127 Pets

"PLEASE!!!! PLEASE," Rainbow begged in her sleep, sweating under the bag which covered her head. She painfully gritted her teeth, giving sharp and loud breathes. Water enveloped in Rainbow's eyes as she shot tears down her cheeks; the drops splashing at the bottom of the bag. The tip of her muzzle was drenched in sweat; her eyes clenched shut as her brain felt foggy. "PLEASE!!!!" For the last time, she screamed in her mind, before quieting down. Asking to be released from the boulder in sleep wouldn't help... ever.

--

The Next Day

The bright shine beamed from the horizon, waking up everything in its path. Rainbow made sure to wake up early; she watched as the sun's light began to cover the deserted canyon.

The grounded pegasus wore a smile for an odd reason. She planned some kind of event, though only she would know. Rainbow held the camera, placing it on the boulder with the lenses facing her. She ducked, leaving the device's peripheral vision. With a sneaky hoof, she turned the camera on while behind the boulder. The device gave its usual buzzing noise at it started to film down the rocky walls, Rainbow was nowhere in sight.

After a few seconds of waiting, the rainbow pegasus shot out of cover, coming right in front of the camera, wearing a professional smile. Her eyes lit up as she licked her lips.

"Good morning everypony," she looked up, spotting the direction of the sun's light. "It's about morning here in Ghastly Gorge, and this morning, on the boulder," she spoke the last phrase while tilting her head. "We have a very special guest, self-proclaimed Equestrian superhero, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow looked away, viewing the imaginary crowd that surrounded her. "Come on boys and girls, let's hear it for Rainbow Dash," her head nodded as she heard the fake applause emitting from the canyon. After the crowd died down from their clapping and cheering, Rainbow looked back at the camera with soft eyes.

"H-Hey, Hi, oh gosh, it's-it's a real pleasure to be here, thank you." The cheering in Rainbow's head continued. She gave a sheepish smile. "Hehe, yeah, thank you," she spoke while giving a light chuckle. After looking around the walls, rainbow looked back at the camera.

"Hey, um, can I say hi to all my friends?"

Suddenly, her entire facial expression changed to a more confident look. She narrowed her eyes, smiling. "Your friends, mustn't forget your friends right Rainbow?"

She shifted back to her softer look. "Yeah that's right, um-" she took a pause. "Hey girls, I'm really sorry I didn't get to see you the other night. If I had, I would tell you where I was going," she shook her head. "Well I probably wouldn't be here right now."

She went back to her announcer voice. "That's for sure." More imaginary laughter could be heard. "But like I always say, your supreme selfishness is our gain," she motioned a hoof to herself. "Thank you Rainbow Dash! Is there anypony else you would like to say hi to?"

"Um, my co-workers at work," she thought of all the pegasi she worked with on managing the weather in Ponyville. "Hey guys, sorry I probably won't be coming in for work today."

More made up laughter from all around the canyon screamed to the pegasus. "Haha, get a load of this mare-oh wait, hold on," she held a hoof to her ear, pretending to be wearing an earphone. "We have a question coming in from another Rainbow Dash in Ghastly Loser Gorge, the canyon for losers." More laughter could be heard. "Rainbow asks: Am I right in thinking that even if my co-workers from work notify the guards, they would be putting a 24 hour hold on me, which means I would only be considered missing until tomorrow morning at the earliest?"

"Um yeah, you're right on the dot Rainbow Dash, heh."

"Which means?" she started to whisper.

"I'll probably be dead by then." Another burst of laughter could be heard.

"Wow Rainbow Dash, how do you know so much?"

Rainbow took another pause, breathing out. "Well, I'll tell you why I know so much. I volunteered for the rescue service."

Rainbow went wide eyed, being at full attention with her other self.

"You see, I'm something of a, uh," her eyes rolled in thought. "Something of a big bucking hard hero, and I can do everything on my own...you see?"

Rainbow squinted her eyes, looking straight into the buzzing camera. "I do see." More clapping was heard. "Now tell me, is it true, that despite, or maybe because you're a big bucking hard hero," Her voice became more playful, before switching back to a sad tone. "You didn't tell anypony where you were going?"

"Um, yeah, that's absolutely correct."

Rainbow's announcing side narrowed her, giving a confused look. Raising an eyebrow, she asked, "Anypony?"

She shook her head as a light laughter came from the imaginary audience. "Anypony," she confirmed.

Rainbow leaned in, opening her mouth wide. As she closed them, only one word came out. "Oops." The laughing got louder.

She leaned back, looking down at her wing. The crowd died down along with her happiness. "Oops," her voice became barely audible. She kept nodded her head, before finally looking up to the lenses. "Oops."

The conversation she just had with herself didn't even feel memorable, just plain and empty. Rainbow gave a gulp, breathing out, she started. "Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy, I just want to take this time to tell you that the times we've spent together has been something very important to me," she took a pause, tears were visible on the edges of her eyes. "And I haven't appreciated you in my heart enough because I know that I've could."

Rainbow laid her hooves on the boulder, looking closely. She sucked on her tongue as she continued. "I love you girls, and I'll always be with you," she gave a light nod in agreement before slowly shutting the camera off. On the press of a switch, the buzzing stopped and Rainbow was left alone again.

--

Many Hours Later

Rainbow took out her water bottle, looking closely to see the 50 ml left inside. She slowly opened it, flipping it over towards her mouth, "Mph, mph." Rainbow gave muffled moans as the last bit of water seeped down her throat. She began to suck on the lid, sucking in any droplets of water that were missed. She stuck her dry tongue in, absorbing anything around the bottle.

Seconds went by and Rainbow finally took the bottle off her dehydrated mouth. She licked her lips in desperation, making sure to not miss anything. She rubbed her face, looking around the walls to see nothing but darkness approach. Suddenly, Rainbow felt a pain in her chest. She held a hoof to it, eyebrows tilting down. Her heart rate was increasing dramatically. Rainbow's breath became loud and short. Sweat dripped down her forehead as the pain in her chest continued. Each second that passed by, Rainbow's breathing became sharper. Her hoof found its way to the knife. She slowly picked it up, looking at it with grief. Her teeth gritted as her heart nearly ripped out of her chest.

Suddenly, with all her strength and courage, Rainbow stabbed her wing. The metal blade ripped a few inches deep through her cyan skin and feathers. Rainbow grunted loudly as dark blood dripping out of her pinned wing. The red fluid came out where the knife met the wing, though it wasn't as painful as she thought it would be.

Rainbow removed her hoof from the blunt knife, leaving her wing with a metal tool sticking out of it, as drops of blood continued to spill, a light air sound shot through her body.

Her breathing became quieter as she stretched her neck. "Grr, oh, oh," she grunted while looking back down to her knife impaled wing. She slowly tightened the rubber string around her wing, dulling the pain more.

She leaned her head closer as her hoof found its way back to the knife. She started to twirl the knife around, feeling the tip scratch against something hard. Whatever it was, it created a crackling noise. "Bone," she slowly whispered to herself.

After a few seconds of scratching her wing bone, Rainbow ripped the knife out, leaving a flesh wound on her skin with blood lightly seeping out.

She rubbed a free hoof against the stab wound, sinking the tip inside. Rainbow licked her lips as she pulled out, witnessing blood on the tip of her hoof. Without much thinking, she through her hoof into her mouth, sucking off the blood. It tasted like metal, though she would do anything to have something relatively close to water.

She lay there, motionless. After stabbing your wing and sucking some blood off of it, it would leave you quite in shock. Her eyes were too dry for tears, so she laid her head on the boulder, leaving a stab wound right in her wing.

--

A Few Hours Later

By now, it was nightfall. The moon hung in the middle of the sky, illuminating the dark canyon. Rainbow had the bag over her head again. This time, the camera was filming. In a flick of a switch, she turned it on, presenting the fake audience with a sad gaze. Her breathing was ragged; she licked her dry lips.

"Hey, um, so I'm finally out of water. That means I'll probably stay alive till tomorrow, and I guess that's it," she took a painful pause, guiding her hoof to the off switch. "I love you all, and I'm sorry for getting myself into this." As she spoke her last words, she turned off the camera.

Rainbow through the bag off her head; placing the camera aside, having a look of anger, Rainbow quickly picked up the blunt knife. She immediately started to roughly grind the blade along the boulder, scratching lines behind the knife.

Hours passed and Rainbow kept this motion running. After the ache in her shoulder was too much, she finally came to a rest. Rainbow's eyes stared blankly at knife. It looked sharp after sliding it against the rock for so long. She blew the dust off it, examining her new tool.

"Looks like useful things can be made out of cheap knives," she spoke, her voice extremely raspy. Suddenly, a quite crash shot through behind Rainbow. She quickly turned around, darting her eyes back and forth through the rocky hall. She would scream for help, but she couldn't. Her voice was too weak now to do anything but whisper.

Rainbow turned back, placing the knife down and resting her head on the boulder after going so long without any sleep. She closed her eyes, trying to dream of her friends back in Ponyville. Instead, she only dreamed of stillness as her muscles relaxed.