Chapters Stranded, Ch.1-
Twilight awoke to the feel of mushy, wet sand under her body and opened her eyes, only to be blinded by the blazing hot sun beating down upon her face. She got on her hoofs and looked all around her. 'Where am I?' she thought to herself.
It did not take long for the memories of yesterday to start flooding back. She suddenly cried out. "Applejack! Rainbow Dash! Scootaloo! Anypony!" She received no answer. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, this is not good. I know! I will start a fire to signal my friends." She observed her surroundings and began building a woodpile with all the twigs she could find along the sandy coast...
"Owwww... my head" the rainbow colored pegasus said, "What happened?"
"The boat sank you silly-filly, don’t you remember?" asked the energetic pink earth pony struggling to push herself out of the sand.
"Oh yea..." Rainbow dash sat up rubbing her head, looking around to observe her surroundings. "Where are we anyway?"
"On an island, duh" Pinkie sarcastically stated, exhausted from just trying to sit up.
Rainbow Dash quickly realized that it was only her and Pinkie, and panicked. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" she gasped. "Where are the others?" she said, her eyes darting back and forth.
"Don't worry your pretty little head about them Dashie, I'm sure we will find them." stated the weary looking party pony who seemed to be beaming with a sense of happiness, yet was showing signs of major exhaustion.
"Yea... I guess you're right. I just wish I was able to fly up and look around." said the flight restricted cyan pegasus as she slowly started to pace the beach. *Sniff* *Sniff* "Is that smoke?" asked Rainbow Dash as she looked eastward towards the bellowing black smoke rising through the air...
"Get up Sweetie Bell." urged the orange, purple maned pegasus. "Come on, get up." The white filly unicorn slowly opened her eyes to see the faces of her two well known friends.
"Scootaloo... Apple Bloom... what’s going on?" asked the young filly.
"The ship sank." stated a low, soft voice from behind. It was Fluttershy. The pink maned mare had a slight hint of fear in her voice. "Where are we?" she asked looking around the beach.
"If I had to guess, we are on an island, and from what Pinkie told us before we crashed, somewhere in the mysterious Buckmuda Triangle." implied Scootaloo.
"Dose that explain why I can't fly?" inquired Fluttershy.
"If Pinkie Pie was telling us the truth in her stories yesterday, then yes. It's also why Twilight couldn’t use her magic as soon as the ship sprung a leak."
"And also why I can't hardly move." said the frustrated earth filly as she struggled to raise up.
"Well... first things first, lets go find our friends before we do anything else. They could not have washed up to far." Fluttershy said.
"Must not of. Take a look see over there." pointed Apple Bloom towards a large cloud of black smoke...
Applejack arose with a smashing headache. She immediately fell back, unable to hold herself up. "Wh-why does mah whole body feel like a lead brick?" she asked.
"Oh my darling, are you alright?" asked Rarity, "Please tell me you're O.K."
*Couch* "Yea..." *Cough* *Cough* "Ah'm alright. Just tired is all. How 'bout you?"
"Oh I'm quite alright, thank you for asking."
"What in tha hay happened?" asked the work mare.
"Oh it was just awful. After the boat sank you were unable to hold yourself above the water. I carried you all the way to this island. I just woke up a while ago myself."
Applejack stopped her. "Wait a sec, the boat sank?"
"You don't remember?"
"Ah remember my face planting into the boat deck, if that's what yer implying."
"Oh yea..." Rarity looked away, "sorry I forgot."
"It's O.K. Right now, let's go and find our friends. I think I see smoke over there." said Applejack as she stood wobble-legged, looking at the pillar of black smoke arising from the east.
"Oh, I hope they all see my signal." said Twilight as she was blowing on the rather large fire. "Who would of thought there would be so much firewood on a beach?"
"TWILIGHT!" yelled the party pony as she jumped on Twilight. "Wow am I happy to see you."
"You and me both." stated the cyan pegasus following. "What’s with the fire?"
"To signal the others, of course." stated Pinkie Pie "Don’t you know anything silly head?"
"Well it certainly worked." said Scootaloo from some bushes. "Guys, over here! I found them!"
"Good job Scootaloo." said Fluttershy.
"Yes, yes Scootaloo, Good job indeed. If it was not for your constant yelling, me and Applejack might not have found our way out of that wretched jungle." said the purple maned pony carrying the exhausted orange work mare through the edge of the jungle.
Twilight was first to speak, "Wow, that was fast. Anyway, now that we are all here, we have a few issues we need to discuss. First off, who here knows where we are?"
"Oooh, oooh," Pinkie was jumping up and down with her hand raised, "I know, I know! We are on... AN ISLAND!"
Twilight looked at Pinkie disheartedly. "I know that..."
"Then why did you ask, silly?"
"I know where we are." said Scootaloo. "We are in the Buckmuda Triangle, where pegasi lose their ability to fly, unicorns lose their magic, and earth ponies lose their strength."
"How do you know?"
"Pinkie told us yesterday in her story about this place, remember?"
"I'm sorry, it's all kind of a blur to me now. Anyway, what are we going to do? I've read plenty of survival books, but I never thought it would pertain to me."
"I suggest we choose a leader." implied Rainbow Dash.
"Great idea!" said Twilight, "Who did you have in mind?"
"Why, me of course." Everypony got real quiet, real fast.
"Uhhh... sugarcube, ah think Twilight should lead." said Applejack.
"Yea... me too." whispered Fluttershy. Everypony else was shaking heads in agreement.
"Then it's settled, I will be leader!" Twilight proclaimed.
"But-but... it was my idea..." Rainbow Dash glanced down to the ground.
"It's alright sugarcube, we appreciate the idea, but ah think Twilight could handle the position a tad bit better." said Applejack as she pat Rainbow Dash on the back.
"Fine." grumped Rainbow Dash as she listened to Twilight give out daily jobs for the group to accomplish...
Stranded, Ch. 2-
-FLASHBACK-
It was a normal, sunny spring day in the small little town of Ponyville, and Twilight had decided to pay her good friend Pinkie Pie a visit today since things have been somewhat slow around town the past few weeks. Twilight strolled around town, speaking to everypony she met, until she had reached her destination. Surgarcube Corner. She entered the front door and was warmly greeted by her friends employers and landlords, Mr. and Mrs. Cake.
"Hello Twilight. How can we help you today?" asked Mrs. Cake, who seemed to have a hint of weariness in her voice.
"Hello Mrs. Cake, is Pinkie Pie around?" Twilight asked.
"She is in the basement taking inventory." said Mrs. Cake. "She has been very eager to see you but has been so caught up in her work that she usually just goes upstairs, plops onto her bed, and sleeps the day away from exhaustion."
"Is she OK? It seems a bit hard to believe that Pinkie could actually get tired." Twilight said.
"Oh, she's fine, just keeping herself busy. Things have been kind of slow lately."
"Yea, I understand how that goes." Twilight thanked Mrs. Cake for the information and made her way towards the basement.
Twilight opened the old cellar door and swiftly traveled down the stairs. Pinkie seemed to be just finishing taking her inventory when Twilight reached the bottom. "Sooo... lets see. That’s twelve crates of sugar and nine crates of flour... or was it eight... oh well, guess I will have to count it again. One, two..."
"Hey there Pinkie. How's it going?"
"TWILIGHT!" screamed Pinkie Pie as she dropped what she was doing, obviously happy to see her friend. "I'm so glad you came by."
"Why? What’s wrong?"
"Oh... nothing’s wrong now that you're here! I was wondering if you would like to go on an adventure with me."
"An adventure?" Twilight was skeptical. "What kind of... adventure?"
"Well see, Mr. and Mrs. Cake got this rather large order of super extravagant treats to be delivered across seas to one of our friendly country allies and they want ME to deliver it!"
"Why wouldn’t they just hire somepony else to do it?"
"Well, things have been a tiny bit boring lately and... I might of had a little something to do with it." Pinkie smiled. "Anyway, I was wondering if you would like to tag along?"
Twilight thought about it. "I don't know."
"OH, PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEASE,PLEEEEEEEEASE!"
"Oh all right, I guess I can have spike look after things while I'm gone."
"YAY! Oh and we can invite Fluttershy and Rarity and Applejack and... OOOOH this is going to be fun!" Pinkie was literally jumping of the walls with excitement. "And we can even invite Scootaloo and her friends!"
"Whoa there Pinkie Pie, I don't think that’s a good idea."
"Maybe you're right... still it can't hurt to try! Besides, it's a fun way for them to see new places and learn a thing or two!
"Oh, Pinkie..."
"So it's settled! We will all deliver the treats next week. Oh I hope Dash and the rest of them can come too..."
The week seemed to blow right by. Everypony was waiting at the edge of the Everfree Forest for Twilight, who was last to arrive. Pinkie was the first to speak.
"So lets see, is everypony here? Dashie, A.J., Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, Scootaloo, Sweetie Bell, Applebloom, and ME! Looks like everypony is here."
Dash spoke. "What is it exactly that we are doing again?"
"Delivering sweets, of course." Pinkie said.
"Where are the sweets then?"
"Waiting for us at the port sillyhead, though I dont think sweets can wait. Do sweets have feelings? I hope not. All those poor sweets getting eaten. It must hurt them alot."
Twilight sighed. "Oh Pinkie..."
The group of ponies set out through the Everfree forest with no problems at all, everypony finally doing something other than their same old boring routine. They arrived at the harbor in no time with Pinkie leading the way, being the only one with a map through the Everfree Forest that she obtained from the Cakes. The air had a salty taste to it, and the breeze was light.
"So why are we doing this again, big sis?" asked Apple Bloom.
"It's somethin' better to do than ta jus' sit around and do nothin'."
"What about buckin' apples?"
"Let Macintosh handle that on his own for a bit. I needed a break from the same 'ol same old."
"I guess... but delivering treats don't sound to much fun either."
"C'mon sis, it won't be that bad. You will get to see what kinds of different places are out there and maybe learn ya somethin'."
The ponies arrived at the harbor. The boat was an old, rusted piece of junk, but the group boarded slowly without regard to its condition one by one, Pinkie being the first.
"Mr. and Mrs. Cake used to always sell their goods to other countries." said Pinkie Pie as she was helping the others on the boat. "They still get the occasional request to export their wonderful treats, but rarely take the offers."
"Wow.." said Sweetie Bell, "I've never been on a boat before."
"None of us have." said Twilight.
"W-we aren't going to see any monsters, are we?" asked Fluttershy who seemed a bit scared as she boarded.
"Don't be silly." answered Twilight.
"Yes dear, don't worry. I'm sure that Pinkie wouldn't have invited us if there was going to be anything wrong." said Rarity confidently.
"Oh I would never have taken this job if I had known there would be anything like that." said Pinkie as she was helping the last pony on, who happened to be Scootaloo. "Now then," said Pinkie Pie now that everypony was on the boat. "Now that everypony is here, I would like to tell you something before we leave." Everypony gathered around Pinkie Pie, and listened intently.
"There is a place we will be passing through though called... the Buckmuda Triangle." Pinkie became serious at this point, which only made everypony pay even closer attention. "They say there is some kind of strange magic around this area that makes pegasi unable to fly, unicorns unable to use magic, and earth ponies weaker than normal..." Then, suddenly, Pinkie grinned and jumped, scareing everypony. "But those are nothing but old ponytales the Cake's used to tell me."
With that, they were off. Pinkie Pie was at the wheel and left everypony wondering if what she said was really just an old ponytale...
It was later that night, and most everypony was asleep except for Rainbow Dash, who was looking up at the sparkling stars above. She was just getting some fresh air on deck when she heard a familiar soft voice call from the shadows. She turned.
"Oh... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to disturb." It was Fluttershy.
"No. It's alright. Care to join me?" said Rainbow Dash, patting her hoof beside her to indicate Fluttershy to sit next to her.
Fluttershy sat beside her lifelong friend and together looked up at the stars that so brightly shined this night. Fluttershy had came out here for a reason. She had wanted to ask Rainbow what she thought of the Triangle and if she believed any of it. After a while, she finally got up the nerve and asked.
"What do you think about this whole Buckmuda thing?"
Rainbow seemed surprised at the question. "What do you mean? You don't actually believe any of that stuff, do you?"
"Well, um, no well I mean, kinda... I mean... yes." She shied back.
Rainbow Dash sighed. "Well, whatever happens, I'm sure we will all come out of it just fine. Its getting kind of late. How about we get some shut eye."
Fluttershy nodded. "Agreed."
And so the two said their goodnights to each other and went to their beds below deck, both wondering what exactly would happen once they reached the triangle...
The next day everypony seemed a bit on edge. After making sure everything was accounted for and that none of the treats were ruined or tainted, Pinkie went and checked their current location using the some navigational tools.
"Ok gang, we are about to enter the triangle." said Pinkie to the group of ponies. Fluttershy was shaking and nervous.
"It's O.K. Fluttershy, I'm sure nothing will change." assured Scootaloo who had not the slightest bit of fear in her voice.
"Okie Dokie, we should be entering in about three... two... one..."
BAM
Applebloom, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie all slammed face first into the ground.
"What the hay just happened?" asked Applejack after she was able to roll herself over.
"I don't know." said Pinkie Pie rubbing her face with her shoulder. "But I can hardly move. Who turned up the gravity?"
All of a sudden a leak sprung from where Applejack's face bashed into the ground.
"Quick, Dashie, go get the tools from my cabin at the top of the boat. We need to fix this leak and fast." yelled the immobile Pinkie.
"I'm on it!" Dash jumped and tried to spread her wings to fly, only to have them magically bound to her side, and tripped over herself as a result.
"Dash!" shouted Twilight as she came to her friends side. "Are you alright?"
"What... what happened? Why can't I use my wings?"
"Maybe it's some kind of binding spell, I've read books on spells like this. Just hold still while it try and fix it, but in the meantime," she turned to Scootaloo. "I want you to go and get the tools Pinkie needs to fix this leak." The hole was gushing water now and the boat started to slowly sink.
"Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh, Oh my gosh..." Fluttershy kept repeating to herself as Scootaloo ran by her to go get the equipment.
"Fluttershy, my dear, calm down. We are going to fix this, don't you worry one bit." said Rarity with a little uncertainty in her voice.
Along came Scootaloo with a bucket of various tools.
"Tell me what I need to do." said Scootaloo to to the party pony who still couldn’t get off the ground.
"I can't move so I'm going to walk you through it, OK?"
Scootaloo nodded.
"Why can't I use my magic?" screamed Twilight as she tried her hardest to try and help her flightless friend. "Maybe what Pinkie said about the triangle was true... NO, that's just a ponytale. This whole area couldn’t be cursed... could it?" It was hard for her to focus with Scootaloo hitting the hammer on nails, trying to repair the leak.
"I never said it was a curse." said Pinkie.
"UGH! It's no use." said Scootaloo. "Every time I hit the nail it bends. The last time I hit, the hammer broke in half."
"That’s not good." said Applejack.
"ABANDON SHIP!" Yelled Rarity.
"NO! I won't leave the Cake's order of sweets to be lost at sea." said Pinkie still on the ground but in a sitting position.
"We don't have a choice." said Twilight.
"I agree, lets get off this boat before it completely goes under." stated Rarity.
"But..." said Pinkie who gave the saddest look she could to Twilight.
"I'm sorry pinkie. That's the way it has to be." Twilight boldly stated.
The group of nine all tried to fit themselves into a single inflatable lifeboat. As they were jumping on, Sweetie Bell tripped just before she could jump into the lifeboat, thus causing her horn to pierce the boat resulting in it deflating, making everypony on it lose balance and fall into the water. Apple Bloom had apparently hit her head so hard on the initial bash when they entered the triangle that she was unconscious the whole time.
"Apple Bloom, wake up!" yelled Dash. "Get up!"
The little pony winced. "Owwww... my head."
"Get ready to swim." said Dash.
"What?" Before she had time to think, she realized her chin was wet with sea water, and immediately tried to move. "I- I can't move!" the water almost in her mouth.
"Don't worry." said Rainbow Dash picking her up and setting Apple Bloom on her back to carry her. "I gotcha."
Applejack and Pinkie also needed assistance and was being carried by both Fluttershy and Rarity.
Everypony was now swimming in a spot where there had at one time been a boat.
"What now everypony?" asked Twilight.
"Hey, what’s that?" said Scootaloo, gazing to Twilight's right. There was a faint haze of green in the distance.
"An island?" said Rarity.
"I don't know, but I do know that whatever is over there has got to be better than sitting here and doing nothing. Fluttershy, take the young fillies and Dash, get Pinkie. Rarity I'm sure you can carry Applejack. Now everypony swim..."
Stranded, Ch. 3-
"So... does anypony have a plan to get off this place?" questioned Rainbow Dash. It had been a couple of days since the shipwreck and all the ponies were huddled around near the campfire. "Because I'm tired of living off fruits and nuts."
"All I can think to do is sit here and survive until somepony notices that we are missing and come searching for us." Twilight said.
"But that can take FOREVER!" Rainbow raised her voice.
Applejack put a hoof on Dash's shoulder. "Calm down sugarcube, it's gonna be alright. Now is not the time fer some silly quarrel."
"Alright? ALRIGHT?!" Dash grew angry. "Applejack, look around you! Look at the situation we are in! Hay, you can barely move as it is and you're going to tell me it's going to be alright?" She was furious. " Sitting here and doing nothing will get us nowhere!"
Applejack went from sincere to serious, "What do YOU suppose we do then?" she sarcastically asled.
"I don't know!" She yelled at Applejack. Her eyes clouded with tears, "I...don't... know..." She sat down and buried her face in her hooves, trying hide the tears...
"What was that all about?" whispered Rarity to Fluttershy, who was watching Applejack try to calm the rainbow maned pegasus.
Fluttershy whispered back, "Oh, I'm sure she is just a bit stressed out is all."
"A bit?"
"Well you're certainly one to talk Ms. Drama Queen." Fluttershy said jokingly.
Rarity blushed...
"Is she going to be O.K.?" Scootaloo asked Twilight as Rainbow Dash still refused the orange work mare's comforting embrace.
"I'm sure she will be just fine, but she does have a point. Maybe we can find a way off this island ourselves." Twilight said, thinking about the possibility.
"If there is, you need to find it soon. If it only took a few days for somepony like her to become this way, who knows how long the rest of us have."
"Don't talk like that Scootaloo, we're going to be fine. Trust me..."
Morning came and everypony was off doing their regular jobs. Fluttershy and the young fillies were out gathering food along the coast as the rest stayed and tried to built up camp. "I sure do wish we had something more sturdy than twigs and leaves." posed Rainbow Dash. "Why don’t we just go into the woods and find some logs or something."
"That might not be the best idea Rainbow Dash." Twilight said, "We don’t even know if this island is inhabited or not."
"Me and Applejack went through the jungle with ease and didn't run into anything." Rarity said, "Besides, if there was anything on this island I'm sure we would have encountered them by now."
"EXACTLY!" the pegasus stated.
"I still don't know you guys. I've got a bad feeling about this place." Twilight stated, hoping her friend would listen. She didn’t.
"Ah phooy, I'm going in there no matter what you say." said Dash as she ran towards the jungles edge.
"Rainbow Dash, WAIT!" screamed Twilight. It did no good.
"Let 'er go, she just needs some time to cool her head." said Applejack...
It was merely minutes later when Fluttershy and the rest came back to the camp. The first thing Fluttershy noticed was that Dash was gone. "Twilight, where's Rainbow Dash?"
"That stubborn little pegasus ran off into the jungle and we haven't heard from her sense."
"Shouldn’t we go look for her?" said Fluttershy, obviously worried.
Pinkie Pie spoke, "She is just a bit cranky wanky is all. By the way, did anypony else notice a loud noise coming from the jungle soon after she left?"
"Knock it off Pinkie." demanded Twilight.
"She'll be fine." Applejack said. "She's just a bit... overcome by tha situation at hand."
"Oh... I hope you're right Applejack. I hope you're right..."
"Rainbow Dash, WAIT!" she heard Twilight call in the distance.
"Hmph, I'll show that pony what to do in a emergency. Now, let’s see if I can't find a tree for us to use as a foundation." There was a rustle in the leaves behind her. Rainbow Dash turned to look, but nothing was there. "That's strange. Eh, probobly just my imagination. Now back to the trees, ooooh this looks promising, and those seem-" Her sentence was cut short by another rustle.
"OK, that's it. Who's over there? Show yourself!" and just as fast as she could blink her eye, there was a flash of brown and a excruciating pain in her front leg. "GYAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" Rainbow screamed. She glanced down to notice that she had a gash in her front right leg. She was scared. "OK guys, this is not cool. Stop joking around." There was another flash, but Rainbow was quick and was able to dodge the brown flash by instinctivly jumping to her left.
"Come on, cut it out guys." Then, before her very eyes, was a creature of such strange proportions that it could not be explained. Rainbow was stunned with fear. "Wha- what are you?!" The creature said nothing, looking menicingly. 'What's going on?' Dash thought. 'What is this thing, and why is it hurting me?' She didn’t move. The creature lifted his arm and showed his claws that were dripping with her blood. The creature stepped back, gave a devilishly evil grin, and dashed for another strike. Rainbow rolled out of the way, just dodging the creature, and sprinted as fast as she could towards the beach. She screamed as she ran. "HELP!" *pant* *pant* "HELP ME!" She was getting tired quickly from lack of proper food.
The creature was gaining fast and Dash was growing desperate. The only thing hindering her was the slash in her leg, which slowed her greatly. She was losing a lot of blood as she ran. "I- I'm not.. gonna...make it." she said to herself as she collapsed at the edge, a mere three hooves away. She started to crawl, right at the bridge of breaking through, when she felt the cold, sharp claws pierce her hind leg. She let out a scream as the creature started tearing at her backside when, as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone. Moments later she heard Fluttershy calling, "Rainbow Dash! Where are you!" Dash was weak from blood loss, and with her last ounce of energy, managed a faint whisper. "Flu...tter...shy..." She blacked out...
Stranded, Ch. 4-
Dash woke up screaming. "GET OFF ME! GET AWAY!"
"Dash, Dash, calm down." Fluttershy softly asked from the side. They were located a little distance away from the campfire, and the group gathered was not on the best of terms.
"Huh, what? Fl...Fluttershy? What happened?" asked the cyan pony giving her friend the same confuzed look that was on hers.
"We were hoping you could tell us, Dash. We found you bleeding out right at the edge of the jungle. We thought we had lost you, but luckily Applejack knew CPR and kept you alive until we were able to properly take care of your wounds the best we could." explained the pink haired pony.
Dash was puzzled. "Soooo... you're saying that I was just found this way and nopony saw anything else? Nopony saw what happened?"
"That's right."
"Honestly Fluttershy, I don't know what happened... it's all kind of a blur to me now. I remember being attacked by a small brown creature."
"Are you sure you didn’t run through a brier field on accident?"
The pegasus looked at her friend quizzically, "You think briers could have done this? My back and legs is killing me for Celestia's sake!"
"Twilight said they were self inflicted by the looks of the cuts."
Dash sat stunned. "You... really think I would do this to myself?"
Fluttershy immediately recognized what she had just said. "No, no, it's not that. It's just that... well, you have been know to do questionable things when you're angry or sad.... or confused."
"So... you think I'm insane?"
"You wouldn’t be the only one." An argument could be heard in the distance.
"You didn’t split the fruit evenly!" said the orange work pony. She had a rage in her voice.
"How dare you accuse me of such a thing! Why I otta..." started the pink party pony.
"Ah saw you give Twilight the bigger split. What, y'all come to some sort of agreement er somethin'? Best buds now?"
"Yea, what's the big idea!" said Apple Bloom.
Rainbow Dash looked at her leaf bandaged legs, sat up, and turned to her friend. "Wow... how long was I out?"
"About three days. Ever since you took off into the jungle, everypony has been arguing." said Fluttershy.
Dash looked at the ground. "So it's my fault." She sighed heavily.
"Oh no, don't take it that way Rainbow Dash. I mean, it was bound to happen sooner or later." said Fluttershy, trying to raise her friends spirits.
"Yea... but I made it happen sooner." Dash seemed quite upset.
"Stop talking like that. You need your rest. Go back to sleep." Dash laid back down and closed her eyes, slowly drifting back to her dreams as Fluttershy sang her a short song to help calm her nerves.
Fluttershy returned to the camp area where everypony except for Twilight was asleep. Twilight turned to Fluttershy, still agitated from the earlier argument.
"How is she?" asked Twilight with much irritation.
"She's awake, but..." Fluttershy hesitated.
"Buuuuut...?" Twilight persisted.
"She feels that our arguing is her fault, and that the wounds were inflicted by some creature."
"You know that the arguing IS her fault, and there is not one single other living thing on this island. We checked together, remember?"
"Yea, I know, but I don't want her to think that the arguing is her fault... but I hate to lie to her."
"Well... whatever you do, don't do anything to upset anypony around here. Everypony has been very territorial lately." Twilight warned.
"Even the little ones?" asked Fluttershy in a slightly sadder tone.
Twilight nodded. "Especially the little ones."
"What should we do?" asked Fluttershy, obviously concerned.
"I don't know. For now, let's sleep on it, OK?"
Fluttershy acknowledged. "OK..."
Stranded, Ch.5-
The next day, things didn't get any better. In fact, one might say that things became considerably worse the following afternoon. The group were just waking up and Twilight was giving out everyponies daily job as usual, when Applejack finally snapped on her and refused to work one more second for Twilight. Apple Bloom, being Applejack's sister, decided to side with her over friends. Neither Rarity nor any of the fillies wanted to have any part.
"Why dontcha give me one good reason ah should keep workin' for ya?" started Apple Jack.
"Yea, you ain't done nothin' but boss us around since we have been on this island." input the orange work pony's younger sister.
"Applejack, you're not working for me. WE are working for OUR survival. And Apple Bloom, I'm not bossing you around." stated Twilight.
"Sure does feel like it..." said the little filly.
"I've been doing my fair share of labor around here as well..." argued the purple unicorn.
"Oh do this, do that, we need this, we need that." Applejack mocked, "Ah'm sick of it I tell ya, sick of it."
"Me too!" input Apple Bloom.
'These two were obviously to wrapped up in their pride to listen to reason' thought Twilight, 'but I can't give up.' "C'mon girls, think about what you're doing. Don't you realize that it will take everyponies help to get off this island?" asked Twilight, trying to talk reason to them.
"Yea, come on, let's quit all this fighting and start working together to get stuff done." implied the pink party pony.
"After what you tried pulling yesterday with the splitin' of tha food? Are you crazy?" protested Applejack.
"I TOLD YOU ALREADY THAT I DIDEN'T DO THAT!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie...
Rainbow Dash was just awakening when she overheard the argument in the distance. She turned her head away and closed her eyes. "It's all my fault." she said, angry with herself. "Stupid, stupid, stupid... why did you have to go off and do a stupid stunt like that Dash... why?" She quickly regained her composure when she herd a rustle in the distance. She turned to see a young dark orange, purple maned filly carrying a pile of food towards the camp. "Hey there Scootaloo," she managed to choke out. "How ya doing." Scootaloo turned to Dash and gave the coldest stare she had ever been given.
"Great Dash, just great. Ya know, I've always wanted to live on a deserted island where all my friends argued all the time. I never had any goals in life, nope, not one. In fact, things couldn't be better." she was obviously trying to be mean about it.
"Jeez Scootaloo, I'm sorry I asked."
"You better be. Think before you act Rainbow Dash." With that. she turned her nose up and went on towards camp.
"What have I done..."
As the group argued, the inevitable ordeal about Rainbow Dash was brought up by none other than Applejack herself. "Ah say she needs to learn to grow up." Applejack started.
"Look who's talking." Pinkie remarked.
"Ah'm gonna ignore that comment. Anyway, ah still say she's liein' about being attacked by some critter. Ah say she did it to herself so she would get the rest of the groups pity and get outta work." implied the working mare.
"And I say she could never do such a thing to herself!" stated Fluttershy, taking up for her life long friend.
"Think about it, Fluttershy. This is just the kind of thing she would do."
"And I say that you're taking it the wrong way!" Fluttershy was unusually bold and loud.
"Look, sugarcube. You've known her yer whole life pretty much, right? You can't sit there and tell me that this doesn't seem like a thing she would do." Applejack said, now trying to reason with Fluttershy.
"OK, fine, yes it seems like something that she might do. But I'm still more shocked that you would let your pride get in the way of you helping your friends in their time of need." argued Fluttershy.
"Whoa, there. Dontcha try puttin' this on me now. You and ah both know that Dash is a danger to herself and possibly a danger to us as well."
"What are you suggesting?" Fluttershy said, not really caring what Applejack told her.
"Ah say we leave her somewhere away from us so we won't have to worry about her."
"THAT'S AN AWFUL IDEA! WE CAN'T JUST ABANDON HER!" Fluttershy yelled.
Applejack remained composed. "All ah can say sugarcube, she brought it upon herself..."
Rainbow Dash had heard enough. Tears were in her eyes as she tried to stand. She whispered to herself. "They obviously don't need me here." A tear fell as she was finally able to get herself up, the wounds still hurting but not too bad as to keep her down. She took one final look at her friends, who were still arguing over what to do with her. She took a deep breath and softly whispered again, "I'm sorry to be such a danger to everypony... and... I'm sorry that I let you all down." The tears were running down her cheeks as she turned towards the jungle, took a slow, deep breath once more, and walked through the edge, not even telling anypony goodbye. Sadly, she didn't know that she wouldn't be able to ask forgiveness for what she has just done, for she would not make it through the night...
"AND ANOTHER THING..." started Applejack before she was interrupted by her sister Apple Bloom.
"Where's Rainbow Dash?" Apple Bloom asked.
"What do you mean where's Rainbow Dash?'" asked Twilight.
"I mean, where is she?" The group turned to see only an empty spot where the rainbow maned pegasus used to be.
Fluttershy started. "Sh- she couldn't of..."
"Now what did ah tell ya? She's done gone and did it again. Ah say let her go on. Ah don't care." Applejack so rudely implied.
"I'VE HAD ABOUT ENOUGH OF YOUR SELFISH BEHAVIOUR!" roared Fluttershy, blazing red hot with anger.
"So have I." stated Rarity. The rest of the group agreed just as much. Even her sister was shocked at how bad Applejack had gotten, and agreed with them as they gathered into a group.
"C'mon girls," Twilight said. "Lets go find Dash before something bad happens to her."
"Go on then. Just don't expect any help from me." retorted Applejack. With that remark, the group ventured into the jungle to help their horribly confused friend, and left Applejack alone on the beach with nothing keeping her from the shortcoming darkness except for a slowly diminishing fire...
Stranded, Ch.6-
Rainbow Dash trotted deeper and deeper into the heavy jungle. As she progressed however, the journey became harder and harder. "Curse this hurt leg..." she said under her breath. She eventually slowed down to a trailing drag as her energy gave way from the lack of food. She hasn’t eaten in days. As she dragged along, leaving a trench trail behind her, she heard an all too familiar sound. She turned to her right and saw a rustle in the bushes.
"Alright you fiend, I know it's you! Come out here so I can teach you a lesson!" Just after she got the sentence out, there was another rustle to her left. "Huh?" There came another from behind. "What's going on?" It wasn’t long before the rustling was all around her. Slowly they became louder and louder. "Wha- what's going on? Where are you!?" She was quickly surrounded. "Think Dash, think..." but before she could get one thought out, she felt the deathly cold, sharp fangs of the menicing creature she had met days before slash through her left side, leaving three bloody red streaks just under her wing. Rainbow let out a ear-piercing scream and fell on her knees. She hang her head, trying to bear the pain, and paid no attention to her surroundings. The noise grew deafly loud and Rainbow could hardly think now, much less move.
The creature jumped forward from behind and dug his razor sharp claws deep into Rainbows back and ripped, causing yet another ear-shattering scream to which the creature seemed to enjoy. Dash bucked the creature off with what little strength she had left. Her vision was fading and the pain was unbearable. She was losing a large amount of blood fast. The creature was closing in from behind, enjoying every second. The last thing she remembered was how she had caused so much hate among her friends, and how she knew that there was no way of them finding her now, no way for her to apologize for what she done, no way to at least say good-bye to her friends before she took one last final breath before giving in to death's sweet, merciful call...
"Come on, girls! We have to save Rainbow Dash before she accidentally hurts herself." shouted Twilight as they were running aimlessly through the jungle to find their mentally unstable friend. "She couldn't have gotten too far, not on that hurt leg." she said, as to reassure herself that she was getting closer. As they were running along they heard a loud scream from the north breech their ear drums.
Twilight stopped. "That must be Rainbow Dash. C'mon, lets go!" The group turned towards where the scream had came from, and ran faster than any of them had ever ran before in hopes of finding their friend. It wasn't long before they heard another comotion as they approached to the location of the initial scream.
"What's with all that noise? It sounds like... a bunch of leaves... as if they were in a tornado or something." pondered Pinkie Pie. As the group came closer, the light grew ever darker with each step. Night was setting in and their only source of light was the star-lit sky, which became less useful as the jungle canopy drew an ever increasing shadow over the small group of ponies.
"Rarity, I'm scared." said Sweetie Bell, wrapping her front hooves around her sisters right leg.
"I know, Sweetie Bell. We all are." stated Rarity, calming her only sibling by nuzzling her hair. What they heard next couldn't have scared them more than if you were to have blown up a stick of dynamite up right beside them. There was an even louder earth-breaking scream that penetrated the annoyingly increasing rustle and stunned the group dead in their tracks. "She must be close by now. Oh I hope we make it to her in time." worried Rarity.
Twilight turned and nodded, "I hope so too, Rarity. I hope so too..."
"Ah don't need nopony." stated the proud orange work pony as the sun was setting to allow the darkness to come over. There were plenty of stars out, so light didn't seem like a problem. "Ah guess ah can let the fire go out." She sat, staring out into the ocean, and thought on what had just happened. "Saying ah'm selfish. Who do they think they are? Why ah ain't done nothin' wrong and they go off and accuse me like that. It should be Rainbow they should be angry at, not me."
The night dragged in and Applejack laid her weary head down on the soft, cool sand and listened to the extremely dim fire slowly crackle to nothing as the last of the wood was burned up. She closed her eyes to dream of better days and to escape this wretched island. As she neared the wonderful sweep of dreams to take her away, she was awaken by a far off scream. "Sounds like Dash..." Applejack said as she raised up and looked at the origin direction of the scream. "Ahhh, what do ah care. She was bound to do this to herself anyways. Not like it bothers me. Nope, not one bit."
Applejack laid her head down again and tried to go back to sleep, but to no avail. Her mind was on Rainbow Dash and what could possibly be happening to her to cause her to scream like that. She sat up and sulked. "Wha- what's wrong with me... why am ah being this way... Rainbow's my friend, and... ah should always be there for her..."
There was another scream, louder and more painful to listen to than the last. "Ah... ah need to help her." Applejack got up and spun around, looking in the direction of where the screams were coming from. "Dontcha worry Rainbow Dash, I'm comin' for ya!" Applejack started towards the jungles edge when she was suddenly tackled and knocked down from the side. Applejack tried to wiggle her way out of whatever was holding her in an iron grip. When she turned, she saw exactly what Rainbow Dash was talking about. The creature's eyes were rose red and it grinned a sinister grin as it withdrew its claws from its paws and drove them deep into Applejack's side, causing her to let out a painful cry as she reared her legs up between her and the creature, and pushed with all her might, sending it into the ocean where it was screaming in pain as the water burned through it's skin and melted it away from existence ever so slowly. Applejack laid back down and tried bearing the pain from her sides, regretting not believing in her friend, who obviously needed her help now more than ever as she slowly fell into a deep slumber from exhaustion...
"What was that?" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, looking back at the direction of the beach. The group was a mere few hooves away from where the original screams were coming from.
"Probably Applejack having a bad dream." stated Scootaloo. "Like I care or anything."
"Scootaloo's right, Applejack's fine. Right now we need to help Dash." Twilight said. The rustling stopped as the group breached the final bit of brush blocking their path to their crazed friend. What they saw before them made their hearts sink. There lay a mutilated blue corpse, stained red from her own blood, and showed no signs of life.
"No..." Twilight ran to the deathly injured cyan pony and looked down on her. She placed her head to the chest of Rainbow Dash's body, and listened, listened for anything, even the slightest hope of a pulse. Time passed and Twilight began to softly whimper. She turned to her friends, who were all awaiting her response, but her look was word enough. The group hung their heads and wept for their friends untimely death. The group slowly regained its composure, and started back towards the beach. Suddenly, Dash drew another breath. She was still far beyond saving, but her friends gathered around her and listened to her, knowing that these might be her last words.
"Twi... Twilight..." Rainbow choked out. She wouldn't be long.
"Yes Dash, what is it?" answered Twilight. Everypony was around and eager to hear Rainbow Dash's final words as tears were rolling off everyponies cheeks.
With her last breath, she said, "T... tell Applejack that... that I'm... s-... s-... sorry..." and with that, she was gone...
Stranded, Ch.7-
It was a warm and sunny day on the Apple family's farm. The roosters were crowing and the pigs were squealing. Applejack jumped out of her bed and crashed on the floor, causing a stir in the Apple household. As she sat up, rubbing her head with her front right hoof, the door to her bedroom bust open. "Applejack, you O.K.?" asked Big Macintosh, standing in the doorway.
"Yea, ah'm fine. Just hit mah head when I fell-" she stopped herself in mid sentence. "Wait, what's going on? Why am I here? Where's the island?" Applejack demanded, her eyes darted back and forth around the room.
"What are you talkin' about sis?" Big Mac had a puzzled look to his face. "How hard did you hit your head?"
"We were all stranded on an island in the Buckmuda Triangle. Me, Twilight, Rainbow Dash-" Big Mac cut her off.
"Wait, wait, wait... Rainbow Dash?" the mere statement struck Applejack dumb.
"Don't you stand there and tell me that you don't know my friend Rainbow Dash. She's the one with a rainbow mane? Cocky attitude? Blue skin?" Macintosh just sat there and shook his head. "You mean... you really don't know?"
"Nope." Big Macintosh answered. Applejack knew that he wouldn't lie to her, but she couldn't understand why he was denying ever knowing her friend.
"Oh... alright. Anyway, how are my friends?" inquired Applejack.
"How the hay should I know Applejack?"
"Ahh, horse apples to ya then. Ah go and see 'em myself." She brushed past him. "Thanks for nothin'." She headed for the stairs and started going down when she heard a soft whimper in the distance. She turned to see the origin of the cries when she noticed that they were coming from Apple Bloom's room.
"Wonder what's got her hair in a tussle." Applejack whispered to herself as she started towards her younger sibling's room. She treaded softly as to not disrupt her little sister's behavior. The closer she got to the room, the louder the soft whimpers became until they were full out cries of sorrow.
Applejack peeked through the keyhole of the door and saw before her Apple Bloom, her face buried in her pillow, wallowing as the tears flowed from her eyes. Applejack slowly opened the door, and and called out calmly, "Apple Bloom, you O.K.?"
Apple Bloom's face turned fire red as she turned her neck sharply her older sister. "GET OUT!" she screamed as to threaten pain upon Applejack if she dared come closer. "IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!" lashed the young filly who was ready to draw blood if Applejack moved one step closer.
"Whoa there, little filly. What's wrong?" the puzzled orange mare asked as she stood, frozen in fear of what Apple Bloom might do.
"Why Applejack... WHY? Because of you and your selfish pride, we now have one less pony to love, and it's all your fault!" roared Apple Bloom as the sight of A.J. standing there only fueled her anger.
"What in the hay are you talkin' 'bout, Apple Bloom?" asked Applejack as she slowly back away in fear. "What did ah do ta upset ya so bad?"
Apple Bloom lost her cool and screamed at the terrified pony. "IF YOU HAVE TO ASK SOMETHING LIKE THAT, YOU'RE MORE OF A SELF INTWINED SNOB THAN I THOUGHT!" Her energy spent, the anger turned to tears. "Just... just leave me alone..." Apple Bloom said, head hung and tears falling from her cheeks. Applejack slowly closed the door and started back down the stairs, wondering what Apple Bloom meant and why she felt guilty all of a sudden.
"What's with everypony today? First, Big Mac swears he don't know Rainbow Dash and now Apple Bloom's angry with me for something I didn't do? Ah don’t' understand. Maybe mah friends will be able to help me figure this out..." She opened her front door and started down the dirt path to Ponyville, in hopes that her friends had the answers to her problems...
"No..." Twilight whispered. "No... no... no..." she kept repeating as she held the crimson-stained carcass of what was once a beautiful cyan pegasus, but now was a lifeless lump that seemed to stare into her very soul as it laid there, motionless, with eyes its wide open. "This can't be happening... I refuse to believe that it's happening..." Rarity came to Twilights side and placed her front hoof on her friends shoulder to try and soothe some of the pain they all felt in their hearts about their untimely cyan friend.
"It's O.K. Twilight. You... did the best you could." Rarity tried to convince the lavender mare into believing. Twilight jerked at the touch of Rarity's hoof and started to pace the ground, trying to process what had just happened in her mind, but to no avail. Her mind couldn't comprehend it, or it just didn't want to, but Rainbow's last words kept playing through her mind over and over and over.
Her mind was racing. Her train of thought derailing. Days of keeping composure, listening to people fight, figuring out how to get off the island, and now... losing one of her best friends...
She snapped.
She fell to her knees, head hung low, and cried. Her eyes flowed like a river of tears. Her friends saw what was happening and decided to try and comfort their friend, who so desperately needed their help now more than ever. Just as they moved around her, she suddenly snapped jumped back.
Twilight's eyes flared, bloodshot with anger. She fixed herself into position, reared back, and charged the group of ponies...
As the orange pony walked through the small town of Ponyville, she noticed that it was unusually empty for some reason. 'That's weird.' she thought to herself as she saw her destination. Sugarcube Corner. She was ready to meet her good friend Pinkie when she all of a sudden heard yelling from inside the store. "HERE!" Pinkie screamed as she threw down an apron. "I NEVER LIKED WORKING FOR YOU ANYWAY!"
"Pinkie Pie? What's going on?" she asked the flat maned party pony as she stormed out of the bakery. The sight of Applejack didn't seem to raise her mood. "Where is everypony?"
Pinkie Pie turned her nose up, "Why would you care, huh?" The words struck A.J. harder than if you launched a brick at her from a catapult.
"Pinkie... why is everypony being so hateful to me..." Applejack looked to the ground.
"You know darn well why everypony is upset with you!" exclaimed the furious party pony. She slowly calmed herself and spoke a bit more clearly. "If you hurry you can still make the service..." Pinkie said in a lower, depressing tone.
"Service? What service?" the words made Pinkie Pie jerk, wincing her head to the left. What was said next almost made Applejack want to just be struck down right there and then.
Pinkie held up a hoof in a random direction as she said those five horrible words.
Stranded, Ch.8-
Twilight charged with all her might, horn first, ready to impale the first pony to stand in her way. Rarity so happened to be ahead of the group, and made ready for the inevitable impact, placing her head down as she prepared to defend her friends, no matter what happened. Twilight grew closer to the group, letting out scream as she approached. Mere hooves away, she jumped at them with the full force of momentum on her side, and closed her eyes.
CRACK
Twilight's horn was met with that of Rarity's, who was knocked on her back from the shear force of the impact as the horns collided. Twilight stepped back, swiftfully recovering herself, and charged again with nothing blocking her way now. She was furious, and the anger drove her to run even faster than the last charge. The group stood there, stunned as a insane purple unicorn charged directly at them, showing no signs of slowing down. The only one that moved was Pinkie Pie, and only did so when she went to check on Rarity just after the initial impact.
The crazed unicorn's path was lined directly at Fluttershy, who seemed determined to let her fear best her, and didn't lift a muscle. Twilight slowly closed in. She drew closer and closer to the horror stricken pegasus. Her pace quickened as she closed her eyes. "NOOOOO!" screamed Pinkie Pie as she jumped towards the fear struck mare in hopes of saving her soft-voiced friend.
BAM
Twilight quickly opened her eyes to see who she had hit. She looked, and what she saw nearly ripped her heart out. She stood there, shocked, to see that who she had impaled was neither Fluttershy, nor Pinkie Pie, but the small orange body of the filly Scootaloo...
Applejack was taken aback. "Wha- what do ya mean the one for Rainbow Dash?" Pinkie just sat there, pointing in the same direction, not even looking at the work mare. "ANSWER ME!" Applejack roared. Pinkie didn't budge. Applejack was lost in confusion and irritation. "You're not gonna tell me, are ya?" Pinkie still sat, still pointed. "Fine, be that way." Applejack remarked as she stomped off in the direction her silent friend was pointing.
She hadn't walked but ten steps before she heard a loud scream. "That sounds like... TWILIGHT!" Applejack turned her course and headed straight for the Ponyville library in hopes to find out what had caused that horrible scream. There, in front of the library, sat the purple body of Twilight Sparkle, crying with her hooves coveringher face. Applejack slowly approached her mourning friend. "Twilight you O.K.?" she asked, keeping her distance. She didn't want to take any chances.
"NO, STAY BACK!" Twilight lashed in a paranoid voice, hiding her face from her friend Applejack.
"Sugarcube, is everything alright?" persisted Applejack, still keeping at a safe distance.
"NO! The pressure. The pressure is too much!" Twilight screamed, still turned from her friend. "The stress, the stress, and the...the..." she paused. "The death..." Applejack felt a whole new feeling of guilt wash over her for some reason.
"Sugarcube, what's the matter?" Applejack asked, coming closer to the obviously distressed Twilight. The purple mare saw this, and reacted almost instantly by turning to revealing the crazed maniacal look of a pony that had lost every little connection to sanity she ever had...
Scootaloo looked down to see the head of Twilight up against her chest, her horn just under her right ribs. She wanted to let out a scream, a yell, even a whimper to help cope with the pain she was feeling, but the impact had left her breathless. Twilight realized what she had just done, and pulled her head back slowly from the small, fragile little filly's body as it crashed on the ground with a loud thud. Motionless. Twilight suddenly teared as she stomped her hoof into the ground in frustration.
Moments passed before Scootaloo was finally able to gasp a breath of air before she pulled her front two hooves up, and softly held her wound tightly. She was bleeding, badly, and her ribs were doubtlessly broken if not shattered to say the least. There was noo telling what the impact had on her lungs. As she lay there, holding the damaged area, she let out a low grunt of pain. Twilight's anger slowly diminished as she started to come back to sanity.
She lifted a hoof to help the filly when, suddenly, BOOM! She was tackled to the ground by Rarity, who held her iron grip no matter how hard Twilight tried to struggle. She was slowly loosing consciousness as one of the hooves was carefully placed at her neck, bearing down as to make her pass out. Her vision was fading. The last thing she saw before blacking out was the sight of little Scootaloo's eyes growing wider as her breaths became quick and short...
Applejack stepped back as her lunatic friend slowly walked towards her, step by step. Twilight Sparkle had just put up a force field around them as she slowly made her way to the orange work pony with a menacing grin across her face. The field slowly closed in closer and closer until it was virtualy right behind Applejack, pushing her towards the crazy unicorn who's beady eyes and devilish grin struck her with fear down to the bone.
The field stopped when the two ponies were within striking distance of each other. Applejack's blood ran cold. Minutes passed and nothing happened. Applejack grew uncomfortable and decided to try and take a step back towards her obviously insane.
FLASH
Twilight appeared right next to Applejack, and threw a punch at her. Applejack was fast though. She quickly saw the incoming blow and jerked her head back, only taking a hoof to the side of the nose. She rolled forward in an attempt to dodge anymore attacks the crazy unicorn might throw. Applejack could see no way out of this other than to fight.
There she stood, her world was fading to black around her, facing the crazed mind of one of her best friends. There in the darkness, with nothing around her but the pitch black closing in around her, she screamed...
"Scootaloo!" Yelled Sweetie Bell as Twilight rammed into and impaled her dearest friend. Everypony watched in terror as poor Scootaloo was stricken down with one swift blow. Rarity quickly regained herself and tackled the psychotic purple unicorn to the ground, pushing her hoof to Twilight's neck. Pinkie and the others suddenly swarmed around helpless Scootaloo as her breath became fast and her gasps for air became short.
"SOMEPONY GET SOME LEAVES! We have to cover this wound up!" yelled the frantic Pinkie Pie. Sweetie Bell was the only one to respond, seeing as Fluttershy was crying over in the distance and Apple Bloom was still in utter shock. "Does anypony know CPR?" There fell a silence.
"ANYPONY!" she screamed.
"Applejack knows CPR." stated Apple Bloom.
"THEN WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR! GET HER!" roared the red hot Pinkie. Apple Bloom quickly turned and dashed off into the jungle, alone.
"I... better go with her..." Sweetie Bell stated as she turned to follow her friend.
Pinkie shed a tear as she sat there, gazing into the eyes of little Scootaloo as she was still gasping for air, holding on to life by a thread. "Don't worry..." Pinkie softly cooed. "We may have lost Dash, but I won't be responsible for the death of a filly." Pinkie sat there with the choking Scootaloo and held her tight in her hooves, as if to grip her from the cold hands of death. She teared up more. "Why did I ever bring you guys..."
Stranded, Ch. 9-
Applejack screamed at the top of her lungs. In an instant, everything went from total darkness to pure white. The sudden change made Applejack shut her eyes as she stumbled back. After a minute or so, she was finally able to ajust to the light around her. She looked off in every direction. Nothing. There was nothing. Snow white all around her. "Am... am ah dead?" Applejack wondered to herself.
"No." an oddly familiar voice called in the distance. "You're not dead Applejack, you're one of the lucky ones. Me... I didn't stand a chance." The voice had a very depressing sound to it. "Heh, even you knew that before I did." Applejack quickly recognized the voice.
"Rainbow... Dash...?"
The white around her started to take color. The world started to take form. She was slowly able to make out fuzzy details as everything started to come together. After some time though, everything was becoming clear as day. She was surprised to see herself standing at the gates of Ponyville Cemetery.
"Whe- where am ah?" asked Applejack.
"Walk forward Applejack and see the consequences of your selfish actions." the voice called. Applejack took a few steps forward. The gate to the entrance slammed shut behind her. 'Guess there's no turning back now.' she thought to herself. She slowly walked forward, observing gravestones as she walked by. She walked for several minutes before coming to the end of the graveyard. Nothing.
"Is this some kind of joke?" Applejack inquired.
The voice spoke. "Joke? I wish it were." The voice was much gloomier than last time.
"What's that supposed ta mean?" Applejack asked.
"Look to your left... Applejack." the voice softly commanded.
Applejack turned to see a small tombstone of marble, brand new, sitting on a freashly dug grave. She edged closer to read what the stone said. Her heart sank to the deepest pits as she read the following:
'Here lies Rainbow Dash. Friend of four, Enemy of one...'
"C'mon Apple Bloom, wait up!" yelled Sweetie Bell, trying to catch up to her swift friend.
"There ain't no time, Sweetie Bell!" Apple Bloom responded. Suddenly, she stopped. She was having a bad feeling about things. "Maybe I should wait on Sweetie Bell." she whispered to herself.
She turned and saw the little white filly approaching at her top speed. She was about five hooves away before there was a loud scream in the distance. The scream froze them stiff, but there was something strange about this scream though, like that it wasn't a scream of pain... but one of dispair.
"It sounds like it's coming from the beach, Apple Bloom." Sweetie Bell implied.
"Applejack..."
"NOOOO!" Applejack roared. She fell down to her knees and wept softly. 'How could you be so arrogant.' she lashed at herself. 'How could you do such a thing to your best friend?' She sat there, crying for the longest time. Then she noticed that she wasn't the only one weeping. Off in the distance, another pony could be heard crying just as softly as her if not softer. Applejack rose up, tear streams down her face, and walked to investigate who else was there with her. She came across a circle of bushes. She slowly edged closer until she was at the bushes edge. She lifted a hoof and parted a few branches, just enough to see who was inside weeping.
"Wh... what the..." she gasped as she saw before her the one friend she thought she would never see again. It was Rainbow Dash. Applejack choked up, her lips trembled, she shut her eyes tight as to try and hold back the tears. As hard as she tried, she was unable to hold back for long before she jumped through the bushes to hug her friend, to hold her tight and tell her how sorry she was. The moment ended as she seemed to just phase through the rainbow maned pony and tumbled past her.
"H...huh?" Applejack let out with a sad, confused look on her face as she turned to see the cyan pegasus still sitting there, crying. The voice called out again, no longer distorting itself,
After the scene was over, everything faded back to white. Applejack stood there, alone, with no one to comfort her. She watched as a blue figure suddenly appeared in front of her, the figure of a once proud pegasus who was now thrashed from head to hoof. Scars were against her side and blood was all over. The figure stood there and spoke softly, "Why..." it asked. "Why did you do this to me Applejack?" She had no words. "Why would you put me through this kind of horrible pain?" The voice of the figure picked up in tone. Applejack finally spoke, her voice hoarse.
"Ah... didn't mean for..." she was stopped.
"Didn't mean for what, Applejack!" the figure yelled.
"Ah didn't mean for you to... to..." she didn't want to say it. "to... die..."
"Well... I would have loved to live, loved to see Ponyville again, loved to even spend one more day with you guys, even on the island... but you... you... you put me down... called me a liar... shunned me in my time of need..." the figure bowed it's head and dropped a tear from it's face.
"Sugarcube, ah... ah'm sorry..." Applejack let out, fighting her own tears.
The figure chuckled, "Heh... it's a little late for that don't you think..." The words broke Applejack down.
"OH RAINBOW DASH, PLEASE FORGIVE ME!" she begged. The figure just simply turned its head. "Oh please, ah wasn't thinking clearly, ah let my pride get the best of me. Ah even lead my best friend to... to her doom..." The figure turned back and looked scornfully at Applejack, yet said nothing.
"Look Dash, ah know nothing ah say or do will change anything... and ah honestly don't expect you to forgive me... but know that, ah wasn't in the right mind when ah said those hurtful things, and that ah'm truly am sorry..." She hung her head down, letting some tears fall. The figure's expression when from scornful to to one of content.
"Applejack," the figure started, "of course I forgive you. I am the element of loyalty, after all." Applejack lifted her head to see the smiling face of her friend, who no longer seemed bloody or thrashed. "I know you were not in the right mind, Applejack." She smiled and wrapped her hooves around the cyan pegasus with all her might, clinging tightly. Tears poured out her face as she squeezed. "Applejack, what's done is done. I'm sorry to put you through all this. Don't let this ordeal hinder you. Promise me that, won't you Applejack?" Applejack looked up at the face of her dearest friend, knowing that this would probably be the last time that they would see each other.
"I promise..."
Stranded, Ch. 10-
Applejack opened her eyes, seeing nothing but the star-lit sky. "Was... it all a dream?" she asked herself. "Heh, of course it was Applejack." she reassured herself, leaning over to her side. "Still though, ah can't help but feel like that dream meant something. Something important." She picked herself up and sat on the beach, thinking about the dream she just dreamed, when she suddenly heard her name being called in the distance.
"Applejack! Applejack!" the voice repeated as it drew closer.
"Is that... Apple Bloom?" Just before she could call back, two fillies came crashing out of the jungles edge in front of the still groggy work pony. "Hey there guys." she said with a yawn. "What y'all up to?"
"Applejack... come quick... It's Scootaloo... She's been in a... terrible accident." the frantic Apple Bloom told, catching her breath.
"What? An accident? What kind of accident?" Applejack inquired, going from groggy to alert as a hawk watching her baby hatchlings, protecting them from a fox who just moved into the area.
"No time!" Sweetie Bell stated. "You have to go save her before it's too late!"
"Where are they?"
"Just go straight forward and you will find them." Apple Bloom said, now a bit recovered from the run.
As soon as Apple Bloom got the words out, Applejack was sprinting full speed towards where they stated Scootaloo was and didn't stop for anything, not even to think that she had just left the two exhausted fillies by themselves on the dark, creepy beach with no way to defend themselves if anything were to attack them...
"NO!" screamed the pink party pony. "Don't you die on me!" She was caressing Scootaloo, who was now only taking in one second breaths. "Rarity, what do we do?" Pinkie asked, turning to her friend who was still holding Twilight down by the neck.
"I don't know!" Rarity retorted. "Just don't let her stop breathing until Applejack gets here!"
"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh..." Fluttershy was telling herself as she rocked back and forth in fetal position, holding her legs with her hooves and crying her eyes out.
"Fluttershy! You're good with caring for animals! Get over here and help me!" Pinkie was the angriest she had ever been in her life. "NOW!" she screamed.
"O...OK" Fluttershy whimpered as she ever so slowly went to Pinkie Pie, who was still holding Scootaloo. She approached the side of Pinkie and saw the little filly's condition, the sight of which made her want to puke. "Ummm... OK... Just, ummm... set her down and ummm... ummm..."
"SPIT IT OUT!" Pinkie roared at the scared Fluttershy, causing her to faint. "Oh great, just great!" Pinkie said, obviously agitated. In that instant, Scootaloo stopped breathing, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. Her heart had pumped its last.
Pinkie watched as life slowly left the young filly. Her eyes teared. All the anger went straight to sadness. Pinkie sat there, holding the small lifeless body of a filly, just in her prime, and cried as there came a rustle from the bushes...
"Don't worry little Scootaloo, ah'm on my way!" Applejack told herself as she ran as hard as she could.
While she was running, she could hear Pinkie yelling at Fluttershy. "It's not far now Applejack, it's not far now..."
"Apple Bloom, can't we stop and take a break?" Sweetie Bell asked.
"No, Sweetie Bell. We have to go see if Scootaloo comes out of this OK" Apple Bloom responded.
"Oh, alright." Sweetie bell grunted as they ran.
"Don't be like that Sweetie Bell. You know she would do the same for you." Apple Bloom retorted.
"I know that, but I'm just so tired." Sweetie Bell whined. Apple Bloom turned around and faced Sweetie Bell with anger and tears in her eyes.
"Our friend could be dead and you wanna stop and rest because you're just a little bit tired? I thought you were a better friend than that, but I must have been wrong." The words may just as well have been a sword that cut straight through Sweetie Bell's heart.
"I'm... sorry Apple Bloom. I wasn't thinking." Sweetie Bell said with her head down, fighting her emotions so she wouldn't cry in front of her friend. Apple Bloom's anger turned to sympathy.
"It's O.K. Sweetie Bell. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I'm just a bit stressed out."
"Me too, Apple Bloom. You're not the onlypony possibly losing a friend here..."
"Ah'm here!" Applejack yelled as she breached the bushes. "Where's Scootaloo?" she asked. As her eyes looked at the scene, they started to cloud up. To the right she could see the motionless body of a cyan, rainbow maned pony, and to her left, a flat maned pink pony holding the lifeless body of a young, orange filly. Off distantly in the middle was Rarity holding down, and what looked like suffocating, a purple unicorn. "No... Pinkie, is she..." Pinkie turned her head, a stream of tears down her face, and simply closed her eyes, and nodded.
"Ah... was too late..." Applejack hung her head down and let the drops fall. "Ah... ah could of saved her... ah could have prevented all of this..." Just then she heard a rustle in the bushes just behind her. "It must be the two young'uns." Applejack said with a heavy heart. "This won't end well..." she said to herself...
"C'mon, Sweetie Bell. I bet Scootaloo's just fine now that Applejack's there." Apple Bloom reassured her friend.
"I really hope so Apple Bloom, I really hope so..."
STRANDED Ch. 11-
The night air had a sharp chill to it on the small, uncharted island as the five ponies and two fillies were faced the the most disheartening of circumstances. The stars vanished, the wind stopped, everything went silent as the two fillies crossed the bushes threshold to behold the horrible scene before them.
Apple Bloom looked at her sister Apple Jack with sadness and disbelief in her eyes. "You... let her... die..." Apple Jack looked back with sympathy and a sense of understanding.
"Apple Bloom, you know ah would never-" Her sentence was cut short.
"YOU LET HER DIE!" little Apple Bloom lashed out. "Why did I ever put my faith in you? I should have known seeing as you didn't even give two horse shoes about your own friend." The words cut Apple Jack deeper than the death of Rainbow Dash. Apple Jack was literally heart-broken.
"You... don't mean that... do you..." Apple Jack choked out, her heart skipping a beat.
"I meant every word, sis." Apple Bloom stated as she looked to the ground, holding the tears back as to show no sign of weakness to her older sibling.
"Apple Bloom..." Apple Jack whispered.
"NO! Don't even think about talking to me! I HATE YOU!" Apple Bloom might just as well ripped Apple Jack's heart out and stomped it into the ground. After she finished her sentence, she turned and ran into the jungle, leaving the broken Apple Jack feeling like the worst pony in the world.
"Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Bell called as she started to run after her friend.
"Leave her be Sweetie Bell." Rarity commanded. "She just needs some time alone right now."
"Apple Bloom..." Sweetie Bell said, sulking in her hooves and letting tears roll off her face. "Apple Bloom..."
"Look, Sweetie Bell. Some things... hit some ponies harder than others..." Rarity said, hoping to calm the little filly. Sweetie Bell just hung her head in silence...
Fluttershy regained consciousness only to wake up in agony to the scene around her. She saw Apple Jack with her head to the side and a hoof to the heart, crying. She saw the little Sweetie Bell with her head hung low in sorrow. The sight that hit her heart the hardest though was seeing Pinkie Pie, flat maned and crying, holding the broken body of poor Scootaloo in her arms.
Fluttershy didn't speak or move. She sat there, all alone, and watched in shock as she tried fighting her emotions of sadness and frustration...
Pinkie pie sat there and did the only thing she could think to do, and that was to cry. She cried harder than she ever had before as the feeling of guilt washed completely over her, thinking back to the very day she invited everypony on this accursed delivery.
*FLASHBACK*-
"Hey there Pinkie Pie, what's up?" Scootaloo asked the pink party pony who was so gracefully hoping her way straight to the energetic little filly and her friends.
"Hiya girls! You wanna go on an adventure?" Pinkie Pie bluntly asked.
"An adventure... with you... I don't know..." skeptical Apple Bloom stated.
"Oh, please! It's going to be a wonderful adventure! We are going to a far off distant place across seas to delivery a very special order of treats!"
"Delivering... treats? How about... no." Scootaloo responded.
"Don't sit there and tell me that you have something better to do." Pinkie Pie argued.
"Well... no, but-" Pinkie cut her off.
"GREAT! See ya next week!" she said as she happily hopped to invite the rest of her friends.
*****
Pinkie clung tightly to the lifeless body and quietly cried her tears into its mane. She cried and cried until tears simply refused to come out anymore. She sat there in sorrow and mourning until she felt the hoof of a friend touch her shoulders. "It's alright Pinkie Pie." Rarity's voice cooed. "There was nothing you could have done."
Those were the wrong words.
Pinkie furiously jumped up and turned to face Rarity eye to eye. "Nothing I could have done!? Rarity, I could have prevented it all!" she lashed, "I could have stayed home, I could have minded my own business, I could have... could have..." Her tone dropped, "I was selfish... don't try and tell me it wasn't my fault... we both know it is..."
Fluttershy watched as her pink friend was slowly descending into a deep depression. She couldn't bear it anymore. She ran and threw her arms around the sad Pinkie Pie and spoke an ever so pleasant tone as to soothe her distraught friend.
"Now you listen to me, Pinkie Pie. You had no way of knowing that all this was going to happen and neither did we. We have to stick together and beat the odd. It is not your fault, Pinkie Pie." The words had good intentions, but were to no avail.
"Just... leave me alone, Fluttershy..." The words turned Fluttershy's heart to stone as it sank to the deepest pits of oblivion. Her eyes burned, her throat dried, her lips trembled. She ran off into the jungle, weeping for her friend who just shunned her kindness with no regard.
"FLUTTERSHY!" Rarity called, but with little success. "Fluttershy..."
Apple Jack stood there, mouth open as she started to lose all emotion. 'I hate you.' the words kept playing over and over in her mind. She couldn't think. She couldn't move. She couldn't feel. "Apple Jack, are you alright?" Rarity asked, hoping to at least talk some sense into somepony.
"She... hates... me..." The words were void and empty. "She... doesn't... love me anymore..."
"That's absurd Apple Jack! Of course she loves you. She's just a little angry at the moment." Rarity reassured.
"She...... hates...... me......" She bowed her head and cried.
"No... not you too, Apple Jack. This Celestia forsaken island is taking us all one by one and nopony is doing anything to stop it!" Her words echoed through the silent jungle. "Why am I the only one who can see what's going on?" she said as she sat beside the unconscious Twilight. "If only I would have stood up to A.J. on the beach..."
"If only..."
STRANDED Ch. 12-
"Fluttershy!" she heard as she ran.
Everypony's heart is fragile and Fluttershy's was one of the most. The death of two of her friends definitely didn't help. One's heart can only take so much pain and tolerate so much hate and Pinkie's rejection was the line. Fluttershy's heart was shattered, shattered to millions of small, little pieces that even magic wouldn't be able to heal. The only thing that mattered to her anymore was to run, run as far from her friends as possible. She didn't know where she was going and frankly she didn't care.
When your heart is ripped from the very roots and smashed right before your eyes, you tend not to care about the world around you. She kept running until her legs wouldn't carry her any further and broke down on the grass, basically forcing the tears from her eyes to help cope with the heart-ache. She had never felt so alone in her life, so cold, so hurt. The pain didn't leave, didn't lift, wouldn't give way. She sat all alone, vulnerable, and didn't even care when she heard the bushes move. She held her head up to see which one of her friends had come to comfort her...
She had no such luck...
Twilight's eyes opened. She was too weak to move or even speak, still very exhausted from her earlier episode. She looked to see Rarity and Sweetie bell sitting to her side together and talking. "Oh Sweetie bell, what ever shall we do?" Sweetie Bell didn't respond. "Sweetie Bell, I may have lost all of my other friends to this island but I WILL NOT lose you too!" Rarity said with a higher tone. The filly refused to even acknowledge she was there. Rarity's voice changed from sympathy to anger. "SWEETIE BELL, ANSWER ME!" Sweetie Bell winced at the words, raised up, and started walking away.
"Don't you walk away from me!" Sweetie Bell ignored. "FINE! Be that way!" Rarity lashed, slightly choking up. Sweetie Bell continued walking until she was out of sight and kept on. "What am I going to do? Everypony is slowly losing their stability and it's mostly my fault." She hung her head and sulked. "If only I stood up to Apple Jack at the beach, we wouldn't have had a death in the first place... If only..." she whispered to herself as she let a tear escape her eye and drop to the ground.
Twilight could only watch as the scene unfolded right before her. She wanted so badly to just hold and comfort her friend and tell her that everything would be alright. She knew she would never get the chance after what she had done to poor Scootaloo. She didn't even know if she could forgive herself, much less expect her friends too.
She laid there and dwelled on what she did to the poor little filly and let a tear of relief escape her eye as she slowly drifted off into a deep sleep. She was cold, hungry, and ashamed...
"I HATE YOU!" Apple Bloom immediately regretted the words as they left her lips. A great wave of shame washed over her. She couldn't face her sister, not after what she just said. She sharply turned her body and ran away in tears and got just out of ear-shot before she tripped over a tree root and rolled down a soft incline. She picked herself up and sat in the grass and sulked her head in her hooves.
"She... will never forgive me for... what I said..." she quietly told herself. "Not... after... what I... said..."
Apple Jack sat just to the side of the sad pink party pony and laid her head down to the grass, suffering from a terrible headache, and slowly drifted off to sleep as she quietly wept...
Pinkie Pie paid Apple Jack no attention as the work pony came up beside her and laid her head to the ground and softly cried herself to sleep, obviously dwelling on what her sister had said before she stormed off in anger. "Why is this all happening to us... Why..." she softly told herself while still holding little Scootaloo. "What did we do... to deserve all of... this?"
She slowly started to feel sleeps sweet call as she laid down beside the orange work pony and slowly cried herself to sleep as well, still thinking on how she could have stopped all of this...
Sweetie Bell walked away from her sister, pain in her heart as she seemed to lose her two best friends in one fell swoop right before her eyes. She walked with the pain and paid nothing no attention as she walked. Her head low, she didn't care to notice that she was walking the same direction as Apple Bloom and didn't care when she heard her friend weeping in the distance.
"She doesn't want to talk to me..." she told herself. "She didn't want to talk to her sister... Why would I be any different..." and she continued walking until she came up to the beach and stared out into the ocean while she thought back to what she had just seen. "I've lost Scootaloo... and now Apple Bloom... now I truly am... alone..." She laid down on the beach and shut her eyes tightly so the tears wouldn't escape her eyes as she slowly found herself able to finally sleep on the cold, hard sand as the moon gave a faint glow and the stars twinkled above her head...
STRANDED Ch. 13-
Fluttershy was eye to eye with a creature of the same description that Rainbow Dash had given her when they were talking on the beach. Fluttershy didn't care. Her heart was in pieces. The creature stood there and had the creepiest grin plastered on its face. The creature slowly moved on the shy, broken pony, keeping a constant yet slow pace as to not startle her. Fluttershy didn't move. The creature drew its claws and went into a prone position, as if he were a cat about to pounce on a mouse. Fluttershy still held her head down, still not moving a muscle. The creature pounced.
BOOM!
The creatures face was met with Fluttershy's right hoof that sent it flying almost ten yards. Fluttershy's eyes had tears streaming, but her actions were of anger, not sadness. She was taking in deep breaths and grinding her teeth furiously. The creature was killed on impact. Fluttershy saw what she had done and the anger left her. "I... I killed it..." she softly told herself. "I just... killed... a living thing..." She looked at the creatures body with a new stream of tears. "I'm... a monster..." she whispered to herself. "A... monster..." she said, looking at her hooves right before her eyes. She felt a new feeling wash over her, one she had never felt before. She dried her tears and fixed her posture as she walked deeper into the jungle with this new felling, new instinct. The instinct... of... survival...
Apple Bloom was sitting by herself, thinking back to what she had said to her sister. "She probably hates ME now..." she said as she sulked her head in her hooves. "How could I have said such a thing to my own sister... to Apple Jack..." The tears flowed without hindrance. "Now I don't have anypony... nopony at all..." She sat there in self loathing for about ten minutes before she noticed something to her right. It was Glindrak berries. They were pure white with red dots all around them. "I... I've seen these before... but where..." she asked herself before it suddenly hit her. "I've read about these in one of Zecora's books. These are extremely poisonous, able to kill a pony in mere minutes once consumed..." She picked one of the berries. "I wonder..." She looked hard at the Glindrak berries, as to make sure they were the right ones.
She held the berries up to her mouth. "Nopony cares about me anymore..." She edged the berries closer. "Nopony cares..." She ate them. "Anymore..."
She felt her motor skills immediately give way as she fell to the ground, unable to move. She felt no pain as her mouth started to foam and her eyes rolling back. Her body started to shake violently as the berries poisonous juices coursed through her veins. After about one minute her body stopped. Her heart, her nerves, her very being ceased to function as she took one final breath, thinking back to the heart-broken look on her sister's face as she said those three little words...
'I HATE YOU'...
"I'm... sorry... Apple... Jack..."
Rarity was thinking about what she had said to Sweetie Bell and how she had raised her tone at her only sister. "Why did I raise my voice at her, oh why?" she asked herself. "I'm sure this will all be sorted out by tomorrow." she told herself in hopes of convincing herself of that lie. "Oh Twilight, why did you have to go all crazy on us?" She was right beside the purple unicorn when she noticed a loud sound off in the direction Fluttershy was in. "That's... odd..." she said.
Rarity was exhausted. "Like I said, I'm sure this will all be sorted out by tomorrow..." She knew she was telling lies to herself but what other choice did she have. "Everything will be better in the morning..." she said, slowly drifting to sleep. "Better... in the... morning..."
In the morning...
STRANDED Ch. 14-
At the break of dawn Apple Jack woke up yawning and rubbing her eyes. She sat up and brushed herself off looking around her to see the same scene she had dealt with the night before. She noticed that Applebloom was nowhere to be seen and started to worry. "She's probably at tha beach with Sweetie Bell." she told herself with concern. Pinkie Pie was still asleep right beside her and having a bad dream by the looks of it. Apple Jack looked behind her to see Twilight and Rarity still asleep as well. She got up and beheld the two lifeless bodies of Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash. She paid her respects and started on a grave for each of them.
"Ah'm not gonna let you two just rot up here." she said, "You both deserve a proper burial." After digging for some time, she grew weary and decided to take a quick break by going for a walk around. "Ah guess Fluttershy's with the two fillies at the beach." She told herself walking in the same direction Apple Bloom took off in last night in hopes of running into her...
Sweetie Bell awoke as the sun was just coming up from the horizon. She stretched her arms and let out a long yawn. She stood up and shook off the sand. "Hmmm... I wonder how everypony else is doing this morning?" she asked herself. "Wonder where Apple Bloom went off to. I didn't see her on my way here last night." She collected herself and started off into the jungle to see where her small filly friend had went off to the night before...
Pinkie opened her eyes just as Apple Jack was leaving through the thresh-hold of the bushes. She stared up at the sky for a little while before she heard a loud scream off in the distance. "Oh great, what now?" she asked herself while shaking off the morning. The scream had awaken Twilight and Rarity at the same time. Rarity immediately took notice of Twilight and pinned her to the ground.
"Pinkie Pie, darling, do you think you could give me a hand please?" Rarity asked with a sarcastic tone while holding Twilight down.
"Rarity please, I'm not going to hurt you." Twilight spoke with a hoarse voice. "Let me go."
"NO!" Rarity retorted. "We saw what you did to poor Scootaloo last night." Thoughts of the night before came rushing back to the pink party pony and immediately became sad like she was last night.
"I know what I did Rarity and trust me I feel horrible."
"How do we know you are not just trying to pull a trick on us?" Rarity replied.
"Didn't you hear that scream? Somepony needs us. Now, please let me go." Twilight argued.
Rarity didn't see a choice in the matter and slowly lifted her hooves off Twilight. Pinkie Pie stood there with a frown on her face accompanied by the saddest look. Twilight felt so bad for what she did. She noticed, before running off, the freshly dug unfinished graves to the side. "Who did this?" Twilight asked.
"Does that matter now?" Rarity asked.
"Sorry, let's go. Come on Pinkie." Pinkie didn't budge. "Pinkie, we may need you. Come on." Pinkie refused to move a single muscle. "Pinkie...?"
Pinkie kept her head down and said in a low whisper, "Just go... please... leave me alone..." Twilight didn't see any other option. She left the sad party pony all by herself as she and Rarity went into the jungle to investigate the origin of the loud scream...
Sweetie Bell had heard the loud scream from halfway across the island. "Hmmm... strange..." she said to herself. "I guess I should go and see what all the commotion is about. Not like I got anything else to do. Hay, I might even run into Apple Bloom on my way!" and with that being said she skipped in the direction of the scream with a huge smile plastered across her face.
It was only about five minutes before she came to see the orange workpony sitting beside a small yellow body, stoking its red mane as she let a tear fall. She looked to her left and saw her own sister and the accursed purple unicorn following. A rage built in her heart in that instant as she jumped out from the side and attacked Twilight with what little power she had...
Pinkie was still standing all by her lonesome when she heard a rustle in the bushes. She stopped sulking and turned to see one of her most dear friends standing with a wicked grin on her face and a spear in her hoof. "Flutter... shy...?" was all Pinkie managed to get of her mouth out before she was hit in the shoulder by a bamboo spear and was being charged by the blood thirsty pegasus...
"Sweetie Bell! Get off me!" Twilight yelled as the filly unicorn was on top of her, striking with her hooves in hopes of hurting her. Rarity was quick to take action and grabbed Sweetie Bell by the neck with her mouth. She set her to the side and held her back as she lashed out.
"Let me at her! She killed Scootaloo!" she yelled.
"Sweetie Bell, calm down." Rarity urged the young filly.
"NO! Let me go! Let me at her!" Sweetie bell continued. Rarity pinned her sister to the ground and used the same trick she used on Twilight the night before to calm her down, just not with as much force. Twilight got up and looked at Sweetie bell with a heavy heart.
"I don't blame you for hating me Sweetie Bell. In fact, you have every right but somepony needs our help right now and we need to get to them before something happens." There was another scream from the direction Pinkie was in. "Wait, what the-?" Twilight was speechless. "P...Pinkie...?" She took off in the screams direction and completely disregarded the earlier call.
"I guess we will look into this one I suppose." Rarity stated. "Now Sweetie Bell, do you think you could be a dear and not chase Twilight? Hmmmm...?" Sweetie Bell gave a glare, then nodded. "Good." She lifted her hoof. "Now let's go see what over here." Sweetie Bell gave a grumble and followed her sister to see the same sad orange pony she had seen moments ago still sitting there... weeping...
STRANDED Ch. 15-
Pinkie's muscles froze. Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped as she watched Fluttershy charge her. Pinkie's instincts kicked in and she ripped the spear out of her shoulder. The pain was immense, but it didn't stop her. Fluttershy was a mere 10 hooves away before she was able to stop herself just before running into the point of her own spear dripping with Pinkie's blood. "You..." Pinkie started, "can't do this..."
Pinkie thrust the spear at Fluttershy. Fluttershy quickly dodged and rolled to her left. Pinkie turned and charged. Fluttershy quickly looked about her and found a rather large, blunt rock. She picked it up and threw it at Pinkie with all her might.
BAM!
The rock struck Pinkie right in the forehead. Pinkie was knocked on her back from the impact. She was down... but not out. She quickly regained herself and looked at Fluttershy with a sadistic frown. "We don't have to fight Fluttershy..." Pinkie began, "We can work this out..." Pinkie had blood dribbling on her face from where the rock had struck. Fluttershy looked to her right and found a smaller yet quite sharper rock. She and Pinkie both looked at the rock and paused, looking at each other and waiting for someone to make a move. Fluttershy dove for the rock.
SLASH!
Pinkie had thrown the spear right into the side of Fluttershy, striking her to the ground and causing her to let out a great scream. Fluttershy looked at the spear in her side and gritted her teeth. She spoke, "You... will... not... KILL ME!" Fluttershy ripped the spear from her side and grabbed the rock. "Here," She threw the rock at Pinkie, "You need to have some chance." Pinkie let out a grin.
"You don't see a way around this?" she asked sounding somewhat... afraid.
"I'm afraid not." Fluttershy responded with a smile...
"What the hay was that!?" Twilight yelped to herself as she heard a EXTREAMLY loud scream. "I better hurry before something bad happens." she told herself as she continued in the direction she left Pinkie Pie by herself...
Apple Jack was holding the little body of what once was her little sister and stroked her hair softly, crying a few tears into the mane. She heard the tussle between Twilight and Sweetie Bell a little to her left, just behind a few bushes. She heard the words they spoke and she knew Sweetie Bell was about to have her heart torn out. She awaited the interruption that was inevitable. As she wept, she finally heard the voice of her friend Rarity speak. "Apple Jack... is that you?"
"Yea... it's me..." Apple Jack responded with a sad tone.
"Apple Jack, you're not still crying over what Applebloom said, are you?" Rarity asked. What she said made Apple Jack instantly break down. She held her sister's body tightly to her chest and turned her head over her shoulder. She spoke with pain in her voice as she saw Sweetie Bell.
"No Rarity... Ah'm not still cryin' over that..." Her voice seemed empty of all emotion.
"I wouldn't think, seeing as you're holding little Apple Bloom in your lap. She looks so peaceful when she sleeps." Rarity didn't know any better. Apple Jack scrunched her face and jerked her head down. She tightly closed her eyes and coughed a tear out. Her throat was tight and dry.
"She's... not asleep..." she choked out.
Rarity gasped. "You don't mean..." Apple Jack closed her eyes and nodded. Sweetie Bell's heart sank. She couldn't believe it. She knew she shouldn't have asked but she couldn't help herself.
"How...?" Sweetie Bell asked with a lump in her throat.
"Suicide..." said Apple Jack...
Fluttershy drew her spear to the side and set her ground. Pinkie grabbed the rock and pointed it at the once kind and gentle pony. "Ready Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy asked.
"As I will ever be." Pinkie retorted. The two ponies stared at each other with deathly glares and made ready to fight to the death. Just as they were about to charge they heard a yell from the distance.
"WAIT!" the voice called. It was Twilight. Twilight breached the bushes and stood right in-between her two friends. "What's this senseless fighting going to solve?" she asked the two. She turned to Fluttershy first and started talking. "Fluttershy, I know when Pinkie rejected your kindness that it nearly broke your heart. I could see it in your eyes as you ran away last night. I know that everything is falling apart but this fighting won't solve anything." She then turned to Pinkie. "And Pinkie, you shouldn't-"
GASH!
Twilight felt a sharp pain in the back and front of her neck. She looked down to see the point of Fluttershy's bamboo spear through her throat. She couldn't yell. She fell to her knees and slowly bled-out right there on the grass, giving off a twitch every now and then. "She was getting rather annoying." Fluttershy said as she pulled the spear from her former friends throat. "Now, where were we?" she asked looking at the pink party ponies horrified face. "Oh, yea. I remember." She charged...
STRANDED Ch.16-
"Sui...cide..." Sweetie Bell choked. "But... why...?" she asked.
"I could take a guess..." Apple Jack stated.
"Oh, I'm awfully sorry about your sister Apple Jack..." Rarity said with a soft, calming voice. A scream was heard in the direction Twilight took off to. "Sounds like there's still trouble." Rarity implied. "Come on, we need to go help. Who knows what's going on over there."
"Y'all go on ahead... Ah'll catch up..." said Apple Jack. "Let me... at least bury her..."
"Of course. Sweetie Bell, let's go!" Rarity said tugging at the filly unicorn who seemed rather reluctant. "Let's go Sweetie Bell!" Rarity urged. Sweetie Bell gave a final look of sadness and disbelief at Applebloom's body before turning to go with her older sister to see what all the screaming was about...
Pinkie dodged left. Cut. Pinkie jumped right. Slash. Pinkie rolled back. Jab.
Pinkie was trying her best to fend off Fluttershy, but was taking inflictions in doing so. Every time she made a move there was Fluttershy's spear, either being thrust or slashed at her. Pinkie had many small wounds covering her entire body which at the time made little difference, but those wounds add up. Pinkie was losing blood quite rapidly because of her constant motion that kept her heart rate high. Soon the pink party pony was no longer her color. All the cuts had bled out so much that Pinkie Pie was completely crimson red for head to toe, except for the occasional pink blotch.
Pinkie's pace was finally slowing down and Fluttershy's attacks were hitting her more effectively. "Oh come on now Pinkie Pie. You're making this too easy." Fluttershy joked. Pinkie had dropped the stone early in the fight and had no way to defend herself except to dodge her relentless attacks. Pinkie's energy was finally spent. After fending off Fluttershy for what seemed like forever, she finally collapsed on the ground. Fluttershy stood over her with the spear pointed directly at her heart. "I'm gonna rip your heart out and smash it right before your eyes. Just like you did me." She chuckled. "Tell Twilight I said hi." She lifted the spear.
BAM!
Fluttershy found herself knocked to the ground by some small figure. She felt a rather large pain in the side. She looked to see Sweetie Bell with her horn in her side. Fluttershy was taken aback by the thought, much less the actual happening of it. Sweetie Bell pulled her horn out and jumped again at Fluttershy with intentions of impaling her chest and hopefully, her heart. Fluttershy quickly snapped out of her confusion and back-hoofed the small filly as she was in mid-air. The impact almost broke Sweetie Bell's neck. Fluttershy walked over to the small filly and whispered in her ear. "Bad move." Fluttershy looked around her and saw Rarity staring with mouth agape at the scene before her. "You should have stopped her when you had the chance, Rarity." Fluttershy turned to meet the two back hooves of Apple Jack that sent her 5 hooves in the air. "Apple... Jack..." Sweetie Bell coughed out.
"Don't worry, Sweetie Bell. Ah won't let this monster hurt ya." Apple Jack spoke with a sense of nobility.
"Now..." Fluttershy spoke with a cold voice, "I'm mad..."
Fluttershy drew her spear to the side and pointed it directly at Apple Jack. "You're going to throw your life away to save some filly?" the psychotic Fluttershy asked. Apple Jack didn't respond. She just stood there with a cold stare. "Silly Apple Jack, did you forget that I can stare too?" It was to late before she realized that Fluttershy had been using the stare on her the whole time she was talking. Apple Jack was frozen. "Now, how about you move out of the way and let me finish what I started, hmmm?" she said rather sweetly. Apple Jack had no control. She unwillingly moved to the side and watched as Fluttershy drew her spear above little Sweetie Bell. "Any last words?" Fluttershy joked. Sweetie Bell could hardly choke out a noise. "That's what I thought." She pulled the spear up.
"No..." Rarity whispered. "NO!!!" she screamed. She raced towards Fluttershy with her head down, ready to try what Sweetie Bell intended on doing in the first place. Fluttershy smiled.
"Too late."
JAB!
Fluttershy had expertly placed the spear right between the eyes, just under where the brain should be as to make her suffer and refuse a quick death. Fluttershy grinned as she knew she had no time to turn around and face Rarity before she got to her. She stood there ready to face her fate with a smile.
BAM!
Rarity's horn struck right into Fluttershy's spine. Fluttershy didn't yell. Instead, what she did struck fear into rarity's heart. She merely laughed. Laughed in the face of death as she quickly gave way to his call. Fluttershy was dead in seconds. Rarity pulled her horn from her former friends backside and went to check on her suffering sister who was losing the battle of life ever so slowly. Apple Jack was now able to move of her own free will and she immediately joined Rarity in seeing to Sweetie Bell. Sweetie Bell was taking short breaths and was in tremendous pain. "Can we..." Rarity started in hopes Apple Jack could tell what she meant. Apple Jack just shook her head no. "Are you sure..." she asked with a sense of any hope. Again, Apple Jack shook her head. Tears came to Rarity's eyes as she watch her sister struggle with the pain.
"Rarity... dontcha think she has suffered enough..." Apple Jack started, putting a hoof to her friend shoulder. Rarity was softly letting the tears fall. She nodded. "Ya may wanna turn your head for this... but it's for her sake..." Rarity simply got up and left, walking towards where Pinkie Pie was laying.
"Do... what you must..." Rarity choked out. "I'm... going to take Pinkie... to the beach... meet us there when... you're done..." She picked Pinkie off the ground and carried her away in that direction.
Apple jack looked deep into the eyes of Sweetie Bell and her heart sank once more. She knew what had to be done. "No filly should suffer this." Apple Jack whispered to herself. "Nopony should..." Apple Jack drew the spear from Sweetie Bells head and directed it at where her heart would be. "Don't worry..." she cooed. "It will only hurt for a second." As she pulled the spear back Sweetie Bell was able to cough out one final phrase. She spoke.
"Thank... you..."
Rarity and Pinkie were at the beach for a short time before Apple Jack came out of the horrible jungle. "She's..." Rarity started.
"She didn't suffer long..." Apple Jack spoke.
"What do we do now?" asked Rarity.
"Now... Ah don't know Rarity, Ah don't know... but at least it's finally over..."
"Yea... it's finally... over..."
EPILOUGE-
The rest of the three remaining ponies lives were spent surviving on the accursed island.Pinkie Pie was the first to die of infection weeks later after the fight with Fluttershy. Her death was slow but painless. Her last words were spoken at the graves of her friends that met their untimely fates. Her final words were "I'm sorry..." An hour later, rarity found her dead beside the grave of her favorite friend, Rainbow dash.
A few months passed after Pinkie's death before rarity succumb to death by the poisoning of the Glindrak berries that killed Apple Bloom. A mosquito had apparently had a few drops of the awful berry and bite Rarity on the back left hutch. Her death was slow as her body could not process the berries fluid out in time before it spread throughout her whole system. She died three days later in her hoof-weaved bed with Apple Jack at the side tending to her need.
Apple Jack lived for three more years on the island alone. Everyday she visited her friends graves and reflected on her life. She was growing weak from the depression and loneliness. One day, she decided she couldn't handle it anymore. She couldn't bring herself to eat the same berries that had claimed her friend and sister. She, instead, decided to swim out to sea as far as she could before her body would give out. She swam for three hours before she finally could swim no more and let the waves take her. Her last thoughts was of her and all her friends, back in ponyville, enjoying their life. She cried one last tear before closing her eyes and giving up her stuggle. She died happy knowing that even though the last few years were hard, her whole life was definitely worth living because of the times she had with her friends...
THE END!
*Sidenote*- A friend of mine came up with this awesome saying for Apple Jack if she was ever rescued.