Shadow Of Equestria

by Jinxed

2: Necessity

Applebloom was snuggled into Applejack's chest when she awoke.

With a gentle yawn she carefully detached herself from the smaller mare, smiling as Applebloom gave a grumble at the loss of warmth whilst she left the sleeping bag, and swiftly zipped it up to keep the cold out. It was bright enough that she could see around the room of the worn down station they were in, everything being bathed in a mute hue of green as the sunlight diffused through the leafy-coloured tarpaulin barely covering the massive hole in the building's side. She breathed out and frowned at the small cloud of mist that formed as she stood up properly, immediately noting the lower temperature and the slight powdering of snow built up around the tarp's edges. A shiver ran through her as the morning whistled into the room. It was always quite frigid until the sun fully rose, and it seemed that it was delayed again today.

The weather didn't make sense anymore. Beyond the idea that the sun and moon would rise and fall in due time, just about everything else was unpredictable and chaotic. A week after the Singularity she'd watched massive lightning storms form just past Appleloosa that had thankfully dissipated a majority of their energy before they fully hit the town, though there had still been plenty of damage. She'd been given permission to take the necessary supplies and travelled out to meet with her cousin Braeburn to check the wellbeing of the town, finding that it had thankfully been mostly structural with minor injuries to the townsfolk.

It was all she could do to hope that he was still alive, and still doing well. They'd been holding on even if they were in the same dire straits as Ponyville had been, though that had been a few months before she and Applebloom had set out.

Sighing, she glanced to the window still covered over with a cut section of tarp and went over, slowly freeing and lifting one side to peer out. From the window view lay the immediate open area of the station and its damaged rusted joint tracks down between the platforms, though the station was less than it should have been. The platforms were blackened and discoloured at a certain point, the bricks on the far side slagged and settled into something akin to eroded regolith, with a massive furrow that cut across the site and dragged on into the distance before abruptly stopping in a sharp fade. A brazen result of a pillar of fire coming through the area. It was still obvious despite the ice and snow that had managed to build up within the mighty gouge as there was likely some residual maleficent magic that kept it from covering over completely.

Beyond the station following the cauterised scar and outward was the barren ashland also mostly laid over in white, the sheer heat from the fiery pillar had rendered the surrounding grassy area desolate and radiation had done the rest. A few lone gnarled shrubs or stubborn tufts of mutated plant still dotted the landscape further on, breaking up the wide stretch of snowy nothing until she rested her eyes on the desiccated woods she commonly travelled between and Threshold not much farther beyond that.

Applejack didn't spot anything nasty lurking out in the flats, this part of the Western Ranges was often clearer as there wasn't much to be had out here for bandits or monsters. Everything worth having was within Threshold or one of the other cities or smaller towns further to the west. It was partly why she'd chosen this location to stay in even with the drawbacks of being somewhat open to the elements.

Everything seemed normal for now, as far as normal could be these days.

Moving back across the room, she sat for a moment before the remnants of the fire, picking up an unmarked tin of what she suspected were probably carrots. With what she'd gathered yesterday they would have enough for the week, though she'd like to find more so they could actually have full bellies for once without also having to worry too much about the next day. Opening the tin with a can opener lying near the precious pile of food she raised an eyebrow in surprise to see baked beans in a sauce, far better than carrots for the calories they'd need. She grabbed a fork and ate half the contents cold to soon leave it atop the others, Applebloom would see it and finish it off when she was awake.

Done with that she began to gather what she'd need for the trek out, getting up and grabbing her pack to double-check everything. It had already been cleared and sorted last night but she didn't want to haul anything that wasn't necessary. Inside was the bottle of water and ration bar she'd held off of having yesterday, a spare filter for the gas mask, and a smaller bag of hex nuts and bolts, nothing else. The fasteners hadn't been necessary yesterday really as she'd used known paths and her Phobos hadn't been alerted to anything much, yet today she was braving a less travelled route and she did always feel safer having it to hoof.

Applejack took the smaller bag out and clipped it to the upper foreleg of her jacket, then doing up her pack and bringing it over to her weapons. The lever-action hadn't been cleaned when she returned last night, she'd been too tired, but it was sturdy and she really didn't need to strip it every day. Time had been spent to fit the pulse rifle with the two newer gem-cores from the park though, so it should be good for at least twenty good shots, hopefully more. It would take encountering a monster to test the level of output, she wasn't going to waste what charge it had otherwise. Throwing the pack on and slinging the weapons around herself after, she confirmed the Nova grenade was still securely attached, then sheathing her knife and grabbing the hoof-dusters.

Finishing up by chucking on her boots, the gloves came after so she could fit on the hoof-dusters, and finally she placed her gas mask around her neck and the Phobos in an upper pocket, throwing on her poncho to hide them from sight. The weight of everything she carried wasn't detrimental at the moment given earthen strength, though she'd certainly feel it when it came to getting into a fight or needing to run away, yet she'd manage it the same as usual.

A brief glance towards the steamer trunk and she saw that Applebloom had tidied away all the spare bits and tools, and the radio itself looked complete, but she knew they still lacked a majority of connective electronics for its inner workings. Maybe she'd find something usable on today's venture and get them that much closer to getting out of here.

Turning back to where they kept their weapons, she picked up a hefty revolver with an attached magitech hoof-brace built around it, the only other gun they had. It was a bit big for Applebloom yet she managed it well enough. They'd taken it from a dead mare during a firefight between some warring factions they'd been caught in the crossfire of some time ago, luckily getting out with their lives and the gun. Quite some time had been spent fixing the hoof-brace's mechanism to make the pistol workable for hooves again as it had been damaged, using parts for it that could have gone into the radio, but having good protection was paramount to their immediate survival. The gem and its basic connections were all still intact, and she brought it over to the sleeping bag.

"I'm heading out, 'Bloom. Need ya up," she said, watching as the bedding soon mumbled and shifted.

Applebloom yawned as she unzipped the bag and stuck her head out, raising up a hoof to take the weapon as she smacked her lips. Applejack hoofed it over and watched Applebloom also check it as she'd been taught to do before fitting the brace around her right hoof, slowly stumbling to all fours and shivering as she trotted over to the firepit to finish off the half-eaten tin left for her. She thumped onto her haunches and picked it up along with a spoon, quickly digging in and turning back to Applejack.

"Can ya try an' be back before sundown?" Applebloom asked her through a mouthful of beans.

Applejack shrugged. "I can only promise that I'll do mah best to. I gotta go the alternate route, that sniper might be waitin' again, an' there ain't no tellin' if them folk I wronged are still alive an' holed up along the main road in wantin' to get revenge."

Applebloom frowned. "The way you told it, their guy shot at ya first, an' all ya actually stole was some fruit."

"That don't mean they ain't gonna be sore on both counts," she replied, moving to the room's exit and lifting the makeshift bar they'd set up across it to block entry from this side of the station. She placed it against the wall and shimmied her gear around to get it more comfortable. "I aint riskin' it, an' the alternate route should be pretty clear by now. How many shots does yer pistol have?"

"Four outta six."

"That's right. Be sure to-"

"-Put the bar back across, keep quiet if I do some work, monsters aren't likely to show up but hide in the floor if they do an' leave the Hound blood out to throw 'em off, if bandits show up hide until the last possible second an' aim fer their heads," Applebloom recited, sounded a little weary. "...An' save the last bullet fer myself, I know, Sis."

Applejack nodded solemnly. "I know you do, 'Bloom. I just worry when I ain't here fer ya."

"So then get back as quick as ya can." Applebloom said, a slight smirk on her muzzle. "That or you can take me along with ya."

Applejack gave her a flat smile, swallowing the fear in her belly she got everyday when she left the station. She opened the door into the empty room next to them, cold air breezing and light spilling into the building from the destroyed walls and ceiling. It didn't matter how damaged the station looked, one day she knew somepony was going to come exploring and she just hoped that she was here when it happened. She looked out of the gaps and still saw nothing in the surrounding area, moving back and giving Applebloom a tight hug and a well wish before shutting the door.

As soon as she heard the bar go down she turned and made to leave. Applejack put her hood up to hide her mane, noting the bullet graze across the back of her neck had healed up in the night. It was a small measure of comfort to her current fugue. She knew she'd feel a little less worried once she got going, Applebloom was a capable young mare and had proved that she could protect herself if she needed to, and she'd hide away in their little hole if anything or anypony came along until she couldn't. It was a very unsuspecting spot and with any luck anypony with less than friendly intentions would focus more on the unattended food and parts in the steamer trunk than a notable lack of people in the room, perhaps believing that they'd gotten lucky and discovered the station whilst its occupants were elsewhere.

It was just another risk they had to deal with. What scared her were the unknown variables, and that was everything these days. Applejack had always found solace in structure and routine, her fastidious nature got along with such things like a house on fire, yet there was no semblance of any clear paths to take anymore beyond a general idea. The future was dark and incredibly uncertain to the point that she found herself afraid of whatever lay ahead. She feared these waking moments, the simple ever-present fear of danger that surrounded every movement and never went away, no matter how hard she pushed the feeling to the back of her mind and told it to stay there.

All she could do was bury it as much as possible and keep on. Her friends were likely in the same boat, and she couldn't imagine what Applebloom must feel like having lost the normal future she should have grown up with. Yet even with their troubles and what had happened so far Applebloom was emulating her big sister and keeping a stiff upper lip, refusing to cry and staying strong for everypony else's sake.

Applejack was waiting for it to come crashing down, and she'd be ready to hold Applebloom when the time came, the realisation and existential dread that came from truly thinking about what the future held and the possible hopelessness of their plight. It would hit her at a moment of weakness and she would need to be there to pick her little sister back up.

They had to believe they had a future.

Shaking her head at the sombre thoughts, she watched the niveous flats ahead before she hopped down between the worn platforms onto the cess, pacing between the burnt or rotting sleepers of the rusted tracks and across to the opposite side. She didn't pull herself up onto the platform above at first, instead moving to one of the boxy recesses underneath that was tightly covered over, a small bucket just outside it much the same. The bucket was quickly checked, a hoof lifting the makeshift lid to see the special filter was apparently still working, though she was a little disappointed at the level of water. Opening the gap she saw the cultivated soil inside and didn't see much progress in it, and she pushed a hoof into the frontmost patch of dirt.

Applejack breathed deep and let her innate magic surge briefly, letting it flow into the earth and the seeds that still hadn't shown much growth. The mushrooms hadn't progressed either which was rather unfortunate. She'd done her best to contain the area to keep out the hazardous elements, gathered soil where she could that wasn't irradiated, and used filtered water that they could have drunk to help the plant life flourish. Sadly, not a lot was happening still, and latent radiation was probably still bleeding in. It might have been better had she found some fertiliser, but that was something of a pipe dream and this was currently as good as it got.

Maybe it might show some progress over the next week.

Making sure she securely covered the gap again, she pulled herself up onto the platform above, seeing the flats were still clear. A studious eye went to the giant dark scar in the land as she moved on ahead, taking the usual path around it. Here and there were small rock piles set into the ground, a few covered with a small layer of snow which she brushed off as she stopped by them so she could find them again later. They were spaced oddly, differently shaped, and far enough from one another that it shouldn't arouse suspicion as to the route they mapped out. They formed a guide to keep her clear of dangers as the flats weren't safe from radiation or anomalies either, her Phobos even gently clicking when she passed certain markers that were 'safe'. She'd gotten out and back yesterday without getting held up, though it didn't mean she could every single day.

Applejack stopped suddenly as her Phobos ticked quicker approaching another marking stone, eyes darting around and not seeing anything strange around herself, no distortions or flickers in the air or snow swirling about in a small wind. It was never good if the Phobos was ticking heavily and there weren't any obvious signs as to why, she'd heard about undetectable anomalies before and she hoped never to encounter one. Grabbing the small bag on her foreleg she reached in and retrieved a bolt, sharply throwing it out in front of her. She held her breath as the bolt sailed through the air, and she watched it land some distance ahead from the marker without any issue, but her Phobos was still warning her of something. She threw out another to her left, flinching back a little as it travelled a bit before squarely stopping in place, a strange echo keening through the air as it then slowly melted down into dross whilst falling to the ground.

Just her luck, this hadn't been here yesterday.

Most folk she'd encountered called them Melts, because that's pretty much what they did. Metal objects would almost instantaneously and simply melt down into nothing, rather quickly the smaller they were. A Melt didn't immediately kill a pony though, instead, if they found themselves absently stepping into one they'd overheat and begin to have severe migraines and muscle cramps. They would have very little time to get out of it again before they started to bleed from their orifices as then their organs began to melt. There did exist a similar anomaly known as Slags that for some reason only damaged inorganic material. Whilst they would make one feel uncomfortably warm and give varying degrees of headache or migraine they wouldn't kill outright, though she wasn't about to test if this was one or not.

Her breathing quickened as she did feel a slight increase in warmth, and she carefully took a few steps to the right, throwing out a nut towards the direction of the giant scar and feeling thankful it touched down without incident. Applejack made it to the next marker without any trouble as the Phobos calmed down, and she relaxed a little better as she safely moved to the one after as well.

Such things always had to be kept in mind even when going around familiar places, the land could shift overnight or even hourly in certain areas. She took a moment to breathe as she soon passed the flats into the beginnings of the gnarled forest. Granny Smith would have called that encounter a bad omen, and it didn't bode well for the rest of her trip. Regardless, she continued onward towards Threshold moving on to a well travelled hoofpath outside of the city that soon led parallel to a road leading inward, and she broke off to follow another way around the outskirts. The beaten path she came to had been laid by others in the past simply by way of walking it a great deal, with plenty of old and obvious landmarks or objects that had since built up and overlapped to the point that it was simply clutter.

The only real use now was cover to utilise from the overlooking city. Particular care was taken to keep between corroded burn barrels and worn wooden barricades, moving along the semi-clear dirt road whilst keeping ready for any trouble that might come her way. On the route she paused by a makeshift metal structure built out of old iron pipes appearing to be somepony's attempt at recreating a radio tower on a smaller scale. It held a sign reading Hocks Place, with 2 miles written beneath it, the sign pointing towards the direction she was headed.

Hocks Place, as it turned out, had been a small outpost within the city near the eastern side where she assumed people had once traded with one another. When she'd gone to check it out a few days after initially arriving near Threshold however, she'd only found a deserted and empty shop with numerous bullet holes riddling the place and old blood stains on the floor. It had remained that way since, as she'd thought setting up there wouldn't have been within the best of ideas.

The sign was a simple mark of history at this point, it made her wistful.

Applejack trod past the tower, boots softly crunching in the snow underhoof as she went. A light chilly breeze was her only companion as she continued on her trek for some time. Her eyes glanced this way and that, she was always wary, and thankfully unnoticed for now. Her breath wasn't clouding nearly as much as time progressed, so the temperature was going up, she could feel the gentle warmth of the sun as it climbed into the sky. Following the way this far along past the tower signalled a minor waypoint, a small cairn of sorts marking what she supposed had been a death, and she shifted her shotgun down to rest beneath her as she soon came up to a long-since disused military checkpoint. It only held a few rusted trucks with rotting tires, a thick layer of black ice and fresh snow laying across everything, with anything that might be of use quickly looted in the wake of the Singularity. She swiftly moved up behind a shot-up sandbag emplacement to listen out for a few seconds.

There wasn't much to be heard except the gentle flow of wind through the area, whistling between the old vehicles and cold bones as she looked around for danger. Moving from her cover, she trotted over to one of the trucks to snap off its still-intact mirror, rubbing her hoof into the hard dirt and then onto the mirror's face. It was slightly bigger than the one she'd lost yesterday, but hopefully it wouldn't affect what she could easily put into her backpack without having to screw around organising it. Shoving it into her pack, she went past the truck to move along an actual side road leading in that the checkpoint had been set up on. No mind was given to keep to the cluttered path that continued along to the main road on the other side of the city.

That way lay a sizable encampment just a few hundred hooves down a hill, she'd spotted it before in the distance along with numerous ponies and a few gryphons milling about it and not looked back. There was no trusting they weren't simply bandits, and she wasn't going to risk her life checking. If she could see them it was a certainty they could have seen her, and she refused to stick around long enough for them to get any ideas.

The snowy side road she went on travelled toward Threshold for a short period until a few remote buildings started to appear. The small and damaged roadside shops of brick and wood she passed had once sold produce. She stuck to the edge of the road and kept close to the rundown shops when she came up on them, just in case she needed to duck behind one from long-distance fire. It was also so that she could peer through their broken windows to see if anypony had taken up residence since her last trip this way; it wouldn't do well to alarm a squatter or let herself be ambushed. Nothing was out of the ordinary as she went on her way, not until some distance had been crossed, her Phobos once again ticking up as she neared a half-collapsed shop that she suspected somepony had once set a grenade or two off inside of given its poor state.

Before she could utilise the bag on her foreleg, there came a low throaty growl from within the ruined building. Her breath hitched as she realised the sound and immediately went for her pulse rifle, slipping it off her back and moving upright onto her hindlegs just as a mutated and strongly-muscled hairless paw moved out from behind the nearest broken wall. Crunching onto the crumbled bricks around it, the next paw appeared as well as the rest of the massive twisted beast, its bulky disfigured head turning in her direction as it came into view. A Direwolf, of all fucking things. Baring yellow teeth as large as railroad spikes, its growl deepened whilst it suddenly lurched into a rush toward her. Applejack got the rifle up and her hooves secured in both its trigger and hoof guards as the Direwolf crossed the distance between them in a flash.

The shot was swiftly lined up, and she immediately backed off whilst aiming for its huge head, squeezing in the pulse rifle's blocky trigger so that it could charge. The pointed tip at its fore glowed with purple light before she then released, the rifle emitting a flash as it fired out a bright bolt of scorching energy. She missed the Direwolf's head in her agitation as it came for her, but the bolt struck its side and made the beast howl and fumble as its flesh was burned away. It was a good enough shot despite her missing her main target, the rifle's power was about at the right amount she hoped it would be.

Squeezing the trigger in again she knew she'd land the headshot, though before she could release the trigger there was a sudden flare and crack as the Direwolf lunged for her, the space next to it suddenly arced out with furious thunder. Applejack fumbled back and shouted in alarm as the area was all-too-quickly bathed in electricity from a triggered Strike anomaly. She cursed as her shot went wide and she landed on her rifle, ignoring the ache in her ribs and scrambling back to get away from the violent energy crackling through the air. Her mane stood on end as she watched the Direwolf be struck by multiple bolts of lightning emanating from the Strike's rapidly fluctuating glow, the huge beast failing to get away from the maelstrom. It crashed into the road and loudly yowled in pain as the anomaly continued to rage on.

Strike pulses continued to thump into its prone form until the Direwolf shuddered and went still with a growling sigh, and she remained frozen in place outside of its range, not daring to move an inch lest she be struck. It seemed an age until the anomaly stopped fluctuating and finally settled back into a semi-dark inertia, and she felt like she could breathe again properly as silence fell. Slowly gathering herself she got back onto her hooves whilst her nerves calmed some, keeping the pulse rifle secure on its sling below her rather than the shotgun as she slowly moved past the Direwolf's corpse. Very carefully, she kept herself at several hoof lengths from the Strike, keenly aware that their distances to activate tended to wildly vary.

The Melt earlier really had been a bad omen, if encountering both a Direwolf and a Strike at the same time was any indication of her luck. Her Phobos was slowly ticking away due to her close proximity to the anomaly, though she was apparently safe for the time being. The Strike had discharged a majority of its energy now and would take a while before it built up such a level of power again. That didn't mean it wouldn't hurt her if it was activated a second time, the effect wouldn't be as strong but it would still likely burn her quite badly. Applejack supposed she might actually count herself rather lucky the Strike had been there, as if she'd managed to miss her shot on the Direwolf then without it she'd probably still be tussling with the beast.

That or she'd have been its breakfast.

A small misted huff escaped her as she just wished she'd noticed the Strike's light haze, it must have been camouflaged against the snow surrounding it. Applejack glanced back at the shimmering veil where it still retained a hint of its just-expended power with annoyance, eyes then flicking to the dead Direwolf laying near the centre of the road. She honestly would have liked to butcher it for the meat. With snow all around it wasn't a terrible idea to get as much as she could and pack it into a mound to freeze whilst she did her errand. Later she could transport it back to the station and freeze it again, ultimately keeping it for trade or, Celestia forbid, eating if they ran low on food. Quite a few ponies had turned to eating meat rations in the months following the Singularity, and it wasn't as if they couldn't eat it. There had been no laws against it before the laws had collapsed, and plenty of hardy northern ponies around the Frozen North living on its harsh tundras had happily subsisted on fish, but personally it just didn't sit quite right with her.

It was best to leave it for the time being, with any luck the corpse would still be there later.

She wanted winter clothing far more.

The Phobos stopped its lamenting once she'd gotten far enough away from the Strike. Threshold's taller buildings loomed as she approached, blocks of derelict flats and dead frozen skyscrapers both looking down on everything else around them with an ominous presence. There was an oddly eerie sound to the city early in the day as the wind picked up and howled through its countless ruptured surfaces. Thanks to the overlapping myriad of sounds, she had to make a point of really keeping an ear out for others. Between the occasional distant shot of a gun firing, baying howls of creatures braving the day, and the thud of hooves or boots against the ground, there was much to keep alert and wary for.

Case in point, she swiftly moved and ducked behind the corner of the nearest building as quietly as possible when there was an audible crunch up ahead. The sound came from beyond the ruined vehicles laying in the road, of a hoof stepping on something icy that broke into pieces. A quick peek out with her shotgun ready, and she saw a small group of three moving through the area, two stallions and a mare. They were all dressed quite well rather than being wrapped in rags, and all of them were armed, the mare having a heavy coat well-suited for the weather. Almost immediately one of the stallions glanced up, most likely seeing her in his enhanced peripherals. Applejack held her position without any action and kept his gaze as he quickly alerted his two companions to her presence, their heads turning towards her as well whilst they tensed.

"No trouble!" he shouted over at her after a moment. The group promptly moved on, though they looked back over their shoulders at her occasionally, probably to see if she'd try to shoot them in the back.

Everypony was wary of one another which was good, it helped them live longer.

She only left her spot when she was sure that the group had moved on, weaving through the frost and dirt between the broken down vehicles and crashed propulsives on the road. Usually she'd stick to the edges of a street, though during the day if she ran into somepony hostile it was best to have plenty of cover. Glancing around briefly, she roughly knew the way she needed to go from here to get to the shopping centre. Thankfully she didn't have to follow behind the trio to get there, that would have made them very uncomfortable. If she did have to then they might be likely to open fire at her, thinking her a bandit or prowling opportunist waiting to strike whilst they were gaskin-deep in shit.

Her Phobos ticked on occasion as she neared certain areas, and she avoided small pockets of radiation that had built up in alleys or around large chunks of irradiated stone within craters smashed into the ground. Applejack had done trade with a stallion who had told her that when the Singularity had hit, that some buildings made of certain types of stone had absorbed a heavy level of radiation. Nopony could safely settle in them or traverse them all the way up to the top, because that was where most of it had been concentrated. Over time the buildings had crumbled from the damage unleashed by the resulting insane weather and crashed down below to create numerous unsafe areas that monsters liked to lurk around.

She neared her destination just as the sun wasn't far off its zenith, the sizable shopping centre coming into view as she turned onto the same road that linked up with the abandoned park she'd scavenged in yesterday. Upon her approach, a gunshot rang out not too far from her current position, sending her hastily ducking under a lopsided lorry bed. A few seconds later it was followed by another, and luckily it wasn't at her. It sounded as if it had come from within the shopping centre but it could have possibly been behind it, she couldn't be sure. In either case it wasn't good as it meant activity around the area. Whilst she'd expected that she might possibly encounter one or two people seeing as it was daytime, she'd been hearing far more gunfire than she was used to, especially over the past few days.

Try as she might, she couldn't help but wonder if it had anything at all to do with the malicious rumour that had initially gotten her and Applebloom stuck here in the first place. Applejack didn't doubt that there had been others like them or the group of scum they'd encountered to be interested in the fantastical story. A slight growl left her as she knew she shouldn't let herself dwell on it.

As soon as it was quiet again she paced out from under the cold wreck, sneaking along the nearest underhang so that her line of sight was clear behind and in front. The pillars and arches of the once-fancy buildings exteriors she was trudging under were horrendously weather beaten, numerous chunks broken from their designs from somepony having once used the underhang for cover too. Sitting down for a scant moment before she reached the end, she retrieved the new mirror from her pack, checking the turn-offs with it for any signs of danger as she neared them. They seemed clear for now, though it didn't help that there was a sizable distance between where she waited on the edge of the overhang and the shopping centre ahead. A two-way road sat between them and surrounded the building, and only a wide open icy vehicle park with low walls and a few derelicts for any form of cover awaited her.

Applejack tucked the mirror's stalk into the neck of her jacket, a little uncomfortable against her chest but that was fine. Steeling herself, she broke into a gallop, and didn't dare slow until she'd jumped the wall and gotten down between two loosely spaced cars corroding with rust. No shots at her yet. Taking another breath or two she kept herself steady as she sprinted again towards the only entrance she could see, avoiding piles of rubble as she ran and slowed only when she was a few hooves from the double doors. They were already open with their glass plating smashed, and she went as carefully and quickly as possible as she stepped through onto grimy marble flooring, immediately dipping into the nearest store through its broken window to get her out of the open hall.

She bundled herself into a collection of musty summer wear, the garments mouldy where the damp had blown in. It wasn't the kind of clothing store she was after. Moments ticked as she kept low and breathed gently. She didn't hear anypony moving around, and waited a bit longer just in case somepony had heard her approaching the shopping centre and had also hunkered down to catch her unawares. A few minutes passed whilst she waited, and maybe she was simply being paranoid but she could have sworn she heard hoofsteps much deeper within the building.

Staying here all day wasn't an option, so she slowly rose and trotted over through the worn racks and shelves towards the store's main exit. The mirror from her jacket came out again as it was certainly going to be invaluable. She edged it out and checked the left hall, then turned it right and saw both ways were clear, for now at least. All that she could see were wide and open empty spaces built-up with the rubbish and the remains of looted shopfronts, blown-in leaves alongside layered frozen detritus covering the open floors, and frost and grime that had settled on stairs, railings, escalators, or around the pillars connecting to the upper floor.

Once proud banners hanging from the ceiling that depicted happy ponies shopping and the amazing sales they could have were now tattered and faded, the rot eating those away too as mould crept over their lengths. Strips had been torn out in places from the Hewbats she spied nesting in the gaps between the smashed open roof panes in the ceiling and the uppermost corners, the beasts occasionally swooping around from place to place with light cries.

It was easy to surmise the overall floor plan as it was rather simple. The hall she'd come into from one entrance went along to another set of double doors, connecting and going left at the middle to branch into another connecting hall with the same openings. The overall shape of the shopping centre resembled a letter H, with stores on every available bit of space around its inner edges.

There were three floors in total with the first floor holding the outdoor store that she was after, somewhat central on the opposite side to her position according to an information board she could read in the face of her mirror. With another glance both ways again just to be sure, she tucked the mirror back into her jacket before carefully moving out of the clothing store, tensed and with her shotgun still ready beneath her. Creeping towards the escalator she scanned the upper level for any danger, not hearing anything or seeing anypony. It could have been that maybe she'd simply heard an echo of her own movements as she'd come inside. The escalator was slick with ice as she stepped up its metal-plated stairs, noting the imprints of boots and hooves in the frost that she couldn't be certain were fresh or not.

There were numerous stores dedicated to clothing and hobbies when she reached the first floor as she had a quick scan around, turning right towards the outdoor store and feeling a little peeved to see at a glance that it was extremely barren. It was far smaller than she had expected it might be. She could already see the walls, shelves, and racks were spotty in what they offered, but what was there could be made to work if need be. Quick hooves promptly carried her into the store, and she gently pushed aside broken glass underhoof before putting her boots down carefully against the wooden flooring. She went to the nearest coats, annoyed that nearly all of them were in terrible condition. The fur was utterly mouldy where the coats had been left alone to battle against the elements.

First thinking about something for Applebloom, the most that she found was a slightly less tattered coat with a minimal amount of mould on it. Frustratingly she came up empty, and decided to check the back room. Quietly moving through the rear door into a small open area lined with metal shelving units at its back, she trod between them inspecting what garments there were. Many lower parts of the shelves had a few sealed boxes amongst plenty of torn open ones with their contents carelessly strewn around, all partly worn down from the cold streaming in and affecting them.

Applejack tore open a larger unopened box that hadn't been too damaged by the damp, only finding it to be full of woolly beanies. They weren't what she was after, but she took several of them just in case, shuffling off her backpack and stuffing them in. The pack was left momentarily as she tore open another smaller box. A slight grin graced her features, seeing a good mix of assorted foals hiking wear, soon finding a larger sized fur-lined coat in excellent condition as she rummaged around. It would fit Applebloom perfectly with room to spare, the coat being on the bigger side would be good for both layering and for when Applebloom grew. As an additional pick, she took two pairs of gloves and hoof warmers for her too as it was going to get very cold within the coming months.

An ear twitched as she took a couple of still-packaged thermal leggings off a shelf behind her, pausing in her search around for something coat-like for herself. There were voices echoing from some way outside the store, somewhere along to the right. She froze up momentarily before hastily reasserting control, grabbing her pack and sneaking as fast as possible into a small alcove indenting the wall that would readily hide her from view. Her back met the peeling mould-streaked wallpaper as she pushed herself up onto her hindlegs into a corner with her shotgun prepped, throwing the pack and what she'd gained down to one side. Applejack waited tensely and listened out, the voices getting closer as a sweat started to build up her back. The odds were never good, even if only one of them came in she'd still be in trouble, and she didn't fancy her chances against a bigger group at all.

"Guppy, go check that one real quick. Grab me a jacket or something, and Zip some gloves, we're gonna go up a floor."

"Yeah."

Shit.

Applejack felt wound up like a spring as she breathed as gently as possible, hearing the crunch of Guppy's boots on the broken glass covering the floor as the stallion stepped through one of the store windows. He stepped around making sound indiscreetly looking for the items, not knowing that there weren't any gloves that he'd find in good condition, not until he looked near the till where she'd seen some behind it on a rack. That was much too close to the back room for her liking, if he came through then she was going to have to fight him. He shuffled through rubbish and clothing she'd already kicked through for a few agonising minutes that stretched on forever, and there was a brief pause as she heard him reach the tills and quietly exclaim upon seeing the gloves. She really hoped he cared less about the conditions of the jackets and just picked one so he'd leave soon enough, and then she could get out of he-

No, he was moving into the back. This was about to go from bad to worse.

He was passing through the door, and he'd soon be walking right by her. The alcove was big enough that she'd be hidden from his sight until he was right on top of her, yet even if he wasn't looking for anypony he'd still immediately spot her in the corner of his vision. Contact was going to be unavoidable. It was just him right now, his group was elsewhere, she had to be careful about this in order to get out quietly. Applejack readied her hoof-dusters, flicking them onto her coronets. Her shotgun was in place below her just in case she had no other options, but a hoof first went to her combat knife. There was a slight chill that crept up her spine and her stomach dropped as she withdrew it. She really didn't want to have to use it, holding her breath as Guppy's shuffling grew more audible.

As she expected, the split-second he entered into her view his head snapped up towards her, his vibrant blue eyes going wide in shock.

Applejack lunged.

"Oh shit!" he shouted as they collided.

He yelped in alarm as she just managed to wrap her hooves around both his torso and gun hoof as they fell to the floor. He was a pegasus, and she didn't want him using his wings to bat at her, grab his gun from its brace, or make a fast exit. His free hoof smacked her in the face, before she fully threw herself forwards and headbutted him squarely on the nose in return. It delayed him enough that she followed it up with a hard punch to his jaw with a hoof-duster, shifting herself to grab him again and bring the knife in her other hoof up to his throat whilst he was temporarily stunned by the attack. It put an immediate halt to his struggling, his wings going deathly still as she pushed the blade against his skin. He sucked in a breath as she held it there threateningly. Her free hoof moved down to his side and tore the semi-automatic pistol he had out of its brace, momentarily tucking it into one of her jacket's outer pockets.

"That's right, nice an' quie-"

"Hey Guppy, what's up?!"

Applejack glowered at the voice coming from outside the store, pushing the edge of her knife against Guppy's throat just a little harder. "Hewbat, tell 'em."

"U-uh... just a-another fuckin' Hewbat, took me by surprise!" Guppy shouted out after swallowing his shock, his luminous eyes looking back at her with fear. "B-be out in a sec!"

A very tense few seconds passed, nopony came to check the situation.

"Good, that's good. I don't wanna hurt ya, Guppy," she whispered, frowning a little at her words. "Well, anymore than I already did, I jus' wanna get outta here without gettin' shot fer the trouble."

"M-my buddies wouldn't─"

"I can't trust that, an' I won't," she sharply cut him off, keeping her voice low. "I'm surrounded by unknown people, Guppy, a group of folk I ain't sure ain't bandits that'd shoot me fer being alone an' easy pickin's. Would you trust that with yer life?"

"...Probably not," he conceded.

"Exactly."

A few more seconds passed, and Guppy spoke up. "W-what now?"

"Now? Well, I would have had a look about fer a coat, an' now there ain't no time, so I'm awful sorry but I'll be takin' yers. It looks to be in better condition than mah jacket is," she said, as she'd seen that he was wearing a weathered duster. Even though it was made for pegasi with holes in the back for their wings to poke through it would work, and it was in very good repair. It wasn't a coat but he got the idea, and quickly nodded. "I'm gonna back off, an' you can take it off real slow, an' don't go makin' any quick movements or shoutin' out 'cos otherwise I'm gonna have to shoot ya. Most likely yer group'll gun me down but I still got a chance of gettin' out, you'd be dead 'fore ya hit the ground."

He swallowed, nodding again, and she abruptly shoved off and upright, bringing her shotgun up fast with a hoof and keeping it partly level as she sheathed the knife so she could fully support the frame. As she'd ordered, he carefully got to his hooves and shifted the duster off using his wings. He gently tossed it forward and waited for what she would do next. It didn't sound as if Guppy's friends were coming to check on him yet, so she carefully stepped over to one of the shelves whilst keeping the shotgun trained on him. The shelf had some full thermal undersuits she'd not have minded having were they not so mouldy, and took them off with a hoof, a little awkward on her back hooves as she moved over to him.

"Turn."

Guppy mutely faced about and she had to make the conscious decision to let the shotgun hang on its sling as she took one of the undersuits and pulled it taught. The material was long and stretchy enough that she could pull it around him and use it like a rope. He didn't attempt to push her off with his wings as she chucked it over his head and tied it in a quick double knot around his midsection, just about managing it with the length. It was probably a bit tight as Guppy grunted from being jostled about whilst she did the second knot up, but he'd be found soon enough by his friends once she left.

Applejack took her hooves off of him for a scant second to ready the second undersuit in order to gag him, her heart doing a somersault as he instantly made an attempt to bolt. His wings struggled at the makeshift binding whilst she lunged forward to grab him, a foreleg going around his head. He tried desperately to shake her off to no avail, and she grabbed for her knife to pacify him into compliance again.

"GUYS! GUYS CO-"

Before he could keep shouting her knife had left its sheath and the blade stabbed upwards under his muzzle. She clenched tightly as he violently jerked, the knife very easily pierced up through the soft flesh towards the back of his throat. He spasmed and grunted in agony, his words cutting off and his wings erratically twitching as he gasped in an futile attempt to keep shouting out.

A fast-welling rock arose in her throat and tears threatened at the corners of her eyes as she gripped his head harder with both hooves, feeling the blade sink deeper to the hilt whilst the warmth of his lifeblood flowed over her foreleg from the fatal wound she'd inflicted. Slowly, his spasms subsided into gentle twitches over the painfully long seconds, and he wretchedly gasped as he died from the shock. His fluttering wings slowly eased and went limp at his sides. She released a quiet distressed cry of horror, struggling to breathe in the scent of his blood as she held his corpse against her chest.

"You stupid bastard, why'd ya go an'... w-why'd ya... ya stupid..." she whispered into his ear as she gently cradled him. "...mm'sorry..."

"Guppy? What's going on, dude?!"

Applejack stiffened again, the voice was rapidly approaching. She needed to move right now, she needed to leave right now. Trying to keep down her revulsion, she let go of Guppy's lifeless body as she held back a sob with tears blurring her vision, fighting to stop herself choking as she shakily picked up his duster. His blood had gotten everywhere. The front of her poncho and jacket were stained a dark red just like her forelegs, and a quick hopeless attempt to wipe his blood off only succeeded in spreading the stain further. As quickly as she could, she went over and stuffed the duster into her backpack, along with the additional clothing, the mirror, and his pistol she'd put in her pocket. Hooves then crunched onto the glass within the store's entrance area, just as she'd clasped the pack shut and swung it on.

There wasn't going to be anywhere to hide, and the next stranger would soon see Guppy and either shout out or run away to alert his fellows. That meant fighting her way out. Taking a few queasy breaths to steady herself, she swiftly sheathed her knife and repositioned. With an exerting push she forced herself upright again and weightily rested against the front wall of the backroom as she pointed the shotgun at the doorway. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute, and she was trying to keep her breathing under control as she blinked away tears, though she wasn't having any success.

Applejack really didn't want to have to kill anypony else today.

"Hey, you having trouble with the Hewbats in here, Guppy? Did one bite you on the dick?'' said a stallion, a navy unicorn in a heavy winter coat, as he stepped through into the back, then quickly saw Guppy's corpse and her instantly afterward with her shotgun in his face. The smile on his muzzle abruptly vanished. "Oh, what the fuck..."

"I don't wanna kill ya, I jus' wanna leave, please," Applejack whispered desperately, her eyes flicking to his horn and over the pump-action shotgun on his back. "Take yer shotgun off, no magic, alright?"

"Go fuck yourself, my friends are gonna kill you slow," he growled at her.

"Take it off now," she said back a little more sternly, her already fast heart rate ticking up. "Please don't make me shoot ya, I don't wanna kill nopony else but I will if I have to."

He was clearly sizing her up and seeing if she'd follow through on that statement. He didn't respond and she wondered if he was trying to delay her and waste time, but he soon relented with an angry sigh. One hoof went back slowly, grabbing the pump shotgun by its middle, and he began to ease it off from around himself.

...Before he then swiftly rushed at her, knocking aside her shotgun as she tried to fire at him, and failing as his horn flared to life and held the trigger. He only just succeeded in pulling her to the floor, hastily trying to shove his horn into her face to gore her through an eye. Adrenaline pumping, she yelled in frustration as a hoof came up and the hoof-duster solidly connected with his chin in a weighty impact of metal on flesh. His head snapped back from the heavy blow as if struck by thunder. Applejack surged, smacking forwards with her other hoof-duster into his side and making him shout out in pain as his ribs were struck by the brass. Refusing to let up, earthen strength allowed her to compel herself up onto her haunches even with his full weight atop her, and she hastily threw another punch as he fell back, striking into his raised forelegs.

She launched herself at him and smacked at his horn as he tried to use his magic to lift his shotgun at her. The action stopped his casting dead and he stumbled through the likely wave of nausea it sent him into, though he still wildly flailed and scored a few lucky hits on her. The hits were a minor discomfort and she grunted past them as she brought down another heavy hoof across his face, hearing a crunch as her hoof-duster broke his nose whilst he choked out a cry of pain. Another punch went into his side where she'd already hit and she heard something crack there as well, letting up as he groaned in agony.

"Stay where ya are," she ordered, stepping back as she got to all fours, and then willing herself upright to get her shotgun into place. "Don't try to-"

His horn glowed weakly and he ensnared his own shotgun, trying to bring it around.

"Don't!"

He still made the attempt along with trying to rise, his pump-action getting about halfway with his magic clearly surrounding the trigger ready to fire. It was easy to beat him to the punch as she was already raising her lever-action, her shotgun roaring at the last possible second. His horn winked out and his weapon dropped, the stallion convulsing animalistically as he collapsed back to the floor, chest blasted with a close concentration of pellets whilst some had torn into his neck and legs. Applejack couldn't force herself to look away as he wheezed at his torso being ripped open through his clothing. He could hardly breathe and was only able to take in pitifully strangled gasps as he laid there staring into the ceiling, incapable of doing anything as his lungs filled with blood. There was a painful shock etched across his face, a dark redness rapidly spreading through the undershirt beneath his open winter coat.

"I-I warned ya..." she told him uselessly as she cycled the action to let the spent shell eject, and knew she couldn't stay and help him. "I'm sorry."

The two downed stallions' other friends were quickly approaching, she could hear the loud shouts of alarm and anger from outside the storefront. Her lever-action only had three shells left and they'd be bearing down upon her soon, and she didn't know how many there were or what they were armed with. The hoof-dusters flicked up and swiftly went over on all fours to the dying stallion, barely sitting as she lifted up his shotgun. Hastily ejecting its shells, she saw that they were slugs rather than buckshot, but that would do just fine. Swallowing her discontent, she put a hoof on what she suspected was an ammo pouch hanging off of his coat and opened it to find more shells inside, a random mix of slugs and buckshot both. The buckle was undone as fast as possible and she slipped the pouch with its strap out from around him, putting it around herself and reclasping it as fast as possible.

"What the fuck's going on in there?! Guppy? Crow?!"

"Who's shooting?!"

"Get the fuck out here, whoever you are!"

That was at least three hostile strangers. She wagered they weren't just going to simply walk in, nor did she think she was going to be allowed to leave freely given Crow's attitude towards her. Applejack carefully moved back to the wall before the doorway and let the backpack shift forwards, unclasping the Nova grenade off of it before shrugging it back into place. Its glow became readily more apparent as she unwrapped the cloth covering and gently put a hoof on the grenade's top, twisting the cap to the right until it clicked. It was primed for a one second delay now rather than three seconds, and she took another breath to steady her frazzled nerves.

"Hey there... y'all out there," she shouted out a little lamely.

"What did you do to Crow and Guppy, you bitch!"

"I'm real sorry but Guppy's dead, and Crow's in a bad way, I don't think he has long," she loudly replied to the voice as she glanced at Crow. His breathing had grown shallower and he was barely moving, a wealth of blood completely reddening his front and starting to pool beneath him. "I'd be more than happy to let one of ya come back here with only medical supplies to fix him up, assumin' ya can."

"What, and give you a fucking hostage? Dream on!"

"I... wasn't thinkin' like that at all," she said, frowning at the idea. "I jus' wanna go home, I didn't wanna kill nopony! I just wanted to leave peacefully, they gave me no choice!"

"You're not leavin'!"

"You're dead, Guppy was my best friend!"

Applejack yelled out in surprise as one of them unexpectedly opened fire with an assault rifle, and she fell to the floor whilst tucking in as best she could as the bullets perforated the wall. Plaster sprayed in clouds, clothing exploded in puffs of musty air, and shelving units pinged as bullets rained through into the back area, before one voice shouted for the shooter to stop. She stayed where she was, breathing heavily as her heart pounded in her ears, though she wasted no time in getting her hooves under herself as she moved into low crouch with the Nova grenade at the ready again.

The second she heard two sets of hooves step into the store she pushed forward and slapped the top of the Nova grenade, throwing it out into the main area and tensing up in preparation as she sharply turned away. There was an urgent shout of alarm as then she clasped her eyes shut from the massive flashing pulse that spilled past the doorway, feeling the blasting shockwave and crackle of energy from the Nova grenade's bursting detonation. One of the trio promptly opened fire with a shotgun as he was blinded, the impact hitting a different wall out front rather than the one she was taking cover behind, before they were quickly told to stop as well before they killed one of their own.

The Nova kept on pulsing for a second or two, and when it ceased she swiftly seized the opportunity to bolt, rushing out and instantly galloping towards the exit. She flicked a hoof-duster down, throwing a hard punch into a stumbling stallion's face as he heard her and lifted his assault rifle in her direction despite his lack of vision. The blow knocked him down from the sheer surprise of it, the hoof-duster flicking back up as she kept on running.

Applejack barrelled into a lithe stallion standing in the doorway, he was also a pegasus and she easily forced him aside as she smashed her larger body into him, making him crash back into the walkway railing overlooking the ground floor with a meaty smack. The Nova grenade tended to blind and disorient people for several minutes at a time, moreso with the changes of their eyes, but she didn't trust that somepony might happen to recover much faster than usual ─they hadn't been invented with the Singularity in mind─ and instead of taking the stairs she decidedly leapt over the rail.

It was a bit of a drop but she knew she could take it, landing hard on her hooves in a loud thud when she touched down. Applejack cried out as deep lances of pain shot up her legs, mostly her right from landing more on that side, and collapsed to the grimy marble floor onto her front in a cloud of dirt, the weight of her weapons and pack bearing down. Shakily recovering from the fall and stumbling back up as fast as she could, she broke back into a run as best she was able after a few steadying breaths of stale air.

There were shouts above her from the blinded trio as she kept going, a gunshot from a rifle firing in her general direction but easily missing by a mile as she rounded a corner out of the shopping centre. Her weapons jostled on her back as she alternated between sprinting and jogging thanks to the pain that was throbbing through her body. She growled with the effort and forced herself to move as the strain didn't ease up, taking off for the direction she'd come in from towards the east side of the city. Clumsily winding her way through the vehicle park, the shouts kept up behind her, loudly echoing from within the shopping centre. It took a good moment to pull herself over the low wall surrounding the centre, much slower than she'd have liked, and she went back into a poor run-jog-run cycle whilst taking her chosen path.

With any luck she'd find somewhere relatively safe to hide until the strangers had given up on pursuing her, hopefully recover quickly from her self-inflicted fall, and then, well... maybe reflect on everything that had happened.