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. Next Chapter: A Little Cup of Tea Please? Estimated time remaining: 56 Minutes