//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Survival against all odds // by thesupernile //------------------------------// Isabel had urged the group to walk by the treeline. Forests bordered the sandy beach and their path was adorned with sticks and twigs. Walking on the sand had proven to be difficult enough that trudging through mud was better. Mud was worse as a pony; it clung to your hooves and threatened never to let go, dragging you down into an empty abyss. Yet they kept going. The first time Isabel stopped to make a mark in a tree with her knife was difficult. Holding a knife with your mouth gave you pretty poor dexterity and made it difficult to cut through the thick bark. Her first mark was barely a scratch and her second wasn't much better. Both were recognisably unnatural but neither were what she was really looking for. “How long do you think it’ll be?” Emma asked idly, “I wouldn’t have expected us to find nothing for this long.” “I don’t know,” Isabel eyed the setting sun, “but I think we need to stop and make camp for the night.” Nodded agreement came from the others. All of them were terribly tired. It was an ideal spot with a small river nearby to refill their bottles. “Alright everyone!” Henry stepped up to lead once again, “We need three people on shelter, two people on firewood and someone on water.” There was a little chatter as people determined their roles. “I’ll do the shelter,” Henry volunteered himself, “and Oscar and Emma will help.” “Me and Phoebe will get firewood,” Isabel quickly volunteered, not wanting to leave her friend alone. “Works for me,” Aiden agreed, and the group quickly scattered. As luck would have it, wood seemed abundant. It hadn’t rained for a little while, despite the ominous mud, which made fire lighting easier. “We’re looking for thin, dry twigs,” Isabel explained, “dead stuff is usually quite good.” “Ok,” Phoebe wandered over to a bush, “like this one?” “That one’s wet,” Isabel explained, finding a dead tree of her own, “something more like this. I need a lot of little sticks to get the fire going.” “Lots of little sticks,” Phoebe repeated, “do you really think we’ll find anyone?” “I have to,” Isabel smiled, “we all have to. If we believe hard enough, we’ll make it come true.” “I suppose so,” Phoebe despondently replied, “I just. I’m worried about it all. Why did we come here? Why ponies of all creatures? And why us?” “I understand,” Isabel offered a little reassurance, “Once we’re a little safer, we can ask those questions.” “We’re about as safe as it’ll get,” Phoebe pessimistically replied, “I don’t know why but… I’m terrified of what’s out there. If you can be a winged horse who knows what else is out there.” “You’re right, it is scary,” Isabel admitted, “but let’s keep thinking of this like an adventure. We’re going to get home. I promise.” Phoebe nodded, “Yeah, just keep going.” “Come on, we have plenty of wood now,” Isabel pointed a wing, “let’s go back.” They had to stack wood and twigs on one another’s backs to get them back to the campsite but after a few trips they managed to transport all of it back to their firepit. Hauling over large stones with their teeth and cursing the horrid taste of sandy stone, they made a little circle for the future flames. Isabel got out her knife. It was something she was dreading. Sharp and deadly, knifework with her mouth would likely be impossible. Using her hooves seemed sensible enough, but if she wanted to do anything on the move, she’d need to learn how to put the wings to use. It seemed to be an insurmountable task. How could she manage to move a limb she didn’t even have, let alone use it effectively enough to do safe knife work. She had felt the muscles she needed. Wings had a kind of mobility she hardly thought possible. With intense concentration, she managed to get one of them to stay in front of her. Hardly much, but it was a start. Phoebe had gone to help Aiden but Isabel was determined to just hold the knife. Sunlight glinted crimson red across the westward horizon and the fire had yet to be started. Shakily and scarily, Isabel held the knife with a weak cradle. She could have done better, only managing to hold the blade by wrapping her wing around it, but it was progress. Tomorrow she could get it to work properly. Henry’s group had no better luck with the shelter. All of them knew how it needed to go together, two poles between the trees and another down the back. Nothing fancy but it would work. However, lacking hands, they were unable to perform even the simplest of lifting and carrying. Not of anything heavier than a basketball. They’d just have to hope it didn’t rain tonight. The only people with any success seemed to be Aiden. With Phoebe’s help, they’d managed to harvest six bottles of water. All of it would need purifying but they needed the fire for that. A fire Isabel was desperately trying to construct. Glinting off the fine blade, the light reminded her of how quickly any mistake could kill her but she was the only one who could do this. No one else could even attempt to hold a knife without sticking it half heartedly into their mouths. She was a bit stronger with the knife in her wing as well and once she got used to it she would be able to cut proper marks into the trees that they passed. That'd help a lot. Eventually, she managed to create her fire. Luckily one of the others had the foresight to pack some matches. Instant fire was indispensable. For a while she struggled to maintain the flames with her new body but got used to it surprisingly quickly. A lot of things came surprisingly quickly if she put in enough effort. As soon as the fire was up, Emma chanced distracting her. “Hey Izzy,” She jumped up behind her, startling the pegasus, “I have wings and you have wings…” “Yes,” Isabel laughed, “we can have a go at gliding. No flying though. Even if we could get off the ground we'd burn through about a bajillion calories.” “I found this perfect spot,” Emma rushed down the beach, “there's this rock and it's got a great spot to jump from.” Standing resolute at the forefront of the beach was a sloped stone. Emma was right about one thing, it looked perfect for gliding practice. One side rose gently, which would make climbing it easy, while the other was steep, making it perfect to jump from. “What do you think?” Emma asked proudly. “It looks great, have you tried it yet?” “No I haven't,” Emma jumped up the boulder, “but watch me. I'm going to be a natural.” She jumped off the rock. It was a good thing that the ground was sand. “Okay, maybe not the first time,” she admitted, picking herself up from the beach. Laughing at her friend, Isabel watched her from the sidelines. “Oh yeah?” Emma challenged, “I wanna see you do any better.” Taking her up on the bet, Isabel scaled the rock. Another jump. Another fall. Another face full of dirt. Both of them were rubbish fliers. “This isn't over,” Emma chuckled, “I'm definitely going to figure out how to fly before you.” “Bring it on,” Isabel competitively argued. Equally as awful at soaring, the two pegasi practised into the night. Neither of them was about to let the other be the first to take to the air. They needed three things the first time they tried: wing position, confidence and momentum. Had Oscar been with them, he would undoubtedly have told them himself. He wasn't and so the pair had to figure it out for themselves. Confidently, Isabel raced up the rock and threw herself off the stone. By keeping her wings gently tilted, she managed to slow her fall. Soft and cool, the air passed over her feathers dancing through each of them before leaving forever. It was magical. “Yeah!” Isabel shouted, “I got it!” Emma was quick to mimic her results and landed unsteadily beside her. Without needing to speak, a wave of immeasurable pride passed between them. They'd done something impossible; they'd flown. Returning to camp in a wave of glory, they found the others asleep. “We've been gone that long?” Emma asked, “It felt like half an hour.” “I guess they've eaten,” Isabel took out a pair of granola bars and tossed one to her fellow pegasus, “eat one of those. Hopefully they're still good. We'll need to start foraging tomorrow if we don't want to starve.” “Yeah,” Emma looked frightened by the mention of starvation, “I forget that we're going to die here.” “Come on,” Isabel optimistically retorted, “we're not dead yet and there's plenty of chance of rescue.” “No one's going to rescue a bunch of unexplainable horses,” Emma replied. “Why not?” “Would you?” She asked, “I know you think we're in some magical fantasy wonderland but what if we're not. Then no rescue is coming. We're doomed.” “We're not doomed,” Isabel argued, “we can survive out here. Sure, it'll take a few rough nights while we figure this out but all of us are making it out alive.” “Thanks,” Emma gave a smile, “knowing you believe makes me feel a little better.” “Get some sleep,” Isabel plopped herself down on the grass beside their fire. In the absence of any shelter, hopes and prayers would be the only thing taking them through that night. Despair was beginning to set in. Isabel could only hide behind her mask of optimism so long. The group was on borrowed time and the universe was about to ask for it back. Tomorrow was going to be much harder.