Apple Bloom and the Floating Windmill

Forgotten Homes

Taking the first steps away from the only place I've ever been is definitely a strange feeling, my home was basically the world as far as I was concerned. A few locations have always been visible from the farm, Canterlot being the most notable, although it's kinda hard to think of them as much more than a decoration in the background, something I'd never see up close.

The clouds beneath my island made it kinda easy to forget that anything on the ground actually existed, but here I am, walking through a bunch of fields I've never seen before. The ground is very different from anything I've seen on the farm, The Pestilence's presence is clear. The grass is grey, the trees are dead and even the sky is darker down here, like the energy was sucked right out of it, leaving the ground in a strange almost-night setting at all times... it's weird.

According to Granny Smith, there are some creatures still living on the ground, apparently not every living thing is affected by The Pestilence. She often told me about some of the creatures living down here like dragons, diamond dogs, parasprites and even some rarer creatures like hydras... yeah, a lot of tough, not usually very kind creatures, I'll have to be careful moving forwards.

The most dangerous creatures living on the ground are probably the ashenwolves, apparently they used to be called 'timberwolves' before The Pestilence started infecting them, somehow transforming them into an entirely new creature with the appearance of a dying tree and an infectious venom. Ashenwolves are known for living in the darkest places possible, usually caves and ravines so I shouldn't run into any as long as I'm careful on my journey to Canterlot.

Speaking of my journey, nothing interesting was really happening at the moment, probably why I got so distracted thinking about random nonsense again... I've seen plenty of empty fields by now, a lot of dead trees and some strange holes in the ground every now and again. If I were to guess I'd say they were probably- no, hopefully dug by some kind of mole that can still live down here but if I'm being realistic they could've been dug by diamond dogs, Granny told me plenty about their habit for randomly digging in hopes of finding gems below ground.
If I'm lucky, they'll stay underground and I won't have to worry about running into any of them.

A little while later and I was still walking in dead fields but now I could see a few buildings in the distance, probably Ponyville, the abandoned town Granny Smith liked to talk about so much, apparently it used to be a beautiful place filled with happy ponies and the farm wasn't far from the town. It was probably nice here before The Pestilence but I guess there's no need to think too hard about all that stuff anymore.
I walk towards the first house I have come across, a nice little yellow building, the first house I've ever seen besides my own. The windows were smashed and the walls showed clearly how long the house had been empty for, I shouldn't take too long here but out of curiosity I decide to take a look inside.

I approach the old, rotten door and notice that it's already slightly open, probably a sign of some kind of evacuation, I guess the owner didn't find it important to close the door to the house they would most likely never return to.
I push the door open fully and enter the house, a small hallway connects the kitchen, living room and a set of stairs leading upwards. Inside of the living room there're a bunch of random things lying around like toys, old newspapers, books and other stuff like that, nothing important. The kitchen was almost empty, a couple of chairs and a table but every cupboard and draw contained nothing at all, probably a sign of somepony scavenging for food, taking whatever they could find from the abandoned house, not like the owner would miss a loaf of bread or whatever else was left behind, I guess.

It was time to continue moving forwards, I had already spent a little too long in that old house, although it was interesting, my journey was still more important, especially considering I have no actual knowledge of how long I have to get to Canterlot. As I trot through the old, empty streets my mind begins to drift into random thoughts, as it usually does, thinking does keep my mind active at least, even though I think about the same old stuff so often.

Thinking of my time limit, it's worth considering how The Pestilence actually works, this strange illness was somewhat rare above ground although it also becomes significantly less predictable, spreading completely randomly, one day you're completely fine and the next you start turning grey. Most illnesses have clear causes, eating something you shouldn't, close contact with unwell ponies, stuff like that. The Pestilence was completely different, it wasn't about doing anything wrong or unhealthy, it's just a case of living long enough for the disease to randomly show up and start affecting you.
The rumours about the princess pop back into my mind, I guess if she really does control the disease it would just mean that anypony she chooses will become infected when she says so, although there isn't any proof of that being the case and it's probably a safer assumption to think that it is just random after all, even if she could have some level of control over it.

I freeze.
I'm almost at the centre of town and I see something that definitely isn't a good thing to see, a large fire surrounding an old tree, possibly a landmark showing where the middle of Ponyvile is, regardless of what it used to be, the tree was now being used as fuel for possibly the largest campfire in history.
There are a few shadows in front of the fire, silhouettes that definitely aren't ponies.
I'm far enough away not to be seen by these creatures, judging by the silhouettes and the holes I found earlier, I'm guessing they're diamond dogs.

I need to get through the town but I definitely don't want to be seen by them, I could leave the town and walk around the perimetre of Ponyville, completely avoiding them, however since I still don't know how long I have to get to Canterlot, the amount of time this could cost might end up being the difference between finding the cure and dying in the streets... that got a little dark...

I shake my head quickly in an attempt to get my thoughts back on track, clearly walking around the entire town isn't an option and neither is walking up to a group of diamond dogs to have a friendly chat. I'm left with one option, I can use the houses as a barrier between myself and them, I won't be seen, I'll walk right around them and I won't even lose much time... it's the best solution I have so I guess It'll have to do.

I quietly approach a house on my left, I climb inside through an open window that leads to a living room. This living room is nice but I don't exactly have time to look around and appreciate Ponyville's architectural design so I quietly sneak around a few chairs before moving into a hallway and reaching a door leading outside.

I open the door slightly, enough to look outside and towards the next house along, I look towards the fire, they still haven't noticed anything. While the diamond dogs aren't paying attention to my direction, I quickly rush from one house to the next. I repeat this strategy for a couple more houses, slowly getting past the large campfire, as I sneak by them I notice they seem to be using the fire to cook some kind of meat... definitely a good idea to avoid them.

It didn't take too long before I began moving away from their location, it seems like I'm going to get by easily after all-
*clang*
My thoughts were completely interrupted as while I was moving through a kitchen, I knocked a saucepan off of the counter, creating a loud sound that was definitely going to attract attention, I quickly peek above the counter and look through a window facing the campfire.
The diamond dogs have turned around, I act quickly without thinking, pulling open a cabinet door before climbing inside as quietly and quickly as possible, shutting the door behind me, closing myself in the small box.

Everything is dark, I don't like being stuck inside of a small, pitch black container but I definitely won't like it if they find me. I close my eyes and try to calm my breathing, I actually succeed in slowing my heart rate until I hear voices coming from outside of the house.
"Come on, you both definitely heard it too, there's something inside of that house!" a gravelly voice aggressively states to an unknown amount of allies.
"Nothing of value has been here since we set up the fire, you keep claiming you know otherwise but I've yet to find anything other than a couple of bugs." another voice counters, sounding impatient.
"I hate to say it but he's right this time, I heard that sound too, something knocked a pot over or whatever, although it's probably nothing important..." a third, higher pitched voice says.

The first voice starts speaking again, "Look, maybe it really is nothing but the last time I followed my instincts, we found lunch so at least consider looking."
The second diamond dog sighs before continuing their discussion, "I guess that's true but keep in mind that ponies are rare to find nowadays, the last one wasn't too long ago so I'm guessing we won't run into another anytime soon... still, I guess we can look."

If I had succeeded in calming myself down before, I wasn't succeeding anymore, my heart rate increases as I hear a door opening from within my hiding spot.
I hear them walking around the house, all in different directions, one of them is looking upstairs while the other two are searching the downstairs rooms.
"Anything upstairs?" the first calls out to the diamond dog upstairs.
"Nope, completely empty up here, I'm guess you haven't found anything yet either?" the third replies.
"Alright, whatever it is has gotta be down here and I only see hiding spots in the kitchen so I'm guessing it either ran away or it's hiding here... If it wasn't for the darn Pestilence making everything smell of rotting death, I could just sniff the thing out..." the second stated with a significant amount of anger, he sighs before concluding his thoughts, "Okay, here's the plan... I'm going to open each of the cabinets, if anything is in there, you grab it."

The furthest cabinet to the left opens, a second passes and it closes again, I'm hiding two cabinets from the right side of the room... It won't be long before they open this one, I need to think quickly.
The second cabinet opens, I still don't know what to do.
The third cabinet opens, I have to act.
The fourth cabinet opens, I prepare a desperate plan to stun the second diamond dog, hopefully it'll be enough of a distraction to allow me to get out of here before I can be caught.
I'm in the fifth cabinet, a paw grabs the handle as I buck the door open, slamming it into the diamond dog's face and sending him falling backwards.
It worked, but I still need to escape. Before he can recover from the pain I jump out of the cabinet and run towards the door, the first diamond dog finally reacts, chasing after me, but I grab an old plate from the ground in mouth, swinging my head to the side and throwing it at him.
The plate hits him in the chin, it's enough to stop him from chasing me for now as I turn again, running out of the kitchen and grabbing the handle of the front door.

I throw the door open just as the third diamond dog appears at the top of the stairs, running down to catch me.
I exit the house and slam the door closed behind me, running towards the next house over, maybe I can lose them inside.
I enter the next house, leaving the door open both because I didn't have time to close it but also to make it clear which direction I went.
As I enter the house, I quickly find the stairs and climb them, heading towards the bedrooms, there's one on the left side of the upstairs hallway and another on the other side of the building. I don't have long to do it but I have a plan, I throw open the door on the left side, turn around and enter the bedroom on the right side of the house, closing it behind me.

There's a window on the other side of the room, It's a bad idea but it's the only idea so I have to do it...
I climb onto the windowsill and prepare to jump as I hear the diamond dogs quickly climbing the stairs and running down the hallway towards the bedroom on the left, falling for my trick, I jump from the window and hit the ground, I attempt to roll in order to avoid injury but it still hurts a little.

I don't have any time to catch my breath so I immediately begin running away from the town, heading towards a forest. Dead trees pass by me as blurs, I continue running for a while before eventually slowing down.
Three things become clear to me, I have escaped successfully, my right foreleg hurts more than it did a minute ago... and I have no idea what forest I'm in.

I was planning on going directly through Ponyville but I had to go slightly off course because of the diamond dogs. Still, it shouldn't be too hard to get back on track, it'll just take a little longer to get to Canterlot now...

I continue walking through the forest.