I walk down the ruined city of Manehattens side alleys as quietly as possible. The full moons light illuminates much of the ruined city, I keep my sword and knife at the ready, just in case somepony attempts to attack me. I look into my pack of supplies, I have enough food to last another day .
Then I hear the familiar sound of hoof steps and quickly duck into the alley. I check around the corner with a broken piece of glass I found big enough to be a mirror.
I see the moonlight glint off of a group of survivors weapons, I immediately know that it is more likely that these survivors are not friendly and that if I come out from cover they will attack me.
I decide to back away, for a few tense minutes I back away slowly, keeping my senses on alert for any noises. Just as I came out of the alley I hear somepony yell down the street.
"Over here!!" I quickly snap my head over to the sound of the voice its a young mare, no older than 16- 18 years old and dressed in tattered clothes, her coat is a light magenta but turned near black by dirt and grime.
She then charges me with a knife, I easily dodge her and hit her in the back of her head with the hilt of my blade, knocking her unconscious. Four other stallions show up, three of them are armed with rusty knives and pipes, but one is armed with a rifle.
However clumsily he holds it, its clear that this stallion won't hesitate to shoot to kill. The three of the stallions armed with knives and pipes charge me, I easily dodge their clumsy attacks and they each wind up striking the others, I disarmed them deftly by using my own blade.
However the stallion with the rifle opens fire on me, despite the fact that his fellows are there and guns them all down. I turn to flee, I hear the stallion curse, clearly he wasted all his ammo trying to kill me.
After a few minutes of running, I turn my head to look for the stallion, sure enough he's there with a knife, the young mare by his side, shaking in a mixture of desperation, horror and fear.
I look at the young mare, she was clearly only with this stallion and his group for protection, but judging from her current look she is having second thoughts. The stallion has a rough, deep and gravelly sounding voice.
"Nowhere left to run now, tell you what, give me that fancy sword and that pack of yours and i might let you live." The mare then started to back away as quietly as possible, but the stallion turns and grabs her.
"Where do you think your going? I'm kind enough to protect you and feed you and you repay me by trying to run away?" The mare is quivering in fear of the stallion.
"Please, I didn't...I just...." The stallion hits her, hard enough to cause her to bleed.
" Shut up you whore, I think its time you pay me back for all I've done for you." It doesn't take a genius to figure out what the stallion plans to do with the poor mare. I quickly rush up to the stallion and place my blade at the back of his throat.
"Let the mare go you idiot."
The stallion goes rigid and loses his grip on the mare enough for the mare to slink out . The mare then turns and runs away, hopefully to find some safety.
"You were really going to force yourself on that poor, defenseless mare weren't you? I would kill you, but id rather not dirty myself with your filthy blood." I Hit the stallion in the back of the head, knocking him unconscious. I search him and find few useful supplies.
I found a lighter and a medic kit, but little food that was healthy enough to eat, I turn and walk away from the stallion leaving him to whatever fate awaited him. After quietly and carefully walking through the city, I notice a house surrounded by destroyed buildings, but intact enough to be livable, the rubble around it gave it some natural defenses and made it difficult to get inside.
I then walked over to the house all the while scanning the area for traps or other survivors. Finding none, I scale the rubble and find a lightly damaged window and open it just enough to get in silent.
Inside the house I immediately notice that it looks as if it has been abandoned sense even before the war and carefully check the lower levels of it. After a time, I find no evidence of any thing having lived here in a long time, and move up the stairs to check.
I cautiously open the door to the first room and check it for signs of life. Finding none, I begin to do the same for the other rooms on this floor before moving on the 3rd floor, however, the way is blocked by rubble.
I decide to come back later after I finish my sweep of the house, Finally I head into the basement and here the sound of scurrying. I prepare for a fight as I open the door only for a few rats to burst out and run past me and out of the house.
I then check the basement, the basement is full of basic construction supplies, this must have belonged to a builder before the war. After making sure that nothing else was in the basement I close the door and move up the stairs. And do one final sweep of the house.
*In a different part of the city. Next Day*
A stallion in body armor wearing the Equestrian flag on his shoulder as he moved through the ruined city moving carefully passed the burned out wrecks of tanks and armored cars and corpses. He had the Darkstar on his name tape that was splattered with blood.
" I can't take this anymore." He was wounded and moved through some rubble as a shot went off nearly blowing his head off as he dived for cover.
"Damn snipers!" He growled as he moved back down the alley and around the corner of a shelled out building and moved down the street keeping close to the shadows as he heard another gunshot and a scream as he froze as another gunshot went off most likely killing whoever was there.
The stallion moved through the wreckage of a burned out home and stopped panting a little from his wounds.
"Damn I need some bandages or I'm going to bleed out. Raahh! Damnit this hurts." He headed out of the house and ran across a field where some apartment complexes were. He shoulder checked the door and pulled his rifle up taking aim down a hallway as he moved past the blocked staircase.
As he made it to the other end he saw a open field making him grunt knowing he'll be a easy target in the daylight. He would have to wait till the night. He sighed as he headed back to where the last firefight was and began looking through the dead bodies for bandages and medical supplies.
He was able to find some from a few of his friends and enemies bodies and patched himself up as best he could before filling his own pouch with bandages as he made his way back towards the bombed out house and waited for the night so he could make it across the street without being hit by sniper fire.
As night fell he moved to the next house shoulder checking the door taking aim through the small doorway as he moved through the house just as another stallion walked right into his cross hairs.
"HALT!"
(Survivor’s POV)
I look over to the stallion and raise an eyebrow at him
"Halt? What's next put your hooves behind your head? I'm not so foolish as to do that." I draw my sword and assume a battle stance.
"You can either turn around and leave now, or things will get ugly for both of us." The stallion smirked as he shoulder the rifle.
"You think that you can get to me before I mow your ass down?"
I look at the stallion unfazed before throwing a knife at the stallions rifle. He dodged and fired at the me as he back pedaled. I quickly dodge the bullets rolling to the left and then I rushed towards the stallion at a speed most stallions couldn't hope to match and slash at the stallions rife with the intention to knock it away.
The stallion dodged the knife and shoulder checked me and went for a stab with his bayonet. I easily defect the bayonets strike and rolled behind the stallion and slashed the strap holding the stallions grenades and grabbed them before they fell and threw them to the side to prevent him from using them as I fall back.
He growled and gave vicious kick to the side of my head and followed it with rifle stroke to the face. I recovered from the blows fast enough to block the next and kicked the stallion out from underneath him, knocking him to the ground fast enough to make him drop his rifle.
He quickly pulled his combat knife taking a stance glaring at the other stallion as he charged ducking a swing and went in for a stab at the chest. I grabbed the other stallions arm as he slashed me, getting a small but not too serious wound, I then twist the stallions arm and kick the stallion in the chest staggering him before going to impale him in the chest.
He twisted his arm out of my grip and head butted me stunning ne and followed up with a hard buck to the chest knocking the breath out of me as I stumbled back before he tackled me to the ground and held his knife to the other my neck both of us panting from the fight. I realize the situation I'm in instantly.
"You're better than I expected, much better than most of idiots you find running around here, with no firm grips on their knives and firing from the hip. With guns with the sights sawed off." I said glaring at the soldier.
"Got to say your not bad yourself. Look I don't want to kill you I just need some help. I'm sure you heard the firefight earlier right? I'm wounded and just need some help is all." He said I could see he was in pain.
"I can see that you are injured but I only know basic first aid and have only one kit. But how do I know that you won't simply shoot me in the back the moment I patch you up?" I asked looking back at him.
"And how do I know you won't stab me in the back as soon as I turn my back so you could patch me up?" He asked as I smile at the stallion.
"Because if I wanted you dead, you'd already be dead, don't believe me? Look down at my right hand. I had this with me during our fight." The stallion looked down to see a grenade with a pulled pin as he sighed.
"Not bad, but the thing is I could still kill you and get away safely in the five seconds it takes for that grenade to go off. So your choice? Die or help me get patched up?" He asked as I saw movement behind him. I smiled at the stallion.
" Ill help you get patched up but before I help you there's something you should know."
Yeah what's that?"
"That stallion behind you is about to kill you with your own gun. Id move now if i were you."
He rolled off and threw his knife scoring at hit right in the eye as the stallion got to his hooves pulling his sidearm.
I immediately hurl the grenade at the other stallion as the soldier I was recently fighting took aim at the explosive.
He fired as it struck the grenade as they both dived for cover as the grenade went off blowing the other stallions that were in the room apart.
After the explosion went off and things went quiet I picked up my sword and sheathed it as i walked over to the stallion who was clutching his wound. And I took out the med pack i took from the stallion last night.
"Hold still." I told him as he shifted around
"Hold on let me take off this armor. I've got more than just that one." He pulled off his armor hissing as they bumped a few of his wounds that he already tried to patch up. He holstered his pistol and handed the stallion his own medical kit.
" Don't use yours, I got plenty from down the street." He offering me his kit.
I shrug and take his med pack I open it and begin using the supplies within it to begin patching him up. It wasn't as well done as a trained doctors but was still viable.
"There its finished, now we need to move, I know this area, around this time of night a group of particularly dangerous psychopaths come through here and if you get into a fight before those wounds heal.... Well a gun or knife won't be what kills you." I told him as he nodded to him.
"Got it." He picks up his rifle and checks his magazine before going and grabbing his knife and grenade belt and joined the me at the door.
I drew my sword opened the door, the house was quiet, too quiet. the usual sounds or mice was nowhere to be found but , I didn't feel a trap no more like something was...Off about this place, I turned to the stallion I had just patched up.
"Can you feel it about this place as well?"
"Something isn't right. Be on your guard." He shoulder his rifle as they both headed in.
"I'll take downstairs you take up, either of us finds anything, we signal the other. By the way if we are doing this you should know my name Its DarkSteel."
"Darkstar, 2nd Infantry Division. Well former anyway. I'll see you in a bit." He said nodding to me.
Downstairs as Darkstar heads up. I open the door leading to the basement and immediately feel the presence of magic. It felt heavy and sinister, I immediately recognized the presence of Dark magic.
But this one felt so....Twisted. I reached the bottom of the stairs and opened the door. Inside of it was what was clearly once a group of Sombras followers base of operations, the scent of dried blood and incense filled the air.
I noticed a box over in the corner I cautiously walked over to it and opened it. Inside was a surprising amount of canned food and water. And strangely enough most of it looked recently scavenged. I closed the box and picked it Up when I heard gunshots from upstairs.
Darkstar moved upstairs as he flicked his light on the end of his rifle as he cleared the upstairs sifted through things trying to find anymore medical supplies as he went into a bedroom that had been ran sacked.
He sighed as he saw a few remains of a family that looked as if they had been butchered long ago. Probably during the early fighting of the war. He moved past them as he looked through some draws letting his rifle dangle from his chest.
Behind him a mare moved silently towards the soldier a knife in hoof getting closer and closer to him before two shots rang out.
(Darksteele)
I quickly move upstairs and see a mare holding her bleeding hoof from a gunshot wound and Darkstar picking up a knife.
"She tried to attack you from behind?" I asked
" Yeah tried to jump me. Did you find anything downstairs?" He moved over to her and looked her over as she tried to shrink in on herself.
"I found a surprisingly large amount of supplies downstairs. And what looked like it was once a base for the followers of Sombra. Think she knows anything about that?"
" Don't know. So miss you know anything about the Sombra freaks here?" She covers her head shaking her head as the two stallions looked at each other.
Ma'am are you hungry?" He pulled out a power bar as the mare eyed it with great interest.
"Please. I haven't eaten in days. I'll do anything for it." She pleaded begging for the power bar as he opened it and handed it to her as she grabbed it and devoured it.
"What do you think?" I look at the mare and immediately made my assessment of her.
"She's clearly had nothing to do with anything that happened here. She's just a survivor like us....Well me. Because I'm not too sure about you. But at the same time, I don't think she would have attacked you. She's half starved and desperate true. But look into her eyes, what do you see?"
" Yeah I know what you mean." He squatted down as she flinched away from him.
"Are you ok ma'am? I'm sorry I shot you, you have to understand I'm a bit on edge." Tosses a glance at Darksteele as he held out his hoof to the mare as she looked between the two stallions.
"What's your name ma'am?" He asked as she swallowed the rest of the power bar.
"I-I'm Coco Pommel sirs." I look at the mare confused as she shied away.
"Tell me miss Coco, How have you survived this long if you made such an obvious mistake? It doesn't take a unicorn to feel how off this house is. So why would you come here?"
"I-I haven't eaten in so long and I didn't care about the feeling of the house. I'm just so hungry I was hoping I could find some food."
"Where are you coming from ma'am?
"2nd St. I had a house there before a huge firefight erupted near it yesterday. Somepony threw a grenade in my house thinking I was one of you soldiers." I look over at Darkstar
"Then technically she is only here because of you. If I may ask for the both of us, what exactly are you doing here? That equipment of yours isn't in bad enough condition to suggest that you've been here any longer than a day or two and you still have ammunition, grenades and med kits to name a few things. Equestrian soldiers usually don't come out here, content to shell from afar. So why are you here Darkstar?" I asked as he sighed tapping his hoof on his helmet.
"I can't take it anymore. The bombs, the firefights, snipers, and watching friends die. After this last firefight I just couldn't take it anymore." He sighed and looked back at the mare.
"I'm so sorry about what happened to your home ma'am." Coco smiled and nodded at him as he began to wrap her hoof only wincing a few times as he applied pressure to the wound.
"It's ok, I was planning on leaving anyway since a lot of rebels have been moving through my area.
I look out the nearby window and notice the shadows starting to move, but not like ordinary ponies trying to sneak around, no only Sombra worshippers move like that.
"We need to get out of here fast. Looks like some of Sombras soldiers are coming home. We don't have the proper weapons to fight them either." I stated letting the other two know what was coming
"Alright lets move Coco climb on my back. I'll carry you out. Darksteele lead the way." I nodded as I moved to the door near the stairs.
"I don't want to be a burden and get you hurt." Coco said as he picked her up with his magic.
"No time to argue. Steele which way?" I heard Darkstar ask as I motioned for him to get closer.
"We can't head out the back, they have it covered and the front is too exposed...We need something to disperse them." I look over at Darkstar spotting something on his grenade belt.
"On that belt of yours I thought I saw a stun grenade, a new weapon made to fight rebels correct? " He nodded and turned his side to me.
"Take it. Its the long skinny one." He said as we heard the door to the house kicked in.
"What are you going to do?" Coco asked. I take the grenade from Darkstars belt.
" Making a miracle happen." I walked to the stairs with Darkstar close behind, we then halted at the front door.
"I'm going to kick down the door, when the soldiers swarm, close your eyes or you'll go blind. Understand miss Coco?" I asked as she nodded.
"Ok." She closes her eyes as I kick open the door, we heard a shout from downstairs and could hear the sound of hooves charging as Darksteele tosses the grenade before taking cover behind the wall as the grenade went off.
Darkstar charged forward and opened fire on the cultist that was blocking our way.
I drew my sword and decapitated the nearest cultist before he could react and run into the alley with Darkstar and Coco right behind me. For a few minutes we continue to run non-stop, but it became clear that the worshippers wouldn't give up until we are dead. I realize that we are near my house and looked back at the two.
"This way, they cant follow us through here." They follow me through the alley and to the ruined buildings that surrounded my house.
"Where are we going?!" Darkstar hefted Coco as she wrapped her hooves around his neck as she kept looking behind her. She was terrified as she saw them round the corner and chase them.
"Up and over the rubble, they can't cross it. Don't question why just trust me." I run up the rubble and reach the top and Darkstar with Coco on his back quickly reaches the top as well. The cultist swarm and begin to scale the rubble, however once they get close enough to attack, they were repulsed back by a magical shield made specifically for them, a few were even destroyed by it. But the remaining members growled at us and slinked away into the shadows.
"What did you do?" Coco asked from her spot on Darkstars back as the stallion she was on fired into the retreating cultist.
As they disappeared from sight Darkstar raised his eyebrow as he looked at the shield around them.
"What did you do before all this?" I smiled at him and shrugged.
"I'm a sword handling instructor. But I have deviled into some old runes here and there." I pointed to the symbol on the ground.
"Lead the way." He told me as we made our way around towards my safe house.
