The gunshots echoed throughout the small settlement. Meanwhile Twilight Sparkle sat in her lab a dour frown on her face. Applejack had told her that Sugarcoat was not allowed back after her and Triple Sec had taken the truck out on their fool’s errand, and that Braeburn intended to follow up on that statement. Twilight did not like the decision and had gone to Braeburn to protest, only to be confined to her ‘home’ under house arrest.
She had spent the time in her lab trying to distract herself with science. After a few hours she gave up, as she just wasn’t dedicated to her effort.
Finally in the early morning hours she heard the first volley fired. She cringed as the peaceful morning was disturbed, again and again. After several minutes of constant gunfire the cold sun had crested the horizon and the Appleloosans ceased their battery.
Applejack returned and told Twilight that she was finally released from her house arrest around noon. As Twilight stepped out among the other survivors she glanced from person to person, wondering how such a nice family had violently turned away Sugarcoat, a girl who was just desperate to protect what was important to her. Each Appleloosan smiled at her as she walked by and she in turn gave a small wave, but as her thoughts wandered she couldn’t bring herself to feel comfortable there.
A few days later, Twilight had buried herself in her work. She had been attempting to get something mechanical to work, she knew combustion engines could work and assumed steam power would work. She tried electricity, only to get no response, she used a battery; again negative results. Finally she was experimenting with magnetism. As a warm-up of sorts, she had fashioned a rudimentary compass out of a dish and needle and a tupperware lid, strangely the needle kept pointing south, instead of north.
“Dammit Twi! We have been over this!” Applejack’s country twang reverberated through the house as her worn boots paced holes in the rug.
“No Applejack, we haven’t.” Twilight retorted tersely from across the room. “You have dodged the topic without actually explaining anything time and again. Why don’t we look for anyone else, and why couldn’t we take in Sugarcoat and Lemon Zest?”
“Nothin’ Doin’ Sugarcube… We ain’t fixin’ to discuss this, it’s dangerous out there and here…” her lips drew into a thin line. “Here we have each other.” Applejack pulled her hat down to cover her eyes.
“We have each other!? Those two were our friends, and Triple Sec is your family! How can we just force them to leave and not help them? Who is it that they have?” Twilight shook her head, “Ugh! This isn’t even about that! I found something, an anomaly! During my tests of rudimentary machines and devices I discovered that there is a huge magnetic disturbance to the south! We need to find out what that is!” Twilight had a stack of papers in hand and began to walk towards AJ.
Applejack’s eyes narrowed and her pacing came to a stop. Straightening her back she stood at her full height and crossed her arms. “Now Twi, we can’t be dividin’ ourselves because ya’ THINK ya’ found some sort of who knows what out in tha’ wastland!”
Twilight paused midstep. “You don’t believe me? So what, if I disagree with you I get exiled just like they did? I stayed here because you were a friend, I had you here! I could have gone to search for my family, I could have searched for the other girls, but NO! I stayed here with you to help develop this community.”
“That ain’t fair! They endangered us. They stole from us. They ain’t us. They made their decision, end of discussion!” Applejack stormed out of the house.
King Sombra lurked in the dark innermost chamber of his mobile fortress a trio of soldiers standing a few feet away nervously awaited his orders. He furrowed his brow; he knew that they only obeyed because of the reputation he had built across the last three years. Most of that had come from what various members of his entourage, the so-called Legion, had done, he himself focused only on survival. Nothing ends a king’s survival faster than his own underlings, so he took extra care to continue his charade.
He turned and swung a whip of barbed wire at a bound girl behind him. She tried to scream through her gag; the threadbare cloth was tried into a clumsy bow and her underclothes hung in bloodstained tatters from her lithe and bruised body. Her cream skin marred with scars, her hair was hacked short, obviously it was surely once long puce and sandy locks. There were a few fresh cuts in a rough heart shape where Sombra had used her for a display previously. She screamed and writhed against her restraints, a large bow placed precariously upon her privates.
“You dare approach me without locating any of the intruders?” he arched his eyebrow and stroked his goatee. “DARE NOT RETURN AGAIN WITHOUT A BODY, be it alive or… elsewise. Lest I slaughter you to death myself!”
The three young men scrambled out of his chamber, excited shouts scrambling other the soldiers. Sombra’s lieutenants hurried towards their bikes, the scratched-up rasty frames creaking and sagging beneath their bulk.
The chill wind blew through Cloudsdale, Indigo writhed against her restraints. “STUPID FUCKING CUNT! WHEN I GET OUT OF HERE I AM GONNA KILL YOUR WORTHLESS FUCKING KNOW-IT-ALL FACE RIGHT OF YOUR STUPID SKULL!” her voice echoed through the ruined down, eventually disappearing into the sands just like her captors had. She had been there tied up for days, her stomach ached, her lips were chapped, and her mouth felt as dry as the rest of the ashen desert. After days of futile struggling Indigo finally let up; nothing was going to change and the thick robes were as strong as the day Sugarcoat tied them. She was boned.
She smirked at her last thought, of course as she was getting ready to die her last thoughts were innuendos.
Then in the distance she heard something. It was carried on the wind, like dogs growling. After a few minutes the sound had grown exponentially.
Something was coming.
Out from the clouds of smoky dust, a gang of motorbikes roared, followed by a battle-scarred pickup truck. “I can work with this.” Indigo let a thin smirk grace her mangled lips as the rumbling grew in her ears.