Dear Journal,
It’s a little earlier than when I usually record these. I’m alone in the truck, figure I might as well pass the time and get this stuff out of the way now. After last night, I’m getting tired and it isn’t even full dark yet. I know when we stop I’m going to want to drop dead and not have the energy left to do any journal-writing.
Satellite communications project is cancelled. Joseph added the office to our network as another node, I figure even if we can’t do the call thing he should at least be able to finish whatever configuration crap he was trying to do remotely. He agrees, though he doesn’t like it.
At a time like this, it seemed even stupider than normal to separate from our small group. The caravan didn’t get near the hospital, so Oliver never felt how… awful… being near it was. We couldn’t move him to see just how important this situation was. He insisted on the drugs, refusing to leave them behind. So Joseph went to help him load up a truck, while Huan and I did the hoof-handicap conversion. Okay, Huan watched my back while I did the hardware stuff, but you get the idea.
Amazing how fast a determined unicorn can load a truck. Joseph’s been getting better at his levitation; he lifted whole shrink-wrapped pallets like they were cardboard boxes on moving day. Filled the truck with contents of the hospital freezer, or at least the things Oliver determined were most important. I only helped with the last part of that process. Wasn’t as hard as it sounds, the hospital had such a great loading dock.
Naturally Oliver wanted to be the one to transport the drugs, felt like nobody but him could appreciate their value and drive with “appropriate care.” Unfortunately for him, I can drive a semi (much better than I could a month ago) and he can’t. Sorry, no time for training. No time to cater to your eccentricity when my friends are in danger.
Well, they might not be in danger. Maybe not. I feel awful leaving Cloudy Skies alone. We ought to face danger together, the same way we’ve been doing all this month. She’s too delicate to be alone, with only a recently rescued stranger. Maybe Moriah’s a great pony, just the kind of strong-willed mare our group needs.
But she’s not right now. Right now she’s injured and can barely walk. Sky needs me… and even Joseph. Moriah probably needs a real doctor, and now we’ve finally got one.
I’m starting to think being a little eccentric was also somehow the determining factor for being left behind. Left behind. Like that movie, only it’s not something I’m laughing at from the theater and there’s no god in sight. Interesting thought, though. What if the rapture crazy people on street corners were yelling about has come at least? Maybe it didn’t come exactly the way we thought it did; no Gog and Magog, no mark of the beast or any of that other insane stuff. Were the righteous caught up to meet God at his coming or were they all the wicked?
First magic, now religion. Next thing you know, I’ll be praying to a tribal spirit and pouring blood on a cactus. Blood for the blood god. Pony for the pone god.
No, no. Recent developments don’t change anything. Those airships weren’t divine, and they (absolutely) weren’t magic. They were iron and copper and steel. Blood? Not sure about the blood. Never saw a face. Never saw anything humanoid, or equinoid for that matter. No idea what was inside.
Vehicle looked like it was built to hold humans, but that doesn’t prove anything. Everything we drive was built to hold humans too, so it feels super roomy and spacious even when we know it shouldn’t. I bet we could save a fortune staying in the cheapest of cheap motels, cram a dozen ponies all in one room. I wish we had a dozen ponies to cram in one room
Sky and the cows arrived safely in that old farm, and she managed to get power to the well pumps somehow. Whatever. Once they got some water, they turned everything off again. Live electrical signals would be a beacon for those… people. What if they turn around and come upon the caravan driving down the highway? There’s nowhere to hide here, and even if we turn everything off… there are very few vehicles on the side of the road, and so many stretches of highway where there aren’t towns or anywhere to hide.
Just because something feels strange doesn’t mean it’s dangerous. It might, or it might not. Guess we’ll find out. There’s no way they could have hidden everything in the base in time. Sky says she didn’t turn off anything; the radio is still transmitting, the water generators are still water generating… there won’t be any mistaking that building for anything other than the home of living ponies. Now we see just what kind of ponies these are.
Looks like Oliver is moving to pull off. I’m feeling kinda tired myself, so that’s probably for the best. A little cramped in that RV: too many stallions. I think if Joseph pesters me again I’ll just sleep on the couch. Whatever.
Yeah, I’ll sleep in the buff in front of basically a total stranger. Yeah, I know it’s weird. It’s Sky’s fault, she’s the one who suggested I start at nighttime. Blame her if human culture goes extinct. Guess that’s better than all of us going extinct with it.
—A
July 6, 2015
Dear Journal,
Made it to Bakersfield. Sky said the planes went into the city and haven’t left. We’re going to stay here, hiding until they leave. She’ll call us as soon as it’s safe.
Good thing there’s so much diesel to scavenge. This trip would be really hard when all the fuel goes bad.
—Pone-A
July 7, 2015
[This entry is not typed, but written in slowly-improving handwriting.]
Dear Journal,
This waiting is downright infuriating! I don’t understand why the stupid aliens or soldiers or ponies or whoever they are can’t get the move on in Los Angles and let us come home.
We’re calling back to Sky every hour or so, without difficulty. Thank god Joseph transferred all the calling-related stuff to the office in Sacramento. Otherwise if (when, let’s be real) these soldiers found our base they would know what we were doing with the satellite phones. Seems like an organization with enough power to have a fleet of airships after everybody disappears probably has the resources to overhear (or shut down) our satellite phones.
Joseph has an interesting system in place to keep the phones working as long as possible: the phone shuts down automatically after five minutes on the line. We want to minimize system use, and that seems like a good way. He said before we left he managed to put the whole system into some kind of maintenance mode, which should make all calls free to anyone with a phone AND direct any calls to the operator to his master phone instead of wherever it would’ve gone.
We can only hope somebody thinks of using the system that way. How many people even know satelite phones are still a thing? I wasn’t on the list until Joseph told me. Damn unicorn and your smarts. Oliver is smart too, but he doesn’t cheat. He has to use his mouth like any pony else would.
I wonder if there’s some way to go back to the farm we didn’t think of. It isn’t like Sky ever wrote it down. She led me there from memory the one time we went, and there was no reason to ever expect we would be going back. I hope the dogs don’t tell them.
Is that something dogs could do?
Not Huan, he’s my buddy. He’s slept with me these last few days, and I’d rather have him in bed with me than either of the stallions (shiver). No safer way to sleep than with a gigantic animal who won’t hesitate to tear anyone apart who wants to hurt you. I’ve seen him do it; you don’t mess with a dog this size and not expect consequences. Am I warning anyone in particular? Not really. Just want every pony to know.
They can’t hear me. I’m not actually talking out loud. Not that I think the doctor would. It’s nice to have someone to talk to who can hold a normal conversation. Someone who doesn’t have to be so insufferably smug about their stupid horn and all its stupid magic.
You see that, Joseph! Look at Oliver! He’s a doctor! He’s good with plants, and he’s got an awesome voice! You only wish you could do all that with your horn, and you cheat!
I’d never thought anything would make me eat plants, but Oliver’s showing me how stupid I’ve been. I’ve been pretty open with how disgusting and primitive I think it is, and he’s been pretty sensitive. “We’ll just have to find the ones that taste too good not to eat then.” Why do you have to be so right?
Sky’s not going to let me live it down if she sees me eat a single flower. God, I don’t even care. Actually, I welcome it. Let her give me as hard a time as she wants so long as that means I get to see her again. Don’t find her, invader-people! Take me, if you have to take a pony. I’ll volunteer. Let the colony go on without me.
Okay, maybe not. Realistically, it’ll have some advanced technology and the best milk and eggs but absolutely nothing else if I’m not around. Maybe Oliver would be enough to keep every pony fed. I don’t know. Guess we’ll see when we get back there and we learn if what happened at the hospital was a fluke or if it’s something he can somehow replicate.
You know what else would be convenient right now? If Sky could fly. A flying pony, like the ones I saw when I saw that vision, could easily hide in the wild if the airplanes started moving. Way better than a truck full of cattle, anyway.
I wonder what they’re all eating in that deserted farm. Probably hay. There was tons of it (not that we used any). I wonder if horses can eat hay. Pretty sure real ones can. Pretty sure that wouldn’t taste as good as the herbs Oliver carefully selects for his artisan “salads.”
Now that’ll be neat. Put those two together on a meal. Bet it’ll be the best food has seen since real people. I’d probably even try hay and oats if both of them agreed it was the tastiest way to cook… whatever.
Hey, that’s something to ask! Maybe Oliver can do something about the way I can’t stomach meat anymore. Maybe there’s a spice I can use to cover up the nasty. I don’t think Sky would let me turn one of the herd into top sirloin, but there are still cans of meat the world over. I’m craving a chicken sandwich something fierce.
Please be okay, Sky. Don’t be discovered. You and that hurt unicorn just lie low until we can all be together again.
We’ll be the best of friends.
—Lonely Day (without Sky)
Well now. Not "either of the other stallions," "either of the stallions." That's probably going to be as close to confirmation as were going to get.
In any case, I'm really not sure what to think of the HPI. Yes, they're creepy, but aside from the innate wrongness of their nonmagical nature, they haven't done anything wrong. It remains to be seen what they do. We don't exactly have an unbiased appraisal of them or their actions.
A is getting more and more manic as the story progresses. And frankly, at this point, he's just racist against unicorns.
If the helicopters and everything were the work of some antagonist of MLP, whether it be Discord or Nightmare Moon, they'd have to use some form of magic to control them.
The way things are going I'm suspecting a rogue AI, untethered from human masters to keep it from gaining sapience. That's why there's absolutely no form of magic inside of it. It's pure technology.
uh oh, Lonely Day is starting to become more ponylike. Using his pony name more, and going without clothes? Totally more ponylike than a few chapters ago.
Also, good chapter like usual author! Keeps me on the edge of my seat.
6110571
It would be interesting if they turn out to be 'just' humans, given the whole 'ponies can barely look at them' thing.
That would put a hurdle in cooperation, alright. Let alone if that 'no magic' stuff turns out to be some sort of artificial protection to keep them human slash from disappearing in a puff of logic.
They could probably find a map somewhere to find an alternate route to the farm, without having to go through the city.
And damn, sounds like Lonely Day's got their eye on somedoctor.
Awesome voice, eh? All the excuse I need to start shipping it. (Mostly joking, but hey, if repopulating needs to eventually be on the table, might as well go for the stallion with the more appealing traits.)
Huan looks adorable.
Also If they really wanted, they could easily find them using their satellite phones. Even when they shutdown after five minutes of use it still would be give them enough time to close in on them in a day or two.
The Lonely Sky ship is sailing.
Awwww, he's a real sweetheart.
I have a feeling that their homebase is getting ransacked atm.
And that picture just goes to show how viciously adorable Huan is. I think he's a Fremen because does blue eyes of his are so shiny!
Yup, segregation at it's finest, the Unicorn and Earth getting a little RAR at one another, scary.
Well, it's really only A that thinks this but he is really an influencing member of the team, he's the one who set up most of the mechanical means, established a working relationship among everypony, none of them would have met one another if it hadn't been for him, he's pretty much the guy who gets all these socially malnourished ponies together.
Now question you would probably ask me is why I don't complain about the Doc and his stubborn attitude with the drugs, well, suffice to say his concerns are a lot more understandable, I mean empathy beside, a normal person/pony would worry about themselves and work towards making sure they are in a survivable situation, Sky wanted to make a major detour out of town, to somehow herd a group of animals onto trucks, that may or may have not been operational, and somehow build all the facilities for them, lets forget that animal telepathy connection for a second and realize how damn difficult and time wasting that would be if they didn't have this weird connection with animals.
They would likely only have a quarter of them all, while the others didn't budge from their respective places, and the chickens would be everywhere.
Now Oliver is a much more respectable pony with his opinions, medical drugs and other important things from the hospital need to be treated properly, they couldn't be left to waste away, and all it took was loading them onto a truck in order to transport them, and that's that.
Sky is quickly becoming my least favorite character, dude? Seriously just make the crippled Unicorn your new love interest, because Cloudy... is not on your forecast for the Day.
YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!
orig13.deviantart.net/2371/f/2015/085/a/d/poison_joker_deal_with_it_by_wingweaver7-d8n73g9.png
I don't know what to think about A's gender any more.
You know, when I first saw I didn't think much of it. Buthe I still put it on my read later list. Then I started to read this and found it to be an extremely compelling story.
Makes me glad I gave it a chance.
(emphasis mine)
Can't tell if typo, "A" still showing his/her/its denial, or massive foreshadowing (my guess is "denial").
Man, ADay's got it bad now. Not to mention going native.
Huan looks like one of the Five Nights at Freddy's bots.
According to Starscribe, people are still thinking I'm not the one drawing these things and want commissions from our dear author.
ANYWAYS, here's Doctor Pone.
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I this the movie your talking about???
If Day is a mare, it would stand to reason she wouldn't mind (and maybe even enjoy) sleeping with guys (assuming she's straight). That's just one more reason I think the narrator is a stallion. No self respecting man would be comfortable sleeping with other dudes.
It looks like the narrator is experimenting with new ways to sign his journal entries. If only he'd sign his real first name for once.
6111955 he has all ready admitted to being a colt
Pony for the pone god!
Aww Day loves Sky.
6111955 all I have to say to the "sleeping with other guys" is Basic Training. 40+ guys in 1 room, no privacy, 1 restroom, 1 open shower.
Your response is unnecessary. Just imputing my thoughts.
6111955 I've slept with guys before, and I'm straight (mostly)
6112312
Maybe That's true, but Day was an auto machanic, not a military veteran. It doesn't really apply to him.
Lucky is shipping Day with Sky more than ever.
also, I'm getting changeling vibes from these new peeps.
must be because the whole thing about the flying in a huge group.
Also Day is not only eating plants, but thinking about eatng hay!
I wonder how long until their world has hay burgers.
I'd laugh my flank off if Sky was the one to invent them in this.
She is the cook afterall.
6110719
6112171
Yes, all aboard the SS Lonely Sky! (why must I ship everything?)
6111175
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Flutters thinks animals are important, and like Fluttershy, Cloudy is awesome, so stfu.
6111723 That's freaking awesome
6112496
Really? It's Fluttershy's hobby, in a nation that is literally rainbows and friendship, here we are in a world that suddenly everyone is either turned into ponies or disappeared into thin air.
Also, because it's Fluttershy that suddenly makes it alright? Seriously? Seriously?
Sorry, Fluttershy, as flawed as she is, is just withdrawn, Sky is anti-social and disconnected from the world, you can say your opinion to me but DON'T tell me to shut up unless you have a good counter argument other than 'Fluttershy raises animals too!'
6112548
Your right of course. Admittedly I was just being a bit trolly.
But, you have to admit that Sky and fluttershy have at least somewhat similar characters.
6112591
Well of course, they both have problems speaking to others or really opening up, only Sky doesn't have the edge of timidness and kindness Fluttershy exerts, and they have more empathy for animals than they do actual ponies/people, but with Fluttershy she would likely go out and try to make friends with all the stray dogs in the area.
I suppose in a way, they are like each other a little, but either without other certain character traits that combine to make their overall personality.
skulls for the skull throne? horses for the horse throne?
6112806
Again sorry for kinda being a jerk and also I mostly agree with you, but that typo
changes your meaning a little more than I would like.
6111723 Wut? It it even says in the story description that it's you.
Well... I guess people don't read that.
Your story illustrations are perfect and should I ever get around to write the story I have in my mind I'll commission the cover art from you
This marks the first time I have noticed the word anypony in the story.
Oh man, I love this story. another amazing chapter! So much careful character development in so little space.
Let's see if 'A' can make a last comeback from the encroaching Lonely Day. That bastion of refusal to eat plants (and even hay dressed with veggies and plant clippings? Hayburger incoming) has fallen after all and survival of their friends has taken priority over the survival of the human legacy. Funnily enough it seems that along the worry for Sky the still perfectly human acting Oliver has caused that development with his sheer rationality.
I really worry about Sky now, at least as much as Day does.
Oh, that "-A; -Pone-A; -Lonely Day (without Sky)" was brilliant.
6111175 Well, yes, segregation in a way. But since we only know Day's thoughts... what we've seen from Joe so far doesn't exactly rule out him having the same feelings towards the 'disabled' earth ponies. He's (almost) on record for saying so.
Sky seems above all this, just another plus in the book for the initially-a-real-pain pone I've really come to like over the course of the story :)
Also: good cooks can never be bad people.
That's a fact! Yes it is, contradict me on everything else, but not that one!
6109117
Got it! Thanks for pointing that out. I think the later in a week's section a chapter is, the less likely we'll notice it, since the editing calls can go on as long as seven hours and by then we're all exhausted. Guess we could break it across multiple days, but... WHERE'S THE FUN IN THAT?
6109445
True. Though we don't actually know if this is a military yet or just a bunch of dead machines still going after the end of the world.
6109788
[youtube=9CdVTCDdEwI]
Hey, you got to the original!
6109988
Happy forth of July! Have some "evil invaders!"
6110571
The danger of a unreliable narrator, unfortunately. No way of knowing whether anything you're being told is the truth. At least A seems to realize how disturbed they are is probably a result of being a pony and not because the HPI is doing anything inherently disturbing.
6110574
I have to wonder at what point disliking Joseph for the ease he does anything as a unicorn becomes indicative of some deeper problem.
6110576
Thanks! And it's been... not quite months, but more than one. A was bound to start showing signs of changing eventually. Paticularly under stress like this.
6110602
Oh, they could. Actually the farm is about thirty miles north of the city. I think the fear is that if they're driving, their moving vehicles will be sighted if the HPI aircraft happen to take off. Being the only things driving would make stealth difficult. They wouldn't have to go through the city to get to the farm.
6110626
Survival of the fittest. Assuming re-population matters. A still seems to hope that everything will get as magically better as it got magically worse.
6110699
If the HPI was an intelligent force who knew about their satellite phones, they could use them to locate any member of the party, absolutely. They probably haven't guessed to look though.
6111175
Hah, the puns. AT this rate, a few hundred years down the road, we're going to need a Heart's Warming Eve to get the tribes back together. Assuming the other tribes even survive.
6111219
I wouldn't bother! One of the things I wanted to do with the story is demonstrate how much of a big deal people make about it. Ultimately, the story wouldn't change much either way. It'll come out when it comes out.
6111358
Well I'm glad you did. It's been a ton of fun to write so far. I look at the chapter count and I'm kinda amazed I've written all this in less than a month. No way I would have if it wasn't for all the awesome people who comment. Makes me excited to find out what happens so I can gloat about it >.>.
6111610
Yeah, probably denial. My things in brackets generally mean stuff that isn't actually written. Just things I can't show the audience because it's a story.
6111955
One day! Nothing's happened to change "Alex's" life enough to precipitate a change in writing style. Even from the beginning "Alex" has just written A. Maybe the danger and stress of dealing with these HPI folks will be enough to precipitate a style change, if only for an entry or two.
6112171
Well Sky was Day's first friend. Even if it's not romantic interest (entirely possible), Day would probably grow quite attached to her over this more than a month of being together.
6112200
It's possible, though I bet our modern technilogical civlization would take way more than 5000. I'm not sure what it would take to keep enough going that we could keep inventing new things and using all our stuff. My guess is about a million. It takes a lot of specialists.
6112476
I doubt Sky could get Lonely day to eat them. But maybe. Maybe if she dressed them up enough. I wonder if you could hide the patties somehow so they wouldn't look so much like burned grass.
6112822
Crush your enemies. See them driven before you. Hear the lamentations of their women.
6112843
Stray dongs.
That is the best typo I have ever seen. Molestia approved.
6112979
It was actually a typo, it should've been "any pony". I think I've written so many pony words my autocorrect made it "anypony" even though for once I wanted them to be separate. Such subtle character development is extremely difficult when all I have to show it is their own biased perspective. But I try!
6113020
It's interesting the way we respond to stress. See the deepest parts of a person (or a pony). Still really, really hard to capture, though. Characters who change so slowly. Sometimes I want to scream at Lonely Day for being so dense. Too bad A wouldn't hear me.
6110571 Concerning the HPI... One. Word.
[youtube=www.youtube.com/watch?v=cONmzaT4x10]
6112822
This story is now approved by the Ruinous Powers
6113020
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MNNNAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEHHHHHHHHH
It seems like A (I feel like calling him Alex.) is getting desperate. He(curse that unclear gender!) appears to have accepted his(please see previous complaint) new name as lonely day.
6155328
I know it's nitpicky but you could always use they/them for Alex. I know people who prefer to go by that as they don't truly identify as either male or female.
Awwwwwwwww!!!! <3
Huan is the big fuffy doggy and the very good boy. And I wants to hugs him .
Huh. Haven't heard myself say that out load since I last watched Slime.