Children of Oonte

by sevenofeleven

Chapter 1-Time to Catch a Breath

Fluttershy looked out across the ruined city that night, and wished again that she was back home in Equestria. The rain was pouring down outside in heavy tainted drops while the wind blew a chilling gust of air through the window, making Fluttershy shiver. There were a few small fires out in the city, but most of the view was dark. Nothing dared to move. Fluttershy stuck her head outside the window, but then the wind sent some soot-infused rain into her face. She veered back, away from the window at the unpleasant feeling.

The rain seemed more than just water and soot. It was like the rain was desecrated, tainted, unclean. It was bad enough to think of all the people and ponies that had burned up, their ashen remains getting carried up into the clouds and falling again inside the drops along with something unforgiving and evil from the Claw Combine weapons.

A bath would have felt wonderful. Maybe with a bit of magic she could feel clean again, but she would have to wait a long time for that. Fluttershy reached up and grasped the bottom of the window shade in her mouth, and pulled it down. She turned back to the dimly lit room.

Someone had hidden the lights in the room so that you couldn't see them from outside; a precautionary measure to lessen the chances of being found. It is not a good idea to attract attention.

On the left side of the room, there was a woman with a small boy, both sitting on the bed. The boy cried quietly to himself, which just broke Fluttershy's heart. She walked up to the bed and let the boy pet her. It seemed to help, and the mother had mouthed the words, “Thank you.” The child's hands were dirty, but it didn't matter too much. There would be a nice bath sometime in the future anyway.

On the other side of the room, an old man slept on the floor, across from the woman. So far, he hadn't said anything, and just slept this whole time. Everyone seemed to be in a state of shock.

There was a human standing guard upstairs, and other folks downstairs. Fluttershy had not yet had the opportunity to meet them yet because of how hectic it had been, with people just wanting to pass out or try to make sense of things after the run from central Washington DC. Everyone kept looking back to see if something was coming after them...

Rita, a Terran pony unicorn or, “anthro pony” as they might be called had used her telekinetic ability to pick the locks so they could enter the house. Someone had made a comment about breaking and entering, and someone else replied the attack had happened before rush hour. This area was filled with people who worked in the city. The original owners of the place were probably dead, so there wasn't much wrong with taking shelter here. It seemed alright enough, but Fluttershy was still uneasy about simply moving into someone's home without permission. Being indoors, however, was far better than being out in the open and in the pouring rain, so she wouldn't let it bother her too much. Even a light drizzle of that god forsaken rain felt like being stroked by a corpse. Fluttershy decided to go up the stairs to the next level. Thank Celestia that Steve and Rita, two of the Terran ponies here, could make food and water enough for all of them. Too bad they couldn't make enough for a bath, but having drinking water and food was enough.

Before Ashley had passed out she had gotten the toilets to work. She was another Terran pony, a unicorn. Some of the people carried her unconscious body upstairs near the window, and placed her on a blanket. Ashley was twitching and thrashing now, her dark purple hooves kicking like she was trying to keep something away from her. Her horn began to glow an erratic green color..

Fluttershy could smell fear coming off of Ashley. “No...” She thought. “I can't let my friend suffer like this...” Fluttershy placed her forehooves around Ashley's body, holding her, and softly whispered. “Be at peace...” Ashley thrashed a little, but her body loosened up now. She grew calm. The glow faded from her horn, and she had even begun to smile slightly. “Good... Without you, I wouldn't even be here...”

That was true twice over. The first time, Ashley was there to anchor the spell on Earth's side so Fluttershy could cross over from Equestria. It was strange to see a purple unicorn on the other side. It wasn't Twilight, however. This was Ashley Taylor. Her mane and tail were different colors than Twilight's, being two shades of green and black. Her eyes were a gray green color, not purple like Twilight Sparkle's eyes.

The second time was when they had to leave the underground NSA lab. Fluttershy's mind avoided that memory. The lab part was mostly okay, but she didn't at all like being stuck with needles. At least, she was able to pass on her warning about the Claw Combine. No one had a chance to do anything before the Combine ships came and started to firebomb the city. The trip from the lab was the memory she was suppressing. Must not think about it... It was just too scary...

Fluttershy's thoughts turned to how complicated Earth was. There were Humans, creatures from old mare's tales, and then there were the two-legged ponies. The Terran Ponies. Ashley Taylor was tall, and stood on her rear hooves all the time. Human ponies, or as they liked to call themselves, “Equines” or just “Ponies” also had hands and even wore clothing, unlike Equestrian ponies who only wore clothing for special occasions. Equestrian ponies only had hooves, too. No hands like Terran ponies. So far, no one had told Fluttershy how these two-legged ponies came to this Earth, and just not knowing was making her a little uneasy.
Fluttershy thought for a moment. She was the only Equestrian pony in the building, and maybe she was the only Equestrian in the world...

Fluttershy got up and walked over to her part of the room to look at the food bars someone had left for her. Her stomach grumbled, and she wished she could open the clear stuff around the bar with her hooves. “Cellophane. she thought that's what they called it...” She could use her teeth to open the wrapping while she held the bar with her hoof, but the bar would probably get torn apart and scattered across the carpet. It didn't smell anywhere clean enough to eat off of. So Fluttershy, instead of attempting to open the bar, decided to take a nap.

Ashley woke up with a start, and it took a few minutes to remember where she was. She could hear Fluttershy's stomach rumbling, as well as the rain outside. Those poor ponies... As they burned alive, Ashley could feel their transmitted pain.

An empathic/telepathic link called “Ponynet” was responsible for that ability. This was one of the gifts from Oonte. Like the internet, except run through Terran ponies' minds instead of computers. What a curse it was sometimes... She wondered if the Washington D. C. Herd or New York City Herd was still alive. She wanted to curl up in a ball. Those poor ponies... Every dying scream was like having hooks dug in and pulled through her head... It was amazing that she could concentrate enough to keep the worst of the explosions from hurting the group when they left the NSA office in Central Washington D.C. Even with her best efforts... Not everyone made it...

She reached out through the Ponynet to find the D. C. herd. They responded with something that felt like a hug, but much better. It was like being hugged by many people and feeling their resolve fill her mind until the sadness and fear went away, and she couldn't help but smile and regain her confidence. Things are going to be bad, but she was going to kick some Claw Combine ass! The herd had lost members, but was still there outside of Washington, holed up in various houses. The NYC Herd had already left New York City a few days earlier. That was good news at least.

Time to get something to eat... She hadn't in hours. The water was warm, but it was clean. She looked over at Fluttershy. No one had bothered to give her any water, or help her with the food. Fluttershy couldn't open the packaging of the food bars with her hooves, of course. “I can deal with that.” She thought. Ashley conjured up a bowl for water and a shallow bowl for food, placing them in front of Fluttershy. By this time, Fluttershy woke up and was waiting patiently for Ashley to finish.

After she ate a bit, Fluttershy asked, “Can I go home now?..”

Her teal eyes were large with homesickness.

Ashley looked at her solemnly, “I wish I could send you home, but I don't have enough magical power to send you. It isn't good trying to do complicated spells near the enemy either. They could interfere and make things worse.”

“How worse?” Fluttershy asked, feeling a bit crestfallen.

“They could mess up the spell and you might end up on their ship or somewhere even worse than that,” She replied patiently, sympathizing with the yellow mare.

Fluttershy had caught a glimpse of one of the Claw Combine ships, and it hurt her eyes to even look at it. It was all sharp edges, black and red glows like murder and malice. Who knows what was inside? Fluttershy shuddered at the thought.

Ashley looked hopeful, “I'll send you home when we're in a safe area, and I have enough power. The D. C. Herd is okay, we just have to get there.”

“I wish I had a chance to know them before this...” Fluttershy replied, sadly.

“I used to be with the NY, Manhattan herd. They're real nice. They helped me do things like design clothes, work with doctors, and other stuff. They sent me to DC to help with your summoning. They also gave me my pony name,” Ashley smiled at the thought. “Midnight Glimmer.”

The two sat with their thoughts for a few minutes as the tainted rain tapped against the windows. With any luck, things would look better tomorrow. For now, though, it was just them and their thoughts.

Author's Note:

I'm thinking about continuing on with this story.
Please leave comments here if you want this story finished.
Continuing on.