//------------------------------//
// Entry 4 
// Story: World War Fandom 
// by SolongStarbird 
//------------------------------//

    Surprisingly, there was no trouble in the morning. I spent an hour or two using the convenience store to my leisure. Free soda, read a magazine, stack random boxes, basically do shit that wasn't acceptable in the old world. A little freedom can indeed make you go a bit nuts, even if for only a little. I took all of the money from the cash register: 48 dollars. I remembered that there was the "we never have more than 50 dollars so don't rob us" thing going on in like every convenience store. I also grabbed two cigarette lighters on the way out. Fire can come in handy... Yeah, I love fire.
The riding today has been relatively uneventful. I heard gunshots a few times, but the shooters were never seen, and I wasn't the target. Cars either sat in the middle of the freeway, or were piled on the sides. At one point, I even offered a short ride to a browncoat who seemed to be running from pursuers. I was wary of the fact that he might just be trying to mug me or something, but he seemed to have no weapons on him, and I took the precaution of letting him know that I had six inches of blade strapped onto my belt that I could use. He caused no problems. I dropped him off five miles of highway later, wondering if I would ever be able to do that again: just help somepony. The world seemed to be getting crueler by the minute.
I have spent quite a bit of the ride contemplating ways to better understand flight. The rushing wind eventually sparked an epiphany within me. I spread my wings, letting the rushing air slide around them. I felt closer to flying than ever. I tilted my wings in as many directions and at as many angles as I could think of, and let the wind direct my path. I could feel the lift, the drag, the flow of the air, and I soon knew what tilting certain feathers would do. Maneuvering was less of a problem than before. All that remained a relatively untouched area was power flapping. If I could figure out how to go up, away from the ground, then I could really begin application of what I was learning on my ride. Experimentally, I flapped my wings. I could feel the upward momentum. Good, I thought to myself. I would truly begin attempts when I stopped.
Three and a half hours of riding put me around the edges of Savannah, Georgia. Somewhere around two hours into the journey, and after passing through two towns, I had graduated from highway to interstate, and another hour had brought me to where I was now. It was around 1 o'clock, so I broke into a Subway for lunch. While food was still fresh, I was going to take advantage of it.
As I rode through the downtown area of the city, I saw a few more geeks. Some had had the same idea as me, and were having a food party in a McDonalds. Others were attempting to establish a home base of sorts in an office building. It was then that I saw another of my kind for the first time.
He was leaned up against a trash can on the side of a building, quietly eating a burger, probably from the McDonalds. As I got closer to him, I saw that he had been cut in a few places, especially his left arm, and that his longer jet black hair was matted down with sweat, parting messily around the green horn on his forehead.
"Are you alright?"
From the look he gave me, I must have been the first brony he had seen as well.
"Yeah, I just got kicked out of the Micky D's. I managed to get all of the glass shards out my arm though."
"Not serving us, my guess?
"Eeyup."
"No one stand up for you?"
"There is this otaku girl I have been hanging with, but she fell silent after the other guys kicked me out the already broken front window. Dammit! Of all that I could have been, why did I end up a brony?"
"Now don't say that, I am pretty sure it is because you love MLP above all others. No need to be ashamed," I pulled up my sleeve, "I have already been shot in the arm for being a brony, and that hasn't stopped me, so why should being kicked out of a restaurant stop you?"
"Because they have knives."
"Hmmm.... By any chance has your voice helped you learn any basic spells?"
"I can levitate a few objects, but I can't manipulate the movements of more than one levitating item."
"Then you already have an advantage," I pulled out my knife.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-

We approached the McDonalds, and as we got within earshot, I could hear one of the people inside grumble, "Damn, now there is two of them!"
"You mean there are two of them," I called back. They were all no doubt pissed now, but hey, I couldn't pass up on correcting that blatant error.
"The hell you two messed up fuckers want?"
"Maybe some more food. You people seemed to have gorged yourselves already. Any leftovers?"
"Not for the likes of you!"
"Shame," I replied, "I guess we will have to get it ourselves."
I nodded to my partner, and his horn began to glow a shade of orange matching his eyes. My knife flew towards the McDonalds, stopping a few inches from the face of the man who had been verbally confronting us from a distance.
Everypony drew weapons of their own.
"Heh, heh, not so smart now, huh?" our confronter snickered. The knife became an inch closer to his face.
"Hut'uun! Ne shab'rud'ni! " one yelled as he threw a tomahawk in our direction. I began to duck, but the tomahawk was brought to a halt, now glowing a magical hue of orange, and flung back in the direction of the thrower. Missing by an infinitesimal amount, it became embedded in the ordering area countertop.
Any options of diplomatic approach had been lost. All came charging for us, including the original aggressor, who had moved away from the knife when the tomahawk had been thrown. The overglow surrounding my ally's horn sparked brightly and a second layer of magic surrounded the first. All of our foes' weapons began to glow, and were yanked from their grasps. They all now sat in the middle of a cloud of sharp things. All it took was a little bit of brandishing and moving the knives, axes, and machetes a little bit closer before almost everypony ran. Those who made an attempt to stand their ground were chased out by the floating hazards. A smirk resided on the face of the unicorn brony as he watched them all flee.
I approached the counters, knowing that some had hid behind them when the brief confrontation had gotten somewhat nasty. I found three people who had been previously ensconced by their ersatz barricade.
"Cause no trouble, and you can stay."
One of the three just didn't listen. She decided to run at me with a knife.
A good kick can break bones.
I aimed for her thigh, and the hit brought her crumpling to the ground. I had restrained myself from using all of my strength, so hopefully she would be suffering nothing more than a mean-looking bruise.
I picked up her weapon, first pointing it at her, and then at the exit. She complied.
The other two stood up. One was a trekkie, judging by the replica blue shirt he wore, and the other was probably the otaku that the unicorn spoke of.
My guess's validity was confirmed as she yelled, "Blitz!" And ran to the brony, whose horn had just stopped glowing, accompanied by the clatter of dropping weapons. "That was the scariest thing I have ever seen!"
"Good to see you too," he replied.
I realized then that throughout this whole ordeal, I had never once asked for a name, and neither had he.
I jumped when the trekkie spoke up, "You know, they don't all hate you; most were just looking for a fight." He grabbed a cup.
"I will be going now."
He walked over to the fountains, filled the cup halfway with pepsi, and left without another word.
I came to know the two I had helped as BlitzSerpent and Primrose_Apprentice. It was eventually decided over Big Macs (not the pony, heheheh) that we would travel together. We equipped ourselves with some of the abandoned weaponry, our choices being a firewood axe and my original knife for me, a machete and knife for Blitz, and the tomahawk that had been embedded in the counter and a switchblade for Primrose.
I had left my bike in the parking lot of the restaurant, constantly under my watching eye. It had remained undisturbed. We realized that new transportation would be needed. Primrose told us that she had passed a few dealerships farther down the road just before she had met Blitz, and with that, we were off.
I split off from the group on the way to the dealerships, and went looking for supplies. I was a part of a team now. Oh wow! I was part of a team now! Damn! A few days ago, I had been preparing for life beyond highschool! I was deciding how to live life. Now, I was recovering from a gunshot wound, helping forcibly clear out restaurants, and teaming up with people I had never met before in order to stay alive! Sure, I was on the fence about the predicament of the world, but for now, I was oddly happy with the change.
Upon seeing a home improvement store, I had an idea. I bypassed the parking lot, driving straight into the store. In retrospect, not the brightest idea, but luck had allowed for the store to be empty. I was riding a motorcycle indoors! Calming myself, I dismounted, walking my bike down the aisles. Thinking of a family tradition I had long desired to take part in, I found some white spray paint, and made a stencil out of spare papers in the building. In the end, the words "Thunderchicken IV" were emblazoned on the side of the bike.
"I'm sure you will be a lot busier than your predecessors," I spoke, patting the bike. Still on a bit of a "violence high," I went to the back of the store and looked through all of the tools and equipment. I came out with a better axe. I then recalled another family memory, and purloined every fire and rescue quality reciprocating sawblade in the store, 8 in total. Once I was through with these things, Blitz would be a true menace.
I rode down towards where the dealerships were supposed to be, and in the distance, I saw an armored money transport vehicle driving towards me. Primrose stuck her head out the window and waved, easing the worry of a threat inside of me. We met at an intersection.
"Pretty sweet, heh?" Blitz piped up, "We found it on the way to the dealerships. The thing was still running. Everyone must have been displaced instantly, even those driving."
That would definitely explain what I saw on the freeway.
"It's fully armored too," Primrose chimed in, "I'd like to see people mess with us now!"
"It's doesn't have the best gas mileage," Blitz added, "but who cares? Gas is free now!"
"Until all of the stations run out," I pointed out.
"Yeah... we might want to have a few jugs in the back for emergencies," Blitz replied.
"I hope bullets can't light gasoline in this new world," Primrose remarked.
"Either way, we have a bulletproof car!" Blitz laughed.
"Oh, and Blitz," I spoke up.
"Yeah?"
"I have a surprise for you?"
"Really?"
"Yeah." I pulled out the sawblades. "My dad taught me how to turn these bad boys into knives. I may need to go back to the home improvement store to grab some tools in order to do so, but imagine the result. Your telekinetic abilities are growing, and these things will have a blade side, and a saw side. They are fire and rescue quality too, which means anything you can't cut through, you can saw through. Have you watched RWBY by any chance?"
"It just so happens that I have, actually."
"You will basically be Penny."
"Nice!"
"What about me?" Primrose asked.
"I'm still thinking..." I looked at the two of them, at how normal everyday clothing didn't seem to suit their new looks. My inner Rarity yelled at how Primrose's reddish-pink hair didn't match her shirt in any way, and how horrendous Blitz looked with his sleeve covered in dried blood. "How about we shop for new looks, or something?"
Primrose lit up. "That's a great idea! I guess you noticed the fashion offense too."
"W-well yeah..." I stuttered, trying to remind myself that it was alright for a guy to know things about fashion.
"I say we all just spend tomorrow customizing," Blitz hopped in.
"So, it's decided?" I asked.
"Yeah," they replied in unison.
"Lets just spend the last few hours of light setting up a base, then," I said in an almost authoritative manner.
We parked the bank car and motorcycle in a parking tower just a few floors short of the top, hoping that higher up meant safer. We all shared a blanket and huddled together in the back of the car. It felt a bit foreign and intimate to me, sleeping with strangers, but I quickly told myself to be mature about it, and once again drifted into the lucid abyss.

-End of Entry 4-