Wasteland Equestria

"So," Reggie said, putting his saddlebags on. "Are we ready to go?"

The group had just finished eating breakfast and and packed their saddebags.

"I think so," Octavia said. She looked at Vinyl. "Have you packed your bags?"

"Yep," she said. "I'm well rested and ready to rumble!"

Octavia nodded. "Alright. To Canterlot."

Reggie bent down, allowing Dinky to climb onto his back. Once she was on, he followed Octavia and Vinyl outside of the station.

After five minutes, Vinyl trotted up beside Reggie. "Hey," she said. "Could we talk for a bit?"

"Of course," Reggie said. He looked at Dinky. "Dinkī kuma wa, shibarakunoaida, jibun de kobashiri ki ni narimasu?"

"Ā, daijōbu," Dinky said. "Sukoshidake no tame ni, migi?"

"Tada, shibarakunoaida. Watashi wa yakusoku shimasu."

"Ōkē." Dinky climbed off of Reggie's back and began trotting forward.

"So," Reggie said, facing Vinyl, "you wanted to talk?"

"I figured," Vinyl said, "since you're a friend of Octavia, that we should get to know each other."

"Alright, then," he said. "Octavia was my first friend when I went to music school. I told her about how much I loved singing, and she said that I should sing at her concert. That was how I got my cutie mark, and Octavia got hers at the same time."

"When was the last time you saw her?"

"Before yesterday, I hadn't seen her for about five years. She left Canterlot to become a musician in Ponyville." He looked at Octavia for a while, then back at Vinyl. "So, I've told you my story. When did you meet Octavia?"

"Five years ago," Vinyl said, "Octavia moved into my cottage. We're both into music and we became really good friends."

"You like music, too?" Reggie asked.

"Well, not the music Octavia's into," Vinyl admitted. "She's into classical music, and I'm...well...a DJ."

"Seriously?" Reggie said, looking at Vinyl in disbelief. "I can't imagine Octavia ever knowing a DJ, much less becoming friends with one."

"Opposites attract, I guess," Vinyl said. "That's all I wanted to know."

"Okay, then." Reggie turned back to Dinky. "Dinkī. Kore de modotte kuru koto ga dekimasu."

"Kuru!" Dinky said, walking back towards Reggie.

"It was nice getting to know you," Reggie said.

"Ditto," Vinyl said.

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"Alright," Octavia said after on hour of walking. "Do you want to rest here?"

"Yes, please!" Vinyl said. "My hoofs are killing me."

The group stopped and unpacked their saddlebags. Dinky sat near on the rails and began singing quietly. Octavia got a pillow and bedroll out of her saddlebags and laid down. Reggie stood, looking in the direction they were traveling.

Vinyl walked up to him. "Whatcha looking at?" she asked him.

"Nothing in particular," Reggie said, not looking at Vinyl. "Just thinking about who much Equestria's changed in the last month." He looked at Vinyl. "Four weeks ago, if someone had told you Equestria would get screwed over at the end of the month, would you have believed them?"

"Probably not," Vinyl said. She looked over at Dinky, who was still singing in that language she and Reggie talked in. "Hey, Reggie. What's that language you and Dinky talk in?"

"Japonese," he said. He said it like Ja-po-nese. "I learned it when I was going on a tour."

"A tour?" Vinyl asked. "You've been on tours before?"

"One," Reggie said, humbly. "It was a small one; just to Saddle Arabia and Coltyo. I taught it to Dinky when I found her, so we could talk to each other and nopony else would understand what we were saying."

"You think you could teach me and Octavia Japonese?" Vinyl asked. "So we could talk to each other like you do with Dinky."

"Good idea," Reggie said. "It's a pretty easy language to learn. It'll probably take two days to learn."

"Thanks," she said.

*************************************************************************

Half an hour later, the foursome continued to travel down the railroad. Vinyl and Octavia were going over what Reggie had taught them about Japonese, Reggie was smoking a cigar, and Dinky was asleep on Reggie's back, snoring quietly.

Suddenly, Reggie looked up and his jaw dropped. "Oh, buck," he said, quietly. "Get down!" He dashed behind a rock and crouched down, followed by Vinyl and Octavia.

"What is it?" Vinyl said.

"Quiet," Reggie whispered, slowly levitating Dinky off of his back. "Slavers."

Octavia peeked over the rock and saw what Reggie was talking about. Inside of a house, two mares were sitting on the floor with cuts on their body. Five stallions were standing above them, glaring down at them. One of them started talking, but he was too far away for Octavia to hear.

"Who are they?" she asked, still looking.

"Slavers," Reggie repeated. "Ponies that kidnap others and force them to work from them. Some ponies kidnap ponies and make them...do other...things."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Vinyl asked. "Let get those mares out of there!"

"Are you crazy?!" Reggie said. "That's suicide!"

"I agreed with Vinyl," Octavia said. "We can't just leave them. We have to do something."

"Look," Reggie said. "In this wasteland, you either hang onto your morals and die, or do everything you need to survive."

Octavia looked at her friend in surprise, unable to speak. What had happened to him? Reggie was a kind and gentle colt when they were in school. And, now, he was willing to let two mares die.

Vinyl wasn't so silent. "Are you serious?!" she yelled. "You're really going to let them die?!"

One of the stallions looked towards the rock where they were hiding. Octavia quickly crouched down, but it was too late. The stallion began trotting towards them.

"Buck," Reggie said. He opened his saddlebag and pulled out a knife.

"Regal," Octavia started.

"Quiet," Reggie said. After a few seconds, he darted up to attack the slaver. But he was gone.

"Where the..?"

"Reggie!" Dinky yelled. The three older unicorns turned around to see the slaver, holding Dinky back with his front hoofs.

"Let her go!" Reggie demanded. His voice was vicious, completely devoid of any emotion that wasn't anger.

"Shut it!" the slaver said. "All of you, unload your saddlebags."

"Reggie," Dinky whispered, fear evident in her voice.

"Sore wa daijōbu, chippokeda," Reggie said. "Watashi wa anata o kono kara nukedasudarou."

He unloaded his bags, keeping his eyes on the slaver. When he was done, he looked at Vinyl and Octavia, motioning for them to do the same. Octavia did so without hesitation. Vinyl did the same, but after staring at the slaver for a few seconds.

"Alright," the slaver said. "Get in the house."

Octavia brushed past Reggie and led the way. He followed her, still looking back at Dinky. The stallion (who was an earth pony) had lifted Dinky onto his back. She looked at Reggie, tears forming in her eyes.

"Nakuna," he said. "Watashi wa karera ga anata o kizutsukeru koto wa dekimasen."

Eventually, they were in the house. The stallion lead them upstairs, where the other slavers and the mares were.

"Boss," the stallion behind them said. "I found them outside, by the tracks. They were spying on us."

"Really?" another said. He had a dirty blue mane, which was laying over his left eye. He stepped forward to inspect the four unicorns. "Let's see what we have here." He looked at Reggie first, then at Octavia, then at Vinyl. "Two unicorns and an earth pony."

"Three unicorns, boss," the first slaver said. "They had a foal with them."

"A foal?" a dark green pegasus said.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" the other slaver said.

"Put 'em with the others," the leader said. The earth pony walked Reggie, Octavia, and Dinky towards the mares.

"Not this one," a brown earth pony said, stopping Vinyl. He looked at the leader. "Boss, can I have a promotion?"

The leader nodded, with an evil smile. "Go ahead," he said.

"Thanks," the brown one said. He looked at Vinyl. "Come on, let's go." He pulled her along, leaving the room.

"Alright," the boss said. "You four, follow that unicorn!"

The last one, a pitch black unicorn, lead Octavia, Reggie, and the two mares outside.

"Reggie!" Dinky yelled.

"Shinpaishinaidekudasai!" Reggie yelled back. "Watashi wa daijōbu yo!"

The black earth pony walked the slaves to a small shed. He opened the door and looked at the slaves. "Get in," he said.

Inside the shed were a few mattresses scattered on the floor. There were no windows, but a lantern gave off a very faint glow.

Once the slaves were inside, the slaver closed the door. The click of the door's lock was heard, but there was an extra click and a quiet beep sounded.

"What was that?" Reggie asked, more to himself than his fellow slaves.

"A mine," one of the mares said. "If we try and get out, it'll explode and kill us all."