Chapter Three
Welcome to the Wastland.
When my eyes opened that mourning, I saw Chip standing by the open door. He was bleeding from several spots, Winter was standing nearby, telekinetically fussing with some magical bandages.
“Winter, ah’m fine, jus’ give me a healin’ potion.” he complained
“Chip, just humor me.”
I sat up.
“Mornin’ Diamon’!”
“Ah, it’s good to see you awake, darling. How did you sleep though that fracas?”
I looked at her confused
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“Well the raiders came back, they almost caught us sleeping...”
What!?
“But, but they woke up Chip, when one tried to open the door. He took care of them. That’s why he slept right in front of the door.”
She paused.
“So, Diamond, How are you holding up?” She asked, a slightly worried look on her face.
Tears starting welling in my eyes. My family had just been killed, and I was a murderer too.
My life was completely turned upside-down. What did I have left to give? Why should I go on?
I collapsed on the floor, and broke down in tears.
Winter laid down, next to me.
“It’s OK, darling, it’s Ok.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
After a while, my tears had left and I was walking with my new-found friends towards New Appleoosa. They shared some of their food rations with me, and ammo. Apparently, my revolver used a very common cartridge. Chip also gave me some advice on surviving the wasteland.
Winter and Chip had agreed to let me tag along. They figured the ponies of New Appleoosa would let me live there.
We had been walking for a few hours when Winter had asked for us to stop.
“Tired?’ Chip asked.
The white mare yawned
“Yes, very”
We had to cross a ravine not that long ago, and Winter had a hard time getting out, all three of us were covered from head to hoof in mud. And somehow, I was also covered in tree sap.
“Well, ah guess we should call it a night, ah don’t think winter can take much more walkin’ today.” chip said “Ah’ll go and get some food”
I turned toward him “Are we going to sleep out in the open, what if it rains acid or some raiders show up?”
“It don’t rain acid here, just near yer stable, and there ain’t any raider camps 'round here that I now of.” He replied with a grin. he turned and walked off to find some food
I noticed he had three long scars just above his cutie mark. He also walked with a slight limp.
“you’re checking him now, aren’t you?” Winter spoke, interrupting my thoughts.
“What? Nononononono, I-I wasn’t checking him out, no!”
Oh dear.
“You where checking him out!” she almost yelled, a massive smile on her face.
Before I could reply, a gun shot echoed not far off.
“What was that?” I asked.
“Probably just Chip getting us food, nothing to worry about, Diamond”
“But why did he shoot, do we have to shoot plants!?" I asked utterly confused.
“ Sometimes, yes, but he probably just shot a pig,” she explained with a chuckle, ” It’s like he said: ponies have to eat what they can find.”
A dark image of ponies eating other ponies floated into my mind.
“you mean meat?!”
“It’s not my first choice either, Diamond, but you get used to it.”
I really hoped the first friends I’d met in the wasteland weren’t planning on eating me.
“So, do you think he’s attractive?”
I felt my cheeks turning red.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few minutes later, Chip returned, dragging a large boar behind him.
He looked towards us “Y’all ladies might not wanna watch this.”
Me and Winter both turned around as Chip began field dressing the pig.
I turned toward the white mare.
“So, Winter, are you and Chip?”
She turned her head in my direction with a grin.
“Not at all, I’m several years older then him, We’re just friends.”
Winter didn’t look very old, honestly, she didn’t look any older than my older sister.
“Are you interested in him, Diamond?”
I hadn’t really thought about it, now that I was thinking about it, he was kind of attractive.
And back home, I never had a very special somepony on Hearts and Hooves Day. Most of the colts were either jerks, taken, or jerks.
“Honestly, yeah, but he doesn’t seem to be interested in me.”
Winter looked at the ground grimly. She let out a sigh and turned toward me.
“You know that ring on his foreleg? His wife was murdered by some of Red Eye’s ponies.”
‘Oh’ Was thing I could say.
“We’ve all had loss, Diamond. It’s just something that happens out here.”
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It started to get dark, and Chip had cleared off three areas for us to sleep. In a few minutes, we had all drifted off to sleep. I didn’t stay asleep for long, though. I woke with a start as a hot, sticky liquid splashed all over me. I screamed...