Laments of the Dimension-Stranded

"One! Two! Three! Four! Hoo! Haa! Augh!"

Rainbow Dash counted and grunted in tune with the rhythm of her exercises. Her heart thrummed as she skipped, hopped, twisted and jumped. Her hooves were being seared by the scorching black pavement of the auto repair shop's parking lot under the early-morning dual suns of Nowhere, but she didn't care.

Rainbow was energized. Excitement coursed through her at the realization that she was about to participate in an epic adventure, one that she could recount to her friends in exaggerated detail when she returned home to Equestria.

Sure, her feathers hadn't regrown yet and she still couldn't fly, but Rainbow was still determined to have a real work out. She needed to discharge all of the energy she inherently received from being so excited.

Panting rhythmically in tune with her exercises, Rainbow began to deccelerate, trotting in place. She gradually came to a stop, beaming with gratification. Nothing quite brightened her mood like a session of intense exercise.

Rainbow pursed her lips as she pondered, new thoughts flowing into her dopamine-swamped brain. When was the last time she had spoken to Vincent?

It had been less than 24 hours since she and Vincent had come to the conclusion they should pursue the animals during the next Migration. They had whiled away the remainder of the evening together and Rainbow had slept curled up on the passenger seat of a 1995 Mazda MX-5.

Now, she was awake early the next morning galvanizing herself.

Rainbow stretched, humming a little tune happily as she trotted across the parking lot to the auto repair shop's emergency exit. The door was propped open with a stack of two heavy cinderblocks.

She reached a hoof up to her forehead and tossed her mane out of her eyes. It was cool beneath the shade provided by the auto repair shop's roof, but she was still sweating.

"Vinny! You awake yet?"

Rainbow peeked into various rooms of the auto repair shop before searching the workshop.

She found Vincent seated motionless in the driver's seat of a 1991 Chevrolet Lumina Z34, gazing up at the car's white metal roof as if studying the spots of rust for patterns.

"You still sleepin', lazy butt?" Rainbow peeked around the half-ajar car door.

Vincent yawned widely. "Nope. Just psychin' myself up." He groaned, slipping his legs out of the vehicle and standing.

Rainbow moved aside, stepping backwards. She tilted her head back, gazing up into the eyes of her tall companion. "You said all you need are parts, right? For what? What are you building? Why can't we just leave now?"

"'What am I building?'" Vincent repeated, chuckling. He extended a finger, pointing to the machine held aloft in midair by the lift with the arms. "That little number right over there: my Magnum Opus, Ein schrecklicher Fluch auf dieser Erde, Das Unerbittlich."

Rainbow blinked. "I still don't know that language." She opened her mouth to continue, but was interrupted.

Vincent jogged over to the lift and motioned with a hand to the truck suspended in midair. "Here's all ya need to know: twinspark v8 engine with 16 sparkplugs. No turbocharger, unfortunately, but this baby still has enough horsepower to tow several tons with no negligible impact on performance. Wide all-terrain tires, and the shocks are—"

"Alright, I get it!" Despite feeling overwhelmed, Rainbow couldn't help but smile slightly. She was feeling giddy, and it appeared her feelings were reciprocated.

"She's an purebred American monster born for off-road driving, Dash. She eats dirt for breakfast, and she's got enough chutzpah for both of us! All I need are more sparkplugs and a new battery and possibly a new alternator because the old one might have crapped out. I can't test the fuel system without starting the damn engine, so there could be even more underlying problems I'm not aware of yet, but let's just pray she'll run smooth once I fix the electrics."

Rainbow slowly shook her head, stunned. "I don't understand any of the words that just came outta your mouth.

"I can't believe you're an engineer! I honestly never would have guessed. You don't give off that kinda vibe..."

"Mechanic," Vincent corrected, pointing a finger upwards, "not engineer."

"What's the difference?"

Vincent chuckled. "One's paid thrice as much. I thought I was smart enough to shoot for the stars and study engineering. You can probably guess how that went. Quit, got stuck with student loans, had a brief stint in the military. My girlfriend helped support me when I came back to the States."

Rainbow thought it was an appropriate occasion to ask, now that Vincent had mentioned her again naturally.

"What's her name?"

Vincent pursed his lips. He stuffed his hands into the side pockets of his blue jeans. "Anna." He pronounced the first A in the name long-wise, like "ah".

Vincent scratched at his chin absently, taking the opportunity to change the conversation's topic. "So. Today's the day. We're gonna go pay our new neighbors a visit."

"You said we should steer clear of them."

"I did say that," Vincent admitted. "But then this morning I realized they probably have supplies. Or a car. And where there's a running car, there's working components."

"You're going to steal from them?" Rainbow frowned.

"Trade," Vincent suggested, briefly removing a hand from one of his pockets to gesticulate.

Rainbow voiced a question she had been intending to ask Vincent for a while. "Why don't you just use the parts from those?" She gestured with a hoof, motioning to the Mazda and Chevrolet stationed in the corner of the workshop.

Vincent scoffed. "The Mazda's a Japanese piece'a crap. So's the Chevy. Well, Chevrolet's American, but that's still a tiny car. Engines are too small and efficient, ain't got the plugs I need. Parts aren't universal, Dash.

"Those things are junk anyway. Parts were picked clean by whoever used to work here before this place ended up in Nowhere. Siphoned the gas too. Probably were gonna get them towed, but they never got around to it."

Rainbow shrugged, acknowledging she was outmatched by Vincent's knowledge and intellect. "Guess we're gonna go talk to those guys, then?"

"I'm going. You're staying here."

"No way!" Rainbow immediately protested.

Vincent sighed, shaking his head with disapproval. He kneeled on one knee, looking Rainbow directly in the eyes. "Look, I know you can veto this immediately, but I think you should stay here where it's safe. If something happens to me, well... whole place'll be just for you! You'll be like a kid home alone without his parents!" Vincent briefly chuckled at the idea. "Don't think you could get the Inexorable up 'n runnin', though, not without me. So no joyrides, Dash. Sorry."

"Nope," Rainbow insisted. "Not staying here. Comin' with ya. You need backup."

"Can you shoot?"

Rainbow blinked, not anticipating the unfamiliar term. "Can I... what?"

Vincent nodded sagely. "Exactly. You'd just get in the way. Trust me, Dash, I used to know someone just like you who thought he was hot shit, and, well... then he ate it. Didn't make it back to the States alive."

"Ate what? His words?"

"A bullet." Vincent frowned.

"A—" Rainbow blinked, making the connection. She deflated. "Oh... Sorry."

"Don't be. Weren't your fault. Wasn't mine, either. He made a stupid decision. Don't need to think about it anymore." Vincent stood up with a groan, stretching his legs until his joints released pops. "I'm just saying, Dash: don't be a hero. Ever. It's dangerous. You only got one life, y'know? Savor it."

Rainbow frowned stubbornly, but remained silent and resisted the urge to speak her mind. She wanted to help, but she wasn't sure how. She hated receiving orders and being bossed around. She wanted to be proactive.

Vincent walked to the opposite side of the workshop and began gathering equipment. He lifted his rifle where it had been leaning against the concrete wall.

Rainbow trotted closer, observing as Vincent detached the 5-round magazine and inserted new rounds until it was full to its maximum capacity. He placed the full magazine onto the counter and unzipped a compartment in a nearby backpack, withdrawing a single live round. Holding it delicately between his pointer and middle finger, he effortlessly used the palm and remaining fingers of his right hand to rotate the bolt of his rifle and reveal the chamber. He inserted the round and closed the bolt. Finally, he attached the magazine and assured the safety was enabled before placing the rifle onto the counter.

Vincent noticed Rainbow watching. He smirked. "Yeah, I was taught not to pull that special brand'a bullshit 'cause of safety. Sixth round constantly being chambered isn't safe, y'know. They really drill it into ya so you don't shoot your buddies by accident. I'm not taking any chances today, though."

Rainbow blinked, marveling simultaneously at the dexterity of Vincent's hands and also the sheer complexity of human technology. The artistry required to produce machines with so many moving parts was incomprehensible.

"So I don't qualify to be one of your buddies, huh?"

"Don't worry, not gonna shoot ya. I'm not a jackass like a few other guys I remember from boot camp who didn't know their asses from holes in the ground."

Vincent unzipped one of the deeper compartments of the bag, withdrawing a metal canteen which he tossed in Rainbow's direction. She snapped it out of midair using her teeth and then transferred it to one of her hooves to examine it.

Shiny metal shell. The small screw cap was attached to two thin metal bars designed to alleviate the user's stress about potentially losing such a tiny cap.

Rainbow expertly unscrewed the cap using her mouth and cautiously sniffed the canteen's contents.

Confirming it was water, she happily drank from the canteen's contents, taking long gulps. She shook the flask when it was empty, listening to the attached cap jangle against the metal shell. "Got any more?"

Vincent chuckled at her enthusiam. "When we come back, yeah. Give it here."

Rainbow tossed the canteen in Vincent's direction, which he effortlessly caught and transferred into the backpack. "Ain't got any bags that'd fit your weird body shape, Dash. Could probably make you one. I ain't much of a seamster, but there's tools here. Could probably rig somethin' together for ya. I'll make you my packmule yet."

Vincent slipped the backpack's straps over his shoulders and tightened their fit so the straps hugged him securely. He suspended his rifle over one shoulder by its sling.

"You ready?"

"Ready as I'll ever be!" Rainbow saluted sloppily with one hoof, ignoring the hostile glare Vincent was suddenly sporting.

"Hey!" Vincent pointed a finger accusingly. "Don't pull that kinda shit. It's disrespectful."

Rainbow frowned, pausing momentarily as she pondered. She recalled how it was considered disrespectful for civilians to salute EUP Royal Guards, especially if said civilian performed the salute incorrectly.

Rainbow straightened her posture. She placed her hooves the signified length apart, firmly planting them against the concrete floor with an audible clop, then raised her hoof to her forehead in a singular smooth, sharp motion.

Vincent shrugged, unimpressed. "Better, I guess. At least your posture is straight. Can't take you seriously with that hair, though. Or the lack of fingers."

Rainbow relaxed her posture and lowered her hoof to the ground. She remembered in ancient Equestria when the EUP was first devised, the EUP Royal Guard recruited war veterans. Equestria hadn't experienced war for at least a millennia, so all recent Royal Guards in Rainbow's lifetime were civilian recruits who experienced basic training.

"So you learned how to salute when you were a soldier?"

Vincent released a gentle, contemplative sigh. "Among other things, yeah. They set me straight. That was years ago, though. Quickly learned it wasn't my thing. Did what I had to do, made my dad proud and split when I could."

"When?" Rainbow's interest was immediately captured.

"2003. Didn't return to the States until years later."

"Do you wanna talk—"

"No." Vincent shook his head.

Disappointed, Rainbow hung her head. "Okay, whatever."

Rainbow mourned the loss of her ability to fly, but she also yearned for the convenience of using her wings for various tasks. Under normal circumstances in order to brush sweat from her forehead, Rainbow would use one of her wings. Now in Nowhere with her flight feathers clipped, she had to resort to using her hooves. She was using her hooves for everything. She wasn't accustomed to it.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Rainbow voiced her concerns. Vincent had been walking in a straight line east for at least 30 minutes or upwards of an hour.

Vincent adjusted his grip on his rifle, clamping it in a trail-carry position. "Nope. Figure our neighbors are camping somewhere in these fields, and that's the best I got to go by."

Rainbow sighed, frustrated. "If I could fly, I could get a view from above and easily spot them. Down here there's too many hills and trees."

It was true. Rolling hills and the occasional patch of trees obscured vision. Rainbow's line of sight only extended about 1/4th of a mile at a time before meeting the base of a hill. Nowhere was composed entirely of wild, untamed wilderness without flat roads.

Vincent slung his rifle over a shoulder and reached into one of the pockets of his jeans, withdrawing a little cardboard box. He plucked a small, white-and-orange cylinder from the box before slipping the box back into his pocket. He wielded a lighter and rolled his thumb over the wheel, summoning sparks. He cradled the cigarette and lighter with both hands to shelter them from wind and assure the tip of the cigarette had ignited. Satisfied with the orange glow being emitted from the tip of the cigarette, Vincent slipped the lighter back into one of his pockets and puffed liberally, exhaling a small volume of smoke.

"I won't turn us in circles, Dash. Trust my sense of direction. If we go too far and find nothing, we'll just have to head back and wait for them to come to us."

"What's that?" Rainbow asked curiously.

"Cigarette."

"Why are you choosing this exact moment to get high when we're in the middle of nowhere?"

Incredulous, Vincent reached one of his hands up and clutched the cigarette between two fingers, plucking it out from between his lips. "What? Tobacco don't make you high, it—" He blinked. "Are you fucking with me?"

"No, I'm not messing with you! Psychedelics are a big part of traditional Zebra culture, I just assumed you... y'know." Rainbow shrugged.

Vincent chuckled, inserting the cigarette between his lips once again. "Yeah? Okay. Anyway, I haven't had Mary Jane since college. Tobacco just eases your nerves. You should try it sometime."

Rainbow shook her head. The conversation naturally concluded as she grew silent, dwelling on something. She changed the topic.

"If you've been here for four years, how do you still have some left? You space 'em out that well?"

"Funny story actually!" Vincent smiled, reminiscing. "Found a car nose-down half sucked up in the Acid Swamp down south a few months ago. There was a lot of useful shit in the trunk. It was worth the blisters I got trying to search the damn thing.

Rainbow's eyes widened. "Whoa, wait! You said acid... swamp? Like, actual acid?"

"We can head down there sometime if ya want. Yeah, it's literally a giant pool of—" Vincent paused, cutting himself off and shooting a hand into the air in a "halt" motion. He quickly spat out the cigarette, stomping on it a few times to extinguish it.

Rainbow obediently stopped, her eyes widening as she spotted what lied before them.

It was a small assemblage of outbuildings and a strip of black pavement. A road. The unknown force that had ripped the circular disk of earth and pavement and placed it onto the surface of Nowhere had done so sloppily. The pavement was floating a few feet above the ground.

"Ain't ever seen something like that," Vincent commented. "Only human building I've ever seen here is the auto shop." He unslung his rifle and planted one hand on the underbarrel grip, curling his opposite hand around the stock with his pointer finger hovering near the trigger. "This is probably where our friends are hiding out. Let's go greet our new neighbors, shall we? Ain't got any homemade baked goods to offer, though."

Rainbow eyed the weapon Vincent was brandishing. "You aren't gonna hurt them, are you?"

"Don't intend to. Said I wouldn't." Vincent narrowed his eyes, scanning the windows and rooftops of the distant buildings meticulously, searching for movement. "But I'd be a fool walkin' straight into what could be an ambush without protection."

"Why does it have to be an ambush? Do you trust anyone?"

Vincent licked his dry lips absent-mindedly. "Trust me, Dash, everyone's automatically guilty. Take every interaction with a grain of salt. Ask my dad and he'd tell you the same thing: you choose to trust the wrong person and they pull out a gun and shoot you in the back as soon as you turn around." Vincent's facial expression was hard and serious.

Rainbow frowned, unconvinced. "Aren't gonna make friends with that attitude."

"Trust me, we're not here to make friends, Dash. As far as I'm concerned, it's you and me against the world, the jungle. Vincent flexed the fingers of his left hand, clutching the underbarrel grip tightly. "Funny, 'cause my dad was in Vietnam. Could probably tell ya a couple stories later he shared with me when I was younger, 'fore he died.

"He was fighting guerillas. Thing about fightin' guerillas is that they usually arm civilians and almost never wear military clothes. You never know who's innocent," Vincent reinstated.

Rainbow considered the knowledge he had shared with her. It was surprisingly wise. Vincent's outlook on war and their overall situation was bleak, yet realistic and rational. Apparently, his family had an intimate relationship with warfare. If his native nation in the world he had come from considered it necessary for members of multiple successive generations to serve in their armed forces, then it was a nation familiar with the concept of war. Perhaps it was a nation that preferred war as its primary method of resolving political strife. That idea was terrifying.

"Are you sure about this...?" Rainbow was suddenly stricken with anxiety, fearful she or Vincent would be hurt. She was quickly realizing that humans as a species seemed inherently hostile.

"Just gonna talk with 'em, Dash," Vincent reassured her. Before she could reply, he began navigating down the hill and towards the elevated road.

Rainbow trotted to keep pace with her companion, fluttering her wings nervously. Something didn't feel right about the deserted group of buildings. It was too quiet.

A car was lying on its side in the tall grass. Vincent eyed the abandoned vehicle curiously as he approached. "Someone probably tried to drive it straight off'a that raised bit'a road. Weren't goin' fast enough, managed to nearly flip the thing," he mused.

He utilized the abandoned car by climbing on top of it to give himself a boost. He tossed his rifle onto the raised plateau and leapt off of the vehicle, catching the edge of the pavement with both hands. He bent his elbows and pulled himself up. Again, Rainbow marveled at his sheer strength.

Rainbow hopped up onto the abandoned car and effortlessly launched herself into the air and onto the elevated pavement using her muscular rear legs.

Vincent nodded approvingly, impressed. He retrieved his rifle from where he had tossed it and gripped it securely in both hands, beginning to creep down the street cautiously.

Rainbow swept her gaze across windows, open doors and rooftops, searching for movement or signs of recent habitation. The group of unidentified buildings looked decrepit and entirely abandoned. They were small, no larger than sheds.

A colorful poster caught her attention. It was a poster designed to caution readers of local hazards judging by the red-and-black warning symbol. The text was composed of foreign, illegible letters. They resembled the modern Equestrian alphabet vaguely, but with reversed, upside down or otherwise warped characters.

A voice spoke in a foreign tongue, with guttural, trilling pronounciations of unrecognizable words. It started Rainbow, making her jump.

"Just want to talk," Vincent called out, raising his voice. He hesitated, waiting for a response that never came. "Sprichst du Deutsch?" He attempted, changing his approach and gesturing with the buttstock of the hunting rifle he clutched.

The unseen man kneeling atop the roof uttered another string of foreign words. They sounded aggressive, threatening.

From her current position, Rainbow couldn't see who was crouching on top of the roof. She turned her head briefly and glanced at Vincent, unsure if she should speak up and attempt to communicate.

A deafening eruption of sound made her flinch and cry out. She watched as Vincent clutched his right shoulder with a grunt and dove left for cover behind one of the buildings.

Rainbow froze for a second, her heart thrumming in fright. She stumbled, tripping over her own hooves as she darted right. She heard the distinct report of a bullet zipping past her head, missing her narrowly and ricocheting off of the pavement with a dramatic ZING!

Rainbow sat back on her haunches, leaning back against the cold concrete wall of the building she was sheltered by. She clenched her eyes shut and clamped her hooves over her ears, cowering. Alarmingly, gunfire was being exchanged. Despite her hooves enveloping her ears completely, her hearing was still sensitive enough that the muffled bangs and rapid successive pops made her flinch.

She dared to slowly raise her head and gaze around when the dramatic cracks of gunfire concluded. She saw Vincent across the street clenching a hand over the wound in his right shoulder. He waved at her with his left hand, signaling he was okay. Rainbow returned the wave feebly, disorientated. A headache throbbing in her temples and above her eyebrows made her wince.

Vincent sat leaning against the wall inert for a few moments longer, tilting his head as he listened.

The world was still. The wind breathed, blowing a lock of Rainbow's mane into her eyes.

Vincent groaned, propping himself with the arm of his uninjured shoulder. He shakily stood onto his two feet and jogged across the street, kneeling in front of Rainbow. He planted the stock of his hunting rifle against the concrete ground, pointing it skyward. He gripped the underbarrel grip, leaning some of his weight against the rifle like it were a cane. "Weren't hit, were you?"

Her ears laid back against her head stressfully. "N - no, I don't think so." She frowned. "You're bleeding..."

Vincent grunted in acknowledgement. He winced, his hand twitching as he resisted the urge to grasp his shouldler. "Oh yeah. They got me really bad..."

He stood with a groan, clutching his hunting rifle in both hands. "I'll survive. Come on."

Rainbow stood onto all four hooves, stretching and flapping her wings lightly before following Vincent. She sighed, depressed. It wasn't the first scrap she had been in, but it had been the first gunfight she had survived. To make matters worse, she had no authority over her current plight. She thought she would be spontaneous and help Vincent by bucking whoever challeged him. She simply wasn't able to do that, though. The current circumstances were out of her control. It was disheartening.

Rainbow internally warned herself to keep her eyes off of the corpses, knowing it would make her sick. There were three which had fallen from the roof. Pale yellow-green clothing and helmets. Brown boots. Rifles. Faces. Real, expressive faces.

Rainbow caught a brief glimpse of the glassy-eyed stare of a corpse lying supine before forcing herself to look away, nauseaous. Bile seethed in her throat. She swallowed, grimacing at the bitter taste.

"Law enforcement? Paramilitary? Counterterrorism?" Vincent wondered aloud, setting his hunting rifle down onto the pavement and kneeling before one of the corpses. He placed his pointer and middle finger firmly beneath the man's jaw, near the windpipe. Not sensing a pulse, Vincent removed his fingers, frowning.

Vincent used his fingers to delicately seperate a metal chain from the man's neck. Attached around the metal chain were two flat ovoid sheets of metal displaying stamped text. "Ahh, shit. Dog tags."

"Dog tags?" Rainbow echoed, confused. She stared directly at Vincent, avoiding looking elsewhere.

"These guys were military," Vincent clarified. "What they were speaking sounded slavic. Could be Polish, Czech, Slovak, Ukrainian, Russian... Didn't want to shoot these assholes either way." He sighed.

Rainbow bowed her head low in a solemn, respectful gesture as she mourned. She closed her eyes for a few long, comtemplative minutes.

When she raised her head, she noticed Vincent had been unsystematically rummaging through the soldier's pockets and pouches and had located some first aid equipment. He was in the process of nursing the gunshot wound in his right shoulder, bandaging a sterile dressing over the extent of the injury.

"Ain't got the bells and whistles of an American IFAK," Vincent commented, grunting with effort as he flexed his now-swathed shoulder, "but it does the job."

Rainbow tried to resist the urge to hang her head low and look depressed, but they were unconscious gestures.

"You look 'bout as sad as a dog who knows he's goin' to the vet," Vincent commented. "Buck up, Dash. This wasn't completely worthless. Got some supplies."

"Yeah... Whatever." Rainbow turned and walked a short distance away, kicking a little chunk of dislodged pavement down the asphalt road with a hoof. "If you need help carrying stuff, just tell me."

"Won't need to carry jack if there's a car around we can use." Vincent stood, retrieving one of the Kalashnikov-rifle derivatives the soldiers had wielded. He ejected the curved plastic magazine and shook it to estimate how full it was, then reinserted it. "Would suggest you stay outside, but you'll be safer with me. Come on. There's a few rooms we gotta check."

Reluctantly, Rainbow flanked Vincent, guarding his rear as he meticulously cleared each outbuilding. Finding no one hiding within the shadows, Vincent frowned. "Only three," he mused.

They did, however, locate a car parked behind a concrete wall. Vincent withdrew a key from one of the pockets of his jeans and inserted it into a keyhole adjacent to the car's door handle, successfully rotating the lock.

"How did you...?" Rainbow cut herself off immediately once the realization came to her.

"It's not stealing if they're dead," Vincent protested.

Disturbed by how Vincent so casually spoke about such a macabre subject, Rainbow sighed, not arguing.

Vincent sat in the drivers seat and inserted the key into the car's ignition keyhole, twisting it.

The vehicle's engine sputtered several times before eventually roaring to life with a low rumbling noise.

Vincent smirked. "We're in business, now!" He disengaged the key from the ignition. The car's engine abruptly ceased rumbling. "Alright, we got a place to pack our junk. Help me move stuff."

Rainbow kept her eyes glued to the asphalt and concrete ground, avoiding gazing at the deceased soldiers as she transferred supplies to the trunk of the old 1988 Volga GAZ-24. Two unloaded Kalashnikov rifles, magazines, plate carriers, combat helmets, medical provisions, field rations, firearm cleaning kits and small entrenching tools.

Rainbow was relieved to be on her hooves and moving. The physical exercise helped distract her. Some of the items were particularly heavy, but there was nothing she couldn't handle.

Vincent wielded one of the entrenching tools, pointing with a finger to the trunk of the old GAZ-24 where they had stored the other spades. "Grab an E-tool and help me dig a grave. Ain't right to leave 'em out here in the street... you know?"

Rainbow didn't audibly protest. While it wasn't exactly her specialty, digging was physical exercise. She didn't assist with transferring the corpses over the edge of the plateau to the ground below, but she did help excavate and fill the grave. With Vincent's injured right shoulder, progress was slow.

Internally, Rainbow noted how the human corpses didn't decompose into dust like all magical creatures did.

Vincent stacked the soldiers' boots, their dog tags, two of their helmets and two of their entrenching tools over the filled grave.

"Ain't quite a full cross. Sorry, boys—need your rifles."

They stood alongside one another for several long moments, gazing at the memorial they had erected.

"Ain't no use in leavin' too many valuable supplies here." Vincent adjusted his grip on one of the soldiers' helmets, fitting it over his head. "Would give you one too, Dash. They're made of kevlar. Strong. But I know they wouldn't fit your head shape.

"Well..." Vincent stretched his wrists, flexing his fingers. "That's enough fun and games for a Tuesday. Come on, let's head back to the car, Dash. Get out of here."

Together, they circled around to the opposite side of the plateau and mounted the abandoned car, climbing to the top of the plateau. Vincent tossed the car key underhand with his good arm. Rainbow leapt into the air and caught it expertly in her mouth, trotting around to the rear of the old Volga GAZ-24. She slammed the trunk shut to assure their spoils remained secure.

Rainbow unlocked the passenger door using her mouth and leapt up onto the passenger's seat, sitting back on her haunches. She managed to reach with a foreleg and shut her door without losing her balance and toppling over, though barely. The vehicle simply wasn't designed to accommodate pony occupants.

While waiting for Vincent, she eyed a little potted flower secured near the parking brake. Lime stem, lime heart-shaped leaves and heart-shaped little pink and magenta petals.

Vincent slipped into the drivers seat and slammed his door shut firmly to assure it closed completely. He accepted the car key offered to him and turned it in the ignition. He listened to the rumbling engine, quiet. He glanced over at her. "You sure you don't want a smoke? You're lookin' a little stressed."

Rainbow immediately shook her head. "Just get us outta here, Vinny."

"Roger." He depressed the parking brake lever to disengage it, then pressed the clutch and put the car into first gear.

Despite feeling aloof and distant, Rainbow couldn't help but marvel at how smoothly the vehicle propelled itself. It was like they were gliding across the pavement on iceskates.

Vincent rotated the steering wheel to its limit and oriented the vehicle 180 degrees in the opposite direction. He aligned himself in the center of the asphalt road. It was a straight shot to where the pavement crumbled away and yielded to grass and dirt several feet below. The vehicle's headlights illuminated the dilapidated street in a yellow glow. The suns of Nowhere were beginning to set over the horizon.

"Hold onto somethin', Dash," Vincent cautioned her, "and make sure you don't bite your tongue. Gonna be a hard landing."

Rainbow braced herself, pressing herself firmly against the back of the passenger's seat. She yelped as Vincent slammed the accelerator and the car shot forward. He managed to switch gears twice before the car careered over the edge and landed onto the ground below with a hard thump. The momentum threw Rainbow upwards against the car's solid metal roof, but aside from a minor aching in her head, it wasn't a particularly violent landing.

Vincent jerked the wheel to stabilize their trajectory and assure they didn't crash into any trees before pumping a fist into the air in victory. "Whoooo! 'Hard landing' my ass!"

He chuckled as he expertly weaved the car between trees and switched gears a final time, cruising at a mild 30mph.

Rainbow straightened her back and tilted her head upwards, barely managing to see over the dashboard. She was far shorter than a standard passenger. She saw the yellow beams emitted by the headlights illuminate foliage as they passed.

"At this rate we'll be home in maybe 10 minutes. Sure beats walkin'." Vincent clutched the wheel with his left hand and rested his injured right shoulder, holding the arm still.

Rainbow ceased trying to gaze through the windshield and instead slumped in her seat, staring gloomily up at the GAZ-24's rusty metal roof.

She recalled how when Vincent finished off the remaining Slavic soldiers, he had jogged over to assure she wasn't injured. She couldn't allow the thoughtful gesture to remain unacknowledged.

"You wanted to know if I was okay," Rainbow raised her voice, speaking up. "It was one of the first thoughts in your mind when the shooting stopped. Thanks. That... means something."

"Did they even shoot at you?" Vincent kept his eyes where he was driving, occasionally swerving to avoid a tree or other obstacle.

"I dunno. Couldn't tell," she admitted, sighing. "Maybe."

"Huh." Vincent frowned. "Well, you and I gotta watch out for each other. That's why. Didn't even think too much 'bout it."

When one of the car's wheels dipped low in a depression in the ground, its inferior suspension made the vehicle lurch sharply. Rainbow jumped, then looked over at Vincent. His relaxed expression assured her the jolt wasn't abnormal.

"And," Vincent continued, sighing, "don't wanna admit this so readily, but... I care about your safety. I'm not too good with emotions, Dash, so when I say we're buddies... I mean it."

Rainbow smiled slightly. It was reassuring to hear those words being spoken. "You'd annoy the flying feather out of my friends back home, but I do kinda like you. You're annoying sometimes, though."

Vincent snorted. "Yeah? How?"

"The bad jokes."

He chuckled, nodding affirmingly. "Yeah, I know. Teasing comes with the job, Dash. They're called your 'battle buds' for a reason—I bet most of the guys I used to serve with didn't actually like each other, but it's a sort of forced-bonding kinda thing through combat. Shared trauma, y'know. Humor helps with the stress. You get used to it after a while, and it just becomes second nature."

Rainbow pondered what had been said for a few moments. She recalled how, when she was first recruited into the Wonderbolts, she had struggled to shake her terrible nickname 'Rainbow Crash' after wiping out in front of her fellow peers. She hadn't realized it at the time, but it was undoubtedly teasing for the sake of bonding. While not entirely relevant to what Vincent had mentioned, she still thought it was a valid point to mention.

"When I joined the Wonderbolts academy for the first time, I managed to screw up and wipe out. Did a risky move to try to impress everypony. Got stuck with the nickname 'Rainbow Crash' for a while. Felt targeted before I realized it was just their way of welcoming me to the academy."

Vincent grinned. "Wowie. That's a great pun. And you earned that how, by flying and crashing on your first day?"

"On my first day," Rainbow repeated, confirming.

"Funny. The self-appointed 'greatest Wonderbolt' crashed on her first day."

"It was an accident!"

Ba-bump. Ba-bump. Ba-bump. The car bounced up and down. None of the shock from each bump on the unstable terrain was absorbed by the rocky suspension.

Rainbow sighed, tired. She was feeling mentally exhausted from the stress. "I... feel bad for those guys."

Vincent adjusted his grip on the wheel, clutching it at 12-o-clock. The car rocked aggressively as he guided it up the hill near the auto repair shop. The ride smoothened out significantly as they began ascending the ramp slowly and steadily towards the parking lot. "Look, Dash... They were scared out of their minds. Made a stupid decision to attack us. I didn't ask to be here. You didn't ask to be here. That's just... the way it is. Wrong place and wrong time for all of us."

Rainbow frowned, pursing her lips. "Yeah, well... Thanks for not making me feel better."

Vincent parked the GAZ-24 in the auto repair shop's parking lot. He yanked the parking brake lever upwards to engage the brake. The car's yellow headlights illuminated the front of the shop and all of its corners and odd angles, casting eerie shadows.

Vincent sighed, resting his left hand on the steering wheel. "C'mon. We can take inventory in the morning, and I'll try to get the truck up and runnin'."

Suddenly, Rainbow's ultimate goal of exploring Nowhere and discovering a way home seemed childish, hinging on too many assumptions and unknowns.

Disspirited, Rainbow hung her head, closing her eyes in thought. She thought of the glassy stare of the lifeless corpse that had once been an individual.

"Fuck." She attempted to correctly enunciate the new, unfamiliar curse word. Its harshness felt sensible given the situation.

Vincent rolled the GAZ-24's window down and reached into one of the pockets of his blue jeans, retrieiving the carton of cigarettes. He ignited one with his lighter, dangling his left arm carelessly out of the GAZ-24's window as he held the cigarette between his lips and puffed liberally. "Ach du lieber Himmel..."

Rainbow felt the car rumbling beneath her hooves. The gentle vibrations felt vaguely relaxing. She much preferred the sensation compared to the cold, motionless Mazda she slept in the night prior.

Vincent clutched the cigarette between his index finger and thumb, suspending the cigarette outside of the driver's window for a moment as he tapped it to discard some of the embers. He extended his left arm over his body and reached, offering the cigarette to Rainbow.

She recalled the specific words Vincent had used to describe how they worked, affirming the substance "eased nerves".

There was no hesitation this time. She accepted the offered cigarette using a hoof and inserted the filter between her lips, inhaling gently.

The vile smoke invading her lungs overwhelmed her, triggering a rapid series of coughs. Rainbow heaved, gladly returning the cigarette to Vincent. "Yeah, no. Keep it. I can't do that." She shuddered.

Vincent chuckled dryly, plucking the cigarette from her hoof and inserting it between his lips once again. "Don't worry about it, Dash. It's an acquired taste."

"'Acquired taste' my flank." Rainbow grimaced.