“How long until our van gets gas?” Fluttershy asked.

“Won’t be long now Flutters.” Rainbow Dash said, pumping the gas into the van’s filler.

“I’m actually surprised that we managed to find a gas station in the wastelands.” Pinkie Pie said. “After all, the wastelands have only sand and bits of ruined structures. So the chances of us finding an actual working gas station here are pretty low. But somehow, we actually found one. How crazy is that?!”

Rainbow chuckled as Pinkie blabbered on and on. She looked at the fuel gauge on the van. It read 50%. Won’t be long now until it reaches 100%.

“I mean, if we managed to find a single working gas station, I wouldn’t be too surprised if we found a functioning restaurant in the wastelands as well.” Pinkie said, continuing her weird ramble. “Or better yet, a village filled with actual ponies living in it! That would be cool to find in the wastelands!”

As Pinkie continued talking about what kind of stuff the three of them could find, Fluttershy noticed that a pony in a brown cape was entering their van. Right before she was about to ask the pony what they’re doing, they were already inside and they immediately slammed the van’s door shut.

Fluttershy was confused on who that pony is and why they got in the van in the first place. But she just chalked it up to the pony wanting to find somewhere safe to protect them from the dangerous wasteland.

“Alright ladies, the van’s all filled up with gas! We are good to keep driving down the sandy road!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Yippee!!” Pinkie cheered, bouncing up and down.

“Wait, really? But what about the pony that’s in our van?” Fluttershy asked.

Rainbow and Pinkie just stared at her in confusion.

“What pony?” Rainbow asked.

“Well, while you guys weren’t looking, I saw a pony in a brown cape just enter our van. I was about to ask them what they were doing, when they just immediately closed the door. I didn’t know why they were going into our van, but maybe it’s because they wanted to find a safe place to protect themselves from the dangers of the wastelands.” Fluttershy explained.

Pinkie Pie immediately bursted into laughter. “Oh Fluttershy. There’s no pony else here except the three of us!” She exclaimed.

“Pinkie’s right. There’s no way that some pony can just walk into our van when we’re the only ponies here.” Rainbow added.

Fluttershy was about to retort, but instead sighed as she knew that her friends wouldn’t believe her.

“Hey don’t worry, Flutters. If there was some pony that tried to get into our van and might possibly rob us of our supplies, we'd make this intruder think twice before they mess with the Warriors of The Wastelands!” Pinkie said, punching the air with her two front hooves to prove a point.

Fluttershy giggled as she watched Pinkie punch the air over and over. Rainbow Dash eventually put a hoof on her shoulder as a way of telling her to stop.

“I think Fluttershy understood what you meant, Pinks. Can you please stop punching the air now?” Rainbow asked.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie exclaimed.

“Alright, enough messing around. Let’s hit the road!” Rainbow exclaimed as she opened the van’s door and flew inside with Pinkie and Fluttershy following her from behind.

Once inside, Fluttershy looked around the van to see if the pony in the brown cape was hiding somewhere. But after looking around, she didn’t find the pony anywhere.

Fluttershy was confused. But then she thought that she hallucinated and maybe the scorching heat from the wastelands outside was what made her hallucinate that pony.

She hates the wastelands.

“Alright girls, let’s drive down the sandy trail!” Pinkie exclaimed as she put the van into drive mode.

And with the press of the gas pedal, Pinkie Pie drove the van away from the gas station and into the great unknown of the wastelands.

With the van now back on the open road, Fluttershy said Rainbow Dash now finally had a chance to kick back and relax on the couch. Which was something that they haven’t done in a while.

“Wanna listen to some tunes, Shy?” Rainbow asked.

Fluttershy nodded.

Rainbow turned on the radio and music began to play from it. Music that was from before The Friendship Apocalypse began. Despite everything, it was nice to listen to something that came before the apocalypse. Rainbow saw the smile on Fluttershy’s face as she hummed along to the songs playing. It made Rainbow smile too.

And so, the two pegasi were able to finally take a breather and listen to some music on the couch while Pinkie drove to unknown parts of the wastelands.

But unbeknownst to the three ponies, the pony in the brown cape was watching the three ponies relaxing and taking it easy while she was invisible to them via an invisibility spell.

“When the time is right, I will reveal myself and tell them my mission. Until then, I just need to wait.”

~~~

“Okay, I got one! I spy with my little eye something blue!” Pinkie said.

Fluttershy sighed tiredly. It has been a while since night had fallen on the wastelands. And since the three ponies hadn’t found anything, they decided to find ways to entertain themselves. (Pinkie put the van on autopilot)

Eventually, they were playing their 25th round of Eye Spy. And at this point, the two pegasi were already tired and wanted to call it a night. But despite that, Pinkie still wanted to play. It was natural for her to continue playing with all of her boundless energy.

But Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy just wanted to sleep. (Mostly Rainbow Dash)

“Bluuuue.” Pinkie said as she pointed her hoof at Rainbow to say that the answer is their friend. “Bluuuuuuuuuue.”

It was silent for a moment.

“Is it Rainbow Dash again?” Fluttershy said exhaustedly.

“Wow!” Pinkie exclaimed. “You are really good at this, Fluttershy!”

At this point, Rainbow had released a big yawn that she had been holding in. Even after 25 games of Eye Spy, she really wanted to sleep.

“Pinkie, can we please go to sleep now?” Rainbow asked.

“Yeah, we’re both tired and we want to get some rest.” Fluttershy added as she tried to keep her eyes open.

Pinkie saw how tired her friends were. And even though she had enough energy to go another round, she decided that maybe it was time for them to hit the hay.

“Alright, you girls can go get some rest. I don’t want my friends getting all cranky when morning arrives.” Pinkie said with her usual smile on her face.

The two pegasi sighed with relief as they both climbed into the couch. They can’t wait to finally get some shut eye.

“Thanks, Pinkie.” Rainbow said softly.

“Anytime, Dashie. Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Pinkie said as she walked to the driver’s seat, before stopping and adding, “Seriously, I heard they can eat a pony in five minutes.”

Rainbow Dash giggled at Pinkie’s joke. She watched as her pink friend sat in the driver’s seat and turned the autopilot off before driving the van manually. She then looked over at Fluttershy who was already fast asleep. Even after everything she’s been through, it was nice knowing that her pegasus friend can get some brief peaceful moments of sleep.

Rainbow took a deep breath as her body relaxed on the couch. She knew that when morning came, it’s back to business as usual. But right now it was quiet and peaceful. In the past, she really would’ve hated this. But ever since the apocalypse began, she was starting to like the peacefulness and quietness.

With that, Rainbow closed her eyes and drifted into a peaceful slumber.

The van was quiet.

Until eventually…

“INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!!!”

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy immediately woke up to the sound of Pinkie Pie screaming.

“What the hay are you screaming about, Pinkie?” Rainbow asked.

“FLUTTERSHY WAS RIGHT! THERE IS SOMEPONY IN OUR VAN!” Pinkie yelled, pointing at the supposed intruder.

The two pegasi turned to where Pinkie was pointing at and they two were shocked.

There indeed was a pony in their van. She was a unicorn who had a blue coat and pink markings on her ears and hooves, a two toned purple and hot pink with orange tips mane and tail in dreadlocks, green eyes, and was wearing a brown cape with a hood.

“Woah. I guess you were right after all, Flutters.” Rainbow told Fluttershy.

Immediately, Pinkie Pie pulled out a stun baton from her saddlebags and ran up to the unicorn with it.

“WHO ARE YOU?! ARE YOU HERE TO KILL US AND/OR ROB US?!” Pinkie yelled.

“Hang on. I’m not here to hurt you.” The unicorn said.

But Pinkie didn’t believe in what the unicorn said. She began to turn on the stun baton and got ready to smack it on the intruder.

“Wait, you have to understand! I need your help!” The unicorn told Pinkie.

“Sorry, intruder. But you are full of lies!” Pinkie exclaimed. And right before she swung the stun baton at the unicorn, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy stopped her.

“Hang on, Pinkie! Let’s hear her out first!” Rainbow told Pinkie.

“Rainbow’s right, Pinkie. She really could need our help.” Fluttershy said.

Pinkie looked at her friends and then looked at the intruder. She sighed in defeat and put the stun baton back in her saddlebags.

“So, what do you need our help for?” Pinkie asked the unicorn.

“Well, I’m on a very important mission and knowing how dangerous it will be, I need you three to help me so that I may complete my mission and hopefully not die in the wastelands.” The unicorn told the three ponies.

“Um, but what exactly is your mission?” Fluttershy asked the unicorn.

“Also, I don’t think you told us who the hay you even are.” Rainbow added.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I almost forgot to do that. Let me introduce myself.” The unicorn said. She took a shaky deep breath and pulled the hood out of her head revealing more of her mane.

Afterwards, she spoke in a clear tone.

“My name is Misty Brightdawn, and I’m on a mission to find Sanctuary.”

Author's Note

Yep, the ponies from G5 will be in this story. If you don’t like it, you can read something else.

Next chapter will be finally learning about Sanctuary and why Misty wants to find it. Stay tuned for that!