It’s a central tendency for governments to plan for the normal but disasters aren’t normal.
“Alright, keep his head down. Once we hit the free way we should be out of the city like in an hour.”
“It’s no use. The freeway’s in total gridlock.”
“Ok, I’m going to try to get on at the next on ramp. Hold on.”
“Hold up! I think that’s the Royal guard!”
“If it’s the Royal Guard then why aren’t they in uniform?”
BLAM BLAM BLAM
“Get down, get down!”
“Slow down! Octavia, slow down!”
Nothing could’ve prepared us for what happened. Millions died in a matter of weeks. Billions, across the world. Equestria was devastated. Nowhere was spared. Without food water or power, cities like ours became wastelands. We were just an ordinary family but pretty soon we realized if we wanted to survive then we needed to leave the city. We thought we were leaving the worst behind us, but we were wrong.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
16 weeks earlier
Day 1 of the Outbreak
In the bustling city of Canterlot…
Concerns are rising today over a deadly new strain of influenza which is reportedly sweeping through parts of SE Asia. The outbreak is believed to have already taken the lives of 24000 people despite a push in emergency measures to control its spread. With the world now facing an official global pandemic alert Equestrian government agencies confirm there is of yet no suspected cases in Equestria however all flights have been temporarily suspended between SE Asia and Equestria while officials attempt to rectify this situa—“
Vinyl Scratch lowered the volume of her portable radio before sitting back down at the table. The table was covered by a white linen cloth and littered with silver utensils and various foods of the breakfast variety. Sitting across from her was her best friend, Octavia.
“Oh man, this looks so good Tavi!” She exclaimed before biting into a piece of french toast. She continued to speak in between bites.
“You didn’t have to do this ya’know?”
Octavia smiled graciously before taking a sip of tea from her glass. “I know, but I wanted to do it. How does it all taste?”
“It has to be one of the best meals I’ve ever had!” Vinyl said as she poured herself a glass of orange juice. “What’s the special occasion?”
“The special occasion” she said with a bit of emphasis “is that I want to leave a good impression on my nephew.”
“Oh yeah that’s right. How long is the kid going to be staying with us again?” the unicorn said just a little slowly.
“Just for a few weeks while his parents are on a business trip. In fact they dropped him off last night after you went to bed.” She noticed the worried look that Vinyl was giving her and gave the white mare her most sincere smile. “Vinyl dear, I know how you feel about fillies and colts but my sister needed my help and I couldn’t just let her down.”
“Hey, I understand. Family is family. I wouldn’t have done any different.”
“Thanks for being so understanding Vinyl. And don’t worry about Oliver. I have a feeling you two are going to get along just fine.” She said with a wink.
“It’s what friends are for.” She said with a reassuring smile. “But you better tell him that if he doesn’t want me to eat his grub he better come down and eat soon.”
Octavia chuckled and took another sip of her tea. “Ha ha, alright.”
Without another word the grey mare stood up and proceeded to walk out of the room. A few minutes passed before she returned with a small colt trailing behind her. He had a light brown coat and a scruffy blond mane. She glanced at his cutie mark and saw that it was a skateboard flying over a ramp. The only thing he wore was a black baseball cap with a single red line going down the back. His face seemed to light up when he saw all the food that his aunt had prepared.
“Whoa did you make all this?” the young colt asked Octavia still surprised to see so much food on one table.
“I sure did. I hope you enjoy it!” She said cheerily.
The colt immediately sat down and began eating.
“So Oliver—“ started Vinyl.
“My friends call me Ollie. Ollie Grind.” He chimed in quickly.
“Alright.” Vinyl nodded. “So Ollie, what are you into?”
“Oh I love Skate boarding. The feeling I get when I fly off a ramp or go speedingdownhill makes me feel so alive.”
“I bet it does kid. You’re quite the daredevil.” Vinyl replied with a smile
“I also really like soccer.” He said as he took another bite of his breakfast.
“Oh, no kidding? Well we’ve got a local team just starting up real close to here. We could sign you up if you want.”
“Oh really!? That would be so cool!”
“What do think Octavia?” Vinyl asked.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea. Well have you signed up and good to go by next week. In fact, I think the practices start at five.” She paused briefly to consider the information. “Do you think you can drop Ollie off at soccer practice and I’ll pick him up at seven?”
Vinyl raised a hoof to her chin and hummed for a few seconds before answering. “Five, yeah. I can drop him off and still make it to my gig at the club, no prob.”
“Okay great. It’s settled then.”
“I think you’re going to like it here Ollie.”
“Yeah, me too”
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
In the quiet town of Ponyville…
Nurse Redheart sighed in frustration as she parked her car just outside of the Ponyville hospital. The wooden three story building stood prominently on the edge of Ponyville and seemed to fix its gaze over the center of the town. It was a fairly overcast day but somehow the sun had managed to pierce the through the smothering shield of the clouds and litter the building in bright yellow streaks of light. Redheart closed the door to her van and walked up to the large building. When she opened the main doors she saw her friend Snowheart sitting coolly behind the front desk. The blue and silver maned earth pony was busy reading a copy of Canterlot Weekly. She looked up from her article and smiled when she saw her friend approaching the front desk.
“Hey, look at you strolling in here fifteen minutes late! I’ve been waiting forever!” She said in a deep southern drawl.
“Good Morning Snowheart, I’m sorry. I overslept and I didn’t mean—“
“Nah forget about it. I’ll just tell Dr. Stable that you were helping me with something.” Snowheart said cheerily before going back to her magazine.
Relieved, Nurse Redheart offered a tired smile before putting on her uniform and turning back to the other nurse.
“By the way. Did you see that stuff on the news? You know, about this virus in Asia?”
Snowheart snorted loudly with a smile, “Ugh give me a break, swine flu, avian flu, cow disease, it doesn’t matter. I bet it blows over in a week.” She said with a slight shrug.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
Nurse Snowheart put the magazine down and stood up.
“I usually am aren’t I? Now go on, you’ve got lives to save.”
Redheart nodded curtly before galloping down the hallway. As Nurse Redheart passed the emergency room she noticed her boss exchanging words with a younger doctor who she knew as Dr. Bluefield and his assistant. Bluefield was someone she’d known for a while now. He had a light build and sported a grey coat with a navy colored mane that matched his eyes. He was a very excitable stallion and tended to get worked up very easily. Not the best trait for a doctor under pressure but otherwise he was very good at his job. His assistant was a portly mare with an orange coat and yellow mane that was done up in a bun like hers. Next to them was a cot with a brown coated pegasus lying on top of it. He wasn’t moving much.
At closer inspection, Redheart could see that the pony was strapped down to the cot and had a breathing mask over his face. The pegasus stallion looked extremely pale and completely drenched in sweat. He groaned softly through the mask and Bluefield’s nurse started catering to him. Dr. Bluefield seemed to be very anxious as he spoke with Dr. Stable. Redheart decided to find out what was wrong. If she could, she would do her best to help the poor pony.
Dr. Bluefield started speaking again as she approached the small group. “Dr. Stable this is a serious problem. We haven’t got a clue what’s wrong with him but it’s obvious that he’s suffering from some kind of unknown respiratory disease.”
“I understand that and I’ve already called an ambulance to pick him up. They’ll be here soon.”
“Is everything alright Dr. Stable?” Redheart asked from behind the tan coated unicorn.
Dr. Stable turned around with a slight frown. “Yes, well no actually. It seems this patient is undergoing severe respatory problems from some sort of illness but none of us have seen anything like it before.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Redheart asked looking worriedly over at the groaning pegasus.
Dr. Stable’s reply was cool and composed as he spoke, “Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do for him here. That’s why I’m having him transferred over to a specialist unit”
“But the nearest one is in Canterlot!” exclaimed the Dr. Bluefield.
“Then we tell the ambulance to hurry.” he replied in a matter of fact tone of voice.
There was a slight pause and then the younger doctor slowly nodded in agreement. Suddenly a light buzzing sound went off and Dr. Stable reached into his coat and pulled out a green phone. “Excuse me” he said as he answered it.
“Hello, this is Dr. Stable of Ponyville Medical, how can I help you today.” There was a brief pause before he continued. “Oh I see, well then I’ll just…erm would you wait just one moment please? Thank you.”
Dr. Stable picked up a clipboard and handed it to Redheart. “Here, I need you to check on these patients for me while I take care of this.”
“Oh, sure. No problem.” With that Nurse Redheart took the clipboard made her way out of the emergency room. As she left she could still hear the assistant cooing to her patient. Dr. Bluefield turned to her and nudged her shoulder slightly.
“C’mon let’s get him to the ambulance drive-thru. They’ll be here soon.”
“We’re going to take very good care of you sir. Don’t you worry”, the assistant cooed softly into the stallions ears before pushing his cot down the hall. Nurse Redheart looked back at the patient lying limply on the rolling cot. More than anything she wanted to help but there was nothing she could do. It was out of her hooves. She sighed and turned back to her new assignment shaking her head sadly.
“Like he said, there’s nothing I can do.”
Author's Note
Thanks for reading I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I am going to try this out for a little bit and see how it goes. This fic is inspired by SHTF scenarios.from an Armageddon documentary. Let me know what you think in the comment section below!
