Another sleepless night. All she had to sleep on was a crude, cold stone slab that had cracked from the wall and fallen, miraculously staying in (mostly) one piece. It was hell on her back, but she had nothing better and nobody to complain about it to. It made no difference to her, but the pain from lying flat on the stone had made her a bit loopy. Eclipse looked around at the barren room she had slept in, or attempted to. It was deathly silent apart from her own breathing and hooves scraping the stone as she slid off. She stretched herself languidly, letting the sounds of her popping bones fill the room around her.
"Ugh... this blows," she said, walking towards the hole in the wall she had been using as a door, "Need to find something... soft. Or warm. Or both, to be my mattress." Eclipse licked her lips. For the rest of the world being on fire, she sure felt cold here. It was almost comforting, but she felt a little sick to her stomach. She remembered when she was just a filly that a walk on the town would calm her nerves, perhaps it would work again as it had before.
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Tinker settled back on his rump, letting himself get comfortable in a sitting position as he raised his torch once more to the charred corpse of steel that he had been asked to dismantle. It would fetch a nice bit of shiny for both himself and for those who had asked for it, assuming he could haul it back to the garage and load it up with the rest of what he had cut. He flicked the torch on and got ready to set to work cutting again. So much time had passed since he came out before first light to start, having only the bright cyan light of his cutter to mark him out among the ever-burning fires of the city, but now the sun had snuck up on him and he had only gotten a little more than half of what he had wanted done.
Better get back to it, I still got a lot to do... he sighed, bringing the flame up to where he had left off. The morning had been still apart from the sounds of his work and the scrape of metal as he dragged it back to his cart, but he now heard the faint sound of approaching hooves from around the corner. Tinker's eyes turned upwards as he saw a grayish pony approaching, the blue fire of his torch reflected back at him from her eyes. He turned his head back to his work, expecting his eyes to follow but they stayed locked on her. Trouble, he bit his lip. Tinker had avoided much confrontation while he had been scavenging. Most ponies didn't see the value in metal and such, but he knew how to melt it down and transform a hunk of steel into something similar to what they could only find by searching in the deeper ruins. In any case, he didn't want trouble now, but he was no stranger to a fight. He carried on cutting, keeping the pony in his peripheral.
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The morning was as dreary as she and her dreamless night had been. Black, ash, but cold. Cruel, even, but yet not so. It was how she had learned to live and how she had survived so far. Cold, alone. Off in the distance she heard the clang of metal and the harsh scratch and scrape of metal across the hard stone and concrete of the street. She wasn't aware of any happenings that day, which made the noises seem curious. She decided to play it safe and check it out. If it was one of her gang's members, then no worries, but if it was another gang's member, she was having a cold morning, perhaps some blood would warm her up.
Eclipse rounded the corner and a bright light caught her eye. There was a red pony with a torch cutting away happily on a pile of crap. He was not familiar to her, but she was about to become real familiar with him. She turned towards him and made a beeline to where he was. He had seen her, but he wasn't moving. He stayed sitting on his rear, cutting with that fire. It angered her for some reason to see him there, a smile on his face, working so happily. Eclipse flared her nostrils and frowned, picking up her pace towards him as she clenched her teeth. His day was about to get a lot worse at his own expense.
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Tinker glanced back up just in time to see a hoof making its way towards his face. In the next moment, he felt his head hit the ground and pain flared up from both sides of his head. He dropped the torch, which went out with a pop, and had just started to stand himself back up as another hoof bashed him back down to the ground. He was utterly confused, but decided it was better to stay down than get back up.
"Who are you!?" the pony yelled, sending a kick into his ribs. The wind was knocked out of him, but the questions continued. "Why are you here? Who do you think you are?" Eclipse kicked him again before stepping back and letting him sit up. Tinker was bleeding moderately from the nose and mouth, but he managed a response from where he had sat up.
"T-Tinker, I'm... I'm just..." he wiped the crimson liquid from his mouth, just who was she and what had he done to warrant such an outburst? "Who are you?"
"Shut up you stupid colt! I'm asking the questions here," she barked, boxing him in the cheek again. He lost focus for a moment and put out his front hooves to steady himself as she spoke again. "Who told you you could come here, Tinkertoes? Who sent you?"
Tinker coughed and attempted to stand back up. Eclipse growled and glared at him, reminding him of what would happen if he tried anything. He took the hint and looked away, "I don't know, I just... I got a message yesterday evening asking for a load of... of steel and aluminum, so I..."
"Shut up before I cut you. I asked for who told you, not a master's thesis. Now look," she said, stepping closer to him and leaning down, "I'm a mare, and you're a..." she paused, looking him over, "You're a handsome... stallion. Why don't you just answer my questions and we won't have to go through this? I'm all for beating you senseless and dragging you back to my place for some... fun, but I don't think you'd enjoy that as much as I would. So why don't you just tell me where you came from and who sent you, and I won't take you back to my place for some more fun?" She grinned and laughed, placing a hoof on his nose playfully.
Tinker shrank away from her gaze and touch, not particularly wanting to learn what her definition of 'fun' with a stallion was. He thought he had answered her questions though, despite her beatings, but he tried answering again.
"My name's Tinker... I'm just a mechanic. I... I'm not interesting, I'm not that handsome, I..."
Eclipse smiled at him tantalizingly, putting a hoof on his shoulder and pushing him to the ground. Tinker cringed, expecting to be beaten again, but no hoof met his face. He relaxed a bit, hoping she was through with him.
Eclipse slid towards him, putting her face in front of Tinker's as she prepared to ask the thousand-bit question: "Do you have a... special mare, Tinker?"
Tinker tilted his head as she spoke to him. Her voice had changed from the harsh thing it had been before, but something was still amiss to him. He replied shakily, "No... I don't... I..."
The mare pursed her lips in contemplation, "Good... good... a big, strong stallion like you doesn't need to be tied down to some... frilly old mare, no. But..." she continued, inching her body closer to his, "If you did have a special mare... she might like your... deep blue eyes and your..." She stopped, inches from his face. The smell of blood was heavy on his face. It was a thick smell, filling her nostrils as it ran from his. "You know... little colt. You never told me what gang you hail from? I think I'd like to know that," she rubbed her nose against his, breathing on him as she waited for his answer.
Tinker felt the warmth from her breath on him, but her question did not fully register for a moment. "Well... I... I'm from the... Hydras..." He pushed his nose back against hers, hoping she was of the same gang, but her demeanor changed as soon as his put contact back on her. Her breath quickened and her nostrils flared, he could almost feel the hit coming before she let it fly.
She quickly stood up from him and he shot up in alarm as a snarl formed on her face, "That's what I though, you stupid colt. At least you're not like the rest of those assholes. I'll see you around," she growled before turning her tail end toward him and putting her rear hoof into his nose. He went out like a light as his head hit the ground again.
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Eclipse trotted down the street, Tinker's blood still on her hooves from their encounter. She didn't feel any less sick than when she left earlier that day, but it didn't bother her now. She had made her impression and looked forward to seeing the stallion again. He had put up less of a struggle than she was used to, and he had been the first one in a long time she had restrained herself with. He was different. He didn't belong.
She was no stranger to that, and it was sort of soothing to know that there were others. He hadn't adapted like she had, though. She took the harder road, one where she had to fight and kill to survive. He had taken to work and dedication, taking only what was given to him and making it work in most situations. He was what she had wanted to be, and now that she thought of it, he was a bit more familiar than she had originally believed. An image popped into her mind of when she was still just a filly, rummaging through a dumpster for scraps and bits of rotten food. She remembered a quiet colt at that dumpster. His interest was in scraps, but not the same kind as she. He had food, but he wanted the useless things. He wanted to make them useful again. She was interested, but she had no capacity for it. It was different for her. It always had been, just as it had been for him.
Eclipse closed her eyes as she lost herself in thought. She rubbed her face with her hoof, bringing it down to look at it as she felt moisture on her head. There was still some blood on her hoof, but the bottom of it had ash stuck to it from where she had walked. Putting the hoof down, she looked around, watching the two or three small groups of ponies pass by. They were in her gang and offered her no looks and no resistance. She would sit for a while before going to their regular places and looking for any new news on the ashen streets.
((Wrote a short story. Oops.))
Edited by RunningWolf251, 30 November 2013 - 05:00 AM.