Chapters There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,
And swallows circling with their shimmering sound;
And frogs in the pools, singing at night,
And wild plum trees in tremulous white,
Robins will wear their feathery fire,
Whistling their whims on a low fence-wire;
And not one will know of the war, not one
Will care at last when it is done.
Not one would mind, neither bird nor tree,
If mankind perished utterly;
And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,
Would scarcely know that we were gone. There Will Come Soft Rains- By Sara Teasdale
It's been three times they've spotted me this hour. Three hours! They must really be desperate to catch me. Moving as quietly as I could, I slip behind trees and boulders that are conveniently placed around. This whole thing started when I had just graduated from college. I mean, really? This whole thing should have started when I had figured out the meaning of existence, I would be okay with that, once everything I wanted to do was did. But no, it HAD to happen right when I was able to live a life! Maybe I shouldn’t have taken up street racing... My internal ranting goes on as I attempt to run to a tree about fifteen feet away. I slip, and fall. Make that four times they've spotted me.
Good Thing it's only one stallion, as he turns around and calls for the pony that's been annoying me since last week.
Fluttershy, she began hunting for me with the other main pony, Derpy Hooves. They split for a better chance to catch me, and right now Fluttershy shows no stopping to bring me to Derpy. Now, why do they want me to be caught by Derpy? From what I've heard, every pony that helps in what they call "The good of all humans," can capture and have the victim turned into a pony as... "Their relative or lover." Now to me that sounds pretty creepy and disgusting. And I'm not about to be a relative to that gray pony.
I’m always able to get away from Fluttershy, her traps are too weak and her strength to hold me back is too little. So once again, I begin to fake like I’m going to die.
“OOOOOH MY GOD! Fluttershy is gonna get me! I’m soooooooo screwed! What do I do now?” I shout in fake fear.
Fluttershy is in earshot of this. Good. I hear her begin to stumble out words. “H-Hey! I am g-going to get y-you this t-time!” She says in a quiet voice, hovering above me.
I just drop the fake fear and laugh. “Oh really? What trap are you gonna pull next? All the ones you already have tried are too small, and the one time it wasn’t the material it was made of was extremely weak!” I taunt at Fluttershy.
While I’m saying this, she just has a evil smile growing on her face, and it begins to creep me out. my smile slowly falters while talking.
“While the guard was calling me, I ran into an old friend of yours,” Fluttershy says with a bit of bitterness to it.
Oh no. She couldn't mean…? “Yes, him,” Fluttershy seemed to respond to my thought. “And it turns out he was more than happy to give in! Isn’t that wonderful?” Fluttershy taunted back at me, knowing the bond I had with him.
Him. My friend since I was 19 years old. His name was Sal, I met him when Nikki introduced me to him. I’m unsure how that happened, but I’ve stopped wondering. We became the best buddies in racing the streets and evading the cops.. Now the thing I’m wondering is, why did he give in? Oh, that’s right. Because of how if a pony hugs you, you turn into a brain dead, love crazy maniac.
“You did not…” I hesitated with my words.
“Yes, I did…” Fluttershy responded, mocking my hesitation.
Sal would never do such a thing, unless YOU did something to him,” I responded angrily.
“Oh, I didn’t do anything to him, Octavia did, she was so nice to him…” Fluttershy trailed off, clearly trying to anger me to times end.
Her bait works, I snap. I pick up the nearest rock that would do some damage, and I hurled it at Fluttershy. It hits her right wing directly, sending her down to ground. I run before she can make a recovery, and I’m out of sight.
I sit behind a house, thinking about my choices. First one, I have no food supply, I might be able to find a grocery store and raid that. Second choice, find some bush that grows berries, and eat those, I’ll be less exposed in the open for that choice. Third choice? Just don’t eat and die of starvation. Fourth? Give in.
Plenty of ideas formulate around my head about what different things could happen if I give in. First one-
You know what? Forget it. I’m not going to list anything else to you, you want the story don’t you? Well that’s the best idea.
I decide that I should risk it and find a store that has food in it. Getting up, I accidentally hit my head hard on the deck I was crouching under. I mean, hard. Thankfully I was still conscious, but the searing pain would distract me from a lot of things while I was trying to find food. Other thing to find? Medical supplies.
Using my internal G.P.S (AKA: Brain), I locate a store not far from where I was, but it’ll take a while to get there. Sighing, I slowly stand up and begin a slow walk to the store.
After about ten minutes, I finally got to the store uninterrupted, I attempt to walk inside but there was one problem. The automatic doors were locked, they won’t open. Cursing at myself for not thinking about the stores being closed, I realized that I was going to be loud and shatter a window so I can get something to eat. Finding the closest window, I bring my elbow down on it hard, and it shatters, but not that loudly. I tried to find the smallest window that I could easily get in and out. Climbing inside, the store looks untouched, cans stacked on cans, stacked on even higher stacks of cans. But the things that needed to stay cool, like ham and those things, spoiled because the power lines were cut. Grabbing some canned corn, I decide to hide out in here so I closed up the broken window. Wandering around, I was about to sit down and get some sleep when I hear a shotgun behind me.
“Who are you, pony or human?” An old, raspy voice slowly said.
I freeze in fear, unable to answer until he talks again. “I said, PONY or HUMAN?”
“Human, sir!” I sputter out, trying to not freak out and run.
A long pause filled the air, and finally I felt the shotgun lower. I slowly turn around, and come face to face with an old man, looking like he’s around eighty. “Sorry about that, I just get paranoid when people are in my store. I don’t know why I have this thing anyway, damn ponies using magic to be bullet-proof,” the old man said to me.
“Thanks for that knowledge, but do you mind if I hide out in here for a while? I think they’re sending out more and more of them to get me,” I respond to the old man, hoping he would say yes.
“What’s your name?” The old man responded, sounding like he totally forgot what I had asked.
“Uh… Jack Redbar, why do you ask?” I answer confused.
“Never really liked them Redbars. They always talk, especially Brian Redbar, the little boy never shut up,” The old man responded, giving me less and less hope about being able to stay here until he said, “I guess you can stay here though, if you promise not to talk much.”
“Thank you, sir. I promise not to bother you,” I respond, shaking his hand.
“Now don’t stand by those doors or windows, they might see you,” the old man advised me.
“Don’t worry, I’ll keep that in mind,” I responded.
After a while, it became rather boring in the store, and soon I wished I was outside running again.
“Well, thanks for letting me stay here, but I’ve got to get going,” I say to the old man as he nods his head in agreement.
“You’re welcome. You’re always welcome back, if you need to hide,” the old man tells me as I take the cover off the broken window and climb through.
As I start to walk away, the old man shouts to me, “And if this ever ends, you’re going to pay for a new window!”
I laugh and shout back, “Don’t worry, I will!” and soon the store is out of view. I take a breath of fresh air, and soon enough I’m already using a can opener to open one of the six cans of corn I took from the store. Eating the contents inside, I throw the can aside and continue exploring around. The bad thing about these kinds of things is that you’re able to lose your life on Earth, but the good thing is that I’m finally off my lazy ass and getting exercise, and traveling to places you’ve never been to before. I was the hardcore gamer, so I didn’t get much outside time.
Looking around to make sure there’s not anything stalking me, I start heading towards Sal’s house which is about a mile away from the store. What I didn’t know is that multiple ponies were stalking me, waiting for the right time to strike once I let my guard down.
I finally somehow got to my friends house uninturrupted, and knock on the door. As I expected, I got no response. I turned the doorknob expecting it to be locked, but it was unlocked. Stepping inside, I close the door behind me and start looking around. It was almost untouched as the store, with only a few things missing. I was in here to find one thing, and I headed straight for the garage.
Since I raced with my car so much, it wasn’t safe to keep my car at my house since the police always searched for it. As I stepped inside the garage, I turn on the lights.
My car was still there, a Mazda RX-7, along with Sal’s car, a Porsche Cayman. I was feeling slightly confused at why they didn’t take the cars, but that was out of my mind the moment I found my keys and started the car.
The engine roared to life, giving me a sense of satisfaction as I opened the garage door and backed the car out of the garage. I should have gotten enough money to buy a Lamborghini, I would be able to escape in style. But alas, I never got the chance to get one. I turned around to get back to my car when I realized that it wasn’t there anymore. Looking up, I saw that a purple aura was surrounding my car, making it float about fifteen feet above ground. I heard a throat clear from the right of me, and I turn. What I saw was Twilight Sparkle, using her magic to keep me from getting away in the car.
“I am Twilight Sparkle, and you’re not going anywhere!” Twilight shouted, it obviously looked like she was straining to keep the car floating.
I say, “Oh am I?” and walk back inside, taking Sal’s car keys and backing his car out to the driveway.
Looks like Twilight had better ideas, because she dropped my car onto Sal’s car, effectively destroying both.
“Darn. Well, looks like another day in the prison,” I say as Twilight picks me up with her magic and blinds me.
I’m awaiting to be unblinded...
How long has it been, five hours? I never had to wait that long to be unblinded. This “prison” must be far away from Palmont. What makes it worse is that I have an itch on my nose, and I can’t move to scratch it. I internally scream in agony as the itch only gets worse and worse, and suddenly it goes away.
Well, alrighty then. I continue waiting when about ten or a thousand minutes pass I suddenly feel like I’m on top of something, not floating anymore. I still can’t move to find out what it is, though, until the lock on my torso and up comes off. I immediately stretch my spine, creating loud popping sounds. Once I’m done with that, I put my hands on the ground. It feels like cold stone. Well, it is a prison alright. Suddenly the blind comes off, making my vision go painfully white for a few seconds. Once it clears enough, the first thing I see is… Once again, small metal bars.
I can fully move again, and I walk over to the bars and give one of them a little stress test. It bends almost like butter, but before I do anything else I want to play weak and get a better look at where I am and what’s going on without causing alarm. Looking outside of the bars I see a wanted sign, with a picture of two humans. One is wearing a black jacket encrusted with… Diamonds? and the other is wearing a plain white labcoat. Scientist maybe? Whoever made the diamond jacket just wants to watch the person that bought it get robbed. And of course, there’s no picture of me on there. 2fast4them.
My attention goes to the left of the bars as a white guard pony walks up to my cell.
“Princess Twilight has sent me up here to keep watch on you,” It says.
My reply is simple. “That’s nice,” I say.
Seeing as there was nobody else in the cells on this floor, the guard just stands there, almost like a statue. That’s just creepy, I can’t keep my hand still without it knocking something over.
“So… That spear looks pretty sharp,” I say.
The guard does nothing, practically oblivious to what I said. Well, I tried.
I decide to test his reactions and bend one of the bars in the cell ever so slightly. The guard still does nothing. Surprising, but I don’t let it bewilder me that long. I bend the bar a little bit more. The guards eyes snap to my hand, has he even blinked since he walked up here?
“Stop immediately,” the guard blankly says.
“You’ld like that, wouldn’t you?” I respond. “You’ld like me stop like a looooooser. Walkin’ around the cell like a looooooser. Sleepin’ in the bed like a loooooooooser,” I continue, trying to sound like Markiplier, god that channel was funny.
The guard strangely has no reaction to that and says, “If you do not stop I will have to report the princess.”
I try to distract him while I’m bending the bar. Is it working? I can’t tell. “Geez, have you ever heard of words like don’t and I’ll? I hate it when people try to be all formal and stuff talking like a loooooooser.”
There’s almost a space I can fit through. The guard is giving me a cold glare, forgetting about the bar.
A space big enough to fit through is available. Now’s my chance to take him by surprise!
“Oh, and also?” I say as I slowly kneel down. “You forget like a loooooooser.”
I quickly slide through the space, the guard’s eyes widen. He calls out for reinforcements as I speed through the hallways, looking for other humans trapped. I spot a few, and apparently they didn’t try the bending bars trick because they were laying down on the floor being bored. I free them.
As me and my scrap team look for the exit, I start wondering how all of this started. I could be like my crazy uncle and say it was God’s will, but I’m not that kind of person. I was overhearing how apparently some two assholes went to Equestria first, and when the ponies discovered the conditions on Earth, came over here and started the “Good of all humans.” I don’t think that’s how all of it started, how would humans get to Equestria in the first place? We don’t have the technology to even get close to that!
Well, I do have an idea, but it’s so ridiculous that it goes back to middle school days. Before I was a street driver…
My thoughts trail off and my running slows. I hear one of the people calling after me to go faster. My thoughts clear, I shake my head and resume running full speed. Although, I would like to stop and think about this.
(*ALERT! I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I’M DOING!*)
My ridiculous idea goes back to middle school, but I’m not sure if it was or if it was in high school. *Cue flashback moment*
I had just left lunch and entered science class, and I had sit next to Maliki and Judith. John and Isaac sat together, as usual. People always joked how they were inseparable, but anyway, the class was going to make a baking soda volcano. Yes, I know it was in middle or high school, but it was one of those things where they inspect it and explain how it works. The teacher had put a video on, explaining how to create the volcano. It was one of those old-timey, puppet animated tapes, nothing new from the school. Judith had just put the baking soda in when suddenly something exploded, and John and Isaac disappeared. Everyone thought they had set off a smoke bomb or something and ran away, but they never came back. Police searches were everywhere, but they were never found. It’s amazing how the brain can put together things like this, but it’s probably a coincidence.
I realized that I was already out of the prison and somewhere else, none of the other people were here. I daydreamed a lot, but it’s never been this severe! I take a look at my surroundings and see that I’m in some sort of city. Interesting, I continue to look around more.
Suddenly, I feel a huge pain rip through my back. In shock, I fall down and notice that I’m bleeding badly.
Before I black out I hear a voice say, “Tommy, check his pockets and get anything that's useful. Don’t bother trying to save him, you horrible shot.”
Medical Tape- The third chapter?!
Your name is Timmy, and you probably killed a man.
You always had a gun with you before all this started, just for protection.
But that shot was supposed to be a warning shot, not one straight in the back.
Brian had told you to check his pockets and leave him there, but that’s not the kind of thing you would do. When Brian leaves, you grab his arms and drag the body to the hideout. It takes a while, but you finally get him to the medical room and place him on one of the crudely made beds.
You weren't exactly a medical professional, but a bullet wound was something you could fix. Placing medical tape over one side of the wound, you attempt to flip him over to see any other damage done. You see that the bullet went right through him, oh this is going to be bad if he isn’t dead.
Covering up the other side of the wound, you notice that this guy’s face and Brian’s look similar… But it’s probably nothing.
Checking his pulse, you feel a very slow one. He’s still alive!
Brian walks in. “Timmy, what are you doing to that guy?”
“Brian! He’s still alive!” You say to him.
“Yeah, but probably not for long,” Brian replies. “You know usually people don’t survive from a shot like that. And by the way, you tried to miss him and you hit him… We’re going over target practice again tomorrow.”
You sigh. Ever since you joined these people you’ve been criticized left and right. You can’t seem to do anything right here…
A small groan is heard from the person, and he sits up. He’s awake already!?
***
Ouch. I feel like I woke up with a headache, only it’s my stomach and it’s ten times worse. Okay, it looks like I’m in some sort of house. Last thing I remember was freeing those people and then I woke up here… Something’s missing.
You hear a throat clear, and you turn to face what did it.
Thank god it’s not a pony, it’s a human.
“Uh, hi there,” He says, with a nervous look on his face. “Well, if you’re wondering about what happened, I was the one who uh… shot you.”
Wait, what? Well that explains the stomach pain. And the woozy feeling. It’s like you’re about to pass out, but you just can’t.
"So let me get this straight. You, uh..."
"Timmy," The person said.
"Ok. So you shot me?" I ask, not really angry for some odd reason,
"You don't remember, do you?" Timmy asked. "Well, it's probably for the best, anyway. So there's food in the room right over there..."
I was gone the moment Timmy said food. I hadn't had something to eat since that can of corn. Speaking of which, I wonder how the old man was doing...
Doesn't matter right now, I'm too busy stuffing my face with microwaved chicken. That's when someone else walked into the room.
The person that walked in just looked at me, not a single word. Just staring at me. Then he walks away. That's too creepy, I'm leaving here. I don't care if I'm on the run again, I don't want him to be around me.
***
Alright, back in the fresh air. I need to find a way to treat this supposed "bullet wound," normal medical tape doesn't stop infection I think. And he didn't cover all of the would, also!
I stop my internal complaining as I realized that the person who had stared at me looked familiar. Did we live in the name neighborhood?
I also realize that the loss of blood is taking a huge toll on me as I had even struggled to walk out the door. Should I go back? No, I know how places like those work. You think you're safe, when suddenly BAM! Ponies everywhere.
It's nighttime, though, and I need rest. I think I'll lay down here...
***
(Not splitting into multiple chapters because I know what'll happen then.)
Waking up sucks.
Especially when you're in the Ponyville hospital.
Well, this is a first. I honestly don't have a reaction. I'm just sitting there in a hospital bed, thinking of how this could happen. Suddenly, I hear hoofsteps from outside the room. Who walks in is a white nurse pony with the most goofy smile on her face.
"Good morning! I hope you got a good sleep?" She asks, good god I've never heard someone so happy before...
I don't have a response. Well, I guess I do now. "How the shit did I get here?" I ask in the most tired voice in history.
"Remember when you fell asleep on the ground?" She responds with amusement on her face.
Oh yeah, that was idiotic of me. I facepalm as she giggles. "Oh well, we all make mistakes, right?" She walks up and nuzzles my shoulder. "Well it's ok, you have a visitor to keep you from getting lonely. How's the wound going anyway?"
"Like it's about to punch your little face if you touch me again," I respond bitterly.
The nurse chuckles as she starts to leave. "Alright, Mr. Negative. I'll call in the visitor.
I was glad the nurse was gone, but I wasn't glad that someone I completely forgot about entered the room.
"Derpy Hooves," I say, emotionless.
"Hello!" She energetically says back.
It takes her half a second to notice the wound I had. She rushes over to me. "Aww, you poor thing," she says in a motherly tone, and starts to slowly rub her hoof around my chest in attempts to keep me calm. It actually works, it scares me to think what else she could and would do.
"You must not be feeling well," she continues. No shit, sherlock. I can't say that though, for what reason unknown.
"But I know exactly what will make you feel better, I proooomissse!" She finishes with a sing-song voice.
I find the power to speak. "Can you please not talk like that?" I ask with a forced annoyed tone.
She moves her hoof up to stroking my hair. Normally in a situation like this I would attack the person doing this, but something about Derpy keeps me from doing so.
"Shhhh... Now, I have to go and do some things with other ponies. When I'm done I'll come right back to you, ok?" She asks in that motherly tone again, then nuzzles my cheek. Too friendly, I tell you...
"Don't do that again. Don't come back here again. Don't talk to me like that again, and do not even look at me again," I half shout, trying to keep her away from me.
"Why so hostile? I only want to love you..." Derpy says, then takes her leave.
And for some reason.
A feeling that I want to go away,
Makes me long for her touch again.
