Strange Hooves

“… and this comfort allows man to be complacent in his security.”

Mike had been talking, well… talking means that the other party would talk back. Mike was just relaying information about Man to Twilight, who was listening to every detail.

“This means that man now had a capacity for many, many things, now that he was secure in life. Technological creations keep outdoing each other as they came. Cars with engines that ran on refined oil almost replaced trains as a mode of transport. Luckily, it was still easier to use trains to carry a lot of stuff around. Wonderful and great advances of medical science meant that man could be brought back from the brink of death… it would seem that with enough time, we would cure death itself.”

Mike thought about that for a moment, but continued.

“But, the capacity for good means that there is also a terrible but vast capacity for evil. Weapons keep improving in their ways to kill people. The firearm is the most deadly hand-held weapon in existence. Our wars become terrible tragedies that sometimes are necessary, but other times, it is a worthless waste of lives. Our cars were built to take bullets and they became tanks, replacing wheels with tracks with added armor on it, and a big gun. Sometimes these big guns were used outside of these tanks, as artillery pieces that sent death over the horizon.”

Mike gestured his hand in a semi-circle.

“Our knowledge has also granted us bombs that we throw or shoot or drop at each other. Some of these devices were used in the most terrible weapon man has ever conceived.”

Twilight listens intently, not knowing how more terrible these weapons could get.

“These bigger bombs were built with the capacity to destroy entire cities, Twilight. We built enough of these bombs to destroy our planet several times over. Thankfully, they were used only twice in war, by my nation.”

Twilight seems stunned that these weapons were even used at all. She asks,

“Isn’t there a better way to end conflicts other than killing the other side?”

Mike thinks for a second, but says sadly,

“There wasn’t, Twi. We used these weapons to kill thousands, but an invasion of the opposing nation would have taken the lives of millions. Millions.”

Twilight thinks again, and asks,

“B-but why?”

“These men who were driving their nations to war were greedy with their plans for subjecting the world to their whims, including slavery. Other nations with good intent saw this, and they formed the Allies. The enemy was called the Axis. Our nation was kept an ocean away from these conflicts, so we saw no need to interfere. We were wrong. One of our islands on the pacific coast, west of the mainland was attacked by one of the members of the Axis, a nation called Japan. This is the country which we used the 2 bombs on. We declared war on Japan shortly after, and the rest of the Axis declared war on us, so we declared war on them, too. We joined the Allies, and we defeated the Axis, but at a terrible cost.”

Mike seems saddened by this, but has a thought. He says,

“A shaky peace was to be had hereafter. Conflicts with smaller nations did arise from time to time, but nothing on the scale of this Second World War was ever seen again.”

Twilight thinks about that and asks,

“Was there a first?”

Mike states flatly,

“Yes. That was also a terrible fight between the greedy Axis and the Allies. A few decades after this second world war, was when my story begins as I was born.”

Twilight would want to hear this. Mike closes his eyes and says,

“I was growing up happily with no major conflict in my region, and I was growing up to use technology that would blow your mind. Unfortunately, there began a plague. The Green Flu was making people sick and turning them into monsters. We did not know how it began, or how it worked, and there was no cure for this unnatural cannibalism, save for death. The first reports I heard came from the East Coast of the United States. This seemed almost unopposed by the military, which was overwhelmed by the need for survival and the need to protect innocents. That was the military’s job. A blockade was made at the mountains, and we thought we were safe, and that we would build more tanks and guns to take back what was lost. The infected broke through, and all chaos broke loose inside the quarantine.”

Mike thinks for a little while longer, but continues.

“Everyone was evacuating to cities, by car, plane, boat…

anything.

But they came and the cities started to fall. I was in one of those cities. Chaos in the streets. People starting writing the

weirdest things on the walls, like ‘NONE OF YOU WILL SURVIVE’,  ‘WHERE IS THE MILITARY THEY LEFT US TO DIE’, ‘GOD IS DEAD’, ‘CEDA SUCKS’, and other scary things. We fended for ourselves against the onslaught. I bought this before the crisis.”

Mike pulls out his knife. Twilight recognized it as the one he used to kill the hydra.

“This is a KA-BAR used by the military. I bought it off of a surplus store. This, on the other hand…”

Mike pulls out his Kukri.

“I found it in an exotic store for blade enthusiasts.”

He puts them away so he can continue his story.

“I did find some guns to fight the infected with, and I was wandering from street to street trying to find shelter and safety…”

Mike’s sleep deprivation, combined with the tiredness of recent events, finally overcomes him as he slumps in his chair. Twilight, not wanting to put too much on him, simply moves him from his chair to her bed using her telekinesis. She has a lot to think about, and she should share this with the princess…

…

Mike ran into the Warehouse, and barricaded the entrance. His safety temporarily secured, he runs through the aisles of stored provisions. He’s tackled before long, a woman in her 20s. He looks in her face and sees… a human face. Not a zombie or a crazy, but a living, breathing human. She gets off of him, and they sit up and lean against some crates. Mike looks over to take in some details, possibly tell if she’s been infected but not succumbed or not. She doesn’t look compromised, and she’s carrying some weapons, including several guns and a… samurai sword? She’s wearing a brown, worn, torn t-shirt with a white, faded dove on it, and some jeans that could use a little cleaning. He looks at her black, straight hair, and he recognizes her.

“Megan?”

She looks back, recognizing his glasses, but not the scars and injuries.

“Mike?”

Megan was a girl Mike had met in high school. She’d made it this far, apparently. She looks like she’d been through a lot, too. So now they had something in common they could perhaps build a companionship on as they found more and more similarities. So there was that. Both of them, at the same time and without hesitation, put their arms around each other and they both started to cry. Megan rests her head on Mike’s shoulder, and Mike rests his head on her head. Neither of them were this close to a member of the opposite sex, but neither of them were in a zombie survival scenario, either. They were sort of friends before the outbreak, but because of high school ending, they hadn’t seen each other since. Now, though, they knew they could depend on each other. They forged a bond, right then and there, a bond of true friendship, and a mutual agreement of trust and responsibility. They let go of each other and wipe their eyes. They look to each other, scratching the back of their heads.

“So…”

“So…”

They had said it at the same time, and they both were surprised by this. They laugh, the tension in the big and open area dissolving. Megan says,

“You made it so far, huh, Mikey?”

“Yeah, Megs.”

“Wanna meet the others?”

“Others?”

“Come on, they’re in the offices. I was just barricading the entrances when you arrived through the last entrance to be barred. It looks like you did that already, though.”

Mike looks to the barricade he had made, several crates and chairs stacked against a wooden door.

“I guess. Let’s go meet the others.”

…

Mike wakes with a start, sitting up in Twilight’s bed. He’s confused for a second, but memories flash back to him. He curls up and looks outside. It looks to be dusk. Mike remembers what happens, and he starts to despair again. He mutters to himself,

“They would’ve liked to see this place.”

He remembers the others dying the siege, everyone but him and Megan. It would seem that they would last the siege indefinitely. They were best-buds-for-life, and they were inseparable. He suddenly remembers her face when he failed to protect her during a lengthy, intense breach. Her dying smile broke his heart, and she urged him to live on without her. He had done so, and the Warehouse Safehouse was no more. Sorrow and tragedy etched on Mike’s face as he shivers. He had failed her, and she is dead now. Soon, Mike whispers to himself over and over again,

“Ifailedherandnowshe’sgoneIfailedherandnowshe’sgoneIfailedherandnowshe’sgone”

Sorrow and volume were added to his voice every time he said it until Twilight entered, intrigued by the sounds coming from upstairs. Mike doesn’t seem to notice her, however, and he continues with his sorrowful mantra.

“Ifailedherandnowshe’sgoneIfailedherandnowshe’sgoneIFAILEDHERANDNOWSHE’S*GONE*!”

Mike breaks down in his arms and hides his crying from the world. Twilight has several thoughts, including those of the ‘her’ Mike keeps mentioning before he broke down. She approaches Mike, whom is unaware of the world around him. Only despair can he feel right then and there. She taps him on his shoulder with a hoof, and he snaps his head up, looking at her with puffy, red eyes, and a teary face.

“Twilight, I-I-I FAILED her, Twilight. I failed to protect her from them and now she’s gone. GONE, TWILIGHT, GONE!”

The words in his voice indicate to Twilight that further research had to be done in order to make sense of his words. She asks,

“Who, Mike?”

He said through sobs,

“M-M-Megan! She was the prettiest girl I had ever known, and was the only thing left in the world that was sane anymore! AND I FAILED TO PROTECT HEEEEEEEER….”

Mike breaks down again, his very being flooded with grief and sorrow. Twilight felt a pang of sorrow for Mike. Loss was something nopony should have to deal with, and Mike seems convinced that he’s the reason that he lost this ‘Megan’. Guilt is also a terrible thing to have, especially if it isn’t warranted at all. Twilight stands there, trying to think of something to do for poor Mike, when Spike enters the room. He takes a look around, seeing a shriveled up Mike and a dumbfounded Twilight, and he promptly exits the room, making a mental note to get somepony to help. Spike’s mind scans through Twilight’s closest friends who could help. No, not Rainbow Dash. No, not Applejack, or Rarity, even though Spike wouldn’t mind seeing her again. Pinkie Pie might be able to cheer him up, but that’s probably the wrong way of going about it, considering what Spike saw. Fluttershy it is. He walks to the door to get her, but the door opens and he sees Fluttershy with a raised hoof about to knock. She looked confused for a second, but is happy to see Spike again.

“Hi, Spike! Is Mike here?”

Spike’s first thought that this was awful convenient, and his second thought was to not look a gift horse in the mouth.

“Thank goodness you’re here, Fluttershy! Mike had a nightmare and has broken down!”

Fluttershy swoops over Spike and up the stairs. Spike knew that it pained Fluttershy to see anypony else in pain. He closes the door and runs up the stairs after Fluttershy, a little comfort growing in his heart because she’d know what to do.

Author's notes- In which an Author places his notes

Hey, everybody. This is my first formal Author's notes, and earlier ones don't count because they were just silly sayings. Life is great here on the IRL front and I hope you've been enjoying my tale so far. I promise more chapters on the way and I hope you'll comment on them because other than tracking, that is the only way I know that you're actually reading this. So this became necessary so I can beg for petty comments. If you comment, I can know better that you are in fact reading this and appreciating this. So then I have more reason to continue other than "I want to see how it ends." So rate, comment, and fav, my fans. That is, if I have any. Thanks for reading. That is, if anypony are reading this. *squeak*