The Dead City

Part 13: TAINTED

“I’m telling you, Mister Armor, I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Twilight and Big Macintosh are holding me back so that I don’t run the minotaur through with my horn. Rainbow Dash and Noteworthy are looking at me with weary concern. We are in a garbage-filled parking lot right next to the Frost River, and I am staring at an old foe.

But is he still my foe?

“You’re Rocky,” I growl, stopping my struggle. “You were with Lakota. You tried to kill me and Derpy and Fluttershy.”

I had told Twilight about the two pegasi when we had reunited three months ago, and she still believed that they were alive somewhere. Hope of their discovery is one of the reasons we came back to the city in the first place.

The minotaur puts up his hands. At this point it is very difficult to tell whether or not he is telling the truth. His eyes betray nothing, nor does his body. But I know who he is. I know what he did. And I know that he is supposed to be dead.

“How did you survive the fall? The harpoon?”

“Fall? Harpoon? Shining Armor, I really don’t know what you’re talking about. I’ve been here since everything began, and I just wanted to rescue you and your friends from those bandits!”

“And a fine job you did, Rocky,” Twilight says hesitantly. I shoot her an evil look, but now I am unsure. Is this minotaur telling the truth?

I calm to the point where Big Macintosh and my sister let me go. I sit down.

“So you don’t remember anything.”

Rocky looks at me with genuine confusion. He is either a very good liar, or not a liar at all. “I only remember waking up in a ditch on South Bonham Street, surrounded by corpses. Then I came here and helped you guys out when I heard the commotion on the bridge.”

“You woke up in a ditch?”

He nods. “I didn’t know what was going on. To be honest, I still don’t know what’s going on. It’s all a blur.”

“You’re not the only one,” Big Macintosh grumbles. I am still unsure. Minotaurs are big, powerful brutes, but they’re not always the smartest or craftiest of creatures. So am I to believe then that Rocky is telling the truth?

Rocky…

His name.

He still remembers his name.

“Rocky,” I say excitedly, “if you can’t remember anything, how do you know your name?”

Checkmate. Maybe.

But he looks at me once again, puzzled. “I know who I am, Shining Armor. I know who you are, too. I haven’t forgotten everything, just the stuff that matters.”

Just the stuff that matters. How convenient.

“I’m not gonna lie,” I say. “I don’t trust you. I know these guys weren’t here to see what you did, but I was. You tried to kill me, Rocky.”

He puts down his hands. “If you say so, Shining Armor. But I’m not going to kill you now. I’m going to help you. All of you. Come with me, there’s a place where we can spend the night. It’s safe from bonewalkers and bandits. Come on!”

He leads us away, and as I follow I wonder why I am following him, why I am trusting him, after what he did to me, to Derpy and Lyra and Fluttershy.

At the corner of what used to be Foal Street and Ardennais Avenue, a very strange group picks its way through the rubble. The group consists of two pegasi, a unicorn, and a strange bipedal creature that has the head of a dog. Maddux and the ponies.

“Look!” Maddux shouts, pointing his clawed finger at a building. There, the sign ‘Mr. Goodie’s Goods’ can just barely be made out. Fluttershy and Derpy gasp, while Lyra is half asleep. All of them are hungry and tired. They need a place to stay for the night. Maddux thinks this place will do fine.

But they have to make sure it’s safe first, so Maddux bares his teeth as the girls hang back. The door is open, and the window displays have been looted. He slowly inches his way to the door, peeking inside. No one. He can’t smell anyone either. It is safe.

“We’ll rest here for the night,” he says, swishing his tail. “Maybe we’ll find some food.”

“Hey, I see some over there!” Fluttershy cries. Suddenly they are scrambling to get at the food, but Maddux jumps in front of them and smacks the food off the counter. The food, a big slab of green meat, lands on the floor with a loud splat. Derpy looks indignant.

“Whadja do that for?”

Maddux inspects the meat. It is putrid and covered with flies.

“I don’t need to use my nose to know that’s tainted,” he says. “We can’t eat that.”

“Then what can we eat?”

“I don’t know.”

“But I’m hungry!”

“I KNOW!” Maddux cries, baring his teeth. The girls jump back, frightened. Maddux calms and sits down.

“I’m sorry. I’m hungry too. But we can’t eat that, or we’ll die. Look for something else.”

They search but find nothing. The store is picked clean. They sit down in the middle of the store.

Maddux’s stomach growls. “Heh. Funny I’m still hungry. Funny I’m still alive.”

“What do you mean?” Fluttershy asks.

“I remember…only bits and pieces of what happened to me. I know I was not always like this,” he says, pointing to himself. “There was something else…a big flash of light, a lot of screaming…”

“I was wondering that too, Mr. Maddux!” Derpy says happily, oblivious to the gnawing pain in her stomach. “Maybe you’re a Diamond Dog!”

He cocks his head. “A what?”

“A Diamond Dog,” Lyra pipes up. “They like to dig for gems and stuff.”

“No, I think I was…”

Suddenly there is a strange howl in the distance. Maddux stands up and bares his teeth. Fluttershy and Lyra huddle together behind an overturned shelf. Derpy bounces around aimlessly.

She stops when a thousand red eyes peek through the broken windows of the store, leering at her.

“Derpy,” Maddux whispers. “Get behind me. Now.”

She doesn't listen. She giggles and reaches out to touch the blackness.

The howl pierces the night silence again, closer. Then there is only quiet.