Orbital Drop Shock Ponies

I quietly walk through the carts to my own. I grabbed my pistol and started moving forward.

The raiders started moving slowly towards the back, carefully examining everything, looking for who started up this train.

I pressed myself against the wall next to the door. One was bound to try to come back here, and I'd have to kill him.

Somepony came through. It was a mare. I let her walk around, but when she found the fridge, I ran and snapped her neck.

I didn't care to set down the body. It dropped to the floor and made a thump.

I bolted for the cart behind me and broke it open. A bullet slugged past me through the wall. I hid behind a green transparent separator between the seats.

The raider threw another bullet at me, putting a giant crack in my protection.

I realized I still had a flash bang. I tossed it, it blew up. The raider was stunned, and I was too. (but not as much.)

Glass isn't very good protection.

Everything was white and I could still see the floor, and what I was really looking at too.

I put the pistol in my mouth and shot rapidly.

I got him in the head every time.

There was one left, in conductor's office. I sneaked up to the door and grabbed the doorknob. I slowly opened it.

"Come in, please."

I stopped. What was going on?

"Don't worry, I won't kill you."

I nervously trotted through the office to a chair.

"Sit down, please."

"What's going on?"

"Negotiation. I let you travel through my train, you give me money."

"Okay, here." I gave him 20 bits.

He laughed. "Haven't you heard? Bottle caps are the currency of the wasteland."

"Don't have any."

I heard a thwap then pain in my leg.

"I'm afraid I'll have to drop you off."

Everything went black.

********

I awoke in a shack and immediately tried to jump up.

"Woah, slow down, Spark." a stallion in the dark said.

"How do you know my name? Where am I? Who are you?"

"One question at a time, buddy."

"Who are you?"

"Name's LightningBolt. Used to make lightning for the pegasi before they cowered in the clouds."
He was a navy blue

I looked around. This isn't a shack, it's a barn. "Where am I?"

The navy unicorn took a bite of a bright apple and swallowed. "Sweet Apple Acres."

"How do you know who I am?"

"Radio."

"Well, it was nice meeting you, but I must move on."

"You won't get there alone. You need help."

"What are you talking about?"

"Ever since that radio call came in more raiders have moved into the acres. Things may seem nice," he set the apple down on the table right in front of me and slowly spin it to the other side. "But it's not as good on the other side." The apple's other side was covered in worms. It was mushy, brown, and most of the apple skin was actually blood. "You've found the other side."

********

"That's the bannered mare." Lightning Bolt had taken me to the tavern in the center of the 56 acres.

"Why is it in a tree?" it looked like a club house.

"I don't know, I didn't make it." Lightning Bolt turned around. "Well good luck. And take this."
He tossed me a holo tag.
"If you double tap the picture, you'll send me a call for help."

"Thanks, it's good to have friends out here." I put the holotag on.

Lightning Bolt's horn glowed. A lightning bolt came down and struck him and he disappeared.

I went into the Bannered Mare.

"I'm spark." I spoke loudly enough to be heard over the multiple conversations.

All voices quieted and all eyes came to me. A zebra-pony mix walked up and lead me to a back room.

She was covered in scars and multiple branding iron brands all over her body.

"Why are you covered in scars?" I tried to be polite but her scars were bouncing around in my head. "I'm sorry, that was a little rude."

"It's okay," her voice was soft. (a lot softer than her appearance.) "They're from abuse."

"Why?"

"I'm a hybrid, a traitor to both sides."

"What are the brands for?"

"Their the cutie marks of my abusers."

I felt horrible for this pony zebra.

"Spark!"

I turned to see Chains sitting at a table. I trotted over and took a seat.

He smiled. "You look like you just got out of Hell."

"It was. What are we going to do?"

"We're leaving. Right now."

I felt generous. "Can we help that hybrid first?"

Chains looked me straight in the eyes. "Let me tell you one thing. This isn't Equestria anymore. This is the wasteland. Ponies are better than others now. Time you spend helping other ponies is time you could spend helping yourself stay alive. Be Selfish. But not a thief."

********

"Well?"

"You want to know if we're losing?"

"I know we're losing. I want to none if we've lost." Fire Light was talking with Chains.

Recon spoke up. "Are we dead yet?"

Fire Light reloaded her sniper rifle. "No."

Recon put on his helmet. "Then we haven't lost yet."

"We're coming up on the enemy fighter. Get ready." skyler was piloting a carrier ship labeled Sky Bandit.

"Look out the window." Apple Pie said. A giant boat tied to bigger weather balloons armed with pirate cannons flew by.

"Fire light, hit the weather balloons!" Chains said.

Fire Light opened fire on the balloons. They burst into pieces.

The ship threw a few cannon balls into the air in random direction as it sunk through the sky.

Suddenly, right before the ship hit, giant Pegasus wings flew out of the sides of the boat.

It rose back up to our level and opened fire on us.

Chains was putting on a parachute pack. "Skyler, get closer!"

Skyler flew in random patterns, getting closer with every curve.

We got right above the ship. "Hold her steady!" Chains ripped his ponytags off. "Hold these for me," he gave me the tags then jumped onto the boat.

Fire light started firing on the enemy below. Every bullet went down fast and hard, all finding homes in zebra skulls (and a few eyes).

The sky bandit circled the boat like an over watch.

A cannon ball flew up out of no where, hitting us. But they weren't ordinary cannon balls. The shy bandit burst into flames as we crashed into the wasteland. Skyler did his best to land it, but the leather strap holding him in broke, sending flying forward, away from us.

We hit the ground.

******

"He did what?" chains said, smashing his drink to the table.

We had met back up at the bannered mare to get some much needed actual rest.

"Took off for cloudsdale. All pegasi all over equestria have fled back." Apple Pie reached for his apple cider.

"Leave a real pony to do all the work. Just like them pegasi." recon finished his third bottle of Colt Kick RootBeer and said they're motto to himself (With a little kick from the flavor jar).

"I'm sure he'll be back. He always comes back,"
Fire Light was worried. She drank all their water in less than an hour.

"Not this time," Apple Pie set down the mug. "I know whats going on up there. They ain't coming back for anything."

"Well," Chains said. "Looks like we're on foot for the rest of the mission. "

"When's the mission end?" I spoke up.

"When we're all dead or smart enough to retire."