The Last Child on Earth

by ThePonyCritic

Chapter 5: Building Bridges

I can't believe we were being attacked by dogs. I bet most of those had owners, because I didn't usually see stray dogs before the apocalypse. Should I call it that, the apocalypse? I mean, it's not like the world is coming to an end, it's just been 'tampered' with. I guess I should call it "The Outbreak”, or even "The Event." It sounds lame, but that's all I can think of it until further notice. That should be thought about another time really.

After we were a faraway distance from where we encountered the dogs, we started walking at normal pace. Tony decided to take the lead, and Rebeca went a bit beside him, but not next to him exactly. As for me, I walked right next to Silvia. I was looking around as she started talking with Tony who responded with head gestures. I didn't even hear her trying to talk to me until she nudged me with her muzzle. I tensed up slightly, which she noticed and asked about.

"Hey, are you okay?" She asked.

I nodded and said, "Of course." She nodded too and went silent for a moment.

She asked me another question, it being "How did you know that the wooden fence would fall down?"

I looked at Tony as I answered, "I didn't know exactly. I'm just glad Tony was able to knock it down for me."

Tony looked back to me and said, "Well if I hadn't seen you looking at it, I wouldn't have knocked it down in the first place."

I chuckled, and so did Tony. I saw Silvia smile from the corner of my eye, probably because Tony and I were talking to each other about something. I don't mind small talk, at least talk about who did what. As we continued walking and talking,from time to time, I felt rain being dropped upon me. I looked around and everyone else felt it too. We all looked up as the rain started coming down from the clouds, meaning it was going to rain harder soon.

"Come on guys, let's get inside." Tony, and he lead us to an apartment building that was down a block. We got in just in time, as it started to rain harder. As Tony and Rebeca looked around the first floor, just in case, I decided to have some fun by playing in the rain.

I felt like such a kid as I jumped in puddles. Silvia was watching me from under the doorway, smiling and laughing a bit. When Tony told her that it was safe, Silvia called me in, and I ran inside. Since I was wet, I purposely shook my body to get some of the water off and get Silvia wet. She held up her hoof to protect her face, but the rest of her got wet still. So now we were both wet, and we were laughing a little. Rebeca had found a towel from one of the bathrooms, and gave it to us to dry off with. I let Silvia use it first, and when she gave it to me, she used her magic to dry me off. I told her I could do it myself, but she insisted on her to continue. I shrugged and let her, as she dried my head. When she took it off, I could see a bit of my hair fall in front of my face, and saw some strands become curls. She seemed to blush a little, I would guess because she's never seen my hair do that. I explained that it happens whenever I shower, which she nodded.

She also said, "You look cute with curls." Which I instantly roll my eyes, pretending to have ignored what she said. I didn't mind the compliment, but I don't like being called 'cute' either. After that, we followed Tony to the room he and Rebeca picked out for all of us. It was a room that was connected to another room. Tony said Rebeca and him were sleeping in the other room, so Silvia and me could sleep in this room. Rebeca was already setting up our beds and such. I told her thanks, which she smiled and nodded in response, as I sat down on my 'bed', and the others did the same a bit after. We were all sitting in a sort of circle, so of course that meant we were going to talk. And it turns out, I got to learn more about them, which was nice!

Silvia said she was a captain of a ship before the outbreak, and when it happened, she left it behind and went to the nearest city. That is where she found Rebeca and obviously became close friends. Silvia also said that she had a very nice family, not the richest one, but 'full of heart' in words. That would explain why she be so nice to me, as it's inspiring her to have a family too, though why on Earth now, I won't ask. Now Rebeca was hard to follow, as she didn't really say much but tried. And when I mean try, I mean she would explain until either lost track of thought and skipped a bit, or just trailed off in general. In all that I heard from her, she had a nice family in her opinion, was known by her neighbors to be generous, which I can see from her, with us that is. Tony's story was different though. He had been a lone wolf before this happened, although he stayed with his family in close ranges. When it all happened, and he couldn't find his family, he went out in search for them. Sadly he couldn't, and before he knew it, he missed the hearing the sounds of the city and wanted to find anyone he could.

"And that's how I found Rebeca and Silvia, or it was the other way around." He said lastly looking at the girls. Silvia rolled her eyes sarcastically and Rebeca blushed a bit. Of course, I thought, sooner or later, all of them might form a close bond, and when that happens, I will NEVER interfere with them. Although, it's hard to picture people caring for each other when their ponies...what happens when everyone is back to normal? Will appearances horrify them to draw away from each other, or will it make them come together even more. I have no clue whatsoever, since I am not in the process of making a relationship. Dating relationships that is, not like friendships that I have with them.

But eventually, although I wished they hadn't thought of it, they asked about me. It was Rebeca who asked, and Tony and Silvia turned to me to know as well. I told them, "Well, what is there to tell? I mean I had a nice family, my mom and dad took care of me the best they could. We had lots of family-type things to do, until the scientists wanted me to come to the facility. They didn't explain to us at the time why I had to go, but they insisted and so I left. That's that." Of course, I didn't think through my words well, since Rebeca had heard me say 'had' and 'the best they could'.

And that's when she asked me, "What do you mean 'the best they could'?" I didn't say anything for a bit, but I knew from their changed expressions that my face looked sad. And I did feel sad. So, I told them the truth:

"My parents...couldn't keep me. When times got bad, and money was a problem, they had to drop me off at an orphanage. My parents said they would be back before I knew it, and they loved me very much. But I had already known that money doesn't come from trees, and that it would take a while until they could come get me. I was 8 when that happened. So, for 3 years, I've been here...waiting for them to come back. The reason why I panicked, when you found me, was that I got a phone call from them a couple days before the scientists found me. My parents said that they were coming to get me real soon, on my birthday hopefully. I had trusted the opinion of the scientists that this 'outbreak' that was heard about was coming soon, and that they needed to freeze me for a bit. I wanted to be with my parents SO badly, that I gave in and went along with their plan...obviously, that was a mistake."

By the time I finished my story, Silvia was on the edge of crying, Rebeca was tearing up a bit, and Tony felt bad for me. I looked down at the floor, not wanting to see them cry about my pain, for something they didn't need to deal with. Suddenly, I felt hooves around me, as someone was hugging me. I looked and saw both Silvia, hugging me the most, and Rebeca, hugging me from the side. Tony had come a bit closer, but didn't want to hug me. It was fine, I guess, because already the two ponies hugging me. I felt warmth build in my heart, as I smiled and teared happy tears. Guess there are different types of tears of emotion after all. After a while, Rebeca let go and got up, then went to the room that was linked to this room, and closed the door. Tony got up soon after and followed her inside. Silvia let go too, but she slept close to me, still wanting to comfort me, which was fine by me. I laid down in my bed, and closed my eyes. Soon after I felt Silvia pull me to her with her magic, and it was like the last time, except it didn't feel as strange.

I'm glad to be in this little group, with everyone caring for me, as I care for all of them. It gives me more of a reason to participate in aiding our group. But that will have to wait till tomorrow. As I slipped into unconsciousness, from the other room that Tony and Rebeca were in, I thought that I had heard some strange sounds...creaking of the bed? But what was making it, I didn't care. Another thing to think about tomorrow I guess...

Author's Note:

I know that by now you guys might be sensing a pattern from POV. First 3rd person, then 1st person (Aiden's). This will continue to be like so. If you think I should have another POV from one of the other characters, please comment. Anything else that I should fix or add for the next chapter, also comment. Thank you all for supporting and keep reading!

Comments

[Two Bit]

Hey, been enjoying the story, but one things been kind of bugging me. I'm not really understanding why he needed to stay human for the narrative of this story. It seems like most of the significant things that have happened could have been accomplished with him being a pony. There didn't even seem to be much of a reaction from the ponies that he's still human or vice-versa. Would love to have seen the fact he's still human played a bit more.

[Fistfire]

Switching from first to third pov is not really an issue with me. But there are some grammar issues that detract from the story. I will try to pm You them