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(Story Extract)

So… whats your story, exactly? I said, trying to find something to take our minds off of what just happened, whatever that was. Twintails shrugged, rubbing the excess blood off of his wound.

Not that exciting really. Gamma, my… boss, of sorts said there was a piece of technology that wound up breaking, part of our reactor's cooling system… a Neutron-Dampening Radiothermic Coil, I think it was called. We continued to crunch through the snow, passing more worn signs. There was even one with some choice words regarding this thing called the 'Grand Pegasus Enclave'. Lovely.

I cocked my head and raised an eyebrow. A Neutron-Dampening… what? I shook my head, trying to think. Ive never heard of that before, and I knew every bit of tech that was in the Stable. Trust me, this thing wouldnt be nearly as powerful if it wasnt for some… borrowed spare parts from the maintenance sections. I tapped my horn, smirking a little.

Well, a lot of machinery in the reactors were meant to be kept on a need to know basis, we didnt need any ponies such as yourself breaking in and making some kind of uranium gun. Dunno if every Stable had a reactor like Bruce, though… Twintails chuckled. I shivered, cursing my lack of foresight yet again. I always thought nuclear winter was just a theory… I sighed, my ears flopping down as I followed.

Ah, cheer up. Were almost at Mooscow, maybe we can spend the night there. I looked up, seeing another collection of buildings. It looked much bigger than Emerald Ridge had been, though from the looks of it, it was hit a lot harder during the war. The road wended its way towards the town, another broken old road sign dandling from its pole directing us towards it. As we approached, it was easier to see most of the town was surrounded by metal sheets crudely bolted together into a sort of barricade. There were a few buildings outside the walls, though it looked as if much less effort had been put into rebuilding them than the ones beyond it.

We trotted up to a huge set of oak doors embedded in the gate, attempting to open it. I was looking up at some of the larger buildings when Twintails suddenly shouted. Watch out! Suddenly, I found myself on the ground, lights popping into my view and a heavy wooden board ontop of my body. Hed pulled the ENTIRE door off of it's rusty hinges, which, of course, managed to land right onto me. He helped lift the aged piece of wood off, letting myself wriggle free from beneath it. Shoot, sorry. I caught him smirking, but he fished out the remainder of the health potion hed used for his gash, tossing it to me.

As I took a swig, something jumped through the door; a very angry something, with two guns aimed at us. Hold it right there, gate-crashers. I'm going to have to see some caravan ID before Im letting you into this place. The speaker was a Gryphon who wore nothing, no doubt shielded enough by the cold by her feathers… which were stained with irregular splashes of red. Dried red. She clicked her beak a little, which was, of course, also bloody.

Were not merchants. Twintails said, looking up at the Gryphon. She narrowed her eyes slightly, tensing her muscles. She lept into the air, settling herself onto the metal barricade, glaring down at us.

Then I suggest you two get lost. Were having a problem with raiders at the moment, so Propers under lockdown. No new residents. I scraped idly at the ground with a hoof, gnawing at my lower lip as she continued her staredown, working up the will to speak.

Are you sure theres no way we can get in, even just passing through? I asked tenatively.

She flicked her tail a little, thinking. Hmm… I guess you two dont look the raider type, not to mention you're both clean… chemically and physically. Mostly, anyways. My eyes widened a little, a touch surprised at her response. Dont look so surprised, my beak's particularly sensitive to chems. Wouldn't have a job here if it wasn't… Anyway, how about you leave your weapons with me, and Ill let you go in, simple as that.

Upvotes at import: 16 | Stars at import: 8
Posted previously at: 2015-01-07T18:29:17