“Come on Sapphire, there’s nothing here.” Whispered Glaze as they stood outside the silent abandoned military base, where rumors had been circulating around of a ghost haunting it. She was dressed in all black as to sneak past the few pony guards that had been stationed around the forgotten human base, as sort of a token since the US government had told them that toxic chemicals were all over the base.

Her sister shook her head, her curled golden mane bouncing as she had taken off her hood, as it hadn’t felt comfortable to her with her horn . She kept her lips pressed tightly together and only moved them to talk before resuming their previous position. “Nu-uh, the bet was to walk up to the fence, take a picture and leave. I am NOT going inside. Didn’t you hear those screams last week?”

Glaze laughed and softly punched her sister on the chin. “Oh please that was a wolf or something, not a human or a pony. Come on you said yourself you’re tired of everypony calling you a coward, just take a picture with me inside and we can tell them all to shut up.” She leaned in to nuzzle her sister, in hopes of re-assuring her.

Her sister relented and nodded, before pulling her hood back up over her head and spaced her legs apart. Glaze smiled under her mask and gave a few flaps of her wings to hover over her sister and wrapped her hooves around her sister’s ribcage. With a slight grunt of effort she lifted her sister up and over the fence surrounding the abandoned base and deposited her on the other side, opting to trot ahead instead of flying so as to make sure she wouldn’t get too far ahead of her sister.

Glaze stopped every few seconds so her sister could catch up as the two of them wandered deeper inside the base, past abandoned tanks and planes, the feeling of being watched driving Sapphire crazy. A few minutes into wandering Sapphire stopped and stared at one of the tanks, which was completely upside-down. “I thought that they were in a hurry to escape the magical radiation?”

Glaze glanced at the tank before shrugging and continuing on, heading for the middle of the base. “Well it’s kind of the apocalypse for them, and every apocalypse book I’ve read had carriages upside down.”

“But those are a lot heavier…” Sapphire trailed off as she noticed her sister kept on walking, and broke out into a full run to catch up to her. “He-hey wait for me!”

Glaze snickered at her little sister’s attitude but as they pressed on into the base, they found more things that were amiss. Entire tops of tanks were gone, just to be found around the next bend of buildings, wedged into the walls. Planes were molded, like Play Doh, with tanks in some mix-match scheme. Entire walls were gone, torn down by some unforeseen force. There were even a few blood trails, leading off into the distance.

The two of them glanced at each other, Glaze’s earlier bravado gone now, thanks to the blood trails. She asked nervously, “Well um, maybe some wolfs had something to eat?”

Sapphire just shook her head. “I-I’m not going a-any farther ahead. So we take the picture now, or we leave.”

“Yeah sure, here’s just as good as the HQ.” Glaze turned to her sister and lifted her wings, exposing a camera that had been expertly taped to her side. Sapphire’s horn lit up as she levitated the camera off her sister and put it in front of them, her sister flipping off both their hoods as to prove it was them.

Glaze wrapped her hoof around her sister’s neck as the two posed in front of a pile of three tanks stacked on top of one another, and with a flash of the camera the deed was done. Sapphire floated the camera back to herself to make sure the picture was good and they could leave. Glaze whistled to herself and kept tapping her hoof as she waited. “Come on is the picture good?”

“Ummm, can you turn around?” Sapphire asked quietly.

“Er why?” Glaze replied, beginning to turn her head.

“Well I’m wondering if this kid is just in the photo or is actually behind us,” her sister said to her just as quietly as she first did.

Glaze didn’t say anything as she finished turning her head and stared behind them. Sitting on one of the three tanks was a small child, who didn’t look any older than four, watching them with a curious expression. He was only clothed in a white buttoned shirt, brown pants and a pair of green shoes, his hair a dirty light brown, but his eyes were wide as he stared at the two of them. “He’s there.” Glaze said with no hint of emotion.

“Oh okay.” Sapphire said as she turned around and walked directly up to the young human.

“Woah woah!” Glaze practically shouted at her sister. “We don’t know what that thing is!”

Both the child and Sapphire raised their eyebrows at her. “Really? How many species do you know of that wears clothes, has hair only on their heads, hangs out in human-populated areas and are this small as a child?” With that Sapphire finished walking up to the human perched on the wreckage of one of the tanks. “Hey there fella, how’d you get here?”

He kept staring at her, mute. “Where’s your parents?”

Still silent, but he cocked his head. “Do you speak Equish?”

Glaze trotted up next to her and nudged her. “The reason I said we don’t know what this thing is, is because last time I checked, this place is toxic to humans. It’s a few days trot to get somewhere reasonably safe for humans to be, and I don’t see how this kid got all the way out here.”

She shrugged at her sister and leaned away from the child to whisper to her sister. “I dunno, maybe he’s special?” She leaned back to the child and reached her hoof out towards him, to which he simply crossed his eyes to keep it in focus. Slowly her hoof traveled towards his face and bopped his nose, and he went back to staring at her as her hoof rested on his nose.

“You want a hug lil’ guy?” Sapphire cooed to him, and still he remained silent. “You want a hug.” She stated before enveloping the child in a hug, him releasing a squeak at the sudden movement. Glaze watched his face as it was enveloped in a confused look, and gave her sister a few pats on the back, seemingly not knowing what to do.

Glaze coughed to get her attention. “We should get going sis’ it’s going to be daylight soon and I think he’s here for a reason.”

Sapphire half-turned to her and scowled. “What are we going to leave a child here all alone?”

“If we bring him back to the town, the radiation will kill him! And unless you think we can go three days straight out to the East to get him out of here before it’s damage is done you’re crazy. Best to leave him alone here, he’s been here for Celestia knows how long.” Glaze said giving her sister a reassuring nuzzle. “He seems content to be here.”

Sapphire made to protest but thought it over for a moment before sighing. “Yeah and this place is supposed to be radioactive to us too from what the US said… Okay let’s go before I change my mind.” She finished letting go of the child and turning around to leave.

Glaze let her sister pass her to watch the child for a few more seconds, who was busy brushing off where her sister had just hugged him, then followed her. The two traveled in silence back outside the base, walking large circles around the blood trails, and within ten minutes arrived back at the fence.

Glaze once again took to the air with her sister held between her hoofs and dropped her on the other side. Wrapping her wings to her side again she took a few steps forward along with her sister when they heard a soft thud behind them. The two slowly turned to see the child smiling at them, a small cloud of dust emanating from where he was. Glaze asked incredulously, “How’d he get over the fence?”

“S-same way he got over it the first time I guess…” Sapphire said, before whipping her head to her sister. “We can’t let him follow us, if he does he’ll die from magical radiation!”

Glaze nodded, giving the child a silent glare. “Are you up for letting me fly you again?”

“Um, just long enough for us to get out of sight for this little guy, you know I don’t like flying.” Glaze nodded once more before flapping her wings again and grabbing her sister.

“Okay I’m gonna go on three. One. Two… Three!” She shouted before shooting off into the air with her sister, said sibling shrieking in terror, as the child watched dumbfounded. Glaze darted off down the road away from the base, low to the ground as to avoid being seen, a few buildings passing by with no more sound besides the wind whipping by them.

Glaze kept flying until her wings hurt, to make sure the child wouldn’t try following them and eventually slowed down to drop her sister. It had been at least a minute of straight-flying for her holding her sister and as such she dropped to the ground struggling for air. Sapphire too fell down to the ground trying to breathe, not from exhaustion but because the entire time she’d been shrieking.

The two sisters clad in black ninja-like outfits laid on the ground outside some business with a green neon sign hanging up on the side of the building, that sign being the only light source on the entire street, casting everything in a creepy green glow. Up and down the streets rolled random newspapers, a bike lying on the road run over by a car and dozens of windows up and down the street were smashed as people had stolen from random shops, markets and etc.

Sapphire eventually started giggling and shoved her sister playfully. “I-I told you not to go fast you idiot.”

Glaze waved her hoofs in the air incoherently as she was still trying to get air into her lungs. Sapphire kept giggling until a shadow fell over her and the entire street as something blocked part of the neon sign. She craned her head over to look at it and was reminded of some comics she found in the town she now called home. “Are you Batman?”

The shadow said nothing as it hopped down out of the way of the light and walked up to her his head craned quizzically again. The child crouched and watched her as she stared at him bugeyed.

How did the child move so fast as to follow her and her sister? Even carrying her, Glaze was faster than any human had the right to be with just legs. Glaze offered her own input. “What. The. Buck. Is that the kid from the base?” Sapphire nodded. “It’s a bucking ghost.”

Sapphire let out a nervous laugh as the child cocked his head to the other side. “Maybe h-he’s like their version of an alicorn?”

Glaze didn’t respond and opted to stand up, her sister following suit, along with the child as he stood up to shoulder-height with them, a slight smirk on his face. It was there for a moment before returning to a blank face that watched them. “We’re not gonna lose this brat, I say we just keep on walking back home and hope he gets bored of following us.”

Sapphire nodded and the two started to make the hour long walk back home, the child silently following behind them, his eyes travelling over the abandoned ruins and various other things they passed along the way. Multiple times the two sisters would turn around to see if the child had stopped following them and each time the child would be there stock still and staring at them.

Before the sun even peeked over the horizon the impromptu party of three arrived at their destination, a small repurposed human town near the coast that had been used as one of the few settlements that ponies had set up in the US. It had gone from the original look of a abandoned city in the apocalypse to a more decorated town with ribbons, colors and paint everywhere.

The sign to the city had been painted over with somepony declaring it as New Haven. Sapphire and Glaze looked at each other and then back at the human. “How is he still alive?”

“I-I dunno may--” Sapphire immediately broke out into a major coughing fit, spending ten seconds coughing before rubbing her throat.

“You okay sis?”

Sapphire shook her head and gave her sister a reassuring smile. “I think it’s just the dry air.”

Author's Note

I have no idea why this is more popular than my other stories so far, not complaining at all though. Love all my fans, be sure to leave your thoughts below!