The Few That Lived

by The Mirage

Rating: mature
Tags: Dark, Alternate Universe, Sad, Adventure, Tragedy
Length: 19102

When nothing is left of the world we lose hope, we lose each other, we lose everything we ever had.

When nothing is left of the world we once knew we lose hope, we lose each other, we lose everything we ever had.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2012-09-23 21:52:09 UTC

Prologue

Applejack awoke to the sight of a door opening and the sound of hooves clicking against the ground, she realized she was staring at a white ceiling above her, a steady beeping sound was coming from her left,

"Will she wake up anytime soon?" Twilight's voice asked, it was slurred and echoed,

"I'm not sure, Twilight, she was hit in the head pretty hard from what your friend told me"

"I'm awake" Applejack said,

"I knew I shouldn't have let her buck all of those apples alone!" This voice was Rainbow Dash's,

"I said I'm awake" Applejack repeated,

"She's moving..."

"Is she waking up?" This voice belonged to Rarity, she came into view and blocked the white panels of the ceiling,

"Applejack darling, are you alright?" She asked,

"I'm fine Rarity" Applejack said,

Rarity turned away to look at somepony else, "What's wrong with her?"

Nurse Redheart came into view, "From what Rainbow Dash told me she was bucking apples and one of the branches fell on top of her" she said,

Applejack was confused, couldn't they hear her?

"I rushed down to her as fast as I could" Rainbow said, "Is she going to be okay?"

Redheart looked down to Applejack and sighed, "I'm not sure..."

Darkness started to blur Applejack's vision again, creeping in from the sides of her eyes and blocking out Rarity's image, a few seconds later nurse Redheart was gone, engulfed by darkness. All that remained was the ceiling, the white, boring ceiling.

"She's going into shock!"

Applejack's eyes fluttered opened, the ceiling greeted her again, staring back at her. A loud smash and glass shattering made her jump, something had been broken.

"You can't just walk out of here!" Rainbow's voice yelled, "Applejack needs us!"

"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, but I have to check on my family in Canterlot..." Twilight said, her voice cracking from the stress of leaving her friend,

"You heard what they said!" Rainbow screamed, "Canterlot is GONE, wiped off of the map, a GHOST TOWN!"

Applejack heard Twilight sniffle, she was crying,

"I just can't afford to think like that right now..." She said, her voice almost in a whisper, "I'll be back soon"

A door swung opened and the sounds of hooves running filled the room.

"Get back here Twilight!" Rainbow yelled,

The sound of hooves against the tile slowly faded into soft taps,

"She... She left us... She left us!" Fluttershy cried,

"Fluttershy, it's okay... you heard Twilight, she said she would be back soon!" Rarity said a little loudly, her voice was filled with doubt.

"B-but... why did she leave?" Fluttershy asked,

"Don't worry about it... it will all be okay..." Rarity mumbled,

"It will all be okay"

"It will all be okay"

Applejack woke up again, she must have fallen asleep in the middle of the commotion,

Pain filled sobs were echoing through the room, the cries belonged to Pinkie Pie, the happy and cheerful party pony.

Suddenly, the door swung opened.

"Okay girls I'm ba-" Rainbow stopped mid-sentence, "Where's Rarity and Fluttershy?" She asked,

Pinkie Pie didn't answer, she only kept crying.

"Pinkie Pie, what happened?" Rainbow asked, something had dropped to the floor,

"Rainbow? Pinkie? what's goin' on?" Applejack asked,

"R-R-Rainbow Dash..." Pinkie Pie mumbled, she was facing a wall and wouldn't turn around.

"Pinkie, tell me what happened" Rainbow Dash said

"They... left..." Pinkie said, her voice sounded like she had been beaten,

"They... they what?" Rainbow asked,

"They're gone Dashie" Pinkie said,

"Why?" Rainbow asked,

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath before she spoke, "Rarity convinced Fluttershy that her animals needed help" She said, "But Rarity only wanted to go to Canterlot to meet up with Twilight"

"Why that selfish..." Rainbow stopped, "Why didn't you go?"

Pinkie Pie looked back at Rainbow Dash with a look of sadness on her face, "Because I knew you wouldn't have left me" She said, wrapping her hooves around Rainbow Dash's neck,

Dash was taken aback by the sudden affection, ponies hadn't really hugged her like this before, she placed her hooves around Pinkie's neck as well, embracing her and holding her tight.

"Please don't leave Dashie" Pinkie said, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

"I promise I won't" Rainbow said, fighting back tears herself.

It was these kinds of moments that were the only things left in life, it was these moments that everypony left held dear.

These moments gave ponies few seconds of escape from the hell that had been brought upon them, they would remind you of the happy times in your life, times when you laughed. Or made people laugh. Times when you loved. Times when you lived your life to the fullest. Times when you cherished what you had.

"They're breaking down the door!"

Only to be ended so quickly by the big picture.

Waking up this time felt real, like all of the other times had been dreams, wrapped in another dream, wrapped in another dream.

But this wasn't a dream anymore...

"Applejack?"

This was a Nightmare.

"Wha?" Applejack muttered, shaking her head a few times, waiting for her vision to adjust.

"Pinkie! She's awake! Thank Celestia She's awake!" Rainbow shouted, jumping on top of Applejack, smiling like she had just been accepted into the Wonderbolts.

"SHHHHHHHH!" Pinkie shushed, "You'll attract more of them!" She shout/whispered.

"Attract more of what?" Applejack asked,

A scratching sound was heard from the door,

"One must have followed me back!" Rainbow shout/whispered,

Rainbow Dash grabbed Applejack and threw her under the hospital bed.

"Rainbow! what's the big idea?" Applejack asked, "Let that pony in!"

"No, you don't understand Applejack" Pinkie Pie said, getting under the bed with the two,

"I don't understand what?" Applejack asked,

"That's not a pony" Rainbow said, she had a look of complete seriousness on her face.

Applejack chuckled, "Whaddya sayin' Rainbow? is it a Zebra?"

"No"

"Griffin?"

"No"

"Spike?"

"For Celestia's sake Applejack No!" Rainbow snarled, "Now be quiet before you get us all killed"

Applejack didn't like one of her best friends' language towards her, and what did she mean by getting them all killed?

"Please Applejack, just until it leaves" Pinkie begged,

"Fine" Applejack said, slumping down into a laying position.

About an hour passed before the banging at the door stopped, a dragging sound and hooves against the outside tile, along with a low guttural moan from whatever was outside.

"Alright you two, now tell me what's going on here."

Loyalty

Rainbow Dash slowly raised the blinds to the only window in the dark room. It had hardly been big enough to squeeze through the last time, but, due to her athletic habits and lean body, she managed to slide out without drawing any attention to herself.

The rainbow maned pegasus silently peeked into the pitch black streets of Ponyville, ducking below the windowsill every time a pair of faint glowing yellow eyes turned in her direction, that is, if both eyes were still intact.

One of the things Dash had gotten to know as "Trotters" was rummaging through a garbage bin directly below her, its bottom jaw had been detached somehow the tongue stuck directly out of the throat and flailed about like a sick pony's tail, spewing spit and blood onto anything it came into contact with. The thing was a walking corpse, anypony would know that, no matter how uneducated or excessively smart. It attracted flies and maggots like rotting meat, this one specifically had its intestines dragging on the ground behind her, it could take any amount of pain that would stop any normal pony and leave them screaming for their lives and could just walk through it, break their legs; they're crawling on their knees, break the spine; they're still reaching out for just one good bite of your flesh, the only way Dash had figured out how to kill them was either to sever the head or cause extreme blunt force trauma to the brain.

Rainbow Dash could bear the sight no longer, her stomach was begging for her to turn away before she lost her lunch, which wasn't an option right now, they were low on food as it was. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were both eating peanut butter sandwiches in silence, partially because most of the Trotters in Ponyville were in the hospital and partially because Pinkie had just explained what had happened to Equestria, just before the world around them had gone to hell, hundreds of ponies had gathered in the hospital for what the military had described as "Safety." Well, safety had turned into a full blown slaughter, Rainbow Dash had personally witnessed most of the townsfolk lined up against a wall and executed all at once, a few of her friends had been in line for the "Vaccine" as well, Thunderlane, Cloud Chaser, even Ditzy Doo. After a few minutes, the soldiers began to check the rooms. luckily for the Elements Of Harmony, Shining Armor had opened the door with his assault rifle raised, he lowered it after a few seconds and looked at all of us, sighed, and fired his gun a few times into the wall. Rarity shrieked but Twilight had covered her mouth, Shining then took off out of the door and put a large medical cabinet in the way to   blow the door from being opened without strain.

Then he left.

That was weeks ago, something that needed to be forgotten. Rainbow Dash looked back at her friends, they were the only two she had left in this world, Celestia was most likely dead or gone, some had said she fled the city when the outbreak started, trying to find refuge in some other city, or country perhaps. Twilight, Rarity and Fluttershy had left for Canterlot three days apart, Canterlot was so far from Ponyville that Rainbow Dash had expected them to still be walking there, or maybe they hadn’t even made it out of town...

Rainbow Dash told herself to stay positive, it was the only thing that kept her sane, if she were to lose her friends she would most likely lose it. She had seen plenty of ponies lose it in the beginning, when things weren’t even that bad.

A crash outside drew Rainbow Dash back to the window, her friends as well.

Three ponies moved quickly towards a house, one of them had tripped into a flimsy fence and broke it, attracting a few Trotters which his friends quickly took care of with the help of a large pipe and a baseball bat.

“Looters” Pinkie Pie said,

She judged well, all three of them were in fact Looters, each of them would go around houses, finding anything worthwhile to take and sell to the black market.

“What about them?” Applejack asked,

In the rising sun, Rainbow Dash could make out 4, no, 5 silhouettes rushing towards the Looters with large firearms in their hooves or held by a magical aura.

“Hooves up motherfuckers!” One commanded, raising the gun to the three looters

“Thieves” Rainbow Dash muttered, she had been in a personal run-in with one of these assholes, they would demand everything from a pony, take it, and kill whoever had given them the supplies. They were ruthless and dangerous.

Rainbow had the luck to have wings though, she had sped away from the crazy pony and high-tailed it back to the hospital without being seen or followed.

“Give it all!” One shouted,

The Looters handed over all of their supplies, weapons, food, money, everything.

“What is your guys’ problem?” One of the looters asked,

A blast from a double barreled shotgun shut him up,

The pony fell lifelessly to the ground, the newly acquired hole in his stomach leaked blood and chunks of his innards that had been blown to pieces from the initial blast.

“Sweet Celestia...” Applejack said,

The dead pony’s friends stepped back in shock, one began to run but ran into a Trotter,

The one who had stayed put was shot and killed, while the Thieves retreated they used the last looter as bait for their escape.

The trotters crowded around the Looters, ripping off pieces of flesh in their teeth, drinking his blood and choking down his bones, it was disgusting to the ponies in the hospital, Applejack had puked and Pinkie Pie was gagging, but Rainbow Dash only watched as they dug into the others without mercy, piling on top of them and not leaving until every muscle, every drop of blood, every bone, was gone.

Pinkie Pie pulled her away at last with a worried look in her eyes, “Don’t watch, Dashie” She said,

Dash fell into her arms and sobbed like a child would do to her mother, yelling insults and pitiful cries to nopony in particular like, “Why us?” and “I don’t want to be here anymore”

Pinkie Pie had mentioned suicide once, Dash had slapped her across the face for it, she wouldn’t tolerate anypony saying something like that. It had hurt Pinkie physically but made her stronger mentally, it made her strong to know that her friend wouldn’t give up any time soon, but it was time for Pinkie to be strong for Dash.

Pinkie Pie pushed Dash off of her and gave her a forceful smack across her face, had enough to knock the spit out of her mouth.

Rainbow Dash returned with a look of sadness and confusion, “Why did you-”

“Dash, I don’t want to be in this world either, but we are.” Pinkie said, “We are all in this together, ‘till death do us part.” Pinkie had used a phrase she had heard many times at marriages but she felt like it was appropriate for the situation.

Rainbow Dash examined her friend for a few seconds then hugged her, “Only death won’t come” She said,

Rainbow Dash thought what she had said, she wanted to believe that death would never come in this world. But, deep down, her mind told her that it would come someday, So Dash promised herself that, she would stall that day for as long as she could.

But nopony can dodge death.

The Others

On the outskirts of the Everfree Forest, a lone unicorn roamed. His coat was a bright yellow. his mane was a dark orange with the tips a blood red, and had a tail to match. His Cutie Mark, coincidentally, was a book of matches. The only thing that didn’t fit his fiery look was his eyes, which were a deep blue.

“Hmm... I wonder if there is anything worth checking out in Ponyville anymore.” the unicorn said, “Why am I talking to myself? I’m not that crazy.... yet.”

The unicorn trotted in the general direction of Ponyville. When he arrived, he wasn’t surprised that he was greeted by a pack of trotters.

“Oh, you want to play?” The unicorn asked the zombie ponies, “I might actually have some fun for a change then.”

When the first trotter got close, the stallion ripped it’s head off like it was a candy wrapper on a chocolate bar, the innards of the trotter acted like melted chocolate. The second was slightly more wary and approached our protagonist from the back, it got it’s head was shot off by a swift kick to the temples. the third all but ran away, but got a magical beam shot to the neck, decapitating it. the Fourth almost bit the stallion, but got a mouthful of flames instead. the flames quickly traveled through it’s opened skull and then the rest of it’s body. The rest of the trotters quickly retreated into the darkness and left the unicorn alone.

“That’s right run!” the stallion said, “you don’t stand a chance against the PYRO! Hahahahahahahaha!”

Pyro continued his laughter until he couldn’t hear the stumbling hoofsteps of the trotters. He looked around. Most of the town had already been pillaged, but it never hurt to check. Pyro went to the nearest pile of rubble and started to dig through it.

An hour later...

“Son of a-” Pyro muttered, “nothing here either.”

He had looked into about three demolished houses and a tool shed. The first house was promising. It held a whole cartful of apples and a bottle of water. Everything else, though, had nothing except rocks and bullet holes. Guns were never Pyro’s thing. they’d always explode when he held them with his magic. Pyro always liked a good sword, but they’d all get soft before he actually needed them, due to the heat of his magic.

Pyro rose from the third house and looked around for something else to stripmine. In the distance, he could see a hospital, or what was left of one. He wasn’t the type of pony to take things from sick or innocent ponies, so he didn’t give it a second glance. there was nothing much else left of Ponyville, except for a large Oak near the middle.

“I guess that’s where I’m staying for the night.” He said, “In a tree.”

Pyro trotted briskly to the large tree and found that it wasn’t just a tree, but a house that was inside of the tree. He Cautiously opened the door and , when he saw it had been abandoned, walked in and closed the door behind him, making it very dark. He used his magic to put a small flame on the end of his horn and looked around. The walls were covered in books. He looked around and found that almost nothing had touched anything, but somepony must have been here at a time. There were a few books laying opened on the floor. he walked to the newly found stairs and walked up them to find that the upstairs was more of a bedroom than anything else.

At least I won’t have to sleep on the ground,” Pyro said as he got on top of the neatly made bed, “like I have for the past year.”

The stallion deactivated his “torch” and lay down, ready for the best sleep in his whole time in Equestria, or so he thought.

Cla-Clink!

“What do you think you’re doing here?” A old and raspy voice asked,

“Please mom, just five more minutes.” Pyro said as he shuffled a bit in his sleep.

The butt of a large rifle was poked up against the back of his head rather forcefully in an attempt to wake him up.

“My mother doesn’t touch me with wood,” Pyro said as he shot up in an instant, “She’d know the consequence.”

A barrel was shoved into his face, it belonged to a 357. magnum, wielded by a large unicorn in royal guard armor.

“Where’d you come from boy?” He asked,

“You don’t want to know.” Pyro said as he pushed the barrel to the side with a hoof. “Look sir, I don’t want any trouble.”

“Well you found it” A different voice said, he sat in the corner of the room, sharpening a long machete,

“Cool it, Cash” The armored one said, “We don’t know this pony-”

“Exactly, what if he’s a Thief?” ‘Cash’ said, “What do we do when he shoots you in the back the second you turn around?”

“Believe me, I’m not a Thief.” Pyro said, “Thieves aren’t stupid enough to stay in a house for more than thirty minutes.”

“And just how would you know that, goldilocks?” one asked, he was wielding the rifle,

“Because it’s common knowledge from where I come from.” Pyro said to him, “and don’t call me goldilocks if you like your gun.”

“What are we gonna do with him?” Cash asked,

“How should I know?” The rifle wielding one asked,

“He could help” The armored one said,

Cash looked at the armored pony like he was the stupidest thing to walk the earth, “Look, Shining, I don’t need another mouth to feed, especially after what happened with the last guy” He said, “What do you think Cinnamon?”

‘Cinnamon’ looked at Pyro and then back to Cash and Shining, “I think it would be a good idea, actually” he said,

“Ugh! fine! whatever! just don’t come crying to me when he runs off with all of our food!” Cash said, exiting the bedroom.

“Good to see that I’m well liked.” Pyro said, “Oh, and Cinnamon, dunk the back of your rifle in some water.”

“Why’s that?” Cinnamon asked,

“It’s going to spontaneously combust in five seconds.” Pyro said as he started to smile.

“When and if it does, I’m shoving it straight up your ass” He said, exiting the room behind Cash.

Shining sighed, “Sorry about Cash, he doesn’t trust very many ponies” he said,

“I wouldn’t either if everypony runs off with my food.” Pyro said,

“What’s your name, kid?” Shining asked,

“Blue Flare, but call me Pyro.” Pyro said, extending his hoof in greeting.

Shining shook Pyro’s hoof, “Shining Armor, but everypony calls me Shining now.” he said,

“Pleasure.” Pyro said simply

Shining looked around, “Try to get some rest, were moving in the morning.”

“What do you think I was trying to do before you got here?” Pyro asked as he hunkered down to go back to sleep.

“Being a smartass won’t get you far in this world” Shining said, as he exited the room, “Remember that.”

“You don’t know the half of it.” Pyro said, too quiet for Shining to hear.

Finding Somepony Else

Blue Flare woke to the sound of movement below him. he stretched his legs and got out of his “borrowed” bed and walked to the door. he looked down to see the owner of the sound. It was Cash, still sharpening his machete. Pyro walked down the stairs to greet the earth pony.

“Good morning!” Pyro said “How was your night?”

“Sleepless” The pony said,

Pyro could now see the full features of the pony, his mane was a light grey, resembling the ashes that littered the streets, his coat a dark and hazy blue and his eyes were a deep shade of black.

“That’s not good to hear.” Pyro said as he frowned.

“How about you?” Cash asked,

“I slept better than I have in a while, being that I slept on the ground before.” Pyro said.

“Good, don’t get used to it though, we’re moving to the hospital today” Cash said, sheathing his machete and standing up,

“Oh, and why is that?” Pyro asked, “Is there anything there that we could use?”

“Shining’s sister is there, we traveled from Canterlot just to get her.” He said, “Waste of time if you ask me, he’ll be disappointed when we get there.”

“His sister? That is a waste of time.” Pyro said,

“Plus the elements of harmony” Shining Armor finished, he had been standing in a doorway

“Wait. THE elements of harmony? That would get me to go.” Pyro said, then asked, “Who’s your sister?”

“Twilight Sparkle, The element of magic” Shining said,

“Oh okay, I’m game.” Pyro said as he started to walk towards the door.

“But you wouldn’t be otherwise?” Shining asked, “You seem to be helpful”

“I saw the Hospital, it’s the safest place in Ponyville, they wouldn’t need my help.” Pyro said “plus I’d probably cause more damage before I’d be able to help.”

“When exactly are we going?” Cinnamon asked, appearing out of another bedroom next to where Pyro had stayed,

“Right now” Shining said, “We were waiting for you two to wake up.”

“Oh, sorry.” Pyro said sheepishly.

“Let’s just go” Shining said,

The four ponies slowly walked through the deserted streets of Ponyville towards the hospital, surveying their surroundings every few seconds. The last thing they wanted was for a Trotter to come up behind them and ruin their day.

The once thriving community of ponies was now gone, the houses had been either littered with graffiti or knocked down altogether, leaving a pile of rubble in place.

A few houses stood above the city, one being the library, a large pink building and almost a dozen houses.

The street was littered with bodies and the dirt itself was stained with blood, the four passed a small house with a sign hanging from an opened window, it had once said “Help” but was now covered in graffiti with words like “Bitch” and “Whore” another word described somepony as a “Sex Toy” and other harsh words.

“We should check the buildings for others” Cinnamon suggested,

“And then what? come up with a hoof-full of walkers or Thieves?” Cash asked,

“You don’t know everything Cash!” Cinnamon yelled, “Stop acting like you do!”

“Fine, we’ll check the stupid houses” Cash agreed,

“Shining, you and...” Cinnamon was at a loss for words, “The new pony” go check that one”

He pointed at the house with the harsh “Help” banner,

“Me and Cash will check this one” He said, pointing to an almost perfect house across the street,

“It’s Pyro.” Pyro said, “sorry for not telling you earlier.”

“It’s fine, now we know” Cinnamon said, “Meet back here in 5 minutes”

“Will do” Shining said, walking towards the house,

The inside of the house didn’t look much better. The walls were basically held up by  two-by-fours and didn’t have much else. the furniture was thrown around and almost all of it was broken in some way or another. some water was leaking from a corner of what looked like a bathroom. The bedroom had a few “interesting” additions. there were three contraptions that look like they could hold up a pony for “recreational” purposes. They looked like they had been used recently and the pony that was in the... thing didn’t want to be. There were whips and other weapons that looked like they were used if a pony didn’t comply with the wielder. This was, obviously a scene of torture and rape.

Pyro was inspecting the bed itself when he heard a soft whimper coming from the master bathroom. He quietly walked up to the door and listened for any sign of life. He heard breathing, not soft calm breathing, but quick trembling breathing, as if the other creature didn’t want to be found. Pyro thought on how he could get the animal out of the bathroom without sounding intimidating. he could only think of one thing which he did.

He knocked.

The breathing suddenly stopped, “Please, master... no more” a raspy voice said, it belonged to a mare.

“Oh, Celestia” Pyro said thinking of why this mare must be referring to somepony as “master”. “I’m not going to hurt you. That pony is gone. you can open the door when you feel like it.”

“Why?!” The mare cried, “So you can strap me into one of those machines and beat me ‘till I am unable to speak?”

“No, because if you stay here, those ponies may come back.” Pyro said softly. “And because I want to help you and get you to the hospital.”

“What have you got set up for me there?” The mare asked while sobbing, “New toys of yours?”

“No, a warm bed and food and people who can help.” Pyro said. “If you can’t open the door, I can open it for you.”

“How do you expect me to open it when you have me tied down in here?” The mare asked, “And bullshit to a warm bed, that’s what you said when you brought me here”

“Sorry to bring your hopes up, but there wasn’t ever a last time.” Pyro said as he opened the door, finding that, indeed, the mare was bound.

What he saw was horrendous, the mare had her face on the ground and her rear in the air, pulled apart to show off her sensitive regions, her front and back legs were drawn out like wings so she was unable to move, her wings were tied behind her back and she stared up at him with two brown eyes.

“This is humiliating” she whined,

Her once cream-yellow coat had faded due to her not being allowed to take a bath, her mane was ripped and torn in some place, the golden brown color on it seemed to have faded too, it was no pleasant thing to see.

“I would expect so.” Pyro said finding it hard to look at her. “let’s get you down from there.”

“Please, don’t touch me” She said, “Not there” her eyes flickered to her backside

“I wouldn’t dare.” Pyro said as he started to undo the ropes on her back legs, revealing two chafed spots where the ropes were, indicating that she had been in that position for quite awhile.

“My name is Blue Flare, and I’m happy to see that you’re alive.” Pyro said as he undid the last ropes, which were the ropes for the wings.

“I can’t say I feel the same way...” the mare said, running a hoof over her wings and through her mane, “You wouldn’t believe what somepony’s can do”

“Do you want to have some privacy so that you can... freshen up?” Pyro said as he turned to leave the room.

“Yes, please” she said, seeing him begin to leave the room, “Thank you!” she said, just before he closed the door,

“You are most welcome.” Pyro said softly.

Pyro walked around the house, looking around for Shining. He found him in the dining room.

“Shining, I found sompony. She’s in bad shape.” Pyro said “I found her in the bathroom, bound and... I don’t know how to put this... raped.”

“What do you mean?” Shining asked, “Is she alive?”

“Barely. She’s cleaning herself up right now.” Pyro said,

“You just left her up there?” Shining asked,

“Well, what should have I done, watched her?” Pyro said,

“Shouldn’t you have stayed in the-?”

His voice was cut off by a gunshot.

“Dammit!” Pyro said as he ran back to the bedroom, “I thought it was just you and me.”

The mare was holding a large pistol in her wing when they entered the room, an older stallion lay on the bed, bullet lodged in his skull.

“I knew he wouldn’t leave,” She said, “He was under the bed”

“I’m sorry, I even left the room.” Pyro said, then blushed “I meant the bedroom, not the bathroom.”

“It’s not your fault” she said, “You didn’t know, neither did I.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay,” Pyro said, “And that there’s one less scumbag in the world.”

“Please” The mare said, returning to her depressed state, “Just get me out of here.”

“Be happy to.” Pyro said, smiling, “But first, there is a pony I want you to meet... I never caught your name, miss.”

“Oh, it’s Butterscotch” she said,

“Well, Butterscotch, I’d like you to meet Shining Armor, a friend of mine.” Pyro said as Shining entered the room.

“Hello, Shining Armor” She said,

“Hello, Butterscotch” Shining replied, “Are you alright?”

“Well, no, but I should be” She said with a yawn, “I’m more tired than anything”

“Dammit again. How long has it been?” Pyro said, “We were supposed to meet back in five minutes!”

“It’s been almost ten” Shining said, “They’ll understand”

“For her sake, I hope so.” Pyro said

Butterscotch let out another loud yawn,

“How long has it been since you slept?” Shining asked with a look of worry on his face,

“Oh, only a few days at the most” She said,

“A few days?! How did you manage to stay awake?” Shining asked,

“Don’t ask.” Pyro said, than motioned towards the contraptions on the wall.”

“You probably don’t want to know” She said, not noticing what Pyro had said from her sleepy state,

“Can you walk?” Shining asked, holding up the wobbly mare,

“Yeah, yeah I’m... fine...” She dozed off on Shining’s shoulder,

Shining stood there for a few moments, examining the mare,

“Should I carry her?” Shining asked,

“No, I’ll do it.” Pyro said as he slowly picked her up with his magic and placed her on his back.

“You sure you can carry her?” Shining asked, “I mean, she doesn’t look that heavy but still, you're a bit smaller than me.”

“Yes, I’m sure.” Pyro said, “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”

“Alright then.” Shining said,

The three ponies slowly walked from the building, careful not to draw any attention to themselves or wake the sleeping mare on Pyro’s back.

An earth pony and a unicorn waited impatiently outside of the building, watching their backs for any trotters.

They were finally relieved to see the two others walk out of the building, but weren’t happy to see another pony on Pyro’s back.

“Finally, we were about to leave without you!” Cash said,

“And where would exactly where would you go without Shining Armor and I?” Pyro said quietly so he didn’t wake up the sleeping mare on his back.

“Who the hell is that?!” Cash asked, pointing at the pony on Pyro’s back,

“Shh!” Shining Armor said, “She’s asleep”

“I don’t give two shits!” Cash shouted, “I’m not letting some random pegasus join us because she got all lovey-dovey on you!” he said, pointing at Pyro,

“She didn’t get lovey-dovey on me, she is a rape victim!” Pyro shouted,

“So what?” Cash asked, “That’s not our problem!”

“It is now!”

“Leave her!”

“We’re taking her!”

“She’s staying right-”

He was cut off by a Trotter digging its teeth into his flank, groaning in delight from the taste that invaded its mouth.

Gunshot.

The Trotter fell to Cash’s side, a bullet had embedded itself into the side of its head.

Shining Armor’s gun was raised and was still smoking,

Butterscotch had awoken from the noise, she was rubbing her eyes and looking around, noticing that she was curled up on Pyro’s back.

“No...” Cash said, “No!”

“Cash...” Cinnamon said, backing away from the pony,

“No wait! What if I don’t change?” Cash suggested,

“You know that’s foolish” Shining said,

“But, what if I’m immune?” Cash said, backing away from the two unciorns

“Cash, just-”

“No! I’m out of here!”

Cash took off in the other direction, running as fast as he could away from the other ponies,

“Just do it” Shining said, motioning to Cinnamon, who already had his rifle raised.

One final shot ended Cash.

Disappointment and Determination

“Damn... killing trotters is one thing, but live ponies...” Pyro said, a little shocked.

Butterscotch was just now coming to her senses, “What happened?” she asked, still resting on Pyro’s back.

“Not anything good, a comrade was shot.” Pyro said to ‘sleeping beauty,’

“Um... why am I on your back?” She asked,

“Because you fell asleep and we needed to leave and get to the hospital.” Pyro said as he started to walk towards the building that held their prize.

“How long was I asleep?” She asked,

“About two minutes.” Pyro said, not looking up.

“Do you mind if I go back to sleep?” She asked,

“If you snore I do.” Pyro said, chuckling.

Butterscotch gave a weak laugh, “Don’t worry, I don’t” She said, burrowing back down into his fur.

“H-hey! That tickles!” Pyro said, jerking slightly to the side.

She finally settled in and fell asleep quickly, Shining Armor secured her to Pyro’s back with some rope so she wouldn’t fall off if they had to move quickly.

“You sure we can trust her?” Cinnamon asked,

“I’m not sure of anything anymore, Cinnabon.” Pyro sighed, “But she needs treatment for some of the wounds she got from the... exercise.”

“What kind of ‘exercise’ do you mean?” Cinnamon asked,

“I think you know.” Pyro said flatly.

Cinnamon raised an eyebrow and looked at the banner on the house, his eyes suddenly widened. “By Luna’s mane...” he said, looking at the pony, “You serious?”

“Very. Can we get going?” Pyro asked, “I don’t want to run into anymore trotters.”

“Yeah, lets go” He said, slinging his rifle over his shoulder, “They probably heard the shot.”

The party of four continued towards the hospital, a little slower because of the sleeping mare. There wasn't much of anything else on the way to the hospital, more houses and an occasional tree. Pyro stopped at the front door of the big white building and looked at it closely. it wasn’t very much better than the other houses, but it still qualified as the safest.

“Should we knock?” Pyro said as he turned towards the two unicorns behind him.

“Seriously?” Shining asked as he kicked the door down and trotted in with his gun raised,

“Or we could just barge on in uninvited.” Pyro said as he frowned upon the actions of the white pony,

The four ponies stepped through the hospital slowly and quietly, kicking it in reverse each time they spotted a trotter.

“Do you even know which room they’re in?” Cinnamon asked,

“Yes, it’s 13-B” he said, “We need to go up.”

“How does this place NOT have a map on every corner?”  Pyro said as he squinted to see down the hallway, “It’s ginormous.”

“Who knows, maybe they had all been taken down” Shining said flatly,

“Why? it’s not like trotters are smart enough to read.” Pyro said,

“No, but Thieves are.” Cinnamon finished,

“Whatever. I think I see the stairs the end the hallway.” Pyro said as he stopped squinting and looked back at the group.

“Let’s go then” Shining said anxiously, picking up the pace.

Pyro went into a slow trot to keep up with Shining, making sure that the mare was still comfortable on his back.

“What are you going so slow for?” Cinnamon asked impatiently,

“You can’t ever be too cautious.” Pyro said as he increased speed, just a little,

The corridor that led to 13-B was familiar to Shining Armor, he had remembered coming here to kill off some of the ponies, which he regretted highly. The walls were stained with their blood, a single nurse laid out over the counter, her body had begun to decompose and rot, it was an awful sight, Shining silently gave a prayer to all of the ponies in the hall.

The four ponies moved along the corridor with ease, not running into anything, or anypony unwanted. Shining watched as the room numbers passed his view,

9-B.

10-B.

11-B

12-B...

Finally they reached their destination, room 13-B, it was a good sign to Shining when he saw the large medicine cabinet blocking the entrance.

“Okay, how do we go about doing this without getting shot?” Cinnamon asked,

“Knocking?” Pyro suggested, “I know I’ve said that, but is seems to work.”

“Well, I didn’t leave them a gun, but I don’t know if they went scavenging,” Shining said, “Knocking might actually be reasonable here.”

“Good, but for the record, I could burn down the door.” Pyro said smugly.

“Let’s not” Cinnamon said, navigating his hoof through the cabinet and to the door,

Knock Knock Knock!

Rainbow Dash was startled by the sudden noise, she slowly got to her hooves and looked at the door quizzically, like it hadn’t actually made the sound.

Knock Knock Knock!

Now she was sure somepony had actually knocked on the door, she quickly moved to the door, put her ear on it and spoke,

“Who’s there?”

“The pizzamare.” Pyro said flatly,

Shining Armor was relieved to hear one of her friends speak, but was irritated by Pyro’s joke, this was no laughing matter, at least he still had a sense of humor though, something that he had lost when he saw his wife get devoured before his eyes.

“Rainbow Dash!” He suddenly blurted out, “Are you alright?”

Rainbow Dash took a few seconds to respond, “Yeah, we’re fine.” she said,

“So you’re all in there?” Shining asked, hopefully.

Rainbow Dash didn’t respond this time, Shining didn’t particularly care though, he wanted to see his sister.

“Cinnamon, help me get this out of the way!” Shining practically shouted with excitement,

Cinnamon and Shining pushed the heavy cabinet away from the door easily, it felt like it had lost weight since he last moved it, which took extreme effort.

Shining barged in immediately after he moved it out of the way, smile on his face and hope in his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” was all he received,

Shining’s knees felt weak, his throat ran dry and his smile faded, it felt like somepony had added hundreds of pounds to his armor.

“Oh great, the only reason we came here for is gone.” Pyro said as he looked around the room for the famous Twilight Sparkle.

“Not entirely” Cinnamon said, seeing the three mares, “Can’t they help?”

Shining Armor still stood, frozen in place. Not speaking, not crying, not doing anything.

His horn suddenly glowed brightly.

His revolver slowly floated from its holster, he pointed it towards Rainbow Dash.

“Where is she?” He asked, pain laced his words.

Rainbow Dash was shocked by the sudden threat, and question,

“Shining?” Pyro warned, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“I-I don’t know” She said,

“Where is she?” he repeated, the hammer on the gun slowly clicked into place.

“She said she was going to Canterlot, same with the others.” Rainbow answered, sweat was beading on her forehead,

“Canterlot is gone, she wouldn’t go there,” Shining said, snatching the gun out of the air and jamming the gun to the bottom of her chin, “You’re lying”

“Shining don’t do it.” Pyro growled, “Or I’ll take your hoof off with it.”

“Shining, she’s telling the truth” Pinkie said, “No matter how much of a smarty pants that pony was, she thought she could find you there”

Shining Armor seemed to consider this for a moment, but still kept the weapon in its place. His hoof started to tremble, his eyes started to tear up. He slowly brought the gun down and began to cry.

“BUCK.” Shining said as he slammed his other hoof into the ground.

“What now?” Butterscotch whispered to Pyro, “Wait... is that Pinkie Pie?”

“Wahhh!” Pyro yelled as he reared back, “Butterscotch, I hadn’t realized you were awake.”

The mare tried to move but was unable to because of the ropes, her breathing suddenly quickened, “W-why am I tied down?” she asked in a panicked voice.

“Sorry, it was to prevent you from slipping if we had to run.” Pyro said as he undid the ropes that laced around him and the mare.

The mare moved off of him and stood up, “I think I’ll wait ‘till tonight to sleep” she said, a lack of trust was in her tone.

“That’s okay.” Pyro said as he started to move around because of the weight that was taken of him.

Shining Armor was still sobbing, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Cinnamon were trying to comfort him, Butterscotch and Pyro just stood there,

“You never answered my question” The mare said,

“Yes, that is Pinkie Pie... I think.” Pyro said scratching his head. “I’ve never seen her up close before.”

“We spoke at the Grand Galloping Gala last year, she had asked me about the desserts when she saw my chefs hat.” She said, “She was really... bouncy?”

“I think that’s an appropriate way to put it.” Pyro said as he smiled at Butterscotch,

Butterscotch looked in his direction but quickly looked away, trying to hide her blush.

“Um, anyways, did we find the elements of harmony?” Butterscotch asked, still not showing her face to Pyro.

“Alas, we have only found three... I think.” Pyro said sheepishly, “I haven’t actually seen any of them before.”

“Well, I think that’s Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie talked about her alot” She said, “And I reckon that’s Apple...” Butterscotch stumbled for words,

“Jack” Applejack finished, she was suddenly in front of the two,

“Pleasure to meet you Applejack, my name is Pyro.” Pyro said,

“Pleased ta meetcha both” She said, “Where’d y’all come from?”

“Well, I’m originally from... Fillydelphia.” Pyro said,

Applejack turned to Butterscotch,

“Las Pegasus...” She said, grinning sheepishly.

Shining Armor cut her off by pushing past the three and walking towards the stairwell, like he was trying to leave,

“Where do ya think you’re goin?” Applejack asked,

Shining Armor stopped and looked back, a mixture of fear and determination was in his eyes.

“Canterlot.”

Team

“Canterlot?” Rainbow Dash asked, “Are you insane?”

Shining Armor kept walking in a slow, steady pace.

“I’m getting my sister back” He muttered,

Applejack ran to his side,

“Sugarcube, ya can’t go to Canterlot” She said,

“yeah, didn’t you just say yourself that it was gone?” Pyro said to Shining,

“Maybe...maybe she could still be there.” He said hopefully,

“Or, maybe the town is full of thieves!” Cinnamon shouted, “Face it Shining, she’s not there, she’s probably not-”

Shining’s horn suddenly glowed, Cinnamon’s neck became shrouded in the light blue aura and he was lifted off of the ground and was starting to choke.

“SHINING! Killing Cinnamon won’t solve anything,” Pyro said as he touched him on the shoulder, releasing a little more heat than usual, “And it will probably lessen our chances of even getting to Canterlot and finding Twilight.”

Shining considered this, he looked back on his struggling teammate and then to the others...

The aura disappeared.

“Good.” Pyro said, removing his hoof from Shining,

The blue aura reappeared and blew Cinnamon into a nearby medicine cabinet, spraying various liquids, pills and syringes all over the others.

Cinnamon lay in the medicine cabinet, gasping for air and then releasing it with screams of agony, his front leg was twisted in an odd direction, numerous syringes were stabbed into his right thigh, near his cutie mark, he was drenched in a blue liquid, it smelled of cough medicine.

“Don’t say that about my sister...” Shining muttered, “She’s alive.”

“You didn’t give him a chance.” Pyro said as he glared daggers at Shining, then flicking his normal gaze to the three elements of harmony, “Sorry to bother you, but could you keep an eye on Cinnamon, he doesn’t seem to be able to move very far anymore.”

“Screw you Pyro!” Cinnamon shouted, smacking Butterscotch away when she tried to tend to him.

“She’s trying to help you, dammit! And so am I.” Pyro said, “Just stay with these nice mares for me, will ya?”

“Fuck that! I’m outta here!” He said, getting up then falling right back down,

“Doesn’t look like it.” Butterscotch remarked, “Now, let me help, my mom was a nurse.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on,” Rainbow Dash said, “How can we trust you guys?”

Butterscotch looked at Pyro, who returned the look, “We just saved you guys, didn’t we?” Butterscotch asked,

“Um, who did we save them from again?” Pyro said,

Butterscotch looked at the trio then turned away, facing the other direction to hide her emotion,

“Themselves...” She muttered, inaudibly

“Well, we didn’t kill them when we walked in, so I guess we saved them from us.” Pyro said, not hearing the comment,

“I thought you were helping me, bitch!” Cinnamon shouted, “I’m in pain here!”

“Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.” Pyro said, “Plus, we’re going soon.”

“How soon?” Butterscotch asked,

“I don’t know, when grumpy says so.” Pyro said, putting emphasis on grumpy

Butterscotch giggled a bit and pulled a syringe out of Cinnamon’s rump without warning, grinning when she heard him spit every swear word she knew, plus a few new ones.

“We shall leave pottymouth in your care, elements.” Pyro said, referring to the three in front of him.

“Gee, thanks” Rainbow said sarcastically, “Is there any sleep medicine in there?”

“You’re the ones who’ve been in here for three weeks, you tell me?” Pyro said, shrugging,

Rainbow Dash ignored the comment and began to help the others with Cinnamon, pulling out syringe after syringe.

Butterscotch caught up with Shining Armor and sat down in front of him, blocking his path.

“Move.” He demanded,

“No, I think I’m okay here” She said, looking at her hoof,

“Move now.” Shining said, his horn began to glow,

“Or what?” Butterscotch asked, standing up and going nose to nose with the large stallion, “You gonna throw me into a medicine cabinet and lose another teammate?”

“She has a point, the more you hurt us, the harder it will be to find Twilight.” Pyro said, trying to break up the two.

“Listen here, bucko, I didn’t plan on going all the way to Canterlot with you guys, but I will if it means helping us out a bit!”

“Oh, and I suppose you planned on getting tied up in a bathroom though, didn’t you?” Shining asked, smirking at the expression on the mares face,

Pyro tackled Shining to the floor, pinning him down.

“Don’t you ever mention that again.” Pyro growled, his eyes aflame,

The mare got out of the position she was in and ran into a hospital room, slamming the door shut behind her.

“Dammit! See what you did?” Pyro shouted as he got off of Shining and went to the door, “Butterscotch, may I come in?”

“Why?!” She shouted from behind the door, “Nopony here cares about me!”

“Because I care about you...” Pyro whispered,

The mare took a few seconds, but the door finally cracked open, just enough so Pyro could slip in. Pyro slowly walked in and sat on the nearby cot. Butterscotch was behind the door, her expression unreadable as she closed it behind him.

“Don’t ever think nopony doesn’t care about you, it’ll make you go insane.” Pyro said,

“Why would you of all ponies care about somepony like me?” She asked, sitting next to him,

“Because you are beautiful. You’re funny. And you are, most importantly, brave, strong and can take care of yourself.” Pyro said as he looked up into her eyes,

Butterscotch stared straight ahead, at the blood covered wall where a small filly lay dead,

“I’m not brave, nor strong.” She said, “Brave ponies don’t abandon everything to find a better life.”

“That exactly what brave ponies do! Any lesser pony would try to tolerate their shitty-ass life.” Pyro said,

Butterscotch turned to Pyro with tears in her eyes, “Don’t lie to me like this, nopony ever cared.”

The mare got to her hooves and left the room, keeping the door open so Pyro could exit.

“Butterscotch, I’m not trying to deceive you, I’m telling the absolute truth.” Pyro said as he caught up to her, “Turn around and look at me.”

She turned around, now with a stern look in her eyes, “What?” She snapped,

Without further hesitation, Pyro ran up and hugged Butterscotch tightly,

“Do you really think I would lie to a pony’s face, let alone one as hurt as yours?” Pyro said into her ear,

Butterscotch pushed him away and looked at him coldly, “Don’t touch me,” She said, “I’ve seen somepony do it before.”

“Ok... but if you ever need help, I’m here for you.” Pyro said with sadness in his eyes as he walked back to Shining,

Butterscotch’s eyes found the floor, she traced her hoof in a circle and sighed,

“No,” She thought, “He doesn’t care, nopony cares.”

But what if he does?

Butterscotch shook her head, as if to ward away the thoughts, she returned to Shining Armor, who sat with Pyro,

“So, when are we leaving, Shining?” Pyro said, trying not to show his pain,

“Soon, get everypony ready, try to find some supplies.” He said, looking towards Butterscotch, who nodded slowly and began to check rooms.

“Wouldn’t the elements have looked around the hospital for supplies already?” Pyro said,

“They said that they had only been in the room, Rainbow Dash had been going out to scavenge, but she stayed away from the other rooms in the hospital” He said,

“Oh, okay.” Pyro said as he got up to check the rooms opposite of Butterscotch.

When he got into 14-b, he wasn’t surprised to find a dried bloodbath. The floor was covered fully and about half of the wall was drenched-

“Found something!” Butterscotch shouted from the room opposite of Pyro,

Pyro trotted out of his room and into Butterscotch’s.

“What’d you find?” Pyro asked

“Whatever that is” Butterscotch said, pointing to a large bag, covered in blood,

Shining Armor pushed past the two and dug into the bag,

“Jackpot” He said, “Two tents, and a survivalist package.”

“And to think that was just next store to them.” Pyro said, “They need to step up their game.”

“We heard that!” Rainbow Dash called,

“Good! Constructive criticism.” Pyro called back,

“We better take them...” Butterscotch said,

“Okay, you carry them then” Shining said, dropping the bloody bag onto the mares back forcefully,

The mare threw it off, sending it into Shining’s face,

“I’m not carrying that thing!” Butterscotch said, her eyes widening when she saw the blood on her back, she covered her mouth with one hoof, beginning to gag.

“I guess I’ll have to then.” Pyro grumbled as he lifted up the bag and used his magic to get as much blood off as possible, which wasn’t a lot, “Looks like somepony died trying to keep this, so we should at least use it.”

“She really is a mare” Shining said, sounding annoyed, “What has a little blood ever done to somepony?”

“Any STD in the book,” Pyro muttered to himself, finishing off the blood and putting the bag onto his back,

Butterscotch finally stopped gagging and recomposed herself, “Let’s just get out of here... alright?”

“Am I the only one who thinks this medicine will be of use to us?!” Rainbow Dash called out, “Especially for this jerk!”

Starting An Adventure Without The Essentials

“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.

Stories and A Visit In The Night

Later that night...

Pyro, Shining and Cinnamon quietly slept in their large blue tent, The elements and Butterscotch had taken a larger tent for privacy, and because Shining didn’t want the two “Lovebirds” together. A completely empty tent sat in the middle of the two, it was for anypony who was sick or needed more privacy. Shining was stupid to put up something like that, he must have been completely blind.

Butterscotch silently slipped into the middle tent, holding her breath as she settled in, even though the tent she had come from had provided plenty of room, she wanted to be away from everypony, she still hadn’t shaken off the feeling of the nights before.

She closed her eyes and imagined a world without trotters, or thieves, or anything bad, she her home and sitting around the warm fire with her family, hearing the crackling of the fire.

She sat up swiftly, she had heard something... had it been the fire crackling in her dream or had it been something-

Crack!

This was definitely not her dream, this was a real world problem.

A shadow passed beside the fire outside of her tent, it stopped at the boys’ peered in, then went towards the elements of harmony’s tent, almost mimicking its movements before, it peered in, but this time it panted, as if hungry.

Finally, it arrived outside of her tent, only this time it did not peer in, it began to unzip the tent entrance... slowly... steadily...

Then it stepped in, his forest green eyes slowly met mine, a wide toothy grin appeared on his face as he saw me.

“Hello, my sweet candy.”

Master.

Butterscotch awoke violently from her nightmare, throwing Pyro off of her and into the side of the tent, she swung her hooves for somepony that wasn’t there, the stallion who had tortured her and caused her so much pain.

She spotted Pyro in the corner of the tent and realized it had only been a nightmare.

“Blue! I’m sorry!” She whispered loudly, the moon was still in the sky after all.

“It’s alright... It looks like you had the same idea as me.” Blue Flare said as he got back on his hooves,

“Yeah, I didn’t think you’d be in here, you seem so calm around those two.” She said,

“It’s not them, it’s me.” Blue Flare said, “I didn’t want them to get hurt.”

“Why would they get hurt?” She asked, scooting closer.

“Because... I’m not as I seem.”

“What do you mean by that?” She asked, laying him down on the pillow next to her, “You look the same to me.”

“That’s not what I meant, they don’t know my past.” Blue Flare said, “I’m actually supposed to be in exile.”

“Why would they send a pony like you to exile?” Butterscotch asked, laying down next to him and covering up.

“Not one pony, ponies.” Blue Flare said, “My whole bloodline.”

“What’s wrong with your family? You seem to be nice enough.” She said

“One pony’s action made a whole bloodline feared.” Blue Flare said, “That was the start of it.”

“Well, go on, tell me what happened” Butterscotch said, yawning and then giggling like a foal, “I’d like to snuggle.”

“This is no laughing matter, but snuggling on the other hoof...” Blue Flare joked, “Okay, serious time. It all starts with... huh, can’t remember his name. Whatever... What’s important is that I come from a family of people who can manipulate fire at will. We are known as Pyromancers.”

“Lot’s of unicorns can do that... what's wrong with your family using it more often?” Butterscotch asked, interrupting his story.

“But none could create fire, they could only move it from place to place.” Blue Flare said, “And the sheer force of the spells used are hard to even muster, without special training. We were amongst the most respected families in Equestria until... he started using our magic for bad reasons.”

“What did he do?” Butterscotch asked, interrupting him once again and scooting closer.

“His name was Justice Light, but he didn’t use the power for justice.” Blue Flare said, “He burned everything that moved, and what he didn’t burn he used for personal gain. He was one of the most feared ponies of this age of peace. Eventually, he was caught and judged by the court of Canterlot, who decided that exile was the best decision, but not just him, but all of the Pyromancers had to be exiled because we posed a threat to Equestria. We were rounded up

by the hundreds and thrown into boats and shipped to anywhere but here. I was found with my mother, father and sister hiding in a secret room in the back of a post office. We eventually found the safe haven known as today’s Germaneigh and thought we were safe. But as it turns out, there was a famine in Germaneigh and we couldn’t eat anything. All the Pyromancers blamed Justice Light and had him publicly executed.“

Butterscotch remained quiet as he continued.

“We started to starve. Pyromancers started to do the only thing they could think of. Eat. But when there was no food, they had to improvise. We started to eat each other. I was lead to believe that I was eating bad hay, but it was actually very, burned pony. The population decreased dramatically because of this, but that wasn’t the end. About a month ago, some pony started to act strange, then his family started to act strange, then close friends of that family started to act strange, and so on until my sister and mother started to act strange. This was the first outbreak of the contagion. My mother tried to bite my father, but we were already aware of their condition and had planned an escape. Me and my father had been making a boat with magic and were a few days away from completion, all we needed to do was add the second bench for my father, but alas, that wasn’t going to happen.

My father threw me onto the boat with supplies to keep me going for six months. He even included a survival guide for any situation. He fought all the “Pre-Trotters” off with his abilities, but even he was no match for a whole country of them. Once I was far away from the shore, I heard a loud explosion and saw a gigantic mushroom cloud from the general direction of the beach. That’s when I knew I was alone. I rode the boat to my unknown destination, reading the survival guide over and over until I memorized every word. Only then did I reach another shore, an Equestrian shore. Fortunately, nopony was near enough to see the fire as I lit the boat up to hide the evidence of me ever being here. I still don’t know the exact time I was at sea, but by how much food was gone, it was about four months.”

Butterscotch’s mouth hung open from the story, she was horrified.

“And you’ve been here ever since?” She asked,

“Yes, because for me, there’s nothing to go back to.” Blue Flare said, his eyes filled with determination, “For I am, Pyro, the last surviving Pyromancer... But that’s not the reason I didn’t sleep in the same tent as Shining and Cinnamon. The reason for that is because of the nightmares that accompany my sleep. The images of my mother and sister reaching out for my flesh. When that is what I see every night, it unconsciously activates my powers and sends flames to any nearby pony.”

“Oh, so you might burn the tent?” Butterscotch asked, she didn’t seem to be all that worried of her safety.

“Not only the tent, but the ponies themselves would be turned to ash.” Blue Flare said,

“Aw, what a shame, we would be down a tent.” Butterscotch said, lying back down and poking at it.

“And two mules.” Blue Flare added,

“Oh, but the tent...” Butterscotch said, she was up on her feet now, pacing back and forth.

“Don’t you get it? The tent is the least of the damage that would be done.” Blue Flare said a little louder than before,

“But the... the tent...” She stumbled over her words, and began to stagger where she stood,

“What? What is it about the tent that you’re worried about?” Pyro asked,

Butterscotch muttered something inaudible and fell to the ground, a silver tool stuck up from one of her haunches,

A Syringe.

Pyro took out the Syringe and studied the contents,

“Very strong Cough Medicine?” Pyro said, “Where’d this come from?”

“Right behind you” A voice said.

A large bowie knife wrapped around Pyro’s neck, a large tan pony held it in place,

“Didn’t your mother tell you not to play with fire?” Pyro asked the pony,

Without hesitation, the knife left his neck and slashed across his back, dropping him to the ground, Pyro noticed some other ponies outside, pushing his companions out of their tents and tying them up.

“What can I do with this one?” A quick voice asked, the pony who owned the voice was tugging at Butterscotch’s mane, “She’s a pretty one.”

“She should have, because you might get BURNT!” Pyro said as he got back to his feet.

Pyro let out a small fireball that made the whole tent catch ablaze. Pyro used this as a distraction to grab the pony holding Butterscotch and ripped her away from him. After he’d gotten her, he lit the pony’s tail on fire and watched him dance.

“Turbo! you quit that!” They tan one said, pushing him into the pond and dousing the flame.

“So... some stallions and mares get lost outside of town?” he asked, spinning the knife on his hoof.

“How can you get lost when you have a star guiding your path?” Pyro asked

Pyro didn’t hesitate to melt the knife into liquid metal.

The pony jumped at the sudden heat and flicked his hoof comically, then he just seemed to be annoyed by Pyro’s power, he pulled another from his boot and scooped up Pinkie Pie from the group, holding the knife to her neck

“How about now?” The pony asked, “Melt this one and it drips onto her neck”

“Pinkie! There’s a party going on and you’re missing it!” Pyro yelled at the top of his lungs,

Pinkie Pie’s eye found the ground, he body fell limp with shame and she tried to mutter something through the gag in her mouth.

“Nice try, fire boy” he said, eyeing Butterscotch, who was still in his arms, “That your marefriend?” he asked

“Hell yes, and the name’s Pyro.” Pyro said,

“Oooo!” The stallion cooed with sarcasm, “Can’t you see I’m just shaking in my very skin from your hostility!” He began to laugh.

“Put her down if you want to keep your foreleg.” Pyro said, “Or would you rather lose a friend?”

The stallion rolled his eyes at the small pony, “Kill him, I don’t care, all he cares about is sex.” he said, “And I have no problem with that...Just as long as its my own.” He planted a kiss on Pinkie’s nose and smiled at Pyro.

“Foreleg it is then,” Pyro said,

At once the pony’s foreleg that was holding the knife caught on fire and was almost destroyed completely, except for a skinny white bone.

Seven other ponies surrounded the camp, all of the thieves watched their leader moan and cry out in pain, some laughed.

“Science is a bitch.” Pyro said, smirking

Thats when the grey one dropped, it happened so fast, no pony knew what had happened before one of the others dropped to, loud noises were just now coming to mind when the third shot came, dropping yet another.

“What is thi-” A red pony tried to ask, but fell as a bullet traveled through his skull.

The now remaining four panicked, the small one was the next to go, he had barely gotten out of the water before his body was propelled back into it. Crimson now leaked into the clear water, like oil into a water system. Then it stopped for a few seconds.

“You’d better run along, little fillies, before you get hurt.” Pyro said, hoping that they wouldn’t see the sweat running down his face,

The sound of hoofsteps alerted the other three, but before either of them could react, a small knife hit a large blue one in the neck, dropping him to the ground, but not killing him.

The other two looked at each other and sprinted in opposite direction, a small flash appeared for a split second in the distance, putting both of the ponies in the dirt, each with a bullet in their heads. Leaving one pony convulsing on the ground, spitting and coughing out his own blood.

A small pony walked out of the darkness into the light of the campfire, its coat was a light grey, its mane resembled the color of dark ash. its body was almost completely covered with a black hoody, hiding its eyes.

“Thanks, whoever you are, I don’t know how we would have survived without you.” Pyro said, letting out a breath he didn’t know he was holding,

The pony walked towards the convulsing pony without saying a word, when it reached his side it stomped down on the knife without mercy, killing him.

“You’re welcome.” It muttered, the group was shocked to hear that the voice was feminine, the pony was a mare!

“The silent type ‘eh? Reminds me of a black and red animal.” Pyro said, walking over to Pinkie and untying her,

The mare didn’t speak, she helped undo the others in complete silence.

“Thanks” Cinnamon said, studying the pony, “What’s your name?”

The mare said nothing, she turned around and began to leave the camp.

“Don’t ask for it, wait until they tell you it.” Pyro said,

Cinnamon disregarded what Pyro said and hurried after the mare, “Wait!”

When he placed a hoof on her shoulder she froze.

“Idiot.” Pyro muttered, placing his hoof on his temple,

The mare made a clean spin and knocked Cinnamon off of his feet, jumping on top of him and putting a knife to his neck, glaring at him with calm, black eyes.

“Don’t touch me, this was a favor, I could have just as easily walked off and left your sorry asses to die.” She growled,

She stepped off of him and slid the knife into her hoody, looking up at the rest of the group, “You all have a nice night.” She said simply.

“Actually, that’s quite impossible. Trotters are moving towards this position because of the light and sound we made.” Pyro stated, “It’s best if we move, like right now.”

The mare rolled her eyes and walked back up to the campfire, showering it with dirt and putting it out completely, “You shouldn’t have been stupid enough to light a fire then,” she said, “And for the zombies...” The mare dug into a small backpack the group hadn’t seen until then, pulling out a small green spray can. “That’ll keep ‘em away.”

Pyro studied the can like he had studied the syringe, he then sniffed it and gagged,

“Dragon pee? How did you acquire such a thing?” Pyro said,

The mares face grew deathly serious, “You don’t want to know.” She said,

“That’s really nasty.” Cinnamon said, “You actually went under a dragon and-”

The mare laughed, “No, I got it from some lab in Manehattan, I wouldn’t have done something like that even if it was to keep them away.” she said, tossing it on the ground, “You guys can have this one, don’t spray too much, or it’ll attract them instead.”

“Well, considering your talent, it doesn’t look like you need it.” Pyro said, chuckling to the thought of somepony harvesting the liquid,

She shrugged, “It helps when there is too many for me to handle,” She pointed at one of the dead ponies, “I just got the jump on these idiots.”

“That explains something. We’ll see you when we see you.” Pyro said, trying not to keep her waiting,

The mare smiled then sighed, “I guess I’ll be off, then.” She said, turning around and starting to walk away but stopping short and turning around with a grin, “You won’t see me.”

“You never know.” Pyro said, shrugging, “Somepony might light up the area.”

“You guys are stupid.” Rainbow Dash said, following after the pony,

“No, we think ahead.” Pyro said, “She obviously doesn’t want to join.”

Rainbow Dash stopped the pony and began to talk to her, too quietly for the group to hear.

“Didn’t you hear that sigh?” Pinkie Pie asked, “That pony needs a friend!” She joined Dash and the mare,

“Her actions say otherwise.” Cinnamon said,

Applejack looked at the other elements and then the others, “‘Ah’m just gonna see if ‘ah can help” she said, trotting off towards them.

“I don’t know what to think right now, except is there anyway to speed up Butterscotch’s metabolism?” Pyro asked, turning back his marefriend, “She’ll wake up sooner.”

“Just let her sleep,” Shining said, “it’s night time anyways.”

Shining yawned and looked over to his tent, then snapped his head back to Pyro, “What were you two doing in the same tent?” He asked,

“Not what you’re thinking.” Pyro answered, “I went in for safety, and she went in for privacy.”

Shining narrowed his eyes, “You sure about that?” He asked, “I saw you two in the pond, what were you talking about?”

“She asked me a question, and I answered truthfully, that’s all.” Pyro said coolly, “She needed some comfort as well.”

Shining sighed, “Well, get her in bed, you can stay in there if you need to” He said, turning around and entering his tent, “But I better not wake up to any sounds.”

“Thanks, and you won’t.” Pyro said as he picked up Butterscotch,

Pyro carefully placed her in the slightly singed tent, then lay down beside her. His hooves were behind his head as a pillow. He ended up getting uncomfortable and snuggled up beside Butterscotch.

“I’ll wait for the girls” Cinnamon said, making a rude gesture when he saw Pyro and Butterscotch together.

“Butterscotch, you’re the only pony I’ve ever told about my past, and you’re the only pony I can trust right now.” Blue Flare whispered into Butterscotch’s unresponsive ear, “I hope I can always trust you, for better or for worse, because, like I said, we all need somepony.”

Disobeying Shining

Butterscotch awoke calmly, her eyes were instantly blinded from the morning light, she felt somepony next to her, when she cracked her eyes open she saw Blue Flare snuggled up against her, breathing slowly and quietly. This brought a smile to her face.

She slid out of the tent, quietly enough so she didn’t wake him. The first thing she saw was an unknown pony, sharpening a large knife next to the campfire. She immediately dove back into the tent, landing on top of Blue Flare and shaking him awake.

“Blue!” She whispered loudly, “Wake up!”

“What, What?” Blue Flare said groggily, “What’s got you worked up?”

“Somepony is outside with a huge knife!” She said, “Where’s the bag?”

“Really? Let me ask it a few questions then.” Blue Flare said, his eyes aflame, “And your bag is wherever you left it.”

Butterscotch hopped around the room for a few seconds but eventually came up with a large pistol from the medicine bag.

“We don’t need that yet, I’ll call for you if we do though.” Pyro said exiting the tent slowly.

“I’m not just gonna sit back!” Butterscotch screeched, diving out of the tent with her gun up,

The other pony instantly drew a gun of her own, pointing it at Butterscotch, who held hers with a wing,

“What the hell is this?” The mare asked, “Put the damn gun down!”

“Not until you put yours down, bitch!” Butterscotch growled with hostility,

“Girls, girls, easy!” Pyro said getting in between the two mares,

“Who you callin a bitch, bitch?” The mare asked,

“STOP, Butterscotch, what do you remember from last night?” Pyro asked,

“I don’t remember her!” Butterscotch yelled, Applejack and Pinkie Pie now had their heads out of their tent

“That’s because you were drugged. She saved us from the thieves who did the drugging.” Pyro said, then he turned to Applejack, “How’d you get her to join?”

“It wasn’t that hard really,” Pinkie Pie said, “She’s pretty nice.”

“Is she now?” Pyro said, “Well then, why don’t we lower our guns now, both of you.”

“Not until she does!” The mare said,

“Not until you do!” Butterscotch said,

“Both of you drop ‘em!” Cinnamon shouted, leaping out of his tent and taking both guns from the two mares with his magic. “Celestia, you two are a bunch of little girls!”

The two mares looked at Cinnamon and dove at him for their weapons, which were tossed into the air and caught by Shining Armor.

“Both of you stop!” He demanded, holding out a hoof and stopping the two in their tracks with his magic. “I’m trying to sleep here!”

“She started it!” The mare said, pointing at Butterscotch,

“How was I supposed to know that you weren’t going to gut me?” Butterscotch asked, pointing to the knife the mare had been sharpening.

“Because I would have done it when you were asleep!” The mare said, unsheathing the knife.

“DO NOT MAKE ME MELT BOTH YOUR GUNS!” Pyro shouted as he stomped his hoof,

Both of the mares silenced.

“Can you take your marefriend Pyro?” Shining asked, “I can’t hold both of them.”

Pyro got Butterscotch and took her to the other side of their camp. Butterscotch crossed her forelegs while in mid air,

“Let me down.” She pouted,

“Not until you behave.” Pyro said,

“Everything was fine until she woke up!” The mare said,

“Please, Swift, Shut up.” Shining said, turning to Pyro, “What are we gonna do with these two?”

“Put them in a bag and beat them with a stick?” Pyro suggested with a grin,

Butterscotch turned to Pyro, “How about I beat your bag with a stick?” She said,

“It was a joke.” Pyro said, “We could put them together until they get along?”

“Brilliant!” Cinnamon said, “Let’s see who survives!”

“Let’s do that” Shining said, letting Swift down.

“Good. Now, are you ready to behave like a full-grown mare?” Pyro asked Butterscotch,

“Maybe.” Butterscotch said with a grin,

“I’m not letting you down until I hear a definite yes.” Pyro said, using his magic to raise her higher into the air,

“Fine, Yes.” Butterscotch said with an exaggerated sigh.

“Good.”  Pyro said, putting her down gently,

Butterscotch walked past Swift, whipping her with her tail as she went by.

“So, your name is Swift?” Pyro asked the new pony

“Yeah, and that’s your marefriend?”

“Yeah, she isn’t usually this mean, it’s just that you startled her.” Pyro said, “My name is Pyro.”

“Charmed, And sorry, I didn’t mean to scare anypony.” Swift said,

“Even the thieves?” Pyro said, raising an eyebrow, “Because they almost wet their panties.”

Swift laughed, “Well, they kind of deserved it.” She said, “And I don’t think they could have wet their panties if they weren’t wearing any, I’m probably the only pony who wears clothes anymore.”

“I might if I could.” Pyro said, “But I can’t really wear anything flammable.”

“Yeah, I heard.” Swift said, “Sorry to say, but I don’t have any metal t-shirts in my pack.”

“They’d be too heavy anyway.” Pyro said waving off the question, but then thinking, “If somepony could engineer a magic water t-shirt, I’d be first in line.”

“Unless you know Celestia, I don’t see that happening anytime soon.” Swift said with a chuckle, “Anyways, I best wake up the girls, see you later.”

Swift walked towards the mares’ tent. Pyro went to the pond to look at himself. His mane was less than satisfactory, and his coat lacked its usual yellow glow. He began to clean himself off and try to redo his ragged mane.

Butterscotch appeared by his side, watching him rinse off his mane.

“Hey.” She said simply.

“Hello.” Pyro said, “how are you doing?”

“Fine, what about you?” She asked,

“Great, do you know what F.I.N.E. stands for?” Pyro asked,

“No, what?” Butterscotch asked, dipping her mane in the water and scrubbing it.

“Freaked out, Insecure, Not ok, Emotional.” Pyro said, “It fully describes you right now.”

Butterscotch pushed him into the pond, fully soaking him. Pyro burst out of the pond, then dragged Butterscotch in with him. The two splashed each other playfully for a few minutes before Butterscotch tackled him underwater and kissed him when they came back up. Pyro laughed, then his gaze shifted into sadness.

“It’s hard to have a moment like this in this world.” Pyro said,

Butterscotch wrapped her forelegs around his neck, “Just try to forget.” She said, pulling him towards the back of the cave,

“Why are we going back here?” Blue Flare asked, “Nopony can see us.”

“Oh, no reason, just a little privacy.” She said,

“And why would we need that?” Blue Flare said, pretending to be oblivious

“I think you know” She said, giving him a seductive look.

“Oh, I can take a hint, just making sure.” Blue Flare said as he tackled Butterscotch,

“I think there’s a bit of land back here” Butterscotch said, wrestling with Blue Flare.

“Now why would we need that?” Blue Flare asked, “It’s not like we can’t do it here.

“Oh, kinky...” Butterscotch said, kissing him deeply.

The two stayed with their lips locked for a few minutes, Butterscotch eventually allowed Blue Flare’s tongue through her teeth, their tongues clashed like swords, smashing into each other while the two kissed, Butterscotch could feel her body heat up as Blue’s rubbed up against hers, not out of his magic, but a magic between the two, the magic of love itself. Blue lifted Butterscotch up and he stood on his hind legs, her head was much higher than his now so the two had to break the kiss, then Butterscotch had an idea.

“I read somewhere...” She said,

Her tongue gently pressed against his horn, which made him gasp.

“I’m sorry!” She said, “Did that hurt?”

“No...” Blue Flare said, “It... felt kind of good...”

Blue’s hoof rubbed against Butterscotch’s wing, which she now saw was unfurled and flared.

“I see you’re liking this too.” He said, gently rubbing them,

“Bloody hell you two are loud,” a voice said,

The two ponies turned their heads to see Swift, wading about ten hooves away with a large grin on her face.

“Oh, h-hello Swift.” Pyro stuttered, “H-how are you today?”

“I’m brilliant, how are you two?” She asked,

“W-we’re fine.” Pyro said, sweat was dripping down his face now,

“Whatcha guys doin?” She asked, her grin widening.

“He was, uh... washing my wings for me?” Butterscotch tried, smiling and chuckling nervously.

“Yep, totally washing her wings, nothing but.” Pyro said as his other hoof was stroking Butterscotch’s still erect wings,

“Mmm...” Butterscotch squeaked from the contact.

“Uh-huh,” Swift said, “I’ll go tell Shining that, he asked.”

“Okay then, I also need to clean her mane, and her mind too.” Pyro said, the last bit inaudible,

With that, Swift left, swimming back to camp with that same huge grin.

“I really hope she keeps her word, if not, we’re in big trouble.” Pyro said, “Think of something really gross.”

“Something gross? Why?” Butterscotch asked,

Pyro touched Butterscotch’s wings again. She had to cover her mouth to not moan in ecstasy.

“That’s why.” Pyro said, “You’ll lose your, umm... hard faster.”

“It’s called a ‘Wing Flare’ smart one.” Butterscotch said, “Did you not read any books on the body?”

“I haven’t seen any books for about a year, and before then I couldn’t look at anatomy books.” Pyro said with his eyes narrowed,

“How old are you?” Butterscotch asked,

“Hmm... I think about eighteen now, my birthday was on a boat.” Pyro said, pondering the answer,

“I’m nineteen... unless it’s March... is it March?” She asked,

“You’re asking the pony who doesn’t even know what year it is.” Pyro said,

“Whatever, it doesn’t matter anymore.” She said, “Unless you were like forty, or something.”

“Could you imagine.” Pyro said as he laughed,

“Not many forty year olds look as good as you do.” Butterscotch said, finally getting her wings down.

“Not many can produce flames either.” Pyro said, “Not anymore.”

“Oooh, you think you're ‘Mr. Special’ now, huh?” Butterscotch joked, leaning on him.

“That's one way of putting it.” Pyro said as he started to walk “C’mon, let’s go back to camp.”

Butterscotch giggled, “Yeah, can’t you see that I wasn’t in the mood once you started talking?” She said, giggling again.

“I could, but we have to make it look like we were actually cleaning each other.” Pyro said as he splashed water onto Butterscotch’s mane,

Butterscotch returned the favor by dunking Pyro underwater and diving down towards him, they both swam to the shore and dried themselves off.

“Good to see you two weren’t eaten.” Cinnamon said, looking over to Swift then back to the two, “Or was that just Butterscotch?”

“DAMMIT SWIFT, I’M GOING TO KILL YOU! EVEN IF I HAVE TO HUNT YOU DOWN TO THE ENDS OF THE EARTH.” Pyro yelled as he charged at the dark mare who was still wet,

Cinnamon stopped Pyro with his magic, “What’s wrong Pyro? She only told us you two were bathing together, was there something else going on?”

Pyro thought as quickly as he had ever thought before.

“Yeah, she threw mud on us AFTER we had just finished cleaning, so we had to clean off again.” Pyro said,

“Yep, guilty as charged.” Butterscotch said, holding her hooves up, “Take me away!”

“That’s the least I’m gonna do to you!” Shining Armor said, stomping up on scene, “WHAT DID I SAY PYRO?!” He yelled at the yellow stallion,

“You said that was the least you were going to do to us, why?” Pyro said,

“WHY DO YOU...” The steaming stallion stopped, “Why do you think?”

“I think because, if I didn’t, I’d die.” Pyro said, trying to hold this as long as he could “Why are you asking me weird questions?”

“I know what you two were doing in there.” Shining said, pushing Butterscotch away forcefully when she tried to step in between the two.

“I’d expect that you would, didn’t you say that Swift told you that we were bathing?” Pyro said, this was too fun to let go,

“If you and your bitch of a marefriend wanna go out and have a cute little family, that’s fine by me!” Shining screamed, “But you're not gonna have one in my group!”

“Well, it’s good to know we have your blessing.” Pyro said, he almost had him, “I thought it was perfectly clear the first time you said that. Hey! Don’t call her a bitch!”

“I can call her whatever I want.” Shining stated, puffing out his chest.

“Then why not call her something nice, like, I don’t know, mare, or pegasus, or even pony?” Pyro said, then asked Cinnamon, “Can you let me down now?”

“Sure.” Cinnamon said, letting him down,

Shining stomped away angrily, cursing under his breath and stamping his hoof against the ground.

The Chase and Old Friends

Swift slowly walked up to the pair’s side,“Sorry about that, I didn’t think he’d get so pissed about it.” She said,

“You should have seen him when he realized Twilight wasn’t where he left her.” Pyro said, “You are still going to die by my hands though.”

“Eh, anyways, sorry for interrupting you two, I know I wouldn’t want that to happen to me,” She said, “but, I’m just really nosy.”

“Hmm... I’ve never met a strong-and-silent nosy pony before.” Pyro said, grinning an evil grin “But instead of killing you, I’ve decided to interrupt every time you try to do ‘that’.”

“None of the mares here are that good-looking anyway.” She said, gesturing towards the other mares.

“I never said anything about ma- wait, what?” Pyro said, astonished at what just left Swift’s lips,

“Oh, jail me.” Swift growled, “So what if I like mares instead of stallions?” She said, getting face to face with Pyro.

“I’ve got nothing against that. It’s just that I wouldn’t have guessed.”  Pyro said, putting his forelegs in an X pattern on his chest, then letting them go to their original positions,

“Yeah, well most ponies do.” She said, “I’m not gonna have some nasty stallion treat me like a rag doll.”

“That’s perfectly fine with me.” Pyro said, “And not all stallions are nasty.”

“I know that, it’s just...” Swift stopped, “Nevermind, I don’t want to talk about it.”

Swift turned and walked away, not looking back.

Butterscotch noticed Swift’s cutie mark, which she hadn’t seen until now, it was a sniper rifle’s crosshairs.

“What do you think that means?” Butterscotch asked, turning to her coltfriend.

“Her attitude or her cutie mark?” Pyro said as he saw what his marefriend was looking at, “If it’s the attitude, I think you should know more that any of us.”

“No, her cutie mark.” Butterscotch said, “I’ve never seen one like that.”

“It either means she has great accuracy, or she’s a mercenary.” Pyro said, “I think it’s the former.”

Swift turned around quickly with a scowling look in her eyes, “I’m an assassin! Big difference!” she shouted, alerting everypony in the camp, who all just stared, except for Shining Armor, who kept doing what he was doing.

“Well, not really. They both kill people, sometimes for money, sometimes for personal reasons.” Pyro said, “I did just compliment you, you know.”

The mare stomped up to him,

“No, mercenaries will do anything to kill their target, bombs, shootings, robberies.” She explained, “An Assassin-”

“Is a silent, unnoticed, clean killer, yes I know, but I meant it’s the same principal. Pyro clarified, “I still think the Cutie Mark was for your accuracy.”

“Right, thank you.” She said,

“You are most welcome.” Pyro said, “Now, what should we do at the moment. I don’t think I should talk to Shining and he’s the one who’s leading us.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty fumed.” Swift said, “He shouldn’t be so angry.”

“Well, he did say that we couldn’t do ‘that’ and I was playing with him the whole time.” Pyro said as he rubbed the back of his neck, “But he’s funny when he’s angry.”

“Oh, you should have seen him when I screwed up on my second job.” Swift said, “Now that’s a pony you wouldn’t want to mess with.”

“Ah, so you two have history together.” Pyro said, smiling, “That’s helpful.”

“Yeah, ‘Captain of the royal guard’ over there treated us like dirt, worse than some of their elites.” She said, “There used to be more of us, we had made a group and we were trying to go to manehattan, but it was completely overrun. We lost three of us there, me and the four others fell apart after that, we ended up parting ways.” She explained.

“Yes, sort of like my story.” Pyro said, “But seriously, what are we going to do?”

“About Shining?” She asked,

“No, I mean what can we do right now to be productive?” Pyro said,

“Oh, I was helping Shining a few minutes ago, you guys can probably just-”

“TROTTERS!!!” Cinnamon’s voice rang through the camp,

Cinnamon ran back to the others, out of breath and sweating, “Big group of ‘em, more than thirty or forty, about a hundred yards away and their gaining fast.”

“Crap, we need to pack the camp up.” Pyro said, silently cursing “I had to ask to be productive.”

“Start packing. Fast.” Shining ordered, “Butterscotch, take down the tents, Rainbow Dash and Applejack, grab some of the bags, you too Pyro. Pinkie Pie, Cinnamon and I will gather as much water as possible.” he turned to Swift, who was calmly cleaning the muzzle of a small pistol, “Do that if any get too close.”

The group nodded and began to pack as fast as they could, each one of them doing their jobs.

“Seventy yards.” Swift said, looking through a sniper rifle’s scope, which was detached from the actual rifle. She now had her hoodie and backpack on, covering her up again.

HA, you have to eat,

“This isn’t helping, let me make a trench loaded with explosives.” Pyro said as he turned to Shining, “It’ll down at least twenty of them.”

“Oh sure,” Shining said, “Let’s fill a hole full of explosives that we DON’T HAVE.”

“Who said we didn’t have any explosives? all you need is pressure and a container.” Pyro said,

“Yeah, let’s take ten minutes doing that.” Swift said, “Just do what he says!”

“We can use magic to heat the particles inside-

Butterscotch put her hoof over his mouth, “Let’s just go, it’ll be easier, we’re faster than them anyways, we can hit them on the run.”

Pyro rubbed his temples in frustration, “FINE, but don’t say I didn’t do anything to help.” He said as he used his magic to put things away quickly and orderly,

“They’re getting awfully close.” Swift said, “You guys got twenty seconds max.”

“C’mon guys!” Rainbow Dash said, speeding around camp to help everypony. “Let’s step up our game!”

“You know I’ve said that before.” Pyro said, getting antsy,

“Alright!” Shining said, packing up the last bag. “Let’s go!”

“Right behind ‘ya.” Pyro said, literally right behind Shining,

Everypony else followed, sprinting downhill further towards their destination.

“Don’t stop!” Swift yelled, “They’re right behind us!”

“Well then, shoot them down!” Pyro said as he lifted her onto his back

Swift fired four times, taking down four of them in the process.

“Huh, maybe you’re right about my Cutie Mark, maybe it is my aim.” She said, covering her eyes with a hoof and firing blindly, hitting two in the shoulder and stomach then firing into the ground right next to Pyro’s hooves.

“Don’t fool around right now, we’re ia life-and-death situation REMEMBER!” Pyro yelled, “Use your eyes.”

“Fine, Just trying to have a little fun.” She said, flipping her hood down, pulling a larger weapon out of her backpack and firing into the crowd, it was fully automatic now.

“You can have fun when you’re dead.” Pyro said, “Unless you are having fun right now. If so, be my guest.

“Just keep running!” Shining said,

“Butterscotch! Rainbow Dash!” Cinnamon said, “Can you distract them from the air?”

The two pegasi nodded and flew backwards, over the horde of trotters, getting a few of their attention and getting them away from the group.

“What are we going to do after we outrun them?” Pyro asked,

“Good question!” Shining said, “We’ll find out when we do!”

“Forget this!” Rainbow Dash yelled, “Why can’t we just stop and fight ‘em?”

“Because we’ll get mauled if we do!” Shining yelled, “Just keep going!”

Pinkie Pie huffed and puffed as she fell behind from the group, she was out of shape and completely pooped, she couldn’t keep going much longer.

“Wait up you guys!” She said,

“Oh for the love of-” Cinnamon said, dropping back and grabbing Pinkie with his magic,

Say it was bad luck, say it was fate, but a rock had to come right then.

Cinnamon’s hoof collided with a small rock on the path, launching Pinkie Pie forwards and sending him crashing to the ground.

“Dammit.” Swift muttered, jumping off of Pyro’s back and executing a perfect backwards roll and jumping up with the submachine gun in her hooves.

“Shit, Cinnamon!” Pyro yelled, but he didn’t stop running,

“We gotta stop!” Butterscotch yelled, stopping herself and Rainbow Dash,

“If you do, you’ll end up like him.” Pyro said as he picked Butterscotch up with his magic,

“Stop it!” Butterscotch yelled, “We have to at least try!”

Rainbow Dash swooped down and grabbed Swift, who kept shooting into the crowd, “He’s getting up!” She yelled, “We can still help him!”

“Not if you value your life! They’re too close to let us help and not be harmed.” Pyro said, not even glancing back,

“Let me down, or else!” Butterscotch threatened,

“Not going to happen!” Pyro said, “I’m not letting you kill yourself!”

“Damn pegasus...” Swift muttered, “Get down lower!”

“I’m trying!” Rainbow Dash yelled, “You’re not the lightest of ponies!”

Swift fumbled through her bag with one hoof, pulling out a small, cylindrical object.

“Now fly!” Swift yelled, pulling a pin off of the cylinder and throwing it towards the crowd of Trotters.

“What’d you just throw?” Pyro said, finally looking back,

“Nothing!” Swift said, jumping back down and running by Pyro’s side, “Just a little present.”

BOOOOOMMM!!!!!!

The sound erupted behind them, for such a small object, it packed quite the punch.

“You see, explosives work perfectly fine, and take about five seconds to make.” Pyro said, “We wouldn’t have this problem if I’d made them before.”

“I had that one for awhile, I only had one, so we might as well try to help him now, or it will just be a waste.” Swift said, stopping and turning back

“Well then, let’s get to it.” Pyro said as he turned around, he also let Butterscotch down, “You can help now.”

“Buck you.” Butterscotch said.

“Fine, be that way.” Pyro said as he reached Cinnamon, “You’d better not be dead.”

“Oh I’m just freaking brilliant,” Cinnamon said, “My body feels like I was just thrown into the side of a cliff.” He turned to Swift,

“Hey, I saved you!” Swift said, “The least you could say was thank you”

“I would, but...” He turned over, revealing a large blood spot with two black and yellow teeth sticking out of the wound, “I think I’m gonna die.”

“BACK OFF!” Pyro yelled at oncoming trotters, “Unless you want to be ash.”

The trotters, to everypony’s surprise, ran off.

“So, anypony got an antidote?” Cinnamon asked,

“Sorry, not me.” Swift said,

“Not in our group.” Shining said, pulling back the hammer on his revolver.

“There’s an antidote?” Pyro asked, seriously confused,

“No, not that anypony knows of.” Swift said, “Even in the science lab where I got the Dragon... stuff.”

“Bucking awesome.” Cinnamon said, laying on his back.

“You guys better hurry, they’re not going to leave quietly.” Pyro said, as he burned a trotter to cinders, with two more behind it,

“Just let ‘em get-”

Cinnamon’s head exploded, spraying chunks of brain and a shower of blood all over the group.

“Great, let’s go, NOW.” Pyro said, he officially turned his forelegs into makeshift flamethrowers at this point, spewing flames onto any trotter in range,

“Who the hell did that?” Swift asked, turning to the group, none of them had a gun out.

“‘Allo Swift.” A voice said,

The other trotters fell to the ground with only one shot.

Swift turned to see a large brown stallion, with a black mane and an eye patch covering his left eye.

“Hello, Riot.” Swift said, “Come to kill me?”

“Oh, I was, but I guess I can make room in my schedule for your friends.” Riot said, “The mares I might keep for a bit, though.”

“Who’s this motherbucker?” Pyro asked,

Swift looked over at Pyro and pointed a hoof at Riot, “That is a mercenary.” She said, “Don’t assume that he’s who he seems to be either.” She pointed at his flank, which held no Cutie mark

“Whoever it is,” Pyro said as he turned one foreleg towards Riot, “It can be killed with fire.”

“No, it can’t actually.” She said,

Just after Swift said that, Riot changed his appearance into an exact copy of Pyro, lighting his own hooves on fire.

“He’s a Changeling!” Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Shining Armor all shouted in unison.

“There’s two things a changeling can’t copy.” Pyro said, closing his eyes and turning towards Riot, “One thing is true emotions.”

“Oh, I’m Pyro and I loooooooooooooovvvee Butterscotch.” Riot said, “I have your memory though.”

“Oh yeah, then what do you think is the thing a changeling can’t copy?” Pyro asked, a smile creeping to his lips,

“What’s that?” Riot asked, changing his appearance to Shining Armor.

Pyro opened his very deep blue eyes, which were ablaze with the fire of rage.

“Knowledge.” Blue Flare said, “The knowledge that was only passed down through blood.”

Blue Flare lit Riot up showing no signs of backing down, the fire was white due to the temperature it was.

Riot dodged a few punches, but quickly found himself on his back, pinned to the ground.

Blue Flare raised his hoof for one last punch when Riot changed himself into an injured and crying Butterscotch, which stopped Blue cold.

“How long do you think that will stop me?” Blue Flare said, his eyes like iron, “Can’t you see it in my eyes? The blinding bloodlust of vengeance.”

“Vengeance to who?”

“The pony you just killed not one minute before.” Blue Flare said,

“Oh, I’m soooo sorry, Was that your coltfriend?” He asked, kicking Pyro off of him,

“Sure, he was a colt, and a friend.” Blue Flare said, “And he was better than you in every way.”

Swift came up behind Riot and tackled him, slamming him into the ground and putting a pistol barrel under his chin.

“This isn’t your fight!” Swift yelled at Blue Flare with tears in her eyes. “Back off and stop trying to help!”

Riot smacked the gun away and smashed Swift across the face with his hoof, jumping on top of her and trying to reach for her gun.

“What do you mean it’s not my fight?” Pyro asked, extinguishing all flames“I knew Cinnamon longer than you did.”

Shining Armor walked up behind Pyro and put a hoof on his shoulder, “She has a score to settle, you wouldn’t believe what things he’s done to her.”

“I could take a wild guess.” Pyro said, his eyes growing wide,

Swift kicked the gun further away from the two, so it was far out of Riot’s reach,

She grabbed him by the shoulders and smashed her head into his, knocking him off and dazing him.

“That hurt more than anticipated...” Swift said, wobbling back and forth as she held her head.

“Come over here, you bitch.” Riot said, changing his appearance into his normal changeling form and drawing a large knife from a satchel on his back,

“Why don’t you put that down, and fight like a real stallion.” Swift said, shaking her head to regain her composure.

“If you haven’t noticed, I’m not a pony.” He said, jabbing at her with the knife.

Swift dodged the sudden attack and smacked him over the head, making him stop and growl at her in frustration,

“You’ve gotten better at this, Swifty.” Riot said, “Only if you would have been like this when I came to your house the first time.”

Swift stopped and picked up a knife of her own, “Don’t talk about that.” She growled,

“Talk about what?” Riot asked like he didn’t know, “You mean the night when I slaughtered-”

Swift dove at him and swung her knife wildly, trying desperately to hit him.

The two moved quickly at each other at the same time, smashing into each other with their knives raised.

The sound of metal piercing flesh echoed throughout the war ground.

The two ponies stood there for a second, staring into each others eyes. Blood dripped down from between them, soaking both of their bellies. They both looked down at the same time, trying to find out which one was hit. Swift looked up first, followed by Riot, both of them smiled.

Then Swift collapsed.

The knife had been driven deep into her belly, blood surged from it like some kind of demented fountain. Swift’s eyes were glazed over with tears, and her chest rose and fell very quickly. Riot stood there for a few seconds, looking down at Swift like she was a kind of prize, or a trophy.

“Go on, attack, see if you don’t join her.” He said, slowly backing away and picking up Swift’s backpack,

Swift looked up at the group and opened her mouth slowly, letting some blood drip out, then mouthing the word: “Run.”

Blue Flare wasn’t a pony to disobey another dying pony’s wishes. He bolted after the understanding was reached.

Swift began to laugh after the others took off, she didn’t want them to share her fate.

“What’s so funny?” Riot asked, approaching her,

“Oh, I always knew you were ignorant Riot, but wow.” She said, coughing on her own blood.

The changeling punched her across the face with tremendous force, almost enough to break her jaw.

“What do you mean?” He asked,

Swift took her hoof and put it on the earth under her back, feeling around for her prize and savior.

“This is what I mean” At that exact moment, she pulled her hoof out from under her, raising her gun and pulling the trigger.

The bullet made a new home, right in Riot’s skull.

Swift watched him fall, she felt like she needed to shoot him again, but she knew that would be wasting ammo, the others would be back soon enough.

The mare began to laugh maniacally as she ripped the knife out of her and wrapped gauze around her new wound, she would have something else to show off now, if things ever returned to normal.

She popped the tip off of a syringe and poked it into her stomach, near the stab wound. It instantly made her feel woozy.

Rainbow Dash came into her vision first, she blurred out every time she made a movement, and her voice seemed to echo and slur.

“Good going, girl.” Rainbow Dash said,