Preview of my latest project.

The metal screeched in agony as Scar's Roadkiller was swiped from the side by some form of elevated sports car, sparks flying forward from the interaction. The sports car had two mares inside, one driving, the other was levitating an SMG with her magic. The driver pulled away, knocking Scarlet off course just enough for her to spin out, particularly at these speeds. Scar struggled to gain control of the vehicle, beginning to feel dizzy as the world spun around her, dust flying off one end as she exited the asphalt and dragged across the dirt. She had tried to outrun them, which had been a bad decision in the long run, as they had a faster car. She had taken out two of them before this one was left, and she tried to outrun them. And now, she was beginning to flip and tumble from the momentum, which sprayed dust everywhere. Could things get any worse?

She was still rolling as she could hear the tires of her pursuer screech to a sudden halt, spinning around in what seemed like a dime, hitting the accelerator and coming towards her and her now right side up muscle car. This was not good. If she couldn't get moving in time, then she was bucked.

She managed to push her hoof onto the accelerator just as they were about to T-bone her car, pulling out, they missed her by mere feet. She continued to drive out, looking into the rear view mirror only to see that her pursuers had already recovered and were back on her tail. They never give up, do they?

She could see a line running through the dirt in the near distance. Train tracks! These areas were big on train travel as much as anything else! There's bound to be somepony chugging along that can be used to lose these lunatics. And, her wishes were granted as she heard the distinctive train whistle, and classic chugging noises. She only had to hold on for a little longer.

But, wait. Something wasn't right. She took a second look. It looked like the train was being chased by a practical horde of pursuers. And they didn't really look friendly. There were converted flat bed trucks with ramps in the back, with dirt bikes ramping up, and onto the train cars. She observed this, one hitting their target. The mare rode the bike up to the cabin, only to be gunned down by one of the guards.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she rammed again, this time she was plowed into from behind. The force of the impact drove her against the steering wheel, disorienting her long enough for the chasers to pull up right in front of her. Damn! They knew what she was planning.

She could visibly see the train now. She quickly pulled herself back to driving position, putting hr hoof on the accelerator, and giving these ponies a taste of their own medicine. She rammed from the back left of the car, trying to spin them out.

She failed, but she did turn them off course slightly. She was about to let out a sigh of relief, but she wasn't that lucky.

The head of the unicorn with the SMG poked out from the passenger seat of the sports car, aiming the gun right at Scarlet Joy. She ducked down below the door, which would hopefully block the bullets, or at least make it so they don't kill her. The mare in the other car sprayed at least 15 rounds at Scar, and her heart beat began to race as she heard at least 10 of those 15 shots hit her car.

She looked up again, only to see the mare was now reloading. The train was so close, and it looked like she would make it in time if she hurried up. She was going to have to defend herself, first. She levitated out her sawn-off shotgun, took aim at the car, and fired.

She heard the other mare howl in pain, the levitation field around her SMG imploding, and, by the looks of it, she had popped the tires of the car, to. Now, it was rolling off course. Scar found herself mentally cringing as she heard the metal crush under the rolling force of the train, the car exploding under it's weight. Two cars detached from the train as a result, slowing almost immediately. One of the ramp trucks was on the track just behind it, a bike approaching from behind it for some air. The truck couldn't get out of the way in time, and directly collided with the caboose and cargo cart. It exploded into a barrage of loose shrapnel, the flames licking at the back of the caboose. The mare on the bike was jolted off course by the impact, flying off in Scarlet's general direction.

Scarlet could see ponies jumping out of the caboose, one was even on fire. The driver of the truck was blocked by the now only momentum carried wreckage, but she was probably nothing but red mist and pulped bones at this point. The scrambler, or biker, went flying into the air, holding on in the hopes that she could land without pulverizing herself. Scar recoiled from the bump and crunching noise that came from below as the scrambler landed right in front of her, tumbling over as she hit the ground, only to be mowed down by the Roadkiller like the lawn, her guts and blood splattering over the left side of the car and wheel, leaving her slightly disinflated corpse to tumble in the dust. Hopefully, she didn't survive that, because it didn't sound or look like it felt to good. Now, Scar went pedal to the metal, racing to the train, trying to cross the tracks before it got in the way.

She managed to cross the tracks in time, reaching the other side of the train before it could even clip her side.

She quickly turned to the right, heading in the same direction of the train, away from the horde. At least if she could dodge past the various interceptors, she could probably get far enough away that she would be out of this mess. She accelerated as fast as possible, hitting the boost button to try to get ahead of the train. She pumped the nitro, watching as flames shot from the six exhaust pipes that crawled up from the back of the vehicle, protruding above the bumper and fanning out like the majestic tale feathers of a peacock. Only, they were emitting flames.

She sped just ahead of the train, getting to the other side of it. A modified sandrail was right on her tail, and it was armed with what looked like a harpoon gun mounted to it, armed by an earth pony, only to have one more pull up. This one also had a harpoon. The first rider swung around, aiming not at Scar, but the cabin of the train. She fired, giggling like a little filly playing with her dolls, as it pierced the train cabin, lodging itself in the steel, the wire connection hanging precariously over Scarlet. The other mare tugged it, making sure it was tight, and knocked on the driver's cabin.

The driver accelerated, ahead of the train, turning to the other side, and out of sight, just as the other cart fired it's harpoon. That driver did the same. This happened at least three more times. Scar heard a loud noise, as a prop plane banked around to take a strafe at the train. Scar turned hard away from the train, dodging the wrath that came forth from the .50 cal machine guns on the plane. She accelerated ahead of the train once more, turning to the other side of it again, only to get a glimpse of what the go carts were doing. They were all pulling at the train, trying to pull it off of the tracks. And, by the looks of it, the train was losing.

It was already beginning to wobble, losing it's balance as the sandrails continued pulling, like some massive game of tug of war. Finally, the train lost it's battle. It went tumbling over, like a massive metal cow that had just been tipped, leaving an explosive cloud of dust as it plowed through the dust. The sound it made sounded like the world had just exploded, Scar had to cover her ears, which was really bad, because the train was rolling right in her direction. By the time she realized, she had already hit the accelerator, and was attempting to get ahead of train before it rolled her over.

She barely made it, managing to get away before it could turn her into a can of pony meat. Then, her world was turned upside down. Literally. Somepony had side swiped her. And now she was tumbling around. Again.

She landed behind the now burning wreckage of the train, only her the battering had turned her engine off. She observed her surroundings. The car that had side swiped her was a sort of dune buggy, and the driver inside was circling around to finish the job.

Scar thought fast. If she could dash to one of the many wrecks that were once the train cars, and hide, maybe she would live through this. She opened the door, and galloped at heart tearing speeds to the nearest wreckage. It was a cargo car that held what looked like food. As soon as she was inside, she attempted to catch her breath, her muscles aching, it had been farther away than it looked before. But it didn't seem that the driver who had come back for her had any idea she had left. She hid herself more prominently, using a little peek hole to look outside.

The dune bug had stopped near her car. She wasn't going to ram it. Now, the mare was inspecting the inside. She finished her inspection and, and called something out to one of the other ponies in the buggy. Before Scarlet Joy knew it, they were toeing it off. That was her car!

---

Scarlet Joy was helpless, unable to do anything but silently whimper to herself, as her custom Roadkiller muscle car was dragged off by an armored toe truck, being escorted by multiple vehicles on either side, leaving nothing but dust and and a twisted, burning train wreck in it's wake. She curled up, trying to deal with the stress of this situation. If it had been any other car, she wouldn't have cared as much. But, this wasn't just any old pair of wheels. That car belonged to her mother, before everything went south for Equestria. She was part of the highway patrol, and would be tasked with some of the more elusive criminals. She was one of the last to keep order in the time when law began to collapse. She was one of their best pursuers, and she would take that car everyday. Many memories had been had. And, those memories began to flood Scar's near shattered mind.

She remembered bouncing upon her mother's lap as an infant during their first road trip, cruising down the highways on their way to Ponyville to see the castle that used to belong to Twilight Sparkle. When she was a filly, and they would always drive down to the lake and back, taking some of the off road routes. She remembered stealing it from her mother some nights when she was a teen, driving around with friends and returning to a rather angry mom, then getting grounded for a few weeks. That's even how she got her cutie mark, a speeding tire followed by a short trail of flame. Those were the fun times.

She also remembered the hard times in that car. When they had to drive away from her abusive father to live with her mom alone. When she was hit by that semi truck from the side, and had to go to the hospital for two months, and her mom would give her frequent visits. And... she remembered watching her own mother die right in front of her, bleeding out slowly in her hooves. She remembered watching the life force drain right from her, feeling the warm sticky liquid drip down her legs and hooves. She remembered looking into her eyes, and seeing, not tears, but joy in the pupils of her's. The last thing she ever did was give her daughter the keys to the Roadkiller, and telling her to be relentless, to never give up hope, to survive at all costs. And she did.

She continues to honor her mother's wish to this day. But, that Roadkiller was the only thing left she had to remember her by. And now it was being dragged off by marauders, most likely never to be seen again...

No... no, she would get it back. She would do it. She would hunt these marauders down and get her mom's car back, if it was the last thing she did. She wouldn't fail her mother... she would never fail her.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard one of the go carts from before park really close, it's tires squeaking to a halt, kicking up dust near where Scar was hiding. She peeked out the whole in the train car, observing as both rider and driver stepped out from the cart. The driver was a dark purple pegasus, a color not to different from Scar's own, with a bright yellow mane, and blue eyes. The similarities seemed to end at the dark purple mane, as the other mare lacked the scarlet eyes and dark blue mane, as well as the fiery wheel as a cutie mark.

The rider, or, the one who was on the harpoon, was an earth pony, blue mane, maize colored fur, green eyes. She dropped down to the dirt ungracefully. She had a strangely young look about her. She looked about 15 or 16.

"Come on! There's gotta be somepony who was on this train." Grumbled the earth pony. Wow, she sounded like it to. She spoke with a slight lisp, only it really wasn't that noticeable. She had that tone that suggested she was really let down by the idea that there weren't any who came trotting out in fear, right into the merciless hooves of these sadistic maniacs.

"Yeah, just remember to leave the foals alone, rookie. Deedee needs those." Said the pegasus, who was stretching her wings in anticipation.

"Yeah, yeah. I know the bucking drill." The earth pony confirmed. They walked along the wreckage, clearly looking for ponies. Scarlet shrank back into the wreckage, remaining as silent and unmoving as possible, letting out a mental sigh of relief as they over passed her. Celestia knows what they would do if they found anypony, but Scar's heart sank as this thought suddenly became very real.

She heard one of the marauders, probably the earth pony, shout something. There was a rustling noise, and Scar peeked from the wreckage, careful not to make herself to visible. The pegasus began pulling something out of the wreckage. It was squirming, to.

It took Scar a little to realize that she was looking at a mare, who was clearly disoriented from the crash, barely even reacting as she was dropped on the ground and promptly cornered by the two marauders.

"Whaaa..." She groaned weakly, her eyes beginning to widen as thoughts of what they were going to do to her raced through her mind, her face grimaced with shivering horror. She tried to crawl away, her already blackened, matted fur dragging along the dirt, only to be countered with a short trot by the other two. She was doomed, and she knew it. She lay there, sobbing with acceptance that this was going to be the horrible, painful end for her miserable existence.

"Well, well! What do we got here?" Said the earth pony, reaching for the mini engine on her shoulder to turn on her ankle-saw. The pegasus moved too hold down the mare, restraining her from struggling while they had their "fun". The earth pony pulled the wire, revving the saw, lowering it down, a wicked, psychotic grin spread across both mare's faces. The one being held down stopped squirming, accepting her fate as inevitable.

Scarlet saved herself the sight, ducking back to her cover. She cringed, hearing the mare wail in ear splitting pain as she was dismembered in the most gruesome ways. Scar threw her hooves over her ears, trying her best to make it go away. The soul wrenching screams, maniacal giggling, the hyped buzzing of the saw, crunching down upon flesh and bone. She just wanted it to go away. But, it didn't. To marauders, this was more than just a sick hobby. It was a way of life.

Then, when it finally came to an end, she peaked out, only to immediately duck back in. She could taste bile as she gagged at the site. It was one of the most gruesome things she had ever seen. She was so busy trying to not vomit all over and reveal her location, that she almost didn't hear the sobbing cry of a colt who had just lost his mother to such an unfortunate end.

Scar saw through her peek whole, a small colt, who hadn't even got a cutie mark yet. He was a deep red, with an orange mane that had a light blonde stripe through it, and blue eyes. Wow, so much consistency. He was running out to... well, the mangled corpse of what was once his mother, only to be stopped by the earth pony, who was still giddy from what just happened, blood stained most of the front half of her body. She grabbed him by his scruff, throwing him away, then running up to him.

"Oh, was that your mommy?" She asked, giggling as she bare over the foal, the pegasus watching with wide eyes, an almost shocked expression on her face. The clearly inexperienced earth pony had forgotten what was told to her, mentally blinded by the thrill of another chance to indulge her murderous impulses.

Scar's mind began to once again trail to the time her mother died. Looking into her eyes as the blood drained out from her wounds. She felt a sudden wave of heart shattering sympathy for the foal, who was now being harassed by the earth pony with lisp.

Before Scar knew it, the earth pony was screaming in pain, interrupting her little game. There was now an arrow lodged in her left foreleg, the same leg that held her saw. She fell to the ground, the colt crawling away while he could. The mare fell to the ground, sobbing like a banshee as her leg bled out. The arrow had multiple spins located around it, which would make pulling out one of the most painful and gruesome self-inflicted experiences imaginable.

"I told you not to buck with the foals!" Cried out the pegasus, who looked on without empathy at the injured earth pony, an expression upon her face that said "Told you so" and "You're so screwed".

I looked over to where the arrow was shot from. There, standing in the dust, was her. Scar had heard about her. She should've known that this whole plot was her idea. And there she stood, her blonde, slightly graying mane brushed away from her eyes, a crossbow floating next to her, primed for another shot at thee earth pony. She had grey fur, with amber eyes, and she was wearing some strange black leather jumpsuit. She had a quiver of arrows strapped to her flank, normally where saddlebags would be. She contained much hatred in her eyes... but, deep underneath, Scar could tell that this was a mare of many sorrows.

Scar had heard many stories about Mother Deedee, and how her posse of "offspring", as she called them, would prowl around this desert and kidnap foals, killing the parents. Maybe she was nothing but the biggest pedophile in Equestria. Maybe there was more to it than Scar thought. But she never thought she would ever see the self-proclaimed "profit of the youth" herself. And yet, here she was, looking right at Deedee. She was older than Scar expected.

Dee looked at the wound in the earth pony's leg, then at the pegasus. The pegasus returned the gaze.

"Retrieve the foal." She said it in a voice and tone that was quiet, yet demanding. The pegasus nodded, hovering to the foal and picking him up. He kicked and struggled, but the pegasus was clearly stronger than him. She flew to the back of the truck behind Deedee. It was a big semi truck, with a flat front. It had an empty cab, but in the back was a cage, that had what looked like several large exhaust pipes coiling around it elegantly, and ending in an ascension, six on each side. The pegasus opened the cage, putting the still kicking and screaming colt inside. She closed it once more, locking it up and returning to where her earth pony friend lie on the ground, sobbing like a filly as she glared at the arrow in her leg.

"Leave her here." Ordered Deedee. The pegasus flew back to the go cart, as the earth pony silently begged her for mercy with teary eyes. It was clear the pegasus had shown no sympathy, as she started the vehicle's engine. The older mare climbed into the truck's driver seat, and the rest of the armada followed, ready to mobilize once more. The earth pony planted her face into the dust in defeat, sobbing as the only ponies she had ever come to know as family drove away, deserting her in their dust, leaving her to perish alone in this desert.

Scar's thoughts suddenly lit up. Maybe there was hope. If she could get this pony to lead her to her deserting comrades, maybe she could take back what was taken from her. But first, she would have to capture her...

---

The horseboot laden hoof settled in the dirt, watching as the hostile convoy of automobiles fled the vicinity to regroup back home. The owner of that hoof had observed with his blue eyes, through his darkened goggles and masked face as they had taken down beast of steel that was now the wrecked carcass that lay before him. He crouched down in the dust, levitating his sniper rifle into shooting position, baring witness through the scope to survey the scene, checking for survivors.

He felt a sudden wave of empathetic sadness as his sites settled upon a lonely, sobbing earth pony, injured and abandoned for a crime she had committed against her kin, whatever it may be. He couldn't save her, he couldn't spare the water, nor the medical supplies to heal her leg.

He froze, holding his breath as he witnessed another pony race forth from the wreckage, towards the earth pony. She was floating a sawn off shotgun by her side, loosely aimed at the earth pony, who was now clearly panicking. The mare was a unicorn, had a darkened and drab purple coat, with scarce white freckles dotting her face, a blown back, messy mane of dark blue with scattered black stripes, and almost unforgettably bright crimson eyes. He was cut off from his observations as she began shouting inaudibly at the earth pony, seemingly demanding something. The earth pony attempted to get up, but her wounded leg failed her, and she fell to the ground, screaming and begging for her life. Her ankle saw was unusable, as the leg that was wounded made it impossible to use it properly.

The unicorn hit the earth pony with the butt of her gun, leaving the defenseless earth pony dazed.

The stranger put away his rifle, climbing to all fours again and moving to his dirt bike. He was going to follow these two, stealthily. He knew that one of them was a member of Deedee's weird cult, and he knew that they were going to lead him to the source. He could finally put an end to their reign of terror, punish them for crimes committed against himself and everypony else. He felt it in his gut.

---

Please, if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions, leave it in the comments. I'm wondering if it's ready yet, I'm not sure. Sorry I haven't been active, though. I needed a break. Any feedback would be welcome, please.