The Ones who were Left Behind

by weirdjed

The New and The Old

I cooled down and looked back down at my food. It didn't look as appealing as it once did. Had I really needed to be harsh? "Look, guys, im sorry. It's just....were stuck here with a big chance of dying. It's not like last time when that guy screamed and we all ran, only to find out he was scared by his pal. This time were facing a foe that is forsaken by celestia alone." I looked around trying to build morale but only found despair. Derpy was physically shaking and Bulking Biceps moved over to comfort her. He looked up and his expression changed from one of complacence, to that of anger.

With gritted teeth he said. " You need to leave now. Take what you need and get out of here." With that he pointed us out the door and turned back to comforting derpy.

I went to open my mouth again but Shadow shook his head and got out of his seat. I followed him and we started on getting some weapons. I grabbed a shotgun and what I believe was 16 gauge ammunition. I had no clue what 16 or 24 gauge meant but to be safe I grabbed some of the 24 as well. With that at my side I went to the handgun section and picked out a magnum. A elegant weapon that was crafted in a way a western theme, it came with a description that pointed out the ammo it required. I grabbed 3 of the cases and put it into the stasis bubble that was quickly filling up. I looked for Shadow and sure enough he had found a backpack. He threw it towards me and I shoved everything in it. With everything but the revolver and 6 bullets put into the backpack, I swung it onto my shoulders and moved towards Shadow to help. We worked in silence until we were all done.With that finished I shoved the bullets into the magnum and put it into the side pocket of the backpack. With a final glance around I noticed Biceps watching us. I walked over to him and handed the amount of bits I had.

"I don't want your money Pixel. If things are that bad out there your gonna need it. I've known you for a long time and I wish you could stay here, I honestly do, but the best decision for me is to hold the fort and wait it out. I'm sorry to do this. Good luck out there." He said with a final sigh.

"Thank you Biceps, I won't forget you. When or if I make it to safety i'll send some people your way to get you some help." I said.

He nodded and turned back through the door. "So, do we just go then?" Shadow said with dismay. I trotted through the door and out into the open with Shadow following behind me. The early sun light peeked out over the city blocks. "Yes, were going. Were going to find our way out and from there were going to write the longest complaint letter to celestia. What do you say shadow? You up for it?"

He nodded and followed after me into the streets of the dead. We trotted towards the sun which I believe was east or something. If we followed one direction hopefully we will pop out one end right? I thought to myself. We kept trotting for what felt like hours, which wouldn't be so bad except we were running off of 6 hours of sleep and a half breakfast. I called us to a halt in front of a donut shop. Shadow nearly cried, and honestly I almost did too since the only stores we had seen since Biceps store was either raided or looked really unfriendly. In fact, the store was almost intact. By almost I mean the entire building was slanted towards another building. Guess you can thank those engineers for that. Shadow tripped on the sidewalk did a ungraceful slam into the store window. His nose was pressed against the window like he was a small foal on christmas. I laughed at him as he pulled his face off the window with a groan. He rolled his eyes and walked through the door. A sharp ding-a-ling resonated through the shop seeming to bring life back into a almost silent city. It was unnnerving how silent it was, almost like the things didn't walk around during the day. I shook the fantasies out of my mind and followed Shadow in. Inside the store was a bunch of tables scattered here and there. They were still upright but the chairs were hastily thrown this way and that as many ponies ran as fast as they could. The room was still alight by a single light fixture that seemed to be fading. The place seemed to rely on mostly outside light to illuminate it. The early sun cast shadows over the main register and the cabinet where they held, donuts.

No one had been in this place, or if they had they obviously didn't have a sweet tooth since the entire cabinet was lined to the brim with donuts of all shapes and sizes. Pink ones, green ones, even ones that were shaped and colored like pick axes. It was ironic but half of the population thought of it as a city trademark. The pick axe thing, not the donuts. That would be strange though, an entire city known for it's donuts, I thought to myself. I snapped out of my stupor and noticed Shadow yanking on something behind the cabinet.

" Shadow, what are you doing? No one is going to care if we break a glass pane here or if we graffiti the townhall. Just stand back and i'll sort it out quickly and neatly." I said with as much posh smugness as i could muster on the laster few words. Shadow rolled his eyes and stood back from the stand. With him in a safe distance I wrapped my magic around the hilt of the gun and whipped it forward. As it made contact with the glass I pulled back on it so that it made only cracks in the glass. It shattered but stayed together, which seemed to amaze Shadow. I returned the gun to my pocket and focused on containing all of the shards in the same place. Then with a yank I pulled them all out and collapsed it into a small ball. I set it on a table and let go. Like a salt pile, it fell apart and spilled a bit on the floor. Oh well, I tried, I thought as I went back to the donuts. I started with the blue ones that were near the bottom becausde they were supposedly 'fancy" donuts. I chomped down on it and a explosion of flavors filled my mouth. They honestly deserve that title, I thought as I gorged myself on them. Shadow was right next to me sitting on his flank, while he shoved donut after donut into his mouth. We were having the time of our lives and I turned towards Shadow to see that his entire face was covered in frosting. I laughed at him and started rolling on the ground.

"Whmmph?" He said through a stuffed mouth.

This only made me laugh harder till Shadow eventually finished his donut and laughed with me. My sides hurt but it felt great to laugh. After the moments from yesterday it felt like there was no hope left for us. Even our stay at the apartment feels like a week ago. I got up and walked into the back. As I walked into the back room a rancid smell of something burning intruded my nostrils. I looked for the smell and quickly found it in the back corner. There, one of those things was being deep fried from the wasted up in grease. The skin of the pony was old and pulled taunt around the bones. It was probably dead for awhile due to the condition of it's flesh, I observed. I looked around to see who did it and eventually found a messgae, written in blood. "We are all dead" was smelled out in red across the back wall. The owner of the blood had made a long trail out the mergency door. It was cracked a bit open and when I pushed it, a small squeak escaped the hinges. I walked out into the back alley which reaked of leftovers and whatever else that was in the trash. In the corner a massive pool had accumulated and whatever that was there before was eaten and dragged away.

I pulled myself from the seen and walked back in to get Shadow. I walked back into the main shop and found him with a smg in his mouth. He had it pointed at another pony who was terrified out of his wits. " Shadow. Put the gun down nice and easy." I said in a quiet and calm voice. He seemed startled by my sudden prescence but complied by setting the gun on the floor. " You there, what brings you here?" I said questioning him. He startled a bit but managed to choke out a few words. "My brother....he is hurt, bad. I came here to let him rest. He can't go very far. I'm shocked he managed to walk this far out from the mine." He pulled out a sack and offered it to us. He held it in stasis and that is when I noticed what he actually looked like. His mane and tail were electric yellow and I swear he could have been on fire if it weren't for the green fur that contrasted his hair. His horn produced a emerald tinge to his magic. " I don't want your money. In fact, where is your friend. Maybe we can help." I said offering politely putting a hoof on the sack. A look of relief washed over him and he thankfully nodded. I swear if every pony nods this fast im gonna have to get a few neck braces. I caught him by the shoulder and held him back a bit. "By the way whats your name? That way if me or my friend have to shoot you because your lying we know what to put on your gravestone." He looked at me with a bit of worry but shook it off. "The name's Emeral sir. Emeral Danger." He said and quickly motioned for us to follow him. I motioned for Shadow to travel behind me and we set a bit down the street. The afternoon sun beat down on us yet the boy in front didn't seem to mind. We walked for a few minutes before coming across a bridal store.

The words "we are the ones who bring your life to a new beginning" spelled out the motto for the store. 'Lyra and Bon Bon industries' was emblazed on the front window. Emeral opened the door and disapeared for a few seconds before returning with something in tow. He shoved the door open with obvious effort and desperately tried to get his brother out into the street. So, he really is in need: I thought. I wrapped my own stasis around him and together we lifted him up and out of the store. He was a big colt with a black mane. His yellow fur was covered in soot, almost as if he went through a fire or two. He was obviously a pegasi but his left wing was torn to shreds. Multiple bullet holes were evident in the soft flesh of the wing. I stepped up to the pony and looked for more wounds as I set him down. None were evident besides the occasional nicks here and there that seemed to have scabbed over.

"What happened to him? Raiders? Angry folks? What?" I questioned him as I tried to stop as much of the bleeding by hardening the blood that leaked out of the wing. Thank goodness for those stupid lessons on how to make scabs quicker using magic that I learned in class.

"Yo-our not gonna like the answer..Quite frankly I can't believe it myself if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes. It was, our police. The army, whatever they were. They came and sweeped through the mines on a path of destruction. They mowed down some ponies, no, not some, hundreds. Everyone that attempted to leave got shot. Dynamo managed to sneak me out of the mine by causing a distraction but that ended up getting him shot. After that he went into one of his rage things that he does sometimes and he tore pushed them all out of the way and met met up with me. From there he eventually cooled down and thats when I noticed he was messed up bad. Please, can you help me?" He finished with a plead.

I was stunned. Was he serious? Surely celestia wouldn't abandon her people this way. But if the army knew about what was going on here I honestly don't blame them for killing those things. At lease I hope they were and not just killing everypony here. I thought more drastic thoughts before I decided to put a hoof on it. Stop being a coward Pixel. By Celestia's mercy we will make it through this." Yes, we will. Though I can't guarantee your brother is going to ever fly again I can say with certainty that he will live. Im Pixel and this is Shadow. We'll protect you but first you need to help me get him back to the donut shop." I said with a nudge towards Shadow who still seemed to be stuck on what he said. He stumbled out a half hearted agreement and went started towards the pony that was laying down.

"Help me lift him onto Shadow. From there he will support some wait and we will support the rest." I said motioning towards dynamo.

He agreed and at the count of three we picked up the comatose form of Dynamo onto Shadow. With that we set back towards the donut shop. We groaned under the weight of the pony and set him down a coupletimes before we eventually made it to the shop. We pushed open the door with yet another ding-a-ling which seemed a bit too chipper at this time. Shadow escaped from under the pony and pushed stuff out of the way. Emeral gently set his brother down onto the floor with my help and for the first time I saw his eyes.

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With some effort I opened my slit eyes to ponies that would either be my death, or salvation.