Equestria Wide River Expedition

Paddling down the river, Apple Bloom and Applejack circled around in circles many times. Finally giving up, Applejack stopped paddling as Apple Bloom continued to paddle. Soak Strip paddled over and teased, "Can't go down the river if you don't paddle."

Applejack grunted. "We are paddlin'! We just keep goin' in circles." Apple Bloom giggled from the front of the boat, stopping her paddling.

Soak Strip stopped paddling and smiled. "If you don't try, you can't proceed. It's a learning experience." With that, Soak Strip paddled forward.

Applejack looked at the paddle she was holding and attempted to paddle again. Apple Bloom got her paddle and started paddling as well. After a few strokes, Applejack said, "Hey, Ah think Ah'm gettin' the hang of it."

Apple Bloom and Applejack then continued paddling forward. A few more strokes later, and they began circling again. Apple Bloom laughed as they went in circles. Applejack couldn't hold back a smile knowing that Apple Bloom was at least having fun. Rarity and Sweetie Belle paddled on, focused on small and simple strokes. Rarity looked over at Applejack and Apple Bloom and called, "Yoo-hoo! Applejack!"

Applejack looked towards Rarity, who was levitating her paddle. "Confound it!" Applejack yelled. "How are ya doin' that?"

Rarity chuckled. "It's simple, dear! Just use light and small strokes."

Sweetie Belle chimed in. "Yeah! Rarity apparently has read a book from Twilight's library about river traveling! She told me that I was the steerer or something like that."

Apple Bloom grinned. "That explains a lot! Thanks Sweetie Belle!"

"No problems, Apple Bloom!" Sweetie Belle turned to her sister. "Let's go ahead and try to catch up with Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo!"

"I hope we can catch up with those two. They are so quick." Rarity then started paddling with Sweetie Belle. Rarity turned to Applejack and cooed, "Ta-ta Applejack!"

Rarity and Sweetie Belle then left Applejack and Apple Bloom behind. Applejack and Apple Bloom looked at each other and nodded. They decided to start paddling forwards in which they turned into a circle again. Apple Bloom then revolved them into a full circle, returning them to front-view. Applejack smiled and nodded before continued pushing forward.

Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo fluttered their wings to propel forward. At the speed they were going, they felt like they couldn't be passed at anytime. In fact, that concerned Rainbow Dash a bit. Rainbow Dash looked back to see if anyone was behind. Seeing as there was no one, Rainbow Dash pointed out, "Hey Squirt, I think we passed them!"

Scootaloo grinned. "That was awesome how you passed by everyone with your wings! You were like a speeding bullet!"

Rainbow Dash rubbed the top of Scootaloo's head, earning a giggle from Scootaloo. "C'mon, we better speed back before-" Rainbow Dash looked ahead to see rapids. "Woah! We get to cross those?"

Scootaloo looked over to see the rapids that Rainbow Dash looked at and grinned. "This is going to be awesome!"

Rainbow Dash smirked. "Let's do this, Squirt! Full speed! They'll catch up later."

Scootaloo nodded and paddled forward. Behind them, Riverette went left of the fork in the river.

"Alright everypony! Look over there. Do you see that rock?" Riverette pointed out many sights on the river, as well as the river itself. Most ponies ignored what Riverette said and went about their own business. Applejack finally caught up to Rarity and Sweetie Belle as the river ponies told everypony to relax a bit before continuing on. Rarity sat back in the 'ducky' while Sweetie Belle waved at Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom waved back, in which Applejack paddled over to Rarity.

"Nothing like a little relaxing on the river," Rarity said, relaxing in the 'ducky'.

"You said it," Applejack said, getting relaxed in the 'ducky'.

Apple Bloom then looked around. "Still didn't get to Scootaloo yet?"

Sweetie Belle shrugged. "I haven't seen Rainbow Dash or Scootaloo ever since we left."

"Makes ya wonder if they could have gotten lost..." Apple Bloom commented.

"Y'all shouldn't worry 'bout RD gettin' lost. She can fly upwards and just look from the sky," Applejack said to comfort Apple Bloom.

"But... What if Rainbow can't fly? What if-"

"Ho-there!" Applejack interrupted. "Rainbow will be fine. After all, she wouldn't do anything too risky with Scootaloo with her." Apple Bloom sat back in the 'ducky', having a smile on her face. Applejack muttered, "At least, I hope not."

"We are going way too far from the crowd." Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "This is getting bad."

"Yeah... You're right... Maybe we should use these paddle things..." Scootaloo put her paddle into the water, in which it was pulled away by the current of the water. "Or not!"

"Don't worry, Squirt! I'll just fly us out of this!" Rainbow Dash started flapping her wings. She flew up with the raft, but she rammed into the wall of the mountain, bringing her and the 'ducky' back into the rapids. She cringed at the pain in her left wing. Scootaloo gasped at Rainbow's now broken wing.

"Rainbow Dash!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"It's okay..." Rainbow Dash winced. "Or... Maybe not..." Looking closer, Rainbow Dash saw that her wing was bent backwards; deformed and smashed.

"What are we going to do?" Scootaloo asked, looking around. "Your wing is broken and we can't get out of this!"

Rainbow looked around and saw a little piece of land. "There!" She grabbed her paddle and started towards the land. Each stroke of her paddle pushed her away from the patch of land, in which Rainbow Dash paddled harder. "No, no, no, no, no, NO!" she yelled as they spun around, continuing down the river flow.

Rainbow Dash continued paddling against the rapids, in which Scootaloo watched the many rocks coming up. Scootaloo gasped loudly, which caused Rainbow Dash to faced forward from the revolving 'ducky'. She growled at the difficulty that the river was causing and cursed under her breath.

"Get ready, Squirt!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "This is going to be a bumpy ride!"

"Alright, here we go again!" Riverette Flow started down the river in her boat, in which everypony followed. Rarity groaned, but Sweetie Belle didn't mind as she started paddling forward. Applejack and Apple Bloom whispered to each other and pulled up to Rarity's 'ducky'.

"Hey, Rarity!" Applejack called. Rarity turned around to see a bunch of water splashed from Apple Bloom's cup. Rarity squealed as the water hit her, which caused Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Applejack to laugh.

Rarity shook her head and glared at Applejack. "Oh. It. Is. On!" She then levitated her cup into the water and levitated the cup over Applejack's head. Rarity then dumped the water on Applejack's head, in which Applejack's hat repelled most of the water.

"Hah, can't get me!" Applejack taunted. "Let's go, Apple Bloom!" Apple Bloom nodded and started paddling forward, in which Applejack powered the 'ducky' to propel quickly. Rarity grunted and regained her cup.

"I can't believe her..." Rarity muttered.

"Well, Sis, shall we?" Sweetie Belle suggested.

"Yes, we shall," Rarity replied. Sweetie Belle and Rarity then started forward towards Applejack and Apple Bloom.

Faster and faster they went, passing many ponies. They continued forward until one pony called out, "Hey! Don't get ahead of the leader!"

Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle stuck their paddles down to skid to a halt. "Sorry 'bout that, Riverette," Applejack said before getting splashed in the face with a cup full of water. Rarity and Sweetie Belle giggled to each other, in which Applejack just returned the splash with a glare. Before Applejack could do anything, Apple Bloom put a hoof on Applejack.

"Applejack, we just passed many ponies, but there still wasn't any sign of Rainbow or Scootaloo. I'm gettin' real worried..."

Applejack looked back at the ponies they passed. Rarity added, "I know it's like Rainbow Dash to go ahead of herself at times, but she wouldn't have gone too far ahead, would she?"

Riverette paddled over to Applejack, Apple Bloom, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle. "Something the matter here?"

Applejack, after a brief hesitation, nodded to Riverette. "Yes. Yes, there is. Our friend is missing."

The ponies on Riverette's boat gasped with the exception of Riverette. "No problem. Describe your friend to me. We'll find her quickly with Soak Strip on the paddle."

"Well," Applejack started. "Rainbow Dash is her name. She has a rainbow-colored mane and a blue body. Then there's Scootaloo that was with Rainbow Dash. She has a purple mane with an orange body."

"Easy enough." Riverette whistled to Soak, in which he paddled to her. "We're looking for two ponies."

"Two ponies, huh? I saw two ponies paddle ahead, but I thought they were from a different group. Did one of them have a rainbow-mane?"

Applejack, Rarity, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle reacted quickly with a gasp. Each of them, including the ponies in Riverette's boat, started muttering to themselves. Applejack, who stayed focus, said, "That's her. Where do ya reckon we lost her at?"

"Well..." Soak went into deep thought. "She could be really far ahead of the pack. Or she could have split into the wrong direction. Either way, we lost her because she went ahead of us."

Applejack sighed. "I just hope they are alright..."

Rainbow Dash, wielding her paddle, pushed away from each rock by pushing on the rock. Rock after rock, Rainbow Dash continued to push away from each rock. But as the river went on, the more stones stuck out of the ground. Soon, she and Scootaloo ran over many rocks, causing the 'ducky' to pop under the pressure. Rainbow Dash quickly grabbed Scootaloo and jumped from the 'ducky', grabbing a tree branch from a near wall of the mountainside. Scootaloo clung to Rainbow Dash tightly as Rainbow Dash struggled to keep her grip. The popped 'ducky', paddle, and cups flowed down the river, bumping over rock and rapids. Rainbow Dash continued to look for a way to get up. She looked and finally spotted a branch above her.

Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof at a branch above. Scootaloo looked at where she pointed and clung tighter. "I can't do it!" Scootaloo yelled. Rainbow Dash grunted through her grab and continued to point. Soon, a snap sounded. Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash looked at the branch and noticed that it was breaking. Scootaloo looked at Rainbow Dash and the branch above and back before finally making a decision. She jumped to the branch above and grabbed it with her mouth. Rainbow Dash gave a pose saying that Scootaloo did a good job. Rainbow Dash then propelled herself upwards to a side of the cliff with her hooves.

"Scootaloo, get on!" Rainbow Dash commanded. Scootaloo followed Rainbow Dash's command and jumped onto her. Rainbow Dash caught Scootaloo on her back and climbed up to the side of the cliff, where Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash relaxed. After a few breaths, Rainbow Dash looked upwards to see how far up the cliff went. After a few head turns, Rainbow Dash sighed.

Scootaloo came up to Rainbow Dash and looked up at her. Rainbow Dash looked back into the filly's eyes and finally said, "I'm sorry, Scootaloo..."

Scootaloo looked down and sat down next to Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash looked down as well thinking of what to do. Finally, she spotted something beyond the horizon. "Huh?" she questioned. Rainbow Dash got up and trotted as far as possible to look at the mysterious figures. After a few seconds, she noticed that they were just a few bears. Rainbow Dash sighed and went back to Scootaloo.

Scootaloo continued to look down. She thought of how this trip would be exciting to be with her idol, Rainbow Dash. She then thought of how it went downhill so quickly. Downhill, she thought. Downhill... "Downhill!" she exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash looked at Scootaloo questionably as she walked towards the edge. She searched the bottom and saw a pathway below. "Rainbow Dash, look!"

Rainbow Dash trotted over to Scootaloo and looked down. She saw the pathway as well and rubbed Scootaloo's head. "Great job, Squirt!" she congratulated. "Way to think ahead!"

"But the question is... How do we get down there?" Scootaloo asked. She looked toward where Rainbow Dash was and saw she wasn't there anymore. She looked back to see Rainbow Dash tugging on a root. "What are you doing?"

She stopped tugging for a moment and commanded, "Get over here, Squirt. This may be a little dangerous."

Scootaloo came over to Rainbow Dash and held on. Rainbow Dash did a powerful last tug before the little cliff started to crash down. "Hold on!" she yelled as the cliff started brushing downwards. She looked over to the pathway and jumped with Scootaloo still clung on. She landed on the ground with Scootaloo while the rock behind splashed into the river.

"We... Made it?" Scootaloo asked in wonder.

"Like I said before, I don't leave my friends hanging." Rainbow Dash looked down the pathway they were going to travel on. "Let's go, Squirt. We might be making the others worry a bit."

Scootaloo replied with a grin and she and Rainbow Dash trotted down the pathway.