Melody of the Wasteland

by ColtizaJayo

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Adventure, Tragedy, Crossover, Dark
Length: 6197

Melody Flight is forced to leave Stable 27 but makes new friends in the Wastes

Melody Flight is an upstanding member of Stable 27.... at least she wishes she was. Forced to leave the Stable because of her being deemed "useless" she takes her first steps in the Wastes. Luckily, she finds some very peculiar friends. These friends help keep her safe as she tries to discover the true reasons behind her exile.

Published 2012-11-06 06:20:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-06 06:20:01 UTC

Episode 1

Melody of The Wasteland

Episode 1

Its HUGE... I thought, staring at the giant door in front of me. The door to Stable 27 stood there ominously. My parents were next me. I could hear the sounds of my mother sobbing but I couldn’t find the strength to look at her. I turned to the Overmare, she looked at me as if I was a dead pony. Which, soon, I was going to be.

Hi, I’m Melody Flight. As of recently, a former resident of Stable 27.

Stable 27 prides itself in its outstanding inhabitants, preparing them for the journey into the Outside so that they may better society. That is, when the outside is ready to sustain life. Which is why the Overmare keeps everypony inside. Everypony who's normal, at least.

Some ponies might say I'm a bit odd. Thats why I was being kicked out. How odd? Well for one, I'm a pegasus. Most stable dwellers are unicorns or earth ponies. Pegasi were Equestria's noble soldiers during the war. Then they all disappeared. We were never taught what happened to them, though. Anyway, both my parents were unicorns but it turns out that one of my ancestors got a little frisky with a pegasus right before she came to the Stable and ended up pregnant. So, my family has been carrying secret pegasi genes until they decided to come out when I was born. Lucky me.

Also, there are some other odd things about me that MIGHT need to be addressed later...

The “real” reason I was kicked out (or at least what the Overmare said the reason was) was because of my cutie mark. Stable 27 will only provide for ponies who they deem will build up the Outside world. I have a singing mark. In fact the day I got my cutie mark another filly had gotten her singing mark about fifteen minutes before me. The rules state only one of us will be allowed to live a happy life in the stable (for morale purposes) while the other would be disposed of once they reached adulthood. Lucky for that filly the rule worked on a first-come-first-serve basis, rather than talent. So since then I have been living my life in preparation to die once I was an adult. Neither of my parents took it well. My mother was devastated and my father..... well lets say if I wasn’t forced to leave he would have killed me first.

“Your time is up, Melody.” the Ovemare informed me. As she said this the pony behind the controls opened the door. Well, this is it.... I thought then sighed, I slowly walked through the door into a tunnel, not even bothering to look back. As soon as I was out the door shut behind me, leaving the tunnel almost completely black except for some light peaking through the cracks of an amateurly made door at the end of my path. I made my way towards it not realizing the cracks I was hearing under my hooves were the bones of long dead ponies until later. The light from outside was blinding but my eyes eventually adjusted, I looked around then checked my PipBuck for signs of radiation.

“Nothing here....” I told myself, then groaned. “What so they want me to die out here from dehydration? I’m not sure what’s worse!” I had to admit I was furious. At the Overmare, at Stable 27, but mostly at myself. “Why couldn’t I have been a doctor or a scientist or repair pony or something useful like that?” I hung my head and started to walk aimlessly, singing to myself as I went.

The landscape was flat and seemed to be never ending in all directions. The ground itself was uneven and uncomfortable to step on, it was nowhere near as smooth as the steel floors of my old home. I looked up at the clouds. They blanketed the sky with the exception of a few patches of bright blue. As I looked at the spots of visible sky I felt an indescribable itch on my wings. I lifted them as the breeze blew. I smiled, feeling happier than I ever had. That realization made me frown. Had my life really been SO miserable that some wind through my feathers has filled me with purest joy I’ve ever experienced? I decided to contemplate this. Life wasn’t TOO hard... well at least it wasn't before my cutie mark. That was when my mother was happy and my father still loved me. I closed my eyes and tried to remember that time in my life. It felt so far away, the memories were blurred except for a few.

Mom attempting to brush my curly mane. My first day of school. When I got my BB gun.

I couldn’t help but smile when I thought of the last thing. I had been teased at school the day before by a few colts. I came home crying and my dad noticed, he asked me what was wrong and I told him. He woke me up the next morning and said he had a surprise to cheer me up. I ran back into the main room and there was his old BB gun from when he was a colt. He stayed up all night repairing it for me.

What happened to him....? I thought. Well that was an easy question. I disappointed him. He was one of our greatest scientists who married the mare in charge of the entire Stable’s food supply and had the single strangest and useless daughter in the history of forever. Ok, maybe not forever. In the history of Stable 27, at least. After we learned my fate he changed for the worse. He couldn't stand being in the same room with me. Every time I looked into his eyes all I could see was regret. As if he hated himself for creating me. I always had my mother, though.

She had changed too, but differently. She didn’t reject me; she mourned me. She spent less time doing her job at first. The Overmare threatened to get rid of her as well, which she considered until Dad convinced her otherwise. She had several mental breakdowns over the past years. Perhaps my leaving would help. The knowledge that she was in safe hooves and on her way to healing was a comforting idea for me. That comfort was quickly demolished when I realised wrecked her life. Not to mention I was being exiled because I was destined to fail society.

“Life SUCKS.” I couldn’t help but say out loud.

I was lying. Life didn’t suck, I did. Sometimes I felt like I should have killed myself long ago, but I was too much of a wimp to carry anything out. I deserved this, and everything I went through. Including my mental torture, that isn’t to say I didn’t indulge myself every once and awhile.

I hated to admit it, but I loved my talent. I loved music. I used to sneak in on the other filly’s private voice lessons and give her little mental pointers. When my parents were elsewhere in the Stable I would sit on my bed and play music on my Pipbuck. As I sang along I imagined performing in front of everypony. I knew that would never happen. Even so, I could still dream. In school they had several books on the old cities that were going to be rebuilt once everypony was let out. My favorite was Manehatten, which was home to Bridleway. The birthplace of the Equestrian Musical some say. One day our class was discussing what these future cities were going to be like. I raised my hoof asked if Bridleway was going to be rebuilt (I figured if I couldn’t live out my dream, maybe other ponies could.) My teacher looked at me like I was an idiot and gave me a simple. “No.”

I let out a sigh and proceeded to sing my heart out whilst walking forward.After what felt like hours I finally collapsed, blacking out after mere seconds.

“--thing has got to be worth a fortune! If I could only get it the fuck off!” Exclaimed a voice near me, a mare. I was awake but kept my eyes closed, listening in on the conversation. I could feel a pair of hooves banging on the side of my PipBuck.

What’s going on.....? …wait a second….I’M BEING ROBBED!

“Silver, Caps can’t buy happiness.” Said another voice, also a mare.

The first voice, Silver apparently, snorted. “Thats not what your customers say, Shimmer.”

The second voice gasped, obviously offended. “SILVEEEEER! Thats horrible!”

Silver laughed. “I’m not the one who sleeps with anything as long as its remotely ponylike.”

“Well at least--” Shimmer cut herself off and let out a blood curdling scream. I had opened my eyes and she had seen me. “It’s not dead!” Above me were two of the tallest ponies I have ever seen in my life. My eyes widened and I jumped up to my hooves.

“T-t-t-TALL! Is everypony out here so...TALL!?” I shouted, backing up a bit. The two mares in front of me looked at each other, one of them smiled slightly while the other scowled. The slightly shorter one, an earth pony with a golden coat and a lighter, slightly curled blonde mane, turned to me.

“We’re sorry, we thought you were dead.” The other, also an earth pony with a dark grey coat and an almost pure white, straight, shiny mane, simply rolled her eyes. She muttered something then glanced back at my pipbuck. The golden pony smiled at me. “My name is Gold Shimmer, and this is my older sister Quick Silver.”

“I’m Melody Flight....” I told them, a bit confused as to what was going on. I looked at the grey pony, realizing she was the one trying to steal my PipBuck.

“YOU tried to rob me!” I shouted, pointing my hoof at her.

“I thought you were dead!” She shot back, obviously not afraid of me. Then again, who would be?

“So you decided to ROB a dead body? Thats disrespectful!” I said icily, narrowing my eyes.

Quick Silver laughed a little. “Welcome to the Equestrian Wasteland, Sweetheart. Where the fuck’ve you been for the past two hundred years?”

My glare intensified but it didn’t seem to faze her. “I’ve lived in Stable 27 for my entire life until now.” Gold Shimmer tilted her head when she heard this.

“You’re from a Stable?”

I ignored her question, still aiming my anger towards her sister. “I ought to report you to whoever’s in charge!” The sisters looked at each other, then burst out laughing.

Gold shimmer stopped when she saw my still, clearly upset expression. “Nopony’s ‘in charge’ of the Wasteland, Melody.”

I frowned at that. If nopony was in charge how do they get anything done...? I asked myself. Assuming there are other ponies here.... My frown deepened, but, considering the conversation I overheard, there MUST be other ponies somewhere.

“If I can’t get you arrested..... could you at least tell me what you were talking about when you were trying to steal my PipBuck?”

Silver smirked. “We were talking ‘bout how my sister is a slut.”

“PROSTITUTE.” Gold Shimmer corrected, shockingly not ashamed at all. “I get Caps for what I do. A slut doesn’t.”

I glanced at her, suddenly realizing she was wearing a corset. How did I not notice that before...?

“We were also talking about how MY sister is a greedy bitch who can’t keep her hooves off of shiny things, even if it means taking them without asking.” Shimmer turned to Quick Silver, glaring. I had a feeling this conversation happened a lot. In an effort to change the subject before things got bloody, Quick Silver decided to ask me some questions.

“You said you were from a Stable right? Why’d you leave?”

I told them everything. How Stable life was, why I had to leave and everything in between. By the end, Silver was frowning and Gold Shimmer looked as if she were on the verge of tears.

“Silver, can we keep her? Please? PLEASE? PLEASE!?” She begged, bringing her hooves together. Silver looked at me, then back at the golden mare.

“Oh, alright....” She said with a sigh. “As long as she wants to.”

I weighed my options. I could either team up with these two ponies who at least somewhat looked like they knew what they were doing, or I could wander around aimlessly again and probably end up dead. Difficult decision. I thought, rolling my eyes.

“I’d love to join you.”

Quick Silver and Gold Shimmer lead the way to their shack outside the city. The shack itself appeared constructed with several uncorrespondent pieces of metal and some pieces of what looked like driftwood. Shimmer, practically leaping with joy, opened the door and went inside. I walked in with Silver. Inside there were two beds, and a shelf holding prewar food and a few firearms. Out of the corner of my eye I could see a trap door in the corner.

“Who built this place?” I asked Silver. I could see her smile faintly.
"Our dad..."

"So you lived here with your parents?" Silver's smile faded.

"Well, parent." She corrected.

"What happened to your mother?" I pried, even though I shouldn't have. Stupid lack of social skills. The grey mare turned to look at her sister who was changing. I could clearly see Shimmer's cutie mark now which looked like a leather high-heeled boot. Quick Silver brought her attention back to me. She cleared her throat then began to mimic and lower, more gruff, buck voice. If I didn't know any better I wouldn't have been able guess it was her.

"'Yer mother was a two-bit whore who left me fer the first colt she could get 'er hooves on--" The mare began, then started to smile. "--but Ah'm lucky she left yew two here with me.'" I couldn't help but look back at Gold Shimmer, apparently the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

"What happened to him?"

"Raiders took him a few years ago." Silver told me, speaking normally again. I could sense the subject was touchy because she changed the subject once again. “Melody you take my bed. I’ll sleep on the floor.”

“Awww, I was gonna give her MY bed.” Shimmer complained.

“No.” Silver replied sternly. The mare simply rolled her eyes, opened the trapdoor ,and when inside.

“Giving up your bed was very nice of you but.... I mean, I can sleep on the floor...”

“No.” She said in the same stern tone. She made her way to the space in between the two beds and curled up. I walked over to her.

“Well, why not?” I demanded.

She snorted. “The last thing I need is for you to go to bed on the ground then wake up sore, so when we end up being attacked by something you’ll move slower and DIE.” She looked at me dead on. “You’re with me now, and that means I will do my best to keep you safe.”

“Wow... that was..... grim...”

She laughed bitterly. “Like I said, Sweetheart, welcome to the Equestrian Wasteland.”

Episode 2

Melody of The Wasteland

Episode 2

My ears twitched as I heard the strange sounds again. I had been outside the Stable for two weeks now and I kept hearing it on and off. Mostly at night, when everything else was quiet.

Silver and I were salvaging around the city outskirts. Apparently the shack in which I was now residing is very close to the Manehatten Ruins. Well, at least thats what my Pipbuck labeled them as, I wasn’t actually quite sure how it knew though.

"Be careful." Silver warned from ahead of me. "Celestia knows what's out here."

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.....” I said half-heartedly. The sounds started up again and they were bothering me, I turned my head in the direction they seemed to be coming from.

“What is it?” Silver asked, peeking out from inside a dumpster.

“Nothing....” I turned back to her and trotted over, beginning to hum. She rolled her eyes and dove back in, salvaging what she could. She seemed to be enjoying it but I knew better. Quick Silver would rather steal something than salvage for it. I waited for her to come back out. “Anything interesting in there?” I asked, casually, trying to start up a conversation and get my mind off the sounds.

“No.... fucking things been picked dry..... But you don’t really care do you?”

“Well.... I uh.... of course I care.....” I lied horribly.

“Of course I care!” She mimicked, getting my voice and inflections perfectly. “Bullshit.” she then added, in her own voice.

I needed to think of something else or might have gone crazy. What was even worse was that I knew Silver would pester me about it sooner or later. I sighed.

“Quick Silver? Do you hear any weird noises?” She gave me a puzzled look.

“No.... nothing except the occasional balefire phoenix or manticore... Why?”

“I keep hearing weird noises....” I confessed. Quick Silver rolled her eyes. Darn it! I knew she wouldn’t believe me.

“You’re just havin’ the jitters. You’re not used to these outside sounds yet.” She lectured. She closed her eyes and tilted her head up. Even though I had known her for two weeks, I knew what this gesture meant and I desperately needed to change the subject before she started ranting.

“Hey! Uh, Silver, how do you do that thing?” She opened her eyes and looked at me for a second, then jumped out of the dumpster.

“What ‘thing’?” She asked.

“You’re mimicking thing.” She shrugged and looked at me.

“Who the hell cares? I just do. Now c’mon, Gold Shimmer ‘s probably wondering where we are”

“15......16....17” Gold Shimmer counted happily. Apparently while we were out she had.... entertained some guests.....

“GOLD SHIMMER!” Silver shouted furiously. Silver wasn’t one to set up rules but when she did she kept them enforced. One of which was no customers when she wasn’t home. Which I didn’t really understand at the time.

Shimmer groaned a bit as her sister stomped towards her.

“How many times do I have to tell you!?” She began, furious. I zoned out at this point. I’ve heard this argument a few times before and I didn’t understand why Silver didn’t just give up.

The sounds began again, my focus on them almost completely drowning out the sisters bickering. Listening to them was almost painful. Some were high pitched, some lower but they were all frighteningly luring. Part of me wanted them to stop and another part wanted to make them keep going. I frowned at the second part. The sounds were almost full of fear and desperation, why would I want them to keep going? I had my own theories , well only one really, but that will addressed later.

"Mel? Hey, Melody!" I heard as I ripped away from my thought process. I snapped my head towards the two other mares in front of me.

"Yeah?" I asked, still not completely there. Gold Shimmer furrowed her eyebrows, showing obvious concern.

"Melody, are you ok?"

"Yeah...." I responded, not very creatively. In my defense I was still a bit preoccupied.

"She thinks she hears weird noises." Silver informed. I looked at the ground, letting my mane cover my face. I'm not sure why, but I was embarrassed. Maybe because being preoccupied by "nonexistent" sounds seemed childish.

"What kind of sounds?" Shimmer asked.

"I dunno... just sounds. They are all different pitches, though."

"She just has the Outside Jitters." Quick Silver added with a smirk. I gave her a look. Outside Jitters or not there were strange noises and so help me Luna I was going to find out what they were!

Later that night I commenced operation "Go Find The Weird Noises.". I successfully snuck past my two sleeping companions and out of our home. I didn't expect to be gone long, so the only thing I brought with me was a metal pipe. I knew how to use a gun, I just didn't like to; they are too loud...

The Wasteland was even scarier at night. I jumped at every little thing I saw, but I was still determined to solve the mystery. The deeper into the ruined city I got, the darker and creepier it got. Every once in awhile I’d see a green light soar across the sky. According to Silver they were called balefire phoenixs. Apparently they were harmless unless you bothered them, but I didn’t want to take my chances. I watched each one arc above me.

“Ok, Melody Flight.....” I said outloud. Maybe talking to myself would make everything better. Or at least, convince every scary thing I was crazy and shouldn’t be messed with. “No need to be scared.... remember the song mommy taught you....” My voice got quieter. Usually the idea of singing would make me happy, but the situation was a lot different than any other I had been in before. “Giggle at the ghosties..... guffaw at the grossly.... c-crack up at the creepy--” I was caught off by a bullet soaring past my face and yells following it.

I screamed and started running forward, not really thinking, just trying not to get shot. This strategy, unfortunately, did not work very well.

Before I knew it two large and terrifying stallions were on each side of me. I skidded to a stop and tried to turn the other way but the on the left tackled and pinned me.

"Well ain't you sumthin' special." He said in a gruff, menacing voice. The other one trotted over smirking.

"Is this bitch stupid or what?" He asked his companion. They were both covered in blood-stained, miss-matched armor. I squirmed underneath my captor, flailing my wings as if that would actually help. I WAS stupid. Or naive. But at this point, both were going to get me killed.

"What do we got here?" My captor looked at my wings then my flank. "Got wings but no brand! You really are special. Messin' with you’s gonna be fun." I didn't know what this meant, but I was afraid it was something very, VERY bad. The one not holding me down brought out some rope. I could see he was a unicorn now. He very quickly tied me up and began dragging me to their lair. I grimaced as I hit rocks and Celestia knows what else was the ground with my face. Obviously these two didn't treat their prisoners very well.

[[Melody.........]]

My ear twitched. Crap, this is NOT what I needed at the moment. Remember when I mentioned that there were some odd things that had to be mentioned later? Well, we’re getting close to later.

“The hell is wrong with you?” I was questioned roughly. I must have looked dazed. The only response I could let out was a small whimper. The unicorn rolled his eyes and kicked me. The pain was strangely excruciating, I don't think I'd ever been kicked so hard before. I groaned and tried to curl up.

[[Melody, can I come out to play?]]

Crap crap crap, I thought. I did NOT want this to happen now. Or ever. We made it to an abandoned building, now instead of being dragged in dirt, I was being dragged in something wet and sticky. It took me a second to realize what it was, too long considering it was now stuck in my mane and staining my face.

I screamed and started squirming again, rubbing my wings in the gore. The stench of it all was horrible. What kind of a place is this!? My captors laughed. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to die.

[[Melody, you need me don't you?]]

Unless..... NO. Never. I was very painfully dragged up two flights of stairs to a room on one of the middle floors. The room was filled with other ponies, most of them malnourished and beaten. Most of the mares, and even some stallions, were sobbing. I had a sudden epiphany. The sounds I heard were coming from here.... they were just distant screams. My discovery offered no closure.

I was dragged through the middle of the room. I caught the eye of an earth pony mare. Her expression was full of pity as I passed. I stopped squirming and just whimpered. I didn’t want to be here, but it was my own stupid fault for it. The earth pony captor heaved me up on a bed while the other smirked. The bed smelled even worse than the rest of the room. It was covered in various stains, all caused from bodily fluids, I assumed. The walls around me seemed even worse. There were corpses chained to them. Most of which were missing limbs or full out decapitated. I felt my stomach turn, I wanted to vomit. Instead my eyes teared up and I started shaking. Reasonably enough, I didn’t want to die. Not like this at least. The two murderous stallions came closer to me and I closed my eyes.

[[You can help yourself, Melody...]]

Maybe I don’t have to die....

Suddenly there was a distinct ZIIIIP and then in no time at all another one. I opened my eyes and saw both stallions on the ground. They both had something lodged in their skulls.

“Arrows...” I said quietly to myself.

“Are you alright?” I heard. I looked towards the doorway. Standing there was a hooded pony, the only thing I could see was his blue muzzle sticking out. I assumed he was a stallion by his voice, though it did sound.... strange. I nodded a little, still very frightened. Was this pony saving me or was he planning something else? This was stupid thinking but, I was in panic mode.

“Stay still.” He ordered politely. There was another zip and the rope around my legs was broken. I wiggled the rest off then stood up shakily.

“Come, I’ve already freed the others, you and I will have to find another way out. The rest of the raiders know I am here.”

I looked at him hesitantly. Should I go with him or not? I almost died, and he saved me. In fact, if he hadn’t save me, I might have done something worse. I walked over quickly. He smiled reassuringly, but kept his hood down. I looked more closely at him. He was almost completely covered, except for a thin sliver of his blue hooves and aforementioned muzzle. We snuck through the halls of the building, every once and awhile peering into rooms, to make sure nopony was left behind. Everything seemed to be going well for a bit, until we ran into more raiders. The stallion swiftly got on his hind-legs. Pulling out his bow, he stuck his front-legs out and grasped the arrow and drawstring with his mouth. The whole thing looked silly but it was frighteningly effective. He let go, and the arrow soared through the head of the first raider and into that of the one behind him. I let out a yelp as they both fell. The hooded pony gave me a strange look. Well, at least I assumed it was, considering I couldn’t see his face. We heard the voices of others coming from down the hall and we made a break for the stairs. To our grief, the stairwell wasn’t as empty as we had hoped. In a panic, my savior looked around. He took us back into the hallway and desperately looked for an escape route. He turned to look at the raiders coming towards us in both directions to me. To my surprise he grabbed me by my Stable jumpsuit and leapt towards the window in front of us........... Then out of it.

There was a rush of air as we fell. It blew my mane up, cleaning it partially of the entrails it was soaked in. I looked for my companion and soon realised he had let go of me and was now on top of me. I gazed up at him, the wind having blown his hood off. He was covered strange markings.... stripes. A zebra...? But zebras are covered in black and white. This pony was light blue, the stripes a darker shade of blue. He looked expectantly at me. I turned my head and suddenly the shock kicked in. I was FALLING. I screamed for the upteenth time today and flailed in the air. My wings were frozen in place.

“What are you doing!?” He shouted over the wind.

“I CAN’T FLY!” I responded, full of reasonable panic. There was a second pause before he replied.

“You are telling to me that the pony I risk my life with... Is the only pegasus in Equestria who CANNOT FLY!?” Too be honest I was a bit irritated by this response.

“LOOK, I was raised in a Stable. Have you ever BEEN in a Stable!? There's no room for flying! Except maybe the atrium but if I did that I would have been kicked out sooner!” I shouted, taking my eyes off the quickly approaching ground for a second. I looked back and the panic kicked in once again. I overheard the blue zebra mutter something, but it must of been some foreign language because I couldn’t understand any of it.

“At least spread your wings out into a glide!” He commanded, now sounding just as panicked as I did. He kicked me once, it was light but still hurt against my bruised side. I instinctively opened my wings. Our fall slowed, and just in time. We started moving forward at a steady rate. I forced myself to keep my wings opened until we hit the ground in an impromptu landing. Though we had slowed down, we were still moving pretty quickly. We skidded against the ground leaving a small cloud of dust behind us. My striped companion had fallen off of me mid-crash and landed in front of me. He groaned and his left foreleg was bent in a way I didn't think was possible until then.

"Oh my goddess, are you ok!?" I asked once I saw it, standing quickly. He forced a small smile.

"Just a broken leg..... no big deal...."

"That is a big deal! Here I'll take you to my frie--" I was cut off by yet again, another gunshot.

"Shit." Said the injured pony in front of me. He was down for the count and I had NO way of fighting off raiders.

[[Melody, have you forgotten me?]]

Well. I had one way. I looked off into the distance, the raiders were closing in very quickly. I sighed. I had gotten us into this mess by doing something stupid and I was going to get us out by doing something even more stupid.

I faced my enemy and let my other self take hold.

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Pain.

Feathers falling. Real wings showing. Changing more. Smirk. Stupid ponies coming close.

"What the hell!?"

Hiss. Strange zebra thing. Will deal with it later. Turn back to face prey. Fired at. More pain. Running forward, jump, spread wings. Flying..... no...... falling. Pain.

[[We can't fly, remember?]]

Hush! Stupid Other Self. It is your fault we cannot fly. Get up. Running towards the prey growling. Prey stops moving. Afraid of me. Some walk back. Shots fired, dodge. Pick up gunner with tail, Growling. Grab its neck with my mouth. Pull, rip apart. Headless stupid pony now. Tackle next pony. Dig hooves into its body. Bones snapping. Smiling now. Trying to go through to other side, more shots fired. Jump off dead, broken pony. Next one, covered in armor. It shoots at me. Duck, slide under it. Wrap tail around its leg to keep it in place. Grab armor with mouth, rip it off piece by piece. Pony screams. Get to skin, rip it off piece by piece. Covered in blood. Get up. One more. Pony shaking in fear. Hiss. Pony tries to run, grab it with tail. Drag it in. Wrap tongue around neck. Squeeze and then..... snap. It still barely alive. Squeeze body with tail. More snaps. Pony coughs blood into face. Drop it. Stand on backlegs. Come back down, smash the pony skull. Drenched in pony blood. Turn to zebra thing. It screams, trying to move away. Leg is broken, it can't move too fast. Start walking over to it. Smirk.

[[No! Stop! You said you were just going to save us! We're saved now.]]

Growl. Stupid Other Self. Will keep promise. This time.

Pain.....

-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*

I cried out. The pain of changing back was only slightly better than that of changing in the first place but they both hurt. A LOT. My wings went back from being leathery and batlike to feathery. My tail shortened and I felt weak. I looked at myself and grimaced. I was dripping with blood. I turned to look at the carnage around me and started shaking. Not only were these the second set of corpses I'd seen that day but the bodies were completely mutilated. It was even worse to know that I was the one who mutilated them. Unable to stand the sight of this, I turned to face the only other living pony near me. He looked just as terrified I felt.

"Wha-what the h-hell are you!?" He shouted when I made eye contact. He was visibly pale beneath his coat. This hurt a bit. I didn't like when others were scared of me.

"Please calm down.... I'm... I'm sorry.... don't be scared....."

"You skinned a pony alive..... with your mouth...." He muttered in a daze. He regained some color to his face as he forced himself to calm down. "You're.... You're not going to do that to me.... right?"

"No! Never. I promise." I reassured. I walked over and helped him up. "That looks really bad..." I began, referring to his leg. "Let me take you to my friends. They'll probably able to help."

He just nodded as we started limping back to the shack.

"My name is Yahto." He eventually said, breaking the silence.

"Yahto.... I like that name. I'm Melody Flight. Thanks for saving me." I smiled. He seemed to be a nice pony... Zebra.... Thingy.

"You are very welcome, Melody. Thank you for saving me. Though you also scared me in the process. Do you.... do that often....?"

"No.... just..... when I get really scared."

"Oh.... Well, who am I to judge you for being different?" He said with a laugh. "I am a half-zebra in case you were wondering." A half-zebra.... that was why he was blue! We walked for a little while more until the small shack came into view.

"Yahto? Could maybe not mention what....happened.... back there?" He nodded in response.

"MELODY!" I heard Silver shout. She was ticked and worried from what I could tell. "WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!?"

"It's a long story!" I responded. I was glad to be home and it seemed I had a new friend. For the moment, at least.

We trotted up to them and Gold Shimmer tackled me, sobbing. "MELODY I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU, WHERE DID YOU GO!?" I stifled a groan, my ribs still being bruised.

"I went looking for the strange sounds and I found raiders...... But my new friend Yahto saved me!" I gestured to the half-zebra standing next to me. He looked a bit surprised at the mentioning of him being my friend. Quick Silver looked down at him.

"A half-zebra, eh? Well thanks for saving Mel, Yahto." Yahto smiled, proud of his good deed.

"It was no problem."

Silver looked at his unnaturally bent leg. “Well, it looks like it was a problem.”

“Oh, yeah!” I said. “Can you guys fix that?”

“Yeah, Shimmer go get the healing bandages,” Silver ordered. She walked back into the shack to get medical supplies, leaving Yahto and I alone.

“I’m sorry for almost getting you killed twice...” I apologized. I felt truly guilty for what happened today. He just smiled.

“There is no reason to be sorry. You did nothing wrong. In fact, I should help you for what you did.” I tilted my head in confusion.

“I will teach you to fly.” He then explained, proudly. HE was going to teach me to fly? The wingless half-zebra?

“Um... I’m not sure how that would work...” I told him honestly.

“You think just because I am an earth pony it means I don’t know how to fly?” He challenged, then smiled a bit smugly. “I know the all the mechanics to it. I can teach you.” I wasn’t sure how he knew, but I trusted him. He did save my life after all. I nodded, but apparently I must have still looked unsure.

“Fear not, and do not be blue. That which you don’t know, I will teach you.”