Stranded Wings

As the two tired ponies walked on, the dirt path slowly disappeared and the forest turned into a dense jungle. They struggled to push through the deep foliage, becoming increasingly tired with each step. Scootaloo couldn’t keep on going. How far had they gone? It felt like they had been walking forever and it was beginning to get dark. She stopped and rested her back against a large tree, panting after pushing through the jungle. Rainbow Dash sat down a few feet away on the grass and examined her wings, while Scootaloo drank slowly from the water carrier she had around her back. Rainbow Dash could faintly feel her wings, but she couldn’t move them more than a couple of centimetres without wincing in pain. She looked over at Scootaloo.

“Hey, Scoot, pass us some water, I’m so thirsty” she said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. Scootaloo passed Rainbow Dash the water carrier and she drank slowly.

“I don’t know if I can go any further Rainbow Dash, I’m so tired and we have been walking for hours…” Scootaloo said.

Rainbow Dash took the water carrier away from her lips and set it down next to her.

“Yeah, I’m really tired too...but we have to find some food…” she said. She lay down and rested her head on her hoof, and they sat there in the quiet for a while.

Scootaloo’s ears pricked up. What was that sound? She held her breath and listened very carefully. A gentle breeze blew through the jungle, rustling the leaves quietly. She convinced herself it was nothing. But there it was again! It couldn’t be nothing. She looked over at Rainbow Dash, who had her eyes closed.

“Psst, Rainbow Dash” Scootaloo whispered.

Rainbow Dash stirred and opened her eyes. “Huh? What?”

“Do you hear that?” Scootaloo said.

“Hear what?” Rainbow Dash replied. She listened carefully. She could hear it now, something rustling in the distance.

“Actually, yeah, I can hear it” Rainbow said.

It slowly became louder, and clearer. It sounded like something slashing through the jungle, and was coming from the north, towards the mountain. She waited to see if the sound would fade out or stop completely, but it just kept becoming louder and louder. It was very close now, whatever it was, and it was heading straight for them. Rainbow Dash stood up.

“Hello?!” she shouted into the jungle. “I can hear you, show yourself!”

The leaves before the two pegasi shook violently, and Scootaloo watched as a dense section of the foliage was hacked into pieces in front of them.

Rainbow Dash couldn’t believe what had emerged from the jungle. “Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!” Rainbow Dash squeaked in delight. Standing before her, wearing a dark green jacket, pith helmet on head, and machete in hoof, was Daring Do. She sheathed her machete, and turned to the cyan blue pegasus, who had her mouth open in suprise.

Daring do raised her eyes.

“What, who were you expecting? Celestia?” she said with a grin.

“Y-your Daring Do!” Rainbow Dash said in disbelief.

“Yeah, I am. How did you know that?” Daring Do replied, tilting her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you before.”

Before Rainbow Dash could reply, Daring Do gasped.

“Your wings!” she said worriedly. “What happened to your wings?!” Daring Do ran over to her and examined Rainbow Dash’s twisted wings. “Oh my, let me help you” she said. “Lay down.”

Rainbow Dash did so, and lay down on her side. Daring Do pulled out a small roll of bandages from her jacket pocket and knelt down next to her.

“Can you feel them at all?” she asked.

“A bit, I can only move them about an inch or it hurts a lot.” Rainbow Dash said, still trying to grasp the fact that Daring Do was in fact real, and not a fictional character.

“Okay, this is gonna hurt, but try your best not to move okay?” Daring Do said.

Rainbow Dash nodded.

“Okay, here we go.” Daring Do started unravelling the bandages and wrapping them around Rainbow’s wings at the same time. Pain shot through Rainbow Dash’s body. Her face contorted in pain and she tried not to cry out as Daring Do continued to bandage her left wing.

“Okay, almost done” she said.

The searing pain continued for a few seconds before it stopped completely.

Daring do cut the bandage at the end with her teeth.

“Okay, now turn over; I have to do the other wing too.”

Rainbow Dash turned over and Daring Do prepared to bandage her other wing.

She anticipated the pain, so this time it wasn’t as bad. After a couple of moments it was finished, both her wings were bandaged and she could stand up again.

“Thanks.” Rainbow Dash said, rubbing her wings.

“No problem, uh…what did you say your name was?” Daring Do asked.

“I didn’t.” Rainbow replied. “I’m Rainbow Dash and this is Scootaloo.” Rainbow Dash pointed to the orange filly sitting down beside a large tree.

“Well, hello there Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo, pleasure to be in your company” Daring Do said, taking off her hat and stroking her mane. “So what are you two doing all the way out here with no gear?”

“Well, it’s kinda a long story” Rainbow Dash said. “We crash landed here like…I can’t even remember how long ago it was, but we crashed here after a massive storm knocked us off course.”

“Yeah, same thing that got me and my wing” Daring Do said, looking back at her own right wing. “You gotta watch out for those.” She looked up at the sky, which was becoming darker by the minute. “I would like to talk more, but it’s getting dark, and trust me, you don’t wanna be out here in the jungle when that happens. I have a camp just a few minutes from here, you’re welcome to stay if you like.”

“Wow, that would be great!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Good, now follow me, and don’t get lost!” Daring Do said with a smile.

“Okay, come on Scoot.” Rainbow Dash said, turning to follow after Daring Do. “Scoot?”

No reply.

Rainbow turned around, looking back to the tree where she last saw Scootaloo, and there she was, eyes closed, asleep, and snoring quietly.

Rainbow Dash smiled and walked over to her. “D’aww. She’s tired herself out” she said. She carefully picked up Scootaloo, lifted her slowly onto her back and walked into the jungle. She caught up with Daring Do and started walking beside her.

“So, how do you know my name?” Daring Do asked.

“Well, I’ve read a book about you.” Rainbow replied.

Daring Do looked surprised. “No way! No one has ever written a book about me!”

“Well, they must have, because I’ve read it.”

“REALLY!?!” Daring do said excitedly, jumping up into the air. “What did it say?!”

“They were about the adventure you had in the quest for the sapphire stone!” Rainbow said.

“Oh my gosh! I remember that so well! I wonder how they even know about me?!” said Daring Do with a huge grin on her face.

“Well, maybe I could get you a copy when we get outta this jungle…” Rainbow said, scratching her ear.

“You would do that! Aww thanks!” Daring Do said happily. “Oh look, we’re almost there.”

The thick jungle spread out into a small grassy clearing, surrounded by large leaves and vines. There was a large khaki-coloured tent in the middle complete with an awning, campfire and log seats.

Rainbow Dash carefully set Scootaloo down on the grass next to the campfire, where she stayed, sound asleep.

Daring Do ran into her tent briefly and returned with a couple of apples. “Here” she said, tossing two of them to Rainbow Dash. “You must be starving!”

Rainbow Dash caught one of the two, the other slipped out of her hooves and fell, knocking Scootaloo on the head. Scootaloo woke up and rubbed her head.

“Oww….” Scootaloo groaned.

“Oops, sorry Scoot” Rainbow said, biting into the apple.

Scootaloo grabbed the apple of the floor and started munching. In just a few seconds the entire apple was gone, and Scootaloo burped loudly.

Rainbow Dash and Daring Do laughed.

“Woah, Scoot, slow down!” Rainbow Dash said.

“I was soooo hungry!” Scootaloo said, before lying down and closing her eyes again.

Daring Do sat down on the log opposite Rainbow Dash.

“So” she started, taking off her hat and placing it next to her. “What were you doing here? Where were you headed before you crashed?”

“Well, I decided to ask if Scootaloo wanted to come up to my mountain cabin with me for a few days, like a holiday.” Rainbow replied, throwing the apple core behind her. “And, as you know, it didn’t exactly go to plan.”

Daring Do nodded her head. “That’s why this place is so overgrown. I mean, nopony even comes here! That storm has just appeared and I don’t know when it’s going to go away. The only other way here is to walk, and that takes forever.” She paused for a moment. “Did you tell anypony that you were coming here?”

“Only one pony, and I told her that I was going for a few days so I don’t think she’ll know we’re stuck here until tomorrow, or maybe the day after.”  Rainbow said.

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here for as long as you like. Hell, I’m here pretty much here all the time!” she said enthusiastically.

“Yeah, about that. What exactly are you doing here?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“I’ve been here for about two months now. I’ve been searching for a rare artefact that was in some sort of mountain cave, and the entrance was a hole somewhere in the jungle. I’ve been looking for it since, but I haven’t found it yet.”  Daring do said. “I was searching for it just before I heard voices. I started coming towards the sounds, and that’s how I found you and your sleepy friend.”

Rainbow tilted her head. “Wow. I don’t know if we would have survived if you hadn’t found us…”

Daring Do smiled. “Aw, it was nothing. Just lucky you were around this area and not anywhere else. There’s nopony else around here for miles!”

“So how do you live out here? Your supplies must run out at some point.” Rainbow asked.

“I’m a great explorer; I know what plants I can eat and what I can use as medicines and such. Those apples actually came from a tree not far from here. It doesn’t really look like much of a tree, more of a bush, there’s so much thick vegetation here you have to cut through.” Daring Do explained. “But I know the way around here like the back of my hoof, and I’ve marked places I’ve been by drawing a cross on trees with my machete. Where I found you was a place I haven’t been before, I might go back there tomorrow and see what I can find.”

“Well, maybe me and Scoot could help you search, we owe you that much at least” Rainbow Dash, said looking at the sleeping filly.

“That’s appreciated, but are you sure you’re up for it? It can be very dangerous in the jungle” Daring Do said.

“Are you kidding!? Danger is my middle name!” Rainbow Dash shouted, grinning.

“Well, uh, you might want to wait until your wings heal…” she said, looking at Rainbow’s wings.

Rainbow Dash’s face fell. “Oh yeah…”

“Keep your head up Rainbow Dash; I’m sure it won’t be long before they do. Mine healed pretty quickly when I crashed looking for the sapphire stone.”  Daring Do assured.

“Well, I hope so…” Rainbow replied. She yawned loudly and rubbed her eyes.

“You can sleep in my tent for tonight, I have a spare but I wasn’t expecting visitors and it’s already too dark to put up another one.” Daring Do said.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “But where will you sleep?” she asked.

“I’ll sleep out here by the campfire. As long as I put enough wood on it to last the night I should be fine. I’ve been through worse, anyway.” Daring Do winked.

“Thanks for all your help” Rainbow Dash smiled.

Rainbow Dash carefully stood up and picked the sleeping Scootaloo, carried her into Daring Do’s, tent which was bare, apart from an oil lamp hanging from the ceiling and blankets covering the floor. She set the orange filly down on the blankets softly.

Daring Do placed a few more logs on the fire, causing it to crackle and spit like a ferocious beast. She curled herself up next to the warmth and closed her eyes.

“Goodnight Rainbow Dash!” Daring Do called from outside.

“Goodnight!” Rainbow called back.

Rainbow Dash lay down next to Scootaloo and put her hoof around her. She closed her eyes, and drifted off to sleep.