Have you lived underground for so long that you forget what the sun looks like? To Mix Tape, it seemed as if she had been in this Stable for a thousand years. Stable 7, her home since the war started, held a group of ponies meant to rebuild society and promote democracy after the war. Her supposed job to save humanity? Why, she was the DJ, of course, she kept the ponies optimistic inside the hard steel bunker that they now inhabited for most of their lives.
Mix Tape tugged at the tight uniform that they were supposed to wear, sweating as she started up Radio Celestia for the morning routine, while Neon, her chameleon, hid amongst her now faded, highlighted mane. Softly dreaming of the cozy hooded vest she used to wear all of the time before the war, Mixxie’s mind traveled away from the task at hand. Thinking of all the ponies she used to know in Ponyville, she even somewhat missed the extremely obnoxious Pinkie Pie, wanting to return to the days where she hated having to clean up after the weekly mess. However, one pony held her thoughts the most: Vinyl Scratch… She didn’t know if her loved one survived, or if Ponyville even existed anymore.
“Mix Tape, why hasn’t the station been online yet?” a voice commanded over the speakers on Mixxie’s Pipbuck, a device use to monitor each pony’s status.
“I’m sorry, Overmare… I’ve been having these dreams again,” Mix responded meekly, wishing to sink into the solid metal.
“Get it up now, ponies are starting to wonder.” The voice clicked off.
Mix Tape started up her terminal, and activated the program to start the music, but before she turned it onto the speakers, an odd voice she had never heard before came up.
*pssst* “Hello, this is the Half Moon tribe; we have food, supplies, and clean water. If you need help, meet us 5 miles outside Ponyville, inside the Everfree forest. We will help you. I repeat-“
The voice faded quickly, as the signal faded out of range. Mix Tape sighed, and switched on the speakers, releasing the corny, cheery music that was too overplayed.
“What if this is my sign?” Mix taped muttered to herself. She reached inside her pocket to fish out her prescribed anti-psychotics, but then paused. She shook her head, took her hoof out of her pocket, and then proceeded to play the music. After all, it was her job, and she couldn’t just leave.
Lightning Strike ratcheted back the bolt on his rifle, as he blasted the head of a golden gecko. The rifle clicked as a new round entered the chamber, cycling the spent round out. Slinging the rifle over his back, he trotted over to the fresh corpse for tonight’s meal. Several slabs of gecko meat later, Strike continued his trek to find his wife. Several years ago, a band of ponies took her away from him, his only love, Rainbow Flame, and he has been searching for any trace of her since they had been separated.
Alarms sounded as Mix Tape pushed the lever to the vault door on, her eyes wild with adrenaline, and from the fact that she hadn’t taken her medication in three days. The lone guard, Diamond Tiara, came rushing toward Mixxie, baton flailing and high pitched voice screaming as loud as a pony could shout.
“Stop in the name of the Overmare! You are not allowed outside the Stables!!”
“You can’t make me, bitch!!” Mix Tape shouted. Diamond Tiara gasped in shock at the profane language that she used, thus breaking one of the rules set by the Overmare. Mixxie took this opportunity and bucked backwards, catching Diamond Tiara in the face with a wild, yet precise hoof. Diamond Tiara dropped like a rock, unable to defend her unconscious body.
“Now, there isn’t anything to stand in my way...” She whispered, and proceeded out of the Stables.
As Mix Tape stepped out into the open air, she finally saw the sun for the first time in 17 years, feeling its heat, yet becoming blinded by its bright light. Blocking the direct rays with her hoof until her eyes readjusted , Mix Tape stumbled blindly out in the open. Mumbling to herself, “ I don’t see why I couldn’t come out here before, it’s not so dangerous as everyone makes it out to be.”
Walking around the wasteland, Mix Tape found the remnants of a few houses. Searching around the ruins, she found nothing but a few household supplies and a Sparkle-Cola. Turning on her hoof, she walked out of the destroyed doorframe to find a place to sleep for the night.
The sunlight beat down as she traversed what used to be part of the Everfree Forest, now a dry, barren wasteland from the falling of the Megaspells. Finally reaching the treeline after a 3 mile trek, Mix Tape settled down in a clearing as the sun set. Closing her sore and weary eyes, Mix Tape laid down for the night in the wasteland.
Sleep did not last forever, though, as a loud growling noise shook Mix Tape up from her respite. She turned her head to see what the commotion was, staring right into the eyes of one of the biggest predators in the wasteland, the Yau Guai. Screaming in terror at the sight of the giant irradiated bear, Mix Tape scrambled to her feet and took off into the dark, unfamiliar forest. Screaming for help as the beast chased after her, she bumped into trees and rocks, until she stumbled and fell. Turning to face her imminent death, Mix Tape looked into the eyes of the Yau Guai, watching as a heavy paw slashed towards her. A searing pain came over her face and the side of her body as the claws ripped through her skin. As the mutant reached up for another strike, a loud popping noise sounded in the forest behind her. The Yau Guai fell silent as a bullet tore through its skull, taking the one of the most dangerous creatures in the wasteland down.
Peeking through the blood in her eyes, Mixxie looked for her savior. A shadow walked out of the forest, rifle aimed at Mixxie, ''What are you doing in the forest, you know it isn't safe.''
The colt walked over to Mixxie, stimpak held in his mouth, to help dull the pain that she must have been in. Mix Tape looked at him curiously, wondering why he would go out of his way to save her, a random pony in the post-apocalyptic world. Then with a sudden realization, she recognized the generous pegasus.
''Lightning Strike, is that you?''
He whirled around, taking a closer look at Mix Tape. "How do you know my name?"
"You used to work with my brother, Fire Star."
Lightning cocked his head, thinking of when he may have met his best friend's sister.
“Do you remember when my brother was showing off to the mares, and he created the fire star in the sky?”
“Hah, wasn’t that all the time?”
“Well, you got a bit tired of it one day, and flew right through the star, with lightning trailing behind you. You showed him up that day, and deflated his ego a bit.”
“Ahh, I remember now, You were the young filly who got my attention because someone stole your notebook!”
“That was my favorite notebook!”
“Well, the notebook is the least of our worries right now, we need to keep up moving or else we aren’t going to make it. Stay with me and you will be safe.”
"Fine. Besides, I now owe you my life."
Lightning Strike walked into the Everfree forest, seemingly aimlessly as he guided Mix Tape to his campsite nearby. However, he noticed that something felt off about her, zeroing in on her left studded ear that kept twitching in various different directions while the other stood stock still. Despite this, he simply dismissed the action as being nerves.
“When you get to the site, don’t light any fires, the food is cooked by the radiation already. The light from the fire will attract unnecessary attention.”
Mix Tape and Lightning Strike walked into the remains of the Everfree forest, avoiding large patches of dark magic, remnants of what had fallen to Equestria years before. Mix Tape trailed behind Lightning, following every footstep, when she realized something was very wrong. Her new traveling companion was missing something very close to him. When he was a member of the Royal Guard of Equestria, he was prided for his large, powerful wings, a sign of a strong and agile pegasus.
“Lightning… I don’t mean to pry… but where are your wings? Did you lose them in a fight or something? I uh… I understand if you don’t want to talk about it.”
He smiled, and laughed.
“Oh those? That was years before the war even began. After you ran away from home and opened up your own business in Ponyville, Princess Celestia was put under multiple threats of assassination. I was eventually assigned as a personal guard, working 24/7 to protect her. One day as her and I were walking around the Royal Garden, a trip-mine exploded, meant to hurt or even kill the Princess. I took most of the blast in the process, saving her life. Unfortunately, when they brought me to the hospital, my wings were too far destroyed to save, forcing me to have my wings removed permanently. Fat load of good it did to save her life though, now we are stuck in this mess.”
He continued walking as Mix Tape stood there in awe. Thinking about what she had just heard, Mix Tape was surprised to see Lightning act so nonchalant about it. She ran up to catch up with him as she noticed his flank fading into the darkness.
“But weren’t you not able to fly? It would drive me crazy!”
Lightning laughed again, “Everything drives you crazy, but yes, it did for a bit. My drive to aid the princess is what brought me back to sanity. I knew that I would never be able to fly again unless I had some contraption put on my back, but I wouldn’t feel like me anymore. I want to be me, and wingless Lightning is here to stay!”
Mix Tape smiled as she saw her old friend beaming as though he didn’t have a care in the world. However, that little bit of happy moment quickly changed, as the dark thoughts from the back her head began filling her mind. Her ear began twitching violently, and she began looking around wildly, almost in fear, mumbling to herself. Lightning raised an eyebrow quizzically, wondering what was happening to the mare. He could only catch snippets of what she was saying, none of which made any sense, until he realized that she was having a full conversation...with herself.
“Did you see that?!” “Yeah, I did!!” “How big do you think that...thing was?” “Oh, at least 10 feet long!” “10 feet?! No way!”
“Mix Tape, are you ok?”
She never responded, blindly following Lightning as he carefully guided her to the campsite. The muttering slowly tailed off as they drew closer to the site with Mix Tape growing tired and drowsy. Her pack was dragging in the dirt by the time they were close, with Mix Tape leaned up against Lightning Strike heavily for support. Laying out a sleeping pad for her to sleep on, he lowered her to the ground, and pulled his only blanket over her shaking and resting body.
Then, Lightning proceeded to booby trap the site, arming bombs and placing noisemakers to wake him up if anything unknown approached him while he was asleep. A sharp can cut his hoof as he hung it up. Hissing with pain, Lightning licked the cut, cleaning the wound before covering it with a somewhat clean bandage. Digging in with his rifle, Lightning curled up for a night of restless sleep. His eyes closed, slipping into the nightmare he had every night.
Screaming threw open my eyes, and I jumped out of bed to see what was the matter. My wife had already left the bed, and was nowhere to be seen. The screaming continued, ringing in my ears as a galloped around my house, looking for signs of trouble. Yelling wildly for my wife, I kicked open the door, only to see my wife disappear into the night. Only one thing could be seen in the night, a white pony, with a wild, blue mane. Galloping in chase, I was too slow after my injury to keep up. As I watched my only love disappear into the forest, a realization came to me. This was my fault… If I wouldn’t have turned on the lights in the night, especially after the megaspells fell, all of this would not have happened today. I…. I put my wife in danger, and now she’s gone… It’s all my fault! Everything is fading… fading to black… Why can’t I breathe? Why can’t I… see? Am… I… Bleeding?
