Rainbow tried to find a way back to Equestria, but no matter how far she went in either direction of the island, no other land besides their island was found. All she saw was the cold and unforgiving sea threatening to consume her in its uniformity. The waves passed by without a sign of anything that she thought she recognized. It was as if Twilight had somehow teleported them to another world outside Equestria. After flying as far as she could east and west of the island, Rainbow gave up and flew back, unable to comprehend what this meant. After working in the weather department for years, her vision became much like a hawk’s, but the water offered no clues as to where she might be.
Since Fluttershy wasn’t the best flier, she decided to fly around the island to check their surroundings. She guesstimated that the entire island was around 3 miles by 5 miles or 15 square miles. The island looked almost like a wide onion. The outer layer would be the beach, with its sand filling the way up to the second layer, which was the forest. The most inner layer would be the mountain jutting out of the forest, with some leftover trees still clinging on to its base. The mountain was immense and took up a lot of the island, reaching up to the sky as if trying to reach space. Through her sharp eyes, Fluttershy noticed that there were no signs of civilization. There were no huts, no roads, and no ponies to be found on the island. She did notice that there were many species of animals that lived in the forest however, though they were obviously living peacefully with simple and uncomplicated lives free of technology. She was somewhat disappointed by the small size of the island, though she lived in a small area next to the forest, this place felt somewhat claustrophobic. The island was small comfort compared to the peaceful and calm land of Equestria. ‘What am I going to do?’ Fluttershy thought, ‘I had a life back there, but I threw it all away just for Twilight’s shady experiment. I thought she said it was safe.’ She began thinking about how her poor animals may be faring at home, and how they would all be wondering where their caretaker was. Angel must be pondering why she hasn’t been back with the ingredients for Angel’s perfect salad. Her squirrels, her bees, her birds, and her bunnies must all be starving now. Thinking about it made tears well up in her eyes. A wave of emotion swept through her body and she dipped lower in the air.
Then she got a hold of herself. Flapping her wings back to the correct altitude, she wiped off the tears that enveloped the corner of her vision and put a hoof up to her chest. ‘No,’ Fluttershy chided to herself, ‘I have to be more like Rainbow and stop worrying so much.’ She wiped off the last drops of tears that had resided on her cheeks. Sniffling a little, she darted down back to the beach.
Rainbow touched down on the ground roughly with a weary look on her face. Her eyes darted around the island before looking back at Fluttershy “I just don’t get it,” she said, “Where could Twilight have possibly transported us? I didn’t know that that egghead could possibly have that much magic to transport us all the way out here. I mean who knows how many thousands of miles we are from the mainland. We have to find a way back. Anyway,” she said, breaking out of her reverie, “Should we try flying back? We could just rest on clouds every now and then.” Rainbow glanced at her friend, who was hiding behind her mane.
Fluttershy glanced to the foreboding sky and squeaked. “I-I don’t know,” Fluttershy said unhelpfully, “W-we could starve if we can’t find any food flying back. We should just stay on the island and wait. If Twilight or Celestia doesn’t appear in a few days, we leave. This just doesn’t seem like Twilight to not get her spells right. Something must have gone really wrong.”
“This sounds like a Daring Do novel,” the blue Pegasus analyzed, “Only, we have no idea where any other land may be and we also don’t know where we are. Urgh! We should have never trusted that egghead. Who knows if we will ever be able to get back? Does Twilight even know where we are? What kind of monsters live on this island?” Rainbow started hyperventilating, “What if we never manage to escape and we are stuck on this island, dying of hunger? Or what if this is somehow Pegasus hell and Twilight somehow kill—“
“Calm down Dashie,” the yellow Pegasus said thoughtfully, trying not to be panicked by Rainbow’s random thoughts, “There’s no good in making wild theories to help determine where we are. All we need to know now is how we can get rescued, and how we can survive.”
The panicked pony took a few breaths. The island appeared to be closing in on her, with the borders of the island receding. The immense space of the sea made splashing sounds that sounded like it was laughing at her, reminding her that there was no escape as the sea could easily swallow her. The trillion gallons of the sea were larger than expected and provided no comfort to Rainbow. Suddenly, the water became her enemy, seeing as it only brought more pain looking at it. She was always used to being in control of the situation and being the leader. Being stuck on an island with a shy pony was not her idea of a great time. Her eyes darted around the island: First at the trees, then at the ocean, and then at Fluttershy. Fluttershy’s eyes aqua-blue eyes gazed curiously back at her. Looking at Fluttershy’s eyes reminded her again of the overwhelming and unforgiving sea. The blue surrounding Fluttershy’s pupils grew larger and enveloped Fluttershy’s entire eye. The blueness turned into waves that splashed around in Fluttershy’s eyes, laughing at Rainbow. Rainbow took a few steps back in horror, until tears developed in the corners of her eyes, and she collapsed. The small tears grew into droplets that leaked out of her eyes.
Rainbow put her head down into her leg. “I can’t do this Fluttershy, I just can’t.” Rainbow cried, “I had a good life back there. I was the most awesome Pegasus in Ponyville and I was going to join the Wonderbolts. I-I just—“Rainbow’s words got lost in the high-pitched sobs.
Fluttershy, remembering her own breakdown a few minutes ago, lay down next to Rainbow. She wrapped her left foreleg around the sobbing pony’s neck and used her right one to lift up her face. As Rainbow stared into Fluttershy’s face, Fluttershy wiped off the onslaught of tears crawling down her face.
“There, there,” Fluttershy said soothingly, as she would to one of her animals, “We’re going to figure this out together. We’re going to get rescued. Everything is going to be okay.”
“How can you say that?” Rainbow sobbed, “We have no idea where we are, and we don’t know if anyone can rescue us.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Fluttershy said confidently, “All that matters is that we are still together and no matter what, we will always be with each other, struggling through this together. As long as we have each other, nothing can stop us. As long as our friendship holds, we will make it through this.”
Rainbow wiped her tears off her face with her hoof. Sniffling a little, she mentally steeled herself, closing her eyes, and taking deep breaths. Slowly, the panic raging inside died down, and rational thought claimed hold once again. She opened her eyes again and looked to Fluttershy, before looking down in shame.
“Thanks, Flutters,” Rainbow said sincerely, “I’m sorry you had to see me like that. Don’t know what I’d do without you. I just panicked.” She looked back to the other pony, trying to discern her expression before laughing. “I must look horrible, don’t I?”
“Umm…”
Her rainbow-mane was disheveled and out of place. The bloodshot eyes betrayed the number of emotions that ran through her body. Anypony who saw her would agree that she looked like an emotional wreck.
Fluttershy tried to muster up a somewhat nonchalant and casual look on her face. “You look fine,” she said unconvincingly.
At this, Rainbow laughed even harder and wrapped her hooves around Fluttershy in a warm and tight embrace. Fluttershy blushed and returned the hug with the same amount of warmth and sincerity. She still wasn’t entirely sure how she felt about Rainbow, but she could tell that she wanted their relationship to be a bit deeper. The warmth from the rainbow Pegasus spread through her body and filled her with a light giddiness. Her heart started pounding faster and she shivered a little, her body tingling in enthusiasm.
The hug lasted for a few seconds, though it could have been eons, before they separated and looked at each other dead in the eye. The panic and despair was gone now, and seriousness about their situation replaced them. There was a look of confidence in the rainbow-maned Pegasus that said, “Let’s do this.”