He watched from his seat in the crowded theater as she performed her song. Her voice was lovely like a songbird singing from its very soul. It brought a smile to his lips.
Melody Spice was her name and she was his older sister. Oh, he had been so proud when she had informed him that she would be cast as the lead singer in a band that went by the name of The Rose Buds. Not only had she gotten the part, but here she was singing in The Great Pony Theatre in Canterlot. He had to lift a hoof to his eye to wipe an emerging tear. She deserved this.
So he continued to watch, his parents on either side of him, frozen smiles on their muzzles. Their eyes seemed almost glossy like glass from the low lighting, but that could be tears that filled them.
It was strange though. No pony seemed to be moving. Almost like they were statues placed in the red velvet seats or perhaps they were really into the show. He couldn’t blame them, his sister was really good, but this was a little weird. He tore his eyes away from the stage to glance at his mother, who sat on the right side of him.
The longer he stared at her, the more her features seemed off. Part of her once neat and clean red mane appeared to have cobwebs hanging from it. Wrinkles formed where ones hadn’t been there before. The corner of her smile seemed to drip, sliding down almost as if her very skin was melting like wax to a flame.
“ Mom?” His voice echoed from his lips.
His sister’s song almost seemed to slow and stretch as if her vocal cords had been placed inside a taffy machine. His eyes darted back up to the stage where Melody Spice now stood by herself. The band that had been playing behind her now stood as rotting corpses. The flesh around their muzzles was pulled back in tight, grim smiles. their eyes empty. Brown mixed with chunks of pink slid down from those holes and onto the dusty wooden floorboards of the stage.
It made his stomach turn. Even his own sister now looked odd. Her purple fur had paled to a sickly white. Her red mane was tangled and soaked in so much blood that it caused her head to be weighted down. Her eyes stared at him, the colors milky and faded. Still, she sang her song. Her voice was alive and young, but her body rotting away.
He couldn’t turn away now. His body wouldn’t respond to the signals that his brain shot down his nerves. He did not want to see this. Yet he was frozen in place, staring into his dead sister's eyes. She too seemed to be begging to be free from whatever spell was keeping them in place. He wanted to help, he wanted to leap out of his seat and run to her, comfort her, to stop whatever sick hell they were trapped in.
All that came from him was a soft whimpering sound as fresh tears spilled from his eyes. A rush of anger filled his mind. An anger at himself for lacking the ability to move, to get up and save his sister who was fading away faster than she had been before.
A new noise crept into the room, causing his ears to give a slight twitch as they tried to point out the source of the noise. It was definitely coming from far behind him. Whatever it was, it sounded heavy and from its loud breathing, perhaps out of breath. It grew closer and closer. He could soon feel its hot musty breath tickle the back of his neck. The smell hit him next. It was thick, almost choking him of air. It stunk of decay and dust like the stench of a long-forgotten tomb. It overwhelmed his senses.
The scent clawed at his nose, filling every breath and stuck to the back of his throat as if trying to choke him.
The thing behind him crooked, letting the horrible creaky moan stretch out longer than necessary. A fresh wave of rot. Another creak and he could feel the thing over him, its very shadow seemed to be weighing him down. The heat of its breathing burned his neck. Thick strains of drool dripped onto his for. It caused his body to shiver as it slowly slid down his back.
He wanted to leap up to his hooves and kick this thing from him, to wipe off its foul odor from his fur. Yet his body refused to move. He had to sit there while his sister rotted away to bleach white bones. Her jaw creaked as its movement slowed, yet she still sang. The once beautiful song now twisted into a living horror that caused the mind to sink into a land of horror.
“ Just stop. Stop!” He screamed in his mind, but no sound escaped him.
That's when the thing behind him placed a wet meaty hand on his shoulder. Its fingers slowly tighten into his flesh, enough to break through muscle and cut through his shoulder bone.
The pain was unbearable and yet he still could not move. Why couldn’t he move? Why couldn’t he just cry out for help?
“ Wake up scum,” the voice echoed in his ears. That thing’s voice was horrible, scratching at his very sanity.
It raised its other hand to wrap around his throat. Slowly adding more and more pressure to his windpipe. He could feel the air being cut off from his lungs causing them to burn in his chest. There was nothing he could do and this thing knew that. It relished in the thought that it could do whatever it wanted to him.
“ I SAID WAKE UP” it cried, yanking the stallion back, its fingers tearing through his throat like paper. Thick crimson spilled from his neck, staining the seats in front of him and the clothes of his parents who still sat beside him. Nothing, but pain occupied his mind as his vision was consumed by black dots. Just before his vision fully gave away to black, he saw the face of the monster. Its orange eyes glared down at him and on its face was a wide smile with bloody teeth.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Scream tore from his lungs. His body straightened up in his seat. He tried to leap forward, to run and get as far away from that monster as he could, but something kept him in his seat.
He glanced down to see thick chains clamped around his hooves keeping him linked to his seat. He then took notice of the orange jumpsuit he was wearing, five numbers were located on his left breast, just above the pocket.
56001
It came flooding back to him in an instant. This is where he was supposed to be. This was his new normal.
“ Finally awake, eh?” came a smug voice of a guard. He was standing beside Autumn, his face twisted into a grin.” took ya long enough, seems you were having quite the nightmare,”
The guard took a seat in the empty spot next to him. Autumn ignored him, turning to glance out the window. Watching as the hills roll by under the night sky.
“ Aw don’t be like that CK,”
His ear gave a twitch at the nickname,” the corners of his mouth dipping into a frown.
The guard just smiled, his eyes flickering from Autumn’s frown back to his eye.” What? Don’t like being called that CK?” he leaned back in his seat. Purple magic wrapped around his horn. With a simple spell, he lifted off his helmet placing it into his lap.” really too bad, should have thought about it before. Well you know,” he made a popping noise with his mouth.
“ don’t you have something better to do?” muttered Autumn.
" Was that lip CK?” the guard raised one of his eyebrows.” Don’t forget your place now.”
As much as Autumn wanted to sock the guard right then, he knew he couldn’t unless he wanted to end up in solitary again. He kept his eyes on the window in hopes that the guard would get bored and leave him be. He felt the stallion shift closer signaling that this was long from over.
His hot breath tickled his neck, making Autumn’s stomach knot up.” it has been some time since you’ve acted out, ay? CK? Is that beast of yours wanting to come out? Huh” he whispered into his ear.” wanna start another fight today? What ya say? Make me look good in front of the new girl?”
“ I don’t” his voice came out as a whisper.
“ oh come on sure you do,” hissed the guard,” don’t ya wanna try to run,”
“ stop,”
“ Come now, I'll even give you a head start, of course then I'll kick your ass,” chuckled the guard in his ear,
“ Lay off him Salty,” came a voice just ahead of them. A stallion guard stood in the walkway between the rows of seats. His fur was a shade of blue, while his mane was like pure gold. His yellow eyes stared at salty coldly.
“ uh, captain!” salty squeaked and scrambled to his hooves. His helmet fell to the ground with a loud clank.” just checking up on old CK-”
The captain raised an eyebrow.
“ I mean, I was just checking up on Autumn Haze here, looked like he had a bit of a frightful sleep is all,” Salty smiled as if he just hadn’t been caught doing anything wrong.
“ Is that so?” the captain took steps forward, the wings on his back giving a slight twitch,” Well seems like he's all better now, so I think it's time you head back to your station,” his voice was cold, leaving no room for denial.
“ yes sir,”
Salty quickly picked up his helmet in his magic, turning and trotting off to the back of the bus. Once he was gone, the captain gave a soft sigh. He turned his attention to the chained-up stallion.
“Are you alright?”
“ I’m fine,”
“Are you sure? Trust me I know that salty can be quite the dick,”
“ I’m sure Fortress,” Autumn turned his gaze to the captain,” you don’t have to watch over me,” he felt tired and honestly, he wished he could just be left alone, but he didn't have the heart to tell Fortress to leave. Already those yellow eyes looked at him with worry. How could he look at him in such a way when knowing what he had done in the past? What had he done? He thought he knew, but it felt foggy. Almost lost in the ocean of memories that flooded his mind.
“ Autumn,” Fortress said softly,” I know this is a big change for you,” he took a seat across from Autumn, his hooves folded together. He put on his famous smile. One that melted his heart and made him feel warm.
“ I promise I won’t leave your side and make sure you are safe at West Side,”
Damn Fortress and his kindness. He was too good for this line of work. How could some pony like him end up working with the scum of the earth?
“ You never know when to quit do ya Fortress,” chuckled Autumn, raising his head. A flicker of silver caught his eye, making him glance out them when. His face turned to one of confusion.” hey is that..?”
Fortress turned his head, trying to see what Autumn was looking at, but it was hard to see anything outside while the new moon hung high in the sky and rain poured down. Then he saw it. A filly with gray fur and a deep inky mane ran right into the road.
“ WAIT STOP,” Fortress cried but from his panic, his words came out jumbled.
There was a screech as the bus attempted to stop in time, but it was too late. The ponies inside were thrown forward as the vehicle slammed into the filly. The front became nothing but a mess of twisted metal and shards of glass that impaled those who were unlucky enough to be close. The bus rolled onto its side, its wheels still spinning. After all the driver could no longer remove his hoof from the gas pedal since his body was crushed into meat jelly against his seat. His warm blood and guts decorating the steel floor.
Autumn had been lucky enough to be away from the front of the bus when the crash occurred. Instead of becoming a meat and glass pancake, he was muzzle first in the next row seat halfway in the air thanks to the chains that kept him attached to his seat. A groan escaped from his lips. Blood from his nose slipped into his mouth, offending his tongue with its iron taste.
“ fuck.. That hurt,”
A shuffle near him caught his attention. Green eyes darted to see panicked yellow ones.
“ Oh shit Fortress.”
Fortress was in bad shape. Both of his wings had been twisted in angles that weren’t normal. His right back leg had been snapped, the bone showing through the skin. Fortress himself looked like he was going to be sick each time he looked towards the wound.
“ hey hey hey- don’t look, it’s going to be ok,”
“ fuck, dude..” swallowed Fortress looking up at the ceiling, fighting back the nausea that threatened to escape him.” Fuck heh... That’s really bad,”
“ hey it's not that bad,” ok he knew that was a lie, but it wasn’t good if Fortress started to panic. What was important was keeping him calm and getting some help.” We just need to get some help,”
He turned his head and began to yell,” Hey! Hey is anyone there? Is anyone ok?!”
The lights of the bus had started to flicker, only giving them short moments to see the mess around them. Seats had broken from the floor and now lay in a pile, blocking the view of the back of the bus. A heavy mist was seeping its way through the windows. It moved like it was alive, whisps of white curling around them and causing the air to become cold.
“ helllloo!” Autumn tried again. The bus remained quiet except for the heavy breathing that came from Fortress.” fuck..”
“ I’m going to unlock your cuffs,” said Fortress.
Autumn turned to Fortress, a look of surprise on his face“ Are you sure?”
“ No one answering and for all we know is the others may be dead or too injured to come help.” he looked Autumn up and down,” And you are the only one that I see can walk out and get help.”
“ as if I’m going to leave you,” Autumn said before thinking.” your-” My friend “ you hurt and I don’t want you to be alone.”
Fortress chuckled before planting his front hooves firmly on the ground. With a grunt, he turned and clamped his teeth around the key ring that was attached to his belt. He then pushed himself shakily up, sliding his left back hoof up to help balance himself. He cried out as his right back leg bumped up against his left. He nearly fell from the pain alone. Fortress dragged himself forward, each step was a new wave of pain, a new wave of stomach-flipping nausea. Still, he kept on moving. Once he was close enough to Autumn, he placed the key into the lock of the cuffs, and with a turn, Autumn fell free.
“ Oof!” Autumn landed with a thud.
“ Sorry about that,” Fortress said through pants as he laid back down already feeling his body losing the energy to move.
“ It’s fine,” Autumn pushed his hooves underneath himself and stood up with a wince. His muscles felt sore and achy, he would be feeling that tomorrow morning.” Come on let's get you out of here,”
“Autumn you can’t” Fortress tried to wave the other stallion away, but Autumn had already made up his mind. He pushed his head underneath Fortress’s stomach, slowly wiggling the other onto his back. Once on, he used his hooves to gently straighten out the stallion so that fortress’s head was lying comfortably on his shoulder.
“ I told you, I’m not leaving you,”
The stallion gave a soft chuckle, a tired smile on his lips.
This worried Autumn. He knew that he needed to find a hospital or at least find bandages to tidy up the wounds for now. Looking around, he took notice of the broken windows above him, meaning if he wanted out then he had to jump.
“ Fortress Bud, I’m going to need you to hold onto me,”
Fortress wrapped his front hooves around his shoulders. Good. Autumn braced himself, using his right hoof to hold onto Fortress before he leaped up and out of the broken window. It was by luck he had landed safely on the outside. The metal creaked under his hooves as he moved to the edge. All around them was that thick fog making it hard to see anything that wasn’t a hoof step away from them.
“ By Celestia’s beard.”
The front of the bus was crushed in as if it had rammed full speed into a mountainside. Only a single headlight was flickering, giving them enough light to see the road. Hadn’t they crashed into a filly? How could just a little foal cause all this damage? That was downright impossible. Unless they hadn’t hit a filly, but then what had they hit? There was no large rock or log in the road.
With a hop, Autumn landed on the hard concrete with a clip-clop of his hooves. Fortress gave a hiss of pain into his neck.
“ Sorry,” whispered Autumn
“ It’s ok,”
Autumn slowly turned around in circles as he tried to gather his surroundings.” any idea where we could be?”
“ I might.” Fortress raised his head.” Before I came back to see you, the driver had informed me that we were close to a town called Ponyvillie.”
“ Ponyvillie? That sounds familiar. Isn’t that the town that the mane six live in?”
“ yeah, it is. Who knows we might be able to meet them,” chuckled the stallion on his back.
“ Oh yeah right,” laughed Autumn,” you maybe, me nah,”
Fortress gave a quiet sigh.” don’t count yourself out just yet ay autumn,” he raised his head and turned to his belt to retrieve a compass from the bag attached to it.” Here, this should help. The town should be just northwest of us.”
“ Thanks, Fortress,” he took hold of the compass, moving his body until he and the compass were lined up in the direction of northwest. With a huff, he began his journey forward. It wasn’t until minutes later that a thought had struck him.
“ hadn’t it been raining?”
Just before the crash, it had been pouring down like a waterfall. Yet the road was bone dry to the touch. The air was void of that sweet summer smell of a lake, replaced by something more musty and dry.
“Maybe Ponyville wasn’t due for rain?” guessed Fortress.
“ Maybe…”
Silence filled the rest of their walk. A spark of joy filled autumn once he spotted a pair of street lights in the distance. He picked up his pace. He was almost there. Almost to safety and help. This horrible event could finally be put to rest. Fortress would be safe and…
And Autumn would be right back on a bus to West Side. It was a hard pill to swallow, but he wasn’t going to abandon his friend for a taste of freedom. After all, did he really deserve to be out of chains?
Snap!
Autumn’s head shot up, his eyes darting from left to right. He swore that he had heard the faint sound of a branch snapping. He could feel the stallion on his back move a little on his back.
“ did you?”
“ hear a twig break? Yeah, I did,” replied Fortress, opening his tired eyes.” could be another pony.”
“ Let’s hope so,”
Autumn began to move again, but this time he called out into the inky black,” Hello! Is anyone there?” he paused, letting his ears flicker in different directions in hopes of hearing any little sound. With no hint of sound, he spoke up again.” Please We require help! I have an injured pony with me. Please he’s hurt real bad!”
A faint clopping of hooves reached his ears. Turning right, he saw a mare walking towards him with slow fearful steps. Her fur was a light shade of green and her mane was the color of daisies. She wore an old-style dress that hugged her frame and laced in buttons down the front. Her amber eyes stared at him as if he were a being that was not part of this world.
“Who are you?” she whispered through barely parted teeth.
“ My name is Autumn Haze and this is Golden Fortress,” he explained, waving a hoof towards his friend.” look we need help please, Fortress, he's hurt bad.”
The mare's eyes darted to the blue stallion on Autumn’s back. With caution, she took steps forward taking in the state he was in. A grimace appeared on her face,” Ok.” she looked away into the fog and then back at the two.” come quickly, we can’t be out here any longer. My mother might be able to help your friend,”
“ Thank you so much!”
“ Don’t thank me yet, now come on,” she took off without a second word. The mare was fast, he had to give her that. She slipped around buildings and avoided the street lamps like the plague. This didn’t give him much time to sightsee, but what he could tell was that the building that surrounded them looked old. Almost abandoned. Most of the doors and windows had been covered by rotting planks of wood. Windows that hadn’t been covered were thick with dust giving off a cloudy feel, like fresh sea glass.
“what's up with the town?”
“ shush!”
“ hey I'm just-”
“ shush!” the mare placed a hoof over his mouth,” you must remain quiet less you wish to be caught,” removing her hoof, she turned away and inched her way toward the edge of a nearby home that looked like it needed a good cleaning. She motioned him forward.
“ hurry now,”
He did as instructed, inching his way through the alley and stopping near her. She nodded with satisfaction then turned to peer around the corner. Her whole body was tensed up as if she was a loaded spring ready to pounce. Her ears leaned forward, only moving slightly ever so often. After a few moments, she grabbed the front of his jumpsuit and yanked him forward.
” Come on”
She dragged him across the street and into the neighboring alley. She muttered under her breath and it almost sounded like she was counting. She stopped in front of a brick building that was covered in ivy. A faint smell of bread seemed to be coming just from inside. The mare stopped at the door that had been hidden from view by a dirty blanket made of old potato sacks that had been sewn together and painted to look like a brick wall.
“ we’ll be safe here.” she gave three knocks on the door and then four small taps.
In less than a second, the door was thrown open by an older stallion. His deep grey eyes bore into autumn with clear distrust on his wrinkled face. He looked ready to grab the young mare and slam the door closed until she spoke up.
“ Father they need help,” she gestured to Fortress who lay barely conscious on autumn's back.” I fear he may die without our aid,”
The stallion’s nose twitched, his eyes softening just a bit at his daughter’s pleading. With a snort he took a step back, letting the two pass through.
“ thank you, Father,” smiled the daughter as she hurried inside, still dragging Autumn by the front of his uniform. The feeling of warmth on his cheeks was a pleasant one. He hadn’t realized that he had been so cold before entering the candle-lit home. Inside was a small but cozy-looking living room with a small couch made of wood and plush wool. A dining table sat at the side with a fresh pot of stew and a plate of rolls. By the hearth stood a mare with green fur and a light orange mane. Her cutie mark was a cabbage with two patches sewn to the side.
Her eyes darted toward her husband and he gave her a nod,” Patch, grab the first aid will ya?”
She swallowed, but nodded,” Yes.. I will,”
she walked into a side bedroom. Her daughter gathered blankets from the closet that sat near the right window, laying them down on the floor by the hearth.
“ lay him here so he can get warm by the fire,” she smiled at Autumn.” Mother will be back soon with supplies,”
With the help of the other stallion, Fortress was laid upon the soft blankets as gently as possible. The poor captain looked paler than he had been before. The wound on his leg was crusted in dried blood, the skin looked puffed up and red. A possible infection. His wings gave only little movements every so often. Autumn could only hope that the nerves in Fortress’s wings hadn’t been too damaged in the crash. It would break the pegasus's heart if he could no longer fly. He recalled all the stories of how he enjoyed flying around with his baby sister. Showing her all sorts of tricks for she wanted to be a future Wonder Bolt.
Autumn mentally shook himself. He shouldn’t be thinking like that. Fortress was going to be just fine. He was Fortress for Luna's sake! Which means he does not fall, he’s built to withstand the worst that is thrown at him.
The mother returned with a first aid kit in her mouth. She sat down next to Fortress, placing the box on the ground, and opening the lid. She pulled out a pair of gloves for her hooves, slipped them on, and grabbed hold of the roll gauze from the box.
“ Is there anything I can do to help you?” asked autumn
“ No dear,” spoke the mare in a gentle tone. Orange eyes looking up to meet his.” I think it’s best if you get some rest,”
“ But there's a whole bus, there might be more-”
She raised a hoof, giving a gentle shush,” We will search for more survivors if there are any left, but for now it’s best if you rest. You look like you may drop yourself.”
She wasn’t wrong, his body felt heavy and the warmth of the fire felt so welcoming. Calling him to dreamland. He already found his hooves folding under him. His chin meeting the floor.” maybe a short nap,” he murmured,” maybe…yawnnnn… wake me in an hour?”
The older mare had begun to hum a soft tune that was pleasing to his brain. He allowed his mind to be taken away to a state of in-between, where he was still awake but his mind was blessed enough to not have a thought. It was like drifting on a colorful river, only guided by the humming. It was hard to tell when he finally fell asleep, but when he did it was restless and dreamless.