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// Chapter 1: Secrets and Preparation  
// Story: Pinkie's Journal 
// by imnotcolgate 
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	I woke up at what I could guess was about noon. The mayor was tearing through shelves, while Rainbow searched for food. Cheer found what must have been a grill and was attempting to ignite a flame. I trotted to her and twisted the propane tank to tighten it and a flame instantly came out of the grill. “Thanks Pinkie,” she said to me weakly. I wandered off to a corner where I found a small pile of blankets and coats. After searching through the pile for a few seconds I started pulling on a yellow plastic-ish material. Once I got the twisted mass of material uncovered I quickly realized that I had uncovered a hazmat suit. I could go outside! There was absolutely no chance that I would tell the other ponies about my discovery. I was going to be the one to leave this terrible hole. I wasn’t even going to write about this. I couldn’t afford for anypony to find out. Not yet at least. I shoved my ticket out of here into a few blankets and made myself a bed. Nopony would look there, hopefully. I fetched my notebook and started writing today's entry.

Day 2
I spent last night cuddling against the group of survivors. The concrete floor was damp and moldy. The security of my friends huddled around me helped to coax me to sleep, though I couldn’t get the image of the bomb hurdling towards the royal city. I knew nopony survived it. There was nopony left.  It was just… so sudden. Who could have done this to us? 
I finished my writing as the mayor returned to me with a revolver, a few boxes of ammunition and an oil lantern. “I found these and I figured you might want them.” I smiled “Thanks.” She set them down in front of me and trotted to the others, one by one, giving them supplies that she had found. A baggie of meat was given to Cheerilee, I guess she is in charge of food rations. Rainbow Dash was assigned an assault rifle of some kind. I’m not sure what good weapons would do us in this room, unless one of us decides to eliminate the rest of us. Thinking about that probably isn’t the best choice at the moment but I guess it’s a possibility. Rainbow also received her boxes of ammo and a small survival kit. “I am SO prepared for leaving this place!” Dash said excitedly. She wants to leave. But she won’t get far. Not without my treasure. I found some thread and a needle lying on a shelf and started to stitch together some rags to form a makeshift holster for my new weapon. I sewed a pocket and a strap to go around my leg. I cut a belt into pieces and sewed the individual bits to the outside of my creation to provide structure. I took the buckle from the belt and attached it to one side of my holster so I could buckle the strap. Afterwards I cut some notches in the strap to fit into the buckle. The gun fit tightly, so it would not fall out if I were to have to run in any given situation. I checked each chamber of the firearm to find one round. I filled the gun with five more cartridges and holstered it. I was so busy with my work I had not noticed the argument happening between the other ponies. Dash kept insisting that she leave while the others persuaded her to stay. I approached the scene slowly and looked Dashie in the eyes. “Please don’t go.” The blue mare gave in and agreed to stay with us. I backed away and picked up the notebook.

Day 3 
Rainbow wants to go out. None of our reason gets to her. What is she thinking? The radiation must have spread here by now… The bad stuff.  She’d be dead in a few days. Although we convinced her to stay for now, I can tell she’s going to leave before anyone else does. I can’t even imagine the tragedy of losing her.