Thunder could be heard far in the distance, along with some silent chirps from a few birds that decided it would be a good place to make a nest in some ruins. Rainbow Dash slowly woke up, still alive, though her wing still felt too injured to move. She lifted herself up as her lower half was in water, looking around in a panic as she saw the ruins of what looked like an old civilization that drowned in a massive flood.

"Hello!? Anypony out there!?" Rainbow shouted, earning a thunderclap as a response in the distance. "Rarity!? Somepony!"

There didn't seem to be any form of life other than the few avians in the area and possibly dozens of aquatic life in the water. Since she was unable to fly, Rainbow Dash had to swim across the water, passing by crumbled pillars and eroded buildings. Far in the distance of the dim environment, she spotted a temple, where she figured somepony had to have lived there, unless of course she wound up in ruins.

Climbing out of the water and onto dry land, the pegasus shivered, fearing she might end up freezing to death with how long she must have been in the water for while unconscious. Rainbow walked up the steps and out to a stone walkway, which didn't seem safe to walk on as a connective bridge. It was the only way to reach the temple without flying, so she had no choice but to be careful as she walked.

Unfortunately, as her luck would have it, she made it halfway across and stopped to hear some bubbles popping up from the water below her. Then, the bridge finally gave out under her weight as she fell in, surfacing to the top as she grumbled in frustration.

"Are you kidding me!?" Slapping the water, she sighed. "Better find another way in."

While swimming around to find a lower entrance inside, seeing as that bridge was the only way to reach the temple, Rainbow Dash was oblivious to know she was being hunted by something in the water. She soon felt something was wrong and grew cautious. Suddenly, leaping out of the water and over her head were three monstrous fish, nothing she had ever seen in Zanarkand or even heard of ever existing. Since they weren't exactly friendly, she dove into the water and swam around to face them.

Rainbow pulled out the sword given to her by Rarity, leering at the aquatic monstrosities, battle ready. They attacked her first, only to miss with her incredible flexibility under the water. Swimming into them at blinding speed, she slashed through the first one on the left, killing it instantly, then the one on the right. Now it was one on one, the pegasus smirking at the easy victory she would take. While staring down the last monster, the water shook as she heard something coming from one of the underwater caverns nearby.

Her jaw dropped as she stared at what looked like one of the most deadliest of fish she had ever seen. It had glowing antennae on its head, it's large rib cage was actually visible with no skin covering it, and it was a mix between an amphibian and a bloated shark. Even the smaller monster seemed terrified of it as it fled, making it roar as its opened maw lunged right for it. Rainbow swam out of the way, getting her bearings after flipping several times from the powerful torrent its fins let out, watching it chomp on the small fish and toss its body aside.

Knowing it was either kill or be killed, Rainbow held her sword tightly in her mouth as she swam at it as it turned around to face her. She slashed at its rib cage, but the sword just bounced off its bones, doing barely anything to it. The creature punched the pegasus hard, sending her flying back a bit as it injured her more than ever. There was no possible way she could kill this thing on her own, a losing battle before it even started.

It roared and began to chase after her, leaving the mare no choice but to swim away. There was no way out for her to escape, all of the pool she was trapped in blocked off by crumbled ruins, the ground the temple rested on, or nothingness back the way Rainbow woke up from. As it lunged for her, she managed to dodge out of the way in time, making it slam hard into the wall of the submerged temple. It was not happy, shaking off the impact like it was nothing.

Rainbow Dash swiftly swam to the surface, desperately trying to find a way out. "Oh man! Not good! Gotta get out of here!"

She soon saw an entrance that lead into the temple, big enough for her to enter and too small for the carnivorous beast to squeeze through. Rainbow swam as her life depended on it, the monster faster than she thought it would have been as she made a break for the safe zone. It began to suck the pegasus into its mouth, the vortex it made making it harder for her to escape. She was so close, the monster's maw ready to chomp down on her in one gulp, but by pure luck, she managed to make it through, sent spiraling across the water as the fish monster roared, losing its non-aquatic meal.

Its impact into the temple caused the entire structure to shake, Rainbow hurtling past the entrance right as large stone blocks of debris fell and blocked the path. She caught her breath, the air around her freezing as she could see her breath, but began to laugh as if the monster was able to hear her mocking him.

"Take that you giant fish...thing! You ain't gonna be eating any of this! Ha ha ha!" Her triumph quickly went as it came as she shivered, getting out of the cold water and carefully made her way up through the broken stairway into the main room of the temple. It was obvious there was no sign of life anywhere, the roof leaking with dripping water, the pillars and walls of the temple looked eroded from long exposure to the moist air, and frigid air that could match a climate of a frozen tundra. "I-I...am...f-freezing...N-Need a fire...r-r-real bad..."

As lightning struck, giving the temple some illumination, Rainbow Dash spotted a campfire in the middle of the room, the wood still dry and able to be burned. Having been to camp before as a filly, all she needed was some tinder, along with something to start the fire, then she'll have a warm fire to curl up to. But, since she had no idea where she was, she hoped there was still something intact to help her survive. She searched in a nearby room that seemed nearly destroyed, finding some flint rocks in an open drawer, still in good condition and untouched by the elements.

With her "lighter" kept safe in her pockets, she searched around some more, hoping to find something to burn that wasn't soaked in rain or ocean water. Many of the rooms downstairs were blocked off or locked tightly, so she decided to see if she would find any luck up the stairway. As she walked up the stairs, she saw some bouquets resting in vases, but they were all overwatered, withered up and dead. She did manage to find a dried up bouquet further up, perfect to start burning the bigger logs in the campsite. Taking them in her mouth, she cringed at the horrible taste, their dry stems practically absorbing all her saliva even though they were already dead.

Being careful her tinder didn't get too wet from the random waterfalls of rainwater flowing from the cracked roof, she placed the bouquet down, spreading it out along the wood evenly to help set them on fire. Taking the flint out of her pockets, she began to smack them together, making them spark as she prayed for the embers to light the withered flowers. She finally got the fire started, watching the flames rise up as she was met with warmth.

"Thank goodness. Sweet, sweet fire." Rainbow sighed, sitting down and warming her hooves. It was still pretty cold, but there was enough warmth to keep her from freezing to death. Her stomach began to rumble, nearly echoing in the empty temple as she fell on her side, staring at the fire. "I'm so hungry...Should have kept one of those flowers, even if they tasted like cardboard..."

She began to close her eyes, hoping some sleep will distract her hunger, bathed in the warm glow of the fire.

In Rainbow Dash's home, the pegasus sulked as she watched the recording of her latest game. Rarity soon walked in, catching the pegasus's attention.

"The hay do you want, Rarity?" she questioned.

"That was a really horrible play out there." Rarity made herself at home as she watched the game, seeing Rainbow Dash constantly shooting and missing several times. "The whole team lost because of your stubborn attitude."

"It was not my fault!" Rainbow shouted, looking away from the older mare.

Rarity looked over at the nearby shelf, seeing a picture of a grumpy filly Rainbow Dash with her mother and father, Rainbow's mom a pink pegasus with a blue mane that was just as wild as hers. "...It's been ten years, you know." The pegasus gave Rarity a dirty look, making the unicorn chuckle. "I thought you would have been crying."

"Yeah right," Rainbow said, watching Rarity stand up and head for the kitchen.

While she wasn't looking, the same boy Rainbow had seen in Zanarkand ran in and looked at her, lights floating around him. "You cried," he said, surprising the pegasus with his sudden appearance.

As Rainbow Dash's limbs twitched in her sleep, something up above in the rafters watched her, waiting for the right moment to strike. It climbed up on one of the statues along the balcony, revealing itself from the dim floor. It had sharp claws on its blade-like legs, a long and thin tail protruding out its back, its tiny eyes staring at its meal.

The pegasus snorted awake after being surprised by seeing that hooded boy appear out of nowhere, curling herself up to keep warm. Her ears perked up, realizing there was less warmth from the fire as it was close to burning out.

"No no no! Please don't go out on me!" she pleaded, watching as the embers began to shrink. "Ok, ok. Just stay lit while I find some more wood!" She was about to run off to see if there was any dry wood or furniture she could use to keep the fire going, only to stop as the lightning flashed, revealing a shadow that was moving from above. Rainbow turned around, spotting the creature eyeing her, its mouth salivating and its eyes glowing. "Oh come on..."

The monster began running around on the balcony to try and confuse the pegasus, who quickly pulled out her sword as she prepared to defend herself. It leapt off the second floor and slammed its feet on the remains of the campfire, snuffing out Rainbow's only source of heat. It lunged for her, slashing its claws at Rainbow, only for her to block the incoming attack and slash it away from her. She was already badly hurt from getting struck by a piece of the coliseum, getting sucked into a giant monster called Sin, punched in the chest by a giant fish monster that wanted to eat her, and nearly freezing to death.

The two went back and forth, slicing, dodging, and blocking, Rainbow managing to get a few hits off the beast, but she was running out of energy. It was looking bad for her, until a loud explosion alerted the two of them nearby, one of the doors that led inside the temple blown off by explosives. Ponies began to run in, all of them wearing skin tight outfits, hiding most of their features, including their tails. They even wore goggles or masks, concealing their faces. They got into formation, many of them holding out rifles, aiming them at the monster, while one of them stood in between them, putting on a glove with small claws on them, almost like a feline's. Rainbow could make out that pony's coat to be pink from what she could see from their face, and their hair was really poofy, almost like cotton candy, though it was a slightly darker pink.

The center pony walked forward, or in this case, bounced forward, past the exhausted pegasus and taunting the monster. "Wait, so you're with me? Thanks."

Rainbow was about to attack, but the pony shoved its hind hoof into her chest, knocking her down. The jumpsuit wearing pony turned her head then shook it, telling her not to do anything. Facing back to the monster as they pulled out a grenade from their pocket. Tossing it up and down to tease the beast with its eventual demise. Taking the bait, it lunged at the pony, only for them to pull the pin, shoving the grenade in its mouth as it flipped over it, swiping something off of it as it blew up in its maw, screeching in agony as its primary target was the one who shoved that explosive bomb in its jaws.

Furious, it charged at the pony, throwing another grenade at it, making it explode in the monster's face again. Completely stunned, the pony slashed its clawed hoof repeatedly in the face, leaving comical scratch marks behind. They pulled out the last of the grenades they had, bounced off the monster's back, unpinned the grenades and rolled them underneath it. They pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them over her their goggles, slowly walking away as the grenades went off, killing the monster, white lights floating out of the disappearing body.

"...Wow...That was...over the top, dude." The pony approached Rainbow Dash, discarding the shades. She prepared herself to fight in case her savior wanted to double-cross her. They soon began to pull of their goggles, revealing the pony's eyes. To her shock, Rainbow was looking at a pair of blue eyes, from a mare. "...You're a mare...That's kinda cool, too. Though, I could have handled that thing. I was just not feeling well, is all."

While distracted by bragging, the other ponies surrounded the pegasus, holding their rifles up at her. She dared not move, otherwise they would end her life in an instant.

"Fryd ec drec?" one of them said in a language Rainbow couldn't understand.

"Y fiend! Eh buho teckieca!" the one standing behind the pegasus said, holding a knife up to her neck.

"Whoa whoa, hey! Easy! I'm not your enemy!" she pleaded.

"Fa gemm ed?" the one behind her asked.

"Fyed!" the mare quickly said. "Fryd ev ed ec buho?"

"Drao yna dra cysa eh taydr," the same stallion said, pointing the knife at the young mare.

"E vunpet ed! Fa pnehk ed fedr ic." The stallions lowered their weapons, though kept Rainbow Dash from escaping.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. I got nothing on me you can steal. I swear," Rainbow said as she watched the young mare bounce up to her.

She leaned in close to the pegasus, the blitzball player frozen solid, unsure what was happening. "Cunno," her savior said, suddenly thrusting her hoof hard in Rainbow's chest, knocking the wind out of her. She felt her vision fade as she struggled to breath, falling to the cold, hard ground. The last thing she saw before blacking out was her "heroes" dragging her out of the temple to who knows where. Next Chapter: Chapter 3: Forced Labor Estimated time remaining: 12 Hours, 45 Minutes