The bedsheets froze to my body as the light that the clouds provided came through the window, shinning directly on my face. I threw the covers off and stretched my backbone outward. I shuffled over to the window and looked out the only window in my run down house. Nothing was unusual, it was gloomy, as expected, and the sun decided to never peek itself out from the clouds every since the last happy day.
I began my normal daily routine, ate food, brushed my teeth, and packed my work for the day. It was strange though, no sound, the town was making no sound at all. Normally the air would be bursting with the sound of chilling playing or going to school, ponies driving or walking to work. Nothing. No sound, no movement, it was like it was a ghost town.
I peered out my window one last time, I swore I could have seen one pony out there this morning, but no. Not a single soul roaming he street. I glared up at the clock tower, as I used it every. Or gig to decide how much time I had before I would have to leave, 8:45 AM. I had some time left, not much though, I decided to call out into the town area to see if people would come out,
"Hello? Is anybody out there?" No reply, as I expected. I think people were just playing a sick joke on me, I highly doubt that was the truth, but I would believe anything that would help calm my mind right now.
I took one last look at the clock tower, 9:25 AM. I threw my work into a suitcase and then, I decided I wouldn't need it today. I thought his because I didn't think any body would be at work today.
"Well, better head off." I said to myself throwing my work clothes on and opening the door. I felt strange walkout the door, I felt as if eyes were watching me from every corner, and I peered over to the town church. The clock on the top read 9:30 AM. "Strange," I thought to myself, "This is normally the last time that people would begin leaving if they haven't already left. By now their kids are off to school so they can leave now."
"Hey!" A lone voice stabbed out through the cold air.
"Me?" I asked the strange voice, not seeing where the person was and why they were saying this to me. The figure jumped down from a balcony that was on a house.
"You think you can just walk out here alone and expect not to get jumped?" The figure spat out trough laughter.
"No," I said, lowering my voice and staring at the ground. A full grown stallion, who was about two sizes bigger than me, peered over me and his shadow engulfed mine. I felt a knife poke and graze my neck. "What's today?" I asked the stallion.
"Sunday," The pony said in a deep, hoarse, voice. "By the way, my names Star Knight. Thanks for asking. Now hand me your wallet."
I clenched my hooves, "Go to hell." I managed to cough up. I took all of my courage and yucked spit at the man. "You think I'm stupid enough to just hand out my own money that I worked hard for? You think I'm just going to give it to a Runner? I don't give a shit it I get hurt, it's nothing worse than what they do to me." A runner is person who wanders from town to town just stealing money from people.
Star Knight clenched his teeth and put his knife down, I think I scared him. He towns didn't treat their residents like anything nice or actual ponies. If you were hurt, you got put down because you cannot contribute to the community. If you stood up, you got beaten down, and now, I just stopped trying.
Star peered around to the broken and worn down buildings and saw a bunch of eyes staring down on him. He backed away, and threw the knife away. He grabbed a bag from the balcony and ran off to the direction of the next town.
"Heh, heh, heh, HAHAHAHA." I began laughing like a mad man. I didn't know why I did this, I must have thought it was funny that all of this courage came from nowhere.
"Sunday? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA." I knew why I was laughing, because It came to me all of a sudden. Why nobody had come outside, why I felt like I was being watched, because I was, the whole town was watching me. Why the runner specifically came after me and just didn't attack houses like normal, that also came to me. It's the second Sunday of the month, the first day when the Firing Squad came.
Soldiers dressed in a white uniform with a dark black, helmet, with an even darker visor. The Firing Squad thinks themselves as a redemption in the Wasteland, they are protected by the highest of the authorities and never can do wrong.
Their own motto is, "Bringing Justice back to an unjust world." It wouldn't be so bad, if they actually fought the real criminals. Every town spread rumors about the Firing Squad and they didn't give a shit what the people say because they get to beat them all down.
The wasteland is a place run by the criminals and they do not like their position being threatened by these "vigilantes." So, the criminals began launching attacks against the Firing Squad. Sometimes, and maybe even every night of the week, you can hear gunshots ringing off in the night sky.
I stood still, planting my feet into the broken dirt, and I didn't want to move. I have no idea why I stood there, I just stared ahead at the church tower clock, watching the minutes, even the seconds, just tick by. The Firing Squad was set to arrive at 10:30 exactly and what they do, is well strange. Everyone who stayed inside got food left on their doorstep, then they headed over to the town hospital and gave medicine to the sick and elderly. Finally they picked one person and.... Shot them dead right there and dragged their body off away from the town.
The clock bell rang out through the air, I peered around at all the houses and saw all the eyes that remained their fly into their homes. Then they came back out to stare at me, but this time, they seemed frightened and more jittery.
I walked, honestly I felt like I was in a trance, I walked forward, backwards, sideways, and just in random directions. I don't know where I was going and why I was going there. I should have just ran all the way back to my house, I would be safe, I would be fine, I wouldn't have to worry, but here I stayed. I was beginning to pace around, it was just something I do whenever I'm nervous. I sat down, and closed my eyes. I was just about ready to give up being worried and I decided to give up and just do nothing.
A heard dirt rumbling and gravel being shredded even more then what it already is. I opened up one eye and stared ahead at the gravel and dirt mixed road. The jeeps pulled ahead and came forward, I counted three, no FIVE jeeps. The backs of the jeeps were open and the sides were decorated with to guns crossed over a blindfolded stallion who looked frightened for his life.
The soldiers pour out and they go from door to door, knocking. Of course nobody answered. Bags colored in brown and green camouflage were deployed and brought over to the the doorsteps, but soon I opened up both of my eyes and found a circle of guns pointed point blank range to my face.
"Well, aren't you going to fire?" I asked the black masked soldiers, "I mean I'm not guilty of anything so why do you just fire? I'm giving up and you can just end it for me? You can't treat me any worse than you already have." I closed my eyes again and then I stood up. I put my hooves behind my head and followed the normal police protocol. I swear, as I stared into their blank, empty masks and I swear in one their faces I saw a look of empty sympathy.
One of the stallions, the one who I considered to be the commander due to three stripes on the armbands of his uniform. He grabbed my hooves and jerked me forward.
"We should just shoot you, it cleans up trash like you from the wasteland." His mask showed no emotion, no empathy, and his voice didn't even sound like he could express any emotion, like he was just a robot. He commanded the other ponies, "Tie this scum up! Put him on the wall and prepare for protocol X-27!" The other soldiers just appeared frantic and scrambled to the truck and pulled out rope, and a blindfold.
"So, how many innocent ponies you kill this week?" I sarcastically asked the commander. He slammed his baton into my chest and I got the oxygen knocked out of me. I glanced over at all the run down houses, I saw the eyes of the other ponies in the town, they cared about me, they didn't want me to be killed, but I doubt that they would have done anything.
"Shut the hell up. You piece of shit!" He slammed his baton into my face and a long gash broke into my face.
"POLICE BRUTALITY!" I yelled, I spat out blood and began laughing. I gathered what remained of regular spit in my mouth and spat on the mask of the commander. "HAHAAHAH. HOW THE FUCK DO YOU LIKE THAT?" The baton struck me multiple tim s over and over again. Blood began pouring out into the ground and he pony showed no signs of stopping.
My eyelids felt like sandbags, they were so heavy, all I wanted to do was sleep. My vision began caving in from the sides. I didn't feel any pain anymore, it felt natural, and it shocked me when the Firing Squad stopped abruptly.
I still had some of my vision, I saw the commander put his baton away, and turn his head over to something. I heard a creaking sound, a lifted my weak, heavy, head up and saw a door openings. A pair of white hooves grasped the doorframe and a small cane popped out below the hooves. It wasn't the can and the hooves that made me wonder, it was the uniform of the pony that had me shocked the most.
The pony had a white uniform, it appeared that it was the same uniform of the commander of the Firing Squad, except, on the left and right armbands had 3 stars and six stripes, instead of the regular three stripes that the commander had. Gasps and murmurs erupted from the crowd of angry soldiers.
They all stood attention, saluting the old white pony, who was now having trouble walking. The pony took his time, the commander walked up to the old pony and said these words, "My liege, this is trash of a man. This is not a situation in which we can take his crimes easily and we must kill him now. No one will care, no pony will speak up. This pony is a no pony." The commander sounded nervous, scared, and frightened of what would happen if he disapproved.
"I have studied this pony," stated the old pony as he began rubbing his chin, "He is vital to this society." He walked up to me and studied me. He walked over to the commander and spoke into his ear. He said something I couldn't make out, he probably said something strange as the expression of the leader changed from shock, to anger, to defeat.
The commander nodded, he began going around and talking to each individual soldier. Whitey headed back inside and slammed the door. The soldiers stopped saluting and and relaxed their tense bodies. Five minutes later I was strung up against the wall of one broken down building. The soldiers locked their guns, and the commander began pacing back and forth, his black boots squeaking as they touched the ground.
"Ready." The soldiers locked their aim on me. My body was so tired and I was beginning to not care about dying and even now, I welcomed it, "Aim." I closed my eyes, "FIRE!" My eyes locked, my body buckled, and I prepared myself. Bullets beamed my body, soon they all began hitting me, pain shot through my body. Every part felt broken, jarred, I felt weak. I began becoming weaker as each bullet made its impact, and soon I saw nothing but black.
Author's Note
Well, I hope you enjoyed his story and the first chapter! I know it kind of felt long and the chapters are just going to get longer later in the story. So I hope you stick around and enjoy it!