Revenge

by Teq

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

We walked for two more days with little happening. I will say that I got very bored very quickly. Every night we set up camp (consisting of a fire) and took turns on sentry. We ate sparingly, trying to make what food we had last and during our moments of inactivity Wraith taught me about weapon maintenance. He taught me how to strip and clean my weapon so as to prevent malfunction and to keep it at full operational capacity.
On the third day nothing happened either. Until that night. I was sitting in front of the fire, scanning the countryside and enjoying the feeling of the wind in my hair. The sky was a pitch black, which was suddenly broken up by a bright red light. I pointed it out to Wraith, “Hey, uh, Wraith… What’s that?” The light arced its way across the sky, illuminating the area of ground below it and came to rest a few metres away, casting a bright red light on to us. I’d seen similar such things before. I knew what they were; they were flares. What I was concerned about was what they meant. Wraith swore and ducked down, rifle at the ready, scanning the landscape. I lay down next to him and drew my pistol. “What? What is it?”
Wraith shushed me and quietly murmured, “Keep down. If there are flares then that means that the LRSA are nearby. And if they’re firing flares at us then that means they know we’re here; they always launch a few flares before making an attack, to gauge things like distance and enemy strength. God only knows how long they’ve been following us.” I slid a clip into the grip of my pistol and cocked it back, ready to fire. Wraith and I lay on the ground, looking but seeing nothing. Then Wraith took hold of my head and forced me to look in the same direction as him.
I looked but saw nothing, “What?”
“Look.” I looked a little more carefully and saw the silhouette of two ponies behind a bush. Another flare was launched and the two ponies were caught in the red glow. One of them was wearing a peaked cap and was holding binoculars up to his eyes, whilst the other was crouching next to him, a steel helmet on his head and was speaking into a radio set. Then a third pony appeared, also donning a steel helmet and sporting a sizeable rifle. He said a few words to the officer who nodded twice. The pony prepared his rifle and pointed it at us.

“Shit! Head’s down!” called Wraith, pushing my face against the floor. My mouth filled with dirt but I was pretty relieved for Wraith’s quick thinking when a gunshot rang out and a bullet skimmed over my head. Wraith cocked his rifle and took aim, pulling off a shot of his own. I saw the officer duck his head as if Wraith had just narrowly missed him and begin to slink off to one side. Wraith cocked the rifle again and fired off another shot. The officer clutched at his breast and fell back, the radio pony dragging him back behind cover as the sniper took another shot which went far too wide.

Wraith swore loudly before drawing his pistol. He darted to a small patch of foliage just ahead of us and I followed, keeping my head low. I yelped and cowered next to Wraith as the sniper fired a shot and I felt the hot metal bullet pass through my tail a few centimetres from my rump. Wraith quickly asked if I was okay and I answered in the affirmative.
“Good. Draw your pistol and be ready to shoot. We’re going in close. Just remember what I taught you and you’ll be good.”

Wraith picked himself up again and ran behind another patch of light cover; the sniper pulling off yet another shot which wedged itself in the dirt just in front of Wraith’s left fore-hoof. I quickly followed suit before the sniper could adjust and take aim. We were now very close; only a distance of about ten metres separated us. Wraith poked his head out of cover, brought his pistol to bear and fired off three shots. I saw all three embed themselves in the cover behind which the two soldiers were hiding. At first I put this down to bad aim but soon realised that Wraith had done it on purpose. The sniper ducked his head behind cover and the radio operator flattened himself on the ground.

Wraith vaulted what cover we had and charged the remaining distance, covering it and reaching the soldiers quicker than I’d expected. I followed behind him, pistol wrapped in a cloak of magic so as to allow me to run unhindered. Wraith pushed through the foliage and I saw the sniper pony wielding his rifle like a spear, a viscous looking bayonet tied to the muzzle. I followed after him and immediately rounded on the operator. Both of the ponies were clad in full black. They both wore steel helmets but the sniper was also wearing a set of red goggles that looked like a skiing visor. Both of the ponies had a leather belt around their waste, to which were strapped holsters and pistols and one across their torso in which were sheathed their bayonets.

The sniper pony let out a cry in a tongue I didn’t understand and swung his rifle at Wraith, forcing him to maintain distance to stop the bayonet from gutting him. The operator stood up and clutched a rather large submachine gun in his hooves. He levelled it towards my head and I immediately ducked down in time to survive a small burst, five bullets passing over my head and just narrowly missing. The pony was readjusting to take aim again and I took the opportunity to clutch my pistol in my hooves and fire off a single shot into his head. The bullet passed straight through the helmet and embedded itself in the pony’s skull, causing him to fall backwards, where he twitched, blood pouring down over his face.

I fired of three more rounds into him with cries of, “DIE! DIE! DIE! JUST FUCKING DIE!” When I was finished I panted and lowered my pistol. The operator was most certainly dead, with two bullets in his head, one buried in his chest and the other penetrating the metal case of his radio, causing sparks to fly out of it. I dropped my pistol on the floor with a thud. My hooves were shaking uncontrollably. I fell to my haunches and lowered my head in despair, trying to contemplate what I’d just done. In truth I knew perfectly well what I’d just done; I’d just killed somepony, taken their life in the heat of my anger. The problem was trying to break this to myself in a way that didn’t make me want to cease existing.

I was forced back to reality when I heard Wraith let out a strangled cry, “Uh, Bucky? I could use some help here.” I turned to look at him and saw that the sniper pony had bested him. Wraith was being held against the sniper’s body like a shield, the rifle pressing down on his throat to stop him moving. The sniper looked at me and I could see my reflection in his red goggles. He snarled and spat on the ground before saying, “Wie heißen Sie?”
“Uh… I don’t speak your language, I’m sorry.”
“Nein, kann ich nicht Englisch sprechen! Auf Deutsch!”
“Bucky just shoot the fucker!” Wraith called out from his stranglehold position. I picked up my pistol again. The sniper had made a mistake. He had to use both hooves to restrain Wraith and he was only an earth pony, so he had no way of grabbing a weapon. I brought the pistol up and prepared to fire. The sniper put his rear hoof into Wraith’s back, forcing him to stumble and fall and briefly distracting me.

When I turned back to the sniper he had removed his bayonet from the rifle and had it raised, ready to stab my eye out. I drew my knife with my magic and blocked his blow. I made a quick parry before kicking him in the groin, eliciting a groan of pain and forcing him backwards. Being a stallion had its disadvantages. I swung at him and the blade of my knife went straight through his tunic and into his body. There was a squelch as the blade penetrated his skin and muscle, and a tearing noise as I removed the blade and let blood spray out of the wound, trickling down his back. I gave him a hard kick and he fell back, blood pooling at the corners of his mouth. Well great. Now I had to come to terms with two deaths. I flung the knife into the ground in frustration, “Fucking hell will the killing never end?” I threw my pistol on the floor and fell back on my haunches again.

For the very first time in a very long time I cried openly to myself. My body was wracked with sobs and tears flowed over my face and onto the ground. Right now I felt like putting a bullet in my head. But then that would be a third death. Then I remembered the officer. He was leaning on a tree, his hoof pressed against his chest, stemming the flow of blood. He was still alive, but barely. I turned on him. I needed a vent for my frustration, “You! You son of bitch! Why can’t you just leave us alone? We weren’t even doing anything! You and your fucking LRSA. Fuck you! Fuck you and everypony who knows you!”

The officer wheezed slightly. Then with what energy he had left, he picked up his pistol. I prepared myself to duck in cover but the officer placed the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. I yelped and jumped back, covering my face. The officer fell limp, the pistol falling to the ground. The tree was now a pretty shade of pinkish red; the officer’s cap had been blown off his head and now rested in his lap. I was shaking all over. The past few minutes had been the most adrenaline fuelled moments of my life, and I’d just killed two ponies. They were dead, both of them. They were never coming back. I’d ended their lives and right now I wanted to wake up lying in the corner of my cell with the Scavengers where I could live the rest of my life safe in the knowledge that I’d not murdered two ponies.

I began to sob again, my head against my chest as I began to weep. I hated my life. Why did I have to be brought into this world? Why didn’t my father use protection? Wraith rested a hoof on my shoulder, “Come on. I know how you feel. Your first few kills are the hardest. You’ll learn to accept it.”
“Accept it? How do I accept this? I’ll never get used to this! I’m not meant to be a killer! I’m never going to kill another pony again! Nope, not one more pony. Not even if they’re gonna brutally rape me and then hang me from a tree, I’m not killing another pony.” I told this to myself knowing it was a lie. There was no way of running away from it. My life was plagued with death and corpses always seemed to follow in my wake.

I stood back up again. I took a deep breath and gritted my teeth, “Well, let’s get to looting, shall we?” Wraith and I began to search the bodies of the dead ponies. I took the submachine gun from the operator and slung it over my back. I also ditched my kitchen knife in favour of his bayonet. I say ditched, I mean put back in my saddlebags to be ignored forever. He had a water canteen which I slung around my neck and a mess tin which I added to my saddle bags. I searched his pockets and found a packet of cigarettes, a stick of chewing gum and a code book with lists of radio frequencies. I took that too, just in case.

Wraith had looted the officer and the sniper and had recovered another canteen, two apples, another packet of cigarettes (don’t these ponies know that smoking is bad?) and what looked to be a can on the end of a stick. I asked about it and he showed it to me, “By pulling this cap out of the bottom, twisting it and then reinserting, it will start a five second timer during which I am to throw it at the enemy. When the timer hits zero then it explodes violently. It’s called a stick grenade.” I nodded my head at this to acknowledge that I’d understood.

Happy with our newly acquired supplies, we both agreed that we should get moving again, as the LRSA likely knew we were here now. We set off in the direction of the LRSA compound we had located and walked on through the night. I couldn’t stop shaking. The knowledge that I’d just taken the lives of two ponies worried me. I was a murderer. It chilled me to the core. I felt disgusted and ashamed with myself. I felt bitter resentment towards the LRSA but most of all I was scared. How many more lives would I have to take if it meant my survival? Kill or be killed, right? Somehow that didn’t help to justify my actions. I felt like the scum of the earth, before realising that the Scavengers were the scum of the earth and I was just some not so bad scum.
When morning rose the next day I pulled the mess tin out of my saddlebags and opened it up. Inside was a silvery package which felt squishy, another silvery package that felt rock hard, an energy drink, an apple and a package of boiled sweets. I happily began to suck on the sweets, trying to make them last as there were only about twelve, and took swigs of water between sweets to keep myself hydrated. Wraith was beginning to slow down. I turned to him and asked him what was wrong.

He waved a hoof at me, “I’m fine. Don’t worry.” He was essentially dead on his hooves. I think the only thing keeping him awake at this point was sheer willpower and I admired him for it, but at the same time I felt great concern.
“How far now to the compound do you reckon?”
“Couple of miles at the most.”
“Can you keep going until we get there?”
“Yea. Just slow it down a bit.” I slowed to a painfully slow pace to keep in time with Wraith who was breathing heavily. His eyes were rolling in his head and sweat was pouring from him. He didn’t look well.

It was at that point that I dove back into my saddlebags in an attempt to find something to help. I offered him the energy drink but he refused it, insisting that he would be okay until we got to the compound. I wanted to believe him but I was very worried. He didn’t look well at all. He was trudging and just putting one hoof in front of the other seemed to be a challenge. He was struggling to form coherent sentences and his tongue lolled out of his mouth.

We’d only made it about a mile on when I saw a large pile of sandbags built up around a thicket of trees. Behind it were about six ponies, all dressed in the same black uniforms and helmets as the ones we’d encountered the night before. There was another officer pony overseeing things, another operator and four ponies armed with rifles. There were also four light machineguns mounted on the sides of the walls. One of the ponies (the gunner nearest to us) saw us and yelled in a voice loud enough for even me to hear it, “ACHTUNG!”

I immediately flung both hooves into the air. The officer came over to the gunner, followed his rifle and came to look at us. He drew his pistol and called over to us, “Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”
“What?” The officer nodded his head.
“You are entering territory of the LRSA. Advance to be recognised. Keep your hooves empty of all weapons!”
“Yes sir!” I called back, pleased that they hadn’t just shot us on sight. Wraith and I walked over to the checkpoint, but before we were within ten metres of it the officer called for us to halt.

He called me over and I grudgingly left Wraith’s side to speak with the officer. He was quite a bit taller than me, an earth pony with a luscious coat of vibrant vermillion and black hair. He had harsh features and a very angular face which looked as though it had been carved with a chisel. The pony next to him was again an earth pony and kept his rifle trained on me. It didn’t look like any rifle I’d seen before. It had the magazine behind the grip which made it look a little weird. Never the less, he held it with confidence and I trusted that he knew how to use it. The officer took off his cap to brush back his mane before replacing it on his head.

“You are aware that entry to LRSA territory is strictly prohibited.”
“Yes.”
“And Scavengers are not welcome here.”
“Oh, I’m not a Scavenger! I’m from the NSA.”
“I was referring to your comrade there,” he gestured towards Wraith he absentmindedly kicked one of his hooves about. “He is not allowed here. We shall consider granting you entry, but should your comrade attempt entry then he will be shot immediately.”

“Oh, trust me sir, he is not a Scavenger anymore. He betrayed them and freed me from their evil clutches and together we have sworn revenge on the sons of bitches!”
“Be that as it may, the fact is that whilst he dons the uniform of a Scavenger he shall not get past this checkpoint under any circumstance. You would have to kill all of us which I trust you are not going to do.” The officer cocked his pistol to emphasise his point.
“So what you’re saying, correct me if I’m wrong, is that if he takes off his uniform then he can enter with me?”
“More or less. So long as he keeps quiet and doesn’t cause trouble. You must hand all ammunition to us before you enter and any knives or other melee weapons. We will have to conduct a thorough search of your saddlebags and, if necessary, your person in the event of any form of concealment.
“Very well then.” I handed all the ammunition I had on me over to the officer and my new bayonet.

The officer looked closely at the bayonet, “This is nice. High quality military issue bayonet, made in Leipzig. Wait a moment, how did you come across this?” I gulped quietly. Frigging Germans and their attention to detail!
“Oh, that? When we escaped from the Scavengers we raided their armoury for weapons. I just picked up the first thing I found. I’m sorry if it belongs to you, I didn’t know.”
“Hmmm. I suppose so. And your friend? Give me his weapons and uniform please.”

I retreated to Wraith and told him what the officer had told me. I asked him to give me his ammunition. He complied, handing over several clips of ammunition, his knife and grenade. Then I asked for his uniform and he refused to hand it over.
“Wraith, they won’t let you in if you don’t give me your uniform.”
“No. It’s mine. They can’t have it.”
“They need to have it or we can’t get in!”
“Put it in your saddlebags then. I don’t trust this lot further than I can throw them.”

I took his uniform off him and stuffed it into my saddlebags. Wraith shyly lowered his head and crossed his legs and I blushed as I realised he was naked. I turned away before I did something I regretted and returned to the officer, “Here you go. All of our ammo.”
“And the uniform?”
“He’s requested that I keep hold of it.” The officer laughed and pointed at me with a hoof.
“I don’t think you know how this works. We have all of the cards here! There is no room for negotiation! Either you give us the uniform or you turn and leave.”
“But what harm could it do?”
“Everypony here has been trained to open fire on anything that resembles a Scavenger. I won’t have you parading that uniform through the streets like a flag. Give it here.”
“What if I just keep it in my saddlebags and don’t take it out until we leave?”

The officer sighed and clapped a hoof to his face. He turned back to me, “I suppose I can allow that if it means I don’t have to listen to you anymore!”
“Thank you, sir. Thanks shorty,” the last remark I shot at the rifleman, who was considerably shorter than his commanding officer. He was a little taller than me though, but I ignored this fact. I returned the uniform to my saddlebags, which were immediately taken off me to conduct a search.

They found nothing of interest to them, and nothing further was confiscated. They also had a look through Wraith’s, and conducted a body search of him, being suspicious bastards. They eventually agreed that everything was in order and that we weren’t carrying any contraband. The officer then took out a small pistol (smaller than his other one anyway) and held out his hoof.
“May I have your hoof please?”

I held out my hoof and the officer placed the pistol against the base. When he pulled the trigger, there was a sharp prick and then the pistol pulsed red. The officer let go of my leg and asked me to call Wraith over. I did so and the officer performed the same manoeuvre to Wraith. The officer chuckled, “Wonderful piece of engineering this. A cross breed between earth pony science and unicorn magic, it stores your DNA on file, so that if any officer wants to see if you are allowed in the region, all he has to do is point the pistol at you and it reads your DNA code, comparing it to those on file and checking whether or not you’ve been granted entry. You should be free to walk around the compound now. Be warned, if I here of you two causing any trouble then I will see it as my personal responsibility to hunt you down and stop you.”
“Oh you needn’t worry about me sir. I’ll be a good little filly for the duration of my visit.”
“I don’t like your attitude. You think you’re so much better than all of this. Well wake up and smell the ashes miss, you’re as easy to put a stop to as any of us and the Scavengers don’t distinguish between you or me. We are equally at risk.”
“Says the stallion with military training hiding behind a wall of sandbags and stallions armed with machine guns?”

The officer snarled but allowed us to pass. Beyond him, a few hundred metres away, was a tall fence composed of chain links, with coils of razor wire along the top. There were guard towers stationed ever hundred metres and in each was a sniper and a machine gunner. The entrance was heavily defended, with another row of sandbags, behind which sat a group of stallions armed with rifles and a machine gun resting on the wall. One of the soldiers leaned against the sandbags with a large metal tube resting on his shoulder and just behind the entrance were two more machine guns and a very large anti-tank gun. The LRSA were certainly well equipped, I’d give them that.

We approached the entrance and I looked up at the towers to see the nearest two snipers training their scopes on us. The officer at the gate called for us to stop. He called me forward and pulled out a small pistol identical to the one wielded by the officer previously. The pistol pulsed red once and the officer nodded and allowed me to pass. Wraith came next and was also allowed past. The officer grabbed Wraith by the arm and uttered a quick, “Keep quiet and don’t cause trouble,” which prompted Wraith slink away with his head bowed slightly. The guards on the other side of the gate simultaneously pressed a card against a scanner on either side, and the gate opened for us to happily stroll through.
The gates closed behind us and we were met by a group of four stallions. They were all armed with assault rifles, save the commander who had a shotgun. He bowed his head to me in respect. I did likewise and he introduced himself, “Guten Tag. I am Feldwebel Lutz of the German LRSA compound of this sector. I have been informed by the sentries from over there that you have come here on informal business. Is this so?”
“Not quite. We were hoping to speak to the commander of this compound on some issues we have regarding the Scavengers.”
“Herr Oberst is busy and cannot see you. It is unlikely that he will hear you at all, so if that is your only purpose here I suggest you leave,” he gestured towards the gate as he said this.

I breathed out through my nose in annoyance. It seemed to me that everything was trying to get in our way as if the world didn’t want us to get rid of the Scavengers. I looked back at the German, “Well we could do with some shelter. We don’t have a place to live at the moment so would greatly appreciate the help.”
“We have some spare rooms in the barracks. I shall take you to them. Can I take your names and affiliation?”
“Our what?”
“Who you work for.”
“Oh, uh, okay. I’m Bucky I’m from the NSA, and this is Wraith and he’s, uh, he’s a freelancer.” The soldier wrote this down in a small notebook and tucked it back into his uniform.
“Danke. Follow me please.”

Lutz turned and ordered his troops to keep on either side of us. He began to take us towards a large building which looked to be a sort of like a massive box. There were windows lining the longer sides and a set of double doors at the front. There were about four of them in total and all of them had two guards standing outside, wielding submachine guns. Lutz stopped outside the final barracks and conversed in fluent German with one of the guards there. The guard nodded once and Lutz thanked him and turned back to us, “You are very lucky; we still have some bunks left. They will be close to the back of the barracks. You can leave your items there. If you have any problems, speak to a guard.”

Lutz bowed his head again and called his troops to attention. They marched off in file and disappeared. I shook my head and turned to Wraith, “Well, we made it, and we’re not dead. I guess that counts for something.”
“Hmm,” Wraith had gone back into his quite ‘I don’t like to talk to anypony’ mode. I sighed and pressed a hoof on the door.
“Guess we should go in then; grab those bunks before somepony else.”

I pushed the door open and was amazed by what I saw. Rows upon rows of double, sometimes triple bunks with lockers lining the walls all the way. Atop these bunks were ponies of all races and sizes and ages. I swear that the youngest one there was less than a year old. There were ponies from the NSA (I recognised their blue berets), wanderer ponies, freelancers, ex-military service ponies and so on. I spied two bunks at the back of the barracks that were void of pony plot and quickly threw my saddlebags on the bottom one to claim it as mine. Wraith nimbly hoisted himself onto the top bunk where he promptly stretched out. I delved into my saddlebags and took out one of my books, turning the cover and beginning to read.

When I put the book down for the day, the sun was just past its zenith. I decided to tour the compound and establish where everything was. I took a left turn and decided to walk around the entire perimeter. Past the barracks section, the first main building worth noting was the canteen. It was unguarded and there was a steady stream of hungry soldiers and civilians moving into and out of it. I made a mental note to visit it when I was done. A little way on from that was a firing range, on which were several LRSA soldiers and one or two NSA guardsmen. On close observation of one of them, I noticed a seal on his shoulder that was iconic of my town. I was pleased to see that I wasn’t the only survivor of the attack.

Then I had to take a right turn, and the next building of importance was considerably larger than the rest. It had heavy steel doors that were a lot larger than on the rest of the buildings. Eventually I passed one that was open and saw a large steel monster of a vehicle. Swarming around it were various members of maintenance crews and off to one side was a collection of five stallions wearing slightly different uniforms to the rest of the LRSA.

I moved and came across another group of ponies wearing ridiculous looking saddles. They looked very strange and I couldn’t help but approach and inquire as to what they were. The officer laughed, “What? You haven’t seen a flying saddle before? These things are marvels of engineering! The perfect hybrid of pegasus and earth pony engineering. When I’ve got this thing on, my top speed is increased and I’ve got eighteen yards of high calibre ammunition that I can pump out at the enemy from these beautiful cannons,” he tapped one of the two heavy machineguns poking out of the front of the saddle. “Just you wait until we see some action and we’ll wreak havoc on any land based hostiles!”

I thanked them for their time and moved on to explore some more. There was a very large radio tower immediately after the airbase and just beyond that was a fenced off area with crates and containers piled high inside. I longed to see what was inside them but the glare from one of the six riflemen guarding it warded me off and I continued on my journey.

The remainder of the compound consisted of a drill square and a soldier’s barracks, a mess hall and an armoury. In the centre of the compound was a large, five story building that acted as the base of operations. In which worked the commanding officer of the compound and a selection of radio operators and admin staff. It was very well guarded, with two riflemen to each door and an officer to accompany them and there was a section of the third story on which waited a group of snipers. The building was built to last, being made of heavy duty concrete with a steel plated exterior. I judged that it wouldn’t be long before I’d get to see the interior.
I returned to my bunk after finding nothing more of interest and planned to talk to Wraith about the LRSA but he was fast asleep on his bunk, sleeping in exactly the same way as he did every night. I can’t say I didn’t envy him. I was tired too, but more prominent were my aching hooves and terrible thirst. I removed one of the canteens from around my neck and drained at least half of it to quench my thirst at least partially and then lay back on the bed to relax my hooves a little. I decided that tomorrow I wasn’t going to do anything particularly strenuous. It had been non-stop for me ever since I left my town so I think I deserved a break.

I was nicely relaxed, skimming back through my memories, looking for anything that could be useful to me. I’m pretty good at memory and mental recall but I wasn’t quite eidetic so there were bits that I couldn’t quite remember perfectly, but the little of what I did remember helped me to string the story together. Maybe I should write a book at some point? Maybe. I was sifting through my time with the Wanderers; Tritium’s plasma carbine, the Mayor and her generosity, Eagle and her stories. I must catch up with her at some point and get her to tell me more about her time with the Scavengers. I could write a guide on them. Nah, that would be impossible really. The Scavengers were so different and diverse from region to region you sometimes can’t tell who’s a Scavenger and who isn’t.

Oh, but then there was my ‘problem’. I’d pushed this from my mind recently until now and it was worrying me. It was silly really, to be so worried about the fact that I liked mares just as much as colts, but I was worried. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, quite frankly. It didn’t feel normal. It felt quite bad, as though it was wrong, that I shouldn’t feel like this. It was exciting. It was exciting to be bad, to do feel something that I shouldn’t. Still, I wasn’t readily prepared to explore this side of me just yet. Eagle had opened up to me about her feelings but I was far away from her now and I wasn’t confident in sharing my feelings with anypony in this compound. The LRSA had been known to be quite homophobic, as had the NSA. The Scavengers, surprisingly, tolerated homosexuality quite well. But I wasn’t gay, because I liked colts. What did they call it? Bisexual? Yea, yea I must be bisexual. It felt so bad to think that. Like I said, maybe it was just a phase.

I was awoken from my half trance by the opening of the doors and a soldier walking in, yelling at the top of his lungs, “Lights out! Night time is coming!” I turned to a pony close to me.
“Why are we turning lights out?”
“It makes it harder for the Scavengers to find us.”
“Can’t the LRSAS just beat them back with their guns and tanks?”
“You’d like to think, but Scavengers are known to overwhelm the LRSA with large numbers, often outnumbering them 3 to 1 or worse. It’s easier not to take the risk.” I nodded. I suppose that made sense. Ponies all over the room got to work storing all of their property in their lockers and crawling into bed for the night. I decided to stay awake a little longer.

When the soldier flicked off the light I remained sitting on the end of my bed. Somepony somewhere in the room snored and I clenched my teeth. Had I not been in this compound I’d have shoved a cork in his mouth but I didn’t have that chance. It amused me when somepony close to him did so for me. I removed my hat and placed it in my lap. How was I supposed to help anypony? The Scavengers were so large and powerful that the LRSA with all their tanks and machine guns struggled to cope with them. What could I, a bisexual nineteen year old short little unicorn with limited experience, do what the LRSA and the NSA combined couldn’t? I guess it was time I accepted the reality of the situation. There was no way I was going to make any difference and I should just accept it. I should just stay here in this LRSA compound and wait until somepony with some actual power sorted this out. Still the thought of just sitting by as the LRSA did all the work whilst the Scavengers were still committing atrocities to pony kind hurt bad and filled my heart with lead. Could I join the LRSA and fight with them? No, the LRSA had a very strict ‘No Mares’ policy within their armed forces. Apparently they were ‘distracting’. I would just have to wait this out. I lay back on the bunk with my hat resting on my chest. I wanted to cry. Not for any real reason, just for the sake of feeling sorry for myself. But I bit my lip and tried my best to stay strong before I ultimately drifted off to sleep.

I woke in the morning with a head like hell and a look like death. My mane was sticking off in every which way and my eyes refused to open fully. It was still quite early in the morning and most of the other ponies were still asleep. I had always been an early riser. It was something that annoyed me. Whilst other ponies would be having a lovely long lie in on the weekends, I’d be up and at ‘em at four in the morning. I half fell out of the bunk and straightened my hat on my head. I caught a quick glance at myself in a mirror and immediately removed my hat again and attempted to fix my mane as well as I could. I turned my pullover the right way round (I honestly have no idea how it had reversed itself) and then replaced my hat on my head once more. With a nod to assure myself that I was looking presentable I looked up to see if Wraith was still asleep. One of his forelegs dangled down one side, his other rested under his chest as usual. He must wake up every morning with a terribly painful hoof. I shook my head and fastened my belt around my waist, sliding my (empty) Glock into it and taking a deep breath to try and clear my fuzzy brain.

Outside was a rather pleasant view of the horizon. Or at least it would have been a pleasant view if it wasn’t interrupted by a chain-link fence. The guards on either side were the same ones I’d seen yesterday and they looked ready to drop on the spot if they lost focus. They were standing stock still at the position of attention and must have been doing so all night. For their sake I hoped they were relieved soon; one of them only had one eye open and his head was beginning to droop onto his chest. On the ‘street’ were various different ponies, mostly LRSA going about their business but there were a few refugee ponies amongst them. It seemed that the general direction of travel was in the direction of the mess hall. I joined the flow and followed them.

The mess hall was predominantly separated into various sections. I’m not sure if there was a rule about where certain ponies should sit but they did seem to be sat in groups. The entire right side was dominated by refugees, with a few LRSA ponies interspersed between them, and the left was mostly LRSA. Almost right next to the counter sat the officers, who were easily identifiable from their rather ridiculous peaked caps. Closest to the door were the low ranking Privates and Junior NCOs and sandwiched in between them were the Sergeants and Warrant Officers. The hall was not overly crowded at this hour and there were still plenty of seats left. One advantage of waking early (although there aren’t many) is that you get the best stuff at breakfast. I joined an admittedly rather long queue to get food, standing behind a rather skinny LRSA Corporal with a smooth looking pistol strapped at his waist. Another pony quickly came to stand behind me and it was a Private with no helmet on with a very neatly ironed uniform. I snorted derisively. Such things were a waste of time; whilst you’re busy ironing your uniform you could be out there saving lives but no, obviously looking nice is top priority to this lot.

The stallion behind the counter was dressed in an LRSA uniform as well, but he had a white apron on over it and instead of a steel helmet he had a chef’s hat perched on his head. He looked rather silly but I wasn’t prepared to tell him that in case he decided not to feed me. I wasn’t exactly spoiled for choice though. On one side there was a tray full of greenery, on the other was a tray of toast and in the middle was a selection of drinks. So basically my choice was celery or toast. The toast wasn’t even done how I liked it; golden brown but not black so that it’s still crispy but won’t cover whatever you’re wearing in annoying crumbs. They also didn’t have any marmalade. I ended up biting the metaphoric bullet and received three slices of the (burnt) toast, and poured myself a mug of water. Charred toast and water, you can’t beat the five star cuisine at the LRSA compound.

I took my breakfast in my magic and carried it over to a table of the right of the room where most of the refugees were sat. I chose a seat on its own so Wraith could join me if he got here in time. I began to absentmindedly crunch on my first slice of toast, getting annoyed as crumbs all over my pullover, and was then aware of a pony sitting down on my left. I turned to look at them and saw it as the Private who’d joined the queue behind me. He said nothing and ate his toast, which had been smothered in butter to the point where you could no longer discern between bread and dairy. He also had a mug of water, which he left almost completely untouched as he ate.

I swallowed the mouthful of toast and prepared to take another, but the Private began to say something in German and I decided to wait until he finished. He was looking at me, an expectant look on his face whilst I sat there with a half-eaten slice of toast floating in front of my face looking rather stupid. I gathered my wits and made my reply, “Sprechen Sie Englisch?”
“Oh, sorry. I forgot that you refugees don’t speak my language.”
“That’s okay, I’m amazed that you speak mine. So far only the officers and few others have demonstrated such an ability.”
“A lot of us actually speak English, but few of us can be bothered to use it.”
“Oh. Well now I feel stupid.”
“Don’t. Anyway, I said, ‘I like your hat. It makes you look like a cowgirl’.”
“That’s what I was going for.”
“Are you?”
“No. Just a regular city filly with an active imagination.” I was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable. What was this Private getting at? What was he trying to accomplish.

He was an earth pony, with a dark grey coat and a black mane that looked a little too long for LRSA standards. His uniform hugged his figure tightly, despite his rather skinny build and helped to pronounce his chest and shoulders. I took a closer look at the tag on his lapel. It was in German so I didn’t understand any of it but it had a picture of a telephone on it so I assumed he worked in comms. He bowed his head to me, “My name is Arno. What is yours?”
“I’m Bucky. That’s it.”
“You look very nice this morning Bucky. Did you sleep well?”
“Quite.”
“I haven’t seen you around before. Are you new here?”
“Yes. I arrived yesterday.”
“Well, welcome to the compound. I hope we can make you feel as safe as possible.”
“Yea, thanks.”
He continued to talk, and I continued to listen, paying little actual attention and nodding occasionally or muttering the occasional, “Mmhmm,” or. “Yea.” Occasionally he would say something that would require an actual response, where I’d give him a brief comment before moving on. I almost jumped out of my fur when Wraith appeared seemingly out of nowhere next to me and sipped from a cup containing some form of hot coffee. Arno looked at him and scrunched his nose slightly. Wraith looked at Arno. Several awkward moments ensued in which I asked the pony opposite if there was any marmalade. Wraith coughed, “Yes?”
“Who are you?”
“Wraith. I’m with her don’t worry,” Wraith gestured vaguely in my direction. I shrunk back into my seat.
“Huh. Is he your coltfriend or something?”
“No! No, no, no, no, no, no. He’s not my coltfriend, he’s just my… uh… my companion? No my comrade. He’s my sort of tutor in a way,” I smiled awkwardly and couldn’t help notice Wraith look a little disappointed with my response. I blushed but hid it by burying my face in my mug and draining it of its full contents.

Arno sipped carefully from his mug. He spoke to Wraith again, “So you don’t mind me talking to her?”
“No. I’m just her companion.” That comment carried a degree of ice that made me die a little inside. Had I offended him?
“Cool.” I decided now would be a good time to pipe in.
“Let me just say; I’m a lesbian.” Wraith immediately adopted a confused look and shot me a glance that sort of asked whether I was being serious. Arno snorted into his mug as some water shot up his nose. He coughed and spluttered a couple of times before he was able to talk again. When he did he gave a nervous chuckle.
“Wow, uh, okay. Well that’s nice. Huh. Sheisse, look at the time, I really must get going or my Gruppenfuhrer will give me guard duty. Auf Wiedersehen, meine Kameraden.” He quickly scarfed down his last slice of toast and threw the tray onto a rack as he left, ears flattened down against his skull and a flurry of red on his face.

I celebrated a small victory by leaning back in my chair whilst two ponies on the other side of the table giggled. Wraith stared at me and it took me a moment to remember why, “Oh don’t worry, I’m not really. I just wanted to get rid of him.” Wraith gave a sigh of… was it relief? No, probably just exasperation. I laughed to myself, “Well, better finish my toast. We’ve got work to do!”

Author's Note:

Another chapter completed. Hope you enjoyed this one, and expect the next chapter to appear next Monday.

Comments

[Crystal Static]

Good chapter, I can't wait for this fic to pick up.

~Crystalline Electrostatic~

[Teq]

5007347 Don't worry, it will soon. There'll be about one more chapter to come before the real hardcore adventuring begins, but that's all to come!

By the way, I love your name!

[Crystal Static]

5007397 Well, my username is actually my OC's short name, but my signature is my OC's long name. My avatar is my OC.

And judging from the fic so far, it is going to be amazing when it picks up.

~Crystalline Electrostatic~

[Teq]

5007445 Glad to see your hopes are high! I'm planning to keep this story going for quite a while before finishing with a big crescendo, but you'll have to wait for that.

Crystalline Electrostatic. That's just really fun to say! I guess it appeals to my inner chemist.

[Crystal Static]

5007468 I think it is fun to say too, but then again, we might just be eggheads.

~Crystalline Electrostatic~

[Teq]

5007514 That's true!

[Crystal Static]

5007524 fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2014/013/0/2/nerdgasm_by_comeha-d72140i.png

~Crystalline Electrostatic~

[Iron Comet]

Interesting take on Germans if I must say, that Teutonic efficency was done very well. Still think they got into the compound a little to easily though unless its easy to get in, but hard to get out. Love how she got the Stallion to leave her alone, made him pick up and go and confused Wraith to no end.

[Teq]

5009355 Mmm. The idea surrounding LRSA compounds is explained in further detail later on. But yes, that announcement was sort of like a 'spur of the moment' sort of thing. It kind of just came to me as I was writing.

And extreme efficiency is something common amongst the LRSA in generally. I actually love the Germans (and Germany itself), and efficiency is something they do well (just look at them, they have the highest GDP in most of Europe).