Fallout Equestria: Cultivation

by LilithGalac

Ringside Seats

The doors swing shut silently behind us once Icy and Way have followed me over the threshold. The lobby is… concerningly quiet. I can hear movement somewhere close, but I can’t see the source; The lobby itself is empty of ponies.

And what a lobby it… was. This place was probably grand once, with checkered tile floors, grand, regal red drapes, and portraits of fancy looking ponies hung in huge, ornate frames... But the floor is scuffed and scraped, old and dirty, the drapes are torn and dusty, the portraits have been ripped to the floor and what few paintings remain have been defaced with a… concerningly crimson colour.

There are huge plant pots that probably once held fancy, lush plants, but now have naught but dry twigs. The windows, probably once allowed to let sunlight filter in, have been boarded up; not that it would help all too much if they weren’t, of course, considering it’s the middle of the night. The lobby is lit by golden lamps hanging off of the wall; some bolted in, some held on by what appears to be extreme amounts of duct tape, some simply hanging half out of the wall on their wires, flickering pathetically.

The lobby is split into two sections; the ground floor, that we’re on, and a large second floor, reached by a grand staircase right in front of us. Paths around the stairs have been blocked by heavy barricades. Doors to our left and right hang loosely on their hinges, creaking gently as they shift in the soft breeze coming in through one of the windows.

Icy smirks as she steps next to me, looking around.
“You’re in the hornet’s nest now, kid.” She hisses.
“So are you.” I grumble back. The Way steps forward, looking around.
“We’re being watched, Split. Mind your words.” The zebra warns, keeping her voice low.

I open my mouth to reply, but movement on the stairs catches my eye. I immediately grow tense, not sure if I’m about to meet Death Roll; however, instead I see… Bite Strength! The alligator pony I met earlier, quietly padding her way down the stairs. All of her energy from yesterday is gone; she seems… quiet, and slow. She looks up at us as she reaches the ground floor, and hesitates, eyes growing wide; she didn’t expect to see us, I can see it on her face.

We’re being watched. I think to myself. I glance at Icy, then The Way… Before stepping forward.
“My name is Seven-Ten Split, I’m here to see Death Roll.” I say, as confidently as I can, trying to keep my voice from cracking. Bite seems confused for a moment, hesitating as she opens her jaws to speak; Thankfully, she realises what I’m doing, and steps forward, bowing her head.

Probably best for us not to know each other, I need Death Roll to think I’m going into this situation blind… Which I kinda am, but the less he thinks I know, the better.

“Erm, hi. I mean, uh, greet-ings.” She cringes slightly, voice oddly slow and stilted.
“The sir of the house would be glad to meet with you. He, er, is aware you are, er… coming?” She trails off, looking around nervously, before turning and skittering up the stairs. I follow, Icy and The Way flanking either side of me.

“Hm, guess he likes his meals delivered directly to him.” Icy taunts me. I ignore her, picking up my pace to reach the top of the stairs, to see what’s on the landing proper; It’s… not what I expected.

I’ve seen manors like this in old picture books and archives from the library. Normally at the top of the stairs, there’s a wall, or at least a door leading into a room, and halls off to the left and right. But… Well, I can clearly see there was a wall here once, but it’s been knocked out. Hell, a lot of walls seem to have been taken out, leaving only a few pillars holding up the tall, grand ceiling over the huge, makeshift room that is the second floor of this mansion.

The ceiling is mostly glass; a huge arched thing letting the moonlight above us filter in. A lot of the glass is cracked, but none of it fully shattered, which is… rather impressive for a post-war wreck, I have to admit.

The floor has been ripped up in a large section in the centre of the room, making for a pit into what appears to have once been a ballroom. The edge of the pit is walled off with a thin, chainlink fence; it looks like a weird kind of arena...

Opposite us, on the far wall, I can see… something. It’s hard to properly make out. As we circle the left side of the arena and approach, I start to make it out; it appears to be some kind of huge… throne. Something is laying in it, something way bigger than any of us…

We stop a few feet away, the darkness just slightly too deep for me to make out any of the details of the huge pony lounging in the throne before us. The throne appears to be made out of statues of ponies, painting frames, old books, scrap metal, and… at least fourteen pony skulls. I grimace at the sight; I may have seen stuff like that in old biology textbooks, but seeing a pony skull in person is… stomach-turning, to say the least.

We stand in silence, Bite Strength skittering away from us to sit next to the throne in the darkness. I glance at Icy, who seems bored, and The Way, who is scowling into the shadow, fire in her eyes. I look forward, opening my mouth to speak--

Click.

There’s a small flicker of light cutting through the darkness as a lighter is flicked open, and on. A unicorn mare sitting on a large, scaled stomach is holding a golden flip-lighter in her magic; She levitates the lighter toward the face of the pony she’s sitting on, lighting a cigar in his mouth. His eyes are closed, his breathing is slow, and level.

The mare looks me in the eyes, and I feel my heart twist in my chest as I realise she’s wearing a bomb collar! I’ve only seen stuff like that… in, well, the archives… I really have been sheltered, huh…? Guess that’s what I get for like… living in a bomb shelter.

The mare only holds eye contact for a second before looking away, looking down, disappearing into the darkness as she flips the lighter shut. I don’t get much more time to dwell on her, however, as the pony she’s sitting on finally moves, sitting up with a low grumble. The cigar he’s smoking is huge, the light of the embers cutting through the darkness.

There’s a sudden ca-chunk, followed by the sound of heavy-duty lights booming to life. Huge arrays, like the ones in a sports stadium, illuminate the pony and the arena behind us from above, blinding me for a moment, causing me to stagger backwards. As I blink the spots from my eyes, there’s a loud, croaking laugh from the huge shape before us, and I’m finally able to properly take in exactly what I’m seeing.

Sitting before us on the throne is an alligator. Well, alligator pony, technically, but I can’t see much pony in him. He’s all rigid scales and muscle, a dirty olive green all over. He’s easily twice as wide and three times as tall as any pony I’ve ever met; He looks over us, smirking cruelly down at me and my companions.

His head is completely bald, and his snout is long, with teeth sticking out everywhere. I wince as I see the left side of his face; it’s entirely blown to hell, scraps of skin stretched over the bare bone of his skull, showing the empty socket where one of his eyes once was. His talons are huge and wickedly sharp, almost as if run down a grindstone. The only thing he’s wearing is a tattered old patchwork of what appear to be suit jackets, slung loosely around his neck. Sitting on his lap is the collared mare, and he still has that huge, burning cigar stuck in his muzzle.

He looks down at us, slowly reaching a huge, clawed hand out toward me.
“Death Roll.” He rumbles.
“Much obliged.”

I hesitate, looking at the claw, then up at him. This is a calculated risk… Hope my math is right.

I reach my hoof out, and place it against his claw, giving it a weak shake.
“Erm. Seven-Ten Split.” I offer. I don’t dare pull my eyes away from him as he sits back, claw pulling back to rest on the spine of the mare in his lap. I can feel the tension from The Way; even Icy, in my peripheral vision, seems slightly on edge, her tail flicking about impatiently. Death Roll rumbles again.
“Mmm. Heard’ve you, there’s whispers ‘bout a new stablemare roamin’ these parts. Been a while since we’ve seen someone from 303.” He snorts.

“Well, I’ve been sent on a mission to recover parts. I… I’ve made a deal with Ten Bit, and one of the terms is to get p… payment from you.” I stammer. Death Roll throws his head back, laughing loudly, the mare in his lap wincing as his talon slaps her back as if it was his knee.

“Tha’s a funny joke.” He smirks, shaking his head.
“But nah. I’ve got a way better deal sorted out with someone else in Nighttown. I only got so much cash to spend, and he provides me a much better deal.”

I keep my voice level, trying not to let my nerves show.
“And what is that deal?” I ask. Death Roll grins, picking the collared mare up in his talon, holding her like a ragdoll.
“Cash for ponies. Wouldn’t’ve usually considered buyin’ ponies, but considering how… close we’re gettin’ to a perfect ponygator, I figured I’d, ah, be expeditin’ the process. Plus it helps to have some, ah… extra help ‘round the house.” He inspects the mare he’s holding with a small smirk, using his other claw to tap the ash off of his cigar.

My heart starts pounding. Someone in Nighttown is selling slaves? What the hell? Does Ten Bit really not know about that? I thought she RAN Nighttown!

I shake my head with a huff.
“Er, well. I… I can’t leave without payment.” I say, firmly. Icy suddenly steps forward.
“Ah, what my ward means to say, Roll, is that sh-” Icy’s voice is cut off as a blur suddenly whips in her direction-- Death Roll’s tail, moving terrifyingly fast, whacks her right in the side, sending her flying hard enough to crack a wall off to our left. I yelp, turning away for just a moment-- just long enough for Death Roll to reach out and grab me with his spare claw.
“Nah. An unspoiled stablemare’s just too good to pass up.” He snickers lowly.

His grip is so tight I can barely breathe- I see he’s dropped the collared mare, and she’s skittering away to safety. I look around wildly; Icy is a crumpled heap against the wall, and The Way… Wait, where is she?

There’s movement behind Death Roll, as The Way suddenly leaps down from the top of his throne, landing on his left shoulder. The alligator glances at her, and his single eye widens, as if properly seeing her for the first time.

“Wait, you-!” He’s cut off as The Way throws a kick, and hard. Her hoof clips the edge of his exposed eye socket, and he roars in pain; a sound I match with a scream of my own as he clenches his fist, claws digging into my midsection. My ribs creak and groan, and I taste blood for a moment before he throws me aside. I’m dimly aware of a hefty drop, before I land hard on a pile of rubble, my consciousness drifting…

I’m immediately pulled from my drifting consciousness by a roaring voice from above.

“I said now!”

It’s Death Roll’s voice. I look around blearily, staggering to my hooves. My vision is shaky, and it hurts to breathe… But I glance at the medical readout on my pipbuck, and thankfully it seems no bones are broken… But a quick glance at my sides makes my stomach turn once again; deep gouges have been cut out of my fur and into my skin, deep enough to expose some rather raw flesh, but thankfully not quite deep enough to expose any deep tissue… That’s probably gonna leave a scar.

My impromptu examination is interrupted as a cigar bounces off my head, forcing me to stagger aside to avoid being burned.
“You want your payment? Fine!” Death Roll cackles from above; wait… above?

I glance around, and realise with a sinking feeling that I’m in his arena!

I can’t see The Way anywhere; is she okay? What about Icy-

“If you’re wantin’ Ten Bit’s payment, then survive a fight with the crown jewel of my collection. My favourite prize fighter!” He roars, stepping back from the fence above. I hear the crackling of a speaker system, followed by Death Roll’s voice booming in stereo all around me.
“Breaktime, boys an’ girls! We gotta fight to watch!” He roars.

Within moments I can hear movement; the previously deathly silent mansion is suddenly erupting with thunderous sounds of hooves stomping and claws clacking throughout the hallways just beyond the boarded off doorways of the ballroom.

I take some time to quickly look around the arena, scanning for any exits. I… can’t see any. The way out, the barricaded hallways on either side of the door, are… well, barricaded on this side too, obviously. There’s fence gates on the left and right sides of the arena, welded into place on thick, heavy looking railings. They’re motorised, probably remotely controlled… There’s debris and rubble all over the once grand ballroom; the floor has mostly been ripped up, exposing the thick, pock-marked concrete below.

Gotta say, I knew I was heading into a deathtrap, but I didn’t exactly expect that deathtrap to come in the form of a deathmatch. I’m gonna have to fight some kind of giant alligator, aren’t I? Oh man…

I’m pulled from my thoughts as the sound of movement finally becomes properly audible above; I look around, in awe at how suddenly the scenery above has been dominated by the masses of ponies and alligators pressing against the fences, all clamouring to see… me.

I can see cameras, too; Probably for ponies elsewhere in the complex who can’t see from where they are. Great, I always wanted to be on TV. They’re pretty simple things; they look like the same ones from my stable, simple boxes of metal with a crystal set into the top, encoded with a surveillance enchantment. It’s real wacky stuff, I wish I could actually enjoy the science of it, instead of being so… painfully aware that they’re broadcasting my imminent demise.

Speaking of imminent demise… that’s incoming. I can feel it in the air; Even if there wasn’t the nightmarish clamour of bloodthirsty pastel ponies above, even if it wasn’t for the aching pain in my sides from the tight grip of a gigantic alligator horse named Death Roll… there’s a particular weight in the air, a feeling I can’t shake; is this what a fly feels as the spider descends?

I hate spiders.

My attention is drawn away from my internal monologue as I hear the rickety clatter of one of the fences sliding aside. Looking toward it, I see a shape moving within the dim hallway. They’re… not much bigger than me, thankfully. They don’t seem to have an alligator tail, or claws…

As the figure steps into the light, I feel relief for only a moment before it’s snatched away by fear; She’s a pony! An earth pony, at that. With… a mutated leg, skin missing from her jaw, and a wild look in her eyes.

The mare is a soft, navy blue, her fur matted by sweat, grime, and blood. Her hair is a wild shock of red, a messy mohawk atop her head, and a messy tuft of tail-hair behind her. Her eyes are ringed with red, bloodshot and wild. Her breathing is heavy, and drool oozes from the bottom of her jaw; she has no flesh below her nose, showing the bony white of her skull, her tongue hanging limply out the bottom.

And to top it all off, the mare’s left foreleg is… horribly mangled, a fleshy, bloody tendril of meaty pink, ringed with battered gold, inscribed with ornate details; it looks almost like royal guards’ armour, from photos in the archives back home. Thick red wires loosely connect the rings, becoming rigid every time she lifts her leg to walk.

And walk she certainly does; a calm, firm gait, right towards… me! Right! This is a fight! Hell!

I dart quickly backwards, rearing up one of my hooves.
“I-I don’t want to fight!” I say, quickly.

“Good. That’ll make this easy.” The mare replies. Her voice is coarse, like sandpaper on the ears; yet it cuts through the sounds around us, clear and strong. Before the last word’s even properly left her mouth, the mare dives towards me, darting like a bullet over rubble and debris; I yelp and leap aside, just narrowly dodging the metal cap attached to her tendril arm. I hear it hiss through the air, and realise with a grimace that that would probably have taken my head off if it’d hit.

The mare growls, yanking her arm back and darting aside, trying to circle around me. I look around, noticing some debris in her path. I wait for just a moment, following her path with my horn; just as she’s about to step, I lift the debris in the air sharply, enough to trip her up and smack the mare in the side of the head. She staggers, and for a moment I think I might have an upper hoof, but before I even have time to properly feel relief, she throws her tendril toward me again!

Just barely I move the debris in the path of her armoured limb- it’s enough to stop it, but the slab of what was once a wall is turned to dust in the process, exploding from the impact. Once again I’m glad to have avoided that hitting me, and dive behind a blown out wall, breathing heavily. The dust was hopefully enough to hide my movement.

I hear her pacing not too far away.
“Come on, mare! Sooner I kill you, sooner I get to eat!” She shouts. I’m surprised at how well she can speak with her face so… damaged, but choose not to think about it, preferring instead to worry about what I’m going to do here.

Well, I could probably throw something to distract her, the-

“Found you.” Her voice interrupts me from above; I glance up and scream as I see her looming on top of the debris I’m hiding behind, and roll aside as her tendril puts a hole in the floor beneath me.
“Look, I can get you food!” I yell, trying to gallop out of reach as she gives chase; the mare is startlingly fast, leaping over rubble, latching onto things with her tendril and reeling herself in with it as if it was a grappling hook… and leaving a nasty trail of blood in her path.
“Yes you can! If you stop moving and let me cave your skull in!” She barks back.

My hoof catches on an exposed pipe as I try to get away. There’s a sickening creaking noise that rattles throughout my bones, and I tumble to the ground, trying to drag myself away; but suddenly blinding pain shoots up my leg, and there’s an agonisingly loud CRACK! as the mare slams her armoured tendril down on my twisted ankle.

I can’t even make any noise; my voice is already hoarse from all the shouting, and I’m just so exhausted from trying to escape… Not to mention the pain from my midsection is taking precedence for the moment.

I roll onto my back, glaring up at her. The mare is wheezing lowly, blood trailing from the side of her mouth. The meaty clump of flesh her tendril sprouts from on her torso is ripped and torn all over; blood and pus run down the mutated limb from the rips and tears across it.

Seems using that thing as a weapon has a price… I think, trying to see a way out of this.
“Got you.” The mare growls, lifting her hoof again. The rings around it are attached to where the “joints” of her limb would be were it a normal leg. The wires are tensing and pulling to pull it into a regular shape… Long shot, but this might work!

My horn glows as I yank my water gun out, pointing it directly at her face; the mare’s brain doesn’t seem to register it as a fake gun for a moment, and she flinches, turning her face away for just long enough for my to adjust my aim, and yank the trigger, hard.

A thin, pressurised stream of water bursts from the nozzle of my gun… right through one of the wires on her leg! That was the last of my water, but I hit right on target!

The mare’s eyes instantly widen, and she lets out a screech of pain as the other wire snaps from the weight of the metal, her mutated limb falling limp by her side, the heavy metal thunking on the floor next to me.

The mare’s mouth slumps open, her pupils dilated to pinpricks as pain overtakes her. I instantly feel awful as she falls next to me, twitching faintly; whatever the prosthesis on her leg was doing to dull the pain, I… I broke it. Sure, I was just trying to stop myself, like… dying, but I’m putting her in unimaginable pain right now, probably...

… It’s quiet. Shakily, trying not to put too much weight on my busted hind leg, I stand, looking around. The gathered crowd is dead silent. I look up, and see Death Roll looming behind the thin fence.

“There!” I shout. Why am I talking? Stop! I chide myself, trying to bite down on my tongue, but I’m talking beyond my control.
“I won! I’ll be taking Ten Bit’s payment now!” I shout. My voice is hoarse; I can taste blood as my voice hits a volume I’m not used to. I’m practically manic, stomping one of my forehooves impatiently.

Death Roll is deathly silent. The gathered ponies skitter away as he moves forward, effortlessly bending the chainlink fence around the top of the arena and climbing down.
“... Y’know what, nah. Performance like that? You’ll make a good addition to my collection.” The alligator stallion hisses.

I can’t move, I can’t speak; pain and fear and anger and… and so many things are overtaking me. It’s all I got to keep myself from fainting on the spot, I can’t manage the words as that huge, clawed hand reaches for me again…

Before there’s a sudden, ear-splitting screech, and a blur flies past my face. There’s a meaty, metal clang, and the sound of a deep, deafening roar of pain. The mare I just fought leapt to her hooves and punched Death Roll right in the eye! The alligator stallion staggers, spittle spraying from his jaw as his claw wildly swings in my direction; it only barely misses taking my head off as the mare tackles me to the ground, looming over me with a mad, furious look in her eyes… Right before she passes out, slumping on top of me.

Death Roll staggers away, roaring and screaming; the gathered ponies are loud again, adding their own shouts and jeers to the noise, as they rattle the fence around the arena. I try to nudge the mare off of me, but I’m stuck. As soon as he recovers, he’s gonna squash both of us…

I keep trying to push the mare off, and only manage to get one of my hooves stuck. I can feel my heart pounding, everything finally beginning to really hit me; exhaustion, fear, pain… oh, the pain!

I barely even notice as the weight finally shifts, and two shapes appear standing over me. I blink a few times to focus my vision… and realise I must be hallucinating. Icy and The Way are standing over me, Icy hauling the mutated mare off of me. The Way holds out a hoof, which I blearily take… And try not to scream as she pulls me onto her back.

Maybe this isn’t a hallucination… where were they…? I wonder. As The Way turns to move, I force myself to speak, gesturing to the blood-soaked heap Icy tossed aside.
“Bring her!” I spit. Icy glares at me.
“No dead weight.” She replies. I focus my vision on her, blinking the blurriness from my eyes once again.
“Then drop me.” I demand.

Icy groans, putting a hoof to her face wearily. Icy turns, grabbing the mare by the scruff of her neck and pulling her onto Icy’s back.
“Alright, we’ve secured our exit, c’mon!” Icy growls.
“Exit…? Wha…?” I can’t even properly formulate a question before The Way hits the trigger on… a detonator?

The shouting and rabble above, the roaring from Death Roll, the ringing in my ears, all of it is eclipsed by the building-rattling explosion that comes from the other side of the arena. Debris from the barricades blocking off our exit rains down all over the arena, and surely would have taken us out… if it wasn’t for the bus-sized alligator pony giving us cover. He takes the brunt of the hit, roaring once again, slamming his claws down as he turns to focus his blood-stained eye on us.

The Way kicks into gear, darting between his legs. I can’t turn my head to check, grimly hoping Icy is right behind us. I hear Death Roll trying to give chase behind us, but as we dart down the hall toward salvation, a second explosion blocks off the exit we just passed through.
“Ha ha! A second later and we’d be mulch! I thought you rigged em up to go off at the same time, ya old bat!” Icy cackles as she gallops next to The Way, who ignores her, focusing her gaze forward.

The once quiet, empty lobby is full of alligators, all looking confused and angry. Probably heard all the commotion… or they’re from upstairs and came to head us off.

Either way, they don’t provide much of an obstacle, apparently; The Way barely even flinches as she leaps over them, kicking off one of their faces to get to the door. Icy is right behind us; As we reach the doors, the alligators seem to register what they’ve just seen, and begin shouting for an alarm.

An alarm which we definitely hear; as we leave the mansion, a deafening, stomach-turning siren begins to blare throughout the island. I recognise the sound; it’s an air raid siren, we had to learn the sound back in the stable. It rings out all over the compound, but neither Icy nor The Way seem fazed, sprinting at full speed through the orchard. Gunfire cracks around us; I hear the shots from the mansion, and the bullets come concerningly close to us.

“Eyes forward, idiot!” Icy shouts, seeing my glances backwards.
“You might not be steering that old bat, but you’ll be better off if you aren’t facing the bullets!” She cackles with mad glee, clearly enjoying herself as we reach the mansion gates; they’ve been yanked aside. The Way bolts through them, but Icy skids to a halt, grinning.

Despite her orders, I look back; she’s planting something at the base of the pillars the gate usually rests on, and as she turns to follow, there’s a third explosion, and one of the pillars comes down.
“There goes your gate, fucko!” She shouts.
“Enjoy the ghouls!” She roars, before turning to join us once more.

Gunfire continues to crack against the trees as we disappear amongst them, the siren continuing to carry throughout the swamp. Even as any trace of the mansion is swallowed up by the cramped trees behind us, the siren continues… I hear movement all around us, but neither Icy nor The Way stop to contemplate it.

The two continue to gallop, refusing to stop or speak until the siren, while still present, is well and truly distant. I can vaguely recognise where we are; it’s where I first met The Way. We must be close to the zebra village…

I’m finally allowed off of The Way’s back; although my dismount is far from clean, as I crumple in a bloody heap next to her, wheezing a faint ‘thank you’.
“Not to worry, Seven-Ten Split.” She assures me, stroking my hair comfortingly. I lean into her touch, sighing meekly and letting my eyes properly focus on… A whole lot. The Way has me sat up against a tree, letting me see both her and Icy.

The Way is covered in small cuts, blood matting her fur. One of her eyes is deeply bruised, almost forcing it shut. Her hair is wild and messy, and a small notch is missing from one of her ears. And Icy… I feel bile come to my lips at the sight of her, confusion and fear overtaking me. She’s… mangled!

Her face is… wrong. It looks as if her skull has been caved in slightly, a chunk of her mane is missing, one of her eyes is a pulp of red in her eye socket. Her torso is caved in, and her stomach has a chunk missing; her intestines are threatening to fall out entirely. But… despite that, she’s calmly smoking a cigarette, leaning on a tree and staring down at the mutated mare we brought with us, who is… unconscious, but breathing. Unsteadily, but… it’s better than nothing.

I don’t even know where to begin, my mouth simply drops open as I look from The Way, to Icy, back to The Way… finally, the zebra chuckles, patting my head.
“When Death Roll turned… He threw Fr- Icy against a wall, and batted me out of a window. I’ll be quite alright, as will... Icy. She is… ahem, gifted in the school of ‘not dying’.” She assures me. Icy scoffs, rolling her eyes.
“More like cursed with a diploma from the university of “can’t fucking escape this bullshit”, with honours in “dealing with stupid-ass stablemares”. Ugh! And my small intestine just fell out, thanks!” She huffs, sitting down and trying to… put herself back inside… herself.

I look away, shaking my head.
“... not gonna ask.” I murmur, looking at The Way, who has a faintly amused smile on her face.

“Mangled metaphor aside… Once Icy recovered, and I had crawled my way into the lower levels, we met up on the ground floor and set up what we needed for our escape. Additionally…” The Way reaches into her saddlebags, pulling out a rattling bag the size of my head.
“A payment. Not… exactly the payment Ten Bit is exactly owed, but…” The zebra scoffs.
“That mare can take what she gets. Plus… I feel that is not the last we will be seeing of Death Roll. Mm.” She shakes her head, tucking the bag back away.

“... Nonetheless, the sun shall rise soon. Shall we stagger our way home and recover?” She offers, glancing at Icy. The mare looks up at the sky, grimacing as she holds her internal organs inside with one of her hooves.
“... Uuugh. Fine. Fine. But one offer of curry or memory gas and I’m gone.” She mutters.
“We bringing the dead weight?” She nudges the unconscious mare.

“Only if you can carry me.” I joke. The Way laughs lightly, calmly helping me onto her back again.
“Come now, you’ve used that one. And… yes, Icy. We will put her somewhere safe when we arrive home. Then… we must make haste to get Split out of the swamp. Death Roll will be on the warpath now, and while us zebra will be safe…” She glances at me, and I nod.
“... I can’t exactly spend a long time hanging out inside that forcefield. I gotta get out of here and get this payment to Ten Bit.” I say, with a weary sigh.

The Way nods.
“Come now. Let us move.” She turns, quickly stepping into the underbrush. Icy rolls her eyes.
“No-one make a hurry to carry me or anything! I’ll be fine! Just gotta… dammit, I’ll just let the damn thing hang out…” I hear her muttering, before her hoofsteps fall into a rhythm behind us.