Ray

You've been given the gift of transportation and horsepower. But make no mistake, it is not a show of aesthetics. You want to survive? You want to see the light of tomorrow? Then weaponize it! Tear away the rear upholstery and install your forward feeders; punch out those godforsaken glass obstructions if they haven't been already, and install low-visibility protective panelling; sand away that pitiful decorative paint and install your heavy hull armor; pry away those shameful covers over your rims so their natural shine doesn't capture undesirable attention; cut away the top corners of your hood and improvise mounts for heavy weapons; improvise the installation of an auxiliary fuel container; lastly, use your imagination and common sense. Think: What do I need to survive this treacherous journey? Think hard and utilize what you have, and build upon it from there.

——————From "Surviving the Aftermath: The Roads" by Rehan T. Silken

Ray felt sick to his stomach. He knew this was no longer the world he knew all his life on the road, and that without knowing the details of his arrival, he might never go back. He was stuck here, in a town of intelligent equine. It took him until this very moment to realize the severity of the situation. They were nothing but aliens to each other. Certainly Ray refused to live the rest of his life running in a world that was literally out to get him, but that hellish land was his home. He knew it well. It was a part of who he was. But in contrast, he was no longer alone.

The party at the Ponyville Library did not even start, yet it immediately died as soon as Ray drew his weapon. But instead of running for cover or attacking him, the community still welcomed him with open arms. To him, this was beyond custom hospitality. This was something far greater. He didn't understand how anyone could act so fluidly on a pure heart, even in a place like this. It felt like a fantasy, but it was oh so overwhelmingly real!

The crowd of ponies sat around him with genuine curiosity. They no longer expressed any slight sign of fear. Ray sat upward next to the desk with his legs crossed and his rifle in his lap.

"First," Ray said, wiping away a final tear from his eye, "I want to apologise for drawing my weapon at you. That was very rude of me. It's just... surprises from my world have a more lethal affect on people than here, so I act on my insticts of survival." He paused for a moment, looking upon the many sympathetic faces. "I hope you can forgive me, and understand that I don't mean any of you any harm."

"Can you tell us about where you came from?" A unicorn off to the left asked. Her coat and mane were various shades of purple and violet. Her hair was cut very neatly in straight patterns and carefully concentrated curves, giving an amusing impression of candy-colored bacon. Even her eyes were purple. Her cutie mark appeared to be a shining star surrounded by six smaller ones.

Amazing. They have unicorns here too. The question processed. Ray began sweating around his collar and upper back. He had very poor social skills because of his lifetime of isolation, which made this exchange unpleasantly challenging. Before answering the purple pony's question, he decided to find out who she was. "And you are?" Ray asked, trying not to sound sarcastic despite the innapropriate tone.

"My name is Twilight Sparkle." She answered. "I'm a unicorn pony, by the way."

"I noticed." Ray shut his eyes in shame. Watch your damn tone.

Twilight appeared to ignore his mistake and continued. "We've never had anyone like you visit us before. I'd..." She quickly corrected herself. "We would really like to know more about you. That is, if you don't mind telling us."

Ray took a deep breath to soften his aching heart. In order to tell them what they wanted to know, he had to tell everything. Like a story. I hate telling stories. He swallowed and took another breath to speak. "I can tell you I originated on the very same planet as you. But where I come from, there is nothing but terror, torture, and death." He paused for the gasping crowd digesting his words. "Hell."

Twilight put her hoof on his knee, attempting to comfort him as he proceeded. He now found more strength inside. "Some hundred years ago or so, the whole world collapsed under a massive wave of destruction. I don't know exactly what caused it, but it might've been a conflict of governments. Nuclear fallout changed everything forever. Millions died, and many others fled for the roads to escape the aftershocks.

Since there were virtually no major forms government left as time went by, armed forces split up and became private defence forces and paramilitary factions. Some faught to defend the land and their concept of freedom. Others faught for extermination... to wipe out opposition, or feed their uncontrollable lust in power. They were armies without countries anymore.

Civillian people strove to excape their clutches. People like my family. We never stood a chance against the great beasts of destruction. We were taught to run. Never engage an enemy with capability of wiping out communities, just run. And never look back. Problem is, you're never the only one on the road. There's always a scavenger, or a group of scavs, that want what you have, and they're gonna get it if it keeps them alive. They will kill you for it without mercy.

So, I grew up teaching myself the philosophy of surviving the road of nightmares. You are a phantom. Stay low-profile, never interfere in someone else's fight, never start one yourself, keep running, and don't stop, not until you need to refuel or re-supply. Even then you are a faceless phantom that remains unprovoked. When danger arrives, and you have nowhere to run, then you fight your way out. You are a knight of the open road. You car is your warhorse and shield. Your rifle is your sword. You are a steel warrior that nothing can penetrate. Unstoppable."

Ray paused for another moment to look at his crowd. So many eyes were wide in astonishment and so many jaws were dropped with disbelief.

"Wow..." whispered Rainbow Dash with amazement and admiration.

"Of course," Ray continued, "the origin of the world's end has conflicting stories passed on through various communities. My mother and father told me it was a nuclear war, others say it happened internally within our own country. Collapse in economy and government, thus a domino effect. Then there's others with more biblical explanations." Ray rolled his eyes. "I don't know what to believe about anything anymore."

"Sounds like a hard place to make friends in." an Earth pony spoke up with a thick southern drawl. She had an orange coat with a perfectly yellow mane and tail, and eyes green like blades of grass. She wore an old cowboy hat that appeared to have gone through all kinds of messy affairs without being properly cleaned. Her cutie mark was a trio of red apples.

"And that's why your rifle... your sword... is also your friend." Ray paused to think and added to his statement. "Though some people have animal companions to keep them company. Dogs, sometimes cats... maybe even bugs. Problem with that, though, is that you have another mouth to feed. And when you're on the brink of starvation, your animal friend becomes..." Ray stopped as he saw disgusted looks around him. "You get the idea."

"Tell us about cars." Twilight said, breaking the akward silence.

"You don't have cars here?"

"No. We have horse-drawn buggies and carriages for general transportation. We also have railroad trains for freight and long-distance travels. Some are also horse-drawn, but we recently developed steam-powered prototypes. Like the 'Friendship Express.'"

"Well, vehicles like cars work pretty much the same way as both carriages and trains put together. They're powered machines like a trains cabable of long travel, but they're like carriages in the sense that they carry less load and are free to move wherever you, the driver, guides it. However, we've advanced far ahead of steam-power in my lifetime. Now we have internal combustion engines that run on fuels like diesel or gasoline. There's also some that run on both fuel and electricity, or even pure electricity itself, but those are pretty much useless."

"Where do you find the fuel?"

"Before the apocalypse it was easy. You use to be able to go to a station that serves the purpose of refuelling your vehicle. Some say they were almost everywhere, along the side of any road you travel. Now you have to barter for it, or steal it from other vehicles."

"Can we see your car?" a small filly nearby asked in a similar drawl to the older orange one. She was yellow with red hair, and adorable orange eyes. She also had a large, pink bow tied to the back of her head.

"Sure you can." Ray replied with a friendly smile. He then turned to the others. "Right now?"

"Why not?" Twilight said with an adventurous expression.

"Follow me then."

The second scout team waited impatiently for the techs to set up the second transponder device. Normally it takes about five minutes to calculate the the terrain and approximate the location of the other transponders before it can send a null signal to anything. Once the device is set up, the signal becomes a useable link that awaits the completion of the other devices before it can be sent to the relay device in Tolwin's aircraft.

But for this group, however, it could take even longer, for they are still trainees of special tecnician Jones.

The team's vehicles were left unguarded just opposite of the site, so they could aimlessly wander the area as they pleased. Faust stood next to a tall redwood, putting out his cigarrette on the thick, red bark. He was approached by two other team members, Junkers and Agusta, who wore irritated looks on their faces.

"Who's idea was it to bring the school kids along?" Junkers snapped.

"What do you expect?" said Faust. "Jones is busy parading around with the old man. Besides, someone's got to monitor the damned thing."

"Get a dog in a mechanic's suit and he'd get the job done in time for lunch."

"Yeah, speaking of that, what time is it?"

Agusta took a look at his watch. "About one o'clock."

"Damn. Another hour." Faust looked at the ground in dissapointment. Suddenly, something shiny in the grass caught his eye. He reached for it and picked it up.

"What is it?" Junkers asked.

It was a small and heavy can-shaped, metallic object with a black and brown label that read "Duracell." A D-cell battery. He's here.