//------------------------------// // Hard Landing // Story: Help Is On The Way // by Brony Eagle Scout //------------------------------// As Flaming Arrow and Savant landed in the circle, Rainbow Dash teleported off to the north by a few hundred yards. Dash tried to yell but a few tree branches breaking against her chest pushed any air out of her lungs. She crashed onto the ground in a heap of broken tree limbs and leaves. Rainbow Dash groaned as she sat up and inspected the damage. "Okay, legs feel fine, my head doesn't hurt..." She mumbled as she moved her body in search of any damage. Felling none, Dash unbuckled the radio bag and placed it on the ground as she flared her wings. She lifted off the ground and flied around her crash site without problems. "Okay wings are good." Dash thought as she landed back near the radio bag. She picked up the knife that fell from her holster and clicked it back into place before inspecting the radio for any damage. She opened the bag and saw a sad sight. The radio was nearly broken in half and the receiver was smashed to bits. "Crap, must have landed on my side when I crashed." She checked the other bag and most of the repair parts looked okay. Rainbow Dash sat on the ground and began to fiddle around with her own radio. After a few seconds static crackled to life. "Rainbow Dash, this is Arrow, respond?" "Rainbow Dash here, where are you guys?" A sigh of relief broke through the line. "Good, now stay where you are, get your whistle and light out and make yourself known. We'll get there soon." "Okay, get here quick."Dash begins to empty out her vest pockets for the items. She grabbed the whistle and found the small flashlight before Dash turned on the flashlight and started to wave it around while blowing the whistle loudly. Fweeeeep Fweeeeep Fweeeeep "That should give them a good idea where I'm at." Dash thought. She sat down and turned off her light. She looked up at clear night sky and marveled at beauty of Luna's work. However doing this reminded Dash of the many nights Twilight would have the rest of the gang in a field outside Ponyville, looking up in complete awe. "Twilight is alone and scared while I'm staring up at the stars. We need to get going." Rainbow blew a few more times from her whistle as she waved the light over her head. A small white dot caught Rainbow's attention as she flashed her light in that direction. "Rainbow Dash, is that you?" Savant said over the radio. "Yeah it's me. Got some bad news though, the radio got busted in my crash." A loud curse rang off in the direction of Savant as she started to come within sight. "Well at least you're okay; rather have a damaged radio than a broken leg." Savant said over the radio. "Great you found her Savant, fire off a spell and I'll get there to check up on Rainbow Dash." Arrow called over the radio. Savant nodded and walked into a break in between the trees and sent a bolt of red magic into the sky. "Okay I see you where you guys are." Arrow said. Savant walked up to Rainbow Dash. "You had us worried there for a second. Now where is the radio, I need to check on what can be salvaged." Rainbow pointed to the tree and Savant walked past her as Arrow landed. "Glad to see you in one piece. Have you noticed any pains after your crash?" Arrow said as he grabbed the first aid kit off his back. Rainbow Dash waved him off "Not really, probably got a bruise from landing on the radio but everything else feels fine." "Great. Savant how does the radio look?" Arrow yelled. "Looks like scrap but I'm sure I could build a radio from all our parts if the radio is busted at the camp." Savant said. "Okay, not the best start to a mission but I'll take it. Savant, get the radio back on Rainbow Dash. We move in five." The trio was walking a well worn trail in the forest to the camp, the wind whistling over the treetops. Rainbow started to get restless with the silence. "I might as well get to know these guys a bit more before we get separated again." "So Arrow, tell me about yourself?" "I was born and raised in Trottingham and I joined the army to help pay for my college hopes. After a few successful missions and two good years, I choose to stay in the army much to the dismay of my parents. But I don't regret it at all, I saved a lot ponies in my time." "How long have you been doing it?" "It's going to be thirteen years next month." "Wow, why do it for so long though?" Savant asked. Arrow sighed "I ask myself that sometimes... but just seeing the looks of happiness when you save somepony makes it worthwhile for me. Sometimes I just know it had to be me, somepony else might have gotten it wrong." "Hm that's an interesting way to see it. Were there any missions like this one?" "There have been lots of rescue ops, yeah but there are too many unknowns in this mission than I would like. This mysterious creature, the lack of preparation and the amount of ponies we need to ID isn't something I've done before. But the Princess choose me to lead this and I'll be damned if I don't do my best." Hearing nothing more from Arrow, Rainbow turned her head around. "What about you Savant?" Dash asked. "I'm nothing much. I've lived in Canterlot all my life and most of that time was in school. I got three master degrees from Canterlot University in fields of electronics and I'm employed as the Palace's head electrician." "Wow, I bet you're almost as smart as Twilight. So what's that job like?" "I do the usual electrician stuff when something goes wrong in the castle. The cool thing about it though, the Princesses usually have me working on some pet project they came up with and that means lots of inventing and improvising. I love it." "You know about us, tell us about you." Arrow said. Rainbow sported a smirk. "I'm the weather manager of Ponyville, best young flier in Equestria, and future Wonderbolt. That's not opinion, that's fact. I was born and raised in Cloudsdale but I live above Ponyville now." Arrow laughed at the bravado exhibited by Rainbow Dash. "So how do you know Twilight?" Rainbow blushed "I became one of her best friends the day Nightmare Moon came back." "That means you're one of those elements of Harmony then." Savant guessed. "Yep, the element of Loyalty." "Hm, guess that explains why you're rescuing your friend then." Arrow bemused. "That and more Arrow, that and more..." Dash thought Another half hour in silence caused more rainbow-colored impatience. "So any idea how much longer till we get there Arrow." "Shouldn't be too long, map said it was only a bit less of a mile from where you landed. Although, it's strange we haven't seen any signs of the research team. This is the only way back to the closest town; I was hoping we would have found somepony by now." Arrow said grimly. Rainbow gulped down a bit of fear as she started to look around. The towering trees of the forest stood behind them as smaller ones of the desert started to appear next to the trail. The usual topsoil started to have more brown sand than the black dirt. Arrow stopped on top of the next hill and motioned for the other two to join him. Rainbow got up next to Arrow and got assaulted by a horrible smell. Dash and Savant grabbed their noses in unison as Arrow took a deep sniff. "Smells like death, now I'm worried..." Arrow mumbled. Dash heard Arrow and began to recover. The camp could be seen below and the radio tower seemed to be working as the light at the top flashed every few seconds. "Ok here's the plan, I'll fly overhead and check the area for any tracks that lead away from the camp. Savant, get the radio working and send a message to confirm our presence. Rainbow Dash, look around the camp for survivors. Radio in once you cleared an area or if you find someone." Arrow said as he hoofed over the first aid kit to Savant. Arrow stretched out his wings and took to the sky. "Keep in communication, no need for one of us to get lost." Arrow called over the radio. "Keep talking to each other, got it." Rainbow Dash said back. "Come on those ponies aren't gonna rescue themselves." Dash said as she moved quickly down to the camp.