With the boiling sun sitting at its peak of the sky, the tropical island below boiled. The large island bathed in heat and sunlight, beautifully reflected from the leaves of the tall trees. The ocean surrounding the lone land glistened as it gently rolled across the horizon, slowly washing over the silky white beach.
Walking along the meeting point of land and sea, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were quietly enjoying their surroundings as the clear seawater flowed between their hooves.
“It’s so peaceful and quiet out here,” the small cyan mare said. “I love it!”
“I like it to,” her friend replied. “But we can’t stick around here for long. Rarity and Sweetie Belle are counting on us. If we build a raft and set off early enough, we should find Korsan, or at least Thieves’ Hold.”
“And how are we going to find them once we build a raft? Where are we even?” Dash asked.
“I don’t know… We should be somewhere in the Western Antlertic Ocean if what’s left of our ship followed the main current.”
“And if we didn’t?”
“Then we’re completely lost, Dash, but that’s a rare if. Though, now that you mention it, we could very well be lost regardless…”
“Hey, chill out.” Rainbow Dash responded in a relaxed tone. “We always find a way to get out of these types of scrapes together. For now, how about we just rest. We have plenty of time before any raft will be built.”
“I guess.”
A cold foaming wave of water then washed onto the shore and slipped between the two mares’ legs. A soothing chill pulsed through their bodies, causing Twilight to unconsciously coo at the sensation.
“Oh… That does feels nice.” She moaned.
“See? Just let it all go for now.”
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea.”
As Twilight’s nerves gave wave to her surroundings, a wave of positive energy flowed through her body and soul. Her mind slowly shut down of all previous thoughts, replaced by all of the beautiful sights, sounds, feelings, and smells of the island. The glittering ocean and verdant plants mesmerized her eyes, the waving of the large leaves and the harmonious fumbling of the smooth water echoed in her ears, the smooth sand and clean water caressed her hooves while the soft breeze and beating heat brushes her fur, and the salty air and flagrant, distant flowers purifies her nose and subconscious.
This unified euphoria of relived innocence was interrupted however by Twilight’s quivering stomach.
“Oh dear,” Twilight quietly giggled. “I’m actually a bit hungry. I’ll go look for some food, alone.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, I like the peace.”
“Figured you would. Well, good luck.” Dash said, waving goodbye to Twilight.
“Same to you.”
Twilight waded away from the sandy coastline and went into the forest of palm trees and exotic plants just beyond.
Hidden deep inside the thick of the jungle, there was a large meadow clearing that ran along a tiny river. With only a few large trees dotted around the flowery valley, the entire patch of land was bright throughout the day, with only small shades scatted below the leaves.
Near the edge of this meadow, where the thick bushes and palm trees meet the small flowers and beds of grass, four small tents, made of loose planks of wood, thick sticks, and leaves, stiffly stood in the breeze, surrounding a well-made fireplace. The yellow pegasus, Fluttershy emerged from one of these tents with half of a coconut held in her mouth and headed towards the river. It was a brisk walk, only a hundred metres away.
As the pink-haired mare reached the flowing creek, she was greeted by Twilight on the other side of the brook.
“Oh,” Fluttershy mumbled, dropping the coconut onto the grass to free her mouth. “Hi, Twilight. Like what we did while you and Applejack were asleep?”
“Yeah, you and the others did a great job on those tents back there.” Twilight gleefully replied. “Say, do you have any food? I’m starving.”
“Sure, there are some dates and coconuts in one of the tents.” Fluttershy said.
“Thanks.”
“You look like you’re in a good mood.”
“Yeah, I just figured I’d take it easy while we’re here.”
“You?”
“Well, with some help from Dash.”
Fluttershy softly giggled to herself before replying, “That’s okay.”
Quickly, Twilight leapt across the small river and headed towards the sunlit camp while Fluttershy continued with her own business, collecting water from the stream.
After a minute of pure silence, Twilight’s voice echoed from across the meadow, “I don’t see any food.”
“What?”
Twilight quickly flew back to Fluttershy.
“I checked all of the tents. I didn’t see any dates, and the coconuts had nothing in them.”
“Oh, I guess somepony ate our supplies. Oh well. Want to help me fetch some more?” Fluttershy asked.
“Sure.”
Leaving the coconut half on top of a stone at the edge of the creek, the two mares headed into the thick palm tree forest. As the two walked through the thick plants below their hooves, the sounds of chirping birds and the squeaks of monkeys could be heard all around them.
“Hey, Fluttershy,” Twilight said.
“Yeah?”
“I’m not sure if I’ve asked this, but what’s your favourite animal?”
“Most certainly rabbits. They’re just so fluffy, warm, and gentle. What about you?”
“Owls are my favourite. They’re really smart and can do a lot of neat things. Speaking of animals, what are your thoughts on Juliana, Korsan’s ice phoenix?”
“I’m still trying to figure out how he found her.” Fluttershy replied. “Fire phoenixes are already extremely rare in the world. It would’ve taken a miracle to find one that produces ice.”
“I know. But what about Juliana herself?”
“Well, she is very pretty, despite how mean she is. I feel bad for wha she did to Philomena back at Equestria. I am glad that she looks to be well taken care of though, as well as the rest of Korsan’s crew it seems.”
“I hope Rarity’s getting the same treatment-No, wait, I gotta let that go for now.” Twilight told herself.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m just trying to unwind after Korsan’s last attack.”
“I see. Oh! Here we are.”
The two ponies stopped and looked up to see bunches of large bananas, hanging from the treetops above.
“Oh, good! I’m practically famished after that walk!” Twilight exclaimed.
Immediately, Twilight attempted to grab the ripe fruits with her magic.
Nothing happened.
After a fair second or two of trying, the purple pony remembered Korsan’s anti-magic strap wrapped around her horn.
“Oh, forgot,” Twilight said, a bit embarrassed.
She then flew up to the yellow bananas and attempted to pull them down with her bare hooves. However, as she tried with all of her might, the bananas stayed put on the tree and Twilight soon ran out of energy, falling to the jungle floor.
“They’re too strong for me.” Twilight panted in exhaustion and hunger.
“Let me try something.”
Fluttershy placed a hoof over her mouth and blew into it, causing a loud whistling noise to rupture throughout the forest. Soon after, a small black and white lemur appeared from one of the treetops. It looked down at the two strangers with its big yellow eyes, curious.
“Hello there.” Fluttershy gently called out to the small animal. “Can you please help us by getting some bananas?”
The small animal turned its head down towards the bananas and then back to the onlooking mares.
“Please?” Twilight begged the lemur.
As if repulsed by Twilight’s command, the lemur started to back away from its post.
“Wait! Mr. Lemur, we’re very hungry. Can you please help us? We’ll even share some bananas with you.” Fluttershy told the lemur.
Interested by the tone of Fluttershy’s voice in this new request, the lemur returned to the girls, leaning below the treetop. He reached out his small hands at the main stem of a large bundle of the yellow fruit and pinched it, causing the entire bundle to snap off and fall down onto the jungle floor.
“Thank you!”
Taking a single banana out from the group, Fluttershy flew up to the lemur.
“Here you go.” She said to it.
The small critter grabbed the yellow fruit and scattered away into the jungle, out of her and Twilight’s sights. Twilight took a larger banana from the bunch and attempted to peel it open. Although having trouble at first, the hungry mare managed to pop open the end. Immediately, she shoved the revealed white insides into her mouth. Physical satisfaction was returned for her nutritional deeds.
“Yum, thanks, Flutter.” Twilight thanked Fluttershy.
“You’re very welcome.” Fluttershy replied.
“How come you’re so good with animals?”
“I just have a gift, I guess. Though, I’m pretty sure you could do the same thing with your magic.”
“I couldn’t. Even the most advance unicorn magic can’t allow ponies to communicate with animals as well as you do.”
“Huh. I must be very lucky then.”
“I guess so. Anyways, where are the others? I’ve only been walking along the beachside with Dash the past hours when AJ went with Pinkie.”
“Applejack, Applebloom, and Scootaloo are searching for parts to build a raft and any passing ships at the beach along with Dash. Spike’s at the volcano trying to make a smoke signal. And Pinkie’s…”
“Being Pinkie?”
“I have no idea where she is.” Fluttershy bluntly said.
“Well that’s okay. A little exploration around here wouldn’t hurt.”
“Just be careful with snakes if you’re planning to do that. They don’t like it when you step on their tails.”
“I’ll keep note of that.”
“Anything else I can help you with?”
“Hmmm… Do you have any guess when we might be able to leave?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t know, a month maybe.”
“…Okay.” Twilight replied, a little taken back by the answer.
“Is there a problem?” Fluttershy said, now concerned.
“No. Still a little concerned about Rarity and Sweetie Belle.”
“It’s fine. We’ll save them.”
“Yeah. Bye, Fluttershy”
“Bye, Twilight”
After hastily forking down the rest of her banana, Twilight took off into the air and above the tall jungle. Adjusting to the sun in her eyes, the flying mare circled around the island and several certain areas, searching for anypony or anything of interest.
In the back of her mind, the princess took note of specific areas. The volcano, the meadow, the beach and coastal outline, the lagoons, the small lakes, the tall cliff peninsula, the mountain range on the opposite side of the island from the meadow, their raft, some small shipwrecks by the beach, and the large whirlpool a couple hundred kilometres on the horizon, all presented themselves as points of interest.
However, as she flew over a particularly thick portion of the forest jungle, her eyes caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a large wooden structure, hidden in the foliage.
“What’s that?” She asked herself.
With a sharp turn of her large wings, Twilight dove down next to the structure, gently landing at the entrance of the large shack. Made of dark brown wood and carved stone, the seemingly abandoned hut looked to be having been in a dilapidated condition for several years, shown by the copious amount of plant life sprouting between the cracks of the building.
With a growing sense of paranoia tingling in her spine, Twilight slowly walked up to the small entry. The wood and stone creaked louder as she drew near. Twilight pushed the door open, revealing a near pitch black room beyond the swinging door.
“H-hello?”
The only thing that responded to the nervous pony was a hiss of wind and another creaking noise. Opening the door all the way, Twilight illuminated the front room of the abandoned building, revealing its contents. It was a small room, only roughly four metres by five metres, with its wooden walls, ceiling, and floor nearly completely covered in vines, cobwebs, and rot. A door stood on every side of the room, each barred shut with rotting wooden planks and rusty nails.
In the back right corner of the room, a ladder could be seen extending into the floor above and a basement below. Many pictures, large and small, were decorated along the wall, all having their glass covers coated in dust. Curious, the purple pony slowly walked deeper into the room and approached one of the larger pictures. It seemed special, one that required more space around its dirty, golden frame.
Using her hoof to smear away the heavy dust, Twilight immediately turned astonished, as her eyes gazed onto the revealed image in front of her eyes.
As the sun began its slow decent into the afternoon and eventual night, Applejack paced around the sandy coast with Applebloom and Scootaloo trailing behind her. Paying no mind to the water splashing into her legs, the orange Earth pony’s mind was set on another, more critical thought in her perception.
“Hey, Applejack,” the mare’s younger sister cried out. “Can we get back to camp? We’re getting’ hungry.”
No response was given by the sidetracked leader of the team.
“Sister? Hello? Hellooooooo…”
Still no reply or even acknowledgement is given.
“What’s going on?” Scootaloo asked her filly friend. “Is she sleep walking?”
“Maybe I should try screamin’?” Applebloom suggested.
“Wait, isn’t that the opposite of what you’re supposed to do-”
“Applejack!”
Immediately, Applejack snapped from her mental distraction, snapping her neck towards her sister.
“Are you alright?” Applejack fearfully hollered back, on the verge of hyperventilating.
“Sorry. Can we head back to camp now?” Applebloom asked.
Before answering, the frightened pony took a deep breathe to settle her nerves from the shock.
“Sure, you all lead the way.” Applejack finally said.
Scootaloo cheered, turning towards the jungle. Without paying mind to others, the energetic filly swooped into the trees, leaving a stunned Applejack and a confused Applebloom behind.
“Sister, I’m sorry for giving you a fright.” Applebloom apologized.
“It’s fine, it’s all hunky dory. I was just a little, distracted.”
“With what?”
“A thought,”
“What were you thinkin’ about?”
“Well… Adult things. Nothin’ to worry your lil’ head about.”
“What adult things? Are you gettin’ married?”
“No, no, nothing like that,”
“Then what?”
“Well… It’s complicated.”
“Applejack,”
“Yeah?”
“Is it about Mom and Dad?”
A moment of silence manifested between the two as they waded through the forest. After several seconds of silence, it was eventually broken by Applejack.
“Sort of.” She said. “Now that, you know, we only got each other, Big Mac, and Granny, and Granny’s is reaching her limit, there’s been a lingering problem about keeping us safe and all. I haven’t really been getting into thought about it much until our encounters with Korsan and what happened after them.”
“We’ll be alright. Our friends will be with us and we’ll still have each other.”
“…”
“Right?”
“…”
As Applejack turned silent again, the yellow filly started to feel nervous. Her body quivered in worry and concern.
“…You’re starting to scare me.” Applebloom told her sister.
“Sorry. But, even if I am with you when something happens, what if I can’t protect you?”
“No, that won’t happen. That won’t happen, right?”
“I will make sure that never happens. You have my word.”
“And besides,” Applebloom cheerfully replied, seeing her sister now putting on a strong face. “We’ll always have our friends, right?”
“…Sure.”