The dark skies glared over the small town of Ponyville. The only noise to be heard was the gentle breeze of wind passing along the ground. All its inhabitants are sleeping in their hard-earned utopia. What many failed to realise, is that it wasn’t easily earned. Many a pony bled for their country’s well-being and has been forgotten for reasons locked behind golden doors. A large majority of the ponies knew nothing of violence, whilst others have no idea of the extent of it.
Anyhow, in a small cottage to the outside of the calm town, a terrified butter coloured pony stood shaking. Was it the cold? No, it was far worse. An eye-melting aura glowed upon this pony – a pegasus to be exact. If one was to say she was frightened, it would be the biggest understatement of the millennia. It was certain she pissed herself several times as a small puddle was beginning to form and the glow was firing a peculiar beam every once in a while.
“Fluttershy!” a raspy voice blew. The owner of this voice was plummeting to save her friend against this monstrosity. Caught off guard, the glow broke into two, only to reform itself before engulfing two helpless ponies.
## ”Who knew that the earth revolved around the sun?” “Who knew that the universe cared for nothing?” ##
Along the shores of a seemingly tropical island, there lay two unconscious pegasi, a blue one with a rainbow mane, and a yellow one with a light pink mane. The sea breeze blew over the two mares, covering them with grains of sand. It was almost an hour before the yellow mare began to stir. She lifted a hoof to her forehead in attempt to quell the burning headache. She turned her head to her blue friend who was still lying there unconscious.
“Rainbow Dash, are you awake?” she asked with her quiet, gentle voice as she prodded the mare in question. Slowly, she began to move as well, bringing both her hooves to her head.
“Ugh… I’ve felt worse…” Rainbow Dash – the blue mare – stated. She couldn’t deny her head was pounding like hell, but after all the crashes she has taken over the years; it didn’t affect her too badly. Fluttershy, on the other hand, seemed to conjure a head injury. Blood slowly trickled down her head, but it wasn’t more than a small scratch she probably got from a small rock on her fall. “You okay Fluttershy?” she finally asked as the yellow mare turned.
“Hmm? Oh yeah, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” she replied quietly. Rainbow Dash simply rolled her eyes, knowing how selfless her friend was. Rainbow wiped the blood away and inspected the 'wound’. It looked more than a small cut; it appeared to be more of an imbedded rock. It would take a long time to get it out without tools nearby. Perhaps they should look at their new surroundings. It was alien. They haven’t seen anything like it before. Wherever it was, it seemed relatively calm. Rainbow pivoted her head to look behind to gaze upon a terrifying jungle. Her experiences with jungles have not been pleasant, as timberwolves, manticores and other baddies like to make it their home. Didn’t matter, they had wings; they could easily fly over the island. As she was about to spread her wings, a sharp pain pierced through her spine and she fell screaming, Fluttershy quickly running to her aid. “Oh no, what happened?” Fluttershy rapidly asked, gently massaging the crippled wing.
“Think I sprained my wing… Ah!” her wing started to jerk uncontrollably, not a very good sign for flight in a short period. After a few minutes of Fluttershy calming the tortured blue mare, the spasm seized. The damp eyes of the mare starting to calm as things became quiet once more. “Where are we?” the mare asked between sharp breaths.
“I… I don’t know? I was kinda hoping you would?” Fluttershy replied, her hoof drawing circles in the sand.
“Looks like some sort of ocean. Don’t remember one being anywhere near Ponyville.” she said. Fluttershy instantly started to cry, knowing she was in the middle of nowhere, beached in a place nowhere near her home. Rainbow reached out a hoof to comfort her friend. They sat at the beach for long hours before the sun began to set. “It’s too late to go out venturing in the forest; we’re going to have to make a small camp in a bush or tree.” Rainbow explained, trotting and looking around for a decent spot. Finally, she settled on a small cave covered by trees and bushes, barely noticeable by eye, so they should be safe. “Over here Fluttershy!” she signalled, waving her hoof for her friend to get over there. Cautiously, they jumped in and found enough twigs nearby to start a small fire. It wasn’t going to be a nice sleep, but at least it wouldn’t be too dangerous.
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Sunlight seeped through the leaves onto the ponies. Rainbow was already awake, making her belly a resting place for Fluttershy’s head. It wasn’t comfortable for her, but it helped her friend, for that she would be happy. A small, quiet yawn escaped from Fluttershy’s lips. It made Rainbow’s heart flutter a bit, one day she would tell Fluttershy how she feels, though it could probably wait until after the whole jungle affair is sorted out.
“Hey Flutters, wake up.” Rainbow whispered, prodding her friend. Slowly, Fluttershy opened her eyes and stretched her appendages.
“Morning Dash…” she replied, half awake. The realisation that they were stranded at an unknown place once struck fear into her, causing her to scream.
“Shh… Shh… It’s okay Fluttershy; it’s early morning so we have plenty of time to find help.” Rainbow explained, calming her manic pal. “Your wings are still good, right?” Rainbow asked, pointing a hoof to the wings in question.
“Uh, I think so.” Fluttershy replied, stretching her wings to full length. She slowly lifted herself off of the ground and to the outside of the cave. “Um, do you need help?” she asked, hiding her head behind her mane. Rainbow spotted some vines hanging off, fairly easy to climb.
“I think I’ve found my way out.” she responded. Walking backwards, she prepared herself to get enough force to pull herself up quickly. The silence of the cave was broken by the sharp hoofsteps of the athletic mare. Her hooves quickly caught the top of the vines, and managed to pull herself out with ease. If she was correct, there would not have to be much more of this, but in the meantime, she would have to play along. “Is that black smoke over there? That usually means life, right?” she stated, pointing her hoof in said direction. Fluttershy simply nodded; obviously not eager to check yet she knew it was the only way. “I’d say it’s about 300 metres away, you up for a walk?” Rainbow asked, stretching her hooves.
“Okay…” Fluttershy responded. Fear was evident in her voice, the knowledge of delving deeper into the mass of trees and vegetation was not pleasant. Who knows what could be in there, especially in an unknown place. The pair started to walk cautiously and quietly, not hoping to run into anything. About 50m from their starting destination, they heard a loud roar come from behind them. Fluttershy instantly found cover behind some trees and bushes, whereas Rainbow was looking to find the source of the noise. Too loud to be her stomach, although, they would need to find food very soon. Back on track, she scanned the area before fixing her eyes on a large ball of fur running towards them.
“RUUN!!!” Rainbow screamed to Fluttershy, also starting to run. Her plan was to reach the smoke stack as fast as possible, as they could probably help with the bear problem. What she didn’t expect, was a large group of hairless, clothed ape things jump at her, catching her in a net. “Get off me!” she shouted at her capturers. Resistance was futile, she couldn’t escape the large net, and it only gave her more pain. Sound crackling booms could be heard from next to her. When she turned around, there was a dead bear, bleeding its head off. Its brains were seen on the floor in a messy pile, before exploding under the impact of the fallen bear. She couldn’t process this fast enough, making her puke everywhere.
“Eww gross!” exclaimed a stallion’s voice. Well, it sounded like one to Rainbow Dash. She turned her gaze to one of the ape-thingies and stared at it in wide eyes. Did it just speak? Before she could ask anything, she was being dragged to a large metal thing with four wheels. A roaring noise came from it, and smoke started to blow out of a metal pipe at the end of it. Rainbow was thrown right onto a flat surface of the machine, showing her distress by trying to escape. It was still no use. The things started to climb onto the machine, one by one. Whatever they were, they were advanced. The object that killed the bear was frightening to even a holder of harmony. “Go. ARE YOU DEAF? I SAID GO!” a thing shouted. She wasn’t hearing things earlier, these things can speak. The machine started moving at a fast speed, it was like a carriage, except it was automatic. After a few minutes, a thing came up to her, and asked: “Did you speak earlier; you look like a very pretty pony. Make a nice rug for the boss.” Rainbow Dash was positively scared. It wasn’t just the stallion-thing, but the thought that Fluttershy is out in the wild, with no pony to help her. “Don’t look so sad, it will all be over soon. First, we’ll take you to the boss, and then he’ll slice you open like a pig. Your wings also look like a good decorative item.” it said, stroking her mane. She simply glared at him.
“Why are you doing this?” she scowled. The thing instantly stepped back, before bursting into laughter.
“Hey, hey guys! This pretty rug talks!” it roared. It had an accent like she had never heard before. Before she could respond, they all started to laugh.
“Yeah right, what you smoking right now?” another thing said.
“I ain’t smoking shit dude! This is 100% legit!”
“I bet! Come on then, talk pretty pony thing!” the other thing shouted, still laughing. Perhaps Rainbow could play it dumb and not talk, or perhaps she could scare them. Yeah right, she has no chance the way they are talking to her.
“Let me go!” Rainbow cried. This was probably the end of her life.
“Hey! Stop the car, I see another winged horse! It’s yellow, GRAB ANOTHER NET!” it shouted, grabbing a net that was thrown at him. “GO GO GO GO!” it said once more. The things filed out of the car, all except one, who was looking down at her.
“Aww, are you crying? Don’t worry, we’ve found your friend.” it said almost as if it was nothing. It was everything to Rainbow Dash. Her friend would become a rug to these monsters too.
“OH SHIT A TIGER!” a voice screamed in the distance, followed by more booming noises.
“WE GOT HER LET’S GO QUICKLY!” another screamed. From Rainbow’s limited perspective, she could just about see Fluttershy cooped up in a net, blatantly crying.
“FLUTTERSHY!!!” Rainbow screamed to her friend. At least they would be together. No point telling her about her feelings now though, either it would make them die in regret or die in embarrassment. She wouldn’t risk a bad death for her friend; they would need to make a good escape soon. Well, she would have plenty of time from being knocked out by a large yellow ball hitting her in the face.
## “I’m not insane, you’re all insane, and I am normal…” ##