Rainforest Dash

by LeoFalsetto

Chapter 3: Survival

Rainbow Dash breathed loudly as she slid into a thick patch of foliage. She fell onto her side, trying desperately to catch her breath. The broken machete fell from her mouth as she panted heavily.

She had never experienced anything like this before. She had never even believed that something like this could happen to her. Her mind raced, recalling everything that had just happened. All of the pain, damaging her wing to near beyond repair, the murder that occurred right in front of her, and that name: Tarik, branded into her mind forever. The name seemed to echo within her ears.

Tarik.

Tarik.

Tarik.

The name haunted her, not because of the name itself, but because of the way this monster revealed it to her; That it would be the last name she'd ever hear...

Rainbow became overwhelmed by the events that had happened, and the realization of what events were to come. She felt a tear forming in her eye. She slammed her eyes shut and gritted her teeth.

"No..." She spoke to herself, "If I'm going to make it through this, I'm going to need to stay strong." Rainbow opened her eyes, letting out a sigh. She sat up, feeling a stabbing pain on her back. Rainbow turned her attention to her wings, both of which were badly damaged, the left much more than the right. As she recalled, her right wing was crushed by some rocks that were flung at her while she was flying, inevitably leading to her capture. Her left wing, however, was brutally mangled by that bastard, Tarik.

Rainbow caught herself as she thought that. She had never come into contact with another pony to whom she would associate such a title. Bastard... Then again, she had never encountered another being willing to cause her so much pain, and completely disregard her life as being utterly worthless. Rainbow identified the burning sensation she felt in her mind associated with the name Tarik. It was hatred. Pure, uncut hatred. The thought of him made her blood boil, and her muscles tense.

She caught herself stomping at the ground in anger. She ceased her mind, taking in a deep, calming breath, shuddering as it released. Turning her attention to her wings, Rainbow realized that she had to find some way to bandage these, and fast. Rainbow dropped her saddlebags, wincing as they brushed her wings.

"No... No, no, no!" She said out loud as she found that she didn't have any medical bandages packed. Hastily, she removed all of the medical supplies. Rainbow looked over what she had at her disposal. Disinfectant, medical tape, bug repellent, anti-venom, a small towel, and assorted adhesive bandages.

Rainbow gulped as she realized just how unprepared she really was for this experience. Looking around frantically, Rainbow's eyes focused on a plant comprised of large, thick leaves. Rainbow reasoned that these would have to work as a substitute for gauze. Picking up the machete in her mouth, Rainbow cut a few leaves from the plant and brought them back over to her other supplies.

Rainbow thought over the steps she would need to take to bandage her wing. She picked up the bottle of liquid disinfectant and applied it to her towel. She gulped as she reached back and prepared to rub her wing. Rainbow clenched her teeth as she tended her injuries with the disinfectant, feeling the cleansing liquid flow over her wounds, sending a stinging sensation throughout her entire body. Once the treatment was complete, Rainbow let out a sigh of relief, followed by another sigh, this one more aggravated. She remembered that she couldn't just bandage her wing as it is now. The bones were broken and out of place. She would need to set the bone before bandaging.

Rainbow gulped as she picked up her machete, straining her jaw as she bit down hard on the handle. She moved her hooves back to her wings, grasping two halves of a bone. She counted to three in her head.

1

2

3

*CRACK*

Rainbow released a muffled cry as her bone snapped back into place. She uncomfortably repeated the process for the other damaged bones in her wings. Once the process was complete, Rainbow wrapped the leaves around her wings and secured them with the medical tape.

"At least..." Rainbow said, out of breath, "That's over with." Rainbow looked out into her surroundings. Despite her pain, Rainbow gasped in awe at the sight before her. The entire jungle, this place that she had begun to spite, was absolutely beautiful. The jade leaves and plants, associated ever so subtly with the varying browns of the trees, only accentuated by the cobalt stones and boulders riddling the earth. A film of green moss seemed to overtake everything, giving it all a hint of sage green.

Rainbow could form no words. She couldn't tell if it was because of the pain, but the sight of this landscape was relaxingly divine. Her thought process was suddenly overtaken by a growling sound coming from her gut.

"Hungry..." She said silently to herself. She checked her saddlebags, only to find that her previous captors had drained her food supply. Though depressed, she wasn't necessarily surprised. There was no shortage of vegetation for her to eat, but she wasn't sure which were safe, and she had no way of telling. Before she could think of a solution, she heard a loud stomping sound approaching her position.

Rainbow gasped as she jumped back into the bushes, hiding herself. To her surprise, what passed her was not a search party arranged by her captors, but a group of wild deer. Her mind moved at a thousand miles per hour, quickly settling on the fact that these deer would probably lead her to something she could eat.

She was about to leap from the bushes and join their herd, but she remembered that these weren't ponies. These were wild deer, and if she startled them, they would scatter, and she may never find anything to eat, so she had to follow them without being noticed. On any other day, she would have taken to the skies and silently stalked her target, yet due to her unfortunate recent occurrences, she was forced to resolve to sticking to the bushes.

Silently following the herd of deer, Rainbow followed as they led to a small clearing in the trees. Within the clearing was a watering hole and various plants that the deer began eating, telling Rainbow that those plants weren't dangerous.

Rainbow began waiting patiently for the deer to leave before she emerged and took her fill, however, after what felt like ages, the deer still hadn't left. rainbow realized that if she was going to have any chance of surviving, she would need to assert herself over her surroundings. She leaped from the bushes and stomped around, effectively scaring the herd of deer. The herd scattered, leaving the clearing, and leaving Rainbow Dash to the plants and water.

After eating and drinking her fill, Rainbow filled her canteen and took some of the plants for later. She looked to the sky, seeing that the moon had risen.

"I need to find someplace safe to sleep..." She spoke to herself, looking around. She noticed a large branch near the top of a tree. She figured that she could sleep on that as long as she secured herself. Reaching into her saddlebags, Rainbow pulled out a cut of rope. She made her way over to the tree and wrapped the rope around it, securing both ends to her hooves. She lifted the rope, and used the tension as it gripped the tree to pull herself up.

Rainbow soon reached the branch and climbed out onto it. She wrapped the roe around the branch, and secured it around herself as well.

As Rainbow tried to sleep, she felt her mind begin to drift through everything that had happened over the last two days. She felt tears beginning to fill her eyes as the reality of her situation overwhelmed her. She was lost and stranded, but not alone. Unfortunately, the only company she had in this savage wilderness wanted her dead. Rainbow focused all of her strength into forcing her thoughts back. She would have to deal with them when they came back around, but for now, she needed to sleep to sustain her energy.

Rainbow's eyes went heavy, and her breathing slowed as she drifted out of consciousness.

Author's Note:

Not much action in this one. Mostly survival stuff, hence the title of the chapter. Don't worry though, the return of the tough-as-nails Rainbow is just around the corner! As always, comments/concerns are greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading!