I sat in the corner of our dismal supply room it doesn't really look like much, it's just a small cement basement that could fit about three ponies comfortably with a single door in the center of the wall opposite of me, a vast assortment of firearms, wingblades, tramplers, grenades, and other weapons was at my back, a small cardboard box of medical supplies in the corner to directly to the right of the door, a small pile of miscellaneous boxes on the right way, and another pile of boxes lined the left wall. I walk over to the boxes and levitate open one of the flaps with my magic, only to find two carrots inside. I close the box and walk through the door, up the stairs, through another door, and into the living room. The living room was very worn down with boarded up windows, torn up curtains and a dirty red chewed up rug. This came as no surprise of course, this house was built before The Calamity, it's a miracle it's still standing. I walk through another door into the kitchen, where Tech Edge and Colossus was eating a small bowls of oats for breakfast. Tech Edge is a pegasus with a slicked down green and white mane, white coat, and green eyes. His cutie mark is a mother chip, which signifies his skill with technology. Colossus is a dark grey, crimson eyed, earth pony with no mane. His cutie mark is a trampler, signifying his unmatched skill with hoof to hoof combat.
"So where's my breakfast?" I ask the two ponies.
"It's over on the counter, Bullet Shear." Tech Edge told me lazily. I walk over to the counter and levitate my bowl of oats over to the table and sit down.
"Is Stardust up yet?" I ask the other two ponies.
"Yeah, she's working on the generator right now." Tech Edge explained, "Hopefully it can survive EMPs if she can get it to run on magic instead of electricity." Stardust has a white mane that runs down to her knees with gold streaks in it, a white body, and a gold tail. She is a unicorn and her cutie mark is an arcane rune for electricity, as her special talent is magically creating and manipulating electricity. Our special talents line up perfectly, which is probably why we have survived this long. Tech Edge makes technology out of junk and Stardust helps power it. Also in combat Stardust uses guns while Tech Edge uses his technology to provide range while me and Colossus takes the front lines. Colossus With his tramplers and me with my double sword-gun, Escrima. Yeah that baby is my own invention, I got my cutie mark when I first made it. When the other three found me, all those years ago, what they saw was a white unicorn with a torn up black and silver mane down to his chest, fighting off almost eleven of those monsters at once. After they helped save me, and I stopped slashing at them in my hysteria, they asked my where my team was. After I explained to them what had happened, in between sobs, they took me in. Soon after Tech Edge worked some wonders on Escrima to make her even more efficient in combat. I carry her around always, even now she is sheathed on my back.
"I got it running." Stardust told us without even looking, she then walked over to the counter and levitated her breakfast over to the table and sat down without making eye contact. Despite her cold demeanor, she was originally an emotional mare, but after she electrocuted another pony when they got into an argument about food rations, she decided to absolve herself of all emotions completely.
"So..." I begin to speak, keeping an eye on the others. "I was just in the store room, and...." I started to inform them cautiously. Colossus looked up at me and gave me a look that said, Spit it out! Taking the hint I quickly told the others "We are almost completely out of food!" The silence was deafening, I could even hear the moans of the creatures in the streets, we where so silent.
"About how much food are we talking about here.... " Tech Edge inquired with a scowl on his face.
".........Two carrots." I say sheepishly after a pause. Tech Edge jumped across the table at me, knocking me to the ground and he started smashing his hoof into my face.
"I'll throw you back onto the streets!" He yelled at me. Colossus pulled Tech Edge off of me, and I rolled back onto my hooves and drew out Escrima with my telekinesis. When Tech Edge saw my weapon was out he stopped struggling and and walked into the living room giving me a sinister glare. Only after he left the room that I dared to sheathe Escrima again.
"Well it seems that food will have to be found to found today." Stardust remarked. She didn't even move an inch from her spot at the table during the whole encounter. "If you don't keep better track of the food supplies Bullet Shear, you will find yourself back where you came from, do you catch my drift?"
"I'm sorry, it won't happen again." I promise.
"Sorry doesn't make it better." She said coldly, not even looking up from her oats at me. "Now who to send foraging...." She said in mock thought.
"Send Bullet Shear, it's his fault this happened." Tech Edge injected from the other room.
"I was going to say you Bullet Shear, but now that I think about it, the job might require two... I know I'll send Tech Edge with you." She said in a sadistic voice. I heard a pony fall off of a couch in the other room.
"You bitch!" I heard Tech Edge yell from the other room.
"It will be a good bonding experience for the both of you." She said in a tone so cold I almost shivered.
"I'm not going with him!" I Tech Edge exclaimed as he walked back into the room.
"Your both either going out to find food, or going out because me and Colossus kicked your flanks out, either way I would start getting ready." Stardust explained calmly, she then put up her empty bowl and walked out of the kitchen.
Chapter 2:Encounter
The taste of ash filling my mouth brings back old memories, the days on the streets by myself, the day that they where taken from me.... I look out into the ash filled sky and barely make out the silhouette of the sun through the ash.
"It's almost nightfall." I comment.
"And we still have not found anything." Tech Edge lashed back. "Why couldn't you just watch the rations! Was it that freakin hard!" Tech Edge yelled and got up in my face.
"Yeah, because for some reason all of the boxes was evenly distributed with food expect the last one only had two carrots!" I yell back at the green maned pegasus.
'So what! You still should have checked!" He raved, I then noticed he was carrying a taser trampler on his hoof, and it was on. "This team could do better without you!" He carried on, walking closer to me. I try to trot backwards and levitate Escrima halfway out of her sheath, but I know it's no use, he can get that taser on my chest faster than I'm going to be able to draw Escrima, but I'm not going down without a fight! We both froze as the same sound reached both of our ears, a unearthly moan coming from an alley a little ahead of us and to our left. Tech Edge and I quickly turn towards the alley. Tech Edge quickly takes flight, flicking his wings to extend his custom retractable wingblades and flicked his other hoof to extend his retractable hoof knife from his boot. Meanwhile I levitate out Escrima and put her in a defensive position in front of me. Then we see the mob of rotten fleshed, half eaten, limping groaners known as zomponies. They half walk half limp towards us at first then one at the front notices us and they all limp-gallop in our direction. I point one of the blades of Escrima at the lead zompony and fire it's under barrel . And take it's head off. I then twirl her around to shoot again, but this time I only caught the zompony in the shoulder, then their was no more distant left and we charged into the fray. I slash an exposed neck on my right, beheading a zompony, and with the same movement also another one in front of me across the chest. I then twirl the blade around my body hampering the movements of the sick smelling monsters around me. I then use my magic to twist and separate Escrima's two blades into to separate weapons. And plunge them into the two zomponies at my sides chest's. I then pull out the two halves of Escrima and twist them back into a whole. I then turn around, to face the survivors of the mob I just helped thin out. Only six of the slashed up, rotting monsters remain, wait! Make that five, Tech pndedEdge just beheaded one with his wingblades. I then twist my weapon apart again and shoot my barrels at two of the remaining zomponies and rush in for the charge. I stick my blades into two zompony skulls, while Tech Edge swoops down and fries the last one with his taser. We sheate our weapons and fall to the ground panting.
After a while I finally spoke, "Look Tech Edg-"
"Don't apologize. I should be the one apologizing, I've been a jerk." He admitted. "Without your help today, I doubt I would have made it." He explained.
"It still doesn't make me any less responsible, besides I doubt I'd be half as good as I am now without you making Escrima be able to split apart like that." I explain.
"Okay, where both morons." He said sarcastically rolling his eyes. We both laugh and give each other a hoof bump.
"Yeah but we will be dead morons if we can't find food soon, I'll take on a dozen zomponies before I would even dream of fighting those two." I comment.
"Yeah, let's get going." Tech Edge agreed. After another three empty houses we finally found a storage container in the basement of a large two story house. I cast a spell to open the lock and we rejoice in our findings, we found ourselves a whole box of dried fruit, another box of oats, and two gallons of purified water.
"We hit the mother load!" I exclaimed.
We carried the container back home where Stardust examined the contents.
"So did you run into a pack today?" She inquired, not even looking up from the food.
"Yeah, but we took them down easy enough." Tech Edge answered.
"That's not the point, that's the fourth time in a row that we have encountered zomponies whenever we go out, they may know where in the area." She explained, she then gave us back the case. "Put it downstairs, we will organize it in the morning." She said walking into the bedroom hallway. We then trot back towards the basement door, and descend down the stairs into the small room I then put the container on the food wall and go back upstairs while tech edge puts up his weapons. I then walk into the bedroom hallway past the other three ponies bedrooms and levitate open my bedroom door. It is devoid of anything besides chipped navy wall paint, a boarded up window, and a mattress up against the wall. I levitate off Escrima and her sheath and lay them beside my mattress. I tried to sleep but every time I closed my eyes I kept seeing those rotten monsters, them eating my family and then turning their gazes to me.
