He was huffing and puffing from all the running he had done in the past ten minutes. He could still hear them faintly, shouting and shooting at something behind him. The shots were not aimed at him, so he got a little curious to what were they shooting, but he also realized that if he didn’t find someplace to hide in soon, he would be a goner.
Luckily, the area he had stumbled upon had broken-down houses in which he could take cover for a while. He quickly picked one of the houses that was somewhat still standing, and sprinted towards what appeared to be the front entrance. Once inside, he found himself in the house’s ruined living room. Scorched books surrounded the living room and there was almost no furniture anywhere inside the first floor. In the sense of panic, he ran further into the house and immediately spotted a refrigerator in the nearby kitchen in which he thinks he could just barely fit himself inside. As he was about to climb inside the refrigerator, however, he spotted the raiders who were after him through the kitchen’s shattered window. At first he thought they knew where he was, which is why he tried to force himself into the small refrigerator, but as soon as they came near the building he was in, they ran right past it as quickly. As they ran towards the opposite direction, they left only an intense Doppler effect of screams behind them as they vanished from his sight into beyond the wrecked landscape of destroyed buildings and other debris.
He waited a moment before getting out of the fridge and walking back to the entrance from where he came inside, taking a peek from behind the open space where a door should have been. Seeing that the coast is clear and hearing nothing, he jumped out of the house and started to laugh in the sense of victory.
“Ha-ha! Did those raiders think they could really keep up with me, Herbert “Daring” Dashwood? I know those fellows aren’t the brightest folk, but running past possible hiding spots without searching and instead continuing pursuit is another thing.” Now that I’ve lost them, I should start looking for my manservant from whom I’ve been separated from. Will he be okay without me watching over him?
Before Herbert could make his first step, a beam of light stuck down to the ground in front of him from the sky. This sudden lightshow startled him badly as it came out nowhere. He hastily jumped back inside the house and carefully peeked outside, following the current event nervously with caution and squinted eyes. The light was brighter than anything he had ever seen before, but it wasn’t as bright as the light caused by a nuke going off, as his eyes had not melted yet.
What on earth is going on? He wondered with his eyes still fixated on the bizarre event. The beam of light seemed to be hitting the ground with a strong force, yet the beam itself did not make even a sound. He scratched the back of his both ears to see if he had become temporary deaf due to the noise shock-wave the beam might’ve cause, but he could hear his scratches loud and clear.
After a while the beam started to dissipate away. The ray of light was gone, leaving something on the ground where it hit. It was cyan-colored and it had the colors of a rainbow in the correct order. It was Rainbow Dash. The clothing she was wearing back at her home was gone, leaving her only with her coat.
She was still screaming even after the light had vanished. Suddenly she stopped and stood still with her eyes wide open. What she saw in front of her was a broken house with no roof on it. She couldn’t examine the house too long, as she started to notice the foul stench in the air. “Ugh! What is that smell? And where am I-“ She looked to her left and saw a sight she had never even dreamed about in her worst nightmares. Brown-covered plains and charred, lifeless trees was what she saw in front of her. The sight was horrifyingly unimaginable and she couldn’t believe it was real. “No… This is only a nightmare! I’m just dreaming! Yeah, that’s right… Soon I’ll wake up from this, covered in sweat on my bed in my home…” She sent out a small laugh of despair in the hopes it would help her reassure herself that this was just a nightmare.
“Excuse me, you there!” said Herbert, still hiding behind the wall. Rainbow Dash quickly looked to her left and saw another destroyed house. She could make out a faint shadow coming from behind one of the walls, which made her heart skip a beat and pupils shrink to the size of a pea. “Don’t worry, little one. I won’t hurt you.”
Herbert slowly came out from hiding and walked out of the house, keeping eye-contact with the mysterious, horse-resembling creature’s magenta-colored eyes while trying to figure out why it had a coat of cyan and what appeared to be wings on its back. Once he had gotten completely out of the house he asked the small creature:
“Can you… Can you understand what I’m saying?”
“Y-yeah,” said Rainbow Dash while taking small steps away from the tall being, “I can understand you… B-but who are you? WHAT are you? What is this place? W-why am I here?!”
Rainbow Dash’s behind touched the wall behind her. Noticing this, she felt cornered and started to hyperventilate and cold sweat was starting to form on her trembling body. She felt as if she was going to fall unconscious at any moment and was swaying a little.
“Calm down little one, I’m as confused as you are! Haven’t you seen a human before?”
“A… Human?”
Rainbow Dash’s anxiety and fear suddenly changed into confusion. Her big eyes were still wide open, but her pupils had grown a bit bigger than a pea and they were locked on the so-called ‘human’ as she examined him very thoroughly. Her breathing began going back to normal.
“How… How can this be? Humans are only mythological creatures! They don’t exist!”
“Well, I can assure you that humans are still alive and somewhat doing well, even after the nuclear war. But more importantly, what are you? I can see you are a horse, but what’s wrong with your… mane, for example? Why do you have, err… wings? Are those even wings?
Rainbow Dash looked at the human with an expression of disappointment. She jumped and started to flap her wings to stay airborne. “Uh, hello? I’m a PEGASUS? We naturally have wings which to fly with?”
“A Pegasus, you say? Last time I checked, they were considered a myth. Then again, these are really strange times, so I suppose anything can be possible. I still think Brahmins are one of the strangest things I’ve seen in my adventures. But never mind about that! What’s your name, little one? And where did you come fro-“
“Will you stop calling me “little one” all the time? It’s embarrassing me… I have a name, you know? It’s Rainbow Dash.”
“My apologies, Rainbow, but-“
“Rainbow. Dash. Not just Rainbow,” she corrected him with an annoyed tone, still hovering in mid-air. But she slowly started to descent onto the broken-down road with cracks and missing parts across it.
“Again, my apologies, Rainbow Dash… As I was saying, where did you come from? I can assume that if I’m the first human you’ve seen in your life, you are most likely not from around this planet, let alone this place. Just a moment ago I saw this bright light coming down from the sky and after that you were right there where the light hit, screaming your lungs out!”
Rainbow Dash was embarrassed, as she can’t believe she was doing something uncool as that. She took a moment to collect herself before she told the human anything, since she was worried she might do something else that’s uncool in her book. “Well… I was back at my home, thinking about stuff… And then I decided to look at the dark sky for a while and I saw a shooting star fly by… Then I wished that I could be my hero’s sidekick, and then all of a sudden this white-light–thingy surrounded me out of nowhere and the next thing I know, I’m in a place where the air smells really bad and I don’t see any green anywhere! I MUST be dreaming, even if you say I’m not!”
“I’m sorry that I have to break it to you, but this is reality. I’m sure of it, because I’ve pinched myself a dozen of times and even I haven’t woken up. It’s still hard to believe what other people might do without considering the cause and effect… But where are my manners, I haven’t even introduced myself yet! My name is Herbert. Herbert “Daring” Dashwood. But you can call me Daring.
For a moment there was only silence. After saying his name, Herbert noticed the Pegasus’ expression change once again. Then he noticed that it was trying to say something.
“Y-your name is “Daring”?” she asked with a shaky tone.
“No, my real name’s Herbert. I got the nickname “Daring” because of my dangerous adventures.”
“Adventures? YOU’RE an adventurer? And one of your names is “Daring”? Oh no… No, no, no… It can’t be.”
“What is it? You remember something?”
“My hero’s name is Daring Do… And I wished I could be her sidekick.”
“Are you saying that instead becoming the sidekick of this “Daring Do” of yours, your wish came true but with you being my sidekick instead of her?”
Rainbow Dash felt as if she was stabbed when he said that. The possibility of that being the case is not impossible. Then she quickly got airborne again.
“No way,” she protested. “I’m not going into adventures with you in this rotten place! I don’t mind danger, but THIS is another thing! And how will I get back my hom-“
“Shh!”
“What!?”
“…Do you hear that? Someone’s coming this way! Quickly, come here!”
“H-hey! Where are you going!?”
Rainbow Dash quickly started following Herbert who quickly dashed off back inside the house. This time he decided to
run upstairs and hide somewhere up there instead of trying to get back into the small fridge again. Rainbow Dash followed him, hovering over the staircase instead of walking on it. It didn’t take long for the unknown, unwanted people to appear at the scene. Noticing that Rainbow Dash was still airborne, Herbert quickly pulled her down towards the floor by the hooves.
“I don’t know who’s coming, but I can almost guarantee that they are up to no good. It’s best if we stay as hidden as possible.”
Rainbow Dash, though a bit upset about Herbert’s manners, understood what he meant and hid her wings behind her back. The pair, hiding in the bedroom upstairs, was now carefully observing from behind the window and the small hole next to the window. Shortly after they started to hear footsteps and finally saw who they were.
“Slavers…” Herbert whispered. “The raiders that were chasing me a while ago must’ve bumped with these fellows by sheer bad luck while they were chasing me.”
“Slavers?” Rainbow dash asked with a silent, surprised voice.
“Yes, slavers,” Herbert responded. “They kill a lot of innocent people who are unable to defend themselves. And the ones they don’t kill, most of which are children and woman, they take with them to their hideout and make slaves out of them. I’m sure that if they see us they will at least kill me… And take you with them.”
Rainbow Dash’s breathing got faster, as she started to imagine what they’d do to her if they were spotted. Herbert, however, noticed this, and gently yet swiftly placed his arms over her as the both watched the events unfold before them. Even though she had only been for a while in this wretched place, the sudden feeling of warmth and security felt like she hadn’t experienced anything like it, as if the only time she had experienced it was when she was just a little filly. She closed her eyes for a moment, but a loud, terrifying voice made her open her eyes almost by reflex.
“Goddamn it, I’m sure that goddamn light hit around here somewhere!” said one of the slavers.
“You? Sure? Ha, even I’m not sure if you know how to even wipe your ass right!” responded another slaver.
“Hey, FUCK YOU! Do YOU know where that light-thing came from then? No? Then do me a favor and shut up!”
“That’s enough!” yelled the group leader. “If I hear another word out of either of you, I will shoot you both in the fucking head! Now come on, let’s move onward. We were supposed scout this way as well, so we might get that out of our way right now.”
The two slavers, who were arguing just a minute ago, stood motionless for a moment before glancing at each other with the meanest look they could make and then started to run in order to catch up with the leader. The place was once again filled with silence.
The two were still in the bedroom, Herbert still holding on to Rainbow Dash and staring into nothingness. After snapping back to reality, and recovering from the demoralizing shout, Rainbow Dash found herself inside Herbert’s hold. She tried to squirm her way out of his seemingly tightening hold, but she got out as soon as Herbert realized what he was doing and released her.
“Hey! Why did you have to grab me like that?! I almost screamed!” said Rainbow Dash while annoyed and walking towards the bed that was in the bedroom.
“Sorry, Rainbow Dash, it’s just that whenever I’m in situations like this, I tend to try to imagine I’m in bed with my favorite stuffed toy from when I was a kid. And you just so happened to sort of look like it.”
“Oh, that’s SO lame! I can’t believe you are really an adventurer, let alone I’m stuck with YOU as your sidekick…”
She jumped on the bed and lied down for a bit. The bed wasn’t comfortable at all. It had springs that were loose and popping out of the mattress and most of the stuffing had been emptied from it, most likely by scavengers in search for soft material from which to make a bed from.
But even if it was uncomfortable, Rainbow Dash couldn’t help but lie on it for a little while, until she noticed a filthy-looking used syringe lying right next to the pillow. The discovery made her back up from it in terror. She had always hated going to the hospital because they’d always had to inject something into her when she was there. Because of this, she had developed a phobia toward needles. It didn’t take her long before she jumped off the bed in horror and, by doing so, collapsing the whole thing.
'
“Oh that’s just great, even the bed is a piece of junk!” she muttered to herself, still shaking from the sight of the needle. “This just isn’t my day…”
“’This isn’t just my day’, you say? I couldn’t agree any more with you. First I get separated from my manservant, and then I get chased by raiders and after that I almost had to take on slavers. If only I had cigarettes on me… I knew letting Argyle hold them for me was a bad idea.”
“Cigar-what? Never mind about that, we’ve got to get out of here! I don’t like this place one bit!”
Herbert nodded and walked downstairs and out of the house. Rainbow Dash followed using her own route, which was her flying out of the bedroom window. After looking around a bit to make sure they were completely alone this time, Herbert stopped to think about what to do next.
“I and Argyle were on our way to Megaton. I’d rather not leave him alone, but I’m sure he’ll be able to take care of himself… for a while, at least. Come, my new little, cyan-colored friend! Megaton’s this way.”
“You just called me ‘little’ again! Will you cut that out?! Are you even listening to me?! H-hey, wait up! Don’t go without me! Oh… and thanks a lot, Princess Luna…” She murmured to herself while running to catch up with Herbert and then paced herself to his walking speed.
The new adventure pair is now on their way towards their first adventure; head towards Megaton for possible leads on how Rainbow Dash will return to her home. (And why Herbert and Argyle were going there in the first place.) After a short walk away from the torn-down buildings, Herbert talked yet again.
“Say, uh… Rainbow Dash… I know this might be an awkward question and all but… Are you a boy or a girl?
That was the last straw for Rainbow Dash. She immediately flew herself to Herbert’s head’s altitude and turned around to give him a buck to the head. Herbert swayed from the little, yet strong Pegasus’ kick and decided to keep his mouth shut until he has something actually important to say. And so, in an awkward silence, the two set out on their journey towards Megaton.