I breath slowly, not wanting to scream this time. Every time I sleep, I remember that day. My hands remember that day. The magic that melted mine and Sonata's medallions made my hands scar over faster than they should've, but the pain… I will never forget that pain. I slowly open my eyes and see nothing but pale blue hair through my smudged goggles.

I shoot up, "Sonata!" I yell, my voice muffled by my mask. For one small second, I smile. I feel hope and happiness flood into me. Then I fall back in shock. "Wha…" I look around. Congealing blood drops are sticking to my coat. I'm laying on the ground in a destroyed building. "Huh?" I look around, "Sunny?" I call out, but her body is no where to be seen. Not even back in the hole. Nothing. Gone.

Murderer. A little voice in my head mutters in my ear. My breaths come out broken, my body shaking. I close my eyes and try to blindly stumble to my feet. But if she's gone, maybe she's alive. Maybe, I didn't kill her. Is that really a thing to hope though? To leave her to die a hellish death, so I can spare myself the title of murderer?

I stumble away from my sleeping spot; knowing deep within the back of my mind I have broken one of my three rules. I trip and fall back on the rumble and wince when a bit of rubble hits right into my spine. I breathe out deeply before opening my eyes and staring up, the sun is setting. I frown, I've been here for hours and I don't have anything to show for it. I have to hurry and find something before I worry Aria too much. Last thing I want is her trying to find me and getting hurt in the process.

I don't glance back for Sunny again as I leave the school ruins and shuffle closer to the Core. I can feel it tickling at my mind already, even from this far away. It's not enough for it to do anything too severe thankfully. I feel like it might have had a figurative hand in that... 'nightmare' though, even though I've had it before. Lived it before. The Core played with your mind, not in a fun way either. I know that going close enough for it to influence me is dangerous, but I have to find something for us to eat.

The destructive is even worse here, obviously. Most of the houses are ash and brick piles, I've picked through the debris before, there's rarely ever an intact fridge, normally they're already contaminated. The only food I've found to be predictably safe from the contaminants is canned foods, or anything in a similar container. Jarred is also fine most of the time, but glass surviving all this.. Nigh impossible.

I spy what appears to be a half standing shopping center. By half standing, I mean half of it has caved in and the other looks like it's being held up by toothpicks. I start towards it, though I don't move faster. I can't waste the energy to move faster unless I have to. As I approach the store, I notice another structure down the street, and another just further from the next. If I can't find anything in these, I'll head back and come back out tomorrow.

I was right, this is a shopping center. Though, not for food. A shoe store. "Dammit..." I mumble.

"Are you coming yet?"

I throw my gaze towards the voice, almost tumbling back in the process. I find no one there. The Core is starting to play tricks on me again, that's it. Has to be. My eye twitches left to right though, I'm becoming more paranoid as time goes on. Is that a side effect from The Core's influence, or from my own sanity failing me?

I walk backwards, still scanning the horizon. Can never be too careful, especially this much closer to The Core. I turn around and start towards the next structure, then I stop. What if there's actually something in this store that's useful? I turn around and stare at it in thought. Maybe in the back? I glance at the next building; I think it's a bank. Even less likely to help. I don't know what the next building down is after that, but given my string of luck, this might be my best option.

I take a deep breath and sigh, then start walking back to the store. I step through the shattered glass door, the glass on the floor crunches into even small bits under my boots. I look around, the shoes are all contaminated most likely, not to mention they're all roasted and torn to shreds. I walk past them all, only pausing to see a leg and shoe sticking out from behind the counter, flies buzzing around it. I look away and step back into the back of the store and groan, everything that might be useful is either crushed, burned, or boxed up in crates.

Upon turning around, I still see nothing useful at all. Not even a crumpled potato chip bag, even though that isn't exactly edible. I'm almost surprised at how empty this place is. I growl in frustration before leaving. "Heheheh!" I hear a giggle to my left. I look: Nothing. I snort before leaving the store and heading down the road towards the next building. Called it, definitely a bank. Part of me doesn't even want to go in, but that part gives up at the idea that there might be something in there useful.

I push on the front door and it falls out of it's frame. Dust blows up from the ground, fluttering about in the air. I step across it, waving the dust away as I cross the filthy room to the front counter. Most of the glass is somewhat… Less broken than the other building's glass, probably due to the building's stone construction. I glance along the walls, looking for an already broken panel. I notice one at the end of the room and walk to it, then promptly step up on the counter and through it. I drop down and check under the counter: Alarm buttons here, rubbish bins over there, but the only thing I saw remotely useful was a screwdriver next to an open electrical panel.

I pocket the screwdriver and make my way into the hall, flipping on my flashlight, then cross into the security room across from me. I look down and bend over to pick the discarded keyring up off the floor, then glance at the gun racks. Empty? Odd. I walk over to the desk, a destroyed computer sits atop it and an empty coffee cup next to the keyboard. A picture, paled from the elements, sits on the desk. The man from the photos above our home hugging his family. I blink slowly before walking away. "No more photos." I tell myself before turning around and grabbing it up and tossing it in my pack. No more memories.

I quickly leave the room and fast walk down the corridor, only barely glancing in each room as I pass it. "Empty." I say aloud as I peek in each room. "Empty." I walk faster, growing more and more frustrated. "Empty." I finally throw my head into the final room in the hall, "Em..." The word dies in my mouth as I spy a staircase going down is in here. I slowly blink before walking in and skipping down the stairs, expecting nothing; hoping for something.

I enter into a large open chamber. "Empty." I say with such a finality; I shouldn't be allowed to use it. It sounds too sure. As I turn to leave, something catches in the corner of my eye. A vault? Well it is a bank, so I'm not surprised to see a vault. But I'm surprised to see it only partially closed. I tilt my head before strutting over carefully. I nearly leave on impulse as the smell of rot assaults my nostrils, but the promise of death gives me the possibility of supplies.

Pushing the several ton door open is much too easy I think, the physics behind it probably explain why that's so but I never learned it. 'HELP US' is painted in a chipping brown substance on the inside of the vault door; I can assume what it was painted with fairly easily. Along the floor are various children's drawings. Some depict the sun and other random elements of a childish drawing. Which would be absolutely adorable if they weren't painted in the same brown as the door.

Something does not feel right about this at all, a part of me is telling the rest of me I should just leave now. Just close the door and leave, never come back. But then curiosity kicks in and I want to know more, I want to find something to go home with. So I tell that part of me to sit in the corner twiddling her thumbs.

Regret is the only thing I can feel when I catch sight of the skinned, rotting corpses around the corner of the larger-than-I-expected bank vault. They're arranged in a circle in the four-way of some shelves and racks, 'Around, around they go,' I read, slowly walking along the baked blood path of flowers and poems. 'Dancing for Little Rose.' I feel like I should be terrified right now, but my subconscious is telling me it's safe. Why? 'But why does Lil' Rose cry?' I bend and take up the bloodied, discarded toy doll from the floor. It feels familiar. Orange hair, purple dress and stockings, covered in brown flakes. I wander forward a bit more, then freeze. A rotting corpse is sitting in front of me, completely intact aside from the bullet wound to his skull. His security uniform is torn and filthy, and a hole is in his rotting skull. Next to his bloody, rotting hands is a short revolver.

I drop the familiar doll in my pack before I turn back to the man, 'Longarm' is studded on his name tag. I inch forward, terrified of the corpse for some distant reason I can't place. Creeping; lurching through the dark vault, I reach and grab up the revolver. Five shots. I catch the red blinking light on his radio out of the corner of my eye and shift in place. I then anxiously reach out and yank it from his shirt and flip it around. Rechargeable, but still has power. I have a crank charger for this back home I think. I put it on my pack and quickly back away from the man. I gulp and finally breathe out a silent wisp.

"Are you coming yet?" I feel her breathing down my neck. I throw my self forward and around, aiming the revolver behind myself. I take several panting breathes, my eye twitches.

"What the hell?!" I scream at nothing in front of me, waving my gun in a pale, empty threat to the influence who's toying with me. "What are you trying to accomplish by doing this to me?!"

As one could expect, I get no answer. I breath almost frantically for a moment before dropping my armed hand to my side and standing up like a civilized, totally not insane, person. I feel around my coat and find a pocket, where I stow the gun rather roughly before storming out of the vault. Then the rest of the building feels my wrath as I completely ignore it and stomp all the way outside like an angry child. I turn back to the bank one last time, about to rant to it. I point my finger at the building, my mouth open and the hurtful words in my mind, but I can only huff and puff; completely out of breathe.

I just drop my hand to my side. "Not worth it..." I mutter. I've begun talking to myself haven't I? I glance down the street further to the final building. A house. No, it's far too late, we will simply have to go tonight without much to eat. I turn around and begin to walk home.

"Hey!" I look to my right, following the voice dejectedly.

"Sunny?" I ask, completely dumbstruck. I stare at her from my position several dozen feet away. She smiles and waves me over before running off. "Wait!" I chase after her. She giggles loudly, the noise rings in my ears even over the roaring winds. I'm already exhausted as I barely start my run, "Slow down!" I yell through ragged breathes.

She skips to a stop and waves again before running around a corner. I grunt and toss a little more energy into my mad sprint around the corner. Gone. I pant, slowing to a still. I step forward slowly, then into the fallen door of the apartment building she led me to. "Sunny?" I call out, stepping over the rotten door, broken glass crunching underfoot. I look left, then right. There's a corpse behind the couch, and one in under the kitchen table, hugging a very, very small one to itself. I look away and wander inside and to the fridge. I nearly back up, it's humming.

There's still power in this building? I open the door, shuddering at the cold air that bellows out of it. Food. Tons and tons of food. Well that's an exaggeration, but it will last us a few days at least. The only issue is that it's quite a ways from home, but I could keep spoil-able food here for long periods of time, assuming the power doesn't cut off.

"Well… I hope we like pickles and tuna salad." I say, grabbing said items out of the fridge, among a few other things before closing it and starting on my way home, stowing the food in my pack to keep it safe.

Dear Journal,

Today is the last day I will be expectantly safe for the next few days. Or weeks, depending on how dangerous the terrain has become in The Center. I have been debating to leave a will, but given that almost everyone I care about is going to be coming with me into The Center, and has the same chance of dying I do.. I feel that it is not necessary. Instead, I will leave you, my journal here in my home for any who decide to clear my home to view should I die.

On this page, which I shall leave open, I leave my last wants, in such a case I do not return. First and foremost, please do not view the rest of my journal. There will not be any real reason for you not to, I can see that, but… It would be the very last thing I had personal left in the living world, and I would like to keep at least one thing that is mine and only mine left here. And for all of my possessions? I will leave that to my friends(Applejack, Twilight Sparkle(and Princess Twilight), Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash) to decide, they may take or throw away whatever they want, I don't really care.

Except for one item. Under my mattress, there is a hole cut in it. I have left a box of letters and small items for each of my friends. I wish to give these to them whether I return or not. And… If some of the people who the letters are addressed to do not return, I leave them to the next friend by first name alphabetical order. She may share that letter with the others if she wishes, but perhaps some things are better left unsaid.

Forever,

Sunset Shimmer