*** Hour 19, Day 1 of Jugust
It was like something out of a movie, hails of bullets came flying from every direction, pounding at the dirt and walls, narrowly missing Twilight as she desperately stumbled back through the opening and collapsed behind the sandbags. Her ears were ringing and a trickle of blood poured down the side of her head. She stayed motionless for about 5 minutes before the adrenaline wore off allowing her to feel any pain. "Ahhh..." She squealed under her breath. She reached her hoof up to her ear. She felt nothing but a soaked lump of twisted cartilage. "Why...?" She wanted to cry, but her body was so dehydrated that she couldn't.
***Hour 20, Day 1 of Jugust
Engie sat at his workbench, grinning maliciously as he stitched together his new cowboy hat. "This is what you get for refusing to clean, you worthless druggie." He snickered, looking over at his acquaintance. "How do it look?"
Clam looked up from her medical bed, using the one eye that's not hanging out of it's socket. Her voice sounded like she drank fossil fuel. "You do know we have an entire room stored with dozens of different kinds of animal leather. Why do you have to use human skin to make clothes. No one else wants to wear that shit."
He laughed loud enough to hurt Clam's damaged eardrums. "Whatever, more nice clothes for me."
Jon entered the workshop carrying what looked like a piece of bloody purple skin. "Hey guys, I found this laying in our killbox after the turrets discharged. We need to hunt whatever animal this belongs to immediately. It's been a while since I've eaten meat that wasn't from a person or a giant ant. Engie sneered and threw a bolt action rifle at Jon.
"You're the best shot in the colony. You do it, we got more important things to worry about." Clam looked at Jon.
"You're saying this animals is new? We should investigate. Maybe it could produce some sort of natural fuel that we could use for out generators. Or maybe it has a horn we could sell for a lot of silver."
Jon wasn't paying attention. He was already out the door, mouth watering for the fine meal he visioned himself preparing. He made his way over to the killbox and opened the front door. He flipped the switch to turn off the turrets and walked out over the sand bags, smelling the fresh air for the first time in a while. Even though it was 50 degrees outside, I was still nicer than the barracks. He heard panicked breathing coming from behind him. Fearing the worst, he spun around, pointing his rifle at the source. What he saw puzzled him. It was a small purple equine creature with wings and a horn, but that wasn't what he found confusing. She was staring at him with intense fear. Not an animal's fear, but the expression of a person who's life was about to end. He didn't know why he did it, or what he was expecting, but he uttered his favorite phrase.
"Howdy..."
Twilight's expression changed from sheer terror, to worried confusion. "Uhhh... Hi?"
Jon should have been shocked, but after years of living on this crazy planet, fighting armies of hundreds of capybaras, and getting solar eclipses the lasted for days, nothing surprised him anymore. "You look thirsty."
Twilight's eyes fluttered with hope. "You're Celestia damned right I'm bucking thirsty."
Jon crouched down and offered her his flask. Twilight drank the whole thing, only stopping to talk breaths.
"Thank you. Thank you so much..." She hugged him tightly. This time Jon was actually shocked. He hasn't been hugged for hundreds of years since before his mother died on the urbworld he grew up on. It was the first time he's ever been shown any affection on the rim.
"Umm... You're welcome?" He pushed her off and starting rummaging her bag, his eyes lighting up upon seeing the packaged survival meals stored in her bag. "Bingo."
Twilight looked appalled. "Hey! That's my stuff!"
Jon giggled. "Sorry, lavender. Out here, people take what they want because nobody can stop them. You best learn to deal with it." He shoveled Twilight's daisy sandwiches into his mouth.