• Published 13th Jul 2015
  • 5,099 Views, 410 Comments

Metamorphosis - PaintSplotch



Having every human being vanish is bad enough. Waking up as some horrible bug monster is even worse. All I know is that I have to get home...somehow. Set in the Ponies after People universe.

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3 - Calliphoridae

"I was taught that the way of progress was neither swift nor easy." ‒Marie Curie

I sang the whole time we hiked through the forest. I only stopped once in a while to give three short bursts on my whistle. I didn't get a reply from anyone, but I kept trying until my ears started to ring. I admit it was getting distressing having to keep calling out and getting no answer, so singing kept my spirits up. Singing also had another use: warning bears of our approach. The last thing you want to do is surprise a bear. Surprising a bear is a bad thing and I like having all my limbs attached to my body. Even with chitin for skin, I didn't want to test myself up against Stephen Colbert's arch nemesis. So I sang. It kept me from thinking about ax murders in the woods and once in a while, Yuri would join in with a howl on the high notes. Funnily enough, he’s a better singer than I am!

It was as nice as it could be. You gotta count your blessings while you can.

Already I could see the woods rejoicing in the sudden absence of man. Bobcats are usually people shy, but I saw one on the path. It seemed rather confused at the sight of me, but when looking at Yuri it took off into the underbrush. I could even hear deer out in the brush looking for food. There were no voices and no cars. It was still. I don't think that the Earth has ever been this… quiet. Not since man started up their shenanigans around the globe. I wondered how long it would be before the last traces of people vanished from the planet. If aliens visited, would they know we were here and what happened to us?

No use dwelling on things that haven't happened yet.

Once out of the trees, my sight reflexively became yellow tinted. It was bright outside, with it being a cloudless, sunny day. Outside of the dark and shaded forest, the vast empty hills and highways were just way too bright. Luckily, I have built in transitional lenses!

It took a few hours to reach 'civilization' again. Once I crossed the tree line and gazed out into the highways, I was once again struck by how eerie and quiet it was. There wasn't a single car on the roads! What the fuck? Does that mean people were abducted while in their cars? Why would anyone do that? All the sight did was raise more questions for an already confusing event. I guess it was better than allowing cars to pile up until they erupted into city destroying fireballs, or perhaps that was the plan for… whoever masterminded it.

Say what you want, but I’m pretty damned sure that this was planned. There’s no way this could have naturally happened. The fact I am alive along with the wildlife says that much. Why remove just the people? Why change me?

Perhaps I’m just a mistake in all this. There’s no way to really know for sure.

With no cars, it made traversing the roads a little easier for me. Soon, we reached some houses that were collected into a small suburb. They seemed for the most part, untouched, but trash cans were tipped over and rooted through. Seems like the raccoons and opossums decided to take advantage of not being shot at anymore to have a feast. One of the fattest raccoons I have ever seen just lounged on a porch like he owned the place. Strange seeing one out in broad daylight, but he didn't seem rabid. I gave him a friendly nod and kept my distance, no sense in not being polite. Yuri gazed at the rolly polly procyonid with longing in his eyes. No doubt looking at him like a gray and white snack cake. But duty won out and he followed me past it. The raccoon himself didn't give a single fuck. He won't be fat for long, I figured, since now there's no more people to make garbage. In time, he'll have to catch his own food again.

I knocked on some of the doors and tried the non knob handles. I targeted houses that still had cars in their driveways. It seemed like it was a better chance to find people. I didn't get a single answer. Many of the doors were locked and shut tight. At this point, my wings and back were hurting and Yuri was panting, I just would like a place to rest. Preferably in a nice house instead of a hole in the ground. One door was unlocked and had a handle that wasn't a knob. Not being able to turn a door handle was awful and I didn't want to use my mouth on a germ magnet like that. No thanks.

I called out as I entered the house, my eyesight returning to normal in the darkened dwelling. I felt like some sort of burglar just bursting into someone's house unannounced. It was a nice two story house, typical middle class place with plush carpets and nice furniture. The power was still on, which I was grateful for. That meant there was air conditioning and the possibility of a bath. The first thing I did was check every room in the house while Yuri sniffed around under beds and in closets. Not a single soul was there. Not even a pet or anything; it was all quiet and still. There was a kid's bedroom with a bunk bed, which was messy and littered with toys. The master bedroom was also empty.

The photo's on the walls revealed it to be a typical family: a wife and husband with two kids. They seemed pretty happy…

I would try my best to leave things how I found it. Maybe even write a note for the owners if I can.

I carefully took off my backpack. Seems like the blanket helped some, but my wings still got sore and somewhat crinkled. Oh well, it's not like I'm going to fly with them anyway. They were just too small. Unless I was a bee or something… which I'm not. Only in name. It felt good to stretch out my wings though and buzz them a bit. I would need to get some other way of carrying my gear. Maybe a wagon? But it wouldn't work on all terrain.

There was food there, thankfully. I didn't trust anything in the fridge at this point. It's been a few days and most things tend to go bad in that time. They did have a good pantry stocked with a lot of canned and dry food, though. I selected some cans of chicken noodle soup, mostly because they have the easy to open pop tops on them. I doubt I'd be able to work a regular can opener with hooves. My teeth and jaw were at least strong enough to get them open. Maneuvering them into pot to heat, was the major problem. I found that if I sandwich things between my hooves, I could 'pick up' bulky objects. I had to use gentle, but constant pressure. I still had to use my mouth for the ladle and a chair to even reach the stove, but after some more trial and error, I was rewarded with a nice big pot of soup bubbling on the stove.

I poured out some water into bowls. I was surprised that power was staying on as long as it was, I'd give it another day, or so before that and water will go out. Might as well make use of it while I could. Say what you want about tap water being gross, but it’s a genuine miracle that something like that can exist. It would be… a real shame if that technology was lost.

When the soup was ready, I waited for it to cool a bit before dishing them out in even more bowls. One for Yuri and one for me. It tasted amazing after eating freeze dried food for days. It weirded me out that I had to eat it on the floor with Yuri. It made me feel like an animal, but what else was I going to do? Tape a spoon to my hoof? I can deal with embarrassment as long as I stayed alive, which meant eating out of a bowl on the floor. It could be worse—I could have changed into a bacteria, or turned inside out instead.

After we ate, I attempted to wash the dishes. I broke everything except for the steel pot. Good job, me. The pieces were too fine to pick up and I didn't want to use my mouth for it. So this family has to come back to a sink full of glass and ceramic. At least I didn't break anything while I took a bath. It felt amazing and I noticed just how nasty I was getting. My shell… I'll just use that instead of 'skin', had turned gray from trail dust, but washing myself revealed it to be rather pretty, with a shiny deep black/orange color. Even the hard carapace on my back was kinda lovely. Depending on the light, it would shine everywhere from orange to yellow. It made me feel better, ‘cause if I had to be a bug, at least I can be a pretty one. It looked like car paint in a way, with the different colored flecks and the light effect. A little vanity never hurt anyone.

What remained in the tub after I finished wasn't pretty at all. I didn't know something without skin, or hair could hold that much dirt on them. Yick.

Yuri didn't take a bath with me—he hates baths—so he guarded the bathroom door instead. I locked the door with us inside. Even though the house was empty I was still afraid of someone barging on me while in the bath. Ever see Psycho? Baths are some dangerous territory. When I was dry and rested, I strapped the backpack on. It was yet again an awkward affair. I couldn't wait to get new bags. At least this time I was extra careful to not crinkle my wings.

After the food and bath, we left the house the same as how we found it: with the door unlocked. Someday the family might come back and wondered who broke their bowls and took a bubble bath. It gave me a bit of a chuckle.

With that, we began our march with still no signs of life. I always pictured the apocalypse to go down in fire and nuclear bombs. But this? It was worse in a way. Especially if there's others like me: just all alone out there.


Three hours later, we set foot in Beacon. We made good time… a little over six hours to hike. I definitely noticed that my walking speed is much faster than when I was bipedal. Yuri didn't have to even slow down for me! It was better than crawling the whole way, that's for sure.

Beacon was a typical small city from what I could see. Walking into it was like walking into an old ghost town. Again, there were no cars on the road, but plenty were still parked all crammed together on the sides of the street. Parking meters flashed their expired signs, but nobody was there to give parking tickets. There were some scattered trash on the streets, which was blown away by the wind. I could see that woodland creatures descended to have a smorgasbord of human trash. It was the same story in the suburbs. The only sound was the wind blowing through the buildings and my hooves clacking on the pavement.

So much for stealth, but here I am trying to FIND other people.

Yet again, my whistle gave me no results. Shouting didn't do anything either. Yuri's barking only alerted the local strays. They looked at us from a distance, but didn't approach. Perhaps they didn’t want to come after me? I mean, these long fangs can’t just be for decoration after all.

I shook my head. It was time to get to business. I needed to find a safe place to spend the night and get better supplies. A random house would have water, food and be relatively safe… at least from bears. From other people? Or whatever took everyone else? I don't think so.

I stamped a hoof to drive away some of the more disturbing thoughts. I had to stay rational. If I took the right precautions, I will be safe. I just have to focus. Stay frosty.

I took a moment to take out my map and study it. My best bet would be to stay on Main Street. Most of the major stores and utilities would be on Main Street and most importantly, there would be a pharmacy. I was eager to get more medicine that wasn't smashed to dust… along with maybe a more updated first aid kit. Before that, though, we'd need a better bag. There's bound to be a pet store, or a camping store, or something! This city was close to a National Park; there had to be camping and survival gear store!

I put the map away and whistled for Yuri to follow me. Funny, even with fangs and a muzzle, I can still whistle pretty good. He barked and ran back over from a bin he was… marking. Guess he figured he was the big dog in town, since I scared off the other dogs. Funny.

As I got further in the city… I smelled something.

Gas.

Burned rubber.

Blood.

Something was wrong.

I didn't think; I ran down the empty paved roads, my hooves making a racket. At one point, I thought I was galloping, but I wasn't sure. Yuri was faster and he took the lead as we raced through alleys and streets. He probably smelled it too. In the distance, I could see a smashed truck that was wrapped around a traffic light pole. It was completely totaled and barely even resembled a truck anymore. The driver side door was torn clean from the truck and thrown several feet away. A car on the street was flipped from being clipped so hard. Glass littered the street along with various debris.

I approached the smashed out driver's side. Something in me nagged that this was a terrible idea, but if someone was still alive they needed help. But the sound of hundreds of flies gave it away.

No.

Nobody was alive.

I could see on the driver's side was… a small horse. A unicorn too blood stained and mangled to tell color, or gender. It was roughly the same size as me, maybe slightly bigger. It was propped up on the driver seat, forelegs shoved through the steering wheel. Bones stuck out of torn skin and the head… oh God, the head.

It was completely twisted upward, the bones in the neck broken and jutting out the ragged flesh. There were no eyes, just empty sockets that long since had the eyes picked away by birds, or insects, or God knows what. The face had a facsimile of a smile as most of the facial skin was on the steering wheel, or gnawed away. Already there were maggots everywhere. Writhing. Wiggling.

The eye sockets stared right at me.

Bile rose to the back of my throat as I stood rooted in place. Staring. Shaking. I hyperventilated as I saw the flies rise up in great clouds as Yuri approached. Buzzing flies. It was getting harder to breathe.

Already a deep pressure in my brain began to press in. Don't think about it. Don't think about it.

I tried to step away or move, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop looking at this poor being. Did they suffer? Were they conscious when the flies began to come?

I vomited and fell to my 'knees' on my forelegs. I threw up everything in my belly and even pure bile as the smell of rot and blood drifted over in the wind. I tears streaked down my face. It reminded me too much of my mother. Her lying on the floor. Her beautiful dress stained red. Her neck twisted with hand shaped bruises…

I teetered over, holding my head in my fore hooves. I couldn’t flashback here in the broken glass and flies. I needed to get out of here! I curled up on my side and screamed, trying to drown out the noise in my head as it tried to show me things I didn't want to see. My mother in the driver's seat. My mother on the glass. Mother with empty eye sockets looking right at me while flies rose up in biblical swarms. I fought them by screaming louder and louder, but it wasn't loud enough.

I was dimly aware that something grabbed on to the handle on my backpack and was dragging me away. I could feel the glass grind under my shell as I moved backwards on the pavement. There was a sound of grunting and growling. I hit a moment of clarity to look behind to see Yuri, backpack in his jaws, tugging me backwards. Pulling me away from the scene. I wanted to help. I wanted to move with him and away from here, but my brain wasn't connecting with my legs. I flailed and cried as I was pulled further and further from the accident. Yuri occasionally yelped as his paws stepped on the glass. This was all my fault. My fault.

The pressure in my brain increased. My only defense was to go somewhere where I could protect myself from what I was seeing. Both in front of me and in my own head. I could feel myself drifting as my overloaded brain began to shut down.

I hear one last pained yelp from Yuri and then everything went black.
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Author's Note:

Another chapter! In which we find that Melissa has seen some horrible stuff! And now why there's a gore tag.

Stahl will be attending BronyCon so there may be a few weeks before the next update. I'll still keep writing, it's just it won't be edited. Stahl is the Grammar Wizard and Courage is the Plot Hole and Logic Extraordinaire. Without those two my chapters would be awful.

Also my cat is doing better, but she was diagnosed with Hodgkin-like lymphoma. It means tumors will mostly appear in the lymph nodes of her head and neck, but it also means she has a better chance of going into remission. I gottah talk to a specialist cause it's very rare. I've also started doing Neural Feedback Therapy myself to counteract some brain damage I got so things have been busy! I write when I can though cause you guys are awesome :) Thank you so much for all the favs and feedback! I appreciate it so much :D