//------------------------------// // The Adventure Begins (Rainbow Dash) // Story: Dungeons & Ponies // by Cheesy Arachnid //------------------------------// I stared at Twilight, my ears pressed flat to my head, as silence reigned throughout the small clearing. Almost everypony else was still in a bit of shock from realizing that none of us had fore-hooves anymore, and that we were all wearing strange, heavy sets of armor. Except for me. I wasn't in shock. Or even scared. Not ooooone bit. Nope, not me. Rarity, on the other hand, had attempted to faint, but was unable to whisk her fainting couch to her; seeing as it was kinda in anohter dimension. Instead she managed to catch herself with magic, moments before landing on the filthy ground. She was now wallowing in self-pity, while Fluttershy could be heard eeping every time she looked at her new hands. Yea... hands. That's what they're called, I think to myself, feeling slightly silly that I could have forgotten something like that. But of course I would never let anypony know I forgot what hands were called. It would tarnish my image forever! I would be the laughing stock of all Equestria! "If we are even still in Equestria..." I grumble quietly. My ears perked back up when I remembered that we had an all-knowing... well... almost all-knowing purple alicorn princess that I could ask what happened. If she was really all-knowing, we wouldn't be here in the first place. "Twilight?" I asked. No one payed me any attention. Which was good for once, since my voice was high pitched and husky at the same time; as if I was a bit scared. But of course, since I am the most awesomest Pegasus to ever live, I can't possibly be scared. "Dash... your trembling really bad," Cloud Kicker sniped, turning towards me with a half-smile on her lips. Oh horseapples. My ears laid back down on my head and I narrowed my eyes at the offending half-pony, as I tried to control my body, which was indeed shaking uncontrollably. I must have thought that out loud. Alright, what's the best way to play this off... I've got it!! "Obviously," I said drolly, "I'm shivering because of all this cold metal on my fur." Cloud Kicker's only response was to roll her eyes. After delivering my comeback, I gave a smirk as a means of claiming victory in this round of verbal jousting. Having smashed Cloud in that battle, I turned my attention back to Twilight. "As I was saying, where the hay are we Twilight?" Twilight looked as if she were twitching while curled up in a ball, and could be faintly heard muttering to herself about being a failure and Princess Celestia. Whatever the case, she was definitely the most shaken up about this little mishap. To be fair, it was her new spell that took us here. "Uh, Twilight?" Applejack asked as she moved to console our friend. "I know you're a bit shook up, just like all of us, but if you could tell us what the hay is goin' on, we would all think very highly of ya." "I...I don't know what went wrong. This shouldn't have happened. The spell was just supposed to show us a new world, not take us to a new world," the alicorn princess raved before taking a deep breath and calming down. "The fact of the matter is, girls, that we are here, in a strange new land with strange new bodies. So, until we can figure out what went wrong, we should try to find a town or village to stay in for a while." "Rainbow Dash," she continued, looking at me. "Can you fly up to see where the closest town is?" "I mean, sure," I responded. "What's wrong Dash? You usually jump at any opportunity ta show off your flyin' skills." "Well, I mean... this armor is really heavy," I said, looking away. "If the armor is too heavy for you, I wouldn't mind looking around," Cloud Kicker offered innocently behind me. "What?!" I exclaimed as I spun around to face my recently vanquished adversary. "I said that its really heavy, not too heavy! Maybe you should clean your ears out when this is all over, Cloud." And with that, I was off into the air, looking for a settlement nearby. Gah! That mare really knows how to grind my gears. Well that didn't take long. Just on the other side of a large clump of trees, and not too far from the clearing we appeared in, was a town about the size of Ponyville. After paying careful attention as to the town's exact location, I turned to go tell the others back at the clearing. While flying, I had a chance to take in the awesome sights of a vast forest ending in a mountain range on three sides. It seemed to keep going past the town, and on into the horizon. Nearing the clearing, I spotted a brown, longish creature moving towards where my friends had huddled up together near the edge of the woods. "Twilight darling, I think we would all greatly appreciate it if you could do something about that dreadful creature," I faintly heard Rarity mention over the snarls and growls of a very large and very angry cat. "M-my magic doesn't seem to be working," she responded, sounding distressed. "Can't you just calm it down Fluttershy?" "Eep! N-No! I'm afraid he's m-m-much too scary!" "Don't you live with a bear?!" Cloud Kicker sounded a bit incredulous at hearing this. The large cat in question continued to prowl forward, its haunches low, waiting for the right moment to strike. Too bad I wasn't going to give him that moment! I did a large upwards loop, gaining speed as I dove down towards the ferocious cat, flipping over to land on him feet first in order to deliver a massive blow. Just as I was a few dozen feet off the ground, Fluttershy screamed "DON'T HURT HIM!" Diving feet first, it was impossible for me to change directions, and since I wouldn't be able to live with the guilt of hurting this animal right in front of 'Shy, I started to flap my wings as fast and as hard as I could. All my effort was for nothing, since I still smacked into the cat, and pushed off him to get back into the air. As I pushed off, I watched in horror as the cat turned around and leaped up at me. I was already flapping as fast as I could, but with all this armor, it wasn't enough, and I watched as the cat rose, higher and higher, until its snarling jaws latched onto my ankle and tore me from the sky with a scream.