It was too dark.

Though she had never stepped hoof outside—as far as she could recall—Blue knew for a fact that there should have been more light than this. Admittedly the day was still quite young—RipEar had awoken her at some point during Luna's night, so it was presumably only early morning by now. Nevertheless, it was summer; Celestia's sun should have graced the sky with its presence by now, surely!

It didn't take long, however, for the mare to work out why everything seemed so oddly black when the world should have been painted in reds, oranges and yellows. In fact, it took a mere glance upwards to fathom an answer; the sky, rather than being occupied solely by either the sun or the moon, was instead shared by the two celestial bodies. To the West, the darkness of night reigned supreme; to the East, daytime was the stronger force. And so, when the delicate glow of the moon met with the unforgiving glare of the sun, the world ended up shrouded in the dim light of that unnatural union.

Blue whimpered as she stepped further away from the safety of the enclosed cave and found that she could only blubber when she glanced around herself. Ears flattened, tail clamped, eyes wide; she looked unnervingly like a little lost puppy, a resemblance which drew a small, unenthusiastic chortle from the unicorn stallion who stood by her side.

"Easy there, girl," he said. He nudged her waist with his horn to get her attention. But it was to no avail; she remained staring off into the distance. "It's not exactly like the view from the facility, is it?"

Blue mumbled something incomprehensible for a second before she gained a moment's sanity. "I... I don't get it. Why's the sky so... split? What's going on here?"

RipEar said nothing at first and instead looked out across the landscape. The cave was nestled halfway up a cliff, making it a fairly decent vantage point. He turned back to the mare and filly and jerked his head down towards the valley below a few times, his expression glum. "There's a small pack of wolves down there," he whispered and eyed them warily as the little filly nodded, her whimpers quiet.

"Yeah. They're mad'uns, they went for me—that's why I came up here."

"Woah, woah!" Blue's eyes widened as she glanced down to the clearing; her heart leapt up into her throat. "You mean to tell me that wolves can be mad'uns as well?"

"All animals can be mad'uns, Blue," RipEar said, his face a scowl. "I've told you that before. Makes them even more deadly than the standard sort. There's hardly a species alive that's completely immune to the plague." As he looked back down to the valley where the wolves lazed around, he took a slow step forwards with his dagger close to his side. "Come on, we'll go around the edge of the valley, see if we can avoid them. And, Blue?"

"Yeah?"

"Keep your mouth shut. If they hear us, they'll attack." He took a deep breath in and began to walk at an even faster pace now; his hooves made a fairly quiet tap against the rocky floor. At the back, the filly stumbled after them in essential silence. "If you can do that, I'll tell you whatever you want to know once we're outside of this territory."

Blue nodded slowly and transferred the small knife that RipEar had given her into her mouth. She took a few shaky first steps forwards, her hooves making much more noise each time they fell on the ground than her companions' were. Groaning, she then opened out her bruised wings cautiously before she flapped a few times, the tattered feathers providing just enough lift to raise her up off of the ground and to quieten her movements.

She hovered a few inches up, unable to calm her frantic heart. Instead she looked around, a part of her unwilling to do so lest she find something even worse. In her survey of the area, her eyes soon landed upon RipEar's flank. She felt a small blush creep up onto her face as she stared and a similar warmth appeared around her tail. She tried to shake off the urge to just stop him right there and force herself onto him, instead focusing her own attention on his cutie mark.

A simple open-lock design, it gave rise for plenty of speculation. Was he a lock maker, perhaps, or maybe a code-breaker? Both seemed unlikely, for he'd never shown such abilities during the years in the facility, nor had he ever slipped in his resolve not to tell her his talent. She had never understood why he had been so adamant; maybe now, in this crazy world where trust was vital, he might tell her once and for all?

The wind, as Sod's law would have it, chose that precise moment to act up. It blasted around the trio of ponies and caught under the pegasus' wings, sending her hurtling through the air. With each little breath of breeze she was cartwheeled away further, unable to right herself in the air after the initial throw-off. And then, almost as suddenly as it came, the wind fell away; the mare could do little but thrash while she plummeted, her wing beats no longer in synchrony, too haphazard to keep her airborne.

Blue screamed when she crashed into the ground, her already battered wing crushed beneath the weight of her body. She wasted no time in leaping to her hooves, however, and her wounds screeched as she did so. Despite this, she scarpered backwards with the injured feathers dragging through the dirt, some bent in completely the wrong direction, and then looked about herself wildly. She pressed up against the cold rock that was the cliff face without pause.

Nothing came at first. That, she supposed, was a bonus; there was no way in Tartarus that the wolves would have missed her yells. As she tried to fly back up to the ledge, however—from which she could see RipEar and little Coalburst eagerly leaning  over to see what state she was in—she found herself undeniably grounded, her hurt wing too painful and bent to lift her up from the ground.

To shout up would do no good, she knew that much; it had been a fifty foot drop, give or take, and RipEar's hearing was selective at the best of times. So, with a quick glance up and as dramatic a shrug as she could muster, Blue looked about nervously before she crept forwards across the clearing. Her belly was almost pressed against the ground as she inched forwards. She then stopped where she had landed and looked around slowly, her ears flicking to and fro until her gaze fell on her target; the small knife RipEar had given her before.

As she slunk the few metres to the patch where it had fallen, Blue felt her breath rate spiking and she gasped for air. Her body trembled as she bent down to clasp the handle between her teeth. She then let out a small breath of relief and straightened up slowly. She closed her eyes and attempted to calm herself before she began to hyperventilate.

A breath of air across her back.

Immediately shooting to attention, Blue snapped around and snarled, teeth clamped around the small blade's handle. As she glanced about and saw nothing, however, she then squeaked and leapt around in a circle, blindly scanning the valley for any sign of movement.

A small tap from behind.

With a gasp, Blue's ears flicked all around and her tail disappeared between her legs. She pivoted and spun about a point in milliseconds. Her chest heaved as she bit down against the wood, fighting a scream. Every nerve in her body flared to life; she was sent reeling and her body was overcome with a fresh new pain, inspired by terror.

With her left wing still dragging, the mare snapped out the less-injured right and recoiled. She spun as she backed up against the rock. Then yelping when the chilling cliff face touched her flank, she let out a small, shuddery breath as her eyes darted all about. She pressed herself as far back as possible. Then pushing herself up so that she was stood on her rear legs she took a few slow, deep breaths and whispered to herself over and over, there's no-one about. No-one's gonna eat me.

As she took another deep breath in, Blue looked around before she began to move. RipEar and Coalburst had already gone; she ought to do the same, if only to find them sooner. Still, a part of her couldn't help but insist that maybe, instead of coming back for her, RipEar had already left to make his own way. It didn't seem such a far-fetched theory; she was, at the end of the day, useless.

With her back pressed up against the wall, Blue tried not to whimper as she began to tiptoe around the edge of the cliff. Every time she placed her hoof down she winced, the sound too loud for comfort—though that meant very little when even her breaths were much too noisy.

Blue yelped as something tiny crashed down onto her back and she gave a quick buck before she launched herself into an immediate gallop. Eyes wide with panic, her vision morphed into nothing but crimson and black shapes and she bellowed as her hooves smashed against the ground. The wind howled and roared, chasing her and whistling in her pinned-back ears; the chill of the air bit at her sides as it attacked her existing wounds and sent waves of pain up her spine.

Within seconds, Blue could see nothing but blobs of bloody colour, her vision obscured by terror. And yet, spurred on by panic, she still ran—at least until something warm and somewhat squishy jumped into her path. It blocked her way and sent her falling backwards.

Blue couldn't quite be sure what had happened, at least at first. As she lay on her back with her eyes closed, the tiny rays of sunlight only serving to chill her underbelly rather than warm it, she kept still and allowed her mind to begin to settle. Then she let out a breath, stole a peek at her surroundings and immediately screamed as her eyes opened to see nothing but the bloodied, maniacal grin of an earth pony mare.

"Well, howdy-doo, little miss," the mare sneered, a droplet of blood dripping down from her mouth as her grin widened, showing her yellowed teeth. Blue's breath caught in her throat as it landed with a splash on her exposed underbelly, staining the already-pink fur. She trembled at the sight and immediately snapped her gaze from the pony. She tried desperately to scamper backwards. Oddly, the mare didn't seem too bothered by this fact and merely watched her quietly as she made to get away.

"Where you goin', little miss?" the earth-pony drawled as she stumbled closer and watched her prey retreat. Her eyes then lit up in crazed glee and she hissed, "It's not nice to leave the party so soon."

"This isn't my kind of party," Blue spat back despite the knife in her mouth, but her wide eyes and rapidly heaving chest betrayed her fear.

After she rolled over quickly onto her stomach, Blue jumped up to her hooves and gasped as pain flooded her mind. For just a moment, though, she thought she could get away—and then the earth pony jumped forwards, her ears flicking and body spasming while she blocked the smaller mare's path.

If she could only get a clean swipe, Blue figured she could easily cause the mare enough pain just to get her to back off a little. To pull off such a stunt, however, seemed tricky when she kept jumping about, never staying still long enough for a clean shot to be achieved with the miniature knife.

Damn you for giving me the small one, RipEar, Blue seethed. She trembled as the mare before her pushed her heavily to the ground. She landed and gave an involuntary gasp; she then narrowed her eyes and turned her head away. She held out until she could smell the musty scent of the mare's breath before slashing through the air with the knife. The strike landed true and sliced cleanly through the flesh of the pony's chest—and did not draw so much as a whimper from her.

"Naughty, naughty," she hissed. She then walked closer—and very nearly fell—as her eyes darted in opposite directions and her fore hoof twitched. Then lowering her head down to Blue's, she grinned even wider and pounced, able to pin the pegasus to the floor with her own body weight.

She was a thin thing, but heavy enough to prove a challenge to shift. With a hiss Blue bucked with her hips, able only to pant as she struck out with the knife again, quivering as blood poured from the mare's neck and down onto her fur. Unlike the crimson which stained her lips, this was hot and fresh and metallic—and strong enough to make her entire world spin.

Taking deep breaths as bile rose in her throat, Blue moaned and squirmed as her vision blurred. And then, when a heavy globule dropped down onto her fur, she screamed, thrashing about and kicking out with all four legs. Her fore hooves missed entirely; her rear left, however, struck a blow, managing to knock the mare backwards and to leave her momentarily stunned.

While she pushed herself up with her uninjured wing, Blue moaned. Her world spun, everything going black as she moved too fast. The smell of blood lingered heavily in the air now, seeped into every crevice and settled on the pegasus' fur and wings so that, along with the fair amount which had stained her, she felt incredibly dirty—contaminated, even. A part of her was sickened; the other was merely terrified that somehow, having touched the crazed mare's blood would send her insane as well.

"Oh, little mi-iss!" The mare's calls were loud against the quietness of the valley, echoing all around, but Blue could hardly hear her over her own rapid heartbeat. She lurched forwards and gasped for air as would a fish out of water, her eyes wide but unseeing as she trembled visibly. The blood—it was everywhere! In her mane, her hooves, her coat! It burned away at her flesh, poisoned and caustic. So much so that, with each careening step she took, she felt as if her very body had been doused in acid; each wave of nausea came with a greater spell of dizziness, and with each passing second the blood which painted her body smouldered away, burning her alive.

Bumbling to the side of the cliff, Blue fell to her knees and heaved as she trembled. She mumbled sentence upon sentence of incomprehensible gibberish whilst she snapped her head about. The world was polluted, every last rock and plant caked in thick, metallic blood; the very ground beneath her quaked. And then, in what felt like a fraction of a second, a surge of crimson cascaded over the edge of the cliff and crashed down into the valley, rushing towards her. With a scream of terror, Blue let her head crash to the ground and let her body crumple as she closed her eyes, finally overwhelmed.

But the earth pony mare behind her wasn't going to settle for that. She stalked forwards, snarled and licked her soaked lips as blood dripped from her gums and her chest, splashing on the dirt. Then giving a hiss, she swivelled around the smaller mare's body and lowered her head to sniff a few times. She nipped gently at the light-grey fur on her neck.

"Night night, little miss," she whispered and raised her head before she reared up. After she stumbled at the shifted centre of gravity she then smashed her hooves down. They landed with a muffled thud against Blue's already wounded shoulder. She then drew away and began to chortle when fresh blood beaded on the pegasus' stained skin. With a snort and a cackle she fell back and landed on her rear. After a moment, she then hopped back onto her hooves and tossed her head twice, snaking it around before she tripped forwards. At the mare's side she stopped and her grin then widened as she raised a hoof once more, this time above Blue's neck.

She brought it down sharply, eyes wide in exhilaration. But her hoof, rather than connecting with the soft flesh of a pony, only smashed against the cold, hard dirt floor.

The earth mare looked up and hissed when she noticed her prey lying a few metres off. She jerked her head upwards as the heavy thudding of rapid hoofbeats came into earshot and bucked and barked as she watched two unicorns stampede towards her. She snaked her head again while her entire body spasmed. Then leaping awkwardly over to her prey she narrowed her eyes and reared once more before she, too, charged forwards.

RipEar galloped in front, his eyes narrowed as he glanced to the left. He hovered his dagger in front of him and, with a bellow of anger, he thrust it forwards. It impaled itself in the earth pony mare's foreleg and blood spurted from the wound when it was ripped out without the slightest consideration. Once more, she didn't so much as flinch—but a second later, her galloping ceased when the half-severed hoof could not support her, sending her crashing muzzle-first down to the ground.

With a grunt, RipEar hoisted Blue up onto his back without so much as pausing in his canter. More than a little sickened by the sight of the crazed mare who grinned as she began to push herself along the ground with her powerful hind legs, he struck out with a rear hoof and winced when he heard it connect with her face. Then glancing behind himself, RipEar's ears suddenly flattened as he raised a foreleg quickly, his tail clamped.

The wolves had found them.

He spun to face forwards and reared up before he launched himself into a gallop, Blue held onto his back with magic as he ran. His hooves created great clouds of dust behind him.

"Coalburst!" he yelled, not even looking back to check the filly was with him. "Keep them away from us!"

The little filly, who galloped so hard that she was already gasping for air, whimpered when she glanced backwards. Racing towards them and the insane mare, three massive grey wolves careened, able to leap two metres with ease with each bound.

"My magic's not that strong!" she yelled back. She battled to keep even somewhat close by but fell behind with every few steps she took. But RipEar took no notice of her objections, only getting more annoyed with each second that passed.

"Coalburst! Get on with it!" he yelled as he threw his head backwards and noticed how far she'd fallen behind. For just a moment he considered pausing to help her—but then he spotted the small pack who still raced closer and abandoned that idea. Instead, with gritted teeth, he wrapped his magic around her only hind leg and dragged her forwards. As he heaved her across the rocky ground he then yelled, "If you don't, we'll all die!"

With a small scream, Coalburst lowered her horn to the ground and winced as the friction began to attack it, very nearly beginning to saw it off. She closed her eyes, her horn sparking fruitlessly for a few seconds before her magic finally came into being. At first, nothing happened; a moment later massive flames burst into life and expanded into an expansive wall before her very eyes. She let out a breath when the stallion released her leg and she hopped shakily onto her hooves with a rather evident stumble. As she gasped for breath, she looked around herself quietly.

RipEar stepped closer and Coalburst began to hobble forwards at nothing faster a walk. She froze, however, as he placed a hoof on her shoulder. Then, with a stolen gulp, she glanced up with wide, tear-filled eyes and tried—and failed—to look confident. Seeing his mild smile, however, she grinned a little too and stood a little taller, ears pricked forwards while she gasped for breath.

"Nice work, kid," RipEar grunted with a glance back to the roaring flames behind. He adjusted Blue on his back so that she was draped a little more securely with his magic, gritting his teeth as he did so, and he then broke into a gentle trot. He focused on the edge of the valley which stood tantalisingly close. "So, where was this tunnel out of here?"

Her breaths now beginning to return to normal, Coalburst grinned as she hopped up to his side and nodded to the left. "That way," she said, peering back. "But... I think we'd better go faster. I don't think the wolves are sane enough to feel pain if they jump through my flames."

RipEar nodded and transitioned into a gentle canter. "Sure thing," he said. He then looked away as he headed in the direction Coalburst had pointed. He didn't so much as falter when the snarls of the wolves filled the air, nor did he react to the maniacal laughter of the mare or the nauseating sound of ripping flesh. The filly, however, couldn't help but stiffen and glance backwards momentarily, shivering as her eyes widened and suddenly glistened with tears. She then bounded after the stallion, just able to keep up.

Watching enviously as RipEar cantered easily, Coalburst gritted her teeth and ran even harder. If she wanted friends she couldn't be a liability, and she knew that once she was accepted she’d be surer in herself—but right now, she wasn’t much use and would surely be left behind. It was how Equestria worked. She had to stand on her own three hooves to prove her worth. But maybe, just maybe, RipEar might come to carry her one day as well, just as he did for Blue now.

It was the most inspiring thought she'd had in a long time.