The two Pegasi now set off into the forest, gazing cautiously at the mysterious trees enshrouding the land before them. Glancing up, they saw the sun was around noon at this point. They had no idea if this was Celestia controlling the sun, or if it was an entirely different sun. If this was Celestia’s sun, then Celestia knew more about the world than they had previously thought if the sun could pass through so many different places. What else could Celestia have hidden from them, knowing that she could have known about the beautiful lands beyond Equestria? Ignoring this burning question, they pressed onwards.
They crossed into the forest with a moment of hesitation. From the get go, they noticed that the ground was composed of mainly dirt, leaves, and other organic material, much like how the Everfree forest was oriented. This forest didn’t have the same threatening feel that Everfree had, but rather an inviting ecosystem. The trees had a mystic feel about them that made the entire forest feel even more alive. They guessed that this type of forest was probably a tropical rain forest, due to the diverse palm trees near the beach and lush greenery further inland. Many species of animals darted in their line of sight, giving the forest an aura of life that seemed to pulse in the ponies’ veins. Even Rainbow was transfixed at the beautiful scenery that surrounded her, with its unique mysticism about it. She seemed almost in a world of her own.
“U-um,” Fluttershy tried to begin.
Rainbow shook herself out of her stupor and stared at Fluttershy remembering their objective. After gazing at Fluttershy for a few seconds in confusion, Rainbow exclaimed, “Oh, yeah! I was thinking about how our first priority is to find fresh water.” For good measure, Rainbow shook her head.
Fluttershy looked at her a little suspiciously and tilted her head ever so slightly to the right. “Well,” she said, “I was thinking about how we needed a shelter and a fire.”
“We can worry about that later,” Rainbow acknowledged, “But, I’ve read enough Daring Do novels to know that our first priority is to find water.” She raised a hoof in the air, glad that she could profess her knowledge to somepony, “We can’t survive more than two days without water you know.”
“W-well, we passed by about three streams without you noticing them.”
Rainbow blinked. She stared around them. There were plenty of streams that most certainly seemed to carry fresh, clean water fit for ponies to drink. The running water rushed along with a calming whoosh, carrying about a clear sound.
“Ah, heh heh, I knew that.” Rainbow lied, crestfallen, “I was just waiting for the right one, you know… cooler…” Her ramblings turned into mumbles as Fluttershy rolled her eyes, though careful not to let Rainbow see.
Rainbow trotted over to the nearest stream to save herself from the embarrassment. She stooped down, and dropped her head until she was able to lap at the water, interrupting its flow. Fluttershy followed suit, making sure to keep a couple of yards between Rainbow and herself. She lapped at the water with a calm grace, while Rainbow thirstily gulped the water. Satisfied, Rainbow stood straight and wiped the excess water off her face with her hoof, and the water continued through once more.
“Before we try to find some shelter, we should at least see what the lay of the land is. Let’s go up that mountain and see from there. Who knows, we might find something awesome along the way,” Rainbow said.
Fluttershy nodded, also raising her face. The impatient rainbow-maned Pegasus already started trotting, while Fluttershy quickly changed her pace to keep up with Rainbow. Together they traversed the forest to the mountain that lay imposingly in the middle of the island. While traveling along to the mountain, which they dubbed Mount Spike, in its similarity to the mountain Spike climbed while in his adult phase, they saw many natural formations that were different from the ones at home.
Many trees were different from the identified species that ponies have discovered. Like the Quercus, or oak tree. Fluttershy found that many of the oak trees had many of the same characteristics like the same leaves and the same height. But, the trunks seemed to have blue veins that bulged out. These blue veins tended to connect to green organ-like spots that were also visible underneath the bark. Many different substances were also transported along the veins. The trees also seemed to breathe, as it enlarged and then grew small. All of these things gave it an animal-like quality to it.
They also saw many new species of animals and plants, though this was to be expected, seeing as how they haven’t been to a place like this yet. Many new landscapes popped out at them. They saw a hole in the ground that presumably led to an underground area. The Pegasi also saw many waterfalls and ravines that had a different air to them compared to the ones at home. The air teemed with life and the ponies couldn’t believe how they were not informed of this before.
Trotting along, the occasional animals started appearing more and more frequently. Monkeys appeared swinging from vine to vine to land on a nearby tree. Exotic birds called from trees to other birds, hoping to entice a mate. Fluttershy tried a few times to try to befriend a few animals, but the animals would always shy away from her, looking incredulous before continuing on through their daily processes.
“Ow!” Rainbow exclaimed.
She glared at the monkey who threw the rock at her. The monkey just stared back impassively and made a few abnormal noises before moving on.
“I get the sense that we aren’t exactly welcome here,” Rainbow noted.
“Yeah,” Fluttershy said, still hurt that the ignorant animals rejected her friendship.
The “path” they trod on steadily grew steeper, indicating that they were now on the mountain. The trees thinned out, and the animals appeared less frequently. As they went on, the ground was mostly composed of dirt and other earth materials. There wasn’t a path that steadily went up the mountain or anything; it was just them trying to climb up the steep side of the mountain until there were no trees to impede their flight. Then, they spread their wings and kicked hard at the ground, before going aloft. They spiraled around the mountain several times until they finally reached the peak. Circling around the peak, they found a small plateau near the top of the mountain that seemed fit to touch down on.
Rainbow touched down hard on the plateau. Dirt and debris flew up from the ground, as she skidded a few feet. Grinding to a halt, she jumped out of the hole she made. “Whew, I’m sure glad that’s over,” she said as she wiped the sweat off of her forehead.
Fluttershy landed right next to her calmly and gracefully a few seconds after. She glanced at Rainbow before ruffling her wings and looking at the sight before her. It was awe-inspiring. Even her earlier flights didn’t surprise her as much, since she was only looking down at the island. Spread out before her was the immense tropical rainforest that brimmed with light. She could see the outer edges of the mountain touch the trees, while the trees were planted on top of the lower layers of the mountain. On the far edges, she could see the waves lapping at the sand and hear seagulls call out. She could almost feel the spray of the sea and taste the salt it contained. Above her lay the deep-blue sky that had a few clouds spread out here and there, yawning above her, as it spread on to other parts of the world. The sun was now setting and had red-orange hue with its dying rays reaching far across the sky, making the sunset and the sky appeared red, a perfect contrast to the yellow sand, and the lush, green forest. It was one of those picturesque scenes the nature-loving Pegasus just cherished in her heart. She could just close her eyes, breath slowly, and she could immerse herself in nature’s beauty. She sighed slowly, remembering where she was. It was a pity that such places outside of Equestria existed, yet they had no idea they were there.
Rainbow looked at Fluttershy in fascination. It was times like these where Fluttershy looked so adorable, and had a background that reflected it like a mirror. The normally fidgety Pegasus gazed contently at the butter pony. The beauty of her was only magnified by the scene of nature and the red rays of the sun. Rainbow lingered over every part of Fluttershy’s body, savoring every texture.
Rainbow blushed and turned away. What was she doing thinking about her best friend in such an unordinary fashion? She noticed that she had lightened up to the shy Pegasus over the course of their adventures.
“Ahem…” Rainbow said, a bit reluctant to interrupt Fluttershy’s trance.
Fluttershy looked up; she blushed a little as she hid her face behind her mane.
“I was thinking,” Rainbow began, “That we make our shelter outside of the forest. There are too many nasties that may want to eat us for dinner.” A shudder ran through her body. “It’s probably safer to just stay outside. That way, we can also tell if there might be any rescue coming.”
“O-okay,” Fluttershy agreed. She didn’t see how that would maximize their chances of getting rescued however, though she was so surprised that Rainbow admitted she was scared, that the yellow pony didn’t object.. The only chance of rescue they had at this point was if Twilight or Princess Celestia could teleport onto this island somehow and transport them back to Equestria.
The two Pegasi flew down, quietly, to the beach. Fluttershy resumed gazing at the beautiful scenery around them. The flight was quiet as neither of them said a word. For a moment, Fluttershy looked at Rainbow briefly and then turned, blushing, away. She couldn’t possibly tell her that this moment would have been a romantic scene for both of them.
Rainbow was surprised at the gaze. It looked almost wishful. She wondered about how she might have felt about Fluttershy. The Pegasus still didn’t know whether or not she liked her. It was unusual for the loyal pony not to be open about her feelings to her friends, and the conflicting feelings gnawed on her inside.
After the leisurely flight, they touched down on the wide expanse of sand. The sand kicked up and blew with the wind when it was knocked up by the Pegasi. They quickly looked around, seeing if any creature heard the sound. Satisfied, they began examining every part of the outer layer of the island. Upon coming across two trees that were close together, yet far enough apart to fit a pony widthwise, Rainbow said,
“You know, this seems like a perfect place to have a shelter. We could have a hammock here and we would be set.”
She grinned at Fluttershy, expecting her to say it was a brilliant idea. Fluttershy glanced at the two trees with an uncertain look, not sure if this would do.
“I-I don’t know, what if it rains, or w-what about me?”
“It doesn’t matter,” Rainbow debunked, “those clouds probably can’t rain without the help of a Pegasus. And besides, who’s afraid of the rain? Also, we can both share the same hammock; we just need to find the leaves for the two of us. It’s a foolproof plan.”
“Okay then,” Fluttershy said uncertainly. She wasn’t sure how if she would like to sleep next to Rainbow, but then giggled a little, chastising herself.
For the next few minutes, they split up and perused the island, searching for a tree with good leaves that were broad and could support their weight. Finally Rainbow found some leaves from a large palm tree on the edge of the forest that looked strong enough, at least according to her. She called Fluttershy over, who conveniently stayed near, and together they flew up and pulled the leaves down using their teeth. They tied it onto the two trees so that the hammock would have two leaves, one on the right and one on left, overlapping each other. There were two layers of this setup, with four leaves total. Using other leaves of the same tree, they tore off the leaves so that only the stems remained, which they used to tie the leaves to the trees.
After finishing their work, Rainbow promptly jumped onto the hammock. Thankfully, the hammock didn’t give, though it did sag to a precarious height.
“Come on, Flutters, there’s enough room,” she said, already relaxing.
Fluttershy gulped. Rainbow moved to the side of the hammock and patted the spot next to her. Slowly, Fluttershy put first her forelegs onto the hammock. She shifted her weight at a snail’s pace. Finally, she supported herself enough to lift her hind legs off the ground. She carefully put her hind legs onto the leaves, until her weight was evenly distributed and her stomach was facing downward. The timid Pegasus sighed in relief as she gauged the distance between herself and the ground, still apprehensive of heights.
“That wasn’t so bad now was i—“
Suddenly, the makeshift hammock collapsed. The stems supporting the leaves snapped and the leaves came crashing back down to the sand. The two of them fell to the ground, though it wasn’t too painful, as the leaves cushioned them. They lay there adrenaline-filled, slightly shocked by the rapid fall and dramatic change of scenery, panting a little.
“You okay?” Rainbow asked, as if this happened regularly.
“Y-yeah,” Fluttershy gasped.
The two of them turned their heads toward each other. After staring at each other for a few moments with an untold conversation travelling between the red and blue eyes, both of them started laughing.
After regaining their senses, they both got up and searched for sturdier stems to use as rope to bind the leaves, still giggling a little. This time, they had a complete lattice work of stems beneath the leaves to support it better with a few stems on top of the leaves to stabilize it better; though it took a considerable amount of work, considering how they only had their teeth and hooves to help them. After that they tested it again. This time it worked much better, with the hammock sagging just a few inches this time. The sun at this point was under the horizon. Both tired beyond belief, they remained on the hammock until the magic of sleep took them.
Quietly, when the Pegasi were sleeping, one of the trees that the hammock was tied to started moving. It appeared to shiver as the veins in the tree glowed bright blue and the “organs” glowed neon green. The tree vibrated violently and the immense leaves fell down. Coconuts plopped down on the sand with a muffled thud. Still, the two innocent ponies lay sleeping blissfully, their snores drowning out the noises of the tree. The trunk of the tree grew bigger and bigger, to a point where it was disproportional to the rest of the tree and there were now two sections. One was a regular palm tree that had subtle alterations compared to the ones at Equestria. The other section was the section that contained the blue veins and green organs. The section with the blue veins slowly grew more and more, while the regular section remained the same. Slowly, the blob with the veins separated from the tree. It seemed almost like Mitosis in the way that one part divided into two parts. The shapeless blob with the veins finally separated from the tree and fell to the ground.
The blob slowly regained shape. The organs in the body pulsed harder and glowed, until it was as bright as the moon. The veins had substances flowing rapidly throughout the body. New veins were created where, for ponies, the four legs and head would be. Many other veins joined them and the veins pushed at the spots. The spots grew slowly until the neck and part of its legs were visible. The veins pulsed faster and pushed harder at the legs and neck, and they quickly formed the pony’s body. The veins were shaped in a way that created the exact curvature of a pony’s body. The head had many veins circulating through it until details started popping up on the body: the tail, eyes, mane, fur, and other features.
After a while, the entire pony body was completely visible and complete, though the entire process took only a minute. The mane was hot pink, as well as its tail. Its fur was a delicate shade of yellow. It also appeared to be an earth pony that was a mare. The most shocking thing about her was that there was no cutie mark on her flank, even though she wasn’t a filly. A burn mark on her forehead formed a triangle, as if she was burned on purpose. She shook herself and looked about her. Her gaze fell upon the two sleeping Pegasi and she hissed.
Across from her, the same process was happening to the other tree. This pony had lightning-blue mane and tail, and its fur was a stormy gray. This one was a Pegasus, and a stallion at that. He got used to his bearings and also looked at the sleeping Pegasi. Seeing the other mare, he trotted over to her.
“They’re the ones,” he said quietly, “Aren’t they?”
“Yes,” the mare said distastefully.
“What do we do?” The stallion asked with despair written across his face. His hoof pawed nervously at the dirt, glancing about him, wondering where everypony else was.
“Nothing for now,” the mare said, “We must wake the others,” she gestured at the forest, “and our chief.” She looked at the mountain.
The stallion followed her gaze. Sighing a little, they both looked at each other with a gaze of dead seriousness. Without another word, they trotted off into the tropical rainforest.