The Pastanomorebu Journey

Blue and SliceEar fell through the lower floors of the facility. She saw a sign that read “T-virus testing.” Then they fell some more. She saw another sign “Mr. T-virus testing.” Instead of a blank wall she saw a bunch of zebra stallions being weighed down by ridiculous amounts of gold. “I pity the foal!” followed her as they fell past the zebras.

SliceEar managed to gather some of his composure. “Blue, would you kindly start flying now.” For a moment Blue had a flashback where she killed a haughty stallion with a golf club then it faded away.

“A slave obeys but a pony chooses,” Blue said as she spread her wings.

SliceEar shook his head. “What?” At first it seemed that her wings were having no effect, the grey ground still rose up at them too fast. She flapped her wings more and the ground slowed its’ approach.

Blue smiled. “I got this.” Then pain started its’ slow march up her wings. She began to regret the extra cookies she begged from SliceEar. The ground regained its’ interest in her and began to head towards her again. The next few moments were a blur as she tried not to hit the ground hard. Blue hoped that maybe that she would miss the ground and still keep flying. The pain and darkness that moved in on her dashed that hope.

It was dark, really dark. Then she opened her eyes. It wasn’t too much of an improvement. Gingerly she tried all of her legs. Blue hoped they all worked. Her escape would fail miserably if she ended up outside the facility and couldn’t go no further.  All of her legs ached but they could be used. A quick flap of her wings showed they worked but painfully.

The silence and darkness pressed down on her. Blue whipped her head around looking for SliceEar or for anything that would relieve her blindness. She thought about calling for SliceEar but then fear slunk into her mind. The idea that something was silently waiting to pounce on her kept Blue’s mouth shut.

Blue slowly crawled forward, sniffing all the way. At first it was just cold stone and mud she smelled then the scent of burned wood hit her nose. The darkness seemed to be less dark up ahead. She crawled a little faster. Her ears pointed forward then they strained to pick up any sound. At first she heard her own movements, but later on she heard the wind outside.

A few moments later, the howl of a wolf made Blue stop moving. She focused all of her attention on her ears. Behind the howling there was galloping or running sounds. The sounds grew louder as something approached. Panic fought the need to be warm. Panic won. She felt around for something to hide behind as the hoof or footsteps grew louder. Finally, she felt the ice cold side of a boulder. A second later, she hid behind it as the hoof steps entered the cave. Blue peeked around the boulder to see what had entered the cave.

Some creature was humming. Blue didn’t recognize the tune.

Then the creature began to sing. “Momma said there'd be brays like this. there'd be brays like this momma said.”

Blue sang, “Momma said, momma said.” There was a faint red glow then a tower of flame flew up from the ground with a loud whoosh! The pillar sunk down into a small campfire but the damage was done. Now Blue could see the creature and it could see her!

At first Blue thought the creature was a foal, it seemed so small but the way it narrowed its’ dark eyes showed that it was older. Blue could see that this unicorn filly had been through a lot, the poor thing’s black coat was crisscrossed with pale scars while a bloody bandage was wrapped around its’ neck. Also the unfortunate creature was missing most of a foreleg. The area below the thigh was gone. Only a bunch of yellowing vines tied like a tourniquet kept the filly from bleeding out.

The filly snarled. “I will burn you, lurker in the dark! Though your backup singing was alright.” Her horn was covered with a red glow then the filly went flying into the cave wall with a squeal.

SliceEar walked up to Blue and looked around. “You okay?” Blue just nodded.

A voice said,”I can’t feel my spleen.”

Blue moved up to the fire so she could feel more of its’ fading warmth. “Where were you?”

A voice said that the rock wall was cold.

SliceEar grimaced. “I woke up in the dark and had to feel around. I heard the singing. You know how dangerous that could be?”

Blue shook her head. “No.”

SliceEar sighed. “I guess we have to deal with this new problem.”

A voice asked, “What problem?”

SliceEar walked up to the filly that was still lying in the dirt. An orange aura surrounded her. “I have enough power to crush your head like an egg.” Blue’s stomach grumbled. She could go for a nice crepe. The black filly moaned.

SliceEar’s eyes narrowed. “I will tolerate no treachery. If I command it, you will fling yourself into the flaming cracks of Doom!” To Blue, it seemed like SliceEar grew into a tall powerful shadowy figure. Something as powerful as an Alicorn. The filly yelped as SliceEar used his telekinesis to push her even deeper into the dirt. A familiar pain started to build up in Blue’s head.

SliceEar shrunk back down to pony size. Blue knew the truth. SliceEar was being a dick. Abusing his power.

She slapped him with her left forehoof. “Really? Cracks of Doom? Let the poor creature up already!” SliceEar looked away. Then he glanced back at Blue. The bright orange aura faded away to a faint glow that raised the filly to her hooves.

SliceEar looked at the black filly. “I’m, I’m sorry. Please don’t betray us.”

The filly’s eyes narrowed for a moment. “Name’s MiniTorch!” Blue’s vision faded to red and she fell to the floor and moaned. SliceEar looked away from MiniTorch and rummaged through his saddle bags for a pot. He stuck it under Blue’s nose totally oblivious of MiniTorch’s disgusted gaze.

“Ewww! I’m not eating snot pasta!” MiniTorch said.

SliceEar looked back at her. “What’s not pasta? It’s whole wheat. It’s pretty healthy. Don’t worry, I will wash it off before I start boiling.”

MiniTorch looked at SliceEar’s saddlebags. “Do you have a nice tomato sauce or maybe some alfredo sauce?”

SliceEar shook his head sadly. “No, just some catsup packages and basil.”

MiniTorch grimaced. “Maybe you should’ve crushed my head. I prefer ketchup.” She looked at Blue who was lying in the dirt.

SliceEar followed her gaze. “Don’t worry, she should be up when this is done. So you don’t want some?”

MiniTorch watched as SliceEar washed the pasta. Her small stomach growled loudly. “Yeah, I guess so.” By the time the pasta was ready Blue was up. While she ate, worries about the future filled her mind. One worry was about MiniTorch.

Blue faced MiniTorch as she sucked up some pasta with a slurp. “MiniTorch, can we trust you?”

MiniTorch grinned. “Heck, no! I’m gonna burn you guys to cinders.  Well, yes. My mum’s dead and I'm all alone.” SliceEar peered at her. MiniTorch continued. “I’m not a peck’un.” She looked back at Blue and SliceEar with a big grin. Now Blue had one less worry as she ate. Maybe?