The Pastromorbo Epidemic

The 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.”

1. “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.