The waste was endless. Long stretches of near desert, empty all except for the occasional scrap of trash, and the train tracks that wavered in the distance, bent and curved by heat you could nearly see.

Her feet were sore, covered in a patchwork of narrow shallow cuts from digging, and aching with a constant pain that begged her to find shade and rest. But there was no shade, and if they stopped to rest, she doubted anyone would drag themselves to their feet again. If only she could fly, up into the empty sky, all the way up where the air was thin and cool on her face, or at least just to give her feet a rest. But one of her wings strained now, aching like a hidden bruise, one that she’d only recently come to discover. She could fly, sure; but she was better off walking for now.

They’d already lost two ponies, so wounded by the crash eventually their legs and lives gave out, and they just fell to the ground. Glancing over her shoulder, she could see the distant black specks of buzzards circling-the more recent of the two hadn’t been all that long ago.

Nearer, though, was Fluttershy, dragging the paisley suitcase, wheels squeaking slightly. A wounded stallion lay curled up in the empty open bag, breathing the uneasy sleep of the dying. Small as she was, a foreign sort of determination lurked in her eyes as she pulled the sleeping stranger as best she could.

Looking back ahead, Rainbow Dash squinted against the sun. When she looked as hard as she could, she could see it-where the land slowly came back to life, and dry brittle grass grew. It was only a lick of faint color on the horizon, but it was something. Once they got out of the dry waste lands, they’d be all that much closer to the city.

She’d been watching the remainder of the group, taking in the steady movement of their weak steps, eyeing them as they strode toward the city they couldn’t see. These ponies were hardened, scared solid by the death they’d seen and the fact they might be next. Even the wounded seemed strong as a manticore, empowered by their fear. These were the survivors. These were the afraid.

Rainbow knew she had never had the good sense to be afraid. But she was now. She was lucky, that much she knew with certainty. But how long would that luck last her? All the way to Manehatten? On to the battlefield?

The sun flew brightly overhead, soaring like a comet that had grown sluggish with exhaustion, tired enough to rival the ragtag wanderers far below, following the tracks religiously. Even the hours could not stand the heat, melting into one another, boiling painfully. No clouds passed overhead for relief, and the distant smudge of brown grass stayed extremely distant.

It was noon, perhaps, or maybe a small bit earlier, but the sun had nearly reached it’s peak, and the heat had never been so thick and unbearable.

Little had been said among the group, each saving their lungs for breathing rather than mindless chatter. Rainbow had begun to wonder if her voice might shrivel up for lack of use, and the next time she opened her mouth, it would blow away like a dead leaf.

No one expected the fragile silence to shatter.

“Lu lay, lu lay, the night and the day, times wheels keep turning. Lu lay, lu lay, we’ll meet on the way, the sun continues burning,” sang a soft high voice, strong and gentle as she crooned the classic lullaby. Rainbow whipped her head around, blinking in surprise. Many pairs of eyes wandered back, drawn by the soft sweet voice.

The color drained from Fluttershy’s voice, and she paused in her walking, bending her head, as if ashamed to have been singing to her wounded charge. The pause was thick enough to choke on.

Pausing, Rainbow cleared her throat, then in a raspy voice, deep for a mare, began singing. “Lu lay, lu lay, the Wendigos bray, their breath as cold as night.”

Hesitantly, Fluttershy joined in, and bit by bit, other straggly voices, dry for lack of use, sang as they walked, sharing between them the old song with it’s lilting unsettling melody. They weren’t exactly a quire of angels. Some were off tune, others sang the pacing wrong, and the voices clashed and melted together. Their voices fell flat on the dry empty landscape, thick with dust.

But it was the most beautiful thing Rainbow Dash ever head.

When the lullaby ended, there was a moment of silence, and then a lanky stallion near the front began to sing. It was a silly children’s song, but no one cared. They sang anyway, holding themselves together with the music. When a baby cried, they shared in lullabies, and between they sang songs of wandering, of home, of smiling, of love and heartbreak. They sang Hearth’s Warming Carols as the trudged through the summer heat, and songs about polka dot puppies as they thought of their loved ones, laying dead and unburied in the wreck of the train.

Even in the sound of voices they couldn’t forget, but at the very least, they could pull away, distance their heart. They could wait to mourn, and wait they would.

Eventually, however, they ran out of songs that most everyone knew, and grew tired of repeating songs they’d heard before. They slipped, and fell, back into the suffocating thoughts that came with the quiet. But the silence hurt less now, even if you could only hardly tell.

No one said when they would stop for the night. As if they shared one mind, they eventually trickled to a stop, hesitantly laying down, as if afraid they might not stand come morning.

They all lay close, curled up with strangers to keep each other warm come the cold of night. After a time, they began to drift off to sleep, some dreamlessly, others to face nightmares or memories.

Rainbow couldn’t sleep.

Lifting her head, she glance back over to Fluttershy, curled up small, eyebrows slanted upwards, lips parted slightly as she slept. How did she do it? How did she make everyone feel so safe, so at peace, when all of them knew all to well they weren’t? A stab of jealousy struck at her heart, and looking away, she laid back down, shutting her eyes. For a moment she lay in the silence, listening to the orchestra of soft breathing all around her.

And she hummed herself a lullaby.

Author's Note

For anyone who want's it, here's the full lullaby;

Lu lay, lu lay, the night and the day, times wheels keep turning.
Lu lay, lu lay, we’ll meet on the way, the sun continues burning
Lu lay, lu lay, the Wendigos bray, their breath as cold as night.
Lu lay, lu lay, we must away, for these wrongs can never be right.
In the bright of the day in the dark of the moon
Spread your wings, I’ll be their soon
Breath in the world and let the stars burn your lips
We’ll travel the world on sinking ships