A cool breeze ran through the landscape of Sweet Apple Acres, showing the first signs of the winter months approaching, a difficulty upcoming that Spike didn’t even want to think about right now, just dealing with the problems already here.
However, it wasn’t an easy task for him to simply ignore the cold, seeing as he just started his shift as lookout, a job that had to be done on the main tower of the camp, and by extension, the coldest.
It may had seemed unwelcoming, but he thought he probably should have considered himself kind of lucky, it wasn’t the most difficult of jobs considering what the others were doing right now, all he had to do was look for danger and tell the others if he saw anything, that, or if he saw the group that headed out for supplies a couple of days ago, not very likely, as they were expecting them back way sooner, it could only be assumed that they either ditched us and took their chances, or the walkers managed to overrun them.
Either way, it meant little food for us, a resource that was drastically running short in the camp, and it was definitely beginning to wear us down the last couple of days, and if we didn’t make another supply run soon, it could definitely mean a problem, not even looking at how winter is coming.
Spike did try to be the chivalrous one in this problem, skipping meals to be able to give more food to others, but he knew he couldn’t keep this up, sooner or later he had to think of himself and eat something, or he might just pass out someday, that would be another problem to Twilights already overflowing list, not that she needed the extra stress, being the leader.
It had just dawned on him that this was probably the reason she stuck him with lookout duty today, Spike thought, he was definitely showing that he wasn’t eating as much, his scales were slightly paler, and he had to admit he was feeling a bit weak lately, so she probably gave him the job to sit around and not hurt himself, making Spike think that Twilight was actually really worrying about him about this.
He looked away from the area outside the fence and looked downward to see what she was doing, and he could truly see that she wasn’t looking so good herself, not because of food, but from what Spike assumed, lack of sleep.
Running this camp must be taking a bigger toll that he had once thought, and that thought make him instantly think of anything he could do that wouldn’t make him pass out from exhaustion, that could make Twilights role seem slightly easier, with no solutions coming to mind, aggravating him.
He took a quick scan of what his other friends were up to, noticing Applebloom helping Applejack repair a section of the fence that was damaged by the rain last night, and Rarity counting inventory to possibly help Twilight, before returning to his post, once again looking at the empty fields, just like yesterday, and the day before.
He hadn’t seen a walker in weeks, or anything to that matter, making it very hard to concentrate, the only thing keeping him up being the bracing cold up the tower, that you wouldn’t even notice on the ground, even it was only about 3 or 4 meters up, but Spike knew he had to keep vigilant no matter what, this job was more important than it seemed, and if had nothing else to do, he might as well do this one right.
It wasn’t all bad, at least here he was alone with his thoughts, with no one to interrupt hi-
“Hey Spike? Want some company?”
Spike broke out of his train of thought and pretty much jumped out of his skin at that point, and turned around to see a now laughing Rainbow Dash at the top of the ladder.
“Holy shit Rainbow Dash, don’t sneak up on me like that, you scared the hell outta me there”, Spike said, regaining his breath.
Rainbow Dash slowly stopped laughing, with a grin still plastered on her face and said,
“You know Spike, for a lookout, you aren’t very good at spotting ponies”
“Yeah,” Spike replied, “I was kind of in a trance for a moment there”
“You’ve been kind of in a trance for a while now, and we think its to do with you skipping meals” Rainbow answered in a slightly more serious tone, “All of us have noticed you have been weaker than the rest of us, and you doing this whole gentlemanly thing of giving away your food isn’t helping”.
“I’m not trying to be gentlemanly,” Spike argued, as Rainbow grabbed the nearby chair, joining him, “I just think other ponies need it more than I do right now, and I know we’re running out of food”.
“Yeah well, I didn’t just come up here to keep you company, I came to give you this, Twilight’s orders” She handed him a badly wrapped package, which he opened to find a few morsels of food inside, a sight that Spike was happy to see, even if he wouldn’t admit it.
“I told yo-”
“Don’t argue with me,” Rainbow interrupted. “This isn’t just Twilight's orders, all of us know you need it more than us right now, and we’re getting worried about you, so stop being a damn hero and eat already”.
Spike knew he was fighting a losing battle, and even he knew that she was probably right that he needed some right now, so he swore under his breath and began to eat what was in the package, much to Rainbow’s delight.
It was no cupcake from Sugarcube Corner, but at least it was filling, and that was all he needed right now, he could already feel his strength returning to him with every bite.
“Thank you,” Rainbow said “At least now Twilight could have one thing less to worry about, running this place is already hard enough”.
Spike looked to Rainbow. “So you’ve noticed it too?”
They both looked down and saw Twilight working with the others.
“We all have.” Rainbow said gravely. “She’s needs to sleep, but the whole supply problem is probably keeping her awake at night, I even heard her mutter under her breath that we might actually run out of food and water in a couple of weeks if we don’t do anything”.
Spike stopped eating, until Rainbow punched him on the arm and gestured him to keep going.
“What did I just say about being a hero?” Rainbow said with a playful smile.
“Fine.” Spike grunted while rubbing his arm. “But we do need to find more supplies, at least for the next couple of months until the orchards begin growing fruit again”.
They both looked over outside the gate and saw one of the remaining orchards in the fields, one of the few that didn’t burn, but hadn’t beard any fruit, due to the winter months approaching.
“What unlucky timing for the end of the world, right?”
“Yeah…” Rainbow muttered. “But I’ve been thinking lately, we aren’t the only ones around here who are hungry, outside the camp, I mean”.
Spike looked at her, confused, “We’re starving here, and you’re worried about the bandits?”
“No, not that,” Rainbow answered. “I’m saying that the bandits are hungry enough as it is, and are going to be even more hungry after winter, so where do you think would be the best place on the map to travel to find food during Spring?”
Spike’s face turned from confused to shocked when he realized what Rainbow was talking about, “...an apple orchard.” he responded.
“Shit... so you’re saying…”
“Yeah.” Rainbow followed. “In a couple of months, we are going to need weapons as much as we going to need food”.
“Oh fuck...” Spike said with a new sense of clarity. “Do you think Twilight knows?”
“I don’t know, but I am not looking forward to telling her”.
Silence then overcame the both of them, and Spike wasn’t certain into how long they were quiet, when Rainbow finally spoke, “You know, it’s weird…”
Spike looked away from the field and asked, “What’s weird?”
“You were a baby dragon not a long time ago, and now look at you.” Rainbow said, trying to change the subject.
Spike then did acknowledge that he had in fact grown in the last couple of years, to the point where he was even taller than his friends now, like a teenage dragon, remembering that it had been a long time since he needed someone to carry him on their backs in order to keep up.
It wasn’t just features in growth that Rainbow was talking about, it was also how he had changed since this whole thing had began, including the other ponies.
He had now carried a holster, holding a large knife on his waist, that he carried at almost all times, as well as others, as if it was as standard in this world, which it probably was.
It was then when Spike commented, “It’s not just me who looks different, look at you guys, especially the Crusaders”
Rainbow looked and saw that Spike did have a point, they too were taller, almost even catching up on her, and the point made that both Spike and the Crusaders were definitely not children anymore, was made very clear to her now.
“It’s probably a good thing you guys have grown up,” Rainbow said. “This world isn’t exactly child-friendly”.
They both shared a laugh and continued to keep lookout, at least this time leaving with a comment on a happier note, leaving them feeling slightly more cheerful.
However, their good feelings were cut short suddenly, when both saw movement in the trees, definitely from some kind of creature, too soon to tell alive or dead, for the first time in weeks.
Before Spike could get them, Rainbow grabbed the nearby binoculars and looked forward the area, saying nothing, until letting out a sudden gasp.
“What is it?” Spike asked impatiently. “It is a walker? Anyone we know?”
“Son of a bitch, it’s the supply group!” Rainbow yelled happily, “Our food problems could be over Spike”.
Spike grabbed the binoculars to get a clear view, while Rainbow yelled the others to open the gate, grabbing the whole camps attention.
But something wasn’t right.
They were moving towards the camp slowly, but still too far away to make out any precise details on whether they were actually even alive or dead, all they could recognise for definite was it was definitely some of the ponies that left a few days ago in search for supplies, ponies that were thought to be dead.
And it looked like that fact was true in some instance, as Spike saw more clearly, there was far fewer numbers than the group that left, and it could only be assumed that they didn’t make it, giving some sort of explanation that something clearly went wrong on the trip, causing their delay.
As the group trudged slowly closer and closer to the camps gates, Spike had a clearer sight on who was coming. He could finally tell that they were alive, not walkers, and that there was four ponies coming, out of the twelve that left, and it was apparent that they looked heavily beaten up, some even wounded, a fact he had to tell the others.
“Quickly!!” Spike yelled as he climbed down the tower ladder. “Open the gate!! They’re wounded!!”
A crowd began to gather, ditching any jobs they were in the middle of doing, as they knew these supplies were of top priority, and had to know if those ponies had died for nothing.
The metal gate opened, revealing the four wounded ponies staggering their way into the camp, almost at the point of collapsing, and it was clear they needed medical attention to some wounds they had gotten, not clear into whether it was a bite or not.
It was now shown that out of the remaining ponies, Pipsqueak, now called Pip, was one of the survivors, and was the leader of the supply group when sent off.
Twilight approached Pip, and asked “Pip, what happened out there? Are you okay? Are those bi-”
“Please... Twilight…” Pip interrupted, while showing he was clearly out of breath. “Before I can answer any questions, we need help. We barely made it here alive and we need medical attention”.
Twilight paused, but then nodded understandably. “Of course… Sweetie Belle, Applebloom. Please help them inside.”
As they walked inside with Applebloom and Sweetie Belles help, he added to Twilight, still out of breath, “And no, they aren’t bites.”
The door to the makeshift medical bay closed, and Twilight turned to the curious crowd of ponies formed, screaming question after question to her that it was barely audible, until Applejack screamed louder than the others to keep quiet or they’ll bring every walker in Equestria our way.
Twilight then spoke loudly to the crowd when they had all calmed down.
“I know you have questions. And so do I right now, but it looks like they’ve travelled through hell to get here, so they deserve rest and attention to their wounds before we ask them anything, so no-one bothers them until I say the time is right. Understood?”
The crowd began to disperse, and some ponies looked irritated by what she decided, but Twilight saw her friends had her back, they understood their questions could wait for a few hours, and that was all she needed, as she saw that in this camp, it was her closest friends outnumbering the strangers, both showing positives and negatives to it.
Positives being that there was little chance of mutiny, but negatives being that it was proof of how little ponies were left at this camp anymore.
Twilight then joined Applebloom and Sweetie Belle in the medical bay to possibly help in healing them, and while Spike decided to resume his post and walk back to the tower, he passed by Applejack who he began to talk with.
“Twilight was right about one thing.” Applejack said, “If they had to go through Ponyville, then they absolutely had to go through hell to get here…”