Ow. Head. Damn it.

Rainbow Dash’s body twitched in pain as she lay down in what she assumed was grass. She had yet to open her eyes, dreading what any source of light could do to her throbbing head. On top of that, she felt very nauseous. Whatever had just happened took a massive toll on her. She kept still, fearing any movement she made would cause her to vomit. She breathed steadily in and out. Gradually, as the pain and nausea began to subside, she started to gather her thoughts. What just happened? She replayed the events of the last few moments back in her head. She recalled the spell that Twilight used and the blinding light that her magic had caused. As Rainbow’s mind drifted to Twilight, her eyes shot open.

She looked around to see that she was in a small cave. The ground was indeed grass, scattered between patches of dirt. Grey cracked rock surrounded the walls and ceilings. A few small torches littered the cave, though, the light coming from outside the cave’s entrance rendered them unnecessary at that moment. Rainbow continued to study the cave and took notice of the strange, almost organic-like structures attached to the walls and ceiling. The insides were red and pulsating like a heart pumping blood. The “heart” was surrounded by ash gray linings made of rock. Or, at least, Rainbow hoped it was made of rock. The look of the cage-like enclosure reminded her of bones. She immediately thought of the way a ribcage looks. It unnerved her. Her eyes finally caught sight of Twilight, who was laying a few meters away apparently passed out. Rainbow jumped to her hooves, ignoring the pain that lingered in her head, and ran over to her friend.

After checking that Twilight had not sustained any serious physical injuries, she let out a relieved sigh.

“Twilight, wake up!” She poked at her unconscious friend, who began to stir. Twilight raised her head slowly and opened her eyes, meeting Rainbow’s worried gaze.

“Uhhn… R-Rainbow?” Twilight winced as her eyes fully opened. She must have been experiencing the same pain that Rainbow Dash was. Twilight attempted to stand up but struggled to get her hooves to support her weight. She dropped back down on the ground. Rainbow draped an arm around Twilight.

“Easy there Twi,” Rainbow said. “Take it slow.” Twilight took a few moments to rest on the ground as her breathing began to level out to an acceptable pace. She looked around to examine the cave they were currently sitting in.

“Where are we?” Twilight asked. Rainbow shrugged.

“I was hoping you could tell me.” Twilight shook her head as Rainbow let out a sigh. “Well, could you at least tell me what exactly happened back there?” Twilight wilted under Rainbow’s accusatory tone. Rainbow hadn’t meant to upset the mare, but she found it hard to keep her annoyance out of her voice. She gave Twilight one request. Don’t do anything stupid. Maybe it was a bit harsh to put it that way, but even Rainbow could see that casting magic on an unknown magical artifact might not have been the best idea.

“We… we teleported,” Twilight said softly. “All I meant to do was see if the magic of the artifact was connected to…“ She stopped short and gasped loudly. “The artifact! Oh no, where is it?” She frantically scanned her eyes across the cave. Rainbow Dash let out a frustrated huff.

“Are you really worried about that stupid thing right now? What about us? Where are we?” Twilight walked over to the corner of the cave near where one of the organic structures lay. Her eyes were set on the artifact that sat on the ground. She picked it up with her magic and shoved it in the saddlebags that were still attached to her body.

“Thank Celestia I still have these,” Twilight said to herself.

“Twilight!” Rainbow shouted from across the cave. “I don’t think now’s the time to worry about this. We gotta find out where the hell we are!” Her ears twitched at the sound of a low pitched growl, followed by what sounded like a loud gust of wind. Rainbow’s heart dropped as both ponies turned their attention to the entrance of the cave which they thought held the source of the noise. Strangely enough, they saw nothing. Rainbow looked back at Twilight, who met her fearful gaze with one of her own.

“Uh, maybe we should get out of this cave first?” Twilight suggested. Rainbow helped Twilight up onto her hooves, nodding in agreement.

“Yeah, good call.” Before they could make their way towards the cave’s opening, another growl rang out in the cave, this time much closer than before. The two ponies froze in place. Another whooshing noise. Twilight and Rainbow Dash stared ahead of them as they saw a creature suddenly materialize seemingly out of nowhere directly in front of them.

The creature seemed reptilian in nature, though its tail with a large spike at the end made it look a bit like a large scorpion. Its front legs were shaped into wing-like appendages with a large claw on each tip digging into the ground. The skin on the creature had a bluish color, with an orange tint noticeable on its neck and legs. The creature raised its tail and crouched down low, staring at the two ponies. Both mares began to back away slowly. Rainbow noticed the creature’s gaze was currently focused on Twilight. The pegasus stepped in front of her friend, unfurling a wing over her as if it would protect her. The creature let out another low growl and made its move. It jumped forwards from its position towards the two mares, opening its wings up wide to catch its prey. Twilight’s eyes widened in fear.

Rainbow Dash was quick to react.

In a flash, Rainbow jumped from her stance in front of Twilight and delivered a powerful buck directly into the creature’s oddly shaped head. The loud crack of hooves hitting the creature’s tough skin rang out inside the cave. The creature flew backward and slammed into one of the walls of the cave, falling onto the ground writhing. Its body twitched as it attempted to get back on all fours. Rainbow kept her gaze on the creature, waiting for it to make its next move. However, the creature stood still once it got off the ground. It stared back at the two ponies and let out a loud shriek. Rainbow and Twilight brought their hooves to their ears, attempting to muffle the ear piercing call of the creature. The shriek stopped, replaced by another sound. Not just one, but two whooshing sounds came from within the cave. The same sound they had heard before coming across this creature. The two ponies looked around them and saw two more of them had suddenly appeared.

“We need to get out of here,” Rainbow Dash said. “Now. Get in the air Twilight!” Rainbow Dash jumped and caught air. As she ascended she looked down at Twilight, who nodded and attempted to do the same. She failed to catch air and dropped back onto the ground. “What’s wrong?” Rainbow Dash asked frantically.

“I… I’m sorry. The magic from the teleport took a lot out of me! I don’t know if I have enough energy to fly right now!” Rainbow Dash eyed the three creatures in the cave cautiously. They made subtle movements towards the Twilight. There was little time left to act.

“Well, I guess we’re getting out the hard way then.”

In a burst of speed, she flew down towards the creature closest to Twilight and bucked it against the wall in the same fashion as the first creature. She curved her flight and made quick work of the second, bucking it towards the other two creatures. The three now dazed creatures caught their ground and lunged at Rainbow Dash in the air one by one. They swiped their clawed wings out at the pegasus, who dodged their assault with ease in the air. Rainbow was far too fast for them to have caught her. She turned back to Twilight, who had retreated to the far corner of the cave. This put the pegasus and the creatures between Twilight and the cave exit. Rainbow was hoping Twilight would find an opportunity to leave the cave during her assault, but that was not the case. She could try luring the creatures out of the cave, but the last thing she wanted to do was leave Twilight by herself. She turned back to the creatures, deciding to finish the fight before Twilight got hurt.

The creatures stared back at her. They suddenly vanished in unison with a loud whoosh.

“Oh come on! They can go invisible?” Rainbow Dash screamed out of frustration. She turned back to Twilight, who had a horrified look on her face. Rainbow zoomed over to her friend and asked her, “Any suggestions?” Twilight scrunched her face in thought. Her horn flared up and a small shockwave burst from it. Twilight and Rainbow Dash looked towards the center of the cave and could see three semi-translucent figures inching towards them.

“Simple motion detecting spell,” Twilight said quickly.

“Yeah, okay cool at least we can see them now but I dunno if I can take on all three of them for too long.” She caught one of the figures lunging at her and jumped forward to give the creature a solid buck. Once again, the creature slammed into the far wall. It seemed to have much more trouble getting back on its legs this time around. “At least they seem to be tiring out,” Rainbow said. She turned to Twilight. “Try to stay out of their way. If you see an opportunity to get out of the cave, take it. I’ll follow behind you.”

“Rainbow…” Whatever Twilight was going to say was cut off when Rainbow Dash flew back into the fight. She curved her flight towards the beasts and prepared herself for another strike. The creatures started to catch on to her maneuvers, however, and her target leaped out of the way. Rainbow Dash turned the corner just in time to see one of them leaping in the air, its claws trained on Rainbow. She couldn’t find enough time to dodge the attack completely and she felt a stinging pain on her side as the creature’s claw swiped into her.

“Rainbow!” Twilight cried. She stood up quickly and conjured magic into her horn. She shot a blast of magic at the creature that had attacked Rainbow, sending it flying. Its body twitched violently after hitting the ground. Rainbow shot Twilight a quick nod of thanks, as she ignored the pain in her side and went after another one of the creatures. She delivered yet another powerful buck to the translucent beast. The creature went down. She saw Twilight shoot off a few more bursts of magic as she continued her flying assault on the creatures. Their routine continued on for a while, each pony trading blows with the creatures. Eventually, the might and magic of the two ponies proved to be too much for the creatures. Their invisibility seemed to wear off, evidenced by the fact that the ponies could see their full bodies, and they collapsed onto the ground with a low hiss escaping from their strange mouths. The bodies twitched for a moment before going still.

Rainbow Dash stared at the creatures, breathing heavily. She waited for them to make another move. When they did not, she turned her attention back to Twilight who was still desperately trying to catch her breath.

“Are you okay?” Rainbow asked seriously. Twilight struggled to pant out her response.

“I… *huff* I think so… Just… exhausted.” Twilight held her hoof to her chest, trying to slow her desperate gasps for air. “Are… are they dead?” Twilight asked, her horrified gaze fixed on the three creatures which lay motionless on the ground. Rainbow Dash headed towards the exit of the cave and motioned for Twilight to follow.

“Let’s not wait around to find out. Come on.”

“One second, Rainbow.” Twilight flared up the magic in her horn and took out a small blue box with a red cross on it from her saddlebags. As she began to unravel some of the fabric, she met Rainbow Dash’s inquisitive gaze. “Always be prepared!” Twilight said with a shy grin. She pulled out a brown bottle from the box and dabbed some of the liquid inside onto a piece of the fabric. Rainbow braced herself for the incoming stinging sensation. After Twilight was done cleaning the wound, she spent a few minutes wrapping it in gauze. When she was done, Rainbow nodded to her friend.

“Thanks, Twi. Let’s go.”

The two ponies walked towards the exit. Rainbow helped Twilight up a small rocky ledge which led to a little shack just outside the cave. Outside the shack stood a mailbox, as well as several crates piled next to the door. Curious to see if she could find anything useful inside, Rainbow entered the shack, followed by Twilight. To her left were two green metal crates, both of which said “DAHL” on the top center. To her right were two small green lock boxes. They all bore a bright green button. Rainbow hit the button on one of the Dahl crates, which quickly flipped open. Inside she found boxes of strange metal objects she had never seen before. She took hold of one of them and inspected it closely.

“What are these things?” She held it up to Twilight, who was staring at the contents of the crate.

“Bullets,” she said softly. Rainbow shot Twilight an inquisitive look, curious of how her friend knew that.

“Huh?”

“They’re used for guns. I wouldn’t expect you to have known. Guns have never been seen in Equestria in its entire history.”

“Well then, how do you know what they are?”

“I came across them while researching in the world beyond that mirror,” Twilight explained. Her voice dropped before shakily continuing. “A gun is a device designed to discharge projectiles at an incredibly high velocity. They’re apparently incredibly dangerous and deadly weapons.” Twilight took hold of one of the boxes and opened it with her magic. She took out one of the bullets and examined it. Rainbow Dash looked closely at the small metal object, trying to imagine one flying through the air at the speed which Twilight described. As relatively small as the bullet was, she didn’t want to imagine what it would feel like to have one pierce her skin. Thankfully, Twilight broke her thoughts. “I’ve never seen one in real life before, not even the bullets.”

“Well, why would someone just leave them here?” Twilight shrugged at that.

“I honestly don’t know. Maybe someone lives here?” The two ponies shot each other worried glances at that thought. “We better leave.” Rainbow agreed and kicked down the loose metal gate that blocked the other doorway in the shack. They both exited through the opening and gazed upon the outside world. Directly in front of them stood a small water tower. To their left, they could see a small container with wheels. It was covered in the same organic material that littered the caves they had just exited. Next to that, a large waterwheel could just barely be seen behind a large building bordering a small river. Twilight’s eyes brightened and she magically opened her saddlebags, pulling out a water canteen. Rainbow smiled at her friend.

“Good thinking Twilight,” she said. Twilight grinned and walked over to the stream to fill her canteen. Rainbow Dash followed her, taking in the sights of where she was. Clouds scattered across the sky, blocking Rainbow’s view of the atmosphere above. The land was covered in an unfixed pattern of grass, dirt, and mountainous rocky structures. The river Twilight was gathering water from stemmed from a small waterfall to the right. Directly to the north of the two ponies in the distance, Rainbow could make out a group of buildings built into the rocky terrain. She decided to explore more as she saw Twilight take a desperate gulp of water. Jumping over the river and heading towards the west, Rainbow saw the river continue through the landscape. Blades of grass blew in the wind, broken up by dirt paths and small rock structures. Directly ahead of her was a larger rock structure, like a small mountain. To the left of that was a bridge that led to a large city miles away. The tall buildings were just barely visible in the distance. She wanted to take flight to assess the area even further, but she was reluctant to stray too far from her friend.

Her mind went back to her vision, and her dream. Or at least, she thought it was a dream. It felt way too real to her. After considering the events that had transpired, Rainbow Dash’s worries came back in spades. What if what she saw wasn’t just a vision? What if her dream was more than just that? Her gaze fell once again upon Twilight back near the river. She tried to block out the thoughts of the violent image of her friend being struck by an ax. No dice. The terrified feeling she had was here to stay. The only thing she could do at that moment was stay by Twilight’s side to make sure she didn’t get hurt. It wasn’t that Rainbow thought that Twilight was helpless. Far from it. She was an amazingly powerful alicorn princess. She had fought off countless monsters and villains over her years living in Ponyville, so there was no doubt in Rainbow’s mind that Twilight could take care of herself. At least, no doubt except for that dream. She shook the thoughts from her head and trotted over to her friend, who had just finished filling the canteen with water. Twilight handed the item over to Rainbow, who took a large swig from it.

“Feeling better?” Rainbow asked, putting the canteen down. Twilight nodded.

“Much. I didn’t realize how thirsty I was.” Each mare sat still next to the river, unsure of what to say. Rainbow was the one who decided to continue the conversation from earlier.

“You said that we teleported,” Rainbow Dash said. “I don’t suppose there’s any chance you could teleport us back to Ponyville?” As expected, Twilight shook her head.

“I don’t even know where we are in relation to Ponyville. I don’t even know if we’re in Equestria at all. Without a map or some kind of reference point, attempting to teleport to Ponyville would be highly dangerous. We could end up anywhere!” That shot down that idea pretty quickly. They had already teleported into unfamiliar territory once. Rainbow wasn’t eager to do so a second time.

“Great,” Rainbow Dash said with a frustrated huff, kicking at the ground with her front hoof. Twilight’s eyes avoided Rainbow, her ears flopping downwards.

“I’m sorry Rainbow,” Twilight said quietly. “It’s my fault this happened.” Rainbow rubbed a hoof to her face. She calmed her temper after realizing how hostile she was being to her friend. She took in a deep breath and shook her head.

“It’s cool. Don’t worry about it. I don’t blame you for anything. Besides, someone as smart as you will definitely figure out a way to get us home soon.”

---

“I hope so,” Twilight said. Rainbow’s words did not do much to reassure her fears. She mentally took note of the current situation. They had just teleported into an unknown area. They had very little supplies other than what she had in her saddlebags. She had no point of reference to be able to teleport back to Ponyville. On top of all of that, the artifact still remained a mystery.

The artifact. That damn piece of rock. That was the reason they had been teleported. Twilight was sure of it. The magic of her spell must have reacted with the magic inside the artifact, causing an influx of energy. Part of this energy shot back at Twilight, causing her actions to become uncontrollable. She felt the magic of teleportation begin to engulf her and her friend, despite her insistence that Rainbow needed to let go of her. All she had intended to do was cast a locating spell on the object in hopes she would be able to track the magical connection she thought she sensed. In a way, it had worked. Unfortunately, it was not her intention to teleport to the source of that connection. Suddenly, an idea struck her. If they had indeed teleported to the source of the connection, surely she would be able to sense it. She closed her eyes and focused her thoughts on the magic around her. Two things became immediately apparent.

First, the only sources of magic she could feel were from the artifact, Rainbow Dash, and herself. There was no indication that another magic source was around her, which confused Twilight. She was not used to sensing objects that held no magic, but the more she reached out to sense it the more she realized that wherever they were held absolutely no magic whatsoever. The ground, the buildings, the river, the mountains, none of them held a single whiff of magical energy. Come to think of it, she couldn’t even recall any magical energy emanating from the creatures they had encountered earlier. Perhaps the magical connection she felt in the library was just her imagination. However, if that was the case, why were they brought here? Maybe the magical source was somewhere else near where they ended up, and her teleportation spell was just inaccurate.

The second thing she noticed was the magic of Rainbow Dash.

She hadn’t realized it until this point, but she never did get a chance to sense Rainbow’s pegasus magic. During her first attempts, she had only wanted to sense the Rainboom, as she figured that would be the best beacon to sense the magic within the pegasus. The crash Rainbow had experienced completely blocked out any thoughts of sensing her friend’s magic. Ever since then, the thought of sensing Rainbow's magic at all seemed to slip her mind. She blamed that on the meeting with Princess Celestia. The nature of the meeting had unnerved her, and now she knew she was right to be worried.

Now that all other sources of magic she was usually around were no longer there, Rainbow’s magic blocked out all of Twilight’s other senses. It even overpowered the foreign magic of the artifact that had brought them there. It tasted, perhaps rather predictably, of the sky on a rainy day. It gave her the feeling of being fresh like she had just stepped out of a shower and dived into the sky. It was powerful. Unlike the pulsating magic of the artifact, the power was constant. Never wavering. It gave Twilight an entirely new perspective of Rainbow. She stared at her friend in awe, amazed at the untapped power that Rainbow held in her body. Rainbow looked back at Twilight and visibly blushed at the attention she was receiving.

“U-uh, everything okay Twi?” Rainbow asked hesitantly. Twilight quickly looked away when she realized how she must have looked.

“Yeah,” Twilight said. “It’s just… Well, I couldn’t help but sense your magic.” Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

“My magic?” Twilight nodded.

“I don’t really expect you to fully understand it, but I’m sensing a ton of magical energy inside you.” Rainbow looked over her body as if expecting to see some sort of deformation. When she didn’t, she looked back at Twilight in confusion.

“I’m not a unicorn Twilight. There is no magic inside me.” Twilight chuckled.

“I told you before Rainbow. All ponies have magic inside of them. Not just unicorns. Even Earth ponies have some magic. I mean, our world runs on magic, after all.” Rainbow said nothing. Twilight wasn’t convinced that Rainbow had fully grasped the concept, but now wasn’t the time for a lecture on magic. Now was a time for figuring out what the hell they were going to do now. She turned her attention back to the cluster of buildings in the north. Her eyes met a large gate leading into what she assumed was a town of some sort. “We should probably head to that town,” Twilight said, motioning towards the gate in the distance. “Maybe we'll find someone who can help us figure out where we are?”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea Twilight?” Rainbow said with a shaky voice. “I mean, what if they’re not exactly happy to see us, ya know?”

“Well, I don’t see what else we could do. I think I might need a few more minutes on the ground before I can fly again, so we might as well check it out before surveying the entire area.” Twilight saw Rainbow Dash’s unsure expression and figured her friend did not like that suggestion.

“Well, alright, if you say so. Let’s go.” She paused a moment before adding more to her response. “Just stay close to me.”

They made their way over to the gate. As they passed by a small open building on the right, they heard a masculine electronic voice with a southern twang call out from within.

“Hey you, yeah you! Why the hell’re y’all walkin everywhere? CATCH A RIDE!”

Twilight looked at Rainbow who shrugged in response. They decided to ignore the strange voice and continued through the gate. Once inside, Twilight realized that wherever they were wasn’t a town. It seemed to be a facility of some sort though its purpose was unknown. A building that Twilight assumed to be a warehouse of some sort stood to the right of the entrance, blocked partially by a large water tower. A pipe ran from the top of the tower and over the entrance of the facility, leading into the second story of the warehouse. Up ahead, she saw the ground littered with crates as well as more buildings built into the small cliffs. She could just barely make out the faded text on the walls up above.

“Hyperion?” she asked to herself. Ignoring the text for the moment, she continued into the area with Rainbow following closely behind. The area seemed to be completely void of life. She nervously looked around, trying to spot anything that might lead her to information on where she was. They passed under the bridge above and continued down the wide alley the buildings formed. They came to a stop near a large cannon. It was painted yellow with a white stripe on the top. The rust eating away at the metal indicated it had not been used for a long time. “Interesting,” she said, staring at the cannon. Her thoughts were broken by Rainbow Dash’s shaky voice.

“Uh, T-Twilight?” She turned to meet the pegasus, who’s gaze was fixed on the sky. She raised a trembling hoof and pointed at the sky where she was looking. “L-look.” Twilight’s eyes followed Rainbow’s gaze. She gasped as she saw two things in the sky, which was now somewhat clear of the clouds that had passed by earlier.

The first thing she saw was the moon. Or, was it the moon? It sure didn’t look like it. For one thing, it was far too massive. Twilight couldn’t tell if it was just enormous or if it orbited incredibly closely to the planet. The surface was cracked with red markings, which Twilight assumed to be rivers of lava. Twilight's eyes shot wide open as she realized that the sun was still up. Why were both the moon and the sun in the sky? Did Celestia and Luna make a mistake? Did the magical energy from their teleport throw off the magic in Equestria somehow? None of it made sense unless…

Twilight shook that thought away, before it had enough time to materialize, and focused on the second thing she saw.

A city in the sky?

Twilight stood in shock as her head turned to Rainbow Dash.

No way.

“Is that the same city you saw?” Twilight asked. Rainbow didn’t answer. She continued to stare up at the island in the sky, fear plastered over her face. Twilight brought a hoof to her friend’s back. “We should start heading there.”

“Are you crazy?” Rainbow demanded. “Why the hell should we go to a city I saw getting destroyed in some kinda freaky vision? That’s just asking for bad news.”

“I know Rainbow, but right now it’s our only lead.” She was about to continue but stopped short when she heard soft footsteps growing closer to them. The two ponies turned around and were met with a human man. He wore raggy dirt-brown pants adorned with multiple straps going around the waist and legs. Another strap lay over his bluish-gray sweatshirt. His face was covered by a red bandana with a white insignia on it. An insignia Twilight felt looked rather familiar. In his hands was a mechanical device. Twilight recognized it in an instant as she stared at the barrel of the weapon pointed at the two ponies. They froze in place. Neither one dared to make a sound. The silent standoff did not last long. The man spoke.

“Huh, no idea what the hell you two are,” the man said in a low gritty tone, slightly muffled by the fabric that covered his head. Mechanical doors of the building behind him opened up, revealing several more humans wearing similar attire. They crowded behind the man, some of them aiming their weapons at the two ponies. “Come on, I heard you two talking,” the man continued in a somewhat amused tone. “Say something, will ya?” He lowered his gun and walked towards the two ponies. Rainbow Dash jumped in front of Twilight and flared her wings.

“Back off,” she snarled at the man. He laughed hysterically.

“Oh man, this is too fucking much. Looks like this little pony has some bite to her, huh boys?” An assortment of laughter and grunts rang out from behind him. Many of the men pumped their fists in the air.

“A NEW TYPE OF MEAT FOR US TO ENJOY!” a voice shouted from the back. Rainbow Dash’s stance seemed to waver, but she kept her angry gaze on the men in front of her. Twilight brought a hoof to Rainbow’s back.

“Rainbow, don’t,” Twilight pleaded. Rainbow made no indication that she heard Twilight.

“I’m gonna say it again. Back. Off.” She crouched down low and growled, seemingly ready to pounce at the man.

“Hm, well I don’t think I can do that,” the man replied simply. He raised his gun and pointed it back at the two ponies. “See, me and my men have this problem. We just ran out of skag meat, and I don’t think anyone here wants to survive the next few weeks on dirt and grass.” The men behind him grunted in agreement. “Now that you two are here, I think we’ve found a solution to our problem. Nothing personal girls, it’s just the circle of life.” Before he had a chance to fire his weapon, Twilight’s horn flared up to cast a spell. A purple shield of energy burst out from her, tossing the man onto his back towards his men. She kept the shield up. The man got up and looked at the spectacle in shock. He opened his mouth to speak.

“She’s… is she a Siren?”

“Fuck this shit! Everyone fire!” Loud shots cracked throughout the area. The explosion of each bullet firing from the men’s guns pounded against Twilight’s eardrums painfully. Every bullet shot stopped short once it hit the shield, falling safely on the ground. Twilight focused her efforts on keeping the shield up. Each bullet that hit the shield shot a small painful twinge through Twilight’s body as she strained to keep the shield up for as long as possible. She looked towards her friend.

“Rainbow! I’m not going to be able to hold this shield for too long!”

“Can you fly?” Rainbow asked. Though Twilight was unsure of that, she knew she had no choice. The only way they were going to be able to get out of this situation was to fly away as far, and as fast, as possible. She just hoped she was now well rested enough for flight. She turned to her friend and nodded her head.

"On my mark, we each make a break for it. I’ll follow you, okay?” Rainbow nodded.

“Okay.” Twilight grunted at the magical energy she was attempting to hold. She stared directly at the men, watching the bright flashing lights come from their guns. She was waiting for the perfect moment. After a while of the men’s assault, the gunfire ceased. Twilight saw them fumble with their guns, grabbing something out of their pockets.

“Now!”

Twilight broke the spell and shot into the air as fast as possible. The exhaustion had her crying out in pain, but it was mostly overridden by the adrenaline pumping in her body from the near death experience she faced. She looked ahead to see Rainbow Dash flying just in front of her. They flew at a forty-five degrees angle from the facility they were in, trying to gain as much height and distance as possible. She heard the shouting from below slowly begin to fade, but she then heard more muffled gunshots come from below. She gasped as she heard the bullets whizz past the two ponies.

“We gotta get above the clouds!” Rainbow Dash shouted back at her. “They won’t be able to see us from there!” Twilight continued to follow Rainbow Dash. The sounds of shouting and gunshots continued to fade away as they reached the clouds. They hovered above them for a moment, listening intently for more gunshots. They only heard silence. Twilight let out a relieved sigh as she plopped her body down onto the cloud. Rainbow sat beside her.

“Well, at least clouds seem to still work the same way here,” Rainbow said. Twilight said nothing in response. Her heart pounded violently in her chest. It was not the first time she had come across a life-threatening situation, but it was the first time she had ever been assaulted with gunfire. She never thought it was something she would ever experience, and she sincerely hoped it would be the last experience with guns she ever had. She seriously doubted that would be the case. Tears began to form in her eyes as she recognized the seriousness of the situation.

“Oh Celestia,” she sobbed. “What are we going to do?” Rainbow put a hoof over Twilight’s neck and pulled her into a hug. Twilight cried into Rainbow’s shoulder. “W-we don’t know where we are, we don’t have many supplies, and everything we’ve come across so far wants to kill us. What next?” She continued to sob, her cries growing louder as Rainbow Dash patted her on the back.

“Hey, don’t cry Twi,” Rainbow said softly. “We’re gonna figure this out, I guarantee it!”

“I wish I believed that, Rainbow.”

They spent the next few minutes in silence, staring at the city in the sky. Twilight’s cries began to subside.

“I guess we should start heading over there,” Rainbow said nervously. Twilight looked at her pegasus friend with worry.

“A-are you sure? I mean, I know you don’t want to.”

“No, but we have to. Like you said, it’s the only lead we have.” Rainbow stood up from her position, lifting her hooves off of Twilight. She walked slowly on the cloud in the direction of the floating city, staring at it pensively. “Come on, let’s go.” Twilight nodded and followed Rainbow. With a quick jump and a flap of their wings, the two ponies were in the sky.

---

Miles above the Dust, Mordecai stood on the edge of Sanctuary just outside of Scooter’s old garage. It wasn’t really somewhere he wanted to be. He tended to avoid the garage ever since he heard the news of Scooter’s death. While the two weren’t exactly best friends, they both knew and respected each other. Mordecai had to admit that the man knew his way around a vehicle. He simultaneously hated to admit that he was going to miss the stupid bastard, just as he already missed his friend Roland and his best friend Bloodwing. The deaths of his friends still hurt, but he would never admit that the death of his beloved bird was the hardest pill to swallow.

Hope you’re doing okay out there Blood, wherever you are.

He took a long swig of the bottle that sat by his feet. He lowered the bottle and winced at the taste. It was the strongest stuff that Moxxi had on hand. She, of course, was pretty reluctant to sell it to Mordecai. His addiction to drinking was well known throughout the entire town, but she seemed to be the only one who actually cared enough to try to get him to quit. That, or the past they shared together caused her to do everything she could to keep her ex-boyfriend away from the one thing that made him truly happy. It was all in vain, though. Asking him to give up alcohol was like asking him to give up his sniper rifle. It just wasn’t going to happen.

He let out a loud belch and picked up his trusty sniper rifle, a slag infused Maliwan Rakehell. A powerful weapon indeed and one that he had been carrying ever since he found it in a chest shortly after the whole Handsome Jack situation came to light. He brought the scope up to his face and scanned the rock filled grassy area out in the distance. Just like the last time he scanned the area, his search came up with absolutely nothing. He moved his sights to the town of Overlook, expecting to see some sort of commotion. When he found the town to be empty and quiet, he lowered his rifle with a sigh. Everyone must have decided to stay inside. He didn’t blame them. The facility that their town was built near had been taken over by bandits recently. Walking around in a town that stood under a large bandit encampment would not have been a good idea. He made a mental note to check the town out later on if his companion did not do so already.

Mordecai heard footsteps coming from behind. He turned to see a tall and skinny man wearing a black and gray armored jumpsuit. On the left side of his chest was a red number zero. His face and eyes were hidden behind a shiny black helmet with no facial features on it. A sword sheath hung tightly from his belt. Mordecai nodded to the tall man.

“Did you find anything in the Highlands, Zer0?” Mordecai asked the mysterious man, slurring his words slightly.

“I have found nothing / To explain the disturbance / I felt earlier”

“Yeah, I figured as much. I’m not seeing anything either, even from this vantage point. Then again it’s hard to see shit with all these damn clouds blocking my view.” Mordecai looked back towards the Highlands from his position. “You sure you felt something?”

“I make no mistakes / Believe me or don’t, it’s there / Do not question me.”

“Alright alright already, sheesh. I’ll keep looking.” He brought the scope to his face once more before adding, “You know, it’s kinda freaky hearing you talk like that all the damn time. Don’t you ever get tired of it?” Zer0 began to walk away before answering.

“It is how I speak / It’s how I will keep speaking / For the rest of time.”

“Whatever. Hey, if you have time, could ya stop by Moxxi’s and grab me another bottle? This one’s running low.” Mordecai held up the almost empty bottle and shook it. The small amount of liquid splashed around on the bottom.

“Yes, more alcohol / To keep the drunkard on point / I’ll get right on that.” Zer0 walked up the stairs leading to Zed’s makeshift hospital.

“Was that sarcasm?” Mordecai shouted back at him. He shook his head. “Whatever, you don’t gotta be such a dick about it,” he muttered. He continued his search of the Highlands, hoping to spot something out of the ordinary. After another ten minutes of searching, he groaned and set his gun down leaning against a nearby wall. Behind him, a lady was walking towards his position. She had fire red hair and a tank top of a matching color. Her eyes glowed bright orange, giving her quite an intimidating look. The left side of her body was covered in strange blue tattoos. Mordecai turned his attention to her.

“Find anything?” the lady said.

“Nothing. Hey Lilith, do you believe Zer0? I mean, he says he felt something, but he didn’t find anything in the Highlands.” He turned back towards the empty sky. “I’m not seeing anything from up here. The clouds aren’t really helping my case either.” Lilith stood next to Mordecai and nodded.

“Yeah, I believe him. I felt it too you know. Maya as well.” Mordecai looked at her in disbelief.

“Really? Why the hell didn’t you say something?”

“I did,” she answered accusingly. “You were probably too goddamn drunk to process our little meeting!” Mordecai laughed.

“I’m never too drunk to do anything.” He continued gazing into the sky. His eyes widened under his goggles as he thought he saw a flash of movement in the distance towards the Highlands. “Wait a minute…”

He picked up the rifle and brought the scope to his face once more. The sights trained onto the area where he had thought he detected movement. It took him a few moments of scanning the area to find what caused the movement he caught. Two strange figures were in the sky, heading towards Sanctuary. One of them was cyan blue, with what Mordecai thought was rainbow colored hair of some sort. The other was a lavender color. He could see the wings of the two figures moving up and down frantically. Could they have been rakk? If they were, they were the weirdest looking rakk he had ever seen. Most creatures on Pandora did not wear such bright colors on their bodies, whether natural or not. As the figures grew closer, he began to realize what they looked like.

“Whoa, maybe I really do need to stop drinking,” Mordecai said in a hushed tone. Lilith looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

“Did I seriously just hear those words come from you?” Mordecai brought the rifle down and pushed it into Lilith’s hands.

“Here. Look in that direction,” he pointed to where he was aiming before. “Tell me. Am I just drunk? Or are two brightly colored ponies flying directly towards us?” Lilith raised an eyebrow as she took the rifle. She brought the scope to her face and pointed it at the area that Mordecai had indicated.

“Huh,” she said simply. “You don’t see that every day, do you?”

“What do you think Lil?” Mordecai asked. “Should we shoot ‘em?” Lilith shook her head.

“No. I’m kind of curious. If they’re heading this way, I’ll gather some of the raiders so we can corner them when they arrive. If they turn out to be dangerous, we shoot. Sound good?” Mordecai hesitated to agree with Lilith’s plans.

“I dunno. Last time you led a firing squad it didn’t exactly turn out so…”

“That was different!” Lilith screamed a bit too loudly. She calmed herself before continuing. “There was a lot at stake. Was I irrational? Maybe. That’s in the past, though. Athena and I aren’t exactly on good terms, true, but at least we’re not at each other’s throats.”

“Look, just don’t do anything without thinking this time, okay?” Mordecai put a hand on Lilith’s shoulder. “I’ve been kind of worried about you ever since we finished that business with Handsome Jack. You’ve changed, Lil.” Mordecai waited for Lilith’s response. None came. She pushed Mordecai’s hand off of her shoulder and began her trek back to the Crimson Raiders Headquarters, leaving Mordecai alone once again. He stared back at the two ponies in the distance closing in on his location and took a large swig of the bottle he had been nursing. He tilted the bottle straight up, attempting to take in every last drop of the precious liquid. Once empty, the bottle was thrown against the wall, shattering into tiny pieces.

I’m definitely going to need more booze for this.

Author's Notes:

Holy smokes! Over 7k words in this one! And I had originally intended for this chapter to go on for longer than this! Oh well, I'm sure I can squeeze it all into the next chapter. Or the chapter after that. I dunno, we'll see.

Anyways, yeah. Chapter 4. I started writing it at about 3pm today. As of writing this note, it is past 3am. 12 hours. Granted, it wasn't just 12 hours of nonstop writing/editing/proofreading. I did manage to take a few breaks here and there. Plus procrastination is always a fickle mistress. I was desperate to get this chapter out before Sunday, considering I go back to work then. Now that it's finished, I can rest easy.

Next chapter might not be out for a few days. I'm aiming for Monday night or Tuesday afternoon (EST), but don't count on it. As always, like the story if you haven't already (unless you don't like it), and throw me a comment or two! I'm very happy with how much you folks are enjoying this story so far! I'll see you in the next chapter!

Oh, and I made a small edit to the story's synopsis to warn readers of Tales from the Borderlands spoilers. I realize I'm a bit late in doing this, but given the nature of this chapter I knew it had to be done. Hopefully no one is too upset with me if they read the spoiler before they read the warning, though if you are I apologize for not warning you all when I first posted the story.