Another Hour, Another Day, Another Scheduled Routine To Follow
The clock ticks as the big hand reaches its mark. There is no tune that goes off but still, a new hour has begun. I make my usual stroll around the house. Checking the doors, pulling back the curtains to make sure the windows remain clean and whole. Maybe someone will notice this house amongst the rest. I make my way upstairs to the attic where I reside. Once there, I see all my belongings are right where I left them. Of course they would be, nopony else is here but me. A small line of light from the window tells me that the sun is rising. It’s time to start another morning, another day, another scheduled routine to follow. Oh, wait, is it morning already? Well, no rest for the wicked I guess.
I glance over to my strapped wing and sigh. I won’t get anything done today if I sit here. So, I go through my stretches take my pain meds, and strap my saddlebag over my waist. I take only what I need and head downstairs. Before leaving I say aloud to the empty home.
“I’m heading out for a little while! I promise, I’ll be back later!”
Locking the door behind me, I step out into the warmth of the sun. The overcast from yesterday had settled and Ponyville was back to its usual state. Walking through the street, I notice that grass has grown a little taller on the lawns. I find myself thinking that somepony should get mow them soon. I find myself stopping by the old Cake’s house and shop. I figured I might as well go inside. Just for a minute or two. The door gives off a small creaking sound as it opens. Stepping inside, it looks just the way it always had. Just the lights were off and no one was at the counter ready to greet the first customer of the day. The stools remained standing and all was quiet. Looking through the glass, I see four full trays of pastries ready for the taking. Moving behind the counter I smile to myself as I take out a small pouch and laid four bits next to the ones already there. Surly they will be around to collect their pay later. As I place the tasty treats in one of my saddlebags I hear something upstairs. Turning around I wait in silence for what ever it was to sound off again.
I slowly make my way to the steps and poke my head out the corner. Upstairs a door is closed and I can hear something moving from behind it. I’m about to leave whatever it is behind when my legs push me forward. With my legs shaking and my breathing increasing I crouch to the crack at the bottom of the door and open my saddlebag for anything I can use. Taking a piece of broken mirror out, I slide it through the crack. I can see the reflection of the ceiling but if anything was in there, I would have spotted it by now. Maybe it was the store itself making the noises? Sliding the glass piece back I caught a glimpse of something swoop out of sight. I could hear flapping wings! Gasping, I pulled the mirror back and made to find out who it was. I held my breath as the door creaked open. The room was average sized with the bed and furniture left undisturbed. I looked up at the ceiling, hoping, wishing to see a familiar face. I took one step inside and instantly hit the ground! Giving off a loud caw, its wings brushed my mane as it soared passed me and flew out the open door.
“Of course,” I said as my heart continued to race inside my chest. “It was just a bird.”
I couldn’t waste anymore time in the shop. I had to leave and venture further. I had places to be and things to do. Closing the front door behind me, I headed down the dirt road toward the acre I could see in the distance. On the long walk there I could just imagine how much easier it would be for me to get their in a matter of seconds if my wing was better. Still, I kept moving. If I looked behind me I could spot the faint outline of Canterlot castle poking out of the mountains. I wondered if the train would be making its daily rest stop in Ponyville any minute now. The gates to Sweet Apple Acres were in sight. Taking out the key I had brought along, I removed the chain holding it shut and headed straight for the apple trees. There I saw the buckets I had left behind from last time. I had strategically placed them under a number of trees before leaving. To my dismay, some had been tipped over during the night. Looking around, I made sure I was perfectly alone before getting to work. There was no point in carrying around extra weight for this task; so I took my saddle off. Digging through my saddlebags I found my cassette recorder and placed it down. Taking out a mix tape, I placed it inside the mouth. Pressing the play button, the tapes wheels began to turn. At first nothing was heard. Then a song came through the speakers. Sure, the music the Apple family listened to wasn’t exactly my taste, but one tape they had surprised me. It was a mix tape with music Granny Smith had grown up with along with modern artists. Even I knew some of the songs on it. Surly I would be allowed to have this moment. As the music continued, I got to apple bucking. It was strange, but work always seems to move faster when you have music playing. In no time the baskets were full and now came the examination. Frowning at the first batch, there was no way any of them would be edible. The remaining baskets however, had more promise. In the end I had two baskets worth of fresh fruit and sat down to eat one. I cherished the moment as the sweet nutrients filled my stomach. The tape recorder’s sound sunk telling me that the battery was dying. I turned the recorder off to make sure it had enough power for tomorrow. Now that the music was gone, silence took over. Not a sound was heard. The trees around me seemed to grow bigger while I remained small. The barn was where I had to go next. If I wanted to get this many apples back home, I had to find something to put them in. Placing my saddlebag back on, I took out a flashlight and taped it to my hoof. Once at the farm doors I pushed them open and was met by a powerful odor. The awful smell hit my nostrils, but at this point, I had grown used to the high chances of stumbling across what still remained. The light hit red drag marks that led to a pile of hay. Ignoring it, I braved through the awful scented barn until I found what I was looking for. Four empty sacks hung on the wall. Taking one, I made to leave. But not before my flashlight hit more red markings followed by a hoof that poked out of the hay pile. Wanting to get out of the farm as soon as possible, I quickened my pace.
Back outside I was met with an unpleasant sight. Fruit Bats. Eight Fruit Bats had landed on the exposed baskets and were feasting away at the freshly bucked apples.
“No!” I cried galloping over. “Get away from them! Get away! Shoo!”
The Bats took off screeching indignantly at me as I looked down at the baskets. All the apples were sucked dry, leaving them useless. Swearing angrily, I kicked one of them. All that work, was for nothing now. Or was it? I heard a small screech from inside one the remaining baskets. A small Fruit Bat had an apple in its mouth. It looked up at me with an expression of a child who had just been caught stealing a cookie. Staring down at it I let out a sigh.
“Fine, you can have it.”
The bat spread its wings and took off rejoining the rest of his flock and together they flew back to where they had come from. Only a few apples remained untouched. Taking them I looked up to where the bats once were. The sky seemed to have grown darker. I couldn’t waste anymore time. There was still much to do before the day was over. With my belongings back inside my saddlebags, I left Sweet Apple Acre and headed for my next stop. I galloped off not bothering to close the gate or farm doors behind me. Thanks to a certain Master of Chaos, the days only lasted so long now and he couldn’t fix what he had done before he had to leave. I kept telling myself that it’s only a matter of time before he and the rest returned and set things right. The tool store had just what I needed and finding extra matches lying around was an added bonus! Checking the sky for any signs of the dark creeping back, I hurried to the one place left to go. Princess Twilight wouldn’t mind if I dropped by to pick up a few things. Her castle stood high above the rest of the small town. It was a nice place, but the location for it could have been better. I approached it, thinking that it would be cinch to get inside. This however, proved to be impossible. An invisible force field was preventing me from getting any closer.
“Alright,” I said placing a hoof on the bubble. “Maybe anther time then!”
I was wishing that someone was still inside there so they could hear someone trying to get in, but no one came to the window or answered my momentary outburst. The town’s bell rung, telling me that there were only minutes remaining until the night came again. I turned around and trotted off down the road back to my house. On the way I could hear something in the distance. No, I couldn’t afford to loose focus. Not now. I had to reach my house before…
“Oh, for Celestia’s sake! Why now?”
Just a couple houses away from me, I saw them. There had to be at least five. But why were they coming out now? The sun hadn’t left yet! This is bad, they’re getting more daring. I darted behind a fence and looked down the street to where they were. Maybe I could sneak past them without getting caught. I took a different rout that brought me closer to them. I could see one of them clearly now. His mane and tail were dirtied and tangled. His hooves covered in dried mud and blood. He raised his head to sniff the air. Letting out a gargling sound as he continued on his path directly toward me. I hid behind the house again and readied myself to make a brake for it. I poked my head out one last time and saw that the thing was gone. Not wanting to know where he was, I stepped out of the corner and began my way across the road. I was just inches away from being back in the clear when I heard hoofsteps behind me followed by a strangled snarl. Stopping dead in my tracks, I could hear the thing drawing closer to me. He sniffed the air again and let out a deep snarl. I couldn’t move. Every part of my body was telling me to run, but I couldn’t bring my legs to move. Then I felt hot, warm, putrid breath on the back of my neck. The thing was investigated what it had cornered. It sniffed me again. This time he was so close to my ear that it was a miracle that I didn’t cry out in fear. It than began to circle me and in no time at all, we were face to face. I stared directly into his blackened sockets and waited. I held my breath, not wanting to give myself away, but the thing wasn’t done with me yet. Slowly I reached inside my saddlebag and pulled out the nails I had scavenged and tossed them to the side. It hit the ground with a loud clinging sound. The thing spun around and went to investigate the source of the noise. It was now or never! I had to make a break for it! Forcing my legs to move, I tore off down the street! From behind me I heard the thing cry out in furry as started to give chase! Behind him the rest of the things came running too! I ran as fast as my legs could carry me! The monsters behind me pushed each other out of the way as they began to pick up speed! I could see my house in the distance now.
“Come on!” I urged myself. “Not far now! You can make it!”
One of the things behind me started to leap like a frog and was bouncing off the rooftops! It pounced at me and missed colliding into a fence where it scrambled back up and continued the chase! My house was just meters away! With my remaining strength I gave off one last burst of speed and instead of using the front door, I dove straight through the window! I shot up just in time to see one of the things approaching the house. I raced for a kitchen knife, but the creatures had gotten to the broken window and were fighting each other like angry canines that wanted the same bone. I took their momentary distraction to dart upstairs where I sprinted up to the only safe haven left. Slamming the attic door behind me, I locked it and waited. Downstairs I could hear them climbing through the window. Their groans and growls made me sink to the floor where I didn’t dare make a sound. Instead, I crawled over to a corner of my room and curled into a tired and exhausted ball and waited for them to leave.
“Go away!” I pleaded to myself. “There’s nothing for you here! Go away!”
Minutes passed and still I could hear them downstairs. I dared to look out the window where I saw the sun lowering. I jumped to the sound of the something scratching the attic door. Spotting my last remaining weapon, I taped it to my hoof and approached the door. The thing behind on the other side stood still waiting for me to come out and be his.
“Alright,” I said summoning whatever courage I had left. “You want me? Here I come!”
I flung the door open knocking the creature down the stairs! I ran after it skipping three steps at a time! I landed on top of the thing and drove my weapon deep into its throat! It cried out as I stabbed again! This time, the tip of my sharp weapon went into one of the empty eye sockets! Its blood soaked the floor and my coat. It gave one last twitch and became still. I found the rest of them downstairs and mercilessly took them out one by one. When it was done, I nailed the broken window up with wood. And dragged the body from upstairs down to join the rest outside. If this were any of the first nights, I would have broken down ages ago. Given up, but this was all part of my daily life now. Some days I could venture outside without a single thing happening. This just happened to be one of those times where something did happen. I washed the blood off of me and cleaned the floors to wash away the stains of my brutality. After that, I went through all I had collected during the day. I swore as the saddlebag carried only minor things. I sighed as I glanced over at the tape recorder and shrugged.
“Oh well,” I said as I hit the play button. “I’ll look for batteries tomorrow.
As the music played I could hear the rest of those things roaming around outside. Completely oblivious to the fact that five of their fellow monsters had been slain. The wall in front of me had chalk markings on it.
“That’s right!” I said hitting myself on the head. “Whirl Wind, you fool! How could you forget to mark it?!”
Spotting the piece of chalk I had left on my bedside table, I picked it up with my mouth and drew a slanted line across the other four perfectly straight ones. Another day down, more remain. I climbed out my attic window and saw that a bright light in the distance was coming from Canterlot. I saluted to it and lit my own beacon. Together these two beacons shun every night, letting us know that there is someone else out there going through the same hardship. I looked down at the blackened figures passing by. I had brought my weapon up with me incase one of them felt like coming up to investigate. Feeling that it was time to climb back down I made to leave, but was stopped by what I had just spotted. In the distance the other light flickered and then… It was gone. I stood up again and gave one last salute to the blackened mountain. Yep, it’s just another day in the new world for us.
