//------------------------------// // Act 1: Chapter 2 - Child of Misfortune // Story: The Apocalypse Ponies: Origins // by PlagenShiki //------------------------------// The Apocalypse Ponies Chapter 2 – Child of Misfortune I was face to face with a Mourner. The bill of his beak was inches from my face. Our surroundings were white, no ground or sky. There was no background at all. In a world of emptiness we were the only two souls. “W-What is this?” I asked the Mourner. He just stared at me for a few moments before speaking in a monotone voice, “Misfortune. This world is drowning in disease. Many have suffered from misfortune because of this. You. You are no exception to this. You have seen horrible things in your short life. But you have been lucky thus far. Surrounded in a world of death, you have been excluded from misfortune. From this day onward, you will know true misfortune.” I didn’t understand what he meant. I was surrounded by death each and every day. “What do you mean? What misfortune is greater than having your entire town die before your eyes?” I asked him. He moved closer to me, his beak touching my muzzle. “You will encounter vast misfortune. You must brave it. Whatever happens, you must face whatever happens to you. You misfortune is great, but it will make you great. In time, you will understand.” He backed up and turned to walk away. “Wait! I don’t get it. What is going on?!” I called after him. He turned and stared back at me. I don’t know how, I couldn’t see his face, but somehow I knew…he had a look a pity on his face. The world slowly faced into darkness as he gazed at me… …I was being shaken. Somepony was shouting at me, “…up! Grell! You have to wake up! Father, he…Grell! Wake up!” I slowly opened my eyes as my mind began to take in the panic in this voice. “Hu? W-what’s wrong Lyric? Why are you waking me up so early?” I asked my sister. “It’s dad! He…he is paralyzed!” My eyes widened and I scrambled to my hooves. “What?! How?! He wasn’t even coughing…” I trotted past my sister and headed to my parent’s room. She followed, informing me in along the way. “Mother said right before they went to bed he began coughing. Father just shrugged it off as a minor ailment and went to bed.” I gritted my teeth. I couldn’t believe it. What was he thinking? He should have known better…Damn! As we reached the door to his room, I turned to my sister, “Lyric, stay out here. Under no circumstance enter this room unless I say it is ok. I’ll send mother out as well, keep her company. Be strong for her.” Her eyes got wide and started to tear up a bit. But she bit her lip and nodded slowly. I opened the door and stepped inside. What I saw was exactly as I expected. Father was paralyzed on his bed and mother was crying by his bedside. He was doing his best to console her. I walked over to her and placed my hoof on her shoulder. She knew what was going to happen. We all did. Father would be dead within a few hours. “Mother, go outside with Lyric for now. I will tend to father.” I spoke softly, trying to calm her down. “G-Gr-Grell…H-How could this happen? He…He will recover…right? He has just succumbed to exhaustion…right? Please…” She looked at me with pleading eyes wet with tears. She wanted lies. My mother who was usually such a strong mare looked so fragile at this moment. As if a mere touch would cause her to shatter. “I…I don’t know mother. You know how this goes. Only time will tell. But I will do what I can. So please, go with Lyric.” I lied to her; I had to get her out of the room. “It is alright dear; Grell is good at what he does, maybe even better than me. Go keep Lyric company.” Father tried his best to reassure mother, and finally she slowly exited the room. I looked at my father. Mixing emotions of anger and sorrow swam within me. I could hear mother and Lyric sobbing downstairs. “Dad…How…Why?” It was the only thing I could think to say. “Grell…I know. You must be…angry. We both know what happen when you go to bed with a cough. I guess…I don’t know. Perhaps it was the exhaustion. Perhaps I just forgot or pushed that thought from my mind. No. The truth is…I am tired, Grell. My friends are dead and my town…well the way things are heading…the entire town will die within a month. Even the Pegasi are dying because of The Plague. I suppose I am just tired of trying to be happy…trying to live through this. The things I have seen…the things WE have seen…I don’t know. I just gave up. I caught The Plague, why try to fight it?” His voice was weak and gloomy. Despite his current state, I found myself getting angry at him. “But what about mother and Lyric? What will happen to them once you are dead? Did you think of that?” He moved his eyes away from mine. “I don’t know…In the last few weeks I haven’t been much of a husband or a father. Work consumes my day and my mind. I feel I am more of a burden to them than anything else. Things will be better this way.” This made me even madder at him. “What?! Then what about me? The bodies are continuing to pile up, and with you gone I’ll have to take over all of the work!” I stared at him as he kept his gaze away from mine. After a few moments of silence, my rage had died out. “I’m sorry. I just…I can’t believe this is happening, dad. After all we have been through…For things to end like this…I’ll be right back, let me get some medications for you.” I walked out of the room without another word. My anger had gotten the best of me, at a time when my father needed me the most. I was ashamed of myself. I trotted to the clinic, trying my best to avoid the kitchen where mother and Lyric were at. I got the medicines from the clinic and returned to father. After mixing a few herbs and medicines together, I put the mixture into a syringe. “Here father, this is the same mixture we use before we amputate a limb, some of our strongest painkiller. I have increased the dosage enough to last for four hours, more than enough time.” I jabbed father with the syringe and injected the painkiller into him. At this point, it was the only thing I could do for him. He would feel no pain up until his death. “Thank you Grell. It is too bad we don’t have enough of this to go around.” I nodded to him. “How long have you been awake, dad?” I wanted to know how much time he had left. “I-I think it has been about an hour.” So, he had about an hour left before things got ugly. I suppose it is time. I left the room and returned with mother and Lyric. “Mother, Lyric. You have 45 minutes. I will be back by then. Do what you need to; I have to take care of some things.” They both stared at me, tears welling up in their eyes. I nodded to them, and then to father before stepping out the door and exiting the house. I had given them time to say good-bye before the bleeding and other horrible things happened to father. I didn’t want them to see him after that began to happen. But, I didn’t lie. I had something I needed to do. I would spend the next few hours at his side until he died, so I would be unable to collect the corpses for today. I still had some friends who were alive in the town. One such buck owed me a favor. I went to his house and asked him to collect the bodies for me, and informed him of my current situation. He thankfully agreed to help. I thanked him and returned home 30 minutes after I left. I gave them 45 minutes to make peace with what was going to happen. It was the most I thought I could allow. With the remaining 15 minutes I had, I readied the clinic to receive and deal with the bodies of this today. I then sat in the kitchen and waited for the time to pass. ===============~*~============= When I reentered the room, all three of them were crying and hugging each other. “I am sorry, but time is up. I need you two to leave and no come back into this room until I say. Go and preoccupy yourselves. I will stay with father till the end.” A new wave of tears began flowing from their eyes, and they said one final good-bye before exiting the room. “Grell…You don’t need to be here either. You don’t have to see this.” He was right, I did not have to. I knew the timing and could just as easily come back after he was dead. But...Just thinking about leaving my father alone to die filled me with grief. “I can’t do that. I won’t allow you to die alone. And besides, neither of us has seen the stages of The Plague manifest before. If nothing else, I can use this as a learning experience. Although, I would prefer to say I’m spending the last hours of my father’s life with him.” It was true; I could use it as a learning experience, but, if prefer to keep him company till the end. “Thank you, Grell,” is all that he said. I nodded and sat in silence for a few minutes. I couldn’t really think of anything to say. And I think father was preparing himself for the worst, in case the painkillers did not work properly. I finally broke the silence, asking him, “Dad, tell me about what the world was like before The Plague.” He moved his eyes to look at me curiously. “In case…I don’t survive to see a world without The Plague. I was only born shortly before it began, so I don’t remember much. I…I want to know.” He accepted this, and smiled at me. “Alright son. Before The Plague everything was so…peaceful. Carefree even. I remember back when I was but a foal and I would run around town with my friends playing all sorts of games. Sometimes we would even pull pranks on the adults. The world seemed brighter back then, compared to the gloom we live in now. I don’t know how to quite explain it, but it is almost as if nature is affected by The Plague as well. The colors and wonder I felt while looking at the world around me were vibrant. Now when I look around, all I feel is sadness. I don’t know if that is because of The Plague, or because of growing old, but I am certain things were happier back then. No one worried about if tomorrow they or their loved ones would be dead. Everyone was so content with their lives. The markets were booming and nothing was in short supply. Anything you wanted was at your hooves.” His eyes were sparkling, remember better times. I am glad I had asked him about this. “I remember the first time I saw your mother. I think I was about your age. You know that saying about love at first sight? I suppose that is what happened to me when I saw her. Her flawless white coat and curly red mane…She is still just as beautiful today as the day I met her. She was helping her mother with the shopping and I was running past with my friends. But when I saw her…I just stopped and stared for a few moments. I only snapped back to reality when one of my friends galloped back and bucked me firmly on the side. Every day after that, I made it my mission to go back to the market at that same time, hoping to catch a glimpse of her again. A few weeks later, she was alone and without her mother. I saw my chance and made my way up to her. I don’t remember what I said, or the short conversation we had at our first meeting, but whatever it was…I think that your mother fell in love with me then too.” Tears started to form in his eyes as he remembered his past. It pained me to see him this way, but I also felt this was helping him as well. “From that day forward we met each other often and would enjoy each other’s company. I remember this one day; your mother planned a picnic for us, food that she made herself. It was the very first time I tasted her cooking, and it made me fall that much deeper in love with her. After a couple of months, I finally asked her to marry me. As you can guess, she accepted. We were both so happy, so very happy.” He stifled back a cough and fought back his tears. His speech was getting slower, and his breathing was heavier now. “A month after I asked her to marry me, we had our ceremony. It was beautiful. Your mother had decided we should have it in a flower garden, and there were flowers everywhere. She looked…So very beautiful in her dress…So much so that I---I taste blood…I…I smell it too. And…” He was right. I could already tell that the bleeding stage was beginning. Tears ceased pouring from his eyes, and blood replaced them. I suppose you could say he was crying blood. His nose was bleeding, and I could see blood begin to dribble out of his mouth as he spoke. He had about an hour left. “Dad…Close your eyes. Continue your story, and remember the good times. Take your time.” Even if he couldn’t cry tears, my own eyes were shedding tears for him. “When I…saw your mother in her dress…I could help but blush. She was radiant. It was the happiest day…of our lives. Well…Until you children…were born. We bought a house…this house…and I opened this clinic. We had a perfect life…we loved each other…we only needed each other. It was a few months later…that your mother became pregnant with you. We were…so happy…soon, we would have a child…of our own. Sometime later, you were born…our first…and only son, Grell. I was so…proud. We raised you…as best we could. Things were going well. Our future looked…so promising, so very promising…until…The Plague began. Ponies started…to get sick. Horrible things began…to happen. I knew that I…couldn’t shield you from these…horrors forever. But this was too soon…” He began coughing. He had to pause numerous times due to this and had to compose his thoughts. His breathing was becoming shallow. I think his throat was beginning to close up. “We had not…planned to have another…child. But when your mother…became pregnant again…I kind of felt…hopeful. But sorrow was…mixed in with the hope. I did not want…to bring another child into this…horrible world. But who would I be…to deny life a chance? It wasn’t long…before our daughter, Lyric…was born. We were happy…but protective. We loved you children…so…so…very much. Worry was always on our minds…Would one of you…catch The Plague? What would…we do if it happened? I…we…were so happy…as years went by…and sickness did not touch our family…We still are…But I…I just…” His voice was coming out is rasps now. It was barely audible, but I heard every word. I refused to miss a single one. My father deserved someone to hear this. I placed my hoof on his. “I know father…I know.” But I don’t think he could hear me anymore. “I wish…I could have…seen you…and Lyric…marry somepony…have children…families…of your own…to have…a grandchild…one…last date…with Serenity…Grell…Grell I…I…love…” His voice broke off, and he said no more. “Father…I…I love you…too…” I leaned over him, his chest barely rising and falling, and kissed his horn. “I promise. No matter what...I’ll make you proud.” I leaned back and watched my father’s chest slowly stop moving. “I promise you….” ===============~*~============= When I rejoined mother and Lyric they were sitting solemnly at the kitchen table. They both looked up at my entrance and new tears began to flow from their eyes. “He is gone,” I told them, “and I’m sorry. I cannot let you see him.” I did not want them to see him as he was now. I wanted them to remember father as he had once been. “When you are ready, please go into town and do some shopping. I will clean things up here.” I didn’t want them to see him when I removed his body. And I also wanted to clean the room of any lingering blood. They nodded as I want into the clinic to see how many corpses I had to look over today, and give them an opportunity to leave. I couldn’t believe it. Today of all days, there were 227 corpses, more than any day in the previous few weeks. The Plague was not going to give me a break. It was going to try and tear me down like it did my father. But I refused to allow that to happen. I had to be strong now. Not just for myself, but for mother and Lyric too. For the entire town. For dad’s memory. I emptied the cart and then returned to the kitchen. Mother and Lyric had left. I worked fast, moving father’s body to the clinic and cleaning up the room. I made sure that there wasn’t a drop of blood left in the room before I finished. I then tended to father’s body, cleaning it of any blood exposed on his body. I had to make him presentable to mother and Lyric. And I had just finished tidying him up when they returned home. I called them into the clinic. “Mother, Lyric, I cleaned him up as best I could.” They looked at father’s body, growing colder every minute. “Would you two like to join me in…burning his body?” I would have loved to bury his body, but I knew it must be burned. However, I would be damned if I just tossed him on a pile of other ponies and burned him with them. No, I would give him his own pyre. Mother started to tear up, but nodded. Lyric glanced at mother before nodding as well. “Follow me then.” I floated father’s body up and began walking outside to the cart. “But Grell, don’t you have to tend to the other ponies?” Lyric asked me as she followed me outside. “Yea. But there are so many today, it won’t matter if I start later or not. Besides, father deserves to be burned alone.” I placed father on the cart and instructed mother and Lyric to follow behind as I pulled it. In this formation we made the trek to the graveyard. Once we arrived I quickly set about making the pyre using the left over wood from yesterday. I laid his body on the pyre and lit the fire, then backed away to join Lyric and my mother. Together the three of us watched the fire consume his body. Mother was crying and praying to the Stars, Lyric was looking at the fire with downcast eyes, and I looked on as I remembered the final story he told me about his past and the world before The Plague. We stood there, the three of us, watching Sawblade’s body be turned to ash by the flames of the pyre, until eventually the flames burned themselves out. ===============~*~============= I returned home, but mother insisted she stay for a while longer. Lyric stayed with her, attempting to comfort her. It was a good three hours after we normally started tending to the corpses. Without father the time it would take to do so would almost double. And with the large amount of bodies we have recently been dealing with, I would be lucky to get much sleep anymore. But this is necessary, I had to do it. The dead needed to be disposed of, and the Mourner was certainly not going to help…bastard. While this town dies, he lives comfortably in the castle. I tended to the bodies, all 227 of them. Cut…cut…stitch…stitch...cut…cut…stitch…stitch…So many times I had to slice open a pony, and so many times I had to stitch them back up. Sure, I had done this many times in the past…but never like this. Never this many at once. By the time I had finished, my magic had all but drained. I was exhausted, both mentally and physically. Mother and Lyric had both returned, began cooking, and offered me lunch, then dinner as it passed in turn. I turned both down. I did not have time to eat, and I really did not have the appetite. Mother said she would leave some carrots for me when I got hungry. I had finally finished, and took a 5 minute break. I needed to recharge my magic. I didn’t know if I could handle this, if thing continued as they are. If they did, I would have to burn the bodies of everyone in town, unless I caught The Plague before then. After listening to father’s story and going through this…I understood why he had given up hope…but I had promised him, and I wasn’t about to go back on that promise. I needed to finish this. I got up off the operating table I was lying on and began transferring the bodies onto the cart. The sun had already set, and it would be hours before I finished. I made the journey to the graveyard for the second time today, pulling the cart behind me. It was heavy without dad’s help. I dug the holes for those who were clean and buried them. I burned the rest. I don’t know when, but at some point while watching over the pyre till it burned out, I had fallen asleep. I was in a familiar white space, nothing around me except the pony standing before me, wearing a white cloak and a Mourner’s mask. As soon as I saw him, I got furious. “You! Why!? Why didn’t you tell me my father would die? I…I could have stopped it!” He just stared at me, silently watching. “I know misfortune now. Oh yes, I do. Now what? What happens now?! You caused his death, didn’t you!? For what purpose!? ANSWER ME!” He continued to stare, but slowly raised a hoof to his mask. He pulled off his mask and exposed his…nothing. He had no face, no head, nothing. The inside of his cloak where is head should have been was simply empty. “W-what are you?” My fury drained and was replaced shocked terror. “You do not know true misfortune. Not yet. But you will.” I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know misfortune? My father just died and I burned his body myself, how is that not misfortune? But somehow, I couldn’t say anything further to the empty Mourner. “Misfortune is coming for you. You must bear with it. Have courage.” He put his mask back on, turned away from me, and began to walk away. “And Grell…” “…Grell! Wake up. You shouldn’t be sleeping here. Come on Grell, wake up. Mother is worried.” My sister’s voice replaced the Mourner’s. I woke up and looked around me. My pyre had long since burned out and darkness was upon us, only kept at bay by Lyric’s lantern. “Lyric? What time is it?” I was fairly sure I knew already, based upon where the moon was at. “It’s a little past midnight. We should head home.” That sounded right. I nodded to her. “Sounds good. Jump in the cart, I’ll pull us back home.” She hopped in, and I began pulling us home. My body was exhausted, but I got us there. Once we neared the house, we were greeted by mother, standing outside with a lantern of her own. She galloped towards us as we approached. “Grell! I was so worried about you! After your father…I…” I think that she would have been crying, if she could. After all the tears of today, I am sure she was cried out. “Sorry mother, I fell asleep. This was more work than I thought it would be.” Lyric jumped down from the cart and joined mother’s side. “You two head to bed; I will put the cart away and plan to sleep right after.” Mother nodded and put a hoof around Lyric, guiding her back inside. I pulled the cart a bit further before unhooking myself from it. I immediately collapsed to the ground, exhaustion had returned. I lay there, on the cobblestone road, and thought about what tomorrow would bring. I would sleep for a few hours, wake up, begin collecting corpses, cut and stitch them up, and then bury and burn them. I would repeat this process each day. My body seemed to get weaker as I thought of this. I pushed myself up onto my hooves and began to groggily walk into my house and into my room. When I got near my bed, I fell upon it and seconds later, I was asleep. ===============~*~============= For the next week or so my life was the same exact thing day after day. I woke up shortly before sunrise and prepared the clinic to receive the bodies. I would then eat something and take some time to relax. When the Mourner began his speech, I would begin pulling the cart to collect the day’s bodies. Once they had all been collected I would return home and begin cutting them up and then stitching them in turn. This would take hours, and often the sun would be setting by the time I had finished. After finally checking all the bodies I would load them back into the cart and take them to the graveyard. I would then cut the wood needed for the pyre and dig the holes for the clean corpses. Then I buried the clean and burned the tainted. After cutting more wood while waiting for the fire to burn out, I would return home, pulling the cart behind me. Once home, I ate the food mother left out for me and promptly went to bed. It was a tedious and maddening process. My days were 21 hours long, meaning I only got 3 hours of sleep each night. My only reprieve was that the Mourner in my dreams had not returned. But, like father, I quickly became exhausted. Since I was now working alone, and I had no spare time, this meant that I had no time to tend to the normal ailments of the town ponies. Their health quickly deteriorated and some died from simple illness I could have prevented. It was an odd positive, since it meant fewer ponies died from The Plague. It also meant that I had more corpses to bury, which took longer than just burning them. I could slowly feel myself being driven insane. Something had to change, and I decided that “something” was my process. After that hellish week, I decided that I would cut out the discretions and looking over the bodies. Of course, this meant that I couldn’t tell which pony was infected and which was clean. Instead of burying anypony, I would instead burn all the dead, even those who were not infected. It wasn’t the best plan, but, this wasn’t the best of situations either. I needed more free time, more time to sleep, and most importantly, I need more time to tend to the remaining ponies in town. I had quickly lost an actual count of the remaining population, but I estimate our current population stands at around 600. We have gone from a booming city of around 20 thousand to a barely functioning society. Many important shops have closed down and the peddlers who used to come through weekly have ceased to show, if not because they died of The Plague, but because they feared to catch it from us. Father had witnessed his town and friends dying around him, and it helped drive him to his death. I was determined to save this town. But, as the Mourner said in my dream…I had even more misfortune to experience. ===============~*~============= After I had decided to burn all the corpses, I quickly got rid of my exhaustion. I was able to complete my work early in the morning, and then return home for lunch. After that I would open up the clinic and begin treating the citizens who were sick. Some just had slight ailments; a few of the elderly had pains that I gave them painkiller for. One buck came in with an infected wound he got from tending his fields two days ago. He was extremely thankful that I had reopened the clinic and I was more than happy to help. I had gotten though all my patients by mid-afternoon, and the rest of the day was mine. I decided to go back to the graveyard and ready the pyre for tomorrow. It would save me even more time if I began to get a stockpile of wood going, instead of having to cut new wood each day. Doing this now was somewhat…relaxing. I wasn’t under a time limit and I could take my time. I leisurely cut enough for about another week, built the pyre I would use tomorrow. By this time the sun was beginning to set. I wanted to make it home for mother’s dinner tonight, for the first time in a week, so I returned home. I was about a block from our house when I saw mother pacing around outside. She looked…worried. I quickened my pace and called out to her. “Grell! Quickly, come inside. It’s Lyric…She…” My eyes widened and I ran inside and to Lyric’s room. I was just outside her door and about to open it when I hear it. Coughing. I stopped dead, staring at the door. Mother had caught up to me and was also looking at the door, tears beginning to form in her eyes. I steeled myself as I opened the door and entered Lyric’s room. “Hey sis…how are you feeling?” The Plague started with just a cough. Nothing else, it didn’t make you feel sluggish, icky, your throat wouldn’t hurt, nothing like that. It wasn’t like a normal sickness. I hoped, prayed she said she had another symptom. Please, Lyric…Say you’re feeling awful. Please! “I don’t know Grell…I feel…fine. I just got this cough. That is the first symptom of The Plague, coughing, right? That’s why mom is so worried, right? But, if I’m feeling so well, I can’t have The Plague…right?” Right sis, you can’t have The Plague…is what I wanted to tell her. I tried to put on a brave face and not betray what was really happening. I smiled at her. “Right. I’ll go calm mother down.” I turned and put a hoof around mother, guiding her out of the room and shutting the door behind us. I took her into the kitchen which was out of earshot of Lyric’s room. After she had sat down she immediately asked me, “Will she be alright?” I let out a sigh and looked down at the table. “Mother…she feels fine and only has a cough. Father had told you about The Plague symptoms, right? Well, Lyric has it. As much as I don’t want to believe it myself, it is staring me in the face. I will do all I can for her.” Mother just stared silently at me for a few moments as tears built up in her eyes. She too looked down at the table before she started crying. “Grell…why is this happening to us? First your father, and now Lyric? I…I’m not sure how much more of this I can take…” I tried to comfort her. “I don’t know mother…everypony else is going through the same. It was only a matter of time…the way things are going. But trust me, Lyric won’t feel any pain.” I mostly didn’t want her cries to carry and Lyric to overhear. She had calmed down slightly, but was still crying. “But Lyric…my little pony…I never imagined I would…have to witness her…death. I thought…maybe I would have to…see Sawblade…die…someday. But even that was…too soon…” She was still consumed with sadness. Who could blame her? “I know mother. No parent should have to see their foal or filly die before them. But you need to be strong. We have to tell Lyric. Dry your tears, and when you’re ready, let’s go.” Mother nodded and began to get herself under control. “Ok Grell. I think…I’m ready.” I nodded to her and led the way to Lyric’s room. When we reached her door, I looked back at mother. She nodded slowly to me, and I opened the door. “Hey Lyric, any change?” I asked, giving her a slight smile. Mother sat on one side of her bed and I sat on the other. “Nope! I still feel ok. Once this cough is gone, I’ll ready to help mother again!” I saw mother tense up and then smile at Lyric. She was doing her best not to cry. “That’s…good to hear sis. But…I uh…I…” I wasn’t sure how to continue. How could I tell my little sister that she was going to die? “Sis…The first symptom of The Plague is coughing, yes. But there is more to it than that. That is the only thing that determines the onset of The Plague. If you are feeling sick, it could be something else. But, if you feel fine and are only coughing…the chances are you…have The Plague. So sis…You’re…not going to be alright.” Her eyes widened for a moment before they started to tear up. “Oh…” It was all she could say. She knew that tomorrow she was going to die. ===============~*~============= “Lyric, if there is anything that you want, anything you want to do before you go to sleep tonight, I will make it happen.” It was the least I could do for her. Tomorrow, she would be unable to move from her bed when she awoke. “I…I guess if I could do anything one last time…I want to go out and see the stars. And…help mother make carrot soup one last time.” I was surprised how composed she was. After a few minutes of crying, she had settled down. “Sounds good, we can do both. Which do you want to do first?” I was glad we could grant Lyric her last wishes. But before Lyric could answer my question, mother chimed in, “We should start cooking first. The later it gets, the darker it will be, and the more stars we will be able to see.” Mother had cried just as much, if not more, than Lyric did. But now, she was smiling sweetly at Lyric. “You’re so smart mother!” Lyric said to Serenity as she hugged her tightly. I followed them to the kitchen and sat at the table, watching them cook together…for the last time. If I didn’t know any better I’d think it were just another day. They were laughing and having fun as they cooked. I couldn’t help but smile at them. Even with death looming on the horizon this moment gave me hope for the future. It wasn’t long before the soup was done and we all sat down together to eat. Even though it was the same soup we had eaten on countless occasions, it was the most delicious meal I have ever eaten. We finished eating and cleaned the dishes before starting on Lyric’s next wish. Mother got a large blanket while Lyric and I waited near the door. “Lyric, how can you be so…calm? Knowing that you’re going to…” I couldn’t finish my thought. I couldn’t bring myself to be that blunt with her. If I were in her position, I’m not sure I could deal with it. “Once I die, I get to see father again. And even though I am leaving you and mother, I know that once day, eventually we will all be reunited again.” Of course. Lyric had always been a follower of the Stars. I refused to believe in the Stars. If they really were gods, they would have stopped The Plague, wouldn’t they? Mother soon returned to us with the blanket and we left the house. We headed for a hill on the outskirt of town, a good place to see the stars. Mother was right; since it was darker there were many more stars in the sky. We picked a spot to lay down the blanket and then laid side-by-side on our backs, gazing up at the night sky. It was beautiful. For hours we laid there just looking at the sky, pointing out groups of stars that made objects. After a while, Lyric stood up and began singing a song she thought up herself. She often sung it at night as she gazed at the stars. The Stars above look down on me, Giving me a reason to believe. Even though we are so small, The Stars shine down upon us all. While they shine every night, If I close my eyes real tight, I quickly begin to think, Will they remain if I blink? It was a beautiful song, and I felt that it fit her perfectly. As she sang, mother and I watched her. She was shining in the light of the moon, and she almost seemed otherworldly. This night, more than any other helped me to realize, that there was still beauty and goodness in this world. I would never forget that night. ===============~*~============= The next morning Lyric was paralyzed, as I had expected. She had been awake for an hour before I had woken up. I quickly went to the clinic and made the extreme painkiller I had made for dad, and then gave it to Lyric. Mother talked with her until the gruesome part was nearing, while I was out collecting the dead. I returned shortly before that happened. “Mother, you should go now. Things are about to get…bad. I’ll stay by her side.” She looked at me for a moment, before saying, “No. I wasn’t there for Sawblade, but I will be here for Lyric.” I was about to argue with her, but decided against it, and just nodded. “Lyric, is there anything you want to talk about?” I decided to offer her the same escape I gave to dad. “Could you…tell me what’s going to happen, Grell?” I flinched slightly. “You mean…before you die?” She nodded. I took in a deep breath. “In a few moments you will start to bleed. But, it won’t be like how you normally bleed from a small cut or something. You will bleed from your eyes, nose, and mouth. You will taste the blood, smell the blood, and your vision will be tinted red because of it. It is a slow but continual bleeding and it will last for an hour.” She closed her eyes as I told her this, seeming to imagine it happening to her. Mother was silently crying and holding onto one of Lyric’s hooves. “After that your throat will begin to get tighter, until eventually you will be unable to breathe. Hopefully, you will die before that though. Around the same time, your organs will begin to fail and eventually burst. This will be what ends up killing you.” Lyric opened her eyes, which had started to tear up. “Thank you, Grell.” I nodded to her. Shortly after my explanation, it started to happen. I sat there, holding one of her hooves just like mother was. She had tried to keep her eyes open, despite the blood, but was eventually force to shut them. Lyric eventually asked mother how she and father had met. It was the same exact story father had told me before he died. I thought he might have stretched the truth a bit, but mother recited it almost word for word. The story took up most of the time she had remaining, and shortly after mother and finished telling it, Lyric passed away. Mother started sobbing over Lyric’s body and I went over to her and wrapped an arm around her in an attempt to comfort her once more. After a few minutes I spoke up, “Mother, I am going to clean up Lyric and her room now. Then I need to deal with the other dead for today.” I wanted to give Lyric her own pyre, just like father. But mother spoke up before I could do anything. “No, Grell. I will clean up Lyric and her room. You tend to the other dead for now. Once you return, we will tend to Lyric.” I nodded her and began to walk out. I had made it about half way into the next room when I heard something. At first, I thought I was hearing things. But, I had to make sure. I turned and walked back towards Lyric’s room. I heard it again, a cough. My pace slowed to a crawl and I reentered Lyric’s room and turned to slowly look at mother. “Grell…I…*cough*” I hadn’t been hearing things. I really…REALLY wish I had been. Mother had started to cough. “Mother…no…” I didn’t know what else to say. After a short while, we stuck to our original plan. I went to tend to the dead and mother stayed to clean Lyric’s body. As I was taking the dead to the graveyard I couldn’t help but be swept away by sorrow. A week ago, father died. Just today, Lyric died. And tomorrow…mother would die. Would I start coughing soon, too? Was this the misfortune I was destined to have? To watch everyone I loved die, and then die myself, leaving the town helpless? DAMN! Why was this happening…? I was in deep thought as I started the pyre, watched it burn, and made a pyre for Lyric. I returned shortly after and entered the clinic. Lyric’s body was cleaned and on the operating table. I wondered if mother was still cleaning her room. I headed into the main part of the house and began walking through the kitchen. I stopped dead. In the kitchen, hanging from the rafters…was mother. She was hanging by her neck, a rope tied around it. I…I didn’t understand it. I felt my legs drop out from under me. I just stared at my mother, hanging by her neck, the life having been strangled out of her. I didn’t want to believe it. But no matter what I did, I didn’t wake up. I wasn’t dreaming. When I finally composed myself, I saw a note lying on the table. It was in mother’s writing. I levitated it in front of me as I read it: Grell, I don’t know what I am doing. This seems…foolish, but…I know I don’t want what happened to your father and Lyric to happen to me. I guess I am just scared. Even though you can make it painless, just imagining it happening…I…I don’t want that. Losing your father was hard on me, to say the least. But after losing Lyric as well…I no longer wanted to exist in this world. But now, knowing that I am going to die, to leave this world, because of the same thing that took them from me…I won’t allow it to do that. It won’t take me too. I am sorry, Grell. I shouldn’t be putting you though this. You are still so young, but you are wise beyond your years. I have faith you will do great things, and it pains me that neither me nor your father will witness what you do. I love you, I always will. I cannot put into words how sorry I am for leaving you alone in a world like this. I am sorry I was selfish in what I am about to do. Please, remember me as I was before things went bad. I love you, Serenity I laid the note back down on the table as tears poured from my eyes. “I am sorry mother. If only I was better…I could have cured The Plague before this happened…” I had promised father that I would make him proud, and I still will. But now, I knew what I would do. I would cure The Plague, the thing that destroyed our family, and the lives of many others. I used my magic and let mother down from the rope. I carried her into the operating room and laid her on the table next to Lyric. I wasn’t a follower of the Stars like the rest of my family, but as I looked at the bodies of my last two family members, I said a prayer for them. I returned to the graveyard for the second time that day, with one extra body than I was expecting. And even though mother had hung herself before The Plague could run its course, it still infected her body. I placed them on the pyre I made for Lyric. I placed them facing to each other, and hoof in hoof. I looked them over before lighting the pyre. ===============~*~============= It was the afternoon after both Lyric and mother died. I had returned to my empty house after burning their bodies. I slept, woke up the next day, collected and burned the bodies of the day. I was returning home and nearing my house when I spotted the Mourner of the town standing around outside. He saw me approaching and turned toward me. “You there. You are Grell, are you not? The pony who now deals with the dead?” he started questioning me as soon as I was within earshot. “Yes, I am. Why?” What did the Mourner want from me? Was he finally here to help? “It has come to my attention that you have not been checking the bodies for The Plague before burning them. You elect to burn all the bodies instead of burying those who are clean. Surely you must know that burying the dead is the highest of respect in the eyes of the Stars. Burning is only a necessity. Cease this at once.” Of course. A lecture from a follower of the Stars. “Look, after my father died, as the number of dead continued to rise, I was overwhelmed. And since YOU elect not to help us, it is all I can do. Would you prefer I let the sick and injured go untended because I am too busy cutting up and burying the dead?” He walked up closer to me. “Know your place, commoner. Tend to the dead properly, or I will have your head.” I was about to say more to him, but he turned and promptly walked away. That was it. I refused to let the Mourner get away with this. I decided to attempt to get an audience with Count Crescent. I headed straight to the castle and talked my way inside. The inside of the castle was richly furnished and showed no sign of The Plague. While his subjects were suffering the count was living it up safely in his castle. And the Mourner was no better. But surely the count would see things my way and force the Mourner to either back off, or to help me. Something had to go my way for once. The guards had instructed me to wait outside the throne room for the count to be ready. I had been sitting there for three hours. How long did it take the count to get ready for an audience with the only doctor in town? Surely I was worthy of some hasty attention? But apparently not. I sat there just thinking things over. I think our town now had…400 ponies who still lived. Each day’s death count was slowly getting smaller. I suppose that could be attributed to the lack of population to infect. I was deep in thought when I caught a glimpse of movement in front of me. I looked up to see a young mare who was finely dressed walking past me. She looked familiar. I just couldn’t quite place my hoof on where I had seen her before. But after a few seconds of thought, it came to me. “Hey! You’re…you’re Waning, right?” I couldn’t believe my eyes. If I was right, this mare was Count Crescent’s daughter, the one who had supposedly died from The Plague. She turned, startled, to look at me. “Hu? A commoner? Wait, you are the doctor of the town, are you not?” I ignored her question. “Your name is Waning, isn’t it?” I asked her a bit more harshly. “Yes, it is. No need to be rude.” I was right. Then, that would mean that the Mourner and the count had lied, waning had not died. Liars. He had not experienced loss like we had. His life was still perfect. I got up and walked away from Waning. I was going home. The count wasn’t going to help me. “Doctor, where are you going? Are all commoners this rude? Hey!” I ignored her. She was no better than them, talking down to me, calling me a commoner. I would find no help at this castle. ===============~*~============= When I got home, I was furious. The count that was supposed to protect us, love us, and sympathized with us was nothing more than a self-important noble. He would rather watch all of us die from the safety of his castle and lie about feeling The Plague’s effects instead of lifting a hoof to help us, his own people! My anger was seething and I took it out on my house, bucking tables, chairs, and shelves. By the time I had worn myself out, the inside of my house looked like many of the abandoned houses in town. Once I had finished with destroying my own abode, I turned the kitchen table right side up again and floated a chair over to it, and plopped down at the table. I located a bottle of alcohol I hadn’t broken and floated it over to me, opening it and drinking from it deeply. I had never really drunk much before, but by the time I went to bed tonight, I would drink four bottles in a row. I would have drunk more but I had broken the rest of the alcohol in my rage earlier. So I sat there, with four bottles in front of me, just slowly drinking down bottle after bottle while staring at the table. I had never understood why other ponies drank so much before, but now after my family is gone and I learned the count is nothing but a liar, I understood it now. There is only so much a pony can deal with and the alcohol helps to numb your senses and help you to forget. And I needed to forget. After going through all the alcohol I wondered wobbly to my room. I had nothing left to do, no bodies to deal with, no patients to mend, no family to talk to…and no more alcohol. All I could do now was sleep and hope tomorrow brought something different, something better…maybe more alcohol. My world was now filled with misfortune, and I dared that faceless Mourner to show his…facelessness in my dream tonight, I would buck him right in his mask’s beak. I fell asleep that night with thoughts of such things floating around my mind. But I did not meet him in my dream that night; in fact I had no dreams at all, at least no dreams that I could remember. My sleep seemed to last the blink of an eye.