The Wastes of Michigan

Jacob

It's already been a few hours since we left the forest. It's mid-day, still cloudy. Rain should be coming in and the temperature should be slowly dropping every passing day. Winter was coming. We'd have to scavenge out something warmer or buy them. The pony on the other hand? Don't know if clothes for them even exist. But I'm not gonna worry about that right now. Winter won't be coming in months.

The three of us were walking along a grassy plain. I looked down and saw through the chunks of grass some black concrete. This use to be a road back then, but nature has long since claimed most man-made structures in Michigan. Some of the vehicles and crumbling buildings were consumed by moss or anything else that life threw at it. Looking at a truck, wasting away as we passed it, I sometimes wish I had the chance to drive these old behemoths. But there hasn't been a working car in years. Well, these out-dated ones, I mean.

Moving my mind to something else, I took our inventory in mind. We were well on water for an extra day before we needed to stock up some more. The meat Davey prepped wouldn't last the next day, so we were gonna eat it when we find a suitable location to rest for the night. Our clothes were decent and wouldn't become rags anytime soon. All-in-all, we were solid. Until we had to go through the ruins to replace any breaking gear we have on us.

It takes a lot of diggin' to find anything good. Scavenging out here is much more difficult than it use to be. Everything was looted or just plain worn out at this point. It was either broken or useless to the person who found it. You needed a sharp eye and ingenuity to find anything worthwhile. That doesn't mean that Michigan is tapped out yet. She still hold's treasures like pre-collapse technology. It's too bad that none of us could use it. Only tech savvy people can get into the data it could hold and even then those people aren't plentiful in the wastes. A bit more common in the DMC though. Regardless, we take it. It could hold something important, right? Might as well let a professional take a look at it.

The group was silent, like any other time we traveled. Sparkle didn't say a thing after we left the forest. I looked over my shoulder to see how she's doing. She was following us, that much is true, but she was in a trance. She saw that car we passed, the road we're walking on, the buildings in the distance. All of it was crumbling for what seemed like forever. It's almost like she couldn't believe what she was seeing. I couldn't relate to her. I was born in the world already like this. Just a normal, everyday walk for me and Davey.

But not to her apparently. Her weirdly huge eyes kept looking at all the ugly that Michigan is. She didn't even notice me looking at her. Completely ignorant to my staring. I turned my head forward again and started thinking of the pony that we're taking care of now. I couldn't believe Davey defended this animal out of nowhere. I get what made her special and what made Davey hesitate to help her. Hell, if I was younger, I would've taken the pony along with us for the ride. I know better now not to act on those thoughts. She was just another mouth to feed and could possibly slow us down in walks like these. But the main reason I didn't want her with us is plain. She's a liability to the safety of this group. A soft pony who doesn't know the first thing of survival not to mention that she sticks out like a sore thumb. She's a complete handicap to this team. It's time for me to speak my piece. I turned to Davey and whispered to him, didn't want Sparkle hearing our conversation.

"Davey, tell me exactly why we took her in our group?" my tone was condescending.

"We couldn't leave Twilight alone. She looks way to innocent for this world. The things out here would kill her." he truly sounded like he cared for her. Why?

"Now tell me why I should care."

He didn't respond quickly and just let out a sigh "I don't have an answer for you."

"Exactly. She's gonna drain our water, our food. Anyone can see her. She sticks out so badly I'm afraid we'll get shot a mile away." all he replied with is an 'I know'.

"Listen to me right now." I drew my head closer to his, "I want her gone. We're a duo, you and me. I don't want to die because of some fucking pony crying or eating all our food. Plus, look at her." We both take a quick glance at her. She's still staring out at the landscape. "She looks like some clueless person. Likely never seen any danger in her entire life. The first sign of trouble and I bet she'll panic. Probably breathe too loudly, blow our cover, and we'll all end up dead."

"Well, maybe she can fight." he reasoned.

I laughed at the joke, but the look in his eyes said he was serious. It was time to settle this. To put out an ultimatum of my own. "I'm gonna make a deal with you, Davey. If she can fight and if she is willing to fight, she's with us until the checkpoint. Right? If she doesn't, she can still tag along but we won't help her under any circumstances."

Uneasily, he questioned, "What do you mean by that?"

"Means what it means. We won't feed her, won't patch her up, won't defend her when it comes to a fight."

"Isn't that taking it too far? What's the point of taking her along with us then if it comes to that?"

"If she's gonna be here, she has to learn to fight. I don't care who she was before. Sparkle is going to fight with this group or die. And that's final." I will not let Davey edge out of this one. She won't be spending this journey pampered like she's some glorified luggage. In this world, you have to get blood on your hands to live. I want her to get that feel of it soon. Sparkle will thank me one day if she goes through with this.

"I...I think you're right Jacob." he caved in.

"You're damn right I am."

I am the leader of this group, but we both decided on everything. In this case, it was entirely up to Sparkle to decide her own fate. Kill or be killed. No way around it.

We both stopped walking. I made the precaution to look around for any danger first. Didn't want to get clubbed in the head while talking to a purple unicorn about killing. When there was nothing hostile in sight, we turned our eyes on the now confused pony staring at us. She was darting her eyes between the two of us. I had a strict and punishing expression while Davey seemed more worried. We probably unsettled her even more now.

"Did I...do something wrong?" She backed away, possibly expected us to turn on her on the spot. The look on her face was priceless.

"Look Sparkle, other than crying, is there anything you can do that's actually useful?" I sneered.

She was insulted and furrowed her brow. At least she showed some backbone instead of crying outright. "Well if you couldn't tell, I can do magic." she said matter-of-fact.

That's right. She did mention something about magic.

"Well, what kind of magic?" Davey said curiously.

Breaking a smile she said, "Then let me show you what I can do."

She closed her eyes and started concentrating. Her horn was then enveloped in a glowing fuchsia aura of some kind. It kinda freaked me out in that it was weird and bizarre and that it radiated like a beacon, alerting anything that looked in our direction. Despite all that, it enthralled my attention, making me look in awe at the divinity of this energy. Her horn was no longer the center of attention but instead it was the aura she made that caught my eyes. It seemed like days where passing as I bathed in this expanding, enriching glow. I suddenly felt all the problems in the world were lifted of my shoulders. Muscles that are constantly tensed and tight just loosened up. The boiling anger I kept alive was soothed down. I felt forever at ease and my insides were warm and fluffy. I was compelled to embrace this godly aura, to accept it into my heart, but it seemed so far away and I was too at peace to move. I almost gave up my life, if only to touch this benevolent force. Not that I wanted to commit suicide from it. No, I was using my life as a bargaining chip. To trade my life and be free from the chains that bind my heart and to live in the infinite glow. To be forever at peace.

It was only a second or two when that entire sensation came and went. The serene world I was longing for shattered around me and I was brought back to miserable Michigan. I merely blinked away the vision from my thoughts. What ever the fuck that was, I wanted no part of it. I had responsibilities on my back and dreaming was not an escape from anything. Shaking my head from the illusion, I finally noticed the rock that was being carried by Sparkle's now dull aura.

With a smirk she said, "See. Magic."

Davey saw the rock coming towards him so he raised his open hand to catch it. The rock gently rested on his palm before the aura left it. He grabbed the grey rock in between his thumb and index finger and held it up to his astonished face.

"Can all unicorns do this?" Davey asked in wonderment, still looking at the rock, expecting it to start moving though the air.

"Any unicorn back in Equestria can do that. It's actually one of the more simpler spells that we can do." Sparkle seemed like she was showing off her skill. In her defense, she did deserve to rub it in our faces after my little comment.

Now that I know she can actually do something useful, I needed to get to the point of this conversation.

"What about something else more for your situation? Y'know, anything lethal to protect yourself?" I questioned.

"Well, the thing is, this world hardly has magic to work with. It actually scares me knowing how little there is around me. It's enough to do a levitating spell, what I just did, and other less consuming spells. Um, there are spells that can cause harm, but they drain up much more magic than what I just used. Not that I'd ever use one with the intent to kill. I could just teleport away or conjure up a shield to defend myself." Sparkle was sure to her claim until she remembered the dilemma, "If I had enough magic to do that..."

"But you can kill with it, right? Using magic?" I continued.

She blanched at my persistence. "Yeah, I guess I could. But I've never taken another's life before. I'm sure you fine...gentlehumans will defend me, right?"

Her worried smile deepened my frown. Davey tries to convince her. "You're going to have to learn pretty soon. We won't always have your back y'know."

"Then I could just stand out of the way while you two...do the deed. Besides, I'm sure such a situation won't happen." She kept the excuses up.

By that time I was fed up. I reached into my pack to pull out a heavy metal wrench. I kept it with me for if my bat were to go missing or break in half. It made for a decent starter that I'm sure Sparkle can handle.

"Hey, let me see you lift this wrench up with your magic real quick." I laid the wrench over my palm, letting her grab it with her mind.

"Uh, sure..." She took a closer step toward me and studied the object in my hand before she closed her eyes and focused. The aura around her horn wrapped around the entirety of the wrench. It was but a few seconds before it lifted out of my hands and was (sorta) held upright before her. With a smile she said happily "Just a little more effort, but I did it. Now what?"

Oh boy. She was gullible. "Take some swings with it. Get a feel for it."

Her smile instantly vanished as well the aura on the wench, making it fall down to earth. "Will you quit it? I'm not going to kill anypony! Stop forcing me to do it!"

"You listen to me, you little shit!" She recoiled from that, "This entire world will eat you alive. I'm doing you a favor by letting you travel with us. The least you can do is defend this group from anything out here wanting to kill us. And believe me when I say that killing WILL happen on this journey. I fucking guarantee it. There are insane psychopaths wandering this vast that will literally kill you for your godddamn shoes. Anything else you have is a bonus to the fucker! You are completely clueless of w-"

"Turn your voice down." Davey warned me, "Maybe that won't happen Jacob. Just let it go."

I was furious. Pissed off by this unicorn. I had a bad temper, but she was just getting annoying. Sparkle looked much more scared by my outburst. Just when my eyes looked into hers, she side glances away. Psh, pathetic. I snatch the wrench that landed near her hooves and stuffed it in my pack. Before we resumed our march I hissed out one more thing. "When the times comes, you can kiss your sorry life away. Cuz when you're lying in a pool of your own blood, we'll be walking away without a care in the world."

And our walk continued again. I didn't hear Sparkle's steps until we were a good 10 feet away. Davey let out a sigh of relieve from hearing it. My temper was still high but the walk was etching away the anger, bit by bit. I know this is the right choice. Either she learns to fight or she's left behind. It's simple.

It would be some 10 minutes until Twilight shouted out a wait. Her hooves were shuffling the the grass and her eyes didn't meet ours. "Jacob. I'm...I'm sorry for how stubborn I'm being about this. But you have to understand that Equestria, the place that I come from, is a peaceful place. Death by violence is just so rare, not even criminals are put to death. Just sent to jail or banished depending on the crime. Even more is that Equestria hasn't been in war for centuries! We believe and practice friendship and harmony. Where an imbalance could disrupt our very world. I'm an upholder of these principles and have used them multiple times to save my country." She took a pause of breath. Over her speech, she spoke with much more passion and was staring with a fierce intensity. "Killing is wrong. Only the cruelest of ponies would ever do that and feel no remorse afterwards. The Royal Guards would have to deal with them personally then. That's why you shouldn't force me to do this. You shouldn't make me go against the morals that every pony is taught to do. I don't want that kind of trouble on my hooves."

Right now, I couldn't care for what she was before. She needed to decide. I told it to her straight. "We're not in Equestria. Out here its kill or be killed. Fight to live. And from what it sounds like, you'd rather die than live. Make your choice Sparkle. Because when shit hits the fan, I know you won't be among the living. You will die out here and no one will give a damn about it. Make. Your. Choice."

I bet she expected me to be fazed by her 'voice of reason'. I had some sympathy for Sparkle, but not enough to change my mind on this. Life's tough and this is the current reality we live in. You can't run away from it no matter how hard you try. And she was trying with all her might. Here's to hoping she changes her mind.

"I'm sorry Jacob. But...I just can't. I-I can't..." she kept on mumbling on how she just can't do it.

I couldn't believe it. You know what? Forget this. "You're pathetic Twilight Sparkle." I spat at her then turned to walk away. Everyone, including Sparkle, falls in with my steps. Silence once again reigned over the walk. I heard the horse making sniveling sounds, likely crying. I was through with her and wouldn't spare a glance or worry. Somehow, Davey wasn't quite done with her yet. His pace slowed down to walk side-by-side with Sparkle. He didn't quite talk to her until a minute or two. He just walked along side of her. Keeping her company.

Then he spoke. "He gave me the same talk when I didn't want to kill all those years ago. I felt exactly as you do right now. But he's right. You will die if you refuse to put up an effort to fight. Jacob is a tough and a hard man to please and I know he's asking a lot from you on the first day. Just accept it and hope we don't walk into a fight. But if we do you have to fight, we'll fight together. Otherwise, we won't save you the trouble. Do yourself a favor and take the wrench, Twilight."

She didn't reply to him. It was kinda hard to make out what she was thinking of, especially when I was ignoring her. I just kept walking and waited for something to happen. Then she stopped walking, so did Davey, then I too stopped. We all looked at Sparkle expecting an answer. I saw her wet face and puffy eyes. She was focused on the ground trying to measure her choices. After some time she calls out in a clear voice.

"I'll take the wrench." About damn time. This dragged on for far too long. I retrieve the wrench from my pack again and held it loosely in my hand. Sparkle grabbed it and surveyed the cold metal steel. Not liking the idea of having to possibly kill with it in the near future. "Where do I keep it?"

"Heh. That's right." I took the wrench back and shoved it into my backpack. "We'll find you something to carry it."

She sniveled in response. Such a drama queen.

"You did the right thing Twilight." Davey said warmly.

"It sure doesn't feel like the right thing."

She'll get over it by the end of the day. But for now we still had a walk to go before we can rest up for the night. And so the trek to the checkpoint resumed again.