October 26th, 2025
1438 hours
20 miles outside Texarkana, Arkansas
Niko Yorbeska

I drove, I drove as far and fast as I could, the road became impeded with cars about 5 miles in and the city was in full combat. There was no reason to stop, but I couldn't help but watch as the animals, ponies mostly, wiped troop after troop with crude weapons and speed beyond our knowing. I realized what the wave did for them now. They used it to mutate, some began to fly high in the air and dropped metal and rocks into crowds of soldiers. They also dive bombed quick with their crude weapons, but were clearly killing more than the humans were able to do.

I'm getting sidetracked, I have to explain what I saw. There were others, far many others. The other type of mutation I saw with the ponies happened to be what I can only explain as a unicorn, but unlike in Harry Potter, in which they are pure white and embodiments of pure good, all I could see was death and destruction in a higher caliber than the other ponies were able to commit. They turned tanks into flying hunks of metal that proceeded to take out full battalions of troops with ease, and stopped bullets from daring to get even close to the ponies. I shudder and stopped myself before believing in magic, but then again, what the absolute hell else could it be?

That was enough for me, I continued to drive until I passed a small rest stop with a group of people and no ponies around in sight. I was surprised to see them, as I was sure the rest of the human civilians were locked up either in military or pony containment. I pulled into the rest stop and smiled softly as I killed the engine with the group looking over to me.

I walked up to the group with a smile on my face. In the group was 2 latino men around my age who looked dead tired and a little scared. They were each holding each others hands and occasionally whispered gently to each other. Also in the group was a middle-aged black man with what I could only assume to be his daughter, who looked to be around 12-14. She looked terrified as I approached and her father was patting her on the back and talking quietly to her. The other 2 people were older white folk, they seemed to be the leaders and looked upset, but were also very warm in nature. They had faces that looked like they had seen worse, but were equally scared of what was going down. The man was holding a simple hunting rifle while his wife was carrying a shotgun. They clearly seemed to be the leaders of the group.

They were the ones who talked to me after I approached them. "Howdy young man, what's your name, where you from, and where are you headed? That is, if you are comfortable letting us know" The old man asked me as I joined them.

"My name is Niko, I come from Ohio and that's where I'm heading to, but my old home was near Dallas. I was out of there before anything crazy happened. I passed out in my car at another rest stop and found, well whatever is happening out there in the world. I passed empty and barren towns and saw complete and utter death in Texarkana. Do any of you have an explanation as to what is going on? Has the world gone mad?" I asked as I looked at the group.

The older woman was the one who answered me. "No idea son, we were at our farm in Fort Worth when all this started happening, and our animals just went crazy and destroyed the fences and vehicles other than our old pickup. We grabbed what we could and got out. We ran into Mark and his daughter Melanie there, and Jesus and Jose followed us here. My name is Genevra darling, and my husband is named Greg. Its nice to see a friendly face in these troubled times."

After waving softly to the other groups, I looked back over to Genevra and Greg. "So, where are you guys planning to go? All I really can see here is FUBAR and I don't know where is safe anymore. I'm just heading north to find my family, but should we go there if we don't know what we are dealing with?" I said, starting to feel tense and worried. I didn't want to travel alone after everything I witnessed, but where was there to go?

"There ain't nothing else better I've heard, since all people was talkin' 'bout was that the North had less horses so there wouldn't be as much of a problem up there. The camps the Army set up for civilians have gone to shit and there ain't a safe place for miles. We were just about to leave when you pulled in, so if you are willing to follow and help us, we would appreciate it, and help y'all in return." Greg said softly, while a few members of the group nodded in agreement, and others, like Jose and Mark, didn't look as sure.

I sighed as I left back to my car and the others to theirs. We started our vehicles and started making our way north. We couldn't have understood the horrors that we'd view or the people we'd meet and lose at this time, or we might never have left together, much less the rest stop. We should've accepted and relented, but as was human nature, we trudged onward. Into the deepest and darkest pits of the unknown

Author's Note

Hated to leave this, but I had a lot to deal with and also started to stream on twitch more as well as made a few songs with my brother. We started to test our skills and dont hope to do much, but express ourselves in our craft as time goes on. Please check it out and give us as much feedback as you give us on our stories. We hope to encite and bedazzle you with our tales.