Shift in Spectrum

by Superdale33

8 - Damaged by Seperation

With Greenhorn behind the wheel of the Interceptor, Max kept a grip on his shotgun, resting an elbow out the window as they drove through the wasteland. Rainbow lay behind them on the back panel, the lack of additional seats forcing her to the floor. With her eyes half lidded, she examined herself, spotting smudges of grime and speckles of blood. Rainbow sighed at the latter, shaking herself before stumbling to her hooves. Her wings fluttered as well.

“Can’t wait to take a bath when I get home,” she announced, a wry smile on her lips as she stuck her head between Greenhorn and Max.

“A bath…” Greenhorn muttered to himself, his hands gripping the wheel like it would fly off if he let go. “My dad said they were meant to keep you clean. I always felt it was a waste of water myself.”

Rainbow crinkled her nose, “Yeah, you would think that. Heh, maybe you guys can come along back to my world. It’d be a nice change from all this, huh?”

Max twitched his head in Rainbow’s direction, but remained silent. Greenhorn lifted his chin in thought, the familiar sounds of the V8 filling the compartment. It was much smoother than before, though the rare stutter of the engine left a lot to be desired. The car itself was near identical from it’s last iteration, but the front corner was still smashed.

“Pillar’s Rock!” Blucifer’s voice rang from the side, knocking everyone back to attention. With his ATV, Blucifer drove on ahead, leaving a trail of dust. Redding did the same from the other side, though stuck closer to the Interceptor. True to Blucifer’s word, Pillar’s Rock came prominently into view. The many rock pillars still blotted out the interior. A chill ran through Rainbow from the shadows and what she had seen last time. Her eyes wandered away. The cliff Max had fallen from, though nearly camouflaged as it merged with the horizon, still left a pang in her chest.

Turning away from that, the presence of a mountain laid before her. It didn’t run straight up, but still had several platforms and trails swiveling up high angled cliffsides. The mountains rose up just a ways behind Pillar’s Rock, and from Rainbow’s perspective, were about as tall but much fainter from both the haze of heat and distance. If it wasn’t for the faint billow of smoke on the side of the mountain, she wouldn’t have paid any more attention to it.

“What’s that?” Rainbow questioned, pointing a hoof to the smoke. It wasn’t too far off for Max and Greenhorn to catch, and they all stared at it. Reaching under his seat, Max pulled out a pair of binoculars and brought them to his eyes.

Sand and rock were all he could see for a moment before he searched around, finally landing on the distant sight of a semi truck. The huge tank in the back still spilled smoke into the sky - Bond-fire - and shifting slightly to the left, Max found the other semi truck loaded with burnable materials in the back - Fül.

“Our target,” Max said, lowering his binoculars. Greenhorn and Rainbow grew grim, the former sticking his head out the window.

“Blucifer, Redding!” he shouted over the rushing air. The two of them turned their heads to them, driving straight while keeping parallel to the Interceptor. “To the mountain!”

Blucifer gave a thumbs up and Redding simply nodded before diverting course away from Pillar’s Rock. The Interceptor did the same. Instead of driving through the shrouded, maze-like area, they went around it, following the side like it was one seamless cliff. Each pillar whizzed by as they picked up speed, but Rainbow caught sight of something moving, pumping, from within just before it vanished amongst the other towering rocks.

She rubbed her chin with a hoof. Though there was no way to even see what had moved, her eyes glazed over the pillars. Even after the place was far behind.

---

The air was tense within the Interceptor, stifling Rainbow ever so slightly. Though the heat was primarily to blame - thanks to the sunlight beating against the dark vehicle - the way Max and especially Greenhorn sat in their seats made Rainbow shift uncomfortably. They were so focused, their demeanors were nearly identical, all the way down to their scowls.

“Do you think they know we’re coming?” she asked, her eyes flickering to the left, finding a steep drop. Memories of the other two cliffs Rainbow had come across floated in front of her vision, and she quickly diverted her attention to the other side, where a wall of rock and boulders was all there was. A flashback of a sandstorm swept through her mind. Putting a hoof over her muzzle alleviated some of those thoughts. Despite her reaction, the mountain trail they drove along was stable with plenty of room to maneuver, both for the Interceptor and the ATV’s still driving nearby.

The smoke in the sky, growing closer with each passing minute, could be seen perfectly floating above. It was always just a little ahead of the bend on the path.

Rainbow dragged her hoof away from her face to scratch her ear at the lack of a reply, raising a brow at the two in the front, “We’re still going with the plan, at least, right?”

Max caught her gaze and nodded. Releasing a shaky sigh, Rainbow fidgeted in place and scratched her ear again.

“Might need to change it up a bit,” Greenhorn noted, his voice drier than usual. A bump in the road knocked his glasses askew and he hastily adjusted them. “The only places to go are forward and back.”

“And down that way,” Blucifer offered, driving next to the driver’s side and nudging his head towards the drop. “Although, I wouldn’t bet a single koob to using it.”

“I’m pretty tempted to offer a few koobs just to see if you’d do it,” Redding called out from the opposite side, eliciting a laugh from Blucifer.

Greenhorn smiled, “Luckily, we know there are only two Rigs to worry about. And their both ahead of us. If we need to, we can fall back-”

“We’re not retreating,” Max interrupted. He leaned forward, narrowing his eyes at the shifting smoke. “They’re coming up now.”

Greenhorn made a quick and hesitant glance to Max. Nothing else was followed up, though Redding and Blucifer waited for one. As much as Rainbow groaned at Max’s words, she didn’t glare at him. After all, Bond-fire had shifted into view.

“Shit,” Greenhorn swore under his breath. “Okay, stick with the plan, but keep in mind of our surroundings.”

“Kinda hard to forget ‘em,” Redding responded darkly, looking to Blucifer across the Interceptor. “Ride up ahead, Blucifer. I’ve got your back if they try anything.”

Redding pulled out his pistol with his left hand as Blucifer did as he was told. His engine whined as he pulled ahead, the dust behind him thinner than in the the open desert. Bond-fire had armor, but not enough to defend vital components. Most of the metal plates covered the main cabin and the wheels. Even the railing around the large, burning tank was too meager to offer protection.

As Blucifer trailed behind Bond-fire, approaching from the left, a person dressed in leather barding appeared in the back window of the cabin, aiming his pistol. Three shots were fired, the first narrowly missing Blucifer as he ducked down to avoid being hit. Redding, a little behind Blucifer, returned fire with his own pistol. Bullets pinged against the metal plates protecting the shooter. Blucifer pulled to the right, to which the driver did the same, barely scraping the side of the mountain and denying Blucifer the chance to advance. Redding took the opportunity to pull up to the left of Bond-fire, avoiding a couple more rounds from the shooter before firing off a round of his own. The shooter fell down with a shout, and Blucifer looked back to the Interceptor with a wave of his hand.

“Go-go-go,” Rainbow chided to Greenhorn, who pressed on the gas pedal hard. They climbed up ahead, passing by Blucifer and riding behind Bond-fire. The Interceptor kept a ways away, but stayed close enough to allow the exhaust fumes to roll through the car.

Greenhorn and Rainbow choked, but the former kept his teary eyes on driving. Max quickly pulled himself through the passenger window, keeping slow as a few bumps rocked him around. Giving a few coughs, Rainbow blindly felt her way through the back window and clambered out onto the gas barrels. Out of the exhaust, she lept onto the roof alongside Max, who had pulled himself up to a crouch.

The Interceptor slowly inched forward as they waited atop. As if reading their intent, Bond-fire suddenly braked and Greenhorn veered to the side to avoid colliding with it. Rainbow and Max hunkered down and slid a bit before the Interceptor was back on track, driving beside Bond-fire. After regaining their balance, Rainbow leapt effortlessly, with the help of her wings, onto the wooden platform encircling the tank. Heat radiated against her fur, and the planks of wood were warm to the touch.

Max jumped as well, but clung to the side instead, his legs gaining a foothold easily and hopping over the railing. His hand instinctively reached out for support and rested against the tank. He quickly retracted his hand with a hiss, flexing it several times. Though it was faint, burn marks scarred his hand.

“Don’t touch the metal,” he warned, tightening his burned hand into a fist. Rainbow gave the tank a once over and nodded at his words. Max didn’t check to see if she heard him, sweeping his gaze over the back window of the cabin. There was activity from within, though it was too darkened to make out exactly what.

Pulling out his shotgun, he sprinted for the cabin while Rainbow galloped around the tank for the flamethrowers that had guarded the Rig before. A door, with a window cut out of the upper half, impeded Max’s progress. Settling into a crouch, he pressed an ear against the thin metal of the door. It was warm, but thankfully nowhere near as hot as the fire tank.

“-nal them!” a woman screamed from within, followed by subdued cursing. The mixture of rushing wind and the rumbling of the engine concealed the first part of her sentence.

“Something’s not right,” Max commented quietly, just as Rainbow looped around the tank. The lack of flamethrowers lowered the danger, and allowed her to study the tank itself. The entire surface was dark gray with only a few dents and scuffs. There was no holes or piping of any sort attached to it. She trotted to Max, steadying herself as the Rig shifted slightly. “Get back to the Interceptor.”

“What?” she replied, recoiling her head. “But the whole point here is to take this thing and use it!”

A flare unexpectedly shot out from the right side of Bond-fire, the whole area engulfed in red light momentarily before the burning flare rose higher in the sky, briefly leaving a trail of red smoke.

“Oh shit!” Redding cursed, hunching down. “Shit, shit, shit!”

Max peeked around the corner of the cabin just as Fül came around the bend up ahead, slowing down to allow Bond-fire and the others to catch up. It had it’s usual large bed trunk in the back, but besides the books, planks of wood, and gasoline tanks, there was also a half dozen people, standing, waiting, with two of them having flamethrowers at the ready. They were trained on Max and the group.

“Leopards always get their prey, you’ll be sorry!” a shaky voice said from the top of Fül’s cabin. Tied to a post was a burned man, almost husk-like in appearance. His skin was melted, his hair gone, and was beyond recognition. But Rainbow lit up at the words he used.

“Is that… is that guy…?” she whispered hesitantly, pointing to Fül.

“We got bigger problems,” Max spoke, his voice never wavering. Despite Redding swearing profusely off to the side, Max was calm and collected. He knelt down with his shotgun resting on his leg, furrowing his brow at the group of men growing closer. An old woman stepped out from behind the burned man on top, almost out of nowhere. Her gray hair was short and tied into a small pig tail. Soot was her name, and even from the distance, Max could faintly make out her sly smile on her wrinkled face.

“Get back to the Interceptor,” Max repeated, and Rainbow didn’t argue, vigorously nodding as she backed away. Redding didn’t even need to be told as his ATV slowed down to regroup with the others. Max remained where he was, however, staring intently at Soot.

Her attire matched the other men; leather barding covering her legs, arms, and torso. However, she showed less skin, wearing gloves and a thick scarf. Raising her arm, she pointed to Max with her fingers resembling a gun, and the flamethrowers on Fül instantly aimed and spewed a plethora of flames. Max jerked away from the corner, a wave of fire brushed past the corner and lighting up the area immensely.

The door behind him burst open as a bald man quickly ran through with a baseball bat. He whacked Max’s shotgun out of his hands, and it clattered onto the floorboard. Max ducked underneath the next swing, but another man, a bandana over his forehead, jumped out from the cabin and dived on top of him. His arms wrapped around Max’s neck, and he shuffled his legs and tipped each other around in the ensuing struggle. They both nearly slammed against the fire tank, but the bandana man held tight, gripping harder than before. The bald man held up his bat, but didn’t swing as he sidled around for the best opportunity. Rainbow, standing atop the Interceptor once more, growled before spreading her wings, crouching down to take off.

“Hold it!” Redding bellowed from beside the Interceptor, and Rainbow nearly tripped to follow his command. “We need a new fucking plan! Cause there’s no way we’re ready for this kind of shit!”

“The plan is still good, technically” Greenhorn said, a smirk slowing emerging. “And… this isn’t so bad. Lots of people to shoot.”

Redding moved like he was having a seizure, finishing off by staring at Greenhorn. It was dramatic in its length, as he made no other movement for seconds, and after then, turned away slowly. “Damn, he’s getting that bloodlust again,” he muttered.

Blucifer looked across the Interceptor to Redding. Greenhorn didn’t acknowledge anything but Fül, still slowing and approaching Bond-fire. Max was able to pry an arm off but the man had him pressed against the railing, which was creaking underneath his wait.

“I’ll help the Road Warrior,” Greenhorn said, flooring the gas pedal. The Interceptor shot forward, Rainbow sliding back onto the gas barrels, and nearly fell off of those too. As the Interceptor came from the left of Bond-fire, he pulled out Pip and pointed it straight at Max and the bandana man he was fighting with. Spotting his intention, Max quickly used his free hand to grab hold of the man grappling him and twist each other around, allowing Greenhorn to fire Pip and hit the bandana man in the back. He cried out and Max shoved him away. His body tipped over the railing and was swept away, but Max didn’t get a chance to breath before he caught the bat intended for his head. The bald man pushed back with sweat glistening on his skin.

“Greenhorn!” Rainbow shouted, ducking her head into the Interceptor. “You almost killed me! What are you-?!”

The Interceptor was still pulling ahead, and collided right into the back of Fül. The force was enough to knock one of the flamethrowers onto the Interceptor before rolling off. Two leather-barded men hopped onto the hood, and after pulling her head out from within, made Rainbow bear her teeth. She lept onto the roof and headbutted one man in the stomach, who gripped it tightly as he gasped for breath before a bump in the road made him trip, the vehicles whizzing past him before he touched the ground.

“Rainbow!” Blucifer called from behind the Interceptor. Rainbow perked her ears, but kept her focus on the man still on the hood. Another man jumped down to join him. “Greenhorn is a bit cuckoo right now! He only wants to kill!”

Rainbow huffed angrily, hopping from side to side on the roof, “Well, is there anyway to change him back right now!”

“Yeah, threaten him with death!” Redding screamed from behind Bond-fire, his voice echoing slightly. That solution just made Rainbow groan. She dodged to the side when a man tried slamming both of his clenched hands into the top of her head, and Rainbow pivoted on her forelegs and kicked with her hind legs. The strike was enough for bones to crack as the man was knocked away against the side of Bond-fire.

“AJ taught me that one!” Rainbow taunted with a chuckle.

“Hell yes! Break all there goddamn bones! Ha!” Greenhorn ordered with a hearty gaffaw. Rainbow rolled her eyes over to Max on Bond-fire

He clutched his arm, backing away from the bald man who spun the bat in his hands snidely. However, the shotgun rested just beside the bald man, and with a quick glance to it, Max dove for the weapon, snatching it and aiming at the vulnerable side of the bald man. Max fired as soon as possible, a spray of blood erupting as the flesh tore open. The man sputtered before tumbling to the floor.

Another kick from Rainbow stuck the leg of another man who inhaled sharply as he slid onto the hood. Lifting a foreleg, Rainbow swept her mane side to side cockily until she froze when a flamethrower stood in front of the remaining men, aiming his nozzle at her. Her eyes widened, “Pull back, pull back, pull back!”

Hearing her cries, Max whipped his head to her and fired his shotgun at the flamethrower. The man tripped over his legs, writhing in pain amongst the books as he reached out like help was just beyond reach. He had taken the brunt of the shot, as the other men around him cowered behind the thin plywood that made up the bed of Fül. Max simply dug a hand into pocket and reloaded his shotgun.

Tightening her hand on the wooden post beside her, Soot scowled.

“Ohhhhh, she’s pissed,” Redding noted. His fingers flexed around the gun still in his hand. His voice trembled but his confidence could be heard just as much.

“Bet you five koobs you can’t kill her,” Blucifer yelled.

“Easy win!” Redding cheered, coming in between Bond-fire and Interceptor. He didn’t waste any time firing his pistol at Soot. She took cover behind the burned man on the post, and the bullets hit him instead. The man jolted and dipped his head, blood pouring from the bullet wounds. Soot held an arm out pointing to Bond-fire.

“Pull in!" she ordered, and the driver obeyed, the semi truck easing to the left. Redding kept his distance but accidently rammed his ATV against the Interceptor. In his panic, Bond-fire smashed into his ATV, the back wheels already pulling it underneath.

“Sonuva-!" he gasped, reaching out for the railing. As soon as he grabbed it, his ATV tipped over and was smashed to pieces from the semi truck’s tires. Fragments of metal flew into the air and rained down. The red ATV frame was on fire and broken down as it flailed around. Its wheels rolled around and scattered in different direction. Blucifer ducked his head as he passed the carnage, chunks of metal beating down on his head as metallic bits brushed against him like sand.

Redding clutched the railing, his legs kicking wildly, until Max hurried to him. He grabbed a fistful of Redding’s cloak while keeping his shotgun aloft. It didn’t take long to drag Redding on board, and when he was lying on the floor, Max diverted his shotgun to the cabin. Redding stammered in his speech, completely incoherently in his mutterings, except when he pressed a hand against the burning tank for support. In that case, he retracted instantly, howling.

“Mother of all Jesus fuck!" he cried.

“Redding!” Blucifer called as the men on Fül withdrew from their previous timidness, peeking from around the bed, or holding up books to act as cover for their heads. With a wave of his hand, Redding got to his feet, nursing his burned, quivering hand. A solid nod from him was enough for Blucifer to sigh.

“He’s good, good,” Blucifer announced with a shaky laugh. “He’s always good.”

Out of everybody, it was Greenhorn who gaped in disbelief. His eyes traveled the side of Bond-fire and along the Interceptor. Metal scraps littered both vehicles, and slight scorch marks marred the wooden platform and railing. His hands loosened around the steering wheel and slid down onto his lap. His breath hitched for half a second, choking on his saliva until he shook himself out of his stupor.

As everyone was distracted with Redding, one man with spiky hair on Fül tugged the flamethrower off the dying man, barely breathing, and hoisting it onto himself. Max was the first to notice, only for the man to aim the nozzle at him.

“Burn in Hell!” he yelled, pulling the trigger. A spark of fire flickered as the nozzle puffed methane. The man shook the nozzle before another man behind him backed away hastily, pointing a finger at the tank strapped to his back.

“You got a leak!" he bellowed. The man wielding the flamethrower turned around swiftly, trying to look at the tank but only twirling around. A low hiss could be heard through all the engines. With the tank visible, Max brought up his shotgun.

“No, wait, the book!” Redding shouted, reaching out, but was too late as Max fired. An explosion instantly erupted from Fül, shrapnel flying in all directions as the semi truck slid from side to side. Rainbow plopped her whole body onto the roof of the Interceptor, hiding her head in her forelegs as metal ricocheted around her. Rushing wind was all she heard until two knocks resonated underneath. She lifted a leg and peaked out, seeing the carnage that was left behind. One of Fül’s wheels was warped and flattened, and the ply wall had broken up in chucks, revealing charred books laying around. Everyone in the back was dead.

“You okay up there?” Greenhorn called with another pound against the roof.

“Y-Yeah!” Rainbow replied, swallowing. Her eyes wandered to the burnt books, all of them, her face falling. “Or… maybe not.”

Max breathed heavily as he stared across to Rainbow. A low groan escaped his lips, but a hand slapping his shoulder gained his attention.

“You fucking idiot!” Redding berated, shoving Max a bit. “We’re trying to find her book and you nearly blow the whole thing up! Are you trying-”

An arrow whizzed by his head and Redding jerked back as Max hurriedly sidled up to the cabin again. Soot furrowed her brow as she inserted another arrow into her handheld crossbow. It was shabby and in need of repairs, but she didn’t care as she aimed and fired another bolt. Redding dived behind the large tank, an audible ding vibrating it as the bolt bounced away. He aimed out and fired a few rounds of his pistol. Soot once again took cover behind the burnt corpse. Bullets struck it, jerking the body with each hit. With another pull of the trigger, Redding’s pistol clicked empty. He couldn’t even pull back behind cover before a bolt pierced his eye and lodged into his head. The impact pushed him to the floor on his side, dead.

“Redding?” Blucifer called, pushing himself up as high as he could. There was enough worry in his voice to get Rainbow to look over as well. Max never left his position, but he also never tore his gaze away from Redding. He shook his head. “Redding! Redding, get up!”

Redding did no such thing.

“No,” Greenhorn whispered. Rainbow didn’t move, fixated on Max. He caught her gaze and returned the stare before gazing back to the cabin door. It was then that Soot landed on the hood of the Interceptor, startling Greenhorn and caused him to veer slightly. She reached in and grabbed the wheel, forcing it to the side, but Greenhorn fought against her. Her other hand steadied her crossbow for another shot.

A swift kick from Rainbow Dash detracted Soot. Her grip on her crossbow was lost. It bounced on the hood before falling off. Soot retaliated with a punch to Rainbow. She squeaked as she fell off the Interceptor, catching herself with her wings at the last moment. Blood was already oozing from her nose. The vehicles zoomed ahead, the sound of Blucifer’s cries striking her more than anything before.

“We made a bet, damn it!" he shouted angrily. “A bet I want you to win!”

With Greenhorn busy, Max hurried into Bond-fire’s cabin. A woman at the wheel, whipped her head to him, reaching for a crowbar, and got a shotgun blast to her arm as a reward. Blood coated the console, but it hardly mattered to Max as he shoved the shrieking woman through the door and outside. He quickly got into the seat and pressed on the gas pedal, the engine thundering loud as he sped up.

Glancing through the left window, he could make out the silhouette of Soot through the grime, still fighting Greenhorn over the steering wheel. Max’s hands clutched his own wheel and vigorously turned towards Fül. He rammed against it, jolting slightly from the impact, but kept the wheel in place. Fül eased its way to the ledge, with the driver fighting against Max. Bond-fire had the weight advantage, however, and Max pressed Fül’s tires over the edge until the entire semi truck was tipping away.

Soot broke away from Greenhorn to see Fül slide along the ledge. She glanced back to Greenhorn who braked quickly to have her tumble back and almost slide off the hood of the Interceptor. She caught herself before that became the case, but instead of attacking Greenhorn again, she dashed and lept onto Bond-fire. After vaulting the railing, she made her way along the platform to the back of the cabin.

Rainbow suddenly tackled her from above, slamming her head against the floor. “That’s for Redding!" she declared before jumping and slamming all of her hooves onto the top of Soot’s head. Her whole body went limp as Rainbow huffed indignantly before trotting into the cabin.

“Jerk, what’s your plan here?" she asked hastily, staring out the front window. Max just looked to her, Fül already tipping diagonally over the ledge. Eventually, a man burst open the driver door, looking around for a way out. Max pulled a bit to the right before slamming back into Fül. The driver lost his balance and fell to the ground and was run over by Bond-fire. Fül was sliding down, many books - both charred and untouched - shifting to the side. A few were falling out.

Rainbow chopped on his sleeve and tugged him, but Max simply released the wheel with that arm. The other still kept turning against Fül and putting Bond-fire itself close to the edge. The tail end of the semi truck was also pushing along the Interceptor. Greenhorn was braking it to get away from them, but the force of the push negated it. Rainbow’s heart was thumping in her chest, releasing Max to speak clearly.

“Knock it off, Jerk! You’ve already done enou-!" she said before Bond-fire lurched, alongside the Interceptor, careening after Fül down the side of the mountain. The wheels found no traction as they kicked up loads of dust. Rainbow stabilized herself and watched with a horror stricken expression as Max braced himself against the door and wheel. The mountain was steep, and a boulder rested in their path.

It came by so quickly. First Fül slammed against it, stopping in its tracks, but the Interceptor wasn’t so lucky as it smashed into that and flipped over the bed full of burnable items and the rock itself. Then Bond-fire hit Fül, causing both of them to launch in different directions, and both of them flipped onto the side, still sliding down.

Max ground his teeth, the blood rushing to his head. The entirety of Bond-fire was rattling uncontrollably, josling them. Rainbow was low to the ground and panicked when a voice echoed in Max’s head.

But you gotta be all edgy and mean, like it’s your job to make everyone’s life harder.

It was Rainbow, clear as day, but she wasn’t speaking to him. Another voice, the girl’s came next. She even stood on the floor, her head tilted down as her eyes gouged a hole through his head. Hundreds of eyes, in fact.

It’s your fault they’re dead!

With a flash, Rainbow was screaming through one ear while the girl screamed through the other.

What do you want from me!?

Bond-fire came to an abrupt halt, and everything was black, the world crashing around Max and Rainbow Dash.

---

With a constant ringing in her ear, Rainbow squirmed where she lay. Her cheeks rubbed against the dirt, shuffling it around as her head pounded against her skull. Opening her eyes, she came face to face with the burnt corpse of the man that was once strapped to the top of Fül. His dead eyes made Rainbow yelp leaping to her hooves and nearly lose her balance. She clutched her head with a hoof, groaning. Her gaze softened on the dead man lying next to her, but she backed away quickly and looked around.

The area was a mess of broken machinery and vehicles. All the dust that was kicked up still lingered, like a fog of brown had rolled in. Her heart skipped a beat, remembering the sandstorm, but there wasn’t a sound of wind brushing against her. In fact, it was dreadfully quiet. One thing that was also prominent were books, everywhere, and she kicked a burnt one away with a frown. Her ears sagged, her eyes going glassy as she looked around.

“Jerk?" she called in a raspy voice, quickly clearing her throat. “Greenhorn?”

“Rainbow?” A voice called as Blucifer emerged through the thick dust. A hand waved in front of him, but all it did was stir up the dust in the air. Rainbow sighed gratefully, mustering a smile.

“Glad you’re alright,” Rainbow muttered, studying the area.

“See anybody else?" he questioned, his voice quiet and to the point. Rainbow glanced to him. He was still nearly identical to Redding. She shivered.

“N-No,” she forced out, taking a deep breath. “Let’s split up.”

Blucifer didn’t reply but simply followed her suggestion as he walked off, disappearing just as suddenly as he had appeared. Rainbow watched where he had gone, his footsteps already fading away. She tore herself away, her head drooping as she walked in a different, random direction.

Dark figures plagued her surroundings, and though most of it turned out to be parts of Fül and Bond-fire, there was still the occasional corpse. All of it, even the heaps of metal and wood, made Rainbow wary. Hesitantly stepping over another corpse, she caught sight of a sparkle of green. Her ears shot up as she jerked her head around. The green glimmer shined through the dust, not too far away, and she bolted over to it.

“Greenhorn!" she said, a smile rising on her face. She dropped it quickly enough when she reached him, lying on the ground with his hands covering his stomach, blood seeping through his fingers. His glasses frame was gone, making him look much younger despite the lingering wrinkles. He was hissing in pain, facing Rainbow with something to say. Rainbow rushed forward with a glance to a trail of blood, smearing along the sand and leading to the Interceptor. It was in shambles. The door broken in half and blood coating a stray beam of metal. “Greenhorn!?”

“Lost a lot of blood,” Greenhorn explained. The daze in his eyes attested to that.

Rainbow looks everywhere. The dust was settling, but there was still a haze surrounding her. “Well, I’ll get help,” she stated with a firm nod of her head.

He pulled a hand away to grab her foreleg, covering it with blood as it trickled down. “I lost a lot of blood, Rainbow,” he said, coughing.

Rainbow frowned deeply as Greenhorn pulled his hand away. It put attention to the cloth still tied to her foreleg. Pulling it off with her teeth, ignoring whatever taste invaded her mouth, she brought it over to his wound, moving his hand in the process. Lifting herself up, she put her weight on the cloth. The blood was already bleeding through it.

“I asked my dad once why he named me Ernst,” Greenhorn said, taking deep breaths. His body was lax underneath Rainbow’s hooves. “He said it was because the world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. His favorite author said that." he chuckled but all it did was make him cough hard, tearing away any mirth he had. “He said the world would break me, just like it broke him, but… but…”

He coughed again, shaking Rainbow out of her staring. “Stop talking, you’ll make it worse,” she pleaded.

“Redding, Redding,” Greenhorn lamented, closing his eyes and resting his head against the dirt. “How can I be strong after that?”

A pang of pity struck Rainbow. She had never lost a friend before, and for Greenhorn to lose his own brother was out of her range of experience. But not all was lost. Rainbow smiled softly, ignoring the blood still trickling down her foreleg, “Technically, you still have Blucifer, right?”

Another chuckle from Greenhorn, showing his filthy teeth. No coughing broke out this time as he opened one eye to peer to Rainbow. “Yes, he’s still alive,” Greenhorn smirked. “Now, if anyone would break…”

Silence.

“Yeah?” Rainbow asked, tilting her head. Greenhorn didn’t stir, his head rolling limply to the side as his eyes remained shut. She blinked, her mouth going dry. “Greenhorn?”

She shook him, but he didn’t react. He simply lay there, gone. Rainbow tore her gaze away, her eyes already watering as she let off the pressure on his wound. She took a step back and sat on her haunches. Her energy was seeping away, and so she didn’t go out to find anybody else.

Something dropped with a dull thunk behind Rainbow. It made her fur stand on end as she jumped to her hooves and looked back to find Soot. Her face was a mess of blood, the red smearing in places and giving her an ugly, terrifying appearance. A large shard of glass rested by her feet. Rainbow flared her wings lowering her body in a position to strike. Despite Rainbow’s threatening stance, Soot didn’t budge, staring past her in horror. Loosening her stance, Rainbow followed her gaze to Greenhorn with a tilt of her head. Something he had said had struck a cord inside Soot.

The blast of a shotgun broke the calm. Rainbow flinched as Soot flew forward over Greenhorn and onto the ground. Her body remained unmoving with her back covered in blood. The area was near clear of the foggy dust, leaving Max completely exposed with his shotgun still aimed in the air until he dropped it to his side, wincing in pain.

Blucifer was just behind him, still as a statue at first, but eventually took careful steps as he gazed upon Greenhorn’s body. Rainbow swallowed hard, a lump forming in her throat. “Blucifer, I-I’m sorry,” she apologized, a tear running down her cheek. “I sh-should have called for help sooner. He just…”

Blucifer stopped in his tracks, and crouched down in front of Rainbow. Being that close to him, she became fearful. Unable to see through the tinted glass of his mask sent a chill up her spine. However, Blucifer didn’t utter a word, and brushed a hand past Rainbow to grab the bloodied cloth on Greenhorn’s stomach. Gripping it tightly, he pushed himself up and turned away, heading to his blue ATV parked aways back.

“Where are you going?” Rainbow asked, her voice rasp and hitching.

“To Redding,” Blucifer replied, hollow and without life. “He owes me five koobs.”

“This isn’t a game anymore!” Rainbow called after him, absolutely livid. “Your brothers are dead! Redding can’t keep his stupid bet!”

Blucifer lifted his head slightly, slowly easing himself onto his ATV and starting it up. It hummed to life, and he drove away, leaving Max and Rainbow to watch his leave.

“Blucifer!” Rainbow said, flapping her wings, but Max held up a hand to stop her. The shake of his head, mixed with his remorse, was enough to freeze Rainbow in place, her wings still spread out.

“Jerk-”

“Leave him,” Max said darkly. Blucifer was already far away, driving in a straight line. It wouldn’t be hard for Rainbow to reach him, but she just sighed and glanced around the area, stopping on Greenhorn. She recalled the time when Max had dumped a body over the side of a sand dune, and her heart filled with guilt.

“They’d want us to find my book home, right?" she asked. Max didn’t respond, walking off to the side. Rainbow heaved a heavy sigh. “Hope it’s still intact, or even here.”

---

With the dust gone, everything was laid bare to Max and Rainbow Dash. A large field of rock, metal, corpses, and books. A real mess that was the result of their activities. Max strode through without missing a beat, but Rainbow lagged behind, staring straight down. Max crouched down by a intact book, but when he flipped through it, there was no writing. He tossed it away, spotting another fine book - seared along the edges - near where the last one had landed. And this one was quite different.

The cover was beige, matching the ground in color, and the front had a gold-trimmed circle with the outline of a car driving down a simple road. There was no complexity to it, but when Max flipped through it, words danced across his vision. Closing it, he tossed it in front of Rainbow. She retracted her head as the book slid into view.

“This isn’t the book,” Rainbow informed, tapping the cover with a hoof.

“Read it anyway,” Max ordered, crossing his arms. Rainbow huffed, but opened the cover, eyeing the first words written.

“Once upon a time, in the forlorn world of the mad.”

Like the book heard the magic words, a chime of bongs rattled the air, irritating Max, until a portal zapped into existence over the book. It was sudden enough for Rainbow to back away hastily. The portal was a exmy of the book, as particles of blue laced through the pages and the portal itself. Images of fluffy clouds floated past, like the portal was a window into another dimension.

Max, for the first time in his life, widened his eyes with a sense of disbelief and surprise. The magic radiating was so authentic and real, that even his encounter with Rainbow was negligible in comparison. After what he had been through, both from his life before finding Rainbow and after, what presented itself before him was truly something unique. He would never, in his lifetime, find anything like it: pure magic.

Rainbow gave a half-hearted smile and looked up to him. Max’s shock shifted to acceptance before she could see. Even so, his heart was beating harder than their conflict with the Black Clouds.

“This… this is it,” she proclaimed. “My ticket home." Her mouth tensed, scuffing the ground awkwardly, swishing her mane to the side. “Our ticket home. A promise is a promise.”

Max was motionless. Rainbow’s magenta eyes pierced him much like the first time they had met. He hummed to himself from that memory before sighing through his nose, giving a single nod. His heart was still hammering away against his chest. Rainbow nodded back, much more enthusiastic.

“You’ll like Equestria much more than this place, trust me,” Rainbow said with a wave of her hoof. Her cocky self came through in spades as she trotted for the portal, a confident smirk on her lips. “I wish the others could have come too. But I guess things just don’t… that… huh?”

Her voice distorted as she entered through the portal. The image rippled like a pond, leaving rings through the image until Rainbow’s tail had passed through completely. Once again, Max gave a hint of disbelief, no where near as severe as before, but the lingering doubt still haunted his mind. Regardless, Max followed with a few cautious steps, walking up to the portal. Standing closer, he could see more finer details. Smooth grass, bulky trees, an untainted land; the world of Equestria where Rainbow lived. It was the exact opposite of his world.

Briskly, he unholstered his shotgun and blasted the book apart. It jumped a meter away as the portal winked out of existence in seconds. Strips of paper floated around and a faint sizzle was heard in the air. Max released a shaky breath.

The book itself was torn to shreds. There wasn’t a single page that wasn’t ripped open from the shotgun. In his vision, the book was a ghost, something that once held value but became nothing. His heart stirred, the very brief memory of Equestria, that luscious world, churned his stomach. The carnage around was clear enough of the potential the portal would mean for both worlds. Max’s sense of loss festered.

Pressing the lever on top, his weapon popped open. Both shells inside were spent. He emptied them to the ground, and reached in his pocket for more. But there wasn’t any left.

“Damn,” he grumbled, jerking his shotgun closed. Holstering it, Max eyed the book intently. He knelt down and picked it up, his fingers sifting through the pages and finding none of them legible compared to last time. However, a faint feeling of energy flowed through his hands.

Where are you?

The girl’s voice again.

Where are you, Max?

It grated against his ears, gnawing his brain. Grinding his teeth, he tossed the book away in a fit of rage. It landed with the spine up and open. As soon as it left his hand, he staggered as a wave of exhaustion overtook him. Sweat permeated his forehead, his tongue was cracked, and his stomach growled. The book distracted him as a faint shimmer of light radiated from it. The shimmer faded away like a haze of heat, so he dismissed it as he turned away.

His feet carried him across the field, almost automatically, searching for some soft dirt to dig. Greenhorn needed a grave.

Author's Note:

Hey! I actually finished a story on this site! Jokes aside, here's my thoughts and commentary.

Comments

[Admiral_Gravleos]

Like what he did to the book. It would benefit noone for the book to exist. The world of Mad Max would taint Equestria.

[Keris]

Definitely a good story with a theme appropriate ending.
Not exactly a happy ending for everyone but that's something you have to expect form any mad max iteration.

[UseFistNotMouth]

Good story. More people should read. I liked it regardless of any lack of wish fulfillment at the end.

[BrownDog77]

And just like Nux, she never knew his name
Great story man. May it ride eternal in Valhalla, Shiny and Chrome.

[The Diplomat]

Very nice

[Starlight Nova]

Why didn't you respond to my comment?

[Superdale33]

9477577
What comment? I searched through all the recent comments, and I can't find yours anywhere.

[Element of Power]

Wow, I read this one Fanfiction.net! It's great that it's here too, so I can add it to bookshelves. Also added it to a bunch of groups.

[Rocksunset]

you can create a sequel of how rainbow takes the the loss of max and the friend she made in the mad max world after she comes home

[Shami]

endings kind of sad, but I completely expected it. definitely feels in character for max to me. liked it either way, lovely story