The Equestrian Apocalypse

— Devan —

The rain was finally beginning to settle. Yet my face remained wet as I scanned every part of the river. My lungs cried out for me to stop, but I kept running regardless. I cursed the fact that Trixie was blue, effectively camouflaging herself in the water. Another fear I had was that I somehow missed her, even though the river was moving at the same pace I was. It did not help that I had to slow down to catch my breath occasionally.

When I glanced ahead, I noticed the small strip of grass on the riverbank widened, allowing for a small clearing. I then noticed more rocks at the edge of the river, similar to the ones Trixie and I had slammed into. One of them had a weird blue shape on top of it. As I closed in, I realized the blue shape was a beached Trixie. I sped up into one last sprint to catch up to her.

When I stopped at the river bank, Trixie was partly laid out on top of the rock, with just one of her hind legs being tugged by the water. The river was not as fierce at this section as it was when we were launched into it, so she seemed to be safe from being swept back into it. However, the rock she was on was not on the riverbank. There was another smaller rock between it and her, and if I were to pull her out, I would have to rely on this rock to help me. She looked passed out, but I could not tell for sure as her face was pointing in the opposite direction.

“Trixie! Can you hear me?!” I called.

No response. I grew nervous, hoping she was just dazed or passed out. After calling out again and getting no reply, I carefully stepped onto the rock between us. It was slippery due to the river and earlier downfall, but I was able to steady myself on top of it due to its flat nature. The rocks were just a hand length apart, so I crouched down and reached over to grab one of her forelegs, tugging on it to see if she would respond.

“Trixie, please.”

After a few seconds, I came up with a plan. I assumed Trixie would be a bit heavy to pull off the rock by myself, and it would be hard to prevent her from getting stuck in between the rocks where water flowed. Instead, I would shove her off the rock and back into the river while holding her tightly. Not far down the river was another rock next to the bank. I figured I could use the current of the water to help push both of us towards it and use it to pull her out of the water. The plan sounded ridiculous in my head, but I did not know any better choice rather than waiting and hoping more debris would not come and knock us off these rocks.

I set my legs back in the water behind her as I pushed her other hind leg in, and the current quickly swept her off. Reacting just as quickly, I wrapped both of my arms around Trixie once we were in the water, immediately submerging. I was able to hold onto her by the chest, but it took loads of my strength. I kicked my feet powerfully to propel us back up, and once we resurfaced, I could see the rock ahead. Adjusting my feet against the current, I kicked them hard again to guide us toward the bank, and eventually, we smacked into the rock.

The rock held us from continuing any farther, so I took a moment to relax before using my strength once more to drag Trixie out of the water. As I set her up on the grass of the clearing on the riverside, I noticed blood seeping from her nostril. I set my ear next to her snout, listening for what I hoped would be her breaths. However, there were none. I took a deep breath, as there was still hope.

Back on Earth, when I was sixteen, I had a brief interest in becoming a lifeguard to make a bit of money, in the hopes of improving my life. I went as far as getting trained in CPR and rescue breathing but never made it to the lifeguard chair. Back then, I thought I was a massive failure. I thought I'd wasted my time for nothing, but now, I realized it might have been one of the most important decisions I ever made. I tried to remember the process, as it had been a few years since my training. From what I remembered, this situation called for rescue breathing.

For a moment, I wondered if my training extended to ponies. I hoped it was the same process as my human training, but I got a bit thrown off when tilting her chin up. Her mouth was already above her forehead, so whether or not the tilt was necessary was up for debate. I did it anyway, as that was how I was trained, and opened her mouth slightly. I then touched my lips to hers and blew a short, one-second breath, followed by another. When I disconnected, I saw her chest move up. This meant it was working, so I connected again and blew a gentle breath into her lungs. Her chest moved again, so I blew two more short breaths into her and set up for compressions. I could not remember the number I needed to do off the top of my head, but it did not matter. Around ten compressions in, she started coughing. My first aid had worked, and I thanked my lucky stars as I rolled her head to the side so she could cough up any water still trapped in her lungs.

She continued this wicked coughing fit for the next minute, spitting out the stuck water. I knelt beside her, checking for any other injuries besides the scratches she acquired on her downstream trip. The rain had fully stopped now, and Celestia’s sun poked through the holes forming in the cloud layer above us. After Trixie’s coughing subsided, she laid her head back down and opened her eyes to the sky. I was relieved to see her normal purple irises unglazed.

“Trix, thank god. Are you alright?”

She blinked at the new rays of sunlight before looking back at me. Her wet mane laid flat over her forehead and on the ground beside her.

“I ... am …” she muttered, still gaining her breaths back.

Full of newfound happiness, I shoved both of my arms underneath her in a tight hug. She weakly returned it as her energy was yet to recover. When we disconnected, she rolled to lay on her side as she recuperated. Her tired eyes glanced up at me.

"Thank you, Devan."

"Of course, Trixie."

"I'm ... I'm sorry about earlier ... I just got a little heated ..."

I failed to hold back a smile. "Yeah you did ... ya massive bitch."

A tired smirk grew on her face. "Yeah, screw you too ..."

"I'm sorry too. We made our truce though. And we did make it across the river ... eventually."

We both snickered and made small talk while she recovered. As we did, I looked up at the sky. Beautiful rays of morning sunlight beamed through holes in the dissipating clouds. The river was settling even more now that the rain was finished.

I turned back to see a slight breeze wisp through the clearing. A handful of flowers speckled about the clearing danced in the wind, shaking their wet petals dry. I closed my eyes and breathed in, listening to the sound of the calming river, the gentle wind, and the morning birds in the distance. I found a moment of peace in this nightmare, and my mind was soaking in every little detail.

“This world …” I said, “It’s so beautiful …”

With my eyes still closed, I heard Trixie respond, “It can be. I bet you wish you were back home, though ... with everything going on.”

I opened my eyes and glanced back at a sat-up Trixie.

“I don’t,” I replied.

“Really? You might say that, but I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to go back. I think most ponies would choose that if the roles were reversed.”

“I’m not just saying it, Trix. My dream with Luna …”

I stopped myself, wondering if the colossal decision I made was worth revealing. She eyed me curiously.

“What about it?”

I sighed. “She didn't just fix my leg. She gave me a choice with the magic she had left. Either fix my leg, or return to my world. I chose my leg.”

Her eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“I am. I want to be here. I need to.”

“Why?”

“I can’t live with not knowing what happens. I don’t want to live a life wondering if all of my friends died. I can’t do that to myself.”

“But your world … don’t you have friends there too?”

Now I really had to think about revealing any more information to her. I looked deep into her curious eyes, but I felt a sense of trust I had only ever felt with Twilight. It was weird, considering we were just fighting just an hour ago.

“A few,” I answered, “Just a couple. Sure, I miss em, and they're probably wondering where I ran off to, but they aren't as close as someone like Twilight or you.”

“Awe,” she commented, smiling. There was a moment of silence before she continued. “I don’t mean to be nosey, but what about your family?”

This struck me. I looked away and back at the river, trying to settle the memories coming back to haunt me. She noticed my expression. Despite the pain, I felt the need to share the truth with her.

“Can you promise to keep this a secret? Only Twilight knows of my past.”

“I can, as long as you're okay sharing it.”

"I am."

I took a deep breath and continued gazing at the river. “I’m an orphan. My mother and sister died in a ca- uh ... uhm … in an accident when I was young. I went back to my father, who raised me alone for a while, but ... he … he died as well ... after falling ill ...” I struggled to recall the story. “I had no more family to go to … so I was sent to an orphanage. So … no … no family.”

I avoided eye contact with her like it was the plague. The river was a strong distraction, helping me to avoid it. Only in my peripherals did I see her scoot closer to my side, setting one hoof on my thigh as she leaned her body against mine.

“I’m so sorry, Devan.”

A tear rolled down my eye as I pressed my lips together, sucking the sadness back inside. Trixie’s cold, wet body didn’t even bother me now. I instead wrapped my arm around her and enjoyed the view of the river. It was calming, sitting in such a peaceful meadow with her, able to ignore all of the horrors going on around us. Even if it was just for a moment.

“Thank you. I’m happy you’re here with me.”

“I am too,” she replied, “So ... to Canterlot?”

We laughed together, enjoying our last bit of peace before we had to move on.