A pony walked through the broken down road of an abandoned town. All the houses were broken down, smashed to bits or smoking and burnt from a previous fire. Objects were scattered about all over the place, either smashed, burnt or broken. A small plush pony lay ripped viciously open on the ground on the side of the road, looking as if it was ripped apart by a rabid Timber-wolf. But, the pony reasoned, Timber wolves had disappeared long after the Parting. Most wildlife had. Even the dragons had gone without a trace. She didn't blame them…the Parting had taken a huge, hard toll on not only Equestria itself, but on all the creatures living in it.
The pony was a mare of average earth-pony mare size, maybe even a bit taller. She wore typical survivor's gear, along with bandaged hooves and a PTS (Personal Terrain Scanner) strapped to her right hoof. She had her whitish-blond mane tied up in a hurried, crude ponytail, and a great length of her tail looked like it was chopped off until it was short enough to her liking. With Equestria being the way it was now, she couldn't afford to have a long tail getting caught on things, or long mane getting in her eyes.
She called herself Daybreak, though it wasn't her real name. She was a survivor of the Parting, and remained a strong, hard-hearted survivor. She never really said anything unless she was asked a question, or when she had an opinion about something, or speaking her mind. She was good at combat, and even though she never purposely encouraged conflict, she never hesitated to get into a fight when there was one that included her. Daybreak was a loner, and never really bothered to help anypony unless they were important to her at all. She always told herself that getting attached to ponies and being close to them in any way was a weakness. It invited hurt, anger and conflict. Forget love…she refused herself to ever fall in love with anypony ever.
As she walked through the town, she kept all her senses alert. She pricked her ears and tensed up at every little sound, but continued moving, pretending not to hear anything at all. If she was going to be ambushed, she wanted to make sure she let the attackers' guard down, thinking she wasn't aware of them at all. Surprise and deception was key to fighting. She never allowed herself to feel any emotions…not anger, not fear, not happiness, sadness or even pity. Emotions could get in the way of a lot of things, like decisions.
Suddenly, there was a clanging noise like somepony had dropped something into the rubble. She continued her pace but made her steps more silent and listened closely. There was a small scrabbling sound of something (or somepony) rummaging around in the ruins and rubble of the remains of one of the houses. Daybreak casually turned her head towards where she thought she heard the sound and pinpointed the source. Through a huge, gaping hole in one of the houses, she spotted a pony rummaging around in the ruins, as if looking for something. Probably a harmless, dim-witted scavenger, but best to make sure.
She slowly walked to the gaping hole, making her hoof steps slow and unnoticeable. When she got close enough, she stopped and observed the pony for a moment. It was a lightly-built stallion, appearing to probably be an earth pony. He had darkish-blue hide and his mane and tail were scruffy and navy blue with greenish highlights streaking through them. He was wearing a black, shaggy jacket that looked to be just slightly too big for him. Daybreak couldn't see his cutie mark, as the lower part of his jacket was covering his flank.
The stallion stopped rummaging and whipped around, having the feeling of somepony watching him. When he unexpectedly came face-to-face with Daybreak, his eyes widened with shocked surprise. "I wasn't doing anything bad," he said with a panicked tone. "I swear! Please…don't hurt me…I'll go away, I promise."
"If you don't hurt me, I won't hurt you," Daybreak said with her hardened voice. She looked him over, raising an eyebrow. "You sure don't look like much; definitely not much of a threat. Though looks can be deceiving."
"They can," the stallion agreed. He seemed to be sizing her up, wondering if he could beat her in a fight or outrun her if things got nasty. She snorted inwardly, catching the movement. She wasn't going to start a pointless fight, not unless he struck first. "What's your name?" He eventually asked.
"Daybreak," she replied automatically.
"Nice to meet you Daybreak," the stallion said, smiling. "I'm called Dodger."
Apparently this one liked to talk. She said nothing. "So um…what are you doing here?" Dodger asked, obviously trying to pry a conversation out of her. Either that or he wanted information.
"My business shouldn't be of your concern," Daybreak replied. "I'm just passing through here…but I might tell you if you tell me what you're doing here."
A suspicious and cautious look immediately came over Dodger's eyes, and Daybreak knew he was up to something. She couldn't tell if it was good or bad, but she decided to stay cautious and on the alert. "Well…" Dodger said slowly. "Are you part of the Equestrian Union?"
Daybreak hesitated for a moment. The Equestrian Union was a merciless empire supposedly forged by the captain of the guard, but it soon became greatly feared by ponies of the Wasteland (which is what they started calling Equestria after the wars over technology wrecked the land and made it almost barely livable). The Equestrian Union guards killed without hesitation, tortured innocent ponies without blinking, and marched through the Wasteland looking for "troublemakers", in other words, scavenger ponies and ponies without homes. If Dodger was really part of the Equestrian Union, Daybreak would probably say yes, that she was a messenger of the EU. But if he wasn't, then she could worry that he would tattle on her to the EU and they would come after her.
"Are you?" She asked.
"Um…" Dodger didn't answer. He looked even more cautious and slightly afraid. It looked as though they were at an impasse. Daybreak sighed, relenting, and said "No, I'm not part of the EU."
"Neither am I," Dodger admitted finally. Neither of them made a move to attack or tell on the other, so they both decided they were most likely on the same side. Suddenly, in the distance, they both heard a sound that struck panic in their hearts. It was the sound of marching hooves…and it was getting closer.
"The EU," Dodger said quietly.