The Pain of Surviving.

by Rintagea

Rating: mature
Tags: Alternate Universe, Human, Sad, Dark, Romance
Length: 2925

When Man and Pony are at war, what would you do to save the life of the opposite species?

"It started about 3 months ago… I doubt anyone would've imagined the most seemingly peaceful races declaring war on us… but I guess I've never imagined the genocide that brought this whole thing upon us. I just want to get away from here and get her someplace safe."

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2014-03-02 00:50:08 UTC

Prologue

Date: July 16, 2027

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Time: 21:34:07

It was at this exact time that I looked out of my apartment to see a bright flash of light. My first thought was that Nuclear war was starting and my death would at least be quick, but the Terminator-style inferno did not come. Instead I saw several small figures stepping through a portal of some kind. My mind processed this as one of two things: either I was slowly losing my sanity, or I was asleep. I hurried to my bed to get some much needed sleep.

"Can't stay up after having hallucinations..."

Date: August 22, 2027

Location: Washington D.C.

Time: 13:21:57

News teams gathered around the white house to hear about the treaty with the sentient ponies' leaders Princesses Luna and Celestia. The President and Princess Celestia each tell reporters that they are pleased to announce that they hope to live in peace and harmony.

"Looks like we'll be seeing ponies around town more often."

Date: September 1, 2027

Location: Tennessee

Time: 00:15:23

Local news teams have discovered a series of murders of ponies. The current total is 15 ponies so far. Not only that but also that some rumors of a cult believing that sacrificing ponies will grant them good fortune or eternal life, no evidence to say whether the cult truly exists however.

"I don't see how anyone could take the life of another intelligent being. Whoever's doing this needs to be caught soon."

Date: September 17. 2027

Location: USA

Time: 12:34:00

The total kill count on ponies has been roughly  450 confirmed deaths, the police and royal guard has finally found out who was behind the killings. the surprising thing was it wasn't a cult. It was one man and a unicorn. The man had apparently had a fascination with the way ponies acted and only killed them to see how they acted during there last moments. The unicorn was said to have just enjoyed watching the way he worked. It seemed impossible for them to kill so many with just 2 members. Until it was explained.

First He would pick out a target, then the unicorn would teleport the target to them once he/she was alone, next they would restrain the target, then take them to a remote location, dispose of them, and then teleport to a different state to avoid suspicion.

This was the day the war began, Ponies were outraged that another pony was going to be found guilty of a crime, and human's we're outraged by the ponies who thought that the pony should be tried in Equestria. Riots began, soon the royal guards and the U.S. army were fighting one another.

Date: December 22, 2027

Location: Cleveland, Ohio

Time: 16:46:32

"God I wish I could start a fire..." I spoke to myself.

Meeting Solstice

The bitter cold of December was getting to me. Those pegasi sure do know how to make it cold, I thought to myself. I'd have given anything for a blanket or to start a fire, but to start a fire would mean that the pegasi scouts might notice and search around trying to find me. Pegasi, I had noticed were much more aggressive when it came down to pony sub-cultures. Not that it'd do me any good if I was caught by one. So I sat alone trying to beat the cold until the pegasi went away for the day. It would normally be around 6 p.m. I could wait that long to  go out searching again. It was only three hours away. My door burst open. I found myself staring strait at a squad of pegasus guards.

"HUMAN! SURROUND HIM!" one shouted. Spears shot in my direction. In an instant I was restrained and led to a holding cell. I noticed that there weren't many others in the cages around me. Which either means that they don't catch that many, or most everyone they do catch is killed. I sighed and thought about my life. I was a pretty boring kid, I had average grades in school and not many friends. And now I was awaiting my doom from things I only thought to be fantasy. At least it's warm in here. I thought to myself as I laid down to rest.

It didn't take but ten minutes for my sleep to be disturbed by a loud tapping on my cage bars. Well this is it, I thought at first until I saw a set of keys tossed into my cage. I saw another human outside my cage smile as he left a metal baseball bat outside my cage. I took that as a way of saying it's time to go. It took me a minute but soon I was out of my prison. I grabbed the baseball bat and looked around for an exit keeping as close to the walls as possible. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but if I had to I would. I heard the sound of hooves behind me and picked up my pace. I ran as fast as I could ignoring the sounds of gunshots, magic, and screaming around me. A pegasus body fell in front of me twitching in pain unable to move. I held its forehoof in my hand as it passed away. I jumped down a nearby hill to get away from the violence. I tumbled all the way to the bottom of the hill without much injury, just some minor cuts and scrapes. I got up and noticed that I was not alone.

In front of me stood a unicorn mare with a magic nullifier on her horn she looked at me with both fear and anger. I pulled out my bat and readied myself for her attack. It never came though. We each glared at the other waiting for them to make a move. Until each of us heard a group calling out to search for any ponies or humans.

"Hey Pony!" I said to her in a hushed but worried tone of voice, "It looks like you want to get out of here just as bad as I do, so I say we just forget about the whole 'Kill each other' thing and run away before they find us". She only answered by slowly nodding and trotting off ahead of me. I followed closely behind. She began to run towards the inner city until I explained that there were a large number of human's who attacked and captured ponies there, and for some reason she trusted me. She followed me back to my old hideout which was a bunker underneath a workbench. I locked  the entrance behind us.

The bunker wasn't very big, but it could fit us both. There was a futon, a reclining chair, a bathroom, a small fire pit, some pots, and about ten cans of food. I sat on the futon and looked over at her. She looked scared.

"So what's your name horse?" I asked.

"You can call me Solstice monkey." she responded. "So what can I call you?"

"My name's Reave, and if you're afraid of anyone coming in here, don't worry I'm the only one alive who even knows about this place, and I'm not one for hurting anyone."

"So what do we do now?"

"I'm gonna get some sleep, you can do what you want."

"You're so sure I won't kill you in your sleep?"

"Yeah. From what I gathered about ponies, female unicorns don't necessarily intend to hurt anyone." I began

"Well I'm not your av-"

"And if you kill me you'll die down here because you don't know the combination to the lock to get out." I stated flatly. She huffed and laid down in the chair, not taking her eyes off me until I began to doze off.

I had awoken from a good nights sleep and noticed her still asleep. I hope she's dreaming of something other than the horrors that are going on outside. I grabbed the lighter out of my pocket, a can opener, and a can of corn. Never thought she'd buy the lie about no way out, surely she didn't think there wasn't another way out... right? I started a small fire and began to cook us some food to eat...

Talk of the Past and the Future.

I sat there slowly cooking the can of corn and also watching Solstice. It was at this time that I decided to take in her features. Her coat was a dark violet and she had a short, spiked turquoise mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a constellation. I could tell she had been captured at least once in her lifetime. Small patches of fur missing here and there on her body as well as the brand on her neck pretty much proved that to be true. Humans can be cruel I thought, ,but we're not the only one's who use brands. The memory of that day ran through my head as it had several times before.

It was my first time I was captured by ponies. Three earth ponies and a pegasus rounded up my friends, Tommy and Steven along with myself. It was just minutes after the war had started. I guess that's how things go when you're so close to the place where they first sprung up. For the first hour, they started throwing rocks at our backs, the next hour we were joined by a unicorn with a whip, and the next hour they branded all three of us on our upper shoulder blade. I never branded anything in my life, but after that insane amount of pain I went through, I will never do that to anything so long as I live. It wasn't long after we were branded that we got rescued by some people trying to stop the ponies. I just wanted to go home that day. I don't have a home anymore though.

I was poked from the side by Solstice, her eyes looking at me with concern as she asked, " You alright? You looked like you were about to cry there."

"It's nothing, just a bad memory that wont be going away anytime soon." I said to try and calm her down. We sat there quietly for about five minutes. The food was ready and I gave her a plate with more on it, because she was a pony and all. The corn was bland, but at least it was edible. I spoke up again after we had finished with our food.

"So how'd you get-"

"The brand?!" she blurted out angrily and then continued, " It was thanks to you violent apes! I was just walking around in town when all of the sudden 3 of you monsters grab me and throw a nullifier on my horn! Then you vicious creatures went and branded me, along with everypony else who was there!" she paused for a moment  and then continued "Ponies wouldn't do something like that! Ponies are much kinder than you freaks of nature! Ponies only capture humans to make sure that they don't harm anypony else! We don't... wait what are you doing?! Put your shirt... back..." she  slowly took in the view of my torture wounds. "Put your shirt back on... please put your shirt back on." she was in tears now, "I'M SORRY FOR WHAT I SAID SO WOULD YOU PLEASE PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON?!"

As I put my shirt back on I asked "So... How'd you get your cutie mark?"

"I've always liked astrology, ever since I was a filly. Now I can name all of the constellations by heart and even their positions in the sky." she sighed and then asked, "So before this whole war happened what did you do?"

"I was an employee at a fast food restaurant. I honestly hated my job, but I wasn't really serious when I said 'I would rather live in hell than work at this job'" we both laughed a little at that. "Hold still for a moment."

She flinched a little as I reached up, but then relaxed as she realized what I was doing. I held down the buttons on her magic nullifier and pulled it off her horn. She seemed very happy about it being off of her horn, it must have been there for quite some time because the spot where it had been was much lighter than the part above it. I placed the nullifier in my pocket Just in case I have to deal with a rabid unicorn. I wondered for a moment what magic was like. What it would feel like to be able to cast magic. How would it feel like to not be able to use it? Would it be similar to losing a limb?

"Thank you Reave, I can't begin to explain just how much I've wanted that damn thing off my horn." she paused for a moment but then asked, "However, I must know why you took it off? I've been nothing but rude to you and you offer me kindness in return. Are you some sort of masochist, or are you really just that good of a po- er- person?"

"You honestly want to know?" she nodded in response, "I don't really know why I did it. I guess it could help you if you get attacked by a human." she looked scared for a moment, possibly remembering a previous time during her capture. "Hey don't worry you can just blast them away with your horn!" that statement didn't improve her disposition however.

"I don't really know that many fighting spells, I can't even start a simple fire." she changed the subject quickly, "So are you just going to stay here? I don't think that you'll be able to live down here forever Reave."

"I know Solstice, That why I'm planning on going across the southern border into Mexico." I pulled out a map and then continued, " From what I gathered, I've learned that trying to just strait shot it through the states would be a bad move. Most of the Northern states have pony squads patrolling the southern boarders, so the plan is to head into Michigan, then move into Indiana, then Illinois, to Iowa, into Nebraska, then Colorado, to New Mexico and then I sneak into Mexico. It'll take a while sure, but I'll reap the benefits of it in the end." I finished with a smile.

" Why not go into Canada?" Solstice asked. "It's much closer to you."

"Because with as cold as it gets here, I'm not going somewhere where it might be colder!"

"When do you plan on going?"

"As soon as I've packed enough supplies, I'll be out of this place for good... Why so many questions about it anyway?"

"I... I want to come along as well. I don't like this stupid war Reave, I came here to study the stars of a different world. I ended up being dragged into a fight that I didn't even care about in the first place. So if I could come along with you and go to Mexico, away from all this, I'd be much appreciative for it." I was about to say my opinion on it when she continued, " I know I've been nothing but rude to you this entire time, but... I... I just wanted to study stars! Celestia damned stars and now everypony's fighting one another. I just want to get away so please, I'm begging you, take me with you!"

"Alright." she perked her head up at me "But you have to get supplies as well. That means Food, Water, a tent if you can find it, something to make heat without electricity, blankets, flashlights, batteries, backpacks for holding all this." she nodded as I listed each item off. Then we set up a schedule. In the day she would go out for supplies, and I would go out at night.

The first day Solstice found several cans of vegetables, packs of spaghetti, 2 large canteens, some saddle bags, and a rather large backpack when she went out to search in the morning. During the night I managed to find something rather valuable along with some more provisions. It was a book that was in Equestrian, when I brought it back to Solstice she told me it was a book to learn basic combat. It took her a week to become able to use an electricity spell. In another week she could start a fire. Each week we would gather supplies and then come home and talk about the past. It was pretty nice to see somebody smile and laugh for a change. The final week was when I hit the jackpot however, an electric car with the keys inside and just enough juice left in it to get close to the bunker. One electricity spell later and we were ready to leave.

"Now we just gotta hide it until tomorrow. Good thing the bunker is underneath a workshop, right?"

"Yeah, so are we really ready to leave Reave?" Solstice asked "I know we have a lot of supplies but don't you want to get more just in case something happens?"

"You're right Solstice, one more day to look for supplies but once it hits night we're out of here."

With our plans for the next day set, we headed back into the bunker to sleep. This would be the last night we would ever sleep there.