Perils of a Merpony: A Ponies after People Tale

by kitten_girl86

May 25th, 2015

May 25th, 2015 @ 2:15 pm

Dear Journal,

I had gone to bed last night like normal but when I woke, I was no longer human and it was two days later. I am now what look like a very colorful pony. I have pale blue fur, two toned hair and tail, blue eyes and my glasses are gone as I no longer need them. I figured out how to walk pretty quickly and thank God I had a stylus in one of my desk drawers so I could type on my tablet. With a little bit of the internet still working, I've figured out that whatever occurred, it happened about 3:30 am on the 23rd. If the clocks are correct, it is 2:15 pm on the 25th.

My dog, Boarder Collie-mix, Raea (1), had managed to survive without me by drinking water from a sprinkler left turned on and by upending her dog food bag.

I remember watching that TV show “Life after People”. I know exactly what to expect but first I need to check out the city to see if there is anyone else left and gather water...

---------

Her human name was Kathryn Marie Mason. She had been an urban planner for the city when she was still human but didn’t know how that would help her much now.

She ventured outside her home, 35 Fairmount Ave. She was shocked at how quiet the whole city was! Usually she could hear children from the park across the way and should hear the traffic from Colburne St but today, there was nothing except birds and the soft clip clop of her new hooves on the sidewalk.

Then, the hunger kicked in so she tried to make pancakes using only her front hooves and mouth. Mixing the ingredients was pretty easy as was pouring the batter into the pan but flipping took a bit of problem solving to work. After making an eight pancake tower, slathered in syrup, she fell ravenously into the pile. And then she went back, made and ate eight more! After polishing off the last of her strawberry ice cream from the freezer (figuring it would not last very long, so why not?), she gave Raea a can of wet dog food she had been saving for emergency. Kathryn felt like Raea deserved a reward for not abandoning her.

Kathryn found that she still had water pressure so she filled every empty jug & bottle she could find in the house and washed the dishes.

Then she turned her attention to the need to scavenge.

Luckily for Kathryn, her nearby neighbor drove a medium sized school bus so after some jury-rigging, she got the thing running. Raea jumped into the bus with her and they drove all the way to the north end Wal-mart. Kathryn decided that she’d go the farthest in town so long as she could first. She kept her eyes peeled for others like her but found none; only a large pack of dogs breaking into the Food Basics out on King George Road.

When she arrived at Wal-mart, she parked the bus at the front entrance and bucked her way inside. Once in, she rigged up a series of grocery carts and started stripping the place. Every jug of water she could find, dog food, stretched out child’s rubber boots for her hooves, few pieces of children’s clothes to cover her up including rain & winter coats, a bunch of the inflatable camping solar lights, a bunch of solar garden lights, a few DVD movies she had not seen yet (and wanted to before she lost power for good) and some ham radios & hands-free headset from Electronics. She also grabbed every package of veggie seeds she could get at after bucking down the seed stand in the garden center.

Feeling a craving, she broke into the McDonald's and tried to make some chicken nuggets and fries. The nuggets actually turned out perfectly.... for a human, but when Kathryn tried to eat them, she spit them back out like they were covered in thorns! They tasted like shit smells. This made her really sad because she had loved them before. Instead, she settled on a basket of French fries slathered in ketchup while Raea gobbled up the nuggets!

She grabbed every food cooler she could get her hooves on and filled them with whatever ice was left and loaded up on every produce that was still good: carrots, lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, celery, tomatoes, potatoes, apples, grapes, pears, bell peppers, radishes, raspberries, strawberries, blue berries, black berries, watermelon, cantaloupe, peas, kiwi, cucumbers, dates, apricots, and corn. She tasted a little bit of everything before loading up; her experience with the chicken nuggets had taught her to be cautious. Despite not liking half of these things before, now they all tasted fantastic! Upon reflection, she realized that horses were herbivores and that made sense. She still would not touch certain things like mushrooms, onions, garlic, prunes, leeks, and artichokes.

Kathryn went down every one of the other food aisles to check for other stuff like oatmeal, cereals, granola bars and anything else that she did not bawk at. She avoided the uber sugary cereals like Quik and Lucky Charms; instead, she got Cheerios, Rice Krispies and discovered how sweet & amazing Shredded Wheat had become so she grabbed every box!

She also grabbed the only diesel-powered generator in the place; remembering the used strained cooking oil trick for diesel engines from Mythbusters episode. She also grabbed every box of coffee filters and empty rain barrels for finished product. She added “Locate diesel pickup truck” to her list of needs and then she used a gardening hose to siphon out the McDonald’s used oil before loading it into the bus.

Upon loading, she went back inside and carried three huge bags of dog food on her back, emptying them out on the sidewalk outside the front entrance. Then she grabbed some big paper & markers from the office section, making a sign in case anyone came here; letting them know where she was and what she took.... and to warn them to not eat meat!

She then drove the bus over to Zehrs in the plaza and emptied the same stuff from the grocery store: produce, cereals, crackers and water. This time, she even ventured to try out peanut butter and found herself not gagging so she stocked up on that too.

After getting all of the supplies home and into her concrete finished basement, she went back out to the farm co-op and found 6 empty barrels she could use for the refining of the used cooking oils. She had kept the siphoning hose from Wal-mart and so she stopped off at a few more places along the way to Canadian Tire, filling three of the barrels.

She went into Zehrs at Fairview, emptying it of produce, water, cereals, breads and more dog food for Raea; leaving another one of her signs out front.

Again, she took time to make more French fries for herself, and a few beef patties for Raea, at the McDonald's (taking all of the oil there too!) across from Canadian Tire before going over and securing anything she’d need: every solar panel, solar garden lights & camping lamps, cans of cooking fuel, more dog food for Raea, more gardening supplies, and she bucked her way into the archery cabinets to get at a few crossbows & bins of bolts. She was able to attach a crossbow crank to each one and then a rigged archery release so that her hoof could release the trigger. She tested her designs on a couple of the deer targets; that made her feel uncomfortable for some reason.

She also grabbed every roll of duct tape, a couple of satellite phones, every package of glow sticks, lengths of rope, matches, flashlights, first aid kits and as many batteries as she could find. Digging in the back areas, she found some stuff out of season like ski goggles. She grabbed a few pairs of these: one for night driving (yellow tinted), clear ones for in-climate weather, and sunglasses version.

Lynden Park Mall didn’t have much besides the deep fryers in the food court and more water at Food Basics. She did get a select few books for herself including “Surviving the Apocalypse for Dummies” and “Survival Skills 101” while in Coles (bookstore). She didn’t think any of them applied to her situation but it could not hurt... and it gave her something new to read.

Getting home to unload the second time, Kathryn saw it was nearing sunset but not remotely time for bed yet so she decided to take Raea for a walk. She carried a crossbow and quiver of arrows but it was Raea’s constant presence that made Kathryn feel safe. As they cut through Mohawk Park, she remembered the deep fryer in the kiosk of the park but it was not open yet so there’d be nothing to salvage.

They made their way down Forest Ave and over the canal bridge at Loch Rd to the SPCA facility down there. Raea whimpered as they heard the barking and pitiful crying from inside. Kathryn knew it was dangerous but they approached the building anyway; she bucked down the fence and doors, opening every cage, setting all of the animals free and knocking over the shelves of food so the animals could get at it.

Kathryn experienced the next amazing thing that day: she watched as Raea had a doggy conversation with the larger dogs from the yard. To her, it was like they were inviting Raea to join their pack. Raea was too loyal to leave Kathryn and so turned them down. The pack leader, a male German Sheppard – almost as tall as she was! - regarded her for a moment and then a thought of understanding passed between them. Kathryn somehow knew that she had nothing to fear from this pack.

The dogs and cats ran off after eating and drinking their fill; they even shared some with Raea as thanks. Kathryn & Raea returned to the house; Kathryn set up some defensive crossbows at the front and back windows before taking up a chopping knife & some of the produce, making a crisp evening salad for herself. Since she had made the pancakes for a late lunch, the little bit of milk in her fridge still good so she drank that, vowing to at least finish it before it went bad. She did ponder the fact that she was constantly finding herself hungry, especially after doing a lot of carrying & walking around.

Kathryn didn’t feel safe sleeping in her bedroom anymore. Instead, she dragged her bed sheets, blankets and pillows to the L-shaped couch of her great room, setting up a nest with the couch on her sides. After Raea returned from the yard from doing her business, she curled up with Kathryn on the pile.

May 25th, 2015 @ 10:25 pm

Dear Journal,

I honestly have no idea what is going on here but I feel like I'm the only one left in town. Thank God I still have Raea with me and we WILL SURVIVE!

---

May 26th, 2015 @ 3:45 am

Dear Journal,

This whole damn thing is NOT a dream!! THIS IS FREAKING REAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Author's Note:

(1) Raea (pronounced "RAY-AH") is the name I chose for myself for one of my Live Action Role Play characters, an ex-pirate mage.

Comments

[Starscribe]

Heyo! Just read this first chapter, thought I'd drop my thoughts as I went. So don't consider these a list of things I would expect you to change, more... a direction to go in if you want future chapters to be even better.

The number one suggestion I'd made for your writing here is the common phrase you may've heard before "show vs tell." if you haven't heard it, show is:

"Kathryn kicked over the fruit display, dodging out of the way as apples tumbled all around her. "Yikes!" She called, as one of her front hooves caught on one and sent her sprawling. She grunted and got to her feet, and sniffed around until she found one that looked intact. She bent down and took the apple in her mouth, and the taste made all her struggles worth it."

Vs tell:

"Kathryn was really hungry so she found some apples. She couldn't reach the display so she kicked it over. She tripped, but wasn't hurt, and once the apples were on the floor she was able to eat as many as she wanted. They were so good."

What's the difference here? The first one is better, right? The first one is in "scene," it puts us into the action, so we feel like we're behind a camrea watching her. The second one is narration, and so it's much less interesting.

You used a lot of "tell" in this chapter. I don't think you should change it, but keep that in mind for future chapters. Try to make us feel like we're watching, not like we're hearing about what happened. Make us see it.

Oh, and please don't think I'm trying to cut down your writing or anything. I'm just telling you what I wish people had told me when I was younger, so I could've learned way faster. Hopefully it's useful.

[Fistfire]

It's a good start. I'm interested in seeing where it will go .

[AyanamiRei]

Ooohh! This here is set in the early days! Wow it's been so long.

Still this is certainly set up as a great start! I look forward to reading more about these adventures later, but alas now it is time for sleep as I struggle to keep my eyes open.

I am VERY curious to see where this goes from here!