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.