Ow… that’s all I could think of right now. Ow to my head, ow to my whole body.None of my senses were really working so I tried to remember. I had been walking in the wasteland for about an hour, not really paying attention to anything, and I think I remember someone playing… baseball?
The rest of my memory was suddenly interrupted as my nose started working again. I could only smell blood, but I sneezed suddenly. I tried to open my eyes, but they hurt worse than after drinking the fire apple juice so I closed them. My nose started working again, and I suddenly felt very glad my stomach was fairly empty because more than just the smell of blood filled my nostrils. There was waste, there was death, a putrid stench that threatened to dissolve my nose hairs.
My ear flicked, I could hear voices! They were very distant, like they were through a wall. Someone must have been yelling loudly. I tried opening my eyes again and found myself in a little puddle of blood. I frantically looked around, I was in a cage. There were other cages, but my eyes hadn’t focused enough to see their contents. I looked down and realized it was my own blood. My head really hurt, and there were a couple scratches and small gashes on my hide I don’t remember getting! What, did I get dragged through a thorn bush or something?
“Hey, kid, you conscious?” A raspy voice asked from a nearby cage. There was a mass of flesh and feathers in there, maybe it USED to be a Griffon. It moved as I tried to scan further, and it looked up at me. LOOKED UP AT ME. WHAT. WHY IS A CORPSE LOOKING AT ME.
“And now I’m hallucinating that dead griffons are talking to me…” I managed to slur out in my concussed state. The corpse laughed.
“Hah! That’s a new one! Usually I get something a lot more violent. You Stable Ponies and not knowing about ghouls… It’s adorable when you’re not trying to blow my brains out like a feral.” The Griffon… ghoul I think he said? The Ghoul said. My brain was barely functioning as is, but it was at about that moment when the rest of my body remembered that it was in pain. It was like I was on fire! I knew this pain, though. I just had to…
My medicine was gone.
“Oh no…” I whispered in horror. My medicine was gone, I was locked in a cage surrounded by death and other people in cages… The traders told me about this kind of thing… Raiders, I think is what they’re called? But that’s not important! What’s important is that my medicine is gone!
“I-I-I… I need my medicine!” I rasped out, frantically looking around again.
“I could go for some medicine right now too kid, you any good with locks?” The Griffon asked. I rolled my eyes, pretending he was just a balding Griffon instead of a talking corpse for now.
“Not THAT kind of medicine. The ACTUAL medicine. Without my dosage every day I will die in seven days or less.” I said, surprisingly calm. I realized how calm I said it, and suddenly I felt the urge to panic. Because PANICKING IS THE RIGHT THING TO DO IN THIS SITUATION. I started banging on the bars with my hooves, tried chewing them, grasping around my cage for something to pry it open, anything!
“Whoa there kid, slow down. Like I said, you any good with locks?” The Griffon asked again. I snapped my vision to him and saw what he held in his talons. A single bobby pin, terribly bent, but still usable.
“I-I… I was training to be a technician, so kinda?” I replied, a little unsure. I’ve never picked a lock with a bobby pin before, though I have forced through some when the locks on a leg band gets broken of fused with itself due to heat. He shrugged and tossed it to me, I barely managed to catch it. I immediately set to work on the lock. The Griffon, thankfully, didn’t say anything as I tried to concentrate. It was very hard to do this without something solid to turn the lock, but my hooves were still small and I was still flexible!
I heard the soft click, that was it? It was the first turn! I looked to him, saw his disappointed expression, and turned back to the lock. I held half of the bobby pin in one hoof, the rest of it lodged in the lock.
“Ah, shit, damn thing was too busted up. Sorry kid, you looked like you knew what you were doing though. If one of those deadbeats drops another one I’ll get it to you.” He said and settled down again. I just sat there staring at the fire barrel illuminating the room. Whatever it was burning it was not sanitary, it smelled of filth, but I don’t think I could stop from screaming in here if it was dark.
Every now and then I heard a few faint metallic noises coming from the Griffon, but he didn’t really seem to be moving so I assumed he was just scratching the cage with his talons. I followed his lead, though, with nothing else to do and managed to fall asleep.
I woke up to the sounds of yelling. A mare with a switchblade was standing in front of my cage, watching me closely, while two stallions with guns were pointing them at the griffon. I really didn’t pay much attention, my body was really starting to hurt. I slept for a long time, judging by my Pipbuck. It had been two days since my last dose of medicine, and I was really feeling it.
“Lookie here, we got a lockpicker! Shame it broke, I would have had fun punishing you.” A stallion yelled out when he came to my cage. He pulled the bent pin out of the lock and undid the lock. I scrambled to the back of the cage, afraid he was going to come in and hurt me, but he just replaced it with a much more worn lock.
“Now that you aint got shit to pick with, we can put this good one to better use.” He continued, more to himself, as he levitated the much better lock to a different cage. There was a pink mass of hide with light and dark green hair piled in the middle of the cage. It was another pony! I looked around and saw that the other cages had been mostly filled in as well.
The one I was looking at looked to be a tall earth pony mare. The raiders were talking about how exotic she looked, but I couldn’t tell much. She seemed to be pink with a mane and tail two toned with an emerald green and a darker, grassy green.
I looked over to another one, another earth pony mare. This one looked like they had thrown one of their own in there! Well, kinda. She was big and tough looking, she even had an eyepatch! Her coat was cream colored, but whatever color her mane used to be has long since faded to grey. She had to be at least twice as old as Mommy was, but Mommy was pretty young.
Mommy…
I shook my head, I didn’t need to go down that emotional roller coaster right now. Not while there were raiders watching me. I looked on, there were two unicorns as well. They both had a grey coat, though one had a cream spot over his snout. That one had a well groomed mane and tail, which were a very dark grey- almost black- with a darker orange scattered thoughtfully. The other one had a darker blue mane and tail, his tail was cut kinda short. That one looked a little thin, but then again so did I.
I just balled up in the corner of my cage and hoped the raiders would go away without hurting anyone else, me especially.
“Why are we keeping them caged up again? It’s been so long since we’ve had a proper mare that wasn’t wide as a canyon in here! And why not just put the old girl out of her misery? Nobody should live that long in the wasteland.” One of the raiders sneered, though the stallion that was apparently the boss smacked him.
“Because, boy, I told you so. We haven’t had a batch like this in over a year and I’m not gonna let you waste it! We just got some new meet, go convince one of them to give you something to rut.” He dismissed the other stallion. He grumbled but trotted off, mumbling about canyons still being canyons. I didn’t know there were canyons around here.
I couldn’t help but start shaking as the raiders left. All that fear and stress was making my withdrawal worse.
“Hey kid, they’re gone… you don’t gotta be so scared anymore…” The Griffon said, looking back up at me from his cage. He must have caught my look of pain, though, as a look of worry spread over his sagging features. “You alright, kid?” He asked. I snorted, the pain wracking through my body.
“I told you… I need my medicine…” I managed to rasp out on a shaky breath. He grumbled, he apparently didn’t like seeing me like this. I heard the metallic clicking from his direction continue and tried to get more sleep. Even though I hadn’t moved in two days, getting locked up and concussed makes you tired apparently. The pain was draining my energy too, and so I slept.
I awoke to more voices, these very hushed and unfamiliar.I didn’t really understand what they were talking about at first, but I didn’t really care. I hurt. This is the worst I’ve ever gotten, the longest I’ve ever gone without medicine at all. It was all I could think about at the moment.
“My… Medi...cine…” I managed to rasp out. I was hungry, I was thirsty, and I hurt. I just wanted all of that to end. I heard the ponies around me talking more, the Griffon spoke every now an then, I even heard what sounded like the ponies doing something. I didn’t care, though.
I was a little surprised to find the old mare with one eye standing in front of me.
“Shit, kid, you alright?” She asked me, her voice a little raspy with age. I couldn’t even form words anymore, I don’t think I’m really conscious anymore. Just kinda going in and out. The hurting never stopped. I think she looked at my Pipbuck and saw the slew of alerts on it.
“Hey Doc, can you help her?” The old mare asked. One of the Unicorns, the one with orange in his mane and the cream colored snout, quickly came over and looked me over.
“N-No, I don’t think so… not… Not here. What is this stuff anyways?” He asked, probably seeing the name of the medicine in the Pipbuck.
“Medicine…” I managed to get out before cognitive function once again slipped from my grasp.
“It appears we have found some of our belongings, though anything of value is clearly taken.” One of the voices spoke up, it was the other earth pony. The really pretty pink one, she really did look exotic. But it hurt too much to really care right now. It was enough to rouse me into full consciousness again, though. I don’t know when she picked me up, but I was on the old mare’s back. My eyes lit up and I almost fell off when I saw the little bag that held my medicine. It looked… lighter.
“Let me see that…” The Unicorn the old mare called a doctor said when they opened it to see what should have been seven bottles of my medicine in it. They took out two bottles, apparently all that was left, but I tried to reach for them.
“Whoa kid, hang on. Don’t hurt yourself. Doc, could you give her that stuff already? She’s kinda dying.” The old mare asked. Yes, do what the nice old mare says! I need my medicine!
“Wait, it would appear that this ‘medicine’ is an amalgamate of different harmful substances. A ‘Chem Cocktail’ as you would say.” The pink earth mare said, looking closely at the bottle. Now that I was more conscious, her voice was strongly accented. It sounded Zebracian but it was a little too ‘normal’ to be full Zebra accent.
“I… I need it… p-please…” I groaned out, the pain flaring even more. They all looked at each other, then back at me.
“Ok, ok… hold still.” The doctor unicorn said. He seemed like he really didn’t want to do it, but if he didn’t then I would get up and do it myself. Who cares what it is, it’s my medicine! What kind of doctor doesn’t want to give a kid her medicine? I let the heavy sigh of relief out as I felt the medicine in my body. I couldn’t help but fall back asleep on the nice old mare’s back.
I was jarred awake as I was set on the ground. I looked around, the old mare did the ‘Shh’ motion and I nodded. She crept back up with the others as they were trying to fight one of those mares with a switchblade from before. Just as two more of them arrived, Choker made her presence known. And wow, was it a presence. The pink earth pony was striking with swift but weak blows, but dodged like a professional. The Griffon was raking the mare with his talons, and had been nicked once or twice in return. The two Unicorns were circling, waiting to see if they were needed. Neither looked the most useful in a hoof fight.
The Griffon noticed the old mare common and stood up, pulling what looked like a pistol from I don’t know where. He fired the thing, and it exploded in his claws. He barely dodged the switchblade that came as his reply, but then the old mare struck her first blow. She may have been old, but she must have been a pit fighter somewhere. The raider’s neck twisted as she bucked her head with enough force to end the raider in one blow. She turned to one while the others turned to another and the ensuing battle was surprisingly easy. One of the unicorns even got the switchblade from the first one and was using it fairly effectively.
Just as the last raider fell, dead or unconscious I don’t really know, some of them looked up and at a set of stairs. The pink mare and the old mare started creeping up the stairs after speaking lowly as the doctor came over to carry me.
“You doing ok?” He asked. I nodded and tried to stand, though something I think is called vertigo hit me and I fell right back down. The doctor unicorn yelped and failed to catch me, but he picked me up and put me on his back.
“Alright, that’s enough of that. Once we’re out of this place you’re getting a checkup.” He said. I just grumbled, I could feel my consciousness slipping away.
I opened my eyes as I felt myself being moved, or ather the pony that was carrying me stopping suddenly. They had apparently acquired some armor since I was last conscious, I think it’s leather, and the other unicorn was levitating a rifle! They were all looking at something, though, and I looked over as well. The front doors were wide open, the light form inside spilling out to reveal a bunch of dead raiders.
In the doorway, trying to stand on a mutilated right foreleg, was a young mare. She wasn’t wearing much armor, and she was riddled with other bullet wounds, though she had a large harness that held what looked like a scoped rifle in it. She had a dark grey, nearly black, coat and had a black mane with lavender spots scattered about it. She looked up at us.
“I-If anyone has any potions, I would be… much… much obliged.” She said weakly. The doctor handed me off to the old mare and quickly rushed over. Apparently they had found some potions, as he fed her a couple of them. It was weird watching her wound close up in front of our eyes. He then used some magic on her, a healing spell of some sorts, and she seemed a lot better. She still limped on the leg, but she was able to join the rest of the group.
“Right, let’s get the hell out of here… I know of a safe place, but the journey there may not be safe.” The strange mare said. They chatted for a bit, apparently she had found out about a bunch of raiders taking people into here and she wanted to help them. I also learned their names and what had happened exactly while I was in and out.
The pink one with the strange accent was Hibiscus Flower. She was an alchemist, and mentioned things in zebra and talked about the spirits and life of the land. The old mare was Choker, she doted over me most of the time. The Doctor was Cole Wardhart, and he was a stable pony like me! The other unicorn was Crack Shot, and he was apparently hoarding Dash for some reason.
Cole had levitated some rocks over to hibiscus, who broke them into something to try and pick the locks most of the time. When that ultimately failed, Crack Shot used the one spell he knew to make his hoof as strong as diamond and just bashed his lock open. They then found a set of keys, got everyone out, and systematically cleared the old theater house they were apparently in. Up those stairs I saw, there was a sniper that was really giving the stranger a problem. Taking that stallion out equipped Crack with an ideal weapon and allowed the stranger to survive the rescue attempt.
The stranger wouldn’t tell us her real name, but instead told us to call her Jeanne. Nobody seemed to think much of it. Ramsey, the Griffon Ghoul, was still around too. We set off, me on Choker’s back, into the city. We were apparently near the outskirts of Manehattan and the safe place involved heading in deeper. Which was usually a bad idea.
We had to hide a lot, Jeanne could see things in the dark before they saw us, but eventually we came to a guarded and fortified complex in the night. There were griffons there in armor marked with white griffon claws, Choker and Hibiscus said something about Talon Mercenaries. Eventually we were waved over, I was kinda scared of them so I pretended to be asleep.
“Alright, we’re welcome here as long as we pay for it. I’ve got you all covered, considering what you just went through. Ramy, you’re on your own unfortunately.” Jeanne said. The Griffon Ghoul in question just grinned and strolled right in. The guards balked at the name and made disgusted faces. They let him pass, though.
“Don’t worry, I know these fellas. I’m gonna go get shitfaced, you in?” The ghoul asked. Everyone shook their heads and he shrugged, continuing deeper into the complex.
“Dewdrop, let’s get you somewhere nice to sleep and somewhere to eat.” Choker said, she knew I wasn’t really sleeping. I nodded and clung to her. We walked for a while, finding a barracks area. Choker asked around a bit and quickly found a younger griffon who gave up her cot for me. She was so sweet! She even made sure to lay down next to it to make sure I was safe while Choker went to find food.
I just stayed quiet, watching the griffons as they watched me. Some of them didn’t seem to notice or care about my existence, though some of them seemed to feel sorry for me. They were the younger ones, the older ones apparently hardened with experience. Choker was soon back with something called sugar apple bombs. It was cereal! And it was the best thing I’ve had in days, not quite as good as mommy’s cooking though!
Mommy…
I felt myself starting to cry, so I just quickly ate and convinced Choker that I wanted to sleep. She laid down on the other side of the cot, practically under it, and I shoved my face in the pillow. I made sure not to really cry, I wasn’t going to ruin the nice griffon’s pillow with snot and tears, but I couldn’t stop thinking of mommy.
I didn’t sleep very well, but the next morning was happier. Apparently the others had found the rest of my medicine before we left! I wasn’t going to have to ration it yet! They started calling it by the little name I had scratched on the bottle, though. ‘Discord’. They asked me all about it and I told them what I knew, and they decided they wanted to go back to the stable to get more. I told them why I was sent away, but instead of giving up or offering to steal it, they instead decided that they were going to help the stable!
Everything I ever heard about the outside world was bad. I mean, most of it is bad, but right now these ponies were good ponies. They wanted to help me and my stable, for the sake of helping! I’m almost glad I got taken by those raiders. I never would have found them otherwise… Or, they would have never found me. And I’d be dead.
I drove that thought from my mind as we started off towards Stable 59, it was three days south from here along the railroad. I felt like it was going to be a long three days.