Laments of the Dimension-Stranded ⁽ᴿᵉᵐᵃᵏᵉ⁾

A subtle popping noise caused Vincent to jolt as if he had been shocked by electricity. He stood, motionless, tilting his head as he listened carefully. An identical popping noise echoed again, and, that time, it was obvious the noise originated somewhere in the east. Rainbow associated the unknown noise with the distinct report of a distant firecracker exploding, despite the fact that probably wasn't what it was.

"Who's doing that?" he mused.

"What is it? Sounds like firecrackers," she commented naively.

"Loud gunshots. From a rifle. They're a few miles away."

"The human you saw earlier?"

"I thought I could have been seeing things earlier, but…" His eyes narrowed. "There's definitely someone out here with us."

She opened her mouth to comment, but she was interrupted by a noisy growl which erupted from her stomach. She grimaced in discomfort.

"Focus on eating. You’ll heal faster with something in your belly."

Rainbow stabbed the leaves and veggies of her freshly mixed salad with a fork, popped the greenery into her mouth, and happily munched. Her vegan salad was composed of fresh vegetarian ingredients sourced from local plants her acquaintance had identified as safe for consumption. When she was finished eating, she temporarily left her seat to place the empty bowl onto the hood of an abandoned car, then rejoined him near the edge of the parking lot.

"Thanks." She rested a hoof on her belly. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm feeling better already. I guess even Daring Do couldn't go on heart-palpitating adventures on an empty stomach."

He sat with his legs dangling precariously over the edge and folded his arms in his lap. "Who's Daring Do? Popular action hero?" He glanced sidelong at her, raising an eyebrow curiously.

"Hero, ruins-explorer, treasure-hunter, villain-defeater, and my friend," she enumerated proudly.

"Sounds... insane." He chuckled. "Have you gotten up to crazy stuff like that, too?"

"Yeah, I have! I've done so much for Equestria, and I've met so many cool ponies." Before them stretched ambling mint grasslands and sprawling forests of ochre-barked curling trees. Distantly, to the southwest, wispy black smoke billowed into the air. Rainbow admired the enticing, fluffy white clouds rolling across the sky overhead. She fluttered her healthy left wing, then begrudgingly returned her gaze to the earth with a sigh. "I'm just worried... I've never been away from them for so long before."

She stood and stepped away a few paces. "Sorry, I think I'm all story-ed out right now. I think I'll just—"

Rainbow froze. Though the sensation was indescribable, it was actual. A vague sensation welled within her. It was as if she had suddenly remembered something critical and impactful. Clarity. It felt like the gentle, cool embrace of levitation magic against fur, except It was internal, within her body. She felt...

"I think we need to go south."

Vincent raised an eyebrow. He leaned aside and craned his neck to look over his shoulder awkwardly. "Huh? What do you mean? And stop standing in my blind spot like that. Come back around."

She was dizzy, as if she had recovered from a wild midair barrel roll and her brain was topsy-turvy. She shook her head forcefully, attempting to focus, but, frustratingly, whatever had been tempting her had abruptly silenced. She pounded a hoof against the pavement in anger. "Agh! What the hay?"

"Hey! Mind sharing what all that was about?"

“I just got this weird feeling... It's gone now, but I think we need to head south. Past that smoke."

He squinted with annoyance. “Yeah, that's the one part you've already shared. And?"

"I don't know! It just disappeared! I can usually sense when something is wrong, and trust me, something is definitely wrong. Either I'm being messed with, or, actually... it could be magic." Rainbow sat alongside him with a grunt of annoyance. "I can't keep doing this. I can't stay cooped up here until my wing heals. I need to get out there! Don't you want to find whatever's out there? Haven't you ever thought about it?"

"I know how you feel." Vincent gestured with both arms in a gentle motion to indicate she should calm down. "When I first got here, I drove my car until I almost ran out of gas. I managed to crash it into a ditch, then I walked some more. If there's anything else out here, I never found it. This auto shop is the only landmark. We're surrounded by empty plains and hills for miles. This place is cursed. We're stuck out here. Possibly forever. And I figure if anyone wanted to rescue us, they would have been here a long time ago. That's what I think." He pursed his lips. "But... I have been trying to fix up a truck recently. I guess if I manage to get it up and running, we could do some driving. We probably won't find anything, but it'd be a nice change of pace, I guess."

"Maybe." Rainbow observed as the distant smoke plumes undulated in airborne wind streams. The dizziness persisted, clouding her mind and obfuscating thought.