Welcome to chapter 2. Reviews accepted!

Chapter 2:

The sun rose lazily, illuminating the yellow sky once again. Evan, currently on watch, noticed and decided that he was free to lay down. The captain should be awake by now, seeing as the lighting had changed. Bromley was a very light sleeper. Evan sat in a stiff position,  to keep himself vigilant, for most of the night. He retired to his quarters and eventually he laid down and allowed the pain from his back to lull him to sleep.

Bromley laid awake, staring at the ceiling of the wreckage they were currently camped in. He had awoken around an hour ago by his estimation, and taken stock of his surroundings without moving at all. Mentally he checked for any pains or injuries, and found nothing outside the normal. His body was bruised from the crash, and he was awfully rigid as he stretched. He was only really concerned because it seemed that whoever had taken the last watch had not awoken him. Sitting up silently, his eyes roamed around the camp, checking on his own crew, and the new members of his team. Well, that is if they wanted to be. Thankfully even Nate had fallen asleep, and he noticed with a grin that Fluttershy had crept over and curled up against his back. She must of gotten cold in the middle of the night. With a yawn, he stretched his strong legs, then stood up and walked around the camp. Quietly he began gathering flammable materials to build a warm morning fire..

Bromley was dressed in black jeans and a dark grey long sleeved shirt. Of course, he wasn't thinking about crashing when he geared up that one morning in space, so he had worn his cons. He was currently regretting it, because the damn things had no ankle support and were slippery on wet ground. But at least he had shoes. He eyed his clothes, noticing that somehow he hadn't ripped a single thread. His hands were enclosed in his fingerless black leather gloves, allowing him to work without chaffing the palms of his hands.

Hearing a small sigh, he turned to see Rainbow Dash stretching languidly, eyelashes fluttering as she gazed at her surroundings. Her hoofs were raised high in the air, as she stretched her legs with a quiet groan. She rolled onto her belly and spread out her wings from there, the light bones in them popping. He smirked a bit to himself at the cute sight and laid the materials he found in a circle, then took out a lighter he kept for memories sake. He crouched, struck his lighter, and the fire flared to life. Except it flared it green.

"What the fu-" he was cut off instantly by an echoing crack. He leaped back just in time as a mutilated hand shot out of the hard packed earth and grabbed at his leg. Thinking fast, he smashed his foot into the dead flesh of the presumed zombie hand, a satisfying crunch reaching his ears.  "Yeah, eat that you little sh-"  Once again he was cut off as a second hand shot out and grasped his ankle. Growling, he tugged his foot out of the grasp with force, his eyes widening as the hand came with him, torn out of the ground by his yank. "What in Jesus- Oof!" the wind was knocked out of him as he fell onto his back, and his eyes widened as more hands and even heads and torsos began rising out of the ground around the ominous green flames.

Evan awoke to the normally comical sounds of Bromley screaming. It wasn’t something you woke up to often, and it had to be pretty amazing, scary, or odd if the captain had lost his cool. He watched with confusion for a few seconds, as Bromley fell back, his normally stoic face in a state of panic. There were at least two dozen zombies emerging from the ground around a strange green flame, and it didn't seem that they would stop. Evan took a second to laugh his ass off. Bromley just got into fights wherever he went, no matter what the hell it was with. An ostrich had even picked a fight with him one time. Back to reality. Evan thought fast and reached towards the ground. He grabbed a small bottle they had carried on the ship that he had filled with water from the make-shift well, and rushed over, throwing it with the cap open toward the fire a couple yards away from the zombies. Most of the forms arising quickly shrunk back into the ground as soon as the fire was put out, but he realized that a few remained standing around the charred pile of material. Quickly, he turned and ran for the rifles, hoping to god that Bromley was as agile and strong as he constantly claiming to be.

At this point Evan had a short moment to take in his surroundings. He took a look at Rainbow Dash, intrigued by her mixed expression of fear and anger. He could tell it wasn't for herself either. Nate tossed him one of the rifles, and Evan caught it and pushed the bolt back into position, using the synergy the two had developed in eighth grade. Nate had half loaded it and sent it flying.

'Get a hold of yourself... You've seen worse.. Lived through worse...' those were Bromley's only thoughts as he stood up quickly and shot a death glare at the closest zombie, his arm locking back before he stepped forward and hurtled the fist into the zombie's nose, shoving the deformed thing's nasal passage straight into it's brain, ending it's pathetic second life.  The body lifted off the ground and landed a few feet away, and Bromley quickly retreated, turning and rushing toward the rest of his group. There were probably eight left, and he ignored the feeling of pain in his arm. He heard bodies drop behind him as Evan and now Nate who must have woken up, took pot shots at the zombies. Slowing, he dropped onto his ass in an exhausted grunt against the wall. Unexpected attacks really weren’t his forte. Evan came up to him with a curled up nose and a funny looking face, his mouth in an “O” and a scrunched up forehead. He raised his hands so they were level with his face and bent over slightly. The next thing he said reminded them of something that was quite popular on the Internet. “Why you no use gun?”

“Shut up.”

Rainbow Dash’s heart thudded painfully, her eyes stretched to the point that if the eyelids peeled back anymore they would fall out of her head. She couldn't move either, her legs refused to move, and she could only watch as the tall human was quickly thrust into danger by the simple act of lighting a fire. Her brain told her to scream, to do anything, but her body refused her will. She wanted to Sonic Rainboom into the whole mob of them, but her hoofs were glued to the floor, and her wings seemed stuck in place.

Thankfully it was unnecessary, as Bromley stood up and threw a zombie back a good four feet, blood flying everywhere. He rushed back towards his rifle wielding pilot and collapsed near him, and Rainbow Dash let out a long breath as fear left her, replaced with happiness and joy.

Rainbow Dash rushed toward her fallen comrade, fear-filled eyes quickly taking him in as he let out a shudder, releasing his tension as quickly as he could. She nuzzled Bromley suddenly, surprising him as her warm snout rubbed against his cheek. Blushing darkly she backed up and grinned at him as nonchalantly as she could.

"N-nice punch! That was awesome!" Bromley chuckled at that and let a smirk stretch across his features. He noticed the relief clear on her face and he shook his head at her.

"Don't worry, I can hold my own, Dash." He turned away and laid his head against the wall again, allowing himself a moment to rest. Because his eyes were closed he missed the interesting looks Rainbow's friends were sending her as well as the raised eye brows and smirking faces of Evan and Nathaniel. He however did hear the incessant laughing of Evan. “Thinks he’s got it all figured out does he?” thought Bromley. She glared defiantly at them all and flew off onto the roof of the house to keep watch, meanwhile Bromley slipped into a light sleep, taking a catnap.

“These humans are insane!”  Twilight thought to herself, giving Bromley a once-over for injuries from afar. “Just one of them did what six of us couldn’t do. He had no fear! What could have caused that?” She thought deeply, and then assumed the conclusion would reveal itself in time. The only question was if the others were like that. Or if they were worse.

About half an hour later, Bromley opened his hazel colored eyes. He stood up and stretched, before quietly taking a seat on a red rock next to Nathaniel and Evan. "So guys... No fire..." Evan nodded sagely and Nate half-frowned. Bromley huffed and rubbed his arm with a wince, and pulled up his sleeve to check himself over. Thankfully he had only pulled a muscle. That’s what happened when you didn't stretch properly then killed a zombie in one punch he supposed.

"Ugh... this shirt smells so bad. Got blood and guts on it..." He sighed and stood, heading to his current room. Which was a small little seven by seven space constructed by Nate that basically just kept his belongings in place. He removed his shirt with a sigh, glancing down at the many scars littering his body. He was a (technically) retired military officer after all. He grimaced and reached for a new shirt. His door swung open then though, and he blinked slowly at a suddenly flustered Rainbow Dash.

"U-uh... sorry for n-not knocking." She sounded so much like Fluttershy right now. Quickly she stared down at her hooves, her gaze avoiding the skin currently visible. She didn't know why she sounded so embarrassed, after all, ponies didn't wear clothes. So why did she feel so awkward? She had forgotten what she was going to say as soon as the door flew open in front of her, so she quietly stepped out and then closed the door, confused greatly with herself, and leaving Bromley blinking at a once again shut door. She vehemently told herself her wings were not stiff, and she flew away in a wobbly rainbow path to the roof yet again. It seemed to be her current hang out area. Twilight had been watching the pegasus, and she frowned a bit as Rainbow flew off.

“It’s going to happen,” Twilight thought to herself. “Maybe not now. Maybe not in a month. but she will fall in love with him.”

"That was interesting..." He mumbled quietly and then slipped on a black short-sleeve shirt, stepping out of his room and looking around for the small Rainbow pegasus for a few moments before shrugging and heading back to his original crew. That little Rainbow Dash had such a cute accent. He thought for a few minutes about her odd behaviour, and obviously he realized that yes, indeed, an animal was coming onto him. Albeit a pretty, talking, one, but still. He was developing an attraction to a Pegasus. A winged horse. A horse. There was something seriously screwed up about this.

Nathaniel was running through calculations in his brain quietly, going over everything that he could think of that might possibly happen to him, his friends, and the new additions to their little party. A large notepad that he had recovered from the wreckage lay in front of him, along with a mostly exploded pen that had just a little ink left inside of it. The main problem he was currently going over in his mind was the lack of bullets remaining. When it came down to it, if the zombie attacks kept happening they would be out of bullets in perhaps a months time. This was not good at all. Additionally the current source of nutrition might not suit them, or the ponies for that matter, for all that long.

He grinned as he though of another dilemma currently visible to him. The obvious attraction that Rainbow Dash was harboring for his captain. It was disconcerting, and he was sure that Bromley realized what the pony thought of him as. The feelings produced surprisingly fast, and he realized that in the end there was nothing really all that screwed up about it. First off, they were currently crashed on an alien planet, where they were unsure if they would even live to see the next day. Also, Rainbow Dash had a brain, a conscious, culture, and thinking abilities. She wasn't a primitive beast of burden. In all rights, Bromley would be perfectly justified in allowing the little bond to continue further. But she was still a horse. A god damn winged horse. Nathaniel was pulled out of his own world by a nudge on his shoulder. He turned to see the timid Fluttershy nosing him gently.

"H-hello there Nathaniel.. I was wondering, if it wouldn't bother you to explain, if you could tell me what you are writing down." She stepped back quickly as he turned to face her. Had he surprised her that easily?

"Hey Fluttershy. I was just going over some plans. No need to worry yourself." Nate gently explained to the trepidatious little pony. She smiled a little, and Nate ignored how that smile made him feel disturbingly more carefree.

“It’s the same thing here! Am I the only one who thinks these humans are dangerous? This is a problem.” Twilight’s thoughts invaded into her work again. She was attempting to take notes of the planet, and of the humans, but her fellow ponies’ feelings were getting in the way.

"I-if I can make a suggestion, are crops or farms a possibility?" Nate thought for a few seconds then slowly nodded his head, agreeing with the idea. Soon the two of them were immersed in a quiet intellectual conversation about how to tend and produce enough food to feed their mutual friends.

Rainbow Dash was alone on the roof, gazing out at the land without really seeing it. She was lost in her thoughts, something that was extremely uncommon for her. She loved action! Adrenaline! Flying... not sitting here brooding about her own feelings. But that was just the problem. She hadn’t been able to move, to fly, when Bromley was in danger. Never before had she been that immobilized without something weighing her down physically. It was scary, how just the fact that he was in danger had her rooted to the spot. Why did it effect her like that?

She was already beginning to come to terms with the fact that “The Captain” meant a bit more to her then even her friends. She had just met him, and in fact he was a total asshole until recently, but even still... a pony can’t pick. He was an alien, a strange looking being with no fur, scales, or even a coat. Yet, she had continued to look, and stare, and actually found him attractive. The humans obviously shared features with them. Legs, a head... and So on. They seemed to be built to be powerful, much like a male pony. Maybe even more powerful. They were definitely more agile. Judging from earlier, their chests were just as big, and strong. He had hit something hard enough to make it fly away, and send it’s... snout she guessed, straight into its own body.

Now that she really thought about it, he was her “type.” Despite being an entirely different species, he had all the qualities that she knew she needed. He was powerful, he was calm, and he could handle himself. It seemed he would be there for her, even though he hardly knew her as of yet, and it was obvious he could protect her. Her wings stood up a bit as she realized he would probably be quite good in the sky. A roll in the clouds wouldn’t be out of the things she was starting to think about.

But there was no time for romance. They were just trying to survive right now. Zombies were here, and they were going to run out of food, or something before long, and she needed to focus on helping somehow. It didn’t matter if this was the first male that had ever attracted her attention. It didn’t matter if she was feeling lonely at times, even back in Equestria. She was used to fighting alone, for what she believed in. She could continue doing it.

That night everybody and everypony gathered around for dinner, Nate boiling up some quick food for them all. They sat at a stone table, a smooth almost flat rock that they had found near the crash site. It was about two meters long and a meter wide, and was very light. Bromley and Evan had dragged it back to base, much to the surprise of Rarity, who quickly cleaned it up and thanked them profusely for giving them something to put food on. It was so “barbaric” according to her, to eat on the ground. Nate began to serve everyone up. He put the soup-like food into some bowls that were just dented bits of metal from their ship. The captain sat at one end of the long table with Rainbow Dash and Evan taking a seat next to him. He raised a brow at the little pony and she blushed a bit before grinning at him. Twilight took a seat next to her and Applejack went ahead and sat next to Evan. Nate was on the opposite side of Bromley, and Fluttershy and Rarity sat on either side of him. Pinkie Pie squirmed her way in-between Rarity and Rainbow Dash.

Pinkie Pie brought life to the meal, and nobody and nopony could resist smiling at her antics. She talked about Equestria, and how life in Ponyville tended to be. Evan quizzed her relentlessly, curious about the life of the talking ponies. Bromley was mostly silent, mulling over things in his head. Rainbow Dash prodded him in the side with her hoof, causing him to look over at her. She asked him what he did and he winced, almost invisibly.

“I’ll tell you some other time.” he tried to smile a bit, but it was almost impossible with the subject at hand.

“Oh... Alright! I’ll keep you to that.” She smirked a bit, trying to brighten up the man. He chuckled a bit and continued to eat.

“You mumbled in your sleep last night.” Rainbow stiffened a bit, unsure if what she said was anything... private. “You said something about the erm... ‘wonderbolts’?” He continued. At that she exploded into conversation about how cool they were, and how she wanted to be one. He listened, calmly smiling and staying silent, allowing her to talk about her dreams. It was relaxing.

Evan balked at his captain, completely bewildered. He was smiling! Just because something was talking to him! In a typical conversation with the Captain, he would comment and joke around, but it was almost impossible to drag him into anything that involved personal things.  But here he was. Allowing someone to babble in his ear about things he didn’t have. Dreams.

“Ey’ Evan. You done eating sugah’ cube?” Evan turned to the blond pony sitting next to him and nodded at her. She smiled at him, and he couldn’t resist returning the infectious thing.

“I was wonderin’... Wut do ya’ do?” She asked him curiously

“Now that is probably the least interesting story of the century. I have all the money any man could ever ask for. I am a CEO of a company, and instead of working, I spend my time defying gravity on a longboard or driving cars from companies that ninety percent of the world has never heard of and going speeds that ninety nine percent have never imagined could be attained in a piece of metal. Nothing interesting.”

“Now what in the name of Celestia is a car? Or a longboard? An how the hay do you get any speed outta’ somethin’ that ain’t livin’? Cus I dun see no magic with y’all.”

“Longboard. Let’s start there. It’s several pieces of wood steam compressed and glued together. When that part is done it ends up less than an inch thick. You put metal bars underneath it and attach wheels with lubed bearings in them and ride it.

“You talk fancy. You know that? Cars next!”

“Uh ok... Cars use combustion of petrol and turn it into a gas that powers the wheels and drive shaft. The wheels move and that moves the car. The wheels are made of rubber so they grip the ground very well. The more cylinders that a car has the more fuel it can combust and the more power it has. Most commercial cars have anywhere from four to six cylinders but the cars I drive have anywhere upwards from ten.”

“I hope ya’ know that I didn’t understand a word of that.”

“Yes I know. But I also know that you like it when I talk fancy.”

“Shush.” Applejack whispered to him sarcastically. Evan’s face plummeted into his soup bowl, barely fitting. The fit of laughter could be heard even through  the metal however and everyone looked at him like he was crazy, which he guessed he was. Pinkie pie screamed in joy and tried it for herself. When she arose from her underwater experience she deemed it the “new, more funner” way to eat. Applejack was giggling and Evan was still muffling his laughter with soup and metal. Bromley cracked a smile. Evan instantly knew and rose from his seat with the bowl still attached to his face. Through it you could barely hear him yell.

“Haha! Achievement get!”

“Indeed. Could you hear my lips split?” Came another sarcastic comment.

“Damn straight! I’m just ninja like that!”  Evan sat back down and missed the makeshift chair, falling onto his ass and sprawling himself all over the floor. The shock jarred the bowl from his face. “Most of the time...”

“You just wish you could make me do it more often.” was the dull reply. Evan lifted himself up from the ground.

“I’m going to say yes. Rainbow Dash, I’m jealous.” and with that, he left the table to do god knows what. Rainbow Dash looked sheepish, but inside she was extremely happy. She had made the captain laugh more than one of his trusted crew members could. Achievement get for her! The rest of the meal progressed fine. Pinkie pie was comedic as usual and Rainbow Dash did get the captain to smile one more time. But only one more time. He knew that Evan was fragile and even though he wasn’t present, it seemed wrong that a horse was better than him at something. Applejack went to try and find the missing guest, but to no avail. She returned and enjoyed the rest of the evening. When the party disbanded the people and ponies present retired to their quarters. Applejack made her way to hers and saw that Evan’s door was open. She peeked inside and saw him on the rock that served as his bed. He was flinging a ball of metal at the the ceiling. He got up and without even looking at her he picked her up, carried her out and set her down. He closed his door and went back to throwing the ball. Applejack thunk nothing of it immediately and retired to her own quarters. Only when she got to her bed did she realize what was wrong. Evan was sad. It was a depressing thought. She had been told earlier that Evan rode a plank of wood for fun, but not being able to make that captain laugh had broken his heart.

Despite all that Evan could claim he was good at, he had never been able to bring joy to the Captain. He had always been his friend, and had good times with him. But, even still, nothing could remove Bromley from his pain. He was too entwined in his own suffering and inability to change the past or enact vengeance. Evan was unable to pull the Captain away from it, and yet a random rainbow colored pegasus could manage to do it. It stung.

Bromley however had a different problem. Rainbow Dash was attempting to get closer and closer to him. And she was succeeding. He was well aware that she liked him more than she should. She was setting herself up for harm. He was a cold, vicious bastard when he wanted to be. “This is a problem” he determined, and at those words he gave his final frustrated grunt of the night. The soft pounding of the metal ball on the stone roof of the room was ignorable, even relaxing. He drifted into unconsciousness restlessly, mind still actively stressing over his problems.

They called themselves humans, and these humans were truly remarkable creatures. It was incredible to watch them work, to watch them communicate in just as intelligent ways as her and her fellow ponies. They were also comical at times, and everypony viewed them as friendly. There was something that was completely missing from them that everypony else had, and it frightened Twilight Sparkle. They lacked any semblance of innocence. She had glanced into there eyes over the past few days and had seen emotions that were not supposed to be prevalent. And yet they were, and somehow these "people" could deal with the dark feelings. In one of their eyes she saw deep fear and longing. These belonged to Nate. While those feelings were not completely alien to her, but in his eyes they were so apparent! He was stressed constantly and you could tell. She saw frustration and worthlessness in Evan’s. He masked it well with his insane visage, but it was still there. She could pity the obviously not-all-there boy. But then there were the terrifying eyes, filled with agony and resentfulness, along with with rage held in them. Those soulless eyes were the captain’s, and she feared for those who put themselves against him. But what scared her the most was that she saw something else that they all had that she herself had never experienced, even before her friends in Ponyville. Loneliness.