Never Stop Running

As Rainbow stumbled down the stone staircase she leaned heavily against the walls, every panting breath slowly replacing the putrid smell of decaying flesh with a watery, rocky scent. Blood still dripping down her sides left her painfully aware of the condition she was in and how much of a fuss her friends were bound to make when she was spotted. Of course, it would only be made worse if they saw the last few tears still trailing lines across her dirt-covered cheeks.

Once she reached the second door at the end of the stairs - this one without the buttons but just as strong - she stopped. Running a hoof over her ratted rainbow mane she realized how long it had grown since she'd last cut it. Her tail was in much the same condition. A visit to Rarity was in order. But first... Getting the bag to Twilight.

And a nap. Definitely a nap.

A few more silent moments passed as Rainbow wiped any evidence of the tears from her face. A deep breath and a confident smile plastered on her face, and she was ready. Two quick, then three slow taps on the door and it opened, a dark grey stallion peeking out at Rainbow. His face lit up when he recognized her and he pulled the door the rest of the way open, revealing the room behind it.

It was a small room, but with enough space for about five ponies to fit comfortably. Other than the door he'd just opened, there were three others; One on either side and another on the opposite wall, each leading to different rooms in the bunker.

"Hey, Thunderlane!" Rainbow said, grabbing the bag and trotting past him into the bunker. She had to raise her voice a little to be heard over the screeching metal as he forced the door shut again, "Your shift at the door?"

"Yep," Thunderlane said cheerily, sitting down in front of the door now that it was secured. "Octavia's at the other one." He tilted his head to the side, glancing at the bag. It was subtle, but Rainbow could see the way his smile grew just a little at the edges when he saw it. And how it faltered when his amber eyes grazed over her wounds and the broken stump of what used to be. "Another successful mission?"

"You expect anything less from the amazing Rainbow Dash?" She felt like anything but amazing. But she would rather die than let anyone in this bunker see it.

"No, Ma'am," Thunderlane shook his head, the wide grin back on his face. That was why she kept going. That was why she refused to give up, no matter what came her way. She'd stop at nothing to make sure the few ponies left had someone to look up to and protect them.

Rainbow nodded and flashed another smile of her own before turning to leave, but paused and looked back over her shoulder at him. "You know where Twilight is?"

"In the Study," he nodded over towards the door on the right.

Rainbow thanked him and continued on through the instructed door, this one made out of simple wood and easy to push open. She trotted through yet another short hallway and another door, smoothing out her wild mane the best she could as she went, holding the bag between her teeth.

As she entered, a purple mare's head shot up from her position bent over a desk littered with notepads and papers filled to the brim with writing. The rest of the room was in much the same condition; wooden shelves crammed with more notepads, journals, and the few books Twilight had managed to grab while they were stocking the bunker. Twilight had spent the majority of her time here over the past year, trying to figure out a way to cure the infection and bring everypony back from hiding.

The pencil fell from Twilight's mouth as she looked at Rainbow, her eyes blurring as tears threatened to spill. She leapt up from her seat and galloped towards Rainbow, throwing her hooves around her as she buried her face in the mare's light blue fur.

"You're back!" Twilight exclaimed, her voice muffled. Rainbow's smile wavered, ears drooping as she returned the hug.

"You miss me?" She fought to keep the tremble out of her voice and to keep back the tears returning to her eyes as she melted into the comforting arms of her friend.

"Miss you?" She cried, pulling back and looking Rainbow in the eye, giving her full view of the tears pouring down her cheeks. "Rainbow Dash, you were gone for three days. Three. Days. You were meant to go out, get the seeds, and come back on the same day. Same. Day."

"Hey, hey," Rainbow cooed, wiping her cheek gingerly. "I'm here now, aren't I? I came back, and I'm perfectly fine. I ran into some... complications, sure, but nothing I can't handle! Right?"

Twilight leaned into the touch, taking a shuddering breath and nodding. "Right. You're right." She sat up and wiped at the tears. "Nothing you can't handle."

"And now that I am here, with the seeds, we can get planting," Rainbow declared happily, trying to get Twilight to focus on the thing she loved doing most down here.

"Yeah! We'll get the seeds to Pinkie and help her get started." It had worked. Twilight stood up, turning back to the desk. "But first, we have to go see Rarity. She has all the bandages in her spot in Storage from taking care of Lyra. So, we can get you patched up and-"

Twilight cut off with a gasp, her hooves flying up to cover her mouth as more tears rushed down her face. Rainbow flinched. She knew exactly what Twilight had just noticed.

"Listen, Twi-" Rainbow was cut off as she came running back up to her, nearly slamming her to the ground with the force of her hug.

"Oh, R-rainbow Dash!" Twilight wailed, crushing Rainbow between her arms. "Your wing! W-w-what happened to you? You- I-" As words failed her, Twilight just sobbed into her shoulder.

It had been a long time since Twilight had really cried. She let the tears fall when they came, but the heaving, chest-shattering sobs forcing their way out of her throat now was something she didn't let happen. The last time was... around five months ago, after Rainbow failed Fluttershy and they had to burn her body. Twilight was almost as set on not letting on any weakness as Rainbow was. Would be on near the same level if Twilight didn't let her mask slip in front of her closest friends. She was able to open up where Rainbow failed, and sometimes, Rainbow envied her for it.

They sat like that for a while, Rainbow holding Twilight up in her arms as she cried. When her sobs began to slow, Twilight lifted her head and wiped at her cheeks.

"S-sorry. Sorry," she quickly regained her composure and stepped back, though her legs were still shaking. "What happened?" Rainbow opened her mouth to explain but was quickly cut off. "No, wait. Don't tell me yet." She took a shuddering breath and started to walk slowly towards the door behind Rainbow. "The girls will want to hear, too."

Rainbow nodded, jumping to her hooves and grabbing the bag as she followed after Twilight as she walked through the door and started back down the hall. She stopped with Twilight when she did, watching as her friends wiped the remaining tears from her fur before stepping into the small room where Thunderlane was still sitting.

"Hello, Thunderlane," Twilight chirped a greeting, which Thunderlane returned with a nod of his head.

They crossed the room and went through the opposite door, walking down a matching hallway to get to Storage, which was the biggest room in the entire bunker. For good reason, too. It was where most of the supplies were kept, all stacked on shelves that were reorganized at least once a month by a very bubbly Twilight. Despite all that had happened, she still loved to keep everything in order, even if they didn't really need it. Upon stepping into the room, you were immediately met by rows of wooden shelves, four on each side of the path through the room. Five original rows made twenty shelves, but after over a year in the Bunker, three of the four shelves in the furthest row from the door were cleared out to repurpose the wood. Rarity set up a small infirmary there about two months ago, after Lyra's incident, and moved all of the medical supplies to the remaining shelf.

Trotting down the gap through the shelves, Rainbow watched Twilight's eyes as they flitted across the remaining supplies, taking stock once again. The smallest flash of worry in her eyes was all Rainbow caught, but that was always there, no matter how much they had.

Twilight was always worried about the supplies, even though they had enough to last them at least another six years. That was, as long as they didn't have any more outbreaks.

It would be fine, though. They would deal with it, and everything would be fine. Rainbow would make sure of it, and she knew everypony in the Bunker would do whatever they could to help.