"Mrmmmf!" Rainbow Dash grunted as she hammered and hammered a nail into the side of a tree.
"Not too deep, Rainbow!" Twilight insisted. "You want to get at the sap! Not pierce the tree straight through!"
"Sorry..." Rainbow shuddered, her breath producing visible vapors in the afternoon air. "I'm a tad bit lacking in 'Treeology.'" Clearing her throat, she turned around. "Okay, Sweetie Belle. Hoof me the—" She blinked. She tilted her head down.
The petite Snow Blood stared back up at her.
Rainbow Dash pointed at the supplies in his pale grasp. "I need that... twisty turny thingy..."
"'Spigot,'" Pinkie corrected. "It's called the spigot."
"How in the heck am I going to translate that?" Rainbow grunted.
"It's the thought that counts! Heehee!"
"Ugh... here..." Rainbow simply reached in and snatched the tool in question. "Now... Are. You. Watching?" She pointed at the stallion's eyes, and then at the spigot.
The stallion blinked wide, then nodded vehemently. "Haat. Haat, haam frahn."
"Good." Rainbow looked at Twilight for approval as she stuck the spigot into the hole she had made. "Stick. It. Into. The. Hole. You. Made." She placed the bucket beneath it. "Put. This. Below. Like so..." Licking her lips, she turned the nozzle... then smiled as a dribble of tree sap slowly poured out. "Then. Twist. Until. It. Pours. And. Collect. The. Sap."
"I do believe he gets it from the display, Rainbow," Rarity droned. "No need for the forced dialogue."
"Well, you can never be sure what will or won't get through to the dude," Rainbow said. "He is Sweetie Belle after all."
"Mrmfffffff..." Rarity growled inwardly as she folded her forelimbs.
Pinkie giggled.
"Heem saavana brehm." The stallion gestured to the spigot and the bucket below. He turned the nozzle, squeezing more sap out in a liberal stream. "Heem kemkavas, haam frahn?"
Fluttershy smiled. "I do believe he's done this before."
"Good! Good. Job." Rainbow Dash nodded at him with a bright expression. She pointed at four more buckets and spigots stacked up atop one another. "Do. The. Same." She pointed at the nearest group of pine trees. "With. All. Of. These." She nodded heavily. "Can you do that?"
"Ehhh... haat!" The stallion nodded, pointing at the buckets, then the trees. "Haat, haam frahn. Veemdeel kremma saamdaas!" He nodded again, then forced a wink. "'Schweetie Bellaad.'"
"Ehhhhhhhhhhh..." Rainbow's eyes twitched. "... ... ...good enough!" She scampered off through the powdery snow. "You get that sap, okay? We'll work on the uproot!"
The stallion merely nodded and trotted to the next tree with a hammer and nail.
"Capital plan, Rainbow, dear," Rarity said. "But while we have the stallion procuring the sap, exactly how do we plan on finding some stoneroot atop this mountain?"
"Uhhhh..." Rainbow panted while running in her wintry gear. "...simple! We just look for the spots where there's still soil!"
"And how exactly do you plan to do that?!" Rarity gestured wildly. "There's nothing but snow!"
"Pffft. Please, Rarity." Rainbow smirked as she ran past a final layer of pine trees. "It's not all snow—" Just as she was saying this, she ran into a veritable wall of light. "Aaaaaugh!" She skidded to a stop, covering her squinting eyes with a forelimb from the sheer sheen of the setting sun against a blinding white plateau of snow. "Cheese and crackers! Way to play dirty, ya stinkin' mountain!"
"Yes, Rainbow," Twilight grumbled. "Reflected light can hurt." She arched an eyebrow. "Haven't you encountered this before?"
"Pfft! Totally! Only... most of my flight into Emeraldine was done at night or underground..." Rainbow winced, squinting past the glistening array. "...and I was too busy battling zombie pegasi in Stratopolis to sight-see the icebergs below."
"Well, this presents a problem," Rarity said. "If one wants to find stoneroot, one has to see. There won't be much of a better opportunity once the sun's down."
"I could use my pendant at night," Rainbow wheezed.
Twilight flung a hoof. "Against an entire plateau?"
"Grrrrrrrrr..." Rainbow shaded her eyes with a hoof, stumbling forward. "Friggin' A... y'know, if the Desperadoes really loved me, they would have hoofed me Wildcard's goggles for the dang trip to Wyvern Point! Luna Poop..."
"Let us be your eyes, Dashie!" Pinkie said.
"Huh?"
"We're ghosts, right?" Pinkie grinned. "We haven't got eyes that need protecting anymore!"
"Erm..." Twilight fidgeted. "...that has yet to be objectively proven, Pinkie."
"Pffft! Oh please!" Pinkie waved a hoof. "There's nothing real that can touch us! So how can light hurt? Face it! We were made to help Rainbow with this! Especially me! Why... days got so boring back at the rock farm that sometimes I'd just sit on the porch staring into the sun for hours! And I turned out alright!" She looked to her left. "So just what does this 'stoneroot' look like, Fluttershy?"
"It's me." Rarity pointed at herself. "Rarity."
Pinkie looked to her right. "So what does the stoneroot look like?"
"Uhm..." Fluttershy drew a figure eight in the air with her fetlocks. "It's dark brown with glittery white specks... and it usually splits just to come back together. Like a chain."
"Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie pointed forward. "Get to marching, Dashie!" She dove into the snowy earth like a professional diver. "Pinkie's peepers and the rest of us girls will find this stuff amidst all the snow and not-snow!"
"Uhm... alright..." Rainbow fumbled a bit, then drifted into the brightness. "You... you sure that you've got this?"
"Totally!" Pinkie stuck her phasing head out just long enough to grin at her. "Easy as pie!"
Pinkie gasped, her ears and facial features sagging. "This is the most rottenest pie I've ever swum in!"
"Just keep looking!" Twilight Sparkled huffed. She dove in and out of the snow, her body phasing in little lavender bursts of light. "Any luck, Fluttershy?"
"No!" Fluttershy stammered, "swimming" through the plateau several meters away. "Not a single thread! I swear—the hillsides of Equestria were covered in stoneroot!"
"Well, that's our problem right there!" Rarity emerged from a set of frosted boulders. "Not every land is Equestria!"
"But this spot of Rohbredden matches the east end of the Canterlot Mountains almost perfectly!" Twilight sputtered. "The climate! The flora! The fauna!"
"Girls, hate to break it to you," Rainbow Dash exhaled with a shudder. Her eyelids fluttered. "...but I can totally see now." She gulped. "And what I see is a whole lot of darkness."
"Ohhhhhhhhhh..." Pinkie pouted, staring at the blackening sky. "We'll never find the stuff that stallion needs at this rate!"
"I'm not sure he can make it to morning!" Fluttershy exclaimed.
"Well... erm..." Rarity pointed towards the pine trees. "At least our Snow Blood friend will have gotten lots and lots of sap by now! That's a good thing, yes?"
"Sure, if we want to glue his insides together!" Twilight snapped. "Without the stoneroot, Rarity, there's no point in even attempting a brew!"
"Quick, Dashie!" Pinkie's forelimbs flailed. "Grab a rock and throw it at the sun! Maybe it'll get Celestia to pause the afternoon! Hurry!"
"Dang it, Pinkie, that's not going to work!" Rainbow growled.
"Oh. You're right." Pinkie slapped her own forehead. "Luna controls the Sun now. Well, let's throw a rock against the waning moon and hope for a longer tomorrow!"
"Just... everypony stop searching and... and come on! Let's huddle."
The four marefriends closed in tight around Rainbow.
"'Kay..." Rainbow took a deep breath. "If we can't find stoneroot... then maybe our biggest mistake is not stopping to think like stoneroot."
Rarity arched an eyebrow. "I beg your pardon?"
"What's the use in looking all willy-nilly for something that... like... probably has its own way of growing, y'know?" Rainbow turned towards Twilight. "Save us, egghead. What makes stoneroot tick?"
"Well..." Twilight cleared her throat. "Technically, it's not even the part of a typical plant at all. It's more like a weed... and it requires the roots of another species of flora to spread."
"Like what species?"
Twilight gnashed her teeth. The unicorn's ears drooped guiltily.
"Eughhhh..." Rainbow Dash face-hoofed. "...Celestia, what I wouldn't give for Applejack's ghostly green hoof right about now."
"Whelp..." Pinkie shrugged. "...maybe you could lickety-split gallop to Verlaxion's Throne, free her from the Yiffy-Light, then hop all the way back here to cure Scootaloo." She gulped. "Erm... if you feel that it's all worth it."
"Of course this dude's life is worth it!" Rainbow barked. "We're here, aren't we?! We've got the knowledge! Now we just need the last ingredient to rescue him from drowning in mucus!"
"One must admit, Rainbow," Rarity said. "It... would take something of a miracle at this point."
Rainbow spun, blinking. "Huh?"
"It was... pretty fortuitous that we showed up when these ponies needed help," Twilight interjected. "But... you have so few resources on your person as it is... and you're already in a race against time to be somewhere."
Rainbow squinted. "Are you suggesting that we ditch these Snow Bloods, Twi?"
Twilight sighed. "No, Rainbow. I'm just saying that... that you can't fix every single thing." A gulp. "As much as you want to... and as much as we want you to."
Rainbow stared at her. She turned to look at the cottage situated atop the plateau.
The last rays of sunlight dissipated, capping off the summits of the mountains north and south. In the ensuing darkness, sparks of flame emanated from the chimney, illuminating the rising smoke with a dim amber hue.
The wind blew over Rainbow in a frigid gust. Despite the urge to shiver, she remained steadfast against the blackening day.
"Fluttershy..."
"Hmmm?" The pegasus looked up. "Yes, Rainbow?"
"You said that you had to give Angel shots for the mountain wasp sting, right?"
"That's correct."
"...did you get him innoculated overnight?"
"Well, no." Fluttershy shook her head. "I had to stave off his fever with a remedy much like what you're looking for now."
"And just how long did it take you to find the stoneroot?"
"Uhm... just a few hours."
"Just a few hours?!" Rarity glanced over. "However did you manage?"
"Well, it certainly wasn't snowing," Fluttershy said. "Plus, there's a bunch of stoneroot growing in the Everfree Forest."
"Did you find that on your own?" Rainbow asked.
"No. My animal friends helped m—" Fluttershy's eyes widened in mid-speech. She blinked at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow leaned forward. "Were any of those animal friends... carnivores?"
"No..." Fluttershy's ears twitched as she smiled. "No, they weren't!"
With a smirk, Rainbow turned-tail and galloped towards the stone fences of the farm.
"Hurry, Rainbow!" Twilight insisted, flying after her. "We haven't much time!"
"Weeeeee!" Pinkie flew along with the rest. "I've no idea what's going on, but I'm glad that everypony's cheery about it! Woohooo!"
Minutes later...
"Hyaaa! Hyaaaa!" Rainbow Dash shoved a herd of woolie rams into the snowfield. She slapped their hairy flanks, forcing their grazing bodies forward as the stars broke out above. "That's right! Late night snack time! Dig up all that scrumptious grass so we can see it! Hyaaa!"
"A little less of the hyaa's, Rainbow," Fluttershy insisted. "They're already digging up plants from beneath the snow. No need to pressure them."
"She's right!" Pinkie pointed at the cloven hooves of the rams as they poked and prodded at the snow. "They totally are!" She grinned as several sets of teeth yanked the grass up by their roots. "It's like you set off a Scootaloo-saving buffet of awesomeness!"
"We only get to call it that if it works," Rainbow huffed, pushing the rams so that they were more evenly spread apart. "Now keep your eyes peeled, girls!" She lifted her Element so that the lightning bolt was exposed above her coat's collar. With a vigorous rub, she shone a beam of ruby light across the plateau. "As soon as you see some dark, spotted root—give a holler!"
"Way ahead of you, darling," Rarity said, aiming a glowing horn at the faces of the rams and goats.
"Yeesh." Rainbow winced. "Don't shine it in their eyes, Rarity."
The unicorn hummed without looking up. "I think only we and you can see such a light, Rainbow."
"Oh..." Rainbow blinked. "... ... ...huh."
"Oooh! Oooh!" Pinkie pointed. "I think this one's got some root—no, wait... it's a horseshoe." At a loud crunching sound, the earthy pony winced. "Never mind."
"Everypony, please be patient," Fluttershy said. "My creature friends back in Equestria were on a personal speaking basis with me." She gestured. "I doubt this herd of adorable farm animals is especially trained in pulling up stoneroot. So it will likely take most of the night before we discover any—"
"Found some!" Twilight shouted.
"... ... ..." Fluttershy fidgeted. "Then again..."
Rainbow spun about. "You absolutely sure about that, egghead?"
Twilight pointed with a frown. "Come and see for yourself, stubblehead."
Fwooosh! Rainbow streaked over. Sure enough, a relatively large ram was pulling up a strip of grass in its dirty teeth—and attached to it was a noticeably thicker loop of white-spotted vine.
"That's it!" Fluttershy gasped. "Three loops of it! That should be enough for a brew!"
"Awesome sauce!" Rainbow reached in. "Okay, buddy, time to hoof it over—"
WHUD! The ram replied with an instinctual headbutt.
"Ooof!" Rainbow fell into a powdery snowbank.
"Oh!" Rarity gasped. "How rude!"
"Quick!" Pinkie pointed. "Quick! He's gonna totally scarf it down!"
"Not on my watch!" Growling, Rainbow pounced on the ram. "C'mere, ya melon fudge!" She grunted and wrestled with the strip of vegetation caught in its molars. "Rrrrgh! Cough it up! Come on! The Power of Grinder compels you! Graaukkkt!" At last, she tore the grass loose and cradled the precious stoneroot in her trembling forelimbs. "Whew..."
"Sooooo... this 'Grinder'..." Rarity leaned in. "Friend of yours?"
"Nah... but a friend to Belle." Rainbow gulped. "Goddess rest his butt." She stuffed the root into her bag. "Okay then. Now to find Sweetie—" She spun around...
...and found the stallion standing with several buckets full of sticky sap. He gaped at all of the loosened livestock. "Gehm sehm haajaak?!"
"Er... yeah... sorry..." Rainbow Dash patted the bulging root in her saddlebag. "But I kinda had too."
"Hrmmmf..." The stallion sighed, then nodded towards the cottage. "Baasaavo laamadreenseel..."
"Not so fast." Rainbow looked over her shoulder. "Twi? Flutters? Are we missing anything?"
"Uhm..." Twilight rubbed her forelimbs together. "Hot water could technically work... but..."
"Warm milk would be much... much better," Fluttershy said.
"And we do want to save this poor Scoo—stallion's life," Rarity said, shifting awkwardly.
"Think you can charade 'milk,' Dashie?" Pinkie suggested.
Rainbow stared at the stallion.
The stallion stared back.
"We. Need. Milk." Rainbow mouthed the word. "MILK. Y'know..." She motioned "drinking from a jug" followed by "cow horns" against her head. "Mooo. Milk. That... uh..."
The stallion simply squinted quizzically.
"... ... ..." Rainbow rolled her eyes. At last, she stood up on her hind legs and pointed at two fixed spots right above her crotch. "The stuff that comes out of here."
He blinked one last time, then opened his muzzle wide. "Haat. Sehm var!" He grabbed a spare bucket then marched over to one of the rams.
Rainbow and her friends watched in dead silence. Pinkie leaned over, "He's... uh... gonna pick one of the woolies without horns, right?"
The stallion parked a bucket beneath a creature, knelt low, and began rubbing his hooves together beneath it. The creature let loose a disgruntled sound or two, but was content to stand in place, munching on an exposed strip of grass. Soon enough, the sound of dribbling liquid echoed inside the bucket.
Pinkie winced. "Yeesh! Super cold!"
Rainbow gulped. "Must come out like a pressure hose."
A few minutes later, the stallion stood up, balancing a sloshing bucket in his grasp. "Sehm var!" He smiled. "Moooh milek!"
Rainbow smiled. "Heyyyyyyyy... way to go, Sweetie Belle!" She took the bucket from him. "Goat whisperer of the hour!"
"Rainbow..." Rarity grumbled into her hoof. "I swear to Celestia..."
"Save it." Rainbow galloped towards the cottage, motioning for the stallion to follow. "Time to move mountains."
This was... a series of chapters.
Those are some very interesting rams they grow in Rohrbedden if they give milk...
Once again, working together, those ponies can accomplish just about anything.
...
...I've got nothing.
I've honestly got to wonder what was processing in his head at that point.
6941480
Yeaaaah...I've got to wonder about that just a little bit...
Ramalamadingdong.?
Ew, Ewwww, thats a Ewe You Moo.
At least I seriously hope so.
Now back to the regular unschelduled stomach upset which is why Im up this late.
Wonder what the natural equivalent of a corticosteriodal anti inflammatory is. I might be in trouble when I take it, but the stuff works in not that many seconds.
...are we sure he got milk from a ram and not..the other stuff?
Wouldn't a Ewe make a better sub for a cow?
Also, Dash do you not still have the goggles Scoots gave you before you left Ponyville?
I recall you wearing them in the choke to shield your eyes from the sand.
-Companions have returned, inner darkness spurned. Utaan.
Snowblind - Black Sabbath
Ah, a classic fetch quest.
Short's humor has never failed to make me laugh.
0___0
I wouldn't be surprised if this was some kind of mating ritual for Snow Bloods.
Wow, Grinder was way long ago, like what, 1,000+ chapters ago? Totally forgot about him until now.
And now Dash is officially a flasher.
Yes Pinkie, you are totally fine and not mildly crazy at all, and also blind.
Well, that was the most blunt way possible to get the point across.
...At least I think it did anyway...
6941480
6941501 Yeah, I was questioning that too... and then I remember that this place is basically Austraeoh's closest take on Skyrim, sooo... He used a shout, maybe? That, or Skirts needs more sleep.
Alchemy increased to 27
What happened to the goggles Scootaloo made? they had some form of light filtering.
A fetch quest involving roots?
Just don't pick the Crimson ones.
6941480
Video game logic.
You said it, Sweetie Belle. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
I'm actually pretty impressed the ram had a thicker skull than Dash.
Well, this was a series of events.
I really hope the liquid in the bucket is milk and not... the greatest gift a ram can give a doe. I guess both would technically work, but milk would be ideal.
6941617
Ponies Rarely wear clothes
I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but what about Scootaloo's goggles? Didn't she give some to Rainbow Dash when she left Ponyville all that time ago? Did she lose them at some point?
Charades and Rainbow Dash does not mix too well o_O
6941948
I also imagine its rare for them to rear up on two legs and flash their crotch at other ponies, but hey, maybe its a time honored Equestrian tradition?
Let us hope it's a swiftly acting antidote. Most don't work when taken in so shortly before expiring.
6941993 If there aren't any nudity taboos in Equestria, then there's probably nothing particularly embarrassing about what Dash just did, even if it's not common. One would have to be unembarrassed about genitals to be unembarrassed about nudity, after all.
derpicdn.net/img/2015/11/30/1033692/medium.jpg
...I'm pretty sure Dash nicknamed the sick one Apple Bloom...
6942061
My theory has usually been that the lack of a nudity taboo among ponies is largely been because they are four-legged creatures whose junk is usually hidden by their hind legs and tails. That or that the show is a cartoon where genitals aren't ever drawn. Either way I still am going to make fun of Dash for flashing this poor, impressionable young stallion.
... Kinky.
6942145 I'm pretty sure this is a mistake on Skirts part...
Reason is leading me to believe that this old guy is gonna have some cryptic words to say to Dashie.
Milk is not mandatory, after all. Whatever they got from that ram will work.
Also, male goats can produce milk, so maybe rams too. It's the kind of useless fact I learn sometimes. This one was in 2013, when Pokemon X/Y was released, and male Gogoat could use the move Milk Drink.
6942070 Apple Bloom is the mare next to the bed.
6942172 And Swan Song is a dumbass.
6941602
Yup, he was a resident of Blue Shelf in the first half of Eljunbyro. He helped Belle and Pilate break Rainbow out of her artificial coma, but he was shot by Shell just after they freed her (and before she actually woke up).
6941983
Ask fact checker. This series is so long I've forgotten most of the details.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Gotmilk.png
6941983
6941658
6941564 I left a comment on Austreoh Fact Checker's page. Hopefully they'll respond soon.
I'm pretty sure a few types of sheep/goats have females that are also horned.
6942362 I could swear she lost them in the sea, before reaching the first
baconbeacon.Now that's an idea. Rainbow chasing after the mystic bacon of mysterious mysteries.
6941983
6941658
6942539
tl; dr Yes, she still has the goggles
http://www.fimfiction.net/user/Austraeoh%20Fact%20Checker#comment/2131917
Now you've got her doing it too!
lh3.googleusercontent.com/-GDTq9JHM35w/VsNGqQcWjBI/AAAAAAAAIxU/mwAIXRIe2o4/s450-Ic42/n0VvpCM.png
6941617
You mean to say that her fur coat wasn't so large that it could adequately cover her li'l (bipedal) form?
Meh. At least the gesture isn't construed as some form of insult or invitation in these reaches.
This is starting to get ridiculous....
That's was an... interesting interaction between sweetie and rainbow
Doctor Dashie is in the house!
heh, crotch boobs.
That almost got really, really awkward. Good thing "Sweetie Belle" can understand gestures and such.
6941564 if I recall correctly, they have only a light tint, not the Riddick-lenses that Wildcard has.
6941591 very relevant.
6945973 Oh god, I didn't even think, that could have been so bad XD