Sunset had arrived, and Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy hadn’t left the room since. But now would be the perfect time to. Fluttershy was asleep, most likely resting because she hadn’t fully recovered yet. Rainbow Dash felt like she needed to wake her up to get moving. There was no telling what would happen if they stayed any longer.
There was just one problem. They had to get their bags back, especially the map. So she let Fluttershy sleep for now while she went to retrieve them.
Rainbow Dash slowly opened the door leading out of the guest’s room, the creaking noise creating anxiety to her mind. When it was opened enough, she slipped through, looking across both sides of the hallway. One side held another door while the other held a set of stairs going down.
Obviously the stairs is where she wanted to go. The door probably led to that meat eating pony’s room. She still couldn’t believe the concept of that.
Instead of treading down the stairs, she flew down them, staying as close to the ceiling as possible, for she noticed a flickering light downstairs.
“...That pony is still awake?” Rainbow whispered to herself. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.
Twisting herself upside down, Rainbow Dash stuck her hooves on the ceiling, keeping her wings flapping so that she would stick against it. She crawled herself to the lower floor, revealing the kitchen and the living room to her sights.
At the front door, she could see her and Fluttershy’s bags still there where they left them. But a few steps ahead of that, on the left center of the living room, was Anch, sitting by a fireplace and roasting what appeared to be an anchovy on a stick.
Rainbow Dash crept across the ceiling, keeping an eye on Anch as she passed by. It was difficult to do when Anch took the stick to her mouth and sunk her teeth deep within the scales of that fish. The sound of the greasy contents being squeezed into that pony’s mouth brought a horrifying image to Rainbow Dash’s mind. If she had to describe it, the only way she’d be able to was to say that a pony was eating their own kind, like a zombie.
Rainbow Dash shook her head. She had to focus. She had seen other creatures eating meat before, especially Fluttershy’s animals. She just had to think like that. Think like an animal, and that sight wouldn’t seem so bad.
She took another look at Anch, listening to the crunching sounds of the roasted fish being eaten. Now it was no more to her than a giant cat eating a fish. This thought relaxed her mind.
Rainbow was now above the front door, the bags in sight. Anch was still sitting at the fireplace, apparently humming to herself as she was eating the fish.
But then she began to talk. “Boy, howdy… It’s been a while since Ah changed the old fish diet. Got awful taste.” Rainbow Dash didn’t want to think about what she was talking about. She continued descending until she was within reach of the bags, carefully slipping them on with as little noise as possible.
When she got them strapped on her forelegs, she flew back up to the ceiling, concealing herself in the dark areas.
“Sure are nice though. Much nicer than the last batch. Bet they’ve already hit the hay.” Anch suddenly threw the stick into the fireplace, feeding the flames. The sight of Anch standing up made the hairs on Rainbow’s coat stand. She moved herself to a darker corner of the ceiling, hoping to stay concealed.
Rainbow watched Anch closely, noticing that she lifted a hoof off the ground, and then brought it down with force.
The entire house suddenly shook. Rainbow could hear and feel something thumping against the house. Something fell. It was thumping down like it was falling off stairs. She winced when the final loud thud came, nearly getting her hooves detached from the ceiling thanks to that shockwave. Thankfully her wings kept her pressed to the ceiling, despite flying upside down.
When the shaking settled, Rainbow Dash opened her eyes, noticing dust settle down from the kitchen. She gasped when a large rock appeared from that dust, blocking the hallway.
“Y’all are awake?!” Rainbow flinched and immediately turned to the speaker of that voice, Anch. Her cover was blown. “What are y'all doin’ with ma stuff?" she asked.
Rainbow Dash had no more reason to stay clung to the ceiling. She detached herself, landing in the kitchen. "First off, this isn't your stuff, it's mine," she started. "Second off, what did you just do?"
"Yer stuff? But those are the bags Ah use. I can tell, 'cause it had all these fluffy little munchies that were delicacies to tha... oh wait, Ah hated those things."
Rainbow Dash raised her eyebrow at that. She almost wanted to check if her ears were stuffed because she couldn't believe what she just heard. And she thought that in more than one way.
"But besides that, y'all shouldn' be awake at this time. It's unhealthy."
"What are you, my mom? And how could anypony be asleep after that!" Rainbow Dash yelled and pointed to the boulder blocking the hallways.
“Well, it would help if y’all was asleep, but fer some reason ya ain’t. Y’all wanna git sick? That’s what happens when ya spend too much time outside, and also why Ah prepared ma Caranch Soup.”
Rainbow Dash’s eyes squinted and looked away in a dumbfound manner. “Sorry lady, thanks to my shot, I won’t be getting sick anytime soon.” Rainbow Dash paused for a second to absorb the non spoken confusion written on Anch’s face. “That, and I didn’t swallow your soup,” she finished, implying that Anch’s cooking would make her sick, despite it being true.
“Didn’t eat-! Wha!?” Anch’s voice suddenly filled with venom. “Oh, no no no... That jus’ will not do.” Anch’s words tripped but kept going. She reached her hoof to the side and grabbed one of the sticks from the fireplace that still had a fish roasting in it. “Won’t do at all.”
Rainbow Dash clenched her teeth nervously as the atmosphere around her suddenly felt darker. She reared back slowly with her wings flared as Anch walked towards her, pointing the fish at her with the stick.
“Big fillies have ta eat too ya know…” Anch continued with her dark tone.
“Whoa… c-calm down lady,” Rainbow Dash said, carefully choosing her words.
“Ya dare disrespect mother… Y’all need ta learn some manners.”
“I just wanna- gasp!” Anch suddenly threw the stick. Rainbow Dash yelped and twisted her body to the side to avoid it. The stick crashed and penetrated right through Anch’s oven, setting it ablaze.
That poor fish.
“Why did- ah!” Anch suddenly lunged at her with a pitch fork. She managed to dodge out of the way as Anch struck that fork to the ground. Anch let out a growl as she forced that fork out and swung at Rainbow Dash, tossing lumber around as well.
Rainbow Dash yelped again when the pitchfork barely scraped her tail as she sprung forward towards the front door. “Somepony takes her cooking way too seriously!” she said frantically as she tried to open the door, only for it to not budge. “Locked?! Ah!” She moved her head to the side as that pitchfork stuck to the door. She had her back against the door.
“Fillies will listen ta their responsibilities!” Anch used her other hoof to flip her hat off, revealing another roasted fish. "Eat!" She took the fish in her hoof and thrusted it forwards. Rainbow Dash spread her wings and took to the air, avoiding that punch as it smashed against the door, leaving a crack.
Again that poor fish, and not just from living in her mane for who knows how long.
“I’ve gotta get outta here!” Rainbow Dash flew straight towards the direction of the hallway. She needed to get upstairs and grab Fluttershy so that they could flee this place.
“Oh no!” Rainbow Dash stopped and landed as she noticed one problem. The hallway entrance was blocked due to that boulder. She also noticed that it was engraved with a, ‘Do Not Disturb’ writing… “What am I gonna-” She interrupted herself when she noticed Anch coming with a large net of all things. She was probably all out of fish to serve and was now resorting with capturing. Right when Anch swung the net down, Rainbow jumped backwards, flipping upside down and using her front hooves to bounce off the floor, flipping her back to right side.
Sweat glands went down Rainbow’s forehead as Anch stepped forwards with that net. The heat from the oven’s fire didn’t help cool her nerves. She was backed up into a corner. At least the oven’s fire wasn’t spreading, nor big enough to be dangerous to the house.
“Y’all will behave now. Ya don’t wanna know what happens when fillies disobey.” The venom in Anch’s voice continued to grow like a mother scolding their child, which according to Anch is what she was doing.
Rainbow Dash glanced around the room, trying to find options. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be many. The fire from the oven and its contents on the stove blocked most of her view on the left side. It didn’t matter though because the hallway was blocked anyway. The only other way out of here was the front door, which was locked.
Her options were gone. She gulped nervously as she watched Anch get closer to her. Anch lifted her net up high, smiling. Rainbow Dash hung her head down and closed her eyes. She had no choice.
“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” Rainbow said in depression.
The net went down.
At the right moment, Rainbow Dash slipped to her left side, smacking one of the heated contents on the stove, a pot. With quick precision, she avoided getting burned while the force of her hoof made the pot go flying forwards, landing and covering Anch’s head.
Anch screamed in agony as the pot singed her mane and face. But just as she reached her hooves to remove the pot, Rainbow Dash zipped forwards, punching Anch straight on in her exposed and vulnerable stomach. A wheezing cry escaped Anch’s voice, despite being muffled by the pot. She could only bend about halfway down, trying to reach her stomach before Rainbow Dash threw another punch, uppercutting Anch into a forced stand position on just her hind legs. Rainbow then finished off by turning herself around and kicking with both hind legs, using massive force to strike the pot, giving off a loud clang that could hurt a pony’s ear drums. Anch went airborne for a few seconds before her body collided with the floor, the pot flying off of her head.
Aside from the small flames crackling from the oven, there was now silence. Rainbow Dash sighed. She checked if the bags on her sides were okay before giving a few flaps with her wings and brushing off a bit of dust from her coat. She walked up to Anch’s downed body, examining her features.
Anch’s face was covered with burnt marks with her eyes shut. Rainbow’s punch to her gut left a visible hoof-shaped mark. Due to her position, the cloth from her saddle hanged to the side, revealing her Cutie Mark. A fish that was probably an anchovy, caught in a net... Of course it would be fish related… Besides that, she was quite motionless, but thankfully still breathing. It was a depressing sight.
Rainbow Dash shook her head. This was no time to be feeling sorry for somepony. Wonderbolts training had trained her better than that. She had to focus on what was important right now. She spread her wings and took to the air. Mustering up her strength, she charged straight for the locked door.
______________________________________________________________________________
*Crash!* Fluttershy squeaked and covered her ears as those loud sounds sprung again. Her aching stomach couldn’t take much more stress. There was another loud crash, but this time, it came from inside the room.
“Wha…” With drooped ears, she slightly peaked her head up, noticing a cyan presence in front of her, along with dust settling a little further.
“Come on, Fluttershy. We gotta go now.” Before Fluttershy could respond, a pair of hooves pressed under her forelegs, lifting her body out of bed. She pulled herself closer so that she could wrap her own hooves around Rainbow Dash, getting a better grip with each other. She was taken outside the smashed window, going back into the open skies.
“R-rainbow Dash…” There was shakiness and slight pain in Fluttershy’s voice, almost unable to continue. “W-what happened in there…?”
There was no response from Rainbow Dash. She just kept flying, aiming towards one of the clouds far away from that floating island and high in the skies. The lack of response convinced Fluttershy that her fear was true. She looked away with a frown.
“You fought her… didn’t you…” Rainbow Dash felt a knot twist in her own stomach at Fluttershy’s sad tone. When she reached the cloud, she set Fluttershy down safely on her back.
“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” Rainbow Dash said softly.
Fluttershy released a painful moan, putting a hoof on her stomach, trying to settle it. The news that Rainbow told didn’t help matters, but what did help was when that cyan hoof started rubbing her belly again.
Fluttershy’s moan turned into a relaxing one, but it still pained her to hear about the fight. Rainbow Dash was a pegasus who prided herself with training regularly. Not only had she mastered karate thanks to her flying capabilities, but she was also under training in a military reserves, the Wonderbolts Academy. A regular farm pony like Anch wouldn’t be able to stand against her abilities.
Although Anch wasn’t all that regular, and she may have been completely nutty, she didn’t deserve something like that. Rainbow Dash may be wild and violent sometimes, but she never fought for the wrong cause.
“You told me you would try your best to avoid fighting her.” Fluttershy thought back to the conversation they had earlier. To her, Anch wasn’t really a bad pony. She was just a crazy pony fueled by loneliness. But because of her meat eating ways, it was impossible for her to fit in with other ponies, so she had to be alone.
Rainbow Dash’s hoof slowed down, but she still rubbed gently along the yellow belly to comfort Fluttershy. “Sometimes fighting just can’t be avoided,” Rainbow said as she looked off into the horizon. “And something tells me this won’t be the only time.”
A shudder went through Fluttershy’s features as she adjusted her attention back to Rainbow Dash. “What…?”
Rainbow kept her eyes towards the ocean as she responded. “Don’t worry about it though. If we ever get into a scrap, just remember what we’re fighting for.” Rainbow Dash was describing a lesson similar to what she taught even the Wonderbolts about.
“But Rainbow Dash… I can’t fight like you can… what if I-”
“Hey! Hey!” Rainbow Dash snapped her head back to Fluttershy, moving her hoof to her yellow nose. “None of that now ya here!” Fluttershy’s pupil’s shrunk in fear at the scolding tone. “All that matters is keeping yourself safe. Stay behind me, and I’ll protect you. That sound good to you?”
Rainbow suddenly flashed a smile. Despite the night air, the sight of that smile lifted away Fluttershy’s fear. She didn’t doubt Rainbow Dash there. Rainbow Dash had managed to protect and defend her multiple times, even way back in fillyhood. Not to mention the training. Maybe if she had spent more time with Rainbow Dash, she could motivate herself to train more in ways to defend herself.
For now, Fluttershy had to deal with what she had learned and achieved so far. But she remembered what Rainbow Dash told her before. Just listen to her, and she would be fine.
Fluttershy smiled and nodded, answering Rainbow’s question.
“Good. Now get some rest. We’ll be continuing our search tomorrow morning.” Rainbow Dash brought her attention back to the sea. Fluttershy tried to get some rest, but something was concerning her.
“What about you? Aren’t you going to rest as well?” she asked.
“In a bit. I just gotta check something first.”
Fluttershy wasn’t sure what to make of that response. She felt concerned that Rainbow Dash was pushing herself hard again. She closed her eyes, but she had trouble finding comfort knowing she was resting while Rainbow Dash was doing more activities. She again felt like she was just slowing Rainbow down.
But then her ears noticed the sound of the bags being ruffled. She almost wanted to open an eye and see, but ended up not doing so. The sound continued for about half a minute before it stopped. And then she felt Rainbow’s body press against the cloud, laying close and right next to her.
Of course she was just worrying too much. Rainbow Dash probably just wanted to make sure she still had the map. She must’ve had it too since she didn’t leave the cloud. Fluttershy smiled as her mind eased, finding comfort in sleeping again. Their bodies were pressed up to each other and relaxed.
...Rainbow Dash felt so warm.