Rainbow’s wings still couldn’t quite agree on balance. One moment she was right side up, and the next she was upside down.
As she was flipping around, she finally caught sight of the ground, or rather, the water.
Rainbow braced herself.
Before Rainbow could think of anything else to do, she hit the water. The impact felt as though she were landing on rock. A searing pain shot through her right side. An audible crack was heard.
She was then engulfed by water, losing her breath.
Rainbow kicked and bucked, trying to find air. Finally, she broke to the surface of the water. Breathing heavily, she looked around for land.
The bank was right next to her, but the current was too strong. She was pushed under the water time and time again. The pain in her side wasn’t helping either.
Every time she got a breath of air, she was pushed under. She tried harder to get out, but was pushed under again.
Rainbow tried flying out of the water, but the sharp, sudden pain stopped her.
I am not dying now! Not like this!
Instead of going up, Rainbow dove down. She scraped her hooves along the bottom of the river, then pushed up. She used all of her strength to push off of the riverbed. She shot up out of the water, attempting to glide to the bank, but her wings were drenched, along with the pain.
Rainbow fell to the water again, but she was much closer to the rocky land. She reached as far out as she could with her hoof in an attempt to get a hold on the ground. With a push from her hind legs, she felt the ground!
Rainbow used her other hoof to push away from the water.
At last, she had made it to the bank. Rainbow laid there, hind legs still in the river. She breathed in and out, savouring each breath she took.
That... that was too close.
She attempted to move her wings, but pain shot through her right wing. She stood up slowly. Her legs felt like they would collapse at any moment.
Rainbow looked down at her right wing, but saw that it was hanging limply at her side. She reached a hoof up to it and lifted it up. Other than the pain, she felt a strange feeling. It felt as though her wing had... come off. But that didn’t make sense, the wing was still attached.
She let the wing droop down again, making slow movements to avoid more pain.
What’s wrong with my wing? Will it be fine?
Rainbow looked up from her wing and at the towering cliffs on either side of the river.
How do I get back up if I can’t fly? Hmm...
As Rainbow thought, she twisted her mane to get as much water out as she could.
Could I climb up the sides?
Rainbow looked at the rocky cliff.
There’s no way I’m climbing that. Well, I guess I’m walking.
With that, Rainbow began walking along the river bank; the river to her left.
Being down in the canyon, Rainbow couldn’t tell what time it was. The sun wasn’t visible, but she saw the sunlight on the side of the cliff to her right.
Well... at least I got out of the heat.
Rainbow would have laughed if she weren’t in pain. Instead, she just smiled slightly, and continued her walking.
From what she thought, the sun had gone below the horizon, leaving the sky a fiery blaze of colours. From her spot down at the bottom of the canyon, she could only see a sliver of the sky... and it was still truly beautiful.
It never gets old.
Rainbow had been walking for a while when she wanted to go faster for some reason.
With that in mind, she looked around for anything to help her go faster. She then remembered the river... and how fast it was.
I’ll give it one more chance. If it goes wrong, I’ll never touch water again.
Rainbow stepped into the river, feeling the cold water run past her hooves. She walked farther out, making sure to keep a good hold on the ground. She took a few sips of water as she got farther out.
She had stopped going farther once the water had gotten to her body.
Here goes...
Rainbow lifted her legs up to her body, allowing herself to float along with the water.
In a way, the cold water around her limp wing felt... good, better than it should have.
As Rainbow floated down the current, she made sure to note the details.
The water was clear, but from afar, it appeared to be a dark green. The cliffs on either side of her in the canyon were a bright red-tan mix. There were ledges that protruded from the walls, too high for her to reach without flight.
The more shallow the river got, the faster the current went. And the deeper the river got, the slower the current went. Whenever the river got too shallow to float with, Rainbow would stand up and walk for however long she needed to.
Rainbow also took more small sips of the water as she went along, savouring the taste of fresh, cold water.
This isn’t so bad. I’m a bit hungry, though.
The fiery colours of the evening sky had long since gone down. It was only just the same dark purple glow, along with the flickering speckles of light here and there. From the small cut of sky she could see from the bottom of the canyon, she saw a brighter patch of the lights, some of them red and green, and some blues.
Rainbow had never seen the patch of brighter lights before, so it drew her attention away from the pain she was in.
She saw three black silhouettes of large birds flying overhead.
Whoa...
The silhouettes seemed to cut across the dark sky with ease.
After the large birds had left view, Rainbow felt the cold water start to get to her. She scraped her hooves along the many rocks underneath the water to stop. She then stood up, letting the cold water drip off.
The pain in her wing began to worsen again. The pain she felt was more of a dull lingering pain, rather than the sharp sting she felt before. Both hurt a lot.
You know... this really isn’t that bad.
Rainbow walked out of the water, and onto the bank. She picked one of the boulders that lay among the many rocks on the river bank, and laid down against it.
I hope I can get out of here soon, though. I’d like to keep moving.
With that, Rainbow curled into a small circle, attempting to keep her warmth. Not too long after, she finally set in for sleep that night.
The sound of the running water in the river was the most soothing thing she could think of.