Chapters "Canterlot?!" Octavia said. "Are you crazy?! That's where all of the raiders are!"
"Exactly," Vinyl said. "If they hang out there, there must be a bunch of supplies there. We'll just go in, get some supplies, and get out. Bing, bang, boom, we're outta there."
"What about the raiders?!" Octavia asked. "What if they catch us?! What do we do then?"
"Don't be so negative."
"I'm not being negative; I'm being realistic!"
"Look," Vinyl said, "if you don't wanna come, fine by me. But I'm going."
"Why don't we just stay in Ponyville? The royal guard has promised to provide for us."
"I don't wanna be restricted by the guards," Vinyl said, still packing her bag. "Out there, we can be free."
"Fine," Octavia said. "I'll come with you to Canterlot."
Vinyl looked at her friend and smiled. "Thanks, Octavia," she said. "Come and pack your stuff."
Half an hour later, the two were at the Ponyville border. A guard halted them before they could leave. "Stop," he said. "What are you doing?"
Octavia stepped forward. "We wish to leave the city," she said firmly.
The guard looked at his partner,then back at Octavia. "You do acknowledge," he said, "that once you leave, you are not allowed to return to Ponyville. You will not receive help of any kind from the royal guard."
Octavia nodded. "I understand."
"Okay, then," the guard said. "You may leave. Good luck."
"Thank you," Octavia said, trotting behind the guards with Vinyl following her.
When the pair were away from the guards, Vinyl looked at her friend. "So, Canterlot?" she asked.
Octavia took one last look back at Ponyville, knowing they could never go back. She looked at Vinyl and nodded. "Canterlot."
*****************************************************************************************
"Here it is," Vinyl said. "The Canterlot railroad. If we follow it, we'll be at Canterlot in three days."
"It's getting awfully late," Octavia said. "Maybe we should sleep here, at the station."
"Come on," Vinyl said. "We just get out of Ponyville, and you're already tired?"
"We've got a place to sleep, and it's getting dark. If we rest, we'll be ready for tomorrow."
"Good idea," Vinyl said.
Octavia approached the door and knocked on it with her hoof. "Hello?" she yelled.
"Are you crazy?!" Vinyl said. "What if there's somepony inside and they attack us?!"
"Oh, buck," Octavia said. "Well, there's nothing we can do now." She opened the door and check inside. "It doesn't look like there's anypony inside." She carefully trotted inside. "Well, someone was here, but it looks like they're gone."
"What if they come back?" Vinyl asked nervously. "Sh-should we really stay here?"
"Vinyl," Octavia said, "you're stuttering."
"I'm nervous! W-what if they come b-back and tr-try to kill us?"
"Well, one of us should stay as a guard to see if the pony that lives here comes back. One of us will look while the other sleeps, and then we'll switch."
"C-could you watch first?"
Octavia nodded. "Of course. You go ahead and sleep."
Vinyl nodded and took off her saddlebags as Octavia went outside to guard.
*****************************************************************************************
The moment Vinyl fell asleep, she had nightmares. She heard Octavia cry in fear, and then saw two stallions trot in, holding bloody swords, slowly approaching her. Vinyl tried to move, but she couldn't even get up.
Soon, the stallions were on top of her. They raised their swords and...
Singing. A calm, soothing voice began singing. The stallions disappeared in a puff of smoke and the room melted away, leaving only Vinyl and the singing.
DAN DAN Kokoro hikarete 'ku
Sono mabushii egao ni
Hatenai yami kara tobidasou
Hold my hand
Vinyl concentrated only on the voice. It was a stallion's voice, deep but smooth. It was also quiet, as if the singer didn't want to wake Vinyl up.
Wait a minute, Vinyl said. Who's singing?
Vinyl wanted to wake up, but the singing was keeping her asleep. She tried to concentrate on something else, but there was only darkness and the singing.
Suddenly, Octavia appeared, sitting outside, guarding the station. If this stallion had gotten inside of the station, that meant...
Vinyl's eyes snapped open. The first thing she saw was the stallion that was singing. He was a blue unicorn with a slicked-back, light blue mane. He was facing away from Vinyl, looking at a bundle up pony that Vinyl couldn't make out.
Vinyl snapped up. "What are you doing here?"
The stallion kept singing until then song was over. Then he whispered "Good night" into the pony's ear. He then calmly turned to face Vinyl. "I should be asking you the same thing," he said in a voice that was almost a whisper. "This is my camp, after all."
"What did you do to the mare out front?" she demanded.
"Octavia?" he asked. "I took the back door."
"How do you know Octavia?" Vinyl asked.
"Ask her yourself," the stallion said. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep. Sorry for waking you." And with that, the stallion curled up beside the small pony and closed his eyes.
Just then, Octavia trotted in. "What are you doing awake, Vinyl?" she asked. She noticed the stallion sleeping and gasped. "Wh-who is that?"
"Apparently," Vinyl said, "he lives here. He said he knew you."
"I do know him. I tell you in the morning. It's your time to guard. Good night."
Vinyl hesitated, then walked outside and took her position.
*****************************************************************************************
"So," Vinyl said. "How do you two know each other?"
Vinyl, Octavia, and the stallion were sitting inside of the station. The little pony for last night was sitting beside the stallion. She was a very light shade of purple with a blonde mane. She was also a unicorn.
"Vinyl Scratch," Octavia said, "this is my friend, Regal Masquerade."
"Call me Reggie," Regal said. "That's what this little foal calls me." As he said that, he wrapped his front leg around the foal.
"When did you two meet each other?" Vinyl asked.
"We were in the same music school together," Octavia said. "I helped him get his cutie mark."
"I sang at one of Octavia's concert," Reggie said. "The moment the song was over, we both got our cutie marks."
"Who's the foal you've got with you?" Octavia asked.
"I'm Dinky," the foal said.
"I found her huddled up under a bed inside a house," Reggie said. "There was a dead mare in the same room. Apparently, it was her sister."
"Bad ponies came in and killed her," Dinky said with her head down.
"I decided to take her with me. She's absolutely adorable, and it's nice to have company." He looked back at Octavia. "So, where are you headed?"
"Canterlot," Vinyl said. "We're headed to get supplies."
"Canterlot?" Reggie said. "That's basically suicide! Octavia, are you really crazy enough to do this?"
"If we can get supplies," Octavia said, "it's worth the risk."
"Hm..." Reggie turned to Dinky. "Anata mo issho ni ikitaidesu ka? "
"Karera wa suteki ni mieru, " Dinky said. "Watashi wa, wareware wa karera to issho ni ikubekida to omoimasu. "
Reggie nodded and looked at Vinyl. "We're going to come with you," he said.
"Really?" Octavia asked.
Reggie nodded. "I might find a way to repay you for getting me my cutie mark."
"I appreciate it," Octavia said.
Reggie looked over at Vinyl. "It'll be nice to get to know a friend of Octavia's," he said.
Vinyl nodded. "I looked forward to getting to know you, too," she said.
"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.
*************************************************************************
"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."
"So," Reggie said. "I guess we're stuck together, huh?"
"I guess," the green unicorn said. "My name's Lyra."
"I'm Bon Bon," the tan earth pony next to her said.
Reggie and Octavia introduced themselves.
"So," Lyra asked. "you ponies were spying on the house when the slavers found you. Why?"
"We weren't really-" Octavia started.
"Trying to get a layout of the house," Reggie said. "We were gonna break in and get some supplies."
"Are you raiders?" Bon Bon asked.
"We don't really mind letting slavers starve," Reggie said. "We're just normal ponies trying to survive."
"Regal," Octavia said. "Can I talk to you? In private?" Without waiting for an answer, she walked to the back of the shed. Reggie followed her.
"What are you thinking?!" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Why are you lying to them?!"
"If they knew that we were thinking about leaving them, they'd probably make our life a living hell."
"We can't just lie!"
"Octavia, you need to learn to adapt. This wasteland won't be merciful. You shouldn't be, either."
"What happened to you?"
"Ponies change, Octavia." He trotted away without another word.
*************************************************************************
A few hours later, the black earth pony from earlier opened the door to the shack. "Get out," he said. The slaves did as they were told. The leader and the brown unicorn were standing out there.
"Get in a line," he ordered. They did so. The brown unicorn walked up and shackled their hoofs together.
"Where are our friends?" Octavia asked.
The slaver that had caught them walked out of the house, leading a shackled Dinky. He mane was messy and dirty, her eyes drooping from sleep deprivation.
"Dinkī ," Reggie said. "Anata wa daijōbudesuka ?"
"Watashi - watashi wa kowaga~tsu te ," Dinky said, her voice shaking. "Doko de karera wa watashitachi o totte iru? "
"Shirimasen.Watashi wa mamorudeshou. Watashi ga yakusoku shimasu. "
The slaver nudged Dinky beside Reggie. "Alright," the leader said. "Today, we got somepony coming to buy a slave. You are not to move from this spot unless you are told. Are we clear?"
Lyra and Bon Bon nodded hastily. Reggie was still looking at Dinky. "Yes," Octavia said calmly.
"Good," the leader said. He turned to look at the road and saw a dark red pegasus walk up. "He's here." He walked up to the pony and and began talking, but he was too far away for the slaves to hear.
"Dinkī ," Reggie asked, "Anata ga karera ni atte iru tokiniha, binīru o mimashita ka? "
"Kanojo wa sono chairo no yunikōn to atta, " Dinky said. "Watashi wa irai, kanojo o miteinai. "
"Watashi wa anata o shutoku suru baai, anata wa kanojo o mitsukeru koto ga dekiru to omoimasu ka? "
"Tabun. "
Reggie looked at the brown unicorn and levitated his keys away, very slowly. He pulled them to him, keeping them close to the ground. He unlocked Dinky's chains.
"Isoi de ," Reggie whispered. "Shizukani shite imasu. "
Dinky trotted back and snuck into the house.
"Do you think she'll be okay?" Octavia asked.
"If she's quiet," Reggie whispered, slowly levitating the key back to the slaver's belt.
Just then, the crimson pegasus approached the slaves. "These are what you have?" he asked the leader.
"Yup," he said. "Take a look. See which one suits you."
The pegasus walked up and looked at Lyra, inches from her face. Octavia looked at Reggie and noticed the worried expression on his face. He was looking at the dirt. Octavia followed his gaze and saw the slaver's keys in the dirt. He hadn't had time to return them to his belt.
"What's up with all the unicorns?" the pegasus asked.
"Excuse me?" the leader asked.
"You've got just as many unicorns as you do earth ponies."
"Three?" The leader took a look at the line of slaves and his eyes widened. "Why'd that foal go?!"
"Boss!" the brown earth pony said. "My keys aren't on my belt. One of the slaves must've taken it while I wasn't lookin'!"
The leader looked angrily at the slaves. "Where's that foal?!"
"Sh-she's inside," Bon Bon stuttered.
"Bon Bon!" Lyra said, looking at her friend in disbelief.
The leader looked at the green pegasus. "Nitro, get inside and find that foal!"
The green pegasus nodded and began to say something. He never got to finish, though, because his head exploded in a rain of gore.
Bon Bon shrunk back, Lyra covered her ears with her hoofs, and Reggie and Octavia stared, mouths agape, at the dead pony in front of them.
"What the buck?!" the leader said. He looked at the black unicorn, who was levitating a shotgun. "Charcoal?! What the hell?!"
"I won't have you hurting these ponies," the unicorn, who must've been Charcoal, said. "Especially not somepony as innocent as a foal."
"You've gone soft," the leader said. He looked at the slaves. "Take the key and free yourselves." He turned back to face the leader.
Reggie levitated the key towards him and freed Octavia, then himself, then Lyra, then Bon Bon. "Octavia, get Vinyl and Dinky." He lifted the dead slaver's pistol towards Octavia. "Take this. The green pegasus is still inside."
"Okay." Octavia trotted inside the house, levitating the gun with her.
"Drummer," the crimson pegasus said to the slaver.
"Shut it," the leader said. "Charcoal, put the gun down."
"Why?" Charcoal questioned. "So you can kill the me and the slaves? Don't insult me, Drummer. I'm not an idiot."
The slavers stared each other down. Then, without warning, Charcoal's shotgun whipped down the side and fired. More blood rained down. Everypony looked over and saw the other earth pony, his head blown off.
"Buck!" Reggie yelled.
"No more options, Drummer," Charcoal said. "Let the slaves go."
"I've got one more option," Drummer said, smiling evilly. "Nitro!"
Suddenly, the green pegasus trotted out of the house, Dinky wrapped around one of his front hooves and a gun between his mouth, pointed at Octavia.
"You said you don't want them to die," Drummer challenged. "Lower your gun, and they won't."
Charcoal looked at Octavia and Dinky, a look of worry on his face. Finally, he closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Fine." The glow around the shotgun and died and the gun fell to the ground.
"Good," Drummer said. "Now, all of you-"
"Hoff!" Nitro yelled. Drummer turned and saw that his gun had turned around and the barrel was aiming inside his mouth.
"Drop it, you idiot!" Drummer said.
Before Nitro had the chance, the gun went off, sending a bullet into his brain.The back of his head exploded and he fell over, blood leaking from his mouth.
"Reggie!" Dinky yelled, running to Reggie. When she reached him, he wrapped his front hooves around her, embracing her.
"What happened?" Octavia said, ignoring the fact that she was covered in blood.
"You guys okay?!" a voice said. Octavia looked up and saw Vinyl, leaning out the top window.
"Vinyl!" Octavia yelled. "You're alive!"
Charcoal lifted the shotgun and shot at Drummer and the crimson pegasus, killing them both. Vinyl came out of the door.
"You ponies okay?" she asked.
"Thank you," Reggie said. "You saved Dinky. And Octavia."
"No problem," Vinyl said. "That pegasus was a pervert. Do you know what he did to me last night?!"
"I could probably guess," Reggie said, disgusted.
Charcoal walked up to the slaves. "You ponies okay?"
"Thanks for the help," Octavia said.
Suddenly, a gunshot sounded and Charcoal fell over, a hole in the back of his head. Nitro's pistol was floating behind him.
"Slaver piece of crap," Reggie said. The gun dropped into the dirt and he began to search Charcoal.
"Regal!" Octavia yelled in disbelief and anger. "What the buck?! He helped used!"
"And, now, he's going to help us some more," Reggie said, taking some of Charcoal's supplies.
"You just killed him!"
"We need to survive, Octavia. And I'll do any thing I can to do that."
Octavia stood, her mouth agape. Her friend had killed a pony, and was acting like it was normal. What had the wasteland done to him?
"Let's get moving," Reggie said. He had just finished removing supplies from the slavers' corpses. Dinky had found a large bucket inside the house and washed the blood out of her mane. Vinyl had gotten their supplies out of the house. "We've been set behind by about a day."
No one said anything, but Reggie began to walk along the track, Dinky on his back. Octavia trotted after him, angrily. Vinyl hurried to catch up to her.
After an hour of travel, the group took a break. Octavia made an effort to stay away from Reggie when she sat down. Dinky had fallen asleep on Reggie's back, and he slowly levitated her off, onto a pillow.
After a few minutes, Vinyl walked past Octavia, who was reading a book. "I'm going to Reggie to take the Japonese lesson," she said. "You coming?"
"I just need to take a break from him," Octavia said. "Just tell me what you learned after the lesson."
"You sure?" Vinyl asked. Octavia nodded, keeping her eyes on the book. "Alright, then."
Vinyl walked over to Reggie. "Hey, Reggie," she said. "I'm ready to start."
"Start?" Reggie asked, confused. Then he blinked. "Oh! That! Alright, I think we should start with a review. So, the word for-"
"What happened between you and Octavia?" Vinyl interrupted.
"What?" Reggie asked.
"She said she needed a break from you. What happened?"
"It's nothing," Reggie said. "She's just overreacting."
"Did that pony really help you?"
"Look, let's just get to work," Reggie said.
"Fine," Vinyl said.
*************************************************************************
"Alright, now, what does oriru mean?" Reggie asked.
"It means 'ge-'," Vinyl started, before she looked around. "Where's Dinky?"
Reggie's eyes widened and he looked around desperately. "Buck," he said. "Dinkī kuma! Anata wa dokodeshou ?!"
He got up and began to look away. "Crap," he said. "Where could she have gone?"
"Wait," Vinyl said. "Octavia's gone, too!"
"Dear Celestia, where could they have gone?"
*************************************************************************
Octavia stumbled through the dark woods, illuminated only by the light of her lantern. She had seen Dinky trot in here, and she knew what monsters lived in here.
"Dinky!" she called. "Where are you?!"
Suddenly, she heard a loud howl and ducked behind a nearby bush, turning her light off. She was ducking where she couldn't see anything, so she didn't see what it was. But, a few seconds after she hid, she head footsteps that were to loud to belong to anypony, and a deep, angry breathing.
She slowly backed out of the bush, away from the creature, and galloped away, only stopping when she was out of breath. When she turned back, she was glad to discover the thing hadn't followed her.
If those things got Dinky...
She began trotting through the woods again, quieter and more careful this time. She keep her light dimmer, so she couldn't see much at all. She considered brightening it, but she didn't want to be seen by those monsters.
Just when she was about to give up hope, she saw a whole group of timberwolves, all gathered around one point. She quietly approached them, staying low to the ground. When she was close enough, she could hear a very faint whimpering in the middle of the wolves.
They had found Dinky
Octavia wanted to help, but a knife...well, that wouldn't cut it.
Sorry about the pun, guys.
She tried to remember what combat maneuvers she had learned. Not many, but they would at least hurt the wolves. She stood up and bucked the nearest wolf, shattering it. The others turned to face her. Three against one, and three of them were giant, pony-eating wolves.
Luckily, she confirmed her suspicions: the wolves had surrounded Dinky. She was sitting in the dirt, a look of fear on her face.
"Dinky, get out of here!" Octavia yelled. "Get to Regal!"
"I-I don't want to go alone!" Dinky yelled, close to tears.
"Fine! Just hide somewhere around here!"
Dinky nodded and hid behind a nearby tree. Octavia turned to face the wolves. She bucked at the wolves, but they were wise to her attacks now and surrounded her, leaving only her back exposed.
For a second, Octavia considered running. She probably could have outrun them, lose them in the woods and gotten back to Reggie and Vinyl.
But she had come to get Dinky, and she wasn't going to leave somepony as defenseless as her in here with timberwolves. She needed to get her out, no matter the cost.
Suddenly, she had an idea. She turned and shot a beam straight behind her, cutting a line in the trees, leading right out of the woods.
"Dinky, run down this path!" she called.
"I-I'm scared!" Dinky yelled back.
The wolves began to close in. "Just go! It's a straight line!"
A moment of horrible silence. The nearest wolf was inches from her face, breathing a hot, rotten breath into her face.
Suddenly, Dinky came trotting under the wolf, knocking out one of his front legs as she ran. She started down the path, not looking back.
The wolves looked at their fallen comrade. While they were distracted, Octavia bucked at the fallen one, taking his head off, spreading sticks everywhere. Some stick in her mane, but she didn't care.
The remaining wolves looked at Octavia and growled angrily. She turned around to run, but one of the wolves grabbed her mane and lifted her up. He hovered her over his friend's open mouth.
"No! Please!" she begged, though she knew they couldn't understand her. "Vinyl! Regal! Someone, help!"
Then, the wolf let go, and Octavia began her plummet towards the mouth of a timberwolf. She closed her eyes, not wanting to see her death approach.
Boom!
Octavia heard a loud bang, and felt the softness of the grass on her flank. She opened her eyes and looked up to see the timberwolf that was going to eat her, beheaded, the ends of his neck smoking.
The last wolf looked towards the exit of the forest and saw Vinyl, her horn smoking, Reggie, a worried look on his face, and Dinky on his back, looking as frightened as Octavia felt.
"Octavia!" Reggie yelled, running towards her. The wolf stepped in his way, blocking him from Octavia. He jumped over the wolf, landed behind Octavia, and blasted his head off.
Octavia stared up at her friend.
"You okay?" Reggie asked her.
And then everything went black.
When Octavia woke up, she was lying on a bedspread by the Canterlot railroad. Dinky was standing over her, right in front of her face.
"Rejī !" Dinky yelled, turning from Octavia. "Kanojo wa me o samashite yo !"
Reggie came rushing to Octavia, a look of relief on his face. "Oh, thank Celestia," he said. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Octavia said. "Probably just fatigue. Thanks for saving me."
"Well, to be fair, Vinyl took out the first one. And Dinky warned us about you."
"Thank you, Dinky," Octavia said, looking at the little filly.
"You're welcome," Dinky replied.
"Octie!" Vinyl said, trotting in. "You're okay! We thought you were dead!"
"Thank you both for your concern," Octavia said. She turned to Reggie. "Regal, can I talk to you in private?"
Reggie nodded. "Vinyl, Dinky, if you'll excuse us," he said.
"Of course," Vinyl said. "Come on, Dinky."
When Vinyl and Dinky were out of earshot, Octavia got up from the bed. "I'm sorry about how I've been treating you," she said. "I kind of overreacted."
"You mean about the slaver?" Reggie asked. "Don't mention it."
"I think I reacted the way I did because that wasn't the Regal I grew up with. If I hadn't know you, I wouldn't have freaked out."
"Let's face it," Reggie said, smiling weakily. "You probably would've freak out, just a little less than you did."
Octavia began to chuckle, and Reggie joined her. Their chuckles slowly built up until they were laughing out loud. For a second, they were just two friends, laughing. There was no apocalypse, no Canterlot railway, no timberwolves.
Then, they stopped, and the world came back to them. "Well, tell me when you're ready to go," Reggie said. "I'll be with Dinky."
"Right," Octavia said. "I think I'm ready."
"Alright," he replied. "Let's go."
*****************************************************************************************
The next few days passed by without event. Octavia and Vinyl had basically mastered Japonese. Vinyl had decided to teach Octavia some combat maneuvers (don't ask me where she learned them) and Reggie gave her a gun, in case any raiders attacked.
It was the fourth day of travel, in the middle of the afternoon, when Reggie stopped suddenly on the railway.
"What is it?" Octavia asked.
"We're here," Reggie said. "Canterlot."
Vinyl and Octavia walked up beside Reggie and looked at the town. It was lined with rich, luxurious houses, all of them falling apart in some way. There were also multiple small fires and blood throughout the streets.
The most striking feature was the castle where Princess Celestia had lived. It had fallen off of its mountain-side perch and destroyed multiple houses. The impact of the fall had driven almost half of the building into the ground.
"Let's rest up here on the mountain," Octavia said. "We only have tomorrow to get supplies, and we should be fully rested."
"Alright," Reggie said. "We'll move in at midnight."
When the camp was set up, Reggie woke Dinky up. "Dinky," he said, "we're at Canterlot."
"Where the bad ponies are?" Dinky asked.
"Yeah," he said. "We'll leave for the town at midnight, and be out by nighttime tomorrow."
"Okay."
Reggie nodded and walked over to Octavia. "Hey, Octavia," he said. "You know, if we come into contact with raiders tomorrow..."
"I know," Octavia said. "That's why Vinyl taught me all those combat maneuvers. I'll be fine."
"Alright," Reggie said. He reached over and kissed Octavia's cheek. "Let's get some rest."
When Reggie turned around, Octavia allowed her jaw to drop. Why had he kissed her? How long had he wanted to?
And why did she like it so much?
At midnight, the group was at the entrance to Canterlot. The peaceful-looking "Welcome to Canterlot" sign looked out of place in front of the destroyed wasteland that Canterlot used to be.
"Well, here we are," Reggie said. "Alright, we've got 20 hours, and then we're outta here. Got it?"
"You bet," Vinyl said.
"I think we should work our way towards the castle," Octavia said. "We'll take what we can on the way, raid the castle, then get out."
"Good plan," Reggie said. He looked at Dinky, who was standing beside him. "Dinky, you need to be quiet while we're in here. You going to get sleepy, but you need to stay focused and not complain. Okay?"
"Yes," Dinky nodded.
"Alright," Reggie said. "Should we split up to cover more ground?"
"Groups of two," Octavia said. "I'll go with Vinyl. Regal, you take Dinky with you."
"How will we talk to each other if we get in trouble?" Vinyl asked.
"If one of us isn't at the castle and the others are," Reggie said, "that's how we'll know."
"Should we rescue the group that's gotten in trouble?" Octavia asked.
Reggie looked over at Dinky. "Yes," he said, still talking to Octavia. "If one of us gets caught, find them.Reggie, you and Dinky head south."
"You got it," Reggie said. "Remember, kodo ."
From now on, most talking in italics will be the group talking in code. Or, just me breaking the fourth wall. Yes, I might break it a few more times. Up yours, fourth wall! Anyway, back to the story!
Reggie nodded. "We'll see you at the castle," he said. He turned to the south of the town and begin to walk towards the town. He looked back for a second. "Be safe." And with that, they were gone.
*************************************************************************
Dinky slowly trotted along side Reggie, making sure to stay low to the ground, just like Reggie had told her. She looked up at her friend, also staying low to the ground. Dinky had learned a lot since she met Reggie.
"Get back ," Reggie said, lightly pushing Dinky into any alleyway and following her. A raider pony trotted past the alleyway. Reggie covered the pony's mouth and pulled her into the alleyway. He levitated a gag out of his pack and put it inside the pony's mouth. He hogtied her hooves together and levitated her into a trashcan. When the lid was on the can, Reggie turned it upside down so the bottom of the trashcan was up, trapping the raider inside.
"Reggie, " Dinky called quietly, "over here !"
Reggie turned and saw Dinky standing by an open doorway, pointing inside.
"Good job, Dinky ," Reggie said, walking into the door. Dinky walked in after him and closed the door behind her. The building had a few satchels scattered about and more large boxes.
"Dinky, you do think you could get the satchels ?" Reggie asked.
"Yes ," Dinky said. Dinky walked over and search through the bags. Reggie began to look through boxes.
Suddenly, Dinky heard a quiet whimper. She walked over to the door she heard the whimper from and opened it. There was a small foal huddled into a ball.
"Are you okay?" she whispered.
"Sunt tibi unum de his malis mannis ?" the foal squeaked out.
"I don't understand you," Dinky admitted.
"Dinky, who are you talking to ?" Reggie asked.
Dinky turned to Reggie. "There's a foal in the closet ," Dinky called back. "I don't think she speaks English ."
Reggie trotted over, his saddlebags stuffed with supplies. "Are you alright?" Reggie said to the foal.
"Mannis estis mala ?" the foal whispered.
Reggie looked at Dinky. "I think you're right ," he said. "She can't understand us ."
"What should we do ?" Dinky asked.
Reggie pulled out some food and floated them towards the foal. The foal hesitantly picked up the food and began eating it. He then pulled out a knife and drew an arrow leading out to the alley.
"Let's go ," Reggie said, nudging Dinky. Dinky nodded and followed Reggie out of the door.
"Here's a good-looking building," Vinyl said, walking up to a nearby door. "Wanna try it out?"
"Alright," Octavia said. She pulled out her gun and loaded it, walking over to the door Vinyl was beside. Vinyl quietly opened the door and peeked inside.
"There's somepony inside," she said, looking back at Octavia. "We can probably sneak past him, though."
Octavia nodded and ducked in after Vinyl. The building had a few sleeping bags scattered around the floor, one of them with a pony sleeping on it. Some bags were thrown about lazily.
"I'll watch the pony sleeping," Octavia whispered.
"Are you sure?" Vinyl whispered back. "You haven't really gotten used to your gun."
"Hopefully, he won't wake up," Octavia replied.
"If you sure," Vinyl said. She walked off and began to search through bags.
Octavia trotted over to the sleeping pony and aimed down at him, staring down at him. The pony had a bobby pin as his cutie mark. He was brown with a slick-backed cream-colored mane. He also had wings, symbolizing he was a pegasus. He appeared to be sleeping with his saddlebags on.
Suddenly, Octavia got an idea. She slowly lowered her gun and moved close to the pegasus. When she was close enough, she quietly opened his saddlebags. She saw a gun and quickly took the gun out of his saddlebags and put it in her own saddlebags. She then preceded to take more out of his pack, leaving a few supplies behind.
Then, without warning, the pegasus opened his eyes and looked at Octavia. He instantly rolled onto his hooves and reached for his gun. When he didn't find it, he simply opened the other bag and pulled out another gun, aiming it at Octavia.
"Don't move," he said. "Take your saddlebags off, now." Octavia hesitated, debating whether or not to pull out her gun.
Before she had the chance, however, Vinyl yelled form the back of the room. "Hey!" she said. The pegasus briefly looked at Octavia, then back at Octavia. He smiled evilly and pulled Octavia towards him with his wing. When she was close to him, he put his gun against her head.
"Let her go!" Vinyl yelled.
"Stop or I kill her!" the pegasus said. Vinyl quickly skidded to a stop. "Now, you, empty your bag. And no magic."
Vinyl began to empty her bags. The pegasus took his wing away from Octavia, still keeping his gun to her head. He used his free wing and empty Octavia's bag. When he found his other gun, he put it in his bag and threw Octavia's bags to the side.
When Vinyl was done emptying her bag, she laid it at her feet and kicked it towards the pegasus. "There," she said. "Now, let her go!"
The pegasus aimed at Vinyl and shot her kneecaps. Vinyl crumpled to the ground, crying out in pain. "Vinyl!" Octavia screamed, attempting to break free of the pegasus's grasp.
"Now," the pegasus said, "get out of here!"
"H-how?!" Vinyl said, blood coming out of her knees. "You shot my legs!"
"I'm sure you can figure it out," the pegasus grinned. He casually turned around and led Octavia into a room, locking the door once she was inside. He then approached Vinyl and literally kicked her out of the building, closing the door behind her.
Vinyl looked up at the door that the pegasus had closed. She turned to the south end of town, and began to crawl, hoping she would somehow make it. She knew that was where Reggie had gone. Maybe she would find him in time.
Maybe . It was a really big maybe. Vinyl knew she was going to die, but she couldn't just lay there while Octavia was trapped with that crazy pegasus. So, she began to crawl.
After a few seconds, her vision became blurry and her stomach began to churn. This is it , she thought.
The last thing Vinyl said before she passed out was: "I'm sorry, Octavia."
*****************************************************************************************
Vinyl felt a sharp pain in her knees and her eyes snapped open. She looked at her legs and saw Reggie, putting a knife in the bullet hole. He turned the knife and pulled the bullet out. Vinyl began to yell in pain, but Dinky appeared and covered her mouth. Vinyl pulled the knife out and repeated the procedure with her other legs.
"Alright, Dinky ," he said. "I'm done ." Dinky took her hoof out of Vinyl's mouth. Reggie walked up beside Vinyl and looked down at her. "You okay?"
"Wh-where are we?" Vinyl said. She snapped up and looked at Reggie. "Where's Octavia? Did you get her? Are we still in Canterlot?"
"Easy," Reggie whispered. "We're still in Canterlot. I sensed you were in trouble and brought you in here."
"What do you mean 'sensed' I was in trouble," Vinyl asked.
"That's not important right now," Reggie said. "What happened to you?"
"We were raiding a building and were attacked by a pegasus," Vinyl said. "He shot me in the knees and kidnapped Octavia."
"Oh, crap," Reggie said. "Where is she?"
"I don't know," Vinyl said. "All I know is the building's on the north side of Canterlot."
"Alright," Reggie said. "Watch Dinky. I'm going to find her."
"Octavia's my friend, too," Vinyl protested. "I'm coming with you."
"Vinyl, you're still hurt," Reggie said. "You need to get out of Canterlot. Take Dinky with you and meet me at the train station." Reggie walked towards the door and turned around. "You girls be careful." He opened the door and left.
*****************************************************************************************
Reggie stood a few feet away from a certain building. He focused his magic into it and instantly recognized the feeling inside-Octavia was definitely inside.
Reggie began to approach the building, but instantly ducked behind cover when he saw two ponies approach the building. The ponies all had crimson saddlebags. One of them was dark orange with a dusty brown mane and the fur where his cutie mark would've been was gone, showing his skin. A grey unicorn stood behind him with a dark blue mane and a thin triangle as a cutie mark.
The ponies walked into the building. Reggie heard a click. He trotted up to the door and tried to open it. Locked. Of course.
Reggie looked at the lock, trying to find the tumblers. When he found them, he began to use magic to pick the lock.
"Hey, Runner," a voice said from inside, "why are the supplies scattered everywhere?"
"Some mares broke in and tried to raid us," another voice, which must've been Runner, said.
"What'd you do with 'em," a different voice said.
"I've got one of 'em here," Runner said. "Whaddya guys wanna do with her?"
"I think we should just kill her," the first voice said. "She'd just get in our way if we leave her alive."
"Let me get her out here," Runner said.
Reggie heard a click and the door slowly creaked open. He peeked inside and saw Runner open a door on the far side of the room and pulled out Octavia, hogtied with a gag in her mouth. Runner pulled Octavia across the room and set her down in the middle of the group.
"Are you kidding me?" the orange pony said. "THIS mare broke into this place?"
"Could've fooled me," the grey unicorn said. "So, what should we do with her?"
"Let's keep her," the orange pony said, grinning.
"We're not gonna keep a prisoner so you can have sex," Runner said.
"Come on!" the orange pony said.
"You wanna lose your virginity, do it on a pony that likes you," the grey unicorn said.
"Killjoys," the orange pony whispered under his breath.
"Let's just kill her," the grey unicorn recommended. "Oughta save us some time."
Runner sighed. "You mean I could've kill her half an hour ago?!" he said. He looked at the orange pony. "You kill her."
The orange pony nodded and pulled a gun out of his bag. Reggie pulled out his own gun and broke the door down, aiming at the orange pony.
"Let her go!" Reggie yelled. Octavia looked at Reggie and let out a muffled cry. "Put the gun down and let her go. We'll leave you alone after that."
"Look, buddy," Runner said. "I don't know who in Tartarus you are, but what I do know is that there are three of us and one of you." He looked at the orange pony and motioned towards Reggie. The orange pony aimed at Reggie. "How about YOU put your gun down?"
Reggie, without hesitation, fired at the orange pony, killing him and knocking the gun to the ground. He then aimed at Octavia's bonds and shot them, knocking them off.
"Octavia, get out of here!" he yelled.
Octavia stood up and galloped towards Reggie, removing her gag as she did. "Thank you, Reggie," she said.
"Go find Vinyl and Dinky," Reggie told her. "Head to the hill and meet them at the tracks."
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Octavia asked.
"Just go!" Reggie said. Octavia nodded and left.
"You killed Helios!" the grey unicorn said. He picked up the gun, but barely had it off of the ground before Reggie blew his head off.
"Oh, crap," Runner said, turning to run away. Reggie teleported in front of him, knocking him down.
"You hurt Octavia," Reggie growled, lighted Runner off the ground. "And Vinyl."
"I-I'm sorry!" Runner cried in fear.
"Give me one reason I shouldn't tear your wings off with my bear hooves," Reggie said.
"Wh-what would that prove?" Runner said. "You'd be harming another pony, just like I did."
"You're not a pony anymore," Reggie said. He slammed Runner against the ground and stood over him. "I hope you didn't enjoy flying."
Epilogue
Octavia stopped at the top of Canterlot hill and tried to catch her breath. She turned back towards Canterlot, whispering a prayer to the Princess.
"Octie!" a familiar voice said. Octavia turned and saw Vinyl trotting towards her with a smile on her face and Dinky on her back. She wrapped her arms around Octavia in a hug, and Octavia did the same. "I'm so glad you're okay."
"You, too," Octavia said, stepping back.
"Where's Reggie?" Dinky asked.
"He's fighting the ponies that kidnapped me," Octavia said. "I think he has it under control."
"Nice to know you have faith in me," Reggie's voice said from towards Canterlot. Octavia turned and saw Reggie trotting up the hill, his legs covered his blood.
"What happened to you?" Octavia asked.
"I just taught those ponies you don't mess with my friends," Reggie said. He looked at Dinky on Vinyl's back. "You okay, Dinky?"
"Yes," Dinky said. "I'm glad the bad ponies didn't get you."
"Me, too, kid," Reggie said. "How'd we do in the raid?"
"Not too good," Vinyl said. "The raider forced us to empty our saddlebags, so we lost everything."
"Oh, really?" Reggie smiled, pulling out Vinyl's supplies out of his saddlebags.
"My stuff!" Vinyl said. "You got it back!"
"Of course I did," Reggie said. "Let's get away from here. I never want to see this place again."
*****************************************************************************************
"How did you find me?" Octavia asked.
The group had set up camp along the railroad. Vinyl and Dinky were asleep, and Reggie was sitting on a log by the campfire. Octavia couldn't sleep, so she decided to talk to Reggie.
"When I kissed you before the raid," Reggie said, "I was able to pick up what your energy felt like. When you were attacked, I felt your energy become twisted. And, when I came to find you, I just looked for you energy."
"About you kissing me..." Octavia said.
"Sorry if I made you feel awkward," Reggie said. "I've got to be honest with you. I've wanted to do that since school. I'm just really...attracted to you. You're just so nice. Add that to the fact you helped me get my cutie mark-"
"I get it," Octavia said. "I like you, too, but...do you really think we can have a relationship during the apocalypse?"
"We sure as hell can try," Reggie said.
"If you insist," Octavia said, smiling. She kissed him on the cheek. "Good night." Octavia then walked away towards the tent.
Octavia left Reggie smiling by the campfire.