Dear Journal,
Holy crap what a day. Out of the freakin’ sky. Who does that pony think she is? Does she have any idea how much damage she could’ve caused? The injury or death of one of the last few survivors could guarantee no colony ever succeeds! Particularly when the success of a colony depends far more on having a large number of females than on males.
Not that it matters, since for all I know we’re all only going to live another decade or so. Even if we start breeding like rabbits (God no), ten years and we’re dead and our children couldn’t possibly have learned enough to preserve much of human culture. A few more short generations later and the huge structures and ruins rusting and crumbling will seem like the monuments of forgotten gods, wrought by no hooves at all.
Well, that last part is still true. No hooves did make any of it. Of course, I’m feeling a little (maybe a lot) like a hypocrite just now. Joe may’ve warned me about that spell, and I might’ve ignored that threat to my own safety (and enabled Sky to do the same). Aren’t we necessary too?
Well, we’ve been here longer.
I feel like when I have more to talk about, writing in order keeps me on task (and stops me rambling on and on about how fun it is to gallop. Just looked back at that, yuck. Was I trying to write a pony infomercial?) So, I think I’ll try to boil everything down so I stop wasting ink.
I could probably switch to mouth-writing if I really wanted to, but I see no reason since I’ve gotten so good at dictating everything. There’s a pattern to speaking that makes it work right, not to mention that the program trains on your voice. The day I first changed I had to go back and change all kinds of things, correct mistakes and such. Now it generally gets things right, even when I say something about our glowicorn and his stupid cheating face. Guess I’ll need to come up for another name for him now.
I was talking about focusing, wasn’t I? So today was supposed to be a day to relax. To spend an afternoon pretending the whole world hasn’t fallen apart and try to cut back on the stress tearing all of us apart. I can tell the others are feeling it, even if they show it differently. A short vacation was the answer.
Everything was going exactly according to plan. Sky had packed us brown-bag lunches (store bread is stale by now, but she can make bread from scratch so it’s no big deal), I packed an RV with everything I thought we might need, and Joseph had done nothing practical to contribute as usual. We planned on an overnight trip, and being back by early afternoon the next day (the longest Cloudy Skies was willing to let the cows and chickens go unattended). Huan came too, because he’s my buddy.
The traffic was the best I’ve ever seen, big surprise there. Made it to my favorite beach (Zuma, one of the lesser known Malibu beaches). Had to use bolt cutters on the gate, but then we just parked the RV less than two hundred feet from the surf. Beautiful.
Turns out my surfing ability has suffered tremendously for this transformation. Nah, I didn’t bother bringing a board. No point even trying. I don’t think even Joe and his cheating could’ve made that possible (and he was scared of the water anyway, so whatever). No, jellyfish aren’t that common. No, there was no reason not to have fun. Yeah, he found a way. We had fun. Swam, ran for what felt like miles over the sand (the key is to focus on the wet part, but not too wet. The area past the waves but before it starts to dry is the most stable for hooves).
Fires aren’t legal on this beach. When it started getting dark we had a bonfire like something out of Backdraft. Four cords of wood, tepee style and Girl Scout water. Like all “stallions” who haven’t had fun with fire, Joseph wanted to play with it, so I let him start it. Good thing too, since there was this fireball when he brought the lighter over there, and a huge plume of black smoke. Probably would’ve got some serious flash burns from that much gasoline otherwise. His levitation magic is apparently not susceptible to burns.
Got a grill going too, though that was terribly lackluster. Veggie kabobs could’ve been okay if we hadn’t got the veggie out of cans and dehydrated packets. It’s just not the same. Coke still tastes the same though. Vanilla, since it was a special occasion. Always saved the vanilla for special occasions. Apparently Joe loves tacos, and he’d found a taco MRE somewhere (first mistake). No, that flavor is not vegetarian. He ate it anyway. Or he tried, I should say. He couldn’t get it down. Man did he try though. Should’ve seen the look on his face, trying to put on a brave face for us about how strong he was and how he wasn’t going to let the transformation take his favorite food away. That unicorn won some points in my book for his efforts today.
It wasn’t long after sunset, when the sky is still purple and blue and you can see without too much trouble. All of us have been getting better about having more human schedules, or at least not having to fight as hard to stay up in the dark. Sky usually doesn’t bother, but I think being around me fighting the schedule has worn on her a little. Joseph, of course, had conquered it even before we met him, so no fairness there either. Maybe the horn goes back far enough into his brain that some of the magic shoots back that way by mistake whenever he floats something around.
As fun as all this was, the day might not have been that significant if that had been all we did. Obviously if I’m writing this it means that wasn’t everything. You’re right, it wasn’t.
We were thinking about turning in for the night when we heard it: an engine. Pony hearing is pretty good, and we could all tell it was coming from above (it would have to be, since there are these cliffs just behind the beach that would block it off from the sound of the county beyond). It wasn’t terribly loud, obviously it wasn’t a jet engine or anything. Looked up in what was left of the light, and we could see it coming towards us along the beach, flying very very low.
It was an airplane, a two-seater prop plane flying slower than most cars drive, getting lower and lower along the sand. The landing gears were not extended. My first thought was to scream and panic, there was a plane coming right at us! Sky and Joe did just that, but I took a deep breath and rose to my hooves calmly instead.
Actually, the plane didn’t come right at us. It was too close to the water, right at the boundary where it’s easiest to gallop. It was maybe thirty feet up, coming down in a very gradual arc. I couldn’t see the pilot very clearly, even with as slow as she was moving.
Everything happened in just a few seconds. Plane touched down about thirty feet from our campfire, sliding along the belly. The ground shook when it touched down, and I almost fell over. Water and sand went spraying everywhere, splashing us even with as far away as we were. Blasted past us, listing to one side. Fiberglass on one wing shattered and the thing wobbled, almost flipped into a spin. Nose was too high off the ground, or else the prop digging into the sand probably would’ve torn it to pieces right there.
I felt it more than I saw it. Joseph dug his hooves into the ground, and there was this pink glow from beside me, almost as bright as the campfire. I saw it on the plane too, not exactly coordinated, just a pressure forcing it down along the top, stabilizing it for just a split second. It didn’t roll, but rapidly lost momentum as its belly slid along the ground. Needless to say, I don’t think it’s ever going to fly again.
The engine sputtered and finally died, and then the whole thing started to smoke. I’m not sure what happened to Sky, but Joseph and I ran right over as fast as we can. Should’ve seen that unicorn go: ripped the door of the plane clean off. Wasn’t far off the ground anymore, so I shielded my face as best I could and ran right in.
There was a pony inside. I didn’t get a good look at her then, just wrapped a hoof around her and tugged her free of the restraints. She’d been buckled in, and there were clothes on the floor of the cockpit (though she wasn’t wearing any). Once I got her clear Joseph helped me haul her away. Good thing too, because that little plane turned into a fireball about a minute later. We were far enough away that none of the shrapnel got us, though the explosion sent my ears to ringing. I have to wonder if Joe’s magic didn’t protect us somehow. Like I said, that pony earned mad props today. I take back every bad thing I ever said about him.
Maybe not take back. He’s still lazy. He’s just not a coward.
Sky had calmed down when we got to the RV. She’d cleared a space for us, turned on all the lights, so we could lay out the pony. She wasn’t in good shape: there were numerous lacerations, some of them deep and bleeding badly. I almost retched when I realized how bloody I was.
We had medical supplies this time, and Sky had a trauma kit ready. Sky isn’t a real doctor, but there’s a chemical coagulate that’s fairly easy to use. We laid out the pony in the shower, and cleaned her up as best we could, they dried her and sprayed the cuts. A few were definitely deep enough to need stitches, but the worst by far was on her head.
The pony had been a unicorn. I said had, because some terrible impact had shattered her horn. Looking at it was worse than any of the cuts, and coagulate would do nothing for a wound like that. Sky didn’t have the stomach (and we didn’t have the gear) to treat the pony on the beach. I sped us home as fast I could, riding on caffeine and adrenaline to stay up. She was still bleeding a little when we made it home.
Thank merciful god that pony wasn’t conscious. Joseph took care of stitching her up (using Sky’s instructions), and I performed the first ever partial horn amputation. Got it down to about two inches… there was no saving the rest. Had to cauterize it. Stopped bleeding after that.
It’s later than I’ve ever stayed up. It’ll probably be morning soon. I thought talking about this would make me feel better. The shower did… God, the water was so red. It feels wrong for such a great vacation to end like this. We were having fun! Bonding! All the stuff friends do.
On the other hand, this pony wouldn’t have stood a chance if we hadn’t been there (was it the smoke from our huge fire that showed her where to land? Was she even conscious for any of it? I can’t imagine touching down that well just by chance). We have her in the third bedroom, and someone is going to watch her round-the-clock. I’ll take my turn in another hour or so, when Sky’s done. She’s breathing, believe it or not. Guess all those things I thought about Joseph's body being light and weak might’ve been premature. Sky says there’s no guarantee she’ll ever wake up. We don’t think anything’s broken, but there might be internal damage. She lost a lot of blood, and we have no idea what kind of stress losing most of a horn might be for a unicorn.
Joseph had planned on doing the amputation too, since I’d been so squeamish around the blood. He started retching and I had to step in anyway. I found him later clutching at his horn with both hooves and shaking like a leaf. Brought him some hot chocolate and a little something more to take the edge off, and he’s sleeping now. He can do third shift.
…
She still hasn’t woken up. It’s my shift now. She’s in bed, and she’s breathing, and she’s safe. We’ll see about helping her take food tomorrow. I think I’ll try to draw her healthy. A little scotch couldn’t help me feel better, so maybe art will. Couldn't fit the mark in on the drawing, so I put it next to her so you can see.
—A
I really, really hope this is a continuity where alicorn grow back. Poor girl.
Huh.
Horns bleed?
Poor Joseph. I actually like the sound of a taco MRE....
6084534 trust me on this, the taco mre would have left him retching regardless of if he were human
Gah!
This is awful enough (or maybe I'm pony enough, whatever) to make me feel slightly sick. Poor girl... there's a pony who is never going to fly again despite her cutiemark. Wonder what her name is.
Wonder what a living nightmare she's going to wake up to.
And... wow Joe. He probably didn't even know himself he had it in him - just needed another person in mortal danger and the means to do something about it. And he's probably also traumatized now, poor guy.
You keep them all so perfectly in what you have established as their characters even under such a dramatic and out of the blue event. Well done!
The horn removing part reminds me of C- nevermind
Considering this experience, they could put a big bonfire on top of a building near their base as a huge signal, at least during the day. Black smoke by day, spotlight by night, it's foolproof.
And poor unicorn. I wonder if aircraft in nearby airports are still useable. She'll probably want to have a go at those at some point just to stay sane.
How does A know that the butt marks are called cutie marks? Some effect of the runes?
6084612
Actually, that was an error. A should not know what that is. Good catch. I'm too used to writing pony words I guess.
Well, we have a rough time now. This story can't take place before 2013 - Beef Taco wasn't on the menu prior. (I can't find a list of 2015 menus, but I can't imagine they'd take Beef Taco out of rotation after just two years.)
6084553
Yeahhhhhh, some MREs are pretty goddamn rough. I've never had the dubious pleasure of eating one, but I have had some bad ones. Thankfully, never the omelette.
Also....Jesus. Traumatic amputation of the horn? *shakes head* She's going to be in an entirely new dimension of hell when she wakes up...
6084633 Still not a screwed as the seapony.
6084648 Which seapony is this? Did I completely miss something from earlier (I might have)?
6084657 http://www.fimfiction.net/story/269968/seattle-seapony
http://www.fimfiction.net/group/207757/folder/42493/1/side-stories
This group was inspired by this story.
6084679 Oooooh. Very interesting. I'll have to give that group a look later.
Huh. I wonder if horns regenerate? I'm more worried about how the injuries were caused. Was she attacked by something or was she in flight when the change occurred and she had a bit of a hard panic-induced 'landing' or two?
6084753 Would that mean the change wasn't simultaneous for everyone then? Remember, this is over a week after the event, so either the effect is spreading out like a wave, which is unlikely since no-one on the internet, the effect has a height-limit for the trigger, which is still absurd because that means that the plane must have been above that limit for way longer than the fuel tank would allow, or she was using the plane with magic, used the clothes as sort of a carpet for keeping decently warm and turbulence knocked her head into something in the plane hard enough to knock her out and cause the crash, which likely busted the horn.
Now I'm REALLY curious as to why joe doesn't have his mark yet...
Just something to ponder I suppose.
Eh-...what's with the plane drop enterance?
Also,how the heck-
HOW...
WHA-....
WU-.....
WAT-...
WAT....
6084875 I'm pretty sure Joe does have his mark, he just hides it under pants most of the time. A laptop with a heart on the monitor if I remember correctly.
I do hope the new pony pulls through. I also am very curious as to what her story is.
6084534
I imagine they have some kind of magic-conducting marrow. Also, probably connected right into the brain. Ouch.
6084534 MREs? Yech! I hate those things. Still have to eat em though. Fucken Canadian Army Reserves
Yikes. That could've gone better. There's definitely a story with this mare. I just hope she lives long enough to give it.
Also, apparently these horns are full of blood vessels. Hopefully whatever organs that are in there can regenerate over time.
We got ourselves a new horse
But poor mare
No pony diserves horn amputation
6084926
Sorry that was a mistake on my part
I meant A not joe
6084648
What that mare needs is morphine. Otherwise it'll hurt worse than a broken arm, which has major sunburn, and was just given a bath in salt water and dried off with sandpaper.
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YAAAAAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!!!!!! new character.
Also, how the buck did she manage to fly that plane as a pony????
Urg... that's messy.
And I thought you were keeping to the three dynamic! You... you!
Well... we have a useless member of the team now.
Not to say that she could be ENTIRELY useless, only in the way that she is severely going to be a liability due to her state, for a long time she has to recover, and even afterwards there is a certain problem with being a unicorn, without a horn.
She is a lot weaker, and I doubt she can put her talent to much use without a plane.
Or fingers, or magic.
Other than some light weight carrying, the only thing she has going for her is breaking up that awkward love triangle.
... And also adding something to the genetic diversity...
YOU WERE ALL THINKING IT!
Horn amputation? {Shudder}.
With some of it remaining, she may still be able to use magic, just not as well or as much. But hopefully she wont try until she is better.
I'm looking forward to her story on how she ended up there. I suppose magically flying a plane isn't as difficult as when 'A' managed to drive a truck, but it's still an impressive feat for one lone unicorn.
I wonder if this story would be one of those stories who accepts new OCs for/or back ups as new characters....
Screwy.
Well, I kind of wish you developed more with the characters you've already given us, but introducing a new is fine too. I don't care much about the flashy entrance she gave the others, I just feel bad for A. It seems like their hope and mood is constantly getting sat on every time something is looking up for them. They look through the spell to Equestria. They gets blown up. They takes a break to the beach with his crew. Airplane crash and they have to do the horn amputation. I guess there 'ain no rest for the wicked, especially if you're surviving in post-apocalyptic conditions, but cheese and crackers is this story a bit depressing sometimes.
Then again, I think I should have had a better idea of what I was getting in to when I read the story title and description...
Leon's jealous of Glowicorn's magical abilities.
Keep on keeping on!
Oh sweet celestia
I hope the new girl is gonna be okay.
Good job Joe! Looks like he ended up being perfectly useful in the heat of a crisis. So much for my earlier lack of faith in the poor guy.
I do really hope that shattered horn will grow back.
6086867
Well, if unicorn horns are anything like horns on real creatures, it should grow back fine so long as the core isn't damaged, and it would occur relatively fast. Rhino horns can regrow to their full size in about 3 years, and those are much larger horns than unicorn horns would be. So if it does grow back... it'd be a year, year and half or so before her horn was fully regrown? As for use... well that depends on your headcanon, really. I've seen anywhere from reduced ability while broken but full recovery to never getting magic back. Of course... the mention of blood during the amputation probably indicates that either A) unicorn horns work differently, or B) the core of the horn WAS damaged, meaning if it does grow back, it will be malformed.
Fun fact: horns are primarily made out of keratin, the same stuff human hair and nails are made of!
I should probably also mention that there are two primary types of horns. Ones that are JUST keratin, like the kind rhinos have, and ones that are actually a covering of keratin surrounding bone, which most other mammals have.
Been thinking about the whole horn thing as well.
Unicorn horns can't be like Rhino horns because that kind of keratin-only horns (no blood vessels at all) is a bovidae thing. Sky's Cows have those (not that I wouldn't approve of the comedy potential of Joe and the now sapient Cows sharing some family history...)
Antlers of the cervidae come a bit closer. They are made of bone and contain a lot of blood vessels while still in growth. Problem is that these 'horns' fall off after mating season and will only grow back next year. They'll keep doing that as long as the 'pedicle' isn't damaged (two small stubs on the forehead that form the base and are permanent).
Now that would make unicorn magic highly seasonal and make for a very interesting mating season... (no I'm -not- going there!)
Also, females don't have antlers, except for caribou.
Now, none of the equidae have horns (or wings, for that matter). I personally like both the pure bone and the living organ explanation since both have a lot going for them. The problem with the science of the physiology of multicoloured microhorses is that there is a distinct lack of specimens to cut open. Didn't A remark on that once?
6080663
Got a picture for my comments.
pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/2959940911/1e275f5bc481b5355bb0bc7dd022273b_400x400.jpeg
Huan's back! And he's okay!
i.imgur.com/cmLZK6C.png
6087210
So, like a lot of chameleons? This is how I've thought it would likely work for a good while. Of course one thing that could poke a hole in all these thoughts of equating unicorn horns to real-life horns is the... well the lack of a point of transition or even a change in colors, which I would expect at LEAST a subtle variation in color. Admittedly that could just be a stylistic choice, an inverse similarity to how most of the fandom interprets changeling eyes as being pure blue despite the fact that they have white pupils and a gradient from white to blue for their iris... but that's getting off topic. Of course that could be easily answered because keratin is what's providing the coat color in the first place and would be the external coating on the horn... of course that part is (while very interesting in my mind) not necessary for the question of whether or not our new friend's horn will grow back and allow her to use magic... if unicorn horns are anything like antlers it won't be a problem, especially since we know there's still at least SOME horn there... otherwise it really just depends on the overall composition of said horn as well as what degree of injury magical ponies can recover from, namely if bones regrowing is something within their capabilities.
6087758
We may never get those answers. If the author feels like pulling a GRR Martin on us, she may just die.
6087510 Nice set of extra info :)
Well... we'll see. Not getting my hopes up though.
6087427
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On the red-eye back to LAX today, just landed. If I don't respond to everything completely, I'm sorry. I love all of you and it's so awesome we all get to enjoy this story together. (dies).
6084500
Yeah, but in an empty city, why bother?
6084534
Taco is not one of my favorite flavors. Beef stew or Teriyaki chicken, both of those are pretty good. Clam chowder and chicken fingers, both deadly. Taco is somewhere in the middle. Vegetarian burrito is absolutely awful. Can't remember most of the others I've had.
6084559
This was one of those moments when I was writing it that came out of nowhere. I didn't plan for it in any of my notes. One of those areas where I discover parts of the story I didn't know were there. Having an injury like this lets the story go to some interesting places. At least, I hope so.
6084875
This has been said already, but yeah. Joe has his cutie mark, it's a laptop with a heart. A disgustingly cute one.
6085083
Woah, you guys eat them up in Canada? Didn't know that. There are few good flavors, though! Just... not many of them.
6086060
If only they had a real doctor.
6086313
Obviously she didn't do very well with the flying, judging on what happened.
6086333
Well assuming she had unicorn magic, that would make flying the plane pretty simple.
6086330
I'm sure she'll contribute! She's still a mind, and she can do things earth ponies can do as long as they don't involve brute strength. If the other tribes can get by without magic, she can learn too. All that is assuming her magic is lost forever, which may or may not be true.
6086397
Hah, I wish! I do look forward to the day when the universe is well-placed for people to write their own side stories (it's not really ready yet, though plenty of authors are doing some amazing things anyway). I'd be pretty overwhelmed if I used other people's OCs, though. I could never keep up with that. More than that, the story has some very specific needs, and chances are I would end up rejecting most of the OCs, which would be really crappy. Best just not to do it at all.
6086441
At least the story doesn't have the sad tag! That's got to mean something! I'm... actually not sure what the sad tag means entirely. I've always just thought of it as "is sad continuously" or maybe "has a sad ending". Not sure. I don't think the world is a sad place, though. Even when stuff sucks. There's always a bright cloud. Like, if I was George RR Martin, the plane would've probably crashed into the party and killed everyone.
6086500
Joseph cheated! Leon can take solace in that.
6087758
The article I linked talks about it unless it's changed since I wrote the chapter, though of course we don't have all the facts. I think we'll know much more if she wakes up.
6087885
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6088125
It isn't really empty now isn't it. This probably just me but in such a situation, having seen animals acting smarter then they should I would worry that firing a gun would attract them. Perhaps even bypassing the gun completely for a crossbow, harpoon or even trying to modify a nailgun.
This is pretty surreal for me
I live in the LA area and visit Zuma a lot. It really is a nice beach, and it was fun to see it mentioned here.
This is pretty terrifying for me because I'm a pilot and from what I've seen and heard from instructors, even if you belly a plane on pillows made of Jesus feathers it's still going to be a bad plane crash. Anyway, love the story, keep it up, and funny how I was just thinking if any pony had tried to fly.
Horn amputation?
No,no,no,no,no,no!
And I'm staring flight lessons next week. D:
Joseph, mind sharing that coco?
6120044
6124500
Hey, as Chuck Yeager said:
6183201
6120044
It's absolutely possible to land an aircraft without the landing gear, and you can even do it without damaging the aircraft severely! At my home airfield, somebody had a gear failure a couple of years ago. He just slowed as much as he could, and belly-landed on the grass with a prop strike as his only damage. Of course, that guy had the added safety cushion of emergency crews around just in case. Learning how was part of my complex certification, but it's one of those bits of knowledge that no pilot wants to put to practice. Honestly, I'm not sure if I remember the procedure now, but there's nothing like a checklist to fix that.
6124500
Don't worry buddy! If you're brand new to aviation and doing it civilian, you'll be starting on fixed gear aircraft. Probably a Cessna 172, if I had to bet money. Just listen to your instructor and be very sure to use positive exchange of flight controls. Flying with an instructor for an hour is safer than driving to the airport for an hour. Plus it's fun!
that is a attention to detail, actually refernecing flight procedure to perfect a short section that would probably not even be noticed by most if inaccurate.