Appledashery

by Just Essay

Warbird

Eighteen hours ago...

He held his breath, clenching his beak tight.

With soundless, flapping wings, he hovered at an even level with the window to the cloud home over east Ponyville.

The night shrouded him as he loaded a thick iron bolt into the center of the crossbow.

Reaching into a satchel around his feathery midsection, he produced a vial of paralytic poison.

His talons tapped the lid, and he poured the bubbling liquid over the tip of the bolt.

Then, hovering lower, Romulus squinted his one good eye, aiming the crossbow's line of sight through the window and at the fuzzy blue body situated within.

Rainbow paced back and forth across the room, her muzzle moving. It was only when Romulus' talon was rubbing over the weapon's trigger that he finally made out her words.

"...need to know, Lancie. Are you telling the truth about where you sense the other shards?"

"Now when have I ever lied to you, Sparky?"

Romulus twitched. His eye blinked, and the feathers on his crest rose up.

"For serious, dude. Are they or are they not all in one location?"

"It's the same as before. I sense them all to the far west of here. If you ask me, I'd venture to guess that a certain dragon lord has been collecting all the ones you haven't been awesome enough to scoop up by now in your pretty pony limbs."

"But... if I got the shards to you... if I got you to come into contact with all the shards, then you could do more magic?"

"Pffft. That's how we roll, isn't it?"

"I'm serious, Lancie..."

Romulus dared to fly closer. He craned his neck just enough to see a tiny animated statue sitting on the window sill, facing the pony. As the mysterious voice continued, the "muzzle" of the stone effigy moved along with it.

"I'm serious too, Sparky."

"Would this finally get you all the power that you need?"

"Assuming nothing slipped through the cracks, then yes."

"Would... would it be enough power to cure Apple Bloom of the snake venom that's now inside her?"

"Well, Sparky, I hate to burst your loyalty bubble, but it's difficult to remove a type of venom that I've never ever come into contact with before."

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Rainbow paced around,c oming towards the window.

Romulus stifled a gasp and flew out of view. He held the crossbow tightly to his chest and pressed his wings to the side of the house.

"What about Photo Finish?! You got her healed lickety split!"

"And she wasn't bitten by an extremely rare, nearly nonexistent viper. Although, her taste in fashion certainly looked like it got bitten by the Couture Black Widow—"

"No jokes!"

Romulus squinted off into the night-shaded distance. His beak pronounced the name of 'Photo Finish.' Gradually, the reality of the moment came flooding back to him. His eye widened, and he looked back towards the window just as he heard the tail-end of the conversation:

"Lancie, if what you've told me is right... then... then... we're talking about a crazy-flank trip. Past Tartarus. Past Equestrian borders. Into the wastelands. Straight into dragon-controlled territories."

"Hey, I never said it would be easy! But so long as you're not making the trip, those last precious pieces of me are in greedy, scaley hands! The Ice Lavender isn't gonna conjured itself anytime soon. So the question here is... just how desperate are you to rescue the bouncing baby sister to Princess Frecklestasia?"

Romulus exhaled furiously.

He spread his wings, fell, then glided over the rolling countryside below.

---

Hours later...

Romulus perched stealthily to the outside face of Sugarcube Corner in the hazy morning light. He pressed his feathery head to the wooden finish, listening intently. Just then, his eye lit up. Scurrying, he rushed down to the wooden partition just above the front entrance. Reaching into his satchel, he produced a glowing stone... then held it out in a poised talon.

Right at that moment, Rainbow Dash swiftly trotted out, balancing several plastic-wrapped muffins and fruits on her wings. With nimble finesse, she juggled the items and plopped them one one-by-one into the pocket of her saddlebag.

Holding his breath, Romulus swiftly tossed an enchanted tracking stone. It flew through the air and landed inside her saddlebag just as she closed it.

Meanwhile, a tiny stone head popped out of the opposite saddlebag. "I do believe you've forgotten the kitchen sink."

In one swift movement, Romulus backflipped and landed on the far side of the Sugarcube rooftop, away from any eyes—stone or otherwise.

"Can it," Rainbow grunted. "If what you say is true, then this is gonna be a long trip. I'm not taking any chances."

"Well, certainly don't rush it!" Lancie remarked, clinging on for dear life. "You'll wanna come back in one piece, eh, Sparky?"

"This is not about me remaining in one piece," the pegasus said. "Apple Bloom can't afford for me to take my time. So... it's eating and drinking on the go."

"How charming." Lancie gulped. "Should I hold a bedpan beneath you for half the trip?"

Romulus peaked his head out from behind the bakery. His one good eye squinted towards the western sky, watching as Rainbow Dash took off for Sweet Apple Acres in the distance.

After a deep breath, the griffon flapped his wings and glided in the opposite direction.

Comments

[RoboRed]

Shit. He knows about Lancie, too.

[MidnightReflection]

6145739 And something tells me that he is going to use that information. But the real question... is whether or not he truly knows just what will happen when Lancie gets all of his shards back. Even if they get a hold of the shards instead of Rainbow, I don't think that there is too much to worry about, so long as Lancie can just reform (pun most definitely intended) and stop the bad guys.

[314]

6145739 He knows Lancie exists, but he doesn't know what Lancie is. For all he knows, it's just a glorified tracking + animation spell.

[Aatxe360]

It didn't hit me until last chapter that I was doing my own thing...like always.

[Lightning Bearer]

I had a feeling things were too straight-forward.

[RoboRed]

6145777
He knows that Lancie is a talking statue.

Romulus dared to fly closer. He craned his neck just enough to see a tiny animated statue sitting on the window sill, facing the pony. As the mysterious voice continued, the "muzzle" of the stone effigy moved along with it.

Meanwhile, a tiny stone head popped out of the opposite saddlebag. "I do believe you've forgotten the kitchen sink."

I suppose it's to his detriment that he doesn't know exactly who Lancie is, but neither does Dash, really. Regardless, he doesn't need to know more than he does right now to cause serious trouble.

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

6145777 Well put.

And I still think that, as smart as he thinks he's being, all of this is just gonna come back to seriously bite him...and all his rotten cohorts...in the end.

Pun very much intended.

6145911

Regardless, he doesn't need to know more than he does right now to cause serious trouble.

Truer words were never spoken, unfortunately.

And on another note, welcome to Chapter 600/size], folks!

Quite the milestone, is it not?

[Hestia]

No! Bad eavesdropping griffon!

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

And as to some speculating that that tracking stone landed in the same side of Rainbow's saddlebags as Lancie's in, and him finding the stupid thing:

Holding his breath, Romulus swiftly tossed an enchanted tracking stone. It flew through the air and landed inside her saddlebag just as she closed it.

Meanwhile, a tiny stone head popped out of the opposite saddlebag. "I do believe you've forgotten the kitchen sink."

Welp, so much for that.........

[zaponator]

Funny, remember when we used to think Lancie was nothing but a hallucination brought on by Zecora's medicine?
I guess that theory has officially lost whatever little water it held now.

[TheOddPerson]

It's interesting to note that since this is part of the story / narration. Rainbow Dash / Scootaloo must have become aware of these events and details. Scootaloo is narrating this after all.

...Unless the italics indicate that it's not part of the narration?

[Leftover of Saikano]

Rainbow takes the shards from dragon boss. Council of evil takes shards from Rainbow. Dragon boss looks for the shards and finds them on council of evil's hooves. Evil vs evil ensues. Rainbow walks over the bodies of both sides and picks up the pieces.

[michaelb958]

A suitably ominous Chapter 600.

Tracking stones. Welp.