> Rarity's Road
>  by HardRockLlama
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue - The Day Before
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	The Manehattan Times newspaper had arrived early in the morning which was good. I always enjoyed hoofing through the news, mostly the Scene pages which was tabloids and celebrity gossip. It had landed completely past the welcome mat in front of the door to my condo. The paper-pony must still be upset with me from the previous morning.

I'd given him an ear full about my name being misprinted on the address. I'd been staying in this condo for over a week, and it annoyed me ever so much that it read "Rarit". I was happy to see that they'd changed the label to add the appropriate "y" on the end.

"Would you like some coffee, dear?" I asked Ditzy Doo who had taken a seat on my couch.

"Definitely. I like it black." She said while laying back onto the cushions.

I'd began brewing coffee about an hour before she'd woke up while I was righting my appearance. No pony wants to see me without my face on, and I was sure of that. Ditzy knew better, but I pretended that I naturally woke up with my purple mane and tail perfectly curled, eye shadow applied with subtlety, and eye lashes delicately fanned.

I poured two cups, added two lumps of sugar to mine, and then meandered to the smoking chair across the table from Ditzy. I put her coffee in front of her, and took a sip of mine while I snapped the newspaper with my magic and began at the headline without opening the paper.

"The kingdom of Yakyakistan, ruled by Prince Rutherford, has always had rocky relations with Equestria." I read aloud while sipping coffee. "Princess Twilight, in a bold political move, extended a hoof to the yaks in an effort to open the borders which had been closed to Equestria for decades."

My horn glowed blue, and I used my magic to retrieve the small, covered dish of sugar that was in the kitchen. I placed it on the table, mindlessly stirred more sugar into my coffee, and then continued, "A recent effort by Prince Rutherford to annex the Crystal Empire, whose magic provides us protection from the Frozen North's natural elements from enveloping our great country, was declined by Equestrian liaison, Princess Cadence, whom is currently in charge of maintaining the territory. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna support the decision for Equestria to remain in control of the territory."

Ditzy Doo sipped her own coffee, "Isn't is supposed to be 'who' instead?"

"I've never really understood when that word was appropriate." I said, and then I put the paper down, and shook my head. "I'm no leader like Twilight. I only half pay attention to the worldly happenings because I only understand about half of it."

Ditzy chuckled and put a wing on the paper to slide to herself, "Let me give it a shot." Her eye darted across the page while her right eye just kind of danced around toward the floor. I had to appreciate somepony with her affliction that could read as fast as she did.

"Whoa." She said, "I guess it's getting pretty bad up there."

"What makes you say that?" I asked while spooning even more sugar into my coffee. I knew that she liked her coffee strong, and she appeared to be okay with it, but I was having a hard time stomaching the bite.

"Printh," Ditzy lisped. She cleared her throat, took a sip of coffee, and then read from the paper again, "Prince Rutherford took offense to the decline of protection and made a statement that Equestrian hubris was becoming unacceptable." She looked up at me and said, "The Royal Guard thinks they're building and stockpiling weapons of mass destruction."

"Oh, it will be alright." I said, and then I waved a hoof toward the paper, "These words sell papers, I'm sure. The princesses will figure something out to smooth it over. Twilight always comes up with a way to bridge the gap between cultures."

"You're probably right." Ditzy said dismissively. "Since the dragons got Princess Ember, we've got the griffons and the dragons to back us up. I'm not the smartest pony in the world, but I doubt Yakyakistan would be stupid enough to attack three nations at once."

"Surely not." I said with a smile, "Anyway, how do you feel about Vanhoover for an entire week?"

"Oh, I can't wait." She smiled and then she hopped up from the couch. She used her wing to turn the nob on the closet by the front door, and pulled her black leather saddlebag from it. "I'm ready to go when you are."

"You're bringing one bag?" I asked.

Ditzy shrugged while she returned to the couch, "I don't need much."

"Well, maybe I should pack a bit lighter." I said while looking over at my small tower of suitcases and hoof-bags.

"I'm just bringing a toothbrush and a scarf." She said while sitting and putting her bag on the floor next to her.

I nodded and thought about the simplicity of just bringing money and one item of clothing. It'll be cold that far north, so I will need my jacket. And I can't leave home without my make up or my hooficure tools. 

"I wouldn't know where to start lightening the load." I said while studying my luggage.

"I'll help! Let's go light, Rarity." Ditzy said with a smile, "If we only bring what we can fit in our saddlebags, it will feel like an adventure. If we bring home with us, it won't be much of a getaway."

It seemed like impeccable logic, but I didn't like it. But still, I didn't do vacations very often, and I wanted this to stick. It was a fashion oriented event, but it wasn't work related and purely just for fun. I don't remember the last time I traveled without bringing work with me.

"Okay, Ditzy. I'm with you on this." I smiled with determination, "I'll bring only my toothbrush, my curling iron, concealer, hoof file, maybe two coats, and I'll put back a couple of hats. Oh, but my clutch bags, I will need those."

"Rarity, come on." Ditzy laughed. "A toothbrush and something to keep you warm."

I looked at my monolith of luggage for a long time, took a deep breath, and let it out slow as if I was leaving everything behind and becoming somepony else. I don't think it worked, because I blurted, "I'm bringing my file."
> Chapter 1 - The Disaster
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Vanhoover, a massive city that over half a million ponies call home, a close-quarters, no holds barred, business world. While there are many tourist attractions that bring ponies from all over Equestria such as the Vanhoover Aquarium, Anthropology Museum, and the Suspension Bridge on the northern harbor, the real prestige of business lies in the center of the southern peninsula. This is where we are going, a place known as the Geldingville Entertainment District, and this locale hosts the country’s most successful music venues. The entire block is big business, but nothing beats the sheer fame and fortune generating power of Geldingville Street through the center of the district.

Jazz bands, rap performers, country cowponies, heavy metal rockers and every other kind of musical performance could be seen on any day somewhere on Geldingville Street. The most serious, career-oriented musicians come to Vanhoover with the hope to be invited to a venue on Geldingville Street. Alas, most bands are drained of their Bits and left with just enough money to get home; Vanhoover is both the alpha and omega of musical dreams.

Due to the esteem of Geldingville Street, I am quite surprised that there has not been a Fashion Week here before, and I felt much honor having been invited to see the first. I received two tickets, in case I opted to bring a friend, so I invited Ditzy Doo along, whom I’ve known existed for several years, but I'd never really gotten to know. Because Ditzy is the Ponyville mailmare, she is constantly going to different places, and hardly stays in town long enough to form a meaningful relationship. I honestly felt concerned that she was in short supply of friends, and all of my suspicions were confirmed when she agreed to take the weekend off with me, a near stranger.

I thought about having a limousine to pick us up from the train station for a pampering, but I selfishly didn’t want to isolate myself too much behind tinted windows. Although I was sure that Ditzy Doo had been to Vanhoover before, I had not, and I wanted to experience it, be immersed in it. I was sure that she didn't mind that we traveled by train, and did things that regular ponies do. So, we arrived in Vanhoover at about noon which was perfect and put us right on time to get the venue and mingle before the show.

The train pulled into the largest train station I've ever seen. It's a massive rotunda with four train tracks going through the southern half of the building. We got off the train on a small boarding floor between the pairs of tracks, went up a wide flight of stairs to a platform above the trains, and then rode down escalators to the waiting terminal which appeared a lot like a mall. The west part of the building was an Equestrian Apparel clothing store, and the east side was a Spacebuck's coffee shop, a Princess Sister's bakery, and a Friendship Express restaurant. The north exit door to the street was enormous, and it's size appeared necessary because of the amount of traffic going through it.

We crossed the court and made our way to the street which was a six lane parkway. It was almost too engaging for me, and I'm no stranger to the big city. I frequent Manehattan which has a lot of ponies living there, but the space there is a lot more confined, and properties are built upwards in sky scrapers and towers. Vanhoover wasn't nearly as tall, but it certainly made up for that with it's seemingly infinite expanse.

I stood in the middle of the sidewalk, a safe distance from the speeding traffic in front of me, and I waved wildly in the air with my fore-hoof for much longer than I care to admit before Ditzy Doo stood by the edge of the street, placed her right hoof in her mouth, and whistled louder than I'd ever heard before. It inspired me to examine my own hoof and think critically about how that just happened, but then a taxi quickly pulled up next to Ditzy and she waved a hoof toward the car.

I wasn’t sure about it at first because it wasn’t a suspended coach pulled by stallions like in Ponyville, Canterlot, or even Manehattan, it was an automobile. While internal combustion engines are not a new thing, I feel like they are dangerous. It’s not like the steam-power of a train where I’d be travelling down a track that has been deemed safe by dozens of officials. Instead, our safety is in the hooves of a single driver who ultimately decides whether we live or die. Ditzy tried to assure me that it wasn’t any more dangerous than riding in a coach, but I couldn't help but think that if a stallion ran over something and broke his leg, he wouldn’t explode into a fireball and burn us alive.

The taxi driver, an earth pony with a caution cone for a cutie mark, ends up driving about as fast as I could trot, which I was okay with. Of course, in this taxi, the driver smells like a fresh picked onion, the seats are tattered and stained, and not to mention too small for me and Ditzy to sit side by side without our flanks touching. I know it was because the cab was too small, but the back of my mind was screaming something about me getting fat. This cab ride was offensive to mind, body and soul.

I found the driver's cutie mark to be ambiguous. Was she extra safe at driving? Was she actually a traffic director, and drove a taxi for a few extra bits?

"So, if you don't mind me asking, what does your cutie mark mean?" I finally had to ask.

"It's a cone." The driver said curtly.

"I can see that." I chuckled. "But how did you get it?"

The driver sighed hard and said, "When I went to driving school, I ran over all the cones. I'm destined to kill cones, sister."

I could tell that she was being sarcastic, but I didn't think it was funny at all. I detected an extremely discomforting hint of truth. I looked at Ditzy who was just silently laughing to herself. I sat back, tried to grip the seat with my body, and sent a prayer of protection to Princess Celestia.

As the driver took us down the street, the vehicle suddenly lurched forward and sent us over two lanes toward an on ramp. The engine roared loudly and sounded like it was just under my hooves through the floor. It was weird because I thought it was in the compartment on the front.

"Ditzy, dear. Is the engine just below me?" I asked despite feeling stupid about it.

"No." Ditzy laughed, and then continued, "It's up front, but it does sound like there'th an exhaust leak right under you."

"That..." My words fell from my lips, and I simply stared into the floor at the sound of imminent death. "What does that mean? What am I breathing right now?" I choked on my own breath and felt panic rising in my chest.

"Calm down. It'th okay, Rarity." She lisped, "It just means that the sound from the engine isn't going all the way to the muffler. You're not breathing poison or anything."

I continued to stare at the floor, but felt calmer because I could hear the smile in her voice through her slight inter-dental lisp. Ditzy had occasional difficulty with the 's' sound, more rarely 'z'. She was quite self-conscious of it, but at least she had embraced the mean-spirited nickname, "Derpy" that her peers had given her. The nickname wasn't so much for the lisp specifically but in combination with her lazy eye.

"How many traffic fatalities happen every year, Ditzy?" I said with my eyes closed.

"I'm not sure." She said and put a hoof on my shoulder, "It's gonna be okay."

"I hope it isn't much longer." I whispered.

"It's about 45 minutes." She chuckled.

I quietly cursed to myself and opened my eyes. I looked out the window as the bridge we were on rose over the city. We were so high up that I felt like we were driving in Princess Twilight's castle, and we were traveling so fast, too. I leaned toward Ditzy to see through the front seats. There was an odometer on the center of the dashboard that hosted up-ticking numbers which told the driver how much we owed her upon arrival. To the right, behind the steering wheel, was a collection of needles resting over numbers arranged in a crescent. If I was looking at it the right way, we were traveling at just over 100 km/h, but my eye was caught by the yellow light that read, CHECK ENGINE.

I sat back again, stared out the window, and regretted deciding against the pampering route. I could definitely see why this automobile thing didn't catch on in the rest of the country. It was probably problematic, dangerous, and wholly not worth the expense.

Ditzy patted my right fore-hoof, "Thanks for bringing me. I thought this would be an adventure for just me because I've never been to a Fashion Week, but we seem to be experiencing plenty of new things for you, too."

"Dear, I was happy to invite you." I smiled and looked at her, "I was going to ask Applejack, but she’s so uncouth. Twilight would be too analytical of practicality. Pinkie Pie talks too much, Fluttershy talks too little, and Rainbow Dash would nary be interested in a fashion show."

The nose of the car suddenly dipped, then we were jerked back as we accelerated, changed lanes, and made our way around a group of slower vehicles. It took a lot of self control to keep from looking at the speedometer, but I could see from the passing surroundings that we were going much faster than we were before. It was strangely kind of exhilarating, but I still didn't like it.

We followed a narrow ramp that was lined with two meter tall concrete walls that led to a smaller, much slower street below. I felt like I was going to be pulled from my seat under the massive deceleration. I watched out of the front window and saw that the driver was injecting the car into a tiny space in front of a coach and a large truck. We barely fit, but the coach behind slowed down to allow for more space. Reluctantly, it seems, because I could hear the stallions pulling the coach shouting profanity at our driver.

The driver clicked a button, and the window to her right slid down into the door. Her right hoof then shot out of the vehicle and displayed a rude gesture. I uncomfortably glanced at Ditzy, and she silently shrugged as if to say, "Things happen." The cabbie turned right, pulled the vehicle off the pavement, and began down the brick road of Geldingville Street. We didn't travel far before the driver stopped the car in front of the Cantlehorn Ballroom.

I levitated a stack of bits that matched the number shown on the odometer from my clutch and floated them to the driver. She pointed at a small, silver can between the driver's seat and the front passenger seat. I dropped the bits inside as Ditzy was getting out of the car. I scooted across the seats and got out through her door. I was closing the door when the vehicle dropped into gear and rocketed away from us. The force of the take-off closed the door on it's own.

"Are all taxi drivers like that?" I asked Ditzy.

She wasn't listening though. She was affixed, with her good eye, on the Cantlehorn Ballroom's large face made up of red brick. A small box office was between the glass entrance and exit doors. The office was below a mullioned transom which hosted a curling orange florescent tube that spelled out, The Fabulous Cantlehorn Ballroom.

"Such a pretty building, I can't wait to see the inside." Ditzy said with a bright smile. It was nice to see her enjoying herself. I have a tendency to over-think, and I was beginning to worry that she wasn't going to be as enthralled as I.

"It is. Isn't it? Well, shall we head inside?" I asked while finding myself with a smile as well. Despite her right eye staring directly at the ground while she spoke to me, I found her smile to be so infectious.

She and I approached the box office, I showed the stallion our tickets, and then we were allowed inside where I was pleasantly surprised that the exterior was much different than indoors.

While the outside was enshrined in classic Art Deco bricks and sculpted roof trim, the interior was much more like a modern dance club. The atmosphere was set with high-energy electronic music; a warbling synthesizer punctuated by hard drums and accented by a chorus of violins. It was an eclectic style that fit the classically marble walls and flooring with modern, multicolored strobe lights and dancing lasers. There was a square of hardwood in the center of the room where a few ponies had elected to have their conversations as they swayed to the beat.

The west wall of the room was darkened and had dark blue curtains drawn around a catwalk stage. The runway that extended nearly to the dance floor remained uncovered. The north wall was the bar where it appeared that everypony was paired with somepony else. The east half of the floor was stippled with small tables that had small chairs, but they were just tall enough to be comfortably reached from a standing position. At the back of the room, behind the tables, was a small staircase that had a black and white sign, illuminated by two dim lights, that read, Cantlehorn Lanes.

"Do you see that?" I pointed at the stairs, "I read that there was a bowling alley below the club."

"That's too cool!" Ditzy said sincerely. Her big grin hadn't faded since we entered the building, and it remained all the way to a table against the east wall next to a signed photograph of Marelyn Monroe.

"So, do you know the filly that'th doing this show?" Ditzy lisped while sitting in the chair and leaning her back against the wall.

"Neither professionally nor personally do I know many of the designers that will be here this week. Since it's a new venue, there will be a lot of unknown up-and-comers." I said while sitting opposite of Ditzy and doing the same as she. The cool marble wall felt really good on my back.

"I bet you get loads of inspiration from going to Fashion Week." Ditzy said with her enduring smile.

I flagged a waitress with a wave of my fore-hoof and laughed, "Oh, sweetie, be it inspiration or gossip or just gawking at vanity, it's really just an excuse to get tipsy on a Tuesday afternoon."

Ditzy's smile faltered slightly, and she shrugged. I guess she didn't really approve of that too much.

The waitress, a tiny unicorn with her mane shaved on the back of her head, trotted to our table, smiled to both of us, and then said, "Can I help you, gals?"

"Gin and tonic, on the rocks, please." I said and then looked at Ditzy.

Her eyes darted from me to the waitress a couple of times, and then she said, "Oh, um, a thoda?"

The waitress smiled with a strange level of compassion, the look shifted from her to me, and then she gave me a confusingly approving nod. I simply smiled back, but my face involuntarily twisted which conveyed that I didn't know what she was positively reflecting.

I finally turned to Ditzy, "You don't want a real drink, dear?"

Ditzy's smile was gone, and she glared at the waitress. And then she said, with a visible effort in being concise, "No. A soda will be just fine for me, thanks."

The waitress gave me another ambiguous nod, and then she trotted away to another table. I looked over to Ditzy to comment on the strange behavior of the waitress, but I saw that she looked quite upset, and I remained mute.

Now, this is a social quandary. Do I ask her what is bothering her on the assumption that I'm reading her correctly? Do I assume that I know what's bothering her and offer condolences? or do I wait for her to tell me what is wrong when she's ready, on her terms?

"Gin and tonic, ma'am." The waitress was suddenly right in front of me, holding a tray with two beverages on it. I guess that I'd been pondering so long that the waitress had time to get our drinks and return.

"Yes, thank you." I said, and I levitated it from the tray.

The waitress had the tray placed on her upturned left hoof. Her right hoof had a Drink Dealer, a spring-loaded set of claws that open and close based on leg position, clasped around a tiny, pink cardboard cup. The cup had a purple straw protruding from the center of a plastic lid. The waitress slowly put it on the table next to Ditzy.

"And a cola for you, sweetie." The waitress said softly, and then she looked at me, "Will that be all for now?"

"Yes, thank you, but please," I raised my glass, rocked it gently from side to side, and floated a few bits into her apron, "Don't let me go dry."

The waitress glanced at Ditzy, and then looked me and nodded one too many times. Did she... believe that we were having some subtext understanding?

"I'll keep an eye on you." She said and then briskly walked to another customer.

"That was weird." I said and took a sip of the gin. An ice-cold, crisp juniper berry taste burst across my palate that was soft on the sugar with a hard bite of alcohol. It was very, very good. The aftertaste of pine spilling across my teeth was especially enjoyable.

Ditzy just sighed hard and took a small pull from the straw.

"Darling, is there something wrong?" I asked while indulging myself to a generous quaff.

"The waitreth..." She groaned at herself and then started again, "The waitress thinks that I'm slow."

"What do you mean by slow?" I said and then smacked daintily, enjoying the alcohol on my lips.

"Like I'm thtupid." Ditzy explicated, her lisp prominently sputtering her annoyance.

"The waitress?" I asked. I swirled the drink around with my magic and then finished it off, "Ooh, that is quite good."

"Yeth, Rarity. The waitreth thinkth I'm thlow." She lisped with a marked increase of irritation in her voice.

"Ma'am?" The waitress said with another highball glass full of alcohol in the Drink Dealer. I took it with my magic and floated the empty glass back to her as she returned to her rounds.

I couldn't wait to taste it again. The cool mint flavor was refreshing, and the subtle, but bright, berry flavor was exhilarating. I'd almost swear there was some illicit substance laced in it because it was much more delicious than any gin and tonic of Manehattan. In fact, I was so engrossed with my new favorite drink ever that, by the time I'd finished the second and received the third, I just realized that conversation between Ditzy and I had grown quite silent.

I shifted in my seat to touch her hoof and speak when I realized that my balance was off. I affixed my eyes on the floor and tried to feel the universe around me. Is the Earth moving, or am I swaying? I took a hard look at the glass and realized that it's not only more delicious than Manehattan alcohol, but also much more potent.

Despite the growing warmth in my face, I managed to touch her forehoof, "Are you alright, darling?"

That infectious smile spread across her pretty face again and she said, "Yeah, I'm fine, Rarity."

"So, you're having fun, then?" I asked, "I'd hate to have dragged you all this way and you not have fun." Was that even my voice? I feel like I'm usually articulate, but that was a mess.

"I'm having a blast. Seeing all these ponies, being out on the town, and in a bar no less." She gave pause and just smiled at me, "Thank you for inviting me."

"Any time!" I said, and then swung my hoof wildly over my head and it slammed onto the table. I planned on a slight waving gesture, but it was as if it wasn't my hoof and I was watching somepony else. It was quite strange that a drink so tasty could be so strong. I took another swig while I thought it over.

The music faded away suddenly, and a deep stallion's voice came over the speakers, "Fillies and Gentlecolts, please give a warm welcome to our first Fashion Week Vanhoover!"

The audience gave a positive, mild holler toward the stage and then went back to what they were doing. Perhaps this wasn't the right venue for this kind of thing, but then again, it was just past 2pm on a Tuesday. Despite the lethargic reaction from the crowd, I was in my element. I didn't turn my attention away from the stage, but simply levitated my glass above my head and shook the ice loudly at the passing waitress.

"Put your hooves to the floor for Passion D’Incendie!" The announcer said over a growing electronic build. The song began as a soft, consistent kick drum, but became a furious intensity. A sudden break, soft pause, and then a precipitated slamming bass drum kicked off a fury of discordant sounds.

The presentation was exactly what I loved about these shows. A pair of flickering lasers spelled the designer's name on two, large marble blocks on either side of the stage. In front of the blocks were two sea-pony statues that spewed water from their mouths into beautiful stone fountains. The faux granite stage gleamed under the lights and shimmered all the way to the end of the runway.

Ditzy leaned over the table close to my ear and cupped a hoof by her mouth so she didn't have to shout, "Is she good, or do you not know her?"

I just shouted, "I've heard good things here and there, but she's berry new!"

Ditzy put a hoof on my shoulder to steady me. I appreciated it because I did think I was going to fall over. Perhaps it was because I didn't have the glass to hold me up, so I took a drink.

The first model stepped from behind the right marble block and struck a pose to show off the chiffon that complimented her outfit. She then strutted to the end of the runway, turned around slowly, and then strutted back just as another model, wearing a different design, began from the left marble block. Each model was wearing bright pastels, and a tiny headdress was perched over one ear.

At first, I was thrilled, but I could see, even from this distance, the designs were very... plain. The first model wore sea-foam slacks with a soft pink sport coat and a matching fedora. The second was wearing a pair of white corduroy pants, a tan feathered dress coat, and a white silk boater. If all I was going to see was slacks and coats, I was going to be very disappointed. Dress making takes talent, but this was glorified training exercises.

"What is this?" I scoffed. I took a deep swig from my drink. Wait, no I didn't. There wasn't as much as I thought was in the glass. I obnoxiously shouted, "Waitress!" and when I opened my eyes, she was standing right there with another drink. I chuckled lightly and thanked her.

"Are you okay?" Ditzy asked.

"Am I okay?" I laughed. "Don't worry if I'm okay, darling. I'm here to worry about your wellb-... well... if you're okay."

"You're just wobbling a lot." Ditzy said.

I began to tell her that I was okay, but I saw yet another slacks-and-coat-with-a-hat mare and felt like this injustice to fashion must be spoken, "This is the kind of thing you get when you take a Sewing Professional and slap them with the ‘Designer’ title. They create lethargy!" I gulped more gin, "This is just... can you believe..." I looked at Ditzy, "Can you believe they said this was 'modiste'? Really? This would get eaten alive in Manehattan."

"Rarity, you're-" Ditzy started, but then a wave of gravity came from every where and nowhere. Suddenly, my chair came out from under me. I tried to land on my hooves, but they didn't move from my seated position. The entire world before me twisted to the right, and I landed, like a falling statue, onto my left shoulder. The highball glass shattered about the same time that my left ear was crushed under the weight of my skull against the floor. I clenched my eyes shut, told myself not to cry from the pain, and to get up before anypony notices that I've fallen over.

When I opened my eyes, the waitress was standing, judgmentally I might add, over me... without. my. drink.

"What?" I asked as if I hadn't fallen over drunk after four... or maybe five... gin and tonics.

"I think you need to leave." The waitress said.

I was outraged, but a moment of clarity directed me to try and sway her opinion, and let me stay.

"I'm okay." I said. I believe that my pride hurt more than my ear did. Especially because I still hadn't regained the ability to stand up. "I'll be okay, but I think I've had enough to drink."

"Nah, I think we're past all that." A different voice said in a familiar north-east accent. He sounded like he was from the Bronxco.

I looked up at the large stallion. He was short, fat, and wore a stunning Sorraia Hoofmani suit. It was a beautifully warm grey with faint white chalk lines and such crisp...

"Vertical darting..." I said aloud.

The stallion pointed at Ditzy, "You gotta scoop up your friend 'for I do. 'Cause I won't be nice about it, unnastand?"

"Yeth, thir." Ditzy lisped, and then I felt her hooves pushing me up.

I felt horrible. She was shaking.

We ended up outside, but I didn't know how I got there. I looked up first, and thought, "Ugh, why is the sun so bright?" and then I looked down and saw that I was on Ditzy's back. She was carrying me? Why?

"Whaddya doin'?" I slurred.

"You fell over again about halfway to the door. I'm taking you to a hotel." She said in a deadpan voice. She was mad at me, I knew why, and there was nothing I could do to change what I'd done. This happens every time I try to form a meaningful relationship with somepony. I do something stupid, and it gets all messed up.

"You can put me down, now." I said softly.

"Can I?" Ditzy lashed, but then she put me on my hooves. She just glared at me from the other side of the sidewalk. Both of her eyes stared intensely into mine."I'm really thankful that you brought me out here, but they were mean to me while you were out."

"I'm sorry." I said, looking at the ground.

She spoke slowly, paying close attention to her lisp, "They were saying that you weren't a responsible caretaker, Rarity." She stepped closer to me, and I looked up at her as she repeated herself. "Caretaker, as if I'm retarded or something. You know how long it's been since I've had somepony say that to me?"

"No."

"It's been years, but this time was different. I had nopony to back me up. I kept telling them that I'm not thtupi-" She suddenly shouted at herself, "I'm not SSSTUPID."

"I don't think you're stupid, Ditzy." I said.

"The point is; I needed you." She growled. She took a deep breath as if she was about to scream at me, and I would have let her, but she let out her breath and shook her head. A lone tear dislodged from her cheek and was flung onto the sidewalk. And then she calmly said, "I haven't been alone in that feeling before, and it just sucked, okay?"

I tried to act as sober as I could, and listen to her every word, but I kept getting distracted by her eye that would wander down the street, and then back to me when she'd speak. There was so much silence that I figured I was supposed to respond, but I'd forgotten what she'd said.

"Ditzy," I started, "I can't tell you how sorry I am. I just got carried away, and I'm sorry that I've ruined our evening."

A light smirk flashed on her face and she furrowed her brow, "Rarity, the day is still young. It's not even night yet."

"We can't go back to the Ballroom." I said.

"No, but I know my way around town. Let's get you to a hotel, and we'll go out to a real party tonight." Ditzy said, then she waved a hoof down the street and started walking in that direction.

"You mean..." I unsteadily followed her, "You mean you still want to be friends?"

Ditzy laughed, "Did you think that this one event was hinging our entire friendship?"

We arrived at an intersection cross walk. The sign on the other side of the street was illuminated Don't Trot so we stayed put.

"So, what's this real party?" I asked, feeling more cruddy than drunk, but getting still drunker by the minute.

"You like music, right?" Ditzy responded just as the Trot illumination came on, and we started across the street. She casually walked, and I struggled to keep up with her on my wobbly hooves.

"Of course." I said. "Who doesn't though, right?"

"Well, some ponies just like to listen to some kinds of music." She explained. "I like to try all of them."

"Oh, I see. A musical connoisseur." I said with surprising articulation.

"I'd like to think so." She smiled, "I know this band that plays really hard rock music."

"Ooh! I know where-" I began.

"Nope." She interrupted, "It's my turn to pick the place."

I silently trotted next to her as we approached another cross-walk. I was using all of my drunken self-control to keep from protesting. Ugh, how I detest rock music in general. I don't know what "hard rock" means, but I'm sure that I'd hate it. I let out a deep breath while we were waiting for the Trot signal.

"Okay, Ditzy Doo. I'm yours. Who are we going to see?" I said with a confident sincerity. "We're friends, so I must at least give what you like a try."

"It's a band of three ponies playing guitars and vocals, a griffon on bass, and a dragon on the drums." She said. She poked me to prompt me to look at her. "I saw that a dragon was in the band, and I thought, wouldn't that be fun to see?"

That doesn't sound fun. That sounds ghastly and terrible. "That does sound interesting." I finally answered. The Trot light came on, and we crossed the street.

The Don't Trot light flashed much quicker than we anticipated, so we broke into a short gallop. Ditzy is much faster than me, but it might be my current state of mind. Ditzy leapt onto the curb, and looked back at me. I'd stopped running because I felt like I was going to be sick.

"I'm not sure that you'd enjoy the music, but I definitely think you'd get along with the crowd." Ditzy said as I joined her on the sidewalk, and then we continued down the street.

"What's the band called? Maybe I've heard of them already." I said despite knowing that I would not have.

"They're called Cob Stopper." Ditzy said.

I stand corrected. I have heard of them, but I've never been willing to listen. Their photographs are so dark, and their album art is demonic. It was clearly a crowd that I wasn't going to like getting into. Additionally, I've always worried about the sanity of ponies that listen to that garbage.

"Oh, I see. Well, I guess we'll give it a shot tonight. I just need some water, an Ibuprofen, and a bit of rest then I'll be ready for anything." I smiled as we made our way to the Lipizzaner Grand Hotel.

My head almost couldn't tilt back far enough to see the top of the Lipizzaner. It's a massive 138 meters tall, with 34 stories, and over 200 suites. The north face of the suite  windows were like a rolling vertical wave of icy blue seawater, and they were separated by very thin, black strips of steel to ensure maximum view of the city around it. The back side of the building was flat, and had balconies that overlooked the southern downtown area. I was sure that Vanhoover would be beautiful to see at night from there. The base of the hotel was a stone building with a covered blue velvet staircase leading to the double-door.

The wide entrance was lined with stone walls that opened perpendicular to embrace the parkway in front of the building. On either side of the velvet carpeting featured artistically placed stone walkways. The cover was a stone arch with squares left out of the top and sides which created a really neat sunshine on the floor below.

We were trotting up the ten-set of stairs, and were greeted by two handsome door-ponies wearing conservative, royal blue concierge jackets. As we approached, the one on the left, a unicorn, opened the door with his magic, and the pegasus on the right pulled the door open with his wing.

The lobby appeared to have begun as one granite block, and then carefully chiseled into the polished beauty before us. Rippled glass several meters into the hotel stood from the floor to the ceiling and was several meters wide. Lavender scented water ran down the glass into a small rock bed fountain. The center of the room, just behind the fountain, was a lounge made up of butternut chairs with blue cushions, and the couches that were facing each other were a bright white with blue trim. Behind the lounge was gleaming silver elevators that led up to the suites, beside the elevators was a hallway that led back to a diner that served continental breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

We made our way to the front desk, which was also a granite masterpiece, where a moderately overweight, pale green unicorn mare stood. She was wearing the same simple, trim-less concierge jacket that the door ponies were except she had a matching, cylindrical hat sitting just behind her horn, between her ears.

"Welcome to the Lipizzaner, fillies. Can we get you a water?" The unicorn asked.

"Yep!" I said loudly while peering at her shiny, silver name tag. Her name was Mint Candy.

She brushed the single lock of bright pink mane coming from her hat from her right eye with a hoof, and then her horn glowed which opened a miniature fridge behind her. 

"Are you here for a room?" She asked while she floated two tall, cylindrical glasses from under the desk, filled them with water from an attachment on the fridge, and then garnished them with a slice of lime before placing them on the counter.

"Yes, ma'am." Ditzy affirmed, "We'd like one with a balcony, please."

I glanced at Ditzy with an eyebrow raised while I sipped the water with the glass in my magic.

"I'd really like to see what downtown lookth like at night." She said with a smile. I simply nodded and sipped again. This filly and I were going to get along just fine after all.

"Okay," Mint Candy began while flipping through a room directory. "I have a room on the 28th floor with a balcony. 28F, and that comes with two, king-sized beds, a kitchen, and the complimentary meal service. We currently have that priced at 311 bits per night."

Ditzy nodded vehemently, "Oh, yes. That one, definitely."

I plucked the lime from the glass and sucked on it while my eyebrow raised again. Ditzy was doing all the talking as if she was going to pay for all of this. I invited her, and so I figured it rude to allow her to cover the cost, but we hadn't really talked it over.

Ditzy's right wing pulled a checkbook from her saddlebag, she tore a single check from it, and gave it to Mint Candy, "Please, use that account to secure the room, and we'll fill in the bill when we leave at the end of the week."

"Of course." Candy said, and then she looked at the check, placed it in a file, and floated a small pair of keys to Ditzy. "I will put you down for seven nights in 28F, Ms. Doo. Thank you."

"Thank you, ma'am." Ditzy said, and then she placed the keys in her saddlebag with her wing.

I could tell that she was just as excited to see the room as I was because we almost galloped to the elevator. I nearly fell on my face because I was distracted by my reflection in the floor. As the doors opened, Ditzy had to pull me onto the elevator.

Another concierge was inside the elevator, and he brought us up to the 28th floor. I saw myself again, but in the walls of the elevator. I looked like I was drunk, and I swayed back and forth as I leaned forward to get a better look at my face. Before I knew it, I'd connected with the wall, and Ditzy pulled me back onto my rear hooves. Sweet Celestia, I really presented myself terribly, but my vision tracked to the operator and I blurted, "It's not like you'd turn me down."

Ditzy dragged me off the elevator to a starkly plain hallway. We trotted to room F, and then Ditzy took me into the beautiful suite.

"Oh, wow." I said while tossing my clutch on the bed next to the window, claiming it as mine.

The walls were a pale azure and complimented the chestnut colored, long-pile carpet. There was a mahogany desk against the west wall across the magnificent white beds with matching headboards. The nightstand in-between the beds was attentively carved to accommodate an alarm clock built into the wood, and the trim was a beautifully chiseled set of flowing rose pedals. The beds both had a multitude of pillows, all in different shades of blue, and arranged from light to dark. To me, the deeper blue pillows were like a target that I was to fling my body at.

The view of downtown was exactly as breathtaking as I thought it would be. Even in the late afternoon sunlight, I was taken aback by the sight of the two art gallery buildings to the direct south-west of us, the massive Vanhoover General hospital in the distance to the south-east, and the Museum of Vanhoover across Foal's Creek to the south. If I pressed my face against the window, I could see Stallion Park with the Vanhoover Aquarium in the center of it.

I almost fell over when Ditzy slid the window open, and revealed that it was a door to the balcony that she'd purchased. I gave a nervous chuckle and passed it off as still being intoxicated as we walked out onto the balcony. It was nice to feel the cool, serene breeze, but there wasn't much to see, with the exception of the Aquarium to the west, and all of the best views were south anyway.

"I think I did good." Ditzy said, and she patted herself on the back with a hoof.

"Agreed." I said.

We went back inside, and I saw that the west wall opened into a hallway that led to a gigantic lounge area that was a lot like the lobby except it only had one couch with a coffee table in front of it. I wobbled down the hallway, and realized that, even now, my body was still absorbing alcohol.

"You should sit down." Ditzy suggested.

"Agreed." I repeated, and then I rolled over the back of the couch, spread out across the soft cushions, and ignored the throw pillows that I knocked onto the floor. Under the coffee table was a collection of upside down hanging glasses, and next to them, was horizontally laid bottles. Liquor on the right, and water on the left. I levitated a water bottle, twisted the lid which sounded a crack as the seal broke, and I guzzled it in the most unladylike way. Ditzy took a seat near my head, and gave me a slight look of concern.

I simply stared into her golden eyes. Her thick, blonde mane was carelessly laid over her right eye, but I think her disheveled mane was due to having carried me for a few blocks. She gave me that wonderful smile that I love so much, and I couldn't help but shake my head at myself.

The words formed on my lips faster than my consciousness could comprehend, "You know that you're beautiful, darling?" I realized what I had said and why I said it, but the alcohol kept me from back pedaling as I continued, "You just have the most beautiful smile."

Ditzy's head cocked slightly, her brow furrowed a bit, and her smile turned into an inquisitive smirk. She glanced up at the ceiling with a brow raised as if she was looking over what I had just said, written in the air above me, and then she looked at me again.

"Are you..." She let out an amused chuckle, "Are you coming onto me, Rarity?"

I laughed really hard. Not because what she asked was ridiculous, but because, yes. Yes, I was. "Would that really be such a bad thing?"

Ditzy laughed, and then she shook her head. "You need to get some sleep, and we'll talk it over when you're a little more sober.	

"It was a long train ride." I started and then righted my head. "Would you like to take a nap with me by the window?"

"Okay, get up." She said, but she wasn't agreeing to sleep with me. It was more dismissive, but retained an amused tone. She stood and gently pushed me from the couch onto my hooves. "Let's get you to bed."

I wandered around the couch, and we walked together down the hallway back to the bedroom. She had her wing on me, which I took as a good sign, but I also thought it might be to keep me going straight.

We got to the end of my bed, and I looked at the target pillows. I stared them down for a moment, took a step back, and then leapt into them. Direct hit, and I bounced slightly for a moment and further ignored more pillows that were ending up on the floor. I looked toward the window and saw Ditzy standing at my bedside.

I stretched my back against the soft mattress, and stared at her with a suggestive smirk, "Are you coming?"

Ditzy just smiled and shook her head, "I'm going to go to the lobby to get you something to eat. You just chill here, and I'll be right back."

I began to say something, and I'm not even sure what it was, but it was probably further pleas for her to climb into bed with me. Unfortunately, my vision closed into a black tunnel of unconsciousness.


***	***	***	***	***	***


I awoke suddenly, and it was dark outside. The room was silent except a quiet, masculine voice speaking. The voice was tinny and small, and I figured that Ditzy had the clock radio on. Vanhoover's skyline, with all of its lights, was absolutely wonderful, and rivaled Manehattan as one of the most beautiful cities I've seen. I rolled over, realized that Ditzy must have tucked me into bed, and then I saw her sitting on the edge of her bed. She appeared extremely bothered, and that's when I realized, it was dark outside!

"Oh, my! I hope we didn't miss your show!" I sat up quickly. A slight headache pulled at my brain. I guess I hadn't drank enough water before going to bed.

"It's bad, Rarity." Ditzy said over the voice on the radio.

"How late are we?" I said while flinging the covers off of me with my magic and jumping from the bed to get my clutch.

"Rarity, shh." Ditzy said while holding a wing up at me.

I thought she was telling me not to worry that we missed her show, and continued. "I'm so sorry, Ditzy. What time was that thing? I'm sure that if we leave right now we can find something to do. I've got to make this whole day up to you. Some-"

"Rarity, shut up!" She shouted at me, then she went back to staring at the radio.

I did as I was told, but now I listened to the radio as well. The voice sounded reserved and sad like it was a eulogy. There was also a sobering hint of fear in his voice.

"Again, we're still trying to piece together what exactly happened." The stallion on the radio continued. "But it has been confirmed that peace talks with the yaks ended terribly and resulted in the assassination of the princess."

I cursed loudly, moved back to the bed, and sat opposite of Ditzy while the radio continued, and I asked Ditzy briskly, "Was it Twilight? Is Twilight dead?	

Ditzy shook her head before I'd finished my question, "No, it was Cadence."

My blood ran cold, and my face grew a strange tingling. I wasn't sure that the loss of Princess Cadence was any better for me. I did, however, feel a desperate need to go see Twilight to make sure that she was okay. 

The stallion on the radio suddenly cut himself off, and he remained silent for several discomforting seconds. Finally, he let us know that he was still broadcasting, "We're receiving reports... I'm sorry, we're confirming reports of attacks on several major cities in Equestria." He paused again while an indistinct voice in the background was shouting. "Celestia's Mercy..." The stallion said, "Canterlot is... it's gone..."

My brain was searching very hard for the last memory of Twilight and where she said that she would be at this very moment, but to no avail. There was an uncontrollable panic growing in my chest that my friend was dead.

"Please, listen closely." The radio pony continued, "I don't think we'll have time to repeat this, but if you're in one of the following areas, we are being told that you need to take cover immediately."

Cover from what? Are we being invaded? The yaks lack an air force, there's no way that they'd be bombing us. I almost couldn't hear the radio because I was gasping so hard.

The radio pony began reading the list,"Manehattan, Filly Delphia, Tall Tale, Vanhoover-"

My heart sank. My fear for Twilight suddenly became an overwhelming sensitivity to my own mortality, and I burst into tears. My parents, my sister, my friends... there was nothing I could do for them. My face fell into my hooves, and I cried so hard that I didn't think I was getting enough air.

"What, in the name of Celestia, are we going to do?!" I cried. "We're going to die! Oh, Luna's grace, we're all going to die!" I screamed.

There was a clamor outside our room. Ponies had burst from their suites and were fighting to be the first out of the building. I could barely hear the landing blows and screaming from the panicking ponies outside over my own helpless crying.

"We are NOT going to die today!" Ditzy shouted, and she was jerking me to the balcony with her wing. Her grip slipped off of my shoulder, and she grabbed a wing full of my hair. She didn't stop though. She relentlessly dragged me through the door by my hair.

I was only protesting from the pain in my scalp, but I didn't get a single, full word out.

"Get on your back!" Ditzy commanded, and I did what I was told. She was much stronger than she looked, and now I was scared to disobey her. She crawled onto my belly so that my fore-hooves were on her shoulders. She pressed her crotch onto mine so that her hips were between my legs. Both of her golden eyes stared directly at me, much like before, but now there was fear dancing across her face.

"Grab tight!" She screamed. "And you don't let go, understand?!"

I gave a small nod, and then she clamped her eyes shut. Her wings beat a powerful flap, and we lifted from the ground. She flapped once more which gave us more clearance from the balcony rail, and then she dipped our heads, pointed us straight toward the ground, and she let gravity do the rest. As I felt the wind rushing around me, and I knew that we were picking up a deadly amount of speed, I squeezed my eyes shut so hard that I thought they were going to bleed. I just held her tight and screamed incessantly.

She shouted something at me, but her words were lost in the wind, and then she pulled up sharply which almost yanked me from her body. I gripped her tighter, and pressed my ear against her chest with my eyes still closed. I could hear her heart pounding, protesting the extreme cardio output required to carry a pony bigger than her in panicked flight.

I didn't dare open my eyes, and my groin was burning from clasping my legs on her hips. Every beat of her wings, more powerful than the last, was attempting to send me falling to my death. My desire not to become a mealy splat of paste on the pavement below inspired me to ignore the horrendous pain. We continued to fly for several minutes, and I swore that I was going to herniate.

There was a strange sense of altitude that I gained, and I felt the ground approaching before we crashed. Her chin slammed into my forehead just above my left eye and left me devastatingly disoriented. That was okay, because my body skidded and bounced across the ground for several meters. I slammed, belly first, into a tree, and the left side of my face slid across the ground as my body spun. I finally came to rest, but that final blow sent my guts into my throat.

I tried to stand, but was overcome with trauma induced heaving. I kept collapsing into the pool of vomit as my body would heave again and add to the mix. The pain of the gash on my head was unmatched by the feeling that my esophagus was torn from my neck. Eventually, the physical agony wasn't anything like the psychological fear of death by suffocation. Every expulsion was accompanied with the effort for oxygen. Please, just let me breathe. I thought. I don't want to die in a pile of throw up.

There was more hair-pulling, and I was being dragged across the dirt. I spewed another stream of clear, phlegm mess all over myself, and I threw my head back as a sweet breath filled my lungs. The action caused my body to flip over, and now my back was dragging the ground. I felt like I couldn't inhale enough, and that I was simply going to explode, with blood and guts showering everything around me, from air intake alone. I let it out quickly and indulged myself on the sweet life-giving oxygen.

Ditzy dropped me on the ground, and I turned over to stand up, but I was not done tasting that magnificent air. I looked up, and saw her picking up a rock with her teeth. She stalked to what looked like a cellar built into the ground, and then she slammed the rock into the padlock holding the chain on the door handles. I finally found the strength to unsteadily stand up, and I walked to Ditzy whom continued to desperately hit the door with the rock.

"Allow me." I gasped with a string of vomit still on my chin. My horn glowed, and I took the rock from her mouth, and then I smashed the rock on the lock. The rock splintered into dust and left the lock intact.

Blindness. Sudden, intense white blindness stole my attention. There was a sudden horrendously dry heat as if we were sitting next to the sun. I looked up and blinked like I had something in my eyes.

Screaming! I jumped, and looked at Ditzy. I watched her take a breath while staggering backwards, and let out another ear ripping shriek. She stared intensely to the distance behind me with such horror that I've never seen on a pony's face in my life, and then I turned around and felt the true forces of panic like I never have before. All the breath from my lungs locked into place, and I couldn't make a sound. I assumed that Ditzy ran out of breath because I heard nothing from her either.

We were over 10 kilometers north-east of Vanhoover in a wooded area on the side of a mountain, and through the trees, past the Vanhoover skyline, a massive plume of fire reached toward the sky. A rushing shadow crawled across the ground from the blast with such furious speed that I was sure it was going to overtake us in no more than a few seconds. Every kilometer that it crossed was set ablaze, but what was particularly strange was the silence. Such serene tranquility and bathing light was intoxicating and left me frozen in space. Everything seemed to stand still.

In an instant, I realized that we were about to become two piles of ash on the side of this mountain. My horn burst with a fury of magic levitating the largest rock in my vision. My blue aura brightly encapsulated a boulder a few meters south of us. It was so heavy that my pores spewed sweat like a million little fountains all over my body while I brought the rock over our heads, and slammed it against the cellar like a meteor.

The rock rolled away from the door, and my aura dissipated from it. The shackle of the lock was snapped and separated from the lock bar, and the door handles were bent and folded against the iron doors.

"OPENITOPENITOPENIT!!!" Ditzy screamed with almost unintelligible insanity.

My magic pried the damaged doors open, and we leapt inside without regard for what was on the other side. A hard wall greeted us as we both planted our faces into it and fell two meters to the concrete floor below. I had fallen straight down onto my chest, but Ditzy bounced off the wall and crashed against the ladder that we were supposed to have taken. I had released the doors from my magic, and we were faced with pitch black darkness. My horn glowed again, but I wasn't grabbing anything, I just wanted to be able to see.

The Earth around us angrily shook, and I suddenly felt like I was being cooked alive. The intensity and sudden onset of the heat was unbearable. Ditzy quickly sprang to her hooves and ran down a small corridor straight on from the ladder. I only assumed that she felt like she was burning as well.

I quickly followed her to another set of iron doors at the end of the hall. These were not locked, and I opened them with my magic before she got to them. I closed them behind us as we continued to gallop inside. This room was much wider and the heat felt much less deadly. Even still, we continued to gallop hard toward another set of doors. I opened them and found ourselves in a tiny, dirty living space. I closed the doors with my magic and just took in the room.

There was a small recliner, that was probably decades old, sitting next to a tall, pine radio which was also used as a table. Four steel lockers lined the left side of the room, each with a label, and they were in varying stages of disrepair.

I read the labels aloud despite still trying to catch my breath, "Food, drinks, weapons, and... porn?"

"It's..." Ditzy took a breath. "It's not my place, Rarity."

"How did you know it was here?" I asked, and I sat down on the floor while wiping the sticky moisture from my mouth with a hoof. My belly hurt so bad, and I felt like I was bleeding on the inside, but as far as I could tell, there was no blood in my vomit. I took that as a good sign that I might survive such punishment.

"There was this crazy pony that lived here not too long ago." Ditzy explained as she went to the lockers and opened the one labelled Food. It was empty.

Ditzy cursed to herself, but then continued, "He lived out here for a while, and his family wrote to him all the time."

She side-stepped to the next locker which had about forty bottles of water in the top shelf, and the bottom shelves were filled with empty liquor bottles save for one, half consumed bottle of scotch. I planned to use that bottle, either to get really wasted and, if only for a moment, forget that I witnessed half a million ponies die a fiery death, or to clean my wounds. The latter seemed more responsible, but I gave serious thought to the former.

"Yes!" Ditzy exclaimed, and then she took a water bottle in her mouth and passed it to me before grabbing herself one and drinking heartily. I took the water with my magic, twisted the lid off, and sucked the water out, the vacuum crushing the bottle as I quaffed. I was so happy to wash the vomit taste from my mouth. I held the disfigured bottle over my head and let the last of it rinse the dirt and blood from my eye.

Ditzy finished the water completely and tossed the empty bottle to the floor. "So, anyway, he said that I was the only pony he could trust and told me that he'd be here. He made me promise that I'd tell nopony that he was here." She opened the Weapons locker which had about a dozen empty little cardboard ammunition boxes and no weapons except an old hunting knife. She continued, "Well, I guess that his family convinced him to go home one day because I was delivering a letter here, and he was leaving. He said that he wasn't sure if he'd go back on the grid because the Princesses were not sisters, and that he'd probably be back."

"Right." I stopped caring about her story, but allowed her to continue. For all I knew, she was comforted in talking about other things, but I couldn't stop thinking about the possibility that Ponyville was attacked and that all my friends were dead. I put my empty bottle on the radio and realized that she was still talking to me.

"...think so. Anyway, he said that the princesses were actually figments of our imaginations and that meant they were technically third cousins." Ditzy said matter-of-factly, the way I imagine the crazy pony said it. "He was seriously crazy."

"What happened to him?" I asked without expectation that she actually knew, or regard that I actually cared about it.

Ditzy moved on to the last locker, but hesitated, "He stopped taking his medication, and he tried to single-hoofedly stop," she made little quotation marks in the air with her wings, "the transit system from corrupting the grain industry."

"How did he do that?" I asked while feeling the recliner. It looked sticky, but it wasn't. The hope that we were going to return to the surface, and that anypony I knew and loved was going to be alive, was quickly fading.

"He stepped in front of a bus on the freeway." Ditzy said, and she flung open the locker. I looked up, and recoiled at what I was about to see, but was relieved to see that it was empty. I figured that when the crazy pony left, he only took what was very precious to him, and this thought inspired a bit of a shutter from me. I touched that chair... where he likely... 

"You know?" Ditzy started while staring into the empty Porn locker, "I thought; Hey, we got no food or weapons, but at least we'll have porn. Now, I'm just so disappointed."

"Are we going to talk about what just happened?" I said while looking at the floor again.

"I see you're bothered by the lack of porn, too." Ditzy chuckled, and then she looked at me.

"Sure." I choked and tears welled up. I fanned a hoof over my face to try and dry them, but the moisture overloaded and cascaded down my face anyway. I eventually let it go. My legs gave out from under me, and I collapsed into a hopeless, crying mess. My whole body gently shook as I sobbed quietly. I attempted again to control it, but that only seemed to set the despair in deeper.

"Oh, Rarity..." Ditzy said as she trotted to my side. She patted my back with a hoof and rubbed my shoulder with her wing. "It's going to be okay."

"What?" I said and looked up at her, "How is this going to be okay?"

She looked at the floor and then her eyes darted from side to side in thought. She looked back at me, "I'm sorry, Rarity. I just didn't know what else to say. This is not going to be okay, but we will, I think."

"When will it be safe to come out of here? How do you know we won't starve to death down here?" I stood up and vehemently pointed at the chair. "I just can't help but think that we're going to die down here in some dead, crazy pony's masturbation lair."

Ditzy looked at the chair, and she shared a dark chuckle with herself, "That really does suck."

My face contorted, and I beamed my confusion at her for a moment. But then, I felt my diaphragm contract and then uncontrollable laughter burst from me. She laughed too, and then suddenly we were both caught in this grim fit of giggling. Our chuckles slowed and began to subside, and then we both took simultaneous breaths and, in tandem, said together, "Ahh..."

"Okay." I nodded. "Let's figure out a plan. "We're going to be okay." I'm just going to roll with that."

"That's a good plan so far." She smiled.
> Chapter 2 - Six Days
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	We'd fallen asleep after a few hours of laughing for no reason. I couldn't quite place why she was so funny now, but I figured it was the shock of being bombed combined with being grateful for having survived it. I still ached from the day before, but it was much more negligible since Ditzy helped me clean my wounds with the scotch and the single box of gauze that we found.

I had spent a lot of time looking at the head wound. The radio had a maker's plate on the back side, and it was shiny enough to get a fairly good look at it. The plate was small, but I could see the gash across my right eye brow. It appeared like a sinister, red stripe pointing at my horn. I found it odd that it was so straight, like I'd been sliced with a knife, but when I examined more closely, the tissue was obviously pulled so far from it's origin that it simply split. I couldn't stop thinking about how it was going to be such an ugly scar, a grotesque reminder of the horrific event in which I had been for the rest of my life.

How was I to find my prince now? Should we make it out of this hole alive, I would hate to have to explain to a cute stallion what happened to my face. I would be reminded of being near death, of the pain I've endured, and of the lives lost. My perfect stallion would embrace me when I became upset in recalling it, and then give me a dress and a castle to romp in. But alas, the real world would give me a prince who would become uncomfortable in a crying stranger, even if I could bring myself to say the words, and I would be denied the dress, the castle, and the romp.

When I finally woke up, Ditzy was sitting on "Señor Jerky" as we'd come to call the chair. It was uninspired and juvenile, but one of us would say it, and then we'd laugh really hard for some reason. We'd be discussing something unrelated to the chair, and then a lull in the conversation would prompt one of us to say it, and then when we stopped giggling, we'd continue talking. I hated that, under these circumstances, Ditzy and I would create our first inside joke.

"What are you doing?" I asked while stretching. I'm not sure if the cold concrete floor that I'd slept on was the source of the horrible stiffness in my back, or if it was the serious thrashing that I'd endured the night before. The lingering sting on my scalp was definitely from Ditzy's life-saving attempts to yank the mane off my head, and the stabbing ache in my stomach was from being flung against the tree. I considered myself lucky because the hot pain on my fore-head outweighed my other wounds.

"Reading." Ditzy said, and then she pointed at the stack of books in front of the radio. There was a smaller collection of books on top of the radio that I assume were the ones that she'd finished while I was asleep.

"How long have you been up?" I asked. I slowly got to my hooves, made my way to the Drinks locker, and got myself a bottle of water. Ditzy had one on top of the radio that was half full, so I didn't get her one.

Ditzy gestured at the room as a whole to explicate that there was no way of knowing the time. She shrugged and said, "I have no idea." and then returned her gaze to the book. "But it's been a minute."

"I don't know how you sit on Señor Jerky." I said, and then I sipped the water.

Ditzy chuckled, "He's surprisingly comfortable."

"Really?" I asked while twisting the cap back on the bottle.

Ditzy put her book down and then had that look which told me she was about to say something funny. She would smile, her eyes would affix on the same point in space for a moment, and then her good eye would look at me before she spoke.

Her left eye moved to me while her right remained static, "Well, I'm just making the most of it, really. I actually sat down and then found that I was glued down to it."

I let out a breathy chuckle, "Ew, gross." We shared a laugh, then I raised my good brow, and asked, "How long did it take for you to come up with that?"

Her smile grew larger, "I think it was a few hours ago."

I nodded knowingly, "I thought so." I peered at the spines of the books in the pile on the radio. "So, what are you reading?"

Ditzy glanced at the small stack, "Oh, I haven't gotten to those yet, but these down here are all survival, cooking, weapon making, and Colt Scout type of things."

My eyebrow raised again, "You read all of those?"

"Yep." She affirmed, but then her smile faded, "...and I learned some potentially upsetting things."

My own smile dropped out of existence, "Like?"

"There are four books that are all about surviving apocalyptic situations. Three of them talk about nuclear war specifically." She said in a level voice.

"And?" I upturned a hoof as if she was to place the information right there.

"Two of them say that it is unsafe to go outside for a month." Ditzy murmured, and then she gave a little shrug and continued, "Unless it rainth, of course."

"A month? Well, what about the third?" I said, hoping to Celestia that it said a much shorter time frame. The only thing I heard was that I wasn't going to get anything to eat for a month. The danger of starving to death in the cellar became much more real.

"It said that radioactive decay is fairly rapid, and we may be okay after a week. But again, unless it rains." Ditzy somberly explained.

I rolled my eyes and cursed. A week without food? I can't go a week without food. If the only thing I'm taking in is water for a week, my metabolism will come to a screeching halt, and I will bloat up with water weight. I gave pause and tried to separate the care for my figure from my will to live, but those two things are so close on my priority list. I suddenly found myself trying to think up a rain-dance that the Zebras would do. If I remembered correctly, the weather forecast was clear skies for quite a while, but that may have been just Manehattan.

"How do we know that it was a nuclear explosion, anyway?" I said, trying harder to convince myself that we could go outside immediately more than her.

Ditzy nodded with an arrogant smile while picking up a book from the bottom of the stack. The small tower of books toppled as she flipped it open to somewhere in the beginning. "What does this sound like?" She said, and then she read aloud, "At ten kilometers away from ground zero, it will take nearly 30 seconds for you to hear the deafening blast, but you will experience an instantaneous, blinding flash and intense heat. The mushroom cloud of a 500 Kiloton bomb will be nearly two kilometers wide and rise to over 10,000 meters in approximately 20 seconds. The supersonic shock wave travels faster than the speed of sound and has a trailing exothermic reaction."

She slapped the book closed, put it on the radio, and then simply stared at me with a haughty smirk. I simply nodded and really hated her for a moment. But as fast as my hatred had arisen, it subsided, and I was back to critical thinking mode. We didn't have any clothing with us. We had not taken our saddlebags with us when we fled for our lives, which meant that we didn't even have our scarves. I also noted, despite having a much lesser impact on our odds for survival, that I didn't even have my hoof file. No food, no clothes, and no file was shaping up to be a much rougher week than I had planned.

I misplaced blame on Ditzy for not allowing me to take my mountain of luggage, as if I would have had the time and the means to take it with me to the cellar, but I was still secretly upset with Ditzy for not allowing us to be prepared. I recognized that it wasn't rational to be mad at her for it, so I mentally pushed it aside and decided not to bring it up.

"Is there no way that we can go outside for the next week?" I asked desperately as if she was withholding information.

Ditzy slightly shook her head, "Rarity, we can go outside after 24 hours and survive it today, but we run the risk of radiation poisoning."

I nodded again, but I threw a little fit while I was at it and plopped myself on the floor, "I'm hungry."

"Me too, Rarity." Ditzy said flatly, and then she threw a fore-hoof up. "I motion for a new rule in the cellar."

I squinted at her.

"If the motion isn't unanimous, it won't carry." She smiled like this was a game.

This wasn't any game; it was our lives she was joking about. I continued to stare down her smile as if I were going to interrogate it. What do you think you're doing here? You don't belong here in this peril, I thought to myself. I realize that she was just trying to keep me in good spirits, but I didn't quite understand the point. I didn't want to play this game anymore. First of all, if I lost, I was dead. Second, it wasn't any fun, but then I thought about the night before. We had laughed, and talked, and joked for hours on end. I found myself hoping that today would be like that.

I pressed my mouth into a thin line and said, "Proceed."

"I move to ban the word "hunger", and all of its formth, from the cellar. At no time, will anypony within the cellar speak this word." Ditzy stated like a true officiant. "How does the committee vote?"

I nodded, "Aye."

"The motion carries." Ditzy said while she used an imaginary stamp to seal an invisible document, or was it to bang an imaginary gavel? I wasn't sure, but I wasn't going to ask about the details of her pretend world.

She smiled at me for a long time in an attempt to illicit reciprocation, but I sighed hard and lightheartedly said, "I'm starving."

Ditzy let out a short laugh and raised a brow at me. She took an imaginary paper, held it in front of her, pretended to read it, and then looked at me over invisible glasses, "New motion."


***	***	***	***	***	***


Day three and I was very hungry, but I didn't dare voice it. Ditzy had chosen to open the door to the living space, and check to see if it was still like an oven in the outer room, but it felt more cold than anything else. The stagnant air could be choking at times, but it was better in the outer room because it was closer to the entrance way. I was afraid that we would be breathing the poisons from outside. Ditzy said that it was unlikely because the majority of the really dangerous stuff would be up in the air which is why it would be safe to go outside once it rains and the radioactive materials are flushed from the atmosphere.

In the outer room, there was a wooden door on the right from the living space, and the door didn't quite close because the earth had shifted since it was built. Inside was a one meter square of space that looked a lot like a closet, but there was a round hole, about 20 centimeters across, in the floor. When I shined my horn down inside, we couldn't see the bottom because it was so deep. Ditzy got the idea to drop something inside to see how deep it was. We also wanted to drop something that would help us determine what was at the bottom.

So, Ditzy took an average sized ceramic cup and dropped it into the hole. We stood next to one another in the doorway, with our ears turned toward the hole and listened for a shatter when it hit the bottom, or a clanging as it collided with the sides of the pipe. Instead, there was an abrupt, squishy splash that happened much sooner than expected. The sound made me imagine that it had landed in a thick puddle of mud, but then the smell was unmistakably not mud.

"Celestia's mercy!" I exclaimed while forcing my way out and knocking Ditzy over, "It's an outhouse!" I screamed and retched. I tried to keep running away, but I collapsed onto the floor after tripping myself on my own hooves. The smell was one of the most horrendous things that my nose has ever had the misfortune of sensing, but I could not help but be completely overcome with laughter. It was so gross, it was hilarious.

"Close it! Close it, Rarity!" Ditzy shouted through her own fit of giggling. She didn't get up from the floor, but she kicked wildly at the door frame to scoot herself away from the growing aroma of rotting equine excrement rising from the toilet-hole. My magic flashed over the door, and it slammed against the frame. I wiggled it up and down, side to side, and every which way to try to make it seal shut, but it simply wouldn't.

"Oh, no! It won't close, dear!" I guffawed despite being nearly out of breath from laughing so hard. Ditzy tried to respond while she repeatedly kicked the door with her rear hooves, but her voice was reduced to just a wheeze, and her eyes were squeezed closed from the ferocity of her smile.

I released the door as she and I clamored to get out of there and back into the living room. We burst through the door with so much force that our limbs had somehow become entangled, and we tumbled into Señor Jerky which broke one of his legs. Ditzy ended up with her rump in the air over the chair's arm and the back of her head on the floor, and I had tried to clear Señor Jerky, but hit the radio face first.

There was a moment where we were all balanced on legs of furniture that weren't supposed to stand that way. Then we, and the furniture, slowly toppled onto the floor. I landed on my back, on top of the radio, and my head was trapped under the right arm of the chair. It hurt, but I was laughing too hard to care. The chair lifted from me, and I looked up at Ditzy.

She appeared horrified and asked, "Oh, my gosh. You okay?"

"I'm fine, darling." I answered with a smile to prove it. I rolled off the radio and put my hooves on the floor. I used my magic to right the radio and the chair, but Señor Jerky would stand no longer on only three legs. I gathered the water bottles that had been flung around the room and quickly stood them all in a corner. I also felt a warm wetness on my face and figured out why Ditzy was so concerned. My head wound was bleeding from the intense play. 

I took the hunting knife from the locker, cut a small piece of fabric from the floor cover on the chair, and wet it with a small amount of water, "I'm so glad that we can stop re-using the bottles. I was really beginning to miss doing business in privacy."

Ditzy nodded, "I'm just happy we have a contingency plan for number twos. What were we going to do about that?"

I did a playful shudder while dabbing the blood from my face, "We need not even think about that."


***	***	***	***	***	***


The following day, we'd become more confident, and we'd venture to the exit chamber of the cellar. We'd look up at the door and see the light from it to guess what time of day it was, or to see if it was night. Ditzy didn't seem too dependent on it, but I needed that ground of knowing what kind of time has passed. It was a teensy-weensy bit of normality in our newfound world of seclusion, and all I needed to keep my head screwed on straight. For now, that is. I wasn't sure how much longer I could go without eating.

We'd rooted through the outside room more, and we found an actual closet, but it had the opposite problem of the bathroom. It took us the entire day of prying and slamming to get it open, but we were eventually rewarded with the clothes inside. The clothes smelled terrible as if they had been washed in the cove to the east of here, and probably because they had been.

There were four heavy coats, three pairs of blue jeans, and one pair of pajama bottoms. There were four sets of shoes: One set of rain boots, two different styles of work boots, and a set of bunny slippers. Balled up on the floor was two t-shirts, one black and the other brown, and both had questionable stains along the waist and up the center. On top of the pile was a black hoofball cap, an old pair of Wonderbolt goggles, and a black pair of mirrored sunglasses. The sunglasses' frame were bent so badly that when I picked them up, one of the lenses popped out. I was disappointed that there were no socks, but I wasn't complaining.

I made my way back to the living room, but Ditzy stopped in the bathroom without saying anything. I sat down on the recliner and started to sing to myself, not because I felt like singing, but because it was really quiet down in the cellar, and I didn't wish to listen to Ditzy urinate.

My vocal solo of Beethoven's 5th wasn't a good performance, but I wasn't really trying. Ditzy would always announce her return with some compliment about how she wishes that she could sing, and that she thinks my voice sounds beautiful. I really should just tell her why I do it, but I'm afraid that she'll be embarrassed to learn that I simply listened the first time. And she was quite... flatulent.

Maybe she knew, but she never extended the courtesy to me when I went, so I figured that she did not. It was just my luck that when she finally had to go, we had already discovered that we had a bathroom. Before that, she always performed her bodily functions while I was asleep. The first day in the cellar, it took quite some time for my shy bladder to release a single drop, because I had to pee in a water bottle only a meter and a half from her in the same room.

"Gosh, your voice is beautiful, Rarity." Ditzy said while closing the door behind her.

"Thank you, sweet heart." I said. I looked at the water cabinet and quickly counted. We were already down to half of our supply. We averaged about three bottles a day so far which wasn't good for the potential time-frame that we may end up staying here.

"We should cut down on the water." Ditzy said.

"Great minds think alike. I was just pondering that myself." I said, and I screwed the lid on my water bottle.

"If we do one a day, we'll be okay for about a week more." She said while looking the cabinet over.

"That sounds like a plan." I agreed. The chair squeaked as I leaned back in it. The reclining mechanism really didn't like to be moved since I had taken the rest of the legs off of it.

It sounded easy in my head, but I thought about how much more difficult it would be in practice. While our lives weren’t in danger, it was nice to distract ourselves and pretend like the world above us had not gone to Tartarus. But still, despite all the distractions, the ache in my belly from the emptiness was nearly unbearable sometimes. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Hunger pains were doing their thing once again.

Ditzy looked me over and nodded, "Yeah, I get..." She stopped herself from speaking the unmentionable word, "I feel it sometimes, too. I didn't know it would hurt so bad."

"Oh, I'm alright dear." I assured her. "I'm just being a big baby."

Ditzy laughed while giving me a shrug which told me she understood that it was exactly as bad as I was making it out to be.

"Sure," I started, but stopped to take another cleansing breath, "It is horrendous and debilitating, but what are we to do about it?"

Both of Ditzy's eyes focused on the radio for a moment, and then she said, "We should eat Señor Jerky. He probably contains many calories because of certain activities that likely occurred on him before."

I smiled through a disgusted scoff, "Oh, Ditzy. That's gross."

She smiled bigger, "Did you know that there are up to 25 calories in one teaspoon of-"

I held a hoof up, and my laughter cut her off, "Okay, okay, that's enough, dear. Really."

Ditzy's head cocked to one side, and she analyzed me. I couldn't figure out what she was thinking, and we'd become quite good at reading each other during our four days in the cellar. She held up a hoof like she was going to say something, but then her hoof returned to the floor. She looked away from me, and she chewed her lip for a moment before she looked back at me.

"Rarity?" Ditzy said while sitting on the floor. "Can I talk to you?"

I laughed again, "What else is there to do down here, Darling?"

"It's personal." Ditzy said.

"Darling, you had the fortune of being in the same room while I urinated in a bottle. I'm fairly certain that we can handle personal questions." I said.

"Why did you come onto me at the hotel?" Ditzy asked.

The air became even more still, and I felt a hard pinch of regret. I was drunk when that happened, despite the fact that I really did like her, I don't know if I would sleep with her. I was into stallions, and I'd never even fooled around with a mare. It wasn't that I'd never thought about it, I was just never presented with the opportunity. I don't really remember why I came onto Ditzy, but I distinctly remember doing a lot of things because I felt sorry for her... Gosh, all those things because of her lisp, her eye, her demanding job, and lack of friends... I really hope that wasn't the reason I did that, too.

"I was quite intoxicated, Ditzy." I said with a smile and a tiny shake of my head.

She shrugged, "I've always heard that drunken words are just sober thoughts. So, I guess what I'm asking is; why didn't you tell me you were attracted to me before?"

While it's true a drunk pony may be more forthcoming with their darkest opinions, actions are a bit of a different story. Things tend to get mixed together. Ditzy has a fit body, pretty eyes, and a kind face. I do think that she's beautiful, sure, but my opinion that she's beautiful, and my desire for sex, was very unrelated until that line became blurred by alcohol.

"Well, it's complicated." I lied. I wanted to spare her feelings, but at the same time, I wanted to shut this down so hard that she never brought it up again. All of her methods of raising my spirits were working; I believed she was manufacturing my will to live through jokes, play, and enthralling conversation, but I didn't want it to be anything more. I didn't want it to be more complicated than it needed to be.

"Is it because I worked too much?" Ditzy asked while turning a fore-hoof over to me.

Excellent! She's the type to answer her own questions. My first thought was to allow her to come up with the answers that she's comfortable with, and then I can just affirm all of her suspicions until she drops it.

"You were just not really around that often, and I didn't want to become emotionally attached to somepony who wasn't there very much." I continued to lie my flank off.

Ditzy gave me an understanding nod, and then, with a small shrug and a smirk, she said, “I’m here now.”

“Yes, you are.” I said quietly. How could I have not seen that coming? What was I going to say? I couldn’t tell her that we were in a hole in the ground hiding from invisible poison in the air because our city was bombed and all of our friends are probably dead; therefore, I’m not in the mood... wait... I guess I could say that.

I’d just started to respond when she quickly moved and hopped onto me. She straddled my rear legs, had one fore-hoof curled up against herself, and the other on my chest. She sat up straight, fanned her wings, and stared me down with a super playful, naughty smile. That wonderful, infectious smile of hers.

And then suddenly, I thought: Would that really be such a bad thing?


***	***	***	***	***	***


Ditzy stared at the bug for such a long time, and I just kept telling her that it wasn't worth it. She kept saying that she was joking, but I could tell that she was half-serious about devouring a live cricket. When we first found it, we'd spent several minutes searching the entire room, outer room, and exit chamber for ways that it could have gotten in. We concluded that it had to have came in from between the cracks of the front door.

"Please, dear." I said, "I could never kiss you again knowing that you ate a bug."

She put her chin against the floor in front of the bug and continued to watch it. "I'm not going to eat it, silly. I already said I wouldn't."

"Okay, then leave it alone and come back here." I said while moving the coats with my magic. We were using the coats that we'd found as blankets. That crazy pony must have been huge because his jackets were enormous. Two of the coats provided just enough padding to make the floor seem a lot less like... well, a floor.

She shuffled backward without picking up her head as it crawled a few centimeters toward her. "I will. It's just the most interesting thing of the last few days." Ditzy said before looking at me and continued, "Well, except for last night."

I laughed, "Come on, darling. I'm cold over here."

"But, what if it gets out?" Ditzy said, and then she leapt off the floor and screamed. "Ahh!! It's on me!"

She pawed crazily at her face, writhed on the floor for a moment, and sprang to her hooves. Her eye shifted wildly in search of the cricket.

I was still laughing when I saw it crawling next to Señor Jerky, "There it is, darling." I pointed to it with a hoof.

She said, "Oh!" and put her chin back on the floor. This time she was behind it and believed she was safe from it jumping on her face again.

Ditzy was so playful in a way that I've never really been my whole life. Something about her brought out another pony in me altogether, and she inspired me to play hard. Truth be told, I'm not sure if it was her, or the distraction she provided from the hunger or the horrific predicament. Either way, I was really feeling something for her.

Our water supply had gotten especially thin last night during the periods of required hydration. She was magnificent, not to mention clearly experienced, and gasping constantly really dries out the mouth. So, we agreed that we'd cheat a little on our daily limit.

I sat up to see the bug as well. Its tiny antennae danced in all directions, and then it would move a few centimeters. It was really, very boring. I didn't see the point in staring at it, but suddenly I realized that I was doing it too. Here we both were, two full grown mares, watching a cricket be a bug.

"Shall we play a game?" I asked, and then I pointed at the bug again. "I don't know how good this is for the sanity."

"Something like last night?" Ditzy smiled without taking her attention off the bug.

"I don't think our water can survive another round, sweetie." I said and shook my head with a smile.

She nodded slightly despite her chin on the floor, "We were bad last night. Let's stick to the original plan with the water."

"Right." I nodded. "Anyway, I was thinking 20 questions or something."

Ditzy made her mouth small, and she blew softly on the cricket. Its hind leg moved upward, but other than that, it didn't seem to mind. She took a breath and blew a little bit harder, but it didn't do anything different.

"Okay." She sighed, "Can I go first?"

I agreed, but she didn't move from watching the cricket.

"Is it a pony?" She asked.

"No." I answered.

"Is it big?"

"Yes. Well, maybe." I pondered for a moment. "What is big to you?"

She looked at me. "That's not how this game works."

I nodded and smiled, "Okay, then yes. I think it's big."

She looked back at the cricket. "Does it move?"

"Yes."

"Is it fast?"

"Very." I said with a breathy voice. The idea of it exhausted me.

Ditzy smirked, "Is somepony driving it?"

"Yes." I said with an upward inflection because I knew she was onto it, but then my smile faded as I came to realize that the mare we were talking about was likely no longer with us. 

Ditzy looked at the floor somberly and stood up. I think she read my face and came to the same conclusion that I did. She asked, "Is it a taxi?"

I nodded slowly, but remained mute.

So many ponies were probably dead. Surely, we weren't the only ones that made it out alive, but in a city of at least half a million, even one percent was 5,000 dead ponies, and it was painful to think about. How were we going to fix it? That really was the question which fueled my despair and hopelessness. I knew that we couldn't bring ponies back from the dead, but the survivors were all going to have to live with the fallout. Dangerous radiation lasts for several lifetimes, and all of us would have to endure the threat of coming into contact with it.

I thought of my sister, Sweetie Belle, who was with my parents in Ponyville. I thought of Twilight and what her fate could have been. She would have been a target, which wasn't comforting, but I wasn't sure that she was dead. I wanted to see all of my friends, but Twilight the most because I believed, so wholeheartedly, that she had been attacked personally. I worried for all of them, and I even worried for all the ponies that I'd never met.

Finally, I asked, "How many do you think made it out?"

"I hope all of them." Ditzy said with a dark smirk in recognition that it was so unrealistic.

I let out a half-scoff and half chuckle, "Right? Wouldn't that be hysterical if we are the only ones in Vanhoover because we went the wrong way?"

"Hilarious." Ditzy stated flatly.

A sudden, but familiar, stabbing pain struck me in the stomach, "Ooh, geez." I exclaimed.

"What's up?" She asked and picked up her head from the chair to look at me.

"Nothing." I said as I doubled over and hugged myself over the belly. "I'm just..." I cut myself off before I made the same mistake Ditzy had yesterday. "It's nothing."

"Oh, I see. You're feeling... "it", huh?" Ditzy asked.

I nodded.

"I'm sorry." Ditzy consoled.

I didn't see her move to me, but she rubbed my back softly and hugged me. The pain was so bad I felt like I could cry. It was so sudden, but that was the downside to being consistently distracted by an entertaining pony. When my needs wanted to be felt, they didn't even give me the satisfaction of being gradual.

I took a deep breath and sat up straight, but I didn't let my belly go. I let out the breath really slow and saw the concern on Ditzy's face. I was worrying her, and that wasn't fair to her. I thought to myself, Toughen up, Rarity. Stop being soft and swallow this. It made me laugh and shake my head. It's not like you'll be swallowing anything else.

"You're okay, Rarity." Ditzy continued.

My chuckle at myself was overcome by sobbing, "They're all dead, aren't they?"

Ditzy didn't answer for a moment, and then said, "You've got to have hope."

"How?" I cried. "How do I have hope in a situation that's so... hopeless?"

"Rarity, listen." She grabbed my face with her fore-hooves and sat on the floor in front of me, "You've got to have hope. If you lose hope, you've got nothing."

Ditzy released me, and then I nodded slowly. I really hoped that Twilight was still alive. I figured if anypony was going to help me find my family, it would be her. I also hoped that Ponyville was still there when we got back. I had a distant, unrealistic, and utmost desire that all five of my friends would convene in Ponyville at the same time. We'd hug each other endlessly and, amidst the embrace, come up with a plan to save Equestria.

I finally looked at Ditzy, and she was hunched over and clutching her belly. We embraced each other, and simply hoped together silently for a long time through the pain.


***	***	***	***	***	***


I think it was day 6, I couldn't be sure, but I was certain that my belly ached with the emptiness of a gourd. The sensation of hunger was a recurring feeling that would always return more fierce than before. If I was thirsty, I didn't feel very hungry, but as soon as water touched my lips, the swell of void would remind me that it had been several days since my last meal. The hunger became a nauseating churn that would cause a horrifically conflicting sensation that I was going to vomit. We just sat on opposite sides of the room, past small-talk, or doing anything, and were hunched over with our mouths open like the forces of the universe would deliver food directly into our stomachs.

After several hours of staring at a book and not really reading it, Ditzy sneezed. Only my eyes moved, and I said, "Bless you."

I silently cursed to myself. The motion of my mouth started another wave of debilitating pain through my abdomen. I simply clenched my teeth, closed my eyes, and waited for it to pass.

Ditzy cursed through gritted teeth, "I'm doing it again."

"Me too." I said.

"I would pull the trigger on the smallest, cutest bunny right now." Ditzy strained to speak.

"I would crush a filly's dreams." I responded.

I'm not sure when or who started this, but we began stating things that we would do for food at the moment. One of us would say something horrible, and the other would try to top it. It was our current distraction.

"Good one." Ditzy said, "but would you smash a priceless painting over the head of an Alzheimer's patient?"

"Yes. Then I'd wait until they forgot, and then I'd hit them again." I said with a restrained chuckle. I noticed that we became quite dark after such a relatively short time in the cellar. I never understood gallows humor, but then again, I'd never suffered like this before.

"I'd stab myself in the eye with a splintery, wood stake." Ditzy said.

I exhaled slowly through my teeth to try an alleviate the ache, but to no avail. I'd tried it a hundred times before, and it didn't work then either, "Take a bath..." I began to say, but it turned into a pitiful groan.

"Take a bath?" Ditzy wheezed a chuckle weakly without regard to my moans of agony. It's not that she didn't care about me anymore, they had simply become commonplace. There was a few times that I heard her crying in the night. I didn't bother asking what was the matter, because I already knew.

I took a deep breath and finished my statement. "Take a bath in salty vinegar and razor blades."

Ditzy smiled at me for a long time, and I noticed that her beautiful golden eyes were so badly bloodshot because she hadn't slept since the day before. Or the night before, I really wasn't sure. We had not the motivation to check the doors.

She finally gave me a conceding nod, "Good one, Rarity."

"What are we going to do when we finally get out of here?" I asked, "I think we need masks and something to cover our ears."

"We should kill Señor Jerky for his fur." Ditzy suggested, "I'm sure that you know how to make bandannas for our faces."

I nodded, "Yes. I'll make something to wear under that hoofball hat to cover the ear-holes, and then I can make a cloth cap."

That feeling like I was going to throw up nothingness returned. It felt as if the emptiness was clawing its way out of my throat and threatening to turn me inside out, but I fought through it and took the hunting knife in my magic.

I pointed the blade at Señor Jerky, "Today, you die."

Ditzy suddenly whispered loudly, "Rarity! Did you hear that?"

We were still and silent. I didn't even blink or breathe, but all I could hear was the sound of blood rushing through my ears as I listened harder and harder. Ditzy's nose whistled quietly as she took in a slow breath, and then there it was! A muffled crack and distant rumble from outside. It was really far away, but I dropped the knife, and we both galloped for the exit chamber. I almost started up the ladder, but I just put a hoof on it and stared intently at the pair of iron doors. I watched the tiny bit of light in the cracks with such intensity that I was beginning to have a spot in my vision from it. I was trying to decide if the light was darker than normal thus indicating storm clouds above.

"That's not good." Ditzy said.

"What isn't good?" I asked, but I didn't look away.

Her fore-hoof appeared on my right and pointed to a small puddle of water in the corner on the floor to the left of the ladder. A clear stream ran all the way from the puddle to the doors above.

"It's raining outside!" I celebrated foolishly. "It's a drizzle, but it sounds like the real storm is on it's way!"

Ditzy briskly turned back, and started to the living room, "That's why we've got to move quickly." Ditzy explained, "Or we're going to be standing in radioactive run-off!"

I cursed to myself and then followed her, "Why can't things just be simple?!" I exclaimed, "Why can't rain just be a good thing?!"

Ditzy chuckled, "It is a good thing, Rarity. It just means that we're going to have to be a little bit faster."

"I can be fast." I said, and then I took the knife with my magic again and plunged it into Señor Jerky's back.

Ditzy did a small voice with a Spanish accent, "Ahhh! No, Rarity! ¿Por qué me traicionas?"

I just looked at her and smiled while the knife sliced all the way up to the headrest, across, back down, and then across the bottom which gave me a pretty good size piece of cloth to work with.

Ditzy continued, "Et tu, Rarity?"

I gave a small chuckle, "Enough, dear. Get some clothes on."

Thunder boomed across the sky. Despite being several meters underground, it sounded close. Ditzy's smile faded, and she cursed to herself. "Sorry, Rarity. I'll get to it."

As she separated the coats, pants, and shoes, my knife swiftly chopped through the fabric and left me with two triangles with extended wings. I put one over Ditzy's face, and she stared up at the ceiling while I tied it firmly over her mouth and nose. I made a rectangle with four thin strips on the corners and tied it onto her head while tucking her ears and mane inside it. She put on one of the coats which left the bottom of her hat perfectly tucked into the collar. She put the hood up, pulled the draw strings to close it around her face. She used her wings to pull a pair of blue jeans up to her belly, and then she slipped her hooves into a set of the work boots.

My magic lit up the strings, but she shooed it away, "I can tie my own shoes." She chuckled.

"Sorry, darling." I said, and then the knife cut more fabric from Señor Jerky's cushion which I figured, and hoped, was the least contaminated part after the rear of the backrest. I laid it on my head and pulled down on it, cut a small hole where my horn was poking it, and allowed my horn to tear through. I put the hoofball cap on over the fabric and pushed my hair into it. I hated to punish my beautiful mane in such a way, but a filly must survive.

I put on a coat as well, tucked the fabric coming from my cap into the collar, and then put on a pair of blue jeans. My father would be so happy about that since he always wears blue jeans and that stupid straw hat.

"Next time I see my father," I said while securing the back of my hat around my neck because my coat did not have a hood, "I'm going to tell him his hat is stupid." The other pair of work boots had a tear near the sole, so I discarded them, and wore the rain boots.

Ditzy's mouth jostled the makeshift bandana when she spoke, "When I see my boss, I'm going to tell him his glasses are dumb."

My smile prompted me to look at her, see her eyes smiling, and then I remembered the goggles. I took them in my magic, and put them between Ditzy's bandanna and cloth cap. I wiggled the straps into the cover, secured them tightly to her face, and I shared a little moment of joy that I could still see her eyes through the goggles.

I slipped the arms of the sunglasses into sides of my hat, and pressed them against my nose to try and fix the bent up frame. I tried my best to replace the lens, but it wouldn't stick, and then my face felt hot from my breath inside the bandana, and it fogged up the remaining lens. I discarded the glasses, and shrugged.

"I think I'll be okay." I said. "I don't really have a choice, do I?"

"You want my goggles? My eyes are already screwy." Ditzy offered.

"No, dear. It's okay. We may find something out there in an airtight case." I smiled extra big so that she could see it in my eyes.

"It's possible." She smiled back.

I pulled the hoofball cap's bill lower, to cover more of my face, and then started toward the door.

"Wait, the water." Ditzy said, and then she walked to the locker, and I saw her wing try to get a bottle, but she was restrained by the jacket. My magic lit up the remaining four bottles, and I stuck two in each of her coat pockets and two in mine.

"Okay, are we ready to go?" I asked. The hot breath from speaking blew air into my eyes. I used my magic to tuck the bandanna closer to my face to stop it.

"Can I say goodbye?" Ditzy asked as another crash of thunder sounded outside. I heard water trickling through the doors even from here.

"Whatever, dear. Quickly though." I said briskly.

Ditzy bowed to Señor Jerky and placed a hoof on his corpse, "We'll miss you. You've served us well."

I laughed briefly, "Okay, let's go, darling."

We trotted to the exit chamber while being careful not to touch the water that began running down the walls. The exterior cellar doors lit up with my magic, and I opened it from the ground below.

There was the sky. Ominous and grey with silent lightning crawling across the clouds, and then a second later, emitting a powerful explosion. I never thought I'd be so happy to see the sky, but here I was, frozen in happiness at the clouds. The light rain patter was home. It felt like sweet, sweet comfort.

"Move your butt!" Ditzy called from behind me.

I apologized and crawled up the ladder with Ditzy in tow. As I climbed, I closed my eyes. The fear that I would witness a sea of dead ponies strewn in front of me slowed every step until my hoof ran out of rungs. My hoof planted itself on the concrete base of the cellar door.

Curious. The wind was cold, and it was snowing. All of our books claimed that nuclear winter was an exaggeration, but this... precious Luna, it was real. There was no more than a light misting in the air, but the runoff from the trees made it sound like it was raining. My eyes were open, but I kept them focused on the dirt below my hooves as I made way for Ditzy to exit as well. I heard her hoof-falls on the dirt to my right.

Ditzy let out a quiet, very profane, phrase which didn't help me want to see what I was standing before. I looked at her to ask, but was taken aback by the trees around us. They were all burned, and the ground below me wasn't dirt; it was blackened grass. My eyes involuntarily tracked around and revealed the distant orange glow of Vanhoover that, nearly a week after the attack, was still burning. It wasn't snowfall, it was ash.

I wanted to dive back into the cellar, and stay there until I died. I didn't want to face this. I couldn't. There was nothing to go back to. Hopelessness overtook my ability to move, to breathe, or to do anything. I closed my eyes and pushed it aside in my head. I can do this. I will find my friends, and we'll fix this. 

Determination set in, and I looked at Ditzy. She was smiling? What? Why?!

And then I read it in her eyes. I felt it coming, and I knew what she was going to say. Suddenly, I was smiling too. I thought it was a horrible miscalculation in attempting to keep me in good spirits, but I'll be damned if it didn't work.

Suddenly, we simultaneously yelled at each other, "I'm hungry!"
> Chapter 3 - Day Seven
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Ditzy led the way down the side of the mountain, and if I kept my eyes to the ground, the bill of my cap kept the falling ash from my face. I was so afraid that one piece was poisonous enough to kill me, even though I knew that it was not. The rain had not picked up too much, but even through my bandanna, I could smell an intense storm on its way.

I ran into Ditzy’s butt because she had stopped, and I was just mindlessly following her boot-prints. I peered at her from under the bill of the cap, and she pointed to a small, double-wide trailer, about 100 meters away, at the base of the mountain. It was by a narrow, gravel road that winded its way west to a south-bound highway a kilometer from us. The highway was connected to the bridge over Foal’s Creek which led into the ruins of Vanhoover.

“We’ll take cover from the storm in there.” Ditzy said through the mask and the light patter of rain around us. “We’ll need to move quickly. We don’t want to soak up any of this in case it's toxic.”

I nodded, but I didn’t say anything while I looked back at the ground. I thought about the light wetness I felt on my body. Was it from the mist, or was I just sweating? I pushed the thought aside and focused on Ditzy’s boot-prints again. I listened hard for a sign that the rain was becoming heavier. Despite the weather remaining an indeterminate mist, we had begun running anyway. I figured that it couldn’t hurt because, where life and limb are concerned, it was probably best not to dawdle.

“Rarity, get the door!” Ditzy panted as we neared, and my horn was glowing at the ready as I directed my attention to the door.

The trailer was charred on the side which faced ground zero, and all of the windows were blown out. A yellow, badge shaped sign was next to the storm door of the trailer. The black letters, V.P.A., was in the center and then, along the bottom of the acronym, it read Vanhoover Park Authority.

A low, distant hiss grew louder and louder with each second. I wanted to look into the sky, but that meant exposing my face to the falling elements. It was coming from the east, and grew into a whispered scream as the storm gained momentum. I pulled open the storm door, and jiggled the door knob of the interior, aluminum door, but it would not turn.

“Is it locked?” Ditzy said while turning around and bucking the door without waiting for an answer. Her hooves punched through the screen, and slammed the front door. The strike left two boot marks and bent the aluminum down the center. It allowed me to rattle the door until the deadbolt came loose from the frame. I followed Ditzy inside, and we both immediately split up in a frantic search.

As soon as we entered,  we both hit an invisible wall made of a strange, putrid smell. I attributed it to the bombing and figured that something inside the trailer had burned, but this was unlike anything I had ever sensed; it wasn't the typical smell of ash and smoke. Even though it evoked strong reactions from both of us, we were far too hungry to mind at the moment.

The trailer’s front room had a small bureau with a display cabinet on the top against the south wall. The cabinet displayed photographs of the mountainside with park rangers standing together and smiling at the camera. The lower drawers, of which I pulled out and discarded the contents on the floor, had a collection of fossils dug up from the area. I’m sure that I may have been interested in them had I not been desperately searching for something, anything that resembled food.

Ditzy pushed over the front desk and cursed loudly when she found nothing inside. The desk slammed into the floor, which rocked the entire trailer, and the vases and picture frames shattered. Behind where the desk used to be was a small counter against the wall. On top was a little oven, a coffee pot, and a tiny fridge. Ditzy opened the fridge and found two water bottles, one of them half consumed, and a Styrofoam cup filled with old coffee. She opened all the cabinets below the counter and found a foil package of chewing gum.

The package was mangled, and the three sticks inside were bent and broken. It appeared old, as if somepony had wadded it up and discarded it, but I didn’t care. Ditzy kicked off one of the work boots from her fore-leg, and then used her hoof to pull the bandanna down. She took the package in her mouth, worked out a stick for me and one for her, and then she tossed the remaining stick on the counter while pulling the gum out of the wrapper with her tongue. I pulled down my bandanna, and my gum unwrapped with my magic.

We discarded the wrappers at the same time, and then both just smiled at each other. I knew it was silly to think that it was worth anything, but then we simultaneously popped the gum in our mouths and chewed with much satisfaction. I was probably burning more calories chewing than I was gaining from it, but I continued not to care. It was a taste. I tasted something after nearly a week of tasting nothing but water and my own breath. Although counter intuitive, the artificial watermelon flavor that burst in my mouth was glorious.

"I've never been into chewing gum." I commented while closing my eyes and chewing carefully.

Ditzy giggled, "I hate gum. I never understood the point of a treat that you didn't actually eat."

I silently agreed while taking a look over the north side of the room that had a wooden table with four chairs in the east corner. The west corner was a hallway that went deeper north into the trailer, split into two offices about two meters down, and then a bathroom was at the end.

Ditzy put her hoof back in her boot, and then motioned toward the hallway, "Let's go in there."

I nodded, "Of course, darling. I'm right behind you." and then I followed her down the hall. 

We briskly made our way to the rooms, and then she broke left into an office, but just as I was entering the right office, Ditzy backed out and blocked my way, causing me to run into her butt again.

“Are you doing this on purpose?” I asked with a little smile, but she didn’t answer. She simply pushed me, hard, and almost knocked me off my hooves. I was flattened against the wall as she forced her way past me, and I just watched her go. She stalked to the middle of the main room and put a hoof on the overturned desk. She stared at the floor with slow breaths and was shaking really hard.

"Darling?" I asked while I looked at the office door from the hallway even though I couldn't really see inside. I'm not sure I wanted to anyway, but I did note the marked increase of the horrible smell from when we first entered. I looked back at Ditzy, "What's in there?"

"It's a..." Ditzy started, and then she cut herself off. She tried again, but still couldn't bring herself to say the words.

"Is there..." I started, but gave pause due to the dread of the truth choking the breath from me. I cleared my throat and continued, "Is there a pony in there?"

Ditzy turned her head so I could see the left side of her face, but she had her eyes closed. Her lips quivered like she was going to be sick, and then she nodded slowly. She took a sharp breath, and then she said, "Don't go in there, Rarity."

I turned back to the offices and backed away a few steps. I felt like we were so close to finding something to ease our pain and suffering, something that would give me confidence in the hell we were experiencing, but most of all, simply something to eat. My hunger pains denied me the luxury of turning around to leave, to search another location, and to go another day without eating. I was determined to find us something.

"I'll be right back." I said as I kept my eyes on the floor. I saw blackened semi-circles, hoof prints, that were burned into the fire-retardant, industrial carpeting. The outsides of the hoof-prints had, what appeared to be, pale yellow wax dribbled on floor, but I had never seen wax burn like that. I examined a bit closer, and it appeared to be overcooked fat. The pony Ditzy had found must have been burning alive from being caught in the shock wave, and when taking cover in the trailer... I swallowed hard to try and bury my urge to vomit. I realized that I was walking on a pony's melted flesh.

I took a deep breath, and tried to clear my head as I entered the east office. There was a corner desk that took up most of the north-east corner. A small waste basket was to the left of the desk, and then a trio of file cabinets against the west wall. The middle of the room had a much smaller desk that faced to the south wall where two black, leather chairs were. I started in the center of the desk, but slowly so that I could listen for Ditzy. Should she break down, I was going to console her, but while she was just digesting the sight, I felt like I could make some progress.

The large desk had lots of cabinets, and they were all already opened as if somepony had already rooted through it. I peered into all of them, but found that they were mostly empty. I opened the file cabinets and found a lot of files which was expected, but in the top drawer of the last cabinet I opened, I found a small box of ammunition in the back. There were a lot of warnings printed on each side, and the box was labelled, “.38 Spc. FMJ” but I had no idea what that meant. I looked inside briefly to see three rows of four bullets. I took the box with my magic, and put it in my pocket. I took a last look over the room which was devoid of anything edible. I shook my head and started toward the other office.

Once again, I kept my gaze on the floor and made my way to the threshold of the west office. I shook my head at myself, closed my eyes, and brought my head back. I took a deep breath, and did my best to imagine that the room was filled with dead puppies. I wanted the sight to be much less horrific than reality, but I also suspected that reality would be woefully under estimated. My brain screamed not to open my eyes, but my stomach told me I had to. I opened my eyes slowly, and I saw an office, identical in furnishings to the east office, but with a dead, unicorn mare slumped in the corner of the back wall and the desk.

An involuntary gasp struck me, and my entire body chilled. I took a step forward, in an attempt to confidently ignore the dead and continue a search of the office, but was overcome by trembling, so I stood still. I spit out my gum, which suddenly made me feel violently ill, and I closed my eyes again, but the image of the dead mare was burned into my vision. I took a few breaths and told myself to get over it. I shook my head and squeezed my eyes tighter and tighter, but nothing worked. I couldn't seem to shake the horror.

"Oh, my gosh." I said slowly, but Ditzy didn't respond. I felt my mouth twitch due to the exertion of my over extended frown. There was such an overflow of emotion that my face hurt from holding that expression for so many seconds. I shook my head again, harder this time, and then my features relaxed. I took a slow, deep breath through my nose, and let it out slowly through my mouth. I began to open my eyes, but I needed a second cleansing breath. I wasn't going to be stopped in searching this trailer because a dead pony was in the room. I simply could not leave this building without knowing for a certifiable fact that there was no food in it. I opened my eyes and more willingly observed the intrusive deceased mare.

Her body was laid against the west wall, across from me, and her head was resting against the desk in the northwest corner. The small, center desk had been moved against the south wall so I could see that the entire right side of her body was black with flesh peeled down to the muscles. The soft tissue of her cheek had charred and exposed her teeth, and I noticed all four of her hooves were scorched and foundered from the burns. My own hooves ached in the thought of this poor pony sprinting through a world of fire. The worst part was the mare’s scary eyes. Her eyelids were almost completely burned from her face which caused her eye-balls to horrifically protrude from her skull, and there was an opaque film over her iris that dulled the vibrant shine of life. I moved slowly in the fear that she would suddenly come alive, but I searched the office anyway.

In a magnificent stroke of luck, the first cabinet I opened, the one directly next to the dead mare, had a sleeve of salted crackers. The plastic was still sealed, which guaranteed that it was free of radiation and safe to eat, although the packaging had shrunk and contorted from the heat. I took the crackers with my magic and sprinted from the room.

"Ditzy! Look!" I shouted while putting the crackers in front of her.

"Oh, my gosh! Yes!" She sat on the floor and impatiently waited for me to open them.

My magic tore open the package and removed a cracker that I intended to eat, but Ditzy immediately, and quickly, snatched it with her mouth. She fit the entire thing in her mouth and bit down while letting out a soft moan. I took two crackers from the package and crammed both of them in my mouth. The crunching between my teeth had never been more satisfying, and I didn't even mind the heavy salt drying out my tongue. We payed no attention to dividing them equally as we feasted on the crackers like beasts on a fresh kill. To my surprise, the sickness of hunger pains was completely eradicated by our tiny meal.

Ditzy slapped the package from my magic, smashing it on the floor, and looked at me, "Did it look like there was anything else in there?"

I hid my mouth while I chewed the last cracker. We may be in the middle of a fiery nuclear wasteland, but I was still a proper mare. I answered after swallowing part of what I had in my mouth, "Um... I'm not sure, darling. I'd really like some help searching though. Being in there by myself is... It's very creepy."

Ditzy nodded and then said, "I understand." She clenched her eyes closed and shook her head, "It's just that I've never seen a dead pony before, and she's so... disfigured."

A chuckle escaped my lips, and I froze in horror at myself. Was I really just laughing at the dead? How could I laugh at somepony else's death? My thought was that it would have been easier to work up to the more grotesque through more peaceful looking dead, and that I'd wished we had come across, a least a few, dead ponies that were much less mangled. The idea of wishing I'd seen more dead ponies struck me as funny for an instant, and I began to think I was losing my equinity.

"I'm sorry, darling." I apologized for my outburst. "I just... I don't know what that was."

Ditzy shrugged, "Let's just go see if we can find more to eat, okay?"

I nodded vehemently, "Let's also forget I did that."

We made our way to the room. I stopped and peered inside to make sure that the mare hadn't moved. Unsurprisingly, she remained motionless in her final rest, but I did have a horrifying thought that she'd be staring at us as if to say, Those were my crackers. I led the way inside and made my way to the desk on the left while Ditzy took the desk on the right.

The small desk only had two cabinets and a thin drawer between them. I opened the drawer and found a set of sticky notes, pens, and pencils. There was a pencil sharpener, a collection of paper clips, and another package of gum much like the one we had found earlier. I pocketed the gum, and continued onto the cabinets.

The left cabinet had a blue and grey, soft-case lunchbox. I unzipped it and found a firm green apple, a juice box, and a half eaten daisy sandwich inside. The bread appeared to be safe, but it was stale and crumbled when I moved it, even with the gentle touch of my magic. I zipped up the lunchbox, put the strap over my left shoulder, and moved to the other cabinet which had a trio of two-ring binders stacked on top of each other, but no food.

"I found a sandwich, some juice, and an apple over here." I told Ditzy.

"Good stuff here, too!" Ditzy announced and then she held up a 16-ounce, manufacturer sealed bag of Pretty in her mouth.

Pretty is a brand of mixed, processed grains and ground soybean meal enriched with pure molasses. Before today, I would never indulge myself to such a fattening treat, but I lightly danced on my hooves and celebrated its presence.

"Shall we?" I asked her while taking the package with my magic, but Ditzy didn't release it.

"We should save this." Ditzy said through the paper bag, "We don't know when we'll come across more food, and this is sealed up."

I released the Pretty and nodded, "You're absolutely right, dear. Well, would you like the apple, now?"

"Sure!" She smiled while she and I trotted from the office, and back into the main room. I was really hoping that she would decline the apple, and allow me to have it, but I surrendered it to her.

She eyed it for a moment, put the Pretty on the counter behind the front desk, and then looked at my jacket pocket, "Don't you want to cut it in two?"

Gosh, I love this mare! I thought as my magic lit up my pockets, but I only felt the water bottles. I felt my breast pockets with my hoof, and then cursed loudly.

"Did we forget the knife?" Ditzy asked.

"I believe we did, dear." I said while shaking my head, "I suppose it's alright, darling. You go ahead. I have a daisy sandwich in here for me."

"I can't imagine the bread would still be any good." Ditzy smiled while she bit into the apple that was still suspended in my magic. She continued with her mouth full, "Now, you have some."

I shrugged and did as I was told. I'm sure it was the near week-long starvation, but this was the best apple I've ever tasted in my life. I payed no mind to the succulent juices that flowed from the corner of my mouth as I took a hefty bite. With the apple half-gone, I floated it back to Ditzy. We traded a few more bites before I elected to eat the core. She and I sat in the main room and silently enjoyed our first meal together since this crazy, heart-breaking, horrendous vacation began.

Ditzy smiled to me, "Just think, we could have been hanging out all this time under more desirable circumstances."

"I know, dear." I nodded, still feeling guilty that I invited her all the way out here under the pretenses. At the same time, had I not invited her, I would have definitely perished along with the mare in the other room. It was possible that Ditzy may have been killed in the attack if it weren't for my invite. Just the thought of her dying pained me, especially now.

"I'm really glad that we're together though." Ditzy continued.

"Me, too." I smiled and dismissed the ambiguity. Was she saying that she was glad that we were in proximity to one another, or was she reflecting on our unspoken relationship status? I wasn't even sure if we were, as the fillies say, girlfriends, but I did feel like we were more than just friends. Friends don't have sex. That changes everything, but were we really together in the official capacity?

"What are you thinking about?" Ditzy asked while she watched me stare into space and question everything.

"Well, I wanted to ask about our... time... in the cellar." I said surreptitiously.

"What about it?" Ditzy smirked, knowing what I was referring to, but being coy.

"I just want to lay out what that meant to us." I explained while becoming more weary that she may not have the same feelings. She had become very important to me, and not necessarily because she had saved my life, but because I felt comfortable with her. Ditzy now knew me better than any other pony before her, due to what we'd been through, but I didn't attribute my affection to the fact that we were stuck in the same room together for 6 days. If I believed that she and I were an item because of some incidental knowledge that she gained while we were confined in the cellar, (She knows what it sounds like when I pass gas and that I talk in my sleep.) then I would feel as if our relationship was forced. That isn't to say that experience didn't accelerate things, but I don't think it was a major contributor.

Ditzy shrugged, "I was playing it by ear. I'm enjoying what we have, and I didn't want to potentially muddy it up with labels."

I sighed because that didn't help my growing fury of internal conflict.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Nothing, Ditzy. I was just hoping to dig into it a bit because I'm just not sure what we are." I explained.

A loud crack of thunder caught my ear and I looked out the south window. The rain was really pouring outside, but only a minimal amount of the rain was making it inside the trailer.

"What were you hoping for?" Ditzy asked while standing and looking at the desk that she had pushed over.

I chuckled, "I was really hoping that you'd fill in that blank for me."

Ditzy shrugged again and said, "I'm not sure, Rarity. That sounds like something we should decide together." She pointed at the desk and looked back at me, "Can you move this desk against that window?"

The desk was alight with my magic, and it moved to stand on one end while I spoke, "I was thinking that we were more than just friends." I had more to say, but the desk was much heavier than I thought it was. Ditzy made it appear easy to push over with just her hooves, but then again, she was much stronger than I was. I let out a small grunt as I turned the desk, slid it across the floor, and covered the window with it.

"Better?" I asked with a gasp. I didn't realize that I was holding my breath.

"Yes, thankth. And I also agree that we're more than just friends, but you're trying to ask me if the sex meant something personal." Ditzy stated confidently.

I simply smiled.

"It did, Rarity." She sat down in front of me again, "I really like you, and I have for a long time. I always thought that you were out of my league."

I gave a puzzled look, "Then why did you turn me down in the hotel?" Another explosive flash of lightning made my question a lot more ominous than I intended.

"You were..." Ditzy blew air and shook her head, "Beyond wasted. You were slammed, and I didn't want our first time to be like that."

I nodded understandingly and gave a tiny shrug. I looked at her warmly, "You know that I care for you a lot, and I don't want you to think that it has anything to do with being trapped in the cellar."

Ditzy laughed out loud, "I know that, silly, or you wouldn't have been trying to get at me in the hotel."

I hadn't considered that before. I grinned at her astute observation, nodded to her, and said, "That is true, darling."

Ditzy jumped up, "Oh, I'm sorry! I was distracted by the food, but I found something."

I watched her go back into the office with the dead pony. She trotted inside with such confidence despite the enduring presence of the body, but now the smell of the heavy rain was masking most of the pony's odor. I heard a door on the desk close, and then she trotted back out with a circular, silver object hanging from the chain in her mouth.

My magic lit up, I took the chain from her teeth, and I watched the second hand tick for nearly an entire minute on the pristine, operating pocket watch. Being a wind-up style, it functioned on mechanics alone, meaning the electromagnetic pulse emitted by the blast had not fried the battery it would use. It accurately reflected 4:32 PM, and there were 15 more seconds until the minute hand would release, shift to 4:33, and remain static for 60 seconds. I was locked in awe at it's existence in my magic; it was love at first sight.

Ditzy started, "The time seems pretty important to you."

I nodded, "It is, Darling. Thank you for remembering."

"Anyway, we should get some sleep and let the storm blow over." Ditzy suggested, but I wasn't tired. I suddenly wanted to reciprocate her actions from the previous night. I wanted to jump her bones and take her around the world. The bridge of my nose slowly became a glowing pink, but I had to shake the heat from my face. If it weren't for the dead pony in the trailer, I probably wouldn't be able to help myself. The watch floated to my up-turned fore-hoof, and I released it and watched the second hand go for a minute longer. Incidentally, I also saw my hoof trembling with sexual desire, but I couldn't justify tackling Ditzy in enamor; there was a dead pony just 3 meters from us in the next room.

"Right, sleep." I started. "But first, can you help me move that body outside?"


***	***	***	***	***	***


Breakfast. Glorious breakfast! I looked at my watch, noted that it was sharply 9 AM, and Ditzy and I were eating breakfast. Pretty wasn't a typical breakfast food, but it was certainly doing the trick after a week without a breakfast of any kind. Oh, how I love breakfast! The most important meal of the day, and certainly after the night we had, we needed to replace many, many lost calories.

The night before, Ditzy helped me guide the dead mare out the front door, and my magic floated her as far as I could until I couldn't stabilize her weight due to the distance. The dead mare plopped onto the ground head first, and then she rolled several meters down a hill. She ended up in a drainage ditch about 30 meters from the trailer. I let a few hours go by, mainly for the dead body smell to dissipate, before leaping on Ditzy into a kissing, rubbing, and grinding frenzy. There were a few tricks up my sleeves, and I think I'd found a groove with her, but ironically, I had not the magic hooves she did.

"So, darling, where should we go next?" I asked Ditzy with my mouth full and hiding my chewing with a hoof.

Ditzy looked at the ceiling as if to picture a map above us, "Well, that depends on what you want to do. I assume we want to get you home."

"That would be a desirable first step, but could we make it all the way to Ponyville with no food, and one water bottle left?" I asked while we finished up the last of the Pretty.

Ditzy shook her head and started to put her jacket back on, "Probably, but it'd be difficult."

I followed Ditzy's example and began putting my gear on as well, "So, how do we resupply?"

"If you can handle it, I was thinking we'd go through the city and gather whatever we can find." Ditzy explained while expertly tying her boots with her teeth and tongue.

"After seeing that mare, I'm pretty sure I can stomach seeing anything." I chuckled while putting my bandanna on.

Ditzy gave me a serious look, "Rarity, that was a middle-aged mare, maybe a bit older than us, but we may see much worse than that in there."

I nodded with trepidation, "I know, dear. Like ponies we've met, or foals, right?"

"That, and survivors." Ditzy said. She took the half-drunk water bottle from the mini fridge on the counter and put it in her pocket. She tossed me the full one.

"Why would survivors be worse?" I asked while putting the bottle in my pocket.

"Because we're going to leave them behind." Ditzy mumbled somberly.

Despite hoping that we would find survivors, I had not considered that we had not the resources to help them. We were barely making it on our own, and we could not sacrifice what little we had scavenged for the dying. It made sense that we would not give up a bottle of water to a thirsty pony when Ditzy and I could not survive without it, but it went against everything I believed, and the element of generosity that I represented, to allow somepony else to suffer when I can offer even a momentary solution. Although, if we ventured closer to the epicenter of the attack, any survivors that we found would be beyond helping at this point, but merely the thought of telling a dying pony, oh, well, sucks to be you, was too painful to think about. I closed my eyes and sent a silent prayer to Celestia that anypony we may find would simply be dead.

"Okay." I whispered, "Then we should be on our way then."

Ditzy agreed, and we finished fitting ourselves with our gear. She led us out of the trailer and onto the gravel path to the highway. We turned left onto the paved road, and made our way across the bridge. There were puddles all over the bridge, so we zig-zagged our way through them because we could not be sure that the stagnant water didn't host radioactive particles.

Many of the buildings before us were toppled and covered much of the ground, the street signs were reduced to shriveled, blackened stalks, and the fires on many structures continued to fiercely burn. It was disorientating to be so close to the vastness of such a raging inferno, the heat from which felt like it was boiling my blood.

We followed the highway to where the bridge had collapsed and provided a steep incline to North Furlong Street below. We trotted about two kilometers south, over rubble and scorched buildings that were small and far enough from the blast that many remained standing. I peered inside one building through a blown out window and saw a small family of four. I assumed that they were family because their charred remains were frozen in a blackened embrace against the wall furthest from the window.

There were a few ponies that had died in the street, and my empathy went into overdrive. Were these ponies unable to find shelter through the burning world around them, or did they simply collapse before they even had the chance? Trotting through the dead made me feel guilty for having survived it. Why were Ditzy and I chosen to live? Why didn't they make it out? What makes me so special that they had to be subjected to the blistering, choking fires of nuclear war, and I did not? This guilt slowed my trot, and I found myself staring at the ground while I shuffled down the ash covered street. I was paying so little attention that I nearly tripped on a foal who had rolled from his mother's hooves after she succumbed to the fire. What was worse, it appeared that his little infant hooves were trying to crawl to a safety that was nowhere near. I tried my best to shrug it off, but I simply felt so guilty that I had been treating this situation so nonchalantly. I've been joking, laughing, having sex... what is wrong with me?

"Rarity." Ditzy tapped me. "There's a grocery store down this street."

It took a lot of self control not to wipe the tears from my face with my potentially contaminated boots. I simply nodded and looked down the street for a moment. I wanted to share my thoughts with Ditzy, but found myself mute. I felt if any breath was used to speak, I'd just breakdown and cry right here.

"Let's go." Ditzy finally nudged me.

I nodded again, and then took a deep breath before we trotted east, down Stirrup Road.

A block over, there was a tiny food store that boasted it was family owned and operated. The store's base was no larger than the trailer in which we had spent the night. The front of the store had an entrance door on the east side of the building's face that was reduced to a frame and a pile of glass on the ground. The west front door was in the same condition, but EXIT was printed above it. The entire front of the store, between the doors, was a display window that would allow a passerby to see the grocer's entire stock from the street. Of course, the display had no glass remaining there either. The awning above the window extended two meters over the sidewalk, and large blue letters were erected on the edge which read Falabella Food.

As we made our way inside, I saw a thin staircase on the north wall that went east, up into the owner's home above the store. There was a wooden counter on the west side of the store, warped and damaged from the heat, that hosted a single cash register. Behind the register was a wall of liquors and tobacco products. Under the staircase, there was a row of freezers, where the glass had curiously survived, the first of which was filled with an enormous collection of melted ice-cream bars, pints, and gallons. The second was filled with Heat-N-Eat products.

"There." I pointed to the second freezer and trotted to it with Ditzy close behind me. I opened the freezer, pulled out packages with my magic, and skimmed the labels. Nearly all of them, with the exception of the ones that contained egg and/or milk ingredients, said, Safe to eat for up to two weeks at room temperature. Keep frozen to preserve taste.

Ditzy took a set of tan saddlebags from the tiny clothing section of the store in the south-east corner. I loaded her bags with freeze-dried daisies, lactose-free potatoes au gratin, and steamed vegetable medley. We got six packages each before we ran out of space. The third freezer was a collection of ice trays, bags of bulk vegetables, and the bottom shelf had different styles of cake on display. There was nothing useful to us so we left it alone.

There were three shelves running the length of the east wall. The top shelf was bagged loafs of bread and buns of all shapes, sizes, and purposes. The bagging was so badly damaged that most had holes in the plastic, or it had melted and infused with the bread. The shelf below was several brands of canned food. I found a good-sized shoulder bag and put as many cans of beans, peaches, and pears as I could into it. There were more canned foods on the bottom shelf, but they were packaged for bulk sale. It felt like a waste not to take the entire store with us, but we obviously weren't going to be able to carry all of it.

To the left of the canned food on the bottom was a row of Pretty bags, of which two were still edible. I'm not sure if I associated it with the glorious breakfast of this morning, or if the taste simply grew on me, but I traded the canned beans for the bags of Pretty. While I was doing that, Ditzy was tearing open the plastic on a bulk container of water bottles with her teeth. We discarded the bottles that we had found in the trailer, and I stuffed her pockets with four, fresh water bottles, which took quite a bit of wrestling to get them in there, and I put six water bottles on myself. I put two in each saddle pocket, and one in each breast pocket. Once we were loaded up, I helped myself to a bottle that we weren't going to take with us, and Ditzy did the same as she twisted the lid off with her tongue, and then drank with the nozzle between her teeth.

Ditzy sighed in satisfaction and spit the bottle onto the floor, "Okay, I think we'll be good for a while. It will probably take about a day to walk to Cloudsdale. That's about the halfway point from here to Ponyville; maybe a little further."

"To Cloudsdale, then." I said, and then thought about Rainbow Dash whom was staying in Cloudsdale. I was glad that Ditzy was with me because she's a pegasus; therefore, she can walk on clouds. Since I cannot, Ditzy can retrieve Rainbow Dash from Cloudsdale, let her know that I'm okay, and then the three of us can go to Ponyville together. That is, if Rainbow Dash was still there when we arrived. I mutely wished to Celestia that Rainbow Dash was in Cloudsdale and that we would find her with the other pegasus ponies.

I looked up the steps that led to the owner's home, and I wanted to go up there to see what we may find, but then again, I was also scared of what we may find.

Ditzy caught me eyeing the stairs and shook her head,"We've got what we need. Let's not get greedy." She said and then led the way out of the store. I reluctantly agreed and followed her down the street.

We had not gone back the way we came; instead, we continued east through the city outskirts. We based the intensity of the still-burning fires to the south-west as ground zero, and we were attempting to make our way around. Ditzy led us to a golf course, which appeared mostly intact, except for the scorched exteriors of the buildings and the ash covered greens, and then we turned south onto a six-lane parkway. We must be getting close to the train station, the tracks of which we planned to follow to Cloudsdale.

As we were trotting next to each other, we had not said much, but mostly just took in our surroundings. The situation was much more dire when we looked at the street level destruction and saw exactly how much was gone. Despite most of the buildings still standing where we were, I was surprised that we had not run into anypony yet. I suppose that it has been some time, and any refugees would have been long gone by now. Even still, to find nopony, in a city that was populated so heavily a week ago, was shocking.

The train station rotunda was still there, but the south-east quarter had collapsed. As we made our way inside, the stores appeared to have been looted, and while there were many dead ponies inside, it appeared to be the result of rioting rather than the explosion. Many ponies didn't appear burned, but their wounds were consistent with being stabbed or beaten to death. Just inside the front gate on our right, a support beam had fallen from the ceiling and crushed a police pony's rear legs. He appeared to have been pinned there for several days before thirst took his life.

The police pony had a device on his right fore-hoof that was much like the Drink Dealer that I'd seen in the Cantlehorn Ballroom, except the claw was much more complicated and intricate. The frame was much lighter and had a closer profile to the pony, and it also went all the way to his shoulder.

"There aren't many police departments that have those." Ditzy observed.

"What is it?" I asked while giving it a soft tug. It's like it was surgically implanted to him.

"It's a gun harness." Ditzy said, "It's mainly for Earth ponies, but right now, with all this cover on, I'm basically an Earth pony." Ditzy looped a hoof around one of the straps and pulled hard. I could swear that his leg was going to come off, she was tugging so hard.

"Are you sure that's okay?" I asked as she pulled more and more violently.

"He's dead, Rarity. I'm sure he won't mind if we borrow it." Ditzy panted. She was putting quite a lot of effort into getting it off, but making no headway.

"I don't know, darling. What do we need that for?" I asked, and then I felt his leg with my magic, found a release clip, and squeezed it. Half of the harness to detached from his center mass where it was attached to a vest.

"Do you see all these ponies?" Ditzy explained while she pulled the harness from the police officer. "We're not going to end up like them."

"I'm still not sure we need it, darling." I said while I removed the police pony's shirt and unclipped the vest. I took off Ditzy's jacket and held it in my magic while I helped Ditzy put on the vest first, and then she fitted the harness on her right hoof. She tested it a few times to make sure that we had it put on correctly before I clicked the revolver onto the rotatory cuff.

She examined the pistol and spun the cylinder slowly, "I've got four good shells."

Ditzy stood relaxed and the revolver pointed at the ground, parallel to her right leg. When she rose her leg straight, there was a strap on the vest that pulled a thin piston and activated a set of crescents that looked like a bear trap. They would extend the gun past her hoof, and line her up with the weapon's iron-sights. As she did this, there was a tiny claw on the back of the revolver that snapped back, and when she curved the ball of her hoof down, it released and emitted a loud click as it slammed into the firing pin. She flexed her leg and brought her cannon and radius to a perpendicular angle. This caused the weapon to cock itself so that when she extended her hoof, it was ready to fire again. The shoulder of the harness, along her ulna, held tiny sleeves where the wearer could store six extra bullets.

"You wouldn't have happened to come across any .357 magnum bullets, would you?" Ditzy smiled while admiring the harness.

"No. All I have are point three eight S.P.C." I said and Ditzy laughed. Really hard, too, like I was being funny.

She studied my face while her laughter slowed and then she said, "Wait... are you serious? You have thirty-eight special shells on you?"

"Yes, I found them in the trailer, but I thought you said these are the wrong ones." I said while pulling the box from the bottom of my breast pocket. I had to pull out the water bottle first, so I took a drink while I was at it.

Ditzy flicked open the box with her tongue and then said, "No, this is perfect. They can both be used on this gun."

She pressed a lever on the pistol with her left hoof which released the cylinder. She discarded the two spent shells with her mouth and replaced them with the .38 special cartridges. She carefully turned the cylinder so that she will have 4 shots with the more powerful round first.

She flexed her leg which locked the hammer back again, and she stared down the sights with her left eye closed. It was odd because her good eye closed, and then her right eye immediately obeyed her command. She turned her hoof to the left slightly and pressed the orange button just above the pistol.

"That's called the Bobbitt Button." Ditzy explained. "It de-cocks the weapon."

"Ditzy, this is a last resort kind of thing, isn't it?" I asked. She appeared to be really comfortable with it, and I was really hoping that I wasn't fueling a bloodthirsty mare's desire to kill. It was now that I realized, Ditzy and I have only been getting to know each other for a week. There was still a chance that she was crazy.

"Rarity, I don't want to hurt anypony." Ditzy said while she allowed me to put her jacket on over the harness. "But if we come across anypony that reduces our chances of survival to less than one-hundred-percent. I won't hesitate."

I winced at the thought of my new lover taking the life of another pony, but I shook it off. That won't happen. I'm not even going to worry about it. but what if it did? Stop, it won't happen. We've walked several kilometers and haven't even seen another pony.

She and I trotted across the court, and we both hopped onto the tracks. We made our way into the tunnel that read Ponyville over the top, and the sound of gravel crushing under our hooves echoed. I lit up my horn when we got about half-way through because it was so dark, but it didn't help much. The light from the end of the tunnel appeared so blinding despite the heavy overcast. Our books had warned us that crops may not fare so well from the diminished sunlight, but I was almost more worried about my tan.

For several hours, we trotted for many, many kilometers, and every now and then, we'd sit down, drink some water, and eat something. I was lucky that I had her and vice versa. She was very knowledgeable and adaptable to our ever changing surroundings which helped me survive, and I had my magic which prevented her from contaminating herself with the toxic environment. I was just so glad to be an integral part of the system because I didn't want to be the pony that weighed her down. It would make me feel horrible if she just dragged me along because she felt sorry for me... I sighed at myself, Sometimes, your "generosity" makes you a bad pony, Rarity.

Ditzy slowed down as we came to the base of a hill. She glanced at a nearby tree which appeared sickly and brown, and then she looked at a distant boulder. She turned around quickly and pointed at a tiny creek that winded down the hill to the west of us. She looked up at the sky, and then back to me.

"What is it?" I asked while checking over the landmarks she was noting. The tree was sickly because of the week without sun, and the boulder didn't appear damaged. The creek, although nearly dried up, was still trickling along the few rocks embedded there. I looked up at the sky and saw nothing but the mist of nuclear overcast that hovers at around 6,000 meters, which we knew was going to happen because we had read it in those books. So, why did she looked so surprised?

"Are we lost?" I finally asked.

"No, Rarity." Ditzy shook her head, and then looked up at the empty sky again, "This is Cloudsdale."

My wish from several hours ago came to mind, and I broke into a hard gallop to the top of the hill. I went over the crest and a sharp gasp struck me in the chest as I laid my eyes on a vast field of browning grass stippled by thousands of dead pegasus ponies.
> Chapter 4 - Day Eight
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A little more than 60 kilometers north-west of Ponyville, a massive city of static clouds was supposed to be here; Cloudsdale was a testament to Equestrian ingenuity and magical ability... and it was gone.

A pegasus pony has a natural magic inside them which allows for the manipulation of clouds, but what's more, the entire populace in Cloudsdale had harnessed their collective magic to manufacture weather events to prevent natural disasters, such as the hurricanes that frequently threatened the east coast, or cities south of Ponyville that suffer from drought. Cloudsdale was our guardian against the sporadic forces of mother nature which was why, I guessed, that it was a strategically advantageous point of attack.

We stood awestruck by its replacement; an ominously grey, nuclear mist that churned above and choked the sunlight from the foliage around us. I stood at the top of the hill and scanned over the sea of bodies strewn across the field. I noted the enormous black crater a few kilometers from us where the detonation took place. The city's cloud floors likely provided little protection from the blast as the exothermic shock wave simply evaporated the city from below and set the air ablaze. I could only imagine that all of these pegasi simply could not find the strength to fly through the flames that engulfed them as they fell to their deaths.

I'd shouted her name for quite a while, but we got no response which presented two possibilities; Rainbow Dash was in the crowd and among the dead, or she was not here. I prayed hard for the latter, but I continued to search the bodies carefully, most of which were simply pony shaped piles of burned flesh. Around half of them though, weren't the charred remains that we saw in Vanhoover. No, many were clearly victims of gravity which confused me greatly. 

The first mare that I found not scorched by the fires had landed on her belly from a very great height. Her coat was light blue, but a bit darker than Rainbow Dash, and she had a yellow mane and tail. Her skin appeared to have barely held in her internal organs that liquefied on impact, and her limbs remained at an unnatural angle which flattened her against the ground. She lie with her eyes closed peacefully, but in a sinister pool of her own blood.

We made our way slowly through the field, and I grew more and more fearful that any one of the blackened remains was my friend simply rendered unidentifiable by the fire. After maybe an hour of checking bodies, despite realizing the futility, I began screaming her name again. I screamed until I ran out of breath, and then collapsed on the crumbling grass.

Ditzy took me in a firm embrace, and offered words of consolation, but I couldn't hear her over the ringing in my ears brought on by my exertion. I simply buried my face under her chin and cried, and for the first time since the start of this ordeal, she cried with me.

As my sobs slowed, I couldn't help but feel like I'd wasted valuable time in getting to Twilight. Maybe she already knew that Rainbow Dash was dead, but more optimistically, maybe Rainbow Dash had escaped and already taken refuge with Twilight. The mystery of Rainbow Dash's fate was more painful than the idea of her death. I felt like I could plan a funeral and grieve accordingly, but not knowing for sure was a source of repeatedly built and crushed hope; and that was murderous. 

"We need to just get back to Ponyville." I said. "There's nopony here."

"I'm sorry, Rarity." Ditzy sniffled.

"I just need to find Twilight... or anypony for that matter." I explained while getting back on my hooves.

We had only made it about halfway through the field of death when we had stopped. When we finally continued, it was exactly as painful to disregard the bodies as it was to search them. We walked slowly through the silent, mass grave site, and I found myself looking at yet another dead mare that we passed by. I couldn't even tell what color she was before, and I nearly couldn't even tell that she was a mare. I had an awful thought, What if that is Rainbow Dash, and I'm just passing her by because I've given up?

Ditzy led the way, and we left the train tracks to go south-east and cut through Unicorn Range where Ponyville was on the other side. I could not get the idea out of my head that Rainbow Dash had miraculously survived, and that we'd left her to die in the field. She didn't deserve to be left behind even if she was dead. I wished to, at the very least, find her body and bury her. Ditzy warned that there had not been a rain-out in this area; therefore, we were probably soaking up radiation that still fell from the sky. With the dangers of war still lingering, even if I wished to continue searching for her, we would be sacrificing ourselves for potentially nothing.

We trotted a few kilometers toward the mountains of Unicorn Range through a corn field, the stalks of which were browned and sickly. To the east, there was a grape vinyard, and to the west, there was an orchard of orange trees, but all of the plants were in the same diminished condition. We were about 4 kilometers from the valley that we were going to use to pass through to Ponyville, and I admired the bright red barn that we were passing. We were probably 100 meters from the barn, and from here, it appeared mostly intact with the exception of the broad face that was discolored from the ultra-violet radiation of the Cloudsdale bomb.

I slowed my gait while Ditzy continued to trot in front of me, and I pointed to the tractor that I could see through the open barn door, "I'd really like to get off my hooves for a while."

"What are you saying? We take that tractor?" Ditzy asked while coming back to me.

"If you think that we could, darling." I said simply. "I'm sure we can figure out how to get it moving."

Ditzy shrugged, "I guess it wouldn't hurt to take a look."

A sudden, distant cry struck my ear and I froze. Despite the danger of fallout, I ripped off my hat and perked my ears to listen closely. My head swiveled slowly, and my ears gyrated wildly for a source of the voice.

"Did you hear that?" I whispered, and Ditzy nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Hey!" The voice shouted, much more clearly, and my eye caught a cerulean speck inside the barn. The light blue was difficult to detect because of the growing darkness, but her rainbow mane was unmistakable in any light. I shouted back, using words that I wasn't sure were even Equestrian, and my hooves pounded the ground in a dead sprint for Rainbow Dash.

As I approached, I shouted through joyous tears, "Rainbow, darling! Is that really you!?"

I jumped over the shovel laying between the door and the tractor and trotted to Rainbow Dash whom was laying on a small arrangement of hay-bales.

She simply smiled at me and shook her head, but didn't move, "No, I'm the Princess herself."

I stopped about a meter from her, and my happiness faded quickly. Rainbow Dash's flank, left rear leg, and belly was covered with blisters and radiation burns. Her entire body was pale, and her eye sockets were darkened heavily as if she hadn't slept in days. Her fur was matted with dirt, her teeth were harshly yellowed from extensive vomiting, and her backside was stained with excrement from prolonged diarrhea. Her fur was thinned and sickly near her chest and forelegs, while her flanks had patches that were completely bare. My entire body trembled as I sat next to her and tried not to cry.

"Darling, you look... horrible." My voice quivered. 

Her smile appeared painful and forced, "Well, you don't look so good yourself. Have you seen your mane? And you brought Derpy along! How are you doing?"

Ditzy smiled, forcefully ignoring Rainbow's obvious plight, and she shot her old friend a little salute. Rainbow Dash was one of Ditzy's defenders from the consistent bullying that she endured in her youth; therefore, one of the only ponies allowed to call her "Derpy" with no offense taken.

My hoof involuntarily ran over one of my curls. I could feel the dirt, twigs and sticks entangled within, but I shook it off. Rainbow's radiation sickness was much more urgent.

"We've got to get you help, dear." I said, then looked at Ditzy and continued, "Can you get that tractor started?"

"Of course. I'll see if I can find a key." Ditzy affirmed, and then she trotted to the other side of the barn where a tool box was.

"Rarity, you wouldn't happen to have any food on you, would you?" Rainbow Dash pleaded, but she tried really hard to remain lighthearted. "I haven't thrown up in a few days, and I'm starving to death."

"Oh, yes, darling." I used my magic to pull Pretty from my bag. I opened it for her while I also gave her a bottle of water. She took the nozzle of the bottle in her teeth and allowed all of it to drain into her mouth. She allowed the bottle to fall onto the floor while she buried her muzzle into the Pretty. I worried that she wasn't chewing, and Pretty is very dry like a trail mix. I opened another bottle and held it within her reach. For a few minutes, she was like a professional eater, trading water and food back and forth with surprising intake power. She finished nearly the whole bag before stopping herself and taking a moment to just breathe.

"What are you doing out here?" Rainbow Dash panted. "Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy you're here, but I really thought I was a goner, out here all by myself."

I didn't leave any details out, and I told her everything, except for the sexual ventures of course. I rattled for several minutes while Ditzy had taken a length of wire, a pair of wire strippers, and a screwdriver from the toolbox. I went into finding Cloudsdale, or rather not finding it, while Ditzy unscrewed the ignition housing and exposed the starter and fuel pump pins.

I stopped my story just before I got to the part where we had left Cloudsdale, and I watched Ditzy for a moment before I asked, "What are you doing, darling?"

Ditzy didn't look up while she used the tips of her hooves to wrap one end of the wire to the positive post on the battery under the tractor's seat, "There's no key, but I think I can hot wire this thing."

"Where did you learn something like that?" I asked.

"I like to tinker. It was just something I picked up." Ditzy said nonchalant while she ran the wire to power the fuel pump.

"With Rainbow Dash sick, we should figure out where we're going first before we do anything." I suggested.

Rainbow Dash cocked her head, "We're not going to Ponyville?"

I shrugged and then patted Rainbow Dash on the shoulder, "We could, but I'd rather find you some help, darling."

"Then where are we going?" Ditzy asked while she ran another wire from the battery.

"We need to brainstorm, darling." I said.

Ditzy nodded as she kept the wire between her fore-hooves and carefully guided it to the starter pin, "I just want to see if this will work. That will decide how far we can go. Does that make sense?"

I gave her a nod and watched her touch the wire to the node. A loud, spinning whine sounded and then a deep roar fired thick black smoke from the exhaust pipe that stood at the back of the vehicle. Ditzy smiled at me, and then she pulled the fuel pump wire. The engine sputtered into silence.

Rainbow Dash nodded weakly, "Okay, so where are we headed?"

My brain worked hard to churn out places that I figured may still have ponies that would be able to help. The Ponyville General Hospital was likely, if not destroyed, overrun with sick ponies. With Twilight's Castle a possible target of war, it wasn't feasible that any Ponyville doctor's office would still have anypony there. But if we went further south away from the predicted nuclear detonation, we would only get into the Everfree Forest.

"Wait, that's it!" I beamed. "The Everfree Forest wouldn't provide a strategic advantage, right?"

Ditzy shrugged, "Sure, it may have not been hit, but what does that help?"

"Zecora lives in the Everfree Forest." I explained. "She's got herbal magic for everything. I'd put all my bits on her for help."

"That sounds like a plan." Rainbow Dash smiled. "I'd just really like to get out of here. I'm not even sure how long it's been."

"It's been a week, darling." I said.

"Wow, really?" Rainbow Dash said. She shook her head and let out a dark chuckle, "I've been sitting on this hay-bale for a week. It's no wonder that I've been so bored."

"Speaking of," I started, "What happened? Were you in Cloudsdale?"

Rainbow Dash nodded somberly, "Yeah. I was just kind of hanging out with some old flight academy buddies, and then we were like..." Her face squinted as she tried to come up with a word that described it, "We were all blind, out of nowhere, and then I looked down through the clouds and I saw fire everywhere, coming up fast."

"What did you do?" I asked while leaning in closer.

"I just took off to Ponyville, but then my flank felt like it was on fire, and all the air was gone." Rainbow Dash continued, "I couldn't fly anymore. I kept flapping, but it was like the air was totally gone. When it came back, it was sucking me back to Cloudsdale."

Ditzy didn't look up from the tractor while she quoted the literature we'd found in the cellar, "The explosion forces the air outward in a positive pressure pulse, and then negative pressure from the rising heat forces the air back to the mushroom cloud."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Right, it was just like that." She looked back at me, "When I finally got my bearings and was flying again, I'd almost hit the ground. I went ahead and set down, but..."

I watched her silently struggle, and I wasn't sure if she couldn't remember, or if it was too painful to recall.

A tear made its way down her cheek as she continued, "I looked up, and Cloudsdale was gone. They were all just... falling. I just closed my eyes for a long time, but I couldn't not hear them hitting the ground. Some of them..." She took a sharp breath, "Some of them screamed all the way down."


***	***	***	***	***	***


We decided to stay the night in the barn while we fed Rainbow Dash and made sure that she was adequately hydrated. Ditzy and I searched the barn and found a lot of tools, a half-filled fuel can, and a wooden box with sheep shearing supplies. I took the shaving soap and a sponge from the box, and then we helped Rainbow Dash onto her unsteady, fatigued hooves. We led her to the hoof-operated well pump at the back of the barn and awkwardly bathed her.

Ditzy, being much stronger than I, pumped the water while I cleaned Rainbow Dash. I used my hooves to massage the hay and dirt from her mane and tail. I wet the sponge and used it to work the dirt from her fur, and I carefully dabbed the radiation burns on her flanks and leg. I could not help but avert my eyes while I used my magic to indelicately scrub the filth from her backside, but I could still feel her shame. It was humiliating for Rainbow Dash, and I wanted to assure her that it wasn't her fault; she was a victim for Celestia's sake, but I found myself unable to come up with any words that would ease the embarrassment. I remained mute while I sponged her dry and laid out my jacket for her to lay on.

I pumped the water while Ditzy bathed herself, and then she pumped water for me. It wasn't the pampering that I would enjoy at the spa, or the hot bath that I'd soak in for hours at home, but it was most satisfying to finally be afforded the opportunity to clean myself after the last week. The only complaint that I had, which I didn't feel the need to voice, was that my mane had lost its curl from the wash. I had never worn my hair straight; it was much too long for that, especially in this dangerous environment.

They went to sleep rather quickly, but I toiled in the thought of Rainbow Dash losing the precious seconds that she needed to live. I was sure that we were staying in an area that was mostly free of radiation based on Rainbow's symptoms depreciating in severity over time, but even still, I couldn't relax. I felt creepy watching Ditzy sleep, but I studied her and thought about what she would do if she was on my shoes.

"I need a distraction." I whispered to myself, and then I looked around the barn. The base was about a five-by-ten meter room and about 4 meters to the ceiling. I stood next to the barn door and leaned on the tractor with my right shoulder while looking over the western field. I watched the overcast roll over the landscape all the way to the horizon and really thought about how bad the damage was. I suddenly found myself wishing that I could see the moon again.

I trotted outside and circled around the back of the barn. There was a lot of discarded furniture and appliances strewn about on the south side of the barn. It began to feel pointless to look through it until I spotted a mirror that was attached to a large porcelain sink. I used my magic to hold up the sink, and then kicked the base of the mirror a few times until the rusted screws came loose. I took the mirror inside and leaned it up against the north wall so that the tractor would be between me and the sleeping ponies in the south-east corner.

The shears from the wooden box floated to me and I studied my mane for a long while. I took a steel bucket from next to the tool box, filled it with water, and returned to the mirror. Let's try something short and manageable, I thought to myself as I carefully chopped my mane off at chin length. I wet the shears and dunked the shaving soap bottle in the bucket. I held a hoof over the nozzle and shook it to get what little soapsuds that I could and then massaged it into my scalp. I folded the shears open and ran the blade against the back of my head. I stopped shaving below my crest, and I wet the shears again. I snipped the mane until it blended with the front part of my mane, and I took a good look at my new style... I immediately regretted it. It appeared lazy with no hope of being styled into anything but a lifeless mowhawk, but at the same time, I think that's what I was going for; something that wouldn't get dirty so easily.

I put the shears back in the box, crept to Ditzy's side, and curled up next to her. Her comforting warmth was the only source of true happiness I had left. I had found Rainbow Dash, but that ended up being just another worry to add to an already extensive list. The world had gotten more complicated. Much like my mane, anything that I wanted was clouded with the anxiety of leaving behind my old life, or it was plagued with new dangers. I allowed Ditzy's warmth to take away my worries, and I enjoyed the one pure thing I had left.


***	***	***	***	***	***


A loud commotion roused me. It sounded like Ditzy was shouting, but then a sudden flash of heat spread across my face and my heart lurched from my chest as I sprang to my hooves. I was still blinking the sleep from my eyes when a large stallion head butted me in the neck and sent me over and onto my back. I shuffled backward until I was against the back wall of the barn. I glanced left to see if Ditzy and Rainbow Dash were aware of the attacker's presence.

Rainbow hadn't moved from where she was sleeping, but appeared fearful. I figured that, in her sickly state, the intruder hadn't harmed her. Ditzy, to my immediate left, caught my attention when she spit blood on the floor, and then I saw that her right lower lip was split.

"You better back off." The stallion growled. His teeth were yellowed like Rainbow's, and his fur was patchy as well. He was an earth pony, so I thought about trying to restrain him with my magic, but I wasn't sure if I could. He appeared strong.

Ditzy stared him down, "I'm not letting you take anything."

"What's going on?" I said forcefully because I felt like my windpipe was bruised.

"I caught him going through our thingth, and then he charged me!" Ditzy lisped in her anger. I looked over the Stallion and noticed that he had a fresh pair of boot prints on his face. Just in front of us, our bags were spread into a mess. My guess was that he was sneaking our supplies and woke up Ditzy. When he realized he'd been caught he attacked, she kicked him, and I was caught in the fury of blows.

The stallion took a step toward the bags, "Your weak little buck did nothing. Now, if you don't think I won't stomp your brains in an take everything you got-"

My magic lit up the bags, and all the dumped contents that I could see, and I pulled them toward me, "Now, you listen here!" I shouted, but my voice shook, "You cannot just steal things from us. We would be willing to share if you will simply leave us alone."

Ditzy stomped her hoof and screamed at me, "No! Fuck that, Rarity. He'th not getting anything when he came in here, trying to take our food, and beat me up!" She shook her head at him, "No. Fuck you. You can hit the road. I'm not about to reward a robber."

The stallion took a step toward us, "This is going to go badly for you."

"Everypony, just stop!" I shouted, but my words were tossed to the wind, and the robber broke into a charge.

Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes and rolled out of the way as the robber planted his fore-hooves onto Ditzy's chest and pinned her against the wall so hard that the wood buckled under the impact. He brought his head back and head butted her in the face, twice. I attempted to push him over with my fore-hooves, but his left hoof swung out and knocked me away. I stood again, but now he had her on the ground with his right hoof on her throat. She punched and kicked at him, but he wouldn't allow her a breath. I tried to buck him, but I was pathetic. He absorbed the blow, looked at me while continuing to strangle Ditzy, and he chuckled grimly. Ditzy gasped and choked, and her right hoof repeatedly slammed him in chest, but he didn't seem phased.

That's when I saw the barrel of the pistol in her saddle bag on the ground. It felt like hours that I stared at it, knowing that we weren't strong enough to stop this stallion. I took it in my magic and it shook in rhythm with my convulsing body as I leveled it with the side of his head. Tears streamed from my face as the cylinder clicked into place and the hammer locked. I fearfully clenched my teeth as my magic slowly pulled the trigger back, and I dreaded every centimeter it traveled.

His ear caught the click. He looked at me, his eyes grew wide, and he shouted, "WAIT!" but before I could reconsider, a deafening blast exploded from the weapon and his head jerked away from me. He slumped backward onto the ground and let out a sickeningly hollow gurgle as the new space in his skull filled with blood.

Ditzy coughed and wheezed while she clawed to get back onto her hooves. Rainbow Dash sat up and eyed the dead stallion with horror, but no strength to get away from his body. And I stood frozen with regret and guilt.

"He..." I sobbed while I remained still, "He said... "wait"... I didn't give him a chance."

"We gave him lots of chances, Rarity." Ditzy panted as she sat on her haunches in front of me and took the pistol with her fore-hooves. She slowly, and carefully, de-cocked the weapon, and placed it on the ground.

"I..." I continued to sob and buried my face in Ditzy's chest, "I killed him, Ditzy. I killed him."

"That's okay, Rarity." Ditzy stroked my head. "It's okay. You just did what you had to do."

"No, I think I could have just scared him off!" I cried. "I didn't..." I held back a heave of sickness and continued, "I didn't try everything, Ditzy. There were other options."

Rainbow Dash stood despite her fatigue, "He was going to kill Derpy. I don't care if he pledged allegiance to the Elements of Harmony before you shot him, he was going to strip us clean and leave us for dead."

I knew they were right, but I couldn't shake that fraction of a second that I saw his fear, that moment he knew he was dead even before the bullet ripped through his skull. My nausea became heavier and heavier; So, I began to make my way outside, "Excuse me, I'm going to go throw up."

Ditzy was responding, but I couldn't make out what she was saying because I had broke into a gallop. I skidded to a halt just outside the door as my body pulled all of its energy into vomiting. I stood there for a long time, just looking at my throw-up and waiting for another wave, but it never came. I wiped my mouth, and then saw Ditzy at my side.

"You okay?" She asked.

I mustered a halfhearted smile, "Sure, darling. I'll be okay."

"I like your mane." She commented.

I laughed painfully and shook my head, "It's awful, dear. I made a mistake."

"No, no. You look hot." Ditzy assured. She smiled big, "I'd kiss you, but, you know."

I nodded, smiled, and wiped my face again while Ditzy led me back to the tractor. My eyes downcast from the stallion I had killed, and I focused on preparing to move. I took a deep breath and tried to make my mind narrow. We are going to the Everfree Forest, I told myself. That is all that happened today. The robber's fore-leg twitched and caught my attention. Although it was only a symptom of death, it still made me think that he may be alive. I repeated the phrases silently to myself as we gathered our supplies and put on our bags.

We put our jackets on the back panel on which Rainbow Dash was laying. The panel was a wide piece of steel that laid flat across the width of the vehicle and curved around the large rear tires. Ditzy, being the only pony here that knew how to drive the tractor, was in the seat and I straddled her hips. Ditzy carefully touched the starter wire to the ignition pin, and the engine roared to life. She dropped the wire and immediately pushed the differential lever to her right which simultaneously released the clutch and engaged the accelerator. The tractor rocked forward, but pushed against the brakes until Ditzy folded the brake release down next to the left of the seat.	The tractor lurched, and then steadily rolled at a trot's pace.

"Sorry." Ditzy called over the engine in reference to the rocky take off. "It's been a while since I've done this."

"Don't worry, darling." I said, and then I looked at Rainbow Dash, who was resting her head on her hooves like a lazy dog, "We're all still on for the ride. So, I call it good enough."

The tractor effortlessly traversed the hills of the fields before the Unicorn Range base, and I held Rainbow Dash onto the back with a fore-hoof and my magic while we went over a few rocks and steep hills through the valley. We carved a fairly easy line through the dying trees to the north-west of Ponyville before making it out into a clearing. Ditzy turned the tractor onto the path that winded through the western, and much less populated, part of town. I glanced to the east every once in a while as she drove with an urge to sprint off through the woods into Ponyville and shout Twilight's name, but we were going to get Rainbow Dash help. I needed to see that through first.

She pulled onto a set of train tracks to go over a bridge and into Froggy Bottom Bogg which was due south-west of the Everfree. The over-sized rear tires of the tractor tore up the ground and pushed hard through the thick, wet foliage of the bog, and Ditzy had a hoof on the differential the entire time so that she could let off to correct wheel spin. We made our way onto more solid ground into the dark, scary cover of the ominous Everfree Forest. I had started to provide directions to Zecora's hut, but Ditzy just gave me an arrogant look. I thought to myself, Oh, right. The mailmare knows where everything is.

There was a hard knock in the engine as the fuel pump pushed out the last bit of fumes that it had left, and the tractor slowed to a halt. Ditzy pulled the brake and leaped off the seat. She went around to the back of the tractor where a tiny cage held the spare fuel can. She pushed the lid off the can with a hoof, took the handle in her mouth, and poured the fuel into the reservoir by the left rear tire. Not long after we'd stopped, Ditzy hot wired the tractor, and we were on our way again. Only now, it sputtered. Ditzy said this was because we'd ran it out of fuel which is harmful to the engine.

Thick black smoke billowed from the smoke stack, and the tractor had much less power than before, although it remained at a steady pace. We continued through the Everfree and soon saw the glow of Zecora's lanterns through the trees.

"There it is!" I shouted over the engine protesting it's continuation. It wasn't until I spoke that I realized how much louder it had gotten. "Gosh, it's loud! What's wrong with it?"

"I think that can had 2-cycle in it." Ditzy shouted back.

I said, "Oh." as if I knew what that meant.

We made it into the clearing about 50 meters from Zecora's hut, and we went about half of the distance before the sputtering turned into a continuous roar. The tractor came to an abrupt halt as the gears slipped from the transmission, and then Ditzy engaged the brake, pulled the wire that powered the fuel pump, and allowed the engine to starve and die.

"We'll have to hoof it from here." Ditzy said while getting off the tractor. I shrugged with certainty that I could carry Rainbow Dash a little more than 20 meters.

A deep, familiar voice cut through the silence of the forest, "That is far enough!"

I looked up to see Zecora with a spear in her teeth, stalking toward us and continuing to call out, "This weapon is no bluff!"

"Zecora, darling!" I called. "It's me, Rarity! We've got Rainbow Dash! She needs help!"

Zecora quickly planted the end of the spear into the ground, but continued toward us and left it behind, "It is you, Rarity! That makes me so happy!"

"Come on, dear." I said to Rainbow Dash as I picked her up with my magic, and then I turned back to Zecora. "I cannot even tell you how glad I am that you're here!"

Zecora galloped to Rainbow Dash, and then crept under her floating body to carry her on her back, "I apologize for the threat. I did not know I wasn't to fret. The sound of this contraption, and then it's sight. It just gave me such a fright."

I released Rainbow from my magic and let Zecora carry her, and then I said, "It's alright, darling. We realize that ponies have grown a bit desperate in these times."

"Yes, they have, my dear friend. At my home, three looters have met their end." Zecora stated confidently as we followed her to her hut.

I was taken aback for a moment. Did that mean that Zecora killed three ponies? Sweet Celestia, was this the world that we lived in now? Before I could respond, she pulled the spear from the ground, and I could see the blood stains and fur from the slain ponies on the blade. I elected not to ask her to elaborate.

We trotted around to the north side of the house, and Zecora leaned the spear against the outside of her hut, then she opened the door and led us inside. When I entered, I was pleasantly welcomed with the fact that nothing had changed since the attack. It was a relic of peace in our new and dangerous world.

There was the sweet aroma of a mysterious brew in the center of the room. To the left of the cauldron was a small seating area with a couch and two chairs that faced the east wall and the pot. The south wall was made up completely of shelves which were host to a multitude of potions, herbs, and magic dusts. The east wall was decorated with masks from her homeland which communicated cheerful greetings despite their menacing appearance, and it opened to a hallway that led to her bedroom. The west side of the room had a natural wood table which held an advanced chemistry station complete with a set of burners, tubes, and flasks. Zecora wasted no time, and she carefully laid Rainbow Dash down on the small couch.

"Is it over?" A soft voice shakily called from the hallway as a yellow pegasus with very long, pink mane emerged.

"Oh, my gosh!" I screeched, "Fluttershy, is that you!?"

"Rarity?!" Fluttershy exclaimed. "I never thought I'd see you again!"

I swiftly galloped to Fluttershy, careful not to bump anything in Zecora's cluttered home, and grabbed her harshly in a tight embrace.

I felt that I nearly knocked her from her hooves, "I'm sorry, dear. I'm just so happy to see you're alive!"

"I'm just glad it's you." Fluttershy said nervously, and then she whispered, "Zecora... she is very scary when mean ponies come here."

"Yes, yes." I nodded dismissively and pointed at Rainbow Dash, "Look who I found."

"Rainbow Dash!" She exclaimed and started around the couch, and then slowed her approach, "Oh, my gosh. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, jeez." Rainbow said while she waved a hoof at Fluttershy, "A little radiation can't get me down."

Zecora took a ladle from the pot and spooned a thick green liquid into a bowl on her hoof, "Even though you say you are fine, you must drink this brew. It is your lifeline."

Rainbow Dash sipped and recoiled. She appeared to struggle with each gulp which surprised me because the smell was so sweet and relaxing. Fluttershy took a seat on the chair next to Rainbow Dash's head while I took the chair on the other side, and Ditzy sat down on her haunches to my left.

Zecora gave Ditzy and I both a bowl of the stew as well, "If you were outside in the element, you must drink so sickness you prevent. I shall create a much more powerful brew." She stopped to look at Rainbow Dash, "So, that we can help the more afflicted you." And then she trotted to her chemistry table to begin her work.

"So, what are you doing here, Fluttershy?" I asked while taking a sip. The taste was exactly as revolting as Rainbow made it out to be. "Zecora, darling. What exactly does this brew do?"

"A magic herb with a purpose most narrow, it strengthens and rebuilds bad marrow." Zecora explained without looking away from her table. She carefully placed a thorny flower into a tube filled with a bright pink liquid, which began to dissolve the plant, and she continued, "The destruction of this world is harmful to blood, and strong bone marrow makes for a health flood."

I managed to stomach a gulp of the viscid stew that felt like it coated my insides with hot oil. It burned through my nose like I was vomiting in reverse which made me feel like I was going to correct the flow with every swallow. With zebras having brewed these magic cures for supposedly thousands of years, it was a wonder that none of them thought to refine the taste.

"I'm sorry, dear." I said to Fluttershy. "I must know how you made it out."

"The animals told me." Fluttershy said simply. She shrugged and nodded, "Yep, they sensed something was wrong, and led me here. Almost not in time either, because I saw..." She looked at the floor and shook her head before looking back to me. "It was just very scary."

"So, where are they, now?" I asked while trying to recall if I had seen any of her animals outside.

"They're gathering a very specific list of supplies for Zecora and I. We're going to make enough of the radiation cure to take to the Ponyville hospital and begin a relief effort." Fluttershy explained.

I finished my cup and then sucked my teeth. I had the urge to spit the remaining drop that mixed with my saliva back into the bowl, but I forced myself to swallow it. I looked at Ditzy who simply listened to Fluttershy and drank like it wasn't a cup of butt-taste-juice. Gosh, she was so strong.

"So, how long will that take?" I asked.

"We're not sure." Fluttershy said. "But we're not close either. We really need Twilight for a duplication spell to speed things along."

I looked at the floor and nodded, "If she's..." I shook the horrible words from my mouth and started again, "We'll find her. We just need to recuperate, and then we're going to Ponyville to find her."

Zecora had a tiny spoon in her mouth as she spoke, "In my home, you are most welcome to stay. I am curious; have you come a long way?" She carefully took a pinch of white dust from a jar and poured it over the digesting flower.

"We were in Vanhoover." I said, "It took two days for us to get here."

"Such a long an arduous journey of suffering. That's over one hundred kilometers of walking." Zecora commented while she used her fore-hooves to lightly swirl the tube. As the powder mixed, the liquid turned a dark, glowing green.

"We are so lucky that zebras know how to cure radiation sickness." I commented while putting the bowl on the end table to my right.

Zecora shook her head, "This cure is not some ancient prescription. It is something of my own creation."

"You mean, you invented it?" I asked, surprised.

"Fluttershy's animals had shielded her from the harmful rays; therefore, some of them became sick along the way. Once I found what was making them sick, I was able to mix up a new brew quick." Zecora explained while she poured the contents of the tube into a bowl. She took a small, pale leaf from the shelf above the table and dropped it into the bowl. Rose colored steam burst from the liquid, for only a moment, and then she nodded to it. "This cure is ready for Rainbow Dash, but the taste is sure to make her thrash."

"Oh, great. No, I love it." Rainbow Dash said with a smile. "I've always loved drinking horrible tasting, straight up magic."

Zecora made her way to Rainbow Dash with the bowl on her hoof and held it up, "To call this magic would be naming it incorrectly. No, this is what we zebras call alchemy."

"Whatever you call it, I'm sure I'd like a little more cream and sugar with mine." Rainbow Dash joked, and then she took the bowl in her hooves. She tried to sip it, but she nearly spit it out and retched. She shook her head, took a deep breath, and then she drank it quickly with her face pinched into a hard knot.

"To add unnecessary ingredients for taste would void it's power and make it a waste." Zecora explained.

Rainbow Dash sucked the last of the cure from the bowl and then coughed, "Gosh, that is so bad. It's like... ugh, I don't even know what to call it. It's a completely new form of bad."

Zecora chuckled, "If it is life that you seek. You must continue to drink for a week."

"A week?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "How do you know it's got to be a whole week?"

"Because that is how long it took for Harry to get over his sickness. It also how I know that this brew is not useless." Zecora said.

"Harry?" I asked.

"My pet bear." Fluttershy answered. "He got really sick, and his hair was falling out. Zecora fed him this stuff, instead of his regular meals, for a week. He looked so much better the first day, and on day three, his hair was growing back."

Zecora patted Rainbow Dash on the shoulder and gave her a serious look, "Because he is much bigger than a pony, I know that the brew works more slowly. In a much shorter time, you may be cured, but you must drink for the week, just to be assured."

Rainbow Dash nodded, "I understand. Thank you, Zecora."

"I shall continue to brew more, but feel free to accept my home as yours." Zecora said as she took the bowl from Rainbow Dash and trotted back to the table.

I looked at my watch. It was only 3 PM, but I felt like it was much later. We had traveled such a long way, but I didn't feel like it had taken that long. The taste of the stew lingered on my tongue and breath, but I didn't want to rinse my mouth for fear that it would null the effects as Zecora had said. I felt my head begin to dip, so I shook my face to wake myself up.

"Zecora, are there any side effects to the cure?" I asked. I seemed unable to keep my head up straight.

"Sleepiness is a slight complication, but that comes with an easy solution." Zecora explained while dissolving more flowers.

"Yeah, I thought so." I said with a weak smile.

"Reuniting with friends is important while danger looms, but you should retire to one of the bedrooms." Zecora suggested without looking away from her work.

"I'll show you." Fluttershy said, and then she got up.

Ditzy and I stood as well, but much more unsteady. I smiled to her as I motioned to brace myself on her, but found that she was just as wobbly as I was. Fluttershy led us down the hallway where Zecora's room was on the left, and her guest room was on the right.

Much like the entire home, the rounded bedroom was made of natural wood. The walls curved over into a dome, and an irregular, circular window was in the north part of the wall. There was a bookshelf built into the eastern part of the wall, and past that, there was a lantern hanging in the north-east corner. That's when I saw it, an actual bed with a full-sized mattress and sheets and a comforter. I had not even seen a bed in eight days.

I tossed off my bags carelessly and stripped my body bare before throwing myself into the bed.

Ditzy was following my example when Fluttershy stopped her and said, "The bookshelf folds down into another bed."

"Oh, we'll be alright." Ditzy slurred and then she crawled into bed with me. She snuggled her back against my chest, and I rested my chin on the back of her head. She rested her head on my left fore-leg, and I laid my right leg over her side. She pulled her legs in tight and allowed me to embrace her.

"Do you need anything?" Fluttershy asked.

I didn't open my eyes, and I quietly whispered, "No, thank you, darling."

"If you need anything, don't hesitate to ask." Fluttershy said as she made her way out and closed the door.


***	***	***	***	***	***


The field was completely flat, and the winds blew through the lush, green grass. Not a tree in sight, the sun beat down on my face with such satisfying intensity that I wished I had an ice-cold lemonade and my favorite fashion magazine. I looked down at my hoof and found that the handle of a mug was curved around it, and inside was a yellow liquid and three ice cubes. I used my magic to move the tiny, pink umbrella from the glass, and I sipped. The frigid lemonade, tart and sweet, kissed my lips, and I sat down on the lawn chair that I hadn't realized was even there. I floated the mug in my magic while I took the magazine from my lap and opened it to the center. It was a Countess Coloratura article where she outlined 7 simple exercises that would give me more toned legs. I pulled the sunglasses down from my horn and smiled at the drawings of ponies performing leg lifts. I laid on my back and crossed my rear hooves in front of me. Finally, some much deserved relaxation.

A loud, wet thud struck my ear, and I put my magazine down. I looked over the landscape, but saw nothing but the horizon in all directions, so I flipped the page and continued to read about how to improve my flank muscles. Another wet thud, but this one was much closer and louder. I had just began to put my magazine down, when a single drop of blood landed in the middle of the page. I stared at it for a long time as if it was going to tell me where it came from, and then I saw a blurred shadow whisk down in front of me, but it was obscured by my reading material. I heard it make the same sickeningly wet thud, accompanied with a grotesque hollow crack, as it slammed the ground just beyond my rear hooves.

The magazine pages rustled as I trembled, but I couldn't bring myself to look. I stared intently into Countess Coloratura's bright grin on the page as I heard a soft whimper mixed with horrendous gurgling. I clenched my eyes closed, pressed the magazine to my face, and shook my head. This is not happening. and when I opened my eyes, the magazine had disappeared from my magic.

The pegasus tried to call my name, but couldn't get a breath around the intestines spilling from her lips.


***	***	***	***	***	***


I woke up before Ditzy did, but I didn't move because I was afraid that I would wake her. I used my magic to silently get my watch from my bag and check the time. The sunlight, filtered through the thick tree cover of the forest and clouds, was shining bright beams onto the rug in the center of the room. The rug was another creepy zebra face with black eyes that stared deep into my soul. It was the same colors as the hoof-carved mask above the bed, meant to be the zebra equivalent to a dream-catcher, but I really hated that they stared me down like that. This room was awful to look at, so I just kept my eyes shut, felt Ditzy's warmth, and then I heard her take a conscious breath.

She turned over and squinted to see me through the light, "Hey, there." She gave me a kiss, stretched her back, and then became relaxed again before asking, "How did you sleep?"

"Good." I said, but that was a lie. I still felt exhausted.

"I'm glad. You kept having nightmares, and I was worried." Ditzy smiled, and she ran a hoof over my chest.

I pretended not to remember, "Oh? Did I keep you up?"

"No, I was pretty solid." She smiled.

That's good because I was worried that every time I woke up sobbing, I woke her too. I've never had dreams so vivid or grotesque, and I wasn't sure if I ever wanted to sleep again. I began to think that Zecora's cure was the source of the horrid images, but I concluded that Ditzy had not experienced the same plight that I had. I could tell she had slept well because her vibrant golden eyes were sharp despite such recent return to consciousness.

The door creaked as Fluttershy entered, "Sorry." She said, "Zecora wanted me to ask if you'd like to join us for breakfast."

"Of course, darling." I said. Ditzy took that as her cue to move, and she rolled from the bed.

"Okay, then... sorry for bothering you." Fluttershy said, and then closed the door.

I crawled out of bed as well and stretched my legs. I was much more exhausted that I thought, but I decided to push through it. I glanced around the room, hoping that I would find a brush for my sleep entangled fur, but I didn't see one. Zecora will have a proper place to bathe which I couldn't wait to get into, and we were finally going to be able to set off on a mission without being rushed by danger or emotions. After finding Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy in the same day, I'd become quite confident that we would go out and find Twilight today.

Ditzy went to the door, but she stopped to look at me with a smile. She made her voice deep, "This breakfast is almost ready, and my food is good for a healing pony." Truth be told, it was an impressive Zecora impression.
> Chapter 5 - Day Nine
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Zecora allowed us to gather supplies from her home to help us search Ponyville for Twilight. She gave us a few bottles of water to stay hydrated through the scorched town's remains, a thermos of her radiation cure in case we found Twilight in a similar condition to Rainbow Dash, and a few of her home-made biscuits because, "if your travels put you on your back, it is always nice to have a snack."

Our protective clothing reminded me of the first time we left the cellar, except we weren't wearing the cobbled remains of Señor Jerky. Ditzy and I wore zebra print bandanas, mirrored sunglasses, and black hoofball caps. I wore a pair of tan, lace-up work shoes while Ditzy was strapped into a pair of black combat boots. I wore a dark blue, pilot jacket with a dark olive chiffon wrapped over my hat, around my neck, and under my bandanna. She wore one of Zecora's new jackets, a black navy-style coat, with a brown fuzzy trim on the hood which fit well over her gun harness. Zecora allowed me to wear her only pair of pants, a pair of white corduroy slacks which she said that she only wore on special occasions, and Ditzy wore the dark-wash jeans that we found in the cellar. Zecora, being such a dear, washed them thoroughly and even pressed them.

It was up to Ditzy and I to find Twilight on our own. Rainbow Dash was much too ill, despite feeling much better, to come with us, and Fluttershy was required to stay so that she could continue to coordinate her animals. It wasn't like I cared too much that it was just me and Ditzy; I knew that my friends were safe, and Ditzy was proving to be very reliable company. We said our goodbyes, received wishes of luck, and departed from Zecora's home.

The sky above the Everfree Forest was, while not completely without its blemishes, was much clearer than anywhere else that I had been. With the very real danger of attack from an equicidal monster, such as a timberwolf or cockatrice, I never thought that I would believe that the Everfree Forest was the safest place in Equestria. But alas, it was the only place that appeared untouched by the radioactive fires of war. Despite its safety, Ditzy and I were marching north where we soon saw the dilapidated structures and starving trees of Ponyville.

We came out from under the cover of the forest, and walked to the bridge over Palomino Creek which was a tributary of Saddle Lake that divided Ponyville from the Everfree Forest. About 150 meters directly north of the bridge was city hall, or rather the pile of rubble that once was, and the marketplace was further north. We stopped just in front of the collapsed city hall building and looked over the surroundings.

"Has it hit you yet?" Ditzy asked me.

"You mean the despair of leaving our old lives behind and living in a new era of fear? No, it hasn't." I said with a smile. It made Ditzy laugh which made me feel good. I patted her shoulder and said, "Okay, good. Sometimes, I can be funny too."

"You're very funny, Rarity." Ditzy chuckled while looking over the building before us. It used to stand over 20 meters and was the center for all the events in town, but I think that we were past feeling sad for the destruction. It became expected, and we were numbed to seeing yet another landmark laid to waste.

"Do you think that we should look through the market and see what we can scavenge?" Ditzy said while she checked the cuff around her left shoulder. We had taken the leather strap from the weapon vest and adapted it to be worn outside her jacket to avail her spare bullets.

"No, darling. We can come back and scavenge when we're more purpose fitted for it." I answered. We didn't have our saddle bags so I found it pointless to look for things that we wouldn't even be able to carry back with us.

"Okay, I was just hoping to find some Pegamittens." Ditzy explained.

My head cocked to one side, and I didn't think that was such a bad idea. Pegamittens, despite the name, were four-digit gloves that a pegasus could wear to protect her delicate wings in cold weather. There were ones that were made of leather for working and using tools with wings, and I've even seen some that were specially padded for preventing feather damage while playing drums. In this instance, she would be using them to free her wings from the confines of her jacket while still being protected from fallout.

"I suppose we could wander through a few of the stores." I said.

Ditzy looked at the ground for a moment, and despite being unable to see her eyes through her glasses, I knew what expression she had on her face. She looked up at me, and her head gyrated as she made a sing-songy voice, "Let's go shopping!" We shared a good laugh, and we made our way into the market.

The first store was one that I frequented for fabric that occasionally sold accessory items which overflowed from their parent store in Canterlot. Since it was an overstock, the color and style was usually out of season or simply just outdated. Needless to say, we weren't really looking for anything that would be considered "in" at the moment, but we didn't find what we were looking for either. We left no piece of rubble from the building's remains unturned before we continued north through the market and went into a discount garment shop.

I almost never went into this store when it was intact. The clothing sold there was off-brand theft and allowed ponies to buy clothes that appeared to be designer, but they were made from cheap materials and shoddy craft work. Ditzy found a single Pegamitten made from leather, but two of the digits had been sheared from the palm when the roof collapsed on the rack. It may have been when I harshly tugged it from under the concrete, but who can really say?

The next store wasn't too far from where we were, about forty meters north-east, and appeared to be nearly untouched. It was a strange sight to see all of the collapsed buildings everywhere, and then there was this lone, and fairly large, store erected in the near center of the market. Perhaps the stone exterior and terracotta tile roof that provided the additional protection, but it appeared to have been built after the bombing. Then again, the surrounding structures were made from wood covered stucco and roofed with wheaten straw reinforced with aluminum sheeting. Of course, I mean the building was nearly untouched because the name of the store, which was Hoofisters, was missing a few letters from the tiny awning above the door.

"They have to have Pegamittens." I said while we past a sculpture of Princess Celestia in the center of a fountain. She was missing most of her upper body and one of her rear legs. I had a dark thought, Let us hope that life doesn't suddenly imitate art...

"Why do you say that?" Ditzy said.

"Because this building had to have cost a fortune." I said as we approached the store.

Ditzy chuckled, "So? They could have rented it."

I stopped at the front door and gave Ditzy a hard look, "Shut up, and let me have my optimism." I used my magic to lower my glasses, and then I gave her the look again, in case she missed it.

Her bandanna raised from her smile, "Okay, sorry."

I put the glasses back on my face properly, and opened the door with my magic. The east wall opposite to us was probably over ten meters away from the door, and the north and south walls were separated by nearly ten meters as well. About halfway down each wall were hallways that led to dressing rooms on the left and bathrooms on the right. It was much bigger than I thought it would be, and it was bigger still with a set of lacquered wood doors, in front of the two cash registers, which led to a storage room in the east wall.

The south wall was strictly swimsuits and other summer apparel types. The first three shelves in front of us, which ran through the center of the store, was hoofwear and horseshoes, and the sign above this section boasted that a farrier was on site during store hours. The last three shelves from us and nearly to the registers were hats, hoof-bags, and jewelry respectively. The north wall was formal-wear closest to us and winter gear toward the rear.

Ditzy laughed out loud while pointing to the north wall, "Look at that! They should have called this The Mullet Section because it's business in the front and party at the back." Her voice echoed inside because of the steel and concrete ceiling and ceramic tile floor.

I chuckled, "You're so silly, darling."

Suddenly a third mare's voice echoed through the room, and it shouted, "How do you like them apples?"

I glanced around the room to find where it came from, but it sounded like it could have come from either hallway. The storage room appeared to be sealed shut, but I didn't rule it out either. There was silence for a long time, so I became unsure if I'd actually heard somepony, but I looked at Ditzy, and she was scanning the room as well. She looked at me and shrugged.

The voice shouted again, more urgently this time, "How do you like them apples?!"

"Hello?" I asked the voice, but was met with more silence.

The voice came back, but was screaming nearly incoherently, "I said, how do you like them apples, mother fucker?! I swear I will shoot you! How do you like them apples?!!"

Ditzy took a step back, prepared to move into cover, and began to cock her weapon, but I stopped her. She looked puzzled at me, but remained frozen.

I answered, "I am just looking for some clothes. Please, I'm not a robber."

Whispering voices echoed through the building. There must have been more than one inside, and I hoped that they were considering letting us go through some of the stock, but I had a feeling that they might be coordinating an ambush. Ditzy grew tense as the whispering continued, as did I.

"You've got thirty seconds, and then you leave." The voice commanded. "If you're still here when I come out, I will kill you both."

I looked at Ditzy and, even through the bandanna, I saw her mouth the word, "Both?" How did they know that there was two of us? Can they see us? I ignored my internal queries and sprinted for the winter gear with Ditzy close behind. I hoofed through the clothes as fast as possible, and thought about how we didn't know if they were being truthful. Were they timing us, or were they just going to jump out from all directions and fill us with holes?

There were no Pegamittens on the rack, which was only hugely disappointing because of the threat of death, and I started out of the store. Ditzy began to follow, but stopped. She pointed to the hat section of the center shelves and then galloped to it. I watched her while I felt the seconds ticking in my head, and I silently prayed that we were still within the allotted time.

Ditzy called quietly, "The mittens! They're over here."

"Then let's go!" I called back.

She motioned toward her bandanna, "I can't get them, come on!"

I moved quickly toward her and  groaned, "If we die, I hope finding these mittens was worth it."

I galloped to the aisle, picked up the Pegamittens with my magic, and we immediately sprinted for the exit. We had just crossed the threshold when I heard a door inside slam open, but we just kept running while I flung the front door closed with my magic. For a brief moment, I felt exposed, and my body was involuntarily preparing for the pain. It felt like my brain wasn't in control of my heart, but the unadulterated fear caused my blood to race around my body while my heart was lodged in my throat. I had a sudden awareness of hypersensitivity on my flank where I perceived that imminent anguish was going to strike. I ran so hard, but couldn't get a breath as we dove behind the fountain.

The exterior ring of the fountain was a meter-tall stone in the center of the market, and while I believed it would stop bullets, I still trembled so hard that I nearly couldn't remain upright. The tremors were so fierce that it threatened to take me off my hooves while we watched the store in case the inhabitants had decided to give chase. I stuffed the mittens in Ditzy's pocket with my magic without looking away from the door. My eyes burned because I couldn't bring myself to blink.

We allowed several minutes to go by, but nopony came out looking for us. Even then, we sat silently watching the door, waiting for it to fly open and release a hail of bullets. As more time went by, Ditzy and I decided to leave, but it felt unsafe to leave our cover. We did this several times before I led us into a north-bound sprint, away from the market and toward where Twilight's Castle was supposed to be.

We ran hard for several hundred meters before I was too tired to continue, and I slowed to a trot, then a saunter, and then I plopped on the ground and panted. Ditzy was breathing hard too, but she had to turn around and trot back to me. How could a pegasus be so good at running?

"I think..." I took a breath. "I think that..." I stopped again for more air.

"Drink some water." Ditzy said, somehow with her breathing returning to normal already.

My magic pulled down my bandanna and retrieved a water bottle, and I nearly drank all of it. I continued to catch my breath for several minutes while I thought about how out of shape I was. Sitting at a sewing machine for all these years was probably not the best form of exercise, but it wasn't like I never worked out to maintain my figure. No, I never went running, but I never thought I'd have to. Ugh, I was sweating so bad that I felt soaked through.

I had nearly recovered completely and got a look around, and then I suddenly realized where I was. North of the market was a park that I'd galloped through without even knowing it, but past that was a small residential area for ponies that wanted to live on the thoroughfare... such as myself. I turned around without getting up from the ground, and I saw my precious Carousel Boutique.

My start in the business of fashion, put under new management just before the disaster, and my first home in which I lived for so many profound years, was flattened. The extensive exterior decorations were spread all over the ground, even as far as where I was sitting, and the cupola stood in the center of the burned remains. A quiet gasp struck me, and I shook. I clenched my teeth and closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and then thought about how Ditzy would handle this kind of thing. She would probably make a joke, but how was I to try to make this funny?

I blew air and nodded, "Wow."

"Gosh, I'm sorry, Rarity." Ditzy said somberly.

I nodded again and chuckled, "Do you have any insurance claim forms on you?"

Ditzy snickered, "Are you sure this is covered?"

"I doubt it." I giggled while I stood up. There was a sense of ease that settled into my nerves, and I thought about how joking really, actually helped, even if it was my property, something that I'd put many years of heart and soul into, that was utterly gone from existence.  Was this progress, though? I wasn't so convinced, but it certainly felt good right then.

I shook my head at myself and looked at Ditzy, "How was that? Did I do good?"

She cocked her head, "What? The joke?"

I flung a hoof toward the wreckage, "My beloved Boutique. It's ruined, and I joked about it. Isn't that how I'm supposed to handle this?"

Ditzy smiled and nodded slowly. She gave a tiny shrug and said, "Look around us, Rarity. The world sucks. We're going to see some painful things that make us want to cry, but we might as well laugh through our tears, right?" She laughed, but it trailed off as she looked at the ground and continued, "Because if you don't, then you're just crying, and that's no fun."

I pressed my mouth into a thin line and thought about it. The world did suck right now, and it wasn't going to get any better from crying about it, but I wasn't sure if  laughing my way through it was the best approach. But it did make sense that, if it was all a joke, I wouldn't take it seriously. Because if I took it seriously, than it would matter. And if it mattered, it would hurt. An inadvertant product of Ditzy being bullied in her youth was the development of her coping mechanism; poking fun at her own plight.

I nodded to her and gave her a smile, "Well, let's go see if we can find something to laugh about."

She smiled back, "That's the spirit."

"You know, if we can find my tools, we can alter your jacket to accommodate your wings with the mittens." I said while walking slowly to the remains of the building.

Ditzy followed me, "You think we can find your tools in this mess?"

"Well, they were all kept in a single box, and the new manager of this store didn't do alterations, so I'm fairly certain that she left them alone. It's a really pretty case with lavender paint and a 10 karat white gold trim. I would like it back." I explained with a grin while I kicked the front door, which was laying a few meters from the foundation.

"Purple box with a silver trim, got it." Ditzy said while she started to go through the rubble, being careful not to knock over anything that would cause the unstable pile to collapse further. Ditzy would kick a piece to see if it made anything else move, and then I would remove it with my magic if it was safe.

Heavy lifting with magic was not common for me, and it was severely tiring. Every time I would pick up a stucco coated piece of concrete, it was as if I could feel it's full weight on my brain. Fortunately, if I was to drop it, it would not crush me into oblivion, and I didn't risk injury from over exertion like ponies that worked with their hooves.

"Hey, wait a minute." Ditzy called while she moved in closer. She leaped onto a folded wall and craned to see over the crest of the wreckage. She turned and jumped back to the ground. She crawled in front of the wall she was just on and pointed through the remains of a window frame.

"Is that it? I think I see it." She said.

I trotted to her side, put my head right next to hers, and squinted through the window. She was right! I could see it despite the window being reduced to a slit of broken brick and wood paneling. It was a tiny space, though, and all I could see was the top of the lid and the carrying handle. It was so deep inside that I was surprised we could see it.

"It will take all day to unbury it." I said while standing up straight.

"No, I was looking at it from up there, and I think there's just that gazebo-roof-thing on top of it, but that should only take a second." She explained while pointing to her previous vantage point.

"It's a cupola, darling." I chuckled while leaning to see around the wall.

"Whatever. I'll get up there again, and I can guide you out." She said.

I sucked my teeth and then said, "I don't know. It seems too dangerous."

"It'll be easy." Ditzy said, and then she got into position.

"Alright." I said in a breathy voice. I trotted so that she was looking at the cupola from a perpendicular angle to me, and my horn lit up. It was much heavier than I thought, but I needed to keep an eye on it so I didn't accidentally run it into Ditzy. Even still, just to get it off the ground, my teeth and eyes clenched shut with the effort.

"Good, good!" Ditzy shouted, "Bring it up a few more centimeters, and then bring it straight to yourself."

I opened one eye to see it, but I felt all of the muscles in my neck trying to clamor their way into my head. I was running out of air, but I was scared to take a breath. I let out a loud gasp as I dropped it and cursed loudly. It slammed into the rubble, the clapboard paneling on it buckled, and it began to roll back toward Ditzy.

She cursed loudly as well while she did a tiny hop on the piece of wall she was standing on, and I saw her wings push out on the inside of her jacket. Reminded that she couldn't fly away, Ditzy turned quickly and leaped off the wall. It was an ugly dismount, and she landed her full weight on her left foreleg. She fell onto her chin and rolled on the gravel. It looked bad, and I thought she had broken her leg, but she sprang back to her hooves and limped away from the danger.

"Are you okay?" I shouted while making my way to her. The cupola took out her vantage point, and it folded under its own weight, burying the box deeper.

Ditzy was bouncing on her three other legs, "I'm fine, but I think I'm gonna have a bruise."

I used my magic to pull back her sleeve and unfasten her boot. Her leg trembled, and her knee already looked as if it was swelling. "We've got to go back to Zecora's."

"No, no." Ditzy said, and she used her right hoof to refasten her boot and pull down her sleeve, "We're going to get that box. This wouldn't have happened if I had my wings."

My first thought was that it wouldn't have happened had I not dropped the cupola, but she was quick to blame the restraint of her wings. I didn't want her to be upset with me, but I felt like I was rightfully to blame. I tried my best to let it go, but I simply felt so guilty that I got her hurt.

"I'm really sorry, darling." I said, "I would understand if you were upset with me."

"It's not your fault." Ditzy laughed while she limped to the broken cupola. "I do think it's funny that this thing survived a nuclear bomb, and then you break it in 5 minutes."

"Ditzy, dear. If our roles were reversed, I'd be mad at you." I said.

"That's fine, and I'm fine, Rarity." She pleaded, "Let's just drop it. If I was mad at you, you would know it."

"Well, I still feel like you're upset with me." I said while we started taking pieces and tossing them aside. I guess that we were just going to dig it out like we should have done in the first place.

"Don't be like that, Rarity. You know I'm not upset with you." Ditzy said.

"I just think it would be easier if you did get upset with me." I said.

Ditzy chuckled, "Why?"

"Because then I'd know for a fact that you were upset or not." I said. The ridiculousness of my own words made me smile.

She smiled as well, "Now, that is silly."

"I know." I said while she broke a piece of concrete, and I removed it with my magic. "I'm sorry." I continued

"Really, Rarity." Ditzy panted, "It wasn't your fault."

"Just let me have this." I said while I gave her a stern look and levitated the last of the cupola from the rubble below us.

"What are you talking about?" Ditzy laughed. "You want me to be mad at you?"

"Yes." I said. "Darling, please. Just tell me that you're upset, and we'll be okay."

"Darling, please." Ditzy did an imitation of me, "I'm not upset, but we will be okay."

The loose piece of stucco under my hoof shattered as I stomped on it, "Do not mock me."

She froze and just stared at me. After a long while, she pushed up her sunglasses, careful not to touch her face with her boot, and she looked at me some more. Eventually, she slowly and articulately asked, "What is wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with you!?" I shouted. "That wasn't very nice of you. I'm... I'm frankly hurt that you would do such a thing."

"I was trying to be funny. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." She said.

There wasn't anything in the inflection that led me to believe that she was being facetious, but her word choice felt like it simply mocked me further. She was making this into a joke, but I wasn't laughing. I was pissed. I just kept thinking, If it's a joke, than it's not serious. Not serious equals doesn't matter. I took a few steps off the rubble, but turned around to begin a mistake, "So, I'm a joke? Is that what I am?"

Her eyes glanced around for a moment, "What?"

"I'm not a joke, Ditzy. I want to be taken seriously. I want to matter!" I spewed. I could feel myself becoming more and more angry, but I couldn't stop it. I knew it was irrational, even while it was happening, but it was like I couldn't control myself. I just glared at her like she was evil.

"Rarity, why are you fighting me right now?" Ditzy pleaded softly.

"Because you made fun of me!" I screamed at her.

"Rarity, please calm down. I'm sorry." Her voice quivered like she could cry. It sounded painfully genuine, and it brought me to Earth. I took a deep breath and looked at the ground. Internally, I was examining my actions, my words, and my demeanor. I just felt awful, but I couldn't bring myself to say anything. So, I just went back up the pile of rubble, and I removed the stucco I had broken.

She watched me work for a moment and then joined me. Between her powerful hooves that broke apart the decrepit structure, and my magic that swiftly carried away the pieces, we were making short work of the dig. It was kind of nice to work on a project together, and I was muddying the experience by trying to fight with her. I was certain that she'd noticed that I was crying, but she probably didn't want any more abuse.

Ditzy clasped her fore-hooves on a large piece of concrete, slowly dragged it from the hole we'd dug, and revealed the silver trimmed purple case. It was about a half meter wide and 20 centimeters deep. The steel was warped from the house collapsing on it, but it retained the vibrant color despite the fire and the chips in the paint. I pulled on it with my magic, but it didn't come loose until she kicked a support beam that was holding it down.

"Thanks." I whispered, and we stood on the remains of the Boutique for a long time. I finally said, "I'm sorry."

"You know it's okay." Ditzy sighed.

I let out a dark chuckle. My hoof came up to wipe my tears, but I stopped myself. My magic took off my bandanna, and I dabbed my face, "I know, darling. I just... I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that."

"You're right. I didn't, but I also shouldn't have made fun of you." Ditzy explained.

"No, I knew that you were just being funny, and I was just being a bitch." I said.

Ditzy blew air and nodded. She looked at me and then said, "You can't do that anymore."

"Be a bitch?" I asked.

"Yes." She said. "I don't want to fight, ever. We're above that. Ponies that say, "fighting is a sign of a healthy relationship." have never been in a healthy relationship."

Her words caused me to look deep into myself. I always fought with my boyfriends, and it was no wonder that those relationships never worked out. I remembered how they all ended with some huge argument over nothing. It was the same endless cycle of fight hard and fuck hard, until one of us got tired of it. I didn't want this to end the same way. What we had was different, and I needed to treat it that way.

"It won't happen again, darling." I said, and then I smiled.

"Good to hear." Ditzy smiled, and then she nodded to the box, "Do you want to take that back to Zecora's now, or should we leave it and come back?"

I looked it over, "I don't know." It was fairly large for me to carry around in my magic while we were searching. I didn't want to weigh myself down with non-essentials and... My eye caught a small gleam beyond the case, near the front steps of the Boutique. I stood up and watched the steps again, but couldn't discern anything that would reflect light. Maybe it was just glass, but I wanted to make sure. The brevity of the flash appeared to be gold which would be very strange.

I walked to the steps, and as I got closer, I saw a cylinder of sealed parchment laying in the grass just behind the first step. It rolled slightly from the light breeze that flowed through, and the resulting flash from the gold seal confirmed that was what I saw. I picked it up with my magic and saw Twilight's insignia on the seal, and I also saw that it was a magically delivered letter addressed to me, which was very, very strange. Twilight used her dragon, Spike, to enchant letters with a spell which could send them to specific places in Equestria. Most all of them went to Princess Celestia, and the fact that this one was here made me believe that she knew about the impending doom before it happened.

"It's a letter from Twilight." I said.

"Well, open it." Ditzy said.

I did as I was told. I pulled the ring off the paper, but I just stared at it. I couldn't help but think this was Twilight writing her own obituary. My hoof trembled as I pushed the top of the paper up in my magic, and then unrolled the bottom.


Rarity,

I'm writing to you with the hope that you've made it through this crisis.
I would have written to you directly in Vanhoover, but I didn't know where you were staying.
I want you to know that I am safe in my castle, but I need your help.
My biggest regret is that I was too busy to visit your new home in Manehattan, or I would have sent this letter there as well.

If you're out there, and this letter finds you, please come to my castle.

I love you and hope you are well,
Twilight Sparkle


Ditzy gasped, "We should definitely leave the case here."

I didn't even respond. I just dropped the letter and galloped toward Twilight's castle, of which we could see was reduced to a gigantic pile of stone and glass even from here. Given the position and condition of the letter, I knew that it was sent after the bombing. I knew that she had to be there still. She had to, for everypony's sake.

My legs burned like they were filled with acid as we approached the crest of the courtyard, but I dug my boots into the ground and skidded to a halt. Ditzy nearly ran into me, but she stopped as well as we observed that we were standing at the edge of the nuclear crater. I took a few steps away and swore that I felt the radiation soaking into my body. The yaks had nearly hit the castle directly.

I held my bandanna to my face tightly, turned around, and looked at Ditzy. "What do we do? She's in there!"

Ditzy shook her head, "We've got to go in."

I looked past the crater and saw that the entire castle had erupted in the flames. Due to it's proximity to the bomb, the shock was devastating enough to wipe the entire castle off the face of the planet, and even the foundation had been mostly uprooted. The thermal radiation had been so close that there was simply nothing left to burn, and all flammable materials were gone, everything was covered with a film of blackened ash. I stared for what seemed like forever and felt a growing anxiety that there was no way that Twilight survived.

We started, in a hurried canter, through the center of the crater and straight for the giant circular hole that used to be the castle foundation. The ground was soft, and even 9 days later, still hot to the touch. I mentally thanked Zecora for her boots because it felt hot enough to melt me down to my base materials. We arrived at the edge of the castle's remains, and I saw, deep inside the hole, was an enormous piece of the entrance gate's stone frame. It appeared to have been buried under the earth that was scooped by the bomb, but then... I felt hope. In the center of the hole was a trap door, obstructed by the stone wall, and I was sure that Twilight was in there. I could feel it.

I instructed Ditzy to stay there, in case anything bad happened, while I leaped onto the collapsed wall even though she vehemently protested. As soon as my boots connected with the stone, I felt the slick layer of ash, and I slipped. My hooves obediently went with physics despite my will for them to stay in place, and I was sent toward the corner of the exposed trap door. I reached out with a hoof to catch myself on the floor, but I was traveling too fast, and I slammed onto my side. My head connected with the steel frame of the door, and I rolled over, sat up, and grabbed my head with a hoof in one motion. I didn't know I was capable of screaming such a profane phrase.

"Screaming is good!" Ditzy called down to me. "That means you're still alive!"

"Oh, I'm fine, darling. Thanks for asking." I hollered back. I'd only fallen about 5 meters, but it really hurt.

"I tried to tell you that would happen." Ditzy said.

"So, that's how it is? "I told you so"? That's very mature." I shouted, but more from the pain than anything else.

I finally opened my eyes and took a breath. I looked down at the door without taking my hoof off of my head and saw a familiar violet glow that encapsulated the door handle. It shook violently for a moment, and then Twilight released it of her magic. I guess that was one way to let us know she was in there. I don't know why she didn't fling her entire body on it like I did.


***	***	***	***	***	***


Twilight wasn't going anywhere, but it still took Ditzy several minutes to convince me to leave. It felt like it was such an accomplishment that I'd finally found her, and I hated that she must remain in her safe room. Being a princess, she had to have been prepared enough to keep some food down there, and knowing how Twilight could be with overplanning, she could probably stay in there for quite a while and be just fine.

I thought of drinking the cure on the way back, to prevent us from getting sick from being in the crater, but Ditzy was worried we wouldn't make it back to Zecora's before the fatigue took us. I was inclined to agree. Besides, Ditzy was full of great ideas at the moment. She came up with the idea that the tractor, Zecora, and I could probably uproot the castle wall from the trap door. She also said not to jump onto said castle wall because it was slick with loose ash. For a while, at least until my head stopped pounding, I was going to trust her judgement over my own.

We carved a much different path through town on the way back lest we run into the squatters in that store again. I didn't know exactly how many there were, but if the use of a keyphrase complete with a counter-sign was necessary, it had to be a fairly large group that Ditzy and I weren't going to take on all by ourselves. Thus, we cut through the western residential areas which had many houses and a few shops that stippled the street. We were a few kilometers from the blast which was far enough that every building wasn't levelled to the ground, but everything was still covered in ash.

Most of the houses and businesses in this area were built from the surrounding oak, and the timber taken from the Everfree forest. There were a few that were made from imported redwood and maple from Canterlot, but they were usually large and expensive. Now, they were all scorched, dilapidated shells with their thatched grass roofs burned completely off. Ash to ash; dust to dust.

One building that stood out was Ponyville's cake shop and bakery, Sugar Cube Corner, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Cake. The construction and materials was to make it look like a gingerbread house, and it retained the gumdrop roof trim, although most of the ceramic tiles that were designed to look like it was made out of graham cracker was singed and warped. Despite the charred exterior, which gave it a look like a real gingerbread house that had been left in the oven too long, it looked pretty much like it did 9 days ago. Except, the ice cream cupola was blown off, and the windows were destroyed which took much of the mullions with them.

"Care to take a stroll through memory confectionery?" Ditzy said while pointing at Sugar Cube Corner.

"I guess it couldn't hurt." I said while we turned to go inside.

Ditzy followed me up the steps, but I stopped before entering. I knocked on the door and waited just in case there were more squatters. We heard nothing, so I slowly pushed the door. It got caught on the bent door-frame, so I forced it open which sent splintered wood flying around the room. I hadn't pushed it that hard; it was just brittle from the heat. I heard Ditzy's pistol cock, and she leveled it. I shined my horn to light up the room as we cleared the store.

The display cabinet directly across from the entrance and below the cash register had been smashed open and was empty. To the left of that was a staircase that ran against the south wall and east, up into the Cake's bedrooms. There was a small table with a melted plastic display cake on it against the east wall, and the west wall was filled with warped posters that had melted onto the floor. Ditzy took point, and we went up the stairs.

There were photographs of the Cakes with their twin children on the walls of the hallway, but I didn't think about their potential deaths while we went into the first room on the right, Pinkie Pie's bedroom. Nopony was inside, but we did find one of Twilight's sealed letters on Pinkie's bed. We went back out into the hallway, turned right, and then went into the left room at the end of the hall. It was the Cake's nursery, but there was no pony there. I let out a sigh of relief as we didn't find any foal corpses either. We went directly across the hall, and cleared the Cake's master bedroom, which was also devoid of ponies.

"I think we can chill out." Ditzy said while she pressed the Bobbitt button and lowered her weapon.

"Agreed." I said. "Let's go back down stairs and see if we can find something sweet."

"My thoughts exactly." Ditzy said while she put her sunglasses on her head. She pinned her bandanna to her chest and brought her head back to pull her face from it. I uncovered my face with my magic as we made our way back down the stairs.

We checked the miniature fridge behind the display case, the freezer under the stairs, and the cabinet by the register. Nothing there. We continued to the east wall where the melted posters were. There was two storage boxes on the north and south walls, but both were empty. Ditzy spotted a key holder that was attached to a cabinet by the front door. When she looked inside, she found a milk chocolate candy bar. She profanely celebrated its discovery and sat on the floor while I opened it with my magic.

The wrapper was stuck to the chocolate, which had melted during the blaze, but that didn't stop me from tearing the warped remains in half. She kicked off her boots and took her half between her fore-hooves. I bit into mine as she did, and we both moaned a chuckle to each other. We tried to speak our approval, but were too busy indulging ourselves to more. It wasn't long before we'd finished, but it was very worth it.

She nodded, "This is our new mission."

“What is?” I asked while still chewing the last of the chocolate.

“We need to find more sweets.” Ditzy said with a smile.

“Darling, I have you, and that’s the sweetest thing any mare needs.” I said.

Ditzy cocked her head and grinned at me. She looked like she had something to say, but instead she closed the distance and kissed me. The cut on her lip was rough, but the sweet taste of her tongue in my mouth was divine. I began to pull back, but she kept coming and followed with incessant pecks.

“Ditzy, dear, what are you doing?” I chuckled.

“I’m kissing you.” She said between loving assaults.

“We may not be safe, darling. We could be irradiated, and we really should head back.” I explained, but I couldn't stop smiling.

“But we’re alone.” Ditzy said, her bedroom eyes cut my logic to pieces.

Ditzy took a sharp breath, and then she put her fore-hooves on my chest. There was a sudden, powerful push, and I was heaved into the air. She stood, on her rear legs, with me in her hooves and my fore-legs holding myself up on her shoulders. The strength and coordination required to pick up a pony with just her hooves... I was impressed. I was turned on. I wanted it so bad. But we needed to get back to Zecora's and cleanse ourselves of radiation. This wasn't a good idea. I needed to stop it, but I just kissed her deeply from my new perch. She walked me back a little less than a meter, and she gently put me on the rail of the staircase. I felt the rail depress, and there was a quiet click that echoed through our soft gasps.

I stopped and looked at her, "What was that?" I whispered.

Ditzy started to answer, but then the floor fell open, and she fell inside which took me with her. We tumbled over one another into the hole, and then landed, with Ditzy on top and me on my back, on a carpeted floor below. There was a soft, golden light source that was just above our heads, across the room. We both looked to it at the same time and saw three ponies sitting at a low table which had a lantern in the center. All three of them were covered in blisters and sores from being soaked in radiation.

The brilliantly pink earth-pony with a familiar wild, curly mane shushed us, but I couldn't help myself, and I suddenly shouted, "Pinkie Pie?!"

"The one and only!" Pinkie said quietly.

"Oh, my gosh!" I continued loudly, "I am so glad to see you all here."

I simply looked them over while trying to retain my happiness that I'd found another one of my friends, but it was weighed down heavily with the fact that she was so sickly looking. They appeared to be eating Trot Pockets which had been heated by a small oven in the north-east corner of the basement. The east wall had a row of water bottles, of which half of them were empty, next to an arrangement of soda cans. The west wall had a large trough against it that had pillows and blankets inside. I didn't see where they did their bathroom business, but I assumed that they would just go outside.

"Rarity, be quiet. You'll wake the babies." Pinkie said and then she motioned to a large crib  in the north-west corner that had two sleeping foals inside. It hurt my heart to see them. They were so small, yet adult sized blotches of radiation induced dermatitis covered their bodies. I tried not to imagine their suffering, and I focused on the fact that they were peacefully resting. It wasn't working well.

I said while I pushed Ditzy to my left and scrambled to my hooves. "I'm sorry, dear. You're just-"

"Shhh!!!" Pinkie shushed, and she became a blur for a moment when she zipped to me. In an instant, she was directly in front of me and had her hoof on my mouth. "There are sleeping babies, Rarity."

"Mmm Hmm." I said through her hoof while giving a small nod. She was my friend, and I knew there was no danger of a contagion, but her skin was flaked and rough from the extended radiation exposure. I couldn't help but to be grossed out.

"Great!" Pinkie exclaimed loudly while backing away a few centimeters, "You hungry?"

Mrs. Cake interjected before I could answer, "Pinkie, Please."

"Sorry, Mrs. Cake, I was just glad that somepony else was being shushed instead of me." Pinkie said at the same volume.

Mr. Cake's face fell onto his hoof, "Pinkie..."

Pinkie crouched slightly and whispered, "Oh, right. Sorry!"

"Pinkie, you've been down here this whole time?" I asked in a whisper.

"Sure was, and Mr. and Mrs. Cake saved my life! I was going to go out to get some cherries for a really super-duper huge giantastic recipe for a right-side-up upside-down cherries jubilee cake parfait, but they were like, "those meanie yaks are up to no good." and said I should stay home to listen to the radio which was sooooo boring. Then there were big explosions that were all over, and the booms were so huge that we had to come down here to live through it. We've been down here ever since because Mr. Cake said that it wasn't safe to go out yet." Pinkie chattered quickly. She zoomed to Mr. Cake and continued in a sing-songy voice, "Looks like somepony was mistaken!"

"Well, I'm glad to see that you're safe, darling." I made myself smile. I knew that she was suffering despite her cheery expression; there were small, nearly imperceptible tells that she was in pain.

"So, is Pinkie right? Was I mistaken? Is it safe to go out?" Mr. Cake asked with a lot of hope in his voice.

"I'm afraid not." I said. I hated to crush him, but it was true. "We've taken refuge at Zecora's where it appears to be safe."

"In the Everfree Forest?" Mrs. Cake asked in disbelief, "If it's safer in the Everfree than it is here, I'm guessing that it's as bad as we thought."

"It may be worse than you think, too." Ditzy said. "We walked all the way from Vanhoover, so we've seen a lot of the damage."

"Oh, my." Mrs. Cake exclaimed.

"Enough turning our smiles upside down!" Pinkie shouted while she, in a mind boggling instant, slid five slices of cake onto the table, "Let's have some cake, and eat it too!"

The foals stirred and made weak moans as they began to rouse from their slumber, and Mr. Cake glared at Pinkie. Mrs. Cake quickly made her way to the crib, let out a breathy hiss with a gentle smile, and outstretched her fore-hooves toward her babies. She softly rubbed their bellies, and they snuggled in their bedding and fell back to sleep.

Mrs. Cake turned to me and spoke as if Pinkie wasn't there, "It's been like this for over a week. Please, help us."

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Cake." Pinkie said with a sheepish smile.

Mrs. Cake sighed hard, "It's fine Pinkie. Can you just please try to keep it down?" And then Mrs. Cake shook her head and continued to herself, "Even though I know you won't."

"Okie-dokie-lokie." Pinkie whispered.

Ditzy took a brief look over the crib, "I think Rarity and I can carry them. You gather some things, and then we'll take you to Zecora's house."

"Are you sure it will be safe for our foals there?" Mr. Cake said.

"Yes, darling." I answered. "I'm sure we can find a nice quiet place for the babies."

I was able to make a rope out of their table cloth. The crib had sturdy wood bars on either side of the mattress which I weaved the rope through. I left enough length to simply hang one end around the back of Ditzy's neck, and my end was tied around my hips. The cloth was scratchy and was going to chafe, but I felt that it was worth the effort to get the babies to safety.

The Cakes were earth ponies so they had to carry their luggage in their mouths, and Pinkie didn't bring anything with her. We departed from Sugar Cube Corner, up a yellow slide in the corner of the room, which was extremely difficult, not to mention dangerous for the babies.

We made our way to the dirt path which led to the bridge to the Everfree, and Pinkie did not stop talking the entire time. She told me about how they spent three days without eating anything, and then she went into the house and gathered all the food that she could. She included details that Mr. and Mrs. Cake cried and slept a lot the whole time. She said that everypony was very sick for "what was like infinity", and she was worried that they may be contagious.

I explained what Ditzy and I had read about radiation poisoning, and that they were not in an airtight space (the slide led straight outside to the rear of the store) which meant that they were likely exposed. Because they were consistently exposed for a long period of time, they were probably very ill, and we needn't waste time in returning to Zecora's.

As we entered Zecora's hut, Rainbow Dash cheered from the couch, "Pinkie Pie!"

"The one and only!" Pinkie called.

"While we were hoping for Twilight instead," Zecora said while stopping her work and continuing, "It is most joyous that another friend returns from the dead."

"We found Twilight." I said quietly while Ditzy and I crept toward the guest room with the babies.

Zecora had a serious look on her face, "I notice she is not with you, first. Am I to assume the worst?"

"No," Ditzy said. "She's trapped in her castle, but she's alive in there."

Zecora let out a relieved sigh, and then she saw the Cakes entering, "These are your babies, I presume. Please, settle your family in my guest room."

"Thank you, Zecora." Mr. Cake said, "We are very grateful. It's been very hard for us, and Rarity told us we've been sitting in radiation for the last week."

"Of this fact, I am sure. Get settled, then return for my cure." Zecora said.

We went to the guest room and found Fluttershy sleeping with Angel, her pet bunny. We quietly placed the babies in the far corner, in a place where we could unfold the bed concealed behind the bookcase, and the Cakes put their bags by the bed that Fluttershy was in. The foals were still asleep, I assumed that they were so badly fatigued from being irradiated. Their stillness was very creepy, as if they were dead which inspired horrifying thoughts, but I watched them closely and saw their chests rising and falling.

When we returned to the living room, Zecora gave the Cakes each a bowl of the Cure Stew. Pinkie had already finished hers, so she joined me in the guest room to force the foals to drink the cure from their bottles. It didn't take, and I ended up having to spoon feed the colt while Pinkie fed the filly. It took a long time, and it was quite noisy which woke Fluttershy.

"Pinkie Pie, you're alive!" Fluttershy exclaimed without getting up.

Mr. Cake entered the room, prompted by his crying foals, and said, "Yes, she was very brave. I don't think we would have made it without her."

Mrs. Cake was close behind him and said, "It wasn't the worst experience of my entire life, being locked in a tiny room with Pinkie Pie. She did fearlessly go to the surface and get us food and water."

"Pinkie, you're so great." Fluttershy said proudly while putting her head back on the pillow.

"If not loud and ignorant." Mrs. Cake muttered under her breath while, with much less resistance, she and Mr. Cake fed their babies Cure Stew.

Pinkie's head had begun to hang low in the growing side-effect of the brew, but she snapped back up, "I had to keep my friends safe, and the Cakes are my friends." Her speech was badly slurred.

"Here, Sweetie." I said while I took a few steps back, and pulled the bookshelf bed from the wall, "You should go ahead and lay down. The cure makes you very-"

"Oh, thank you, Rarity. I'm so tired." Pinkie said as she crawled onto the bed, "I'll just lay down for a little bit, and then I want to talk to everypony-" And then her head slammed into the pillow, her words replaced with a soft snore.

"Thank you, sweet Celestia. She's silent." Mrs. Cake said. "In the basement, we had to pretend to be asleep so she would stop talking."

"Honestly, honey, I think she saved our lives. I was much to afraid of the radiation to go outside." Mr. Cake said as the filly in his fore-hoof passed out into a stew-induced rest.

"That doesn't change the fact that she never stops talking." Mrs. Cake shrugged while putting the colt back in the crib. The baby continued to protest the taste forced on him, but the cure overtook him soon, and he was asleep along with his sister.

I nodded knowingly, even though I disapproved of Mrs. Cake's disdain, and said, "That filly does love to talk."

Mr. Cake smiled to me, "Rarity, I can not thank you enough. I'm not sure how much longer we would have survived in there."

"It was nothing, darling. We happened upon you by accident, truthfully." I said.

"I know, but I still think you should know that you saved our lives." He said while he patted Mrs. Cake's shoulder, "Come on, honey. Let's get some sleep in a real bed."

"Yes, dear." She agreed.

Fluttershy motioned to the bed that she was in while she got up, and she tiredly crawled into the other bed and laid next to Pinkie Pie.

"We'll leave you to it." I said while leading Ditzy out of the room. We went back to the living room where Rainbow Dash was still lounging on the couch. She was laying on her back with her fore-hooves curled on her chest and she appeared to be asleep. Zecora had placed two bowls of the Cure Stew on the end table to the right of the couch. Ditzy and I sat on our haunches next to each other and quietly choked down the brew.

"So, Zecora, we need your help." I said quietly while finishing my bowl of stew.

"I hope that I can be of use to you. Because of my task here, there isn't much I can do." Zecora said.

"I'm sure that you can take a break from cooking while we go get Twilight." Ditzy suggested, her speech was already becoming sluggish.

Zecora pressed her mouth into a thin line while she thought it over, and then she nodded, "We have more than enough for the ponies here, no doubt. I believe that I can join your mission without the danger of running out."

"So, when are we heading out?" Rainbow Dash asked without opening her eyes.

"You will have to stay here, darling. We need able-bodied ponies to get the door open." I explained.

Rainbow Dash opened one eye and picked her head up to stare me down, "That's not going to happen. If anypony is going to rescue Twilight, I'm going with you."

"You shall remain here as I advise. Leaving before you are well would be unwise." Zecora commanded.

Rainbow Dash threw a tiny fit, laid her head down on the couch, and closed her eyes again with her brow furrowed, "Fine."

Ditzy hooked a hoof in the direction of the tractor outside, "I'm going to get that hunk of junk working, and I'm pretty sure we can get..." Ditzy blinked a few times. It appeared that she had forgotten what she was talking about, and her eye lids were disobeying her will to stay awake, "...And we'll use it to move thome thtuff and then get the door open."

"Right." I said, beginning to feel the sleepiness as well, "Between the three of us, and the tractor. We have a good chance of being with Twilight tomorrow."

"With this possibility, it will be difficult to wait and rest, but it is necessary, and we must do what is best." Zecora said.

I nodded slowly and looked around the room for a corner to curl up and sleep in, and Zecora chuckled. I looked at her and finally asked, "Where can I lay down and remain out of the way, darling?"

"I will be awake making more brew, and that being said, I will not mind if you and your friend retired to my bed." Zecora offered.

"Oh, thank you, so much. I was not looking forward to the floor." I said while standing and beginning toward the master bedroom.

"Thankth, Zecora." Ditzy muttered while following me. She stopped and slurred back to Zecora, "You're best pony."

Zecora laughed, "My little pony, you're too kind. My heart is risen. Now, get to bed, and tomorrow, we get Twilight from her prison."
> Chapter 6 - Day Ten
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	There was a ringing silence in the house, except Pinkie's soft snoring in the guest room, and I made my way into the living room. Zecora was asleep on a small cot that she had set up next to her table, and Rainbow Dash was lazily stretched on the couch. I thought about waking Ditzy to go to Ponyville and get my tools that we'd left by the Carousel Boutique, but she simply looked so peaceful that I couldn't bring myself to do it. I eventually walked back to the bedroom and sat in the floor by the bed. Ditzy had stirred quite a bit in the night, and the covers ended up with most of her flank exposed.

I thought about the day before and how we had fought with each other. Well, more accurately, I had fought with her, but at any rate, I thought about ways to make it up to her. While it seemed crude, a waking sexual assault played in my mind, and I figured that I'd just slide my hoof between her legs, wait for her consciousness to return, and then she would join me. If it was my bed and my home, I probably would have done it, but I felt it would be weird to have sex in Zecora's bed. While we didn't exactly keep our relationship a secret, we weren't explicit to my friends that Ditzy and I were together, and walking in on us while we were in the throes of passion was likely not the best way to reveal it either. I turned my attention from Ditzy's rump and looked at my clothes on the wall.

Ponyville wasn't very far from here, and the radiation didn't seem nearly as dangerous as the other places we'd visited. I assumed that this was because the yaks' target was very specific; therefore, they didn't need as big a payload. What was confusing me was the fact that the yaks clearly wanted Twilight dead, and if that was the case, why not send the largest force in their arsenal? The crater was not like the kilometer-wide scar in the ground below Cloudsdale, and it was far from the effects of the Vanhoover bomb; it was only about a hundred meters across which is why I figured it was much smaller. But why? Was it because Ponyville wasn't a strategically advantageous location? 

I pushed the thought aside and became set in what I was to do to make yesterday up to Ditzy while I put on my protective gear. After I got dressed, I quietly took a quill from Zecora's desk in my magic, and I wrote a note to Ditzy that I'd gone to Ponyville to get my tools. I crept silently outside, and slowly closed the door behind me. I began on the northern path, out of the Everfree, and past City Hall. I stayed low and diverged my route to exclude going by the squatter's home. I could see the Hoofister's from the smaller, western path that I took, and I saw a bright orange pony outside the building with a green mare. He appeared to be carrying buckets of water on his back, and they were standing by the front door. I hadn't stopped moving for fear that they would see me despite their distance, which was about 200 meters away.

I continued to watched them closely while I made my way to the park before I returned to a casual trot. The park was filled with grey cobblestone paths that carved their way through small statues and memorials. The grass and foliage here was browned and a few of the trees had fallen over from the lack of life-giving sunlight. There was a small water fountain next to a statue that commemorated Princess Luna's return from her banishment to the moon. Luna's likeness had not been damaged in the blast like Celestia's fountain in the market, and I figured that was because of the shielding from trees in the park. I wandered to the drinking fountain and pressed the pedal that was supposed to release the water, but there was no pressure and it just clicked down under my hoof. I shrugged and took the water bottle from my pocket.

The early morning sunrise could be seen through the smoke in the sky which provided little light. The sunglasses were more for the safety from the odd piece of ash that remained floating in the air, but I almost couldn't see in the low light with the tint. I used my magic to put them on my cap, and I continued through the park toward my boutique.

As I left the dying grass of the park and back onto the path in front of the Carousel Boutique, I saw that the box was exactly where we left it. I smiled to it, and thought about how Ditzy was going to wake up, find her coat has been altered while she was sleeping, and then we would be all made up. I'm sure that we were okay now, but I wanted to extend a token of gratitude for her patience. I picked up the box with my magic and began to go back the way I came, but a chillingly familiar voice called to me from the southern path.

"Stop, right there." She yelled. It was the green mare from outside the store, and she was in a determined canter toward me. The orange stallion was just behind her, and he must have left his buckets at the store. They both stared me down as they closed the distance.

My eyes darted around her body to check if she was armed, and even though it appeared that she was not, I didn't stop being scared. Do I run away? Do I attack? There were so many questions flooding my brain that I simply stood and watched them approach. Thankfully, they slowed as they got near to give me time to consider my options, and they stopped about 20 meters from me.

"You're not taking anything from us." The green mare said. Her face had a lesion of necrotic flesh across her forehead that even overtook the base of her horn. The stallion's wings adjusted as he stopped next to the mare and looked her over. The look he gave her appeared evil. It wasn't like he was inquiring what to do next, it was as if they had already decided, and he was confused. Perhaps he expected her to lead a charge against me.

I tried to retain a tough exterior, "This is mine. I owned this boutique, and I own this box. It's mine."

"There are not enough resources to allow scavengers to take things from Ponyville. We need everything here." She explained.

"Why are we not just ending this now?" The stallion said, his voice gruff from the radiation burns on his mouth.

"These are my tools. I need them." I said firmly.

"Listen, you got me in trouble when I didn't kill you yesterday. You came into our house, took our clothes, and I let you go. That was clearly a mistake." She said, and she began to stalk closer to me. Her horn glowed, and my box floated toward her. My blue magic aura turned her green grip into a brilliant cyan as I stopped her.

"No, this is mine, and you can not have it." I growled.

The stallion moved quickly toward me, and he gave a look that communicated his intent to hurt me. So, I released the box and backed away. He stopped and eyed me for a moment before he said, "That's what I thought."

My memory of Ditzy being attacked in the barn flooded my brain. How was she so fearless? The stallion I killed was so much bigger than her, and Ditzy had predictably lost that fight. She had stared down somepony that was clearly dangerous, and she cursed him without regard for the fact that he was going to hurt her. She and I both knew, even before he attacked, that we weren't going to be capable of stopping him, but she stood her ground and fought him anyway. I took a deep breath and forced my tears back. You can do this, Rarity, I thought to myself. Fight for what's yours.

I stared at the orange stallion's wings and concentrated hard. My horn flashed a powerful blue, and I even felt my eyes alight through the anger and frustration. His wings glowed brightly in my magic aura, and then he choked out a ghastly scream while a muffled crunch echoed through the hills as I snapped as many bones as I could.

The mare dropped the box and her attention was captured by the woefully painful cries of her partner while I galloped toward her. She had just begun to look back at me when I dug my left fore-hoof into the ground, pivoted, and sent my full weight into both of my rear hooves. The buck connected with her nose, and a hollow crack muffled her grunt. The strike sent her back several meters and took her completely off the ground. She tumbled over her head, landed on her belly, and she gasped to breathe around the sudden onslaught of blood pouring from her disfigured nose and mouth. She spit several teeth onto the ground, but I'm sure that she swallowed most of the broken ones. The stallion's screams had become more horrifying as I pressed the sharply snapped bones from the skin, and he writhed on the ground in an attempt to free himself from my magic.

I trotted to him, brought my fore-hooves above his head, and stomped on his skull as hard as I could. A disgustingly deep pop signified the separation of his jaw bone, and he became silent in unconsciousness while he lay with his jaw unnaturally askew from his maxilla.

The mare coughed and choked with wetness filling every breath, but she managed to say, "You'd better not leave me alive, you fucking cunt." Her voice sloshed through the blood, "I will find you, bitch, and I'm going to fucking kill you." She was caught in a heave as she vomited the blood she had swallowed and then she gasped, "I swear to Celestia; you're fucking dead."

The fact that this pony spoke Celestia's name offended me to a point of rage that I'd never felt before, and I took the tool-case in my magic. It swung in an upward arc and connected with her chin which took her off her fore-hooves, and she rolled on to her back. I floated the case high above her head, and then I slammed it into her face repeatedly until every bone was reduced to a pulp of unrecognizable flesh. I finally took a breath from the exertion of swinging the case and looked over the box that was now dented even worse than before, and now the beautiful purple paint was stained with deep red and stippled with tiny peach colored lumps of brain. The dead silence was interrupted with only the gasps of me trying to catch my breath.

A pool of blood began collecting under the mare's head, and a deep gurgle reverberated through her chest as she attempted to breathe through her broken face. I watched the pile of muscle and skin pull toward where her mouth used to be, and a dark whistle of rushing air bubbled through tiny openings between the bones. Her exhale was like a sharp sigh which caused misplaced cheek flesh to bow outward, and then she returned to further voiceless pleas for oxygen. I believed she was unconscious, and her body was simply trying to sustain itself, but I couldn't stop thinking of the possibility that she was experiencing it.

I slowly made my way to the path on which I approached the Boutique, and I left them to die in the silently irradiated hell that had become of Ponyville. To my surprise, the guilt wasn't any easier to cope with than the first time I'd killed somepony. I felt like I'd killed them for a case of easily replaceable tools, but my rational brain told me it was the threat that made me do it. They made it apparent that they planned to hurt me if I took the case, and I was not going to have ventured all this way into the dangerous wasteland to go back empty hooved.

Ditzy was awake when I returned to the hut, and it appeared that she was going to scream at me for leaving her, but she stopped at the sight of the blood on my boots. Zecora stopped her work immediately and began checking me for wounds while I took off my jacket and cap. Everypony was just silent as they watched me set the gore covered case on the floor next to me. I slid off my boots, and then out of my pants, the white fabric harshly stained with blood. Rainbow Dash was standing and was looking much better than she had a few days ago, but she had a horrified look in her eyes as she studied the bits of brain on the case.

"A fierce warrior does not fight alone, is any of this blood your own?" Zecora asked.

"No, darling." I said simply.

"Why did you leave?" Ditzy asked with frustration remaining in her voice. It appeared that she had just woke up and was getting outfitted to come after me.

"I'm sorry. I really thought it'd be quick." I explained.

"Don't ever do that again, Rarity." Ditzy gruffly commanded, and then her fore-hooves suddenly grasped me around the back of my neck. "I was so scared."

"I can hold my own, darling." I said. "I was just trying to make things right from yesterday."

Ditzy released me, "So, you picked the worst possible way to make it up to me?"

"I'm sorry. I really am. I promise that I've learned a powerful lesson." I explained.

"Yeah, don't mess with Rarity." Rainbow Dash interjected.

Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and the Cakes were still asleep as I was led outside to a water pump that was much like the one at the barn. I rinsed myself off, put my clothes in an iron tub to soak, and I also rinsed off the case. Ditzy asked me what had happened many times, but I couldn't bring myself to give her any details. I couldn't even believe what I had done. I felt like a murderer. I had three ponies to my name, and I never thought I'd even have one.

While I went inside and began to sew the Pegamittens to Ditzy's jacket, Zecora and Ditzy went to the tractor to try to get it working. The auburn leather gloves clashed against the black jacket, but I paid no attention to that. I ran a pair of scissors through the back of the coat. I used a thick needle to run some leather string through the gloves and weaved it through the edge of the holes. Every now and then, I'd catch myself crying for the ponies I'd killed. I kept coming to the conclusion that I could have let them live, that I didn't have to kill them. I could have just run away when they were adequately incapacitated... But I didn't, and what's done is done. I finished up her jacket, and I went outside so Ditzy could try it on.

"Hey, Ditzy. How's it coming along?" I asked with the jacket floating in my magic.

Ditzy wiped a grease covered hoof across her brow, which left a black streak on her forehead, and she nodded, "We're making real headway."

Zecora blew air, "I am not too keen on mechanics, but with Ditzy's direction; there is no need to panic." She pointed about 5 meters from the tractor to a circular machine that was spinning. "We are separating with the centrifuge, so we'll have no problems with the fuels."

I raised a brow at Zecora while I helped Ditzy into the coat. Her wings fit snug into the gloves, and she gave a couple of slow flaps.

"The fuel lines were muddied from the oil, and this caused the engine to toil." Zecora continued.

Ditzy chuckled while admiring my work, "2-cycle gas has oil in it. Burning oil in a gas engine is bad for it, and we ended up with residue that blocked the lines. The transmission was running hot because-"

"Darling, I appreciate that you're filling me in, but I have no idea what you're talking about." I interrupted.

"Oh, okay." Ditzy laughed, "I'll just get back to it, then. I appreciate the jacket; it feels very nice."

"Not a problem, darling. It's what I do." I smiled. Ditzy and Zecora went back to work while I returned to the hut to find something to eat.

Pinkie Pie was awake now, and she was talking with Rainbow Dash who was actually sitting up on the couch next to her. They fell silent and they watched me enter as if I was going to attack them at any moment.

"Hello, darlings. I'm going to get some biscuits, and then may I join you?" I asked.

"Yeah, sure. That'd be cool." Rainbow Dash said.

I went into the master bedroom. I glanced in the guest room on the way there, found that the Cakes were still asleep along with Fluttershy. I went to Ditzy's saddle bag and pulled three of Zecora's biscuits from it. I went back to the living room where the mares were talking, but when I sat with them, they were suddenly silent. I floated two of the biscuits to them, and they allowed me to place them on their fore-hooves.

"So, what are we talking about?" I asked while biting into the biscuit.

"Nothing, really." Rainbow Dash said with a tiny shrug.

"Yes, we were." Pinkie looked confused at Rainbow, "You said that you didn't know Rarity could kill somepony, and then I said she probably had good reason, and then you were saying how you were worried that she was going to like killing ponies, and..."

Rainbow Dash's glare finally caught her attention, and Pinkie became quiet.

Pinkie chuckled quietly and bit into the biscuit, "Oh, I meant, we weren't really talking about anything."

"It's okay. I'd probably feel the same way if I was in your position." I said.

"I'm just surprised is all." Rainbow Dash said. "You're still awesome, but it's just kind of freaky that you've done that."

"Believe me, darling. I know it is." I said with a nod while helping myself to more biscuit. "I'm so glad of what we've accomplished, let us not forget that. We've come together, and that is something to be grateful for."

"Yeah, I get that." Rainbow Dash said.

I smiled at them, "It will be so nice when we find Applejack. I'm optimistic that she is still out there looking for us."

"Probably not." Pinkie chirped while finishing her biscuit.

I glared at her, "That's a terrible thing to say, Pinkie."

"No, I don't mean that she's dead, but she's probably not looking for us." Pinkie explained.

"How do you figure?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Because you know how she is. She is really helpful, and I'm sure that she's doing her part in Dodge Junction." Pinkie said.

"Wait, Applejack is in Dodge? How do you know? Why didn't you tell us?" I nearly shouted.

"You didn't ask." Pinkie shrugged. "I was going out for cherries, and I ran into Applejack. She said she was going to Dodge Junction to visit her friend Cherry Jubilee, and I asked her to pick up a bag of cherries on her way back. The Cakes were happy because I stayed home, and I was happy because I was going to get some cherries."

"Do you think she may have gotten caught in the bombing?" I asked, "How much time passed until it began?"

"A few hours at least." Pinkie said.

Dodge junction was about 60 kilometers south of Ponyville and about an hour by train. So, it was safe to assume that, if they had been hit, Applejack would have had plenty of time to find shelter. I badly wanted to make sure, but we needed to free Twilight first. I had just started to get up from the chair and go see how the tractor was coming along, when we heard the guttural roar of the machine from outside. It only ran for a few seconds before it cut off, and then Zecora entered.

"Such work it has been, but the tractor lives again!" Zecora announced.

"Excellent!" I exclaimed. "Let's go get Twilight!"


***	***	***	***	***	***


Zecora put together a set of her own gear while my clothes dried. We got dressed, gathered tools, and went to the tractor. It ran like new, and the three of us rode it through Froggy Bottom Bogg. We cut across the western residential area, made our way past the fountain in the market, through the park, and past my boutique. I averted my eyes from the bodies of the slain ponies, but I saw that the stallion had crawled several meters. The erratic blood trail led me to believe that he couldn't see very well due to his injuries. I was thankful that nopony said anything as we made our way to the crater.

Ditzy drove the tractor around the rim of the crater and we made our way to the north side of the foundation. Zecora and I began digging the blackened dirt from the top of the stone frame while Ditzy used her wings to secure chains to the tractor. When our shovels would hit the stone, we would move back a few more meters until we had it completely unburied. It took several hours for all of us to force the chains under the structure, but eventually we had a network of chains webbed over and around the stone. The three of us went into town and took an I-beam from a collapsed house and carried it back with us. I found a large boulder that we were going to use to force the I-beam down on one end while the other side would act as a fulcrum to pull up the stone.

We got into position, and Ditzy slowly pushed the differential to depress the accelerator. I dropped the boulder, and Zecora monitored the fulcrum from the side. The plan was working, and the stone shifted upward and was being pulled from the hole by the tractor. There was a deep rumble as the structure's integrity gave way, and it split in half where the I-beam was pulling on it. The chains came loose, and Ditzy shut down the tractor. The remaining stone broke apart and fell back into the hole.

"Don't worry, ponies; this is okay. Smaller pieces are easier anyway." Zecora said.

Much like before, we replaced the chains, put the fulcrum into position, and Zecora kept a close watch. The top of the gate's frame slid across the dirt and the plan went off without a hitch. As we set up to remove the block that had fallen back onto the door, we noticed that the glow of the sun behind the clouds was getting closer to the western horizon. We tried not to hurry too much, because we wanted the plan to work a second time, but we also didn't want to have to work in the dark.

The tractor roared as it pulled the stone from the hole, and the fulcrum tilted it as designed. Zecora shouted for us to stop and pointed out that the chains were coming loose from the block. Ditzy set the parking brake on the tractor, and we allowed the block to hang several meters above the trap door. We went to the edge of the hole, and I opened the trap door with my magic. It was damaged, but I managed to force it open.

A lavender alicorn began to make her way out of the door, but I shouted to her, "Not yet, Twilight!"

"Okay." She called back and she looked at the block hanging above the door. "I'm guessing that it's not stable."

"No, darling, but it is nice to see you." I smiled. She appeared healthy which I figured was extremely lucky. Spike was just behind her, and his brilliant purple scales were just as vibrant as I remembered.

"It will be much nicer when I get out of here." Twilight smiled back while she studied our work.

"Rarity! I knew you'd come for me!" Spike called from just behind Twilight.

"Of course, darling." I chuckled. "How was I to get along without my Spikey-wikey?"

Twilight craned her head to see as much as she could without leaving the cover of the safe room, "If you can get another beam, I can put a support on the other side."

"I'm not sure we can find another boulder." Ditzy called.

"Not a fulcrum, Ditzy. A support. Instead of trying to pull it out, you'll put it down." Twilight explained.

"Then how will we get you out?" I asked.

"With a support in place, we can design where it will land. That will keep the door free of obstruction, understand?" Zecora explained.

I wasted no time and immediately went to another house on the other side of the crater. I took an I-beam, but I stopped myself and decided to take two. I went back to the hole, Twilight took one of the beams, and she placed it next to the fulcrum, but made sure that it was securely resting against the ground. She took the other beam and put it on the other side. With the two beams supporting the structure, she removed the fulcrum and quickly placed it where all three beams were intersecting at a common point. Ditzy went back to the tractor, and backed it up slowly. The chains descended from the stone, and the structure was supported completely by the I-beams.

Zecora took a rope from the tractor and tossed it into the hole. Twilight took the rope in her teeth and allowed us to pull her out. Spike was next, but he was able to grip the rope with his claws.

Twilight hugged me, but I pushed her off and said, "It's not safe here, darling. There will be time for that, but we have to get you away from the radiation here."

"Of course." Twilight said with a nod. Ditzy drove the tractor, and Spike rode on the back while the rest of us walked behind it.

"Do you know anything about what happened?" I asked while we began a large circle around the crater toward the western residential area. By this time, night was quickly falling.

"Princess Celestia warned me that the yaks had started bombing us, and she said that she was sending royal guards to come and bring me to the safe house." Twilight began. She blew air and continued, "But they didn't get to the castle in time. I was watching out the window for them to arrive, but I saw a yak in the courtyard in front of the castle."

"A yak was here in Ponyville?" I asked.

"Yes. I think he was looking for me, and when he saw me in the window, that's when he pulled the detonator out of his coat." Twilight explained. She shook her head, "I just grabbed Spike and teleported us to the panic room. It wasn't even a second later that I felt the explosion."

"Close call." I said.

"You're telling me." She said. "I wrote to Celestia to tell her that I was safe, and she told me that she and Princess Luna were being held in separate safe houses until the crisis had passed. They're going to wait a month until they come back out to rebuild."

I recalled the books Ditzy and I had read in the cellar and figured that the royal advisers were using the same knowledge to determine the time frame. I nodded to her and said, "We have most of our friends at Zecora's hut, but Applejack is still in Dodge Junction."

"How is everypony else?" Twilight asked.

"Rainbow Dash was really sick for a while, but Zecora has made a cure for radiation sickness." I said. We were going past Sugar Cube Corner, and I pointed to it, "We found Pinkie Pie and the Cakes here. They're not doing so well, but that cure really works, so they will be fine. Fluttershy got out of Ponyville before it happened and avoided the blast altogether."

"And what about you?" Twilight asked. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, darling." I said. "Ditzy saved my life. If it weren't for her, I wouldn't be here."

"I see that Ponyville isn't doing too well." Twilight said with her mouth pressed into a thin line, "Is anypony alive?"

I nodded somberly, "I haven't seen how many, but I know there is a group of survivors living in a store in the market. Given the drastic situation, they've become quite paranoid."

"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.

"Well, ponies are desperate." I said, and then I shook my head, "I can't talk about it."

"What happened?" Twilight prodded further. I thought about how she was in a hole for ten days, and that I understood her need for answers, but I felt like returning to the surface to find that her kingdom had been destroyed was shocking enough. I didn't want to tell her that her friend had also killed ponies on top of everything. I suspected that Rainbow Dash or Pinkie Pie would tell her anyway. The details were not important.

I finally answered, "It was bad, but I really don't want to talk about it."

As we made our way over the bridge into Froggy Bottom Bogg, she said, "Whatever happened, I'm sure that you did what you had to do."

I tried to come up with an appropriate response, but was at a loss for words. I simply followed Ditzy through the bog and to Zecora's hut. Twilight went inside, and was given a warm welcome. Everypony was so happy to see her, but I was caught in the dread of having Twilight find out that I had killed three ponies. I simply stood back and watched her hug everypony.

By the time I was able to shake myself from my melancholy, Twilight was laying out a plan to go to Dodge Junction tomorrow. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were on the couch, Twilight was standing in front of them drawing a map in the steam above the cauldron, and Pinkie Pie was surprisingly listening attentively from the chair on the left of the couch. Ditzy was in the chair on the right, and Zecora stood in front of the hallway behind the couch, also watching Twilight's presentation. I remained near the front door, but wasn't really paying attention.

"You don't look very happy to see Twilight back." Spike said quietly so he wouldn't interrupt Twilight's speech. "You've stood here at the door and stared at the floor. What's up?"

"Oh, darling. I'm just a little down. It's been quite rough out here." I explained.

"But you're okay? It pains me to see somepony so pretty be so sad." He grinned.

I smiled and effectively stifled the urge to roll my eyes. I sometimes forget about his boyish crush on me, but he'd been pining for me since the day we met. It was certainly adorable, but it was also slightly heartbreaking because I was sure that he wasn't going to take the news of Ditzy and I being together very well.

"I will be okay. I just fear that this new world is growing on me faster than I thought it would." I said.

"Adaptation is good, right?" Spike asked.

"I'm not sure about this kind." I said. I thought about how tired I was and about how we hadn't really laid out the bed situation. If you counted the twins as one pony, there were eleven bodies in this one dwelling, and there was three beds, one cot, and a couch. I'd realized that before tonight, our schedules had been so sporadic that we hadn't required the coordination. 

"Gosh, I'm tired." I blurted.

"Don't let me keep you." Spike said with a bright smile.

"Thank you, darling." I yawned, but then I felt an urge to ask him, "How would you feel about me if I'd killed somepony?"

Spike looked at the floor and pondered for a moment, and then he said, "I guess it would depend on what happened."

"What if I didn't have to kill them? Would it make it worse if I had chosen to kill them? I weighed the option to leave them alive, and I killed them anyway." I asked. I made my voice soft with shame.

"It probably would." Spike said. I appreciated his honesty, although it didn't really help my anxiety.

"Thank you." I whispered. "I feel awful for it, but I killed three ponies in the last week."

"You had to though." Spike asked more for his emotions rather than actual clarification.

"I'm not sure, darling. I probably didn't, but I did." I said.

"Why?" Spike said.

Now, that was the real question. I didn't know why I felt the need to take their lives. I knew why I took action. The stallion in the barn was going to kill Ditzy, the pair in Ponyville probably would have killed me over the case, but both instances ended up going too far. The feeling that they didn't need to die plagued me so heavily.

"I don't know. I guess I just lost my bearings when I was scared." I explained.

Spike gave a tiny shrug, "Fear can be a powerful force. It changes you, and you may not like what you see. But, there's nothing you can do. There's the normal you, and there's the scared you; two ponies that react independently from each other."

I smirked, "You're saying that you don't judge me for what I did."

"I'm saying that it wasn't really you that killed them. The fear changed you into somepony that I've had the fortune of never meeting while having plenty of time to learn about the Rarity I know and love." He smiled while touching my shoulder with his claws.

My smirk turned into a smile, and I looked at him, "You're surprisingly insightful, darling."

"I can be full of surprises." Spike chuckled. "Anyway, how does this bed situation work?"

"I was just thinking about that a minute ago." I said. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy had been sleeping together, the cakes slept together, and the twins had their crib. Ditzy and I took Zecora's bed, and she slept on the cot by her table. With Twilight and Spike added in, I wasn't sure what we were going to do.

"That sounds like a plan!" Rainbow Dash announced as Twilight's map dissolved from the steam.

"Good, we'll leave at first light." Twilight said, and then she looked at me with a smile. I just smiled back and hoped that I hadn't missed any important details.

As the meeting broke, Fluttershy left the couch and went outside. Rainbow Dash stretched out on the couch, Pinkie Pie and Twilight retired to the guest room, and Twilight called for Spike to join them, while Zecora began unfolding her cot.

Ditzy came up to me and gave me a little smile, "Is something bothering you?"

I thought about what Spike had said, "Yes, darling. I'm fine."

"Are you ready for bed?" Ditzy asked and her smile grew a bit bigger.

"We're still taking Zecora's bed?" I asked.

"Yeah, Fluttershy is sleeping in a tent outside so Twilight can take her place with Pinkie." She raised a brow, "We're going to be alone again tonight."

Her comment spurred a little smile from me, and I said, "Oh, then we should definitely get to bed."


***	***	***	***	***	***


Once again, I woke up before Ditzy did. Rainbow Dash also slept a long time, and Fluttershy was generally a heavy sleeper as well, which led me to believe that it was simply a pegasus thing. Of course, Ditzy and I didn't get to sleep until the wee hours of the morning. It was the first time that we'd had sex in an actual bed, and it was that much more amazing. It wasn't my bed, or hers, but it didn't take long for me to be okay with that. With the help of her breathy, gasped instructions, I was able to bring her to orgasm twice, but of course, she had me reeling in pleasurable agony many, many more times than that.

I snuck out of the bed to go to the outhouse, but stopped dead in my tracks at the sight of a small, purple dragon curled up on the floor at the end of our bed. Sweet Celestia, how long had Spike been there? I thought to myself. Ditzy and I had been quite preoccupied throughout the night, and I was worried that he'd caught us. Maybe he was too bashful to say anything, but why would he stay? I hoped that he hadn't seen anything. It was going to be difficult to explain.

I crept into the living room where I found Zecora drinking tea and enjoying an adventure book while the Cakes were mixing Cure Stew. It was nice to finally see Zecora relax, and with the Cakes being natural cooks, they were a perfect stand-in for her as well. I nodded to them as I made my way by so that I wouldn't wake Rainbow Dash.

The sun was just beginning to light the horizon,  and the cool and crisp air was a nice touch to a sky that was so clear that I could see the stars. I felt thankful that I was one of the few ponies in Equestria that got to see them, and I pushed aside the thought that there were up to millions of ponies that never got the chance. I went around the hut to the outhouse that was about 20 meters from the rear of the house. I closed the outhouse door and did my business. My magic lit up the tissue roll, which was frustratingly empty, and I noted to myself that we needed to scavenge more from Ponyville soon. I looked around the tiny space, and I found a tiny, stale piece of paper towel. I shook my head and then shrugged at it.

Leaves rustled just outside the outhouse and my eyes snapped toward the sound. Although we were not far inside the Everfree, there was still dangerous monsters. My head weaved side to side as I tried to see through the cracks in the wood planks, and I could see a dark shadow lumbering near. I tried not to breathe and wait for it to pass, whatever it was. It stopped in front of the door for a long time, and I could hear it sniffing the air. I prayed that it was just Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, or somepony, anypony. Please, let it just be a pony.

A soft growl confirmed my greatest fear. I took a slow breath, and tried to remain completely silent. I was just going to pretend that I wasn't here, and hopefully it was just going to leave. It's large nostrils were snorting air, and it brushed against the door, but I couldn't see what it was. It had just began to lumber away from the outhouse, and then, to my horror, I felt a tiny scratch in the back of my throat.

The urge to cough was strong, but my will to live was stronger. I put a hoof over my mouth and tried to breathe around it. I had no idea what it was, but I assumed that I'd inhaled dust that was knocked loose from the creature rubbing against the door. Every breath refused to go down easily, and my diaphragm would contract wildly in protest that I was leaving the dust in my throat. The urge grew into a painful obstruction, and despite refusing to take a breath, my body forced a weak expulsion of air from my mouth. I saw the creature stop and heard it sniffing for me.

The cough had not helped, and I involuntarily expelled another sharp hack, but this time, much louder. I trembled as it came closer, and my face grew sore from every feature being stretched wide in fear. I craned further to try and identify it between the cracks, and that's when I saw the unmistakably enormous fang of the manticore.

It pawed the door and emitted a low, rumbling growl. I wanted to call out for help, but I couldn't bring myself to make any more noise that would confirm my existence. It suddenly reeled back to strike the outhouse, and I involuntarily hunkered down, covered my head, and screamed like a foal. The blow took the outhouse completely from the ground and sent it crashing into the woods. I was staring the manticore directly in the face, and there was me, sitting on the toilet and simply shaking.

It's eyes closed tightly, and it drew in a breath with so much force that I thought I may be sucked into it's mouth. It suddenly bellowed a roar so loud that my ears were immediately ringing. Although, I was scared and not in my right mind, I took the opportunity of it's closed eyes to take off running toward the house.

I don't think I've galloped so hard in my life, and as I rounded the corner of the house, I nearly smashed my face into Fluttershy. I was able to stop enough to keep from hurting her, but I still put my left shoulder into her chest which took my fore-hooves from under me. I rolled to my belly and quickly checked to see if she was okay.

Fluttershy looked at me and said, "Was that a manticore I heard?"

"Yes! Let's go!" I shouted just as I watched the gigantic monster round the corner behind me. It was closing too fast to get away, and I buried my face under my fore-hooves, accepting my death. I couldn't help but shriek in the fear that I was going to be ripped to shreds by the lion's claws of a manticore. I just hoped that it killed me quickly and only began eating me after I was dead.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Fluttershy yelled. I looked up and gave her a confused face, but then found that she wasn't talking to me. Her eyes were wide and filled with anger, but the manticore didn't stop coming. Fluttershy slammed her fore-hoof into the ground, and her stare became even more intense. To my surprise, it's gait bounced to a halt just in front of us.

"You scared my friend!" Fluttershy shouted at it. "You apologize right now."

The manticore grumbled as it moved slowly to me, and then it dragged it's grotesque, sand-paper like tongue across my face. I became frozen with a horrified look locked into my features, but I managed not to scream my disgust.

"That's better." Fluttershy said to it with a nod. "Go back to the woods and think about what you've done."

The manticore downcast it's eyes in shame, turned away from us, and then somberly trudged into the woods. It was only the second time, I'd ever seen Fluttershy do that, but it never ceased to render me speechless. I simply looked at her, and then grabbed her by the chest and squeezed her so tight that my fore-legs hurt.

"Can't... breathe..." Fluttershy squeaked.

"Sorry, darling." I said as I released her, "You just saved my life."

"He wasn't going to hurt you." Fluttershy chuckled. "Manticores just play rough."

"What if he was?" I said, "We've got to figure out a solution to this radiation problem and get to some place safe, and soon."

"I promise that he wasn't going to hurt you, but I get what you're saying." Fluttershy said while putting a hoof on my shoulder.

"I heard screaming!" Ditzy called with Rainbow Dash at her side and Zecora in tow.

"Everything is fine." I said, "But, the outhouse didn't survive the attack."

"What happened?" Rainbow Dash said as they began to relax.

"I was going to the bathroom, and a manticore swiped the outhouse right from over me." I explained while recreating the motion as if I was knocking over a tiny outhouse in front of me.

"Well, thank Celestia that Fluttershy was there." Rainbow Dash said.

I nodded and smiled to Fluttershy, "Yes, indeed. She's my savior."

Fluttershy shook her head and smiled back, "He wasn't going to hurt you, Rarity. Manticores aren't like that to ponies."

"Did you not know that?" Rainbow Dash giggled.

I sighed heavily, "I probably did, but it was scary, okay?"

"So, my outhouse was destroyed? Is your bodily function cause to avoid?" Zecora said, and her voice quivered from trying to stifle laughter.

I sighed again and rolled my eyes, "No, it is not."

My heart had just began to settle down, but then a deep pressure in my gut signified that I had more fear to expel. "I'm afraid I must return to the outhouse." I said, and then I started back to the rear of the house.

"I guess it scared the crap out of you?" Rainbow Dash called to me as I rounded the corner, and then I heard Zecora and Rainbow Dash in a laughing fit while they were going back inside.

"I'm glad you find this amusing." I said under my breath while I made my way back to the toilet-hole, and placed the outhouse shell over me with my magic. I was just about to sit down, and I looked at the empty tissue roll. I closed my eyes and silently cursed to myself. I tried to open the door, but it had been damaged by the manticore's strike. I lifted the shell from the ground and went to Fluttershy's tent at the front of the house.

I asked with the lingering "fear" bubbling in my abdomen, "Darling, I need some bathroom tissue."

"Oh, sure." Fluttershy said, and she pulled a half-depleted roll from a duffel.

"Thanks!" I said as I took the roll in my magic and galloped around the house again. I paid no attention to the fact that the shell wasn't aligned correctly with the wood foundation of the outhouse, my issue had become an emergency. A thought crept into my mind that Fluttershy could probably hear me in there, but I shook it from my head. I'd finished the deed, and was exiting after forcing the door open, and that manticore was sitting on his haunches just in front of me.

I simply froze, and with my eyes wide, I said, "What?"

The manticore cocked his head.

My eyes shifted and I said, "Listen, if you're trying to make it up to me, this is not the best way to do it. I find this rather... creepy."

He lowered his large head to rest his chin on his fore-paws in a submissive position, and he looked up at me.

"I'm going back inside. I forgive you. Now, you may leave." I said.

He didn't move.

"Alright, I'm going back inside." I said, but I stood there as if the manticore was suddenly going to gain the ability to respond. I waited a beat, and then I slowly started away from him, and then I broke into a gallop for the house. I quickly let myself inside, and then I shut the door behind me and took a breath. Rainbow Dash and Zecora were sitting on the couch watching me while the Cakes continued to cook.

"That was strange." I said.

"Did everything come out okay?" Rainbow Dash asked with a grin.

Zecora gave her a hoof-bump, "That was a good one. You're too much fun."

"Oh, jeez, Rainbow Dash, so crude." I said while trotting back to the bedroom.

"I'll take that as a no." Rainbow Dash chuckled.

"Rarity, do not be aloof. I'm here if you need a hoof." Zecora said, and they collapsed onto each other in laughter.

I made my way into the master bedroom where Ditzy was sitting up in the bed, and she put her book down to look at me. I studied Spike, who had remained asleep on the floor. I quietly patted his back to wake him, and his eyes slowly peeled to look at me.

"What's up?" He asked while rubbing an eye with his claw.

"Let's go back to Twilight's room." I whispered.

"But Pinkie snores. That's why I came in here." Spike groggily complained.

"Come on, Spike." I said softly while I pushed him to his feet. He didn't say anything while he wobbled out of the room, and I watched from the doorway to make sure that he went back to the guest room. He put himself at the side of the bed that Twilight was on and quickly went back to sleep on the floor. I silently closed the guest room door, and then looked back at Ditzy.

"He's Twilight's problem." I shrugged.

"Do you think he saw anything?" Ditzy whispered.

I gritted my teeth and shrugged, "I don't know."

"So, are you okay? The whole manticore thing." Ditzy asked.

"I'm sure that it will be funny tomorrow, but right now, it was just scary." I explained.

"I can hear that Rainbow Dash and Zecora find it hilarious." She said while looking back at her book.

"Quite." I commented while crawling back into the bed. "I didn't know that Zecora was into that kind of humor."

"I thought the same thing, but then again I don't know her very well." Ditzy said, and then she put her book down again, "You don't think they're... you know..."

"Zecora and Rainbow Dash? No, no... well, I don't know." I said as I pondered it. "I'm not sure, but I don't want to meddle in other ponies' business."

"But, wouldn't that be interesting?" Ditzy smiled while picking her book back up.

"Why? It wouldn't be much different than us." I said while covering myself with the blanket.

"No, it wouldn't, but you don't think it would be interesting if Rainbow Dash is into mares?" Ditzy asked while turning the page.

"Not particularly. Why?" I said while snuggling close to her.

"Because I think it would be interesting." Ditzy said. "It'd open the possibility to... well, nevermind."

"No, what were you going to say?" I said while propping myself up and looking at her.

She had a naughty smile, and she shrugged, "You wouldn't invite her for a fling?"

I recoiled, "With Rainb-" I shook my head, "Gosh, no. Why would you ask me that? She's my friend."

"I know that." Ditzy chuckled. "I assume that our relationship is exclusive, but-"

"It is exclusive." I interjected firmly.

"But, I thought we wouldn't completely throw out the idea of a three-way." She explained.

"Darling, I'm trying to not be upset with you about this." I said. "Because it sounds like something you really want-"

"Oh, come on. You've never thought about it?" Ditzy interrupted.

"No, I haven't." I said. "Ditzy, I'm the type to get her feelings hurt and become insecure. What if you liked Rainbow Dash better?"

"If I liked having sex with her better?" Ditzy clarified, "Sex and love are two very different things."

I was taken aback by her wanton use of the L-word, and I cocked my head, "Love?"

She giggled, "Yeah, Rarity." She shrugged and then rubbed my back with a hoof, "I love you, Rarity."

"Darling, I..." Joyful tears filled my eyes, "I love you, too."

I leaped from my side of the bed, and tackled her into the sheets in a strong embrace. I kissed her deeper than I ever had before, and suddenly her tongue was gently sliding through my mouth like she was gingerly painting my teeth. Her hooves quickly tossed me onto my back, and she hopped on top of me. She flipped her mane to the left side of her face, and she gave me that naughty smile while she bit her lip. It reminded me of our first time, but this was the most fulfilling that we had yet.
> Chapter 7 - Day Eleven
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Zecora had made us lilac and rose pedal omelets for breakfast. There were short exchanges where we asked each other how we had slept, but there wasn't much notable conversation. Of course, Ditzy and I studied Spike for a long while for any indication that he witnessed the previous night's activities. If he had, he wasn't calling attention to the knowledge, and he simply enjoyed his breakfast alongside Twilight.

Rainbow Dash and Zecora were sitting side by side on the couch, and Fluttershy was washing the breakfast dishes in the small sink on the west wall next to the stove. Pinkie Pie waved a hoof at us without saying anything and returned to bed. The Cure Stew that she had for breakfast had rendered her too exhausted to come with us to Dodge Junction.

The Cakes were cooking more of the cure and seemed to be mostly resilient to the fatigue. They attributed it to the fact that they had twin foals and had learned to function without sleep. Twilight magically floated Spike’s dish to Fluttershy from the chair next to the couch, and Ditzy and I had, once again, claimed the chair on the right.

"Alright, girls.” Twilight announced. “Are we ready to go to Dodge Junction?"

"I meant to speak to you about that." Zecora said while putting her tea on the table. "But I don't mean to hamper your plans right off the bat."

"That's alright, Zecora. What did you have in mind?" Twilight asked while poking her food with a fork in her magic. She complained, out of earshot from Zecora of course, that she didn’t like the omelet because it was very similar to a quesadilla. Twilight had something against quesadillas.

"I feel that the cure is bringing us great progress, and I wish to remain here to monitor the process." Zecora explained.

Twilight nodded with disappointment in her face, "Okay, I'm sure that we'll manage."

Zecora turned to Rainbow Dash, "I don't feel that you are well yet, and ignoring my advice is not a safe bet."

Rainbow Dash smiled and shook her head, “I wouldn’t ignore you, Zecora.” She said and then looked to Twilight, "Do you think you could get along without me?"

Twilight sighed, "I mean, we can figure it out, I'm sure."

Rainbow Dash nodded and patted Zecora's leg, "Then I think that I should stay."

Zecora smiled, "I am glad that you are willing to stay here. It puts me at ease when you are near."

I smirked to Ditzy out of the corner of my eye, and she gave a small shrug with a nod. I didn't want to believe that her intuition was correct, but it would seem that she had a knack for reading mares. It wasn’t confirmation per se, but it was certainly considered evidence of her assumption.

Twilight pressed her mouth into a thin line and looked us over, and then she said, "So, I guess it's just us, then."

"That's okay, darling." I said with a smile. "Surely, we wouldn't want the entire group to venture out anyway. Besides, you can wear Zecora's gear from yesterday. The clothes really seem to help. I haven't had to drink that dreadful stew since that first day."

Twilight shrugged, and she gave a weighted smile through her anxiety that we were diverging from the plan, "You're right. Can you help me get dressed?"

"Of course, Twilight." I said.

It didn't take long for us to get ready since we already had all of our clothes laid out and didn't have to assemble the gear. Twilight opted to wear Ditzy's saddlebags so that she could bring more provisions. She neatly packed six water bottles, three of the heat-n-eat meals, six biscuits, and three small flasks of cure stew. She looked at the bag for a long time, emptied it, and then reorganized the contents. Ditzy and I watched her do this several times before she deemed it ready for travel.

We left at just before noon and made our way deeper into the Everfree Forest. The further south we traveled, the sky became more and more dense with the thick nuclear gasses that remained in the atmosphere, and the tree cover became much darker. The distance between the trees appeared to move and watch us as we walked. I hated the Everfree Forest.

It was simply a dreadfully creepy place to be, and we trudged through the mud of the forest for several hours before we got to the south edge of Froggy Bottom Bogg. We came out from under the tree cover and saw that we were at the top of the waterfall that led to Ghastly Gorge to the southwest. The distant eastern horizon was covered in the haze of fires that had long burned out, but we could see that Dodge Junction had been attacked from here. Even closer than that, there was the looming deadly cloud above Apple Loosa due south of us. It wasn’t clear if Apple Loosa had been hit with a larger bomb, or if it was just that much closer to us which made it appear that way.

There was a damaged bridge of train tracks that went across the gorge to the south west of us. The right side of the steel arch supports that ran along the edges of the bridge was bent away from the south, and the left side had completely broken off. In the grass next to the cliff edge, we found rivets, railroad ties, and rail spikes that had been flung from the structure when the shockwave from Apple Loosa hit the bridge. The base didn’t appear stable, but we’d come to the conclusion that we may have to take our chances with it.

We were going to wade through the stream above the waterfall, but we worried about radioactive materials that had settled in the water. Dodge Creek was a tributary of Horseshoe Bay in Baltimare, far from here on the east coast, and it ran all the way to Junction River in the San Palomino Desert south of Applewood on the west coast. Due to the contiguous distance, there was a very good chance that the radiation levels in this particular stream were very lethal. 

“Here goes nothing.” I whispered as I began to follow Ditzy across the bridge with Twilight in tow. The wood that covered the steel wasn’t burned, but it was brittle and protested loudly when we set our hooves on it.

“Don’t look down.” Twilight said as we moved slowly, and I watched Ditzy test each step with a tap before she put her full weight on it.

“Why do ponies say that?” I asked while doing as she said. I just kept my eyes on Ditzy, and my head tilted back so that I would not get a glimpse of the terrifying height. 

“Because vertigo can make you lose your balance.” Twilight explained as we had made it about halfway, and we became more relaxed. I listened closely, but I had not heard the steel buckle under us, neither did I feel the structural integrity waver.

“I think we’re okay.” Ditzy announced, and then she began walking more casually. Twilight and I followed her gait, and when we made it to the south-east cliff, Ditzy hopped onto the ground and waited for me. Both of us waited for Twilight, and then we walked with her between us while we followed the eastbound train tracks on our way to Dodge Junction.

After walking a few more hours, we saw the plumes of smoke from the smoldering remains of Apple Loosa. The city was probably a little more than 10 kilometers away, but we could make out the crater from here. Apple Loosa was an orchard town, and they had maintained a staggering number of apple, pear, and orange trees which made it a powerhouse of economy and production. They provided more fruit for soldiers and needy families than anywhere else in Equestria, and this fact was likely the reason that they were a target in the war.

The sunset turned the smog in the west into a bright orange glow as we continued next to the tracks. The browning grass had given way to the tan dirt native to Dodge’s dry environment.

“Are we getting close, darling?” I whined. My hooves hurt so bad from trotting for at least seven hours straight. I checked my watch, and shook my head. It had only been 6 hours and thirty minutes.

“It’s just over this way.” Ditzy pointed with her forehead to the hill ahead of us… the enormous, steep hill that we had to get up and over. Gosh, I was just so exhausted.

“We should set up camp before we head back.” Twilight suggested.

“I figured we would find somepony in Dodge Junction to shack up with for the night.” Ditzy said.

“Speaking of shacking up, I can’t stop thinking about Zecora and Rainbow Dash.” I snickered.

"What are you talking about?" Twilight asked.

Ditzy and I laughed because we had both forgot that Twilight wasn’t in our loop of rumor.

“Have you been paying attention to Zecora and Rainbow Dash since you had arrived?” I asked.

“I haven’t paid particular attention, but sure, I’ve spent some time with them.” Twilight answered.

“Have you noticed anything strange about the way they act around each other?” Ditzy asked.

“Should I have?” Twilight said with an eyebrow raised, appearing to be trying to recall anything notable but coming up empty.

"We have a theory that Zecora and Rainbow Dash are..." I sped up slightly to look at Ditzy from around Twilight, "What did you call it?... ka-boinking?" I chuckled.

"What does that mean?" Twilight said while also looking at Ditzy.

Ditzy laughed, "Hoof beats between the sheets… you know?"

Twilight shook her head, "No, I don't know."

"We think they're together, darling.” I explained slowly without being able to let go of my grin.

Twilight shrugged, "Yes, that's where we left them."

"No, dear." I laughed. "We believe they're having sex."

"Zecora and Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked in surprise. "No, they wouldn't do that. That's just... That'd be just as likely as... I don't know, you two getting together."

Twilight stopped walking, watched us giggling at each other, and then glanced between us for a moment, "No, really?"

Ditzy and I had discussed revealing our romance to all of my friends at one time, but it was clearly not going to work that way. Ditzy gave me a shrug and smiled.

"Yes, darling." I nodded while Ditzy made her way to my side and hugged me with her wing. I continued, "Ditzy and I have been together for over a week now."

Twilight smirked at the ground and she said, more to herself than us, "Really? I didn’t see that before, but now that you mention it, it makes sense. I don’t really know what it was, but retrospectively I feel like I knew something was between you two."

“You’re okay with it?” I asked, and we started walking again.

“I’m going to have to be.” Twilight chuckled, and then she shook her head, “That’s not to imply that I have an issue, but I recognize that if I did, it’d be more of a problem for me than you.”

“Being the first pony we’ve told, I’d really like to know what you think of us.” Ditzy asked.

Twilight gave a small shrug, “You’re a cute couple, Ditzy. A little different and not what I’d expect, but you’re cute anyway.”

“Did you hear that?” Ditzy said to me, “The Princess says we’re cute.”

“Calm down, darling.” I laughed.

“I’m just surprised because I would have never thought that you, of all ponies, would be with a mare.” Twilight said with a big smile. “I can just recall how often you enjoyed the company of stallions.”

I did a playful gasp, “Darling, you don’t mean to tell me I’m a whore, do you? I am not a whore.” I giggled, and then I did a tiny shrug, “Although, I really like to do it.”

Twilight laughed, “It’s not so much your affinity for sex that I’m referring to.”

Ditzy burst into a guffaw, “Oh, my gosh! The Princess just said you like dong.”

“Have you ever had one, darling?” I asked while catching her infectious laughter.

“No.” Ditzy said in a breathy laugh as she shook her head.

“Oh, darling, let me tell you; as a mare who has had quite a few. It is…” I took a sharp breath through my teeth and continued, “Woo, it is just tops, darling.”

“It is tops, but you would give it up for me?” Ditzy said. She was still lighthearted, but sounded a bit more sentimental.

I shrugged one shoulder and tilted my head to the side, “I guess if I had to,” I looked at her, “but I recall you discussing the prospect of inviting other ponies into our bed.”

“Okay!” Twilight chuckled nervously. “I think I’ve heard enough.”

We all laughed together as we made it over the crest of the hill and saw the empty lake bed that used to be Dodge Junction. Our laughter was carried away with the dust of a barren landscape and our smiles ceased to exist much like the entirety of the buildings of Dodge. A ghostly black circle of irradiated ash stated the absence of life and then refused to acknowledge that any living thing had ever existed there.

I heard Twilight let out a gasp of profanity that crept under her breath. It was the first time that I had ever heard her curse, but it was the first overview of the destruction that Twilight had to see. I remember emerging from the cellar, seeing the far-reaching aftermath of the nuclear bomb, and being utterly breathless in the overwhelming vastness of the destruction. We just stood on top of the hill, scanning the lakebed for anything that remained, and feeling very small in being this close to the half-kilometer wide crater that was once a town of 1,000 ponies. Despite knowing the feeling all too well, and thrust into reliving my first day out of shelter, something about it felt new and strange. There was something surreal about this particular site that didn’t correlate with the other places that I had seen.

"Ditzy, something’s off.  Does this look odd to you?” I said while I scanned the town.

“There’s no bodies.” Ditzy pointed out.

I nodded and realized that we had seen at least a few burned corpses in every location we had visited, but Dodge Junction was reduced to dust filled terracotta flatland. Excluding the bits of debris that was scattered about the landscape, the entire town was basically returned to its original condition when the first ponies settled there.

“Maybe they were all vaporized.” Twilight said while she led the way down the hill.

There was an eerie silence as Ditzy and I followed. The wind whispered through the bill of my baseball cap with a creepy clarity. The breeze was so light, from being in the bowl of the lakebed, that I didn’t even feel like I could hear it. Vanhoover was filled with the distant crackle of the city wide inferno. Cloudsdale was a constant hiss of grass being blown about by the intense wind. In Ponyville, there was a consistent creak of surviving structures being pushed by the breeze and punctuated by shutters and doors that rattled against broken frames. But Dodge Junction was reduced to nothing; it was a void which produced no sound at all. There was a faint, nearly inaudible tap from the exploded train parts that were strewn across the northern part of the lakebed, but it was so light that I didn't realize it was even there until much later. 

As we neared, we noticed that there were a lot of cellars, some with their doors open but most were closed and locked tight. I picked up my pace and overtook took the other two as we approached the cellar nearest to us on the furthest western part of the town. It appeared to have been an indoor basement, but the structure had been torn from the foundation. This one was not open, but one of the doors was missing.

I peered inside, and then held a hoof up to Twilight and Ditzy to stop them. I didn’t think it was necessary for them to have to see the rotting corpses. I only caught a glimpse, but what little detail I retained was not like I’d seen before. Instead of the direct, blackening thermal radiation, they appeared to have been baked alive. It made my skin tingle to think about it.

“They’re dead, dears.” I reported, “I don’t think we’re going to be shacking up with anypony here.”

“We should still check all of them.” Twilight said. “What if Applejack is in one of these cellars?”

“That’s what I’m afraid of, darling.” I whispered, and I went with Twilight as she led the way to the next-door cellar. This one was closed, and Twilight had to break it open.

All three of us looked inside at the same time with the naïve hope that the closed doors would produce survivors, but all we saw was a small, three-by-two concrete box with three dead ponies in the back corner. It was a mare and two foals, but they had not burned to death. The sealed cellar doors appeared to have insulated them enough from the heat The smell was worse than other ponies, but I attributed that to the pile of urine soaked excrement in the corner opposite to the dead.

“Look at their skin.” Twilight said as she pointed with a hoof. She sat on her haunches and covered her nose with the other hoof.

“What about it?” I choked through the smell. It was tear inducing, and I couldn’t see that well through it.

“It’s taut.” She explained. “Their faces are sunken and their skin has lost elasticity. These ponies died of dehydration.”

“So, if anypony had water in their cellar, they could still be alive?” Ditzy asked from a few meters away. I didn’t see her back away when we first discovered the smell, and I turned around and joined her.

I was still blinking the moisture from my eyes, “Should we split up, then?”

Twilight agreed, and then she scanned over the area. I could almost see the lines over the landscape that she was drawing with her eyes. She pointed out groups of cellars, and she assigned me to the southern group, put Ditzy to the east section, and herself on the west and north. There were about 20 cellars in each area, and night wasn’t far away so we had to search quickly.

I trotted to my assigned area, and began searching. I started at the north end, and zigzagged from left to right while moving south. About half of them were too close to the blast, and the oven-like effect of the cellar cooked the poor occupants to death. As I went further, I found less skin-peeled, blistered death, but I did find more ponies expired from thirst.

The dehydration was almost more horrific than the burned. The way their eyes bugged out from their faces, the way their skin was tightly canvassed over their bones, and the horrendous smell of darkened urine. I wondered how long it took for them to die, and thought about how that was almost Ditzy and I. Once again, I felt guilty for having been one of the lucky few to make it out relatively unscathed.

Suddenly, Ditzy was shouting from the furthest point east, and when I looked up, she was waving us both to her. I immediately broke into a gallop and figured that she had found a survivor.

“Did you find somepony?” I asked while I slowed to a trot and peered inside. I stopped when I saw three more dead ponies, but one slowly breathing, barely living stallion leaned in the center of the back wall.

I recognized him, but his face was so distorted from the lack of water that the familiarity was distant. His dirty blonde mane and tail, orange coat that was nearly yellow, and his large red-apple cutie mark. It was Applejack’s cousin Braeburn, and he was in very bad shape.

“Braeburn?” I said, and he blinked slowly and made eye contact with me. His eyes were dull as if dunked wax and his mouth hung open in the desperate need for any sustenance to enter it. I was reminded of Ditzy and I starving in Vanhoover. I levitated a bottle of water and started into the cellar.

“Rarity, I’ll be damned. I thought I was dead for sure.” Braeburn said in a wheeze. Despite the weakness, his heavy southern drawl remained.

“Here, darling.” I said while putting the bottle to his lips, which were cracked and bleeding from dryness, and I let him take as much water as he pleased. I took the bottle from him when he was overcome with a hacking cough like he’d chosen water over air. He had drank so much, so fast that I was surprised he didn’t drown.

“I knew I shoulda caught the last train out.” Braeburn coughed, “I shoulda gone home when Applejack left, but I didn’t.”

“So, AJ was here?” Ditzy asked.

“Yeah.” Braeburn nodded, “She was gettin’ some apple seeds from me. She wanted… she wanted green ones. We didn’t visit long.” He stopped and simply breathed for a moment. Speaking appeared to take up more energy than he had, but suddenly a grin split his face and he laughed, really hard in a very discomforting way, “We picked up some cherries and got on the train. Sayonara! Hahaha!”

Braeburn’s head rocked from side to side, and he mumbled about the train. He giggled for a moment, and then said something to us, but his speech was so badly slurred and garbled. I believe it was a joke because then he mumbled again, and the dark, weak laughter returned. It strained him so much that I was unsure if he realized that he was urinating. I tried not to show disgust on my face, but the smell was a spicy permeation. 

“You should drink some more water.” I suggested, but Twilight’s magic grabbed my bottle, and she shook her head at me.

“Don’t bother.” Twilight somberly whispered to me.

I released the bottle, but I recoiled, “What are you doing?”

“He’s euphoric.” She explained, and then nodded to him to point out that he had begun participating in a conversation with Applejack. She continued, “He’s delusional, and his pee is brown.”

“Because he needs water.” I stated firmly.

“It’s…” Twilight started, and then she hooked her head for me to come outside. I trotted up the steps and then gave her a disapproving glare. She continued, “It’s too late, Rarity. He’s already dead.”

“What in Celestia’s name does that mean?” I grunted.

“He needs to be in a hospital. He needs intravenous rehydration. Drinking water will only make him a bit more comfortable, but he’s going to die, and there’s nothing we can do about it.” Twilight said. She spoke in a smooth, soft voice much in the same way that a mother may coo a fussy foal.

“Don’t patronize me, Twilight.” I growled. “I don’t care if he dies right now. I’m going to leave the rest of this water with him if it will make him feel better.”

“What if we run into trouble?” Ditzy commented. “We may need that water. We’re a good 60 or so kilometers from Zecora’s, and we can’t take any chances.”

I could see my eyebrows at the top of my vision as I simply glared at them for a moment, “You both are awful. If you want to stop me, than you can try, but this water stays here.”

The water bottle floated in my magic into the cellar and neither of them took action. Maybe they were right, but I was going to be damned if this wasteland changed me any further. I was already a murderer, and I was not going to give up my generosity while I was at it. This was the one thing from life before the bombing that I wished to retain, if anything. I heard Braeburn choking on the water again, but it was satisfying to know that he was being given the comfort of a wet palate.

“So, Applejack isn’t here.” Twilight finally stated and then she turned to Ditzy, “What now?”

“Let’s ask Braeburn if he knew where the train was going. Hopefully, the train made it somewhere safe, or it stopped on the track on route.” Ditzy suggested.

Twilight nodded and went to the top step of the cellar, “Braeburn, can you tell us where Applejack’s train was headed?”

“Ponyville.” Braeburn chuckled. “I assume that, with a princess living there, it’s just as gone as this place, though.”

My curiosity spiked, “What happened here? How did you know what happened?”

Braeburn sipped more water, and then he slumped over like he was drunk. Twilight’s magic sat him back against the wall, and he said, “Well, we were all pissed off ‘cause Twilight was tryin’ to be friends with the yaks, but we were also tryin’ to mind her order to accept ‘em, right? So, when one of ‘em got off the train, we were uncomfortable, but tried being friendly like.” He started. He took the bottle in his teeth and gulped for a moment, and then continued, “We don’t know a whole hell of a lot about ‘em, and we assumed that the wires in his fur was some kind of normal for him. A few Junctioners were all bein’ suspicious of the guy, and with good reason, you know?”

“How did you know he had a bomb?” I asked.

“He didn’t say anything; nothing to anypony. He just trotted to the center of the town, and took out a big grey case with a red button on it. When he was taking it out of his fur, somepony started hollerin’ that he was wearin’ a bomb. I swear, there was stallions fightin’ him from all over, but he was strong as all get out. He’d kick ‘em all off, and then go back to attachin’ wires to his thingy.” Braeburn was reduced to almost just a wheeze. He sat back and gasped with such exasperation that I wanted to stop him, but I also wanted to hear the rest of the story.

He took a deep breath and continued again, “We started grabbin’ mares and foals and gettin’ ‘em to the cellars. I was goin’ to fight him, I really was, but the mare’s here were scared and wanted the doors shut right then. I…” He sobbed for a moment and then started again with a shaky voice, “I shut the doors and just knew that they were goin’ to die up there. The whole earth shook and it was hot for a really long time. We were just sweatin’ out skin off down here, and it took two days to run out of water.”

Braeburn’s sobbing turned into a quiet, distorted giggle, “Two days, and then we were just sitting down here for three more. Plumb Burst died first, I think on day five, and after that, every time we’d wake up, one more was gone. One by one until it was just me, and they were all dead. I was going to try to move ‘em outside, but I’d pass out if I stood up.” He let out a surprisingly strong gasping laugh and started to fall over, but Twilight caught him with her magic again.

“I’ve been down here for so long with these dead bodies. The thoughts I had were like nothin’ I ever thought I’d think up, I tell you what.” His laughed turned into a cough, and then he said, “Your brain does some crazy things when you’re all alone.”

“I’m so sorry this happened to you.” Twilight said sincerely, but then she asked, “Can you please tell me how long Applejack was gone before this happened?”

“About thirty minutes, maybe?” Braeburn sighed. “You’re lookin’ for her… that means you don’t think she’s dead.”

“No, we don’t.” I said.

Braeburn studied Twilight for a moment and read her face which inspired his face to contort like he was holding tears that his body could not produce, “Am I going to die?”

Twilight took a deep breath and sighed heavily. She opened her mouth like she was going to answer, but she just looked at the ground and nodded.

Braeburn cursed to himself and said softly, “Can you do me a favor?”

“Sure.” Twilight said.

“Tell my cousin that I said I love her.” He sobbed.

“We’ll be sure to tell her.” I said.

Twilight nodded to me, and turned around and we began back toward the tracks. Ditzy and I were in tow, and I knew that we had to leave him, but it still felt wrong. He was Applejack’s family, which made him my family as far as I was concerned, but we were leaving him to die in a hole with three dead bodies. I couldn’t help yearning for something that we could do, but reality was much too dark for a solution to every problem.

We were nearly to the tracks when Twilight asked, “If the train was heading for Ponyville, wouldn’t we have seen it on the way here?”

Ditzy nodded, and then her eyes suddenly grew wide and a harsh gasp struck her, “Thirty minutes?”

“Yes?” I asked.

“It probably made it as far as Ghastly Gorge in thirty minutes.” Ditzy looked at me, “The guard rail wasn’t damaged by the shockwave from Apple Loosa. It was the train. I think we passed right over Applejack without even knowing it.”

“Oh, my gosh!” I exclaimed, “You think that she is in Ghastly Gorge?”

Ditzy nodded slowly with the realization that Applejack’s probability of survival was very slim.

“Do you think she’s dead?” Twilight said as if she’d already accepted it.

“No, darling.” I said. I blew air and thought about how Applejack could not be dead. That was simply not allowed. Sure, in the world of numbers, five survivors out of six ponies in a disaster this far reaching was phenomenal, but because it was Applejack, one of my friends and not some statistic, that figure was simply not good enough. I needed all of them to be okay. None of them can be dead.

“Until I see her body, Applejack is alive. I refuse to accept that she didn’t make it.” I said while leading them in a determined canter toward Ghastly Gorge.


***	***	***	***	***	***


Ditzy was right, and the blast from Apple Loosa, even twenty kilometers away, had produced enough shock to push the train over the edge of the bridge. It appeared to have been blown over about halfway across, and the rear cars dragged the engine down into the chasm. My fear of internal combustion was confirmed because the engine had exploded on impact and left most of the cars burned.

At the base of the waterfall was a dirt path that was mostly obstructed by train car debris and winded like a serpent up the side of the gorge. The creek was mostly dammed by the train cars, and the plant life that stippled the mountainside was reduced to shriveled, spidery growths. I was going to follow Twilight down the dirt path, but Ditzy suggested that she simply fly down first, and we agreed.

Ditzy took flight, and she began to flutter into the chasm while Twilight and I stood at the south edge of the gorge and squinted into the darkness, looking for bodies or signs of survivors. She was about halfway down when we heard an unmistakable whistle. The whistle was similar to Ditzy hailing a taxi, but it was much more idiosyncratic and familiar. Ditzy suddenly made a beeline for a small cave that was about twenty meters to the east of the dirt path, near the waterfall. I strained my eyes hard to try to make out a discernible shape, but the darkness, and the distance, made movement the only thing I could focus on.

“I’m going down there.” I said while starting down the path. “She’s down there, I know it.”

“I’m right behind you.” Twilight chirped as we started in a hurried, but careful trot down the trail. I was heading for the cave, but my eye kept catching glimpses of lanterns in the train cars. It could be that they were just fires, but I doubted that, after eleven days, the train would still be burning. Besides, they appeared to be moving, but I wasn’t sure if that was just my perception in the dark.

I cantered into the cave, after climbing over a storage-car door, and found that it was much bigger than I thought. The center of the cave cut 3 meters into the rock, and it was about 4 meters wide. The back of the cave tapered down into a corner where soil was exposed which dripped water onto a bowl-like rock. Applejack and Ditzy were in a tight hug when I got the overwhelming urge to join them. All four of us toppled onto the floor because Applejack couldn’t hold all of us up.

“Darling, I knew you were alive. I knew you were okay!” I celebrated.

Applejack shushed me and then whispered in her natural drawl, “You gotta stay quiet ‘round these parts, sugar cube.”

“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll explain everything when we get outta here, but right now we gotta move. They probably heard my whistlin’.” Applejack said, and then she went to the corner to drink the water in the bowl.

“Darling, we have fresh water.” I called in a whisper while levitating a water bottle from my jacket pocket.

Applejack had one eye closed, but the other was wide and locked onto the bottle, “Cut that out! Now!”

I looked at the bottle and tried to figure out what she was talking about, and then I saw the bright blue glow from my magic on the bottle. It lit up the entire cave like we were inside a giant lantern. I dropped the bottle and Applejack waved a hoof into the dissipating magic. In the brief light, that’s when I saw her injuries.

A fresh, no more than a day old, stab wound was just behind her right shoulder on her side. There was a horribly long and deep slice down the side of her neck that barely missed major arteries. Her right eye was completely blood red, and I’m not even sure I saw an iris.

“Oh, my gosh, what happened to your eye?” I asked.

“No time for that right now. We gotta sneak outta here. Meanin’ no magic.” Applejack explained.

“What are we sneaking from?” Ditzy asked. “We need to know what kind of danger to watch out for.”

“There are ponies in those train cars, and we can’t let ‘em know that we’re here ‘cause they’ve gone crazier than a pig with molasses in the feed.” Applejack said while moving to the car door that I’d climbed over. We had begun to follow, but then she cursed and backed away from the entrance. “They’re coming. Twilight! Get undressed, and maybe they will still care that you’re a princess.”

Two mares approached the cave opening with four stallions in tow, and Twilight’s clothes were glowing as she quickly undressed. Ditzy slowly, and quietly cocked her pistol while I stood behind Applejack, ready to fight. I didn’t know why we were preparing for combat, they appeared to be regular ponies, but then they held lanterns to us, and I could see their weapons.

The mare on the left was carrying a make-shift spear made from hoof-rail and a sharpened piece of a train-car’s siding. The one on the right held the lantern and had a short blade in her mouth. Three of the stallions were unarmed, but they had the stains of dried blood on their hooves and faces. I didn’t see any cuts on them which led me to believe that the blood was not their own. The fourth had some kind of rifle on his back, but I could only see the stock behind his right shoulder.

The mare with the spear said, “I thought you’d crawled off and died. We were going to harvest your body in the morning, but this is way easier.”

Twilight’s magic stopped, and she stepped forward, “What is going on here?”

The stallion with the rifle called out, “That’s Princess Twilight!” and he bowed, but none of the others did as well. They just stared at him with confusion and a growing anger.

“What are you doing?” The mare with the blade in her mouth asked as she placed the lantern on the floor, and walked to him.

The stallion looked up from his bow and said, “It’s the princess, ma’am. We’re saved!”

“She’s just another pony now.” The mare scolded. “Besides, it was her that put us in this situation. This is all her fault. I thought we were clear on this.”

“We should see if she can help.” The stallion said as he stood.

The mare nodded to the stallion next to him who, without question or hesitation, slammed his fore-hooves across the armed pony’s face. The mare quickly stole the rifle from his back, placed the stock cuff on her right hoof, and pointed the stubbed barrel on his ear. A bright flash accompanied by a chest-pounding concussion tore through the stallion’s head, and he slumped onto the ground. I was so glad that it was so dark. I didn't want to see any of the details. She gave the shotgun to the stallion that hit him, he broke it open which ejected the shell, and he replaced it while the mare turned back to us.

“We may not need you anymore, but on principal, you have to die.” The mare chuckled.

“Why did you do that?!” Twilight shouted, and she stared at the lifeless corpse of the stallion who bowed to her.

“I don’t think you understand, Twilight. You created this world. Everything you see is a result of your stupid-ass notion that the yaks were anything but the enemy. You fucked this up, and now you’re going to suffer the consequences.” The mare growled. “I’m so glad you get to suffer first-hoof as well.”

“We’re going to fix what happened. You just need to stop this.” Twilight pleaded.

The mare with the spear pointed her weapon at Twilight, “Let me kill her first. So her friends get to watch.”

“That’s not going to happen!” Twilight shouted, her sanity fading with each word. “I’m an alicorn. The only reason you’re still alive right now is because I allow it!”

The mare with the knife shook her head slightly and waved a hoof at her companions, “Kill her.”

Twilight screamed for them to stop, but the mare with the spear was approaching faster than she could speak her command. I saw the panic in her face, and I saw that she was just reacting to the danger, but the attacker was suddenly lit up with a deadly pink aura. The aura brightened, and she burst into a red explosion as if every cell in her body was ripped away at once. Twilight had torn her apart in an instant, and all that was left was the clatter of the spear and the splash of blood on the floor. Twilight gasped just to breathe from such an exasperating spell which was clearly very difficult. Since the four combatants left were earth ponies, I hoped that they would be fooled into believing that the same fate would become of them, but I also feared that her magic fatigue would make that impossible.

The remaining mare watched Twilight panting, and struggling to stay up on her own hooves, squinted at her, “Bet you can’t do that again.”

“Try me.” Twilight gasped.

Applejack stepped in front of Twilight, “Y’all just get on out of here, alright? You got…” Her voice shook like she was disgusted and she pointed at the dead stallion, “You got yourself some fresh meat. Now, leave us alone.”

The mare shook her head, and then suddenly charged Applejack. They clashed, chest to chest, and their hooves fought for leverage to push one another over. When Twilight’s horn glowed, but fizzled away into a pitiful collection of pink sparks, the stallions moved to join the fight. I galloped to Applejack and bucked her attacker’s hooves out from under her. Applejack slammed the mare on the ground, and tried to pin her, and I moved to help.

Two blasts caught me off guard, but I put my attention back on the mare. Ditzy had just shot the newly-armed stallion twice, and the others dove away from the gunfire. Their pause didn’t affect her actions as she continued to put two rounds into each of them. She took the shotgun from the dead stallion, pushed Applejack off with one hoof, and pumped the single round into the mare’s chest.

The mare didn’t writhe in pain, and she unexpectedly relaxed her hooves as if she simply had accepted her death. A deep muffled gurgle spewed crimson bubbles from the holes in her chest, and her eyes were locked onto the ceiling as she clung to life. Ditzy slowly put the shotgun down, put her hooves over the mare’s mouth, and suffocated her to stop the sound of further agonized wet breaths. Tears welled up in Twilight’s eyes as she studied the gore from the pony that she evaporated, and she took a shaky breath, but couldn’t bring herself to say anything.

“There’s more of ‘em.” Applejack said. “We’d better make a break for it while we can.”

“Agreed.” I panted, and then we followed her out.

I tugged Twilight along with my magic while she was still in the shock of having made her first kill. Ditzy however was coldly unchanged from the experience. As we made our way up the trail, I wanted to console her, but she appeared to be doing just fine with it. The darkness and her bandanna made it difficult to judge appropriately, but she hadn’t been slowed in the horrid realization that another pony’s life had ended because of her. Was she just tougher than me? I really hoped that was it.

We came to the top of the trail, and I looked back to the train cars where I could see lanterns held by ponies that had come out of their makeshift homes. They were slaughtering the dead and taking their meat, and I had to look away. There was a growing pressure in my throat like I was going to be sick. I needed to take my mind off of it or else I was going to vomit. Merely the idea of a pony cutting the flesh from another and eating-

My magic barely pulled my bandanna off in time as I threw up. I cursed to myself and spit the viscid stomach mucus from my teeth. I examined my fore-boots, which were now splashed with vomit, and took a breath. I levitated my last water from my jacket and used a little bit to rinse my mouth.

“Are you okay?” Ditzy asked softly.

“Yes, darling, I’m fine.” I said. Speaking prompted another heave.

“Gosh, dang. You’re really throwin’ that up. What’d you eat?” Applejack commented.

“It’s not that, darling.” I gasped while feeling much better. “I think I’m done.”

“Alright, sugar cube. Let’s keep movin’ out.” Applejack said and then she playfully punched my shoulder. Really hard, too. Ouch.

Ditzy saw me wince and smiled, “Buck up.”

I didn’t smile back and just shook my head at her. She'd killed four ponies less than ten minutes ago, and she was smiling at me. I could not help but have a huge problem with that. 

We started walking again while Twilight was telling Applejack where we were going and why. Ditzy smile faded, and she studied me for a little bit.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Ditzy asked.

“I don’t know, darling. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.” I said. Ditzy nodded understandingly, but she didn’t respond.

It took a little more than an hour until we were through the bog and back into the thick of the Everfree Forest. As we approached Zecora’s hut, I was just beginning to feel relieved with the thought of just laying down and going to sleep. And then I saw that damned manticore outside the rear of the house simply sitting there like he had been waiting for me to get home.

“Is that?” Ditzy started.

“Yes, it is. He’s been acting very strange since Fluttershy did her stare.” I explained.

The manticore walked toward us, which to my surprise did not scare the daylights out of Twilight and Applejack, but he passed them completely without paying any attention to them. He came right up and sat on his haunches directly in front of me, blocking my path.

“I have had a really terrible day…” I began, but I fell short on what to call him, “…manticore. I’d really like to just go to sleep.”

He cocked his head, the same way he had before, and started to lean down to lick me.

“No, no, no…” I said while recoiling from his long, gross tongue, but he continued, and it slapped my face and raked up my cheek. It was wetter than before and made me feel like I was going to vomit again. I held up a hoof to him and said, “I appreciate the gesture, but I really hate it when you do that.”

He sat and stared at me with its big, black, empty eyes. It was such a scary, horrific creature that I was surprised that it was friendly, but then again, I didn’t really understand Fluttershy’s Stare. It had to be some extension of her Pegasus magic, but I wasn’t sure. I don’t think she even knows.

“Listen… manticore, I want to go inside now.” I said.

“Perhaps we should name him?” Ditzy said with a smile. “Like our first pet.”

“No. If we name him, then we get attached to him, and I’m just not in the position for another responsibility.” I said, and then noticed that Twilight and Applejack were watching us, “You girls go ahead and get Applejack to bed.” They nodded and went inside while I looked back at the manticore.

Ditzy chuckled, “It’s not like we’re taking him in. I’m just saying something easier than calling him manticore.”

I shrugged and rolled my eyes, “Fine, what do you suggest?”

“Manny is the first thing that comes to mind.” Ditzy chuckled.

“Oh, sure, he’s Manny the Manticore.” I scoffed. “It’s like we’re in a damned children’s book or something.” I looked at her and smiled. Damn, she always does that to me. I feel just terrible, and she pulls me out of the gunk.

She laughed and patted Manny on the paw, “We’re going inside, Manny. We’ll see you in the morning, okay?”

Manny flexed his mouth, and then promptly used his left paw to pull up his right leg so that he could lick his anus.

“Right, that’s the only logical response.” I chuckled and started inside.

Ditzy cantered to catch up with me and said, “So, I’ll see you in the morning?”

I shook my head with a smile, “I couldn’t do that even if I wanted to.”

We went in the house. Applejack, who had her right eye still closed, was sitting next to Rainbow Dash. Pinkie Pie was helping Mr. Cake with cooking while Mrs. Cake was tending to the babies. Zecora was asleep in one of the chairs with her mouth agape, and Fluttershy was in the other chair talking to Applejack. Twilight was near the chemistry table reading a text book about zebra alchemy.

“Ugh!” Applejack exclaimed quietly and stared deeply into the bowl of stew, “This tastes worse than a pile of fermented manure. What’s in this stuff?”

“There’s no love, that’s for sure.” Pinkie said from the table.

“It really does help. Look at me!” Rainbow Dash said. She had all of the fur back on her body and nearly looked perfectly healthy.

“You do look a lot better, dear.” I said.

“I feel a lot better, too.” She said, and then she turned back to Applejack. “So, anyway, that’s my story. It’s pretty simple. What about you?”

Applejack took another reluctant sip of the stew while Ditzy and I sat on the floor next to Fluttershy. She looked over all of us, her friends, and I could tell that she didn’t want to talk about it, but I was too curious to heed my urge to assure her that it was okay if she didn’t want to.

“I don’t really know, but I was on the train, and it was just like,” Applejack made a whistle and turned her hoof over as if it where the train, and then she tapped her leg with it and blew a raspberry. “The crash was hard and it took a lot out of me, but there was so much fire after that I had no choice but to get on my hooves and skedaddle. “

She forced herself to finish the stew, and then continued, “We tried to dig the bodies out, but the melted metal was tough to get around. There were two cars that were in good enough shape to sleep in, but everything was lost in the fire. Soon we were starvin’ and we couldn’t drink the water from the creek cause a bunch of ‘em did that the first day, got sick, and were dead in two.”

I felt lucky that we hadn’t waded through the water on the way to Dodge.

Applejack nodded to herself. “I had my bag of cherries, but these ponies started actin’ all crazy only a couple hours after the crash. When they were asleep that first day, I hid ‘em in that there cave ‘cause I knew I wasn’t gonna stay. Most of ‘em were too city-slick to drink muddy water that was safe, but I didn’t have a problem with it. I’d just dig in the ground by the river, and use the mud to filter it, and you had water that wasn’t pretty to look at, but it wasn’t gonna kill you.”

“So, why didn’t you want to stay?” Fluttershy asked, ignorant of the attack.

“They kept goin’ on about how Twilight ruined everything. Her orders to allow yaks in Equestria caused all this to happen and such. They talked about how they hoped she was dead.” Applejack said, becoming more and more angry in her recollection. “I kept defending Twilight and told them that she was my friend. That ended up being a mistake.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Well, ‘cause they used that information against me. When the first pony died of starvation, or at least they thought that’s what it was, I think she was drinkin’ from the damned river myself.” Applejack said while waving a hoof at the imaginary creek in front of her. “So, they caught me while I was sleepin’ and stabbed me with that danged spear. I tell you what, I jumped up so fast and bucked that filly in her mouth, but they were everywhere, and I kept screaming like, “What are you doin’?!” and then I was like, “Why are you doin’?” and all of that.”

“How did you get away?” Fluttershy asked with her hooves partially covering her face as if she was watching it happen.

“I heard ‘em talking about it: Killin’ a pony and eatin’ ‘em, and they decided, ‘cause I was friends with Twilight, that I’d be the first meal. One of ‘em cut me on the neck, which was freaky ‘cause I thought that was going to do me in already, and then a stallion jabbed me right in the eye with his knife. I’ll tell you, I ain’t never been so scared in my life, and I couldn’t see nothin’, but I just kept runnin’. I guess I’m just faster than they are, ‘cause after a while I was all by myself.” Applejack said. She shook her head and took a deep breath. “I was all by myself, I was a might thirsty, and left my danged cherries in that cave. I waited a little bit for nighttime and snuck back into the cave.”

“How long were you in there?” Ditzy asked.

Applejack thought about it for a moment, “I think it was two days, and I didn’t get me a wink the whole time. My eyeball hurt like a son of a gun, and I watched ‘em go lookin’ for me. They were convinced they knew I was in Froggy Bottom Bog ‘cause of some blood or somethin’. I was so scared that somepony was gonna get the idea to come up the river a ways like I did, and they’d find me.” She shook her head. "I also was scared to leave the cave, cause they were killin' ponies left and right..." She took a shaky breath, "They were cookin' em outside, and I was scared that they'd see me if I left."

"I didn't see any of them." Ditzy said.

"They were... they were a little busy inside... they kept celebratin' and they'd say, "We're eatin' tonight!" and all that." Applejack was shaking hard, "I just hated them so much. City slickers too pretty to drink muddy water, but could do that."

"I'm so sorry." I said. "I can't even imagine being afraid of being eaten." My recollection of the manticore, and specifically being afraid of being eaten came to mind, but I pushed the thought aside and allowed Applejack to continue. She appeared to be growing more fatigued from the stew as she spoke.

"I'm alive, sugar cube. There's somethin' to be said about that." Applejack said, and then she turned to Pinkie Pie, “I’m sorry, Pinkie. After getting’ stabbed in the eye, I ate all your cherries as a comfort to myself.”

Pinkie shrugged, “That’s okay. I’d need a lot more than just cherries to make my super-duper huge giantastic right-side-up upside-down cherries jubilee cake parfait.”

Ditzy giggled, “I’m sure there is a shorter name for that.”

“Yeah, it’s S.D.H.G.R.S.D.U.D.C.J.C.P. or Sed-huh-gers-dud-sedge-kip for short.” Pinkie said quickly and concisely as if it were… a real language.

“Alright,” I said dismissively. “Applejack, darling, we really should get you to bed.”

“I’m working on it, Rarity. I just am so glad to be back with my friends. I mean, after the crash, I never thought we’d all be together again, but here we are.” She smiled with a tear in her one eye.

“We’re glad to be here with you too, AJ.” Rainbow Dash nudged her.

“So, what are we doin’ now? Do we have a plan to fix Equestria or what?” Applejack said to Twilight, but she wasn’t listening.

Twilight was buried deep in her book, and she was the type to distract herself with scientific endeavors whenever she was upset. In this case, she was keeping her mind off the fact that she had used magic, her primary field of study since she was a foal, to actually kill somepony.

“Twilight,” I called. “Applejack is talking to you.”

She looked up, “Sorry, I’m trying to come up with a refined cure; something that uses fewer materials with the same effects.”

“What’s the plan for Equestria?” Applejack asked again.

“I have to read a little, but the main problem we’re going to encounter is lingering radiation. That, and ponies afflicted with the sickness. I think that if we can cure the sickness, and render radiation harmless, we have a solid chance of rebuilding and providing a relief effort.” Twilight explained.

“How do you plan to do that?” I asked sincerely.

“Like I said, I’m going to have to read a little bit.” Twilight shrugged.

“Well, while you gals are figurin’ that out, I’m going to wrap my wounds and go to bed. Since Zecora’s sleepin’ here. I’m sure she won’t mind if I grab her bed.” Applejack announced.

“Well…” I started to protest, but stopped my selfishness, “Let me help you dress those wounds, darling.”

After I figured out that my thread wasn’t strong enough to sew her wounds together, we stuffed the gashes with gauze and wrapped her chest with a mesh cloth from Zecora’s medicine cabinet. Because they weren’t stitched, her wounds were going to be nasty scars, and I suddenly felt grateful for the relatively little cut on my eyebrow. With Applejack fast asleep in Zecora’s bed, mostly from the fatigue brought on by the stew, I stopped Ditzy before she went back to the living room.

“Can I talk to you alone for a minute?” I asked.

“Sure thing.” Ditzy smiled.

“See? That’s what I need to talk to you about.” I pointed to her mouth, “Does it not bother you, what happened today. No, better yet, less than two hours ago?”

“We found Applejack.” She said simply, and then she nodded, “Some ponies got in the way, and remember what I said about our survival? I didn’t hesitate, and I’ll sleep like a baby. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“I think that you should be, at least a little, bothered by what you had to do.” I said.

“I should be?” Ditzy asked, she sounded offended, “I don’t want to get into this right now. Let’s just go to sleep.”

“Wait, I don’t want you be mad at me.” I said, “Let’s work this out before we go to bed.”

Ditzy shook her head, “Or how about we don’t? I’m not mad. Let’s talk about it later.”

“Please, Ditzy, please. I want to work this out.” I pleaded.

“Rarity.” She growled through gritted teeth. “I really hate that.”

“You hate what?” I said. It hurt because I didn’t think she hated anything about me.

“I am not mad at you, Rarity. When I say that I’m not mad at you, I am not mad at you.” Ditzy explained forcefully like she was restraining herself from punching me in the face. It was real anger that she was projecting, towards me, and I didn’t like it at all.

“I’m sorry, darling.” I said quietly.

“I just…” Ditzy looked at the ceiling and then sighed, “I just don’t like it when you assume that I’m hiding things from you. It makes me think that you’re hiding things from me.”

“I’m not though.” I assured.

“I know, but please, let me know that you trust me enough to take me at my word.” Ditzy said, and then she left the room, but this time I didn’t stop her.

Once again, I was projecting my insecurities on to her and trying my best to ruin things. She was so tough and intelligent, while I got my feelings hurt easily and was foolhardy to boot. She was fun, laughed in the face of danger, and she always made me smile. Sure, I had an element of curiosity that was fulfilled, but what about her? What did I do for her? Why was she with me?

Better question was; can I handle, yet another, pony not willing to work things out with me, another pony just ready to slough me off and leave me behind? I suddenly felt like it wasn't working out, like I was already at that the part of the relationship, but I didn’t want to be in that position again, begging her to come back to me, to reconsider everything, or to just give me one more chance. I’ve done that many times, and I don't know if I can handle it again. A tiny splat hit the wood just between my fore-hooves and caught my attention, so I wiped the tears from my face. I felt happier when I was single, but I didn’t know if it was the relationship or the bombing. One of those things, I could control. It could be my choice, my decision. Maybe that would hurt less.