Well, this I hope you all enjoy this chapter. I tried to make the fight a tad more interesting than it was in the original.

I walk beside Dash down road for about ten minutes, without hearing anything more than a halfhearted sniffle out of her. Eventually, however, she decides to break the silence by asking me a question.

“So,” She looks at my back with a fearful gaze, “Did, did they really get *gulp* cut off?”

“Yeah, they did.” She gasps at my answer, stopping dead in her tracks for a second. However, she quickly catches back up to me, “They tied me down to a medical bed and started cutting away with a hacksaw. Sons of bitches left me to die in the wastes. I survived, as you can tell, but not without certain…losses.” I remember my wings and how useful they used to be. Even though it’s been about a year, I still miss them.

“I’m…I’m sorry.” She sounded very sincere, “I couldn’t imagine going without my wings, and why did those ponies want to do that to you? Were they paid or something?”

“Naw, they probably just did it for kicks.” She looks absolutely horrified at the prospect of this kind of an atrocity, “They love seeing pain, the more squirming, the better.”

“Why? Why would anypony want to do that?” Dash seems scared now, and I don’t blame her, “I don’t get it.”

“Neither do I, but never underestimate anypony out here.” I say this line firmly, looking into Rainbow Dash’s eyes as I do so, “You have no idea what they will do to survive. I’ve seen some things that I really never wanna think about them again.”

“Like what? Come on, you’ve gotta tell me.” The curious mare inches closer to me as she says this, “Like some super zombie mega pony? Or some robot super cannon?”

“NO!” I yell at the curious mare, shattering what peace we had established, “I mean, no I haventand probably never will, but thats not important, now we’ve gotta concentrate on finding shelter for the night.” I glance around, checking out the scenery. I see a large cave in the distance; big enough to fit some ponies, but not an Ursa family.

“How about there.” I point to the cave with my hoof, stalling our progress down the road for a bit, “I think we’ll be safe there for the night.”

“From what?” She asks, causing me to sigh and do a light facehoof.

“Don’t you remember what I told you about mutants?” She nods after a second, “Well, mutants are mainly active at night. They just love to come out and gang up on unsuspecting ponies when the moon is out.”

“O-Okay then.” Her eyes are wide, as the sun is going down, “I-I think I’m gonna stick with you, okay?”

“Heh, yeah, that would be the smart thing to do.” I chuckle a bit, “Anyways, how about you tell me a bit more about yourself?”

“Um, okay.” She continues to walk beside me, albeit a tad closer than before, “Well, I’m, I mean, I used to be the fastest flier in all of Equestria.” Her ears droop down at the mention of our planet, “My dream was to be a…a…a” She struggles to say the next word, “Wonderbolt” She bursts into tears at the mention of her former dream, “I practiced every day, learning new tricks and getting better and more awesome, just so I could impress them. Now that's never going to happen.”

“Hey, it’ll be okay.” I smile, trying to reassure her, “Maybe your friends are still alive.” The word ‘friends’ still feels alien to me, but I’ll do anything to halt the waterworks created by this mare.

“H-Hey, maybe you’re right! Maybe Ponyville still there!” She instantly jumps out of her slump, “Maybe they’re still alive! Twilight, Pinkie, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity; I’m coming home girls!”

“Not tonight you’re not.” I say this phrase with a solid and firm voice, reinstating our current threat, “We need to get shelter tonight, Ponyville, or whatever, will have to wait.”

“Oh, okay.” She seems to deflate a little at this, “I…I guess one more day won’t kill them.”

“Yeah, now come on, we’re almost to the cave.” I reach into my pack and grab a bronze lantern, “Looks dark in there, good thing I’ve got these.”

“Is that a lantern?” She asks me, staring at the object.

“Yeah” I flip a switch on the lantern and a moderately bright glow begins to emanate from the lantern, “Stuff in the wastes usually isn’t too high tech.” I hitch the lantern onto the side of my pack, now standing at the entrance of the cave.

“I have no idea what’s in there, but usually, mutants are out and about by this time.” Dash looks around frantically, most likely scared at the prospect of being attacked. I begin to walk into the cave, Dash right by my side. Before long, I’m surrounded by total darkness, minus the little light that the lantern is putting out. The glow may seem sufficient, but in this kind of darkness, nothing can pierce the black.

I look over at Dash and see that she’s sticking rather close to me. By now, we are far enough into the cave to be safe. Sensing nothing, I turn to my newfound partner and motion for her to stop. I take off my pack and set the lantern on the ground between us, beginning to unpack for the night.

“Wait a minute, I forgot something.” I facehoof, “I’ve only got one sleeping bag. Unless you wanna sleep in the same bag as me, somepony’s gonna end up on the flo-” I stop mid sentence, sensing a presence about us. The rainbow pony eyes me with a curious gaze.

“What’s up?” She asks me, confused at my behavior. I put my hoof up to my mouth, signaling for her to be quiet. Suddenly, realization pops into her eyes and she rushes to huddle next to the lantern. Smart move, she has no idea how to fight.

I begin to hear breathing. Not normal breathing, but primal, animalistic breathing. I try to pinpoint its source, but the cave walls echo the sound, making it impossible. Shit! I draw my sword into a fighting position, eyes darting around rapidly. Where is that little bitch!?! I look back at Dash and see that she is whimpering something, curled up into a ball.

Suddenly, the thing strikes. It’s too fast for me to react, and I get a nice-sized gouge on my right side because of this. I instantly begin to bring my sword down on the creature, yelling in rage. I hear a clang, telling me that I most-likely missed my mark. Spiraling around to face my attacker, I finally get a good look at it.

It’s not a pony, the claws can tell me that much. It seems to be a mutated Timberwolf; green and deformed from radiation. Buck, what the hell is that doing here!?! I snarl at the beast before lunging again with my sword, this time in a more tactical manner; horizontally sweeping the area around me. The beast jumps over the swing and switches targets, attacking Rainbow Dash instead. That sneaky son of a bitch! It lunges at the chromatic pony and pins her to the ground. Dash struggles, trying to act tough by taunting the creature, but I can see the fear in her eyes. The timberwolf raises his deformed claw and holds it up for a second. No!

I get off the ground, now feeling very protective of the rainbow-maned mare. Lunging at the monster with a sudden burst of extreme speed, I hold my sword behind me, ready to attack. Once I’m about four feet away from the monster, I stop dead in my tracks, releasing the sword from my tail’s grip. The sword is sent flying toward the timberwolf, due to the momentum I have built up.

*THUNK* I hear the satisfying sound of impaled flesh, causing me to grin a little. Looking up at my work, I can see that my hearing has not failed me; the timberwolf now has a jagged sword impaled through its chest. I yank on the cord attached to the sword and the timberwolf’s body is pulled towards me, landing on the ground in front of me with a thud. I stare angrily at the thing’s face as I pull the sword out. That little bitch slashed my ass! Then he tried to kill Rainbow Dash! I don’t know why the last part bothers me so much, but at this moment, I really don’t give a shit.

“You son of a bitch.” I mutter the words under my breath as I sheath my now-bloody sword. I turn around to face Rainbow Dash, hoping to see a strong mare, if only to make me feel better. Looking at the chromatic pony, I could not have been more far off. She is backed up against the cave wall, clutching the lantern with her right hoof. I can see fear in her eyes, despite the corpse in front of me. Sighing, I start towards the mare. Strangely, as soon as I get within fifteen feet of her, she pushes up against the wall even more.

“What’s wrong Dash?” I ask her, halting my advance.

“You…You killed that thing.” She manages to say, her voice cracking, “You killed it!”

“To save our lives.” I correct her, my voice calm as can be, “I wouldn’t hurt you, if that’s what you’re scared of.”

“I just can’t believe what you said was true.” She hangs her head, “I didn’t want to believe it was true…”

“I’m sorry to say Dash, but Equestria isn’t the same as it used to be, whatever that was.” I say, prompting a confused look from Dash, “What?”

“What do you mean,’ whatever that was’?” She eyes me suspiciously, not moving out of the corner, “You don’t know what this world used to be like?”

“Well, that’s one of the things I wanted to tell you.” I look at her, sadness in my voice, “I don’t remember Equestria. I don’t remember anything before the Strike, nothing.”

“No…No friends?” I shake my head, “No family?” I shake my head once again.

“I just woke up in the middle of this…this hell.” I begin in a somber tone, “I learned everything the hard way. I never made friends, never knew what my family was. It’s a hell of a life, but it’s all that I know…” I trail off, a tear forming in my eye. I blink it away, but the feeling of sadness doesn’t recede. I close my eyes in an attempt to block any further tears.

“That’s…that’s terrible.” I hear the pegasus say in a shocked voice. Suddenly, I feel hooves wrapping themselves around my body. A warm feeling begins to rush through me, causing my past matters to be shoved away into the furthest reaches of my subconscious. I open my eyes to find the Rainbow mare hugging me tightly. I, unsure of what to do, decide to hug her back. I must have done the right thing, because she continues to hold me for what seems like hours.

“Hey, I think we should get some sleep now. We’ve gotta get up early tomorrow.” I say this in a gentle voice, not wanting to disturb the harmony that is in place. The mare responds with a nod, and I begin to set up the sleeping bag.

A few minutes later, with everything set up, I prompt her to climb in. I get in second, squeezing in next to her. Somehow, she just warms me. I stare into her eyes, which are now bloodshot from crying so much in a single day. Suddenly, she begins leaking tears again.

“What if…what if they aren’t there? What if they’re…what if they’re dead?” She whimpers this out, looking into my eyes for guidance.

“I…I don’t know, but I sure hope they are.” I feel a tear drip onto my chest.

“About those thing that you wouldn’t tell me about earlier, what were they?” She presses against me, tears still leaking through her eyelids.

“I…I guess it’s better than finding out the hard way.” I say, already feeling bad for what I’m about to tell her.

“You see, some ponies, will do anything to survive.” I explain to her, “Even immoral things. I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”

“What?”

“One time, I walked into a run-down looking house. What I saw there still haunts me.” I shudder, remembering the household, “The walls were covered with blood, skinned corpses were hanging by hooks from the ceiling, body parts were displayed like trophies; a hoof here, a rotting skull there. Then I went into the next room, and that room is the one that scared me the most.”

“W-w-what was in it?” Dash’s voice is shaky now, absorbing the story I’m telling her.

“More corpses, but not just stallions and mares; I saw fillies, colts, even foals. Their corpses were skinned and butchered to a degree that still haunts me.” I grimly recite the tale, “Then I saw that one pony. He…he was eating them.”

“E-eating?” She has a fearful tremble to her voice.

“Yeah, he was devouring a skinned corpse; a filly, judging by the size.” I shake a bit, still scarred from this tale, “I didn’t even bother saying a word; I just took out my sword and killed him. I didn’t care what his excuse was, he was doing things that nopony should ever do…”

At this point, Dash is gripping me in fear, eyes darting around wildly before she finally shoves her face into my chest. I feel her heartbeat begin to slow as she holds me tighter. The warmth that I had felt earlier begins to return, so I wrap my hooves around her. At that moment, I make a pledge to myself. A vow to never let anything harm her. I swear to whatever god is left that she won’t die on my watch.

“Am I gonna die like that?” She whispers faintly.

“No, I’ll protect you.” She seems a tad shocked at the seriousness of my statement, “I promise to never let anything hurt you. Ever.”

This seems to calm her down a bit more as she relaxes into my grip once again. I feel something fill itself deep inside of me; like a hole I didn’t even know was there. Dash fills that hole, and I’ll be damned if I lose her. I promise, I promise, I promise… I continue to utter this in my head until I see the world fade from my view.

Thanks for reading! Please review! BTW I hate the formatting on this site! I have to space every paragraph manually when I write from MS word.

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