//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: By the Pond // Story: Pandemic: What you are Meant to Be // by Halira //------------------------------// The duck pond in question was in the middle of all the residential neighborhoods. It was in the center of a circular road and ducks were the residents year round without ever migrating. A few benches surrounded the pond and it was perhaps the half the length of a football field. Mattie and Haley noticed that they were not the ones who decided that they were going to go out to the pond today as there were a few humans that had decided to brave leaving their houses on the far end of the pond. There was a tense moment where they and the humans stared at one another across the pond, but nothing came of it. The humans went back to what they were doing, which was yet another barbecue, and the ponies started trying to find some bushes with a decent amount of cover. The problem with the bushes was that the ducks made their nests within them. At the investigation of each bit of foliage that looked like it was big enough to give them a little bit of privacy they found a duck, and on one occasion a very angry Canadian goose. It took all of two seconds for the two ponies to discover that a goose that felt you were disturbing its eggs was more than a match for a pair of sleepy night ponies. "This just isn't going to work," Haley said with frustration. "We're going to have to go sleep somewhere else." "I'm not sure where we can go without going far afield or invading some human's property," Mattie said as she looked around. "I mean there's plenty of woods around once you get far enough out, but that requires us to fly further out from the church than I think is a good idea to do." "It isn't that far to find some woods. There are also drainage ditches that run behind the houses of all this area. I used to go out into them all the time when I was a foal. You can go for miles just following them, and that area is much more private than this. I feel kind of exposed out here to tell the truth," Haley said as she glanced nervously at the humans. "I think I noticed them as we were flying over. I kind of knew they were there but never really thought about them before. I suppose finding a secluded area in those might be the best thing to do," Mattie said as she studied the humans across the pond as well. Their barbecue didn't seem to consist of much, hardly anything being cooked at all. There were about a dozen humans, all of different ages. It was likely two or three different households together. They were cooking hot dogs and if she had to guess there might be one hot dog per person, with no bun. There wasn't any other food visible and they were drinking what looked like water. They were clearly hurting for food. The youngest children looked like they couldn't be older that three or four. "Give me a moment, I'm going to do something reckless and probably stupid," Mattie said as she lifted herself into a hover still looking towards the humans. "Are you planning on going over to the humans? You know you're still the bat winged pony with a skull on her flank, right? If there was ever such a thing as a scary looking pony that would be you," Haley said with worry as she looked between Mattie and the humans. "As I said it's probably stupid," Mattie said as she started flying towards the humans. As she crossed the pond the reaction from the humans was quick. There were gasps of fear and they all huddled closer together, aside from one woman who just took off down the street. One of the older women actually threw a rock at Mattie, or at least tried to; it didn't even come close enough to make her consider trying to dodge it. She landed at the edge of the water with as much ground as she could put between her and the humans possible while still being on the same shore of the pond. She closed her wings and held one hoof up in greeting, hoping that they would recognize the gesture from a pony, or even pay attention to it. "Get out of here! We don't want any trouble. We just wanted to get together without having to deal with any of you things," one of the men shouted at her. The man was a white guy, clean shaven, maybe about thirty years old. The fact that he was clean shaven struck her as odd as no humans had been working for days so there was no need to bother with that kind of routine. Maybe he just didn't like facial hair at all? "I'm not here for trouble, I just wanted to talk for a minute. You know there isn't any more getting ETS, so being around me isn't going to get you sick or anything. I won't get any closer if that makes you feel better," Mattie said as she held the man's gaze. "I'd feel better if you weren't over here at all. What do you want?" The man said while the rest continued to watch her like she was a dangerous animal. "I'm not sure if you know or not but the government's people are arriving this afternoon. They have doctors and more food. I couldn't help noticing that your food looked a little on the slim side. They are going to be arriving in large numbers to all the ETS shelters. We can't infect you anymore and there will be help there. I have no idea when they're going to start bothering to wonder about all the humans still living in the area, so it might be in your best interest to go make sure they don't forget to take care of you too," Mattie said in a calm voice she hoped would come off as non-threatening as possible. "How do you know this?" The man asked. "The shelters got a call late last night. I'm not even sure all of them are aware they are getting visitors today since most ponies aren't exactly expecting phone calls. Please, get some of the food, and let any other humans in the area, or ponies still hiding in their houses, know about it. I don't want anyone or anypony to go hungry. The ponies aren't out to get you or hurt you. Every single one of them in those shelters came from these neighborhoods and many of them may have been your direct neighbors, coworkers, and friends. They still are the same individuals just in a new packaging. They don't want you going hungry either," Mattie said calmly, gesturing to the various houses around the pond for emphasis. "We'll think about it. Just get out of here. Scat!" The man ordered with a shooing gesture like she was some dog. Mattie snorted, annoyed that she was being treated like an animal. It was something that needed to be endured. The only way that they ever were going to have peaceful coexistence with humans was if ponies reached out to the humans, and kept reaching out. She knew logically that meant a lot of being treated like this, but it still made her want to fluff her fur and say why bother. Minds were rarely changed in just one day though. She flapped her wings and pulled herself into the air, ready to just go back to Haley and find somewhere to sleep in peace. "Pony!" She heard the man call as she was about to leave. She stopped herself and turned to look at him. "Thanks for the info," he called out to her. She smiled. Then again there were days you could see a little bit of progress with just a single attempt. Her heart lifted up a little bit. "You're welcome. Take care of yourself," she said, then took off back to Haley.