Vacation

ooo000---000ooo

The tropical jungles of Banoi were a harsh environment, if a bit less so near the Resort bordering the coastline of the island to the east. It was easier to traverse thanks to the infrastructure for tourists and locals to travel on, such as the roads and sidewalks, but it did little to combat the intense heat waves and the deadly monsoons that regularly hit the island almost year around, causing plenty of hospital visits for everything from tropical diseases to simple sunstroke, and an increase in visitor bills to pay.

Dee wished that was all they had to worry about.

He sprinted down the dirt path leading away from the bunker he woke up in as the others trailed behind him, all screaming and running for their lives. The gargantuan monster that broke its way into their hiding spot had decided to chase after them, only moments away from Dee leaving, and they were forced to run for their lives.

“What on earth is that thing?!” One of them cried.

Dee sucked in air and yelled out, “doesn’t matter! Just fucking run for it and don’t stop for anything!”

Dee tightened his pack as the ground shook with every violent shake of the ground, and every time he looked back at what was chasing them, he had to remind himself that this was in fact, not a nightmare, he was wide awake and this was the twisted reality he was forced into.

He vaulted over a fallen tree with the flintlock pistol in hand, having dropped the rifle back in the bunker in his haste to flee. He was all for fighting whatever came their way, but that was something that a flintlock would have no chance against, and he wasn’t keen on wasting the one primed bullet he had on something that was ninety-eight percent dense mutant muscle.

Ahead of him the path ascended upwards through the trees, and he swore he heard screaming and shrieking from the hills to the right, on top of the cliffs overlooking most of the resort. He kept running and only glanced behind him a few times to see if the others were keeping up with him, because if they weren’t, they were dead meat.

Dee nearly tripped over a rock and stumbled forward before he fell onto his knees, scrapping them on the hard dirt path.

“Shit!” He scrambled back onto his feet. “Keep moving!” He yelled back at them as he felt one of the ponies run by him, followed by two others. He got a look and noticed it was the CMC blasting past him. He cursed again and shot off from where he was on the ground after them, they shouldn’t be so far ahead and he knew that.

The CMC slowed once he caught up to them and he grabbed onto the shoulder of Sweetie Belle.

The ground shook continuously from the behemoth of a monster chasing after them, and he heard it roar before the shaking stopped, and he turned, going against his gut to look and see why it had ceased stomping.

He looked just in time to see a massive chunk of the ground being torn from its roots and held above the monster’s head.

“EVERYONE DOWN!”

Dee bellowed and tackled the closest of the CMC to the ground as the monster hurled the chunk of earth their way. The debris broke apart mid air and showered them in small to moderately sized chunks of dirt and rocks, pelting them before it started chasing after them. They screamed and yelled as they endured the hits, but kept moving.

The human pulled the young filly off of the ground and shoved the other two forward as he turned around and aimed the flintlock past the other mares. He waited until they were out of the way before he pulled the trigger, and the blast of the pistol echoed out.

The shot hit the large mutant dead center in the face, but the bulging musculature and hulking density of its body mass kept the shot from doing any lethal damage. If anything, it only served to piss off the infected creature more.

A curse left his lips and he turned around and started running again.

The chase lasted well to the point they climbed up the steep incline, passing by a wrecked SUV off to the left, which he guessed had driven off the road above. When Dee stopped for a brief moment to look, he noticed a woman trying to pull open a door.

Fuck.

She turned and spotted him and the others, and her momentary look of hope turned into shock and she screamed. “W-what the hell?!”

The roar of the monster behind them forced Dee to swallow and he turned, and ran back up the hill and onto the road above, where they passed by a tunnel full of wrecked cars and debris.

As they got onto the pavement and kept running down the road, they heard the scream of the woman and then a man behind them, followed by a blood curdling shriek. But it was swiftly silenced by the sound of metal being crushed and smashed, accompanied by the bellow of a primal and enraged beast.

Damn it.

He felt no little guilt that he’d in essence used them as bait, but there had been little else he could do and no way he could see to save them. In any event, it gave Dee and the others a chance to get away safely, heading for the gas station down the road.

After some time they slowed and he took a few deep gulping breaths, doing what he could to recover and calm his pounding heart down. After a minute or two the flow of adrenaline slowed, as did his heart, and he did what he could to steady himself, still shaking from the run earlier.

Octavia came running up beside Cheerilee, who rushed over to the CMC, and she gasped out, “by the flames of Tartarus, what in the name of Celestia was that?”

Dee did his best to speak calmly as he turned to Octavia. “Big fucking monster, is what it is,” he told her, although a brief flash of what it looked like appeared in his mind. He recalled it as an image of a hulking monster with a body type similar to a gorilla, but smaller unmutated legs.

But the overall appearance of the beast reminded him of something else. Just like the leaping infected they encountered at the blocked off pass nearby, it was all too similar to something in his memory.

It reminds me of the Tank, and that one from before was like the Hunter. But those are special infected forms from Left 4 Dead, not Dead Island! So what’s with the crossover of infected types?

It was just more questions, with no answers in sight.

As he turned towards the road headed to the gas station, he recalled it bordered the tunnel that led into the city of Moresby. It was, if the game lore held here, a heavily overrun slum filled with countless supplies and even more survivors, and it perhaps even held the answers he craved.

Maybe it’s time I found some answers. He looked down at the fired flintlock before he went about the process of reloading.

“Okay, I’m gonna be honest.” He started before turning his gaze to the mares and fillies behind him, all of whom turned their attention to him, even the angry Wonderbolt, “I don’t like our odds out here in the resort, especially with people like Liam controlling the Lifeguard Tower.” He bristled at the thought of the man, and spat. “There are very few places around here we can safely hold out in, and it won’t be long until they’re overrun.”

“Liam?” Cheerilee asked.

Dee snorted. “He’s a fucking bastard, nothing else to it.”

Octavia had finally calmed herself down some as Cheerilee comforted the Crusaders next to them. “So what are you suggesting?”

This’ll probably make the Wonderbolt mare mad, but… “There’s something we need to do once we find the others. No offense to Spitfire and the other Wonderbolts, but I highly doubt we’ll get off the island their way,” he told them.

The sole Wonderbolt of the group glared, her wings flaring outward in anger.

As expected.

“Leave it to a pitiful stallion like you to doubt the leadership of a mare.” she said with a sneer. “Spitfire has a foolproof plan for getting us out of here, and I’ll be damned if I let you-”

He pulled back the hammer on the reloaded flintlock, and the sound alone silenced all in front of him.

“I already told you before, lady, that I’m not fucking around. I am impatient as all fuck right now, so you can either leave, or come with me. The choice is yours. Either way, I’m finding the girls, and we’re getting the fuck out of here.” He glared at the Wonderbolt as clouds gathered above; another storm was coming from the looks of it. “This is where we either part ways or continue south, if you’re with me, follow, if not, fuck off and die somewhere else.”

He turned back around and started down the road before holstering the pistol, not even bothering to glance back to see who followed, if any of them did. His assumption was that at least Octavia would, given Vinyl was supposed to be at the location he told them about. If she and the rest made it, that was, of which he was hopeful they did.

If not, then he wasn’t sure what to do or where to go.

Regardless, the road was long and winding, with hills to his left and the mountainside to his right, and thankfully no undead in sight. The only things he saw were abandoned cars and trucks, all of which he started to root through for anything of use.

“Gods.” He heard Octavia’s voice beside him.

He had stopped by an abandoned police car, its lights still flashing and the siren itself emitting a weak, distorted wail from the damage the whole vehicle took during the attacks. The windows were smashed in and blood covered the seats, with the half-eaten body of an officer sitting in the front driver’s seat.

It was a gruesome sight and an even worse smell, but Dee didn’t let either bother him, having grown accustomed to the horrors of the island for the most part, so it didn’t halt him in his task of looting. As he rooted through the vehicle in an attempt to find anything of worth, specifically usable weapons, he didn’t find much in the front seats. The flintlock would be good for the time being, but he needed something more substantial. And with apologies to the ponies, good for more than one shot at a time.

After popping open the glove compartment, he discovered a revolver tucked away behind papers and pens. It was a popular model as well from what his inner gun nut told him; a Smith and Wesson Model 15.

He grabbed onto the handle of the gun and pulled it out before ejecting the cylinder, and inside he noted six brass .38 special inside. A half-dozen fully loaded unspent cartridges, ready to go at a moment’s notice. He let out a small breath and tucked it into the waistband of his pants as he popped the trunk, then relieved the dead officer of several more fully loaded moon clips attached to his utility belt.

They were a means to rapidly reload all six chambers as fast or even faster than you could swap mags on a semi-auto, at least if you were practiced with them enough.

“The island is full of carnage like this.” He told the stunned Wonderbolt mare before wandering around to the trunk and lifting up the lid. “Best to get used to it as quickly as you can.”

A spare tire sat off to the side along with the tools necessary to take off the tire and jack up the car. There was also a long box in the middle that he reached for and unclasped it before grabbing the handle.

“Is the entire island like this?” Cheerilee’s voice asked weakly, visibly sweating from the sight of the body.

He paused only briefly from opening the case, raising his eyes to hers. “Yes. And I’m sorry to be so blunt, but you need to get used to it quickly. Because there’s going to be a lot more of this everywhere we go.”

Cheerilee gave a whimpering sound as Dee pulled up on the lid and opened the case.

Jackpot! He grinned toothfully at the sight of a pump action shotgun, wooden furniture, and a shortened barrel. He reached into the case to pull it out and check it over; a brass check, the condition it was in, and so on. It was unloaded, which he frowned at and looked for some ammunition, but he didn’t find any in the trunk or on the dead officer, meaning that for now, the gun was little more than a club in his hands.

With the strap, he slung it over his shoulder. Maybe if he got lucky he could find some shells? If not, it was no big loss, it still worked as a blunt instrument and its butt could do serious damage if swung properly into an infected creature.

“I can’t believe this island is like this.” Cheerilee murmured softly, frowning as she steered the fillies away from the vehicle. “Is your whole world suffering from this?”

I would hope not. He thought, but he offered the mare a shrug. “I don’t know. Everything was fine up until I crash-landed here what feels like ages ago, I couldn’t tell you what the world beyond this island is like.” He hoped there was a safe place, and that the rest of the world was as yet untouched by the all-consuming infection, but he genuinely had no idea.

Or maybe he did. The presence of other monsters from other games he encountered, like the leaping infected and the hulking behemoth, almost suggested that the world was being afflicted by every single zombie genre at once.

Such creatures shouldn’t exist on the island, or in this universe, yet here they were. It made him wonder what else had changed, and his skin crawled from the possibility of yet more and deadlier infected existing. Or worse, that the entire world was being slowly consumed by them.

Moving on from the remains of the police car, they proceeded down the road towards the station, leading his small ‘herd’ further down the road. The road was long and winding, with noises ranging from tropical birds and the other local wildlife to distant roars and some kind of strange sound over a loudspeaker. Whatever the latter were, all of the noises were constant in the rainfall, as was the feeling that they were being watched by something, or someone.

The road ahead was littered in junk, garbage, more cars that Dee stopped by to check and scavenge from, only to turn up empty. They later passed by a walled off shack, and even further ahead was a bus blocking the road, forcing them to to traverse over a small hill to get past.

“So you and the other mares, you’ve been surviving this entire time?” Octavia asked him as they passed by the bus.

On the other side of it, the group noticed a small pile of bodies laying up against the vehicle or on the ground, torn into by wild animals and being eaten by crows at the moment. A bunch of luggage was also piled up outside it, all ripped open, clothes strewn about, discarded like someone rooted through it all.

Dee ignored it and continued moving, nodding at Octavia’s question.

“I think at least a week or more. I’ve been through so much that I’ve honestly forgotten how long we’ve been here.” He looked down the road as he led them, hand resting on the grip of the .38 special tucked into his waistband. “But we’ve been fighting for our lives since day one, it hasn’t been easy. With the walkers and runners gnawing at our heels, and the special infected cropping up recently, we’ve been doing everything we can just to stay alive.”

He then reminded himself it was time to not only switch locations, but head to Moresby to not only find help, but answers as to what was going on.

Eventually the area they had abandoned ages ago came into view, consisting of the tunnel off to the far right with a billboard above, and a small area to work on maintenance above and behind it. To the left was the gas station, with all the abandoned vehicles and bodies lying everywhere just as before. But thankfully looked as if the undead were nowhere in sight.

Wait a minute… Dee started to speed up as he saw the closed doors, haphazardly barricaded and put back up to keep whatever was outside out, the windows were still boarded up and it looked like some things had been moved to add further protection.

Spurred onward by a desperate moment of hope—somebody was in there! —he ran up to the station.

“Lyra!” He called out as he all but slammed against the front door, and then rapped hard against it. “Lyra, it’s Dee!”

He hit the door several more times as the others gathered behind him, and he heard nothing.

“Dee?!” Lyra’s voice came at last, allowing him to feel relieved for a bit.

The sound of metal scraping against the floor could be heard as it was moved out of the way before the broken down door was bodily heaved out of the way, revealing a bloodied and mean-looking Limestone behind it, whose large form quickly gave way to Lyra and the others who had survived Liam’s forced exile.

“Lyra!” He called as Lyra rushed out, and Dee half expected a hug from her. “I-”

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before a sharp crack sounded out and a violent stinging sensation blossomed in his cheek.

“You almost got yourself KILLED!” Lyra shouted as Dee placed a hand where she had struck him. “What in the hell were you thinking?! You’re a stallion, dammit! That was so stupid and irresponsible of you!”

“Lyra-”

“You shouldn’t have done that! You should have come with us, but no, you thought you were being a big hero didn’t you?!” She demanded, not once turning to look at the other mares and the fillies who were standing nearby watching. Her eyes were red, and tears ran down her cheeks as she added, “I thought you were… I…”

She hung her head and balled up her fists as Dee reached out tentatively to place a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t shrug him off, but she did pull him in for a hug and to bury her face in the crook of his neck. He hugged her in return as his eyes drifted up to spot Limestone and Marble in the station, alongside Vinyl who was slowly coming out.

He saw her red eyes widen upon spotting Octavia behind him.

“Vinyl!” Octavia cried before stepping over to her, smiling before embracing her DJ friend. The unicorn looked like she was at a loss for words, not that she could speak of course. She embraced Octavia with the same reverence one would for a long lost lover, passionately, yet tenderly as the two exchanged a deep kiss.

It brought Lyra’s attention out of Dee’s neck and she pulled away to look behind her, and once she saw Octavia she turned to find Cheerilee and the Crusaders standing next to a very relieved but stoic Wonderbolt.

Dee had looked back at the other girls and then to Limestone who finally stepped out, shirt covered in blood. She looked like she had murdered someone, and Marble? Still timid, but she waved at Dee and offered a small smile from behind her bangs, the look in her eyes telling him that she was equally happy to see him.

“I’m glad to see you guys are alright, slaps aside.” He joked lightly, causing Lyra to turn away.

“I-I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that…” She bowed her head to the human. “Please forgive me.”

“Lyra, it’s okay.” He told her and reached towards her hand, and gently ushered her to stand up. “Honestly, if that’s the only thing that hurts me today, Christ, I’ll fucking take it.” He breathed out and a look at his eyes told them all that he needed a break.

Then again, who didn’t? It had been a rollercoaster since they had left the Tower.

Dee looked out behind the building into the skies, and the surrounding hillsides. “Has Rainbow…?”

“Hasn’t shown up.” Limestone grumbled out as she stepped outside, letting the rain hit her and quickly soak through her clothes, turning them clingy and briefly drawing Dee’s gaze. “Haven’t heard anything at all since we got to the station.”

“Hopefully she survived.” Lyra added and turned to Dee, and the others. “She’s a tough mare who never gives up. She’ll find us…”

Dee frowned. “I know she’s tough. But the thing is, she doesn’t know to come here to the station.” He told them, and sighed as he looked around again, not for anything in particular, but just to look. “If she escaped the fight at the Tower, who knows where she would have ended up… but this is assuming that she didn’t…” He didn’t finish, not wanting to think about the possibility of her death.

Yet after everything, it still hit him like a brick.

She could be dead.

A strong grip tugged on him and he heard Limestone’s voice, “come on, Dee, there’s no point in worry about what we can’t control. So let’s get out of the rain.”

He let out a small sigh, lingering for a moment more in the hope she’d come flying over one of the hills, before he turned and followed everyone inside.

He shook off the water and took off his shirt before going into the restroom to wring it out. He was soaked from the storm outside, and they had no spare clothing. But thankfully the power and water was still running on the island, which actually wasn’t too surprising given the power grid was underground and designed to withstand typhoons, so they didn’t have to worry about running out of clean water anytime soon.

As everyone got situated inside of the station, the door was left open and guarded by the injured Limestone who still had her weapon of choice, the bloodied hatchet she had found upon her arrival on the island, and the Wonderbolt mare. Neither said a word to each other the entire time they watched the outside for any threats.

The rest of the group huddled up inside and kept mostly together, waiting for Dee to finish so he could explain things.

He had taken a moment to look in the mirror and look himself over as they waited, thankfully the door was closed.

I need to be alone for a bit. Was what he told them, and it was the truth.

He let out a breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding and glared at the image of himself.

It had been two weeks and some change since they landed on the island and they’d made next to no progress going forward, even with his knowledge of the game their predicament and surroundings were based on. The only thing they’d managed in that time was getting kicked out of their only sanctuary due to a deranged psychopath, and getting more injured than they had previously, almost losing several of their own along the way. Worse, he couldn’t rule it out that they had already lost one of their own, though he fought off that thought with every fiber of his being.

His hair was a mess, he noticed, running a hand through the short strands. But it was still long enough to be a tangled mess, and it needed to be trimmed soon. His beard was starting to come in as well, short red and dark brown hairs mixed in with the grays he’d never seen before, but which he guessed were born from stress and anxiety. His clothing wasn’t even his, as his luggage had gotten lost in the plane and his backpack taken from him at the tower, meaning all of his belongings were lost save for his wallet and keys.

The water turned on and he cupped his hands up under the faucet to gather some in his hands, and he watched it until it pooled and overflowed on all sides, going straight down the drain.

A gentle knock shook him from his stupor. Before he could say a word,the door creaked open, and he heard Lyra’s voice.

“Dee?” He saw her peeking inside and he quickly ducked his head down to throw the water into his face.

He washed his face quickly and murmured. “Yeah, yeah… I’m good, just… thinking, plus my face is dirty so-”

The door opened and Lyra entered the room. He sighed as she moved over to stand next to him.

Her hand touched his back and he stopped washing his face as she spoke, “you’re not okay, Dee.” She told him and he flicked his eyes up to look at her through the reflection of the mirror.

“That easy to tell?” He asked and got a small smile from her.

Lyra said, “I used to be a part of the Royal Guard—Intelligence Bureau specifically. It was my job to read people’s faces, in order to see what they were thinking.” She ran her hand up to his shoulder and squeezed lightly, and his own hand slowly came up to touch it. “You’re putting on a brave face for all of us, and I love that about you. But I know what you’re thinking and feeling. You’re afraid, Dee. And not just for Rainbow, but all of us.”

He let out a small huff and stood up before running his now wet hands through his hair with a sigh, and he gathered up his hair before tying it into a short ponytail. “Yeah, I’m afraid. In fact, I’m terrified, Lyra. One wrong decision and we all die. I mean, it’s a miracle we made it this far without losing anyo-” he stopped himself as Rainbow’s face flashed through his head again.

But once again, Lyra seemingly read his thoughts. “She’s okay, Dee.” Lyra told him.

“How do you know?”

“I just know that she’s a tough gal who’s gotten out of plenty of crazy situations before…”

“None of us know if she’s okay or not.” He countered and turned to face the unicorn after getting his hair situated, pulled back tight to keep his bangs out of his face. “Frankly, I have no idea where she could even b-”

Someone rapidly approached the restroom and the door swung open to reveal Marble, eyes wide as could be as she gestured wildly to the front and made muffled whining noises in a haste. Whatever it was was enough to prevent her from speaking properly, and fearing the worst, Lyra and Dee rushed outside.

Instead of possibly seeing some kind of fight, instead…

It was Rainbow Dash, with two foals in tow.

Lyra suddenly rushed forward with a yelp of excitement before embracing her friend, pulling the bloodied mare in close who returned her hug.

“I knew you were okay!” Lyra cried as the doors to the station were finally closed up as the weather got worse, with raging winds and rainfall coming down hard and fast from the incoming storm.

Beside her were the pair of twins, Pickle and Barley, Rainbow’s longtime fans. Pickle was holding onto his sister who helped him limp inside the building to somewhere he could sit down as the girls rejoiced at the survival and appearance of Rainbow, most of them anyway.

Dee watched Lyra and Rainbow for a moment as Limestone and the guardsmare went about closing up the door, barricading it in the event Rainbow was followed by monsters. But none appeared, and once they were secure, Dee felt relieved to find all his friends alive as he looked over every pony in the building, the burden on his heart lifting to know they were safe for now.

He made his way over to them and zeroed in on Rainbow, who in turn looked to him with a smile. She looked tired, covered in sweat, blood — thankfully none of it hers.

“It’s good to see you alive, Dashie.” He told her and quickly went in for a firm hug, one which she returned.

He heard her breathy chuckle next to his ear before he felt her peck his cheek. “I’m a lot tougher than I look, stud.”

He pulled away with a chuckle. “So I’m told.” He let her go and her eyes lingered on him before she turned to Lyra and the others. “When you got time, fill me in on what happened, yeah?” He looked over towards the counter where Derpy was on the floor, cradling Dinky who was weakly talking to her mother. “I want to check on Derpy.”

Without waiting for a response he made his way over to the pair. Derpy noticed him approaching and she gave him a halfhearted smile. “D-Dee… hello.”

“Hey there.” he knelt down and smiled warmly, putting a hand on her shoulder. “You holding up alright?”

He noted Derpy’s eyes were bloodshot and tears stained her cheeks, dried now he couldn’t even begin to imagine how she was feeling at the moment. When he looked down at the younger mare she cradled he saw her bandage was a brackish color, it needed to be changed soon, he knew that, and despite her fur, she looked unnaturally pale.

“I… I just want my Dinky to be okay.” She murmured and looked down at her daughter, who was breathing raspily. She cupped her cheek and brushed her thumb across the fur there. “I just want her to get better.”

“I-I’ll be okay, m-mom…” Dinky wheezed out and inhaled shakily. “I p-promise.”

“That’s the spirit.” Dee agreed and looked back to Derpy. “She’ll be fine, we just need to change her bandage soon. And maybe give her some medicine.”

Derpy looked him in the eyes and asked him a question, one he knew he wasn’t ready to answer.

“But where do we get medicine?”

He was at a loss there, and he couldn’t hide it on his face either. He looked down at Dinky, and then back up to Derpy.

We would have had plenty had Liam not kicked us out, the psychopath… we should have just hid the medicine and-

He stopped mid-thought as an idea came to mind, and his hand clenched tightly into a fist.

Offering the mother a tender smile, he said, “you don’t worry about a thing, understand?” He told Derpy and stood up. “Dinky will be just fine.”

He turned and walked away from the counter to approach the group of gathered mares in the main area, which had been cleared away to both make room as well as fortify the broken down windows and doors, reinforced by security shutters built in already. Once he made his way there he noticed Lyra looking at him.

“Dee, what’s up?” Lyra asked him and walked over.

“It’s time we did something.” He said just loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Like what?” Limestone was the first to ask, though he noted there was a hint of interest in her tone.

“I don’t think there’s much we can do,” Octavia spoke from her spot next to Vinyl. “Is there? I fear our situation is rather hopeless, especially without the rest of the Wonderbolts to help us.”

The guardsmare, still nameless, just scoffed. “I can find Spitfire and the others quick enough, you forget we’re speedy fliers.”

“And I’m the speediest of all of us, Sergeant,” Rainbow retorted, putting some military bite in her voice that instantly reminded Dee that Dash was a Wonderbolt herself. “But in case you haven’t noticed, it’s really hard to fly here. You’d exhaust yourself just getting back, and if you have to land because you’re too tired, you could be trapped.”

“And even if you find her, given these… beasts we’ve narrowly escaped from, I don’t know how much she could actually help.” Octavia added, still shaken from earlier.

“Guys, calm down.” Rainbow said and looked over to Dee. “So what’s the plan here Dee?” The guardsmare snorted again, drawing the ire of the rainbow mare. “You got a problem, Haywire?”

So Haywire is her name? Fitting. Dee thought as the aptly named mare turned away.

“Hmph.” Haywire grunted.

Dee let out a sigh before finally speaking. “Look, I’m not going to lie. We’re in a shit situation right now, and I’m just going to come out and say it… there is no help coming, probably won’t be coming.”

“No help coming?” “What do you mean?” “What?” were some of the responses, to which he held up his hand to silence them.

“Look. We’ve been here two weeks and there hasn’t been one thing to tell us help is coming other than the Wonderbolts. And with no offense to them, it’s too small a group, and from what I saw of the operation they were ill-equipped-” He quickly shot a hand out in a halting gesture to Haywire who looked ready to speak, “-I’m sorry, but it’s true. Black powder guns against what’s on this island? No dice. Sorry, but that’s a death sentence, even if you’re firing them from the air.”

“How?” Haywire growled out as she glared at him. “I don’t know who you think you are, but we are Equestria’s elite, you stupid colt! I assure you that we are adequately prepared for anyth-”

“What about that monster back there?” He cut her off hard, causing her to fall silent. “You had your flintlocks, and you had your blades, but in the end, you were running just like the rest of us. Even if you and the rest of the Wonderbolts were armed with those, you wouldn’t get far on this island, they take too long to reload, not to mention the fact I know there are monsters here that would shrug off the shots like they were nothing.”

Haywire was silent still, almost angry, yet she stood completely still.

“My point is, you guys came to help, and I thank you… but what even is your plan to get everyone off the island? Quite frankly, I’m shocked you guys got here at all.” Because the military has the island cut off, how did they arrive here without getting spotted and attacked? “You came here for the girls, I’m assuming?”

Haywire looked between the human and Rainbow, before finally speaking, “our mission is the safe extraction of one of the Elements of Harmony. Rainbow is a priority on our list due to her being one of the first to go missing.”

The first? Dee blinked.

“What do you mean first?” Lyra echoed Dee’s unspoken question as she looked towards Haywire.

Turning to face the unicorn, Haywire replied, “Rainbow is a priority target to recover. Finding the rest of you was an optional objective that frankly, we weren’t planning on doing,” she told them all bluntly, and more than a few of the girls Dee noticed, bristled. “It’s not enough that we lost one Element, but three altogether-”

Like a glass window shattering, Dee felt a sickening feeling in his stomach bubbling to the service.

“Three?!” Rainbow cried. “Who else went missing?”

“Who cares about that?” Limestone’s neck cracked almost violently as she glared at Haywire, and Rainbow shot a look to the earth pony. “So the rest of us are just mincemeat then? Just abandoned while you hunt down the pride parade over here?”

“Hey!” Rainbow shouted and stomped past Lyra, the latter unable to grab her in time. “I wouldn’t let them abandon any of you, and you know it! So don’t talk about me like that!”

“She said it herself, flygirl, there were no plans to rescue us anyway.” Limestone turned to face Rainbow, who stood a whole foot higher over her and crossed her arms over her chest, deliberately looming over her. “We were optional.”

“Even if that is true, I wouldn’t let them! Spitfire knows me! And she knows I would never abandon anyone, ever!” Rainbow shouted back, refusing to back down despite the muscular earth mare’s appearance.

Lyra moved over to the duo and quickly got in between them before Octavia stepped in, followed by Vinyl. “I understand your frustration, but infighting right now will not solve anything.” She looked between the two before looking towards Haywire. “Who were the other Elements? I was unaware of other ponies being missing.”

Dee was also just as confused as Octavia looked, three of the Elements of Harmony missing? If that is the case, why keep the fact they were missing a secret until now from Octavia if they were sending search parties?

Haywire crossed her arms and glanced at the wall nearby, she hadn’t spoken yet and that managed to draw Rainbow’s attention away from Limestone. The Wonderbolt turned to her comrade and asked, “who else is missing?”

A click of her tongue and Haywire finally said, “the Elements of Laughter and Kindness went MIA shortly after you and the others disappeared. Given what’s happening, it’s a very inconvenient time for ponies to go missing, least of all the ones who are supposed to be the protectors of harmony and friendship.” She muttered the last bit as Lyra fixed Haywire with a look.

“How is it inconvenient? It’s not like we asked to go missing.” Lyra combated as Limestone huffed and walked over to one of the far walls away from everyone. Marble quickly followed her as Rainbow and Octavia stood together with Dee.

Haywire sniffled before leaning back against one of the shelves, her wings shuffled and she said, “this isn’t something I’m supposed to be divulging to civilians present, but it’s not like it matters.” she huffed, causing Dee to blink again—there was something not even civilians were supposed to know?

“There is a lot of instability going on in the League of Harmony right now. It doesn’t help that we’ve lost key individuals involved in national defense, and it isn’t going to take long before Equestria’s enemies realize that three of the Elements are missing.”

“Instability?” Lyra’s arms crossed underneath her bust and she raised an eyebrow. “Things seemed fine before we left.”

“Things have a habit of changing very quickly when it comes to politics in the deep north.” Haywire mentioned ominously.

It felt like an icy chill overtook the room and Dee felt the hairs on his arm stand on end, as if prickling from the freezing cold.

“Listen, I’m not exactly well versed in… multidimensional politics, so you’re gonna have to cut me some slack here, but what exactly do you mean by that?” Dee asked Haywire, who fixed him with a glare. “Spare me the look, Haywire. I’m just wondering so I can understand better.”

“I don’t know how it is in your world, but in ours, there’s the League of Harmony.” Lyra started, deciding to take over explaining it as Haywire was starting to look rather peeved. “It’s a collection of nations joining together to keep peace and harmony in their respective regions, and it’s been going strong since Celestia’s reign began ages ago.”

“But that peace is becoming very fragile right now.” Haywire jumped in. “It isn’t enough that the Zebra are demanding more coal, but there is conflict brewing between the Diamond Dogs and Abyssinians over territory disputes, not to mention the war going on beyond the Sea of Shadows…”

Lyra frowned. “I knew about the Zebras, the territory dispute is new, but… the Sea of Shadows? There isn’t much out there, Haywire, nothing except-”

As she trailed off, the unicorn mare’s face drained of all color, prompting Dee to look towards her.

“Lyra? What’s wrong?” He asked as her eyes flicked back and forth, lost in thought.

Then she spoke, but Dee couldn’t make sense of her answer. “You don’t mean it’s happened, do you?”

Haywire just nodded, and Lyra cursed before slamming a fist against the counter. “Damn it all, that fool.”

Dee blinked and looked at Rainbow, but unfortunately she seemed just as confused.

“What’s beyond the Sea of Shadows? I didn’t think there was anything up that far north… is there?” Rainbow poked Lyra, who finally turned to face her friend.

“There is only one realm that lies that far north, and it isn’t a part of the League of Harmony… not officially, anyway. Due to constant civil wars for control of the throne, it has been left in shambles century after century. This despite repeated attempts to introduce ourselves to them and bring them into the League to offer some kind of assistance in rebuilding and stabilizing their country. But all of our dignitaries were rejected or went missing every time. And it wasn’t until I did some digging myself that I learned the truth.”

She looked back to Haywire who just stood in silence as the rest of the girls started paying more attention to the conversation. Dee couldn’t deny he was intrigued by the sudden shift in tone, from interest to worry and fear.

“Beyond the Sea of Shadows is the Caribou Empire.”

Dee felt his blood run cold, and the tone shifted dramatically as the other mares looked disturbed and worried.

“A civil war broke out shortly before you girls went missing.” Haywire added with an uneasy expression on her face. “The son of the previous Emperor who’s kept the peace the last few centuries was murdered. The ‘official’ story is that he was assassinated by unknown assailants which led to a civil war over the throne, but the true story-”

“Dainn.” Lyra interrupted with a fiery growl, speaking a name that Dee wished he didn’t recognize. “That damn fool actually went through with it?”

“He did indeed. Murdered his dear old dad right on the throne in front of everyone, believing it would shock everyone else into obeying him. But it had the exact opposite effect. The war going on right now is between the loyalists and Dainn’s nationalists, the latter of which are rapidly gaining strength… that is why it’s bad you and the others are missing. We need the Elements right now, and if anyone discovers you’re missing-”

Octavia stepped in. “Wait, I thought it was common knowledge?”

“We only told specific individuals in order to gain their help.” Haywire told Octavia without missing a beat. “You and your family’s resources were needed.”

Octavia bristled. “I see.” She huffed before stepping back and adjusting her shirt, then turning to Vinyl and muttering a single word: “bollocks.”

“So members of the Elements of Harmony being missing is a secret, but the others are public info?” Dee asked and got a nod in return. “I guess it makes sense. From what I understand, you guys are pretty important, so if any nations learn that the pillars that are key in defending Equestria are missing-”

“It’ll be chaos, a Discord speciality.” Rainbow finished as Lyra held her head.

“Gods above, it’s not enough we’re trapped on this island full of monsters, but there’s a war brewing back home with the worst foes imaginable…”

It took Dee everything he had not to say anything, and instead he opted to chew his lip and pick at his facial hair. The Caribou and Dainn were names he knew, but not ones he expected to learn of or hear in the current situation, which only made whatever anxiety he had worse. He knew that the loss of not just one but three of the Elements could devastate Equestria, as the Elements of Harmony were unfortunately crucial in protecting the country.

He wasn’t sure how Celestia, Luna, or Cadance would be able to handle any kind of all out war, and he was working on the assumption they were all powerful, Celestia especially given her position as the solar diarch.

Regardless, he shook his head and cleared his throat to get the attention of the mares surrounding him.

“It’s even more of a reason to get everyone the fuck off this island.” He told them and looked over to Haywire. “Do you know where Spitfire and the others had gone?”

“Scouting mission around the area.” Haywire told him. “Hunt down any other passengers from the airship that went missing.”

“She shouldn’t bother. They’re all dead.” Dee told her with a shake of his head, earning another frown. “From what Lyra and Dash had told me, after finding Dinky and Vinyl, no one else had survived the crash except for who you see here. I saw too many get pulled under and drown when my plane crashed, they tried to help but got killed for it…” Dee’s mind flashed back to the plane, the hundreds of passengers who didn’t make it, and now that he thought about it… he was the only one who survived.

“We’re the only survivors who matter right now, and we need to get off this island. You guys got here thanks to Octavia’s yacht, so maybe that’s our one solid chance out of here.” He continued and looked at the rest of the mares. “We’re getting off this island and it’s the key.”

“But how are we going to get there?” Limestone questioned from her spot, drawing everyone’s attention. “In case you haven’t noticed-” she held her injured arm, still covered in blood from her gunshot wound, “-I’m hurting bad over here, Derpy’s kid is out for the count, and now we have a bunch of other kids to watch out for. I don’t know where that boat is, but that’s a lot of distance to cover on foot, and not all of us can fight.”

“I can handle anything that comes our way.” Haywire smirked and flared out her wings, revealing the blades along each feather as a hand rested on the pommel of her sword.

“Whoa!” The CmC ooo’d as Pickle and Barley watched in astonishment from the side.

“With those, we’ll make it there in no time!” Scootaloo grinned and looked over to her hero, Rainbow.

In surprising fashion, Rainbow stepped in with a frown, “Haywire, you’re a good flier and an even better fighter with blades. I know that firsthand, but the things infesting this island are not like the monsters we fought back home. These things are mindless. They will kill you without a second thought, they don’t hesitate to attack, and they’re sure as shit not going to care about your blades,” she warned. “They don’t care how many they lose; if you try to fight them with those alone, they will drown you with numbers, tearing you apart. Or worse, turn you into one of them.”

“We need a safer way to get down to the docks.” Dee cut in before Haywire could retort. “None of the cars around here work, unfortunately. They’re all too beat up and even if one ran, they’re not going to hold all of us.”

“It is a long way to the docks.” Octavia sighed as Lyra looked at Dee. “And after our encounter with that brutish beast… I fear…” She refrained from saying anything more due to the foals present.

“Dee.” Lyra walked over to him and she fixed him with a look. “Remember back at the hotel? What did we take back to the lighthouse?”

Dee felt his heart skip a beat.

The armored bank truck.

“Lyra, you’re a genius.” He smiled, only to remember Liam and the others who had kicked them out, the gun they had, but then he remembered his own. “Liam is going to be a problem though.”

Lyra and Dee heard bones cracking next to them and upon looking, noticed Limestone was now standing next to them. There was an intense fire burning in her eyes, and even despite her injury, she was fired up.

“Don’t worry, Dee. Leave him completely to me.”