Laments of the Dimension-Stranded

"Need more stuff before we can head out, Dash. Wait here or follow me if you want. I'm only gonna be a minute."

Vincent retrieved the hunting rifle where he had placed it onto the pavement and slung it over his back, suspending it by its sling from one shoulder. Then, he began jogging towards the auto repair shop.

Rainbow Dash observed as he shouldered the strange object. There was a central tube composed of metal, but the tube was mounted atop an unidentifiable, black material covered in tiny bumps.

Was it a magical staff? If so, what it apparently lacked in ergonomics it compensated with raw power. What Vincent had done to those crustaceans... She held up one of her blood-splattered forelegs. She shivered, uncomfortable. She didn't want to imagine being caught at the receiving end of that thing.

She stood up and began to trot, following Vincent. She watched him ascend a metal ladder that had been aligned with the side of the building, hopping in through a high open window.

Vincent turned and glanced back outside, sticking his head out of the open window. He eyed Rainbow, grinning, noticing an opportunity to crack a joke that he could exploit. "Das tut mir leid, prince. We, Rapunzel, and our golden stair be unfit for thou with thy hooves. We pity thee and thou horse thy rode in on."

Rainbow resisted the urge to release a sigh of annoyance. Still, Vincent had a point. Ladders simply weren't built bearing pony anatomy in mind. "Please just... head around and open the door for me."

Noting his companion was in a dark, unresponsive mood, Vincent frowned, not replying with whatever humorous statement he had been preparing. He disappeared from the window.

Rainbow trotted around to the opposite side of the building where the emergency exit lied and waited for the door to be opened. She leaned, occasionally shifting her weight from her two left hooves to her two right hooves. The sunlight cast by the dual suns was beating down relentlessly. Despite still being soaked with lake water, Rainbow began to sweat, which only exasperated her discomfort.

Vincent pressed the emergency exit door's metal bar outwards and disengaged the locking mechanism, pushing the door. He watched a thick blob of blue blood drip down Rainbow's muzzle and onto the pavement below. He nodded sagely.

"Yup, that's terrible."

"Don't remind me." Rainbow's ears laid back against her head stressfully. "Be quick. Please."

Vincent beckoned her to enter with a wave of his hand and jogged down the hallway, passing the machine held aloft by the lift with the arms and heading through an open door at the very rear of the workshop.

Rainbow followed, careful not to brush her body against any doors or doorframes. The last thing she wanted to do was recklessly wander through the building and accidentally smear surfaces with gross blood and create stains which would need to be cleaned.

The room they entered was a claustrophobic unisex bathroom. There was one toilet, one sink and one tiny mirror too high off of the ground for Rainbow to use properly. She didn't want to see herself anyway. It would probably trigger her gag reflex.

Vincent bent at the waist and unzipped a few duffel bags in the corner of the room, digging around inside and withdrawing a bayonet in a sheath. He reached around and blindly clipped the sheath's plastic clip onto the waistband of his jeans, continuing to sift through the contents of the bag.

Rainbow shifted her weight unconsciously, clopping her hooves lightly against the tiled floor.

Vincent didn't look back, completely aware of the source of the sound. "Whatever you're doing, can you stop?"

Rainbow blinked. She set her hooves firmly against the floor and attempted to resist the urge to fidget. She hadn't even realized her body had been moving. She was feeling extremely uncomfortable. "Sorry."

"Look, Dash..." Vincent withdrew a pair of black-tinted sunglasses from one of the duffel bags and flipped them open with one hand, hanging them precariously from the collar of his shirt. He took a few steps towards Rainbow and knelt on one knee so their eyes were on the same level. "I'm gonna tell you something I wish someone had told me a long time ago. Okay?"

Feeling embarrassed from when she had burst into tears earlier, Rainbow looked away awkwardly, avoiding eye contact. She shied away, placing one foreleg over the other. Her attempt at disappearing into her own shadow had failed. She wanted desperately to fly away and create a bed of clouds to rest on and be alone.

"Everything's... going to be okay." Vincent smiled, extending a hand and patting Rainbow on the shoulder. "I know you gotta have a million thoughts flying through your head right now, and trust me, I completely understand."

He released his breath in a long, gentle sigh, withdrawing the hand. "You don't have to tell me what you're thinking if you don't want to. You don't have to tell me anything. Not a single thought, not one.

"Don't worry 'bout a thing..." Vincent stood, retrieving his sunglasses where he had suspended them and fitting them over his eyes. "...'cause every little thing gonna be alright!" He grinned, assuming an odd accent as he briefly spoke in a sing-songy tone. "We're going to the beach! Sort of. Hope ya brought your sunscreen and towels."

Rainbow considered what had been said for a moment. She gently smiled, reassured. For the moment, things were okay. She wasn't completely alone—she had at least one friend, and, despite his occasionally-inappropriate jokes, he had a restrained gentler side, one which she wanted to become acquainted with.

Vincent returned to searching through the duffel bags. "Ain't got any shades that'd fit your weirdly-shaped head, but I got my old boonie hat. That'll keep the sun outta your eyes, if it fits." He lifted one of the bags and slipped the strap over a shoulder.

Rainbow followed Vincent as he led the way through the auto repair shop's workshop and down the hallway to the emergency exit. He thrusted the exit's metal bar with his hip, shoving the door open and stepping outside.

Outside on the concrete landing, Rainbow glanced up into the sky, attempting to estimate the time. She noted how the dual suns were beginning to drift farther apart as they traveled across the sky. Was it noon...?

"Don't go lookin' for anything specific up there, Skittles. Sky makes no sense in Nowhere. Never has."

Rainbow accelerated to catch up with Vincent as he walked across the parking lot, heading towards the ramp. She trotted side-by-side with him. "How do the suns work here? Do they rotate around us by themselves?"

Vincent raised an eyebrow, comprehending what she had said. "What do you mean? We're rotating around them, Aristotle. Did you not pay attention in school?"

Rainbow got defensive. "I paid attention in school! Mostly! Where I come from, Celestia rotates the sun around Equus once a day like clockwork, then Luna raises the moon."

"So you're also not from Nowhere, huh? Well, I have no idea who Celestia or Luna are—I'm assuming they're gods to you—but back home Earth rotates around its sun and Earth's moon rotates around Earth. Took philosophers and scientists an embarrassing amount of time to figure that one out."

Vincent turned northwest and began descending the hill at the base of the ramp. Rainbow followed beside him, occasionally reaching with a hoof to catch droplets of sweat or blood that beaded and began trailing down her face.

"You see the moon last night?"

"I think so." Rainbow recalled the relatively-miniature white speck in the sky. Too large to be a distant star but smaller than Luna's moon.

"Nowhere didn't even have a moon until a year ago or so. Was about to head to sleep one night and it was just up there in the night sky. It was drifting through space and got tangled up in one of the suns' gravitational pulls somehow, then started orbiting Nowhere, I reckon. Don't ask me how. I'm a jack of all trades, but astronomy? Celestial mechanics? Nah, not my forte."

Rainbow pondered the mystery for a few moments. She looked around, observing their surroundings. No dangerous creatures were in sight, though she did spot a small herd of pronghorn wandering through the open plains, munching on flowers and grass. Seeing creatures who weren't trying to kill her was reassuring.

"Does stuff have a habit of randomly popping up here? It looks like the place you're staying in just kinda... fell right outta the sky."

Vincent stopped walking for a moment, shocked. "Son-of-a-bitch. You're suggestin' a moon just randomly appeared above Nowhere one day?"

Rainbow shrugged. "If that's how things work around here, maybe."

"No, you're absolutely right, Dash. Shit does have a tendency to pop in outta thin air around here. But a whole-ass moon?"

He pursed his lips in thought. Eventually, he continued walking, settling on an answer.

"Nah. Nowhere's moon couldn't have just appeared out of thin air. If it did, it would have, well... just floated there. Or, worse, it would have came crashing down onto the surface of the planet and killed absolutely everything living down here. That's probably how the physics would work. Gravity's a harsh mistress."

Rainbow shuttered at the idea.

"Yup, a lunar 'pocolypse. Another K–T Extinction event, if you will, just with a way bigger rock. Good thing that's not our reality, huh? Otherwise we'd be dead as dinosaurs."

Vincent's eyes widened as he spotted something in the distance. He swore, dropped the duffel bag onto the ground and unslung his rifle, planting one hand on the handguard and another around the stock near the trigger. His finger rested lightly on the trigger guard.

If something nearby had managed to spook Vincent, that meant it was a real threat. Rainbow's body tensed as she attempted to follow her companion's unwavering gaze.

"Get down!" In one smooth motion, Vincent kicked out his legs and lied down on his belly, concealing himself within the tall, wild grass. He placed his strong right hand on Rainbow's back and physically forced her down. She complied, lying on her side to get as low as possible.

"What was it? What did you see?"

"I... don't know. It almost looked like..."

Rainbow locked eyes with Vincent. His facial expression was stern and deadly serious.

"Listen to me very carefully: no more walks outside alone. Got it? I'll come with you if you really want to go outside for whatever reason, but we really shouldn't unless we absolutely have to."

"Why?" Frustrated that her questions weren't being answered, Rainbow narrowed her eyes stubbornly, determined to get an answer. "What did you see?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but it looked like..." Vincent frowned. "...a man. With a gun. And he might not be alone."

"What if he's friendly?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "You're not even gonna give him a chance? But—"

"He could shoot you, Dash." Vincent uttered the sentence with finality, snapping his lips together tightly.

Rainbow didn't like being bossed around and receiving orders from ponies—or people in this case—she didn't respect, but unfortunately Vincent was more experienced than her with how Nowhere functioned.

She wasn't about to admit it aloud, but she felt a pang of fear after witnessing her companion's reaction. Her earlier woes were temporarily forgotten as the new emotion took priority.

Vincent looked over both shoulders to check their flanks, then peeked out of the tall grass slowly, lifting his rifle. He scanned the distant trees meticulously. Spotting something, he nodded. "Whatever that was, it's headed east. Probably didn't see us. We're clear for now."

Rainbow only rose from her hiding spot in the tall grass when Vincent motioned for her to.

Her fur and hair had been rendered sticky by the monster blood earlier, so now she was also covered with dirt.

"Nice camo, Skittles. You're really blending in."

"Shut up." Rainbow grumbled, uncomfortable.

"I'll make you my spotter yet." He chuckled.

When they finally arrived at the spot Vincent had been alluding to, Rainbow felt a little excitement course through her. The small isolated pond was gorgeous.

The pond was only a few dozen feet wide, but the water looked clearer than the water of the southern crater lake. It was a healthy blue as opposed to an opaque teal.

The pond was nestled beneath a crescent moon-shaped rock wall and sheltered within a dense forest. A small waterfall steadily flowed down from atop the rock wall, splashing into the pool below.

Vegetation was growing in the pond. Rainbow spotted water lily pads with blooming white and pink flowers. Were they edible? She didn't want to risk it.

"This is actually pretty nice." Rainbow nodded approvingly as she examined her surroundings.

Vincent glanced over his shoulders occasionally, assuring they weren't being followed. He placed his duffel bag onto the ground near the pond's shore, gripping his rifle in one hand near the rear iron sights in a trail-carry position.

"Relax," Rainbow ordered. "This place is an actual oasis! You're being paranoid, Vinny. There's probably no one following us."

Unconvinced, Vincent gripped his rifle for a moment longer, scanning the surrounding trees carefully.

Receiving no response, Rainbow shrugged. She happily waded into the pond and immediately headed for the waterfall to clean the blue monster blood and grime from her mane.

She clenched her eyes shut preemptively and waded beneath the waterfall, rearing up onto her rear legs so she could use both forelegs to scrub at her hair. It was like washing beneath a natural cloud shower.

When she stepped out from beneath the waterfall and blinked rapidly to clear her vision, she noticed Vincent had stripped down entirely and waded in as well. He was so tall that while the water was touching Rainbow's chin, it only reached up to Vincent's midsection, near the navel.

Respectfully, Rainbow kept her eyes above his waist. The human seemed very self-conscious about nudity and preferred wearing clothes as frequently as possible, even during extremely hot days when unnecessary layers would lead to sweating. He seemed so shy about the concept of nudity that she noticed his eyes hadn't ever wandered near her waist, flanks or cutiemarks.

They didn't talk about it or acknowledge it in any way. She preferred that.

"Here, catch."

Vincent tossed her a bar of soap underhand, which she effortlessly snapped out of midair using her teeth. He blinked. "Y'know, I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but not that.

"Doesn't that taste horrible?"

Incapable of speaking, Rainbow snorted in response. She backed up and stepped beneath the waterfall, rearing up onto her rear legs. Balancing effortlessly, she held the bar of soap in a hoof and created lather, spreading it across her colorful mane and sky blue fur on her face and chest. Then, she focused on her wings, lathering and fluttering them to assure the feathers were clean.

She couldn't be certain without a mirror, but she suspected most of the blood and dirt had been washed away. The sensation was liberating.

When she stepped out from beneath the waterfall, she sighed happily, throwing her head back to sling her wet mane out of her eyes. When she looked for Vincent, she noticed he was rooted in one place, his eyes locked onto her. She raised an eyebrow. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Vincent's eyes widened and he immediately jerked his head in a different direction, flustered. "I'm not starin' at you like that! It's just... how do you do that thing with your hooves?"

"What? This?" Rainbow stood up onto her rear legs for demonstration purposes and transferred the bar of soap to one of her forehooves.

"Yeah, that. It's fuckin' weird."

"Magic." Rainbow settled down onto all four hooves again and shrugged casually. She transferred the bar of soap to her mouth and flung it in Vincent's direction. He automatically caught it with ease, staring at her weirdly.

"You don't have to be sarcastic. It's a genuine question."

Rainbow shrugged defensively. "I'm not lying! It's magic. Like how pegasi can manipulate weather."

This only made Vincent's confused frown deepen. "Okay, whatever. Give me a sec'."

While Rainbow waited for her companion to bathe, she waded out of the pond and shook wildly to dry herself off, then began digging through the duffel bag Vincent had brought with them.

"Jackpot!" Rainbow grinned, withdrawing a plastic comb and brush from the bag.

She combed her mane and tail straight of any tangles, then gave them a good brushing. Pleased, she smiled, her clipped wings buzzing happily. She was finally clean. She laid down on her side comfortably, crossing one rear leg over the other as she waited.

She observed as her human companion drifted through the waist-high water effortlessly, hiking up his legs in a surprisingly delicate and precise fashion. He resembled a stork hunting for fish. She smirked at the humorous mental image.

Vincent washed his clothes quickly and immediately began getting dressed. Rainbow raised her voice, interrupting him partway through.

"What's... that?" She pointed with a hoof, indicting a wide patch of dark, rippled skin on Vincent's torso that she had mistaken for a patch of oil or mud before. It trailed down his ribs and waist.

In fact, Vincent was covered with injuries. Old faded scars, little cuts or scrapes and burn marks.

Vincent stepped out of the pair of blue jeans he was about to slip on. "This?" He trailed two fingers along the darkened patch of skin atop his ribs. "Is it still noticeable? You're probably not gonna believe me if I told you, but... fire. Fire-spitting lizard thing. Nearly cooked me alive. Gave me blisters. Hurt for weeks. Here..." Vincent lifted his fingers and placed them on a burn mark on his thigh. "...here..." he lifted his fingers a final time and placed them against his thick beard. "...and under here."

Rainbow shook her head sympathically. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Weren't your fault. 'Sides, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?"

"That's a pretty negative way of lookin' at it."

"It's the truth. Cold hard truth sucks sometimes." Vincent continued dressing, slipping both legs through the holes of his blue jeans. He snapped the metal waist button and zipped the zipper, digging his toes into the pond's sandy shore. No wonder he wore boots; his feet looked as sensitive and as vulnerable as his fingers, if more so.

Rainbow offered him the comb using a hoof, which he accepted with a little hesitance, eying her hoof with suspicion. He combed out the tangles in his long, black hair carefully, wincing when one tangle snagged between the comb's plastic teeth.

"So, how'd you get those?"

Rainbow blinked. She followed where Vincent was pointing, looking back at her cutiemark. "My cutiemarks?"

"Your lightning bolt butt tattoos are called cutiemarks?" Vincent chuckled. "Wowie. That's the most gay shit I've ever heard. Let me guess, it's for a sexual reason, isn't it?"

"It's not sexual." Rainbow's cheeks flamed red with a blush. She glared at him. "It's representative of my special talent. Got it when I was a filly for performing a sonic rainboom for the first time."

Vincent made an O-shape with his pointer finger and thumb and extended his other three fingers, making an OK gesture. "Gotcha, Rainbowbutt. Don't wanna talk about your tramp stamps, huh?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Y'know what? I'm not even gonna dignify that with a response."

"Fair enough." Vincent sat down cross-legged on the shore and drew the bayonet from its sheath. He began to shave, slicing off facial hair blindly. He guided the sharp blade along his neck carefully using his delicate fingers. "So, tell me what a 'sonic rainboom' is, Dash. I'm in for a penny, in for a pound at this point."

"It'd be a lot easier for me to shave for you..." Rainbow offered, gesturing with a hoof.

Vincent's eyes widened. "Oh no, no way! Keep your magic hooves away from my face. You'll slit my carotid arteries and I'll bleed out and die."

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the exaggeration. "Suit yourself.

"A sonic rainboom is a rainbow-colored shockwave that explodes outward from a pegasus under specific conditions once they hit a certain speed. You just have to... feel it, basically."

"That explains nothing. You expect me to believe you're fast enough with those tiny wings to break the sound barrier?"

"My wings aren't tiny! They're an average size for my weight and height!" Rainbow huffed, offended.

Seeing an opportunity he could exploit, Vincent grinned slyly. "That's what she said!"

"Give me the knife, I'll actually slit your throat."

"Not gonna happen, Skittles."

When Vincent finished shaving and set the bayonet down onto his knee, he looked less mysterious and surprisingly normal. He had an actual face concealed beneath his thick beard. Rainbow was pleasantly surprised.

Vincent yawned casually, sheathing the bayonet. He scratched at his stubble-covered chin, then stood up and grabbed his white shirt where he had dropped it. He lifted both arms skyward and slipped the shirt on, tugging at the hem around the neck and waist. It was stained black with motor oil and blue with crustacean blood and torn in several spots, but it fit him, somehow.

"Alright. Next question: you all actually call yourselves pegasi? Like Pegasus, the horse?"

"Yes and no."

"Mmmkay. So, what did you mean when you said "weather manipulation" earlier?"

"Pegasi can manipulate clouds. I'd demonstrate, but..." Rainbow buzzed her clipped wings, giving Vincent a flat look. He winced.

"I have no idea what you mean by that, but what I'm thinkin' sounds pretty cool. Sorry again for clipping your wings, Dash."

"I won't forgive you for this until I grow all new feathers, however long that takes. So, possibly never."

"Now who's being negative?" Vincent smirked. "Only Siths deal in absolutes, Dash. And mad girlfriends."

"Yeah, well you're about as annoying as coltfriends come, too."

"All in good fun, Skittles. All in good fun." Vincent paused, considering. "Well, now you've just made me curious about your sex life. How does that work—"

Without hesitation, Rainbow hopped up onto her hooves and contorted her body smoothly, delivering a lightning-fast buck with one rear hoof directly into Vincent's shoulder. It wasn't full strength, but she assured it was powerful enough to hurt.

"Ow! Shit." Vincent hissed as he rubbed his new, red bruise. "Okay, I guess I deserved that."

Rainbow nodded sagely.

"So, are you actually gay, Dash? You a butch? You give off a lesbian vibe."

She hesitated. "Why?"

"The way you act, obviously. But your hair, too. It's rainbow. You know, like the flag?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "What flag? You know what, nevermind. My hair's naturally rainbow. Always has been. Isn't dye.

"I don't have many male friends except a few Wonderbolts I know, so I guess... I don't know." She shrugged. "I honestly never considered it seriously. I'm married to my work. You're lookin' at the best Wonderbolt in Equestria."

"Yeah? And how's bein' lonely workin' out for you?"

Rainbow grimaced, sighing. "Why do you have to be so mean, Vince? I will hit you again. Harder. You have no idea how hard I can do it."

Vincent leaned back and cupped his hands around his mouth. "That's what she saiddddd!"

"I hate you." Rainbow gently chuckled despite herself, glancing away and into the treeline surrounding the isolated pond.

Vincent cackled evily, slapping his knee.

"What was your love life like? You keep mentioning this marefriend."

"Well, uh..." Clearly caught off guard, Vincent awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck below his long black hair. "I used to know this German girl, and... Mach dir keine Sorgen. I don't want to talk about der Engel right now." He sighed sadly, gazing down forlornly at the sandy shore.

"You, uh..." Rainbow awkwardly looked away. "You miss her?"

"This isn't a war, Dash. I'm not heading home back to the States in a few years where my loving girlfriend is waiting for me with a kiss and a case of beer. This is either a government experiment or I died back on Earth and went to Hell. Fuck All Nowhere certainly fits the bill of a barren hellscape—less fire and lava and demons than the Christians believed there'd be here, though."

Vincent clasped his hands together and interweaved his fingers. "Anyway... it's been a long time. Of course I miss her. I've missed her for years. But I'm over her, now. I'm over her and she's probably over me. And that's that."

Rainbow noted his reaction. He looked stressed and uncomfortable answering the question without preparation. In the future, she could possibly repeat the same question when he was feeling more receptive.

Vincent glanced over at Rainbow and made eye contact. She looked back into his eyes, nodding gently in acknowledgement. "I don't know what it's like to lose somepony like that. I'm sorry."

Vincent sighed, looking away. He smiled a tiny bit. "That means a lot, Dash. Really. Thanks."

Rainbow returned the smile. She looked away into the ring of trees surrounding the isolated pond, thinking. "I... feel a little better."

"I noticed," Vincent replied. He tugged on his socks and slipped into his work boots, bending at both knees to fasten the laces. "Things'll get easier, I promise. Don't worry about having a panic attack trying to figure out what the hell to do. You can stay with me as long as you want. Managing to slip into a daily routine might be the hardest part for you."

"Daily routine...?" Rainbow frowned, her ears laying back as she considered the prospect of living in Nowhere for however long her feathers took to regrow. Weeks? But what would come after?

"How long have you been in Nowhere?"

Vincent whistled. "I came here three years ago, maybe four. I stopped counting a while back."

"Four... years?" Rainbow gently hyperventilated, not immediately comprehending the sheer length of time that four years was. "I - I can't live here for four years."

Vincent frowned. Something in his facial expression indicated he regretted being honest about how long he had been trapped on Nowhere.

Rainbow shook her head, making eye contact with Vincent. "I'm not staying in one place for a few weeks until my feathers regrow. I need to explore and find answers for how I got here. Don't you want to, too?"

Vincent sighed, tucking his hands into the side pockets of his jeans. "When I first got here, I drove my car until I was almost outta gas. Managed to crash it into a ditch. Walked some more afterwards. Unless new shit's recently started appearing in Nowhere, there's nothin' out here, Dash. Trust me. That auto repair shop's the only piece'a human tech in all of Nowhere. This place is just empty plains and weird fantasy shit straight from a DnD Dungeon Master's handbook.

"But..." He pursed his lips, considering. "I have been trying to fix up the new truck recently. I guess if I manage to get that baby runnin' we could go for a test drive together some time."

"Truck?" Rainbow echoed the unfamiliar word. "What's that?"

"I'll gladly introduce you two ladies later today." Vincent grinned. "Let's just say she's my new ride and leave it at that for now. She just needs a handful of spare parts and a few thingamajigs."

Rainbow blinked, baffled. As usual, she hadn't comprehended a single new word he had spoken. "Whatever you say."

Vincent retrieved his rifle where he had set it down near the shore and raised it in both hands, flipping the safety switch to the off position. "Was a good chat, Dash, but we shouldn't loiter outside for too long. Bad habit. Things have a tendency to sneak up on ya when you do."

Rainbow quickly glanced over both her shoulders, examining the surrounding forest. As predicted, she and her companion were completely alone. "Unless this pond is secretly infested with cragadiles, I think we're fine."

"Could be. If it was, they'd go for you first, guaranteed. You got a target painted on your rainbow-colored behind."

Before Rainbow could retort, Vincent adjusted his grip on the rifle so he was clamping it in a trail-carry position and reached into the duffel bag with his opposite hand. He withdrew a flop hat and plopped it onto Rainbow's head recklessly, despite her objections.

"Hey! Watch the ears!" Rainbow took a step backwards and decided to try fitting the hat herself. She tucked both her ears downwards, slipped the brim over and then relaxed her ears, allowing them to naturally rise upwards within the hat.

The brim wasn't as wide as Rainbow would have preferred, but it was serviceable. She tilted her head back further than usual and gazed up into the eyes of her human companion. "How do I look?"

"'Bout as dumb as a kid playin' dress-up, honestly. I'm sure it'll work, though."

"You could have at least lied to make me feel better."

"Naw. Where's the fun in that?" Vincent grinned.