> A Wilting Flower
>  by Terran34
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> 1. The Discovery
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	It is late spring in the land of Equestria. The weather is pleasantly warm and the sky is completely clear of clouds, allowing the bright midday sun to fall gently upon the rolling green hills far below. 

As it is a bright spring day, the skies are scattered with pegasi, who are on their way to and from the different cities scattered across the country. It was particularly busy in this part of Equestria, as the three great port cities of Baltimare, Manehattan, and Fillydelphia lay to the east. As always, business was booming; pegasi streaked through the air carrying mail bags, pulling wooden chariots, or lugging large truck-like vehicles carrying medium loads. 

Far below, railroad tracks snake their way through the hills, weaving seamlessly with the terrain, rather than through it. Every so often, a train will sound its whistle and chug by below, carrying passengers to and from Canterlot. To the south stood the snowy crested crags of the Foal Mountains, its foothills shrouded in trees. There's even a small town called Hollow Shades resting within the shadow of those mountains.

To the north was yet another mountain range, yet this one was known for its lush and bountiful ecosystem. The fork of the railway that comes from Manehattan runs along the foothills of these mountains, before joining together with the rails from Hollow Shades. At this very intersection is the bustling train station of the city nestled at the base of the largest mountain the range. The pounding deluge of its river pours over the edge of the mountainside, in what is known as Neighagra Falls: a natural wonder of Equestria. 

It's been a while since I've been in Trotsdale. Chronologically, I doubt it's been more than two months, but considering how action packed those months were, it feels like it's been much longer. It will be nice to see the waterfall again under normal conditions like this...you know, without the threat of impending doom hanging over my head.

In the middle of my thoughts, a tuft of cloud smacks into my face. I'm no pegasus, so my face is basically showered with hundreds of tiny water droplets as the cloud dissipates. I should probably add that the water is freezing. 

Spluttering, I spit out water and attempt to wipe off my face, glaring at my rather obnoxious traveling companion, who looks way too pleased with herself. “What the...Dash! The hell was that for?” I demand, my tone betraying my annoyance. All of this serves only to amuse the brightly colored pegasus, who promptly bursts into laughter at my reaction.

“Well, excuse me, rocks for ears. I've called you like, five times now, and you weren't answering! What, were you lost in thought?” she returns, wearing a grin that suggests she regrets absolutely nothing about her minor prank. She juggles another wisp of cloud between her two front hooves. She snickers some more at how exasperated I look. “Ha! You should see the look on your face.”

“For your information, I was,” I retort defensively, eyeing the cloud she's tossing around suspiciously. I reach a hand forward and swipe it through the fluffy white substance, scattering the water everywhere as a result. After all, if you're not a pegasus, you can't touch clouds without a unicorn spell. “And would you put that down...agh, cripes that's cold.”

I give the cackling mare a flat browed expression. This mischievous creature is Rainbow Dash, a mare with which I've spent a lot of time with ever since my arrival in Equestria around half a year ago. She's a brat with a massive ego and a huge sense of self-entitlement. That sounds off-putting to anyone who doesn't know her...and in fact, it even put me off when I first met her. But she's much more than that. 

When I first got here, I held many misconceptions about humanity, which I then extended to ponies once I realized they shared human intelligence. Even despite that, Rainbow Dash proved me wrong on each and every one of them, and stayed by my side no matter how much of an ass I was to her. 

To put it bluntly, she turned my life upside-down ever since I met her, and even managed to warm the heart of someone as cynical as I am. She revealed to me that the only one that oppressed me was myself, and I'm forever grateful to her for that. 

“So what did you want anyway?” I ask curiously, crossing my arms and slowing my flight in order to hear her better over the wind. Rainbow points a hoof at the waterfall in the distance. Even from scores of miles away, the roaring of the falls can be faintly heard.

“We are going to stop in Trotsdale again, right?” Rainbow questions curiously. That's a fair question. This is a topic I've thought about more than once since starting out on our trip together. “I mean, we've already been there once, but we have to go flying over the falls! There's also a trail that goes all the way up to the top of the mountain!”

“I figured we would. It's on the way to Rainbow Falls, and there's no real reason to avoid it. Besides, we never really visited the place as tourists,” I answer with a shrug. To be honest, I'm actually rather curious to see how Trotsdale has fared since my last visit. Suddenly, something strikes me as odd. I shoot Rainbow a stare. “Hold on a minute. You want to go on the trail? Wouldn't that require...walking?”

“Yeah, so? Something wrong with that?” Rainbow answers, perplexed. I seize the moment to mess with her a little bit. 

“Oh, not really. It's just that I was starting to think you'd forgotten how to,” I reply without missing a beat. I adjust my flight path a bit so that I'm right up against her. Before she can stop me, I pinch one of her leg muscles. 

“Hey, quit touching! I'm trying to fly!” Rainbow complains, withdrawing her leg and promptly smacking me on the back of my hand with her hoof. It doesn't hurt; she didn't really hit me that hard. Even so, it's enough to make me chuckle. “And I didn't forget how to walk. If anyone forgot how to walk, it's you, mister I-fly-everywhere-now-that-I-have magic!”

“You really have no room to criticize someone for flying everywhere,” I point out, not bothering to refute her frankly true statement. Humans can't usually use magic, but thanks to the machinations of an outside force, I was given some against my will. Despite that, it's proven to be very useful. For one, it gave me the ability to fly alongside Rainbow. She was ecstatic the day I figured that out. “Besides, it's not my fault it's so convenient.”

“At least I take daily runs. You wouldn't even leave your house if I didn't come drag you out everyday,” Rainbow retorts, referring to the house I bought in Ponyville. She's wrong about one thing though.

“Yeah I would. If you're off work, I'm going to come be with you, of course,” I remind her. I realize a second later how dumb that sounded. However, the sentiment isn't lost on Rainbow. She snorts a bit with amusement, her cheeks turning a light shade of red. I decide to correct myself. “God knows you'd nap all damn day if I didn't tip you out of your cloud.”

“Of course. You can't rest if you're not waking me up in some annoying way,” Rainbow says with a roll of her eyes. She then turns her gaze towards the rapidly approaching city. The closer we get, the more we can hear the roaring falls.  Rainbow takes the lead, slowing her wingbeats and allowing herself to lose altitude. “Come on, let's get down there. Maybe we should go see the house we stayed in during the war?”

I follow her lead, lowering my magical output to ease myself down to the ground. Rainbow and I gently land on the ground a few meters away from the outskirts of the city. With a sigh of relief, I shut off my magic. The reprieve is a welcome one, considering Rainbow had me flying around the Foal Mountains for a while. She was convinced that we'd find some ancient ruins in the caves, Daring Do style. Needless to say, we found nothing.

“Yeah sure, that'll go over real well,” I scoff at her suggestion. I then start talking in a raspy voice in a poor imitation of Rainbow. “Oh excuse me pony I've never met, mind if we sniff around your house? We're the guys that sat in your home and ate your food!” 

Rainbow wrinkles her nose and shoves me with her two front hooves, looking annoyed. “What, is that supposed to be me? I don't sound like that at all,” Rainbow complains. She does look a little sheepish, despite her indignity. I'm being an ass about it, but I doubt I'm wrong. “Yeah, you're probably right. Still, can we at least go eat at the restaurant where we met Trixie?”

“Only if it's not that expensive. I only brought enough bits to cover traveling rations,” I reply, patting the small bag of bits on my back. Considering we stay in the wild most of the time, I'm always carrying several pounds worth of traveling equipment on my back, including a sleeping bag, tent, rations, and water bottles. This damn mare has me carrying all the bags. All she's got are these two saddlebags that don't look like they weigh more than a few pounds. I shift the position of the bags on my back and start walking. “Come on, let's get going.”

“Why didn't you bring more bits? What's a cross-country trip without awesome souvenirs?” Rainbow demands, looking exasperated.

“Yeah? And who's going to carry them?” I point out, one eye twitching. The equipment I'm carrying with me right now easily weighs somewhere over twenty pounds, compared to her tiny saddlebags. Rainbow pauses, and then dips her head guiltily. “You were expecting me to, weren't you? I'm already carrying all the bags, what more do you want!?”

The two earth pony guards standing just outside the entrance to the city proper blink in bemusement. Our half serious bickering is the first they see of us. However, once they notice our rather unique features, they recognize immediately who we are. 

The both of them salute upon our approach. “Welcome back to Trotsdale, Seth, miss Dash,” they greet us smartly. I don't think I've ever interacted with these two personally, but no doubt everypony in the military knows who I am. I was a temporary Commander in their ranks once, back during the war with the Crystal Empire. Also, it's probably because I'm one of the only two living humans in existence. The other...is probably still in the Crystal Mountains.

“S'up, guys?” Rainbow returns the greeting in a completely informal manner. Once we're past them and in the city streets, she notices me snickering. “What's so funny?”

“Miss Dash,” I repeat mockingly, snickering even harder. “For some reason that makes me picture you in a frilly dress.”

Rainbow clearly shows me what she thinks of that image. She screws her face up in utter disgust. “What? No way. You'd sooner get Hawke into a dress before me,” she returns snappily...and then she starts laughing at that mental image. Hawke is the other human alive other than me, and he's a very intense individual. “Where'd that even come from?”

“Because you call ponies like Rarity 'miss,'” I explain. Rainbow gives me a pointed stare. Suddenly, I realize that there's something wrong with her rebuttal. “Wait, didn't you wear a dress for me that one time...”

Rainbow immediately turns a shade of red. “No! It didn't happen. You're lying. Quit lying, Seth,” Rainbow cuts across me rather loudly, covering her face with her hooves adorably. I bellow out my laughter at her expense, and the two of us walk further into town.

The city has recovered greatly since its near destruction. During the Seige of Trotsdale, the city was practically in ruins. Buildings were collapsed to block flanking maneuvers, streets were piled with rubble and the fallen, and the city was burning well into the night.  But now, there's no trace of any of that. 

If I really look for it, I can still see construction ponies working on repairs in some of the street corners, but mostly it feels like the place is back to normal. I never did get to see the place in its full glory, so this is a nice change.

The streets are filled with civilian ponies, happily going about their business. It makes me smile to see the place back to normal. Even the cliffs near the edge of town are packed with ponies lying or sitting on the grass in order to get decent look at the falls.

Before doing anything, Rainbow and I take a tour around the town. Despite the fact that I made fun of her for it earlier, we both walk by the old house we stayed in during the siege. We also visit the restaurant that had been our barracks at the time as well. It's back to normal,  and is serving delicious looking (yet still vegetarian) dishes. For nostalgia's sake, I end up taking Rainbow there to eat. It's not as expensive as I'd feared. I won't have to make a run back to Ponyville for more money just yet.

Then, we decide to get started on the mountain trail. Granted, Rainbow really wanted to go flying over the falls first, but we can always do that later. This trail follows the water's edge for a while, so we can at least get a little ways up before doing anything else. The sole reason for my decision is that I don't want to go flying carrying a crap ton of traveling equipment. 

The trail starts at the edge of town, starting as a paved road for a few hundred meters, before entering the forest at the base of the mountain, where it becomes a beaten dirt path. The ground underfoot has been churned and flattened from the hundreds of ponies that have no doubt come this way in the past. Even now I can see fresh hoofprints dotting the path ahead. Considering it's a bright spring day and the sun is shining, we likely won't be the only ones on this path.

“You said this goes all the way up to the mountaintop, right?” I ask for confirmation just as we pass beneath the canopy, a faint shadow falling over us. I made sure to restock our supplies before heading out here, so we're set as far as that goes. 

“Yep! All the way up to the top, to the source of the river!” Rainbow answers for me excitedly. She can hardly contain her enthusiasm, despite the fact that we're walking instead of flying. She's moving faster than I am, practically trotting. I can hardly keep up with her without straining myself, and I'm not about to do that considering we're likely going to be on this trail for several days. “What's taking you? Come on, speed it up!”

“Hey, if you want to carry these bags for me, be my guest,” I retort, though I do try a bit harder to keep up with her. It's a good thing I've toughened up over the past few months, as I can already tell it's going to be hell trying to go uphill with this stuff. “What are you so excited about anyway?”

Rainbow looks thrilled at being asked. She falls back a bit so she's walking beside me. “Okay, so I came here once on a flying trip from Cloudsdale, back when I was still at the Academy,” Rainbow begins, talking as if she's about to tell a grand story. I do my best to focus on her, while at the same time taking care not to trip over a stray tree root. The path gets rougher the further we go. “Me, Gilda, and Fluttershy came up this trail together, and we had a spot right up there at the very top. It's so awesome; we stayed there until the teachers came to find us. They were so mad!”

“Hah, I bet. Let me guess, Fluttershy was whimpering at you the whole time while you and...wait, hold up. Who's Gilda?” I question her, doing a double take. As much time as I've spent with her, I don't really know everything about her past. She barely even mentions her parents, after all.

“What, you mean I never told you? She was a griffon transfer student from Griffonstone who was pretty cool. She and Fluttershy didn't get along very well though,” Rainbow reveals. Huh. I didn't know Griffonstone sent students over to Equestria. Though that last statement makes a lot of sense.

“I can't possibly imagine why,” I remark. Fluttershy's great, and a lot stronger than everyone gives her credit for, but she's not very socially adept. At academy age, she was probably worse. “You know, it's not really fair that I spilled my entire life to you, and I know next to nothing about your past life. You know, apart from you and your friends zapping a god back to stone.”

“Huh? I've told you stuff!” Rainbow protests. She starts to pout. “You trying to say I'm hiding stuff from you? Because I'm not. It just...never really comes up.”

“Nah, I'm just messing with you. Though I wouldn't protest if you told me more,” I say with a shrug. Rainbow relaxes from that. The two of us fall into a comfortable silence as we do our best to get further up the trail.

We come across other ponies on the trail as well. Some of them are families accompanying a foal or two, and others are couples like us, though they don't hide it nearly as much as we do. Rainbow's face when we pass a kissing couple on a bench is the most priceless thing I've ever seen. I have to bite my tongue to keep from laughing.

Eventually, we reach a portion of the path around the second “level” of the falls, where it splits. The fork on the right continues up the mountain, while the other forms a wide arc, traveling a little further uphill,  then doubles back on itself to form a wide area that overlooks the main path. According to the signs and other tents already set up, it's meant for setting up camp.

“Finally. Let's stop here,” I say, taking the left fork. Rainbow pauses and watches me questioningly.

“What? Why? Are you tired already?” Rainbow protests, even as she follows me. Well, my legs are tired, but I'm not about to admit that to her. If I did, she'd insist on making me do daily runs again like she did back when I met Commander Rose, and those were hell. However, that's not why I'm stopping.

“I'm fine. But this is a campsite, and who knows when the next one is going to be. Considering it's already evening and you still want to fly, I figured this would be a good place to set up,” I explain to her. Rainbow blinks, trying to put together my explanation in her head. I sigh. “In other words, I'm dumping our stuff off here and going flying over the falls with you.”

“Oh, okay. That makes sense I guess. So what, you gonna set up the tent?” Rainbow questions as the two of us walk onto the raised area. Besides us, there's only two other tents set up here, and only one of them seems to be occupied for the moment. 

Something she said causes me to slowly turn my head to look at her. “Yes...we are going to set up the tent,” I emphasize to her pointedly. Rainbow blinks innocently and does her best to look offended by my not so subtle insinuation that she would duck out on doing work. I know better though. I notice her ever so slightly shift her weight onto one of her hind legs. I narrow my eyes. “Rainbow...”

“Yeah...that's what I meant...yeah...'we'...heh,” Rainbow responds shiftily. The moment I take a step towards her, she immediately pivots on her hind legs and propels herself into the air in a streak of color. “Bye now! Have fun with the tent!”

“You little...!” I start to curse, but then stop myself. At this point, even if I finished my expletive, she's too far away to hear it.  A sigh leaves me at the sight of the rainbow trail spiraling through the air high above. I have to admit, no matter how much magic I use, she is a lot more agile than I am. “Well, no point in standing around.”

Resigned to my fate, I un-sling all the traveling supplies from my back. I sigh in relief. Including the tent, sleeping bag, and traveling supplies, that's nearly twenty pounds I've been hauling around on my back. Rainbow could have done her share, but she insisted on being “free to practice her tricks” while flying. Naturally I objected, but she always seems to get her way in the end. It's kind of hard to object when she kisses me every time I open my mouth to complain. 

I get out the tent stakes and ropes and start nailing them into the ground the proper distance away from one another, while making sure to keep dirt and leaves off what is soon to be the floor of the tent. Setting up a tent is difficult, especially one large enough to hold the both of us comfortably.

While I'm working, Rainbow eventually comes back, getting bored of waiting for me. She alights on a tree branch like a bird and peers down at me. She's always like this. She's so quick to duck out of work, but when it starts taking too long for me to finish said work on my own, she gets impatient and starts complaining. 

“Are you done yet?” ...and I rest my case. I ignore her and keep working. If she would just help me, this would be done a lot faster. But, I guess she wouldn't be Rainbow if she wasn't lazy. Rainbow huffs with impatience from her perch. Soon, like always, she starts fidgeting out of boredom. Finally, she whines. “Seeeeeth!”

“Oh for the...what!?” I complain, raising my voice in annoyance. I turn around from the now completed tent, my right eye twitching. I step aside and show her the tent. “I'm done, okay? Happy?”

“Finally! It took you long enough,” Rainbow says with a sigh of relief.

“It would have been done a lot faster if you hadn't flown off, so quite whining at me!” I retort. I take a moment to dust my hands free of dirt, and then toss the remaining bags inside the tent. It's not a large tent, but at least there's enough room for the two of us. Rainbow didn't mind having a smaller tent; I'm apparently her favorite “teddy bear.”

“I'm not whining!”

“Yes you are. What you are doing right now is literally the definition of whining.” 

“I do not whine! You take that back!” Rainbow starts throwing small twigs and clumps of leaves down on me from the tree, causing me to raise my arm and shield my face. I swear, sometimes she acts so immaturely she makes Sweetie Belle look tame.

“Quit throwing things, you lunatic!” 

“You're the lunatic, lunatic!”

Rainbow and I then proceed to hurl insults back and forth at one another. Despite my earlier thoughts about maturity, I can't help but respond in kind to her insults. I'm having too much fun to care about being mature. Besides, it's not like there's anypony around to hear...

The both of us trail off when we notice the two ponies standing just in front of their own tent. There's a mare and a stallion, both of them no doubt the occupants of one of the other two tents in the area. They're giving us perplexed and slightly amused expressions, having observed the whole insult war. 

Rainbow and I are frozen, realizing just how weird our antics must seem to strangers that don't know us. In response to the silence, the stallion snickers, looking at me. “Don't mind us, do go on. I'm curious to see how you respond to 'stick-limbed mop-headed peanut,'” he remarks. His mare companion looks shocked at his boldness, causing her to smack him lightly with her hoof. 

Rainbow laughs nervously, blushing a little to hear her own hastily thought up insult repeated back to her. She meets my gaze and jerks her head towards the skies. Yeah, I can agree with that. The tent's done and this situation is more than a little awkward.

“Sorry about that,” I apologize to the two of them for disturbing their peace. Without another word, I leap into the air with a burst of magic and join Rainbow in heading towards the waterfall. Now then, on to what we came to do.





Ever since coming here during the war, I knew Rainbow wanted to fly over Neighagra falls with me. We would have done it that very moment, if I hadn't been deprived of my magic at that point. While I eventually got my magic back, the moment had passed, and the war had begun in earnest. We had no time for such fanciful pursuits. 

Rainbow is the kind of mare that's happiest when she's in the air. I can just tell that by how excited she gets whenever she talks about aerial maneuvers or whenever I agree to go flying with her. 

That being said, her mood soars as the two of us fly high above the falls. The awe that I felt seeing the falls from the streets is nothing compared to the feeling I get from looking down on them like this. It's like looking at a constantly moving set of white frothy stairs. 

There's no threat of falling, so the two of us fly through the foaming spray, our laughter and wonder nearly drowned out by the sound of the falling water. In the process, my body becomes slick with spray...which is why I took off my clothes before coming here. I figured that this is what we'd do before we came to Trotsdale, so I wore my bathing suit beneath my clothes.

We don't talk to one another due to the loud ambiance of the falls, but we don't need to talk. Just seeing her graceful cyan form flying beside me is enough to lift my spirits. Every so often, she'll turn her head and grin at me, or she'll pull off some ridiculous stunt that I can't even hope to keep up with. 

I don't know how long we fly out there together. However, it soon grows dark, and the lights from Trotsdale soon become the only source of light, apart from the moon hanging in the sky far far above us. When Rainbow and I turn back and angle towards the campsite, it's nearly pitch dark, and the chirping of crickets fills the air.

Thankfully, it's not hard to find our campsite again. After drying off and exchanging a few quips, Rainbow and I curl up inside our sleeping bag together. It's weird, but sleeping with her like this has become normal. I tried to argue at first, but Rainbow usually gets her way in the end.

In the morning, we pack up the campsite and start up the trail. I don't know exactly how long this trail is, but I find myself looking forward to the trek ahead. I'm not as spindly as I was when I first appeared in Equestria, so a simple hike doesn't bother me much anymore.

Instead, I take the time to observe the surroundings while enjoying a contented silence with Rainbow. All the while, the wide river that eventually becomes the falls rushes along the side of the path.The woods around us are full of life, no matter where I look. Squirrels dash up and down the trees, birds sing their songs from the higher branches, and other small animals rustle in the undergrowth. I even spot a snake winding its way across the trail at one point. 

There's insects all over the place of course. Just by looking up, I can see spiderwebs draped between branches. On occasion, I even have to brush aside one that's impeding my way forward. There's also mosquitoes, but they don't really bother us. In Rainbow's case, she brought some kind of bug repellent in her saddlebags to ward them away. As for me, I just surround my skin with a thin invisible layer of magic. It's enough to incinerate any mosquitoes daring enough to approach my skin.

“Hold on, it looks like the path gets a little narrow up ahead,” I warn Rainbow sometime around evening. Right now, we're significantly higher on the mountain than we were before. We're walking up a path that travels along the slope of the mountain. Currently, there's a high cliff to the left of the path, and a steep decline just to the right. The path I'm warning her about is large enough for the two of us to walk side by side with a little space between us, but that's about it.

“Eh, no big deal. We can fly,” Rainbow says with an unworried shrug. She walks with me onto the narrow path, the both of us keeping to the left despite our ability to fly. She glances at me curiously. “Why, did you think one of us would fall?”

“Yeah, probably you, since you don't bother watching where you're going half the time,” I poke fun at her. 

Rainbow wrinkles her nose indignantly. “I do too! I can walk just fine, Seth. No, you're the one who looks like he's constantly trying not to fall, with the two legs and all,” she returns, prodding my legs.

“I didn't say you couldn't walk. I said you don't watch where you're going,” I correct her, a grin forming on my face. “I seem to recall you flying right into a wall on two separate occasions.”

Rainbow huffs and shoves me lightly. I remember that we're on a narrow path, so I plant my right foot on the edge to keep from falling over, chuckling. However, my chuckle turns into a yelp of alarm when the ground beneath my right foot crumbles away under the weight. Unbalanced, I tumble right over the side of the cliff before I can react. 

“Seth!” Rainbow immediately leaps after me in alarm, forgetting the fact that I can fly too. As for me, by the time I realize I should catch myself, I fall onto the slope and roll for several feet before tumbling into a rocky alcove at the base of a large tree. 

I grunt in pain and clutch the arm that I fell onto, cursing my lack of reflexes. It's been forever since my last battle, so I must have gotten worse at reacting in time. Still, it's only a minor pain, and I haven't really been hurt. “Goddammit, Rainbow,” I mutter beneath my breath, shaking my head. My clothes have been slightly torn and pockmarked with the dirt stains and bits of foliage that I accumulated during the fall. 

The alcove where I'm at now is overgrown with the thick roots of a large tree standing just on the slope above me. A thick layer of ivy and other plants blanketing the alcove cushioned my fall slightly. My hand reaches out and grasps one of the higher roots, which I then use to help myself up. God, what a pain.

“Seth, where are you?” Rainbow calls, the mare sliding down the slope after me.

“I'm not hurt. It wasn't that much of a drop.” I call back to her. Now then, just a short magically reinforced hop will get me out of this. However, as I turn towards the tree and gather my magic, something catches my eye. I pause and gaze curiously at the tree, not noticing anything out of the ordinary. That's weird...I could have sworn I just something glint at me.

Rainbow lands on the uneven ground behind me, the foliage flattening beneath her hooves. My back is to her, so I can't see her. Even so, I know she's feeling apologetic, due to the sound of her hooves shuffling on the ground. 

“Sorry...I didn't think you'd fall,” she says, scuffing the ground. At any other point, I'd have said something sarcastic; her words made it sound like I'd failed her expectations or something. However, I ignore her and look around one last time. “Uh, Seth?”

“Yeah, sorry,” I say, turning around with a sigh. I guess I must have been seeing things. Or maybe there was a piece of mica that caught the light. “Thought I saw something weird. Let's get back on the path.”

“Something weird? Like what?” Rainbow gets curious at my explanation. She walks past me towards the roots of the tree, investigating the area for anything interesting. “I mean, it's just a tree.”

“Yeah, I know that. It was nothing, okay?” I start to get impatient. I was having a rather good time before I fell down here. I'm eager to keep moving. Who knows how much longer this trail goes on? “Rainbow. Come on. Quit sniffing around.”

“I'm not sniffing around,” Rainbow retorts. She looks around a little bit longer, but doesn't seem to find anything. However, as she starts to turn back around, she does a double take. “Hey...”

“What is it?” I ask suspiciously. Rainbow fixes her gaze on the thick web of tree roots and steps closer. “Do you see something?”

“Yeah, like...something glinting,” Rainbow replies. Huh, that's exactly what I thought I saw. My impatience gives way to renewed curiosity, and I can't help joining her. It's probably going to turn out to be a deposit of mica, but I have to know at this point. Rainbow brings her face up close to the roots, where there's a tiny gap barely the size of a keyhole. “Hey, there's a cave back here! Seth, come look!”

“No kidding?” My curiosity thoroughly aroused, I join Rainbow by the tree roots. She moves her head aside and indicates the gap through which she was looking. I peer through the small hole; sure enough, there's a dark hole in the side of the rock face. I can't see very far in, but I can tell that the walls are oddly smooth, as if carved. “You're right, there is something back there.”

Something glints in the gloom of the cave. I shoot my eyes to where I thought I saw it, but all I see is darkness. Confused, I move my head back to allow some light to trickle in through the whole. My hunch pays off; now I can see the glinting object sitting in a pile of loose rock. 

I turn to Rainbow. “So, want to head off the beaten path and do some exploring?” I prompt her. A sense of excitement wells up from within me at the thought of exploring a cave. 

Rainbow puts on a grin. “You bet! Let's go cave diving; who knows what we'll find! Ancient ruins with powerful artifacts hidden inside, or maybe a monster guarding a hoard of treasure!” Rainbow spouts enthusiastically. 

“Well, I wouldn't go quite that far,” I point out. However, her spirits refuse to be dampened. Rainbow starts trying to wrench the roots apart to give us room to enter. She gets about as much success as one would expect. I scoff lightly and gently push her aside. “Out of the way. Let me handle getting in.”

Rainbow, realizing what I'm about to do, leaps back to give me plenty of room. I reach within my consciousness and draw forth my magic. I don't need that much; all I'm doing is calling forth an object that's magically linked to me.

I open my hand and release the magic. A simple longsword made from an emerald-like substance forms in a gust of displaced air. Gravity takes hold and it starts to fall. Before it lands, I catch it by the hilt and give it a twirl. It's been a while since I've held this thing; I haven't even touched a weapon since the war ended.

The magic-infused blade easily cuts through the roots blocking the cave entrance, allowing us entrance. Rainbow immediately leaps inside without waiting for me. I groan, let my sword disappear, and follow her inside. “Would you wait? God, it's like you're a little filly on a field trip,” I grumble. 

The cave goes pretty far into the cliff face, making it a miracle that we even saw anything at all. We're walking for several seconds before reaching the area near what we thought was the back wall. However, the cave goes even farther than that, forming a tunnel that curves in on itself and descends even deeper into the earth. What exactly did we stumble upon here?

Rainbow descends upon the glinting object in the rock and clamps her mouth around it, picking it up out of the pile. She spits it out onto the flat portion of a hoof so she can get a closer look. Judging from the perplexed expression crossing her face, I don't think she has any clue what it is. 

“Seth, you look at this. Maybe you can figure out what I'm looking at,” Rainbow suggests, passing the object gingerly to me. I take it gently from her..though even despite my careful touch, parts of it crumble away in my fingers. “Careful! You don't want to break it! This could be some really valuable artifact!”

“Maybe in your dreams,” I retort. I take a close look at the object...and then all suspicions of this being a simple deposit of mica disappear from my mind. This...this is something else. It's old as hell and nearly unrecognizable, but this looks almost like...human technology. “Wait a second...you might actually be right.”

“Really? Awesome, what is it?” Rainbow pushes her muzzle up close to get a better look at it, disturbing me in the process. I hold her back, much to her annoyance.

“I...I think it's what used to be an LCD screen.” Of course, I can't be sure. This is just a guess on my part, but this ancient relic looks like it could have been part of a calculator or a phone. I could be wrong, due to it being so old that just being held like this is causing it to crumble into dust.

“A what now?” Rainbow is understandably confused by that.

“It stands for liquid crystal display. It's human technology, like what's on my phone,” I reveal to her. Rainbow's eyes widen; she knows full well what finding something like this means to me. Being the last of my race apart from Hawke, the chance to see anything human is one that I can't pass up. “But what the hell is human tech doing in a place like this?”

“Maybe we found some ruins? Do you know of any human cities being around here in the past?” Rainbow questions, peering deeper into the tunnel. 

“I have no earthly idea. Discord fucked up the landscape so much that I honestly couldn't tell you,” I admit to her. I do have my suspicions, however, so I relay that to her. “However, if I assume that  Neighagra falls is in the same general area as Niagara Falls was back in my time...”

“There's a place called Niagara Falls in the human time? That's just like Neighagra! That's a crazy coincidence,” Rainbow interrupts, scratching her head. I give her a flat-browed stare.

“Ever consider the idea that you ponies might have gotten the name for the falls from the ruins of my race?” I point out to her. Rainbow's mouth shuts with a snap. I love this mare, but sometimes she can be so stupid. “Anyway, don't interrupt. If the falls are in the same place as they were in my time, then maybe this is where the state park used to be, on the border between New York and Ontario.”

Rainbow looks at me blankly. “I have no idea what any of those places are,” she states flatly. I heave a sigh of exasperation. Of course she doesn't. “So, you think there might be ruins here?”

“Maybe. I have no idea,” I admit with a shrug. To Rainbow, that might as well have been a yes. Rainbow pumps her hoof in victory and gallops down the tunnel excitedly. I cast the crumbled and useless LCD screen away and chase after her, annoyed. “Would you wait already!? Sheesh! The ruins aren't going anywhere!”

The tunnel spirals down deep into the earth, as the sounds of the wildlife outside fade to nothing. Replacing them is silence, broken only by our breathing and the sound of our feet and hooves crunching on the floor. It's completely dark, but I'm using my phone's flashlight to help us navigate.

“It's strange...the walls look smooth,” I point out, running my hand along the wall. Not counting the chips and flaws from age, the walls look as if they had been carved out. That suggests that they were man-made. I can't believe it. Maybe we've stumbled across some human ruins after all. Given how far off the path this place was, I'm not surprised that this place hasn't been found by now. Ponies tend not to travel off the beaten path.

“Speaking of smooth, look at that!” Rainbow exclaims, bounding forward into the darkness ahead. I orient the flashlight on her...and I feel my breath stop short for a brief moment upon seeing what lies ahead.

The tunnel comes to an end at a doorway that leaves no doubt that it's been made by humans. The entire wall is made of a strong sturdy metal that doesn't seem to have rusted, suggesting it's made of and alloy. If I had to guess, I'd say titanium. The door itself is rectangular and designed like that of a bank vault, in that it's clad entirely in titanium and sealed shut by massive metal bolts extending from the door into the surrounding frame. In place of a doorknob is a large wheel that's connected to the opening mechanisms and complicated locks.

“Whoa...somepony really didn't want others getting in,” Rainbow observes in awe. She steps forward and places a hoof on the metal door. Despite its age, the door is in remarkably good shape. Before I can stop her, Rainbow turns and bucks the door with her hind legs. Her brash action causes the door to resound with a loud clang, but it remains sturdy. Rainbow, however, recoils in pain. “Ow! This thing is really old right? How is it that strong?”

“Because it's basically a vault door, you idiot! Even old bunkers from ancient times lasted a long time, so a modern installation with this kind of architecture should definitely still be sturdy,” I admonish her, holding not sympathy whatsoever for her aching legs. Rainbow protests, I ignore her.“I agree with you on one thing: Someone definitely doesn't want people getting in.”

My curiosity thoroughly piqued, I stride to the door. Setting the travel bags aside, I attempt to open it the old fashioned way. The handle of the wheel is cool to the touch, if a bit crusty from the surrounding earth. I try to turn it, but as I expected, the door is still locked and the wheel won't budge. 

“Damn. I guess I'll have to use force,” I determine, summoning my magic. The tunnel is lit up with the lime green light from my aura, giving the area an eerie look. Rainbow immediately leaps back to give me some room, knowing how destructive I can be. I wreathe my fist in green magic and punch forward directly into the center of the door.

The metal dents slightly beneath my fist and a deep bass tone thrums through the air. Goddamn, this is one sturdy door. Given how much effort was given into making this door, I'm starting to have my suspicions as to what the purpose of these ruins may have been. 

“That didn't work so well,” I observe. The door stubbornly stands in our way from discovering the secrets of these ruins.

“So? Hit it again!” Rainbow directs me. 

“Um...no. I put a hell of a lot of force into that punch. If that didn't break it down, repeated attempts aren't going to do much of anything. There must be some kind of system in the door that distributes force effectively,” I disagree with her. Rainbow blinks.

“So why does that mean you can't just hit it harder?” Rainbow, knowing nothing of force distribution, proceeds to ask me a very dumb question. Times like this just remind me that she's primarily a jock who gets lost if she can't just power her way through.

“It's physics. You wouldn't get it,” I explain, waving my hand dismissively. Ignoring the indignant expression that forms on Rainbow's face, I approach the door and rub my chin. There has to be some way to get in. I'm no vault cracker, so picking it won't work. “Hmm, I could try cutting those bolts.”

I summon the sword again, glancing at the bolts meaningfully. Granted, those things are extremely thick. A slim bladed weapon like this would have no chance of breaking one even with my magic behind it. Therefore, there's only one more thing I can do. 

Concentrating, I focus my magic into my blade. The form of the weapon loses its rigidity and becomes liquid as it shifts to a more suitable shape. It takes the form of a heavy single bladed axe of the sort one would use to chop down trees. This might not work, but it's worth a shot. If it doesn't work, I'll give up and let White Opal, the head of the Canterlot Archaeological Department, know about this place and see what she can do.

“Okay, stand back,” I warn Rainbow as I pump as much magic into the axe as I can. The axe starts to hum with latent power, such that the very air around it starts to dilate. At this point, the weapon is so strong it could probably cut through rock with ease. Let's see how it fares on metal.

I clasp the axe in both hands and bring it over head in a tall arc, aiming directly at the first bolt on the lower half of the door. Upon impact, a bright light fills the air as the magic bursts forth. Vibrations run up my arms to the point where it's painful. The bolt comes apart with a painfully loud shriek of stressed metal, and then my axe embeds itself in the ground.

“Ow...my poor ears,” Rainbow complains, her hooves clapped firmly around the affected appendages. She pries her eyes open. “Did it work? Is it safe to look now?”

“Yeah, it worked,” I answer, panting with the exertion. It's probably a good thing the metal is so old, otherwise it would have taken a hell of a lot more effort than that. The last thing I want to do is bury us in tons of dirt and rock because I used too much power. “But you still shouldn't look. There's still one more bolt I have to cut.”

I repeat the process on the upper bolt, using additional magic to hover a few inches off the ground so I can reach it without having to strain. Now that both bolts are cut, all that's left to do is slide them out of the frame. 

“Here, help me out,” I say to Rainbow as I start tugging on one of the lower bolts. I indicate the upper bolt. “Just pull that bolt up there out of the wall. It's heavy, so be careful.”

“I got this, don't worry,” Rainbow brags, flying up to the bolt in question. I shake my head at her confidence and continue pulling on the lower bolt. Eventually, the metal pole slides out of the frame. I discard it on the ground beside me. Once Rainbow removes the second bolt, the door should be unfastened, unless there's a secondary locking mechanism. I sincerely hope that there isn't.

I don't bother turning the wheel. The whole point of turning it would be to unfasten the bolts...which I just smashed. So at this point, all I should have to do is tug. I plant my feet on the ground and grasp the sides of the wheel. I take a deep breath and pull as I hard as I can, strained grunts escaping me in the process.

“Here, let me help!” Rainbow flies to the handle as well and clamps her hooves around it. Using her wings, she adds her strength to the action. Despite the two of us working together, it's a lot harder than it should be.

The door slowly starts to move outwards, though I feel like something is resisting us. The true nature of that resistance becomes clear to me once I start to hear a loud hissing coming from behind the door. Air rushes past us in a violent gust of wind that doesn't seem to be stopping. I start becoming short of breath, which tells me exactly what's happening. 

I turn and grab Rainbow around the middle. Using as much magical power as I can muster, I propel us away from the door and all the way back through the tunnel. Rainbow yells in protest, but I ignore her. Being able to breathe is more important.

“What the hay was that?” Rainbow demands once I set her down a good distance outside the entrance of the tunnel. 

“Somehow, there was no air in those ruins,” I say, gulping down air. Those crazy bastards...why the hell would they have a bunker with no air in it? 

“You mean like, it's really stuffy in there?” Rainbow, of course, is clueless as to what I mean. I shake my head in response.

“No, I mean like, there's literally no air in there. It was a vacuum. For some reason, the humans pumped out all of the air in that place,” I attempt to explain. “That's why when we opened it, all of the air in the tunnel was sucked into the ruins. If we had stayed, we likely would have suffocated.”

“Wait, you mean we could have died?” Rainbow exclaims vehemently. I nod solemnly. “That was dangerous then! What were those humans thinking?”

“I couldn't tell you. For some reason, they vacuum sealed the place,” I say with a shrug. I look back at the tunnel. The air seems to have stabilized, because I can't see anything getting sucked into the tunnel anymore. “Okay, it should be safe to go in now.”

With that, Rainbow and I return to the vault door. I can't help be awed, now that I see how thick the door truly is. I think the door is about four feet in width. This thing is built like a bank vault. Nothing apart from breaking those bolts could have gotten us in. Even Rainbow is in awe at how thick the door is.

Now that the ruins inside are filled with air, I finish opening the door, revealing what's inside for the first time in millennia. 

Rainbow and I step inside together in silence. Just beyond the doorway is a stark white room that looks like an entrance hall or a lobby. Due to being vacuum sealed, everything inside is in good condition, even the papers on top of the long desk on the far side of the room. The desk looks like some kind of check in station, complete with a designated area for customers (or whatever people that came here were called) to stand in line. For exits, there are two doors on the back wall on either side of the desk, each one preceded by a metal detector.

“Whoa...this place is cool,” Rainbow emits, leaping into the air and hovering to get a better view of the room. She beckons to me. “Come on, let's explore! This is way cooler than walking up a trail.”

“It's certainly interesting. I don't mind taking a look around. I'm too curious to leave now,” I reply to her. I step away from her and walk through the area where the line would have been. The desk is my objective; I'm very curious to see if I can make anything of those papers.

I walk behind the desk and glance down at the papers. Several pages have been held together on a clipboard, with a typical chain and pen attached to it. The paper is no doubt brittle despite how good it looks for its age, so I have to be very careful with it.

“What are these boxy things by the doors?” Rainbow asks, poking at one with her hoof. 

“Metal detectors. It's for security,” I reply absentmindedly to her as I peer through the pages. I seem to be looking at a sign-in sheet of sorts. There are several columns on the page, each one representing a different piece of information.

“What are you looking at?” Rainbow questions, coming closer. I ignore her and keep looking. 

It looks like this is both a sign-in sheet and a database of sorts. The first column has the full names of “Residents,” while the next several columns detail information such as previous addresses and occupations. The very last column is labeled “Status.” In it is detailed the current status of the resident. Some of this suggests that the residents were predetermined, because the names are typed, while the status column is printed in pen. Many of them are labeled as “checked-in,” while others are “unaccounted for.” I scan the pages, mostly for curiosity's sake. I doubt I'd recognize any of these names, considering I didn't live anywhere near this far north.

I turn the page, managing not to damage the paper in the process. I suddenly stop, my blood running cold at what I see. My breath catches in my throat.

“Seth?” Rainbow gets concerned when she sees my expression. I can't bring myself to answer her. On the page, listed innocently with the other residents whose family names begin with “M,” I spot a name that I never thought I would see again.



“Resident Name    Status
Meryl, Amaryllis.  		 Killed in Action.”


> 2. Returning to the Past
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I slowly lower the clipboard down on the counter with shaking hands. I rub my eyes, unable to believe the words in front of me. A second look tells me that I'm not seeing things. A short exhale of disbelief leaves my lungs as my heart starts to beat in my chest uncomfortably. I don't understand.

Amaryllis Meryl. Over three thousand years ago, back when humans still existed, she was my only true friend. She was an utterly cold bitch, of course. That's why she and I got along so well back then. The first time I found out she and every other single human were dead, it tore me apart inside, to the point where I nearly hurled myself off a cliff to escape my seemingly bleak future. Now, seeing proof of her death again brings up some of those same feelings.

I hold my head in my hands, trembling slightly. This shouldn't be bothering me. I've always known how she and the rest of the human race died. It shouldn't come as a shock to see proof of her painful demise. Yet even as I repeat that to myself mentally, the pain continues to set in. It's like a crushing, sinking feeling in my chest.

Rainbow knows me well enough to notice my sudden change in mood. She rears up on her hind legs, plants both forehooves on the surface of the desk, and gazes at me worriedly. “What is it? What's it say?” Rainbow demands. She peers at the papers as well, though ultimately it's in vain; she can't read English. “Hey!”

“It's Amaryllis,” I force out. Rainbow's expression changes immediately; she knows full well what Amaryllis meant to me. I show her the clipboard. She can't read it, but I can at least tell her what it is. “This is a sign-in sheet of some sort. Her name is listed on it...except she never made it here. She's listed as being killed.”

“Oh shoot...” Rainbow looks pained. Yeah...this is not something I expected to find today. What were the odds that I'd come across these ruins to find this sheet? Rainbow and I are quiet for a full painstaking minute. She can't think of anything to say to me, and I can't blame her. “Hold on, you said a sign-in sheet, right? What were they signing in for?”

“Well, all these entries are labeled as residents, so if I had to guess, it's a shelter. A lot of people were coming to live here,” I explain, showing Rainbow the large amount of pages. I don't think I need to say what they were hiding from. According to the date on this thing, it's long after I disappeared, but still some time before the human race is snuffed out. Suddenly, it strikes me. “Wait a minute. This date doesn't make sense. Actually none of this makes sense.”

“What doesn't?” Rainbow questions. I set the sheet down and step away from the desk, thinking hard. Rainbow gets down from the table and walks around the side, following me curiously.

“I gathered that the Oppressed didn't overrun my race until eighty years after Sombra left,” I begin, rubbing my chin. “America shouldn't have come under attack until the later half of that time period.”

“What's a Merica?” Rainbow inquires.

“My home country,” I reply offhandedly. I look around at the worn posters and tarnished plaques hanging on the walls. Some of them have dates listed on them, and none of them make sense in the timeline I've constructed in my head. “Still, this is way too soon. How the hell would they have known to make a bunker like this in the middle of an Oppressed invasion? How did they find the time?”

“Maybe it was already built before all those creepy things showed up,” Rainbow suggests. I'm about to prove her wrong on principle, but then I stop. That actually makes sense. Judging from the way this place is built, it wouldn't be that far-fetched of a guess to say that this place already existed, and was re-purposed for refugees. Maybe this was a military stronghold before Sombra arrived.

“Okay, sure. But that still doesn't explain why the Oppressed were in America this soon. Amaryllis shouldn't have lived long enough to see the Oppressed come. She was already thirty when I saw her in 2022,” I continue. “That's another thing. What the hell was Amaryllis doing this far north? She lived down south with me, near where Ponyville is.”

Rainbow blinks. She's doing her best to follow my explanation, but I can tell that she mostly doesn't understand what I'm saying. That's fair; I'm mostly just thinking aloud here. Dammit, I was happy knowing that Amaryllis would have been able to live the rest of her life out in peace. To hear that the Oppressed may have come a lot sooner than I expected...well...her death would have been messy.

I slide down to the floor, sitting against the front of the desk. Too many thoughts and guesses are rushing through my head at once.

“Hey,” Rainbow says, pressing a hoof against my side in what I assume is meant to be a comforting fashion. “Are you okay?”

“No, goddammit,” I curse. I feel like hitting something...but anything I hit will break, no doubt. “I wish we'd never come here. I wish I hadn't found this.”

“I...uh...you knew she was gone, right? Why is this suddenly a problem?” Rainbow asks rather bluntly. A question like that would have made me snap at anypony other than her; she never has been one for tact.

“Because I thought she'd have died peacefully...of natural causes,” I explain to her. That's what I was hoping for, back when I left them in the past. “Now I've found out that she might have been killed by the Oppressed...and possibly become one. I think I could have lived without knowing this.”

“Yeah...that does sound pretty bad. Sorry. I just thought we'd go exploring.” Rainbow looks as though she feels genuinely bad for encouraging our exploration down here.

“Stop that. I was just as interested as you were,” I point out irritably. I sigh and shake my head.“It's just...this doesn't seem real. What were the chances that I'd find this place?”

“Slim to none,” Rainbow supplies helpfully, earning a bitter chuckle from me. When I fall silent again, Rainbow starts to explore the rest of the room, nearing the far end of the room where the metal detectors and exits are.

Part of me is absolutely cursing this place and myself for coming here. It makes me want to just get up and fly as far away as I can. However...seeing Amaryllis' name on that list has opened up so many questions to which I just don't have answers. I don't think I could handle leaving with all this on my mind.

Rainbow sits there awkwardly, looking around the room and shuffling her hooves on the ground. I have to hide a smirk despite myself. Rainbow is trying to be considerate and not push me too hard, but she simply can't sit still for too long.

I heave a sigh and get to my feet, dusting off my rear. “Alright, let's look around a bit more, I guess.” I'm sure that's what she really wants to be doing.

Sure enough, Rainbow lights up. “Really? Awesome!” she exclaims happily. She then realizes that she should still be acting considerate. She coughs awkwardly and hastily rephrases her exclamation. “I mean...you're sure?”

“Quit that. You're not that good at it,” I tell her wryly, lightly pressing a finger against her head. Then, I start heading for the metal detectors. There's only one way forward from here, and that's through the check-in area to the rest of the bunker.

“Hey, at least I'm better than you!” she shoots back. Confusion furrows her brow a second later. “Wait, what are we talking about?”

“Just come on.”

Together, Rainbow and I pass beneath one of the metal detectors and through the door on the other side. On the other side is an odd rounded hallway that wouldn't look out of place in a futuristic setting. It's completely devoid of all light, so I orient my flashlight on the path ahead.

I cast the light over the area, revealing that the walls are made of the same material as the bunker door, and the floor consists of a thick metal grate covering a system of wires. A quick look tells me the wires run the length of the hallway and feed into the walls and other offshoot corridors. It's certain that this place is definitely made to be practical, rather than to look good.

“Wow, this place is awesome. It looks so much cooler than your school did,” Rainbow expresses, pushing past me to get a better look. She puts her muzzle to the floor to look through the grate. “What are these, wires?”

“Slow down. The bunker isn't going anywhere,” I remark wryly. She ignores me and starts to press forward, so I reach out and grab her tail to keep her from going too far.

“Gah, quit! You're like Applejack; she does this all the time!” Rainbow complains, tugging against my grip. Despite her annoyance, she does slow down and take things at my pace. I think she knows that she can learn more if she sticks with me. I'm not an expert on any of this stuff, but I know a hell of a lot more than her.

But honestly, that's all secondary to me right now. It's a long shot, but I'm hoping to find out more about what happened to Amaryllis here. I don't know why I never thought about any of this before, but I'm suddenly starting to get curious about what went on after I disappeared, back in 2014. I never really asked, so nobody really said anything. I was assumed dead for eight years...it couldn't have been easy for them. It certainly wasn't for me.

But Amaryllis...she said she met Sombra. More than ever, I wish I knew what happened.





Approximately 3000 Years Ago

It was a chilly autumn day for the student populace of Rainier University. As it was nearing the weekend, the campus grounds were alive with student activity as they all prepared for their upcoming tests.

The science building stood tall on top of the hill, casting a shadow on the crowded sidewalk below. This particular building held the majority of the math and science classes for the university, and as such always had a considerable throng of students moving to and from their classes within.

Two particular students stood out from the rest, in that the other students gave them a respectable berth. In a college like this, such consideration was unheard of, as everyone was usually only interested in their own agendas and rarely made room for others. Those who didn't move out of their way fast enough were bumped aside, as the two students did not seem interested in being polite.

One of the two was a well built girl, whose most defining feature was her long and glimmering crimson hair that she let flow freely down her back. In addition to that, it was hard to miss the defined muscles rippling through her arms and legs. It was clear from her physical appearance that she took strength and fitness very seriously, which was unusual for a girl.

Her gaze was fixed straight ahead of her, though on occasion she would glance at her companion. While her ice blue eyes were usually fierce and unwavering, it would be easy to see how they softened whenever she gazed upon her companion. However, no one would ever comment on this, in fear of impending death.

Her name was Amaryllis Meryl. She knew full well how she was viewed; she was considered a temperamental fiery bitch, or even an ice queen if one was feeling dramatic. She always spent her time working out or reading books, and anyone that interrupted her received the full force of her irritation.

Her companion was a lanky male with a rounded, somewhat effeminate face and shoulder length black hair. His typical expression was always an annoyed scowl, though it currently seemed almost cheerful at the moment. Everyone knew that he talked more to his female companion than anyone else, though his temper was also well known, and as such it was never mentioned.

His name was Seth Rogers, a man who was viewed as a quiet version of Amaryllis. He was known to be bitter, sarcastic, and standoffish, but only when one attempted to get to know him or inconvenienced him in some way. Unlike Amaryllis, he didn't go out of his way to show his irritation. Soon after he arrived, he too ended up with a reputation among the relatively small community.

The two of them climb the stairs to the science building together in a comfortable silence. Their friendship was as unlikely as a cold day in hell, but despite all odds, they were comfortable with one another...and only with one another.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Amaryllis and Seth faced one another in front of the science building. Seth appeared regretful now that their time was at an end...a sentiment that Amaryllis shared. She already thought she didn't see him enough, so every time she parted from him tended to leave her moody for a while afterward.

“I guess I'll see you later,” Seth told her regretfully, putting his hands in his pockets as he usually did. Amaryllis let her gaze trace over his smooth and unblemished face, and once again she could feel her spirits dropping. It would likely be a few days before they both had the time to see each other again.

An idea came to her mind and remained there. She wondered how Seth would react if she were to try showing him any affection at all. She knew how she was viewed, and despite how tough she liked to consider herself, she always felt nervous and uncertain whenever she thought to act upon her feelings. She hated that feeling, but she couldn't help herself. Seth was special to her.

“...to hell with it,” Amaryllis muttered under her breath. After a moment of hesitation, she stepped forward and slipped her arms beneath Seth's, her hands snaking up his back and clinging to his shoulders. She stood close to him and rested her head on his chest...and had to try not to chuckle; she could already hear his heartbeat quickening.

Seth is understandably shocked. He doesn't even react for a painstaking second, causing Amaryllis to worry if she had been too bold after all. Finally, he attempts to reciprocate, but she can feel how awkward and tense he is. Amaryllis thought with some amusement that Seth probably had thought she was going to attack him or something.

Finally, Seth responds. “What's this? Is Amaryllis getting sentimental? I hope you're not getting soft on me,” he comments with a devilish grin. Amaryllis huffs and promptly shoves Seth away towards the wall. She steps back and glares at him for a moment. She didn't know what she expected.

“Oh, you are such an asshole,” she complained. Even though it had been unlikely, she'd hoped for something more tender from him. But no, Seth had to be his usual oblivious self.

“Yeah, hello? Have you met me?” Seth remarks, waving a hand in front of her face. Amaryllis rolls her eyes and gives a scoff, turning away from him and moving to rejoin the stream of students heading the other way.

“Just go to class already so I can be rid of you,” she shoots back, not even looking at him again. She wasn't that angry. Seth frustrated her so much sometimes, but she still cared about him. To let him know she wasn't mad, she raised a hand and gave him a small wave without looking back.

With that, Amaryllis returned the way she came, walking down the staircase and leaving Seth behind. After that, she soon lost interest in everything else except where she was going next. She had class for the rest of the evening and she wasn't looking forward to it.

Retracing her steps, Amaryllis put some distance between herself and the science building, heading instead to the business building. Unlike Seth, she was focusing more on a business and mathematics related major. But, like Seth, she hated every second of it. Her interests laid in reading and fighting, neither of which would get her a decent job.

Upon entering her classroom, Amaryllis took her usual seat near the right wall of the room. She always liked the feeling of sitting against a wall, and as such she sat in a similar position in all of her classes.

This particular class took place in a smaller room because of its specialized nature, so there wasn't a lot of room for people to sit. That being said, it was very telling when the seats immediately next to Amaryllis were left empty. Not that she minded. She actually preferred the extra space.

The professor soon entered the room and class began. Amaryllis' attention was soon taken up by textbooks and notes. As she said before to Seth, the lecture was just as important as the book.

All in all, the day continued as normal for her. Amaryllis went on autopilot, hardly thinking as she took notes and drank from the water bottle she carried around in her bag. This particular class wasn't that hard for her, as it was mostly simple theory memorization and application rather than hard number crunching.

Even when the class ended, Amaryllis didn't have time to catch her breath. Her next one came right after this one, and lasted longer than a typical class. She hefted her bag over her shoulder and gritted her teeth, mentally cursing the rigor of her schedule. Thankfully, this was her last class of the day; she'd be able to go home and get some exercise in before it got too late.

It took her completely by surprise when her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. Someone was calling her. She had just sat down and the professor was already setting up the slides for that day's lecture, indicating that class was about to begin. This sudden call was an unwelcome interruption.

Her annoyance melted away into curiosity when she glanced at her phone and saw that Seth was the one calling her. That was odd. Seth knew she was in class right now, so he should know not to bother her.

Amaryllis glanced between the still ringing phone and the professor, weighing her options in her mind. She didn't like to skip out on class, but Seth never called her during class. There was a high chance that this was somewhat important.

“Goddammit,” Amaryllis cursed under her breath. Mentally glad that he hadn't yet unpacked her bags, she stood up and left the room. She could just come back to class later after hearing what Seth had to say. She was going to shred him if this was over something stupid.

She made her way out into the hall and to the nearest bathroom, where she'd have a better degree of privacy than in the hall. She locked herself in a stall and answered the call at last, bringing the phone up to her ear.

“Seth, you do know I'm in class right now, right?” Amaryllis addressed her friend without waiting for him to speak. No doubt he would be able to hear a little irritation in her voice.“I literally went to the bathroom to talk to you.”

After she was finished, she could hear that Seth was breathing a little faster than normal. When Seth answered, his voice sounded frantic, almost frightened. There was no trace of his usual bitter sarcasm. “Yeah...yeah I do...sorry...” Seth stammered on the other end of the line. Amaryllis' irritation immediately faded away, to be replaced with concern.

“What happened? You don't usually call me sounding like a troubled toddler,” Amaryllis questioned. Her words were joking, but her tone was serious. She was worried now; Seth never sounded like this.

“I have no idea what just fucking happened. I...I don't know what to think,” Seth admits to her, sounding no better than before.

Amaryllis lowered the toilet seat and sat down, figuring that she'd be here for a while. Right now, class was secondary compared to the needs of her closest and only friend. “Okay. Calm down and start from the beginning,” she replied calmly and patiently. She did know one thing about Seth, and that was that he tended to act irrationally when faced with a situation he couldn't understand. He couldn't handle difficult situations like she could.

Seth takes her advice and breathes deeply several times until he's calm enough to speak clearly. “Okay. You're never going to believe this...”

Amaryllis listens carefully as Seth begins his tale, not knowing what to expect. When Seth starts to describe a strange man that he met in the stairwell, she starts to get a little incredulous. She trusted him, of course, but he was talking about a guy wearing heavy armor and exhibiting titanic strength, like something out of one those animes he was always watching. Nevertheless, she withheld her judgment until Seth was finished.

In full, Seth met the man in the stairwell and ran into him, which apparently angered the man enough to take it out on Seth. However, according to Seth, the man spoke in Early Modern English, which was basically Shakespearean English to her. Not only that, but he possessed enough strength to render Seth completely helpless.

“Seth, I'm not gonna lie, but this all sounds a little fantastic,” Amaryllis had to say to him once he finished his retelling of the event. She wasn't sure if she believed all of it, but Seth never was the kind to make up complete bullshit to get her attention. If this all really happened, then she couldn't just sit in class and let him deal with it on his own. He was practically a woman in how emotional he could get. “But I've known you long enough to know you wouldn't make up bullshit like this. I'm cutting class now. Can you meet me in front of the science building?”

“Hell yes. I'm done with this whole situation. I'll meet you outside in...” Seth suddenly cuts off on the other line, his voice starting to waver. She heard the sound of flesh hitting metal, as if he was clenching the railing to steady himself. “...Whoa...”

“Seth? What is it? What's the problem?” She demanded sharply. Seth doesn't respond at first, causing her to get seriously worried. She stands up, ready to run to him if need be.

“I feel...really weird...” Seth manages to get out, but Amaryllis could tell that he was having trouble even speaking. Immediately, she grabbed her bag once more and stormed out of the bathroom, on her way to the science building.

Her concern turned to urgency when she heard a heavy thud, and then a clattering so loud she had to distance her phone from her ear. That sounded an awful lot like he fall and dropped his phone, suggesting that whatever damage he had taken from that strange man had been greater than he'd said.

“Seth! What's going on? Are you there?” Amaryllis demanded as she moved briskly through the halls. Her raised voice and the urgency in her tone earned her several curious looks from the other students, but she paid no attention to them. “Shit, hang on, I'm coming!”

Amaryllis closed the phone and broke into a run, flying out the front door of the building and swiftly descending the stairs that led back to street level. It was quite the distance to the science building, but she didn't care. All that was on her mind right now was getting to Seth and making sure he was safe.

Ignoring the attention she garnered from moving so fast, Amaryllis sprinted across the wide parking lot that separated the main road from the rest of campus. Not even checking for the bus that usually stopped here, she stormed across the street and into the walkway just in front of the science building.

The moment her foot touched the sidewalk, a strange feeling came over her, causing her to shiver violently. It was almost as if the very atmosphere had turned to ice around her. Each breath she took stung her nostrils, and every hair on the back of her neck stood up ramrod straight. Something was wrong.

Even the other students around her could feel it. As she approached the stairway that led up to the science building's entrance, she could see other students shivering and hastily getting as far away from the area as possible. Others just seemed physically unable to move, and another was vomiting behind a bush, unable to take the feeling in the air.

The icy air felt as if it were physically pressing down on her, making it hard to breath. She didn't know why, but she felt as if something evil was nearby, overwhelming her every sense. “What the fuck is going on here?” She gritted out, pushing forward.

She came to a complete stop when several students bolted from the entrance of the science building, running down the stairs as if hell itself was chasing them. Soon after that, a tall man emerged, casting a shadow upon the sidewalk below. Amaryllis could immediately tell that the source of the wrongness in the air must be coming from him.

Her heart felt as if it leaped right into her throat when the strange man locked eyes with her. The first thing she noticed were his vivid red eyes that looked too real to be any kind of special lens. She noticed that the strange man matched Seth's description perfectly, from the ashen gray skin and the heavily armored muscular body, to the crown on his head holding back his wild, snarled mane.

Amaryllis wasn't one to be scared of another person, but something made her take a step back. She found it extremely hard to bear the intense gaze of the tall man. She even thought she saw something akin to curiosity in his vile red eyes.

The man slowly descended the stairs, his thick red cape trailing down behind him. With every step, his heavy armor clanked against the concrete, echoing throughout the area ominously. When he finally reached her level, Amaryllis found her voice again.

“Okay, buddy. I don't know what your deal is, but you're in the way,” Amaryllis snapped at him boldly. She cursed herself for saying something so silly, but in the face of this dark imposing man, the words just weren't coming to her.

The man didn't seem perturbed by her angry tone at all. In fact, he had quite the opposite reaction. His lips curled into an amused smile, revealing viciously pointed teeth. He calmly approached Amaryllis, causing her to take another step back.

His strides outpaced hers, and it was long before he stood before her. The man towered over her, which was saying something considering her own considerable height. He was so close that Amaryllis could smell him: a warm and almost bestial musk.

Amaryllis stood frozen, unable to think of anything to do. Her every instinct told her to fight, but she physically couldn't bring herself to move. It felt as if the very air was pressing down around her like a heavy blanket.

She flinched as the man briefly laid a gauntleted hand on her shoulder. That one touch felt unbearably heavy to her. “Not this time,” the man finally uttered, his voice a deep and rich bass. He then removed his hand and continued past her, his cape sweeping past her legs. “Thou hast no longer any use to me.”

Without another word, the man continued down the second set of stairs and turned left at the street, walking out of sight. The oppressive feeling in the air disappeared with him, and everything was as it used to be.

“I...what?” Amaryllis finally managed to find her voice again. Around her, other students that had been similarly immobilized were finding themselves again, whispering anxiously to one another and quickly vacating the area. “What the hell...?”

“Hey...um...Amaryllis?” a male student approached her bravely, a rare occurrence due to her reputation. Amaryllis gave him her attention briefly, even though she was in a hurry. “What did he mean, 'not this time?'”

“Hell if I know. Your guess is as good as mine,” she responded, her usual rudeness gone in the face of the current situation. Seth was waiting for her. She couldn't linger here any longer. She gazed at the student intensely. “Call campus police. I don't care that he hasn't done anything; that man is a threat.”

“O-Okay. What about you?” the student returns, caving before her authoritative tone. By that point, Amaryllis was already moving, accelerating to a run once again.

“I'm going to find my friend,” she asserted firmly.

Inside the science building, it didn't seem like anyone noticed anything at all. Life was continuing as normal inside, with students moving in and out of the different classrooms, or studying at one of the various tables. Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Amaryllis cut through the study area and headed directly for the stairwell that Seth mentioned. She just hoped she wasn't too late.

She stormed into the stairwell and climbed to the foyer where Seth said he'd be...and then she stopped cold. There was nothing there. There was no sign of Seth anywhere, even though she knew she heard him collapsing over the phone. Perhaps someone already called campus police and helped him?

There was only one way to find out. She stood against the back of the stairwell and took out her phone, dialing Seth again. As she held the phone to her ear, she couldn't help but notice that the air around her smelled strange, as if someone had burnt something here.

The phone rang once before the sound cut out, to be replaced with an error message. Amaryllis brought the phone in front of her incredulously. “What do you mean, the number's out of service? Bullshit it's out of service!” she cursed at the phone. That was impossible. She was just on the phone with him a few minutes ago. There was no way the number could be out of service unless it just suddenly ceased to exist or something else just as ridiculous.

She called Seth again and again, only to get the same error message each time. “Fucking hell! Okay, next plan,” Amaryllis tried campus police second, following up on her earlier thought. They picked up almost instantly, thankfully enough.

“Campus police,” the woman on the other side answered formally. Amaryllis sighed with relief.

“Hey, has anyone called in about a collapsed student in a stairwell?” she asked fervently, hoping more than anything that the answer would be yes.

“One moment.” If the woman was confused by Amaryllis' irregular question, her voice didn't show it. Amaryllis could hear the woman saying something indistinctly on the other end of the line for a few seconds. When she returned...it wasn't with good news. “We have received no calls of that kind. Is there some other way I can...”

“Dammit!” Amaryllis hung up the phone and frantically tried to come up with some other plan. Seth was here not too long ago. She was sure of it. If no one called in about his sudden collapse, then...did someone else move him, or did he get up and move on his own? The former seemed more likely to her; Seth wouldn't just call her like that and then not try to meet up with her.

Amaryllis stormed up the stairs to the second level, hoping that she'd find a witness of some sort. She grabbed the arm of the first person she saw, which happened to be a dark skinned man on his way towards the stairwell himself.

“You. Did you see Seth come up here? It's important,” Amaryllis interrogated him without giving him a chance to react first.

The man didn't seem perturbed by the abrupt way he was stopped. Instead, he seemed delighted that he had the chance to talk to someone. “Nah, I ain’t seen him since class. Did you know I had last class with him? He don't do much other than sit there and look huffy, but he does good work. Did you know I had to work with him on...” the man immediately began talking, though none of it was helpful whatsoever.

“Yeah, that's great; I don't give a damn,” Amaryllis cut him off rudely and released him, heading for another student instead. This time, the student saw her coming, recognized her, and stopped once he realized she was heading for him. She repeated her question to him, and this time she got a more useful response.

“Yes, actually. I heard him shouting in the stairwell, but he told me to, and I quote 'fuck off,' when I asked him if he needed help,” the student, whom she recognized as a fellow math major, Brian, revealed to her. That was slightly more useful; it definitely sounded like something Seth would say. While Amaryllis usually agreed with the way Seth handled himself, she inwardly cursed him for not accepting the help. That would have made this a whole lot easier on her.

“Did he leave the stairwell? Where is he now?” Amaryllis shot off two more questions at him in response. She was getting more and more frantic the more time she wasted asking these people.

“I don't...Amaryllis, are you alright? You're not usually like...” Brian started to ask her, but Amaryllis wasn't having any of it.

“Just answer the goddamn question,” she snapped at him. Brian cut off, looking affronted by her rudeness. She sighed in frustration. “Please.”

“Uh...okay. Sorry, but I don't know. I don't think I saw him heading back out onto this floor. He might have gone out below. Did you check that way?” Brian answers. He still looked confused, but he appeared to have realized that it must be important.

“I came from there. Dammit!” Amaryllis cursed. That didn't tell her anything. In fact, it confused her even more. If Seth didn't come to the second floor, and she didn't see him coming in, then where did he go? It wasn't like he could have just vanished.

“Though, I did see a guy running out of there like his tail was on fire,” Brian continues. Amaryllis looks up at that. It wasn't Seth, but that guy might know something about him...or at least whatever happened in that stairwell. Brian turns and points towards the end of the hall. “Brown hair, wears a red and yellow bag. If you're quick, you might catch him.”

Amaryllis doesn't even take the time to thank him. The moment she had another lead, she takes off in the direction Brian indicated. The strap of her bag was starting to dig into her shoulders painfully, but she wasn't about to leave it somewhere. She was extremely grateful for her own physical fitness; she could keep up this pace for a while.

She headed towards the other end of the hall, where there was another staircase similar to the one she just came up through. When she entered the stairwell, she realized she didn't know whether the fleeing student had gone up or down. She took a guess and headed down, figuring that if the guy was running, he would try and get out of the building.

When Amaryllis reached the ground floor, she stepped out and looked down the hall to her right. Seeing nothing that fit Brian's description, she looked to her left, where the upper exit to the building was. Sure enough, she spotted a student wearing a red and yellow bag moving briskly towards a car in the parking lot outside.

“Hey!” Amaryllis called out as she left the building, speeding up in order to catch up to the student before he reached his car. Just as he was opening the front door of the car, she caught up with him. Her sudden appearance caused the student to jump in shock. He definitely hadn't expected her of all people to approach him. “You saw something in the science building's stairwell, didn't you?”

“W-What? Uh...what are you...?” The student appeared to be having trouble finding his words. Amaryllis had no patience for that right now. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was running out of time.

“Did I fucking stutter? Tell me about the man you saw!” She demanded. The student gulped and nodded, bending before her confrontational approach.

The student's eyes widened. Amaryllis could tell he knew exactly what she was talking about.“You mean the scary one? God, he was like...I can't even explain it. Everything around him felt like it froze, if that makes any sense,” the student started slowly at first, but as he started talking, he grew more confident. Amaryllis nodded. That definitely sounded like the armored man she saw. “He was talking to Seth...it actually looked like Seth was hurt, cuz he was lying on the ground.”

“Then what happened?”

“The tall man, he...he just looked at me, and...you're gonna think I'm crazy...I felt like I was suffocating. I didn't stick around after that,” the student finished. He watched Amaryllis for a reaction uncertainly.

Amaryllis had to restrain herself from shouting out her frustration. Everything she'd tried so far had just ended up with her hitting a dead end. Ever since Seth called her, he seemingly disappeared from the face of the planet. Nobody had seen him, nobody had called in anything...she was starting to panic.

She suddenly came to a realization. Without another word, Amaryllis turned and broke into a sprint back into the building, ignoring the student calling after her in confusion. So far, out of everything she'd heard, there was only one common element. That tall intimidating man...he had to be the cause of Seth's supposed disappearance.

If she could just find him, then she'd have all the answers she needed.
> 3. The Years Gone By
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The silence settles over us like an oppressive blanket, broken only by the sound of our footfalls upon the metal grating. The path ahead is completely obscured by a shroud of darkness. The only source of light comes from the back of my phone. Wherever I angle it, a dim circle of the floor is illuminated ahead of us.

“This is a pain...I can't see a damn thing,” I complain. My phone's flashlight isn't bad, but it's doing very little to peel away the thick darkness. A quick glance upwards reveals tubes along the ceiling that contain filaments similar to what you'd see in fluorescent lighting, but they're completely inert. I don't see any light switches around, so I'm guessing they're activated from some other central location. Not that they'd work anyway. Any type of power generator would be long useless by now.

“Hey, shine that light thingy over here,” Rainbow rather eloquently requests as she pushes past me. “Is this a door?”

I obligingly sweep the beam of light over to where she is standing. Rainbow steps aside slightly so that the light falls upon the strange door that she was looking at. I can tell it's a door due to the way it's set into the wall, but it looks like no door I've ever seen. 

“I think so,” I reply uncertainly, joining her by it. I set the phone on the floor with its flashlight angled up so I can use both hands. Just like everything else, it's made of a hard metal that doesn't seem to have corroded at all. There's a small window set into the upper portion of the door, but I can't see through it. Even shining the light through doesn't reveal more than a few inches into the darkness. “Let me see if I can't get it open.”

I spot a recessed handle in the door about halfway up. It's not a typical door handle, the kind of which you'd see at an everyday institution like my college. It looks more like a crank than a handle or a doorknob. It’s a rather odd design. I clamp my hand on it and attempt to open the door, but nothing happens as I turn the crank. It doesn't sound like anything is moving in the structure of the door either.

“What, is it locked?” Rainbow questions. She shoves her way past me and attempts to push the door open with her shoulder, but that doesn't have any success. She even turns and tries to buck it open, with similar results. “It just won't budge! What's this thing made of?”

“Metal,” I deadpan, crossing my arms at her. Like she's really gonna be able to buck down a door like this. “Seriously though, this place was made to be sturdy. I couldn't punch the front door down, and these doors look like they're made to resist tons of pressure.”

“What, were they trying to keep something out?” Rainbow suggests.

“Yeah, probably. They were trying to hide from the Oppressed,” I explain with a shrug. Rainbow closes her mouth, remembering what I'd told her about the end of my species. It only makes sense that the bunker would be built so sturdily. “But it doesn't look like the front door was breached.”

“Does that mean some humans survived?” Rainbow asks hopefully.

“You'd think so...but this place was vacuum sealed. This doesn't make any sense.” I rest my back against the door, thinking hard. I'm trying to fit together everything I've learned in attempt to make sense of this place. It's likely that this was a bunker to hide from the Oppressed. But that doesn't explain the vacuum seal, or where the survivors went...if there were any.

I consider busting down the door, but decide better of it. The door could be constructed similarly to the front door. If so, punching it would be useless. Even if I could knock it down, who knows how sturdy this place is. The better choice would be to wait and see what else we can find.

“Let's keep moving. This door clearly isn't going to open anytime soon,” I tell her. Rainbow shrugs and joins me, losing interest in the door now that we can't get through it. Grasping my phone, I lead the way down the corridor to see what else we can find.

It seems like the bunker is laid out in a very practical fashion. The corridors are narrow and what rooms we can find are cramped. Saving space must have been a priority to the contractors. Security must have also been important; we can't go ten feet without finding another door we can't open. After the fifth door that we find bolted shut, I notice that some of the wires beneath the floor grate feed up into the door frame.

“If I'm not mistaken, I think these doors might actually be electric,” I hypothesize after inspecting one of the doors further. When Rainbow comes to investigate, I point her to where the wires connect with the door frame.

“Wow, that must have been expensive. I'd go broke trying to do that,” Rainbow comments, looking impressed.

“It's definitely not cheap. But it's not nearly as expensive for us; electricity for us is commonplace,” I remind her. “It does seem a little excessive though. As if anything was going to get through that front door.”

The thought also crosses my head that the door might be magnetic. I heard that electromagnets can be powered through an electric current, but I don't know the details. I don't say it aloud; Rainbow would never understand. I don't even know if the common ponies know about the concept of magnetism  yet.

“Alright, then let's get this thing powered! That's all we gotta do to open it, right?” Rainbow determines.

“Yeah, but there is no way to power it. Whatever power source there might have been will have long since deteriorated,” I point out. Unless there's a hand crank generator. But given the sophistication of this place, I sincerely doubt there will be something so impractical.

“Ugh, that's lame. Didn't your people build anything to last?” Rainbow complains. She glares stubbornly at the door, as if giving up on it meant letting the door beat her.

“Not really. We built for functionality, and relied on ourselves to fix or replace what broke,” I admit with a shrug. My response then turns slightly bitter. “It's not like we expected to suddenly not be around anymore.”

“Oh...yeah...I guess you have a point,” Rainbow retracts, looking a little embarrassed. I'm not mad though. Now that she brought it up, I can't help but be a little confused.

Despite their flaws, humans were geniuses. We had the most sophisticated technology, with computers that can hold entire generations worth of information. We could travel the world in a matter of days with our knowledge of aviation. We had people who can make weapons that vaporize entire cities in moments. We even put a man on the goddamned moon. I bet if I ever told Luna that, she'd probably kick me out of the throne room. Before or after she finished laughing.

In light of all of mankind's technological accomplishments, how the hell did Vanta and his undead horde beat us?





Approximately 3000 Years Ago

By the time Amaryllis made it back to the front of the science building, where she had encountered the strange, sinister man, it seemed like everyone had forgotten about the incident. Now that the short term fear had passed and the other witnesses had run, students were passing through the area as though everything were normal. Amaryllis could already feel her ire rising as that thought came to her.

After storming into the clearing, she noticed two people standing near the top of the stairs that led to the parking lot. One of them was the student that had spoken to her moments after the strange man had made his exit. At the time she'd been too worried about Seth to care who he was, but now she recognized him from one of the classes she took last semester. If she remembered right, his name was William.

The other was a member of the campus police, judging from her attire. At the bottom of the stairs, in the parking lot, Amaryllis spotted a single patrol car parked against the side of the road. Good; that meant William had actually done what she asked and called them here. However, Amaryllis couldn't help but feel that just one policewoman wouldn't be enough.

As Amaryllis approached, she was able to hear the conversation currently in progress. “Sir, I'm going to need you to slow down and start over. I'm still not quite sure I'm fully understanding,” the officer was saying to the rather overwhelmed looking William. “You described the suspicious person as being fully clad in armor?”

“Not body armor like what the military uses, but actual, medieval...like knight armor,” William attempted to explain, but Amaryllis was already rolling her eyes. He kept stumbling over his words. In her mind, there was no way the officer was going to take him seriously.

“Knight armor,” the officer repeated. Amaryllis could already see the skeptical expression forming on her face. William nodded, gulping uncertainty in the face of the policewoman's skepticism. “Look, sir, if you called me out here for...”

“Okay, he didn't call you out here for anything,” Amaryllis interrupted. William clearly couldn't even handle the simple task of explaining himself believably. Upon her interruption, the officer cut off and turned to face her, her expression neutral. William sighed with relief and took a few steps back, allowing Amaryllis to take over the situation. “I did. He was just doing what he was told.”

“And you are?” the officer questioned with a raised eyebrow.

“Amaryllis Meryl,” Amaryllis answered impatiently.

“I see. Then perhaps you can shed some light on the situation. The campus police keeps very busy; too busy to be distracted by trifles,” the officer responded smoothly and sternly. Amaryllis' brow twitched in annoyance at the way she was addressed. It felt like she was being talked down to, and that was enough to piss her off. “Did you too see the man in 'knight armor?'”

“Okay, first off, you can stop talking to me like that,” Amaryllis snapped, losing her composure. The officer blinked at the outburst, while William winced; the student knew full well how fiery Amaryllis could get. “I'm not some kid who calls the police over something stupid.”

“Excuse me?” the officer began showing some irritation as well.

Amaryllis turned slightly and pointed directly above the entrance to the science building. There, one of the school's many security cameras was installed at the fringe of the concrete overhang. “If you don't believe us, check the security footage,” she expressed. “But more importantly, my friend is missing, and that man is the last one to have seen him.”

“I don't appreciate your tone, miss,” the officer retorted, crossing her arms. Amaryllis rolled her eyes. Of course she didn't. This didn't bode well for the campus' safety if all Amaryllis could expect from the law enforcement was to get offended over their own incompetence. “Have you filed a missing person report with us?”

“...Are you serious? That's not how that works.” Amaryllis could hardly believe what she was hearing. “I've spoken to several people that saw my friend getting roughed up by that man before he went missing. I'm pretty sure that counts as foul play.”

The officer looked as though she wanted to argue, but it seemed she was finally getting the picture that she needed to do her duty. The officer rubbed her forehead and nodded. “Alright. I'll pull the security footage and see what we can find out. What's your friend's name?”

“Seth Rogers. Slender, shoulder length black hair, wears a messenger bag,” Amaryllis responded promptly. She was starting to realize that calling the police may have been a waste of time. They would need time to uncover the evidence, and she had a feeling that she didn't have time to waste.

“Okay. I'll take a look. I don't know about this armored knight stuff, but assault is worth looking into at least,” the officer admitted, sighing heavily. “Though in the future, you should have a little more respect.”

“Whatever,” Amaryllis grumbled, dismissing the officer's words. She found it pathetic how quick the law enforcement on this campus was to distrust students. She certainly didn't make a habit of calling the police for pranks. The very idea was ludicrous to her. As she turned to head back down towards the parking lot, she made a mental note to file a complaint to the campus administration.

Amaryllis was only moving for a few seconds before she could hear someone jogging up behind her. It was William again; she could tell that much without even turning her head. He was like a lost puppy, clinging to whoever seemed to know what the hell they were doing. Amaryllis rolled her eyes even before he started talking.

“Amaryllis? Where are you going?” he asks anxiously. At the very least, he seemed to be taking this all very seriously. Maybe it was because he just had nothing better to do. Amaryllis had no idea, nor did she really care.

“To find that man, obviously. You think I have time to sit around and wait for the police to actually do something?” Amaryllis snapped, her impatience evident in her tone.

“Don't you think the police are going to want to talk to you? What if they do find something on the cameras?”

“What does it matter to you? All I wanted you for was to get the police here. You can go home now for all I care,” Amaryllis shot back, quickly losing her patience with William.

“But what about that man? You said he was a threat, right?” William didn't seem like he was going to back off that easily. As far as Amaryllis could tell, it wasn't because he was being brave or anything. She could tell from William's tone that he was still terrified; that probably meant he was following her around because of her reputation. “Can we really just let him...”

Amaryllis sighed angrily and slowed to a halt. She whirled around and focused fully on William, intent on letting him know exactly where he stood. “Okay, buddy. First of all, there is no 'we.' Second of all, my friend is missing, and nobody seems to know a goddamn thing other than this freak show I'm following. Do you really think I have the time to stand here and babysit you?” She demanded. William flinched and took a step back. It was obvious that he knew of her, but this was the first time Amaryllis had ever yelled at him directly. “Just fucking go home. I don't have time for this.”

Amaryllis turned back around and broke into a brisk run. She didn't understand why, but she felt as though her time ..and by extension Seth's time...was running out. She didn't get much further, however, before she became aware of running footsteps behind her. William was still following her.

“I told you to go home!” She snapped at him, not even bothering to stop this time.

William was silent for several moments before responding.“...I want to help you find your friend,” he answers simply. Amaryllis' first reaction was to scoff. No doubt he was fishing for favors; nobody just offered to help for nothing. That went double for her...everybody knew how difficult she was to approach, much less to help.

“Whatever.” At this point, Amaryllis didn't feel like arguing. If he wanted to follow along, she guessed she didn't care that much. Finding Seth was much more important at the moment. “If you're gonna follow me, then shut up, keep up, and do what I tell you.”

“Got it,” William surprisingly responded. That was odd, but Amaryllis figured she'd analyze his angle later.

They moved through the parking lot in the last direction that Amaryllis remembered the armored man going; the two of them made good time. Every so often, Amaryllis stopped and accosted a nearby student for information. Most of the time, none of them knew anything, but sometimes, her diligence paid off and she found a student that had seen the strange man.

In this manner, Amaryllis and William made their way across campus, following student sightings of their target. She did most of the work, but with William helping, she were able to gather information much quicker than if she had just been on her own.

According to the information she gathered, the armored man walked directly down the main walkway, disturbing whole crowds of students. Then, upon reaching the dedicated mathematics building (a building in which Amaryllis spent a lot of time in, being a math major), the man cut through the western cluster of classroom buildings and doubled back towards the new dormitory complex, where Seth lived.

By the time they reached the Arboretum, or the copse of trees between the two roads leading towards the dormitories, the trail started to run cold. A student pointed them towards the trees, saying that the man had gone directly inside. However, once inside, there was no sign of the man, nor of any other students that had seen him.

The Arboretum exited out into the western parking lot close to the campus church and the dorms. There, Amaryllis noticed several students heading to and from their cars. She quickly made a beeline for one.

“Did you see anyone odd coming out from the forest here on your way in?” Amaryllis questioned the student after stopping him. Behind her, William rested his hands on his knees, winded from his attempts to keep up with her speed.

“You mean this forest?” the student replied at first. Amaryllis nodded, trying extremely hard not to roll her eyes. No, clearly she meant the other forests around here...the ones that didn't exist. “Well, no, I didn't see anyone really. But...”

“What?” Amaryllis pressed.

“You're not gonna believe this. There was this little black horse that walked out on its own,” the student revealed. Amaryllis blinked, wondering if she had heard him right.

“A horse,” she repeated.

“Yeah! It was all dressed up something fancy too,” the student answered. Amaryllis and William looked at one another, unsure of what to make of that information. “Other than that, nothing came out of the forest. Sorry.”

Amaryllis acknowledged the student and retreated a safe distance to think over her next course of action. “The hell? A horse? How does that help?” Amaryllis demanded, at a loss about what to do next.

“I don't know, seeing a horse is a bit odd. Think it's worth checking out?” William asks curiously. Amaryllis gives him a deadpan stare.

“Oh yes, totally. Completely ignore the armored man who may or may not have kidnapped my friend and go gallivanting around after the Equestrian team's fucking mascot. Seems like a great idea,” Amaryllis returned sarcastically. William shrugged, looking hurt by her scathing words. “No seriously. There are horses on campus whenever the Equestrian team has practice.”

“Oh...just thought it was odd that there'd be one in the Arboretum of all places,” he explained weakly, backing off pretty quick beneath her harsh reasoning. It seemed to her like he didn't have that much of a backbone.

“Then why don't you go question it? Maybe it knows something?” Amaryllis' voice practically dripped with sarcasm.

“Right, sounds a little dumb when you say it like that,” William admits. Amaryllis raised an eyebrow. Usually people snapped back at her by now. “So what do you want me to do?”

“Go home, but you're still here for some reason. So, of make yourself useful and search the service houses along the western road,” Amaryllis directed him. At this point, with no real leads on the strange man's whereabouts, she had little choice but to guess at his intended path. Perhaps the man knew he could be followed and went into the forest to shake off pursuit. “I'm going to search the dorms.”

“Got it. What if I find him? I need to be able to contact you somehow,” William points out. Amaryllis gave him a sharp look, understanding immediately what he was getting at. Usually, when she was forced to work with others in the past, she just gave them a school related email to protect her privacy. In any other situation, she'd laugh in the face of anyone who hinted or asked for her number.

“Sure, whatever,” She grumbled, recognizing the sense of coordinating with her unwanted helper. She exchanged numbers with him, making a mental note to flay him alive if he gave it out or something. “Still don't know what the hell is in this for you.”

“Seth is a good friend of yours, right? You guys are always together, and honestly it was a little nice to see. I'd hate to see something happen to that,” William attempts to explain. Amaryllis looks even more confused by that.

“We've only worked with you once. You shouldn't give a shit,” she points out to him. During a core class a while ago that she and Seth had shared, William had been one of the few students that didn't try to move the sun and moon to get out of working with them.

“Can't a guy help someone out, just to be nice?” William tries again.

Amaryllis' response was most telling. “No,” she answered simply with a derisive scoff. “Anyway, let's stop wasting time on useless talk and get moving. The longer we wait, the more he gets away.”

“Right.” With that, William and Amaryllis headed in different directions, intent on finding the elusive armored man who stole Seth away.





No matter how hard the two of them looked, there was no sign of the armored man. It was as if he had just disappeared from the face of the earth. Ever since the forest, not a soul seemed to have seen him. After a fruitless search of the dorms (including Seth's dorm), Amaryllis returned to the forest and searched it thoroughly, convinced that maybe the man hadn't left the forest at all.

All of Amaryllis' searches turned up nothing, much to her growing frustration and desperation. For every moment she wasted running around, she felt as though Seth was getting further and further away from her.

Eventually, after meeting back up with William and determining that he too had come up with nothing, Amaryllis went directly to the building where the campus police were situated. She figured that it wouldn't have taken the police very long to seize the camera records.

Upon arriving, the police representatives that greeted Amaryllis appeared to be fully aware of the situation, surprisingly enough. What did surprise her, however, was how unwilling they were to tell her anything of value. They wouldn't tell her exactly what was viewed on the cameras; instead, they told her that the footage was being examined for “signs of tampering,” and that they would do everything in their power to find Seth for her.

Needless to say, that didn't satisfy Amaryllis in the slightest. William sat on a bench in the back corner of the room, while Amaryllis went off on them. This was her only friend...the only one to which she had ever opened up. The thought of losing him was too painful for her to bear.

To the representative's credit, he did not flinch beneath Amaryllis' tirade. “Ma'am, I understand your feelings. Your friend's safety is just as important to us as it is to you; we'll do everything we can to bring him back to you,” he reassured her smoothly.

At this point, Amaryllis was realizing that she couldn't do anything more from here. She did all she could, but she was at the limits for her ability to track down her friend. She had no choice but to leave it to the police...but knowing that Seth was out there somewhere, possibly needing her help, and that she could do nothing to help him...it was a crushing feeling unlike anything she'd ever experienced before.

Amaryllis stormed out of the police station. They had her cell number now, and had promised to call her if they uncovered any new information for her. It was the only hope she had left.

“I'm sorry we didn't find him,” William apologized to her weakly, following her out of the door. “I'm sure they'll find...”

“Oh, save it already,” Amaryllis cut him off irritably. William fell silent, though he didn't look offended. “I'm still not even convinced you care. If you want something from me, go ahead and fucking ask me now.”

“I don't want anything. Well, except for your friend back, that is,” he responds. Amaryllis didn't believe that in the slightest, but at this point, she wasn't in the mood to argue. “Are you gonna be alright?”

“God, what a dumb question. You fucking tell me,” she snapped back at him. She didn't think he had the right to ask her those kind of questions anyway. Only Seth did, and Seth wasn't the type to ask that kind of thing anyway. He would always just assume that Amaryllis was fine; which meant he thought she was strong, and she liked knowing that he thought of her like that. William was silent again, not knowing what to say in response to that. “I'm going home. Do what you want...and don't text me unless it's something important.”

She split off from William then and headed towards the bus stop near the science building. It was her means of getting to and from the small off-campus apartment where she went to sleep and finish her schoolwork.

Even though she knew it wouldn't work, she repeatedly called Seth's phone over regular intervals. Each time she received the same error message, and her spirits would drop further. She wanted to be back out there searching, even though she knew she wouldn't get anywhere.

Amaryllis reflected upon herself as she let herself into her apartment. She didn't remember ever feeling like this...not once in her life. She wasn't like Seth; there was no one event that shaped her into the woman she was now. She couldn't remember a time when she wasn't jaded and selfish.

That was why Seth was so special to her; he was the only one who could put up with her at her worst, and give as good as he got. At the same time, Seth was weaker than she was. He was emotional and irrational, and constantly needed someone to lean upon, whether he wanted to admit it or not. She always liked knowing that she was his emotional pillar. Amaryllis thought with a wry smirk that Seth was more like a woman than she was.

Amaryllis threw her bags onto the couch situated in the center of the small living room. The place was a mess; she never really cared to clean up after herself unless there was a potential health hazard.

Amaryllis had classwork to complete, but the very thought of trying to focus on numbers right now gave her a headache. No, all she could think of right now was taking her stress out on something. With that in mind, she retreated to her room and stripped herself down to her underwear. Then, she donned a set of easy to move in leggings and a sports bra. This was the outfit she usually wore when working out.

She moved to the small room in the back of the apartment, turned the thermostat to cool, and shut the door behind her. Inside was her makeshift gym, consisting of multiple workout machines, including a treadmill, a set of free weights, and similar weight lifting machines intended to work her upper and lower body. In the corner of the room was a single heavy punching bag hanging from a rack. Beside it was a stool upon which a roll of wrist-wrap and a jug of water rested.

Before getting started, she peered in the tall mirror leaning against the wall next to the punching bag. Despite the situation, she quirked a small smile of satisfaction at what she saw. Her pronounced abdominal muscles rippled through her midriff, shifting every time she flexed. Her body was far more muscular than girls in her age group.

Amaryllis remembered her early years, when she couldn't help getting into fights with kids that rubbed her the wrong way. That had eventually developed into an interest in fighting itself, despite all of the punishments she'd endured. Because of that, every workout ended with a session at the punching bag. This time however, Amaryllis forwent the usual workout routine and opted instead to head directly to the punching bag.

For the rest of the night, Amaryllis let her stress and anxiety melt into a haze of sweat and burning muscles. Her situation remained unchanged, but this at least brought her some semblance of peace.





Time passed, and no news of Seth ever came. The police promised Amaryllis that if any information at all were to be found on him, they would let her know. Days passed...and then weeks, and Amaryllis never heard a word. She called the police every other day, but it was an exercise in futility. Nobody seemed to have discovered or heard anything at all, as if Seth had just never existed to begin with. All Amaryllis could do was agonize in her workout room as she watched all of the leads dry up.

Eventually, Seth's parents, Elaine and Gerome, were notified of their son's disappearance. The two of them were understandably distraught at the news. Searching for Seth's phone through GPS turned up nothing at all...not even a hint. This baffled the three of them. Usually this method was foolproof, unless the phone was destroyed or powered off; neither of which were likely for someone as careful as Seth.

More than once, Amaryllis found herself at their house on weekends, sharing her misery with theirs. It was only a small comfort...the chances of seeing Seth again were growing more remote with every passing day.

Amaryllis grew even worse as the weeks turned into months. She hated how this made her feel. Before meeting Seth, she'd done just fine on her own. But now that she knew what it was like to have a friend...to love someone...losing that felt as though her heart had been ripped out.

If the students at Rainier University thought she was cold before, it grew even worse now that she no longer had Seth. Students like William felt bad for her, but any form of pity that Amaryllis perceived was answered with the full force of her fury. She focused fully on her schoolwork and her books, finding them to be the only escape from her pain.

The year passed, and the grim reality of her loss had sunk into Amaryllis' mind. Although it took seven years before a missing person was declared officially dead, the lack of any leads whatsoever killed any hope that Amaryllis may have had. She felt as though a part of her had disappeared with Seth, leaving her with an almost physical pain that stayed with her over time.

Amaryllis soon graduated with her bachelor's degree in mathematics, and eventually she found a job in finances, much to her annoyance. It paid well, but it wasn't what she had in mind when she decided to major in mathematics. Thankfully, it was exactly was she needed emotionally. When working, she didn't have to think about anything other than the work in front of her.

She handled herself well in the workplace. Despite her fiery personality, she never really lashed out at people as much as she used to. She was constantly angry on the inside, but any time she thought to snap, she would always lose interest and return to silence, reflecting on herself and the times when she was happy.

Because of her restraint, her superiors liked her and her work ethic, and as such job stability wasn't a problem for her. Her co-workers never knew much about of her other than she was mostly polite and kept to herself.

Years passed, and Amaryllis had to accept that her friend was never coming back. In public, nobody would know that anything was wrong with her. But whenever she returned home to her apartment, she would lose her composure and beat her punching bag with unrestrained fury. She went through punching bags much faster than anyone ever should. More than once, her anger and loneliness surfaced in the form of helpless tears as she beat her knuckles raw on the material.

She kept in touch loosely with Seth's family. Some of her best memories were with Seth's family...to the point where they felt like an extension of her own. Amaryllis was there when Seth's brother, Adam, got married to a young woman named Lena. She was there whenever Gerome would return from military deployment overseas. She was even there when Lena gave birth to Seth's niece, Maka.

Her life maintained some sense of normalcy. Unlike how she'd been in college, Amaryllis stopped dating entirely. Even back then, she'd slowly lost interest in dating, realizing that the only man that came close to satisfying her had been Seth. Now that he was gone, Amaryllis was certain that he had been the one she'd wanted. She'd only wished that she'd told him before it was too late.

Seven years to the day that Seth disappeared, the police finally closed the investigation on his disappearance, and officially declared him deceased. Although Amaryllis knew it was coming, it still made her angry that the state just gave up on him.

A small service was held for him at a local graveyard, where an empty casket was lowered into the ground. Amaryllis attended with Seth's family, as well as a few other friends of the family that she didn't recognize. The whole time, she stood there with with a stone cold expression, inwardly cursing the whole ceremony. As if something like this could ever bring her closure. The idea was ludicrous. She had to keep herself from leaving in disgust, if only for the sake of Seth's family. She wanted her friend back, not ridiculous ceremonies and useless apologies.

After that, Amaryllis returned to her quiet and lonely life. She eventually bought her own small house in a rural area, relatively close to her job and within driving distance of Seth's family...as well as her old college. It was a silly decision on her part. She wanted to be close to the area where she made the best memories of her life. Sometimes, she would go the college and walk through her old routines again, pretending that Seth was beside her once again.

Then, in March of 2022, eight years to the day her friend disappeared, Amaryllis received a call on her cell phone.

It was Seth.
> 4. Amaryllis' Story Begins
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bunker seems to be laid out in a very sensible manner; the rooms and corridors are designed such that there is no wasted space. Because of that, however, the place feels cramped. Whoever built this place was likely prioritizing practicality rather than comfort.

Rainbow and I are slowly getting frustrated. We can't seem to explore any of the main offshoot chambers because of the presence of those infuriatingly sturdy doors blocking us at every turn. More than once I consider smashing my way through them, but that would likely take a lot of effort on my part...and I still don't know how stable these ruins are. You got to give humans credit though...it was like they were expecting someone to try and break down their doors with the force of a speeding train.

My current goal is to find my way to the living area. I'm hoping that I'll be able to find something there that'll tell me a little more about what happened here. Of course, I'm assuming that something did happen here. Something that would cause the administration to vacuum seal the entire bunker.

We end up at a T-shaped intersection at the end of the current hallway. According to the sign on the wall, the labs and main reactor (whatever that means) are to the left, while living areas are to the right. Rainbow bounces ahead and attempts to head that way before I can even say anything...and then she yells out in annoyance less than half a minute later.

“Darn it! I've had it up to here with these doors!” Rainbow curses when we come face to face with yet another locked door. I sigh heavily as well. It seems I am being forced to find a way to get these doors open if I ever want to figure out what's going on. “Seth, are you sure there's no way to power these things?”

“Reasonably sure, yes. Like I said, nothing we have was meant to last this long,” I admit to her, once again feeling the urge to beat the door down. “The only reason I got the cameras working in my old college is that there was a hand crank generator...and I had to work at that thing for several minutes to get enough charge to run video.”

“Right...I don't really get it, but can't you do the same thing here?” Rainbow looks understandably clueless about my explanation. Any talk about human technology tends to go right over her head.

“I could...if there was a hand crank generator here too. But to power the whole complex...well...that might take a few hours of cranking,” I answer reluctantly. “That's only if there's a generator like that here.”

“Well, let's go see if we can find a cranker then!” Rainbow asserts. Heh, a cranker. That's one way of putting it. She turns towards the only other path left for us to take: the one heading towards the main reactor. “Come on!”

“I'm telling you, there's not going to be one. It seems this place was powered by a reactor...whatever that means,” I tell her pointedly. I've only ever heard the term “reactor” being applied to nuclear reactors...though that doesn’t make sense. Fission reactors have the tendency to blow up without maintenance...and fusion reactors were never fully implemented. I keep quiet about this though. Rainbow wouldn't have the slightest clue about nuclear power. All of this is making me wish we'd brought Flash Forward with us.

“Who cares? It's not like there's another hall we can take. Might as well take a look, right?” Rainbow returns rather sensibly.

“Fair enough, I guess,” I say with a light chuckle. She has a point. If we still don't find anything, I'm going to say fuck it and power my way through the door with all I have. To hell with the consequences.

“Hey, some of these doors are open!” Rainbow calls to me from within the hallway. In true Rainbow style, she ran ahead of me before I could finish processing my own thoughts. Filing those thoughts for later, I catch up to her into the new hallway.

According to the sign at the crossroads, there are supposed to be labs around here. You'd think that those doors would be the most secure, but Rainbow is right. These doors are not only open, but they're also made in a more standard design. Just as I'm catching up to her, Rainbow pokes her nose into one of the rooms, and then slips inside without waiting for me.

“Oh cool!” Rainbow exclaims. I sigh and hurry my pace in an attempt to catch up with her before she breaks something. When I join her in the room, I shine the light on her to reveal her sitting behind a desk in a swivel chair, balancing a coffee mug on one hoof.

“What are you doing?” I ask her pointedly, crossing my arms.

“Check it out, Seth! The chair spins!” Rainbow exclaims, taking a moment to spin around on the swivel chair...only for the cylinder holding the chair up to break underneath the increased strain. The pegasus is sent tumbling to the ground, the coffee mug shattering on the floor. “Waah!”

“And that's what you get for trying to play around on a three thousand year old swivel chair,” I respond without missing a beat. Rainbow just groans from where she's lying face down on the floor.

After that, I take a moment to look around. This room appears to be a simple office, with the typical desk and computer. In this case, the computer is a laptop of a brand I don't recognize. I lift up the lid to take a look at the interface, but I don't bother trying to power it up. The battery is long dead no doubt, and even if we did have power, I don't see an AC adapter to charge the thing up with.

I brush the shards of the coffee mug out of the way and continue to the back of the room. Here, there's a thin counter running along the back wall, with cupboards bolted to the wall just above it. It looks like a workplace if I've ever seen one, given the aged chemistry sets and microscope.

Trying to figure out what this particular scientist was working on ends up being a waste of time. There are papers on the counter, but they're so fragile that touching them causes them to tear or crumble. Even with a vacuum seal, three thousand years is a long time for something that usually degrades in a few months. I also can't decipher anything from the writing on the paper, as it's mostly figures and charts that don't make much sense. Whatever he was working on, it's too advanced for someone like me.

Once I've determined that I can't glean anything else from this room, I meet back up with Rainbow in the hallway. “Come on,” I say to her, orienting my flashlight on the hallway ahead. “It can't be that much farther to the reactor.”

“Right behind you.”





Approximately 3000 Years Ago

As the time of day moved closer to the evening, business started slowing down at one of the many banks in Grenville. This particular bank was one of a major chain of banks that could be found all along the east coast of the United States, and as such usually received a great deal of business from the citizenry.

The bank was relatively small, consisting of a simple single story building constructed from metal and plaster and complete with a basement, where the vault was located. Entering from the street would reveal a homey entrance hall with couches and armchairs in the front right corner of the room, where customers could sit and wait for their turn at the tellers.

On the left side of the bank was a hallway that curved back on itself, containing the offices of some of the more important of the bank employees. This hallway eventually led back behind the counter at the far end of the room, where the tellers would meet with customers and tend to their needs.

Behind the counter and out of sight of the customers was a row of computers, where other employees would work to organize the customers’ transactions and perform other data organization tasks. Here, a thirty year old Amaryllis could be seen sitting at one of the computers, her eyes fixed on the charts and figures before her.

It was a difficult job, so she was able to ignore her own deeply personal feelings and focus on the tasks before her. Right now, she was tasked with updating the database's security to the latest version of the software, to protect from the ever present threat of injection. Amaryllis always found it slightly ironic that even though she had majored in math, she still had to learn some computer programming in order to make full use of her talents. She thought with bitter amusement that Seth would be proud of her.

As she typed lines of code, Amaryllis became aware of her phone vibrating in her pocket. She was struck with momentary curiosity as to who would be calling her, but it soon passed. She couldn't exactly answer her phone while she was at work.

If anything, it was probably that bio-mathematics firm that had been headhunting her recently. It paid extremely well, but it would require her to head all the way up to New York for an interview...and then move there if she got the job. Amaryllis couldn't lie...it was tempting, but she didn't want to leave this city. If she left Grenville, she'd feel like she'd be leaving everything that defined her behind...her memories with Seth and his family.

It was a decision she wasn't looking forward to making. For now however, they could wait; she was working, and there was no way she'd be able to justify taking a break to talk about working for another company.

Just as Amaryllis forgot about it and went back to working, her phone started buzzing again. She sighed in annoyance. This couldn't be the company. No company was that needy. She made to ignore the call again, but when her phone started buzzing for the third time, her irritation and curiosity got the better of her. She slid out her phone for a look at the number that was calling her.

She almost dropped the phone. Seth was calling her. Amaryllis completely forgot about her work as she attempted to make sense of this. Seth couldn't be calling her. He was long gone and more than likely dead. If anything, someone must have gotten hold of the number somehow. Her ire rose like a tidal wave when she considered that someone might be calling this number as a sort of joke.

She shoved the phone back in her pocket and attempted to ignore it...but that turned out to be impossible. “Seth” kept calling again and again, until finally Amaryllis lost her temper. She got up from her workstation and stormed down the hallway until she was standing outside, behind the bank. She clicked the answer button and brought the phone to her ear, intent on unleashing her fury on the unwitting caller.

Amaryllis didn't even let the caller start talking. “Is this some kind of sick fucking joke!?” she lashed out, her voice steadily rising. “Do you think you're some kind of big shot, spitting on my friend's memory like this?! Now, you listen here, whoever you are. You better explain yourself right fucking now, or I swear no law on this green earth will protect you from me!”

Amaryllis stood there, panting after her tirade. She actually felt a little good at venting her anger like that at someone else, rather than her punching bag that couldn't talk back.

The caller doesn't respond for several agonizing seconds. Amaryllis checked to see if whoever it was had hung up, but her phone showed that the call was still running. Finally, a voice came through the other end of the line. “Hey, Amaryllis.” Amaryllis would recognize that voice anywhere. Despite all odds, Seth's voice came through the speaker, sounding no different than the last time she'd seen him, eight years ago. “Is now a bad time, or...?”

Amaryllis brought the phone back to her ear, wondering if she had in fact fallen asleep and she was dreaming. This couldn't be possible. That couldn't be his voice that she was hearing. “...Seth?”





Before she realized it, Amaryllis was heading to her truck, regardless of the fact that her shift didn't end for another two hours. She was crying; she couldn't help herself. This was really happening. Her friend was alive, and was asking to meet her. She didn't care about anything else; nothing in the world could stop her from going to see him right now.

Amaryllis wiped her eyes and climbed into the truck, setting her phone back in her pocket. She had never been more glad that she hadn't moved away from the college; that was where Seth wanted to meet her.

Before starting the truck, she took a moment to compose herself. She had so many questions running through her mind. Her emotions were a mess. Just hearing his voice again was enough to tear her composure apart. She felt unbelievably happy and relieved, yet furious and uncertain as to why her friend was showing up now after all these years. He had been alive this whole time and never said anything to her? She hoped he had a damn good reason for disappearing like that.

Just as Amaryllis turned the key in the ignition, she noticed one of her co-workers coming out of the building and heading towards her. “Amaryllis! Where are you going?” she called out to Amaryllis in annoyance. “Your shift isn't over until nine pm! We need you still!”

“To hell with that!” Amaryllis snapped at her, taking her co-worker by surprise. Amaryllis had never let her co-workers know how fiery she could be, as she understood how necessary it was to remain composed and polite in the workplace. However, at this point, Amaryllis couldn't honestly care less about this job; Seth was much more important to her. “I'll be damned if I'm sticking around! I have something much more important to deal with!”

“Like what? What could possibly be more important than your job? You know I'll have to tell the manager about this, right? He'll tear you a new one,” the co-worker shoots back with a warning. Amaryllis scoffed at that. If worst came to worst, she had a good resume. It would be easy for her to find another job.

“What could...screw you. Do what you want, I don't care,” Amaryllis snapped back at the woman, visibly offending her. “For your information, I just found out that a friend of mine that's been missing for eight years is still alive. To hell with the manager and this job.”

Without another word, Amaryllis revved the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, rolling up the windows to drown out the sounds of the world outside. She was left alone with her thoughts, the only sound coming from the rumbling of the engine and her own erratic breathing.

What followed was the most agonizing thirty minutes of her life. Amaryllis felt as though every minute was unbelievably precious, though she couldn't understand why she felt that way. She just hoped beyond all that was holy that Seth was really going to be waiting for her at his old dorm, and that this wasn't some sort of sick fever dream.

When Amaryllis reached the old college, she parked her truck in the lot near the dorms and stormed towards Seth's old dorm, not even bothering to lock her truck. She approached the old dorm tucked in the small corner between a brick wall and the housing office and tried the door. Thankfully, it was left open for her, so she was able to step right inside...where Seth was waiting for her.

The first thing Amaryllis noticed was how different Seth looked compared to how she remembered him. His hair was longer and styled in an unusual fashion, and he was wearing this strange royal blue and gold outfit that didn't look like it was made by any company she knew of. The most noticeable difference, however, was the bulging muscle mass that had definitely not been there before. Seth was about as well built as she was now, which was ridiculous, considering how hard she trained, and how hard Seth...didn't train.

Amaryllis' immediate reaction was to vent her anger by punching Seth right in the jaw. Her second reaction was to reel him in and hug him tightly. As his familiar scent flooded into her nostrils, she felt as though for the first time in eight years...she was finally home.

Now that she was this close, Amaryllis noticed the most striking feature about him. He didn't look a day older than the last time she'd seen him. He hadn't seemed to have aged at all...and still looked as though he was a college junior. Now, Amaryllis had aged rather well for herself, but even she had lines on her face. Seth's was as smooth and unblemished as ever. Something started to seem odd about this whole thing.

When she confronted Seth about it, he gave her a wry smile and gestured to the couch. “Okay, I guess you should sit down, then. It might take a while to explain the whole thing,” he admits.

Amaryllis did so, though she didn't feel any comfort from lying back. No, all she wanted to know was why she had to suffer for eight years. “Start talking. It better be good; I haven't forgiven you for leaving me on my own. You were my only friend; you know that, right?”

Seth sits down next to her, heaving a sigh. He seemed reluctant to reveal anything to her. Amaryllis wouldn't let him skimp out on explaining, however. No matter how crazy his tale might be, she needed to hear it.

“You were my only friend too. Trust me, I wouldn't have left you if I had the choice,” Seth responds to her softly.

“So quit beating around the fucking bush already. What happened that day?” Amaryllis demanded.

From there, Seth began his tale. At the beginning, Seth confirmed Amaryllis' suspicions. It had been the strange man in armor that had been the cause of Seth's disappearance. According to Seth, the man's name was Sombra...and he was a “sorcerer king from the future.”

Amaryllis blinked, wondering if she had heard him right. Her expression became incredulous as Seth kept going, talking about how this King Sombra had hit him with a magical spell that had taken him to the future. She did her best to hold her judgments until Seth was finished, but with every word he said, her patience wore thin. Each new thing he described was more ridiculous than the last.

The last straw came when Seth told her that King Sombra and literally everyone he'd met in the future had been a brightly colored pony. Seth was sounding like a lunatic. She wondered if he was even listening to himself. She lost her temper at the mention of ponies, so she cut him off.

She confronted him about it, but Seth defended his story stubbornly, no matter how ridiculous it was. He claimed that his story had to be true, as it was the reason he hadn't aged at all.

“I don't know, Seth, but I refuse to believe that you were missing for eight years because you were off frolicking in a land of magical fucking unicorns!” Amaryllis yelled furiously at Seth. Her friend was sighing and nodding, as if he had been expecting this reaction from her. He was standing now and moving to the other side of the room. She followed him with her eyes, feeling angrier than she'd ever thought possible.

Just as she started to demand true answers, something began happening to Seth. Amaryllis cut off when she saw tendrils of glowing green light coming up from the ground and snaking up around his legs. Seth's eyes started to glow, and then light exploded up from around him, surrounding him in a bright green aura that burnt away the carpet around his feet, singed the ceiling, and filled the room with an eerie glow.

Amaryllis didn't know what to think. What she was seeing defied every possible rational explanation. Seth had claimed before that magic was real in this strange land that he'd been whisked away to, but Amaryllis couldn't believe that what she was seeing was really magic. She stood up slowly, watching Seth's display of power in awe.

The aura intensifies, filling the room with a crackling roar of power. Seth's hair seems to blow back in a nonexistent wind. All the while, his mouth is set in a firm line and his eyes are narrowed, telling Amaryllis that he was dead serious.

The more she saw, the more Amaryllis started to accept the idea that maybe Seth hadn't been telling her a lie. It was as though Seth knew that this was the only way to convince her; she always had valued actions more than words, and this showed her without a doubt that he possessed real magic. She hated to admit it, but perhaps these ponies had existed. Seth had never been one to lie to her...ever. He'd dance around topics that he didn't want to talk about, but he'd never outright lie to her. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach, realizing how stupid she was to doubt him in the first place. He was her best friend; she knew him extremely well. For him to make up something so outlandish was way out of character for him.

Finally, Seth let the magic fade away, the green aura dissipating into thin air as though it had never been. His hair settled back down on his shoulders, and his eyes returned to normal. Amaryllis had to sit down, rubbing her head.

If everything that Seth said was true, then things were starting to make sense to her. She realized with a start how close she had been to catching this Sombra.

“You're not gonna believe this. There was this little black horse that walked out on its own,” the student revealed. Amaryllis blinked, wondering if she had heard him right.

“A horse,” she repeated.

“Yeah! It was all dressed up something fancy too,” the student answered.

Amaryllis cursed her own ignorance. From what Seth said, that black horse must have been Sombra himself. If magic was real, then Sombra must have returned to the form of a pony...as utterly ridiculous as that sounded. And she and William had just let him walk away scot free.

Still, this all felt so unbelievable to her.  “...Ponies?” Amaryllis finally repeats, one eye twitching. “Seriously? The human race is replaced by talking ponies? Ponies. Like, I didn't hear you wrong, did I? Bright, colorful little ponies?”

Unfortunately Amaryllis had not heard Seth wrong. He even took out his phone and showed her pictures as proof. The first picture she saw was of a creature that did look reminiscent of a pony, but it had some noticeable differences. For one, it had bright cyan fur with a mane colored all the shades of the rainbow. It also had a very expressive face, with large eyes and a mouth turned up in a confident grin. Amaryllis groaned and felt the beginnings of a headache.

A thought came to her, and she couldn't dislodge it without making the joke. Through asking, she found out that Seth had actually made friends over there...with the brightly colored ponies. She found that thought to be so funny that she nearly wet herself there on the couch, laughing so hard at the mental picture of Seth having tea parties with the overly cute ponies.

However, Amaryllis' mirth came to an end when Seth revealed to her that he was only here in the present for two days. Then, according to him, he would return to the future. Just like that, all of the positive feelings that she had finally started to feel disappeared in an instant. She finally had her friend back...and she was going to lose him all over again in less than 48 hours.

Her feelings crashed in on her. She wanted to break everything in sight, but instead she settled for punching down on the table with all of her strength. Her knuckles split painfully, but she could feel the surface of the table crack satisfyingly beneath her fist.

Eventually, after sitting in silence for several minutes, Amaryllis came to a conclusion. As much as it didn't feel like it, this was a gift in disguise. If there was some cosmic being in command of the heavens, it had seen fit to give her once last chance with her best friend. She would be damned if she was going to waste it.





With that, Amaryllis took Seth with her, intent on spending the entirety of these two days with Seth's family. Once in the car with Seth, she proceeded to immediately call Elaine and tell her of Seth's return. It didn't take much convincing to get Elaine to leave her own job and coordinate a visit with the rest of Seth's family. No doubt it wouldn't be that hard to get Adam out of work. Amaryllis was grateful that Gerome was relatively close by; had he been overseas, it would have been extremely cruel to him to not be able to see his son.

As Amaryllis drove the truck all the way to Elaine and Gerome's house, she grilled Seth for details on his new home. As much as she hated to find out that he had to go back there, she still loved him, and she still wanted to make sure he would be happy.

Amaryllis ended up learning all about Equestria, as well as the ponies that lived there. She heard about Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy. She had a hard time taking any of it seriously due to how ridiculous they sounded; for example, according to Seth, Pinkie defied every single known law of physics on a daily basis, and everyone just sort of accepted it because no one could explain it.

One thing Amaryllis did notice was how much Seth talked about the second one, Rainbow Dash. She put two and two together and figured out that Rainbow must have been the pony that she'd seen on Seth's phone. Seth told her Rainbow was his closest friend. Even though Amaryllis knew she had no right to be, she started to get envious at the thought that Seth was hanging out with some pony mare as much as he had with her back in college.

Amaryllis also started to see a noticeable change in Seth. He was much more open with her than he usually was, never really dancing around any topics with her. Instead, he replied to her every question directly and honestly...with the exception of whenever she would ask too much about Rainbow Dash.

Amaryllis wasn't stupid...the mare must mean a lot to Seth. As envious as that made her, she couldn't really fault him for it. He had been in a new world without her, and Amaryllis knew full well that Seth could never survive on his own. He needed someone to lean on...an emotional pillar. Amaryllis was envious as hell that it couldn't have been her there with him, but at the same time, she was grateful to this Rainbow Dash for taking care of Seth.

The change in Seth became much more apparent when they met up with Seth's family. Once there, Seth explains his unbelievable and ridiculous tale to them as well, this time preceding his story with a display of magic. Just like Amaryllis, they had been distraught when Seth told them that his time was limited in this time...except Elaine was more direct than Amaryllis had been, and asked if Seth would be happy there.

Amaryllis knew that Seth's relationship with his family had been rocky over time...and that's why it took her completely by surprise when Seth responded with honest sincerity, the love for his family evident in his voice. It was such a change from what Seth usually was like that Amaryllis once again thought that she might have been dreaming.

“I...I need another beer,” Amaryllis groaned, holding her head. She shook her head and stalked into the kitchen, rummaging through the fridge for another drink. “I never thought I'd see the day. Seth's gone soft.”

“I have not 'gone soft,'” Seth snapped back at her, seeming legitimately angry at her for saying that. Amaryllis was surprised once again...this was genuine anger. She must have touched a nerve. “It's not soft to realize that it's okay to trust others, and to be myself. I'm not as naïve as I was before...but neither am I going to stay closed up in myself, either.”

“Yeah, okay. Make that two beers,” Amaryllis replied. She was glad that Seth had come back to her, but she couldn't agree with that statement. She had always been jaded and angry; that just wasn't going to change. She was happy that Seth was happy, but at the same time, she was disappointed that Seth no longer shared her opinions about the human race.

Not long after that, Seth drops the real bombshell. Amaryllis had found it odd why humans had suddenly disappeared in the future. Mankind had lasted thousands of years...three thousand more should have seen them thrive, not disappear...and certainly not get replaced by ponies. According to Seth, it was because King Sombra was going to wipe them out in less than a century.

She and the rest of the family reacted with understandable shock and disbelief. Amaryllis couldn't believe that anything could stop the human race...certainly not some stuffed up sorcerer king. Humans were tough sons of bitches and had some powerful weapons and technology. It would take a force unlike anything they'd ever seen to even put a dent in humanity.

However, Gerome believed him. Being a ranking member of the military, Gerome had access to intelligence reports and data that the rest of them didn't. According to him, small rural towns in Russia's icy wilderness were going dark...which supported Seth's theory.

Amaryllis finished her second beer, but it wasn't helping her feel better at all. She looked at the empty bottle with a lamenting sigh. She set it down and got up from the couch in the living room. “I'm just gonna get the whole case,” she decided, returning to the kitchen.

They all soon calmed down, realizing that while it was a concern and it certainly shouldn't be overlooked, the inevitable invasion wasn't something to focus on right now. By the time the invasion reached America and became a real threat, Gerome and Elaine would more than likely have passed on. The same went for Amaryllis. She was already thirty; she would likely be able to live the rest of her life in peace. In the end, they all made a unanimous decision to put the matter of the invasion aside until later, choosing instead to make the most of the time remaining with Seth.





The rest of the night soon passed by in a flash. Amaryllis steadily drank more alcohol until she was pleasantly buzzed. However, that came with its own problems. Sitting beside Seth while they watched a movie, she couldn't help but feel his skin on hers. She couldn't help but notice how much more handsome he looked wearing his hair like that, and with all that extra muscle. Amaryllis flushed deeply as drunken, unscrupulous thoughts came to her mind. Thankfully, she managed to make it to bed before acting on any of them, instead choosing to take solace with her thoughts in her room.

The remainder of Seth's time in the present was spent living life to the fullest. Adam took all of them to his house so that Seth could meet his four year old niece, Maka. Seth acted strangely upon meeting her, as she meant a great deal more to him than what would be warranted from such a meeting.

After that, Adam took them all to his flashy boat, intending for them all to spend the day on the lake with him. Amaryllis finally had an excuse to don her bikini, which she thought looked damn good on her due to her physical fitness. Unfortunately, she couldn't get Seth to say anything about it. She ended up pouting; she had hoped he would at least pay her a compliment or two. Tomboyish as she was, she was still a woman.

Soon, they reached the water park. So far, she had been having a blast with Seth and his family. It was though all the pain of the last eight years didn't mean anything. When she had him to herself for a moment, she grew bold and floated together with him down the lazy river, his hand clenched in hers under the pretense of keeping them together. This situation made her feel like she was a college schoolgirl again...and she couldn't deny that it felt good.

After that, Adam took them tubing, which was fun in it's own right. That was how they ended the day, all of them retiring to rooms inside the boat itself. The next day, little Maka came up with the idea to go to a bowling alley, which everyone agreed with. There, Amaryllis had a lot of fun competing with Gerome. Seth wasn't actually that good at it, hilariously enough, so his father was the only challenge she had.

In laser tag was when she noticed something about Seth. He moved very well and had an incredible aim. With him on her team, they racked up points like nothing else...until Gerome decided it was time to stop playing. As strangely good as Seth had gotten, Gerome was leagues better, due to his military training. In the end, they'd lost, but Amaryllis had fun in the end, and that was all that mattered.

Finally, Seth's time came to a close.





That evening, Amaryllis stood there with the rest of Seth's family outside of their house, filled with inner turmoil. The last two days had been the most fun that she'd ever had in eight whole years, and now it was coming to an end. After this, she would never see Seth again, and that was killing her. However, it didn't hurt nearly as bad as it did the first time; this time, she knew where Seth was going, and she knew that he would be safe and happy. She wouldn't have to agonize for years, wondering what had happened to her best and only friend.

Amaryllis debated on what she was going to say to him as Seth went down the line, saying his goodbyes to each and every one of them. She really wanted to tell him how she felt about him, but just the thought of doing that paralyzed her, just like it had eight years ago. She was really starting to get angry at herself.

Finally, Seth reaches her. She stood there with her arms crossed, her face hardening now that he was leaving. “What, is this the part where we hug and cry?” Amaryllis remarked before Seth could say anything. She kept going, talking tough to hide the fact that she was all torn up inside. “Please...I hate goodbyes. I'm fine, really. I'll just be laughing because you're going back to frolic with all the colorful little ponies.”

Seth chuckled at her words. He started to look uncertain, as if he was thinking about what to say to her. “Actually, I had something I wanted to say to you...in private. Do you mind stepping away with me real quick?”

“Huh? I mean, sure, but what's so important that you can't say it here?” Amaryllis responded, suddenly confused. Seth didn't respond, instead motioning for her to follow him. With a perplexed expression, she followed him to the far end of the flat driveway. In the distance, the setting sun shined down on them, giving their skin an orange coloration.

“Well, it's...” Seth started to say, but then he stopped. Amaryllis started to get impatient. They were running out of time, and she really wanted to hear what he had to say.

“Come on, spit it out. We don't have all night,” Amaryllis demanded. She suddenly noticed something strange about Seth. His body was starting to glow an eerie greenish color. Unlike the color of his magic, this one seemed sickly. Seth noticed it as well, though he doesn't look alarmed about it. Instead, he just gives a wistful sigh.

“No, it seems we don't,” Seth said softly, gazing at his glowing hand with his lips set in a thin line. As if he had suddenly gathered his resolve, he turned to look her right in the eyes. “I'll be blunt. I've always admired you.”

“What?” Amaryllis said, raising a brow. That's what he had to say? She already knew that she had been his emotional pillar. If this was all he had to say, she was disappointed.

“I'm serious. You went through the same stuff as me...but somehow managed to stay strong. You were always snapping off insults at me...but when it counted, you pushed past your cynicism and reached out to me...even when I couldn't do that for you.” Seth seemed to get more confident as he spoke. His tone started to sound softer and more tender, causing Amaryllis to suddenly get suspicious. She watched him in silence, her heart starting to beat faster. “You are my best friend...and without you, my life might have taken a much darker turn. In part, I owe everything to you...and I wanted to say how grateful I am to you for that.”

Amaryllis started to blush slightly. She was about to respond but Seth wasn't finished. “It's more than that, though. You and I were always together. You were the only one I could go to when I needed help or someone to rant at. You've never told me what I wanted to hear...you were honest, and I really appreciated that.” Seth never looked away from her eyes, not even for a moment. This was the most confident she had ever seen him. It was like he was a totally different person...and Amaryllis found that she rather liked it. “I guess what I'm trying to say is...you were...and are...the most important person in my life.”

“Wait, Seth, are you...?” That last bit caused Amaryllis' heart to stop. It sounded a lot like he was about to say the very same thing that she had been trying to say to him through her words and actions for the longest time. Her eyes widened in shock, and she cursed that they didn't have more time. Seth's body was starting to dissolve slowly into the air, particles of green light trailing behind him.

“Yes, Amaryllis. Here, before I go...I wanted to tell you,” Seth told her fervently. “I never really understood how I felt until now, but...I've always...always loved you.”

He did it. He really said it. Amaryllis, for the third time, wondered if this was all just a fever dream. This last two days had been everything she'd ever wanted, and now this...the thing she'd wanted to hear from him more than anything. But...to say it now, at the end...it caused her to become conflicted. She was happy beyond words, but also furious.

Amaryllis' eyes hardened, and then she abruptly smacked Seth across the face hard, jerking his head to one side. Seth gasped and held his stinging cheek, looking back at her. Amaryllis glared at him furiously.

“Fuck you! I can't believe you!” She snapped at him...but then her anger started to collapse. She started to cry despite her promise to never show that kind of emotion in front of anyone. She sniffed as her nose started to run and tears squeezed out of her eyes. “Do you have any earthly idea how long I'd been waiting for you to say that!?”

Seth's expression changed in an instant. “You mean you...?” he began, but Amaryllis didn't let me finish. She stepped forward and pulled him in, her hands reaching up to his face and grasping his cheeks. She brought her face to his in a bold kiss, courage coming to her in droves now that she knew that Seth had felt the same way about her the whole time. She might not ever get to enjoy a relationship with him, but she could at least show her passion for him with just this one kiss.

Seth goes limp in her grasp, responding to her affections with his own. It takes every fiber of her self control not to go further and simply make out with him against the nearest tree. Eventually, she had to break it off to breathe, and that felt like the hardest thing she ever had to do.

“Yes, idiot!” Amaryllis snapped again. She can't stop herself now. She's crying shamelessly, the tears flowing down her cheek. “Of course I felt the same damn way! You think those dates I used to go on ever satisfied me? No...each one only made me more certain...that the only one I wanted was you.”

“Amaryllis...” Seth whispered, his expression starting to mirror hers. However, time was running out. His body was dissolving faster now, particles of green light trickling into the air.

“Of course I loved you, Seth. Why do you think I put so much effort in staying with you?” Amaryllis demanded. She pulled him forward and hugged me tightly with all of her strength. “But...thank you for finally telling me...even if it took you this fucking long. Now...now I can be satisfied.”

“Are you sure?” This time, Seth didn't tense up. This time, Seth returned her hug without hesitation. Amaryllis clung to him tightly, refusing to let go even as his body faded away in her arms.

“As satisfied as I can be...considering I won't ever see you again,” Amaryllis retorted bitterly. She rested her head on his shoulder, staining his clothes with her tears. “But at least I know you'll be alright. Go be happy with your pony friends...and tell the rainbow one I'll kick her little ass if she doesn't take care of you.”

“Don't worry...I will,” Seth promised her. Finally, his body completely dissipates, bursting into a stream of green particles that swirl around one another as they trail into the sky. Amaryllis feels her arms fall slack to her side...her heart feeling as though it had been torn out all over again.

“Goodbye, Seth,” Amaryllis whispered, her voice choking as she watched the particles fly up and out of sight.

It was over. Seth was gone.





After the fact, all of them returned to the living room of Elaine's house in silence. While they had been happy not too long ago, the room was taking on an air of grim silence now that Seth was gone. It was time to address the true issue...the one that they had been avoiding ever since Seth had told them about it.

“I need to find a way to keep my daughter safe.” Adam is the first one to say something. His wife, along with Maka, had gone to stay in another room, so that the little girl didn't have to hear about her future. “If those undead are really coming, she'll be the one to have to deal with them. As a parent, I can't let that happen.”

“I understand. We'll have to act carefully if we want to make a difference on how all of this plays out,” Gerome responded first, taking charge of the conversation due to his mental discipline. “Seth came back to the present to tell us about the future; I choose to believe that this gives us an edge that we did not have in the previous timeline.”

“If time actually works that way,” Amaryllis pointed out bitterly. For all they knew, him telling them about it was part of the official timeline, and it didn't do them any good.

“Let's not get into multiverse theory,” Adam cut her off firmly. It was a rare thing to see Adam acting serious...and now he was grim and focused. It was actually a little scary to see. “I'm going to agree with what Dad said; I think we can do something about this now that we know.”

“What do you suggest we do? Any ideas?” Elaine input. She was not as tactically minded as her husband was; right now, Amaryllis could tell that she was worried and looking for answers.

“There's not much we can do. I cannot simply alert my superiors and expect to be taken seriously,” Gerome admitted, thinking realistically. “So. Here is what I'm going to do: I'm going to take a greater role in military politics and run for an office. If I can garner enough support, I'm going to push for a greater focus on defense and communications. With luck, I can prepare our country for the incoming invasion.”

“That's...actually a rather solid plan,” Amaryllis had to admit. She'd never talked this serious with Gerome before; the man seemed to have his mind firmly grounded in reality. “But what about the rest of us? We don't have nearly the pull you do.”

Gerome pondered that for a moment, while Amaryllis and the others watched him attentively. “To be honest, you are correct. There is very little you can do. Thus, it would be prudent for you all to prepare for the worst.”

“How do we do that?” Adam asked fervently, leaning forward.

“Do nothing, for now. Be ready to support me in my political efforts if I need it, but other than that, keep your heads down and your ears open. If you hear of anything odd in the news or the like, I want to hear about it,” Gerome ordered them firmly. Amaryllis nodded, finding that sensible. At this point, although she still didn't think she'd have to worry about the invasion personally, she was willing to give any help Gerome needed. It's not like she had any other real plans for her life.

“Adam,” Gerome turned to his son next. “This applies the most to you. Raise your daughter as best you can, and should you become aware of strange occurrences that fit Seth's description, get your family someplace safe. I can pull a few favors and get you access to a military refugee bunker if absolutely necessary.”

“Thanks Dad...that means a lot. I just want my little girl to live a happy life,” Adam expressed solemnly. “Yeah, I can do that. I'll start making the arrangements to send her to school.”

“That's a good idea. You can't focus on the end...to be honest, it's freaking me out,” Elaine confessed. Amaryllis scoffed under her breath. That was an understatement. She certainly hadn't expected to be told that humanity had eighty years maximum to live. She thanked her lucky stars that she was already thirty. “But at least we have a plan of action.”

Elaine then turned to Amaryllis curiously. “What about you? Do you know what you are going to do now?”

“Not really,” Amaryllis automatically said, as that was usually her go-to response when talking about the future. However, she immediately realized that she actually did have something that she could do. Because of the vain hope that Seth might one day return, she had never left Grenville. But now...she knew that Seth was never coming back. It hurt, but it was time to make peace with that and move on with her life. And she knew exactly how to do that. “Actually, scratch that. I do know what I'm going to do with the rest of my time.”

“What's that?” Elaine asked.

Amaryllis smiled cryptically, and then she got up from the table, her hand slipping into her pocket. “Move on. Now, if you'll excuse me,” she responded simply, and then she left the room.

Once Amaryllis had relative privacy, she removed her phone from her pocket and called the bio-mathematics firm.
> 5. A Long Journey
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	I turn the corner with Rainbow following close behind me. We seem to have passed into a hallway with more sophisticated labs. The air smells strange in this area, suggesting to me that some of these labs must have been working with chemicals. Even though Rainbow and I took some time to look through them, I couldn’t glean anything about what purpose they might have served from what we found inside. 

Rainbow and I toss suggestions around, but in the end, it’s mostly guesswork, so we eventually move on from there. Finally, we reach a U-shaped staircase that leads downwards into the darkness. There’s no other way forward, so I angle my phone forward to shed some light, and the two of us start to descend.

The stairs are metal, so the sound of my footfalls clanking on their surface fills the air. I am prepared to fly in case the staircase proves to be unstable, but thankfully they appear to be sturdy enough to support my weight. Rainbow just hovers down behind me, the air displaced from her flapping wings disturbing my hair and brushing my neck.

Rainbow eventually gets impatient and flies directly down the center of the staircase. “Would you slow down? There’s no hurry,” I call after her, but it’s pointless to try and stop her. I hear a metallic “clop” as her hooves settle at the bottom of the staircase.

“Whoa…” I hear Rainbow gasp while she walks forward. “Seth, you gotta see this. It’s...I don’t even know what this is.”

I sigh and quicken my pace, my hand clamping on the handrail as I descend to the bottom. I quickly catch up to her, running beneath an open doorway larger than the others. Even though my eyes are adjusted to the darkness, I can’t really see anything. Not for the first time, I wonder how the hell Rainbow can see better than I can in the dark.

“Wait for me, would you? We have no idea what’s down...here…” I trail off, my voice echoing in the massive room before us. My light reveals very little, but what I do see causes me to cut off in awe. 

Before us is a large device that takes up the entire center of the room, and reaches all the way to the ceiling. It’s conical in shape, with the broad end bolted to the floor by metallic plates, and reinforced by similarly metallic beams. At the base, large metal pipes stretch out from each of the four main points, feeding into rectangular protrusions in the walls. Hundreds of wires spider out in all directions from the base, feeding into these protrusions or into the floor. I can’t even begin to guess at their purpose. 

The main cone itself seems to be made from glass because of the transparency of the material, but the way the light reflects off of it suggests a more crystalline nature. I step closer to the edge of the walkway that surrounds the majority of the room and clench the railing. Bringing the light closer to the cone reveals that there’s nothing inside of the transparent portion, but there are several metal prongs projecting into the chamber, serving an unknown purpose.

“Seth, you have any clue what this is? I can’t make heads nor tails of it...but it looks awesome,” Rainbow questions, flying up to the device and tapping the transparent material (I’ll just call it glass for lack of a better term) with her hoof. It makes a clear ringing noise with each tap.

“Don’t touch it! We don’t know what the hell this thing does,” I warn her. I can’t get closer to the thing because of the railing, so all I can do is gesture emphatically for her to get back here. Thankfully she complies. “To be honest, I have no earthly idea. I’ve never seen nor heard of anything like this back in my time.”

“You think this is the reactor?” Rainbow suggests.

“Maybe. It seems too small to be a reactor, but then again, I have no idea what a reactor even looks like,” I admit, cursing my own ignorance. I’ve played games with reactors in them, but no doubt they were exaggerated in design, so that’s not a viable source of reference. Once again, I wish I’d majored in something more useful than computer science.

I walk around the device and shined the light around the room. At the back of the chamber, the walkway turns into a staircase that ascends up to what looks like a control room of sorts. I say that because I can see blank computer monitors and the like through a set of windows. The control room is set high enough up the wall to be looking out into the very center of the transparent chamber of the device. Looking on the other side of the room reveals that there’s a similar staircase on the other side of the room that leads to the same place. 

“Seth, this is totally the reactor. Come on, we’ve seen nothing but doors and boring labs ever since we got in here. If this isn’t reactor material, nothing is,” Rainbow reasons, puffing up her chest. I give her a deadpan stare, but honestly, she’s probably right.

“Sure, I guess. There’s a control room back here. Let’s see if you and I can make some sense of it,” I respond. 

Together, Rainbow and I climb the stairs to the control room. Here’s hoping there’s still a way to power this thing on, if it really is the reactor.





Approximately 3000 Years Ago

When Amaryllis had first started looking for a job, she passed her resume to multiple recruiting agencies in the hope of capturing the interest of a company. Somehow the bio-mathematics firm had come across a copy, and it had interested them so much that even after Amaryllis had been hired by the bank in Grenville, they had never stopped trying to reach her. No doubt they expected her to immediately take their offer because of the higher pay grade. Unfortunately, it hadn't been quite that simple.

However, now that Seth was gone for good and Amaryllis had some manner of closure, there was nothing stopping her from moving on and taking their offer. As she expected, the firm had been more than happy to hear from her. Over the course of the phone call, Amaryllis learned that they were willing to pay her a great deal more than her current job ever would; a fact that they brought up first in an attempt to capture her interest.

It hadn't been a long conversation. Amaryllis already knew she wanted the job, so it wasn't long before she and the recruiter were hashing out times for prospective interviews. Due to her own chaotic schedule, as well as the openings of the company, they weren't able to find time for an interview until several months later.





Amaryllis finally reached the head of the line, where she and several others were gathered to purchase tickets for the train heading north. Thanks to her employers to be, she had received her first class ticket online. However, as she was now finding out, it didn’t matter either way. To buy or redeem tickets, she still had to wait in the long line with the other travelers.

She was currently in Savannah, which was quite aways from Grenville. That same morning, Amaryllis had woken extremely early in order to make the time listed on her ticket. Together with Seth’s brother, Adam, she had driven several hours all the way down to the coast, where she would be taking the cross country railway all the way up to New York for her interview.

Amaryllis glanced back towards the entrance of the rather small station. Adam was waiting out there with her truck, in which her luggage was loaded. She had asked him to come along so she didn’t have to leave her truck here for several days. He had been very willing to help her out, thankfully. 

When it was finally Amaryllis’ turn at the kiosk, she quickly had her ticket redeemed. She spoke to the woman behind the counter in a curt tone, eager to hasten her transaction and start loading on the train well before it was time to depart.

“Hey. The wait wasn’t too long, was it?” Adam greets Amaryllis upon her return to the truck. She groaned and rolled her eyes, opening the back of her truck to retrieve her luggage. Adam chuckled. “That bad, huh?”

“You’d think you could just print the damn thing off...but I guess that’s not too secure,” Amaryllis muttered half to herself and half to Adam. She fished through the backseat. She knew she’d be cooped up in a train for a full twenty four hour period, so she only brought a single suitcase and a backpack to carry her various entertainment devices. 

Amaryllis looked in the truck one last time to make sure she had all her necessary chargers and bags; there was nothing worse than being several hours out and remembering that she left her phone charger. Finally, when she was sure, she sighed and gazed up at Adam.

“I’m going now. Keep my truck at your place and don’t you lose it, or I swear to god I’ll kill you,” Amaryllis warned Adam. 

“Hold up, I’ll help you with your luggage,” Adam responds, hopping out of the driver’s seat and moving to join her. 

Amaryllis looked down at the single suitcase and purse that she had, and then she returned her gaze to Adam, skepticism clear on her face. “Really? Do I look that helpless to you?” She remarked to him. However, she knew full well that Adam likely had another reason to come with her.

“Heh, I guess not,” Adam answers sheepishly, scratching at the back of his neck. He soon caved beneath Amaryllis’ intense stare. “Yeah, alright. I just want to see you off. You’re going all the way to New York, right?”

“Yeah, and I’ll only be gone for maybe a week at the most,” Amaryllis pointed out to him. However, despite her jaded tone, she did appreciate the gesture he was attempting to make. Adam started to look a little anxious, causing her to sigh. “Alright, don’t give me the puppy dog face. Come on.”

“That was not a ‘puppy dog face!’” Adam protests indignantly. He shuts and locks the door to her truck and stashes the keys in his pocket as he rushes to catch up with her. “I don’t do puppy dog faces...I’m a ferocious lion!”

Amaryllis let out an amused snort at that. “Okay mister ferocious lion…” she commented. “Seriously though, all you Rogers people have a puppy dog face. Seth would kill me if he knew I told you this, but his was just adorable.”

“Seth had a puppy dog face?” Adam asks with a slight grin, his previous indignance fading in the face of his newfound curiosity. 

“Like you wouldn’t believe. He was always talking about how he hated everyone and did just fine on his own, but whenever I’d walk away from him, he’d put on this face like a puppy left out in the rain. It cracked me up,” Amaryllis revealed to him with a smirk. Adam burst out laughing at that description.

“Hah! That does sound like Seth,” Adam commented. After that, the two of them walked through the station and out the doors on the other end, where the train itself was situated. “Wow, that’s much bigger than the intrastate train.”

It was indeed larger than any train Amaryllis had seen. The train itself was thick and rectangular with rounded edges, and the sides were made of polished steel and aluminum. The three american colors were emblazed upon the sides, running the length of the whole train.

The doors in each passenger car were all open, each one manned by a member of the train staff. Other people were steadily filtering onto the train, handing their tickets to the aforementioned staff members on the way. 

“Which car are you in?” Adam asks curiously. A quick glance at her ticket is enough to give her that information.

“Second car, it looks like. Though I’ll likely be moving around to visit the dining and sleeper cars. However that works,” Amaryllis responds with an uncaring shrug. She felt a little childish admitting it to herself, but she was rather excited to ride the train. She’d only ever ridden on an intrastate railway, and those were not designed for comfort. “So what, are you gonna follow me right up to the door?”

Adam came to a stop and faced her fully. He looked somewhat serious, which caused Amaryllis to mentally prepare herself for something unnecessarily heartfelt. “Hey, so I’ve actually been meaning to say something to you,” he began.

“You’re not gonna hug me, are you? I don’t do hugs,” Amaryllis retorted before he could continue. Adam raises a brow.

“You ‘did hugs’ with Seth. Don’t even try to say you didn’t, I saw you!” Adam accuses, childishly pointing a finger at her. Amaryllis had to restrain herself from smacking it with the purse. "In fact, you did more than just hugs..."

“Shut your damn mouth! That’s because it was Seth! He’s different,” she shot back as if that should have been obvious, blushing despite herself at Adam's reference to her farewell kiss with Seth.

Adam looked as though he was going to argue further, but then he just heaves a sigh. “No, what I wanted to say is that I’m glad you’re acting like yourself again,” he says with a calm smile. 

“Uh...okay.” Amaryllis didn’t really know how to respond to something like that.

“No, really! I’m glad you’ve stuck by us for all this time, but...I gotta admit, it was unsettling to see you going through the motions like you were,” Adam attempts to explain. Amaryllis finally figured out what he was trying to say, and she had to agree that what he was saying was an accurate description of the past eight years. “I appreciate that you came to my wedding and to see Maka when she was born, but...you always seemed like you were somewhere else.”

“Because I believed my best slash only true friend was dead,” Amaryllis deadpanned. 

Adam gave a frustrated huff. “You know what I mean. You’re basically a part of the family whether you admit it or not, and we notice when our family is hurting,” he pointed out. Amaryllis did her best not to roll her eyes. She knew what he meant of course, but he was being overly emotional about it. She wondered if all of the men in the Rogers family were like this. “So it’s nice to see you being yourself.”

“Right. Thanks, I guess.” Again, Amaryllis never knew what to say when confronted with something like this. If it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have had the patience to listen to a spiel like this. Only the Rogers family ever got passes in that regard. “Anyway, I gotta get loaded up. Take care of my truck, got it?”

“Yeah! And one more thing,” Adam continued, causing her to sigh. This time, Adam’s face became grim. “Be careful. I know that it’s unlikely we’ll ever see any danger, but keep your eyes and ears open. If you hear anything about the Oppressed…”

“Shh, we’re in public, you moron!” Amaryllis hissed at him in a harsh whisper. She highly doubted that anyone would know what the Oppressed were, but it was better to be safe. “I doubt I’ll see anything. They’re still in Russia as far as I know. I’ve been watching the news.”

“Me too. Nothing at all. Still, if you hear anything, call my dad or me. Preferably both,” he finished.

“I will. Now, are you done? Can I go now, or do you have something else in your heart you want to spill to me?” Amaryllis responded, her tone quickly turning sarcastic. 

Adam lets out a laugh, leaving the serious talk behind. “Yeah, get going. Good luck at the interview. I know you’ll knock ‘em dead!” He encouraged her with a bright grin. With a wave, he turned the other way and jogged back into the building, heading for Amaryllis’ truck.

The train’s horn blew behind her, letting Amaryllis know that it was getting ready to leave. She grasped her ticket and approached her assigned car, putting all thoughts of the eventual undead invasion out of her mind.

After flashing her ticket to the attendant, Amaryllis was allowed to enter the train with the other passengers. The moment she stepped inside, she felt the cool blast of air conditioning pass over her. The temperature inside was a comfortable level, if a little chilly. Amaryllis was glad she’d brought a jacket.

She glanced around at the interior. The first class seating was arranged in rows, though they weren’t symmetrical. On the left side of the train the seats were set up in rows of two, while on the right, there were only single seats. As she could choose to sit wherever she liked, Amaryllis chose to sit on the right so she could have a row to herself. 

After sitting down, Amaryllis noticed a flat table built into the back of the seat in front of her. She found that to be very convenient for her; she’d likely make use of that when she felt like using her laptop. 

Amaryllis settled back in her seat comfortably, her luggage tucked beneath her. All she had was a suitcase, so she didn’t need to use the rack up top. She was glad the seat was at least comfortable; she’d no doubt be sitting in it for over twenty four hours.

Once all the other passengers had loaded, the train whistle blared again. The attendants stepped inside and the doors hissed shut, letting Amaryllis know that the train was about to leave. Sure enough, she felt the floor beneath her feet vibrate softly, and the train began to pull away from the station. She figured that the train must be fully electric, given how she could barely feel the train moving. She wasn’t surprised; most trains were electric at this point.

Thus began Amaryllis’ long journey north. It wouldn’t be long before she was out of state, given how fast this train was going. She estimated a few hours at the most. 

While Amaryllis waited, she took out a copy of the newspaper that she’d grabbed from the station while she’d been waiting in line. She didn’t really care to hear the news apart from the few things she picked up during her day to day, but it was at least something for her to do while a movie downloaded on her laptop. She praised the train company for installing wifi for use on cross country trips.

Amaryllis perused the paper, skipping over the articles she didn’t care about and lingering on the ones that seemed interesting. Among the latter was an article on the airborne sickness that had been frightening the northern states for a while, a year or so back. She only ever heard about it from her co-workers at the bank; but she doubted it was really as serious as they let on. 

As she expected, she had nothing to worry about. She did have to admit that it had been somewhat alarming how fast the sickness had spread. She remembered hearing that it had gotten so bad that a good chunk of the work force was completely knocked out of commission for weeks. Fortunately, she’d never heard of any deaths. 

The article that Amaryllis was reading now was that the vaccine that a brilliant Russian scientist had devised recently was now being shipped all over the country to correct and prevent any future cases. The scientist’s name was apparently one “Dr. Pallor.” He had apparently shown up around when the papers were calling it an epidemic and had quickly created a cure, which he had been lauded for. The paper even gave an image of the scientist; a thin, pale-skinned man wearing a set of round glasses. 

Amaryllis gave a slight frown. She might have to look into getting that vaccine if she was going to be living up north. The last thing she needed was to get knocked out for weeks.





Hours passed slowly, such that Amaryllis had to find alternate ways to pass the time. She had her laptop open and plugged into the outlet beneath her seat, and with it she would download and watch movies through Netflix or similar sites. She wasn’t into anime like Seth and Adam were, so she usually found herself watching horror or action comedy.

When she got hungry, Amaryllis would relocate to the dining car and get something filling to eat, so she could get back to her seat as soon as possible. As it got closer to midnight, Amaryllis started watching horror movies, keeping her well entertained and awake for quite some time as the tense atmosphere from the movies kept her on edge. 

Eventually she became tired, so she moved to one of the sleeper cars to get some sleep, taking her luggage with her for security’s sake. She stayed there for several hours until the sun started to rise.

Amaryllis sighed to herself as she returned to her seat. No doubt there were still several hours until the trip was over. While she still had plenty of shows or movies that she could watch, she was getting tired of sitting on her butt and doing nothing. The urge to work out came to her, but it wasn’t like there was a gym car on the train. She’d have gladly paid extra for the privilege had such a thing been possible.

Soon, an announcement sounded over the intercom, letting all of the passengers know that they were passing through the state of New Jersey. Amaryllis was happy to hear that; New York City was very close to the border of New Jersey, so they couldn’t be more than an hour or so out.

With that in mind, she packed up her electronics back into her bags, figuring that it would be better to do so now rather than wait until the very last moment. At the very least it would save her last minute clutter. To kill the remaining time, Amaryllis retrieved a thick novel from her backpack and cracked it open.  She could easily spend the remainder of the trip on this.

After half an hour of reading, Amaryllis became aware of a man in his thirties sitting across the aisle from her. He was dressed in a sharp well fitted business suit colored as gray as the seat he was sitting in, complete with a white undershirt and crimson tie. He possessed a clean shaven, youthful face that was framed by short wavy black hair cut close to his scalp. His jaw was chiseled and his cheekbones were pronounced, giving him a rather stern appearance, but this was completely offset by his innocent blue eyes.

Amaryllis wouldn’t have paid any attention to the man at all if he hadn’t kept sneaking glances at her every so often. She quickly grew annoyed, as it was difficult for her to focus with him looking at her like that. She thought of snapping at him, but held her tongue. It didn’t seem as though he was checking her out or anything. Amaryllis was used to seeing looks like that, so she knew what they looked like; this was not one of them. Instead, the man appeared curious, as if he was trying to remember something.

Despite these observations, Amaryllis was getting frustrated. She quickly lost her patience, looked up from her book, and met the man’s gaze before he could look away again. “Excuse me, can I help you? You’re not nearly as inconspicuous as you think you are,” she confronted him with an edge in her voice. As rude as that sounded, Amaryllis was intentionally trying not to be rude.

The man flinched at being addressed, and he averted his eyes. “Oh, sorry. You just look like someone I know,” he explains, nervously adjusting his tie. Amaryllis raised an eyebrow. That was about the lamest excuse she’d ever heard from a guy sneaking peeks at her.

“That’s real nice, but I don’t care. It’s really damn hard to focus with some weirdo staring at me like a schoolboy with a crush,” Amaryllis snapped, a curse word slipping into her rebuttal despite her best efforts to remain mostly polite. 

Amaryllis expected the man to be offended, but his reaction was the exact opposite. He broke out into a smile, looked like someone who just had his point proven. “I knew it. No one else is as blunt as you are. Amaryllis, is that you?” The man asked, his face lighting up. 

Amaryllis blinked and put her book away, figuring this was worthy of her full attention. She stared at the man for several seconds, wondering where she’d met this man before. He didn’t look familiar to her at all, yet he somehow knew her name and her mannerisms. 

“Yeah, and you are?” Amaryllis decided to respond sensibly, figuring it would be easier for her to let him explain himself rather than try to figure it out on her own.

“My name is William; I worked with you and Seth way back at Rainier State, remember?” He explains, moving a seat closer to her so he didn’t have to talk across the entire aisle to her. Amaryllis grew uncomfortable at his increased proximity, but she didn’t say anything, because now she remembered him. 

William looked nothing like she remembered. Back at her college, William had been a mousey looking guy with scruffy hair and stubble on his chin who wore casual clothes to class, but now he actually looked like a respectable business man. There was almost no comparison between then and now. 

Amaryllis only cared to remember this man in particular because he had attempted to help her find Seth eight years ago. Even though if they had found Sombra they’d have both died horribly, Amaryllis still appreciated his attempts to help, though she’d never tell him that.

William’s smile grew when Amaryllis nodded to let him know she remembered. He looked genuinely happy to see her, an expression Amaryllis wasn’t to used to seeing. “Good to see you again. What are the odds, right?” He continued.

“Right, the odds,” Amaryllis muttered with a roll of her eyes. While she didn’t hate seeing William again, the last thing she wanted to do was socialize. 

“Did you end up finding your friend again?” William asked, attempting to politely make conversation. Amaryllis froze at that question. That was probably the most complicated subject he could have brought up. There was no way she could tell him the truth, even if he would be more likely to believe than most.

“Seth is gone,” Amaryllis told him flatly. It wasn’t a lie; Seth could never come back from Equestria. However, there was only one way William would interpret that. 

William’s smile froze, and then disappeared. He winced and sincere disappointment and sorrow appeared on his face. “I’m sorry...I really am,” he said softly to her. 

Amaryllis stared at him with a neutral expression. She didn’t know why he even cared. It wasn’t his business and it wasn’t like they’d ever been friends. Come to think of it, William had appeared to be concerned back then as well, even though they’d only worked together once. It had confused her then, and it confused her now.

“I shouldn’t have brought it up. I’m sorry,” William apologized again, looking upset with himself. They sat in an awkward silence for several minutes. 

Amaryllis wasn’t angry with him; she just didn’t know what to tell him. She’d come to terms with Seth’s disappearance several months ago, when she’d spoken to Seth in person about it.  It wasn’t like she could just tell William that Seth was okay and alive in a world of ponies, probably loving on that Rainbow Dash pony. Amaryllis’ face twisted slightly, having disgusted herself with her own line of thinking. 

“Let’s...uh...talk about something else,” William tried again, mistaking her twisted face for annoyance. Amaryllis sighed, but didn’t stop him. “So...why are you headed to New York?”

“Is that really your business?” Amaryllis asked, rubbing her forehead. William winced at her confrontational reply.

“Sorry, just trying to make conversation. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” he answered hastily. Amaryllis noted that William hadn’t changed much; he still didn’t have that much of a backbone. Every time she’d say something snappy to him, he’d try to placate her.

“Ugh, don’t do that,” Amaryllis groaned. Not for the first time, she missed when Seth would shoot insults right back at her. “If you really must know, I’ve got a job interview waiting for me.”

“Oh! If it’s in the city, it’s probably a lucrative job,” William commented, looking grateful that she hadn’t taken too much offense. 

“Pretty much. Because we’re apparently exchanging stories now, why are you going to the city?” Amaryllis returned, sounding resigned. At this point, her goal was killing time. Even though she wasn’t reading like she had wanted to, she supposed this could kill some time as well.

“I live in New York city now, in Manhattan. I was actually on business in Richmond for a few weeks, so I’m on my way home now,” William proclaims proudly. Amaryllis had to be impressed despite herself. The cost of living in Manhattan could reach up to 4000 dollars a month, so that meant William was doing rather well for himself, probably making over 80,000 a year. “I’m working as a IT project manager.”

Amaryllis nodded. That would explain the high salary. Eventually she’d be making just as much if not more than him, so she wasn’t too worried, especially since she only intended to live by herself. “Good for you, I guess,” Amaryllis responded listlessly. She reclined back in her chair, looking out the window. She realized that William was hoping to hear about her job, considering how he was gazing at her expectantly. “I’m going into Bio-Mathematics, if you must know.”

“Oh, that’s a lucrative field. Good choice,” William complimented her. Amaryllis didn’t respond with much more than a grunt. This conversation had already begun to bore her. 

She decided to change the topic to something more interesting. “You live in the north, right? So did you end up getting sick with that epidemic?” Amaryllis figured he’d know what she was talking about.

William winced. “You’re talking about the Hades virus, right?” He asked. When Amaryllis nodded, he sighed. “Thankfully, I was lucky enough to avoid the initial spread.”

The Hades Virus. That was what Amaryllis had read about in the papers several hours ago. Officially, the virus was called the Human Airborne Epidermal Decay Virus, or HAED. However, a medical professional went on record as calling it the “disease from hell,” later leading the populace to make the joke pronouncing it as Hades rather than HAED, and the name eventually stuck. According to the papers, the symptoms started similar to that of the flu, but then patches of rotting skin would start to appear and would quickly get worse unless swiftly treated. 

“The first cases started a year back around when I had just finished up with a previous project. I was lucky enough to get an assignment out of state, so I managed to hightail it out of there just as the whole city started getting sick,” William revealed to her, happy to keep talking to her. He then put on a wry grin. “Ironically enough, half my company came down with it not long after I left.”

“Lucky for you,” Amaryllis remarked, crossing her arms. “So should I be getting the vaccine as long as I’m up here?”

“I’d recommend it, personally. I’m planning to get it myself as soon as I get up there,” William advised her. Amaryllis nodded, agreeing with that. She wanted no part of the Hades Virus.

After that, the two of them fell silent, having run out of things to talk about. Eventually, another announcement came over the intercom, letting them all know they would be arriving in an hour’s time. To Amaryllis, the trip couldn’t end quickly enough. Her butt was starting to get sore from sitting down for all this time. 

Now that the conversation had fallen flat, Amaryllis opened her book back up and began to read. William noticed her with her book and let her be, knowing full well how she got when someone interrupted her reading.

After half an hour, the train passed down into an underground tunnel that would eventually lead to the first stop in New York, which was in Staten Island. Amaryllis was going to be getting off at Grand Central Station. No doubt William would be as well, considering he lived in Manhattan.

It grew dark as they passed beneath the earth. There was nothing to see out the window except the poorly lit walls of the circular tunnel. Amaryllis briefly wondered if they were underwater as well. They had to cross an inlet from the Atlantic in order to reach Staten Island, so she figured they’d have to eventually.

Amaryllis was abruptly disturbed from her reading when suddenly everything went dark in the train car without any warning. She rubbed her eyes to see if something was wrong with them, but there was absolutely no light in the train car at all. She couldn’t even see any of the other passengers, who were now murmuring anxiously amongst themselves at the sudden lack of light.

“What the hell?” She whispered. She could feel the train slowing down and the engines dying down to complete silence. Even the lights in the tunnel out the windows appeared to have shut down entirely.

“What’s happening?” A woman’s voice sounded out worriedly in the train car. No one had an answer for her. The anxiety in the car only rose by the moment as people turned on their phones and took out flashlights in order to see one another.

The train soon came to a complete stop in the middle of the tunnel. With a quiet whir, the emergency lights flickered on, bathing the interior of the car in a soft red glow. 

Amaryllis and William looked at one another, taken by surprise at this sudden turn of events. The train was completely dead in the middle of the tunnel, which should have been impossible unless the third rail that powered them had suddenly lost power.

“That’s not supposed to happen,” William uttered aloud. Amaryllis agreed. No doubt there was just a malfunction somewhere down the line like a power surge, but she couldn’t shake this sinking feeling that was beginning to impede on her mind.

Something was very wrong.
	


	

 
	


> 6. The Passengers
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Approximately 3000 Years Ago

The locomotive of the train was miniscule compared to the rest of the train cars, containing only enough space for a single operator to sit comfortably at the dashboard. At the back of this compartment was the door leading the first car, where the sounds of the first class passengers could be heard.

The forty-two year old Brendan Hoover sat forward in his chair, occasionally looking up from his book to check the array of monitors and displays spread across the dashboard before him. In the middle of a trip like this, he often found himself with little to do. It got boring, but he couldn’t complain; he’d rather be bored than deal with the many problems that could arise with the machinery.	

Due to the advances in modern transportation technology, Brendan was one of three senior staff members in charge of keeping the train operational. His job was as the train’s driver , while his co-workers Kent and Robert were respectively the conductor and engineer hired by the company. Although no further staff members were needed to keep the train moving, there were still multiple other lesser staff. They were in charge of keeping the passengers satisfied through other services, such as cleaning and cooking.

Brendan glanced once more at the dashboard, absentmindedly scratching at the graying stubble on his chin.  He noted the status of the train’s dials and gauges, finding them to be at normal levels. All in all, it seemed as though this trip would go by without a hitch. Brendan’s chest swelled with pride as he recalled his flawless track record when it came to operational procedures. 

According to the display, there was less than an hour before they’d reach Staten Island. Around this time on the trip, they’d pass underground through a sturdy tunnel to cross the river between New Jersey and Staten Island. That would take the rest of the trip. Brendan made this trip so many times in the past that he mostly had the route memorized.

It was partially because of this fact that Brendan was completely taken by surprise by what happened next. It happened without warning. There were no warning signs, no bells or whistles, or anything that could have tipped the driver off as to what was about to happen. 

With a click, the displays and monitors turned black. The various indicator lights on the dashboard went dark all at once. Before Brendan could process this, the overhead light keeping the driver’s compartment lit went out, plunging him into complete darkness.

“What in the…” Brendan emitted in surprise, wondering if he was imagining things. However, he knew without a doubt that this was not the case as he heard the telltale sounds of engine failure. He got to his feet, fumbling in the dark for the safety handle to steady himself as the train rapidly slowed down. “Did we lose power?”

Brendan knelt down and searched the darkness for the flashlight that he was required to keep with him in case of power failures such as this. Flicking it on, he used it to locate the folder that held all of the emergency procedures. 

His first thought was that something could have gone wrong with the conduit supplying the train with power from the third rail. That would be extremely hazardous to repair, as it would require one of the senior staff to go beneath the train to inspect it.

With that in mind, Brendan reached down and pinged Robert by way of the battery powered pager clipped to his waist.  The emergency lights were due to come on soon, and Brendan wanted this train up and running again before the secondary generator even grew hot.

“Damn, like I needed this,” Brendan complained. As the driver, he would no doubt be forced to let the passengers know what was going on. His job in that regard would not be pleasant, considering the first class riders tended to be difficult to deal with in the case of delays. 

With that in mind, Brendan resigned himself and reached for the intercom the moment the emergency power lit up the display.





“Attention all passengers; this is the operator speaking.” The speakers on the wall cracked to life with the voice of an older sounding man. This single announcement was enough to quell the rising murmurs from the other passengers surrounding Amaryllis and William.

Now that the emergency lights had kicked in, everyone seemed to be calming down, their surprise quickly turning to annoyance. At the sound of the intercom, people were starting to come to the conclusion that their trip was probably going to be delayed.

“The train is suffering from an unexpected power outage, and is currently inoperable. There will be a short delay until our engineer can restore the train to its proper function. We apologize for any inconvenience,” the operator explains. His voice sounded calm, as if this sort of thing wasn’t that uncommon. Because of that, sighs of relief and annoyance sounded from the other passengers. “We ask that you please remain in your assigned cars until motion has been resumed.”

“Great...like I wanted to be stuck in this train for another few hours,” Amaryllis complained aloud to herself, sitting back in her chair now that she was assured the situation wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. She couldn’t explain why she had gotten such a foreboding premonition from the power outage. Even now something seemed wrong, making it difficult for her to get comfortable in her chair.

“It’s unfortunate to be sure. You won’t be late for your interview, will you?” William asked her with some concern. 

Amaryllis gave him a stare, wondering why he even cared. If she was late for her interview, the only one suffering would be herself, so it shouldn’t affect him in the least.

“The hell you worrying about me for? Worry about yourself,” Amaryllis responded after a moment, feeling somewhat uncomfortable at his odd show of concern. In response, William gave a sheepish smile, as if her words had been what he expected.

“Thankfully I’m in no rush. My company doesn’t expect me back until this weekend,” William revealed to her, despite the fact that she hadn’t asked. “I decided to return early because I have a family waiting for me. I want to spend some time with them before going back to work.”

William looked and sounded so happy after saying that; Amaryllis couldn’t help but feel bitter, even though she knew she had no reason to be. “Well, good for you, family man,” she retorted, her tone clearly betraying her bitterness. 

William seemed to misunderstand her jaded words, as he attempted to look reassuring. “Don’t worry, I think your company will understand. These things do happen,” he says with a shrug.

Amaryllis rolled her eyes and averted her gaze, instead taking out the last book in her collection that she hadn’t finished yet. In actuality, she wasn’t worried about making it to her interview on time. She purposely bought tickets for a train ride several days in advance so that in the case of unforeseen factors, she wouldn’t end up being late. She mentally praised her own foresight.

The train car fell into relative silence, broken only by the other passengers whispering to one another. There wasn’t much for everyone to do now that the train was running on emergency power. Internet connectivity was down and the built in entertainment systems were nonfunctional, so all they could do is talk to one another. Amaryllis in particular never looked up from her book; she figured that by the time she finished her book, the train would be moving again.

“Weird, I don’t have phone service,” William commented aloud, gazing down at his fancy android phone.  Amaryllis hazarded a glance at her own phone to see that she too was receiving no cell service whatsoever.

“That’s because we’re in a tunnel, moron,” Amaryllis pointed out as if it should have been obvious. 

William winced at her insult, but actually responded back to her. “That doesn’t actually disrupt service anymore,” he pointed out, much to Amaryllis’ surprise.

“Come again?”

“With the recent advances in the infrastructure in tunnels such as this, we can actually get access to cell service even deep beneath the river as we are. There are cables in the tunnel wall that basically ‘leak’ cell service so that we can use it,” William explains to her. 

“Huh...how about that,” Amaryllis commented, blinking. Maybe it was because she worked in finances, but she’d never heard of such a system. Then again, she never really paid attention to technological advancements unless they directly affected her.

“So it’s odd that I’m not getting any service, especially with the provider I’m using,” William continued. He stood up from his seat and proceeded to address the rest of the car. “Excuse me; is anyone else getting cell service?”

There was a shuffling as other passengers briefly checked their phones. Soon, there was a resounding chorus of no’s from everyone else, showing William and Amaryllis that everyone was in a similar situation. There was no internet, no cell service, and no way of knowing how far it was to the next station. They were essentially cut off from the rest of the world.

“Quit worrying. It’s not like you’d do anything other than text their families or fucking tweet about this even if you did have service,” Amaryllis cynically told William, returning to her book. Despite that, William didn’t look reassured whatsoever. Neither did Amaryllis for that matter. 

“You’re right, I suppose. There’s nothing we can do except sit here and wait until the engineers sort things out,” William admitted.





“What do you mean, ‘there’s nothing wrong with it?!’” Brendan snapped at the taller of the three men standing in the cramped locomotive.

“I mean that there’s seriously nothing wrong with it. I don’t know how I can make this any simpler for you.” The train’s engineer, Robert, shot right back at Brendan. The taller, younger man looked as though he’d seen better days. His face was pale and his fingers were smeared with grease, indicating that recently he’d been hard at work. His hair was frazzled, showing just how unsettled he really was. “I checked the conduit, I checked the generator, I even checked the damn third rail itself. There’s nothing wrong at all. It’s just dead.”

“You’ve gotta give me something more than that. I can’t tell the passengers that the train’s ‘just dead’ in the middle of the damn tunnel beneath the Arthur Kill!” Brendan was getting more and more flustered now that the situation was clearly out of his control. “You’re the engineer….find what’s wrong!

“I don’t know what you want from me, Brendan! I’ve been working on this train since before you were stationed here; I know the old girl like the back of my hand,” Robert argues vehemently. “The whole train is entirely in working order. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this train as far as I can see.”

“You’re not looking hard enough!” Brendan retorted. This clearly angered Robert even more. Just as the engineer was opening his mouth to retort, the third man, the much older sixty year old Kent interjected, his wizened hands raised placatingly.

“Now you two need to just calm right down for just a second,” Kent interrupted them. As the conductor, Kent’s jobs generally involved working on paperwork and other such trivialities that didn’t involve the physical function of the  train itself, but he had been hired for his other more social talents. “There’s gotta be something else we can do without arguing. Mr. Hoover, have you tried contacting the station?”

“That’s just it. I can’t. Even through emergency power or the cell service in the tunnels, I can’t reach them. We’re completely cut off. This has never happened before.” It was clear that this situation was way beyond anything Brendan had ever had to deal with during his time driving the train.

“And you’re certain there’s nothing wrong with the train?” Without missing a beat, Kent moved his line of inquiry to Robert, who was calming down now that accusations weren’t being thrown at him.

“Absolutely. Whatever’s happening here, it’s not my fault. I check the systems every hour, and I double checked them right before I got here,” Robert seemed more forthcoming when talking to Kent, which was causing Brendan to eye him with frustration. “I’ll be frank. I have no idea what’s going on. This certainly isn’t a power surge. It’s as if all power coming from the station just went dead.”

“Which is impossible. There are five separate power plants in New York City alone, one of which is right on Arthur Kill, only a few kilometers from here,” Brendan interrupted again, not convinced by Robert’s suggestion at all. “Even if by some miracle a plant were to go down, one of the other four would have rerouted power to us by now.”

“We can worry about whys and hows later,” Kent joined back in again. “What’s important is how we deal with the now, right? Tell you what, I have an idea.”

“Go ahead, Kent. It’s probably better than being screamed at.” After saying that, Robert threw Brendan a nasty look. 

“Just for Brendan’s peace of mind, why don’t you give the train a look-see one more time, see if you can’t find anything you missed?” Kent suggested. Robert sighed in frustration, but nodded, seeing no better alternative. “Then, if you’ll keep trying to raise the station, Mr. Hoover, that’d be great. In the meantime, I’ll fetch the emergency protocols. We’ll fall back on those if all else fails.”

“It’s as good an idea as any, I suppose,” Brendan grumbles, turning back to the dashboard. “We only have so much emergency power.”

“I’ll get moving then. Meet you back here when I’m done.” With a sigh, Robert leaves the room again, passing through the first car and out of sight.

Brendan noticed Kent still standing there, his hand brushing against his bushy white beard with unease. “Something else, Kent?”

“Not really...I just can’t shake this feeling that something isn’t right here…”





Amaryllis was getting impatient. She long since finished her book over half an hour ago, which was now sitting in her bag with the rest of them. She now had nothing else to do other than sit tight and tap her foot against the floor. She couldn’t fathom why fixing a simple power outage was taking this long. 

Even some of the other passengers were getting antsy. Some of them were up and walking around, though it would be more accurate to describe that as pacing. Some of them were following Amaryllis’ previous example and reading books. As Amaryllis had run out of books to read, this made her jealous.

“This is getting old really fast,” one of the male passengers complained, standing up straight. “Shouldn’t one of us talk to the conductor or something?”

“Great idea! Why don’t you go and do that?” Amaryllis was the first to respond, as the last thing she wanted was to deal with the other passengers getting uppity. Upon being addressed, the other passenger turned his gaze to her, his eyes widening slightly.

“What, me? Really?”

“Of course, since you suggested it. Why don’t you walk on up to the senior staff and get in their way with your inane questions? That’ll get the train moving much faster,” Amaryllis’ false enthusiasm soon gave way to utter sarcasm. Much to the complaining man’s chagrin, some of the other passengers were stifling chuckles. 

“Excuse me?” The man responded, clearly offended. People were so simple to Amaryllis at times. “That was beyond rude of you. Why don’t you just keep quiet, if you’re just going to be  a smart ass?”

“Figures. Try to shut me up instead of acknowledging that your complaint is shit,” Amaryllis returned, angering the man further. Just as she was starting to stand up as well, a third person stood up, intervening before things could degenerate further.

“Now, if we’ll just calm down here...we’re all just upset because we’re bored and there’s nothing to do, right?” the third person, who was a balding man who appeared to be in his forties, attempted to defuse the situation.  

“Some of us had places to be,” the complaining man grumbled in reply, glaring at Amaryllis. She just gave an uncaring shrug. She could less about his troubles; all she wanted was for him not to get in the staff’s way. Then they’d be stuck here longer.

“Did you have a suggestion?” A brown haired woman from the back of the car asked the balding man, sounding hopeful.

The man lit up, putting on a bright friendly smile. It wasn’t an expression Amaryllis expected to see on the face of a random stranger. “Yeah, I think I did. If we’re all hurting for things to do, we could always talk to one another,” he suggested.

“...What,” Amaryllis deadpanned, not liking the sound of that at all. She’d rather be bored than be forced to socialize with people she’d likely never see again after getting off this train. “I think that’s a terr-”

“That’s a great idea,” William talks over her forming complaint, mirroring the other man’s smile. “If we’re stuck here anyway, it might be nice to introduce ourselves.”

“Hm, why not?” The brown hair woman agreed as well. She stood from her seat and moved closer up. 

“Might as well.”

“Nothing else to do.”

Before Amaryllis realized it, the other passengers were beginning to gather in the center of the train car. She gave a slight scoff of derision. William was right in that there was nothing else to do, but she didn’t care about these people. Why bother learning their names?

“Come join us, Amaryllis!” William offered, leaving a spot open in the forming circle for her. She gave him a death glare telling him exactly what she thought of his offer, causing him to quail. When he spoke again, his voice was noticeably shakier. “I mean, you finished your book right? It’ll be fun.”

“‘Fun’ is subjective,” Amarylllis grunted. However, even she was beginning to understand how annoying it would get to be stuck in a trainful of people that disliked her for an indeterminate amount of time, so she took the offered space. The whole time, she mentally cursed William with every fiber of her being, along with that man who suggested it in the first place. “Fine, let’s get this over with.”

There were twelve of them in total in this particular car, including Amaryllis. There had been more people before, but after the previous stop, several had departed.

Once all of them were gathered in a circle, the balding man started. “So I figure we’d start by introducing ourselves and then say where we’re going and why,” he explained. “I’ll start. I’m Dawson Reeves, and I’m on my way to my home in Manhattan.”

After Dawson’s introduction was acknowledged with polite nods and murmurs, each person began to introduce themselves in turn. Whether Amaryllis liked it or not, she committed each name and face to memory as it grew closer to her turn.

After Dawson was the complaining man from before. His name was Jakob, and his attitude didn’t change despite the somewhat more amicable atmosphere. According to his annoyed complaints, Jakob was on his way to Staten Island for his son’s wedding, and he was fairly certain that this was going to make him late. Amaryllis pointed out that he should have bought tickets in advance, but all this did was cause Dawson to prompt the next person to speak before she and Jakob could get into it again.

Next was a man and a woman introducing themselves at the same time. They were brother and sister and looked very similar to one another, with short black hair and brown eyes. By their own introduction, Amaryllis learned they were twins, named Aven and Avil. Due to their accents, Amaryllis guessed that they must have been German. They were engineers who did everything together, and they were on their way to Manhattan to work on the city’s infrastructure. 

After the twins, the next person to introduce himself was a muscled man of Hispanic origin named Samuel. Amaryllis was surprised to hear that he had come all the way back from a trip to Mexico through multiple trains in order to meet up with his friends in Queens, where they planned to enlist in the armed forces. That in particular gained a tiny sliver of respect from Amaryllis. She always tended to respect anyone who could fight.

Next to speak was a woman who looked considerably younger compared to everyone else in the group. Her name was Jennifer, and she was dressed in strangely casual clothes depicting upright animals similar to those you’d see in a Disney movie. To Amaryllis, they were disgustingly cute and reminded her painfully of Seth’s ponies, even though they looked nothing like ponies. According to Jennifer, she was changing trains soon on her way to Rochester for a convention of some sort, though she seemed reluctant to say what kind. 

Moving on, there was the Graves family. They were a family of three on a sightseeing trip to the big city. The husband was named Grant, the wife was named Rachel, and their son was named Sawnee, though he didn’t look at all interested in their destination. Rachel gushed on and on about how she wanted to see Times Square, causing everyone who lived in New York to chuckle or roll their eyes. Tourists.

Amaryllis introduced herself next, though her introduction was much more brief than the others. “I’m Amaryllis, and I’m going to find a job. Happy? Okay, move on, I’m done.” She felt uncomfortable in a group like this, so the sooner she could quit being the center of attention, the better.

Lastly, after William had introduced himself, was the brown haired woman and her daughter, who Amaryllis hadn’t even noticed before. Unlike her mother, Mary, the little girl was blonde. She looked to be about 9 years of age, but conducted herself in a very polite manner. Amaryllis was taken aback by how well behaved she was; Mary must be very strict with her. 

“My name is Emma Kristen. It’s nice to meet all of you,” the girl introduced herself enthusiastically, giving a slight dip of her head and a bright smile. Before going back to her mother, she turned her attention to Amaryllis. “Oh, I wanted to say that you have a pretty name, miss Amaryllis.”

“Wha…?” Amaryllis was taken off guard at being addressed directly, and with a compliment of all things. Unsure how to react, all she could do was give an awkward smile. “Thanks, I guess?”

Emma beamed. “Mother always said if I had something nice to say, I should say it,” she explained happily, and then she returned to Mary’s side, leaving behind a very confused Amaryllis.

“She’s adorable,” William had to say, a goofy smile on his face. “You have a very well-behaved daughter, miss Mary. Reminds me of my own.”

Mary blushed slightly as some of the others gave assenting murmurs, complimenting her daughter. She smiled and nodded to acknowledge them.

With that, everyone had had a chance to speak, so introductions were over. Right on cue, Jakob groaned and glanced over towards the door that headed towards the first car. “Now what do we do? There’s still no sign of the…”

Before Jakob could even finish his complaint, the door slid open to admit an old man with a thick white beard who was dressed in the same clothes as the rest of the staff. Glancing at his chest revealed that his name was Kent by way of the name tag clipped to his breast.

“Alrighty, I’m Kent, your conductor. I’m gonna need you all to play close attention,” Kent begins, speaking loud enough that everyone in the car can hear him. “As you know, the train’s lost power, so we’re not going anywhere any time soon.”

“Well, what’s wrong with it? My brother and I might be able to help fix it; we’re engineers,” Avil is the first to respond, interrupting Kent before he could finish.  Aven nodded enthusiastically, bringing forth a toolbox from the luggage compartment. 

“If I knew, I’d tell you. Thanks for the offer, but I’ve got it on good word from our engineer that this train isn’t going anywhere,” Kent assures them, giving them a smile. That sounded suspicious to Amaryllis, but she didn’t say anything. “Communications are down and we’ve no way of knowing how long it’ll take for the first responders to figure out we’re missing.”

“So then what are we going to do? I have places to be!” Jakob snapped. He seemed to have no patience for the lack of satisfying answers. Dawson laid a hand on Jakob’s shoulder in an attempt to calm him down, but he just threw him off in bad grace.

“In the absence of all other options, we’re going to go by emergency protocols. Keep in mind that none of your are in any danger,” Kent begins, unperturbed by Jakob’s interruption. “If you’ll move ahead into the front car, you can step out of the train there. We’re going to be grouping up and heading for the nearest station.”

“We’re going to be walking along the rails?!”

“Are you kidding me?”

“What about the third rail?” William interjects over the comments of the other passengers. 

“That’s just it. The third rail is dead. No power running through it at all,” Kent reveals, much to everyone’s surprise. He held up a hand to forestall any incoming protests. “However, we don’t have a guarantee that it’s going to stay that way, so the sooner we’re all on the ledges, the better off we’ll be.”

“We’re going to walk on the rails? This is going to be so exciting!” Emma seemed to be the only one enthused by the current events.

“No, honey, there are ledges on the sides of the tunnel,” Mary explained to her daughter while everyone else processed what was going on. 

“Now, I need you all to move in a calm and orderly fashion out of the train like I told you. The driver, Mr. Hoover, is already outside with the passengers from the first car. He’s got flashlights, so you can’t miss him,” Kent directs. “Meet up with him and do what he says. Alright? Then go.”

After the brief explanation, Kent moved through the group into the next car, no doubt to tell the next group of passengers the same thing.

After several moments of silence, Dawson got to his feet and looked around at everyone. “Alright, you heard the man. Let’s get moving. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never been in a subway tunnel before. It’ll be an adventure!” He gave a chuckle in an attempt to lighten the mood, but it went mostly ignored, except for Emma. The little girl was only getting more excited as time went on.

“This has been quite the trip, huh?” William joked to Amaryllis as he too stood up. Everyone seemed to be gathering their luggage, grouping up, and following Dawson, who appeared to have installed himself as the group’s acting leader, into the next car.

“It’s been a pain in the ass; that’s what it’s been,” Amaryllis snapped in annoyance. “Not only do I get forced to socialize with a bunch of strangers, now I have to walk for god knows how long through a tunnel several hundred feet underground. Pardon me if this wasn’t what I’d envisioned when I bought my fucking ticket.”

“Hey, it’s not that bad,” William attempted to placate her as the two of them followed the rest of the group into the first car. 

At the end of the car was a door on the side that was usually reserved for emergencies such as this one. It was hanging wide open, opening out into the complete darkness of the tunnel. This only served to remind Amaryllis that it wasn’t just the train that had lost power...everything had. They were going to be walking in total darkness.

“How do you figure!?”

“We’re not in danger, right? So why not treat it like an adventure, like Dawson said?” William suggested. Amaryllis gave him an incredulous look, wondering if he was actually being serious. This was nothing, compared to the things Seth told her about what he’d gone through with the ponies. 

“Just whatever. You’re such a child,” Amaryllis derided him. It was her turn to step out of the train now, so she grasped the bars on either side of the door and leapt to the rails below. Her shoes clanked against the metal rails and echoed throughout the dead silent tunnel.

The only light came from the brightly shining flashlights coming from the group gathered on the far side of the tunnel, where a raised ledge allowed people to walk above the rails. Upon hearing the sound of Amaryllis hitting the rails, the flashlight turned to point at her, illuminating the spot where she was standing with a circle of brilliant light.

“Over here! Don’t worry, the third rail’s inactive! Just keep walking and you’ll be okay!” An unfamiliar voice called over to her from the edge of the tunnel. Amaryllis tentatively took a step forward, carrying her luggage with her. With every step she took, the flashlight would illuminate the path ahead of her, allowing her and everyone else around her to navigate across the pitch black tunnel.

In that manner, Amaryllis made her way to the ledge and climbed up a ladder to join the rest of the group. William soon joined her. The rest of the train’s passengers made their way to the ledge with the rest, forming a long line back into the tunnel. 

Despite the growing amount of people on the ledge, Amaryllis found that she was somehow still with Dawson and the rest of the people she’d met in her car. No doubt they felt closer to one another due to the whole conversation they’d had in the train.

Eventually, Kent and one other member of the senior staff joined them, both of them carrying flashlights with power similar to that of floodlights. They staggered themselves amongst the line in order to cover as much space with light as possible. Kent stood in the middle of the line, and the last member, who appeared to be the senior engineer, stood at the back.

Amaryllis and the others from her car were closest to the staff member in front, who introduced himself as Brendan Hoover. Because of that, the could see the path ahead of them. 

“Let’s get moving, everyone. Grab onto a friend and stay close to the searchlights. It will be extremely bad if you get separated from us!” Brendan called, and then he started to move. Around her, Amaryllis noticed people doing as directed and grabbing hold of one another, either by holding hands, arms, or shoulders. 

Amaryllis noticed William looking at her and she shot him a glare. “Do it and you lose a hand,” she snapped before he could even finish formulating the thought.

At first, as the group moved forward, everyone was rather lively and talked amongst themselves. However, as time went on with no end of the tunnel in sight, conversation gradually petered out until the tunnel was dead silent, broken only by the sound of footfalls and breathing.

The feeling of wrongness Amaryllis felt while in the train came back to her, but she still couldn’t put her finger on why she felt that way. Maybe it was because there was no end of the tunnel in sight, and it was getting to her. Even with the powerful flashlight facing directly forward, it hardly made a dent on the crushing darkness.

The minutes passed, stretching into hours. While they had been close to the station, they could hardly use the time estimate of the train to determine how long it would take them to walk the same distance.

Unease began to settle over the group, though like Amaryllis, no one really had an answer as to where that feeling was coming from. Even the previously excited Emma was clinging to her mother’s side, her smile nowhere to be seen. “Mother, I don’t think I want to be here anymore…” she whined softly.

“I know, honey...I know,” Mary replied in an equally soft tone, brushing her daughter’s hair with a free hand. “Just stay close to me. Everything’s going to be okay.”

Eventually, the group came across another train. This one was on the other side of the tunnel and also looked to be dead on the trails. It lay there, inert and abandoned, with the passengers nowhere to be seen. 

No matter how far they went, there was no sign of power anywhere in the tunnel. Even Brendan was starting to get nervous, as he was certain they were nearing the station, but he couldn’t see any sign of the brightly lit area. It couldn’t be that all of Staten lost power?

“Everyone, we’re going to be approaching the station soon. It seems like there’s no power there as well, so stay very close to me and do not stray off!” Brendan called back loud enough that Kent would be able to hear him and relay the message back.

“Finally...though you’d think they’d have power, wouldn’t you?” Amaryllis remarked to William. When she didn’t get an answer, she turned to see that William was very pale, his hands trembling. “What’s the matter with you?”

“I don’t know...but something isn’t right. I can just tell,” William sounded terrified.

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re afraid of the dark,” Amaryllis remarked, despite the fact that she felt the same as him. This tunnel was too quiet...too still. 

“No, it’s not that. I don’t know what it is...but I feel like I just want to run, and never look back,” William answered with a shudder. Amaryllis didn’t answer after that. She was beginning to feel the same way, and she wasn’t a coward like the one she considered him to be. Suddenly, William went ramrod still. “There, did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Amaryllis snapped, tugging on his jacket to keep him moving. She could hear Brendan calling that he could see the station. Sure enough, just up ahead on the right wall, there was a typical train platform with inert escalators leading up, but there was no sign of power. Nor were there any people, for that matter.

“Hey, I heard something,” Brendan said, coming to a slow stop as well. Amaryllis listened closely, but heard nothing but silence from the tunnel ahead...at least at first. 

Soon...she began to hear soft whispering from the other end of the tunnel. They were too indistinct to be made out, but they were definitely there, and they were gradually growing louder. They could be other passengers from stalled trains...but for some reason, Amaryllis knew that wasn’t the case. A chill ran down her back, every instinct screaming at her to run.

“W-What...is that whispering?” William stammered. Nobody had an answer for him. 

Then, another noise joined the mix. Amaryllis could hear a strange combination of noises, as if something metallic was clicking against the rails on the far end of the tunnel. Immediately, she knew that something was coming. And there wasn’t just one of them. There was only one way she could describe the cacophony of sounds emanating from the far tunnel.

Click-sccraaape.




	

> 7. The Oppressed Attack
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The tunnel stretched out ahead of the group of beleaguered passengers for several scores of meters, and then curved away to the right into impenetrable blackness. The ledges on the right side of the tunnel only extended for a few more meters before opening out into one of the few train stations spread across the entirety of New York City.

The station itself stretched across the entirety of the tunnel, giving the usual travelers room to reach either the northbound or southbound trains. However, the only way out was a large alcove set into the right right side of the tunnel several meters away from where the man leading the pack of passengers was standing.  

A series of turnstiles blocked entry to the train platform, and several automated ticket machines were stationed against either side of the alcove, distributing train tickets to whatever travelers that could afford them. Behind the turnstiles and booths were two escalators that were intended to carry passengers to and from the city proper. It was too dark to see any further, but it was possible that there were other levels to the station.

Usually the turnstiles and train platforms were staffed by employees of the company as well as populated by hundreds of people, but it was completely abandoned. Everything was dead quiet, except for the eerie whispering coming from the other end of the tunnel.

Amaryllis took a step back, finding herself backing into William in the process. Cold droplets of sweat rolled down her brow, an inescapable feeling of dread filling her up inside. She couldn’t even explain it to herself, but she had a feeling that the scraping and clicking she was hearing foretold the approaching presence of death itself.

Brendan, who was the closest to the train platform as well as the one leading the pack, continued forward, his floodlight trained on the other end of the tunnel. So far his light revealed nothing, but the sounds coming from the tunnel only increased. Whatever they were; they were getting closer.

Some of the passengers moved forward with Brendan, unwilling to let him get too far ahead. Amaryllis forced herself to move forward as well. William stayed close to her, attempting to hide behind her from whatever was coming.

“What the devil is that whispering?” Amaryllis heard Jakob demand in a harsh whisper. She couldn’t see him well in the darkness, but she knew his complaining voice anywhere. “And that awful racket!”

“It’s probably other people in the same situation as us. No doubt if power went down throughout the tunnel, we weren’t the only train affected,” someone suggested placatingly. The man’s confident tone and friendly manner led Amaryllis to conclude that she was hearing Dawson.

“I dunno...I have a very bad feeling,” Samuel’s accented voice added with uncertainty evident in his words. Amaryllis heard the muscled man crack his knuckles. She agreed with him. While she’d like to believe that Dawson was right, she knew that something was wrong.

“Who’s out there?” Brendan called out into the tunnel, standing in the center of the platform with his floodlight pointing forward. His voice echoed throughout the station. The instant after he spoke, the clicking and scraping died away immediately, leaving only the whispering to break the silence. “Hester, is that you? Did your train lose power as well? Hector? James?”

Brendan grew more unsettled with every name he called. Amaryllis could see him starting to tremble. No answer was forthcoming from the tunnel. At least, not in the form of words.

They all began to hear the sound of what seemed like hooves clopping on the tiling of the platform. Amaryllis noticed everyone around her looking at one another in confusion. She too found herself completely confused; what the hell would a horse be doing in a tunnel like...the realization hit her just as a quadrupedal figure walked out into the circle of light illuminated by Brendan’s floodlight.

It was clearly some species of horse, though it was unlike any horse anyone had ever seen. It was much smaller than a typical horse, but it’s most striking feature was the color of its fur. It was colored a shade of blue so pale it reminded Amaryllis of ice. Furthermore, it’s mane was completely white save for multiple streaks of blue running through it. Again unlike a typical horse, its mane appeared to be styled, with most of it straightened and hanging down one side of its face, with the rest combed down neatly over its ears.

When the creature raised its head, it revealed an oddly expressive face with large blue eyes set above a squarish muzzle. Its features were decidedly masculine. To top off this absurdity, the creature was dressed in tight clothes colored both black and white and equipped with a carved ivory staff tipped with a crystalline blue orb. Despite all  this, the stallion’s most striking feature was the horn growing from his head.

At this moment, Amaryllis knew without the shadow of a doubt that she was looking at a pony. This was not just any pony; this was one of Seth’s ponies...an Equestrian.

Before Amaryllis could ponder the ramifications of a pony from the future being in front of her, the pony drew closer and smiled malevolently, evil intent present in his ice cold eyes.

“What in the hell….?” Brendan couldn’t even finish his confused question before the pony reared up and slammed the butt of his staff into the tile with a tremendous crash. There was a lot more sound than there should have been for such an action, and Amaryllis could feel the air resonating with power, similar to the way she felt after meeting Sombra for the first time.

The pony’s staff shined brightly and released a glowing orb into the air. The orb was so bright that it illuminated the entire platform and blinded anyone looking at it. With a gesture of his head, the orb flew into the air and came to rest just beneath the ceiling of the tunnel.

The orb shed light upon the dark tunnel...revealing what was inside it. Amaryllis’ breath caught in her throat as she saw rows upon rows of twisted, monstrous creatures filling the dark tunnel, completely unmoving. It was clear that they used to be human, but they were twisted by dark magic such that they were quadrupedal and equipped with lethal enamel claws at the ends of their hands...which were bloated and hardened into the shape of hooves.

Amaryllis knew what they were. There was no way she couldn’t recognize them, even though their appearance had only ever been described to her through her conversations with Seth.

“Oppressed….but...how...this is…” was all Amaryllis could say, her face turning completely pale. The sheer impossibility of the sight before her had her dumbfounded and unable to act. It couldn’t be. This was too soon. It had only been a few months since Seth returned to the future. She was supposed to have eighty years. Beside her, William turned his head curiously upon hearing her mention the name of what they were.

The pony grinned and his horn lit up with a cyan light. The staff became enveloped with the same light and moved seemingly on its own to point directly at all of them. “These shall be my first subjects…” the pony was talking, much to the shock of everyone that wasn’t Amaryllis. The pony’s grin turned wolfish, and his next words came out as a deafening bellow. “Advance!”

The Oppressed all roared at once and surged forward like a river of flesh, remarkably fast despite their distorted appearance. The tunnel filled with the sounds of their cries...and then all hell broke loose.

The other passengers weren’t sure what was going on or what to do until the first Oppressed reached Brendan, spittle flying from its unhinged, fanged jaw. All Brendan could do was halfheartedly swing the bulky floodlight forward out of reflex. The Oppressed easily dodged around the poorly planned attack and was upon him in an instead. In a flash, Brendan’s chest was torn apart like flypaper, the man screaming with agony as his rib-cage was rent asunder.

The passengers all panicked at once before the oncoming horde of Oppressed. Seeing Brendan’s fate was enough to let them know just what was waiting for them should they remain still.

Amaryllis snapped out of her stupor. “We need to go, now!” Amaryllis hissed to William, panic overtaking her as well. There weren’t that many people between her and the Oppressed, and she would be damned if she was going to die this early without getting any answers. 

William didn’t move at first, his eyes wide open with shock. It was clear that he was freezing at the sight of the Oppressed colliding with the passengers. The sound of dying screams filled the air as the Oppressed cut them to pieces without mercy. Amaryllis cursed and punched him in the face.

“Ah, what…?” William stammered with fright, but Amaryllis wouldn’t let him finish. “The….the conductor...he just….and…”

“I know, dumb ass! Unless you’d like to donate your rib cage as well, get moving! Now!” Amaryllis yelled at him frantically. If he didn’t get moving within the next few seconds, she was just going to leave him. At this point, the odds of her own survival appeared to be growing rather slim.

William nodded dumbly and thankfully followed Amaryllis as she broke into a run. Running into the tunnel would be a death sentence. She could tell by how fast those things were that any attempt to run would end with her being overtaken. Her only hope was to get up the escalators and get out into the city.

“Everyone come this way! Quickly!” The voice came from Dawson, his features clearly distinguishable in the light from the magical orb. He was standing near the escalators, having been one of the lucky few to stand near that edge of the group. He was waving frantically to everyone, his frightened eyes wide and fixated on the Oppressed.

Amaryllis ran over that way, glad that at least someone else had the same idea. She glanced over her shoulder to see the other passengers falling in droves to the bloody claws of the Oppressed. She squeezed her eyes shut, gritted her teeth, and kept running. As much as she hated to admit it, they were buying time for her to escape.

She found herself running among several other passengers that had heard Dawson’s cry. She noticed Mary carrying her daughter and hugging her close to her breast, the poor mother crying with fright and horror at the monsters that had appeared. She also noticed Jennifer, the convention goer, somehow managing to keep up with them. Samuel was also there, his endurance easily on par with Amaryllis’. There were others, but Amaryllis couldn’t make them out.

At first, as they neared Dawson and the escalators, Amaryllis believed that they were going to make it. Just as this thought crossed her mind, there was a roar, and several Oppressed broke away from the main group and charged after them. The gap between them narrowed at a frightening pace due to their magically enhanced speed.

Amaryllis found herself in the back, and she couldn’t help but notice how fast they were catching up. There were six of them, but no doubt others would follow before long. Amaryllis groaned when she realized that they were going to catch them before she could reach the escalator with the others.

“Dammit!” She cursed, and then she pivoted on one heel to meet their advance. She could hear William calling her name in horror, but she didn’t care. It was either this, or they all die. When the first Oppressed reached her, it leapt into the air, its claws outstretched.

Amaryllis found herself recalling all her training and lessons in self defense. Something like an Oppressed that could only attack blindly, dealing with a charge like this should be easy for her.

She ducked beneath the creature’s claws and grabbed onto one of its forelegs just long enough to throw the creature over her shoulder and onto the ground. She immediately turned to see two more Oppressed charging at her...too many for her to handle.

“Raagh!” Suddenly, Samuel was there as well, his muscles rippling through his arms as he intercepted one of them and caught both of its forelegs just beneath the claws. With a yell, he wrenched the legs apart until Amaryllis could hear the bones cracking, and then he tossed the creature aside.

Grateful for the help, Amaryllis met the remaining one and pummeled its chest repeatedly, halting its momentum. The Oppressed snarled and swiped its claws viciously at her, but she nimbly dodged aside and slammed her elbow into the spot just beneath its neck, breaking the creature’s spine.

She heard a snarl behind her and hit the ground just in time to avoid the first Oppressed’s next attack. Amaryllis cursed, remembering what Seth had told her. They were undead; no matter what you did to them, they’d just get right back up unless you prevented them from moving their limbs.

“Watch out, they don’t stay down!” Amaryllis warned Samuel. The muscled man didn’t respond, but acted on that warning just in time to avoid one of the Oppressed he thought he’d taken care of. “Break their legs so they can’t follow!”

Together with Samuel, she made quick work of the six Oppressed. They hadn’t killed them by a long shot, but with their legs broken, they wouldn’t be able to do anything other than crawl.

“Come on; let us go before more come,” Samuel said to her, wiping ichor off onto his pants. Amaryllis nodded and the two of them sprinted together towards where Dawson was herding the others up the escalator.

“You two, over here! Quick!” Dawson called to them. Behind him, Amaryllis could see Jennifer and William running up the escalator. Dawson appeared to be leading the group, and it was working; it was clear he’d saved several of them so far.

“The hell are you still doing here, you idiot!? They’re still coming!” Amaryllis snapped at him when she reached him. Sure enough, a greater number of Oppressed had detached from the main slaughter and were coming after them with bloodlust evident in their roars. “Don’t talk back, just go!”

“Not without the two of you. Go on, go! I’ll be right behind you!” Dawson returned quickly, slapping her on the back in an attempt to spur her on. “Now!”

Amaryllis didn’t waste any more time arguing. She sprinted up the escalator with Samuel, wanting to be anywhere other than here. She noticed Dawson still down there. “Get moving! If they aren’t already here, they’re already dead!” She shrieked.

Dawson closed his his and let out a moan of despair. “You’re right. I’m coming,” he finally gave in. He gave one last regretful look behind him at all the people he was leaving behind, and then he followed the two of them up the stairs.

Amaryllis found herself on another floor where people usually waited for their trains. As such, the walls were lined with restaurant stalls. On the far end of the floor was a large staircase through which she could see daylight. Several of the other passengers that had made it out were already running up towards the street.

The three of them were right behind them. Yet the Oppressed were gaining on them. The monsters surged up the escalators, their claws clicking on the metal cacophonously. Adrenaline rushing through her, Amaryllis put on a burst of speed, unable to think about anything other than getting as far away from those monsters as she could.

As they sprinted up the stairs, Amaryllis discovered with horror that there would be no way to stop the monsters from chasing them right onto the street. There was nothing; no doors or anything to separate the street from the train station. Nothing except for the emergency shutters that would close in the event of maintenance. However, those wouldn’t even close without power.

When Amaryllis and Samuel ran through, she turned and held out a hand to Dawson. The older man had slowed down, glancing between the station entrance and the stairs, where the Oppressed were already starting to climb.  

“The hell are you slowing down for? Come on, old man!” Amaryllis urged him frantically, taking a step forward.

Dawson came to a stop just inside the entrance, heaving a sigh. “For what? We’d just get run down in the streets; those...those...things….they’re faster than us. There’s just no way around that…” he said, sounding awfully calm despite the situation.

“Dawson, come on! We’ll find a way!” William calls to him as well. Other passengers as well start to call out to him, knowing full well that if he doesn’t get moving, he’s finished.

The man shook his head. “Sorry guys, I’m not gonna make it. Someone’s gotta close these shutters, and the emergency handle’s on the inside,” he points out. Dawson leaps into the air and grabs hold of the shutter handle, and then starts to close it with a grunt. Behind him, the Oppressed are getting closer and closer, with only seconds before he’s caught. Despite the despairing cries of the other passengers, Dawson didn’t stop. “Get you guys someplace safe…”

That was the last thing Dawson could say before he managed to close the shutters. Immediately afterward, there was a sickening thud and the sound of sharp claws slicing through the air, and blood spurted through the gaps in the shutters.

“Oh god!” William cried, retching onto the ground nearby. The others weren’t faring much better.

Amaryllis took a look around to see who had made it. There were precious few of them, numbering about twenty in total. Most of them she recognized from the train carriage; Dawson had been the only one among their number to die. That made sense to her; ever since leaving the train, they’d stuck together as much as possible. It only followed that they would be the ones to escape.

Grant and Rachel Graves were on the far end of the street resting against a car and holding their son close. Rachel was crying and Sawnee looked terrified, while Grant was doing his best to be strong for them. He looked grim and Amaryllis could see the terror in his eyes. He was tough indeed to remain in control of himself in such a state.

Aven and Avil, the engineers, were standing with Jennifer close to the Graves family. The three of them looked exhausted; they had sprinted the whole way and none of them looked that well built.

Samuel was with Mary and Emma, doing his best to comfort them. Emma was crying into her mother’s embrace, who was covering her daughter’s eyes to keep her from seeing the blood oozing out through the shutters. “Don’t look, sweetie….please...just don’t,” Mary whispered to her daughter, tears streaming down her face.

Jakob was with Kent, who was the only member of the train’s staff to make it out. Amaryllis had to hand it to him; the old man was tougher than she thought if he could keep up with the rest of them. As for Jakob, he was in bad shape; he was curled up into a ball and sitting against a wall, muttering to himself. “This can’t be happening. This isn’t happening!”

There were a seven others that Amaryllis didn’t recognize, but apart from them, these twenty were the only ones that had made it out of there. She couldn’t help but feel regret and scorn for herself, having left scores of people down there to die with those monsters….monsters that shouldn’t even be here this soon.

Amaryllis wasn’t given time to think. Once the shutters were closed and the initial shock of Dawson’s demise had worn off, the confusion and 	incredulity set in. Aven, now that he had his breath back, turned to the rest of the group, desperate for answers.

“What the hell were those things!?” Aven demanded, jabbing a finger towards the closed shutters. “They...they killed damn near everyone!”

“They were like humans...but broken in half and...those claws….oh god...”

“They came out of the tunnel!”

“Did you see that furred...horse thing that was with them? It talked!”

“It was too small to be a horse...but it looked too weird to be a pony…”

Amaryllis’ eyes darted between each passenger as they spoke, though she wasn’t sure what she was expecting to hear. None of them had any answers; instead, everything they said to one another was nothing more than individuals expressing their horror and despair at the loss of so much life or their speculations on the possible nature of those creatures.

It was clear that none of them knew what to do. She could hear some of them debating whether to run away, find their families, or to go to the police and let them know. The general panic among them was rising.

The only ones that appeared to be relatively calm compared to everyone else were Kent and Samuel. Amaryllis noticed that the latter was staring right at her with a somewhat suspicious gaze. When he saw that she’d noticed, he approached her.

“You, girl. Amaryllis, was it?” Samuel addressed her.

“Yeah, what of it?” She returned, crossing her arms.

“Those creatures...you know something about them,” Samuel accuses her. He appeared to be keeping his voice low, likely to avoid any possible suspicion being cast upon her from the others. At the least, Amaryllis was grateful for that.

“You think?” Amaryllis danced around the subject uncomfortably. The last thing she wanted to do was tell everyone that this was the beginning of the end, and that those monsters would eventually kill them all.

“Yes. You knew that they would just get back up again, like some sort of zombie,” Samuel elaborated, his observations astute. “In fact, it likely saved our lives. How did you know this?”

“Lucky guess,” Amaryllis lied, keeping her face neutral and shrugging as if it were no big deal. Samuel did not look convinced, as his eyes narrowed at her. She already made up her mind that she wasn’t going to tell them, so she continued. “What? They looked like twisted humans and that pony thing made something from nothing. I just put two and two together. The fuck you care, anyway?”

“I had hoped you had more information; even the slightest bit could save us,” Samuel reasoned to her. Amaryllis gave a slight scoff. All the information in the world wasn’t going to save humanity. Seth’s future was proof of that. “For someone who just made a ‘lucky guess,’ you appear very calm.”

“So do you,” Amaryllis retaliated. She may look calm, but that was just because she hadn’t had time to think yet. She knew full well what they were up against, and it was freaking her out.

Samuel gave a rueful smirk. “Ah, but you see, life or death situations are not that strange to a soldier,” he reminds her. “This one is different, but my approach to the problem should not be.”

“Right...I guess knowing how to fight helps your bravery,” Amaryllis remarked, glad at the chance to change the topic.

Samuel nodded. “Now then, are you going to reveal your secrets to me?” he persisted.

Amaryllis sighed and gave him a glare. “There are no secrets. Quit asking, already,” she snapped at him in annoyance.

Samuel wasn’t convinced. Amaryllis didn’t like the way his eyes were searching her face, as if he could uncover what she was hiding that way. “Hm...so you say, but I don’t believe…”

The screeching sound of a siren fills the air, cutting Samuel off as well as the other conversations. It seemed to be coming from nearby, but immediately after the first siren began, other fainter sirens started up from every direction. They weren’t typical police sirens like any citizen would recognize; this was the city wide warning system that would only sound in the case of severe emergencies.

Before anyone could question the meaning of the alarm, a sharp crack sounded off nearby. Samuel looked up in shock at that. “That was a .45 handgun…” he stated aloud for everyone to hear, gaining their attention. He winced as more gunfire filled the air.

“Okay, just what the hell is going on?!” Jakob demanded, his body trembling. “Those things couldn’t be in the city...could they? Is my family safe?”

“What do we do?” William asked, but nobody had an answer for him. Everyone was just as in the dark as he was. “Can we just get as far away from here as we can?”

“What’s safe anymore? Is that smoke!? What’s burning!?”

The sounds of conflict in the distance only intensified with every passing second. Amaryllis could hear the roaring of the Oppressed followed by gunfire. This was the worst possible situation. How could they already be strong enough to tackle New York City of all places? This didn’t seem possible to her.

As the passengers were growing and more and more frantic, a group of Oppressed turned the corner of the street to their collective left. Upon spotting them, they growled ferociously and broke into a reckless charge, their claws scraping along the asphalt road.

“They’re up here too!”

“What are we going to do!?”

“Oh my god!”

Screams rose from the passengers around Amaryllis as the Oppressed drew closer. The monsters scrambled over the abandoned cars in the road, their enamel claws screeching across the metal.

Amaryllis exchanged glances with Samuel, both of them knowing what they had to do. Out of all the passengers, they were the most prepared for battle. As she positioned herself before the incoming monsters, she couldn’t help but scoff at the others. They were essentially useless in the situation. She could hear William gasping heavily with horror as he took cover behind a car. She could also hear the others scattering and trying the handles of nearby buildings. At the least, she was glad they weren’t stupid enough to try outrunning them.

“Why do I even bother?” Amaryllis muttered to herself, clenching her fists and preparing herself. She ridiculed herself for asking that a moment later. It wasn’t as though she were risking her life for them...this was the only way she could hope to survive. It was obvious that running from them was useless.

There were seven Oppressed this time; one more than before. She pressed her lips together, nervous despite her previous triumph over them. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get out of the city...but she couldn’t allow herself to get hurt. She needed to let Gerome know that the attack had already begun.

There was a maze of abandoned cars still lying in the road, some of them still running. The Oppressed’s progress slowed as they were forced to climb over them, but it wouldn’t be long before they were past them. Samuel and Amaryllis moved to intercept them, intent on using the difficult terrain to their advantage.

Just as the Oppressed reached them, Samuel acted first. He stood with his back braced against a car, knowing that the monsters would likely climb over top of it. Sure enough, an Oppressed attempted to leap over the car to reach the more visible Amaryllis, but Samuel was ready for it. He grabbed its foreleg and used the monster’s momentum to lever it into the window of the car behind him, smashing the glass and wedging the creature inside.

Amaryllis realized as the Oppressed moved to surround her that standing still would be suicide. As she tangled with the first monster to reach her, she noticed another one lunging at her. Thinking quickly, she pivoted her body so it slammed into the Oppressed she was currently dealing with. The Oppressed didn’t seem to care that another of its kind was suddenly in the way, as it tore into the creature’s flesh regardless.

The remaining four split in half, two of them going after Samuel and the other two heading for Amaryllis. Her heart quickened and she swallowed, realizing that she was now facing three of them on her own.

“To hell with this…” Amaryllis cursed. She leapt to the top of a car, two of the three Oppressed rushing to follow her. She ducked beneath the lunge of the first monster, and then immediately grabbed its foreleg and spun around once before hurling it into the second. She jumped several feet to another car to avoid the third Oppressed, its claws whipping through the air where she’d just been standing.

The three Oppressed surrounded the car upon which she was standing and attacked her all at once, leaping a ridiculous height to reach her. Amaryllis gritted her teeth and struck the first monster’s cheek with a flattened palm, halting its momentum enough for her to slam its head into the top of the car.

After that, she stepped to one side and let the second Oppressed lunge right past her, allowing her to shift her body and kick the creature to the ground. The third Oppressed was already on her, so she jumped backwards down to the ground. Her foot skidded along the asphalt and she stumbled, unused to moving around so much. She’d trained all her life, but this was the first time she’d ever been in a real fight that could claim her life.

Amaryllis looked up to see the Oppressed upon her, its claws raised for the kill. She knew she didn’t have enough time to move out of the way, so she raised her arms in a last ditch effort to protect her vitals.

“I won't let you!” There was the sound of metal smacking into flesh, and the Oppressed was down. Without even looking to see who had saved her, Amaryllis immediately slammed her foot onto the Oppressed’s spine and proceeded to immobilize it.

“...is it down?” Amaryllis then looked to see a panting Aven, the engineer carrying a heavy wrench in one hand. He looked terrified, but he had effectively saved her life.

“That one is. Focus, idiot, those others aren’t down yet,” Amaryllis returned. The two Oppressed she’d repelled before were already getting up and coming back to attack her. One of them was scraped and battered, and the other had part of its skull caved in. Neither of these injuries slowed them down.

“But...you took them out! Those hits would have killed anything normal!” Aven protested at the sight of the monsters still coming, the wrench shaking in his grasp. Amaryllis rolled her eyes and raised her hands into a ready position.

“Weren’t you watching? They don’t stay down...you gotta break their legs,” Amaryllis reminded him. “If you can’t handle them, go back and hide with the rest. You’ll only get in the way otherwise.”

“No...I came to help because hiding won’t do a thing. From the looks of it…” Aven had to break off his sentence as the two Oppressed reach them. He yelped and blocked one of the monster’s claws with his wrench, sparks flying from the impact.

The other Oppressed attempted to attack Aven while he was distracted, but at the cost of ignoring Amaryllis…which frankly she thought was a terrible idea. She snatched the monster by the neck and rammed it against the ground, glaring at it.

“I think you forgot someone,” she spat, and then she bashed its head against the ground repeatedly until it stopped moving. “Huh...hit their brains hard enough and they do die. That makes things easier.”

Aven struggled with his Oppressed. Deprived of every other option, he headbutted the monster to give him some distance. Unfortunately, the monster was barely repulsed and Aven recoiled in pain. The Oppressed roared and attempted to attack while he was incapacitated.

Amaryllis cursed and went to save him. However, before she got there, Aven managed to divert the monster’s claws with his wrench just long enough for him to get a hit in. The Oppressed recoiled upon being hit by the wrench, its skull dented. Aven bit his lip and wildly smacked the creature’s head repeatedly with the wrench until it too fell to the ground, motionless.

“Huh...nice work,” Amaryllis remarked. She took a quick glance around the street to make sure no more Oppressed were coming, and then she rushed to rejoin Samuel. “Hey! Smash their head enough and they’ll fall too!”

Samuel, who was tangling with the remaining Oppressed, nodded at this. “Good to know,” he responds simply, and then he grabs the last Oppressed’s head and rams it into the side of a truck again and again, denting the truck lightly in the process. Once it fell limp, he sighed and wiped off his hands. “Is that all of them?”

“For now...but…” Amaryllis replied. When she paused, both Samuel and Aven could hear the sounds of more Oppressed roaring in the distance, followed by bursts of gunfire. This time, the shots weren’t placed apart. This time, Amaryllis could hear assault rifle fire. “It’s clear they’re all over the place.”

“Where are they all coming from?” Aven demands, calming down now that his life wasn’t in immediate danger. “What are they?”

Samuel shoots Amaryllis a telling stare, but she refused to react. He could act like that all he wanted; Amaryllis had no intention of spilling the truth about the Oppressed. Instead, all she did was shrug. “Monsters that won’t stay down. Hell if I know where they’re coming from.” Amaryllis wasn’t lying about that last part. All she knew was that King Sombra created them from humans and that they would eventually kill off humanity; the minor details were beyond her.

“Still...they must have a sentient commander,” Samuel suggests, brushing his chin. When Amaryllis and Aven both gave him curious looks, he elaborated. “Think about it. A possible city wide assault? Do you really think losing power and cell service was a coincidence?”

“What…? Oh...shit…” Aven whispered, grasping the implication. “Are...are you saying we’re at war?”

“I know as little as you do. But depriving the enemy of communications is a standard battle strategy,” Samuel points out.

“Right...well, we can argue battle strategy and whatever later. How about getting the hell out of here first?” Amaryllis interrupted. While what Samuel said made sense, more Oppressed would just find them if they didn’t move now.

“Yeah...let’s do that. Should we go gather the others?” Aven responds. Amaryllis paused, and then nodded reluctantly.

“Sure...the others,” she grunted in reply. She glanced towards the empty end of the street and contemplated just leaving them behind and heading for the bridge out of Staten. All she cared about was escaping and getting back to warn Gerome. She eventually sighed and turned back towards the group. Even she wasn’t arrogant enough to think she could escape the Oppressed on her own.

Together, the three of them returned to the cowering passengers that were still around. Amaryllis winced when she noticed the number had dropped; several of the people she hadn’t recognized must have run off in a panic. They were most likely dead at this point.

“Wow...you three were amazing up there,” William is the first to address them as they approached, his eyes filled with awe. “How did you even…”

“Gee, maybe it was because we didn’t hide behind the cars and tremble like a fucking coward,” Amaryllis snapped back at him viciously, thoroughly disappointed in him. She knew William had no backbone, but she found this sickening. “Hell, even the engineer came to help!”

William visibly flinched under her words, his eyes filling with hurt. He looked down and remained silent, looking ashamed of himself. However, Amaryllis’ words appeared to have a negative effect on some of the others as well, who were looking at her with anger or disapproval.

“Hey...it was hard for me too. Cut them some slack,” Aven attempted to reason with her. “They’re monsters...you can’t blame them for being terrified.”

“No, but I can certainly blame them for being useless. Because, you know, if we’d died you’d all be next,” Amaryllis pointed out bluntly. After that, one could practically feel the spirits drop amongst the rest of the group.

Finally, Amaryllis felt Samuel’s heavy hand rest on her shoulder. “That’s quite enough of that. We’re all frightened...we don’t need you ruffling feathers for no reason,” Samuel warned her. Amaryllis scoffed and shrugged off his hand. Despite her annoyance and discontent, she fell silent. “Now, we need to get someplace safe.”

“And just where would we go!? The whole city’s under attack!” Jakob protested vehemently. “What about our families? My son’s wedding...”

“...is more than likely canceled,” Samuel finished for him. Jakob closed his mouth at that. “I don’t know where we should go. But I do know that we can’t…”

Just then, something collided against the other side of the subway shutters with a clamorous crash. The metal dented, letting everyone here know that they wouldn’t last long against the Oppressed.

“...stay here,” Samuel finished. Immediately, he gestured for the group to get moving. “Come on, brush yourselves off and let’s go. We need to move or Dawson’s sacrifice will have been meaningless.”

“I want to go home,” Emma whimpered from her mother’s arms. Amaryllis glanced at her with an unreadable expression. She couldn’t help that think that with everything Emma had seen today, she must be traumatized. Amaryllis shook her head. It didn’t matter to her, as long as she got out of this alive. At least Emma had the sense not to wail and let the entire city know where they were.

At last, the group began to move together down the street, with no set destination in mind other than away from the subway. Amaryllis and Samuel took the lead along with Aven, who appeared determined to join them on the front line now that he’d had his first kill.

Amaryllis kept her gaze forward, her brow set into a determined expression. She was not going to die here. She was going to make it out of the city somehow, find Gerome, and prove to Sombra that the human race would not die so easily.

She didn’t care who what she had to sacrifice to do it.


> 8. Taking Charge
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The group trudged their way through the streets as fast as they could, intent on getting as far away from the subway as possible. The group stayed close together in an attempt to avoid attracting attention from the Oppressed that were likely still in the city. 

Aven and Amaryllis were leading the way forward, while Samuel held up the back. This formation was Samuel’s idea, but although tactically sound, there was one major problem: Amaryllis had no idea where she was going. Each building looked the same as the others to her. Her home was rural, so her sense of direction was thrown for a loop by the regular square blocks, narrow streets, and uniform buildings.

The sounds of battle only increased as time went on. Gunshots rang out in the distance, accompanied by the howling of the Oppressed. Every so often an explosion would be heard. Amaryllis shuddered; it must be hell on earth deeper in the city. As much as she hated to say it, she’d been lucky to get attacked in the subway so close to the edge of the island. This would likely be the last place the Oppressed would attack. No doubt their commander would be more occupied with the law enforcement… and hopefully the military.

She paused at an abandoned city intersection to get a sense of her surroundings. Looking to her left revealed the cityscape coming to an abrupt end as it met the waters of the Arthur Kill. There was no way forward there. There were likely docks, but Amaryllis knew that searching them for an escape would be a waste of time as well as suicidal. If cornered by the Oppressed by the docks, they would be caught with nowhere to go.

To her right was a road that led deeper into the city; she could notice the buildings getting taller in that general direction. She quickly ruled out that direction as well. The distant sounds of battle seemed to be coming from over there. No doubt if the group went that way, they’d walk right into a firefight… or worse, a horde of Oppressed.

Amaryllis turned her attention to the intersection in general. There was no sign of anybody alive in this area. Some of the cars were driven into buildings, or one another, and there was even a flipped over NYPD patrol car at the far end of the intersection. Beside the patrol car were the torn and mutilated bodies of two policemen, blood steadily oozing from their wounds. They didn’t appear freshly killed, but it was clear that some Oppressed had passed through here.

There was only one way forward, so Amaryllis crossed the street, the other passengers following her closely. When she reached the bodies of the fallen police, she paused and noticed the fallen handguns they held. She knelt down and picked up one of them, testing how it felt in her hands.

“Wait, why are we stopping?” Jakob protested from his position near the rear of the group. Amaryllis let out a long and emphatic groan. Out of everyone in this group, this man was the one that tried her patience the most.

“I’m doing the smart thing and arming myself, now shut it!” Amaryllis snapped back at him. Aven stepped up beside her, glancing at the gun and nodding with approval.

“Do you know how to use one of those?” Aven questioned before Jakob could start another argument.

“I’ve been to a range once or twice, but martial arts was more my thing,” Amaryllis admitted. Despite saying that, she knew how to hold it properly to keep from injuring herself. Her aim wasn’t great, and she wasn’t entirely sure how to reload the weapon, but it was better than fighting the Oppressed barehanded.

Samuel approached the two of them, leaving one of the others in charge of keeping a lookout. “Let me see that,” he requested, holding out his hand. 

Amaryllis gave his outstretched hand a askance glance. Instead of giving him the gun, she indicated the ground with a flick of her head. “There’s another on the ground, by the second body,” she told him.

Samuel nodded and acquired the second handgun, glancing it over approvingly. “Typical standard issue .45 S&W handgun,” he identifies it immediately after looking at it. Amaryllis couldn’t tell one gun from another, so she decided it was a good thing Samuel was here. “This variant carries about seven shots, including the one in the chamber. Check and see how many rounds are in your magazine.”

“I don’t know how to do that,” Amaryllis stated flatly. 

Samuel paused, and then he nodded. “Okay, watch me then. You’ll need to know how to reload if you plan on using the weapon,” he advised her. Amaryllis rolled her eyes, but she did watch as the soldier slid out the magazine. He winced. “Damn, it’s empty. What about yours?”

Amaryllis replicated what Samuel did with his gun and slid out the magazine as well. She checked inside and noticed one cartridge left inside. “There’s one shot. These guys must have unloaded on those fuckers,” Amaryllis conjectured.

“And yet they still fell. Which leads me to conclude that either these two were overwhelmed, or these bullets didn’t have much effect on those things,” Samuel surmised. Amaryllis suddenly felt stupid for picking up the gun in the first place. Of course simple bullets wouldn’t do much to hamper the Oppressed; they didn’t feel pain. Samuel notices her expression. “Don’t worry, it’s better to have them than not. See if the bodies have any clips.”

That seemed like a good idea. At the very least, she’d have a way to attack the Oppressed from a distance. Maybe if she managed to nail one in the leg, it would slow them down. After a few moments, Amaryllis and Samuel had loaded up their weapons and gathered a few clips from the fallen policemen. She felt some apprehension about rifling through the possessions of the dead, but her own survival could depend on how well armed she was. In light of that fact, her apprehension went forgotten.

Amaryllis glanced around the eerily empty intersection, questions forming in her mind. She was under the impression that the invasion of the Oppressed began only recently. If Samuel was right about the loss of power and communications being connected to the attack, then it followed that said outage marked the start of it all. If that was the case, something didn’t make sense to her. How did the Oppressed reach this area so fast? Where were all of the bodies? Given the state of the intersection along with the copious amounts of blood spattered all around, it didn’t make sense for there to only be two bodies.

“We should get moving,” Samuel interjects, breaking her train of thought. The soldier was holding the handgun down by his side, his posture a testament to his experience.

Amaryllis nodded and was about to take a step forward when Jakob spoke up again. “Where are we even going?” he demanded, moving towards the front of the group. “It just seems like we’re moving aimlessly!”

“We’re not moving aimlessly; we’re moving away from the subway before those monsters catch up to us.” Samuel patiently attempted to explain, even as Amaryllis rubbed her forehead in irritation.

“And then what? Some of us have family in the city! Why should we follow the rest of you around when you could be leading us into even more of those things?!” Jakob shot back, the man’s brow slick with sweat. 

“That’s because…” Samuel tried again, but Jakob’s complaints seemed to have taken root in the minds of the other passengers.

“He has a point; I don’t know this place at all, and those things could be anywhere,” Jennifer said with uncertainty evident in her wavering voice.

“Well, we can’t stay here.” William offered, pointing out the obvious while attempting to keep his body from trembling.

“I don’t want to stay here with you people when my son could be in danger!” Jakob reiterated. That line in particular caused a reaction from the others.

“You want to try splitting up? Are you insane?” Avil snapped at Jakob, storming up to him.

“Everyone, please, this isn’t getting us anywhere,” Aven interjected while holding up his hands placatingly. “Calm down and…”

“Insane? Maybe, but no more insane than following this rabble around! You’ll take us right into the monsters! I need to get away!” Jakob asserted, ignoring Aven’s attempts to intervene.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!” Avil returned viciously. “Seriously, all you’re doing is making everyone panic!”

“Maybe they should panic! At least I’m…” The argument between Avil and Jakob increased in intensity, their voices getting dangerously loud. Some of the others joined in, the group falling into disarray as panic started to set in.

Amaryllis growled under her breath, continuing to rub her temples in an attempt to quell her growing headache. The more the others argued, the more restless she became, her teeth clenching and grinding against one another. She couldn’t believe they were this incompetent and stupid. If they kept shouting, they’d just bring more of the Oppressed down upon them. That would spell the end of their little group. 

She noticed Mary and Emma, the latter hugging her mother tightly and starting to cry. The small girl appeared mentally incapable of handling the growing discord among the group; Amaryllis could hear her gently sobbing. “Please… please… just stop fighting… ”

Nobody seemed close to coming up with a solution. Dawson had been the closest thing they’d had to a leader, and he had bravely sacrificed himself to buy them all time. Without him, the group appeared to have ground to a halt. As Amaryllis listened, she heard several people both condemning and advocating Jakob’s plan. Others, such as Avil, were even suggesting getting rid of Jakob entirely to keep him from tearing them apart.

All of this was because of Jakob, that man who seemed unable to do anything other than whine. Amaryllis felt her patience grow thin. She cast her gaze to the different streets, her eyes on alert for signs of any Oppressed that may be hearing this ruckus. She grew more and more stressed, until finally she lost her temper.

“All of you just shut the hell up!” Amaryllis snapped loud enough to be heard over the others. There was so much anger in her tone that the others stopped talking all at once, turning to face her… the only one apart from Samuel who hadn’t weighed in. Now that she had their attention, she continued in a quieter voice. “What, are you trying to get us all killed? If the Op… if those monsters hear us, we’re all dead!”

“I know, that’s what I’ve been trying to say. Let’s just get rid of this prick, and then we’ll…” Avil started to agree with her, indicating Jakob. 

“Shut it!” Amaryllis cut Avil off before she could finish her dissentful suggestion. Avil blinked, shocked. No doubt she thought Amaryllis shared her opinion on Jakob’s whining. Amaryllis turned to look at Jakob, the cause of the whole argument. “Look, if you’re so hell bent on splitting up, go right ahead. I’ll be sure to help your son with the funeral arrangements.”

Amaryllis’ words were spiteful and sarcastic, but they seemed to have the desired effect. She had essentially given Jakob permission to leave, yet now that he was faced with the opportunity as well as aware of the consequences of doing so, he hesitated, unable to meet her gaze.

“I’m gonna be straight with all of you; as moronic as you’re all being right now, even I know sticking together is our best shot. Something’s not right about this whole attack, and assuming some of you are at least halfway intelligent… you’ll have picked up on that too,” Amaryllis pointed out. In response, some of the others started to nod or glance at one another.

She wasn’t referring to the fact that the Oppressed were undead and controlled by magic; instead, Amaryllis was more referring to how fast and methodical this attack had seemed. Within only a short time of the outage, Staten Island already appeared abandoned. That didn’t seem possible, even with magic.

“So what if your son, mother, uncle, second cousin twice removed or whatever is missing? You’re no good to them dead. Which is exactly what you’ll be if you follow this imbecile’s ridiculous plan.” Amaryllis pointed at Jakob, much to his frustration.

Jakob glared back at her. “So far all you seem to be doing is insulting us,” he remarks. “Just because you can fight doesn’t mean you can look down on the rest of us.”

“Do you have a better idea?” Grant asks curiously.

“That’s a good question. Do you have a plan, Amaryllis?” Samuel rejoins the conversation, looking to her for direction.

Amaryllis suddenly realized that everyone was looking to her for direction. The fire died inside of her and she hesitated, realizing she may have bitten off more than she could chew. She wasn’t planning on taking charge; she just wanted them all to shut up. “Why are you all asking me?” Amaryllis demanded, stammering a bit. 

“That’s a good question…” Jakob responded, glaring at Grant and Samuel.

Samuel was the one to answer that question. “We’re asking you because you appear to be the calmest out of all of us, despite all of the death around us. You seem to have picked up more about this enemy than we have in just a short time. It’s only natural that we’d want to listen to the words of someone like that,” he explained to her. He spoke with a guarded suspicion evident in his expression; Amaryllis could tell he still thought she was holding something back. His shrewdness could become a problem.

“Speak for yourself,” Jakob retorted. Amaryllis finally had enough of his complaining, and transfixed him with a glare, causing him to freeze.

“Okay, first of all, fuck you. I’m tired of hearing you bitch and moan,” Amaryllis stopped trying to filter herself and just stated what she thought. Over where Mary was standing, she noticed the mother gasp and cover her daughter’s ears. Amaryllis scoffed and paid them no attention. It was practically the end of the world; she could care less who could hear. She then turned to Samuel. “Right, but you’re the soldier and you know this kind of situation. Why don’t you take charge?”

Samuel shook his head with a wry smile. “I’m no leader. I am willing to offer my expertise, but that is all I have to give. I’ve always taken orders, rather than giving them.”

“Well, isn’t that just a fat lot of good,” Amaryllis grunted.

“So the question stands, what do you think we should do, Amaryllis?” Samuel asks her again, increasing the pressure on her even more.

Amaryllis looked at the other passengers, hoping that at least one of them would object. Unfortunately, she received quite the opposite of what she was expecting. Several of them were nodding approvingly, while others made their approval more vocal.

“I’ve worked with Amaryllis before. I trust her enough to know she won’t lead us astray.” William was the first to vocally support her.

“Fair enough. I’ll follow your lead, Amaryllis,” Aven chimes in next, lifting his wrench.”What do you think we should do?”

Amaryllis couldn’t help but sigh in exasperation. It didn’t seem as though there was any way out of this. Whether she liked it or not, she now had the ears of every single one of them. As she thought about it, she realized that this may be the best possible situation. If she had all of them willing to listen to her, the chances of her getting out of this alive would be that much higher.

With that resolution, she surveyed the intersection one last time. She quickly determined that she didn’t have enough information. “Alright, here’s what I’m thinking. Which of you actually live here in the city?” Amaryllis began, speaking clearly and authoritatively. When she didn’t immediately get a response, she grunted. “Some time today please, those monsters won’t stay gone forever.”

“I uh...I live in Manhattan,” William reminds her. 

In addition, Mary also raised her hand timidly. “I live here too, in Bay Ridge,” she answers. Amaryllis glanced at the both of them. Two people...she could have sworn there were more than that. Either way, this is what she had to work with.

“Are you both familiar with the island we’re on?” Amaryllis pressed.

“Staten Island? I come here with my friends whenever I have time off,” William answers. “I’d like to say I know my way around.”

“I work down here, and Emma goes to school here,” Mary responds. Amaryllis nodded; she could work with this.

“Then here’s what’s going to happen. We’re going to get out of the city and get help. I have friends in the military who… may know a thing or two about all of this,” Amaryllis revealed to them. She noticed Samuel’s brow rise slightly at her words, but she paid no attention to him. She filed away in her mind that she would have to deal with him at some point in the future. “Mary, William, I want you two up here with me. You’re going to help me navigate.”

“Got it.”

“Okay.” The two moved to do as they were told, but Amaryllis didn’t wait for them to get in position.

“Aven, do what you’ve been doing. You’re our rear guard; if something stirs back there… and I don’t care what it is, you give a holler,” Amaryllis continued to snap out orders, her voice growing in confidence and conviction the more she did it. “Samuel, you stay up here with me. The rest of you, stay close to one another, but don’t group up. If the… the monsters show up, scatter in every direction and take cover; give the fighters time to take them down.”

Amaryllis heard them move to follow her orders, giving her sounds of consent. “Now then, any objections?” The moment that question left her mouth, she noticed Jakob opening his mouth. She wasn’t going to have any of that. “Not you. All you’ve done is whine, cause arguments, and nearly get us all killed.”

“But…” Jakob tried to start anyway.

“I’m going to be straight with you. You either stay with us and do as you’re told, or stay behind. I don’t have the time nor the patience for your shit,” Amaryllis told him flat out. Jakob closed his mouth with a snap, the forming protest dying in his throat. “Now then, objections?”

There was silence from everyone else. They were already in the formation she’d specified, indicating their willingness to follow her. She sighed again, questioning how she’d been put in this impossible situation. Nevertheless, she needed to get out of the city.

“Good. Then let’s get moving,” Amaryllis finishes. Once she heard the murmur of assent sweep through the passengers, she turned the other direction and headed straight down the intersection, choosing not to head to the docks or deeper into the city.

Once William, Mary and Emma were up front with her, Amaryllis turned back to them while walking forward. “What’s the quickest way out of the city?” she asked.

William pondered for a moment before answering “Well...if I remember right, if we cut through Old Place, Goethals Bridge should take us away from the city proper and into Elizabeth, New Jersey,” he suggested. “That’s not too far from here. It should be safe.”

“Assuming New Jersey hasn’t been hit yet,” Samuel points out. The three of them look at him with shock. “Hey, I’m just pointing out the possibility. Attacking New York, one of the country’s most important city centers, is tantamount to suicide without overwhelming force or a great deal of strategy. They may move to cut off our retreats.”

“If that’s the case, we’re pretty much screwed,” Amaryllis grunted in annoyance. “So we’re going to hope they haven’t gotten that far yet. Any other ways out of the city nearby?”

“A little further north, there’s the Bayonne Bridge. That will also take us into New Jersey,” Mary reveals. She didn’t look like she was finished, so Amaryllis let her continue. “Then there’s… the Verrazano into Brooklyn, where I live, but that’s really far to the east.”

“What a pain. Alright, we’re going to Elizabeth. It’s closer, and the sooner we get there, the less likely the Oppressed will be there,” Amaryllis decided. That last part was more along the lines of wishful thinking, but she left that part unsaid. “What can you tell me about Old Place?”

“We’re headed right to it. It’s a suburban area with lots of open field, but in the past few years, it’s been a bit more urbanized,” William explains. Amaryllis looks to Mary for confirmation, and receives a nod. 

“I don’t like the idea of open field, but I guess it’s the best we have,” Amaryllis grunted. “That’s where we’re going. You two direct me to the bridge.”

“Okay.”

“Understood.”





The group moved steadily north through the city. The further they went, the closer they grew to the sounds of battle. Several times, Amaryllis had to think fast and direct the group into the alleyways to avoid a traveling group of Oppressed. They were monsters, but they didn’t appear to have very good senses apart from sight and hearing.

Amaryllis witnessed horrors beyond anything she’d ever seen. She once spotted a group of Oppressed heading for another roaming group of civilian survivors. She could do nothing to warn them, and was instead forced to save her own group and leave the civilians to die, helpless as they were before the claws of the Oppressed.

She’d really thought she’d have had more time before all this happened. To think that she’d thought she could live out the rest of her life in peace… Amaryllis cursed herself for thinking so naively. If she’d have known this was going to happen, she’d never have left Seth’s family.

As the group traveled, the city thinned out and gave way to a more suburban area. In stark contrast to the enclosed blocks of concrete and steel, there were wide open expanses of green, interrupted only by gurgling creeks and winding streets. It was an area that they could most certainly get lost in. However…

“It’s open. Too open,” Samuel observed doubtfully. He glanced back behind them to the towering buildings. “Those creatures would be able to spot us from a mile away.”

“Ugh, you’re probably right. But I can see the damn bridge from here,” Amaryllis responded. Far in the distance, the Goethals Bridge towered over the rest of the island. If they could just get there, it would promise them safety and deliverance from the Oppressed, especially if they could reach the military on the other side. 

“That leaves us with two choices; cut through the fields and risk getting seen, or stick to the cover of the buildings and cut east, risking further proximity to the monsters,” Samuel pointed out. He traced a potential path across the horizon with his finger.

“Yeah, let’s not get ourselves seen. We’ll just have to follow the buildings and hope,” Amaryllis decided. She surveyed her surroundings quickly to make sure there were no Oppressed lurking, and then she motioned for everyone to follow her.

The group stuck close to the cover of the buildings, taking their time to avoid drawing attention to themselves. As time passed and the sun began to set, the shadows grew longer the light dimmer. Despite this, Amaryllis could hear the battle raging on in the deeper city without pause. According to William, there was a military base on Staten Island near the bridge to Brooklyn… which would explain the assault rifle fire she could hear. She only hoped they were putting up a fight.

The Goethals Bridge drew ever closer as the group continued forward. It was a massive bridge that stretched a full mile across the Arthur Kill, connecting the island with the city of Elizabeth. It only had one small entry point from which to cross; it was not a bridge one could approach from the sides. 

Amaryllis paused upon reaching the edge of the urban area. She planted her back against a building and carefully peered around the corner to see down the street that led deeper into the city. Her caution paid off, as she spotted a large number of Oppressed a good distance away. They were swarming through the streets like an ocean tide, ripping apart anything living in their way. It was absolute carnage down there…

However, there were no more buildings to hide their path forward. Angling her gaze towards the bridge, she observed open fields dotted with copses of trees, along with a flowing stream. Mary called it Old Place Creek, and told her they’d need to cross it before reaching the bridge.

“We don’t have a choice now. We have to risk the open,” Amaryllis whispered to William, Mary, and Samuel, who were essentially serving as her “advisors” at this point. She jerked her thumb down in the direction of the Oppressed. “It’s a death trap down there.”

“Let’s cut through the woods over there. If we keep to the brush, we’ll lessen our chances of getting spotted,” Samuel suggests, indicating the woods he was talking about with a hand. 

“Okay. Let’s stay close to the street. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not get lost. Who knows how long until this whole place gets overrun,” Amaryllis responds. She glanced around again, and then started to move once more, the others following her.

“Don’t even joke about that,” William stammered, turning pale at the thought. “All of those monsters… with nowhere to run, I…”

“Do you know how many there are, Amaryllis?” Samuel interrupted William before he could unnerve anyone else. He was staring at her pointedly.

Amaryllis met his stare as she walked, knowing full well why he was asking her. In all honesty, she didn’t even know how many there were. She was going off of conjecture, so she decided to tell the truth. “Hell if I know. A lot. Did you see how many were in the train tunnels?” Amaryllis reminded him. “And do you hear that crap in the city? There could be hundreds. Even thousands.”

“Where are they all coming from?” Mary asks, shuddering at the figures Amaryllis gave her. “What even are they? It’s like… like…”

“...someone broke a human in half and made it run on all fours… like a horse,” Samuel finished for her, causing her and William to wince. “Just like that other… horse-like being we saw.”

“More like a pony,” Amaryllis corrected him without thinking, and then immediately cursed her stupidity. Thankfully, Samuel was nodding, agreeing that the creature was too small to be a proper horse.

“That wasn’t a pony…” Emma whispered from her place beside her mother. She’d been so quiet this whole time, Amaryllis had practically forgotten she was even there. Emma looked awful. Not only was her whole body trembling, but her cheeks were puffy and her eyes were reddened and wide with fright and sadness. Amaryllis found that she had difficulty meeting the girl’s eyes. “That can’t have been a pony. Ponies aren’t mean… ponies should be cute, happy, and surrounded by friends… that… that thing wasn’t anything like a pony...”

“You’re right… I’m sure it was something else,” Mary attempted to comfort her daughter. Amaryllis could help but think that it must suck to be that young and stuck in the middle of an apocalypse. She normally hated kids, but Emma seemed to possess none of the traits she despised.

“Come on, let’s pick up the pace. We can’t afford to be out here that long,” Amaryllis directed them. She quickened her pace into a jog, darting to a nearby bush and using it as cover before moving to the next. 

In this manner, the group made their way through the fields. The Goethals Bridge was getting closer and closer, until finally they could see the beginning of the ramp. This was it. If she could just get out of the city and find Gerome…

In the middle of her thoughts, an explosion ripped through the air from behind them. The noise was so great Amaryllis had to cover her ears. She whirled around just in time to see a pillar of smoke and flame erupt from the north, partially obscured behind the cityscape. 

“What the hell!?” Amaryllis demanded, just as the shockwaves blew over them. She squinted and covered her eyes. What the hell just happened? She hadn’t seen any planes, so the military couldn’t be bombing the place… no, the very thought of that was absurd. So what could have caused an explosion so intense that a miniature mushroom cloud was forming?

“That came from the north… it couldn’t be…” Samuel gasped, the soldier losing his composure for the first time. He immediately snapped his gaze to the Goethals Bridge. “We need to move, now!”

“What’s going…” William tried to ask.

“There’s no time to explain! Get to the bridge. Move!” Samuel snapped, raising his voice. Confused, yet spurred by the urgency in his voice, Amaryllis broke into a run, throwing caution to the wind. The others moved to do so as well.

They were running for only a few seconds. Just as Amaryllis and the others reached the ramp and started to ascend towards the bridge proper.. .the entire structure erupted with a fiery explosion coming from the center of the bridge. Taken by surprise, Amaryllis skidded to a halt and stepped back, her mouth open in shock and horror.

The explosion was just as great if not greater than the one to the north. The metal of the truss bridge melted and tore apart, the bridge peeling back with a cacophony of screeching metal. The sheer force of the detonation caused a shockwave that rushed over the group before they could defend themselves, knocking them all, Amaryllis included, clear off their feet and rolling down the ramp.

“Jesus!” Amaryllis cursed loudly, her skin accumulating multiple cuts and scrapes as she tumbled down the asphalt.

“Everyone stay down!” Samuel roared, his voice barely audible over the dying cries of the bridge. Particles of concrete, asphalt, and metal rained down around them. Amaryllis covered her eyes and clung the guardrail nearby, her heart pounding as lethal shrapnel zipped over her head.

When the shockwaves had passed and the largest of the debris had fallen, Amaryllis leapt to her feet. “Son of a bitch!” The bridge was completely destroyed. As she watched, the remaining portions of the bridge groaned and tore from the concrete and asphalt, plummeting down into the waters of the Arthur Kill with a colossal splash. “That was our way out! How did this even happen!?”

“Dammit, I was afraid of this,” Samuel growled, rising from where he had fallen. “I’d thought they’d cut off our retreat with those monsters, but whoever’s controlling them is shrewd indeed.”

“They… they blew up the Goethals…” William stammered. “Why is this happening? What did we do to deserve this?”

“How are we supposed to get away now!?” Jakob started up again. This time, however, Amaryllis had no idea. 

“The Bayonne Bridge…” Amaryllis began, but then she halted mid sentence. There had been two explosions...and the first one came from the north….in the direction of the northern bridge to New Jersey. “Those cunning bastards! Who exactly are we fighting!?”

“There’s got to be another way,” Samuel mused, the soldier starting to pace. “Whoever’s doing this seems to be trying to completely exterminate us… not just conquer us. They’re trying to leave no survivors…”

“Hey, Amaryllis! We’ve got incoming from the rear!” Aven’s frightened cry brought an end to their frantic musings. Amaryllis whirled around and gazed down the remains of the ramp to see a group of Oppressed that had detached from the eastern horde. 

There were eight of them this time, and they didn’t seem to have spotted Amaryllis’ group yet. Instead, they were just heading straight for the bridge. Amaryllis realized that whoever they were fighting, he had a firm grasp of tactics. Blowing up the bridge to cut off escape… and then sending Oppressed to mop up anyone who had been attempting to use the bridge.

“Time to see if these guns are worth anything,” Amaryllis stated, grasping the handgun and moving forward until she was apace with Aven. She pulled back the slide and loaded a round into the chamber, hoping beyond hope that she could deal some damage before they could reach her.

Samuel soon joined her, already leveling his weapon. Aven was lifting his wrench, showing his intent to fight as well. Amaryllis glanced grimly at the coming Oppressed. They noticed their group now and howled out their bloodlust through decaying throats. There were eight of them, and only three fighters. This was going to be rough.

Amaryllis aimed her gun at the leading Oppressed and pulled the trigger. The kick surprised her, as she hadn’t wielded a gun in quite some time. The bullet went off course, ricocheting from the asphalt next to her intended target. 

Samuel opened fire on an Oppressed as well, catching it right in the leg. The monster stumbled, but didn’t fall. It took several more shots to the leg before the monster fell, but even then it started to rise, pulling itself along on three legs. “Leg shots are ineffective… aim for the head,” Samuel advised, adjusting his aim. 

Amaryllis gritted her teeth and shifted her aim as well, this time lining her eye up with the sights. She squeezed the trigger and the weapon roared to life once again, propelling a bullet directly between the eyes of her target. Unfortunately, even that didn’t stop the creature. “These weapons are useless!” Amaryllis snapped in annoyance.

She glanced around for anything else she could use as a weapon. Her eyes alighted upon a broken piece of guardrail that looked slender and solid enough. It wasn’t anything special, but it should work. She tossed the gun aside and picked up the shard, testing its balance.

Samuel lifted the remains of a signpost, having had the same idea. Together with Amaryllis and Aven, the three of them rushed to meet the charging Oppressed. Amaryllis leapt high into the air and brought her guardrail down on top of the first Oppressed’s head, caving it in and knocking the beast to the ground.

Immediately, the three of them were surrounded on three sides, pressed back to back and attempting to fight many more than they could handle. Amaryllis gritted her teeth as a claw snagged the edge of her shirt and cut into her skin. Aven managed to club one on the side of the head, but then took a slice on the side of his arm, causing him to cry out.

Just as they were starting to get overwhelmed, battle cries sounded from behind them. Several other passengers equipped with improvised weapons from the debris surrounding them charged into the ranks of the Oppressed.

“Take this!” Avil rammed a metal spike deep into the Oppressed threatening Amaryllis’ right, distracting it just long enough for her to finish it off by bashing its skull in with her guardrail.

Likewise, Samuel worked with Grant to fend off several Oppressed bearing down on them. Kent and Jennifer were doing their best to aid Aven, though their inexperience clearly showed. Nevertheless, their efforts were helping to distract the Oppressed long enough for the more experienced fighters to take advantage, turning the tide in their favor.

“There’s… there’s more of them!” Jakob could be heard shouting from the edge of the broken ramp. Amaryllis blocked an Oppressed’s claws and kicked it to the ground. She was about to call back to Jakob when she heard the distant howls of a great number of Oppressed, coming back from where they came from. “There’s… it’s a whole horde!” 

Amaryllis cursed and finished off the Oppressed on the ground with Avil’s help. She moved to help Aven next. This situation couldn't possibly get any worse. They were trapped between the horde in the city to the east...and the horde coming from the subway in the south. Cut off to the north and west by the strait, things were looking very grim for her.

Her hopes of getting out of this city alive grew dimmer still.




> 9. Desperate Flight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

With everyone’s help, Amaryllis and her ragtag group of fighters finished off the remaining undead that had ambushed them. She had no time to dwell on this minor victory, as there was a much bigger threat approaching them from the south. That strange pony along with the horde from the subway was catching up to them.

“How much time do we have?” Amaryllis demanded. She relaxed her arm briefly, the bloodied tip of the guardrail she held scraping along the cracked asphalt beneath her.

“I… I don’t know! Less than five minutes, maybe!” Jakob stammered from his vantage point. “They’re moving fast!” 

“We have to move back into the city!” Jennifer called, pointing towards the eastern buildings.  

“We can’t move back into the city! There’s a whole ‘nother horde back that way!” Amaryllis snapped back at Jennifer. She realized a moment later as panic started to set in that telling her that had been a poor decision.

“There’s no escape! We’re all going to die!” Rachel was the first to panic, the woman hunching down on the ground and covering her eyes. 

William soon followed suit, his face pale and his body shaking. Unlike several of the others, he hadn’t tried to help them during the fight, nor had he even grabbed something to use as a weapon. 

"We’ll have to swim for it!” Aven suggested, looking back towards the river separating Staten Island from Elizabeth.

“Are you kidding? We’ll never make it!” Avil shot back at her brother. Her reaction sparked another panicked argument, each of the survivors torn on what to do. 

Samuel remained calm, the larger man panting and looking to Amaryllis for direction. She realized she needed to make another decision. They would listen to her, so it was up to her to get them out of here alive. However, there didn’t seem to be a clear way to do that; they were trapped between two hordes, and attempting to swim the river simply wasn’t a feasible alternative.

Amaryllis suddenly had an idea. “Jakob! Have they spotted us?” she demanded, approaching the man. She looked out across the field stretched out before them. It wasn’t long before she too spotted the incoming horde. There were countless Oppressed surging across Old Place like a raging flood, tearing up anything in their way, alive or not. Walking steadily and confidently across the grass beside the horde was the ice colored pony, a malicious grin stamped on his strangely expressive face. 

Attempting to break through that horde would result in their deaths, plain and simple. Additionally, Amaryllis had no way of knowing what other magic that pony was capable of. If he had magic on a level similar to what Seth displayed, they would all be helpless before him. 

“I don’t think so…but they’re definitely headed towards us,” Jakob responds, surprisingly working well with her now that his life was directly threatened. 

“Of course they are. They knew we’d try to get out of the city,” Amaryllis returned. She felt as though ice were running through her veins, but she refused to let herself display her fear.

“What do we do?” Jakob asked anxiously. Amaryllis thought for a second, and then made a quick decision. She had no time to weigh the options in her head. There was only one way she could take them.

“Everyone group up on me! We’re going east into the city!” Amaryllis called, jogging away from the edge of the bridge and moving in the indicated direction. The sound of her commanding voice cut through the arguments of the others, causing them to fall silent.

“What about the monsters in the city?” Samuel questioned her. Amaryllis hated to admit it, but she had no answer for him.

“We’ll just have to find a way to avoid them. Now come on, those undead are gaining on us; we don’t have time to stand around whining!” Amaryllis answered, nearly tripping over her words in her attempt to get them out quickly. She turned and started to run down the bridge, the others moving to do as she said.

“Undead? They’re undead? I thought that was just a fantasy thing…” Jennifer responded to Amaryllis’ choice of words, her eyes wide. Amaryllis didn’t answer. Instead, after making sure to grab her gun from the road nearby, she lead the group down the ramp and back onto the main road.

“William! If you’re quite finished being useless, I need direction! What’s the most direct route to the Verrazano Bridge? Keep in mind we have to stay out of the open,” Amaryllis questioned. William didn’t answer at first. He was as white as a ghost, running wordlessly alongside her. She groaned and slapped him once. “Hey! Snap out of it!”

The sharp pain on his face seemed to do the trick. William shuddered and stuttered a bit as he attempted to get the words out. “I uh… I’m not entirely sure… I only know the main roads,” he answered.

“Well, that’s fucking useless. Tell me you have something more than that,” Amaryllis retorted. This time, it was Mary who answered.

“Well, I have an idea...but it’s a little crazy,” she offered.

“Can’t be crazier than New York being attacked by undead,” Amaryllis remarked. “Hurry up, we’ve almost reached the urban area.”

“Okay. If you look a bit further north, there’s a railroad that stretches all the way from Elizabeth through West New Brighton… I’m not entirely sure, but I think it was meant to haul freight,” Mary informed her. “It’s set in a natural trench and it goes through a tunnel at one point and a forest at another.”

“Hm… so you’re suggesting we follow the rails,” Amaryllis mused. She glanced around at the traffic lights and other such fixtures, noting that none of them were working. That meant the outage was citywide, at least as far as Staten Island was concerned. If that was true, then the freight trains wouldn’t be running, and the rails would be safe. “I don’t know, we could very easily get trapped…”

As Amaryllis’ group neared the railroad, she realized that the eastern horde was way too close. By glancing through the gaps in the buildings ahead, she could see them swarming through the streets, tearing apart civilians and policemen alike, all of them helpless before the might of the Oppressed. There was a ridiculous amount of them. There had to be thousands… or even hundreds of thousands of Oppressed. They flowed through every street as far as she could see, promising a swift and painful death to anyone trying to punch through to the bridge.

As for the Verrazano, there hadn’t been a third explosion of the same magnitude as the ones that had destroyed the Goethals and Bayonne, so Amaryllis was relatively sure the bridge was still intact. Despite the fact that it was most likely a trap to catch any fleeing survivors, it was their only shot at getting out of Staten Island alive.

“Agh, to hell with it. It’s all we can do. Everyone, follow me!” Amaryllis redirected her path towards the railroad. Ahead of her, she could see a thin copse of trees between them and the main railroad. She looked for a way around, and found one in the form of a dirt path that skirted the railroad. As she turned to follow it, she called back to Aven. “Where’s the southern horde?”

“I don’t think they’ve seen us yet… they’ve just reached the Goethals!” Aven called back. Amaryllis smirked a bit. That was something at least. The Oppressed had thought to kill off any survivors attempting to head across that bridge, but they’d already escaped. Her satisfaction was then cut short by Aven’s next cry. “Hold on, they’re heading this way!”

“No doubt they’re headed for the Bayonne,” Samuel surmised. That made sense to Amaryllis, but the undead’s reasoning didn’t matter. 

“Either way, they’ll see us if we don’t get a move on! We need to get to the railroad tunnel fast!” Amaryllis broke into a sprint once she reached the rails, glad once again of all of her physical training. The others weren’t as lucky; she could hear the ragged panting of some of the less physically fit.

Amaryllis gazed ahead of her as she ran. Just like she thought, there was a stalled freight train on one side of the tracks, though its inhabitants were nowhere to be seen. Considering how many undead were in the surrounding city, they were likely dead. She tsked and rubbed her forehead. This was just awful. She was grateful that she didn’t have the time to dwell on the massive amount of death occurring around her, as twisted as that made her feel.

The railroad took them right through the center of the industrial sector of Mariners Harbor, according to Mary. The trench in which they were running kept them hidden for the most part, but on occasion, the group had to pause and battle a small group of Oppressed that cascaded into the trench from above. 

Amaryllis could tell the group was exhausted. Many of them weren’t built for this sort of exertion, and others were beginning to feel hints of encroaching despair. Night was falling, and the sky grew rapidly dark. The streetlights that once lit up the island failed to start as usual, telling her that it would soon be too dark to see. It would be bad if she couldn’t find them someplace to rest within the next few hours.

After running for about half a mile, the dark foreboding mouth of the railway tunnel opened up before them. Unlike the dim light of the setting sun they were receiving, it was completely pitch black inside.

Just before Amaryllis stepped inside, she took out her phone and flipped on the light. Just to make sure, she also checked her phone’s signal. As she thought, the signal was still dead. Whoever was in charge of this undead attack must have hit the cell towers...or perhaps it was a damping field. Either way, she wouldn’t be calling for help.

A few moments after the group had entered the darkness, there was a clicking sound, and a large floodlight illuminated the tunnel ahead. Amaryllis turned around to see Kent, the train’s conductor, still holding the floodlight he’d had before the attack.

“Huh, I forgot you had that,” Amaryllis commented. She gestured for him to join her. “Get up here and light the way. Wish you’d have said something sooner.”

“My apologies, miss,” Kent said, ambling up to join her. He was breathing heavily and his clothes were soaked with sweat. The running seemed to have hit the older man much harder than the rest due to his age, though the fact that he was still standing was a testament to his constitution. He gave her a smile. “You’ve been doing a fine job leading, by the way.”

“Whatever. Wish you or Samuel would have done it. It’s a real pain in the ass…” Amaryllis grumbled. She turned back to look at the rest of the group. Now that they were safely in the tunnel, some of them were leaning against the walls. In Sawnee’s case, the teen was lying on the ground, practically sobbing from the exertion. “Come on, no time to rest. We can walk from here, but we have to keep moving.”

There was a chorus of groans and whines from her words. 

“I feel like I’m dying…” Sawnee moaned as his father helped him to his feet.

“How much further do we have to go?” Avil panted, her brow coated with sweat.

“Mommy… it really hurts…” Emma whined, the poor girl rubbing her calves. Mary was whispering words of comfort and encouragement to her in response. 

Amaryllis rolled her eyes at all of this. The stress of this whole situation was getting to her; her heart felt as though it was beating a mile a minute, and every decision she had to make felt as though it could be her last.

All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Amaryllis turned to see Kent again, the old man seemingly trying to comfort her.”Don’t worry, you’ve done much better than the rest of us could have,” he assured her.

“Right… sure,” Amaryllis uncomfortably moved away from Kent, starting to feel a little guilty. She figured she was essentially using them to get out of the city alive. It didn’t feel right for her to get complimented for that.

Amaryllis started to move again, using Kent’s floodlight to keep track of where she was going. The light revealed a seemingly endless expanse of tracks stretching away into the blackness. On the walls were what looked like strips of LED lighting. No doubt if there were power, there would be enough light to illuminate the whole tunnel.

“How long is this tunnel?” Amaryllis asked Mary again for clarification. So far it appeared peaceful and devoid of undead, but it was making her feel antsy. The last thing she wanted was to be trapped down here if the Oppressed were to find them.

“This tunnel is about a mile, I believe. However, there’s an open expanse after that, but it's up on an overpass,” Mary answered. “Then there’s a second tunnel. If we’re lucky, we can get to New Brighton.” 

Amaryllis nodded gratefully. She didn’t like the idea of walking across an open expanse. The fact that it was on an overpass reassured her somewhat, but it had already been proven that bridges weren’t safe from the Oppressed.

Something then struck her as odd. “Mary, was it? You’re acting really calm all of a sudden,” Amaryllis pointed out, feeling curious. 

“C-Calm?” Mary gave a humorless laugh. She wiped the sweat from her brow with her free hand, the other one holding onto the hand of her terrified daughter. “Do I look calm? I’m really not… I’m trying hard not to panic.”

“Huh… well, at least you’re doing better than this guy.” Amaryllis jerked a thumb over her shoulder to the white faced William. He winced as he was mentioned. “Guy’s been a useless coward since the whole thing started.”

“I guess, but I can’t really blame him. Nobody expected New York to come under attack by… what is it you called them? Undead?” Mary responded, looking a little uncomfortable at Amaryllis’ blatant insult to William. Amaryllis nodded, and Mary continued. “Y-Yeah… those things are horrific. I still don’t know what’s going on, but I have to stay strong for my daughter… or we’ll both… we’ll…”

“Yeah, I get it,” Amaryllis cut her off, understanding what she was trying to say. She looked down at Emma, noticing how the young girl was staying quiet and not crying, despite how dismal the situation was. 

Amaryllis knew it was likely that they’d all die so she wanted to scoff at Mary’s words, but something about the way Mary was looking at her daughter rendered her silent. She couldn’t help but think of the way Adam would look at Maka, and her cynical response died in her throat.

“Still, I’m gonna be counting on you. Keep it together and I’ll try to get you out of this,” Amaryllis said instead. She was surprised at the words that came out of her mouth. That sounded a lot more reassuring than she’d ever thought she was capable of. 

“Thank you.” Emma was actually the one to respond to that, the girl managing to put on a smile despite everything. Amaryllis met her gaze briefly, and then without another word, turned her gaze back towards the tunnel ahead.

It was difficult to judge distance down in the dark they were, so Amaryllis had no idea where along the line they were. The tunnel eventually swayed to the northeast and rose on a gradual incline. According to Amaryllis’ phone, it took them about ten minutes to reach the end of the tunnel.

Just like Mary had said, the tunnel opened out onto a railway overpass that crossed high above the suburbs of Elm Park. They were nearing Port Richmond, but dusk was rapidly falling. They needed to find someplace safe or risk running into the horde in the dark.

“Keep quiet,” Amaryllis hissed to everyone as they stepped out onto the railway trestle. She noticed Kent’s flashlight. “Lights off.”

Kent obligingly shut the light off, and some of the others put their phones away. It was still dark, but the light would alert the Oppressed to their presence. Amaryllis didn’t know the Oppressed would be able to reach them up here, but she wasn’t about to tempt fate.

There was another derelict freight train sitting on the rails, abandoned by its inhabitants and its cargo left unattended. Amaryllis gave it a glance as she passed it. She couldn’t help but notice that the sounds of battle were dying down. All around the bridge, she could hear the snarls and howls of the Oppressed in the streets. Some buildings were even ablaze, the roiling orange flames a stark contrast against the darkening sky.

She could still hear the sounds of gunfire to the southeast. According to Samuel, she was hearing the sound of military grade equipment, such as 50 caliber machine guns and even tanks. At that, Amaryllis’ eyes had widened and she glanced towards the southeast. In the distance, she could see the city was burning in that direction, pillars of thick smoke rising into the air. It must be hell on earth over there. For better or worse, the military was engaging the Oppressed. 

Getting to them meant getting through the horde, so that was out of the question. The rest of the island must already be overrun; there was no sign of any remaining civilians. Amaryllis wondered if they were the only civilians to survive.

One thing Amaryllis couldn’t help but notice was that occasionally, a fire blazed brightly down in the darkness. The flames moved in a generally straight line before colliding with a nearby building, catching it ablaze as well. Amaryllis realized with shock what was going on.

The path of the flames was too purposeful. If it had been a human on fire, they would flail about erratically before falling. Therefore, Amaryllis concluded that the Oppressed were setting themselves on fire somehow and spreading the blaze to other buildings. After putting this conclusion to Samuel, he informed her that it was likely to flush out any civilians hiding inside. Amaryllis cringed at the thought. Whoever was leading the Oppressed was a brutally sound tactician.

She couldn’t help them now. Instead, Amaryllis focused on the more immediate problem: she was hungry.

All this constant exertion had taken its toll on her. Her throat was dry and her stomach was grumbling with desire. Amaryllis exhaled in annoyance. This meant the others would be hungry too, and food would have to be on her list of priorities.

After traversing the length of the overpass, the group entered the next the tunnel. This one was slightly longer than the previous one. Amaryllis could feel her stamina waning. She hadn’t had any rest since all of this began. She was physically fit, but even she was exhausted from the constant running and fighting. She looked back at the ragged survivors following behind her, their shirts soaked with sweat and nearly all of them running out of breath.

“We need to rest,” Amaryllis finally determined, speaking her thoughts aloud. There was no way around it as far as she knew. When she noticed she had their attention, she kept talking. “Our only route out of the city is across the Verrazano and through Brooklyn, and that’s well over twenty miles, as the crow flies.”

“What?”

“That’s so far…” 

“We’re never going to make it!” Amaryllis’ statement elicited despairing moans from the other survivors.

Amaryllis couldn’t blame them. She knew the chances of her getting out of this city were slim… but she refused to give up. She believed that if she just kept going, she’d find some way to get through this. 

“You’re right, we’re not making it there tonight. I don’t know about you, but trying to take on the O… those monsters while hungry, thirsty, and exhausted is frankly a terrible idea,” Amaryllis affirmed. She noticed Samuel and Kent nodding; she hoped that meant they knew where she was going with this. “There’s really only one thing we can do. We’ve got to find someplace to hole up and rest.”

“Wouldn’t right here be good? We’re mostly safe in here, right?” Grant suggests, leaning against the wall of the tunnel.

“What, this tunnel? Hell no, this is the absolute last place I’d want to hole up,” Amaryllis retorted. She strode back up the incline of the tunnel for a moment to point back the way we came. “If that horde back there is smart enough to follow us in here, we’ll be caught between them and the horde outside, probably while we’re sleeping.”

“But you just said there’s a horde outside. It can’t be safe out there, right?” Jennifer joins in as she moves towards the front of the group. 

Amaryllis groaned. “Okay, I’m just going to level with you here. This is a awful situation. One slip up and we’re all screwed. You all have to understand that there’s no course of action I can have us take that’ll result in no risk at all,” she points out, losing patience. “So as far as I see it, we either go back and die, stay here and die, or try to push forward and hope we don’t die. Which one looks like the best option to you?”

Jennifer didn’t answer, and neither did anyone else. Left in the place of any potential objections was a sullen silence; everyone knew just how bad of a situation they were in.

“That’s what I thought. Now then, I have no idea what’s outside, so I’m going go scout out our surroundings,” Amaryllis decided, heading towards the exit of the tunnel. “You all, stay here. Kent, you’re in charge when I’m gone. Samuel, Mary, you’re with me. Come on.”

Amaryllis gave a sigh of relief when she walked away from the group, with the two she mentioned following close behind. Mary was smart enough to leave Emma behind with William, so at least they didn’t have to worry about her.

When the reached the exit of the tunnel, the first thing Amaryllis noticed was the significant amount of Oppressed in the streets. She winced and silently mouthed a curse; their numbers were so great, she could hardly see the streets at all. They appeared to be everywhere.

Amaryllis then realized something. The fact that she could see the Oppressed at all meant that there was a light source of some kind, as it was now the dead of night. She saw a few moving figures that were carrying torches present among the Oppressed. She noted with surprise that they were ponies. Not undead, but living, furry ponies like the one they’d seen in the subway. 

The differences between these ponies and the one in the subway were that these were armored. They wore plate mail armor and possessed weapons of varying types, from swords to axes. Some carried the torch in their mouths, while others appeared to be using magic to carry them. The Oppressed weren’t attacking them; in fact, they were even following their whispered commands.

That made this situation more difficult. Outwitting the undead was one thing; outwitting their pony overseers could be a problem. Amaryllis wasn’t sure how smart these ponies were, but she felt it was safe to assume they were at least as smart as the average human.

She scanned the area before her. Attempting to go deeper in the city appeared to be tantamount to suicide, as the Oppressed were the thickest there. Towards the north, where the buildings and trees eventually thinned out, there weren’t as many. Amaryllis clicked her tongue. Things were just going from bad to worse.

Once the three of them retreated a safe distance away from the exit, they met to discuss their next course of action. 

“Things are looking bad; monsters wherever you look,” Samuel expressed grimly. He glanced over at Amaryllis. “Any ideas? It seems that no matter where we go, we’ll have to fight.”

“Except if we make noise, won’t we be discovered?” Mary reminded him, shuddering at the thought. “It’ll be all over then… there’s just so many.”

“So what you’re basically telling me is; we have to get out of this tunnel, get through the horde of Oppressed, and find a place to hole up and rest … all without fighting a single one,” Amaryllis summarized, heaving a sigh of frustration. She glanced up when she realized that none of them were answering her. Instead, they were both giving her a strange expression. “What?”

“Oppressed?” Samuel repeated back to her. Amaryllis’ heart leapt up into her stomach when she realized what she’d done. A long string of curses ran through her mind. If Samuel had been suspicious of her before, there’s no way he’d let her go after this. “You know what they’re called?”

“I thought they were undead?” Mary questioned, neither one of the terms meaning much to her.

“Just forget I said that, it’s not that important.” Amaryllis hastily attempted to dismiss their questions, yet it had the opposite effect. Samuel narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to her.

“You were quite adamant that you knew nothing about these creatures, but I now hear you referring to them as something else,” Samuel pointed out. This was the first Mary has heard of this conversation; she was now looking at Amaryllis with an anxious expression. Amaryllis opened her mouth, but Samuel wouldn’t let her continue. “Don’t try to say it was a slip of the tongue’ you very clearly put emphasis on that word…’Oppressed.’”

Amaryllis gave a resigned and irritated huff. “Okay, fine, so I know something about them! It doesn’t matter!” she knew he had a good reason to be suspicious, but this was a waste of time to her; time they couldn’t really afford to lose. “It’s not like it changes anything!”

“It doesn’t change anything?” Samuel looked deadly serious. “It changes everything. We’re putting our lives in your hands, trusting you to lead us to safety in this crisis, and you’ve been holding back crucial information the whole time?”

“Okay, can we not do this right now? There’s still an…” Amaryllis started to protest. She took a step back when Samuel suddenly oriented his gun on her, the muzzle staring her right in the face. 

“Samuel, what are you doing!?” Mary gasps, backing away from the scene. Amaryllis was lost for words; she had been facing death this whole time, but never from another human; one that was supposed to be her ally. 

“How am I supposed to trust you now? Since the very beginning, you’ve acted very calm about this. You knew that the creatures wouldn’t stay down from what should be lethal wounds. You knew that breaking their legs would stop them, as well as smashing their heads in. You knew what they were called. Most damning is that every time we speculate on their origins, you remain quiet, even though you’re supposed to be our leader,” Samuel declared, the gun still pointed unerringly at her head. He gritted his teeth. “Did you know this was going to happen?”

“Look, buddy, put the gun down before one of us gets hurt,” Amaryllis found her nerve again, meeting Samuel’s eyes and ignoring the gun. “We really don’t have the time…”

“Answer the goddamn question!” Samuel cut her off, cocking the gun. “Depending on your answer…”

“What, you’ll kill me?” Amaryllis moved towards Samuel until the muzzle of the gun was pressed against her forehead. She was furious now. “Yeah, I know a thing or two about these monsters. I may even know something about these ponies running around with them. That being said, doesn’t that make me the most valuable person on the planet right now?”

Samuel didn’t answer nor did he move, his finger resting on the trigger.

“Sure, by all means, pull that fucking trigger. Gun down the only person who knows enough about all of this to give us a fighting chance. I’m sure you’ll all get out of this city without me,” Amaryllis boldly dared him, her gaze as hard as Samuel’s. 

“Please, both of you, just stop,” Mary begged, yet it was to no avail. Samuel and Amaryllis glared at one another unflinchingly for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Samuel lowered the gun, seeing the sense in her words.

“What are they?” Samuel asked firmly.

“They’re called the Oppressed. They’re human, or they used to be. They’re just monsters now,” Amaryllis answered without missing a beat. Even as stubborn as she was, she knew that Samuel would never help her if she couldn’t give him something.

“Where did they come from?” Samuel pressed.

“Those ponies we saw created them. They’re led by a stronger one called King Sombra,” Amaryllis answered, crossing her arms.

“What are they after?” Samuel continued.

“I think you can answer that one yourself,” Amaryllis pointed out. After all, even he’d noticed that the Oppressed were trying to exterminate them, not just conquer them. “Look, we don’t have time for this. If we can find someplace to rest, I’ll play twenty questions with you all damn night.”

“Promise me one thing,” Samuel responded. “When we find a place to hole up, you’ll tell us everything you know. Not just me… all of us.”

Amaryllis groaned. If she had just kept her damn mouth shut, she wouldn’t be in this situation. “Fine...I still say it doesn’t make a difference, but whatever,” she relented with bad grace. She knew she was going to regret this; there was just no feasible way to tell someone that the end of days had arrived.

Samuel was quiet for a long time, and then he nodded. “I’ll be holding you to that. Now, do you have a plan on how to get out of this tunnel?”

Amaryllis felt relief to get back to the task at hand. She recalled what she’d seen outside, and quickly formulated a plan. “We don’t have much of a choice. We’ll push towards the streets where the Oppressed are less dense. There’s a copse of trees on the northern side of the railroad. If we’re lucky, we can avoid being seen inside. Mary, what’s nearby?”

“Um…” Mary stammered a bit. She clapped her hands to her face to snap herself back to her senses. “Okay. It’s mostly suburbs, but there should be a bar just outside. A little ways south from here is a middle school with multiple floors, and there’s a Heidi’s grocery store next to it… there’s also a two story church up north past the trees.”

“Right past the trees?” Amaryllis interrupted. When Mary nodded, Amaryllis pondered. “Okay, that might be our best shot. If we can cut through the forest and get in there without being seen, we might be able to hide out on the upper floors.”

“I suppose that’s as good an idea as any,” Samuel grunted. With that, the three of them returned to the rest of the group. When Amaryllis found them, she noticed that some of them were lying down next to the rails, while others were sitting with their backs against the walls.

“Everybody up. It’s time to get moving. We’re going to make for the nearby church and hole up there,” Amaryllis announced. She ignored the whines and complains of the exhausted group and waited until they were ready before she started to lead the group to the end of the tunnel.

It was nearly pitch black outside now, apart from the orange glow cast by the torches held by the enemy. There would have no way to coordinate with one another if it weren’t for Jennifer, who donated a low power laser pointer to Amaryllis.

Amaryllis stood at the exit to the tunnel, looking out at the large amount of Oppressed. She glanced over to the trees. Despite how dark it was, her eyes had mostly adjusted. She noted only a few Oppressed between here and there. It would be tough, but she figured she could make it.

“Don’t follow until I give the signal,” Amaryllis directed the others in a low whisper. She steeled herself and dashed out of the tunnel, leaping across the gravel and making for the nearest bush.

There was a growl from her left. Immediately, she shimmied to the left and ducked behind a bush on the other side of the rails. She planted her butt against the ground, doing her best to keep her breathing to a minimum. Despite that, she felt as though her heart was running a mile a minute.

Amaryllis kept her eye on the horde, noting their positions around her. They were everywhere; just a few quick glances revealed five of them ambling around near a smouldering convenience store just across the street from where she was hiding. She counted seven more in the street itself. Twelve more were crossing the rails nearby.

She cursed; she couldn’t find any openings to take advantage of. It didn’t help that she couldn’t see much of anything. Amaryllis noted the position of the woods just beyond the buildings to her right. There were three Oppressed in the nearest alleyway between them, along with a flickering torch that hinted at the presence of a living pony. 

The moment the opportunity revealed itself, Amaryllis broke cover and sprinted to the nearest buildings, which appeared to be two ordinary residential houses, each one surrounded by a white picket fence. She heard the snarl of a nearby Oppressed, so she ducked behind the separating fence to take cover.

Amaryllis sighed in relief and turned her head back forward… only to see an Oppressed crossing the field right in front of her. She froze, watching the twisting creature amble in her direction. Much to her surprise, however, it walked right past her as though it didn’t even see her.

She blinked. It was night time and nearly pitch black, but her eyes had adjusted well enough to see in the dark due to the distant torchlight. She glanced between the seemingly blind Oppressed and the live ponies carrying torches, beginning to put two and two together. 

She grinned; she could take advantage of this. She broke cover once more and sneaked past the Oppressed, keeping to the darkness and moving into the nearby alley. This one didn’t have any Oppressed in it, so she had a clear shot to the forest from here. She glanced back as she walked, noticing how the openings she took to get here were now completely filled with Oppressed. 

Amaryllis racked her brain, trying to find a way to get everyone else over here without getting seen. However, while she was thinking, she neglected to look down at the ground. Her foot caught against a large embedded rock in the gravel, causing her to stumble. Instinctively, she used her other foot to stabilize herself, her shoe skidding in the gravel and sending a few rocks scattering forward.

She froze, breaking out into a cold sweat. There was dead silence at first, making her believe that perhaps her stupid mistake had gone unnoticed. However, she then noticed a light drawing closer from the side of the alley closer to the woods. She could hear steadily approaching hooves clopping along the gravel.

“What in the hay?” the pony reacted, his voice growing steadily closer as he neared Amaryllis’ hiding spot. “I thought we exterminated all the apes in this area already… I swear to Sombra, if this is another raccoon…”

Amaryllis gripped her guardrail tightly, seeing only one way to get out of this. She would only have one shot at this. If she missed by even an inch, she would be dead in an instant. 

The pony turned the corner. It wasn’t a unicorn, judging by the lack of wings or a horn and the torch clasped in his hoof. He was wearing the same suit of armor as the other soldiers; his head, the sides of his neck, his hooves, and his lengthy back were all coated in a sheet of engraved black steel. Around his neck was a glimmering ruby pendant that pulsed gently with an ethereal glow.

The pony’s eyes shot wide when Amaryllis shot out of the darkness like a wraith, her teeth gritted and her hands grasping the jagged guardrail. Before he could finish opening his mouth to yell, Amaryllis leapt forward and jammed the tip of the guardrail right into his larynx with a wet thump. Blood spurted from the wound, coating the guardrail and splattering onto Amaryllis’ hands as she shoved the improvised weapon all the way through his neck.

The torch dropped to the ground as the pony lifted his hooves to the rail in a vain attempt to remove it. He attempted to speak, but all that came out was a wet gurgling. Finally, the pony fell to the ground limply, dead.

Amaryllis looked at what she’d done and she nearly threw up. She was a tough girl; she’d seen blood before and she’d certainly killed Oppressed, but this was the first time she’d ever killed a living creature. However, her determination won through; she couldn’t afford to linger here. 

She removed the guardrail from the pony’s neck and left the torch where it lay. She couldn’t put it out, or she’d draw the attention of the other living ponies. She was about to press forward when she noticed the pendant on the body. 

Amaryllis guessed it was magic from the way it glowed, but she had no idea what it was capable of. On a hunch, she removed the necklace from the pony and clasped it around her own neck, where it lie beside her own necklace that she always wore. She figured the soldier wouldn’t have been wearing it if it was harmful to him; if anything, it was likely beneficial.

A strange sensation came over her. She didn’t understand what she was feeling; she could sense various pinpricks of fiery light in her mind. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on the feeling. While she did her best to visualize them, she could feel that the lights were coming from different directions, and varied in intensity depending on distance. 

In total, she could feel fifty of these pinpricks in her mind; it was nearly overwhelming for her. Amaryllis noted the presence of the nearest light, and thought about finding out what it was. If she could just get up close to one…

There was suddenly a snarl, and an Oppressed lumbered around the corner, approaching her. Amaryllis took a step back and hunched down into a defensive position, but the creature didn’t attack her. She blinked, realizing that it was just standing there, gazing at her. She realized with shock that one of the pinpricks she could feel was directly in front of her.

“Is… this how they’re controlling them?” Amaryllis whispered, looking down at the necklace. She decided to test her theory. “Hey, ugly. Roll over.”

The Oppressed obediently threw itself to the ground and rolled over once, just as she’d told it to. Amaryllis slowly let a grin cross her face. She now had the perfect idea on how to get the horde out of the way long enough for her group to catch up with her. 

If she was understanding how this worked, she had access to fifty Oppressed. That was a small army, but compared to the hordes of Oppressed out there, it was nothing. She quickly determined she couldn’t keep them. Their group was large enough as it is; with fifty Oppressed, they’d drawn no end of attention. 

“Let’s not put them to waste then,” she decided. She willed for all of the Oppressed she could sense to congregate on her. They responded to her mental orders immediately, shuffling through the streets to fill up the alleys around the house with a horde. She couldn’t help but shudder. Even though they were presently under her control, seeing them walking around her made her uneasy.

She wordlessly glanced at the Oppressed, noting that each one of them was different and still looked somewhat human despite the twisted transformation that they had underwent. She couldn’t tell who any of them used to be. “Still, if you’re going to die, it might as well be on our side, rather than theirs,” Amaryllis whispered, and then she grimaced at her own dark humor. 

She fixed her eyes on the horde of Oppressed that didn’t currently belong to her. Her eyes narrowed, and then she grinned. “You lot… buy me time!” Amaryllis ordered her Oppressed, indicating the horde. 

Her Oppressed roared viciously and swarmed across the rails back towards the other monsters, responding to her will. The other Oppressed had no warning before Amaryllis’ forces slammed into their ranks, enamel claws ripping and tearing at their undead flesh.

“What the hay!?” one of the living ponies gasped, shocked at the sudden betrayal. The streets quickly turned into chaos as the traitorous Oppressed battled their former allies. Amaryllis couldn’t help but let a twisted grin cross her face. They wouldn’t last long, but she’d take what she could get.

Amaryllis took out the laser pointer and aimed it back towards the railroad tunnel where the others of her group should be waiting. She quickly located Samuel, who was at the head of the group. Once the soldier noticed the pinprick of red light on his shirt, he took a glance around and then broke into a run, heading right for her.

“Amaryllis? What the hell is going on?” Samuel demanded in a harsh whisper once he reached her. He was no doubt referring to the cacophony created by the battling Oppressed. “Who are they attacking?”

“Each other. No time to explain. Into the trees, now!” Amaryllis ordered. She could already feel some of the Oppressed she controlled dying. Samuel looked uncertain, but he did what she told him. More members of the group approached as Amaryllis signalled them over. Each of them went undetected by the distracted horde.

As more Oppressed died, Amaryllis noticed the pendant around her neck losing its glow. As she expected, this only allowed the wearer to control a set amount of Oppressed. Once they were all dead, it would be useless. 

“Go, go!” Amaryllis directed, gesturing to each person that followed. Once she’d counted everyone present in the group, she followed swiftly behind them. 

Just beyond the trees, the church lay waiting.
> 10. Trapped
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Amaryllis dashed through the small copse of trees, the leaves crunching loudly beneath her feet. There was no time to watch her step; she could feel her Oppressed dying in her mind, each pinprick of light extinguishing one by one. 

The rest of the group was ahead of her, moving just as fast. As exhausted as everyone was, they were running on adrenaline now that they were this close to the Oppressed horde with the possibility of a gruesome death hovering over their heads.

The trees soon broke, and the group found themselves in a small, mostly empty parking lot at the base of the church Mary mentioned previously; the church that promised temporary safe refuge. Now that Amaryllis could get a good look at the area, she felt confident that she’d made the right decision.

There was only one vehicle parked in the parking lot: a large white RV that looked as though it had been abandoned by its previous occupants. To the right, there was a small street with a line of tiny two story houses crammed together to save space on the other side. To the left, Amaryllis could see something similar. 

As for the church itself, it appeared to be made entirely out of stone bricks, much to Amaryllis’ delight. The place looked to be Victorian Gothic in style and resembled a fortress in the way it was laid out, with battlements lining the roof. 

There were two main buildings. The first was clearly where the primary congregation would gather to worship. This building was built in the shape of a cross, with the top, shorter end facing towards the blacktop upon which Amaryllis stood. In the center of the cross, the building rose up into a second and third story, complete with a pointed roof upon which a holy symbol was placed. The roofs were slanted in a triangular fashion and fashioned of archaic black slate that fit in well with the old fashioned theme of the rest of the church. 

The second main building was connected to the first by an enclosed cloister. This building was rectangular and rose three stories, although its overall height was lower than the first building due to the worship hall rising so high. It was likely a parish hall, if Amaryllis were to guess.

From here, Amaryllis could see two entrances; one on each of the buildings. The doors appeared to be made of reinforced wood, and were, in her opinion, the weakest portion of the whole place. She figured she could deal with that once they were inside. Lastly, there was a nearby sign that labeled the church as the New Brighton Christ Episcopal Church. Beneath it was a blurb from the church staff that stated “Even in the depths of darkness, there is always hope.” 

Amaryllis found it highly ironic that the cheerful sign was spattered and stained with blood, likely from one of the Oppressed’s many victims. However, there was no sign of bodies. She winced, knowing that the victims were likely being dragged away and converted into more Oppressed. At least, that’s the conclusion she drew from what she heard from Seth.

“Everybody follow me!” Amaryllis whispered. She grasped her head, her brain aching as more of her Oppressed perished following her command. Pushing through the pain, she took the lead and dashed across the blacktop to the door of the main worship hall. She wanted to head to the highest place.

The door to the hall opened readily, creaking loudly in the process. Amaryllis ducked inside swiftly and ushered the others in. “Mary, I thought you said this place was two stories.” Amaryllis questioned as she shut the door behind them. She made sure to slide the deadbolt into place.

“I thought it was. I’m sorry, I’ve never been to this church before. I only knew that it was here,” Mary confessed.

“No big deal. Three floors is better anyway. Then we have two floors between us and those bastards,” Amaryllis returned with a shrug. She turned around to view the inside of the worship hall.

It looked much like what she’d expect from a church. She wasn’t religious in the slightest, but even she’d visited a few churches for events. There were twenty five rows of polished wood pews, consisting of four per row. There was a large aisle down the center that led all the way to a raised altar, where a shining golden cross stood beside a silver bowl. There was a gorgeous pipe organ to the left of the altar, the instrument towering high above the rest of the room. Amaryllis couldn’t help but think about how Seth would be all over that thing if he were here.

“Now, I believe you have some explaining to do,” Samuel reminded her pointedly now that they were all situated in the hall. “How did you get the...Oppressed to attack one another?”

“Not right now. We have more important things to take care of,” Amaryllis responded. A quick glance to the back of the room revealed the stairs to the upper levels, much to her satisfaction.

“You promised that you’d…” Samuel started up again, getting on her nerves.

“I know what I promised, goddammit!” Amaryllis cursed, cutting him off. Her indelicacy in a house of God earned winces from some of the more religious members of the group. “You’re the one who put me in charge of everything; how about you stop second guessing me and let me do my job? Unless you like the idea of Oppressed barging in on us and slaughtering us while I’m busy telling you about the apocalypse?”

Samuel was silent, though he was glaring at her. After a pause, he asked, “You will tell us, right?”

“I said that I would, moron,” Amaryllis returned. At the very least, Amaryllis was a woman of her word. That was why she so rarely gave it. She then looked around at the rest of the group. Ideas came to her quickly, and she immediately started snapping out orders. “Avil, Rachel, Kent, and Mary. Come here.”

The three women and the former conductor obediently walked up to her, standing in a line so they all could look at her. Amaryllis glanced at them and nodded. None of them looked like they could handle that much heavy lifting. “The four of you split up. Search the entire church for entrances; that includes the second building and the upper floors. There may be roof accesses we don’t know about. Whenever you find one, come back and tell me where it is,” she directed.

“Excellent idea. I’ll search the secondary building with Mary,” Kent decided, nodding approvingly of the plan. Amaryllis noted that he appeared to have some latent leadership skills of his own, judging from that exchange. 

“I can do that. Let’s go, Rachel. And quit whining, we can rest in a moment,” Avil said next, giving the housewife an impatient stare as she started to protest.

“Go ahead and go. Mary, I’ll look after Emma,” Amaryllis promised. Mary nodded, and then the four of them scampered off. Amaryllis turned to the rest of them. “The rest of you, I hope you like heavy lifting.”

“You have to be kidding!” Sawnee complained, a wet film of sweat covering his face. Amaryllis looked at him and rolled her eyes. He looked to be about her age, back when she was in college. 

“Not you. If you’re going to be a little bitch about it, you can go with Jakob and search the church for anything useful we can use,” Amaryllis retorted.

“Like what?” Jakob asked, stepping forward as his name was called.

“Food, water, supplies, I don’t care. If it looks useful, take it and bring it here. Now quit wasting time and go,” Amaryllis answered. Jakob hesitated a bit, and then he acquiesced, taking the heavily panting Sawnee with him.

“By heavy lifting, do you mean…” Samuel spoke up, his eyes trailing to the pews. 

“Exactly. Use these pews and barricade the entrance here, and any other doors that the others find.. It won’t keep them out, but it’ll buy us some time,” Amaryllis directed them. “Stay away from the windows and for the love of god, don’t drop the pews. If you attract the Oppressed, they’ll kill us all.”

“What’s an Oppressed?” Grant questioned, scratching his head in confusion.

“She’ll tell us later,” Samuel answered him, giving Amaryllis a meaningful glance. “Now let’s get these pews moving.”

Amaryllis sighed and sat down on one of the pews, now that all of her orders were being carried out. She felt exhaustion starting to take over her body, her eyelids drooping. Even so, she couldn’t let herself sleep just yet.

“Can I help too, miss Amaryllis?” Emma sat down on the pew next to her, looking up at her hopefully.

“Yeah, leave out the miss part, I’m not some delicate maiden, and I don’t give two shits about politeness,” Amaryllis retorted, not bothering to censor herself. 

“Okay, can I just call you Amaryllis then? Or maybe Amy for short?” Emma replied innocently, her hands clasped together in her lap. 

Amaryllis shrugged. “Whatever. And no, there’s nothing you can do right now. Just sit here and keep quiet. I’m looking after you until your mother gets back.”

“Aww, okay,” Emma looked disappointed at that, but she did as she was told, giving Amaryllis no arguments. Once again, she couldn’t help but be surprised at how well behaved she was.

As Amaryllis gazed at the girl, she started to feel something akin to sympathy for her. The poor girl was smack in the middle of the end of days, and not even Amaryllis was jaded enough to say that she deserved this. No one deserved this.

Emma had been understandably crying before, and it showed in her eyes, though she was relatively calm now. Amaryllis couldn’t help herself. “Hey, kid… how are you holding up?” she asked before she could convince herself otherwise.

“Hm? Oh...I’m...I’m really scared,” Emma admitted readily. Amaryllis nodded, having expected as much. “Mommy always told me that monsters weren’t real, but now...they’re everywhere. And now she’s scared too. I’ve never seen her scared like this.”

“Right, but shouldn’t you be worrying about yourself?” Amaryllis questioned, finding it odd that Emma focused on her mother despite the fact that her question had been directed at her alone.

“I know we’re in trouble...and we might get eaten by the monsters...but I just want my mommy to be okay,” Emma revealed, surprising Amaryllis. “I would rather be eaten before she gets eaten.”

“That’s stupid. You’re telling me that if you had the opportunity to leave her behind and save yourself, you wouldn’t take it?” Amaryllis demanded, marveling at this girl. When Emma nodded in confirmation, Amaryllis let out a disbelieving scoff. “That’s stupid. That’s really stupid.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid,” Emma stated firmly. There was a silence between them, broken only by the sounds of the others carrying the pews. Emma eventually peered at Amaryllis again. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Are you doing okay?” She asked with concern. Amaryllis raised an eyebrow at the question. 

“We’re trapped in a city filled with the walking dead, and I’m shepherding a bunch of people around trying to figure out why the hell this is even happening. You tell me, kid,” she grunted, leaning back on the pew. This shouldn’t be happening. Even with all that she knew, she didn’t understand how the Oppressed were here so soon. Amaryllis sighed and leaned her head back, her hair falling around her eyes.

“Don’t give up.”

Amaryllis glanced up at Emma’s response. She hadn’t been prepared to hear something like that from Emma, who by all rights should be traumatized by all of this death. She looked over to see the young girl gazing back at her with determination stamped on her face.

“What?” Amaryllis asked, in case she had misheard.

“I said don’t give up. You’re the reason we’re okay, right? Mommy always said I should help nice people like you,” Emma explained. Her reasons were simplistic and innocent, something to be expected from a mere child. Yet nevertheless, Amaryllis found something oddly assuring about them. “So hang in there. I know you can do it.”

“Stupid kid...you don’t even know what you’re saying,” Amaryllis blew her off, her jaded nature reasserting itself over her previous emotions. “Second of all, I’m not nice at all. I’m doing this because I need to get out of here too, and nobody else is good enough to do it. Secondly, I’m a stranger that you’ve just met today, one whom you have no reason to trust. You’re really okay putting your life in my hands?”

“Yes!” Emma answered without missing a beat, confounding Amaryllis even further. Even as she sputtered with disbelief, Emma continued. “I think you are nice. You shouldn’t say mean things about yourself.”

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Amaryllis demanded. No matter how young she was, Emma should have some idea of how the world worked. Despite that, she was steadfastly declaring her faith in Amaryllis. Faith; a concept that she’d never understood. Yet here it was, being given to her by an innocent girl in the middle of the end of days.

Before Emma could answer, Mary soon returned. “Excuse me! I found an entrance not far from here. I came back to let you know.”

Amaryllis was glad for the interruption. Now she could focus on something that made sense to her. “Good. Come with me, and we’ll let the lifters know where to find it,” Amaryllis directed Mary.

From there, Amaryllis continued to direct the defense of the church. Using the people she sent to find entrances, she quickly mapped out the interior of the church in her head. The entrances were the weakest points and needed to be reinforced, so each time the lifters finished barricading a door, Amaryllis would direct them to another entrance. 

Eventually, the lifters ran out of pews, and had to resort to using anything and everything they could find; armchairs, stands, tables, couches; anything and everything that could be moved was put to use.

Around this time, Amaryllis felt the last pinprick of light die in her head, indicating that the battle with the Oppressed was over. Thinking quickly, she pulled Jennifer away from lifting duty and sent her to the roof access hatch. She would serve as her lookout for now, and alert her if any Oppressed made any indications of attacking the church.

Out of curiosity, Amaryllis glanced down at the magical pendant she wore. The ethereal light that had once danced in its crystalline depths had faded to nothing, leaving the once bright gem inert. She took it off, understanding that it was useless now. She tucked it in a pocket instead.

Some time later, Avil returned to the main room, carrying a small box. When she neared Amaryllis, the engineer put on a grin. “Check this out. I found this on one of the upper floors,” she declared, passing the box to her.

Amaryllis held the box and noted how heavy it was. She didn’t waste any time in opening it, curious as to what made the engineer excited. To her surprise, the box contained a bright orange Orion flare gun, complete with three rounds. She glanced up at the grinning Avil. “Why the hell would a church have one of these?” Amaryllis questioned.

Avil shrugged. “Not a clue. Still, I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth. This could be useful, right?”

“Sure, if we want to bring the monsters right to us,” Amaryllis retorted sarcastically. Nevertheless, she took the flare gun and tucked it into the right pocket of her pants, fitting the rounds in her back pocket. “Whatever. Nice find, even if it’s pretty useless.”

Avil nodded appreciatively and ran back to continue her search.





Before long, the church had been fully searched. Jakob and Sawnee luckily came across a stash of crackers and juice in an upstairs cupboard. Amaryllis assumed they had been meant for the congregation as refreshments, but they weren’t going to be needing them anymore. Therefore, the crackers were distributed equally among the group members so that everyone had a few packets. It wasn’t a gourmet meal by any means, but it was the best they were going to get.

Then, Amaryllis directed the group to the top floor of the main building. She figured that the more distance between them and the doors, the better chance they could hide from snooping Oppressed. It was here that she intended to set up “camp,” for lack of a better word.

The upper floor of the church was small, and consisted of only a few rooms. The rooms were sparsely decorated and contained boxes scattered about the place, suggesting that it was used for storage.

“Where are we going to sleep?” Rachel complains, looking around at the hard wooden floor. The area was unfinished and possessed nothing in the way of comforts.

“The floor, obviously,” Amaryllis responded to her. She was already getting down on the floor herself. She didn’t relish the aches she’d have in the morning, but she wasn’t going to complain about it. A quick glance at her phone told her it was nearly three in the morning. “There’s a few rooms here. Women can take this room, men can take the one next door.”

“Amaryllis…” Samuel warned. The soldier didn’t look pleased to see that people were beginning to head to different rooms to get ready to rest. 

“Get some sleep, because I’m waking you all up early. I’ve got something to tell you all about what’s going on,” Amaryllis added, rolling her eyes at Samuel’s insistence. “But we’ll do that in the morning. It’s three in the morning and I’m exhausted.”

Amaryllis shot Samuel a pointed stare. This was all he was going to get from her at the moment. Whether he liked it or not, she was going to do this on her terms. Samuel seemed to get the point; the soldier gave a dissatisfied grunt and retreated with the rest of the men, heading to their room to sleep.

She stopped Aven with her hand before he could go into the other room. “You get to stand lookout on the roof,” Amaryllis directed him. When his face started to contort with dismay, she sighed. “Oh, don’t look like that. You only have to do it for an hour or so, then you can pass it off to one of us.”

“I guess that makes sense. How will I see the monsters in the dark though?” Aven inquired, wringing his hands together nervously. 

“You won’t be able to. But they won’t be able to see you either,” Amaryllis revealed to him. “When I was scouting ahead, one of them walked right by me. They’re as blind as we are in the dark.”

“Wait, really?” Aven gasped, his eyes lighting up. “So they’re not perfect after all.”

“It doesn’t mean they can’t attack us. It does mean that we’ll have some warning first. One of those ponies with the torches will approach us first. Or one of those ponies with horns will make light,” Amaryllis finished. “Just keep your eyes out for something like that.”

“Okay, I understand.” Aven gave a nod of affirmation and moved to do as he was told. However, he paused and glanced back at her, a brow raised. “Hey...are those really ponies?”

“Yeah, believe it or not. What else would you call them?” Amaryllis answered, shaking her head. 

“I have no clue. It’s just...they look nothing like ponies. They had expressive faces...and their eyes were so large…” Aven described.

“Buddy, you are preaching to the choir. They’re as weird to me as they are to you,” Amaryllis interrupted him with a wry expression. “But they’re ponies regardless. I know that for sure.”

“For sure?” Aven repeated in confusion. Realization soon dawned on his face. “You mean, when you said you had something to tell us…?”

“That’s part of it. Now go do your job so I can get some sleep.” Amaryllis dismissed him with a wave of her hand, and then she turned back to the women remaining in the room.

Amaryllis sat down on the hard floor beside Jennifer. Now that there was no men in the room, she stripped off her shirt unceremoniously, revealing the sports bra she wore underneath. She became aware of Jennifer looking at her, but ignored her. She balled up her shirt and laid down, using the bunched up fabric as a makeshift pillow. 

Amaryllis chuckled darkly to herself. This was the worst. Stuck inside of a church, surrounded by the Oppressed; the enemies of mankind. She was saddled with these people who annoyed her to no end, and yet she couldn’t bring herself to leave them. The worst part was that it was getting cold, and she had no blanket.

Despite her discomfort, Amaryllis’ exhaustion finally took its toll on her mind, and she at last succumbed to sleep.





It felt as though only minutes had passed before she was shaken awake. Her eyes snapped open to see Avil. “Hey, Amaryllis. You might want to take a look at this,” the engineer expressed grimly.

Without a word, Amaryllis quickly put her shirt back on and followed Avil towards the back room, where there was a hatch that granted access to the roof. When Avil opened the hatch, the light of the dawn spilled through the opening, causing Amaryllis to squint. Avil climbed up the ladder. When she reached the top, she gestured for Amaryllis to follow her, holding a finger to her lips. 

Amaryllis ascended the ladder swiftly and climbed out on the roof. There was barely any room to walk around; the flat space on the roof was only a few inches wide. Behind her was the spire of the church, and in front of her were the battlements. The city stretched out before her. What she saw caused her eyes to widen.

Staten Island was no more. What had once been one of the five boroughs of New York City and a tourist attraction for people from all over the United States…was now a burning wasteland. Vast swaths of the city still burned even now, plumes of thick black smoke rising into the air. 

Yet the sounds of battle still continued. In the distance, still so tantalizingly far away, Amaryllis could see explosions and flashes of gunfire, indicating the military presence. She wondered if they’d been fighting all night.

She looked to the horizon, and saw with shock that most of New York City was in the same situation. She could see the buildings burning even from here, causing her to grit her teeth. Nobody could have expected this. Out of all the places in America to attack, the Oppressed hit one of the most iconic cities in the country with overwhelming force. It was one thing to hear about humanity being destroyed…it was another to see their demise unfolding out before her.

A growl from below brought her back to reality. She pressed herself against the battlements and glanced over the edge. To her horror, the Oppressed filled the streets around the church. They were so many of them, she could hardly see the pavement beneath their scraping claws. 

A quick survey of the surrounding area told her that the Oppressed surrounded the church on all sides. Judging from their slow, aimless pace, Amaryllis gathered that the monsters didn’t realize they were inside. 

“...not what I expected, Shade.” Amaryllis heard a voice filtering up through the ranks of the undead. She spotted two armored ponies trotting confidently through the streets, the undead parting to give them room. One of them was a pegasus, and the other was a unicorn.

“What wasn’t?” the unicorn, whom Amaryllis assumed was Shade, replied to the first. This pony seemed to be female, or a mare, judging from her voice. 

“Humanity. They’re supposed to be the great precursor race, the super advanced mages who ruled the world, right?” the pegasi continued. Shade nodded in confirmation. “They’re just...not what I expected. They’re pathetic.”

“You’re telling me. Barely any of them even put up a fight. They just fall like useless livestock,” Shade responded sadistically, licking her lips. She turned her head, giving Amaryllis a look at her neck. Unlike the pegasus, she wasn’t wearing an amulet like the one Amaryllis had. “This is the easiest job I’ve ever had.”

“I’m not complaining. I’m just disappointed. I expected a real fight against beings of legend,” the pegasus returned with a malevolent grin. He turned and kicked one of the Oppressed over ruthlessly. “Not so special after all, are you?”

Amaryllis clenched her fingers into her fist, anger welling up within her. As the two ponies continued talking, her desire to slaughter the both of them grew. They were both mass murderers, responsible for thousands of deaths. And there they were, laughing and celebrating their success.

“Did you hear that one guy who tried to give me his daughter? Actually, come to think of it, how come we speak the same language?” the pegasus commented, bemused. His question earned a slap over the head from Shade.

“Shut it and help me look for more survivors. It would be terrible if Frozen Soul got here and found that we haven’t cleared our sector yet,” Shade reprimanded him. 

The pegasus blanched. “Oh yeah...let’s get going. Don’t want to be on the receiving end of that guy’s temper. No sir.”

Amaryllis turned away from the edge, meeting Avil’s gaze with her own. She gave a jerk of her head, and the two of them retreated back down the hatch and into the church.

“What do we do now?” Avil questioned in a low whisper as she leapt down from the ladder. “They’re all over the place...and what did those creatures mean when they called us precursors?”

“Yeah, they’re from the future,” Amaryllis answered in a matter of fact tone, knowing how ridiculous that was going to sound to the engineer. “It makes sense when you think about it like that.”

“Wait, what? Be serious!” Avil of course didn’t believe her. Amaryllis couldn’t blame her; she’d been just as skeptical when Seth had told her everything.

“Avil, when was the last time I’ve told a joke, in the entire time you’ve known me?” Amaryllis pointed out. She led Avil through the doorway back into the room where all the women were still sleeping.

“...Never,” Avil answered, perplexed. Understanding then hit her. “You’re not kidding. How the hell...you expect me to believe we’re under attack by mutant pony things from the future?”

“I don’t expect you to believe anything. I wouldn’t even be telling you this if Samuel wasn’t being such a bitch about it,” Amaryllis grumbled. She looked around at all the sleeping women. “I’ll tell you the full story in a minute.”

Amaryllis walked around the room, giving all of the women a gentle, yet firm kick in the side. “Hey, wake the hell up. I’ve got some good news and bad news,” she announced emphatically. As for Emma, Amaryllis just placed her foot on her shoulder and rocked her awake. 

“Good news?” Jennifer repeated tiredly, giving a yawn. Her stomach growled a moment later, causing her to wince. “Ooh...I’m so hungry.”

“That sucks, because there’s no more food. There’s some water left; you’ll have to survive on that,” Amaryllis retorted. Jennifer’s response was to moan piteously. “Oh, I’m sorry, let me get the five course meal ready. Idiot! Everyone’s hungry, now quit your whining and get up!”

“You said you had good news?” Rachel pressed, now awake as well. 

“Yeah, but I’m not saying a word until the men are awake. Stay here and drink some water if you want. Don’t go anywhere,” Amaryllis directed them, and then she left the room, on her way to where the men slept.

Only a few minutes had passed before the upper floor of the church was alive with activity. As Amaryllis has said, there was no food remaining from the pile of crackers that they’d found last night. Therefore, everyone was hungry.

Amaryllis had ordered everyone to the women’s room once they were ready, as she was now forced to fill them all in on the current situation. To be honest, Amaryllis wasn’t sure what to do next. The Oppressed were surrounding them on all sides, and even the exit onto the roof promised no escape from the horde. They were trapped in the church without any food and dwindling water reserves. All in all, the future looked quite bleak. 

She had only told them to gather in this room. However, the group formed a circle on their own, such that everyone could see everyone. Amaryllis took her place in the circle as well, noticing how everyone shifted themselves to face her. 

“Now then, I believe I have some questions…” Samuel begin, just as Amaryllis had expected. Her patience for his insistence was getting on her last nerve.

“I know! Jesus Christ, I’m not three years old; you don’t have to remind me literally every time you see me,” Amaryllis cut him off, her exasperation clearly evident in her tone of voice. Samuel gave her a glare, but otherwise said nothing.

“You...do realize we’re in a house of God, right?” Rachel timidly pointed out, no doubt as an attempt to scold Amaryllis for her word choice.

Amaryllis rolled her eyes. “Oh please, did I offend you? Why don’t you go outside and complain to the Oppressed? I’m sure they care so much about your hurt feelings,” she retorted, effectively shutting the woman up. “Now, if you can all keep quiet, I can tell you what’s currently going on.

“Yes, I remember you said you had good news,” Jennifer said.

“Yeah, but I’m starting with the bad news. We’re trapped in this church,” Amaryllis bluntly revealed to them all. “If you look out the windows, we’re surrounded by the Oppressed everywhere you turn. I hate to say it, but we might be the only civilians still alive in the entirety of Staten Island.”

“What!?”

“But there’s hundreds of thousands of people here!”

“Oh no...we’re all done for!”

“God save us…” 

Amaryllis waited patiently for them all to express their shock and horror. She felt sick to her stomach as well, knowing that a staggering amount of people had died in just a single night. They never found any bodies either...just lots of blood. That meant that they’d likely all become Oppressed.

“Why do you keep calling them Oppressed?” Kent asks, astutely noticing how she’d changed in the way she addressed the monsters outside.

“That’s the good news. I am probably one of the only people in existence that actually knows what’s going on,” Amaryllis admitted, inwardly cursing that she had to do this. 

“Why did you never say anything before?” Jakob speaks up, eyeing her suspiciously. “Did you have something to do with all of this?”

His words caused a murmur of suspicion and anxiety to run through the other members of the group.

“Good job, Jakob, start pointing fingers even though you know that’s not true. First of all, I’m human, not a pony like the rest of them,” Amaryllis berated him. She lifted the hem of her shirt, showing them all the shallow injury she’d taken from the Oppressed at the ruins of the Goethals Bridge. “Second of all, those things tried to kill me. Third of all, why the hell would I bother leading you this far and trying to keep you stupid shits alive if I was in league with them? Wouldn’t I just abandon you and join up with the rest of them?”

“She...has a point…” Aven admitted, glancing over at Jakob. The latter was sputtering at the reasoning coming from Amaryllis.

“Amy isn’t a bad person. She talks like a bully but she’s been helping us this whole time!” Emma spoke up, her voice loud enough to be heard over the adults. Amaryllis raised a brow, flushing a bit as the girl continued to praise her. She wasn’t used to someone liking her to this extent. “We shouldn’t say nasty things about her. Being a leader is really hard; we should instead think of ways that we can help her in return!”

“Look, kid, I appreciate what you’re trying to do here, but this is really a conversation for adults,” Grant responded, talking down to her condescendingly.

“This affects her as much as the rest of us. The monsters aren’t going to care if she’s a kid or not,” Avil snapped at Grant confrontationally. Her brother, Aven, nodded in agreement. “Besides, she’s right. If Amaryllis was with them, we’d have been dead already.”

“Nevertheless, I believe we should hear what she has been hiding,” Samuel made his opinion known once more. Amaryllis suppressed the angry retort that came to mind, instead heaving a sigh.

“Now then, if you’re all quite finished arguing about the obvious, maybe I can start telling you more about our enemy.” Amaryllis brought all of the attention back to her with that one statement. “The truth is, we’re at war.”

“Who is? America?” Samuel inquired. 

Amaryllis gave a harsh chuckle. “Hah! I wish. No, buddy, it’s humanity that’s at war. These things have been attacking cities all over the world,” she revealed to them all. Utter silence was the response to her revelation.

“How...How do you know that?” William asked hesitantly, his face as white as snow.

Amaryllis shrugged. “My late boyfriend had a family with ties to the military, and I hear things,” she responded. She didn’t realize she’d referred to Seth as her boyfriend until after it had already left her mouth. Then again, it wasn’t altogether untrue. It wouldn’t be right to refer to Seth as just her friend; he was far more important to her than that. “Apparently the Oppressed hit Russia first.”

“What exactly are the Oppressed?” Samuel pressed. “Why are they called that?”

“Honestly, I couldn’t tell you. That’s what I was told they were called. However, I can tell you that they’re humans...or they used to be. Now they’re basically the living dead, to put it in terms you can understand,” Amaryllis explained further.

“How is that possible? Nothing can bring back the dead!” Rachel exclaimed out of shock.

Amaryllis sighed, knowing this was going to be hard. “I’m going to tell you straight up. Your perceptions of reality are all wrong. Things that you never thought were real...are real...and things that you thought were facts...aren’t facts.”

“What are you talking about?” Jakob demanded impatiently. "Stop being so damn cryptic and give us some answers!"

Amaryllis cast her gaze around at the group, noting how they were all looking to her for answers. What she was about to tell them would completely change the way they viewed the world, if they even believed her.

“Alright, listen closely, and if any of you calls me crazy because of this, I’m throwing you to the Oppressed,” Amaryllis remarked, and then she began to tell her story.

> 11. Convergence
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The morning sun shined down from the heavens, casting its light upon the ruined city. At the edge of the church parking lot, the light revealed a lone RV. Abandoned by its human owner, the luxurious vehicle remained inert, surrounded by the mass of undead flesh that was the Oppressed. The door appeared to have been forced open, the culprits obvious from the slashed and rent metal. 

From the inside, its splendour would be truly revealed. Apart from the cramped interior, It would be difficult to tell that the  exquisite furnishings belonged to a motorized vehicle. The walls were lined with cabinets and drawers made from gleaming polished oak topped with counters made from smooth marble. 

An L shaped couch sat at one side of the vehicle near the driver’s seat, resting atop the soft beige carpeted floor. Opposite the couch was a flat screen TV who lustrous surface remained dark. At the other end of the vehicle was a kitchen and office, complete with leather chairs and a small dining table. 

At the very back of the vehicle, located within its own compartment and separated from the rest by a soft white door was the singular bedroom. It consisted of only a bed, with a memory foam mattress and a set of flowery sheets. 

Despite the absence of the vehicle’s original owner, the bedroom was not unoccupied. Tucked underneath the covers were a pair of ponies; a unicorn and a pegasus. 

Nascent Shade opened her eyes and gave a soft yawn, shifting in the comfortable bed. She and her partner, Incipient Rays, had previously finished their sweep of the surrounding suburbs, where they had found and exterminated any human survivors hiding in their homes. 

It had been remarkably easy. Rarely did she encounter a human who was armed, and even then they hardly proved a threat to her. Shade considered herself a proficient mage; she wasn’t anywhere near as strong as Governor General Vanta or the slave general, Mist, but she was more than strong enough to deflect a few projectiles. 

That being said, the human weapons made her wary. According to the legends, humans were powerful sorcerers who ruled the entire world with their might. So far, the humans had yet to show any magical propensity, but their weapons might as well have been magic. To an unprotected pony, their “guns” could tear them to shreds in a matter of seconds. Even to her, deflecting a single volley of those small lead projectiles drained her considerably.

Thus, despite her disdain for their race, Shade had to admit she was grateful she wasn’t fighting with the human standing army deeper in the city. She preferred to leave that to Vanta and these human undead their king had created.

After finishing their sweep, Shade had retired to this human vehicle with Rays for some relaxation. She shifted in bed and got out from under the covers. She looked around at the small bedroom and scoffed. She liked the luxury, but she hated that the bedroom was so small. If she wanted to get intimate with her partner, she didn’t want to feel claustrophobic while she did. 

Shade jabbed her still napping partner. “Wake up, you furry flapper. We’ve napped enough,” she ordered him. 

Rays woke with a start and lifted his head. “Wha... oh, is it morning already, Shade?” he inquired sleepily. 

“It’s been morning for hours, you dolt. We only napped for about thirty minutes,” Shade reminded him with a roll of her eyes. A smirk crossed her face right after that. “Were you that worn out from earlier?”

Rays mirrored her expression and shifted his body to face her. “Could you blame me if I was?” he returned, leaning in. Shade chuckled in response. The two of them shared a nuzzle and a quick kiss.

Shade hopped out of the bed and strode out of the bedroom. She caught a whiff of her own scent and grimaced. “Agh... Rays, I get the shower first. I feel like a filthy mess,” she commented. Ignoring his acknowledgements, she retreated to the cramped shower beside the bedroom, and washed herself clean.

Despite the fact that the city should have none of their fancy “electricity” as the humans called it, the RV still had running water. Shade once more marveled at human ingenuity. They were light years ahead of the Crystal Empire’s technology; without their magic and Vanta’s strategy, the humans may have stood a real chance.

Once Rays had showered as well, the two of them donned their armor, grouped up, and stepped out of the RV. “Now then, let’s take one last look around before Frozen gets here,” Shade decided. She glanced back at Rays. “Do you have your amulet?”

Rays nods, briefly flashing the pulsing ruby amulet hanging around his neck. “Always. I know what happens if I don’t wear it,” he responds with a frightened shudder. He gave a glance towards the nearest Oppressed, the creature ambling aimlessly about the parking lot in the absence of new orders.

Before the two of them could embark on their second sweep, Shade and Rays heard the cacophony of clicking and scraping that accompanied the movement of a large number of undead.

A seething mass of Oppressed lumbered along the road, heading down the streets directly towards the church. At the head of the horde was the pale blue unicorn that Shade had been expecting. If she remembered correctly, his initial orders had been to infiltrate the subways and exterminate any humans coming in or out of the city. 

Shade bowed to the unicorn as he approached. Rays did the same beside her; they both knew what would happen if they didn’t show this unicorn the proper respect.

“I see a horde of undead sitting idle. I’m assuming this means you’ve finished eradicating the human vermin in this sector?” the unicorn addressed them, coming to a halt a few feet away.

Shade raised her head and grinned. “That we have, sir. They hardly even put up a fight. They just hid in their homes and ran right out to their deaths when we set the buildings on fire,” she revealed, attempting to show as much confidence as possible.

Frozen Soul brushed his chin with a hoof, looking around the area. Shade watched him restlessly, her heart in her mouth. Technically, Frozen wasn’t a part of the military. He was a scientist, tasked with improving the Crystal Empire’s military might through any means. Yet he was strong enough to be one of Vanta’s top spellcasters; this meant he outranked all of them by default. He could kill her right here, and Vanta wouldn’t care. That thought terrified her.

“Good. Let’s not dally here. I’ve been told the humans are mounting a stiff resistance deeper in the city, intent on retaking the Verrazano,” Frozen Soul revealed with a scowl. “Their armed forces are proving to be quite the nuisance…”

“What would you have us do, sir?” Rays questions, popping a swift salute.

“Regroup your undead with mine. We’re going to reinforce the city center and stomp out this resistance for good. The sooner we take this island, the sooner the city itself will fall... and I will be able to experiment upon the survivors at my leisure,” Frozen ordered. Upon uttering that last statement, his eyes narrowed and he adopted a devilish grin that caused Shade to shudder.

“Understood,” Shade returns. Her horn lit up, and she connected with as many of the undead as she could. Fiery pinpricks of light appeared in her mind, indicating the presence of each and every one of them under her control. She willed them to assimilate into Frozen’s horde, and  it wasn’t long before they responded.

Rays was doing the same. He couldn’t use magic, but the amulet around his neck allowed him to communicate with the undead as though he could. It was one of Vanta’s more useful inventions.

Shade wondered if Frozen would really get the leisure time he wanted. She’d kept her ears open while amongst her superiors, and from what she could tell, this city was extremely important to the country they were in. Would the humans really just let them have it so easily? Not for the first time, Shade hoped Vanta knew what he was doing.

While they waited, Frozen cast his gaze around the area, noting the bodies of the fallen undead. Suddenly, he paused, a suspicious expression crossing his face. “Nascent Shade... is there a third non-unicorn member of your group here?” Frozen asked in a dangerously soft voice.

Shade felt as though her blood turned to ice. Frozen’s eyes were fixed on her and devoid of any mercy. His question confused her, but she felt as though a wrong answer would spell the end of her. “A... A third? No, sir, it’s just the two of us here. The other ponies are with the horde further in,” she answered, her hind legs starting to tremble.

Frozen didn’t appear convinced. However, he didn’t appear to have come to a decisive conclusion yet, as confusion filled his eyes. “Then something is wrong...” he murmured. Frozen’s gaze slowly oriented on the church standing tall before them.





The morning neared its end as Amaryllis continued telling her story. The other members of her group listened to her raptly, occasionally interrupting the tale with various shocked gasps or incredulous questions.

Amaryllis knew she couldn’t tell them everything. Considering the group consisted of only one real soldier, telling them that the human race ended for sure due to these monsters could very well cause them to despair, rendering them useless to her.

Instead, she focused entirely on need to know information, beginning with the origin of the Oppressed, discussing the existence of King Sombra, ponies, and magic, and continuing on to mention the use of time travel. As it sounded nonsensical even to her, she wasn’t surprised that the others were having difficulty believing her.

She left out any mention of Seth; that much was personal to her and had no bearing on the current situation. She also chose to leave out the fact that humanity would end in approximately eighty years or so. 

“Magic. Unicorns. Ponies.” Jakob repeated in a deadpan tone. He shook his head incredulously. “You expect me to believe that such childish fantasies are real?”

“Jesus, how could you even ask that at this point?” Amaryllis demanded in disbelief. To her, there seemed to be no end to the stupidity this man could show. “You have seen literally everything that I’ve just mentioned with your own eyes.”

“Cut him some slack, Amaryllis. It... well, I have to admit that this does sound like something out of a fairy tale,” Mary admits. Amaryllis groaned and rubbed her forehead, her patience quickly wearing thin. “I’m not calling you a liar, but…”

“I believe her,” Emma stated without hesitation from where she sat beside her mother. “You made the Oppressed fight each other so we could escape, didn’t you? Did it have something to do with that pretty necklace you found?”

Amaryllis blinked. She hadn’t expected the little girl to connect the dots like that, out of everyone else here. She gave a chuckle. “Yes, actually. I was about to get to that,” she answered, much to everyone's surprise. Amaryllis gave them all a pointed stare. “Really, the little girl is smarter than the rest of you?”

“Could you show us this necklace?” Samuel cut across the forming protests with this question. Amaryllis nodded and lifted the magical amulet. The thing was worthless now, as all of the Oppressed it had been connected to had perished. Nevertheless, there was still a faint glow dwelling within the blood red ruby.





“You’re certain that there are no other ponies nearby?” Frozen repeated his previous question to Shade and Rays, his eyes narrowed with suspicion. When the two of them both nodded, he grunted and glanced back over at the church. He jabbed a hoof at it. “Why have you not searched this building?”

“We did, sir, before you arrived. It looked to be a stronghold of some sort, so we hit it with our largest force,” Shade related to him. She did her best to keep from trembling; she wasn’t sure why Frozen was so convinced that there was another pony nearby, nor why he was asking all these questions. It made her beyond nervous.

“And?” Frozen prompted impatiently.

“There were a great deal of humans inside, led by one they all were calling ‘father,’” Shade continued.

“A priest... this must be a church, then, similar to the ones we’ve raided in Russia,” Frozen deduced. “What did you do with the humans?”

“We killed them, of course. Some of them attempted to arm themselves, but they were no match for our horde,” Shade answered. “We then dragged the bodies out, loaded them into a cart, and sent some of our undead to deliver them to the Governor General for recomposition.”

“I see... and you’re certain you found all of them?” Frozen questioned. The way he asked that question made it sound as if Shade had done something wrong, or overlooked something important.

Shade gulped. “Yes sir, we combed every inch of the place. There was nowhere for them to hide.”

“Hm. Then why do I sense a faint trace of one of our control amulets within the spire of that church?” Frozen demanded, jabbing a hoof at the steeple. 





Amaryllis held the amulet tightly, waiting for the others to get a good look at it. “It seems to me as though the unicorns are the only ones that can freely use magic,” she explained.

“That would explain why the horned ones are able to hold their torches without touching them,” Kent deduced, nodding. He then gave a dry chuckle. “Unicorns and magic. I thought I’d lived long enough to see everything this world had to offer... I’ve never been more wrong.”

“Right. However, the ones that aren’t unicorns; the earth ponies and the pegasi; are unable to control the Oppressed without making use of one of these, which I’m assuming is a magical artifact that allows them to connect with a certain limited amount of undead,” Amaryllis continued.

Understanding began to dawn on the others. Avil put on a grin and slapped her knee with a fist. “I can’t believe it. You killed one of the bastards and stole their amulet. That’s how you made them all fight each other!”

“Genius,” Aven commented, shaking his head wryly. “I’d never have thought to do that. This is why you’re in charge.”

Jakob then butted in, annoyed at that previous context. “Oh yeah, if you thought so far ahead, then why did you waste them all fighting an army they couldn’t beat? Why not turn them into our own private protection force?”

“Jakob, you are such a fucking moron,” Amaryllis told him flatly. She had no more patience for this man’s protests; it seemed like he was unable to do anything other complain. Before Jakob could voice his indignant response, she continued. “The only reason we’re alive so far is because there’s so few of us. If we group together like the other humans did, we’d be noticed, prioritized, and destroyed. So yes, I could have taken the Oppressed with us. I’m sure we would have gotten anywhere without getting noticed.”

“She’s right. I would have done the same,” Samuel concurred, nodding approvingly. 

“I’m beginning to come to the conclusion we should just trust Amaryllis knows what she’s doing,” Grant added, finally speaking for the first time since the explanation. “Somehow, with the exception of poor Dawson, she’s gotten us all here alive; not a single one of us has died.”

“Yeah, well, she could use an attitude adjustment,” Jakob grumbled. Despite his argument being suppressed, his resentment towards her only seemed to be growing.

“Don’t jinx it,” Amaryllis quipped dryly to Grant. “Honestly, I’m just trying to get out of the city and get to my friend in the military. Then we’ll be able to muster a real counterassault against these monsters.”

“As it stands though, I think we’re still stuck here. The horde outside doesn’t seem to be moving,” Avil reminded her with a sigh. “We need a plan of some sort.”

“I may have an idea,” Samuel rejoined. Amaryllis turned her attention on him, as did the rest of the group. “The Oppressed are blind in the dark, if I remember correctly. What if we waited for nightfall, and then stole another one of those amulets? We could create another distraction and flee towards the Verrazano.”

Amaryllis paused, and then nodded. That idea wasn’t half bad.





Shade and Rays froze, glancing at one another and then back to Frozen, clearly confused. “That... can’t be right. All of the undead here are completely under our control,” Shade protested, indicating the horde around them with a sweep of her hoof.

Frozen shook his head. “I sense that the amulet is completely spent; no undead are connected to its magical signature. That is why it is so weak. Only one as skilled as myself would be able to sense its presence,” he explained. He narrowed his eyes at the church. “You’re telling me there are none of our forces in that church?”

Shade and Rays both nodded frantically. A realization then struck Shade. “Sir, are you suggesting that one of our amulets may have fallen into enemy hands?” she asked tentatively.

“Good, one of you isn’t incompetent,” Frozen responded scathingly, causing Rays to flinch. A surge of anger rushed through Shade at the unicorn’s blatant insult to her mate, but she suppressed it. “The question is... how could you let something as precious as an amulet be captured? Didn’t we tell you all that they were more precious than your lives?!”

“Yes, sir! I have never lost my amulet!” Rays speaks up quickly, his face turning pale. He then paused, as if remembering something. “But... one of our earth pony soldiers did go missing the other night... and then some of the undead turned on us…”

Before Ray could finish speaking, Frozen’s expression contorted with rage, and the unicorn smacked the pegasus hard with his staff, nearly knocking him off of his hooves. “You utter imbecile! Did it never occur to you that humans may have seized that pony’s amulet?!”

Ray only whined in response, clutching the swelling portion of his face where he had been hit. Shade’s leg muscles tensed as she did her best to hold herself back. If they were lucky, that was all Frozen would do to them.

Frozen gave a frustrated sigh. “No matter. Our foray into the city center will have to wait,” he decided. His horn glowed briefly, and his Oppressed began to spread out and surround the church. “Both of you, get your forces into position, and keep it quiet. We’re sweeping this building.”

“Yes sir!”





With the plan thus decided upon, there was nothing the group could do except wait for nightfall. Considering it was only a little after noon, that left them with several hours of down time. Therefore, the group grew restless and morale started to drop. There was no food or water to be found; everyone was suffering.

Amaryllis knew that the survival of the group depended on this mission. If she couldn’t find a way to steal another amulet and get them out of here, the group would fall apart due to starvation, dehydration, and despair.  Worse, it was possible the Oppressed would find them, and there was no way they could fight off such a horde.

Amaryllis gave a dry chuckle. This really was the worst possible situation. Currently, she was resting in the upper level with her back against the wall. She wanted to sleep, but she had already tried in vain to do so. Plus, she had to be awake to give orders if necessary.

Even while waiting, they couldn’t afford to let their guard down for an instant. She had Jakob up on the roof, keeping an eye on what the Oppressed were doing. According to his first report given a few minutes ago, the situation had gotten even worse, if that was even possible. That blue unicorn from the subway was here now along with the entire southern horde, effectively tripling the amount of undead in the area. 

The situation was beginning to look extremely bleak. Amaryllis let out a string of curses beneath her breath. More than once, she found herself despairing that she’d ever get out of this church. To comfort herself, Amaryllis would always remember the time when Seth returned from the future. He had become confident and kind, nothing like he had used to be. Yet he had never given in to these monsters.

Amaryllis glanced up as someone entered the room. It was William, and he was by himself. He looked as though he were coming to sit beside her, but halfway across the room, he changed his mind and sat across from her. An awkward silence ensued between the two of them.

“Hey... could I ask you a question?” William finally broke the silence after a while. 

“If you want,” Amaryllis replied uncaringly. It wasn’t as though she had anything better to do.

“It’s about what happened eight years ago,” William clarified, looking once more to Amaryllis for approval. She quickly grew annoyed with his lack of courage.

“Just spit it out already,” she returned irritably, causing him to wince.

“Do you remember back when we went to school together, when we met that man? The one wearing the strange armor and cape?” William began. Amaryllis nodded; she didn’t think she’d ever be able to forget Sombra’s face. “Was... that King Sombra?”

Amaryllis’ brow rose at the question. He was right, of course, but she hadn’t expected him to figure that out so soon after being told. “What makes you ask that?” she inquired currently.

“Two things, actually. First was that awful feeling I had when he walked outside. It was as though the air itself was squeezing in around me,” William retold, shivering a bit. “It wasn’t just me, either. Everyone felt it.”

Amaryllis nodded. According to Seth, even humans, who weren’t sensitive to magic (Seth had insisted he was a special case, though he had never really elaborated), could sense it when a being possessing overwhelming power was nearby.

“And the second thing?” She prompted.

“The way he just disappeared after we went looking for him,” William answered. “There was nowhere he could have gone that we wouldn’t find him, but he just vanished. What really tipped me off is that the last person we asked about it mentioned a ‘fancy dressed horse’ walking out of the forest. When you said our enemies were ponies…”

“Right, right. I’m surprised; I guess you aren’t completely stupid,” Amaryllis cut him off. “You’re right. That was the king himself. To be honest, if we had found him... he would have killed us... effortlessly. There’s not a human alive that could touch him.”

William’s eyes widened as the color drained from his face. Amaryllis mostly couldn’t fault him for that one; even she had been disconcerted by how close she had been to death when she saw Sombra. According to Seth, the king possessed so much magical power that the very landscape was altered when he fought at full strength. Such a thing was impossible for her to imagine.

“Then... is your friend connected to all of this?” William astutely questioned. 

“More or less. It’s not important. He’s gone forever anyway.” She responded bitterly. “I told you all everything you need to know. You don’t get to hear about my personal life.”

“O... Oh,” William emitted, disappointed. Silence fell between the two of them again. However, William never regained his coloring. Instead, he seemed to grow even worse, the man hugging his knees to his chest. “We’re... all going to die, aren’t we?”

“Don’t you even start,” Amaryllis groaned. She should have expected this. Out of everyone here, William had been the most frightened out of all of them, and the one most likely to despair... exactly as he was doing now.

“I’m right though, aren’t I? Monsters that won’t die no matter what you do to them, ponies with magic the likes of which we’ve never seen, and a king on top of that who is so powerful that the very air shakes with his presence?” William’s voice escalated in pitch as he continued to lament. “We’re screwed... we’re beyond screwed. Why are we even still…”

“Stop… just... stop,” Amaryllis was quickly losing her patience. She wanted to keep resting in preparation for tonight, and this was doing nothing but stressing her out.

“We’re completely surrounded by undead monstrosities, and even if we could somehow get out, what would we even do? Fight back? What could we possibly do against them?!” William just grew more hysterical. Amaryllis’ fuse slowly burned away with every word he said. “Why don’t we just…”

“That’s enough!” Amaryllis interrupted his despair. She got to her feet and stormed over to him. “I don’t want to hear it. We’re all in the same situation as you, and none of us are whining like that!”

“But…” William tried to begin, but she wouldn’t let him. He choked as Amaryllis lifted him to a standing position by the shirt.

“Honestly, you’ve done nothing but cower in the back of the group ever since we escaped the subway. You’ve never helped us fight; not even once! What kind of man are you?!” Amaryllis demanded, her words lashing out cruelly at William like a whip. A realization suddenly struck her. “In fact, you’ve always been like this! If someone raises their voice at you; hell, even if someone looks at you weird, you cower like a goddamn kicked puppy!”

William recoiled as if he had been struck. Amaryllis wasn’t finished, however. Animosity towards this man had been building up inside of her ever since the subway, and now she felt as if the words were rushing out of her. 

“Now, in the time where we need every able person we can get, you’re nothing but dead weight! You are one of the only two people here who has lived in this city, yet you did nothing to help me; the fucking stay at home mother was more helpful than you!” Amaryllis couldn’t stop herself. At this point, she was yelling loud enough that Kent, Avil, and Samuel, who were in the other room, came to see what was going on. “I needed you, yet you were so busy being a coward that you won’t even fight for your survival!”

“Not everyone can be as strong as you!” For the first time since she’d known him, William snapped back at her. He was panting from his outburst. She was so surprised by this, she was actually speechless. However, his newfound bravery didn’t last very long. William slumped forward, his face falling. “I... I’m sorry. You’re right... I’ve let you all down.”

Amaryllis managed to gather herself in time to give him a response. “Your apologies mean nothing to me. Are you actually going to do something to help now?”

William paused, and then nodded. “I’ll try. I don’t think I can fight... but... I’ll do everything I can,” he answered shakily. Amaryllis grunted. At least that was something. “You know, I really envy you. I’ve tried, but... I can’t be like you.”

“Don’t try to be. It’s a miserable way to live,” Amaryllis retorted with a bit of dry humor, her ire receding now that she’d put everything out in the open. “Now, if you’re so willing to help, join Mary in looking around the church one more time.”

William nodded, and then he left the room to carry out her order. When Amaryllis turned to sit back down, she noticed the others that had come to watch. “The hell are you three looking at?” she demanded.

“Don’t you think you were a little harsh on him?” Avil pointed out. Amaryllis rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong, I agree with you, but... this whole mess is wreaking havoc on my nerve. Not everyone can have nerves of steel like you.”

“They don’t have to. In a situation like this, everyone has to do something to help, or they’ll slow the rest of us down,” Amaryllis returned. She felt good after her previous tirade. She never did like holding in her feelings. She knew the others wouldn’t agree with her black and white viewpoint, however, so she changed the subject. “Any word from Jakob? What are the Oppressed doing?”

“I don’t know... but I’m getting uneasy,” Avil answered, crossing her arms. She moved towards the window, making sure not to stand directly in front of it. “The other Oppressed we’ve seen have been on a rampage. How can Sombra afford to keep such a large horde sitting idle when our military is more than a simple threat to them?”

“They may know we’re here,” Kent suggested darkly, causing Avil to shudder. “Though I can’t be sure. If they know about us, then why aren’t they attacking?”

“Your guess is as good as mine. Still, it’s best to take all possibilities into account,” Amaryllis decided. She looked over to the three of them. “Gather the others. Tell them to find something to arm themselves with. If they do attack, I don’t want to be caught flat-footed.”

The three of them nodded and moved to do as she commanded.





“Status?” Frozen Soul demanded, approaching Shade where she was standing near the edge of the parking lot, opposite the church’s entrance. Shade immediately snapped off a salute.

“I’ve placed our undead at every possible exit to the church, sir. Additionally, I’ve saturated the forest on the eastern end with our forces, as well as the surrounding streets. If there are humans in there like you’ve said, there will be no escape for them,” Shade responded smartly. She allowed a smirk to cross her face. She was looking forward to another slaughter. 

“Good. I want to get this over with fast,” Frozen expressed. He glanced back towards the cityscape in the direction of where the battle with the humans still raged. 

Shade noted his gaze. “Any news from the city center?” she questioned curiously.

“They’re putting up a fight, if nothing else,” Frozen answered. It didn’t seem to Shade that he was taking them very seriously. “Their heavy weapon emplacements are quite troublesome. However, they’re going to run out of ammunition eventually. Then we will crush them.”

“How much time do you think we have before reinforcements show up?” Shade pressed. From the other side of the parking lot, Rays moved to join them, finished positioning his own undead. “The human military is quite strong.”

“All their strength does is make them complacent. Why be afraid of anything, when they possess weapons capable of leveling mountains and devastating entire countries? Their lack of foresight will be their downfall,” Frozen expressed disdainfully. “There will be no reinforcements. Their long range communications are down, and we’ve destroyed their fuel and power reserves. By the time their leadership learns of this invasion, the city will have already fallen.”

“Wow... the Governor General really thought this out, didn’t he?” Shade marveled. Not for the first time, she wondered what it would be like to work under Vanta directly. Maybe she would be promoted after all this.

“Indeed, he is not King Sombra’s top general for…” Frozen began, but then he paused abruptly, his eyes narrowing at the church. “I knew it. There are humans inside.”

“Did you see one?” Rays asks curiously, joining their conversation.

A twisted grin crossed Frozen’s muzzle. “They think they’re being clever, looking down on us from the upper levels,” he answered. The unicorn progressed towards the church slowly, his horn starting to glow. “We attack now. Shade, you attack from the east. Rays, from the north. Leave the rest to me.”

"I'll start by taking out that annoying sentry..." Frozen angled his head up towards the steeple. His horn flared and turned a bright shade of cyan, wisps of magic surging through the air and imbuing his staff with power. Shade shivered, as she could feel the very air around him drop in temperature by a great deal. He raised the staff, and the gathered power was released into the air just above him, where it coalesced into the shape of great jagged spikes fashioned entirely from blue tinted transparent ice.

The staff swooped forward. The spikes shot through the air, accelerating to a lethal speed in less than a second. Shade followed their path with her eyes, watching them zoom up towards the steeple... and strike home.





Amaryllis was speaking with Samuel and Grant, the three of them armed with makeshift weapons. Like before, Amaryllis held the broken guardrail, the tip speckled with the dried blood of her previous victims. Grant had appropriated a window pole where the end had been snapped off and sharpened to a lethal tip, while Samuel had found an old slab of polished wood that could double as a club.

Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of a faint cry and a thump. The three of them immediately turned to see nothing, but then Jakob plummeted onto their level from the rooftop access and hit the ground on his side. Amaryllis was about to yell at him, but then Jakob rose... and her angry comments subsided.

Jakob had been impaled right through the center by a spike made of ice that was easily as thick as Samuel’s heavily muscled arm. Two more spikes of a smaller size were embedded in his leg and arm respectively.

“Oh my god!” Grant exclaimed in horror. His panicked yell attracted the attention of the others who were nearby, who expressed various reactions of shock and despair at what they saw.

Jakob limped forward, gasping in agony with every step. He looked up at Amaryllis, his eyes wide, his face pale, and his blood dripping from the corners of his mouth. There was a sickening crackling sound; tendrils of ice spidered out from where he had been impaled, steadily freezing his body solid.

He lifted his arm, reaching out for Amaryllis. “H-Help… me….!” Jakob groaned as the ice continued to spread across his body. Amaryllis instinctively took a step back, words failing her at such a gruesome sight.

At long last, Jakob’s eyes rolled up into his head, his body fully frozen. His rigid form shattered into hundreds of icy chunks upon hitting the ground.

Amaryllis gaped for several seconds, and then she shook herself back to reality. “Goddammit, they know we’re here now! All of you, get ready for a fight, now!” she commanded urgently.





“That’s one down,” Frozen confirmed, and then he gave a derisive laugh. “You think these walls can protect you from me, humans?”

Frozen twirled the staff a few times, his horn still glowing brightly. He then swept the staff horizontally to the right, unleashing a wave of frigid cold towards the church. The wave slammed into the front doors and flash froze them, spreading outwards upon impact.

“Advance!” the unicorn ordered. The Oppressed roared in unison and galloped en masse towards the church as Frozen watched, his grin turning wolfish. “Today, you will join King Sombra’s ranks of the undead, humans!”
> 12. Under Siege
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

    	The room erupted into an outcry of panic and horror at the unearthly cries of the Oppressed outside. Judging from the significant crash they’d just heard, the Oppressed had broken through the front doors and were swarming into the church.

“How did they find us!?”

“This isn’t fair… there’s nowhere to go!”

“This is the end!”  

“Amaryllis, we’re surrounded!” Avil’s voice broke through the cacophony to alert her. The engineer stood near the rear window, pointing out towards the forest. “They’ve got us completely hemmed in; the forest is filled with them! What do we do?”

Amaryllis didn’t answer at first. She stared at the pile of scattered frozen flesh where Jakob had once been, an unreadable expression on her face. 

She never liked Jakob. In fact, she was quite certain she had hated him. His death should be a relief to her; this meant she wouldn’t have to deal with his unending complaints anymore. Yet, she felt nothing of the sort. As she gazed down at his remains, she began feeling a hint of rage. She wasn’t angry at the Oppressed, but at herself. 

If there was anything Amaryllis considered herself to be, it was honest. She considered people to be only as good as their word; one of the many reasons she had difficulties relating to others. Because of this, her own word was extremely precious to her. If she said she would do something, she would move heaven and earth to make sure she did it. 

Amaryllis gave her word to these people; she had promised that she would get them all out of here alive. Yet… Jakob’s shattered remains lay at her feet, a cruel reminder of her failure. She gritted her teeth and closed her eyes tightly, wishing that all of this was just a nightmare.

One fact stayed at the forefront of her mind, resisting any attempts to dislodge it. She said she would save these people. Even Jakob, as annoying as he had been, was among that number. Yet, she couldn’t save him… and now it looked like she wouldn’t even be able to save any of them. 

Amaryllis’ knees felt weak all of a sudden, causing her to lean against the wall, her breath quickening. They were surrounded by a superior force with no escape… and now there was nothing she could do except die here with the rest of them. She pounded her fist into the wall in frustration, a feeling of helplessness and defeat sinking into her mind.

“Don’t give up.” A small voice stood out from the rest of the cacophony taking place in the room. Amaryllis’ eyes opened in surprise and she turned to see Emma standing beside her, looking up at her with determination. The little girl was clearly terrified, judging from the way she flinched every time she heard the Oppressed roar, and the way her knees knocked together from trembling. Despite all of this, she stood there before her. “I believe in you, Amy.”

Amaryllis gazed at Emma, speechless in the face of such unwavering faith. There was so much that could go wrong here; any rational mind could see that there was no escape from this church, yet despite this… Emma still believed in her. Not even Seth had ever had such unquestioning faith in her. She had no idea how to respond to her.

“Snap out of it, Amaryllis,” Samuel was now there beside her, his hands gripping his weapon tightly. “You’re supposed to be our leader. We need you, now more than ever.”

Avil was also there, and before Amaryllis realized what was going on, the engineer was helping her stand again. “Whatever happens, we don’t blame you. Hell, I should be thanking you for getting us this far,” Avil expressed sincerely. “But I won’t forgive you if you don’t keep at it until the end.”

Amaryllis gazed at the three of them, words still failing her. 

“Amaryllis may laugh, but I’ve made lots of good friends who’ve stood beside me even in the bleakest of situations.”


Seth’s words from several months ago returned to her… only now they weren’t as amusing as they were then. Amaryllis couldn’t help but think… is this what Seth was talking about? 

“It’s not soft to realize that it’s okay to trust others…”


Amaryllis could hear the others crying out for her leadership. At this point, it was likely that she was the only thing keeping them from despair. The realization then came to her; if she gave up here, they would most certainly die.

“Everyone, arm yourselves and group up near the staircase. Get ready to move on my order!” Amaryllis finally spoke, the tone of her voice commanding obedience. The looks of relief that crossed the faces of the other survivors were visible even to her. Samuel and Avil both nodded to her and moved to do as she commanded.

Amaryllis assessed the situation as best as she could. They were on the top floor of a three story church, and there was only one staircase allowing access. There were windows on the outer walls of each room that overlooked the parking lot. Jakob fell to a ranged magical assault; she wasn’t sure if the caster could shoot through windows, but she thought it would be better to err on the side of caution.

She gripped her guardrail and joined the gathering survivors. “I don’t know how often that caster can shoot off spells like that, but unless you’d like to see for yourself, stay away from the windows at all costs!” Amaryllis cautioned the group.

“Where are we going to go?” William beseeches her. The man was pale and shaking, but at least he wasn’t catatonic like he was in the last few fights. “Avil said we’re surrounded!”

“This room is too small; even though there’s only one entrance, they’ll slaughter us by sheer numbers,” Amaryllis reasoned. “We’ve got to try and make it to the parish hall. At the very least, we can stay on the run and keep from being swarmed. Now come on, we don’t have time to stand around!”

Amaryllis immediately leapt down the stairs, landing with an audible thump. Once she made sure the others were following, she turned to the left, heading for the direction of the enclosed cloister. At her direction, the group stayed close to one another; the Oppressed would be upon them like the tide, and if even one of them broke through their lines, they were all dead.

The roars of the Oppressed grew steadily closer. Just as the group reached the second floor, a veritable flood of undead swarmed out of the stairwell, their claws raking and gouging into the wooden floor below. They spotted the survivors and roared, surging down the hall towards them.

Samuel, who was at the rear of the group, drew his pistol and emptied the magazine into the oncoming wall of dead flesh, aiming for their legs and head. Each shot rang out in the cramped hallway, causing Amaryllis to wince from the sound. When he ran out of shots, he released the magazine and swiftly reloaded, continuing to fire. Unfortunately, only a couple of the Oppressed were felled, the bullets having little to no effect on them.

This plan was better than nothing, but Amaryllis knew she was just delaying the inevitable. She needed time to think… time to come up with a plan to escape this mess. She refused to believe that this was her end; not when so many people were relying on her.

Amaryllis sprinted towards the cloister corridor, doing her best to regulate her breathing. She kicked the door open and entered the hallway, trusting the others to follow her. However, she didn’t get very far.

At about halfway through the corridor, the wall to her right suddenly flash froze and shattered with a tremendous crash. Splinters and chunks of frozen wood and stone spiralled through the air like debris in a storm, battering and scraping her body. The roof, having lost one of its supporting structures, creaked downwards and started to fall apart as well. She grunted and covered her head as fragments of slate and other debris rained down around her.

The gaping hole in the building opened out to reveal the parking lot, where the main horde was coming from. Amaryllis narrowed her eyes when she spotted three ponies standing at the rear of the horde. She recognized them all… especially the pale blue unicorn whose staff was glowing a bright blue.

Amaryllis let out a cry and retrieved her own pistol. As she ran, she squeezed the trigger again and again, firing a hail of bullets towards the smug trio of ponies. The pegasus yelped as a bullet pinged the asphalt near his hooves, and then he took to the skies to avoid further shots. Much to Amaryllis’ fury, the remainder of the bullets either missed… or were completely halted in midair by the unicorns’ magic.

“Damn you!” was all Amaryllis could say before she had to keep running. The roof collapsed around her, sending chunks of slate raining to the floor. Behind her, she heard Sawnee yelp in pain, followed by a gasp from Rachel. She didn’t have time to look, so she instead reached the other end of the corridor and broke through the door, entering the parish hall.

The halls were regular and rectangular, looking similar to a schoolhouse in construction. This conclusion was further cemented by the bulletin boards containing crude images drawn with crayons and labeled with brightly colored letters made from construction paper. Amaryllis picked a direction and ran. However, it was clear she was running out of time. 

“Amaryllis! They’re catching up, we’ll have to fight!” Samuel called up to her just as she reached the corner of the hall. She cursed and turned to see the stream of Oppressed charging towards their miniscule group.

“Alright, you heard the man! Give them hell!” Amaryllis ordered, hefting her guardrail in preparation. “Keep falling back while you fight! We don’t have the ability to halt their momentum!”

Samuel lifted his club and met the first Oppressed to draw close to him. With a single massive swing, the Oppressed was lifted off the ground and smacked into the wall several feet back into the hallway. There, it was quickly trampled by the rest of the horde.

Aven joined the fray as well, supporting Samuel by whacking hard any Oppressed that attempted to flank him with his wrench. Avil moved to join her brother as well, carrying two sharpened metal pipes that she had appropriated. Grant stood behind them, stabbing between them with his long window pole to great effect.

The small size of the corridor proved a great asset, as it allowed the group to take the Oppressed several at a time, rather than the whole horde. Despite this, however, the group continued to fall back, the Oppressed’s momentum and disregard of pain proving to be an insurmountable obstacle.

Sawnee, who had a lump on his head from where a falling chunk of slate had hit him, was steadily staggering backwards, Rachel helping walk as best as she could. Judging from the way he was moving and the way his eyes were rolling back, it was clear he had a concussion.

Just as Amaryllis was going to move to help them, the window nearest to them exploded inwards, showering the mother and son with shards of glass. An Oppressed tumbled in from the window and swung once.

Amaryllis stopped dead. With that one slice, Sawnee had been cut right across the center, his shirt rapidly turning red as it soaked through with blood. In the process, Rachel had been forced to drop him, as her arm had been sliced clean off, blood spurting from the stump. 

Grant looked back at the sound of Rachel’s scream, and his face quickly turned pale. “Oh no. No! Rachel!” he ceased his support of the front lines and rushed back to help, but it was already too late.

Multiple Oppressed charged in through the window and set upon the fallen Sawnee and Rachel without mercy. Wounded and unarmed, there was nothing they could do against them. Their screams filled the corridor as the Oppressed tore them apart and dragged them out of the window.

“Damn it. Damn it!” Amaryllis shouted in helpless frustration. A quick look out the window nearest to her showed that the Oppressed were piling on top of one another to create a makeshift hill that the others could scale. It was as if hell itself were rising to swallow the church in a wave of howling flesh. “Pull back, we can’t fight them on two fronts! Stay away from the windows!”

“But my son… my wife…!” Grant was distraught, the man staring at the bloodstained spot where his family had once been. “They… they…”

Amaryllis thrust her guardrail hard into a charging Oppressed seconds before its claw would have sliced into the hesitating Grant. “They’re done for! Unless you want to join them, come on!” Amaryllis yelled at him, grabbing his wrist. Grant resisted, acting as if he were going to go out the window after his family. Amaryllis growled, and then she slapped him. “What the hell are you thinking!? Would your wife want you to get yourself killed for no reason? They’re already gone, just run!”

Grant hesitated a moment longer, and then he let out a despairing cry. He thrust his window pole towards the nearest Oppressed and impaled it through the head, and then he withdrew the weapon and ran along behind Amaryllis. 

Left without anywhere to go, Amaryllis led the group up the stairs to the third floor of the parish hall. If she was lucky, she might be able to find a roof access around here somewhere. 

As they ran, Aven, Avil, and Samuel continued to hold up the rear, the three of them proving to be a very capable team. At this point, their aim wasn’t to kill the Oppressed, but instead to stay alive. They blocked the undead claws and hit them as hard as they could, wherever they could, simply in an attempt to give themselves some breathing room.

Amaryllis thanked her luck when she spotted a ladder heading to the roof at the end of the hall. She grasped the ladder and scrambled up the rungs to the top. A quick slam of her shoulders was enough to knock open the hatch. “Up here! It’s our only shot!” she called down to them. “Quickly now! I’ll be impressed if one of those monsters can climb a ladder quickly!”

Amaryllis stood by the ladder, grabbing Jennifer’s arm and helping her up onto the roof with her. She knew that this was a poor decision. Given how fast the Oppressed were scaling the walls of the building, it wouldn’t be long before they were surrounded and exterminated. Yet, there was nowhere else to go. She couldn’t help but think… if only Seth were here. With his magical power, these creatures would be nothing to him. 

She gave a dry chuckle. It didn’t even have to be Seth. Someone, anyone… why did she choose to come here instead of go towards the military? They would stand a real chance if she could get her intelligence to them.

“Dammit… if only I could get to them…” Amaryllis cursed. As she bent over and helped Grant up the ladder, she felt an object in her back pocket digging into her rear. She reached around and withdrew the object, revealing it to be the flare gun Avil had found last night. She only stared at it for an instant before coming to the obvious conclusion. “Grant, help the others up the ladder. I’m going to try and call for help.”

“Help? Who the hell do you think is going to help us?” Grant demanded, though he did help the next person, Kent, up the ladder. “How would they even find us?”

Amaryllis gave a shrug as she slammed a round into the flare gun. “Hell if I know. But it’s better than nothing!” She lifted the gun and fired it straight up into the air. The projectile ignited into a bright orange flame and streaked high into the sky, leaving behind a white exhaust trail. The flare, when it reached its peak, shone so brightly that the roof was bathed in a dim reddish glow. No doubt half the city could see that; even the other Oppressed. Not that it mattered. They couldn’t get any more surrounded than they already were.

“Amaryllis! Aven is hurt!” Avil’s voice brought her attention forward to see the two engineers staggering away from the ladder. Aven was clutching his wrench tightly with one hand, while the other was applying pressure to a bleeding gash on his upper chest. It didn’t seem to be too bad, though it was on his dominant side…which was never a good thing.

"Put him with the other noncombatants! As for the rest of you, surround the ones who can’t fight; don’t let a single Oppressed through even if it means your life!” Amaryllis ordered. Once she heard them acknowledge her, she strode over to the hatch and thrust her guardrail down into the skull of a climbing Oppressed, forcing it down onto the flood of undead below. With a snarl, she slammed the hatch closed and turned the wheel until it was fastened shut. At the very least, they wouldn’t be able to follow them up the ladder… for a brief time.

When Amaryllis turned around, the group had formed themselves into an outward facing circle around William, Mary, Emma, and Aven. Much to Amaryllis’ surprise, Kent and Jennifer had taken Aven’s place. The latter held Aven’s wrench, while the former held a chunk of thick slate. In any other situation, Amaryllis would have told them to stay out of the fight… except at this point there was no reason to. Their backs were against a wall.

“Amaryllis! They’re all around us! They’re…they’re piling up the walls!” Avil alerted her. 

Before Amaryllis could get a chance to respond, the first Oppressed clambered up over the top of the wall closest to the parking lot, releasing a howl of bloodlust. Before it could get any further, a chunk of slate knocked it right off of the wall and out of sight. She turned to see Kent standing beside a pile of rubble that he’d gathered, the older man bouncing another chunk of slate in his right hand. 

“Damn, old man, nice throw!” Jennifer complimented, gazing at him with awe.

“I’m still useful for something,” Kent grunted. More howls filled the air as other Oppressed scrambled over the walls, quickly growing in number. He took a split second to aim, and then he hurled another piece of rubble towards one of them. “No time for pleasantries… here they come!”

Amaryllis couldn't help but notice the sheer number of Oppressed coming over the walls. This was it. There was nowhere for them to go. However, instead of the hopelessness she’d previously felt, she was filled with determination and rage. She reloaded the flare gun and fired up into the skies once more, and then she hefted her guardrail.

“Dammit, I am not dying today!” Amaryllis roared just as the Oppressed reached her. She met the first one head on with the flat of the guardrail, halting its advance and denting its skull. The metal bent inwards as well, its previous usage in battle starting to take its toll. 

With a swift kick, Amaryllis knocked the Oppressed back, and then she immediately sidestepped a swipe from the claws of another. She retaliated with a swift thrust to the creature’s skull, penetrating the bone to deal a fatal blow. She had no time to revel in her kill; Amaryllis whirled and swung down to the right, smacking down another charging Oppressed. She stepped around it to avoid another Oppressed, and then she impaled one and smacked down another with a punch.

She was getting used to how the Oppressed move.  Her own self-taught fighting instinct and ability started to kick in. She became like smoke before the Oppressed, weaving in and around their attacks and continuously staying on the move to avoid being attacked from all sides.

Despite this, it wasn’t long before Amaryllis was completely surrounded. She winced as a claw raked across her hips, tearing her pants and leaving behind stinging scratches in her flesh. Another Oppressed slashed and cut her shoulder, causing her to cry out.

“I… won’t… die!” Amaryllis tore into the Oppressed with her guardrail, the makeshift weapon bending and deteriorating further with every strike. Eventually, the guardrail broke in half from the use, leaving her weaponless. Yet she refused to give up, resorting to hand to hand combat to keep the Oppressed away from her.

She ducked beneath leaping Oppressed and knocked the forelegs of four others surrounding her out from under them with a single sweeping kick. As she heard the cracking of the bones in their arms, she realized something. One could make a human as close to a pony as they wanted, but it would still never make them as sturdy as a pony. She found it easy to knock the Oppressed off balance, buying her precious seconds to defend herself from other attacks.

Behind her, the group was still in one piece, despite the fact that they were completely surrounded. Wounds were steadily accumulating, but with the help of Samuel and Avil, they were dealing significant damage.

Grant lost all sense of self preservation, charging into and tearing into the Oppressed with the two halves of his broken window pole, getting several kills in the process. “Give them back…” he snarled, his eyes bloodshot. “Rachel… Sawnee… GIVE THEM BACK!”

Much to Amaryllis’ horror, an Oppressed took advantage of Grant’s lapse in judgment and closed its jaws on his side, tearing out a chunk of flesh from his side. The man growled with pain, blood pouring down his side. However, just as the Oppressed was trying to retreat, Grant grabbed its head and thrust downwards with one pole, digging deep into its skull.

Other Oppressed converged upon the occupied Grant, slashing at his chest and biting into his arms and legs. Grant let out a roar and grabbed as many as he could with a bear hug and charged forward, pushing past the horde. Once he reached the end of the roof, he leapt off the edge of the wall without hesitation, carrying all of those Oppressed with him to his death.

Grant’s absence left a hole in the defense that the Oppressed exploited; the undead charged through the opening and lunged towards Mary and Emma, the two screaming in dismay. Just as the first Oppressed lunged forward, Amaryllis was there.

“Just what the hell do you think you’re doing!?” Amaryllis demanded, slamming her forearm into the creature’s chest to halt its momentum. Then, she withdrew her pistol with her free hand, jammed it beneath the creature’s jaw, and squeezed the trigger. The bullet shot right through the creature’s head, leaving behind a spray of ichor. “Heh, can’t shrug off a gun when I shove into your damn face!”

Amaryllis quickly met the charge of the next group of Oppressed, taking several scrapes as she held her ground. Not a single Oppressed would get past her to harm the girls behind her.

When she had a brief moment, Amaryllis fired the flare gun one last time, and then threw aside the spent device callously, having no further use for it. If nobody was coming, it was useless either way. Despite that despairing thought, she never stopped fighting. She was going to fight to the end.





Nascent Shade peered up at the rooftop, trying to get a glimpse of the humans their undead were fighting. Beside her Rays and Frozen stood, calmly watching the Oppressed pile up the walls of the building ahead.

“They’re putting up a real fight,” Shade couldn’t help but admit to the others. She could feel the lights of the Oppressed going out one by one in her mind, making her wince each time. “None of the others in this area have given us this much trouble.”

“They aren’t even military, so what the hay?” Rays agreed with her. Judging from their attire, he couldn’t see the humans being anything other than civilians, which usually died easily when faced with an undead horde. “Frozen, do you think we should…”

“Silence, both of you. Our forces are nigh infinite, and their number dwindles. Your whining merely emphasizes your incompetence,” Frozen cut him off coldly. His lips curved into a sadistic smirk. “This has proven to be a most interesting game.”

“Game?” Shade couldn’t help but ask. “What are you talking about?”

“It would probably be more accurate to refer to it as an experiment. I wish to see how long they can last against our overwhelming might,” Frozen began, shrugging. “It has been noted that among humans, there are those with significantly higher potential than others of their kind. For example, take the human King Sombra himself recruited in Russia.”

“I still can’t believe that our King would ever spare one of the humans…” Shade said with a shake of her head. She froze, noticing the icy glare given to her by Frozen. She quickly amended her statement. “...N-Not that he doesn’t have a good reason, of course!”

“Be careful what you say, worm. You wouldn’t want me to think you question the King’s decisions,” Frozen stated softly. Despite his seemingly casual tone, Shade broke into a cold sweat from terror. She shook her head vigorously. “Now then, to return to my original point…”

Just then, a bright red projectile shot into the air, leaving behind a trail of white vapor. The glow was so bright, Shade had to cover her eyes to keep from squinting.

“That’s the third time they’ve done that,” Frozen stated with a raised brow. “I don’t know who they think is going to come to their rescue.”

“What about their military?” Rays suggested.

“I highly doubt that. What military would care about the lives of minor peasants?” Frozen scoffed derisively. “Even if they were soft like Equestria, we have their military hemmed in on all sides. They have no fuel or power. Therefore, there is no way any reinforcements could ever make it here.”

The moment after Frozen finished speaking, a house standing to the right of the parish hall, just across the street, erupted with a tumultuous explosion from the inside. Frozen squinted at the bright light moments before he and the other two ponies were knocked right off of their hooves from the resulting shockwave.

Frozen’s horn lit up, and he teleported down to the ground. He quickly erected a wall of transparent ice to protect himself from the debris and smoke raining down on the parking lot, and then he attempted to catch a glimpse of the cause. It wasn’t long before he sighted it… and his eyes widened with surprise. 

A large structure made entirely out of dark gray metal burst out of the wreckage of the house, the debris giving way and crunching beneath the inexorably rolling treads. Almost immediately after seeing it, the machine oriented its long barrel on the pile of Oppressed climbing  up the walls and spat forth a fiery shell.

Frozen Soul winced as the shell detonated amongst the clumped up undead, sending bloody bits of undead flesh in all directions. He could feel scores of them die in his mind, helpless before such heavy firepower. 

“That vehicle… how?!” Frozen growled. He identified the vaguely rectangular vehicle as a “tank,” judging from the singular turret and the two hull mounted machine guns that were now spitting hot metal into the Oppressed that Shade was now directing in its general direction. “What are you doing, you fool!? Undead claws can’t penetrate that armor plating!”

Shade didn’t have a chance to pull them back. Four armored infantry vehicles zoomed through the streets from where the tank had emerged, each one possessing eight wheels and a main armament on the top. Each turret was manned by a human in military clothing; Frozen couldn’t help but notice the quarter arc rainbow insignia stitched onto their shoulders.

Two of the incoming vehicles oriented their machine gun turrets directly on the three of them, causing Frozen to grit his teeth. They immediately opened fire, a spray of heavy bullets saturating the area around them. 

The bullets slammed into Frozen’s ice wall, but the structure didn’t hold up well to that degree of punishment and quickly shattered, forcing him to use his magic to halt whatever came close to him. 

After catching several of the bullets, his eyes widened at the force that he had to divert in order to halt them. Frozen quickly broke into a sprint, avoiding the bullets by dodging and weaving, using the terrain as well as his own rapidly constructed ice walls to protect him.

The other two weren’t as lucky. Shade knew immediately that she’d need to dodge, so she broke into a run, leaping into cover between two houses. “Rays, with me!” she called. Much to her horror, Rays attempted to take to the sky to avoid the bullets. He failed to anticipate the firing arc of the turret, however, and one of the bullets found its mark in his wing, sending him spiraling to the ground. “No!”

Without hesitation, Shade made to leave the relative safety of the houses to save her lover, but a hoof on her shoulder stopped her. She turned to see Frozen standing behind her. “Don’t be stupid,” the scientist hissed. “We’re not prepared to deal with an armored unit at this time.”

“But Rays is out there… he’s hurt! I need to…!”  Shade desperately tried to beg, but Frozen wouldn’t have any of it. He smacked her hard with his staff, cutting her protests off. 

“You are not allowed to commit suicide, you insufferable pony! You are a unicorn, and control a good portion of our forces. Now do as you’re told and pull out your undead!” Frozen snarled at her. He suddenly paused, noticing something strange. “Wait…”

Rays wasn’t dead. In fact, the humans weren’t shooting him at all anymore. Instead, the two vehicles were rolling through the parking lot towards him, running over any Oppressed in their way and shooting mercilessly at any targets they could reach. The other two vehicles were revealed to be armed with grenade launchers, with which they were peppering the hills of Oppressed to deadly effect.

“They don’t intend to…” Frozen trailed off. His eyes trailed down to the control amulet resting on the slowly crawling Rays’ neck.

“Quick, Rays, come here! Come to me! You can make it!” Shade urged the stallion, reaching out her hooves. However, there was an impossibly far distance for Rays to traverse.

“Sh-Shade… I…” Rays reached out his hoof as well… and then he was swiftly run through with a lethal shard of ice. His eyes widened and he coughed, blood spattering from his lips as his body began to freeze.

Shade screamed out her lover’s name in despair, tears rolling down her cheeks. There was nothing she could do to prevent Rays from freezing over entirely, dead. She jerked her head around like a whip, glaring intensely at Frozen with utter fury. “Why!? Why would you do that, Frozen!?” she demanded.

Frozen stared at her coolly. “It was clear the humans intended to take Rays alive, along with his control amulet. Rescue was impossible, so I acted to eliminate the threat… that is all,” he answered as if it were a matter of common sense. Noting how her expression only grew more furious, he continued with a stern glare. "You should have known this would happen when you chose to grow attached to a mere soldier.”

He turned his back and started to depart, seething at the sudden appearance of the humans. “I won’t tell you again, Shade. Pull your forces out and…” Frozen was suddenly cut off by a blast of magic slamming into his upper body, and he was knocked off of his hooves into the side of a house. “What the…”

“Screw that!” Shade shrieked angrily, power she never even knew she had welling up from within her. “I’ll make you pay in blood for what you’ve done!”

Shade thrust her blazing horn forward and let loose a blast of unrefined magic towards her former superior. Frozen leapt to his hooves and narrowed his eyes. “What a poor decision you’ve made,” he growls. His hoof glowed a bright blue just in time for him to slap the beam of power aside with a grunt of exertion. The wall beside him was blown to bits from the resulting explosion.

Shade zoomed out of the cloud of debris with a wordless yell, the cry of a mare with nothing left to lose. She reared up and swung her hooves at Frozen with all of her might. Frozen steadily retreated beneath her onslaught, yet not a single attack landed. His expression remained unchanged as he avoided or deflected her attacks.

“Foolish worm...you are a hundred years too early to challenge me,” Frozen snarled. He finally retaliated, ducking beneath Shade’s hooves and ramming his own hoof into her underside viciously. 

Shade gasped in agony, the wind leaving her lungs from that one unbelievably strong punch. Before she could prepare herself, Frozen swiped his staff through the air, unleashing a wave of frozen energy that caught her right in the middle. She let out a helpless cry as she was knocked right off her hooves and hurled out into the clearing where the humans were shredding the hordes of Oppressed with heavy machine gun fire and explosive shells.

Shade collapsed beside the frozen form of her lover. She grunted and inched towards Rays’ body. Even as one of the smaller vehicles oriented its grenade launcher on her position, she scooped up his fallen form and held him close, crying once more at her own powerlessness.

“Permission to terminate granted! Open fire!” 

Shade heard the humans yelling to one another, and then came the unmistakable clunk of the grenade launcher firing. She jerked her head towards the incoming projectile. With a glare and one final yell of anger, her horn started to glow. 

The grenade detonated, and the area was swallowed in a maelstrom of fiery destruction.





“What the hell is going on down there!?” Amaryllis demanded. She now held the bloody claw of one of the Oppressed as a weapon, slicing through the undead flesh with deadly effect. Yet now she couldn’t help but hear the machine gun fire and explosions occurring in the parking lot down below. 

Everyone who could fight was all wounded in some form or fashion, but nobody else had died. Nevertheless, Amaryllis was tiring, and she knew she was getting sloppy. She couldn’t keep this up. However, the amount of Oppressed coming over the walls slowed, making their numbers more manageable for the smaller group.

Jennifer slammed her wrench down on an Oppressed, wincing as blood from the cut on her dominant shoulder trickled down her arm. She pushed forward until she reached the edge of the roof. She recoiled when she saw the Oppressed piling up once more.

They were gone in an instant. With a sound of thunder, the pile of Oppressed exploded, flesh and ichor flying in all directions. It didn’t take her long to notice the tank rolling towards the parking lot, the barrel pointing in the direction of the aforementioned explosion. Her eyes widened, and her face lit up. “It’s...It’s the military!” Jennifer called back to everyone exultantly. “They have a tank!”

“A tank!?” 

“I can’t believe it…”

“We’re saved! Amaryllis, you did it!”

“A tank...hah...hah….” Amaryllis panted, taking a short breather. She didn’t have long before she had to sidestep another group of Oppressed and lay into them with the claw. She honestly couldn’t believe someone came to their rescue...much less an armored unit. She gave an incredulous chuckle. “Good...I can’t...keep this up…”

Despite her body’s fatigue, her morale soared to new heights upon realizing that she’d done it. She’d managed to get them out of this, despite the heavy cost. 

The military was here now.

> 13. Land of the Dead
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Amaryllis rested against the edge of the roof, her body feeling as though it were filled with liquid lead. Her wounds steadily oozed blood, staining her clothes. Now that there were no longer any Oppressed climbing over the walls to attack their group, her adrenaline was spent, making it difficult for her to even move.

The survivors of their group, despite being in similar shape, were whooping and cheering as they watched the spectacle taking place in the parking lot below. The tank, which Samuel helpfully identified as an M60 Patton, remained at the head of the parking lot from which it had originally entered, using its two mounted machine guns to rip apart any Oppressed that dared get close. The main gun was no longer firing, suggesting to Amaryllis that the operators were wisely saving the ammunition.

The four other smaller vehicles, which Samuel identified as IAV Strykers, outmaneuvered the remaining Oppressed and surrounded them. From there, the undead were systematically targeted and destroyed in a deadly coordinated crossfire. The enemy never stood a chance.

Despite how much Amaryllis wanted to rest, she forced herself to watch the battle.  As promising as this was to her survival, it also led to several questions. Firstly, there were thousands of undead assaulting the church, yet the number of fallen enemies numbered only in the hundreds. Despite this, no further undead were attacking. Amaryllis noticed the Oppressed retreating back into the streets. Their commander was smart; he knew he couldn’t touch heavy armor like this. Yet this raised the most important question of all: if humanity possessed this much of an edge on the Oppressed, how was the situation in the city this dire?

The hatch on the back of one of the Strykers opens up and several camouflage-clad soldiers clamber out from inside. Each one of them was armed to the teeth with weaponry designed for close-quarters combat. The last one to leave the vehicle directs the others wordlessly with simple hand-motions. The soldiers respond by spreading out and approaching the wall of the church, their movements swift and coordinated.

Now that the area was devoid of undead, the remaining Strykers drive into a wedge formation with the tank at the forefront, never once turning off their engines. As for the infantry, the one that Amaryllis assumed was their leader was the last to reach the wall. Once he did, he and the soldiers produced military grade grappling hooks.

Amaryllis winced as she heard the devices fire. The hooks latched onto the walls around her, the old stonework cracking under the sudden weight. Before long, the soldiers climbed onto the rooftop with them, causing the other survivors to limp towards them with relief.

The leader was next atop the wall. Something about him made him stand out from the other soldiers; perhaps it was the way his posture betrayed an odd sense of serenity and calm confidence. Like the rest of his men, he wore a sturdy set of camouflaged body armor adorned with spare ammunition. For weaponry, he carried a singular rifle, two sets of handguns, and what appeared to be a shotgun slung over his shoulder.

“There’s no time to dawdle! Those of you that can move, head to the edge of the roof!” the leader snapped out towards the survivors without any sense of delicacy or sympathy. Instead, his tone was forceful and urgent. Despite the edge they’d shown in combat, it was easy to tell that he was worried. “Men, grab one each and split them up among the Strykers. We’ve no time to waste!”

“Yes sir!”

“Are you the commander?” Even as the other survivors moved to do as they were told, Samuel walked up to the leader. “I’m Samuel. I’ve had some military training, but I’m not on active duty. If I can help in some way…”

“That’s excellent. We’re only one squad, and we’re not at full strength. I’ll take anyone who can hold a rifle,” the commander responded, his tone clipped and his words straightforward. Behind him, Jennifer and Kent were partnering up with some of the soldiers, who then zipped back down the side of the wall. After making sure things were going smoothly, the commander handed his rifle to Samuel, much to his surprise. “I’m Sergeant First Class Raul Pearson, of the Navy Seals. If you’re not on active duty, consider this your reassignment. You’ll be in the command vehicle with me, and I’ll expect you to follow orders. Am I understood?”

Samuel blinked, his eyes widening; Not only had he not been expecting such an unorthodox command that clearly wasn’t in line with standard operation procedures, but the man before him was also one of the Navy Seals, an elite subdivision of the American forces. His bemusement lasted only a moment before he snapped a salute to what was to be his new commanding officer.

“Yes sir! If I may make a suggestion; I believe that our ‘leader’ should be in the command vehicle as well,” Samuel responded smartly.

“Your ‘leader?’” Raul repeated uncertainly. He looked around for someone who would fit that description, but came up short. “You weren’t in charge?”

“No sir. That would be Amaryllis. She’s wounded and needs attention, but she possesses vital intelligence concerning the attack as a whole,” Samuel revealed. He turned and indicated the barely conscious girl resting against the edge of the roof. “She’s a hell of a lot tougher than she looks.”

“Very well. There’s no time to argue.” Raul acquiesced readily without questioning further. Amaryllis suddenly felt herself hoisted up off of the ground by Raul. Her eyes opened wide, but before she could comprehend what was happening, she was sprawled across his shoulders fireman style. “Let’s get moving. Behind me, Sam. I’d like to put as much distance between us and this place as possible. Those blasted pony things are too damn smart; they’ll probably have reinforcements with anti-armor weaponry here before long.”

“Put me...down....” Amaryllis grunted, wincing as Raul headed towards the edge of the roof. “I can walk…”

“Shut up and don’t struggle, or I’ll drop you,” Raul snapped back at her. Amaryllis blinked and then glared, but recognized that he could very easily carry out his threat. Her stomach plummeted as the two of them zipped down the line to the blacktop. Once they landed, the hatch on the tank opened to reveal a grizzled man with a scar down his cheek.

“Sergeant, we’ve checked our ammunition. We’ve got about 50 HE shells left,” the soldier alerted him. “There are too many of those things; we can’t stay here.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” Raul grumbled as he headed towards one of the Strykers. “Men, I want a status report on our ammunition and fuel reserves before we leave. Make it snappy! I don’t want to be here when the enemy returns!”

From here, the remaining survivors and soldiers were divided among the three Strykers. Jennifer, Mary, and Emma, being women and children, were directed to enter one of the vehicles along with five other soldiers.

Avil was also directed to enter that particular vehicle, but she wouldn’t hear of it. She insisted on being with her brother. Thus, it was decided that she, along with Aven and Kent, were to enter the Stryker with the grenade launcher along with six other soldiers.

Lastly, Raul managed to haul Amaryllis into the last Stryker, laying her down into two of the empty seats. Samuel and William were also herded inside along with five other soldiers.

“I’ve got better turning. I’ll take the wheel.” One of the soldiers rushed forward into the driver’s seat.

“Then I’ll take the gun.” Another hopped through a hatch in the roof to man the machine gun.

Raul sat beside Amaryllis and across from Samuel. He’d scarcely sat down before reports started coming in from the other vehicles through the series of shortwave radios he carried.

“Understood. Assume the standard formation; keep the women and children protected in the center. We’ll take the lead,” Raul ordered. He repeated this command to each of the radios he held. The quality of their communications was abnormally poor, such that he had to repeat his order more than once to a singular radio. Raul then smacked the back of the driver’s seat with his fist. “Get moving, Raps. Stick to the coastal roads and watch your peripherals.”

“Understood, sir!” The driver revved the engine and the vehicle roared to life. The Stryker rolled out onto the street next to the church, followed by the tank. The Stryker carrying the women and children went next, and the grenade launcher Stryker brought up the rear.

Once the vehicle was in motion, Raul brought down a first aid kit from the wall and ripped it open to reveal a variety of medical gear within. Setting it aside for now, he glanced over the recovering Amaryllis, noting the still bleeding wounds on her hips and shoulder. Samuel and William also moved closer, hoping to hear good news.

“You can stop hovering over me like mother ducklings. I’m fine,” Amaryllis grumbled, the woman quickly growing uncomfortable beneath the worried gazes of the three of them. She tried to rise, but quickly gave up the attempt when she felt her muscles scream in protest.

“So it seems. Your injuries look painful, but they aren’t serious. Your state likely comes from fatigue. No doubt you’ve been on the run ever since the attack began. Now hold still while I patch you up,” Raul responded. Amaryllis hissed in pain as Raul disinfected her wounds with a damp white cloth. “Are you also military? Those aren’t the muscles of a civilian.”

“Heh, not in the slightest. I have an issue with authority,” Amaryllis commented dryly, wincing as her injuries were tightly bound with bandages. “I just focus on improving my body and martial skills as a hobby. Have been my entire life.”

“Damn, that’s pretty badass,” one of the soldiers sitting in the back with them commented, gazing appreciatively at Amaryllis.

“That’s respectable, if rather uncommon for someone of your gender. But that’s enough small talk. Here, take this. It should help with the pain.” Raul handed Amaryllis two small pills as well as a water canteen. Amaryllis downed them quickly and took a long drink. She couldn’t keep from drinking more than she needed; she’d been more thirsty than she’d realized. Raul then handed the three of them small boxes containing what appeared to be thick crackers. “No doubt you’re hungry. Unfortunately, all we’ve got are limited military rations.”

“That’s more than we had a moment ago,” William commented, accepting his gratefully. He chomped into it and grimaced, but didn’t complain. “This is all just one huge mess…”

“What’s the situation like in the city, Sergeant?” Samuel prompted Raul, and then he asked the question that had been at the forefront of Amaryllis’s mind. “Forgive me for asking, but considering how quickly you drove off an army of Oppressed, you’d think the situation wouldn’t be as dire as it appears to be.”

“Oppressed? That’s a rather curious name for what are clearly undead,” Raul questioned astutely. He regarded Amaryllis. “Does this have to do with the intel that you supposedly have?”

“Yeah. I’m one of the only people that know exactly what these things are, where they came from, and what they’re after,” Amaryllis revealed. Raul as well as the other soldiers looked at her with shock.

“Wait, you mean we’re finally going to get some answers?”

“Finally!” The other soldiers exulted.

“You realize that information could mean life or death for countless people? This means I can’t just help you escape; you have to come with us to the American brass,” Raul pointed out solemnly. Amaryllis let out a scornful laugh.

“You think I don’t know that? That was my plan to begin with. Honestly, I’ve succeeded just getting to you in the first place,” Amaryllis revealed. She felt the painkillers starting to kick in, so she forced herself to sit upright. “But before I explain anything to you, I want to hear the answer to Samuel’s question.”

“Very well. It’s true that we have a distinct technological edge on these ’Oppressed’ as you called them, such that in ordinary circumstances, there’d be no contest,” Raul began. A grim expression crossed his face. “That’s if we were able to use any of our technology.”

“What do you mean?” William asked, the man turning pale at the implications behind Raul’s words.

“Their leader is cunning and very knowledgeable about human technology. Before they attacked us, they jammed all of our communications and hit our fuel stations and power plants. Without power, our computer systems are down, and without fuel, we can’t use our vehicles for long,” Raul explained. Amaryllis nodded, finding that to fit with what she’d already seen thus far. “However, that’s not the worst of it.”

“It’s not?!” Samuel repeated incredulously. “There’s something worse than having our military nearly crippled in one fell swoop?”

“There is,” Raul shot back without hesitation. “You may have noticed that the enemy has mustered a ludicrous amount of undead in such a short time. That’s because they used our very own troops and civilians to create them.”

“What?” This much even Amaryllis didn’t know much about. Seth had mentioned that the Oppressed were made from humans, but not precisely how they were made or what conditions were necessary to make them.

“Immediately after power went out, a significant amount of our troops...changed. One moment they were fine, and the next they were...crumpling in on themselves to form those twisted creatures.” Even the hardened soldier couldn’t suppress a shudder as he recalled the horrific transformations that he’d seen. “It was chaos. The enemy were around and amongst us before we even knew we were under attack.”

“I still remember Pat’s face,” one of the other soldiers lamented, his head rested in hands. “We were just joking that somebody must have screwed up the electrical systems somehow...and then...and then he just…”

“I shot my best friend,” another soldier revealed, his hands shaking. “But that didn’t stop him. I just kept hitting him…”

“How were they able to do that?” Amaryllis suddenly became rather unsettled. She looked down at herself, and then at the others. If they could make Oppressed on the spot, then who’s to say that one of the others couldn’t change at random? Who’s to say that she couldn’t change? Even to someone as tough as her, that possibility caused her to break out in a cold sweat. “Is there any way to stop it?”

“You don’t know?” Raul returned, looking at her expectantly.

“I know a lot, but I don’t know everything. I don’t know how Oppressed are made, except through magic of some kind,” Amaryllis snapped back.

“I have my suspicions…  in fact, I’m rather certain I know who their leader is,” Raul revealed, much to Amaryllis’s shock.

“You know about King Sombra?” Amaryllis questioned urgently, leaning forward.

“I don’t… but it seems you know a lot more than I was expecting. This king is their leader?” Raul expressed, raising an eyebrow. When Amaryllis nodded, he sighed. “This gets more complicated by the second. But to bring it back to my original point… have any of you been administered the HAED vaccine?”

“The Hades virus? I was planning to have it done when I got here, but I never had the chance,” William answered, looking confused. “But what does the virus have to do with anything?”

The implications behind Raul’s question were not lost on Amaryllis. Her eyes widened in horror. “You don’t mean… but that vaccine went out all over the country!” she exclaimed. It then dawned on William, who quickly went pale.

“I thought it was odd how only some people changed, and others didn’t. I started to suspect when I found out that none of the survivors had taken the vaccine; myself included,” Raul continued. “Which would mean that a certain Dr. Valeric Pallor, the scientist that no one seems to know anything about has something to do with all of this.”

“Dr. Pallor…” Amaryllis remembered the name that she’d read in the newspaper; the name of the man who was credited with curing the lethal disease. One minor detail then came to mind that caused her to curse loudly. “Shit! He’s Russian! Why didn’t that tip me off?!”

“What does his nationality have to do with it?” Samuel pressed.

“Because King Sombra and his Oppressed first appeared in Russia,” Amaryllis revealed. This revelation earned pointed looks from Raul and the other soldiers. “Why do you think the country’s slowly been going dark?”

“I do remember hearing about that from our intelligence network… and that would also explain why some of the ponies are equipped with Russian equipment,” Raul admitted darkly. “But this means that your King Sombra has not only declared war on the United States, but also on Russia.”

Amaryllis let out an ironic laugh. “Ha! You wish. No, Raul, the bastard’s declared war on the entire human race,” she revealed. That statement caused the soldiers to react with varying degrees of shock, one of them dropping his weapon.

Raul was silent for several seconds, and then he let out a long heavy sigh. “Looks like conventional reason won’t help us. Perhaps you’d best start at the beginning, miss Amaryllis.” His words made it very clear that he wasn’t giving her a choice in the matter. “Your information may mean the difference between victory and extermination.”

“We’ve covered most of it, but I’ll give you what I have.” Amaryllis realized that humanity’s chances of survival increased with every individual that knew, so she saw no reason to hold back. “This is all going to sound crazy, by the way.”

“Considering what we’ve faced up until now, I don’t think I’d be satisfied with anything less,” Raul remarked dryly. “Just tell us what you can.”

“Please, just give us something. Anything!”

“I’m with Fabian. I’d like to know what exactly I’m fighting against, and why all these people had to die.” The other soldiers in the vehicle leaned forward, each of them just as invested as Raul in hearing what she had to say.

“Alright then. Like I said, their leader is King Sombra, an ancient pony sorcerer king from the future,” Amaryllis decided to be as blunt as possible. She inwardly chuckled, realizing that she was now in the same situation Seth had been when he explained all this to her in the first place.

Raul and the other soldiers looked at one another. “That does sound crazy,” Fabian commented immediately.

“It sure does,” Raul commented. “But we know most of that to be true. Although they looked significantly different than those we know, those creatures certainly resembled ponies.”

“And what else could you call that… that transformation… if not magic? No chemical is that precise,” another soldier pointed out.

“You have a point, Travis. Not only is that transformation far-fetched on a scientific level, but we’ve also seen those ponies with horns emitting strange light and executing complex tasks without the use of their hooves,” Raul rejoined. “But you’re saying time travel is also involved?”

“Three thousand years into the future to be exact. I don’t know what their world is like or whatever,” Amaryllis pointed out. “I do know why they’re here. Apparently Sombra is facing defeat in his timeline, so he came back here to murder us all and turn us into an army with which to fight his enemy… as well as establish some kind of backup plan.”

“That’s it? We’re being culled just so this fucker can keep his position!?” Travis gripped his rifle with rage, his fingers turning white.

“What kind of back up plan?” Raul questioned calmly. It was difficult for Amaryllis to tell how he was feeling about what he was hearing.

“My… contact… was rather vague on that prospect, but apparently he wanted to store some of his power in certain people and send them to the future to retrieve later,” Amaryllis answered.

“Hold on a minute.” As Raul pondered over that piece of information, William spoke up. “We both saw Sombra… is… is that what happened to… to…”

“Seth? Yes,” Amaryllis cut him off, her voice clipped. “Apparently, I was also Sombra’s original target, but Seth got in his way. But that’s beside the point.”

“True. Considering our situation, it’s best we know more about our direct enemy. What can you tell us about their capabilities?” Raul interrogated, joining the conversation again. William seemed like he wanted to say more, but he remained silent, a pensive expression forming on his face. “These Oppressed. Do they have some sort of weakness?”

“They’re undead, so no. Whatever works on flesh will work on them, but only if you smash their head,” Amaryllis explained. “You’ve probably already figured that out. As for the unicorns, they...”

“Sergeant! We’ve got incoming!” The conversation came to an abrupt end as Raps called back from the driver’s seat. “Scattered remnants on the road; five hundred meters!”

“Damn. I knew that icy bastard wouldn’t leave us alone for long,” Raul grumbled. He quickly moved up to the front where he could gaze out the window as well.  “How much further to the bridge? Are they in our way?”

“Yes sir, but if that’s all of their number, we can take them out and keep going.” Raps illustrated his words with small movements of his right hand. “Shall we get into formation?”

“Not yet. I don’t want to pick a fight with them if we don’t have to. I don’t like not knowing what kind of magic those ponies can use,” Raul decided. He used his hand to direct Raps. “They’re blocking our path east, but if we take the northern road, can we get around them?”

“That’ll take us to the waterfront, sir. We may get boxed in against the river,” Raps pointed out.

“That’s a chance we’ll have to take. We both know the Oppressed don’t travel in small groups. Drive to the waterfront and cut east.” Raul ordered. With a grunt of confirmation, Raps pressed down on the gas and spurred the vehicle forward.

The vehicle hadn’t progressed more than two hundred and fifty meters before an entire horde of Oppressed surged around the corner from the waterfront, flowing down the northern road in a flood of rotten flesh and sharp claws.

Everyone in the vehicle shivered upon hearing the bloodcurdling cries of the undead. Raul cursed as his chosen direction was cut off. “Dammit! We’ve no choice. Raps, take the eastern path! I’ll coordinate the formation with the others!”

“Is there anything we can do?” Samuel asked nervously as the sergeant stormed back to the shortwave radios.

“Sit still and keep quiet,” Raul snapped back, causing the darker skinned man to flinch. He lifted the radios and addressed the other vehicles in a clear straightforward voice. “Undead horde spotted; assume the standard formation and head east! We’re pushing right through them! Lenny, open fire!”

The command vehicle slowed down just enough to allow the tank to move up alongside it, creating a wall of steel between the undead and the aid vehicle containing the women and children.

The command vehicle veered to the right, plowing right into the straggling undead that blocked the way forward. Lenny, the soldier manning the machine gun, fed a belt of HE rounds into the weapon and showered the undead with streams of molten metal. On impact, the bullets burst apart and exploded, tearing through the Oppressed’s limbs and heads.

As the tank turned, it swung its turret towards the north, where the incoming horde was swiftly closing the distance between them. The barrel roared to life, and a clump of undead in the north disappeared in a maelstrom of fire and steel. When the tank turned to follow the command vehicle, Oppressed broke against its hull in a useless attempt to pierce its armor. The Oppressed only had the chance to attack once before being crushed beneath the tank’s mighty treads.

The stragglers were easily taken care of, but once the formation turned into the narrow street, their numbers thickened greatly, taking them into the midst of another horde.

“Sergeant!” Raps cried out in fear and alarm.

“There’s no turning back now! Crush them!” Raul commanded firmly.

The command vehicle swerved to the side, giving the tank just enough room to fire another shell at the massing undead flesh before them. The resulting explosion showered them all with smoke and debris, but it gave the command vehicle an opening. Raps shouted wordlessly from within and drove the Stryker directly into the gap, knocking Oppressed every which way.

Between the combined fire from the tank and the command vehicle, the undead fell before them like nine pins, littering the streets with their fallen bodies. Not even the horde coming at them from behind could reach them; the GL Stryker in the rear of the formation spat grenades at their feet, searing away several Oppressed with every blast. The aid vehicle supported them with machine gun fire from behind them whenever they saw an opening.

Despite how the group seemed to be pushing their way through the horde unopposed, something seemed odd. It seemed as though the horde were abnormally thin in this area, which was the only reason this crazy maneuver was working in the first place. However, the horde was as thick as ever in other areas as well, which discouraged the group from taking those roads.

“We’re kicking ass!” Raps exulted. Yet Raul didn’t seem as excited as his comrade.

“Something’s wrong. We’ve seen their true numbers, yet they’re only concentrating in certain areas, and not others,” Raul observed. His eyes widened briefly, and then he sighed. “We’re being herded. This is a trap.”





High above the charging vehicles, a lone unicorn traversed the rooftops, keeping pace with the vehicles through a series of well-timed leaps and teleports. At the same time, his ice blue eyes darted from here and there, the Oppressed moving at his whim.

Rage at both himself and at the humans below was the only thing on his mind. He couldn’t believe that these humans would dare have the audacity to ruin his experiments and his enjoyment. At the same time, the fact that the humans had the intelligence to hide away some of their vehicles where Sombra’s forces couldn’t sabotage them had earned a small inkling of respect from him. He wanted to be the one to kill them himself.

“Frozen Soul.” A cold, reedy voice suddenly addressed him. When he looked, Frozen saw a dark furred unicorn keeping pace alongside him. There was no mistaking him. The pony’s features had long since been etched into Frozen’s memories.

The unicorn’s fur was a distinct shade of dark grey, complemented by a bone white mane that was neatly cropped to avoid falling in front of his violet eyes. On his flank was a single dull purple blossom that possessed five distinct petals. For clothing, the unicorn wore a short white lab coat and a pair of rounded glasses sat atop his muzzle.

“Your Excellency! I wasn’t expecting you.” Frozen Soul addressed the new arrival with the utmost respect in his voice. Compared to the personality he’d shown to his subordinates, Frozen appeared like an entirely different pony. “How goes the battle?”

“The city is all but ours,” the other pony responded with triumph. Frozen inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. “These humans never knew what hit them. It appears our informants in Russia were correct; these ‘Americans’ seemed rather complacent in their self-proclaimed superiority.”

“Even better, New York possesses near eight and a half million citizens alone. Should everything go according to plan, the infection will have spread to the remainder of the northeast megalopolis, which contains a total of fifty two million. That’s nearly a fifth of America’s population,” the dark furred pony exulted proudly, briefly pressing a hoof to his chest. “We’ve already won. Without their superpowers to protect them, the Asia and the Middle East will fall easily.”

“Hah! These humans will know of our superiority and despair,” Frozen couldn’t help but get swept up in his superior’s joy. However, that feeling soon disappeared when he noticed the darker pony gazing down at him with scrutiny.

“But enough about that. You appear to be trying particularly hard,” the dark furred pony observed. It seemed as though his struggles with the human stragglers below had not gone unnoticed. “Tell me; how did those vehicles escape from their encampments? I thought my instructions had been quite clear…”

“They were, your Excellency!  The humans must have stowed away a small group of vehicles in the event of an emergency,” Frozen hastily explained. He gathered the rest of his confidence and put on a smile. “I’m taking care of them as we speak. In fact, as long as you’re here, why don’t you sit back and watch? I’ll have quite the show prepared for you once these humans have run my little obstacle course.”

“Oh?” The darker pony ‘s eyebrow lifted with interest. “Well then, I suppose I’ve exterminated enough mice for now. I’ll watch your little show. Pray you do not disappoint me.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.” Frozen Soul turned his attention back to the humans below and grinned.





“Are they trying to surround us?” Amaryllis demanded, standing up and moving towards the front herself. “Where could they possibly be taking us?”

“We’re still heading towards the bridge, which is our escape from the island. If this is a trap, I’m not sure what they’re trying to achieve,” Raps revealed. The people in the vehicle looked to Raul for answers.

“They likely intend to spring something on us when we reach the bridge. It’s the only place that they know we intend to go,” Raul reasoned.

“But if they knew we were headed to the bridge anyway, why bother with all this herding?” the soldier in the passenger seat shot back, the man looking anything but calm.

“Perhaps they don’t want us linking up with reinforcements or providing aid to the rest of the military,” Raul continued. “If that’s the case, it works in our favor. They don’t know our mission.”

“Mission?” Amaryllis questioned curiously.

“I’ll tell you when we get out of this,” Raul waved her off, keeping his focus on the road ahead. “Push ahead, Raps. We’ll spring this trap of theirs. We’ll show them just who they’re messing with.”

Yet not everything was so easy. The thicker the horde before them became, the harder it was to push through them. Even as Lenny gritted his teeth and perforated the undead ahead, the Oppressed piled atop one another and one managed to climb aboard the vehicle, swiftly diving within the effective range of the machine gun.

“I need help up here!” Lenny screamed as he was forced to abandon the machine gun in favor of his standard rifle.

“Samuel!” Travis yelled.

“Right!” Samuel confirmed. Together, the two of them stood atop the seats and poked their rifles through the hatch at Lenny’s feet and added their fire to his. With their concentrated fire, the Oppressed fell quickly… only to reveal the several others that had climbed on behind it. Without the machine gun firing, the Oppressed now had an opening they could exploit.

Lenny howled with pain as the Oppressed reached him and sunk their teeth into his legs. Samuel and Travis could only watch and fire in vain as the soldier was torn from his perch and hurled back into the seething mass of undead, where he was quickly torn to bloody shreds.

“Somebody get that gun firing!” Raul commanded, pointedly turning his gaze away from the dying soldier.

“Cover me, Samuel!” Travis yelled. The soldier tangled with one of the Oppressed, slamming the butt of his rifle into its head to little effect. The Oppressed roared and swiped forward, cutting into the soldier’s body armor. “Goddammit!”

Samuel hoisted himself up and grabbed a grenade from Travis’s belt. Pulling the pin, he shoved it into the mouth of the Oppressed assailing him and kicked it down into the horde below. A split second later, the grenade detonated, tearing the Oppressed apart.

“Thanks!” Travis grabbed onto the machine gun and opened fire. With Samuel’s help, they drove the Oppressed off of their vehicle.

“I feel so useless!” Amaryllis growled, slamming her fist against the seat. Fighting the Oppressed was so much easier when she could be out fighting them directly. In here, she was just a passenger, and there was nothing she could do.

“Hang in there. That’s the highway just ahead!” Raul called back to the passengers. “Hold tight!”

The command vehicle broke through the horde and drifted onto the circular ramp that led onto the highway, where there would be nothing between them and the Verrazano bridge. With no more Oppressed before them, Raps pressed the pedal all the way to the floor of the vehicle, causing their momentum to soar.

A collective sigh of relief passed through the group as the formation ascended the ramp and drove onto the bridge proper. The bridge was littered with the wrecks of cars and trucks, and the guardrails were torn in numerous places, suggesting that cars had driven off the bridge entirely into the harbor.

“Hah! We’ve made it! Take that, you undead sons of bitches!” Travis exulted from his position on the gun. For some reason, Amaryllis shivered, goosebumps forming on her skin. It was as though the air in the vehicle had become much colder.

“They ain’t so tough. I guess there wasn’t a trap after all,” Fabian commented, the soldier shivering as well. He looked up with confusion, noticing that his breath was now visible. “Wh-What the hell? Why is it so cold in here?”

The drop in temperature was the only warning they received. From the waters below, a bright pale blue light burst into existence. The light slowly spread outwards in slender lines to form an immense magical rune encompassing the center of the bridge. The light intensified greatly, blinding Raps as well as anyone else looking outside.

In a single instant, the water below the bridge surged upwards, surrounding the formation of vehicles on either side with a dark blue wall of water. The water rained down on the bridge and the vehicles, coating the asphalt and rendering it slick. Before anyone could make sense of what they were seeing, the world seemed to freeze all at once.

The cold suddenly spiked, growing almost unbearable for a split second. Raps promptly lost control of the vehicle as the tires grew rigid and brittle, disintegrating from the very act of driving.

“I can’t control her! We’re…” was all Raps could get out before the vehicle veered sharply to the right and flipped end over end. Amaryllis cried out in pain as she was slammed against the walls of the vehicle as well as the other passengers. Travis was thrown completely from his perch onto the frozen road below, where he quickly rose and sprinted to avoid the similarly out of control vehicles in the rest of the formation.

The formation quickly fell apart, each of the Stryker’s skidding across the ice and losing their tires.The unlucky gunner in the GL vehicle was promptly crushed as their vehicle flipped and landed on its roof. The aid vehicle rammed into the tank, its front crumpling in with a screech of tortured metal, killing the two soldiers in the front instantly. The tank wobbled, but managed to turn around to face the rear direction, its barrel turning to match.

When the command vehicle came to a stop, it was lying on its side. Amaryllis coughed and looked around. Everyone inside looked bruised, but were otherwise alive. Wanting to get a look at their surroundings, Amaryllis crawled out of the hatch and attempted to stand. As she helped Raul out of the vehicle, she gaped at the world around them.

The waters of the harbor had flash frozen, and completely surrounded this small area on the bridge in walls of sheer ice. Everything was coated in a layer of frigid ice, from the road to the cables to the vehicles themselves. There was no way out… and they weren’t alone.

A small number of Oppressed had made it into the icy circle and were making their way across the bridge towards them at a threatening speed. Amaryllis quickly alerted Raul, who cursed.

“Kristoff, can you fire!?” Raul snapped at the tank even as he produced a rifle and leveled it towards the approaching Oppressed. “I need covering fire on the double!”

The hatch of the tank popped open to reveal the grizzled man within. “No good, Sergeant. The vehicle is too cold; we’ll self-destruct if we try to…” Kristoff began. He cut off instantly when he spotted something hurtling towards the vehicle at a breakneck speed. “Oh shit. Take cover!”

Raul grabbed Amaryllis and bore her roughly to the ground, while Kristoff leapt from the top of the tank and rolled hard on the icy road. No sooner had they done so than a rocket hissed through the air in a spiral fashion and slammed into the turret of the tank. The resulting explosion tore through the tank’s armor and incinerated any members of the crew still inside. A plume of dark smoke rose from the wreckage of what had once been their strongest asset.

All eyes turned towards the source of the rocket. Amaryllis’s brow contorted with rage, the woman immediately recognizing the pale blue pony who was walking with the Oppressed.

“The Kornet, I believe it was called. What a unique piece of equipment,” the unicorn commented, an anti-tank missile launcher hanging in the air beside him, clutched in his magic. He threw it aside callously, the weapon skittering across the ice.

“Now then. It’s time to end this little chase.”
> 14. Fighting Frozen
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The armored convoy was now a smouldering wreck. The tank, its forward hull facing back from whence they came, was at the rear, its frontal armor still burning from the rocket that had brought it down. The aid vehicle had managed to stay upright, but it was crashed into the side of the tank. The command vehicle was lying on its side opposite the aid vehicle near one edge of the bridge, and the GL Stryker was on its roof on the opposite edge.

Yet despite the destruction of their vehicles, the majority of their occupants had survived and were crawling out from within to face the new threat that now opposed them. The ice blue unicorn approached slowly, seemingly not in a hurry to kill the remainder of the survivors before him. Despite the fact that the remaining soldiers were emerging from their vehicles and arming themselves, his expression and gait radiated only smug confidence.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is…” the pony began, but that’s as far as he could get. The moment he opened his mouth, Raul leveled his rifle at him.

“Bring him down! Protect the civilians!” Raul ordered immediately, uninterested in hearing the unicorn out any further. The soldiers eagerly did as they were told, hailing rifle fire down on the pony without mercy. Despite the cold that had afflicted the bridge and the road around them, it seems their small arms were still in working order.

It was all an exercise in futility. Despite facing such relentless gunfire, the unicorn merely scoffed. His horn lit up and his body briefly glowed blue just before the first bullets struck. Much to everyone’s dismay, the bullets bounced off of the pony’s fur as though they’d been nothing more than pellets.

“How rude. I am talking!” the pony growled. With a sweep of his staff, a series of deadly sharp icicles formed in the air and hurtled towards the group of survivors.

“Move!” was all Raul had time to say.

Amaryllis’s eyes widened the moment she saw them, as she knew precisely what they could do. Images of the dying Jakob flashing through her mind, she threw herself aside barely in time to avoid the attack. The icicles were deadly fast; if she had moved even a second later, she would be dead.

The other soldiers dashed to cover as well, ducking behind the wreckage of the vehicles. Some soldiers rolled around the corners of the strykers, while others dove forward to slide underneath the wheels of the aid vehicle or the treads of the tank.

Yet not all of the soldiers were lucky enough to escape unscathed. One of the soldiers took an icicle in the leg just before he could slide beneath the tank. Amaryllis looked away, knowing that even a minor wound from that pony’s ice was enough to kill. That soldier was finished.

“Now, unless more of you want to waste your ammunition on me, I’ll continue.” The pony brushed off his fur as though their bullets had dirtied him. He didn’t seem to care that most of his icicles had missed. “My name is Frozen Soul, a scientist that proudly serves His Majesty, King Sombra. You should be honored to be in my presence.”

Frozen paused, his grin widening as he heard several of the soldiers yelling back words of defiance. “No? How ungrateful of you. I bothered to come kill you myself; surely you see that I view you as worth killing personally, unlike the millions of humans our undead have already slaughtered,” he remarked, stating such a staggering figure with a casualness one might expect from one talking about the weather.

“Go to hell, you unfeeling monster!” Travis, who had been lying on the ground seemingly unconscious only a moment before, suddenly rose to his feet, a serrated combat knife clutched tightly in his right hand. He attacked Frozen Soul viciously,holding the knife in a reverse grip and swiping to the left. “Try controlling undead when you’re the one dead!”

Frozen Soul didn’t even bother to dodge. The knife seemed to skid along a solid barrier resting just above the pony’s skin, producing icy blue sparks on impact. Travis didn't stop, switching his grip on the knife and stabbing downwards right towards Frozen’s horn… only for the knife and his fist to become shrouded in the pony’s magical aura, stopping them in place.

“What the…” Travis grunted, his muscles visibly straining against Frozen’s magic. The unicorn sighed. Still holding Travis’s fist tight, Frozen whirled about and bucked the soldier directly in the chest with enough force to send him hurtling backwards. Saliva flew from Travis’s mouth as the wind left his lungs and he skidded across the ice. “Gahh!”

Frozen chuckled and halted Travis’s flight by summoning a wall of ice from the road behind him. “Temper, temper…” he chided him mockingly. His aura then surrounded Travis entirely, the soldier rising off of the ground. “Though I applaud you for being the first to attack me dir…”

Then, Amaryllis was there. Her face twisted into a snarl, she ducked down low and knocked Frozen’s chin straight up with a vicious uppercut. Frozen dropped Travis and skidded backwards, nursing his chin with a hoof. His grin had disappeared, and he was glaring right at her with a forming sneer.

“You again. I’ve been chasing you humans ever since the subway, but you simply refuse to die,” Frozen growled. He brought his staff to bear, the orb at its tip glowing brightly. “How you managed to escape from there in the first place is a mystery; you had no warning and no reason to expect our attack. Yet you responded so quickly… as if you knew.”

Amaryllis didn’t respond at first, despite knowing he was on the right track. She relaxed her muscles and rose her fists into an aggressive stance. She knew full well that attacking Frozen head on was likely the dumbest thing she could do, yet she couldn’t think of anything else.

“You want to fight me, then? You think you can do better than your friend?” Frozen asked softly. He noted Travis already back on his feet, the soldier moving to provide Amaryllis with back-up. His cocky smile returned, and he indicated the crowd of Oppressed behind him. “You’re railing against the inevitable. I’ll toy with you until I’m bored, and then you’ll be food for my army.”

“Shut up,” Amaryllis snapped, doing her best to quell the hint of fear she could feel. Frozen was a magically adept unicorn… and if he was anything like Seth, she was no match for him. That wasn’t even counting the number of undead they faced. She knew very well that this was likely their final stand. “I’m going to make you pay for the lives you’ve taken. Every last one. Travis, are you in?”

Travis ran a hand through his short dark hair, spitting onto the ground in challenge. “Hell yes,” he declared bravely, and then he too assumed an aggressive stance. “Let’s bring him down.”

“Very well then,” Frozen responded to their challenge, icicles already forming from the tip of his staff. His eyes narrowed. “Let’s see if you can.”





Raul crouched behind the aid vehicle, his rifle clutched tightly in his hands. His mind raced with different scenarios and plans of attack. He had around fourteen men left, not counting the civilians. He had some cover from the undead and their leader, and he had access to small arms and equipment. Yet, against a magic unicorn with protection against knives and bullets, as well as ice related abilities… none of what he had seemed very effective.

He glanced over the edge of the vehicle, noting the horde of undead Frozen had brought with him. That was the biggest threat in his mind. There were so many of them… it would take a heavy weapons emplacement to hold off that number for even a short time.

“Soldiers, stand by and prepare to provide fire support on my order,” Raul ordered, taking care to keep his voice low so as not to be overheard by Frozen. He noted Travis and Amaryllis standing up against Frozen Soul, and marveled at their courage. He made a mental note to recommend the both of them for a medal if they managed to get out of this. He wondered if he would get flak from the brass for doing such a thing for a civilian.

“Shouldn’t we help them?” Samuel asked anxiously. “You haven’t seen what Frozen did to Jakob; he’ll kill the both of them.”

“I haven’t, but I know very well how dangerous he is,” Raul responded. He turned to look at the soldier who had taken an icicle in the leg. He was not dead, having been saved by the split decision of his comrade to cut off his leg before the ice could spread any further. “One hit and it’s over.”

“If only our weapons could do something to him… if only we still had our fifty cals,” Fabian expressed in a hopeless rage. “How is this fair at all?”

“Knowing the enemy before you strike is half the battle; so says Sun Tzu,” Raul recalled grimly. “They did their research; they know exactly where to hit us. Even if…”

Raul suddenly cut off in the middle of his statement, much to the confusion of the soldiers around him. He exhaled several times to make sure that he wasn’t mistaken. He could no longer see the vapor in the air when he breathed. An idea began to form in his mind.

“Sir?” Fabian pressed, worried about his sudden silence. Raul’s eyes hardened.

“Travis and Amaryllis need support. Are you two up for it?” Raul asked, his heart heavy as he asked. He was sending them on a suicide mission and he knew it.

“I’ll admit I want a crack at him… but do you think we can win?” Samuel asked hesitantly.

“I have an idea. Doesn’t it feel warmer out here now?” Raul pointed out. After a pause, the two of them started to see what he was getting at. “I need time. Can you do that?”

Fabian and Samuel looked at one another, then back at Raul. The two of the nodded solemnly, recognizing what they had to do. Raul sighed gratefully.

“Then go out there and do me proud,” he commanded them.





Amaryllis quickly found herself in a fight for her life. In fact, it would be difficult to even call it a fight. After her first hit on him, Frozen made it extremely difficult to get close again. She sprinted around the bridge, moving erratically in order to make it harder for Frozen’s icicles to hit her. Every time she heard one shatter against the ground beside her, she felt her heart skip a beat.

“This is how it should be. For all your myths… for all your legends… you are nothing compared to us,” Frozen declared condescendingly. “Your weapons are but compensations for your own weaknesses. Against one whose strength comes from within… you cannot stand.”

Frozen lowered his staff to the road, summoning a line of icy spikes that shot towards her rapidly. Amaryllis saw it coming and noted that it was slower than his icicles, so she had just enough time to plant her right foot and propel herself forward and around the attack. She attempted to close the distance between them, her fist at the ready.

Amaryllis leapt over Frozen’s staff as the unicorn attempted to knock her feet out from under her, and then she struck him with a right hook… only to recoil in pain. She cried out, feeling as though she’d just struck a wall. She glared at him, noting the presence of a shimmering blue field where her fist had just struck. She reasoned that he must be protecting himself with a magical barrier that could turn away fist, knife, and bullet alike.

“You thought that would work a second time?” Frozen commented. Before Amaryllis could move, his aura surrounded her, restricting her movement entirely. Even though she could feel her muscles straining, it was though she were surrounded in a liquid substance that had solidified around her.

With a flick of his head, Frozen brought Amaryllis around to the left, where she smacked right into Travis, who was attempting to give her support. The two of them tumbled to the ground together in a tangle of limbs. Before they could recover, Frozen slammed his two front hooves into the ground, sending sheets of ice surging in their direction.

They couldn’t dodge in time. The sheets collided with them and knocked them into the air, where they struck the suspension cables of the bridge painfully before falling back to the ground. Amaryllis immediately rolled over and checked her skin where she had been struck. She let out a sigh of relief when she found only bruises and not the spreading of ice.

“Not all of his attacks are instant death,” Amaryllis whispered to Travis, helping him rise. “It seems as though only those icicles have that ability. Don’t get hit by them.”

“Noted,” Travis grunted, stretching one arm. “I have one grenade left. Can you stop him moving?”

“Would it do any good? Besides, I’d…” Amaryllis started to respond, but then she noticed Frozen’s horn glowing. Two circles of bluish light appeared on the road several feet away from him on either side, forming an equilateral triangle with the unicorn as the tip. “He’s doing something. Let’s stop him!”

“Right!”

Amaryllis and Travis broke into a run, avoiding the circles on the road and heading directly for Frozen. In the process, Travis picked up his knife from where it had fallen.

“Are you sure you want to ignore those?” Frozen taunted. From the two circles, two pillars of ice about five feet tall and half a foot thick shot upwards. At the top of each of the two pillars was a small crossbow.

“Oh shi-!” Amaryllis attempted to halt her momentum, but she slipped on the icy ground and fell forward, landing flat on her face. In the process, she avoided the bolt of ice that fired from the pillar closest to her, but Travis was unlucky enough to take it in the shoulder. “Travis!”

“I’m fine… but it’s not over!” Travis returned, gritting his teeth. Sure enough, the crossbows were already turning to track them, each one cleverly set upon a ball joint so as to attack from any angle and elevation.

Amaryllis and Travis were forced to dart around the field to avoid both the attacks of the crossbows and Frozen’s icicles. Amaryllis kept a close watch on the crossbows as she did so, quickly determining that they could fire once every four seconds. With such a relentless hail of ice, it was only a matter of time until Frozen would hit one of them with his icicles.

Suddenly, Samuel and Fabian were there, striking simultaneously at each of the pillars. With the two of them carrying lengths of metal pipe, they were able to break through the fragile ice easily, sending the crossbows to shatter on the ground below.

“We’ve got your back!” Fabian called out to Amaryllis and Travis, the soldier sliding to a halt beside the latter.

“Frozen dies today!” Samuel stood beside Amaryllis, holding the pipe up threateningly. “Grant, Rachel, and Sawnee say hello.”

“Am I supposed to know who they are?” Frozen remarked uncaringly, unperturbed by their increased number.

“You killed them! A loving family, who only wanted to…” Samuel roared angrily.

“Please, you can’t possibly expect me to remember the names of everyone I’ve killed,” Frozen cut across him, angering the latin male even further. He then spun his staff around, releasing a wave of frigid air and ice in all directions. “And I’m certain I won’t remember yours after you’re gone.”

The four of them grunted and held up their arms to protect their eyes from the wintry attack, their body temperature dropping by the second.

“As if a little wind is going to stop the US Army!” Fabian shouted defiantly, pushing through the wind and into Frozen’s effective range. He slammed his pipe down on the unicorn’s back… only for the metal to strike the skin-tight barrier and bend. He attempted to follow up with his knife, but the weapon merely shattered on impact.

Frozen grabbed the soldier with his aura and slammed him into the ground viciously, and then hurled him towards Travis, who nimbly ducked and lashed out with his foot. Once again, the attack had no effect, and the unicorn retaliated with a gust of icy air that hurled him backwards.

Amaryllis and Samuel attacked simultaneously, focusing their attacks on a single area in an attempt to push through the barrier. But Frozen seemed to grow tired of tanking their attacks. He grabbed Samuel with his magic next, and then he moved his head out of the way just in time for Amaryllis’s fist to go soaring past his head. When she attempted to strike again, Frozen positioned Samuel in front of her, forcing her to halt and nearly causing her to slip again.

It wasn’t long before Fabian returned to the battle, forgoing his weapons in favor of his fists as well. Frozen sidestepped the soldier’s attack, and then he slammed Samuel into the soldier’s chest, knocking the two of them back. He allowed Amaryllis’s next attack to strike against his barrier, merely causing her further pain.

“This is impossible! Nobody’s invincible!” Amaryllis emitted in helpless rage. Even as the four of them struggled, none of them could land a single hit on Frozen, and only took injury after injury.

“My dear...” Frozen laughed at her words as if they were the funniest joke he’d heard all day. “You would not want to meet King Sombra.”

“I have! And you’re nothing compared to him!” Amaryllis snapped back, much to the unicorn’s surprise. “I could feel his power in the very air I breathed… but I feel nothing from you.”

“You’re absolutely correct. I am nothing to King Sombra. How does it feel, knowing that you cannot even measure up to one of his servants?” Frozen returned with a coy smile, slamming Amaryllis telekinetically into the side of the one of the vehicles. “Doesn’t it make you feel pathetic?”

Frozen blasted Travis and Fabian away with a shockwave of air and ice, and then he thrust his staff forward, pinning Amaryllis to the vehicle with a surge of frigid air. She attempted to move, but the cold seemed to sap the energy out of her limbs.

“Sh-Shut up!” Amaryllis snapped back, even though she knew full well he was right. She flushed with shame as she heard Frozen laugh with delight.

“It seems you’re beginning to understand,” he observed with a grin. To Amaryllis’s horror, she saw multiple icicles forming in the air above him, pointed directly at her. She struggled harder, but she couldn’t move beneath Frozen’s assault. Her struggles grew more and more desperate; she couldn’t die here. She had to get out of the city; she had to find Gerome; she couldn’t let these people die. Travis and Fabian were attempting to reach her, but they wouldn’t make it in time. “This is your place in the world; fodder to be trodden upon by the hooves of those far your superior!”

Frozen gestured with his head, and the icicles shot forth, sped along their way by the wind gusting from his staff. Amaryllis could feel her heart pounding harder and harder as they flew inexorably towards her.

“I won’t…. not like this…” Amaryllis grunted, and helpless tears squeezed out of her eyes. She put every last bit of her strength into moving, but only managed to move a few inches. Slowly accepting that there was nothing she could do, she focused her eyes on Frozen. “Go to hell, you bastard!”

Time seemed to slow down. Amaryllis suddenly became aware of a dark shape standing in front of her, directly in the path of the icicles. Before she could figure out what she was looking at, the icicles embedded themselves into the shape with a dull thump. The sound of crackling ice followed.

“Gggrh…” the pained grunt of the shape in front of her, as well as the cessation of the wind that restrained her, allowed Amaryllis to identify her saviour as Samuel. She didn’t know when he had arrived, only that he had saved her from instant death. Her eyes widened, and horror and dismay struck her like a hammer blow.

“Samuel… you…” Amaryllis knew it was over for him well before she opened her mouth. She could already see tendrils of ice snaking their way around his body. She felt conflicted; she wanted to yell at him for doing something so suicidal; She wanted to question him why he had thrown his life away to save her; she wanted to curse fate’s cruelty for leading them both to this moment… but more than anything, she wanted to thank him for saving her. Yet the words would not come to her, and all she could do was stare at him with a mixture of despair and awe. “Why… why did you…?”

Samuel staggered; it was clear that it was taking every last inch of his willpower to remain upright. He turned to look at Amaryllis, revealing the frozen bloody holes that the icicles had left in his chest. He gave her a sad smile, clutching his chest with his hand.

“Don’t look at me like that; I did what I had to do. Any soldier… would be proud to have a death like this...” Samuel grunted. The ice began to reach his neck and spread down his arms, and his movements grew stiffer and more erratic. “To die for one’s country…”

“Shut up! You didn’t do anything for your country; you did it to save me!” Amaryllis snapped back tearfully. “What am I supposed to do now?! You’ve been here with me the whole time… I promised to save you!”

“You can’t save anyone if you’re dead…” Samuel reached out his hands and grabbed one of Amaryllis’s, his chilled fingers grasping her tightly. “Look at me. You have a duty to save these people… and I know you can see it through.”

“Samuel…” Amaryllis’s body trembled. She didn’t know when it had happened, but she had somehow grown attached enough to him that his impending death hurt… a pain she hadn’t felt thus far despite the death she’d already encountered.

She remembered how many times the two of them had fought together in the past few days, watching one another’s back despite how they felt about one another. She remembered how he’d taught her how to reload a gun. She remembered how during her moment of despair at the church, he’d stood there beside her, helping her up. Then it hit her; she knew why this hurt so much: she had started to trust him.

“Just promise me one thing…” Samuel urged her. The ice reached his hands, freezing them through. Amaryllis could feel his grip weaken, his skin already starting to crack. Amaryllis could do nothing but watch as he crumbled to pieces before her.  “Don’t… let me die… in vain…”

Amaryllis stood there silently for a moment, and then she turned her gaze on Frozen, who had been watching the whole display with a smirk. A bolt of burning hot rage shot through her, but it soon dissipated, to be replaced by a calm determination. She couldn’t describe how she was feeling at that moment, but she knew only one thing: this wasn’t a fight to escape anymore. It was a fight to kill Frozen Soul.

“Well now, That was quite the dramatic performance. I must say, I haven’t seen something quite so utterly pointless since I murdered that pathetic pegasus! It seems ponies aren’t the only species prone to such emotional outbursts,” Frozen commented, sounding bored. He twirled his staff, icy energies building up around him once again. “Shall we finish this up? I have other humans to cull, you see.”

“Travis. Fabian,” Amaryllis said calmly. The two soldiers, who now stood on the other side of Frozen between him and the horde of Oppressed, looked at her upon being called. “I’m going to kill him. Will you help me?”

“You don’t even have to ask,” Travis returned, his mouth set in a grim line. Fabian nodded his assent as well, his combat knife clutched tightly in his hand.

The three of them quickly surrounded Frozen and attacked him all at once; Amaryllis with her fist and the two soldiers with their knives. However, they had to cut off their charge to avoid hitting one another as Frozen surged up into the air on a pillar of summoned ice.

“Come now! That was too obvious an attack plan!” Frozen criticized them. His horn glowed, and then much to their horror, multiple crossbow turrets burst from the street in a circle around them, numbering ten in all. “What’s that look for? You didn’t think I just stood there and watched while your friend died, did you?”

The three of them scattered as the turrets began to fire all at once. Amaryllis slid beneath one of the bolts and grabbed Samuel’s pipe from where it had fallen. With it, she approached the nearest turret through the hail of icy thorns. She raised the pipe and swung, managing to shatter the base of the turret just as it fired again. She turned to the side, the thorn slicing into her side painfully.

Travis ducked beneath one of the darts and swiveled to avoid another, cursing under his breath when he realized that trying to get close would be difficult. Thinking fast, he rolled forward to avoid another onslaught, retrieving his handgun in the process. He fired from the hip at a turret as soon as he steadied himself, the bullet shattering his target instantly. Two things happened immediately afterward; upon seeing that bullets could harm the turrets, Fabian withdrew his handgun as well. Secondly, the soldiers hiding behind the vehicles opened fire with their rifles, destroying the turrets one by one.

“Tch.” Frozen bit his lip, annoyed now that that one particular tactic would no longer work for long. Before he could form any further spells, however, his three opponents began to run at him all at once, Travis and Fabian in the lead. Frozen scoffed. “You fools… how many times do I have to teach you this lesson?”

Frozen easily lifted both Travis and Fabian off of the ground with his telekinesis and attempted to club Amaryllis with them. Much to his surprise, she slid underneath the two of them. Amaryllis spun on one foot and slammed her fist into the side of Frozen’s head. Frozen gasped in pain and skidded across the ice, a bruise forming where she had struck.

“You witch! How dare you!?” Frozen raged furiously. With a flick of his staff, a jagged wall of ice surged forward like a speeding train, slamming into her and sending her tumbling onto the ground. Despite the pain, Amaryllis could only think of one thing.

“I… I hit him?” Amaryllis whispered to herself. She looked at her fist, and then back at Frozen. Nothing seemed to have changed between now and before, when she couldn't hurt him. She wrinkled her brow: something was up.

While Travis and Fabian were recovering, Amaryllis ran back to confront Frozen, who eagerly met her advance. The unicorn assailed her with a hail of icicles, but she used the frictionless surface of the iced bridge to slide to the right. She retaliated with a left hook, but her attack did nothing, slamming onto his barrier like before.

She quickly attempted to put some distance between them, but immediately found herself clutched in Frozen’s telekinetic grip. To her horror, an icicle formed in the air beside Frozen’s head, the missile turning in midair and glinting dangerously.

“I’m done playing with you. Now you die,” Frozen growled. Just then, a shot rang out, and a bullet shattered the icicle. Frozen turned his head just in time to see Fabian dangerously close by. Frozen jerked his head, and Amaryllis swung through the air towards the soldier.

Fabian had expected this. He ducked beneath her and planted his fist into Frozen’s chest, causing Frozen to cry out and forcing him back several feet. With that, Amaryllis was free, and she quickly climbed to her feet.

“I hurt him…?” Fabian asked softly, looking at his fist. Amaryllis looked at him as well, her mind racing. Then it struck her.

“That’s it. He’s not invincible after all,” Amaryllis realized. Fabian and Travis, who had just caught up, heard her and looked at her in surprise. “You two, I have an idea. How much ammo do you have left?”

“In this current clip, two shots,” Fabian answered.

“Three here,” Travis added. “What is your… oh shit. Move!”

A veritable glacier of ice surged across the bridge, courtesy of a very angry Frozen. The three of them scattered in time and quickly went on the attack in order to prevent Frozen from attacking again.

“On my signal then!” was all Amaryllis could get out. Travis and Fabian called out their acknowledgement, and then they once again entered melee with Frozen. It wasn’t long before Travis found himself in the unicorn’s grip once more.

“This game is beginning to grow…” Frozen began… only to be interrupted by Amaryllis’s fist thudding right into his flank with all the force she could muster. His eyes went wide and air whooshed from his lungs.

“...Tiresome?” Amaryllis snarled, and then she immediately followed up with a kick, sending Frozen hurtling into the side of the bridge. Travis was released from his grip, and it seemed like the soldier was starting to connect the dots as well. “I agree. Your genocide ends here; right now!”

Amaryllis didn’t give him a chance to recover. She sprinted for him as he was rising, her fists at the ready. Frozen got to his feet and aimed his staff at her, the crystal glowing with a deadly blue light. She deliberately slowed her pace so that she arrived just as the spell was firing. She grabbed the staff and moved the tip away from her such that the blast of ice passed harmlessly by her side… and then she promptly planted her fist directly into Frozen’s chest.

“Raaagh!” Out of desperation, Frozen blinked out of existence in a burst of magic, reappearing behind her… and right in the path of Travis and Fabian. Frozen tangled with the two soldiers briefly, his barrier rendering all of their attacks useless. However, Amaryllis noted that he wasn’t casting any spells either.

Finally, Frozen grabbed Travis with his telekinesis. Amaryllis struck once again, knocking the unicorn right off of his hooves with a sweeping kick. She immediately followed up with a vicious haymaker, smashing him into the ground and cracking the ice. The two soldiers, as well as all of the soldiers still in cover, watched her with awe, shocked by the sudden turn of the tables.

“I will not be harmed by some worthless human bitch!” Frozen shrieked, planting his hooves on the ground. He unleashed a powerful wave of ice from his staff in all directions in an attempt to force the three of them back.

“Amaryllis!” Travis called. The soldier clasped his hands together and knelt down, looking at her expectantly. With his help, Amaryllis soared over the wave of ice and swung her fist downwards, forcing Frozen to block her with the haft of his staff. Her furious, yet calm eyes drilled into Frozen’s; she would not back down.

“Enough of this!” Frozen pushed Amaryllis back with a shockwave of magic and grasped her with his telekinesis… which was exactly what she was waiting for.

“Shoot him! Shoot him now!” Amaryllis called out. Frozen’s eyes widened, but it was too late. There was the sound of thunder, and bright red blood burst from the unicorn’s flank. Frozen released her immediately and cried out, hunching down and nursing the sudden gunshot wound. Fabian raised his weapon, a grin forming on his face.

“Hey… did our weapons just work?” One of the soldiers hiding observed.

“Maybe… he’s not invincible…” another soldier added. Just like that, the morale began to return to the squad. “Yeah! Let’s kick his furry little ass!”

“That’s right! This pony isn’t as tough as he makes himself out to be,” Amaryllis announced, speaking loud enough for everyone to hear her. “It’s as simple as this… he can’t cast magic and protect himself at the same time. Isn’t that right, Frozen?”

“You…” Frozen snarled, but he didn’t refute her statement. He took a few steps back, blood trickling steadily from the bullet wound in his flank. He noticed how the other soldiers were starting to point their rifles at him and panicked. He immediately turned back to the horde of Oppressed on the bridge. “Playtime is over! Kill them! Kill them all!”

The Oppressed promptly shrieked and roared, finally starting to move after being still for so long. Amaryllis cursed, watching the wall of undead surge over the bridge towards them. Despite their minor victory, there was no way they could fight him and a horde of Oppressed at the same time.

“Weapons free!” Suddenly, the main gun on the aid vehicle roared to life, pumping hundreds of rounds of high explosive rounds into the ranks of the Oppressed before they could even get close to Amaryllis and Frozen. Kristoff sat in the gunner’s seat, the grizzled man chewing on a lit cigar as his hands squeezed down on the trigger with fervor.

Not wanting to be outdone, the newly invigorated soldiers took their positions and leveled their rifles at the incoming Oppressed, raining hot metal into the horde. Some of them even threw the last of their grenades into the mess, the resulting explosions tearing the undead apart and causing the the bridge to shudder beneath their feet.

“Keep those Oppressed back! Don’t let them lay a finger on Amaryllis!” Raul commanded from his position atop the upturned command vehicle, emptying his clip into the wall of undead flesh.

Frozen looked around wildly, his composure slipping when he realized that the Oppressed wouldn’t be able to save him from the woman that steadily approached him.

“Change of plans. You die instead,” Amaryllis said calmly, cracking her knuckles. Travis and Fabian stepped up beside her, their weapons at the ready. With them backing her up, Amaryllis felt invincible. With them around, Frozen could no longer cast his magic carelessly.

“Then bring everything you’ve got! I am a loyal servant of his Majesty, King Sombra! I will not be bested by you!” Frozen returned with fury, breaking into a gallop. Amaryllis, hunched down, spreading her arms in a defensive stance.

Amaryllis met the pony’s charge head on, ducking beneath his two front hooves and wrapping her arms around his middle in a grapple. She had been practicing martial arts for her entire life as a hobby. There was no way she’d lose in a straight up fight.

Twisting her legs, she turned and used Frozen’s momentum to throw him clear off the ground and slam him into the road below. She wheeled and attempted to stamp down on his stomach with her foot, but the pony rolled out of the way and bucked backwards with his back two hooves. Amaryllis leaned her upper body back just in time to avoid the deadly attack, and charged at the unicorn once again.

Frozen and Amaryllis met once again, hoof meeting against fist in a desperate struggle for dominance. As they fought, it was clear who had the advantage. Frozen couldn’t lay a hoof on her unless he used his magic, yet whenever he tried to, she punished him with vicious punches and kicks. All the while, Fabian and Travis followed the fight with their sidearms leveled, prepared to shoot if the unicorn attempted to use his telekinesis again.

An icicle zipped past Amaryllis’s head, and then her elbow rammed into Frozen’s jaw, knocking a tooth out and causing the unicorn to spit blood. He snarled and counterattacked with a swing of his staff, but Amaryllis easily dodged and retaliated with a flurry of punches. Neither of them seemed to be gaining any headway on the other as their fight took them across the surface of the bridge.

Eventually, Frozen completely forewent using magic at all, leading the fight to a complete standstill. Even as they grappled with one another, none of them could deal any damage to the other. Amaryllis was tougher and more skilled in physical combat, but Frozen’s barrier was insurmountable.

Finally, after Amaryllis threw Frozen a good distance away, the unicorn leapt to his feet and sent two Oppressed who had managed to make it through the hail of gunfire after her. Amaryllis scoffed and faced the Oppressed; if there were only two, this wouldn’t be a problem for her.

“Amaryllis!” Fabian tossed a metal pipe over to her, which she accepted gratefully. With it, she smashed through the skull of one of the Oppressed with a single swing, and after blocking the claws of the second, she kicked it to the ground and bashed its head in.

“There’s nowhere to run, Frozen,” Amaryllis growled, once again walking towards the unicorn.

“That’s my line.” Unlike what she expected, Frozen’s grin returned. A sense of unease fell over her when the ground around her began to glow with a bright light. A gigantic mystical rune made from crackling blue energy formed on the surface of the bridge, encompassing the whole area where the two of them had just been fighting. “You didn’t think I spent this whole time fending you off for nothing, did you?”

“Dammit! What did you do!?” Amaryllis demanded, cursing herself for not noticing his discrete spellcasting. She couldn’t recall ever noticing him setting something like this up.

“You probably thought you were interrupting my spellcasting this whole time. I can’t blame you for thinking that way, as I never cast any offensive magic towards you… until now,” Frozen explained. He tapped the ground with the butt of his staff, summoning a thick shield of ice to protect him from the front. “No, I was merely laying the groundwork for this masterpiece of an ice spell! Behold my strongest spell! Crystal Tower!”

Frozen’s horn lit up like a christmas tree, and the glowing rune on the ground steadily grew brighter. Now, Amaryllis could physically feel the power of the spell in the air as though she were surrounded by static electricity. She could already tell that if this spell went off, she and everyone around her would be dead.

“He’s casting a spell! Kill him now!” Amaryllis demanded. Travis and Fabian obediently unloaded the remainder of their clips into the ice shield protecting Frozen, but it did little more than crack the ice, causing the unicorn’s grin to widen. “Damn you! I will not fall here!”

“Oh, I think you will. You put up a fight, but in the end, I will triumph!” Frozen declared confidently, his staff shining like a cyan sun. He reared up, magical energy rushing away from his body. “Crystal Tower… rise and pierce through the…”

“Frozen Soul!” Suddenly, a pony appeared several feet away from the two of them in a burst of magic, just outside the intensifying magical rune. Amaryllis recognized her as one of the ponies that had attacked her group at the church; it was the dark blue unicorn with the deep violet and pale turquoise mane. Except there was one striking difference in her appearance; one half of her body was burnt and matted with dried blood, patches of fur missing. The rage of one with nothing left to lose burned in her eyes. She didn’t even look at Amaryllis, her eyes fixed solely on Frozen. “This is for what you did to Rays!”

“Shade…?!” Frozen emitted, but that was all he had time to say before a blast of unrefined aquamarine magic slammed into the tip of his staff, cracking the artifact beyond repair. Frozen gazed at the staff in horror. From the cracks in the crystal, the magic contained within began to run rampant. The cracks blazed with freed magic and then exploded violently, shattering the ice shield and engulfing the unicorn completely.

Just before he was lost from sight, Amaryllis spotted his barrier dissipating, overwhelmed by the sheer magic flowing out of the destroyed staff. She seized the opportunity and broke into a run, her hand reaching around to the handgun that had been buckled at her side, unused, for all this time. This was it. She wouldn’t get another chance if she let this slip by.

The exploding magic passed over Amaryllis, painfully burning at her skin, but she ignored it, focusing only on the form of Frozen before her. When the light finally cleared, Frozen stood unsteadily, hunched over from pain and his fur burnt. He had just enough time to look up into Amaryllis’s merciless eyes, the barrel of a gun pointed squarely between his widened eyes.

Amaryllis pulled the trigger, and Frozen’s body crumpled to the ground, motionless.

A hush fell over the bridge, the sounds of combat slowly dying down. The remaining Oppressed came to an immediate halt, standing completely and utterly still. Travis tentatively approached one of them; when it did not react, he tipped it over with a light push, the undead collapsing to the ground like a wet noodle.

Amaryllis panted heavily, glaring at Frozen’s corpse, the unicorn’s face forever displaying his last look of panic. Blood and grey matter trickled from the hole in his skull. It was very clear that he was dead.

“That was for Samuel… and the Graves family… and for Jakob,” Amaryllis spat, resting her hands on her knees. However, she knew she couldn’t relax just yet. She turned her gaze up towards the unicorn that had saved her life; the one Frozen had referred to as “Shade.”

“All units regroup and secure the bridge! Take that pony into custody… with force if necessary!” The air soon filled with Raul’s orders and the sound of movement as the soldiers searched the bridge for any further hostiles.

Travis, Fabian, and Amaryllis, who were the closest to Shade, pointed their handguns at her without hesitation. Whether she saved them or not, it was clear that all ponies were their enemy.

“Do whatever you want. I won’t resist,” Shade emitted sullenly, the mare sitting down on her haunches. Amaryllis could tell from the way the pony’s frame trembled that she was in terrible pain; both physically and emotionally. “Frozen Soul is dead. That’s all I care about.”

“Good. It’s best for both of us if you’re cooperative.” Raul approached the pony, his shotgun pointed directly at her. Despite her appearance, Raul’s expression showed no signs of sympathy or understanding. “Now… I have a great deal of questions for you.”

“Alright,” Shade answered readily, looking into Raul’s eyes with her own unwavering gaze. “Shoot.”
> 15. The Tipping Point
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Verrazano bridge now cut a particularly strange sight to the various people upon it. The sheets of ice coating the asphalt surface were steadily melting in the rapidly warming temperature. This also held true for the haphazard lines of ice that criss-crossed the road; the result of the heated battle with Frozen Soul. Stranger yet would be the ranks of motionless undead that appeared to have stopped mid-charge.

On one end of the road, Kristoff and several soldiers were attempting to smash through the wall of sheer ice that surrounded them on all sides; courtesy of Frozen’s cunning trap. They were using whatever they could find, whether it be the butts of their rifles, lengths of metal pipe, or other assorted blunt objects. Aven and Avil were there as well, contributing to the effort with their wrenches.

Amaryllis, now that the fighting was over, was standing morosely beside the pile of frozen shards that had once been Samuel. Despite their victory over Frozen, she couldn’t bring herself to feel any joy in it. The loss had simply been too great.

Mary stood beside her quietly, one hand resting on Amaryllis’s shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Yet she had no words to say that could make the situation any better. Together with Jennifer and Emma, the four of them stood in a respectful yet solemn silence.

The whole situation appeared to be weighing heavily on William, who stood with Kent near the burning wreck of the tank. The latter spoke comforting words to the younger man as he attempted to come to terms with the many deaths he had witnessed in such a short period of time.

Yet, there were not only humans on the bridge: Nascent Shade rested on her haunches near Frozen’s lifeless body, surrounded by Raul, Travis, and Fabian. The former two had their weapons angled towards the unicorn; the three of them now knew full well of what unicorns were capable. They weren’t taking any chances. Fabian was busy applying first aid to the extremely severe burns covering half of Shade’s body.

“Why did King Sombra choose to attack New York?” was Raul’s first question. The soldier believed that he already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear it from Shade, one of Sombra’s ponies.

“Isn’t it obvious? It’s because it’s one of the most densely populated areas in all of America,” Shade answered, squirming with discomfort as Fabian cooled her burns with water and wrapped them with gauze. “If you’ve a brain, you’ve already figured out that the more people we kill, the stronger we get.”

“Of course. But I want to know why attack here and now, rather than conclude your invasion in Russia?” Raul pressed.

“You know that we attacked Russia?” Shade asked, her eyes widening slightly in surprise. Raul didn’t answer, choosing instead to stare at her expectantly. “We took every precaution such that we would not be discovered.”

“Answer the question,” Travis insisted.

“We’re not stupid. We know the balance of power in the world as of right now. Russia, America, France, the United Kingdom, and China are the powers that be, and each are huge figures in the United Nations,” Shade pointed out, revealing just how much the common unicorn knew about the human world. “If we focused all our efforts on one of you, and one of the others caught wind of it, you’d have all this time to prepare.”

“So you’re striking us all at once…” Raul reasoned, earning a nod from Shade. He cursed under his breath. “Where did you get all the troops for this?”

“Please, do you know how many humans there are in and around Russia? Hundreds of millions. Well over a billion, if you count the surrounding countries,” Shade reminded them. “We know what we’re doing. If we make quick and precise strikes, we can score several thousand undead in a single attack. You don’t even want to know what’ll happen once we take Moscow.”

“Bastards!” Travis’s grip shook on his gun. “These are human lives you’re talking about! We aren’t just sacks of flesh to use as disposable shock troops!”

“As if you’re any better. We’re at war; if we stopped to care about every enemy we fought, we’d never get anywhere. You’re a soldier; you should understand that,” Shade retorted. Travis’s fingers turned white as he clutched his gun even tighter. “Now, unless you’d like to discuss morality with me more, I’m sure you have other questions.”

“You seem awfully willing,” Raul noticed with a hint of suspicion in his voice. “What’s your game here?”

“You think I might be feeding you false information?” Shade correctly surmised. She sighed and shook her head. “I could, but what would be the point? I helped kill one of King Sombra’s top scientists; my life means nothing now.”

“Why did you help us? You don’t sound like you’re switching sides out of the goodness of your heart.”

Shade scoffed. “As if. I don’t care about anything except my… my mate, Rays. And he’s…” She looked down, despair and rage slowly starting to contort her face. “He’s gone. This piece of garbage killed him!”

Shade’s body suddenly lit up with magic, causing Fabian to leap away. From her horn, a beam of magical power burst forth and blasted Frozen’s body, burning the skin away easily and pushing it several feet away.

“That’s enough! Try something like that again and I’ll put a bullet through your skull!” Travis shouted; the very sight of magic was enough to frighten him, as he knew he could be killed instantly with a single blast if she was anything like Frozen.

“Do it, I don’t care. I don’t have anything to lose.” Shade returned defiantly. Travis lifted his rifle butt as if to hit her, but Raul caught his arm, holding him back. “But to answer your question, I helped you so I could kill Frozen Soul.”

“Even if it meant turning against your king?” Raul prompted.

“Why do you think I served him in the first place? I wanted a safe place to spend my days with Rays… and this mission was the perfect opportunity to do that once all you humans were gone,” Shade replied bitterly. “Without him, there’s no point to any of this.”

“I see. Then, if I said we wanted to use your ability to control the Oppressed, would you resist?” Raul asked after thinking for a moment. Travis and Fabian looked at him in shock, and then they looked at one another.

“Oh, so you’ve figured out I can do that?” Shade responded. Her horn blinked briefly, and one of the Oppressed behind her fell over. “You’re not worried that I could reanimate this horde?”

“You could. But you can’t control them if you’re dead.” Raul’s words were spoken with the same calm tone as before; Travis couldn’t help but shudder beside him.

“True. By the way, what did you call them? Oppressed?” Shade questioned. “Why call them that?”

Raul indicated Amaryllis with his thumb. “We have a source of our own who knows all about your king and the undead. She calls them Oppressed,” he explained, careful not to use her name. “She even knew of your attack on Russia.”

“How could she know? That hardly seems possible,” Shade demanded.

“It’s not important,” Raul emitted. Just then, a cracking noise could be heard from behind. Raul turned to see Kristoff’s group finally breaking through the weakened wall of ice. “Alright, it’s about time to get moving. I have a few more questions for you.”

“Whatever.”

“Tell me everything you know about the attack on New York. I want to know how many undead you brought, how you entered the city, how you managed to turn so many of us right at the start, and who’s leading you,” Raul snapped a barrage of questions her way.

“It’s already over. The civilians were easy to kill and turn, and we’ve already surrounded the military bases. It’s just a matter of time before they run out of ammunition,” Shade replied with a shrug. “We attacked from Staten Island, the Bronx, and Queens, from below and above. Honestly, by the time we even arrived, over half the population had already turned. You’ll see just how outnumbered you are when you make it into Brooklyn.”

“But how did you turn so many?” Raul pressed.

“I don’t know for certain. All I know how to do is control them; not how to create them. King Sombra is the one who created the spell, so I’d imagine only he and his trusted magicians know it,” Shade continued with a shrug. “I can probably tell you who knows how in the city. That would be the one who leads us… D-”

“Doctor Valeric Pallor,” a cold, reedy voice sounded out loud enough to be heard by everyone on the bridge. Eyes turned and weapons were trained on the human figure that now stood with his back against the wall of ice that blocked the way back into Staten Island.

The man was clearly Russian, possessing fair skin and a rounded face, as well as a bulbous nose and thin lips. His hair was as white as bone, and was neatly cropped to avoid falling in front of his eyes. For attire, a pair of circular spectacles sat neatly on his nose, and he wore a neatly pressed lab coat decorated only by the sewn image of a distinct purple flower with five petals; a flower known as bittersweet nightshade.

Shade’s eyes grew wide with fear and her entire body began to tremble. She turned her head slowly. “It’s… It’s him…” she stammered with fright.

Amaryllis recognized him immediately as the scientist she had seen in the papers; the one Raul had suspected to be the source of the Oppressed breakout. She leaned down and grabbed Samuel’s gun, wielding it along with her own. She had no idea what to expect, but she could tell by just looking at him that he wasn’t their ally.

“Stay right where you are, doctor!” Raul commanded as Valeric began to walk towards them, his shotgun pointed directly at the scientist. “Take one more step, and I’ll order all of my men to open fire.”

“Now, is that any way to talk to the one who saved you all from a deadly virus?” Valeric returned with smug confidence radiating from his every pore. He raised his hands to show that he was unarmed. “Come now; I expected a warmer welcome than that.”

“You can drop the act, doctor. We know full well just where your loyalties lie,” Raul responded without even a hint of amusement in his voice. “I had a feeling it was you.”

“Did you now?” Valeric didn’t seem all that upset that his thinly veiled ruse wasn’t very effective. The scientist turned a knowing smile onto Shade. “Nascent Shade, I’m disappointed in you. Not only did you kill my scientist, but you also spilled your guts to the first human who asked?”

“Would you have let me live even if I hadn’t?” Shade asked, gulping and facing the scientist despite her fear. Valeric laughed as if that were the funniest thing he’d heard all day.

“Absolutely not. Frozen was very talented… I would have preferred him alive.” A dangerous edge entered Valeric’s voice, his eyes narrowing. “They’re just nowhere near as capable when they’re dead; rest assured, you will pay for your betrayal.”

“What exactly did you come here to do, doctor?“ Raul demanded, his grip tightening on his weapon. Valeric returned his attention to the soldier, an unreadable expression on his face. “We know you are behind the attack on New York and that you work for Sombra. Didn’t you think that-”

“How dare you refer to His Majesty in such a disrespectful manner!?” Valeric suddenly flew into a rage, his eyes flashing violet and the ground shattering beneath his feet. “He is King Sombra, rightful sovereign of the Crystal Empire! You will refer to him as such or I’ll rip your corpse limb from limb!”

Raul’s eyes widened, slightly taken aback by the previously calm doctor’s sudden change in demeanor. His grip tightened on his weapon; that display of rage was enough to tell him that Valeric also possessed magic to some degree. The soldier turned his gaze to Travis, Fabian, and then Amaryllis in turn. Each of them met his gaze, recognizing that they were likely to be drawn into combat once more.

“Now then…” Valeric regained his composure almost immediately, as though he’d never lost his temper in the first place. Amaryllis was beginning to suspect that he wasn’t entirely sane. “I came here to collect my subordinates, of course. You will relinquish Nascent Shade and Frozen Soul to me.” He spoke not as one giving a command, but of one speaking a fact...as though the outcome had already been decided.

“Frozen soul is dead. You said that yourself,” Raul pointed out, indicating the fallen unicorn’s mangled body. “Besides; you’ve seen what we did to him. Do you think you’re in a position to be making demands?”

“Look at you, talking so tough. It’s almost as if you think you’re even worth the grime on my hooves!” Valeric snapped. He shifted his posture ever so slightly, a violet aura seeping from his body like a wound oozing blood. It began faint, but steadily grew more apparent, such that everyone could see the power he emitted.

As Amaryllis watched, she could swear she could see the faint shadowy forms of skulls both human and pony weaving in and out of his aura. She felt a chill from the air; a chill independent of the ice remaining on the road. This was a more primal feeling: the natural fear the living held towards the dead.

She wasn’t the only one who could feel it. Emma was shaking terribly, clinging onto her pale-faced mother, who was hiding behind Amaryllis. William was down on his knees, holding his head in his hands with the despair clearly visible on his face. They all could instinctively feel that this doctor was a force with which they could not contend.

“You humans are truly ignorant to the power we possess,” Valeric declared, lifting a hand to the air. A small orb of shadowy violet magic formed in the palm of his hand, the power seeming to suck the very life out of the air. “Your struggles and achievements are nothing in the face of my necromantic might. Allow me to show you…”

Valeric bent his fingers into a claw shape, the orb suspended between his fingertips. He extended his hand downwards, towards the ground where Frozen still lay. From the orb, tendrils of darkness snaked through the air towards the fallen form of Frozen. As they reached him and began to infiltrate his body, Frozen began to shudder and shake, visceral growls and grunts emitting from his throat.

The confused and frightened soldiers watched with baited breath as life returned to Frozen’s eyes, and the unicorn slowly and steadily rose to his hooves. The unicorn’s wounds remained, but Frozen was very clearly alive once again.

“You… but how…?” Amaryllis stammered. Helpless anger filled her up as she realized that her desperate fight against Frozen was all but pointless before the face of such an ability. She’d tried so hard; she’d even lost Samuel fighting that unicorn. It began to seem as though nothing she did meant anything.

“You, fallen one. Tell me your name.” Valeric addressed the reanimated Frozen softly.

“I am Frozen Soul, your faithful and loyal scientist,” Frozen spoke, his voice sounding somewhat hollow. Frozen dipped his head with deep respect. “I’m sorry I failed, your Excellency. I didn’t expect Shade to have betrayed us.”

At that, Frozen shot a hateful glare towards Shade, who was now furious upon seeing Frozen back on his hooves again.

“No, you underestimated them. Never make that mistake again; I will not extend this gift to you a second time,” Valeric corrected him with a disapproving stare. Frozen nodded, looking at the ground with shame.

“That power… ‘your Excellency...’” Even Raul was unable to keep his growing anxiety from showing in the face of such logic-defying power. When he spoke again, it was in a sharp, demanding voice. “You’re not human…. who are you!?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Valeric stated as though he had been waiting for that question. He slowly raised his hand and clicked his fingers. With that simple action, the scientist began to change all at once.

His body lurched forward, forcing him onto all fours as his arms and legs shortened and thickened into four legs tipped with hooves. Dark fur sprouted from his skin, a tail emerged from his rear, and his face contorted into that of a pony’s. When the transformation ended, they were staring at another unicorn with cold violet eyes.

“Allow me to reintroduce myself,” Valeric announced, dipping his head in a mocking bow. “My name is Vanta Pallor, Governor General of the Crystal Army and second in command to His Majesty King Sombra himself. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

“I’ve heard that name before,” Amaryllis suddenly said, remembering her conversation with Seth several months ago. This revelation surprised those that heard her. Even Vanta raised an eyebrow, noticing Amaryllis for the first time. His eyes widened upon seeing her, and then an amused expression formed on his face. “This whole time… it was you. Why did I never see it?”

Vanta suddenly broke into laughter. “Is this… can it be? What delightful… delicious irony this is! To think that you of all people would be among this small group of survivors… fate is such a fickle mistress,” the general proclaimed, clapping his hooves together. The revelation that Vanta and Amaryllis seemed to know one another caused all eyes to focus on the two of them. Yet Amaryllis seemed confused; she didn’t remember seeing anyone like Vanta before.

“How do you know who I am?” Amaryllis demanded, closing the distance between the two of them by several steps. “I’ve met your king, but not you.”

“That’s precisely why I know you! Do you think we came to your school all those years ago simply by chance?” Vanta revealed. “In fact, you would be in stasis right now if it hadn’t been for your clumsy boyfriend.”

“His name is Seth,” Amaryllis gritted out, rage filling her at the disrespectful way Vanta referred to him. However, she knew exactly what Vanta was talking about, as she had heard it from Seth. But this meant… “I was your target?”
“That’s right! I do have to thank the both of you for being such negative individuals and drawing us to you…” Vanta expressed. Just as Amaryllis was about to try prying more information from him, an explosion sounded from somewhere deeper in the city. Vanta glanced back in that direction, scoffing lightly. “Tch. You humans are nothing if not stubborn. It’s about time I wrap things up here. Shade… do come along.”

“Go to hell! I’m not going anywhere with you!” Shade snapped back, her body shaking with rage. Vanta paused, looking surprised by her sudden defiance. “You resurrect the very reason I betrayed you in the first place, and you think I’ll just come crawling back to you with my tail between my legs!? I’d rather die fighting!”

Vanta turned to look at her wordlessly, his violet eyes fixed on hers. Despite her defiant words, Shade couldn’t help but quail somewhat beneath the weight of his gaze. Eventually, Vanta shrugged uncaringly.

“Very well. You can simply die with the rest of these humans. But don’t think death will save you from me,” Vanta decided, his body beginning to glow with magic once more.

Upon hearing that, Raul realized that talk was over and that he’d gained as much information as possible. Raul gave the command with a quick hand signal, and every single armed soldier fired upon the general all at once. Even Amaryllis unloaded with both of pistols.

Yet it was all an effort in futility. Unlike with Frozen, the bullets never even reached Vanta. Upon entering his aura, they froze in mid-air, surrounded by the violet glow of his magic. Vanta’s eyes narrowed with annoyance.

“What do you take me for? I am not some game animal for you to gun down!” Vanta grinded his teeth together, and all of the bullets converged upon a single point in front of him, bending and deforming into a twisted ball of metal before him. He crushed the ball with his magic, resulting in a metallic screech that hurt the ears of those listening. “A question for all of you; do you know how I managed to throw your populace into disarray so quickly?”

“The cure and vaccine for the HAED virus. Anyone who had received the cure or had the vaccine administered could be turned into your shock troops at will,” Raul answered, motioning for the other soldiers to conserve their ammo. It was clear that their weapons wouldn’t be enough to deal with the likes of Vanta. “Those who didn’t fall prey to the virus are immune.”

“Very good!” Vanta clapped his hooves condescendingly. His horn lit up, and everyone could feel the evil magic filling the air. One of the soldiers standing near Kristoff clutched his throat, making a horrible choking sound.

“What in blazes!?” Kristoff demanded as the soldier doubled over, his fingertips starting to bleed as though the edges of his nails were cutting into his skin. Another soldier began to experience the same symptoms, and then another, until over half of their number were suffering and changing. Their fingernails grew rapidly, splitting through their skin and forming deadly talons. Their legs twisted and snapped, forcing them over on all fours as the bones rapidly rearranged themselves. “No… no!”

“You were wrong about one small thing,” Vanta explained in a casual tone, ignoring the agony filled screams of the rapidly transforming soldiers. “The virus didn’t have a perfect infection rate. It was possible that one could come into contact with the virus, but not experience any symptoms. Thus, no cure seemed necessary.”

“You don’t mean…” the meaning behind Vanta’s words became deadly clear to Raul and all others who were not suffering from the deadly transformation.

“The vaccine was just a means to spread the transformation catalyst among a larger number. Simply carrying the virus is enough to make one susceptible,” Vanta explained with a triumphant grin. “You didn’t think I’d show all of my cards right away, did you?”

“Damn! Everyone, stay away from them!” Raul called, putting some distance between himself and one of the nearest transforming soldiers. The soldier, as Raul passed, jerked his head up to stare at him, his neck breaking in the process. What had once been a man opened its mouth and roared, its teeth already elongating into vicious points. Raul immediately turned his shotgun upon the newly made Oppressed and gunned it down in an instant, helpless rage showing on his face. “Full retreat! Everyone across the bridge!”

“You think I’ll let you escape!?” Vanta screeched. With a wave of his hoof, the ice behind him shattered into pieces, revealing a fresh horde of Oppressed beyond, the undead waiting in orderly rows. With a single gesture, they began to swarm across the bridge like the tide.

Amaryllis immediately found herself confronted by two of the newly transformed soldiers at once. Despite their hideous new appearance, it wasn’t hard to recognize them as soldiers who had been in the command vehicle with them. One of them attempted to pass her and head straight to the terrified Mary and Emma, but she wouldn’t let them.

She turned and aimed her pistol directly at the side of the creature’s head. Using the last of the ammo in the magazine, she blew a bloody hole through its head, sending it right to the ground. Then, she bashed the second Oppressed with the butt of the empty gun once, and then she clasped her fists together and slammed them down onto its head.

That wasn’t enough to kill it, so Amaryllis grabbed the metal pipe she’d used before and finished it off with several swift whacks. Unfortunately, she had no time to revel in her victory. The horde was coming; and there was an army the likes of which she’d never seen. Cursing fate for putting her in this situation, she turned back to Mary, Emma, and Jennifer
“Don’t just stand there; get moving!” Amaryllis urged them, stashing the empty gun back in her pocket. “I won’t let them lay a finger on either of you.”

“I don’t believe you’ll have a choice,” Vanta appeared directly in front of her in a burst of violet magic. Amaryllis’s eyes widened, and she broke out into a cold sweat as his deathly magical aura swept over her like a chill breeze. She couldn’t even blink before Vanta’s hoof slapped her aside.

Amaryllis felt as though she’d been hit by a truck. One moment she’d been standing in front of Vanta, and the next, she was hurtling through the air, dropping the pipe in the process. She tumbled across the ice and hit the ground multiple times before her back hit the guardrail at the very edge of the bridge. She hacked and coughed, attempting to recover the air that had just left her lungs.

The Oppressed that she’d been keeping from Mary, Emma, and Jennifer advanced upon them the moment Amaryllis was out of their way. Mary and Emma screamed, hugging one another and pressing themselves up against the vehicle. Jennifer, her eyes wide with fright, picked up the pipe and attempted to fend them off, the girl managing to beat one of them down.

Amaryllis cursed and rose to her feet. She had to get to them. Yet as she took her first step, Vanta appeared behind her and wrapped a hoof around her neck, constricting her airway painfully.

“What’s this? What has you in such a hurry?” Vanta asked her with a mocking ring in his voice. He easily held her tight despite her desperate struggles. She even tried to get free by biting into his hoof, but it was like biting into metal. Vanta followed her gaze over to where the three women were about to become food for the Oppressed. “You mean to tell me that you care about these people? What happened to little the infamous ice queen, Amaryllis?”

“I promised to save them!” Amaryllis gritted out as she gasped for air. “I’m not… a liar…”

“Once you give your word, you keep it, is that it? So this is just a matter of pride to you,” Vanta reasoned. She froze for a moment, his words cutting through her deeper than any claw. She began to feel sick to her stomach, even as Vanta laughed with delight. “You were an excellent choice! Such negativity and cynicism! I bet they trust you completely; but you don’t really care about them. Surrounded and outnumbered, you used them to keep safe.”

“Shut up… that’s not….” Amaryllis couldn’t bring herself to refute him; his words had the cold ring of truth to them. When she first banded together with the others… she had indeed thought of them as a means to an end.

“You may say that you promised to save them, but if they were to fall, you’d tell yourself there was nothing you could do; and you’d leave them behind without a second thought. That’s the kind of person you are; otherwise King Sombra never would have put his eyes on you,” Vanta continued relentlessly, forcing her to watch as Jennifer fought desperately to keep the Oppressed away. She was outnumbered and overpowered; the undead steadily closing in. Vanta leaned in close to whisper into Amaryllis’s ear. “But, that’s not a bad thing. You have potential; King Sombra recognized that when he chose you in the first place. The skill, bravery, and wit it took to defeat Frozen Soul; that's more than enough to prove yourself to me.”

“What are you…?” Amaryllis demanded.Over where Jennifer was fighting, there was a loud clang as an Oppressed claw collided with the pipe she carried. The girl was knocked off balance, the pipe sent skittering away towards where William and Kent were hiding behind the burning tank. It was clear to her that she wouldn’t last much longer.

“Forget about these humans, and instead join with King Sombra. With a little bit of magical training, you could become a force to be reckoned with,” Vanta offered her. “Join with the Crystal Empire, and you’ll become part of a regime that will last for eternity. That’s what you want, isn’t it? The power to change the world to suit you?”

Amaryllis ceased her struggles for a moment, Vanta’s words ringing in her head. She had to be honest with herself. A long time ago, she would have accepted Vanta’s offer in an instant. Having power like Frozen’s would put her above all of humanity, a state that she had more than once wished to attain. With power, she wouldn’t have to deal with the scum that she once believed humanity to be. With power, she could live her life the way she chose, departing from the rails upon which her life was set.

“I…” Amaryllis stammered. Vanta’s grin widened, his grip loosening somewhat. His offer was tempting, and for one moment, she allowed herself to imagine what life would be like with power like his.

“Don’t give up.” She returned to reality almost immediately, the words of a certain little girl echoing in her mind. A girl that, in the midst of death, destruction, and despair that no little girl should ever have to endure, declared her unwavering faith for Amaryllis, even after she’d admitted that she was using everyone to get out of the city. “I think you are nice. You shouldn’t say mean things about yourself.”

 	“Snap out of it, Amaryllis.” Another voice came to her, this time of a particular latin male that had stood by her side since the attack began, choosing to aid and trust her despite common sense telling him otherwise. “You’re supposed to be our leader. We need you, now more than ever.”

“Somebody! Please help!” Jennifer screamed as the Oppressed approached.

“Not my daughter!  Take me instead!” Mary wrapped her arms around her child, attempting to protect her with her body as a last resort.

“Amy! We need you!” Emma’s voice cried out desperately. Amaryllis couldn’t wait any longer. She didn’t know how she could have even entertained Vanta’s words in the first place; the mental image of the Oppressed’s claws ripping through Emma’s little body was more than she could take.

“Go to hell!” Amaryllis fired the last bullet from her remaining handgun directly into Vanta’s chin. Vanta’s barrier was too strong to be broken, but taking a shot from such close range knocked his head up and loosened his grip just long enough for her to break free. She ignored Vanta and dashed for the three girls as fast as she could, disregarding the fact that she had no weapon with which to fight.

“Tch… you disappoint me!” Vanta spat with rage. “You humans are nothing but husks of useless sentiment! This is exactly why you’ll be trampled beneath our hooves!”

Despite running as fast as she could, there was just too much ground to cover. Amaryllis realized with horror that she wouldn’t make it to the girls in time. She reached for the gun on her belt and attempted to fire it, but the weapon merely clicked, devoid of ammo. She could only yell in frustration as the Oppressed descended upon Jennifer like a wave of undead flesh.

Suddenly, with a wordless cry, William leapt over the vehicle and slammed the metal pipe he’d grabbed down on the skull of the Oppressed closest to Jennifer. He did so with enough force to crack the monster’s skull, but not enough to finish it. The timid man screamed with horror as he struggled with the Oppressed… but that bought just enough time for Amaryllis to reach him.

“Hrrrah!” Amaryllis dropped her heel onto the cracked Oppressed’s skull, shattering it and knocking the thing to the ground. With William by her side, the two of them combated the horde together. “I don’t believe it. You actually have a set of balls after all!”

William didn’t answer. It didn’t seem like he was thinking at all; his eyes were bloodshot and his mouth was open, constantly letting out a terrified scream. Even as an Oppressed lunged at him, William tackled it and beat it down with the pipe repeatedly. Once it stopped moving, Amaryllis ripped its claw away from its foreleg and wielded it as a weapon against the other Oppressed.

The fifty caliber machine gun on top of the aid vehicle roared to life once more. The soldier who had lost his leg had managed to crawl into the gunner’s seat and was unloading everything they had left into the opposing horde. Doing this allowed Amaryllis and William to escape from the encroaching Oppressed, joining Raul and the other soldiers that were retreating as quickly as they could.

“What a pointless effort,” Vanta scoffed, the unicorn teleporting to the top of a nearby vehicle. From here, he had a clear shot to both the aid vehicle’s gunner and the retreating soldiers. He began to charge up his magic, his horn sparking with violet energy. He intended to leave nothing left of the foolish humans who had thought to resist him. “It’s time to end this. In the end, you saved no one.”

Just before Vanta fired off his attack two of the Oppressed suddenly stopped in their charge. Without warning, they turned and lunged directly at Vanta, roaring and extending their claws to rip at him.

“What!?” Vanta exclaimed, firing the blast at the Oppressed attacking him. To his horror, the powerful magic splashed against the undead like water on rock, not even leaving a mark on their flesh. They were upon him before he could recover, their claws cutting into his hooves. Vanta teleported a short distance away, behind other Oppressed that he was certain served him. After a quick check, he noticed that he could no longer sense half of the Oppressed. “What is the meaning of this!?”

“You’re not the only one who can control the Oppressed.” Nascent Shade stood steadfast at the rear of the retreating soldiers, magical tendrils emanating from her horn and momentarily connecting with each of the Oppressed that began following her orders. Her Oppressed collided with Vanta’s Oppressed in a vicious melee, the undead tearing each other apart with visceral fury.

“Nascent Shaaaade! What in His Majesty’s name do you think you’re doing!? How far do you intend to fall!?” Vanta shrieked at the opposing mare, his own magic reasserting control over the Oppressed still coming through the breach in the ice wall. “You don’t possibly think you can win, do you!?”

“Are you kidding? I’m a dead mare; I know that. But I’m a dead mare with nothing to lose,” Shade snapped right back, standing her ground despite her knees visibly shaking. She turned her head to see Amaryllis and the other humans escaping across the bridge due to the time her distraction had bought them. She shook her head wryly, speaking her next words to herself. “I never thought I’d die like this, Rays. Missing half my fur and saving a bunch of humans.”

Shade flipped back what remained of her mane with one hoof, putting on a smile one last time. “Let’s do this, Rays. I’ll be joining you shortly.” With a burst of power, Shade broke into a run, a battle cry leaving her throat as she and her Oppressed charged directly towards Vanta and Frozen Soul.





Amaryllis and the other survivors made it through the ice wall and continued, running as fast as they could. It wouldn’t be long before they made it to the other side of the bridge. Looking back, she could see Shade and her Oppressed keeping Vanta and his Oppressed from chasing them. She knew that Shade wasn’t doing this for them, but without her, Amaryllis knew that they would all be dead. She closed her eyes, offering a silent thanks to the brave unicorn. Perhaps, in a different situation, she could have gotten along with that mare.

“Once we’re across the bridge, our first priority is to find a place to bunker up for a short time!” Raul shouted back so that everyone could hear him. “Vanta will be chasing us, so we can’t afford to slow down!”

Amaryllis was tired, but she still had some strength left, so she was able to keep running just fine. She also couldn’t help but look at William, who had lifted a hand to help them fight for the first time since the attack began. She felt a bit of grudging respect for him.

“William, you did a good job back there,” Amaryllis complimented him, deciding to give credit where credit was due. “I couldn’t have saved the girls without you.”

“Y-Yeah… I just… wanted to… I couldn’t…” William seemed to be having trouble breathing. At first, Amaryllis attributed it to the shock and fatigue from fighting for the first time, but then William stumbled, the color draining from his face. “I… I don’t feel so….”

Amaryllis stopped, catching William before he could hit the ground. She felt something warm and sticky on the arm holding his chest. She recoiled with horror as she discovered it to be blood. A red stain on his shirt in the shape of a line stretching from his shoulder to his waist was slowly starting to form.

“Fuck! William!” Amaryllis knew she couldn’t tend to him here; the others would leave her behind. She had no clue how William had managed to run as far as he did with a wound like that, but there was no way he could keep that up. Gritting her teeth, she lifted him clear off the ground and ran quickly to catch up with the rest of the group. “Dammit. Dammit! Just hang in there, you hear me? You’re not allowed to die!”

As the survivors finally entered the burning city of Brooklyn, the situation only began to look more bleak. Amaryllis clutched the half-conscious William to her chest tightly. It wouldn’t be long before they had a place to rest.

She only hoped it would be in time; both for William, and for them all.
> 16. The Breakthrough
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The smell of sweat and blood filled the empty second floor classroom where the surviving members of the group were holed up. It was silent in the room apart from the soft whimpering of the civilians and the haggard breathing of the soldiers. It was a miracle that any of them were alive to share in this situation and they all knew it.

The multitude of desks that had once occupied the classroom had been cleared out and were now arranged into barricades on either side of the outside hallway. Kristoff was out there as a lookout, their weapons fully loaded and their eyes trained on the stairwells.

Inside the classroom, Fabian was at the window, keeping an eye on the Oppressed milling out in the streets below, making sure none of them made a move to enter the school. As for Raul, the sergeant sat at the desk that once belonged to a teacher, but had since been cleared off and covered with maps and ammunition. He pored over the maps, no doubt trying to come up with a plan to escape the city.

Aven, Avil, and Kent sat by the meager pile of weapons and ammunition that constituted their remaining stores, each of them attempting to learn from Travis how to load, maintain, and use them to their fullest extent. Yet they all knew that ammunition was running low; they could only save so much from the vehicles before the Oppressed overran them.

William and Jennifer rested at one end of the room, where their wounds had been tended to and where they could rest. Jennifer was more or less in one piece, but William’s condition was very poor; his chest was heavily bandaged, but his clothes were stained with a great deal of blood, his face was pale, and his breathing was weak. Amaryllis knelt by his side, watching over him and tending to him as best she could. Raps was with her, the soldier’s lips set in a firm frown as he periodically checked William’s breathing and pulse. Along with the two of them, Mary, Jenna, and Emma were there as well, the former holding William’s hand gently and the latter two’s eyes glistening with tears not yet shed.

There were a lot of soldiers missing from the room. More than half of their remaining number had been turned or slaughtered by the murderous Vanta and his Oppressed. Counting both the soldiers and the civilians, there were now twelve of them left.

It was only due to Raul’s quick thinking and familiarity with the city that they’d made it this far. Even with Nascent Shade’s distraction, Vanta’s Oppressed were legion and there were plenty more in Manhattan itself, and if the sergeant hadn’t directed them to the city sewers, they would have been caught and killed.

The journey through the sewers had been less than glamorous, as they’d been forced to navigate the damp, filthy tunnels and corridors for miles before they’d found a safe place to hole up; a high school located just off the highway by the Upper Bay. As the crow flew, it was five miles to Manhattan. In a city drowning in the undead, the distance seemed much larger than it actually was.

Amaryllis held a slightly damp cloth to William’s forehead, attempting to keep him cool. She couldn’t think of anything else to do for him. She wasn’t sure when he’d been hurt; the last thing she remembered was seeing him charge into the fight to defend the women with her. She couldn’t help but nurse a small seed of respect for the man; for as long as she’d known him, William had never had much of a spine, caving into the demands of those more willful than him. Yet if it weren’t for him, Mary and Emma would be dead.

“Will he be okay, Raps?” Amaryllis asked the soldier with a wavering voice, breaking the silence in the room. She knew the moment Raps’s expression changed that there was no hope.

The soldier heaved a sigh, slowly shaking his head. “Maybe if we’d gotten him here sooner we could have done something, but… he’s lost too much blood,” Raps answered softly. Amaryllis closed her eyes tightly, feeling as though her emotions were crushing her heart in an iron vice. “He doesn’t have long. I’m just trying to make him comfortable.”

Amaryllis bit her lip until blood flowed. She couldn’t help but tremble; this was too much. She’d felt more emotion in the past few days than she had in her entire life, and she just didn’t know how much more she could take.

“Amaryllis?” a weak voice spoke to her. Her eyes shot open to see William gazing up at her, his eyes only just open.

“Hey.” Amaryllis couldn’t think of anything else to say to him. She wanted to do something to comfort him, but she couldn’t think of anything. She was at a loss for words. “You’re awake.”

“I…” William reaches up with his free hand, his fingers weakly closing around the wrist of the hand she held at his forehead. Amaryllis withdrew her hand, letting her fingers grasp him without caring how out of character this was for her. “Was… was I… brave?”

“Yeah, you were a real badass,” Amaryllis responded haltingly, her voice catching in her throat. She indicated Mary, Emma, and Jennifer with her free hand. “You see these three? They’re here because of what you did. You saved them when I couldn’t. I… I’m sorry for doubting you. I’m so… so sorry.”

“You had every… right to…” William started to say, but then he broke into a coughing fit, blood oozing from one corner of his mouth. “But I saw them… and thought of what you would do…”

“Amaryllis.” His eyes widened in realization, as though he'd just remembered something important. His hand grasped hers all the tighter. “There’s something… I need to tell you.”

“What do you mean?” Amaryllis asked. She realized how she sounded and quickly amended her words. “I mean… go ahead. I’ll listen.”

“Heh… it’s okay. I know my… my time is short. But I wanted to answer your question… from years ago,” William said with a pained chuckle, forcing a smile onto his face. When he noticed Amaryllis’s confused expression, he explained. “You asked me once… why I cared. What I got out of helping you.”

“It’s because you were always… an inspiration to me. You were distant, cold, and ruthless, but you were strong, willful, and you never let anyone take advantage of you. I wanted to be like you,” William revealed to her, every word clearly requiring a tremendous effort to pronounce. Amaryllis watched him in silence as he continued. “But you always looked sad when you were on your own. You talked tough but… I could see it. I always wanted to talk to you; to help you. But I never did; I didn’t have the guts to approach you.”

“But Seth… he could do what I couldn’t. He could make you happy; he could bring a smile to your face when all I could do was look from afar,” William choked, tears forming in his eyes. “It hurt that I couldn’t help you… but as long as I didn’t have to see you so sad again, I was happy. That’s… that’s why I tried so hard to help you find him.”

Amaryllis’s eyes widened, and she felt her eyes sting, a feeling with which she was unfamiliar. She wracked her brain, but she couldn’t remember seeing William all that often. Of course, he’d worked with them once or twice on group projects, and she’d always found it odd that he never ran from them.

“But this is probably all gibberish to you,” William said, wearing a wan smile.

“No, I… I had no idea. I didn’t think anyone could feel that way about me back then,” Amaryllis attempted to reassure him, all while cursing her past self repeatedly for never paying that much attention to the people around her. How stupid could she have been to think that Seth was the only person who was worth her time? “You just wanted to help me?”

“That’s right. It’s stupid, but I felt that if you could be happy, then so could I. You and Seth… it was beautiful to watch your friendship bud. I wanted to preserve your happiness at any cost… I still do,” William expressed to her fervently. He suddenly broke into a coughing fit, his complexion growing even worse. “Can… can you do me one last favor?”

“Name it. I’ll do anything,” Amaryllis returned, squeezing his hand tightly. William used his other hand, pulling it from Mary’s grip, to reach into his bloodied coat. When his hand re-emerged, a small photograph was clasped in his fingers. He passed it to her gingerly, making sure not to bend it. When she looked at it, she saw William standing in a sunny forest, accompanied by a youthful blonde woman standing beside him, as well as a young girl no more than three years of age clinging to his shoulders. All three of them were smiling brightly, the love for one another easily apparent in their expressions. “Is this…?”

“It’s my family. If… if the city really is lost then… they’re probably gone. But if you find them, please give it to them. Tell them I love them and to be strong.” William’s voice was getting even weaker, his hands slowly going limp. “But if you don’t, then I want you to hold onto it. Keep it. Stay strong… and don’t… forget me…”

William trailed off, the faint movements of his chest coming to a halt. Amaryllis realized when she saw his glazed-over eyes that he was gone. She slowly let his hand drop from her grasp, the photograph clutched in her shaking fingers. Without a word, she placed the photo in a secure pocket.

She slowly stood up, with Raps and the girls watching her closely. She stared at the floor for several seconds, the girl remaining eerily silent. At first, she felt numb, devoid of all emotion. But then, it all came in a searing hot rush of rage that she just couldn’t restrain.

“Goddammit!” Amaryllis suddenly roared, flipping over one of the few remaining desks in the room. The furniture fell to the floor with a crash, the guns and ammo that had rested atop of it clattering across the floor. It made enough noise to catch the attention of everyone in the room, including Raul. Despite that, she only felt worse. “Why is this happening!? Why do we deserve this!?”

Amaryllis stormed across the room, heading towards something else that she could shatter. No one dared get in her way; everyone knew just how strong she was, and nobody was willing to risk getting in her way.

Nobody except Mary. One moment Amaryllis was in full stride, and then suddenly Mary was in front of her, wrapping her arms around the devastated girl. Amaryllis struggled at first, but Mary was surprisingly persistent; she refused to loosen her grip for even a moment.

“Hey. Come here. I understand.” Mary constantly whispered small reassuring words to her. “It’s okay. I’m here.”

“Okay?! What about this is okay?!This is a goddamned nightmare! It doesn’t matter what I do; it doesn’t matter where I go; it’s all pointless! What does it matter how hard I try!? Is this really worth it!?” Amaryllis raged, her struggles slowly lessening as Mary persisted. “It’s like the world just keeps throwing things at me one after another after another to see if I'll break!“

“Shh, Amaryllis. It’s okay. You’re doing everything you can; everybody here knows this,” Mary attempted to reassure her.

“Yeah!? And look where that’s got us: Jakob is dead; Grant is dead; Rachel is dead; Sawnee is dead;  Samuel is dead; and now even William!? I promised to save you. I promised to save all of you! But you just keep falling one after another… and I can’t save you! I just can’t!” Amaryllis’s vision swam and became blurry, an unfamiliar sensation for her. She realized a moment later that she was crying. “I can’t… I can’t do this anymore.”

Mary didn’t try to argue. She only held Amaryllis tightly and reassured her in soft, gentle tones. Amaryllis’s rant eventually gave way to choking sobs, her body shaking in Mary’s grasp. She hated herself for falling apart like this, but she couldn’t help herself. All of these emotions that she’d kept bottled up inside were all coming out at once.

“Amaryllis; nobody blames you. Even though you said you were just using us, we all know that’s not true. Nobody fights this hard for people they don’t care about. You’ve been trying your hardest to save us this whole time, and we can see that, even if you can’t,” Mary finally said, a determination Amaryllis had never heard before making its way into her voice.

“That’s right! You’re a hero to us! You’re a hero to me!” Emma was the next to speak up, the younger girl walking up and hugging Amaryllis’s waist tightly. “Even… even if we don’t make it… I’ll be happy knowing I could go with you.”

“Mary speaks for us all,” Kent was the next to speak up. The old conductor as well as the two twins stood nearby, looking at Amaryllis with gentle eyes. “We wouldn’t be alive at all if not for you. Please don't blame yourself for… those that didn't make it.”

“You’re a hell of a girl, Amaryllis,” Aven agreed with a warm smile.

“No kidding. If this is the end of days, I’m okay dying with you,” Avil added. “Of course, there’s no way I’m gonna give up. If I'm gonna die, I'm gonna make sure I'm proud of the way I do.”

Amaryllis listened to their words with shock. This was more than just Samuel, Emma, and William. This was every single one of the survivors declaring their faith in her all at once. She didn’t know how to handle this; her entire life she’d never done what these people were doing for her now. Nothing about this made sense… unless Seth had been right about the human race after all.

“But… all the people that have died…” Amaryllis attempted to protest, but then a heavy gloved hand fell on her shoulder. It was Raul.

“Let them give you strength,” Raul asserted. When she looked at him in confusion, he met her gaze. “You’re not the only one who’s lost friends. You’re certainly not the only one to lose people under your command.”

“But then… how do you deal with it?” Amaryllis asked weakly.

“That answer is different for everyone. But for me, I remember each and every individual that I’ve lost,” Raul began. His eyes hardened. “Alex Bennett. Louis Ward. Lenny Bowman. Patrick Kauros. Bailey Harrison. Theo George. Odric Campbell. Max West. Tony Key. Elliot Coleman. Brandon Mckee. Taylor Spence. Noah Davidson. Joe Fox.  Robert Baker.”

“These are the names of the men that I’ve lost today. I’ve memorized them all. Their deaths are on my head. But I will not regret the decisions I’ve made,” Raul asserted fiercely. “I will grieve, but I will not regret. To do so would be to spurn the sacrifices they’ve made so that we could stand here right now.”

“Amaryllis. Make their deaths mean something.”  Raul’s grip tightened on her shoulder. “Imagine the spirits of those who have fallen. Not a single one of them wants you to fail. No matter what happens from here on out, they’ll stand behind you, encouraging you to be the woman that I know you can be. Now, are you going to let them down?”

Amaryllis stared at him for a long minute, his words echoing through her mind. Something about what he said struck a chord in her mind, and her doubts slowly began to ebb.

“...No. How can I face them if I give up here?” Amaryllis decided, her tears drying up. She extricated herself from Mary and wiped her eyes, suddenly feeling a strong sense of embarrassment. She blushed under everyone’s gazes. “God, this is pathetic. I’m pathetic. I’m supposed to be the strong one, yet this is what happens.”

“Tough as you are, you’re still human,” Mary assured her with a smile. “That you hadn’t done this until now… well, that speaks to just how strong of a woman you are. I can’t help but admire you.”

“I had my breakdown already, but I’m still here,” Jennifer pointed out, cracking her knuckles. “Everything I have that I can give you is yours, whether it's my friendship, my support, or even my life. All you have to do is ask for it.”

“This means you’re just like the rest of us. Sorry, but you don’t get to sit on your pedestal now,” Avil pointed out with a grin. “If you’re pathetic, that makes my brother even less than that! Isn’t that right, bro?”

“Hey!” Aven retorted, shoving his cackling sister.

Amaryllis couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. She looked around at everyone, taking in their words and expressions. She had to admit to herself; Seth was right about humanity. Looking at them, she could feel it: Mary’s kindness, Avil’s laughter, Emma’s loyalty, Raul’s honesty, and Jennifer’s generosity. She didn’t understand how she never saw this before in anyone else.

“Everyone,” Amaryllis spoke up in a louder voice, garnering attention to herself. “I want to reaffirm the promise I made before… but this time, I’m saying this not as the random girl you chose as your leader, but as your friend. I’m going to save you. Not because I feel like I have to… but because I want to. This I swear.”

“That’s more like it!” Raul clapped her on the back, letting a rare smile come to his face. “Now, let’s get it in gear everyone! We’ve still got to come up with a plan of action. Amaryllis, you’re with me.”

“Understood. Let’s get to work,” Amaryllis affirmed.

With renewed vigor, the group set about preparing for their next incursion into the undead infested city. While Amaryllis and Raul pored over the map of the city, Mary and Jennifer took care of William, transporting him down to the grassy inner courtyard, where they could start to bury him.

Everyone pitched in to make sure everyone was in fighting shape. Emma learned first aid from Travis and began practicing on some minor wounds, while Kent retrieved what limited medical supplies there were from the abandoned clinic. The twins scouted out the school kitchens and returned with an abundance of stored food and water; a huge relief to the starved and parched survivors. The food wasn’t great, as it was standard school fare, but just having their stomachs filled at all was a luxury they’d all been lacking since the attack began.

Night fell before long, and the survivors took the time to get some rest. All the survivors had to take a turn as a sentry, as there were only five soldiers left from the original squad. Thankfully, despite the overabundance of Oppressed in the city outside, none of them seemed to be entering the school.





Amaryllis sat atop the roof of the school, her legs hanging over the edge. The night air felt good on her skin, despite the chill of the wind. Down below, she could see the faint forms of the Oppressed moving through the streets. The street lights no longer worked; thus the only light came from the lanterns of the live ponies and the fire from the burning buildings.

She heard someone walking up behind her. She turned her head to see Raul, who looked as though he’d just woken up. “Are you here to relieve me?” Amaryllis asked. When Raul nodded, she sighed in relief. She was feeling tired; even sleeping on the hard floor of the classroom sounded appealing. She got up and began to make her way back.

“Before you go,” Raul stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. “I’ve been curious about something for a while.”

“What is it?” Amaryllis asked curiously.

“It’s about that necklace you’re wearing. I’ve never seen you without it, and you’ve gone out of your way to keep from losing it. Is it important?” Raul inquired. He indicated the piece in question with a slight hand motion. Amaryllis looked down at the silver emerald necklace, nostalgia filling her as it always did when she beheld it. “Sorry, I know it’s a personal question, so you don’t have to answer if you’d rather not.”

“Any other time I’d have told you to mind your own damn business,” Amaryllis retorted. She ran the chain of the necklace through her fingers, sighing. “But… there’s no real reason to keep it hidden. I guess I can share. Come to think of it, this is the first thing you’ve said to me that could be construed as small talk.”

“Heh. I’m not too good at talking to people, really,” Raul admitted, much to Amaryllis’s surprise. “I can give a good pep talk, and I can talk professionally with the best of them, but it’s difficult sometimes to relate to people.”

“I hear that,” Amaryllis said wryly, finding that she had that much in common with the experienced soldier. “So why so interested in me?”

“I’d think that should be self-evident. You’re a civilian, yet you’re an excellent leader, you think fast on your feet, and your combat ability is top notch,” Raul reminded her. “It’s enough to make you interesting.”

“Don’t get too interested. I’m off the market,” Amaryllis joked. Raul chuckled, but he said nothing as she continued. “To answer your question, this necklace was given to me nearly ten years ago by someone I treasured very deeply; more than I knew at the time.”

“What was his name?” Raul asked softly.

“It was Seth. He was male, sure, but he was a woman in all but body,” Amaryllis said with a chuckle. When Raul raised an eyebrow, she elaborated. “He was more emotional than I’ve ever been, and more awkward than a girl on her first date. But when he was with me, he was happy. He’d never admit it, but he needed me.”

“You should have seen him when he gave this to me. He was blushing so hard; he couldn’t even get the right words out,” Amaryllis reminisced with a smile. She sighed again, feeling somewhat morose. “I wish I’d appreciated him more.”

“He sounds like a wonderful person. I’m truly sorry for your loss,” Raul responded, glancing at her with sympathy.

“Oh, he’s not dead. In fact, he’s probably having more fun than we are,” Amaryllis corrected him. Raul blinked, looking understandably confused. “You heard Vanta talking about my ‘boyfriend,’ right? Seth got in the way when Sombra was after me. As a result, he’s currently in the future with the rest of the ponies.”

“I… I see. Forgive me if that’s a little hard to swallow,” Raul remarked.

“You’re not the one who saw the pictures of those ponies on his damn phone,” Amaryllis returned wryly. “Supposedly not all ponies are bad. Just these ones.”

“That’s good to hear, at least. Will you ever be able to see him again?” Raul asked.

“I doubt it. But that’s okay; I’ve made my peace with that,” Amaryllis answered with a shrug. She began to walk back towards the roof access, yawning. “Well, I’m going to get some sleep. I’m dying here.”

“Okay. Sleep well,” Raul replied. “And Amaryllis? Thanks for telling me about Seth. I can tell it’s not easy to talk about.”

“Whatever. Don’t go getting sappy on me,” Amaryllis retorted. She gave him one last wave before dipping back into the building. “You’re welcome.”





Amaryllis strode into the classroom and up to the desk the next morning, looking and feeling much better than she did yesterday. She threw away the remains of what had been a french toast stick and approached Raul.

“What does it look like outside?” Raul asked without looking up from the map. He had a pencil in his hand, with which he seemed to be detailing possible paths out of the city.

“About as bad as you’d think,” Amaryllis answered with a shake of her head. “Just like Staten, the city is burning or destroyed, and the Oppressed are all over the place. Getting out of here will be a challenge.”

“I have an idea on how to tackle that particular issue,” Raul revealed to her, speaking low as to avoid letting the others hear. “I heard from Jennifer that you were able to control the Oppressed previously using the amulets some of the ponies wear.”

“That’s right. It’s probably the only reason we made it to the church in the first place,” Amaryllis replied. “I don’t see how it’s much use to us now, though. We’ve no way of getting one.”

“Not unless we get creative.” Raul produced a short and slender cylinder from one of the many pockets he possessed. Amaryllis recognized it as a silencer immediately. “I’m no stranger to situations requiring stealth. If we can take down even one of those non-unicorn ponies, we gain control of all of the undead under their supervision.”

“And then we’d use them to create a diversion.” Amaryllis pondered deeply, one hand rubbing her temples. “But how would we even get to one of them, even if you did manage to snipe one?”

“We’ll have to take some risks. Taking one out at range is a good plan, but only if we can retrieve our spoils after the hit,” Raul pointed out. “But this all academic until we can find out where to go once we’ve made our escape.”

“What are the chances we could find a boat by the docks?” Amaryllis suggested. “I don’t think the undead can swim.”

“I won’t say the odds are zero, but there’s a lot of variables in that equation; Vanta is a cunning tactician; if he and his forces know enough about our technology, he’ll likely have taken steps to eliminate every escape route,” Raul pointed out. “I can’t see the docks from here, so I’m not willing to take that chance without knowing for sure whether or not there’s boats left.”

“Ugh, you’re right. But the next bridge isn’t for another five miles; and that’s ONLY if we cut through the city,” Amaryllis grumbled, indicating the shortest route on the map with a finger. “This time, we don’t have grenade launchers and heavy machine guns to clear a path.”

“This is quite the conundrum indeed. But I believe that we can…” Raul began. In the middle of his sentence, a crackling of static came from his shortwave radio. He cut off immediately, looking at it in bemusement. “I’m picking up a signal. But that’s impossible; we lost the most of our radios on the bridge.”

The static continued for several seconds before a heavily distorted voice came through, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “...Wallace of the 10th Mountain Division. Any surviving members of the armed forces, please respond. Repeat, this is Major General Wallace of the 10th Mountain Division. Any surviving members of the armored forces, please respond.” The order was spoken in an official, yet hurried tone. Raul immediately ripped the radio from his vest and went to reply.

“Major General, this is Sergeant First Class Raul Pearson, of the Navy Seals. Please tell me you’ve brought reinforcements,” Raul responded with a look of tentative relief on his face. As he spoke, the other survivors moved to stand beside him, eager to hear the first human contacts beyond themselves since this whole nightmare began.

“Sergeant Pearson, what is the situation like in the city?” Wallace demanded after a short pause.

“Apocalyptic, sir. Staten Island and Brooklyn have been confirmed fallen and are occupied by an enormous hostile enemy force,” Raul explained. “What’s left of my squad and I are pinned down in an abandoned high school by the Upper Bay with a small group of civilians and a VIP. Requesting immediate extraction.”

“Easier said than done, soldier. We have a visual on the enemy force; they appear to be unlike anything we’ve ever seen, but they’re equipped with Russian military equipment. Our approach is blocked by a screen of anti-air emplacements. Getting close is a fool’s errand,” Wallace returned. Raul clutched the edge of the desk tightly with his free hand. “Our initial assessments peg the enemy as possible Russian bio-organic weapons. With your field experience, can you confirm or deny this assessment?”

“I can deny that, sir. It’s far more complicated than that. The VIP I mentioned has important information concerning the attack; it’s vital that she get out of the city,” Raul answered, his tone getting more pointed. A scowl was forming on his face, an expression that Amaryllis soon mirrored. It didn’t seem like the general was all that interested in helping them. “We need your help, Major General. Without her intel, the US is in deep trouble. Is there anything you can do?”

“Not as long as those anti-air emplacements are still active. As of right now, we’re circling the perimeter of the city, just out of range,” Wallace revealed. There was a short pause where they could hear indistinct conversations in the background. “We’ve just called for reinforcements. It’ll be some time before they can get here; how long can you last?”

“Uncertain, sir. We’re surrounded by the enemy on all sides; it’s only a matter of time before one of them gets smart and searches the school,” Raul admitted. “We’re running low on ammunition, and we’re heavily outnumbered.”

“Understood. Can you get to Brooklyn Bridge? With a little luck, we should be able to pick you up and make a quick escape,” Wallace proposed. Raul looked down at the map, noting the distance between their current position and the bridge. Like Amaryllis had stated before, the distance was about five miles as the crow flew.

“It’s a stretch. You’re sure you can’t offer any further support?” Raul pressed.

“Not until the reinforcements arrive. We’re a single transport copter with limited weaponry,” Wallace returned. Raul cursed quietly under his breath.

“Understood. We’ll think of something. We’ll contact you when we’re within range,” Raul decided. “But before you go, there’s something you should know. If there’s any soldiers in the copter with you that have either previously come into contact with a victim of the HAED virus or have taken the vaccine...drop them off this instant. The vaccine was an enemy trap; with it, they can remotely control our troops.”

“They can what?” was Wallace’s frankly understandable response.

“I know how that sounds sir, but we’ve confirmed the proof with our own eyes. The enemy possesses unnatural abilities and cunning beyond measure,” Raul insisted. “I say once again; if you don’t want to be stabbed in the back...drop. Them. Off.”

“...I see. We’ll take your word for it for now,” the general finally said after a short pause. “I expect a full report after extraction. Wallace out.”

As the radio fell silent, Raul sighed and looked up at the survivors. He lifted his rifle and fixed the suppressor in place with a satisfying click. “Now then, are you all ready to get the hell out of this city?” Raul asked with a grin.

“Like you wouldn’t believe,” Kristoff added. While the situation was too dire to warrant cheers, the relief that swept through the room was clearly palpable. Aven and Avil hugged one another, as did Mary and Emma. “Do you have a plan, Sergeant?”

“We do. Amaryllis, are you ready?” Raul met Amaryllis’s gaze, who nodded with conviction. Then the sergeant looked back to Kristoff and the others. “Everyone, listen closely. I’m going to need every last one of you to help, or we won’t make it.”

With that, Raul began to relate his plan to the survivors.





The two earth ponies strode through the streets, clad in the dark steel armor unique to that of King Sombra’s armed forces. Ornate ruby necklaces hung about their neck, the gems pulsating with a soft magical glow. The Oppressed around them remained still, moving only on their command.

As the two of them strode past the high school, the one closest to the building squinted in annoyance as a light shined directly into his eye. “What in the…” the soldier emitted, covering his eyes with a hoof. He turned to the school to see something shiny reflecting the sunlight in the first floor windows, though he couldn’t quite make out what it was. “Didn’t we clear that building already?”

“That’s right. It was the first place we looked upon coming here. Why?” the other soldier replied. Ushering him over, the first soldier pointed towards the windows. Whatever had been shining wasn’t visible anymore, but he knew what he’d seen. “You don’t think we missed a human or two, do you?”

The first soldier blanched. “I hope not, or the Governor General will have our hides!” he expressed with a shudder. “Let’s sweep it one more time, just in case.”

“Good idea. The general is scary when he’s angry.” Together, the two soldiers gathered the Oppressed and made their way over to the entrance of the school. Before entering, however, they swiftly gave orders to the Oppressed they controlled. It wasn’t long before the undead surrounded the building, covering each and every exit with a wall of flesh. “Let’s move in. If we’re lucky, we can capture the humans alive. You know how the general likes that!”

“Maybe we’d even get promoted!” the other exclaimed. With high hopes, the two soldiers entered the front entrance with Oppressed covering them on all sides. “Hey, humans! If you’re out there, show yourselves now and we promise you won’t be harmed...permanently!”

“Idiot! Like that’s going to make them come out,” a soldier retorted, shoving the other with a hoof. “King Sombra demands your obedience! Prove your loyalty, and you may yet be spared!”

“That’s not any better!” the two soldiers proceeded to bicker with one another for several moments, until they passed the front office and headed towards the first intersection in the hallway. “Alright, you head right and I’ll head left.”

The two ponies turned the corners and immediately found themselves fenced in on both sides by humans. On the left were Raul, Travis, and Fabian, while Kristoff and Amaryllis were on the right. Each of them were equipped with silenced assault rifles.

“There they…!” the ponies had no time to react before Raul gave the command. In a single volley, the two earth ponies were shot and killed instantly, the bullets easily penetrating their armor.

“Target eliminated! Move to phase two!” Raul whispered harshly, motioning forward with a free hand.

Amaryllis did as she was told and moved forward to the fallen ponies, ignoring the now motionless Oppressed that stood around them. She removed the necklace of one of them and donned it immediately. Just like before, she could feel the presence of the Oppressed connected to the amulet as burning pinpricks in her mind. She grunted, feeling much more than she had with the previous ponies. She felt about a hundred in her mind; double the amount she’d used before.

Fabian grabbed the second amulet and put it on as well. He immediately doubled over, holding his head. “Gaah! It’s...what is this!?” the soldier grunted with pain, unused to the feeling. Amaryllis ran over to him and pressed a hand to his back. “It’s like fire...in my mind!”

“Pull yourself together. You’re just feeling the Oppressed around you. Think of them as blips on a motion sensor or something. They’re yours to control now,” Amaryllis reassured him. “Just will them to do as you want, and they’ll do it.”

Fabian closed his eyes and focused until his breathing calmed. It wasn’t long before the Oppressed close to him began moving at his command. “Okay, I think I’ve got the hang of it. What next, sergeant?” he asked, standing back up.

“How many do we have at our disposal?” Raul queried as he directed the group forward.

“I feel about a hundred,” Amaryllis answered.

“Same for me. A hundred little fires in my mind. God, this is so weird,” Fabian returned.

“Two hundred total. It’s not nearly enough to make a difference, but it’s at least enough for a distraction,” Raul reasoned. “Okay, we’ll stick to the plan. Head to the entrance and don’t have the Oppressed make any sudden movements.”

The five of them headed to the front entrance at a swift pace, Raul snapping orders into his radio along the way. They exited the building and headed down the stairs to the landing. With the Oppressed in front of the school belonging to them now as well as the wings of the school encompassing them on both sides, they weren’t worried about being spotted.

Suddenly, the sound of furious roaring erupted from the street to their right. Accompanying the terrifying sound was the sound of a rapidly approaching vehicle, which soon turned the corner, revealing itself to be a yellow school bus of the shorter variety. It rammed through any Oppressed that stood between it and the front of the school, a whooping Raps sitting behind the wheel.

“They know we’re here now. Move our Oppressed to intercept!” Raul ordered. Amaryllis and Fabian immediately moved to do as they were told, willing the fires in their mind to block any enemy Oppressed from chasing after the bus. “Let’s get on that bus, everyone!”

Raps drifted the bus into the courtyard, showering the area with dirt and bits of gravel. The bus came to a halt with the door already opening to admit them. Amaryllis sprinted forward and leapt aboard the vehicle, followed by Raul and the other soldiers.

Inside the vehicle were the rest of the survivors, as well as a stockpile of weapons and supplies. Mary and Avil greeted Amaryllis enthusiastically as she approached, slapping her back and smiling with happiness and relief. Amaryllis allowed herself to smile, and then she sat down beside Avil in one of the back seats.

Once everyone was on board, Raul tapped Raps on the shoulder. “Close the doors and let’s get this thing moving! Our Oppressed won’t last long; especially if Vanta gets wind of this!” he ordered.

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Raps yelled back with an enthusiastic grin on his face. He closed the door and slammed down on the gas, propelling them into motion and forcing everyone inside into their seats with the force. He forced the bus onto the streets and sped forward, pushing the engine to its limits. “Woohoo! Now this is how you make an escape!”

“Open the windows! Let’s keep those bastards away from the wheels!” Raul commanded. Amaryllis did as she was told, yanking down the window and pointing the barrel of her rifle out. Even as she directed her Oppressed, she picked her targets and fired. She wasn’t used to using a rifle, so she missed more often than she hit, but her aim grew better with every shot. “They’re not stopping us now!”

With that, the survivors began their latest attempt to escape the city.





Their movements did not go unnoticed. The moment the undead began to battle one another in the streets, Vanta appeared on the roof of the high school. It didn’t take him long to spot the bright yellow school bus drifting its way through the streets.

“How bold of you…but you cannot escape from me.” Vanta was no fool. It didn’t take him long to pinpoint from memory all of the possible escape routes from Brooklyn. He concentrated, splitting his personal horde of Oppressed into three. The first he sent to suppress the revolting undead that were covering the humans’ retreat. The second he sent to collapse the underwater highway tunnel that ran from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Together with the third, Vanta went to block off their only remaining escape route.

Vanta narrowed his eyes, his eyes fixed on the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance. He closed his eyes, and then he disappeared in a burst of violet energy.

“This game ends now.”
> 17. Amaryllis' Story Ends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

What had once started as a reconnaissance mission had turned into a nightmare. Major General Wallace hadn’t known what to expect when the brass reported a complete communications blackout in New York City, but the hellscape he could see from the co-pilot’s seat hadn’t been it.

The Major General gazed down at the burning city, his lips set in a frown. He was an older man, with a clean shaven face and short cropped hairline colored a shade of silver black. His face was well lined with age and stress, and his rigid expression was a testament to his discipline and training.

His eyes traced along the cityscape, noting the clogged streets littered with the wreckage of cars, the blood of the fallen, and the ashen debris of the burned buildings. While there was fighting still taking place deep in the city, even Wallace had to admit that the city was lost. There were simply too many of those twisted creatures roaming through the streets. Attempting to count them proved fruitless; there had to be thousands of them.

“Major General, I can’t bring her any closer than this,” the pilot spoke up, angling the stick such that the helicopter ceased its path forward and circled in a parallel path. “If we go any further, we’ll be in range of those AA guns.”

“Circle the area, staying just out of range,” Wallace ordered without looking at him. Sure enough, he could see the guns, clearly Russian in design, set up on the tops of still intact buildings, their gleaming barrels pointing directly towards them and tracking them as they moved.

“Yes sir. Adjusting our course.”

Wallace noticed something odd, so he retrieved a small pair of binoculars and zoomed in on a particular gun to see not a human manning it, but rather a strange armored quadruped with large eyes and a short muzzle. He shook his head, unable to make any sense of what he was looking at. “Complicated indeed.”

Wallace looked over his shoulder at the soldiers remaining in the vehicle. There weren’t many of them; the helicopter could only hold ten passengers at the most. While they’d had a full complement when they left, more than half of them had to be dropped off due to Raul’s urging. The Major General still didn’t understand what was going on. If he was to give his superiors a satisfactory report, getting Raul and his VIP out of the city safely was his top priority.

A sudden burst of movement caught his eye. Wallace immediately turned to see a small school bus zooming across the streets by a baseball park. Behind it was a horde of those creatures that were madly pursuing it, but they weren’t fast enough to keep up with the vehicle. Before long, the bus broke away from the horde and made its way onto the main highway that spanned the majority of Brooklyn. Following it would take them directly to the Brooklyn Bridge.

“I believe I’ve just spotted our VIPS,” Wallace alerted the rest of the crew. With his binoculars, he followed their path forward, finding it clogged with crashed cars. However, as he followed it further, he spotted another full sized horde of monsters forming up and surging up the highway in an attempt to cut the bus off. “All hands, alert! The VIPs are in danger and need support. Equip those rifles, and prepare to fire on my command.”

“Sir, we can’t get any closer than this. If we do…” the pilot protested immediately as the soldiers in the back moved to do as they were directed. Wallace cut off the pilot with a wave of his hand.

“I know, you don’t have to tell me twice. You’re not experienced enough to fly in a hot air zone, but I am. Switch with me,” Wallace ordered. The pilot blinked at the order, as they were several meters above the ground. Wallace’s brow wrinkled with annoyance. “Did I stutter? Switch with me right now.”

The pilot scrambled to do what he was told. Despite flipping a few switches and pressing a few buttons to keep the copter stable, the vehicle briefly lurched as the two men switched places. Once Wallace was in place, he grasped the stick and immediately stabilized the copter and steered it directly toward the highway, kicking up the speed a notch.

“Everyone prepare for combat! We’re not losing those VIPS!” Wallace snapped.





“Sergeant, we’ve got an incoming horde!” Raps called out as he maneuvered the bus as fast as he could through the maze of crashed cars and scattered debris. It didn’t take long for the screeches of the Oppressed to reach their ears from ahead. They’d had a short reprieve, but considering who was after them, they’d all known it wouldn’t last.

“Damn! We’ve no way forward except through them! Keep going, and don’t slow down!” Raul commanded. The soldier rushed up to the front of the bus and planted his feet atop the stairs that led to the door. “Amaryllis, take the emergency hatch and give us some covering fire!”

“It won’t do a damned thing, but whatever.” Amaryllis didn’t argue more that. She moved away from the windows and turned the red knob on the roof hatch. A firm shove later, and the hatch popped open, the built in alarm sounding off. She hooked her arms on the edge of the hatch and hoisted herself up. She winced in the face of the pounding wind. It was a hassle, but she now had a clear three-hundred and sixty degree view of the highway surrounding them. “Raps, if you crash this thing, I’m gonna fly right off!”

“I know that! Somebody watch her so that doesn’t happen!” Raps shot back without looking away from the road.

“I’ve got her! Here, stand on my shoulders.” Aven moved to stand beneath her, grabbing onto her legs and giving her someplace to stand. Amaryllis found that sensible, so she did as he suggested, finding his shoulders to be broad and steady. “I’m nothing if not sturdy. Trust me, I won’t let you fall.”

“You better not, or I swear to god I’ll take you with me,” Amaryllis grumbled. She took a look around the highway, easily spotting the wall of undead cascading over the highway towards them. They would be upon them in no time. She braced her rifle against her shoulder and loaded in a fresh magazine. “We’re so close!”

“Here we go! Hold on tight!” Raps warned everyone, and then he drove the front of the bus directly into the horde without hesitation. Amaryllis stumbled as the vehicle shuddered beneath the sudden impact; any Oppressed standing directly in front of the vehicle were pulverized in a cacophony of snapping bones and tearing sinews. The other Oppressed began to try and climb their way up the front and sides of the bus.

“Everyone, open fire!” Raul ordered. The Oppressed were already trying to tear open the doors of the vehicle, but Raul wouldn’t let them. He’d preemptively shattered the glass in the door, such that he could fire unimpeded into any Oppressed clinging to it. As for the other survivors, any with access to a weapon shoved the barrels out through the windows to rain bullets into the undead.

Yet, despite their best efforts, it was like attempting to drive into the ocean while keeping the water out. Forcing the bus through the Oppressed slowed them considerably, allowing the undead around them to claw at the windows. The height didn’t stop them, as they simply climbed atop one another. Before long, Amaryllis was shooting down the faces of the Oppressed as they emerged above the edge of the roof.

“Agh, I can’t see!” Raps growled as the Oppressed started to climb up the windshield. The monsters forced themselves against the glass, their claws beating relentlessly against it. One Oppressed threw its whole body against the windshield, forming cracks that steadily spidered their way across its surface. “Sergeant!”

“I know! Travis! Get up here and help me cover the front!” Raul ordered. Travis moved out into the aisle and stood beside the sergeant as he was directed, his rifle clutched tightly in his hands. “How much ammo do we have left?”

“Running very low!” Fabian called up to him in response, earning a tirade of curses from him.

The Oppressed at last forced their way through, their claws slipping into the gap in the door and wrenching it open. Several of them jammed together in their haste to get through, disregarding the rifle fire Travis and Raul sent their way. An Oppressed made its way through and leapt at Travis, the two of them tangling together briefly.

Travis let out a cry as the Oppressed’s claws sliced into his leg and arm before he could beat it back. When Raul gave him support, they managed to hold the Oppressed off long enough for the sergeant to kick the monster out of the bus.

Then, as the Oppressed encroached upon the bus and threatened to halt its momentum entirely, the anti-air guns on top of the buildings suddenly opened fire. A fully armed transport helicopter zipped through the air several meters above the highway to their left, staying parallel with them. While executing evasive maneuvers, the vehicle turned, its rotary machine guns starting to spin.

“Wallace here, providing air support!” the voice crackled from Raul’s radio, hardly audible over the cacophony of battle. The machine guns opened up, hailing hot lead into the ranks of the Oppressed, tearing them down like wet paper. Additionally, two pods on top of the helicopter opened and released powerful missiles trailing white smoke into the undead, blowing them to pieces and freeing up their path forward.

“Major General, with all due respect, are you insane!? Every single AA gun within miles is going to have it out for you!” Raul roared into the microphone. “You’re our only ride out of here; you can’t afford to take that much fire!”

“And you’re our only chance of figuring out what the hell is going on! My bird can take a few dings, no problem!” Wallace snapped back. Despite his words and his frantic attempts to avoid taking fire, some of the rounds flew true, blasting holes in its armor. “I’m giving you an opening; now move!”

Raul cursed and hit Raps on the shoulder with a fist. The soldier winced, but knew what the Navy Seal was asking him to do. He gunned the engine and took the opportunity to weave his way through the pockets of open road wherever the helicopter’s missiles landed.

As they went, Wallace made their path much easier by targeting cars with his weapons, blowing their engines and taking several Oppressed with them. However, just as the bus made it through the horde, a lucky round of anti-air fire slammed into the helicopter’s side, causing it to wobble in the air.

“It’s too hot up here; we’re pulling back!” Wallace finally said, the helicopter swerving up and out of range of the anti-air guns. “We’ll stay out of range and be your eyes in the sky.”

“Understood!” Raul sighed and looked back towards the horde they’d just escaped. “Amaryllis, get back inside and reload. The rest of you, take a moment to rest. It’ll likely be the last we get before the bridge.”

Amaryllis leapt down from Aven’s shoulders and walked towards the dwindling pile of remaining ammunition. There wasn’t much at all; if they had another encounter like the one they’d just had, they’d run out in an instant. Despite this, Amaryllis ejected her spent magazine and refilled her weapon.

Aven groaned and stretched his shoulders, and then he returned to Avil, who was tending to her weapon as well. Mary and Emma were sitting together in the middle of the bus, where it was the safest. Fabian was patching Travis’s arm and leg up. As for Amaryllis, when she was done reloading, she sat down next to Jennifer and attempted to catch her breath.

“Here, let me,” Jennifer addressed her, resting a hand on her shoulder and exerting a little pressure. Amaryllis shifted and turned her back to her, curious as to what she was going to do. “I’m no expert, but I’ve had a lesson or two in shoulder massages.”

“Shoulder massages? Rea… oooh…” Amaryllis cut off in the middle of her incredulous remark as Jennifer’s hands got to work, her fingers finding her tensed muscles and relieving them. Amaryllis couldn’t help but release a pleasured sigh. “I didn’t know I needed this.”

“It’s the least I can do. I’m not a good shot, nor am I smart enough to come up any good ideas,” Jennifer revealed with a rueful smile. “I’m not all that useful really. I’m barely out of college, and I never got a decent job. Heck, you know what I was originally coming to this city to do?”

“What?” Amaryllis asked curiously. She realized the moment after she responded that she was genuinely curious about these other people now. If Jennifer had asked her that back when they were on the train, Amaryllis likely would have told her she didn’t care. “You said it was some kind of convention, right?”

“A furry convention,” Jennifer corrected her. Her face flushed with shame immediately after she revealed that. Amaryllis gave her a strange look, as she knew exactly what that meant, as well as the connotations of being referred to as such. “Right? So I really have nothing much to offer.”

“Okay yeah, that’s a little weird. But fuck if I’ll judge. I had a friend that I’m pretty sure is now living in a world of ponies, so it’s whatever,” Amaryllis returned. “But I don’t want to hear that negative shit from you. If you’re not gonna let me talk shit about myself, you don’t get to talk shit about yourself.”

“I wasn’t really trying to. It’s just… I don’t know,” Jennifer cut herself off with an uncertain sigh. “I’m just saying this is crazy, and someone like me is not meant for this.”

“Pfff… preaching to the choir on that one,” Amaryllis retorted, earning a chuckle from Jennifer.

“I guess I also wanted you to know a little bit more about me. We’ve been too busy trying not to die… we haven’t really had time to get to know one another,” Jennifer revealed.

“Yeah well…” Amaryllis didn’t really know how to respond to that. She eventually shrugged. “Whatever. Tell you what. I’ll buy a drink if we get out of this and then we can have a ‘girl talk’ or whatever the hell it is that women are supposed to do when they’re friends.”

“Have you not had any female fr…” Jennifer began, but then she was suddenly cut off by the crackling of Raul’s radio.

“I’ve got bad news for you, Sergeant. Every single horde in Downtown Brooklyn seems to have been alerted to your position; they’re all converging on you. If I had to guess, I’d say they number at least ten thousand in total.” Wallace revealed. “The good news is, if you hurry, you might be able to make it to the bridge before they reach you.”

“Copy that. Anything else?” Raul responded, gritting his teeth and doing his best not to curse.

“One last thing. A strange creature with dark fur is tailing you from behind. It has a strange means of keeping up; it seems to be disappearing from one position and reappearing in another position closer to yours. It’s been doing this repeatedly,” Wallace revealed.

“Fuck!” Now Raul cursed, not caring that he was on the line with a superior officer. “That’s their leader, Vanta Pallor. He’s the one likely in control of these hordes. Don’t bother shooting him; I doubt you’ll hurt him.”

“Pallor? Any relation to Valeric Pallor, the Russian scientist?” Wallace was well informed, the major general putting two and two together easily.

“They’re the same person. These bastards have been planning this attack for a long time. Now you see why I had you drop off those men,” Raul answered. There was silence on the other end of the line for several seconds before the major general spoke again.

“Understood. I’ll have this reported back to command. Just make sure you’re ready to be picked up. We’ll be waiting at the end of the bridge, just out of sight. Wallace out.” With that, the radio went silent, and they were left alone once more.

“You heard him. We’re in a race against time, trapped between Vanta and a sea of undead. If we make it to the bridge, we’re home free,” Raul reiterated for the benefit of everyone else in the bus. “If we’re caught, we’re dead.”

“Well, isn’t that just lovely,” Amaryllis grumbled. “Any other grim news you have to give us? I’m sure this situation can’t get any worse.”

“You’d be wrong,” Raps spoke up. “We’re very low on gas. The bus was likely parked where it was because it needed refueling; we were running on reserves when we left the school.”

“I had to open my fucking mouth,” Amaryllis grumbled some more, slapping her palm to her forehead.

“How much further can we get?” Raul demanded, eyeing the needle on the gas meter that was already touching the top of the “E.”

“I’m not certain. We may not make it to the end of the bridge,” Raps admits.

“We’ll have to push her as far as she’ll go. If we run out of gas before reaching that helicopter, we’re dead,” Raul pointed out. He slammed his fist into the back of one of the seats. “This is just going from bad to worse. I’ll try to come up with an alternative. The rest of you, get ready to move in case the worst happens.”

With that, everyone loaded up the remainder of their weapons and headed to the exits of the vehicle, such as near the back or the hatches on the roof and sides.

As Amaryllis neared the windows, she spotted the Brooklyn Bridge rapidly approaching in the distance. She’d never seen it before, but she knew that it was one of the oldest bridges in the country. It was a hybrid cable and suspension bridge made from limestone, granite, and cement that separated both incoming and outcoming lanes with a grid of criss-crossing steel girders. The majestic towers of the bridge cast their shadow on the city and the bay below, giving it a surreal appearance.

As the bus boarded the ramp leading to the bridge, the engine began to stall. “Son of a-...not yet! Come on!” Raps cursed loudly, kicking the baseboard hard as though to rouse the dying vehicle. The bus lurched forward as if it was trying to hold onto its momentum, but there was no doubt that the vehicle was out of gas. “Sergeant! We’re not going to make it. Do you have a plan?”

Raul looked towards the back of the bus for any sign of the Oppressed. When he didn’t see any, he looked towards the front next. Eventually, as the bus began to slow, he released a heavy sigh.

“I… do have something in mind. But you won’t like it,” Raul started to say in a halting voice, his expression becoming strangely calm. Amaryllis had never heard him sound so uncertain; it worried her such that she stood and moved to stand with him.

“I’ll take anything at this point! If those Oppressed catch up to us, we’re done for!” Raps snapped back, the desperation evident in his voice. “I don’t want to die here, Sergeant! Tell us what you’ve come up with!”

“We’re going to blow the bridge,” Raul responded simply, much to the shock of many of the other survivors. He reached into his vest, retrieving a small black metal device from a zippered pocket. It was bulky and covered with buttons. Amaryllis had no doubt that she was looking at a high yield explosive. “We’re going to bring down the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The Brooklyn Bridge; Amaryllis had never been to New York before, but even she knew of the majestic bridge that spanned Brooklyn and Manhattan, if only from her own education. Not only was it one of the oldest roadway bridges in the entirety of the United States, but it was also the first steel-wire suspension bridge ever created. It was more than just a simple bridge; it was a National Historic Landmark as of 1964, and an icon of New York City.

There was a silence after Raul’s words, the gravity of the situation sinking in upon them. “Holy hell,” Raps breathed, rubbing his forehead with one hand. “I can’t believe that’s even on the table.”

“That’s the same as losing the city,” Fabian emitted with a shake of his head. “Sergeant, are you sure?”

“Hey, if it means we get out of here, I’m not too broken up about it,” Amaryllis interjected with an uncaring shrug before Raul could answer. She knew how important the bridge was the American culture, but such thoughts fell flat before the extinction of humanity. “So how are we going to bring this monster down?”

“I have one idea, but it’s a last resort. I do have one alternative, however.” Raul retrieved the radio once more and reached out to Wallace. “Wallace, this is Raul, come in.”

“I read you, Sergeant. We’re circling above the bridge, waiting for your arrival. What’s the situation?” Wallace’s voice crackled from the radio.

“Bad, sir. We’re nearly out of gas; we can’t get much further than we are now,” Raul related. “Do you have any missiles left in the batteries?”

“Negative. We used our full stock in the prior skirmish,” Wallace returned. Raul’s expression turned grave.

“How long until the Oppressed reach us?” Raul requested in a hollow voice.

“No more than two minutes at the most. Vanta appears to be bringing the entire horde to bear against you,” Wallace estimated. That was a grim number. Two minutes hardly even gave them time to think. “Keep in mind that we can only make one pass. Any longer and the mobile AA platforms in Manhattan will detect our presence.”

“I see. Then I have one request for you,” Raul said in a shaking, yet determined voice. What he said next caused chills to run down Amaryllis’s neck. “I’m sending the civilians your way. Please save them; they’re our last hope.”

“Sergeant, what are you…?” Wallace started to say.

“This is Sergeant First Class Raul Pearson, signing off,” Raul said with an air of finality, and then he shut off the radio. At the same time, the bus rolled to a halt, having barely reached the center of the bridge. There was still a good third of a mile until the end, where Wallace would come to extract them.

“Sergeant, what the hell was that?” Amaryllis demanded. “Why are you talking like that? Weren’t we going to blow the bridge?”

Raul opened the door to the bus and stepped out, motioning for everyone to follow him. Amaryllis and Raps headed down the stairs first, followed by Fabian. Travis was close behind, though the soldier was limping heavily from the wounds he’d taken from the Oppressed. The others weren’t far behind.

“That’s right. But I’m going to be honest; there’s no way we’ll be able to set and arm the charges in two minutes. The bridge is sturdy; it’ll take everything we have to bring it down,” Raul admitted to them. “Alternatively, if we run, the Oppressed will run us down; we’ve all seen how fast they are. Do you know what this means?”

“Son of a bitch!” Travis swore, the realization hitting him. What he said next caused everyone to exchange looks of horror. “One of us has to arm the bomb, and someone else has to buy them time!”

“That’s right. As the most trained and most experienced fighter in the group, I’m the natural choice to stay behind,” Raul admitted. Despite what his words meant for him, he seemed to have an air of calm acceptance about him. “It’s okay, though. I’ve been prepared for this moment ever since I signed up to become a soldier. Dying to save the rest of you… I couldn’t ask for a better death. But… that makes what I’m about to ask even harder.”

“I know, Sergeant. You don’t have to tell me.” Fabian walked up to join Raul, the soldier heaving a sigh. “I’m the only one here who has any training in demolitions. It has to be me that arms the bomb. Don’t worry, I’m with you.”

“Glad to hear it, soldier,” Raul said with a somber nod, placing a hand on his subordinate’s shoulder. He removed from pockets on his vest multiple blocks of explosives, along with the black metal device, and passed them to Fabian. “Get to work. You have all of our explosives at your disposal. Plant them on the cables and beneath the bridge; I want the biggest bang you can muster.”

“Yes sir. It was an honor, sir,” Fabian returned, and then he headed for the edge of the bridge, unfurling a rope from around his waist.

Amaryllis stood there silently, watching the two of them accepting their death. She felt almost numb, her heart pounding dully in her chest. They’d come this far, but she still couldn’t manage to save those she was starting to consider friends. She clenched her hands into fists, her nails digging into her palms.

“Don’t you give me that shit!” Amaryllis was suddenly furious. She stormed up to Raul and grasped him by his collar, pulling him towards her. “What the hell are you thinking!? We’re supposed to escape the city together! We’re supposed to be the ones to warn America and lead the fight for humanity’s survival! How can I do that if you’re dead!?”

“Amaryllis…” Raul emitted softly. However, before he could voice his thoughts, the shrieks of the Oppressed sounded in the distance. They didn’t sound far away at all. Raul’s eyes hardened in response, and he pushed away from her. “We don’t have time to argue. It’s either this or everyone dies, and I’m not about to let that happen.”

“You think you can hold off an army of Oppressed ten thousand strong alone?! You won’t buy any time at all! There has to be something else we can do!” Amaryllis snapped back.

“He won’t be alone,” Kristoff joined the two soldiers next, holding a shotgun over his shoulder. When everyone looked at him, he gave a wry grin. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m just an old soldier who’s long past his prime. If I can save somebody when I go, I’ll consider my life well spent.”

“Me as well,” Raps added, the soldier reloading his rifle.

“Well, isn’t that noble of you? It won’t do any good, you morons! There’s still three of you against an entire army! They’ll run you over and kill the rest of us!” Amaryllis raged. “You’re a Navy Seal, Raul! If you’ve got all this training and experience, find another way!”

“There is no other way! This is the only chance you and the other civilians have to get out of this city alive; don’t you see that?!” Raul shot back. He turned and indicated the mess of cars and the torn ground that stretched back the way they’d come. “There’s plenty of cover to stagger their approach, and I still have a few grenades up my sleeve. It doesn’t matter what they do to me; I swear I won’t let them pass.”

“You…!” Amaryllis couldn’t accept what they were doing. It doesn’t matter how they would fight or how heroic they were waxing; it wouldn’t make a difference. There were around ten thousand Oppressed; such a force was simply unstoppable.

Amaryllis looked back towards the others, and then back towards the bridge, where the sounds of the Oppressed drew ever closer. They had no time to think, and little to no chance of getting out of this alive. She didn’t know what to do. She could run with the others and trust Raul’s suicidal plan to save them, but simple logic raged against that concept.

She glanced towards the edge of the bridge. She could take her chances and leap over the side, leaving the others to their fate. At the very least, she’d have a chance of getting to the other end of the bay in one piece, or even to the helicopter if she was lucky. But, as Amaryllis’s gaze passed over Mary, Emma, Jennifer, Kent, and everyone else, she knew in her heart that she could never do that. She shook her head; she’d gone just as soft as Seth. She just knew that she’d never be able to live with herself if she let them die now.

But then… that only left one option. As the idea came to her, Amaryllis’s shoulders slumped. Her rage hit its peak, and then it ebbed away, to be replaced with a grim acceptance. There was only one way that had the best chance of saving the others.

“I… you’re right,” Amaryllis finally admitted, her voice coming out just like Raul’s had before. Raul nodded, and then he moved to turn away, but she stopped him with her next words. “But I’m not wrong about your odds. Everyone who can fight needs to stay behind… including me.”

“What!?”

“Amy no!”

“Amaryllis, that’s insane!” The outcry from the other survivors was about as intense as Amaryllis had expected. In particular, Raul stared at her with surprise and respect.

“Absolutely not! I’m the soldier, so I should be the one dying!” Travis limped up to them, giving her a defiant stare. “You need to escape with the others; they need you.”

“Yeah, and what are you going to do in that state? With your arm and leg hurt, you’ll make a decent snack for the Oppressed!” Amaryllis shot back. “No, you need to escape with the others.”

“I agree. Travis, you’re injured. Retreat and protect the others,” Raul ordered. Travis’s face fell, but he did step back. “However, he’s right about one thing. Amaryllis, I respect that you want to stay, but you’re the VIP here. We can’t afford to let you die.”

“That’s not true,” Amaryllis pointed out. She gestured to the other survivors emphatically. “I told every single one of them everything I know; about King Sombra, about the state the world is in, and about the Oppressed. They’re all VIPs. Besides, if I don’t stay and fight with you, we’re all dead anyway. You know as well as I do that I’m one of the best fighters here. I won’t let anyone else die.”

“...Are you sure?” Raul asked softly after a moment. Amaryllis took a breath. She could feel her body shaking. She didn’t want to admit it, but she’d seen the way the Oppressed killed their victims, and the thought that she’d perish the same way terrified her. Despite her fear, she nodded firmly. “I see… you’re a hell of a girl, Amaryllis.”

“But Amy, I don’t want you to die!” Emma’s shriek cut across their conversation. Amaryllis turned to see the young girl walking towards her, tears already squeezing out of her eyes. “Please come run away with us! Please!”

Amaryllis turned and met the girl halfway. She knelt down in front of her, resting a hand on her shoulder. She knew she shouldn’t, but Amaryllis felt somewhat amused by Emma’s feelings. The idea that anyone would care about her as much as this girl seemed to was still rather ludicrous to her.

“You’re one strange girl,” Amaryllis finally said. “I don’t know what it is about you; you’re just a brat. But you’ve never once given up, even when I did. Hell, you’re an inspiration to me, and… I cannot believe I just said that. Dammit, I’ve gone soft.”

“But I guess that isn’t such a bad thing,” Amaryllis admitted despite years of built up cynicism telling her otherwise. Amaryllis gave a bitter chuckle. “It’s funny that I’d only realize that now, here at the end.”

“Please don’t go… I want to know you more… I want to be your friend!” Emma pleaded, tears now streaming freely down her face. Looking at her, Amaryllis started to tear up as well, her emotions starting to get the better of her. Just then, a sudden thought struck her.

Amaryllis unclasped the chain of her necklace and took it off for the first time since she’d received it. It meant so much to her that simply taking it off made her feel naked and exposed. Then, she leaned forward and hugged Emma tightly, clasping the necklace around the young girl’s neck in the process.

“Stupid girl. You already are my friend,” Amaryllis expressed in the most sincere voice that she could muster. When she retreated, Emma noticed the necklace she was now wearing. She recognized it immediately, causing her to look up at Amaryllis with wide eyes. “You like it? My old friend Seth gave it to me forever ago. The idiot always was a romantic.”

“It’s yours now. Keep it safe,” Amaryllis said, and then she stood up and looked at Mary. “You take care, Mary. Keep Emma from coming after me, would you?”

“Amaryllis, we’re running out of time! They’re coming!” Raul alerted her from his position in front of the bus. Amaryllis sighed, and then she began to walk back towards what was going to be the site of her death.

“Amy… Amy please! Don’t leave!” Emma tried to come after her, but Mary stepped forward and held her daughter back, the mother unable to do anything other than nod. Amaryllis smiled thankfully. “Don’t do this!”

As Amaryllis walked, she addressed each of the survivors in turn.

“Jennifer, I’m gonna take a rain check on the girl talk for now, yeah?” Jennifer was unable to keep her emotions from spilling out, the girl openly sobbing. Even though Amaryllis didn’t share the girl’s interests, she decided to throw in one last tease. “And by the way, the fox is the best species.”

“Aven, Avil… do me a favor and don’t ever change. Your levity is one of the only reasons I haven’t gone insane already.”

“We won’t. We promise,” Avil returned, doing her best to put on a smile despite the situation. “Give ‘em hell, girl.”

“Kent… take care of yourself, and thanks for standing by me all this time,” Amaryllis said at last. She at last reached Raul, Kristoff, and Raps; when she arrived, the Sergeant passed her a fully loaded assault rifle. She grabbed it and held it in one hand. With the other, she gave the others one last wave. “Thanks for everything, you guys. When we meet again, drinks are on me.”

“Hell!” Raul cursed when he heard the sounds of the Oppressed getting ever closer. He turned and threw his radio to Travis, who caught it with his good arm. “That’s enough wasting time! Travis, get them out of here right now! Run!”

“Kick some ass, Sergeant!” Travis gave Raul a powerful last salute, and then he began to limp the other way. Aven grabbed his good arm and let the soldier lean on him, making their movement faster.

Mary, giving one last look at Amaryllis, picked up her crying daughter and ran the other direction, Kent and Jennifer following her close behind. Before long, they had entered the maze of cars and disappeared from view, leaving the four of them alone on the bridge, an army of Oppressed surging towards them in the distance.

“Well, this is it,” Raul emitted as he finished loading his weapons. He possessed a shotgun on his back and a rifle in his hands, as well as two handguns. He and the rest of them were now equipped with every last weapon they had left, each one filled with every last piece of ammunition.

“Yup…” Kristoff stood at the far left, his rifle clenched in both hands and his shotgun strapped to his back. With one hand, he stuck a cigarette in his mouth and then lit it, inhaling the smoke and then sighing.

“I guess so…” Raps stood between him and Raul, a handgun stored on each leg and a rifle clutched tightly in his hands. He looked less calm, shaking each time he heard the roars of the Oppressed. Yet he never wavered, not even moving an inch from his position.

Amaryllis stood on the other side of Raul, a handgun at her side and a rifle in her hands. She’d only learned how to use these weapons recently, but she knew it was far better to have them than not.

She couldn’t keep her thoughts from drifting. She remembered when she’d first met Seth, and the fun she’d had exchanging jabs with him as they’d steadily grown closer. She remembered meeting William for the first time, the timid man always watching her from afar. She remembered spending time with Seth’s family after he’d disappeared, and the joy she’d felt when Seth confessed his feelings to her. She even remembered the plans they’d made to fight this apocalypse.

All of that felt like another lifetime. She knew that Adam and Gerome were counting on her to return to them, and she felt bad about abandoning them like this; she couldn’t imagine how they’d feel once they heard she’d died. She once again glanced at the edge of the bridge. If she jumped now, she might still be able to reach them. She slapped her head and sighed, knowing that she couldn’t leave her friends to die.

“I want to thank you all for being here with me,” Raul expressed sincerely, bringing her out of her thoughts. “...and apologize that I let it come to this.”

“Heh, I should be thanking you,” Kristoff grunted in response. “I’m just an old man whose wife left him, and whose son is already married and with kids. I’m okay dying here, if it means none of them have to deal with these monsters.”

“You’re the best CO I’ve ever had,” Raps returned without missing a beat. “We’ve accomplished every mission we’ve been on together. I’m terrified… but I’m glad getting to die under your command.”

“You’re the one who said you shouldn’t regret your decisions,” Amaryllis reminded him. She sighed heavily. “Though I have to admit, I never thought I’d die like this.”

“To the undead, you mean?” Kristoff emitted with a rough chuckle.

“No, dying for someone else,” Amaryllis admitted. When the others looked at her, she continued. “All my life, I’ve always been out for myself. From birth, I thought that everyone else was beneath me, and that the world was cruel and unforgiving. I couldn’t stand people. I’d thought they were all out to use me for their own ends, and that friendship was a gamble too dangerous to take. If someone had told me that this is where I’d be in the future, I’d have laughed until I cried.”

“But now… after talking with Seth…. after leading these people… I think I understand a little bit about what this whole trust and friendship thing is about,” Amaryllis expressed. “It’s… a good feeling... to know that someone will stand by you when the world’s going to hell. Maybe that’s why the idea of dying to save them… it doesn’t seem so bad.”

“Heh. Life ain’t easy to figure out. Yet it sounds like you’re on the right track,” Kristoff responded, an approving smile crossing his face. “I don’t suppose I can be counted among those friends of yours as well?”

“Really?” Amaryllis asked incredulously, haven’t not expected that in the slightest. “But we haven’t known each other that long.”

“That doesn’t matter at all. I mean, you’re willing to die together with us, even though you have no obligation to. Someone like that… sounds like a friend to me,” Raps adds, earning a nod from Kristoff. “So what do you say?”

“I… fuck it. You guys have had my back,” Amaryllis gave in with a genuine smile and a shake of her head. Just then, the first Oppressed appeared above the top of a car several meters away. “Well then, friends. Are you ready to do this?”

“Hell yeah!”

“Let’s take a few of them with us to hell!”

“I’m with you!”

The horde wasted no time in coming over and around the maze of cars, the sheer number of them concealing the very road below from view. The four of them leveled their weapons and steeled their nerves, and opened fire the moment the Oppressed came within range.

Amaryllis lined her eye up with the sights of her rifle, aiming for the head of the first Oppressed and squeezing the trigger. She fired in small bursts, knowing that she had limited ammunition and that only a few well-placed shots to the skull or the legs would bring one of them down. She danced from target to target with each pull of the trigger, hardly even pausing to confirm if she’d downed her target.

Kristoff and Raps were much better shots; as they fired into the incoming undead, they toppled their targets swiftly and consistently. As for Raul, his accuracy was frightening; a testament to the extreme training he had underwent as a Navy Seal. Amaryllis was once again reminded of why the Seals were considered the best of the best.

Raul pulled the pin on a grenade. After giving it half of a second to cook, he hurled it towards the Oppressed as they weaved through the cars towards them. The resulting explosion was much larger than usual, fire racing across the street and searing the flesh of any Oppressed that dared to pass through it. Judging from the way the flames persisted, Amaryllis guessed that some gasoline had spilled from the crashed cars surrounding them.

Yet despite their best efforts, the Oppressed steadily advanced, coming over and around the cars faster than they could put them down. Additionally, their rifle ammunition was nearly spent. There was no preventing the advance of the Oppressed into melee range.

Amaryllis shoved the muzzle of her rifle deep into the mouth of an Oppressed and squeezed the trigger, blowing its head away instantly. She kicked it away, dodged the swipe of a second Oppressed and bashed in the head of another with the butt of her rifle. The Oppressed she dodged took a shotgun blast to the side of the head courtesy of Raul, and then the both of them stood shoulder to shoulder and unloaded their clips into the wall of undead coming their way.

Kristoff’s rifle was spent, so he tossed it aside and retrieved his shotgun. He leapt into the charging Oppressed like a whirlwind of steel and fire, his shotgun blowing away any undead that came close to him and his boot viciously kicking away any that stepped within his effective range. Raps covered his sides and his back with his own rifle. When he had a free moment, Raps bit the pin off of a grenade and hurled it into the enemy ranks, blowing apart several at once.

The three soldiers and the lone woman fought with everything they had against the unending tide of the Oppressed, their weapons tearing through the undead flesh. The bodies of fallen Oppressed littered the ground around them, showing just how hard they were fighting.

Yet ten thousand was an insurmountable number. Despite using the cars as cover and the clever use of grenades, the tide of undead coursing across the bridge was unstoppable. They took injury after injury, and fatigue was beginning to creep in.

“Well now, isn’t this quite the sight?” The reason as to why that is soon made itself apparent when Vanta himself appeared atop the wreckage of a nearby van, a smug grin on his face. “Look at you, throwing your lives away in one last heroic stand. It’s almost as if you think you’re making a difference in the end!”

“What, did you come here to gloat?” Kristoff demanded as he blasted apart two Oppressed one after the other as they attempted to reach Raps, who was using his remaining grenades to arrange some of the crashed cars such that a choke point was created.

“No, I came here to watch you die in vain,” Vanta expressed, the unicorn relaxing on the van as he observed the four fighting against his horde. “Don’t insult my intelligence. I know full well what you’re trying to do.”

“Oh yeah? Then why haven’t you killed us yet?” Amaryllis demanded as she tangled with three Oppressed at once. As she bashed one to the ground, another took its place , its claws clashing against the handle of her rifle. She cried out as a claw from another Oppressed sliced into her side, staining her shirt with blood.

“Because it doesn’t matter. You can run all you like; you’ll never get out of this city alive.” Vanta waved a hoof dismissively. He was clearly bored, and confident in his victory. “Still, I’m disappointed in you, Amaryllis. If you’d taken my offer… if you’d accepted your cynical beliefs as truth… you wouldn’t be dying here right now.”

Amaryllis didn’t answer. She had no time to rest; the tide of Oppressed never broke. Just finding a moment to catch her breath became a struggle, and she began feeling weaker and weaker as she bled steadily from her many wounds.

The others weren’t faring any better. Raul’s vest had long since been shredded to pieces, and a gash on his forehead oozed blood over his eyelids, making it difficult for him to see without wiping his face. Kristoff was clearly tired, and an ominous click signalled that his shotgun was out of ammo. He withdrew his handguns and fired rapidly towards the Oppressed, but the damage he dealt was minimal compared to his other weapons.

An Oppressed climbed over the top of the makeshift barricade of cars, leaping onto Raps with a roar. Raps had enough time to fire into its belly once before it was upon him, its claws ripping into his rib cage. The soldier screamed and fell to the ground, multiple undead lunging onto his body at once and biting into his flesh.

“Raps!” Kristoff yelled, turning his aim onto the undead digging into the fallen soldier. Yet even as he fired, he knew it was too late.

“Dammit!” Raul cursed, slamming an Oppressed to the ground with his arm and unloading his handgun into its head. He glanced towards the bridge, praying that Fabian had almost finished arming the explosives.

“This is the fate that awaits the rest of your kind,” Vanta declared smugly. His horn lit up briefly, and a small violet flare shot into the air. It wasn’t hard for Amaryllis to tell that he was signalling to someone. Before long, a wave of living pegasi equipped with swords and heavy machine guns soared overhead, heading directly to where the helicopter was supposed to pick up the survivors.. “Your friends and your escape helicopter will fall to my forces, and your deaths here will mean nothing.”

“But, let me tell you something interesting. Once New York has fallen, I intend to strike directly at your military leadership in Washington DC,” Vanta revealed with a confident grin. “How many of the Secret Service do you think have already taken my vaccine? I can bring down the White House with a single spell. How does that make you feel?”

“Like you talk too much.” Suddenly, Fabian was there, having climbed up from beneath the bridge. The soldier spotted the remains of Raps, as well as Kristoff, who was quickly being brought down by the relentless jaws of the Oppressed. Even Raul was starting to succumb. “So, Vanta, was it? Seems like you’re making a rather grave mistake.”

“Oh, and just what might that be?” Vanta questioned, his tone gaining a slight edge and his eyes narrowing.

“Don’t underestimate the human race. If you think it’s gonna be as simple as all that, well…” Fabian gave a small shrug, the soldier smirking despite the situation. “Just look at us. You’ve got all that fancy magic, but look at just how much we’ve resisted you.”

“You think you’ve resisted me!?” Vanta suddenly snapped, and in the blink of an eye, a bolt of magic shot a hole directly through Fabian’s chest. The soldier abruptly coughed up blood, his eyes widening with surprise. “You’re all but insects, existing solely to dance at my feet! That you still draw breath is due only to my mercy! Mercy you no longer deserve!”

“Funny… I was… just about… to say the same… about you…” Fabian choked out. He lifted his hand, where he clutched a thin black stick upon which a single blinking red button rested. It was clear to both Raul and Amaryllis that he was holding a detonator. “Are you… ready…?”

Amaryllis stood there beside Raul, her vision blurring and her head swimming. She could do nothing to stop the Oppressed that rushed her next, its jaws clamping down around her collar bone and painfully tearing the flesh away. Even as her life drained away, she reached towards Fabian with all of her strength.

“Do… it…!” she croaked, the Oppressed pinning her down and tearing into her flesh. Vanta spotted the detonator and his eyes shot wide, the clever general recognizing it for what it was immediately.

“Don’t you dare…!” Vanta teleported directly in front of Fabian, his frame blazing with dark magic. “I’ll rip you limb from…”

With the last of his strength, Fabian lurched up and grabbed hold of Vanta’s neck, wrapping his arms around the pony in a tight bearhug. Grinning into the general’s face, he lifted the detonator and pressed the button.

“Burn, you sons of bitches.”

The last thing Amaryllis knew was a burst of blinding white light and a swift burning sensation.

~

Travis ran with the rest of the survivors, leaning heavily on Aven in order to keep up with them. They ran in silent desperation, the decisions of the rest of their squad as well as Amaryllis weighing heavily on their minds. Every one of them knew that the others were dying for their sake, and that wasn’t a pleasant burden to shoulder.

They pushed themselves to the very limit to put as much distance between the Oppressed and themselves. By the time they reached an area of the bridge that was open to the air, they were running on fumes.

The silence was soon broken by the chopping of the helicopter swooping down to land on the ground not far in front of them. The side of the vehicle opened to reveal a man that Travis recognized as Major General Wallace, as well as a few other soldiers. Wallace stared at them and beckoned to them with the urgency clear in his body language.

Travis rushed to him and climbed aboard, a sigh of relief leaving him now that he knew he was safe. Yet, even as the others climbed aboard, the major general noticed the obvious lack of Raul. Yet he had no time to ask about it.

“Major General! We’ve got multiple hostiles inbound! We need to move now!” the co-pilot hollered from the front of the vehicle.

“Understood! Everyone strap in, this is going to be a bumpy ride!” Wallace commanded. He swiftly made his way to the front and took the controls, gunning the engine and forcing the helicopter into the air. Once they were in the air, Wallace turned to see enemy forces closing in on them from all sides.

From Manhattan itself, anti-air vehicles rolled out from the streets, their guns already rising and and orienting on the helicopter. From the skies of Brooklyn, small forms swooped through the air towards them, raining machine gun fire towards them. Wallace cursed.

“All men, prepare for combat! Give me some cover!” Wallace ordered. As they were ordered, the few soldiers in the helicopter made their way to the open panels of the copter and leveled their rifles, counteracting the pegasus charge with a hail of gunfire. “Hold on! Taking evasive maneuvers!”

“We have to go back and help the others!” Travis demanded, the the wounded soldier heading up to the front. He grabbed onto a safety bar as the major general maneuvered the helicopter through the firefight. “Raul needs our help!”

“Why are they not here? Where’s the rest of your squad, soldier?” Wallace demanded.he closed the panel of the helicopter and made his way back to the front.

“They… they stayed behind to buy us time to escape,” Travis answered in a hollow voice. “Even… even our CO, Sergeant Raul. They… they’re facing a whole army...”

“That’s…” Wallace paused, jerking the stick to the side to avoid a missile flying from the ground below. “That’s damn heroic of them. But we can’t afford to go back. The resistance is too great.”

“So we just leave them to die!?” Travis shot back furiously. Just then, a tumultuous explosion tore through the air. The gust of wind hit them moments later, forcing them to cease firing and hold on to the nearest fixed object.

Everyone looked to see Brooklyn Bridge engulfed in a mighty ball of fire and smoke, the cables ripping from their bases and the roadway collapsing beneath its own weight. Nobody said a word as the once proud icon of the city disintegrated before them, sending chunks of debris and thousands of Oppressed hurtling into the bay below.

As the force of pegasi were blown off course by the shockwaves, Wallace took advantage and broke away from the fight, soaring out of range of the anti-air vehicles and leaving the city behind.

“It’s too late son,” Wallace said to the survivors softly. “They died making sure you all could get to me. They knew that your intel could mean the difference between victory or defeat for America, and for that… I’ll see if I can’t get them the honor and remembrance they deserve.”

Everyone fell silent at his words. That explosion told them everything they needed to know; Raul, Kristoff, Raps, and Amaryllis… they were gone.

“So what happens now?” Mary asked hesitantly.

“You hang tight. We’ll take you to a military bunker beneath Niagara Falls; I promise you’ll be safe there,” Wallace answered.

With that, there was nothing standing between them and their long-awaited escape from New York City, the first casualty in the war between King Sombra and the United States of America.
> Epilogue: The Hero
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

“I can’t make heads or tails of this,” I admit, running a hand along the side of one of the consoles. There are an inordinate amount of buttons, dials, knobs, and levers covering each of the work stations present in the control room. While they are labeled in english, the labels don’t make sense. “How would anyone know what ‘mK4’ or ‘nzk’ means?”

“You humans and your blocky letters. I can’t even read them,” Rainbow comments. She wasn’t even bothering to look at the consoles. Instead, she was wandering around the small room, looking at the various paraphernalia that decorated the room. I hear her pick something up behind me. “Hey, I found other humans!”

“You what?” I turn on my heel to see at what she’s looking. Rainbow was hovering just off of the ground, carrying a small framed photograph in her front hooves.

“Yeah, they’re all wearing fancy coats… except for these two in the front. Come take a look.” Rainbow ushers me over and gives the picture to me. I take it from her gingerly. It seems like the wood is in good shape, but considering nearly everything we’ve touched has broken, I can’t be too careful.

The picture is old, but I can make out a group of what look to be military men of some sort. Most of them are garbed relatively the same, but just like Rainbow said, there are two in the front that are dressed less formally.

One of them is an older man with greying hair wearing a simple set of cargo shorts and a t-shirt. The other is a similarly aged woman with an expression filled with mirth, dressed in a greasy set of slacks and a sleeveless shirt. She looks greasy, as though she’d just been working on heavy machinery. The both of them carry wrenches in one hand, and are holding one another with the other.

Curious, I turn the photograph over to see something scrawled on the back in untidy handwriting. “Niagara Falls Refugee Bunker: Engineering Team Founding Members,” I read off to Rainbow, even though she’s already moved on to poke around in the rest of the room. There were also a list of names corresponding to each of the people in the image. Two of them were marked with asterisks, however. “Aven and Avil. Odd names. I’m guessing they were siblings.”

I set the picture down where we found it, and then I look back to Rainbow, only to find her running her hooves all over the consoles, pressing every button and turning every dial she can find.

“Would you not touch anything!? We’ve no idea what anything here even does!” I snap at her, moving over to grab her hooves before she can hit anything vital. Rainbow jerks her hooves away from me, making it impossible to get a grip on her.

“So? Does it matter what they do? There’s no power, so none of them will even work!”  Rainbow reminds me. When I don’t immediately answer, she adopts a smug expression. “See? Doofus.”

“But if there was power, then what if those settings you messed with causes some kind of chain-” In the middle of my indignant retort, Rainbow brings her hoof down on a silver lever with a red tip by the center console, flipping it easily. “Rainbow!”

“What?  It’s fine; stop worrying so…” The room briefly shakes and then begins to resonate with a deep hum that steadily rises in magnitude as ancient machinery slowly stirs from its millennia long slumber. Rainbow looks at the lever she’d just flipped, looking dumbfounded. “I… uh… that… wasn’t supposed to happen.”

“Dammit, Rainbow!” I snap, resting my hand on the wall to catch my balance. I rush to the window of the control room just in time to observe the results of her carelessness. “Whoa…”

After a short pause, structure outside the control room comes to life. The metal prongs within the crystalline chamber spark with power, feeding raw energy towards the tip of the cone, where a small burning orb starts to form. My eyes slowly widen when I realize what’s going on.

“No way… I didn’t think that humanity was that far along,” I gasp as the orb grows larger. Power suddenly returns all at once, flooding the once inky black room with bright light. The consoles around me beep and chime rapidly, indicator lights flash red and green, and their monitors hum to life to reveal complicated screens of statistics.

“That is so cool…” Rainbow can’t help but say as she watched the reactor power up. She flew out of the room and hovered close to the machinery, attempting to get a closer look at the burning orb. “Seth, are you sure humans didn’t have magic? Because that looks like a mini-sun.”

“The sad thing is that I can’t disagree with you. My first thought was fusion power, but this… I don’t even know what to call this,” I admit. I notice her getting ever closer, so I call out to her. “Don’t get too close! I don’t know this technology, so it could be incredibly dangerous!”

“Relax, I’m not gonna touch the bright burning sun thing,” Rainbow remarks dismissively, but she doesn’t get any closer to the reactor. Her head turns to follow all the lights on the ceiling. “You think this means we can open those doors now?”

“I hope so. I’m just amazed that this thing even works after three thousand years,” I reply. Before I can say anything else, I’m interrupted by a soft chime coming from the central monitor. The screen had turned a soft gray, and a white rectangular dialogue box had appeared in the center.

In the box was a blinking orange button that said “Tap here,” and a single line of text above it that displayed a variation of the message that any computer programmer would recognize. “Hello, Future World!”

“Rainbow, get over here. Seems like we’ve been left a message,” I deduce. It doesn’t take Rainbow long to zip back into the room, her curiosity readily apparent. She looks at the screen and blinks, unable to read what it says. “The fact that this came up right after we started the reactor… well, that can’t be a coincidence.”

“Maybe they’re going to tell us where they left all their cool tech! What if they have like, robot suits?” Rainbow’s imagination proceeds to go wild beside me. I ignore her and tap the button as directed. A loading circle appears for a brief moment, and then a larger window forms with the image of an balding man in a white coat and spectacles who looked to be in his late sixties. Judging from the background, he was in the same room as the one in which they currently stood. “Whoa, is that…?”

“Shut up, it’s a video!” I hiss at her, just as the image starts to move. At first, it’s nothing more than the man adjusting the camera and such, but eventually he sits down in the chair closest to the screen and clears his throat.

“Greetings!” the man begins cheerfully, putting on a weary smile. “If you’re watching this video, then luck was on my side and my plan to preserve this bunker and its technology was successful. If my ol’ Great Grandma Emmeline's tales are true, then you must be ponies, correct?”

“Well, he’s half right,” Rainbow remarked, nudging me. “How does he know that, though?”

“Your guess is as good as mine; I only told my family,” I admit with a shrug.

“As intriguing as that is and as many questions as that raises, that’s besides the point. I recorded this message to tell ponykind, or whoever finds this message, a little information about myself, as well as the bunker in which I’ve been trapped my whole life. My name is Dr. Lyle Kristen, lead programmer… or should I say, last programmer… of the Niagara Falls Refugee Bunker,” the man introduces himself with a polite dip of his head. “I was born and raised in this bunker, where we are safe from the monsters we call Oppressed. That being said, such safety has its drawbacks: I’ve never once in my whole life left this bunker. The warmth of the sunlight, the fragrance of flowers, the breaking of waves… everything that my grandma’s generation took for granted, I’ve never experienced except through media.”

“If you think that sounds awful, you would be right. Knowing that there’s a world of such beauty out there that I’d never be able to experience… well, to say that it’s been a challenge would be an understatement,” Lyle continues with a slight chuckle. “I’m not the only one who feels that way. The reason you’ll find the bunker abandoned is because not only did we not have a sustainable population to begin with, but as the years go by, our restlessness has grown. As our population dwindles, many of us have left, accepting the fact that we as a species are finished.”

“However, I also know that one day, ponies will come along, and it will be as though we’ve never existed. As an engineer… no, as a human myself, I would be remiss if I didn’t leave the future something to remember us by.” Lyle starts to look particularly proud of himself as he starts detail his plan. “Therefore, I left just enough fuel in the reactor to get the reactions started, and a stored program that will execute upon reactivation. That probably makes no sense to you, but suffice to say, the doors you haven’t been able to open… I’ve disabled the magnetic locks.”

“Aha, so the doors did open!” Rainbow exclaims.

“Furthermore, I’ve left a time capsule containing records of human civilization, culture, and history stored in my family’s room. The capsule also contains a family heirloom that supposedly belonged to a “true hero.” According to our family, without this hero’s sacrifice, I wouldn’t even exist… and neither would the safe haven that is this bunker.,” Lyle revealed. “You can find our room in the back of the living complex, sector D4, room two.  The combination for the capsule’s lock is twenty-four, ninety-six, eighteen.”

The moment Lyle began to list numbers, I reach for my phone and rapidly type in everything he says. While I may have no use for human records, I know Flash and Opal certainly would. Though, if anything, I’m curious about this “true hero” Lyle mentioned.

“Well then. I do believe I’ve said my piece. I’m leaving everything we have to you, in the hopes that you will see and learn from our accomplishments… and our mistakes,” Lyle said with a heavy sigh. He stood up from the chair and fiddled with something off screen until a klaxon alarm began to sound in the background.

“Depressurization will begin in five minutes,” a voice sounded in the background.

“It was a pleasure speaking with you. Now, if you’ll excuse me… it’s time for those of us left to see the world that we’ve been missing out on for all our lives. Goodbye ponykind, and good luck.” With that,  Lyle reached towards the screen, and the video ended.

I stare at the screen in silence for several moments. Now that I think about it, it was foolish of me to assume that Maka and her soldiers were the last of humanity. We’re stubborn creatures, so the idea that some of us bunkered up and withstood the undead storm isn’t so far-fetched at all. Granted, it didn’t do anything for us in the end, but it’s nice to know that some humans survived Sombra’s invasion and were able to live their lives out in peace.

“Do… you need a hug? You’ve got that face on again,” Rainbow asks awkwardly, looking anywhere but at me. When I turn to look at her, she colors. “Quit looking at me like that. You’re the one who needs it, not me!”

“This is just my face, thank you very much,” I retort wryly. “Thanks, but I’m okay. This is… I can be satisfied with seeing this. This means that Sombra didn’t kill everyone. It means that some people survived. It’s a relief, to be honest.”

“What I wanna know about is this ‘true hero’ he talked about!” Rainbow expressed, her curiosity giving way to excitement. “Also how he knew I was a pony. But mostly the hero.”

“That seems like you,” I deadpan. I turn away from the console and make my way towards the exit. “Come on, let’s get moving. Vinyl’s mom will kill me if I don’t find this time capsule for her.”

“How are we even going to find their room? Those numbers and letters made no sense,” Rainbow inquires while following me closely.

“Back this way. I remember seeing a map on one of the walls.”

With that, the two of us make our way to the living areas. Sure enough, every door that had once blocked us is now wide open. The entirety of the bunker was open to us now. However, unlike before, I was less interested in exploring. Instead, I follow Rainbow from room to room, lost in thought.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Rainbow eventually says after she finishes poking through what seems to be a lounge for bunker employees. “You’re sure you’re fine?”

“Yeah. I’m just re-evaluating my understanding of the events after I was sent to this era,” I answer, rubbing my temple with my thumb. “It’s hard to piece things together in my head. I’d thought that Sombra rendered humanity completely extinct, but I guess it wasn’t that easy.”

“Some of you managed to get away. Do you think there could be more humans out there?” Rainbow asks curiously.

“Honestly, I don’t know how to answer that. I would have said ‘absolutely not’ before, but… I just don’t know,” I reply with a sigh. “The world is a big place, and if one bunker managed to survive, that means it’s possible there are others. Still, three thousand years is a long time.”

Not knowing what else to say, I fall silent, and Rainbow says nothing more.





The living area of the bunker is separated into multiple blocks consisting of multiple rooms. These blocks, according to the map, are referred to as sectors, and consist of sixteen rooms each.

To make a better comparison, the living area reminds me of city blocks. The hallways are streets, and the rooms themselves are arranged in groups of four where the buildings would be. Peeking into one of the rooms reveals a cramped space with four beds set into both the left and right walls. The far wall holds a set of shelves and a desk, and the center of the room there is a single table. The beds are set atop one another, not leaving much room for movement. I suppose that makes sense; this is a refugee bunker, and space would inevitably be an issue.

“Well, this is it,” I say as the two of us approach the room to which Lyle had directed us. I can already tell that this room is different than the others we’ve been in. Not only is it more decorated, but there is a large cylindrical capsule protruding up from a hatch in the floor as though it had been waiting for us.

“What are you waiting for? Let’s open it up!” Rainbow zips over to the capsule immediately and begins tugging on it, despite the fact that it’s clearly too heavy for her alone.

“Not just yet. I want to look around the room first,” I tell her, much to her annoyance. When I see her give me an impatient stare, I huff. “There’s no rush. Besides, I want to see if any of these pictures tell me anything about that hero Lyle mentioned.”

“Well, hurry up! The suspense is killing me!” Rainbow sat down on the top of the cylinder, watching me walk around the room impatiently. “Are you done yet?”

“Rainbow, don’t you even start with me. I know where you sleep,” I retort as I near the desk at the far end of the room. I pick up one of the framed pictures resting atop its surface and bring it up to my eyes.

“Yeah, with you. Your point?” Rainbow returns without missing a beat. She looks at me with hooded eyes. “If you’re going to do something, make sure I’m awake. It’s no fun if I’m asleep for the good part.”

“I’m just going to ignore that,” I remark with a shudder, instead focusing on the five figures smiling up at me from the photo. I don’t recognize most of them, but I do notice the same two figures that had been in the engineering photo: Aven and Avil. Standing with them is a middle aged woman with brown hair, and old man with a scraggly grey beard, and a young girl no more than nine years old. Turning the photo over reveals their names to me. In addition to the two engineers, I read the names Kent Bernard, Mary Kristen, and Emma Kristen. Judging from the names, I’m guessing that Emma is Lyle’s great grandmother, Emelisse.

“Alright, let’s get this monster open.” After a quick look over the rest of the room, I join Rainbow by the cylinder and scan over the object until I find the combination lock keeping the lid shut. Inputting the code Lyle supplied me with results in a click, and then a loud hiss as air rushes into the vacuum sealed container. Rainbow and I work together to get the lid off, revealing the ancient contents inside. Then, we start to take objects out one at a time.

“Is this… a history textbook?” I emit with a wry expression on my face, holding the thick book in my hand. I’m mostly talking to myself, as I can clearly see from the cover that it’s a world history textbook from 2022. “Twilight would kill to get her hooves on this.”

“Gosh, there’s so much in here! But they’re mostly a lot of books. I was hoping for something more interesting,” Rainbow huffed as she lifted a children’s picture book from within the capsule. The next thing she lifted looked to be a fantasy book that I didn’t recognize. It had a picture of a human in a futuristic jumpsuit, riding in a small one seater ship that was fleeing from a much larger armada. Rainbow stared at the picture for a few seconds. “Seth… can you read this to me?”

“What, for real? I didn’t think you were the type for bedtime stories,” I poke fun at her without looking up from my perusal of the capsule’s contents. Rainbow’s reaction was immediate, the mare throwing a smaller book at my head. “Ow, what was that for?”

“I wasn’t asking for a bedtime story, you dummy! I can’t read your language!” Rainbow retorted, flushing and crossing her front hooves. “So you’d have to read it to me!”

“And when would we have the time or the will to do that? The evenings,” I point out to her with a hint of a grin forming on my face. I reach into the capsule once more and pull out a small lacquer box that stands out from the rest of the objects inside. It looks almost like a jewelry case. “I hate to break it to you, but that’s what the world calls a bedtime story.”

“Aaah, don’t say it like that! It makes me sound like some kind of foal!” Rainbow flushed further and covered her face with her hooves. She hears me snickering and growls. “Stop laughing! It’s not funny! I know where you sleep!”

I shake my head and look down at the box. On top of the lid is the inscription “Memories of the Hero.” This must be the heirloom that Lyle was talking about. I crack open the lid, my curiosity getting the better of me.

“Yeah, with me. What’s your…” in the middle of my retort, I see what lies within the box, and the sight hits me like a hammer blow. I cut off immediately, a surge of emotions filling me all at once. This… it can’t be. I know what this is. But then that means… the hero…

“Seth?” Rainbow isn’t oblivious to the sudden change in my demeanor. She moves to stand beside me, looking at me with concern as I slowly set the box on the ground. Rainbow peers up at me, her expression changing when she looks at me. “Are you alright? What is it?”

“That… that heirloom…” I managed to get out, my body starting to tremble. “I know what that is.”

“The hero heirloom? How could you know?” Rainbow glances at the box. She’s clueless at first, but then her eyes widen with recognition. She’s been through the pictures on my phone. There’s no way she wouldn’t know. “Isn’t that… no way...”

Rainbow looks around as if checking to see if anyone was around, and then she leaned forward and hugged me, her hooves wrapping around my chest. I accept her hug gratefully, my eyes never once leaving the object on the ground. I knew it. Somehow, I just knew that it was her.

Lying on a bed of soft velvet within the box was a silver emerald necklace.