The Pain of Surviving.

I sat there slowly cooking the can of corn and also watching Solstice. It was at this time that I decided to take in her features. Her coat was a dark violet and she had a short, spiked turquoise mane and tail. Her cutie mark was a constellation. I could tell she had been captured at least once in her lifetime. Small patches of fur missing here and there on her body as well as the brand on her neck pretty much proved that to be true. Humans can be cruel I thought, ,but we're not the only one's who use brands. The memory of that day ran through my head as it had several times before.

It was my first time I was captured by ponies. Three earth ponies and a pegasus rounded up my friends, Tommy and Steven along with myself. It was just minutes after the war had started. I guess that's how things go when you're so close to the place where they first sprung up. For the first hour, they started throwing rocks at our backs, the next hour we were joined by a unicorn with a whip, and the next hour they branded all three of us on our upper shoulder blade. I never branded anything in my life, but after that insane amount of pain I went through, I will never do that to anything so long as I live. It wasn't long after we were branded that we got rescued by some people trying to stop the ponies. I just wanted to go home that day. I don't have a home anymore though.

I was poked from the side by Solstice, her eyes looking at me with concern as she asked, " You alright? You looked like you were about to cry there."

"It's nothing, just a bad memory that wont be going away anytime soon." I said to try and calm her down. We sat there quietly for about five minutes. The food was ready and I gave her a plate with more on it, because she was a pony and all. The corn was bland, but at least it was edible. I spoke up again after we had finished with our food.

"So how'd you get-"

"The brand?!" she blurted out angrily and then continued, " It was thanks to you violent apes! I was just walking around in town when all of the sudden 3 of you monsters grab me and throw a nullifier on my horn! Then you vicious creatures went and branded me, along with everypony else who was there!" she paused for a moment  and then continued "Ponies wouldn't do something like that! Ponies are much kinder than you freaks of nature! Ponies only capture humans to make sure that they don't harm anypony else! We don't... wait what are you doing?! Put your shirt... back..." she  slowly took in the view of my torture wounds. "Put your shirt back on... please put your shirt back on." she was in tears now, "I'M SORRY FOR WHAT I SAID SO WOULD YOU PLEASE PUT YOUR SHIRT BACK ON?!"

As I put my shirt back on I asked "So... How'd you get your cutie mark?"

"I've always liked astrology, ever since I was a filly. Now I can name all of the constellations by heart and even their positions in the sky." she sighed and then asked, "So before this whole war happened what did you do?"

"I was an employee at a fast food restaurant. I honestly hated my job, but I wasn't really serious when I said 'I would rather live in hell than work at this job'" we both laughed a little at that. "Hold still for a moment."

She flinched a little as I reached up, but then relaxed as she realized what I was doing. I held down the buttons on her magic nullifier and pulled it off her horn. She seemed very happy about it being off of her horn, it must have been there for quite some time because the spot where it had been was much lighter than the part above it. I placed the nullifier in my pocket Just in case I have to deal with a rabid unicorn. I wondered for a moment what magic was like. What it would feel like to be able to cast magic. How would it feel like to not be able to use it? Would it be similar to losing a limb?

"Thank you Reave, I can't begin to explain just how much I've wanted that damn thing off my horn." she paused for a moment but then asked, "However, I must know why you took it off? I've been nothing but rude to you and you offer me kindness in return. Are you some sort of masochist, or are you really just that good of a po- er- person?"

"You honestly want to know?" she nodded in response, "I don't really know why I did it. I guess it could help you if you get attacked by a human." she looked scared for a moment, possibly remembering a previous time during her capture. "Hey don't worry you can just blast them away with your horn!" that statement didn't improve her disposition however.

"I don't really know that many fighting spells, I can't even start a simple fire." she changed the subject quickly, "So are you just going to stay here? I don't think that you'll be able to live down here forever Reave."

"I know Solstice, That why I'm planning on going across the southern border into Mexico." I pulled out a map and then continued, " From what I gathered, I've learned that trying to just strait shot it through the states would be a bad move. Most of the Northern states have pony squads patrolling the southern boarders, so the plan is to head into Michigan, then move into Indiana, then Illinois, to Iowa, into Nebraska, then Colorado, to New Mexico and then I sneak into Mexico. It'll take a while sure, but I'll reap the benefits of it in the end." I finished with a smile.

" Why not go into Canada?" Solstice asked. "It's much closer to you."

"Because with as cold as it gets here, I'm not going somewhere where it might be colder!"

"When do you plan on going?"

"As soon as I've packed enough supplies, I'll be out of this place for good... Why so many questions about it anyway?"

"I... I want to come along as well. I don't like this stupid war Reave, I came here to study the stars of a different world. I ended up being dragged into a fight that I didn't even care about in the first place. So if I could come along with you and go to Mexico, away from all this, I'd be much appreciative for it." I was about to say my opinion on it when she continued, " I know I've been nothing but rude to you this entire time, but... I... I just wanted to study stars! Celestia damned stars and now everypony's fighting one another. I just want to get away so please, I'm begging you, take me with you!"

"Alright." she perked her head up at me "But you have to get supplies as well. That means Food, Water, a tent if you can find it, something to make heat without electricity, blankets, flashlights, batteries, backpacks for holding all this." she nodded as I listed each item off. Then we set up a schedule. In the day she would go out for supplies, and I would go out at night.

The first day Solstice found several cans of vegetables, packs of spaghetti, 2 large canteens, some saddle bags, and a rather large backpack when she went out to search in the morning. During the night I managed to find something rather valuable along with some more provisions. It was a book that was in Equestrian, when I brought it back to Solstice she told me it was a book to learn basic combat. It took her a week to become able to use an electricity spell. In another week she could start a fire. Each week we would gather supplies and then come home and talk about the past. It was pretty nice to see somebody smile and laugh for a change. The final week was when I hit the jackpot however, an electric car with the keys inside and just enough juice left in it to get close to the bunker. One electricity spell later and we were ready to leave.

"Now we just gotta hide it until tomorrow. Good thing the bunker is underneath a workshop, right?"

"Yeah, so are we really ready to leave Reave?" Solstice asked "I know we have a lot of supplies but don't you want to get more just in case something happens?"

"You're right Solstice, one more day to look for supplies but once it hits night we're out of here."

With our plans for the next day set, we headed back into the bunker to sleep. This would be the last night we would ever sleep there.