//------------------------------// // Goddess Damn It, Girl... // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Literal thunder rocked the air as the speed of the boulder threw the wagon off-course. Flynn hissed into the effort he took to steady the veering craft. Inevitably—from Rainbow's and Ariel's evasive wing-flapping—the entire wagon took a sharp turn, sailing violently towards Alpha. "Steady it!" Logan shouted. "Steady it towards Curveside, dammit!" "We're... tr-trying...!" Ariel squeaked. "Deep brreaths!" Kepler shouted, flexing his wings to help evenly distribute his own weight atop the rocking craft. The hair blew at his shaggy neck hairs. "Deep brreaths and concentrrate, frriends!" "Easy... easy!" Rainbow Dash snarled, flapping her left feathers hard. After much effort, she and Ariel were finally able to angle the wagon evenly towards the bent horizon. "Level it out! Wildcard?!?" The Desperado in the back exhaled heavily, then gave a metal thumb's up as he regained forward thrust with his wings. "But now we're aimed towards Alpha!" Ariel exclaimed. "It's okay!" Rainbow panted, eyes darting about as she surveyed the increasingly chaotic situation. "We can pivot it! Just... just... g-give me a second to think—!" FWOOOOOOOOOOSH! Another boulder flew violently close. "That one nearly hit us!" Rarity yelped. "Cheese and crackers!" Flynn wheezed. "Are they getting closer?!" "The vines are compensating," Seraphimus droned. Her manacles rattled as she calmly eyed the waving forest beneath the rapidly gliding carriage. "They're using more and more stalks to get better shots at the craft." "But friggin' how?!?" Rainbow Dash barked. "Since when could these stupid things pull a collaborative chess game on our flanks?!" "It doesn't matter." Seraphimus' eyes narrowed. "Fact is—the rocks are sailing closer. In a matter of time, we'll be struck. The wagon will be dashed to pieces and half of us will fall to a gory death." "I'm not on board the whole 'falling-to-a-gory-death' part!" Ariel exclaimed. "Girl, you've got wings," Logan grunted. "At this rate I'll have half of one!" Ariel shrieked, struggling to keep the vessel gliding forward with her feathers stretched out. "Rrrrrrrrngh!" "Okay... okay!" Rainbow Dash wheezed. "Everypony calm down!" She looked towards the front of the vessel, squinting into the whipping winds. "Do you see the edge of the forest?!?" Flynn's mechanical eye whirred in place. "I believe so...!" "How long until we've passed over it?" "It'd be a lot better if we were still facing Curveside!" Flynn shouted. "There's less of it than there is towards Alpha!" "Then we gotta swing this dayum thing back towards the right!" Logan hollered. "P.D.Q! Pussies Don't Quit!" "Negative," Seraphimus grunted, struggling to stay upright across the rattling wagon. "Altering our trajectory will only slow the wagon's descent even further. We'll never make it to the forest's edge." "Oh horse hockey!" Rainbow spat. "You're just trying to put a damper in this like always—" "She's not wrong, Rainbow!" Flynn's voice cracked. "Buh?" "We lost a lot of air with those last few dodges!" Flynn exclaimed. "I'm afraid the murder chicken's right! If we mess with the current trajectory too much—" "Well we can't just give in to the plunge!" Logan snarled. "Not after all we've been through!" "Actually, you can and you should," Seraphimus said. "Huh?!" Her charcoal eyes focused on the next boulder being prepped below. "If we struggle to re-orient the craft, we'll only be smashed to bits by the projectiles and lose all on board. However... if we accept the situation and allow the vessel to descend into the stalks—the wagon will be consumed while those of us with wings can still make a flying leap for the outer edge of the forest." "Yeah?!" Logan frowned. "And what about those of us who can't fly?!" Seraphimus merely shrugged. "May Verlaxion have mercy on your blighted souls." "I don't like the sound of that," Pinkie mewled. "And not just because it's unsexy!" "Sera..." Rainbow gnashed her teeth. "If for one second you think I'm gonna sacrifice the lives of my friends just so a few of us can make it free—" "I do not see how you have a choice," Seraphimus said. "Sugarcube!" Applejack's voice warbled through the turbulent air. "You'd better pay attention to—" Wildcard whistled shrilly. "Incoming!" Rarity shrieked. Rainbow's ears already whistled with the next incoming projectile. "Quick! Quick!" Rainbow flapped her left wing in desperation. "We gotta dodge!" "Dodge where?!" Ariel's voice cracked. "Starrboarrd side!" Kepler hollered. "It's flying towarrds ourr rright side—!" No sooner could the Wyvern finish when— CLANK! The next tossed boulder clipped the right side of the craft. Miraculously, the wagon remained in one piece. Not so miraculously, however— "Aaaaaaaaaaaaauughhh!" Ariel was jolted savagely. With a burst of air, the pegasus was knocked cleanly off the craft. She could be seen plunging like a gray brick towards the ravenous stalks below. "Oh no!" Fluttershy shrieked. "Ariel!" Flynn hollered, horn strobing. "Ariel's in danger!" Logan spat: "What, again?!?"