.I was momentarily blinded by the sudden change in light level, my eyes watering and being stung by the icy wind that blew outside the cavern's exit. I put a hoof up to shield my eyes as I levitated my glasses off of my face, and wiped my tears off of the insides of the lenses. My eyes eventually adjusted to the bright, blinding light and I was able to stare off the side of the mountain, watching as wind blew bits of snow down into the valley below me. I leaned over the side and bit and gazed downwards before quickly stepping back. Okay, note to self, don’t look down. Alright, there had to be a path somewhere to lead up here, right? Glancing about the icy, frozen wasteland just outside, I soon spotted what looked like an extremely faded road running along the side of the mountain. I began to slowly trot down, sticking as far from the edge as I could - oh, why did Stables have to be built into mountains?

After listening to a few distant pops, I drew my plasma pistol, glancing back and forth for any signs of danger. Supposedly those megaspell-things they dropped centuries ago wouldn’t have wiped out everything, rumors had been spread around of some creatures being able to survive the bombardment. I shuddered, half from fear, and half from how bitingly cold it was. My tail curled up tight as I regretted not having taken the time to find a coat. The wind whistled as it blew through the valley, flurries of snow being tossed into the air. I squinted, trying to tell if there was anything on the opposite side of the valley, but nothing came into view. I looked up, finally noticing just how dim the whole area was. Why in Equestria were there so many clouds? I thought pegasi controlled them, if they’re all gone, what’s making them? I shook my head, quietly wondering if it was an unintended side effect of the spells they dropped.

Trotting down a switchback, I noticed a faded, bent sign stuck into the snow. 'Emerald Ridge, Pop; 4,820' it read in peeling paint, an equally ruined arrow pointing towards the opposite end of the valley. I glanced back up the mountain, the wooden door of Stable 76 now barely in view. I paused, my stomach clenching up, mind thinking back. Cross… I’m so sorry… I sniffed a bit, praying he was okay. I should’ve just stayed… but who knows what the overmare would’ve done. I tried to push the thoughts to the back of my mind as I reached the bottom of the mountain and began to trudge through the snow in the valley.

As I walked through the windy crevace, I heard a small buzzing in the distance. I raised my pistol up again, slowing my trot. A dark shape appeared around the corner of the road, still buzzing loudly. It soon came into view, and prompted me to give a cry of fear and revulsion. The thing was at least the size of my head, with grotesquely swollen limbs that seemed to grasp at the air. I fired off several shots of plasma, one managing to strike it and send it falling to the ground with a painful squeak. I gave it a wide berth, its legs still twitching a little, despite being seared by the hot plasma. Oh, good Celestia, that’s disgusting. I rushed down the road, reloading my pistol as it curved around a small hill.

In the distance I spotted a small collection of houses, my eyes going wide at the sight. I thought everything was supposed to have been flattened by the war, just craters and death for miles around... guess the school played up those facts a bit much. I stowed my pistol as I followed the road around the side of the small town of Emerald Ridge, still glancing about for signs of any more of those disgusting fly-things. I turned off the road as it approached the town, heading down one of the streets. My stomach growled a bit as I roamed through, myself taking pause to hold a hoof against it. Ok, leaving without food was another dumb decision… maybe there’s some sort of grocery store or something nearby. Oh, I could go for a Sunrise Sarsaparilla...

I turned the corner, spotting a few figures in the distance, thankfully ones that looked much more equine in appearance than that thing earlier. Before I could rush up to them, though, I heard a gunshot, one of them falling to the ground. I dove behind some rubble, my heart suddenly in my throat - oh for Celestia's sake, please don't let me die here. I heard the ponies return fire as the aggressor dove behind a small wall beside a brick building. I peered over the rubble, only to witness one of the pony’s heads become a cloud of red mist as another bullet flew through it. I shrieked as my glasses were suddenly coated in blood, which drew the attention of the group of ponies focused on the one behind the house.

Bullets flew through the air around me as I was forced to remove my glasses, everything turning into a mess of blurs. I fired sporadically, most of my plasma shots coming nowhere near the group of ponies, but occasionally one hit its mark and seared the ponies skin. One shot manage to strike one in the eye, and he wailed as he melted into a pile of cool plasma. I couldn’t hear anymore gunshots in my direction, but I continued to fire out of sheer terror. A voice suddenly came over through the wind - well, at least it's somepony talking rather than shooting. "Hey! You, with the goop gun! Think you could maybe -not- fire at the unfortunate young pegasus who trotted in way over his head over here? Pretty sure he'd appreciate it!”

Haha, stop firing at the pony that started the fight? Not likely! I reloaded my pistol, shooting a few more shots in the vague direction I heard the voice come from. “You drop your gun and I’ll stop firing!” I shouted back. I stopped shooting, though, waiting for a response - Celestia above, please don’t let him sneak up on me blind like this. There was a little scuffling before the pony responded.

“I’m not exactly in the mood to go out into the open unarmed, thank you very much.” He shouted back. Well, I guess we’re at an impasse, aren’t we? Just great. Nothing happened for a few moments, during which I made a feeble attempt to wipe my glasses clean, though all it did was smear the blood. I suddenly heard the beating of wings as I glanced back to the house, seeing a yellow blur shoot into the sky. Oh, shit, I can’t hit a pegasus with eyes like this. I fired as best as I could at the blur, but each shot missed by several feet. However, as the blur came closer, I noticed he wasn’t firing on me. What the heck…? I attempted to dive out of the way as the golden pegasus crashed into me, sending us both tumbling through the snow.

Twintails' Story: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/11653090/