//------------------------------//
// Chapter II (alternate): The Highway 
// Story: All's fair in war and friendship 
// by Psycho Brovian 
//------------------------------//

Voices. Not theirs. Not mine. We had precious little time left. We had been found. Five men with rifles raised patrolled the streets. I knelt by the door, and whispered to run if anything bad happened. I told Dashie to fly ahead of the rest to summon help, knowing that she was the fastest among them. Once again, she sternly told me to not to call her that as I hastily swapped the fresh magazine into my sidearm. I hoisted the rifle, cycled the bolt and shouldered it. As the sights of the Springfield fell upon my target, my finger too fell upon its trigger. A shot rang out and a man fell dead. I must have caught them by surprise. They froze, and in that fleeting moment I had killed another. I foolishly ran into the streets howling like a wild man. Was I trying to intimidate them? I don't know.

I was right. These men were frightened animals. It would only take one man and his wild determination to deter them, but I wasn't done yet. As they popped up to return fire, one by one, they found their target, much like themselves, had taken cover. I cycled the bolt. Three. I had Three shots left. I rolled to a prone position beside the overturned cart, and found peace. I no longer heard the gunshots and foreign shouts. What I heard was the gravel crunching under my body, and what I saw was a slow-motion carnival game unfolding before me. The barrel of my rifle lazily fell into place, and as the sights straightened out the action was automatic. My finger twitched, and the stock kicked hard into my shoulder. As his body fell backwards, time rushed to catch up with me. The thunderous gunfire shook the ground beneath me, and suddenly I heard a rush of wind. I panicked. My frail plan of glass held by gossamer strands had just unravelled and was tumbling toward an unforgiving floor fast.

She moved so fast I swore she left rainbow trails behind her. It was hypnotic watching her fly rings around them. My heart flattened. I called out to Dashie. Rising to my knees, I desperately tried to line up a shot that didn't have a trace of vibrant color in it. I didn't get a chance until the net scooped her out of the air. I shouted as I shot one of the remaining men as though my anger would speed the bullet on its way and strike its target like a mortar shell. He folded like a bad hand to the ground as the others began to swing at the entangled pegasus, but she was far from out of fight. She kicked, bit, and snorted, thoroughly enraged. I fired a wild shot from the hip as I ran towards them. The rifle was empty, but far from useless. Still screaming an incoherent stream of sheer anger, I gripped that weapon like a Louisville. Distracted by the netted ball of rage and fury, I took little more than a second to line up my swing. Home run. To my surprise, Rainbow had knocked the other man out.

She untangled herself, and flew right up to my face. “Listen, mister, I – hey! Watch it!” she protested as I wrapped an arm around her. I pinned her to my chest as I ran for the truck, still an unknown quantity. In stark contrast to the care I had shown her in the streets, I dumped Dash unceremoniously into the bed of the truck, and climbed into the driver's seat. I began to bargain, with what I do not know, and miraculously found the key in the ignition. I pleaded with the truck as the engine turned over and roared to life with the fury of a thousand thunderstorms. I threw it into reverse, not caring what was behind me, and stamped the pedal to the floor.

To my surprise, before my eyes as they flashed back to see the rest of the ladies hiding in the doorway, the door itself took on a purple glow. So enveloped, it tore itself from the hinges, and hovered alongside Twilight and the rest as mobile cover as they ran to meet me halfway. Fluttershy, predictably, was being towed by the tail by Applejack. I shouted for them to hurry, to run faster. Twi shouted back to quit yelling at them, that they were going as fast as they could. Pinkie bounded into the bed of the truck, knocking over Rainbow Dash who had just righted herself. Twilight teleported into the seat beside me as Applejack and Rarity heaved a mortified Fluttershy into the bed, climbing in shortly afterward. I worked the gears of the old truck, cranked the wheel, and floored it out of town. The lumbering old thing groaned as it battered through debris. This is it. We were home free.

No. Far from it. Two motorcycles laden with sidecars weren't far behind. I asked Twilight to take the wheel. She whined, frightened not of the machine but of failure, and I demanded it in a tone that I had never taken with any of them. A tear welled up in her eye, but as her horn and the steering wheel began to glow with a violet light, I knew my vulgar display had paid off. I felt horrible about it, but those feelings could wait for now. I assured her that I believed in her in a somewhat ashamed tone. I could make amends later, if it wasn't too late. I fished the rifle rounds out of my pocket and began to reload the rifle, all the while trying to shift the monstrosity through its gears. Success, and not a moment too soon. They were upon us.

I shouted for them to get down, noticing  that we were quickly being overtaken on the left as the second bike tailed us. It was curious at first, but suddenly struck me that they weren't out to kill. They were out to capture. I fired a wild shot at the driver as the passenger pointed his rifle directly at me. We dueled, battering the weapons against one another, and when I had an opening, I took advantage of it. I thrusted the rifle into the spokes of the sidecar's wheel, throwing the entire machine into a jarring halt, and launching rider and passenger. The rider fell into the woods. He was out of the fight. The passenger, on the other hand, landed on the hood of the truck. He clung for dear life, cautiously reaching for his nine millimeter parabellum pistol.

I pleaded, with what I do not know. Please don't make me do this in front of them. No one answered. I shouted for them to shut their eyes, and in one fluid motion, drew and fired my Colt. He fell dead. I wrested control of the battered truck from Twilight's magic, and swerved abruptly. The body skidded off the hood and under the truck. There was a solid thud as we ran him over. Suddenly, we began to take fire.

“Alright, I've had enough!” Rainbow snarled. “Don't do it, Dashie!” I commanded. “Stop calling me that!” she snapped. I reached back, boldly taking my eyes off the road to make sure I ended up with a fistful of her tail. She flapped her wings and struggled to take off, stretching my body up as my other hand clenched into a death grip on the steering wheel. “You're going to get yourself hurt!” I exclaimed, straining to maintain control of both the truck and the headstrong pegasus. “Let go!” she groaned as she struggled to get free, “You need my help!” “I've got things under control! I've got--”

Pain. The overwhelming sting of rifle bullet roared through my side, and reverberated through my body. My vision flickered. My grip loosened. Dashie would get free, and she would get hurt. There wasn't a single thing I could do about it. I sunk back into the driver's seat and watched, my heart sinking as she took off – only to be roped in by Applejack. “No you don't, R.D.!” she called out. I lay on the driver's seat at an awkward angle, helpless as I observed several items spring out of the bed of the truck, wrapped in a light blue aura. Rarity, of all people, had joined the fight. Tools, bits of wood and metal scraps, and even a blacksmith's anvil flew out of the bed with precision and purpose. The motorcycle soon crashed under the hail of debris.

“Pinkie! Do something!” Twilight shouted. “Okie dokie lokie!” was the cheerful response as the pink pony bounded into my lap and took control of the vehicle, sort of. Turn signals blinked, the headlights flashed on and off, and the windshield wipers skittered across the windshield. Everything began to grow dark. The forward base was within range, this I knew. They would be safe soon. I could finally rest. My mission was complete.

I didn't believe in a God, as such there was no heaven to go to. Certainly, no heaven would even accept a man like myself. But with them safe, in a funny sort of way, I did go to a better place.

There was no pain. I floated on a cloud in an enchanted castle. I heard Twilight's voice echoing through the halls, muffled through layers of thick cloud and stone. “I hope he's alright” she said.

There was no pain. I lay on a cot in a medical tent. I heard Twilight's voice echoing through my mind, muddled through a heavy dose of painkillers. “Shh! Girls!” she said, “he's waking up!” I observed the six of them with hazy eyes. I tried to sit up, but that only wracked my body with terrible pains and made colors messily bleed into one another. Rarity spoke up. “Don't strain yourself, dear. I overheard the medics talking. You will make a full recovery as long as you just relax. Until then, however, if you need anything--” “Anything at all” Fluttershy interrupted. Twilight finished. “We're here for you.” I like to think I smiled. “Twilight...” I managed weakly. She stepped closer. “I'm sorry... Sorry I yelled at you in the truck.” She smiled and forgave me, tearing up a bit. I reached out and wiped the tear away. The weight of my arm was almost too much to bear. I hope I smiled instead of winced.

Twilight turned to address her friends. “We should get going” she said, “he needs his rest.” “Um, y-you guys go on ahead, I'll be right behind” Rainbow Dash's statement was puzzling, her tone even more so. It spoke of penitence. She watched her friends leave, and then turned to me, but was seemingly unable to look me in the eye. “It's because of me that you're hurt and... and I'm sorry. I didn't... I didn't know – I didn't want anything to happen to you.” I shook my head and lazily slurred out “It's okay, Rainbow. You and your friends made it here safely. That's all that really matters.” She looked at the ground, her ears she held low. “And... and you can call me Dashie...” she said, “If you really want.” I hope I smiled. I know I held out my hand. She put her hoof in it, and smiled weakly. I gave her hoof a gentle squeeze, and promptly drifted off to sleep.