"If you were to ask me what true loneliness is, I would have to say a solemn wind over an empty and dead and colorless expanse without any life in sight. Not even the sun or moon or stars will show. I think that is true loneliness."
Tall grass, brown with sickness, waved in the wind that blew through the valley. The thick trees that dotted the landscape were spread far apart and gave little room for one to hide in. Yet if you find a small alcove in the base of one of these trees, it is enough to evade predators. And so that is where we find a small, quivering shape. Her green eyes shine from the twilight as she scans the area for the monsters that have been hunting her. For days she had been running from death and the sense of fear has never once left her. But that is the main reason she still lives: fear.
Fear has kept her awake and alert and fueled her to run faster. She had no idea if anyone else was still alive or if she was truly alone. Slowly, she moves her head out and looks around the valley. Her fur is a cream color and her long and unkempt hair is a dark red and the remains of a pink bow now lie wrapped around her neck. She pulls the hood of her dark cloak over her head and slowly crawls through the grass towards the exit to the valley. She had been trying to get to the city of Canterlot for a long time and had found herself trapped in this valley of death.
Today, though, it was like the monsters had moved on. Or were busy with something more important than her in another part of the valley. She prayed she would make it out without being spotted. She was nearing the next tree when she heard a sound in the wind. A low howl, far away on the other side of the valley. She looked to the source and saw the tall spire that stuck out of the earth like a rotten splinter. Something was happening as more sounds echoed across the valley....
She crawled closer to the tree and hoped she was safe from whatever it was.....
But then she heard the sirens...
They roared from the spire in a crescendo that made her skin crawl for several seconds before the volume descended to a dull scream. Then they repeated their song as the whole valley echoed from the sound.
The small pony tried to see what could have caused the alert and failed to see the massive shape rising behind her. Suddenly the ground shook as the Titan began to march to the spire. The pony let out a small yelp as she was thrown against the tree from the force of the footfalls. Luckily for her, the beast had not heard her as it walked over the tree in one stride, mace in hand. She stared at it in disgust at its yellow skin and rusting armor. Its face looked like a troll from the books she had read.
The beast continued to march and the pony took the chance to turn away and run, hoping that whatever had gotten their attention would keep them off of her.
That didn't mean she didn't feel bad for the doomed soul....
If only she knew....
The sound of the sirens hurt his augmented ear as he ran through the valley trying to find a way up the other side. Behind him was a group of the monsters from before who managed to spot him and give chase. The monster he failed to kill before had alerted his brethren to his presence. Now he was running for his life through the valley with a horde hot on his heels. He had no idea where to go or what to do and so he did the only thing he could think to do at that moment.
Run.
He ran through the valley, tearing a path through the tall grass and trying to block out the horrifying sounds behind him. He had no idea how to get rid of the monsters especially since his arm was stuck in sword mode and the lights on his robotic body were bright red. He could sense Abraham also trying to come up with a plan and tried to convene his concerns to him. Abraham understood and said, “I will see what I can do.”
Then his hand went back to its normal hand-shape mode and the lights all turned off, causing Elijah to feel a tiny bit of relief. But that didn’t stop the Titans behind him. Before he could ask Abraham again, a plate in his shoulder opened up and a cylinder shot out and into the air. It stopped for a second in the air before falling back down. Before it hit the ground, the monsters were just about to pass it when it erupted in a bright flash of light and a loud bang. It knocked Elijah of balance and he fell against a tree but the blast had blinded and dazed the monsters causing them to thrash about and scream.
Elijah looked in awe but then saw text appear in his vision: GET MOVING.
Elijah stood up and began to run again but this time he was going faster. Abraham was doing something to cause his legs to carry him faster than he could imagine and he became a blur across the valley.
The young filly from before was half way up the side when she heard the blast and looked back into the valley to see a bright flash of light. She wondered what it was and fought against her curiosity. She needed to keep moving. She turned back to the side of the valley and continued to climb. Putting one hoof up after the other, she stopped when she felt her hood touch something that wasn’t dirt. She slowly looked up into the snarling face of a Titan that was looking at her with a hungry expression. In her panic, she pushed back from the side and fell into the valley, barely missing the creatures swiping claws. She screamed as loud as she could as she fell.
Elijah stopped when he heard the screams. His auditory implant whirred and electrical impulses travelled from his ear to his brain as he registered what it was. He felt Abraham become both excited and worried as text scrawled across his vision in a hurried fashion.
>>>ALERT: AUDITORY STIMULI DETECTED<<<
>>>SOURCE: PONY, YOUNG, FEMALE<<<
>>>OBJECTIVE CHANGED: BEGIN SEARCH AND RESCUE<<<
Then Elijah’s vision changed, he saw what looked like a scan move through the landscape and could see past the grass and trees. And he saw a young pony running from a monster. He took off in the direction of the pony when text appeared again in his vision.
FOLLOW MY LEAD.
Then he saw a computerized path appear in front of him showing a ghost of himself run through the grass and show him what to do and where to go. He followed and ran as fast as he could. Suddenly, a shadow fell over him as a huge, troll-like Titan rose up from nowhere and brought down a mace on his victim. But Abraham was faster and changed the path before Elijah and as he saw his ghost move through movements he thought impossible, though he followed anyway. Ducking under the mace, barely escaping certain death, he lunged forward and in one movement, caught the young filly in his arms and leapt into the air. The other Titan that had been chasing the pony jumped in an attempt to catch them but Elijah followed his ghost and turned in midair, performing a graceful dodge as the titan missed completely. Elijah was so impressed with himself that he forgot that he needed to land.
He slammed into the ground and slid a few feet before stopping. The young filly tried to force her way out of his grasp but he held on, knowing he had to keep her safe. He heard a yell and saw the other Titan coming for him as well as the big troll and in the distance was the rest of the horde. His path changed and he saw his ghost move upright and towards a tree, spinning and holding up its arm as it went.
Elijah jumped to his feet and ran after the apparition and turned at the moment he was supposed to. He raised his arm and was surprised to watch it turn into long barrel with three prongs on the end. It charged up and shot a bolt at the pursuing monster. It hit the beast with enough force to send it into the bigger troll and knock it over into the way of the oncoming horde. Elijah took the opportunity to make for the tree and followed the directions of his guide to jump and plant his mechanical foot into the trunk of the tree. He did so and the moment his foot touched the bark, a jet in the bottom of his metal boot of a foot propelled him up and out of the valley.
He turned head over heels in the air, trying to right himself while holding tight to the screaming bundle in his arms. He saw the valley disappear from his vision and the ground and sky spin together like partners in a dance and when the sky became smaller and the ground became bigger he braced for impact. He landed in a tree and threw his arms and body over the young filly as they fell together and crashed through the branches and leaves before rolling across the roots and stopping in a cloud of dust.
He laid in the dirt on his back, catching his breath and not noticing the filly squirm in his grip. Suddenly, she chomped down on his normal hand with enough force to bring blood and he started and screamed. He let go and she flew from his grip and behind the tree. He brought himself to his knees and looked at his hand. Teeth marks drew blood and his hand dripped with the red liquid. He held back his irritation and looked for the filly. She was looking at him from behind the tree and trembling with fear.
He then slowly held his arms up with hands opened, hoping it would let her know he wasn’t going to hurt her. The young filly stared at him with a curious look, was this thing really surrendering to her? It had saved her and while it did resemble those monsters back at the valley, he wasn’t trying to hurt her and was somehow different. She slowly came out from behind the tree and slowly approached him.
“What are you?” she asked first, wanting to know what he was if he wasn’t a titan.
He let out a breath and put his arms down before realizing he had no way of communicating with her. Then Abraham had an idea as he highlighted a stick lying next to him. He picked it up and saw a word appear in his vision: Friend. He picked up on it quickly and began to scrawl the word into the dirt. The young filly came closer and read the word.
She looked up with an even more confused face and said, “Friend? But you look just like one of them?”
She gestured back to the valley and he noticed her accent as she spoke. He then decided to write down his name: Elijah. She looked again and then back up at him and after a moment it clicked in her head.
“Oh!” she exclaimed, “That’s your name?”
He nodded and then pointed the stick at her and she picked up on the hint, “My names Applebloom.”
Then he saw Abraham begin to rifle through hundreds of files on the world as pictures and names zoomed by but nothing came up. There was nothing on this Applebloom though Abraham still put her down as an object to protect at all cost.
Then she asked another question, “If you aren’t a titan then how did you get here? You’re not like anything from my world.”
He thought for a moment and then Abraham provided the answer: Brought here by Trixie. When he questioned it, Abraham explained that she might know who she was.
So he scribbled the sentence and at the sight of the name Trixie, Applebloom exclaimed again, “I know Trixie!”
He made an excited noise in his throat and Abraham began to frantically put down on his vision: ELEMENTS, in big bold letters.
He quickly scribbled it down with a question mark and Applebloom stared at it saying the word over and over again before slowly looking up with a hopeful look, “You mean the Elements of Harmony?! Like my sister Applejack?!”
At that, Abraham went nuts. A file appeared of an orange pony with a Stetson on her head with the words, ELEMENT OF HONESTY, next to it and then the phrase, SISTER OF APPLEBLOOM, appeared with it and the picture of Applebloom lit up with the letters MVP.
Most Valued Pony
He nodded rapidly and wrote down, “Where?”
Then Applebloom became sad and said, “I don’t know….”
He sagged and made a groaning noise as Applebloom continued, “I don’t know where anyone is. When those things attacked I just ran into the Everfree and hid. That’s what I was ordered to do. I haven’t found anyone yet.”
Tears began to fall from her face as she laid down and covered her face as she cried, “I want my sister and brother back…”
He couldn’t help but feel terrible for the poor thing, just like him and the fly; she was alone with no one to help her find her way. But now she did have someone. He put a hand on her head and she looked up into his eyes, one natural and one machine. Then he scrawled another message into the dirt, this one long but meaningful.
“I was chosen to defend and save this world. I was given great power and I will find your sister and the Elements. But we must find Trixie in the big city in the mountains first. She will help us. I promise I will protect you the entire way.”
After she had read it, Applebloom looked up at him and no longer felt afraid but hopeful. Here was someone who could save her home. She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck and he hugged her in kind. He slowly stood and placed her on his shoulders and she hugged his head for support.
He looked up at her and she said, “If you want to find Trixie and she’ll be in Canterlot, we need to go that way and find the train tracks.”
She pointed the way and he nodded. He started forward but stopped when a sound reached his ears.
“What is it?” Applebloom asked but he held up a finger to shush her and looked to where the sound was coming from in the trees.
Out of the leaves came the fly from before and it landed in his hand. Applebloom shied away but he held it up and said in a metallic voice that was barely audible, “Friend.”
She stared in surprise but nodded with a smile and he put the fly back in its place in his hood. He donned his glasses and began forward. The three friends, all alone together in the big world overrun by devils, marched towards the city and the hope of a better tomorrow.