/an/ All I've got to say about this chapter, is that it is LONG and has A LOT of dialogue. But you bros and bronies out there like that.
Chapter 3
Ruby looked in my eyes with disbelief, sighing, I began to tell the story of where I came from, who I was, and what I did.
"Like I said, my name is Drew Jerome Mantz, my mother picked my first name and middle name. The last name followed suit. When I was younger, I was a real artist. Won four gold medals in a state art show. But where I come from is a small town in a state called Kansas, which is in the United States of America. Which is just a single continent on our planet. Which, early philosophers called, Earth. The name just stuck, being that the world in a older language meant Dirt, and that's what they thought the planet was made of, just solid dirt, stone, and gems. Our race is a technology advanced race, we had the power to destroy our very own planet at our will.
"Some many times people tried to. We may have been a technological advantage over everything, but doesn't mean that we are the most religious and sanity stable culture. My people have so many different languages, so many types of literature, so much of everything. But, too many religions always end in conflict, people fought each other and died for what they believed in. Even if it was what type of way that they raised their children.
"And one day, while everything was just wire-thin, a single religion snaps. Creating a bigger biochemical weapon, something that turn allies into bloodthirsty enemies. They thought that they were safe in their bunkers, but they weren't. Slowly, but surely they clawed their way in. Through the ventilation systems of the bunker. Turning their air into a bloody hue. As they tried to flee, they were swarmed by thousands of mindless walkers."
I stopped, taking remembrance of the memory. I was sitting atop of a mountain, about a mile and a half out. It was the day I felt happy for revenge, something that I have deep hatred for.
"There was no hope for them, they were consumed by them. After the dead had cleared, I had taken my time to see what they had left behind. I, myself, was looking for a antidote, a cure. That's when I started looking at something I called a green herb. It had some properties I didn't understand at the time, but looking into it, I found that it ate and repelled the virus. Which is just a simple folded protein prions. The reason the infect spread so rapidly is because the pathogen has no DNA and can self-replicate. As I said, the green herb, or an Anti-TSE, eats these prions. As well, it causes the immune system to go into hyper drive mode. Causing an almost immediate fever, and forces the subject to expel the dead prions."
Looking at the on my right arm bite mark, that was already clogged up with now black blood.
"What makes me immune to this.. virus. Is that the white blood cells and proteins in my blood are so large, they the prions cannot consume them. But instead are absorbed by my blood. Which in the end makes me sick, fever and all the shebang."
I looked to Ruby, a hurt smile on my face.
"I know you're all a magical bunch, seemingly because I had one start shooting rays of light at me." I half-lied, I knew that they were magical anyways. Ruby looked at me in silent question. "But, do you know what caused it to happen here? I mean, that the virus from where I come from was engineered. Created in a lab." She shook her head, still trying to take in what I was telling her. I sighed, knowing that I wouldn't get any information from someone of her age. I stared at my shaking hands again,
"At least I know its the same or at least similar protein fold." Closing my eyes,"You need to get some sleep." She nodded, lying her head on my lap, and closed her eyes to fall asleep. I, myself, fell into a meditative state.
The Next Morning
My eyes snapped back open as the MP3 player in my pocket began to beep through the speaker.
Which to note, was loud as hell.
Ruby lifted her head, looking at me in question. The mare that was on the bed had lifted her head as well.
I looked at the window that was near the bed, morning rays of light began to pour in. The rain had made the outside look clear and fresh.
Reaching into my pocket, I pulled the MP3 player. A few words were on it that made me feel that I was being watched. 'Time to move out!' it read, a time next to it gave me what I suspected to be a reasonable number. I stood up, and stretched. Grabbing up my twenty-two, I began to put things in my duffle bag. Being that the things were the two bags I had within the bag. I pulled out the second to last water bottle, and opened the top. I took a meager gulp of it. Handing it off to Ruby. Who took a few sips, and handed it to the cream mare.
I grinned, Ruby was learning fast.
Reaching back into the food bag, I pulled out the last three granola bars. Taking one for myself, I opened the other two, handing them out.
Turning my attention to out the window. I saw a speck moving toward the cabin. I opened the window, pointing out my rifle to get a better look. The speck, was actually a cyan pegasus. Which oddly enough, had a trail of rainbow following her. Her eyes were full of determination, and fear.
Like I hadn't seen enough of that.
Turning the zoom on the scope some more, I saw that she was being trailed. By flying walkers. Un-zooming the scope, I began to prepare. Seeing that she was being followed on the ground by almost a score of walkers. I turned my head around, looking at Ruby.
"Can you levitate things?" She nodded proudly. I pulled out Peace from its holster, quickly ejecting the clip and bullet in chamber. Holding it out to her.
"Okay, focus your grip on the, you know, grip. If you can, try and slowly squeeze on the trigger." She looked at me with question and did so. Ruby focused on the gun, lightly pulling it from my grasp. She slowly squeezed the trigger, causing a light click as the hammer hit. I nodded,
"That'll do." I quickly took off my belt holster, pulling off the holster from the belt to Vengeance, and put the holster around Ruby's waist, she looked startled that I was giving her a weapon.
"I'm not expecting you to play soldier, but I need you to cover my back. I'm only doing this because I doubt that the other is in any condition to fight." I put two extra clips on her belt. Reloading the gun with a snap of the hammer. She took it up again, I saw that she flipped the safety on then off without me telling her. Good girl, I thought. I turned back to the window, seeing that I had less than forty seconds before they reached us. I counted a half score in the air, a score on the ground.
"Thirty walkers in all, one survivor!" I yelled in slight command, taking aim on my twenty-two. Loading another five rounds into the gun.
The gun had a maximum of twenty rounds, but I had to conserve.
I took slow shots with the rifle, careful of the pegasus survivor flying our way. Most of the pegasi dropped at the shots, leaving two that were using the flying survivor to their advantage. I reloaded the rifle with another eight rounds.
"Come on!, Faster! Los los!" I yelled in two languages, feeling that it was appropriate. The blue pegasus shot into the room, over my head. Quickly letting me put four bullets into the two others. It was a waste, but it took that many. I saw the score of ground walkers charging to the house a rounded to about a minute behind. I pulled out my MP3 player, putting on some music. I pressed the shuffle button. A familiar song poured forth, which happened to be 'Shameful Metaphors' by Chevelle. I began to whisper to the song as I began to fire.
"Fear, it's all the same.*Bang* Should I even? *Bang* To tend to these sights. *Bang* Said out loud and certain again. *Bang* If fates to run, *Bang* you'll start to feel light headed, *Bang* by my admission. *Bang* Nothing grows, *Bang* just a longer list of uncertainty. *Bang*" This continued for the rest of the song, reloading once, smoke began to show from the gun. The score of walkers had been reduced to nothing in less than two minutes. Their bodies showered the ground in front of the house. Another thirty dead by my hands, and only one was saved.
What is wrong with me? my conscious asked, running back into its room, leaving me alone with my unstable insanity and instinct. Who, by now just mentally looked at each other on what to do next.
I turned around, closing the window. A storm raging in my head, a heavy exhaustion began to creep on my body. I saw the shocked eyes of the cyan pegasus. Who just stumbled to get words from her lips.
"You.. You.. You killed them." I nodded sullenly. I grabbed the MP3 player, turning it off, and stuffed it in my pocket. I sat down, feeling the lead weight of depression hitting my heart. I closed my eyes, gathering up enough sane thoughts to speak,
"I did what needed to be done." I opened my eyes and looked at her with a serious look, "And I don't expect you do you it." Ruby walked over to me, nuzzling my chest, and sat next to me. I coughed somewhat, feeling the urge to vomit. I stood back up, taking a look about. Walking over to my duffle bag, I threw it over my shoulder.
"We need to move, I don't have anymore supplies." I took out the last water bottle, and the medical pack. I looked to the cyan pegasus, handing the open bottle out.
"Here. Were you bitten?" She shook her head, and began to drain the water bottle. "Okay, we're moving out in a few minutes. They know we're here." The cyan pegasus, who had finished draining the bottle, spoke up in a forced tough tomboy voice.
"I came here to get Fluttershy, but they started chasing me." I nodded in concern, asking,
"Did you have anyone else with you?" She gave a nod of her head. "Okay," I said, taking up Vengeance, and put the holster around my right thigh. "We need to move and rally with your party." I turned to Ruby, who had been staring at me in concern, "You watch the right, I got the left." She nodded at the command. Taking up the duffel bag, just now noticing the cream pegasus still looked heavily drowsy. I laid the duffle bag next to her, and gently pick her up. Setting her into the duffle bag, which happened to be a perfect fit. Fluttershy, who I gather this was, didn't seem to notice that I had moved her. I sighed, standing up with the bag. I heard a voice lash from behind me.
"Hey! What are you doing to Fluttershy?" I winced, looking back to answer. But, I wasn't one who did, it was Ruby who spoke up.
"Fluttershy is still under the effects of the cure that he gave her. She was bitten when we found her here." My conscious walked from its hole, and said 'Good girl'. The pegasus looked cautiously at Ruby and I.
"How did you get a cure, for all I know you could've hurt her!" She lashed again.
That's when I snapped, feeling a bubbly rage come up to my mind.
"What in the Hell would I get for hurting her? I'm trying to save people! Do you know what it would do to me if anyone that isn't infected gets hurt?"
I did a slight of hand with my pistol, ejecting the clip and the bullet in the chamber, and put it too the side of my head for example. Pulling so it would click a few times. Ruby looked horrified, thinking that I had almost shot myself.
I spoke up again in a softer tone, thinking more soundly,
"So, if you wish to lash at me for the assistance, you can take her as she is and we will part ways." The cyan pegasus looked increasingly nervous for lashing at me, twice. She shook her head, I kneeled down and picked the clip and bullet I had dropped. Reloading my pistol, tears streaming my face again, I looked at the blue pegasus mare with a saddened face. Saying to no one in particular,
"For the gods, I'm still a kid."
Putting Vengeance back into its holster, I took up my twenty-two again. Going to the bedroom door, I opened it slowly. Ruby saw what I was doing and levitated her gun out. Keeping my rifle in my line of sight, I took silent steps into the hallway of the cottage. Ruby kept to my right, who I just now noticed, had my gray jacket on. Questions bubbled in my head, but I held them back for the moment. Going down the steps, I heard a few stumbles downstairs. Keeping sharp, I took out the flashlight from my pocket. Putting my rifle over my shoulder, I drew Vengeance. Holding the flashlight and pistol in a combat knife form. The light swept the downstairs quickly, revealing the front door broken open, and three large zombie ponies milling about the room. Taking two quick shots, I took two down. The other came from Ruby, hitting the center one in the side of the head. She had the look of a warrior in her eyes. I half wanted it and half hated it. She looked at me with a sad smile. I nodded, knowing that we would exchange words at the end of this. Walking over the splinters of the front door, I flicked the flashlight off, and stuffed it in my pocket. Swapping rifle for pistol, I began to check sectors at the front of the house.
It was mostly clear, except for the all the bodies I had gunned down.
Waving my hand in a circle, Ruby came up to my right, followed by the cyan pegasus. Walking over the bodies of the dead, I began to whisper ,"Sorry friend," to everyone I passed.
Getting out of the minefield of bodies of the fallen, we began to give a good graced power walk. Ruby to my right, and the other pegasus in the middle. Who was still shaking and horrified by all the bodies. What stumped me is that Ruby had already started to get over her fears and fought back. Chatter was kept to a minimum, only when me and Ruby commented back and forth about suspected targets. Which, happened to just be scared woodland animals. Once in awhile, a doe would run across the path, to watch us. The first time it had crossed, Ruby had gotten scared and pulled her gun from its holster. I gave a hiss to silence her. She nodded and continued on.
A little while after this incident, we came across a dense arch of trees. Which gave me the willies, and screamed trap. I looked to Ruby,
"Get behind closer to me. I sense a trap." She cocked her head, and did as she was told. The cyan pony did so too, but was in the middle of us. Going in between the arch of trees, I heard a truly human sounding attack scream. I saw a violet-coated unicorn charge from the foliage, and shoot a beam of light. I saw the large purple arrow move in slow motion, it was going straight to Ruby. Dropping the duffle bag, I jumped in the path of the beam, and it hit me directly in the chest. Then everything went black and fuzzy for what seemed to be an eternity.
I woke up with Ruby standing directly above me, pointing Peace soundly. My ears were ringing harshly, I sat up, chest burning greatly. It felt as if I took a incendiary round to the chest. Groaning, I scrambled for the rifle in my right hand. Ruby looked at me with worry, but was still focused with her pistol. My heart shot right back into my head, a voice coming from the direction I was shot from,
"-..at in the hay did you do that for Twilight! He was helping us!" the voice was coming from the tomboy pegasus I saved. I looked at Ruby with a pained expression,
"Are you okay? That looked like a serious magic missile." she whispered. I nodded, using my rifle as a cane, I stood. "By serious, I mean that it could've killed me." Ruby whispered again. This ticked me off, causing me to try and stomp forward to the shooter. The purple unicorn that had shot me looked like she was seeing a ghost. I gave her a shameful frown,
"What's the big deal? She looks scared enough to try an get the jump on a possible enemy to defeat them." The unicorn began to sputter out words, trying to get a grasp on what she was saying,
"Y-.. You should be dead. I-.. I charged that spell for more than forty minutes!" I shrugged, my chest began to ache more,
"I should of been dead a year ago, you're a bit late sister. And after you take more than one bullet, you get used to being shot." I stumbled where I stood, "We need to make shelter before this adrenaline fades off, or I will die of exhaustion." I said with sarcasm. The violet pony turned around, and went into the foliage again. Wanting us to follow. I went back to the duffle bag, and picked it up. Fluttershy was still sleeping soundly, even after the yelling war. Hauling it over my shoulder, I used my rifle as a crutch, and went forward. Ruby took a defensive position to my right, sticking to my orders.
Going into the foliage, about a minutes walk from the path was a large encampment. A wall of sharp sticks pointing outwards surrounded the camp, except for the entrance, which stood a quite notable figure of orange and yellow. The pony wore a faded cowboy hat. The pony looked quite happy to see Twilight, the violet unicorn. The other ones on my companions, the cyan pegasus, ran up with a smile and starting giving some commands. The cowboy hat wearing pony walked over to me with a concerned look.
"Name's Applejack, I need follow me." Applejack had a heavy southern drawl. I nodded, following her without question.
She lead us to a tent that had a medical symbol at the side of it. Going into it made me feel nauseated. A heavy stench of blood hung in the air. I turned right around to face Ruby who was just staring at me. I walked out of the tent, lying down my duffle bag, and pulled out my medical bag. I looked at Ruby again, a sullen look on my face,
"You stay out here, okay?" She nodded, and sat down. I turned back around and pulled up the tent flap and got hit with the same smell of blood. Applejack was staring at me in question. Beside her was a pony with a nurses cap on with nice red hair underneath. She looked at me with wide eyes.
"Rainbow told me that he has a cure, and it may work." Applejack said to the nurse. Who nodded, and motioned me to follow to a screen surrounded cot. Inside was a quite sad looking, pink pony. I flinched at the bright color for a moment, then saw that she had a large amount of bloody bandages on her. The helping doctor mode in my body kicked in. I looked to nurse in question,
"Did you already clean out the wounds?" She seemed to be staring at the pony in slight fear that she would turn any moment. My brain screamed, 'Fuck it! Just help her!', and I did so. Taking out a vial of the light green liquid, and my last injector. Filling it to the exact amount it should've been, I put it into the pony's left arm. Taking out a vial of the red herb, I began to tear at the bandages, dropping a few drops of red and a single of green onto each of the four bites. I kindly asked for the nurse, who was standing behind me.
"I need water and two rolls of bandages, please." The nurse snapped out of her trance, running from the cot to get what I ordered. I looked in the eyes of the pony I was helping. Her eyes were a soft pastel blue color. I smiled reassuringly at her,
"Don't worry, everything will be alright." She just stared at me with a faulty smile. I heard hoof steps behind me, turning around I saw the nurse with a large metal canteen of water and a few rolls of bandages. Taking all of it up, I set the rolls onto the side of the cot. Opening the stopper from the canteen, I held it to the pony's lips. She began to take light chugs of the water. Halfway draining it, I pulled the water away and stoppered it. Taking the rolls of bandages, I began to wrap it around the pink mare's wounds.
Finishing the carefully placed bandages, I turned to the nurse with a reassuring smile,
"She'll be fine, she should have a fever in about ten to twenty minutes. It's natural, and if you can try to get her to puke. Afterward," I said, pulling out some pain killers from my bag, pouring three into my hand. Setting them at the nightstand of the cot, "Give her these three after she pukes, it will numb the pain for about five hours, and keep her asleep to rest." Turning back around, I looked at her, "Got it?" The nurse nodded.
Going through the screen, I was stopped by a group of four differently colored ponies. They all looked quite pleased with me, their emotions rained thankfulness.
I must of felt like a puddle of mud in radiating emotions.
The main one of the group spoke up, and recognized it was the mare that shot me in the chest with the magic missile.
"Thank you, we all thank you rescuing Fluttershy and helping Pinkie Pie." I nodded with a sad smirk,
"It all part of the job, ma'am." I walked past them, really needed a place to vent at the moment. Exiting the tent, I saw Ruby's eyes dart to me in concern. I sat down next to her with a sigh, my chest tingling. I looked down at the wound, seeing that it had burned a hole in my gray shirt and left the skin on top scorched black. It didn't look too pretty, and smelled like burnt flesh. Ruby looked quite displeased at this, and went inside the tent. I closed my eyes for a moment, but really seemed to be for about a minute.
I felt Ruby nuzzle the side of my head to wake me up, She set down a canteen of water and three bandage rolls onto my lap. Opening my eyes with a smile, she twisted her face awkwardly as if in distaste. But she didn't say anything. I rolled my eyes and stripped myself of the shirt, and dabbed water onto it. Cleaning my charred chest with it, the skin was a rose-red color under the black, which relieved me some. Rolling the bandages around my chest, they went around the whole of my chest. Leaving no part of the burn uncovered. I sighed and sat back, looking at the shirt with a chuckle,
"Looks like I'm going to need a new shirt." Setting the wet-gray ball of fabric on the ground. Ruby sat next to me again, I looked about to see my duffle bag missing in action. Ruby seemed to know what I was going to ask and responded,
"They took it to the tent that we're supposed to be in." I smiled with reply,
"Sounds like fun, shall we?" We both stood, taking my twenty-two back over my bare shoulder.
"You look better with your shirt on, Drew." Ruby commented playfully. I nodded,
"I know, and you stole my jacket." Ruby snickered lightly,
"Did not! I'm just keeping it for you." She said in defense. I rolled my eyes again, Ruby in front of me. She led me to a tent that was pretty close to the entrance of the encampment. I shrugged the thought off of being unprepared. Before walking into it, I looked to the sky and saw that the sun was more or less past midday. Looking into the tent, there were two unused cots lined next to each other. My duffle bag placed on the right cot, devoid of Fluttershy in it. I sighed, taking the bag from the cot, setting it on the floor. I took a seat on the cot, it groaned in protest under my weight.
I looked at Ruby with a emotionless face.
"We need to talk." She looked at me with a look of understanding, "Firstly, back there at the cottage, was the best shooting I could of hoped from a person of your age." She gave a sad smile, but I could tell that she was somewhat beaming.
"But, you really need to drop the hard shell act. It's going to tear you up inside, like it's done to me. You saw from the stunt I almost pulled back there. I want me to tell me everything you've felt sense this started, even before I met you." Ruby took off the gun belt I put around her waist with her teeth. My coat that she was wearing was already discarded into her cot. She sighed, and laid on her cot.
"Is this one of those psychiatric moments?" I nodded, and she continued, "I guessed that, points to me. But, yeah, can I start a day before I met you? Tough stuff when I younger." I gave a raised brow, shaking my head.
"I want all of it, I told you about me. I want to know about you." She gave the same awkward face of distaste, which caused me to smile again.
"Okay, my life before this all started was pretty rough. My parents were young when they had me. Left me at the hospital a few days after I was born. The orphanage wasn't a pleasant place in Ponyville, some really nasty kids there. Even though the town looks like a pile of sugar and gumdrops."
I nodded, "That's enough of that, don't want to bring back old souls to haunt you." She looked thankful and continued.
"About a week ago the, what you called the folded prion protein, started showing up all of a sudden. A lot of the ponies started getting sick, biting others. But you probably already know this. I was just scared and defenseless to try and stop it. Most told me that I'm too young to even fight it, and just retreat and hide. I told them they were wrong and something needed to be done. So, like a idiot, I tried to fight them. I had went to the bakers house and grabbed up a lot of knives, and things I could use as weapons. As I went outside, I found about seven of those, what you call walkers, outside. Just waiting for me to come outside. I fought most of them off, I ran out of knives after the first four. I ran, knowing that they would eventually catch me. Then I saw and heard you some ways down the street."
She paused, looking on the edge of tears. Ruby stood up, and walked over to my cot and laid down on it beside me.
"I was so scared, but when you heard my scream and yelled back. I found a new hope, someone to look too. At the time, I thought you just were carrying a stick with you, until you started firing from it. That scared me more, that you had something that I hadn't even seen or heard of before. After I saw that the ponies that were hunting me fall, and die, I saw that you were more then just hope. You had power to change decisions of life and death. When I reached you, I felt so tired, and I'm sorry that I fell asleep on you." I shook my head, and chuckled,
"Its alright." I laid down on the cot beside her, I felt her lay her head on my upper-abdomen.
"Well, everything else was a blur. I remember you taking me out of the town and to that cottage. After I saw you try and help that charcoal pony in there, I knew you were a good pon-.. er.. human. But when he attacked you, you didn't hesitate to even shoot him. I saw that you pistol was more powerful then your rifle. I knew that the rifle was just a jester of power. That was when I saw the text on the pistol, Vengeance seems like an appropriate name. When you helped Fluttershy without hesitation, I saw something click in your eyes in an instant. Like you knew her or something."
I nodded, waiting to show her the plushie in the duffle bag.
"After that, the next morning, after I heard almost everything about you. I felt envious of your life, you mom sounded like a great pony.. er.. human. All of that faded when you looked out the window with your rifle, and turn back to me. You gave me that gun, and had that look in your eyes that you trusted me like a best-friend. At that moment, I was shocked that you gave me the power of life and death with it. I was terrified again, but a great sense of responsibility turned gears in my mind. I spent about a minute just examining the gun as you protected the cottage without hesitation. Peace seemed like a quirky name for something that dealt with death. Then I saw the inscription under it. 'Peace is never found without war', right? Then I put together the names of your guns, Peace and Vengeance. Great names for things of evil beauty." I nodded, laying a hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"After we began to leave the cottage, I saw you're ruthless efficiency with Vengeance. I learned from it, and tried what you did. Think and then shoot. After I shot that pony, I felt like. Like a part of my soul had dropped and left me. It made me feel so cold, like I didn't want to it again. But another part quickly took up the lost place. Telling me that I needed to do this, and that the blood wouldn't stop there."
I rubbed her shoulder in comfort and responded, "I know the feeling, it hurts. More then you know." She looked up at me with a sense of sympathy.
"After that, going through that arch of trees. I saw something else tick into your eyes, like you had been through something like it before. You knew it was a trap, and you took the risk of tripping it. After I saw that missile come right at me, I thought it was all over for me. I closed my eyes and hoped for the end. It didn't come, all I saw when I opened my eyes was you laying on the ground, smoking, you bit the bullet for me. I thought that I had lost you, and I drew my gun. Ready to kill your murderer. I saw you open your eyes as I was pulling the trigger, I nearly dropped the gun. I kept my focus on it, looking about to make sure nothing was going to get you. When I told you that the missile could've killed me, you look ticked off. I thought you were going to shoot Twilight. But, instead you made a fun joke of a comment, and trucked onwards. After taking a ray of death. Seriously, I could mistake a tank for you."
Ruby paused as we heard a bell outside, hearing curfew in effect. She looked back to me a smiled,
"Then, after you went into the medical tent, and helped that infected pony without any payment and didn't even accept thanks from her friends. I knew that you would give your life to anypony or any cause. When you walked out, and saw that you didn't even take care of yourself. I was pretty confused and angry at you." I chuckled and interrupted,
"So that's what that face means." She nodded with a smile.
"I went in and got the supplies from you, the nurse was pretty shocked that you didn't hesitate to help the injured. I passed them, and they didn't even pay attention to me. I grabbed the bandages and the canteen and cantered out."
She smiled at me, "And thats about up to now. What do you think shrink? Can I be helped?" I looked at her a half-serious smile,
"After you tell me a few things."
"Shoot."
"How old are you, and can you tell me what those marks on your flanks mean." She rolled her eyes at the easy questions,
"I'm sixteen in pony-years, I look younger then I am. And the marks are cutie marks, they tell what a ponies' special talent is. I don't have mine yet, other ponies just call me a late bloomer. But I doubt I'll get mine." She had a sullen look on her face, and I could help but stare at her flank. She had crossed pistols on her flank, reading the names of my pistols on it. I smile at her,
"You should look again, and you seriously had me stumped on you age. Could guess that if pony years and human years are the same, were the same age. " Ruby looked at me with questions, and looked at her flanks to see the cutie mark there. She turned around and smile at me, and threw a very sarcastic comment my way,
"I didn't know you like to stare at flanks." And by all god I blushed like an idiot and stumbled over words.
"I-... I-.. You... Come on! I was just now looking at it!" She pffted,
"Whatever." We both broke out into fits of laughter at this, chuckling for minutes. At the end of it, I spoke up again.
"Okay, you were wondering why I recognized Fluttershy, right?" Ruby nodded, "I was having weird dreams before I showed up here. Like, really freaky real dreams. Dreams that I saw her and the other five. Including the one in the medical tent. The one I patched up, running from thousands of human walkers. You sitting on my shoulders, having a blast. We all were, even with the walkers following us." I reached over with my left hand, into the duffle bag and pulled out the Fluttershy plushie.
"I woke up here with this in my duffle bag, didn't even know where it came from." She looked at me and mumbled,
"Weird." I nodded, looking out the tent flap. It was just now turning dark outside. I put the plushie back down into the duffle bag. I yawned,
"Its about time we got some sleep." She nodded, and laid back on stomach. I closed my eyes and sleep quickly embraced me.