Seven years and eighty-one days
Sunlight fell through the forest’s canopy roof, alighting on three tents that huddled together in a small clearing. One of the tents yawned open as a tired unicorn mare crept out into the foliage. The solar rays danced on her evening blue coat, in step with the swaying leaves of the canopy. She let the sun fall onto her face, helping her wake up as best it could. It couldn't compare to a fresh cup of coffee, but these days it was the best she could do.
Gingerly, for she did not want to wake the tent’s other occupant, the mare reached in and pulled out a small book and pen. The book, which was her journal, had her name inscribed on the front cover in looping letters, “Aurora Wish.” She was the only one of them who still kept the date, a force of habit from her job as the Fillydelphia timekeeper. Opening the journal, Aurora flipped through the handwritten pages until she found the most recent one which displayed a series of dates. Today was the 14th of autumn, in the year 1012 AMM. It had been seven years and eighty-one days since the ponies began turning. That’s what they called it, though they had met some who called it the infection, the cataclysm, or even just the end.
Aurora looked up from her journal, just in time to see her young daughter, Radiant Hope, walk out of the tent. The filly was only seven and already looked so much like her mother, with the same evening blue coat and mint green mane. The only difference between them was the streaks of magenta mane that Hope had inherited from her father.
“M-Mommy, I had that d-dream again,” Hope said with her still prevalent stutter, “The one where I’m r-running.”
Aurora sighed for she knew the dream her daughter was talking about. Hope hadn’t had that dream for a few days, and it was assumed that it wouldn’t come again. Aurora set aside her journal and pulled her daughter into a tight embrace. The little filly returned the hug, and the two shared a moment of mutual comforting.
“Tell me about it,” Aurora finally said, wanting to share and perhaps alleviate some of her daughter’s troubles.
Hope started, “Well… In the d-dream, I w-was running. I-I was running because s-something was after m-me… something s-s-scary. I t-tried to call f-for you, but you w-weren’t there Mommy… I e-even called for Daddy…,” Aurora felt a twinge of sadness at the mention of Hope’s late father, “B-but then I saw s-something in front of m-me. It was a… a statue, but n-not of anyone I knew. It m-made me feel better, and it m-made the scary thing g-go away. Then I-I woke up.”
Aurora stroked her daughter’s mane in thought. It scared her to no that her daughter had such sad dreams. Hope had been born within days of the disease and had not known life before it. This dream only added to Aurora’s fears of how this world would affect Hope. Still the statue was new and Aurora took it as a sign that there was still hope for her daughter.
“Don’t worry Hope. I’ll never leave you.”
By this time the other had begun to rustle with the waking movements of their occupants. Two figures emerged into the clearing and greeted Aurora and Hope warmly. They were the only friends they had left in this world.
Zigbar was the newer of their companions. The zebra had met them a few days after they had lost their previous travel group. The fact that he was a mute made him hard to communicate with sometimes, in fact they never new his name until he wrote it on the ground one day, but he was helpful, and smart, and knew a lot of useful medicine skills.
The other was named Poinsettia, and had actually been Aurora’s neighbor back in Fillydelphia. It was by some luck that they had managed to find each other again, and though Aurora found Setti’s optimism, at times, grating, she was glad to have the earth pony friend around. Setti was also the one who believed most in the myth of Mercy, and was most concerned with making sure they traveled toward where it was rumored to be found.
They had all heard about the town of Mercy (even Zigbar though he never let on if he believed in it) from different sources as they traveled. The stories weren’t always the same, but they always had similar details of a walled city where the infection had not invaded, where civilization thrived, and everyone was safe. Setti instantly latched onto these tales as a falling pony would latch onto a branch, but to Aurora such a branch seemed too gilded to grow and so she wrote off Mercy as just another myth.
The group worked together to pack up the camp and move it as they did every few days. Scouting the forest, Setti said that on the other side she saw a large hill, though she had not gone over for fear of leaving the forest alone. The canopy was their only protection from being seen by one of the flying ones. Still Setti kept to her optimism about what may be on the other side.
“It’s close. I can tell,” Poinsettia said out loud, but mostly to herself, “My great grandmother was a fortune teller, and I inherited some of her clairvoyance. Watch, Mercy will be just beyond that hill. I can tell.”
“I’d settle for a lake to refill our canteens,” Aurora commented. She knew better than to burst Setti’s optimism with her realism, but also new better than to raise false hopes. So while she never challenged Setti’s fantasies, she also never supported them either.
“Come here Hope, I’ll help you strap on your saddlebags.” Aurora brought Hope close and magically tightened the small saddlebags, making sure they wouldn’t be uncomfortable while they walked.
“M-Mommy, do you b-believe in Mercy l-like Aunt S-Setti?” Hope asked in a low tone.
“Well…” Aurora began, unsure how to answer without bringing her daughter down, “I’d like to.”
There was a silence between them just long enough to startle Aurora when Hope broke it, “Me too…”
Aurora bent down and kissed Hope at the base of the horn, bringing a smile to the filly’s face. Aurora wished she could hold that smile in her mind forever, for it gave her such comfort.
The camp was all packed, and the travelers set out toward the edge of the forest. The ground was uneven with roots and moss, although Setti told them that it was nothing compared to the terrain in the Everfree which she had once visited as a botanist. Still Aurora had to stop a bit too often to help Hope over a tricky root. She offered each time to take Hope’s saddlebags, but the filly was determined to pull her own weight in the group.
“Those saddlebags are probably twice your weight Hope,” Setti pointed out.
“I’m n-not that skinny!” Hope defended
Aurora giggled at her daughter, but was cut short by Zigbar’s urgent hoof. They had not even noticed that he stopped, but now the zebra was motioning them to be low and quiet. They obeyed and crept with him up to a small rut. Aurora motioned Hope to stay low before she and Setti peeked over the edge into the clearing ahead. The sight within caused them both to stifle gasps.
It had been some time since they had run into a turned, and it was hard to believe that they had forgotten how horrible they looked. This one was standing over the body of a downed deer, its dull coat spattered with blood. Its mane and tail hung was matted with dirt and dried blood. Its face was turned away from them, attending to the deer, its kill.
Zigbar was already in the clearing. He had somehow gotten a club like branch from somewhere, and held it in his teeth as he stalked behind the creature. The creature didn’t hear Zigbar’s advance as he was completely absorbed in the deer’s guts. Zigbar was inches from the turned, when he raised the stick high in the air. Aurora quickly moved to cover Hopes ears, not noticing the twig snap before it was too late. The monster stiffened and raised his head from the deer, meeting the stick as it crashed down. With one sickening thwap! The beast was down; still two more were added to make sure it remained that way. Zigbar threw the bloody club from his sight, hopping to never lay eyes on it again.
Aurora didn’t realize her eyes had been closed, but opened them anyway. Setti stared blankly, and was muttering something. Hope was clinging to her almost painfully as tears streaked from her shut eye.
“Setti,” Aurora tried to break her friend from her trance.
“…”
“Setti?”
“…This won’t happen in Mercy.”
“Poinsettia.”
Setti startled as though from a dream, and then focused in on Aurora.
“Will you take Hope around to the other side of the clearing?”
Setti swallowed and nodded. Slowly she took Hope’s hoof and led her where she was meant to go. As Hope was led away, she made a noise somewhere between a whimper and a cry, looking at Aurora, her very expression pleeding to stay by her side. Aurora tried to give the most reassuring smile to her daughter, then turned and walked out of the rut and into the clearing where Zigbar sat.
Zigbar appeared to be recovering from the whiplash. He sat a ways from the body, his head held by his hooves. Aurora walked towards him, and against her better judgment glanced at the turned. The face was now visible with its sunken eyes, blackened teeth, and blood soaked muzzle. Also visible was the grooved spike of a unicorn horn. Zigbar swiftness was suddenly so much more valuable as an turned unicorn would be hard to incapacitate without surprise.
Zigbar rose up with Aurora’s help and stood woodenly. His eyes darted around trying to look everywhere but where the body now lay. In the end his eyes locked on the pony and seemed to lose all light. Aurora clasped the Zebra’s shoulder and tried to communicate her support as if by telepathy. Zigbar eyes met hers, and he bowed his head in gratification of the gesture. The two walked to where Poinsettia and Hope were now standing.
Not much was said between the four after that. Not much was said when they reached the end of the damned forest, never to enter again. Not much was said when they reached the hill and saw that the other side was barren and alone.
Author's Note
On the subject of dates. The Equestrian calendar is divided into two parts based on the first appearance of the Mare in the Moon. All dates before the mare in the moon are accompanied by the abbreviated: BMM or "Before the Mare in the Moon." All dates after are followed by AMM or "After the Mare in the Moon." Instead of months the calender is divided into seasons with about 90 days or 3 human months in each season. The infection first activates on the 23rd of Summer 1005 AMM, 5 years after Nightmare Moon's defeat, and a couple years after Twilight ascends to Alicorn.
“Everypony run! Hide in the cars!”
The first generation of steam locomotives were very simplistic in design, focusing more on practicality then style. It wasn’t until the Equestrian Railroad was purchased by artist turned entrepreneur, Gilded Metal, that the idea of designing more ornamental train cars to attract passengers was incorporated. Modern train designs owe their style to Gilded Metal and her artistic vision.
When she was younger, Aurora had read a book about Equestrian inventions in school. This particular paragraph from that book hung in her mind, as she stared at the twisted mess of metal before her. What had once been another example of Gilded Metal’s marvelously aesthetic train designs now lay before them derailed and useless.
The “them” in question were Aurora Wish, her seven year old daughter radiant hope, Aurora’s friend from before the infection Poinsettia, and their mute zebra travel companion Zigbar. The four of them had left the safety of the forest a few days ago, and had been traveling north in search of the supposedly last safe pony town in Equestria, Mercy. Now they were crouching a distance away from the train, trying to decide their next move.
“The train looks deserted. We should check it for supplies.” Poinsettia said.
Aurora turned away from the train and said to her friend, “I don’t know Setti… What makes you think there’s anything worth taking anyway?”
“See those cars there?” Setti pointed to two cars still on the rails, “They’re dinning cars. At the very least we may find some stores of food.”
Setti had a point. Their supplies could defiantly use replenishing, and prepared bread and canned daisies sounds much more appetizing than trail grass. Still, Aurora couldn’t forget that only a few days ago how they had run into a turned in the forest. Something like that could only be worse in closed quarters.
“What if it’s not deserted, Setti? How do we handle that?” Aurora asked with more anxiety in her voice than she anticipated.
Setti heard it and gave her a reassuring smile, “We stay together, and we handle it.”
Aurora took a last glance at the train, before nodding her agreement. Setti gave aurora a quick hug before going to pack up their camp. Zigbar followed to help with the task, leaving Aurora and Hope sitting alone in silence.
Aurora felt she had reason to be a little unnerved. In the days since she and Setti had been separated from their previous travel group things have been hardly going well. Setti had become something of the leader, leading the group in search of some myth that Aurora wasn’t even sure she believed in. Had they not met Zigbar, with his skills in medicine, they would probably have never even made it through that forest. Everyone was useful in the group, even Hope made sure she was pulling her own weight, but Aurora didn’t have much in the way of useful skills. Her cutie mark, of a silver clock and calendar, showed her skills as a timekeeper, a useful skill before the turning, when there were clocks to synchronize and dates to record, but what good was that now? Could she really protect herself and Hope if something terrible were to happen?
She looked over to Hope, and Hope looked back with a smile. It was a very powerful smile, the way it was full of trust and belief. Hope truly believed that Aurora could do anything. It made Aurora smile back, because in that moment she knew she could too.
In a couple hours they began moving towards the train. The two dinning cars sat at the end of the train, which had remained on the track and relatively undamaged. The front of the train was twisted off the track and bent so that the engine was perpendicular to the dinning cars, creating a twisted “L” shape. The current state of the train didn’t affect Hope’s wonder at the sight of it, this being the first train she had ever seen.
“M-Mommy, have y-you ever ridden a t-train?” Hope asked.
“Yes, a few times. Your grandma lived in another town far away, so I took the train when I visited her.”
“Does she st-still live there?”
“… I don’t know Hope.”
Hope’s face fell at this.
“I-I’m sorry M-Mommy.” She said, her previous enthusiasm gone.
“It’s okay Hope,” Aurora comforted, “you know she would have loved to see you. She was very happy when I told her she was gonna have a granddaughter.”
Hope and Aurora shared a smile, and moved to catch up with the other two. Setti glanced over when Aurora came up next to her, before returning her attention to the dinning cars ahead.
“Alright everypony,” Setti said, “Let’s start with this car here. We should be looking for-“
Zigbar interrupted her with a frantic wave at the sky. The others looked up to where he was pointing, and saw what they at first thought to be a wisp of smoke, but its movements were too erratic and fast. With a sickening feeling Aurora realized what it was, just in time to hear Setti yell.
“Everypony run! Hide in the cars!”
Aurora grabbed Hope’s hoof and galloped for the train cars. She could tell that the things were getting closer from the sound of their beating wings becoming louder and louder. Aurora made it to the second car, and guided Hope inside. Before closing the door, she saw Setti and Zigbar dart into the other car. Once the door was shut Aurora and Hope both huddled together under one of the tables.
The sounds of large bodies slamming into metal were audible as the swarm of turned Pegasi barreled through the area. From their hiding spot, Aurora could see silhouettes as the creature flew pass the window. Hope whimpered and Aurora pulled her in close to her, hoping to block out this terrible moment.
They lingered for a moment or two. Aurora could hear them stamping about outside. Finally, the sound of flapping wings fading away, told Aurora that the hoard had gone. Mother and Daughter slowly crept from under the table and looked through the window. The view outside was empty, deserted, and safe. Aurora smiled down to Hope, but the filly had turned her head to the other end of the car, and was starring with fearful eyes.
Aurora saw it now. Its form was that of an emaciated earth pony, its coat a dull green, offset by a pale blue mane. The worst part was its eyes. Sunken dark pits that seemed to pull Aurora in as they stared at each other.
Aurora glanced down, looking for some way to defend them, but taking her eyes off the turned seemed to bring it to life. It began walking towards them, releasing from its mouth a sickening gurgle. Hope screamed and ran for the door, as Aurora picked up a nearby plate from the table and flung it with her magic. Bouncing across the creature’s shoulder, the plate did little to slow its advance. Form behind, Aurora could hear Hope shouting and beating at the door. It was jammed.
Aurora cursed to herself looking for something else to use. She had to stop this thing now. She had promised to protect her daughter no matter what. She was just about to fling herself at the looming peril when she saw something glimmer from under the adjacent table. It was a silver walking stick, probably left by some previous passenger.
Aurora grabbed the cane with her magic, and slammed it into the turned pony’s face. The creature fell back, but Aurora advanced. Tears burned her eyes as she continued assaulting the monster. She didn’t stop until the turned stopping moving. She then threw down the cane sobbing. It was the first time she had ever killed anything. Hope came forward and held her mother in her tiny hooves. They stayed like this until Poinsettia and Zigbar managed to open the door from the outside.
“M-Mommy?” Hope said after a while.
She and Aurora had been sitting by the caboose of the train in silence. After what had happened, everyone agreed that Setti and Zigbar would continue scavenging, while Aurora and Hope sat and rested.
Aurora replied to Hope’s previous question, “Yes Hope?”
“Are w-we gonna be ok?” Hope asked.
Aurora thought about this. The obvious answer was “Of course Hope,” but Aurora wasn’t sure whether or not she believed that. She thought about what had happened in the dinning car, and what had happened in the forest. She thought about her own questions earlier this morning. Then she thought about the smile Hope had given her, and what it meant. She thought about how she felt facing the turned pony. The sickening fear, but also the determination to survive not just for her sake, but for her daughter’s as well. That was when she knew how to answer.
“Yes Hope, We’ll be ok.” Aurora said.
“How d-do you know?” Hope countered
Aurora replied without hesitation, “Because I won’t let us be anything but ok. Ok?
Hope smiled up at her mother with admiration, “Ok Mommy.”
A cleared throat brought mother and daughter back to reality. Setti stood behind them, a smile on her face. In one hoof she was holding a folded up piece of paper.
“I think you should see this.” She said to Aurora.
The paper unfolded revealing itself as a map of the Equestrian Railroad routes. Certain towns were marked with large red Xs, but one town was instead circled. A town called Ponyville.
“Zigbar found it in the engine room,” Setti explained, “It looks like the train was headed there.”
“How far is it?” Aurora asked.
“Not far, if we follow the tracks we should run right into it.” Setti explained
Aurora thought about whet this could mean. The X’d out towns were obviously ones that had been overrun by turned, she knew because her home town was among them.. Could that mean that Ponyville was safe? Could it be the fabled Mercy that Setti was pushing them towards? Aurora had heard about the Elements of Harmony who protected the town. Surely they could have stopped to monsters from invading. But then Canterlot had the Princesses, and it still fell. Still Aurora wanted to be optimistic about this. It was worth looking into.
“Ok, let’s start that way tomorrow.” Aurora said.
Setti agreed, and they all went to help set up the camp with Zigbar. Without any discussion, it was decided among the group that no one really cared to stay in the train after what had happened.