//------------------------------// // May 30th, 2015 // Story: Perils of a Merpony: A Ponies after People Tale // by kitten_girl86 //------------------------------// Dear Journal, I've spent the last couple of days doing a lot of things... and learning a few too! Second full day, I used my sewing machine to sew a bunch of coffee filters together; big enough to fit over the barrel openings. Then I positioned the empty ones below my neighbor's second story deck. I used the rope and some anchor points to raise the full barrels up the stairs and rolled them to the edge of the deck, kicking (bucking?) out the railing. I then breached the plugs and let the dirty oil spill down into the strainers. I had found some large plastic pipes that fit exactly over the barrels to use as funnels on top and collect the dirty before it strains out. The original experiment was small beakers so I had to upscale the process. I did this first thing on the 26th because I knew how slow it was going to be. Later that same day, I took inventory of what I salvaged and organized the food coolers into each of the produces. I emptied out my freezer of any and all meats that might have been left there and I chucked them out into a yard across Lynwood Drive, to keep the dogs away ( I kept and cooked up a whole T-bone steak for Raea; even just the smell made me ill). I did see the pack of dogs I rescued yesterday go down my street. The pack leader (German Sheppard I'm naming Butch), smelled the front porch, looked me in the eyes and barked at the pack to keep clear. Raea “waved” from the front window towards the house where we had left the meat; Butch seemed to nod before leading them away. The following day, the 27th, I discovered the most amazing thing... I'm not just a pony. I'm a MERpony! I discovered it when I woke to find the weather really nice and warm; I decided to make use of a neighbor's swimming pool. The moment I canon-balled into the pool, a white light over took me and my back end turned into a fish tail! It was incredible!! I secretly loved mermaids as a human but never expected that to happen! More surprise came when I got out of the pool and used my towel to dry off. When I watched myself return to four legs, a little flash of light appeared on my butt and there I saw this tattoo of two mane-matching swirls and a black pearl. When I jumped back into the pool to turn merpony again, the tattoo changed a little: the colors swapped sides and the black pearl turned white! Raea loved to chase me in the water after that. We actually took turns jumping off the diving board. LOL That dog appears to be getting smarter and I'm not sure what to make of it. All wild animals are showing similar smarts, like in the park where I took Raea for walks. Birds, squirrels, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons and even some other dogs & cats would approach us to see if we had any food. Sometimes I’d carry a large bag of shell peanuts to break open but I made it clear that I would not always do that and that they’d have to fend for themselves as well. At one point I had begun to wonder if this had reached the farm animals too. In the meantime, I had acquired a diesel-powered pickup truck from a nearby house and continued to travel the city, looking for others like me. As well, I drove out to Burford’s archery store to stock up on more crossbow pieces, accessories, replacement parts and arrows. Archery had been another pastime of mine but when human, I had used a recurve bow. Now I had the options to go elsewhere. I also got a few rifles and shot guns with all the ammo I could grab, using the same archery release rig to fire them with my hoof. I debated going any further but decided against it. Instead, I went to St George and Paris to check there but found not a soul besides the escaped pets and animals from the local zoo. The only useful stops I made were the grocery stores for more water and food. The truck is a heavy-duty with a good trailer hitch on it in case I find some tanker trucks of diesel. With all the siphoning I've been doing, I can tell the difference between the two fuels just by the smell, color, and sadly taste. :P I also did some DIY mechanic work on the school bus, as it was big enough and ran on diesel. I used a wrench and removed all of the passenger seats except the one directly behind the driver (Raea’s favorite spot). I was able to jury-rig the solar panels up on my roof to run a few things while I built a shelter outside for the generator. I had to cut down a couple of trees in the surrounding area to get enough sun to my roof but it was worth the effort of the gas chainsaw I found in neighbor's garage. Figured the fuel would go bad eventually anyways so might as well make use it. Raea was smart enough to stay inside the house while I cut down the offending trees. I have a wood burning stove in my living room so I cut up those trees and stored them against the wall in the dining room. I'm always thinking ahead... wood burning stove was pure luck, and natural gas scares me. On the 28th, I went to my parent’s house. Their two cats had already eaten all of the food they could and then scratched their way out of a window. I could not help wishing them good luck in this new world. I found nothing else in the house besides a half case of water, which I left behind. I also left a note, sealed in plastic for in case either of my parents returned. I included a sketch of land pony me just lest they came back soon and went looking for me. The 29th, I had fallen into a depression about people I had lost and what I lost.... my parents, friends, co-workers; I lost internet, all TV, merely being human; power had finally gone out the previous day but my generator & solar panels kept the few things going. I did not go outside; I did not take Raea for her walk in the park; I did not drive to salvage or search for anyone; and then still not hearing anything but static on my set up of radios was also not inspiring. Today, I woke up feeling much better. I also woke with a plan. I was not going to stay here in Brantford. I am going to pack up the pickup truck (after finding a decent RV trailer) and I'm going to drive to the Atlantic Ocean. A merpony belongs in the ocean. I'm not sure what I’ll do with Raea when I reach the ocean but I’ll figure it out when I get there. I have a lot of organizing to do.