Jack tugged on his German Shepherd’s leash, telling him it was time to keep moving. Jack was a young man, around 17 years old, 6 foot tall. He was wearing black boots, blue jeans with a black leather belt, an unbuttoned red flannel shirt, and a white T-shirt on underneath it. His dog stopped to sniff the side of a large metal stair case against a wall of stacked cargo containers. The containers were stacked four high, and were placed into a large square, forming a kind of perimeter fence. The fence was taller than most of the trees around the area, giving them a great view. There were stairs dotted all along the containers in a big inner ring, allowing one to easily climb up to the top layer of containers. The top of the large wall had a crudely welded, yet sturdy guardrail on it. There also were stairs on either side of the entrance to the fence, which was also crude looking.
The entrance was only one cargo container high, and two thick. The entrance had been made by placing two cargo containers side by side with one another, at a ninety degree angle to the containers making up that face of the wall. The side panels of the two containers that touched had been cut out, and the two cargo containers were welded together and reinforced along the ceiling, making a wide entrance. The sides that had been cut out were used to make a large set of double doors for the entrance. There were the perimeter doors, which would open and allow you to drive into the doubled up container. Once those closed, the secondary doors would open, letting you inside the walls. Each set of doors had a large latch on them that had to be lifted by a winch system. Three other containers were stacked on top of the entrance to be a level height with the rest of the wall.
In the center of the ring, there was a three story house. Parked outside the house was a 1972 chevy camaro in red. The tires looked to be covered in a thin layer of dry dirt. There was also a blacked out jeep with dirt tires, parked right up next to the Camaro.
Jack was not alone in here. He was with his friend Danny. Not too long ago, about a year ago, Everyone on earth disappeared, with the exception of them. But, that’s not all that happened. Extinct species of various past era’s suddenly reappeared. The dinosaurs, the wooly animals and big cats of the ice age, even less dangerous things like the Trilobites of the precambrian. There were two major reasons why this wall had been put up, and there names were raptors and Tyrannosaurs. There were many types of raptor around this area, ranging from Deinonychus and Troodon, to Utahraptors and Dakotaraptors.
While it appeared that Tyrannosaurus Rex was the only member of the Tyrannosaurid family to be in their area, they had seen other members else where and there were other predators that were just as large. Things like Acrocanthosaurus and Giganotosaurus, or even things slightly smaller than T Rex, like Allosaurus or Ceratosaurus. It also helped to keep the large herbivores out. The last thing they needed was to walk outside and be impaled by a Triceratops horn, or a Stegosaurus tail spike. There was just a lot of shit in general that could kill them in a heartbeat, and they wanted to keep them out. Just to be safe, the perimeter fence had a series of high powered, motion activated lights. Like the kind they use to light football stadiums. These bright lights often drove the creatures away due to their brightness. Even the largest of animals squinted their eyes and wandered away under these lights.
Except for the Pterosaurs that is, they had the air advantage. But, even the largest of them didn’t want anything to do with Jack and Danny. They were simply too big for them. But the dog was a definite target so he wasn’t a loud out without being accompanied by one of the two.
Jack walked his dog back into the house, shut the door and let him off the leash.
“Danny! I think I’m gonna head out to look for survivors!” Jack shouted. Danny jogged down the stairs.
“Dude, give it a rest. I don’t think anyone is left out there. No way they would have survived this long.” Danny said. Jack rolled his eyes.
“People would say the same about us! We managed to set up that wall, and get supplies when we were sixteen.” Jack said. Danny sighed.
“I know. But that’s because we got lucky and we’re smart. We happen to be in a relatively prehistoric creature free area. And how many other people you know of that could’ve made a makeshift foundry? And, for christ sake, you taught yourself how to weld! We were more than able to handle this.” Danny said. Jack nodded.
“But there’s still a chance there may be people out there.” Jack pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Alright, look. This will be my last survivor hunt, okay? If I don’t find anyone, I’ll stop going out looking for more people.”
“What about supply runs?” Danny asked.
“Those we still need. There’s no way around those.” Jack said. Danny put his hands on his hips and nodded. He sighed.
“Alright. You can go.” Danny said. Jack smiled and exhaled. “But…” Danny grabbed an AKM and a flare gun. “You take these, grab a few mags of ammo, and dammit, you come back to me you hear? You’re my best friend, and you are all I have on this god-forsaken-planet. I lose you, and it’s just me and the damn dog.” Jack extended his hands and grabbed the rifle and flare gun.
“You have my word.” Jack said. He grabbed three magazines and started for the door. “I’m gonna need you to open the gates for me.”
“Yeah, Yeah, Yeah.” Danny said. As Jack stepped outside the door, Danny caught the dog staring at him with his tongue out. “The hell you lookin’ at.” He said to the dog. He shook his head and followed after Jack.
“I’m taking the Camaro.” Jack said. Danny chuckled.
“Of course you are. You love that thing.” He said.
“Why don’t you ever use the Camaro?” Jack asked. Danny shrugged.
“Just not into it like you. I’m more of a 74 Challenger guy.” Danny said. He walked up to a large control panel next to the gate, looked at the four button selection, and pressed the top button. The latch on the interior doors slowly lifted, and the winch wired as it lifted the several hundred pound latch. Once the latch had been rotated into a vertical position, it stopped with a shutter and a low metallic clunk. Danny released the button and walked over to the center of the double doors, where he found two large, vertical handles made out of metal tubing.
He grabbed the right hand door handle and started backward, pulling the door open. Once the door was opened as far as it could go, Danny approached the left hand door and repeated the process. With both doors open, he went back to the control panel and pressed the second button from the bottom. The latch to the exterior doors lifted as well, making a similar sound to the first one when it came to a stop. Danny took a moment to grab an M4 carbine and slung it over his shoulder. He approached the double exterior set of double doors, and opened them a bit. The space was only six inches wide, but it allowed him to peek through and check for danger.
Once he was certain there was nothing in sight, he sighed and shoved to doors open. He quickly retrieved his rifle from his shoulder and stood against the side wall of the entrance. Jack’s Camaro passed through the opening with five feet to spare on either side. With his rifle in hand Danny slowly crept out from the tunnel like entrance to grab the door handles and shut the outer doors.
Jack rolled up into the nearby town, scanning the buildings he had previously been too as he drove past. As he continued down the street, the buildings started to become less familiar. He hadn’t been to this section yet. He noticed a house up ahead with the front door wide open and decided to pull right up into the front yard. He parked the car right near the front door and got out with his AKM rifle. With the car blocking anything getting him from the rear, he crept up to the door. The lack of weather damage on the inside of the hose indicated that this door had been recently opened.
He examined the door handle for a moment. It didn’t have any claw or bite marks on it. In fact, it was a round door knob, so it was unlikely that anything without thumbs opened the door. That reduced the number of dangerous things it could have been that opened this door. It was now down to other people, primates, or other more violent hominids. Jack readied his rifle and walked through the door. Just to be safe, he shut the door behind him, so nothing could sneak up behind him. As soon as the door shut, he heard shuffling from somewhere in the house. The hairs on his body stood on end as he looked around, trying to pinpoint the source of the noise. Finally, he worked up the courage to say something.
“Hello?! Is anyone in here?! I don’t want to hurt anyone! I’m just looking for others!” He said. From a set of stairs leading to the den of the house, he heard a faint voice.
“Yeah right. Why would he bring a weapon then?” It said. It was so faint, Jack almost didn’t hear it.
“I heard that. I’ll put the weapon down, but I have good reason to carry this thing. I mean, have you seen what’s out there?” He said. He slowly put the rifle on the ground, stood back up, and put his hands in his pockets. “There. The weapon is down.” A young woman with rainbow colored hair peeked out from the stairs, looked at Jack, and then looked at the rifle. The girl nodded skeptically and slowly emerged from her hiding spot. She was wearing an unzipped light blue hoodie with a white undershirt on under it, black jeans, and blue converses. Jack sighed and smiled.
“Thank god I found you. My friend and I were beginning to think we were the only people left.” Jack said with a smile on his face. He stepped over his rifle and extended a hand to the girl. The girl flinched a bit, but she took his hand nonetheless and he shook it. “My name’s Jack. Jack Travis.”
“Thanks. My name’s… Rainbow Dash.” She said hesitantly. Her voice was a little scratchy, but it wasn’t annoying in anyway. “Say, you said you had a friend. Where is he?” Jack smiled and nodded.
“He stayed behind at our home base. I shuts himself in there a lot. I keep telling him that this area isn’t as dangerous as the others, but he doesn’t listen. Sometimes I worry he might go stir crazy.” Jack said. “So, are there any others? The more people we can find the better, y’know? Safety in numbers.” Rainbow Dash nodded.
“Yeah.” She said. “Hey guys! You can come out! He’s fine!” Suddenly, from the den, five other girls emerged. Two of them had pink hair. One had poofy pink hair, and she was wearing a pink T-shirt, blue jeans, and white tennis shoes. The other had very neatly brushed pink hair. She was wearing a yellow T-shirt and blue jeans that matched the first pink haired one. She had green sneakers on as well. One had blonde hair and freckles. She was wearing a similar outfit to Jack, but she had brown cowgirl boots on instead of black work boots. One had purple hair with neat curls in them. She had a pair of jean capris on, with a white T-shirt and purple converses. The last one had straight purple hair with a few highlights in the front of her hair. She was wearing a half sleeved purple shirt, black jeans, and red sneakers.
“Wow, okay, I was not expecting six of you. This is great.” Jack said with a smile. “What’re your name’s?” The blonde one stepped forward and extended an arm to him. He took her hand and she shook it.
“I’m Applejack.” She said. Jack immediately took note of her strong grip.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jack Travis.” He said. The poofy haired one hopped over to Jack and pulled him into a big bear hug. “Okay then.” Jack wheezed.
“Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” She said. Jack nodded and his back popped.
“Jack. Nice to meet you.” He wheezed. She released him and he wobbled a bit. After keeping his balance, he cleared his throat and straightened his back out. The girl with curly purple hair reached her hand out and placed a hand on her chest.
“My name is Rarity. How do you do, Darling?” She said. Jack gently took her hand and gave it a small shake. Rarity examined him and smiled. “My word. Jack, Darling, how do you get your hair to look so radiant?” She asked. Jack shrugged.
“I guess it’s just genetics. All I really do is wash my hair everyday.” He said. Rarity smiled.
“Well, in that case I do envy you.” She said. The second purple haired one stepped forward. Jack extended his hand to her and she took it.
“My name’s Twilight.” She said. Jack nodded.
“Nice to meet you.” He said. Then there was one last person he hadn’t been introduced to. She didn’t seem too keen on stepping forward to introduce herself. Jack looked at her and smiled.
“Hello. What’s your name?” Jack asked. She eeped and stepped back a bit. Rainbow Dash stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Oh, this is Fluttershy. She’s… easily excitable.” Dash said, trying to be as polite as possible about it. “She’ll warm up to you eventually.”
“Alright. Well, It’s nice to meet you Fluttershy.” Jack said. He turned back to the rest of the group. “So, you guys wanna come back to base with me? This area is pretty empty of any big, threatening animals, but I wouldn’t recommend spending the night out here.”
“You sure you can take us all?” Rainbow asked.
“Yeah, I got a car parked outside. Limited number of seats though, so some of you are going to be sitting on someone’s lap.” Jack said. They all looked at each other confused.
“What’s a car?” Applejack asked. Jack raised an eyebrow.
“You know, an automobile? A metal box with four wheels and an engine to make it move? How on Earth do you not know what a car is?” Jack asked.
“What’s Earth?” Rainbow asked. Jack blinked, rubbed his eyes and looked back at her.
“The planet we’re on right now.” Jack said. Twilight stepped forward.
“So, you mean we’re not on Equis?” She asked. Jack’s face scrunched up.
“No. What’s Equis?” Jack asked. Twilight looked at the other girls with an equally surprised expression.
“Wait, if we’re not on Equis, then what kind of things were you talking about when you were talking about…” She pointed behind Jack. “Out there.”
“Well, There’s large early reptiles, proto mammals, dinosaurs, marine reptiles, large flying reptiles, ice age beasts. Stuff from our planet’s history that went extinct.” Jack said. “So, wait, if you aren’t from here, how did you get here?” Twilight sighed.
“This might be hard to believe, but I need you to know that I’m one-hundred percent telling the truth. We come from a place where the dominant race of the planet is made up of ponies. There are four kinds. Pegasi, earth ponies, unicorns, and alicorns. There are other races like griffons as well. Unicorns and alicorns can use their horns for magic. I was an alicorn. I was practicing a magic spell with these girls, when something happened. We ended up here, and we don’t know how.” Twilight said. Jack rubbed his chin for a second, and then he shifted his hands to his hips.
“Okay.” Jack said with a blank expression.
“You accepted that fairly easily.” Twilight said with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, It’s still sinking in. I think that will take a day or two to really settle in there.” Jack said. He clapped his hands together. “Anyway, if you’ll follow me, I’ll show you to my car. Take you back to our home base. We’ll have a little Q&A, and then I think I’ll take a nap.” Jack picked up his rifle and opened the door. The girls followed him out the door and their eyes fell upon two things. One was the car, which was a lot better looking than they had pictured it, and the other was a giraffe sized Pterosaur walking across the front lawn.
“What is that?!” Dash asked. Jack looked up at it and then back to his car.
“It’s a Quetzalcoatlus. One of those large flying reptiles I told you about. Most people don’t know they actually aren’t dinosaurs.” Jack said. His brain still seemed to be shot. Rainbow looked at it nervously, but her stance said she was ready to fight it.
“It’s not gonna hurt us, is it?” She asked.
“Uh, not likely, no. We’re too big for them to eat. We wouldn’t fit down the hole in the top of their rib cage, you know, where the throat runs through? He’d choke to death if he ate one of us.” Jack said. He walked over to the passenger side door, opened it, and folded the passenger seat forward. “Don’t worry, the only thing he can do is peck at you. They’re kinda like big birds. Anyway, who want’s the passenger seat in the front?” They looked at each other for a moment and then dash raised her hand.
“I guess I’ll take it.” She said. Jack nodded.
“You’re getting in after everybody else than. But at least you won’t have anybody sitting in your lap. The seat opposite of this one Is mine, that’s the driver’s seat.” Jack said. “You five come around here and climb in back. Rarity, Fluttershy, you girls look like you’re the lightest, so you’ll be sitting in someone’s lap.” Rarity seemed to take that as a complement, as she had a smiled on her face after that. Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie Pie climbed in first, with Twilight and Applejack on the ends and Pinkie in the middle.
“Alright. Fluttershy, Rarity, you girls get in next.” Jack said. Rarity opted to climb in first, and she sat on Twilight’s lap on the left side of the car. Fluttershy got in next, albeit hesitantly, and sat on Applejack’s lap. Jack slowly lifted the passenger seat back up and clicked it into place.
“You’re up Dash.” Jack said as he walked around the car to the driver’s side. Dash climbed in and sat down. She took note of how Jack shut his door after he got in, and she did the same. Jack deposited his rifle into the gap between his seat and the door, and turned the set of keys he’d left in the ignition. The car whirred a bit, and then she kicked on. He clicked the car into first and slowly let on the gas. The sudden noise from the engine scared off the Quetzalcoatlus, as it launched itself into the air and started flapping its wings. The girl’s awed at the immense reptile’s sudden take off.
Jack turned the steering wheel all the way over, and turned the car clean around, heading for home. They cruised down the street with the windows down, going a nice 15 miles an hour. Twilight finally spoke, breaking the extensive silence.
“Is this thing supposed to be making this sound?” She asked. Jack nodded.
“Yup. Some cars sound different though. It has to do with the exhaust and the type of engine.” Jack said. Dash chuckled.
“I think It sounds nice.” She said. Jack smiled.
“At least someone gets it.” Jack said. He reached into one of the cup holders and pulled out a walkie talkie and pressed the button. “Hey Danny, you there?” He asked. He released the talk button and Twilight gave him a strange look.
“Why are you talking to a small box-” Twilight was cut off by Danny’s voice on the other side.
“Yeah, I’m here. What do you need?” Danny said. He pressed the button again.
“Gonna need those gates open. I’m comin’ back.” Jack said. He released the button and looked at Twilight through his rear view mirror. “This is a walkie talkie. You can walk and talk to people with it over short to medium ranges.”
“Are you being followed by anything?” Danny asked. Jack rolled his eyes.
“No. But I have a surprise. So just make sure those gates are open.” Jack said.
“On it.” Danny said. Jack cruised up a dirt road, where the facility appeared in the distance. Jack watched as the small figure of danny pushed the doors open and stood aside. Danny Squinted at the car, trying to make out what was inside. Once it got close enough, a big smile grew on Danny’s face. He put a walkie talkie to his mouth and pressed the button.
“Holy shit dude! You actually found people!” He said. Jack smiled as he cruised by Danny, into the facility. Jack stopped the car outside their house and got out. Rainbow Dash struggled with the handle a bit, but she got the door open. Rainbow Dash got out and Jack folded the passenger seat back down so everyone could get out. Despite finding people, like he’d wanted to for so long, he felt different than how he thought he should. Jack handed his rifle over to Danny and sighed.
“I’m going for a walk around the perimeter fence. It’s been an interesting day.” Jack said. Danny gave him a concerned look, but opted to just nod. Jack walked toward the perimeter and pulled out his phone. He liked to have it on him so he could listen to music, but he usually tried to conserve its battery life. Right now, he needed to relax. He clicked on a playlist and walked up a metal staircase. Dash saw him leave, and she had a feeling that something was off. From the way Danny looked at him, she could tell that this wasn’t very usual for him. Being the Loyal person she was, she wanted to help if there was a problem. While everyone was busy getting to know Danny, she snuck off and followed Jack up the stairs and onto the wall.
He was listening to an instrumental soundtrack, which contained various classical instruments. Rainbow walked up beside him and smiled.
“What’cha listenin’ too?” She asked. Jack ran his hand through his hair and sighed.
“Ironically enough, it’s the soundtrack to a show called Walking With Dinosaurs.” He said. “You know, I used to dream about this kind of thing as a kid. A land filled with prehistoric creatures? That was little me’s make believe paradise. But, I never realised how dangerous that would be back then.” He paused to enjoy the view.
“Well, how did you see something like this? Whatever this is.” Rainbow asked.
“I don’t know. I guess in my head I always imagined myself being a passive observer. Where nothing around me would have any clue I was there, even if I was a few feet from them. But now, I know ninety percent of what’s out there would like to kill me for one reason or another. It’s kinda dealt a crushing blow to that dream.” He said. He leaned his elbows against the metal railing along the top of the wall. “I guess now that there are other people around, I’m both nervous, and excited.” Rainbow leaned her back against the railing and nodded.
“Why are you nervous?” Rainbow asked.
“Well, I’m worried for the safety of you girls.” He said. He ran his hand through his hair and slowly released a large amount of air from his lungs. “This world is now filled with dangerous creatures from our planet’s past. You girls have no idea what any of this is, and it could get you all killed. I bet you want to get home too, but I have no clue how to get you back there. I just wasn’t prepared for something like this. Always just figured that they would know everything that’s going on like me.”
“Danger? Are you kidding?! Me and my friends get into all kinds of dangerous situations!” She said. Jack gave her a concerned look.
“What?” He asked.
“We’re always fighting some magical supervillain, or some dangerous mystical creature we’ve never heard of before. It’s like every other week man! We can’t get a break!” She said. She gave Jack a confident smirk and chuckled. “Besides, danger is my middle name.” Jack nodded, and he put on a small, yet very fake smile.
“Just, make sure you know this difference between dangerous, and suicidal. Danny and I have lost everyone, except each other. We don’t want to have to bury anyone else.” He said. He nodded toward the stairs and sighed. “Let’s get going. We still have a Q&A to get through. Then I can take a nap.”
Author's Note
Next chapter will get to explaining something about what's happened and answer some questions about their base.
Edit: feel free to point out any mistakes you find.
Chapter 2 (be patient, we'll get to the dinosaur stuff eventually)
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Chapter 2 (be patient, we'll get to the dinosaur stuff eventually)
Author's Note
sorry this took so long. I had my wisdom teeth out and then I got sick, and then I had a funeral to go to. It's been a shitty couple months. Ever since the week of July fourth.
Chapter 2 (be patient, we'll get to the dinosaur stuff eventually)
Jack approached his new found group with Dash in towe. Danny looked at him and raised his eyebrows.
“Hey, these girls are very familiar.” He said. Jack nodded.
“That’s one more thing to bring up when we have that question and answer session.” He said. He cleared his throat to gain everyone’s attention. “Alright, if we could kindly move this indoors, that’d be great. It’s getting kinda dark out, and I do not like what comes out at night. There are mosquitos.” The girls all looked at each other for a moment, then returned their collective gaze to jack.
“I thought you said this area was safe.” Applejack said.
“Oh, it is. But the mosquitos were a current era thing as well, and I don’t want to be bitten because they leave an itchy bump where they bit you.” Jack said. All the girls nodded and followed the two boys into the house. They were immediately greeted by the living room of the house. There were two couches on either side of a wooden coffee table. Each couch was big enough to squeeze six or seven people in. But, with plenty of room to go around, they opted to sit with four people to a couch. Danny and Jack sat on the ends of one couch, letting the girls decide on who wanted to sit between them, and who wanted to sit opposite of them. Rainbow and Pinkie Pie sat between Danny and Jack, while the others sat across from them.
“So, since you are our guests, I’m going to let you girls ask your questions first. We will ask our questions after, or at a later date, if need be.” Jack said. Twilight raised her hand, making Jack chuckle. “You don’t need to raise your hand. Just ask.” Twilight lowered her hand and nodded.
“Do you have any information on the creatures of your world?” Twilight asked. Jack nodded.
“I’ve taken photos of many different species. I’ve even got a whole, up to date encyclopedia of extinct animals. You’ll find small pieces of lined paper stuffed in there as well. Those are just notes of things I’ve observed. Little behaviors that the fossils couldn’t tell us. I’ll give that to you later, but does anyone else have a question?” Jack said. Applejack scooted forward in her seat a bit and leaned in, indicating she had a question.
“How did you make all this?” She asked.
“Well, the house was here before the wall. The wall we made ourselves. It’s made out of these large metal boxes called shipping containers, and luckily there was a whole facility with a bunch of these things nearby.” Jack said.
“There was? What happened to it?” Applejack asked.
“We accidentally destroyed it. It took a few mistakes to figure out how to operate the machinery to move these things. I had to learn to use a machine called a forklift, and this one was massive. We accidentally destroyed ten containers, crushed two forklifts, and knocked a large crane over. The crane landed on the building and it collapsed.” Jack said.
“What about the technology for the door?” Twilight asked.
“We salvaged a lot of it from car parts. The winch that lifts the latch mechanism is from a large tow truck. The electronics are made from the wiring of lots of different cars. We even took some circuits and some buttons from the crane we knocked over. Other than that, we used skills that we taught ourselves. Things like welding, metal cutting, wiring…” Jack said.
“That’s rather impressive.” Rarity said. Jack and Danny shrugged.
“Human beings are very versatile creatures.” Jack said. They all looked confused at the statement. “Oh, right. We’re called Humans. Homo-Sapien, to be technical about it. There were other species like us, but they were more primitive, so they died out over time. Now they’re back, with everything else. So yeah, you many have been ponies where you came from. But here, you’re human.” Danny sat up and looked at Jack.
“They were what?” Danny asked.
“They came from a world where they were all small horses. One of them tried to use magic or some shit, and now they’re here.” Jack said. Danny scratched his head.
“I swear that sounds familiar.” He said. Jack rolled his eyes.
“We can discuss that later. Right now, we’re answering their questions.” Jack said. Twilight cleared her throat.
“If I may, I’d like to ask what your dietary habits are. What does your species typically eat?” She asked.
“Well, you may not like this, but our species is some what omnivorous. We have certain things in our bodies that allow us to eat meat. We can also eat vegetables though. Our species actually leans a bit more towards vegetation, but the occasional bit of meat also helps us get certain key vitamins.” Jack said. Twilight nodded.
“And what about mating habits?” She asked. Jack thought for a second.
“Well, we’re kind of monogamous. We tend to find someone, get to know them, and see if we love them or not. If we have too many problems, we split up and move on. If our significant other dies we can move on and find another partner as well. That can vary from person to person though. Some people are into group sex, where one individual, male or female because i’ve seen both do it, shares many sexual partners. Some prefer having only one partner.” Jack said.
“Which do you prefer?” Twilight asked. Jack chuckled.
“Kinda personal, but if you must know, I prefer to be with one partner. I find it to be more intimate that way.” Jack said. Twilight nodded. “Any other questions?”
“Yeah, I got one.” Dash said. Jack turned his head to look at her, and gave her a nod. “How long has the world been like this?”
“About a year and a half now. We’ve been living in these walls for a year though. For about half a year, it didn’t look like a whole lot changed. But we gradually started seeing these once extinct creatures popping up, and decided to erect the wall.” Jack said. “I’m rambling, sorry. I haven’t had anyone to talk to except Dan over there for the whole duration we’ve been here. No offense Danny, but there is only so many times I can talk to the same person about the same things over and over again before we run out of things to say.” Danny smiled and chuckled.
“It’s fine. I could use a fresh conversation around here too.” He said.
“Any more questions?” Jack looked at all the girls, and Pinkie was practically bouncing in her seat.
“Oooh! Oooh! I’ve got some! Do you like parties? What kind are your favorite? You like sweets? My favorite is cake. How often do you have parties around here?” Pinkie said. Jack took a moment to process the questions, and then he thought of his answers.
“Yes I like parties. I don’t know if these count as parties, but I like jam fests. My favorite sweets are anything fruity like laffy taffy, starbursts, and skittles. Not chocolate though, it makes me sick to my stomach. And we have a small party around a holiday or a birthday. The next party that’s coming up I guess would be a halloween jam fest we have in a few days. It’s October, and on the thirty first of October is a holiday called halloween. It’s a time for spooky things so we play spooky music, paint our faces in weird ways and just dick around by a bonfire.” Jack said. Pinkie seemed to get excited at the mention of it. Twilight was enthralled with learning about another culture's customs.
“That sounds a lot like a holiday called nightmare night where we come from. What about your other holidays?” Twilight asked.
“Well, In the US we have something called thanksgiving in late November. It was supposed to symbolize the peace between us and the natives, but that went sour so it’s technically just a time to get together with family, be thankful for what you have and eat food. Then in late December we have Christmas, or hanukkah or kwanzaa. Two of which are religious holidays. I’m not the religious type, but I like what the time of year symbolizes. It’s a time of happiness and giving. After that, there is Valentines Day in February. That one is for expressing one’s love for someone else, whether it be platonic or romantic. Then people usually hold a celebration around spring for one reason or another. And finally, in mid summer there is a celebration for our country's Independence, though it’s usually just an excuse to have fun.” Jack said. Twilight smiled.
“Wow, our two cultures have a decent amount incommon.” Twilight said. “What about world history?” Jack sighed.
“I have a few books on that. I don’t know that I’m entirely comfortable talking about that. Some of it isn’t pretty.” He said. Twilight raised an eyebrow.
“How so?” She asked.
“Well, some of it’s good… some of it is gory and cruel. But just know that all of history doesn’t represent us, and who we are. There are some, like me and Danny, that hold very firm and fair ethical standards toward others.” Jack said.
“Like what?” Twilight asked.
“Well, me and Danny both support the right to voice your opinions or even factual information, even if they may offend or anger someone. We don’t try to threaten others with physical violence. Violence is only to be used, with in reason, for self defence. Killing someone when they aren’t trying to kill you is not okay. Torture Isn’t okay either. We take care of our sick and injured. You have freedom to access what ever information that is available. You can either get or make what you want yourself or trade with others to get it. Everyone gets access to food and water by default.” Jack said. “That aside, If you pull you work hard and get tired of living inside the house, you can set up a tent outside, build yourself a quonset hut, or you can try to build a small cabin. If you need help with something, don’t be afraid to ask.” Twilight nodded.
“That seems very reasonable.” She said. “Okay, I believe that’s all I had to ask.”
“You sure?” Jack asked. Twilight nodded.
“Yep. If anything else comes up, I’ll let you know.” She said. Jack nodded.
“Well, Danny, you can feel free to ask questions. Twilight, I’ll go grab those books for you while you answer questions.” He said.
“Wait! Don’t you want to hear about us?” She asked. Jack sighed.
“Maybe later. I’m still trying to process some things right now and I’ve got some things I’d like to do.” He said. He went up the stairs, to his room and approached his bookshelf. He read the labels, trying to pick out the books he promised Twilight. First he grabbed the encyclopedia of prehistoric/extinct animals, then he grabbed a history book that spanned from the first hominids to the first civilization. The third book spanned the first civilization to the fall of rome, and the last book went from the fall of rome to right to the early 21st century.
He tucked the books under his arm and made his way back to the stairs. After a short climb down the stairs, he was back in the living area. Twilight looked at him and he set the books down on the coffee table in front of her.
“There you go, four books. I hope you like reading, because these are rather large volumes. Sorry about that.” Jack said. Twilight smiled and waved it off.
“It’s fine. I actually quite like reading.” She said. Jack smirked.
“I think you and Danny will get along fine then.” He said. “Anyway, how about I show you around so you can get settled into your rooms. I’m probably going to pack in early, and I want to make sure you all get settled.” The girls all nodded and smiled at Jack. He beckoned them to follow with a wave of his hand, at which they all arose and filed into line behind him. He lead them up the stairs, where six doors sat on the second level. Jack pointed to the one closest to the top of the stairs.
“That’s the bathroom.” He the pointed to two doors in the corner near the bathroom. “Room on the right hand wall is Danny’s, the one on the left hand wall is mine. The other three doors are empty rooms with mattresses, blankets and pillows. We don’t have box springs so the mattress is going to be on the floor. So, who want’s these rooms?” Jack asked. Rainbow, Pinkie pie and Applejack were the first to raise their hands.
“Alright, AJ, Dash, Pinkie Pie, these rooms will be yours.” Jack said. They stepped forward, with Dash at the front of the pack. Dash, being the first there, picked the door closest to the stairs and the bathroom, which sat right next to Jack’s room. Pinkie Pie got the room next to Dash, and since AJ was taking her good old time, she got the final room on that floor. At the end of the hall, in front of AJ’s room and just above the first set of stairs, was the second flight of stairs. They were going in the same direction as the first flight. Jack lead them up the second flight of stairs, where an additional five rooms sat.
“None of these are claimed or being used, so you can feel free to look at them all and see which you prefer. With that, I’ll be out of your hair, because I need some rest. It has been a rather taxing day with a confusing roller coaster of emotions, and it has exhausted me.” Jack said. With that, he sleepily made his way down the second flight of stairs and shuffled his way to his room. He stepped inside his room, turned the light on and shut the door.
He sat down on his floor bound mattress and untied his shoelaces, kicking his boots off once the laces were loose enough. He grabbed his blanket, wrapped himself in it, and laid back on his bed. As his vision swirled with varying shades of black, a dull ringing in his ears slowly lulled him to sleep. After a few hours of soft sleep, he was awoken by something nudging his shoulder. He looked back to see Dash, kneeling by his bed.
“What?” He mumbled.
“Hey, um, I-uh, couldn’t sleep. Say, n-nothing can get us in here, right? N-Not that I’m scared or anything!” She said In a hushed tone. Jack turned back over, exposing his back to her.
“No. Nothing can get in here. Not even the giant bugs. Except for the giant Dragonflies, but they won’t mess with us.” Jack mumbled in his half awake state. Jack heard Rainbow shift a bit, like she was uncomfortable.
“C-Could I sleep here with you? J-Just until I get comfortable.” She said Jack rolled onto his back and exhaled.
“Sure, just try not to fidget too much. I don’t like having to constantly readjust my position to get comfortable again.” Jack said without much thought. Dash gently climbed under the covers beside Jack.
~~~oOo~~~
Danny woke up to the sun shining in his eyes. He forgot to close the blinds the night prior, and the sunrise came through his window at just the right angle to hit him in the face. He groaned and sat up. He was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, so being disturbed from his slumber didn’t make him happy. But, being him, he wouldn’t be able to get back to sleep now. So, he decided to get ready for the day, starting with a shower. Despite the lack of a large purification plant, they found ways to purify their water with charcoal, sand, cloth and pebbles, and pump it into the house. This ensured that they had water for their showers.
After his shower, Danny put his clothes on and brushed his teeth. They did want to keep their teeth intact, so they tried to keep up their oral hygiene. But, after brushing and flossing his teeth, he stepped out of the bathroom to go walk the dog. As he stepped out, he looked at Jack’s bedroom door, which was open. Jack typically keeps his door closed, so one could imagine how this would garner some attention. Danny walked over and peered inside. Despite his blank facial expression, what he saw utterly destroyed his mind. Jack was sleeping on his back, with Rainbow Dash curled up next to him, with her arms draped around him. His face still blank, he quietly reached out and slowly shut the door.
He crept down the stairs, grabbed the dog’s leash, and whistled for the dog to come to him. The shepard trotted over to Danny with his tongue hanging out. He put the dog on the leash and stepped outside. Danny stopped on the doorstep and stared at nothingness for a moment.
“What the fuck?” Danny said.
~~~oOo~~~
Jack came down the stairs, boots on and ready to work. He spotted danny sitting on one of the couches, rewatching some old movies they had.
“Hey, Danny.” Jack said. Danny looked at him and back to the TV.
“Hey. How long has the you and Dash thing been going? That seemed rather quick.” Danny remarked. Jack rolled his eyes.
“There is no thing. Dash woke me up in the middle of the night. She said she was scared and said she’d like to sleep in my bed until she’s comfortable.” Jack said. Danny simply nodded. “Anyway, I was wondering if I could talk to you about a plan I had.” Danny paused his movie and turned to face Jack.
“Shoot.” Danny said, gesturing his arm to Jack.
“Well, you know how we don’t really get much animal activity around here?” Jack asked. Danny nodded. “Well, I was thinking of setting up a perimeter around the town. Nothing fancy, just barbed wire, or razor wire, and some sharpened logs sticking out of the ground. Just enough to keep anything big enough to hurt us out.” Danny nodded in thought for a moment.
“You mean like, turning the town into a safe haven?” Danny asked. Jack nodded. “Why? We have this place.” Jack sighed.
“Because, the way you confine yourself in here is starting to concern me. I get that it’s not completely safe out there, but it’s a lot safer than other areas. If I do this, at least the place will be safe enough that you’ll have a large area to roam. I don’t need you going stir crazy on me.” Jack said. Danny nodded.
“Alright. Since you’re so worried, go ahead. But take at least two of the others with you. You could use the extra protection.” Danny said. Jack nodded.
“I’ll bring AJ and Dash with me when they wake up. In the meantime, I’ll load up the jeep and the trailer with everything we’ll need.” Jack said. He walked out the back door and opened up their shed. He started grabbing tools like bolt cutters, shovels, garden pickaxes, and a chainsaw, and he put them in the trunk of the Jeep. He put some tents in there, and put three rifles in the trunk as well. They only had two automatic rifles, and one Marlin Guide Gun .45-70. Jack decided to give the automatic rifles to the girls, while he would take the bolt action. He’d have to teach them to shoot though. He pulled the Jeep around back, and hooked it up to a decent sized trailer. He maneuvered the trailer to be parked right in front of their second storage shed, which contained all the barbed and razor wire.
Jack left the Jeep there for a moment to go back inside and grab some thicker clothing. Once inside, he found the girls all gathered around the island counter in the kitchen.
“AJ, Dash, I’m gonna need you. You girls are going to help me with some manual labor. First, we need to get some thicker clothing on. The stuff we’re working with could cut you quite easily.” Jack said. “Follow me.” Jack lead them to a closet filled with extra clothes. He pulled out three sets motorcycle armor jackets and pants, three pairs of heavy duty work gloves, and some face shields that came down enough to protect the front of the neck. He handed two jackets, two sets of gloves, and two face shields to the girls.
“Put these on. Keep the face shields on at all times. Last thing I need is for one of you to slice your throat open or lose an eye doing this.” Jack said. He put his jacket and pants on and zipped them up tightly. Second he put the glove on, and used the velcro straps to tighten them. Lastly, he put the face shield on and made sure it was secure. He looked back at the girls, and found they had just started putting their gloves on.
“Meet me out back when you’re done. While we’re out there, let me know if you need a break. It can get a bit hot in these things when you’re moving a lot, so you may start to feel sick from the heat. If that happens, let me know and we’ll sit down for a bit and drink some water while we regain our strength.” Jack said. “If we get lucky enough, it might rain, and that will keep us cool.”
“Say, I was wondering about that. If you two are the only people here, who controls the weather?” Dash asked. Jack raised an eyebrow.
“No one. The weather here is driven by the movement of the air currents and the angle of the earth’s tilt on it’s axis as it orbits the sun. The weather does whatever really.” Jack said. Dash started to put on her face shield as she continued.
“So wait, no one controls to weather OR the sun?” Dash asked. Jack shook his head.
“Nope. The Earth spins at an angle, and the poles are always facing the same direction in space. One rotation is one day. One orbit going around the sun is one year. And because the Earth is spinning on a tilt, the sun light hits certain parts of the world at different angles at different times of the year, creating the seasons.” Jack said as he started walking back towards the back yard. Dash followed him.
“What about the moon?” She asked.
“The moon orbits the earth. It’s about one fourth the size of Earth, and it orbits at a six degree angle relative to the equator. The cycles of the moon create the tides. Earth is one of the smaller planets in our solar system. Not the smallest, but there are far bigger planets in our solar system. Most are hundreds of times bigger than Earth. That’s why Earth is frequently called ‘The Pale Blue dot’.” Jack said.
“Sounds lonely.” Dash said. Jack chuckled.
“Yeah, well, we haven’t found any other intelligent life. Now that everyone is gone, I don’t think we will.” Jack said.
“What do you mean? We’re here, and there are other animals.” Dash said. Jack stopped by the Jeep to wait.
“You guys are one of us now. You look like us and talk like us, you have our anatomy. You’re basically human. Other animals aren’t intelligent life forms here. They can be smart, but we haven’t found any that are intelligent to the extent of you or I.” Jack said. Applejack finally made her way outside and walked toward them.
“So, what’er we doin’ partner?” She asked. Jack nodded.
“We’re setting up a perimeter around the town we found you girls in. There are a few tents in the Jeep we can setup if this takes a few days. It’s risky doing that, but we’re fairly safe around here. We’ve got guns with us anyways.” Jack said.
“Uh, yeah, but what's with the gear?” Dash asked.
“Well, we’re loading up and working with some nasty stuff. We’re working with two things, razor wire, and barbed wire. Both can give you a nasty infection if they cut you. So, we’re wearing this stuff to protect our vital areas.” Jack said. “The perimeter we’re making should be good enough to keep out anything big enough to be dangerous.” Jack opened up the shed, revealing large reels of razor wire and barbed wire.
“They should be easy enough to transport, since they come in these big reels, but the work while we’re out there is going to be tedious and repetitive. So if you get bored, I hope ya’ll like talking.” Jack said. He opened up the trailer doors and stepped inside the shed. He grabbed a reel hoisted up to about chest level, and held it there. “Applejack, you’ll be inside the trailer to pack the wire in there. Start from the back and work your way forward. Dash, you stand by the trailer doors. I’ll pass the stuff to you, and you pass it to Applejack.”
~~~oOo~~~
After about an hour of packing, Jack closed the trailer doors and pulled the walkie talkie out from the dash of the truck.
“Danny, I’m gonna need you to open the gates for us.” Jack spoke into the walkie.
“Already at the gates and waiting.” He said. Jack nodded. “Thank you SO much for taking the only two automatic rifles though. I LOVE using a handgun for this.” Danny’s tone was pouring out sarcasm. Jack chuckled.
“It’s only for a couple days man, quit your bitching. We need them since we’re probably going to just camp out there to make things faster.” Jack said. Danny sighed into the walkie.
“You’ve got some balls of steel man. Godspeed.” He said in a concerned tone.
“I’m sure we’ll be fine. The perimeter is mostly for you anyway.” Jack said.
“Oh you’re such a gentlemen, Jack. Draw me like one of your french girls.” Danny said in the most flamboyant tone he could muster. Jack laughed.
“Whatever dude. Just have the gate open for us okay?” Jack said.
“Loud and clear, man.” Danny said. Jack gestured for the girls to get into the truck, to which they nodded and walked over to the unfamiliar vehicle. This time, Applejack got shotgun, while Dash sat in the seat behind Jack’s.
“Alright, if you look beside your seats, close by the door, you’ll see a belt and a buckle. That’s a seat belt. Take that…” He demonstrated. “And click it into the fastener.” He clicked the buckle into place and let go.
“These are to help keep you safe in the event of an accident. I don’t care if you don’t like wearing it, as long as the car is in motion, and I’m in the car, you will wear the seat belt. Last thing I need is for one of you to die if we get in a wreck.” Jack said.
“You say ‘The last thing I need’ A lot. This is like the fourth time you’ve said it.” Dash said.
“That’s my way of stressing that I have enough shit to deal with, and I don’t need more.” Jack said.
“Speaking of shit, what do you guys do with your sewage?” Dash asked. Jack turned around to look at her with a shit eating grin on his face.
“Holy fuck, you curse?” Jack asked.
“Well, yeah. Some of the words are the same, like shit or ass or piss and even bitch. We use buck instead of fuck though, but i’m guessing it means the same thing.” Dash said. Jack chuckled.
“The plot like my gravy thickens.” Jack said. “But anyway, we have a large compartmentalize container that slowly moves the sewage down it, decaying all the bad bacteria and toxins before dumping it into the forest. We put it as far away from a water source as we could to prevent pollution of that water.”
“That’s cool, I guess. Kinda gross though.” Dash said.
“Well, that’s life. Now then, let’s go build us a fence.” Jack said. He put the truck into drive and started pulling it around to the front.
