Lesser of Two Evils

According to Rarity, they only need to head across town. The town, was more cesspool than town. Its streets were nasty, the few people up this early looked sketchy, and no one really hid their activities. So, really, the group fit in quite well.

Twilight looked over to Spike, "You haven't said much lately."

"Yeah," Spike replied, "My mouth gets me in a lot of trouble, so when a psychopath with a gun tells me to shut up, I shut up."

"Oh."

Spike looked across from him. Slumped over, still unconcious, was Rainbow Dash. Both drool, and blood dripped from her face. He decided a question couldn't hurt. "Hey, where exactly are we going?"

"To get you three some more appropriate clothing." She glanced at Spikes bag, "Well, I suppose maybe not you, as it seems you've brought some of your own, but your friends seem to be in dire need of some. There's a store, not far from here, that will suffice. Not much to look at, but it will." She turned forward again.

Spike leaned his head back. He felt sleep dragging on him. He wanted it, but he doubted he should doze just yet. He wasn't sure why, he had always fallen asleep when ever he pleased before. But it must be the crazy in the front seat, he found unsettling enough to prevent a closed eye.

The van pulled up, next to a dingy looking store. Inside, various racks of shirts, jackets and pants were visible.

Twilight tapped Rarity's shoulder, "Don't you think it would be a bit odd to some of the towns people, if two girls stepped out of a van like this?"

"What do you mean?" Rarity's brow raised.

"Hu- wha-what do you mean, what do you mean? I'm almost naked, and dash looks like she just had her face period."

Rarity ignored the crude remark, and instead pointed a manicured finger at a man wandering the streets wearing nothing but a patients gown, and pulling an IV pole.

Twilight got her point, and promptly shook Rainbow Dash awake.

With that, Twilight, Dash, and Rarity stepped out of the van, and into the store that probably has a drug den in the back. Leaving Spike alone, with Applejack. He scooted back against the door towards the back of the van, Applejack glared at him from the rear view mirror.

She pulled a lever, letting the seat slide back, then produced a cigarette, and a box of matches. She said nothing nothing, only leaned back smoking. Spike felt safe, for once in a long while, and fell asleep, his back against the door.

Rarity showed the two girls inside, and instead of a happy, chirping beep, they instead heard a malfuntioned garble of technical slur. At the register, instead of someone actually working, was an old man, either asleep, or dead, slumped over on the desk. Somewhere an old radio droned an eary, dreamlike song that opposed this place in every way.

Dash rubbed her eyes, still asleep as she were. It hurt to blink, and when she inhaled, it felt like her ribs were stabbing her. She looked around her. Nothing but scrappy cloth, and tacky, yellow wall paper. She raised her arm, sniffing below it. All that found her, was a rank odor. Her arm fell back to her side. Off on the back, she saw a sign that said "restroom". Well I certainly need to piss, she thought. Rainbow looked down at her blood caked shirt. She sighed, grabbed it from the hem, and pulled up, taking it off, and leaving it in the floor where she stood. The looks Twilight, and Rarity gave her as she walked to the restroom, would have been funny, if in a differing situation.

In the restroom, Dash looked over herself in the mirror. Her nose ached, her eyes were black, and there would surly be new scars forming.  She didn't need a doctor to tell her she was a wreck. She wet her hand in the sink, and began wiping away the crusty, dried blood. There, in all honesty, weren't many things Dash would willingly kill for. But at the moment, she decided, a shower was among the few things she would.

Carefully, she examined her nose. One nostril felt pinned to the septum. Upon examining it, she found that it was. The ruby red stud in her nose was visibly sticking through. She pulled, and tugged at it, wincing. Finally, it came free. More blood came out of her nose, but it stopped soon enough. She dropped the stud down the drain, not caring if it aided in clogging the pipes. Rainbow Dash wiped the blood from her face once more, before turning towards the toilet. Suddenly she felt like she could hold it.

Rarity sat, legs crossed, in a chair adjacent to the counter, watching Twilight pick through the different clothing. In her hand she held a pair of ripped pants, and the whitest socks she could find. Rainbow Dash soon joined them, still topless. She started looking through the shirts too, ignoring the look Twilight gave her. The most appealing things she found, were a multicolored flannel shirt, and a denim jacket lined with fur. She put them on, quickly. Twilight looked back to the clothes in front of her, and shook her head slightly.

About fifteen minutes later, Twilight had found a nice pair of purple sneakers that fit as well as she could find, and a pink and purple sweater vest. She picked it only to feel more modest than her singlet would allow. On their way out, Rarity reached inside her blazer and withdrew an uncertain amount of money. She looked over the, hopefully, sleeping old man, and shrugged, putting her marks back in her jacket. Twilight put a hand on her shoulder, just as she was about to leave.

"If you really want to change for the better, you have to take the initiative to change." Twilight looked at Rarity, a blank expression on the highly stylized woman.

Rarity did not respond. She simply withdrew the stack again, this time sliding it under the old mans hand. She then glanced at Twilight, just before leaving.

Rarity circled the front of the van to reach the passenger side door, while Dash, and Twilight went to the back. Upon opening it a sleeping Spike fell out, hitting his head, hard. He pressed his hands into the forming knot, grimacing. Twilight kneeled to help him up, and slowly he rose.

Rainbow simply looked at the sight before her, cold wind forcing the collars of her coat and shirt to slap her in the face. She looked up, a shabby elevated transit platform blocked the sun from her view. Everything seemed gray, and cold. Because everything was gray and cold. She heard Applejack snicker out, "Dumbass," and Rarity asking him if he was okay. He seemed rejuvenated as soon as she was in sight. Rainbow rubbed her eye, wincing at the pain her bruise caused.

Now that they were each in the van again, silence settled with them. Rarity must have disliked it, as she felt a need to break it,"You know Jackie, you could do with some knew clothes. Besides, you're going to need some, once we're in Manehatten."

"What, why?" The blonde said, perking up.

"Well, most people in Manehatten, or really anywhere, don't run around in a poncho. Even less people keep an assortment of blades hanging from a belt, under said poncho. Moreover, you haven't changed out of those clothes since I've met you."

Applejack grumbled, "Fine."

So Manehatten it is then, Rainbow Dash thought, trying to slide the flashback of the poor girl being burned. It grew harder, and harder.

Three months ago

The two pink haired women walked down a road, rolling hills on one side, an ocean on the other. The more timid of them had thanked the other for the rescue, and insisted that they split up. The more spontaneous of them, politely declined insisting that she had nowhere else to go. So they simply trekked down this old road. Nothing but the banter of their words to hear. Hoping for a car, truck,or anything really, to find them, and take them somewhere. Anywhere but here.

During their conversation, it struck Fluttershy that, not only had the woman next to her killed the two innocent men on the boat, but it was also her that aided in the execution of every slave that was in front of her before she rescued her. This would certainly prove an interesting topic.

"H-hey, y-you know when you saved me, d-didn't you help kill some of those slaves?" Fluttershy asked, softly testing for potential landmines in this new topic.

"Yeppers, sure did." Her Frizzy hair bounced, under her hat.

"W-why?"

"To save you, funny duddy." She said it, as if it were the most obvious of things.

Fluttershy almost froze. Innocent people, dead because of her? She had pushed the death of the two sailors, as completely on the the other woman. But this felt different. She had, of course, become some what desensitized to death. But this still felt like her fault. "Couldn't you have done something else?" She asked, voice cracking half way through the sentence.

"Probably, but that was the easiest. 'Sides that, I didn't make a pinkie promise to the ones I killed."

http://www.fimfiction-static.net/images/interactive\_pony/dash/fly\_rainbow\_left.gif

"How do you choose life and death for others on something so petty?" Fluttershy's tone bordered on anger.

"Petty? My daddy always made sure I knew that a pinkie promise, was the most important thing to uphold." The woman said it, so simply.

Fluttershy didn't answer. It was easier not to.

The two continued. They hoped a car would come along, but they also felt that that would be in vain. Because it was. This road had always been abandoned. They would have to walk almost ten miles before they would be anywhere resembling civilization. Regardless, they kept walking. And walking. And walking.

Fluttershy noticed how much her feet ached. Then she realized that she was still bare foot. She had grown so used to it, she hadn't noticed. That was only the first thing she noticed. Finally being away from that slice of Hell, and back to the hills of western Equestria she noticed a foul odor. Hesitantly, she sniffed herself. It was her, but she was not surprised. After spending so long in chains, the closest thing she had had to a bath was the swim she had yesterday. She told herself that the other woman stank too, but it did nothing to hinder how self conscious it made her to know what she smelled like.

Fast approaching them was a semi, its roar well heard by the two girls. A glimmer of hope touched them. Maybe they wouldn't have to walk. The more erratic one shot a thumb up, prompting the vehicle to slow itself. It came to a rolling halt next to them. The one whose action slowed it, leaped up the steps leading to the passenger side. She looked in, through the window. Inside was the stereotypical pervert. A fat, short, greasy man, who was in almost as much need of a bath as the two women were.

"Howdy, ladies. Ya'll need a ride?" His voice chilled Fluttershy, and she hadn't even seen him yet.

"Yeah, mister we do." The girl hanging from the truck said, "I swear, I'll make it up to you if you get us to the closest town."

The driver gave a crooked, creepy smile. He took his cap off, and wiped his forehead. "I'm sure you will. Now, uh, get in."

The girl leaned away, opening the door, "Hey girlie, get in!" She smiled at Fluttershy.

Reluctantly, she did. The metal steps scraped her feet, but that was just another pain to endure. She looked inside. Behind the steering wheel sat a man who must have taken tips from the creeper handbook. His glasses sat on the end of his nose, and his fingers ended in dark, black, grime. He gave a small wave, and Fluttershy returned it. She continued inside, making her way into the sleeper. After she sat on the crusted sheets of the bed, her comrade sat in the seat next to the driver, shutting the door. "Sorry 'bout the smell," she said, "We haven't really had a chance to wash in a while."

"S'alright, I like the smell of a sweaty pu-passenger, passenger." His words felt like they had been dipped in cyanide, as he caught his mistake, accelerating his truck.

These two may have reeked, but their smell had nothing on the rank, musky, and all around frightening scent of the Semi. It reminded Fluttershy of the death camp she had just escaped. She almost puked from the disgusting scent. She looked around the sleeper. She was disgusted further. Almost every bit of space was taken up by a pin-up of women doing terrible things. Some things to animal, some things to other women. Her hand dropped to her side, her pinkie finger touched something wet and sticky. She shut her eyes. She knew what it must be, it was all too obvious. She wiped it off on her pants, not looking as she did so.

Some time passed, made obvious by the sun setting in the distance. Fluttershy worried slightly. The last place she wanted to be at night was with this creep, who spoke so surely to Shy's friend. She seemed innocently oblivious. The man pried so much information from her, it was alarming. Information Fluttershy didn't even know yet. Her height:5'7. Her age: 26. Her name (or rather, what she called herself): Pandora. Fluttershy had known her for some time now, and still hadn't known any of this until just now. Then again, she didn't ask.

The semi slowed down, just infront of an L-shaped motel Pandora had pointed the greasy man to. He parked, not far, just off to the parking lot for vehicles the size of his own. The town was serene. It held a place, just flat enough for a town. Across from the motel was a large gas station, and further on was the town its elf. It was simply placid.

Pandora patted the creton on the shoulder and thanked him, as she opened the door of the semi. Fluttershy stood up to follow, but sat back down when she saw the man grab The other woman's arm.

"Not so fast missy, you swore you'd make it up ta' me, if I gat ya'll where you needed to go. I done my end of the deal, an' I think it's time for you to do your end, your friend too." He smiled like a wolf.

Pandora smile. She shut the door, and glanced at Fluttershy, who was sweating with fear. "I thought you'd never ask," the Frazzy headed woman made her words sultry, and added a smile to match them. Fluttershy heard a zipper unzip. She saw the woman lean over towards the man, her head getting closer, and closer to his crotch. The man sighed in pleasure as she covered the last distance. Almost ten seconds passed.

He screamed, trying to beat the woman off of his manhood, but she grabbed his arm. With a jerk, her head shot up, her face covered in smile, and blood. Inside of her mouth, it was clear to see something fleshy, something that belonged to the creeper.

"God damn it, fucking, my dick, whore, you fucking bitch-cunt, you ate my dick!"

The woman pulled it from her mouth. She giggled, flopping it around in her hand. She grabbed the screaming mans head, the one on his shoulders, and stuck three fingers in his mouth, keeping it open. He tried to push her away, but she was too strong. She took the severed member, and crammed it down his throat, laughing manically.

Fluttershy held her knees to her chest, crying tearfully, and almost feeling sorry for the man. His screams began to die down, until they had entirely, and he with it. Pandora was wiping blood from her face, still laughing to herself. Fluttershy had grown used to death, yes, but not to such frightening madness.