Appledashery

by Just Essay

Doors Left Unopened

Rainbow Dash huffed and puffed.

Her hooves grew heavier and heavier with each galloping step.

Nevertheless—punching aside tall grass and ears of corn—she pushed her way through the dense field, her eyes stabbed by intermintent flashes of sunlight.

A familiar farm house stood up ahead. No matter how swiftly the mare ran, the structure loomed further and further away.

Gnashing her teeth, she flapped her wings, barreling through the thick vegetation.

"I'm here... I'm here! Don't panic!" She hyperventilated. "Do you hear me?! I'm not that far away! I'm not—"

Sunlight exploded, greeting her with a wall of golden flame.

Rainbow Dash winced, her tender body shivering.

When, at last, her eyes refocused, she saw that all of the crops and high grass had been blown to the earth's surface, like trees piled over from a cataclysmic blast. In the center of this sat an orange mare with a yellow filly draped over her knees. The pony bent over, sobbing heavily.

Rainbow's jaw dropped. She shuffled forward one limp hoof after another.

"AJ..."

Tears welled up in Rainbow's eyes at the limp sight of the blank flank in the mare's embrace.

"AJ... I... I'm sorry..." She shuddered. "I flew. I flew so swiftly. I... I thought I was fast enough... I thought I was awesome enough..."

"I can't..." Applejack wept, nuzzling Apple Bloom close. "I can't stand to lose another."

Rainbow's heart plummeted. "Applejack..."

The mare looked up, her freckles awash in tears. She peered deep into Rainbow's being. "Not another one, sugarcube."

Rainbow Dash blinked. She opened her muzzle to say something, but no breath came out. As a matter of fact, she had no breath at all. Her lungs had grown as numb as her legs, and her whole world spun.

Plopping onto her side, Rainbow Dash quivered and spasmed. The atrophy had taken its course, and even her wings were too weak to take her away from that place, that moment.

Helpless, she watched as Applejack rolled away, carrying Apple Bloom's body on a wagon filled with flowers.

Something moved in the corner of Rainbow's vision.

Her eyes twitched over to see the front of the Apple Family farm house. Epcot stood there, her face long and grave. Upon feeling Rainbow's gaze, she slowly opened the black door into pitch black darkness. The earth dragged Rainbow towards it.

Somewhere, the filly found the strength to mewl, "Dad... daddy, I'm sorry..."

The world grew black as the door loomed. There were no freckles. No stars whatsoever.

"Daddy... I wasted it... I'm a waste—!" Rainbow coughed up blood.

She plunged.

The darkness ate her up without a sound, not as if there'd be any pony around to hear it.

---

"Mmmf—Haugh! Aaaugh!"

Rainbow Dash shot up in the darkness, clutching her head. She shivered all over, breathing in and out in deep wheezes. Somehow, that sensation alone was enough to solace her rattled nerves, and she started to relax, slumping back against her saddlebags.

The only part of her that wasn't numb registered the remaining potion containers in her satchel. She was overdue for a heavy dosage, she figured.

But just as she instinctively reached for the lip of the bag, she froze, blinking.

It was dark all around her.

"... ... ...Lancie?"

All that answered was unnatural howling winds.

"Lancie?!"

She glanced straight up, vaguely aware of the top of the tiny trench she was nestled in. She figured that if she so much as stood up where she was, the gusts would toppel her over completely.

"Lancie, where did you—?" She turned around and froze.

At last, she saw a dim ruby beacon amidst all the darkness.

Curious, the mare tightened her saddlebags and crawled towards it, making sure to keep low.

This path took her to the very edge of the trench, where a tiny granite statue stood with the enchanted stone in his grasp.

"Lancie!" Rainbow hissed, frowning as she reached the animated effigy. "What in Celestia's name do you think you're doing?! You call this being my alarm?"

"Shhhh..." Lancie held the stone out further, peering straight down. "Did something move just now?"

"Gimme that!" She snatched the griffon stone from him. Immediately, the howling winds overhead ceased. After a calm sigh, the mare muttered, "See what move where?"

"There." He pointed straight down. Rainbow shone the ruby light in the same direction he had been before she got there. Beneath the two, a gigantic drop opened up, its walls coated with slick moisture and condensation.

"The hay is that?"

"Beats the heck out of me, Sparky," he said. "I do hope you can forgive me for doing a bit of scouting while you were off impersonating a sock."

"Yes, well, you could have told me you were going to do it."

"Do you suppose it's a way out of here?" Lancie remarked.

"Like... out of this cavern?" Rainbow looked up and around. "Mmmm... maybe." She shuddered. "Guess there's one way to find out."

"Indeed." Lancie backflipped and landed in her saddlebag. "By the way, who invited you to the gasping contest."

"Huh?"

"You woke up sounding like you were practicing for the brass section of Celestia's orchestra."

"Never mind," Rainbow grumbled. "Same old same old."

"I've sat my granite butt on your bedside table enough nights to know a thing or two about 'same old same old."

"You don't know jack," Rainbow grumbled, reaching back and taking a swig of her potion. She stood calmly for a few seconds, breathing evenly as she allowed the feeling to come back to her limbs.

"Feel better?"

"Only once we're out of this stinkin' mountain and we can find a cure," she muttered. "So... downwards?"

Lancie smirked and gestured into the hole. "You said it! Not me!"

"Whatever." Rainbow Dash spread her wings and made to dive... only her body jerked in place. "Buh?"

"Something wrong, sunshine?"

"It's... it's sticky."

"What is?"

She shook her left hind leg, then shook it again. Once it slid free, she shone a ruby light over the granite partition at the end of the trench. There was nothing out of the ordinary. "Weird... could have sworn my fetlock got caught on something for a second there."

"Got caught on what?"

"Whatever. I just woke up. So sue me." Rainbow Dash dove deep into the hole.

"I suspect the lawsuits will follow after we venture into the monster lands," Lancie mused.

"Hardy har har..." Rainbow's half of the conversation grew faint. Her and Lancie were reduced to a tiny ruby glow descending swiftly down the throat of the vertical tunnel.

Seconds later...

The shadows above them shifted, swiftly turning into many-jointed shadows that scurried in ink-black motions after the pegasus.

Comments

[JodiePonyPuddinAndPie]

hmm. A particularly bad fear inspired nightmare, shadow magic and 'many jointed shadows' suggestive of crystals?

...Sombra?

If that is him, Holyyyyy shit did this just go up a notch.

[Sharp Quill]

"I suspect the lawsuits will follow after we venture into the monster lands," Lancie mused.

The shadows above them shifted, swiftly turning into many-jointed shadows that scurried in ink-black motions after the pegasus.

I'm supposed to be scared of shadowy, many-jointed monsters when it has just been confirmed that lawyers exist in Equestria?

[Sheendough]

Why do I get the feeling they're really in the insides of a monster?

[FloydienSlip]

And this is only a third of the way done. Holy shit.

[zaponator]

I've got a bad feeling about this...

[Sileadh]

I fear what follows will be a job for: Amethyst Star!!!

[RoboRed]

Jeez...it doesn't seem like Rainbow Dash can have a good dream in any story...

Also, sticky holes in dark caves sound like bad news...

6272360
Win.

[Lightning Bearer]

Oh hell. And considering Lancie's smile at the end of the previous chapter, I have to wonder just what's afoot.

Also, that dream sure was cheerful, huh? Goddamn.

[remnants]

6272113 All we need is ssome flying creatures, an annoying robot, and somepony to fire a blaster into the "ground"

[Sheendough]

6273093 Exactly what I was thinking.

[MidnightReflection]

Hmm... sticky. Hmm... slick, condensation-adhesive walls... And a comment section full of possible Star Wars references of it being the inside of a monster.

The chapter title just made me think "Don't be afraid, Rainbow Dash. You are the one who will open the door." And how does every one feel about there being 30 songs already confirmed between now and the 2017 film? The Hype has been doubled!

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

6272360 Yup.I even prepped an intro for her:

[viofriedsevey]

So clearly Lancie wasn't just "exploring".

[YoshiFawful64]

"Daddy... I wasted it... I'm a waste—!" Rainbow coughed up blood.

Silly Rainbow, you can't be a waste, you're not space. sorrynotsorry

[TwilightUCrazy]

6273787

Nice.

[Hestia]

The dream . . . the foreshadowing . . .

Twenty four hours never seemed like such a long time until I started reading this story.

[Seraphimus]

It's a grue.

[arancaytar]

The shadows above them shifted, swiftly turning into many-jointed shadows that scurried in ink-black motions after the pegasus.

Oh good; for a moment there I was afraid Rainbow might have found the one cave in Urohringr without monsters in it.

[bronyheat]

Skirts really loves giving Rainbow terrible nightmares in his stories. Not sure what to take away from that; just an observation.