Finding peace

I wake up in a scorched apartment filled with foggy atmosphere. I stretched out my wings forgetting that I had been shot multiple times in the air. I yawned. I looked around while I lay in bed. Beside me was Tulip. She's snoring. I see a clear white cloth wrapped around her right flank with a large spot of blood in the middle of the wrapped cloth. Looking at this, I quickly looked at my left shoulder. It was mummified with a white clean cloth. So is half of me. Whoever who took care of us really wanted us alive, I wanted to stand up to look at my surrounding better but the warmth of where I'm laying on is so good. I don't want to leave at all. I haven't slept in good beds for the last two days. I look farther to my left. There was a door frame but no sight of where the actual door went. Everything else in the room was junk. The only two windows in this room are boarded up.

*Clank*

A noise followed by a voice came from the left of us. I quickly stood up and headed for the noise quietly. In the other room was a tad bit lighter with two monitors at the back of the room. A wide open hole at the side of the apartment to the left and a boarded up stair and door to the right. I see a human figure next to the monitors picking up something from the ground. It seems to be watching a video from the monitors. The wooden floor squeaked and that made the figure turn its head around. I quickly hid behind the wall. The footsteps came closer then stopped at the doorway. It grunted and shrugged and continued picking up what was at the ground. I looked back to Rose. She's still fast asleep. She's so cute when she sleeps. I quietly snuck past the door frame and headed towards the figure. As I opened my wings for take off just to knock him out, the figure said.

"Don't even try, If you attack me all of my turrents will incapcitate you. If you flee I will shoot you myself" A low voice came from him. He pushed a button on his keyboard and lasers start to point at me. About four turrents are trained at me.

I tried to shrug off my fear and asked him how did he find us.

"You're scared aren't you? I can hear the tremble in your voice. You know, these monitors are not here for entertainment" He pushes three keys and the two monitors change screens "All six of these monitors were all functioning and scanning for anyone to tell that my safehouse is completely danger-proof. I saw you on the outskirts of the holding prison. It's lucky I found you on time. The other four monitors were down because of those bastard curfews that just roam around the streets 24/7. The amount of damage that these curfews caused a lot. Just look outside for example"

I trot to look out the huge hole where a corner should have been. I looked outside the huge hole and saw destruction everywhere. Burning buildings, fallen trees and bodies and blood just scattered everywhere.

"The streets were filled with guards everyday slaughtering us and your species"

Then I saw a few rotting corpses all around the building. A few were ponies while most of them are humans. The streets just outside the apartment were painted with blood. The sight was very horrific. I just stood there my jaw dropping in horror. I sat down on my haunches thinking about the lives these people had until. I don't know how much time was passed when the human talked again

"Hey, it's been three minutes. Thinking about something?"

I looked behind me. He has brown hair with white skin. He has a torn gray T-shirt with the words 'Just Do It' and pants that seems to be sliced multiple times. He also wears sneakers with stained blood on every inch of his shoes.

"Nothing" I said

"I know that expression. You're hiding something in there"

I sighed

"Just knowing that most of the ponies are my friends make it..." I trailed off into my thoughts and lay down and looked out into the horizon

He sat next to me. His feet dangling off the edge. I will never know how we could sit like him.

"Ahhhh, I see. I had friends too" He points down the street to what looks like a pharmacy.

"Sadly, they've died in that building over there. I took shelter in this wreckage" He says in a straight face

He looks up and down and finally stared at me with a frown

"When I first encountered the military. What's weird to me is that when they saw me they didn't try to shoot me. When they stepped closer, I panicked and ran. They didn't run after me either. Until I realized that..."

He puts his right hand to his pocket and showed me an ID. It read 'Bronycon 2023'.

"I forgot that it was on my neck and I think that this is the reason they didn't want to shoot me. Maybe because, Ah! I get it now" He stands up and raised his arms "I've fooled them!"

I looked at him

"How could a single ID fool them?"

"Because they think I know your species so much that they think that I'm important. It makes so much sense now."

I look back outside

"I don't get you" I said with a cross face

"You see, Bronycon is a place where people can share their feelings to one another with the help of technicolored cartoon horses. The word 'Brony' is a combination of 'bro' and 'pony'. If you're wondering what the word 'Brony' is. What I mean is that Bronycon is a place dedicated to your world"

"An entire place dedicated to... my world?"

"Yep pretty much. Do you have something similar to this?"

"Well there is one-"

"You mean Lyra?" He cut me off

"How did you know that?" I look in confusion at him

"Just one lucky, lucky guess" He trails off again and looks out. In the distance I can make out a crate with a parachute strapped on it.

"Would you look at that. We've got a supple crate" He continues

A box strapped with the parachute slowly fell from the sky. I turned my head to him. The human rushes back to his monitor and grabs a backpack. Then rushes to a metal door reinforced with nails and streets signs. He turns back to look at me.

"I'll be back soon. Watch yourself and your partner. And do NOT go anywhere" He closes the door silently

I look back outside. The crate is slowly making it's way down. I again look outside but focus on one of the largest buildings. That building is huge. Probably just able to reach the skies. At the very top of the tower I see a large bonfire and shadows dancing.

Hmm, I wonder...

I flapped my wings. Should I go? Should I investigate the fire? It only takes one choice to change my future. I've made my decision, I'm going. Before I leave, I made another decision to go back to Tulip. After I greeted her and stepped out of the door frame. I heard a slight wimper but I shrugged and took off.

The air was full of smoke. Fires have spread all around and I couldn't stop coughing until I was high above the clouds. The sky is beautiful at this time of the day. By the looks of the where the sun is, it's approximately 5 pm. I saw the faint light of the bonfire. Looking closer and saw eight ponies dancing around the fire shouting a familiar name and I saw two cooking from a pan that what seems to be food and two others laying down next to the ponies cooking. Behind the main attraction and the cooking, was what seems to be a blocked up staircase leading downstairs. I flew a bit closer and closer until one saw me and gestured the others.

"Finally a savior! Can you please help us down here?" One stallion said

"All 10 of us are dying from hunger here!" Another stallion said

10? I thought I saw 12. They must be slowly dying up here. I've got to help them. I need to. I dove down and stopped mid-way so I could land safely.

"It's a pegasus! Please save us from the monsters down below!" He tries to imitate a human being by standing up on her hind legs but falls back down to her four hooves.

"What do I do?" I ask

"A sacrifice!" A black coated mare with a purple mane shouted followed by agreement by the others.

Oh shit. Have ponies already gone insane in just less than a week?

Purple magic enveloped me and floated me above the bonfire. I could feel the heat as the unicorn mare slowly lowered me down. Suddenly, a loud gunfire erupted from below. The unicorn floated me off to the side of the fire and beat me up with a stick. Whatever this trouble is, they really seem keen on making me a sacrifice. I hear someone or something banging somewhere below shouting and trying to get up here. In moments, I can hear voices walking up the stairs and soon they started breaking down the barricade. Everypony took a battle stance looking straight at the door. I steadied myself up and slowly crawled backwards until I was at the edge. The banging became louder and then the barricade exploded into splinters and chunks of wood. Once that happened, I jumped off the building and started heading back to the safe house.

I flew back to the safehouse just before our keeper entered through the safe house door.

"Hey uh, what's your name?" the human asked me

"Thunder Wind?" I replied

"Thunder, were you the pony that flew outside just a few minutes ago?"

"Umm..." I tried to not look guilty

"Didn't I tell you to not leave the apartment? You could have gotten hurt" His expression became cross. He then inspects me. I shrugged him off.

"Sorry. I just got curious by the big bonfire at the top of that tower" I hung my head and pointed a hoof at the tall tower where the bonfire was lit. Instead, the bonfire seems to be gone and the roof was now just filled with whizzing magic and bullets.

The human sighed. He walked close to me, knelt down and pats me on the head.

"You're a curious one eh?" He pats me on the head again "Whenever you want to explore someplace. Please, tell me. I don't want to search high and wide when you're just playing the dirt"

"You worried about me?"

"I'm hella worried. You know, you're not the only pony I've tried to save"

"They've all died haven't they?"

"Yep, some by natural causes, some by bleeding out... and some that disappeared... the second I leave... the safe house. For fuck's sakes"

I looked up and saw him covered in his hands.

"Hey cheer up. You have another chance. You have me and my Rose" I pat him on the back with my right fore hoof

He looked out on the horizon and removed my hoof. He asks not looking at me

"By the way, how's your partner?"

Tulip, it came to me and realized that none of us were in here with Tulip. She just slept all alone with no one to guard. I trotted towards the room where I last saw her sleeping. Inside, there was a lump under her blanket. I thought it was just Tulip for a second but I know that she doesn't sleep under the blanket. She would always poke her head out of the covers or one of her hooves because she doesn't like to be very hot. I asked her if she was awake. No answer. She should be awake by now. Just then, once I come closer I heard beeping and I faint glow of red just under the lump and the blanket. I asked her if she was awake again yet no answer. The beeping started to get faster and faster every time I come near her. I heard footsteps and the human took me by the hoof and ran outside the room.

BOOM

The room was obliterated with a black stain across every inch in the small room. Someone or somepony has gotten in here, took her and set up a bomb. They didn't seem like they had a chance to get anymore stuff than her. Wooden planks and dust flew out of the room and down a floor. The human put me down and slowly crept up to the room. He came back with a dead pony and the remains of the bed. The pony was a blue haired mare with a green coat. She had her horn cut off and both of her sides were completely red and slashed by what looks like a whip. Her flank was the most reddish part and were sore. Upon closer inspection, her half cut neck was the cause of her death and a three large letters were stamped at her left side. The shrapnel made more holes into her body but not a single drop came out.

"Holy Celestia! Who would do this?" I gasped

"If only that damned president didn't ban the internet these would've been not that frequent. Rapists, of your species and mine. I've seen them roam around the streets taking in both mares and stallions. I don't see them take any more ladies and gents anymore"

Rapists? I've never heard that word in a very long time. Last time I heard that it only happened on the newspapers. This can't be right. How could this all happen in a week?

"Poor mare" I frowned

The human walks past me and to the front door. He motions me to follow. We headed to a staircase and took a few floors down. We head to a large open room that somewhat looks like a parking lot but the broken pillars, hanging weapons and blood smeared across the walls makes it look like a slaughterhouse. In the middle of the parking lot were six makeshift graves all jaggedly cut in their upright position. The graves in front of them is a mountain of dirt enough to bury one pony. four of the boulders had names that are very familiar to me and others were not so familiar. Below the names were their cause of death. Choking, squished, ran over by a truck and exploded. The human puts down the dead mare and picks up a small stone and started to scratch a word onto the boulder. He writes on the boulder: Grassy Teal.

"Grassy Teal? Do you know this mare?" I asked

"Nope, I just take one good look on the body and I put in the first words that come into my mind. I might be disrespecting them but it's all I can do to give them a proper burial"

"What about the bodies down at the streets? They deserve a proper burial"

"I would like to but the curfews around the streets start to get more frequent each passing day"

"But if the curfews were no more then would you bury them?"

"I'd gladly bury them but if the curfews are gone then there will be chaos roaming around the streets. Like: Gunfights, Gang fights, Even more abductions, Explosions. I should be thankful for the curfews for pushing those bastards out"

I looked back to the stairs. The rooftop back up at the tower there flickered in my mind. My gut tells me to investigate what is up there once more. I turned my attention to the human. He has finished burying the mare and is now standing up to look at all the graves. I open my mouth to ask my permission to go back up the tower but no word came out except for an:

"Ehhhhhh..."

"What?" The human asked without turning to look at me

"Can I go back to the tower? I have some unfinished investigating to do"

"Sure, where is this tower?"

"The tallest one, just a few blocks away from here. My expedition got cut short when there was a disturbance downstairs. Someone or something is down there"

"I'm coming with you. I'm in need of nails and I know that there is a hardware store full of them. There is no point in coming back here without any nails and my oh, my I'm gonna need a lot of nails"

Going back upstairs I readied my wings for takeoff. While the human was getting his backpack on him he said without looking to me

"Name's Sean by the way"

"My pleasure to meet you Sean" I said and took off