I followed after Sandra as she made her way around the city slowly. It was a long journey, but she was content enough to keep digging so long as Cindy and I kept talking with her, and so we progressed as a team. "You know," Sandra said. "You two seem to be coming together more and more."

Cindy nodded. "It's true. I feel like I could, if I wanted, become one with William entirely."

I wasn't entirely pleased at the idea. "Having one head instead of two would be less freakish, but I like myself as I am, you know, as William."

Cindy tilted her head. "Am I that bad?"

I chuckled nervously. "Am I?"

Cindy shook herself. "No. You're a wonderful person that I'm glad to be a part of. Aren't I? We'd be less confused if we put our heads together."

Sandra perked an ear back at us. "This is the world we've come to." She sent some dirt flying, still digging. "Where you get to have a debate about having two heads while your girlfriend digs a hole with her hooves like an adorable gopher. I'll still love you with one or two heads, Will, but I can't say I'd be upset if you went down to the usual model."

We came up for a peek a few minutes later when we heard something. There was a lone human wandering around, shouting. "Hello?"

He didn't seem to be armed, and we couldn't spot any others around him. I felt out and could detect there were a few ponies nearby that were being drawn by the noise. I shooed them away mentally, sending them elsewhere.

"Are you still out there? Come on!"

Cindy looked down at Sandra. "Why don't you go out and greet him. You're less intimidating than we are, and we can protect you with our magic from here."

Sandra tilted her head a little at us. "That alright with you, Will?"

I reached out and gave her tail a tug. "Go ahead, just be careful, and try talking right away. We don't want him thinking you're hunting him like a feral."

Sandra broke free of the surface and shook herself off. "I'm here. Are you here to talk?"

The human smiled at her. Male, light, though tanned, skin, wore a cap, loose clothing, and had a mustache and beard that not having easy access to a razor will get you. "You're friendly, right?"

Sandra tilted her head. "As friendly as you are. I'm Sandra." She pointed a hoof at the human. "What's your name?"

The male nodded. "John. They were talking about some horses out here not just jumping on people and I had to check it out."

Sandra lifted an ear. "So you just ran out, alone and unarmed? That's very brave, and a little foolish?"

John shrugged. "What's the worst that happens? I get hooves. Better than what we're dealing with."

Sandra looked all the more curious. "What's going on? Please, come closer. I'm harmless." She smiled, keeping her bisected jaw closed less it bother him. "Is it that bad in the city?"

John did approach, looking at Sandra intently. "Food's running low, water tastes awful though no one's died of that yet. Constant patrols against horses. The guys 'in charge' keep saying we'll get reinforcements and everything will clear up, but I don't see it, and no one else has. No electricity means everything that could spoil already did."

Sandra let out a slow breath. "What would you say if I told you the horses want to help with that?"

"How?"

Sandra pawed at the ground gently, trying to muster the force that made plants grow. She didn't make a flower or anything as pretty as that, but the grass turned bright green and spread out in a meter around her pawing hoof. "Some of us woke up after being feral. Some of us never went feral."

John let out a tired sigh. "That's a nice trick, but I'm a human, not a horse. I can't eat grass, and it'd probably turn me into a horse."

Sandra pointed at herself. "I'm not infectious anymore. I'd offer to prove it, but that would involve being licked or something else you'd probably not want. Either way, the grass was just a demonstration. Just imagine a few of us in a corn field. Oh, what'd they do with Ian?"

"The kid?" John hiked a thumb at the city. "They got him under lock and key, waiting for him to sprout a tail any moment."

Sandra tilted her head. "He's being treated well, I hope?"

John frowned. "He's being given something to eat for now, and they didn't hurt him that I saw."

Sandra grunted softly. "We wanted him to be safe..."

"You sound like a girl."

Sandra tilted her head. "That's because I am one. More of us are girls than boys."

John made a displeased expression. "Great, hooves and that... I'll deal with humanity for now."

Sandra waved back at the city. "I won't stop you. I just wanted to talk. Is there anyone you could bring out that's in charge?"

John snorted at that. "Anyone in charge is not going to accept an invitation from a horse for lunch."

Sandra tapped at her chin. "Do you have some farmlands?"

"Sure, yeah. Just on the south-side there." He pointed off just before a bright plane of energy sprang up beside Sandra moments before I felt the strain of holding it erect against a burst of bullets. "Shit!" John jumped for cover as others humans arrived, rifles up and at the ready.

Sandra squealed and dove into the ground, vanishing from sight. I knew that Cindy had created the shield and was thankful to her even as we turned and retreated back down the tunnel. Sandra burst into the tunnel ahead of us and began creating the meandering path for us to evade any that were following behind.

The way wasn't clear, but we had a few ideas of how to make the next step at least.

Author's Notes:

Hello John! Would you like some hooves?

No? Alright, how about some typos instead?