It wasn't long before the water filling my lungs choked me awake. I did all I could to keep my head above the sudden rapidness of the rivers flow; unable to muster the strength to get on the meander point bars. Felt like my hind legs were broken which was probably the case. I don't remember what hit me or how I got in the river but none of that mattered. If I stayed in this river, I was going to die.
The rapids were getting more violent, making my ever struggle to breathe that much harder. The rivers increase in speed also picked up some large rocks that flowed underneath me, beating on my broken body as the pain kept my exhaustion at bay. I could only hope my crew are all well and searching for me. I couldn't be far from when I got knocked in the river, I had a feeling the initial collapse site was right behind me.
Just in front of me I saw a dark blur of a figure, looks like a pony that's lying on the point bar of the upcoming meander but it was much too dark to be for sure. With all of my strength I threw myself out of the rapids onto the shallow beach to get a closer look at what was now a clearly unconscious pony. I slowly crawled myself up the bar line to see if I could wake him up. My hoof reached out and touched a dark feathery... wing.
"Damn it... Flutte... shy. Hold on, were going to get out of this." Coughing up more and more water as I spoke, it was probably a mix of blood as well but I couldn't notice. Ignoring the pain my non-working hind legs caused, I turned Fluttershy onto her back and checked her breathing.
"Stable... thank Celestia." Her wing has an irregular curve to it, it was probably broken during the collapse. I noticed the walky-talky still in her hoof, poor soul probably tried to escape right when I told her but I was too late.
"Damn it all! I failed as a leader; now this poor angel is going to die out here. I didn't react fast enough!" The anger blocked my headache's constant throbbing in the back of my head.
"I'm not leaving you Fluttershy, I don't expect that I'll make it out but in the name of Celestia, I promise you will be ok. Whether you can hear me or not I made a promise to keep all of my crew safe, and right now, that means protecting you with what little I have left." I look up to see her cute little nose twitch and her eyes slowly open, with a tiny smile on her face, I lost consciousness again.
---
I wake up to see the same thing I passed out remembering. Fluttershy's gentle smile as she hoisted me onto her back. She was a remarkably strong pony especially for being as hurt as I was. Slowly but surely we started to move as the sun just peered over the horizon. I must have been out for a few hours lying with her on that beach. The sand covering my body was as grey as the granite cliffs the river flowed between. I couldn't speak though I'm not entirely sure what I would say. Thank you comes to mind, however, all I want to do right now is sleep.
I fell off of Fluttershy a few times, each one came with a thud and a grunt of pain. I could tell Fluttershy was about to pass out from exhaustion. So I grunted to tell her to just let me lie down here for awhile. She needs more rest than me anyways. Not so sure she got the hint as she tried once more to hoist me on her back.
"I'm so sorry Boulder but I can't just leave you here." she spoke softly into my ears. I noticed my hind legs were wrapped with a splint so my earlier suspicions were correct.
"... wait." My mind was racing so face I wasn't sure what I'd say next, I hope she just passes it off as my delirium.
"Thank you, for looking after me, when I was too busy looking out for everypony else." Hey, that actually made sense. Guess I'm not as delirious as I thought.
"I lov..." I knew the moment that word slipped out that I had to do something to feign craziness, so I pretended to pass out.
"Stay with me Boulder, keep talking, I need you awake right now." I listened to every word and on cue I reopened my eyes.
"Sorry, I must have gotten a little delusional there." I tried to laugh it off but I knew that she heard everything I said a few hours before when I found her, based on her next choice of words.
"This angel isn't going to let you die today." She pulled me back on her back and continued forward.
"I know how the gorge formed, but I haven't been able to write it down yet. I want to tell you its story just in case I don't get a chance later." She probably didn't like how little hope I had let in my life. She needed me to believe in herself just as she believes in me but I have no room for that in my mind. I've never had room for hope, or even plain optimism, my persona over the years formed a bitter mistrust of ponykind along with a general assumption of 'everypony for himself'. I faked being a good leader to the very end at least.
"Boulder, I'm not going to lose you, but I do need you to keep talking." The softness in her voice faded as my own doubt started getting the best of her. "What's the story behind your cutie mark?"
She's seen my cutie mark? Wait, where are my pants? She stripped me to wrap me in bandages and I didn't even notice. "My cutie mark? The one that's on my flank right?" I tried to stall for time. I always felt like my cutie mark was my own, the one thing that has kept me sane over the years. The one true burden I carry.
"Alright, I guess at least one pony should know about it."