The Few That Lived

“The thing about medicine is that you only have so much, and it takes up room and is heavy.” Pyro said as he got back into 13-B, “Magic is none of those.”

“Not all of us can use healing magic though,” Shining said, “Plus, we might need it if we get too tired.”

“I’ll carry it.” Butterscotch said, already loading it into a bag.

“Fine, but don’t come to me when you have glass stuck in you from broken bottles.” Pyro said

“What if I didn’t need you?” Butterscotch asked, glaring daggers at Pyro,

“Everypony needs somepony. I learned that the hard way.” Pyro said back,

“Not everypony!” Butterscotch said, “I don’t need you!”

“I didn’t say you did.” Pyro said, getting annoyed, “You assumed I meant me!”

“That is what you meant!” She shouted,

“Maybe I did, maybe I didn’t.” Pyro said, “All I’m saying is that you can’t always rely on yourself.”

“Don’t give me that bullshit!” The mare said, butting heads with Pyro,

“It isn’t bullshit!” Pyro yelled back, “I know that firsthand!”

“You get all sappy with me in the other room, and now you turn into this!” She scoffed, “Figures.”

“This is what happens when you don’t trust anypony and counter there every word.” Pyro said,

“I did trust you! Then you have to go and try to take advantage of me like that!” She was screaming now, the others were trying to keep the two apart.

“I wasn’t taking advantage of you, I was trying to help you!” Pyro yelled

“Well help me now! Do what you were trying to do!” She was fighting to stay in the same room as him,

“Okay, how?” Pyro yelled,

“What exactly did you want to do?” She screamed, “Do it now, I’m giving you a free shot!” She broke away from her captors and stood in the doorway, huffing and puffing.

Pyro ran up, wrapped his hooves around her neck and kissed her passionately. His body was fully against hers and he didn’t care. The soft lips of the mare tasted a little of... well, butterscotch. her mane was as smooth as silk and her heart thumped against his own chest in a soft rhythm. When he finally let go, his stomach let out a little plea for more, but his brain didn’t agree. He quickly backed off and turned around in embarrassment.

“I-I’m sorry.” Pyro said, he’d never felt this way before about anypony,

Butterscotch seemed to shut down, her body froze, like she had been fused to the ground. Her eyes widened when she finally came to her senses, Pyro had kissed her.

“The nerve!” She thought, “Show that pony who’s boss!”

Her mind seemed to think differently than her body, she spun Pyro around and kissed him as he had kissed her, his lips tasted oddly like a roasted marshmallow, she could feel how warm his body was getting, he was either embarrassed or aroused, she settled for embarrassed and pulled away from him.

“Well, that escalated quickly.” Pyro said smiling.

Butterscotch blushed and giggled, “Yeah, I guess it did”

“I’m glad you like me the same way.” Pyro said as he pulled her in for another hug,

Butterscotch accepted the hug warmly, the other ponies stared in confusion and disbelief.

“What just happened?” Pinkie Pie asked,

“Um, who cares!” Rainbow Dash said, “Let’s get out of here, you two have made way too much noise.”

“Oh, sorry.” Pyro said, not looking away from Butterscotch,

“Likewise” Butterscotch said, nodding at Pyro

“It’s funny because it’s true.” Pyro said, chuckling to himself,

“Lets get going already!” Shining said, leading everypony out of the room except for Butterscotch and Pyro, “And you two...” He said, “I don’t want any funny stuff between you guys, I don’t need another mouth to feed”

“Okay, no funny business... yet.” Pyro said,

“Agreed” Butterscotch said, “Wait, what?”

“Oh, nothing,” Pyro said, “let’s go Butterscotch.”

Shining watched the two scornfully as they left the room, when they were out of sight he sighed, he meant what he said, bringing a foal into this world did not sit well with him.

The now large group of ponies walked out of Ponyville along the railroad tracks, which was their way to Canterlot. Butterscotch and Pyro conversed calmly, the three elements of harmony spoke amongst themselves, they weren’t ready for this trip one bit, the weeks they had spent in the hospital had damaged their athletic ability, making them tire easily. Even Rainbow Dash, the most athletic of them all seemed to be slower. Shining and Cinnamon argued about the trip, Cinnamon had insisted to go through the Everfree Forest but the others had decided against that, they barely knew what was in the forest before the incident, and they didn’t feel like getting familiar with some of the new residents.

“How long should it take for us to get there?” Pinkie Pie asked, taking quick breaths.

“A few days, at least” Shining said, “We can stop later tonight, we’ll set up camp someplace safe.”

“How are you doing?” Butterscotch asked Pyro, “Do you need a drink?”

“No, I’m perfectly fine!” Pyro said, struggling to carry the tents uphill,

Butterscotch rolled her eyes and unstrapped the bag from his back, trading him for the small bag of medicine she was carrying. She giggled at his visible relief.

“Thanks, now where is the water?” Pyro asked Butterscotch

Butterscotch began to dig in the bag in her back, coming out with a displeased look on her face.

“How the hell do we forget water?!” She shouted, startling the others with her sudden attitude.

“You’re kidding, right?” Shining asked, looking in the bag himself and coming out with the same look, “You have got to be kidding me.”

“This is just fantastic!” Cinnamon shouted, “Shows how brilliant you are Shining!”

“How is this my fault? I thought Butterscotch and Pyro were looking for supplies!” Shining yelled, turning towards the two.

“Like you helped at all! All you’ve done is threaten a mare’s life, physically injure Cinnamon, and mentally injure Butterscotch!” Pyro yelled back

“How about we don’t get in argument!” Butterscotch yelled, “Bottom line is, we don’t have water. Period.”

“So what now?” Rainbow Dash asked,

“We find it!” Shining Armor said,

“No, really?” Butterscotch asked,

“Well, come on then!” Applejack said, “The only way we’re gonna find water is by ‘lookin ‘fer it! Not ‘arguin!”

“Hmmm... water is always going downhill, so there’s probably some lower.” Pyro said as he rubbed his chin,

“Its all been contaminated” Shining said, “you should see the well in Ponyville.”

“You’ve forgotten that we can always boil the water.” Pyro said,

Butterscotch and the other mares trudged uphill while the stallions argued, looking for any kind of source,

“Are they always like this?” Pinkie Pie asked,

“I guess everything got tense when we didn’t find Twilight.” Butterscotch said, “But I don’t know exactly, I’ve only been with them for a day.”

“Where were ya before then?” Applejack asked.

Images flashed through Butterscotch’s mind, bad images. hurtful images.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” She said, “Let’s just find some-”

The sound of running water went through Butterscotch’s ears, as well as the others.

“Y’all hear that?” Applejack asked,

“Oh yeah.” Rainbow Dash said, rocketing down the hill that they had gotten to the top of, a splash was heard in the distance, followed by whoops of joy.

“Finally!” Pinkie cried, “A bath!”

The mares all sprinted down the hill, finding a cyan mare swimming happily under a small waterfall that fell from an edge hanging over the small pond of the crystal clear liquid of life.

Butterscotch then realized how filthy she must be, after all she had been through, a bath was something she needed.

“Boys!” She shouted up the hill, which they had just now gotten down from the top of, “We found water!”

“Sweet Celestia!” Pyro said as he ran to the pool, “Is it clean?”

Butterscotch looked at the perfectly see-through water and dove in, poking her head up to answer, “It won’t be for long!” she said, pulling him towards the surface,

“He-Hey!” Pyro stuttered as he lost his balance and fell directly onto the mare.

The whole group took a bath in the huge pond, splashing each other playfully every few minutes and laughing as they told stories and jokes,

“And then I said ‘The punch has been... Spiked!’” Pinkie laughed at her old memory, as did the others,

But the laughter stopped shortly after, the magnitude of the situation kept dropping onto them like an anvil.

“But that was a long time ago...” Pinkie said, her ears drooped for a split second but then they shot back up, “Do you want me to tell you about my Pinkie sense?” she asked, cheerfully.

“NO!” Pyro snapped, then relaxed, “Sorry for yelling, Pinkie. I guess you could say water isn’t my natural element.”

Shining Armor was already out and setting up tents, the elements and Cinnamon followed, but Butterscotch stayed under the waterfall, staring at the rock wall in the back of the ledge, her mane was soaked and fell at her shoulders, hiding her facial expression.

“Hey, you alright?” Pyro asked as he looked in her direction, then walked to her.

He received no answer from the mare, she just kept staring at the rocks, hiding her face.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Pyro asked as he lifted her chin with his hoof.

The mares eyes were cold and held no expression, “What is life, Blue Flare?”

The stallion was taken aback by her sudden question,

“Well, life is the difference between us and the ground,” Pyro answered, “It’s the thing that gives animals and plants there character and emotion.”

“What is the meaning though?” She asked, “To achieve greatness and die with honor?” She shuffled her position to face him, “Or to live happy, and die with that same happiness?”

“What’s taking so long you two?” Shining asked from the shore, “I told you two no funny stuff!”

“That’s a good question.” Pyro said as he waved a hoof towards Shining, telling him not to worry, “I don’t think anypony knows the answer.”.

Butterscotch smiled and moved back to her previous position, “You must think I’m weird, thinking about these kind of things.”

“Not in the slightest,” Pyro said, nuzzling her affectionately, “It’s what makes you up.”

A tear dropped from her eye and landed on his ear when she embraced him, she cuddled her head under his chin and squeezed him tightly, holding onto him like she was going to drown.

“Don’t leave.” She said,

“I’m not ever going to leave you, you know that.” Pyro said, squeezing her back,

“Okay! I’m coming in there to get you two!” Shining said, sounding annoyed,

“let’s splash him to death.” Pyro said as he turned to face Shining,

“Yes, lets.” She said with a smile.