Rainbow Dash had gotten so used to the sound of crashing waves that it was barely a catalyst for waking her. Nevertheless, with twitching ears, she stirred and shifted where she lay. The mare grumbled, her body curling and uncurling as she stretched her crackling muscles.
The whole world felt warm... a soothing kind of warm. Rainbow felt heat radiating off the sandy grit all around her. What's more—beyond the crashing surf—she heard the unmistakable sound of seagulls.
Her ruby eyes squinted open. The pegasus raised her head, squinting into the distance.
A curved beach stretched on either side of her. Gentle waves lapped up and down the surface, having been dragged down after the receding tide. Rainbow saw crabs and sandpipers scurrying in and out of hiding. Just a few meters away, blades of grass formed—dense and green and alive. Behind them, a throng of palm trees stretched, growing thicker and thicker to where they occupied the heart of a thoroughly forested island.
The mare blinked. Her face muscles twitched, feeling sand and gunk clinging to her fuzzy coat. She reached a hoof up and rubbed her muzzle, then rubbed it again. Rainbow's nostrils flared, and she tilted her head up, squinting into the distance.
A tiny white speck hovered beyond the trees and through them. Yaerfaerda shimmered as persistently as ever, casting a white light that shone through the sunny morning sky.
And that was when the voice kissed the air behind Rainbow Dash.
“Oh good. You're awake. Whew... thank Celestia.”
Rainbow Dash slowly turned around. Then—not so slowly—her eyes went wide.
She wasn't gazing at the former location of the ill-fated machine tower. She wasn't staring at the flock of birds wafting innocently through the sky. She wasn't even admiring how curiously vibrant and bright the Grand Choke's ocean inexplicably appeared on such a crystal-clear morning.
Rainbow was, instead, staring at the unicorn standing beside her in the shade of a spread palm tree.
“Maybe you can clue me in on all this.” The pony pressed her lavender hoof to the threaded bark, only for the limb to pass straight through the matter altogether. She pulled her hoof out and leaned back, a confused look plastered across her scrunched face. “I don't seem to be my normal self.” She turned and trotted briskly across the sand, though her hooves didn't make a single imprint. “How'd we even get here, anyways? Did Discord teleport us or something? Unngh... and here I thought his silly games would be over with once we found the Elements he'd hidden.” She came to a stop, blinking down at Rainbow with bright violet eyes. “I don't suppose you know where the girls are, huh?”
Rainbow simply gawked, breathless.
“What's wrong? Is everything okay?” Twilight Sparkle leaned her head innocently to the side. After a breath of silence, she arched an eyebrow. “Yeesh, Rainbow, you don't look so good.”