BOOM!

That was the noise that made Luke conscious again, and the feeling of a corpse collapsing onto him was what woke him fully up. The feeling of thick, cold blood splattering on his face was enough to make him shriek in fear. The smell of gun powder and rotten flesh invaded his nostrils. Milky woke up suddenly, and clung onto Luke in fear. By this time, Nick, Miranda, and Axel got up from their tents peeked into Luke's to see what was going on.

"Yo! What's the deal?!" Nick asked.

"A biter got inside the tent!" Luke said, looking at the corpse, "Thanks for saving us."

"Uhh...that wasn't us..." Miranda said.

"Then who was it?"

Eyes looked around in the tent, and they saw Venus standing in the back. Holding a double-barreled shotgun in her magic aura. She stood there, eyes wide with a fish-out-of-water look. A little blood was splattered on the barrels of the gun and her face. Venus dropped the weapon, and she fell with it.

"O-oh my Celestia...I-I've killed it..." Venus said, covering her eyes with her hooves.

"Venus...you used a gun!" Luke said, "And you saved my life! Wicked!"

"I-is that good..?"

"I think my face being intact, and the world being rid of another zombie are both awesome things. That, and the fact that a pony used a gun!"

"I just may reconsider my opinion on you equines." Nick said.

"Wow, you got NICK of all people impressed. That's really something."

"H-heh...t-thank you..." Venus said, blushing a little.

"Well, I'm not going to be able to sleep after this. Let's all have some breakfast." Axel said.

"You guys go ahead...I'm gonna clean the zombie blood off my face." Luke said.

"I-I think I will too...c-can I follow you?" Venus asked.

"Sure. There's a stream nearby in the forest. Follow me."

Venus nodded, and she followed Luke into the forest. The forest was green, and full of plant life. Grass, flowers, and a few mushrooms grew on the ground. Leaves, and a few birds were able to be seen in the trees. Venus got an uncomfortable look on her face as she followed Luke, as bad memories from her foalhood made their way into her head. Luke took notice of this, and decided to try and strike up conversation...to no avail. Eventually, they found a little stream in the middle of a clearing in the forest. Beautiful flowers were seen all around them, surrounding the two with wonderful scents. The sound of birds singing went perfectly with the sound of the running stream.

"W-wow..." Venus said as she took in the site before her.

"It's so...beautiful. It's nice to see something happy still exists here." Luke said.

Luke approached the stream, and dipped his hands in the stream of cold water. With the help of the morning sun, the fish below the surface were able to be seen. Luke brought the water to his face, and started scrubbing the blood off. It came off easily with the help of the water, and in thirty seconds...all the blood was off his face.

"Ahh...much better..." Luke said, feeling much more clean.

Luke looked up to see Venus, staring at herself in the reflection of the water. A small tear fell from her eye. Luke approached her and sat on a rock next to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Luke asked.

"N-nothing." Venus said.

"Really convincing. Now, I'm gonna ask again...and I'd like for you to give me a real answer. If you tell me, I may be able to help."

"W-why do y-you care?"

"If we're going to survive in a group, we should at least support each other. I mean...you saved my life earlier. At least let me repay you by trying to help you."

There was a long pause. The sounds around them almost seemed to grow louder.

"It started a l-long time ago..." Venus finally started speaking, "W-when I was a foal...I-I was fillynapped by a stallion...a-and was t-taken to a c-cabin in the woods. T-they..."

"It's okay," Luke said, "You don't have to tell me anything that will make you feel worse."

"T-then...that night...M-Mars saved me. W-we've been the greatest of friends e-ever since."

"Mars...was he the guy...I saw in the kitchen?"

"Y-yes..."

"Oh...I'm sorry..."

"The last t-time I saw him...w-was when he told me t-to stay inside our room and t-that he'd come back s-soon. Someone was p-pounding on the door, t-then I heard what sounded like a fight go o-on. I-I then heard him s-screaming. T-then...it went quiet. I waited f-for thirty minutes until I decided to open the door. W-when I did...t-that crazy stallion burst in. H-he threw m-me onto my b-bed..."

Luke could tell where this was going, so he decided to stop her there too.

"Okay, okay...but...we saved you in the end." Luke said.

"Y-yes..." Venus said, looking down.

A few more minutes passed.

"Before all...this...what did you do?" Luke asked.

"H-huh?" Venus asked, finished washing the blood off her face.

"What did you do? For work, I mean."

"W-well...when we first moved into our apartment, I worked i-in a supermarket. H-however...due to rent getting e-expensive...I d-decided that I-i had no choice but to be a p-prostitute. A-after all....I-I've b-been raped for almost my entire life..."

Luke raised an eyebrow. Something about that last sentence plucked a nerve. Luke was disgusted, and felt sympathy for Venus.

"It's not right," Luke started, "You're better than that."

"N-no I'm not. For almost my whole life, I-I've been called 'slut, bitch, whore,'...everything in the book. I d-decided to just accept the f-fact that maybe t-that's what I am." Venus said, tears falling from her face.

"No, you're not," Luke said, wiping the tears away from her face, "You were brought into the world for a reason. You were born with a purpose, as well as everyone else. It's only a matter whether or not you choose to follow that purpose or not."

"B-but I d-don't know what my p-purpose even is."

"It'll come to you. You just need to be patient."

"W-when?"

"Likely when you least expected it. Look at me: I wasn't always a 'chosen hero' or whatever. Before I came here, I was the most regular person in the world. I worked, had a house, and friends. Suddenly...what started as a little trip with my friends became the bridge to my life purpose. My purpose was to come here, and save lives. If I found my purpose now, then your purpose should be coming to you soon."

"D-do you think s-so?"

"I know so. Not a doubt in my mind about it."

Venus looked up at Luke with teary eyes.

"N-nopony except Mars ever listened to m-my problems....a-and I just m-met you." she said.

"You don't deserve the life you've got. The world has been cruel to you. You never deserved to be raped, or bullied, or to be walking the streets wearing those...stocking things that hookers wear. You've got so much potential, you could've done so much for this world...and it abused and misused you. While the world can be a cruel place, there will still be those few people who will support and listen to you. I solemnly swear to be one of those people." Luke replied.

Venus looked at Luke...and a smile slowly formed on her face, exposing her braces. That's adorable. Luke thought. She leaned on Luke's shoulder, and he put an arm around her. Luke gave her a little scratch behind the ear, and she closed her eyes. He scratched for a few minutes, until he stopped.

"T-thanks," Venus said, looking at Luke, "I n-needed that."

"You're welcome." Luke responded, "If you need someone to talk to, that someone can be me."

Luke finished by patting her on the head.

"Let's head back to camp before the group starts worrying about us," Luke said

"O-okay." Venus replied.

Author's Note

I hope you enjoyed this short chapter. If you did, please comment and leave a like if you haven't already. And as always, have a nice day