//------------------------------//
// Rain 
// Story: Rainbow's Lonesome Road 
// by Centurion Pike-Wall 
//------------------------------//

For a few minutes, she just sat there, going over in her head what she just thought. She wanted to...Rip the limbs off the Princess, and then gut her, with her own horn? Where had that thought come from? She soon realized where. She had been surrounded by violence and violent, even sadistic ponies. Ponies that made Discord look like a tantruming baby, in terms of sheer insanity. And, they were rubbing off on her. That may be what that creepy Dream version of herself represents; her personality being twisted until she enjoys torturing others too.

I did, get some satisfaction in, killing that raider. My first kill. And I didn't feel guilty when I killed Cold. No, I'm not like them! I killed them, yes. But the raider was out of Self-defense, and to escape from Cold. Plus, they both were crazy. The dogs tried to attack me, so that's also Self-defense. But, the Hippogriffs.... The only ones she felt guilty about were the Hippogriff soldiers. They were doing their job, and she was helping Transport their Princess. Even if it was self-defense, she still didn't feel right about it. 

Her conscious sated, she returned to her splint. She wrapped the makeshift binding around the two sticks, tucking one end under one of the sticks. She stood up shakily, and took an experimental step forward in it. Pain shot up the leg, and she fell back down. Grunting, she stood again, and began to trot forward, while keeping her foreleg in the air. She climbed out of the mud, and began to clamber up onto the path. 

It was not a well kept path. Dead leaves, old sticks, rocks, and what looked like some small bones littered the path. The path itself was uneven; it was patchy and had mixed sort and hard areas. A broken sign laid near the path, having been uprooted from its former position. After a short walk over, she saw what it said: Kells keep, 20 miles.

Void groaned. Twenty miles!? She didn't know if Kells keep was a town, or an actual keep, but it made little difference to her. Either way, she may be able to get some food, shelter, and clothes. She had no money, but maybe they would be kind enough to just offer it to her. If not, maybe she could steal it. If it was a town or a castle, the people there likely wouldn't miss one. Her mind made up, she began to March along. She felt unusually energetic; her fortunes were turning around!

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Her fortunes weren't turning for the better. She couldn't exactly go very fast, in account of only being able to use three hooves. Plus, her wounds from the past three days were still pretty sore, further hindering her progress. She was still moving at a somewhat decent speed, until it began to rain.

It had started out as a light drizzle and some stuff wind. Without a covering, she was extra cold, but it wasn't too bad. But then it began to pick up, more and more rain beating down on the path. Some areas of the path became muddy pools, threatening to swallow her hoof. Other areas were just a little slippery. However, she knew that she couldn't stay on the open path. The wind and cold rain could give her Hypothermia, or some other had disease. Plus, she could slip and get even more hurt. So, she got off the path, and began to look for a place to find shelter.

The trees provided extra cover, but she was still under the shadow of the darkened clouds. She looked around, venturing off the path, but still keeping it in sight. She didn't want to get lost, after all. When she found nothing, she went back to the road, and went along for a little bit. Then, she would repeat her process.

Finally, she found a cave. Upon entering it, she found it was relatively dry, and empty. Well, or anything alive, that is. Inside, she found several things. A few small crates, a bunch of firewood, a fire pit with a spit over it, a couple of sleeping rolls, and a mat with some tools and weapons laid out on it.  A map was pinned to the wall, and a small door leading into the cave. She went over to the door, and hesitantly opened it. To her relief, it was just a latrine; little better then a hole, but still empty. After making sure the rest of the cave was empty of anything alive, She went over to the pit, and examined the items in it. A few burnt logs, and some still warm embers. She went over to grab a few logs, and began to drag them by her mouth over toward the pit. A lot slower then using her hooves, but ultimately less painful.

When they were over by the pit, she placed them in the hot embers. When they were in place, she began to glow in The embers, causing the fire to pick up. When the Coals began to sputter out, She looked for anything to bring it up. She settled on some dry sticks she found next to the logs, which she threw in the fire. After a few minutes, it had grown to a nice size, and Void began to warm herself. 

She now took in just how long she had been in the Rain. She was soaked to the bone, and freezing cold. The fire felt like one of her secret trips to the Ponyville Day Spa: relaxing, and felt great. She afforded herself a little chuckle. She truly was different; she was comparing a Spa trip to sitting in front of a fire. It wasn't even that big a fire. However, that was what she was reduced to. She would enjoy what good fortune that came her way. And this was it!

She was now, very, very hungry. She realized she hadn't eaten pretty much anything in almost a week. She was starving. She began to look for food, but found nothing. Soon, she grew tired, and dragged one of the sleeping bag closer to the fire pit. She then said into it, making sure to position her Splinted hoof so she wouldn't crush it. She knew she should probably check the other crates and whatnot for anything useful, but she was too tired, and She was more comfortable in that Sleeping bag then She had been in a while, and was not keen to leave it. So, her eyes grew heavy and She began to drift off to sleep. Much to her relief, she wasn't greeted by a blood-soaked room. Instead, it was the comforting darkness of the void.