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! Next Chapter: Life In A Mad World Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 54 Minutes