The sun made another meekly round through the sky as it bathed the land in crimson. Not much stirred; time wasn't as relevant as much now as it had been before. Windmills lay still in the cold environment as the ocean hadn't been warm enough this season to stir up much wind.
Small herds moved slowly around the edge of the Everfree forest, huddling as they trudged along the overgrown grass. Ponyville had a shaky economy and was no long safe. Timber wolves had migrated from their sheltered forest and spread around Equestria, killing unadapted species and forcing others out.
Ponyville was no exception. It had started with the fifth raid that week when a pony lit one of the wolves on fire by accident. That wolf had fled through a rotting house and caused half of the town to burn. Mayor Mare had ordered a mandatory evacuation. Still some stayed- they claimed they had the right to stay and protect their town, but most took refugee in the higher levels of Twilights home.
The migrating ponies were focused on reaching Neighagra Falls by the next month, hoping the harsh waterfalls there would fend off most alien predators.
The major herself was leading them, followed by Rarity, who had several pegasi carrying packages full of fabric. Opal lay slung over her shoulder as she casually dug three paws into Rarity's fur. She ran her tongue over her free paw and slung it across her face, throwing droplets onto Rarity's tangled purple mane.
A pony behind her shook, tripping, and whimpered before regaining her balance.
Rarity stole a glance over her shoulder to recognize the pink shuddering form of Diamond Tiara as she looked up at Rarity with cold, hurtful eyes. The filly walked alone.
"We'll be alright," Rarity called back encouragingly, "just give it a little longer."
Noon was fast approaching. The bloody sun had reached its high point within three hours, and was due to stay still for at most two more hours before beginning its race into the western ocean. It wasn't something others could sense very well, Star had noticed. Ponies looked at the sun and they saw its current position, not the power that formed a barrier around it.
And while everyone had gotten used to the red tint of the sun, they constantly complained. She couldn't understand it, the power created a screen that filtered the light into a light pink shade, but Star had finally given up on explaining it to everyone else. They just couldn't see what she saw.
The gray equine lifted a golden trinket off the ground, wrapping it in a purple aura. This store had definitely been a tourist stop. It was located at what was presumably the beginning of a main street in Canterlot and was full of useless accessories. Dusty pictures and broken figurines lay in tattered rows along the ground. There were some books laying around and a large map was encased on the wall in the back of the shop.
Star shuddered, a shiver was sent down her spine and she shook her tiny wings. This place was cold. Terribly cold. Canterlot was mostly vacant after an attack on the city that Star had been "lucky" enough to get involved in. She was on her way into the city, and soon after entering a cafe` the city exploded in fire and panic.
She'd hightailed it out of there, being smart, and hid in one of Canterlot's famous cave systems until the war subsided. Now she was spending her time collecting anything useful in hopes of a sustainable food source, maybe something enchanted if she were lucky.
Not all of Canterlot had been destroyed. The city was far too big for such a calamity, and Star had noted only two groups, presumably troops, before she'd dived for a cave.
But as the day sped on it seemed no apothecary had made shop near the beginning of the golden city, and so it was decided within the next few hours Star was on her own to find a survivor traveling around.
She shoved the trinket into her muddy pouch (she'd blindly chosen an eroding cave directly below a pond) and trotted outside of the ruins. Next up was a tall building most likely used as a hotel; with golden trimming around the base of each floor and silver to accent the dark spruce wood columns set up at the entrance. It looked fairly stable, and if she was lucky it would actually be a hotel and somepony would have come back to collect their things.
The hotel entrance was visibly crumbling as Star approached. Her thick tail swished around hesitantly. She wasn't sure if it was such a bright idea to prance inside, but she weighed her options and shook herself of her hesitation and stepped forward. A large crash interrupted her as a chunk of roof shattered on the ground, spraying daggers of rocks onto her skin.
"HEY!" She stumbled backwards. Shaking herself free of the excess earth, she waited until the dust settled so she could make her way around the rock.
The hotel wasn't so high on her list of places to go anymore, but she tentatively made her way underneath the overhang anyways. Canterlot hotels always had high-end items, such as: expensive soap, food, sheets, food, pools, shampoo, and food. Especially food. Never the magic kind, but it was more filling than the regular garbage she'd buy.
"Good for nothing foundation." Star muttered as she temporarily stopped in front of the entrance before stepping in. There were three doorways, two had caved in and the other led into a room full of toppled chairs. The entrance had two chairs, either extremely heavy or nailed into the ground as they stayed upright, and a counter swiped clean from the invasion.
Star ignored this room and trotted into the next, taking a minute to examine the shattered tv screen that played "Equestrian News". Only one reporter was visible. After the lobby there were two doorways. One had a blasted doorway that led straight to the elevator, and in case of vertigo a flight of stairs accompanied the metal boxes. The other pathway was a set of closed metal doorways that led to the buffet. Star could tell by the stale smell of... Something that was probably unfit to eat. She decided she'd check around there on her way out.
Star tapped the elevator button several times. The sound of the button clicking in and out resonated with the echo of crumbling foundation, but otherwise there was no sound and no elevator. She took the flight of stairs instead. Watching her step as she went up, she made it to the second of thirteen floors (though she'd long since known she'd only go to the fourth floor if this situation occurred). Nothing stirred in the hallway as she made her way through it. For an allotted time of fifteen minutes she poked her head into the doors of already open or broken rooms. She picked up several bars of soap and other small objects. Blankets could wait until she was heading out.
The next floor was no different, but Star had managed to collect several bits from the rooms and stopped at a soda machine before heading onward. She collected an untouched phone and a towel in case her coke spilled. The third floor wasn't anything special. The same rooms littered the hallway, though pretty, but she didn't dare stay for long in the instance the building collapsed.
It didn't take very long before she reached the end of the corridor and stopped in front of a doorway with hinges hanging off of the side. Star carefully made her way up the stairs as the took in the planning that went into this building. The rails were twisted like the vines of a plant and wrapped in gold leaf, and the staircase gently curved in a spiraling pattern.
Paintings of various historic events were placed along the wall as you ascended. Starting with an old painting by a famous painter back before electricity, and ending with a painting of the newest ruler of Equestia- Cadance. The painting depicted her wearing a new crown, her child and husband beside her. She stared at nothingness with such determination that Star could almost feel her wrath towards whatever invisible enemy she was staring at. Cadence had her coronation at the Crystal empire, though you couldn't tell by the white background. Whomever had painted hadn't been welcomed long enough to do so.
Star shuddered. It may have just been her, but neither of the three looked remotely happy. Flurry Heart'seyes were so... Dull. Star shook it off and continued up the last few steps. The fourth floor was no different than the others, and she would be happy to get her business over with and leave before this place had a chance to fall in on her. She made a swift decision to only look out for important items, like electronics or food. Enchanted food.
The walls were all cracked, one was visibly worsening by the minute. Star poked her head into one of the rooms, leaning in to look over the tables and see if anything valuable were still on them. Spotting several bits laying on a nightstand, she quickly trotted inside to grab them. Star placed the bits in a separate pocket.
She turned to go, raising a hoof to leave- then stopped. She sniffed the air. A tantalizing scent drifted from a door further down the corridor. Food. Star began to drool but quickly sucked it in as she felt her stomach clench. She hadn't really payed attention to how low on energy she was, instead too focused on scavenging for inferior items. She ducked her head outside the door and then began to slowly close the distance on her and her target. Careful not to make too much noise, she crept forward on her hooftips.
The smell was definitely coming from her left three doors down.
The gray alicorn's ears flicked and turned. There was an overwhelming sense of magic hanging in the air and Star could only guess it was determination that filled the whole hallway until she almost coughed on it.
There was no sound from the source of the smell. Star quickly looked into the room and then out again. It was a Pegasus. With this information in her head Star sighed. She should've known magical food couldn't feel determination. Nonetheless, the pegasus' emotion powered the magic flowing through the her veins. Star swore if she were flying she could preform a double rainboom with all the magic being produced.
Star stepped back and enveloped her horn in a white light. No matter the Shapeshifter's original magical aura, she figured, transformation magic was always white. A line of light tiles encompassed her snout and moved down her body, leaving light blue fur behind it. Star finished the spell and her horn, now colorful, dimmed. Her hair was a richer shade of aquamarine and her eyes were a contrasting orange. She didn't have a cutie mark but she doubted the pony would notice.
Star crept into the room silently. If the pegasi didn't notice her it would make things much smoother. She risked several glances around the room as she inched towards the pony in corner of the room.
It was torn and messy, a large bed was slanted against the wall and every ceramic object in the room was shattered.
As she jerked her head to look over at the other side of the room her hoof landed on a plastic object and it made a loud, heart wrenching crack as it broke. She'd stepped on a cassette tape.
The pegasus in front of her jerked around and stumbled back. The delicious scent in the air became much more tart.
"W-Why were you sneaking up on me like that?!" the pegasus was clearly female, a pastel green with chalky white hair. Her iris's were sharp yellow pinpricks.
Star froze. Her ears flipped back and her hoof became still in the air.
"I-I'm sorry!" Star stammered and struggled to regain her posture as her mind rushed for an appropriate response.
In an instant the pegasus had flung to her hooves and was glaring at Star's disguise.
"I just, didn't w-want to sc-scare you? I wasn't s-sure if you were okay o-or whatnot" Star choked on her lie. Anger flooded her nostrils and she held back a scowl. This was not good. She wouldn't last another couple of days on a tart supply.
Star sat down and folded her nonexistent wings. She forced a patient smile as the pegasus eyed her up and down. After several minutes of silence the pony tucked her wings in and relaxed. The air became sweeter, but there was a tang of apprehension in the air.
"Why are you here." the pony asked in a commanding tone. That was not a question.
Star sighed, mind blazing for a compelling lie.
"My room..." she looked up tentatively. "It was on the fifth floor. I was making my way when I saw you." Her head lowered and she scraped her hoof along the carpet.
The pegasus flinched. Star relaxed as she realized she'd been more emotional than she'd meant to, and now the pony felt guilty for snapping like that.
"Oh.. Did you- right. You haven't gone yet. I'm sorry." she responded briskly, deciding to look out the window instead of face Star.
After a long pause she asked, "What's, uh, what's your name? Did you come with anypony?"
Star shook her head. "My name is... My name's Sky Strike. I brought my pet, Coral. She's a cat." Dead pets make sad ponies. This wouldn't work in her favor unless she was able to pull the whole act off. The pegasus shifted and readjusted her wings. The tang in the air became more mellow.
"I'm Mint Flick. I came with my husband and son. I don't know where they are..." her voice quavered. A pang of pity and guilt stabbed Star in her chest, but she quickly shoved it off. She stood up and walked closer to Mint now that she felt the pony was passive. She sat beside her and looked out the window at the untouched parts of Canterlot. They were made of marble and had marvelous golden trimming, blinding in white light. But now they reflected the red at a high rate, bathing everything in more warm shades.
"Breeze Cloud said we should stay farther in the city since all this crazy sun crap was happening" Mint Flick absently stated. She was dazing into Canterlot with longing eyes. The longer the she looked, the thicker and thicker the scent hung in the air. Star began to feel like the air was literally holding her down, so she adjusted her body and lay a hoof on Mint's shoulder.
"Hey, Mint, it'll be okay. Alright?" Star looked at Mint Flick. The green pony shook her self from her daze and stared into Star's fake eyes.
She sighed.
"I suppose you don't understand. I don't think they made it out.."
"I believe they did. We can look for them and Coral! Just..." the air was so thick she found it hard to breathe, "J-just think it over okay?"
Mint Flick's eyes were so sorrowful Star couldn't help but feel a strong pang of empathy rush over her body.
"You have to have hope." Star reassured her. Mint's ears flicked.
"...Hope." the green pegasus echoed. She looked at Star with a newfound determination. The air lightened as soon as she did so, and the air began more rich.
"Thank you, Sky Strike." Mint smiled. She got up, shaking of bits of glass and plastic and the copious amounts of dust in the air. The equine held out a hoof for 'Sky Strike'.
Star returned the gesture, and with a sudden pang of hunger she realized she felt guilty. They shook hooves and she lowered it back to the ground, scuffling the carpet once more with her hoof. She fought to do something, but as she thought more and more, about this pony's missing family, she sighed. She couldn't do it.
Not this time.
Star got up, and twisted around to face the door.
"H-Hey! Where are you going?" Mint Flick sounded slightly offended, only that she'd just met somepony alive. 'Sky Strike' looked back, smiling. She needed to get out of there before the saturation of determination caught in her throat and she lost everything.
"I'll be right back! I still need to check my floor, remember?" she said lightly. Mint Flick flinched as she remembered, and then nodded quickly, turning around to avoid further embarrassment and misconceptions.
Star turned and walked to the door, and as soon as she turned the corner the magic snapped off of her, revealing the rough gray of her hide. She shook off the disguise as she fled for the stairs, down each flight, until she was out of the building for good, running in the direction opposite of Mint Flick.
Her eyes watered, but she blamed it on the dust. She couldn't do it. It was hard enough for her now, but... She still couldn't do it.
She couldn't even keep herself alive.
This was the original, now non-canon ending! Sorry my friends, but this was way too strong way too quick way too... Much. Will be deleted eventually <3
It was now or never.
The blue imposter didn't budge. A small smile crept on her face. She didn't want to, but it was better for the energy supply if Mint Flick were mad, rather than confused. More centered energy at the very least.Star looked at Mint Flick with a hateful glare. Mint visibly shuddered, but didn't immediately reel back her hoof. Star took advantage of this and shot for it. Her left hoof caught it and firmly gripped it as it flashed into a claw and she continued in her lunge for Mint's head. Her goal was to knock Mint off of her feet and out cold. But Mint had other intentions, and ducked. She twisted her caught hoof and Star was sent across the room."What the hay!?" Mint was astounded, but her instincts kicked in and she quickly braced herself for another attack as Star got up. Her nose had blood trickling from it as she'd fell directly on the broken cassette tape, and her disguise was breaking away. She quickly recovered and lunged at the pegasus, who side-stepped, still gaining back her breath. Star hit the wall with a vicious thud and her body was suddenly no longer colorful. She realized her nose was gushing blood. In order for her to recover her body discarded its disguise...
She didn't have much longer.
Star knew better than to lunge again, and instead jumped closer to Mint and began circling her. She stepped in and was quickly countered, jumping back and continuing. Mint Flick eyed her enemy closely, but rapidly grew tired of her circling and bucked. Star ducked and leapt, cutting into Mint's hooves. She turned and tackled the shocked pegasus to the ground and held her. She charged her horn and held it near Mint's fighting chest. She didn't want to get close, but she was too weak to form a chain farther than a few inches from her 'food'. Her horn glowed white and she struggled to hold Mint Flick down. Mint's hind legs battered her stomach and Star flinched and shifted her weight. The pony's magic was slowly seeping into her own. She rose her head and kept the chain flowing as she held Mint's head back from biting her. The magic transfusion was going rougher than she'd hoped. There was a sudden weight at Star's side and she was thrown to the side, disrupting her attack.She rolled into the wall and made a crippling realization she hadn't properly accounted for Mint's wings. She tried to get up, risking a glance at the wall. It was horribly broken. Mint was already on her hooves and was glaring daringly at Star. She swayed on her hooves but stood her ground nonetheless.Star wasn't ready to give up. She pushed herself onto her hooves, her horn sparking. Mint Flick rushed at her and she jumped to the side. The pegasus nearly crashed into the wall, skidding to a halt frantically. Star took this chance and lunged at Mint's throat. She managed to get a hold with her mouth and they both went down, rolling across the room. Star bucked Mint into the nearest wall and pinned her to the ground, this tame taking extra care into trapping her wings. Mint's mouth was trickling with blood and her head was badly bruised. Star continued draining Mint's magic as she weakly flailed about. Star could feel her magic rising in power as the pegasus was slowly drained. She'd been right to make Mint feel hopeful and determined- it almost doubled her supply, she should be set for at least a few days. Mint flinched as she looked at the bland gray face of the freckled pony in front of her."You... Y-You piece of..." she mumbled. Star's eyes were completely white, but her eyebrows furrowed. Mint's eyes rolled backwards and all movements ceased. Star stepped off of the lifeless body and dusted herself off. Her nose couldn't be helped, and she didn't want to bother with wasting precious magic on healing it. She caste a quick regretful glance at Mint as she turned to leave and trotted out of the door. It wasn't the funnest process... But she had to do it.