Rainbow Dash ran toward the sound of the river. Pushing and cutting her way through countless bushes and plants, she was determined to find it, having received new hope from her dream last night.
"This had really better be worth it..." She said to herself. After cutting through one final, very thick patch of leaves, Rainbow found herself face to face with a wide, raging river.
The area around the river was cleared out, most likely naturally. Rainbow had seen rivers around Ponyville. She had seen the Cloudy River of Neighagara Falls, and she had even seen the Great Lava River in the land of the dragons. None of them were quite as powerful, or quite as breathtaking as this sight. Whether it was truly that marvelous, or if it was just the fact that it was the first sign of hope she'd received in days, Rainbow would never know, but all that mattered now was following the flow.
Rainbow wasted no time in following the current of the mighty river. Dashing beside it, she had no trouble with foliage, thanks to the clearing around it. Rainbow felt as light as air, having found the first ray of hope in this unforgiving rainforest.
"Y'know..." Rainbow said to herself as she ran, "For a rainforest, this place doesn't get much--"
Rainbow was interrupted by a loud crash of thunder, halting her movement. She looked around frantically, when suddenly, it began to rain furiously.
"Oh..."
The rain brought with it a thick layering of fog. Rainbow could hardly see five feet in front of her, as she struggled to continue on. She felt good, at least, in that this fog would make it difficult for any hostile search parties to find her.
Rainbow could hear a loud sound of large quantities of water hitting the ground. She continued to run forward at top speed, writing it off as the rain increasing in volume.
Rainbow gasped as she dug her hooves into the ground. She slid for about a foot before stopping, teetering on the edge of a massive cliff. Her eyes went wide as sweat added to the moisture on her body. The river completely dropped off at a waterfall at this cliff. Rainbow let out a sigh of relief, having just stopped herself short of falling off of it, probably fatally.
As she was catching her breath, Rainbow heard a rustling across the river. The fog was too thick to allow her vision that far, however, the river was suddenly hatched across by a flimsy wooden bridge. She turned tail to run before being halted by the voice. She had never heard it before, but in a strange way, it almost sounded friendly.
"Hey, wait!" The voice called out, "Who are you?"
Rainbow turned to see a group of three zebras and one pony. They looked genuinely concerned for her. She watched as the pony took a step back and folded up the flimsy bridge, securing it to his back.
"I-I'm Rainbow Dash..." She said, noticeably shaky about her company. "Who are you?"
"I am Etine." Said one of the zebras. "And these are T'kraf, Jideo, and Y'tieq." He said, pointing to the other two zebras and the pony, respectively.
"What are you doing out here?" Asked the Y'tieq, the pony. "You don't really look like you belong here..."
"I was out here adventuring, until I was captured by some horrible ponies..." Rainbow recalled. There was a noticeable hint of distress in her voice.
"Were they Tarik's men?" One of the zebras, Jideo, asked.
"Yeah." Rainbow confirmed, "How did you know that?"
"He's been giving us a lot of trouble ever since..." Etine paused. His face held a look of anger and sadness. He changed the subject. "Your wings, they are damaged. Tarik's doing?"
"Yeah. He shot me out of the sky..." Rainbow wiggled her right wing, "And crushed my other wing with a rock." She wiggled her left wing. T'kraf turned to Etine and whispered something. Rainbow couldn't tell what it was he said. Etine turned to Rainbow.
"Tarik cannot be allowed to continue to harm ponies, especially not outsiders such as yourself." Etine said, his face holding a look of steadfast determination. "We have been attempting to defeat him for ages now, however, I believe that you may be just what we need to bring him down once and for all. Will you join us?" Etine reached out a hoof to Rainbow, looking into her eyes. She hesitated for a moment.
"Yes. I will" Rainbow said, shaking Etine's hoof, offering a smirk.
"Excellent!" Y'tieq said. "You should come with us then. We're on out way back to the camp."
"Camp?" Dash asked.
"Yes. Follow us and you will see." Etine said. He and the others began walking off. Rainbow hesitated before following. She had just met these ponies. What if they were just Tarik's soldiers, and this was a trap. What if they were taking her as a sacrifice or something? Or what if they were just going to capture her again and hold her hostage? Rainbow contemplated turning tail and running, until a single, solitary phrase began to echo within her mind.
Follow the flow...
Rainbow nodded to herself before taking off after the others. She quickly caught up and began walking behind them. As they walked, rainbow found time to get a look at her new allies.
Etine was a visibly strong male zebra. She noted that he acted as the leader of their little company. He had large, burnt orange eyes, and a long, chiseled snout. He wore large jade earrings and a gold bracelet on his front right hoof. His mane was dressed in a short mohawk, yet it was brought to an angle along the top.
T'kraf was the tallest of the group. He had small facial features, including a short, slightly rounded snout and small eyes. His eyes were a deep blue. Rainbow noticed that he seemed to hold a constant frown. He had only a golden ring around his neck. His mane was completely shaved, leaving only his black and white scalp atop his head.
Jideo, she noticed, looked strikingly similar to Zecora, including all of the jewelery in all of the same places, the only difference being that his jewelery was made of silver instead of gold. His eyes were a jade green, similar to those she had seen in her dream, and his mane was styled in the same way as Zecora's. She couldn't help but wonder if they were related in any way.
Y'tieq had a light green coat. Though Etine appeared as the strongest overall, Y'tieq seemed to have the strongest back of the group, as he seemed to have no trouble at all carrying the collapsible wooden bridge. He had a wide but fairly short snout, yet large, expressive eyes, which were colored a deep magenta. Deeper than Rainbow's eyes. He wore a single jade necklace and a jade bracelet on each of his fore legs. His mane was a burnt orange, similar to the color of Etine's eyes. He had his mane spike forward. He seemed to have a scar across his right eye, in the same location as Tarik had on his left, causing Y'tieq to hold his right eye slightly closed. Being the only pony, he had a cutie mark. Rainbow noticed, however, that his flank was so badly scarred, that it was no longer visible.
The group soon reached a small, weathered camp. There were five large tents, each looking more like hastily crafted shacks than tents, and a fire pit beneath a small makeshift awning. Four of the tents were opened save for one, which appeared to have something in it.
"How long have you guys been staying here?" Rainbow asked, finally speaking up.
"One month as of today." Etine replied. "We used to live in a small village about a mile from here." Etine pointed in a direction before walking off into one of the shacks.
"But Tarik's pirates burned the entire village down." Jideo continued, "We were the only survivors..." He let out a small disgruntled sigh.
"And that is why Tarik must pay." Y'tieq finished, "Each of us lost so much that day. T'kraf has only spoken to Etine since then. He was probably hurt the most out of any of us." He looked over at T'kraf, with sadness in his eyes. T'kraf was looking away. Jideo nodded in agreement with Y'tieq.
"Night is falling." Etine interrupted, returning to the group. "We will take action tomorrow. Miss Dash, you are welcome to stay with Jideo. His shack has a spare bed."
"Thanks." Rainbow said, nodding to Etine, and then to Jideo, who nodded back. It seemed clear to her that these four didn't often communicate with words as much as gestures.
The others departed into their respective shacks. Rainbow followed Jideo into his. He directed her to the spare bed as he laid down in his. The quarters were cramped, and Rainbow wasn't necessarily comfortable sleeping so close to somepony she barely knew. She was at least thankful, however, to have a roof over her head tonight, no matter how flimsy.
Rainbow settled into the bed quickly. Her mind was racing, but this was the first time she'd had in a while to actually rest in a controlled environment. She fell asleep in what felt like no time.
Rainbow awoke the next morning feeling more refreshed than she had ever felt in her life. While she stretched, she looked to see that Jideo had departed. Standing from the bed, she exited the shack and found him and the rest of the group outside. The four looked very disgruntled. She thne noticed a line of blood across Etine's side, and a new scar on T'kraf's face.
"What happened!?" Rainbow asked frantically.
"Tarik's men attacked. A small group of five pirates. We dispatched them no problem, but..." Etine said, a look of concern in his eyes as he turned toward Rainbow.
"What's the issue?" Rainbow asked, almost dreading the answer.
"They were looking for you." Y'tieq answered, breathing heavily.
Rainbow felt disoriented by this news. Her throat went dry and her eyes went wide. She knew that Tarik would want to be after her after she escaped and left him with a new scar, but actually knowing that they were actively searching for her. This was entirely different. She looked to the ground, breathing heavily. The group noticed her distress.
"Rest assured, we will protect you." Jideo said, trying to reassure Rainbow.
"Yes. We will not allow another to fall by way of Tarik. We have already lost so much, and we will lose no more." Etine said, looking toward the river.
Rainbow's eyes darted around, trying to make sense of anything anymore. She looked up, facing the group, a new found look of determination in her eyes.
"I'm not going to just lie down and let Tarik defeat me. I was alone before, but now that I have help, there's no way he can stop me!" Rainbow raised a hoof to her chest and stood determinedly, proving to the others, and to herself that she was prepared to go to any means to stop Tarik. The others followed suit and raised their weapons to the sky, cheering. Rainbow wore a large smile as she turned to the group. "So, what's the plan?"
"We have disposed of all of the bodies of the search party, except for one." Jideo said. We will place that one along the trail of their search with evidence of your death. Faked, of course." He nodded to Dash.
"What do you mean?" She asked, looking confusedly at the group.
"You no doubt know that in order to achieve one's goals, sacrifices are required..." Etine said. Rainbow nodded sheepishly, "We must remove the hair of your tail, and place it with the dispatched pirates. Rainbow perked up.
"That's all? Alright then, shave away!" Etine picked up his machete in his mouth and nodded, approaching Dash. He carefully removed the rainbow hair from her tail, being careful not to cut her flesh. She noticed that Jideo had departed into the fifth shack.
"I hope you will forgive me for this..." Etine said. he quickly reached up and yanked a small amount of Rainbow's feathers sticking out from her makeshift bandaging.
"Ow!" Rainbow yelped. "It's fine. That didn't hurt too bad..."
"That was not what I wanted you to forgive me for." Etine said, raising the machete. He brought it down with force, severing the top of Rainbow's left ear.
"AHHHH!" She screamed as blood began to flow from the severed ear piece. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?" She yelled at him.
"Tarik will not believe that we would go to these lengths to protect you. Only through this sacrifice will he truly believe in your demise." Etine said, looking apologetically at Rainbow. Jideo returned from the shack to see Dash glaring furiously at Etine, holding the top of her left ear as it bled freely. He was holding a bottle of a strange glowing pink liquid. he approached Rainbow.
"I know that it hurts, but this will heal you." He said, handing the flask to her. "This will repair your ear, as well as your wings, each in due time, of course. This is alchemy, not magic. Results are far from instantaneous." He continued speaking as Rainbow sniffed and then downed the mixture. She coughed as she finished it, releasing a slight pink light from her throat.
"That stuff tastes horrible!" She exclaimed, her face contorting into a look of internal disgust. "Where did you learn to make that!?"
"My sister taught me this recipe as a cure-all. She told me that she once experimented with it to heal a small filly's tooth and cure some mares of poison-joke." He recalled, smiling slightly.
"Now," Etine said, changing topic, "T'kraf, take these bits of evidence and the pirate's corpse and place them near the river." T'kraf nodded before departing behind the fifth shack. Rainbow shuddered as she watched him drag a body away with pieces of her on his back.
While he was gone, Rainbow and the others sat around the fire pit as Jideo fiddled with it. He quickly got a controlled fire blaring in it. He walked over to Rainbow and looked at her wings.
"We should get you some real bandages on these while they heal." Jideo said. Rainbow nodded. "How is your ear, by the way?" Rainbow reached up and felt her ear to find that it had healed completely, leaving her with two completely intact ears.
"It's fixed!" She said happily. Etine smiled.
"Excellent!" Jideo said, "It'll take a while more for your wings to heal. Simple flesh of an ear is one thing, but complex bone, flesh, and feathers of two wings are more difficult for the solution I gave you earlier to heal." He departed into the fifth shack and returned shortly with actual medical supplies. He fixed her up in no time, bandaging her wings comfortably.
"Thanks." She said, smiling at him.
"Not a problem." He replied, returning her smile.
T'kraf returned shortly. he walked over to Etine and whispered into his ear.
"The bait has been set. Now we may begin the next phase of our final assault on Tarik." Etine said, addressing the group. "We must move our cam closer to Tarik. Once we are sure he has given up the search, we may begin our attack."
Y'tieq doused the fire with a nearby bucket of water and entered his shack to begin packing. Etine addressed Jideo and T'kraf
"You both know the drill. Pack your essentials. This will be our final effort." He said. The two departed, leaving Etine and Rainbow Dash outside. "When we find him... Tarik... What do you want to do with him?" He asked Dash.
"It sounds like he's done more to all of you than to me. Why would you ask me this?" She asked back.
"He drove us from our home, and took everything from us, but you... He captured and tortured you. Given more time, he may have forced you to give up everything, including your own life. You deserve revenge more than us." Etine said, looking into Rainbow's eyes. She looked down.
The others soon emerged from their shacks, each wearing a pair of saddlebags. Etine departed into his shack and instantly returned, having apparently pre-packed his bags. Rainbow still had hers over her back.
"We are prepared..." Etine said. "Are you, Miss Dash?"
"Yes." She replied, "And from now on... Call me Rainbow."
The group trotted off, ready to observe Tarik, awaiting their perfect moment to strike.