Rainbow In The Wastes

The ground beneath her hooves was cold, cracked, almost unrecognizable as the road it once was, the only indication of its previous role in modern life being the various signs, railings, and battered cars dotting the highway in her long fatigued vision.

Her legs wobbled heavily, the mare's weight threatening to collapse onto herself with every step she took, but she still continued onward.

The armored Vault suit she wore was stained with blood, both fresh and old, the substance painting a long streak leading from her stomach area, the events that had marked them still fresh in her mind. Her left sleeve was rolled up to the max, the end of it folded against the base of her leg where it met the rest of her body. Wrapped around the fur was an almost base red cloth, its color strikingly similar to the torn leather that some select raiders wore.

The mare gave a short, almost non-existent chuckle.

Fifty caliber asshole, that was pretty good.

It was true, however.

The scrawled letters etched along the rifle's long barrel confirmed it.

Turning her head to the right, she found the tan barrel bobbing up and down with her movements, its camouflaged surface almost blending into the sand following her outside the boundaries of the highway, threatening to consume her if she so much as dared to step off the concrete road.

Fortunately for her, the cars along the road looked to have been in one linked, catastrophic accident. No doors were open, no windows were ajar, and nothing but dusty skeletons were left inside, the occupants long dead from something other than a pile-up.

She didn't know where she was going.

But the dead bodies of the highwaymen were long behind her, something the mare couldn't help but shudder about in remembrance.

The mare was scared.

Terrified-

no.

Rainbow Dash shook her head vigorously, the memory flying away and into the deepest sectors of her mind, hopefully where she could both burn it and never, ever find it again.

Raising her eyes to the sky, she found the moon staring back down at her from above, its white light her only guide as she trotted along the highway, her muscles tired, tensed, and taut. The mare's mind wandered toward home.

Home.

Equestria.

Her friends.

Mac.

Her Mac.

Rainbow would never see them again.

Ever.

The Changelings had made sure of that, and there she was, fighting for her life and on the verge of death, just as the bugs had intended.

Rainbow continued on, despite. The thought plagued her, practically killed her, but still Rainbow kept on trotting.

She wouldn't give the Faust damned skeeters the pleasure of watching her quit.

The breeze blew across her fur, causing her to shake in retaliation, her teeth chattering softly.

Rainbow Dash brushed it off, whispering softly to herself, "Faust, it's fucking cold..."

It wasn't an unknown thing to her, however. The deserts back home were a lot like this, if not worse in terms of nighttime temperature. The Vault suit protected her enough, but still the breeze persisted in biting at her skin.

"Bastard sure as hell needs that duster," she added, turning her head.

It was a simple sled, the entire furniture made of two rusted car doors, the pieces connected with a large wrapping of leather, courtesy of the armor accompanying the now dead raiders over twenty miles away. She was unsure how she had walked that far, but by the time she had noticed, she had already left the state of New Kansas, the last green sign pointing to the the direction she was still following now coming up next to her and hanging above her head.

The area was called Prowers, what she assumed to be the state below it in faded white letters.

Continuing on west, the mare trotted into the threshold that connected New Kansas and Colorado.

Carter followed her, unconscious, but lying on her makeshift sled, two straps of scavenged duct tape keeping him on the mobile creation wrapped around his legs and body, the mare's duster laying loosely over his body. A large amount of bandages covered his stomach and leg, his body on its side and facing the oncoming lane of traffic to the mare's left.

She didn't want Carter to choke on any barf he might spew up.

The mare felt her body begin to shut down, the stress from the day finally wearing down on her person and slowly bringing her to the ground. She fell to the Earth in a crumpled mess, her head smacking into the concrete and making a resounding thud that echoed through her mind.

She felt exhausted.

She felt tired.

And she felt dead.

Rainbow threw her front hooves into the ground, shakily attempting to get up, her teeth grit and her eyes shut in complete trial.

The mare succeeded, her magenta irises scanning the area around the two, the highway still stretching for miles into complete nothingness. A large range of hills expanded from outside the highway, curving up and down through the landscape.

Something moved in the corner of her eye to her right.

Shooting up, she saw them. The silhouettes of a group of men and women walked idly on top of the closest hill, their weapons raised and aiming into the night sky.

Raising her hoof up to her mouth, she licked her lips, beginning to yell for help.

At the voicing of the first letter, the mare was reduced to a coughing fit, her throat as dry as Appleloosa. Letting her tongue lull out, she felt her throat, now hacking onto the ground beneath her. Looking back up to the group, she tried to yell again.

Her throat closed up.

The mare sat in silence, her heart beating twice before she turned her head, finding the tan sniper rifle barrel next to her. Rainbow breathed in, then out, before she bit the barrel and yanked, pulling the rifle free from the clasps of her saddlebag.

It clattered onto the ground next to her, the group on the hill still slowly stalking away, out of earshot of anything the mare could do.

All except for one thing.

With one final tug, she threw it in front of her.

Reaching her hoof toward it, she placed the tip of the appendage into the trigger guard, inching it toward the trigger itself. Tipping the butt onto the ground, she pointed the firearm into the air, held it for two heartbeats, and pulled the trigger.

The shot practically destroyed her eardrums, her ears being filled with a deafening ringing. Looking back toward the group on the hill, she found them completely stopped, their weapons now in an alert carry position.

Rainbow's head fell limply to the ground, the sniper rifle following her movements and clattering onto the highway next to her. The mare's eyes snapped shut in retaliation. When she next opened them, the figures were closer, now running down the hill to where she was.

Darkness.

The figures were vaulting over the highway railing.

The mare was going to be okay.

Carter was going to be okay.

Darkness.

The figures were slowly walking up to her.

Rainbow's tongue caught in her throat.

Five raiders stalked up to her, the familiar glint of hunger in their eyes.

Rainbow raised a hoof, sputtering out a weak, "No...."

The one in the front reached for a knife by his side.

"Please...."

The night erupted.

A loud bang resounded, the lead raider falling to the mare's left as limp as a rag-doll and his knife embedding itself into the road in front of her.

The rest of the group raised their weapons, each turning right, before four more bangs sounded out, each and every single raider falling dead onto the floor.

Her hoof fell to the concrete for the second time that day, her heart beating loudly in her ears.

Another group of people ran into her view, these ones clad in dark brown armor, tan sleeves sticking out and encasing their brown gloves, which held what the mare made out to be some sort of rifle. Atop each of their heads were small buckets, pairs of goggles strapped tightly around its surface. One turned their head toward Rainbow, his eyes widening in realization.

Sprinting up to her, Rainbow noticed the insignia of a two-headed bear was crudely painted onto his breastplate.

"Don't you worry...."

The mare could barely hear what the man was saying as he motioned toward the rest of his group, who suddenly dropped everything they were doing to help the mare lying beaten on the ground.

"Holy shit.."

"What is it, Corporal?"

The mare could barely hang on, before she too collapsed, the last words she heard echoing through her head.

"Is that the Lone Wanderer?"