Fighting in a world of Harmony

“Help! Help me, somebody! Please!”

We were running, hoping to catch up in time to find this mysterious mare who was calling. Walking down the road itself was easy, but when we hit the remains of what had been a cave, we had to rock climb, making things much more difficult. We heard the screaming when we were nearly at the top. Right next to a mountain, we had assumed that a rockslide had covered this mare as she was doing some sort of activity.

It was coming from directly under us, which was equally as surprising. Bear and I were covered in brown dirt and both of us had a good number of blisters and bruises. Trying to face that mountain of rocks was no piece of cake. Looking down, we noticed trickles of blood running straight up to us, and now we would have to climb all the way back down to rescue a mysterious mare.

“Ugh, let’s just leave her! We can’t save everypony!” Silver Bear tried to argue.

“NO!” I screamed, “We can’t leave an innocent pony just stuck under there! That’s just as bad as leaving a little filly to starve.”

“That’s exactly what we did in Manehattan! You left them so you can go kill raiders who are probably long gone by now! Yea, I like helping people, but you can’t save everypony!”

“Yes I can. Continue on if you want, but I have to save her, with or without you.”

He stopped talking and the air grew silent, all but the screaming of the mare was still. The air smelled of dust, and I looked like a pig. I turned away from Silver Bear, starting my journey back down. I picked up and threw rocks along the way, trying anything to make sure this mare escaped alive and (hopefully) unharmed.

He didn’t call after me, nor did he try to follow me. I didn’t care. He was willing to let this mare die because he was too lazy to work. I don’t even know why I tried to be friends with him. In my mind, he was selfish, rude,and most importantly, unkind. Unlike the pony from the journal, he wouldn’t stop his mission to help a pony because it’d be delaying his prideful self. Well, I didn’t need him anymore. I was going to save this helpless pony from death.

The more rocks I kicked down, the brighter this pony’s future seemed to be. It was only a small rock slide, which made it all the easier. Coughing from a kick up of dust a couple of times, I finally hit the ground, knees wobbling at the touch. It felt amazing to be back someplace solid. It was much...safer.

It seemed digging was hopeless, as more rocks would just fall in your path if you tried to dig a hole or remove rocks slowly. After the many failed attempts at that one, I tried just bucking all the rocks away, but my strength seemed to fail me today. My hooves began to become chafed and I, just as Bear had, was beginning to feel like this was a complete waste of time.

“Do you...need a hoof, Soda?”

I didn’t look up at him. I would never look up to him, so I might as well live up to that status. I just continued to kick rocks away, finally watching the rocks began to move. The only problem, was that there was a boulder blocking everything else off, so I couldn’t move the whole slide without first moving this rock.

“Soda, please...I’m sorry. I didn’t know how much this mare meant to you. After watching you hurt yourself to try to save her, though, I realized that this needed to be done. It wasn’t just a side task. It was a true mission. We can get to those raiders later. For now, it looks like you need some help moving this mammoth of a rock.”

He pushed my chin up with his hooves, and tears fell from my eyes. I could hear my own sobs, loud and proud. He had finally said something worthwhile, and this moment would last in my memory. I could taste the salty sweetness of the tears running onto my tongue, every taste bud exploding with each tear. Suddenly, I felt dirt in my face, and realized that the rockslide was starting to crumble, threatening to cause another barrage upon us. I looked into his eyes and, wiping my moisture away, nodded assuredly to him.

We pushed up against the rock, heaving with every push. We wheezed and panted, and the slab seemed to move so slowly. I closed my eyes and kept pushing until I heard Silver Bear yell at me to stop. I opened my eyes to notice I was ten feet away, the cave entrance now open. I was surprised. When had I learned to do that!? I quickly trotted over to him.

“What happened, Bear!? I was only pushing for a minute or so! How did I get over there?”

“Soda, you were pushing for like, ten minutes. I was shocked to see your perseverance, but the mare is free now. She’s standing inside the cave next to a door. You can go talk to her if you want, but she’s a little shook up, so don’t bother her too much, ok?”

“Gotcha, Bear…”

I cantered over to the young mare. She seemed to be in only her teen years, and probably had just been exploring. Her coat was a stunning red, and her mane matched with a light orange. Her ears were perked up, as if listening for something. The smell of decay rose from her body, but she didn’t look to be hurt, or dead. (Yes, I have heard of dead ponies coming back to life! It’s crazy!) I casually strolled up to her, greeting her as I would any other pony.

“Hey there! I’m Sodapop, that’s my……..acquaintance Silver Bear, and it’s really nice to meet you! I’m so sorry that you got trapped here, but we have rescued you. What were you doing out here anyways.”

As if by instinct, she jerked her head in my direction. Her eyes were bloodshot, and she was whispering under her breath. Something had obviously traumatized her. It had to of been the rockslide, but I didn’t really understand how that was so bad. She had been screaming for us only an hour earlier.

“Um, excuse me, but we heard your calling. Are you ok?”

She just continued whispering. It wasn’t until i nudged her shoulder that she finally did something. She took all of her strength (What was left of it) and took off on a scamper. I watched her figure disappear into the horizon, then I noticed what she had been hiding behind her. There was a small skeleton behind her. It was only a rabbit, but she seemed to have been protecting it. Why would she do that?

“Bear, what are these doors for?”

He came up to me, smiling with glee. It seemed like it would be storytime, so I just sat down to listen to what he had to say about these rusty doors.

“Sodapop, these are the doors to one of the infamous Stables. Nopony really knows how they got here, but according to legend, there was a pony named Twilight Sparkle.”

Twilight Sparkle? I had heard that name before! It was written in the journal, in the first entry!

“Now, Twilight Sparkle somehow knew that this war was coming upon us, so she fashioned three of these. They were supposed to be used for food storage, but soon, these Stables gave way to much larger operations. An underground series of tunnels was devised to make transport of all ponies much easier. Soon, though, more destruction came with the tunnels. Ponies always travelled in packs, and when the packs met up, it got bloody. To the records, no pony survived the Battle of the Tunnels. One day, Twilight Sparkle just closed them up. They’re easily accessible, but no pony ever dares to enter them. If there are still raiders haunting that tunnel, you really do not want to be in there when they come through the area.”

It seemed interesting to me. A secret kept so that raiders could traverse these lands in search of another kill. It was impressive that any tactic like that could have been devised!  Even I would never think of such a thing! I wanted to check it out. I eagerly shot up and bolted for the door, but was stopped by a quick Bear.

“Nu uh, Soda, we are NOT going in there! We have a quest to be on!!!!”

“It will only be a minute, Bear. Please! I really want to check it out! I need to! I’ll tell you what.If we go in here, we can come out and immediately go to the raiders, with no more distractions! These tunnels might bring us even closer to justice!”

For a second, he seemed to be contemplating this thought. Finally, he sighed and gave way, allowing me to run past and push with all of my might. The door itself wasn’t budging, but then I felt it opening my way, pushing me towards the wall. I looked up at Bear, holding the door open, as my face turned a bright red.

“Oops…”

~~~

The inside of this Stable was, in fact, very dark. I didn’t expect it, but Bear seemed to be right on the case, He whipped out a flashlight and, in an instant, the Stable was filled with light. The inside wasn’t quite what I had expected, and the smell wasn’t to be desired either.

It smelled of rotting fruits and vegetables in here. I was used to the smell of rot, but this scent seemed to have one hundred times the strength I was used to. I began to breathe through my mouth, which only helped scarcely, trying to take what I could get. Looking around, there wasn’t very much to see. It was a normal room, filled with boxes of rotting stuff. One box in particular was obviously meant  to stand out above the rest. Moving towards it, I smelled nothing. The smell around here was just air.

The box in question was gold-plated. On the front, it read “For Extreme Emergencies ONLY! Stay Out!” Obviously somepony hadn’t wanted us to touch it. Though, knowing me, I had to open it. Then I stopped to think.

“What if it’s dangerous inside of that box? I don’t want to be hurt or possibly killed because of curiosity. What if it’s something useful to our team, though? Oooooh what do I do? Let’s open it...very….very...carefully.”

I pushed Bear out of the way and moved over to the side of the box, putting my hoof gently on the handle in front of the box. I slowly pushed it open, half expecting something to fly out, meaning to hit somepony. Nothing sprang forth, though, and the box lix had been entirely opened. I stood up, feeling my knees shaking yet again. The mood in the room felt ominous. I had the feeling that somepony was watching me, and I absolutely could not wiggle off my shivers.

Looking down inside the box, I saw first a note and, under said note, a smaller box (Wow….). I took a peek at the note first.

To whomever receives this letter,

If you ARE reading this letter, then it means the security protocol 9 box has been opened. Time is probably of the essence to you and I will make this quick. Inside the box here you will find a weapon. This is but a prototype of what we are currently creating to aide the sane ponies in the war. The weapon does not work for everypony. It will only operate under the special standard that balance is in the air. Good luck, ponies, and stay safe.

Princess Luna

There it was again. I remembered her name from the first time I had read from the journal. She was obviously important and locked away someplace, and she really wanted this weapon in special hands. In fact, she had it enchanted. I would bet my bits on it! Pushing open the smaller box, I revealed what appeared to be a weapon. There were three main components to it. I saw a handle, a hole in the front, and what appeared to be a very tiny lever of sorts. Silver Bear, however, had other thoughts about it.

“Oh my Celestia, Sodapop. It couldn’t be…”

“What!?” I exclaimed in question. It seemed to be a normal weapon. What in Equestria could make this one so important above all the rest of them?

“In a book I have read, it states that the royal castle was trying to create a weapon of mass destruction. This weapon was said to be able to kill a pony in an instant, and only one was ever made, as both princesses had met their demise at the Rampage on Canterlot.”

This was much different than what I had read. I had read that Princess Luna was locked away, and Princess Celestia sacrificed herself for Luna to be locked away. I was positive that mine was correct, and I didn’t want to ask any more questions. I needed to believe the journal, which had been with me from the start. Instead, I took to the giant hole in the wall. It was assumedly where the tunnels began, but definitely not where they ended. I wondered where the other tunnels actually led to, and I guessed that now, we were about to find out!

Walking slowly into the tunnel, I immediately smelled the familiar stench of blood. My nuzzle was quite used to it now, and I just shrugged it off. One of these days I was going to have to find a way to block the smell for good. I snuck in quietly, fearful of other people being around to watch.

I changed my position, moving behind Bear, both for comfort and due to the fact that he had the flashlight. The further down the tunnel we went, the more bodies we found. It felt as if hundreds of eyes were watching me. Everywhere I looked, dead pony remains looked up at me. They weren’t actually moving, but it sure felt like they were. Most of them had random objects shoved through their heads, but others had blood puddle stains beneath them. It seemed like an all-out war was at play here, and both sides were losing. I could only wonder what had caused the outbreak of complete and utter chaos.

Walking through the tunnels, we came to a fork. Two paths, left and right, were available to us. The low growling sounds we heard were probably due to the fact that we were hungry. That was when I remembered that we stopped to eat regularly. My body went pale and I tried to get Bear’s attention.

“PSSSSST! Bear, let’s scram!”

He only kicked me slightly, as if trying to tell me he knew there were zombies behind us. More like skeletons, but the idea was still the same. I chose left, as it was right next to me, and Bear followed quick suit behind me. We ran fast, but the tunnel seemed endless. The more we ran, the closer they got to us. I couldn’t run any faster than I was running, but there was light up ahead. I was so close, but so were the monsters chasing after us. Equestria wasn’t going to play nice today, and neither was I. I stopped, lifted up one hind hoof, and bucked a skeleton in the face, smashing the skull open and giving myself a quick congratulations.

I continued running, the light less than ten feet away. I could feel the bones barely slipping onto my skin with every step and as I saw Bear getting to the top of the ladder, I leapt. Again, jumping had saved my life. It was almost too easy. I jumped, landing on almost the top rung of the ladder, and I pulled myself up.

Instantly, cold over swept me. It seemed that no matter where I went, some trouble pursued me. I wasn’t going to try to escape it any longer, So instead I just huddled up next to Silver Bear. He was much warmer, and, for some odd reason, I felt really safe around him. I leaned up, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Instantly, we both became warmer and I walked with him.

Along the way through the cold Stable, we found many essential supplies. We found frozen foods, some water and, best of all, we found one another. I didn’t know who else I would meet, but me and Silver Bear were definitely a team and we were NOT going to split up...EVER! No matter what I say…

Walking out of another Stable that day, I felt stronger. I had a weapon that no other living pony knew about. I had found love with one of the most unexpected people. I had even evaded zombie ponies who were after me. Really, the only thing left from that battle was a small scratch mark on the back of my left hind hoof. It couldn’t be that bad, though.

I looked at Bear and smiled. For a moment, I asked him to stop so I could read something to him. Sitting on a nearby rock, I pulled out the journal and opened up to one of the later entries. I felt so evil for skipping through, but sometimes it would be beneficial. I scanned each page for key words and found one that may of been in better interest for everypony.

Entry #87

They did it. he Stables weren’t able to hold everypony properly. I heard about the fights from inside, but I didn’t think that they were real! Now a plague hs infected Equestria. I seem to be the only pegasus who can fly now, so I scout the area. Trouble is coming our way. The Stables are being busted open. Our only hope is that gun that I put inside the Stable for a hero to find. Somepony, either send us to Hell or save us from this goddess-forbidden place. Please...if you don’t come, we’ll turn into those….things….awww crap….who can read this from the library? By the time this gets any news spread about it, we’ll all be dead! At least I have Tank with me….wait...where did Tank go….now I’m all alone. I have my friends, but they can’t decide on what to do. They all have different strategies. Maybe someday we’ll win. For now, Equestria has no hope. We’re losing the battle, and nopony is going to save us.

R.D.

Whatever had happened here must have been pretty bad. I assumed the zombies had taken over by this time. Whatever happened to the zombies, i didn’t know. They all wound up in the Stable tunnels. The only question I could find was simple.

Who sent the raiders and the zombies into the same tunnel?