The Key We've Lost

Chapters

[Prologue]: Purge
[Chapter 1]: Filly
[Chapter 2]: Bonds
[Chapter 4]: Run (Explicit)
[Chapter 4]: Run (Safe)

[Prologue]: Purge

When was the last time I saw sunlight? Ten, maybe fifteen years? I can't even remember anymore. All I've ever cared about since that day was eating, killing, and surviving. Back in the day, my name was, and I suppose still is, Rainbow Dash. But I'm not sure if I deserve that name anymore after I failed to protect them, my friends, from death.

While I can't remember the date, I can remember the day clearly. Everyone was fast asleep in my hometown of Ponyville just before something happened: a bright pillar of yellow light shone forth from the eastern mountains, waking the townsfolk up. They and all my friends stared at the light intently just before it dissipated and exploded all across our home. It leveled houses, crushed landscapes and, of course, killed hundreds upon thousands of ponies. Only those lucky enough to reach an emergency bunker survived.

The light had just gone off, and ponies everywhere in Equestria were scrambling around to try and find the bunkers. My friend Princess Twilight Sparkle, a lavender Alicorn mare with a purple mane flowing in the gust of wind the light created when it exploded, tried her best to settle the townsfolk down.

"Everypony, please, just try and stay calm!" she shouted at her subjects with a worried expression on her face "The bunker is in the town hall, just please, try to stay calm!"

"I don't think it's working, Twilight!" I flew over to her with my cyan wings, struggling to hold myself up in the harsh winds. My long rainbow-colored mane blew all around my face and got into my eyes.

"Then round up as many people as you can, okay?" she looked at me with horror in her eyes. I had never seen her like this; her expression showing genuine fear. However, I nodded and went to work immediately. Still struggling with the wind, I grabbed as many people as I could and flew them into the town hall where they could finally find safety. I looked back at the approaching explosion.

"Not much time left..." I said worryingly before turning back to Twilight "We gotta hurry this up!"

"I know, I know, just-" was all she could say before the ground shook beneath her. The building behind her began to topple onto her. My eyes widened and I rushed to go and save her, screaming her name as I tried my best to fly towards her. But the wind was too strong; I couldn't break free.

"TWILIGHT!!" I shouted at her. She saw the shadow getting darker above her, but as she turned around she had no time to teleport away. She could only watch in terror as her life was about to come to an end. Just before the building hit the ground, she closed her eyes and sighed.

"NO!!" I reached my hoof out to no avail "No..." I began feeling tears in my

"Rainbow Dash, git over 'ere now!" yelled the familiar country voice of another of my friends. I turned to see that Apple Jack, an orange mare with a blonde mane tied in a ponytail, had done her best to wrangle all the ponies up and was now waiting for me to take shelter myself. Without question, I sorrowfully flew towards her. It was then when I heard a scream from a distance away. I quickly looked over to a pink tower-shaped building with purple and gold highlights all over it. It had begun crumbling down.

"Rarity..." I whispered my friend's name before dashing off to her home and trying to save her.

As soon as I got there, I saw that most of the building had already crumbled down, and my white Unicorn friend with a messy purple mane was trapped under a pile of rubble. I flew to go and save her, tearing away brick after brick on top of her, but she soon stopped me, placing on of her free front hooves on my body.

"Rainbow Dash, darling..." she shook her head and gave a small smile "Save my sister instead."

"What?!" I shouted in disbelief "No, I'll save both of you!"

"Look around you, darling" she sighed "You and I both know you can't do it. Sweetie Belle is over there..." she pointed to a young filly with a white coat and pink mane ruffled and dirty fortunately not under debris "She's still alive. Please, for me, make sure she has a good life ahead of her..."

"...Rarity..." I couldn't stop myself from crying. All my friends had begun dying around me. Reluctantly, I nodded and picked Sweetie Belle up, flying away from the white mare. She simply smiled before a huge broken piece of wood fell on top of her and impaled her. I couldn't bear to look back at her bloody corpse, so I merely continued onward to the bunker.

But tragedy struck again. The land beneath me began to crumble away in earthquake after earthquake. The explosion of light was fast approaching Ponyville. I too wondered if I was to share the same fate as Twilight and Rarity. Just before I accepted that thought and let the light consume me, a force pushed me down into an alley way of the town.

"TAKE COVER!!" an oddly bubbly female voice shouted before it pushed me down into the alley. I had dropped Sweetie Belle, and I could only look up in horror as the explosion of light passed overhead and annihilated her body, turning it to dust. The mare and I finally hit the ground as rubble from a house collapsed on top of us, knocking us out.

I twitched a bit as I slowly woke up. My body hurt literally everywhere, but no pain was more apparent then the sharp digging feeling in my front left hoof. I looked over and saw that a metal pipe had sliced its way through my bone and out the other end of its entry. It bled out all over my hoof and on the rubble over me. I sighed in disbelief before I looked down and saw the mare that had saved me; a familiar pink Earth Pony with a darker pink, flattened out and straight mane and tail. She too was covered in blood, but no fatal injuries were apparent to me. But she was out cold. I placed my free hoof on her head and stroked it, placing a small smile on her face.

"Thank you, Pinkie Pie..." I whispered in a raspy voice. How long had I been under this debris to make me sound like that? My thoughts were interrupted when I heard loud booming noises from outside our little tent of brick and wood. Slowly, I lifted my good hoof up and cleared some of the debris to see the outside world.

What I saw I did not like at all.

The sun had gone behind the sky filled with thick grey clouds of smoke and dirt. Light still filtered through, but it was barely enough to see. Looking around me, I saw that every single house that once stood tall in the ville had crumbled down and turned to rubble and dust. It was disastrous. My attention quickly turned to the three ponies in full suits of grey armour and black helmets scavenging the city. On their sides were large black objects with different components that I didn't even want to try and count. All I knew was that they looked like they shot something out of them.

Whoever they were, I didn't like them at all. I had to get out of there fast without being noticed. Patiently, albeit reluctantly, I waited for the ponies to search somewhere else. Once they were gone, I slowly and carefully as to not attract attention got myself out of the rubble pile. The rod lodged in my hoof fortunately hadn't dug itself into the ground, or I would've been immobile. I winced in a bit of pain as I stepped on my broken hoof, but I carried forth and placed Pinkie Pie on my thankfully not broken wings. Slowly and painfully I walked away from the town.

"How...?" I asked myself, still with a raspy voice "How did this... happen?"

"You there! Get on the ground!" a male voice shouted behind me. I turned around and saw that five other ponies had tracked me down. They pointed their metal weapons at Pinkie and myself, forcing me to stop.

"Yeah, we got two mares in sector 3 that we overlooked" another armoured pony spoke into a communicator most likely in his helmet "Looks like their injured... Yes, they're unarmed... One's a pink Earth Pony and the other is cyan Pegasus... Of course, sir; it will be done" he switched off his communicator

"Sorry, ladies..." another pointed his weapon at us. Just before he was about to launch whatever came out of the weapon, a loud whirling sound emanated around the area and a bright light shone down upon the ponies, Pinkie and I.

"Dammit! Too late!" another stallion shouted before he and his troop hightailed it out of there. The whirling and the light soon followed the others, giving me a chance to escape. With all my might, I struggled to move out of the town and find a safer place. Finally, I reached a hill which hadn't been leveled, but was still covered in debris. I didn't want to look back, but something in my head forced me to do so. I turned around and saw spotlights around the area which not long ago was my home. Different ponies in different suits of armour shot their weapons at the other ponies in armour, and in turn they shot their own. It was a bloodbath.

"...R-Rain...bow?" I heard a tired voice nearby. I turned my attention to the mare on my back who was beginning to wake up. Not wanting her to see what became of the town, I began walking away from the area.

"Hey, Pinkie" I greeted "Did you have a nice nap?"

"Y-Your voice... It's so... raspy" Pinkie pointed out.

"Yeah, sorry about that" I chuckled a bit. It hurt to laugh, and not just because a rod was lodged in my hoof.

"Where... where are we?" she wondered.

"Um... Look, we'll find a nice place to live okay?" I nervously patted my friend's hoof and continued onwards. She looked down at me and gasped.

"Rainbow! Your hoof!" she pointed out "You can't be walking around on that, silly! Here, lemme walk you" she got off my back and hopped me onto her own before starting to walk in the direction I was.

"Pinkie, it's fine, rea-" I said before she placed a hoof on my mouth.

"Dashie, I got this" she smiled before continuing on her walk "So, what happened?"

"I..." I didn't know what to say to her; I didn't want to ruin her perfect and upbeat personality "L-Look, you see, there was an explosion and... and... our friends, they..." she then put her hoof up to my lips again, this time more gently. She turned her head back and gave a sad smile before nodding. She already knew. The tears I had held back for a while had once again found themselves on my cheeks, and eventually I gave my friend a hug. She soon hugged back, and while she never said anything, I could tell she too was crying.

Our lives were ruined, and we never even knew why.

"...sh..."

I was sound asleep in my hammock made of rope and feathers. It was actually more comfortable than one would think, but it was still a little harder than the bed I had before the purge, as we called it. I didn't hear the voice echoing through my head.

"...ainbo..."

There it was again, but I ignored it. I had better things to do than answer to a voice calling me. I was tired after my hunt for food last night, and dammit, I needed rest. Slowly, I drifted back into my slumbering state until...

"Rainbow Dash!" the voice finally became clear to me. I jumped out of my hammock and fell face-first onto the floor with a loud boom across the room I was in. My eyes looked up to see a pink mare with a straight dark pink mane staring right back at me with a less-than-pleased look on her face.

"P-Pinkie..." I sighed "I'm sorry... Look, I'm really tired from the search and I-"

"You better take a look at this..." she dropped a piece of paper onto my nose before she exited my room and gently closed the door behind her, telling me she wasn't cross with me. At least, anymore. I stood up and grabbed the sheet of paper with my front left hoof, now with a white bandage over it which slowly healed it. Taking my homemade reading glasses from my shelf, I read the text on the paper.

"Transientian forces conquer Eternian land" I read before taking a huge sigh "War waging closer and closer to safe-havens... Fuck... This war isn't going to end well for anyone."

"No, it won't..." Pinkie said as I stepped out of my room and into the small kitchen we built ourselves along with the house. There, Pinkie was using some of yesterday's catch to make us some breakfast.

"What do you think will happen once the Transientians reach this haven?" I asked before sitting down at our messy metal table covered in dirt "Will they cull us like they did with the other survivors?"

"Rainbow, try not to think to hard on these things" Pinkie hushed as she brought the food over to the table and sat down with me "Soup again, but I spiced it up this time."

"Pinkie, it's okay" I patted her on her back and gave her a smile "With how hungry I am, I could eat a horseshoe. Besides, it's not like we really have anything else to eat besides whatever I find."

"I know..." she sighed before taking her spoon and sipping her warm soup.

This was our life now since the purge. I don't know the full details, but before the purge and without the knowledge of even the princesses of the old age, a war between two nations known as Eternia and Transientia had fought for as long as time began. So much so, they had forgotten why they began fighting in the first place. The two nations had so far stayed within their borders, harmless to the inhabitants of old Equestria, but the day the Transientians decided to take things too far was the day the bomb went off, destroying not only their country, but Eternia, and Equestria. I had never known the reason why they took the extremes, but all I know is they made our world a living hell.

Our home was among a small village which us survivors called a haven, or simply... Haven. It wasn't much, seeing how all our houses were hovels, and junk and rusted scrap littered the ground, but it was home, and anywhere away from the war still ravaging this world was okay by us. All the houses circled around a bonfire which kept us all warm since the sun was nowhere to be seen, and a single path lead out into what we all called the Ravaged Plains. Surprisingly, many ponies living here we simply the friendliest souls you'll ever see, but I always see behind their fake emotions; all of them had given up hope that the world would be saved. And frankly, I had too.

But something happened one day to me. Something that would change me forever. But more importantly...

...Something that gave me hope again.

Author's Note

To start off, I suck at prologues, so if you've given up by this point, I promise you that Chapter 1 will be LOADS better. Don't press that dislike button until you know for sure you hate this story.

This is my first attempt at an M-Rated story that isn't all about sex. Don't fret; there will still be sex in later chapters, but I'll do something for you lot: I'll make separate chapters for a chapter with explicit content, one with and one without just to cater to people who like a good violent story but not so much sex. Sound good? Great!

I want reviews of this story! Anyone willing to review this story will be thanked immensely! Of course, you don't HAVE to review, but one would be greatly appreciated. And don't feel bad about being hard on it: I can take it.

Until then, this is SuperKamek, signing off!

[Chapter 1]: Filly

Quiet nights were all we ever had in Haven. No crickets, no owls, nothing. Just the bleakness of dark clouds hanging overhead. Since the confirmed death of all four princesses, time for some reason hadn't stopped, as if it had a will to continue for just a small bit longer. It's done this for ten to fifteen years now. Despite the quiet, bleak nights we've had in the village, I always found the night calming, like a break from everything we've been through. I stood out on my makeshift balcony and stared into the sky, letting out a deep sigh. I watched the last of the townsfolk enter their homes for the night.

Suddenly, but not surprisingly, I felt a hoof on my back. I turned to see Pinkie smiling at me. She soon joined me and started watching the sky with me. She leaned her head on my shoulder and lovingly nuzzled me. It was amazing, really; even in a dark world like mine, I guess you could say I could still find love.

"Pinkie... How long has it been since that day?" I asked my wife.

"I can't remember" she simply said, sadly smiling "But does it really matter? Dashie, we're still alive, and I think that's what counts."

"But... Our friends..." I looked down at the ground, remembering the purge again "I... I could have saved them... But, I couldn't even grant Rarity's wish..."

"They would have wanted us to stay alive" Pinkie nuzzled me a bit more "It's no good dwelling on the past, Dashie. It'll only make the scars hurt more than they already do."

"But... ugh, fuck... I just... I don't know" I shook my head before walking back inside our one-floor, rusted metal home "I need a rest... I'll see you in the morning, Pinkie."

"Dashie..." Pinkie worryingly sighed just before I closed the house door.

I hopped into my hammock angrily back-first, trying my best to forget the day my life was turned into this hell-hole. But to no avail. I sighed and began to softly cry. Nearly every night had been like this; crying myself to sleep. The only nights I hadn't cried at all were when something happy happened to me and Pinkie, but I could only think of one time: the day I asked Pinkie to marry me. I always thought of this day to hold back the tears. Slowly, I gave a small smile and ceased my crying, easily drifting off to sleep.

(Music Stop)

My sleep was interrupted when I felt a warm hoof on my body. I opened my eyes to see that Pinkie was smiling at me. But that look in her eyes told me she wanted to try and cheer me up the only way she knew how in a world like this.

"Oh, Dashie, don't cry..." she hushed as she spoke very seductively, carefully caressing her hoof along my front left leg "Don't worry; mama Pinkie is gonna make it all better..."

"I'm liking where this is going..." I wiped my tears and tried my best to smile. Slowly, Pinkie climbed into my hammock and got on top of me, before quickly pecking me on my lips. I couldn't take her teasing anymore though, so I pulled her down and gave her a proper kiss only a married woman could give their loved one. We stayed like that for quite a while until a noise hit my ears.

"Wait..." I gently pushed Pinkie off of me "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" she asked curiously, trying to listen in on what I was hearing.

"That... sound..." I tried to listen in closer, getting out of my hammock and pressing my ear against the metal wall "It sounds like... crying?"

"Dashie, ponies here cry all the time, and you know that..." Pinkie pointed out "Can we please just finish our-"

"Shhh..." I hushed the pink mare "...are there any fillies in Haven?"

"F-Fillies?" Pinkie gasped a bit "Well, no, but... Dashie, are you saying there's a little filly out there crying? I don't hear anything though, it could just be a-"

"We have to help her!" I exclaimed before rushing out of my bedroom and out of our house.

"Dashie, wait!" Pinkie urged, but I had already flown out of the building by then "This could be a trick... And if it is, Dashie's gonna be in big trouble. There's gotta be something around her that can-" she looked at my sword and gave a small smile "That'll do it!"

I looked around and listened for the crying noise, carefully following it and trying my best to track down the filly. It led me all the way out into the edge of the Ravaged Plain, a landscaped filled with dirt, dust and debris. I frantically searched the plain for the crying filly, hoping to find at least a clue of her whereabouts. Suddenly, I saw a quadrupedal-shaped being between a small hill and a rather large chuck of wreckage. It was a filly turned away from me with a golden mane and a white coat.

"There you are..." I sighed as I approached the filly "Okay, come with me and I'll take care of you, okay?"

The filly ignored me. In fact, she seemed to have stopped crying all-together. She made me feel rather uncomfortable. However, I attempted to speak with her again.

"Kid? You alright?" I asked the filly "Are you... lost or something?"

It was then when I put two-and-two together; why would there be a filly all the way out here by herself with no trace of her parents? My eyes widen in disbelief. Soon enough the "filly" turned around and revealed its face with nothing more than a large hollow hole with teeth in it where its eyes and muzzle should be. It roared at me before calling into the air and summoning two more of its kind to help it.

"Fuck, Mimics!" I shook my head and stared the creatures head on.

These were Mimics, a type of Taint. They and different species of other unfortunate souls are corrupted versions of ponies from the purge. To my knowledge, they were too close to the explosion when it went off, and thus the radiation quickly mutated them into hideous beasts. Mimics were the most fortunate having most of their body kept to them. They lost their faces and intelligence and are weaker than their previous pony counterparts, but out of all the Taint species, they looked the most equine.

"Dashie, catch this!" Pinkie shouted just before throwing my iron sword with a gold handle and brace at me. I jumped up with the help of my wings and I caught it with my mouth mid-flight. Without thinking, I fell down and sliced the first Mimic in half, yellow blood spilling all across the rubble.

"Who's next, you sons-of-bitches!" I shouted as I stared down the Mimics with intensity in my eyes. They all simply roared at me before charging right at me, eager to fight.

The second Mimic jumped onto my back and pulled on my hair while the third one leaped onto my face and attempted to bite it off. Needless to say, I shook both of them off and impaled the second one, its blood splattering all across my face. I turned to the third and final one and gave it an intense glare.

"Still want more, huh?" I asked it "Then you'll share the same fate!" I jumped into the air and spun around a bit before dive-bombing straight into the now retreating Mimic, my sword facing forward and slicing right through its head, killing it immediately.

(Music Stop)

I pulled my now covered in yellow blood sword out of the dead creature before I stuck it into the ground and went up onto the hillside. I collapsed on my knees as I looked out into the seemingly endless field of nothing but ruin. Pinkie Pie soon approached me to try and comfort me.

"Dashie, I'm sorry that it wasn't a-"

"Look at me, Pinkie Pie..." I sighed "All these years have taken their toll on me, and now my head is giving me illusions that it'll all be okay and it'll all be over soon."

"But it will be-"

"NO IT WON'T!!" I shouted at my wife having had enough of being told that, making her jump a bit "Look around you, Pinkie! That field used to be grass, and for years now it has been a wasteland of filth! Years I've held onto a faint glimmer that maybe we can all be saved, but now, I see there's no point..." I looked out into the plain again "...I've completely lost hope. Its moments like this when I wish I could just... give up and die..."

"Rainbow Dash..." Pinkie somberly hung her head.

"I'm... I'm sorry I yelled at you..." I apologized "I just don't know how much more of this I can take. I... I..." I felt water in my eyes, but I did my best to suppress the tears "I... I love you, Pinkie..." I went to hug my wife.

"Dashie" she sighed before giving a gentle smile and rubbing my head "I love you too, Dashie..."

Morning came, and the light from the sun did its best to filter down onto the world. It was never that bright out, but I suppose I can describe the endless sky as a constant overcast day with clouds of brown. Nonetheless, I could still see enough to get through my day or hunting for anything that moved. Mimics were surprisingly edible, so the hunters and I usually tackled those. A long time ago, it would be disgusting to eat another pony, but it wasn't like we had much of a choice. Besides, they were technically dead anyways.

I usually hunted on a small hill near my home, the very same I battled on just the other night as a matter of fact. It was a nice place to look over the plain and find any Mimics that may have made their homes near Haven. The only downside was that it reminded me of just what this world had become. Most of the time I could shake it off, but last night was my breaking point.

"Nothing yet..." I said to myself, looking over the hill with my sword sheathed on my back "Damn... Were those three Mimics the only things here? Did we hunt them all? Now what the hell are we supposed to eat?!"

"Yo, Rainbow Dash!" shouted one of my male, Earth Pony neighbors/hunters with a brown coat and silvery mane "We got some Mimics hiding here! A whole nest of them!"

"Holy shit..." I sighed before running off to where my teammate prepared to fight with his curved blade in his mouth "How many?"

"Take a look yourself..." he nodded at the nest. I took a peek inside and saw what had to be dozens of Mimics clopping around a small alcove, all appearing to be trying to eat something.

"Jesus Christ..." I pulled out my sword with my mouth and whistled at the Mimics, gaining their attention "Sorry fellas; can't have an infestation near our home. Besides, you make damn good soups!"

The creatures once pony-kind roared at my neighbor and I, beginning to climb out of their junky cavern to attack us. My neighbor swung around his sword at a few of them, slicing off their heads and spilling their yellow blood all across the ground. But with one dead, two more just took their place. I flew into the air and attempted to dive bomb the swarm to reduce their numbers a bit. I struck the ground hard and sent a few flying away, some impaling their heads on a sharp pile of debris.

"There's too many of them!" my teammate shouted "We gotta get outta here and bring back-up!"

"Good ide- Wait" I stopped for a moment and looked inside the alcove. Inside was a filly, not like the Mimics at all. Her short mane was purple and all tattered, and her yellow coat showed multiple bruises on it. In her mane was a red ribbon, and she had no cutie mark on her flank. Her body moved up and down, but her eyes were closed. She was alive, but knocked out.

"Rainbow Dash, let's scram!" my teammate urged.

"Go on without me! I'll catch up!" I nodded.

"You're insane!"

"I know..." I never thought twice before jumping into the cave. My neighbor scoffed and ran away from the battle, leaving me to get that filly out of there. The Mimics continued attacking me, pulling on my legs and biting me, attempting to hurt me further. However, I did my best to slash the creature's all I could.

"Hang on, kid..." I whispered to myself as I stuck my sword into another hollow head of a Mimic. At last, I reached the filly, picked her up with my wings and placed her on my back. However, as soon as I turned around, the horde of Mimics had since grown larger than even I could handle.

"Dammit..." I shook my head before turning it at the sleeping filly on my back "If we die here, you're going to hell for killing me..." I looked back at the creatures slowly ganging up on me "Fortunately for you, I hate these things with a passion, so we might just make it out alive after all."

I swung my sword around, cutting off a few of the Mimics' legs. I then jumped up and twirled in the air before I landed sword first into the ground, creating a huge blast of air that blew the monsters out of the way, creating a small opening for me and the filly to escape. The few Mimics that stood in my way afterwards had their heads chopped off and their blood splattered out on the rubble. Finally, I was able to escape with the filly still with me.

(Music Stop)

"Holy... fuck..." I tried to catch my breath before looking at the unconscious soul on my back "Goddammit... were you... even worth... the trouble, brat?"

"Dashie!" Pinkie called out to me as she ran towards me, soon bringing me into an embrace "I'm so glad you're safe... They told me you had gone off to fight the Mimics all by yourself!"

"Sorry, Pinkie..." I hugged my wife back "But this twerp here was trapped in that cavern with all those things."

"Oh, what an adorable little thing!" she squee'd as soon as she released herself from the hug, calming down a bit afterwards "So are we gonna take care of her?"

"What? Are you outta your mind?!" I shouted "No way am I taking care of this filly! You know damn-well what will happen if I try to do that again..."

"Dashie, remember, that's the past" Pinkie hushed me in the calmest way she could "Besides, would you rather have this little thing roaming the Ravaged Plains in search of food without a loving family? By the looks of things, she was very nearly massacred in there. I think we should take her in."

"I... But..." I lifted up my front right hoof and rubbed my face, letting out a sigh of defeat "...one night. She stays one night and then she stays with someone else..."

"Yay! Thank you, Dashie!" Pinkie lovingly hugged me again.

"Okay, okay, don't crush me..." I chuckled from her over-affectionate personality.

Needless to say, I didn't quite take a liking to the yellow filly. For god's sake, I didn't even know her name! She rested on Pinkie's hammock since the morning, sparing me from overreacting about something else today, but I still stared at her with slight anger and confusion. Who was she? What was she doing in a Mimic alcove? Where are her parents? Why are they nowhere to be seen? These questions circled my head every time I looked at her.

I sat at the table waiting for dinner to be served, thinking over a few things when Pinkie Pie approached me with the soup and sat down with me. She looked at me for a bit before looking at the filly, then back to me again.

"You don't have a reason to hate her, Dashie" she pointed out.

"She nearly got me killed, Pinkie" I sighed "Usually, I can take a few dozen Mimics, but those were a lot of Mimics back there. I would have never been in that situation if I hadn't..."

"...rescued her?" my wife finished my sentence "See, there's nothing to be angry about."

"And why's that?" I asked, still a little cross.

"Because if you didn't care about that filly's well-being, you would have never risked your life" she smiled "Let's face it: you care about her, don't you?"

"N-No!" I felt a warm feeling on my cheeks "I still want her gone by tomorrow..."

"Right" Pinkie chuckled "Well, I'm going to go to bed."

"Without dinner?"

"No, I'm a little tired right now..." she yawned "I'll sleep on the floor tonight, don't worry about me. And no, you won't make this an excuse to pretend to hate the filly."

"Ugh..." I rolled my eyes before my wife closed her bedroom door and I dug into my dinner. After I had finished, I was about to go to sleep as well, but I just stayed at the table. I took this time to think about what Pinkie had said. She was right; why would I save the filly if I didn't at least care for her a little bit. After witnessing the purge, I couldn't bear to care for anything else besides my only friend left, because I knew it would only fly away from me. This especially went for fillies, after I failed to fulfill Rarity's last wish.

I sighed. I wasn't ready to take responsibility for something. All I wanted to do was live with Pinkie and maybe grow old with her. It wasn't what I had set for life originally, but that was quite simply the best thing I could ever want in this ruined world. After a little while longer, I got up from my seat and headed into my room, slowly lifting myself into my bed with my flapping wings until I reached my hammock and pulled over my covers. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep.

What I never realized that night, however, was that for the first time in what seemed like forever...

...I didn't cry.

Author's Note

Okay, Chapter 1 up! Hope you enjoyed this one! Word of warning: Don't get comfy with some of the light-hearted themes in this story.

The filly has a name, is not a crossover character, and just so I don't sound like a dunce, I will try my DAMNDEST to make sure she is NOT a Mary Sue. She's a kid, right? Well, that's all there is to it. Don't see it? Well, you'll see soon enough.

Until then, this is SuperKamek, signing off!

[Chapter 2]: Bonds

Mornings were usually quiet in Haven, mostly due to the fact no animal was alive to wake you up, with the exception of maybe a few growling Mimics here and there. Despite that, after a crammed-up sleep in a hammock it wasn't very difficult to wake up and stretch your body after a rather uncomfortable nap.

I lazily yawned and climbed out of my bed. I took a look out the small, foggy and grimy window my room used to peer into the plains. I sighed and turned to open the door, jumping a bit to see a yellow Earth Pony filly with a purple mane and a few bruises along her body standing there, curiously watching me.

"Jesus-" I knocked over a few object on my shelf after jumping in shock "Holy shit, kid! You don't creep on ponies like that when they're sleeping, got it? Nearly gave me a bloody heart attack!"

The filly looked down in disappointment. After seeing this, I calmed down a little.

"Sorry..." I shook my head "But what do you have to say for yourself?"

The filly shook her head frantically.

"You don't have anything to say?" I questioned "Now that's just plain rude. I mean, you're pretty young, but you look old enough to understand your pleases and thank yous."

"Dashie-" Pinkie entered, but was quickly silenced by my ramblings.

"In a second, Hun" I said before turning back to the filly "It can't be that hard, can it?"

"Rainbow Dash, can you please listen to me for a moment?" my wife put on her rarely used strict voice. I sighed and listened in on what she had to say.

"Yes, Pinkie?"

"The poor thing's mute" Pinkie said sorrowfully and simply.

"She's... What?" my eyes widened significantly before I looked back down at the filly, still looking very saddened by my recent behaviour "Oh... Um... Look, I'm sorry, kid. I had no idea..."

"Since she can't speak and she doesn't even know her own name, I've decided to name her Quiet" Pinkie got out of her strict tone and smiled "I think it suits her; mysterious, small, mute. No offense, sweetie."

Quiet merely shook her head and smiled, telling us she was okay with those words. She then turned back to me and tugged on my front right hoof, urging me to go somewhere with her. I tried to pull back, but Pinkie came and stopped the young filly for a moment to speak with me.

"I know you don't like her too much, Dashie" she whispered so Quiet wouldn't hear "But I promised her to take her out today to play, but I need to stay home and do some housewife things and the sort. Can you take her out instead?"

"If take her out you mean give her to the neighbors, then sure" I whispered back, leaving to do as I said, until Pinkie stopped me.

"She's already grown attached to us, Dashie" Pinkie told me straight "Just please, try and bond with her for me, okay? Remember our talk last night."

"...yes, dear" I sighed, allowing Quiet to drag me outside my home to do what she wanted to do for the day.

We went right up next to the Bonfire where Quiet simply stared at it. I wasn't as much concerned than I was really freaked out. I know what fillies her age like doing, and staring intently into large fires in certainly not one of them. I would've questioned why she was doing that, but I didn't really care so long as she was getting some enjoyment from it. She wouldn't have been able to answer me anyways.

"So... What do you do for fun besides staring at flames?" I asked Quiet before she turned towards me and smiled, grabbing my front right hoof again and dragging her off toward the Ravaged Plains "Whoa, whoa, let's not get ahead of ourselves, okay? That's the Ravaged Plains right there! Y'know, the place we found you?"

She gave a quick gasp.

"...I'm guessing Pinkie never told you..." I looked around frantically, thinking about what I should say "Look, um... We found you with all those bruises yesterday and..." I sighed in defeat "...Forget it. The less you know, the better, I suppose. Though, it's a bit late now..."

Quiet simply smiled joyfully and hugged me before grabbing my hoof again and dragging me over to the dirt and debris-filled field once covered in flora and thriving with fauna. She sat me down on the very same hill from earlier and looked out over the plain. I looked at her, her eyes staring intently on the field, seemingly emotionless to her surroundings. Did she feel what I felt ever day? Somehow I doubted that. She turned up and looked at me with a warm smile on her face. She reminded me of...

"No, stop!" I quickly turned away from her, huddling up so she couldn't see my face "Not again! I can't lose another one!"

I heard Quiet gasp behind me. Silence was all that surrounded us for a minute or two. Finally, I began to softly cry. As I did, I felt two warm hooves on my back.

"I... I'm... " I tried to hold back my sadness "I'm sorry, I just..."

I turned around and saw Quiet giving me a gentle smile. She patted me on my back, urging me to explain why I acted why I did. She looked at me patiently, but I never knew why. I could have left right there and then to give some time to recollect myself, but for whatever reason, I stayed behind. I sighed and began to speak.

"A long time ago," I said, taking a deep breath and preparing myself to look back on the past again "this entire plain was grass and trees. I lived happily with my friends and family, and there really wasn't much in the way of conflict, with the exception of a monster or five every so often..." I chuckled a bit before recalling my most dreaded day "...But then, something happened. A bomb went off and either killed or mutated every single pony in Equestria, causing what you see here."

Quiet lowered her head in sorrow for a second before looking back up at me with sad eye, urging me to continue. I wasn't sure how long I could handle the pain or how much she could take the truth. Taking a deep breath, I continued speaking.

"There was a filly about your age" I shuddered a bit "She was always such a sweetie. Even though she got into tons of trouble with her friends, her intentions were always pure. Then, on the day the bomb went off, I..." I swallowed a bit "...I lost her."

The filly beside me seemed to be lost. It seemed she didn't know what I was talking about. I suppose it was for the better; the less she knew, the less she would be traumatized. I decided to end the story right then and there, slightly disappointing Quiet. Her mood was soon turned around when she eyed the sword I had forgotten to take off my back when I went to sleep.

"What, this?" I asked curiously, unsheathing my sword with my front left hoof and showing it to the little filly "This is my Edge Sword. I made it myself with something I picked up on the road to Haven here..." I rubbed my bandage a bit before realizing Quiet was trying to take the sword out of my grasp. Quickly, I pulled it back, refusing that she'd be hurt by me.

"Okay, that's enough for today..." I sheathed my sword back where it belonged "I don't... I don't want you getting hurt, okay?"

The yellow filly nodded.

"Good" I turned back to Haven whilst continuing to speak with Quiet "Now, I'm not sure what else we can do from here on out... I mean, you could go and stare at the bonfire again if that makes you happy, or you could meet up with the neighbors... What do you think?" I turned back to where she sat only to see she wasn't there anymore. I looked over to the plains and saw she had begun walking further away from the village.

"QUIET!!" I shouted, racing towards her. She turned around and stared at me in confusion before I picked her up off the ground with my wings and placed her on my back. Only god knew what lay beneath all that trash.

"For Christ's sake, Quiet, don't do that again..." I sighed before I walked back home "Maybe Pinkie was wrong for once. I knew I wasn't cut out for this kinda-"

I heard the clanging of metal moving and the sound of something unnatural clicking behind me. My eyes widened in fear. I knew what that clicking was. Slowly, I turned around and saw a quadrupedal insect-like beast much taller than me with a grey exoskeleton, a long neck and darker grey abdomen, as well as two bright yellow compound eyes staring at the filly and me in every direction possible. Its legs had been replaced with sharp bone from its previous life as a pony, forming four blades that could cut through solid metal. I recognized it immediately as a species of Taint.

"A Skell?" I questioned the beast in front of me "All the way out here? No, that can't be right... Something's definitely wrong... Quiet, run back to the village. I'll take care of this thing."

However, Quiet refused to budge.

"Now's not the time, kid" I urged her to get away "You gotta make a run for it!"

Still she refused to climb off my back and flee.

"Stubborn little... Fine, stay! Like I care anyways..." I shook my head and grabbed my sword with my mouth, pulling it out of its sheath and pointing it right at the Skell "Alright, it's game time!"

Without knocking Quiet off my back, I extended my wings and flew upwards, looking for a good place to strike the mutated pony. As I was looking, I never noticed it charging up an attack, and sure enough it headbutted me, sending Quiet tumbling down onto the debris. She shook her head around and moved out of the way, allowing me sigh in relief. I then turned my attention back to the Skell with anger in my eyes.

"Alright, you so need to die!" I shouted as I charged right at its left eye and sliced it right off with my sword, causing it to burst and splatter its yellow blood all over the hill. It roared in agony, stepping back a bit and bearing its pincers at me. It wasn't long before it regained its bearings and faced me again.

"Still up for more?" I asked the creature, knowing it couldn't reply "Damn... For a bug, you sure are pretty fucking persistent. Fine then... Taste my-"

Without warning it swung its neck around and used its head as a battering ram against my body. I managed to stay in-flight, but the blast had knocked down my sword onto the ground. Without thinking, I flew to go and get it, but the Skell raised one of its front legs and slashed at me, preventing me from retrieving my blade.

"Oh no..." I muttered to myself "Quiet's down there, but..." suddenly, I saw that she had begun racing towards my sword to go and grab it back for me "QUIET, DON'T GET CLOSE!!"

She outright ignored me. The Skell had been distracted by Quiet's movements, but I feared if I even tried to move it would slice me in two. As much as I hated to admit it, that filly was the only one who could help me now. But I saw a fire in her eyes that I could see even from the sky. It was a burning passion unlike anything I had ever seen.

My thoughts were interrupted when Quiet took out my sword from the pile of rubble and dashed up the hill with it. I held a deep breath as the Skell attempted to crush her with its giant blades where its hooves once where. To my relief, the filly managed to reach the top of the hill without being killed and threw my sword back at me. Just before I caught it in my mouth again, I let out the breath I held for all that time.

I looked right back at the monster and, without a single word, leaped onto its head and began stabbing my sword in its brain. My blade had become absolutely covered in yellow blood, but with one final thrust, I tilted my sword to the left and snapped its neck, killing it almost immediately.

(Music Stop)

The Skell collapsed on the ground, very little blood still leaking out now. I gently glided back down to where Quiet was patiently awaiting me. At the same time, Pinkie had rushed out to see if anything bad had happened to us during our battle. Needless to say, I wasn't exactly impressed with the filly at the moment.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I asked her crossly "That think could've killed you! In fact, it never would have never attacked you in the first place if you never rushed out in the open without me!"

"Dashie, please, calm down" Pinkie held Quiet, who had begun crying a bit "You're scaring her..."

"Pinkie, if that brat hadn't run out like that, she wouldn't have gotten in danger from being mutilated by that Skell!" I argued. This was the point when Quiet broke free of Pinkie's loving grasp and ran back to the house with tears in her eyes. My wife just looked at me with disappointment.

"Rainbow Dash, you should be ashamed of yourself..." she said, shaking her head "What would have happened if Quiet wasn't there to awaken that Skell? Think about it."

"Pinkie, I-" I was about to answer her, but she turned away from me and began walking back to our home. I reached out a hoof, about to call her back, but I eventually put it back down. A feeling began to swell up within me; a feeling I was all too familiar with: regret. I silently looked down at the ground as I continued my walk back home as well.

As soon as I entered the house, Pinkie said nothing to me as she continued to cook dinner for us tonight. I couldn't blame her for being upset with me after earlier. Feeling guilty, I looked to her and spoke.

"Pinkie, where's Quiet?" I asked my wife.

"She's in my room" she answered "But I don't think talking with her is a good idea right now. And before you ask, I give you full permission to speak with her. But like I said; not the best idea."

"Thanks..." I nodded before walking over to Pinkie's room's door. Opening it as quietly as I could, I peered inside and saw Quiet on Pinkie's hammock, softly crying to herself. She made little noise due to her vocal cords being underdeveloped and all, but I could tell still due to her body shaking up and down with every sob. I entered the room and closed the door behind me, making Quiet gasp in shock. She quickly turned around and saw me, but instead of wanting me to leave, she simply watched me curiously. I gently flew myself onto the hammock, sitting next to her.

"Hey, Quiet..." I greeted.

She merely turned away from me after realizing I wanted to speak to her about earlier. I sighed, knowing if I tried talking to her about it right away, she wouldn't listen to what I had to say. Instead, I tried to talk about something else.

"...Y'know, when I was your age," I began, making the filly look back at me a bit "I used to play and race around so much. One day I would be a pirate captain, the next, I'd be a scuba diver and so on and so on. Of course, I got into tons of trouble..."

Quiet looked away again when I said the word "trouble". However, I stayed on my story.

"Look, Quiet..." I sighed "I... I overreacted back there. I just... didn't want to lose another kid thanks to my stupidity. In fact, I wanted to, um... thank you for what you did today."

The filly looked back up in confusion, now giving me her full attention.

"Yeah, really" I nodded "If you hadn't had gone out there, who knows if I would've found that Skell or not. Eventually, it would have destroyed our little village of Haven from right under our noses... So, thanks, kid. Could you ever forgive me?

Quiet wiped away a few of her tears and smiled at me before embracing me with a hug. I was a little surprised at first, but soon enough I began hugging her back as well. After we let each other go, I allowed Quiet some space and exited the room, only to see that Pinkie was right outside the door. I closed the door and listened to what she had to say.

"Thank you, Dashie" she smiled "So, can we keep her?"

"I dunno..." I chuckled a bit before winking quite suggestively "Why don't we think about it tonight after dinner?"

"It's a deal, sexy" she kissed me on my cheek and walked back to the stove to begin making dinner again. I smiled before heading off into my room and taking a short nap in my own hammock.

"Maybe the kid isn't as bad as I thought..." I quietly said to myself before closing my eyes and attempting to get some shuteye.

Author's Note

Did I give you warm fuzzies inside? If not, that's okay. I can't please everyone, right?

Well, looks like Rainbow Dash has gotten used to a little kid in her home. Now they'll live happily ever after sort-of in their post-apocalyptic world, right? Read the description next time guys. Remember when I said not to get used to all the warm and light-hearted content in this story.

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, this is SuperKamek signing off!

[Chapter 4]: Run (Explicit)

After Quiet had a lot of time to herself, and after I had my nap of course, she eventually exited Pinkie's room and had some dinner with my wife and I. Despite the fact our usual dinners were comprised of water and deceased mutants, the little filly seemed to enjoy her meal. Before we knew it, she wanted to go outside again to do something. Only this time, she had picked up my sword, which I remembered to take off before my nap this time, in her mouth and began swinging it around.

"Whoa, slow down there, kid" I immediately stopped Quiet before she injured us "You're gonna hurt us and yourself if you keep doing that. Gonna give me a panic attack..."

Quiet dropped the sword and sighed disappointingly.

"Aww, don't be sad, little one" Pinkie Pie spoke up, bending down and rubbing the filly's cheek "How about this: Rainbow Dash is gonna teach you tomorrow, okay?"

"I'm going to- Hey, no!" I retaliated as soon as I heard what my wife said "There is no way in hell I'm letting her hold a sword again. You're damn lucky I'm letting her stay, alright?"

"But Dashie, don't you think she should learn just a little bit?" Pinkie smiled sheepishly "You never know when she might need the training, am I right?"

"I... but... you..." I struggled to find words, until I eventually gave up and sighed "...you are impossible sometimes, Pinkie. Fine, I'll train her! But she uses a rubber sword, okay? No metal, no wood, no plastic!"

"Is that okay, sweetie?" Pinkie looked at Quiet with a gentle smile, to which she nodded gleefully to her offer "Great! Then in the morning, you and Dashie can go and play swords together. But now you have to head off to bed, okay? You can sleep in my hammock again, sweetie."

Quiet smiled before opening the door to Pinkie's room and entering it, closing the door behind her in a respectful manner. I gave my wife a stern look before I sat at one of the metal dining chairs and rubbing my left temple.

"Why the look, Dashie?" she asked me curiously.

"I would like it if you didn't call her sweetie..." I told her "Quiet is a good girl, but this is the exact reason why I didn't want to get close to her and why I wanted to give her to the neighbors... I'm not ready to take on a responsibility like that again, Pinkie. Not after..."

"Dashie, it's okay..." my wife put a hoof on my cheek "That was then and this is now. Quiet is different than Sweetie Belle. She's... stronger. I don't know what it is, but something about her is just so... bright. Like a flicker in an ever-lasting darkness..."

"Never knew you could get so philosophical, Pinkie" I cheered up a bit before looking at where the filly residing with us lay sleeping "But... I think you're right. I can't remember the last time I felt this... happy."

"Not even when we have sex?" Pinkie gave me a smirk.

"Sorry..."

"I was just kidding, Dashie" she chuckled a bit "You're right; she certainly does brighten up the mood a lot in this bleak world of ours. But I gotta wonder where on earth she came from..."

"Something tells me we'll find out sooner or later, Pinkie" I nodded before grinning quite suggestively at her "Now, while Quiet's asleep, why don't we have a little fun?"

"Oh, did my little talk of sex turn you on?" my wife blushed a bit, giggling all the while. Without saying a word, I lifted her up with my wings and carried her on my back into my room. Looking around and checking to make sure Quiet wasn't near us, I closed the door behind us.

The second I put Pinkie down, we wasted no time in kissing each other quite passionately. Despite always being the more caring one between us, my wife was always the more aggressive one when it came to our little sessions every now and then. We continued to kiss as we toppled over onto the floor. I placed my hooves on Pinkie's back and tried being more aggressive than her. But she was still able to overthrow me in that fact. Finally, she stopped kissing and looked deep into my eyes.

"Are you ready to make this a bit more interesting?" she asked me with a smile.

"You know it, babe" I grinned. She quickly kissed my nosed before sliding down my body where my crotch was. Without question, she began slowly and sensually licking my extremely sensitive teats, running her tongue all across my nipples.

"Oh, fuck~" I gasped the second her soft tongue touched my petite teats. Immediately, my vagina began getting extremely wet, as well as my nipples began hardening from all the stroking. Seeing this, Pinkie began flicking them with her tongue, sending waves of pleasure through my body. I began sweating, and my face became redder than when I was in a hot day of summer.

"You're so easy to please, Dashie..." Pinkie giggled as she continued with her sexual movements, and all I could do was moan in ecstasy; I was completely in her control now "But now, I think it's time for my desert..."

She stopped licking my teats only to bring her front hooves up to my pussy lips, spreading them out just before taking one long stroke of her tongue on my clit. Needless to say, I was very happy she did this.

"Ho-ly... FUCK!!~" I cried out in pleasure, panting all the while "You're... You're so good at this, Pinkie~"

My wife responded with another long lick along the folds of my pussy, making me moan once again. However, after that she just dived straight into it, so to say. She placed her entire mouth on my little pink button and began sucking it, absolutely blowing me away by just how good it felt.

"Mmmmm~" I hummed "Ahhhh! AHHH!!~"

Through all the licking and all the sucking, I felt a surge of pleasure rush through my entire body. At last, I was getting close. Damn, Pinkie always knew just how to make me squirt fast.

"P-Pinkie, I'm about to... I'm..." I could take it anymore. I quickly gasped as I blasted all my juices all over her face in one gigantic squirt of pleasure. I panted afterwards, softly resting my head on the floor. I looked down only to see Pinkie licking her latest treat off her face, smiling all the while.

"Mmmm... Your cum is always tastes so good, Dashie..." Pinkie sighed after licking her lips of all the substance "Tastes like... candy."

"W-Well, y'know what?" I asked right before pouncing on her and falling right on top of her, smiling coyly "Yours tastes like candy too, only way sweeter."

"You suck-up" she giggled before I went in for another kiss. Eventually, ended our embrace and placed my extremely wet vag on her own, crossing our legs over one-another. From there, I began thrusting my hips and sliding all over her clit.

"Oh Christ, that feels good..." I panted as I continued to thrust.

"Oooohhhhh~" Pinkie moaned, panting all the while "Thaaat's... aaahhhhhahahahhh~"

As we slid alongside each other, my wife's much larger teats pounded against my own, rubbing my hard nipples at the same time. I began crying out in bliss as well from these two sensations, furthering me from my inevitable second release.

"Pinkie..." I gasped "Why are your... tits so... big! Ohhhh~"

She never answered me, to my slight disappointment. But I couldn't stay disappointed for long, especially when you had your wife grinding your pussy and unintentionally rubbing your nips. Listen to me: this heat is making me say very nasty words. But finally, our bodies had built up way too much and needed a release. We both tried to hold it in, but we knew we couldn't take it any longer.

"Pinkie!"

"Dashie!"

And with that, we both exploded, our watery juices mixing with one-another and getting all over our bodies. It sprayed all over our teats and caused them to glisten in the setting orange light coming from my window. Finally, our orgasms stopped, and we just lay there in a pool of our own ejaculate.

"Holy shit, Pinkie..." I finally spoke up, panting and sweating like a pig "You never fail to make that literally the best thing ever..."

"Well, I try..." Pinkie panted as well, rubbing one of her teats "So now what? Do we just sit here in our own cum, waiting for the morning to rise again?"

"I guess so..." I yawned "That was pretty tiring... I think I'm just gonna... doze off here..." I closed my eyes and attempted to get some sleep after our round.

"As long as you're okay with that..." Pinkie smiled and closed her eyes as well, more than likely dreaming of our latest session.

After a long night of personal fun, it was of course time to wake up again. Once we cleaned ourselves up, we exited my room only to see that Quiet was already ready to head out. She wore a confused yet slightly cross expression across her face, as if she wanted answers for the noises we made last night.

"Oh, um, hey there, Quiet" I nervously greeted "How are you this morning?"

She simply raised an eyebrow and gave Pinkie and I a look in her eyes that she wanted an answer. For some reason, it scared me the way she did this.

"Well, you see, little one," Pinkie began "When two ponies love each other very much, they go into a room and make very, very interesting noises for a few minutes before they go off to sleep.

Quiet wasn't very convinced by this.

"Pinkie, she's smarter than this... I think" I looked at my wife before looking back at the young filly again "Look, kid, we had sex. It's something grown-ups do that you won't be doing at all with anyone, got it?"

She nodded confidently before bringing out a rubber training sword and holding it in her mouth gleefully.

"Ah, I see you're all ready to go, eh? I smirked "Alright, meet me outside then. I just gotta have a little word with Pinkie Pie here and I'll be out in a sec."

Quiet, without question, walked out of the house and waited for me to join her. I sighed and looked at Pinkie with concern. Somehow, she knew exactly what I was about to say.

"Dashie, she's strong, okay?" she reminded me "Give her a chance and you might be surprised, okay?"

"Right" I nodded with a slightly sad smile before grabbing my own sword, placing it on my back, and heading out to join the little yellow filly to begin training her how to use a sword.

But the moment I stepped out of my home, something large flew over me with a loud whooshing noise, telling me it was fast enough to break the sound barrier. It was proceeded by several more, creating a gust of wind that was difficult to move around in.

After a while, the first large object flew back over Haven and landed on its two feet. The thing in question was bipedal and made entirely of a grey metal, with a few blue lines of paint here and there. It was quadruple the size of a normal pony, and its right hand held a grey sword half the size of itself with yellow electricity flowing through it. Its arms had four spikes on each of the dark grey shoulders. A cockpit was on the head of it as well, making it look like some sort of suit of armour.

"What a pathetic little village" the suit said with a scratchy male voice that echoed, more than likely due to it being on an intercom "Out of all the places she could hide, she had to choose this waste of my time. No matter, I suppose. This place would've fallen down all the same with the war going on!"

"And just who the fuck are you?!" I shouted at the suit.

"Oh, so one of them talks, eh?" the suit laughed before its head opened up and revealed a light green stallion with a short and messy blonde mane, his voice not echoing anymore now that nothing was in the way of his mouth "Well, sorry to be so rude, little missy. I'm Junction Road, but I'm feeling extra-merciful today, so I'm letting you call me Junks for short."

"You know what?" I questioned him "Suddenly I don't really give a shit anymore! Leave now or I'll have no choice but to fight you!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Junks laughed "You really think that toothpick of a sword can dent this armour? Whatever skills you may have learned won't work either, so you might as well forget about that."

"...Why are you here?" I asked after calming down a bit.

"Didn't expect you to know, but I'm here for her" he used his suit to point right at Quiet "She went missing a few days ago, but we managed to follow her trail and track her down to this dump. Now hand her over or I level this place."

"Now you just wait a second, mister!" Pinkie Pie jumped out of our home with a black box on her back and faced the stallion "You'll have to get through us first if you want to get to her!"

"Is that so?" Junks chuckled as he closed the cockpit hatch, his voice echoing with the intercom again "Well then, looks like things just got a bit more interesting! Let's see what you're made of!"

"Stand back, Dashie, and protect Quiet..." Pinkie smirked as the box opened up and two huge gun barrels came out onto her sides, as well as a mouthpiece appearing before her mouth "...I got this one" she bit down on the mouthpiece, making rapid-fire purple shots of plasma energy fire out at Junks' suit. The firepower created a cloud of dust as well around the armour. Eventually, Pinkie stopped and we waited for the dust to settle. When it did, Quiet, Pinkie and I were very surprised to find that not a scratch had been placed on the suit.

"Is that the best you can do?" Junks laughed once again before raising his sword and aiming it at one of the houses "Now, witness the power of what just one tiny Taint Crystal can do!"

"Taint Crystal?" I wondered to myself. My thoughts were interrupted in the worst way possible when the sword cut right through the house and caused it to explode. I could only watch in horror as the house blew to debris and killed innocent ponies, tiny trickles of blood splattering onto all our faces. Pinkie, still trying to stay calm, looked right at Junks with an intense stare.

"You... You monster..." she shook her head in denial "Why would you do that... to innocent souls, no less?!"

"Souls? You mean you worms still have lives to live?" he scoffed "That's really incredible, truly! You think you actually have lives worth living in this burned world? Don't make me sick! But fine, I'll respect your will to live. Just give me the filly and I'll fall back and never bother you again. Sound like a deal?"

"Why do you even want her anyway?" I asked, grabbing my sword and unsheathing it.

"Might as well tell you, since your lives are worthless to begin with" he insulted us "She's the daughter of our big boss, you see? Boss of what, you may ask? Leader of all the Transientian forces! The head-honcho himself!"

"T-Transientians?!" I gasped "No... It can't be... The war couldn't have gotten this far..."

"Now hand me the girl, or I kill everyone here!"

"Go to hell, you metal asshole!" shouted a male voice from behind us three. We all turned around to see that the remaining sixteen villagers had prepared themselves to attack Junks.

"Yeah, you're not welcome here!" a female villager shouted, picking her pitchfork up with her mouth and crying out "Everyone, for our village of Haven... ATTACK!!!!"

The entire crowd raced forward and began swarming the legs of the mechanical suit. I looked up at the head of the suit and saw that Junks was actually enjoying the show, watching the ponies fruitlessly attack his suit. I saw that he grew tired of watching. Snapping the fingers on his suit, he called two of the other smaller suits in stand-by mode from the sky. As soon as they landed, I immediately took note that they were half the size he was, with machine guns for arms instead of normal fingers. Their armour colour was the same, but their legs were very akin to the back legs of equines.

But the worst part about them, to me at the very least, was the fact there were more of them waiting in the sky. Were these mass-produced? Just how much did they want Quiet back? My thoughts were interrupted when Junks swung his giant sword at the villagers and cleanly cut right through their bodies, spilling blood all across the floor and slicing a few houses at the same time.

"How many, blue one?" he asked me.

"How... What?" I asked, still stricken with fear.

"How many more innocent ponies are gonna be sliced like butter from my sword?" he laughed "Half the village? All of it? You can stop this. All you need to do is give us the brat and we'll be on our merry way."

"Don't give him the kid!" a villager shouted just before being riddled with plasma shots from a smaller suit.

"Run! RUN!!" shouted another as she met her untimely demise to the blade of Junks' armour, thankfully distracting him for a while.

"Pinkie, we gotta go" I said to my wife, backing up a bit "If we don't go, those assholes might take Quiet. Unless..." I looked at the young filly, and knowing exactly what I was about to ask her she shook her head furiously "There you have it. She doesn't want to go home."

"But... The villagers..." Pinkie stared in horror as each pony was getting impaled and mutilated.

"They're giving us a chance to run, Pinkie" I pointed out "I have no idea who Quiet's father is, but if he made her run away from home, I honestly don't want her going back there."

"Dashie, didn't you-"

"I know what I've said about her" I sighed "But something about her makes me happy. I don't know what it is... Besides, would you want to be going back to whatever father she has?"

"I..." my wife thought for a brief second before sighing and looking back at our home "...there's an escape hatch in my room. Opening it will bring us far, far away from here."

"Escape- Wait, WHAT?!" I shouted. I heard metal turning. I had attracted the attention of Junks and his team again.

"No time to explain! Run!" Pinkie shouted as she grabbed my hoof and Quiet's as well and burst through our house's front door. She immediately entered her room and punched her wall, causing a hatch just big enough for us all to climb through. Why she hadn't told me about this before is a mystery to me, but regardless, we all entered the hatch, just escaping the house crumbling down upon us.

(Music Stop)

Junction Road (seconds earlier)

"Don't you think you can get away from me!" I laughed as my troop blasted each and every single villager to bits. I wasn't going to let them live anyway. I positioned my sword over the house which my prey escaped through and was about to strike until someone from my squadron stopped me, landing down and placing a mechanical hand on my suit's back.

"Sir!" a female voice shouted "Surely you don't have to do this!"

"My orders were to bring back the brat" I never looked at her as I spoke "The boss never said she had to be alive!" I brought down my blade onto the house, utterly crushing it and causing an explosion of yellow energy. As soon as the dust cleared, I sheathed my sword and began digging through the rubble.

"C'mon... Where is it?" I looked for the kid's body, but I never found it "Dammit! They couldn't have gotten away! Not when we were so fucking close!"

"Sir!" another trooper had just finished slaughtering all the ponies in the dump of a village "Can't we just track her down like we did previously?"

"You're either new here or just plain stupid" I growled "Taint are easy to track with our detectors, but other beings such as ponies are next to impossible to spot! We only found her by chance... Now what the hell am I supposed to say to the boss?"

"Surely he's not that bad..." the trooper commented. With that, I raised an arm and, with a huge shot of plasma, blasted a hole right through the suit. A decapitated head soon rolled out from the top of the hole, followed by the armour itself falling down onto its back. Slowly, I put my arm back down.

"If only you all knew what he was like when he was angry..." I spoke to my entire squad "While I hate to say it, this was a total waste of our time. At least we did something worth while here... Squadron, fall back to base!"

"Boss, you gotta understand we did our best..." I began explaining to the stallion in front of me, sitting in a black leather chair and looking out into the ruined world, a wooden desk behind him and having all his supplies on it.

The second my squadron got back to our home and exited our suits, an adviser of my boss's had told me to report to him immediately. Reluctantly, I entered the elevator to his office and prayed to god that he was in a good mood today. As soon as I gave my argument, stallion turned around and looked at me with his dead, emotionless eyes. He's seen some shit, lemme tell you. His light blue body had sustained serious scars over the years, yet his brown and red hair was long and admittedly very well kept. His wings were slightly burned from past experiences, but they still worked. For his persistence on life, I respected him. But he scared me.

"Junction..." he called me by my real name; something he did very often "I am less than amused by your recent mission. You have failed to retrieve my child, and for that, I should kill you right now."

"S-Sir, surely you w-wouldn't kill someone who's b-been with you through a-and throught, r-right?" I shuddered. I gulped when he opened his desk drawer and pulled out a small handgun with his front right hoof and aimed it at me.

"What do I care?" he questioned "One less life leads closer to my goal."

"B-But, sir!" I quickly tried to spare my life, closing my eyes and bracing myself for the worst "My team and I totaled a village today! We killed tons of ponies!"

My boss looked at me curiously before slowly dropping his hoof, still holding the gun in his hand.

"How many?" he asked me.

"Wh-What?" I gulped.

"How many did you kill?" he repeated.

"Well, I dunno..." I tried to remember just how many I slaughtered earlier today "Eighteen? Seventeen? It was a pretty small village, but I think that I-"

"Very well" my boss put his gun away "I'll spare you today. At the very least you did something worthwhile. Now leave me and await your next orders. Transientia needs to be governed."

"O-Of course, sir" I bowed and walked away from the stallion, silently sighing in relief as I entered the elevator down to the hanger. That stallion scared me, but what terrified me more was his ambition and goal. My life would come to an end sooner or later, but with him, I just had a clock on my forehead counting down the days I had left before he annihilated every single living thing on this world. I wasn't sure how he would do it, but knowing him, he'd find a way.

I wonder if it has something to do with his daughter?

Author's Note

Needless clop is needless. This was my first attempt of doing something like this, but by all means, be harsh on it. Who knows, maybe you found enjoyment in it?

Anyways, our villain is sort of revealed. Anyone who's stuck around with me long enough knows exactly who it is. If you know who it is and want to speak about him in the comments, be sure you place a censor bar over your words as to not spoil anything for anyone else. Thank you!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on guys!

[Chapter 4]: Run (Safe)

"Whoa, slow down there, kid" I immediately stopped Quiet before she injured us "You're gonna hurt us and yourself if you keep doing that. Gonna give me a panic attack..."

Quiet dropped the sword and sighed disappointingly.

"Aww, don't be sad, little one" Pinkie Pie spoke up, bending down and rubbing the filly's cheek "How about this: Rainbow Dash is gonna teach you tomorrow, okay?"

"I'm going to- Hey, no!" I retaliated as soon as I heard what my wife said "There is no way in hell I'm letting her hold a sword again. You're damn lucky I'm letting her stay, alright?"

"But Dashie, don't you think she should learn just a little bit?" Pinkie smiled sheepishly "You never know when she might need the training, am I right?"

"Why the look, Dashie?" she asked me curiously.

"Not even when we have sex?" Pinkie gave me a smirk.

"Sorry..."

"I was just kidding, Dashie" she chuckled a bit "You're right; she certainly does brighten up the mood a lot in this bleak world of ours. But I gotta wonder where on earth she came from..."

"Something tells me we'll find out sooner or later, Pinkie" I nodded before grinning quite suggestively at her "Now, while Quiet's asleep, why don't we have a little fun?"

After a long night of fun, it was of course time to wake up again. Once we cleaned ourselves up, we exited my room only to see that Quiet was already ready to head out. She wore a confused yet slightly cross expression across her face, as if she wanted answers for the noises we made last night.

"Oh, um, hey there, Quiet" I nervously greeted "How are you this morning?"

She simply raised an eyebrow and gave Pinkie and I a look in her eyes that she wanted an answer. For some reason, it scared me the way she did this.

"Well, you see, little one," Pinkie began "When two ponies love each other very much, they go into a room and make very, very interesting noises for a few minutes before they go off to sleep.

Quiet wasn't very convinced by this.

She nodded confidently before bringing out a black rubber training sword made out of some old tires and balloons probably lying around the village, and holding it in her mouth gleefully.

"Ah, so you're all ready to go, eh?" I smirked "Alright, meet me outside then. I just gotta have a little word with Pinkie Pie here and I'll be out in a sec."

Quiet, without question, walked out of the house and waited for me to join her. I sighed and looked at Pinkie with concern. Somehow, she knew exactly what I was about to say.

"Dashie, she's strong, okay?" she reminded me "Give her a chance and you might be surprised, okay?"

"Right" I nodded with a slightly sad smile before grabbing my own sword, placing it on my back, and heading out to join the little yellow filly to begin training her how to use a sword.

"And just who the fuck are you?!" I shouted at the suit.

"You know what?" I questioned him "Suddenly I don't really give a shit anymore! Leave now or I'll have no choice but to fight you!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" Junks laughed "You really think that toothpick of a sword can dent this armour? Whatever skills you may have learned won't work either, so you might as well forget about that."

"...Why are you here?" I asked after calming down a bit.

"Now you just wait a second, mister!" Pinkie Pie jumped out of our home with a black box on her back and faced the stallion "You'll have to get through us first if you want to get to her!"

"Is that so?" Junks chuckled as he closed the cockpit hatch, his voice echoing with the intercom again "Well then, looks like things just got a bit more interesting! Let's see what you're made of!"

"Is that the best you can do?" Junks laughed once again before raising his sword and aiming it at one of the houses "Now, witness the power of what just one tiny Taint Crystal can do!"

"You... You monster..." she shook her head in denial "Why would you do that... to innocent souls, no less?!"

"Why do you even want her anyway?" I asked, grabbing my sword and unsheathing it.

"T-Transientians?!" I gasped "No... It can't be... The war couldn't have gotten this far..."

"Now hand me the girl, or I kill everyone here!"

"Go to hell, you metal asshole!" shouted a male voice from behind us three. We all turned around to see that the remaining sixteen villagers had prepared themselves to attack Junks.

"Yeah, you're not welcome here!" a female villager shouted, picking her pitchfork up with her mouth and crying out "Everyone, for our village of Haven... ATTACK!!!!"

"How many, blue one?" he asked me.

"How... What?" I asked, still stricken with fear.

"Don't give him the kid!" a villager shouted just before being riddled with plasma shots from a smaller suit.

"Run! RUN!!" shouted another as she met her untimely demise to the blade of Junks' armour, thankfully distracting him for a while.

"But... The villagers..." Pinkie stared in horror as each pony was getting impaled and mutilated.

"They're giving us a chance to run, Pinkie" I pointed out "I have no idea who Quiet's father is, but if he made her run away from home, I honestly don't want her going back there."

"Dashie, didn't you-"

"I know what I've said about her" I sighed "But something about her makes me happy. I don't know what it is... Besides, would you want to be going back to whatever father she has?"

"I..." my wife thought for a brief second before sighing and looking back at our home "...there's an escape hatch in my room. Opening it will bring us far, far away from here."

"Escape- Wait, WHAT?!" I shouted. I heard metal turning. I had attracted the attention of Junks and his team again.

(Music Stop)

Junction Road (seconds earlier)

"Sir!" a female voice shouted "Surely you don't have to do this!"

"C'mon... Where is it?" I looked for the kid's body, but I never found it "Dammit! They couldn't have gotten away! Not when we were so fucking close!"

"Sir!" another trooper had just finished slaughtering all the ponies in the dump of a village "Can't we just track her down like we did previously?"

"What do I care?" he questioned "One less life leads closer to my goal."

"B-But, sir!" I quickly tried to spare my life, closing my eyes and bracing myself for the worst "My team and I totaled a village today! We killed tons of ponies!"

My boss looked at me curiously before slowly dropping his hoof, still holding the gun in his hand.

"How many?" he asked me.

"Wh-What?" I gulped.

"How many did you kill?" he repeated.

"Well, I dunno..." I tried to remember just how many I slaughtered earlier today "Eighteen? Seventeen? It was a pretty small village, but I think that I-"

"Very well" my boss put his gun away "I'll spare you today. At the very least you did something worthwhile. Now leave me and await your next orders. Transientia needs to be governed."

I wonder if it has something to do with his daughter?

Author's Note

This was the safe version of this chapter. I actually wrote this one first, then copy/pasted this over to my explicit one, then added both of them to the story at the same time. Genius, if I do say so myself!

Be sure to Like, Comment, Favourite and Follow, and until then, dream on guys!