Last September

Manehattan, where every foal had a dream- a dream to accomplish greatness and probably make a difference, one that would benefit the entirety of Equestria, maybe expanding to even greater nations, like the fabled Princess of Friendship had done before.

Well now, that was an old flame. It died out so quickly, and for such a long time that even the most innocent parts of this city became cold, and anypony left standing would be turned over onto an even more rotten standard of living. Everyone scheming, everyone fighting, everyone doing anything in their power to overrun each and every tier of this wretched hierarchy we called a city.

And I, Steel Ripple, was living smack dab in the center of it.

“Listen here, you scarfaced shitbag…” I watched my friend, an unreformed changeling with a flaming orange frill and the same colored eyes slam another teenage colt into the wall with his hooves jabbed into his neck. The colt himself had some kind of dreary, grey pelt, and his blue mane was extra pasty. His eyes were midnight blue as well, but they stared coldly into my friend’s eyes in contrast to the smug grin at his lips. “You’re gonna give my buddy back his bookbag, or else…”

The colt let out a loud laugh. I gritted my teeth as my ears shot back; his laugh was the coldest, most evil, most trifling laugh you could imagine. My buddy Firefang always found it annoying.

“Buddy?!” Stone Cold cut in with his wheezing cackle; Firefang’s grip against his neck may have made him wheeze, but it definitely failed to suppress his tumult of laughter. “What is this, kindergarten?!”

“Yeah, I guess it is.” Firefang smirked. “And now it’s naptime.”

The changeling pulled his hoof back for a split second, before rocketing it right back into Stone Cold’s face. The colt’s expression went from joyous to startled in just a split second, just as Firefang’s hoof made impact-

“Wham!”

I scurried backwards in a hurry, the quickness and surprise of the all-of-a-sudden hit startling me enough to knock me back onto my haunches. If there was something each and every creature had in common, it was the fact that they all had a power based on their greatest traits. Firefang- although we are supposed to be really good friends, I will admit he’s a meathead. But however, the thing he’s best at is being strong. Before the city shut down and all that, he worked a part time job at the local gym as a personal trainer ever since he turned sixteen.

Stone Cold, no matter what the situation, always found a way to overpower someone, no matter how many times he got hit. The city’s pretty scarce of other creatures other than our fifty-something in the lower class, and he was, hooves down, the most annoying colt everyone ever knew. He was very, very persistent. That’s why his own power happens to be an increase of endurance. No matter how many times he’d get hit- once, twice, a hundred times, he would always get up afterwards. No one really knew how many times he could get hit, or stabbed, or shot before he’d eventually die. However, this obviously doesn’t excuse him from getting concussed- courtesy of Firefang.

“You really gotta look out for yourself in this city, man.” Firefang scolded me as he dropped Stone Cold’s unconscious body. It slumped up against the wall, his back hooves laying limply like wet noodles. I felt truly sorry for the guy- the sorry scene was to be seen by nearly everyone passing him by. And he’d probably get pickpocketed, too. I was snapped back to my senses as my changeling friend shouldered me. My gaze shot directly to his hoof, which held my black bookbag. It was filled with mostly snacks which is why I’m usually the target foal of my own lower class. I’m usually the only kid that has food, and Firefang’s the only guy I’m willing to share it with. “‘Specially when you’re hoggin’ all the snacks.”

I chuckled lightheartedly. “I told you, ‘fang, I’m not good at doing the stuff you do.”

“...standing up for yourself?” ‘fang deadpanned as I took my bag. My gaze averted, and that’s when his tone shifted. “Steel, come on. That’s ridiculous. You don’t gotta be skilled at protecting yourself. You think too much.”

“Too much, Firefang? Too much? Look, it’s not my fault this city turned into a slum full of cut-throat savages, alright? What happened to when we used to trot to the nearest store to buy some snacks? We can’t do that now without getting mugged! Not ever since...last September.”

My ears folded back once again; I could practically sense Firefang’s frown from a mile away. I feel his hoof wrap around my neck. I didn’t even bother to look at him.

About this last September thing. Yeah, I remember it pretty vividly.

***

When the Autumn Plague hit, no one was sorry.

But what can I say?

No one knew full-well what they were getting into.

Not even the late Princess Twilight.

***

“My dear subjects of Manehattan; the pleasure is all mine to be able to stand on this podium today,” the well-known lavender alicorn spoke from the stand. She was wearing a darker violet suit with a fitting, black vest underneath. She had her hoof resting on the surface of the stand to gain better leverage, but the ponies of Manehattan could see her very well already. “But I am only here because all of you allowed me to be. You allowed me to inspire change in this city, to spread friendship’s name across this land!” The crowd erupted with cheer, each and every mare and stallion stomping their hooves and jumping for joy. Twilight held her hooves up, beckoning for silence. It came as soon as she requested it. “And it is my pleasure to say...I will be leading this city to even more substantial greatness!”

The crowd cheered even louder this time. Twilight couldn’t hide the large grin and blush she held on her face, with her wings extended and her chin lifted proudly.

“Ahem...ahem...jeez, my throat is killing me…” the alicorn turned her head away from the mic, using her hoof to cover her mouth lest she say anything in the mic other than she was supposed to. “Ahem…”

“Princess Twilight, may I speak to you for a moment…?”

She was then pulled aside by some stallion bodyguard with a black suit and a light grey earpiece. They looked quite frantic to say the least- like the princess herself just committed a major felony.

To be honest, I thought nothing of it. I watched as the program seemed to shut itself off. The broadcast was most definitely over, but so abruptly, I wondered to myself what could’ve been so important that they shut the program down without so much as a “goodbye”. I leaned forward and pushed my hoof up against one of the buttons, and the T.V screen went black. I was definitely grateful Twilight introduced the concept of technology to Manehattan- even though we had the more basic forms of tech down to a T. But even then, things like smart phones and computers we haven’t established since the latest big screened billboard. That and “Wi-Fi”.

“Dude, I’ll never understand why you watch all those programs in the first place.”

I turned my head to see my older changeling friend, Firefang, fixing himself a protein shake (“Death by Chocolate,” his favorite flavor). He looked at me with an arched brow, his very clearly expressed confusion matching the tone of his rather quick-fired question. I chuckled.

“You pay for the television in this apartment- I plan on using it for educational purposes, Flamey.” I turned to my small notepad, jotting something down. Of course, it had to be something about Princess Twilight’s new arrival to our bustling city- how she was going to change it for the better. Firefang held an audible smile in his voice.

“Okay, kid. You and your little political tendencies, I’ll let slide for now.”

“Thanks, Flamey!”

Firefang was the one who kind of stole me from my family. Don’t worry- they weren’t the best kind of family you could ever imagine. They were loud, intrusive, angry, abusive- I mean, it’s not like they forced me to shove glass up my backside or anything, but…

...when my mom had me pinned against the wall by my neck. I was suffocating. She wouldn’t let me breathe- I thought she was going to kill me. And then when she let me go, I ran outside and bumped into Firefang. Then, I caved. The very next day he told me to pack my things and leave with him, and so I did. And then he took me in.

I levitated my notebook and dashed off to the small burrow I had in the corner of the room. Firefang and I lived in a small apartment- I’d sleep in the living room with a bed made of blankets and cushions, semi-sort of like a fort, or something like that. Great for slumber parties, let me tell you. A downside, however. Your best friend’ll walk in on you watching those “adult commercials” after bedtime and start intruding on your “me-time”.

Firefang slept in his own room with a pull out couch and a lamp by his “bed”. He also has a T.V, but it’s a bit smaller than the one in the living room. Even now he says it’s called a “PC”. One of those computer monitor thingies they advertised on T.V.

We had a kitchen as well. Marble counters with the sleek, modern white floor tiles. That was Flamey’s favorite part of the apartment- the only one he spent most of his money left over from food, rent, and bills on. We had an oven, a microwave, anything you could think of in a kitchen. And since we both liked food, yeah, it was our favorite part. Firefang always spoiled me with my favorite sugary snacks after he took me to the gym with him.

I sighed dreamily as I gently shut my eyes.

At this point I felt like nothing bad would ever happen- that everything would be just fine as long as Twilight was here.

And I was right.

Until she wasn’t.

All over the news;

“Princess Twilight found dead inside her castle.”

“Well-known Princess of Friendship possibly suffocated in her sleep, morgue employees are saying.”

I couldn’t believe my eyes nor my ears- it was total anarchy in the city. Ponies were burning buildings, killing each other, getting into fights on the street. Wildfires everywhere, everything crashing down- the whole city was in total shambles. It became apparent when I was looking out the window. The apocalypse as I knew it was running around out there, Tartarus breaking loose. Everypony out there was overcome with anger and rage, scavenging around this wretched place we called a city, looking for whoever would have brought this entire economy down. I turned to the T.V, feeling Firefang’s foreleg wrapping around me and snatching me close. Startled for a split second I turned straight into his embrace, barely even able to watch anymore.

“Officials are now claiming that this was the work of a serious illness. Princess Twilight and several others have been affected by this-”

I watched in horror as a group of five ponies, each of their traits escaping me, knocking the reporter over. One stared into the camera while the other four continued to stomp the mare out.

“They’re hiding everything from us! Princess Twilight is alive! Princess-”

Firefang punched his hoof through the T.V screen and snatched me up, taking my backpack which was previously adjacent to where I was sitting and filling it with snacks. He then tossed it over to me before proceeding to grab his own form of luggage, jam-packing it full of essentials. I was scared for my life, I didn’t know what to do except stand there like an idiot.

CRASH!

The sound of our window shattering- shards of glass surrounding a red brick with a piece of paper attached to it. “Cleanse the city,” it read. Cleanse the city?

Firefang paid no mind as he draped his own black duffel bag over his back, snatching me up and dragging me out of there. I clutched my own backpack tightly as he reached the staircase, draping me over his back as well and proceeding to gallop down. It was like he was so damn terrified, he didn’t care about the weight holding him down. I had never seen him like that before- at a point where he was so insecure about what was going to happen to the two of us that he didn’t care anymore. Like he could carry just about anything.

My breath was bated.

I watched heinous crimes being committed, ponies slaughtering left and right, people bashing their heads on brick walls, everything. But Firefang just kept going.

Eventually we found a back alley somewhere out of the way. Firefang peered his head out, where he still found the bright lights of scorching flames tearing down numerous buildings. I didn’t dare take a peek. I just closed my eyes, an aching lump in my throat, praying to someone that all of this would be over. Someone could help. Someone could save us.

But no one came.