Fighting in a world of Harmony

Walking was not my favorite activity. We had been walking around this seemingly endless land for days now, and we had found nothing. Our rations were basically depleted, and now I was actually used to walking. It had become the main part of my day. Bear kept telling me that soon we would reach some settlement of some sorts, but how could I believe him when it had been two days since we had left the stable? It seemed that everything around us was either ash or non-existent.

“Beeeeaaaaarrr I’m tired. I need to stop sometime!” I whined in agony.

He just turned around and looked at me, a pleading look in the windows of his soul. “Soda, I know that since the Stable, we’ve been walking almost non-stop. We can’t just stop, though. This time, truly, I have a feeling that something is right over this next hill. Please trust me.”

I had no other choice but to trust him. I sighed and followed behind him. I was fatigued, and my eyes were already drooping. Trying to walk straight had already become an issue for me. I knew ,though, that if I fell asleep in the barren grass, a raider would most likely get to me, if a zombie didn’t beat ‘em to it.

In the distance, I heard a loud clammering. It sounded as if somepony was having a dispute. My eyes shot open and I became excited. There were ponies out there!

At that moment, I didn’t care about my fatigue. All of my worries washed away and I charged, galloping at full speed to find the source of the talk. Upon climbing over the hill (and falling and rolling down it), I saw it. There was a small camp set up in the form of a town. A sign in front of it proudly proclaimed, “Welcome to Baltimare, where freedom matters.”

I smiled at the sign, a tingle of joy in my heart. Here, they were obviously not savage killers. Here, I was going to be safe. I heard Bear trot up behind me, gasping at the sight. He seemed more entushiastic about the architecture.

All around us, we saw small buildings made out of wood. It seemed old-fashioned, but then again, we were in some sort of wasteland. The buildings stood no more than one story high. Firepits were placed in front of every house, and a box in the middle (labeled “Food”) was the source of the conflict.

“Hey, those are my rations!” A stunning red stallion proclaimed.

“If they were yours, I wouldn’t be holding them in my hooves!” The green stallion on the other side shot back.

They both ran towards each other, the slab of meat dropping to the ground as they went into a full-on tussle. I couldn’t get in the way. Two full-grown stallions would pummel me if I tried. Instead, I walked over and grabbed the meat in my teeth. Both of the ponies stopped and looked up at me, a fire in their eyes.

I dropped it, finally glad to have their attention.

“Now listen to me! I have just come from a town called Ponyville! I have seen things that most of you have probably all seen as well. I understand that there is a famine in the land, but we do not need to argue over this. It is important that we all get along if we want to survive.”

Most of the ponies that had gathered around gasped when I mentioned  Ponyville. Murmurs spread through the crowd.

“She could be one of them…”

“Do you think she’s a zombie?”

“It’s a miracle.”

I ignored all of this nonsense and went over to the stallions. Both of them were already apologizing to each other, and in the end, as always, decided to split the meat in two. Finally, as peace settled around, the ponies decided to surround me. Only one talked. It was an old pony, blue colored unicorn, bearing a wizard’s hat. She looked as if she had been alive for at least a century, but, knowing of the war, I knew it was impossible.

“Beautiful mare, I am the great and powerful Trixie. I know that you have traveled far to get here, and we welcome you. It has indeed been tough for us all, especially me. It is almost time for my departure, but I had to wait for you. I need to tell you something a great princess told me long ago. “One day, a mare will rise above war. She will be the savior we need,  and will save the town. She will come from Ponyville. Keep hope alive in the community, and don’t turn into what everypony else has. Save yourselves, and Trixie, watch over the town I will provide.”

“And you, I believe, are the mare that Celestia told me of. I have been alive so long, that I have seen the destruction of true warfare. Please, save Equestria, and let my name live on forever.”

She fell over, her stomach still. No breath came from her, and just as instantly, she was dust, blown away by the wind. I felt a tear form in my left eye, but I refused to let it fall. I felt a tug on my shoulder, and a pony began to help me out of the crowd, pushing me towards the largest building in the town. I finally got the chance to look around the surrounding town.

Most of the buildings were gray, but beautiful murals were painted alongside each one. Every mural was different. One of them seemed to be very popular. It depicted three ponies, walking through the desert. Each color faded into one another perfectly to form a dusk setting. On one of the ponies, there was a device in her leg. One had two large weapons on it. The last pony was possibly the most beautiful mare I had ever laid my eyes upon. Her cutie mark was a bird, while the one with the weapons had none. Cacti withered around them, and in the background, you caught glimpses of zombies. Above it, the letters read, “Fallout Equestria. Come and read it at your local bookstore today.”

This was, in fact, quite interesting. It seemed that, in the midst of war, somepony wanted to write a book about it. I was excited to read it, but I had no bits to buy it with. I was only minorly sad, and a little disappointed.

~~~

Being shoved through a door was not any fun. When you add that it’s a small door, it becomes even more complicated. I had hurt the calf that one of the zombies had scratched me, getting shoved through that door. Pain split through my calf, but I tried to ignore it. I focused instead on the room I was now standing in. It smelled of fruit, which was delightful. Two ponies were conversing at the table on the far side of the room, and one of them looked odd to me.

It wasn’t the fact that she was tilted on her side, or even the fact that I could smell her breath from across the room. What got me about her was that most of her body was badly charred and burned. She turned towards me, talking in a loud, royal manner.

“Hello there, young filly! I assume you have come to work with us today!”

I stared her over, my mouth open in shock. She was still alive!!! Her body was insanely crumbling, and she was alive! For a moment, I was dazed. Then, regaining my composure, I answered in a quick-mannered voice.

“U...Ummm no ma’am! My friend and I, here, are looking for a band of raiders. We have been walking for days and are very hungry. We only wish to rest here for the night, maybe get a good meal, and then we’ll be on our way.”

She looked me up and down. When her eyes hit my scar, she stopped for a moment. She shook her head of any irrational thought and smiled up to me.

“Yes! I am the mayor of this small province you see as Baltimare. What was once a great town was lost, and had to be rebuilt. We here at Baltimare have built this town to somewhat resemble the actual town, but much, much smaller. You can stay the night here if you please. There is an extra tent right next to this office, as a matter of fact. I hope you two wouldn’t mind sharing it for just the night, would you?”

Bear and I stared at each other for a moment. Then, as if spontaneously, we both grinned at each other.

“Mrs. Mayor, it won’t be a problem at all.”

~~~

Walking out, you couldn’t even tell that anything had occurred last night. We had cleaned up every last drop of pony juices from inside of the tent, and we had washed our sweat away. I knew this was just a minor scene comparing to what could be in store for the future. Of course, him being the first I can remember, it was definitely going to be the most memorable.

Right upon leaving our sleeping quarters, we were face to face with black. Wait a minute, it wasn’t just black, but we were facing the dark side of the mayor.

“Good morning, ma’am! Need anything from us?” I asked as politely and innocently as I could.

“As a matter of fact, I think I do. There seems to be a problem on the outskirts of town. It seems we are being shut off from outside forces by a group of monsters. We can’t exactly tell what they are, but they look a bit famished.”

My eyes widened. We just got here, and we were going to be attacked by monsters!? It didn’t seem really fair, in my perspective, but I guess if anything could help right now, it would be to read. I knew the mayor wouldn’t let me read in a time that she thought was a huge crisis, so I had to make up a lame excuse to cover my tracks.

“Mayor, you can count on me! First, though, I have to go gather equipment, such as weapons and all of that. I’ll be back here in half an hour.”

Without allowing questions and all the such, I ran off, determined to find out what these monsters were and, if lucky, how we could kill them.

Entry #46

Today, it seems that the minotaurs have run wild from their normal homes. Something must be wrong with them, because even my words couldn’t seem to calm them down. I suppose it would be time to ask Twilight for help, but I know that she just gets so scared around animals. I don’t think they can hurt anypony, but they shouldn’t be mixed with our kind. It can lead to all kinds of trouble. Oh no, Twilight is coming back. I snuck into her library because I needed to write this. Every single thing that happens must go in there. Please, if I can’t, make sure the minotaurs don’t get harmed. It would break my soul.

F.S.

So, minotaurs, hmm? It says in the journal entry that we shouldn’t harm them. They obviously didn’t want to harm us, if this pony was correct. Maybe they were just as hungry as we were, and the only food source for a while was us. I wanted to respect this pony’s wishes, and do this non-violently. It seemed that, indeed, I would need a couple of weapons for my arsenal. These weren’t going to be your normal weapons, though. I needed a team. We needed to calm these “monsters” down. Then, a thought hit me smack in the face. It was clear as day and I should have noticed it before!

How long have these minotaurs been planning to kill the citizens of Baltimare? Had they seen us come in?