Grim? Grim!? GRIM! Where the fuck are you?" The mare covered her mouth as if she said something forbidden. Somepony swept their tail along Star-Scope's spine, making her shiver. "What?! Who's there?" The mare levatated the pistol and aimed at a silver stallion that was smiling at her, the smile was creepy, "Who the fuck are you?" She didn't cover her mouth this time for the adrenaline has taken it's poll like it did years ago before her dad was buried in a mine. "I'll blow your head off if you don't fucking tell me who you are!" Star wasn't here to play jokes, she was here to survive and finish what she started. "What's wrong with you Star? I would at least think that you'd remember me!" Grim? "Omg! Grim? Is that really you?" Star almost hugged him when she remember he's been telling her to do all the stuff she didn't want to do. "Are you fucking crazy?" Star screamed at the stallion "Leaving me here to worry why you... change into... This!" The mare scrambled up and pushed the stallion. Grim pushed her back, making her fall down. "You... You... Just forget you!" She turned back to the stuff laying on the ground and pushed it all back into the two saddlebags before heading off in another direction. "Hey! Your not getting away from me that easily!" Grim called from behind her. "Remember I'm you!" The mare stopped and spun around to confront the stallion. "You? A peice of me? I doubt it! Just go away I don't need you!" Star-Scope sighed when she realized that he was still following "You don't get it do you?" Grim asked the stubborn mare. Star looked at her hooves for a moment, |He'll keep bugging me if I don't give him an answer...| Star sighed "No I must not get it!" She snapped at her instincts. "Well maybe you should! I'm part of you," Grim started to explain as the bright moon gleamed into his dark green eyes. "so..." Star regreted speaking when Grim snarled at her. "SO? You can't get rid of me! I can still speak to you even if your halfway across Equestria!" Star looked down again and stared at her hooves. Grim rolled his eyes at her as he pushed past her "Let's go..." The stallion trotted ahead of Star using his horn as a source of light. "Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Star-Scope looked at the stallion in front of her. Grim stopped for a moment to look back,
"What?"
"Well using your horn as a light source..."
"And..."
"I'm just saying you could alert thieves or worse!"
"What's worse then having everything taken away from you?"
"I'm not sure, grim! My instincts are telling me that we shouldn't be using your horn"
"Your instincts?! I am your instincts!"
"Well sorry!"

The two ponies carried on in silence for about a hour and a half. "Grim...?" The stallion sharply turned on the mare, "What, do you want now!" The mare looked embarassed but scared at the same time "l.l..look!" Her voice shook in terror as she pointed towards a figure that seemed like another pony. Grim pressed his hoof against his lips "Shhh" he nudged the mare behind a giant stone that seemed to be pointing towards the moon. The silver stallion peered around the rock for the first time, the pony was a dark brown with a purple mane with yellow highlights. The pony seemed to be kneeling down surveying something. Grim's eyes widened when he realized what the pony was doing, Starvation is bring ponies to do something they'd never do before... eat each other... Grim peer around the rock for the second time to find that the pony has disappeared. "Okay... Star-scope it's," Grim was interrupted by a mare's scream. "Star-Scope!" Grim raced to the other side of the rock just in time to see the brown stallion on top of Star. "Whatcha gonna do?" The cannibal taunted the mare by holding her down and placing a hoof on her horn. Grim spotted the Desert Eagle laying on the ground not to far away from the stallion that was holding Star down. Grim looked at the stallion then let his gaze slip to the gun. The silver stallion cleared his mind and only focused on getting to the gun. After a few minutes Grim was silently transporting closer and closer to the gun. When Grim reached for the gun something hit him in the side of the face. Grim was rubbing the spot where the stallion has just slapped him. Taking the gun from Grim with ease, the stallion snickered happily "Two meals in one day!" The stallion's breath smelt like rotting flesh and his teeth were also pretty rotted. Grim struggled beneath the large earth pony. Somehow the stallion managed to work the pistol in his mouth and after a few minutes of struggling the stallion finally got the hang of it and pressed the pistol into Grim's forehead. "Get off of him!" Star-Scope screamed as she swung a large blade with full power. Hitting the stallion in the side of the neck almost killed him instantly. "Leave him for the crows!" Grim spit out some blood and then walked over to the corspe of the half-eaten half-shredded mare. Tears streamed out of Star-Scope's eyes as she remember the familiar purple coat and mane "Twilight! How could this of happened to you! of all ponies..." The purple mare fell to her knees, her stomach felt sick and she was about to throw up when she seen Twilight's eyes fluttered open.

Twilight growled at the two ponies. Star-Scope scrambled backwards while Grim just stood their watching. Twilight stumbled as she got back up. Twilight's insides fell out as she limped over to Star. The purple mare looked around and tried pushing her dead friend away "Please go away!" Star gagged at the stench that seemed to be attacking her nose. "What is wrong with her?" The young mare turned to face the horrified stallion. Grim focused on the mare that was struggling with the living-dead creature.

she's dead! just kill her!

"How are you talking to me when your over there?" Star-Scope sighed and looked at her rotting friend. "Twilight, can you hear me?" The purple mare looked down at her hooves. "It's okay, Star... I understand." Twilight swayed as she tried to keep her balance. "But your my friend!" The unicorn looked at her dead friend with horror. Grim rolled his eyes when an arrow sliced through the air hitting Twilight in the side of the head. "Ha ha beat that you filthy Crawler!" A brown pegasus flew down and landed beside Twilight's body. "There ain't no Crawler tough enough for me!" The mare spit at the corpse that laid at her hooves. Star-Scope watched disgusted, fury pricked at her coat. "How dare you! Kill my friend and then spit on her corpse!" Star hissed at the newcomer. The newcomer sighed "Nopony is that stupid to have a Crawler as a friend! As soon as they die they're a crawler! Crawlers don't have feelings let alone friends!" The newcomer yelled back. Grim shook his head and sighed "Listen you two! This crawler or whatever you call them wasn't entirely dead..." The brown mare looked at Grim then back down at Twilight. "How is that possible?" The mare asked the stallion. Grim shrugged his shoulders and walked over to their luggage. "We need to get going, say goodbye to your friend." The new mare looked at Grim then back at Star "Hey the name's, Solar Tumble but you can call me Solar!" The brown pony smiled at the other ponies. "Well then, Star say goodbye to Solar." Grim mumbled before troting ahead. "No need to say goodbye! I'm coming with you!" Solar Tumble grabbed her bow and arrows and raced after them.

"Your not coming with us!" Grim growled for the third time. The three ponies have past ruins of abandoned buildings and other debris laying on the ground, ash flew around stinging their eyes. Solar Flare looked around with wide eyes, "And why not? I'm coming and your not stopping me! I have excellent skills," Solar Flare stopped to shoot an arrow into a hollow log. "And I'm also fast and cautious!" The brown mare flew over to the arrow leaving a trail of purple smoke. Grim sighed in defeat, "If we let you come will you shut up?" Grim looked at the mare, his eyes hid every feeling inside of him. Solar shivered "Yeah I guess..." She mumbled unhappily.Star-Scope smiled and looked around for an unexpected danger. "Guys, this place is scaring me." Star-Scope looked at her hooves before she noticed she was trailing behind the other two ponies. "hey guys wait for me!" She ran up to them and the four ponies set off again.

Dear Journal,

Days have gone by and we still have a long walk ahead of us. Grim said that in order to get to canterlot faster we'd have to cut down on the sleeping and that we also have to eat faster. It's Grim, Solar Tumble, and me. It's getting quiet lonely(not to mention scary!) for me. The walk became completely silent a few hours ago and the ash that's been fying in the wind, has started to take affect on my eyes. Corpses litter the ground that surrounds us as we make our way to Canterlot. Grim and Solar Tumble say that we're really close to Canterlot now, I can't wait to be there again.

Storm Clouds darkened in the sky as they collected rain. Solar Tumble looked around and smiled "Canterlot is just above us!" The brown mare smiled and let her wings lift her into the sky. "Come on guys you can teleport your way over there and I can fly." Solar Tumble looked down at the others. "Let's go guys our city is just above our heads! We can still make," Solar trailed off when the silver stallion glared at her. "We are tired, Solar! We need to rest, now that we know that Canterlot is near us we can finally stop and sleep for awhile." Grim struggled to his feet. Solar helped Star up and together they slowly made their way to a structure made with rocks. Two big stones held up a wide, skinny rock; the structure kinda looked like a giant umbrella made out of rocks. "This is better than anything!" Star coughed as saliva stuck to the side of her dry throat. Solar nodded and helped her new friend underneath the formation. Grim was the last one to squeeze underneath the rocks, but luckily he squeezed in before rain started to splash onto the ground. It was about midnight before Grim woke up. The stallion woke the others before heading off towards Canterlot again. Teleportation was a breeze for the two unicorns and Solar Tumble was used to flying for a long period of time but by the time they got to the gate that leads in Canterlot everypony was trying to catch their breath.

Two or three ponies scattered into the shadows when Grim walked by. "Grim? It seems as if they know you?" The stallion kept on walking, "It's nothing, let's just keep going." Grim sighed. Solar looked at Grim and noticed for the first time that his cutie mark looked like a sickle. The brown mare nudged Star with her hoof, "What is it, Solar?" Star-scope looked at Grim's cutie mark. hmm something isn't adding up here... Star shook the thought from her head to listen to Solar. "Isn't his cutie mark a sickle?" The pegasus whispered quietly. Star-Scope looked at Grim's cutie mark once again and shrugged her shoulders, "It looks like one of those tools that farmers used to harvest wheat and other crops." Grim looked over his shoulders and stopped, "What are you two talking about?" He asked with curiousity. "We were just thinking about the times before this..." Star lied when somepony's voice came from behind them. Grim was the first to turn around, Star grabbed Twilight's gun, and Solar held her bow. "Who are you?" Grim pushed past the two mares to face the stranger. "Grim? Grim!? Is that you?" The stranger's voice crack when she tried to talk. The strange pony weakly walked forward her blue eyes glimmered with hope but when Star looked into the strange mare's eyes something was different. Her blue eyes were cloudy and her pupils were also blue but the pupil was just a lighter color. This mare is.... blind!