//-------------------------------------------------------// Stranded -by The Two Writers- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 1 “Come on Applejack! Everybody is way ahead of us already!” Rainbow Dash called from the ground floor. She was currently in Applejack's home waiting on her to finish packing for the trip that they are taking. This trip consisted of going to a ski resort a few hours away for the weekend, the others have already gone ahead, and if Applejack wasn't Rainbow Dash's ride, she would have been the first to leave. She heard a banging come down the stairs. “Hold yer horses,” Applejack said as she dragged her suitcase down the stairs after her, Winona close on her heels. Applejack was currently wearing a checkered red and white shirt, worn blue jeans, boots, and her ever present worn-out stetson. She took off her stetson and slipped a sweater over her head before returning it to it's rightful place. She picked up her bag and walked out the door followed by Rainbow Dash and Winona. They headed for the barn and the cold winter wind hit them and went straight through Applejack's sweater and Rainbow Dash's sweatshirt. At least the barn was warmer. Applejack opened the driver side door of the old truck and climbed in, tossing her suitcase in the back seat next to Dash's bags, two snowboards, and Tank, Dash's pet turtle. Dash opened her door and Winona jumped in and sat in between them on the bench seat. Once Dash clicked her seat belt closed, Applejack started the old truck, having to try twice to get it going. Once they were on the road Dash turned on the radio, turning it to her favorite rock station. “Nope,” Applejack said as she quickly changed it to her favorite country station. “But I don't want to listen to country,” Dash said as she turned it back to rock. “Rules of the road, Dash,” Applejack said as she turned it back to country. “Screw the rules,” Dash said as she turned it to rock. “Then you can walk,” Applejack said as she turned it to country. Dash just grumbled, because she knew Applejack would make her walk, she has done it in the past. Dash just went to staring out the window, she felt a light pressure in her lap and saw that Winona had put her head in her lap, so Dash started to scratch her behind her ears. “Ya know, yer real boring company,” Applejack said out of the blue. “Oh really? Well I don't hear you trying to start a conversation.” “Oh so Ah'm the one who has to start the conversation, huh? Well alright, um, hows, whats-her-face, Cherry something?” “Cherry Pie, and we broke up last week. She was way to clingy. What about you, don't you have a boyfriend or something?” “The last boyfriend Ah had broke up with me a month ago, y'all don't pay much attention do you?” “I do, I just forgot.” “Pfft, yeah. Forgot.” “What's that suppose to mean?” “Nothing Dash,” Applejack said, turning up the radio. Dash turned it down a few minutes later. “What's eating you?” “Excuse me?” “What's bothering you?” “Nothing.” “It's not nothing.” “Why are you concerned?” “Because your my best friend AJ, why wouldn't I be?” Applejack looked over at Dash. “It's nothing, just some trouble with the new hand we hired on the farm.” “What kind of trouble? He trying to force himself on you?” “What?! No! Are you ever not thinking about sex?” Dash thought about this for a second. “Never mind.” “Oh come on, I was just joking, I sometimes have foreplay on my mind.” This earned Dash a playful, yet strong, punch on the arm. Silence resumed and Dash went back to scratching Winona behind her ears. After a while she felt her eyes grow heavier and heavier and before long she was sleeping, letting her snores fill the truck. “Get up RD!” Applejack yelled in Dash's ear, causing her to jerk awake. “What the hell AJ?” “We're at the resort.” Dash looked around and sure enough the ski resort was right in front of them. Dash stepped out and both Applejack and her pulled the seat down, Dash swung her duffel bag on her shoulder, grabbed her snowboard and tank and with Applejack next to her they both walked in the resort. They quickly found the room that they were to share and after dropping everything off they headed back down stairs in the restaurant area and quickly found the others. “About time you got here you guys!” Pinkie pie exclaimed from the long table that they all were sitting at. Dash did a quick head count. There was Twilight sitting next to Spike, Rarity next to Fluttershy with Big Mac to her left and Applebloom to his left. Applejack sat down in between Big Mac and Applebloom. Sweetie Belle sat next to Applebloom and Scootaloo, who squealed in delight as Dash sat next to her. Pinkie Pie sat next to Dash and that concluded everybody. Once Applejack and Rainbow dash arrived a waiter appeared and took everybody’s order. After about two hours of good food and good company, people started to depart for bed, first it was the Cutie Mark Crusaders and Fluttershy and Rarity, who were all sharing a room, then Big Mac and Pinkie, who were also sharing a room, and finally the last four left also. Dash fell onto her bed and reveled in how soft it was, Applejack however headed into the bathroom to change. While Applejack was in the bathroom, Dash decided to change also. “Hey RD, we should see who gets the shower in the morning-” Applejack stopped suddenly, she just came out of the bathroom to see Dash in her underwear, pulling up her pajama pants, she saw Applejack blushing slightly and she decided to have a little fun. “Like what you see, AJ?” she asked playfully waggling her hips a little, making Applejack blush even harder, before she pulled her pajama pants up fully. “Just go to sleep,” Applejack said as she turned off the light. With a giggle Dash climbed into her bed and settled down for the night, letting sleep, once again wash over her. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 2 “WOOHOO!” Applejack and Rainbow cried out into the air as they both took off the large jump on their snowboards. Rainbow did a 360 spin, while Applejack did a Backflip and they both landed cleanly. They have been racing all day since they woke up, being neck and neck all day but they both were determined to win this race. They sped past the small crowd that has taken form, they could see the finish line and Dash could hear little Scootaloo cheer for her, while Applebloom cheered for Applejack, Sweetie Belle cheering for both of them. The both sped over the finish line at the same time and skidded to a halt. Twilight, Fluttershy, Big Mac, Pinkie Pie and the little ones gathered around them. “So who won?” Dash asked as she put her goggles on her forehead. “It was another tie, just face it guys. You're evenly matched,” Twilight said. “No way!” Dash exclaimed. “There is no way she is as good as me.” “Oh come on sugarcube, at least y'all don't have to pay fer lunch,” Applejack pointed out in their little bet: Whoever lost had to buy lunch. “Yeah, speaking of lunch, lets go get something to eat!” Dash exclaimed. They all took off for the resort restaurant, and they met the others there. They took the long table again and they all ordered. “So are you two done for the day?” Twilight asked both Rainbow Dash and Applejack, who looked like she was crazy. “Are you kidding? Me and Rainbow still have to go fer the helicopter ride to take us up to the mountain so we can race down that,” Applejack said, it was Twilight's turn to look at them like they were crazy, along with everybody else. “What?” Rainbow asked with a raised brow. “That is very dangerous,” Big Mac said. “Oh y'all just worry to much,” Applejack said. “Oh our food!” Pinkie exclaimed, pouncing on her burger. They all ate and chatted, after lunch Rainbow and Applejack were driven to the helipad by Twilight and Big Mac, who were trying to talk them out of this the whole way. “No way! We are not backing out and that's final. Look we're here anyways,” Rainbow said looking out the window. After a half hour both Rainbow and Applejack were suited up with their snowboards and proper gear, and taking off. “Ok, it will take a little while to get to the site, so just sit back, relax, and enjoy the view,” the copilot told them. They did just that, Applejack looked out of the window she sat by next to Rainbow, and it was certainly quite the site. The snow made the trees look like they blended in with the ground, if she looked hard enough she could see various animals scampering about. She felt he eyelids start to get heavy and she let out a big yawn. “Hey RD, could you wake me up five minutes before we get to the site?” Applejack turned to Rainbow. “Sure thing, have a nice nap,” Rainbow said as she looked at her magazine. Applejack rested her head on the glass and within minutes she feels the comforts of sleep overtake her. “WAKE UP APPLEJACK!” Rainbow screamed him Applejack's ear. “What the-” Applejack jerked awake, she quickly looked around and the helicopter was is mass chaos, the helicopter felt like it was spinning out of control and the copilot stumbled to them with two backpack things. “YOU TWO WILL HAVE TO JUMP,” he yelled, pushing the backpacks into their arms. “THESE PARACUTES WILL GET YOU DOWN SAFELY. THERE ARE SUPPLYS AND MANUELS IN THEM ALONG WITH A RADIO,” he continued to yell as he forcibly put Applejack's on then turned to Rainbow. After he got Rainbow's on he yanked them up and to the door. “JUST PULL THE CORD, USE THE RADIO, WAIT AND GOOD LUCK,” without warning he yanked open the door. Before either Applejack or Rainbow could yell out “WAIT!” they both were pushed out of the helicopter. “AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Applejack and Rainbow screamed. Applejack saw Rainbow fiddle around with her parachute and that's when she remembered the cord on her own. It took a second to find the cord, but once she did she yanked on it with all her might. The parachute cloth flew out of the bag and she was yanked violently and her descent was slowed. Rainbow's parachute opened also, though the cloth didn't catch. “RAINBOW DASH!” Applejack yelled as Rainbow disappeared in the snow covered trees, she could hear the branches breaking as she fell. It wasn't long till Applejack went down through the trees along with Rainbow, her descent was just slower. The branches stung her face as they slapped her, her parachute caught about ten feet off the ground. She looked around and pointlessly kicked her legs, hopping that would free her somehow, until she spotted Rainbow in the snow a little ways away. She started to pull on the cords that were attached, she accidentally pulled the release cord and she fell. She hit the ground and she felt a little shock wave travel up her legs and she went down. It too a few seconds to regain posture, she spotted Rainbow again. “Rainbow Dash!” she yell as she sprinted towards her. She knelt down besides Rainbow and immediately started to look for signs of life. Her breathing was normal, she couldn't see any blood without taking off her jack and inspecting her body properly, it look like she was just knock conscience. With a sigh she remembered what the copilot had told them and started to search her bag for the radio, with no prevail. She then rolled Rainbow on her stomach and searched her bag. She found the radio, though in very tiny pieces. “BUCK!” Applejack screamed out into the cold air. She saw her hat floating slowly to the ground near her. With a sigh she picked Rainbow up by her arms and started to drag her under a tree, grabbing her hat as she passed it. She has some idea of what to do, Big Mac had told her what to do in emergencies if they got in trouble when they went camping, and she watched every episode of Duel Survival, along with other survival shows. She didn't count on her heart racing with adrenaline, making it extremely hard for her to think straight. She took a few deep breaths, she could feel tears start to build behind her eyes, but she blinked them back. She had to be strong if Rainbow and herself wanted to survive. She thought back to the shows and what she knew. Check your supplies. She took off Rainbow's pack and her own and she started to go through them. They had matches, two hunting knifes, bandages, water, collapsible pots, the manual, some energy bars, trail mix, two maps, needles and thread, two scratchy blankets, and finally a 9mm handgun with four clips. Make a fire and shelter for the night. Yeah that's easy... she thought to herself sarcastically, however she set to work on both. It was dark when she finished. She had made a simple lean-to shelter, the hard part was finding dry wood and tinder to start the fire with, however when she got the fire going she warmed up instantly. She dragged Rainbow next to the fire, while still under the shelter. By this time her adrenaline has worn out, leaving her feeling exhausted. She wanted to sleep, but she had one more thing she needed to do. She unzipped Rainbow's big heavy coat along with her smaller, lighter one, leaving her sweater the only thing covering her front. She started to check for any signs of wounds and she didn't feel or see any. Well any on her upper body anyway. With a slight blush on her face she took a deep breath and started to unzip Rainbow's snow pants. She started to pull the snow pants down, about half way to her knees she heard a familiar voice. “Ya know AJ, If you wanted to take my pants off that badly, all you had to do was ask.” Applejack looked up at Rainbow who was looking back at her, her eyes were half open and she had bags under her eyes, yet she still had a feeble smirk on her face. “Ah wasn't trying to have sex with you, Ah was check for any damage done to ya, when y'all dropped at least thirty feet from a helicopter!” Applejack exclaimed as she sat on the other side of the fire, leaving Rainbow to pull her pants up by herself. “Calm down AJ,” Rainbow said with a small laugh, “I was just kidding.” She moved closer to the fire. “So in all seriously, how screwed are we?” she asked in a serious tone. Applejack took a deep breath. “Well, we have no radio, it broke when you fell, little food and water, we have a map, but I can't find where we are on it, we have bandages and disinfectant, a gun, and a manual for all of this.” “Oh, so we're kind screwed.” “Yeah.” Rainbow pulled her knees up to her chest and stared into the fire, seemingly lost in thought. Applejack noticed that Rainbow was shivering slightly so she took one of the blankets and draped it over Rainbow's shoulders. “Y'all should get some sleep,” Applejack suggested, Rainbow only nodded and, using her parachute bag as a pillow, laid down. Applejack did the same. She didn't realize just how tired she was, and soon she was feeling sleep encase her. //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 //-------------------------------------------------------// Chapter 3 Rainbow woke up feeling better than she did when she laid down to sleep last night. Not much better, but still better. Applejack was already up and stoking the fire and adding new branches to it. Rainbow slowly sat up and stretched, she gave a sigh of relief when she felt her back pop a few times. She started to twist to the left as far as she could when she started talking. “So how did you sleep last night?” she asked. Applejack just gave a sarcastic smile. “Oh Ah slept like a baby, Rainbow,” Applejack said, her voice dripping in sarcasm. “What's your problem?” Rainbow asked, now twisting to the right. Applejack dropped the stick she was using to stoke the fire with, and looked at Rainbow with the look of surprise and anger. “What's my problem? In case you haven't noticed Rainbow, but we are lost in the wilderness, with no way of contacting anybody for help, we have no idea where we are and you are asking what my problem is?” Applejack asked, her voice was calm, but it was clear she was irritated. Applejack snatched up her fallen stick and went back to stoking the fire. Rainbow fell quiet and looked at the fire. “I'm sorry ok? I just don't know how to go about this situation,” Rainbow said, never taking her eyes off the fire. “Yeah, Ah'm sorry too. I didn't get a lot of sleep last night. Ah'm surprised you got any at all,” Applejack said as she added another small branch to the fire. “Yeah, me too,” Rainbow said with a small laugh. “So what's for breakfast?” “We gotta find it,” Applejack simply stated. “Right,” Rainbow said as she stood, “what am I looking for?” “I would say check bird nests, but I don't want you climbing trees, just check the bushes and look for Pyracantha, Chokeberry, Elderberry, Goji, Seaberry, and Lingonberry.” “You lost me at not wanting me to climb trees,” Rainbow said. “Just look for berries, don't eat any unless Ah say they're ok,” Applejack said. “Yeah, yeah, I got this,” Rainbow said with a wave of her hand as she turned to leave. “Rainbow! This is serious, you can get poisoned and without proper medical supplies you could die,” Applejack said. “Alright, I won't eat any of the berries,” Rainbow said spinning to look at Applejack. Applejack reached into a bag and pulled out the gun. “Take this with ya, you might need it,” Applejack said as she held it out to Rainbow, who took it. “Thanks, I'll be back in less than an hour,” Rainbow said and she turned and left. She didn't travel far, just about ten or so minutes away. She couldn't see much, since the trees and the area was covered in snow, blending everything together. She found many dead bushes, but no bushes with berries. She started to walk to the left, keeping an eye out for snow covered bushes. After about ten more minutes of walking, she struck gold. “Ah sweet!” she cheered out loud. She brushed off all of the snow and found a bush with tons of berries on it's branches. She started to pick as many as she could carry, and started her twenty minute path back. “Hey, AJ! I have found some berries!” she cheered when she made it back to camp, she knelt beside Applejack and start to put the berries in the collapsible pot. “You can thank me anytime,” Rainbow said with pride. Applejack picked one up and looked at it and started to laugh. “Alright, RD, thanks for the bird food,” Applejack said as she tossed the berry in the pot. “Bird food? What do you mean?” Rainbow asked with a raised eyebrow, clearly confused, which only made Applejack laugh even harder. “We can't eat these berries, the only thing they are good for is drawin' in birds,” Rainbow looked like she just got slapped across the face. “Oh calm down, sugarcube. If these berries are in the area, then so are birds. We just have to find where the bird's nests are, then we have eggs, and maybe a bird.” “Ugh, with all this talk of eating birds, I think I’m going to throw up,” Rainbow said, comically clutching her stomach and pointing her finger in her open mouth. This display caused Applejack to burst out laughing. Rainbow rolled her eyes and sat down next to the laughing Applejack. “Well I found berries, what did you do today?” she asked in a mocking voice. “Hehe, Ah found out which way is North,” Applejack said, still giggling a little. “How does that help?” Rainbow asked. Applejack pulled out the map and spread it out. “To the East is the Ski Resort, so now that we know that, North is thata way,” she said pointing to her right. “We just have to travel a long ways,” she pointed to a black dot on one side of the map, “That is the mountain where we were suppose to end up,” she pointed to another black dot, this one on the other side of the map, “and that is the Ski Resort.” “So how far is it in between?” Rainbow asked, looking at Applejack. “About a hundred miles, give or take,” Applejack said with a sigh. “So if we are about halfway in between, right?” Applejack nodded. Rainbow gave a sigh and ran a hand in through her hair. “Don't worry RD, at least it can't get any worse,” Applejack assured Rainbow. Just after she said that there was a big roar come from behind them. “Oh shit.”