//------------------------------//
// Chlorine 
// Story: Trench 
// by Dashie04 
//------------------------------//

I wake up and notice Wingless standing right in my direct line of vision. Her garment is back on, and her hair is replaced over the scar. I notice that some of the moon dust has began to fall away, revealing a scarlet red mane.

“About time you woke up, Prancey, you’ve been like a log for hours!” she says with a wry smile.

I blink sleep from my eyes and take a look, it’s midday.

“I told you you’ve been asleep forever, your badly thought-out plans must make you really tired right.”

I chuckle, but don’t say anything.

“Now, I saw a couple delivery ships go by, I couldn’t catch them, obviously. We’re going to have to go hungry until we find another one,” she says.

“So we continue to look for a city that hasn’t found our crimes,” I say, trying to remind myself what we’re doing.

“Yeah, that’s the extent of the plan, as we discussed,” Wingless says, audibly annoyed.

“I don’t know, I know I shouldn’t be running for my life, but it’s exhilarating! It feels so bad but so good simultaneously!” I shout.

Wingless lifts an eyebrow my way.”What the hell are you talking about?”

“Aren’t you running for your life too?” I retort.

“No, I just wanted to make my parents go through hell, not run away from several government operations with a pony who clearly has no plan.” Wingless tosses me my jumpsuit.”Put that on, and we’ll continue going.”

I equip my jumpsuit and start trotting with Wingless. The landscape is very barren aside from a couple craters. We walk along in deathly silence for a while, until I decide to break it. 

“Do you think Ocin will catch us?” I ask.

Wingless chuckles.”With your plan, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

“You would rebel though, right?”

“Yes, I would. I tend to rebel when I’m being trapped inside a dome for my life, but I haven’t. I learned a fact when I was in school, red and yellow are meant to convey revolution. Between your yellow jumpsuit and my red hair, I think we’ve got those covered.”

I nod and face toward the barren moon landscape again. I look for any sign of civilization, but I find none. We’ve only been at it for a couple days, but I think we’re going to hit another Moon Colony again for some reason.

After another fruitless day of walking, my hooves hurt and I really wish I flying. I know I can’t, which I hate. 

We set up just like last night, I notice Wingless look at me.

“What do you want?” I ask, the first word I’ve said in a while.

“That was an intense comment,” Wingless says.”I’m just wondering what your bucking backstory is, I told you mine.”

I sigh,”It’s a long story, but I can tell it if you so wish, mine’s serious too.

“I was born in Lema, obviously. I never knew my birth parents, they just tossed me out. I had to survive on the streets for a good portion of my life, taking food, learning how to start fires and such. I was eventually adopted, but the family that did must’ve been forced to, because they didn’t like me. Lema’s government does eventually come around, Ocin is selfish and really hates homeless ponies, because they take food to live without paying. Therefore, all ponies have to have a home eventually, no matter how shitty it is. 

“Anyways, my adoptive family constantly belittled me and tried their best to ignore me, just doing what they were forced to do. They made me food and that’s about it, no bed or entertainment. I got my entertainment by playing outside and formulating scenarios in my head and how to get out of them, using some paper I secretly took from them. At 18 I was politely shown the door and forcefully asked to leave. 

“I eventually got a job that required no education, and a shitty apartment and have been going on since, at least until I actually broke out of Lema and ran.”

Wingless was listening the whole time, and she said nothing to add onto it. When I finish, she lays down on the moon's surface and I do the same.

“You’d better get to sleep, prepare to be woken up the moment I see a delivery ship,” Wingless says.”I will wake you up forcefully if it takes that.”

I go to sleep and hope tomorrow we’ll find some civilization.