The Nine

I let him go. I knew he needed to think, and I knew I needed to do some organizing in the library. I only began to worry when he didn’t show up for dinner. So, I began to search for him in the evening twilight. I already knew where I’d find him, at the entrance to his world. He was simply laying there, chin on paws, staring into the irradiated tunnel.

“Hi” he said as I approached.

“Why do you do this to yourself?” I asked, sitting by him.

“What do you mean?” he asked, not even turning to me.

“You’re living in the past. Your world is gone, but you seem to refuse to accept that.”

He guffawed jovially, and I looked at him skeptically.

“I’m not living in the past” he said, wiping a tear from his eye. “I’m waiting for the radiation to subside so I could possibly watch humanity rebuild itself.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at this. “Here I was, worried you were working yourself into a depression.”

“I would never do that” he said, smiling.

I looked at him for a while, smiling softly, and he made to kiss me. I was about to return the motion, but broke out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” he asked, looking hurt.

This only drove my laughter further. “Emotions look funnier on dogs” I managed to say between fits.

He looked at me, first confused, then amused. “I hope this doesn’t impede anything.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to recover enough to laugh again” I said, then gasped in an attempt to recover my breath.

“You alright?” he asked, looking worried.

“Stop with the emotions!” I cried, being driven further into my laughter fit.

He adopted a completely emotionless face, but that only made me laugh harder. He sat there, doing nothing, and I eventually recomposed myself.

“You alright?” he asked, devoid of emotion.

“We’ll see how long I last.”

“So, why’d you come find me?”

“You missed dinner.”

He facepawed. “I can’t believe I did that” he teleported away, and I was right behind him.

Princess Celestia

“And you say Twilight was with him?” I asked the general that had spoken in Ponyville.

“Yes, your highness.”

“Oh, Twilight, why do you always pick the rebels?” I mused to myself. “Kill him. None must stand in the way of the griffin genocide” I said with definity.

“Yes, your majesty” he said, bowing deeply.

“Oh, and try not to kill any bystanders this time” I said, making him wince.

“I’ll try, ma’am” he said, leaving.

Kiqo

Mom had always told me to listen to my gut. Why hadn’t I listened this time? Now I had been backed into an alley, rifle toting grunts on my tail. I had to get out of town, for Twilight’s sake, but where? Then, I ran into a zebra that gave me an idea.

“Zecora, I need a place to hide. Think you could help me out?”

One of the army ponies spotted me then, and called his buddies.

“Say no more, little pup. Zecora will fix you up.”

We took off into the darkened streets of Ponyville, making a beeline for the Everfree.

“They’re heading for the Everfree!” shouted a grunt. “Fire!”

I spoke a few words, and a stone slab rose up to shield us. Zecora looked at me incredulously, but kept on running. We only stopped for breath when we reached her house.

“I can’t thank you enough, Zecora. I hardly even know you, and you helped me out of a tight spot.”

“If you want to repay me, then don’t ever leave the Everfree.”

I looked at her questioningly, but then I understood.

“To preserve those I love, I can’t be with them.”

She smiled sadly at me, and I left. I had lived for long enough in the wilds back home to know how to survive. I reversed the effect I had put on my organs, allowing me to eat meat again. Then, I found a river and constructed a shelter. This was easy, since I just spoke a house into existence. After that was complete, I searched the forest floor for tracks, and soon found a well used game trail. I memorized its position, then went to lay down for the night. Once in my bed, I released my spirit and visited Twilight. I was concerned that somepony would see me, but I just had to see her.

“Twilight?” I asked hesitantly as I entered the library.

“Kiqo?” asked a tearstained mare’s voice.

I followed the voice, and found her lying in bed, crying her eyes out.

“Oh my goodness, it really is you!” she exclaimed, an expression of unbridled glee on her face. “No one ever escapes the Princess’ orders.”

“That’s actually what I came to tell you.”

“You’re not dead, are you?” she asked, mortified.

“Oh, no. Nothing like that. I’m just stuck in the Everfree. I would love to leave, but for your safety, I can’t.”

“Well, you could come back but not live with me.”

“If I did that, I’d have to get a job and I swore to my last boss, who fired me for not sticking by my word, that I’d never have a boss again. Also, I kinda owe Zecora.”

She smiled sadly. “I understand. Will I see you again?”

“If all goes according to plan, every night.”

“How will I know if something doesn’t go according to plan?”

“You’ll know when I don’t show up” I said, smiling sadly.

We spent the rest of the night together, just enjoying each other’s company, but when the sun came up I said farewell. I settled back into my body and set out for the morning hunt. I quickly killed a deer and set to having my breakfast. When I had finished my meal, I carried him back to my shelter and proceeded to salt the meat and tan the hide. About half way through this process, I saw a gleam in the sky.

Joe

Wolves, why wolves? The only thing I was afraid of, and they somehow found us. We had unloaded clip after clip into the pack, but without success. They had taken the others, and also got me in the ribs. I loaded my last clip, and prepared myself to launch back into the fray. I knew I was going to die, so I sent a letter to Princess Celestia. I wrapped my finger around the trigger and leaped out from behind the rock I had hidden behind. My small volley thinned the pack considerably, but enough jaws were left to tear through my scales.

Princess Celestia

I finished a meeting with a high ranking pony, and was about to start another when a small cloud of smoke came in through the open window. It formed itself into a scroll. Written on it were the hastily scribbled words of a dying dragon.

‘We were wiped out. If you want to kill him, you can’t send any more troops. You’ll have to use that new weapon the Manehattan Project is working on.

-Joe’

I read his words with horror, and wondered if it was really worth it. Could one mangy mutt stop a war? My thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the door.

“Enter” I said.

A pony with frizzy white hair entered. “We have completed it, Princess. All it needs is a target.”

“The Everfree.”

“I’m sorry?”

“The Everfree. Your target is the Everfree.”

“Any particular part?”

“Can’t it hit all of it?”

“Not quite.”

I sighed, and cast a spell. It located the dog I was looking for, tucked away in the Everfree near a river. I put his location onto a sheet of parchment, and gave it to the scientist.

“Yes, this is much more specific. We’ll get right on it, Your Majesty.”

Kiqo

I watched it fall in sheer terror. I wondered what I was going to do about the nuke. I couldn’t even think as I watched it in fall in slow motion. The bomb fell lazily to the ground, and hit the damp earth with a thud. I stared at it, waiting for the explosion, but none came. In realization that it was a dud, my brain clicked back on.

I stepped out of the house and carefully approached it. It looked just like the ones back on Earth. I cried bitter tears for a world not yet lost, and proceeded to bury it. I buried it deeply, making sure there was at least a mile of rock between it and the surface. When I had finished that, I returned to my hut. As I salted the venison, my mind raced.

If they have nuclear bombs, then preventing the genocide of the griffin people would be harder than expected. Did they even know the risks? I could tell them. Would they listen to an enemy of the state? How else could I prevent this? My mind whirled through all sorts of scenarios that all ended in global annihilation, and I began to feel myself sink deeper into the pudding.

Zecora

I watched him silently from the bushes, hoping to not provoke him. I always watched him, since it was so amazing to watch him hunt. No matter how much he twitched and jerked in his psychosis, he never made a sound. I saw his prey, a young doe. The poor girl was just grazing, no idea that a mad dog was only feet from her. He leaped from the bushes, taking a cat’s style of hunting instead of a dog’s. It did make sense, since he had no pack. I watched the grisly scene, hardly even disgusted any more. When he had had his fill, he departed with the carcass back to his den and I returned to mine. As I was leaving, however, I felt his eyes on me. I shuddered, and galloped as hard as I could home, afraid his stomach might change its mind.