/Oh hey there friends. See, I told you this one wouldn't be so late. Big thanks to for the review! Well... Uh... Haven't got much else to say here. So... Enjoy the chapter, I guess!/

Something strange must have happened to Pinkie while I was gone. Her mane has gone flat and shadows seem to like drifting over her, like that one time she forgot her own birthday and thought we didn't like her anymore. She seemed extremely uneasy when I mentioned my survival camp. Not only that, but she left very fast, too. I don't see why Pinkie Pie of all ponies would join a camp that's specified only for earth ponies, considering her best friends are all multi-racial. I was really hoping she'd come with me. My camp has told me to find as many survivors as possible. The more I know, the better. I've missed her so much...

"Okay, everypony, get in here." I say as Pinkie leaves.

Assorted pegasi fly in through the window, carrying earth ponies. Unicorns levitate themselves inside.

"Great job getting in, Rainbow Dash." Lightning Dust says. "Who was that pony? The one who just left?"

"That was my best friend Pinkie Pie." I say. "I tried to get her to stay, but she's already with a survival camp."

Lightning Dust glances out the door Pinkie left through and flinches violently, bringing a hoof to the bandage around her head. She walks slowly towards the door and looks out. I hear others talking, but their voices are drowned out by the loud, droning sound that fills my ears as my vision blurs slightly. Sheesh, why am I so dizzy?

"RAINBOW DASH!" Lightning Dust shouts.

"Huh? What?" I shake my head.

"Lightspeed asked you a question."

I turn to the stallion in question, a red earth pony with a black mane.

"What did you want, Lightspeed?" I ask dizzily. Lightspeed helps me balance.

"You said your friend's in another camp, yeah? Why don't we try forming a merger with them?" He asks. "We're a pretty small group, so we won't add on that much."

"But how can we be sure this camp is trustworthy? They could all be traitors!" An unplaceable voice shouts from behind me.

"Rainbow Dash? What do you think?" Lightspeed asks.

Form a merger... With Pinkie Pie's camp... That sounds like a good idea. I can see my friend again, we can get some more protection, maybe more medicine and food. Rainbow, what are you talking about? Pinkie's camp is earth pony specific! They'll blow you to bits! Aaaaugh!

"Only if any unicorn and pegasus in this camp feels like getting killed," I mutter.

"What was that?" Lightning Dust asks.

"My friend's camp is sort of... Racist. They only accept earth ponies. Any unicorn or pegasus that tries to join gets attacked with cannons. That's what she told me when I asked about it."

Lightspeed chuckles softly while every other pegasus and unicorn takes a step back.

"That sounds like a terrorist camp to me!" The same voice from earlier, a pegasus stallion named Pumpkin Seed, shouts.

"You're only saying that because you're not an earth pony!" A mare named Moondancer huffs.

"Oh, look who's defending the terrorists! An earth pony! Why don't you join that camp then?" A unicorn named Minuette shouts.

"Can everypony please shut up?" Lightning Dust screams, wrapping a wing around her head and flinching.

The room is swept in silence and my three remaining legs give out. I collapse to the ground and slowly pull myself to a seated position. My head starts throbbing again. The loud droning fills my ears and I try to shake it out.

"Terrorist camp or not, Dash trusts her friend. Don't you, Dash?"

"Mhmm..." I grunt.

"Maybe we can't form a merger with this earth pony camp, but we can try to convince this Pinkie Pie to come with us. Many earth ponies are known to be expert fighters, and we could use some more muscle after what happened last week. Rainbow Dash, do you think you can get to your friend in time to bring her back here so we can talk to her?"

I nod, rid of the droning. I pull myself back to my remaining hooves, unfurl my left wing for balance, and take off running as fast as I can go. I hear voices down the hall. The earth pony camp. I have to be careful... I edge up close to the wall and sneak across the cool, crystal stone. I manage to make it past them without getting caught, following Pinkie's quiet voice. She's in another room now, with another pony. Another crying pony. I study the other equine, realizing she looks familiar. It started with a T, I think... T-T-T... Twi... Twili... Twilight...

Twilight Sparkle?

"Rainbow Dash! What have you done?!" Twilight screamed at me. Her face was lit with pure rage. I backed away. "You've lead them straight to us, you unbelieveable imbecile!"

There goes my head again. It aches. It pounds. I stare at the two ponies, unable to move. I lose my footing and Pinkie looks up at me. Her eyes narrow in an angry death glare.

"Don't be sorry, Twilight." I hear her whisper. "Let it out..."

I stumble backwards and start running back down the hall, trying to ignore the splitting pain in my head. I can't trust any of them. Not Pinkie, not Twilight, not... Whoever else... I make it outside the door of the room my camp is in. I hear them talking. But I don't go back in. I can't move. I sit on the cold, crystal-paved ground. Shaking. Pained.

"Urrghhhh!" I shout.

Lightspeed peeks his head out and lifts me up onto his back.

"Lightning Dust." He mutters.

These are the ponies I can trust. These are the ponies that care about me.

Right?

/Woah woah what? My pattern was broken? Wait, I'm not keeping a pattern. I'm skipping around as much as I want because hey! It's my own story and I can do whatever I want! Hahaha. Yeah. My chapter set ups are confused. Well, uh, have a good night, I suppose. I hope you enjoyed this chapter./