Arc 1, chapter 1: In A Flash
That was it, there was no way she could survive this impending destruction, the green light already burning her uniform as well as her coat, mane, and skin, feeling even her goggles heat up and her eyes melting as a big ball of green enveloped the entire city, obliterating everything she sees from the glassless window; ponies and buildings disappear In the incoming wall of flame, blazing towards her cloudominium. Then... A white light enveloped her vision.
Turn back, now
There was still a sensation tapping her right shoulder.
She opens her eyes.
She was still looking out at the sky through the window, only this window is different than the ones from her Cloudominium. This one is long, has 10 panels, and with an arch design in the upper portion. And behind her was a mare wearing a blue flight suit with yellow streets in the chest and hoof, a flight goggle perched on her head, purple eyes filled with concern.
“Ah, sorry. I just doze a bit" Windy smiled at the mare.
“You should take some rest, Spitfire won't be happy if she sees you napping in the hallway” there was concern in those purple eyes. Spitfire maybe is tolerant but when comes to mistakes, she is professionally serious, especially if she found you slacking. You'll be considered lucky if she punished you, with style.
“You don't need to worry about me, Blaze. I have learned to take a nap and when Spitfire comes in, I will walk into the sleeping quarters and lay in my dead”
“You mean sleepwalking?” Blaze chuckled, “You're joking right? That's ridiculous you'd think Spitfire would believe your claim” Windy, satisfied to see amusement from Blaze, she smirked.
“I was. I even had a dream; a very strange dream”
“What was that dream about?”
“I don't know. I was inside my old home in Cloudsdale, looking out the window. Then, there was this big ball of green light and it ate everything, including me”
Blaze scratches her back “That's a strange dream, more stranger than any of the nightmares I had” her gaze would turn to the window, “Or it's just your artistic side giving nightmares and failing to scare you”
Windy was about to reply when another pegasus decided to join in, “What are you two discussing?”
“Nothing important. Just Windy having nightmares” Blaze told them.
“I think it's not a nightmare, Blaze" Windy hissed to her teammate before eyeing the other, “Have you finally finished your date with a mare named apple pie, Soarin'?”
Soarin' snorted “Yes, and I enjoyed it”
“Must been a very delicious date” Blaze batted her brows at him, smacking Windy's ass, forcing her to stumble towards the stallion, “Maybe you should try blueberry pies next time”
Windy flushed, biting her lip. She smiled at her colleagues. Soarin' was also blushing but less than the light blue mare, “Nah, I prefer apple pie. They're delicious than blueberry pies
“Hey, blueberries are delicious too!” Windy frowned, pointing a hoof at him.
Soarin' laughed, “They're tart, at least for me”
Windy softened her gaze, “Right, different tastes buds” she would look at the window, seeing the golden sky as the sun slowly set down behind the distant clouds, “I have to go now”
Soarin' raised an eyebrow “Go where? Spitfire hasn't left the academy, we still have extra minutes plus you, Blaze, and High Winds are going to do the cleaning for today”
“Today!?” she gasped, ”But my friends are having an important meet-up at Ponyville park, I can't be late and I promised I'll show up!”
“Why don't you just ask Spitfire about it? She'll let you skip your cleaning schedule if this friend meet-up is really important” Blaze casually told her.
”Tell Spitfire? well...yeah, always a good idea, thanks for telling me, Blaze!” Windy as gone in a flash before Soarin' or Blaze could say anything.
Windy had gone to Spitfire's office, bursting inside the office and interrupting the latter who has just finished her paperwork “Spitfire this is very urgent!”
If she was annoyed, she did not show it “What is it, Windy?” there was a small amount of annoyance dripping from her voice.
She walked up to her captain, putting her hooves on the desk “Can you let me pass my cleaning schedule? I have a very important meet-up at home and I can't be absent, I really have to go!” she pleased, hopefully, Spitfire would let her, the latter seem to be in deep thought, pondering what decision she should take.
“Alright, you can go. I'll just have somepony take your position. Just make you'll have to show up for tomorrow's airshow”
A grin slowly appeared on Windy's lips “Thank you, captain. I won't disappoint you!”
She did not even bother to undress, flying back to Ponyville whilst still wearing her wonderbolt flight suit. The sky was now yellow as gold as she flew over the town, heading for the park. She did not expect an apple to hit her right square in the chest.
“You're late!"
Sky blue eyes glaring up to her, Windy knew she has upset one of her friends, atleast one. Surrounding the disappointed individual was a trio of others who are just simply glad to see her, finding herself smiling at seeing them all, including the pony who threw the apple at her. She joins them as she touchdown majestically.
“Sorry, Ire. I was scheduled to do the cleaning today” she apologized, but Ire wasn't going soft at her
“Hmph, you shouldn't make promises if you can't control your routine” she chided as Windy stare at the food on the picnic blanket, them at the basket laying beside the only stallion in the group.
“Ooh, what do you guys brought?”
“Apples, sandwiches, jam, fruit juice, cupcakes, and some vegetables. There's a lot and I even lose count of how many vegetables we bought today” the stallion smiled, “but that doesn't matter as long as everypony paid for each, and that includes you”
“I bet we should have bought a knife instead of letting you brought your jarred bread knife” came Ire's response as she gave him a deadpan.
“Huh? What's wrong with my knife?”
“Well, as you can see, the knife's blade is obviously too big for outdoor uses, buy a small one” the irate mare narrowed her eyes. Getting the message, the stallion let out a sigh of defeat, but Ire gave him a few more words before giving him his chance to talk, “but I'll give you a chance, just don't swing it around near Stormlight. Doing so, I'll be happy to cut your horn”
“You don't need to say that for Writer to understand, Iree” came the intervention of the smallest member of the group, not to mention possessing a young moderate high-pitched voice which is filled with concern. Ire did not say anything but her slightly lower of her head mean something more.
“No need to make an argument out of knives" another mare chimed in, this one is a unicorn, her face spoke egghead; a researcher of some kind but without any guidance. Despite her current status, she's able to fix this kind of situation as she brings out a small bread knife, “I expect something like this to happen so I got mine” this helped them obtain peace despite the 'reign of terror' still with them.
“I see you guys are already having a good time”
“Pfft! Come on, Windy, we are all having a good time. The many our numbers, the more the merrier the fun!” Writer cheerfully said as he took the sandwich with his magic, taking a bite as the other unicorn occupies Writer's speech position.
“Yeah, we are all happy if we're all together in one place” her purple eyes would wander away from the group, “speaking of together, I have something to show everypony”
“It better not be Marey sue's mane growth potion, Moonlight” Ire growled.
Writer raised an eyebrow “Marey Sue's mane growth potion? Hey, um, am I missing something here?”
Windy sighed, “It's about our last picnic gathering; you weren't with us. I think you sailed back to Coltagan”
“That was five months earlier,” Writer told her.
”Yeah. So, about this Marey Sue's mane growth potion, well...this is a hilarious failure for Moonlight. Sorry, Moon” she gave the shamed Moonlight an apologetic smile before continuing, “during the last picnic, Moonlight made a potion which can cause an instant hair growth which I find useful for some patients I know of, unfortunately, trying it out on non-bald ponies causes them what Ire called to be a Marey Sue's mane. Basically, you have a mane similar to Fluttershy, but gigantic and longer three times than hers”
Writer chuckled, a look of disbelief on his face, “Ah, haha, wow. That is some interesting potion she had, right Moonlight?” looking at Moonlight, the mare grew a smile you'd expect to see from a crazy scientist, “Uh, Moonlight?”
“So,” Moonlight stood up, for some reason giving off an intimidating presence for our poor little stallion, “are you interested, Writer? Don't worry you will not regret it. It will be a unique experience"
“S-Stay away from me, you mad scientist” he quickly scoots away from her, finding safety behind a nearby tree. The others chuckled at this even Moonlight letting go of her scary bearings just to laugh at the poor stallion.
“You guys are the worst.
*Creak!*
His ears swiveled, hearing a long crack not too far away from him as he is grabbing onto the source like a cat. It turns out the branch he climbed on is way too small to handle his weight. He immediately found himself plunging to the ground, crashing head-first into the green earth. He could hear his friends gasps in horror; he can still hear a faint chuckle of amusement, no doubt this one found his misery laughable.
“Writer, are you okay!?” slowly lifting his head (and spitting a handful of soil and grass), he saw two blue hooves belonging to Windy.
“I've been better...” he groaned. Windy offer her hooves to him, accepting it with gratitude as she helped him up, “Thanks, Windsie”
“No problem” Windy bowed her head slightly before backing away from the stallion with a shy look on her face.
But Moonlight is still worried, “Do you feel any pain?"
“With that amount of impact? I have no doubt he's in pain” Ire spoke in a matter-of-fact tone, rolling her eyes at Moonlight.
“I'm fine, everypony. A nasty fall is nothing to me” Writer waves an assuring hoof at them.
“J-J-Just be careful next time, Writer!” trembled Stormlight, hooves over her mouth, “you'd get hurt!”
“Don't worry, Stormlight. I won't!” he winked at her complete with a grin.
Ire sighed, “Let's get over this shall we?”
“I can agree with that” Moonlight shrugged, taking a carrot and giving it a big bite, making a loud crunch. The others did not say anything as they went back to doing their usual picnic activities, most of said 'activities' involves eating the food they have brought.
“Writer, can you pass me the hot sauce?" A red sauce bottle floated at her enveloped in a yellow hue. She took the bottle, muttering a thank you to Writer who whispered back to her, though she doesn't care what he said. As the sun sets in the horizon, everything starts to look more gold and many began leaving. The group didn't knew this but they did not care, but there are also confused they may have stayed to late long enough for night to reach them still outside.
“We should go back to our homes too” Stormlight suggested as she watches a family leave the park.
“I agree” Writer lets out a yawn, “my bed needs me"
Windy did not say anything as she began putting their leftovers into the basket.
“Wait!” all their attention shifted to one unicorn mare, “I forgot to show something to everypony!” Moonlight turned around and ran into a nearby bush, confusing her friends.
Ire sighed with annoyance, “What is this going to be?”
“I hope this one is better than the hair shampoo” Windy muttered. Writer looked on with worry. His curiosity getting the better of him, he approached the bushes.
But what he felt when his body touch the bushes may be incorrect. Maybe he did not touch the bush at all. He fell to the floor with a thud. He swore he heard something break as he clutched his head, hissing and groaning in agony.
“Argh, Moonlight!” he could hear Ire call out to Moonlight with anger in her voice. Looking, he saw Moonlight sitting on her rump, rubbing her head while looking like a foal who lost their lollipop. Following her gaze, he saw a... Whatever it is, it broken into two, red liquid leaking out of this small L contraption slowly becoming a puddle on the ground...
Moonlight would look at him, realization hitting her mind as she comprehends what had happened, “A-Are you okay, Writer? I'm so sorry that I-"
Writer cuts her off “I'm alright" he stood up, this time without any aid from his friends.
“Ugh, what are that red stuff?” Ire pointing at the small growing blood-like red pool surrounding the broken contraption.
Windy stared at the red liquid, approaching it casually, “I don't know” she turned to Moonlight, “Do you anything about that?”
“No, I just found that yesterday and I thought it would be a good idea to show that to my friends”
Ire snorted, “Yeah, showing something to your best buddies alien is always a good idea” Moonlight glared at Ire but did not say anything as Windy stood just beside the ruins of the item she tried to showcase to the group. There was anxiety as Windy dips her hoof into the red pool, seeing as the thing is literally glowing. But why?
She mentally sighed when Windy retracted her hoof in one piece. Not melting not going up in flames, everything is going to be fine.
“It feels hot to the touch, but it feels like touching gel”
“That's a very strange description” Ire's eyes widened, ears pinned, “Windy, look out-!”
However, a bright red light engulfed them all, with only Stormlight managing to let out a scream of fright. The light soon dissipated and everything went back to normal. No explosions, no fissures.
What is strange is the group of five and their picnic equipment are all but gone.
A flash of red light appeared in the same spot, the same part, the same town, but in a different world. Ponyville was nothing but a husk of once it was, all of the houses have lost their vibrant colors, and most had taken damage either from the environment or by something else
The park fared no better. It was brown as chocolate, barren, with no life or vegetation other than the trees that died centuries ago.
The flash dissipated, the new occupants of Ponyville came to investigate. If there was something that can be described as more rotted than a ghoul, it would be those who mutilate, rape, and kill innocent lives. They paused, then smiles formed.
“Looks like we got some visitors!” tackled a unicorn stallion, licking his mouth as he brandishes a blood old ax.
Arc 1, Chapter 2: Skinner
Windy knows nothing.
What she saw was a black void, it was everywhere; front, above, behind, it feels very uncomfortable floating in an empty space of darkness. She can't even say a word, she can only watch as she floats in the void.
Then, there it was. In the distance, a tiny line split the darkness horizontally, she began to hear noises. As she slowly opens her eyes, so does her hearing and what she's hearing is something that alarmed her.
“Wake up, bitch!”
But before she could fully comprehend, she a strong slam into her stomach. Shrieking in agony, Windy was now awake, opening her eyes, expecting to see Ire standing over her, hoof-raised.
But the mare who stood by her was not Ire.
Instead, the mare was a unicorn wearing some weird makeshift clothing. What was shocking was there are scars all over her body, especially on the face and the mane was messy and terrible than average as if they never bother to fix it. She sports an ear-splitting grin as she stared down at the wonderbolt, but Windy's attention change target when she heard a familiar voice.
“Auugh!”
Glancing to her left, she saw Writer in the mercy of another unicorn, his expression scrunched in pain with fresh wounds adorning his face. He lay on his stomach, trembling as his attacker prepares to hit him again with an old-looking shovel covered in blood.
Windy also noticed the environment has changed. The earth was barren, no grass, just dead bald trees, the sky was covered with clouds, no light sipping out from them.
She felt her goggles forcibly taken from her, looking at the scarred-face mare, she was now looking at her precious flight goggles, “Too clean, so odd but I'll take it!”
Normally, Windy would snap at the mare for taking her precious piece of treasure, but she refrained. What was stopping her was what the mare carries in her magic? There was a gut in her feeling that if she provoked the mare, she'll use it to 'incapacitate' her. She doesn't know how will that happen but she's not looking forward to finding out.
“We'd blow your brains, whore!”
Windy glances to her left and saw Ire, the latter trying to protect Stormlight from a stallion, also a unicorn. He also had the same 'weapon' the Scarred-face mare carries, but slightly larger. Ire was not planning on letting this stallion get to her friend. It turns out he was a distraction as an earth pony crept up from behind and yanked Stormlight from Ire, tugging the poor mare's tail and dragging out from the safety of her protective friend.
Ire notices but she made the bad move of turning her back to her attacker, who pointed their weapon at her head, “Eh hehe, do you have a death wish?”
“Fine, but I'm only doing this because your threats are so cliché'd!” Ire gibed at the stallion. He raised an eyebrow, confused.
Not far away from Ire and Stormlight, Moonlight was facing her own problem though she wasn't beat up as her two captives were busy rummaging through their picnic basket, “Ooh, what are these?” they took out a sandwich, eyeing it as if they have never seen it before, much to Moonlight's confusion.
Unfortunately for Windy, her 'sightseeing' is not appreciated by her captor who smacked the butt of her weapon. She found herself laying on her side, screaming in pain and clutching her left eye, “Don't ignore me, ya' bitch!” yelled her captor, “I'm going to put a hole in your head and let my buddies fuck your corpse if you ignore me, ya hear that!?” Windy nods, not wanting to die and defiled. Her captor tackled “Good, good...”
Meanwhile, Moonlight is having a hard time not cringing while her tail is being lifted, her male captive smelling her rump, ”She smells fantastic!" a sweat rolled down from Moonlight as the stallion maliciously licked her flank, the female captor staring with anticipation at what was about to happen. For Windy, this is the last thing she would want to hear from their captors, his next statement only confirming her fears “You, and I are going to have some fun, whore” he whispered into her ears.
“You stop that and stay away from her!”
The stallion turned the source of the voice, leaving Moonlight to approach the yellow-haired stallion. Writer does not want his friend to be violated by these brutes but this earned him a kick to the face, “What's stopping me, blondie? You wanna be our next decoration!?”
Writer was still dazed and it took him a while to give the guy a response “D-Decoration?”
“We'll cut your head and put on a stick!” came the response from Stormlight's captor who is wielding an ax covered with dried blood, “Then, we'll eat your dick and tie the body with your intestines!” Writer flinched.
“What's wrong, ya scared blondie?” he glared at Moonlight's male captor, “Ahahahaha! is that a challenge? Look at you! You're as weak as a pussy!" The stallion turned his back and walks back to Moonlight.
Whatever is inside, something snapped, just as soon the foul-mouthed stallion turned his back on him, Writer spits at him, disdain and annoyance clear in his face. That show of disrespect was enough to set off...hostilities.
Writer and Windy found themselves inside a purple capsule, “Writer, you idiot!” yelled Moonlight, she had freed herself from one of her captors, her female captor covered by a white red-checkered blanket tied to her body, losing her balance. Seeing this, Writer gave his shovel-wielding captor a powerful buck, the latter unfortunate to stand behind the stallion’s hindlegs.
Blood dripping, Stormlight slowly opens her eyes, only to see her friend standing in front of her, “You dare hurt my friend!” Ire quickly yanked the ax from the magical grip of its user, painfully removing the blade from her left hoof, which is now split open in the middle. The stallion was wearing makeshift armor which may have been made from scraps of metal, but it did not stop the ax from burying into his head.
Pops and cracks can be heard followed by a scream from Stormlight as she stares at the corpse of once a living pony killed by her friend. Ire herself was stunned by what she did, staring down at the body before the bangs snap her out of her daze.
“I'm going to fuck you up-!”
A magical bolt knocked down the stallion before he can use his odd weapon at the duo. Looking behind them, Moonlight was hiding behind a dead tree with Writer lunging at Windy's attacker, the weapon clattering Infront of the frozen wonderbolt dropped by the mare currently being punched on the face.
“-and stay down!"
Windy approaches, worried “Writer, you're injured!”
“Don't tell me that, Windy!” he pushed Windy taking her to the tree before glancing at Ire and Stormlight, “Hurry!”
Both Ire and Stormlight were puzzled at first, but a new wave of bangs and holes mysteriously forming on the tree trunk and the earth near them. Getting the message, the duo bolted for the dead tree.
“You're all dead meat!” came the voice from the distance, no doubt very upset about what happened to the fate of one of their downed 'friends'. Ire and Stormlight managed to reach the safety of the tree without getting injuries.
“Augh, this is worse than getting punched on the voice” Ire turned, noticing a hole on Writer's right hind leg, blood flowing out, staining his yellow fur and the ground.
“...We can just try negotiating with them!”
“Oh, come on please, Windy. Does this mean negotiation to you!?” Writer pointed at his wound, “This means serious business; they'll certainly not letting us get out alive. We'll be lucky if we did survive, but for what? To desecrate us!?”
“Shut up, you two. That's not helping!” hissed Moonlight.
Ire knew her friends are starting to panic; a normal behavior when they're in trouble. She had learned in Canterlot Academy about the behaviors of ponies especially when it comes to fight-or-flight responses. Her friends, including herself, are too agitated. They have to fight their instincts, their fear or they'll-
*Bang!*
The group cringed- or for Stormlight's case, shrieked when a piece of the tree's trunk suddenly has a hole, sending a few pieces to the ground alongside a small piece of metal. Moonlight stared at this metal, grimacing.
“Now, I get it...” she took the tiny metal with her magic, “Everypony, make sure all of us are behind the tree, those odd metals they're using are shooting this thing at us!” she showed them the item. Writer's eyes widened in horror before glancing at his wound.
“Come out, pussies!”
"There's not much time” Ire clutched the ax she has been holding in her left wing, “There has to be done”
“Iree” Ire turned to look at Stormlight, who was pointing a grey hoof at her, “Y-You're covered in blood”
“I know” Ire sighed, a snarl forming filled with disgust, “But that blood is either mine or the stallion I murdered who tried to murder you”
“But you don't need to kill him"
Her expression softened, “Yeah, I don't really have to kill him” but her it went tense as the hoof steps grew closer, “But it's now necessary cause' their reinforcements will never forgive me” now, the whole group had their eyes at her, worried what might she do “Right now before us is the Everfree. We all know what's waiting for us in that place of horrors"
Writer's eyes widened, “Don't tell me you-" however before he could finish his statement, Ire was gone from their little sanctuary, “IRE!” he tried to go after her but a couple of cracks stops him, “Buwisit!”
“We have to help her!” Windy turned to Moonlight, “WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING!”
That was when a bullet soared by, missing Moonlight's face by inches. Surprisingly, she calmly replies, “Ire has to be in my line of sight to cast a shield spell on her, unfortunately, I'd risk getting a new 'metal baby' in my head” Windy stared at her, jaw on the ground. Did her friend just told her not to help Ire!?
“I'm helping whether you like it or not!” Windy spread her wings, “Friends help their friends and that only matters to me!" Before any of them could stop her, she shot upwards like a bullet. While she's still protected by a couple of naked branches that doesn't mean death is not possible. She glanced at the area where they were once at.
She stopped.
Two more bodies were joining their previous five unconscious, and the other whom Ire brutally killed. Said Ire was still alive, bringing the ax horizontally into a stallion's next before moving on to her other attacker, who tossed their odd weapon switching for a rusty pipe. The wonderbolt watched as her friend narrowly avoid a swing from the attacker before delivering a blow to the head, spraying blood into the pale pink pegasus's face.
Windy stopped there. Ire hasn't noticed her, giving her time to stare at the bodies. A smile slowly crept up her face when she saw the chest of one of the ponies still moving. One of them is still alive.
Ire looks around, her body softening with relief, looking back to the tree. She noticed Windy, a frown appearing on her lips, “Get down here, airhead. Tell the others it's now safe to come out”
Windy stared at the bodies around them. As far as she could tell, there are two or three bodies among the-
“I gave you an order, Windy. Don't make me smack you with my ax!”
“Eee!” Windy quickly goes to the tree and went to coax the others into coming out.
Whimpering, Windy went to the others, wishing Ire is right and that they don't have to worry about any future attackers. Approaching the tree, she could see both relief and worry from her friends “It's safe to come out now”
“Ire's fine, right?” Writer whispers to her. Windy gave him and the two other mares a nod of confirmation, “Thank Celestia, she's okay" Windy looks at Ire, who let out a sigh before smiling. Despite the confirmation, both Writer and Moonlight are skeptical but decided to go out after Writer pointed out they can interrogate one of the survivors, all three except Stormlight agree.
“What took all of you so long?” Ire stood over one of their unconscious attackers. The group stopped upon seeing her bloody ax and her blood-soaked face.
“We are planning to interrogate one of the goons” came Moonlight's straightforward reply.
“Go over the one in the blanket. That one can't move with something tied around her” Ire suggested.
Moonlight went over to the mare Ire had been talking about; her female captor. Windy watches as Moonlight approached the blanket, the unicorn ripping the top of the fabric, revealing the trapped inside.
“I'd rip you to shreds, flankhole!”
“Enough with the profanity” Moonlight grumbled as she next to the unicorn mare glaring at her, “Tell us your name?”
The mare raised an eyebrow “Does that even matter to you?”
“Should I call you Ms. Purple-coat-with-velvet-mane-dark-green-eyed?"
The mare rolled her eyes “Fine, call me Skinner” she grumbled, squirming in discomfort in her 'clothing of red, white fabric'.
“Alright Skinner, I'm going to give you a lot of questions, is there any issue with that?”
Skinner snorted “Pfft! As if I'll take them seriously, go on, ask me questions just make sure they're worth answering them”
Windy can see Moonlight was trying to stop the urge of rolling her eyes, “Why you and your group decided to attack me and my friends?” she asked with a high degree of soberness in those words. But that didn't seem to have an impact on Skinner as she laughed.
“That was the dumbest question I've heard" she wiped a tear as she began to clarify, “Folks behind walls, underground blue ponies, and many wastelanders call us raiders. You must be living underground to not heard of us, we're popular around here especially ever since we made ourselves home in a nice 'cozy' town not far away from here”
“Are you talking about Ponyville?” Windy felt she needed to give this question.
“PONYVILLE!?” Skinner spat out, “Mmm, that must be the name of the town, huh? The signs are too rotten to make out the entire name. Meh, who gives a fuck about it?”
“Well, me and my friends care!” Moonlight turned to look at the dilapidated houses in the distance. The group could hardly believe the town nearby is Ponyville. She turns to Skinner, “How many are 'you' in Ponyville?”
“Heh, just one. I'm the only Skinner in town” Skinner smirked.
”Is your head broken or something?” Windy glances behind just as Ire passes by her, “Step aside, Moonlight, this hollow head won't straight”
Moonlight's eyes are locked on Ire's ax, “Ire, I don't think we have to- ahh!” she yelped when Ire pushed her aside, a grave look in her face, eyes narrowed at Skinner, “I got my own question and it's about you”
“What the hell? Are you all so curious of me? I ain't answering your questions, bi- ARGH!”
Everyone behind Ire gasped, seeing what their friend had done to the raider. She had buried her ax through the blanket, the fabric slowly turning red. Skinner cried out in agony, squirming to break free but to no avail. She glanced at Ire, “Y-You psycho, that hurt! You will regret this!”
Ire looks down at the raider, eyes shrunken into pinpoints, staring at the ax, “Moonlight...remove the blanket”
Moonlight quickly obliged. As she began attempting to remove the fabric, Skinner gasps, “No, that hurt!”
”Looks like I got my answer” Ire decided she would take the blanket, ignoring the screams until the blanket is removed. It turns out the ax was embedded in Skinner's left flank, blood pooling on the ground.
As soon as the blanket is removed, Skinner immediately clutched her wound, giving her another wave of pain “Agh.....ohh....ahhhh....Celestia dammit!” she gazes down. Ears pinned to her head, she looks up at Ire, “Y...You psycho!’
“I apologize, I thought that's your leg” for a moment, Ire's expression softened but it quickly turned cold as she 'calmly' spoke to Skinner, “But we don't have enough time. I feel gratitude for you answering my question without being dumb, but now it's time to answer my friend's question: How many of your 'friends' are in Ponyville?”
Skinner grits her teeth, “You son of a bitch, we are many, the town is ours” a smug found its way into the raider's face, “Once they hear what you did to me, they will kill and fuck of all you, then we will eat your corpse and use your heads as decorations for all to see!”
Ire sighed with mock sadness, “I guess you want me to do the hard way” with little hesitation, Ire grab hold of the ax handle with her mouth. Windy felt pity for Skinner, imagining how much pain she's going through as Ire slowly remove the ax.
Once the ax is removed from her flank, Skinner would plead at them once more ”I can't count, all I know is we are big In numbers just please let me go!”
”Pathetic!” Ire kicked the raider, knocking her to the ground, ”Look what bad company does the ponies like you? You should desert your friends and go somewhere else, find a place to settle and live a better life than this. Go figure even the evilest pony can change just through good interaction” satisfied, Ire walks away from the mare, turning to the others, “Any suggestion what we'll do next?”
Windy, however currently has no plan in mind as she just woke up. She waited for the others to speak up and finally, Writer is the first to speak, “We heard from Skinner her big group resides in Ponyville, right? Maybe we can just avoid the town and find another town to get any good reasons how we got here?”
Got here?
Before Ire can talk, Windy spoke up and best her to the punch “Wait, what do you mean 'got here?'”
Writer looks at her as if she had grown another head “Isn't it obvious? We are in another world!” he told her in a matter-of-fact voice tone, “Hah, I was first excited when we found out ourselves until Skinner and her party decided to pay us a visit while you are asleep!”
Blinking, Windy looks at their environment; the barren earth, the dead wildlife, dilapidated buildings, dark cloudy sky, and hostile locals. It all finally makes sense now that Writer finally told her.
They are in another world.
This is something her mind can't easily process and accept. They're far away from their friends and family with almost no way of going back. If she wasn't mentally panicking, their major problem reminded her of one of Writer's trashy novels he had written and never been completed. Windy shut her eyes, teeth gnashing and ears fall flat as she fought the urge to cry.
As she's about to sniffle, she felt a gentle path In her shoulder. Looking behind her, Stormlight was staring right into her eyes with a kind gentle smile, “There's always a solution, Windy, do not lose hope”
“Thanks, Stormlight” Stormlight is right, there's still another way out of this world, they just have to look for it.
Unfortunately for them, they had not heard the conversation which transpired in front of them as it seems Moonlight, Writer, and Ire finished their conversation “-I'm blaming this on you if one of us gets captured or injured, Moonlight”
“I'll make sure to remember that” Moonlight's expression was grim, she's serious about something. This might have to do with Ire's demand for their recommendations.
“Alright, everypony it's time to move on!”
