The 88 miles of ...

A strong sulfuric smell hung in the air which made the light blue pegasus cough heavily when it invaded her nostrils. Rolling onto her side, she brought a hoof up to wipe her teary eyes and sore mouth. With a slightly less blurry vision then before she noticed how the fur on her forelimb was covered with a gray ash like powder and a small amount of blood. Subsequently looking around her, she could only see the faint outlines of buildings close to her through the thick saturated air. Aiming her eyes at the sky above only greeted her by more dark uninviting grayness.

A glint of ruby red suddenly caught her attention making her lower her gaze back to the ground, but something immediately dawned on her as she raised a hoof to her chest, her gaze following in hoof. A wince quickly formed on her face at both the sight and the burning sensation that spread across it. A patch of her usually blue fuzzy fur had been replaced by a scorched lightning bolt shape instead.

“Celestia is so going to kill me…”

A volley of deep raspy coughs interrupted her, placing the more urgent situation in the forefront of her mind once again.

“That is, if I survive this mess.”

Not lingering any longer, she rose to her hooves and began to venture down the foggy streets. Being only able to see two or three meters in front of her, the buildings she could see along her side of the road where empty and abandoned as if a hurricane had passed through. In the sliver of her vision there was not a single pony to be found.

A breeze paired with a desolate feeling of loneliness made her fur stand on end and muscles twitch.

“Hello, is anypony there?”  She eventually called out in hope for a response.

“Rainbow?!”  Her ears perked upon hearing her own name. She knew this voice.

“Fluttershy!?”  She questioned surprisingly yet relieved to finally hear someone, let alone a friend.

“Rainbow, I’m over here!”  Fluttershy’s voice echoed between the buildings, the sound coming from seemingly everywhere.

“Coming!!!”  Rainbow howled with a dry voice as she scrambled through the thick almost liquid fog in the direction she thought the voice was coming from.

“Keep calling!!!”

And that was exactly what Fluttershy did, as Rainbow ran from corner to corner in a distressing game of hot and cold, becoming more and more frustrated with the echoing nature of the city as Fluttershy’s voice still seemed to come from every direction.

The ever present fog would cause her to cut the corners to short or trip over the occasional garbage can or abandoned food stall as well. Fluttershy’s voice eventually sounding closer and closer as it kept pushing her on through the labyrinth that this city had become.

________________________________________

“I’m so glad to see you Rainbow!!”  Fluttershy exclaimed the moment Rainbow came around the corner into the alleyway she was in.

Rainbow froze in place at the sight that filled her retinas, being utterly horrifying.

From where she stood in the entrance, she could only see her friend’s head and face, the rest being completely entombed by concrete and rubble.

“Are you okay?”  Rainbow asked with a nervously risen hoof. Worry and fear cursing through both their veins.

“I-I’m fine. J-just stuck.”  Fluttershy claimed with a weak reassurance as she squirmed around in the concrete vise but without success of freeing herself.

Not hesitating any longer Rainbow eyed the prison quickly before commencing to dig her out.

“It gonna be okay, Flutters! I’ll have ya out of here in no time!”

She reassured her as she removed more and more rubble.

Suddenly and without warning, the ground beneath them rumbled. Swiftly dropping a meter making the pile tighten its grip on Fluttershy causing her to audibly display her agony.

“Gahhh!”  Rainbow yelped herself as she lost her footing.

“Dang it!!!”

She recovered, kicking herself into overdrive to free her yellow pegasus friend.

________________________________________

“UGH!”

A door was sent hurtling through the sky knocking over a trash can a little further in the alley.

“Uhhh!”

CLANK!  A sink ricocheted of the surrounding walls.

“UUUUHHWAAA!!”

A slab of concrete flew through the air before hitting the ground, shattering in a large amount of pebbles.

“Just... one more!”

Dash spoke, breathing heavily as she gripped her hooves firmly around a last metal girder that was left holding Fluttershy imprisoned as she began pushing and pulling with all her might.

Yet all the grunts, groans and sailor’s tongue that could be heard echoing down the dust filled streets didn’t make the stubborn piece of metal move as if mocking Dash for her weakened state.

And as if that wasn’t enough, another loud gut wrenching sound of groaning metal reverberated through the city as the ground dropped again by an amount. At this point Rainbow became aware of how much the ground beneath them had begun to slope as varies cans and other objects began to roll in their quest to find the center of the planet.

“Whole Canterlot is coming down.”  She stated frantically before assaulting the metal beam that was keeping them both hostage with her full body weight.

“Where..."

THUD!

“Is...”

THUD!

“AJ...”

THUD!

“When...”

THUD!

“YA NEED HER?!”

BANG!

Rainbow slammed into the wall behind as the metal piece finally gave in, braking off completely.

“Ow. Owwie.”  She groaned leaning hind up, against the wall as she still could hear her previous outburst echo through the city.

“Are you okay?”  Fluttershy worryingly asked not being able to see her.

“Yeh, I'm fine. Just… Uh. A bit, uhm… Rustled.”  She groaned while she tried correcting her position relative to the ground.

“You alright?”  She finally asked, dusting herself off when she had gotten to her hooves ones again.

Silence was her only reply.

“Flutters?”  Rainbow called out again as she made her way to her friend only being able to see her back.

More silence came from the motionless mare.

Stepping closer, Rainbow noticed her covering her own face with hooves as well as the small barely audible sobs.

“What’s going on Flutts?”  She queried as a pit of fright formed inside her gut and voice.

To which Fluttershy abruptly answered in an incomprehensible verbal fashion, shuttering even more vigorously then before as she does.

In an attempt to calm her, Rainbow rested a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder as she spoke.

“It’s gonna be alright. We going to get through this. As long as we’re together everything is gonna be alright.”

Bringing her water filled gaze up to Rainbows reassuring one, she whimpered something so softly that it was masked by the constant groaning of the city.

“Ahm a... I can’t hear you Flutts.”

This time Fluttershy spoke a bit louder but still Rainbow couldn't understand her.

“You what?”

“I can’t feel my lower body!”  She shouted in Dashes face as she instantly broke down into tears and tried to take hold of her, only to be halted by the lack of cooperation of her lower body and limbs making her look as a new born reaching out for her mother.

Rainbow immediately wrapped both her wings and limbs around Fluttershy's mostly limp body to cradle her in a protective embrace as her brain reeled back from shook.

For quite some time they remained in this way, both not really wanting to accept the reality they found themselves in.

Only another metallic groan from the surrounding city was important enough to eventually break them out of their frozen state.

“Okay.”

Rainbow recomposed herself with a sigh, carefully loosening their embrace a bit – still keeping an forelimb and wing around Fluttershy as she contemplated their options.

“We can still do this, just got to get us out of here. Get you a doc.”  She reasoned, looking down the end of the alleyway she came had from.

Barely making out the tip of the mountain where the city was built upon between the fog, she knew that was their way to safety. Bringing her attention back to her friend, she could see deep terror and fright in the mare’s eyes. She knew that there was only one option left; carry the fully grown pegasus on her back through most of Canterlot.

And while Rainbow surely wasn’t weak, actually being quite strong, especially for a pegasus and even a unicorn. Her trip would be long and exhausting, taking what little leftover energy she had within her.

With this in mind she unfolded her free wing, giving it a couple good flaps before folding it back along her side with a heavy exhale.

“What I would do to be able to fly right now.”  She vocalized before looking her companion in the eye.

She knew what she was going to suggest next wasn’t going to be easy, so she decided not to linger any longer.

“I’ll have to carry you okay?”  She brought forth to which Fluttershy shook her features.

“Just go.”

Fluttershy’s expression turned numbed and voice self-deprecated as she spoke.

“Leave me already.”  Her eyes had began to tear up.

Dash couldn’t believe Fluttershy just suggested such a thing. As if she was just going to leave her out here, all alone to die. That was a proposition she was going to deny from happening every way she could. The short of it was no one was getting left behind.

‘Not now. Not here. Not like…’  She thought to herself with her face scorning in anger.

“Are ya freaking crazy?! Am not leaving anypony behind, definitely not you!”  Rainbow snapped, not wanting to accept such a turn of events.

“I’m getting us out of here! And not even the gates of Tartarus can stop us, you hear!”  Rainbow struck the ground with an angry hoof, her joints cracking from the impact.

Fluttershy reeled back from the outburst only to be held in place by her friend’s wing and hoof keeping her upright.

In her friends large eyes, Rainbow saw her own heavily breathing ferocious reflection. She hated seeing herself like that. Looking down at her fore limb she immediately winced at the sound it made when she tried to flex it.

“Sorry”  She claimed as she brought her other hoof to her forehead before running it through her mane as a moment of silence followed.

________________________________________

“Do you really think so?”  Fluttershy eventually broke the silence, doubt and hopelessness still in her voice.

“I know it seems rough right now but trust me that we been through worse than this. We can and will make it out of here. TOGETHER!”

Rainbow claimed with a as confident looking smirk as she could muster but having still she had a hint of unease in her voice.

“You promise?”  Fluttershy asked, still in doubt yet willing to trust her.

“Cross my heart. Hope to fly-“  Rainbow went through a rhyme that her and her friends always used to make unbreakable promises.

“We stick together, like we've always been doing since flight camp and everything will be peachy.”

The immeasurable loyalty of Rainbow brought a tiny smile to the mare’s muzzle filling her with hope ones more.

“Now come on. The others are probably already waiting for us just out of town.”  Dash remarked, quickly laying herself down beside Fluttershy to make it possible for her to get on her back.

Dragging her lower half behind her, Fluttershy pulled herself on top of her living carriage. And after placing her chest on Rainbows shoulders, she looked back to her rear for a while unsure how she should aid it into position.

During this, Rainbow patiently waited, giving her all the time she could ever need. Even one of those terrifying metallic groans couldn’t make her ask her friend to hurry up.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy kept gazing at her lower half of her body hoping it would start moving on its own accord which sadly wouldn’t happen. Eventually with a lump in her throat she faced Rainbow who had been watching her from the fringes of her sight.

Her mouth opened to speak, yet no words came forth. She spoke in silence for a brief agonizing moment as her companion and dear friend just nodded with a slight sadness and empathy in her gaze.

Several tears escaped the yellow mare’s eyes when Rainbow went about the task of laying her loins over her own rear and trying to make it happen in a non-humiliating way.

“Ready?”  Rainbow eventually spoke unsure.

Taking a muzzle brushing against her neck as a yes, Rainbow raised herself onto her hooves carefully, making sure a last time that her friend wasn’t going to fall off.

With a deep breath she turned around slowly, laying eye on the gray powdery streets that appeared in front.

The fog that surrounded the crumbling city had started to settle making it easier for her to see.  Still, this didn’t make the city any more comfortable as the only sound was the wind and the occasional metallic groans that reverberated throughout Canterlot gave an eerie ghost town feeling.

But with no single reason to stay, and many more reasons to go, she exited the alleyway into the main streets. Her heaving chest and eyes slightly stinging from the constant breeze as the sound of her hoof-steps reverberated of the buildings as she passed them. A feeling of being the last two ponies alive went through her as she saw the usual lively metropolis in a state of decay.

And while continuing to step ahead, another large metallic groan reverberated beneath Rainbow’s hooves. Both body and breath held motionless as she could, she felt Fluttershy taking a tighter hold, shaking almost stronger then the vibrations themselves.

As soon as the ground had calmed down beneath her hooves, Rainbow became aware of a sensation on her rear. Searching the source, she could then not only feel but see a liquid starting to make its way through the fur and down her hind leg.

“I-ah uhm….”  Fluttershy trailed of in a squeal of shame and dismay as she quickly realized Rainbow’s expression and why.

“I-it’s okay!”  Rainbow immediately dismissed, her ears flat against her skull and having a grimace of disbelieve.

“We-we uh.. Will keep it between us! No-nopony has to know this.”  Fighting the urge to shake her hind leg, she quickly commenced to march on as if it never happened.

________________________________________

How long has she been walking? Minutes? Hours? Or was it even days?

She couldn’t tell. It was as if time itself had abandoned this place. What Rainbow could tell was how much tiring every step had become after the one before it as every passing moment drained her much needed energy, her reserves becoming dryer and dryer.

Occasionally she would shake her head vigorously in an attempt to fight off her worsening state of fatigue, which became ever more difficult with every taken step. Her body was aching all over along with her legs and hooves while she started to feel light headed.

“Rainbow?”

“Yea?”  Rainbow replied tiredly.

“Is it me, or are those building shaking?”

“Shaking?”  Rainbow groggily questioned, her gaze following Fluttershy’s stretched out hoof to discouragingly distant buildings.

“I don’t see anything Flutts, maybe ya just... Just seeing things?”

“No, look closely.”  She responded gently shaking her head from side to side.

Squinting her tired eyes the light blue pegasus realized what she meant. In the distance buildings where indeed swaying from left to right in an oscillating rhythm ever so slightly.

“That can’t be good.”  She immediatly froze in her tracks, all tiredness and fatigue pushed aside as the ground had begun to rumble.

BANG!

A first wave emanated from the center of the city through the streets nearly sweeping the tired pegasus from her hooves. The buildings close to the center rose violently upward before coming back down again creating a visible ripple that distorted the concrete ground as it made its way down the streets including the one Rainbow and Fluttershy were on.

As the wave hurtled towards them taking everything with it as it went, Rainbow wasn't given much time to react.

While moving her body to the limit of its flexibility she turned on her back, curling herself around Fluttershy to protect her.

“HOLD ON!!!”

Not a moment later then Dash had spoken, they were struck full force by the ripple, throwing them through the air as if they were nothing.

Hanging onto each other, something grey filled Rainbow’s sight mid trajectory.

“Feath…”  THUNK!

As her sentence and consciousness where knocked short by a street lantern, it left both Fluttershy and herself even more at the mercy of the unfolding calamity.

________________________________________

Rainbow shot up to her hooves, gasping for air as her eyes franticly scanned her surroundings. She quickly recognized her bedroom which she shared with other ponies as the two other beds in the room indicated. Also she realized that her breathing was more a hyperventilating pant than actual regular breathing.

Bringing a hoof to her thoroughly sweat soaked chest, she could feel her heart thumping heavily. Just realizing her stance, she seated herself down on her haunches as she kept her hoof above her heart waiting for it to calm down.

But when said heart refused to calm for the moments that followed, she opened a drawer of a nightstand that stood next to the bed with a trembling hoof.  Retrieving from it was a pill container, which she popped  the lid off, it falling back onto the nightstand next to a bottle of water.

Rattling a small pill into the crook of her hoof, she immediately brought it to her mouth whilst her other hoof settled the container on the nightstand again.

The water bottle which she retrieved next, trembled in her grasp making it more difficult for her to unscrewing the cap and take a good gulp to aid the pill down her throat.

She then just waited for the pill to start working with an almost asthmatic, wheezing breath.

When the heavy thumps subsided, she prompted herself up to stand before slowly treading her way out of the room and into the hallway.

As the wooden floor boards squeaked beneath her light blue hooves with every step she took, she passed a set of stairs to her left.

When a small sound to her left caught her attention she looked between the railing into the kitchen a floor below. It revealed a pony that was rummaging through a refrigerator as her plot was still visible behind the open door.

Giving it no more though than need she stepped further, eventually turning to her right.

Before her at this point was a dark wooden door adored with a little gold colored bathtub which opened with a flick of her hoof sounding an audible squeak.

“Good morning Rainbow.”  A voice came from the kitchen below.

“Morning”

Rainbow groaned back whilst proceeding into the small bathroom. Which barely had enough room for a pony to stand or move about. The blue colored tiles that made up the walls nearly perfectly camouflaged the pegasus’ reflection in the mirror - that hung above a small cabinet with a sink on the right side of the room – jet her prismatic mane and tail gave her away.

To her left was a shower with a glass sliding door.

Nudging the said sliding door open, she reached further and opened the tap allowing water to flow out of the shower head above.

As the sound of falling water filled the shower, she turned on the spot facing the sink, nearly brushing her hind against a wall. Taking no time to lay eyes on her morning reflection – which may or may not be deliberate – she opened the small cabinet beneath it to pick her shower necessities together before closing the matching blue doors and draping her towel over the sink’s edge.

Rotating on the spot another time, she slid close the glass sliding doors after she had entered the shower and allowing the relaxing warm water to  run across her body drenching her fur, mane and tail as she went about cleansing herself.