When it seems the world is ending, a young teen will find out there's more to life than survival.
A normal day turns into a complete hell when a virus ravages the globe. 16 year old Josh Cameron will have his normal life ripped away from him when a zombie outbreak destroys everything he's ever known and loved. A certain someone in another world far away will accidentally cause an event that will either make Josh's life worse or save him from his hell. Can new acquaintances bring the joy back to a hardened man? Or will he be forever changed by the tragic events of his life?
The world is a strange place... sometimes it can bring love and joy, but sometimes, when you aren't looking, the world will turn its back on you.
My world was torn away from me in the blink of an eye, everything I ever knew was ripped away from me.
My name is Josh Cameron, and this is my story...
A loud ringing sound blares through the hallways as students file into their classes. It's just another boring day at another boring school. I walk into math just wishing that I could leave already and head on over to football.
"Good morning students! I hope you did your homework last night, it will count as a quiz grade today." Well shit my laziness will be the death of me today, I never even attempted to do that assignment.
"Uh, Ms. Smith, can I go to the restroom for a moment?" I ask hoping I can get my work done there so I don't fail this class again. I'm actually one of the top students in my grade, I'm just a lazy fuck who hates work.
"Fine, go ahead Josh, but hurry back!" the teacher says.
I hurry on out into the hallway, books in hand ready to rush through my work in hope to get atleast a passing grade.
I reach the bathroom door, but before I can open it, a blood curdling scream emits from the girls bathroom. Now I know it's against school policy for me to enter the girls bathroom, but this sounds serious enough that I have to just say "Fuck the rules."
I rush into the girls room just in time to see... "What in the living hell?!" There was what appeared to be what was left of a torn up student eating another girl on the bathroom floor!
"Wha... What the fuck!?" What the hell is happening? What is this thing? Without thinking I jump into action and tackle the mangled student off the girl on the floor. The dead-looking creature turned its head towards me and began trying to bite me!
"I have to kill this thing" is my only thought as I held its head to the ground. I look into a stall and see a plunger with a metal handle that looked like it could do some real damage. I leaped off the creature and rushed for the plunger, then returned to the creature, new weapon in hand.
I begin beating the crap out of the thing but it doesn't even flinch, it just keeps coming at me! I finally turn the plunger around and plunge it into the thing's skull (see what I did there?)
"Yeah! Take that motherfucker!"
That's when I remember the girl on the floor. I turn around... only to find that the girl is now standing just inches behind me, trying to bite me just like the other creature. "Oh shit!" Is all I can say before it leans on me and knocks me to the ground. I hold its neck at bay just inches from my neck, but I can't hold it forever. I reach for the plunger and began beating the second creature's skull in.
I push the body off of me and sprint out into the hallway where I see all of hell being released in the school. Those creatures are everywhere, students are running for their lives, it looks like a straight up apocalypse out here. I realize what exactly is going on when I turn the corner towards the exit. Students are being eaten alive right in front of my eyes, and whats worse is that when they die, they don't stay down for long. The corpses of the students who were unlucky enough to get themselves killed are rising up and attacking those still alive!
"Josh! Get in here now!" I hear a voice yell at me from down the hall. My best friend Austin's little sister Amber is in the security office's doorway waving at me with a horrified look on her face. I rush into the room as dozens of undead creatures stumble behind me. I slam the door shut just as the first walker (I think that is what I'm going to call them) runs into the glass panel beside the door.
"Shit that won't hold forever, we need a barricade." I state as I look around the small room for something that could work as a blockade. "What about this?" Amber asks. "Perfect, you just saved our damn lives." I say in excitement as I see what she is pointing at. On the opposite side of the room is a large metal desk with a bunch of files on top of it.
"Ok on the count of three I need you to push, got it?" I tell her in a calm tone knowing the must be scared shitless by the situation at hand.
"Got it." She tells me. "Ok here we go, three, two, one!" We begin pushing the desk towards the glass panel just as its starting to crack near the floor. We get the desk propped up at just the right angle to where the desk it covering the entirety of the panel.
"Josh, what's happening?" Amber asks nearly breaking down into tears. The poor kid, shes only twelve and shes already seen more shit than any man should ever see, much less an innocent kid.
"Shit, um..." is all i can reply before I hear the hinges on the door starting to bend. We don't have much time left in here.
"We need a weapon, search the room and find me something useful please." I demand as we start frantically searching the room. Then I remember one very crucial fact about the room we're currently in. This is the school's security room, there just might be a gun or at the very least some sort of taser we can use.
"Found something!" Amber shouts as she opens a cabinet in the back of the room. Inside the cabinet has to be the single greatest thing I have ever seen in my entire life, the thing that could save both of our sorry asses. Inside the cabinet is a lone revolver with two boxes of ammo.
"Damn, I've never been so glad to live in this shitty town." I mumble to myself. My town has an extremely high crime rate so its no wonder that the school would keep such a thing inside the premise. The walkers finally break through the door and start stumbling towards me one or two at a time.
"Shit! Get behind me!" Is the last thing I yell to Amber before bringing up the gun and firing at the first walker. If I learned anything from my experience in the bathroom, its that the only way to kill one of these things is to destroy the head. The first bullet hits home right between a walker's eyes. I watch in disgust as it falls to the ground with a soft thud. I bring the gun up again and shoot the remaining five rounds into the walkers behind it, each bullet hitting home with extreme accuracy which is strange considering I've never shot a real gun before.
"Ok lets run!" I yell as I pocket the remaining ammo boxes. I reload as quickly as possible then grab Amber and run out the door only to be stopped in my tracks by what looked to be at least fifty walkers. "Shit shit shit..." I have no idea where to run until Amber pulls me down a narrower hallway that leads straight to an exit.
"Ok go go go!" I scream as we run for the door. There are two or three walkers in the hallway that notice us coming, but they soon drop dead as I unload into them. We reach the door only to find its jammed. To make things worse we are at a dead end with fifty or so walkers coming up on our asses.
"Amber... look at me" I say calmly as I get in on one knee and look at her sorrowfully. "I need you to stave brave and help me with this or... bad things will happen. You understand me?"
"Y-Yes I do" She says weakly pushing back tears. "Good now help me push this door as hard as you can ok?" We begin pushing the door as hard as humanly possible while the walkers get ever so closer to us. When the walkers are only a couple of feet from grabbing us the door flys open with a final push. Sunlight pours in and we run out.
The parking lot is very close by so I grab Amber by the arm and make a full sprint to my truck. When we finally arrive I fumble for my keys as hundreds or maybe thousands of walkers begin to swarm in around us. Amber starts screaming when she realizes whats happening around us, but luckily I get the passenger door open and toss her inside without even getting her consent. I jump into the driver's seat and start the engine. The truck comes to life with a loud roar as I press as hard as I can on the gas pedal. We speed through the parking lot, running through several walkers on the way. I can see a few students who were lucky enough to make it out of the gym with sporting equipment for weapons running towards the truck waving us down. I pull up next to them as I lower the window and yell at them to get in. The five of them hop in the back of the truck as I speed out of the parking lot onto the abandoned road outside the school.
I drive in silence for about ten minutes, thinking about what I just went through and if it could all be real. When we finally reach the highway, I can see what looks like hundreds of burned down or abandoned cars piled up on the road. Walkers are everywhere and faint screams can be heard in the distance. I being slowly maneuvering through the cars and walkers, the students in the back fighting off any that tried to climb aboard.
"Holy shit..." Is all I can say when I reach the end of the highway and see a burning Miami in the distance. My home... gone, burnt to a crisp, destroyed by those damned creatures.
I wipe a tear away from my eye and floor it towards Miami not knowing I was driving into the heart of hell itself.
"Josh wake up" A young female voice whispers above me. Amber is tapping my shoulder trying to wake me up even though its only four in the morning.
"Ugh what?..." I ask wearily. It isn't uncommon for me to wake up early or go to sleep late nowadays but it still annoys the living crap out of me when I have to. "You said you were going on the supply run with us today remember?" Amber says quietly.
Oh... yeah I did promise that. After reaching Miami a few months ago, the six of us that survived the outbreak at the school met up with another group of survivors that seemed to know their way around the city pretty well. They were no fighters however, they only survived long enough for us to get there because they were able to hide on top of a roof. So despite me being one of the youngest members of the group, I am the leader of my part of the group. The overall leader is Mr. Martin, or Ed. He was the only one that actually had the balls to leave with us to go on supply runs.
For the past six months we've been hiding out in a warehouse near the outskirts of town. The warehouse used to manufacture hunting supplies, unfortunately it had been raided before we got here, so there were only a few rifles and bows when we arrived. Currently, whenever I go out on supply runs or go on watch, I carry the revolver I found in the school, as well as a compound bow.
"Alright... where are we going exactly?" I ask Amber as I sluggishly get up from my cot.
"The abandoned Walmart downtown, we're running low on food again."
"Ok, who all is going?" I ask while loading up my revolver. "Well there's you, me, Ed, Jake, Logan, Mary, and Sarah" She says looking down at a little list that she made. Ever since we got setup in this warehouse she's really learned to earn her keep. She went from being a helpless little kid to being one of our strongest members. She still worries about her brother sometimes, but I have to keep her hopes up that there's still a chance he made it out of the school. I miss him too, he was my best friend since elementary. To think he might be gone forever really bothers me... but he isn't there only one I miss. My parents are gone to, whether they're alive or not is unknown but... I doubt they made it out of the city before shit finally calmed down after the initial outbreak.
"Ah, Josh just the man I wanted to see!" Ed says enthusiastically as we near the entrance. Everyone else is already geared up and ready to go. "I assume Amber already told you where we're going?" He says giving a small smile towards Amber to which she giggles and shyly hides behind me.
"Yeah, Walmart downtown right?"
"Yep, gonna go hit the produce section and see if we can't ourselves some canned food. So, are you ready to head out?"
"Yes sir!" I say as he opens the door to the loading bay. The only vehicles we have are my truck and a motorcycle that we found in a parking lot. Everyone piles into my truck except for me. I've taken a liking to the sports bike that we found and usually take it when we go out. I hop on the bike and start the engine up as I wait for Ed to start up the truck. When I see Ed pull out I follow, revolver in hand. Yeah, another perk of using the bike is that I can easily shoot my revolver while I drive, though I'm not very accurate at those kinds of speeds. We pull out onto the main road in front of the warehouse and begin riding into what used to be Miami.
We arrive about half an hour later just as the sun began to come over the horizon. The Walmart itself seems to be pretty intact, but there are walkers scattered throughout the parking lot. I think there may be a few inside too from what I can see inside.
"Alright we go in silently, we get what we need, and we get the hell out." Ed whispers to us as we gather together. He and the others screw silencers onto their rifles. Unluckily for me, we have yet to find any that will fit on my revolver so it looks like I'm stuck to my bow for now. In fact if it weren't for the risk of being surrounded, I probably wouldn't bring the gun anymore since it just seems to weight me down. On the bright side, since I almost never use the revolver, we have a surplus of ammo that can only fit that particular model. I currently have about thirty-two rounds on me that I most likely will never use, thirty-eight if you count whats already in the chambers.
"Alright I'll take Amber and Sarah and check out the sporting goods section for weapons." I state firmly. I decided to take them with me since they can actually fight and they're the only two I really care about in our group other than Ed. The end of the world really changed me, it made me hard on the inside, I stopped really having emotions towards anyone besides Sarah and Amber. I'm protective of Amber for obvious reasons, but Sarah was one of the students that we saved at the school... and I think I might have a thing for her. She's athletic as well as a good fighter. She also has that "I-don't-give-a-fuck" attitude that I have. I've learned not to let anyone else get too close to me out of fear that I could lose them at any second. Another thing that the apocalypse has taught me is to trust nobody, not even your friends. I trust Amber and Sarah with my life, but I can't say the same for everyone else.
"Alright y'all head in there, we'll head over to produce. We'll meet you back here when you're done." Ed says with a calm smile. I hate it when he does that, its like he thinks things are still good in this world. I don't believe him, the world we knew is gone and that one was far from perfect as it was.
We sneak through the parking lot silently. Thankfully we brought the vehicles pretty close to the entrance so it shouldn't be to hard to get to the store entrance.
Once we get to the glass doors, I put my bow over my shoulder and pull the doors apart as hard as I can. With enough force I'm able to get the doors open enough to squeeze through.
"Good job, Hercules" Sarah jokes as she runs through. "Oh just shut up already." I say with a smirk as I follow the two inside. Once we're in I can see the internal damage that the store has taken. There are corpses everywhere, most of them are dead thankfully. Blood is splattered on the floors and it smells like a dump. We sprint to the sporting goods section in hope to find something useful.
We search for about fifteen minutes with no luck. All the supplies that could be used as a weapon are gone or destroyed to no repair.
That is when I hear the most horrifying scream I have heard since that first day at the school. I run towards the entrance where the scream emitted from to find Jake covered in blood and screaming with at least five walkers on top of him.
"Shit!" I yell as I see just how many walkers are coming through the door. I can see that Jake had tried to get my bike inside probably in an attempt to escape the huge horde of walkers approaching the store. I run over to the bike, but before I get on I fire a single bullet into Jake's skull to put him out of his misery, no longer caring about the sound it makes.
I drive the bike over the Amber and Sarah... but I'm too late a walker has Sarah by the neck and sinks its teeth into her arm just as I arrive.
"NOOO!" I yell as I shoot the walker right between the eyes from the bike. I want to fall off an cry but I remember Amber who is just staring at a bleeding Sarah on the ground. I don't even have time to put her out of her misery before walkers start funneling into the aisle from the side I entered into. I grab Amber by the arm and force her onto the bike as I speed off into the depths of the store.
I can hear the rest of my group screaming throughout the store as well as gunshots and explosions from what I can only hope are the two emergency grenades that we brought along.
I come to a screeching stop when I realize I just drove into a dead end in the corner of the store. I just made a decision that could kill us and I didn't even think about it! Damn it I'm such an idiot! Amber is going to die because of my dumb ass!
"Josh..." Amber whines as she sees hundreds of walkers cornering us. She can't die like this, ripped to shreds by some undead bastards. I won't let her suffer, not like Sarah.
I slowly bring up my gun while a tear streams down my face. I place the gun next to Amber's head as tears start pouring from my eyes.
"Im so sorry..." I whisper as I place my finger over the trigger.
The second before I pull the trigger a bright pinkish-purple light surrounds us and the bike. Electricity is sparking around us and a strong wind forms around us. The light becomes so intense I have to close my eyes shut as hard as I can.
The next thing I know, it feels like I'm falling into a bottomless pit. My screams are drowned out as everything around me turns to darkness and I fade out of consciousness.
My head hurts like hell as I slowly wake up from a deep trance-like state. All I remember is Sarah getting bitten and getting trapped and... "AMBER!?" I yell as I jerk up looking for her. I reach for my gun only to realize it's no longer at my side.
I hear a clearly feminine voice scream when I shout. I realize at that moment that I cannot see anything and I can't move my legs. What the hell is going on?
"I g-guess you're awake." The voice says calming down from her mini heart attack. I realize now that I must be blindfolded and my legs are bound to what I assume is a table.
"Fuck you, where's Amber!?" I demand once I realize I'm basically being held captive by whoever the hell this woman is. As odd as it sounds, It smells like wood and old paper in here. That's odd considering all the walkers in th-
"What? Who's Amber? Is she your friend?" I'm cut off mid-thought by the stranger.
"How about you take this blindfold off of me and let me go so I can find her? How did you get us out of the Walmart?" I demand struggling against the bindings.
"Wal... Walmart? What the hay is a Walmart?" The woman says in a confused tone. Seriously? Where did you grow up, a deserted island?
I blink furiously as the blindfold is yanked off of my face. I look around confused to see nobody is near me, so how did they blindfold come off? Even weirder is that I appear to be in some library. There are hundreds maybe thousands of books lining the shelves in the confined area.
It was at that moment that I nearly passed out from a heart attack. There was some weird little horse thingy standing next to my backpack and gun while it was staring at my bike. To make things even weirder the horse... thingy was purple and had a horn or some shit on its head. It was really small compared to any horse I'd ever seen. What the fuck is this thing?
"Um, hey lady where did you go? What is this little horse creature and why is it purple?" I ask in a curious tone.
I nearly lose my shit when the pony thing turns around starts fucking talking!
"Um, who are you talking to? I'm the only one here." She asks with a confused look on her face. Now that I can see the front of her I can see even more oddities about her. Her eyes are very large compared to mine, and her hair or whatever its called is styled like a normal person's would be.
"..." I just stare, mouth agape. This can't be real, no way in hell. Walkers I can believe, but small talking purple unicorns? Fuck that!
"Can I ask... what are you?" She says giving me a worried look when I stare at her with an angry expression.
As my senses come back to me I realize I'm still tied down and Amber is still missing. I begin struggling against the restrains around my ankles but to no avail. I lean back and sigh. I look over at the pony and decide if I want answers I have to answer her questions first.
"Fuck... alright I'm a human. How do you not know what I am? I can tell you're obviously a horse... or something." I say while calming down from this surreal experience.
"Actually I'm a pony but, close enough I suppose!" She says with a smile when she sees I'm cooperating. Good, come over here and let me out of these so I can get the fuck out of here and find Amber. She inches closer until she finally unlocks the bindings from under the table.
I don't waste a second to jump off the table and tackle her, wrapping my arm around her neck to hold her down.
"I'll ask you again! Where on earth is Amber?" I say in a disturbingly calm tone. I can tell I caught this thing off guard, she's shaking nervously and Is struggling to get free. Luckily surviving the apocalypse makes you strong both mentally as well as physically.
"Wh-what's earth!?" She cries out sounding confused as hell. "What do you mean what's earth you fucked up science experiment?! You're on earth!" I' m starting to worry, why doesn't she know what her own planet is called?
"Th-this is Equestria!" She screams as she kicks me with her back legs. I tumble across the room from the surprisingly strong kick. I don't stand however, I just sit there taking in what I just heard. I'm... not on... no that isn't possible! I was just there and there's no kind of science to just teleport me to some fucked up alternate universe.
"Oh no... I'm so sorry! I didn't hurt you did I?" She asks worryingly as she rushes over to me while still keeping her distance. Why would she care if she hurt me? I just tackled her to the ground, she had every right to beat my ass.
"Tell me what you know..." I say while standing up. I want some answers and I want them now.
"So... This is some weird place called Equestria... You don't know who or where Amber is, and I'm stuck here?!" I yell after being told how exactly I got here. Apparently this thing is named Twilight Sparkle, as dumb as that sounds, and she can use magic with her little horn thingy on her head. As bullshit as it sounds she actually proved it by picking up a chair with levitation and throwing is across the room. As for the reason that I'm here... Apparently she was testing some new spell that would could teleport other people, or in this case ponies, and something went wrong with the spell and it seeped through to my universe and teleported me here along with anything I was touching at the time of teleportation. The worse thing is... The spell can only teleport one living organism at a time meaning... Amber was left alone in the store... and she was left for dead... The thought makes me break down in tears. I cry for what feels like hours while Twilight sits next to me trying to comfort me.
"It should have been her... It should have brought her here, not me!" I yell through the tears. I have no idea where "here" is but from what Twilight as told me, there aren't any walkers in the universe. Amber could have lived peacefully here, but no! She had to be left behind to suffer alone...
After crying for a while I just stand up and walk towards the staircase, no longer caring where I'm going. After losing both Sarah and Amber in a matter of minutes. I can barely even keep my mind from slipping into insanity.
"Where are you going?" Twilight says when she realizes I'm going upstairs. I ignore her and continue walking until I see what I guess is a bedroom. The two beds are fairly small for me so I just walk up to the one on the right and fall on it. The memories of the day rushing through my mind. I cry into the pillow until I finally pass out and drift into the world of sleep.
"Am... what... AGH!" I jerk up wide awake screaming at the top of my lungs, covered in sweat. I whip my head around viciously taking in my surroundings, not quite remembering where I am.
I calm down and pull my phone out of my pocket to check the time. I made sure to set it to Equestria's time before collapsing in bed. Back at the warehouse we had a generator that we used to charge small electrical devices. I had found a charger for my Iphone in a convenience store a few months back, and had been keeping it charged as it was my only means of remembering how the world used to be. I have the phone with me now, and the charger is in my backpack, but there is nowhere for me to plug the charger in which means... I only have whats left of the battery and then every memory of my past life will be gone forever.
Anyway, the phone says it is currently 3:30 in the morning although I'm now wide awake from my nightmare. In my dream I was back in the Walmart, trapped in that corner that could've been the death of me. Remembering Amber had made me wake up violently, almost falling out of bed.
"Amber..." I say in a sorrowful tone. "I... I saw Amber again..." I'm now looking Twilight in the eyes.
"Oh... I'm so sorry. Can I do anything for you?" She says getting out of her bed and sitting on the edge of mine. She tries to put her hoof on my arm but I pull it away before she can. I don't quite trust her yet seeing as how we just met.
"Unless you can bring her back, I don't want your help." I say rudely as I turn away and hop off the bed. I walk downstairs back into the library and just stand at the window, looking out at the town. It looks pretty quaint, it isn't all that big but its definitely not small. Houses line the street along with small stands and shops sprawled through the larger roads.
The faint sound of hooves on the floor let me know that Twilight is right behind me. She looks at me, then looks at a book that she's holding in her magic, then looks at me again. "I... think I might have something... that can help." She says with a small smile. I don't really know what she can really do for me at the moment, but I'm pretty desperate at the moment so I take her up on her offer.
"I found this book about ancient artifacts, and there's something in here you might want to check out." She says hovering the book over to me. I take the book and my hands and stare at it for a moment. When I finally come back to my senses I open the book to the bookmarked page. I begin reading the section out loud.
"It is believed that deep in the Everfree Forest there is an ancient amulet created by an ancient tribe of unicorns..." I snicker at the word 'unicorns'. It still seems dumb that this is all real. "Legend has it, the amulet can grant one wish per user..." I don't even finish reading the section before I run to the other side of the room and grab my gun and bow. If magic is real here, that amulet could very well be the answer to all my problems! "Out of my way! I'm going to the Everfree Forest!" I yell as I storm past Twilight towards the door.
Suddenly, I can't move. I'm surrounded by a pinkish aura that's holding me in place. I look to the left to see Twilight looking at me with a startled expression. "You can NOT go into the Everfree alone! Are you crazy!?" She says as she drags me away from the door.
"Let me go! I need that amulet!" I yell as I struggle against her magic to no avail.
"Look calm down." She says as she lets me go. "Listen to me for a minute before you go and get yourself killed!"
I decide to listen to what she says as I realize I have no idea what the Everfree Forest is or where it is.
"Ok, first of all, I will bring some of my friends here tomorrow and we will go over a plan as well as doing some research on this amulet" She says as she opens the book again. "See here? This amulet is said to be in the dead center of the forest. That's one of the most dangerous places in Equestria."
"What makes it so dangerous?" I ask starting to feel relieved that she had stopped me before I ran off.
"There are many creatures out there that could easily attack you and severely injure you or worse!" She exclaims
"What kind of creatures?" I ask starting to feel slightly nervous about actually entering the forest.
"There are many creatures in there like..." She starts rambling on for about five minutes before something she says makes my heart stop.
"...there's even these pony-like creatures that roam around the deepest parts of the forest. Legend has it, they're the corpses of ponies that have... uh, died" She says nervously. It seems like she hates the subject of death or anything dark.
"You mean... like... walkers!?" I exclaim as my heart beats faster in my chest. "You said there weren't any walkers in this world!" I yell at her. I can't believe she lied to me!
"Well, I mean... They aren't like the creatures that you described. They weren't created by a virus, they were created through dark magic."
"I... you!... UGH!" I yell as I storm by upstairs. I plop down on my bed as mixed emotions swirl in my head. I now have a new hope, something to keep me going. If I can find this amulet, I can bring back Amber. On the other hand... To get to the amulet, I'll need to face my biggest fears.
This is all to much for me. I'll just have to see how this all plays out. In the meantime, its still early in the morning and sleep is taking its hold on me once again. For now I can sleep peacefully, filled with a spark of hope.
My phone alarm goes off at 8:00 with a loud, annoying as fuck ringing sound. I slowly rise with a grunt as I reach for my phone and hit the mute button. Twilight, however, is still asleep, completely unaffected by the alarm. Deciding I don't want to wait to get going, I walk over to Twilight and push her completely off of her bed. She lets out a yelp as she hits the floor with a loud thud. Her head pokes over the edge as she gives me an annoyed look that I can't help but chuckle at.
"Was that really necessary?" She says as she gets up and starts heading downstairs. I decide to follow her and see if she has anything edible for breakfast.
"Yes, it was. We need to get going today, you're going to make a plan to get me to that amulet, and I am not going to wait around here doing nothing." I explain as I hurry down the stairs. When I reach the bottom however, I stop in my tracks when I see something coming through the door. This little green and purple lizard thing just walked in and is greeting Twilight. It spots me on the stairs and starts freaking out. He hides behind Twilight and points at me asking what I am and what I'm doing here.
"Spike, calm down, that's only Josh! He's the one and only human in Equestria!" She exclaims excitedly while pointing a hoof at me.
"Gee thanks for reminding me..." I say in an annoyed tone. I ignore the two and walk into the kitchen to see if there's anything worth eating. I'm actually quite surprised by what she has in her pantry. All I've had to eat for the past six months is canned beans and dirty water. I grab a few apples and jog out of the kitchen, ready to start my day. I jog to the door and begin to open it when I'm once again interrupted by Twilight.
"Where exactly are you going?" She says, obviously confused. "We're going to make a plan to get in the forest today!"
"Uh, no, YOU are making a plan while you talk to your little friends. I, however, am going to go explore your little town as it seems I'm going to be living here for the time being." And with that, I open the door and start to walk out
"Are you sure you want to do that? You don't know anypony here, what will you do when everypony runs from you?"
"Well... uh, fuck you!" I yell as I run out the door. Honestly I just couldn't think up a reasonable response. I begin my journey into town, just hoping that all the other peo- I mean ponies here will accept me like Twilight did.
I try taking smaller roads and alleys to avoid attracting too much attention to myself. Of course a couple of the ponies walking through the market see me. Most of them just stare with confused or curious looks, but a few, such as one yellow with pink hair, run away from me in fear. I don't really care however, I'm not here to please them. I'm here to explore my surroundings and learn the layout of the town.
After exploring for about and hour or two, I reach the outskirts of town and start walking down a dirt path that leads to some kind of farm. It isn't long before a raspy voice screams out from above me.
"Look out!!" The voice yells. I turn around just to have my vision filled with light blue. A strong force hits me directly in the face and knocks me back several feet. My vision is blurred and I'm surprised my neck isn't broken.
"What... What the hell!" I yell at the blue pony laying on the ground next to me. "You could have killed me!" I say pushing myself off the ground. "And what's with the hair? Did you fly through a gay pride parade?" I scoff. She has some fucked up rainbow hair and tale that just hurts my eyes to look at.
"Hey! Don't you dare make fun of my mane!" She yells back obviously offended. "And I warned you to look out." She explains while she brushes the dust off of her.
"Just... just go away will ya?" I express angrily as I start walking back into town.
"Whatever, jerk!" She yells as she takes off again. Part of me wanted to be nice to her as something about her reminded me about Sarah, though I can't put my finger on it. However, she almost killed me, and that's not something I just let go.
I decide to walk into a park and just wait for time to pass. I sit down at the base of the tree and stare off into the distance at a mountain covered in snow. It isn't long before I slowly drift off to sleep.
A wake up peacefully compared to last night. I look at the sky to see that it is about noon. I should probably start heading back to the library to see if Twilight has any ideas on how to get the amulet.
I feel rejuvenated from my nap so I decide to jog back into town. I only take about ten minutes to reach the library. I can hear two or three voices inside and one sounds all too familiar. I groan as I open the door to see Twilight, an orange pony, and that blue pony that tried to break my neck. I walk in slowly as the three ponies stare at me. Twilight looks excited to see me, the orange pony has a small smile on her face, and the blue, rainbow haired one remained silent but gave me an annoyed and angry stare.
After an awkward silence, Twilight finally speaks up. "Oh Josh! You're just in time, the plans are almost complete. These are my friends Applejack..." She points to the orange pony who tips her hat towards me as I give a small wave. "... and this is Rainbow Dash!" She says pointing to the blue one who gives me a slight scowl.
"Yeah, I already met this fucker." I say as I pass Rainbow and stand beside Twilight.
"Oh, uh... you met... I see." Twilight says obviously uncomfortable about the tension between me and Rainbow.
"Lets just go over the plan..." I say taking the a scroll out of Twilight's magic. I put it on a table and unroll it. On the scroll is a map of what I assume is the Everfree Forest. Red lines are drawn across the map that show the route we will take through the forest.
After staring at the map for a few minutes I finally speak up.
It has been an hour since we went over the plan to get the amulet out of the Everfree. Essentially we're going to enter from the south which is pretty close to Sweet Apple Acres, which I was informed is the farm owned by Applejack's family. Once we enter, we'll follow a very carefully thought out path. It should take about three hours to reach the middle of the forest and get the amulet. I'm already packing and about to head to the door when my hopes are crushed yet again...
"What do you mean we can't go yet!?" I yell at Twilight when she approaches me with some heartbreaking news.
"We can't leave, Josh, because of the storm coming in tonight. If we leave now we'll be caught in the middle of one of the strongest storms of the year!" She retaliates. However when I take a look out the window, there isn't a cloud in the sky. I'm about to call her out on her bullshit when Rainbow walks into the room.
"Yeah about that. My team is going to bring in the storm tonight so it looks like you'll have to wait a week to get your little amulet." She says with a smirk. Ok, I get it already. You don't like me and I don't like you, but that doesn't mean you have to-
"Wait a whole week!?" I yell as I cut myself off mid-thought. "And what the hell do you mean YOUR team? You don't control the weather, you can't just ruin my life more than you have already!" Now I'm starting to get mad.
"Yes, I do control the weather you jerk." She says in a disturbingly calm tone. "Follow me." She says as she walks towards the door. Despite my sudden anger towards her, I decide to follow her outside.
"Alright watch this you weird ape thing." She exclaims as she takes off suddenly into the air. Gees I've been called some harsh names before, but what she just said really takes the cake. As she flies straight up, I notice a single small cloud resting above the library, and what I see next makes me question reality. She lands on top of the cloud and actually starts to push it towards the ground!
"Wha... How... But that's impossible!" I yell as the cloud lowers closer to the ground. It stops about ten feet above me and starts to turn darker... and darker... and oh shit! Rainbow peeks out from atop the cloud and gives me an evil smirk before she starts jumping on it, making rain poor out like a shower. Suddenly I'm soaking wet and Rainbow is on the ground laughing her ass off.
"Alright alright, you made your fucking point." I mumble as I walk back inside. I head up to the bathroom despite the immature giggles I get from Twilight and Applejack. When I reach the bathroom, I enter then lock the door behind me. I grab a towel and begin to dry myself off.
"This is going to be a long week." I mumble to myself as I stare at my reflection.
I stare out the window from Twilight's bedroom as rain cascades down the glass. They really weren't kidding when they said this storm would be massive. Tree branches and other assorted objects are being blown all across town. Some of the debris even hit the library at one point and broke a window that I had to fix. Now it just has a wooden plank over it.
As I sit back on my bed, I pull out my phone and begin looking through my old pictures. If this thing is going to die soon I want to get all the memories out of it as soon as I can. I swipe through the pictures remembering the times before the destruction of the entire world. I tear up however when I get to a certain picture that brings back painful memories. I stare at the picture of myself, Austin, and Amber hanging out in Austin's backyard. This particular picture was taken less than a month before the outbreak. I zoom in on Amber and that's when the tears come. I whisper to myself, "I'm coming Amber..." several times before I hear a knock at the door. Expecting it to be Twilight I yell at her to "go the fuck away." I'm shocked when I see who enters
Rainbow walks in with a neutral expression that turns into a frown when she sees the tear marks on my cheeks. I never would have expected someone like her to be very empathetic, but here she is looking as sad as ever.
"Uh... I need to... talk to you." Rainbow says as she walks up to my bed. I remain completely silent but I don't object when she jumps up beside me. I just give her an unreadable stare for a few minutes before I notice she's actually waiting for me to talk. So I reply as blandly as humanly possible.
"What." Is all I say while I watch her look down at her hooves. After a few more minutes of silence she finally speaks up.
She sighs and begins her little speech. "I've been a jerk, I could have really hurt you and I didn't even try to apologize. When I heard crying coming from up here, I knew something was wrong and I had to check it out. Twilight told me about this Amber that you lost... What I'm trying to say is... oh this is hard to say, but, I'm sorry, for everything." She finishes and looks up at me with sad and apologetic eyes. At that moment I realize why she reminded me of Sarah. Those eyes... They express so much emotion with just one look. It was always easy to read Sarah by looking at her eyes, and the same applies to Rainbow now.
I'm speechless at what she just told me. This mare, with the biggest ego I've ever seen, is apologizing to me.
I just stare at her wondering what to say when she speaks up again.
"I want to start over." She says with a small smile that's barely noticeable. "I want to try to... be friends with you."
I think it over for a minute until I make up my mind. I hate it when people try to get close to me. I only let Amber and Sarah get close because I always felt a natural connect to them. But as I look at Rainbow I can see the same traits I saw in both Sarah and Amber.
I extend my hand to her. "I'm Josh." I say with a small smile.
Rainbow chuckles slightly at my gesture, then she extends her hoof towards me. I grab hold and shake it.
The storm continued to rage outside. Debris would occasionally hit the window by my bed, more than often leaving a small crack. I'll have to tell Twilight about that later. I'm laying back on my bed just thinking about everything that's happened in the past couple of days. Rainbow is next to me looking out the window. We sit in silence as I stare at the ceiling enjoying each other's company. It'll be a while before I can consider Rainbow a true friend, but for now she's the closest thing I have to a friend.
"Hey you two." Twilight emerges from the doorway and breaks the silence. "Applejack and I are making dinner down here if you want some."
At that very second my stomach rumbles and I realize I haven't eaten since this morning. I hop off the bed, almost knocking Rainbow over, and I make my way past Twilight. I head downstairs where a I find a strong scent of apples coming from the kitchen. When I turn the corner into the kitchen I see Applejack cooking anything and everything you can with apples.
"Well howdy there Josh! I don't believe we've properly met. Ah'm Applejack, pleasure to meet ya." She says as she extends a hoof. I accept it only for her to nearly shake my arm off. I back away slightly rubbing my shoulder. "Heh yeah, same to you." I say as I sit down at the table.
Rainbow and Twilight enter soon after and sit down across from me. Applejack places a ton of apple products on the table and sits next to me.
"Alright everypony, dig in!" She exclaims as she takes a huge bite out of a piece of pie. I wince when I notice a pitcher of what appears to be apple cider on the middle of the table. I'm not old enough to drink alcohol and even if I was, there's no way I'd intoxicate myself and lose my ability to think straight.
"Uh, could we please not have that?" I say as I point at the pitcher. The three girls give me odd stares and stop eating at my request.
"Now why the hay would we do that!?" Rainbow yells with edge in her voice. "The cider is the best part!"
"I don't mean to offend but, I hate alcohol and I prefer not to be around anybody that drinks it." I say as I begin to stand from the table. Applejack puts a hoof on my shoulder and pulls me back into my seat.
"Now sugarcube, there ain't no alcohol in Apple Family Cider! We're a family friendly farm. Ain't any alcohol in our products." She says as she gives me a friendly smile. I suppose I'm ok with this new revelation. I take the pitcher hesitantly, but proceed to poor a glass of cider. I take a sip of the liquid and immediately my eyes shoot open in delight. This has to be the best thing I've ever tasted! And she told the truth, I can't taste even a hint of alcohol.
"This is incredible!" I exclaim as I drain the glass. I reach for the pitcher to get some more when a cyan hoof slaps my hand away.
"Hey save some for us!" Rainbow yells in a playful manner. It still feels weird that she isn't trying to insult me every time she talks. We bonded a little in Twilight's room as I told her my story about losing Amber and the initial outbreak of the virus.
I bump my hip on Applejack as I shift in my seat and music starts blaring from my pocket. I reach down and pull out my phone which started playing a song.
"Sorry, it was just my phone." I say nonchalantly. I go back to eating only to look up at everyone. All three of them are staring at me with a mixture of shock and awe in their expressions.
"What... was that." Rainbow exclaims as she slowly pokes a hoof at my phone on the table. "It sounded so awesome!"
"It was just my phone... Oh, wait, you guys don't have this kind of technology do you?" I say as I unlock my phone. It's still got a good amount of battery left, about three-fourths. "It's called a phone and it started playing music when it bumped into Applejack."
Twilight lets out an annoying squeal and attempts to yank the phone out of my hands. "Oh my Celestia! Human technology! Oh this is so exciting I have so many questions!" She starts to ramble off a bunch of questions that tune out while I finish my dinner.
"Twilight!" I yell when I finish. She finally stops rambling long enough for me to talk. "How about I show you guys how this thing works if you promise to not spew off a ton of questions.
"Oh yes! Deal!" She squees in excitement, which I'll admit is a little bit cute. We finish dinner and walk back into the main part of the library where Twilight sets up a table and four chairs for us. A thought occurs to me when I count the amount of chairs and realize someone is missing.
"Hey Twilight." I say getting her attention. "Where's Spike?" She looks a little concerned but that expression is replaced instantaneously with an expression of remembrance.
"Oh, Spike? He was helping Rarity at her shop, but I guess he's going to be stuck there for a while, what with the storm and all."
"Oh hm, I don't know a Rarity but... whatever." I say as I sit down at the table. Rainbow sits next to me while Applejack and Twilight sit across from us. Twilight pulls over a quill and scrolls and begins to take notes.
"Okay, just so we don't go overboard, I'll allow each of you to ask two questions. Anything else I show you will be on my own free will." With that I unlock the phone, sliding my thumb across the screen, ending with the all too familiar *click* I look to my right towards Rainbow. "Okay, you first." I nod my head towards her.
"Ok um, What was that music that started playing. It sounded totally awesome!" She exclaims, already getting excited. I open the music app and select the song that had played briefly in the kitchen. The song was a famous rock song back before the whole apocalypse started. I often listened to it when I was alone at the warehouse.
When the song died off after a few minutes, each of the ponies had different expressions on their faces. Twilight was just excited to be learning about human culture, Applejack had a small, yet approving smile, and Rainbow had the best expression of all. Her jaw had completely dropped and she stared with wide eyes at my now silent phone. The only thing she says is "Whoa..."
"Okay Twilight, your turn." I say as I point the phone towards Twilight.
"Oh of course! I want to know if there is any kind of records on your species that I could possibly study." She gives a nervous grin when I give her a weird look. I have no problem learning about me or my race, but she is such a nerd about it.
"I can't say I have any kind of historical records..." Twilight's grin falls into a frown at my words. "...but I do have some fiction books on here." Twilight perks up immediately with the biggest smile I've ever seen.
"It has books on it!?" She yells excitedly as she rips the phone with her magic. She tries desperately to swipe across the screen, trying to imitate what I had done. Her excitement quickly died down when she realized that the screen won't respond to her hoof.
"Calm down Twilight gees." I chuckle as I reach over to her and retrieve my phone. "The screen only responds to skin, so only I can use it unless you use your nose." I explain. Twilight gives a nervous chuckle and blushes.
"Okay Applejack, what do you want to know." I finally get around to AJ.
"Well gees, Ah don't know much 'bout your gizmo there. Why don't you just show us something cool?" She asks. I take this opportunity to use one of my favorite features on the phone. As I open the desired app, Rainbow puts in her two cents. "Yeah, books are boring, what else can that thing do!?"
A small Rainbow moves on the screen of my phone as I hit play. "Yeah, books are boring, what else can that thing do!?" The image of Rainbow states. All three of the ponies look shocked for the umpteenth time. I've seen a small projector in Twilight's room but it was nothing compared to a cell phone. It isn't much of a surprise that the three mares are shocked.
"Whoa, now that's what I'm talking about!" Rainbow points a hoof at the phone. She obviously liked seeing herself talk, what with her huge ass ego. I accidentally open the photo album which opens up to the same photo that I had been looking at in the bedroom. My heart leaps into my throat when I see the picture, tears already starting to well up in my eyes. I drop the phone on the table, my hand shaking. Twilight moves the phone over to herself and the other two mare look up the photo. All three of their smiles quickly turn into frowns. Twilight and Applejack give me empathetic looks, but Rainbow nudges her muzzle up against my side in what I assume is supposed to be a comforting manner for ponies. I mess with her hair and try to put on a fake smile.
"We should... head on to sleep now." I say, obviously tired from the emotional stress I'd been through. The others agree and we head up stairs. I hop in to bed and watch as Applejack and Twilight jump into bed together. I'd consider it weird if they weren't close friends. I roll over on my side only to feel a warm mass push into my back. I roll over to see Rainbow laying next to me, staring up at the ceiling. There's barely enough room for me alone, with her on the bed I hardly have any room.
"Rainbow... what the hell are you doing? I'm not sleeping with you." I say slightly annoyed
"Well where should I sleep? The floor?" She has a point, there's only two beds here and unless she wants to sleep on the floor, she has to sleep on my bed.
"I... fine whatever." I express, too tired to really care at the moment. "Just don't try anything..." I say looking at her. I've already picked up on the fact that she likes to make 'dirty' jokes. Hopefully she won't try to pull anything.
"Shut up and go to sleep already, idiot." She playfully punches my shoulder and rolls over, her back facing me.
I try to get over the fact I'm sleeping with not only a girl, but a pony. I'm too tired to really care though.
I'm about to drift off to sleep when a blood-curdling scream emits from just outside the library...
Among hearing the high pitched scream, I immediately jump over Rainbow and sprint down the stairs. Adrenalin shoots through my veins as I run towards the corner where my backpack and motorcycle are being stored. Living in the apocalypse for months on end tends to leave your sense on high alert at all times. Survival instincts start flowing back to me as I grab my revolver and bash my way through the door. Rain is pouring down in sheets and I can't see more than a few feet in front of me. Lightning lights up the sky giving me just enough light to see the source of the scream.
"H- Help!" A voice calls through the wall of rain. I run in the direction of the faint voice, almost losing the direction of the source over the roaring sounds of the storm above. I approach a yellow pegasus with a pink mane stumbling backwards. She runs into my leg and looks up at me in shock. She stutters a few inaudible sounds before pointing towards the Everfree Forest.
"Shit...No... no no no not again please!" I mumble to myself when I see just what frightened the poor mare. Four or five of the creatures that Twilight had described in the forest were stumbling slowly toward us. They look like pony versions of walkers, but according to Twilight they weren't infected, they were cursed. The similarities between these creatures and the walkers almost make me choke as I remember the hell I used to live in. Adrenalin once again shoots through my body as I raise a shaking hand up with my revolver in it.
I aim carefully through the sheet of rain until the sights land on their first target. I fire my first shot which hits the first creature in the throat, but it was enough force to knock it's head clean off. I take aim at the second, then the third creature, both of the bullets hitting home. I'm so overwhelmed with Joy and fear that I don't even notice when a fourth creature tackles me to the ground.
I fight against the creature, struggling to keep its mouth away from my neck. Memories of my first struggle in the bathroom back at the school start flashing through my mind. The creature, being a pony in nature, is much stronger than I am, despite it being undead. It's teeth slowly lower towards my neck, despite the force I put against it. If this thing bites into my Aorta, I'm as good as dead.
The creature is only centimeters if not millimeters away from my neck when suddenly all of the weight is lifted off of me in the blink of an eye. I jerk up to see Rainbow wrestling with the creature a few feet away. The walker pony is now on top of Rainbow, ready to take a chunk out of her. My vision is blurred and all I can hear is a ringing in my ears. I can tell I'm about the pass out at any second.
I shakily raise my gun and point it at the creature, taking two shots. The first shot hits the attacker in the leg which only gives Rainbow a slight advantage. My second shot hits the walker pony directly in the back of it's head. Blood and gore shoot forward onto Rainbow's face. Rainbow's expression is one of somebody who almost lost their life. My vision starts to fade and I can no longer hear anything. All of my strength was used to hold the creature at bay. As my last bit of energy leaves my body, I fall on my back and see four figures running over to me. Then my world fades into darkness.
"C'mon wake up..." A distant, raspy voice whispers. "Please..."
My senses slowly start to flow back to me. The first sense to fully return is my sense of pain. My muscles burn like hell and my shoulder hurts like shit. I realize the recoil of the gun had jarred my shoulder a bit, but it should be fine with some rest. I slowly open my eyes to see a wooden ceiling above me. Remembering what had just happened, I jerk up with a loud gasp, expecting to see more creatures attacking me. Much to my relief, when I take in my surroundings I see Applejack, Twilight, and the yellow mare all standing a few feet away from me, giving me relieved looks. Twilight has tear stains on her cheeks and the yellow mare is obviously still shaken up. To my left, with her head buried in my sheets is Rainbow. She's balling her eyes into the sheets, still unaware of my sudden consciousness.
Remembering how Rainbow had essentially saved my life, I grab her under her forelegs and lift her up on my chest. She lets out a yelp, obviously surprised to see have been suddenly grabbed. I hug her tightly against my chest and sigh in relief that we're all alright. Rainbow gasps when she sees I'm awake and returns the hug eagerly. We stay in the position for a few minutes before I speak up.
"You... you saved my life." I say as she lifts her head to look me in the eyes.
"What!? No! You saved my life! And you saved Fluttershy!" She says as she points to the yellow mare who I now know is named Fluttershy. Tears being to trickle down Rainbow's face. "We... we thought you were dead. You... Your'e heart stopped when you passed out. Thank Celestia that Twilight knew how to start it again." I look over to Twilight who blushes deeply. "It was nothing really. I'm just glad your'e all alright." Twilight says in a relieved tone.
I look back at Rainbow and realize that I'm a little closer to her than I probably should be. I need to ask Twilight something anyway so I take the opportunity to clear the room.
"Um, Twilight? May I speak to you alone for a minute?" I request. Twilight nods, a little surprised. The other three mares leave the room, though Rainbow is a little hesitant to leave me.
Once they're all gone I turn to Twilight, and slightly angered look on my face which takes her off guard.
"What the fuck Twilight!? I know you said those monsters exist, but you said that they lived in the middle of the forest! What would they be doing in the middle of town!?" I yell at her trying to get some answers out of her.
"I have no idea!" She retaliates. "The only thing I know about their movement is that they are linked together by the fact that they were undead. This allows them to somewhat communicate with each other, despite the ability to think. The only explanation for their sudden appearance is that there must be something that is undead, or something that could create such a thing." She explains in an educated tone. "Is there anything, anything at all that you have with you that could be described as being linked to the virus from your world?"
I think for a second before ultimately realizing what the source of the attraction was.
"Its... its me." I say as I realize what exactly had attracted the creatures. Back in the warehouse, one of our members died of a terminal illness that had nothing to do with the walker virus. Despite the fact that the woman had never been bitten, she came back as one of those things and almost killed Ed. We deduced that the virus was already in all of us, just waiting to take control of our bodies once we passed away. A bite from the walkers merely killed us, it wasn't what actually caused us to turn.
"I'm... I'm infected. I have the virus. They were attracted to me!" I yell as I start to shake in realization of what my current state meant for myself and the rest of the town. "As long as I'm here, those things are going to keep coming until they kill us or we kill them."
Twilight looks shocked yet seems to understand my situation. "This isn't good... this isn't good at all..." She mumbles to herself. I hop off the bed and look out the window. I focus on the Everfree Forest, a place where I know I'll soon have to face more of those creatures, except now I have a second goal. When we get in the forest, I'm going to kill every last one of those bastards. I refuse to let this world become like the one that I once knew.
I woke up to the smell of apples in the kitchen. I know what that means, Applejack is making some new treat that I know I won't be able to resist. It has been three days since the whole walker incident outside the library. I've been a little shaken up, as has Rainbow. Fluttershy left the morning after the incident despite the raging storm. The storm finally let up last night and we can finally leave the confines of the library in peace.
I throw off my covers and jog downstairs, stomach already growling in hunger. I turn the corner into the kitchen only to find Applejack propped up against the counter, alone.
"Hey AJ... Where are the others?" I ask as I look back into the main room expecting to see Rainbow and Twilight.
"Oh, them? Ah think they said they were going to Town Hall, but I don't recall why." She says as she returns to cooking. She's whipped up some kind of apple pastry and some eggs. I actually had no idea that they ate eggs here, but I was not about to complain as I've been derived of protein since arriving here. I'm gonna hate the conversation where I tell them I eat meat, should that conversation ever come up...
"Hm, I guess they have a good reason." I say as I take my seat at the table. Applejack finishes cooking and puts two plates on the table for us. I haven't really gotten to know Applejack yet and come to think of it, this is the only time we've been alone together.
"Y'know..." I say between bites. "... I haven't really gotten to know you all that well. Tell me about yourself."
"Oh me? Well... ain't much to tell ya there other than I work on my family's farm just north of town. I also have a big brother named Big Mac, and a little sister named Apple Bloom." She exclaims happily as she finishes up her breakfast.
"Are all of your family named after apples?" I chuckle at the new information. This has to be some kind of joke. The names of these ponies are so damn weird. "Well yeah actually!" She exclaims to my surprise. Damn she wasn't kidding then... Her next question catches me a bit off guard.
"So you've been here for about a week, and I know you went out into Ponyville the day of the storm, Ah gotta ask, did ya make any friends while you were out there? They're just as important as family ya know." She gives me a curious look as she washes her plate. To be honest I didn't consider any of these ponies to be my friend per say. They felt more like nice roommates than friends. I learned from the apocalypse not to let anybody get too close, and I suppose that become a second nature to me so I guess my answer is... "No, no I haven't"
"What!? Everypony needs friends, and that includes you!" She exclaims pointing a hoof at me.
"Well I'm not a pony, I'm a human. I can take care of myself thank you very much." The end of the world made me bitter and cold towards just about anyone and anything. I learned to become independent. I learned that others will just let you down and leave you behind... I learned that lesson the hard way. I only let Amber and Sarah get close because my emotions got the best of me. I also trusted them with my life.
With that, I put my plate in the sink and begin to head to the door when a very excited Twilight bursts in with Rainbow in tow.
"Josh! Exciting news!" Twilight yells in an excited squeal. "You're going to be officially welcomed to Ponyville today! We set up a town meeting this afternoon for you to be introduced to the town! Isn't this exciting!?"
"No... no it isn't! You didn't even bother to ask me! Maybe I don't want to meet all of your little friends!" I retort. Truth be told I knew this would happen eventually, I just didn't think it would be this soon. This meeting had to happen eventually or else I would never be able to comfortably move around town.
Twilight and Rainbow give me shocked and saddened expressions at my harsh words. Their expressions make me realize I had been yelling even though I didn't mean to.
"Look, I'm sorry... I'm just not sure I'm ready..." I say as I look at the floor and rub the back of my head.
"Oh c'mon it'll be fun!" Rainbow says hovering in front of me. "If it makes you feel better, I can stand with you on stage." This mare will do anything for attention, its no surprise that she'd want to be next to me when I'm directly in the spotlight.
"I... fine! When the hell is this thing?" I say pushing past Rainbow.
"In an hour!" Twilight exclaims to my horror. I haven't taken a shower or even cleaned my hair at all in... well months actually. When the walkers showed up, all power and plumbing shut down. It was rare to find a working shower or sink so I am currently covered in dirt and dried blood. My hair is greasy my beard is starting to grow a little longer than I'd like. Hah... look at me, I'm 16 with a full beard. My father would be so proud.
"Oh shit!" I yell as I run upstairs. Hopefully pony hygiene products will work on me. I enter the bathroom and lock the door. I start up Twilight's shower which is surprisingly advance for a society without much technology. It take off my clothes and step into the warm water. The warm water flows across my skin and let me tell you, it felt like heaven. I stand under the water for at least ten minutes before I actually begin to wash myself. after about half an hour I step out of the shower and look at myself in the mirror. I look so much different than I had before. The only thing left was to shave.
I look around Twilight's bathroom for a minute before I come across a pair of scissors which is odd considering that ponies don't have fingers. I don't question it as I begin cutting away what remained of the old me.
When I finish, I put my clothes back on only to finally see just how dirty my jacket was. I roll up the tattered thing and throw it in the trash. Now I'm left with a white t-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. The shirt isn't too dirty, considering the jacket took most of the damage that was thrown at me. I walk downstairs ready to get this dumb meeting over with.
When I enter the main room of the library, All three of the mares stop what they're doing and stare at me, jaws hanging low.
"What? Cat got your tongue? I say jokingly as I go across the room and start looking over my motorcycle.
"You look... so different." Twilight says, still shocked at my sudden appearance change. "I thought you were naturally dark, was that all dirt?"
"Yeah, that's what happen when you live like an animal for six months." I say as I start up the motorcycle. The engine comes to life with a loud roar. "Ah yeah!" I yell as I rev the engine.
"AH! What the hay is that!" Rainbow yells, startled by the engine. "Get away! I'll take this thing down!" She says as she flies over and begins kicking my bike.
"Hey! Chill out!" I say as I grab her out of the air. I drop her on the ground and take a few minutes to explain what a motorcycle is. Rainbow perks up when I say that it goes fast.
"How fast are we talking?" Rainbow says excitedly. This girl is a seriously speed-oholic.
"Well why don't you find out?" I say patting the seat behind me. She gives a big grin and attempts to jump on... only to almost fall off. I catch her and position her forelegs over my shoulders. I walk the bike to the door and open it, ready to get to the meeting.
"We'll meet you guys there okay?" I say to Twilight and Applejack. They nod and begin to grab a few supplies to bring along.
With that I turn to Rainbow. "Ready for this?" She nods in excitement. "Alright... hold on tight!" I yell as I floor it into the streets. We accelerate extremely fast, hitting sixty miles per hours in a matter of seconds. I take a path around the town so I don't disturb any ponies walking through the streets. The ride lasts a few minutes, our top speed reaching over a hundred miles per hour. We hop off the bike after I park it behind town hall.
"Wow that... was... awesome!" Rainbow yells as she does some flips in the air. "But it wasn't as fast as me!"
And there's the ego! I swear this girl has an ego the size of Texas.
I enter the back door to the town hall to find a security guard looking right up at me. He looks shocked when he first sees me, but quickly snaps back to his senses.
"You must be Josh, the stage is ready, you may go out at any time." The guard says. Huh, I didn't think they would be ready for me just yet. I look down at Rainbow who looks pumped to go out on stage. I walk over to the front door to town hall. On the other side are hundreds of ponies about to meet the first human to ever exists in Equestria.
I slowly open the door, expecting to see just a few ponies ready to meet me, and possibly some officials to welcome me to town. Boy was I surprised at what I really saw.
"AGH!" The second I open the door, I'm assaulted with flashes of light and the cheers of what looked like hundreds, maybe even thousands of ponies. The flashes of light are coming from what look like those old timey cameras you would find in an antique shop. That explains the flashes, but... how is the audience so large? At most the town of Ponyville appears to only be able to hold about a hundred or two residents, there are at least four or five times that number in attendance! The only explanation is that word somehow spread to nearby towns so quick enough for other civilians to make their way to Town Hall.
I slowly walk onto the stage, hand over my eyes to block the assault of light. A microphone is placed on a podium in the center of the stage that seems to be way too small for me to reach without bending down. I give Rainbow a nervous look, crowds have always been my worse fear, well that is until the dead began to eat people, but that's beside the point. My stomach begins to flip and my heart is desperately trying to escape from my chest. Rainbow sees what I'm getting at and takes charge.
Rainbow runs up the microphone and begins to introduce me.
"Fillies and gentlecolts!" Rainbow yells into the microphone. The terminology she used to greet the crowd almost make me chuckle enough to forget the unsettling feeling growing in my stomach. It gets to the point where I just can not hold it any more.
"Please welcome, Josh Cam-" Rainbow is cut off when she turns to point at me, only to see I'm no longer there. I sprint through Town Hall, desperate to find a bathroom. When I finally come across one I have no idea which I should enter. I can't tell the boy's room from the girl's room because of the pictures labeling the two. They look identical to me so I press my luck and enter the one on the right.
Looks like luck isn't on my side today. Twilight is just starting to trot out of the stall when she sees me and gives a small "eep!" I curse to myself before pushing past her and falling to my knees. I stare at my reflection in the water, sure that I was about to lose my breakfast. When nothing happens after a few seconds I turn around to see a worried Twilight staring at me.
"Josh are you alright!?" She yells as she gets right in my face. "Are you sick!?"
"I... I'm fine, thanks..." I say between heavy breaths. "I... I think it was just stage fright..." Right when I finish, Rainbow bursts through the door, though I can't tell if she looks worried or angry.
"What the hay! Why did you just ditch me!? I had to cover for you!" She yells angrily. Yep anger, that's definitely anger. When she sees the worried look on Twilight's face, her expression softens.
"You... you are okay? Right?" She says in a much calmer tone.
"Y-yeah, let's just... let's just go back out there." I mumble as I slowly stand. I head out of the bathroom, ready to face one of my biggest fears. I reach the door that leads to the stage, but I freeze again. My hand shakes as it hovers above the handle.
"How about we do all the talking?" Twilight says with a smile. Rainbow nods in agreement.
I accept the offer, my nerves slowly calming down. I open the door and walk back into the assault of flashes and cheers.
Twilight and Rainbow Dash introduced me and told the audience about my situation. All I had to do was smile and wave, which was still pretty hard for me to do. After the introduction the mayor gave me some paperwork that made me and official resident of Ponyville. However, I am not yet a full citizen of Equestria.
I'm currently staring at my hands, thinking about pretty much nothing. We are at lunch at a little cafe that Twilight took us to. We met up with one of Rainbow and Twilight's friends who goes by the name Rarity. A lovely name in my opinion, and it definitely matches her personality. She initially freaked out when she saw me, which I've come to expect now. What caught me off guard was the fact that she didn't freak out about me being a human, she was actually flipping out about the poor state of my clothes. A real diva if you ask me.
"Josh... JOSH!" Rainbow's voice snaps me back to my senses. I realize I've just been staring at a menu for the past ten minutes without even bothering to read it.
"Whatever is wrong darling?" Rarity asks in a curious tone. "You aren't still upset about your stage fright are you?"
"Actually... I don't know I'm just... thinking." I continue to stare again, but this time I find myself staring at Rainbow's hooves instead of my own hands. Thoughts and memories flood through my mind this time. Rainbow and Twilight have to bring me back to reality again.
"Are you sure you're alright Josh?" Twilight asks, putting down her menu. "You don't look too happy."
"I'm just... tired, that's all." Yeah... that must be it, I really haven't gotten all the much sleep since arriving here. It must be catching up to me.
The three mares go back to reading their menus, but something doesn't feel right... It feels like somebody turned up the sun by at least twenty degrees. Sweat begins pouring down my face. The feeling in my stomach violently erupts once again. The world starts spinning and my vision fades into a dull yellow. The last thing I see before fading away is Rainbow speeding out of her seat and grabbing me before I hit the ground.
I knew what these symptoms meant... I heard a man that was bitten complain about them back in the warehouse before he died. But when was I bit? I can't remember... My thoughts and memories are blending together
My vision is completely black now, barely hanging on to consciousness. I know what my fate is. Before I can fade away, I make the once request that I know can save these ponies.
Darkness... All I can see in any direction is pure darkness. I feel nothing, no pain, no emotions... and no memories. Everything is gone, I'm alone in a world full of nothing. A small light catches the corner of my eye as I look around me. I follow the little spark as it leads me in a random direction that doesn't appear to have an end. Suddenly the spark stops. It begins to grown to a shape that is just barely shorter than I am, maybe about a foot. The figure starts shifting until I realise what it is becoming. A human.
"What..?" is all I can mutter before colors start filling in the bright white void of a figure.
The figure stands before me now, complete. A single memory slips back into my mind as I realize what I'm looking at.
"A-Amber?" I mutter in shock.
"Josh..." She says in a very calming tone. "Its not time yet..."
Her last words seems to echo around me, making it sound like it was being said over and over again. My brain feels like it explodes as years of memories and thoughts rush back to me. The last thing I see is Amber waving to me. Then all I see is a bright light.
*Beep*...
*Beep*...
*Beep*...
My eyes slowly open, but everything is blurry. Pain racks through my body, mainly my chest. I can see different colored blurs on the other side of the room. There's a lavender one, an orange one, a yellow one, and a white one.
"You can't just kill him!" I hear who I assume is Twilight
"I'm sorry Miss Sparkle... he's been gone for two days..." I don't recognize this voice.
A violent cough erupts from my throat as I try shoot up into a sitting position. Or at least I would have if I wasn't tied down to my bed, the fuck? The blurs become clear now and I can see I'm in a hospital. I can see four of the five ponies I know and what looks like a doctor staring at me in utter shock. Did they think I was dead? Could they not hear my heart monitor from across room?
"Oh... my... Celestia..." Twilight says, still wearing her shocked expression. The four mares run up to me and stare in utter shock. Tear stains mark Twilight's face and I can tell that the other three were worried sick.
"Wha... What's going on?" I mutter as I feel my senses coming back to me. Some of the pain is leaving my body. That doctor said I was... dead, for two days! If that's true then... how am alive?
"She did it... she actually did it..." Twilight begins to break into tears. The other girls still look worried despite me being awake now.
"Who? Who did what?" I ask, now curious about what happened while I was out. Twilight is too busy crying into my sheets to answer so Rarity steps up instead.
"Darling when you passed out at that cafe you didn't just... pass out per say. Your heart stopped completely and Twilight couldn't revive you. Rainbow Dash, bless her, rushed you straight here, to the hospital, where they tried to revive you. When they got you in bed however, you... how do I put this... reanimated? You attacked a nurse and almost injured her before they were able to strap you down to the bed. You were moving, but you weren't alive. Rainbow Dash rushed into the Everfree to look for some amulet that would grant her a wish. I guess we know that she found it." Rarity explains the entire story.
"What!?" I yell when I realize Rainbow is alone in one of the most deadly places in this world. Just as I'm about to freak out more, a pink mare with a crazy hairdo burst through the door. I think this is... Pinkie Pie was it? I believe I heard about Twilight talking about her a couple of times.
"Girls! It's Rainbow, and it isn't good!" She says in a disturbed and horrified tone.
"Let me out... NOW!" I yell as I struggle against the restraints. Twilight looks up in surprise and unlocks the straps holding me down. Immediately I make a beeline for the door. Pinkie leads in front of me and we exit the hospital. She leads me to the edge of town, on the way she explains what she found.
"I was just out on a walk when I saw Rainbow stumble out of the Everfree! She didn't look so good so I ran to the hospital to get help!" She explains.
"Why didn't you bring her with you!?" I yell in anger. She doesn't have time to explain as I can now see a small cyan figure lying motionless at the edge of the forest. I break into a full sprint as I close in on Rainbow. I slide on my knees as I come to a stop right beside her. I notice that there are bite marks and scratches all over her body. She must have been attacked by those creatures. The amulet that I've been dying to find is around her neck. The first thing that comes to mind is to check her pulse. To my horror I find that... there isn't one. The other girls caught up with us and are staring on in horror at the sight of their friend.
"No! Don't you die on me!" I yell as I start pushing hard on her chest. Her ribs bend with each push, but her heart doesn't start. "C'mon! Don't you leave me too!" I yell through tears. I hesitate before what I do next. I take a deep breath and begin to breathe into Rainbow's mouth in hope that it'll revive her. When nothing works, I can hear the other mares breaking down in tears. The final option comes to mind, but it would mean making the ultimate sacrifice. I snatch the amulet off of Rainbow's neck and stare at it. I have to make the ultimate choice. Twilight interrupts me as I stare at the amulet.
"Josh! I- I need to tell you something. I read up on that amulet more and it turns out there's more to it than we thought. It's true that only one wish can be granted per user. However, we missed a part that explains more about the limitations. Only a total of three wishes can be made before the amulet loses all power. Considering a wish was made by the creators of the amulet to actually test it, and Rainbow used one to revive you... If you revive Rainbow... Amber will never come back."
The news hits me like a bullet. I knew I couldn't bring back Amber if I saved Rainbow, but... I was hoping that one of the other mares would be kind enough to bring her back for me, using their wish.
I have to make the ultimate choice... Amber, or Rainbow Dash?
I... I can't make the decision. Amber means so much to me, but Rainbow is the closest thing to a friend I have in this strange world. What do I do? What do I do!?
"No... I'm not giving up yet!" I say as I begin pushing down on Rainbow's chest once again. Nothing happens so I begin breathing air into her lungs once again.
"Come..." I push down one last time. "ON!" Rainbow's eyes shoot open and she gasps sharply. I put my ear to her chest and hear a faint heartbeat. I did it... I saved Rainbow... and I didn't have to use my wish! I can bring back Amber!
Amber can wait however, Rainbow is in bad condition, and we could lose her again if we don't do something fast. I pocket the amulet as I pick up the barely conscious Rainbow and begin full sprinting towards the hospital. Her forelegs lightly tap against my back as I sprint back into town. Tears of pure joy rush down my face as I realize I just saved both of my friends... Did I just think that? Do I actually consider Rainbow Dash as a... friend? I promised myself I wouldn't get close to anyone after losing Sarah and Amber but... now that Amber is coming back, I feel like I should consider at least one of these ponies my friend. And if any of them deserve it, it's definitely Rainbow.
I burst through the front door of the hospital in a sweat, heart beating fiercely in my chest.
"Doctor! I need a doctor!" I yell as I look around the lobby. Two nurses come running around a corner with a stretcher for Rainbow. I hesitantly place her down and help them wheel her to the emergency room.
Please... please let her live...
"How is she?" I ask the surgeon. It's been ten hours since I brought Rainbow to the hospital, but I still don't know her condition.
"Well you got lucky I suppose. If you had gotten to her any later, you probably wouldn't have been able to revive her. We did all we could, and we think she should be fine in a couple of days. Again, you got very lucky." The doctor says before he walks away from Rainbow's room.
I enter for the first time to find Rainbow hooked up to a few IVs and a heart monitor. She's awake now, barely, but awake. She looks confused though.
"Rainbow...?" I say as I slowly enter the room. I don't want to startle her. She stares at me with a shocked expression and she tries to shift around, only to find that she can't.
"Calm down... get some rest..." I say calmly as I sit in the chair next to her bed. A few minutes later she drifts off to sleep.
I can't sleep at all. I keep staring at her, thinking about the sacrifice she made for me. She barely knows me, yet she risked her life to save mine. She almost died because of me! Why is it that anybody I get close to dies!
"Ungh..." Rainbow groans. Looks like she's slowly waking up. "J...Josh... It worked... didn't it?"
"Y-yeah, you saved me." Tears start to well up in my eyes.
"And you saved me..." She says with a small chuckle that turns into a violent cough. I get up and sit on the edge of the bed and pat her back to help the cough run it's course. We sit in silence, the only noise in the room being the heart monitor, for a good half hour before I start to doze off. I lay down on the edge of the bed, leaving plenty of room for Rainbow, and I drift off to sleep.
I'm woken up by a light shove to the shoulder. I open my eyes slowly, but all I see is an orange blur.
"Well good mornin to ya Josh!" A southern accent, and orange, it must be Applejack. My mind is fuzzy from waking up so I don't quite remember where I am. Forgetting that I am right on the edge, I shift my weight ever so slightly, only to find myself hitting the floor with a thud.
"Ugh..." I rub my shoulder that I fell on. "Son of a..."
"Time to get movin sugarcube. You have that wish to make today remember?" Applejack reminds me. My heart races with excitement as I remember the amulet in my pocket. I take the amulet out of my pocket and stare at the magic swirling around in the gem in the center. As I look up from the amulet, I realize that Rainbow is missing now.
"Where did Rainbow go?" I ask Applejack with a curious glance.
"The doctors rolled her outside a few minutes ago, but they didn't want to wake you just yet. They sent me up here to get you once they made sure everything was ready." AJ says with a sly smile.
"Everything set up? What do you mean?" I ask, now curious as to what might be going on.
"Well follow me and find out!" Applejack says as she leads me to the door. I follow her out the door and into the lobby of the hospital. We exit the front entrance, only to find the last thing I was expecting. Ponies were scattered throughout the entire area in front of the hospital. Tables with food are set up around us, and a giant banner is set up parallel to the hospital that says "Welcome Amber!" Under the banner is Twilight and Pinkie giving me happy, warm smiles. I hear the sound of wheels coming up behind me, and I see a somewhat alert Rainbow giving me a friendly, yet weak smile. The six mares that I know gather around me, giving me different variations of smile and encouraging words.
"You guys did this... for me?" I say as tears well up in my eyes. "Go ahead Josh... Go for it You've been through so much since arriving here, it was the least we could do." Twilight says patting my hip with a hoof. I pull out the amulet one last time and stare deep into it's gem. I follow the magic swirling around in it for what feels like an hour but was probably only a few seconds. I walk into the center of the party and everyone goes quiet.
"Ok... here goes nothing..." I say confidently.
"I... I wish Amber Brown was here and alive!" I yell as I raise the amulet to the sky. Immediately, lightning bolts strike rapidly on a single spot across the party grounds, just in front of the banner. Wind swirls around the lighting and a bright ball of light starts growing on the ground where the lighting strikes. The amulet, now out of magic, explodes in my raised hand, turning into thousands of little shards. One final explosion of light covers the entire area surrounding the hospital, temporarily blinding all of us.
The light slowly fades away, and the dust begins to clear. I slowly turn my head to look at the area that was struck by the lighting. My heart stops and tears of pure joy being streaming down my face. Looking back at me, tears streaming down their face as well, is the one person I had been trying to saves since arriving in this psychedelic world.
"Amber..." I take slow steps in the direction of the little girl. My slow walking quickly turns into a full on sprint. She begins sprinting to me as well.
"Amber!"
"Josh!"
We meet each other at full force. Since I'm bigger than her, I basically tackle her to the ground. "Oh my... Amber... I can't believe it!"
"Josh... what happened? The last thing I remember is you disappearing along with the bike. I didn't know what happened to you... I was so worried! The walkers were about to get me when I suddenly appeared... wherever we are." Amber explains.
Only a few seconds passed between our disappearances huh? That means that the Amber I'm looking at never died, she's from the past. Even if my wish created two timelines, It doesn't matter to me. Amber is here now, she won't have to suffer on that God forsaken planet any more.
Snow gently falls to the ground as I look out the window of the library. Tiny specks of white pile up outside, already measuring an inch deep. Fire crackles in the fireplace, and the smell of hot chocolate slowly makes it's way from the kitchen. A small, happy smile rests on my face as I follow individual flakes to the ground, while also watching the early sunrise outside.
It's been two months since the whole amulet incident. I introduced Amber to all of the ponies that I know, and by that I mean the only six that I really know, and they all became quick friends. I can't say the same for myself just yet, I only consider Amber, Rainbow, and Twilight to be my only actual friends. Applejack is getting there I suppose, but I haven't spent enough time with her to really say. Rainbow and Amber compete to hang around me like, 24/7 even when I want to be alone. Amber I get, she suddenly appears in a land of ponies and I'm the only human around, so I understand why she'd feel comfortable around me. Rainbow however... well I can't really explain her, it's not like she doesn't have other friends to hang with.
After the whole bringing Amber to Equestria thing, we both lived with Twilight and Spike for a few days, but sadly, there just simply wasn't enough room for the four of us. So for the past two months, Amber has been living at Sweet Apple Acres with Applejack and her family. I met her family when visiting Amber on several occasions, nice folks. As for me, I continued to live at the library with Twilight who enjoys reading with me when I can actually find a book I enjoy. It's rare, but sometimes I just find a good book that I can't put down.
Every now and then, I find myself wandering to a secluded lake just inside the Everfree Forest. Of course I don't go in there unarmed, no, I bring my bow and a few arrows as a precaution. I'd bring the gun, but I think it would be a little overkill and a little too loud for such a quiet area. It'd probably just bring more creatures to kill me, and that's the last thing I need. Speaking of creatures, I've been given the duty to "protect" the town from those walker type creatures that occasionally find their way out of the forest. Since they're attracted to the virus in me and Amber, it's our job to keep them out.
I've been relatively bored since bringing Amber back. My whole existence revolved around bringing her back. Now, however, I could finally live a peaceful life in a mostly peaceful land with only the occasional killing of a walker pony. Speaking of killing, I'm dangerously low on ammo. Only six bullets remain, and they are for absolute emergencies only. Luckily Twilight is working on a duplication spell. The spell is complicated so it can only make two or three bullets at a time and takes days to recharge. But, it's better than nothing.
Tonight should be exciting though. The six mares, Amber, and myself are setting up a big bonfire behind the library. Tomorrow is December 24th which means today is the day before what would be Christmas Eve! I promised the mares I'd explain our earth holidays to them tonight. Twilight is excited to have the whole town celebrate, but I don't really know if they'd cooperated. We'll see.
Twilight walks out of the kitchen with three steaming cups of hot chocolate in her magic. Spike rides on her back, still asleep. I take one of the mugs and give Twilight a friendly smile. The warm drink reminds me just how cold it's been for me. I'm not a pony so I can't just walk outside and be naturally warm, and considering my jacket was torn to shreds and thrown away months ago, I'm not left with much to keep myself warm. Amber and I only have one set of clothes each. Lucky for her, she has a pink hoodie while I only have a white t-shirt and blue jeans. We have to wash our clothes almost every day. I'll have to learn how to stitch and sew if I ever want to be warm during the winter. Rarity offered to make me clothes, but I turned her down in hopes to learn how to make my own clothes. She's simply my backup plan.
I borrow a sack of bits (yeah, that's the name of their currency apparently) which is heavy as shit from Twilight, and head out the door. I did explain a small bit of Christmas to the mares, though the full explanation is coming tonight. However, I did tell them about the Secret Santa thing that my family did every year. So, about three days ago, we drew names and decided we would exchange our gifts at the bonfire. I actually drew Rainbow's name and immediately knew what I would get her. This time, I would need Rarity's help... but just this time!
I rushed over to Rarity's boutique in hopes that she had finished the gift I asked her to make for Rainbow. About a month ago, I was with Amber at a park. We were playing catch with an apple since there weren't really baseballs or anything here. Rainbow saw us and jumped in, and we somehow got on the subject of football, which I used to play. I showed her a football game on my phone, no longer caring about the battery now that Amber was here. Rainbow was intrigued by the sport and spent the next few days bugging me about it. The phone died a few days later, and has been dead since.
I entered Rarity's shop just as she was boxing up Rainbow's gift.
"Ah darling! Just in time!" She welcomed me excitedly. "I do hope you like it. Does it look like how you described it?"
I held up the piece of fabric and examined it with a satisfied smile. I had asked Rarity to make a uniform that looked like the one I wore on my old team. It was a dark royal blue with white lacing on the cuffs and around the neck. On the front were the words "#1 Flyer In Equestria" And on the back there was a big 1 with the word "Dash" above it. Holes for her wings were cut in the sides. I just knew she would love it.
I thanked Rarity and made my way out with the now wrapped box. I quickly returned to the library and hid the gift under my bed, then headed back out, ready to start the day. I met up with Applejack and Amber at the farm and starting making a snowman with Amber and AJ's sister, Applebloom. Nice kid. She insisted that we should make a snow pony, and was confused at the term snowMAN. Amber taught her how to make a snowman while I sat back and supervised. I met Applejack's brother while he was working, finally excited to talk to a guy in this land full of what seemed like all girls. Turns out he's not a man of many words.
I spent most of the day messing around with Amber and Applebloom. Eventually the sun began to set over the horizon and it was time to start heading over to the bonfire. Amber, Applejack, and I walked together through the now quiet streets of Ponyville.
"So, Amber, how are you liking Equestria?" I ask while messing with her hair. She lets out a small giggle.
"It's nice! I'm glad we don't have to worry about the walkers anymore!" She says with excitement and joy. I can understand why. This must be heaven to her after living in a walker infested Miami for six months.
"What 'bout them creatures in the Everfree? Aren't they like those walker creatures ya'll keep goin on about?" Applejack says curiously.
"You guys don't have to worry about those sons of bitches with me around!" I say pridefully, pointing my thumb at my chest. "And besides, there were millions of walkers where we came from. We see maybe one or two a week here."
We draw closer to the library as the sky becomes pitch black. The only lights around are coming from a few windows and the growing fire behind the library. Out in the distance, pretty far away, is a mountain with a city built onto the side of the damn thing. I'd asked Twilight about it after noticing it a while back. She said it was a place called Canterlot where the two princesses lived. This place just gets more girlish every day I swear. Of course I tried to correct her and ask "You mean Camelot right?"...She had no idea what I was talking about.
We approach the growing fire, realizing we are the last to arrive. I take a seat between Rarity and Rainbow, the latter of the two, scooting ever so slightly closer when noticing me sit down. I noticed the object I had asked Twilight to bring, along with my present for Rainbow. The object I asked Twilight to bring was an old guitar I had found in her basement. How the fuck ponies play guitar, I have no idea. I'm so glad for the fire, if it weren't for that, I'd be freezing to death. At least Amber has a hoodie.
All the girls were chatting, even Amber was talking with Fluttershy. Rainbow, however was just staring at the fire. I decided to start a conversation.
"Soooo, how's your first Christmas going?" I ask Rainbow as I gently elbow her on the wing.
"Huh!?" She mumbles rather loudly as she snaps out of her little trance. "Oh it's... it's good!"
Twilight then gets everyone's attention and begins the Secret Santa thing. Twilight goes first, giving Applejack a green scarf with little red apples on it, which she seems to love. Amber gives Rarity a drawing of all of us. It sounds a little cheesy, but Amber is the best damn artist I've ever met. The drawing looks just like a real photo, framed and everything. Pinkie Pie surprises me with my gift. She got me a hat that was black with a red trim, my favorite color combination. It looked almost exactly like a baseball cap, only there were two slits on the top where a pony's ears would go. They were pretty small though so the only thing that looked weird about it was the little puffs of hair coming through them.
Eventually we got me. I took the present out from behind Twilight and presented it to Rainbow.
"You drew my name?" She asked, surprised. "Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh what is it!?" She said excitedly as she shook it trying desperately to guess the contents of the package.
"Well, how about you open it and find out dummy?" I say with a chuckle as I flick her ear, which twitches involuntarily.
She opens her gift and stares at it with the biggest smile I have ever seen. Everyone but Amber, Rarity, and myself looked at it with curious gazes, never having seen a football uniform before.
Rainbow squees with delight and hugs the fabric to her chest. She quickly slips it on and reads the front.
"So you finally realized that I AM the best flyer in Equestria huh?" She says with a playful smirk. And there's the ego.
"Hah yeah. Merry Christmas Dash." I say as I ruffled her mane.
Once we finish passing out presents, I pull out the guitar and start playing a few warm-up notes. It's been years since I've played, but I think I still got it. We sing campfire songs, none of which I'd heard before hearing Twilight sing a few in the library. I picked up on the basic tunes and played the notes as the girls sang. Amber, being oblivious to the lyrics, just swayed to the music.
Eventually, Amber and I decided it was time for some earth songs. I thought of the perfect one as I glanced over at Rarity on my right. I gave a smirk to Amber, hoping she'd pick up on what I was about to do.
"Alright, time for one of MY songs!" I say with enthusiasm. I begin strumming the first few notes, and Amber perks up, recognizing the song. A smile forms on her face when she catches me glimpse another look at Rarity. Okay, now I know she gets my joke. I begin to sing along to the music.
"She'll be... coming around the mountain when she comes!" I sing loudly, getting everyone's attention. "She'll be coming around the mountain when she comes! She'll be comin' around the mountain, she'll be comin' around the mountain, she'll be comin' around the mountain when she comes!"
The six mares give me confused, yet satisfied looks, which told me I should start the second verse, the verse with my cheesy pun in it.
"She'll be... riding six white horses when she comes!" And with that I nudge Rarity with my elbow and give out a chuckle. She blushes, not expecting the lyrics. Amber giggles uncontrollably across from me. "She'll be riding six white horses when she comes!" Amber joins in now. "She'll be riding six white horses, she'll be riding six white horses, she'll be riding six white horses when she coooomes!"
Amber and I lose our shit while the other girls just kinda look around, confused. I explain to them that the lyrics were written a long time ago, and it was simply coincidence that it would end up being sung to an actual white horse, or pony in this case, close enough for me! After explaining, the rest of the girls burst out laughing, except for Rarity who just blushes.
Once we finish songs, we decide to play a game. One that I'm not comfortable with among humans, yet don't mind playing with these girls, Amber being the exception. Twilight wants to play... Truth or Dare. Why they picked my least favorite game ever, I don't know, but I go along with it.
Twilight starts by asking Rarity, "Truth or Dare?" Rarity picks truth.
"Okay," Twilight says smugly, "Have you ever... kissed anypony?"
Rarity looks shocked, but she has to answer. That's the bitchy part of this game, if you don't do what you're told, everyone will just force you to do it anyway.
"Um... I'd be lying if I said I have." Rarity says with an embarrassed smile.
Eventually it's Pinkie's turn. What follows, is not good... not good at all...
"Josh! Truth or Dare!" She yells in her high pitched voice which sometimes gives me a headache.
"Uh... dare?" I say nervously.
"Ok! I dare you to..." She pauses and gives an evil little smirk, and I know whatever she's about to say can't be good for me. "... kiss Applejack!"
Everything freezes... like, everything. I slowly turn my head to Applejack, and mouth the words, "Please... no... don't"
Applejack decides to speak up. "Ah... don't think that's a good idea Pinky... Josh is a nice fellow and all, but I... we ain't THAT close."
I glance to my left to see Rainbow shooting daggers at Pinky just with her eyes. I guess she doesn't want to embarrass her friends? I guess that's it.
"You have to! That's the rules!" Pinky says with an evil smile. Damn... it...
"Fuuuuuu...." I whisper under my breath as I stand up. I hear Rainbow huff behind me. I slowly kneel down in front of Applejack and whisper just loud enough for her to hear.
"Just... make it like, super fast..." I whisper nervously. I do NOT want to do this. The only time I ever got this close to one of these damn ponies was when I revived Rainbow, and that was to save her damn life.
Then... to only make things worse... Amber decides to speak up. Now let me remind you, Amber is only twelve years old, and doesn't quite grasp the whole "Ponies think just like humans" concept yet. She kinda sees them as talking animals pretty much.
"Josh! You can't kiss an animal! That's weird!" Amber shouts in protest.
"Oh fucking hell!" I whisper to myself. I love Amber to death, but she can be so oblivious some times.
"WHAT!?" Rainbow yells from across the fire. "Did you just call us animals!?" Now she's right up in front of Amber, angry as all hell. The other mares look really hurt as well. "Is that all you think we are!? Dirty animals!?" She yells again.
I don't know why Rainbow is so defensive about this. Why would she care so much? I have to physically pull her away from Amber who has cringed back, small tears forming in her eyes.
"Stop it! Both of you! You're acting like little kids!" I yell as I stand between them.
We settle back down and sit in silence for a few minutes. I begin to hum a little tune, hoping to lighten the mood. I reach behind me and strum the guitar, playing a few soft notes to lighten the mood. Once everything is back to normal, and most of us seem to have forgotten about the what happened, we made smores around the fire. They were pretty damn good if I do say so myself.
Eventually the fire goes out, and it's time to head home. Everyone heads out with friendly goodbyes until only Twilight, Rainbow, and myself are left. Rainbow thanks me again for the gift, but hold her gaze on me for a little longer than I did. With that she flew off into the night.
Twilight led me back inside to find Spike passed out in his little bed. Twilight heads on to sleep, but I stay downstairs for a little while. I watch as a new layer of snow falls down on the earth like a little white blanket. Today was a good day.
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and after explaining what Christmas was, Twilight had sent out a very long, detailed letter to the mayor on how to set up the decorations around town. I'm surprised they took in our tradition so willingly.
Tomorrow, this town will finally feel like the earth that me and Amber grew up in. A small piece of home finally found it's way back into our lives.
I wake up to a little girl shaking me violently. Why she was here? I have no idea.
"Josh! Wake up!" Amber yells excitedly. I look at the clock on the wall to see it is already noon. Damn I must have been tired!
"Amber? What are you doing here?" I ask, still half asleep.
"Josh don't you remember!? Today is Christmas Eve!"
"Oh yeah..." I say as I roll back over. "Go have fun."
"Josh! C'mon! You gotta see what Twilight did!" Amber says as she literally drags me out of bed. I half walk, half fall down the stairs behind Amber as she excitedly runs over to the door. I open it and she follows me out. My eyes shoot open as I realize I'm standing in inches of freezing cold snow. No longer asleep due to being near frozen to death, I look around the town in shock. The town has been transformed into something you would see in a Disney Christmas movie. There are Christmas trees everywhere, fully decorated, wreaths and other Christmas decorations, and even Christmas lights!
"What the hell? How did they?..." I mumble to myself just as Twilight and Applejack run up to me. Twilight explains that she and the rest of the town had gotten up really early to decorate the town as accurately as I had described. It looks amazing for something I had just simply described to Twilight. She really outdid herself.
"Oh my... This is amazing!" I yell in astonishment, now forgetting the fact that I'm freezing to death. "You did all of this for us?"
"Yeah! We worked really hard to make your first major holiday in Equestria feel like home for you!" Twilight exclaims happily.
"Whoa... Where are the other girls?" I ask, wanting to spend the day with everyone. I only see Applejack and Twilight right now, but the others might be close by.
"Fluttershy and Pinkie are over in a shop looking at different items that they might buy as gifts." Twilight explains. "And Rarity is supposed to be here in a few minutes after finishing her 'Christmas hat' as she described it."
As soon as Twilight finishes explaining, the three mares come around the corner chatting together. I realize one of us is missing in the group, the one who would probably enjoy this the most.
"Uh guys? Where is Rainbow at?" I ask looking up, expecting her to swoop in at any second.
"Huh... I don't really know." Twilight explains, also realizing that her friend wasn't present. "Applejack, could you go find Rainbow Dash, then meet us at the cafe for lunch?"
"Ah'm on it!" Applejack says as she runs into town to search for Rainbow. Once she's gone, the rest of us head over to the cafe for lunch. Bad memories rush back to me as I remember the time when I pretty much died here. Turns out the magic in the walker creatures in the forest mixed with the virus in my blood and caused the virus to kill me, even though I was never actually bitten. Those were bad times. At least we learned that me and Amber can't touch the creatures, so we have to kill them at range.
We sit down at the table and wait for Applejack and Rainbow Dash to return. While we wait, Amber and I tell stories about our time in Miami. When we get on the subject of my phone, and how I would charge it with a generator, Twilight said she'd be glad to find a way to charge it. Twilight's offer excites me greatly, as while I don't really need the phone, it would be really nice to have.
After waiting for half an hour, we get tired of just sitting around. I offer to go find Applejack and Rainbow.
I walk through town looking around for the two mares with little to no luck. I eventually come across Applejack's little sister along with what I'm assuming are two of her friends.
"Hey Applebloom. I need your help." I say as I quickly approach.
"Josh! Thanks for playing with me yesterday! It was really fun!" She yells when she sees me, completely ignoring the question.
"Yeah it was, but have you seen your sister and/or Rainbow anywhere? I need to find them, they kinda disappeared earlier." I ask, hoping that she had seen her sister. To my surprise she actually had seen them both. She gave me directions to a secluded park on the outskirts of town. I thanked her and headed toward the park. I slowly jogged to my destination, taking in the scenery and amazing decorations scattered throughout the town. I gotta hand it to these ponies, they really know how to get shit done fast considering they did all of this in just a few hours.
I approach a big tree as I reach the park. I'm surprised when I hear what sounds like soft crying and Applejack's voice.
"Why don't you just tell him?" I hear Applejack say quietly. I peek around the tree and see Applejack sitting next to a slumped over Rainbow Dash. They're at the edge of a small pond and apparently don't know that I'm there.
"He would probably just avoid me..." Rainbow says through tears. Who the hell are they talking about?
"Now Rainbow, you know he ain't like that. He wouldn't judge you because of what you look like." Applejack says while patting Rainbow's back.
"Didn't you hear what Amber said last night!? They just think of us as animals. Just face it, there's no way he would ever like me back." Rainbow says as she stares at her reflection in the water. Wait... are they walking about me? They must be if they're referring to Amber like that.
"Hey! Josh never said that! You don't know for sure that he feels that way about you." Applejack yells in protest. Now I definitely know that they're talking about me. And does Rainbow... like me? I can't say I hadn't suspected it lately. She has been a little more clingy lately, and she always tries to get me to do things with her.
The realization hits me that a pony is fucking in love with me. My heartbeat increases rapidly and my breathing starts to come in heavy breaths. I guess I was a little loud because Applejack turns to look right at the tree that I'm hiding behind.
"Is someone there?" She asks as she slowly stands up.
I take off in a full sprint back into town, heart racing and sweat pouring down my face despite the freezing weather. I have no idea what to think about this. If I ever wanted to get with someone in this world, I only had two choices. Amber was the only other human in existence here, but there's no way I would ever fall in love with her in a romantic way. The only other option would be to date one of these fucking ponies. Would it even be accepted? Would other ponies look at us weird? I admit I had always seen a bit of Sarah in Rainbow as their personalities were pretty similar. I fell in love with Sarah, could I really like Rainbow back? Would I break her heart just because of what she looked like?
I rush back to the cafe where the other girls look bored out of their minds. I sit down next to Amber, still shaking.
"josh? Are you okay?" Twilight says with a worried look. "You look like you've seen a ghost."
"I... I'm fine." I lie. I'm not fine, I'm so torn right now. I have to admit to myself that is Rainbow was a normal human girl, I'd probably go out with her. Could I look past the fact that she's not a human?
A few minutes later, Applejack and Rainbow finally show up. It's obvious that Rainbow has been crying, but she's trying to hide it. She doesn't make eye contact with me at all as she approaches.
I can't just keep this information to myself. Before she can sit down, I pull Applejack aside where we can be alone for a minute.
"Applejack... I heard you and Rainbow at the park. I was behind a tree, I heard it all." I say, my voice shaking.
"You did!?" Applejack says, obviously shocked. "So you know how Rainbow feels now huh?"
"Yeah and... I like her personality alot, but... I just don't think I could go out with a pony." I say, small tears forming in the corners of my eyes.
"Josh! Don't you ever say that. It isn't what's on the outside that matters. It's what on the inside that you should care about. So what if Rainbow isn't like you? That doesn't mean you can't love her back." Applejack's words make sense. I start to realize that this would happen eventually, with Rainbow or someone else. Unless I dated Amber, which will never happen, I would eventually have to learn to love something that isn't a human.
"Alright... I'll talk to her later..." I say as I lead Applejack back to the table. I finally made up my mind. Later today... I'm going to tell Rainbow how I feel.
We finish lunch about an hour later. Before everyone goes their separate ways, I slip Rainbow a small note that I wrote down on a piece of napkin. The note read, "I heard everything. I need to talk to you in private. Meet me at the park in twenty minutes." As I walk away, I hear her gasp. I slightly turn my head to see her breaking down in tears, probably embarrassed. She probably thinks that I'm mad at her or that I'll reject her. It breaks my heart to see her so upset, but I can't tell her how I feel yet, not here. She takes off in a blur towards the park.
I begin walking towards the meeting spot as the cold wind slowly blows against my face. I wonder If I'm doing the right thing here. Will society accept us? I know her friends will, but will the rest of the town frown upon us? Is it really worth it? My questions come to a stop as I see Rainbow staring at herself in the still water of the lake at the park. I guess she heard me approaching because she starts talking but doesn't turn to face me.
"So... you hate me now don't you?" Rainbow says, obviously trying to push through tears. "I bet you think it's weird that an... 'animal'... likes you huh?"
"I-I never said that." I say calmly, trying not to upset her even more. "I don't think you're an animal. You're sentient, and by that definition, I consider you to be a person."
I sit down next to her, but she doesn't even move. "So... when did it start?" I ask, curious as to when she started having feelings for me.
"...When you saved me during the storm." She replies with almost no emotion. She probably still thinks I'm going to reject her.
I wrap my arm around her shoulders and she gives out a little gasp. I quickly pull her into my side and hold her there.
"Rainbow... I know what it's like to be rejected. I've been rejected by so many girls that I can't even count them. But I've also had a few girls that liked me as well. Having somebody love you back is one of the greatest feelings in the world. I don't want you to feel the pain of rejection." I say through my own tears.
"Wh-What are you saying...?" Rainbow says, finally looking up at me with swollen red eyes.
"I'm saying that I don't want you to feel the pain of rejection. And they only way to do that is..." I say slowly.
"Rainbow... will you go out with me?" The words leave my mouth as my decision is made final.
She doesn't respond for a long time. She just stares at me, mouth slightly hanging open, eyes wide with shock.
She finally responds. "Yes!" She screams as tears of joy pour down her face. She presses her face into my side. I can feel the tears through my t-shirt. The cold wind makes each tear even colder as they freeze, but I don't care at the moment. If I pushed her away now, It would break her. We stay in that position for what feels like an hour. She continues to cry into my shirt while I stare at the lake, hoping that I did the right thing. The sun starts to set pretty early, and I know it's time to head back into town.
Rainbow doesn't want to stand, so I pick her up and throw her over my shoulder. The entirety of her body hugs my chest and waist, only her front legs and her head dangle over my shoulders. My arms wrap around her back so she doesn't fall as I slowly walk back into town. Her crying starts to slow, but she doesn't take her face off of my shirt. Eventually her breathing slows as well and I can tell that she's asleep.
We reach Sweet Apple Acres as it starts to grow dark. I knock on Applejack's door, and by that I mean I kick the door. Applejack comes to the door and gasps when she sees a sleeping Rainbow wrapped around me.
"Oh... Josh did you..." She says with a growing smile.
"Yeah... it's official... I just hope I did the right thing." I say as I glance at Rainbow's head, her mane blowing in the wind and hitting my face.
"I'm sure you did Josh." Applejack says as she wraps a hoof around my leg.
"Is it okay if I stay here for the night? It's getting dark and the library is on the other side of town." I say as I feel the freezing wind on my back. Rainbow keeps the front of me warm, but I can't even feel my back.
"Sure, but you'll have to stay in the barn. There isn't any room in here." She says, pointing to the barn.
"Thanks AJ!" I say as I jog to the barn. Just before I enter, Applejack has to get the last word.
"Don't be too loud when ya'll get all romantic with each other in there!" She says from the house doorway. My eyes shoot daggers at her in anger.
"Fuck you!" I yell as I open the barn door.
"No, save that for Rainbow!" She says as she goes back inside with an evil chuckle.
"Fucking hell..." I mumble to myself as I step inside and close the door. Immediately the warm air surrounds us and I let out a sigh of relief. I place Rainbow down on a pile of hay, and make my own pile to sleep on.
I slowly drift off to sleep, glad to be somewhere warm for the night. Just as I'm about to enter the realm of sleep, I hear some shuffling and a warm mass presses into my side. I wrap my arm around Rainbow and pull her into my side.
The question I've been asking myself all day is finally answered.
I wake up with a loud gasp. I had a terrible nightmare. I was back in Miami, surrounded by walkers. It felt so real... I never want to return to that hellish place. I try to sit up, but my arm is pinned down by something... furry. I slowly look to my left to see a still sleeping Rainbow Dash, breathing softly. Memories of the past day come back to me and I remember my new relationship with her. Sweat drips down my face and hands are shaking. I slowly pull my arm out from under Rainbow, who mumbles in her sleep.
I slowly make my way outside, only to get hit by a blast of cold winter night air. I make my way to the back of the barn where I find a tall ladder leading to the roof. I climb the ladder and make my way to the front of the roof. I sit down on the edge, holding on to a piece of wood jutting up from the top. I give out a sigh as I look up at the night sky. I think of the world that I once knew, all the good memories had made there, all the friends I knew, ...my family... Tears slowly form in my eyes as I think of my home being destroyed by those damned walkers. What really created them? Why did they have to come during my lifetime?
"Josh?" A southern voice comes from behind me. I turn around to see a tired Applejack with bedhead.
"Applejack? How'd you find me?" I ask, trying to push back the tears.
"Ah was just gettin' some water when I saw you through the window. Are you okay?" She asks as she approaches me and sits on the other side of the piece of wood.
"I... was just thinking of my home. I think I miss it... y'know, before shit hit the fan."
"Wanna talk about it?"
"I... just wish the whole end of the world thing had never happened... So many innocent people died. My friends... my family... It was terrible Applejack. Families were torn apart... some were actually literally torn apart by those damn walkers. I just... I'm so glad that Twilight accidently brought me here."
"Ah... Sugarcube, ya'll don't need to worry 'bout that any more. What matters is that you and Amber found your way here where it's safe."
"Yeah... I guess. I just hope I never have to go back. My life has really changed here. Amber is happier than I've ever seen here, and... I think I finally found love." I wrap and arm around Applejack and mess with her mane. "Thanks for being a good... friend." I say with a small smile. That makes my third new friend here.
"Aw shucks, it ain't nuthin." Applejack says as she carefully stands up. "Now ya'll get back to sleep. Don't want Rainbow thinking you left her alone."
With that, Applejack and I slowly make our way back down the ladder. Before I enter the barn, I give Applejack a friendly smile and a nod. I enter into the warm barn, relieved to be out of the cold, yet refreshing night air. I fall back to sleep next to Rainbow, who thankfully didn't wake up. This time, I don't wake up to a nightmare.
I wake up to Rainbow shifting her weight against me. This time when I open my eyes, I see small beams of light coming in through the roof. I open the top for the barn door and lean on the bottom half. Cold, refreshing air hits me and helps my senses awaken. Today is Christmas day, and I plan to spend it with my newly acquired girlfriend and my other friends.
Rainbow moans as she wake up, moving her legs around trying to find me.
"Ungh... Josh?" She mumbles as she rubs her eyes with a hoof. "Close the door... it's cold..." She says in a pitiful tone. She pulls a pile of hay over herself.
"Nah, It feels great today. I think I'm getting used to the cold." I say as I slip on my shoes. "I'll meet you in the house."
"House... what? Wait where are we?" She says as she sits up suddenly.
"Haha, relax, we're at Sweet Apple Acres. I think I smell breakfast. Hurry up and come join us." I say as I exit the barn.
I slowly open the front door to see Applejack at the oven making what looks like scrambled eggs. I sit down at the table and rest my head on my arms. I almost fall back to sleep when Applejack sits down next to me.
"Ya'll alright now? Still homesick?"
"Nah... I'm fine now. I do kinda miss the earth I knew before the apocalypse though."
A small mass lands in my lap while I'm not looking, and nearly gives me a mini heart attack. In my lap is Applebloom, giving me an excited smile.
"Josh! I'm so happy for you!" She yells.
"Um... for what?
"For getting together with Rainbow Dash!"
"You told her!?" I yell at Applejack who gives me a smug little smile.
"She dragged it outta me." AJ says with a shrug.
Rainbow enters with a stumble. She's obviously still pretty tired. She sits on the other side of me and leans her head against my shoulder. She gives out a relieved sigh and closes her eyes.
"Awww ain't that cute." Applejack says with a giggle. In response, I take her hat and put it on my head. "Hey! that's mah hat! Give it!" AJ reaches up to try to grab her hat back.
"Nope not until I decide you're forgiven!" I say with a chuckle as I pull my head away from her hoof.
Eventually, The entire Apple family is gathered around the table, as well as Amber, Rainbow, and myself. Applejack's granny compliments me on getting together with Rainbow, who just blushes and tries to hide behind her mane. Amber is hesitant to accept the fact that I'm going out with Rainbow. I was able to convince her that she wasn't just some mindless animal. Thankfully, Amber now respects my decision, and is even happy about it!
Once we finish eating, Rainbow and I head out to walk around town and look at all the different decorations. I decide to start up a conversation to pass the time until we get into town.
"So... you seem a lot happier today than you have been in a long time."
"Well yeah, I finally got the one thing I've wanted for the past two months!" She says as she pushes up against my legs.
"Yeah, I just hope that everyone else will accept us. I don't want them to think that it's weird that we're together, and I just know that if Pinkie finds out, the whole town will know in a matter of minutes."
"Hah yeah. Don't want anyone to think I've gone all soft on them."
"Oh yeah. When you're around me, you look soft as a marshmallow. I'm the toughest guy in town!" I say, trying to mess with her ego.
"Oh, I am SO much tougher than you!"
"Yeah? did you survive for six months after the end of the world? Hell, I doubt you would survive highschool!"
"What's highschool?"
"Seriously? You guys don't have highschool here? How do you learn anything then?"
"We usually just learn the basics when we're fillies. Then we study whatever our cutie marks tell us our destiny is."
When I first got here, I asked Twilight what the weird tattoos on everyone's butts were. Yes, I actually called them butt tattoos, and I still do. Anyway, she explained that when a pony discovers their true talent in life, they get a small mark that symbolizes said talent. Rainbow has a cloud with a red, yellow, and blue lightning bolt that I guess represents her love for speed.
"I guess that just means that I'm smarter than you." I say with a smirk.
"You are not!"
"Oh yeah? What's the square root of 144?"
"Uh... twenty?"
"My point exactly" I say as I nudge her with my foot. "It's twelve by the way."
"Oh... I knew that!"
"Sure you did. I bet you-" I'm cut off when we approach the center of town. There are a tons of ponies gathered around what looks like a machine meant to dig up large amounts of dirt. "What the hell is going on?"
I see Twilight near the front of crowd. I run up to her, only to see a decent sized whole with a white object on the bottom.
"Twilight... what the hell is this?" I say pointing at the hole.
"We don't know! We were trying to set up a really big tree in the center of town, but when we dug the hole, we hit something metal. It kinda looks like a sign." Twilight explains.
"Let me see this." I say as I slide down the edge of the steep hole, It's about seven feet deep. When I reach the bottom, I see a small bit of white sticking out of the dirt. The hole is only about four feet wide, so I don't have much room the pull the object out. I grab the object and pull. What I pull out surprises me. Attached to the rusty, square white plate, is a long metal pole, about five feet tall, I stand the pole up and turn it around to get a better look at the white plate.
"What is it!?" Twilight yells from the top of the hole.
But I don't respond. I can't after reading what's on the what I now realize is a sign.
On the sign are words that make my heart stop, and my stomach jump into my throat. I've seen alot of shocking shit since arriving here, but this definitely takes the cake.
My heartbeat is so rapid, I can feel it beating against my ribs. I re-read the sign over and over again.
I drop the sign, but it seems to fall in slow motion. Then everything speeds back up, and I back out the hole. All I can hear is a loud ringing in my ears, everything else is just a distant hum.
"Josh... Josh!" Finally Twilight's voice becomes clear again. "What happened! What's down there!" Now she's grabbed my shoulders and is looking me directly in the eyes.
"Y-You lied to me..." I just barely whisper. "YOU LIED TO ME!" I yell as loud as I can as I throw Twilight off of me. She tumbles backwards several feet and looks up at me in shock. "How did I get here Twilight! Tell me the truth!"
"I-I already told you! I messed up with a teleportation spell, and it leaked into your universe and brought you here!" Twilight yells in defense, tears forming in her eyes.
"Bullshit! This isn't some alternate dimension! We're still on earth! We're in the future!"
"What!? That's not even possible! Even if I had used a time travel spell, there's no way it could bring you here permanently!"
"Then what the hell happened!?"
"I think I can explain..." A deep voice says out of nowhere. Everyone around goes quiet. I look around, but I can't even find the source of the voice.
"Who the hell? Who said that?" I yell as I spin around rapidly.
"Why it's only little old me..." The voice comes from every direction, making it impossible to pinpoint the location.
"Twilight... What's going on?" I look at Twilight only to find that she isn't moving a muscle. As I look around, I notice that nobody else is moving either, even some of the pegasi are frozen in mid-air.
"It's true that Twilight didn't bring you here..." The voice says as it seems to float around me.
"Then what did!?"
"...Me. I only used Twilight as a way to cover up my actions... I had you, and everyone else believe that she was responsible."
"Wha... Who are you!? What do you want with me!?"
"Oh you will discover your place soon enough, little human. You will find me soon enough... Meet me in Canterlot, we'll talk there... Until then..." And with that, I heard a faint whooshing sound like the air around me was flowing away. Everything starts to go back into motion. I just stare at Canterlot for a few minutes as I'm dragged out of the crowd by Twilight and Rainbow. I never take my eyes off the mountain and I don't answer any questions the two mares ask me.
"Twilight..." I mumble.
"Yeah!? What's wrong Josh!?"
"We... We need to get to Canterlot... NOW!"
"Al-Algright but, why?"
"Just get the others ready to go!" I yell as I head to the library. I plan to pack and make my way to Canterlot as soon as possible. I burst through the door and head for my backpack. I pack some food and my gun, along with some ammo that Twilight was able to duplicate. I hop on the motorcycle which thankfully has a lot of gas in it due to not being used much.
I roll the bike out the door and start the engine. I floor the thing to the train station as fast as I can go. I arrive just minutes later and find the girls and Amber waiting for me.
"Josh! What's going on?" Amber yells as she sees me approaching. "Why do we need to go to the city on the mountain?"
"I'll explain later, but we have to go now! This is important to me." I explain as the train pulls in. Realizing the train will take a while to get there, I decide to just use the remaining gas in the bike to get there faster.
"I'm taking you with me." I say pointing at Twilight. "You know the most about magic, and I think that's what I'm dealing with.
"Uh, okay?" Twilight says as she hops on the bike and places her front legs over my shoulders.
"The rest of you, take the train. I'll explain what's going on when we get there." I say as I start up the engine again.
"Wait! I'm going with you!" Rainbow yells as everyone else boards the train.
"There's no more room." I say simply as I rev the engine.
"Then I'll fly! C'mon!" She yells as she flies in front of me.
"Fine just keep up!" I yell as I floor it towards Canterlot. Why does this... voice want me to come to Canterlot? Why did he bring me here? What did he mean I would find my place?
We finally arrive at the Canterlot train station. I ditch the bike as it's now running on fumes. Twilight has us follow her to the castle where the princesses supposedly are. I'm surprised they haven't tried to investigate my arrival yet, as there's no doubt Twilight has told them about me considering one of them is basically Twilight's mentor. In my world, which I guess this still technically is, if a pony were to appear out of nowhere, the government would want to capture and examine it. Why hadn't they done the same to me or Amber?
We arrive at the castle's entrance only to be stopped by a pair of guards. Twilight explains that it's an emergency, and tells them who she is. We enter the castle, and Twilight leads us to the throne room, hoping the princesses will have some information on what actually happened. I explained to Twilight that time had literally frozen back by the hole, and that some weird voice was just flowing around me that said I had to meet it at Canterlot.
"That... doesn't sound like a good thing." Twilight says as we wait at the throne room doors. The other girls run up about fifteen minutes later, and I explain to them what's going on.
"Well let's go find out what happened!" Rainbow yells as she pushes open the throne room doors. There, on the thrones, are the two princesses that Twilight had described to me. One was really tall, about my height. She had a white coat with a flowing mane that seemed to just move on it's own despite the lack of wind in the room. The other, was smaller than the first, but bigger than a normal pony. She had a dark blue coat with similar hair that just seemed to move on it's own.
"Twilight... it is good to see you again." The white one, who Twilight informed me is Celestia, says.
"Celestia!" Twilight yells as she sprints past us, up to the throne. The two princesses leave their thrones and meet us halfway.
"These must be the... humans that you informed us about." The darker one, who is apparently named Luna, says as she points to Amber and me.
"I'm Josh." I say politely as I hold out my hand for them to shake. "And this is Amber." I say as I push Amber out from behind me. "It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, however, we need to discuss something important with you all." Celestia says in a calm yet serious tone. "About two months ago we noticed a... disturbance in the magic around Ponyville. We felt it again about a week or two after the incident as well. However, the second time we felt the disturbance, it was not like the first at all. The first fluctuation in magic felt all too familiar to us, so we set out an investigation around the one thing that could have caused that kind of magic.
"Princess... you aren't saying..." Twilight says with a gasp as she puts a hoof over her mouth.
"Yes, Twilight, we have reason to believe that Discord is free once again. We also believe that he is the one that brought young Josh to our world." Celestia says with a stern look. "We knew it was only a matter of time before you found this out, and it is urgent that we find, and capture him once again."
"That's the thing though." I say with an annoyed look. "This isn't a different world than mine! This is my world, Amber's too! While it is true that I thought Twilight brought me to a different dimension, I now know that I was brought here from the distant past. I was contacted by this... Discord, whoever that is. He told me to find him here, so he must be close by!"
A dark, ominous voice emits from behind us as we notice a creature, much taller than me or Celestia, looking down on us.
A trail of smoke slowly seeps out of the barrel of my gun. My ears ring from the sudden silence following the gunshot. I had acted without thinking. The creature that brought me here, Discord, just laughed at the small hole slowly closing on his chest.
"Nice try, Josh, I must commend you on your excellent reflexes!" Discord says with an amused smirk. "Truly remarkable, though it does show your true nature."
"My true nature?" I mumble to myself, though Discord seems to hear me.
"Ah, I see you have yet to tell them one of your biggest secrets, even sweet little Amber." Discord disappears, then reappears behind Amber. "How could you lie to her?"
"Get away from her! I have no idea what you're talking about!" I yell as I point my gun back at Discord, though I know that bullets will do nothing to this freak of nature. What does he mean secret? I've told all of these ponies and Amber everything about myself! Wait, he doesn't mean that time when I... Oh no. No no no no they can't know about that!
"Oh Josh, I've been watching you for a while now, ever since I created the walker virus..."
"You son of a bitch!" I yell, firing another shot at Discord out of anger. "Do you know how many innocent people you killed!?"
"Oh you would know about killing..." Discord says with an evil laugh.
"Josh, what is he talking about?" Rainbow asks with a worried look on her face. I can't let her find out what I did... They'd all hate me if they found out.
"Allow me to show you myself!" Discord says, while somehow pulling a projector and screen out of nowhere. A real god of chaos... this is way too much for me.
The light in the room starts to fade despite the windows being opened in the middle of the day. The screen flickers to life as an image of myself appears, covered in dirt and blood. In front of me is a ragged looking man with a large blade, an angry look on his face. His arm is wrapped around Ed's neck, blade inches from his throat.
I remember this now... Ed and I went alone on a supply run at a supermarket near the warehouse. A crazy man tried to use Ed as a way to get our supplies. I wasn't going to let it happen. The figure of me on the screen pulled out a gun in the blink of an eye, which is followed by a loud bang and a large flash of light. When the screen pans back to Ed, the man that was holding him hostage is dead on the floor in a pool of his own blood.
"You... killed someone? A living person!? That wasn't a walker!" Amber yells at me with a disgusted look.
"He was going to kill Ed! I had to kill him!" I yell at everyone in the room. "I wasn't going to let that happen! It was him or us!"
"Yes Josh... you are a killer at heart, you always have been and you always will be..." Discord says through an evil smirk.
"I am not a killer! I defended a friend in need! Why would I just shoot someone?" I yell, anger rising in my voice.
"Well you DID shoot me in the chest twice."
"After what you did to me, who wouldn't you fucking asshole!"
"Such vulgar language, did my creations really do this to you?"
"Your creations destroyed the entire planet!"
"No no, they didn't destroy the planet. You can clearly see that by looking around you. No, they simply destroyed the scum that was the human race. Once all of the walkers decayed, I made my move. With the world clear of all that filth, I was able to shape it after my own will. Ever wonder why the weather no longer controls itself? That was me! Ever wonder why Celestia must raise the sun instead of the earth orbiting around it? That was me too!" Ever wonder how a mountain formed in what you used to called Florida? Me!"
"You'll pay for what you've done you fucker!"
"How about we make a wager... You play a little game with me. If you win, I will leave you to live here peacefully and you will never hear from me again."
"Let's say I take you up on this... wager. What happens if I lose?"
"... I release the walker virus on Equestria." Discord's already evil smile grows even bigger.
"And If I don't accept?"
"I'll send Amber back to Miami..."
My heart stops beating in my chest as I'm taken back in shock. Would he really just do that to Amber? Sending her back would be like killing her! I don't have a choice! I have to play his little game.
"Josh... I do not know you well, but I hope you will make the right decision here." Celestia says with a stern tone.
"As do I." Luna expresses with the same tone.
"Alright you son of a bitch..." I reach out my hand, which he leans in to accept. "You've got a deal."
As soon as our hands meet, the entire room flashes into a bright white light. Wind rushes around me at extreme speeds, and I cannot see or hear anything other than the light and rushing wind. Slowly, the light fades and I can see where I am. A putrid, yet familiar smells hits me like a bullet as I slowly open my eyes. I know that smell, I smelled it constantly for six months... Walkers.
However, when I look around, It's not walkers that I see. Instead I see hundreds of confused looking ponies, all behind a giant circular fence that surrounds me in a full circle. I spot Rainbow and the others tied down to their seats. I then realize that every other pony is tied down as well.
"Welcome... to the arena!" I hear Discord's voice yell over what sounds like a mega speaker. I look up, near the top of the arena is a box like where the emperor would sit in the Roman Colosseum. Discord sits on a throne, looking down at me in the arena.
"What did you do!?" I yell up at him. "Who are all of these ponies!?"
"Why I simply brought you to the game board dear Josh! And as for the audience, these are the residents of Ponyville and Canterlot. They are here to remind you what is at stake should you lose."
"What kind of game would have me in an arena!? I'm not your pawn!"
"This? Why this is a game of humanity!"
"How do I win a game like that!?"
"Allow me to explain the rules. This is a test of human nature. If you can prove to me that humans are strong, good creatures, then you win! However, should you be morally impure, the entirety of Equestria will meet the same fate as your beloved Miami. You will have to make choices that may hurt those close to you, and you may have to make sacrifices to win."
"Is that it? Bring it on then!"
"Allow me to finish... The game will take place in two different tests. A test of strength, mental and physical, and a test of emotion. Let the first game... Begin!"
As soon as the last word leaves Discord's mouth, the ground starts to shake violently. Slowly, out of the ground, rises ten different cages, each with five walkers in them. That explains the smell I suppose.
"The first round will test human strength both mentally and physically in a game of survival. You must kill EVERYTHING in the arena. To even to odds, I shall allow you to have one weapon from any time period."
Alright, so what would be the best weapon to use against fifty walkers that will allow me to walk away still in one piece. If I use a gun, I could easily run out of ammo and be left without a weapon. However, if I use a blade or a blunt weapon, I could easily be surrounded. I need to make a choice now, I just hope that I won't regret my decision.
"I want an M4!" I yell as I picture the rifle in my mind. I always loved the thought of just tearing down an entire horde of walker with a rifle like that. In the blink of an eye, a weight falls into my hands unexpectedly. I adjust to the weight, and take aim at the cages in front of me. I've never fired a gun this heavy. I know how to use it thanks to my uncle who was in the military, but the recoil may be a bit much for me if I use it in full-auto mode.
A loud siren goes off, and the entire crowd starts cheering, hopefully in my favor. I look over at Rainbow how is just watching, trying desperately to break out of her restraints. When she makes eye contact with me, she stops suddenly, and a sparkle of light bounces back at me from her eye. I assume it's a tear forming in her eye. I can't think about that now, I have a job to do.
The doors on the cages fly open, and the walkers all fall out, and immediately start running at me. These were nothing like normal walkers, they were actually running and screaming like living people!
The first walker gets about ten feet away from me before I pull the trigger for the first time. The recoil jars my shoulder back hard, but the bullet hits exactly where I aimed. The bullet flies right into the walkers head, which immediately explodes in a red mist. A satisfied smile spreads across my face, but quickly vanishes when I see the other walkers running at me.
I pull down hard on the trigger, and two more walkers fall. If I'm going to kill them all before running out of ammo, I'll need to get collateral kills, which will be pretty difficult.
I run around the arena, just barely staying out of reach of the walkers that stick close to me. I run straight at a wall, and I shit you not, I jump on the wall, and do a half spin after jumping off. While in the air, I fire three more shots and take down five more walkers. There's no way I could do that if I wasn't pumped up on adrenaline.
Eventually, when I try to pull the trigger, all I hear is a disappointing click. Two walkers remain, and I'm out of ammo. I rush the walkers, making sure to stay out of their reach. I approach the first one, and bring the gun around with a heavy swing. The gun makes contact with the walker's skull, which makes a sickening cracking sound.
The second walker, which had gotten behind me, grabs me by the shoulder. It's mouth hangs open just inches away from my throat. I have to pull away with all of my remaining strength, which is mostly gone. I push away with the rest of the energy in me, and the walkers left arm comes off with a disgusting ripping sound. I rip the arm off my shoulder as I gag in disgust.
Out, of energy, I have to watch as the walker stumbles towards me at an alarmingly quick pace. Out of nowhere, a blur tackles the walker, just as it was about to reach out at me. I look to my right to see Rainbow of the ground, beating the absolute shit out of the walker. Blood covers her front legs as she pummels the walker's brain to mush. It almost makes me throw up in disgust. I look up at her seat and seat and see that the bindings were suddenly gone. They hadn't been broken, they just disappeared completely. Did Discord let her out?
"Looks like I won this round huh?" I yell up at Discord with a cocky smile. It surprises me when he retorts with an amused laugh.
"Oh no no no Josh. You have yet to win. I said you must kill everything in the arena, and that means EVERYTHING!"
I slowly turn my head towards Rainbow, who gives me a horrified look.
"WHAT!?" I yell in absolute anger, my strength starting to come back to me.
"Hahaha... Kill her!" Discord yells with amusement. A small podium rises between Rainbow and I. On the podium is my revolver. I can see a single bullet in the cylinder. He wants me to shoot my girlfriend? No way in hell will I let that happen.
I run over the gun and pick up with shaking hands. If I shoot Rainbow, I win the test of strength. However, If I don't shoot her, I lose and Equestria will fall. Either way... Rainbow is fucked.
An idea comes to mind that might satisfy Discord once in for all. He said I would have to make sacrifices, and it looks like that's what I'm going to do.
Rainbow looks at me in horror and screams when I quickly raise the gun to my own head.
"I love you Rainbow Dash..." Is that thing I say before pulling the trigger. I squeeze my eyes shut as hard as I can, not wanting to see the flash of the gun.
I hear a loud explosion right in my ear, but other than that, I feel no pain. I slowly open my eyes to see Rainbow crying into her bloody hooves on the ground. Everything is still here, the arena and the audience are deadly silent.
"Blanks...?" I whisper to myself as I open the cylinder to look at the ammo. Sure enough, the bullet is fake.
"I must say Josh... I'm impressed." I hear Discord standing right behind me. "I didn't expect you to pass that test."
"Wh-Whatever. Just start the next test..." I mumble as I look at Rainbow who is now hugging my legs in joy.
"But there are no more tests Josh. You win, and I am proud to say that I am glad that I chose you for my little experiment."
"What?"
"I freed Rainbow Dash on purpose, knowing well that she would jump into the arena with you. Shooting her would not have killed her as you found out. However, you would have failed the morality portion of the game. I can say that you have truly proved to me that not all humans are evil."
"You... you're the evil one. Why would you want the human race to be good?"
"Ah you don't understand. I am not the god of evil. No no no, I'm the god of chaos! A totally different subject! I created the walker virus to destroy the evil in the world, but it turns out that there was still some good after all. For months, I watched you Josh. You were selfless, caring, and strong. That's why I chose you as a part of my experiment. You proved to me that you are not only strong physically, but also mentally. So I must congratulate you on your victory. I truly did not expect you to chose Rainbow over yourself. While I cannot change the past, I can allow you to live peacefully in Equestria."
A bright light flashes throughout the arena, and everyone pony and Amber disappear instantaneously. Discord and I stand alone in the arena in silence.
"Josh... I am not evil, I am chaos. While I myself do not wish to harm anyone, there are beings out there who do. Always stay on the watch for anything truly evil out there. While this world may seem peaceful at first glance, darkness and evil lie in the shadows, waiting to attack the good."
"I gotcha. I still hate you for destroying my race, but I have to thank you for bringing me here. Without you, I never would have met Rainbow, and I probably would have died."
"I understand. That girl really likes you, but that's for you to go find out. Again I'm truly sorry for all I have done to your race. I had no idea that there was still some good hiding in the darkness. Now go, live and be happy, but do not let the darkness take over."
Rushing winds surround me once again, and a bright light surrounds me as I slowly raise into the air. I feel myself fall as I hit the floor of the castle. I slowly open my eyes to see everyone and the princesses sprawled out on the floor. I guess their return wasn't as smooth as mine.
I look around at all the mares and Amber on the floor, who are slowly getting up, and a small smile spreads across my face. I'm truly blessed to have such good friends.
"Josh... that was incredible!" Twilight says as she trots up to me, only to turn away in disgust. "But... could you please go hit the showers?"
I look down at myself to see that I'm covered in walker blood. My only clothes are ruined dammit! I guess I'll just have to shower in the to get the stains out.
"You too Rainbow, you're filthy as well darling." Rarity says as she backs away from Rainbow.
"Shall we?" I say messing with Rainbow's mane.
"Y-yeah, let's go." Rainbow says, still choking on tears.
The two of us sluggishly walk towards the exit of the throne room. Finally my questions have been answered. I now know why I was brought here, and I know that Discord will never bother us again. A though lingers in the back of my mind of what he meant by darkness hiding in the shadows. Is there something truly evil out there that could destroy this peaceful world without second thought?
I press the thought away as I walk with Rainbow down the hallway. Her mane is hanging in her eyes, clumped together with sweat. She leans into my legs as we walk, giving me a secure feeling like nothing can separate us now.
1. I've had quite a bit of writers block with this story, and I don't know if I'll continue it.
2. I have plans to start a new story that is somewhat similar to Death to Life.
3. I'm not completely deleting this story, as I may come back to it in the future.
4. I want to focus more on my other story, Point of Impact, as well as my up and coming new story.
5. If you like this story and want to see it continue, let me know. If it has enough people wanting more chapters, I'll try my best to occasionally write new ones.
6. If anyone wants to take over this story for me, let me know and I'll decide if you can or cannot.
"Oh my God, this feels amazing." I whisper to myself as the warm water flows over my body, washing away all of the muck and grime that had collected on my skin from that hellish battle. I couldn't be more thankful that it was all over, that I may never have to see another walker ever again.
Amber was pretty shaken up from it from what I could see, though I have yet to talk to her about it. Rainbow was definitely the one who took it the worst out of all of us. She wouldn't stop crying once we reached our room, saying that she thought I was going to shoot her and yadda yadda yadda. I had to explain to her that I had no intentions to shoot her, and was even willing to give myself up to make sure that didn't happen. Of course, I'd do that for any of my friends, but Rainbow was special to me, so I that just made it all that much easier to make my choice.
Rainbow is somewhere in our room while I shower, probably waiting to come in here. I offered to let her go first, but she said I could go. Not that I was complaining of course, but I was more than willing to let her get cleaned up first. She did offer to go in with me, but I declined. I don't think we're THAT close yet.
"Josh, you okay in there? Didn't drown did ya?" I hear from outside of the door. It is a miracle that I even heard her over the sound of the rushing water.
"I'm good! Better than ever actually!" I say as a smile creeps across my face. My mind starts to compare my situation now with my life back in Miami with the walkers. I gotta say, this is heaven to me compared to that hell. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if I had actually died in Miami and this was actually just heaven in disguise. Either way, I was extremely lucky to be here.
"Can I wash up now? I can't stand feeling all dirty like this. Especially with all the... ugh, blood." She says, her voice gagging near the end of her statement.
"Ugh, fine..." I say as I shut off the water, not really wanting to get out just yet. I step out of the shower, which is just barely big enough for me to stand in, and wrap myself in a towel. I use a second towel to dry off my hair, then proceed to slip on my clothes which are still filthy, but don't stick to me like they did before.
"I'm coming out now." I say as I drop the towels and open the door. I'm greeted by a blue face just inches from mine, and a gentle breeze created by two small wings. "Um, hey?"
"Well look better." Rainbow says with a smirk on her face.
"And you look horrible." I retort as I can her body which is covered in mud, blood, and God knows what else. It doesn't help that she smells like complete and utter shit.
"Gee thanks, you really know how to charm a mare." She says as she rolls her eyes. "Now, you gonna let me in or not?"
"Right, go on in then, you REALLY need a shower!" I receive a hoof to the shoulder from that one, though it was expected. I end up running back over towards the bed to escape her wrath. I laugh the entire way there. Rainbow just rolls her eyes and I catch a faint smile on her face before she disappears into the bathroom, the door closing behind her.
Well that couldn't have gone any better. I lay down on the bed, trying to get comfortable while I wait for Rainbow, though it is impossible with these clothes. I gotta get some new ones when we get back to Ponyville, or I may just go insane.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
Someone starts rapidly knocking on the door like they're about to knock it down if I don't open it this second. I groan as I try to sit up, my tried muscles screaming in protest. Eventually I find the strength to sit up, cracking my back in the process. I start to shuffle over to the door, getting somewhat annoyed that knocking has yet to stop. Seriously, if it's that important, couldn't they just call for me or something instead of, well, this.
"I'm coming! Hold up for a second, sheesh." I yell at the door. The knocking stops, and is replaced by the sound of hooves lightly stomping around outside. I finally reach the door, and place my hand on the handle, thinking about what could be so urgent as to drive someone to knock like that. I open the door to reveal Twilight, Amber, and the others, all with somewhat panicked looks on their faces. "Um, hey? What do you guys need?"
Twilight and the others just barge into the room, not even bothering to say hi. Rude.
"You haven't heard about it yet!?" Twilight says, panic and worry filling her voice as I close the door.
"Heard about what? Is there some big event or something coming up?"
"No! Look out the window Josh!" She yells as she points to the balcony. I eye the doors that lead to the balcony, giving Twilight a confused look. This only causes her to give me an annoyed look as she starts to drag me over to the balcony, literally. Her magic grasps my shirt and starts pulling me in the direction of the double doors.
"Remember how we discovered that those creatures were attracted to you and Amber?" Twilight asks as she looks up at me, the only sound present being the hum of her magic and the water from Rainbow's shower.
"Um, yeah? What about it?"
"Take a look!" She yells as she shoves the doors open, revealing a balcony with a telescope on it. I eye it curiously before stepping up to it, having to bend down to actually look into it. I start looking around Canterlot, looking for anything out of the ordinary.
"What am I looking for exactly?" I ask as I continue to look around. Twilight pushes be away from the lens and starts positioning the telescope until she finds what she is looking for. I look back into the telescope, and gasp at what I see, my heart skipping a beat.
"Apparently, they're still attracted to you, even when you're this far away! Josh, if they get here, they can and will infect everypony in Canterlot." She says quietly, with a tone of worry.
Out in the open plains, between Ponyville and Canterlot, is probably one of the most frightening things I've ever seen. Something that makes me wish I could just end it all. Was this the thing that Discord was trying to warn me about?
Heading straight for Canterlot, is a horde of hundreds of those walker ponies from the Everfree, and they do NOT look happy. And the only thing I can say, the only thing that my brain is able to process are two words, two words that I seem to be saying a lot since this all started eight months ago.
