“Haaaaugh!” Skagra charged forward and kicked Rainbow again.
“Ooomf!” She winced, rolling across the steam-dripping bulkheads until she came to a stop beneath a wall of metal grates stacked against one another.
“Monster from beyond the Blight, hmmm?” Skagra's good nostril flared as he loomed above her, twirling his dagger up and over his fetlock. “If this is what the west is made of, then they're as good as bloat.” His green eyes glinted—bright, uneven, twitching. “A rogue like you can't even faze a top dredger like me. I sprinkle death on toasted misery every morning and nibble. You're just a bubble on a turd... and I'm about to pop you...”
“Dear Celestia...” Rarity blanched, hovering close to Rainbow Dash. “He's actually monologuing.”
“They all do,” Rainbow wheezed, pushing up on all fours. She stared up at the stack of grated metal sheets. Her brow furrowed. “But there's something else they do as well.”
“What's that, Dashie?” Pinkie whimpered.
“Lose,” the mare exhaled, bringing a hoof up to her pendant.
“Rrrrngh!” Skagra grabbed her mane with one hoof and raised his dagger with the other. “Shut up, muckheap! You got voices in your head?! Huh?!” Schiiiiing! The knife sang through the air. “Lemme empty it for you—”
“Now, Rainbow—!” Twilight shouted.
Grunting, Rainbow brought a hoof back, expertly catching the fetlock of his knife-wielding hoof. With a twist of her muscles, she shoved his limb forward until the blade got caught in the bars of the metal crates. Cl-Clank!
“Augh! Shit!” Skagra spat, trying to yank the blade loose—
Whump! Rainbow's forelimb locked around his. She pulled herself up on his weight, facing the stallion muzzle-to-muzzle. “You wanna see what the west is made of?!” She finished rubbing the Element, then thrust the ruby-lightning bolt straight into his two-faces. “Take a good long look!”
FLAAA-AAA-AAAASSSH!
“Gaaaaaaa-aaaa!” Skagra's eyes burned from the direct blast of bright energy to his sockets. He would have stumbled back, but Rainbow's grip anchored the dredger in place, prolonging his torment.
She seethed through clenched teeth, tightened the muscles of her forehead, and—WHAP!—headbutted him savagely.
Skagra stumbled back, tripping, pratfalling. He panted and hissed and yelped, clambering left and right like a skewered cockroach. When at last he got back on his hooves, he continuously strafed around like an idiot, banging against the bulkheads on either side of him, limbs scuffling... scraping the water-slick rust.
“Rrrrghhh-raaa-haaaugh!” He shook his head left and right, eyes clenched tightly shut, the skin twice as burnt around the edges. “Mrfnngnh... shit... shit! Mrmmmg-gaaaaaughttt!”
Rainbow stood up, brushing her bruised self off. “Hmmmm...” She spat, speaking out the side of her muzzle without looking. “Fluttershy?”
“He's...” The spectral pegasus gulped, covering her muzzle... and then her eyes. “He's lost control of his senses.”
“Don't have to tell me twice.” Rainbow cracked her neck joints once... twice... and charged forward. Th-Th-Th-Th-Thap! WHAM! She uppercutted the stallion hard.
“Woooo!” Pinkie pumped her hoof. “Go for the glory, Dashie!”
“Hrrttt!” Rainbow leapt up, collided with his body, and brought him down in a full-body press. WHUD!
“Aaaugh—Bloat! Bloater...” Skagra wheezed and spat, his body spasming. “Grnnntkkkt... Goddess... whiskey...”
“Nuh uh...” Rainbow hoisted him up by his shoulders. “You ain't getting numb to this.” She raised both rear hooves.
At last, Skagra's eyes opened, squinting. But it was too late to avoid—WHAP! He stumbled back from Rainbow's bucking, then yelped as she came in with a savage knee to his chest, followed by another uppercut, this time sending him sailing through a barrel full of metal scraps and debris. Cl-Claaaack!
Skagra collapsed across the rust, shuddering, rolling and fumbling over a sea of random nick-nacks. At last, he stood up again, supporting himself with a flimsy strip of metal. His pained eyes spotted a cup full of nuts and bolts resting on a shelf. In desperation, he picked the thing up and spun around, tossing the tiny debris. “Haaaaaugh!”
“... ... ...” Rainbow Dash stared, deadpan, as the miniature pellets splashed harmlessly across her chest and rolled to the floor.
“Hrmmffff...” Skagra slumped back, exhaling. “Yeah, well... I'm still prettier.” WHAM! Rainbow answered with a hoof to the face. “Ooof!” He sprawled across the floor again, spitting up blood.
Even the girls were wincing at this point. Rarity and Twilight exchanged glances, then looked at Rainbow Dash.
Rainbow took a deep breath, stalking the pained dredger from behind. “Fluttershy, is he dying?”
“I... I think he even he knows that he's lost the fight by now, Rainbow—”
“Is... he... dying?”
Fluttershy gulped. She closed her eyes, already wincing. “No.”
Rainbow took a deep breath, galloped, and punted her hoof straight into Skagra's gut.
“Oooomf!” Skagra flew up two feet, then came down in an arc, tumbling limply across the corridor. He even rolled by Keris as the griffon came strolling in from another juncture.
Keris' hawkeyes calmly glanced aside, catching Skagra's bruised, haggard figure. He strolled in, standing by Rainbow's side. “Well... I see that my concerns were unwarranted.”
“Was a different story minutes ago,” Rainbow muttered, slowly trotting after Skagra. “I appreciate your support, regardless.”
“For what it's worth.”
She kept her eyes trained on the top dredger. “How's the mare?”
“Blonde.”
“Lieutenant Dude...”
“Blonde and bruised and unconscious,” Keris emphasized. “Figured I would spare you the details.”
“Mmmhmmm. Thanks.”
Keris followed her steely gaze. “I don't get it. Isn't the fight finished?”
Rainbow shook her head.
“What are you waiting for?”
“For it to get pathetic enough,” she said.
As if on cue, a panting, hyperventilating Skagra scrambled up to all four hooves.
“Rainbow...” Fluttershy gasped. Eyes aimed ahead, she leaned in and whispered close to Rainbow's ear. Rainbow blinked, nodding.
Skagra broke into a limping gallop, heading due north through the mists.
“He's running...!” Keris uncoiled his wings to fly after him—
Rainbow held her hoof out, anchoring the griffon.
He turned towards her, blinking. “But I can catch him in an instant—”
She shook her head. “This way's cooler.” She nodded. “Just look.”
Keris observed.
Skagra ran and ran. He looked back once, eyes twitching at the stationary figures far behind him. It was approximately then and there that he cleared an intersection of looming bulkheads...
...and a light pink hoof stuck out from behind the corner, tripping him.
“Ooof!” Skargra face-planted, rolled forward, and came to a bumpy stop against a set of pipes.
Seething, Croche came out of hiding. She stood above him, overcome with shivers... shivers that turned into growls. “You... you...” Her sunken eyes flared as she rushed up and kicked the scarred stallion again and again and again. “I hate you! I hate you! My parents woulda been safe from the pirates if you didn't send them out during the raid! Stupid monster! It's all your fault!”
“Rrrrnngh... mrmmmff...” Skagra weathered the tiny kicks and bucks. He gnashed his teeth. “Damn... seafoam—” The next kick found its way to his groin. “Aaaaugh!”
“And don't call me that!” Croche's voice cracked. She seethed and seethed. “The only sea foam around here is you! Stop using us all as stepping stools so you can smell the fumes better, you fr-freak!” Next, she aimed for his half-faces—
“Alright, child...” Keris hoisted her wriggling figure from behind. He held her close with his good talon, giving Skagra a wide berth. “That's enough therapy for now.”
“Rrrrgh! Lemme go!” Croche panted and panted, eyes moistening. “I'm not done—”
“Oh, it's done alright, Scampette,” Rainbow Dash said, strolling in on cold hooves. “All of it. Finished.”
Croche blinked, watching breathlessly.
“Rrrnnngh... you... you h-haven't...” Skagra wheezed, scooting painfully away from Rainbow Dash. “...h-haven't... won anything... mmrmfff... bloat bitch...”
Twilight's ears folded back. “Yeesh... does he ever quit?”
“Isn't that the whole point?” Pinkie said. She opened her muzzle to say something else, but stopped upon seeing Rainbow hoist the top dredger up again.
This time, Skagra found the energy to resist. He kicked, punched, and gnashed his teeth at her muzzle—amounting to nothing but a raving, slobbering mess. “Rrrrggh—Raaaukkt! Hrmmmnngh—Hraaaugh!”
Rainbow held him at forelimb's length, emotionlessly observing his struggles.
“His... his heart's racing...” Fluttershy stammered. “Rainbow, must you—?”
“Stay still,” Rainbow droned.
Skagra fought and bit at her.
Clenching her jaw, Rainbow shoved him—CLANG!—against a series of pipes. She pressed her weight into him from behind, snarling into his ear. “Stay. Still.” Her nostrils flared. “I will not tell you one more time.”
“Get... bent...” Skagra gargled. “Piss harpy... grnnnghhh...”
Twilight bit her lip. Pinkie fidgeted in mid-hover, sweating.
Rainbow took a deep breath. She glanced at Keris, then back at Skagra. She raised her free hoof up high as if to whallop his skull again—
“Ahem... Rainbow, darling.” Rarity floated in.
Rainbow glanced at her.
Rarity swallowed a lump down her throat, then pointed at Skagra's lower half. “His... his lower left leg is fragile. About two-thirds of the way above the fetlock.” She cleared her throat. “From a previous fracture, I suspect.”
Rainbow muttered, “How fragile, Rarity?”
Rarity stared back. “Fragile enough.”
Twilight floated sideways, holding Fluttershy close, steadying her.
Rainbow frowned. Her muzzle tightened as she pressed her hoof down to the back of the dredger's leg and—CRACKKK!
“Aaaa-aaaaaa-aaaaugh!” Skagra let loose a wailing yell, his voice rippling the scant mists above them.
Croche flinched in Keris' grip.
Fluttershy buried her face in Twilight's shoulder.
Rainbow Dash stepped off the savagely-bent limb beneath her. She let go of Skagra, and the top dredger slumped to the rust. His cusses and shouts had been reduced to a torturous, hissing breath as he clutched his broken leg.
In the next breath, Rainbow grabbed him by his other leg and started dragging him across the decks. Skagra yelped instantly, then draped in her grasp, his body repeatedly knocking into pipework and the edges of bulkheads as Rainbow drew him swiftly north across the strut.
Keris blinked curiously. He let down Croche and broke into a swift jog. Croche followed after him, her wide eyes locked on Rainbow Dash.
“Rainbow...” Twilight gulped, floating forward to catch up. “Where... are you taking him?”
“Where else?” Rainbow grunted, then narrowed her eyes as...
...she cleared the north edge of the misty clouds, approaching the Central Platform in a brisk blur.
Swab did a double-take. Whony and the colts behind him gasped at the sight of the limp dredger in her gasp.
All across the bulkheads behind them, the gathered citizens of Red Barge rolled into sharp, astonished commotion at the sight of their lamed leader. Wide eyes and dropped muzzles marked the populace.
High above, Chandler practically deflated. His coat paled, and his ears drooped as he backtrotted from the sight, shaking his head in disbelief. At last, he bumped into the opposite ledge of the balcony, trembling all over. With a gulp, he looked north—at the struts where his steamship was moored. Panting for breaths, he hiked up the hem of his bejeweled cloak and began scampering down the central structure... desperate to make a quiet exit.
Did Skagra just throw pocket sand at Dash
6686540
Well, if it was, it rolled a 0 on a standard 6-die. Somehow. That's how fail it was.
Chandler, are you just going to leave your buddy behind? Douchebag.
Underneath Everything - Down
Well, that deescalated quickly. I have to admit, I'm enjoying this. A vindictive part of me wants Skagra to live as long as possible, so he gets to know how much he's lost.
Also, if Chandler abandons Longaze, Rainbow might get a new
bang buddyally after all.Huh. I thought this was going to be a much more intense fight. Kinda disappointing, actually.
At least he's getting what he deserves. At least Rarity's showing again that she's in on the flank-whooping enough to help Rainbow take names and not shrink back from violence. Fashion ghost is best ghost.
Now Skagra, I wonder how long he'll last at the hooves of the entirety of Red Barge.
...assuming RD and Keris don't do something dumb that lets him escape and all that.
I suddenly remembered that little scene wherein the thick clouds in the sky was briefly broken.
...inb4 the rest of the Talons ruin Dash's victory?
...unexpected turn of events, that he doesn't want to stay in the bloated muck. Even if he didn't try to hide, he would get mad at Longaze anyway in this situation. He's enraged.
What's Monket doing, though.
...This is the part where I expect her to just dump Skagra in the middle of the ponies there and just turn to walk away, with Swift, Keris and Croche following her, and the ones left behind tear Skagra to literal ribbons.
It's the sort of ending the bastard deserves, really. But no, Dash is going to show him cruelty, a cruelty called Mercy.
He gets to live, to watch as his whole empire falls from his grasp and into hers.
Yeesh you two, have some faith, she's not gonna kill, not while she's got you two being her moral compass.
His leg was fragile and he was moving like fucking Sonic?
Yeah, not buying that, the acrobatics he was pulling should have been nearly impossible for him to pull off without breaking it again and again.
-In the end isolation, hunted by a nation. Utaan.
6686586
Exactly the kind of end Skagra deserves - worthlessly wiped across the floor like a dog's shitstain. Can't wait to see what unholy retribution awaits him.
Rainbow needs to remember this when facing Verlax again, Shell and Chrysalis and even Nevlamas may have gotten their hits in, and even some very good hits, but in the end they all fell.
How is that for some long overdue Karma.
So rarity is the first of those who hid to truly understand necessity of the situation? I guess I can see that.
Hope that Skagra isn't getting the Darkseid treatment.
Rarity= Stone Cold.
6686606 We've known they were coming for a while now, seems like something IC would do. The only question is will they focus on recovering Keris first or attacking Dash if they see her?
6686549 Yes. Rainbow needs eye candy.
6686699 so is the SS.Longbow the official ship for the second half of this saga?
6686720 While Councilors Roarke and Props are rather endeared to this potential candidate, Councillors Gold Petals and Ember Flare are skeptical of her qualifications, and are thus withholding judgment regarding her application for induction as a member of the Prismatic Harem.
Furthermore, Councilor Props expressed concern that this "Longaze" may distract Rainbow Dash from her priority objective of releasing Grand Councilor Applejack from her metal prison and returning Her Eminence to the halls of our Order.
I think IC was in a good mood when he wrote this chapter.
6686736 What about Councillor Rayvinne?
derpicdn.net/img/2015/5/15/896279/large.png
He's running. How cute. Not enough steam in the world to get you away from her, buddy. And now the Talon suspects you of treacherous dealings. Urohringr may be getting restored soon, but before that, your world will crumble.
6686763 I suspect Councilor Rayvinne was busy...getting busy.
...Somehow i doubt chandler is going to make a queit exit
Also i cant get the image of dash dragging a defeated skagra across the barge... I might do a drawing...
6686736 Surely Roarke would have attained Grand Councillor status? I mean, lets be real here, she is the only one to have actually tapped that, and to have truly turned Rainbow's head after Applejack, so I'd say she's earned it.
I'm not even going to get into the fact that Props earned a councillor position despite the fact that all she ever did was look hot, but just how the hell has she become the voice of logic and reason in this Longaze debate? I understand that she's not actually Props since Props wasn't a homogay, but I'd assume she'd still be a somewhat Props-like Props.
The Prismatic Harem is a strange and bewildering place.
6686813
I'd say she's more of "Actin' Captain"
6686823 Considering the nature of the Prismatic Harem's supposed council structure, I think the term Chairmare would be more appropriate.
Of course, transforming that word into pony has the tragic side-effect of making it rhyme and sound completely ridiculous.
Oh man..are we in for a rainbow "you are all free" speech? Keris better see chandler trying to escape or better yet, monket. (Munket?)
Why do I get the feeling that RD is going to come quietly when the talons show up?
What exactly does Rainbow plan on doing with Skagra? There's no way she can leave him on Red Barge as he is and expect him to survive. Unless she comes up with some way of getting him off the barge safely, he's gonna be lynched by all of his past victims (read: most of Red Barge). Then some other dredger will force his way to the top, and probably won't be any kinder than Skagra.
EDIT: She'll just guard him until the rest of the Talon show up, then relinquish him to them. No one on Red Barge is gonna want to mess with the Rainbow Rogue, especially after that.
Where's Monket? Where's Talon? This is not the end Dashie.
aaaand Skagra got ruined, this pleases me
Yes, Rarity, he is. Get used to it.
Yeah, that's better.
Rarity is best ghost. And striking the weak points instead of just using brute force feels really like her.
6686887
And I'm just sitting here wondering if we're gonna see or hear any White Barge activity.
If not, then I guess Keris will either hand over the real monster to his comrades while Dash slips out the back door (Monket's ship if he's still hanging around?), or Keris manages to vouch for her while providing a swift trip to the continent for questioning.
Companion combination may vary.
Well that was quite the beating, though that pony can sure take some damage that is for sure.
Utterly savage, just utterly savage Rarity.
Does this count? No? Okay...
Well the battle with Skagra deflated quickly. He must have been rolling 20's last chapter and this chapter he got a 1.
Damn, if it wasn't bad enough that Rainbow beat Skagra, even Rarity got in on it. Now all we need is the Right Talon to come in and for Keris to try and reason with them and Chandler to be broken. Sounds pretty simple.
6686610
"If everything is under control: You're not going fast enough"
6686999
all it takes is a single crit fail to f up your day.
I miss the sprawling world descriptions, of beautiful forests and mountains. Oceans are like deserts, only boring.
And yet again I'm reminded that Rarity might secretly be a badass, first the ninja kick that tossed aj in the season two opener and now this.
I still think he needs to die, ever since sh...eh, he who must not be named, dashie should always pay the insurance on these guys.
That little shitweasel Chandler better not make it off of Red Barge scot free, he deserves the Skag treatment at least
Ah, the pendant always does it.
Headline sounds like the title of a clopfic. I'm just saying.
Ooo Rarity you badass In disguise.
6687163 its my headcannon that rarity would be the first to say "bring it bitch" if mlp was actually an adult show
6686763 wait... Is that ACTUALLY from the comics?!
Does Keris have full use of wings, if Dash doesnt?
I was thinking of using Skagra to,
Chastise,
Chandler.
6686736
Huh. I wondered how your mind interpreted ships. Now I know.
Ugh, this is my impression of all your villains lately.
Evil Mc Sir woke up and slipped out from under his sheets made from the hides of any mare who had ever spurned his advances. He shivered in the cold morning air. "BUTLER!" He yelled, "I am cold, throw another orphan into the RAPE fire."
"But sit." Responded the butler. "The orphans have brought wood to burn to keep you warm."
Evil Mc Sir slapped butler across the face "Never question me."
Can we get some damn nuance in here?
6687163 And she was the first one to attack the manticore on the way to grab the elements in the series premiere by bucking it in the Lunadamned face. "Take that you ruffian!" indeed.
or during the changeling invasion where she was beating them down with martial arts instead of her magic.
6687315 The image, yeah, I think the text is an edit.