Do Pinkie Clones Dream of Magical Alligators?

by An0rak

Runaway

She knew she was being followed. An itchy back and two tail spasms had alerted her to the bounty hunter's presence after she exited the coffee shop. Calmly continuing down the streets of Saddle Francantle, she plunged into the crowds of ponies heading home from strenuous work days. The afternoon rush of blue-collar workers had just begun, and the multitude of ponies crowding the streets made it almost impossible to keep track of anypony.

She was confident she could shake this guy, whomever he was. She had been prowling these streets for years, living off of scraps and disguising herself to perform off-the-book odd-jobs that were her only source of revenue. She lived in an abandoned building with a crumbling foundation that offered no shelter from the elements just to keep her place of residence off of the government's radar. All, she had to do was get home.

That abandoned lot was a minefield in itself, but she had added a few traps that would surprise the most cautious hunters. She doubted it would come to that. The crowd she was shoving her way through was an urban cloak of invisibility. All she had to do was keep moving and never stop until her back stopped itching.

For obvious reasons, she took the long way home, being careful to double back and change routes multiple times. After about ten minutes, her back had stopped itching. Sweet victory. She walked briskly through some back alleyways to reach her abandoned lot. Finally, she was safe.

She took off her clothes and shook her coat out until all the food scraps of day old pizza and fry bits had fallen out onto the slab of concrete she used as a table. She ravenously ate the small portion; it was the most she'd eaten in days. Hanging her hat on a rusty nail sticking out of a rotted wooden support beam, she moved over to the only corner of the building still partially intact. The walls were still standing, although one was caving inward more and more by the day. The risk of her being killed in her sleep by a structural failure had occurred to her many times, but it was a risk she'd have to take. The only shelter from the wind was that corner, and there were cold nights this time of year.

She hadn't bothered to take off her coat. She was already chilly, and she knew that she wouldn't be graced with any form of warmth anytime soon. There was a raggedy, hole-filled blanket folded up waiting for her. As the sun set, she found herself shivering. Wishful thinking guided her thought toward lighting a fire. If only she could! The risk was just too great. She could be discovered. She'd rather freeze than die by one of those low-down bounty-hunters.

Those cold-blooded killers had the government backing them up. But they'd never catch her. Never. She wouldn't let them. With her unbreakable spirit still intact, the now cold mare huddled into the corner and shuddered herself to sleep.

Author's Note:

I wanted to get inside a Pinkie Pie Clone's head for the opening chapter. This story is going to focus on a post-apocalyptic world modeled after the one described in Phillip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. I'm not sure if I'll go full novel or not yet, but if you like this sample or have any suggestions, then please leave a comment below. Thanks for the support and happy reading.