//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Stranded // by EternalShadow54 //------------------------------// Stranded, Ch.1- Twilight awoke to the feel of mushy, wet sand under her body and opened her eyes, only to be blinded by the blazing hot sun beating down upon her face. She got on her hoofs and looked all around her. 'Where am I?' she thought to herself. It did not take long for the memories of yesterday to start flooding back. She suddenly cried out. "Applejack! Rainbow Dash! Scootaloo! Anypony!" She received no answer. "Oh no, oh no, oh no, this is not good. I know! I will start a fire to signal my friends." She observed her surroundings and began building a woodpile with all the twigs she could find along the sandy coast... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Owwww... my head" the rainbow colored pegasus said, "What happened?" "The boat sank you silly-filly, don’t you remember?" asked the energetic pink earth pony struggling to push herself out of the sand. "Oh yea..." Rainbow dash sat up rubbing her head, looking around to observe her surroundings. "Where are we anyway?" "On an island, duh" Pinkie sarcastically stated, exhausted from just trying to sit up. Rainbow Dash quickly realized that it was only her and Pinkie, and panicked. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!" she gasped. "Where are the others?" she said, her eyes darting back and forth. "Don't worry your pretty little head about them Dashie, I'm sure we will find them." stated the weary looking party pony who seemed to be beaming with a sense of happiness, yet was showing signs of major exhaustion. "Yea... I guess you're right. I just wish I was able to fly up and look around." said the flight restricted cyan pegasus as she slowly started to pace the beach. *Sniff* *Sniff* "Is that smoke?" asked Rainbow Dash as she looked eastward towards the bellowing black smoke rising through the air... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Get up Sweetie Bell." urged the orange, purple maned pegasus. "Come on, get up." The white filly unicorn slowly opened her eyes to see the faces of her two well known friends. "Scootaloo... Apple Bloom... what’s going on?" asked the young filly. "The ship sank." stated a low, soft voice from behind. It was Fluttershy. The pink maned mare had a slight hint of fear in her voice. "Where are we?" she asked looking around the beach. "If I had to guess, we are on an island, and from what Pinkie told us before we crashed, somewhere in the mysterious Buckmuda Triangle." implied Scootaloo. "Dose that explain why I can't fly?" inquired Fluttershy. "If Pinkie Pie was telling us the truth in her stories yesterday, then yes. It's also why Twilight couldn’t use her magic as soon as the ship sprung a leak." "And also why I can't hardly move." said the frustrated earth filly as she struggled to raise up. "Well... first things first, lets go find our friends before we do anything else. They could not have washed up to far." Fluttershy said. "Must not of. Take a look see over there." pointed Apple Bloom towards a large cloud of black smoke... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Applejack arose with a smashing headache. She immediately fell back, unable to hold herself up. "Wh-why does mah whole body feel like a lead brick?" she asked. "Oh my darling, are you alright?" asked Rarity, "Please tell me you're O.K." *Couch* "Yea..." *Cough* *Cough* "Ah'm alright. Just tired is all. How 'bout you?" "Oh I'm quite alright, thank you for asking." "What in tha hay happened?" asked the work mare. "Oh it was just awful. After the boat sank you were unable to hold yourself above the water. I carried you all the way to this island. I just woke up a while ago myself." Applejack stopped her. "Wait a sec, the boat sank?" "You don't remember?" "Ah remember my face planting into the boat deck, if that's what yer implying." "Oh yea..." Rarity looked away, "sorry I forgot." "It's O.K. Right now, let's go and find our friends. I think I see smoke over there." said Applejack as she stood wobble-legged, looking at the pillar of black smoke arising from the east. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Oh, I hope they all see my signal." said Twilight as she was blowing on the rather large fire. "Who would of thought there would be so much firewood on a beach?" "TWILIGHT!" yelled the party pony as she jumped on Twilight. "Wow am I happy to see you." "You and me both." stated the cyan pegasus following. "What’s with the fire?" "To signal the others, of course." stated Pinkie Pie "Don’t you know anything silly head?" "Well it certainly worked." said Scootaloo from some bushes. "Guys, over here! I found them!" "Good job Scootaloo." said Fluttershy. "Yes, yes Scootaloo, Good job indeed. If it was not for your constant yelling, me and Applejack might not have found our way out of that wretched jungle." said the purple maned pony carrying the exhausted orange work mare through the edge of the jungle. Twilight was first to speak, "Wow, that was fast. Anyway, now that we are all here, we have a few issues we need to discuss. First off, who here knows where we are?" "Oooh, oooh," Pinkie was jumping up and down with her hand raised, "I know, I know! We are on... AN ISLAND!" Twilight looked at Pinkie disheartedly. "I know that..." "Then why did you ask, silly?" "I know where we are." said Scootaloo. "We are in the Buckmuda Triangle, where pegasi lose their ability to fly, unicorns lose their magic, and earth ponies lose their strength." "How do you know?" "Pinkie told us yesterday in her story about this place, remember?" "I'm sorry, it's all kind of a blur to me now. Anyway, what are we going to do? I've read plenty of survival books, but I never thought it would pertain to me." "I suggest we choose a leader." implied Rainbow Dash. "Great idea!" said Twilight, "Who did you have in mind?" "Why, me of course." Everypony got real quiet, real fast. "Uhhh... sugarcube, ah think Twilight should lead." said Applejack. "Yea... me too." whispered Fluttershy. Everypony else was shaking heads in agreement. "Then it's settled, I will be leader!" Twilight proclaimed. "But-but... it was my idea..." Rainbow Dash glanced down to the ground. "It's alright sugarcube, we appreciate the idea, but ah think Twilight could handle the position a tad bit better." said Applejack as she pat Rainbow Dash on the back. "Fine." grumped Rainbow Dash as she listened to Twilight give out daily jobs for the group to accomplish...