I looked back over my shoulder at Aiko, but she looked like she was concentrating on something super serious, so I left her alone and pulled myself up to just behind Ground's ears. "Hey there." One of her ears twitched back towards me, so I knew she was listening. "It's okay if you don't say a lot. One of my friends back home, his name's Big Mac. He doesn't say much, but he's a smart cookie too! Trustworthy, dependable, and beside this one time, pretty reliable to make down to earth decisions." I patted her neck gently even as we sailed across the city scape. "So don't think talking's required to be part of the cool ponies, because you already are, um, cool that is."

Ground grunted softly. "I... talked..." She glanced back over her shoulder. "Horse... took... words."

I lifted my shoulders. "Well, sure, I guess getting slower like that is pretty bad, but you aren't alone. I heard a lot of new ponies can't even talk at all. Here you are debating the relative values of speech with an alien pony while galloping through the city. That's not so bad, is it?"

A deep rumble escaped from her. Oh, it was a giggle! "Pinkie... Thank you."

I threw myself at the back of her neck and gave her a nice big hug. "You're totally welcome! I bet a lot of ponies are super jealous of you, you know that?"

She slowed her steps and looked back at me. "Really? Why?"

Aiko hissed from the back. "Don't stop!"

With a sheepish look, Ground got back to her gallop. "Why?"

I spread my forehooves wide. "You're huge! You never had a dream, not once, of being big? You're super strong, and tough." I leaned in towards her left ear. "But you're gentle and nice. You're a good friend. You're... like the big sister! Like a really big sister!"

"Big..." Her head craned back and she tilted her head. "Up."

I looked up to see a funny thing. It was a pony, I think. It had the hoofsies of one, but had a thick tail more like Spike's, and these great big dragon wings coming out of its back, carrying it along. And it was coming right for us! Squinting, I could see it had fins along its head and neck, but it was still mostly pony? They were like Hiro, in a different kind of way. Dragonpony. It had green over its dragon parts, and purple over its pony parts. Its mane was kind of a mix of the two. Couldn't tell you what its eyes were, we weren't that close.

Aiko tapped at Ground gently. "Faster, please."

I wasn't sure Ground could go much faster. She didn't seem to want to be closer to that dragonpony, and they were getting closer. Oh! The dragonpony was a she. Now that she was closer, I could see she was shaped right. She shouted something, but we were too far away to hear her over the rushing wind of Ground's stomping gallop.

My seat, known as Ground, jolted as she made a sudden jump over a big car that looked like it was a huge tank itself. We came down hard on the other side and it was all I could do but to hold on tight. We were going a little too fast, maybe? I shouted that out at Ground, "Too fast! Slow down please!"

It wasn't like she was outpacing miss dragonpony anyway.

She swooped down towards us with a loud roar, her hooves spreading out. I was kinda glad she didn't have claws like Hiro did. I mean, really, if she wasn't so angry looking, she was actually kinda cute. Oh wait, she had teeth. Big sharp teeth.

Aiko stared up at the dragonpony while her wings gave fitful little flutters. Was she trying to balance herself? I struggled to climb towards her and grabbed her at the hips just before her wings went a little too wide and caught a bunch of air. Aiko squealed as she was pulled to the side, but I had a solid grip on her and held tight.

We both went over the edge just in time for a soft thump to bring my eyes back up to Ground's back. Miss dragonpony had joined us.

"Stop it!" she screamed. "Stop it! Right now!" She circled around me as I struggled to lift Aiko back up, just for the dragonpony to nip me right on my flank. "Stop it!" Stop what?! I wasn't doing anything, besides saving Aiko. She apparently didn't like the speed I was following her orders and tackled us.

Thankfully, Ground had started to slow, and Aiko took off with a fitful flap, moving to circle around us as Miss Dragonpony pinned me to Ground's back, belly up. "She's in my head! Get her out." She hissed at me before jumping off, moving for Aiko.

"Wait! We can talk this out." I jumped up to my hooves and called after her as I ran as far along Ground as I could.

Aiko spun mid-air to face her chaser. "Leave me alone!"

The dragonpony bared her teeth. "When you leave me alone!"

"I'm protecting my friends!"

The dragonpony thumped a hoof on her chest. "I'm protecting myself."

Aiko tilted her head a little. "Are you not feral?"

She looked confused. "Feral? What does that even mean?"

Aiko extended a hoof slowly. "We just want to find supplies, for other hungry ponies."

Miss Dragon frowned. "What about me? I don't deserve food?"

Ground turned around while they were talking and watched them a moment before she reached up and grabbed Miss Dragon suddenly by one of her wings. She squawked a mighty storm. "Let go! Let go let go! That hurts, you big stupid horse!"

That did looked like it hurt, with her wing being held in Ground's big mouth. I pointed down to the ground. "Put her down, Ground. She hasn't hurt anypony."

Ground grunted a word, lost to the wing in her mouth, then slowly set her catch down, just to put a hoof over Miss Dragon. "No fighting."

Aiko lowered to the ground in front of our new captive. "You'll be fed too, I was about to say. If we can have this conversation, you're the kind of pony we're looking for."

Miss Dragon went pouty and quiet a moment. "How can I trust you?"

Aiko reached with her wings and brushed them along Miss Dragon's cheeks. "You are obviously no normal pony. Neither am I. They call me a princess. Will you be my Countess?"

Miss Dragon blinked softly, looking shocked. "I have a name..."

Aiko nodded. "It is?"

She shrank back. "I don't remember it..."

Aiko gently ran a feathery wing over Miss Dragon's snout. "We understand that... You're still welcome. Will you take it?"

She flopped softly. "Why do you get to be the princess? I was here first. This isn't fair."

Aiko leaned in and touched her horn to Miss Dragon's forehead. "I accept you as one of my own, and call you Spitfire."

Spitfire tilted her head at Aiko one way, then slowly to the other. "Just like that?"

"Just like that." She smiled gently.

I hopped in beside them. "Time for a naming party!" I unleashed a load of confetti in a wide arc over our heads. "Welcome to the good ponies, Spitfire."

Spitfire squirmed suddenly. "Can I get up now?"

"Sorry." Ground lifted her hoof a little and Spitfire scrambled out from under it.

Spitfire frowned and shook herself up as her wings folded tight against her back. "What about my crew?"

I pointed to where I thought the shopping place was. "Are they nice like you? They weren't very talkative when we met last time."

She frowned. "Well, no... They don't talk much. I tell them what to do, and they do it." She puffed out her chest. "I'm in charge."

Ground went flat on her belly so she was closer to us. "That... feral."

Spitfire's frown somehow got deeper. "You plan on hurting my crew? I won't let you." She bared her teeth and looked ready to fight it out, but Aiko ran a wing gently over one of her legs, and the fight drained out of her.

"We will do what we can. If they are wild, we need to calm them before we can bring them home. There are people there, humans. They don't want to be changed." Aiko nodded at Spitfire. "Understand?"

Spitfire suddenly turned to look at me. "What's your name then, Pink and fluffy?"

"Close!" I grinned at her. "Pinkie. Pie Pinkie. Nice to meetcha." I thrust a hoof at her, but she just looked at my hoof a moment before snorting.

She reminded me of somepony else... Oh! "You're like my friend, Gilda. I bet you're just as sweet under it all."

Spitfire rolled her eyes. "Right, well... None of you are human, so maybe we should go say hi and get it over with? But if you hurt them, I swear to the spirits." She spread her dragon wings wide and took off easily. "This way." She pointed a hoof at Aiko. "Come on. I bet I'm faster than you, Miss Princess."

"Aiko is fine." She lifted into the air with a few strong flaps of her wings. "Let's go."

They took off together. It was pretty easy to see Spitfire was faster and more graceful in the air. She seemed to take pleasure in looping around Aiko and even reaching out and tagging her as she went. She was laughing and sounded happy, and Aiko was at least putting up with it. We'd be proper friends with her in no time.

I scrambled up onto Ground. "After those ponies!" And off we went.

She rose to her hooves and trotted along after the two flyers. "Rather... be small. Wings..." She glanced over her shoulder. "Not... clumsy..."

I pointed up at them. "Everypony gets a moment where they get a little wing envy. Even big fancy unicorns with crazy magic get a little jealous of pegasi. So graceful and free. They can go wherever they want! And have you ever seen a pegasus napping on a cloud? They look so comfortable! I bet it's like the most comfy bed ever!"

Ground perked an ear up at me. "You... jealous?"

I flopped out over her neck. "I've been there, promise. Hay, I used to draw myself as a pegasus pony. I'd have a white coat, to hide in the clouds, and blond mane and tail. Nopony would even know what happened until I was already on top of them, screaming 'Surprise!' at them, and then it was party time!"

Ground gave her deep rumbling giggle. "That... sounds nice. What... I... pegasus?"

I tried to put that together, then it clicked. "What would you look like as a pegasus?" She nodded quickly. "Well... Hmm. You liked tinkering with things, making things, right?" She nodded again. "So maybe a bright blue, with grease spots if you were working with something messy. You'd have a wrench for a cutie mark, and probably have one in your mouth half the time."

"Cu... Cute... Mark?"

I put a hoof to my face. "Oh yeah! I forget ponies don't know much about those around here." I turned to show off my flank. "Where I come from, ponies get cutie marks when they find their special talent. See, mine is three balloons, because I lift spirits, like a balloon."

She swiveled an ear about a moment of quiet. "Can get mark?"

I looked down over her flank, which was a lot of real estate! "Sure you could, I think. Yours would be big. Big and pretty. I bet it could have all kinds of details in it that wouldn't fit on my flank. That'd be super cool!"

"What... talent?"

She sounded a bit nervous to me. Well, she couldn't very well still tinker with things. She didn't have her clever human fingers, and was too big to work with everything she knew how to work with, hmm. "Well, like I said, you are kind of our big sister. You watch over us, and protect us." I spread my hooves wide. "I feel safer when you're around, Ground."

She smiled up at me before turning her attention to the fence she was approaching. We'd arrived at the shopping place, and she circled around the fence before stepping over a part that was low enough for her to reach without causing an accident along the way. "Where Aiko? Spit... fire?"

Good question. I didn't see either. "Maybe they already landed?" I slid down Ground's side and went bouncing ahead into the mini-mall, looking around for them. I felt like I was being watched. Ponies, over a dozen, stared from windows or nooks and crannies.

One brave one stepped out with a snarl before he trotted to me. A sandy brown in color, the stallion circled around me slowly, growling a little, but looking more scared than aggressive. I put out a hoof slowly. "I'm not here to hurt you."

He leaned in and sniffed at my offered hoof before he moved in and began sniffing all over me. I squeaked when his nose brushed under my tail and got to sniffing me down there. "Easy there. We just met." I turned to face him and saw he wanted the private kind of party. Swaying he gave a little querying nicker at me. He wasn't scared anymore, that was good. "Simmer down, you stud." I smiled at him. "I'm not in the mood for that."

A mare, a pegasus, rushed out out hiding and neighed at me angrily as she moved between me and him, pushing him back.

"Oh, uh, are you two a couple?"

Neither of them had an intelligent reply. They didn't have words, just postures and pony noises, not words. He seemed to be apologizing to her with soft lips at her sides and little wickers with his ears down. She bit at one of his ears, then softly rubbed against him. All was forgiven, I guessed.

Smaller ponies slipped out from under sheets of metal and hurried up to the couple, crowding around them. Sheesh, it was a whole family! The little colts and fillies looked adorable, though it wasn't long enough for ponies to have little ponies? Were they a family before it all happened? "Hello there, little ones." They all turned towards me.

One of the little fillies waved at me and rushed up. "Hello."

I recoiled with surprise. "You can talk?"

She nodded as she looked around. "Sure... Is that bad? I know the others don't much..."

I put a hoof on her head and mussled her curly mane. "Of course it isn't bad. You just surprised me."

The mother mare growled at me softly and I pulled the hoof back. "Sorry, just saying hi."

The filly glanced back at mother mare. "She's a good mom. She loves us. She's not my mom though..."

I considered a moment. "Well, if you can talk, you can go to the hospital with us. There are lots of ponies there that talk, and humans too. Who knows, maybe your mom's there."

She smiled brightly. "Really?" She spun around on mother mare. "I have to go, bye!" She waved a hoof, then suddenly scrambled up onto my back. I couldn't help but giggle. My turn to give rides like Ground gave. Speaking of which. I turned slowly to see Ground was waiting patiently at the entrance.

"Say, filly, what's your name? I'm Pinkie."

She hugged my neck from behind. "I'm Haruna! Nice to meet you, Pinkie."

I began to walk with her back towards Ground. "I want to introduce you to a friend of mine. She's super big, but super nice."

My tail was suddenly bit and I was tugged back. Looking over my shoulder, I saw mother mare had me in her mouth. The stallion was growling and pawing at the ground.

Haruna spun around on my back. "Let her go!" But they weren't moved by her plea.

They thought I was foalnapping her, probably. Um, how to calm them down... "Everything's okay, really. I'm taking her to a better place, with fresh food and lots of company." She tugged me further back. That wasn't working.

The stallion suddenly charged forward, ramming into me and sending me to the ground. Haruna squealed as she flew through the air. Mother mare let me go and went running after her, but Haruna didn't want to be caught and took off running the moment she hit the ground. "No! Bad mother, bad!"

With the foal running off, I became a lot less interesting, and the stallion dashed off to catch up with his mare as I sat up, a little dizzy but otherwise fine. "Ground! Protect that filly!"

Ground perked up and hunkered down like a waiting cat. As soon as Haruna got a little closer, she reached in with a great hoof and scooped up the filly. Both of the adult ponies slowed, looking shocked and terrified.

The mare wasn't ready to give up though. She charged right at Ground and bumped into her other forehoof before nipping at her leg.

Ground grunted as she set Haruna carefully on her back, then slowly began to back away from the berserk mother pony. "Pinkie... What? Not... want hurt."

Daddy stallion wasn't so quick to charge Ground, and he watched mother mare instead while keeping his distance. Not very brave, but I wasn't complaining. "Just keep backing away, Ground! She'll give up eventually." I hoped.

The wind rushed as Spitfire soared overhead. "What's going on here?"

Aiko arrived just after her. "An excellent question. Pinkie, Ground, why are you fighting?"

Ground took another slow step away from the incensed mare. "Pinkie... filly."

Spitfire zipped over on powerful wings to see the filly that Ground had on her back. "Haruna! What are you doing up here?"

Haruna pointed down at Ground. "They said I could go somewhere with lots of talking ponies."

Spitfire put a hoof over her face. "Haruna, you're breaking your mother's heart."

"She's not my mom!" Haruna bristled and stomped her hoof, far too small to be of any real pain to Ground.

Spitfire held up two hooves. "Yeah yeah. Alright, give me a moment." She looped mid-air and came down beside mother mare and began talking gently to her. The mother mare looked hesitant, but slowly backed down from attacking Ground. With a sudden snort, she turned away and galloped back into the building, her stallion chasing after.

I bounced up to Spitfire. "What'd she say? What'd you say?"

She sighed softly. "Nothing. She doesn't talk that way. She gets it though. Her filly wants to go. Doesn't mean she has to like it." She crossed her forehooves as she hovered in mid-air. "So what are you going to do for my crew, besides Haruna? They're not bad people. She was trying to protect all the children, Haruna included."

Aiko put a hoof on her chest. "I'm not in charge of anything, but you have my word that I'll do whatever I can to see them treated fairly. We should make a home for them close to the hospital, where they can be fed and watched for, without endangering the humans there. There are buildings close enough."

Ground smiled. "Help."

I bobbed my head. "With Ground's help, we can get it done fast." Imagining her lifting up big steel bars or stone blocks made me giggle a bit. She could get a lot done really fast. "And she's a smart cookie. She'll know where to put things."

Ground nodded at that. "Yes." She looked proud, happy even. Building was something she could do, I thought?

I clambered up onto her back and settled behind Haruna. "Hey there."

Haruna waved at me. "That was kinda scary. You didn't say your friend was this big! She's so huge! Will I grow up to be this large? Do all ponies?"

I giggled and pat her head, without getting nasty look from mother mares. "Probably not. Ground is very special. She's our big sister, and she's smart, even if talking's kind of hard for her."

Haruna's smile withered a little. "She's like the other ponies? She wants to say things, but she can't?"

Ground swiveled an ear back. "Yes! Yes... That. Understand?"

Haruna flopped onto her belly and hugged the much larger mare beneath her. "I understand. You're a nice person for not getting angry at momma for biting you."

"Not... want hurt." She nodded. "Haruna? Name, yes? Nice."

Aiko landed lightly on Ground's head, wings folding. "We should get the others. We came to scavenge. That hasn't changed. Then we can go home, and see about protecting these ponies, feral or not."

None of us had any argument about that, so we went to pick up Hiro and the others. Yuka opted to keep some distance from the mall and its feral population, but the rest of us got busy. We dragged out every bit of food that the ponies hadn't torn open, and some other goodies too. Cases of batteries, nails, and anything else that looked handy to have around.

By the time we were done, Ground looked like she had a few stores strapped to her sides, but she wasn't slowed down much by it all. They'd be super happy to see us with this haul! And we had enough supplies to celebrate properly, feral ponies included. Not like they were too mean around normal ponies, unless you picked up their foals.

With everything loaded up, we set course for the hospital and got a move on. Behind us, the herd that had lived in the mall followed after us. They were mostly quiet. Some of them weren't even in view, but I saw them dive into the ground, and was pretty sure they were tunnelling after us. I got a sudden idea and dived to the ground to vanish into it. I knew how to dig good too! So I swam through the ground after them.

They seemed to like the company.

Author's Notes:

New friends are made. Hello Haruna. Hello Spitfire. You both seem like lovely ponies, even with the typos we had to get through to reach you.

It's vote time!
1: The Brass is quite stubborn about not providing a place for ferals.
2: Or maybe they prioritize the construction?
3: With two 'noble' class ponies, they want to give Spitfire to the scientists to play around with.
4: Word's come in from elsewhere in the city! They're not the only organized survivor group.
5: Calamity struck while they were away! One of the ponies infected a doctor, and many are lobbying for harsh penalties. Some are considering death.