The Pastromorbo Epidemicby AelunaChaptersPrologueChapter OneChapter TwoChapter ThreeChapter FourChapter FivePrologueAuthor's Note Hi there everyone. Before we begin, I just wanted to thank you for choosing this fic to read. After years of planning and rewrites, I really hope it will go down well. This will get dark quickly. If this isn't your cup of tea, you might want to consider choosing a different story. Thanks again! Aeluna Prologue “Your Highness!” Tired hooves fiddled with an old, semi-frayed quill, but try as she might she could not form any words on the parchment before her. Even more fatigued eyes hung low as they beheld the blank expanse, their usual sparkle diminished. Her years were finally catching up to her, it seemed; her flawless face was littered with wrinkles, and her mane no longer flowed in the wind. The hair itself looked dead and dry, but that was nothing compared to how dead she felt inside. Indeed, it took a great deal of effort for her to raise her heavy head up to see her new company. “What is it, General?” she murmured. Her voice was quiet. Almost impossible to hear. Nevertheless, it still held something of an air of sophistication and confidence. That was only a habit. She had no hope left. The mare who stood before her—a unicorn—bowed respectfully, but her movements were rushed and sloppy. Her sword clattered against the polished metal of her bloodied armour. A crimson droplet fell to the dusty floor. “We are surrounded, Princess,” she said, her words fumbled but still relatively slow. The old mare did not show much reaction to that statement, save for the weak yellow glow of her horn as she pulled a book closer to her from the pedestal on which it rested nearby. “They impersonated our armies, and now they've come to the base by train. We don't know if anypony has survived. There has been no intel.” The great mare nodded once. She then unfurled her dishevelled wings and slowly rose so as to step towards the window. Lo, she could see them now; a wave of acrid green light poured out as the intruders dropped their transformations. They marched on the city from all sides, a massive wall of black. “Thank you, little one,” the mare said, the tiniest of smiles ushering the newcomer away. “Retire to your home for today. You should see your loved ones once more before…” The great mare trailed off, just as the entrance door was slammed open. The guards hurled their spears forwards at once, only for them to be deflected by a bright blue aura. The general took that as her excuse to leave, shooting from the room without a second thought for formalities and conduct. Who could blame her? “Celestia, Sister! Tell me it's not true!” the newcomer pleaded. The white mare hung her head and pulled the book to her side, unenthusiastically flipping through pages to the one she had looked at so often. The text was hundreds of years old, but the particular page of interest was very nearly dust by now. “It is, Luna. You can see it from the windows.” The smaller mare froze on the spot. She then turned her head to the outside and peered out cautiously; her ears fell back and her pupils shrunk immediately at the sight. She clamped her tail and let her wings fall to the ground. She had taken time to preen her feathers, at least. They were now covered with dust. But that wouldn't matter for long. “Tia…” she prompted, shrinking back from the wall. “Tia, our ponies…” “Our ponies are doomed.” The larger mare’s words were harsh and cold and blunt. There was no emotion then. All of her tears had already fallen. “No! No, we cannot just give in!” The blue mare stood tall and stomped her hoof. Her blue aura then snagged the precious page from the old book. She all but thrust it into her sister’s face, scanning it quickly at the same time. Her ears pricked and a small smile grew on her muzzle. And then she reached the final lines, the notes, and her face fell once more. “This spell… is one of Star Swirl’s, correct?” “Indeed.” The smaller mare was quiet for a minute before she let out a small breath. “What choice do we have?” The great mare shook her head. “We could be condemning our own ponies to die, Luna! If we make a mistake… if we are not completely specific in our answer, anything could happen! We don't know what that disclaimer reads; the ink is all gone. It could be critical!” “But it's our only hope.” The smaller mare was right, and so the larger let out a sigh and rose a hoof. She ushered her guards out, an order they followed immediately. She then linked her hoof with the smaller mare, eyes focused directly on the approaching changelings, and began to speak. “All is lost, but the lost is found. Upon mine enemies bestow this cursed charm. Deliver unto them a plague of dismay, in their downed hoofprints we lead the way.” A single thought ran through the large mare’s mind then. Changelings. And then, just as the magic was about to taper away, she had a realisation. The changelings could be literally anything; she would need to target the whole land. And then her magic fizzled off, and she was quiet for a moment. And then she screamed. “My mind wandered!” she cried, suddenly much more alive as she gasped for air. The smaller took a sharp inhale and shot to the window with a heavy flap of her wings, where a thick cloud of green-tainted grey now grew at tremendous speeds. A noxious cloud of deadly, magical viruses. “A health charm! We need a shield!” the small mare cried. The larger nodded as she let out a shrill cry for her guards. They were there in a second. “Get Twilight and Cadence! Get the Wonderbolts! We must get as many ponies as possible brought here in half an hour!” The guards squeaked, fumbling for their weapons as they rushed from the Throne Room. The large mare then collapsed, wailing over the screams of the changelings half a mile away. “Thirty minutes,” the smaller mare said, her hoof jammed against the larger one’s side. “Thirty minutes to evacuate, then we put a health bubble up. Right?” There was no answer. “Alright?!” The older mare mumbled and rose shakily to her hooves. “Fine. Half an hour. We’ll save as many as we can.” The blue mare then frowned. “And the rest?” There came no answer as the great white mare disappeared from the room in a flash of pale, shimmering yellow to leave her sister alone in the great expanse. And then, a second later, she too vanished. Because in half an hour, a massive health bubble would have to be erected, and there would be nopony coming in or out any more. Because ninety-nine percent would be dead. Chapter OneSomething has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.Chapter TwoBlue groaned and let her eyes slowly drag themselves open. The first thing that hit her was how dark everything seemed; she could hardly make out the shape of her hoof in front of her, let alone any of her surroundings. The next thing she noticed was the horrid chill that crept under her skin and sent shudders through her body. There was a complete lack of wind, but that didn’t help in the slightest when the very air itself felt as if it was frozen solid. Pain racked her body as she shifted slightly. She squeezed her wings to her side in an attempt to dispel it, but to no avail. Hence, with a little whimper, she placed her hooves firmly against the uneven rock below and pushed herself up to a standing position. A wave of dizziness rushed over her and she took a sharp breath in, splaying her legs so as to brace herself. When she didn’t find herself sprawled out on her chest, she then took a few seconds to regain her composure before straightening slowly. She shivered, unfurling her wings and wrapping them around her chest. The feathers offered little warmth, however, and she could only settle with accepting the wicked chill which crept down her throat with each breath, freezing her from the inside out. She could at least partially see by now, though the sight which met her eyes did little to make her pains better. A pathetic trickle of light entered her surroundings through a small hole a few metres away, barely enough to let her see. Still, she could now be relatively confident that she was in some sort of tiny cave and, critically, she was alone. Was that good or bad? She didn’t know anymore. “Rip!” she whispered loudly, taking a few tentative steps forwards. She winced with each hoof placement, her body already searing from the lacerations which now marred her skin. She didn’t dare look back at herself; the thought of the blood alone was enough to make her heave, let alone the sight too. “RipEar, where are you?” There came no reply. She hadn’t expected there to be, but the knowledge that she was well and truly alone sent shudders down her spine once again. And then, from somewhere in the distance, a mournful cry sounded against the silence of the world. “Oh, Luna,” she whispered, scarpering backwards before her legs suddenly gave out on her. As she took stolen breaths her gaze snapped on that tiny entrance, suddenly aware of how alone and defenceless she was. The light stench of damp reached her nostrils then; she hissed and recoiled further, feeling around desperately with a hoof for some sort of ammunition should she need it. “Come on, come on…” And then she felt something. Not a rock or brick, as she had hoped, but something soft. It was almost spongy in texture, and warm against her hoof too; when she let her eyes squint in that direction she noticed a faint green glow coming from what looked like a patch of plants. Moss? Of course, she hadn’t ever truly seen the stuff, but that was what it looked like in the old facility books. Slowly the thoughts of being alone left her, replaced solely with the idea of having somewhere warm to lie down. Somewhere out of this blasted cold. She inched herself up onto her hooves. Then she slowly dragged herself towards the pile until she could properly place a hoof down into its softness. A relieved sigh escaped her lips and she let her eyes slip shut, enjoying the feel of the warmth over her hoof. She then leaned forwards, just about to flop down. She could feel the warm glow against her underbelly already. “Blue! The fuck d’you think you’re doing?” She heard RipEar’s cry just before she felt the chill of his magic wrap around her neck, hoisting her away from her bed in mid-flop. With a hiss she landed heavily on her chest, pain erupting there and coursing throughout her body. Bucking out with her rear legs in distress, she then snapped, “What was that all about?” RipEar scowled as he slunk through the entrance and into the cave. He didn’t say anything in response, and Blue didn’t take it upon herself to repeat her words. He wouldn’t answer. Instead he busied himself with the loot he now carried in his magic, though she struggled to make out exactly what it was in the darkness. Or, rather, she struggled momentarily. A few seconds later, however, RipEar pulled out a small cardboard box from his saddlebags and then, from it, a match; in an instant a small fire formed, crackling delightfully and spreading the tiniest bit of warmth throughout the cave. Compared to before, even that was heaven. RipEar didn't look nearly as thrilled as Blue felt, though. As she crept forwards to savour the warmth, her teeth ground together in pain and his scowl deepened. She let her heavy wings unfurl slowly. A small smile graced her muzzle and her lips parted slightly. A small breath left her. However, when she glanced up at RipEar, his dour expression made her recoil. “You need to be more careful,” he hissed, clumping up a small ball of some sort of dried grass before pushing it gingerly into the crackling flames. The campfire gave off a small burst of light as a way of saying thanks. “We aren’t in the facility anymore, Blue. You’ve gotta watch your back out here.” Blue sat up straighter and folded her wings across her chest once more. “Right,” she mumbled. “Outside. Yeah. But what’s that—” RipEar scowled through the flames. “Look down at your hoof, you idiot,” he snapped. Blue’s ears fell but she did as she was told nevertheless, raising her hoof to eye level in the firelight—and then she promptly screamed, the skin red and raw and completely furless. “Wha—” she cried, waving her hoof around as if to dispel the pain that ought to have existed. That only made it more terrifying. “Why can’t I feel it?” RipEar threw up his hooves. “Woah, woah!” he yelled, punching the air with each shout. “Calm down already! It’s not an issue, seriously, but it could’ve been.” “Could’ve been? There’s worse than this?” RipEar huffed and scooted closer to a hyperventilating Blue, dragging his saddlebags with him. “Of course there is, you dolt,” he said, but he received none of her attention. He sighed. Hoof raised, he then slapped it across her muzzle so as to draw a squeak from her. That worked, at least. “This is the Scourge, Blue. It’s not known for its”—he gestured to the glowing moss—”vibrant array of potted plants. You don’t know this place like I do. It’s a hell hole.” Blue was quiet for a moment. With a sniffle she then hunched her back and curled up on the cold, unforgiving floor. She drew her legs to her chest. “We’re gonna die.” The flames ebbed for a moment before a soft breath of air got them burning again. “Hey, don’t say that, silly mare,” RipEar said, placing a hoof on Blue’s chin so as to tilt her head up to him. “We are not going to die. You know why? ‘Cos I had a pretty great life before all this shit, and I sure intend to get it back.” Blue’s lips cracked a small smile. “You mean it?” RipEar nodded. “S’long as you’re not going to keep being stupid about things, sure.” Blue was quiet for a moment before she shuffled slightly closer to him, nuzzling his cheek gently. RipEar stiffened. With terse jerks he moved his hoof up to her chest and pushed her away slowly, suddenly eyeing her carefully. “Steady on there,” he said. His voice had suddenly developed a somewhat shaky tone. “You should be careful. You’re hurt.” She couldn’t help it. Almost out of instinct she turned her head around. It was a brief glance, so brief, but it was too much. There was so much red. She screamed. A hoof slammed across her mouth almost the same instant that she let the breath leave her mouth. RipEar’s eyes were suddenly cold in the spitting light from the fire. They flitted to and from the door, almost panicked. “What the hell?” he hissed, withdrawing his hoof slowly. With his magic he slowly levitated a small, intricately carved dagger from his saddlebags. He then turned so as to face the doorway and held it out in front of him, blade pointed forwards, and finished with, “What part of ‘We’re in the damned Scourge now’ didn’t you get?” Blue whimpered quietly, recoiling slightly and forcing herself not to let any of her fur come into view. After a few seconds, though, RipEar spoke once more after letting out a sigh. “You’ve gotta get a grip, Blue,” he said, his voice suddenly gentler again. He sounded almost strained, as if in pain. “The Scourge isn’t forgiving. It will take everything if you’re weak enough to let it.” He paused. When Blue began to murmur a response, he finished. The ever-so-slight breeze which blew through the cave then almost drowned out his voice. “It’s already taken you from me once. Don’t leave me for good.” Blue closed her mouth and shrunk backwards. The stallion was now sat hunched over and silent. A few quivering breaths racked his body. “Rip?” Blue asked, her voice shaky. “Please, I…” RipEar did not acknowledge her. When she began to sit a little taller, though, his ears twitched and his horn lit up. With a half-hearted tug he dumped his saddlebags into her lap, just as a small gust of wind blew through the cave. The fire was snubbed out instantly to leave only a couple of dying embers. Within seconds they perished. “There’re crackers in there,” RipEar said. His voice had practically no lilt at all. “Eat up, quickly. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.” Blue momentarily hesitated, but relented a few seconds later. With haste she nuzzled around in the bag, knocking aside small glass bottles and odd, lumpy parcels before she finally found a small package, wrapped in some sort of stiff cloth. Hide, perhaps? Blue unfolded the package quickly. Three small crackers, broken into pieces, tumbled out into her hoof. They were gone in an instant, though; the going-stale texture and predictably bland taste left her smacking her lips for something more. But they weren’t in the facility now. She couldn’t just get a slice of cheese or some nut butter to actually make it worthwhile. Because this was the Scourge. Things didn’t work that way. Blue sighed and shook the scrap of material out, then folding it neatly before placing it carefully back into the mess she’d made of the saddlebag. Grabbing the straps between her teeth, she then clambered to her hooves and dragged herself over to RipEar’s side before placing the packs over his back gently, just behind his shoulders. He turned his head to her slowly. His face was masked in a blank, distant scowl, though it was hard to see in the near-darkness. He bowed his head. “You ready?” he asked. Blue nodded slowly, fidgeting slightly. Small twinges shot up her leg when she applied any pressure to her now-furless hoof, and her entire body stung from the deep lacerations that littered it. “As I’ll ever be,” she squeaked. RipEar’s scowl softened. He patted her shoulder gently, smiling a little. “Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?” RipEar begged. When Blue nodded he lowered his dagger slightly in the air and pulled a second blade—a semi-blunt and well-used weapon, but a weapon nonetheless—from somewhere in his saddlebags. How he’d found it, she had no idea. When he offered it to her, however, she cringed and took a few steps backwards; his lips curved into a smile and he nestled it back in its place, shaking his head. “You’ll want it sooner or later. Seriously. Wuss or not.” Blue opened her mouth to retort before she realised that she really had no leg to stand on in the matter. With a sigh, she then nodded again and fluffed her feathers up a little, the breeze nipping at her fur chillingly. RipEar took a few slow steps to begin with, cautiously heading towards the door. With a quick, backwards glance he then stood taller, poked his dagger out of the hole and slunk through. Blue hastened to follow him, fumbling over her sore hooves until she, too, was truly outside. If the cave had felt cold, this was excruciating. The wind howled up above and stripped Blue of any warmth she may have had. Her mane and tail blew about her frame, effectively blinding her as she attempted to see what the real world looked like. But the sight that met her eyes when it temporarily quietened was not at all what she had expected. The land around her position was completely barren of any and all life, but that was not the worst bit. Nothing could beat her shock at the sight of the sky above. Because the sky was split at the center, divided evenly between day and night. Chapter ThreeInside the freezing walls of the cave, the wind had not been strong. The air had been cold—so cold—but that was bearable. This was not. Blue hissed as the wind tore any heat she had stored up from her body. She shivered violently, grinding her teeth whilst she shrank her body down. Despite her fluffed up feathers and fur, though, her muscles still spasmed and her legs visibly trembled on the spot. “Get moving,” came RipEar’s gruff voice from her side. With squinted eyes—her best attempt at protecting them from the onslaught of air—she glanced to him slowly. Her neck hardly moved. It was practically frozen stiff. When she did meet his gaze, though, she noted that he danced on the spot too and had much the same posture as she; it had been so easy to forget that, even though he knew what awaited them out here, he was just as unfamiliar with these extremes of temperature and exposure. He had spent the past year in the facility, just as she had. Blue glanced forwards cautiously. The outside world was seemingly endless. Everywhere she looked the eternal expanse spread out before her eyes; the horizon was coloured black against the dim, bleak blue of the sky. Wait. Blue yelped and threw her head upwards. Angry, heavy clouds—dark grey clusters—zipped through the cold night air, carried by the fearsome wind. They convulsed as they moved. It was freakish, as if they were alive. Blue’s skin crawled immediately at the thought–but something bigger had caught her eye. It was a wonder she had missed it to begin with. Beyond the cloud clusters, only slightly able to illuminate the world beneath, the sun and moon hung together in the sky. Where they clashed, a hazy line was drawn, indicating the point at which light met dark in a striking clash of colours. Bright versus black. Day versus night. “What—” Blue began, her voice breathy and weak. It was at that moment, though, that the wailing of the wind was interrupted. A drawn-out, echoing howl flooded her mind; she scarpered backwards instinctively, the pain from her foreleg suddenly dulled by the adrenaline which coursed through her veins. She slammed past RipEar, unable to think of anything except escaping. The cliff floor fell away from her hooves sharply, without even the slightest warning. Blue screamed. Shooting down, she unfurled her wings with a cry and hastened to flap them. They broke through the air with a complete lack of synchrony; thrown off course, she smashed into the rock face muzzle-first. She dropped like a stone, her wings suddenly not working against the whistle of the air across her body. This was it. With a scream of terror, Blue flailed in the air, every limb out of sync with the others. The ground sped up to her at unthinkable speeds. Minute pebbles quadrupled in size with each millisecond that passed. The wind was too strong; too fast; too painful to let her open her eyes. She was effectively blind. Her body tensed, her legs and wings now clamped to her body. She clenched her jaw in readiness. The breath left her, and she didn’t take another in. And then she was no longer falling. The first thing she realised, with a sickened feeling, was that she could no longer feel anything. Her legs, her wings, her ears, her muzzle… There was nothing! She opened her mouth to scream, to cry out to RipEar for help—and then realised she had no mouth with which to scream! And then, completely involuntarily, she gasped. Her eyes shot open and her wings flared, flapping sporadically. Her legs twitched and spasmed. And then she suddenly remembered what pain was, the dock of her tail sending massive waves of agony through her body from seemingly out of nowhere. “Argh!” she cried, bucking with her back legs frantically. In a futile attempt to escape the pain she beat the air with her wings heavily, but the movements were still poorly timed and only served to make her body swing wildly. That made it worse. Honestly, she would probably never be so relieved to have her body smashed into cold, rough, hard rock again in her life. But, right then, that new pain was a welcome change from the hell that was being hoisted through the air by her tail. “What the fuck, Blue?” RipEar snapped, and his voice sent a shudder through Blue’s spine. She couldn’t look up at him yet—though even to lift her head seemed difficult right now. “You fell off a fucking cliff! How the hell do you manage that?” Blue didn’t answer. After a few small hoof stomps, RipEar then sighed and hoisted her to her hooves with his magic, dumping her unceremoniously at his side. “Look, Blue,” he began, his voice still quavering with anger. “You’ve gotta get with the programme. I’ll look after you. I got you to this bloody place when we left the Pe—home. When we left home. And believe me, that wasn’t an easy trek. So when I say to you, I’ll get you across the Scourge in one piece, I mean it.” RipEar silenced momentarily. He then sighed and draped a foreleg over Blue’s back. “Okay?” Blue nodded slowly. “That howl…” she then began, her words slow. RipEar shook his head at her. “You’ve gotta get used to it,” was all he said before turning away. As he began to take the first few steps, though, he added with a glance backwards, “There’s a lot of monsters out here. A lot worse than the ponies that attacked the Facility. Question is, can you handle that? Because if not, you might as well just curl up in that cave and die quietly.” “W-what?” “You heard me.” RipEar turned his head away as he spoke, ascending into a slow trot across the narrow, uneven path. “The Blue I knew once had no problem out here. But you aren’t that mare anymore, so I can’t tell you how you’ll cope out here. But you know what? You were down in the disposal”—he spat that word—“books in the facility, so your odds of surviving are infinitely higher out here.” “Disposal?” Blue squeaked, her wings suddenly clamping down to her sides and her tail to her legs. But RipEar was already walking away, his short tail swishing to and fro. It was almost as if he was happy to be out here again. A massive gust of wind, strong enough to make Blue stumble into the rocky wall of the track, reminded her of why she most definitely wasn’t glad. With a shiver, she fluffed up her feathers and took a slow breath. She pinned her ears to her neck and then ascended into a slow trot. Like it or not, the Scourge was supposedly her home now. And RipEar had saved her from annihilation. Technically speaking, she ought to at least try to survive. She owed him that much. The slow trot down the slope, however, did little to convince her that she stood even half a chance out here. With each drawn out, haunting howl—they were definitely getting louder and longer—she bolted. More than once, she shot straight into RipEar’s perfectly rounded rump (though that wasn’t such a torture for her, she had to admit). After a heavy-hoofed buck of aggravation from him the fifth time she had done so, she settled for ambling skittishly a few metres behind him. Every out-of-place noise made her jump, but she only fell off the cliff path again once. RipEar didn’t see or hear that, so all in all, she considered the trip down to be a success. By the time the pair reached the base of the cliff, Blue was walking with significantly less stiffness. Perhaps she had overreacted. Was this so bad? Sure, it was dark and freezing out here—she couldn’t feel her ears anymore—and there were so, so many terrifying noises… but the only thing to endanger her so far had been herself. The howling sounded again. She brushed it off. It was louder now, yes, but each time she had heard it nothing bad had happened. No nightmarish dogs or wolves had appeared in thin air as she seemed to have expected; it was fine, right? “Hey, Blue,” RipEar grunted. He stopped and turned to face her, though not after scanning the open valley they now found themselves in with his dagger and horn light. Satisfied, he raised a hoof in the direction they were headed in. “Look over there.” Blue did as she was told. Squinting, she licked her lips slowly as she fought to make anything out—and then she saw it. “What is that?” she whispered. She felt almost speechless at the size of the clearly pony-made contraption which lay, rotting slowly, a short distance away. It must have easily been as tall as a tree! There weren’t any to compare it to out here, though. This land was quite literally barren of life. Since she’d only seen trees in century old facility books, it was arguably a little hard to tell. “That’s an airship,” he said. “Been there since the outbreak, I’d guess. It looked in good repair when we came here last. Well, for a crashed one. Figured it might be our best hope for some supplies. Gear and the likes. Anypony who is stupid enough to venture out this far into the desert is either at death’s door by now or on the hunt for the facility. Maybe both. So searching such wreckage probably hasn’t been on anypony’s mind.” Blue raised an eyebrow and glanced at the airship. “A century from then, and no one has grabbed this loot you’re expecting. Really?” RipEar shrugged. “Well, airships have bloody good locks and defences too. So if you can pick a lock—or, I guess, buck it off—then they’re usually a good place to start. Plus, the worst enemy you’ll find in there would probably be a mutant fly or something, and so long as there’s not a whole swarm, they’re easy to handle.” Blue shuddered. This was fine. No need to get enemies involved. “Right,” she murmured. Her eyes landed on RipEar’s dagger and didn’t leave it, just in case he was to somehow lose it. They needed that. As they neared the airship, the incredible craftsmanship of the thing became known. It was a real beast, with an unpenetrated metal case and a distinct lack of windows at all. It was a monstrosity. Around its edges semi-luminescent mosses had begun to grow—one snapped at Blue when she got too close—but that did little to hide it. RipEar headed straight for the massive door when they reached it, making short work of the heavy duty padlock there. How had he done that? He then glanced about quickly before he beckoned her in. She shot after him immediately. The lack of wind upon entering the airship was heavenly. RipEar overtook her straight away, dagger held out in front of him as he began to walk along the corridors of the first floor. Blue followed like a loyal puppy, trotting along gayly—until she heard something that made her stop in her tracks. A thud sounded somewhere above. Then the howling noise returned, ten times louder than before. A filly’s scream, impossibly loud, sliced through the air and through Blue’s ears. She reeled, gasping for breath. RipEar hadn’t even flinched. But they weren’t alone. Author's Note Hey all, Thanks for reading! If you're enjoying this, the best was to support me is with thumbs up! Aeluna Chapter FourRipEar had not reacted to the scream at all. Blue hissed and shot to his side. Her eyes flitted about wildly as she pranced along and her body twitched with every other stride, spasming from terror. Her wings ruffled constantly; when the cry reverberated through the airship’s corridors again, the feathers snapped to action and she shot upwards. She crashed into the roof with a grunt. When she fell to the ground, heaving and winded, RipEar only sent cold glares in her direction. “You’ve got to be fucking with me,” he barked with a heavy stomp of his hoof. His horn sparked once. “What is your problem now?” It took a moment for her lungs to recover again. When they did, Blue took a massive, quavery breath. She shook where she lay, unable to look directly at RipEar with her attention focused everywhere else. “Didn’t you hear that?” she hissed, gingerly stepping to her shaky hooves. Pain shot through her body, but adrenaline muffled it. The airship was silent now; everything was so perfectly still. The air fell heavily upon Blue’s back, crackling with tense energy. “There was a scream, Rip!” She shuddered on the spot, spinning uncontrollably—and then she froze. The filly wailed this time, but her cry was quieter. Weaker. And then there came a cacophony of chilling, fearless barks. RipEar’s ears fell back and he ground his teeth quickly. His eyes darted about and he snagged the blade in his magic, beckoning Blue to his side. His nostrils flared rapidly and he stood taller. He thrust his chest forwards and splayed his legs, tail swishing in readiness to fight. His determined scowl quickly morphed into one of confusion, however; he took a small step back so that he was slightly pressed against the wall and murmured, “Can you smell burning?”. And then there came a crack. The pair glanced upwards immediately, and both noticed the massive gash that had appeared in the roof; before they could move, the entire ceiling gave way. It collapsed around them with a massive round of crashes and booms. Blue screamed, flared out her wings and smashed head-first into RipEar’s rump. The two skidded out of the way, pelted with dagger-like shards as they smashed into the door of the airship’s janitor cupboard. The wood splintered against the force. The pair tumbled through painfully, landing entwined in a heap. “Ugh,” Blue moaned. She shook her head groggily and began to fight to find her footing. Amazingly, RipEar was already back on his hooves and was—if a little shakily now—brandishing his dagger. With a hiss Blue followed suit, using a weak flap of her wings to help her stand steadily. The sight that met her eyes, however, made her whimper and reel backwards. Before her, two massive wolves slunk forwards. They salivated madly as they stepped closer, and as they approached it became easier to see their features. Both were without most of their fur and the smaller sported an extra line of claws along its spine. They seemed to twitch, rising up threateningly each time Blue or RipEar moved. In the deadly red glint of the flames behind them, they seemed to glow. The wolves snapped their massive jaws and jumped forwards jerkily; erratically. Their tails swished excitedly, without fail. The claws on their paws scratched along the dusty floor of the airship. The shriek it made sent shivers down Blue’s spine. “Get back,” RipEar snapped. He didn’t let her react; almost instantly he rose his hoof and thrust her backwards so that she fell to her rump behind him, merely watching from the sidelines. That was fine by her. The larger wolf pounced, jaws open wide in a deadly attack. RipEar reacted almost as if on instinct, leaping to the right just before it clamped its teeth down into his flesh. A small patch of blood beaded on the fur of his shoulder, but he was too exhilarated to notice. The dagger was thrust forwards with lethal speed and impaled the beast straight through its eye. It howled and scarpered backwards, pawing at the blade, just as its friend attacked. The smaller wolf was ready; it landed heavily atop RipEar and knocked him to the floor, snapping and barking wildly at his throat. His desperate bucks, pinned to the ground as he was, did nothing; he merely flailed in place, watching in horror as each heavy snap got closer to tearing out his throat. “Run, Blue!” he cried. Frantically he tried to roll over; it was no use. The wolf now sat atop him—quite literally. It batted in amusement at his horn as it continued its snapping. Blue watched in horror as it tore a good sized piece of skin from the stallion’s cheek, making him scream. RipEar never screamed. Blue whimpered and flapped her wings. With her eyes closed tightly she used her hind legs against the wall as a sort of propulsion; her outstretched hooves smashed directly into the small wolf’s cheek and sent it stumbling. She landed shakily and then spun on the spot, throwing her rear into the air before giving the strongest buck she could. Her legs whined at the pain from the impact; the wolf hardly seemed to flinch. And then it, too, gave a mournful howl. With a few furious barks it turned and fled, pelting through the corridors and outside. The larger one, too, ran, and it was easy to see why; behind them a small unicorn foal’s horn was alight with fire, and the beasts’ bodies simultaneously smoldered before bursting into flames. Their legs collapsed in mid stride and they lay, writhing, as the fire devoured their pelts and flesh. Acrid smoke flooded the corridors, despite the open entrance doors; it took a few heavily bucked windows to let it all out before it smothered them. Blue spluttered as she bucked a final window open, her eyes squeezed shut. She stumbled back to the wall, falling to her rump and hacking violently. Her body shuddered each time. With a snarl she then shakily rose to her hooves, using rushes of air from her wings to try to clear the air in front of her. It only worked to a degree. “Rip?” she uttered, slowly stepping forwards with her eyes squeezed tightly shut. The smoke from the still whining wolves’ roasted flesh stung at her skin and made her heave slightly. “R-RipEar? Are you there?” No answer. Blue hissed and stumbled forwards a little faster. Her hooves entwined as she moved, sending her falling every other second. The air felt colder and heavier now. “RipEar! RipEar, please, this isn’t funny!” She hissed and hunched her back. Her rear hoof bucked out quickly, slashing through the air. She painted heavily, but still kept her eyes shut. “RipEar!” “Hey, hey!” A hoof that she knew well connected with Blue’s before wrapping around her shoulders. “I’m here, idiot. I’m not leaving you out here alone.” Blue let out a sigh of relief and began to open her eyes. Indeed, in the dim light of the airship, RipEar stood shakily. His blue mane was singed and his tan fur was now patchy in places. One of his eyes was squinted shut, but the other grey one shone relatively brightly. After a momentary smile, however, his horn redirected his dagger and he turned on the spot, one fore hoof slightly favoured. He hid it well. “But we aren’t alone,” he growled; his ears fell as he spoke. “The question is, what do you want from us, filly?” His glare fell down the corridor, aimed at the still crackling flames. They fizzled out with a large puff of smoke. A small foal, with a coat as black as the soot now coating the walls and a mane of fiery hues, stood fearfully. Her eyes darted between the semi-disintegrated pile of wolf pieces and the stallion before her with the dagger. With a visible gulp, the filly whimpered and shakily fell to her chest, her rump still elevated. She let her head lie flat against the now-warm metal floor and chewed slowly, cautiously, in a primitive display of submission. RipEar took a lame, but still threatening, step forwards and snorted at her. She flinched. “I’m sane, honest!” she yipped, then throwing her hoof over her mouth as if realising speaking may not have been the best idea. Before RipEar could make a move, however, Blue whimpered and dragged her body forwards. She placed a hoof on RipEar’s grimy shoulder, still breathing heavily. “Let the foal speak, Rip,” she said. Her voice was quiet and shook with each syllable, but there was no doubting that she was being serious. The stallion only let his mouth fall open and stared blankly at her; the filly did the same. With a sigh, he then hung his head and slouched, slowly sitting—but the dagger remained pointed directly at the foal’s forehead. “Well, spit it out then,” he growled. Blue scowled slightly at him and batted at his shoulder. He only snapped his teeth weakly back at her neck, eyes suddenly cold. “And you, shut it. This isn’t your world. You don’t have a clue what it’s like out here. So don’t pretend to fucking well understand.” Blue gulped and shrunk back from RipEar's side a little. He then nodded curtly and refocused his attention on the filly, dagger slipping closer to her. “One minute, kid,” he hissed. His ears were now fully pinned to his neck. “Convince me. Or get out of the fucking way.” Author's Note This is short and way overdue, but it’s the start to the next chapter which is going to be a long, exploratory one. Thanks for sticking with me! For faster updates, consider perhaps becoming my first patron on Patreon? Aeluna Chapter FiveThe little filly lay quietly on the floor, cowering visibly. RipEar only glared down at her, snorting all the while. “Hurry it up!” he snapped, his hoof smashing heavily against the ground. As he thrust it down, the edge nicked the filly’s cheek; her skin was torn open, forming a jagged gash. She flinched but otherwise kept quiet, burying her head deeper into her chest. RipEar’s posture stiffened more and he ground his teeth loudly. The magic around his horn then spasmed and he made to grab the filly’s ear roughly with the aura. Blue gasped and raised a hoof to stop him; she quickly found herself bucked back to the ground heavily, the dagger spinning for just a second to point at her. She didn’t need a better warning than that. RipEar snarled as he threw his neck backwards, jerking the little filly’s head up so that she stared straight into his eyes. She made to turn her gaze anywhere else; he snarled loudly this time and tugged at her ear roughly before releasing it again. “Talk,” was his single, spat-out word. She glanced around quickly before her posture slouched even more. She nodded slowly. “I’m alone,” was how she began, her words shaky. “I was travelling with my Mum, but… well, we got to the old Vanhoover Ruins and…” The filly’s words trailed off. RipEar snorted again. “Let me guess,” he snapped, his eyes narrowed. “She got eaten by those bloody burrowbugs?” Blue’s ears pricked. “Burrow—” she began. RipEar sighed visibly and appeared to deflate, even if only slightly. He turned to her, one eye still watching the filly intently. “Later, Blue,” he said. “Now really isn’t the time for a lesson on the baddies of the Scourge, is it?” Blue cringed and shook her head, looking away. RipEar scowled once again and rolled his eyes, then turning back to the filly—but he was somewhat quieter now when he spoke. “So what you doing here, then?” he said, his voice slower but still laced with danger. The filly sat a little straighter but kept an eye on RipEar warily all the same, her back hunched. “Well, Mum and I… We were heading this way anyway before she…” The filly closed her eyes and shook her head. “Well, I just kept going. I didn’t really have any plans other than getting down here. I just never imagined she would actually die on me. She was really tough. But those bugs just… They just surrounded us. But she just let them lay their eggs in her skin so that I could escape.” RipEar deflated a little more. His dagger still hung dangerously in the air, but the aura around it dimmed in brightness slightly as if he had withdrawn some power. “Sorry,” he grunted, then turning his head slowly. “That’s rough.” The filly nodded slowly and sniffled, wiping a hoof across her eyes. “It happens, I s’pose,” she murmured, then she gave a small, emotionless guffaw. She raised her forehoof and pointed to her flank, just about illuminated by RipEar’s magic. She stared directly at Blue when she spoke next. “I was lucky to get off so lightly, huh?” Blue recoiled. She then rose a visibly shaking hoof to point at the filly’s rear leg, panting heavily. “Lightly?” she squeaked. “Your back leg is gone!” The filly frowned. “Yeah,” she said, cocking her head. Her ears pricked forwards slightly and she moved her head closer, a curious frown upon her face. “I got a few burrowbug eggs under my skin just after leaving the city and… well, I didn’t have much of a choice really. If I let them hatch they’d have eaten me alive like they did to Mum.” Blue blubbered. “But it’s gone!” she squeaked once again, hyperventilating now. “You did what; amputate it?” The filly frowned. “Well, I did fix it up with a tourniquet first?” she said, pointing to the massive green vine which was tightly tied around the stump. “And I cauterised it and all.” Blue cringed. “But… How?” The filly frowned. “Don’t tell me you’ve never amputated anything, ever, before?” she said, tail flicking curiously. Blue blanched. “No!” she shrieked, shaking her head wildly. “Not that I can remember!” The filly looked her up and down and her eyes went wide. “Oh! Are you a PA?” “A wha—” RipEar’s magic flared and Blue and the filly shrunk back. “Enough chit-chat. We’re on the run here,” he growled before stepping closer to the filly. “I believe your story. But what reason do I have to risk you following us?” The filly squeaked and recoiled. She backed up against the wall, hooves held above her head. “I’m useful!” she squeaked, cautiously pointing a hoof to her horn. “I can make fire!” RipEar snarled. “I can make fire, too. Everypony in these damn lands can.” “No, no!” the filly cried, shaking her head. “I can control fire with a spell! That’s my talent, see?” RipEar’s eyes thinned. “You’re another mouth to feed,” he then said, stepping closer. The filly cringed. “And you’ve only got three legs. You’d slow us down. So I reckon you need a bloody good reason if you want me to leave you alone, wouldn’t you agree?” The filly pressed herself up against the wall as firmly as she could, heaving. “I killed those wolves! But I haven’t killed you! Doesn’t that say I’m not your enemy?” “Not in my books.” RipEar growled and pulled his dagger closer, resting it gently against the skin of the filly’s neck. “So, I’ll only say it once more: give me a good reason not to kill you.” The filly moaned and squirmed slightly, her eyes double their normal size and pinned straight on the dagger at her throat. She gasped quietly as RipEar dug it in deeper, drawing a tiny beading of blood. But before he could do any more, a small cough sounded. “I’ve got a reason, RipEar,” Blue said. Slowly—ever so warily—she stepped closer. She stood tall but the terror in her eyes was evident when she gazed up at him, and her voice shook when she spoke. The attempt at confidence was pathetic at best. “Because if you kill that filly, I swear, I won’t ever forgive you. You’ll be more worthless to me than… well, I don’t know what. But you’ll be absolutely nothing to me.” RipEar took a small breath in and stepped back. He drew the blade away shakily. His eyes went wide and his lips parted slightly; after a quick glance at the filly, he then sighed and stepped completely away. “This isn’t the facility, Blue,” he said. “Ponies out here will try to kill you.” Blue let out a breath and then said, “But this one hasn’t. And I’m no use, so you need somepony with some sort of skills. Don’t you?” RipEar snarled. He threw his head in the air. “I can survive alone,” he snapped, tail swishing in indignation. “Unlike some.” “RipEar…” Blue warned, staring straight at him. But he wouldn’t meet her gaze, and he didn’t reply at first. Eventually, however, he relented and slumped. “Fine,” he snapped, turning to the foal. “You can tag along with us. But I swear, if you make any funny moves… this dagger will be plunged right through your heart.” He smiled forcibly and held out a hoof, eyes thinned. “I’m RipEar, and this sorry pile of hide is Blue.” As she lowered herself down from the wall, the filly smiled and shook his hoof, though her movements were stiff. “Coalburst,” she whispered, turning her head to Blue. A more relaxed smile fell upon her face then. “Nice to meet you.” RipEar snorted. “The pleasure’s not mine,” he snapped. He turned tail quickly, taking a few steps forwards before freezing in place. He glanced down at the piles of disintegrated wolf, then back to Coalburst, and finally to Blue. He frowned. “You, filly. In front.” Coalburst opened her mouth to retort before she snapped it shut again. She then hung her head and slunk forwards with her short tail drooped. Her ears fell back as she passed him and her eyes flicked about rapidly. “Can I use my magic?” RipEar frowned again. “No.” The little filly’s back hunched up. She paused and turned around, a hoof raised as she murmured, ”Not even if there’s something else here?” RipEar was quiet. He then spoke slowly, every word enunciated perfectly. “I don’t trust you. If you so much as light your horn up, I will stab you.” The filly squeaked and nodded quickly, scarpering forwards. RipEar gave a small nod of approval and then began to follow, waving his hoof at Blue behind him. “Keep close,” he grunted, pausing in mid-stride to let her catch up. “I swear, you do not know what you’re up against out here.” Blue nodded slowly, swallowing deeply. “Mmhmm,” she whispered, pressing herself up against RipEar’s side as firmly as she could, though she stiffened slightly when she did so. Her feathers brushed against his soft, tan fur; he opened his mouth to snap, but then quietened when he saw just how hunched she was. “Hey, hey,” he said, pausing to brush a strand of forelock from her eyes. “I’ll protect you, honest. I’ll do everything I can to get you somewhere safe.” Blue nodded slowly. Just as RipEar made to move again, though, she pushed away from him ever so slightly. He turned his head to face her again, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She looked up at him cautiously, suddenly shaking again. After a brief silence, she then whispered, “I didn’t know you were so vicious.” RipEar froze. He then took a small step backwards, glancing quickly to check the filly ahead of them. She had stopped and had pressed herself against the wall, waiting quietly for them to catch up. He then sighed and said, “Look, Blue, I’m not going to hurt you. I swear. But…” He fell quiet for a moment. He then finished with, “You just don’t know me, do you?” “Rip—“ He shook his head. His dark blue forelock covered his eyes slightly as he did so, but that did little to help; it was easy to picture the suddenly blank, emotionless haze that fell over his eyes. “I shouldn’t expect you to understand me yet,” he said. His face contorted into a scowl. “I just… I’m sorry, Blue. I just struggle sometimes, even now, to remember that you aren’t the same mare that I…” He tapped the ground quietly with his hoof. The metal walls echoed the sound faintly. “You aren’t the mare I once travelled with anymore. You only know the facility version of me. That's just one side; the nice side. The unspoiled side, I guess.” “But why—“ RipEar held up a hoof. “Blue, you’ve gotta understand something. The facility was pretty safe. But this world... It isn’t. The Scourge is named that for a reason. Out here, ponies consider the stuff of your worst nightmares to be a good and probably productive day. If you wake up after going to sleep, you're pretty much thriving.” He sighed again. “This lifestyle changes a pony. And it’s changed me. But… well, that’s just how it is. If you can’t stand travelling with a vicious stallion, then I can’t stop you from going it alone. But I swear, if you do, you will die.” Blue was quiet. “Why do you care?” she finally said, her voice quavering. “You’re a loner, I know that much, so why keep this—“ She opened her wings and twitched the feathers above her head, “—sorry pile of hide around?” RipEar was stunned. His mouth opened and closed a few times, completely at a loss. Finally, after an excruciating silence, he then said, “I can’t tell you. But you’ll understand one day.” RipEar turned away from her, walking forwards once again. And, try as Blue might, she could not get him to utter a single word more.
PrologueAuthor's Note Hi there everyone. Before we begin, I just wanted to thank you for choosing this fic to read. After years of planning and rewrites, I really hope it will go down well. This will get dark quickly. If this isn't your cup of tea, you might want to consider choosing a different story. Thanks again! Aeluna Prologue “Your Highness!” Tired hooves fiddled with an old, semi-frayed quill, but try as she might she could not form any words on the parchment before her. Even more fatigued eyes hung low as they beheld the blank expanse, their usual sparkle diminished. Her years were finally catching up to her, it seemed; her flawless face was littered with wrinkles, and her mane no longer flowed in the wind. The hair itself looked dead and dry, but that was nothing compared to how dead she felt inside. Indeed, it took a great deal of effort for her to raise her heavy head up to see her new company. “What is it, General?” she murmured. Her voice was quiet. Almost impossible to hear. Nevertheless, it still held something of an air of sophistication and confidence. That was only a habit. She had no hope left. The mare who stood before her—a unicorn—bowed respectfully, but her movements were rushed and sloppy. Her sword clattered against the polished metal of her bloodied armour. A crimson droplet fell to the dusty floor. “We are surrounded, Princess,” she said, her words fumbled but still relatively slow. The old mare did not show much reaction to that statement, save for the weak yellow glow of her horn as she pulled a book closer to her from the pedestal on which it rested nearby. “They impersonated our armies, and now they've come to the base by train. We don't know if anypony has survived. There has been no intel.” The great mare nodded once. She then unfurled her dishevelled wings and slowly rose so as to step towards the window. Lo, she could see them now; a wave of acrid green light poured out as the intruders dropped their transformations. They marched on the city from all sides, a massive wall of black. “Thank you, little one,” the mare said, the tiniest of smiles ushering the newcomer away. “Retire to your home for today. You should see your loved ones once more before…” The great mare trailed off, just as the entrance door was slammed open. The guards hurled their spears forwards at once, only for them to be deflected by a bright blue aura. The general took that as her excuse to leave, shooting from the room without a second thought for formalities and conduct. Who could blame her? “Celestia, Sister! Tell me it's not true!” the newcomer pleaded. The white mare hung her head and pulled the book to her side, unenthusiastically flipping through pages to the one she had looked at so often. The text was hundreds of years old, but the particular page of interest was very nearly dust by now. “It is, Luna. You can see it from the windows.” The smaller mare froze on the spot. She then turned her head to the outside and peered out cautiously; her ears fell back and her pupils shrunk immediately at the sight. She clamped her tail and let her wings fall to the ground. She had taken time to preen her feathers, at least. They were now covered with dust. But that wouldn't matter for long. “Tia…” she prompted, shrinking back from the wall. “Tia, our ponies…” “Our ponies are doomed.” The larger mare’s words were harsh and cold and blunt. There was no emotion then. All of her tears had already fallen. “No! No, we cannot just give in!” The blue mare stood tall and stomped her hoof. Her blue aura then snagged the precious page from the old book. She all but thrust it into her sister’s face, scanning it quickly at the same time. Her ears pricked and a small smile grew on her muzzle. And then she reached the final lines, the notes, and her face fell once more. “This spell… is one of Star Swirl’s, correct?” “Indeed.” The smaller mare was quiet for a minute before she let out a small breath. “What choice do we have?” The great mare shook her head. “We could be condemning our own ponies to die, Luna! If we make a mistake… if we are not completely specific in our answer, anything could happen! We don't know what that disclaimer reads; the ink is all gone. It could be critical!” “But it's our only hope.” The smaller mare was right, and so the larger let out a sigh and rose a hoof. She ushered her guards out, an order they followed immediately. She then linked her hoof with the smaller mare, eyes focused directly on the approaching changelings, and began to speak. “All is lost, but the lost is found. Upon mine enemies bestow this cursed charm. Deliver unto them a plague of dismay, in their downed hoofprints we lead the way.” A single thought ran through the large mare’s mind then. Changelings. And then, just as the magic was about to taper away, she had a realisation. The changelings could be literally anything; she would need to target the whole land. And then her magic fizzled off, and she was quiet for a moment. And then she screamed. “My mind wandered!” she cried, suddenly much more alive as she gasped for air. The smaller took a sharp inhale and shot to the window with a heavy flap of her wings, where a thick cloud of green-tainted grey now grew at tremendous speeds. A noxious cloud of deadly, magical viruses. “A health charm! We need a shield!” the small mare cried. The larger nodded as she let out a shrill cry for her guards. They were there in a second. “Get Twilight and Cadence! Get the Wonderbolts! We must get as many ponies as possible brought here in half an hour!” The guards squeaked, fumbling for their weapons as they rushed from the Throne Room. The large mare then collapsed, wailing over the screams of the changelings half a mile away. “Thirty minutes,” the smaller mare said, her hoof jammed against the larger one’s side. “Thirty minutes to evacuate, then we put a health bubble up. Right?” There was no answer. “Alright?!” The older mare mumbled and rose shakily to her hooves. “Fine. Half an hour. We’ll save as many as we can.” The blue mare then frowned. “And the rest?” There came no answer as the great white mare disappeared from the room in a flash of pale, shimmering yellow to leave her sister alone in the great expanse. And then, a second later, she too vanished. Because in half an hour, a massive health bubble would have to be erected, and there would be nopony coming in or out any more. Because ninety-nine percent would be dead.
Chapter TwoBlue groaned and let her eyes slowly drag themselves open. The first thing that hit her was how dark everything seemed; she could hardly make out the shape of her hoof in front of her, let alone any of her surroundings. The next thing she noticed was the horrid chill that crept under her skin and sent shudders through her body. There was a complete lack of wind, but that didn’t help in the slightest when the very air itself felt as if it was frozen solid. Pain racked her body as she shifted slightly. She squeezed her wings to her side in an attempt to dispel it, but to no avail. Hence, with a little whimper, she placed her hooves firmly against the uneven rock below and pushed herself up to a standing position. A wave of dizziness rushed over her and she took a sharp breath in, splaying her legs so as to brace herself. When she didn’t find herself sprawled out on her chest, she then took a few seconds to regain her composure before straightening slowly. She shivered, unfurling her wings and wrapping them around her chest. The feathers offered little warmth, however, and she could only settle with accepting the wicked chill which crept down her throat with each breath, freezing her from the inside out. She could at least partially see by now, though the sight which met her eyes did little to make her pains better. A pathetic trickle of light entered her surroundings through a small hole a few metres away, barely enough to let her see. Still, she could now be relatively confident that she was in some sort of tiny cave and, critically, she was alone. Was that good or bad? She didn’t know anymore. “Rip!” she whispered loudly, taking a few tentative steps forwards. She winced with each hoof placement, her body already searing from the lacerations which now marred her skin. She didn’t dare look back at herself; the thought of the blood alone was enough to make her heave, let alone the sight too. “RipEar, where are you?” There came no reply. She hadn’t expected there to be, but the knowledge that she was well and truly alone sent shudders down her spine once again. And then, from somewhere in the distance, a mournful cry sounded against the silence of the world. “Oh, Luna,” she whispered, scarpering backwards before her legs suddenly gave out on her. As she took stolen breaths her gaze snapped on that tiny entrance, suddenly aware of how alone and defenceless she was. The light stench of damp reached her nostrils then; she hissed and recoiled further, feeling around desperately with a hoof for some sort of ammunition should she need it. “Come on, come on…” And then she felt something. Not a rock or brick, as she had hoped, but something soft. It was almost spongy in texture, and warm against her hoof too; when she let her eyes squint in that direction she noticed a faint green glow coming from what looked like a patch of plants. Moss? Of course, she hadn’t ever truly seen the stuff, but that was what it looked like in the old facility books. Slowly the thoughts of being alone left her, replaced solely with the idea of having somewhere warm to lie down. Somewhere out of this blasted cold. She inched herself up onto her hooves. Then she slowly dragged herself towards the pile until she could properly place a hoof down into its softness. A relieved sigh escaped her lips and she let her eyes slip shut, enjoying the feel of the warmth over her hoof. She then leaned forwards, just about to flop down. She could feel the warm glow against her underbelly already. “Blue! The fuck d’you think you’re doing?” She heard RipEar’s cry just before she felt the chill of his magic wrap around her neck, hoisting her away from her bed in mid-flop. With a hiss she landed heavily on her chest, pain erupting there and coursing throughout her body. Bucking out with her rear legs in distress, she then snapped, “What was that all about?” RipEar scowled as he slunk through the entrance and into the cave. He didn’t say anything in response, and Blue didn’t take it upon herself to repeat her words. He wouldn’t answer. Instead he busied himself with the loot he now carried in his magic, though she struggled to make out exactly what it was in the darkness. Or, rather, she struggled momentarily. A few seconds later, however, RipEar pulled out a small cardboard box from his saddlebags and then, from it, a match; in an instant a small fire formed, crackling delightfully and spreading the tiniest bit of warmth throughout the cave. Compared to before, even that was heaven. RipEar didn't look nearly as thrilled as Blue felt, though. As she crept forwards to savour the warmth, her teeth ground together in pain and his scowl deepened. She let her heavy wings unfurl slowly. A small smile graced her muzzle and her lips parted slightly. A small breath left her. However, when she glanced up at RipEar, his dour expression made her recoil. “You need to be more careful,” he hissed, clumping up a small ball of some sort of dried grass before pushing it gingerly into the crackling flames. The campfire gave off a small burst of light as a way of saying thanks. “We aren’t in the facility anymore, Blue. You’ve gotta watch your back out here.” Blue sat up straighter and folded her wings across her chest once more. “Right,” she mumbled. “Outside. Yeah. But what’s that—” RipEar scowled through the flames. “Look down at your hoof, you idiot,” he snapped. Blue’s ears fell but she did as she was told nevertheless, raising her hoof to eye level in the firelight—and then she promptly screamed, the skin red and raw and completely furless. “Wha—” she cried, waving her hoof around as if to dispel the pain that ought to have existed. That only made it more terrifying. “Why can’t I feel it?” RipEar threw up his hooves. “Woah, woah!” he yelled, punching the air with each shout. “Calm down already! It’s not an issue, seriously, but it could’ve been.” “Could’ve been? There’s worse than this?” RipEar huffed and scooted closer to a hyperventilating Blue, dragging his saddlebags with him. “Of course there is, you dolt,” he said, but he received none of her attention. He sighed. Hoof raised, he then slapped it across her muzzle so as to draw a squeak from her. That worked, at least. “This is the Scourge, Blue. It’s not known for its”—he gestured to the glowing moss—”vibrant array of potted plants. You don’t know this place like I do. It’s a hell hole.” Blue was quiet for a moment. With a sniffle she then hunched her back and curled up on the cold, unforgiving floor. She drew her legs to her chest. “We’re gonna die.” The flames ebbed for a moment before a soft breath of air got them burning again. “Hey, don’t say that, silly mare,” RipEar said, placing a hoof on Blue’s chin so as to tilt her head up to him. “We are not going to die. You know why? ‘Cos I had a pretty great life before all this shit, and I sure intend to get it back.” Blue’s lips cracked a small smile. “You mean it?” RipEar nodded. “S’long as you’re not going to keep being stupid about things, sure.” Blue was quiet for a moment before she shuffled slightly closer to him, nuzzling his cheek gently. RipEar stiffened. With terse jerks he moved his hoof up to her chest and pushed her away slowly, suddenly eyeing her carefully. “Steady on there,” he said. His voice had suddenly developed a somewhat shaky tone. “You should be careful. You’re hurt.” She couldn’t help it. Almost out of instinct she turned her head around. It was a brief glance, so brief, but it was too much. There was so much red. She screamed. A hoof slammed across her mouth almost the same instant that she let the breath leave her mouth. RipEar’s eyes were suddenly cold in the spitting light from the fire. They flitted to and from the door, almost panicked. “What the hell?” he hissed, withdrawing his hoof slowly. With his magic he slowly levitated a small, intricately carved dagger from his saddlebags. He then turned so as to face the doorway and held it out in front of him, blade pointed forwards, and finished with, “What part of ‘We’re in the damned Scourge now’ didn’t you get?” Blue whimpered quietly, recoiling slightly and forcing herself not to let any of her fur come into view. After a few seconds, though, RipEar spoke once more after letting out a sigh. “You’ve gotta get a grip, Blue,” he said, his voice suddenly gentler again. He sounded almost strained, as if in pain. “The Scourge isn’t forgiving. It will take everything if you’re weak enough to let it.” He paused. When Blue began to murmur a response, he finished. The ever-so-slight breeze which blew through the cave then almost drowned out his voice. “It’s already taken you from me once. Don’t leave me for good.” Blue closed her mouth and shrunk backwards. The stallion was now sat hunched over and silent. A few quivering breaths racked his body. “Rip?” Blue asked, her voice shaky. “Please, I…” RipEar did not acknowledge her. When she began to sit a little taller, though, his ears twitched and his horn lit up. With a half-hearted tug he dumped his saddlebags into her lap, just as a small gust of wind blew through the cave. The fire was snubbed out instantly to leave only a couple of dying embers. Within seconds they perished. “There’re crackers in there,” RipEar said. His voice had practically no lilt at all. “Eat up, quickly. We’ve got a long journey ahead of us.” Blue momentarily hesitated, but relented a few seconds later. With haste she nuzzled around in the bag, knocking aside small glass bottles and odd, lumpy parcels before she finally found a small package, wrapped in some sort of stiff cloth. Hide, perhaps? Blue unfolded the package quickly. Three small crackers, broken into pieces, tumbled out into her hoof. They were gone in an instant, though; the going-stale texture and predictably bland taste left her smacking her lips for something more. But they weren’t in the facility now. She couldn’t just get a slice of cheese or some nut butter to actually make it worthwhile. Because this was the Scourge. Things didn’t work that way. Blue sighed and shook the scrap of material out, then folding it neatly before placing it carefully back into the mess she’d made of the saddlebag. Grabbing the straps between her teeth, she then clambered to her hooves and dragged herself over to RipEar’s side before placing the packs over his back gently, just behind his shoulders. He turned his head to her slowly. His face was masked in a blank, distant scowl, though it was hard to see in the near-darkness. He bowed his head. “You ready?” he asked. Blue nodded slowly, fidgeting slightly. Small twinges shot up her leg when she applied any pressure to her now-furless hoof, and her entire body stung from the deep lacerations that littered it. “As I’ll ever be,” she squeaked. RipEar’s scowl softened. He patted her shoulder gently, smiling a little. “Just don’t do anything stupid, okay?” RipEar begged. When Blue nodded he lowered his dagger slightly in the air and pulled a second blade—a semi-blunt and well-used weapon, but a weapon nonetheless—from somewhere in his saddlebags. How he’d found it, she had no idea. When he offered it to her, however, she cringed and took a few steps backwards; his lips curved into a smile and he nestled it back in its place, shaking his head. “You’ll want it sooner or later. Seriously. Wuss or not.” Blue opened her mouth to retort before she realised that she really had no leg to stand on in the matter. With a sigh, she then nodded again and fluffed her feathers up a little, the breeze nipping at her fur chillingly. RipEar took a few slow steps to begin with, cautiously heading towards the door. With a quick, backwards glance he then stood taller, poked his dagger out of the hole and slunk through. Blue hastened to follow him, fumbling over her sore hooves until she, too, was truly outside. If the cave had felt cold, this was excruciating. The wind howled up above and stripped Blue of any warmth she may have had. Her mane and tail blew about her frame, effectively blinding her as she attempted to see what the real world looked like. But the sight that met her eyes when it temporarily quietened was not at all what she had expected. The land around her position was completely barren of any and all life, but that was not the worst bit. Nothing could beat her shock at the sight of the sky above. Because the sky was split at the center, divided evenly between day and night.
Chapter ThreeInside the freezing walls of the cave, the wind had not been strong. The air had been cold—so cold—but that was bearable. This was not. Blue hissed as the wind tore any heat she had stored up from her body. She shivered violently, grinding her teeth whilst she shrank her body down. Despite her fluffed up feathers and fur, though, her muscles still spasmed and her legs visibly trembled on the spot. “Get moving,” came RipEar’s gruff voice from her side. With squinted eyes—her best attempt at protecting them from the onslaught of air—she glanced to him slowly. Her neck hardly moved. It was practically frozen stiff. When she did meet his gaze, though, she noted that he danced on the spot too and had much the same posture as she; it had been so easy to forget that, even though he knew what awaited them out here, he was just as unfamiliar with these extremes of temperature and exposure. He had spent the past year in the facility, just as she had. Blue glanced forwards cautiously. The outside world was seemingly endless. Everywhere she looked the eternal expanse spread out before her eyes; the horizon was coloured black against the dim, bleak blue of the sky. Wait. Blue yelped and threw her head upwards. Angry, heavy clouds—dark grey clusters—zipped through the cold night air, carried by the fearsome wind. They convulsed as they moved. It was freakish, as if they were alive. Blue’s skin crawled immediately at the thought–but something bigger had caught her eye. It was a wonder she had missed it to begin with. Beyond the cloud clusters, only slightly able to illuminate the world beneath, the sun and moon hung together in the sky. Where they clashed, a hazy line was drawn, indicating the point at which light met dark in a striking clash of colours. Bright versus black. Day versus night. “What—” Blue began, her voice breathy and weak. It was at that moment, though, that the wailing of the wind was interrupted. A drawn-out, echoing howl flooded her mind; she scarpered backwards instinctively, the pain from her foreleg suddenly dulled by the adrenaline which coursed through her veins. She slammed past RipEar, unable to think of anything except escaping. The cliff floor fell away from her hooves sharply, without even the slightest warning. Blue screamed. Shooting down, she unfurled her wings with a cry and hastened to flap them. They broke through the air with a complete lack of synchrony; thrown off course, she smashed into the rock face muzzle-first. She dropped like a stone, her wings suddenly not working against the whistle of the air across her body. This was it. With a scream of terror, Blue flailed in the air, every limb out of sync with the others. The ground sped up to her at unthinkable speeds. Minute pebbles quadrupled in size with each millisecond that passed. The wind was too strong; too fast; too painful to let her open her eyes. She was effectively blind. Her body tensed, her legs and wings now clamped to her body. She clenched her jaw in readiness. The breath left her, and she didn’t take another in. And then she was no longer falling. The first thing she realised, with a sickened feeling, was that she could no longer feel anything. Her legs, her wings, her ears, her muzzle… There was nothing! She opened her mouth to scream, to cry out to RipEar for help—and then realised she had no mouth with which to scream! And then, completely involuntarily, she gasped. Her eyes shot open and her wings flared, flapping sporadically. Her legs twitched and spasmed. And then she suddenly remembered what pain was, the dock of her tail sending massive waves of agony through her body from seemingly out of nowhere. “Argh!” she cried, bucking with her back legs frantically. In a futile attempt to escape the pain she beat the air with her wings heavily, but the movements were still poorly timed and only served to make her body swing wildly. That made it worse. Honestly, she would probably never be so relieved to have her body smashed into cold, rough, hard rock again in her life. But, right then, that new pain was a welcome change from the hell that was being hoisted through the air by her tail. “What the fuck, Blue?” RipEar snapped, and his voice sent a shudder through Blue’s spine. She couldn’t look up at him yet—though even to lift her head seemed difficult right now. “You fell off a fucking cliff! How the hell do you manage that?” Blue didn’t answer. After a few small hoof stomps, RipEar then sighed and hoisted her to her hooves with his magic, dumping her unceremoniously at his side. “Look, Blue,” he began, his voice still quavering with anger. “You’ve gotta get with the programme. I’ll look after you. I got you to this bloody place when we left the Pe—home. When we left home. And believe me, that wasn’t an easy trek. So when I say to you, I’ll get you across the Scourge in one piece, I mean it.” RipEar silenced momentarily. He then sighed and draped a foreleg over Blue’s back. “Okay?” Blue nodded slowly. “That howl…” she then began, her words slow. RipEar shook his head at her. “You’ve gotta get used to it,” was all he said before turning away. As he began to take the first few steps, though, he added with a glance backwards, “There’s a lot of monsters out here. A lot worse than the ponies that attacked the Facility. Question is, can you handle that? Because if not, you might as well just curl up in that cave and die quietly.” “W-what?” “You heard me.” RipEar turned his head away as he spoke, ascending into a slow trot across the narrow, uneven path. “The Blue I knew once had no problem out here. But you aren’t that mare anymore, so I can’t tell you how you’ll cope out here. But you know what? You were down in the disposal”—he spat that word—“books in the facility, so your odds of surviving are infinitely higher out here.” “Disposal?” Blue squeaked, her wings suddenly clamping down to her sides and her tail to her legs. But RipEar was already walking away, his short tail swishing to and fro. It was almost as if he was happy to be out here again. A massive gust of wind, strong enough to make Blue stumble into the rocky wall of the track, reminded her of why she most definitely wasn’t glad. With a shiver, she fluffed up her feathers and took a slow breath. She pinned her ears to her neck and then ascended into a slow trot. Like it or not, the Scourge was supposedly her home now. And RipEar had saved her from annihilation. Technically speaking, she ought to at least try to survive. She owed him that much. The slow trot down the slope, however, did little to convince her that she stood even half a chance out here. With each drawn out, haunting howl—they were definitely getting louder and longer—she bolted. More than once, she shot straight into RipEar’s perfectly rounded rump (though that wasn’t such a torture for her, she had to admit). After a heavy-hoofed buck of aggravation from him the fifth time she had done so, she settled for ambling skittishly a few metres behind him. Every out-of-place noise made her jump, but she only fell off the cliff path again once. RipEar didn’t see or hear that, so all in all, she considered the trip down to be a success. By the time the pair reached the base of the cliff, Blue was walking with significantly less stiffness. Perhaps she had overreacted. Was this so bad? Sure, it was dark and freezing out here—she couldn’t feel her ears anymore—and there were so, so many terrifying noises… but the only thing to endanger her so far had been herself. The howling sounded again. She brushed it off. It was louder now, yes, but each time she had heard it nothing bad had happened. No nightmarish dogs or wolves had appeared in thin air as she seemed to have expected; it was fine, right? “Hey, Blue,” RipEar grunted. He stopped and turned to face her, though not after scanning the open valley they now found themselves in with his dagger and horn light. Satisfied, he raised a hoof in the direction they were headed in. “Look over there.” Blue did as she was told. Squinting, she licked her lips slowly as she fought to make anything out—and then she saw it. “What is that?” she whispered. She felt almost speechless at the size of the clearly pony-made contraption which lay, rotting slowly, a short distance away. It must have easily been as tall as a tree! There weren’t any to compare it to out here, though. This land was quite literally barren of life. Since she’d only seen trees in century old facility books, it was arguably a little hard to tell. “That’s an airship,” he said. “Been there since the outbreak, I’d guess. It looked in good repair when we came here last. Well, for a crashed one. Figured it might be our best hope for some supplies. Gear and the likes. Anypony who is stupid enough to venture out this far into the desert is either at death’s door by now or on the hunt for the facility. Maybe both. So searching such wreckage probably hasn’t been on anypony’s mind.” Blue raised an eyebrow and glanced at the airship. “A century from then, and no one has grabbed this loot you’re expecting. Really?” RipEar shrugged. “Well, airships have bloody good locks and defences too. So if you can pick a lock—or, I guess, buck it off—then they’re usually a good place to start. Plus, the worst enemy you’ll find in there would probably be a mutant fly or something, and so long as there’s not a whole swarm, they’re easy to handle.” Blue shuddered. This was fine. No need to get enemies involved. “Right,” she murmured. Her eyes landed on RipEar’s dagger and didn’t leave it, just in case he was to somehow lose it. They needed that. As they neared the airship, the incredible craftsmanship of the thing became known. It was a real beast, with an unpenetrated metal case and a distinct lack of windows at all. It was a monstrosity. Around its edges semi-luminescent mosses had begun to grow—one snapped at Blue when she got too close—but that did little to hide it. RipEar headed straight for the massive door when they reached it, making short work of the heavy duty padlock there. How had he done that? He then glanced about quickly before he beckoned her in. She shot after him immediately. The lack of wind upon entering the airship was heavenly. RipEar overtook her straight away, dagger held out in front of him as he began to walk along the corridors of the first floor. Blue followed like a loyal puppy, trotting along gayly—until she heard something that made her stop in her tracks. A thud sounded somewhere above. Then the howling noise returned, ten times louder than before. A filly’s scream, impossibly loud, sliced through the air and through Blue’s ears. She reeled, gasping for breath. RipEar hadn’t even flinched. But they weren’t alone. Author's Note Hey all, Thanks for reading! If you're enjoying this, the best was to support me is with thumbs up! Aeluna
Chapter FourRipEar had not reacted to the scream at all. Blue hissed and shot to his side. Her eyes flitted about wildly as she pranced along and her body twitched with every other stride, spasming from terror. Her wings ruffled constantly; when the cry reverberated through the airship’s corridors again, the feathers snapped to action and she shot upwards. She crashed into the roof with a grunt. When she fell to the ground, heaving and winded, RipEar only sent cold glares in her direction. “You’ve got to be fucking with me,” he barked with a heavy stomp of his hoof. His horn sparked once. “What is your problem now?” It took a moment for her lungs to recover again. When they did, Blue took a massive, quavery breath. She shook where she lay, unable to look directly at RipEar with her attention focused everywhere else. “Didn’t you hear that?” she hissed, gingerly stepping to her shaky hooves. Pain shot through her body, but adrenaline muffled it. The airship was silent now; everything was so perfectly still. The air fell heavily upon Blue’s back, crackling with tense energy. “There was a scream, Rip!” She shuddered on the spot, spinning uncontrollably—and then she froze. The filly wailed this time, but her cry was quieter. Weaker. And then there came a cacophony of chilling, fearless barks. RipEar’s ears fell back and he ground his teeth quickly. His eyes darted about and he snagged the blade in his magic, beckoning Blue to his side. His nostrils flared rapidly and he stood taller. He thrust his chest forwards and splayed his legs, tail swishing in readiness to fight. His determined scowl quickly morphed into one of confusion, however; he took a small step back so that he was slightly pressed against the wall and murmured, “Can you smell burning?”. And then there came a crack. The pair glanced upwards immediately, and both noticed the massive gash that had appeared in the roof; before they could move, the entire ceiling gave way. It collapsed around them with a massive round of crashes and booms. Blue screamed, flared out her wings and smashed head-first into RipEar’s rump. The two skidded out of the way, pelted with dagger-like shards as they smashed into the door of the airship’s janitor cupboard. The wood splintered against the force. The pair tumbled through painfully, landing entwined in a heap. “Ugh,” Blue moaned. She shook her head groggily and began to fight to find her footing. Amazingly, RipEar was already back on his hooves and was—if a little shakily now—brandishing his dagger. With a hiss Blue followed suit, using a weak flap of her wings to help her stand steadily. The sight that met her eyes, however, made her whimper and reel backwards. Before her, two massive wolves slunk forwards. They salivated madly as they stepped closer, and as they approached it became easier to see their features. Both were without most of their fur and the smaller sported an extra line of claws along its spine. They seemed to twitch, rising up threateningly each time Blue or RipEar moved. In the deadly red glint of the flames behind them, they seemed to glow. The wolves snapped their massive jaws and jumped forwards jerkily; erratically. Their tails swished excitedly, without fail. The claws on their paws scratched along the dusty floor of the airship. The shriek it made sent shivers down Blue’s spine. “Get back,” RipEar snapped. He didn’t let her react; almost instantly he rose his hoof and thrust her backwards so that she fell to her rump behind him, merely watching from the sidelines. That was fine by her. The larger wolf pounced, jaws open wide in a deadly attack. RipEar reacted almost as if on instinct, leaping to the right just before it clamped its teeth down into his flesh. A small patch of blood beaded on the fur of his shoulder, but he was too exhilarated to notice. The dagger was thrust forwards with lethal speed and impaled the beast straight through its eye. It howled and scarpered backwards, pawing at the blade, just as its friend attacked. The smaller wolf was ready; it landed heavily atop RipEar and knocked him to the floor, snapping and barking wildly at his throat. His desperate bucks, pinned to the ground as he was, did nothing; he merely flailed in place, watching in horror as each heavy snap got closer to tearing out his throat. “Run, Blue!” he cried. Frantically he tried to roll over; it was no use. The wolf now sat atop him—quite literally. It batted in amusement at his horn as it continued its snapping. Blue watched in horror as it tore a good sized piece of skin from the stallion’s cheek, making him scream. RipEar never screamed. Blue whimpered and flapped her wings. With her eyes closed tightly she used her hind legs against the wall as a sort of propulsion; her outstretched hooves smashed directly into the small wolf’s cheek and sent it stumbling. She landed shakily and then spun on the spot, throwing her rear into the air before giving the strongest buck she could. Her legs whined at the pain from the impact; the wolf hardly seemed to flinch. And then it, too, gave a mournful howl. With a few furious barks it turned and fled, pelting through the corridors and outside. The larger one, too, ran, and it was easy to see why; behind them a small unicorn foal’s horn was alight with fire, and the beasts’ bodies simultaneously smoldered before bursting into flames. Their legs collapsed in mid stride and they lay, writhing, as the fire devoured their pelts and flesh. Acrid smoke flooded the corridors, despite the open entrance doors; it took a few heavily bucked windows to let it all out before it smothered them. Blue spluttered as she bucked a final window open, her eyes squeezed shut. She stumbled back to the wall, falling to her rump and hacking violently. Her body shuddered each time. With a snarl she then shakily rose to her hooves, using rushes of air from her wings to try to clear the air in front of her. It only worked to a degree. “Rip?” she uttered, slowly stepping forwards with her eyes squeezed tightly shut. The smoke from the still whining wolves’ roasted flesh stung at her skin and made her heave slightly. “R-RipEar? Are you there?” No answer. Blue hissed and stumbled forwards a little faster. Her hooves entwined as she moved, sending her falling every other second. The air felt colder and heavier now. “RipEar! RipEar, please, this isn’t funny!” She hissed and hunched her back. Her rear hoof bucked out quickly, slashing through the air. She painted heavily, but still kept her eyes shut. “RipEar!” “Hey, hey!” A hoof that she knew well connected with Blue’s before wrapping around her shoulders. “I’m here, idiot. I’m not leaving you out here alone.” Blue let out a sigh of relief and began to open her eyes. Indeed, in the dim light of the airship, RipEar stood shakily. His blue mane was singed and his tan fur was now patchy in places. One of his eyes was squinted shut, but the other grey one shone relatively brightly. After a momentary smile, however, his horn redirected his dagger and he turned on the spot, one fore hoof slightly favoured. He hid it well. “But we aren’t alone,” he growled; his ears fell as he spoke. “The question is, what do you want from us, filly?” His glare fell down the corridor, aimed at the still crackling flames. They fizzled out with a large puff of smoke. A small foal, with a coat as black as the soot now coating the walls and a mane of fiery hues, stood fearfully. Her eyes darted between the semi-disintegrated pile of wolf pieces and the stallion before her with the dagger. With a visible gulp, the filly whimpered and shakily fell to her chest, her rump still elevated. She let her head lie flat against the now-warm metal floor and chewed slowly, cautiously, in a primitive display of submission. RipEar took a lame, but still threatening, step forwards and snorted at her. She flinched. “I’m sane, honest!” she yipped, then throwing her hoof over her mouth as if realising speaking may not have been the best idea. Before RipEar could make a move, however, Blue whimpered and dragged her body forwards. She placed a hoof on RipEar’s grimy shoulder, still breathing heavily. “Let the foal speak, Rip,” she said. Her voice was quiet and shook with each syllable, but there was no doubting that she was being serious. The stallion only let his mouth fall open and stared blankly at her; the filly did the same. With a sigh, he then hung his head and slouched, slowly sitting—but the dagger remained pointed directly at the foal’s forehead. “Well, spit it out then,” he growled. Blue scowled slightly at him and batted at his shoulder. He only snapped his teeth weakly back at her neck, eyes suddenly cold. “And you, shut it. This isn’t your world. You don’t have a clue what it’s like out here. So don’t pretend to fucking well understand.” Blue gulped and shrunk back from RipEar's side a little. He then nodded curtly and refocused his attention on the filly, dagger slipping closer to her. “One minute, kid,” he hissed. His ears were now fully pinned to his neck. “Convince me. Or get out of the fucking way.” Author's Note This is short and way overdue, but it’s the start to the next chapter which is going to be a long, exploratory one. Thanks for sticking with me! For faster updates, consider perhaps becoming my first patron on Patreon? Aeluna
Chapter FiveThe little filly lay quietly on the floor, cowering visibly. RipEar only glared down at her, snorting all the while. “Hurry it up!” he snapped, his hoof smashing heavily against the ground. As he thrust it down, the edge nicked the filly’s cheek; her skin was torn open, forming a jagged gash. She flinched but otherwise kept quiet, burying her head deeper into her chest. RipEar’s posture stiffened more and he ground his teeth loudly. The magic around his horn then spasmed and he made to grab the filly’s ear roughly with the aura. Blue gasped and raised a hoof to stop him; she quickly found herself bucked back to the ground heavily, the dagger spinning for just a second to point at her. She didn’t need a better warning than that. RipEar snarled as he threw his neck backwards, jerking the little filly’s head up so that she stared straight into his eyes. She made to turn her gaze anywhere else; he snarled loudly this time and tugged at her ear roughly before releasing it again. “Talk,” was his single, spat-out word. She glanced around quickly before her posture slouched even more. She nodded slowly. “I’m alone,” was how she began, her words shaky. “I was travelling with my Mum, but… well, we got to the old Vanhoover Ruins and…” The filly’s words trailed off. RipEar snorted again. “Let me guess,” he snapped, his eyes narrowed. “She got eaten by those bloody burrowbugs?” Blue’s ears pricked. “Burrow—” she began. RipEar sighed visibly and appeared to deflate, even if only slightly. He turned to her, one eye still watching the filly intently. “Later, Blue,” he said. “Now really isn’t the time for a lesson on the baddies of the Scourge, is it?” Blue cringed and shook her head, looking away. RipEar scowled once again and rolled his eyes, then turning back to the filly—but he was somewhat quieter now when he spoke. “So what you doing here, then?” he said, his voice slower but still laced with danger. The filly sat a little straighter but kept an eye on RipEar warily all the same, her back hunched. “Well, Mum and I… We were heading this way anyway before she…” The filly closed her eyes and shook her head. “Well, I just kept going. I didn’t really have any plans other than getting down here. I just never imagined she would actually die on me. She was really tough. But those bugs just… They just surrounded us. But she just let them lay their eggs in her skin so that I could escape.” RipEar deflated a little more. His dagger still hung dangerously in the air, but the aura around it dimmed in brightness slightly as if he had withdrawn some power. “Sorry,” he grunted, then turning his head slowly. “That’s rough.” The filly nodded slowly and sniffled, wiping a hoof across her eyes. “It happens, I s’pose,” she murmured, then she gave a small, emotionless guffaw. She raised her forehoof and pointed to her flank, just about illuminated by RipEar’s magic. She stared directly at Blue when she spoke next. “I was lucky to get off so lightly, huh?” Blue recoiled. She then rose a visibly shaking hoof to point at the filly’s rear leg, panting heavily. “Lightly?” she squeaked. “Your back leg is gone!” The filly frowned. “Yeah,” she said, cocking her head. Her ears pricked forwards slightly and she moved her head closer, a curious frown upon her face. “I got a few burrowbug eggs under my skin just after leaving the city and… well, I didn’t have much of a choice really. If I let them hatch they’d have eaten me alive like they did to Mum.” Blue blubbered. “But it’s gone!” she squeaked once again, hyperventilating now. “You did what; amputate it?” The filly frowned. “Well, I did fix it up with a tourniquet first?” she said, pointing to the massive green vine which was tightly tied around the stump. “And I cauterised it and all.” Blue cringed. “But… How?” The filly frowned. “Don’t tell me you’ve never amputated anything, ever, before?” she said, tail flicking curiously. Blue blanched. “No!” she shrieked, shaking her head wildly. “Not that I can remember!” The filly looked her up and down and her eyes went wide. “Oh! Are you a PA?” “A wha—” RipEar’s magic flared and Blue and the filly shrunk back. “Enough chit-chat. We’re on the run here,” he growled before stepping closer to the filly. “I believe your story. But what reason do I have to risk you following us?” The filly squeaked and recoiled. She backed up against the wall, hooves held above her head. “I’m useful!” she squeaked, cautiously pointing a hoof to her horn. “I can make fire!” RipEar snarled. “I can make fire, too. Everypony in these damn lands can.” “No, no!” the filly cried, shaking her head. “I can control fire with a spell! That’s my talent, see?” RipEar’s eyes thinned. “You’re another mouth to feed,” he then said, stepping closer. The filly cringed. “And you’ve only got three legs. You’d slow us down. So I reckon you need a bloody good reason if you want me to leave you alone, wouldn’t you agree?” The filly pressed herself up against the wall as firmly as she could, heaving. “I killed those wolves! But I haven’t killed you! Doesn’t that say I’m not your enemy?” “Not in my books.” RipEar growled and pulled his dagger closer, resting it gently against the skin of the filly’s neck. “So, I’ll only say it once more: give me a good reason not to kill you.” The filly moaned and squirmed slightly, her eyes double their normal size and pinned straight on the dagger at her throat. She gasped quietly as RipEar dug it in deeper, drawing a tiny beading of blood. But before he could do any more, a small cough sounded. “I’ve got a reason, RipEar,” Blue said. Slowly—ever so warily—she stepped closer. She stood tall but the terror in her eyes was evident when she gazed up at him, and her voice shook when she spoke. The attempt at confidence was pathetic at best. “Because if you kill that filly, I swear, I won’t ever forgive you. You’ll be more worthless to me than… well, I don’t know what. But you’ll be absolutely nothing to me.” RipEar took a small breath in and stepped back. He drew the blade away shakily. His eyes went wide and his lips parted slightly; after a quick glance at the filly, he then sighed and stepped completely away. “This isn’t the facility, Blue,” he said. “Ponies out here will try to kill you.” Blue let out a breath and then said, “But this one hasn’t. And I’m no use, so you need somepony with some sort of skills. Don’t you?” RipEar snarled. He threw his head in the air. “I can survive alone,” he snapped, tail swishing in indignation. “Unlike some.” “RipEar…” Blue warned, staring straight at him. But he wouldn’t meet her gaze, and he didn’t reply at first. Eventually, however, he relented and slumped. “Fine,” he snapped, turning to the foal. “You can tag along with us. But I swear, if you make any funny moves… this dagger will be plunged right through your heart.” He smiled forcibly and held out a hoof, eyes thinned. “I’m RipEar, and this sorry pile of hide is Blue.” As she lowered herself down from the wall, the filly smiled and shook his hoof, though her movements were stiff. “Coalburst,” she whispered, turning her head to Blue. A more relaxed smile fell upon her face then. “Nice to meet you.” RipEar snorted. “The pleasure’s not mine,” he snapped. He turned tail quickly, taking a few steps forwards before freezing in place. He glanced down at the piles of disintegrated wolf, then back to Coalburst, and finally to Blue. He frowned. “You, filly. In front.” Coalburst opened her mouth to retort before she snapped it shut again. She then hung her head and slunk forwards with her short tail drooped. Her ears fell back as she passed him and her eyes flicked about rapidly. “Can I use my magic?” RipEar frowned again. “No.” The little filly’s back hunched up. She paused and turned around, a hoof raised as she murmured, ”Not even if there’s something else here?” RipEar was quiet. He then spoke slowly, every word enunciated perfectly. “I don’t trust you. If you so much as light your horn up, I will stab you.” The filly squeaked and nodded quickly, scarpering forwards. RipEar gave a small nod of approval and then began to follow, waving his hoof at Blue behind him. “Keep close,” he grunted, pausing in mid-stride to let her catch up. “I swear, you do not know what you’re up against out here.” Blue nodded slowly, swallowing deeply. “Mmhmm,” she whispered, pressing herself up against RipEar’s side as firmly as she could, though she stiffened slightly when she did so. Her feathers brushed against his soft, tan fur; he opened his mouth to snap, but then quietened when he saw just how hunched she was. “Hey, hey,” he said, pausing to brush a strand of forelock from her eyes. “I’ll protect you, honest. I’ll do everything I can to get you somewhere safe.” Blue nodded slowly. Just as RipEar made to move again, though, she pushed away from him ever so slightly. He turned his head to face her again, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She looked up at him cautiously, suddenly shaking again. After a brief silence, she then whispered, “I didn’t know you were so vicious.” RipEar froze. He then took a small step backwards, glancing quickly to check the filly ahead of them. She had stopped and had pressed herself against the wall, waiting quietly for them to catch up. He then sighed and said, “Look, Blue, I’m not going to hurt you. I swear. But…” He fell quiet for a moment. He then finished with, “You just don’t know me, do you?” “Rip—“ He shook his head. His dark blue forelock covered his eyes slightly as he did so, but that did little to help; it was easy to picture the suddenly blank, emotionless haze that fell over his eyes. “I shouldn’t expect you to understand me yet,” he said. His face contorted into a scowl. “I just… I’m sorry, Blue. I just struggle sometimes, even now, to remember that you aren’t the same mare that I…” He tapped the ground quietly with his hoof. The metal walls echoed the sound faintly. “You aren’t the mare I once travelled with anymore. You only know the facility version of me. That's just one side; the nice side. The unspoiled side, I guess.” “But why—“ RipEar held up a hoof. “Blue, you’ve gotta understand something. The facility was pretty safe. But this world... It isn’t. The Scourge is named that for a reason. Out here, ponies consider the stuff of your worst nightmares to be a good and probably productive day. If you wake up after going to sleep, you're pretty much thriving.” He sighed again. “This lifestyle changes a pony. And it’s changed me. But… well, that’s just how it is. If you can’t stand travelling with a vicious stallion, then I can’t stop you from going it alone. But I swear, if you do, you will die.” Blue was quiet. “Why do you care?” she finally said, her voice quavering. “You’re a loner, I know that much, so why keep this—“ She opened her wings and twitched the feathers above her head, “—sorry pile of hide around?” RipEar was stunned. His mouth opened and closed a few times, completely at a loss. Finally, after an excruciating silence, he then said, “I can’t tell you. But you’ll understand one day.” RipEar turned away from her, walking forwards once again. And, try as Blue might, she could not get him to utter a single word more.
