Twilight Sparkle stared in horror at the approaching storm. Fluttershy looked petrified, Rarity had already summoned her fainting couch (where from?), Rainbow Dash looked terrified and confused, Applejack held her hat to her heart, Spike and Starlight Glimmer held each other with nervous looks, and Pinkie Pie…
Pinkie Pie was eating popcorn.
All else aside, those storm clouds were not a good sign. Back when Twilight herself had taken that ship class (she always forgot the name!), she had learned that clouds of that color could only mean one thing:
Uh oh, storm’s gonna blow.
“Rainbow!” Twilight shouted over the increasingly louder wind. “Do those storm clouds look like ones we have on land to you?!”
Rainbow shook her head frantically while the wind howled around her. “Not all all!”
“Oh dear!” Fluttershy whimpered. She desperately tried to dig a hole in the ship’s floor, but all to no avail.
“S-stand your ground…” Twilight struggled her fearful sentence out. The whimpers issuing from Fluttershy’s mouth were enough to strengthen Twilight’s resolve.
“We need to try to steer the ship away from the storm!” Twilight yelled desperately. Her friends, strengthened by utter fear, dashed to try to move away from the storm.
“I’ll turn the sail!” Starlight dashed to the mast, pulling it with a grunt. Spike assisted, turning the sail.
Twilight manned the steering wheel, turning it to the side with all her might.
Applejack went down below to turn the steering even more.
Rainbow pushed the ship, gritting her teeth together.
Pinkie and Rarity desperately turned the other sails.
But was it enough?
The wind buffeted Twilight’s mane ever harder, the black clouds looming threateningly on the horizon. Princess Celestia’s sun was completely blocked out now.
Not that it mattered. They were still on the verge of sinking.
Twilight looked at the clouds. She thought she saw a pair of eyes glowing threateningly through the dark clouds. She shivered instinctively, knowing this wasn’t a normal storm.
Then a bolt of lightning struck right in front of her.
Thoughts would have to wait. She and her friends had to survive at this moment.
Then a wave rolled over the ship, and the mast crashed down. Twilight gasped as she saw it coming right towards her.
She squeezed her eyes shut, and thought she heard a vague “Twilight!”
Everything was still.
-A Few Hours Later…-
The royal guard burst into the throne room, racing towards Princess Celestia at full speed with three other guards at his back.
“Princess!” he shouted, conveying something extremely urgent. Celestia rose at once.
“Night Shade? Is something wrong?” Celestia asked, worried.
Night Shadow dipped his head. “The Main Six, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike were supposed to arrive at Honolulu two hours ago.”
“Yes? And?!”
“They never arrived.”
-Twelve Hours Later…-
Twilight groaned as water lapped up her flank again and again, insistent. She was too exhausted to move, so the salt-concentrated water continued soaking her flank.
She listened for any noise that would indicate where she had ended up. And, more importantly, if she was alone.
However, it seemed that she was not alone. Similar groans and heavy breathing was heard, and if she counted it, there were seven sets.
Her friends were there. Thank Celestia.
Twilight slowly opened her eyes, squinting in the bright sunlight. She was on a beach, lying in golden sand.
‘Hawaii?’
But, instinctively, she knew that this was not Hawaii. But… where was it?
Twilight slowly started to raise herself up onto her hooves. She was able to lie down, but a quick glance at her hind legs revealed a swollen, red mess.
Great.
‘At least it’s intact. That’s thinking positively, right?’
Twilight shook her head in annoyance. One of her wings seemed to be injured as well.
It could be worse, right?!
Twilight pondered this for a second. They seemed to be stranded on a lone island, without any intelligent life, in the middle of nowhere, and things could be worse?!
They could be dead!
That’s not worse. Then you wouldn’t be suffering like you are now.
Why was she arguing with herself? That was getting them nowhere.
And doing nothing is getting you somewhere?
‘Shut up!’ Twilight said to herself. The heat was making her temper worse.
Fine, but I’m right!
Twilight sighed. Her friends were also in varying degrees of injury, ranging from a mauled wing on Rainbow Dash’s part to a swollen claw for Spike.
But… injuries aside, Twilight had noticed something strange about the storm that had stranded them here. She could swear she had heard a male voice saying, “Bring back my Aspen, Princess.”
But that must have been a dream.
Right?
She wasn’t so sure.
As Twilight lay there, in pain but otherwise emotionally sound, her friends began to wake up.
Starlight, sporting a nasty gash across the leg, coughed and raised her head.
“Huh? What hap-“
She cut herself off as she looked around.
“Where are we?”
“Stranded on an island in the middle of nowhere,” said Twilight matter-of-factly.
Starlight blinked. “This kind of thing seems to happen all the time, doesn’t it?”
“Oh, yeah.”
Starlight face-hoofed. “Great.”
But Starlight moved her hoof to her mouth when she looked at the bloody leg and wing that Twilight sported. A full-blown gasp issued from her throat as she noticed the gash across her leg.
“Oh my Celestia!” Starlight whispered.
Starlight had just noticed Applejack. Both of her hind legs were just a bloody mass, indistinguishable from a pile of cut meat.
Underneath all of that, though, Twilight could tell that her legs would be fine. In time.
Meanwhile, all of their friends were waking up. Twilight told them all what she had told Starlight.
“So, let me get this straight,” Rainbow said slowly. “We’re stranded on an island?! In the middle of nowhere?!”
“It could be worse!” Twilight said defensively, shifting a little on her legs. “We could be dead.”
Rainbow pondered this. “True.”
Applejack was still trying to get over the fact that her hind legs had become a bloody mass in this abnormal storm.
“Am Ah gonna be a-“ Applejack started hyperventilating.
“Breathe, Applejack, breathe. You’ll be okay in time,” Twilight comforted gently.
“Um… where did the ship go?” Fluttershy asked timidly.
Twilight blinked. “I’m not sure. But… another good question is… where did we go?”