Containment Protocol: Equestria

Chapter 3 Little Buckingham

“Home sweet home? Ehh Close enough” - Trixie Lulamoon

It is always strange coming back here. Going from the apocalyptic death of the wastelands to going through a big gate and all of a sudden, it’s almost like nothing had happened in the small settlement ponies built. We had electricity, food, running water, and even HOT water. Yes, finally a bath and a bed. I softly giggled under my breath at the thought.

“What’s so funny? I don't see any entertainment in what just happened,” FlickerLight whispered into my ear as we slowly rolled into Little Buckingham. Train cars creaked as we moved through the gates and onto a separate track taking us to a bay where ponies would unload the cars in the morning.

I raised my head up off Flicker’s shoulder and looked at him, smiling. “Oh, just thinking of getting cleaned up and getting some proper sleep tonight.”

“I just want sleep,” Flicker chuckled as he wipes some of the dirt off my face from where i fell earlier.

The entire train screeched to a slow halt as it pulled up to the unloading docks, letting off steam which covered everything in a thick white layer, and with a shudder, we stopped. Looking down from our rail car, it was easy to tell we weren't completely pulled up to the platform. We were still a couple of cars back, but I didn't care and wasted no time jumping down off the giant metal box. I turned and looked up to Flicker who was turning to jump off the opposite side.

“Well, until next time. Be careful and don't get caught with anything in your bags,” I called up to him. He just waved a hoof over his head and jumped down making me sigh and chuckle a bit. I shook my head a little trying to push certain thoughts to the back of my mind and headed to a set of stairs leading out and up to the platform. The concrete here was in good condition with no cracks or plants growing up through them and the glass bulbs emitting light was extremely inviting. I walked up to the door leading to the main streets and pushed it open.

Little Buckingham was dimly lit and most of the ponies here were friendly. The taller buildings always looked so good at night, kinda always looked like a giant Hearth’s Warming tree with them constantly coming on and off in random spots. Pegasi flew from building to building, Unicorns were always assisting with magical energy generators and doodads, or walking around just to get out of their building for a while after a long day of working in their offices and stations after a long shift while Earth ponies ran most of the roadside markets and trading stands. The streetlamps shone proudly, and the roads were as clean as the city could keep them. The door I came out of led to four tall buildings right in a row numbered 1 through 4 respectfully right at the top corner. I lived in building number 4 so I lived fairly close to the outside walls. The lucky ponies lived in the center of the city not having to worry about things like rations and the evening train coming through, but I’ve come to find my room very comfortable.

Walking through the street trying to blend in with everypony wasn’t a very hard challenge. Most ponies had rifles strapped to them by the time they were old enough to carry one, and quite a few had saddlebags though mine were beaten up the most out of most ponies that lived here. As soon as I got in front of my building, I just sat on the ground and looked up at the high rise building with a grimace. I really did not want to walk up ten flights of stairs with my saddlebags AND rifle cause this shit is just too heavy to walk upstairs with. I got back up on my hooves again and made my way to the front door, pushing it open slowly.

“Where the hell have you been Wynter? Do you not know what time it is? You just barely made it before they announced the curfews.” A light blue mare with a dark black mane wearing a security guard outfit questioned me while getting really close to my face.

I looked directly into her light pink eyes and immediately began blushing, not being able to find the words I wanted to say. “I’ve. Uh…I’ve been around Sugarkake. Not really been anywhere special.” I felt like such an idiot. ‘Been around’ sounds so stupid.

“It looks like you’ve been rolling in dirt like a dog,” Sugarkake sighed, brushing some dirt out my mane and watching it fall to the ground. “Look, go get a bath. I’ll bring you something to eat and we’ll talk about your... Adventures as of late, ok?”

I knew what this meant. A lecture, maybe even a stern talking to but damn, I hated being in trouble.

I nodded and began walking up the stairs that began right inside the door of this tall building. It felt like it took forever with all the extra weight threatening to drag me back down the stairs. “Floor five, halfway there.” With each metallic thud of my hooves hitting the steel stair step. I came closer and closer to just passing out on the steps but one by one, I kept going up one floor at a time until... “Finally, floor ten. Top floor,” I chuckled quietly as I practically dragged myself to my room at the end of the hall. Taking the key from under the mat, I unlocked the door and pushed it open. The first thing I did was buck my hips and sling the saddlebags to the floor right inside my doorway, landing with a thud. Next thing was taking this Luna-forsaken harness off. It took all of ten seconds to unbuckle it and let it slide to the floor off of me.

My room was simple. There was a kitchen, bathroom and my bed sat on the far end of the wall just under a window in the corner. I didn't have a radio, books or anything of the sort. It was pretty bare except for the grey walls and awful red carpet. My bathtub was outside the bathroom wall opposite the bed. I reached and clicked the light on, going right for the tub and turning the knob to my preferred temp, HOT.

Once the tub was full, I slowly slipped in it. Being careful of my right wing that I was pretty sure was sprained, I laid on my back and let my body soak in the hot water. If there was a heaven, I'm pretty sure this was it. As I relaxed, I let my mind wander off, immediately thinking about what Sugarkake might wanna talk about.

Sitting on the bed Suagrkake started. “I'm worried about you sneaking off in the dead of night and not coming back for days. I don't want you doing that anymore,” she says as she puts her hoof on mine.

“I gotta get out of this place every now and then though. Not only that, but I bring back stuff I can trade and get a good price for.” I say looking into her pink eyes.

Sugarkake nuzzled up to me and began rubbing my wings. “How about this as a good price for keeping you home,” she says, pushing me down and holding herself right over me as she spreads her wings. She was gorgeous, smiling at me. Getting right up to my face, she kissed my cheek as she then ran her hoof across my mane. I was blushing so brightly that I could’ve created enough heat to warm the entire room. Whispering in my ear, she made my body tense up. “I'm gonna make sure you stay home from now on.” She leaned down to kiss my lips and…

Choking, I sat straight up with water coming out of my nose and coughing water out of my lungs as I tried to catch my breath. I must have fallen asleep, and my head went under the water, just great, I was enjoying that one. The muddy water ran off my mane and down my face. I had no idea I was THIS dirty but then again, I had spent the last three days taking shelter under an old bridge.

I finished washing the dirt from my mane and body with my wing seriously throbbing at this point. I think I did more than just pull it out of the socket this time. Looking into the dirty water I began thinking, ‘do I like it more inside or outside the walls? Is it the danger and violence out there I like or the comfort and convenience here?’ I just shook my head, pulling the plug and letting the water drain. I had just climbed out of the tub and shook the water from my body right as Sugarkake walked through my front door.

“You really should lock this when you are here alone,” she mumbled as she shut the door behind her, carrying a plate with a sandwich on it. “It’s not much, but it’s all I can scrape up until they are finished offloading the train. That's gonna take a few hours in the morning and I have to supervise so I just want to talk for a while.” She finished setting the plate on my bed, patting it gently with her hoof.

My mane was still wet and hanging in front of my face covering my left eye, and my right wing was burning in pain. I was tired and Sugarkake was upset with me. This was not my night. I walked slowly to the bed and sat on it next to Sugarkake, picked up the sandwich, and began eating it. In fact, I think after the first bite, I pretty much inhaled it. Looking back to Sugarkake, she still had an interrogating look on her face. I just sighed, feeling my stomach twist into knots.

“You know what I'm gonna say already but…”

“YOU WENT BACK OUTSIDE THE WALLS AGAIN WYNTER!” She shouted with a very concerned look on her face. “You’re eventually going to get caught and not even I can save you from the death penalty. You damn fucking well know this. If they find out I know this, I’ll get prosecuted.”

My ears leaned back, and I looked to the ground not wanting to see her being angry with me. My body trembled as I looked at my carpet, waiting for her to drill into me a little bit more.

“Why do you keep going out there Wynter? What do you hope to find? Bringing this junk back to trade so you can get more supplies just to go back out there? This cycle is only going to get yourself killed.” Her voice started to tremble a little bit. “I’m not going to another funeral just to watch them throw your body in an incinerator.”

I felt like shit. She was on the brink of tears and so was I. Knowing I had hurt her in a way, I started to fiddle around a bit with my hooves. I don’t know how she knew what I had been doing for the last year or so.

“One last time,” I looked up to her as I said. “I’ll lay low for a bit so nopony finds out. I’ll grab what I need from the old, derailed box car and come back. It’ll be the last time.”

“But you don't get it. They will kill you on sight if they find out. And just how far away is this box car? Have you ever thought of that? No. No more. You stay inside the city walls from now on.”

I just nodded. “Okay, agreed. No more trips out of the city.”

I felt Sugarkakes head on my shoulder this time. “You better not be lying to me WynterBreeze.” She moved her head and hit my wing which made me hiss in pain. As soon as I did that, her head jerked up and she scanned me with her eyes “What happened? Did I hurt you, or did you hurt yourself?”

“I think I hurt my wing a bit earlier. It’s nothing.” I tried to assure her I was ok, but she wasn't believing a word I was saying, lifting my wing with her hoof. The pain ripped through my body like a buzzsaw, I don't think I had ever felt anything like it, and I was sure as hell not going to be flying anytime soon.

“This isn’t nothing Wynter. The underside of your wing joint, shoulder, even your ribs are bruised almost black. What did you do to yourself…?” She said as she started inspecting all over the side of my body. I swear I would've been blushing like crazy if it didn’t hurt so bad. “It looks like you've dislocated it, stretched the muscle and maybe even damaged the tendons a bit. You know this takes months to heal properly, right? If it doesn’t you may end up a Scootaloo.” I swear to Celestia she giggled at that joke.

“I’ll end up what? A flightless chicken?” I joked back.

“Don’t change the subject, what didja do?” She asked sternly.

“I fell off a train car,” I hesitantly replied. Sugarkake just gave me a glare and pressed on the bruise harder. making sure I felt it and buddy, I felt it.

“Lay on your belly I gotta put your wing back in place,” Sugarkake instructed me as she pushed me back and moved to the end of my bed.

I knew this was gonna hurt. Rolling over to my belly and putting my head on a pillow, I felt Sugarkake sitting on my back and slowly pulled my wing open making it burn as she did so. She then put a hoof under my wing joint and one on top of it lightly. “Here we go, One…Two…” And with a swift forceful motion. CRACK… My wing popped back into place, shifting my shoulder back where it should be in the same motion.

“SON OF A BITCH,” I yelled muffled into my pillow. It hurt like hell for a split second, but I could feel the pain subside quickly until it was about gone. My body went limp off the bed andy mind started to go blank. That was the last of my energy right there. I could only direct my eyes to Sugarkake, feeling her move off my back and lying next to me. My eyes began rolling back and my eyelids fluttered.

“Go ahead and sleep. I’m going to put you to work tomorrow with me as I get the train unloaded.” Her voice faded away as I closed my eyes.

Once my eyes closed, they shot back open. I wasn't at home at all, I woke up in the middle of a street in a town I didn't recognize in the dead of night. Quickly getting on my legs, I looked around. My heart began to race, and I could feel myself begin to panic. How long have I been asleep? Where am I? Where’s all of my gear? I don’t even have my saddlebags or rifle. All questions that ripped through my head all at the same time, but I could only stand and look at all of the buildings in their decaying state. I’ve never fucked up this bad before and seeing it made me felt sick to my stomach. Did I sleepwalk out here? I tried to move my legs, but they felt like they were a hundred pounds each. Tears started to well up in my eyes. I don't want to die out here. I heard the sound of hooves on the pavement behind me and I slowly turned my head to see who it was. FlickerLight!

“Oh, thank goodness Flicker, it's you! Do you know where we are and where my stuff is?” I asked, feeling a lot calmer knowing I had a friend by my side.

“Oh, I know where we are, and I think you are gonna stay here for a while,” he said pointing his rifle right at my head. I wanted to run but my legs still wouldn’t move.

“Don’t kill her just yet. She’s of no use dead,” I heard Sugarkake’s voice say from my side as she walked out of the shadows smiling. “Didn’t I tell you silly filly? Coming out here is only going to get you killed?”

My heart pounded in my chest and tears ran down my face. I looked around \and tried to scream for help only to notice that I was no longer making any sounds. That's when I heard her. My mother’s voice. “Glitterball honey, it’s time to go home.” I could only hear her voice and see her silhouette in the dark shadows.

“M-Mom?” I whimpered as I took a step back. That’s when she lurched and pounced on top of my body. It was just black where her eyes were, and she had razor-like teeth sitting on top of me smiling wide. I pushed against her cold body with my hooves. “Get off of me! Get the fuck off of me! Go away!” It was all I could quietly rasp as I closed my eyes tight, feeling somepony grab and hold me down tightly.

“Wynter! WynterBreeze, wake up! It’s me, open your eyes and look! It’s me!” I heard Sugarkakes voice say, I slowly opened my eyes and looked around, noticing she had me in a tight embrace. I was in my room. My Celestia damned ugly wonderful room. I was shaking and breathing hard until I completely fell apart. I started crying into her wings. “Those old memories keep fighting to the surface, don’t they? And going out there isn't helping.”

I don't know how long she held me for. I just know it was long enough for me to fall back asleep.