//------------------------------// // 3. Reunions // Story: LOST Little Ponies: Pilot // by Perceptive Key //------------------------------// Chapter 3 Reunions The sun was slowly descending towards the horizon, the evening light casting elongated shadows and sparkling reflections along the water. Some small fires were now being constructed along the beach as ponies prepared themselves for the inevitable nightfall. Twilight wandered along the coast, passing those preoccupied with gathering wood. She wandered past Mend, who was busy wrapping a bandage around Lyra's foreleg. They were sitting next to a small fire that gave off an extra dose of light so that Mend could work. Twilight stopped by them and turned to face Lyra. "Thank you," she said to her, "for helping Spike." The mint-colored mare nodded at Twilight. "You're welcome. It was the least I could do." Mend finished by tying the gauze into a simple knot and checking to see if it was secure. Satisfied with his work, he looked up at Lyra, "You should be fine, now. There wasn't much blood, but I still didn't want to run the risk of even the smallest chance of infection. Especially here," he added. Lyra stood up on all fours and thanked Mend before silently wandering over to a small circle of ponies gathered around a fire. Twilight watched her take a seat between two ponies that she recognized as Bon Bon and Octavia. Twilight was constantly being surprised each time she came across a familiar face, though she only recognized Octavia from the orchestral records that she owned. She had no idea that so many ponies that she knew had been on the plane. Twilight turned the thought over in her mind for a few moments, but she stopped when she noticed Mend staring at her. "What?" she asked him. "You've been standing there for almost a minute," the grey pony said with a grin. "Either you're doing some serious thinking, or you're just trying to spend more time around me." Twilight blushed. "No! I was just thinking about how I recognize quite a few of the ponies that were on the plane." The blood retreated from her face as Mend gave her a 'kidding' look. "You're lucky," Mend commented, turning to survey each of the clusters of equines scattered about the beach, "seeing familiar faces. I don't know anyone, here." "You're the lucky one," Twilight replied insistently. "You won't have to worry if your friends survived, if they're in shock, or if they-" "Twilight!" she was cut off by the sudden elation of a certain butter-colored, pink-maned mare. Fluttershy quickly flew over and embraced her friend in a firm hug. "We were so worried about you, Twilight!" Twilight smiled through the affection, but she was suddenly struck by confusion. She felt that something was different about Fluttershy, but she just couldn't place it. If there even was anything. "I was worried about you girls, as well," she finally said. Twilight looked around for them, but the scattered firelight wasn't enough for her to make out her friends. "Where are they?" she asked. "Is Spike with them?" "They're all on the other side of the plane," Fluttershy indicated with her hoof. Twilight followed the direction she was pointing and spotted a fire glowing near the edge of the beach. The huddled forms of six ponies and a baby dragon sat around the flames. It took a couple more seconds, but Twilight eventually distinguished three of the gathered ponies to be fillies. "I'd better talk with them," Twilight said, turning back to Mend. Mend waved her off. "That's perfectly fine. I'll be right here if you need me," he said as he patted the sand beneath him, "attempting to get a tan." Twilight and Fluttershy both gave short, cough-like laughs at his joke. "Oh," Mend added, turning to Fluttershy, "I want to thank you, Miss Fluttershy, for your help with everypony." "Oh, it was nothing," she replied modestly. Twilight gave her friend a look of confusion, completely unaware of the nature of the exchange. "What did you help him with?" she asked quizzically. Mend spoke up before the pegasus, "Remember that extra nurse I told you about?" Twilight nodded, remembering. "Well, she's the one," he smiled, nodding at Fluttershy. Twilight was instantly surprised, shocked, and utterly bewildered. Fluttershy as a nurse?! "But... but you're only a veterinarian," Twilight stated, though part of her was unsure. "Don't you only go near sick ponies if it's absolutely necessary?" Fluttershy sheepishly rubbed her leg with a hoof. "It was sort of a... hobby. I would take medical classes at Ponyville General whenever I was between activities. I became a nurse almost six months ago," she informed. "Why didn't you tell us?" Twilight asked. "I wasn't sure how you would all react." Mend cleared his throat. "Very sorry if I sound rude, but could you please catch up with your friends. I'm starting to feel like a third wheel, now." Fluttershy smiled apologetically, but she did not hide behind her mane, "I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable." Mend chuckled, "It's not a problem. You two should go back to your friends." "You should come and meet them, yourself," Twilight beckoned. Fluttershy nodded vigorously, "Oh, yes! They'd love to meet you." Mend looked pensive as he turned the idea over in his mind. "I suppose I could join you all when I'm finished here." Fluttershy immediately lightened up and clapped her hooves together happily. "Oh, good!" she said. "They'll all be so happy." Twilight looked back over at her friends encircling the fire and turned back to Fluttershy. "Come on, Fluttershy. I'm sure that they're all missing both of us by now." "Oh," the pegasus turned, "you're right! Um, let's go! It was nice talking with you, Mend." Fluttershy hovered above the ground, gently fluttering her wings. She and Twilight began their walk down the beach, passing more ponies sitting around small fires. They passed by a stallion with a pitch black coat and silver mane sitting next to a fire. A mare with a mint-green coat, a similar shade to Lyra's, and a short, black and green-striped mane was next to him, lazily writing in the sand with her hooves. Twilight saw the message she was creating, which read: "What did I do to deserve this?" A stallion and a mare couple sat at another fire, off to the side. The stallion, a unicorn with a blue coat and black mane, looked to the mare beside him, also a unicorn, with a pink coat and silver mane, who was busy watching the fire. "Je serai toujours avec vous," he said to her in Prench. "Peu importe quoi. Il suffit de rester près de moi, et je te protégerai. Toujours," he lifted her chin with his hoof so they could look at each other.* The mare gave a weak smile in return. Twilight and Fluttershy continued to the spot where their friends were residing, all of them gathered around a small campfire. "Twilight!" The mare in question was abruptly embraced by a small purple and green dragon. "I missed you so much!" Spike exclaimed, clinging to Twilight's neck. Twilight recovered quickly and patted her tiny assistant on the back. "I missed you, too, Spike." She looked up from the hug and was greeted by the unforgettable faces of her friends. "I've missed you all," Twilight smiled at them. Applejack was sitting with Apple Bloom, Rarity was next to her own sister, Sweetie Belle, and Rainbow Dash was with Scootaloo. The three fillies were sleeping with their respective sisters, or honorary sister in Scootaloo's case. The dim firelight revealed that Applejack's injured leg was wrapped in a simple splint made from driftwood, stray branches, and clothes torn into thin strips that bound it to her leg. Rarity was looking down into the sand silently, wearing a distant, blank expression. Twilight noticed that Rainbow Dash had something on her back, but the pegasus turned and the object quickly disappeared from view. Twilight quickly realized that Pinkie Pie was absent from the circle, but remembered seeing the optimistic mare on the beach earlier. "How are you, Twi?" Applejack asked in a concerned tone. "I'm fine," she smiled at the orange farmpony. Twilight pried Spike off of her body and sat down between him and Rarity. "I'm so glad to see that you're all okay." "We were really worried," Applejack spoke. "I was sure you made it," Rainbow said, wearing her traditionally smug expression. Twilight gave her a sarcastic smile, "Of course you did, Rainbow." She turned to Applejack and examined her friend's wounded leg. "How's your leg?" Twilight asked her concernedly. "I'm fine, Twi," Applejack replied, "just a sprain, is all." Twilight blinked in surprise. "You mean, it's not broken?" "Not at all," Applejack smiled, "though it'll be a while before I can do anything much. Thanks for the help, though." "You're welcome." Twilight let out the mental breath she was holding, unaware that it had even been there in the first place. At least Applejack was in better condition than Twilight had originally feared. The mares all watched as the sun finally began to slip beneath the horizon, slowly giving way to the darkness of night. Twilight watched the stars begin to appear, dotting the night sky with bright, twinkling constellations, more than even she could count. "Hey, Twilight?" Rainbow Dash asked, cutting into the unicorn's pleasant thoughts. "Yes?" "What happened, exactly?" Twilight blinked. "To what?" she inquired. "The plane," Rainbow clarified. "What happened?" "Oh. Well," Twilight started. "Um, hang on." She looked around the ground and, fortunately, spotted a small piece of 't' shaped metal lying next to her. Twilight picked the scrap up in her hooves and held the visual aid aloft for her friends to see. "We must have been at least fifty-thousand feet up when it happened," Twilight started to explain to those who offered their attention. This included her friends, save Rarity, who was still staring at the sand, and Spike. "We must have hit an air pocket and dropped-" Twilight thought for a moment, "-maybe two hundred feet." She lowered the metal scrap quickly to emphasize the motion. "The turbulence was... terrible. I remembered the sensation of falling, but... I blacked out soon after," Twilight concluded. "I remember everything that happened," Rarity said forlornly. Everypony immediately looked over at their previously silent companion, still staring into the sand. "I didn't know when the back section was gone," she said with a near incoherent whisper, "but I never looked back to see." Twilight put a foreleg around Rarity to comfort her. "It's okay, Rarity," Twilight said softly, "you don't need to tell us." "We tumbled through the jungle," she continued, "but I don't know when we lost the front of the plane." Rarity started to tear up, and Twilight brought her in for a hug. "There, there, Rarity," she said soothingly, "It's okay. We're all here for you." "They're never going to come," Rarity cried into Twilight's coat. She adjusted her position carefully so as not to wake Sweetie Belle from her slumber. "They will come," Twilight said. "If not on their own, then I'll get them, myself." "Um, Twilight," Applejack said, "no offense, but how do ya reckon you'll do that?" "The transceiver," Twilight explained. "The what?" Rainbow asked, clueless. "The transceiver is a sort to radio that can broadcast great distances," Twilight elaborated. "It's usually kept in the cockpit of the plane. So, if I can reach the cockpit, then I can grab the transceiver and send out a distress call." "There's one problem, Twi," Applejack said, interrupting her, "do you even know where it is?" "I'll go into the jungle to look for it," Twilight replied. "I saw some smoke coming from the jungle," Rainbow Dash spoke up. "Really?!" Applejack said, surprised. "That's perfect!" Twilight exclaimed. "We can set out in the morning." A dozen feet away, Pinkie Pie sat with her back to her friends, watching the small fire before her dance and twirl. She wanted to go over to them, but she just couldn't. She heard them conversing excitedly, discussing who knew what. She didn't necessarily care at the moment. She didn't care. Pinkie suddenly felt that the power of that specific mindset: not caring. She usually cared about everything, but she didn't feel that need anymore. Pinkie checked her mane to see if it was deflating again, but found that it was as fluffy and bouncy as usual. She shook her head to clear her mind. She needed to be alone so she could sort out her thoughts. To Pinkie's left, two other ponies were sitting on a broken section of the wing, a mare and a stallion. Bray and Bronze Shield sat in front of their own small fire, leaving each other to their thoughts. Bray poked the fire with a piece of metal, while Bronze looked down into the sand, drawing the word "FATE" with his hoof. Bray sighed, "You'd think that they'd be here by now." Bronze Shield looked up and turned to her. "Who?" he asked curiously. "Anyone..." she replied quietly. CRREEEEEEEEHHHHHHHIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGG!!! Twilight and her friends whipped their heads up at the sudden eruption of noise. The sound had obtained a slight echo and the source appeared to have come from the jungle. The three sleeping fillies were instantly jolted awake from their rest. "What was that?" Fluttershy asked, slightly panicked. "I'm not sure-" Twilight responded. HHUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNN-CH-CH-CH-CH-CHIIIIINNNNNNNKKKKKKK Twilight got to her hooves quickly, and was followed by her friends, including Pinkie Pie. They weren't the only ones, though, as Bronze Shield and Bray turned at the second sound and followed suit. More ponies had heard the noises and were looking into the jungle, but the infinite blackness which accompanied nighttime made it impossible to distinguish anything but the tops of palm trees. CK-CRACK!!! SNAP!!! A couple trees toppled over not that far in, causing more ponies to go over and examine the occurrence. Cadence had been near the jungle and was cautiously moving forward. RRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNN More trees fell from their places and could be heard slamming into the ground. "Did anyone else see that?" Cadence asked. Spike stared into the tree line with an scared expression. "Yeah." SNAP!!! Another tree collapsed, startling the crowd. Twilight and her friends rushed up and stood next to Bronze Shield and Bray. Everypony listened for more signs of the strange sounds, but none came. The beach was silent once again, aside from the faint crackling of fires. "Brilliant," Bronze Shield grumbled.