Me and Dash walked along the road as the rain fell around us and dissolved any green that somehow managed to grow in this hell. I had never walked this road before, but it reminded me of just about every other road in the world. I didn’t focus on the scenery too much, though. I was busy listening and keeping a look out for the town that Rainbow mentioned.

I looked to the skies, and saw that the rain showed no intentions of receding anytime soon. I just hoped that this town was close, because while I had no problems with walking long distances, I could see that Rainbow’s legs were starting to give. She was built for flying and could beat damn near everypony at that, but walking obviously wasn’t her forte.

“You okay?” I inquire, “You look like you need a rest.”

“Naw!” She replied, “I could do this all day! Nothing slows down the fastest pony in Equestria!”

“Whatever you say” I wasn’t convinced, but I wasn’t about to make her feel worse, “Are we getting close?”

“Yeah,” She responds, “its right around this turn!”

I turn around the bend and expect to see a town, as does Dash. But what we see, neither of us could predict.

It was a town, all right. Well, it used to be a town. Half of the buildings were bombed out. There were blood stains on the ground and the smell of death reeked everywhere. I’ve been around and I know that a lot of times a colony will establish itself insides ruins that still look destroyed to avoid attention from mutants, so I knew that I needed to take a better look before I drew any conclusions.

I looked over at Dash; I immediately wished that I hadn’t. If she ever looked heartbroken before, it was nothing compared to now. She looked at her former town in a horrorstruck gaze of total despair. I saw tears begin to form at her eyes. I watched as she cried loudly at the ruins of her former town.

“Dash,” I say in a reassuring voice, “We haven’t even checked the town out yet. I know it doesn’t look promising, but if there’s anything that you need to survive out here, it’s hope.”

I see her start to brighten up slightly as she looks at me with her rose eyes, now leaking tears. I struggle to keep my composure.

“Without hope,” I continue, “There is no reason for anyone to live in this hellhole. Hope is what keeps us alive. All we can do, Dash, is hope for the best, I’m sure things aren’t as dark as they seem.”

I look into her eyes and see a glimmer hope start to rekindle. “Sorry” She responds weakly, “I, guess I shouldn’t give up yet.” She finished in a slightly more upbeat tone.

“Nope” I replied, glad that she wasn’t crying anymore, “We should start to look around the town a little more.”

She nodded in approval and began walking again. We began to explore the town together. Even the rain stopped as if the skies were trying to project happiness.

Dash looked like she was going to break down on several occasions, but she managed to keep her cool. I heard her calling out several names, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Applejack, Probably her friends from before the strike.

After about an hour of walking around the destroyed ruins of Ponyville, I noticed a building unlike the other buildings. Actually, building probably wasn’t the best word; ‘tree’ was a lot better. Anyways, this tree had a door and several windows, so I’m guessing that it was used as housing for somepony. The thing about this tree was that the windows weren’t boarded up and the door was cracked open. This is our best chance to find survivors. And my best chance to cheer up Rainbow, I thought.

“Hey, Dash!” I yelled to get the attention of a weeping Rainbow Dash, who looked at me with a forlorn gaze, “I think there might be somepony living here. We should check it out, if it makes you feel any better.”

Rainbow Dash seems to perk up immediately, her eyes lit up with hope once more. I began to walk with Rainbow Dash, who was now shaking in anticipation. We neared the door and I decided to peek in.

“Dash, wait here” I say in a serious tone, “I have no idea what’s behind that door, and I really don’t feel like putting you into a life-threatening situation.”

“No way!” She retaliates, “I’m going with you, like it or not!”

“Okay, okay” I respond, surprised by her sudden outburst, “Just let me lead.”

I walk through the doorway with Dash following closely behind. My first reaction was that I’d just gotten Dash exited over nothing. I mean it was just a dark and messy room, but I knew better than to jump to conclusions. My idea was confirmed when I saw a candle dimly glowing in the corner.

“Hey, anypony there!?!” I yell as Dash looks around enthusiastically, “Hey Dash I don’ think that there is anypony here!”

Suddenly, we jump as the floor opens to reveal a trapdoor. Dash holds her breath in anticipation; I knew that there was somebody here, still I couldn’t help but be a little exited. What comes out of the trapdoor is something that I would never expect: An orange Pegasus filly with a magenta mane. Her mane was ruffled and stained with dirt in many places. I also noticed that she was cut and scraped in many places. Why am I even noticing this?, I wonder to myself, I see ponies with bloody limbs and severed heads, why do I care if a little filly has a few cuts?  

She looked at me and my bloodstained mane and my sword with a look of fear, then her eyes settled on Dash.

“D-Dash” She looked at the cyan Pegasus in awe and disbelief, “No way, is that really you?”

“Scootaloo!” Dash yelled while showing a look of happiness on her face, “Yeah it’s me, Scoot, I just can’t believe that you’re here!

“Dash!” The orange filly, presumably called Scootaloo, replied in an ecstatic voice, “You’re back! Omigoshomigosh! I knew you would come back! I knew that you weren’t dead! I just knew it! Wait, you’ve gotta meet everyone! They’ll be so happy when they find out they you’re still here! Follow me, come on!”

“Okay, okay” Dash replies as Scootaloo begins to tug on her, clearly overwhelmed but happy, “But he’s coming with us.”

“Um, okay” The orange filly replies, clearly unsure of me as of now, “But make sure he doesn’t pull anything.”

“I won’t” I reply in a gravelly voice. Scootaloo seemed surprised to hear my voice, but she nodded her head in approval.

Scootaloo begins walking down the trapdoor and motions for me and Dash to follow her. I follow closely behind Dash as we make our way down the narrow corridor, dimly lit by the occasional torch. After about thirty seconds of walking, we came to a halt at an iron door.

A panel of metal slid across the door, revealing a pair of amber eyes.

“Dash!” Exclaimed the pony behind the door as her eyes widened in surprise, “Scoot, where did you find her?”

“Not now Lyra” Scootaloo replied, clearly anxious to get behind the door, “Let us in.”

“Wait a minute” Lyra replies as her eyes lock on me, “Who’s he?”

“I dunno, but Rainbow Dash seems to trust him” Responds the small pegasus.

“Okay, fine” says Lyra while gazing upon me with an untrusting gaze, “But he better not hurt anyone.”

I watch as the door swings open to reveal the identity of Lyra, a mint-colored unicorn pony whose pale cyan mane has a white highlight stripe running down it. She looked at me with an suspicious glance before slouching back in her seat next to the door. Presumably she was the door guard to this colony.

“C’mon, we’re almost there!” Scootaloo announced excitedly, “Just down this hallway!”

I see another door coming up, with a glow coming up underneath it. I could practically feel the anticipation given off by the two pegasi as we walked down the narrow hallway.

I just hoped that whatever was behind that door wouldn’t cause Dash to abandon me. Because no matter how awful this world gets, when I’m with her everything feels perfect.

Perfect