Rainbow In The Wastes

Rainbow woke up groggily, eyes half-lidded and body relaxed. As her vision readjusted to the light of her room, she found that her surroundings were not what she expected.

Around her, she saw trees, lots and lots of trees. The mare's eyes widened. She hadn't seen a tree in five weeks. Getting up quickly, Rainbow stumbled around, in a trance at the sight of wildlife and plant life once again. She fell onto her haunches again, forelegs her only upper-body support as she checked her body. She breathed inwardly as she found no armor on her body, no holsters at her hips, and no bandana on her head. Not even a single speck of dirt covered her cyan fur.

Rainbow's eyes teared up as she realized: she must've dreamt it all! She wasn't stuck in the Wasteland, she was just dreaming it all up! All the blood, all the guns, it was all fake! Rainbow threw herself onto her back, legs splayed out across the grassy terrain as she stared up at the light blue sky. Relief. That was the only thing running through her head. She was home again.

A large snap emanated behind her, snapping the mare out of paradise as she looked around swiftly. Not seeing a thing, she relaxed once more, thinking she had mistaken it for a small animal or something of the sort. Again came a snap, the sound echoing throughout her brain. Half-consciously, she reached for her revolver, only reaching empty space as she cursed loudly. Crouching into a ready position, Rainbow bared her teeth, furrowed her brow, and glanced around for movement once more.

Snap Rainbow's head turned to her right, seeing a bush slightly move in the wind. Patting her left hoof on the ground and dragging it across the dirt floor, she flexed her wings and flew right at the brush, arms in front of her in a lance-like maneuver. As she flew through it, she hit something hard, knocking it over and forcing it to the ground. Rolling over on top of it, Rainbow held out a hoof, ready to strike her opponent in the face. She looked down, and blinked five times.

"A-Applejack?"

"Uh, Rainbow? Couldja get offa me?" she asked, obviously uncomfortable with her position.

Slowly dismounting the Earth pony, Rainbow got back onto her hooves, staring at Applejack as she retrieved her hat from the ground.

"Applejack! You won't believe what happened! I woke up in this wasteland somewhere-"

Mouth open in disbelief, the farmpony questioned, "You what? Whad'you mean ya woke up in a wasteland? You should be dead!"

"Yeah, I- I what now?"

"Don't'chu remember the changelings?!"

"No...."

Applejack opened her mouth to speak, but stopped herself as the rest of their friends came out of the woods, each with a smile on their faces, "Rainbow!"

Right as the words left their mouths, said mare's eyes filled up with a blinding white light that overtook her vision completely. She heard the crackle of thunder and lightning as the event transpired. Five heartbeats later, the Pegasus lowered her shielding foreleg, and her eyes grew into the size of pinpricks as she found herself surrounded by a different location.

Dark, burnt trees with no leaves stood slanted across a likewise field of dirt, balls of fire on small piles of Earth everywhere she looked. Smoke, light and dark filled the sky, itself a dark red with huge cracks of black and grey in it. Not a single cloud filled the sky. The mare gulped audibly and began to walk slowly toward a small light in the distance, barely noticeable across the field she walked on. As she neared it, she could make out tiny whispers to her left and right.

Badlands...

Rainbow Crash...!

Wingpony....

Athazagoraphobia.....

Wonderbolts...

The mare grasped her head as the words buried themselves inside her brain, finding little hiding places to further annoy her mind.

"Stop stop stopstop STOP!!!"

Another crackle and another light, this time Rainbow found herself on the dirt floor, head aching painfully and legs fatigued. The mare breathed heavily, mind racing furiously as she tried to process her situation. Another headache hit her, and as she closed her eyes, her location changed once more, that of a long, dark hallway with wisps of white smoke at the end. The walls were made of a tired grey brick, a red light brightening up a small part of where Rainbow lay.

"Rainbow!"

That voice...she knew it from somewhere. Turning her head quickly, she saw her friends once more, a tiny white light shining onto their features, ones of shock and worrying. From behind them came a large red stallion, his brown yoke glimmering in the light.

"Rainbow! Get up!" his deep voice pierced her heart more than she thought it would, the very idea of Mac, her Mac, practically terrified for her safety. As she tried getting up, her friends disappeared, leaving Big Macintosh as the only one remaining behind. He gave a kind smile, which she returned with difficulty through her pain. The stallion reached behind his back, and pulled out an object she knew too well.

Sliding her revolver to her, Mac spoke in the voice of the man she met, "First Rule of the Wastes: Ammo."

Opening up the cylinder, she found a single bullet inside, the round in the slot for her next trigger push, waiting obediently.

A loud growl came from in front of her, and as she looked at the smoke at the end of the hallway, she made out something terrifying.

It appeared to be a large dinosaur looking thing, dark colored and with curled horns at the top of it head. Large, sharp-looking claws caused her to freeze on the spot, and she looked back at Mac.

An old man, riot gear strapped onto his body, looked at her with arms crossed and a grin on his face as she heard him recite: "Deathclaws. Now, I hope you don't have to fight one while you're here. Doing that is suicide without the right equipment, guns, and know-how. When they come at you, it's best to use a dart gun and shoot them in the legs. If you don't have one on your hands, or hooves in your case, hinder their movement anyways. After that, aim between the eyes....and fire"

Carter disappeared like her friends, without warning, and accompanied by loud thunder. The man's last word ringing through her head in an emphasized manner, she looked back at the monster, and now knew that it was indeed a Deathclaw. It growled menacingly at her, continuing its slow, scary approach to her. She dropped her revolver onto the floor as it roared like a manticore, instantly charging at her at an alarming rate.

The mare scrambled for her revolver as the Deathclaw grew ever so larger in the side of her vision. Placing her hoof in the cuff on the right side of the handle, she brought the iron sights up to her eyes, both hooves on the grip. As it got to five feet away from her, arms stretched out in anticipation for a kill, Rainbow pushed the trigger as another blinding light took over her vision, the sound of the shot echoing throughout her head as she lost consciousness.