Okay, I’ve got it on speaker. Show me a sign so I can mute the mic before you talk. Assuming anyone even answers. Maybe you were right, Moriah. Maybe it’s just a detonator. Let’s find out.
Hello survivor.
Survivors, plural. There are several of us here.
It is a pleasure to be speaking with you, survivors. I am Dr. Edmond Clark, to whom am I speaking?
Why don’t you call me ‘Lonely Day’ for now. After what you did to my home, I don’t exactly trust you. What is the HPI?
The Human Preservation Initiative. I deeply regret the accidental damage we caused to your home. My people expected to be able to use your shielding when they arrived, but they didn’t find it. Evidently you’ve mastered the energy-efficient portable shielding device. If we had been given access to technology like that, many more lives might’ve been spared.
Alright, he’s muted. What do I say to that?
What is he talking about?
Shut up, he’s still talking.
We couldn’t stay to pick up after ourselves. Whatever you’re doing to stay alive out there, it must be working well. That base was hotter than any other site we’ve visited.
We’re on— That’s just California; it’s always been hot enough in summer to fry eggs on the sidewalk.
Haha. Very funny ‘Lonely Day.’ We’re grateful you contacted us. The HPI does not particularly care how your group managed to survive. We thought we were the only ones, not nearly enough. But if you made it, maybe others did too.
I hope so very much. We want humanity to have a future.
Do you know what caused this?
We may know more about it than you do. We might be willing to share that information in exchange for some sharing from you.
We don’t know very much. We’ve just been trying to survive the collapse of society. Rebuild, adapt.
That’s exactly what we’re interested in learning. What shielding mechanism are you using? We couldn’t find radiation anywhere near your base to suggest portable nuclear… why in God’s name did you chose to live somewhere so hot? Almost all of the city is less active than that.
We’re muted. Does anyone have any idea what he’s talking about? No? Fine. Stay quiet— We don’t have a shielding mechanism. We use fences to keep the animals out. We’ve been thinking about putting up electric fences, but we need the power for other stuff. There isn’t really anywhere with better weather in the whole city. We plan on leaving one day, but not yet. There are still enough supplies to keep our group alive for months to come.
Obviously you must have some shielding mechanism, or you wouldn’t still be here. Lots of government bunkers were stuffed full, but not even lead and dirt was enough to keep them around; they’re all empty now. We looked.
Could we have one without realizing it?
Okay, muted.
Are they going to say anything?
We can’t assume there’s more than one of them, can we?
That’s not the point, Moriah.
Isn’t it? I think it’s exactly the point. Whether this is a massive organization or just one person working on their own. We would fight them completely different ways.
Nopony said anything about fighting them.
Do you have to use stupid words like that, ‘Cloudy Skies’? That’s not a real word.
Shut up Moriah.
He’s right, you don’t have to be mean about it.
It may be possible. Telemetry just came back from the communicator’s location. You’re in a park about five miles from your central location, yes?
Shit, he knows.
I’m unmuting us— Yes, why?
[pause] Look at the screen!
Oh my god.
I didn’t know satellite cameras could get that close. Pretty neat. Let’s see… yeah, it can see me waving.
Hello satellite camera!
Shut that damn thing off! We’ve got to get away from here.
I didn’t mute it this time, guys.
Please explain the purpose of this ruse. Even the energy for this call is precious; we cannot waste it. If you won’t deal seriously with us, we will continue our search for survivors elsewhere.
No! Damnit, we’re being serious! Shut up, everyone! Good. There’s no ruse, Dr. Clark. I don’t even know what you think we’re lying about. If you can see us, you should know that.
We don’t know how you are redirecting the signal, or what you have done to alter the behavior of those animals. It doesn’t particularly matter. What matters is your low-energy shielding technology. We have resources to offer in exchange. My technicians tell me that little base of yours is running on about 30 peak kilowatts. We could have a portable thorium reactor rated to a megawatt on your doorstep in four hours in exchange for technical drawings and a single functioning unit of whatever portable shield you’re using.
Please, there are too goddamn few of us left to fight. We’ve been searching for months, examined every facility worldwide even remotely capable of installing a shield, and only found empty rooms. We’ve scoured cities and towns and wilderness areas and found only animals. We already don’t have nearly enough for a viable population; we’re going to need every individual in your group. THERE ARE NO OTHERS!
My people are the only chance of turning this thing around, but we might not be able to do it without help. Technology like yours could change everything. Who knows; maybe my boys could figure out a way to scale up what you’re using. Decontaminate a whole city. We won’t know if you don’t help us.
Muted. Okay guys, please, someone have any idea what he’s talking about. Joseph?
I don’t, Alex. I’ve been listening, but he doesn’t make sense.
Moriah?
Got nothing.
Anyone?
He seems to believe that the surface is unsafe somehow. Obviously that’s not true; the animals all seem to be doing fine. My geiger log has only shown an increase of about a quarter from what it was before the Event. Honestly, with all the waste ponds going, I would’ve expected more.
I’m more worried that he called us animals…
Dr. Clark, we don’t know what we would be shielding from, and we don’t have any unusual technology to do it. I don’t know if it’s been the same for you, but all of us have been… for lack of a better word… transformed into… whatever we are now. Horses, ponies, it doesn’t matter. We’ve been doing our best to survive in spite of that.
If you’re still watching, we can prove it. Joseph, take the spare gas tank off the back of Moriah’s jeep. Good… that dirt, right there. Write the word “clark” if you can. Yeah, magic’s fine… Just don’t use too much. Now light it.
You see that, Dr. Clark? Would you like these ‘animals’ to do anything else we couldn’t possibly have been trained to do? Like, get in this jeep we converted to drive handless and drive somewhere in the city? We could. Moriah’s actually pretty eager to drive around more.
Mute.
Why do you think he would say that? Is he leading us on?
I don’t think so. There wouldn’t be a point.
Keep that communicator with you. We may be in touch.
It says the call’s ended. Picture is gone too.
He might still be listening. The mute button might not have done anything either. He could be spying on us.
I don’t think it matters if he does. We don’t have anything to hide. And he can already watch us from the sky, so…
That doesn’t make it right! He’s already done so much to violate our privacy, our peace of mind, our safety!
Hey Joe, could you grab the extinguisher? Looks like the wind is picking up. Thanks. I hope he’s watching this. Pony firemen!
Firestallion. Firemare sounds better, but you’re not a mare. O-Obviously.
Not this again. What hit you on the head and forced you to mutate perfectly good words? Joseph is a fireMAN. He’s not a horse, and we don’t have to call him a stallion.
Actually, he is a stallion. If you want to get technical about it. So am I. You’re a mare, and so’s Cloudy Skies. We walk on four hooves and eat grass. What else would we be?
End transcript
Dear Journal,
I cut the recording right there. They just kept arguing, so there didn’t seem much point to letting it keep going, really. Dr. Edmond Clark didn’t say anything else. Maybe he was listening through the phone, maybe he was watching from the sky. We don’t know, and honestly I don’t care if he was. If he was listening and watching, maybe seeing so much clearly human behavior would convince him of what we are.
I don’t understand how it’s possible for him not to know. Right now I consider the most likely option that he’s lying to us (for some reason), maybe reading from a script trying to make us adopt some false assumptions like “there are humans somewhere because they thought ponies were animals.”
The more I thought about it though, the more his first question would fit with apparently still being human. Asking us over and over about our “shielding.” Could becoming a pony be some kind of radiation? A nanoparticle swarm? A field? Maybe this “Dr. Clark” thinks we have the secret to avoiding it and staying human.
If that’s true, he’s sorely wrong. We don’t have jack here; ponies all. I’m sure all of us (besides Sky) would have killed for a machine like that.
We now have many more questions than answers.
During the call, I learned something else I hadn’t known: Moriah is having migraines. Apparently the pain is centered a few inches below her horn, at the root of whatever bone is responsible for the unicorn horn. It’s a little beyond me, but Oliver gave her a “prescription” and it seems to be helping. There’s some medical stuff about water solubility and the size of a pony’s liver and some things he read in a vet’s guide to treating horses. I guess he was always planning on helping a group of survivors, even if he didn’t realize it consciously.
So what are our plans now? We talked about it a great deal. One surfaces before all others: we need a better location. Somewhere seismically stable, somewhere with a reachable water table, somewhere with soil for growing cereal grains. Safe from floods, safe from storms and tropical diseases. In other words, with a whole country (or world) to live in, where would you go?
Relocating, when we’re finally ready, would mean maybe we could get away from the watchful eyes of the HPI, if we wanted to. This city has enough to feed us for years, perhaps decades. Once all the cans go bad and the emergency rations are gone though, we (and our children) would all starve. Not to mention we’d have a miserable time living on all that dried stuff.
We planned on a year before we started. We might accelerate that process, though by how much remains to be seen. That will depend on the HPI. If they prove ambivalent, or even friendly, maybe we won’t need to do that. Snow will probably be a concern in any location we choose, so we’ll want to go before the roads get icy.
That means November, early December at the latest. At that point, we might not be able to drive until April. At least there won’t be salt on the roads eating away at steel and rotting everything. Little blessings, right?
Everybody’s really shaken up about what happened. Sky went out to see the cows and hasn’t come back. Joseph is swearing at his copy of Skyrim as though he thought his horn would let him Shout as well as levitate. Oliver — I didn’t even see him leave, but he’s not around anymore. Just me in here, de-stressing with this journal. I drew him from memory, cuz' I was thinking about him:
I wonder how many other ponies are keeping journals, right now. How many of them were transformed worse than me (a damn few I bet). At least I’ve got Huan. For the first time, he came inside with me. I’m not sure what changed his mind. Maybe he can feel how upset I am or something. I remember hearing dogs were pretty perceptive about human emotions. Guess I’m… not really human though, am I?
I think I’m gonna go fix something. I guess it doesn’t really matter what. It’s good to fix stuff.
—A
Here's hoping they haven't run into the equivalent of the Enclave.
So... magic? That's all I got. Though I'd prefer it not to be the "magic kills humans" thing.
I suggest they head for states with high agriculture bases, lot's of prepped fields to work with (and maybe a few ripening, or maybe over ripening crops to work with). Maybe they could head for Montana, most of the state is undeveloped and most of the developed land has been done so on an agrarian model. Of course I might be a little biased since I'm from Big Sky Country and love out there.
i.imgur.com/pGBrKNs.gif
A's name is Alex then. And we came close to confirmation that he's a stallion or mare, but Oliver talked about everyone else.
Just a theory but perhaps what felt so wrong about those vehicles was the radiation itself as it cancels or blocks magic.
That might co-operation between the humans and the group a little problematic.
Yes! Final, conclusive, incontrovertible evidence that our hero is a mare not a stallion.
6120951 It's clearly the SCP.
Some of the artifacts require containment that happened to keep out the magic.
http://www.scp-wiki.net/random:random-scp
Okay, now this is getting interesting. The HPI are claiming to be untransformed humans. Given their complete shock and initial failure to correctly identify the ponies as the people with whom they were speaking, I'm inclined to believe them. That means whatever happened on Earth, their bunker was shielded from it. I'm assuming that, if they ever came out, they'd transform or vanish.
It is also clear that there is some kind of external cause for the disappearance. The HPI's instruments are detecting a radiation - probably magic. I'm saying it's likely magic because of the fact that the ponies' home is the 'hottest' part of Los Angeles. Given that they have been using their abilities extensively, it is logical to expect that there would be 'fallout' created by their magic in their immediate environment.
So, what is the ultimate cause? I'm thinking some idiot playing with some scientific doodad in pursuit of a theory that they didn't really understand that utilised physical forces that they also didn't really understand at all. The consequence was a global transformation. I'm just interested in where everyone else who wasn't transformed went. Did they or the ponies shift 'sideways' into an abandoned Earth or something?
That said, this could be some new information for the good Doctor. Maybe he'll be able to call back with some solid theory. The ponies are, after all, now the HPI's best agents at large - far more effective and flexible than any robot.
I was close!! My guess of Humanities Preservation Institute was very similar to Human Preservation Initiative, heck, I even got the 2nd word!
Alex. A nice, gender-neutral name, the one that I'd figured on long ago in fact.
I briefly misconstrued Oliver's line at the end as calling Alex a mare, but I looked at the colors again and realized he meant Moriah. Oh well. Between the name and the frequently caustic attitude, I am now imagining Alex with the voice of Laura Prepon (Alex Vause from Orange is the New Black). At least until we get a gender confirmation.
*hoofpump*
Yes, called it for once! Radiation blocks magic and that's why the HPI is collecting the stuff. And the HPI had no idea the survivors were transformed into ponies.
Oh this is such a sweet setup dear Starscribe.
Somebody probably had the dumbest look possible on their face since the Event happened and seems trapped in a kind of horror setup... only that the zombie virus is replaced by some kind of detectable radiation that either vanishes humans or turns them into ponies.
Wonder if he is trying to remember seeing ponies elsewhere. Heh... and driving them off with the painful presence of HPI vehicles. Here's to the HPI hopefully not deciding to exterminate that 'hotspot' in LA.
They'll probably want to study one of those ponies close up, see how that transformation came about. Still think Moriah's opinion is rather important, given her extremely strong reaction. That's got to come from something.
Oh... and as far as a mouthdrawn picture of a pony stallion can be sexy... Lonely Day sure succeeded in making it so. Just saying.
Totally saw that coming! Humans realize magic is in the air and contaminating Earth. They can even detect it! Only the ones shielded by radiation survived. And they most definitely did have a very terrifying moment, far more than I anticipated - the moment someone stepped outside they simply vanished. Holy shit, these guys are living in a horror with a time race - find a way to decontaminate the environment before we run out of power/resources. I can totally see why they were so desperate, to the point of completely trashing A's place. The only bad thing is that I am now far more interested in their fate then I will ever be worried about A or his group.
The primary problem is I do not even think these guys can meet. The moment magic touches a human (Joe better be restrained nearby) it could very well vanish him/her. And judging from the feeling of extreme dread ponies had, who knows if completely magic-less environment won't be toxic to ponies. Some real problems might ensue.
Also yeah, as people noted. "Hot spot" brings a new, interesting piece of information. So this thing has sources and spreads outwardly like a plague (for humans literally). Someone definitely NOT friendly put these up, and I once again have the feeling that ponies from the show are responsible for that. Whether by accident or malicious intent (since you said this is not TCB-like I suppose the latter is pretty much out) the ponies caused this to happen to the planet. Well, no matter what I will be rooting for HPI!
6120146
Not that part of the entry, this one, "no stallions work" this would imply that A, even though she was working, non of the males (one: Joseph) were working.
What in the possible hell does she decide to use the word 'nopony'?
I mean, really? Really?
Firestallion and Firemare I understand since they have changeable ends for male and female in the first place, but why is she changing words that don't relate to human OR pony whatsoever?
There is something majorly suspicious about this now, it isn't simply turning your name to ponylike coincidentally, neither is it adopting pony and horse terms or being naked because of the coat she wears, she is using actual terms from Equestria if she uses 'Nopony' or 'Anypony'.
Also, normal humans exist and for that there is definitely going to be some weird times ahead.
All these in-depth theories and I'm just here like
I like the pictures
I probably sound like a broken record by now, but the HPI just won't stop reminding me of the Enclave and their goal of bringing America back to the way it was before an event through questionably ethical means of killing off anything or anyone that was mutated by said event.
They might be on their offshore base disguised as an oil rig right now, discussing with their scientists about abducting our protagonists to experiment on.
I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING PLEASE LEAVE A ALONE!!!
This Clark sounds like a right douchebag.
6121166
6121377
Yay!
I at least am inclined to believe Clark. I hope they he can believe A
lexabot the whole "being transformed into a pony" thing because otherwise things will end bad ("kill that beast!" or something like that). On the other side, I'm not sure if the HPI can do something with the LA herd right now: if what the HPI is actually measuring magic then the ponies are the biggest sources of it post-Event and the HPI won't want to be close to them.Also, "Moriah is having migraines"... could it be because she can't channel magic properly through her (now amputated) horn? Did she have migranies before the Event?
Until we have conclusive evidence, my only choice is to blame Twilight for exterminating humanity.
6121352
I'm pretty sure the "Hotspot" are the ponies themselves, generating magic. That might mean all the ponies on the planet, and possibly the animals too, would have to die to even begin to clean up the place of magical influence.
Even if that isn't true, it's a conclusion that the remaining humans could reach, no?
The fact they had shielding in the first place probably means it was the humans of HPI that caused whatever happened. How else would they know the shielding helps, or be shielded in the first place? The issue is that they are desperate, and who knows what kind of crazy actions they may take, especially if they conclude ponies are generators of magic. HPI can't really be rooted for in those circumstances.
It's only an assumption that the humans die when exposed to magic. [Speculation] I'm of the belief that they are ponified and pushed into the future, such that there will be a trickle of ponies into the environment from transformed humans long into the future. Assuming the majority of them don't pop out simultaneously sometime further on.
It's obvious A is a stallion. I mean he monologues like a guy, had a pretty average guy job before the event(not saying girls can't be mechanics), the way he talks about the gender ratio suggests he on the stallion side of said ratio, he's called himself a stallion on so many occasions, in the beginning he said that everything "bounced around" when he first started to walk, and even said that he doesn't want to be Sky's boyfriend(even though we all know he's crushing on her) all you that keep saying A, or Alex is a guy are just blatantly ignoring key context clues.
6121377
My name is hooked on sliding and I support this message.
6121526
My hypothesis is that A was a guy who was gender changed into a mare. Keep that in mind when people are saying that 'A' is a mare.
I sense a reference to other "Pony after Human" fics at the end
6121483
While the thought of the aura being simply the result of the group and their animals did occur to me, I would say it is much less plausible. If it was the result of just and only magical beings the event would have never happened because there were never any magical beings on Earth. You also have the problem of animals becoming more and more intelligent no matter whether near ponies or not, which further reinforces ambient magic. And of course those pesky circles on the ground and the suddenness of the entire event - it was not localized, it was global and people disappeared everywhere. I would definitely say something initiated that event and leaked a large amount of magic into our world, causing everything to happen.
When it comes to the shielding - that seems to be simply the name humans gave to a radiation shield. Since now it's pretty much confirmed radiation repulses magic, they simply learned that this is indeed the thing that protects them. Cue them grabbing as much radioactive stuff as possible and mounting it everywhere near to stock on the only thing protecting them from, in their eyes, total extinction. They must have a real problem though doing that and protecting humans from radiation at the same time, it is toxic to us after all.
The more I think about their situation, the more tragic I find it. They certainly seem far more important than a group of random schmucks trying to survive that we have been following, even if these schmucks are excellent and relatable characters. I mean, the ponies are trying to survive in a world without civilization, where they have to build everything from scratch. The humans on the other hand are trying to survive in a world that actively tries to kill them, and are the last true remnants of our race forced to see everything gone. I would say they gather far more sympathy, though I definitely wouldn't want anything bad happening to A and the group either. Maybe with the exception of Moriah
I would say they definitely can be rooted for. While they are desperate (who wouldn't be in their situation?), they are normal people like all others. They probably are digesting the information they received from A and trying to brainstorm the best course of action, without going guns blazing or dissecting everything in sight. Let's just hope they believe the group about transformation, would ease and fasten general exchange of knowledge a lot.
I also find your idea about time travel of sorts caused by magic interesting. While I am not a fan of such concepts in fiction, it would explain why Moriah appeared when she did and with the knowledge she had. Something we will have to see I guess. Wouldn't help much when it comes to humans seeing the entire event though.
6121460 Seconded.
As its already been pointed out by multiple people, its obvious that Magic seems to be some form of Radiation- At least, that's what Edmond Clarke believes. Radiation seems to be able to block it out, and I'm guessing that the reason Clarke and some military survived is some form of Government Nuclear experiment. They were around enough Radiation that it blocked out the effect of Magic.
What really interests me however is the time frame they seem to be in- Clarke speaks about Bunkers being completely empty, and it seems that all of their vehicles are self driving of some sort- Despite the fact that they remained human, this would be a lot of work, as would the search for the shielding that they need to protect them- My questions is how long have they been around? That was months of work- Longer than Alex has been surviving .
It could also explain Cloudy Skies behavior- She was really at home in her pony body when A first met her. How long has she been stuck like this? Alex was recounting their experience and how they wouldn't have been able to endure weeks of lone solitude- Maybe that's why Cloudy seemed so unhinged when A first met her? Another reason why she could fry toast, knows how to do everything in her new body- She's had longer to practice?
Granted, this doesn't take into account that all the animals were only freeing themselves then. But with the fact that Moira appeared weeks after the incident may have taken place could indicate a possible mass reappearing of the animals? Something in the time frame since the event doesn't seem to add up.
Okay, we definitely have a few important revelations. Clark going on about having searched for MONTHS pretty solidly convinces me that the ponies are showing back up scattered in time (possibly even Alex since we only have a month and a half of journal entries), so as time goes by they should be able to pick up ever more additional survivors. One nice side effect of this is the narrative freedom it allows the other stories to add characters without having some sort of travel sequence to bring them in. Not that I am reading too many of them at this point, but ehh.
Also, we have a scattering of human survivors (not likely to increase over time) that managed to survive by means of being inside the right shielding either accidentally or intentionally right at the moment of the Event.
The migraines that Moriah is having make me simultaneously hopeful and fearful for her. Either her horn is regrowing and she'll be fine eventually, or the magic is building up inside of her and she's going to messily explode.
Lastly, either consciously or subconsciously, Alex apparently finds Oliver fine indeed. Shipping intensifies.
"Weird contamination thing is making humans disappear into thin air, but I refuse to believe in magic equines!"
And clearly, this shielding he talks about is some sort of anti-magic field, which Day could feel when he was near the convoy.
Which leads to the question of "Why did someone invent anti-magic shielding?"
6121704 Oh, I bet they're not really in denial by the end of the call, Clark shut up real hard once Joe went out and wrote his name in the dirt in flaming letters.
6121719
Writing someone's name out in flaming letters does tend to have that effect
6121703
While this is plausible, do mind that a month and a half has passed since this story started. After such time it is very possible for someone to use the term "for months" without it being some sort of time skip. Also, I do believe A has been relating everything since pretty much the event itself. He has still seen animals stupid and trapped in cages, or dead shortly after starving.
6121704
Seriously, where do you guys get the idea that this shielding was developed beforehand? Clark specifically says they have looked through bunkers (including government ones!) and nothing was found. The people who remained were simply lucky, happened to be at the right place. Military that guarded nuclear warheads/nuclear experimentation sites. Scientists in those sites. Engineers near nuclear power plants. Anyone else I forgot who worked near radioactive stuff. These people are the only ones who survived, by fluke not some pre-designed shielding.
6121703
Lonely Day has to have been there from the beginning, else the animals worsening situation and power and water cutting out would make no sense, unless the city entire, animals, buildings and all was also transported into the future.
6121750 6121794 Hmn, good points.
HAH!
I was so freaking close to the correct name!
Do I get a pony in the story?
Doesn't Fimfiction have a rule against using colour-coded text to designate who is speaking? Not that it's any of my business, I'm just worried this story might go down due to accidental rule-breaking.
Apart from that, I don't think there's going to be any further hostilities between the ponies and HPI, at least no outright combat in the foreseeable future. Simply because ponies who know nothing about being ponies would stand no chance against trained military personnel.
6121630 I like that theory about why Sky was so used to being a pony and at the same time a few apples short of a bushel. Something weird is going on with time... well, the magic circle contained the hint "see beyond spacetime".
The HPI could well have been searching for months while still having been there in exactly the moment The Event happened; when you mess up the fourth dimension anything along those lines becomes possible, even time loops. After all, Moriah recalls the exact moment it happened. She's going to flare by the way. You read it here first.
Not saying that this is at all the likely thing what happened or will happen or will have happened but we just got a new layer of mystery when some others were solved. Me like. :)
What I want to know is if they have found survivors in each nuclear powerplant or other installation they have visited. Liked Oliver's little comment about the waste ponds. Now... without the HPI to pick the stuff up outside North America, does that mean that Europe is completely uninhabitable now? That would be kind of a bummer (for me).
Apart from that: radioactive stuff is accounted for, courtesy of the HPI. What about the lack of explosions or fire? More mystery. Putting my bits on the circles for that one.
Happy fictional birthday to me! Been waiting for the journal to cross my birth date to say that!
And for my fake birthday, I get the present of being right about the HPI! The void-ness was magic shielding used by humans to keep from vanishing or transforming! I even guessed the name!
Really liking this story so far, needs more Huan though.
I called it on his/her name!
I hope whomever this Clark guy is, they'll reach an understanding because he seems to someone who has some answers for what exactly happened.
I keep seeing people saying that radiation shields from magic, but there isn't any evidence of that. At one point Clark does say that they could give our little group of survivors a thorium reactor, but nothing relating radiation to shielding.
I think that HPI was collecting nuclear stuff earlier to power reactors. Or build weapons. If they have thorium reactors, than they shouldn't need to travel elsewhere to gather material.
Human Preservation Initiative. I hope somebody answers that phone, because I freaking called it.
Theory: Their portion of the city is so "hot" because they've been living there. Ponies are magical creatures, and if magic acts like radiation, it'll eventually build up in an area.
I would like to know how Doctor Clark decided that it's radiation that's making people literally vanish. Nothing can literally destroy a human body instantaneously, especially without some catastrophic release of energy. Sherlock Holmes warned us about twisting facts to fit theories, and assuming there's some sort of material that can shield against this effect just because there's survivors but no nuclear materials in the area is a great way to make a bad decision.
Also: A is totally crushing on Oliver. I'm calling it now.
Also, A confirmed as Alex, totally missed that.
It seems now that the vehicles were remote controlled because the unaffected human(s), feared what they thought were high levels of radiation. Perhaps it was radiation, but of a magical nature caused by the circles. I glibly responded a few chapters ago to posionjoker09 I believe it was, with the idea that the circle was Twilight visiting from the far future to do research on the 'day everything changed', and that she left thinking that no living thing would wander into it before it collapsed. May be some credence to that idea now...
I can't believe there are more than a handfull (hooffull), of humans with Dr.Clark, and still no evidence to suggest that he isn't alone and trying a bluff for safety's sake. Although I feel the scant bits of information he did give had to be genuine.
This suggest that they do have the tech of something akin to a national level, if not the manpower to operate it. It also suggests that they may have seen hundreds of survivors and overlooked them due to their transformed states.
Hmm, well... This got interesting
6120951
There wasn't hallow political retohric :P
6123044 you are right he said animals which means he overlooked all the survivors due to the state of which they changed. If that is the case then what happened to his family? Still human hiding somewhere or something else
So... A's got stallions on the brain oh my
If Alex isnt a mare then the awnser to life the universe and everything isnt 42
And I'd like it to be 42...