> Out of All The Worlds... > by gordobraveheart > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue (Edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ponyville, Equestria 8 days before Nightmare Night. Edited by Sandover Twilight Sparkle and her five friends: Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, were all in the Golden Oaks Library, discussing their plans for the upcoming holiday, Nightmare Night. They all stood in a small circle, each throwing in ideas for what they were to do on the holiday. Spike was in the kitchen, fixing up some hot cocoa to give to all the mares in the room. Because that's how you get the mares. Hot cocoa. “So what do you girls wanna’ do this Nightmare Night?” Asked Rainbow Dash. She was hovering several feet off the ground, her forelegs behind her head, signaling her boredom. “I think we should go to a haunted house or something, I’m in the mood for a good laugh.” Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “H-haunted house?” She hid behind her mane, shying away. “I think we should stay home... if that's okay with you.” Applejack sighed. “Don’t you worry sugarcube, ain’t no scary monsters going to gobble us up.” She smiled at her timid friend. “Besides, it’s all pretend. Ain’t nothin’ ‘bout it real.” The shy Pegasus left her pink fortress, and smiled at her friend. Pinkie Pie was hopping in place, a goofy grin plastered her face. “I think we should go get some candy!” She said. Pinkie had one of the biggest sweet tooths in Equestria. The fact that her teeth had not rotted out puzzled many of her friends despite the fact that she made no secret of her frequent visits to Colgate, the local dentist. “Pinkie, aren't you a little too old to go door to door, asking for candy on a colts and fillies holiday?” Pinkie ceased her jumping, only to stare her friend in the eye. She gasped, slowly closing her eyes to the point where you could only see her pupils. “Nopony is too old for trick or treating Twi!” She said. She continued her bubbly attitude, hopping and smiling in place once more. Twilight smiled at her random friend. She looked over to the kitchen, raising a brow. “Are the drinks finished Spike?” She shouted. A small, purple and green dragon walked out of the kitchen, carrying a tray of hot, chocolate drinks. His face was scrunched in annoyance, and he had bags under his eyes. “Yea, yea, I got the mugs right here Rarit-I mean Twilight.” The dragon gave a nervous smile, placing the tray of hot cocoa in front of the six mares. “Thank you for making us these drinks Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity chimed. Spike’s face turned red, thankful but a little embarrassed, thanks to the complement. The other mares giggle at his reddened face, while Rarity gave the little dragon a peck on the cheek. Spike slowly rubbed his cheek, before turning around and running up the stairs… “What are you going to be doing this Nightmare Night, Twilight?” Rarity asked. Twilight Sparkle shook her head, levitating a small, brown book by her side. “Sorry girls, but I think I’m going to miss out this year.” All heads turned towards her, especially Pinkie Pie. Twilight darted her eyes left and right, nervously smiling. “Was it something I said?” Pinkie Pie hops towards the lavender mare, shocked at what her friend said. She backs Twilight into a corner, gasping. “What do ya mean you’re going to miss out this year!? THERE’S FREE CANDY!” Rarity grabbed Pinkie by her tail with the help of her magic. “Twilight dear, though I do believe we are too old for such childish games, you have to admit it is not fun being all alone in here, cooped up in piles and piles of books.” Rarity placed Pinkie Pie behind her. “Not to be rude, but what is so important about that book you are levitating?” Twilight opens the book, small sketched drawing showing detail about- “Portals.” She smiles. Applejack raised a brow and walked up to her friend. “Um, sugarcube, Ah know you’re Princess Celestia’s prodigy and such, but don’t ya think you stress yourself out, with all that fancy shmancy mathematics?” Twilight beamed at all her friends. She motions a hoof, signaling her friends to come closer. “Gather around girls.” She said. All of them form a half circle, with Twilight in the middle. She levitated the small book in front of her, showing her friends the detailed descriptions of the portals. “You see, girls,” Twilight began.” I have discovered that not only can teleportation bring us to our destination, it can also rip tiny holes in time and space.” She looked around the room, waiting for her friends’ response. “Eh, run that by me again sugarcube?” Applejack said. The rest nodded, also not understanding Twilight. “Not that it ain’t interesting, just a tiny bit confusing.” Twilight sighed. “Okay, when Unicorns are teleporting, they are actually rapidly moving from one point to the next, meaning teleportation IS appearing from one place to another instantaneously, but with the help of speed.” Rainbow Dash’s ears perked up. “Like my Sonic Rainboom?” She said. Twilight smiled at her friend. “A bit like that, except teleportation does not break the sound barrier.” “But what does speed have to do with portals?” Rarity said. “How does any of this have to do with tiny rips in time and space?” The other mares nod, also wanting to know how this is relevant. Twilight flipped a page, revealing a large drawn circle with tiny writing on the sides of the pages. “When we move at a fast speed, Rarity,” Twilight began, “Our magic can combine with otherworldly magic, revealing little holes known as “black holes.” Pinkie still bounced in place. “What are black holes?” She asked. Twilight closed the book and threw it aside. “Black holes are said to be bottomless, meaning anything that is thrown at it, can easily destroy it in the process. It has no end.” Fluttershy hides behind her mane. “Though some scientists believe that a black hole can lead to another dimension, or world, if you will like to put it that way.” She closed her eyes, happy with the little explanation she gave. Rainbow Dash flew up to her, eyebrow raised. Twilight opened her eyes to see a suspicious cyan mare in front of her. "So what does this have to do with anything?" She asks. Twilight levitates her away from her face. “Because I thought you girls would be interested.” This time, Fluttershy spoke. Interested in what, Twilight?” The timid mare asked. Twilight smiled at her friend. “In traveling to a different world with me.” > Day One of Eight:My Mornings. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- My Mornings. Detroit, Michigan 8 days before Halloween. Edited By Sandover. I opened my eyes, only to view my room filled with darkness. The only light that could be seen was coming from the hallway window. I never really liked waking up early, especially at seven o'clock in the morning. But I knew this was necessary, how else am I supposed to stay alive, knowing that they walk while I sleep? I got up from my bed, very slowly and lazily. Hey, not my fault it’s a Monday, you would hate everyone that day too if you had to wake up just to scavenge for food. I sat on my bed, rubbed my eyes and yawned aloud. I scanned my dark room, not caring that the lights weren’t even on. I touched the floor around my bed, looking for my glasses, since I didn't bother placing them on the dresser last night. I eventually felt my glasses, along with something else, something that seemed to be breathing. I quickly placed my glasses on my nose and grabbed my phone. I turned it on, the phone’s glow reflecting off of my glasses. "Monday, October 22, 2012." I read out loud. I shined my phone’s light at the cheap, wooden floor below me, looking for the breathing object I touched a moment ago. I sighed in relief, happy it was only my dog, Nino. (Nee-no, in case you can't pronounce it.) "Nino, you scared the shit out of me." I muttered. My dog's ears perked up, and he directed his attention towards me after the mention of his name. He jumped up on my bed and started to bombard my face with licks of affection. "Calm down, Nino, I'm glad you're alive too." Nino was a husky, and a big one too. His eyes were mixed colors, one of hazel and one of brown. His fur was dark brown, and his belly was white. He had white spots on top of his head, kind of like a killer whale. I got up, causing Nino to re-position himself. I turned on my light and looked around my room again, allowing myself to take in the lit-up surroundings. It was rather messy, kind of like your average fourteen year old's room. Well, average for me at least. I walked up to my wooden dresser and slid open one of the drawers as I searched for clothing. "This'll do." I smiled. The shirt I pulled out was a brown Dickies logo shirt, with a few bleach stains. I used to clean tables at my job, so of course I was bound to get a few stains here and there. After putting on the shirt and applying some extra scents, for less body odor, of course, I pulled out some khaki pants. Not brown, but the color you see when a man is working in his little cubicle, providing for his miserable life. I put them on and pulled a belt around my waist so my pants wouldn't fall off. I didn't sag, but the leggings were long, so they made me look like I was sagging. I then slipped my feet into my white socks and looked around the room for my black Nike shoes. No, I wasn't a wannabe 'cholo', a Mexican-American gangster; I just wore what I wanted to wear. Besides, I don't look good in bright colors. "Where the fuck are my shoes?" I asked to the air around me. I started down the stairs, but not before turning off all of the upstairs lights, so as to not bring any unwanted attention. Forgetting about my shoes for a second, I walked straight to the fridge. Opening it, all I saw was a carton of expired milk, eggs, and, thank god, bacon. I could give up other foods, but bacon? HAVE YOU NO SOUL!? "I'll cook some after I find my shoes." I said to myself. I walked out of my little kitchen and straight into the bathroom. I turned on the lights, thankful that there were no windows. Nothing special, just a big mirror, shower, toilet, toilet paper, and my shoes. "Oh, there's my shoes!" I said cheerfully. "Now I don't have to go outside barefoot." Grabbing my shoes, I studied myself in the mirror. I was about 5'9. Not too tall, yet not too small. My hair is usually curly, black, and generally just a tangled mess. Almost like Pinkie Pie's, except my hair doesn't smell like cotton candy and other sugary sweets. More like marinating sauce and tacos. Coincidence anybody? I'm not really in shape, but I'm also not that fat either. Walking I can handle without breaking a sweat. But running? It's amazing I didn't die a month ago. A month ago. That's when it all started. I sighed on my way out, momentarily sitting on my couch and sticking my feet into my shoes. I tied the laces, making sure they were extra tight so I wouldn't trip when I'm in conflict. I heard my dog's paw steps creeping behind me when I stood up. As I was turning around, I noticed a growling noise coming from his throat. "What's wrong, Nino?" I questioned. He turned around and walked towards the back door. I peeked my head through the curtains, and immediately I shrunk back in fear a little. A 'man' was outside in my backyard. His skin was falling off and his face looked like it was clawed off and reattached by a third-grader who had no skill in sewing. His right leg was twisted sideways, bones sticking out. The 'man' was limping, his jaw hanging, kept attached by one, skinny piece of flesh. "Fucking disgusting." I muttered, scowling. Nino growled, letting me know he didn't like those rotting flesh bags one fucking bit. It was still dark outside but I didn't care, I had to get that walking trash can out of my backyard. I walked towards the sink and pulled out a glass mug that hadn't been washed yet. I walked upstairs, with Nino behind me. I didn't grab a flashlight because if you're like me, or Batman, you're more comfortable walking in the dark than in the light. When I opened my window, the 'man' was scanning the area around him, looking for the source of the noise. One eyeball was falling out while the other remained in the socket. I pulled back my arm and threw the glass cup across the ally. As soon as the sound of breaking glass could be heard, the 'man' turned toward me. I could hear its bones snap and crack with each limp he took. I shuddered in the dark, silently thanking the big man upstairs that I survived another hour. Pulling out my phone, I noticed that the time was now seven thirty. Still dark outside. "Might as well kill some time." I said smiling. I closed the blinds in my room and shut the door. Only small beads of light could be seen under my door. I turned on my PlayStation 3, lowered the volume to five, and sat on my bed. Grabbing the remote that I always leave next to me, I logged into PlayStation Online. "Let's see who's on." I muttered, checking my friends list. All red X's, not surprising. "Of course, they all must have either left or died." I concluded darkly. I laid on my back, the warm blankets around me wrapping around my body slowly. I started to think about the month before they all left. They didn't want to leave me behind, but in an infestation that can infect you with a single bite, nibble, or scratch, I'm not surprised. My hands were behind my head, supporting it while I thought. "This all started just a month ago. I should've seen this coming from miles away. I mean, I know I believe in some crazy shit, but I just can't believe I ignored it all, even though the back of my head was screaming that it was all true." I closed my eyes, remembering the whole damn day... September 15, 2012 Cesar Chavez Academy High School 2:50 PM "And that, class, is why you should never, ever, have a wife." My teacher said. Mr. Gardells was a nice guy, as long you stayed on his good side. I rolled my eyes whilst half of the class laughed. One kid raised his hand. "Why didn't you just hit it and quit it, Mister?" I wondered that as well. I mean, he was a cool guy, I just didn't expect him to stay with a woman. "Good point, Martinez." Mr. Gardells said. The class waits for his response. "So why didn't you?" Another kid asked. The teacher sat back down and facepalmed. "I was thinking with my second head, if you get what I'm saying." The girls did their usual "ew!" and the boys laughed their asses off. Because I didn’t really care to listen, I was instead on my phone. After a few minutes of casual browsing, a kid right next to me noticed me on my phone. "You lookin' at porn?" He asked. "Yup, readable porn. It turns me on." I snicker and he just shakes his head. I wasn't actually reading any pornography; I was instead on YouTube, looking up random ass videos until I came across one. "Zombie Apocalypse 2012. Prepare for infestation." It said. I raised a brow and clicked on it anyway. I plugged in one earphone and quietly watched the video. "The government has been lying to us all! Do you all remember the man who chewed off the other man's face? Down in Florida? Yea, well first off, may god keep that homeless man well. My thoughts and prayers go out to him. Second, do you all really think it was a drug that caused him to do it!? Well, you're right. Because that drug was a virus carrier.” I raised a brow again. Virus carrier? For real? I didn't leave the video yet, it actually got my attention from this boring day. “This video isn't going to last long so here it is. The government sent this man out in public with the V carrier, forced him to eat it, and left him outside.” I thought this guy was making shit up, so I turned off my phone, right before the bell rang. All the kids ran outside, but I took my time since I had nowhere else to go. By the time I got home my little brother, sister, mom, older sister, and my dog were in the living room. All of them had a look of horror and fear on their faces, while Nino whimpered. "Ma? What's wrong?" She ran up and hugged me, crying. I got worried faster than I usually do. "Ma? What happened? Is everything OK?" My sister looked at me, eyes red, most likely from crying. "Giovanni, look." Her voice cracked. My eyes followed to where she was pointing at, and they widened in surprise. She pushed the play button on the remote. I stood there quietly, waiting for the T.V. to resume its programming. "This is an emergency broadcast. Please stand by for further listening." A woman in her mid-twenties was holding a stack of papers, pointing her finger at a bloody backed man on a miniature screen. "Warning, the recording we are about to show you is extremely graphic. We recommend children under the age of 12 do not see what we are about to show you." The video played and I heard sounds of screaming and strange noises. There was a hunched over man, and under him was a women. The camera wielder walked up to the man, laughing. "Dude, if you wanna have sex with her do it in a room, not on the f***** street." He touched the man's back, and probably instantly wished he didn't. The hunched over man's mouth was covered with blood. His teeth were jagged and sharp, while his eyes were a soul-less white. The 'man' fully turned around toward the camera wielder, intestines dripping out of his bloody hands. "RAAAAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!" It screamed. The camera man tried running away, but was ambushed by the roaring 'man.' He screamed in pain, blood and flesh flying all over the phone, making the video go red. This video took place in Florida. We advise you that all families stay in their homes, lock their doors, and keep weapons around you... An outbreak of this infection has already covered the entire state of Florida My eyes widened with fear. Taken aback by this gruesome scene, I ran away from the T.V. and into the bathroom. The next thing I knew, my front door was being forcefully smashed open. An entire S.W.A.T. team entered my house. Curios, I peeked through a crack of the bathroom door. They were all holding guns, riot shields, and batons. "Ma’am, you must evacuate the city to higher ground. Come with us and we will help you all." Bullshit. I knew that they were lying. I wanted to confront them, but I was too much of a coward to do anything. The next thing I knew, all of my loved ones were being forced out of the house, leaving me inside. I thought I heard my mom cry out for me, and I did want to leave. But like I said, I was a coward. As soon as the door closed, I hopped onto my computer. I looked all over the internet for that guy's video, and I finally came across it. "This video has been deleted." I read out loud. I refreshed the homepage, and another video popped up. When I clicked it, my fears for my safety only began. It wasn't just Florida. Asia had become infected as well. The guy said a passenger from an airplane cruise was bit and didn't tell anybody about it. When the plane crashed into a Japanese airport, a body fell from the plane. Two crossing guards went to go see if the body was okay, and to their surprise, it was. Just with a broken neck, twisted legs and bleeding skull. One of the idiots decided to carry the body, but regretted it the second it bit him. His hand was all bloody, and the second crossing guard rushed him into the airport. I stopped the video. I knew what was going happen. I sat on my chair, taking everything all at once. I cried. I was all alone in my house, a virus outbreak had started, and I had no experience in this type of shit. As the weeks passed, I boarded up all of the front windows so nothing could get in. In about a month, the whole country was infected and I was all alone, with only my dog, Nino. We were living in a Zombie Apocalypse. I snapped out of my daze and pulled out my phone again. "8:30" I read aloud. I decided to scavenge for food later. I grabbed my remote and pressed the Netflix icon. "Searching... and... there it is!" I said happily. I don't exactly know why I like this show. Animation? Voice actors? The fandom? All I know is that it helps me forget about my problems. It helps me forget about this zombie outbreak. I heard several scratches on my door, so I got up and opened it. Nino gladly ran inside and rested on my bed. I smiled. Even though I had nobody to talk to, my dog always cheered me up. I sat back down, and let the theme song play. "My Little Pony, My Little Pony..." That's how it started. Yup, I'm a brony even in zombie outbreak. My stomach grumbled, and I ignored it. “I'll go scavenge for some food after watching 'Nightmare Night.'” I leaned back, Nino lying beside me while my hands were behind my head yet again. "And so it begins." > Scavenging For Food. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Scavenging For Food Detroit, Michigan. 8 days before Halloween Edited by Sandover “Did you know you're all my very best friends?” The theme song ended. I paused the show by pressing the ‘X’ button on my PS3 controller. I had just finished watching Nightmare Night, and now I was beginning the episode of The Cutie Pox. I took out my cellphone from my right pocket and checked the time. “8:30.” I said to no one. Moving Nino from my side, I got up and turned off both my PS3 and my flatscreen. I stretched my bones, hearing them pop. Satisfied with the felling, I called my dog and walked out of my room, Nino behind me. Once again entering the kitchen, I took out the packet of bacon and opened it up. I turned on the stove next, placing a pan with corn oil inside on top of one of the burners. Waiting for the stove to heat up, I walked out of the kitchen with my dog following. Entering the living room, I turned on the lights, looking around. The leather couch was on the far right of the door, with the bigger, fabric couch on its left side. They were both facing the T.V, which was just a big, old school Memorex T.V. It was on top of a dark brown table, the Dish T.V. box on the lower right side. Behind it, windows were boarded up, keeping some of the sunlight out of the house. The floors were worn out, plastic squared tiles. Most of them were scratched and torn from the ground, since they don’t usually last for long. On the bottom, was the hard wooden floor. The walls were an ugly dark green. One of the walls was vanilla colored, stains of dirt and cracks covered some of it. Not the best house, but it gave my family and me a roof over our heads. The table was small and rounded; nothing special about it. I peeked behind the curtains of my windows, which were on the right side if you entered the room from the kitchen, left side if you entered the room from the front door. There, I saw a small picture of my dad and my mom. It was their wedding photo, framed a good 20 inches for people to see whenever they walked into the house. I sighed, knowing I would never see them again. Dad on the other hand.... I turned back around to my kitchen, and quickly placed the bacon strips on the sizzling pan. “And bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips, and bacon strips...” I said, placing the strips one by one. The delicious scent filled my nose, making my stomach grumble. I look over to my dog, whose stomach was also grumbling. I smiled at Nino, took about 6 strips of sizzly, bacon-y goodness and placed it in front of him on a small plate. “Eat; I need you to be strong when we go out there.” I smile at Nino. He wasted no time eating the strips. I turned back to my food, grabbing a plate and placing the bacon on top of it. Next were the eggs. I took some out from the fridge: Two for me and Two for Nino. I cracked the shells open, placing the golden yolk on the still sizzling pan. Eating bacon is great, but eating bacon flavored eggs with bits of bacon in it? Still surprised I didn’t die. After a good 5 minutes, I placed the eggs in front of us, the smell of bacon bits and eggs filled our nostrils. We wasted no time eating them. I took the plates and dropped them into the sink, washing them. I took one look in the fridge, sighing at the things we needed. “OK, Nino, we’re going to need more eggs, more bacon, fresh milk, bread, more meat, and if we’re lucky, some sweets to keep us up.” I said, closing the fridge door behind me. Nino nodded his head, tongue flapping out. I walked to the back of the stairs, checking the coat rack for my hoodie. Since it was October and Nino and I live in Michigan, I decided to grab a coat or something so I wouldn’t be cold when walking outside. I grabbed a white hoodie; green symbols were covering the sleeves, while a French cross covered the chest area. Unfortunately, the zipper was broken, so I couldn’t zip up for warmth. Putting it on, I closed the door behind me and walked towards the back door. I took a deep breath and exhaled. Unlocking the door, I opened it and walked outside. The stairs were worn out, almost falling out of place. There was a big, leafless tree in the backyard, branches touching the back of my house’s walls. On the ground was just dirt and leaves. No grass. My garage door was open, signaling that someone must have entered inside of it. Stepping out and touching the cold dirt, I look around for any zombies, hoping none were in sight. “It’s OK Nino, there’s nothing here...Yet.” I said, walking towards the garage. Nino growled behind me, letting me know that some would show up soon. I slowly walk into the garage and turned on the lights. Thankfully, I saw no zombies, but I did see a large, brown dog hunched over something. I walked towards it, but immediately regretted it. In the dog’s mouth, was a small puppy, its body covered in blood. The thing I noticed about this dog was patches of its fur falling off, revealing blood stained pink skin. Its eyes were white and its jagged, sharp teeth were flashing through the puppy’s body. “Shit,” I muttered. I took a few steps back. “Calm down, I’m not gunna-” “GRRRR!” The zombie dog growled. It seemed angry that I tried to step away, as it got up slowly. I tried to grab the nearest object I could find, but nothing was in sight. The zombie dog charged at me, knocking me down onto the hard, cold dirt floor. “FUCK!” I shouted. The dog was snapping its blood covered mouth at me, trying to bite off my face. I grabbed the beast by its neck, choking the damn thing. I punched it in the nose, hoping it would back off. The fucking dog didn’t even wince. I only made it angrier. “GRRRR!” It said, still trying to chew my face off. “FUCK YOU TOO!” I shouted. The dog’s jaws were only inches away from my face, blood spraying on my cheeks. I kept my face to the ground, making it harder for Fido to eat me. “BARK! BARK, BARK!!” The zombie dog was pushed off of me, and I quickly got up to my feet. I saw Nino on top of the dog, his jaws piercing its chest. It winced in pain, snapping his jaws at Nino. Nino jumped away from the zombie dog. The two dogs were staring straight into each other’s eyes. “GRRRR!” “GRRRR!” The dogs were circling around each other, growling and snapping their jaws. Trying to help Nino, I tried to run back into the garage and grab something useful, but Nino stopped me. He growled at me, letting me know that he could handle it. Worried, I just stood there. “GRAAAGHH!!!!” I heard the zombie dog say. He lunged towards Nino, aiming for my dog’s neck. Nino was smart though, he moved out of the way, leading the zombie dog into the hard bark of the tree with a loud CRACK! The dog stumbled back and forth, its head cracked open and gushing blood. But Nino wasn’t done yet; he ran up towards the left side of the dog and opened his jaws wide, clamping them shut on the zombie dog’s neck. It winced in pain and yelped, but it could not do any more, thanks to Nino snapping its neck in the process. The dog laid there, dead, its head cracked open, still gushing blood with its neck ripped apart. I look at my dog, Nino, whose fur was covered in blood. Not too much, but enough to look at my dog differently. I walked up to my dog and patted him on his back. He stopped being in offensive mode and nuzzled my leg. I was a little creeped out at my dog’s lips, which were covered in blood, but I paid no mind. “Eso es Nino. That’s how we do it.” I knelt down and hugged him, glad that he saved my life. He licked my face, getting some of the blood on my cheek. “Ew...” I shivered. Walking back into the garage, I looked around for anything useful. On the far right of the garage, I saw a small glimmer of light. “What’s that?” I asked myself. I walk towards it, and a large smile plastered my face. Picking it up, the axe did not weigh as much as I thought it would, but even if the blade of the axe looked blunt, it was sure as hell sharp. “Now all I need is a chainsaw, a boom stick and a double chin.” I chuckle, walking out of the garage. I notice Nino lying on the ground, bored out of his mind. Walking next to him, I pat my lap, signaling him to get up. Following me, we walked up the back door and locked it, making sure nothing could get inside. “Let’s go Nino. We gotta get some food for us.” The dog nodded his head, following me through the side of our house, closing the small gate in the process. Nino and I walked in the middle of our street, looking around for any zombies. When the coast was clear, we quickly sprinted our way behind the church that was just at the corner of my street. The church was next to a little school, where children at the grades of Kindergarten through third grade attended. Walking behind the school, I noticed how windows were shattered, and doors were barged open. Not wanting to go inside, I quicken my pace towards the street with stores. I only stopped when I noticed the massacre of the church. Taking steps closer to the barely guarded gate, I noticed that doors, as well as windows, were either broken, burned or left untouched by bloodstains. It was a gruesome sight, but what really sent chills down my spine, was a broken, large wooden cross, engraved with Spanish lettering: “¿Dónde está tu Dios ahora?” The words gave me goosebumps, filling my heart with doubt. “Where is your god now?” I quoted the engraving. “He’s up there... I know he is.” Walking away from the church, I made a left and walked through the street. In front of me, were rows of stores, and barber shops. At the far end of the street was a McDonalds, A Horsepower gas station and a freeway that lead to the nearest mall. I walked down the middle of the road, keeping my eyes and ears open for anything strange. Everything was quiet. Too quiet. “Nino, lets walk faster, I know where we should go... Plus, I don't wanna be out here, knowing that they’ll come unexpectedly.” I said to my dog. I started running towards the store I wanted to be in. Surprisingly, I didn’t break a sweat. Entering it, I was surprise that it wasn’t messier than I expected. The entrance doors’ glass was shattered, blood splattered on the ground. Rows and rows of food were already empty, opened up, or were knocked down. Crumbs were left on some of the shelves, along with droplets of blood. Shivering, I gripped the axe even harder, my dog’s footsteps and my own calming me slightly. I walked towards the end of the store, where a kitchen and butcher shop was located. Pots and pans littered the floor, along with various piles of food, flies buzzing above them. “Fucking sick.” I muttered. With one sleeve, I covered my nose, breathing through my mouth. Nino didn't like the smell either, so he tried staying as far away as possible from them. Walking behind the counter, I noticed that some of the heavy machines that cooled the meat were broken. Glass littered the hard, stone floor, along with rotting meat. Not liking the scent, I almost threw up. I began walking away, until I remembered something that made me grin. “The cash register.” I walked over the rotting pieces of meat, avoiding any contact with it. I reached the register, and counted all of the money I found. Grabbing a nearby bucket, I tossed all of the change into it, making sure not to drop a single dime. Placing the bucket down and sealing it with a lid, I continued for the rest of the money. As much as I didn’t want to steal, I needed the money. I counted ten 20’s fifteen 10’s, five 5’s and twelve singles. “387 dollars. Not a lot but it’ll do.” I said, picking up the bucket in one hand and shoving the wad of cash in my pants. I grabbed my axe and made my way towards the exit. Before I left however, I noticed a shiny, meat cleaver lying on the bottom of one of the tables. I picked it up, feeling its wooden handle. Grinning, I put down the bucket, took off the lid and shoved the cleaver inside, placing the lid back on top of it. I looked down at my dog and gave him a sad expression. “Sorry Nino, there’s no good food here. At least we got some cash...” He hung his head, disappointed that we could not find food. I gripped the bucket in my left arm and the axe with the right. “Maybe we’ll find another store with fo-” *CRASH!!* I stood silent. I felt my blood run cold as I stood there, staring at my dog with horror in my eyes. I heard him growling, and my fears only increased. I turned around slowly to the sound of moaning and bones snapping. My fears were confirmed. Behind me was not just one zombie, two, no not even three. But a whole fucking crowd of them. At Least 13. “Shit!” I shouted. They all turned their heads towards me and slowly began walking towards the counter. I ran to the back of the store, my back held up against the cold, metal surface. The crowd took no time at all, cornering me. My dog was by my side, growling at the walking dead. I gripped my axe in fear. I had never actually killed a zombie, and now, I guess I had too. They came closer, all of them moaning and mindlessly bumping into each other in the process. I raised the axe above my head, ready to attack. KRAKA-BOOM! > Red Skies and Black Lights. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Red Skies and Black Lights Detroit Michigan 8 days before Halloween. KRAKA-BOOM! There is was again. The noise was so loud, it sent a ringing noise through my ears. Nino was also on the ground, whimpering from the loud noise. The strangest thing though, all of the zombies stopped moving. I could still hear the buzzing of flies coming from rotten flesh and meat, and I could still hear all the zombies moaning. Their white, soulless eyes did not blink, did not even move, no they just stood there. Doing nothing. With my back still up against a cold, metal surface, and my axe above my head, I set the bucket filled with the change and the clever down on the ground. I still stood there, scared for my life to even move a single muscle. I moved my eyes down to Nino, who oddly enough, was calm even after the loud boom. I leaned my back further against the wall, until I feel something blunt poke my back. Turning around slowly, I noticed a large, metallic handle, with only amiture door locks. ‘Son of a bitch!’ I thought. Mentally facepalming, I slowly reached my free hand to unlock the top lock. Twisting it slowly, I realized I was only 1 door lock away from freedom. CLICK! “That’s one.” I muttered under my breath. Behind me, I could here some of the zombies moaning and their flesh dripping from their rotting bones. I could hear Nino growling, almost barking at any given moment. Bringing my hand down to the lower lock, I gripped the small handle tightly. I turned my wrist slowly, the lock doing the very same. ClICK! “Rrrraagghhhh.....” I could hear a zombie moaning, the others doing the very same. Ninos growling became louder, along with the sound of footsteps and dragging limbs. I turned my head around, seeing the crowd of flesh eaters walking towards me. Nino started to bark, and I thrashed opened the door, picking up the bucket in the process. “RRAAAAAAAGGGHHH!!!!!” “FUCK THIS SHIT!!” I said. Panicking, I run outside with the axe held up high. I closed the door just as soon as one zombie began running, smashing its face in the process. Luckily for me, there was also attacked locks on the outside, including a foldable gate. Locking the door and closing the gate, I find that the gate had a little lock as well, the one that you stick a key through. Locking the gate,I back away, staring at a little window through the door. The zombies were on top of each other, all growling and moaning. I could see guts flying out and blood on the window, behind it were their rotting faces. I shiver at the horrific sight, axe still above my head leaning on my shoulder. I look down at Nino, and I could notice he had his tail tucked between his legs and his entire body was also shivering. Worried, I kneeled down to pet him, still staring at the door blocking the zombies. “Nino? Are you OK?” I asked. Nino only whimpered and nuzzled my knelt down knee. I heard that animals could sense weather, or something like that, so I looked up at the sky. What I saw scared the shit outta me, making me believe that earth truly is a living hell. “Holy shit..” I said in a shaky voice. The sky was blood red, no longer its cloudy white, and blue sky. The clouds were a darker shade of red, as if they were filled with blood, ready to drop from the sky and stain the earthly ground. I know it’s a bad idea to stare at the sun, but I couldn’t resist. I took one quick look at the sun, my eyes widening with pain and shock. The once, pure white sun, was now a deeper shade of red, almost as deep as the clouds. Its shine was covered by some clouds, lighting them up in the background. “Out of all the times to start praying for my life, IT HAS TO BE NOW!!?!?’’ I shouted in anger. CRASH!!! I turn around to see that all of the zombies, with their combined force, knocked down the metallic door, along with the gate. Slowly, one of them stepped out, neck bone sticking out with his chest ripped open. His rib cage showed all of his broken, blood stained bones. Intestines were sitting in the hole were his belly should be, blood gushing out with every step. I only stood, frozen in shock and in horror. Nino was the same. The zombie stared at me with his eyes, and I could also noticed his nostrils flaring. It slowly walked towards me, the other zombies doing the same. Each time I took a step back, I could hear another footstep coming from the herd. To make matters worse, I just had to talk. “FUCKING KIDDINGING ME!?” The zombies all stared at me. I stood quiet, waiting for their response. “AAAHGGGHHGHGHH!!!” one zombie said. Then another. Then another. Then another... “SHIT!!!” I shouted. One zombie ran up to me, and I brought down the axe on to his head. The blade hacked through its already cracked skull, axe stuck in its hade. It fell on its knees, blood spraying from its gash. I pulled the axe back with strength, causing the head to detach from the spinal cord. The head rolled away from the kneeled body, landing right in front of the herd. One by one, I could see all the zombie heads turn towards me. “Oh shit..” “RRRAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!!” _______ Running with Nino beside me, I can still hear the moaning and screaming of the zombies behind us. I turn my head around to see how many were following Nino and I. “You gotta be fucking kidding me..” I muttered. At least 10 more showed up. I’m guessing it was because that zombie I killed howled, signaling back up. Either way, I do not want to become one of them. Running pass abandoned cars and shattered glass, I manage to hide behind the church once more. I could still hear the zombies moaning and yelling, their voices filled with hunger stained my mind. No longer hearing them, I walk slowly away from the church, the red sky shining above the cement ground. I took one last look at the church before leaving towards my home, which was just down the road. The red glow covered most of the church, causing it to look like a silhouette. The shadows of the church stretched all over the ground, bloody marks covered up by the darkness. The broken cross still laid their, but do to the red sky, the brown wood was now a dark red, and the lettering was black. “Where is your god now?” I muttered. I look down at Nino, who was whimpering behind my leg. “Let’s go Nino,” I started walking away from the church, Nino following behind me. Each step I take, the red sky and its glowing red sun followed me, causing shadows to emerge and frighten me. “Padre Nuestro, Que estás en el cielo..” _______ I make it back to my house, which from the outside, does not look like it’s in great shape. The windows were all boarded up, some of them were colored with blood due to the zombies scratching and clawing at night. The porch door was wide open. I didn’t bother boarding that up because it was going to break off easily anyway. The main door wasn’t boarded up either, I had no idea why. I walked up to it, bucket in between my legs so I can open the door. It had two door knobs, so I had to use both of my hands. I don’t keep it locked because I know zombies are too stupid to figure out how to open things. They just know how to break through things. Entering the house, I set the bucket with the change and the cleaver on the table. I lay the axe on top of the leather couch. Nino still stood beside me, as Grabbed the chair to sit down. Removing the lid, I first take out the meat cleaver. The light reflected off of the steel, making it glisten. The wooden handle looked aged, but as I gripped it, it felt very new, like it has never been used before. I took a big swing, tering the air. I lift the clever above my head, and brought it down hard on the wooden table. The blade was thick, yet very sharp. I grinned. Dumping out all of the change, I noticed all of them were mostly nickels and quarters. One by one, I counted each penny, nickel, dime and quarter. “$52.74. Still not much, but it still usable. Even the pennies...” I muttered. My stomach started to growl and so did Ninos. I look down at my dog, my eyes meeting his. “I’m sorry Nino. We’ll find some food next time,” Nino lowered his head, laying on the ground. “I hope.” Putting all the change into the bucket, I notice a strange black light seeping through one of the boarded windows behind the T.V. Walking up to it, I peek through the little open space. “The hell?” I said. Not sure if it was a good idea to go outside unarmed, I grab my exe, opening the door. I can hear Nino growl and bark, but I told him to stay quiet. “Queta Nino. Be quiet. I’ll be right back.” I shut the door before he could say anything else. I walk outside onto the porch, looking around for anything suspicious. Still gripping the axe tightly, All I could see was the red sky shine above the ground. “Nothing.” I whispered. “It’s always noth-” KRAKA-BOOM! The loud boom cracked over my my house. The noise was so loud I dropped my axe in shock, falling onto my knees and covering my ears with my hands. “AAAAUUUUGGGHHH!!!” I screamed. I leaned forward and tumbled down the stairs. It hurt like a bitch, but the only thing I could focus on was the constant high pitch noise going on. Getting up slowly, I looked up at the sky, and my eyes widened in horror. Clouds were forming into a giant circle, black streaks of lightning coming out of the hole. In the center of the whole, dark purple like wispy clouds were inside of it, whipping viciously like flames ignited with oil. If I was a religious fool, I’d say it was the rapture. But no, this was not the rapture. It looked like it was the portal to hell...And I was standing right in the middle of it. I tried to run inside, but I couldn’t find the strength to move anywhere. I couldn’t even scream. I just stared at the giant cloud mass in the sky. I took a closer look at the hellish portal, and ,my eyes widen. A glowing, black sphere was in the middle of it, heading straight for me. It was too fast for me to dodge, All I could do, was put my hands over my head and pray that it could be over quick. KRAKA-BOOM! I opened my eyes slowly, breathing heavily. I lowered my hands from my face, looking at the scenery around me. The sky was no longer blood red, nor were the clouds and sun. They turned back to their original state: White, cyan blue and pure white, from earth’s view of course. Along with a streak of rainbow. “What the fuck!?” I said in total shock. One minute ago, I came face to face to what seemed like a portal to hell, and then the next thing I know, it’s all sunshine and rainbows. “WHAT THE FUCK!?” I look down at my feet, and only 5 feet away, were six glowing lights: Purple, White, Cyan, Orange, Yellow, and Pink. The colors were so bright, but I still stared at them. I walked closer to them, not knowing why. Each step I took, I felt like I was taking one step into an eternity peace. I felt Harmony through my veins, washing away all of the wrongs I have done. Then the lights faded, revealing 6, colorful lumps. Curious, I take a few steps closer, covering my face with the hoodies hood. What I saw only baffled my mind. “Are these...Plushies?” I walked towards one of them, which was Twilight Sparkle. I ran by hand down her mane. It felt so real, like, real hair. I proceeded to rub the belly area, and to my surprise, it did not feel like that usual cheap fabric. It felt life like. As if it was, alive. I looked up at the sky, my arms raised. “I want food, and you bring me plushies!?” I look back down at the plushies. “Well, they do look cute. Thanks anyway big man.” I look back down at the ponies, and I try to grab the Applejack plush. “...Twilight...help.” I stop dead in my tracks. ‘Did that plushie just talk?’ I thought. I shake my head. “No, it couldn’t have-” “Twilight...stop, the portal’s to strong..” I turn to the left, and noticed the Rarity Plushie talking as well. I thought I was loosing it, but I couldn’t have, THAT PONY JUST TALKED. “UUUGGGHHHH....” I turn around to the source of the noise, and on my far right....was a zombie. “UUUGGGHHHH....” No...It can’t be. I turn to my far left, and sure enough, there was another zombie. “UUUGGGHHHH....” All around me, I could hear moaning and groaning. I remembered that my axe was still on the porch, and the door was unlocked. Looking down at the plushies, or what seemed like plushies, more of them began to breath. I looked back at my house, I decided to take them with me. Real or not, there is no way I am going to leave the mane six here on the street. I pick them all up at once.What surprise me the most was that they were all easy to carry, even though they were about the size of an average 4 year old. Walking with them in my arms and shoulder, I rushed back onto the front porch. I had to drop one of them if I wanted to open the door. “Sorry, Rarity.” I said. I heard a moaning coming from that plushie, and my heartbeat began to rise. Maybe they were real, maybe they weren't. I gripped my hands on the both door knobs, twisting them both open. I ran into the house and settled all six of the ponies on the fabric couch. I turned back around, only to see that 3 zombies made it their way towards the steps. I grabbed the axe that was still on the floor, raised it above my head, and swung it down on to the zombies head. It dropped down to it’s side, blood splattering all over my porch. The next one came a little quicker, but I brought up my axe from my left side and sliced its neck. The head rolled off of its body and onto the stairs, making its way to the cement ground. The final one was crawling on the ground, its lower body was missing. I walked closer to it, my face saddened. “Why...why the hell did this had to happen to you?” I said. The zombie hissed at me, reaching one hand towards me but failed to grab me. It made me sick, why would the government to this to innocent people. My eyes began to tear up, and I could feel the tears running down my cheeks. The zombie still hissed at me. I walked towards it, covering my eyes with the white hood on my back. I raised the axe above my head, tears falling on top of the zombies hand. I took one last look at it before bringing down the blade. “I’m sorry..” SHING! SPLAT! I closed my eyes and turned away from the zombie, axe clenched tightly in my left hand. I knew there was more zombies, especially because of the loud thunder clap heard, but I ignored that fact and walked inside. I close the door, and leaned my back against it. I could still hear the zombies groaning, but I didn’t care. This was my first day killing the undead. I thought I could handle it. I thought watching those movies would train me and prepare me. I was dead wrong. I slid down onto the ground, my hood covering my eyes as I cried. Nino walked up to me and rested his head on my lap. I through the bloody axe on the ground, not caring if it make a bigger sound causing more zombies. I was petting Nino’s head, soothing me slowly. I looked up at the ceiling, my eyes closed. “I just hope ma and the rest are OK.” I said through sobs. I started remembering all of the good times I had with them. Nostalgia...I love it. I decided to recite my prayers, hoping god could hear me... “Santa Maria, madre de Dios, Ruega por nos-” “WHAT IS THAT TWILIGHT!?” My eyes shot open, still staring at the ceiling. “I don’t know Rainbow Dash, stay away from it!” I heard another voice. ‘No...It can’t be..’ I thought. It couldn’t be Twilight's voice...was it? “Ah don’t know what it is either sugarcube, but if it that thing comes near us, me and Dash will take care of it.” ‘That was Applejacks voice.’ I thought. “I-I think it talks..” I hear a quiet, timid voice. ‘Fluttershy?’ I thought. No, I must be losing my mind. Slowly, I bring my eyesight away from the ceiling, my neck lowering to face forward. At the far end, all six of what what I thought to be plushies, were on all fours, living and breathing. My eyes widened in shock. Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack had a defensive stance going on, ready to attack when needing to. Rarity and Pinkie Pie were behind the two, trying to stay away from me. Fluttershy was hiding behind her mane, doing her best to not even look at me. Twilight Sparkle had a look of curiosity and fear mixed together. My eyes widened behind my lens, eyes still stained red. Nino did nothing, all he did was lay on my lap and stare at the ponies. At the moment, he was calm. Twilight opened her mouth,but could not say anything. She must have been scared out of her fur, the poor thing. Deciding to break the tension, I had to speak. “Hi...” > Trust Is Earned, Not Easily Given. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Trust Is Earned, Not Easily Given Detroit, Michigan. 8 days before Halloween. Edited by enigmaMystere Every second that passed by, the tension on the room only grew. Besides Rainbow Dash’s wings beating, I could hear faint noises of moaning coming from the outside. I still sat on the ground, Nino’s head on my lap and my back against the door, white hood covering half of my eyes. As calm as I was in this situation, only one thing could process in my mind. The fucking mane six are in my house. Half of me wanted to keep crying after killing a zombie, something I had never done. The other half wanted me to jump up and hug all of the ponies, hoping they would accept me with smiles and laughter. Yea, I could see it now, Pinkie coming up to my face and introducing herself, her mane smelling of cotton candy and other sweets. Rainbow Dash challenging my strength and how cool and awesome I am. Applejack asking me about farm work and apples. Rarity wanting to figure out the right measurements to create clothes for a being she has never met before. Fluttershy asking me about Nino, and if I like animals. Twilight Sparkle asking me about human history, eating habits, how we walk, talk, all that basic stuff. Well, basic for her. I could see all of us being friends. But then I realized something... I wasn’t in some Human in Equestria fic. No, I can see the fear and terror in their eyes. Pinkie’s mane and tail weren’t their usual puffed up, frazzled mane. They were flattened straight, almost touching the ground. Her eyes were filled with look of fear and sadness, her eyes looked as if they were already on the verge of tears. Rarity had a look of disgust and fear. She stared wide eyed at me, her pupils moving around. I didn’t know if she was horrified about what I was wearing, or... ‘The blood...’ I thought. I could hear Fluttershy cry softly behind her long, light pink mane. She curled up into a small ball, trying to avoid eye contact with me. I tell you what, scaring Fluttershy, even though it was just my presence, hit me. Hard. Applejack and Rainbow Dash both glared at me, ready to fuck me up if I even moved. Applejack gritted her teeth, the sound of it traveling to my ears. Rainbow Dash’s wings beating harshly, filling up the room with the sound of flapping. She too, glared at me. Her rainbow mane was all frizzled and messy, like it usually was in the actual show. She glared daggers into my eyes as well, but I ignored her gaze and turned my eyes towards the last pony. Twilight Sparkle. There she stood, her eyes wide in fear and curiosity. I honestly wasn’t surprised, she was a bookworm after all. For some reason, she looked very tired. Her mane was a slight mess, almost like it was during the “Smarty Pants” incident. Under her eyes, bags began to form, signaling me that she was, as I thought, very tired. I stared at all of them, one by one, then as a whole. I had only spoken one word, and the room had been silent since. I wanted to break the tension again, but I wasn’t sure how to. What? Do I tell them why I was covered in blood, bawling my eyes out and sitting on the floor with a look of sadness and- Oh god...The blood, the axe, the meat cleaver on the table. They must think I’m some crazed creature, ready to pounce on them whenever I pleased. I didn’t want them to think that I was a threat, but how the hell do I break this silence? I look down at Nino with my eyes, who just shifted his gaze to me. He was looking me in the eye, telling me to do something. I knew what I had to do. Slowly, I reached my right hand into my pocket, trying to take out my phone. I see Applejack glare at me, but I proceeded anyway. Slowly pulling it out, I can hear an angry, defensive voice. “What the hay do you think you’re doin?” Applejack said coldly. Snapping my hand away from my right, I only stared back at the cowpony. I started to breathe a little heavily, but I did my best to keep calm. Gulping, I slowly raised my right hand, trying to show that I had no intentions of injuring her or her friends. Applejack and Rainbow both clenched their teeth, trying their best to intimidate me. It only worked slightly. “I’m not going to harm you, I just want to-” “How do we know if you’re not going to hurt us? For all we know, you could be lying!” Rainbow Dash shouted. ‘Didn’t I just say I wasn’t going to- Oh wait that’s right.’ I sighed. I scratched behind Nino’s ear, making the dog stick out his tongue happily. My eyes looked down to the happy dog, drawing a small smile across my face. I looked back at the angry rainbow maned mare. She only glared back. I sighed. Knowing Rainbow Dash, she would do anything in her power to defend her friends. Which is why I wouldn’t be able to move; if I did, she would most likely come up and buck me in the face. Right now, I had to settle with just talking, and no moving. Besides me scratching my dogs ear. “So...how about that wea-” “WHAT ARE YOU!?” Slightly taken back by the sudden outburst, I shifted my eyes a little bit to see Twilight covering her mouth. ‘Must have been her.’ I thought, stating the obvious. I gave the little pony a small smile, but only received a scowl by Applejack and Rainbow Dash. Twilight hid behind Applejack. “Human.” I said. “I’m a human.” “What in the hay is that?” Applejack asked. I understood that she was being defensive but damn! Can’t a homie speak without being interrupted? “A human is like...a monkey?” I said. This got a disapproving look from Honesty and Loyalty. I tried not to choke on my words, but I’m not very good when being stared at. “Um...A human is a bipedal creature...How does that sound?” For a second, I thought I saw Twilight stick her head out a little behind Applejack. She might not have looked at me, but I knew full well that that mare wanted answers. “My name is Giovanni. What are yours?” I asked. Still, none of them spoke, only stared and glared at me. I saw Nino curled his neck towards the ponies, not doing anything. I leaned down a little to whisper in his ear. “I need you to get off of me...” He understood, and slowly got up. Applejack stomped her hooves, while Rainbow Dash glared at Nino and I. “What is that vermin doin’?” Applejack asked. I stared into her green eyes, feeling her judgement seep into my soul. “He’s just getting up, don’t worry.” I said. Nino hopped on top of the leather couch. All of the ponies backed away slightly, but Applejack and Rainbow Dash still glared at me. Getting up slowly, I raised both my hands up to my chest.”I don’t want to hurt you, all I want to do is just talk.” I slowly took off the blood stained hoodie, throwing it on top of the axe. “See?” Rainbow Dash scowled. “Liar! You’re just waiting for the perfect moment to strike!” In response, I shook my head. “Look, If you’ll just let me explain who I am, we’ll get everything settled, all right?” I walked up slowly to them, but Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Twilight and Fluttershy backed away. Rainbow and Applejack still stood their ground. “Come any closer, and Ah’ll buck you into next week!” Applejack said. Rainbow Dash blue smoke out of her nose.”Yea! Don’t hurt my friends!” I sighed, getting through these ponies will be tougher than I thought. I took a second to look at how tall they actually were. Since I’m about 5’9, the ponies looked like they only reached to my waist. Rainbow Dash however, hovered in my living room with the use of her wings, making her eye level with me. All of the ponies, excluding Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash, were staring up at me, as if I were a tower compared to them. Applejack’s and Rainbow Dash’s eyes slightly widened. “Gosh, Ah didn’t expect it being this big.” I chuckled at the comment. “Yea, mom always said I would be as tall as my dad when I grow bigger.” I lowered my hands, hoping that Applejack and Rainbow Dash didn’t see me as a threat any longer. “Watch out AJ, that thing has claws on its hooves.” Rainbow scowled. I only shook my head slowly. “These aren’t claws. They’re fingers, used for gripping, and holding objects.” I said.”Look, Of It’ll make all of you comfortable, I’ll introduce myself. How does that sound?” Silence. “I’ll take that as a yes.” I walk up to the fabric couch, laying down on it. The couch was only 5 feet away from the mares, so it wouldn’t be too hard for them to hear me. I cleared my throat: “My name Full name is Giovanni Towers. I’m a Mexican American 14 year old male, that's a stallion in case you're wondering,who has been growing up in southwest Detroit, Michigan.” I paused for a second, making sure they were listening.“As of right now, you’re on a planet called Earth. How you got here is beyond my full explanation. All I can say is that you came through a portal that was forming in the sky. You all fell on the ground and I took you inside my house after-” I stop myself. Should I really tell these ponies about what happened outside? Hell, should I even tell them that they are fictional characters based on a T.V. show? ‘Later... Right now is not the time.’ I thought. I slowly rose from the couch, backing away so that they can see me. Pinkie still had her mane down, Rarity seemed calm but was still scared, Twilight left her hiding spot and walked in front of Applejack, Rainbow Dash still continued to hover, glaring at me, and Fluttershy still hid behind her mane. “So,” I began, “what are your names?” Silence. They still didn’t trust me. I guess I have to take some drastic measures. I gulped, and slowly made my way towards Rainbow Dash. She glared at me as I walked up to her, her magenta eyes staring into mine. “Back off, you...you freak!!” Her voice cracked. Gotta admit, that was some cute shit right there. I took a deep breath and took of my glasses. I pointed a finger towards my face. “Hit me.” Everypony in the room gasped. Even Pinkie’s eyes widened at what I had just said. Rainbow Dash had a look of shock and confusion. I placed my glasses in my pocket, still pointing at my face. “Hit me.” “W-What?!” Rainbow’s voice cracked. I only smiled at her. “I said hit me.” Though I was half blind, I could still see the cartoonish mare’s face grow slightly paler. “Why?” She asked, trying to keep up the tough girl act. I smiled back at her. Out side, I was cool, but inside, I was freaking out. ‘I was talking to the real, fucking Rainbow Dash!’ “Because, you think I’m a threat, right?” I said. The mare didn’t say anything, nor did she shake her head. “Well, I want you to hit me in the face with your hoof. If I don’t hit back, that means I’m not a threat...But if I do, you can hurt me as much as you want.” With that, I stopped talking and closed my eyes. I could hear Rainbow Dash mumbling. “Well, you asked for it!” She said. I could take a punch, but a hoof to the face? We’ll just have to wait and- “Now, Applejack!” ‘Wait, what?’ I quickly shot open my eyes and looked down. There, Applejack was turned around, her hind legs lifted into the air. She had a large grin on her face, as did Rainbow Dash. “Son of a-” THWACK! THUMP! No words can express the pain that just shot through my children. I brought both hands to my injured area, groaning. “I...said...the face...not...the...” I couldn’t finish the last word, the pain was just too unbearable to handle. I wanted to cry, but I didn’t want to show these ponies my manly tears. Then I hear Applejack talk. “What’s wrong with ya? All ah did was give ya a light buck.” She said, standing over me. I looked up at the farm pony, glaring at her. The thing is, she actually looked confused. “You...hit my...my...ugh.” The pain was just too much. I closed my eyes, letting the pain cover me in darkness. ________ Applejack stared down at the unconscious ‘hue-man’. Did she really buck him that hard? She stood over the giant beast, poking his chest with her orange hoof. She looked over at her other friends. “Ah didn’t hit him that hard, did ah?” She asked. Rainbow Dash landed next to her orange friend, rolling her eyes. “I don’t know, all I know is that he tried to attack us!” She said. She glared at the light brown freak on the floor. “You saw how tall it was, he could have eaten us!” Applejack frowned at the large varmen. “Ah don’t know about that, sugarcube. It didn’t seem friendly, but it also said it didn’t want to hurt us.” Rainbow Dash frowned at her friend. “And how do you know that?” She was all up in Applejack’s grill. “Honesty.” Applejack said. “Remember, Loyalty?” Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head with her left foreleg. “Oh yea, my bad.” She smiled sheepishly. “Still, I don’t trust this ‘hue-man’ at all.” For about about a good 5 minutes, the ponies stood in silence, all staring at the ‘hue-man’ “Grrr...” All of the ponies looked up to see a growling, brown-white dog staring at them. It walked slowly towards the ‘hue-man’, laying right next to its head. All of the mares backed away, not wanting to cause trouble with the beast. All except Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, get away from that thing!” Twilight warned. “It could bite you!” “Sugarcube, Ah think it would be wise to stay away from that....dog?” The ‘beast’ they were referring to was, indeed, a dog. His long, bushy tail swept the floor with every possessive movement. The dog’s eyes stared at all of the mares, including Fluttershy. She walks up to the unconscious ‘hue-man’, earning a small growl from the dog. But instead of the ‘hue-man’, she turns to her left and walks up to the dog. Curious, the dog lifts up his head, looking up at Fluttershy. The timid mare smiles at the dog, stretching her hoof to pet it. At first, the dog tensed, ready to strike when provoked. But as soon as he felt Fluttershy’s soft, buttery hoof, he began to relax. His tail was swishing back and forth, letting the other mares know that he was OK with it. “Oh you poor thing, you look like you’ve been through a lot of stress lately...” Fluttershy said. The dog nodded in response, understanding what the yellow pony was saying. Fluttershy then proceeded to rub the dog's belly, flipping him over playfully in the process. The dog started kicking the air, enjoying the belly rub Fluttershy was performing. “Well, it does seem like it poses no threat.” Twilight said. Applejack nodded her head. “Yea, reminds me of Wionna, that happy dog.” She smiled as she remembered the thought of her playful dog, running through the apple orchards with her little sister, Applebloom. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.”Whatever, it’s no Tank I’ll tell you that.” She then hovered over Fluttershy and the dog. “Still, he does look like a pretty cool pet.” Rarity only smiled. “Though I am much of a cat pony, this canine does seem to be fun to play with.” She then focused her attention on the light brown ‘hue-man’ on the floor. She shakes her head. ‘This dog’s fur should be combed properly. Why does this bigger creature not groom his pet?’ She thought. Pinkie slowly walked up to the human as well. “Well, he didn’t sound like he was going to hurt us...Should we trust him?” Though Pinkie Pie was still slightly upset, her mane slowly began to frizz up again, but not all at once. Just little strands of her mane. Pinkie’s eyes were still red from silently sobbing, though nopony, not even this ‘hue-man’ noticed. Twilight Sparkle shook her head.” I don’t think so Pinkie, he has little drops of blood on his face, and all over that, weird, white blanky thingie over there.” She was pointing at the hoodie the ‘hue-man’ wore. “Plus, look at the dogs back. It’s covered with blood as well!” Hearing Twilight’s sudden outburst, Fluttershy flipped over Nino’s back. “Oh...my...” The dog has blood on his back as well, but at further inspection, Fluttershy saw no source of cuts, gashes or even scratches on the dogs fur. Curious, she walked up to the ‘hue-man’s face, and began examining him. He had little splotches of blood on his cheeks, along with red colored ‘fingers’ as he said. She looked down at the creatures lower body, noticing his pant’s were also bloody, but ripped as well. Like he was trying to run away from something. “Girls..” Every pony turned their heads towards Fluttershy, who had a little bit of a serious expression.”I don’t think he wanted to hurt anypony. Just look.” She points to the ripped pants.”I think he was just trying to run away from something...” “But from what?” Twilight asks. Then all 6 mares hear a faint groan and a small thud. They turn their attention towards the door, but heard nothing else. Shrugging, Rainbow Dash spoke up. “So what now? Do we trust him, or do we be careful around him?” All other 5 heads were thinking of the right answer. “I say, for the time being, that we should be cautious around him.” Twilight said. “Who knows what this thing could do..” 5 other heads nodded in agreement. Again, Twilight spoke up.”For now, let’s stay in this place until we can get some straight and forward answers from him.” Fluttershy flew up and grabbed the big, white hoodie and covered the ‘hue-man’ with it, making sure that he would not be cold. The dog laid next to it’s owner, slowly drifting into a small slumber. “In the meantime, let’s look around this feller’s place.” Applejack suggested. “It’s pretty big, could house us all Ah suppose.” Rainbow however, was already lying down on the couch, snoring. Pinkie’s mane grew slightly more frizzy. “I guess this place isn’t so bad, at least we got each other, right girls?” All the other mares nodded, soon breaking apart to roam around the house. > What Are These...Hue-mans? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- What Are These...Hue-mans? Detroit,Michigan 8 days before Halloween. Ever been hit in the nuts by a colorful cartoon pony with a western accent and a stetson hat, and has an orange coat with white freckles and big, green eyes? I have. And I’ll tell you what, it hurted like a mothafucka. Every little man in those two family jewels felt immediate pain and displeasure. Opening my eyes, I could still feel my hands cupping my...area. What I also noticed, was that I was covered with my white hoodie, which still had blood spots around the shoulder area and the sleeves. Craning my neck, I could see Nino was right next to me, sleeping soundly. I smiled at the dog, but immediately winced when I tried moving my arms. It still hurts, not a lot but somewhat. I took a deep breath and tried again. Now, I was able to move both my arms without too much pain, but next came the hard part. No pun intended. Slowly, I stretched my left leg to form it as into a knee stance, and used my right leg to push me off the ground. I winced at the pain, which hurts real bad when it comes to stretching. Now that I am on both knees, I looked around the living room. Nino was still there, sleeping on the ground, yet I could not find the ponies. I began to worry, and quickly but carefully, I lifted my left knee into a T-bow stance, and lifted the other half of my body with my right leg. “Motherfucker that still hurts.” I muttered. Before I was going to look for the ponies, I had to check up on the boys first. I walked towards the bathroom door and took one last look around the living room. I then spotted Rainbow, sleeping on my fabric couch with her forelegs behind her head and her hind legs crossed above each other. Like, the thing you do when relaxing or listening to music, except she was sleeping and doing most likely the former, rather than the latter. I was about to opened the door when I suddenly realized that I never closed the door before I left. I look down, and see that the lights were on, glowing through the small hole that is under the door. I look back up at the door, and knocked on it twice. “Just a minute~!” Said a voice in a sing-song style. I sighed, knowing that it was Rarity who was in my bathroom. Knowing her, my mom, sister, younger sister, and I think all the women in the world, she was going to be in there for a very long time. Especially since I have a pretty big mirror in there and some good lighting. I begin to walk away from the bathroom, and could hear Rarity talk to herself about her hair and and how the lighting portrayed her coat. Walking back into the living room, I noticed Dash was still there, looking so comfortable and relaxed. Smiling, I walked up a little closer, getting a little bit distracted by her rainbow mane. It looked so pretty and shiny when in the light, and God knows how much I like shiny things. Each color shined brightly, from violet all the way to red, including her cyan blue coat. I just wanted walk up and hug her like a freaking teddy bear. But ignoring my urges, and not wanting to get bucked in the face, I walked away from the couch and entered the kitchen, which was right behind the living room when you entered the house. Looking around for anypony, I quickly spotted Pinkie Pie, sitting in the middle of the kitchen with her mane strait and her face plastered with a sad expression. It really hurted my heart seeing Pinkie all sad like that, and trust me, I did wanted to go up and hug her and see that frown turn upside down. But I did not want to scare her off, even if she was just looking at the ground. Still, I had to say something to the party pony. Walking a little closer, she looked up and her eyes widened at the sight of me.Whether it was horror, surprise, shock, or even excitement, she still looked pretty sad and backed away from me. Again, I raised both my hand up to behind back, but quickly brought them down over my manhood. You just never know when they could attack down there. “Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you.” I said, trying to calm her down. She seemed a little comfortable, but her mane still remained flat and she only backed away more when I tried walking up to her. “I swear, I wouldn’t want to hurt any of you ponies, I couldn’t live with myself if I ever did.” She seemed a little bit more calm, but even then, she looked like she did not trust me. I sighed, trying to think of a way for her to trust me. And then it hit me. I brought my left hand into the air, and stuck out my pinkie. She looked at it curiously, with those big, blue eyes. It was so cute yet sad at the same time, I couldn’t help myself but to smile at her. “Listen, I promise that I won’t hurt you, or your friends.” When I said promise, her eyes slightly narrowed at me, and I grinned. I had it all in the bag. “I pinkie promise.” I said, wiggling my pinkie. She lifted her eyebrows and slowly walked towards me. I looked down at her, and she, just like Applejack, only reached up to my waist. I smiled down at her, and she looked up with those big eyes of hers. I could see her mouth moving, but it looked like she had trouble saying the words. So, once again, I wiggled my pinkie. “I pinkie promise.” Her eyes then narrowed again and she raised a hoof up to her chest. “Cross my heart,” She started off. Just like her, I crossed my heart as well. “And hope to fly,” She said. She lifted her hoof up to her face, I did the same with my hand. “Stick a cupcake in my eye.” She finished off, placing her hoof over one eye,closed of course. I did the same, except hoping it would make her laugh, I made a slapping noise when I hit my eye. “Ow.” I said, pretending to rub my eye. For just a second, I saw that pink mare smile, warming up inside. Then, just as it came, it quickly left Pinkie’s face. I sighed, though smiled at her for smiling. “So, do you know we’re the others are?” I asked Pinkie. She still looked up at me, tilting her head to the side. God that’s cute. She pointed her hoof to the hallway that leads to the stairs. “The others went upstairs to look around. They wanted to know what this place looked like, so they’re exploring right now.” She walked away from me and entered the living room. She turned around and smiled at me. “Thank you for not hurting my friends.” For a second, I could’ve sworn I just saw her mane grow a little bit. Like, it looked like it got fuzzier or something. Smiling back at her, I waved a hand. “It’s OK. I’ll be right back.” She nodded, and sat on the other couch that Rainbow wasn’t sleeping on. I turned my face to the direction of the hallway that leads to the stairs, and started walking towards it. At the foot of the stairs, I noticed how the sun shined brightly through the window on the right all the way on the second floor. It’s bright, warm glow illuminated the hallway as I made my way upstairs. The aged wood underneath my feet creaked as I took each step, making my footsteps echo through out the second floor. Finally up the stairs, I looked down my hallway. Nothing special about it, my room was on the left and my ma’s room was all the way at the end. I entered my room and looked around, everything was exactly the same it was when I first woke up. Sighing, I was about to walk out of the room until I caught something out of the corner of my eyes. Both eyes to be exact. At the far end in my room, in a little corner, were two boxes of ponies from the show. Realizing how bad the situation could turn out to be if any of the ponies found the two toys, I quickly walked over to the corner and shoved them into the closet, on top of a shelf filled with blankets,my brothers skateboard helmet, and my little sisters old dresses. Why we never got rid of them I will never know, but for now, this was a good thing. I was going to need all the warmth I could get. I turned around, and almost melted with so much DAW. There, on my bed, on my bed, laid a sleeping, smiling Fluttershy. She had my Virgen De Guadalupe blanket above her small, yellow coated body. Her head rested on my pillow, mane only a little bit messy. She had her forelegs resting beside her face, and she breathed softly. “GOD...this is the cutest thing I have ever seen.” I said to no one in particular. But that wasn’t all. Yea, she looked cute when she slept, but what happened next. What happened next, made my heart melt, my brain explode, and my smile grew wider, tearing me up a little. She opened her mouth, yawned, sighed and smiled SHE OPENED HER MOUTH, YAWNED, SIGHED AND SMILED. I felt like a new man that day. But I decided to leave her. I did not want her to wake up to see a creature five times her size, scream, and faint. And possibly getting another buck in the nuts from Applejack. I left the room and closed the door softly. “Twilight, what in the hay is this?” “I don’t know AJ, but it looks smaller than the one we saw downstairs, and less wider than the one we saw in this “hue-man’s” room.” I cringed a bit. Hearing Applejacks voice kinda made me want to wear a cup whenever I’m around her. Looking at the door all the way at the end of the hall, I could see that my ma’s door was opened only a little bit. Silently, I walked over to the door, trying my best not to create any noise so the ponies wouldn't be scared. Looking through the small opening of the door, I could see Applejack and Twilight Sparkle both looking up at a small old school T.V on top of a white dresser. I smiled a bit; they looked so cute trying to figure out what that small black box was. I could see Applejack rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof, and I could see Twilight rubbing her chin with her right hoof. “Ya think it might be a box with something in it?” Applejack asked. She looked over at Twilight, who was pondering the question her friend said. “Hmm, I don’t know AJ, maybe it has magic in it?” Twilight said. I raised a brow at her comment. T.V’s don’t have magic, why would she think that? I walk away from them, I know they'll come back down stairs sooner or later. But as I made my way downstairs, I heard the T.V's static turn on, and I turn back around, rushing into the room. I turn off the T.V and looked down at the two scared ponies. "Meh, they'll be fine." I say. I walk away from the room, knowing they'll fallow soon. _________ As I entered the living room, I noticed how Pinkie’s mane became a bit more fluffier than it was when I last saw her. She was talking to Rainbow Dash, who by now was fully awake. As my first steps echoed through the living room, Rainbow stood on all four hooves on my couch and flared her wings. “Dashie, it’s OK. He promised not to hurt us.” Said Pinkie. She smiled a little at me, and I smiled back. That pony knows how to cheer someone up real quick, even if they weren’t feeling down at the moment. But Rainbow Dash did not respond, she just glared at me. “Stay back Pinkie! I’ll protect you!” She then stood on her hind legs and jabbed her forelegs at the air, hovering in place. “Lemme at ‘em, lemme at ‘em!” She said with such enthusiasm. Pinkie started to walk over to her friend, who was still in her shadow boxing stage. “...He Pinkie Promised.” Dash stopped shadow boxing for a second and shook her head. She looked at Pinkie, than at me, then at Pinkie, and then at me. She lowered herself back onto the couch, still staring at me. “Did you really promise?” I nodded slowly. Getting one last look at me, she turned her head towards Pinkie, nodded, and laid back down on the couch. “Fine. But hurt any of my friends and you’ll regret it!” “I won’t.” I smiled. I looked to my left and found my rolly chair, the one I usually sit on when going on the internet. I sat down on it and rolled my way towards the meat cleaver and the change bucket. Opening the lid, I shoved the cleaver inside of it, hoping that none of the ponies noticed it. I set it under the table quietly, trying not to make the change cling against each other. I rolled myself in front of the T.V, getting a better view of Pinkie and Dash. I then heard hooves coming down from the stairs, some rushing others walking slowly. The first that came through was Applejack, then Twilight, and lastly, Fluttershy. I waved a hand, letting them know to come closer so I can know their names and how they got here, even though I already know their names. Just not how they got here. “All right, where’s the white pony?” I asked, trying my best not to say her name. Even though I already knew where she was, I decided to let one of them speak so the tension could be broken between me and them. Just as Applejack was about to answer, the bathroom door creaked open, and out came the fashionable, mane-styled mare, herself, Rarity. “My name’s Rarity, darling.” Rarity said in a polite tone. Still, when she found out the source of the voice who called her, she turned to me and gasped. She was about to scream, but luckily Rainbow Dash flew over to her and shoved a hoof in her mouth. Why she didn’t just asked her to be quiet I don’t know, but atleast I wouldn’t have to hear her scream and neither would the...zombies. “It’s OK Rarity, Pinkie said he promised not to hurt us.” Rainbow said. She looked over at her friends who smiled at her, and gave an approving nod. Dash then looked to me and nodded her head, eyes kind of glaring at me. I looked over at Rarity and smiled at her. “I Pinkie Promised I wouldn’t hurt you ponies. You can ask the pink one yourself.” I then looked over at Pinkie, who smiled at me. Why is her mane so freakin’ frizzy? I mean, first it was flat, then I see little strands of hair, and now I see her hair slightly puffy. Random-ness at its finest. Rainbow took out her hoof, wiped it on herself and flew back to the couch. Rarity gasped a little when she realized I said, “Pinkie Promise”, and walked over to the couch, trying to stay away from me. I’ll tell ya, it hurts me inside knowing that these ponies don’t trust me. At least Pinkie Pie smiled at me. I sit straight in my chair and rub my hands together. I adjust my glasses so they wouldn’t fall off, and I looked at all of the cute ponies. “So, lets start off with my name and who I am, OK?” All of their heads nod simultaneously, making smile even wider. “Well, my name is Giovanni. I was actually born in Los Angeles, California, but I’m raised here in Detroit, Michigan. Not the best state, maybe even the worse, but hey, you gotta live somewhere.” I pause for a second to see if any of them had any questions. None of them had their hooves up, so I decided to keep talking. “I am only fourteen years old, and I’m a-” *Gasp* I stopped talking and raised a brow at the six. I looked at them and sure enough, it was Twilight who gasped. She then raised her hoof up into the air like a school gir-er, filly. “Yes...?” “Twilight Sparkle,” She said. Her face then changed from a small smile to a look of shock. ”And, how can you only be fourteen? You look as if you’re older than that!” Eventually, all of the mares had questions that were too much for me to handle. Worried that those zombies would hear them, I raised my finger up to my lips to silence them, and sure enough, it worked. Sighing, I pointed a finger at Twilight, who flinched a bit. “Alright, I’ll answer all of your questions, but right now, Twilight goes first.” I smiled at the mare who smiled nervously. “Go ahead, ask away.” “Yes, well as I was saying, how can you only be fourteen? Your voice sounds more like a colt of fifteen, but your figure seems to only resemble a sixteen year old. Are hue-mans naturally tall at your age?” Finish with her question, she awaited her answer, along with the other ponies. “Well,” I began. “You see, I might only be fourteen years old, but my father is six feet and one inch tall, which means I get my height from him.” Twilight nodded. ”And it’s not hue-mans, it’s pronounced “Humans”. Twilight’s eyes glistened with facts and curiosity, and smiles widely at her new found knowledge. I looked at the other mares and smiled. “Who’s next?” The all looked at each other, wondering who was next. Then, Rarity raised her hoof up. I smiled at her. “Yes Rarity?” “Do all “humans” where clothes?” Her eyes widened with curiosity. I grinned at her. ‘You ‘bout to loose yo shit Rarity.’ I thought. I took a little breath and looked down at her. “Yes.” She smiled widely and her eyes twinkled as well, like Twilights except her glistened a little bit more. Than, her expression changed to one of judger on American Idol. “And also, why do you where such dreadful clothes?” I heard Twilight gasp and see Applejack glare at Rarity. I kinda felt like shit, but I did say I would answer their questions. I rub the back of my neck, trying to avoid eye contact. “My family doesn’t make enough money to support four children, Rarity.” The room grew silent but I continued. “Most of the clothes I have are from my uncles, and some were gifts, but mostly from other family members.” “..Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Rarity said. I smiled at her and waved a hand. “It’s OK, you didn’t know.” Breaking the tension, I smiled at the other four. “Next?” Rainbow Dash shot her hoof up into the air quicker than I thought she, or any of them, would. I nod at her and she nodded back.”Names Rainbow Dash, fastest Flyer in Equestria!” She boasted.”What are those things on your hooves again? And what are those things on your hind hooves? And can you go fast?” I was slightly surprised at how fast she asked the questions, but good thing for me I payed attention to all of them. I smiled at her, but her eyes narrowed at me back. “Humans can go fast, but they can’t run at very high speeds. The max I believe, is five miles per hour.” I heard Rainbow scoff, earning a glare from Applejack and Twilight. She looked back at them and shrugged. “What?” Continuing, I resumed where I was let off. “But humans have these vehicles that allows us to go at very fast speeds. We even invented a way for us to fly, perfecting these “planes, and jets,” so we can go at even mach 5 speed.” I noticed her eyes widened at as well, but before she could ask another question, I had to cut her off. I’m only fourteen damnit I don’t know a lot about this type of shit! “And these things,” I brought up my hands to my face, wiggling my fingers. “Are called hands. These pointy things that you thought were claws are actually called “fingers”, and they have these little ridges on them that allow us humans to grip things easily.” I rolled my chair a little closer to them and brought out my left hands close enough to their faces. Applejack was the closet, and she leaned in a bit closer to touch them with her hoof. Slowly, she ran her orange hoof over my hand. I tried my best not to run my fingers through her hoof, but I resisted it because I did not want to seem like I was going to hurt her. But god damn, them hooves were buckin’ soft! I rolled back away from them, causing them to jump a bit. I quickly looked over at Twilight, who seemed disappointed that she didn’t touch my hand. To be honest, I thought Twilight was going to push Applejack out of the way so she can get a good look at my hand herself. “And our hands are connected to our arms.” I ran both my left hand over my right, and my right hand over my left arm. I stood up from the chair and patted my legs. “And just like all of you, I have legs, but only two, which explains why I stand straight instead of ,my feet and my hands. Humans are just built this way.” They all seemed to understand a bit more, and with that, I sat back down and remove my shoes. I take off my my socks and wiggle my toes, earning a few looks of surprise from the six. “And these are my feet. They’re like hands, except that they are my long shaped and can’t really grip things.” I put on my socks and shoes again. “And these are called shoes.” I said, tying up the laces. “Humans wear these things so that our toes, and feet won’t freeze off from the cold.” “Next?” Pinkie shot up her hoof in the air, smiling warmly. I pointed at her, and her hair grew a little bit lighter. ”So, do you know where we are again?” “Planet Earth, Detroit, MIchigan in the country of the United States of America. My house.” Pinkie nodded, her mane bouncing and swaying in place. “Do you like cupcakes?” “Yup.” “Cake?” “Yup.” “Frosting?” “Yup.” “Now for the big question. Do you like parties?” At this point, I wasn’t sure if it was a good Idea to tell her that I like parties. But at the same time, I didn’t want to sadden her. Besides, her mane was reverting back to its original state, what’s the worse that could happen? “I love ‘em.” Well, that certainly was not a good idea, because the next thing that happened filled my vision with big, blue eyes. Surprised, I fell off my chair and landed flat on my back. She backed away and smiled widely, her mane now fully filled with its vibrant, hot pink color and smelled like cotton candy and other sweets. This mare knows her shampoo. She stood on all four hooves on my chest, slightly crushing me. “I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself before,” She began. She then started jumping on my belly, knocking out little breaths of mine with each hop. “But now we can be FRIENDS! My names Pinkie Pie, Gio, and let’s get started on that party of yours! We’ll call it, “Sorry-For-Calling-You-Mean-Names-And-Thinking-You-Were-A-Monster-But-Actually-Is-A-Nice-Human-Party!” I was pretty happy that Pinkie called me her friend, even if she was afraid of me. Gio...My older sister called me that name... I wanted to actually attend a party, especially a party thrown by Pinkie Pie herself, but in this world? Not a good idea, and I felt like shit breaking it down to her. I stopped her hopping by grabbing her sides, causing her to giggle. I lifted above my face, surprise at the sudden weight change. She smiled at me and I smiled back. “I’d love to have that party Pinkie, but for now, lets focus on the questions the others have to ask, OK?” She looked a little sad, which made me want to hug her with them big ol’ eyes, but she brightened up sooner than I thought she would. “OK!” She escaped my grasp and sat back down next to her friends. Again, don’t know how she does it, but I’m not complaining. Random-ness is best laughter. Chuckling, I got back up and sat on my chair. Last ones were Applejack and Fluttershy, and knowing how shy the yellow mare is, I’ll be going with Applejacks’ question. Coincidentally, she had her hoof raised up as soon as I sat back down. Nodding, I smiled at the cowpony and allowed her ask away. What she said caught me off guard completely. “How come when Ah bucked you, you fell to the ground almost on the verge of tears? Ah didn’t even hit that hard.” My smile changed to an open mouth, eyes widening at the mares question. Applejack, including her friends, all stared at me with curiosity. Even Fluttershy peaked out her mane a bit. Applejack raised a brow and furrowed the other. “Well?” My face got a little red. I knew these were ponies, but they were still girls damnit! Plus, they were too innocent for this, even if they are...wait, how old are they? “Um, well...” I started. I choked a bit, but I did say I would answer them. “What do stallions have that mares don’t?” They were all confused at the question, until Twilight, knowing the smart one she is, gasped deeply and turned a dark shade of red. She shook her head, not wanting to believe it, but sadly I nodded my head, feeling guilty that I planted that thought in her head. Applejack raised her brows at me, and turned to Twilight. “Twi, what’s goin’ on?” She asked. Twilight leaned into her friend's ear and whispered quietly. Then, Applejacks eyes widened and her face glowed bright red through all that orange fur, something I thought was impossible to do so until today. I nodded at her, my face feeling hotter passing each second. “Oh! A-Ah’m so sorry! Ah didn’t know Ah hit a stallion there!” Her face grew even redder, and so did mine. Twilight’s face grew hotter as well, while both Rainbow Dash and Pinkie fell over giggling knowing where I was hit. Even Rarity’s face glowed red, embarrassed that her friend hit me in my manhood. Fluttershy...Well I couldn’t tell because her mane was covering her face, but I did noticed one eye widened slightly, letting me know that she might have been red faced as well. I waved my hand and chuckled. “It’s OK, you didn’t know, none of you did. Besides, it was self defense, and I did say that you could hit me if you found me as a threat...I just didn’t think you would hit there...” After about a few more minutes of apologize and giggling, everypony calmed down and waited for the last one to ask a question: Fluttershy. But I did not want her to be uncomfortable so I decided to break the ice between her and I. I looked over at the other five and asked her what her name was, even though I already knew who she was. Nodding I kept my distance away from her, and began asking the question that would probably make her talk. “Fluttershy?” I began. In response, I heard a small “Eeep!” coming from her. Smiling, I brought out the big guns. “Do you like animals?” She peeks out of her mane and looks at me with them big, cute eyes. “Yes..” I hear her whisper. Keeping in mind, she still was not comfortable with me around, knowing I am really big and tall. Asking that question in her world, she would’ve brought you her animals, but here, not likely. Smiling at her, I looked next to the couch. Nino was right there, sleeping soundly. ‘Sorry Nino,’ I thought. ‘But I have to get Fluttershy smile, or at least leave her shell, I don’t want to scare her.’ I got up from my chair and walked over next to the couch. All the others stared at me, minus Fluttershy. “Nino, get up for me please?” I say, shaking his body. He starts to growl a bit, but gets up without a second thought. He shakes his tail at me and licks my face. “I love you too, bro.” Walking back to my chair, Nino followed me and stood right in front of me, staring at the mares. When he notices Fluttershy, his tail starts wagging rapidly, and I took that as a sign that Fluttershy already earned his trust. I poked Nino on his back. He turns around at me and I nod at him. “Fluttershy,” I began. “This is Nino, my pet-No. My friend.” I smile at Nino, and motioned for him to go to Fluttershy. He agrees completely, and walks over to the couch. Fluttershy, surprising me and even her friends, poked out of her mane and gasped slightly. She then grabbed Nino in a big hug and nuzzles him. In return, Nino licked her face, causing Fluttershy to giggle. “Who’s a good boy? You are, Nino!” She says. Noticing how high she hovered with Nino in her hooves, and how loud her voice became, she dropped back down, still holding Nino. She looked over at me and smiled warmly. “Um..Thank you, Giovanni.” “Hng! Don’t mention it,Fluttershy.” I said. I chuckled a bit, and soon so did the others. But then came the big question Pinkie said. And so did her stomach. She looked at me with big eyes, and my heart dropped as soon as I knew what she was going to say. “Do you have anything to eat, Gio?” > "Don't Leave The House." > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Don’t Leave The House.” Detroit, Michigan. 8 days before Halloween. 12:30 P.M. "Do you have anything to eat, Gio?" The question twirled around in my brain. I do have something to eat, but last time I checked, I only had eggs...and bacon. The worst part about it, is that I don’t even have enough eggs to feed six hungry mouths...Or I’m lucky, just Pinkie. “Actually, food does sound rather scrumptious right about now.” Rarity said. My eyes widened slightly. Maybe it’s just those two who are hungry, and nopony else. “To be honest, Ah’m kinda hungry too.” Applejack said. She licked her orange lips and looked over at Rainbow Dash. “How ‘bout you sugar cube?” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “I could go for a haywitch, or at least a glass of orange juice.” The cyan mare flew up from the couch, and landed next to her lavender friend. “Did we even eat anything before we were sucked in through the portal?” Portal. The word seemed to never leave me alone, even after Twilight mouthed out. I just sit here, on my chair, thinking about how in the hell I was suppose to feed five mouths. If there’s any luck for me, even just a sliver of it, Fluttershy couldn't seem to be hungry right about- “Um...I would like a salad, if there is any..” “Now.” I sighed. Outside, I gave a sad smile at the mares, who were pondering on what to eat, while on the inside, I was straight up losing my shit. How...How can a fourteen year old male and his dog, survive in a world infested with walking trash cans, AND feed six, hungry equine mouths? I started to run my fingers through my curly, black hair, breathing rapidly, darting my eyes around the room. Nino, who was on Fluttershy’s lap, or, left hind leg, stared at me, nodding his head. “Is something wrong, Giovanni?” Twilight’s voice snapped me out of my funk. I looked up at the grape colored mare, then at her bright fruit colored friends. Twilight was not that far away from me, about 3 feet, yet she still kept her distance. “Are you OK?” I sighed, OK? How am I suppose to be OK, when I have to feed six snouts? Including my dog, of course. “Yea, I’m fine Twilight Sparkle,” I say. I did not want to say her first name because I was not sure if only her friends called her that. So to be safe, better call them by their full name. “I’m just a little...stressed. No need to worry though, I’m OK as of now.” I faked a smile at her. She nodded turning back to her friends. I stand up from my chair, rubbing my hands together. I looked at all of their sweet, innocent faces. They can’t take on a zombie worth shit, and as a matter of fact, neither can I. Only when the adrenaline gets me pumping...and the fear for my life. I looked down at Nino, and I gave him a serious look. His ears perked up in curiosity at first, but then he nodded for what I was about to say. I turned around to the my old school T.V, pointing a finger at it. “Girls, this right here, is a T.V. It’s like a picture, except the pictures on the screen move.” All of them tilted their heads, which made me Daw for about five seconds. I opened one of the cupboards under the T.V and pulled out the slick, grey coated, blue buttoned remote. “This,” I said, pointing to the remote. “Allows me to watch these moving pictures, turn the volume up or down, and flip through channels.” Before one of them could ask a question, I turned on the T.V. It’s screen whent from black, to a flash of green and white, to a dark, navy blue, meaning the box to change the channels was not on. They all ooded as I turned on the box. Since the first day we got this box, I have recorded every possible kid show I could records, either for emergencies, or just because I didn’t felt like flipping through channels. Selecting what show they should watch, I smiled as I reached to my little sisters favorite show, Victorious. But my heart sank when I looked even lower. About ten shows down, was an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I regretted the idea of ever showing them the T.V, but then I realized that all the shows about MLP, were recordings of ICarly, Victorious, and for some reason but very thankful that it was there, two episodes of Drake and Josh. Man I loved that show. I click on Victorious, and shoved the remote in my pocket, turning around and smiling at the ponies. I made sure I turned the volume low, not wanting anything to hear the opening theme of the show. They were all still on the couch, but they tilted their heads at the opening. I explained a little about the show, who stars in it and what they did, and they seemed to understand. One thing's for sure though, as long as I have the remote, they won’t be able to watch themselves. Also, theres like, a lot of shows above M.L.P, so I’m good...Hopefully. I looked over next to the door, and there it was: My ax. On top of it was my white hoodie, and I noticed how it was stained with blood, thankfully not too much, on the sleeves. I sighed, thankful that the ponies did not noticed the... Oh shit. How am I going to explain to them about the ax? I slightly started to panic, but then I realized, they had wooden homes too,right? Which means that they would build wooden houses, and paper comes from trees, and pencils come from trees, and to cut down trees, you’ll need an ax! Yes, that’s it! I turned away from the T.V and grabbed my ax quickly, wrapping it around with my own hoodie. I was going to leave through the back of my house, but then a sudden thought hit me. The meat cleaver. I turned around to the table, were the bucket full of change was. There, stabbing the table with its sharp, steel blade, the cleaver shown in the fluorescent, cheap light. I walked over to it, carefully pulling it away so that the mane six would not hear the noise. Finally pulling it out, I holded the clever in front of my torso and the ax in my hoodie, wrapping them both in it so they would not notice it. I looked at the mane six, were were too busy staring at the screen, walking away, I hear Rarity making comments about their clothes, Applejack and Rainbow Dash making talking about a scrawny kid, Twilight asking questions frequently, Pinkie just being herself, and Fluttershy humming the soft tune of the shows’ intro. At times like this, you have to get creative. Very creative. I walked into the kitchen, made a quick left turn, and proceeded walking downstairs. _______ The lights were always on when I entered the basement. Always. Hell, even when I was little I would keep it on every night, just to make sure no scary monsters or large spiders would crawl from it. But as I grew older, I found out there is nothing to fear, but fear itself. And spiders. Fuck spiders. So growing a pair, I walked downstairs and turned on the lights from both the light bulb and the fluorescents. Looking around, I noticed various of objects that my family would usually have: A washing machine, hangers, dryer, sink, tools. Tools. Nails, hammers, hedge clippers, a sledgehammer, a measuring scale, screwdrivers, power drills, (which I have only used when boarding up the windows) and last but not least, two heavy fire extinguishers. But that’s not what I need, what I need are only three simple basic things: Nails, a hammer, and duct tape. The heavy duty, grey kind. Walking over to a little work bench where the lights shined above it, I unwrapped the axe from the from the hoodies grasp and placed it on the table vertically. Facing the blunt part of the blade to the right side, I placed the meat cleaver above the wooden stick that held the heavy metal of the blade. Carefully with one hand, I grabbed three large nails and one hammer, placing them next to the axe. I looked around some cupboards and there I found my savior. Duct tape. Unrolling some quickly, I placed three strips of it on top of the wooden handle of the cleaver, making sure it was sturdy enough for me to nail the three, large nails through. And damn, these nails were freakin’ huge. Grabbing the first nail and a nearby hammer, I carefully placed the large nail over the wooden grasp, and with one great BANG, slammed the nail into it’s wooden structure. Then I realized, the ponies might get curious and wonder what in the hell I am doing. “Fuck it.” I muttered. I quickly grabbed the second nail and BANG! It was stuck inside the handle. I stayed quiet, waiting to see oif the ponies heard anything. Nothing. The only sound they could hear was either their own breaths, Nino’s panting, or the T.V’s noise. Thank Nino, he panted loudly too. “Now for the last one.” I said. I grabbed the next nail, and with one swing of my hammer, I brought it down with all of my force, stabbing it through two, hard wooden handles. Satisfied, I gently pulled it into the air, waving it safely away from my face. Three, large metallic circles filled the cleavers handle, and only small, sharp points, ended behind the ax’s wooden grasp. But no, I wasn’t done yet, I needed to make sure that this would stay on, and luckily, I had duct tape. Wrapping the silver, tongue-like sticky substance around the cleavers handle, I stopped and thought for a minute. “What the hell should I name it?” I think outloud. It was a homemade weapon, but what should it be called? Then, another thought, no, more like a memory hit me harder than two sacks full of bricks. I quickly ran upstairs, trying to silent my footsteps on the way. I took one quick peek out of the kitchen, noticing that the mane six giggled a bit at Tori and her friends’ antics. I smiled, then quickly grimaced at the thought of how my sister liked that show...I miss her. Running up stairs, I barged into my room and looked around my flat screen. At first, I couldn’t find it, but after cursing a bit and actually paying attention to my surroundings, I had found it. It was a slick, onyx colored switch blade, with a black handle and red ghost like strips passing by it. In the middle of it, a white skull rested, mouth agape and teeth showing slightly. I smiled, remembering the first day I got it...It was a gift from my older sister. She brought it back with her from her trip in Chicago, bringing other sorts of toys and candy from Chinatown. I flipped open the blade, staring at it’s sharp, small jagged teeth and lastly, its steel, sharp pointed structure, able to stab something easily with one single thrust if aimed correctly. I brought the duct tape with me, knowing I would need it, and began wrapping the grey tape around both of the switchblade, and the bottom of the wooden handle. Laying the new, hand made(well, it was all ready hand made, I just put two and two together and then...you know, invented it)weapon on my bed, I needed to give it a name, what should I call it? Skullcrusher? Neck slicer? Meatshop Massi(cre)? The possibilities were endless. Then it hit me harder than...you know what? It didn't hit me harder than Applejack’s buck to my nuts, fuck that. I lifted the weapon in front of me, giving it a large, uppercut swing that almost touched the ceiling. I didn’t feel any rattling, or any of the tape coming off, just the sound of wind being sliced. Then, I pretended to stab the air with the switchblade tapped to the bottom of the ax. If felt light, agile, and easy to use actually. I smiled realizing what I was going to call it. “SwitchAxe Cleaver.” I smiled, liking the sound of the name. “Or S.A.C, for short.” I left and turned off the lights from my room, heading my way downstairs. _________ After coming back from the second floor and coming back from the basement to retrieve my white hoodie, I hesitated before entering the living room. Not wanting to cause any attention, I left my S.A.C on the kitchen table and walked into the room. The girls no longer seemed to enjoy the show, as I noticed Applejack and Rainbow Dash hoof-wrestling, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy playing with Nino, and Rarity and Twilight Sparkle discussing something I didn’t seem to actually feel like eavesdropping about. I smiled at them. Damn these ponies, even when I don’t have anybody to turn to, they still make me happy, even if they don’t mean to. With a lump in my throat, I covered my eyes with my hood, calling them out. “Girls.” They did not respond. “Um..Mares?” There eyes all darted towards me, even my dog. As soon as he saw the look on my face, He knew what I was about to say. “I need to go outside to get some food for all of you real quick. Is that OK with all of you?” They all looked at each other, Applejack shrugged, Rarity seemed to not really care, Fluttershy stayed quiet, and Twilight...well she asked what everypony was thinking. “Why can’t we go with you?” Choked. I tried to speak, but I...I just couldn’t. I was choking as I tried to find an excuse, a good one too, but sadly, I couldn’t find any. I swallowed the lump in my neck and stepped back. I didn’t say anything, I just covered my face with my hood. “Hey! She asked you a question bub! And last time I heard, you said you would answer all of our questions.” Rainbow Dash shouted. “Damn it.” I muttered. I clenched my teeth tightly. I couldn’t just back away from this, I did say I would answer all their questions. But for now, I had to ignore this one, so I only gave her a simple answer. “All I have to say, is that outside, it’s...not so friendly. I’ll...tell you more about it when I come back with food, OK Rainbow Dash?” With that, I walked towards the kitchen, but not without Rainbow pondering me again. “What do you mean “not so friendly?” Is there something you're not telling us?” She said. Damn it. She caught me again. To make matters worse, I’m also housing the Element of Honesty, and she can see a damn lie from a freakin’ mile away. I was at a lost for words. The thought of them seeing those things horrified me. Eventually, I had tears sweeling up in my eyes. What the hell would Celestia and Luna do if there precious ponies are hurt? Would they put me in a cell? Kill me? …Turn me into stone? No. No, I won’t let that happen. I will not let anyone, anything, or even anypony come between me and their safety. There lives depend on me until Twilight finds away to get back home, and then she could live happily with her friends. Yea... I want that to happen. Fuck my fears. It’s just like what Tallahassee said from the movie, “Zombieland”. Time to nut up, or shut up. I turned around at the six, my eyes watery from small tears seeping out. I swallowed whatever fear I had left of these ponies getting hurt. I am not going to let that happen. I took a deep breath, and stared at them all. “Out there, there are things. You do not want to encounter them. They are not as friendly as me, so until I come back from the outside.., Don’t leave the house.” “When I come back, expect to hear three knocks, like this.” I demonstrated by knocking on my wall. I turned away from the ponies, grabbing the S.A.C blade from the table and hiding it above my chest and under my hoodie, making sure they did not see it. As I opened the lock to the back door, I could hear little pawsteps. I turn around to see Nino nodding at me, but I only shook my head. “Stay with them, Nino. Keep them company while I’m gone.” As I turn around and open the door, I could hear Nino whimper. It was time for him to nut up or shut up too. Without looking back, I began to speak. “If you leave this house...Fluttershy will be in danger too.” I heard no more whimpering, in stead, I heard a loud growl. I smiled at my dog. It seems he cares about Fluttershy more than anypony else. I close the door behind me, locking it from the outside. and began walking towards my front porch. I just realized that I had nowhere else to look. My store I use to go to was empty, my family is no where, and I have know Idea where I should go. Unless... Yes...there is a possibility that he is still alive. He was a cook back than, so he must know how to handle these zombies without getting himself injured, using his knifes as well. But could he still be alive? Or did the military come for him too? There was only one way to find out. And he only lived 35 minutes away from my house. I took out my phone and check the time. It read 1:20. Time must have passed by while I was building this contraption in my hands. I gripped it tightly, feeling the cold wind blow on my soft skin, my hood covering my eyes and my glasses pushed back so that I could see. I stepped in the middle of the road, walking down the concrete path. It was time to see him again, like I always had too ever since they separated. It was time to visit my dad. A/N: My fellow readers... Prepare for some zombie action next chapter. Shit is about to go down. -Your brony rapper, Gordo > Road Runner. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Road Runner. Detroit, Michigan. 8 days until Halloween. 1:30 P.M. Ten minutes. Ten minutes have gone by and not a single zombie was met. I walked past the battered church, ignoring the cross that sent shivers down my spine whenever I think about it and the world I was forced to survive in. But, even I ask myself sometimes, is there any hope? Will I ever find refugee, food, shelter, clothes, survivors? Clothes and Shelter, for now, are the two most important I have with me right now to live my days as a survivor. Food is what I am in dire need of finding, not only to feed myself, but also to feed Nino and the mane six. That brave act I pulled back there...Bullshit. Bullshit and I knew it. How the fuck am I suppose to survive this shit? I’m not physically fit, I have no medical supplies other than threads and needles upstairs in my ma’s dresser, and the only weapon I have as of now is my SwitchAxe Cleaver. But their look on their sweet, colorful faces told me that they were too innocent for this type of conflict. Shit, the only conflict I saw between the six and their lives, is dealing with arguing, competition, self conflict which means you’re fighting with your own emotions and mind and such, family matters, and fighting with friends. Their too small to handle this shit, and I’m possibly the only one that can handle these zombies. At least, until I find my dad, he might have some fruit and vegetables at his apartment. That is...If, he is alive. I shudder at the thought, “No, he IS alive. Don’t talk about this kind of shit Giovanni, just get to his apartment, ask him for food, and then you’ll be on your way. Shit, he might even give you his car...-” I stop for two reasons. One, I realized how fucking stupid I was for not remembering my family car that was parked just three houses down from my house. It was a big car, a silver-grey Suburban that went pretty far for a big truck. I looked around where I stopped walking, and realized I had walked farther than I thought. I was in front of the local gas station that was just a street down from my fathers apartment. Across the street from the gas station, was a car repair shop, I didn’t know the name, but all I know is that it’s a car repair shop, and last time I remembered, car repair shops carried tools that can...well, fix cars. I kept that in mind, thinking it could be useful to me in the future. Down the road, it was completely empty, saved for a few cars that were parked randomly in some areas, and as I squinted closely, I could see that a car crashed into a house. The gas station had only two cars parked near the gas pumps, one was hanging while the other was still gripped by a man’s hand. No body...just a hand. Inside the gas station, lights flickered as I looked through the broken glass doors that use to ‘barricade’ the gas station. The second reason I stopped...Well, let’s just say I got an unfriendly welcome. ________ After Giovanni left the house, the six colorful ponies each raised questions of their own after he made his statement loud and clear. “The the hay did he mean by there are things out there less friendlier him?” Rainbow asked. She was frowning at the back door that the human walked through. She herself did not like to be cramped up in a building, house, or even any type of structure that can keep her inside. Rainbow needed to stretch out her wings, she needed to some wind in her face, just like in Ponyville. Still, she had to admit, for her size, the house was pretty big to do some laps inside of it. “I need to stretch out my wings, it’s getting too cramped up in here!” Applejack also nodded her head, agreeing with her blue, wing feathered friend. “Ah gotta agree with Rainbow on this one. There’s somethin’ he’s not telling us, somethin’ he’s trying to hide.” Being the Element of Honesty, Applejack knew Giovanni was hiding something, something that he does not want the ponies to know about...Not now, at least. “You could see it in his eyes, the way he was tryin’ to cover up somethin’ stirred me up mighty fierce if you ask me. And ya’ll know how much I don’t approve of lying.” Rarity flipped her mane. “I could use a bit of sunlight, these ones up here don’t seem to be helping me with my coat and all.” The Element of Generosity did not like to miss out on anything that involves fashion, even if it has to deal with another species that is not of her own. But she had to admit, if this colt was lying, then why did he not try to hurt them, even before he made the Pinkie Promise? Matter of fact, why did he not eat them? He was big enough to devour them whole, so it seemed. “Though I do wonder, Applejack, do you think he’ll be back anytime soon? I am feeling quite a little bit famished.” “I don’t think he’s lying, Applejack.” Pinkie Pie said, trotting next to her orange friend. “If he was, I actually would have known too. He did make a Pinkie Promise, and everpony knows I don’t like it when somepony breaks one.” Pinkie had a little frown on her face, but it reverted back to her smiling, joyful face.”Besides, he’s going to bring us food! Can you believe that? He just met us and he already treats us like he’s known us for a really long time!” Something about that made Twilight flinch. She decided to trot up to her friends, all but Fluttershy was in the circle.”That’s the thing that makes me wonder Pinkie.” She said. Noticing the raised eyebrows of her friends, she decided to explain herself. “Think about it, when we first met Giovanni, we were afraid of him. I bet some of us still are, right?” Both Rainbow and Applejack hated it when being proved wrong. Giovanni was a lot bigger, taller and possibly even stronger than they are. But they both kept this thought to themselves, not wanting to seem that they were not afraid of the giant, light brown skinned human. “It’s OK, I’m scared too.” Twilight said, trying to comfort her friends as she saw them put a small scowl on their faces. “But like I was saying, when were were scared when we first met him, how come he didn’t seem scared when he saw us? Surely he would feel the same fear we felt, meeting a whole new different species, right?” One by one, her friends nodded, though Pinkie also had a voice. “But he’s treating us so nicely, he even let Rainbow hit him to prove that he wasn’t a threat! Except...Applejack hit him where it hurts. The most, actually.” A bit embarrassed, Applejack decided to speak up. “Ya might be right Pinkie, but even then, He’s hiding things, and I want to find out. Come on, let’s go find that human.” As they begin to walk towards the back door, Twilight suddenly remembered about Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, lets go, we’re going to find Giovanni and get some straight answers from him.” But Fluttershy did not move, it appeared that she seemed to be lost in thought, petting Nino’s head while he slept on the couch. Fear. she saw that in Giovanni’s eyes. She saw pain, sadness, grief, and fear. Though Fluttershy was quite scared of the human whenever he spoke, walked, or even stood up, she saw in his eyes, that he was as scared as Fluttershy is right now. When he turned away from the them, Fluttershy noticed that he hesitated after stepping outside into the cold wind. He was scared of going outside, yet he still went even after he was frightened. Kindness. That is was she saw when Giovanni said that he was going to bring food. That is what she saw when he treated them with hospitality and that is what she saw when he presented Nino to her. She even saw kindness when he was bucked in his “area” when he said he refused to hurt them. Turning around, she stared at her friends, who were all waiting for her. “I don’t think we she leave the house.” She said, just a bit above of a whisper. “He...he said that there were things more scarier than him...And I believe it.” Pinkie, nodded, agreeing with her shy friend and hopped over to her. She smiled at her, and Fluttershy returned the gesture. “I agree with Fluttershy! He doesn’t want to hurt us, he Pinkie Promised for petes sake!” Mouth agape, Rainbow flew over to her friend.”But Fluttershy, he’s like, ten times bigger than us! Aren’t you scared of him?” Flutter shy slowly nodded. “I-Am. But when Applejack said she saw lying in his eyes, all I saw was fear...And Kindness.” Noticing the raised brow on her friend, Fluttershy explained more. “He even went outside to go get us some food, and you know what? I saw that he was scared of going outside. I think...I think he’s trying to protect us from something.” Her friends have never seen her like this, Fluttershy, was defending a creature bigger, and scarier looking! Fluttershy! She is defending the human! Soon, Rarity and Twilight joined their shy friend by the couch. At that was left was Applejack and Rainbow. They both looked at eachother, then sighed in defeat. “Fine.” Rainbow said. “We’ll wait for the colt.” “But when he comes back, Rainbow and Ah are gonna talk to him. I don’t like liars, and he’s lyin’ ‘bout somethin’!” Applejack said. The two then trotted over the the couch, sitting down. “So, what do we do now?” Rarity said. The others looked at Pinkie, and she shrugged. “Lets watch the rest of this show, it’s pretty funny and entertaining.” With that, they agreed with Pinkie and resumed watching Victorious, giggling at puppet making fun of its owner. __________ Ten zombies. Ten zombies was all it took for me to almost shit my pants. Ten of them, five on my left side, two in my right side, three in front of me. I clenched the S.A.C in my hands, backing away slowly. These were slow ones, walkers, to be specific. By the look on their faces, bodies, and even just how they walked, these ten were already decaying since the the beginning of when Michigan became overruned with the dead. If I ran now, they wouldn’t be able to catch up, they would just waste their time on catching me, that they could probably just fall apart by the time I got to the end of the road. No. I have to stay and fight. I said that I would kill these things to protect the mane six, and that’s the shit that I have to fucking do if I want them to survive. I made up my mind. I’m going to walk up to one of those flesh eaters, and shove my S.A.C in their mouths. Ha! The first three were on my right side, so going by the numbers, I’m going to go with them. Besides, they were slower, and rotting even more, making them enable to run, just walk and limp. I approached the middle of the three, and clenched my ax. It moaned for food, but I wasn’t going to let this thing eat me, Nino, the ponies, or my dad. I swallowed whatever nervousness I had left and brought up my S.A.C. “Die.” I muttered. As hard as I could, I brought down the ax blade on top of its rotting head, hearing a squish and its skull crack. It moaned in pain, but instantly died as soon as it fell to its knees. I brought out the blade from it’s blood gushing skull, leaving the rotting carcass to collapse on the concrete ground. The second zombie tried to swing at me, but I ducked under its arm, flipped the SwitchAxe upside down, and brought the small, black blade up to the bottom of its chin. The blade pierced it, but it did not kill it, only because it was under its chin and not at it’s head. With a swift kick, sent it down crashing onto the street road, hearing blood rush out of its chest in the process. With a heavy stomp, I brought down my foot on the things chest, hearing bones break ever so easily. Pulling out the blade from it’s chin, I quickly brought it down to it’s forehead, killing it in a matter of three seconds. Pulling out the S.A.C, I flipped it over to the meat cleaver side, swinging it to my right as it killed the last of the three. It’s head rolled off in a comedic way, landing in front of my feet. I kicked the head away from me, disgusted by that zombies look it gave me. I think it was going to say “Fuck you, kid” even though all it could do was moan. Turning around, two zombies came up from behind me, one of the was close to actually biting me from the shoulder. Like a thinker, I dropped down to me stomach and rolled away from the two, quickly standing back up before any of the other five zombies could attack. They all started to form a half circle, trying to get at me at once. “Fuck this shit.” I muttered. Then, one zombie lunged at me, head bouncing and neck snapping as it came. I swung the cleaver blade in an uppercut motion, tearing off the head from the spinal cord. The body fell the the ground, blocking two zombies that tripped. “That’s four..” I muttered. The head was starting to slide off of the blade, but I swung it, making the severed head collide with another zombie's head. I heard a crack, so that must have meant that the zombie’s head must have cracked and died, colliding with the severed one. Wasn’t taking any chances, so I quickly killed the other two that were in front of me and made my way towards the one on the ground. “That’s six.” I brought down the cleaver on its head head, bursting it open, causing skull to crack open as I pulled out the blade, making it drip blood and chunks of rotting, bloody flesh. “That’s seven.” The other two were...fighting each other? I couldn’t believe it, two zombies were fighting each other. Well, technically they were just swinging and moaning, but they were still fighting about something. Looking down at their feet, I saw a dead squirrel, body parts out all over the road. I facepalmed at their stupidity, but raised a brow at how they were attacking each other. “So, even they fight for food...In a way, it looks like history is repeating itself.” I say. They still fought, so quickly, I brought down the axe on the first one, and swung the cleaver at the other, killing it instantly. “That’s nine. Now, where’s the last-” I looked up, my eyes widening in shock. There, the last zombie was standing, but he wasn’t alone. The motherfucker brought friends. They all began to limp towards me, some even walking a bit quick, so what did I do? I hauled my ass, that’s what I did. Turning around, I groaned angrily at how far my dad’s apartment was. Yea, it was down the street, but the street was like, Half a mile, and knowing me and my legs, we wern’t going to last long. Taking one last look behind me, I noticed the crowd doubled in size, at least now it was at thirty zombies at the most. “....Nope!” I panicked. Gripping my cleaver, I began running down the road, trying to avoid any fallen street lights and jumping over dead bodies. I was only up to my school, and stopped for a breather. “Son..huff...huff...of a bitch...” I took a deep breath, and began to walk for a head start, but as I turned my head to the left, I nearly fell on my ass in fear, Behind the black, metal gate, was not only teachers, but students as well, all of them turned into those...Things. I couldn’t breath, I could only smell the scent of their rotting bodies filling my nostrils, as I struggle to get up. “AYUDAN ME! AYUDAN ME!!” (HELP ME, HELP ME!!) I got back up on my feet, clenching my weapon on my hands. A small male, most likely a freshman like me, ran up to the gate, trying to dodge the swings of the zombie seniors, sophomores, juniors, and fellow Freshman. he ran up to the gate, shaking it furiously, attracting some zombies behind him. “AYUDAN ME! AY MAS GENTE AQUI! AYUDEN NOS!” (HELP ME! THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE HERE! HELP US!) “CALMETE! QUIEN MAS AY AQUI!?”(CALM DOWN! WHO ELSE IS HERE?!) I said. I recognize this kid. He was a spanish speaker, only speaks Spanish and little English. The look in his eyes told me he was scared for his life I wanted to help...But I couldn't. “DOS PERSONAS MAS! ESTÁN EN EL CLASSA DE GIMNASIO, NO TENEMOS COMEDIA, NOMAS PURA AGUA-” (TWO PEOPLE, THE'RE IN THE GYMNASIUM, WE HAVE NO MORE FOOD, ONLY WATER-) *SCREAMS* He...He couldn't finish. A zombie came up from behind him and started to eat his neck. Soon, four more came, ripping away at his skin and meat, blood gushing with each bite. He just kept screaming. There was nothing I could do...I...I- “RAAAAAGGHHH!!!!” Turning around, I almost screamed at how the zombie crowd I was running away from caught up so quickly. They were only limping and walking, how the fuck did they get here so fast!? One last look at the freshman, his body was just a blood stain with bones poking out of his chest on the pavement. I began to run away, running with all my speed as fast as I could. For now, those two people had to survive alone... _____ “I’m here.” The apartment was boarded up, but the door was fully open, hell, it was even broken. I walked inside, ignoring the other rooms that were next to me, and started to walk up stairs. I’m only here for my dad, food, and that’s it. His room was on the second floor, the lights flickered as I walked slowly upstairs. One door on my left side, and one door on my right. My dad’s was on the left, so I walked over there, until something caught my eye. Inside the right room, there laid a dead body. Walking over to it, I flipped it over on it’s stomach. I sighed in relief, thankful it was not my father. I almost threw up at what I saw. There, a little girl clutching her small, teddie bear in her arms, had a bullet wound through her head. She was neither a zombie, not was bitten. She just had a bullet to her forehead. I backed away, my back leaning against the open door. I through up this time, disgusted about the fact that I saw a little girl, lay there dead. CLICK I looked up from my earlier position, and my eyes widen in surprise, then fear. Standing in the living room holding a gun, was a man dressed in baggy clothes and wearing a beanie hat. He was placing a hand over his side, blood leaking through the holes of his fingers. I fell on my ass, he pointed the metallic object at my head. “Give me your money. All of it.” Shit. This guy is mugging me, in a fucking zombie apocalypse, he’s bleeding badly, and he wants my money. I couldn’t speak, so he pressed the gun on my forehead. He had a crazed look in his eyes, and I couldn’t use my SwitchAxe, it would take too long for me to lift it, and he could just pull the trigger easily. “Give me your fucking money.” He said. He pressed the gun farther, and I could only breath heavily. He growled, pressing the gun further. I closed my eyes, hoping he would just leave me alone. “GIVE ME THE FUCKING MONEY!” *CLICK* *CREAK* *SHING* *SQUISH* *THUMP* “Abrete los ojos, Giovanni.” Slowly, I opened my eyes, gasping at the man who had his gun pressed against my forehead, was lying on the ground, with a rather large blade sticking out of his head. I turned my head over to the right, eyes widening at the a figure that had a black mask over his head. That voice...I.. know that voice. “P-Pa?” The man took of the black mask, revealing a five o’clock shadow, his aged face and curly hair. He had a smile on his face as he took looked at me. I smiled back, almost on the verge of tears as he leaned in and gave me a bear hug. “I missed you, Giovanni.” A/N: GASP! A cliffhanger? Aren't I a bitch? xD. Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, hopefully the next will come out this weekend, until then, enjoy the thought of zombie slaying, my bro’s. Peace! > Father and Son United. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Father and Son United. Detroit, Michigan. 8 days until Halloween. 2:25 P.M. He's alive. Here I am, standing outside my fathers door, hugging him. I had no words, I only hugged him tighter as the memories we had came rushing inside my head all at once. I had tears in my eyes as he hugged me tighter and inhaled. "I missed you pa," I said to him as we release the hug. "I...I haven't seen you in a month, pa. I'm so, so sorry I didn't come earlier." "Shhh..." My dad said as he pats me on the back. "It's OK Gio, it's OK. Come." He ushers me into his apartment room, leaving me standing in the door way as he walks to the limp body on the ground. The knife he used to stab the thug through the temple, it was a machete. Though, this machetes' metal sides were burnt, and the handle was wrapped in some black tape. By my guess, he made it in his second job. They made car parts using really hot metal, making it easy and gooy enough to mold the liquid into anything you want. He pulls out the machete, making the blood squirt out from the deep gash. With the machete in his left hand, he picks up the gun from the dead mans' grasp and places it in his pocket. I caught a small glimpse of the gun, and all I saw was a skinny, long barrel, most likely a revolver. Then he picks up my homemade weapon, the SwitchAxe Cleaver, raising a brow. "You made this?" He asks. I nod, and he does the not bad face. "Good job. Now come on, lets go inside." Now fully entering the room, I notice that his electricity is out, and he only had candles on the floor in each corner, lighting up the whole living room and center room. It makes me stop and wonder if any other houses in the state of Michigan had electricity, none, or only a limited amount. I hear the door close and see my dad placing his machete in a brown, leather sash. He puts my S.A.C on his couch. I looked at him, noticing that all he was wearing is a black, long-sleeved sweater, torn blue denim jeans and the original, black Chuck Taylors. He had short curly hair, unlike my bush of a hairstyle, and had a five o'clock shadow. He smiled at me, wrapping me into another hug. "You hungry?" "Yea, a little bit." I said. My stomach growled in response as my dad chuckled. 'Remember, you have to bring food to the ponies and Nino.' My brain told me. 'You can't just leave them there to starve.' 'I know, I know." I respond. 'But how am I suppose to tell him? You expect for him to just hand over all of the food I need, wave good bye to him and expect everything will be OK?' '....Yea pretty much.' My dad starts walking towards the kitchen as I follow behind him. Entering the kitchen, I let my eyes wonder around while my dad walks over to the fridge. The floors, counter, sink, fridge, and the cupboards, were a dirty but not to dirty white, while the table and chairs were a light brown. I walk over to the cupboards and opened them, embracing me with four cereal boxes and a few cups. "Frosted Flakes, Coco Pebbles, Fruity Loops and Reecess Puffs, with dat Peanut Butta Chocolate Flavor. Is this all you have, pa?" I asked, worried that there would not be enough for him, Nino, the ponies and I. I turned around to the fridge, mouth gaping as I see my father opening the fridge door. There was still some electricity in his house, but it looked like only the fridge and maybe other rooms have power. The fridge was stocked with two gallons of milk, four juice cartons, bread and vegetables, cheese, eggs, whipped crim, and- "Do you wants some chicken fillet, Gio?" My dad asked. I stared him, shocked. How the hell did he get so mutch food during a zombie apocalypse?! I approached the fridge and grasped the cooked chicken in my hand. "Pa, how and where did you get all of this food?!" He pondered for a minute. "I took my little car to Wall-Mart when there was barely any zombies. I wasn't the only one there, a lot of people soon came and started fighting for food, water, electronics and other things." He took the cooked chicken from me and placed it in the microwave for two minutes. "Oh. Okay." I said, grabbing a chair and sitting down. He grabbed a chair too and sat across from me. "So...Who was that guy that tried to kill me?" He shrugged. "I don't know, Gio. He came into my home, trying to rob me with this gun." He pulled out the revolver, showing it to me. "But he didn't have that many bullets...Only fired one and he missed, so I took the machete I hid behind my back and swung it at him. It only slashed his side, but the cut bled enough that he ran out the room." He put the gun back in his pocket. "So, did you come by your self or did you your ma and sisters and brother followed?" He...He didn't know? But, but how can he not no, didn't the SWAT team come for him? "Pa...The government took them somewhere safe...I've been living by myself for a month." My dads face use to have an understanding look, but then it quickly changed into one of sadness. "But...Didn't you go?" He asked with a slight crack in his voice. I shook my head. "My daughters. My son, their mother...There gone." His eyes got red as soon as the impact of not being able to see them hit him. He used his hands to whipe away any tears that began to form in his eyes. He sighed deeply, got up from his chair and hugged me. I hugged him back, feeling the same pain he was. The microwave rang, and he let go and placed the plate of chicken fillet in front of me. "As long as we have each other, Gio, nothing will separate us. Nothing." He said smiling. I smiled back and began to eat my food as he sat back down. 'The ponies, remember? Just say their humans, that'll help.' I sighed and swallowed the chunk of meat I was eating. "Pa?" "Yes?" I hesitated, but continued. "At the house, I have six people I took in. I...We need some food, Pa. Do you think you can help?" I waited patiently for my dads response as he stared at his hands. "...N-" *CRASH* "RAAAUUGGGHH!!!" I turned around cursing under my breath. Four zombies tore down the door, trudging inside the living room. My dad all ready sprang into action, pulling out the machete and handing me the gun. "USE THE WOODEN HANDLE! BREAK THEIR SKULLS!" He shouted. Before I could respond, he ran up to one zombie and hacked the large blade into it's skull. He kicked one other and sented it crashing down into the other. A zombie tried to come up from behind him, but I quickly ran up to it and pistol-whipped his skull, sending him onto the couch. "GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY DAD!" I shouted. I put the gun in my pocket, grabbed my S.A.C, and rammed the bottom blade into it's skull. Pulling it out, I realized that my dad was about to say no, so what I did next made me feel like shit for stealing. I ran into the kitchen and searched the cupboards, eventually finding one of those big Glad bags. I took two from the carton and opened them both up, placing one of them inside the other. I started raiding the fridge, throwing all the carton of juice and the two gallons of milk first into the bag. Then, I through all the vegetables, like tomato, lettuce, lime, celery, into the bag, along with apples, oranges and bananas. Then, I through the loafs of bread and lastly, I placed the eggs on top. Test lifting the bag over my shoulder, I could carry it for a while, which will just give me enough time to run back home. Puting it down, I ran back to my dad, helping him kill the last zombie. "Gio, we need to leave the apartment, go through the back door and run downstairs!" He said, shoving the machete into a zombies' head. "I'll buy you some time, leave!" He lifts up the door and shoves it into three zombies, grunting after he threw it. I can't leave my pa like this. I just can't. "Pa, I'm not going to -" "LEAVE!" "DAMN IT PA, FINE!" I run back into the kitchen and open up the door, feeling a wave of cold air as the wind blew. I was about to run, until I noticed two, blue color bottled, glass bottles. Out of curiosity, I took both of them and placed them in the bag. I lifted it over my shoulder with a heavy grunt and turned to look at my dad. He was fighting off two zombies, backing away each swing. "RUN THROUGH THE ALLEY, GIOVANNI!" He shouted, backing away towards the door. "I'll BE RIGHT THERE! JUST GO!" I wasted no time, I sighed, looking at my dads' back. I nodded, and started running down the wooden stairs and onto the cement ground. I looked around desperately, stopping my eyes at a wooden gate. I ran to it and kicked it open with my force. I ran out of the backyard, my eyes widened as I turned my head to the left. It looked like a rotting parade. Zombies filled the street, trudging, limping and crawling. I backed away slowly, turning around to see yet another street filled with zombies. "The alley, Gio!" I Jumped, my mouth covered by a large palm. I turned around, seeing my dad put a finger to his lips. I silently nod, walking to the alley that is near to the zombie infested street. My dad follows behind me, keeping the machete out incase of an ambush. Knowing the short cuts of our streets, it'll probably take us only thirty minutes if we walk. I know it'll be quicker if we ran, but that will cause too much attention. As we walk down the ally, my dad begins to speak. "Gio?" "Yea pa?" "What's in the bag?" ....God damn it. > Fatherly Love Never Dies > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fatherly Love Never Dies. Detroit, Michigan. 8 days until Halloween. 3:15 P.M. Time passes by quickly when you're running for your life. After escaping the house, my dad and I walked quietly through the ally, then running after checking if the close was clear. If we walked, we would attract less zombies because of our steps being so quiet, but we would aslo take longer. My house was about thirty minutes away from my dads' apartment, and if we stayed at this slow paste, we would get there in about a full hour, and we don't got time for a full hour. But if we run, we'll make it to the house in fifteen to twenty minutes. We will attract more zombies, but because they could only walk fast and walk, we could easily out run them. Leaving the alley, my father and I decide that it would be a wiser decision if we did a little bit of both:When the streets are empty, we run, and if we see zombies, we walk quietly. We run over towards a house and duck for cover behind a car, both of us look over and see nothing. Ducking back behind car, my dad pulls out his flip phone, still gripping the machete in his left hand and keeping the sheath strapped around his shoulder. "3:15." He sighs, shoving the phone back into his pocket. He looks over the car then back at me. "Go, I got your back." He tightly grips his machete and nods. "All right." I said, lifting the SwitchAxe over my left shoulder and lifting the bag over my right. Looking down the street, I realized that this street leads down to my job, and last time I remembered, my job is not that far from my house. Just make a left turn, then a right, go straight and I'll reach the alley behind the church. "One...two...three!" I break into a full sprint, keeping my balance so I wouldn't trip and spill the bag full of food all over the ground. I run over behind a house, checking the right side of the street for any zombies. When I saw none, I waved my SwitchAxe in the air, signaling him that it was safe. He too checked both ends of the street, then ran over towards me. When he reaches me, he starts gripping his left arm. "So, are we going to your house?" I point my finger down the street. "Yea pa. My job is just down this street, and if we keep running towards it, we can make a left to the church. We'll be there in five minutes down this street towards my job, and make it home in ten minutes if we keep on running." He nods, readying his machete. I look down the street, gulping as I see only five zombies walking around aimlessly. "On the count of three, we run past those zombies. Fight back only if they are attacking us, OK pa?" "Si, Gio." He agrees, and then walks closer to me. "Gio, let me hold the bag for you, that weapon of yours is going to need two arms if you want to swing properly." He smiles at me, but then winces in pain, looking down at his left arm, his fist clenched tightly. I start to worry for my dad, but I nod and hand him the bag. He stops clenching his fist and lifts the bag over his shoulder. He smiles. "Ready?" I smile at him back. "Ready." We look down the street, the five zombies were now ten, still walking around. "On the count of three." "One...two...three!" My father runs first as I follow be hind him, lifting the S.A.C at my side as my dad does the same with his machete. The zombies turn to us, limping and walking, swinging their arms as they moan. My dad ducks one zombies' swing and he turns back around, bringing down the machete on it's head. Blood squirts out when he pulls out the blade and kicks the zombie into another. I follow up, swinging the cleaver down on its neck and cutting of the head of the one that was knocked down. I hear a moan, and I flip the axe into the zombie behind me. The axe blade was stuck in the zombies' left side, so I pulled it out, flipped it upside down and shoved the small, black blade into its skull. Right between the eyes. I kick it off, turning around to see my dad dealing with two. He shoves the machete into the left ones' eye, then kicked the one on the right while pulling off the machete from the instantly killed zombie. He hacked the machete onto its skull, blood squirting and cracking it. As he pulls out the machete, a zombie walks up be hind him, arms raised. "Hell no!" I said. I lifted up my S.A.C and threw it as hard as I could at its body. The force of the S.A.C stabbing into its side knocked him down, giving my dad just enough time to slice a zombies neck above him. I ran over to the zombie on the floor and kicked it right in the face as it sat up, making sure that I didn't shove my foot in its mouth. I pulled out my weapon from its bleeding side and stabbed its skull with the blade on the bottom, grunting as I pulled it out. "FUCK YOU, ZOM-BITCH!" I said, kicking its lifeless body. I turn around and swing the axe blade at a moaning zombie that tried to sneak up on me. I pulled out the blade again, and kicked it onto the ground. My dad then came up to it, cutting its neck. Its head rolled off into two more zombies. I was about to kill them, but my dad hold me back. "No, Gio!" He said. "Leave them, we don't have time for them, look!" I turn around, my eyes widen in horror as I see the undead catching up to us. Luckily, it was only a small crowd, but I can tell from my dads heavy breathing that we weren't going to make it if we stay and fight. I look over to him, and mutter: "Pa?" "Si?" The zombies then start to walk a little faster as we just stood there. "RUN!!!" The six ponies, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash all grew bored of watching the telivision, and decided that it would be better if they explored around the humans house while he was away. Pinkie turned off the T.V and hopped upstairs to where her friends were. As she reached the second floor, she notices her friends standing in the hallway. She hops over to them, smiling. "What's going here?" She said, raising a brow. Her friends did not respond as, they were all looking up at a wall. Pinkie looked up at the wall, wondering why her friends were looking at a boring old wall. But what was on the boring, brown wall, was a picture. It was small, but big enough far all to see. In the picture, were six humans, one of them looked familiar. "Who do ya think they are, Twi?" Applejack said, looking at her friend, "Do ya think that they just might be some more of these "Humans"?" Applejack stares deeper at the picture, wondering who these humans could be. "Well, they appear to have the same skin color, and they are on their legs," Twilight Sparkle said, squinting her eyes at the picture. "But why is Giovanni standing with these other humans?" "Maybe they are friends of his?" Rarity suggested. "Or possibly co workers?" "But look at the taller one," Rainbow Dash points out. "Giovanni and him look almost the same!" Both Giovanni and the other human did have some same facial features, which rose a question from the quiet mare herself. "Could...Could they some how be..?" "Related? Sure looks like it." Pinkie said, finishing the question for Fluttershy. All mares did not know which to pick, but wether it be coworker, friends, or what ever, they all decided it would be better if they let Giovanni answer their question, so they all went back downstairs and waited patiently. "Hurry up and come back!" "Hush Rainbow, he will come back soon." Well... Almost all of them wait patiently. "Don't stop running! We're almost there!" We were running as fast as we could, jumping over crawlers and ducking under swings of zombie arm. We had just reached the alley that leads behind the church, and we ran even quicker when we saw more of them. "God...huff, huff,....Dammit, those fuckers don't stop." I said, leaning against the fence that guarded the church. My father and I didn't stop running until we reached the church. Both he and I were tired and luckily, they didn't follow us anymore. We were stopping for a breather, trying to collect our stamina. Then, my dad started coughing, so I walked over to him. "Pa? You OK?" "Don't worry about me, Gio." He said, trying to silence his coughing. "Can you... hold my machete real quick? And the back? i need to check my arm." I nodded, leaning my SwitchAxe against the fence and puutting the machete into its sheath and wrapping it over my left shoulder. I grabbed the bag and settled it down carefully, not wanting to tear it open. RIIIIP! I looked over to my dad, my eyes widened in disgust and shock. His whole left arm was bleeding, blood was dried but I could still see fresh blood leaking out of.... Oh no. "Pa...Y-you were bitten?!" I said stuttering. My heart was racing, my eyes felt hot with every blink and my knees began to wabble. "Yes...I'm sorry." He said, looking down at the bite mark. He looked back up at me. "You know what to do." No. no. no. Not like this. "Pa...What do you mean?" I knew where this was heading,,,I just couldn't believe it. "How long have you been hiding that!?" He looked me dead in the eye. "Check your phone." I did just what he had told me... And I didn't like it. "3:58?! You've been bitten for almost an hour!?" "He nodded sadly, his face twisting in pain as he fights the urge not to scream. "Yes...Gio, you know what to-" "NO I'M NOT DOING IT!" I shouted. I was no longer in shock, or scared, or even sad...I was fucking mad. "Pa, how the fuck do you expect to have your own SON kill his own FATHER!?" Tears of anger leaked through my eyes as I glared at my father, and I could also hear moaning. At thmoment, I don't give a damn. "Gio...please. Do you really want to see your own father turn into one of them?" He points his good arm behind me, and as I turn around I see a small, pack of zombies. I look back at him, his tired eyes staring into mine. "Do you?" 'You have to do it, Giovanni.' My brain tells me. 'It's the only way.' 'But-but what if I just cut off his arm? W-wouldn't that help?' I said, desperately trying to convince my self that he will be OK. 'And then what? Let him bleed to death? Plus, you don't even have medical supplies, how is he suppose to live with just threads and needles?' My brain retorted. As much as I hated to admit it, he was right. But I am not letting him die feeling a great amount of pain. "Gio..before you do it, I have three things to tell you, " My dad said as I went to the bag and pulled out one of the blue bottles that had alcohol in it. "What is it pa?" I could still hear moaning, it was a little loud but they weren't that close. "First," He began. "Downstairs in the basement I left two things. A small box and my knife sharper. Be carefull with them." He began to cough fiercely. I pop open the bottle. He takes a full chug, but only finished half the bottle. "Second," He said as I walk behind him. "Are those people all guys?" "No..." "All...girls?" "...Yea?" He smiles. "Take care of them Gio." I take out the machete from its sheath and ready it next to his neck. "And last..." "Yea , pa?" The blade in my hand starts shaking, and the zombies come closer with each step. He takes a deep breath, eyes closed and exhales. "I love you, son." Tears leak through my eyes now, my body shivers in sadness. My bottom lip quivers a bit, and my voice begans to choke. "I love you too, pa...." SHING!!! > Rage Mode:Activated. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rage Mode:Activated. Detroit, Michigan. 8 days untill Halloween. 4:15 P.M. Blood. Blood is blue inside of our bodies and only red if it reaches oxygen, meaning that instead of a blue color, it is red when it is not in the body. Blood can also be used to save a persons' life, by the use of a medical procedure called, "blood transfusion". Blood is seen when we suffer a puncture wound, blood is seen when a small cut, or a large wound is open, blood is seen when we take a sample of it to study it for medical procedures. Blood is also seen when you kill a man. My father, James, was-no, is a strong man. When I was young, he once fell from my roof onto the hard grass, and the hight was about fifteen to eighteen feet high. And you know what? He survived through that. When he works with hot metal, sometimes he would come home with burn marks, little boils, on his hands. And you know what? He survives through hot, pieces of metal, and even worked a second job too. He cared for not only me and my family, but also his customers when they came to eat at his second job. Yea, I look up to my dad, even when other people doubt that he'll succeed when he is working alone, and wants no help. Sure, he's stubborn, can get a little mad at times, and did argue with my ma a lot, but damn it, family is family, and as long as you have them on your side, nothing could stop you. But what would you do, if you had no more family to help you? Sure, you might have some cousins or aunts and uncles here and there, and you might even have friends that are like family, but did they ever give birth to you, raised you from the ground up and tried their very best to lead you into the right path? Mines cared for me, my older sister was there when I needed help with math, my younger sister and brother were there when I had nobody to play with, my ma was the only friend I had until I broke out of my shell in middle school, and my dad was the man I would go to whenever I wanted to talk. Now, four out of five family members are gone, taken away to a safe zone, while I kneel here, my free hand covering my fathers mouth as the sharp blade tears right through his jugular. *SHING!!!* Red was all I saw. I could feel the blood land on my white hoodie and my wrist as I keep my hand on my fathers mouth. I didn't want to look down at my father, but even as I looked at the sky, even though the tears were filling my eyes, I could still feel the blood soak through my sleeve, and I could still see drops of blood flying through the air. I knew I was going to have nightmares about this, yes blood can be washed off, but not this blood. This is the blood of my father, spraying on the cement ground like a sprinkler. Finally, after about five seconds, he stopped moving and bleeding like a hose. Wanna know the worst part about those five seconds? He was screaming the entire time. He slid out of my grasp and fell on the ground, splashing into a puddle of his own blood. He layed there as I began to sniffle. Then sob. Then cry...Then bawl. I dropped the machete, and as it landed on my fathers lifeless leg, I yell. I was cursing at everything. Myself, the death of my dad, the life I was reduced to live in, the feeling that I'll never see my ma or other siblings again, and lastly, the zombies. I suddenly felt cold, like all the warmth in my body escaped with one single scream I ended with after my rant. I no longer cared for anything. I... "I lost everything." I say through my tears. "My dad, mom, sisters, brother...EVERYTHING!!!" I felt tired. Hungry. Spiritless. I should just end it. I should just- 'SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!' My brain yells. 'Look at you, thinking of suicidal thoughts while they starve.' "They...? Who the-" I said, but could not finish. 'THEY?THEY!? Motherfucker do you even fucking remember what the fuck is in that bag?' I look at at the bag next to my SwitchAxe, and instantly remember the food. I hear my brain chuckle. 'That's right...food. And who did you get that food for?' My eyes, though covered in tears, grew wide enough to see clearly through my blood stained glasses. "Ponies..." I mutter. 'And Nino. You, and your dad risked you lives to run from his apartment, to your hous. I know how you feel, Giovanni. I am you, remember?' I nod my head, looking at the bag filled with food. 'Good. Now, if you're getting yourself down for the death of your father, understandable, but he did NOT want to turn into one of those things...He was trying to protect you from himself.' "Then...Why didn't he kill himself? Why make his own son kill his father?" I said out loud. I began to feel...Angry. "Why...WHY!?" 'Because even he knew you were going to kill a human in order to survive...He was preparing for you to kill for your survival.' That only made me angrier. I got up, clenching my fists in anger. I was about to scream again, in anger this time but I was interrupted by a familiar moaning. "Raaaaggghhh...." 'You see those things?' my brain said. I nod, glaring at the small pack of zombies still limping their way towards me. 'Those things over there are the whole fucking reason why your father is dead.' "Yea.." I said, still glaring at the zombies. My brains' tone grew serious. 'Do you want to be turned into one of them?' I shake my head. 'Do you want Nino to turn?' I begin to breath deeper, my hands shake in anger. My brain then asked the million bit question: 'Do you want any of the ponies to turn?' That was it. The machete that was on my fathers leg felt weightless in my grasp as I picked it up. I then grab my SwitchAxe in my right hand, which also felt weightless as I grasped the lower part of the handle. I did a recount on the zombies, now there were ten. With each step, I could feel the anger in me boil, and somewhere, I could hear something snap. They start to limp closer. I swing the SwitchAxe slowly. I mutter under my breath as they moan. "Now you fucked up..." I throw the SwitchAxe at a zombie as it takes a step closer to me, sending it to its back as the axe blade goes into its rotten rib cage. I leave it there on the ground because I want to take out these walkers first. Flipping the machete upside down, meaning that the blade is pointing down while I'm still holding the handle, I rush up to the second closest zombie and shove the blade into its chest. It stumbled as it tried to grab me, but I kicked both of his legs and tripped him. The blade slides out of his chest with a sickening noise, and just as he was about to hit the ground, I shove the machete into its eye socket, killing it in a matter of seconds. "One..." I mutter darkly, pulling back the machete from its eye and turing around. Two trie to jump me, but I rolled away from them and got back on my feet. Both of them were coming at me slowly. I brought up my dads machete and hack it into one of the tag team zombes. I flipped the zombie with my dads machete lodged into its skull around, pulled out the blade and shove the zombie into its team mate, sending the bleeding out zombie on top of the other. onto the ground. With both of them pinned, I rushed up to then and shoved the pointed down blade into both of their skulls, earning me a double kill. "Three..." I pull out the blade, quickly rolling away from another zombie. another one soon came behind it, swing its arms. I look around for any thing else to take these two out quickly and found a metal pole, the kind you see that hold up fences. I rush to it, picked it up and ran towards the two zombies. "RAGH!" I shouted as the tip uf the pole was shoved into their exposed intestines. as they both fell to the ground on their sides, I rushed up to each and cut off their heads with only three hacks each. Blood squirted out of both their headless necks. Their heads rolled away towards a nearby dumpster, where they should be. "Five..." Not wanting to waste any more time, I ran up to three zombies, tripped them all one by one, and killed them all easily. Anger and Sadness were running through my veins, and all I could see was red and clear vision. Along with the dead bodies of course. There was one standing left, and I rushed up to it, tripped it and kicked its skull like a soccerball. "Nine...One more." I walked over to the zombie that was still trapped under my SwitchAxe, my anger escalates as I come closer to the squirming zombie. I saw its nostrils flair and it looked up at me. (A.N:Stop song here. Or keep it goin' it's still a pretty good song. xD) "RAAGGHH!!!" "SHUT UP!" I shouted, kicking its arm. It detaches from the shoulder erea and flops around before it finally stopped. I glared at the ugly fuck, remembering how I had to live for a month before finding help, getting help, and winding up to kill said help in the end. I wanted to scream, yell, curse, flip off the zombie so much. I wanted to cut off all of its limbs, making it just a torso and have it roll around for the rest of its rotten life. But I didn't. I only said four words. "RAAGGHH!!!" "I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP!" *CRACK!* *SQUISH!* I curb stomped his skull. Blood and brain bits flew everywhere, including my fathers lifeless body. I looked at my foot in disgust, wanting to clean my foot. But... I was still angry, so I did what Isaac Clark would do: I stomped it's crushed skull bits again. Again, and again and again until my whole legging was painted red. I pulled out my S.A.C from its chest, put the machete back in its shaft and walked over to the bag full of food. I felt tired, and lifting this bag full of food isn't helping, but I kept walking down the street. I looked at my dad one last time. "I love you dad. I said as a tear rolled down my cheek. I started walking down the street again, keeping the shaft strapped around my left arm while I hold the SwitchAxe with my left hand and keeping the bag over my right shoulder. As I finally reach the back of my house, I realized how bloody I looked when I pass a puddle. There was some drops of blood on the upper level of my pants, while both my leggings were soaked in blood. My once white hoodie was also a deep red, and my hands were painted red. I scoffed at how much of a walking strawberry I looked like. "I need to clean up." I said, walking to the steps of the door and setting down the bag and my weapons. I take off my hoodie and walk over to a hose, turned on the water pump and began washing my hands up to my fists and then washing my shoes. Not wanting to scare the mares, I cut off my blood soaked leggings with the machete and through them over to the neighbors yard. Luckily, my brown Dickies shirt was not covered in blood, but my hoodie was. I turned it inside out, tieng up the sleeves around my waist and only revealing the inside of the hoodie, while the blooded outside is hidden. I could easily wash off blood, but since this was my fathers blood, I felt like I was walking around bathed in it. I still wanted to cry, but if I did than the mares would notice and ask questions. So I sucked it up, picked up the bag and strapping the shaft underneath the hoodie and approached the door. I left the SwitchAxe, not wanting to cause attention. I walk up to the door. *KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.* > Restart > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- This is an important message from your boy Gordo. The time has come. The feel for writing this fic again is coming back, and man is it coming strong. I am sorry that I left you all in the dark. I am sorry that I left this at a cliffhanger. I am sorry that made you all wait for almost a year, then to read an apology chapter. No more of that shit. I'm coming clean. This October, maybe sooner if I finish one of my big fics, (one of them is coming very close to an end, actually) I will begin writing Out Of All The Worlds...again. Many of you probably don't care about this fic anymore, and I understand that. With all the bad grammar and shit I leave you guys off of, why wouldn't you remove this story from your favorites? The time is coming soon, my homies. I simply cannot put this off any longer. > A Surprise Visit. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Surprise Visit. Detroit, Michigan. 8 days until Halloween. 4:30 P.M. "What was that?" I hear. "Could it be Giovanni?" "Maybe...Rainbow, go check." "What? Why me?" There was a small pause before one of them spoke again. "...You're right, AJ, go with her." "Ha." I laughed softly. I've done that to my brother before, when I didn't want to go check on something, would send him. I miss him. "Pardon?" Applejack said. My guess is she didn't want to check, neither Rainbow Dash, but why? "But Ah'll miss the rest of this here Victora-somethin'." "Ha ha." I laughed a little louder. I would also say that kind of stuff to my ma. "How about I come with?" Rarity said. "Why don't we all go?" I hear Rainbow Dash say. "I don't want to leave you all hanging, especially with that Giovanni guy." "Ha..." I laughed surprisingly. They still don't trust me. Rainbow Dash's attitude reminds me of how protective my older sister was. "I miss you too, sis." "I guess we can all-Hey, Nino, what are you doing?" I hear Twilight sa- wait, Nino? Then, I hear paw steps approaching the door. Nino looks at me when he sticks his head out of the doggy door my dad installed. He stares at me with his tongue flapping out. "Sup." I say, and he instantly barks happily. He sticks his head back into the house and starts to scratch the door. Then I hear multiple hoof steps walking towards the door. "I missed you too, Nino" "I'll check and see who it is." I hear Rainbow Dash say. "Who the bu-" To be honest, I expected to see one of the ponies to check behind the curtain that covers the window to check if it was me or not. Instead, I get a Rainbow Dash sticking her head out from the doggie door. I'd be laughing my ass off right now if I didn't have the memory of blood filling my vision. She looks up at me with big, magnetta colored eyes and grins sheepishly. "Sup." She says. "Nothin' much." I say. "Just standing out here with a bag filled with food and freezing out here." "Really? It doesn't feel that cold." "Humans don't have fur, so we get cold easily." I say. Not wanting to risk her asking me why my hoodie is inside out and tied around my waist, I knocked the door again. "Not wanting to be rude, but can you open the door now, please?" "Yeeaaa, about that. We don't have those claws of yours, sooo, yea." She says, smiling sheepishly. "...This is going to take a while." I said, sighing. After sticking her head back in, I instruct the ponies how to open the door, step, by step. Fifteen minutes, they were finally able to open the door. I heard them all take turns, and after Rainbow Dash's rage fit for not beeing able to open the door, Pinkie stepped in and opened it with ease. I walked in, thanking Pinkie and the other girls for opening the door and placed the bag filled with food on the kitchen table. When I opened it, I almost cursed out loud because most of the food was squished besides some canned vegetables, the gallons of milk and the cartons of juice. I sighed, calming down a bit and pulling out the non-squashed foods out of the bag. I walked over to the counter and grabbed a paper towel, cleaning off the vegetable gunk from the milk and the juice. Next, I pulled out the two bottles of alcohol from the bag and set them on the table, far away from the corners of the table. "What were those?" I hear Twilight say. I noticed how she tried to grab it, but I quickly snatched the bottles from the tables and held them in my hand. “These aren't important. Trust me.” I say making my towards the small hallway that leads the way to my room upstairs. “I’ll be back, I just have to go do something.” I quickly ran upstairs ignoring any questions that they had to ask. Nino followed me upstairs, but I didn’t mind. He’s my homie anyways. As I entered my room, I closed the doors and covered the easy-to-see-through curtain with a large hanging blanket, making sure it was adjusted right so it wouldn’t fall. I took out some fresh clothes, new kaki and baggy as always pants, a plane black T shirt, and my sandals from the corner. Before I was about to change, I took out the revolver from my pocket and held it in my hand. The cold metal in my hands gave me a lump in my throat, knowing that I could have actually died back there. I silently thank my father for saving my life. I even took out the remote, which reminded me to erase all episodes of My Little Pony as fast as I could. I also set the machete I was hiding in my bed. It didn't have the frame needed to support the bed, but I just cut open a whole large enough to fit the machete inside of it, laying it flat on it's side. I put the liquor bottles in the corner of my room, covering it with another blanket. As for my blood-soaked clothes, I toss them in closet, adding a whole bunch of other clothes. I reminded myself that I needed to take a shower soon, because I had a feeling that that fresh water wasn't going to last, neither the electricity. After changing into my new set of clothes, I lastly put on my sandals and walked downstairs, with Nino following behind me. I open the door, and to my surprise, the ponies fixed themselves something to eat. I walked towards them, noticing that they found a bowl and basically made a salad with all the vegetables and fruits into the mix. I look down at them, shocked. “I was gonna make you all some food, but it seems like you all could handle your own, ha.” I say, walking away from them and into the living room. “You all just enjoy your food, I gotta check something.” Quickly, I selected all episodes of My Little Pony and deleted the shows without a moments hesitation. I sighed deeply, then fell back onto my couch. Nino walked over to me and jumped on the couch, placing his head on my lap. I noticed how he had dried blood around his lips, but I needn’t worry: he isn’t showing any signs of changing, thank God. I petted his head as I just stared at the T.V, which was playing Victorious quietly. I checked the time on the T.V, and it read 5 PM. “So,” I turned my head slowly around to see Rainbow Dash hovering near my family picture, eating an apple. “We were all trying to figure out who these people were. Mind telling us.” At this point, I felt like the sadness had gone away a bit, so I explained without getting up. “The oldest looking women is my mom, the best in the world. The second looking oldest women is my older sister. She was always there for me now. Those two younger ones are my little brother and sister. They were a pain, but I loved them no matter what. The older male is my dad, and next to him is me.” “Huh. Hey Flutters, you were right!” Rainbow Dash said, turning back around to the kitchen. I heard a small squeal, so I guess that was Fluttershy’s response. Rainbow turned back around to me, looking me in the eye. “So, where are they now?” “They ain’t here.” I said, petting Nino a bit faster. “They are all in a better place.” “Oh.” Rainbow’s tough look soften a bit, and she landed on the ground on all fours. “Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked that.” “It’s fine. You didn’t know.” I say, standing up, making Nino move. I stretched a bit, cracking few bones in the process. I decided that I should go downstairs and grab that box and knife sharpener my father said he owned. I walked away from Rainbow Dash, letting her know that I was going to the basement to look for something. As I enter the basement, I search around for the box and the knife sharpener. I look in the cabinets, the room filled with small tools, even the tool boxes, but I couldn’t find anything. I was about to give up until I decided to look into a small cooler. It looked old and unused, so I thought it would make sense if my dad placed it there. I opened the cooler, finding more than I expected. First, I pulled out some jumper cables, a small cloth, and nails. I figured that I could use these one day, so I set them to the side. Then, I found the knife sharpener, and placed it next to the other objects from the cooler. Then, I found th box. Bullets. Not a whole lot, like only ten bullets, but I knew they were lethal. The thing is, the caliber of the bullets was scratched off, so I couldn’t tell if they would fit in the revolver. The only thing I could read on the box was what looked like a scratched corner of the number four. Still, I kept the bullets in the box, and took em’ with me upstairs, along with the knife sharpener. I turned off the basements lights and hid the box in behind me, so the ponies wouldn’t ask questions. I only kept out the grey block. If they ask, I’ll just tell em’ that it’s a door stopper. Yea, something like that. As I reach the kitchen, I noticed how quickly they already finished their food, so I placed the dishes in the dirty dishes pile. It kept growing, but I would wash it with soap and dry it off with a cloth. It’ll still be a bit soapy,but usually it’ll all dry. All of a sudden, I could hear a strange noise coming from the living room, and I knew damn well it wasn’t the T.V. I step into the living room, looking around. All the ponies were just chilling in the living room, but nothing was happening. The only one that also felt a disturbance was Twilight, and she had a happy look on her face. “Does anypony else hear that noise?” I say, looking at all of them. “It sounds like a low, high-pitch noise.” “I do!” I see Twilight hop off of the couch and walk towards me. “You can hear it too, right? I know exactly what’s going on! It’s Princess Celestia!” Out of pure confusion, I asked her what she was talking about. Before Twilight could speak, I hear a whooshing noise behind me, followed by a loud, chime-like sound. I look at the doorway behind me, and I could see a pinkish, purple small swirl getting bigger each second. I back away from the door frame, but all the ponies got up from the couch and walk towards the portal. I didn’t stop them, I was too shocked because there was a fucking swirling portal in my house! Then, I could see that the portal was kind of static-like, as if it doesn’t have enough signal to transfer here. The portal started to adjust better, and there she was. The Sun Princess herself, Princess Celestia. They all bowed before her as the image began to clear. Princess Celestia began to talk, but her voice sounded like it was muffled, until the portal started moving static-like to get a better reception. She had a worried look on her face, and a worried tone as well. “Twilight Sparkle! We’ve been wondering where you and your friends...” She looked up from the bowing ponies and at me. I could only stare in shock, but somehow I had the sense to wave hi to her. The only thing I could here were these exact words. “Oh..Well this is new.” > The Adventure Begins. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Adventure Begins. Detroit, Michigan. 8 days until Halloween. 5:55 P.M Normally, if you were able to see six colorful, life like but still a bit cartoony ponies, portal right in the middle of your kitchen doorway, and one of the Princess’ of Equestria is right in that portal just staring at you with a puzzling look, you’d probably have to be insane or really fucked up on drugs. I mean, a shit ton of drugs. But, no, there she was, with her tall, Alicorn self, moving her eyes at her subjects and me, the creature that almosts meets her at eye-level. I turned around for a quick second, noticing how Nino was just sitting on the couch and staring at the portal. He showed no fear, just curiosity. Unlike me. I felt like I was gonna lose my shit. “Well, this is new.” Princess Celestia says as she stares at me puzzlingly. “I’ve never seen a creature like this before.” She moved her eyes down Twilight and the other ponies, smiling at them. “Rise, my friends. I need to talk to you all. Including this new, creature.” “Yes Princess.” Twilight Sparkle says as she is finished bowing. I stare at how all the ponies look up at the Princess, how they all show extreme loyalty to their princess. “There is a reasonable explanation to why we are here. Um, well, you see-” She sounded like she was trying to stay away to how she got here, as if she was embarrassed to talk about it. That was the case until Applejack spoke up. “She don’ goofed on a spell, Princess.” Applejack said as she patted on the back. “She wanted ta take us somewhere, travel between worlds and all that mumbo-jumbo, and we ended up here. On Detroit, Michigan, planet Earth, as that tall feller back there calls it.” She pointed a hoof towards me, whilst I was too busy wondering if Twilight messing up a spell got them here. Well, technically she got it right, but I guess she didn’t expect to land here. “I see.” Princess Celestia said, looking at me. Her calm eyes turned a bit serious, giving me a chill up my spine. “And what is your name, creature?” I might as well tell her what race I am anyways. First, I placed the box of bullets behind me and the knife sharpener on the couch without her looking. I don’t want to be marked as a threat to her ponies. “My name Giovanni. I’m fourteen years old, and I am human. Explains why I’m hairless and have these.” I wiggle my fingers, showing them to her. “And I found these ponies outside of my house, completely passed out. So I took them in, brought some food, and they ate. I didn’t do anything bad, I swear.” Celestia kept staring at me, looking deep into my eyes. That’s when Pinkie Pie spoke up, breaking the tension between us. “Princess, he’s a really nice colt! He brought us food, and showed us this cool thing called a T.V! It shows all kinds of cool stuff!” Pinkie Pie said as she walked closer to the portal. She turned towards me, smiling. “He has a cool dog too! Ask Fluttershy!” She looked over at the shy pony, who was hiding behind her mane. “Um, he does have a nice dog. His dog is very nice, princess. I think he’s nice too.” Fuck yea, it looks like I have both the trust of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Maybe if a couple other ponies spoke up, I could gain Celestia’s trust? “Well, If the Element of Kindness and Laughter agree with each other, what say the others?” Celestia said as she looked at the other three elements. The first one to speak up was Applejack, walking a little closer to the portal. “Well, I’m still a bit wary about this feller, Princess. But he did take care of us, I respect that. I think he’s okay, but I’ll keep an eye out for him, I tell you what.” She tipped her hat to the princess, smiling. “In short, yes he’s fine. For now.” The next to walk up was Rarity. Weird, Rarity? “Well, I wasn’t too sure about defending him at first, but he does seem like a nice fellow, your highness. He did feed us all, after all.” She looks at me, smiling. She walks back, and the next up was Twilight Sparkle. “What say you, my faithful student?” Celestia said, smiling at her pupil. “We still have Rainbow Dash to ask, but I would like to ask you too.” “This world is truly fascinating, princess. I would like to study more about this world and its inhabitants. Giovanni is also a nice help. He could help me with tons of things about his race, and many others. He is also very helpful, what with all the food he brought. It’s actually the same type of fruits we have back home, Princess. I mean, there’s bananas, apples, salads, tomato’s-” “Yea yea yea, you think he’s cool, we get it!” Rainbow dash said, shoving aside Twilight. “Sorry you had to hear that princess, she goes into full study mode, you know?” She joked around, smiling at an annoyed Twilight. “Yes, I know.” Princess Celestia said, chuckling. Soon, all the other ponies began to chuckle. Well, I didn’t laugh, because I knew the type of situation I was in. “So, what do you think, Rainbow Dash?” And here comes the boaster. “Well, you know me princess, I have to protect my friends by any means necessary! That even means him, princess!” She points a hoof towards me as she began hovering in the hair, throwing punches aimlessly. “Lemme at em’! That’s what I would say if he started hurting my friends, Princess!” “So, you don’t trust him?” Princess Celestia said with a raised brow. “Well, not entirely.” That’s when she flew behind me, looking around me. “I mean, sure, he’s a nice guy, but something tells me he could snap at any second. Hey, Giovanni, what would you do if I kicked you there like Applejack?” She said, smirking. “What is she talking about, Applejack?” Celestia said, looking down at Applejack. She sighed and told what she did to me, which made Celestia raise a brow. “You hit him there? Well Applejack, you must really not like him then.” “It’s not that princess,” Applejack said, getting a bit red. “Ah just didn’t know at the time. Mistakes happen!” She chuckles nervously, hiding her face behind her hat. “Yea, okay.” Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. She turned her attention back to me, where I was just looking around the room and trying not to make eye contact. “So, what would you do?” I sighed, feeling my self go red because of all the attention I was getting. “I would probably pass out again. Scream first though, for sure.” Rainbow nodded. “Okay. I still don’t trust you, Giovanni. But I can make an exception, as long as you don’t hurt anypony.” “I made a Pinkie Promise, remember?” I say, looking at Pinkie Pie for an agreement. She nodded her head, which was enough to make Celestia’s look grow calmy. “Well, that is great news.” The princess said, smiling. “However, there is something I need to let you all know. That includes you, Giovanni.” I nodded, still not sure if what I am seeing is actually happening. “Yes ma'am.” “As you can all tell from the way my image looks, it is not a portal. Rather, a live moving image.” ‘She’s Basically referring it as a hologram, you notice it, right?’ ‘Oh, hello brain. I haven’t heard from you in a while.’ I say, responding to my head. ‘I know, but be quiet. Just pay attention to her.’ “The reason why this isn’t a portal is simple:There is almost no magic in this world. The only sense of magic doesn’t feel natural to even me. It feels...Evil.” I saw the look in her face, and even Celestia showed a small amount of worry. Still, she kept her calm. “There is only enough magic for me to force through this world to talk to you all and do this.” Suddenly, her horn began to glow, and all these bright colored shined out of the hologram. It’s a good thing all the windows are boarded up, otherwise there would be echo’s and light shining out of here like a midnight club. Then, the room filled with a bright white, and after the light cleared, I saw what she did. Around the Elements of Harmony, where the actual Elements of Harmony, aside from Twilights crown. “The Elements?” Twilight said, shocked. “But, why did you transfer these here, princess?” All of the ponies started looked at their Elements. That’s when I noticed something different about them. “The Elements have turned powerless without their representations, hence the reason why they appear grey. By my guess, they should turn back to normal with you all, but because of the wrong type of magic in this, “Earth”, it will have to take some time. The lack of magic also explains why you were all passed out. Unlike here, where magic is a necessity in Equestria, you all have grown weaker than you are here in Equestria. However, the small amount of magic in the Elements could help you out in the near future.” “I see.” I said, speaking up. “I think I know what’s going on. Without magic, you all are weaker right? Well, as long as you have nutrients in your body, like many living creatures here, you are all still able to be breathing. Am I right?” I say, looking at Celestia. “Correct. But there is something that frightens me so. You see, this place doesn’t have much magic-” “But, then how were we able to come into this world?” Pinkie said, cutting off her princess. It seems like she even knows the gravity the situation. “I was just getting to that. It wasn’t all of Twilight’s magic that brought you here. Something pulled you in.” She finished her sentence with a serious tone. letting know that things were not right. I knew something about this, not much, but I had to speak up. “Witchcraft.” All the ponies looked at me, including Celestia. “Witchcraft?” Twilight said with a raised brow. “But we know a zebra back home who knows witchcraft, and I don’t think it’s enough to force us here.” “But I think your version of witchcraft differs from humanity’s.” I say, looking at all the ponies. “My race, mexican, knows a bit about witchcraft. Mexican is still categorized as Human, just from another country. Some people don’t believe in that kind of stuff, like ghosts, demons, and a higher power, but I do. Witchcraft here is used to do bad things. Very bad things.” “How do you know this?” Twilight said. “Do you have any proof?” “You all being here is proof enough for me.” “Enough.” I here Princess Celestia say, gaining the attention of everypony and human in the room. “I do not have time to discuss this important anymore, the hologram is disappearing.” She said this in a hurry, and we could all tell. The hologram was indeed disappearing. It kept moving all static like, and I could tell Celestia was trying to keep the hologram up long enough to tell us something important. “Forgive me, but forcing this much magic is tiring me. In order for you all to get back home is find away to power up the elements fast enough. The magic you could all conjure together could bring you home.” “We understand, Princess.” They all say simultaneously. Celestia smiled at them all, then turned her attention towards me. “Please, Giovanni. Do all you can to try to help them get back home. It is at most importance if they return before a great evil could arise.” “I understand too, ma’am.” I say nodding. Then, the portal began to disappear, and the darkness around the room began to turn back to it’s original, fluorescent lighted self. I quickly checked the time on the T.V, and noticed how long the conversation lasted than it did before. It wasn’t 5.PM any more, it was already 9:42 PM! I knew I had to get up early, so I lowered the volume of the T.V. “Alright, we’ll find a way to get you all back home. In the meantime, I’m going to bed. You could all watch T.V if you want, just keep it low please. Don’t make so much noise too, the...neighbors don’t like much racket.” I began to walk towards the kitchen, which leads the way upstairs, but I felt a small tug on my pants-leg. I look down to see a tired faced Twilight, looking up at me. “We are all kind of tired too, Giovanni. Is it okay if we sleep in that really big bed upstairs?” I looked at all of the ponies in the room, and I noticed how all tired they really were. I couldn’t say no to those cute faces, so I agreed. “Fine. Just follow me.” “Aright, is everybody comfortable?” I say, looking at all of the ponies in my mothers bed. They all fit in there no problem, but it seemed as if Fluttershy was more uncomfortable than anypony in the bed So, I called Nino into my ma’s room, and told him to jump into bed with Fluttershy. He did so, without a hesitation. He immediately calmed down Fluttershy, being hugged by her. I smiled at the cute scenery, then turned off all of the lights in the room. There were window’s behind them, so the moonlight sort of lit up the room a bit, but not much to bother them. I closed the door, walking towards my room. I turned off my light, and fell straight on the bed. forgot I left my phone on my bed before I changed into some new clothes, but I just set it off to the side, took of my glasses, and closed my eyes. I remembered that I took the box and knife sharpener with me up stairs, and almost panicked because I forgot where I left it, but then I remembered I left the box and knife sharpener with the revolver, behind my bed, covered by some dirty clothes. I began to drift into sleep, and already I know my main priority when I get up. Find a way to return these ponies back to Equestria. End of Day 1. > Day Two Of Eight: Moving Out. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day 2: Moving Out. Detroit, Michigan. 7 days until Halloween. 9 AM. Ever since I’ve been left alone to fight the infected, everyday my eyes immediately open wide when my brain gives the signal. And everyday, I have gotten up in a hurry and such around the house, incase any zombies have entered my home. Today was no different, aside from the ponies sleeping in my mothers room. I was already fully dress, so all I did what get up and put on my shoes while I was still sitting on my bed. Even though I woke up quick as hell, I still felt a bit groggy. I wiped my face, dragging it down like how toons usually do when tired or annoyed. I got up from my bed and left my room, closing the door quietly. Deciding it would be best to check up on the ponies and Nino, I walked towards my ma’s room. I opened the door, and noticed how they were all hiding behind the covers. I thought it was just a little playful game, so I walked up to them quietly and lifted the cover. To my horror, all of the ponies were...dead. Their organs have been gut out, blood surrounded the bed everywhere. It was as if the whole bed soaked up all of the blood from the mane six, and looked like a bloody sponge with cartoon ponies on top. I could feel my heart grew heavy every time I breathed, and I threw up on the floor, which mixed up with some blood. Twilight’s horn was broken off, where I can see the bone and it’s veins gush out a river-like flow of blood. Rainbow Dash’s wings were all chewed up, and her guts were ripped out of her, and the feathers from her coat were all displaced around her lifeless body. Rarity’s body was to mashed in and ripped to pieces for me to make out her entire body. I could only tell it was her because of a deep, dark red and purple mane. Pinkie Pie’s body was also a mangled, but I could still see her face. She had a sad frown, and tears in her eyes. Her hair was also completely straight. Applejack’s eyes were scratched out, and her face had look of pain and horror at the same time. Then, the last was Fluttershy. Her entire face was scratched off, and I swear the skin peeled every time I tried to look away. In the middle of the bed, was my dog Nino. Only, there was something completely different about him. I could no longer consider him my dog, because he had turned into something I fear into ever turning into. He noticed me looking at the bodies, and quickly jumped on me. I wanted to scream, but I couldn’t. I was just too shocked and scared to do anything, yet the pain of my neck being ripped apart felt very real. I closed my eyes, feeling my whole body go numb. I wake up quickly in cold sweat, forcing the blankets off of me. I immediately start feeling my neck and check everywhere on my body. There was no blood, no bite marks and no pain. I sigh in relief, but then panicked when I realized Nino was still alone with the ponies. I turn around quickly, but was stopped by something standing in my doorway. It was Nino and Applejack, who had a worried look on her face. I look down at Nino, who had his head down and wincing. I tried to talk, but then Nino ran up to me and knocked me back down on my bed. He was laying on top of me, wincing quietly. “Shhh..” I say, petting Nino. “It’s okay, I’m fine. You’re fine. We’re all fine.” I was too busy comforting Nino to care what Twilight was thinking, and fighting back tears at the same time. That dream was too fucking scary, and it felt so very real. That’s when Nino got off of me and started walking towards Applejack, where she got my attention. “Are ya alright, partner?” She said, still standing in the doorway. “This little feller and Ah could hear ya from all the way down the hall. Ya were sayin’ some weird stuff. Somethin’ bout “Infected” and you were saying “No” too.” “Yea, I’m fine.” I said, wiping the sweat of of my face. “It’s nothing serious. Just a really bad dream. Are the others awake too?” “Don’t change the subject, partner.” Applejack said, this time walking into my room. I had no worries, because all the stuff I was hiding was under clothes. But I was worried about Applejack asking questions. “The title “Element of Honesty” mean somethin’ ya know. Now tell me what’s botherin’ ya.” I knew I couldn’t lie to her. But maybe twisting the truth a bit can sneak by her? “Alright. I had a dream where six very important people died. and I died in that dream too.” I looked at Nino, and he kept his head down. I think he knew which people I was talking about. “It was a really scary dream. That’s why I didn’t feel like talking.” “Oh. My bad if the topic was sensitive to you. Ah just don’t like lying. But, no, the other ponies are sleepin’. I’m a country pony, I would wake up pretty early.” She smiled at that, crossing her front right foreleg over her supporting left foreleg. “Us Apples are alway hard workin’.” “Hard workers huh?” I say, grabbing my shoes and placing them on. I always have them on in the house, just incase I need to run away. The laces are already tied, so I just slip in my fit forcefully. I was calming down a bit, thanks to Nino and Applejack being here with me. “My dad’s family is filled with hard workers. His dad owns a farm, actually.” “Really?” Applejack said, raising an eyebrow. “What would he do?” “A whole bunch of stuff.” I say getting up from my bad. I cracked my back again, loud enough for Applejack to ask how I do that. I told her I just twist my back a bit, but not too far. But I went back on topic. “Anyways, I never really knew my grandpa like that. He lives somewhere far away.” “Family’s important, fella.” Applejack said, walking closer to me. “They’ll always be there fer ya.” “I know.” I said, picking up my phone and glasses from the floor. I put on my glasses and placed my phone in my pocket, fitting it nicely. “I just wish I knew that before they were all taken away from me.” I say that to myself quietly, but I knew Applejack heard. She didn’t say anything though, because I’m sure all the ponies heard me say they are somewhere better, yesterday in the living room. I walk out of the room, looking the the large window that was right at the end of the hallway. I look outside through the shades, and saw that the sun was still in it’s sunset mood. I opened the window just a little bit, licked my finger and stuck it out. While I was doing this, Applejack gave me a confused look. “Um, Giovanni? What in tarnation are you doin’?” She said, pointing to my arm. “Why did you lick your finger and stick it outside?” “I’m trying to see how cold it is outside. It’s what the pioneers would do when trying to figure out where the wind is blowing, and how cold it was going to be for the day.” After I was done trying to figure out how cold it was, I pulled my arm back inside, closing the window. “Piowhatnow?” Applejack asked, boggled. “Y er talkin’ about the pioneighrs? You know, like the old ponies who tried to figure out things without the advances of technology?” Now I was confused. I know they had similarities in city and state names like ours, but now pioneighrs? “Um...yea, those ponies.” “Was it necessary to lick yer finger then?” She said, keeping the questions rolling. “Ah mean, ya could’ve just stuck that finger out their without lickin’ it. Ya humans have no fur, after all.” She stuck to her point like glue, smiling. She waited for my retaliation, but I had none. “Well?” “...You win this round, Applejack.” I say, wiping my finger on my shirt. “Anyways, it’s still pretty cold out. Even colder than yesterday.” I started walking down stairs, hearing both Applejack and Nino follow me. I was thinking about how this houses’ heating system was still working, or if it ever did work in the first place. Either way, I was still pretty cold, so I put on a heavy, black hoodie. The hood was large enough to engulf my whole head in warmth if I ever closed it tightly. It had no zipper, so I had to put it over my head through the bottom like other hoodies. I walked towards the kitchen and grabbed the gallon of milk and what was left of some crushed cereal. I looked around for anything to use, and I found a medium sized plastic container. I poured the cereal in the container, than the milk. I had no spoon, so i just mixed it together by swishing the milk in the container. Before I ate, I looked down at Applejack and Nino, who were both staring back at me. I Knew Nino was hungry, so I hurried up and finished my food, and made a second helping for Nino. I placed it on the floor, and he was eating the wheat flakes first, and decided to drink the milk later. “You want some cereal?” I say, looking at Applejack. “We have crushed wheat flakes, crushes Frosted Flakes, crushed Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Cereal.” I listed the cereal’s I brought back from my dads house while looking for a bowl. In fact, I have a whole bunch of plastic containers here that we never used, so I pulled out enough for the ponies to eat out of when they wake up. “So, you want some?” “Sure, Ah’ll have the Frosted Flakes.” She said, nodding. I poured the cereal in a container, then the milk, and gave it to her. I placed it on the table, and she sort of looked awkward when sitting on a chair, kinda like Lyra, but she wasn’t laying back. I was about to look for a spoon for her since I didn’t wanted to seem like a bad host, but she just started munching down already. “Wow,” She said after swallowing the cereal. “This is pretty good. You humans know good food.” I nodded, walking into the living room with Nino following me. I sat down on the couch, sighing and thinking about how to get them all back home. Nino laid down on the floor across from me, also thinking about whatever goes on in his mind. I thought to myself about this whole situation I was stuck in, along with the ponies. I kept thinking about the whole witchcraft theory, about how little magic Earth actually has. I wondered how week Twilight Sparkle was, since needing what little amount of magic she had could still be useful. I knew Applejack and Pinkie Pie were Earth Pony’s which means that Applejack could be great with planting and strength, and Pinkie could be great with keeping others happy. Rarity is great at finding gems, but would good could that do? Maybe she could make clothes and blankets out of things old things. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could fly, so they could scout an area from above. Then, all of a sudden, the power in the entire house went out. Nino immediately got up on all fours and started growling. I walk calmly to all the window’s around the bottom floor, checking through the creeks of the boarded windows. “Calm down Nino, don’t see a thing.” I say, petting my dog. But I knew how strong a dog's senses were compared to a humans, so I was on point at all times. I walked looked for the flashlight I had, and found it sitting on the living room table. I grabbed it and turned it on. I walked into the kitchen, where only the sunlight from the window shined into the kitchen, right where Applejack was sitting. “Hey, what happened to the lights?” She said, looking at me. I pointed the flashlight at her, blinding her for a bit. “Be careful where ya swing that thing! Nearly burn a pony’s eye out.” “Sorry,” I say, shining the light all around the kitchen. I walked towards the basement, looking back at Applejack. “I’ll be back, I just gotta fix the lights.” I walked down the stairs and walked up to what I needed to fix. I never learned the name, but I knew what do and change. I opened up the box, and to my confusion, all the little knobs were still working. To assure this, I pulled out each quickly, but none of the bulbs were burnt out. “That’s weird.” I say, out loud. “The only way I know the lights could go out is as if someone cut the..” The sudden realization made me sick to my stomach. I rushed upstairs loud enough to wake up everypony in the house. I knew that because I heard Rainbow Dash yell “Knock off that racket!” I walked to the nearest window that shows me the power box from the inside. It was forced open, and all of the wires were cut off. Little sparks of electricity flew through the air like nothing, than evaporating as quick as it came. There could only be one explanation for this. “Marauders…” “You were running faster than a bull seeing red.” I turn around to see Applejack looking up at me. I knew she could see the look of worry I had on my face, and she couldn’t help but ask. “Is everything alright, sugarcube?” “No, this is not good.” I say. I then start to hear Nino barking loudly, and run into the living room. He was barking at the front door, growling and barking menacingly. “Fuck, ! They’re trying to get in!” I say, backing away into the kitchen. “Who’s tryin’ to break in? A robber?” Applejack said, looking at me. “Ah can handle them, no worries!” “It ain’t robbers. Well, they are, but much worse. Stay here with Nino, but for the love of God, don’t confront whatever comes through that door!” I began to run upstairs and I burst into my ma’s room, scaring the mares. Rarity was the only one to scream. “Don’t you know to knock before you enter! No manners!” “Yea yea, look I need you all to get up from the bed now.” I didn’t have time time to explain, so I just threw off the blanket they were all sleeping in. “Woah woah woah, hold up bud.” Rainbow Dash flew up to me, not all up in my face but close enough. “Why do we need to get off the bed? Answer me bub-” “Because there is something bad happening, now get out of this room, go downstairs until I get there, and stay behind Nino, NOW!” I yelled out my final word from that sentence, but I didn’t care. I needed them to know that we had to leave the house. I ran into my brothers room and found a really big backpack he used for school. I emptied out all of the stuff he had in there and quickly rushed into my room. I placed some clothes into it, a dew shirts, socks, pants and underwear. It still had enough room, so I placed the knife sharpener and the box in the bag. I took out six bullets from the box and quickly placed them all in the revolver. They all seem to fit, but I still wasn’t sure if they were able to fire without a possible chance of blowing up in my hand. I put the revolver in my pocket, hoping to God that it wouldn’t go off. I heard all of the ponies quickly run downstairs, where I heard loud chatter coming from them. I quickly ran back into my ma’s room and found a large bag. I took that with me as well, ran back into my room, and put the bottles of Alcohol in them. I’m not that good in chemistry, but I know making a molotov would be pretty easy. I grab the machete and strap it behind me, like I was sheathing an actual sword. I strap the backpack and the large bag together,putting them behind me and giving me enough room to move. I quickly run downstairs, where Nino’s growling became a lot more fierce than he already was before I went upstairs. All the ponies were centered around the living room while I run into my older sisters room, frantically looking for the car keys. The car was big enough to fit all of us, and if we needed extra room, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could fly above the car. Finally, I found the keys and ran into the bathroom, taking a few towels and some toilet paper rolls just incase. I then run back into the living room, noticing that they all had their necklaces on them, while Twilight had on her crown. Then all the ponies looked up at me asking questions non-stop. “What in Tartarus is goin’ on?” “Rarity, I don’t think this is funny.” “Neither do I, darling.” “Who’s at the door?” “...” “Giovanni, is there something you are not telling us?” “Everyone, listen to me right now.” They all looked at me, but Nino kept growling at the door. I calmed down, but I walked towards the kitchen and stood in front of the back door. They all followed me to the kitchen. Nino did as well, but he was still growling loud enough to even make Fluttershy look at the door with worry. “There are things that I can’t explain right now, and I well once we get the hell out of here. But there are humans like me, but they aren’t all nice as me. I’m letting you know this right now, because whenever a time comes when I’m not there, you can’t trust just anybody in this world.” I look outside, seeing how it was all clear. Did they all run into the front? “Giovanni? What are you planning to do?” Twilight says to me as I turn around and look at her and all of the ponies. “Is something after us?” “Yes, something very bad. You don’t want to get touched by them, because they would turn you into something you don’t want to be, ever.” I started unlocking the door, and opening it slowly. “I’ll explain when we are out of here, but right now you all have to trust me. On the count of three, I want you all to run behind me and don’t stop running, no matter what. When we reach the front of the house, we are going to reach a big, grey metal vehicle, and you’ll all have to go inside of it.” Rainbow Dash was about to speak, but I stopped her. “But Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy can fly above it and follow us. But Fluttershy, I highly suggest that you stay in the car, since you don’t look like you can fly very fast, no offence.” She nodded but did not speak. “Good. Is everypony ready?” I asked that one more time, just to make sure everypony was ready to run. I nodded at them and counted. “Good. One..Two...Three!!” I swing the door open fast enough to smack the wall and break off it’s own handle. On my way running down the steps, I grabbed my SwitchAxe from the nearest corner I placed it in and held it in my left hand, with the car keys in my right hand. I led them to the side of the house, where they all followed, including Nino. I looked at both sides of the street until I found my car: A grey, Suburban. I quickly run towards it, leading the ponies behind me. I’ve always left the doors unlocked just incase of an emergency, and right now, it’s a fucking emergency. I opened the door widely, not even giving a single fuck if it breaks off. “All of you get it, NOW!!!” They did as they were told, and Nino entered the cars hastily. He took the passenger seat, and I just shoved all of the bags into the car, and kept the machete strapped onto me. I closed the door and was about to enter the car until I realized the fucking jumper cables were still downstairs. I cursed loudly, reminding myself to facepalm when I have the time. I opened the door, talking to the ponies. “Stay in this car no matter what, and make no noise! Understand!?” Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Rarity were sitting in the far back, and Twilight, Fluttershy were sitting in the-Wait. Where is Rainbow Dash?! I look above the car to see her hovering in place . She had a look of horror and confusion on her face. “What..what are those things!?” I look to the direction she was looking at, and I nearly screamed. A horde of zombies were slowly walking down the street, making their way towards all of the noise. I cursed loudly staring at the horde. I look up at Rainbow Dash, telling her to get in the fucking car. “Tell them all to be quiet and make absolutely no noise. At all!!” She nodded and entered the car, still looking at me. “I’ll be right back, I need to get something important.” I quickly ran towards the house, and there were three Marauders. I called them that because they resemble humans, with fresh skin and all, but they are a lot tougher. They still have the senses of a human, but are slow walkers. Their eyes worked greatly, and so did their hearing. I put the keys in my pocket and placed my right hand on the handle of the SwitchAxe. I ran up to the first Marauder and swung the axe side of the weapon with full force, slicing it’s neck with a hacking, squishy noise. I quickly pull it out and bring it down upon the second Marauder, right in the center of his bloodied skull. The other one was coming up on me, but I just kicked it down the stairs. I had no time to watch it fall on the ground, so I quickly broke my sisters window, broke off the boards and ran into the house. I moved as quickly as I could and ran into the basement, looking for the cables. “Come on, where the fuck-there!” At last, I found the jumper cables and quickly ran upstairs. I ran through the back door and through the side of the house, looking for the car. Then, I heard screaming coming from my right ear. By the car was a zombie trying to get in by breaking the window, and I was too far away to throw the SwitchAxe at the zombie. I placed the cables over my shoulder and pulled out the revolver. I pointed it at the zombie’s head, with the cold metal shaking in my hand. I dropped the SwitchAxe blade on the ground placed both my hands on the gun for better accuracy. I took a deep breath and pulled the trigger. A loud bang was heard around the entire street, and the roar of zombies filled my ears. The back of the head of the zombie had a giant hole into it, and it’s lifeless body fell to the ground. I put the gun in my pocket and picked of the SwitchAxe and ran to the car. I opened the back door and placed the my weapon and the cables there. I only kept the Machete with me and the gun in my pocket. I quickly enter the car, pulled out the keys and turned on the car. I only knew the basics of the driving, but at time like this, I felt as if every memory of practicing how to drive entered my brain. I drove down the street quickly but calmly and made a sharp turn to the left, leading us to the freeway. I knew it was getting cold, but I had no map at the time, and I just kept on driving. Right now, the only place that I knew where their was a map of michigan was at my aunts house. She kept a big map of michigan for whenever we would travel with her to a water park, Michigan Adventures or something like that.It was at least twenty-five minutes away from my house. I’m not sure if the freeway is packed, but even if it is I’ll take the long way there. I slowed down the car a bit, stopping at an empty road by a gas station. I checked the gas, and we were full, but I knew that we were going to need more gas wherever we were going. Lucky there was a Jerry Can in the back. I turned around to the ponies, and they all had the same look on their faces, fear. Their necklaces glistened in the light, while Twilight was just holding hers. Her hooves were shaking, and my hands were shaking as well. I turn off the car, but not before checking all around the area of the car for zombies. I then spoke, breaking the silence. “Those things you saw back there...they are not human. Not anymore. They are infected. The walking dead. Zombies.” I look at all of them through the rearview mirror, looking at all of their faces. “When that..When that zombie was hitting the glass, you all saw it right? It’s lifeless eyes and it’s skin rotting off?” They all nodded their head. “But..how do you know all of this?” Fluttershy said. I looked at her, and she already had tears in her face. I don’t blame her. The things I’ve seen also make me want to ball out. But I kept my calm and spoke back. “...I’m going to tell you all about what has happened this past month.” > Stop n' Go. > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stop n’ Go Detroit, Michigan:Gas Station. 7 Days Until Halloween. 10:15 A.M. It only took fifteen minutes to escape, but it took an hour to explain what all happened in this world. I told them about the man who ate the other person's face, which then spread the infection to each individual. I told them about how a S.W.A.T team would enter people’s houses and take them all away to a facility either in the city, or out of the whole state, including my family.. I told them how I’ve been living on my own for the past month with Nino and how we both have been living off of food for about a month until we realized we were running out, and we had to go find some. I told them about how I had to run away from some zombies and how I found them outside of my house, knocked out. “So, when you went out to find us something to eat,” Pinkie said, looking at me through the rearview mirror. “Those things were out there too?” I nodded, and even told them how my father was living on his own and that I had to kill him. I didn’t even have to look at all of them, because I heard them all gasp, but the silence in the car grew louder the more I spoke. “And after calming down, I brought you all the food you wanted to eat.” Nino than started licking my face. I guess he knew I was having a tough time too as much as everyone else in this car. “I went up stairs and changes some clothes, and came back downstairs to find you all in the living room, and your Princess talking to us all soon after.” “Than this morning I wake up to see Applejack and Nino in my room. I had a bad dream and they were nice enough to check up on me.” I look at Applejack through the rearview mirror, who was wiping her tears away with her stetson hat. “Thanks for caring by the way.” “Uh huh,” She sniffled . “Nino and Ah heard strange noises comin’ from him, so we checked up on him.” She leaned over a bit and petted Nino on the head, softly.” Right, Nino?” “Woof!” He said, barking in agreement. “And after giving Applejack some cereal, the power went out. Turns out it was Marauders.” “Marauders?” I hear Rarity say. “You mean ponies were trying to hurt us?” “Not ponies, more like humans with zombie instincts. Their minds haven’t gone completely numb, so they are able to use their smarts to their advantage.” I said. I looked at my hand and pulled out the index and middle finger, pointing at both one by one. “There’s the normal zombies, Walkers, and then there are Marauders. They are equally as slow as Walkers, but smarter. They can’t talk, but they can communicate somehow.” “Are-Are there more different types of these things?” Twilight says, sniffling. “If there are Walkers and Marauders, then there could be more, right?” “God, I hope not. Like I said, yesterday was my first day I actually left the house, and I don’t know much about other states. Hell, not even my own, sadly.” It’s true. I’m more boxed in then I picture myself. “I do know some places we could go for shelter, for now at least. Like my aunts house.” The mood felt really dark on it’s own, and the abandoned gas station made the mood felt even creepier. So, I decided to lighten up the mood. I looked at Rainbow Dash through the rearview mirror, who was too busy wiping her own eyes. “Hey, Rainbow Dash?” “Yea?” I smirked. “I thought you were a tough mare? I thought tough mares don’t cry?” “Of course I’m crying! Can't you see we’re stuck in a world filled with..” I winked at her, making her confused. That was, until she caught on with what I was trying to do. “I mean, I wasn’t crying! I just had something in my eye!” She then looked over at Applejack. “Right, AJ? We tough mares don’t cry!” Applejack soon caught up with the both of us, smiling. “Yea, Ah hear ya. Earth ponies don’t cry either, cause we’re tough like that! Right Pinkie?” I looked over at Pinkie, who’s straight hair started returning back to it’s poofy, frizzy self slowly. “Y-yea! We’re all tough mares! Right gals?” Then, both Rarity and Twilight Sparkle started to smile as well, agreeing with the pink mare. Even Fluttershy stopped crying, and gave a little smile. “Friends for life, huh Nino?” I whisper quietly to him. He nodded, licking my face. This time, I turned around to the six mares, who were all giving each other high-fives-er, high-hooves. “Alright. I’ll be back you guys. Stay in the car.” “Wait, where the buck are you going?!” Rainbow Dash said, looking at me. “You’re seriously going to leave us all in this...um,-” “Car?” “Yea that’s it! We don’t wanna stay in here with all those things out there!” Rainbow Dash had a point, ain’t no way in hell it would be a wise idea to leave all of these ponies in the car alone. I trust Nino, but to many of those zombies are too much to handle for one dog, let alone one person. “Alright, alright. I want all of you to walk around me, and don’t separate. Make sure you give yourselves enough space to move freely, but close enough to help each other in case one of us is in trouble. We’re going inside that gas station, and we’re going to find enough food for us for a little travel, got it?” Everyone of them nodded their heads. “Alright, I’ll go out first, and I’ll let you know if we are are all free to go inside that gas station. Nino, I’ll let you out too to sniff out anything, okay?” I opened the door slowly, taking small steps out of the car. I looked around first and took out the machete, just in case. Thinking I was in for the clear, I walked over to the other side of the car, still looking over my shoulders. I opened the door, and Nino jumped out, already sniffing the air. “You smell anything?” I ask him. He just kept sniffing, and when he was done he looked up at me. “Alright, I’ll take that as no.” I then opened the door for the main six, and they all walked out of the car quietly. “Stay around each other and watch each others back. Lets go.” We walked towards the gas station, which looked like a fucked up crack house, worse than it already looked like before. The windows were all shattered, and the outdoor cooler it had was all busted up, with dried up blood spilling down the the cement ground. “That ain’t right.” I hear Applejack say. “That’s just..wrong.” The closer we walked to the entrance of the small building, I could feel my muscles tense up and my grip on the machete getting tighter. I could see the fluorescent lights flickering in a rhythmic pattern so randomly, I couldn’t tell if a zombie was going to pop out at any second. Upon reaching the entrance, Nino sniffed the door and all around, a growled lowly. “I’ll be inside right quick. Nino senses something in their, so I'ma check it out.” They all nodded, all standing around Nino. I walked inside of the small building, keeping the machete in a stance, ready to strike in case anything comes in. The place was so small, there were only two isles, all empty too. I walked around the store and looked around carefully and for anything I need on a travel. Hell, even a map would be useful right now, but still-nothing. That’s when I saw the zombie. I looked at the end of the store, and the zombie itself had no legs, they must have rotten off. However, what really caught my attention was something really shiny in it’s hand. it was a key, small enough to fit in the zombies hand, but shiny enough to catch my eyes. I walked slowly close enough towards it, but the closer I got the more it started to wave it’s arm frantically. I backed away quickly because I didn’t want it to touch me. I looked around the store for a long enough projectile, but I couldn’t find anything. “How about using this?” “Oh shit!” I yell. I turn around to see Pinkie pie holding my SwitchAxe blade on her head, from the handle. I nearly had a god damn heart attack. “Pinkie? What are you doing here? I thought I told you to stay outside.” I raised my voice for a good reason, because I can’t risk her losing her life over not following directions. “Well, I thought you were going to need this, so I ran back into that thingy, and pulled out this thingy…” She set it on the floor, backing away slowly. “I’m, I’m sorry.” I sighed, looking at her. “No, no, you’re right, I do need this. Just, call out my name next time, please?” She nodded, then walked outside of the small building. I sheathed the machete and pick up the SwitchAxe and walked close enough to bring down the meat cleaver side of my weapon on its head. Its skull was crushed under the force I put on top of its head, and I watched it die slowly. But just because I couldn’t risk it, I pulled out my SwitchAxe, switched it over to the axe side, and swung hard enough the cut off it’s head. At first ir was hanging on a slab of it’s skin, but after I poked the head a rolled towards the wall. I shivered, still trying to get use to seeing this type of shit. The grip it had round the key was pretty strong, so I cut off the hand and picked it up, using the my sleeve as a glove. I looked around for a door, and then I realized the zombies carcass was leaning on said door I was looking for. So, with one arm, I pull the body away from the door and pushed it far enough to give me some room in order to open the door. I used the zombies hand to open the door, because the key was long enough to fit into the keyhole. With a twist, I opened the door slowly and used the hand as a doorstopper. I wiped the sleeve on my hoodie while walking into the dark room. I feel around the wall until I found a small switch, and turned on the lights. I smiled widely, giving myself a mental pat on the back. In this small room, I found small boxes of snacks, a case of exactly thirty-two water bottles, and a small case of twelve five hour energy bottles. Those would be fucking useful for staying up late on gaming nights, but it looks like those days are over. Still, this is useful. I looked around the room for anything else that could be useful but there was nothing left. It didn’t matter though, this is what we’ll have to deal with until later. I walked outside of the room and outside of the building, smiling. “I found somethings useful. Alright, Applejack and Rainbow Dash, I need your help. Just let me run back to the car and put my SwitchAxe away.” Everypony entered the car and I had to put on their seat belts for them, since they have no fingers. I did the same for Nino and I too. “Alright, everybody ready?” I look back at all the ponies in the car, who were too busy eating some Doritos and Lays. I found chips, a small case of chocolate donuts, those kind of pies that come in a wrapping, all were cherried flavored, some honey buns, and more. Yea it was all sweets and junk food, but sugar is keeping us focus, especially Pinkie. She nearly lost her mind when she found a chocolate bar. Unfortunately, Nino can’t eat chocolate, but I gave him some peanut butter, which is chocolate to dogs. I also was a little tired and hungry, so I ate a bag of chips and drank both the Five Hour Energy bottle and some water. “Yea, I think we’re all set.” Rainbow Dash says, continuing to eat her Funyuns. “These are good.” I nod and started the car. “Next up, Aunt Stephanie’s house.” > Short Rest > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Short Rest Dearborn, Michigan:Mary Street 7 Days Until Halloween. 10:45 A.M. “So let me get this straight, because I am really confused.” Rainbow Dash says as I make a turn. “These chips right here are bad for you? How can something so good be bad for you?” “What’s so confusing about it?” I say, still focusing on the road. “These chips have grease, and grease is bad for you! It gives you extra pounds.” “Well yea, I get that.” Rainbow says, talking with her mouth fool. “What I don’t understand it that these are made from potato’s, so shouldn’t they be healthy?” “Because salt.” I say. looking at her through the rear-view mirror. “But that doesn’t-” “Uh, Ah hate to cut into ya’lls little argument, but where exactly is your Aunts house, Giovanni?” I hear Applejack say. “It seems pretty far. We’ll probably be there in about an hour, maybe-” I roll up beside a house and stop in the middle of the street. Because, lets be honest, who would park correctly in a zombie apocalypse when the road is free? I turn off the car, unbuckled my seatbelt and turned around. “Alright, we’re here. I’ll get out of the car first and look around. I’ll let you all know if it’s safe. Come on, Nino.” I got out of the car and looked around the neighborhood first. All of the houses looked just as bad as they do in Detroit, except they aren’t burnt first. Most of the houses had boards covering up the houses, but they would all have at least a door or a window busted open. The lawns had a few bodies lying about, blood on the sidewalk, and the sun shining down above me made it seem like I was the only live one in the neighborhood. I walked to the passenger door and let out Nino, whereis he already started to sniff out the area around us. He ran off into the end of the street, then ran back towards me. I nodded, then opened the door for the main six. “Alright, we are in the clear.” I look to the house we stopped at, pointing at it. “That’s my aunts house. Remember what I said, stay around me and let me know if you find anything weird.” They all nodded their heads, and I started leading them to the door of the house. The windows were boarded up, but the front entrance was open. I stepped foot in first, looking around. The living room was small, and my Aunt Stephanie’s flat screen was broken, with dried blood splashed on the corner of the T.V. The couches were also stained with dried blood, and the mirrors they had hanging above them were now smashed into pieces. “My word,” Rarity says, looking around the room with a look of disgust on her face. “How horrific.” “Yea. I want you all to stay here in the living room while I scout the house. Nino is staying with you, so if anything comes up, I want you all to yell my name loud as you can.” I turned away and started walking up the stairs, unsheathing my machete. I walk up the stairs slowly, breathing quietly enough to hear all anything go around me. When I reached the second floor, the only room up there was my aunts house. The last time I checked, she said she left her maps in her room. I walked towards the room, which had the door nearly broken off and blood stains on the floor around it, leading a trail into the room. I held my machete in an offensive stance, ready to kill anything that came out and tried to attack me. I stepped into the room and was immediately rushed with a rotting smell. The stench was so bad, I nearly puked. I covered my nose with the sleeve of my hoodie, but even then the stench was too strong. I looked around for the source of the smell and found that it was coming from the other side of the bed. I walked towards it and found out that the smell was coming from a body. My aunts dead body. The skin on her face was rotting off quick, I can nearly see her skull. All of the hair were falling off, and only patches of it were left. Her eyes were rotting off, and maggots were crawling in there, feasting on her own flesh. I was starting to lose my breakfast, so I walked away from the body and searched her drawers. I always feel a little bad when I kill a zombie, but if it ever comes to family, I just can’t do it. Luckily for me, it looked like she knew what was going to happen to her. I looked down to her right arm, where she gripped a gun. I didn’t bother taking it, I already had a gun with me. Besides, there is a Wal-Mart around this area that sells hunting rifles. All though, I probably won't enter unless I have too. Finally, after digging through all of her stuff, I found what I came for. I quickly ran out of the room and came rushing downstairs, where I found all of the ponies sitting in the living room, talking quietly. “Okay, I found what we came for.” Twilight Sparkle walked up to me, tilting her head. “What is it?” I open the map wide, big enough for the main six to crowd around and look at it. Not as big as the wall, but how maps are suppose to look. It was an entire map of Michigan, with all the roads, the legend, labeled cities and such. This could help us out. “Hey, Michigan looks like your hand, Gio! Why is that?” Pinkie said, turning the attention towards me. “I honestly have no idea. The land formed it that way, maybe? Last time I remembered, my kindergarten teacher said some giant lumberjack cut down all of the trees around Michigan, revealing its true form.But it’s just folklore, a story.” I say, folding the map. “That sounds...illogical.” I look down at Twilight, who had a look of confusion on her face. “I mean, it doesn’t make any sense. How can a human that big cut down so many trees?” I shrugged, walking towards the kitchen. “I don’t know. Like I said, it’s all just a story. There isn’t a point in proving it wrong.” I open the fridge looking around for any food. Everything inside of the fridge was spoiled, and in the freezer there was nothing. I closed the door and walked outside, looking around the neighborhood. “This place seems nice enough to lay low for awhile. But I’m not taking any chances.” “So, what was the point of finding that map?” I look down to see Twilight Sparkle looking around the neighborhood, also inspecting it. “If you don’t mind me asking, that is.” “Because the weather is getting cold, Twilight. And I don’t have fur like you, your friends, and Nino. It’s gonna start getting into really cold temperatures this coming November, but I want to head someplace warmer by then.” I sit down on a chair on the porch, sighing deeply. “Not only that, I still gotta find a way to get you all home. I’m thinking those things on your friends’ necks could help, including your crown. Until then, you all should keep those on at all times.” “I see.” She says. “Hmm...You said something about Witchcraft in this world, right? Couldn’t that help us get back home?” I nodded. “Yea, but I know Witchcraft. For all I know, it’s only used as curses.” “Curses aren't real!” Twilight says, as if she was annoyed by that. “But you’re here.” “What does that have to do with anything?” “Uh, gee, I have no idea-Everything?” I say, sarcastically. “Look, just give me some time alone, I need to think. Please?” She nodded, then went back inside the house. I started slouching in the chair, sighing. I pulled out the folded map from my pocket and started reading it, trying to get all of the directions into my head. Still, I couldn’t get the thought of all of this going on. Celestia appearing in my house, zombies infesting the world, ponies traveling with me-It all feels like something big is going on, but I just don’t know what. But for now, I’m just going to focus on this map. Twilight could also help with this, actually. Maybe she could- CRASH! > Magic Makes The World Go 'Round > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Magic Makes The World Go ‘Round Dearborn, Michigan:Aunt Steph’s House 7 Days Until Halloween 11:10 A.M. I quickly ran inside the house and looked around frantically. Everypony in the living room were alive and breathing. On the wooden floor, however, was the large flat screen T.V. Glass surrounded it, mostly small pieces but nothing large enough to cause a gash, just small cuts. “Is everypony okay? What happened?” “Well, Twilight tried to lift up that box thingy with her magic but...she couldn’t. As soon as she tried to lift this thing, she got really tired all of a sudden and dropped it. She looked like she was about to pass out, so she’s over there on the couch.” Pinkie Pie said, pointing her hoof towards Twilight. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were trying to fan her with their wings, while Applejack did the same with her hat. I walked over to her, confused as why Pinkie sounded as if Twilight was about to faint. Her face was sweating, and she took long deep breathes. “Twilight? You okay?” “Yea...just a little tired.” She said, wiping her forehead with her hoof. “I tried lifting that thing to see if magic in this world is still usable. It is, but I got really tired very quick.” She started to get up from the couch slowly, taking baby steps. In no time, she was standing on all fours in no time, smiling. “See? All better. Thanks for the fanning girls, I was really getting hot.” “Any time, partner.” “Yea, we got you!” “Um..you’re welcome…” I looked down at the T.V then back at Twilight, then all of the ponies. The gears in my head started turning rapidly, and when I formed my guess, a chill was sent down my spine so cold, Nino, who was laying on the couch, even felt a disturbance. What if...what if magic is like, their energy? Like, what's needed for them in order to keep moving, like proteins but with magic? “Twilight, I have a question.” I said, walking far enough so everypony could look at me. “Where you come from, is magic used there constantly?” “Well, not always. It is a big part of Equestrian culture yes, but science also comes into the mix.” She smiles proudly at her answer, but then sighed a bit. “Excluding Pinkie Pie. Don’t ask, even I don’t get her.” “So, in general,” I said, feeling a lump in my throat. “Would you go as far as to say that magic is needed for you stay at the top of your game?” “What do you mean by that?” Rainbow Dash asks, looking at me. “What does this have to do with us?” “Okay let me explain. Humans have hearts, in case you didn’t know. And just like we have hearts, we have a bunch of other organs like a stomach, kidneys, lungs etcetera. Since we have these organs, we need to keep them healthy, so we have to eat healthy food, like fruits and vegetables, and occasionally…” I hesitated for a second, but I had to continue. If they knew now, we won’t have any problems in the future. “Meat.” I heard them all gasp, but I payed no mind. “Now, eating all of these keeps us going, gives us enough strength to get us through our days-you see where I am going with this?” “I..think I do.” Twilight said, shaking her head. It looks like she was shaking the thought of me eating meat. “You’re trying to say that we need magic to give us strength?” “Not just strength specifically, but yes.” I nodded, looking at all of the ponies. “ Think about. The only magic here is pretty ancient,evil, and foreign to you all. I think the magic in your world is all natural, since you all were born and raised into it.” “In other words,” Rarity said, with a face of understanding. “You are saying that our magic is useless here?” “I’m saying that you all aren't use to this magic. Meaning-” “Our magic is getting weaker.” Everypony, including Nino and I, looked at Twilight Sparkle, who had a look of worry on her face. “That would explain why I felt really tired after I lifted that thing.” “That’s my guess, Twilight.” I said, trying my best to comfort everypony. “I’m not one hundred percent sure if this is true, but it would make sense.” “Awe, that’s a load of hay!” We all turned our attention to Applejack, who was staring at all of us.”Come on. Ya’ll don’t actually believe that cowpie. Ain’t no way in Celestia’s mane are we gettin’ weaker. Twilight, you was just tired, is all. We all are, and I can prove it to the lot of ya why I think that guess is wrong!” She looked over to me, giving me a harsh stare. “Giovanni, is there a tree ‘round here?” “Well, there is one in the backyard, what do you-” She bolted right past me and ran outside. This made Nino bolt off of the couch and follow her as well. She looked around until she chose her way. We all ran out of the house, and I caught a glimpse of her tail before she burst through the rusted gate. When we ran and caught up to Applejack, she was standing right next to a tree, grinning. Nino wasn’t near her, he was right next to me, staring at Applejack. “Ah’ll show ya how strong us Earth Ponies are in Equestria!” The tree she was preparing to kick wasn’t so thick, but still large enough for Applejack to hit. The leaves were all autumn color but were falling off in the wind, since it is nearing the end of October. She lifted up her hind legs, ready to give that tree a good buck. “Callin’ me weak, Ah’ll show you!” With all of her strength, she kicked the tree with a face full of determination. The only problem is, the tree didn’t fall. Shit, there wasn’t even a crack, or even a thud. Just the sound of Applejacks legs hitting the trunk. “Well...that ain’t suppose to happen. Let me try again.” She readied herself and struck the tree with as much force as she could muster. But even though she gave it her all, the tree just wouldn’t budge. I could see the confusion on her face slowly turn into anger with each kick she tried. Rainbow Dash tried to walk up to her to stop her, but I held my hand in front of her. She needed to see the truth. “Why-” Thwack “Won't-” Thwack “You-” Thwack “BREAK!? YA STUPID TREE!” THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! After a couple more hits, she started to slow down and grow tired. She then sat on her plot with a look of shock all over her face. She took off the necklace and held the Element in her hand. She just stared at the grey apple as if her own death was being pictured right in front of her. “But...How?” She looked up at me with watery eyes. “This is all just a dream, right?” All of this? We’ll wake up any minute, right-” SMACK It all happened so quick. I didn’t even notice Pinkie was missing until I saw her smack Applejack right in the face. Applejack didn’t do a damn thing. She just stared at Pinkie with watery eyes. Twilight had a look of shock on her face, then tried to speak. “Pinkie! Why did you hit-” “Twilight..Don’t.” The one to speak up was Fluttershy, surprisingly. “You need to let those two resolve it. It’s for the best of them.” “But..” Twilight then thought about what Fluttershy said. She nodded, and we all continued to watch. “We are in a really bad situation.” Pinkie Pie said, looking at Applejack square in the eye. Her normal happy, bubbly tune turned very sad, yet serious. I’ve never in my life thought I would see Pinkie Pie act so serious. “We’re in a world where there are things out to eat us, and as far as we can tell, there is no way out. You’re over here trying to prove somepony wrong, but look at the facts: We are getting weaker. I don’t feel like we’ll get so weak to the point where we can’t walk, but to where our magic is going to stop working.” Applejack started to get the message through her, and she looked to the ground. Tears were starting to roll down her face, as well as Pinkie Pie’s. “But, here’s the thing.” Applejack looked up at Pinkie, who had plastered a smile on her face to represent the comfort she was trying to give, yet the tears and her cracking voice say otherwise. “No matter where we are, no matter what situation we are in...we still have each other, Applejack. You, Dashie, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity and even I know that. We all still have each other, and we even made a new friend where we landed.” She turned her head and gave me a sad smile. I nearly wanted to ball out, because my family is not with me. Yet, even I still smiled to try to lift up Applejack’s spirits. “You see? We’ll always have each other. Remember Applejack.” She wiped her face with her foreleg, then gave her a big smile. “You have to smile through all of the bad things.” She gave her a really big hug, wrapping her forelegs around her. Applejack started to cry, which Pinkie Pie tried her best to stop her from doing so. “It’s okay. We’re all here, let it all out. That’s what friends are for, right?” It wasn’t even needed for the rest to get the hint, they all ran up to Pinkie and Applejack and tried to comfort her. Shit, they all even started to cry. I turned away from the seen, trying to cover my tears with my hood. Nino started to wince, looking at the ground, as was I. It was really cute, yes, but considering the circumstances, I couldn’t daw at that. No, I decided right then and there, that nothing is going to stop me from getting these ponies back to their home. After wiping my tears, I turned around to see them also calming down, each individually giving Applejack a hug, and telling her things like “We all have each other” and the like. I walked up to them with dried eyes, sighing. “I think we should all go. With all of the recent noises we made, zombies could be here. Twilight, I could use your help, actually. All of you could go back inside, I just need to talk to her.” Nino looked up at me, and I petted him, wanting to let him know that I was going to be okay. “Go with them, Nino. Protect them.” They all agreed and walked towards the front of the house, whereis Twilight and I stood alone in the backyard. I pulled out the folded map from my pocket and opened it. It was then that I realized that the back of the map had a zoomed in area of Wayne county, and various of places where I could go. I turned it to the entire map of Michigan and showed Twilight. “Okay, I’m the one who is going to be driving most of the time, and I can’t look at the map every time, so I need somebody-pony, to tell me where to go. Do you think you can read this map?” “Well, it is very different from maps where I’m from, but I think I can figure it out.” She said, smiling. “ I mean, the roding looks kind of the same to the roads at home, except they are more made of stone and dirt, but I think I got this.Is that all?” We started to walk away, and I started folding the map again. “Yea, that’s it for now. Now come on, let’s get back inside of the house.” Canterlot, Equestria 7 days before Nightmare Night Raising the sun every day never seems to tire out the Sun Princess, but ever since she had to communicate with her beloved ponies and a human in a different dimension, not to mention transporting the Elements of Harmony. Princess Luna, her sister who normally raises and descends the moon, had to help her older sister early that morning. Even the Princess of the Night knows the current problem the bearers of the Elements are in, and yet even she cannot find a way to get the ponies home. Spike, Celestia’s pupil’s assistant, has written more than enough letters to her, wanting to let her know that his friend is gone. Not only that, but even the sisters of the ponies wrote to Princess Celestia as well, including Rainbow Dash’s number one fan, Scootaloo. It broke Princess Celestia’s hurt to tell Spike and the C.M.C the news, and just witnessing the tears flow from her ponies and the baby dragon made her heart ache. For now, Spike the Dragon is taking residence with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in their castle, until Twilight and her friends return home. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are both conversing with each other in the royal meeting room, both trying to come up with ways on trying to bring the elements and their bearers back home. It wasn’t until Princess Celestia suggested an idea that could possibly bring them back home. Unfortunately, Luna did not agree with the suggestion at all. “No! This is a very bad idea sister There must be another way to bring them back!” Luna said, looking at her sister. “I disagree with this, Tia!” “He is the only one who could possibly help us. We have tried everything, Luna! We looked in the royal archives, under the books of Starswirl the Bearded, and yet we still could not find a thing to help us. I fear that he is the only one to help us. You and I both know his power, he can do it. Besides, it was just an idea. ” Celestia tried her best to reason with Princess Luna, but nothing was working. “He is the whole reason the Elements of Harmony exist! If we bring him back from stone, how do we know he will not try to bring Equestria into utter chaos, just like last time?” Luna said, stomping her hoof. “I am completely against this, Tia!” “As am I, but he could be of use to us in case things don’t work out.” Celestia sighs, looking at her little sister. “However, I do remember the human say something about Witchcraft.” “Maybe there could be somepony in Zebraca that could help us?” Luna said, trying to help her sister with the problem. “Or maybe we don’t need to go to Zebraca. Twilight Sparkle once wrote you a letter saying she and her friends befriended a Zebra who also uses Witchcraft.” “But the Witchcraft on Earth was more evil, Luna. I felt it when I contacted them. It ran a chill up my spine. I haven’t felt that much since King Sombra.” The Princess shook her head, trying rid the memories of the horrible King. “But Contact this Zebra later tonight. Meanwhile, I need to get back to other royal duties.” Princess Luna nuzzled her sisters cheek. “We will find a way, Tia, I assure you.” Lun then teleported away, where to Celestia did not care at the moment. The Princess of the Sun walked towards a window that was directed towards the royal gardens. There, she saw the horrible, chaotic creature that nearly took Ponyville do damnation. If it wasn’t for Twilight and her friends, he would have been roaming free. She shuddered at the thought of ever releasing the Draconicus. Just the sight of him reminded the pain she and her sister took when Discord ruled. “Hopefully, releasing him will never come.” Princess Celestia said, covering the window with the shades. > Cleanup On Aisle Z > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cleanup On Aisle Z Dearborn, Michigan: Aunt Steph’s House 7 Days Until Halloween 12A.M. After all of us rested for about an hour, I decided that it was time to leave my aunt’s house, and start traveling somewhere else. I got up from the couch I was sitting on and made my way towards the door, sticking my head out. I looked both ways for any zombies, and I found two on the end of the road. Luckily they weren't walking over here, they were too busy stumbling around to notice us. I looked back at everypony and asked them if they were all ready to go. After all of us agreeing, I told them to stay behind me and Nino as we make our way to the car. I opened the door for all of them and told them to put on their seat belts, just in case we need to rush out of here just like we did at my house. I forgot that they didn’t have fingers, as I was too busy getting Nino in the car, but somehow Pinkie Pie was able to buckle everypony up, aside from Rainbow Dash. When I finished getting Nino in the car, She pulled on my pants-leg, getting my attention. “Hey, Giovanni, is it okay if I fly for a bit? Staying in that car thing gets me a bit closterfobic. I’ll stay above the car, I promise!” I thought carefully about what she said. Knowing from the show, she doesn’t like not using her wings when ever she can. But Now knowing that if Applejack has gotten weaker in her strength, then that would also make her speed decrease, too. “I don’t know. You saw how Applejack couldn’t kick the tree drown, and I thought she was a really strong mare- “Thank ya!” “-And since you’re a flying pony-” “Pegasus.” “Whatever, that would mean you’re wings would get tired too, right?” She thought about what I said, but she shook the thoughts away, as if she was saying “Bitch, I’m Rainbow Dash”. “Well, maybe, I don’t know. Look, I’ll just fly above the car, promise I won’t make a Sonic Rainboom!” I played along and asked her what a Sonic Rainboom was, and my confused face alone was enough to get her all giddy. “It’s when I go really fast into the sky, and when I drop down I make like a really loud noise! But it only happened after I come down. The boom happens, but the sound travels after.” “Basicly she breaks the sound-barrier!” I hear Twilight say. “Okay, one, don’t do that. That much of a noise is enough to get Detroit riled up in seconds. Second...fine, you can fly. But make sure you are above or next the the car while flying. I slow down if I notice you ever start to get any slower.” “Slow? Since when is Rainbow Dash-” She flies into the air and does three quick barrel rolls, a loopty-loop and lands right back on her hooves. “-Ever so slow?” “Well, this one time, at Math Camp-” I hear Applejack-Wait, Math Camp? “Shhhh! Anyway, it’s time we should get going, right?” Rainbow Dash looks at me with a nervous chuckle. I walked back into the car and started up the engine. I stuck my hand out of the car window and signaled for Rainbow Dash to start hovering. I started to drive and I checked the side mirror, and saw how she was already beginning to fly. She wasn’t going too fast, but just about the same speed as the car. “She’ll be fine.” I hear Rarity say. “She is the fastest pony I know.” I checked how much fuel we had left, and we were good for at least half of a day for driving. But just in case, I decided to drive towards another gas station to get more gas. It was near a Wal-Mart. The good news is, there could be some useful things in there we could take. The bad news? It’s most likely filled with zombies. “Okay, we’re gonna stop by a gas station and a Wal-Mart.” I said.” Before you ask, a Wal-Mart is where people go to buy food, clothes, toys, etc. Now, this place is big, and most likely, there will be zombies in there. I think I’m going in alone on this one.” “What?!” I hear them all say. “Yup, you all heard me. If I can, I am going to park close enough to the store, but far enough from any zombies. You all stay in the car-” “I think that idea, pardon my French, is stupid!” Rarity says. “For one, didn’t you say we all have to go together wherever you went? And two, why would you want to go inside of a store filled with those monsters?” I tried to talk, but my voice was drowned out by the rest of them talking. Aside from Fluttershy, who was too busy looking out the window. I really didn’t want to take them with me, and shit, I really didn’t wanted to go either, but there might be some stuff in there that we can use. I couldn’t leave them at my aunt’s house either, because zombies could turn up any time. I caved in, sighing. “Fine, you all can come. But remember-” “Yea yea, stay by ya at all times, we got it, partner.” After we stopped for gas, I drove up slowly to the entrance of Wal-Mart. Not the doors, but where you have to go to the parking lot. I stopped at said entrance, and cursed silently. There were a little bit cars there, but that didn’t mean that there weren’t a whole bunch of zombies. I counted as much as I could from the car, and there were at least about thirty walking around. I drove the car up as close as I could to the Wal-Mart, trying to not cause any attention. I turned off the car and let all of the ponies and dog, out. Rainbow Dash was already outside before any of us. “Alright. Stay absolutely quiet. Don’t make any noise at all, including you, Nino. Even when we get inside of the store we ain’t safe. At all. If you have anything to say, whisper is as quietly as you can.” I looked over at Fluttershy. “You. You’re usually the quiet one. Stay closer to one of them, okay?” She nodded, looking down at her hooves. “Alright, let’s go.” We started to walk towards the entrance. It wasn’t too far, but it sure felt far enough with all of these zombies surrounding the place. I looked around, keeping my self as quiet as I could. All of the zombies kept walking in different directions until we reached the front doors. There were three standing around it, moaning and looking around. Their eyes were already rotted out, so they couldn’t see us, but they sure as damn well could hear us. I turned around to the ponies and placed a finger over my lips, letting them know to be especially quiet. I walked past them as quiet as can be, and when I finally passed by them they were all still standing still. They all had to go one by one, just make sure they wouldn’t get ripped to pieces. The first one up was Twilight. She started to walk slowly beside the zombie, keeping her eyes focused on me. I mouthed the words, “stay calm”, and she did just that. She let loose a quiet sigh, wiping her forehead with her hoof. It’s a good thing that crown on her was sturdy. God knows what would happen if that fell of of her. Next up was Rainbow Dash. She nodded to herself, stayed quiet and started to move. She was a little faster than Twilight, but all that mattered is that she passed by with ease. She looked over at Rarity, who was too busy trying to calm herself down. It looked like she was about to have a heart attack, but Pinkie Pie patted her back. Instead of Rarity going, Pinkie Pie was up next. She was especially quiet and kept her focused on her friends. She passed by with ease as well, smiling at Rarity. Rarity deciding to swallow her pride and walk by the zombies. She kept her eyes on her friends too, not even looking away for a second. As soon as she got over here, I can tell she just wanted to scream, but she didn’t do that. She knew better, thankfully. Next up was Applejack. She nodded and walked quietly by the zombies. She was so close to us, but all of a sudden, her hat touched the zombie and fell of. All of us thought we were gonners, but the zombie just stayed there. Applejack quickly grabbed her hat from the cement ground and quickly but quietly walked over to us. Next up was Nino. There was really no trouble for him. Last, was Fluttershy. I knew she was the most scared out of all of us, but she knew she had to pass by. The thing is, she was just too scared to move, and we didn't have all the time in the world to stand around and wait for her to cross. Kinda like that dragon thing again. I slowly walked over to her and picked her up. I covered her mouth with my hand so she wouldn’t make any sounds and walked passed the zombies, making sure I made no noise too. I set her own and made sure everypony was here. After finishing the head count, we all started to walk inside the store. There was broken glass from people trying to break in, and I thought that was going to injure them all, but they walked over it anyway. I guess it’s good to have hooves. As we entered the store, Zombies were roaming around freely, some limping, some just standing and others just crawling. The whole store smelled bad, but I covered my nose. I felt bad for Nino and the ponies, but for now they have to go through with it. I didn’t make a list with what we needed, but for now, what we could go for is batteries, flashlights, maybe some tents, and some clothes...for me. “Okay,” I whispered. “Everypony follow me. We're going to get me some clothes first, then anything else we could use.” They all nodded and I started walking to the clothes Aisle. As we reached it, I cursed mentally. Nearly all of the clothes were gone. Barely anything was left, except for two packets of boxers I found, a couple of shirts, two pairs of jeans, some socks and two hoodies. I gathered them all and placed it all in a cart I found by a dead corpse. I moved it slowly from the zombies near it, who were all walking away to even notice. I thought and thought, and decided that we should go and try to find some outdoor things. I started to roll the cart slowly passed a couple of zombies, while I still kept my eyes on all the ponies. Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. When we reached the place, I found nothing there but bugspray, some flashlight, batteries and, get this, a chainsaw. I thought to myself, “what the hell is a chainsaw doing here”. But I left it alone. We don’t need any more noise coming from that. Next up was blankets. I rolled the cart a little faster, because the way towards the Bedroom aisle was all empty. I only found one large packet there, which came with two large blankets in it, thankfully. “Alright, I think that’s all we need.” I say, a little above a whisper. “Let’s get the hell out of here.” We started to roll the cart back to the entrance, where those zombies still stood there. There wasn’t enough room for the cart to fit through the broken doors, so I had to push the doors, attracting those zombies. Quickly, I shoved the machete into one of the zombies heads, and kicked it of. The next one I just slit it’s throat, and the rotten skin did the rest. It’s head rolled off of it’s shoulders, and I pushed the body away from the cart. The last one I just grabbed a flashlight and hit as hard as I could with the bottom. It fell on the ground, grunting. That was enough to cause nearby zombies to turn around. Fuck!” I said. I looked around frantically and found a few bottles laying on the ground. I picked them up and threw them near the zombies. When they heard that noise, it was enough for them to start walking away from us and towards the broken bottles. “Alright, go, go, go!” I say to the ponies. They all started to run towards the car, and I was pushing the cart as fast as I could. We reached the car, and I opened the back and shoved everything in there. I turned around behind me and sighed, thankful that there weren't any of the zombies following. I looked at all of the ponies. “Okay everypony get in the...Where is Fluttershy?” I looked around the car and everywhere my eyes could see, and I couldn’t find her at all. Fuck, where the fuck is she?! “Wasn’t she with you all?” I asked, panicking. This can’t be happening. “I think she’s still in the store-” “Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I say, running my hands over my head. “...Get in the car. I’m going to go get her.” “What? No! Where all-” I hear Twilight say, but I’m not having that. “No, all of you stay here, or so help me god-Just stay here.” I ran towards the store, not giving a fuck if any zombies were going to hear me. How the hell did she even get separated? I told her that she had to stay the closest! Inside of the large store, the small, yellow pegasus walked about quietly between rows. She was very scared yes, but she was also brave enough to try to find her way out of the maze-like aisles. She didn’t know she was alone until she realized that she was in another aisle, filled with toys. They were all scattered around the ground, action figures, dolls, toy guns, board games… And a toy pony... > Toying With Their Heads > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Toying With Their Heads. Dearborn, Michigan: Walmart 7 days until Halloween 1:32 P.M. “Get the fuck out of my way!” “AUGH!!” “Fuck you too!” *HACK* *SPLAT* It was hard enough trying to enter through the front door and trying to make absolutely no noise with one human, six ponies and a dog, and now I have too fucking run through walkers. Avoiding them is easy, but these things come in packs. So I made a simple plan to get Fluttershy. Step one, get in. Step two, get Fluttershy. Step three, get the fuck out! After slicing the head off of the zombie that was in my way with my machete, I ran straight through the clothes aisle, with at least six zombies roaming around. As I was running, I accidently hit a zombie and knocking it into the metallic shelves where they put clothes. It was enough noise to attract the attention of all the zombies in the clothing aisle, plus a few around the aisle. I honestly have no idea where to look. Where would Fluttershy go to? I have no time to think about that right now, I’m just going to run around the corners of the large store, shouting her name. A very bad idea considering the fact that this whole store is filled with zombies, but what else could I do? Shit, I’m not Sonic the damn Hedgehog. I’ll just have to run to the first section of the store and start off from there. As I was running the first thing I saw was the the electronic section. I ran into there and saw at least three zombies there, all of them wearing the Walmart uniform. I went up to the first one and just rammed my machete right between its eyes. It fell to it’s knees, and I pulled out my weapon and kicked it. The second one noticed the noise and limped towards me. I carefully approached it and slit it’s ankle, causing it to fall to it’s side and hitting it’s head on an edge of a shelf, empaling it. It slid off, and landed on the floor with a thud. I felt something grab my right shoulder and I quickly turned around with my machete ready. The third zombies teeth were so close to my neck, that I nearly panicked. If I did, then I would have been a goner in no time. But I still had my mind set on finding that yellow pony, and I brought up my right hand to the neck of the zombie, stopping it from coming any closer. With the machete in my left hand, I turned it to a stabbing position and shove the blade right into it’s skull. I turned away so no blood could enter my mouth, eyes or nose. After it stopped squirming, I pushed it off of me. “Oh god,” I said to myself. I whipped my hand on my hoodie and felt my skin crawl. “That was just fucking-Ughhh.” No time to waste. I run around the the electronic section, yelling her name and looking for her. “Fluttershy! Where are you!? It’s Giovann-” Then it came to me. Fluttershy is normally quiet. I cursed widely inside my head, realizing that she rarely is ever loud. I run out of the electronic section and just stood in the pathway. I look around and notice some zombies walking their way towards me. I look up at the ceiling and reading the signs to see which was the closes aisle to go too. “Alright, I guess I’ll go to the art’s and crafts section. It’s at least two aisles away from the snacks section, and further on is the toy section.” I say to myself aloud. The zombies were getting closer, so I ran towards the arts and crafts section without a moments hesitation. Fuck, Walmart got everything. I enter the arts and crafts section, and notice how the lights are more flickery over here then the entire store. It doesn’t help that this is a really long aisle either. I walk slowly, and look at the shelves on both my sides, one head turn at a time. Crayons were all smashed on the floor and on scattered around the shelves, making it look like a clown just threw up his own colors. There was some blood markings on the ground too, mixed with a few body parts. If I wasn’t so freaked out, I’d say this is pretty cliche. I’m nearing the end of the aisle until I hear a very loud noise coming from behind me. I turn around and nearly shit my pants. This fucking zombie looked like a fucking Bloater. I’m not saying it is a Bloater, but man did that shit look ugly. “Oh that’s a big fucker.” I say to myself. It started to walk towards me very slowly. Thank God, too. I did not want to fuck with that thing, so I just started to walk away. As I turn around and started to walk, it roared again, and started to walk faster. “Oh, fuck that.” I say to myself. I quickly ran out of there and headed straight towards the snack section. I was kinda looking forward to some snacks too, but there weren’t any. Not even a damn Hershey’s Bar. I could still hear the big lug making his way over here. So, I decided that I didn’t want this big fucker making more noise than I already am. I backed away farther from the way it was coming, and I just stood there, waiting for it to get here. I pulled out the revolver and aimed at the way it was coming, wanting to finish it off fast as hell. I see it walk over here, and it just stood there, looking at me, and I looked at him back. It was like a mexican stand-off, except I wasn’t dead and I was the one holding a gun. “Alright. We both know how this is going to work out. I shoot you, you die, and a shit ton of zombies run and try to eat me.” I say as the fat zombie walks towards me. “So, you agree?” “RRRRRAAAAAAAUUUUUGGGGGHHHHH!!!!” “Alright then!” He started walking towards me and I took a deep breath before I was going to pull the trigger. I aimed straight to the head and shot it. Blood splattered everywhere as it was stumbling towards me. Every step he took, his knees wobbled. I had to stay to make sure that he was going down, and as soon as he hit the floor with a loud thud, I ran out of there. As I left the aisle, zombies were heard right behind me. I decided to walk towards toy section and tried to remain quiet. The gunshot alone was loud enough to be heard around the whole store, and me running wasn’t going to help. I entered toy wonderland, as I liked to call it when I was really little, and noticed all of the toys were still there. I mean, some were opened and others were scattered on the ground, but besides that it looked like nobody really grabbed anything. It makes sense actually. I wouldn’t grab a new Nerf gun if zombies were trying to eat my brains. Hell no, I’d get a real gun. Remained quiet as I heard some zombies walk and trudge behind me. Some were moaning too loud to even notice me, and I’m glad most of them were blind to see me. I don’t need any fresh meat on my ass. “What is this?” I hear from behind me. I swear, I nearly screamed and shit my pants, and that would’ve been a bad scene. I turn around to see Fluttershy, looking up at me. “Fluttershy!” I whispered. I looked behind me to see if any zombies were near us. When I believed that we were free, I turned back to Fluttershy and knelt down, eye-level. “Fluttershy, what in the hell are you doing here? You were suppose to follow us back to the car! Come on, we need to go now-” “What is this?” She said with a soft voice. She pointed to the ground, while still looking at me. “What? What is Wha-” I felt my heart drop and my stomach churn. On the ground, was a little Fluttershy Figurine. I couldn’t say anything. I just looked at the little toy as I hear Fluttershy’s voice enter my head. “And what about these?” Her voice was not of anger, but of confusion and fear. I looked up at Fluttershy, and she pointed behind her. I stood up and walked up to were she was pointing and my heart nearly blew up. There were rows and rows of My Little Pony toys, figurines, dolls, collectables, plushies, posters, notebooks, and even a blanket. A fucking blanket. “What is all of this?” I hear Fluttershy say. I turn around, speechless. She looked up at me with those big, puppy dog eyes filled with nothing but confusion and fear. “Why are me and my friends and Princess Celestia and Princess Luna on these things? Why are there little versions of us? Why-why-why didn’t you tell us about this?” She looked so sad, and I tried to tell her what this all was but I just couldn’t talk. I tried to walk up to her and calm her down, but that just made it worse. She backed away into and bumped into the shelves of toys, knocking them all down. I heard a bunch of footsteps coming from around the front side of the aisle. I looked down at Fluttershy, who was too busy trying to wipe tears off her cheeks. “Look, I know this is confusing, but we need to leave to store right now.” I looked around and saw zombies making their way to us. “Okay okay look, I will tell you everything about these toys to you and your friends. I Pinkie Promise.” I even did those hand signs to prove to her that I wasn’t lying, and still she wasn’t convince. I had no choice. I put away the machete and grabbed her with both of my hands. She started to squirm, but I didn’t care. I carried her, bridal style and started running as fast as could. Even though I know I’m running away from zombies in a Walmart, I gotta admit something. It’s not everyday you get to hold Fluttershy in your arms. Weird, I feel like I’m in a self-insert fanfic. But anyways, I ran towards the exit, where there were only a few zombies. “Hold on tight.” I told Fluttershy as I ran past the zombies. I just kept running and running and running until I saw the car and the ponies around the car. “Everypony, get in the car, now!” I yelled. I put Fluttershy down and quickly opened the door. Everypony got in the car and I closed it. I then opened the passenger door for Nino and he hopped in with no problems. I then ran inside the car and started it up, hearing the engine roar loudly. There wasn’t enough time for Pinkie Pie to help them put on their seat-belts because I just rammed the gas pedal. “Everypony hold on!” I drove out of the parking lot and ran over a couple zombies, with blood splashing on the windshield. I turned on the windshield wipers carefully drove a little slower so all of the blood could be washed off. I decided to take the freeway that leads us to Ohio. “Giovanni why is Fluttershy crying?” I hear Twilight say. “Because she found something that you all weren’t suppose to know about until I told you all about it.” I looked at the mirror, and all of the ponies were giving me death glares. Stares that I would never want to see ever again. “I didn’t hurt her, if that is what you are all thinking.” I say, trying to make things better. But I knew I couldn’t. It just wasn’t going to happen. I wasn’t going to take the way that leads the way out of Michigan, because all of the lanes will be packed. No, instead, I am going to take the way that enters Michigan. While we were on the freeway, the stares still continued until I stopped the car. I turned it off and looked all around for any zombies. When the coast was clear, I got out of the car. “Everypony out.” I didn’t wait for them to get out, I just opened the door for Nino and opened the back door. I made some space for them to sit while I talk. They all got out of the car a while later and looked up at me. “Sit, please.” I say. As they all sat down in the back of the car, I took a deep breath, feeling very nervous about what I am about to tell them. “The reason why she is crying..is Because she saW you all. Little toy versions of all of you. In my world, you are all a cartoon. Non-existent, until now.” They all looked at me as if I was crazy, and I sighed. “I am going to tell you all about how I know about you, even before you came here.” > Explination > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Explanation Lane 1, I-53 7 days until Halloween. 2:15 P.M Edited by Sandover What in tarnation are ya talkin’ about?” Applejack said. “Whatta ya mean we’re “cartoons”? What are those?” “Yea! How do you know about us?” Rainbow Dash said, starting to hover in mid-air. “He’s a spy! I told you all that he’s a spy!” “Rainbow, calm down.” Twilight Sparkle said. I was about to thank her, but her glare silenced me before I could even move my lips. “Everypony just calm down. He’s going to tell us all about what he’s talking about. Right, Giovanni?” “Right. Well, let me start from the beginning. Questions are allowed, obviously.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and sighed. “There is a woman that goes by the name of Lauren Faust. She’s worked on numerous cartoons.” I looked at Applejack. “A cartoon is something people watch on the T.V for enjoyment. It’s usually animated. Anything can happen to a toon, but they’ll always be fine at the end.” I turned my attention back to everypony. “Anyway, this woman basically drew my whole childhood. She worked on projects like Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, Codename Kids Next Door, The Powerpuff Girls Movie, and even one of my favorite movies, The Iron Giant.” “So? What does any of this have to do with you knowing about us?” Rainbow Dash said. “I’m getting to that. October 10, 2010 was the beginning of a new channel called The Hub. It showed shows that date back to the 90’s, all that old school stuff. They had a whole bunch of premiers, and one of them goes by the name of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. That woman, Lauren Faust, re-animated the My Little Pony franchise.” “Wait, franchise?” Twilight said, looking at me with curiosity. “You mean-” “Yea, I do.” I said. “My Little Pony was created way before it’s rebirth on The Hub. I’m not too sure, but I believe it was created around the early 80’s. During that time, the franchise had poorly animated shows, toys, and some other merchandise. For a long time, boys and girls were always at war with each other. They would argue with things like, “Ponies are awesome!” and the boys would say something like “Boo! Ponies are girly!” “Girly?” Both Rainbow Dash and Applejack spoke up. “We’re not girly!” “Yea, well, to the boys, you were. All of you. That is, until Friendship is Magic spread around the internet like wildfire. But I’ll get to the internet soon.” “Back to the show. Lauren Faust recreated you all. In the original shows, there was no such thing as a “Princess Celestia” or a “Princess Luna.” Just early versions of you all. The rest of the world thought that this was just going to be another girly show that us boys, men, and even older women were going to be forced to watch with our younger siblings. We we’re dead wrong.” “What do you mean?” Pinkie said, looking at me. “What do mean by you were wrong?” I smiled. “The show was extremely loved. The animation, the jokes, the development of the characters-basically all of you, and tons of others- and even the moral of the episodes. It was really cool.” I stopped remembering the good times and focused back on the ponies. “Anyways, you are all just cartoons. You’re not even supposed to exist. Just animated characters on a T.V show.” Maybe I was a little too harsh. I noticed it because all of them started to ramble at once. Pinkie and Fluttershy weren’t talking. I was more worried for Twilight and Pinkie Pie for some reason. Pinkie looked down at her hooves, trying to understand everything I was telling her. Twilight was just trying to comprehend the fact that she and her friends were just fakes here, on earth. “But...we can’t be those cartoons. We’re here, aren’t we? You’re real. I’m real, my friends are real! This...this does actually make sense.” “I’m sorry, you say what now?” I said, clearly shocked at Twilight’s sudden understanding. “Well, we’re not real in your world, right? Yet we’re still here. I don’t have a certain reason or idea on why it makes sense, but it just does.” “Okay, I know exactly what you are talking about, and it’s called the Multiverse Theory. I’m not even smart enough to explain the whole thing, just summarize it.” Twilight was suddenly interested in it, but I had to stop her there. “Oh hell no. I’m explaining some important stuff right now, and that isn’t important...now.” “So, we are just these animated characters on this children’s show?” Rarity said, tilting her head. “Does that mean that everything we do is shown?” “Oh, God, no. It’s a kids show, Rarity, not-nevermind. But, that does bring me back to the subject on how you are all widely known throughout the world. Hence, the internet.” “And what is that?” Rainbow Dash said. “Is it, like, a thing or something?” “The internet, to summarize, is a place where everybody who has access to a computer or other device, can go and look stuff up. Like, videos, people, animals, forums, threads...ponies.” “So hold up,” Rainbow Dash cut in. “You’re telling us humans look us up on this “Internet”? Sounds like those people are weird.” “Yea, they are weird. Hell, but these people don’t give a damn. You know why?” They all said no, and I just smiled. “Because these people are fans of the show, My Little Pony; Friendship is Magic. These people are your fans.” “Fans? We have fans?” At the mention of that word, Rainbow Dash’s interests were peaked. “Yea. Not just little girls like your show. Teenage girls, grown women, and even boys and grown men love the show. There is something about you all that appeases all of us.” “Us?” Applejack says. “Ya mean to tell me, that you, a 15 year old boy likes watchin’ us?” “Damn straight. People like me who like watching that show are called “Bronies” or, “Pegasisters”. Some Pegasisters prefer to be called Bronies, but basically, a Brony is a male who likes to watch you guys.” All of them looked at each other, with looks of confusion. “I know it sounds creepy, it kinda does. But we have our reasons why we like watching ya’ll. For instance, I watch ya’ll because you would all help me escape from the pain of reality. Sounds kinda wimpish, but hey, it helps.” I pointed at all of them, one by one. “You have fans, and you have fans, and you, and you, and you and you; all of you have fans.” “Wow. That’s...pretty awesome!” I saw Rainbow Dash hovering above the car. “How many people watch us?” “I don’t know, really. I’d say in the millions.” “M-millions?” I heard Fluttershy say. I looked over at her and she just hid behind her mane. “Yup. That’s also one of the reasons why people like you, Fluttershy. Because. Well, you’re shy, quiet, and caring. Hell, I’m even going as far to say cute, because it’s true.” I hear a small “eep!” But I paid no mind. I looked over at Pinkie Pie. “People like you too, Pinkie.” She looked up at me, tilting her head. “Really?” “Yea, really. One of the main reasons is because you can make us laugh. You’re always so happy, and always make your friends smile. We hate seeing you sad, too. Really gets us sometimes.” I smiled at her, and she smiled back. I looked over at Rainbow Dash, and she just grinned. “I don’t need to tell you why people like you, but I’ll tell you anyway. It’s because you’re awesome. You always protect your friends no matter what, and you care for each and every one of them. That’s some real Loyalty right there.” “Well,” She said, wiping her hoof on her chest. “I am pretty awesome.” “Yup. You proved it to us when we saw the Sonic Rainboom for the first time. Pretty dope.” Next up was Applejack. “You. Some Bronies don’t think you get a lot of love, but I call bullshit. My bad for my language, but come on-You care for your family and friends more than anything else, and even though you work on an apple orchard, you’re still an awesome mare, Applejack. You’re honest too, and that is respected by a lot of people.” Applejack took of her hat, hiding her reddened face. “Awe, shucks. Pick on another pony, already!” “Alright.” I pointed at Rarity. “You. I’m being honest right now. At first, you weren’t a favorite of mine. But that wasn’t until I started looking deep into your character on the show, and just like other Bronies and Pegasisters, we realize how generous and fashionable you really were. You got a whole bunch of Rarity fans, just like the rest of your friends.” “Well, aren’t you a flatterer.” Rarity said, smiling. “Last up, Twilight. I think people like you because of how incredibly smart you are, and how powerful your magic is. I mean, you trained with Princess Celestia herself. Not only that, you’ve made tons of friends over the seasons, including these five right here. People find you so geeky, that it’s cute.” She blushed, and I just laughed. “Like that, all geeky and shit. Makes sense why they call you egghead, too.” “I am not!” “I know. We know, and so do the fans. Hell, right now, I’m the only Brony in the world that know you all exist. Normally, this would be some Inception type of stuff, but it ain’t. It’s actually a reality.” They all stayed quiet for a few seconds, and I just stood there and cracked my back. “So, that is how I know about you all. Now, I don’t know your whole lives, just your adventures.” “I know I lied, but I feared that if I told you all who you really were to Earth, you would all freak out. Apparently, you all look like this is more of an adventure rather than a mind shattering realization.” “Yes, actually.” Twilight spoke up. “A dangerous adventure, but an adventure nonetheless.” She giggled, and so did the others. I smiled at them, feeling the awkward tension starting to rise off my shoulders. “So, are we all cool?” I asked them. They all got out of the back of the car and huddled around each other, whispering loudly. I just looked down at Nino, shrugging. “I don’t know either, dog.” “We came to a conclusion!” Pinkie said. “We forgive you!” But then, she smiled deviously. “On one condition…” They all got back into the car, and I fastened all of their seat belts for them. Nino hopped into the passenger seat, and I buckled him up too. I then sat at the driver’s seat and wrapped my seatbelt around me. I looked behind me, looking at the ponies. “So, is everypony ready?” They all nodded their heads, ready for me to drive. I started the car, but heard a bunch of snickering coming from behind me. I didn’t look back; I just kept my eyes on the road but asked the question anyway. “What are you all laughing about?” “Oh, nothing.” Twilight says. “But, remember when you said that you’ll answer anything truthfully, and do anything we say?” “Yes?” “Well,” I looked in the rear-view mirror, wondering what they were going to say. That’s when they all spoke in perfect harmony. “Who’s best pony?” I nearly twisted the car into a barrel roll. Instead, I just grumbled and sighed. “Ah, shit. Every. Damn. Time.