private Everfree: What We Have Left Behind

[Firehearted 120]

OOC: http://mlpforums.com/topic/110647-everfree-what-we-have-left-behind/#entry3111473

 

I sat looking out at the pristine countryside. Just as beautiful as ever. Today was a good day. I sat back in the train bench. Scratch that. Besides the uncomfortably seats it was a good day. I had just caught up with Hunter after a couple months, I had made a good and expensive grab in the Everfree Forest, and I would get to see Two Bits, my adopted niece, in Canterlot. I sighed happily. A good day. 

 

*SCREEEE*

 

Pain. All of my sense were devoted to detecting the feeling. My breathing was week and choppy. I struggled to put full thoughts in my head. As my sense came back I could taste the metallic bitterness of blood in my mouth. After a few painful moments I attempted to open my eyes. I was still in the train car which appeared to be on its side. It had been crushed in a bit leaving me almost no room to move. Light crept in from some cracks in the twisted steel cage of a train car. With a low groan I began to try my best to crawl. I couldn't feel my lower legs but they seemed to work. The only thing driving me the few feet I could go was the will to live. "Just a little more" I told myself. I blacked out.

 

A light? What did that mean? I'm drawn it to though... Maybe... 

 

...

 

Equestrian Office of Disaster Response

Accident No. 104

 

​At 12:43 PM a locomotive on the Ponyville-Canterlot line derailed due to unknown causes believed to involve a malfunction in the engine's pistons. Almost everyone on board only had scraps and bruises however cars No. 4 and No. 5 were crushed due to landing onto a small boulder on the side of the somewhat elevated track as well as folding on each other. 

 

Final Causality Report:

Injured: 26

 

Fatalities:

Atlas Lightfeather, Male, Pegasus, 26

Cause of Death: Bleeding Out

Estimated Time of Death: 2:30 PM

 

Feather Quell, Female, Pegasus, 17

Cause of Death: Head Trauma

​Estimated Time of Death: 1:15 PM

 

(Not Found In Any Government Records. Investigation Pending)

Galatea, Female, Earth Pony, Unknown Age. Dated at Early Thirties.

Cause of Death: Heart Failure from Neck Injury

Estimated Time of Death: 1:45 PM 

Additional Notes: May have survived. Unknown Movement cut Spinal Cord.

 

Zephyr, Female, Pegasus, 22

Cause of Death: Internal Bleeding

Estimated Time of Death: 1:30 PM

 

Further Investigations into the Accident are Pending.

 

...

 

Six Months Later...

 

I groaned. What happened? I pulled myself up. I blinked as my eyes adjusted to the light as if I'd never opened them. I was in a field... Train tracks stood next to me with Canterlot in the distance towering over the country. Wasn't I on a train? My mind tried to put things together. What? I couldn't think straight... I rubbed my neck in confusion. It felt strange. My fur wasn't as nice and clean as it normally was. I tried to turn to look but my neck wasn't built to bend at such an angle to let me look at it. It must not be anything bad... I looked around in confusion attempting to put the scene in my head.

 

"You alright" I laid at the side of the nearest pony. She had a grey mane and a steel blue mane. "Come on! Wake up!" I shouted keeping calm. I noticed a hit to her head. A bit of blood went down her mane staining part of the blue a crimson red.

 

"That was pretty hard" I checked her vitals. No breathing. No pulse. She was dead. "Not good" I mumbled. Then she got up.

Edited September 25, 2014 by Firehearted

[Ano170 162]

(OOC: Would've replied earlier but I had to run to my lecture - sorry!)
 

Feather shifted uncomfortably in her seat. Outside the train window rolled a lush, green landscape dotted with hills and forests - or at least, Feather was certain that was what she would see if the loudly snoring pony next to her hadn't closed the blind. As it was, Feather had to make do with the rather uninteresting view of the carriage.

 

 

Nevertheless, a ball of nervous excitement had formed in the mare's stomach; her fidgeting was as much due to impatience as it was discomfort. Not only was this going to be Feather's first trip to Canterlot, she was certain it was also going to be her first big story - a chance to join Baron Von Wildehoof's expedition into the wilderness! It was an adventure.

 

 

 

Everything's starting now, Quill. Feather grinned. Here, right now. Soon as you get off this train, your life begins.  

 

Filled now with inspiration, Feather reached into her saddle bags to root for her notebook. She was still searching when the train crashed.

 

---Six months later---

 

"Ungh..." 

 

What...Where am I?

 

Tentatively, Feather opened an eye - darkness. There was a moment of panic, before Feather realised her beret had fallen over her face. She pulled it back. Her head was spinning. Open the other eye - brightness, then grass.

 

Okay, I'm in a field. Just piece it together Quill. Slowly she struggled to her hooves. Something bad had happened; she felt it in her gut. Least nothing's broken.

 

She was filthy, though - her coat was matted, and both herself and her clothing streaked with stains. I...I was on a train, wasn't I? It felt as if she was trying to think through sludge.

 

Looking up, Feather noticed the stallion for the first time. He was staring at her in some kind of shock. 

 

"Wh- what?" Her voice cracked as if it hadn't been used in a long while - it was quickly lost beneath the sound of other ponies approaching to speak.

 

(OOC: I made the assumption that our characters still have the clothes they died in, but I can edit that out if you want?)
(Edit: There we go, makes a little more sense now.)

Edited September 25, 2014 by Ano170

[ReverieRiver 526]

Galatea sat quietly in her seat, staring out the window. The picturesque landscape might as well have been no more than a green blur rolling by; her mind wasn't on admiring the scenery. Instead, she focused on what was awaiting her at her destination, which was of course the same as everyone else's on this train: Canterlot.

 

Normally, the mare wouldn't bother with visiting the capital, but she had an important reason. Having come from the future, she and her robotic creation Nano were indefinitely stuck in this era until the engineer mare could find a way back. As such, she had been attempting to gather resources she needed in order to build a teleporter that could take them home. However, such resources, like metals, were hard to come by. She had heard that Canterlot might have better resources than the small town of Ponyville could provide her, so that had warranted a visit so she could see for herself.

 

She certainly hoped this place had something to offer. She wanted more than anything to get herself and Nano back home safely-

 

But the crash happened then, cutting her off mid-thought. The mare tumbled from her seat, crashing into the opposite wall as the train met with the ground. She'd landed awkwardly, her neck twisting, and felt something pop painfully in her neck.

 

For several minutes, Galatea laid there in shock, trying to let what just happened sink in. A train crash, but she had survived. How did the others fare, though...? She raised her head just slightly, her golden gaze roaming the train car. One side of it had been crushed in - thank goodness she hadn't been on that side.

 

Then her gaze fell on a pony, a pegasus mare. She wasn't moving. She wasn't breathing. And there was blood. Oh, Celestia, she's dead! Galatea realized with a shock of horror. Then she spotted another pony nearby - wait, he was still alive! But he was bleeding on the floor of the train car. In haste, she tried to stand up to get to him, and managed to stumble a few steps. A numbness had settled in her legs, though, and she fell once more. She landed hard on her chin, having not been able to catch herself.

 

That was it for her. The movement of her head drove the dislocated vertebra in her neck right into her spinal cord. That life connection severed, numbness took over. And the darkness swiftly descended upon her...

 

There was a light. Yet, as inviting as it was, Galatea couldn't help but think about her life back in the living world. She hadn't finished what she was meant to do. She wasn't ready to leave! The light went out of her sight, and she plummeted into the darkness...

 

~Six months later~

 

Galatea was lying in a fetal position, her chest still rising and falling with the illusion of breathing. With a light groan, she finally began to stir from her six-month-long nap, her eyes cracking open. She slowly raised her head, taking in her surroundings as her mind shook off the mental cobwebs that had built up in slumber.

 

It took a minute or so, but she finally remembered that she had been on a train. But, where was the train? Why was she here? And when had she fallen asleep?

 

Another glance around, and she spotted other ponies nearby. The mare pushed herself up onto her hooves before walking towards them, feeling a strange phantom numbness in her legs that wasn't really there. Her stride was awkward because of this, but she was determined to make it to the others so that maybe she could find out what was going on.

 

((OOC: @Ano170 - Yep, they'd still have the clothes that they died in. They're also stuck with those clothes; I mean, literally, they cannot be removed!))

[HunterTSN 1,444]

@@Firehearted, 

 

"Ugh, I feel like I just got hit by a bus... or a train" Zephyr groaned as she rose to her hooves. If there was one thing Zephyr had not been counting on, it was being thrown, high-speed, from a train car. Still, she was incredibly lucky to have come out with only a headache; a train crash that catastrophic could have easily left her with permanent injuries or even dead.

 

So why then was there no wreckage? There were no casualties, no screaming mothers looking for their children, no emergency rescue ponies, in fact there was nothing but an empty field. Zephyr did a double take, this must have been one of those instances in which the mind created hallucinations because reality became too horrific for it to comprehend, that happened in some books right?

 

Well Zephyr never read a lot of books, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that something was definitely wrong. 'I must have blacked out or something!' she thought to herself, but someone would have surely taken her to a hospital, right? It was then that Zephyr realized she was not alone in the field, in fact there were a couple other ponies stumbling around, looking just as confused as she was. Her eyes fell to the closest pony; a white pegasus watching her with a shocked expression as though he had just watched her return from the dead.

 

"Hey do you know what the hell just happened? I feel like I missed something really importa-aha-ha-" Zaphyr couldn't help but gag as she saw the bloody wound that stained almost half of the stallion's neck a bright crimson. "You've uh, got a bit of umm... stuff... on your..." Zephyr stuttered as her voice failed and left her waving her hoof to indicate at the gnarly gash severing the pony's jugular.

Edited September 25, 2014 by HunterTSN

[Firehearted 120]

@@Ano170, 

What? But she... I must not have gotten it right. But I felt her mouth... There was no air coming our, that's for sure. Weird.

 

"Woah. Calm down. You took a bad hit to the head" Atlas put a hoof in front of the mare. "You'll be fine. We just need to get you to a hospital" I looked around at the other two. Oh. They were up. Why were they on the ground? What had happened to our train?

 

@@Miss Reaper,  

"Hey! Ma'am!" He called to her. "Do you know where the nearest doc is? The mare here's got a bad head wound" Something seemed off in this whole situation. We were on a train then bam! In a field. I don't get it...

 

@@HunterTSN,

I turned to look at the other mare. "What? Do I have something on me?" I touched me neck again. Yeah, sometime was there. "If it bothers you so much get it off. If not come help us over here" I told her a bit annoyed. I really didn't care if I had something on my neck right now. This pony could be seriously hurt. 

 

"Unless you're hurt too or something. If so tell me and we can get you both to the hospital" ​Wherever that would be...

[HunterTSN 1,444]

@@Firehearted, 

 

Zephyr could do nothing but stare at the ridiculous stallion, how he had the mendacity to stand there and suggest she should visit the hospital like there wasn't a gaping hole in his neck was beyond her.

 

"Oh I get it now, I've gone mad..." she said, more to herself than any of the others. "I hit my head in the crash and knocked the brains right out my ears and now I'm here in crazy land getting offered help from a zombie. And I'm talking to myself too, although I suppose I would be doing that anyway since you're all just fragments of my imagination. Oh Celestia what are my brothers gonna say?"

 

((I would like to point out that I do know the correct term is 'figments of the imagination' and not 'fragments', however like I said in her bio; Zephyr is not the smartest pony.))

Edited September 25, 2014 by HunterTSN

[Ano170 162]

@@Firehearted,

 

Feather wavered a little, still staring blankly at the pegasus stallion. Two other mares had come over, and now everypony was speaking at once - Feather tried to follow the conversation, but their words just kept...slipping. Why did her head feel so slow? 

 

Her head. The stallion was saying something about her head, wasn't he? Things seemed to be coming into focus agonisingly slowly as she lifted a hoof to the back of her head. Was that a bump?

 

Wow, it's a pretty big blighter... Off balance, she suddenly fell on her rump. Okay, sitting down now I guess.

 

Things were starting to speed up a little now, though she still felt rather groggy and unfocused, as if she were waking from a long sleep. As lucidity crept back in, Feather finally noticed the stallion's neck.

 

"Hey," she mumbled. "You need the hospital too." She gestured to the gruesome wound with a slightly wobbling hoof. "'Got a bad 'un right there." She narrowed her eyes, scrutinising the stallion more closely. "A really, really bad 'un."  

[ReverieRiver 526]

@@Firehearted, @@HunterTSN, @@Ano170,
 
Galatea paused when the stallion called to her, ears flicking instinctively to the sound before slowly folding down against the sides of her head. She glanced around, as if their strange surroundings would change upon a second look, but of course she still didn't recognize the area. "Well, uh, to be honest, I'm afraid I don't know where exactly we are... let alone where the nearest doctor would be."
 
Her attention had been more focused on their surroundings, but now she turn to look at the stallion she was speaking to. And she gasped aloud at the sight of the ghastly neck wound. Glancing to the pegasus mare he'd been talking about, Galatea noted that the mare in question indeed had a bad head injury - but the stallion had a terrible gash in his neck. She didn't know much medical wise, but she was fairly certain that sort of wound should have been fatal. How was he even still standing?

 

"But, I, uh, um..." She shook her head, as if trying to shake words back into herself for she'd momentarily forgotten how to piece together a sentence in her shock. Gesturing to the pegasus mare that had pointed out much the same as the Earth mare had been about to say, she simply said, "Er, what she said."

[Firehearted 120]

@@Miss Reaper,@@HunterTSN, @@Ano170,

 

"What's with all of you?" I asked. "If I got something on my neck get it. Whatever it is it sure ain't botherin' me" Hospital? Why? I felt fine. "I'm fine. If something was wrong I'd know. You're the one that's hurt here" I pointed at the mare with the head wound. Something wasn't right... "Come on. We've got to find a town or something" Were these mares still gawking at me? Why? They acted like I was a ghost.

 

"Ya'll alright? Did anyone else get a hit to the head?" Think Atlas! What happened... I remember the train. It was spring and I was heading to Canterlot to see Two Bits... Spring? I looked around. The ground was much to dead looking. The air didn't feel cold though... In fact I didn't even feel the air. What? 

 

"Something ain't right here..."

[HunterTSN 1,444]

@@Firehearted,

@@Miss Reaper,

@@Ano170, 

 

"Well the zombie's right about one thing" Zephyr began, trying not to look too hard at the stallion's gory neck. "Even if this is some sorta weird dream, we aren't getting anywhere standing around here." She paused for a second to take in her surroundings, "uhh, does anybody know where 'here' is or are we gonna be watchin' the tracks until we get somewhere?" Without waiting for an answer Zephyr opened her wings and took off, or at least that was the plan. What really happened was more akin to a bellyflop into the dirt as she was pulled back down by an invisible force. 

 

"What in Discord? Why does it feel like somepony tied bricks to my legs?"

Edited September 26, 2014 by HunterTSN

[Ano170 162]

(OOC: Unfortunately I can't mention people on my phone).

 

Feather rose shakily back to her hooves. She still had no idea where she was or why, but at least the fog seemed to be clearing from her head. Of course, she should still probably try and get to a hospital - focusing on that goal helped her shut out all the wrongness she wasn't able to sort through yet.

 

Besides, looking at the stallion again Feather realised that "a really bad one" was something of an understatement. Much as she wanted to investigate what had happened to them all, it was clear he needed attention.

 

In the meantime, it probably wouldn't hurt to try and get to know these ponies. Or at least, it wouldn't hurt any more than trying to talk to new ponies ever did.

 

"Um, need a hoof? " Feather gave the pegasus mare who had fallen over a slightly awkward smile. "Your wings are probably just all stiff - I ah, I think we've been here a while..." Feather glanced around, frowning slightly.

 

"And don't worry about him, if he's still standing it can't be as bad as it looks, right? We'll just find a doctor to patch us all up and it'll be fine." Feather grinned,trying to convince herself as much as anypony else. "There's no way he's a zombie - lots of ponies just don't feel pain until they realise the full extent of their injuries."

 

Feather winced as she realised how loudly she'd said that last part.

Edited September 26, 2014 by Ano170

[Firehearted 120]

All these ponies are crazy...

"Whoe, whoe whoe. Wait just one second. Before we go ANYWHERE, what happened? Were any of ya'll on a train? Ponyville bound for Canterlot?" Atlas stopped dead in his tracks ignoring the downed Pegasus and the injured pony. 

 

"I'm sure we all agree something isn't right"

 

 

"You four are actually up? Celestia! I thought you'd be like that for forever! Or at least six months" The voice of a colt came from somewhere.

 

"Who said that?"

 

"I did you dead bastard!" A small colt walked from the other side of the elevated railway. 

 

"Do kiss your mother with that mouth?"

 

"Ha-Ha, real funny, Dodo. Luna! You really did get it!" The colt looked at Atlas a bit surprised but not shocked. "You really stand out with that" The colt talked like he was three times his age. Looking at him he looked no older than ten. 

 

"With someone please tell me what is wrong with me already!" Atlas shouted. What was with these ponies?! "Hey, kid! Where's the nearest hospital" And with that he burst into laughter.

 

"You really are stupid, aren't you! I forgot how funny fleshies were!" Atlas began to fum. This colt.

 

"That pony over there could be dying and you sit here laughing!" He doubled over.

 

"You don't get it yet! You're already dead!"

[HunterTSN 1,444]

@@Ano170, 

 

"Yeah you're probably right" Zephyr said before smiling and taking the outstretched hoof. "Hey thanks, my name's Zephyr by the way, I'm a mailmare in Ponyville. I was visiting my brother Diesel who's studying at some academy in Canterlot when... well you know the rest." Looking around Zephyr noticed the injured stallion from earlier had began walking down the rail and now seemed to be arguing with a hysterical foal. "This just keeps getting weirder and weirder doesn't it?"

Edited September 26, 2014 by HunterTSN

[ReverieRiver 526]

@@Firehearted, @@HunterTSN, @@Ano170,

 

"You're right, something's not right here," Galatea muttered, her eyes scanning their surroundings yet again. Everything around them just seemed... off. Dull, almost grayed out and out of focus, except for the ground they stood on - that was vivid and clear to their eyes. She started walking towards the edge of where the bright and in focus met the dull and blurred, pausing at the sound of a colt's voice.

 

The mare turned to look at the source of said voice, and saw a young colt. Surprise, surprise. But it was kind of odd when they were, for all intents and purposes, in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention that the kid's parents were nowhere in sight. And as she listened, the colt was saying some very odd things.

 

Then it came out. He told them: They're all dead.

 

No. That was impossible. All the same, the news sent her mind reeling as she staggered a couple of steps backwards, her look incredulous as she stared at the colt.

 

A nervous laugh escaped her, as if in response to the colt's own laughter. "Ha... Haha, you're joking, right? We can't be dead." She managed to calm herself down somewhat, her rational mind defaulting to the more logical side of things; once she was composed, she pushed the conversation back to the more important matter at hoof. "But, we do need to get to the hospital. I don't suppose you'd know where that would be?" She then tilted her head slightly. "And on that note, where's your parents?"

Edited September 26, 2014 by Miss Reaper

[Ano170 162]

@@Firehearted, @@HunterTSN, @@Miss Reaper,

 

Feather smiled, helping Zephyr up and then tipping her beret to the other pony. "Nice to meet you. I'm Feather Quill - I'm ah, gonna be a writer." She flushed slightly, hoping that hadn't sounded cocky.

 

Looking away from Zephyr, Feather saw that both the injured stallion and the earthpony mare had started speaking - or rather arguing - with a strange colt.

 

Yeah, actually. Where are his parents? Feather frowned. She'd been trying hard to focus on just making it to a hospital, but there was too much going on to ignore. 

 

"None of this makes any sense," Feather muttered, as much to herself as to Zephyr or anypony else. "We wake up in a field with no memory of anything after the train, we can barely move, at least two of us are injured and now a strange colt shows up speaking nonsense?" She raised her voice, calling out to the colt. "Is this some sort of prank? Because if it is it isn't funny."

 

She hoped it was just a prank and nothing more sinister - what if they'd all been foalnapped? Or maybe they'd been drugged - that could explain almost everything.

[Firehearted 120]

@@Miss Reaper, @@Ano170,@@HunterTSN,

"No I ain't joking, toots. You're all d-e-a-d, dead!"

 

I looked at the child. A look that for most would have sent them crying to their mothers. 

"You really expect us to believe that. I sure do seem alive! What are you doing out here? Where are your parents?"

 

"Alive? Ha! Have you seen your neck! It looks like someone got the biggest sword they could find and whacked you a couple times! Oh and don't you worry about my parents, they've been dead a good few decades"

 

"Will once of you over there please tell me what's the deal with my neck! You three can't stop gawking at it" He laughed again with me only looking more angry. Why did he keep doing that? Every once and a while the kid would sidestep. Then back again. And again. Did I mention this kid was kinda homely, cause he is. His head looked to small fro his body and his face almost looked as if someone had gotten a rage smudged it all in his face and it stuck like that. 

 

"Hey, Dodo, you're kinda sinking" He pointed down. 

 

"What?" I looked down. About half of my lower foreleg was submerged into the ground and it wasn't stopping. With a small "Eck!" I pulled my legs out of the ground. 

 

"The hell is wrong with you, kid! She could be dying and you're over here telling tall tales about you're dead parents and use being dead to!"

 

"You're sticking to that, huh? Isn't it obvious! You just began to sink into the ground for Celestia's sake! Tell you what. Here's a test. Don't breath for five minutes. Just close your mouth and don't breath in one bit of air. Once you do that, we'll talk"

 

"We don't even know why you're out here let alone-"

 

"Sh! Close your mouth. Not one bit!" Maybe this would shut this kid up and earn us a hospital visit. I shut my mouth and waited. Any second now I'd succumb to the need for air and prove him wrong. Any second now... Any second...

[Ano170 162]

(OOC: one of these days I'll get a chance to reply on my laptop, I swear. )

 

"What is wrong with that colt?" Feather muttered, glaring at him. He was clearly much younger than her - therefore he also clearly had no right to be calling her "toots".

 

This petty annoyance was soon forgotten however at the sight of the stallion sinking into the ground. There was no other way to describe it. Alarmed, she looked down at her own hooves,but to her relief she seemed to be standing on a solid patch of ground. Was the stallion standing on quicksand? Whatever the case, she certainly wasn't going to be the one to tell him about his neck.

 

His neck did look terrible though, didn't it?

 

Feather frowned at the colt again, thoughtfully this time. Then, feeling a strange, tiny ball of sick fear knotting in her stomach, she too began to hold her breath. And hold it. And hold it...

[HunterTSN 1,444]

@@Ano170,

@@Firehearted,

@@Miss Reaper,  

 

"Well that conforms the part about being crazy, so there's one mystery solved. May as well play along" Zephyr muttered to herself before trotting over to the colt. "So assuming the kid is right, would that make us all zombies? Also aren't there easier ways of telling if we're remunerated corpses than holding our breath, kinda like how I have no heartbeat" she said as she checked her pulse.

[ReverieRiver 526]

@@Firehearted, @@Ano170, @@HunterTSN,

 

"Toots?" Galatea echoed indignantly. She was at least three times this kid's age, she knew, and he was calling her something like that? Did his parents teach him no respect at all? Not to mention that he was still insisting that they were dead.

 

When the colt pointed out the wound on the stallion's neck, and the stallion asked what was up, Galatea also hesitated to answer. How did one go about telling a pony that they had a huge gash in their neck that probably should have been fatal?

 

Either way, some red flags did go up when she saw the stallion sinking into the ground. Thankfully, she hadn't crossed the dividing line between solid ground and... well, what apparently must have been quicksand or something. Strangely enough, though, the ground looked like normal ground, if not a little dulled compared to what she was standing on. For curiosity's sake, she slowly reached over and pressed her hoof to the questionable dirt.

 

This ground felt soft. Squishy, almost. And the moment she applied pressure, the ground began absorbing her hoof, as if trying to draw her in. The mare gasped and jerked her hoof back, staggering a couple of steps backwards for good measure. What had just happened? That didn't even look like quicksand! Then again, how could one exactly tell the difference between that and normal ground?

 

Then one of the mares started talking about zombies and the like. That was the last thing Galatea wanted to hear, when she wasn't even sure anymore about their current condition. "What, are you nuts?!" she snapped. "We are not zombies, for Celestia's sake! We're not dead!"

 

The colt proposed a test: holding breath for five minutes. Galatea knew she couldn't hold her breath quite that long, so she was certain that she would give in to the need for oxygen soon enough as she started holding her breath. And waited.

[Firehearted 120]

I opened my mouth. It had been the five minutes but it was good enough for me. 

"W-What are you?" I looked the kid in terror.

 

"A colt. Nothing more"

 

"What is going on?" I sat down on my rump, on good ground thankfully. This couldn't be real.

 

"You're dead, friend. You'll get used to it"

 

An insane smile crept onto my face. I wanted to giggle but I knew if I start I'd never stop.

 

The colt looked over me then the others. After a moment of thought he sighed. "Tell you four what. Head east a ways and you'll run into Charcoal. Or at least I think it's called that. That place changed names every decade or so.

 

I had gotton most of it. At the time I was going over facts to keep my sanity. I am Atlas Rainbows Lightfeather. I am from Cloudsdale. My mother is Quill Lightfeather. My father is Key Lightfeather. I am a Pegasus. I am a male. I can move clouds and make them. My coat is white. My mane is blue and purple. I wear a fez constantly. I tapped my head checking for the hat. Still there.

 

"Y-Yeah. West"

 

"No, east, you birdbrain. Don't tell me you're already forgetting things!" I wasn't going to ask what it he meant. I got off my rump the smile gone replaced with a face of shock. I touched my neck again. I felt around for a moment. I found a gash. After some pushing I was able to feel just how deep. Fatal.

 

"So..." The colt looked at us a bit of concern. He shook his head. 

 

"I can take you four there... If ya want"

[HunterTSN 1,444]

@@Miss Reaper, 

@@Firehearted, 

 

"Ah hah, so we are zombies, in your face Gearbutt!" Zephyr laughed in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Anyway thanks for the offer kid but I'm sure we'll be just fine" she said as she brushed past the odd colt. 'After all I'm going to wake up in a few hours and won't even be able to remember this whole nightmare.'

[ReverieRiver 526]

@@HunterTSN, @@Firehearted,

 

((OOC: Gaaaah, sorry for taking so long! >.<))

 

Galatea released the breath that she apparently didn't need after all, immediately turning on Zephyr with an annoyed glare. "This is hardly the time to be joking right now!" she snapped.

 

After the little outburst, the news finally sunk in. Dead... I'm dead right now.

 

Her now still heart felt as if it were clenching inside her chest as dread overtook her. She never reached Canterlot. She never was able to find out if she'd be able to gather all the resources she needed. And now she never would. What would become of her Nano? The poor colt would be left alone in this era... again - and this time, there would be no way for him to get back to his home with her in the future. Because she died.

 

The engineer wasn't normally a mare easily given to emotion, but right now it felt like everything was crumbling apart. What else could she do but mourn for what she had lost? For what those she cared about lost? All she could imagine was Nano at her funeral, the thought cracking her composure. Falling back heavily onto her hindquarters, she was numb for only a moment before she started weeping.

 

"N-No... This can't be real," she said to herself in a choked whisper. "This has to be... s-some sort of crazy nightmare... Maybe if I close my eyes, I'll wake up. M-Maybe I just... fell asleep on the train or something." But though she rambled on to no one in particular, she knew the denial was pointless. Somewhere deep inside, she knew that her heart was no longer beating.

[HunterTSN 1,444]

@@Miss Reaper, 

 

"Hey look, I'm sorry about the whole 'gearbutt' thing, sometimes I just get excited and things slip out. I didn't mean to offend you or anything I swear" Zephyr said putting a comforting hoof around the morose engineer's shoulders. 'Someponies can be so sensitive' she thought, not considering that there could be other factors contributing to the mare's depression.

 

((So Ano170 dropped out, luckily it's still relatively early and we aren't totally involved in the story. Do we want to kill off Feather or something? maybe she didn't move for too long and just sunk away?))

Edited October 8, 2014 by HunterTSN