//------------------------------// // III: The Journey Begins // Story: We Shall Live On // by The philosopher //------------------------------// I guess it's no surprise Clear Sky and I were pinned to guard duty again. Why wouldn't we be? According to Lyra, we did "such a fantastic job yesterday..." What horseapples. That's all it was. The clouds moved ever do slowly as they usually did, and the silence lingered for hours, but was finally broken by the clammoring of metal. A pale cream earth pony was approaching us. She had a gas mask hanging on her neck and a brown vest and a red hankerchift. "I'm here to see a friend" was all the mare said. "Oh!" I exclaimed, "You must be Bon Bon!" She eyed me suspiciously. Her burning irises demanded me to know how some anonymous pony like me recognized her. "How do you know who I am?" she had quickly turned the greeting into an interrogation. "Oh! Uh, Lyra!" I said. "She's been looking forward to see you! So...uh...yeah..." the mare's demonic glare had pushed me into a cowardly silence. "we should... Uh, show you where Lyra is! Yeah!" said Clear Sky, breaking the quietude. ---~--- I couldn't understand why Bon Bon seemed so tense, we had enter the Green zone five minutes ago. Shouldn't we be safe? "Why are you looking so paranoid?" I couldn't help but ask. "You don't see them?" she asked. "See who?" asked Clear Sky, "See what?" I saw them too, mysterious silhouettes were circling around us like jackals. But I knew we were deep in the Green zone, the figures were no doubt other ponies. Was she okay? Was Bon Bon seeing the ponies for something else? "Bon Bon, relax." I said, "They're only ponies-" Suddenly I felt and saw the claws of a timberwolf lodge into my chest. •••~••• Never before haveI felt such terror in my life as I wrestled for my life against the beast to stop it from closing it's powerful jaws on my neck. An unholy horror filled me as I watched how futile my struggle was, the jaws were getting closer and closer to my sweat-drenched throat. BANG! Sap and blood drenched my face as the timberwolf's head exploded, thanks to the powerful shotgun wielded by Bon Bon. "Pick up your rifle." she ordered. As soon as the battle began, I degenerated to a simple beast. Kill or be killed was the only order my adrenaline-pulsing body obeyed. Gunfire emitted in all directions. The timberwolves wouldnt stop coming until either they or their victim laid dead on the ground. They circled us, barraged us from all sides. "Where are they?" I screamed "Behind!" yelled Clear Sky, "No, wait! In front! Look out! To the left!" "No! Wrong way! Wrong way! There's a bunch of them to your right!" I shouted. No, Merciful Celestia, turn around Clear Sky! Please! All I could do is shout a muted scream as Clear Sky turned a second to late and saw a massive timberwolf pounce on top of him. Then there was the roar of a second shotgun blast. Bon Bon was precise, careful. She didn't allow herself to become a degrading animal like Clear Sky or me. She moved gracefully, not in paranoia of what may be behind her, but in welcoming turn to embrace what she knew was facing her backside. She would adjust the sights of her gun, take careful aim, and fire in a smooth motion quicker than how I was raising mine to blind-fire. She truly was a stalker; she marked the borderline that differentiated predator from hunter. The scent of the district reeked with the nauseous Aroma of blood. The whole place became a warzone. I was not alone in this Tartarus, for I could hear gunfire and the wails of soldiers in the distance. Oh, Celestia! I could hear the screams of mares... I-I could hear the cries of children! •••~••• The streets were painted a sick red. The blood of ponies and beast were mixing into a gruesome river of blood. Walking down to the cafe that acted as our capital was the worse experience I've ever suffered from. Every face was a familiar face, every corpse was somepony I once knew. "What the in the name of Tartsrus was that?!" screamed Lyra to Iron Sights and a squad of guards, "Timberwolves have never gone so far as to breach our capital! They haven't even breached the green zone in years, we've made sure of that!" "And it's not just this place either.." Lyra was surprised to hear that voice of all voices behind her. "I wish we could've met during better terms." said Lyra to Bon Bon. "What do you know about this, stalker?" "I know that the attacks have been escalating, for one." answered Bon Bon. "Didn't Raindrops tell you? Quills District-" "I heard," said Lyra. She didn't want to think about her lost friends. "What about the Station District?" asked Bon Bon. "What? What happened there?" asked her longtime friend. "It came under attack of timberwolves as well-it was completely overwhelmed." The news disturbed Lyra. Districts had fallen before, but Station District was as heavily garded as Sugarcube District. "Carousel District was also attacked." announced Bon Bon. "Carousel is our armor provider..." started Lyra. "And your district provides districts all across Ponyville with weapons." Bon Bon added. "So if both of these districts fall..." "the rest of Ponyville wouldn't last lwouldn't last long after that, would it?" finished Iron Sights. Bon Bon shook her head. "I'm afraid not..." she said. The table shook as Lyra slammed her hoof on it. "Alright! If we want to survive, we must make it our priority to strengthen our borders. That means we're gonna need better guns. Iron Sights, I need you to dedicate your work to light machine guns from now on. First we arm our guards, then we provide Carousel District with some so-" "It's not gonna work." everypony, including myself, turned to the corner of the room. Ditzy sat there, with one eye staring into an abyss at the wall while the other was pasted to the floor. "Come again?" asked Lyra. "It won't work." "Then how are we to survive?" "In this world? We won't. Face it. The everfree is taking over-" "Thats funny hearing that from the pegasus who gave the district a freakin pep talk yesterday!"snapped Lyra. "Yesterday, the timberwolves stayed the buck outside." said Derpy."Yesterday, the bodies of ponies littering the ground weren't there! That was then! This is freaking now, Lyra! Let's face it! Game over! We aren't the supreme beings anymore! You've heard of survival of the fittest? Guess what Lyra, guess What? We've lost." "And so we just give up?! Screw you!" she yelled. "Derpy..." greeted Bon Bon nostalgically, despite the chaos around her. "We need to adapt! Learn to grab hold of life with teeth and claws-" "Ponies will never adapt to this world. We need to bring the old Equestria back." Lyra just stared at Ditzy, her anger slowly swelling. "Oh! Why didn't I think of that?!" her her voice dripped with bitter sarcasm. "Lets just get the old Equestria back! I was getting tired of this life anyways! Why the in the name of Tartarus don't we try that Luna-damned idea of yours! What do you plan to do, blow a dog whistle?" "In a matter of speaking," explained Ditzy, "Perhaps if we were to retrieve the elements of harmony..." "You've been by the campfire for to long, Ditzy." retorted Lyra. "There are no elements of harmony!" I've never seen Ditzy look so shocked. She was genuinely confused. Flabbergasted... like a foal who had just learned that Santa Claus didn't exist. It was an epression that was only worn when a pony felt that the world had been lieing to them for their entire life. She shook her head, "How can you forget them?" "What?" asked Lyra. "How can you forget what was known by everypony ten years ago?" "What are you talking about?" "You don't remember them? You don't remember Rainbow Dash? Rarity? Fluttershy? What about Applejack or Pinkie? What about Twilight? She was one of your closest friends Celestia dammit!" "Your crazy. What do Applejack or Rarity have to do with this?" "Or Rainbow Dash, for that matter." said Bon Bon. "What happened to Rainbow Dash, anyways?" asked Lyra. "She went to the everfree forest a few months ago... Haven't seen her since. Wouldn't worry about it thought... A stalker as tough as her can survive without trouble in there for that long..." Ditzy stood there in disbelief. "How-how?" she studdered, "How long has ten years been..." •••~••• I don't know what happened afterwards, for I was gone. I should have left earlier, I should have left as soon as I heard their names. Rarity... Applejack... That picture, from so many years ago... It had six mares. I've heard the tales by the fire, I knew the legend. There were six elements. Loyalty, laughter, generosity, honesty, kindness, and... What was it? The six one was some mystery element, wasn't it? I barged into my room. From under the bed I pulled out various clothes and disassembled skeletons of simple mechanisms, everything, until I found it. It was the same book, the one from the library, many years ago. There were times where I would pull it out and muse of the thought of living in s fairytale like in the stories. I would gaze for hours at the picture inside and study the faded blue sky behind the mares. I would imagine me smiling in the sun with them, or at least like them, and dice into an older world. Why didn't I notice it? The orange earth pony and the white unicorn, they really were Applejack and Rarity! And Ditzy said that they were once the elements of harmony? I guess it made sense. There were six of them after all. Could ponies even be the elements? Many of the stories in this book illustrated them as stones... I didn't hear the door open, but Luna above, did I hear it slam furiously. I turned to see Ditzy. Had she followed me this whole time? Why would she follow me home? Then again, a pony who just abandoned an important meeting right after their eyes sparked with an epiphany would look pretty suspicious, wouldn't they? She stared at me with know emotion. One of her eyes slowly advanced to the side, not moving after its gaze had touched the book. "What is that?" she asked. "Let me see!" She pushed me off to the side. She cradled it as if it was the saphire stone. She she reached the pocket that housed the photo, then turned to me. "Where did you get this?" "What?" was all I could spit out. "Where did you get this?!" "I, well, I snuck into the library-" "Do you know what this book is?! Do you know who these mares are?!" she shouted, "It's them! The elements! These are the bearers of elements of harmony!" The first thought in my mind was that Lyra was right, that Ditzy was naive to believe in the campfire stories. That she was crazy. But I couldn't shake the feeling that maybe she saw things beyond our eyes. Ditzy must've seen my doubts, though, because she craned her head down in impatient frustration. "These mares, they're the elements of harmony?" If their was anything I've ever regretted saying, it was that cursed sentence. "You believe me?" Asked Ditzy, her ears perking up as they consumed every word spoken. No. No I don't. I meant to ask if you think these mares are the elements of harmony. I wish I would have said that instead of nodding my head like little foal. "Excellent! This is perfect! Just perfect! I knew there was still hope!" she smiled. "What's going on here?" asked a voice from down the hall. It belonged to Iron Sights. "Whats going on in hear?" he asked as he stepped into my room. "What's that...." My heart froze in terror as he uttered the question. For six years I hid this book, the secret about the library from him. Dear Celestia, I am so screwed. "Your son retrieved this from the library." declaired Derpy. Dear Celestia, I am so, so screwed. "WHAT!? Roadside Picnic! What have I told you about the library?!" "Master, I'm eightteen! Have you no trust? Besides this was like six years ago-" Celestia banish me to the moon, why did I say that?! "WHAT!? WHEN WERE YOU GOING TO TELL ME THIS?!" "probably later today, before he leaves." said Derpy. "What?!" My voice and Iron Sights formed a interrogative duet. "Well, you're going to have to find the elements, and the sooner the better, right?" said the grey Pegasus. "He can't! He's too young!" he turned to me, "Roadside, I'm sorry, I know you are all grown up, but this is beyond your capabilities you must understand this!" I completely understood. I'm eightteen, I'm a full grown stallion, but I was scared of the mission Ditzy was giving me. It called for a veteran, a stalker. I couldn't do this, it was suicide! "I never agreed to find the elements!" I defended. Derpy looked straight into my eyes. "Yes you did, Roadside. You accepted this mission the second you pulled it out of a dusty row in the library. You agreed to this mission the moment you left with it." I... I couldn't argue. It was as if she was a prophet for the fates; like she was a wolf among jackels. I didn't answer, instead a voice that wasn't mine, but still sounded like my own, began to speak. "All....alright....." neither Iron Sights or I could comprehend the words that came from mouth. What was I getting myself into? I shuttered at the thought. "Excellent...." smiled Ditzy. "You will leave-" "Next week." interrupted Iron Sights. Ditzy glared at him. "He needs to leave as soon as possible." "But I will finish the machine guns for Carousel District by next week. Bon Bon is going to deliver them. He can travel with her." Ditzy thought for a while, strategizing. "Fine, next week will be a perfect window of opportunity. It would be best to travel with a stalker. I'll talk to Bon Bon about letting you go with her." She turned from Iron Sights and I and walked towards the door, "You've been able to keep the secret about the library for six years, think you can keep this quest a secret for seven days?" She asked with her back facing us.