The air crackled with the sound of burning cinders and flame.
Rainbow Dash stirred. She heard more and more chattering voices. Slowly, her eyes opened, and she squinted into a dull evening sky.
Smoke poured into the country air above the Fillyda landscape. The sound of crickets rang in the distance. Somewhere nearby, bodies were moving and shuffling about.
With a groan, the pegasus tried moving. She felt a blanket lying gently over her figure, and beyond the numbness she sensed a wooden board acting as a bed. At some point in time, somepony had laid her in the back of Applejack's wagon. As she tilted her head to the side, she saw several equine bodies in uniform shuffling about a charred site. Multiple officers had been summoned to the heart of Shindig Soils. Several carts and wagons painted with police colors lingered in a tight circle. The air tickled with the spray of water as fire fighters attempted to extinguish an endless blaze.
Blinking, Rainbow craned her neck, searching for the cider mill that had housed the Shindig brothers' machine. It took a few moments of contemplation to realize that the building had been completely burned down. Only a pile of burning rubbled remained.
Somewhere in the distance—murmuring calmly among the firefighters and police—Rainbow heard Stu Leaves' voice. And Applejack's.
"AJ..."
Rainbow tried to move, but the numbness overwhelmed her. Vague memories of an exploding sarcophagus and galloping bodies flickered across her mind. The sheer frustration of the moment forced a groan from her lips.
And somepony heard it. "Huh?" The voice was low, gruff. "Rainbow?" A figure trotted closer, his eyes awash with concern. "Rainbow Dash?"
"Mrmmff..." Rainbow blinked, squinting upwards. "...Joe..."
"H-hey! Rainbow Dash!" Donut Joe smiled. "Thank Celestia! You're in one piece, girl!"
"Guh... what... how...?"
"We got you out of that mess right in the nick of the time! Stu and Gustave flew off and summoned the local police. They've got that Silver Shill guy in hoofcuffs and everything. Whew-wee! What a mess! You sure missed a lot, sleepyhead!"
"Mmmgnnhhh..."
"Hey..." Donut tilted his head to the side, looking concerned. "Are you okay there, girl? Applejack said that you looked really... really out of it the moment we all woke from crazy-world—"
"Applejack.... Applejack!" Rainbow wheezed. "Is she okay?! Did they hurt her?! Is her head all in one place?!"
"Whoah whoah wh-whoah...!" Donut Joe waved his forelimbs, chuckling slightly. "The chick's fine! Nothing to freak out about!" He glanced behind him at the multiple officers circling the scene. "She's a lot healthier than the rest of us! That's for sure! I've never seen a mare made of such strong stuff! It's like she was never out of it to begin with!"
Wincing, Rainbow summoned the strength to tilt her head over and look past the edge of the cart. On the ground, she saw that several equipment had been moved to make room in the back of the wagon for Rainbow to lie down. Aside the crates of apple cider, she saw a canvas bag full of her own belongings lying in the grass.
"I'm not sure how she got out of that mess at the end... must have been something Epcot did... or pure dumb luck..."
"Uhm..." Rainbow wheezed. "Joe, I..."
"But, like, what's up with you?" Donut leaned in, squinting. "Did you hit your head something awful on the way out or what? You're like a limp noodle!"
"I'm okay, Joe. I just..." Rainbow shuddered, motioning with her head at the ground beside the cart. "I could use a drink."
"Huh? Parched, eh?" Donut smirked, turning towards the crates. "Well, don't sweat it. Good thing your buddy Applejack packed a whole buncha cider—"
"NO! No... uh..." Rainbow gulped. "No cider. Not for a while... please..."
"Heh. I feel ya. Hold up. Maybe one of the police officers brought some water with them. I'll check—"
"Actually... uh..." Rainbow nodded her head at her canvas bag. "If you look in there, you'll see I have a canteen... er... jug or two of my own."
"Oh yeah?"
"Home brew from Ponyville," Rainbow wheezed. "If... if you don't mind, dude..."
"Hey! Not at all! Besides, check it!" Donut winked at her as his horn glowed. With swift telekinesis, he produced a familiar white jug from Rainbow's bag and unscrewed it in midair. "I've got my magic back! Just like you and Stu got your wings back! Heh!" He chuckled. "Ain't that a beaut?"
"Right. Totally." Rainbow nodded, licking her lips. "If I could just... h-have a sip..."
"How much of a sip?"
"My eyes will tell you."
Donut cradled Rainbow's head, tilting her muzzle up so he could pour a liberal amount of the quaff down her gullet. She took several gulps, immediately feeling the potion's effect on her body's senses. After she felt the material adequately coating her stomach, she gave a prolonged blink.
Donut Joe floated the jug back, gently letting go of Rainbow's head.
The mare swallowed and leaned back. She exhaled, relaxing as she felt the very tips of her limbs tingling. It would take a while, but she knew that the medicine would soon have its desired effect.
"That good?" Donut Joe asked.
"Yeah..." Rainbow's voice cracked. "Thanks a ton."
"Hey, don't mention it." Joe took one whiff of the jug and winced. "Whew! Sure hope this stuff does the trick! Cuz it's murdering my nose!"
"Yeah. It'll do that."
"Heh... you Ponyville pegasi and your silly hippy drinks." He sealed the container back up and placed it on the ground. As he did so, Rainbow followed the motion with her eyes, and she spotted a familiar black shard of rock lying in the grass, ignored. "Salt of the earth, as far as I care. Or in this case the sky, eheheh..."
Rainbow stared fixedly at the rock.
"That was a joke, y'know."
"Oh! Uhm... right... right..." Rainbow took a mental note of the shard's position before wrenching her eyes off it to look at Joe. "Say... uh... Joe..."
"Yeah, Rainbow?"
"Is everyone accounted for?"
"Like I said, Applejack's healthy as a horse. Stu and Gustave flew off to grab the cops. As for me and Mulia, we're doing just fine. We're a bit weirded out by everything, but, y'know... we'll deal."
"I didn't mean that. I mean... yeah, that's super cool and all... I'm glad to hear it." Rainbow stifled a cough. "But... what about everyone."
"Oh... everyone?"
Rainbow tiredly nodded.
Donut Joe squirmed, then sighed. "Well... that's the less than snazzy part, Rainbow. You see... turns out Serenity Shindig didn't exactly survive the wild trip back. I mean, I wasn't such a huge fan of her, but still... super bummer."
Rainbow nodded, the grim memories coalescing in her head. "Yes... and...?"
"And..." Donut Joe bit his lip. "The two punks... Shindig's kids..."
"... ... ..."
"You gotta understand. Things were falling apart. The fire was spreading everywhere. We all freaked out and the first thing we wanted to do was get you and the rest of us out safely and... uh..." Donut Joe sighed, slicking back his messy mane. "...the morons got away, Rainbow. There's no smoother way to put it. I'm awfully sorry."
Rainbow tilted her head. As she felt the ends of her limbs tingling more and more, she spotted a shade of orange, trotting from one edge of the blaze to another. As her vision came into focus, she spotted Applejack standing next to Stu Leaves. Both ponies conversed with an officer or two.
And they looked perfectly healthy.
With a slow sigh, Rainbow smiled. A tired, heavy smile. "I'm not..."