Resistance: The Equestrian War Effortby BrosBeforeMaresChaptersChapter one: Through Hell and BackChapter Two: The LibraryChapter Three: The ResistanceChapter four: Books! Oh, Celestia, I Love Books!Chapter five: Press "spacebar" to loot lockerChapter Six: Friendship is ViolentChapter Seven: FeelingChapter Eight: NumbnessChapter one: Through Hell and BackY’know that expression, “Looks like you’ve been through Hell!”? Or maybe, “Man, my life is a living Hell!” or “I’ve been through Hell!” The terms can relate to a lot of things. It can describe how you feel about life, or what struggles you’ve overcome. It can also mean you’re an over exaggerator complaining about everyday problems. Or it could mean you’ve been through Hell. Like me. I’ve LITERALLY been through Hell. No kidding. When the Chimera first hit, I died for about five minutes. Now I wish I would have stayed dead. The Chimera have stolen, drained, killed, or eaten nearly every resource we had. If that’s not bad enough, they’ve also taken innocent ponies, some foals, and infected them with whatever they’re made out of. Maybe you’re a little confused. I guess I should explain in English. The Chimera are a distant alien race, far advanced beyond anything ponies have ever seen. They invaded Equestria looking for either refuge or a planet to conquer. They typically have two to six yellow eyes. Their grey-ish flesh makes them petrifying to behold. They love to eat. A LOT. They eat about, I dunno, fifty times more than anypony I’ve ever seen. It backfires on ‘em, though. Their metabolism causes their bodies to generate insane amounts of heat. They actually have to wear coolant generators on themselves at all times, in order to avoid cooking themselves from the inside out. One shot to the coolant generator and they’re finished. And that’s what we’re hoping to beat them with. Heat. We’ve developed a way to generate large amounts of heat, using Celestia’s Final Wish. I’m gonna rewind myself a little. Explain my story from the start. My name’s Vita. I’m a mare unicorn. I was only fifteen when the Chimera first invaded. They hit Ponyville first. I had just finished an interview with my soon-to-be boss. I think I was supposed to escort apple cider all over Equestria, or something. I can’t even remember. Anyway, as soon as she had given me the job, Plasma-mortar-shell things had left me riddled with shrapnel. I didn’t even have time to be scared. Luckily for me, a friend of my new boss was a unicorn with powers almost paralleled with Celestia herself. Twilight Sparkle, I think her name was, brought me back to life. It didn’t matter much, though. More mortars and laser fire were already tearing Ponyville to pieces. The Chimera showed no prejudice. They slaughtered foals along with mares and stallions. I was too weak and confused to run away in any meaningful direction, but somehow, I made it out. I had only been in Ponyville a week when this happened. I ran until my nostrils burned, until my body gave out. I collapsed near the EverFree Forest. The remains of a little cottage were still aflame with a ghastly yellow glow. After a few minutes of rest, I quickly returned to my hooves. The noises of destruction sounded behind me. I dared not turn my head to face them. After an hour of pondering over my next move, I decided to hide within the remains of the cottage. I curled up underneath some ruble, hoping it would hide me from the terrifyingly violent world outside. I must’ve fallen into unconsciousness. When I woke, it was nighttime. I was being carried on the back of a turquoise stallion with a short black mane. He was arguing with a large built grey stallion. “We can’t just take in everyone, Fidelis. We’ve already got two families here, we won’t be able to feed everypony if you keep bringing in more survivors. And besides, I mean, LOOK at her. She’s been torn to pieces. She probably won’t last the night.” “What was I supposed to do? Leave her with all those monsters? And besides, hypothetically, if you’re right, and she does die in the middle of the night, then there’s no problem.” “Don’t I get to say anything?” I managed to utter. The grey stallion pondered a little while. “Fine, but both you and her have to leave by tomorrow.” “Deal.” The turquoise unicorn, Fidelis, carefully placed me on the couch. “Alright, let’s get down to business.” He started working on my lesions and other injuries. I watched him take a large bottle of Applejack Daniel’s from a saddlebag. He took a quick swig. Then, he gagged my mouth with some gauze. “I’m not gonna lie. This is gonna hurt like Hell.” If my mouth hadn’t been gagged, I probably would’ve drawn the attention of all Chimera from here to the moon. I started sobbing. It really did hurt like Hell. “Aw, come on, I had to. It would’ve gotten infected. Last thing you need is an infection. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re not dead.” If only you knew. He wrapped me up with gauze, stopping a lot of bleeding wounds. “Alright, that should keep you steady for the night. Anything I can get you? Something to eat? Drink? Miss, uh…” “Vita. My name’s Vita. No, I’m fine. Thanks for everything, though.” He trotted over to a couch opposite me. “Alright, I’ll be right here if you need anything.” Blackness obscured my vision. Then, I heard screams and explosions. I saw foals holding onto their mothers. Ponies were scurrying in pointless directions. Chimeran troops were slaughtering innocents with weapons nopony could even fathom. Then, one of the Chimera grabbed me. It began shaking me. Screaming at me. I couldn’t understand the garbled vocalizations exploding from its mouth. I felt sharp pain hit my left foreleg. Blood was dripping from it. Everything became red. The disaster and the death began shrinking from view. “Her heartbeat’s going down… Whew…” Fidelis was standing over me with a syringe. I had gone into cardiac arrest. Whatever that meant. Fidelis had been woken by my convulsions, and had come to my rescue. Fidelis wiped a sweat drop from his forehead. “Got my ticker running pretty fast, too…” Then, out of nowhere: “Leave. Both of you. Now.” The grey stallion had an air of authority in his voice. Fidelis pleaded with the grey stallion. “She’s in no condition to leave. She can barely stand up!” “You should’ve thought about that before you decided to take care of her.” I interrupted their conversation. “Hey, I can take care of myself!” Fidelis shot his head toward me. “Shut. Up.” “You see? She’s fine. Now, You. Your crap. Outta my house.” Fidelis’ eyes met mine. If looks could kill… We had traveled about a mile before anypony said anything. “Um…Sorry, Fidelis.” “Oh, shut up. It wouldn’t have mattered either way. Wreck’s just like that. He doesn’t think of anypony but himself.” I dropped my ears low, and pointed my head downwards. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. We’ve gotta long trot ahead of us. Next town’s around thirty miles from here.” “Well, what if-“ He cut me off: “Assuming those monsters haven’t leveled it yet.” “Yeah…” He gently rested a hoof on my shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much. I have an idea. Why don’t we get to know each other a little better?” I acknowledged him with a quick nod. “So, my name’s Fidelis, as you already know. I’m a Physician’s Assistant pony. I was hanging out in the Ponyville Hospital break room with Wreck, um, y’know, the grey pony?” I nodded my head. “Anyway, I was talking with Wreck when those things first hit. All Heck broke loose. Ponies upon ponies started flooding the hospital… I saw a lot of them die… Then, those monsters started tearing the hospital to pieces…I was so scared… Wreck and I ran away…and…and…” His voice started quaking. “Ahem, anyway, so, um… Wreck started fortifying his place. I brought in a couple of ponies, which he was okay with, but after the second family... Things became tense. He said I was gonna get us all killed. He made me promise that I wouldn’t bring in anypony else. I agreed. I was actually out looking for food when I found you…I couldn’t just leave you there. I carried you back with me…Wreck wasn’t too happy---you were awake for that. And then…here we are.” He stared at me expectantly. “Oh, uh… I’m Vita. I’m from Manehattan. My parents sent me here to stay with my aunt. I was doing part-time jobs to save up for a trip outside of Equestria when Ponyville was attacked. I was hit by this… yellow bomb, I guess it was? So, uh… My boss’s friend used some of her magic to heal me. I…don’t remember much after that. I ran as far away from Ponyville as I could. I crawled under some debris…then you found me. I guess that’s where our stories meet.” He turned his head from me to the road. “Oh. Okay.” He spoke up again. “Um, not meaning to pry, but, uh… How old are you?” I lied without thinking. “Oh, I’m seventeen. I turn eighteen in a month.” “So, uh, well… are you, uh…Single? Not interested, just asking!” He finished the end of his statement pretty quickly. I never could believe that, even when the world was ending, he tried to...Ugh... “I don’t see why I should tell you.” “Okay.” His cheeks melted into a light pink. I thought better of it. “Well, if you must know, I’m single. And, in truth, I would like to remain that way.” He spoke up. “Oh, that’s fine, of course! There’s nothing wrong with a mare who likes her independence. And besides, I wasn’t hitting on you anyway. Just asking. I mean, if we’re gonna travel together, we may as well be friends, right?” An awkward silence ensued. I almost didn’t notice the town in the distance. “We’re here.” Fidelis’ voice had an exasperated, yet relieved, tune to it. “I guess so…” The town looked untouched. It was almost… unfair. Little did I know that this town would be the epicenter for the largest revolution in Equestria, and I would placed straight into the heart of it. Chapter Two: The LibraryWe entered the town cautiously. A torn banner with the words "Welcome to Sparkville," danced pitifully in the wind. Sparkville was completely empty. Evidence of pony civilization littered the town. Shops, hoof prints, even a few untouched stands remained in the streets. "Hello? Anypony Here?" Fidelis brought his fore-hoof to my mouth. Surprise turned to terror as Fidelis motioned to a window in the distance. I quaked as the glare from a Chimeran tracer rifle caught my eye. I didn't know what it was at that time, but I knew to be afraid of it. Fidelis brought his mouth to my ear. "Stay right here. I'll take care of this. Whatever you do, don't move." Not that I could move anyway. I was too terrified to even think clearly, for that matter. Fidelis disappeared from my peripheral vision. I waited for what felt like hours. Soon enough, though, the glare disappeared. To my surprise, I saw Fidelis trot back with several other ponies. Each of them were carrying a tracer rifle. Two dawned thick, dark blue armor. The armor, made to look like dragon’s scales, covered every inch of their bodies. I couldn’t tell them apart from each other. They stopped a few hooves' distance in front of me. One of the armored ponies spoke up. "It's not safe in the open. Come with us. You two look like you've been through Hell." They led us to the town's library, a large building that appeared to be made entirely out of marble. I heard a long, sharp whistle from Fidelis. "Always gets me." He was right. This building was absolutely gorgeous---minus a large, smoking crater that had removed a sizable chunk from the building. It was about large enough for a foal to fit through. It wasn't serious, but it stuck out like a sore hoof. Fidelis' eyes found the crater. His ears dropped. "Aw...” One of the armored ponies motioned us towards a series of strategically placed bookshelves. A table, well, it was more like several slabs of wood held up by a series of thick library books, stood awkwardly in the middle of the book-shelf shelter. The armor-less pony, a red Pegasus mare graced with a gorgeous purple flowing mane, placed two shot glasses in front of me and Fidelis. “Um, I… I’m too young to drink.” Fidelis, finished with his glass, spoke up. “Oh, it’s not that big of a deal, I mean, you turn eighteen in a month, right?” “Heh, well, the law’s still the law…” “The law went to Hell with the ponies who created it.” The Pegasus mare said firmly. “Erm…Well, this stuff’s not that great for you anyway.” Fidelis took me aside. He whispered, “Look, if you don’t take the glass, you’re turning down their hospitality. Ponies around here aren’t too friendly to those who are ungrateful.” I shot a spiteful look toward Fidelis. “Fine. I’ll drink the stupid stuff.” I levitated the glass in front of my eyes. Orange-brown liquid swirled inside of it. “Bottom’s up…” It was sweet, but it burned going down. A bitter after-taste was left in my mouth. I began coughing. Coarse jeers sounded from the Pegasus and her friends. My cheeks glowed a bright pink. “ A little much, honey?” one of the armored ponies said between chuckles. It actually was a little too much. Things began swirling, and noises became distant and garbled. “Uh thunk Eh nud ta lah dowen,” I slurred between hiccups. What was that stuff? I couldn’t have drunk more than three ounces of it. I fell, slamming my jaw on the marble floor. Sharp pain shot all the way across my mouth. “Owee…” I blurted out. I heard Fidelis say…something. I couldn’t understand anything that was happening. Everything blurred and faded to black. About three hours later, I woke up, pain hitting me like a charging buffalo. I was on a denim couch, wrapped up in a thin, white sheet. Red, black, and orange stains defined the sheet. I threw it to the floor. I was a little surprised when Fidelis spoke up. “I settled everything with our new friends. The pegasus’ name is Rip Corde. The earth ponies are BlackJack and Deadeye. We’re free to stay with them as long as we do what they say. You dislocated your jaw. I fixed it, but you’re gonna want to keep that gauze on for a few days.” I placed my hoof on my jaw. It felt a little sore. “And Vita?” I looked over to Fidelis. “You’re not seventeen, are you?” I felt a little sick. “Uh… ah, well…” He opened his big mouth again. “In fact, I’d say that you’re about fourteen, or fifteen. Am I right?” I tried to come up with an appropriate answer. Nothing came to me. “You see, while looking at your jaw, I realized how straight and white your teeth were. You must take good care of ‘em.” I turned my back to him. I almost wished I hadn’t thrown that sheet on the floor. I could’ve hidden myself with it. “Vita, why did you lie? Better yet, what did you think that you would gain from telling me you were seventeen?” “I…I dunno… I just… I thought that, if I was, y’know, older, I’d be worth keeping around…I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m sorry.” I wished that all the books in the library would topple over me, hiding me from the rest of the world. Fidelis was silent. I knew he must’ve been disappointed with me, but when I looked back, I was surprised by what I saw. Two compassionate eyes shined behind that long face. “Aw, don’t worry about it. You were probably just out of it. All of us were. After all that happened, I was surprised you didn’t have a psychological breakdown. You’re a tough kid.” He ruffled my mane. An hour later, I walked outside with Fidelis. Rip Corde and either BlackJack or Deadeye were cautiously standing outside the door of one of the many abandoned buildings. The armored pony spoke up. “Hey, look, Tipsy Hooves has come to join us!” I let out an annoyed sigh. “My name’s Vita. And that’s what you’ll refer to me by, unless you want some dents in that fancy armor of yours.” “Hey, hey, sweetheart! I’m just kidding around!” He playfully pronounced. I rolled my eyes. Rip Corde called us over. “We’ve got Deadeye looting the building. We’ve already got a pretty hefty stash of food. We’re lookin’ for steel and other hard metals, mostly.” “What for?” The Rip Corde grinned. “Ya see, these things make relatively simple weapons. We can build ‘em ourselves. BlackJack knows how to make ammo for ‘em. They’re a little hard to hold without magic, so we built a harness that will allow us to use them. Ya just take the string from the bit, hook it up to the trigger--” A volley of loud noises, followed by beams of pale light, caused both me and Fidelis to leap back in alarm. Rip Corde Looked a little frightened, herself. “And that’s how ya work ‘em…” “What’s going on down there?” Deadeye poked out his head from the second story of the building. “Just showin’ the newbies how to work a rifle!” The red Pegasus responded. “Well, could'ja teach them a little quieter? There’s a group of those things not two miles away from here!” My spine tingled with fear. “Oh, don’t worry. They come within eighty feet and we’ll smoke ‘em before they see us.” She tossed me a tracer rifle. “Welcome to the resistance.” Chapter Three: The ResistanceI stared at the weapon, dumbfounded. She wanted me to kill something? “I-I can’t do this!” “Listen up, kid. It’s either us or them. They didn’t hesitate when they slaughtered hundreds of innocents, why should we hesitate to fight back?” “I know, I know! But, I just…can’t! I can’t do it!” Annoyance emanated from Rip Corde like heat from a radiator. “She’s right, Vita. We have to do this.” I stared at Fidelis, shocked. He was alright with this? “Guys, they’re closing in pretty fast!” Deadeye sounded from above. Fidelis nudged me into the building. I could barely think. Fear started gripping me with icy talons. “Almost here!” Deadeye’s updates only helped with its progression. I levitated the Chimeran weapon, the business end pointing out the window. “No, no. Don’t use magic. They’ll see the glow. Use the harness.” Rip Corde quietly rebuked. I adjusted as quickly as I could. Rip Corde announced the battle plan. “Alright, BlackJack stays with the girl. Fiddie ‘n me will head upstairs to help DeadEye.” Fiddie? So she was giving pet names along with orders? The long wait struck my nerves like a mortar shell. BlackJack’s voice nearly sent me flying out of my skin. “Don’t leave me hanging! When I start shooting, you’d better have my back!” I nodded quickly. The Chimeran party walked unsuspectingly in front of us. “Now!” A plethora of loud noises sounded from above and beside me. Blood splatter from several Chimera stained a nearby market stand. Alerted, the few remaining Chimera pointed their weapons in our direction. Plasma bolts flew past my head. “What’re you waiting for?” BlackJack spat while taking cover. Quaking, I put the bit in my mouth. I tugged on the bit. Several Chimera fell, soaking the road with blood. I turned my head away. The fruits of my labor sickened me. The gunshots stopped as the last Chimera fell, dead. Tears distorted my vision. Disoriented, I made my way over to a velvet chair opposite the window. I crawled on the seat, a wretched mess. I buried my face into the cushion. The sobbing I managed to hold back, but my face still showed obvious signs of misery. A gentle hoof rested on my neck. At least Fidelis was here. I turned around, BlackJack was standing where Fidelis should’ve been. “You alright, sweetheart?” His voice was slightly muffled by his armor. “Yeah…I guess…” I sheepishly stuttered, taken aback by the stallion’s action. “Believe it or not, that was my first time killing something, too.” “Huh. Really?” I questioned, almost seriously. No other response came to my mind. “Yep.” His head turned to the side, a sigh following. “I just thought, that, well, getting back at them would make me feel better. Nothing’s changed. They’re still taking lives. I can’t stop thinking about that. This little victory of ours means nothing. Tomorrow, Equestria will still be smack dab in the---” Rip Corde and the others entered the room, interrupting BlackJack. Fidelis’ stressed voice met my ears. “Is she alright? She wasn’t hit, was she?” BlackJack removed his hoof from my neck. “Nah, just a little stressed out, ‘is all.” Fidelis sighed in relief. “We’d better head back to the library. I could go for some AppleJack Daniel’s.” Rip Corde announced. “I second that.” “Third it.” “…Fourth.” I Mumbled, exiting the chair. Fidelis gave me a concerned look. “I think we’ll all need a drink by the end of today.” I explained. A short time later, we were back in the library. I was sitting at a make-shift bar created by Rip Corde and Deadeye. “Screw thet one manth, eh?” Rip Corde slurred as she poured me another glass. “Shuddap.” I spat. The same bitter-sweet burn left me feeling dizzy and slow. I didn’t care. My mind was blank. I motioned for another glass. Rip Corde did nothing. “Gemme enather wen!” I was slurring so terribly it couldn’t even be considered slurring. It was more like the garbled noises made by the Chimera. “Naw, Nuh-uh. Weef both hed too mush to drenk…” I left the bar, spouting obscenities as I tumbled over to the denim couch. I embraced the Blackness that took me away from this crappy world. Once again, I was in invasion-tattered Ponyville. Again, I watched the slaughter of innocent ponies as I stood still, doing nothing. Actually, I was doing something. I was pointing my rifle at the Chimera, but I wasn’t shooting. I simply stood there, too afraid to use the rifle. Again, The Chimeran troop gripped me, crushing my head with claws that nearly burned my flesh. I woke up, trembling. I was drenched in sweat. I tried to leap out of the bed, but something was constricting my movement. Wait, bed? Upon further inspection, I wasn’t just in bed. I was in bed with somepony else. Their hooves had been wrapped around me tightly. “Get the BUCK off me!” I leaped from the bed. As soon as my hooves touched the marble floor, I turned to meet a black earth pony. He wobbled as he rose from the bed. “Whatsa madder, Swet-hert? Didja hev eh naht-mer?” I could pick out BlackJack’s voice, even through the slurred speech. “BlackJack? Why the buck were you…UGH!” Surprise shot across BlackJack’s face. “Yer thuh wahn thet esked meh to slehp wit-cha’!” “Wh-What!” I swallowed hard. I was pretty drunk…anything could’ve happened. “Oh!” BlackJack spoke up. He hobbled off the bed. “Yah thunk that weh…Aw, NAW! Aheh! Ha ha!” A clumsy grin appeared on his stupid face. “Naw, nah, Sweeteh. Ya jus’ wanned a li’l… Shoul’er to len on. We di’n’t do that …” I had heard enough. “Alright…Um, sorry. I have to get going.” I quickly trotted away from the bed. “A’raht, honeh… talk t’ me iffin’ yeh ned a fren.” My trot evolved into a gallop. I was so embarrassed! I trotted to the end of the library. An empty bottle of AppleJack Daniel’s rested next to a stack of books. Freakin’ AppleJack Daniel’s. I crushed the bottle beneath my hooves. Then, I dropped to the floor. I almost shed a tear. If I was lucky, BlackJack would’ve been too drunk to remember anything. I took a glimpse at the books that littered the floor. The book, Fallout: Equestria caught my eye. After a few chapters I had to put the book down. “I guess Equestria could be worse.” I thought out loud. Chapter four: Books! Oh, Celestia, I Love Books!Unable to sleep, due to my previous…unpleasant experience, I spent the rest of the night scavenging books from the library. Most of the books scattered around were poorly written, or boring. The few exceptions, though rare and far in between, sparked inspiration and emotion within me. Unfortunately, most of these books were either way too long, or too incredibly brief to enjoy thoroughly that night. Occasionally, I found the perfect mix between the two. I devoted my time to searching out these books. While scavenging for these gems, I spied a miniscule, soft-white bookcase containing five stories. My curiosity overwhelming me, I trotted to the bookcase. I couldn’t decide which to read first, so I removed the book resting in the center. This book, no, this masterpiece kept me glued to the very end. Emotions resulting from this book swept me to an ecstatic dream world. I nearly shed a tear as the story came to an end. Almost subconsciously, I slipped another book from the shelf. The same glorious result resounded from each book. I was nearly thrown into a panic as the final book’s back cover closed. Again, I searched for more of these ink-inscribed treasures. The book, Fallout: Equestria came to my mind. I levitated the book in front of my eyes. Even if it was filled with obscenities and other material suitable for a more…mature age group, it was still an addicting read. Temptation ate at me, but I managed to control myself. It was probably best to keep my mind on more wholesome subjects anyway. Subjects such as… nothing came to mind. The whole world was currently a steaming pile of manure. The Chimera were exterminating us like pests. Slaughtering us. A cold, hollow feeling gripped my chest. I was more concerned about damned books than the current state of the world. “What’re you doing up this late?” Fidelis’ voice made my mane stand up on end. “Just, uh… reading some books.” My mind was distant, I only answered Fidelis because I felt I had to. “Can’t get to sleep, huh?” That makes two of us.” Fidelis’ hoof steps grew louder as he closed the distance between us. “So, what’cha reading?” He angled his head to get a better view of the cover of Fallout: Equestria. “Oh, geez. I don’t think you should be reading that particular one.” “So, um, you’ve read this one before?” “Wreck recommended it once. It’s got some pretty, well, uh, colourfulaspects to it. Not exactly appropriate for anypony your age.” “Hey, don’t go treating me like I’m a filly!” At that moment, It occurred to me that Fidelis was the only pony around who knew my actual age. “That reminds me… why haven’t you told Rip Corde and the rest how old I am?” He sheepishly kicked at the floor. “I dunno. I guess that it’s too late now, anyway. We’ve been keeping it a secret too long. The others would be pretty ticked if they knew you’d been lying to them.” My mind produced images of BlackJack. Definitely he, out of everypony, would be mad. I wasn’t exactly sure about Rip Corde, though. She didn’t seemed too perturbed by anything. As for Deadeye… Heck, I didn’t know anything about Deadeye. I hadn’t taken the time to get to know him. Everypony else had kind of defined themselves by the first day. Deadeye had kept to himself. “Y’know, you two should really be sleeping.” Rip Corde’s groggy voice caused both me and Fidelis to jump. She rose from a mattress that was lying upon an over turned bookcase. This could be bad. If she had overheard any of our conversation, problems could arise. “What’re you two talking about, anyway?” “Oh, just this book right here. We were discussing the author’s…wide vocabulary,” Fidelis' tone was smooth as he lied. I almost believed him, myself. He levitated the book to Rip Corde, and placed a hoof on an italicized sentence. Rip Corde’s eyes traveled across the page. “Wow…How did this get published?” “Well, the writing itself is what’s really impressive. I guess that’s what mattered to the publisher.” They continued to discuss the book. I left them to their conversation, and trotted to the denim couch. I fastened my eyelids together in an attempt to sleep. Finally, I managed to drift off. “Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. C’mon, wake up. Vita, wake up.” I felt firm pressure on my side. “Mmmphna,” I responded. I rolled over to meet Rip Corde. “Guess who was lucky enough to get picked for scavenger duty.” “Lucky me,” I mumbled. She supplied me with four large saddlebags, along with a new weapon. “Looted this off the body of one of those things yesterday. I had a couple’a chances to test it. Apparently, the thing shoots straight through walls.” She hooked a complicated-looking rifle to my saddlebags. It looked much like the Chimeran tracer rifle, except slightly longer, with two knife-like protrusions above and below the barrel. “Cool,” was the only word I could use to describe it. It really was pretty cool-looking. As I trotted to the library’s entrance, an armor-less BlackJack came to meet me. “Uh, hiya, BlackJack.” I couldn’t bring my eyes to meet his, so I kept my head low. He nuzzled my neck with his nose. I leapt back in alarm, putting sizable distance between us. “Wha…wh… Huh?” I stuttered. “What’s wrong?” Confusion spread across BlackJack’s face. “Well, you…you…y’know! You shouldn't of…” I couldn’t find an appropriate answer. To my surprise, BlackJack looked a little hurt. “I shouldn't of what?” “Not, um… Why did you…?” I was lost in bewilderment. BlackJack's gaze remained upon me. "Why did I what?" His tone showed obvious signs of irritation. "Why did you do, that? Y'know, just then!" He turned his head away from me. “Didn’t seem to mind so much when we were cuddling together…” He mouthed under his breath. This was going to Hell in a hoof-basket. “BlackJack, I… I’ve gotta go.” I galloped, in an attempt to escape from the awkwardness. Almost instinctually, I knew today was going to suck. Chapter five: Press "spacebar" to loot lockerI slowed my gallop as I neared a dilapidated building. I felt cold and hollow. A small teardrop managed to squeeze its way out of my eye. I’d dug myself neck-deep into a complicated dilemma, one that would be hard to escape from. My mind was so focused on BlackJack, I had nearly forgotten why I had left the library in the first place. I eyed the shack over. Thin aluminum sheets made up the walls, a large assortment of wooden boards acted as a ceiling. The shack stood out awkwardly, it seemed to have no place with the rest of Sparkville’s artistic structures. Most ponies would’ve passed it by without a second thought. Luckily, I’m not most ponies. The shack contained a hefty two-way radio, along with several bottles of sarsaparilla. After I had finished placing the equipment into the saddlebags, I started to think twice about bringing the radio. That thing was heavy! I developed some options. I could go back to the library, but that would mean seeing BlackJack. I could leave the radio for the time being, and return for it at the end of the day. I decided this would be the best course of action. I left the radio in the corner of the shack. I spent four more hours looting the abandoned town of Sparkville. Occasionally, I found some useful objects. Small motors. Watches. Healthy foods. I galloped to a blacksmith's shop in the distance. As I was looting Sparkville’s abandoned black smithy, several low growls caught my attention. I paused for several minutes. More growls were coming from outside the shop. I levitated my new rifle, aiming in the direction of the door. To my surprise, a steel tube started to glow atop the weapon. I peered down the tube. Through the tube, I saw the outlines of three yellow figures making their way to the Blacksmith’s door. Shaking, almost violently, I pulled the trigger. E-dum! E-dum! E-dum! The three yellow figures fell, disappearing as they hit the ground. I stood prostrate for what felt like hours. Finally, I mustered enough courage to exit the shop. The bodies of three Chimera lay sprawled on the ground, gaping holes in each of their chests. They were soaked in pools of their own blood. I retreated, feeling my rear hit the stone wall of the shop. I sidled around the wall, trying to keep as much distance as possible from the bodies. When I had placed enough yards between myself and the bodies, I galloped away as fast as I could.The sun began to set in the distance. I sped towards the library, BlackJack and Fidelis stood alert by the entrance. I heard a faint, “There she is!” from Fidelis. Fidelis was the first to speak to me. "Are you alright? We heard gunshots." “Yeah, I’m fine. Just three of ‘em. They were caught off guard, so they weren’t hard to take down.” BlackJack released a relieved sigh. Rip Corde trotted to meet me.“So, what did’ja bring home?” I showed her the plunder. I removed the steel, food, watches, and other supplies from the saddlebag. At the bottom of the first bag lay several bottles of Sarsaparilla. Sarsaparilla…I had forgotten the radio! “Hold on, I forgot something! I’ll be right back.” As I moved away from the library, Rip Corde stomped on my tail, stopping me in my tracks. “Hey! What’s the big deal?” “That’s enough for today. We don’t need you risking your flank again, especially this late.” She was right. The curtain of nightfall had already began covering the sky. I drooped my ears. “Okay…” An hour later, everypony had gathered around the make-shift bar. “So, how do ya’ like the new toy?” Rip Corde asked. I stared upwards, envisioning the rifle in my mind. “I dunno. It’s pretty cool, I guess.” Rip Corde looked as if she expected more. “Pretty cool? I’d say it deserves a heap more than that!” I shrugged. “That’s all I can really say. It’s just cool to me.” Rolling her eyes, she poured me a glass of Applejack Daniels.“Ah, whatever. Here, Tipsy, er, Vita. Drink up.” I looked at the drink, embarrassment and guilt reflected from the glass. “I’m good.” Rip Corde snatched the glass from in front of me. “Well, then! Don’t mind if I do!” In a flash, she had finished the alcohol. Everypony's conversation directed towards whether or not to look for survivors. BlackJack and Deadeye showed a strong indifference towards the thought. "The smaller our group, the less likely we are to be attacked." "B-J, we've already been attacked! Or did you forget the bodies rotting in the street? We need more ponies, we aren't gonna survive very long by ourselves, " Rip Corde rebuked. "And besides, we need to keep a steady population. These things came here to exterminate us. The smaller we keep our group, the closer they are to reaching that goal," Fidelis added. "I just don't want to be held responsible for anything that happens to anypony." After a few more minutes of listening to them argue, I spoke up. “I’m gonna go crash, guys.” Everypony gave a quick nod, in acknowledgement. Once again, I trotted to the denim couch. I was almost afraid to fall asleep, sure I would once again suffer at the hooves of the recurring nightmare. So, I simply rested on the couch, staring into the distance. After some time, BlackJack appeared from behind an assortment of books. “Uh, Heya, Vita. Are you awake?” I sat upright on the couch. He continued, “Oh, okay. So um, I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night…” I interrupted him. “Ok, but first, BlackJack… I’ve got to tell you something. Now, You’ve gotta promise that you won't freak out, alright?” “Sure, of course.” BlackJack looked at me expectantly. At that moment, I choked up. Was I really going to go through with this? “Well, uh, BlackJack…” I couldn’t find the right words. Yes, I could. They were, “I’m Fifteen,” but heck knows I wasn’t going to say that. I directed the subject back to BlackJack. “On second thought, why don’t we start with you, first?” “Alright, well, let’s see…Um, Vita, look…I want you to know that I don’t really think of you like... well, a marefriend. Not that it really, matters, I mean, nothing too serious really happened last night. Both you and I were drunk, so… I’m sorry, Vita. I just don’t like you like that. I think of you more like, well, a sister.” “Really? That’s awesome!” I leapt from the couch in delight. BlackJack himself solved the awkwardness for me! Scandal averted! Relief flooded over me. I had one less thing to worry about. I drew my attention back to BlackJack. I could practically feel the confusion emanating from him. “Er…I mean, uh… It wouldn’t have worked out, anyway.” Disturbed, he nodded his head. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. “Oh, yeah, what did you want to speak to me about?” “Oh, um, basically, just the same thing,” I lied. He nodded, and trotted to a mattress a few yards away. I closed my eyes, finally able to sleep. Chapter Six: Friendship is ViolentSeveral hours later, I woke to the sound of frantic hoofsteps. Shooting upright, I scanned the area around me. "Fidelis? Rip Corde? Anypony?" Silence answered me. I slipped off of the couch, and armed myself with a tracer rifle. Progressively, I made my way around the library. I had investigated for an hour before I decided to give up. That was until I heard faint whispers from behind a bookshelf. I turned the corner to find a hairless pony strangling Rip Corde. "Can't you hear them? They are calling to us. Isn't it beautiful?" The hairless pony, covered in a sickly grey flesh, turned around, and stared at me with sunken, yellow eyes. "Absolutely beautiful." Rip Corde's voice awakened me from my horrified stupor. "Shoot it!" Obediently, I opened fire upon the hairless pony. Crimson liquid painted the bookshelves, soaking their contents through the cover. I stood completely still, watching as Rip Corde threw the lifeless body off of her, rising to her hooves. "Who was that?" I choked out, barely audible. "I dunno! The thing jumped me while I was sleeping!" I turned my eyes to the deceased pony. Yellow pustules oozed from several spots on his body. "The heck's goin' on here?" BlackJack's groggy voice sounded from across the building. "Get Fiddie up. He may wanna have a look at this..." An hour of autopsying later, Fidelis came to a conclusion. "I have absolutely no Idea what this thing is." Rip Corde rolled her eyes. Fidelis let out an exasperated sigh."I'm sorry! The outside appears to be pony... More or less, but I swear I've never seen a body layout like this fella's. He's got a heart the size of a cantaloupe, and... well, the heart was the only thing I was able to identify. I have absolutely no idea what this thing is. Whatever it is, it's not a pony, that's for sure. At least, it's not anymore..." "What do you mean, 'Not anymore'?" I questioned. "Well, I noticed strange mutations all along the heart. Several more aortic valves, a few extra ventricles, and such. I think that this creature went through a near-instant macro adaptation. He had to have, I mean, these things only showed up about a week ago." "I wonder who the poor guy was..." BlackJack thought aloud. Everypony stared at the corpse, saying nothing. Everypony except Deadeye... He wasn't in the room with us. Then, a horrible, absolutely un-godly thought popped into my head. I swallowed hard, my eyes quickly darted back and forth between everypony around me. I nearly fainted as Rip Corde asked, "Hey, anypony seen Deadeye?" "No! At least, I don't think it was him. Aw, crap! I've never seen him without his armor on!" BlackJack answered me, worry dominant in his voice. Rip Corde took over. "He's gotta be around here somewhere... Ugh! Why do there have to be so many freakin' bookshelves?" Frantically, we searched for Deadeye. We nearly overturned every bookshelf looking for him, but as more and more of the Library had been searched, everypony's hope started to fade. Rip Corde whined beside me. "No... C'mon, please, not Deadeye..." I turned to her. "I'm gonna check outside!" Biting her lip, she acknowledged me with a nod. I galloped out of the Library. "Deadeye! You out here?" I searched far and wide, looking for any trace of our missing member. Around half an hour later, I started to lose hope. That was until a strange-smelling smoke caught my attention. I followed the smell to it's location, where I found a young, emerald-green stallion with a cigarette protruding from his mouth. Large headphones rested above his long, cerulean mane. Death Metal blasted from their location. Half-hopeful, Half-terrified, I spoke up. "Deadeye?" He jumped slightly, and turned his head toward me. "Vita!" He spat the flaming tube from his mouth, and slid a plastic bag containing a potash-like material into a saddlebag. He leapt in front of me. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" "Rip Corde was attacked by...Well, It was a pony, but it wasn't... Look, we thought it was you, but..." I stared at Deadeye, too distracted by his appearance to explain. Quickly, Deadeye cut me off. "Uh, wait! We should probably be getting back!" I studied Deadeye...He was young... Very young. Probably not much older than me. He had two years on me, at most! He slipped back into his armor, keeping the saddlebag as close to his side, and as far away from me, as possible. "So, uh... Cannabis?" I questioned. "No! No, that stuff's terrible for you," he hastily shot back. "Yeah, well tobacco's not that great for ya either, pal..." I said under my breath. "What was that?" Deadeye's tone was threatening, almost intimidating. He forced me against the wall of a building, holding me in place. "Look, this is none 'a your business. Just look after yourself, and keep your mouth shut. I swear, if you tell anypony about today, I'll kill you where you stand." "Whatever, jackass." It probably wasn't the wisest way to word my response, but my answer quelled my immediate anger, at least. Looks like I wasn't the only liar in the group. Rip Corde slapped Deadeye on the back of his head. "Geez, you scared the buck out of us!" The rest of the group welcomed us with open hooves. "Sorry, I had some stuff to take care of. Calm down, I'm not dead, right?" I felt my anger burn against Deadeye. Not yet, anyway. Chapter Seven: Feeling"Whoa...so, this guy attacked you?" Deadeye poked at the body with the barrel of his rifle. "Yup. Vita got it off me in time. Although... I would've appreciated it if she had gotten to me a lot sooner." I rolled my eyes in appreciation for her gratitude. "So, uh...Whatta we do with it?" "Throw it on the pile with the rest," Black jack mumbled nonchalantly. "Actually... I would like to keep it around for a while. I want to study this thing further- Try to figure out what made him what he is." Fidelis' tone showed obvious fear. "You already said you couldn't figure out what it was. Why do you want it around?" Rip Corde questioned. "There's gotta be an reason why he's like this. I think his mutation resulted because of something those things brought here. He couldn't have changed into this instantly...I think it's a virus." I shot up in alarm, along with the others. BlackJack jumped forward. "Then what the buck are we doing? We've gotta get rid of that thing before we're all-" "It's too late for that. If I'm right, then we've all already been exposed to it." A lump the size of my hoof rose to my throat. "I'm gonna look into it. I'll take some of his blood, and see if I'm right. Of course, there's no reason to believe I am. It's just a worst case scenario." fifteen minutes later, we had our answer. "I was right." Minor pain nipped at my arm as Fidelis removed the syringe from my shoulder. "Should we really be doing this? How do you know this won't turn me into a acne covered zombie?" " Our bodies keep specific codes stored for viruses whenever we come into contact with a disease. The cells were dead, so the virus shouldn't turn you into whatever he was." The virus had actually been dead within the pony for a while. Once Fidelis learned this, he decided it would be best to vaccinate us a quickly as possible. Although I couldn't help but wonder..."Um, how do you know it was dead? The virus, I mean." "It showed no movement within the creatures' blood. I wasn't sure that meant it was dead at first, so I placed some of my blood inside of a petri dish along with the virus. The virus remained completely immobile as my white blood cells made short work of it. See? Nothing to worry about." "Alright, then..." I still couldn't help but feel I was being inoculated rather than vaccinated. "Alright, that's everypony. I'm keeping a few test tubes of the vaccine in case we meet anypony." Half an hour later, we prepared the Chimeran corpses for incineration. "Make sure to stand back, this is gonna smell..." BlackJack dropped a match, setting off a trail of alcohol that led to the mountain of bodies. He was right. It smelled like- Oh, sweet Celestia, I can't even describe it. It smelled awful, that's all I knew for sure. Rip Corde must have thought so too, as she turned her head to vomit. The flames rose higher and higher, until finally, they died down. The ashes of about twenty Chimeran troops covered the ground. Twenty Chimeran troops, and one Chimeran Pony. I wondered who he had been before the Chimerans stole his body from him. What kind of life he lead. Who he loved. Who loved him. A tear dropped from my face as I stared at the ashes. "Maybe we should've buried him." "Too late now." BlackJack cantered back into the Library. Didn't he feel anything? I looked around. Deadeye was playing with his rifle. Fidelis Had followed BlackJack inside. Didn't any of them feel anything besides me? Anything at all? "I'm sorry. I should've thought this through before hoof," I apologized to the pile of ashes. I must've gone crazy. Apologizing to the dead. At least I showed some respect. Then, I started thinking: how long would it be before I stopped feeling? Maybe it was best I stopped feeling right then. No... That would make me... Unpony. An emotionless pony is barely a pony at all. I stared at the ashes once more. "Goodbye, whoever you were." As I walked back into the Library, I saw the others gathered around the makeshift bar. Just drinking it all away. Trying to forget. Trying to refrain from feeling. I avoided them, and trotted to my couch. I was ready for today to end. I had enough. From daybreak to evening, today had been a living hell. Huh... Hell. Had I really gone there? I remembered complete darkness... And screaming... And pain. Burning pain, everywhere. I felt like I was sinking... falling towards something I was afraid of. I don't remember what I was afraid of, but it sure scared the hell out of me. Or rather, into me. Then, I woke up. The purple pony, Twilight, I think it was. And Apple...Bloom? No, she was the younger one. I stared upwards into the marble ceiling, my hooves resting behind my neck. Apple...Something. I couldn't believe I had forgot. I shifted my body around, and sat upright on the couch. Apple... My thoughts were interrupted as angry voices blasted from the makeshift bar. "You don't get it do you? We. Are. Screwed! Smaller numbers mean that those things are less likely to notice us. If our home gets bigger, then we may as well be inviting those freaks over!" "You know that isn't necessarily true, BlackJack! Those things can be killed, and killed easily. The more ponies we have, the easier it is to fight back!" The arguing evolved from yelling to violence. Soon, BlackJack and Fidelis started throwing punches. I galloped out, and demanded them to stop the fight. They didn't listen. After a while, BlackJack had knocked Fidelis to the ground. In a quick motion, he placed to short end of a whiskey bottle between his teeth. "Stop!" I galloped, and slammed my shoulder into BlackJack's side with as much force as I could muster. In angry retaliation, he broke the whiskey glass atop my head. I stood still as numbness encumbered me. The label on the whiskey bottle slowly floated it's way down in front of my face. Apple JACK. That was it. Chapter Eight: Numbness"You sure you'll be alright on the way there? It's quite a ways off." She handed the saddlebag to me. I rolled my eyes. "You worry too much." "Alright-That's everything. Now, remember: don't talk to any strange ponies. Make sure to say hello to Auntie for me. I'll come back in a few weeks." "Okay. Goodbye!" I wrapped my hooves around her, and she did the same. I waved goodbye one last time before I trotted out the door. I was so excited! On my own for three weeks! Ponyville was the epicenter for a lot of interesting things, as well. I already knew it was going to be great. My eyes flipped open. I tried getting back to my hooves, but the weight of my head made it seem impossible. I felt cold steel lift me from the floor. I fought the pain as I was gently placed on a mattress. I shot upright, but was forced back down by a steel hoof. "Just wait until Fido can have a look at'cha." Fido? He must've meant Fidelis. I didn't fight it. I collapsed on the mattress, trying to remain as still as possible.Something wet trickled down my mane. I rose my hoof to my head. Blood. I exhaled angrily as I let my hoof drop. Soon, the silhouette of a pony appeared between two book cases that acted as walls. After standing there for a while, he entered the room. "Hey." I rose a hoof in acknowledgement. "You should really take better care of yourself. What is this, like, the third time I've had to fix you?" "It's your fault this time." Fidelis blushed a bright pink. "Ahem, er, well... I'd better get started." After he was done, I decided to speak up. "Where's BlackJack?" "He's in timeout," Deadeye answered as he walked into the room. "You bucking shot me!" BlackJack's voice blasted from across the Library. Deadeye echoed him mockingly. Fidelis rose to leave. "H-hold up." "What's up?" He turned to meet me. "Are we gonna do it?" I questioned. "Do what?" He slowly returned to me. "Are we gonna look for other survivors?" Fidelis kicked at the ground with his forehoof. "I dunno. It's all up to Rip Corde." A long silence ensued. "I don't know about ya'll, but I'm hitting the sack." We nodded in acknowledgment. Minutes later, I was alone. I rested my head on the pillow, shut my eyes, and let the world fade away. After a few hours of galloping, I had finally made it to Aunt Felicia's house. I rapped once upon her door, to which she answered immediately. "Vita! Oh, how's it goin', sweetie?" "Hey, aunt Felicia." "C'mon in! I've got some tea on the stove!" "Oh...I'm not really into tea." She looked at me, puzzled. "Since when?" "Since...Birth, I guess." I explained that I was deathly allergic to tea. "Oh, I must've gotten you and your sister mixed up.Although, you can't blame me, you two are getting to look so alike." "Yeah..." I woke up to the sound of gunfire. "Get back." BlackJack Demanded. "L-look, we just want someplace safe to stay. I see you're leg's hurt pretty bad. I could fix it up!" "We already have a doctor." I galloped to the scene. Two ponies stood at the Library's entrance, BlackJack's rifle aimed at them. I gave BlackJack an alarmed look."BlackJack! What the heck's going on?" "Nothing that concerns you." Rip Corde was the next to join us. "BlackJack! Put the gun down! That's an order!" He gave a dirty look to RipCorde. "Whatever." "What is it? What do you want?" Rip Corde's voice was harsh, but showed no emotion. "W-w-well, uh, We saw the town hadn't been destroyed entirely, and we thought, uh...um..." The pony, a purple unicorn mare with a straight, violet mane, brought her eyes to mine. "Her! I know her! I saved her life!" I took a few hoof steps back in surprise. "Um, uh...Vita! Yeah! It's me!" Rip Corde turned to me. "You know her?" I nodded my head, nervously. "Fine. They can come in." "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou! We've been looking everywhere for a-" "Only for today. Until we can decide if you're any use to us." The purple mare, Twilight, looked down, brokenhearted. Minutes later, Rip Corde began her interrogation. "Did you bring any food? Do you have weapons? What's your name? Who's the mousey pony with you? Where are you from? Can you fight?" "You don't know me? Well, my friends and I only saved Equestria twice..." Twilight responded. Rip Corde lifted her head in interest. "Wait, are you trying to tell me you're one of the six?" "Yes." After a pause, Rip Corde leaned back. "Bull crap." "No! Really, I am! Look!" Twilight dug a scroll out of her saddlebag. "You see that seal?" Out of curiosity, I trotted over to get a better view. A button made of what appeared to be made of gold held to pieces of velvet cloth together, tying the scroll shut. Inscribed on the seal was a horseshoe tilted to the side, making a "C" shape. Rip Corde looked up. "Gonna have to do better than that." "Fine." Twilight opened the letter, and held it proudly in front of Rip Corde. "How do I know you didn't write that?" The purple unicorn let out a furious moan, flinging her head upward in anger. "Alright, Fine! Spike!" She looked as though she was going to say something, but stopped. Soon, her face turned a pale, almost pinkish color. Then, she collapsed, and began sobbing. "Spike...No..." Rip Corde looked at me, as if she expected me to fix the broken mare. May as well try. "Uh...It's Twilight, right?" She nodded. Was this even going to work? "So, uh...What happened? Who exactly is Spike?" She shut her eyes tightly. "It's my fault. It's all my fault." Jeez...."Look...You can talk to me. We all lost someone." "You don't get it! He was like... my little brother!" I thought a while. "I lost my sister." She looked up, as if to ask, "How's that supposed to make me feel better?" I was getting sick of this. "Well, guess what? I'm not trying to make you feel better. Honestly, I don't give a flying feather as to how you feel. Your brother died. So did a shipload of other ponies. It's not fair, but crying about it won't do anything. Get over it! We can't waste time mourning them. We have to survive. We can't let these things beat us." She looked at me as if she couldn't believe what I said. I couldn't care less. I cantered away from her. "Is this the same filly that AppleJack said I had to save?" I looked back to her. "No."
Chapter one: Through Hell and BackY’know that expression, “Looks like you’ve been through Hell!”? Or maybe, “Man, my life is a living Hell!” or “I’ve been through Hell!” The terms can relate to a lot of things. It can describe how you feel about life, or what struggles you’ve overcome. It can also mean you’re an over exaggerator complaining about everyday problems. Or it could mean you’ve been through Hell. Like me. I’ve LITERALLY been through Hell. No kidding. When the Chimera first hit, I died for about five minutes. Now I wish I would have stayed dead. The Chimera have stolen, drained, killed, or eaten nearly every resource we had. If that’s not bad enough, they’ve also taken innocent ponies, some foals, and infected them with whatever they’re made out of. Maybe you’re a little confused. I guess I should explain in English. The Chimera are a distant alien race, far advanced beyond anything ponies have ever seen. They invaded Equestria looking for either refuge or a planet to conquer. They typically have two to six yellow eyes. Their grey-ish flesh makes them petrifying to behold. They love to eat. A LOT. They eat about, I dunno, fifty times more than anypony I’ve ever seen. It backfires on ‘em, though. Their metabolism causes their bodies to generate insane amounts of heat. They actually have to wear coolant generators on themselves at all times, in order to avoid cooking themselves from the inside out. One shot to the coolant generator and they’re finished. And that’s what we’re hoping to beat them with. Heat. We’ve developed a way to generate large amounts of heat, using Celestia’s Final Wish. I’m gonna rewind myself a little. Explain my story from the start. My name’s Vita. I’m a mare unicorn. I was only fifteen when the Chimera first invaded. They hit Ponyville first. I had just finished an interview with my soon-to-be boss. I think I was supposed to escort apple cider all over Equestria, or something. I can’t even remember. Anyway, as soon as she had given me the job, Plasma-mortar-shell things had left me riddled with shrapnel. I didn’t even have time to be scared. Luckily for me, a friend of my new boss was a unicorn with powers almost paralleled with Celestia herself. Twilight Sparkle, I think her name was, brought me back to life. It didn’t matter much, though. More mortars and laser fire were already tearing Ponyville to pieces. The Chimera showed no prejudice. They slaughtered foals along with mares and stallions. I was too weak and confused to run away in any meaningful direction, but somehow, I made it out. I had only been in Ponyville a week when this happened. I ran until my nostrils burned, until my body gave out. I collapsed near the EverFree Forest. The remains of a little cottage were still aflame with a ghastly yellow glow. After a few minutes of rest, I quickly returned to my hooves. The noises of destruction sounded behind me. I dared not turn my head to face them. After an hour of pondering over my next move, I decided to hide within the remains of the cottage. I curled up underneath some ruble, hoping it would hide me from the terrifyingly violent world outside. I must’ve fallen into unconsciousness. When I woke, it was nighttime. I was being carried on the back of a turquoise stallion with a short black mane. He was arguing with a large built grey stallion. “We can’t just take in everyone, Fidelis. We’ve already got two families here, we won’t be able to feed everypony if you keep bringing in more survivors. And besides, I mean, LOOK at her. She’s been torn to pieces. She probably won’t last the night.” “What was I supposed to do? Leave her with all those monsters? And besides, hypothetically, if you’re right, and she does die in the middle of the night, then there’s no problem.” “Don’t I get to say anything?” I managed to utter. The grey stallion pondered a little while. “Fine, but both you and her have to leave by tomorrow.” “Deal.” The turquoise unicorn, Fidelis, carefully placed me on the couch. “Alright, let’s get down to business.” He started working on my lesions and other injuries. I watched him take a large bottle of Applejack Daniel’s from a saddlebag. He took a quick swig. Then, he gagged my mouth with some gauze. “I’m not gonna lie. This is gonna hurt like Hell.” If my mouth hadn’t been gagged, I probably would’ve drawn the attention of all Chimera from here to the moon. I started sobbing. It really did hurt like Hell. “Aw, come on, I had to. It would’ve gotten infected. Last thing you need is an infection. Honestly, I’m surprised you’re not dead.” If only you knew. He wrapped me up with gauze, stopping a lot of bleeding wounds. “Alright, that should keep you steady for the night. Anything I can get you? Something to eat? Drink? Miss, uh…” “Vita. My name’s Vita. No, I’m fine. Thanks for everything, though.” He trotted over to a couch opposite me. “Alright, I’ll be right here if you need anything.” Blackness obscured my vision. Then, I heard screams and explosions. I saw foals holding onto their mothers. Ponies were scurrying in pointless directions. Chimeran troops were slaughtering innocents with weapons nopony could even fathom. Then, one of the Chimera grabbed me. It began shaking me. Screaming at me. I couldn’t understand the garbled vocalizations exploding from its mouth. I felt sharp pain hit my left foreleg. Blood was dripping from it. Everything became red. The disaster and the death began shrinking from view. “Her heartbeat’s going down… Whew…” Fidelis was standing over me with a syringe. I had gone into cardiac arrest. Whatever that meant. Fidelis had been woken by my convulsions, and had come to my rescue. Fidelis wiped a sweat drop from his forehead. “Got my ticker running pretty fast, too…” Then, out of nowhere: “Leave. Both of you. Now.” The grey stallion had an air of authority in his voice. Fidelis pleaded with the grey stallion. “She’s in no condition to leave. She can barely stand up!” “You should’ve thought about that before you decided to take care of her.” I interrupted their conversation. “Hey, I can take care of myself!” Fidelis shot his head toward me. “Shut. Up.” “You see? She’s fine. Now, You. Your crap. Outta my house.” Fidelis’ eyes met mine. If looks could kill… We had traveled about a mile before anypony said anything. “Um…Sorry, Fidelis.” “Oh, shut up. It wouldn’t have mattered either way. Wreck’s just like that. He doesn’t think of anypony but himself.” I dropped my ears low, and pointed my head downwards. “Don’t beat yourself up over it. We’ve gotta long trot ahead of us. Next town’s around thirty miles from here.” “Well, what if-“ He cut me off: “Assuming those monsters haven’t leveled it yet.” “Yeah…” He gently rested a hoof on my shoulder. “Don’t think about it too much. I have an idea. Why don’t we get to know each other a little better?” I acknowledged him with a quick nod. “So, my name’s Fidelis, as you already know. I’m a Physician’s Assistant pony. I was hanging out in the Ponyville Hospital break room with Wreck, um, y’know, the grey pony?” I nodded my head. “Anyway, I was talking with Wreck when those things first hit. All Heck broke loose. Ponies upon ponies started flooding the hospital… I saw a lot of them die… Then, those monsters started tearing the hospital to pieces…I was so scared… Wreck and I ran away…and…and…” His voice started quaking. “Ahem, anyway, so, um… Wreck started fortifying his place. I brought in a couple of ponies, which he was okay with, but after the second family... Things became tense. He said I was gonna get us all killed. He made me promise that I wouldn’t bring in anypony else. I agreed. I was actually out looking for food when I found you…I couldn’t just leave you there. I carried you back with me…Wreck wasn’t too happy---you were awake for that. And then…here we are.” He stared at me expectantly. “Oh, uh… I’m Vita. I’m from Manehattan. My parents sent me here to stay with my aunt. I was doing part-time jobs to save up for a trip outside of Equestria when Ponyville was attacked. I was hit by this… yellow bomb, I guess it was? So, uh… My boss’s friend used some of her magic to heal me. I…don’t remember much after that. I ran as far away from Ponyville as I could. I crawled under some debris…then you found me. I guess that’s where our stories meet.” He turned his head from me to the road. “Oh. Okay.” He spoke up again. “Um, not meaning to pry, but, uh… How old are you?” I lied without thinking. “Oh, I’m seventeen. I turn eighteen in a month.” “So, uh, well… are you, uh…Single? Not interested, just asking!” He finished the end of his statement pretty quickly. I never could believe that, even when the world was ending, he tried to...Ugh... “I don’t see why I should tell you.” “Okay.” His cheeks melted into a light pink. I thought better of it. “Well, if you must know, I’m single. And, in truth, I would like to remain that way.” He spoke up. “Oh, that’s fine, of course! There’s nothing wrong with a mare who likes her independence. And besides, I wasn’t hitting on you anyway. Just asking. I mean, if we’re gonna travel together, we may as well be friends, right?” An awkward silence ensued. I almost didn’t notice the town in the distance. “We’re here.” Fidelis’ voice had an exasperated, yet relieved, tune to it. “I guess so…” The town looked untouched. It was almost… unfair. Little did I know that this town would be the epicenter for the largest revolution in Equestria, and I would placed straight into the heart of it.
Chapter Two: The LibraryWe entered the town cautiously. A torn banner with the words "Welcome to Sparkville," danced pitifully in the wind. Sparkville was completely empty. Evidence of pony civilization littered the town. Shops, hoof prints, even a few untouched stands remained in the streets. "Hello? Anypony Here?" Fidelis brought his fore-hoof to my mouth. Surprise turned to terror as Fidelis motioned to a window in the distance. I quaked as the glare from a Chimeran tracer rifle caught my eye. I didn't know what it was at that time, but I knew to be afraid of it. Fidelis brought his mouth to my ear. "Stay right here. I'll take care of this. Whatever you do, don't move." Not that I could move anyway. I was too terrified to even think clearly, for that matter. Fidelis disappeared from my peripheral vision. I waited for what felt like hours. Soon enough, though, the glare disappeared. To my surprise, I saw Fidelis trot back with several other ponies. Each of them were carrying a tracer rifle. Two dawned thick, dark blue armor. The armor, made to look like dragon’s scales, covered every inch of their bodies. I couldn’t tell them apart from each other. They stopped a few hooves' distance in front of me. One of the armored ponies spoke up. "It's not safe in the open. Come with us. You two look like you've been through Hell." They led us to the town's library, a large building that appeared to be made entirely out of marble. I heard a long, sharp whistle from Fidelis. "Always gets me." He was right. This building was absolutely gorgeous---minus a large, smoking crater that had removed a sizable chunk from the building. It was about large enough for a foal to fit through. It wasn't serious, but it stuck out like a sore hoof. Fidelis' eyes found the crater. His ears dropped. "Aw...” One of the armored ponies motioned us towards a series of strategically placed bookshelves. A table, well, it was more like several slabs of wood held up by a series of thick library books, stood awkwardly in the middle of the book-shelf shelter. The armor-less pony, a red Pegasus mare graced with a gorgeous purple flowing mane, placed two shot glasses in front of me and Fidelis. “Um, I… I’m too young to drink.” Fidelis, finished with his glass, spoke up. “Oh, it’s not that big of a deal, I mean, you turn eighteen in a month, right?” “Heh, well, the law’s still the law…” “The law went to Hell with the ponies who created it.” The Pegasus mare said firmly. “Erm…Well, this stuff’s not that great for you anyway.” Fidelis took me aside. He whispered, “Look, if you don’t take the glass, you’re turning down their hospitality. Ponies around here aren’t too friendly to those who are ungrateful.” I shot a spiteful look toward Fidelis. “Fine. I’ll drink the stupid stuff.” I levitated the glass in front of my eyes. Orange-brown liquid swirled inside of it. “Bottom’s up…” It was sweet, but it burned going down. A bitter after-taste was left in my mouth. I began coughing. Coarse jeers sounded from the Pegasus and her friends. My cheeks glowed a bright pink. “ A little much, honey?” one of the armored ponies said between chuckles. It actually was a little too much. Things began swirling, and noises became distant and garbled. “Uh thunk Eh nud ta lah dowen,” I slurred between hiccups. What was that stuff? I couldn’t have drunk more than three ounces of it. I fell, slamming my jaw on the marble floor. Sharp pain shot all the way across my mouth. “Owee…” I blurted out. I heard Fidelis say…something. I couldn’t understand anything that was happening. Everything blurred and faded to black. About three hours later, I woke up, pain hitting me like a charging buffalo. I was on a denim couch, wrapped up in a thin, white sheet. Red, black, and orange stains defined the sheet. I threw it to the floor. I was a little surprised when Fidelis spoke up. “I settled everything with our new friends. The pegasus’ name is Rip Corde. The earth ponies are BlackJack and Deadeye. We’re free to stay with them as long as we do what they say. You dislocated your jaw. I fixed it, but you’re gonna want to keep that gauze on for a few days.” I placed my hoof on my jaw. It felt a little sore. “And Vita?” I looked over to Fidelis. “You’re not seventeen, are you?” I felt a little sick. “Uh… ah, well…” He opened his big mouth again. “In fact, I’d say that you’re about fourteen, or fifteen. Am I right?” I tried to come up with an appropriate answer. Nothing came to me. “You see, while looking at your jaw, I realized how straight and white your teeth were. You must take good care of ‘em.” I turned my back to him. I almost wished I hadn’t thrown that sheet on the floor. I could’ve hidden myself with it. “Vita, why did you lie? Better yet, what did you think that you would gain from telling me you were seventeen?” “I…I dunno… I just… I thought that, if I was, y’know, older, I’d be worth keeping around…I don’t know what I was thinking, I’m sorry.” I wished that all the books in the library would topple over me, hiding me from the rest of the world. Fidelis was silent. I knew he must’ve been disappointed with me, but when I looked back, I was surprised by what I saw. Two compassionate eyes shined behind that long face. “Aw, don’t worry about it. You were probably just out of it. All of us were. After all that happened, I was surprised you didn’t have a psychological breakdown. You’re a tough kid.” He ruffled my mane. An hour later, I walked outside with Fidelis. Rip Corde and either BlackJack or Deadeye were cautiously standing outside the door of one of the many abandoned buildings. The armored pony spoke up. “Hey, look, Tipsy Hooves has come to join us!” I let out an annoyed sigh. “My name’s Vita. And that’s what you’ll refer to me by, unless you want some dents in that fancy armor of yours.” “Hey, hey, sweetheart! I’m just kidding around!” He playfully pronounced. I rolled my eyes. Rip Corde called us over. “We’ve got Deadeye looting the building. We’ve already got a pretty hefty stash of food. We’re lookin’ for steel and other hard metals, mostly.” “What for?” The Rip Corde grinned. “Ya see, these things make relatively simple weapons. We can build ‘em ourselves. BlackJack knows how to make ammo for ‘em. They’re a little hard to hold without magic, so we built a harness that will allow us to use them. Ya just take the string from the bit, hook it up to the trigger--” A volley of loud noises, followed by beams of pale light, caused both me and Fidelis to leap back in alarm. Rip Corde Looked a little frightened, herself. “And that’s how ya work ‘em…” “What’s going on down there?” Deadeye poked out his head from the second story of the building. “Just showin’ the newbies how to work a rifle!” The red Pegasus responded. “Well, could'ja teach them a little quieter? There’s a group of those things not two miles away from here!” My spine tingled with fear. “Oh, don’t worry. They come within eighty feet and we’ll smoke ‘em before they see us.” She tossed me a tracer rifle. “Welcome to the resistance.”
Chapter Three: The ResistanceI stared at the weapon, dumbfounded. She wanted me to kill something? “I-I can’t do this!” “Listen up, kid. It’s either us or them. They didn’t hesitate when they slaughtered hundreds of innocents, why should we hesitate to fight back?” “I know, I know! But, I just…can’t! I can’t do it!” Annoyance emanated from Rip Corde like heat from a radiator. “She’s right, Vita. We have to do this.” I stared at Fidelis, shocked. He was alright with this? “Guys, they’re closing in pretty fast!” Deadeye sounded from above. Fidelis nudged me into the building. I could barely think. Fear started gripping me with icy talons. “Almost here!” Deadeye’s updates only helped with its progression. I levitated the Chimeran weapon, the business end pointing out the window. “No, no. Don’t use magic. They’ll see the glow. Use the harness.” Rip Corde quietly rebuked. I adjusted as quickly as I could. Rip Corde announced the battle plan. “Alright, BlackJack stays with the girl. Fiddie ‘n me will head upstairs to help DeadEye.” Fiddie? So she was giving pet names along with orders? The long wait struck my nerves like a mortar shell. BlackJack’s voice nearly sent me flying out of my skin. “Don’t leave me hanging! When I start shooting, you’d better have my back!” I nodded quickly. The Chimeran party walked unsuspectingly in front of us. “Now!” A plethora of loud noises sounded from above and beside me. Blood splatter from several Chimera stained a nearby market stand. Alerted, the few remaining Chimera pointed their weapons in our direction. Plasma bolts flew past my head. “What’re you waiting for?” BlackJack spat while taking cover. Quaking, I put the bit in my mouth. I tugged on the bit. Several Chimera fell, soaking the road with blood. I turned my head away. The fruits of my labor sickened me. The gunshots stopped as the last Chimera fell, dead. Tears distorted my vision. Disoriented, I made my way over to a velvet chair opposite the window. I crawled on the seat, a wretched mess. I buried my face into the cushion. The sobbing I managed to hold back, but my face still showed obvious signs of misery. A gentle hoof rested on my neck. At least Fidelis was here. I turned around, BlackJack was standing where Fidelis should’ve been. “You alright, sweetheart?” His voice was slightly muffled by his armor. “Yeah…I guess…” I sheepishly stuttered, taken aback by the stallion’s action. “Believe it or not, that was my first time killing something, too.” “Huh. Really?” I questioned, almost seriously. No other response came to my mind. “Yep.” His head turned to the side, a sigh following. “I just thought, that, well, getting back at them would make me feel better. Nothing’s changed. They’re still taking lives. I can’t stop thinking about that. This little victory of ours means nothing. Tomorrow, Equestria will still be smack dab in the---” Rip Corde and the others entered the room, interrupting BlackJack. Fidelis’ stressed voice met my ears. “Is she alright? She wasn’t hit, was she?” BlackJack removed his hoof from my neck. “Nah, just a little stressed out, ‘is all.” Fidelis sighed in relief. “We’d better head back to the library. I could go for some AppleJack Daniel’s.” Rip Corde announced. “I second that.” “Third it.” “…Fourth.” I Mumbled, exiting the chair. Fidelis gave me a concerned look. “I think we’ll all need a drink by the end of today.” I explained. A short time later, we were back in the library. I was sitting at a make-shift bar created by Rip Corde and Deadeye. “Screw thet one manth, eh?” Rip Corde slurred as she poured me another glass. “Shuddap.” I spat. The same bitter-sweet burn left me feeling dizzy and slow. I didn’t care. My mind was blank. I motioned for another glass. Rip Corde did nothing. “Gemme enather wen!” I was slurring so terribly it couldn’t even be considered slurring. It was more like the garbled noises made by the Chimera. “Naw, Nuh-uh. Weef both hed too mush to drenk…” I left the bar, spouting obscenities as I tumbled over to the denim couch. I embraced the Blackness that took me away from this crappy world. Once again, I was in invasion-tattered Ponyville. Again, I watched the slaughter of innocent ponies as I stood still, doing nothing. Actually, I was doing something. I was pointing my rifle at the Chimera, but I wasn’t shooting. I simply stood there, too afraid to use the rifle. Again, The Chimeran troop gripped me, crushing my head with claws that nearly burned my flesh. I woke up, trembling. I was drenched in sweat. I tried to leap out of the bed, but something was constricting my movement. Wait, bed? Upon further inspection, I wasn’t just in bed. I was in bed with somepony else. Their hooves had been wrapped around me tightly. “Get the BUCK off me!” I leaped from the bed. As soon as my hooves touched the marble floor, I turned to meet a black earth pony. He wobbled as he rose from the bed. “Whatsa madder, Swet-hert? Didja hev eh naht-mer?” I could pick out BlackJack’s voice, even through the slurred speech. “BlackJack? Why the buck were you…UGH!” Surprise shot across BlackJack’s face. “Yer thuh wahn thet esked meh to slehp wit-cha’!” “Wh-What!” I swallowed hard. I was pretty drunk…anything could’ve happened. “Oh!” BlackJack spoke up. He hobbled off the bed. “Yah thunk that weh…Aw, NAW! Aheh! Ha ha!” A clumsy grin appeared on his stupid face. “Naw, nah, Sweeteh. Ya jus’ wanned a li’l… Shoul’er to len on. We di’n’t do that …” I had heard enough. “Alright…Um, sorry. I have to get going.” I quickly trotted away from the bed. “A’raht, honeh… talk t’ me iffin’ yeh ned a fren.” My trot evolved into a gallop. I was so embarrassed! I trotted to the end of the library. An empty bottle of AppleJack Daniel’s rested next to a stack of books. Freakin’ AppleJack Daniel’s. I crushed the bottle beneath my hooves. Then, I dropped to the floor. I almost shed a tear. If I was lucky, BlackJack would’ve been too drunk to remember anything. I took a glimpse at the books that littered the floor. The book, Fallout: Equestria caught my eye. After a few chapters I had to put the book down. “I guess Equestria could be worse.” I thought out loud.
Chapter four: Books! Oh, Celestia, I Love Books!Unable to sleep, due to my previous…unpleasant experience, I spent the rest of the night scavenging books from the library. Most of the books scattered around were poorly written, or boring. The few exceptions, though rare and far in between, sparked inspiration and emotion within me. Unfortunately, most of these books were either way too long, or too incredibly brief to enjoy thoroughly that night. Occasionally, I found the perfect mix between the two. I devoted my time to searching out these books. While scavenging for these gems, I spied a miniscule, soft-white bookcase containing five stories. My curiosity overwhelming me, I trotted to the bookcase. I couldn’t decide which to read first, so I removed the book resting in the center. This book, no, this masterpiece kept me glued to the very end. Emotions resulting from this book swept me to an ecstatic dream world. I nearly shed a tear as the story came to an end. Almost subconsciously, I slipped another book from the shelf. The same glorious result resounded from each book. I was nearly thrown into a panic as the final book’s back cover closed. Again, I searched for more of these ink-inscribed treasures. The book, Fallout: Equestria came to my mind. I levitated the book in front of my eyes. Even if it was filled with obscenities and other material suitable for a more…mature age group, it was still an addicting read. Temptation ate at me, but I managed to control myself. It was probably best to keep my mind on more wholesome subjects anyway. Subjects such as… nothing came to mind. The whole world was currently a steaming pile of manure. The Chimera were exterminating us like pests. Slaughtering us. A cold, hollow feeling gripped my chest. I was more concerned about damned books than the current state of the world. “What’re you doing up this late?” Fidelis’ voice made my mane stand up on end. “Just, uh… reading some books.” My mind was distant, I only answered Fidelis because I felt I had to. “Can’t get to sleep, huh?” That makes two of us.” Fidelis’ hoof steps grew louder as he closed the distance between us. “So, what’cha reading?” He angled his head to get a better view of the cover of Fallout: Equestria. “Oh, geez. I don’t think you should be reading that particular one.” “So, um, you’ve read this one before?” “Wreck recommended it once. It’s got some pretty, well, uh, colourfulaspects to it. Not exactly appropriate for anypony your age.” “Hey, don’t go treating me like I’m a filly!” At that moment, It occurred to me that Fidelis was the only pony around who knew my actual age. “That reminds me… why haven’t you told Rip Corde and the rest how old I am?” He sheepishly kicked at the floor. “I dunno. I guess that it’s too late now, anyway. We’ve been keeping it a secret too long. The others would be pretty ticked if they knew you’d been lying to them.” My mind produced images of BlackJack. Definitely he, out of everypony, would be mad. I wasn’t exactly sure about Rip Corde, though. She didn’t seemed too perturbed by anything. As for Deadeye… Heck, I didn’t know anything about Deadeye. I hadn’t taken the time to get to know him. Everypony else had kind of defined themselves by the first day. Deadeye had kept to himself. “Y’know, you two should really be sleeping.” Rip Corde’s groggy voice caused both me and Fidelis to jump. She rose from a mattress that was lying upon an over turned bookcase. This could be bad. If she had overheard any of our conversation, problems could arise. “What’re you two talking about, anyway?” “Oh, just this book right here. We were discussing the author’s…wide vocabulary,” Fidelis' tone was smooth as he lied. I almost believed him, myself. He levitated the book to Rip Corde, and placed a hoof on an italicized sentence. Rip Corde’s eyes traveled across the page. “Wow…How did this get published?” “Well, the writing itself is what’s really impressive. I guess that’s what mattered to the publisher.” They continued to discuss the book. I left them to their conversation, and trotted to the denim couch. I fastened my eyelids together in an attempt to sleep. Finally, I managed to drift off. “Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. C’mon, wake up. Vita, wake up.” I felt firm pressure on my side. “Mmmphna,” I responded. I rolled over to meet Rip Corde. “Guess who was lucky enough to get picked for scavenger duty.” “Lucky me,” I mumbled. She supplied me with four large saddlebags, along with a new weapon. “Looted this off the body of one of those things yesterday. I had a couple’a chances to test it. Apparently, the thing shoots straight through walls.” She hooked a complicated-looking rifle to my saddlebags. It looked much like the Chimeran tracer rifle, except slightly longer, with two knife-like protrusions above and below the barrel. “Cool,” was the only word I could use to describe it. It really was pretty cool-looking. As I trotted to the library’s entrance, an armor-less BlackJack came to meet me. “Uh, hiya, BlackJack.” I couldn’t bring my eyes to meet his, so I kept my head low. He nuzzled my neck with his nose. I leapt back in alarm, putting sizable distance between us. “Wha…wh… Huh?” I stuttered. “What’s wrong?” Confusion spread across BlackJack’s face. “Well, you…you…y’know! You shouldn't of…” I couldn’t find an appropriate answer. To my surprise, BlackJack looked a little hurt. “I shouldn't of what?” “Not, um… Why did you…?” I was lost in bewilderment. BlackJack's gaze remained upon me. "Why did I what?" His tone showed obvious signs of irritation. "Why did you do, that? Y'know, just then!" He turned his head away from me. “Didn’t seem to mind so much when we were cuddling together…” He mouthed under his breath. This was going to Hell in a hoof-basket. “BlackJack, I… I’ve gotta go.” I galloped, in an attempt to escape from the awkwardness. Almost instinctually, I knew today was going to suck.
Chapter five: Press "spacebar" to loot lockerI slowed my gallop as I neared a dilapidated building. I felt cold and hollow. A small teardrop managed to squeeze its way out of my eye. I’d dug myself neck-deep into a complicated dilemma, one that would be hard to escape from. My mind was so focused on BlackJack, I had nearly forgotten why I had left the library in the first place. I eyed the shack over. Thin aluminum sheets made up the walls, a large assortment of wooden boards acted as a ceiling. The shack stood out awkwardly, it seemed to have no place with the rest of Sparkville’s artistic structures. Most ponies would’ve passed it by without a second thought. Luckily, I’m not most ponies. The shack contained a hefty two-way radio, along with several bottles of sarsaparilla. After I had finished placing the equipment into the saddlebags, I started to think twice about bringing the radio. That thing was heavy! I developed some options. I could go back to the library, but that would mean seeing BlackJack. I could leave the radio for the time being, and return for it at the end of the day. I decided this would be the best course of action. I left the radio in the corner of the shack. I spent four more hours looting the abandoned town of Sparkville. Occasionally, I found some useful objects. Small motors. Watches. Healthy foods. I galloped to a blacksmith's shop in the distance. As I was looting Sparkville’s abandoned black smithy, several low growls caught my attention. I paused for several minutes. More growls were coming from outside the shop. I levitated my new rifle, aiming in the direction of the door. To my surprise, a steel tube started to glow atop the weapon. I peered down the tube. Through the tube, I saw the outlines of three yellow figures making their way to the Blacksmith’s door. Shaking, almost violently, I pulled the trigger. E-dum! E-dum! E-dum! The three yellow figures fell, disappearing as they hit the ground. I stood prostrate for what felt like hours. Finally, I mustered enough courage to exit the shop. The bodies of three Chimera lay sprawled on the ground, gaping holes in each of their chests. They were soaked in pools of their own blood. I retreated, feeling my rear hit the stone wall of the shop. I sidled around the wall, trying to keep as much distance as possible from the bodies. When I had placed enough yards between myself and the bodies, I galloped away as fast as I could.The sun began to set in the distance. I sped towards the library, BlackJack and Fidelis stood alert by the entrance. I heard a faint, “There she is!” from Fidelis. Fidelis was the first to speak to me. "Are you alright? We heard gunshots." “Yeah, I’m fine. Just three of ‘em. They were caught off guard, so they weren’t hard to take down.” BlackJack released a relieved sigh. Rip Corde trotted to meet me.“So, what did’ja bring home?” I showed her the plunder. I removed the steel, food, watches, and other supplies from the saddlebag. At the bottom of the first bag lay several bottles of Sarsaparilla. Sarsaparilla…I had forgotten the radio! “Hold on, I forgot something! I’ll be right back.” As I moved away from the library, Rip Corde stomped on my tail, stopping me in my tracks. “Hey! What’s the big deal?” “That’s enough for today. We don’t need you risking your flank again, especially this late.” She was right. The curtain of nightfall had already began covering the sky. I drooped my ears. “Okay…” An hour later, everypony had gathered around the make-shift bar. “So, how do ya’ like the new toy?” Rip Corde asked. I stared upwards, envisioning the rifle in my mind. “I dunno. It’s pretty cool, I guess.” Rip Corde looked as if she expected more. “Pretty cool? I’d say it deserves a heap more than that!” I shrugged. “That’s all I can really say. It’s just cool to me.” Rolling her eyes, she poured me a glass of Applejack Daniels.“Ah, whatever. Here, Tipsy, er, Vita. Drink up.” I looked at the drink, embarrassment and guilt reflected from the glass. “I’m good.” Rip Corde snatched the glass from in front of me. “Well, then! Don’t mind if I do!” In a flash, she had finished the alcohol. Everypony's conversation directed towards whether or not to look for survivors. BlackJack and Deadeye showed a strong indifference towards the thought. "The smaller our group, the less likely we are to be attacked." "B-J, we've already been attacked! Or did you forget the bodies rotting in the street? We need more ponies, we aren't gonna survive very long by ourselves, " Rip Corde rebuked. "And besides, we need to keep a steady population. These things came here to exterminate us. The smaller we keep our group, the closer they are to reaching that goal," Fidelis added. "I just don't want to be held responsible for anything that happens to anypony." After a few more minutes of listening to them argue, I spoke up. “I’m gonna go crash, guys.” Everypony gave a quick nod, in acknowledgement. Once again, I trotted to the denim couch. I was almost afraid to fall asleep, sure I would once again suffer at the hooves of the recurring nightmare. So, I simply rested on the couch, staring into the distance. After some time, BlackJack appeared from behind an assortment of books. “Uh, Heya, Vita. Are you awake?” I sat upright on the couch. He continued, “Oh, okay. So um, I wanted to talk to you about what happened last night…” I interrupted him. “Ok, but first, BlackJack… I’ve got to tell you something. Now, You’ve gotta promise that you won't freak out, alright?” “Sure, of course.” BlackJack looked at me expectantly. At that moment, I choked up. Was I really going to go through with this? “Well, uh, BlackJack…” I couldn’t find the right words. Yes, I could. They were, “I’m Fifteen,” but heck knows I wasn’t going to say that. I directed the subject back to BlackJack. “On second thought, why don’t we start with you, first?” “Alright, well, let’s see…Um, Vita, look…I want you to know that I don’t really think of you like... well, a marefriend. Not that it really, matters, I mean, nothing too serious really happened last night. Both you and I were drunk, so… I’m sorry, Vita. I just don’t like you like that. I think of you more like, well, a sister.” “Really? That’s awesome!” I leapt from the couch in delight. BlackJack himself solved the awkwardness for me! Scandal averted! Relief flooded over me. I had one less thing to worry about. I drew my attention back to BlackJack. I could practically feel the confusion emanating from him. “Er…I mean, uh… It wouldn’t have worked out, anyway.” Disturbed, he nodded his head. After a moment of silence, he spoke up. “Oh, yeah, what did you want to speak to me about?” “Oh, um, basically, just the same thing,” I lied. He nodded, and trotted to a mattress a few yards away. I closed my eyes, finally able to sleep.
Chapter Six: Friendship is ViolentSeveral hours later, I woke to the sound of frantic hoofsteps. Shooting upright, I scanned the area around me. "Fidelis? Rip Corde? Anypony?" Silence answered me. I slipped off of the couch, and armed myself with a tracer rifle. Progressively, I made my way around the library. I had investigated for an hour before I decided to give up. That was until I heard faint whispers from behind a bookshelf. I turned the corner to find a hairless pony strangling Rip Corde. "Can't you hear them? They are calling to us. Isn't it beautiful?" The hairless pony, covered in a sickly grey flesh, turned around, and stared at me with sunken, yellow eyes. "Absolutely beautiful." Rip Corde's voice awakened me from my horrified stupor. "Shoot it!" Obediently, I opened fire upon the hairless pony. Crimson liquid painted the bookshelves, soaking their contents through the cover. I stood completely still, watching as Rip Corde threw the lifeless body off of her, rising to her hooves. "Who was that?" I choked out, barely audible. "I dunno! The thing jumped me while I was sleeping!" I turned my eyes to the deceased pony. Yellow pustules oozed from several spots on his body. "The heck's goin' on here?" BlackJack's groggy voice sounded from across the building. "Get Fiddie up. He may wanna have a look at this..." An hour of autopsying later, Fidelis came to a conclusion. "I have absolutely no Idea what this thing is." Rip Corde rolled her eyes. Fidelis let out an exasperated sigh."I'm sorry! The outside appears to be pony... More or less, but I swear I've never seen a body layout like this fella's. He's got a heart the size of a cantaloupe, and... well, the heart was the only thing I was able to identify. I have absolutely no idea what this thing is. Whatever it is, it's not a pony, that's for sure. At least, it's not anymore..." "What do you mean, 'Not anymore'?" I questioned. "Well, I noticed strange mutations all along the heart. Several more aortic valves, a few extra ventricles, and such. I think that this creature went through a near-instant macro adaptation. He had to have, I mean, these things only showed up about a week ago." "I wonder who the poor guy was..." BlackJack thought aloud. Everypony stared at the corpse, saying nothing. Everypony except Deadeye... He wasn't in the room with us. Then, a horrible, absolutely un-godly thought popped into my head. I swallowed hard, my eyes quickly darted back and forth between everypony around me. I nearly fainted as Rip Corde asked, "Hey, anypony seen Deadeye?" "No! At least, I don't think it was him. Aw, crap! I've never seen him without his armor on!" BlackJack answered me, worry dominant in his voice. Rip Corde took over. "He's gotta be around here somewhere... Ugh! Why do there have to be so many freakin' bookshelves?" Frantically, we searched for Deadeye. We nearly overturned every bookshelf looking for him, but as more and more of the Library had been searched, everypony's hope started to fade. Rip Corde whined beside me. "No... C'mon, please, not Deadeye..." I turned to her. "I'm gonna check outside!" Biting her lip, she acknowledged me with a nod. I galloped out of the Library. "Deadeye! You out here?" I searched far and wide, looking for any trace of our missing member. Around half an hour later, I started to lose hope. That was until a strange-smelling smoke caught my attention. I followed the smell to it's location, where I found a young, emerald-green stallion with a cigarette protruding from his mouth. Large headphones rested above his long, cerulean mane. Death Metal blasted from their location. Half-hopeful, Half-terrified, I spoke up. "Deadeye?" He jumped slightly, and turned his head toward me. "Vita!" He spat the flaming tube from his mouth, and slid a plastic bag containing a potash-like material into a saddlebag. He leapt in front of me. "What're you doing here? Shouldn't you be asleep?" "Rip Corde was attacked by...Well, It was a pony, but it wasn't... Look, we thought it was you, but..." I stared at Deadeye, too distracted by his appearance to explain. Quickly, Deadeye cut me off. "Uh, wait! We should probably be getting back!" I studied Deadeye...He was young... Very young. Probably not much older than me. He had two years on me, at most! He slipped back into his armor, keeping the saddlebag as close to his side, and as far away from me, as possible. "So, uh... Cannabis?" I questioned. "No! No, that stuff's terrible for you," he hastily shot back. "Yeah, well tobacco's not that great for ya either, pal..." I said under my breath. "What was that?" Deadeye's tone was threatening, almost intimidating. He forced me against the wall of a building, holding me in place. "Look, this is none 'a your business. Just look after yourself, and keep your mouth shut. I swear, if you tell anypony about today, I'll kill you where you stand." "Whatever, jackass." It probably wasn't the wisest way to word my response, but my answer quelled my immediate anger, at least. Looks like I wasn't the only liar in the group. Rip Corde slapped Deadeye on the back of his head. "Geez, you scared the buck out of us!" The rest of the group welcomed us with open hooves. "Sorry, I had some stuff to take care of. Calm down, I'm not dead, right?" I felt my anger burn against Deadeye. Not yet, anyway.
Chapter Seven: Feeling"Whoa...so, this guy attacked you?" Deadeye poked at the body with the barrel of his rifle. "Yup. Vita got it off me in time. Although... I would've appreciated it if she had gotten to me a lot sooner." I rolled my eyes in appreciation for her gratitude. "So, uh...Whatta we do with it?" "Throw it on the pile with the rest," Black jack mumbled nonchalantly. "Actually... I would like to keep it around for a while. I want to study this thing further- Try to figure out what made him what he is." Fidelis' tone showed obvious fear. "You already said you couldn't figure out what it was. Why do you want it around?" Rip Corde questioned. "There's gotta be an reason why he's like this. I think his mutation resulted because of something those things brought here. He couldn't have changed into this instantly...I think it's a virus." I shot up in alarm, along with the others. BlackJack jumped forward. "Then what the buck are we doing? We've gotta get rid of that thing before we're all-" "It's too late for that. If I'm right, then we've all already been exposed to it." A lump the size of my hoof rose to my throat. "I'm gonna look into it. I'll take some of his blood, and see if I'm right. Of course, there's no reason to believe I am. It's just a worst case scenario." fifteen minutes later, we had our answer. "I was right." Minor pain nipped at my arm as Fidelis removed the syringe from my shoulder. "Should we really be doing this? How do you know this won't turn me into a acne covered zombie?" " Our bodies keep specific codes stored for viruses whenever we come into contact with a disease. The cells were dead, so the virus shouldn't turn you into whatever he was." The virus had actually been dead within the pony for a while. Once Fidelis learned this, he decided it would be best to vaccinate us a quickly as possible. Although I couldn't help but wonder..."Um, how do you know it was dead? The virus, I mean." "It showed no movement within the creatures' blood. I wasn't sure that meant it was dead at first, so I placed some of my blood inside of a petri dish along with the virus. The virus remained completely immobile as my white blood cells made short work of it. See? Nothing to worry about." "Alright, then..." I still couldn't help but feel I was being inoculated rather than vaccinated. "Alright, that's everypony. I'm keeping a few test tubes of the vaccine in case we meet anypony." Half an hour later, we prepared the Chimeran corpses for incineration. "Make sure to stand back, this is gonna smell..." BlackJack dropped a match, setting off a trail of alcohol that led to the mountain of bodies. He was right. It smelled like- Oh, sweet Celestia, I can't even describe it. It smelled awful, that's all I knew for sure. Rip Corde must have thought so too, as she turned her head to vomit. The flames rose higher and higher, until finally, they died down. The ashes of about twenty Chimeran troops covered the ground. Twenty Chimeran troops, and one Chimeran Pony. I wondered who he had been before the Chimerans stole his body from him. What kind of life he lead. Who he loved. Who loved him. A tear dropped from my face as I stared at the ashes. "Maybe we should've buried him." "Too late now." BlackJack cantered back into the Library. Didn't he feel anything? I looked around. Deadeye was playing with his rifle. Fidelis Had followed BlackJack inside. Didn't any of them feel anything besides me? Anything at all? "I'm sorry. I should've thought this through before hoof," I apologized to the pile of ashes. I must've gone crazy. Apologizing to the dead. At least I showed some respect. Then, I started thinking: how long would it be before I stopped feeling? Maybe it was best I stopped feeling right then. No... That would make me... Unpony. An emotionless pony is barely a pony at all. I stared at the ashes once more. "Goodbye, whoever you were." As I walked back into the Library, I saw the others gathered around the makeshift bar. Just drinking it all away. Trying to forget. Trying to refrain from feeling. I avoided them, and trotted to my couch. I was ready for today to end. I had enough. From daybreak to evening, today had been a living hell. Huh... Hell. Had I really gone there? I remembered complete darkness... And screaming... And pain. Burning pain, everywhere. I felt like I was sinking... falling towards something I was afraid of. I don't remember what I was afraid of, but it sure scared the hell out of me. Or rather, into me. Then, I woke up. The purple pony, Twilight, I think it was. And Apple...Bloom? No, she was the younger one. I stared upwards into the marble ceiling, my hooves resting behind my neck. Apple...Something. I couldn't believe I had forgot. I shifted my body around, and sat upright on the couch. Apple... My thoughts were interrupted as angry voices blasted from the makeshift bar. "You don't get it do you? We. Are. Screwed! Smaller numbers mean that those things are less likely to notice us. If our home gets bigger, then we may as well be inviting those freaks over!" "You know that isn't necessarily true, BlackJack! Those things can be killed, and killed easily. The more ponies we have, the easier it is to fight back!" The arguing evolved from yelling to violence. Soon, BlackJack and Fidelis started throwing punches. I galloped out, and demanded them to stop the fight. They didn't listen. After a while, BlackJack had knocked Fidelis to the ground. In a quick motion, he placed to short end of a whiskey bottle between his teeth. "Stop!" I galloped, and slammed my shoulder into BlackJack's side with as much force as I could muster. In angry retaliation, he broke the whiskey glass atop my head. I stood still as numbness encumbered me. The label on the whiskey bottle slowly floated it's way down in front of my face. Apple JACK. That was it.
Chapter Eight: Numbness"You sure you'll be alright on the way there? It's quite a ways off." She handed the saddlebag to me. I rolled my eyes. "You worry too much." "Alright-That's everything. Now, remember: don't talk to any strange ponies. Make sure to say hello to Auntie for me. I'll come back in a few weeks." "Okay. Goodbye!" I wrapped my hooves around her, and she did the same. I waved goodbye one last time before I trotted out the door. I was so excited! On my own for three weeks! Ponyville was the epicenter for a lot of interesting things, as well. I already knew it was going to be great. My eyes flipped open. I tried getting back to my hooves, but the weight of my head made it seem impossible. I felt cold steel lift me from the floor. I fought the pain as I was gently placed on a mattress. I shot upright, but was forced back down by a steel hoof. "Just wait until Fido can have a look at'cha." Fido? He must've meant Fidelis. I didn't fight it. I collapsed on the mattress, trying to remain as still as possible.Something wet trickled down my mane. I rose my hoof to my head. Blood. I exhaled angrily as I let my hoof drop. Soon, the silhouette of a pony appeared between two book cases that acted as walls. After standing there for a while, he entered the room. "Hey." I rose a hoof in acknowledgement. "You should really take better care of yourself. What is this, like, the third time I've had to fix you?" "It's your fault this time." Fidelis blushed a bright pink. "Ahem, er, well... I'd better get started." After he was done, I decided to speak up. "Where's BlackJack?" "He's in timeout," Deadeye answered as he walked into the room. "You bucking shot me!" BlackJack's voice blasted from across the Library. Deadeye echoed him mockingly. Fidelis rose to leave. "H-hold up." "What's up?" He turned to meet me. "Are we gonna do it?" I questioned. "Do what?" He slowly returned to me. "Are we gonna look for other survivors?" Fidelis kicked at the ground with his forehoof. "I dunno. It's all up to Rip Corde." A long silence ensued. "I don't know about ya'll, but I'm hitting the sack." We nodded in acknowledgment. Minutes later, I was alone. I rested my head on the pillow, shut my eyes, and let the world fade away. After a few hours of galloping, I had finally made it to Aunt Felicia's house. I rapped once upon her door, to which she answered immediately. "Vita! Oh, how's it goin', sweetie?" "Hey, aunt Felicia." "C'mon in! I've got some tea on the stove!" "Oh...I'm not really into tea." She looked at me, puzzled. "Since when?" "Since...Birth, I guess." I explained that I was deathly allergic to tea. "Oh, I must've gotten you and your sister mixed up.Although, you can't blame me, you two are getting to look so alike." "Yeah..." I woke up to the sound of gunfire. "Get back." BlackJack Demanded. "L-look, we just want someplace safe to stay. I see you're leg's hurt pretty bad. I could fix it up!" "We already have a doctor." I galloped to the scene. Two ponies stood at the Library's entrance, BlackJack's rifle aimed at them. I gave BlackJack an alarmed look."BlackJack! What the heck's going on?" "Nothing that concerns you." Rip Corde was the next to join us. "BlackJack! Put the gun down! That's an order!" He gave a dirty look to RipCorde. "Whatever." "What is it? What do you want?" Rip Corde's voice was harsh, but showed no emotion. "W-w-well, uh, We saw the town hadn't been destroyed entirely, and we thought, uh...um..." The pony, a purple unicorn mare with a straight, violet mane, brought her eyes to mine. "Her! I know her! I saved her life!" I took a few hoof steps back in surprise. "Um, uh...Vita! Yeah! It's me!" Rip Corde turned to me. "You know her?" I nodded my head, nervously. "Fine. They can come in." "Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou! We've been looking everywhere for a-" "Only for today. Until we can decide if you're any use to us." The purple mare, Twilight, looked down, brokenhearted. Minutes later, Rip Corde began her interrogation. "Did you bring any food? Do you have weapons? What's your name? Who's the mousey pony with you? Where are you from? Can you fight?" "You don't know me? Well, my friends and I only saved Equestria twice..." Twilight responded. Rip Corde lifted her head in interest. "Wait, are you trying to tell me you're one of the six?" "Yes." After a pause, Rip Corde leaned back. "Bull crap." "No! Really, I am! Look!" Twilight dug a scroll out of her saddlebag. "You see that seal?" Out of curiosity, I trotted over to get a better view. A button made of what appeared to be made of gold held to pieces of velvet cloth together, tying the scroll shut. Inscribed on the seal was a horseshoe tilted to the side, making a "C" shape. Rip Corde looked up. "Gonna have to do better than that." "Fine." Twilight opened the letter, and held it proudly in front of Rip Corde. "How do I know you didn't write that?" The purple unicorn let out a furious moan, flinging her head upward in anger. "Alright, Fine! Spike!" She looked as though she was going to say something, but stopped. Soon, her face turned a pale, almost pinkish color. Then, she collapsed, and began sobbing. "Spike...No..." Rip Corde looked at me, as if she expected me to fix the broken mare. May as well try. "Uh...It's Twilight, right?" She nodded. Was this even going to work? "So, uh...What happened? Who exactly is Spike?" She shut her eyes tightly. "It's my fault. It's all my fault." Jeez...."Look...You can talk to me. We all lost someone." "You don't get it! He was like... my little brother!" I thought a while. "I lost my sister." She looked up, as if to ask, "How's that supposed to make me feel better?" I was getting sick of this. "Well, guess what? I'm not trying to make you feel better. Honestly, I don't give a flying feather as to how you feel. Your brother died. So did a shipload of other ponies. It's not fair, but crying about it won't do anything. Get over it! We can't waste time mourning them. We have to survive. We can't let these things beat us." She looked at me as if she couldn't believe what I said. I couldn't care less. I cantered away from her. "Is this the same filly that AppleJack said I had to save?" I looked back to her. "No."
