[A/N] Sorry for the long wait. I've been procasterbating and/or sick for a while, but here it is. Also, I feed on comments- so if you read this, leave a comment. Even if it's just a :D, or a :(. It's better to know how it's going even if it's a miniscule comment, and then I don't feel like I'm writing to room full of crickets. I've had my say- now read. [/A/N]
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Twilight walked in silence, her purple orb floating beside her. It emitted a constant glow and warmth that was opposites with the walls that surrounded them, their grey forms soundless and uncaring of their journey. The torches in this corridor had gone out, it seemed, so Twilight had been forced to keep up her light spell. It required little effort, but it was just another distraction on the pile. Twilight was really trying to formulate a plan to deal with the situation, but her light, hunger, and Rainbow Dash all contributed their bit to keep her unfocused.
In fact, Rainbow was really starting to get on Twilight’s nerves.
“Rainbow, do you have to keep flying all around of me? Why can’t you just fly at an even pace? Or walk with me?” she finally snapped, bringing Rainbow to a halt.
“Ugh… look, Twilight. I am so freakin’ bored. There’s nothing to do in here besides look at the walls or you. I can’t fly up and look around because of this stupid roof,” she pointed out, indicating the ceiling above her, “and it’s pretty much impossible for me to fly that slow. I can’t help it, Twi.”
Twilight rolled her eyes with a sigh, realizing it was impossible to deal with this speedster of a pegasus in a claustrophobic state. However, her sighs contradicted what she felt inside; she was highly motivated to get out of this tunnel and into the jungle, or wherever it led, just so she wouldn’t have to keep hearing the buzz of Rainbow’s wings shoot past her.
Her train of thought went to more desperate measures, such as putting Rainbow in a sort of stasis and floating the mare above her. However, she soon realized she could create a sort of bubble around her ears, creating a soundproof barrier. It’s the perfect plan, she thought. Now, I’ve just got to think of the rest of it.
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She couldn’t take it anymore. She had to do something, or she would explode. Doing laps to get her energy out was doing nothing for her, and she had been turned on mute by that purple unicorn, who seemed to be bopping along to some song in her head.
Rainbow landed impatiently on the ground, wings folding to her sides. She stood in front of the unicorn, who was busy jazzily trotting along, her orb swaying in time with her bobbing mane. Her eyes were closed and a small smile was glued to her face.
She bumped right into Rainbow, her eyes shooting open and their musical jaunt coming to an end. Her eyebrows creased in annoyance at the cyan pony blocking her way. She tried moving to the right, but Rainbow simply blocked her.
Finally, Twilight dissipated the bubble around her head, irate at the pony who wouldn’t budge in the claustrophobic space.
“What? What is it, Rainbow? I am trying to think of a plan to beat Discord and get back to Equestria,” the purple mare impatiently inquired.
“Well, that’s just fine and dandy Twilight, but I can’t take another second in this tunnel unless I’m shooting towards the end of it. Let me scout ahead,” Rainbow suggested, trying to make it sound more appealing to Twilight. “I could see where this tunnel ends, how far we’ve still got to go.”
“You just want to fly fast, don’t you Rainbow?”
Rainbow sighed, looking down.
“Yeah.”
Rainbow raised her head back at Twilight, who seemed to be weighing her options.
“As much as I’d like to stop hearing you buzz around, I can’t let you do it. You’d see basically nothing in the tunnel without my light, and if something happens to you up there I’d be too far back to ever help. “
“Twilight, you don’t get it! If I stay like this, I’m gonna explode! I gotta let these babies be free!” she begged, unfurling her wings. It was Twilight’s turn to sigh now, shaking her head softly.
“It’s too dangerous, Rainbow,” she implored.
“Danger is my middle name! There’s probably nothing up there anyways- I don’t remember Daring-Do being attacked by anything outta this cave, anyways,” Rainbow added. She started revving up her wings, but she could feel that magical tug on her tail again. She snorted, turning to face her captor.
“Just let me go, Twiligh-“
“Listen, Rainbow! Don’t go! We stick together, alright? If we don’t, we’re playing into Discord’s claws!” she explained. “You’re the element of Loyalty, for Celestia’s sake!”
Rainbow faltered. Her wings dropped to her sides reluctantly.
“Well, I…”
She paused. Twilight had a point, she guessed.
“Alright. Let’s just go,” she submitted, trudging to the edge of the circle of light provided by Twilight.
“Excellent!” clapped Twilight. She looked extremely pleased with herself.
This was gonna be a long tunnel.
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Twilight was extremely pleased with herself. She had defused a potentially friendship-ruining moment, and she had some time and quiet to think of a plan. She went over what she knew, or thought she knew;
Rainbow was Rainbow, there was no doubt about that. She was herself, of course, and she didn’t feel any of the effects that she had felt the first time Discord had appeared before them. Neither did Rainbow as far as she could tell. She knew that the gold from that pyramid had no elements, and she hypothesized that the rest of the world, made of the same white stuff she had seen when she awoke, was likely the same.
Wherever they were, in a dream or, as Rainbow had suggested, a book, it certainly wasn’t a place that followed the guidelines of reality. That boulder chase had gone down with chilling accuracy from the book, but it was simply impossible to be in a book. She went with a much easier solution- Discord was recreating it, using chaos magic, after reading the book. Eventually it would show through. She simply could not believe that Discord somehow had the power to put ponies into books.
One last thought flickered through her mind, struggling to catch up with the train of thought, which had already left the station. If they were in a book or a startling recreation of one, then at the end would be Ahuizotl. Then, they would have to act the part of Daring-Do, and-
“Twilight, look! The end of the tunnel!”
Twilight ended her mind’s little presentation and glanced up, searching for the light promised by her friend. And lo and behold, the light shineth!
“That’s great, Rainbow. It doesn’t look too far away-“
“Great!” interrupted Rainbow, speeding off farther into the tunnel.
“Wait, Rainbow!” called Twilight, waving a hoof. It was pointless, however- she was up to her top speed without falling in a few seconds, now just a rainbow speck in her vision. She sighed, quietly. Rainbow could really be a piece of work sometimes. What if there was something outside that tunnel? She didn’t remember anything from the book, but Discord didn’t necessarily play by the rules, did he?
She realized that the distance was an illusion- she was much farther away from the entrance than it looked. She supposed it was from the light being the only thing shining in the gloom of the tunnel, which was only briefly illuminated as Twilight passed by. Twilight wouldn’t be able to help Rainbow if she got in trouble, and if something from the tunnel came at her…
She started sprinting.
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Rainbow let a smile slip onto her face as she gained speed. She was flying though the air, faster than anything that could come at her. She cut through the air like a multi-colored knife, leaving stunned bricks in her wake.
Of course, Rainbow knew the bricks couldn’t be stunned, really, but they were the only audience she had.
Rainbow thought back to her mind’s strong memories, sifting through numerous parties and adventures to find Daring-Do’s second escapade. She remembered sitting in the library, right by the fire, book laid out in front of her as she struggled to stay awake. She hadn’t felt that need to go fast; Daring-Do provided enough excitement without having to break any bones. Although her back had been killing her, she recalled with a quick laugh.
More importantly, she extracted the memory of the book itself. Most of the words came back with ease, but some parts remained shaky. She flipped past the first hundred pages or so until she hit her mental target. In the tunnel, Daring-Do had walked a long way to get near the end. Then, she had to dodge all of those spears that came out of the walls.
Something buzzed Rainbow’s side. She looked back, only to see a part of her coat was missing. Her head swiveled to the walls around her, checking to see what the disturbance was.
A spear flew over her head, causing Rainbow to flinch and duck in surprise. Part of her mane went with the deadly weapon. Rainbow battened down the hatches and made herself as small a target as possible. All around her, spears, then arrows, then even what she guessed were poisonous darts shot around her. Some weren’t even close; some missed by inches or removed even more of her coat, mane or tail.
Finally, she seemed to be through the trap section of the corridor. She paused to take a breath, gently floating in the air and checking for wounds.
She recoiled a bit from the sight of her own blood- one of the arrows and nicked her knee, causing a small rivulet of blood to trickle. It wasn’t anything major, and it was something Twilight could probably handle.
Again, Rainbow stopped. She realized with a start that she had left Twilight behind in the tunnel after flying off to the light. She looked forwards, seeing that the outside world was close, maybe a half minute of flying if she went fast. She turned back to the dark tunnel, seeing nothing but darkness. The floor was conspicuously empty off all the arrows, spears and darts that had been thrown at her.
Where are all the fallen arrows? And darts? And where’s Twi’s light?
She waited another ten seconds, but her mind was made up. She flew towards where she had came, preparing for the worst.
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Twilight ran through the tunnel, deadly spears and poisonous darts bouncing harmlessly off her violet shield. Twilight thought and ran, which admittedly required skill as to not bump into something or pony while formulating a plan to defeat a chaotic creature that would gladly see her hit by one of the projectiles fired at her.
Hopefully, Discord had assumed they were smart enough to avoid that, but her opinion on Discord was slipping. The first time he’d come through town, he’d nearly destroyed their friendship and taken over. This time, though… he could’ve killed her, or Rainbow. That thought made her increase speed, shortening her shield size to reduce the energy she needed to keep it up.
Her frantic pace was tiring her out, however, and soon she was reduced to a jog. She tried to remember what that running book had told her the year before, on how to pace one’s self, but if Rainbow was in trouble she didn’t have time to pace herself. She tried to pick up speed, but collapsed into a panting mess on the floor of the passageway.
Twilight looked up to the sound of a fizzing shield. Her purple bubble of protection was fizzing out, her lack of energy making it impossible to keep it up. She shouldn’t have pushed herself so hard, she realized. Luckily she had stopped moving; it seemed the walls only had one shot at her. She allowed herself to rest, controlling her breathing and shutting her eyes.
So it was that she heard Rainbow, rather than saw her, come through the tunnel.
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Rainbow could feel tears at the edge of her vision, but she sped on. The cuts and nicks were more frequent, slowing her down as she tried to dodge the bolts shot at lethal speeds from the walls. She could sense her speed dropping, so she pushed herself. She thought she saw something purple ahead, but then it flickered and went out.
That was Twilight. And her shield just gave out.
Rainbow had never gone so fast without first diving as she did then. The arrows and spears were no match for her, left in the wake of her rainbow colored streak. Her vision narrowed to that section of the tunnel, where she could see a pony lying on the floor, barely moving.
Rainbow felt a sting in her side.
She crashed to the ground by the fallen pony and became still.
Silence once again filled the corridor, until a horrified shout echoed through the darkened space.
“Rainbow!”