Zecora had made us lilac and rose pedal omelets for breakfast. There were short exchanges where we asked each other how we had slept, but there wasn't much notable conversation. Of course, Ditzy and I studied Spike for a long while for any indication that he witnessed the previous night's activities. If he had, he wasn't calling attention to the knowledge, and he simply enjoyed his breakfast alongside Twilight.

Rainbow Dash and Zecora were sitting side by side on the couch, and Fluttershy was washing the breakfast dishes in the small sink on the west wall next to the stove. Pinkie Pie waved a hoof at us without saying anything and returned to bed. The Cure Stew that she had for breakfast had rendered her too exhausted to come with us to Dodge Junction.

The Cakes were cooking more of the cure and seemed to be mostly resilient to the fatigue. They attributed it to the fact that they had twin foals and had learned to function without sleep. Twilight magically floated Spike’s dish to Fluttershy from the chair next to the couch, and Ditzy and I had, once again, claimed the chair on the right.

"Alright, girls.” Twilight announced. “Are we ready to go to Dodge Junction?"

"I meant to speak to you about that." Zecora said while putting her tea on the table. "But I don't mean to hamper your plans right off the bat."

"That's alright, Zecora. What did you have in mind?" Twilight asked while poking her food with a fork in her magic. She complained, out of earshot from Zecora of course, that she didn’t like the omelet because it was very similar to a quesadilla. Twilight had something against quesadillas.

"I feel that the cure is bringing us great progress, and I wish to remain here to monitor the process." Zecora explained.

Twilight nodded with disappointment in her face, "Okay, I'm sure that we'll manage."

Zecora turned to Rainbow Dash, "I don't feel that you are well yet, and ignoring my advice is not a safe bet."

Rainbow Dash smiled and shook her head, “I wouldn’t ignore you, Zecora.” She said and then looked to Twilight, "Do you think you could get along without me?"

Twilight sighed, "I mean, we can figure it out, I'm sure."

Rainbow Dash nodded and patted Zecora's leg, "Then I think that I should stay."

Zecora smiled, "I am glad that you are willing to stay here. It puts me at ease when you are near."

I smirked to Ditzy out of the corner of my eye, and she gave a small shrug with a nod. I didn't want to believe that her intuition was correct, but it would seem that she had a knack for reading mares. It wasn’t confirmation per se, but it was certainly considered evidence of her assumption.

Twilight pressed her mouth into a thin line and looked us over, and then she said, "So, I guess it's just us, then."

"That's okay, darling." I said with a smile. "Surely, we wouldn't want the entire group to venture out anyway. Besides, you can wear Zecora's gear from yesterday. The clothes really seem to help. I haven't had to drink that dreadful stew since that first day."

Twilight shrugged, and she gave a weighted smile through her anxiety that we were diverging from the plan, "You're right. Can you help me get dressed?"

"Of course, Twilight." I said.

It didn't take long for us to get ready since we already had all of our clothes laid out and didn't have to assemble the gear. Twilight opted to wear Ditzy's saddlebags so that she could bring more provisions. She neatly packed six water bottles, three of the heat-n-eat meals, six biscuits, and three small flasks of cure stew. She looked at the bag for a long time, emptied it, and then reorganized the contents. Ditzy and I watched her do this several times before she deemed it ready for travel.

We left at just before noon and made our way deeper into the Everfree Forest. The further south we traveled, the sky became more and more dense with the thick nuclear gasses that remained in the atmosphere, and the tree cover became much darker. The distance between the trees appeared to move and watch us as we walked. I hated the Everfree Forest.

It was simply a dreadfully creepy place to be, and we trudged through the mud of the forest for several hours before we got to the south edge of Froggy Bottom Bogg. We came out from under the tree cover and saw that we were at the top of the waterfall that led to Ghastly Gorge to the southwest. The distant eastern horizon was covered in the haze of fires that had long burned out, but we could see that Dodge Junction had been attacked from here. Even closer than that, there was the looming deadly cloud above Apple Loosa due south of us. It wasn’t clear if Apple Loosa had been hit with a larger bomb, or if it was just that much closer to us which made it appear that way.

There was a damaged bridge of train tracks that went across the gorge to the south west of us. The right side of the steel arch supports that ran along the edges of the bridge was bent away from the south, and the left side had completely broken off. In the grass next to the cliff edge, we found rivets, railroad ties, and rail spikes that had been flung from the structure when the shockwave from Apple Loosa hit the bridge. The base didn’t appear stable, but we’d come to the conclusion that we may have to take our chances with it.

We were going to wade through the stream above the waterfall, but we worried about radioactive materials that had settled in the water. Dodge Creek was a tributary of Horseshoe Bay in Baltimare, far from here on the east coast, and it ran all the way to Junction River in the San Palomino Desert south of Applewood on the west coast. Due to the contiguous distance, there was a very good chance that the radiation levels in this particular stream were very lethal.

“Here goes nothing.” I whispered as I began to follow Ditzy across the bridge with Twilight in tow. The wood that covered the steel wasn’t burned, but it was brittle and protested loudly when we set our hooves on it.

“Don’t look down.” Twilight said as we moved slowly, and I watched Ditzy test each step with a tap before she put her full weight on it.

“Why do ponies say that?” I asked while doing as she said. I just kept my eyes on Ditzy, and my head tilted back so that I would not get a glimpse of the terrifying height.

“Because vertigo can make you lose your balance.” Twilight explained as we had made it about halfway, and we became more relaxed. I listened closely, but I had not heard the steel buckle under us, neither did I feel the structural integrity waver.

“I think we’re okay.” Ditzy announced, and then she began walking more casually. Twilight and I followed her gait, and when we made it to the south-east cliff, Ditzy hopped onto the ground and waited for me. Both of us waited for Twilight, and then we walked with her between us while we followed the eastbound train tracks on our way to Dodge Junction.

After walking a few more hours, we saw the plumes of smoke from the smoldering remains of Apple Loosa. The city was probably a little more than 10 kilometers away, but we could make out the crater from here. Apple Loosa was an orchard town, and they had maintained a staggering number of apple, pear, and orange trees which made it a powerhouse of economy and production. They provided more fruit for soldiers and needy families than anywhere else in Equestria, and this fact was likely the reason that they were a target in the war.

The sunset turned the smog in the west into a bright orange glow as we continued next to the tracks. The browning grass had given way to the tan dirt native to Dodge’s dry environment.

“Are we getting close, darling?” I whined. My hooves hurt so bad from trotting for at least seven hours straight. I checked my watch, and shook my head. It had only been 6 hours and thirty minutes.

“It’s just over this way.” Ditzy pointed with her forehead to the hill ahead of us… the enormous, steep hill that we had to get up and over. Gosh, I was just so exhausted.

“We should set up camp before we head back.” Twilight suggested.

“I figured we would find somepony in Dodge Junction to shack up with for the night.” Ditzy said.

“Speaking of shacking up, I can’t stop thinking about Zecora and Rainbow Dash.” I snickered.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

Ditzy and I laughed because we had both forgot that Twilight wasn’t in our loop of rumor.

“Have you been paying attention to Zecora and Rainbow Dash since you had arrived?” I asked.

“I haven’t paid particular attention, but sure, I’ve spent some time with them.” Twilight answered.

“Have you noticed anything strange about the way they act around each other?” Ditzy asked.

“Should I have?” Twilight said with an eyebrow raised, appearing to be trying to recall anything notable but coming up empty.

"We have a theory that Zecora and Rainbow Dash are..." I sped up slightly to look at Ditzy from around Twilight, "What did you call it?... ka-boinking?" I chuckled.

"What does that mean?" Twilight said while also looking at Ditzy.

Ditzy laughed, "Hoof beats between the sheets… you know?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, I don't know."

"We think they're together, darling.” I explained slowly without being able to let go of my grin.

Twilight shrugged, "Yes, that's where we left them."

"No, dear." I laughed. "We believe they're having sex."

"Zecora and Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked in surprise. "No, they wouldn't do that. That's just... That'd be just as likely as... I don't know, you two getting together."

Twilight stopped walking, watched us giggling at each other, and then glanced between us for a moment, "No, really?"

Ditzy and I had discussed revealing our romance to all of my friends at one time, but it was clearly not going to work that way. Ditzy gave me a shrug and smiled.

"Yes, darling." I nodded while Ditzy made her way to my side and hugged me with her wing. I continued, "Ditzy and I have been together for over a week now."

Twilight smirked at the ground and she said, more to herself than us, "Really? I didn’t see that before, but now that you mention it, it makes sense. I don’t really know what it was, but retrospectively I feel like I knew something was between you two."

“You’re okay with it?” I asked, and we started walking again.

“I’m going to have to be.” Twilight chuckled, and then she shook her head, “That’s not to imply that I have an issue, but I recognize that if I did, it’d be more of a problem for me than you.”

“Being the first pony we’ve told, I’d really like to know what you think of us.” Ditzy asked.

Twilight gave a small shrug, “You’re a cute couple, Ditzy. A little different and not what I’d expect, but you’re cute anyway.”

“Did you hear that?” Ditzy said to me, “The Princess says we’re cute.”

“Calm down, darling.” I laughed.

“I’m just surprised because I would have never thought that you, of all ponies, would be with a mare.” Twilight said with a big smile. “I can just recall how often you enjoyed the company of stallions.”

I did a playful gasp, “Darling, you don’t mean to tell me I’m a whore, do you? I am not a whore.” I giggled, and then I did a tiny shrug, “Although, I really like to do it.”

Twilight laughed, “It’s not so much your affinity for sex that I’m referring to.”

Ditzy burst into a guffaw, “Oh, my gosh! The Princess just said you like dong.”

“Have you ever had one, darling?” I asked while catching her infectious laughter.

“No.” Ditzy said in a breathy laugh as she shook her head.

“Oh, darling, let me tell you; as a mare who has had quite a few. It is…” I took a sharp breath through my teeth and continued, “Woo, it is just tops, darling.”

“It is tops, but you would give it up for me?” Ditzy said. She was still lighthearted, but sounded a bit more sentimental.

I shrugged one shoulder and tilted my head to the side, “I guess if I had to,” I looked at her, “but I recall you discussing the prospect of inviting other ponies into our bed.”

“Okay!” Twilight chuckled nervously. “I think I’ve heard enough.”

We all laughed together as we made it over the crest of the hill and saw the empty lake bed that used to be Dodge Junction. Our laughter was carried away with the dust of a barren landscape and our smiles ceased to exist much like the entirety of the buildings of Dodge. A ghostly black circle of irradiated ash stated the absence of life and then refused to acknowledge that any living thing had ever existed there.

I heard Twilight let out a gasp of profanity that crept under her breath. It was the first time that I had ever heard her curse, but it was the first overview of the destruction that Twilight had to see. I remember emerging from the cellar, seeing the far-reaching aftermath of the nuclear bomb, and being utterly breathless in the overwhelming vastness of the destruction. We just stood on top of the hill, scanning the lakebed for anything that remained, and feeling very small in being this close to the half-kilometer wide crater that was once a town of 1,000 ponies. Despite knowing the feeling all too well, and thrust into reliving my first day out of shelter, something about it felt new and strange. There was something surreal about this particular site that didn’t correlate with the other places that I had seen.

"Ditzy, something’s off. Does this look odd to you?” I said while I scanned the town.

“There’s no bodies.” Ditzy pointed out.

I nodded and realized that we had seen at least a few burned corpses in every location we had visited, but Dodge Junction was reduced to dust filled terracotta flatland. Excluding the bits of debris that was scattered about the landscape, the entire town was basically returned to its original condition when the first ponies settled there.

“Maybe they were all vaporized.” Twilight said while she led the way down the hill.

There was an eerie silence as Ditzy and I followed. The wind whispered through the bill of my baseball cap with a creepy clarity. The breeze was so light, from being in the bowl of the lakebed, that I didn’t even feel like I could hear it. Vanhoover was filled with the distant crackle of the city wide inferno. Cloudsdale was a constant hiss of grass being blown about by the intense wind. In Ponyville, there was a consistent creak of surviving structures being pushed by the breeze and punctuated by shutters and doors that rattled against broken frames. But Dodge Junction was reduced to nothing; it was a void which produced no sound at all. There was a faint, nearly inaudible tap from the exploded train parts that were strewn across the northern part of the lakebed, but it was so light that I didn't realize it was even there until much later.

As we neared, we noticed that there were a lot of cellars, some with their doors open but most were closed and locked tight. I picked up my pace and overtook took the other two as we approached the cellar nearest to us on the furthest western part of the town. It appeared to have been an indoor basement, but the structure had been torn from the foundation. This one was not open, but one of the doors was missing.

I peered inside, and then held a hoof up to Twilight and Ditzy to stop them. I didn’t think it was necessary for them to have to see the rotting corpses. I only caught a glimpse, but what little detail I retained was not like I’d seen before. Instead of the direct, blackening thermal radiation, they appeared to have been baked alive. It made my skin tingle to think about it.

“They’re dead, dears.” I reported, “I don’t think we’re going to be shacking up with anypony here.”

“We should still check all of them.” Twilight said. “What if Applejack is in one of these cellars?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, darling.” I whispered, and I went with Twilight as she led the way to the next-door cellar. This one was closed, and Twilight had to break it open.

All three of us looked inside at the same time with the naïve hope that the closed doors would produce survivors, but all we saw was a small, three-by-two concrete box with three dead ponies in the back corner. It was a mare and two foals, but they had not burned to death. The sealed cellar doors appeared to have insulated them enough from the heat The smell was worse than other ponies, but I attributed that to the pile of urine soaked excrement in the corner opposite to the dead.

“Look at their skin.” Twilight said as she pointed with a hoof. She sat on her haunches and covered her nose with the other hoof.

“What about it?” I choked through the smell. It was tear inducing, and I couldn’t see that well through it.

“It’s taut.” She explained. “Their faces are sunken and their skin has lost elasticity. These ponies died of dehydration.”

“So, if anypony had water in their cellar, they could still be alive?” Ditzy asked from a few meters away. I didn’t see her back away when we first discovered the smell, and I turned around and joined her.

I was still blinking the moisture from my eyes, “Should we split up, then?”

Twilight agreed, and then she scanned over the area. I could almost see the lines over the landscape that she was drawing with her eyes. She pointed out groups of cellars, and she assigned me to the southern group, put Ditzy to the east section, and herself on the west and north. There were about 20 cellars in each area, and night wasn’t far away so we had to search quickly.

I trotted to my assigned area, and began searching. I started at the north end, and zigzagged from left to right while moving south. About half of them were too close to the blast, and the oven-like effect of the cellar cooked the poor occupants to death. As I went further, I found less skin-peeled, blistered death, but I did find more ponies expired from thirst.

The dehydration was almost more horrific than the burned. The way their eyes bugged out from their faces, the way their skin was tightly canvassed over their bones, and the horrendous smell of darkened urine. I wondered how long it took for them to die, and thought about how that was almost Ditzy and I. Once again, I felt guilty for having been one of the lucky few to make it out relatively unscathed.

Suddenly, Ditzy was shouting from the furthest point east, and when I looked up, she was waving us both to her. I immediately broke into a gallop and figured that she had found a survivor.

“Did you find somepony?” I asked while I slowed to a trot and peered inside. I stopped when I saw three more dead ponies, but one slowly breathing, barely living stallion leaned in the center of the back wall.

I recognized him, but his face was so distorted from the lack of water that the familiarity was distant. His dirty blonde mane and tail, orange coat that was nearly yellow, and his large red-apple cutie mark. It was Applejack’s cousin Braeburn, and he was in very bad shape.

“Braeburn?” I said, and he blinked slowly and made eye contact with me. His eyes were dull as if dunked wax and his mouth hung open in the desperate need for any sustenance to enter it. I was reminded of Ditzy and I starving in Vanhoover. I levitated a bottle of water and started into the cellar.

“Rarity, I’ll be damned. I thought I was dead for sure.” Braeburn said in a wheeze. Despite the weakness, his heavy southern drawl remained.

“Here, darling.” I said while putting the bottle to his lips, which were cracked and bleeding from dryness, and I let him take as much water as he pleased. I took the bottle from him when he was overcome with a hacking cough like he’d chosen water over air. He had drank so much, so fast that I was surprised he didn’t drown.

“I knew I shoulda caught the last train out.” Braeburn coughed, “I shoulda gone home when Applejack left, but I didn’t.”

“So, AJ was here?” Ditzy asked.

“Yeah.” Braeburn nodded, “She was gettin’ some apple seeds from me. She wanted… she wanted green ones. We didn’t visit long.” He stopped and simply breathed for a moment. Speaking appeared to take up more energy than he had, but suddenly a grin split his face and he laughed, really hard in a very discomforting way, “We picked up some cherries and got on the train. Sayonara! Hahaha!”

Braeburn’s head rocked from side to side, and he mumbled about the train. He giggled for a moment, and then said something to us, but his speech was so badly slurred and garbled. I believe it was a joke because then he mumbled again, and the dark, weak laughter returned. It strained him so much that I was unsure if he realized that he was urinating. I tried not to show disgust on my face, but the smell was a spicy permeation.

“You should drink some more water.” I suggested, but Twilight’s magic grabbed my bottle, and she shook her head at me.

“Don’t bother.” Twilight somberly whispered to me.

I released the bottle, but I recoiled, “What are you doing?”

“He’s euphoric.” She explained, and then nodded to him to point out that he had begun participating in a conversation with Applejack. She continued, “He’s delusional, and his pee is brown.”

“Because he needs water.” I stated firmly.

“It’s…” Twilight started, and then she hooked her head for me to come outside. I trotted up the steps and then gave her a disapproving glare. She continued, “It’s too late, Rarity. He’s already dead.”

“What in Celestia’s name does that mean?” I grunted.

“He needs to be in a hospital. He needs intravenous rehydration. Drinking water will only make him a bit more comfortable, but he’s going to die, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” Twilight said. She spoke in a smooth, soft voice much in the same way that a mother may coo a fussy foal.

“Don’t patronize me, Twilight.” I growled. “I don’t care if he dies right now. I’m going to leave the rest of this water with him if it will make him feel better.”

“What if we run into trouble?” Ditzy commented. “We may need that water. We’re a good 60 or so kilometers from Zecora’s, and we can’t take any chances.”

I could see my eyebrows at the top of my vision as I simply glared at them for a moment, “You both are awful. If you want to stop me, than you can try, but this water stays here.”

The water bottle floated in my magic into the cellar and neither of them took action. Maybe they were right, but I was going to be damned if this wasteland changed me any further. I was already a murderer, and I was not going to give up my generosity while I was at it. This was the one thing from life before the bombing that I wished to retain, if anything. I heard Braeburn choking on the water again, but it was satisfying to know that he was being given the comfort of a wet palate.

“So, Applejack isn’t here.” Twilight finally stated and then she turned to Ditzy, “What now?”

“Let’s ask Braeburn if he knew where the train was going. Hopefully, the train made it somewhere safe, or it stopped on the track on route.” Ditzy suggested.

Twilight nodded and went to the top step of the cellar, “Braeburn, can you tell us where Applejack’s train was headed?”

“Ponyville.” Braeburn chuckled. “I assume that, with a princess living there, it’s just as gone as this place, though.”

My curiosity spiked, “What happened here? How did you know what happened?”

Braeburn sipped more water, and then he slumped over like he was drunk. Twilight’s magic sat him back against the wall, and he said, “Well, we were all pissed off ‘cause Twilight was tryin’ to be friends with the yaks, but we were also tryin’ to mind her order to accept ‘em, right? So, when one of ‘em got off the train, we were uncomfortable, but tried being friendly like.” He started. He took the bottle in his teeth and gulped for a moment, and then continued, “We don’t know a whole hell of a lot about ‘em, and we assumed that the wires in his fur was some kind of normal for him. A few Junctioners were all bein’ suspicious of the guy, and with good reason, you know?”

“How did you know he had a bomb?” I asked.

“He didn’t say anything; nothing to anypony. He just trotted to the center of the town, and took out a big grey case with a red button on it. When he was taking it out of his fur, somepony started hollerin’ that he was wearin’ a bomb. I swear, there was stallions fightin’ him from all over, but he was strong as all get out. He’d kick ‘em all off, and then go back to attachin’ wires to his thingy.” Braeburn was reduced to almost just a wheeze. He sat back and gasped with such exasperation that I wanted to stop him, but I also wanted to hear the rest of the story.

He took a deep breath and continued again, “We started grabbin’ mares and foals and gettin’ ‘em to the cellars. I was goin’ to fight him, I really was, but the mare’s here were scared and wanted the doors shut right then. I…” He sobbed for a moment and then started again with a shaky voice, “I shut the doors and just knew that they were goin’ to die up there. The whole earth shook and it was hot for a really long time. We were just sweatin’ out skin off down here, and it took two days to run out of water.”

Braeburn’s sobbing turned into a quiet, distorted giggle, “Two days, and then we were just sitting down here for three more. Plumb Burst died first, I think on day five, and after that, every time we’d wake up, one more was gone. One by one until it was just me, and they were all dead. I was going to try to move ‘em outside, but I’d pass out if I stood up.” He let out a surprisingly strong gasping laugh and started to fall over, but Twilight caught him with her magic again.

“I’ve been down here for so long with these dead bodies. The thoughts I had were like nothin’ I ever thought I’d think up, I tell you what.” His laughed turned into a cough, and then he said, “Your brain does some crazy things when you’re all alone.”

“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” Twilight said sincerely, but then she asked, “Can you please tell me how long Applejack was gone before this happened?”

“About thirty minutes, maybe?” Braeburn sighed. “You’re lookin’ for her… that means you don’t think she’s dead.”

“No, we don’t.” I said.

Braeburn studied Twilight for a moment and read her face which inspired his face to contort like he was holding tears that his body could not produce, “Am I going to die?”

Twilight took a deep breath and sighed heavily. She opened her mouth like she was going to answer, but she just looked at the ground and nodded.

Braeburn cursed to himself and said softly, “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.” Twilight said.

“Tell my cousin that I said I love her.” He sobbed.

“We’ll be sure to tell her.” I said.

Twilight nodded to me, and turned around and we began back toward the tracks. Ditzy and I were in tow, and I knew that we had to leave him, but it still felt wrong. He was Applejack’s family, which made him my family as far as I was concerned, but we were leaving him to die in a hole with three dead bodies. I couldn’t help yearning for something that we could do, but reality was much too dark for a solution to every problem.

We were nearly to the tracks when Twilight asked, “If the train was heading for Ponyville, wouldn’t we have seen it on the way here?”

Ditzy nodded, and then her eyes suddenly grew wide and a harsh gasp struck her, “Thirty minutes?”

“Yes?” I asked.

“It probably made it as far as Ghastly Gorge in thirty minutes.” Ditzy looked at me, “The guard rail wasn’t damaged by the shockwave from Apple Loosa. It was the train. I think we passed right over Applejack without even knowing it.”

“Oh, my gosh!” I exclaimed, “You think that she is in Ghastly Gorge?”

Ditzy nodded slowly with the realization that Applejack’s probability of survival was very slim.

“Do you think she’s dead?” Twilight said as if she’d already accepted it.

“No, darling.” I said. I blew air and thought about how Applejack could not be dead. That was simply not allowed. Sure, in the world of numbers, five survivors out of six ponies in a disaster this far reaching was phenomenal, but because it was Applejack, one of my friends and not some statistic, that figure was simply not good enough. I needed all of them to be okay. None of them can be dead.

“Until I see her body, Applejack is alive. I refuse to accept that she didn’t make it.” I said while leading them in a determined canter toward Ghastly Gorge.

*** *** *** *** *** ***

Ditzy was right, and the blast from Apple Loosa, even twenty kilometers away, had produced enough shock to push the train over the edge of the bridge. It appeared to have been blown over about halfway across, and the rear cars dragged the engine down into the chasm. My fear of internal combustion was confirmed because the engine had exploded on impact and left most of the cars burned.

At the base of the waterfall was a dirt path that was mostly obstructed by train car debris and winded like a serpent up the side of the gorge. The creek was mostly dammed by the train cars, and the plant life that stippled the mountainside was reduced to shriveled, spidery growths. I was going to follow Twilight down the dirt path, but Ditzy suggested that she simply fly down first, and we agreed.

Ditzy took flight, and she began to flutter into the chasm while Twilight and I stood at the south edge of the gorge and squinted into the darkness, looking for bodies or signs of survivors. She was about halfway down when we heard an unmistakable whistle. The whistle was similar to Ditzy hailing a taxi, but it was much more idiosyncratic and familiar. Ditzy suddenly made a beeline for a small cave that was about twenty meters to the east of the dirt path, near the waterfall. I strained my eyes hard to try to make out a discernible shape, but the darkness, and the distance, made movement the only thing I could focus on.

“I’m going down there.” I said while starting down the path. “She’s down there, I know it.”

“I’m right behind you.” Twilight chirped as we started in a hurried, but careful trot down the trail. I was heading for the cave, but my eye kept catching glimpses of lanterns in the train cars. It could be that they were just fires, but I doubted that, after eleven days, the train would still be burning. Besides, they appeared to be moving, but I wasn’t sure if that was just my perception in the dark.

I cantered into the cave, after climbing over a storage-car door, and found that it was much bigger than I thought. The center of the cave cut 3 meters into the rock, and it was about 4 meters wide. The back of the cave tapered down into a corner where soil was exposed which dripped water onto a bowl-like rock. Applejack and Ditzy were in a tight hug when I got the overwhelming urge to join them. All four of us toppled onto the floor because Applejack couldn’t hold all of us up.

“Darling, I knew you were alive. I knew you were okay!” I celebrated.

Applejack shushed me and then whispered in her natural drawl, “You gotta stay quiet ‘round these parts, sugar cube.”

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll explain everything when we get outta here, but right now we gotta move. They probably heard my whistlin’.” Applejack said, and then she went to the corner to drink the water in the bowl.

“Darling, we have fresh water.” I called in a whisper while levitating a water bottle from my jacket pocket.

Applejack had one eye closed, but the other was wide and locked onto the bottle, “Cut that out! Now!”

I looked at the bottle and tried to figure out what she was talking about, and then I saw the bright blue glow from my magic on the bottle. It lit up the entire cave like we were inside a giant lantern. I dropped the bottle and Applejack waved a hoof into the dissipating magic. In the brief light, that’s when I saw her injuries.

A fresh, no more than a day old, stab wound was just behind her right shoulder on her side. There was a horribly long and deep slice down the side of her neck that barely missed major arteries. Her right eye was completely blood red, and I’m not even sure I saw an iris.

“Oh, my gosh, what happened to your eye?” I asked.

“No time for that right now. We gotta sneak outta here. Meanin’ no magic.” Applejack explained.

“What are we sneaking from?” Ditzy asked. “We need to know what kind of danger to watch out for.”

“There are ponies in those train cars, and we can’t let ‘em know that we’re here ‘cause they’ve gone crazier than a pig with molasses in the feed.” Applejack said while moving to the car door that I’d climbed over. We had begun to follow, but then she cursed and backed away from the entrance. “They’re coming. Twilight! Get undressed, and maybe they will still care that you’re a princess.”

Two mares approached the cave opening with four stallions in tow, and Twilight’s clothes were glowing as she quickly undressed. Ditzy slowly, and quietly cocked her pistol while I stood behind Applejack, ready to fight. I didn’t know why we were preparing for combat, they appeared to be regular ponies, but then they held lanterns to us, and I could see their weapons.

The mare on the left was carrying a make-shift spear made from hoof-rail and a sharpened piece of a train-car’s siding. The one on the right held the lantern and had a short blade in her mouth. Three of the stallions were unarmed, but they had the stains of dried blood on their hooves and faces. I didn’t see any cuts on them which led me to believe that the blood was not their own. The fourth had some kind of rifle on his back, but I could only see the stock behind his right shoulder.

The mare with the spear said, “I thought you’d crawled off and died. We were going to harvest your body in the morning, but this is way easier.”

Twilight’s magic stopped, and she stepped forward, “What is going on here?”

The stallion with the rifle called out, “That’s Princess Twilight!” and he bowed, but none of the others did as well. They just stared at him with confusion and a growing anger.

“What are you doing?” The mare with the blade in her mouth asked as she placed the lantern on the floor, and walked to him.

The stallion looked up from his bow and said, “It’s the princess, ma’am. We’re saved!”

“She’s just another pony now.” The mare scolded. “Besides, it was her that put us in this situation. This is all her fault. I thought we were clear on this.”

“We should see if she can help.” The stallion said as he stood.

The mare nodded to the stallion next to him who, without question or hesitation, slammed his fore-hooves across the armed pony’s face. The mare quickly stole the rifle from his back, placed the stock cuff on her right hoof, and pointed the stubbed barrel on his ear. A bright flash accompanied by a chest-pounding concussion tore through the stallion’s head, and he slumped onto the ground. I was so glad that it was so dark. I didn't want to see any of the details. She gave the shotgun to the stallion that hit him, he broke it open which ejected the shell, and he replaced it while the mare turned back to us.

“We may not need you anymore, but on principal, you have to die.” The mare chuckled.

“Why did you do that?!” Twilight shouted, and she stared at the lifeless corpse of the stallion who bowed to her.

“I don’t think you understand, Twilight. You created this world. Everything you see is a result of your stupid-ass notion that the yaks were anything but the enemy. You fucked this up, and now you’re going to suffer the consequences.” The mare growled. “I’m so glad you get to suffer first-hoof as well.”

“We’re going to fix what happened. You just need to stop this.” Twilight pleaded.

The mare with the spear pointed her weapon at Twilight, “Let me kill her first. So her friends get to watch.”

“That’s not going to happen!” Twilight shouted, her sanity fading with each word. “I’m an alicorn. The only reason you’re still alive right now is because I allow it!”

The mare with the knife shook her head slightly and waved a hoof at her companions, “Kill her.”

Twilight screamed for them to stop, but the mare with the spear was approaching faster than she could speak her command. I saw the panic in her face, and I saw that she was just reacting to the danger, but the attacker was suddenly lit up with a deadly pink aura. The aura brightened, and she burst into a red explosion as if every cell in her body was ripped away at once. Twilight had torn her apart in an instant, and all that was left was the clatter of the spear and the splash of blood on the floor. Twilight gasped just to breathe from such an exasperating spell which was clearly very difficult. Since the four combatants left were earth ponies, I hoped that they would be fooled into believing that the same fate would become of them, but I also feared that her magic fatigue would make that impossible.

The remaining mare watched Twilight panting, and struggling to stay up on her own hooves, squinted at her, “Bet you can’t do that again.”

“Try me.” Twilight gasped.

Applejack stepped in front of Twilight, “Y’all just get on out of here, alright? You got…” Her voice shook like she was disgusted and she pointed at the dead stallion, “You got yourself some fresh meat. Now, leave us alone.”

The mare shook her head, and then suddenly charged Applejack. They clashed, chest to chest, and their hooves fought for leverage to push one another over. When Twilight’s horn glowed, but fizzled away into a pitiful collection of pink sparks, the stallions moved to join the fight. I galloped to Applejack and bucked her attacker’s hooves out from under her. Applejack slammed the mare on the ground, and tried to pin her, and I moved to help.

Two blasts caught me off guard, but I put my attention back on the mare. Ditzy had just shot the newly-armed stallion twice, and the others dove away from the gunfire. Their pause didn’t affect her actions as she continued to put two rounds into each of them. She took the shotgun from the dead stallion, pushed Applejack off with one hoof, and pumped the single round into the mare’s chest.

The mare didn’t writhe in pain, and she unexpectedly relaxed her hooves as if she simply had accepted her death. A deep muffled gurgle spewed crimson bubbles from the holes in her chest, and her eyes were locked onto the ceiling as she clung to life. Ditzy slowly put the shotgun down, put her hooves over the mare’s mouth, and suffocated her to stop the sound of further agonized wet breaths. Tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes as she studied the gore from the pony that she evaporated, and she took a shaky breath, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

“There’s more of ‘em.” Applejack said. “We’d better make a break for it while we can.”

“Agreed.” I panted, and then we followed her out.

I tugged Twilight along with my magic while she was still in the shock of having made her first kill. Ditzy however was coldly unchanged from the experience. As we made our way up the trail, I wanted to console her, but she appeared to be doing just fine with it. The darkness and her bandanna made it difficult to judge appropriately, but she hadn’t been slowed in the horrid realization that another pony’s life had ended because of her. Was she just tougher than me? I really hoped that was it.

We came to the top of the trail, and I looked back to the train cars where I could see lanterns held by ponies that had come out of their makeshift homes. They were slaughtering the dead and taking their meat, and I had to look away. There was a growing pressure in my throat like I was going to be sick. I needed to take my mind off of it or else I was going to vomit. Merely the idea of a pony cutting the flesh from another and eating-

My magic barely pulled my bandanna off in time as I threw up. I cursed to myself and spit the viscid stomach mucus from my teeth. I examined my fore-boots, which were now splashed with vomit, and took a breath. I levitated my last water from my jacket and used a little bit to rinse my mouth.

“Are you okay?” Ditzy asked softly.

“Yes, darling, I’m fine.” I said. Speaking prompted another heave.

“Gosh, dang. You’re really throwin’ that up. What’d you eat?” Applejack commented.

“It’s not that, darling.” I gasped while feeling much better. “I think I’m done.”

“Alright, sugar cube. Let’s keep movin’ out.” Applejack said and then she playfully punched my shoulder. Really hard, too. Ouch.

Ditzy saw me wince and smiled, “Buck up.”

I didn’t smile back and just shook my head at her. She'd killed four ponies less than ten minutes ago, and she was smiling at me. I could not help but have a huge problem with that.

We started walking again while Twilight was telling Applejack where we were going and why. Ditzy smile faded, and she studied me for a little bit.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ditzy asked.

“I don’t know, darling. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” I said. Ditzy nodded understandingly, but she didn’t respond.

It took a little more than an hour until we were through the bog and back into the thick of the Everfree Forest. As we approached Zecora’s hut, I was just beginning to feel relieved with the thought of just laying down and going to sleep. And then I saw that damned manticore outside the rear of the house simply sitting there like he had been waiting for me to get home.

“Is that?” Ditzy started.

“Yes, it is. He’s been acting very strange since Fluttershy did her stare.” I explained.

The manticore walked toward us, which to my surprise did not scare the daylights out of Twilight and Applejack, but he passed them completely without paying any attention to them. He came right up and sat on his haunches directly in front of me, blocking my path.

“I have had a really terrible day…” I began, but I fell short on what to call him, “…manticore. I’d really like to just go to sleep.”

He cocked his head, the same way he had before, and started to lean down to lick me.

“No, no, no…” I said while recoiling from his long, gross tongue, but he continued, and it slapped my face and raked up my cheek. It was wetter than before and made me feel like I was going to vomit again. I held up a hoof to him and said, “I appreciate the gesture, but I really hate it when you do that.”

He sat and stared at me with its big, black, empty eyes. It was such a scary, horrific creature that I was surprised that it was friendly, but then again, I didn’t really understand Fluttershy’s Stare. It had to be some extension of her Pegasus magic, but I wasn’t sure. I don’t think she even knows.

“Listen… manticore, I want to go inside now.” I said.

“Perhaps we should name him?” Ditzy said with a smile. “Like our first pet.”

“No. If we name him, then we get attached to him, and I’m just not in the position for another responsibility.” I said, and then noticed that Twilight and Applejack were watching us, “You girls go ahead and get Applejack to bed.” They nodded and went inside while I looked back at the manticore.

Ditzy chuckled, “It’s not like we’re taking him in. I’m just saying something easier than calling him manticore.”

I shrugged and rolled my eyes, “Fine, what do you suggest?”

“Manny is the first thing that comes to mind.” Ditzy chuckled.

“Oh, sure, he’s Manny the Manticore.” I scoffed. “It’s like we’re in a damned children’s book or something.” I looked at her and smiled. Damn, she always does that to me. I feel just terrible, and she pulls me out of the gunk.

She laughed and patted Manny on the paw, “We’re going inside, Manny. We’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

Manny flexed his mouth, and then promptly used his left paw to pull up his right leg so that he could lick his anus.

“Right, that’s the only logical response.” I chuckled and started inside.

Ditzy cantered to catch up with me and said, “So, I’ll see you in the morning?”

I shook my head with a smile, “I couldn’t do that even if I wanted to.”

We went in the house. Applejack, who had her right eye still closed, was sitting next to Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie was helping Mr. Cake with cooking while Mrs. Cake was tending to the babies. Zecora was asleep in one of the chairs with her mouth agape, and Fluttershy was in the other chair talking to Applejack. Twilight was near the chemistry table reading a text book about zebra alchemy.

“Ugh!” Applejack exclaimed quietly and stared deeply into the bowl of stew, “This tastes worse than a pile of fermented manure. What’s in this stuff?”

“There’s no love, that’s for sure.” Pinkie said from the table.

“It really does help. Look at me!” Rainbow Dash said. She had all of the fur back on her body and nearly looked perfectly healthy.

“You do look a lot better, dear.” I said.

“I feel a lot better, too.” She said, and then she turned back to Applejack. “So, anyway, that’s my story. It’s pretty simple. What about you?”

Applejack took another reluctant sip of the stew while Ditzy and I sat on the floor next to Fluttershy. She looked over all of us, her friends, and I could tell that she didn’t want to talk about it, but I was too curious to heed my urge to assure her that it was okay if she didn’t want to.

“I don’t really know, but I was on the train, and it was just like,” Applejack made a whistle and turned her hoof over as if it where the train, and then she tapped her leg with it and blew a raspberry. “The crash was hard and it took a lot out of me, but there was so much fire after that I had no choice but to get on my hooves and skedaddle. “

She forced herself to finish the stew, and then continued, “We tried to dig the bodies out, but the melted metal was tough to get around. There were two cars that were in good enough shape to sleep in, but everything was lost in the fire. Soon we were starvin’ and we couldn’t drink the water from the creek cause a bunch of ‘em did that the first day, got sick, and were dead in two.”

I felt lucky that we hadn’t waded through the water on the way to Dodge.

Applejack nodded to herself. “I had my bag of cherries, but these ponies started actin’ all crazy only a couple hours after the crash. When they were asleep that first day, I hid ‘em in that there cave ‘cause I knew I wasn’t gonna stay. Most of ‘em were too city-slick to drink muddy water that was safe, but I didn’t have a problem with it. I’d just dig in the ground by the river, and use the mud to filter it, and you had water that wasn’t pretty to look at, but it wasn’t gonna kill you.”

“So, why didn’t you want to stay?” Fluttershy asked, ignorant of the attack.

“They kept goin’ on about how Twilight ruined everything. Her orders to allow yaks in Equestria caused all this to happen and such. They talked about how they hoped she was dead.” Applejack said, becoming more and more angry in her recollection. “I kept defending Twilight and told them that she was my friend. That ended up being a mistake.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, ‘cause they used that information against me. When the first pony died of starvation, or at least they thought that’s what it was, I think she was drinkin’ from the damned river myself.” Applejack said while waving a hoof at the imaginary creek in front of her. “So, they caught me while I was sleepin’ and stabbed me with that danged spear. I tell you what, I jumped up so fast and bucked that filly in her mouth, but they were everywhere, and I kept screaming like, “What are you doin’?!” and then I was like, “Why are you doin’?” and all of that.”

“How did you get away?” Fluttershy asked with her hooves partially covering her face as if she was watching it happen.

“I heard ‘em talking about it: Killin’ a pony and eatin’ ‘em, and they decided, ‘cause I was friends with Twilight, that I’d be the first meal. One of ‘em cut me on the neck, which was freaky ‘cause I thought that was going to do me in already, and then a stallion jabbed me right in the eye with his knife. I’ll tell you, I ain’t never been so scared in my life, and I couldn’t see nothin’, but I just kept runnin’. I guess I’m just faster than they are, ‘cause after a while I was all by myself.” Applejack said. She shook her head and took a deep breath. “I was all by myself, I was a might thirsty, and left my danged cherries in that cave. I waited a little bit for nighttime and snuck back into the cave.”

“How long were you in there?” Ditzy asked.

Applejack thought about it for a moment, “I think it was two days, and I didn’t get me a wink the whole time. My eyeball hurt like a son of a gun, and I watched ‘em go lookin’ for me. They were convinced they knew I was in Froggy Bottom Bog ‘cause of some blood or somethin’. I was so scared that somepony was gonna get the idea to come up the river a ways like I did, and they’d find me.” She shook her head. "I also was scared to leave the cave, cause they were killin' ponies left and right..." She took a shaky breath, "They were cookin' em outside, and I was scared that they'd see me if I left."

"I didn't see any of them." Ditzy said.

"They were... they were a little busy inside... they kept celebratin' and they'd say, "We're eatin' tonight!" and all that." Applejack was shaking hard, "I just hated them so much. City slickers too pretty to drink muddy water, but could do that."

"I'm so sorry." I said. "I can't even imagine being afraid of being eaten." My recollection of the manticore, and specifically being afraid of being eaten came to mind, but I pushed the thought aside and allowed Applejack to continue. She appeared to be growing more fatigued from the stew as she spoke.

"I'm alive, sugar cube. There's somethin' to be said about that." Applejack said, and then she turned to Pinkie Pie, “I’m sorry, Pinkie. After getting’ stabbed in the eye, I ate all your cherries as a comfort to myself.”

Pinkie shrugged, “That’s okay. I’d need a lot more than just cherries to make my super-duper huge giantastic right-side-up upside-down cherries jubilee cake parfait.”

Ditzy giggled, “I’m sure there is a shorter name for that.”

“Yeah, it’s S.D.H.G.R.S.D.U.D.C.J.C.P. or Sed-huh-gers-dud-sedge-kip for short.” Pinkie said quickly and concisely as if it were… a real language.

“Alright,” I said dismissively. “Applejack, darling, we really should get you to bed.”

“I’m working on it, Rarity. I just am so glad to be back with my friends. I mean, after the crash, I never thought we’d all be together again, but here we are.” She smiled with a tear in her one eye.

“We’re glad to be here with you too, AJ.” Rainbow Dash nudged her.

“So, what are we doin’ now? Do we have a plan to fix Equestria or what?” Applejack said to Twilight, but she wasn’t listening.

Twilight was buried deep in her book, and she was the type to distract herself with scientific endeavors whenever she was upset. In this case, she was keeping her mind off the fact that she had used magic, her primary field of study since she was a foal, to actually kill somepony.

“Twilight,” I called. “Applejack is talking to you.”

She looked up, “Sorry, I’m trying to come up with a refined cure; something that uses fewer materials with the same effects.”

“What’s the plan for Equestria?” Applejack asked again.

“I have to read a little, but the main problem we’re going to encounter is lingering radiation. That, and ponies afflicted with the sickness. I think that if we can cure the sickness, and render radiation harmless, we have a solid chance of rebuilding and providing a relief effort.” Twilight explained.

“How do you plan to do that?” I asked sincerely.

“Like I said, I’m going to have to read a little bit.” Twilight shrugged.

“Well, while you gals are figurin’ that out, I’m going to wrap my wounds and go to bed. Since Zecora’s sleepin’ here. I’m sure she won’t mind if I grab her bed.” Applejack announced.

“Well…” I started to protest, but stopped my selfishness, “Let me help you dress those wounds, darling.”

After I figured out that my thread wasn’t strong enough to sew her wounds together, we stuffed the gashes with gauze and wrapped her chest with a mesh cloth from Zecora’s medicine cabinet. Because they weren’t stitched, her wounds were going to be nasty scars, and I suddenly felt grateful for the relatively little cut on my eyebrow. With Applejack fast asleep in Zecora’s bed, mostly from the fatigue brought on by the stew, I stopped Ditzy before she went back to the living room.

“Can I talk to you alone for a minute?” I asked.

“Sure thing.” Ditzy smiled.

“See? That’s what I need to talk to you about.” I pointed to her mouth, “Does it not bother you, what happened today. No, better yet, less than two hours ago?”

“We found Applejack.” She said simply, and then she nodded, “Some ponies got in the way, and remember what I said about our survival? I didn’t hesitate, and I’ll sleep like a baby. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I think that you should be, at least a little, bothered by what you had to do.” I said.

“I should be?” Ditzy asked, she sounded offended, “I don’t want to get into this right now. Let’s just go to sleep.”

“Wait, I don’t want you be mad at me.” I said, “Let’s work this out before we go to bed.”

Ditzy shook her head, “Or how about we don’t? I’m not mad. Let’s talk about it later.”

“Please, Ditzy, please. I want to work this out.” I pleaded.

“Rarity.” She growled through gritted teeth. “I really hate that.”

“You hate what?” I said. It hurt because I didn’t think she hated anything about me.

“I am not mad at you, Rarity. When I say that I’m not mad at you, I am not mad at you.” Ditzy explained forcefully like she was restraining herself from punching me in the face. It was real anger that she was projecting, towards me, and I didn’t like it at all.

“I’m sorry, darling.” I said quietly.

“I just…” Ditzy looked at the ceiling and then sighed, “I just don’t like it when you assume that I’m hiding things from you. It makes me think that you’re hiding things from me.”

“I’m not though.” I assured.

“I know, but please, let me know that you trust me enough to take me at my word.” Ditzy said, and then she left the room, but this time I didn’t stop her.

Once again, I was projecting my insecurities on to her and trying my best to ruin things. She was so tough and intelligent, while I got my feelings hurt easily and was foolhardy to boot. She was fun, laughed in the face of danger, and she always made me smile. Sure, I had an element of curiosity that was fulfilled, but what about her? What did I do for her? Why was she with me?

Better question was; can I handle, yet another, pony not willing to work things out with me, another pony just ready to slough me off and leave me behind? I suddenly felt like it wasn't working out, like I was already at that the part of the relationship, but I didn’t want to be in that position again, begging her to come back to me, to reconsider everything, or to just give me one more chance. I’ve done that many times, and I don't know if I can handle it again. A tiny splat hit the wood just between my fore-hooves and caught my attention, so I wiped the tears from my face. I felt happier when I was single, but I didn’t know if it was the relationship or the bombing. One of those things, I could control. It could be my choice, my decision. Maybe that would hurt less.

Author's Note

They didn't deliver Braeburn's message yet, I know. I did that on purpose. There was a lot going on, and they were preoccupied with AJ's story, and trying not to die.

In my first draft of this, they found the train before going to Dodge Junction, got attacked by the cannibals, but I couldn't figure out a way for the attackers to get their monologue that I wanted. That and I wanted them to find AJ with a bit of detective work. It's why I made such a big deal about, "Don't look down."