When I stepped through the air had a dark and damp smell, almost like the smell when someone leaves the laundry wet for too long. I took out my knife and surveyed the area.

It was some sort of clothing shop, with a good street view out the window. There was also a pair of bodies on the floor in the far corner, but I ignored them for now.

As if on cue, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight, and Derpy stepped through.

Rainbow Dash put a hoof to her mouth. "I- I think I'm gonna be sick…"

And she did, barfing right then and there, with everyone else jumping back.

'That smell isn't that bad. Is it?'

She recovered and the group followed behind me. There was a 'voop' as we heard the portal disappear behind us.

"Well," Twilight shrugged, "Three days to go."

"Alright girls listen up." I whispered, in fear of hiding zombies. "Tonight we camp here, just to be safe. I'm going to set up some barricades in case things get bad. Keep your eyes and ears open for any trouble. Try to clear this-" I waved off the majority of the store with my hoof "-and we will all meet back here in 15 minutes."

We split up. I started checking the windows and doors for weak spots. To my surprise, whoever was here before us did an excellent job.

I glanced back at the bodies.

'But it obviously wasn't good enough.'

I continued the surveillance of the store. Sure enough, all the windows were boarded up tight. We rendezvoused back where the portal was initially.

"How'd the check clear?" I asked, but from the lack of noise I already knew.

"Okay, there were those two dead humans over there though…" Twilight replied.

"Oh!" she added, "And we found this."

She handed me an empty mag.

"Thanks!" I pocketed the item to not hurt her feelings.

"Speaking of this… everypony take out your Eagle."

They did, Derpy and Dash with no trouble, Twilight with her magic, and Applejack dropped the gun.

"I didn' expect it ta' be so heavy!" she said, obviously embarrassed.

"No big deal. Okay, now I should probably teach you the second most important thing about this: How to reload."

I glanced over to Twilight "Twi, could you empty your gun into those racks over there?"

"Uhh, okay."

Eleven shots were fired, each with only the slightest ping for sound.

"This is weird, the slide thingy won't go forward." She pointed out on the gun as she tried to force it forward.

"Woah! Woah! Don't do that, try pressing the mag release button on the side."

"Mag release? What's a mag?"

I sighed, remembering that they had never seen a weapon like this. "Magazine, clip, mag, bullet holder; whichever name you choose to use works with me. This-" I pulled a clip out of my bag, "-is what holds the bullets that fire. There are a bunch on your belts as well. Press the button and see what happens."

She did and the mag fell to the floor with a loud metallic clang.

I cringed along along everypony as my ears began to ring.

"Now slide the new magazine in."

She levitated a new mag out of her belt and into the gun.

"The slide still won't go forward. Did I do something wrong?" Twilight questioned.

"No, but you're almost done. Pull the slide back a little then release it."

She tugged at the slide with her magic and there was a satisfying click.

"And that's all there is to it!" I exclaimed, happy that the basics were over.

Applejack yawned. "It sure is getting dark outside."

I spotted a few blankets in the corner.

"Yeah, you all should get some rest."

I retrieved the blankets and handed them out.

"Flash, where's yours?" Derpy asked, concerned.

"I'm not sleeping. That's why I said you need to get to sleep."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Well, somepony needs to keep watch. Just in case anything gets through."

"Well, alright." she gave in.

The other three had already cocooned themselves in the blankets. Rainbow already asleep.

Derpy walked over to an empty spot and did the same; laid out the blanket, then laid down and rolled.

I fetched a chair and set it against the wall so I had a 270° view of both the girls and most of the store.

Derpy called me over. "Hey Flash?"

I walked over, skipping from between one blanket and another.

"Yes?"

She lunged forward and gave wrapped her arms around my neck. "Keep us safe okay?"

I smiled "No problem."

Derpy unwrapped herself and redid her cocoon, falling asleep almost instantly.

'I don't need a blanket,' I told myself, 'Thanks to Derpy being here, I feel warm enough already.'

My smile faded as I thought of all the ways this could go horribly wrong.

'NO. You promised her that you would keep everypony safe.'

And that's just what I intend to do.

I armed my handgun and holstered it, then drew out my knife.

Nothing is going to happen tonight.

Nothing.

Although there was not a zombie to be seen or heard, something very peculiar happened. Around 6 hours after dusk, a glowing sensation could be felt radiating off of Rainbow, Twilight, Applejack, and Derpy.

The feeling was too intense. I shielded my eyes, but to no avail. I blacked out.

I felt the sensation from inside me. It felt like when I originally came to Equestria; my ponification.

When I came to it was sudden. I gasped for air and stood on two legs. My shoes were a little tight.

'Wait, shoes...'

I looked down and I could have danced. I was back human!

Just to be sure I ran a lap around the store full speed.

Sure enough I didn't have to drop to all fours.

'This is great! Now we can look for weapons while I actually have hands!'

I glanced at my reacquired fingers.

'One last check...'

I crossed arms and pulled out my eagles and pulled the triggers, making clicking sounds as they went.

After a little jig of happiness I slid my pistols back in the holsters and undid the safety mechanism.

'Probably should wake everypony up.' I figured.

While skipping back to the group sleeping group I spied a black hoodie.

'Perfect.'

I dusted off my blue Tony Hawk shirt before I slid on the hoodie. With luck it was just my size.

I caught up with the group and sat back in my chair.

I ran my fingers through my dark brown hair that made me look somewhat like the 2015 Oscar winner Leonardo DiCaprio.

I looked back toward my friends and saw something that blew my mind.

I wasn't the only one who turned human.

I blinked. Once, then twice.

'This isn't happening, this ISN'T happening...'

But it was. I snatched some scarves from the North-East corner of the store and tied them loosely as blindfolds.

I sighed, hesitated, and finally yelled "Up and at em', it's morning!"

There were groans and moans.

Twilight was easy to tell that she was half awake. "Spiiiike, five more minutes?"

"Spike's not here today Twi, time to get up and smell the apocalypse."

Rainbow Dash sprung upright "Huh? Why can't I see? Who's there?"

"Woah, settle down. Just wait a sec."

Derpy yawned and leaned rolled on her stomach.

I yelped and reeled back.

'So the change happens for them too. But why don't they automatically have clothes like I did?'

I quickly darted around the store, fetching what was left in the women's clothes section.

Red plaid for Applejack, light blue for Rainbow Dash, a smug purple for Twilight, and a cool grey for Derpy.

"Alright ladies," I said tossing a pile of clothes onto each of them "I want you to put these on then take off your blindfolds. Slowly."

Rainbow grabbed her shirt and pulled it on "You're not going to make me fight in this, are you?"

She tugged at her blindfold.

She looked at me, then twilight, AJ, and Derpy.

"Don't freak out, don't freak out! Whatever you do DON'T FREAK OUT."

Twilight pulled on her shirt. "What's the big deal? Having to wear a shirt and all?"

She undid her blindfold too.

"Oh dear Celestia..."

Meanwhile, through all the confusion, AJ was still fast asleep.

Derpy took off her blindfold "What? Flash? Is that you?"

I threw my hands in the air out of frustration.

"News flash everypony: You're now humans! Now get up and deal."

Applejack finally woke up. "Wha? What's goin' on out here?"

She sat up.

All of us quickly turned away and yelled "Put the shirt on! Put the shirt on!"

"Why? What for-" AJ looked down at herself. "Oh. Okaaay then?"

She slid the plaid shirt on.

"Now I'm going to go over here for a bit and I need you all to put these jeans on too."

My face was burning as to what I saw. I walked to the farthest corner of the store.

"Whenever you have them on, let me know!" I shouted behind me.

A few minutes passed.

"I think we got it." Twilight announced.
I made my way back over.

I had to admit, for never having hands before, they seemed to understand how to use them.

Derpy smiled nervously "I'm glad you woke up first and gave us these clothes."

"Hey no problem." I smiled back.

"So this is it then, you were telling the truth about those photos." Twilight stated.

I shrugged "Guess so."

I pulled out one of two spare Eagles in my pack and put it right underneath where the portal was.

I nodded to the girls "That way we don't forget where it is."

I pulled out the HoloCube and pulled open the countdown timer.

'63 hours to go.'

I opened a map of the surrounding area in my head with the help of the HoloCube.

Then, with me in the lead, we unlocked the front door and headed out into the musky streets.

Sometimes it sucks to be home.

*Author's Note

Hey guys! Again, late night chapter, but I wanted to get it out to you because I love you guys. Seriously, without your support, I probably would have quit on chapter 2. Thanks to all of you that have supported me this far. Right this second Truly Alive has 10 reviews, 10 favorites, 18 follows, and a whopping 2,631 views. I remember when I first started and was beyond ecstatic to have 10 views! Again, all this is thanks to you, so please PM me or leave a review telling me if you liked it and what you liked about it. Oh, and should I make shorter chapters (I can update quicker) or longer, more detailed ones (takes a minimum of a week)? Let me know by PM! And anyone who has submitted an OC to me the OC is being processed and will appear soon.

Once again, thanks for being awesome!

-TDL

P.S.Unfortunately I don't live in a magical land of happiness. That means I have homework and exams and the lot. So chapter 12 might take a while. BUT, to make it up to you it will be my biggest chapter yet, capping at maybe 5-6K words. Thanks for understanding.