*Warning! Contains swearing and blood!*

Chapter 1

"I warned them!" he yelled. I could only stare, stare at what my best friend was becoming. "I told them what would happen if they pushed me too far!" he yelled louder, the rain was pouring harsher than before, I couldn't tell if he was crying or not, but one thing I knew is that I was. I saw out of the corner of my eye the darkness creeping up on us, it was feeding off him and soon he'd be one of them.

He looked directly at me and snickered, "what's wrong, you're acting like you never expected this," he said coldly, "this is for the best and you know it Frost."

"Don't call me that…" I said, trying to intimidate him.

"Oh I'm sorry Bluewing, but this is only the beginning, you could either join me, or suffer like they will" he said, holding out a hoof, it was still bleeding and covered in black goo.

"No" I said, looking directly at his eyes.

"Join me now, and I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you" he said, the darkness was reaching him.

"No" I said louder, I could see their lifeless bodies from here.

"Frost please, I don't want to hurt you" he said with a look of concern in his eyes.

"No" I said looking down, I knew I'd die if I didn't join him, but what other option do I got?

"Frost…" he started.

"Don't call me that!" I snapped, making him flinch. He then sighed, I could swear it wasn't the rain that formed that tear in his eye.

"So be it…" he said, as he turned and the darkness consumed him.

I woke up gasping for air, my heart racing and I felt the room spinning. Another damn nightmare, it happens almost every week now, it's like Celestia wants me to relive the greatest mistake in my life. I miss Luna, I never had nightmares before but as soon as I start having them is when she disappears, probably dead, I gave up hope when I found out they took over Canterlot.

"Are you ok sir?" said a child's voice, I turned and saw a white unicorn looking down at me.

"Yeah thanks" I said, sitting up wiping the sweat from my forehead, "Um, can I ask who you are?" I asked when I realized she was holding my bag of apples.

"Oh um… I'm just um…" she stuttered a bit, then turned and ran.

"HEY! Get back here thief!" I yelled, as I got up I immediately fell back down from the dizziness.

"I'm sorry!" the filly yelled as she disappeared into the woods. Great, just what I needed.

oOoO

"60 bits" said the stallion as he handed me the apples, the economy went down the drain a while ago, prices were everywhere these days, a week ago I bought 12 apples for 8 bits and now I'm buying 5 apples for 60 bits. I sighed, placed 60 bits on the table, and started walking off.

"You forgot your protection payment" the stallion said as he walked in front of me, "20 extra bits" he added, holding out his hoof.

"Yeah yeah I heard it before, find another sucker" I said walking past him, I heard him growl from behind, I knew he'd charge at me soon enough so I turned. The stallion threw a punch at me but I easily caught it.

"You know what's funny?" I asked him, gripping his hand.

"Hey! Let go of me punk!" He yelled.

"I could've sworn you owed me change" I told him in a dark tone.

"I don't owe you shit" he said, I gripped harder and he screamed in pain.

"You sure about that? I'll take any payment at this point." I whispered to him, gripping harder, blood started flowing down his arm.

"GAH! STOP!" he yelled, desperately trying to pull away.

"I'm seriously not in a good mood right now, you want me to show you how mad I am?" I asked him as my other hoof prepared for a punch.

"FINE! TAKE YOUR DAMN MONEY!" he yelled, darn I really wanted to break his hand. I released and he immediately took his hand back. "Asshole!" he yelled as he limped away to the back of his stand. I grabbed my apples and the 60 bits, I guess it wasn't a total waste of time.

I started packing my supplies to hit the road again, I could never stay in one spot for long since it isn't safe if anypony knows where you are. I was low on food again and my life savings weren't going to last much longer, that thief stole 3 apples from me, at this rate I was going to run out of money and food. The only way to make bits now a days is to either be a farmer or a thief, anything else wouldn't be enough bits. I sighed because I knew I didn't have seeds to farm nor the money to buy seeds, I'd have to become a thief if I couldn't find a source of money or food. I snapped out of my thoughts when I heard the sound of hoofsteps, I turned and saw that same damn thief sneaking up on me.

"Get the heck out of here!" I yelled to her, making her jump back.

"I'm sorry!" she yelled as she dropped the bag and ran into the woods. What I saw I couldn't believe, the bag had 2 apples in it, my apples! I rushed to the bag and saw 2 uneaten apples, 1 apple the thief ate, and… is that a framed picture? I picked up the frame and examined it, looks like this thief had a family, must've been taken before they took over. I honestly felt bad, sometimes I forget why people did these things in the first place. I heard bushes shake lightly, I knew the filly was hoping to retrieve her picture.

"Come on out," I said loudly, "I won't hurt you, you want your picture back right?" I heard the bushes shake a little more. "I know you're here, might as well come out before I drag you out" I lied, I knew she was watching me but I didn't have a clue where she was, my campsite was in the woods so all I could see was large trees. Eventually the filly emerged from her spot and slowly approached me.

"I'm sorry! I was just so hungry and I saw you were asleep and-" she started.

"Hey, it's alright, you did what you needed to do to survive, but why did you come back?" I asked her, she put a big distance between us.

"I-I want my picture back" she stuttered.

"No, I meant why did you return at all, you had the food, why come back?" I asked her.

"I only needed one, I'm sorry" she said as tears ran down her cheek. I slowly approached her and she started shaking while looked frightened, the poor thing must've gone through a lot. "Pl-Please forgive me" she said, more tears forming in her eyes.

"It's alright" I told her as I crouched down and gently pulled her into a hug, "I forgive you, you're just a kid and you shouldn't be doing this you know." Her shaking slowed down and she sobbed into my shoulder, occasionally repeating the words 'I'm sorry' as she sobbed. She sobbed for about a minute before she finally broke from the hug.

"Feeling better?" I asked her, she nodded in response. "Look, take the other 2 apples, you need them more than me anyway." I told her as I handed her the bag.

"T-Thanks" she stuttered, looking down.

"I got to get going, you'll be fine now right?" I asked, guessing she had a plan or a goal.

"No" she said, still looking down.

"Oh, um… you heading anywhere?" I asked. She shook her head. "Do you have anypony to take care of you?" I asked, tears were again forming in her eyes. I sighed.

"Come on, you're coming with me" I told her, packing the last of my apples. She responded by looking up at me with a surprised look. "I'm not going to leave you here alone unless you know what you're going to do" I told her, as I put on my traveling bags.

"Really?" She asked, almost a whisper.

"Yeah, I can't leave a filly here alone-" I was cut off by her hugging my legs and crying again. I just patted her head.

"Thank you…" she whispered.

"You're welcome… what's your name?" I asked her. She looked up at me with tears rolling down her eyes but still having a smile.

"My name is Sweetie Belle" she said.

Am I progressing too fast? I sure hope not. I don't really know where I'll take this story yet, but I'll make sure it's good. :D Also I'm not sure how often I'll upload for this story, don't worry though, I'll make sure to upload at least once a week.