The Ones who were Left Behind

by weirdjed

The Beginning.

Our concept of light seems foolish when you look at it from the right angle. We see light as hope, something of significance as if chasing away an accomplishment.However, in reality light is neither good nor evil. It sheds substance on things that shouldn't and mask things that should. I am one such thing, well rather a pony.

And this pony is currently unconscious (pitiful, right?), which really sucks. All I could see was yellow haze which drowned anything else that might resemble shapes. I kept looking at it confused why it was there only to be blared at with a sharp ring. It was so loud yet it seemed to bring me back to the world of the living. AGH! I curled into a ball as a sudden pain erupted from it. I moaned but managed to look for the culprit. Brilliant, why am I in the freaking road get ran over by all these ponies? Wait, where’s shadow? I looked around and spotted him in the corner huddled up like a filly. Why is he there? More questions filled my brain and my brain decided to go into auto pilot mode. I got up and trotted out of the way into the corner. I stood there puzzled by this pony and why he was so important and that’s when the world truly came into focus.

A loud boom erupted from somewhere in the distance and sounds became clear and concise. Screams, everywhere, were coming from ponies running in terror. I think I was part of that flood but what was I running towards? I got on my haunches and surveyed the area over the ponies. There at the end of the street was a few trucks, military by the look of it, and they seemed to be stuck. Ponies were practically trampling over each other in a mad rush to get to…..safety? Yeah that must be it. The trucks barely fit inside the street due to the width of it.

The town I was in a maze to say the least. It was built in a rush to surround the mining pit I worked at. In fact the engineers that built most of this place cut a LOT of corners when it came to building it. One time we had to evacuate the city due a few complexes that collapsed because the foundation gave way. The governor issued an evacuation for the city but when we returned he didn’t lift a finger to fix it. So a lot of us just worked together to move the rubble out of the road and just let it be. I think it’s still like that if I remember correctly. I think this was one such occasion but usually were not this frantic.

I got back down and focused on Shadow again. He was a earth pony colt that had black fur that glistened in the light. His eyes were hazel but occasionally turned green if he was stressed which he was a lot of times. I poked him and tried to get him up. He shrugged me off and didn’t open his eyes. “Shadow if you don’t get up soon I’m going to roll you to the trucks.” I said in a sarcastic tone. He opened his eyes and noticed me standing over me.

“You’re alive? I thought you died when that explosion went off.” He said as if he was talking to a ghost. I remember that. A sudden heat suddenly shrieked its way along my flesh. I looked at my fur and found a lot of it singed. “Ow. Well, I’m alive and so are a lot of other ponies. Besides if you don’t get up soon we won’t get a spot on the trucks.” I said and motioned to the mass that were still screaming chaotically.

We pushed and shoved our way through the crowd and finally arrived at a truck. A pony in military uniform was shouting through a
megaphone to the crowd but since it took me being right next to him to hear him, I think it was a hopeless task. “Form a line! Don’t push! Calm down and we will get as many of you on the trucks!” he shouted with a bit of strain in his voice. It was obvious he had been shouting for a while as his voice cracked a few times while he repeated his message.

I noticed a group of medical ponies scanning the crowd. Odd, what were they doing here? I trotted with the crowd to get a closer look and sure enough the triple butterflies on their hazmat suites signified that they were indeed medical. There were four of them in a cluster near each truck and they each held what appeared to be a bolt-rifle.

I grabbed shadow with my hoof and pulled him near me. He looked at me with a confused look before catching my gaze and shifted closer to me. “What in the hay is medical doing here? This should be a mining accident, not an outbreak!” Shadow said in the highest voice he dared to.

“I don’t know but I think were about to find out. “ I said as we neared the entrance of the truck. A plastic flap was pushed back by the few ponies that made it threw and it revealed a cramped but half full area. A lot of ponies were packed in like sardines along the sides of the back. I started going towards where the flap had opened when a guard put his hoof in front of me.

“Eyes and I.D. please.” He said in a drone. He looked severely bored with his job and honestly I don’t blame him. This job must be mind-numbingly difficult. I passed him my I.D. and so did Shadow while I stuck my muzzle into a machine. A scanner spread across my eyes and turned green.

“You’re free to go ahead sir. Next!” He shouted to Shadow and those behind him. I stuck my head with reluctance into the flap and breathed in the sticky air. I breathed it in with a sigh and put a hoof on the metal floor to hop in.

"CONTAMINATION! WARNING! CONTAMINATION!” A robotic voice blared from behind me. I quickly turned my head to see Shadow backing away slowly from the machine. It had turned red and my friend was going to be gunned down. The medical group on the side of the truck kicked into action and time practically froze. My mind raced to decide what to do and that’s when I decided to go with the stupid choice. I threw myself off the truck and aimed for the group. They never saw it coming. My body landed on top of two mares and a younger colt. The others backed away stunned by me. I didn’t allow them a second choice as I rammed the last two with my head and grabbed the rifles. I slung over my shoulder and ran back towards Shadow. The crowd screamed away from him like a flood. It was truly amazing to watch since most of these ponies were fellow miners. Many were covered in soot and ash from the mine but some appeared to be shop keepers.

“Shadow, run! Run for your life!” I shouted over the crowd. He didn’t need to be asked twice as he bolted down the narrow street. He wasn’t the quickest of ponies, and yet he seemed to be reaching speeds that I was having a hard time reaching. We galloped with the wake of the crowd until the crowd settled in around us. Apparently back here they hadn’t gotten the memo since many just yelled at us that we were going the wrong way and such things. My legs burned but we didn’t stop. I could feel him next to me as we galloped through the streets and I could tell he was afraid. His eyes were nearly bloodshot as he kept galloping with desperation.

“Shadow, turn right! I think we can hide in this store!” I shouted while I carefully raised my hoof and nudged him the direction of a local book store I went to. The colt was nice enough and I don’t think he left usually when evacuations were issued. It’s not like many people cared if ponies were left behind or not since many just thought they were insane.

The door opened with little resistance as we tumbled through it. I fell on my face and Shadow stumbled into me, falling on top of me. We laid on the floor breathing heavily as the world settled into a set position. What did it mean? Was he contaminated, and if so what did that mean? I lowered my breath to make my heart slow down as I got up off the wooden floor. Shadow was quickly recovering but he was still freaked out. Honestly I don’t blame him. I mean, those ponies would’ve killed him without a second thought and no one would’ve cared! Seriously how screwed up in the head do you have to be if your going to kill your own kind just because a light turned red.

However, what did it mean that he was contaminated? Surely it’s not just flu or something, but what is so bad that someone would be shot on sight if infected with it?

“Shadow, what did you do?” I said. He got up slowly and looked at me with wide eyes.

“W-why? What happened?” He said as he trotted forward towards me. He stopped about a foot from me and just stared through me.

“Shadow, you OK man? You were about to be shot and I saved you, but right now you need to tell me why the entire town thinks you’re a threat.” I said as I watched him carefully. I stepped around him as he proceeded to stammer gibberish. He looked ok enough, besides a few tufts of hair that appeared to be dirty from him lying on the ground. My eyes followed his body still and as I turned to the front I spotted it. A few pieces of hair had been parted by something and on his skin was a scab in the shape of claw mark. Probably one of his useless cats he always finds around the streets of the town. I went to the front of him and circled him again to make sure I didn’t miss anything but to my dismay I couldn’t find anything. Could a scratch cause the wrath of Celestia to find us? I stared into his eyes and tried to shake him. He was as stiff as a rock and he seemed to blubber more nonsense out of his mouth. So, I decided to slap him. My hoof slammed across his face and his pupils expanded to their normal size.

“Ow! What the hay was that for?” He said looking at me with a scowl.

“you need to tell me why you have brought Celestia’s wrath on our head. If you don’t give me a good answer soon im going to shove you out that door again.” I said as I pointed out the glass door. He turned around and backed away from it.

“i-I don’t know. I did everything as instructed but then it turned red and everypony started screaming and-and and-“ He stammered and broke down into repeating and until he just froze. He did this a lot which is really annoying when you want a straight answer out of him. I slapped him again and he returned to normal.

“Ow, why do you keep hitting me?” he sighed as he looked down. “I can’t take this pixel. I don’t know why it went off but all I have to say is that I need your help. Can we go home?” he said as he looked at me with desperate eyes. He had always depended on me I guess. I think it may have been back when he worked in sector F.

That sector produced salt from a mine that had to be mined by some of our heavier drills. One such drill was operated by Shadow and his companion Duct tape. It was tough work but the drills got the job done and Shadow was known to be a good driver. However, one day there was a ore vein we later came up with the name “difficile” which is just another word for hard. Either way it ended up breaking the engines that powered the drill and Duct went to go check it out. He examined the engine and got a bit close to the strap that went from the motor to the gears. He shouted to turn it on and Shadow did as he was told. Unfortunately he shouldn’t have done that since from what I heard the strap was broken at a point when found. We guessed that it was weak from trying to power its way through the vein and when it broke the strap went straight through duct, bone and all. He didn’t stand a chance as it flew out at speeds that sent it into the rock wall. In fact when we found the accident, Duct was in two pieces that were perfectly separated and the strap was embedded into the wall about 2 feet. That is a really fast considering the rock was bedrock! After that Shadow has been a mess when it came to blame. He still blames himself for his death and whenever someone says that he was involved somehow he breaks down. He has since worked with me in sector B that deals with refinery.

“Yes, we can but I’m going to yours. It’s closer to here and I think my place is a mess compared to yours.” I laughed as I said this but Shadow just nodded as he started towards the door.

“Wait, I know another way. We should probably go through the backdoor of this place since there is a flood of ponies out there. He looked out the glass door and I followed his gaze. Surprisingly there was no one out there. In the distance a few gunshots went off but other than that nothing was there.

“Well, I guess we can go that way, but first let me find the owner. He’s a good friend of mine and I want to make sure he got out of town. “ I said to him.

“Yeah, I wondered where Scotch was. I hope he made it out ok.” He said as he chose his words carefully. It seemed forced and a bit akward but at least I couldn't blame him for anything. Yet.

We trotted into through the store with hesitance. Our muffle hoof-steps resounded against the wood with dull thuds as we scanned each aisle. Nothing appeared to be amiss except for a few books thrown off the shelves. Shadow shrugged his shoulders as we cleared the last row and stopped at the cashier.

“Must not be here Pixel. Come on, I have a warm bed that is calling my name.” He said with a bit annoyance.

“Ok, but I just hope he made it to safety.” I said as I scanned the area again. I was about to turn back when I noticed something. It was barely noticeable but it showed beneath the door. In fact what made me more suspicious is that the cash register was empty and left open.

I slowly trotted over to the door that led to the backroom and nudged it with my hoof. He didn’t give to my nudge so I tried shoving it with my two hooves. With a bit of effort the door crawled open. I poked my head through the gap I made and noticed a grey body laying behind the door. It was scotch no doubt and it looked like he was severely wounded. He wasn’t moving and what I stood in was most likely his blood. Three bullet holes were pronounced in the side of his chest.

“Scotch…. My friend, may you rest in Celestia’s bosom.” I said as tears streamed down my face. I leaned down and closed his eyelids and with a final kiss I stepped out of the room and closed the door behind me.

Shadow looked at me with confusion and then noticed the blood on my hooves and put two and two together. “Pixel, I'm so sorry. “He said quietly. I walked past him towards the door part furious at whoever did it and half sad for the death of my friend.

We were almost to Shadows house now and I honestly didn’t care about anything. I was numb from head to hoof with the feeling of nothingness. Why had someone killed him? I couldn’t answer any of the questions since I didn’t know the answers and yet that didn’t stop my brain from slamming more and more of them on me. I was so caught up in this that Shadow has to shove me to the point that I fell. Weeee! At least this was fun before I hit the ground.

“Ooooooooooow. What is it Shadow? What do you want?” I said as I got up and looked at him. He was completely oblivious to me but instead he stared at something in the distance. I followed his gaze and noticed a little filly playing in the streets. Well not exactly playing since it appeared that she was just trotting around in circles with her teddy bear.

“Oh, well then! Let’s go see where her parents are shall we?” I said as I walked towards her. He slowly nodded but followed behind me hesitantly.

“I don’t like the look of her. Something just feels…wrong.” Shadow said as he looked at her with a worried scowl. Honestly he can’t act like a child himself but I can understand his reaction. I could feel it too, like a bad vibe or something.

We trotted up to her slowly but eventually reached where she was. I closed my eyes and tried to put on my best “please don’t be alarmed but the whole world has gone to hay and we would appreciate it if you went to your parents preferably with us” face.
“Hey there! I hope you don’t mind us passing by but we really are wondering where your parents are at. Could you point us to them?” I said with an earnest tone. She turned towards us slowly and we suddenly realized what was her teddy bear.

“SWEET CELESTIA!” I cried as she dropped a pony head that was half eaten. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t noticed it before but her skin was raw to the point of cracking places. It was yellow but most of it was a dull brown to the point that in some places, holes had been opened. Her rotting organs could be seen through the holes and to my horror she started crawling towards us. Her smiling cutie mark seemed to mock us as she cried a scream that was so shrill we had to put our hooves over our ears.

“Shadow, book it! just run!” I shouted over the scream. He didn’t need to be told twice as we galloped in fear from the monster that used to be a filly. However, as we galloped away another voice seemed to entwine into the scream. It was faint but it spelled two words.

“Help Us”