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PLAGUE

by Aeluna

Chapters

One Unneeded Mare

The young mare's face contorted into an expression of mild discomfort as she felt the familiar feeling of a sharp needle piercing the skin of her thigh. Wincing, she closed her pale grey eyes tightly and bit her teeth together, fighting the feeling of nausea which always came with injections and instead focusing on her growling stomach and the promise of a delicious dinner; the facility always gave better meals after having a test. It was a bribe, of course—a bribe to encourage ponies to be complacent, to not struggle or complain whilst the doctor prodded and poked at them. It usually worked, as well; the food served up by the facility was usually very bland so the weekly offer of something more exciting was extremely tempting.

The mare gave a small sigh as she felt the needle be removed from her thigh, impressed with herself for not having a panic attack; most weeks she would end up reacting badly to the injection, often fainting and thus making the doctor have to wait for her to regain consciousness before the tests could be resumed. She was often in the other ponies' bad books as a result—a lot of emphasis was placed on punctuality in the facility, hence why she was often the last pony to be tested in a day. That way she couldn't hold other ponies up.

"Brace yourself, Bleu Celeste," the doctor said in a steely tone. Despite his lack of concern at causing distress, it was hard to hate someone too much when one signed oneself up to said pain willingly; the facility made it clear that ponies were free to leave, but why would anybody ever want to? It was either endure the tests in the facility which were (almost) never fatal or go outside and face almost certain death. Of the few ponies that had left, none had ever returned. It was hardly an honourable way to go; most probably ended up being killed by the plants, let alone by the fauna. Ever since the first outbreak of the plague one hundred years ago, the outside world had been turned into a bloodbath.

"Please don't call me that. You know I hate it-oh!"

The mare's words were interrupted as her body convulsed, a high electrical charge flowing through her. She whimpered and whined but was otherwise perfectly willing, forcing her mind to try to focus on the slap-up dinner she would later get from the kitchen. Nonetheless, the test couldn't have ended sooner—though she didn't realise at first and continued to shake and whimper.

"Steady there, Miss Celeste," the doctor said as he placed his front hooves on her body, ignoring her muttering with a faint smile ("Can't you just call me Blue?"). He held her firmly for a few seconds as she recovered from the jolts before backing up to retrieve yet another needle, bringing it forwards and hovering it just in the corner of her vision, making her cower slightly. He recognised his mistake immediately and jerked it away a little so that she couldn't see it; she began to turn her head to watch, to keep an eye on what was being done, but was a smidgen too slow. The second needle pierced her skin and elicited a sharp yell, making the mare kick out with her rear leg in a panic. It wasn't until she calmed that she realised the doctor had been watching her with slight amusement, a syringe full of blood held with his magic; she stopped thrashing, gave a small sheepish smile and then promptly passed out.

Awakening a few minutes later in a darkened room, the mare groaned in frustration as she rose to her hooves groggily, hopping down from the bed which she'd been laying on and trotting a little wobbly over to the door. Softly nudging it open she peered at the sign which read "Test bay three" and she huffed a little, flicking her tail in frustration as she stumbled out, cursing the doctor for leaving her in there again. It got annoying after the fifteenth time she woke up alone.

Her thigh was numb and tingly, a rather unpleasant feeling which left her feeling vulnerable. Why she should feel that way inside the facility she didn't know—the danger was locked out using the very best defences—but the weakness still managed to make her worry. That was probably instinct, of course; she would have had to keep fit and healthy back when she lived on the outside. To be weak was to hand over your head on a silver platter.

Not that she could remember life outside, of course. The plague had made sure of that; all of her memories of her previous life, her foalhood, her family, everything, were completely gone. They vanished in a poof of smoke when the disease began to take effect.

Different ponies reacted differently to the plague, usually based on the strength of their immune system. The weakest died straight out—over half of the pony population at the original outbreak had succumbed immediately in this way and even now, almost a century later, many ponies still passed away from just the virus; if anything, the percentage had risen. Next came the mad'uns. Again, about half of the survivors descended into a genuine state of lunacy which was hardly any better than death really; some couldn't even think straight enough to understand which body parts were their own. Then there was every pony else; the mutated, the amnesiacs, the mares and stallions who had lost their senses and the rare, much-loathed point one percent of the population who could resist the disease altogether. Lucky buggers.

Now Bleu Celeste was your typical amnesiac pony; she had no recollection of her past, nor did she know anything about herself. She'd awoken from a plague-induced coma unable to speak, not remembering her own name, her own talents, her own hobbies. She'd lost her cutie mark, a distinct symbol of her past. Even her coat had lost its colour, as did the coats of all amnesiacs; she was lucky that her mane, presumably once a royal blue or similar, had retained some of its original vibrancy, now the shade for which she'd been named after by the facility staff. After all, what else did they have to go on? Still, she hated the name; it was much to fancy for her liking—"Blue" suited her just fine.

Wobbling into the canteen on unsteady hooves she trotted over to the first serving bay and smiled at the pony working there, a deaf amnesiac stallion with a ripped off left ear and large scars down the side of his muzzle. She batted her eyelashes at him and then tossed her head; the stallion laughed as he levitated a small plate up onto the counter, placing it down and snorting.

"Stop it, Blue," he teased in a slightly unenthusiastic voice and the mare's ears fell as she pouted slightly, "I'm only giving you this 'cause you're on the list for special meals, especially since you had th-the electric test today." The stallion faltered slightly with his words as if something was particularly wrong but quickly smiled again. "But really, you should know that trying to flirt with me won't work. You're really no good at it."

"But, but-" Blue began, dismissing his stutter and she made her grey eyes wide and shining as if she were about to cry. It was all an act, of course, and not a particularly good one at that.

"Still not working, Blue," the stallion said as he nudged her plate towards her with a hoof, "and if you must talk, please write it down. You know I can't lip read well."

"Fine," the mare muttered as she ruffled her feathers and nodded to convey her message before picking up her meal in her mouth and winking as she trotted off to a nearby table, having a fairly large selection seeing as the canteen was, at this point, nearly deserted. Sitting down she sighed as she began to eat, a large amount (the chefs knew the substantial size of her appetite) of grilled vegetables sending her into heaven.

This was how the facility made ponies oblige.

All too soon she'd finished, the generous meal (as usual) barely enough to even make a dent on her appetite; returning to the counter she placed her plate down, making sure to lick it thoroughly clean once she did so and then she looked up at the stallion with the same fluttering eyes she'd used earlier. The action didn't send her companion into a sexual fluster, nor did it even make him slightly weak at the knees, but it wasn't meant to; he understood exactly what was being asked of him.

"Yes, fine. I'll bring you some oat cookies later." he whispered tersely as he took the plate, turning around to place it in the wash stack and flicking his colourless tail at her mock scoldingly. She yelped and jumped backwards before laughing, though it was strange that he hadn't done so himself.

"Thanks, Rip!" Blue yelled though there was no chance that he heard her as she trotted out before giving a wild buck, cantering off to her room in anticipation for her "delivery". It would be a while before the stallion—RipEar—got off of his shift in the canteen, at least half an hour or so, but she always liked to be organised and, honestly, her room was a tip. It hadn't been tidied for a whole day, after all.

A soft tap came at the door and Blue's ears perked up as she yelled, "One second!" and hastened to shove the rest of her junk into storage. The room was poxy with only enough room for a small closet and a bed but, impossibly, it was constantly messy. Even the walls were a state with old art projects—pretty sloppy work, really—and the like scattered around and, in one small corner, an old photograph of the sunset. Blue couldn't remember ever seeing the sunset; she'd never seen outside. The facility didn't want any pony looking in or out.

Unable to hear her cry to wait, RipEar nudged the door open and squeezed in through the gap, a pile of rubbish preventing it from opening fully. He wore a pair of saddlebags over his back and he pulled out a few cookies for her, crispy around the edges just the way she liked them, and Blue accepted them readily, munching happily. Moaning in pleasure, she snatched the second as well and scoffed that too, huffing when they were gone and licking her hooves and mouth greedily. "Only two?" She asked somewhat disappointed, quickly scribbling it down on a note of paper and RipEar nodded; scooting around he began to softly nudge Blue's rear end as if trying to get her to walk forwards. She did so suspiciously.

"Rip... What are you doing?" she asked but got no reply, of course, so instead resulted in kicking out slightly with her rear leg, pushing the stallion away from her slightly. Spinning on him she glared, pawing at the ground. "Hey!"

RipEar looked at her sympathetically, hanging his head. He couldn't understand her words but the meaning behind her actions was hardly subtle. "I can't hear you, Blue, but you've got to trust me. Please." his words were rushed and he had suddenly become extremely apprehensive, his ears pressed flat back. "They're going to kill you. They tell you that the electric test ponies leave—they don't. Every pony who has the electric test gets murdered so you've gotta trust me now, else you'll end up food for the guard dogs."

"Guard dogs? What!"

RipEar flinched at the mare's expression. "Calm down, Blue—I'm not going to let them kill you. But we've got to get going now."

"I—"

The distinctive wail of a tannoy as it flared into life sounded around the room and Blue winced as she buried her head in between her knees, trying to block out the sound; RipEar couldn't hear the noise but could feel the very vibrations on the air and it made his own grey eyes widen. "Would miss Bleu Celeste please report to test room X. Repeat, would miss Bleu Celeste please report to test room X. Thank you."

The tannoy's message ended and RipEar's expression grew truly terrified, knowing what the message had been—it had been broadcasted so many times before. His ears were almost blending into his neck by now and he danced on the spot.

"Time's up. Let's go." he whispered urgently and grabbed Blue's mane roughly, galloping into the corridor and along its length as fast as he could. The mare stumbled after, still somewhat shaken from the electric shocks, her heart thudding in her chest.

"Message for one miss Bleu Celeste: we are sending ponies to your room now to talk with you. Please wait there for them or meet your doctor in test room X. Thank you."

Blue slowed slightly on instinct, ready to turn back, but RipEar was on the ball and urged her on in a panic; shoving her roughly, he panted as he ran and whispered to her that if she returned, she would be killed. She couldn't quite believe it, but she couldn't imagine that her oldest (and only) friend would be lying to her either. Thankfully the floors of the facility were carpeted; had it been any other way, the two would have easily been heard and stopped.

"Message for one miss Bleu Celeste and one Mr RipEar; you have both been located on security cameras taking part in reckless activity. We are sending guard ponies after you now. If you resist, we will have to force you to leave the facility."

RipEar couldn't hear the words and Blue was slightly glad that he couldn't; still, he'd recognised the change in the atmosphere and was now running even faster. "Just a little further, Blue." he assured and, true to his word, they reached a small door in less than a minute; placing his hoof on the wood, he spun and saw, a long way down the hall, the first ponies thundering towards them. His eyes widened and he ushered Blue through. Spinning back around, he levitated a nearby painting and hurled it towards the attackers before running after the mare.

Never to return to this place again.

Fighting For The Light

"Oh, thank Celestia." Blue whispered, sounding almost winded and she glanced around herself in interest. She knew what this place was; it was the exit of the facility to the outside world.

From the other side of the door came muffled voices of rather gruff sounding stallions, accompanied by the start of a song playing on the tannoys. For what reason Blue didn't know; music was only played occasionally in the facility. "Leave them. They're dead."

It took a moment for the words to sink in, not really meaning much at first until Blue's eyes widened and she began feeling alarmed as she danced on the spot. Rushing to the door shakily in a panic, she tugged on the lock in desperation, her heart sinking as it refused to budge. "Oh my god! I'm trapped! We're trapped! We're gonna die!"

"Blue, shush, shush. Stop saying... whatever it is that you're jabbering on about. Just stop panicking." RipEar's words were harsh, not sympathetic but commanding; he knew exactly what was going on. "We need to keep going; I will say this now. Your only hope—mine, as well actually—is just to run. I know where the guard ponies are, I'll try to knock them out but I can't promise I won't miss. So... If they do shoot at you, just... just try to keep going. Just keep running. And if I go down, leave me behind."

"What? You didn't mention any of this!" she whispered harshly, her mind reeling. "And I can't just leave you! If I have to leave you then... Then you have to leave me if I go down."

RipEar didn't hear her and he spoke quickly in response. "It's only one hundred metres, but it's brutal; they don't want ponies getting out, spilling the facility's secrets. So, on three, Blue."

"No, I can't-"

"Three. Two."

"Rip-"

"One. Now!"

The stallion's hooves pounded hard against the rocky floor of the tunnel, his horn glowing as he ripped a hunk of rock from the wall with a cry of exertion—what point was there in being quiet? There was nowhere to hide after all.

Blue ran up to the stallion hurriedly, his presence comforting—at least it was until the first gunshots sounded. She could see him trip slightly as a bullet grazed his shoulder and he cried out in pain as he hurled the rock he'd picked up at the guard who promptly collapsed to the floor, knocked out... Or possibly dead. Blue couldn't tell, didn't want to know. She focused instead on running, one hoof after the other constantly in that repetitive pattern. Du-du, du-du, du-du.

RipEar's running had already begun to slow and they weren't even quarter of the way in yet. Leaping up into the air and using her momentum to propel herself forwards Blue zoomed through the thin corridors, zipping as fast as she could until she spotted a guard. The pony—a buff looking mare—aimed and fired; Blue instantly snapped her wings shut and fell, missing the bullets and leaving the mare confused for just long enough to run into her, the force sending the guard crashing into the wall. The impact sent small pebbles falling down and Blue winced sympathetically; still, she didn't have time to worry as soon as RipEar caught up and the pair carried on.

"There's two guards soon, one each side of this tunnel. You take one, I'll take the other; then there's just one guard and a thirty metre sprint to freedom."

"That's probably the nicest thing you've ever said to me," Blue said with a small sigh, only focusing on the last part. A thirty metre sprint to freedom. Her brain ignored the previous details in an attempt to protect her from fear; when she realised what he'd said—two guards at once?—her heart caught in her throat and she had to simply resort to nodding.

Snapping out her wings and launching up into the roof of the tunnel, flying just slightly faster than her companion could run, Blue desperately tried to work out how she could give RipEar a hoof—it was no wonder no one was ever heard from again after leaving. They'd all been gunned down with ease—but none of them had had a partner.

Maybe they had a chance? She'd take the cuts and bruises if it meant she could live.

Looking down, she saw RipEar hurling a rock to her left side and heard a muffled thud as his aim was true and the guard collapsed without releasing a single bullet, having only had time to take aim. Using that as her cue, Blue folded in her wings and began to dive steeply, hoping she was aiming for a pony; she heard the sound of gunshots even before she saw him and cried out in agony as the bullet grazed the side of her neck, hot and sticky blood flowing immediately down her chest.

Bile raised in her throat and she gagged as she lost concentration. A second missile shot through the top of her thigh, tearing her skin to shreds and the scream which came then was thoroughly deafening—or, perhaps more accurately, was so loud that even a deaf pony such as RipEar could hear. Snarling furiously he ran forwards with a rock just as Blue crashed down into the guard stallion, sending him to his knees and shattering his bones from the sudden heavy weight. He cried out too but RipEar gave him no sympathy; as Blue clambered off shakily, her legs hardly supporting her from both the wounds and the emotional trauma and her head spinning, threatening to make her faint, he smashed the guard's head in with two large rocks, breathing heavily afterwards. He dropped the rocks with a clatter and then feel to his own knees, simply trying to catch his breath. Blue raised herself into the air, no longer able to stand, and flew backwards a few metres unsurely.

"We... We ought to go..." she whispered as she fought the urges to faint and to cry. RipEar looked to her with wild eyes which slowly calmed; he didn't hear her words but he had been thinking the same thing.

"Twenty more metres, one guard. Attack together. Let's go."

Blue whimpered at her friend's sudden steely exterior, unsure how he grew so cold hearted in minutes, but nodded all the same as she flew forwards wobbly, crashing into the wall more than once and crushing her wings, making things even harder. Even a trotting speed was a struggle now.

The final guard was easy to see now; she was stood almost at the very doorway to the exit where a small amount of light filtered in around the edges of the door. Large dogs stood at her side, snarling viciously and barking; Blue swallowed nervously as the guard mare spotted her and the dogs began to get even more riled up. RipEar snarled in response, pawing at the ground.

"Go, Blue." he commanded firmly, "I'll try to take out the guard."

Blue made an attempt to protest but her companion nudged her hovering hoof by way of saying 'get going' and she accepted begrudgingly; flapping her wings as fast as she could, she flew close to the ceiling and over the dogs, their teeth scraping her underbelly as they jumped and she cried out again in pain. Spinning around, she disregarded RipEar's plan and zoomed down towards the mare, knocking her forwards onto the floor before struggling to regain her pathetic amount of altitude once more. Her thigh burned with each movement, her neck streaming still and her wings aching from being so battered. Tears streamed down her cheeks now, unable to hold them in, and stained her almost-white coat a darker grey.

"Go, Blue!" RipEar shouted as he levitated the dogs two at a time and sent them hurling into the wall far behind him until only the guard mare remained; she rose to her feet shakily and spun on Blue, shooting a laser of light in her direction. The pegasus barely dodged it but ended up scraping by with just one less feather as RipEar grabbed the guard mare in his magic and pounced upon her, holding her down. "Go! I'll catch up!"

A barking from far behind told her that the dogs were coming back; terror in her eyes, she flew down and opened the door as wide as she could, her vision blurring as she began to fly outside. "Rip! Come on!" she yelled and the stallion looked up at her. She could just make out his grey body galloping towards the entrance when his eyes widened in sudden realisation; his horn glowed as his saddlebags were ripped off of his body and hurled out of the door, just as a mass of hounds leapt on him. He screamed in pain and terror as the mutts ripped his entire body to fine shreds, his cries echoing around the entire facility surely—or perhaps that was what the music was for, to hide the sounds of pain—until soon all that was left was bones, scraps of meat and a pair of terrified grey eyes, watching unblinkingly.

"Rip!" Blue shouted in agony of her own just as a massive gust of wind blew her off course and slammed the heavy door shut, her battered and beaten body incapable of withstanding; tears streamed down her face in a tidal wave as she finally passed out, crashing down in a bed of soft plants and simply laying there, unconscious.

Equestria Divided

Blue let out a small moan as she awoke, discomfort the only real feeling to her at first. Every single part of her small body ached—no, scratch that. Every part of her burned. Her muscles, especially her wings, protested even as she remained still, laying on the ground in a bed of some soft plant; her underbelly stung awfully in a way which could only suggest that things weren't right; the base of her neck felt as if it had been raked by vicious claws, throbbing agonisingly and refusing to settle down and her thigh... It was pain the likes of which she'd never felt before. She may as well have stepped on a mine and been blown up, she wasn't sure it could possibly hurt much more.

It took a few minutes for her to find the willpower to open her eyes, even that action painful, and the world came into focus agonisingly slowly; the first thing she recognised was that whatever plant she'd landed in was incredibly tall, looking just like overgrown grass and that alone was reassuring—it was something familiar. Grass, at least, was safe; tasty, even, though not quite as good as carrots or apples. At the minute, though, Blue couldn't quite find the energy to move her head to nibble (nor did she think her torn up neck would keep quiet if she did so).

The outside world was unsettlingly silent, the only sounds that of the wind through the plants and the odd squawking bird call. That wasn't much of a surprise, really; pretty much half of the population had been killed off by the plague and those who hadn't probably ended up being murdered by psychotic ponies anyway, the mad'uns as they were usually called. From what she'd been told, even the other types of ponies often ended up descending into insanity; with all the horrors they probably saw it was perfectly justified.

Trying not to move too quickly and wincing as her neck started throwing a tantrum, Blue looked around herself more. It was surprisingly bright for this late at night yet when she looked up at the sky she could see the moon; frowning, she turned her head stiffly to see where in Equestria the light could be coming from and she cried out in shock as her eyes were blinded by the sunlight which should not have been. She instantly let her head collapse to the floor to protect herself from becoming permanently blinded—that was, come to think of it, one of the many ways ponies reacted to the plague. Just as her friend RipEar was deaf, some ponies lost their sight.

Wait...

Blue let out a choked wail as she suddenly recalled what had happened to RipEar and even the pain in her neck could not stop her from throwing back her head and screaming, the sound a primal and agonised cry of grief. All rational thoughts abandoned her as she watched the scene over and over in her mind, the way the hounds had hurled themselves upon him, how their claws had shredded his skin and their teeth torn chunks of flesh until he was nothing but bones and a pair of eyes.

Emotions poured out of her in a tidal wave as she screamed for her lost companion, the only pony who she could remember as a friend. He had understood her, had always been there when everybody else turned away from her, hating her for simply being lucky enough to retain the colour in her mane.

Lucky? Bah! As if anyone in this messed up world was even remotely lucky—the closest anypony could ever come to being fortunate was if they died a quick death; at least then they'd be spared the horrors of this land. Even the mad'uns were better off than she—they, at least, couldn't think sensibly enough to know that the world had become an awful, awful place.

Blue screamed until there were no more tears to left to cry and then some, her heart joining the list of aching muscles as she finally ceased her grieving, too weak to continue sobbing. The pain in the rest of her body mattered not, though; in some ways it was a welcome punishment for allowing RipEar, who'd risked his life to save hers, to be killed. In such a brutal way as well; if she'd only snatched the guard's gun and turned that upon him, it would have been over with barely a second of pain.

Somewhere not too far away, a mournful-sounding howl echoed in the wind, reaching Blue's ears and making her hairs stand on end. She lifted her head painfully and understood that some creature had heard her, presumably some form of wolf judging by the strength of that cry, and she looked around wearily. She ought to get up and run, or even fly, she really should, yet her own instincts were outweighed by the heavy weight of her guilt which forced her to lay her head back down in resignation and make small, feeble whinnying noises. Whether she was crying for help or just for the hell of it, she couldn't tell, nor did she care. It wasn't as if anyone would help her anyway.

A minute passed and no wolves had yet arrived, but still Blue could hear their howls in the distance, increasingly loud and ever more terrifying. As instinct began to grow stronger she felt the adrenaline flowing around her body, the need to survive getting more urgent. Her brain, disconnected from her wounded heart, began reminding her that she shouldn't let RipEar's sacrifice be in vain; her heart countered that if the wolves got her, she could meet him again and they could walk heaven together.

She didn't want to live in this cold world alone, nopony to talk to or even just to have her back. That would be nothing more than surviving; she would not be truly living, just getting by.

The howls grew increasingly louder and louder. Every half minute or so another would ring out through the air and send chills down Blue's spine, her instincts slowly kicking her into action. Nonetheless, it wasn't until she could hear the pack's combined heavy breathing that she began to react properly, realising then that she would rather just live than cease to be altogether; she rose shakily to her hooves as the wolves got ever closer, no more than fifty metres away, and she outstretched her wings clumsily, moving the stiff muscles desperately.

"Come on, come on!" she groaned as her slow movements gave her very little lift but she could see no way to make her muscles work faster. Screaming in pure agony once more as her battered body protested she touched down to the ground and then used very ounce of her strength to leap up from the floor on three legs, her rear left almost uselessly weak, and she beat her wings as hard as she could at a steady speed. It would not even have been classed as slow by normal standards but right now, it was all she could achieve.

She managed to get about two metres in the air by the time the wolves reached her. It was nothing; though they were not even mutated—something which would have given them an extra bonus and would have made Blue's chances even slimmer—they barely had to jump to scratch at her already clawed stomach and once again small amounts of blood began to flow from her body, falling in droplets atop the creatures' heads. They snarled and growled viciously and Blue let out a shrill scream in response as she somehow managed to flap her wings faster, gaining a little more height so that all the wolves could reach was the very bottom of her hooves. It stung, of course, but she was just high enough to escape serious injury at last.

Then, all of a sudden, the wolves began to back off. Snarling as if pained they lashed out at the air, clawing at their own muzzles and running about in a panic, whining. They slashed at each other, each creature turning on its pack mates before they all stopped suddenly, spinning and fleeing from the scene. Blue, for one, couldn't tell whatever it was that had affected them so; looking around with blurry eyesight as the pain grew overwhelming she saw nothing even remotely dangerous, though her eyes did land on a small black saddlebag not far off. RipEar's.

Angling herself downwards, she stopped flapping her wings and let her body fall in a slow and steady dive, her eyesight constantly going in and out of focus. Knowing she'd never be able to stand on her sore, stinging hooves she began to beat her exhausted wings upwards just as she hooked the saddlebag in her mouth; she flapped and flapped but her battered body had had enough. Unable to get any height she crashed into the ground and skidded a little way across the (thankfully) grassy floor on her stomach, coming to a stop and moaning.

Not even an hour out here and I'm already nearly dead. Blue thought bitterly as she closed her eyes, desperate for sleep and the respite from pain which would come with it. I may as well have just let the facility do what they wanted with me; I'll never survive out here.

Facing East where the sun claimed its share of the sky, Blue soon realised she had no hope of drifting off with the brightness. Using her wings to push her body around so that she was facing the darker side of the land, she sighed and moaned, laid her head back down on her hooves and prayed to any remorseful God left in this twisted place to let her just sleep, and never wake up.

To Trust a Mutant

At first all Blue could see was dark. It was everywhere, nothing even remotely visible and she felt herself begin to panic—she was blind, she'd definitely gone blind! Her heart thudded in her chest wildly and she jolted upright, terrified, before a sudden agonising pain ripped through her thigh and neck and she felt her darkened world go dizzy. Grunting she fought to keep consciousness—she could remember falling asleep before and didn't want to do so again, knowing she could only last so long before some psycho found her—and breathed deeply, trying to calm herself. Getting worked up would only make things worse.

"Damn." Blue spat out to no one in particular, just venting frustration. "Gods couldn't even let me die."

Thankfully it only took a few more seconds before the spinning began to cease and her eyesight slowly returned, at first just a small white light—was this the end? She wouldn't mind if it was—which then grew until she could just make out her surroundings.

She almost lost the fine amount of self control she'd developed when she noticed that she was no longer laying in the grassy field which meant someone, or something, had moved her. Instead she was currently in some sort of small wooden building—by the way she felt herself being rocked slightly it was moving and, as such, was presumably a caravan—and she was sat on two small hay bales, laid side by side to make some sort of bed. The hay was fine and thus made a fairly pleasant seat but, when Blue took a pained and tentative nibble, it turned out to be dusty as anything, rather flavourless and almost inedible. Even her aching stomach—yet another problem—couldn't seem to bear it as she opted instead to stay hungry.

Sighing as the pain finally passed Blue looked around her surroundings more, deciding that since the fates weren't going to let her die peacefully she'd have to hold her ground if she didn't want to go slowly and in torturous pain. However the room offered very little for protection; the floors were covered in a layer of straw with a small rug in one corner which, based on the general wear of the item, looked as if it had been made before the original outbreak; at the end of the trailer was a fairly large box which gave away no clues about its contents; finally there was a small kitchen area—or what Blue presumed to be a kitchen area—made from a few wooden crates, turned on their sides with the lids used as doors to make both storage space and a worktop. Just above a few small, stained utensils and pans hung on the wall, swinging with the motion of the caravan, including one blade which, perhaps, might have once had a handle but certainly didn't now. It would take a brave pony to use that thing, at least Blue thought so.

Biting back a whine as her wounded limbs screamed the young mare climbed off of the hay bale and stepped down onto the straw-covered floor on shaking hooves. She winced as the sudden extra pressure somehow made her neck hurt more and she almost lost her balance as her forelegs gave way; flapping her wings to stop her from crashing onto the floor muzzle-first she softly touched herself down and braced herself for the additional unsteadiness caused by the rocking caravan.

Unable to place pressure on her right rear leg Blue wobbled forwards, standing on her good back hoof and reaching up to clasp one of the pans in her teeth. Pulling it down from the wall she yelped loudly as the caravan bumped over a large rock and jolted the entire vehicle; standing on only one of her four hooves Blue knew she had no chance of staying upright as she let out a small scream and fell backwards, landing with a thud on the solid floor.

"Ohh..."

Moaning, something which had become an extremely familiar action to her, Blue rolled over stiffly and flapped her wings to lift her to her feet once more, her back now aching and surely bruised. Every part of her body burned as always; honestly, though, she'd really gotten used to it by now. Intense, nigh on unbearable pain was just a fact of life now.

Picking up the pan which had fallen with a crash on the floor Blue stumbled back to the hay bale and clambered on clumsily, relying heavily on her wings to get her up; amazingly the stiffness in her limbs, at least, had gone, even if the wounds were still raw.

The gentle rocking of the caravan ceased as it slowed suddenly and Blue held her breath, ears upright and alert as her pale grey eyes widened, the pupils small and terrified. She clasped the handle of her weapon in her teeth tightly, her grip so strong that she would leave marks in the wood, and she kept her eyes focused on the lone doorway. It was at times like this that she desperately wished she were a unicorn; then protecting herself would be so much easier.

The door opened slowly and at first all Blue could see was a dark grey-blue muzzle nudging it. She relaxed slightly, not seeing anything too dangerous and coming to the conclusion that this pony was surely normal. Or at least as normal as anyone in this screwed-up world could be. On top of that, not a unicorn either.

"H-hello?" she whispered nervously, careful to speak without losing her hold on the pan. She felt her body trembling and tried to breathe deeply to remain calm; a second later the stransfer stepped inside and Blue's composure cracked as she let out a loud whimper of fear.

The creature which stood before her was, at least, still a pony. Nonetheless he hardly looked all that friendly; with cyan eyes lacking in any white his gaze was that of nightmares, reminding her of a changeling's (creatures which were, thank Celestia, all but extinct these days) and sending shivers down her spine. Where he should have had a mane large orange spines instead protruded from his neck, much like a dragon would have; his ears were much larger than normal, ending with dagger-sharp bright green tips and instead of a tail two long, snake-like limbs grew, also ending in the same sickly shade and style.

Blue crawled backwards on the hay, though she was incapable of getting off without injuring herself and leaving herself more vulnerable than she already was. Instead she glared at the stallion and tried not to look pained, growling warningly. Still, she wasn't all that intimidating as her whole body shook visibly.

"S-stay back!" She cried and the stallion's ears fell flat back as he looked away from Blue, his two tail-like appendixes tucked between his legs and the spines on heck laying flat. He lowered his head and closed those terrifying eyes but crept a few steps closer, making Blue whimper some more. "P-please? I don't want any t-trouble..."

The stallion still walked closer but bent down further as if trying to make himself small, perhaps even weak. For just a moment Blue felt a little more confident and she began to lower the pan; soon after she remembered that the facility had acted in the same way, too. They pretended to be saviours but really they were just as bad as everypony else in this place. She shook her head slightly—an act which made her neck hurt—and quickly raised her defences again. The stallion, in response, nickered quietly to her, looking up with almost pleading eyes. Blue snorted at him, swishing her tail and pinning her own ears back against her neck, trying not to let the pain show in her eyes as she fought to keep a steely expression. This pony surely knew she was badly wounded but she couldn't let him think of her weak now; she couldn't afford to betray her true feelings just incase the stranger's actions were not friendly.

The two remained like that for minutes, Blue looking down at the stallion with almost unwavering fierceness, occasionally biting her teeth at him to try and get him to retreat. Unable to move her neck to attack without causing herself severe pain, however, her actions did little to scare him off and he simply remained laying there, looking up at her with completely blue eyes pleadingly. Eventually, as her back grew stiff from sitting still for a while, she let out a small sigh and dropped the pan from her mouth, holding it in one hoof. "Aren't you going to attack me?" she snarled, flaring out her wings for a more intimidating presence.

"Hell, no!" the stallion replied, remaining where he was with a crown. "If I was going to why'd I be lying on the floor where you can easily trot all over me?" Blue frowned, considering the stallion's comment; it was a good point. "And anyway, if I wanted to kill you I wouldn't bandage your wounds up, would I?"

"What?"

Looking down at her thigh—and wincing with the movement—Blue's eyes widened in surprise when she noticed the cleanly wrapped injury. How had she not noticed before? "I... I don't know. Why would you do that?" Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, wondering if perhaps this pony, this mutated freak of a pony, wanted to use her for some reason or other. Perhaps to pull the caravan while he stayed in here? That could possibly make sense.

"I'm just tired of being alone, that's all." the stallion replied as his ears fell back down, looking at the floor sadly. "Not many ponies will give mutants like me a chance. I can't say I blame 'em, but still, it'd be nice to have someone to travel with. And I saw you beaten up pretty badly and figured I could lend a hoof."

Blue looked away from the stallion guiltily, her heart dropping; he sure seemed genuine in his claims. "Oh, I'm sorry. I... I don't know how things work out here. I've been told it's everypony for herself."

"Nah, it's not like that. Without allies nopony'd ever survive. 'Cept mutants like myself—we can hold our own but... Well,  'tis not much fun." The stallion rubbed behind his strange ears nervously, avoiding the spines on his neck, and smiled nervously. "I... I don't suppose you'd stay with me? Least for a bit, till you get a bit better. You're in no state to travel anyway."

Blue sighed as she tenderly touched her wound with a hoof, the world crashing down around her from instantaneous pain. Shaking her head stiffly, she mumbled, "Nope. Nope..." and tried to open her eyes, finding such an action incapable as she hunched up in yet-more agony.

"Oh..." The stallion's words were heavy and suddenly extremely shaky. "I'm sorry, you can go if you'd like. I just thought-"

Blue's ears shot up and though she could not see him, she managed to croak out, "No. I meant... That I'm in no state to travel."

"Really?"

His ears perked up and he beamed, his two tails lifting and wagging slightly. Blue winced at the sight of them and shuffled back a little; realising what the issue was, the stallion chuckled nervously and quickly dropped his tails, smiling sheepishly as he finally stood. Blue flinched at the movement, terrified he'd been lying and was about to attack her, but he was true to his word. "Sorry, I shouldn't do that, huh?"

"It's a bit worrying..." Blue admitted as her eyes darted about in fear, wondering if there were any other escape routes should this stallion turn on her. He noticed this, of course.

"Sorry, I'm really not gonna hurt you." he said before wrapping his tails around his stomach to keep them out of the way. "See?"

Blue nodded slowly, grey eyes sharp, just as her stomach growled and she rubbed the back of her neck. "Ahaa... Guess I'm a tad perish."

"No wonder, you've been out for two days. You look like skin and bones." The stallion commented as he turned around—was he going to buck her?—and walked the metre over to the 'kitchen' area. "You want some crackers? I found them in your saddlebag."

The saddlebag, RipEar's saddlebag... Blue choked back a sob and nodded stiffly, muttering thanks as she lay down painfully on the hay. "What's your name, anyway?"

"Blue." she replied, feeling suddenly exhausted. "Well, Bleu Celeste, but I hate that name." She laughed quietly to herself and continued. "What about you?"

"Don't freak out, I know how it sounds, but my name's Breakneck Speed." he sighed as he rummaged about in Blue's saddlebag, looking for the crackers. Turning back around once he found them, he placed them down and then noticed her skeptical expression. "I'm not a murderer, don't worry. I'm not gonna break your neck, I bet that's what you're thinking. It was just the only thing my mum could say—she was a mad'un—so I just sort of decided that was my name. It was cool as a colt but... not so great now."

"Not the sort of name that helps trust."

"Not really," Breakneck muttered with a chuckle as he tentatively reached forwards to take a cracker before quickly drawing back, unsure; seeing his longing look, Blue pushed one—just one—his way and he accepted it gratefully, chomping happily. "Wow. Haven't had real food like this in weeks. It's alwa-"

A loud thud sounded at the side of the caravan and Blue yelped, shocked. "What was-"

"Shh!" Breakneck whispered, his ears flat back again. Walking slowly over to the caravan door he quickly flicked the lock before creeping over to the single window, peeking out through a gap in the curtains. "Oh shit."

"What is it?"

Breakneck faltered for a moment before he turned around to see Blue. "Don't worry yourself. I'll sort it out, just... Stay here." Before Blue could answer, though, he'd jumped up and nudged open a small, rusted sunroof which had previously gone unnoticed. Jumping once more, he hooked his hooves over the edge and scrambled out.

Blue watched on silently, her heart painful—she hated leaving some pony else to do the dirty work. Snarling, she stood up and, biting her teeth at the pain, she began to flap. Flying slowly up to the sunroof which Breakneck had left open she beat her wings desperately and managed to gain the few metres of elevation which was required for her to be able to reach the edge herself, almost tearing her neck in half at the strain as she pulled herself up and out onto the roof.

Letting out a small whine of discomfort Blue closed her eyes and let her head fall to her hooves in pain. She felt her legs—especially the back right—shake threateningly and her world spun once again.

No! Stop it, Blue! she chided herself, flicking her tail and catching the shoulder of her front left leg. She winced at the extra pain but tried to ignore it, reminding herself that discomfort meant she was alive, was still breathing and conscious. No more running, no more hiding and especially no more waiting for death to take me. This messed up world is my home now. I will not lay down, I will fight. And I will thrive!

Life In A Mad World

Keeping her rear right leg elevated so as to stop the pressure from causing her incapacitating pain Blue surveyed the scene, her heart dropping instantly. Below her a unicorn mare with talon-sharp extensions from each of her hooves and a massive, fresh gash across her left eye was scrambling at the door desperately, her eyes staring in opposite directions as she butted her head on the wood, trying to get in. A thick scar circled the entirety of her stomach, almost giving the impression that she'd been sawed in half and stitched back together.

Given what she knew about some of the... Rather less friendly facilities out there—a word which she realised no longer applied to her's—it was entirely possible.

A few metres off Breakneck was stood snarling, his chest low to the floor as if ready to pounce. His tails were raised high in the air warningly, the dagger-like ends pointing towards two stomping and wound up stallions, both of whom wore the same expression as their companion still struggling below Blue.

The whole lot of them were mad. Such a fact would have been great—simple logical thinking skills did not come easily to those in their condition—if not for the fact that the mad'uns had a tendency to not realise if their leg had been torn off. Many barely even felt pain; they would keep going until they literally were incapable of moving. This Blue knew firsthoof; there had been the occasional mad pony on the loose during her time in the facility—they were usually kept locked in high tech basement rooms—and all the doctors could do was put them down before they attacked every single occupant. It was harsh but necessary; they'd surely attack everypony otherwise.

"Damn." Blue bit out as she stomped a fore hoof on the caravan's roof, before instantly realising her mistake just as a wave of pain from her neck made her clamp her jaw. The mare below her stopped and looked up slowly, eyes the colour of the sun staring at her unresponsively. Blue held her breath and tried to smile at the unicorn, wishing she would smile back and that they could leave on equal terms, but the plague didn't work like that. Once infected, you were changed for life. There was no known cure, nor could any pony ever simply snap out of the madness which the disease caused.

A few seconds passed before the unicorn managed to recognise that her prey was on the roof. When she did, though, her misaligned eyes instantly darkened, her lips curling in a snarl before she opened her mouth and made an odd hissing sound, her tongue, bleeding and split in two, lolling out of the side.

She continued to scramble at the wall, jumping on her rear legs to try to reach Blue who, luckily, was just out of her reach. It didn't take long, sadly, for the mare to begin to scale the wall; watching with horror, Blue let out a small whimper and stumbled back slightly as the unicorn's talons dug into the caravan walls, giving her enough grip to work her way upwards. She continued to hiss in a strange, guttural way as the scaled the surface, eventually managing to get her claws over the edge and she heaved herself up.

"Uh, hi..." Blue mumbled, backing up until her hooves began to slip off the edge of the roof. She could always fly, of course, but doing so was painful on her neck.

The mare's response was a simple combination of grunts, snorts and a weird attempt at a roar which would have been highly amusing if she hadn't also been baring sharp, bloody teeth which looked almost sawed off.

Well done Blue. You can't even hold your own against a mad'un. So much for thriving...

"I... I don't want to hurt you. Just... Please stay back?" Blue's words were strained and shaky, betraying her terror. The mare slowed her walking and paused mid-step as if enthralled by the sound of her voice. "What am I s-saying, you can't understand me anyw-way, right?"

The unicorn remained still for a moment, her opposite eyes slowly coming closer together as if she was regaining her sanity; Blue's heart leapt as she felt about ready to dance—this was a breakthrough, nopony had ever figured out how to cure a mad mare! She smiled widely and her grey eyes shine brightly at the strange pony who cocked her head very slightly in interest.

A second later, she was lunging straight at Blue once more. Her eyes had returned to normal, her posture once more on the defensive in an odd way which only a mad pony could pull off successfully.

Yelping loudly as Blue felt the unicorn's razor teeth brush over the skin of her muzzle—not another wound, surely?—she jerked backwards quickly, rapid movements sending her bandaged wounds crazy, and she soon recognised that she'd lost her footing on the roof. Giving a small cry of fear as she fell she snapped out her wings at the last second, angling her whining body upwards and flying higher once more.

At this rate she would end up killing herself, rather than be killed by anypony else.

Watching the unicorn mare silently and trying desperately to ignore the pinpricks of red forming on her sore muzzle Blue pushed her neck forwards, ready to dive; she had no weapons in this world so really, flight was her only advantage.

Flapping hard once Blue succeeded in gaining enough speed as she dove to ensure a decent chance of success. She closed her eyes as she drew nearer, extending her fore hooves out so that she collided into the distracted unicorn, sending her plunging from the roof. She fell at a diagonal, landing on the rocky, grass less floor and skidding at least ten metres, completely sawing the bottom of her hooves off and leaving nothing but bloody stumps behind. Still she looked up at Blue and snarled, struggling towards her on now-destroyed legs. Her blood flowed from the injuries in waves, staining the ground a beautifully horrid crimson red, and her limbs gave way soon. Her misaligned eyes grew wider and she began to snap weakly from her position far away from Blue. She then began to writhe, bellowing a low, mournful bleat, until eventually her movements became little more than feeble attempts at movement and she lay her head on the ground, eyes glaring at the pegasus above with pure hatred. With heavy breaths she tried to move closer but to no avail; a few seconds later she was gone completely.

Blue watched the scene before her in silence before she realised that this mare, this mad, helpless creature, had just died.

Murdered by Blue herself, just as RipEar had been brutally stolen from this world by the hounds.

Whimpering quietly Blue felt her forelegs give way and she collapsed down on the roof of the caravan, her body trembling. She stared for a moment, silent, before she let out an agonised wail of fear and disgust at herself. Letting her left rear leg give way also, the right one being weak and useless, she lay her head down and let out mournful bellow, her ears pressed flat, her tail tucked. With her nostrils flaring and her eyes tightly shut she continued to whine, her entire body quivering as she yearned so desperately for her soft, plush pillow and thick, heavy duvet from the facility to simply cuddle up under and sleep. Such simple things she'd never appreciated before. The weight of the cover would wrap around her, comforting, and she could bury her entire face in the cushion and let the feathers soak up her tears until there were no more left to fall...

"Blue!" came a loud, petrified shout over the gently howling wind, a sound which made the mare's ears prick forwards for a second as she jerked her head up, an action which elicited a low moan as she lay back down. "Blue, I told you to stay inside!"

The mare simply grumbled in response and curled up smaller, tucking her hooves in and whining.

"Get back inside already!" Breakneck yelled once more and, when she looked up to see what he was doing, Blue took a sudden, deep breath in at the sight. The stallion was half turned in her direction, keeping an eye on her, whilst also trying to ward off his two relentless attackers; having her as a burden was making him more vulnerable.

Oh, is this for real? Blue thought bitterly as she tried to stop her shaking and get up to help; every time she tried, though, her eyes landed once more upon the dead mare and reminded her of her guilt, leaving her incapable of doing anything. I don't need one, let alone two, killed ponies on my conscience...

A loud shout of pain, a heart wrenching scream of a neigh, tore through the air and Blue's eyes shot open, darting down to where her only companion in this dratted world was currently stood, fighting. His posture all but yelled terror and pain, his full-blue eyes almost lacking pupils for the size they had shrunk to. He bellowed as he bucked wildly, frantically attempting to dislodge one of the ponies who had bitten down on his shoulder blade and was clinging on like a starved lion, hooves raking at his sides. Breakneck grunted as he bucked over and over again, dropping down a second later on his side and crushing the attacker momentarily. Shaking, he stumbled to his feet and turned his back on them, tails raised once more until he roughly jerked one down in the laying pony's side, gritting his teeth as he did so and waving the spare at the second attacker.

The mad stallion cried out in pain and writhed on the floor, his body spasming and foam building around his mouth as Breakneck jerked the dagger-like tip out of the pony's side; a deep red coated the end of his tail and, when he turned around with a little stumble to snarl at the second stallion who was now circling him, Blue saw the way his new wound was slowly starting to leak blood, the sticky liquid dribbling slowly down his leg. Still he kept on fighting, though with much less finesse.

"Oi! Get inside before another one comes for you!" Breakneck cried, pain laced into his voice as he reared at his attacker, spinning around and attempting to stab the second stallion who jerked backwards, hissing savagely. Blue couldn't help but feel sympathy for the mad thing; Breakneck's defences were far from shoddy and the sight of the wounded pony made her cringe and wonder if she should really trust him. He was a dangerous creature.

Her sympathy instantly dissipated once she saw him lunging at Breakneck, hitting his wounded shoulder and knocking him flying. He landed with a groan as his attacker—an earth pony, Blue noted—leaped on top, standing on both of the tails to stop him from striking. Breakneck stuggled and moaned, his ears, just as manoeuvrable and deadly as his other mutations, reaching out to stab his adversary but to no avail; they were not as well adapted, not quite long enough to reach.

Damn it, Breakneck! Blue cursed in her mind as she squeezed her eyes shut and wobbled into a standing position, preventing herself from noticing the dead mare or seeing the bloody scene and passing out. Snapping her wings out she pushed off with her one good leg and flew upwards. Allowing herself to look momentarily as she angled herself downwards she aimed, before closing them so that she couldn't freak out. Pinning her wings to her sides and trusting that Breakneck would see if she was too close to the ground and warn her she plummeted down, the wind rushing through her mane and tail and leaving her feeling strangely exhilarated. This wasn't so bad!

Squinting her eyes open a few moments later when she heard a panicked masculine mumbling Blue yelped as she realised that the floor was only a few metres away and she struggled to open her wings against the rush of the wind, finally succeeding and zooming forwards just above the ground. She gritted her teeth at the extra bite of the wind and, as she caught glimpse of two ponies before her, she shut her eyes one final time and braced herself for impact.

The pain of slamming into a stallion, even one without much muscle to beef him up as the mad'un, was shocking and Blue struggled to keep consciousness for surely the thousandth time in a few days. Once she finally felt her motion cease she winced as she shifted and clambered off of the stallion's body, feeling rather uncomfortable about the way she had been laying on him, and scuttled backwards, watching him nervously. His coat was torn up and grazed terribly, blood rising on his skin from skidding but, unlike his mare companion, he'd landed on grass and was in a better state. He rose shakily just as Blue's pain made her limbs gave way and she fell down on the floor, unable to get up; watching with wide grey eyes, she tried to scuttle backwards but found her still beaten up body incapable of doing so.

The stallion shifted forwards, his steps unsteady, and he opened his mouth in a hiss, tossing his head. Blue whimpered and buried her head in her hooves, hoping he'd go away; a few heavy hoof steps later, she tensed up for the attack which never came. Instead a stallion's groan rung out and, when she tentatively looked, she saw Breakneck standing in front of her, ears flat back as he attacked.

After yanking his tail out of the mad'uns shoulder Blue whined as she saw the fresh blood coating it and felt a wave of nausea as her gorge rose at the sight; heaving she looked away just as she heard the thud of the stallion's body collapsing on the floor. He groaned and moaned in a way which sounded distinctively like a zombie before, after a few seconds, he grew silent.

Blue moaned as the wave of nausea grew stronger and she turned her head away as she promptly felt herself grow even weaker; not even a blink's time later she felt herself begin to vomit and she groaned as she rolled over, covering the grass in part-digested crackers.

A gentle limb, not a hoof but something more slender, stroked her back and around her neck, caressing her. Sighing at the comfort Blue gave a small smile at Breakneck as she finished her retching and stood on three wobbly legs, her head spinning at the fast movement and placed her wing across his back for support, keeping her eyes closed so that she couldn't see yet another dead pony.

"You 'kay?" Breakneck asked in a soft, somewhat nervous voice and, at Blue's nod, he smiled slightly. This sort of scene didn't unnerve him as it did her; he'd grown up in this way, after all. "Come on, let's get back to the caravan. You need to stop tearing yourself up."

"I guess so..." Blue whispered as she removed her wing, trying to stand on her own three legs but only ending up falling, sending shooting pain through her neck. She let out a small grunt as she felt herself land on something slightly bumpy—the dragon style spines on her companion's neck—and then sighed as she felt the weight be lifted off of her feet and began to feel movement.

"Steady there, girl. I've got ya." Breakneck said, his voice strained as he struggled forwards, scuffing his hooves through the dirt and mud and blood.

And Blue, who was so exhausted physically and mentally from everything that had gone on, fell into a light slumber.

Stories Ingrained With Truth

Blue yelped as she felt Breakneck bend down shakily, his legs trembling as she slid with a muffled thud from his back, the spines on his neck grazing her almost-healed up underbelly lightly. It didn't quite draw blood—as if she needed any more wounds anyway—but succeeded in causing her a peculiar, almost unpleasant tingling sensation. Shivering at the feeling she sighed and lay her head down on the straw covered floor as she folded her legs under herself, rolling about unenthusiastically with stiff movements as she scratched her back, careful to avoid turning the familiar aching into full blown, mind incapacitating pain.

Pausing mid-roll so that she was laying on her back with her hooves elevated in the air, Blue turned her head with a small wince to look in the direction of her companion, studying him. He too was laying down on the floor, his body slouched and seemingly exhausted, and the graze on his shoulder was beginning to bleed more rapidly.

Gagging, Blue turned her head away and instead focused on the strange box at the end of the room, trying to think what could possibly be inside. No noise had ever came from it, at least as far as she knew, so no clues there, and there wasn't anything obviously missing from the caravan's single room to indicate. There was always the possibility that it was a storage place for weapons, of course, though that also seemed unlikely since Breakneck had not taken anything out of there before heading on out, something which Blue would have figured he'd do if he'd had any guns, or something similar. Though on that note, he did seem to have fairly good defences—unnervingly good—already. As nice as he seemed, she knew she'd have to keep an eye out for his tails—one wrong move and she could be dead. Still, at least having him by her side would mean she wasn't alone in this world. Seeing those maddens earlier... Well, she couldn't fly around forever and as soon as she stepped hoof on the ground she would surely be  attacked.

Standing unsteadily, putting very little weight on her rear right leg, she limped over to the box. Placing her hoof on the handle, she turned to assess Breakneck's reaction; he simply smiled and nodded with pained eyes, muttering, "Go ahead" quietly as he lay back down. Poor stallion was probably worn out from carrying her all the way back; still, he had offered.

Raising the lid, Blue yelped at what she saw inside the box; there were no blood-stained knifes, no heavy maces or lethal guns. Instead, a number of large orange-yellow eyes stared unblinkingly up at her, the bodies of the creatures in question hidden from view by heavy shadows inside the deep box.

"There's a light switch on the side," Breakneck grumbled, "If you want to see them. But turn them off once you're done; they need to sleep for another hour or so. It's still morning."

"They? And how on earth can you tell the time?"

Breakneck gave a short laugh and rolled his eyes. "It's called a clock, Blue."

"Oh."

Turning away from the stallion, Blue's brows furrowed as she scrunched up her muzzle as she started to search for the light switch, eventually finding it on the side of the box; a few small bulbs on the back side of  the box flickered on feebly and the creatures residing inside the box were finally able to be seen. A group of large, dark brown chickens stared up at her, opening their little beaks a few times but making no noise. There were perhaps about ten or so in the space—they had a surprisingly large amount of room to move about—but Blue couldn't tell the number for sure; the moment she laid eyes on the birds  she'd dropped the lid down immediately with a squeak, hopping backwards and landing awkwardly on her rear leg. Yelping once more at the pain in her thigh she fell to the floor and landed with a thump on her thigh.

"Ow..." she moaned as she pushed back up, flicking her tail at Breakneck as he chuckled. "It's not funny, it really—ah!—hurts!"

"It is kinda funny..." Breakneck murmured, looking away from her down at his flank. Hearing Blue's indignant huff, his ears fell flat back, his head hanging. "Sorry, sorry. Ignore I said anything. But... Could you turn the lights off please?"

"What? I was just teasing, Breakneck, you don't need to say sorry..."

"Sorry!"

Blue laughed as she trod back to the box, flicking the switch to turn off the lights, for what reason she did not know. Walking back again after, she plonked herself (gently) down next to the stallion and smiled, keeping her eyes way away from his hurt shoulder; it wasn't chronic, but she didn't like blood. "You're really shy, aren't you?" she uttered before she began to look around curiously, wondering where the food was kept. A few crackers was not nearly enough to even calm the aching of her bottomless stomach.

"It's kinda hard not to be. I've not had a friend since I was mutated." he said with a sigh, looking at Blue with an almost-pleading expression. "Tha's not much of a surprise, though, really. Who'd ever wanna hang around me?"

"I don't think you're so bad..." Blue said, trailing off as she spoke. "You seem... Well, I like to think that I could trust you. You haven't killed me yet, at least..."

"Yeah, I'm not gonna hurt you. I've been alone for way too long, it's nice ta have some company. Course, you don't have ta stay with me, just... It'd be nice. Nopony else'd trust me, I'm too much of a risk."

Blue hunched her shoulders slightly at those words. "No offence, but... Well, I can get where they're coming from. You're really quite the scary sight, what with the poison tail and all." Blue winced slightly as she spoke, realising how harsh it sounded and she scolded herself for being so rude. "Uh, but really, I don't mean any offence. "

"Nah, tis fine" Breakneck said with a sarcastic laugh, "I'm used ta it by now."

A small silence, awkward and unpleasant, fell on the room and Blue continued her hunger-driven search, eventually realising that unless she went snooping through all of the draws she'd probably find nothing. Pouting slightly, she stood and asked softly, "Have you got any... Uh, old cloths? And a bucket and some water?"

"Wha-? Yeah, sure. Look in the cupboards, you'll find somethin' there. And there's a water butt outside, but if ya want a drink there're cups hangin' up..."

"No, no, I need a bucket." Blue replied as she walked over, rummaging about until she found what she was after. Placing a small, slightly stained cloth in an old and worn—but incredibly clean—tin bucket she trotted lamely over to the doorway, wincing at the movement, and placed her hoof on the handle, before freezing.

It was dangerous to go outside.

"Hey, hey." Breakneck called as he stood up, his tails tucked between his legs in slight discomfort.  "I'll get some water for ya if ya like?"

"No, no!" Blue replied, standing tall as she pushed down on the handle, opening the door wide and desperately hoping there was nothing hostile waiting there. "I've got it."

"Well... Just don't stay out for too long, 'kay?"

"You don't have to ask twice."

Trying to shake off the instantaneous fear as she stepped hoof outside of the caravan and onto the dirt ground below, Blue felt herself whimpering like a foal, her eyes darting in all directions. She skipped spookily over to the container and dipped the tin bucket into the collected water, careful not to spill too much as she pulled it back out again. Holding the handle tightly in her teeth, almost cracking the metal from the pressure she was placing upon it, she began to walk the few metre distance back to the door; a slight breeze blew up and a small, somewhat rough... thing...  gently touched her injured rear leg. Yelping loudly she struggled to keep the bucket in her mouth as she stretched her wings out and shot as fast as she could towards the entrance to the caravan, flying in and almost crashing into the wall, water flying everywhere.

Skidding to a stop, Blue panted loudly as her thigh and neck burned; she glanced towards the door repeatedly, her hooves shaking as she trod back to close it when Breakneck jumped up immediately, ready to attack with his tails raised high. As she stood in the doorway her breathing hitched—there was nopony, or nocreature, outside, meaning they must have gotten in—before the offender finally entered the caravan. A small, crinkled brown leaf drifted across on the breeze and landed on the  tip of Blue's hoof, immediately making her tense up until she realised it wasn't a mutated monster shrunk down in size for a surprise attack. Just a regular old autumn leaf.

Laughing quietly at first, Blue quickly descended into a fit of exhilirated giggles as she walked back towards Breakneck, who had since laid down and was smiling at her, amused, and picked up the bucket with the little water left inside. Returning to his side, she pulled out the cloth and rung out most of the water until it was just damp, gently dabbing it at the stallion's shoulder wound. He winced and stiffened at the added pain but, to his credit, didn't complain too much, even when Blue washed the completely wrong section of his body—being unable to watch what she was doing and knowing she'd surely faint again if she saw the blood meant she had to work with her eyes closed, something which made her task much harder.

Nonetheless, after an almost entire body wash as the wimpish mare tried to tend to the wound, she did relent, satisfied when she saw how much better his shoulder looked without bloody fur.

Of course, she did gag when she saw the red water, and she pushed that in her companion's direction, unable to bear the sight of it. It was only made worse when she realised she'd dipped her muzzle in that water when she dampened the cloth; standing quickly, she rushed to the hay bale and draped herself across it, almost ready to vomit. Letting her wings rest unclosed she sighed and shut her eyes as her stomach growled; groaning, she perked up when she heard Breakneck's short laugh, who then returned not long after with a small bowl of cold soup and a slice of slightly stale bread.

"Here, that's the last food from your saddlebags. Other than a few crackers, course, but believe me, you'll wanna save 'em for a rough day. Good food's hard ta come by sometimes." He spoke as if he knew from experience and Blue gave him an appreciative smile, though the saddlebags were an unpleasant reminder, as she dipped the bread into the liquid in hopes of making it more edible. "But that's not really enough, you've been out for an age. How 'bout a fried egg as well?"

Blue's stomach grumbled once more in reply and she looked up beseechingly, batting her eyelids and tossing her mane stiffly, wincing afterwards. Breakneck laughed.

"You're not much of a flirter, huh? Ya don't seem that good at it." he teased as he trotted over to the box with the (in Blue's opinion, awful) chickens, reaching down and pulling out two small eggs in his mouth. Closing the lid he headed back to the small work area, immediately cracking the eggs cleanly as if he was well practiced in the skill. "Give me a minute, then it'll be done. 'K?"

"Okay!" Blue chirped, feeling suddenly uplifted at the promise of good food. The smell of frying eggs quickly reached her nose and she sighed as she lapped up the last of the soup, licking the bowl spotless before waiting (im)patiently for her next course. She didn't have to sit there doing nothing for long as Breakneck returned very soon after, placing the eggs down in front of her before he lay down on the (now wet) straw floor, looking at her curiously.

"So, tell me 'bout you, would ya?" he urged, folding his rear legs as he looked up at her.

"Okay, but you have to tell me about yourself as well. Deal?"

"Yeah, why not?" Breakneck said with a grin, looking extremely contented. "We've got nothin' better to do for a while anyway."

Blue took a large mouthful of the fried egg, rather lacking in flavourings and yet absolutely delicious all the while. "Awesome."

On The Road Again

"So, d'ya remember anythin'? Or... What?"

Breakneck watched Blue intently as if mesmorised, perhaps in awe that he was actually able to just sit and chat with some pony for once. He chuckled as she coughed a few times after she had swallowed—with a large, somewhat painful gulp—a whole mouthful of her fried egg unchewed and he patted her back with his hoof; she glared at him for a few moments at that, not fond of being babied—though in this new, strange world she was little better than a foal—but soon lost the frustrated demeanour when she saw the curious expression he wore.

"No, of course not." she said, taking a smaller bite this time, though still not bothering to chew and instead swallowing immediately. Time was money, after all, and money could buy more food. At least, Blue figured that was the case; she hadn't ever used any actual money, since everything at the facility had been free. "I'm an amnesiac, Breakneck, you know that. We're quite an easily recognisable bunch—I mean, really, a blank flank at my age isn't a normal thing. Besides, the grey coat and eyes are a dead giveaway as well."

"No, no, I know that." Breakneck relied, rolling his eyes slightly before realising his cheek and looking down very slightly, not wanting to offend the mare.  "But you're not a complete amnesiac, are ya?"

"What?" Blue asked, baffled and glad that she hadn't taken another mouthful else she'd really have been choking by now. "You're either an amnesiac or you're not... There's no fine line, no half-way point."

"Ah!" the stallion cried, jumping up excitedly, his shoulder not too painful though it was still bleeding slightly. Blue focused on the last morsels, the near-microscopic remnants, of her egg instead and licked the plate clean, the very sight of blood making her cringe. Maybe she'd ask him to bandage it, just so she couldn't see. "Now tha's where you're wrong, Blue! Your mane isn't grey, see? So you're only a part amnesiac!"

Blue sighed, looking down. "No, I can't remember anything from my foalhood. Not a single thing, not even my name. I'm just stuck with the rubbish one the facility gave me."

"Oh..." Breakneck replied, gently digging his hoof in the straw. "Tha's a shame. But you're still quite lucky, ya know? Part amnesiacs like ya—though ya rarely ever find 'em, I've only heard of one—can remember! So, well, who knows? Ya could still remember one day, ya just need some sorta... Thing ta jog your memory." Blue's ears pricked forwards as she jerked her head up from the plate, catching the smallest dots of red out of the corner of her eye and forcing herself to look up at the cieling just above Breakneck's head. It was strange—his ears, waving in the air as if floating on gentle waves, nearly touched the cieling once or twice. "Uh, Blue? I'm down here, ya know."

"Sorry, sorry. I can't look at your shoulder or I'll probably puke all over you." Blue admitted, blushing a little. "I'm really quite a foal, I'm... Just not used to all of this. Fighting, I mean, and getting injured. It's pretty safe in the facility—cushty, even... But, that doesn't matter, anyway; I mean, there's actually a way for me to remember? My mum, my dad... Wow, maybe I had brother or a sister! Maybe ponies actually liked me, even!"

Breakneck chuckled, nodding slowly as he fidgeted a little. Having company was still a strange feeling for him. "Yeah, ya could," he agreed, "and... Well, it could be a long shot, but I've heard of this place. It doesn't have a name, but it's quite famous with the pony-folk 'round here. There's s'posed to be a mare there who can control the plague. It's said ta be quite a way out, though, and hard ta get ta. But I've heard that tis the only place in all Equestria that's safe from the plague. 'Cept Canterlot, course."

"Canterlot? What's that?"

"It's a city. Real big. T'was the capital before the outbreak, and these days tis the biggest plague-free city." Breakneck explained,  standing and walking over to the window. Pulling the curtain open with his teeth he pointed into the distance. "See that big thing outta the edge of the mountain? Yeah, tha's it. I'd love ta go there."

Blue's brows furrowed as she focused on the beautiful castle in the distance. She could hear Breakneck moving away and start rummaging about, looking for something, but she couldn't take her eyes off the magnificent city. "Well, why don't you, then? If it's plague free, surely it'd be worth the trek?"

Breakneck didn't respond at first, instead pulling a large scroll out of a box and spreading it out on the floor. It was an old map, faded in colour but still discernible. Placing a hoof on the replicated image of the city, and another a little way away, he nodded downwards, gesturing for Blue to look. He ignored her question at first.

"Look, here we are, and there's Canterlot. T'is a fair trip. And I think that the other village is s'posed to be around here,"—Breakneck moved his hoof a little way away—"near Rainbow Falls. See?" When Blue nodded and then opened her mouth to ask him her question once more, he realised that he hadn't yet answered and packed the map away as he did so. "Oh, would they let us in? Nah. They never let any pony in, else the place'd get infected. Tha's why some folk go lookin' for the other village; they take us infected ponies. That place aint free from the plague, they jus' control it." The stallion looked wistfully out of the window before he pulled the curtains to. "They say  everypony there're friends, too. I'd love ta get the chance for ponies ta trust me again."

Blue was quiet for a seconds before she looked down, not quite able to meet Breakneck's eyes. "I... I think that I trust you." she murmured, her ears flattened back uncomfortably. "But it's hard to tell. I don't really know who to trust; I trusted the facility, and then the went and tried to kill me."

"I was wonderin' why you'd leave a facility. T'aint exactly a holiday out here."

"No kidding..."

Breakneck walked over to the chickens' box at that point, lifting the lid  and chuckling very quietly at Blue's small whimper, though his tails were hidden slightly between his legs when he realised that he could have insulted her. She was much too distracted, though, to feel offended, instead stumbling backwards and nearly tripping over her own hooves in her haste. She watched silently from the opposite end of the caravan as the stallion fiddled about in the box, her hoof hovering near to the door knob as she danced about a little, and when he stepped backwards with an old box in his mouth she felt herself calm a little. As he shut the lid once more she gave an actual sigh.

"Woah. You're a real wuss, aren't ya?" As he so commonly did he faltered, panicking. "Uh, not that tha's bad, course!"

"And you're a real worrier, aren't ya?" she replied, managing a shaky attempt at being a tease. "Seriously, though—I'm not going anyway, so you don't have to say sorry for every little thing as if it'd chase me off! Like you say, I'm probably the biggest wimp in this damned place; I nearly ended up dead within an hour of leaving the facility, so I kinda need your help just to stay alive."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. I just like havin' ya around, so I gotta do ma best ta keep ya here." He spoke with a hint of shame in his voice, clearly embarrassed at his situation. "But, come on now; I wanna know about ya! What's it even like in a facility?"

"Oh, it isn't—wasn't—too bad. The food was kinda plain but they fed us well. We all had our own rooms and stuff too, nothing too fancy but it was fairly nice. And there were loads of ponies around to help us, cooks and cleaners and... yeah." Blue gave a small grimace as she realised just how nice the facility had been; at the time everything had seemed mediocre at best, all that she was given being the most basic of necessities, but the harsh reality of coming outside made her understand—and appreciate—that which she had been given.

“Hold up a second,” Breakneck said as he walked over to his makeshift kitchen, placing the box down and removing six eggs, dropping them one by one into a fairly large, chipped plastic measuring jug, shell and all. With a good number remaining, he pulled down an old, starting-to-rust whisk from the pegs on the wall and then paused just before he began to mix. “What about tests? Much as I heard, facilities on’y take in new test subjects.”

“Oh, they were… Well, kind of horrid, really. But we only had to have one test a week and they always gave us better food after them. A bribe to keep us all obedient, of course." Remaining silent for a second, Blue sat down and hung her head as a tiny tear trickled down her cheek. “But they’d get fed up with us after a while, I guess. Maybe we weren’t good enough test subjects, as you say. But anyway, we were always told that when a pony disappeared, they’d simply left. Gone outside. I never did get why they would want to, but I… I just didn’t question it. Turns out that was all a lie.” A second tear rolled down the mare’s cheek and she had to grind her teeth once to try to contain her frustration and anger, her wings rustling constantly. “They were murdered, instead! And I was down to be killed too. But my friend, h-he worked in the facility and… And he knew, he w-warned me, got me out." A choked sob tore from Blue's mouth now and more tears began to fall, the odd one splashing down onto the straw. “I-I did as he said, I escaped, but he d-didn't. H-he... H-he..."

Harsh memories resurfaced suddenly, thoughts of the poor grey stallion—a total amnesiac, not a so-called ‘part amnesiac’ like Breakneck thought she was—and Blue lay down as the world spun in agonising grief. She moaned in mourning and shook slightly, her wings stopping their shuffling and simply spreading out across the floor, limp. She couldn’t believe that she’d forgotten about RipEar and his sacrifice so easily. Even if she had had a lot to think about, that was no excuse…

A stiff hoof gently brushed Blue’s forelock and she looked up with slow, jerky movements, praying that she would see her lost friend, the only pony who’d ever liked her, with his ripped ear and all. But, of course, Rip Ear was nothing but a pile of bones and two large, grey eyes. That is, if his bones hadn’t been gnawed through by those awful dogs.

“Um, don’t worry. It’s okay.” Breakneck said, his posture rigid. “It’s… It’s really quite awful out here. He’s… Well, he’s not, ah, missing out on much.”

Blue bolted upright, suddenly glaring at the stallion. “No!” she yelled, her eyes glinting, her posture tall and her ears pinned to her neck as if literally stapled down. Her wings were fully out as well, stretched as far as they could go. “No, don’t say that! You’re alive and well, and yet you have the cheek to say it’s better off to be dead!”

Breakneck tripped backwards, burying his head between his legs and brushing the tips of his floating ears on Blue’s chin, not drawing blood luckily; if he had, she’d be throwing up now at the very least. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean-“

“All he did was try to help me! He saved my life, he did!” Blue’s cries were agonised, her actions less and less rational as she threw herself around. “And I let him die! I let those dogs tear him apart, biting and clawing and biting and clawing and-“

Blue’s maniacal behaviour continued and she fell towards Breakneck as if tipsy, suddenly unsteady on her hooves; backing up, he caught her with his tails, wrapping them around her waist gently and hoisting her up into the air with a grunt of exertion, placing her down onto the hay bale and then draping an old blanket across her. It was tatty and frayed, potentially made before the outbreak, and it had a distinctively old smell, though it was clean and not overly unpleasant. It was the sort of thing one would perhaps find in a grandmother's house, but it made Blue feel amazingly calmer almost immediately. She still whimpered and whined, though, and Breakneck stood a little way away, stiff.

“I-I’m sorry…” Blue said once she finally regained the ability of rational speech, her body quivering. Was she descending into madness so soon after coming out? There was, perhaps, a good likelihood. “I don’t know what came over me, I… I just feel so guilty. I stood there and watched my friend die, Breakneck. I watched. And then I saw his bones, and his eyes. I saw his eyes, Breakneck, just staring up at me in pure agony. And it’s all my… I just let the dogs… I let him die!” Blue’s cheeks were nearly black by this point, darkened by her grief. Her voice cracked as she spoke once more, her words coming out in little more than a whisper. “I let him die.”

Breakneck sighed, unable to look at her. "I don' know what ta say, Blue," he said, cringing as he spoke. He didn't want to make the same mistake as before. "I'm no good at reassurin' ponies. But I can say, I won't let him die for nothin'. If you'll let me help ya."

Blue nodded quietly and then lay her head down, yawning a little, suddenly plunged into exhaustion. "I... I don't want to think about him. It makes me feel so incredibly guilty." She paused for a moment, before letting out a breath. "Tell me about y-you. I need to get my mind off of Ri—him."

Breakneck was unsure for a moment, not certain whether or not it would actually help, but he obliged a moment later anyway, seeing no harm in it. Besides, he had promised to tell her about himself anyway, though there wasn’t exactly loads to tell. “Well, I told ya a bit ‘bout ma mother, didn’t I? Turbulence, her name was, an’ it sure fit her. Ya never could know what ta expect with her—course, tha’ wasn’t her fault, ‘cause she was a mad’un and all. But… She wasn’t awfully bad, just not quite with it. Compared ta some mad’uns, she was pretty tame actually; never said anythin’ even remotely sensible, and would attack most ponies soon as look at ‘em—‘cept when she was in heat. But tha’s the case with any mad’un; they all act on instinct. But she was a good mother to me, and she fed me well. Didn’t mind ma Grandma’s company, either, which was nice.”

“I wish I could meet my grandparents. Or my actual parents. I’d like that.” Blue spoke longingly, her heart aching. "Or Rip's parents, to say sorry fo-"

"Anyway, ma Mum was a unicorn," Breakneck cut in, hoping to keep Blue listening rather than thinking about her own family or her friend, wherever they might be. "She was terrible at magic, though, even before she went mad—tended ta not use it 'less she really had ta. But she had a knack for tending chickens. Had a whole coop before she got infected, and ma Grandma—she was the one who told me 'bout ma Mum's foalhood—kept 'em all when she turned mad. Tha's why I keep 'em—ma Gran taught me all of ma mother's tricks, and then she gave me her old birds when she di-ah, left us." Breakneck scolded himself mentally for nearly mentioning death and rushed to carry on. "I was an older colt then, but I left when it was jus' me and ma mother; she got quite rowdy after ma Grandma was gone."

Blue stifled a yawn—though it was not one of boredom—and she tried to speak as the exhaustion weighed her eyelids down. "So... Have you—" She stopped momentarily as she yawned loudly, coughing once afterwards, the dusty hay irritating her throat. "Have you seen her since?"

Breakneck shook his head, looking barely affected. "Nope. And I never will; it's been so many years, if I did find her she'd never recognise me anyway." He gave a small shrug as if not bothered, though his gaze softened. "It'd be nice if I could, though. But tha' won't happen till they find a cure, and they've had no luck for a century. I'm not holdin' out any hope."

Blue closed her eyes, finally starting to give in to fatigue. "This place really seems gloomy. Doesn't anypony here have any hope at all?"

"Not really," Breakneck said with a sigh. "The only hope is in the legends. Like the tale of tha' village. Loads'a ponies try n' find it, but none have been seen since. Probably died makin' the journey."

"Or they found it and stayed?" Blue said, her words slurring together. Breakneck, however, didn't seem to notice this, instead looking at her in disbelief as if she were some sort of genius.

"Wow, I... I never thought of tha'. I just... I guess out here, so many ponies die and it just seems like the obvious answer ta... Well, the answer ta everythin' really. If somepony's gone, they're dead."

Blue cringed at that statement before relaxing a little. "But you've survived this long, so I'm pretty safe by your side, yeah?"

"Well, I've never had another pony ta watch for, but I'd say so," he said, not really focusing; in his turquoise blue eyes, excitement was shining wildly, and his two tails were beginning to wag (though if Blue'd had her eyes open to see, she would definitely not be reassured by that). "I... I don't suppose ya would want ta, you know, go searchin' for this village? If there's really that mare there..."

Blue jolted upright, pain racing through her body and fatigue trying to drag her down. She swayed slightly, but managed to stay upright just about. "Ye-yeah!" she cried, stammering the words out. "That sounds w-wonderful..."

Breakneck grinned as he retrieved the map which he had put away; pulling it out from the box with his teeth, he stiffened and raised his tails quickly as a loud thud reached his ears. Spinning around, he looked about fearfully until he realised what it was; laying half on the hay bale, half off of it, was Blue, her cheek squished against the floor as she snored gently.

Poor thing's exhausted, Breakneck thought with a very small chuckle as he bent down, pushing his head under her neck (careful to keep his deadly ears out of the way) and lifting her back onto her bed (of sorts). Walking away after that, he glanced up at the clock, checked the surroundings through the window for any danger, and then slipped outside with the jug of whisked egg. Placing it down, he pulled a small, fold-out fence, made of lightweight metal, down from a hook on the back of the caravan and placed it on the floor, just below a small chute which led out from the back. Pouring the lumpy, shelly contents out, he then pulled up a small wooden board which had been closing the chute and tied it up so that it remained open.

A few seconds passed and then a single chicken poked its head out cautiously. It looked about once with beady eyes and paused momentarily before it flapped down, rushing to the mixture on the floor as a second followed suit, opening its beak but not letting out any noise before it began pecking greedily. Then, a blink's time later, in a massive flurry of feathers, the remaining birds came piling out, eager to get the egg.

Taking one last look around, Breakneck closed the lid to the pen and then trotted back inside; closing the door, he let out a small breath, lay his head down on his hooves and fell into a sleep of his own. But he, unlike Blue, was experienced in living outside; his tails remained raised the entire time he dozed and his ears were ever on the move, alert, even if he was napping soundly himself.

Red Eyes In The Shadows

Breakneck grunted quietly as he dug his hooves into the dirt, pushing as hard as he could and struggling against the almost overpowering force of gravity pulling down on the caravan as he tried to heave it up the hill. His harness dug into his sides, surely going to leave a blister if he wasn't careful, and his muscles ached. Still, he fought on, scrambling slowly up the slope.

Normally such an incline would have been avoided but Breakneck was, with Blue sleeping inside, more nervous than usual. He wasn't worried for himself—he'd dealt with more than enough dangers to know that he could keep safe—but he was unsure as to whether he could protect the mare at the same time. The valleys around mountains were known as one of the most popular residences for mad'uns, and until she was able to stand on her own two hooves Breakneck didn't feel comfortable with putting her in danger. She was his only companion, perhaps the only one he'd ever get, so her value to him was great.

Letting out a small breath as he managed to find a foothold, he then gritted his teeth and pushed, his thighs burning and his head swimming, his entire body feeling weak. He snarled quietly at the pain but continued on, his gaze focused on the peak of the hill which was so close now, yet so hard to reach; feeling a renewed desire to reach that peak and rest, he strained and pulled as much as he possibly could, nearly falling on his muzzle as he leaned forwards. Then, after so much exertion that he wasn't sure he'd even be able to even find the energy to breathe afterwards, he felt the caravan's creaking wheels turning, the vehicle creeping forwards, and he continued on, focusing on that beautiful resting point.

Damned genes, he thought to himself bitterly, fighting off tears from the effort. A grown stallion—especially an "outsider" stallion such as himself—didn't let emotions or pain get the better of them. In fact, a true outsider would appreciate the distress; after all, pain means that you're still alive. Where's the earth strength when ya need it? Peering up at the peak once more, he sighed loudly—just two more metres, that's all—and closed his eyes, arching his neck as he forced himself to trot slowly, pushing off with much more force with each step. He never had trouble usually, but now that he'd been walking uphill for nearly ten minutes, he felt as if he'd run a marathon. In fact, he felt worse; racing was his forte, hiking… Not so much.

“Jus’… one… hoof… at… a… time…” he whispered, trying to find some long-forgotten energy reserve to help him up the ascent. “Clip, clop, clip… clop… Nnghh… I’m gonna… need a ten hour kip after this.” Shaking off that alluring thought—to get just a few hours of solid sleep without having one’s neck slit open was an achievement—he trudged on, wondering if he’d ever reach the top, or if he’d spend the next few days just straining to move, but never getting anywhere. “Dammit, Blue—ya’d better be better by the time we get ta the next hill, ‘cause if I’m gonna have ta go over one again I might jus’ keel over.”

“It’s a good thing I’m tougher than I look, then.”

“Wha-” Breakneck stopped pulling momentarily, his harness slackening heavenly as he looked behind himself, hearing a small squeak as he did so. “Blue, what-”

“I said I’m tougher than you think, but I didn’t say strong!” the mare squeaked, a little too loudly for comfort for any pony experienced in life in the ravaged Equestria, but Breakneck was reasonably comfortable in the fact that there would be few mad’uns—or any other foes, for that matter—so high up. Few ponies would ever tackle such a slope on their travels, given the difficulty of doing so (even without a small caravan to tow), so even the most animalistic of mad’uns would know to just hang around the base. Travellers usually took their chances at taking that route; more dangerous, but with much more nutritious food to be found and plenty of opportunities to snoop through the mad’uns’ hoards of junk, because every now and then you could come across the jackpot; a gun. A rare find in Equestria; considering how rare disharmony had been before the original outbreak, there had been little use for guns other than for the guards. There were the odd ponies who made guns nowadays, of course, but all the major equipment for survival was donated by the princesses Celestia and Luna in Canterlot; as rulers of the broken kingdom, they understandably didn’t want it falling into even more chaos. So, alas, guns were not often given out.

"Sorry!" Breakneck called back in a quieter voice, hastening to pull once more. With the help of Blue from behind, the caravan moved at a somewhat steadier pace; it still took a good minute to move it up the metre or two of incline, but that was faster than before.

Panting as he unhooked his harness, Breakneck sighed as he walked around to the side of the caravan, plopping down on the floor next to it and looking out across the world. For such an awful, deadly place, it was teasingly idyllic; flowers, bright and large, grew all over, and much of the land was covered in lush green grass. That would be good, if only the plants wouldn't try to strangle you if you ate them, something which made trying to grab a bite to eat a tad difficult at times. But, as Breakneck had learned through years of trying to survive, if you were hungry enough you'd take that risk.

"Really, Breakneck, you're supposed to be stronger than me!" Blue said with a laugh as she trotted up to him, looking exhausted with her wings dragging through the dirt, picking up muck as she went, but exhilirated the whole time too. " You're a stallion, and an earth pony to boot! I'm just a weak little Pegasus mare."

"This stallion," Breakneck began, nudging her shoulder teasingly, "had ta drag ya all the way up here. I think I'm allowed ta be cut some slack."

"You're still an earth pony, though; you can heave stuff around for miles!"

"Ah, you're not quite right there." Breakneck said, shifting a little guiltily and taking a momentary glance down at his shoulders. "I'm no earth pony." Blue frowned his words but just shrugged, not questioning it—he was probably somewhat mad, most ponies in this drafted place were—and instead she stood up unsteadily and walked over to the front of the caravan.

She wasn't used to this much exertion.

Flopping back down on the floor as soon as she reached a vantage point—she was much too shaky to stand for long, exhilaration in her blood or not—she scanned the surrounding area, smiling. "This is a nice spot," she remarked, before looking down at the ground and noting how much brown was on the floor. Spying a few small blades of grass at her hoof, she greedily gobbled them up—they were rather bitter but edible at least—and then turned to her companion. "Why don't you just stay here? There doesnt seem to be any mad'uns or anything; it's nice."

"Much too cold in winter. 'Sides—" Breakneck gently nudged about a small pebble in the dirt, smiling at the simplicity and sheer brilliance of resting. Blue wouldn't be able to appreciate that for a while yet; a few weeks of living out here and she'd surely recognise the amazingness of simply doing nothing, though. Hard as it was to get up the hill, it was almost worth it for the unusual respite from fear. "There isn't much food here, and I'm not walkin' up and and down tha' thing twice a day! But tis nice, too; I don' think I've stopped properly for... oh, Celestia, I don' know how long."

Blue scrunched her nose up as she swallowed the last of the fine strands of grass, a little disgusted but, with an appetite as hers, she couldn't afford to be fussy. Even after being out for only a few days she knew that much. "Eww. You need to have a little fun now and then! Don't you get any time to just... Throw yourself around, have a bit of a break?"

"Course not. If ya did tha' you'd end up dead. Or least with one less limb." Breakneck said, rolling his eyes as he reached out with his tail to wrap it around a few blades of grass near to Blue's neck, making her wince and shuffle away. Picking them, he pulled them back towards his mouth quickly and munched them happily, glad to have the token. "Sorry, but I'm not gonna hurt ya. Promise." Reaching out tentatively, feeling suddenly bolder now that he was at ease, he stroked her shoulder very gently with the smooth side of his left tail, making her stiffen for a second until she realised that she wasn't in danger; she giggled nervously but didn't scoot away immediately. "See?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess." Blue mumbled as Breakneck drew back, her wary giggles ceasing but her grey eyes kept focused on him. She still wasn't sure who she could or could not trust in this screwed up world; she didn't know if she'd ever learn how to tell friend from foe. "But really, Breakneck, you can't blame me. I saw what you did to those mad'uns; I've got every right to be wary of you and your... Weird poison thingy. One wrong move and that'll be it for me."

Breakneck chuckled and scratched behind his ear with the tip of his left tail, not drawing blood. "It's not quite tha' easy, Blue. I've gotta full on stab a pony ta kill 'em; think of my tails like hooves. I could do ya a load of damage with ma hooves, but really it's not likely that I'd hurt ya real bad by accident; if I wanted ta cut your throat with ma hooves, it'd be on purpose."

Blue shuddered at that thought, wincing at the idea of having your neck shredded by hooves, a slow and painful torture—and then she thought of all the blood, and felt queasy all of a sudden, leaning a little away from her body in case she decided that the mental picture was too much. Thankfully, she managed to pull through with just a new sense of distress. "There... Aren't ponies who actually do that sort of thing out there, are there?" she asked, her eyes darting back and forth. Breakneck shrugged slightly in response.

"Prob'ly are. I've seen and heard way worse in ma time, like there was this group of stallions once. They attacked a school and captured all the kids. Killed their teacher in front of 'em, and then..."

"No! No, that's okay. I get the idea..." Blue interrupted, having hunched up slightly in distress by now and she looked about fearfully. "Everyone out here's insane." Standing shakily before Breakneck could reply, needing a chance to process the horrific new information before any more gruesome thoughts could be placed inside her head, she walked away from the caravan with a stumble and looked out at the view. Such a beautiful land in spots, for somewhere so ravaged and destroyed; a large amount of the view seemed to be made up of barren, desert-like wasteland, while the other parts were coloured in possibly the boldest shades of colour imaginable.

It wasn't quite natural, almost too perfect, but the sun-yellow and emerald-green and sea-blue flowers were truly a sight to behold. Even the patches of grass scattered here and there were captivating, the green such a rich and deep shade which made Blue go weak at the knees just looking at it.

"Woah," she whispered, having not truly appreciated this scene before; even in the somewhat dim light of PLAGUE Equestria, with its strange shared sky which boasted both the sun and moon, she could clearly make out the rainbow of bright colours. Mutations, surely; the PLAGUE didn't just affect ponies or animals, that Blue knew. Still, even such a wonderful view could only remain captivating for so long; growing bored, the mare turned back to her companion and waved to grab his attention. Unbeknownst to her, he had been watching diligently from the corner of his right eye, checking his treasure was safe, but he wouldn't admit that. "Hey, Breakneck. I'm going to go down here a bit, stretch my legs. See if I can find some grass, too. D'you want to come?"

"Nah, go on ahead." Breakneck replied, ushering her off with a hoof, "But don' wander too far, else I can't help ya if ya get into trouble. Kay?"

"Yeah, sure." Blue said, turning towards the slope and beginning to steep descent. It was nice, at first—a few brave trees grew around the peak of the hill, and a small patch of bitter grass gave her enough energy to take the next step—but it wasn't long before she began to feel the hairs on her neck stand on end, her ears darting about, her tail clamped.

To her right, wind rustled through the leaves of one particularly young-looking tree, with a slight pink tinge in colour, and Blue scampered backwards in a panic before signing when she realised what the noise had been. Still, she continued to back up. Oh, come on, Blue! she scolded herself as she looked around warily all the same, Get a hold of yourself!

And then something cold and smooth touched her rear right fetlock; with a yelp, Blue shot up into the air before misjudging her angle and ending up crashing back into the ground with a thud. Groaning, heart banging about in her chest, she sat upright and folded her wings away with much caution, trying to avoid the pain, and then glancing around. Her eyes landed on something cream-coloured a little way away, a strange and seemingly unidentifiable object, which, upon closer inspection, turned out to be something from her nightmares.

A skull, eyeless and slowly deteriorating, the bone beginning to crumble, stared back at her, terrifying the poor mare to the core; whining, she stood and stumbled backwards, suddenly incredibly alert to her surroundings.

A large bone was stuck out of the ground at a near-right angle, the end chewed off; a broken ribcage, scarred and bent, lay near the tree line; near to the peak of the hill where the caravan was still parked, a large pile of earth had a few tiny white projections which could only be the remaineder of this poor creature, not even recognisable as pony or beast.

Her wings clamped firmly to her sides in fear, Blue stood stiffly as she glanced about, waiting for something to leap out from behind the scarce number of trees. But nothing did; instead the pink one, the more slender, younger looking specimen, slowly began to morph, branches shortening and leaves falling off as the tree began to writhe as if it were a creature. And then, just as a shrill neigh of terror erupted from her mouth, Blue felt herself be silenced as she was drawn into some sort of trance; the tree's yellow and red eyes boring deep into her soul, claiming control over her body as she was left to just struggle in vain, unable to fight, to resist as the being, whatever it was by now, crept closer.

A Mutant Born And Bred

Breakneck's head, previously resting on the floor in between his hooves as he dozed, shot up the second he heard the squeak of terror. It was so short that he could hardly be sure if he'd heard it or if he was just imagining things—both of which were entirely possible—but his heart pounded rapidly in his chest all the same. If it was real, and there was no doubt that it was Blue if it was, then it almost sounded as if she'd suddenly been cut off...

"Buck!" the stallion cursed as he leapt to his feet, tails raised high in the air as he cried, with all the strength he could muster, "Blue? Blue, are ya there?"

There was no reply.

"Oh, no, Blue!" Breakneck snarled as he galloped forwards, hooves tearing up the soft, muddy autumn soil and leaving it as sludge. "C'mon, answer me!" Still, there was no response to his calls; snorting angrily, both at himself for allowing the mare out of his sight, and at whatever thing, beast or plant, had done this to her.

Leaping over a decent sized rock which blocked his way, deciding that to gallop around would be slower, Breakneck cursed under his breath and began to wish he had his wings still, desperate to fly to find Blue faster; as his hooves met the ground once more, however, his thoughts were distracted as he was sent rolling, his landing poor as his knee buckled beneath him. Crying out in pain as he bounced across rather sharp stones, he used his tail as an anchor and dug them both deep into the dirt, slowing his descent enough to allow him to stand once more, though a little shakily. Dazed momentarily, he glanced about once before remembering what he was doing; shaking his head to shrug off the slight confusion, he concentrated on finding Blue. It only took a second from this angle; she stood on the left side of the clearing next to a flat dirt wall, her eyes wide and her mouth open in a scream, but no sound came out.

At first wondering whether the fall had damaged his hearing, Breakneck began to gallop in her direction and cried out, but he faltered when he heard his own voice and hoof steps. His hearing was fine, yet Blue's mouth was still open in the scream.

It was in that moment that he understood; she wasn't frozen in fear, rather she was literally unable to move. Concerned, he rushed over to her, gently nudging her shoulder with a hoof, and then with his nose, but she still didn't budge; puzzled, he looked in the direction which she'd been frozen in, scanning the sparse trees for whatever had done this to her, but finding nothing.

"Blue, can ya move at all?" he asked in a whispered, though not panicked, voice, trying not to alert any possible threats to his presence. If an enemy did wander upon them... Well, Breakneck hoped he could fight them, although whoever this was was clearly not a weak target; even mutations couldn't give an animal (or plant) magical powers, and almost all unicorn mad'uns wouldn't be able to focus enough to actually use powers. That narrowed the options down to a sane or mostly sane pony—or perhaps some other equine—capable of using magic. A unicorn or a zebra, maybe? Or, given how hard the climb was, it could even be a unicorn-turned-pegacorn; flying up here would be so much easier than walking.

Receiving no response, Breakneck snorted quietly in aggravation and kept an eye on the trees, figuring whatever it was was either hiding in or behind one, or had come from that direction. Part of him yearned to go over and investigate—he was mostly confident in his ability to defend himself—but he was unsure about leaving Blue. If he dared to go over there, it was almost guaranteed that whatever creature had done this would attack in that moment. Such was the cruel way of the world.

"Show yourself!" he hissed, stepping closer to his mare and raising his tails readily, his eyes darting about. He knew how to handle himself, but nopony ever said survival was easy—or fun, for that matter.

It was to his surprise—and to Blue's, though she couldn't even acknowledge her shock—that whatever being it was which had attacked did respond; still lurking in the trees, the creature stepped forwards slowly, its red and yellow eyes being the first thing he saw, followed by large, sharp white teeth, glinting in the light of Celestia's sun and Luna's moon. As it slunk forwards, its mouth open in a snarl and its ears flattened right back to its neck, its wary gaze  studying the newcomer carefully and assessing if he was foe or friend, Breakneck noted to himself that whatever beast this was was mad. Not full-blown insane—its actions would be less animalistic and more irrational and peculiar if it had been—but still dangerous.

Breakneck lowered his shoulders slightly in a cat-like position as he snorted before rearing up and tossing his head about, giving a loud warning neigh as he did so, and then pawing at the ground with his front hoof. He continued to snort once he finished, though he kept up the restless display in the hopes that whatever beast this was would retreat; to his frustration, his threatening behaviour towards the creature did not encourage it to leave, rather it carried on creeping forwards. At the very least, though, the actions had distracted it, allowing Blue's frozen body to be released from the incapacitating spell it had been placed under.

"Woah," she murmured, shaking herself off before looking around in a terrified fashion. "Oh, Luna, what do I do, Breakneck! That thing's gone eat us!"

"Jus' don't look at it," the stallion replied, his own head low to the ground now, keeping his direct gaze away from the thing. As Blue followed suit, all but smashing her muzzle into the ground, Breakneck studied the advancing foe; the first thing he saw emerging from the shadows was a black paw, a strange mutation for a pony to have but not unheard of. It was followed closely by the creature's head—a pony head, he realised, which was always a good sign—and then a full-bodied pink and white striped mane and forelock which covered one of the mare's unnerving yellow and red eyes and presumably hid her horn, too. Her second foreleg came next, looking completely normal until the stallion realised the lower region where a hoof should have been found had been replaced with an eagle's claw.

As her body emerged slowly from the shadows, slinking forwards like a cat, Breakneck couldn't help but feel sorry for this poor creature: she was tall and elegant and, he expected, would have been incredibly beautiful before she became a mutant. That wasn't to say she was ugly now, rather she simply seemed like a mismatch of parts. Indeed, her wings—presumably a result of the mutation, assuming that she was a unicorn (for there was no other way that she could have enchanted Blue if she was not)—were both different, the white one on the left resembling the wings of the princess Celestia (as portrayed in the few photographs and paintings of her from before the outbreak which Breakneck had seen) and the other—black, this time—looking more like it should be on a bat's back rather than a pony's. As she stepped fully into view, Breakneck even realised her tail was all wrong; instead of the hair starting at the top of the pony's flank, a long snake-like extension, not wholly different to one of his own tails but much thicker and stronger, grew, with the bottom ending in her proper tail.

It was no wonder this mare had descended into madness; Breakneck had never seen a pony with as many mutations as her.

Snapped from his musings as the mare hissed, Breakneck lifted his tails slowly but kept his gaze down on the floor, hoping that the mutant-turned-mad'un wasn't too far gone to understand his threat. Thankfully she wasn't; she had used magic, anyway, which was always a sure-fire way to tell that she was somewhat sane at least. Nonetheless, the warning only seemed to rile her up more, making her snort and buck as she walked forward faster.

"Shit." he bit out, taking a few steps backwards to find something to attack with. "Blue, stay with me, got it?"

"Don't tell me twice," she said, scampering behind him like a filly would it's mother and sighing, feeling safer next to him than with the other pony; her hasty actions, though, only told the attacking mare that she was afraid, something which made the mutant rear up confidently, stomping her hooves down threateningly and tossing her head madly, snaking it as she trotted forwards. Breakneck was quick to move, galloping to the side with Blue and looking around quickly. Though it made for a good show, his poison was little use when the creature was so large than it could strike him before he had a chance to counter.

Feeling around the floor with his tails, he grinned as he felt something large and hard touch his skin. Trying not to move too fast, well aware that doing so could notify the mare to his actions, he wrapped his tail around the rock without making the slightest peep of sound; when he had done so, and once he had gotten a good hold on it, he whipped around quickly and released it just at the right time, sending the projectile soaring towards the mutant. His some was true; the rock hit her shoulder with a loud, cringe inducing thud and then dropped to the floor, the sound of it landing hidden as the mare screamed in pain.

"Go, go!" Breakneck urged, turning tail and galloping himself. He was no foal; he'd only survived this long because he knew when to abandon his pride. Many stallions didn't seem to be able to do so, but of course, with the exception of the select few, they would be the ones on the mad'uns' dinner menu.

Jumping up the large ledge with some difficulty, aided by Blue as she flew up, he scrambled behind the rock he'd jumped before and yanked his mare close to him with his tail, hiding both of them. The boulder was barely big enough to hide a full  grown stallion, let alone one with a small pegasus at his side; still, by keeping his floaty ears flattened back and by almost pressing himself right up against Blue—much too closely for comfort, an action which made him strain to keep control of his body—he managed to catch a second's break. Still, he could hear the sound of the mutant's hoof steps across the cold autumn floor as she stalked closer, having regained her senses; Breakneck could only pray that she'd lost her sense of smell when she became infected as well as everything else.

Given that she managed to progress rapidly closer, she hadn't.

"Shit," he cursed in a breathy voice in his companion's ear before tentatively pushing away from her and taking a breath at the cold air licking at his stomach. "Ya can't fly, she'd catch ya up with those big strong wings of hers." Peeking around the edge of the rock, he held his breath as he saw her long tail poking out from the other side; looking to Blue worriedly, he frowned for a moment before nodding resolutely. "Right, we've gotta run. 'Kay?"

"What? No!" Blue breathed back, eyes wide. "That thing'll catch us."

The faint sound of slow hoofsteps and gently crunching autumn leaves under paws and claws silenced for a moment, and Breakneck leaned closer to Blue's side, making her stiffen slightly; a faint blush creeping up on her cheeks, she tried desperately to just focus on what he was saying. "Trust me. I can get us outta this... I think." Rising to his hooves slowly as a hiss came from behind, he whispered, "Start flying now!" and then began to trot away, allowing Blue to catch up before taking her mane in his mouth and breaking into a flat out gallop, adrenaline making his heart beat like a drum, his blood a fiery river of lava fuelling his body.

As he tore across the ground, hooves sending dirt flying in all directions, he gave a throaty laugh as he heard Blue scream and put on another burst of speed, leaping back down from the ledge and pelting across the open land. The mare behind him beat her weak, underused and unfit wings as fast as she could to maintain momentum as she was dragged along by her mane; the pain was incredible, but in some ways the exhilaration of going so very fast made it almost worth it. She could never run this fast herself, and nor could the mutant it would seem who was left behind in the dust; there was a reason the stallion was called Breakneck Speed.

Feeling his limbs begin to stiffen—he was a sprinter, not a long distance runner—Breakneck puffed a few times as he slowed to a canter, his heart beginning to burn as he looked around for a spot to catch his breath and work out the next move. It would have been good if he'd had some sort of weapon—a knife, perhaps—but no, they had all been foolishly left in his caravan. Once the mutant cleared off, though, he'd be able to retrieve it; he just had to work out how to get the strange mare to leave.

Noticing a small stream of smoke just over a small hill—this mountain was out to kill him with all these slopes!—he pulled Blue back to the ground and then released his grip on her, trotting slowly as he puffed and panted, sweat glistening on his coat, his head carried low. Lactic acid corroded his lungs and seared his limbs and he moaned as he tried to keep up a steady pace while the mutant was still a way behind. Eventually clambering over the uppermost peak, he let out a breath of sheer amazement at what he saw; not a simple campfire as he'd thought, but a quaint little cottage!

Hearing the feeble cry of anger from behind them, something which sounded remotely bird-like, Breakneck jumped and  began rushing down the hill with the last of his energy reserves, Blue easily able to keep up this time. Getting to the door, he banged loudly and desperately and danced on the spot, alert despite his exhaustion, and gasped when he heard the beast's cries getting nearer.

Just as the mutant came over the top of the mini-hill, the wooden door opened with a creak and an old, frail looking mare stood before them, smiling sweetly as she stepped aside to let them in. Though wary of her willingness to help, Breakneck accepted the offer (deeming an old mare an apeasier foe to defeat than a mutant in the prime of life) and hurried inside, ushering Blue in quickly too, before he felt his legs give way from exhaustion. He was a sprinter, but though he loved it he'd had little practice recently; that much was obvious as his head fell to the floor in a deep sleep, his chest rising and falling rhythmically.

"Don't worry about him, dearie," the old mare—a unicorn—said, walking stiffly over to the door at the other side of the corridor and pushing it open. No swarms of mad'uns rushed out, which Blue took to be a good sign. "He'll be quite alright. So come on in, I just baked some bread."

Sniffing the air, Blue felt her mouth fall open at the smell of fresh food; letting her tongue loll out, she followed almost mindlessly into the other room where she gratefully accepted a small roll. Taking a bite, she was surprised—though not wholly put off—by the faint taste of pumpkin, and quickly helped herself to another as she sat down on an old, moth-eaten rug by the fireplace. Focusing on her snack, she didn't notice the extra creature in the room at first, the food the only real thing to her. As she rose to get a third roll, however, her eyes drifted slowly to the patchy, falling apart arm chair to her left and gasped, her mouth half full.

A mutant creature—the same one as before, in fact—stared back at her with its large yellow and red eyes, blinking a few times in an almost comical, not-at-all-hostile manner.

Nevertheless, the mere sight of her made Blue yelp and faint, her third (half-eaten) roll still held in her hooves.

A Little Cup of Tea Please?

"Ah!" Blue jumped up as she came to with a start, her muzzle coated in saliva. Looking around herself, she squealed as her eyes landed upon the mutant mare before her and she galloped back quickly, clambering onto the sofa which she soon found blocking her path and lowering her neck, ears back as she snarled, her wings wings out wide as she beat them slowly, not fast enough to gain any lift but enough to give an intimidating presence. The mutant mare stilled in her approach at the display, cocking her head as she made a small nicker and sat down, rubbing her nose on her leg for a second before returning her attention to her companion.

Her eyes, completely yellow in the same way that Breakneck's were blue, with differently shaped pupils of red rather than black, followed every little movement that Blue made, but she wasn't completely of sound mind. She was knowing enough to use magic, though how she did so without a horn Blue couldn't quite fathom—perhaps she was somehow related to the zebras—but she was still animalistic as most mad'uns were. She couldn't quite appreciate the significance of Blue's actions, not properly; instead, her behaviour only seemed to intrigue the pet-like mare.

"Stay back!" Blue hissed, tossing her head in both a threatening display and a nervous reaction, but she quickly realised the mare wouldn't understand her words anyway as she looked on unfazed, her tail wagging slowly as if she were a dog. Hoping that she would instead appreciate the loudness of her voice, the pegasus let out a loud neigh and bucked, losing her footing and screaming as she fell with a thud onto her muzzle, her body vertical so that her tail fell forwards into her eyes. "Ugh..."

Through the hair which obscured most of her vision, Blue was quick to notice the light pink mare slinking towards her, talons coming to rest just in front of her, the paw raised in the air; squirming, the pegasus let her body flop forwards so that her rear hooves struck the mutant’s muzzle, causing her to whine and scamper backwards, rushing to the corner of the room and sitting there, ears back and paw gently inspecting her nose, an action which made her wince. Looking towards Blue with large, shining yellow orbs, she stared unblinkingly with a hurt glimmer in her eyes and lowered her neck quietly, laying it down on the floor.

“Wha’s goin’ on?” A masculine voice came from around the corner and Blue looked up immediately, relief coursing through her body. The voice was evidently Breakneck’s—the stallion adopted a rather distinctive gruffness when he spoke—and he was alright, too. She could only thank Celestia and Luna for letting him be alive, and for getting him here.

“That-that monster’s attacking me again!” Blue screeched, pointing accusingly with her hoof at the mutant and glaring daggers in her direction, feeling more confident now that she had back up. Staring into those peculiar, misinformed eyes though, a single thought occurred to her; why hasn’t she frozen me yet?

“Oh, she aint so bad. Turns out she’s no mutant after all tha’, just a mad’un. But a tame mad’un, don’ panic yourself.”

“How can you call that not a mutant? She’s got talons and a paw, Breakneck! And a bat wing! And a really weird tail! And those eyes… Well, they’re pretty much like yours.” Pausing, Blue shrunk back a little, looking away. “Oh Celestia, that sounds bad. I don’t mean that in a bad way.”

“Ah know ya don’t,” Breakneck said with a small chuckle as he raised his hoof a little, wrapping his tails around his body to keep them out of the way before he stepped closer to her, standing somewhat stiffly at her side.

Another pony—the old unicorn mare from before—came forwards from where he’d been before, walking with creaking joints as she made her way towards the “not-mutated” mutant. In a pale yellow magical aura she levitated a small, rather chipped bowl over to her and then a teapot a second later, pouring a small amount of steaming tea into it, careful to avoid the large cracks in the sides. She then turned to Blue and Breakneck, floating two cups over to them, each already filled mostly to the top, and she placed the pourer down on a small table as she folded her legs under herself and lay on the floor.

Blue frowned as she accepted the cup, holding it in two hooves while she sat down on the floor on her haunches, her back resting against the table. Glancing at Breakneck quickly, not sure whether to trust this mare or not—her judgement of other ponies, it seemed, wasn't entirely reliable, considering how she'd put her faith in the facility to only have it thrown back in her face—she noticed him sniffing the liquid, not quite at ease either. She did the same, though to her relief she couldn't pick up any signs of poison; on that note, though, she didn't even know what poison smelt of.

"It's okay to drink, I promise." the mare said, nodding to the mad'un at her side who was lapping it up as a dog would. "Do you really think that she'd drink it if it were bad? It's the exact same tea I gave you.”

"She's a mad'un," Breakneck pointed out, lowering the cup from his muzzle. "She prob'ly wouldn't know.”

"True."

"But ya know, course," he continued, placing the cup on the table and laying down, his hooves folded. "So ya drink it."

The mare's eyes widened in shock for a moment before she smiled, a genuinely warm expression as she raised the cup with her magic, taking a long, loud slurp before placing it down. Blue scowled at the mare, not sure what to believe.

"Swallow it," she said, and the unicorn laughed, opening her mouth immediately.

"I have, you silly foal," she said, shaking her head in amusement as Blue blushed pink. "Oh, what the world's come to these days. Barely anypony'd trust a frail old mare such as myself. It's sad, really."

"T'aint so odd. Hybrid girl over there tries ta kill us, but she's ya friend. Don't really help us trust ya."

"I suppose not," the mare said, smiling a little more, "but I won't kick her out of my home just for that. She's been my best friend ever been since I was just a foal. Not to mention I owe her so much; she's such a help to me, she helps me get food and supplies and she defends my home. That's all she was doing earlier; protecting me. But, of course, she can't tell who's friend and who's foe. I've tried to teach her, but teaching a mad'un anything is difficult. Even one as rational as Bittersweet here-"

"Woah, woah. Hold up there!" Breakneck said, sitting up straighter as if shocked. He looked momentarily at the mutant—hybrid, Blue remembered he had called her—before looking at the old mare stupendously. "Ya've gotta be kiddin' me!"

"Pardon?"

As the mare questioned Breakneck, Blue found herself staring at the hybrid, her face held in a frown. What was so special about this mare's name? Bittersweet seemed to suit her quite nicely; trying to kill them one minute, licking them like an adoring puppy dog the next.

"Her name's actually Bittersweet? Tha's her full name, from before she was infected?"

"Yes, it is. Why, do you-" The mare broke off and glanced at her friend, realisation dawning upon her. "You know who she is, don't you?"

"'Course ah do! Ah don't remember much, course, but... Oh Celestia, t'was massive news when she left Canterlot! Posters up everywhere, ah've never seen them Canterlot ponies so active out here!"

Blue's frown increased as she listened, her confusion turning into utter unknowingness. Looking around unsurely, not sure what her part in this conversation was, her mind soon took advantage of the chance to breathe at long last and wandered to RipEar. She could still see his grey eyes, so similar to hers, staring up at her from his lifeless pile of bones as the dogs drew back; she could hear his clichéd yet heroic shouts of "Blue, run!" in her mind, filling her heart with pride for his courage; she could recall his agonised screams as he was torn limb-from-limb, his flesh ripped from his still responsive body. And the smell; even that faint but horrid stench of blood, metallic and sharp, could still be detected.

Gasping for air, Blue reached out for her cup of tea and placed both hooves on it a little too roughly, bringing the cup to her lips and gulping down the liquid, dropping it as she noticed just how boiling hot it still was. Screaming, she jumped backwards into the table as if she could escape the scolding water, smashing into that and only succeeding in sending the teapot flying instead, the remnants of the drink missing her by a feather and only catching her neck with a few stray drops, just below the bandage. Yelping, she jumped once more, only to end up stood shaking in the same spot she'd started in, with a large mess around her.

Breakneck and the old mare stared at her in shock, perhaps wondering if she was partially mad as well as being an amnesiac, but she regained control a second later. Looking around herself in surprise at the devastation—not quite, but almost anyway—she folded her ears back and looked down, lowering her head as she lay down as if she'd just been caught stealing from the cookie jar.

Not that there were many cookie jars these days. Sugar... It was a priceless commodity.

"Oh, dear, are you alright?" The old mare stood up quickly, looking towards the other room before levitating a towel over to Blue who accepted it gratefully, tenderly mopping up the boiling water from her fur. She then turned to Bittersweet, trotting over and laying her lower body down at her head, as if bowing. "Would you please give us some water, dear friend?" she asked, but the hybrid only snorted, putting her nose in the air as if disgusted. The old mare sighed as she stood up. "Then would you care to fetch some from outside for us? You know my legs don't work so well these days..."

The hybrid snorted once again but rose to her feet this time, flying past the old mare slowly as she swatted at the pony with her tail before leaving the building. The mare sighed as she sat down, wincing a little as she did so.

"Oh... I'm certainly getting on a bit," the pony said with a sigh, looking up at the old clock on the wall. It was only an old plastic one, simple and dull, and considering how the second hand managed to stay still for at least ten times the amount of time it should it was no longer working. That wasn't much of a surprise, really; as far as Blue knew, batteries weren't high on most ponies' lists, compared with food or water.

"Hey, Pumpkin," Breakneck said as he placed down his cup, having finished the drink and now inspecting the empty cup as if he could find some answers in it, quickly whispering to Blue that the mare's name was Pumpkin Surprise as the said pony turned around. "Where'd ya get milk anyway? Ah've never heard of anypony havin' cows these days. Is there a wild herd 'round 'ere or something'?" Pausing, he smiled as he reached his tongue into the bottom of the cup. "Nice cup of tea, though. Ah've gotta say, tis nice ta have a diff'rent drink. Water's kinda... Bland."

"Oh, Bittersweet gives it to me," Pumpkin Surprise said, smiling. "She's really quite helpful."

"Oh, ah get it." Breakneck said with a small grunt, but Blue choked on the air she was breathing in, her mouth falling open, tears rising in her eyes—though the was possibly because of the pain searing her burnt leg.

"You... You mean that... You milk her? I drank pony milk?"

"What? Oh, of course not!" Pumpkin laughed as she spoke, rolling her eyes a little, looking somewhat younger from her jubilation. "I mean she uses her magic to make it for me. She's the foal of two really powerful beings; even though she's not all there she's still powerful. But the madness affects her, she doesn't understand the gravity of the situation these days and she won't help much. She's stubborn, I think she thinks I should do it myself. Of course, she doesn't realise there's no way for me to do that anymore."

"Ah'm right, hmm?" Breakneck cut in, frowning at Pumpkin Surprise, changing the topic back to the previous one. "She's the-"

His words were cut off as a loud, somewhat distorted whinny sounded as Bittersweet came back, a small tin bucket held in her mouth. Placing it down in front of Blue, some water sloshing over the sides and splashing her skin, she mad'un let her tongue loll out and she beamed at her mare companion, before turning tail and trotting bouncily back to her corner of the room, laying down again and curling her tail around her body. She gave a small sigh and rested her head on her paw, closing her eyes. Blue let out a breath as well, watching the mare with a frownpicking up the bucket and dipping the small towel in, squeezing it out and dabbing the fabric on her pained skin. She could have sworn she saw steam as she applied the cooling water.

"What's this all about?" she asked once her pain subsided, looking towards the dozing hybrid and studying her. How she'd appeared so intimidating earlier when she looked so... well, angelic, now was a mystery. Turning to her companion, she finished, "You know her?"

"Yeah, ah do. She's dead famous; there were a load of posters out 'ere when she left Canterlot. Even beats them tha' they put out when that pegasus dis'ppeared a few years back. Scientist, think she was.  But tha's nothin' compared ta Bittersweet; she's a hybrid, a mix between a pony an' a draconequus. Ya got any clues?"

Blue shook her head slowly, eyes closing as her world suddenly began to spin, her hooves feeling as if they were barely touching the floor below her. She didn't hear Breakneck's next words as her vision blurred; a second later, she felt her world go completely black. She couldn't move, couldn't see, couldn't smell or touch anything. She could only hear a dull ringing, and a second later she could make out a few blurred shapes, coloured in dull hues.

"The princess... She has, indeed, d-disappeared." The voice shook as it spoke, and through the blurred colours Blue could just distinguish some quick movements at the words. "But please, do not worry. We will find her, but until then... Until then, we will just have to sit tight."

A low gasp sounded in Blue's ear, barely louder than a whisper as the colours slowly grew brighter and began to become less blurred, developing some sort of shape. Were they... Were they ponies? Blue tried her best to see, but the resolution increased at a snail's pace, barely getting easier to distinguished as the seconds passed, and-

"Blue, dear, are you okay?"

"Wha-?" Blue felt herself be jerked from the strange scene and opened her eyes, her dizziness passed, and she found herself sat in Pumpkin Surprise's living room again. "What did you say?"

"I asked how you were."

"Oh. Of course. I'm... I'm fine." she said quickly, not sure if she was or not.

"Well, if you're sure. I was just telling your little friend here how Bittersweet helped me escape Canterlot. My grandmother—Pumpkin Cake, her name was—lived there almost all her life, and my mother was born there. But I... I was young, courageous and wasn't blinded by that city's lies. It's a mess, Canterlot; safe, but there's no freedom there. I suppose some ponies would prefer that way of life, but me... I'd had enough. Bittersweet here, though; she caught me trying to sneak out. Tried to stop me at first, too, but then she did something which I will never, ever forget."

"Hmm?"

"She got me out of there. The two of us ran away, safe from the control, but not from the PLAGUE. She was infected on the second day, remained in the coma for a month. That's why I settled up here; I couldn't move her, and this was as safe a place as any. I'm immune, thank Luna, but she became a mad'un, of course. But she was like a puppy, always looking to me as her mother. So to this day she's protected me, and she'll do so 'till she dies."

"But... That doesn't explain how Breakneck knows her. Why should they prioritise a... well, a hybrid like her over a scientist? Surely a scientist's more valuable?"

Breakneck shook his head, tapping her shoulder with his hoof to get her attention. "Ya didn' listen ta what ah said, Blue; she's the most wanted pony out 'ere, even after twenty, maybe thirty years. Bittersweet—she's the daughter of Celestia and Discord... She's a princess."

Fluffy Bugbears

"Canterlot's a messed up place. It used to be magnificent, and I suppose it still is a beauty, but it's not the same." Pumpkin sighed as she levitated the now empty teacups out into the kitchen, followed by the chipped old teapot. "I expect it's gotten even worse since I left. But, thank Celestia, I left when I was twenty or so. I'd had enough of that twisted city, and Bittersweet had as well; she's the princess of peace and harmony, after all. Kind of hard to be that in a place that's run on fear."

Bittersweet nodded her head quickly, head flying up and down as if she were trying to reach the ceiling. Settling a second later, she curled up again and hid her head behind her bat-like wing, making odd little chirping noises and scratching behind her shoulder with her rear hoof; all the while Breakneck watched her closely as he tried to overlook her actions, trying to see a regal princess and not any old mutated mare. It was impossible for him to succeed, the hybrid being too animalistic to seem like anything other than somepony's pet.

"Is anywhere in Equestria still safe these days?" Blue piped in, shuffling her wings a little as she spoke. The poor thing looked like a filly who'd dropped her lollipop.

"I suppose it depends on what you call safe, dear. There are some places which are... Moderately so, but everywhere you go will have an element of danger." Pumpkin frowned, laying her head down on her hooves. "Come to think of it, you two are rather far out. Where are you headed?"

Breakneck chuckled slightly and tensed somewhat, his tails hanging limply on the floor and his body slouched, his ears falling back slightly so that they were pressed gently against his head. He lowered his head slowly and turned his face away, a small grimace plastered on his face. "We're gonna go ta tha' town. The one tha' ponies say's safe from this bucking plague." He grimaced a little more and his tails clamped more against his body, his ears flattening more. "Ah... Ah jus' hoped tha' we'd stumble 'cross it. Cause we don' know where it is, course. Ah'm honestly jus' hopin' it's real at this point."

"Oh," Pumpkin said, a little shocked at the seemingly experienced pony's decision to pin his hopes on one particular town which he didnt even know was real, nor where it could be found if it did prove not to be little more than a myth, but then something clicked in her brain; with widened eyes, she stared at him and Blue contemplatively. "Oh. You must mean Saint Poniesburg? The little village rumoured to be the only place out here where the PLAGUE is controlled?"

"Ah... Ah suppose." Breakneck mumbled, his tails relaxing a little, his ears perking up slightly. "Why? Is it... Is it real?"

"Yes, it does exist. And, I suppose, they can control the PLAGUE there, as they claim. But... Well, I went there and I didn't like it. It simply wasn't my cup of tea, so to speak. So I left, that's how I know of it. But everypony else... Well, nopony else has ever left that place."

"Why did you leave then?" Blue asked with a frown, cocking her head slightly like an inquisitive puppy. "If they can control the PLAGUE and everything, isn't that like... Well, Paradise, or something?"

Pumpkin shook her head and rose to her hooves, an action which made Bittersweet look up somewhat unwillingly. She studied her friend quietly for a minute before her eyes trailed to the window, staring unblinkingly at them. Pumpkin barely batted an eyelid, so Blue brushed it off too.

"Saint Poniesburg is... No, I shan't say anything. I wouldn't want to ruin your judgement of the place. Everypony else there seemed perfectly happy, so why should I push my own opinions onto you when it could improve your lives so greatly?" Turning to Breakneck, she gave him a small, soft smile. "They could even heal your mutations there, I do believe. I can tell they cause you distress."

"Really? How'd ya figure tha' one out?"

"I'm a good judge of ponies," Pumpkin said with a shrug and a small laugh. "You've got to be out here." Turning to Blue this time, she spoke some more. "I can even tell that you've got a big secret, dear. You don't know it, of course, but something massive happened to you before you became infected. In time, maybe you'll figure it out."

"Really?"

"Of course," Pumpkin replied, a proud, almost motherly grin on her wrinkled face. "Of course, everypony's important in their own way, but... There's more to you than that. You should keep focused; maybe if you regained your cutie mark, you'd learn something." Pumpkin took a breath before she opened her mouth to speak once again, but she instantly quietened when she heard Bittersweet growling and hissing in an odd, hauntingly wolfish way, though her pony voice mangled the sounds into a hideous mess. Blue shrunk back a little and pressed herself against Breakneck's side; he, in turn, shuffled away from her stiffly with a rapid heart rate and raised his tails readily.

The old mare trotted stiffly over to the window and, opening one old, moth-eaten curtain with her magic very cautiously, she frowned and turned back to her guests. "Strange. There're two stallions outside, Facility stallions it looks like, from their uniforms. Fancy what they'd be doing all the way out here?"

Blue's face fell and her eyes widened, pressing herself even closer up to Breakneck as if she could simply merge into his body and hide. "What... What are they doing here!" she yelped, looking towards the window with wide, shrunken eyes. "Oh, sweet Luna, they've-they've come for me!"

"Come for you, dear?" Pumpkin asked, spinning around quickly with slightly lowered ears, though she raised her hoof slightly as if she were torn between walking and standing. "Why would they-"

"I... I ran away from my facility because they wanted to kill me. They must be coming to finish the job!"

"Oh, goodness!" Pumpkin whispered, just as a short, harsh knock sounded at the door. Both Blue and Breakneck leapt to their feet at the same time, looking in the direction of the hallway with tensed up bodies. "You two, you must go! Now! Bittersweet will show you out, right?" She turned to her long friend and stared with a pleading expression; the hybrid hissed and pawed at the ground, but she nodded stiffly all the same and outstretched her mismatched wings, eyes locking with the two trapped ponies' and capturing them in a magical aura. Taking one stride of gallop, she then launched herself up into the air and beat quickly through the room. Smashing through the window with a deafening smash and dragging her captives after her, not aware that the shards of glass had torn their skin to shreds in more places than one, she fled outside with precision and speed which could only come with practice.

As the mare snaked through the air, she threw back her head and gave a loud, haunting cry, somewhat similar to that of an eagle. Tilting her body upwards, she then began to climb higher and higher into the split sky, her magic disconnecting with the two ponies ten metres up and sending them hurtling down.

Screaming, an action which Blue would later realise was incredibly foolish, she snapped out her torn up, bloodied wings and dived down towards Breakneck, flapping to gain enough momentum to get under his body just before he crashed. Re-angling herself to try and regain the height which the pair had just lost, she instead misjudged the effect of the additional weight of an extra stallion on her back and saw the ground rushing up to greet her.

The pain was overwhelming, making Blue's vision blur and blacken as her muzzle smashed into the ground. Her flank rose into the air as she barrelled through the dirt, her tail flopping over her head as Breakneck was sent flying by the momentum. She cried out as she continued to skid across the unforgiving terrain, landing on her back and shooting a few more metres until finally coming to a stop. Groaning, she closed her eyes and laid still for a second, trying not to be defeated by the pain.

How come she always ended up torn up so badly?

"Blue, c'mon!" A rough voice, Breakneck's, cut through her distressed, sorry-for-herself thoughts. She opened one eye slowly and gave a small sigh, pushing up as her whole body trembled and shook. "Tha's it, c'mon! We've gotta go!"

Blue gave a loud groan, nearing onto a scream, as she pushed herself up even more, her vision clouding. Through the bleakness she could see how torn up the poor stallion before her was too; his grey fur lay in all directions, and his shoulder—the one not wounded by the mad'uns bite before—was stained red.

Blue gasped slightly and closed her eyes, nearly losing her lunch and cup of tea in the meantime. Her world becoming even dizzier, she wobbled to her four hooves and struggled to stand, taking one step, two, then a third and fourth. "Tha's it! Now-"

"There! The light grey one, shoot her now!"

Blue yelped and spun around, her eyes locking with that of one large, bulky stallion. He was clothed in nothing more than a simple shawl, but that was enough to strike fear and awe into anypony's heart for it was a uniform recognised by all. A facility officer; the elite of all fighters in this mad world. Even those inside the facility, protected by these stallions, knew that much.

An arrow was unleashed as the stallion, an earth pony, released the string of a bow and sent his missile whistling her way. It seemed nothing special at first, but as it brushed the tip of her ear when she ducked, she realised immediately that it wasn't just any old weapon.

It was drugged.

Screaming, Blue bucked a few times as the magic seeped into her veins, warm, stick blood trickling down her cheek and making her feel especially faint. Her legs giving way, she unfolded her injured wings and forced herself into the air, doing so rather feebly. Trying desperately to listen for the sound of Breakneck's voice as her brain failed to make any sense of the world around her—the only thing she was able to pick up on was the massive, fuzzy bugbear which she was now sat atop, and the bright rainbow which they were galloping over—she sighed and lay her head down atop the bugbears fluffy (though strangely spiky) neck and fell asleep.

If I Should Die

Blue sighed as she dismounted off of Breakneck's back, looking around herself with slow movements. She blinked a few times, trying to comprehend her surroundings after having zoned out—though not sleeping—for the past few minutes, something which would have been easier had there not been hundreds of tiny pink elephants floating around in front of her.

"It's a cave," she said finally, sitting down on the cold stone floor and then glancing at her companion who laughed (though it sounded a little too loud to be genuine amusement).

"Yeah, tis." he replied, inspecting the area himself and not finding anything of any particular interest. On that note, though, it was so dark that to find anything would have been an accomplishment. "Ah'm a sprinter, so Ah can't run forever. So the best thing ta do was ta hide before them facility ponies catch us up."

"Oh." Blue was quiet for a moment before she snorted in aggravation, pushing away a small group of elephants which had gathered around her hoof and we're trying to eat it. "Did you have to choose the cave with elephants in, though? They're eating my foot. I don't like it."

Breakneck was silent for a second before he gave a short chuckle, something which drew a rather put out glare from Blue. Instead of sombering properly, though, he only laughed a little harder when she swatted away one of her pink elephants—or so he assumed, at least—from just behind her ear, yelping as her tail caught the soft skin and whimpering a little. She quietened quickly nonetheless; snarling, she turned on Breakneck with her ears flattened and bit out, "Shut up! Just because they're not jumping on you."

"Oh, ah'm sorry," he replied, trying to cover up his smile as best he could. It didn't go very well, but Blue couldn't see through the crowd of elephants which were now sat on his muzzle, trumpeting away. "Well, ya jus' stay here an'... Jus' go ta sleep. Or somethin'."

"Sleep?" Blue huffed as she jumped up, dancing on the spot as tiny pink elephants ran under her feet. She gasped as she looked around, whimpering as pebbles crumbled from the rocky caves, raining down around her in a tidal wave of rock. They shattered as they landed, morphing into tiny chickens which squaked and flapped about; Blue shrieked, hurtling up into the air with a single flap of her wings, pain coursing through her body as she crashed back into the ground, pink elephants and pebble chickens having a field day atop her back. Breakneck only snorted a little, finding the whole situation amusing.

"Ya could explore a bit, if ya'd like?" Breakneck suggested, nodding to the back end of the cave which was actually a tunnel, something which Blue, preoccupied with the pesky swarm of things around her, hadn't noticed. She huffed as she stood up, giving a small buck in frustration as the elephants stopped their trumpeting, whispering in sync to the mare.

"You don't have to listen to hiiiiim... You can do what you liiiiiiike..."

Blue shook her head, flattening her ears as if she could block out the sound. "Can't I just go with you?" she begged, pouting a little. "These creepy things bug me an- Hey! Hey, it's eating your nose! Breakneck, there's an elephant eating your nose!"

"Oh, really?" The stallion raised his hoof to his muzzle, brushing away whatever critter was supposedly eating him. In some ways, he didn't want Blue to get over the hallucinations; they were pretty funny. "Better?"

"Y-yeah. You know, you should really act faster." Blue frowned just as something small tugged at her tail; she yelped and shook her entire body, flapping her wings warningly. "Why you little- Argh! Argh! Stupid... things! Breakneck, I can't stay here! Let's go, c'mon-"

"Wait! Woah, woah. Ya can't come with me!" he barked, ears flattening a bit at Blue's comment as he snorted a little. Watching her face fall, though, he quickly tried to amend the situation. "No, Ah didn't  mean it like tha'! Jus'... Well, Ah'm a sprinter, Blue. If ya came ya'd slow me down. If ta stay here an'... Scout fer weapons or somethin', Ah can run back ta Pumpkin's real quick, grab ma caravan an' be back in a jiffy."

"What? I could keep up with you!" Shaking her leg as an elephant—were they growing?—wrapped it's trunk around her hoof, she groaned and galloped to the side of the cave, snarling at the crazy creatures, yelping as a chicken pecked her relentlessly. "Look! They're eating me!"

Breakneck sighed as he slowly inched back to the entrance to the cave. "Look, jus' go ta sleep, find a ledge or somethin', or jus' run down through the cave. But mind out for any... Mad bats or... Yeah. Jus' run down there, ya'll lose your..." He waved his hoof around the room at Blue's supposed army of tiny creatures. "Friends."

Spinning before Blue could say another word, he crept out through the fairly small entrance to the tunnel, leaving the mare alone. She whimpered as she watched him go, dashing after him as soon as his unnerving tails had disappeared, scampering through the crowd of elephants and chickens and, a new addition, tiny little humpback whales. Rushing outside, she gritted her teeth against the sudden rush of wind—where had that come from?—and looked around quickly, but could find no sign of him; the light half of the world held no clues, and the darker side was near impenetrable to see through.

Trying not to scream, Blue hurried to retreat back into the 'crowded' cave, suddenly afraid. Jot for Breakneck's sake—he was a big boy, he could take care of himself—but for her own sake; she'd been out here for perhaps a week, during which time she'd done next to nothing except newrly die, only ever saved by her companion. Now on her own, even if not for long as Breakneck had promised... Wimpish as she was, she couldn't cope with that.

Looking around the cave, she frowned when she noticed the sudden lack of creatures surrounding her, her heart dropping even more; not being able to understand was hardly good for her confidence. A moment later, she felt her eyes become heavy, drooping; the earth shook and shuddered beneath her hooves and the rocky floor cracked; thick red lava, icy cold to such an extent that it even burned her skin, seeped up through the gap, filling the cave rapidly. Blue gasped and opened her wings, flying upwards as the liquid chased her, her heart pounding as her lungs burned for some reason or other. She screamed, though no sound came, as she felt something hot and sticky trickling down her cheeks, her eyes bloodied and agonising, her vision nothing but red. Writhing, she tried to yell once again as wicked claws reached out from the  walls, grabbing at her mane and tail and fur, yanking without mercy, pulling out thick clumps of hair and fur, letting it fall down into the liquid, surrounding the mare's now bare body with bloodied, torturously scratchy matter. And, just as she couldn't picture it getting any worse, the freezing lava rose up higher, scalding her raw, hairless skin and covering her head, the liquid flooding her lungs, destroying her throat and, at long last, allowing her to simply let go.

Old Wounds

Celestia's long-forgotten sun was shining ever brightly in its half of the sky, contesting with the boldly glowing moon for dominance like two stags in rut, unrelenting. Warm rays filtered in through the dome of magical energy and shrouded the city of Canterlot—the western side, at least—in a blanket of summery weather, despite the Hearthswarming holly which brightened up the streets. Indeed, after a long year of working hard, the relief which came the first day the holly—magical plants, for sure—grew was such an incredible gift. Canterlot never stopped; it was its own miniature kingdom in essence and as such had to be self-reliant. It couldn't afford a break more than once a year—or twice on those oh-so-precious leap years.

Technically, the day was young—not that morning and evening existed anymore, the princesses being much too busy to fulfil their proper duties—but one mare, a pale orange pegasus, was already out and about, her bright purple eyes bleary and still full of sleep. She trotted through the streets with little energy, hooves scuffing against the cold cobble roads, her only motivation the thought of what potential the day held.

Shrugging off the displeasuring feelings which arose as she left the bright streets of the main city, illuminated by the sun, she slowed herself to a walk and tried to remain more alert as she made her way through the alley. It was rarely used these days—ponies had no need of it, for it led to nothing but a brick wall—but the mare was curious. She’d heard that there were buildings on the other side, but there was no reason to scout them out. They were old and dilapidated and, more significantly, less than ten metres from the dome. Few ponies were foolish enough—not even the so called ‘cool’ daredevils—to go near to it, knowing full well that on the opposite side was an infected world.

Tales of the PLAGUE were horrifying. Nopony wanted to risk getting it—even coming close to the outside world where it had ravaged everything, despite the protection of the princess’ health bubble,  seemed extreme.

But the orange mare, similarly to a few others, didn’t see things that way. In her eyes, those old, crumbling wrecks which were once towering buildings held potential; for all she knew, they could contain the cure for the PLAGUE, and as a scientist—or so she had become known, for her talent was really making potions—it was a risk worth taking.

Flying over the wall with steady rhythm, it being a favourite past-time of the mare—though by no means a talent—she landed and looked around herself slowly, eyes still not fully adjusted to the darkness. Trying not to turn back—her cozy cottage was certainly calling her now—she pushed on, picking up a shaky gallop as she progressed towards the largest building, an old pet store, and her main goal.

C’mon, Mocha! she thought, trying to get her ears to stand upright, but with little success; they remained clamped to her neck despite her best efforts. You stupid foal! There’s nothing to worry about; it’s just a little dark!

Desperately wishing that she was a unicorn and could use magic to make some light, the mare—Mocha—pressed on, tearing as quickly as she could across the barren land. The grass here was all dry and dead, the precious clouds made by the pegasi not to be wasted in this uncertain area; water, as everything in Canterlot, was a commodity; greediness was not allowed. That wasn’t to say things were perfect—there was still the divide between the ‘valuable’ workers, such as the scientists, and the lesser ponies, such as the farmers and bakers who, though vital to the running of the city, were in much greater supply.  And then, at the very bottom, were those deemed almost completely unnecessary; the artists, the writers, the sports ponies. Those whose sole purpose was to motivate others, something not considered all that useful when everypony else didn’t have much time to spare. Sure, there were a few hours each day dedicated to resting, but it was barely enough time to pick up a good book, or to commission a painting. And watching a hoofball game… Well, to be able to go to one of those would be a treat indeed; only on the rare days off, which had to be earned rather than just given, could any pony get a chance to see the spectacle.

Reaching the shell of the building thankfully only a minute later, Mocha rushed inside, the door having already fallen down, and desperately searched for a light switch. Finding none, she began rummaging around through old cupboards and across broken shelves, eventually coming across an old box of matches.

Grinning, the mare quickly lit a match and grabbed an old, fractured piece of wood, dry from years without being used, and set it alight quickly, holding it in her teeth—with much trepidation, it should be noted—and looking around herself to get her bearings. The first room was a grim sight indeed; cages lined the room, some large and others small, and on closer inspection, were filled with bones, surely from poor animals left to starve.

Mocha tried not to throw up and quickly trotted out of the main room, heading into a long corridor on the left also filled with cages, smaller ones this time. Closing her eyes, she galloped past them all once more, no smell reaching her nose thankfully—it had been much too long for that—and rushed into the next room, thankfully free from all the remains, and she hastened to close the rusty old door which swung on only one hinge, the other having fallen off.

Scanning this second room, Mocha sighed as she walked on unsteady hooves over to a table on the left side, transferring her ‘torch’ to a hoof and sitting down at an old, cobweb-covered chair. Nuzzling through the paperwork on the right of the table, the left being completely buried in wreckage and rubble from the caved in roof, the mare forgot her previous goals and instead becoming overwhelmed with curiosity. Taking a few seconds to scan each page, the orange pegasus finally laid eyes upon one especially intriguing document at the very bottom of the mess. She picked it up with her free hoof and held it closer to her face where the light of the flame was brightest.

The mare read the document quickly, skimming over the words as her heart rate increased with each passing second, the information surprisingly relevant to her cause. Every line she read was more and more important, clues for the final eradication of the PLAGUE rushing through her mind. The knowledge, the sick and twisted details here, were—

“It’s not nice to break in, you know, little pegasus.”

A deep voice cut through the near silence of the room, previously only broken by the crackling of the flames, and Mocha’s grip on the torch slackened, the burning wood falling to the equally dry floor. Yelping, the mare then jerked her head up, finding a unicorn stood just next to the hole in the roof, his horn glowing green. Through the increasingly bright light of the flames around her, Mocha could just make out his features; pale yellow fur, somewhat similar to the shade of her own, and a white mane, striped with red.

Flames licked at Mocha’s hooves and she quickly jumped up into the air, flying as high as she could, though she dared not approach the stallion. Wincing as she heard the small click of a lock, she resorted to looking around herself for an escape route, finding none of much value.

“Mocha Remedy, isn’t it?” the stallion continued, seemingly unbothered by the flames. “Scientist, right?”

“Potion pony.” Mocha snarled back, flying a little higher as she felt her hooves begin to get scorched, her blue tail nearly catching alight. The flames crackled beneath her, reaching up for their prey.

“Ah, yes. It’s a shame you had to stumble here, isn’t it? I suppose you know the cure to the PLAGUE now, too?”

“Yes, now… W-will you let me go? I’d rather not be burned alive.” Mocha shifted a little closer to the stallion as the flames began devouring the room but, to her surprise, the unicorn simply stepped aside.

“Certainly,” he replied, a grin on his face. Mocha felt her heart sink as she saw it; still, that was nothing compared to the now blazing room which would surely consume her soon. She could already hear the old walls cracking, and the smoke had begun to sting her eyes and fill up her lungs. Her rear hoof was throbbing, too, surely burned—though she couldn’t tell for sure, her nerves probably severed by now.

Taking a breath, Mocha flew upwards as fast as she could, relief coursing through her body as she escaped the flames with little more than the burn on her hoof, something which she could easily cure—and then, all of a sudden, her body stopped worked. A green aura surrounded her, and she felt herself be dragged back to the burning building.

“There. You went—and I captured you.” The stallion grinned and turned slightly to the side as flames began to creep up on him; to Mocha’s sadness, he wasn’t consumed by them, jumping down from the roof as if practiced in doing so. “I can’t have you spilling my family’s shameful secret now, can I?” He grinned even wider as Mocha felt her body suddenly become cold, noticing quickly that some sticky red liquid—not blood, but something else—was rising from a crack in the earth. It was at that point that she noticed the stallion’s cutie mark; a volcano, strangely surrounded by blocks of ice.

Unable to fight the magic, Mocha felt her mind go into turmoil as she was lowered by the stallion's power, her body suddenly plunged into the liquid and she screamed, or at least tried to, but with no success. The red matter, though freezing, somehow burned her skin and made her writhe mentally; in reality her body remained still, ensnared by the aura. The freezing lava filled her lungs, scorched her from the inside out… And then, just as she thought she was about to pass out, she was relieved from the torture somewhat, pulled out of the freezing lava-like substance and simply held in midair.

“You'll heal quickly, don't worry. A few days should be all it takes. And... one more thing. Please, enjoy your exile.” The stallion's eyes narrowed, then he dipped Mocha’s hoof once more into the liquid; she tried to scream, but again it was no good. Her body did not respond to her commands, but at the very least it passed out and gave her the respite she so needed.

Blue's eyes opened shockingly fast, the light of the world making her gasp. She looked around herself, finding that she was still in the same cave she'd been in before, the one where she'd been burned alive with freezing lava, just as the mare she'd just seen had been. Scanning her own body, however, Blue found no sign of damage, none of the marks that had been left on the orange pegasus' body.

"What the-" She began to speak, but was cut off as a loud yell of aggravation met her ears, and she stood immediately, not even remotely sore. Shaking off the puzzlement—and, she couldn't lie, the inkling of fear at what she'd seen—she galloped out of the cave, completely ignoring Breakneck's commands to stay put.

She'd been a burden for him before; now she would save him, and pay back the debt that she owed.

Not So Free

Blue had expected there to be a fight of sorts. She was ready to find that it it had been between Breakneck and a bunch of mad'uns, or maybe the facility ponies who had stalked the two of them earlier. She was even half prepared to see some mutated slug attacking him—in this messed up world, it was surely possible. However, she hadn't planned for the chaotic sight that she found before her eyes; a large mass of ponies, mares and stallions, colts and fillies alike, stood in a large circle around Breakneck, ears lowered, hissing. A couple were laying on the ground already, unblinking eyes wide and mouths opened in a slight 'o' shape, their chests pierced and bloodied, their fur stained. One particularly young colt—poor thing—lay just a few metres from Blue, his expression matching the others'.

Backing up to the foal slowly, keeping a close eye on the other ponies—though they were all much too focused on Breakneck to spare her a second glance—she froze as her hoof brushed against the warm skin of the boy. Spinning around with as much confidence as she could muster, she sighed when she saw that he wasn't attacing; he was, indeed, dead.

On closer inspection, however, there seemed to be something off. His body was twitching every now and then, and not a small twitch but a sudden, jerking movement, more significant than Blue could imagine would be the case for a normal dead creature. His eyes, too, seemed to move randomly at times, but he made no attempts at all to strike out. Nor did he blink or breath; his limbs simply lurched about, his actions like some broken robot's programming.

The sky above was overcast now, thick, impenetrable clouds having gathered in mere minutes. A curious thought occurred to Blue as she momentarily pondered whether or not pegasi controlled the weather—why she thought that, she wasn't sure, for she couldn't remember ever being told such a thing—but she quickly brushed the random and irrelevant thought off, focusing instead on the horror that the wind suddenly unveiled. The colt's forelock, previously draped across his forehead, had brushed aside and come to rest behind his ear, revealing a shocking sight indeed just behind his horn; a gaping hole showed bone and brain, out of which a small wire extended, coming to end in a sort of memory chip fused his partly exposed skull.

Blue stumbled back with only a tiny, cut off yelp, the sound being quiet enough to not attract any extra attention; as she watched from the corner of her eye, she saw the memory chip spark a little just as the colt's body spammed once more, and in that moment, her heart almost stopped.

Just behind the colt's front leg, somewhat hidden under his stomach, lay a small, priceless pistol.

Reaching forwards with a trembling hoof, Blue gripped the weapon tightly and drew it back, pulling it to her chest and studying it closely. It was a unicorn's weapon for certain—there was no support inbuilt for a pony incapable of using magic to hold such an object—but it seemed to be working, at the very least. A little small and rusty, perhaps, but a gun nonetheless—and a weapon of great worth and danger in Equestria. That thought alone nearly made Blue's grip on it slip; still, she fumbled to keep hold of it, taking it into her mouth as she spun back to watch the living ponies attacking her poor friend, stuck in the epicentre.

The great mob was an intimidating force; only now did Blue recognise the sheer immensity of the herd of ponies. Some were weak and frail, others strong and bulky; even so, they were more than a match for a single pegasus pony and a wingless mutant stallion.

Her legs collapsing under herself, Blue stretched out her wings and tightened her grip on the gun in her mouth, leaping up into the air and beating up into the sky with as much force as she could muster. She winced as her neck and thigh throbbed at the sudden movement, the wounds screaming and making her vision blur—she had to find some way to get over that—but she pushed on all the same, tears blurring her vision as she flew ever higher.

Coming to a stop about fifty metres above the ground, gasping for breath and shaking in pain, her old bandages having fallen off and exposing her sore wounds which were bleeding slightly as the healing skin tore again, Blue looked down and gritted her teeth, scowling. She couldn't tell for sure, but all the ponies whose forelocks exposed their heads seemed to be the same as the colt;  hooked up to a memory chip, their brains bulging inside their skulls.

It hadn't been so bad on the colt; most of his bloodied head was hidden. But the herd, with the collective mass of redness, was too much for her to handle. Crying out, she felt herself begin to lose the altitude she'd worked so hard to attain, plummeting towards the masses with sickening speed. Cursing the stars for the cruel fate that had been bestowed upon her, especially the parts which detailed her complete incapability to do anything at all useful, she beat her wings faster than before, her neck straining to reach up into the sky, however to no avail; she simply ended up hovering in place.

I've got to work on my flying, Blue thought to herself as she spun around, continuously beating her wings as fast as she could without breaking the fragile bones—she hardly needed any more handicaps—and gritted her teeth after spitting out the gun into her hooves. Looking at the contraption studiously,  she frowned as she held it in her hoof, sniffing it a little. There was a small trigger, though it was no where near a big enough gap to fit her hoof into to press it down.

Looking down at the herd again, she gasped as she saw the ponies advancing rapidly on Breakneck. He was strong, to be sure—with those lethal tails and ears of his, he'd been able to hit most of the ponies off of him, many laying unmoving in an increasingly large group in the circle of space around him—but even he couldn't hold that many off. It took only a few seconds before one of them managed to land on his back; within ten, a second had made a move.

Come on, Blue, come on! the mare instructed herself, tossing her head at the situation before her. It wasn't until she began to even try to work out a plan, though, that she realised how futile anything she could do would be. She couldn't take out a whole army of... Whatever these ponies were. They definitely weren't normal, to say the least—they hadn't even noticed her in all that time, and she'd hardly been quiet—but didn't quite seem as irrational as mad'uns, either. Focus, girl! Just take out the close ones, just the close ones.

Raising the gun to her mouth with a hoof, Blue made an attempt to steady herself and take aim, aligning the gun's marker with one brute of a stallion about to make a move on Breakneck. Grappling around with her tongue, she then tried to hold the pistol steady as she pulled back on the trigger awkwardl, barely  able to find the strength in it to do so; other than her wing, perhaps, it was the only muscle that she had use of that could fit through the small hole.

The rusty bullet fired eventually, but in the kerfuffle Blue's aim had shifted and it now veered towards the wrong ponies, a little further away than Breakneck than she would have liked; the close ones were the issue here. As she reloaded the gun with much difficulty and retired, sending a second projectile hurtling downwards. This one was still shamefully off course, but it's aim was truer. It smashed against the side of a filly, but the creature barely flinched as she continued to move towards her prey, despite the hole which ran through her chest. From the blood which suddenly rose to stain her coat—Blue had to focus her attention elsewhere, to say the least—she would go down soon. But for now, she was just like the rest of them. As if they were one big, completely synchronised unit. With one brain.

It was as Blue was reloading her gun for the second time that she noticed something odd down below; pausing, she angled herself back downwards and watched, looking on in horror as the two ponies she'd shot suddenly burst into flames, bellowing as they ran around, the grass beneath their feet catching light as they went, twitching and going like a robot short-circuited. The remaining ponies, however, barely flinched; a few made strange, seemingly involuntary movements now and then, but until they too caught on fire they simply continued their attack.

"Buck!" Breakneck, not immune to the knowledge that flames could kill—information his attackers seemed to miss—leaped up onto his rear hooves and wobbled on the spot, trying to avoid the flames as best he could. They licked at his feet, scorching them gently and making the metal of his horseshoes sear the skin they covered over. "Blue, help me! Please!"

Never before had Blue heard the stallion ask for help so openly, he being most often a lone wolf, taking his troubles in his stride. But now that he was calling for help, when she'd always wished to do more before, who was she to leave him there? At any rate, after seeing that strange mare's troubles too—though whether the scene had been real or simply an imagination, she knew not—she couldn't let any pony else she called a friend go through the pain and terror. She even felt bad for the mad'uns—but they were not her problem to fix. She couldn't save everypony.

Stopping her flapping as she held the gun in her mouth once more, Blue let herself dive, suddenly feeling the exhilaration which always came with doing so—perhaps she was a weak flyer, but she could pull off a decent dive.

"Breakneck!" she cried as she stretched out her hoof, preparing to reach him; flames and ponies, only now noticing her, attacked her underbelly, the scratches from the wolves which had barely healed reopening and dribbling a little blood down onto her attackers. She let out a cry as hooves, seemingly sharp and hard as a diamond sword, tore up her soft, healing skin with the help of the fires; closing her eyes slightly as she felt tears beginning to form—she had to be strong, she could not cry—she reached down for her companion and grinned as he felt his hoof meet hers. Her pained smile fell when she felt herself struggling to stay in the air.

"Jump, Breakneck!" she instructed, flapping with all her might to pull him away from his attackers, of whom the majority, by now, were galloping around in a frenzy, twitching and spasming as they lashed out. Only a few remained vigilant in their quest, one of whom, Blue realised with shocking clarity, was the old professor for amnesiacs at the facility. The one who had been taken in for an "electric test" two years ago.

Blue looked away quickly, but by now her mind was incredibly active; in fact, she recognised at least a quarter of these ponies. And, incredibly, they had all been sent to 'test room X' after the electric test—supposedly to die.

Had RipEar been wrong in his claims?

Brushing off the thought of her old ally, Blue tried—at great cost, for it was no easy feat—to return her focus to her current friend. The one who would surely be torn to shreds just as the first had if she didn't act soon.

"I can't pull you up, help me out here!" she cried, straining as she tried to lift him up. He was a muscular stallion and, as such, was hardly featherweight.

Breakneck let his weight shift onto his haunches for a second as Blue felt herself being jerked downwards before he sprung, launching off of strong rear legs as hard as was possible. It was enough, at least, to help a little; the momentum allowed the mare to power upwards as best as she could, granting her the opportunity to gain at least ten metres of height. Not much, perhaps, but it was just enough to get the two away from the herd who were now all aflame. Many had surely died—though they were supposed to have already perished.

Using the fairly feeble thermals to glide, her wings now burning from the exertion, Blue tried her best to maintain a reasonable height, flapping occasionally with as much force as she could summon to raise a tiny amount of elevation. Still, it wasn't long before she began to fall, Breakneck still holding her hoof, the wind currents not strong enough to maintain the flight of one pony, let alone two. The pair crashed down to the ground about twenty five metres away from the herd, and the mare simply collapsed.

Blue sighed a little as she felt Breakneck reaching his head under her limp body, lifting her up onto his back, thankfully missing her with those poisonous ear tips of his. The scales on his neck, of course, were rough, sharp and uncomfortable; still, given how exhausted she now felt, Blue could hardly care.

"C'mon. We've gotta go; Ah'm gon' get ma caravan, then we'll be off. Yeah?"

"No, Breakneck," Blue murmured, her eyes closing. "We can't go back for it; the facility guys'll be waiting."

"Ah'm sorry, Blue, but-" Breakneck trailed off as he suddenly rose his head to the sky, a droplet of water landing on his nose. "Ugh. It's rainin' now. We'd better go quickly an'..." The stallion, ignoring the complaints of the mare now sat on his back, began to trot back in the direction of Pumpkin Surprise's house; a moment later, he found himself trapped in a powerful blue aura, unable to move but, strange, capable of strained speech. "Blue, wha's goin' on?"

"How would I know?" the mare bit back in an equally forced voice, her eyes glistening as she looked around. "Can you break it?"

"Nah, it's too strong." he replied, trying without succeed to move a foot. However, his hoof simply wouldn't move past the constraints of the magic. "Must be some powerful unicorn or somethin'."

The rain fell ever harder as a gently, feminine voice sounded somewhere nearby. Unable to turn their heads, however, neither Blue nor Breakneck could see who it came from. Even when the mare stepped forwards it was hard to see her; somehow she seemed to blend into the shadows of the night world, though the area where she stood was not particularly dark.

"Close, child." she said, bowing her head slightly to reveal a long horn, glowing blue. She stepped forwards slowly, as if afraid the sun would hurt her; faltering for a moment, she then pushed on and the shadows cloaking her fell, revealing a tall, slender mare with a coat of navy and a flowing mane of blue, with a set of wings to boot. Behind her horn a small, black crown rested. "I'm an alicorn, though you did not know who I was before. So I think I can excuse your mistaking me."

The aura fell from Breakneck and Blue and the two collapsed in a heap on top of each other, however they made no move to get off as they simply gawked at the pony before them.

"Oh, I have no doubts as to your thoughts. You are wondering why I am here, are you not?" Upon receiving no reply from the two ponies before her, Luna gave a small giggle. "Of course you are, every pony wonders the same. And I shall tell you; it is, quite simply, my day off. My night guard took over keeping up Canterlot's health bubble for today, while my sister and her mate rest, so I am free to do as I please. And I quite enjoy coming out here for a breath of... well, almost fresh air every once in a while. I've got a health bubble of my own, you see. It's just so dull living in Canterlot."

The alicorn paused before she winced a little, gently rubbing her forehead, and then she glanced towards where the herd was, every single one now frozen. The rain had extinguished the flames; it had also left everypony absolutely soaked through. "Mind you, keeping them frozen for you is rather tiring, so I may return home in a minute. But I have a matter at hoof to deal with first..."

Opening her wing, Luna smiled as she exposed a small, sleeping filly. It was unlike most fillies Blue had ever seen, though; with a horn as long as its body and folded wings of larger scale than even a griffon's, she was quite the sight.

"She's not my foal, before you ask." Luna piped up, before using her magic to hover her over to the pair. Placing the filly down on the now-swamplike floor of mud, the torrential rain still pouring unrelentingly, she sighed. "Found the poor thing abandoned by her parents. Pegacorns... They don't make great mothers or fathers." She sighed as she stepped backwards a little, closing her wings again. "I have a deal to make for you. I hate to see this poor thing alone, but she'll grow quickly with love and food, and you, young mare, remind me of a pony I once knew, so I have faith that you will do your best. Pegacorns are, I suppose, like changelings, in that the grow so fast with a little nurturing. And once she's grown, she'll be a loyal guard; a benefit to your team, I am sure."

Blue was silent for a minute before she clambered off of Breakneck, nudging the thing with her muzzle. Poor filly looked like a drowned rat by now. "You said a deal. You're landing this foal on us; you need to now give us something."

Luna's eyes widened momentarily before she smiled. "I forget how strong you can be at times, little one," she said, making Blue frown. The alicorn, however didn't see this. "Having a strong addition to your team is not good enough?"

Breakneck mumbled a little, looking away from the princess; Blue only stood taller, not even considering how improper she was being. "No."

"I see. Well, I expected as much; thus, I will help you escape this situation. You cannot return to your caravan, dear stallion. There are ponies there waiting for you; they will kill you. I will not allow another innocent die while I can stop it. So, you have two options; take the filly and go, and I will protect you from this herd of ponies. They're little better than robots now, but that's besides the point. Or you can leave the filly and go, but face the herd on your own; but I will not permit you to return to your caravan."

"But-" Breakneck began to speak in a small, quiet voice as he tucked his tails between his legs.

"No, little pony. You have your options; you must pick one."

Breakneck looked longingly in the direction he'd been headed, his vision obscured by the rain. In his place, Blue stepped forwards, picking up the filly in her mouth—careful to avoid touching the mud—and nodding.

"Ee'll 'ake 'er," she said and Luna laughed at her incapability to speak with the filly in her mouth, though she quickly stopped as she raised a hoof to her head.

"Ow," she moaned, but tried to smile. To give her her due, it was hard to smile when everything was so wet and miserable; even Luna's hair had stopped flowing, now just plastered to her neck. "Thank you, my ponies. Now, please, get going; I can keep the herd frozen long enough for you to escape, but I think I may lose control not long after, so you had better get going." She paused for a moment before closing her eyes, her horn glowing even brighter as a small, brown saddlebag materialised and floated down to Breakneck's back. "Put the filly in there, if you'd like. There are two vials of potion, too, made years ago by Canterlot's best potion pony. They'll heal you right up—or, mostly, at least."

Blue paused for a minute, frowning. "Not Mocha Remedy, surely?" she asked, and Luna raised a hoof in surprise as she began to usher her two subjects away.

"Yes, the very same. Now get going; I won't tell you again." Princess Luna fell to the floor, laying in the mud with her fur plastered to her side, her eyes steely as she nodded, levitating a rock and hurling it towards Blue and Breakneck as if to say, shoo.

And, with one final look at their princess, the two ponies ran.

Plans

Blue and Breakneck galloped as fast as their legs could carry them, travelling in near-silence as the sound of their rapid hoofbeats was muffled by the soft sandy ground beneath them. Both moved with evident limps and hops, their aggravated wounds flaring up with every step the ponies placed down, almost making it look as if  they were bucking every other step. Blue ran especially poorly, not so experienced in ignoring the pain as the stallion was.

As the pair—trio counting the new filly—continued to travel the downwards slope of the hill, having met the mob of ponies somewhere near the peak, the ground slowly began to harden out a little, an old gravel track just about discernible under the mass of writhing plants which had, over the years, grown up through. Flowers of captivatingly bright colours and enthralling scents sprung up around the edges, left untouched and mostly undamaged by the effects of the PLAGUE; if anything, they seemed to be even more lovely. However, trying to travel along the centre of the track was all but impossible; having grown out of the gravel, towering flora grew, some taller than the ponies and others small but deadly. Their heads swayed back and forth, some with leaves which reached out to attack the approachers, others' petals opening up to reveal a full mouth of sword-sharp teeth, and a few even spat acid, fire or molten metal if one were to step too close.

"Argh!" Blue yelped as she jumped away from one particularly vicious vine-like plant which ensnared her hoof, trying to drag her to the gaping hole in its  stem which could, perhaps, be described as some form of mouth. Flying up with uncooperative, stiff movements—she had to work on her wing muscles—she was just able to snap away from the 'limb' before she fell back down to the ground, smashing her muzzle as she landed. Breakneck spun around, his eyes narrowed at her.

"What kind of pegasus are you?" he snapped, stopping and pawing at the ground a little. His saddlebags rustled a little as he did so and the little filly poked her head out of the corner, looking around and yawning, her ruthless horn scratching at his neck and making him buck a little. He snorted once he recovered from the shock, turning away and trotting off, not bothering that he almost shocked the poor foal out of her mind in doing so.

"Hey! Hey!" Blue shook her head, her mane flying through the air, and she tried to ignore the burning of her muscles and began to gallop forwards, skidding to a stop before the stallion and standing as tall as she could, nipping at him as he tried to pass. Flattening her ears, she growled a little. "Snap out of it, Breakneck! You're gonna kill the poor thing!" Walking around to his side and bucking his leg with only a little force, more of a warning that anything, she glared at him and lowered her head down to his stomach—he, of course, stiffened up immediately, though Blue didn't notice this—and undid the buckle under his stomach, dragging it off of his back with a groan and placing it down onto her own, using her wings to tighten the strap.

"Wait, wha' are ya doin'?" Breakneck asked before he ran to the mare's side. "The princess gave 'em to me!"

"Tough." Blue's eyes glinted as she stole a momentary glance at Breakneck and then jerked her head away, walking off. The stallion couldn't help but notice how her tail was very slightly flagged; he immediately gulped a little as she continued to speak. "You had your chance, it's mine now."

Breakneck walked forwards briskly, coming up to Blue's side fairly quickly. "But-" he began, though he immediately faltered when he saw the mare's glare and shrunk back a bit, his tails suddenly clamped, his ears flat back and his legs splayed out a little. Blue snorted a little at the action and then began to trot off, head held high in the air, and the stallion followed after her quietly, increasingly aware of her still flagged tail.

Damn, tha' mare's strange, he thought as he tried to control his excitement at the sight of the her as she walked along before him, and he suddenly became aware of the slight swaying of her hips as she did so and the way her tail swished from side to side. Pushing those thoughts away, he tried to focus instead on the plants that were trying to eat him—but it was no was no easy feat. Wimpish one minute an' buckin' scary the next!

"Ah... Ah'm sorry, Blue," he mumbled, looking away in shame. Oh, Celestia, it hurt his pride to do so; nevertheless it would hurt him even more if the mare went away, given that she was stronger now and at least somewhat capable of caring for herself, especially if she could get that little gun to work properly for her...

"What?" Blue snapped, stopping and spinning around, making Breakneck cower away from her. He could survive PLAGUE Equestria, sure, but seeing that look on the mare's face... It hurt—it hurt big time. Never had he been able to deal with what other ponies thought of him, or rather, when they looked at him with repulsion and loathing;  the hatred that so many ponies gave him simply for his mutations. He couldn't blame them, of course; were he in their hooves, he would probably be terrified too.

But that didn't make the pain any lesser.

"Ah'm sorry, Blue," he said, walking in an arc away from her, careful to keep his distance; mares were unpredictable in summer, that much he knew. He wasn't sure what he was really apologising for, to be honest—in truth, he couldn't help but feel that that it should be she who was begging his pardon for forcing him to leave his caravan, the only link he had to his mother and grandmother, behind—but he wasn't foolish enough to lose his one friend by being proud.

He could have a go at her later anyway, when she cooled off a little.

"Well, you should be!" Blue snapped, hightailing off as she trotted gracefully, the saddlebags barely bouncing at all atop her back and the little filly, whose head was still poking out, dozed soundly, a little bubble blowing in and out of her nose. "Now, come on; we've gotta get going. Before those facility creeps catch us up again."

Breakneck cantered a few paces forwards and snorted as he felt his hoof land down upon a sharp pebble, even his metal shoes not enough to stop the pain. Still, he limped onwards, not complaining; he was such a pathetic excuse for a stallion, but his desperation was such that he had no choice but to take the chagrin. He couldn't go another ten years without any pony else to talk to.

"What was with them ponies, anyway?" he asked, flinching away at the mare's expression. Damn, she's crazier than ever!

"I don't know," Blue hissed, but then for a moment, she stopped and lifted her hoof very slightly off of the ground. Her head lowered as her ears fell back, a sigh escaping her mouth; a second later, she straightened up and tried to walk onwards, though a few tears darkened the fur on her cheeks. "But... I recognise them. They were all sent off to test room X... That was where they supposedly k-killed all the rejects, back in the facility."

"What are ya—ow!—sayin'?"

"Oi! Don't interrupt me!" The mare stomped her hoof and tossed her head a little, snorting at him. "I was getting to that. All the ponies... They had some kind of... Memory card-y thing stuck in their heads. Didn't you notice? It was bloody and disgusting."

"Ah was kinda busy fightin' em off. But Ah did see tha' they had great big holes in their heads. Course, tha' was kinda hard ta miss."

"Well, anyway, I think... I think they were like robots. Being controlled by those memory chips; sort of like an army of zombies, but they don't think for themselves."

"Ah... Ah guess tha' makes sense."

"Good, now be quiet. My head's pounding!" Blue snorted and then walked a little more briskly, but she paused not long after, turning to the stallion with softer eyes. Breakneck could only jump backwards a little, unsure if she was trying to trick him or whether she was being genuinely nice. Landing awkwardly on his impaled hoof, he yelped and fell to the ground, grunting.

Blue trotted up to him and used a wing to help him to his feet, smiling gently as if she hadn't been grumbling at him just the second before. "You don't have any weapons now, do you?"

"Nah. They're all in mah caravan, remember!" Breakneck glared as he pushed Blue off before he yelped, dropping his head and laying down his ears. "Ah'm... Blue, A'hm sorry!"

"No, no, it's alright." Blue whispered, lending him a hoof and nuzzling his cheek gently; Breakneck backed up once again as he whimpered, looking away pointedly. "Now, you said before that there's a mad'un base at the bottom of this hill, right?"

Breakneck nodded once, still refusing to look at her. Damned mood swings! he cursed inside his head, gritting his teeth.

"Well, that's good, then. I'll bet they'll have a stash of weapons!" She reared up slightly, whinnying excitedly. "Come on, let's go!"

Blue galloped off immediately, not even waiting for the stallion to say anything; Breakneck remained frozen, groaning as he walked after her with his head dragging along the ground, his tails brushing through the dirt as he wondered bitterly whether it would ever be worth it; maybe the silence would be easier to deal with than this crazy mare.

But then he watched Blue running off, suddenly incredibly excited, and he sighed, trotting after her slowly.

Annoying as she was, he couldn't do that. She was a lovable featherbrain, really.

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