Chapter 2: Never Insult Derpy
The train stalled as his began its ascent on a steep hill. Applejack, Big Mac, and Lucky had been sent out to collect supplies from one of the storages bases. The train stopped as the engine lost power.
“Oh for cryin’ out loud,” Big Mac grumbled. He piled more coal into the furnace and pushed the throttle lever forward. The train struggled, but was soon moving forward once again.
“Will we be there soon?” Lucky asked behind them, having come to the engine from the train car just behind it.
“Just be patient sugarcube, this route takes awhile,” replied Applejack.
“It would go faster if Scootaloo and I were driving.
“Oh no ya’ don’t, last time you two got to run the train, ya’ put a tree limb through one of the cars,” said Big Mac.
“That happened only once,” Lucky mumbled.
The train pulled up to the abandoned train station of one of the towns. The buildings were decayed and broken down, some of them no longer standing at all. The one building that was still standing well was the old fire department. This building was used as the storage base for extra supplies such as extra ammunition, food, medicine, you name it. Big Mac shut off the power to the train engine and the three began making their way towards the fire department.
“I don’t get why this stuff can’t just be kept at the castle,” Lucky said as he jumped from puddle to puddle, splashing the muddy water playfully. Even in the apocalypse, the brown colt still wanted to enjoy himself.
“If the castle gets attacked by any zombie ponies and we lose what we have there, then we can collect from places like here,” Applejack explained.
“The castle’s protected by a spell. Zombie ponies can’t get within a mile of the front gates,” said Lucky.
“Better safe than sorry,” replied Big Mac. He walked over to the front doors of the fire department and opened them a crack. He instantly shut them and leaned against the wall.
“What is it Mac?” Applejack asked with concern. He put a hoof up to his muzzle, a clear sign to be quiet.
“Zombie ponies,” he said, drawing the shotgun he had strapped to his back. He pumped the slide, loading a round into the chamber. Applejack and Lucky both drew their guns and leaned against the wall. Applejack pulled back the bolt to her rifle and cocked it as well. She opened the door a crack and sure enough, Big Mac was right. The room was filled with zombie ponies, roaming aimlessly.
“What do we do now?” Applejack asked.
“We get back on the train and try to leave without them hearin’ us,” Big Mac whispered.
“Are you crazy? There are so many supplies in there and you just leave?” Lucky said incredulously, whispering as well.
“It’s the only option,” said Mac, “We can’t even get in without them noticin’ us.” The red stallion started back towards the train station. Lucky pulled back the slide of his carbine and let go, loading the chamber. He looked down at his weapon and up into the room.
“Ah screw it,” he said, standing up on his hind legs. He kicked the door open, carbine rifle at the ready.
“Surprise motherbuckers!” he yelled, opening fire on the zombie ponies. Many of them went down, but others came at the brown colt.
“Oh for Luna’s sake!” said Big Mac, galloping back over to where Lucky was. He stood up as well and took down zombies ponies three by three with the shotgun. Applejack shot at them as well, serving perfect headshots for every zombie pony that came at her.
“Mess with a bull, you get the horns. Mess with me, you get a bullet to the head!” said Applejack, taking down yet another zombie pony. Lucky, having cleared the front doors with his carbine, galloped inside. More full-auto shots were heard as he took on more inside.
“Lucky! Don’t go in there!” yelled Applejack, galloping in after him. The brown colt was standing on top of the raised platform on the right side of the building, taking down zombie ponies as they climbed up.
“Just bucking die already!” he yelled, kicking a zombie off the wooden structure. He started shooting again, only for the gun to give a small click. He dropped the clip out of the weapon and pulled a new one from his vest. Behind him, a zombie pony climbed up on top of the platform behind him. It stood up on its hind legs, only to be shot in the head by Applejack. It fell backward off the platform and hit the ground, never to move again. Lucky jumped and dropped his gun from just hearing a bullet miss his ear by only an inch. He looked at Applejack, a scared expression on his face.
“Sorry,” the orange farm pony said. Lucky grabbed his gun and jumped off the structure, running up the stairs to the second floor. Applejack followed close behind, reloading her rifle along the way. She came up into a hallway, many doors lining the walls, some parts of the walls were gone, giving more space to the second floor. The area was quiet, and that couldn’t be good. She carefully made her way down the hall, her rifle held up at the ready.
**********
Lucky carefully pushed one of the doors open with his muzzle. The room appeared empty. The brown colt walked into the room. The door swung shut behind him and an ear piercing screech erupted from a zombie standing behind the door. It swung at him, missing Lucky by less than an inch. The blue-eyed colt stood up on his hind legs again, M4 pointed at the creature. It stood up on its hind legs as well and stomped against the gun. This threw Lucky off balance and the weapon fell out of his hooves. The brown colt fell backwards onto his back.
“Crap, crap, crap, crap,” Lucky whimpered. He slid himself backwards; the zombie pony advancing on him. His back was now against the wall, trapping him. The zombie pony slowly came toward him. It stood up on its hind legs, preparing to stomp down on him. Lucky closed his eyes, not wanting to see what would happen next. It came down at him, and was then blown sideways by a shot to the head. Lucky opened his eyes to see Applejack standing in the doorway, the barrel of her gun smoking.
“You okay, sugarcube?” she asked. The orange pony went back down on all fours, stowing her rifle on her back.
“I’m fine,” Lucky replied. His breathing slowed and Applejack helped him back up onto all fours. He picked up his carbine and strapped it around his back. “And the supplies are ours.”
***********
Big Mac loaded the last box into the train car and shut the doors. He, Applejack, and Lucky had now completely cleared the building of supplies and loaded them.
“Now where’s Lucky?” Big Mac asked Applejack in annoyance, still ticked about the stunt that the brown colt had pulled. He turned around to see the brown colt making his way toward the train, the strap of his dark blue saddle bags clutched in his mouth and the bags were being dragged across the ground, filled to the brim with apple cider.
“Found what I was looking for,” he said in victory. Mac gave him an annoyed expression.
“Lucky, a word,” he said, beckoning the blue eyed colt to come closer. Lucky walked up to him, his head hanging.
“Are ya’ crazy?!” Mac said, “Pulling a dumb stunt like that.”
“It was either leave and let the supplies go to waste, or do what I did and actually have a chance!” retorted Lucky, snapping his head up.
“Yer’ not badass, yer’ not 007, so stop tryin’ to be!” Mac said irritatingly. Lucky’s face turned red with anger.
“I don’t think I’m badass, I just wanted the supplies,” he argued, “Plus I knew the SAA Cider was in there,” he admitted a bit more quietly.
“You could’ve just been killed, and not only that, but all of us!” Mac said angrily. Lucky’s face went to one of anger and annoyance, never a good sign with somepony like him.
“Well, you know what, we have the supplies, so I don’t need this!” he said loudly. He turned away from Mac and started making his way towards the train engine. This action only pissed off Big Mac even more. The red stallion growled.
“Yer’ more stupid than Derpy!” he yelled, load enough for pony’s miles away to hear. Applejack covered her muzzle with both hooves. Mac just made a serious mistake. Lucky stopped in his tracks. His eyes went as small as they could and his face contorted into serious anger. He then closed his eyes and let out a heavy breath before bowing his head.
“Buck you Mac, buck you,” he said quietly. He continued towards the engine. Though his back was turned to them, Applejack could clearly see he was upset, majorly. She walked up beside Mac. Raising her hoof, she planted a hard hit to the back of his head.
“Ow, what was that for?” he asked, rubbing a hoof where Applejack smacked him.
“Are you a buckin’ idiot or somethin’?” she asked angrily. Big Mac only gave her a questioning look.
“What’d Ah do?” he asked.
“You know what ya’ did, ya’ made the worst mistake anypony could ever make in front of Lucky,” said Applejack.
“And that is?” the red stallion asked.
“Just get on the damn train, I’ll tell you on the way back,” Applejack said in disgust.
*********
“Ah still can’t believe you said that,” Applejack sighed, putting a hoof to her head, “of all things to say to Lucky, ya’ just had to say Derpy.” They were in the engine again, Mac shoveling coal into the furnace.
“Ah still don’t know what was so bad about what Ah said,” said Mac. Applejack just gave him a WTB face.
“Ya’ don’t know this? How slow are ya’?” said Applejack, “The number one thing ya’ never do in front of Lucky is insult Derpy.”
“And why is that?” Mac asked.
“Because, Mac, Derpy’s his best friend, not only that, but she’s the only one that really relates to him,” Applejack said, “He really cares about that mare. Now he’s in the apocalypse, he doesn’t know where she is, and he misses her. He’s real sensitive on the topic.”
“Oh really,” said Big Mac, “I’ve never seen that colt cry once.”
“He broke down faster than a building filled with dynamite within the first hour of the first morning,” said Applejack. Mac gave her a questioning look.
“And ya’ can take a guess as to why,” said Applejack.
Flashback
Applejack walked through the double doors into the FCD squad room, Lucky following close behind. They were standing on a walkway above the main area. The walkway led around three sides of the room, the fourth side being the large ceiling to floor windows. Doors lined the wall on the walkway, these being where the agents slept. Down below was filled with desks and computers, the work areas for the agents. The whole room looked like a remake of the NCIS squad room. The place was empty except for Applejack and Lucky, who being one of the leaders for the Fillies and Colts Division of ZPTF, had to show up first before any other agents.
“Okay Lucky, this is where you’ll be during most of the day,” said Applejack, “Everything thing else should have been told to ya’ by letter. Any questions?” The brown colt looked up at her.
“Just one,” he said, “Do you know where Derpy is?” he asked, his voice small. Applejack looked at him for a second before turning her head away.
“Uh…Lucky….” She stammered, “Ah don’t think ya’ want the answer,” she finished, looked at him once again. The colt’s blue eyes went large.
“Yes I do,” he said, “You do know where Derpy is, right?” Applejack rubbed behind her head with her hoof. She knew only too well how he would react to any answer other than yes. Why was being the element of honesty so inconvenient at times like this?
“Well, Lucky…The truth is…..we haven’t seen her since this all began…and,” Applejack said uneasily, “Given her amount of….intelligence…..most of us think she’s…..dead,” the orange farm pony finished. The brown colt remained silent, his blue eyes going extremely small.
“Are you okay, Lucky?” Applejack asked kindly, placing a hoof on his shoulder. The colt just stood completely still, his face frozen and eyes unblinking. His back legs suddenly seemed to buckle beneath him and his rear went to the ground, thin brown tail tucked underneath. He closed his eyes and began sniffling. A couple seconds past, and the dam broke. Tears rolled freely down his cheeks and he didn’t even try to muffle the loud sobs escaping from him. Applejack pulled him towards herself and wrapped him in a tight hug. He brown colt nestled his head against her soft, orange furred chest. After a couple minutes, he became quiet; the loud sobs had finally subsided back into soft sniffles. Applejack looked down at him, a sorry expression on her face. She couldn’t leave him like this, with the thought of that grey mare being gone.
“Lucky, Ah swear to ya’, Ah will find Derpy for ya’ if it’s the last thing I do,” she said. He removed his head from her chest and looked up at her.
“Really?” he asked. Applejack nodded.
“But on one condition,” she continued. She placed a hoof under Lucky’s chin and raised his gaze to hers, “You need to be strong, and be the best leader you can be; So that this apocalypse can be ended. Promise me?” The blue-eyed colt nodded eagerly.
“Thank you Applejack,” he said, giving a soft smile.
End Flashback
“Okay, so he gets upset when Derpy is brought up,” said Big Mac, “Still don’t see what’s so dangerous about what Ah said.” Applejack groaned in annoyance, slamming her head into her hooves. After that whole story, he still didn’t get it.
“Okay, let me sum it up for ya’. Yer’ lucky he didn’t smack you in the head with a crowbar,” said Applejack. Now this caught the red stallion’s attention.
“You, mah friend, are so slow,” sighed Applejack irritatingly.