". . . . .ey."
"Hmmm. . . ."
"He . . . . Alri. . . ."
"Mm. . . ."
A sharp slap woke Dash from her state. Slowly, she opened her eyes and was greeted by a dull throbbing pain. She moaned aloud as she grasped her stomach, feeling as if any second it would expel its contents.
A new voice (the voice sounded female) broke Dash's thoughts. "Are you ok?" it asked.
Dash turned to the direction of the voice, but stopped as another wave of nausea struck her, her stomach finally giving out and expelling all the swallowed seawater that Dash drank while she floated at sea.
Slowly, she turned her head to look for the source of the voice. A small black blob greeted her, but that was all she saw as the darkness took her again.
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The light, female voice that Dash had heard earlier spoke up as she regained consciousness. The voice was talking with another figure, this one sounding male. She managed to make out a few words as Dash struggled to wake herself up.
"I don't know Brickwall. Her wing was bending the wrong way when we found her. I'm not that medically skilled, so I can't help her very -"
"Wait, a sec. She's waking up!"
Rainbow Dash moaned as she rolled over on her side. "Ugh . . . What happened?" she said, as she tried to rise to her hooves.
Dash heard the clopping of hooves and suddenly, the female voice was right beside her. Gently she placed her hoof on Dash's shoulder, pressing down lightly. "Whoa, now. Take it easy. You were out for quite a while."
Slowly, the figure led Dash to lie back down, but there was something about the speaker that set Dash off. It hit her a second later. The figures hoof felt holey.
Dash bolted awake, and was greeted by a severe, gut wrenching pain coursing through her back and wing. She tried to stifle a scream, but tears streamed down her face as the a wave of pain briefly paralyzed her. Finally, she could no longer hold it in, as she screamed in pain. Birds fled form the trees as Dash lay on the ground writhing in agony. The holey hoof was pressing down on her again, frantically trying to get her to lay back down.
"Calm down! Calm DOWN!" the voice was right next to Dash and suddenly a sharp slap brought Dash to her senses and caused her to stop. "You need to calm. . . down!"
Dash was no longer screaming, but she still sobbed heavily and clutched her cheek where the figure had struck her, as all the memories of the pervious night came flooding back to her. Her friends, the attack on Canterlot, the Changelings tossing her in a river, the broken wing. Tears stung her eyes as her vision went blurry.
The female voice spoke again " Geez. You need to calm down. Your wing suffered a major break and you need to keep off and avoid moving it for quite awhile to avoid permanent damage. I can't get a proper look at it in this light. Brick, stay here with here. I'm going to see if I can find more wood for the fire."
"Ok."
As her vision cleared, she saw the black shape fade from view. Dash looked around as everything swam into focus. A brightly lit fire surrounded a moderately big cave. The smell of mesquite wood filled the air as she swiveled her her head and stared at . . . a Minotaur. And a big one. Icy, blue eyes stared directly into hers. Light grey fur covered his body. Large, bulking muscles made him seem like a giant. Dash's eyes widened in fear as she tried to stand, but a jolt of pain sent her back on the ground, crawling in fear.
Slightly, the Minotaur looked hurt for a brief second, and raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Easy. I'm not going to hurt you. And you should be laying down. Like Echo said, your wing is severely broken." Dash looked at the Minotaur and slowly sat back down. "Who are you?" she asked. "Where are my friends?"
"My name is Brickwall. Me and my friend Echo found you near a river. You're lucky that Echo spotted your mane colors, otherwise you might've died. What happened to you? How did you end up in a river?"
Dash pondered the question for a moment. Suddenly, a jolt of pain surged through her head as she grasped her forehead in pain. Groaning, she tried to think but was greeted with another dose of pain. "I remember. . . The wedding! Some kind of creatures invaded Canterlot and attacked the Princess! Uh. . . Changelings! Yeah! They took my friends, broke my wing, tied me up, and threw me in a river! Oh, man! My friends. Do you know where I am?"
Brickwall opened his mouth to answer, but the female voice from before cut him off. "We do. According to the map we have, we're some on the outskirts of Trottingham. You traveled quite a ways. What exactly happened?"
Her question went unanswered, as she saw the pegasus shaking, giving the Stranger a look that could kill. "What?" the Stranger asked, "you never seen a Changeling before?"