AppleDash Group Collab

by DbzOrDie

(2)Spooky - TwilightUCrazy

"Don't suppose you remembered to grab a lantern or something?" Rainbow's voice echoed in the tight quarters of the musty, underground hallway. A few dozen pinpricks of light of an unknown source interrupted the consistency of the utter darkness, and hooves clopped softly against wet, mossy stone floors to try and find purchase.

"Eheheh..." the pegasus heard her friend laugh nervously. "Don't worry none, sugarcube. We've always got the stone, if'n we need it."

"Then couldja just pull it out so I can see something besides nothing?"

"Nnngh... workin' ... mmph... on it!"

A few more firm pulls, and Applejack managed to free the amethyst gem from its embedded prison in the temple's lift. As it made contact with her hoof, it enveloped the two in a soft, lavender light.

The sound of stone grinding against stone caused both the yelp and jump back. The gem rolled across the floor, and the makeshift elevator rose, sealing the two in the temple depths.

All turned pitch black. The sound of dripping water and breathing was all that reached the pair's ears.

“AJ?”

“Uhhh... yeah?”

“Please tell me you watched where you dropped that rock...”

“Buuuuuh...”

Hooves scuffed the in the darkness. “For serious, AJ! I can't see your butt in front of my face!”

“If you'd gimme half a minute, then I could—” A pause. “Oh, here it is.”

A soft, violet light once again filled the stale-smelling corridors as Applejack lifted the polished stone up above her head. Rainbow's magenta eyes stared back from a few inches away. Looking up the hall, rats hissed in the dark at them, their red eyes reflecting the soft light emanating from the stone before scurrying into their burrows.

“You sure you can keep a hold of that thing? I don't like the thought of you dropping it down a hole somewhere and us being lost forever in here...” Rainbow shivered. "Or the thought of being rat food..."

“Oh, would you give it a rest?” the cowpony replied with a roll of her eyes. “The noise just startled me. I got a hold of it now.”

The pegasus sniffled and sneezed. “Tell me there's some kind of map that came with that glorified Lite Brite so we can hurry up and get outta here. All this dust is bugging the horseapples outta me.”

Applejack turned to her with a dimly-lit smirk. “Awww, does mah little Dashie got dah sniffles?”

Rainbow glared. “Stick to Honesty, AJ. Pinkie's better at Laughter...”

Her friend cackled, leading the way deeper into the sanctum. As their eyes adjusted, the faint light reached farther into the darkness, allowing them to see several meters. A thin haze gathered around their fetlocks from the moisture in the air.

“What're you so nervous for? It ain't like we've never been in some smelly 'ol ruins before. What, with the Castle of the Two Sisters, that little run-in with Darin' Do-Right at that Temple of... heat... or somethin'..."

"Daring Do."

"Yeah, her." Applejack shrugged, leading them around a corner. The straight and cramped path ahead was overrun by moss and the bones of dead rodents.

"And it was the Dark Tower. Not the 'Temple of Heat'. That's just stupid."

The earth pony scowled. "Oh, and 'Dark Tower's' any better?"

"Sure is better than the 'Temple of Heat!'" Rainbow said with a smirk. "Your name sounds like a rut club, not a place to find mysterious artifacts of power!"

Applejack blushed. "So I ain't much of a writer. 'Scuse me..."

The pegasus chuckled and hugged her friend with a wink. "You could be. I hear that Fifty Shades of Hay guy finished his series..."

The farmgirl's blush worsened. "Oh, hush up..."

The duo came upon an intersection, partially collapsed by a pillar that had given out over the years. Applejack leaned up against the collapsed pillar and peered around.

"See anything ya like?" Rainbow asked behind her with an implicit tone.

"You make one more innuendo, sugarcube, and I'm gonna buck ya in the schnoz."

The pegasus cackled, though it was a nervous one.

Applejack sighed. "I can't see nothin'. The one to the left has stairs headin' down from the looks of it. The paths ahead and to the right look like they collapsed." She lowered herself. "Don't see no markin' sayin' which way to go..."

"Uhhh... duh. No temple's gonna tell you where it's treasure is, AJ."

"Thanks, Ms. Know-it-All..."

Sighing, the earth pony pushed herself up over the collapsed barrier and marched down the left path, ducking vines hanging from the ceiling and nearly slipping on the slick, moss-covered floor.

"H-hey! Where are you going?"

"Takin' these here stairs! I don't see any other way..."

The pegasus mumbled a complaint and darted after her friend. The pair descended a decrepit staircase part of the way.

A portion of the stairs dislodged itself and crumbled, taking a section of them with it. The loud crash didn't reach the twos' ears for several long seconds.

"Stairs..." mumbled Rainbow. "Greeeeeat idea..."

"Hush up and fly us down, ya nervous ninny."

"I'm n-not nervous!" the pegasus protested, grabbing her friend about her barrel. "I just... I don't even know what we're looking for, so what're we doing here?"

Applejack grunted in discomfort as Rainbow levitated downward with her. "Well, I assume we'll know it when we see it. How many treasures can one adventure have?"

"Do you want me to go by Daring Do's books?"

"Never mind..."

The two touched down several moments later in a large antechamber. Four paths took off in all four cardinal directions.

"Well, great... now what?"

Applejack scowled at her friend and flicked her tail across the pegasus's nose. "Would you relax a little bit already? What would Darin' do?"

Rainbow blinked and considered the ground for a moment.

"Probably say something awesome, then somehow figure out which way to go..."

"So start figurin', then," the earth pony said, grabbing her friend and pushing her forward. "Think like yer great hero and tell us which way we're supposed to go!"

The pegasus blushed. "It's not that easy... She always knows what to look for. A pattern, a clue, or something..." Rainbow frowned and looked at each of the four doors. "I don't see anything that's a giveaway..."

Applejack hmm'd aloud and examined the archways above the four doors, scratching at her chin. There were no distinguishing marks or characteristics. Each was simply a stone doorway leading north, east, west and south, respectively.

"Well... it ain't like we're in any kind of hurry." Applejack turned south and marched through the door. "C'mon. We'll just try 'em all out 'til we figure out which one's the right one."

"Or... y'know... we could go back and just say we couldn't find this place...?" Rainbow suggested hopefully, beads of sweat on her brow reflecting the purple light.

Despite her marefriend's perspiration, Applejack found it quite chilly down so far.

She paused at the south door.

"Rainbow, you've been more jumpy than a Mexicolt jumpin' bean. What's the matter, sugarcube?"

"N-nothing! I'm not jumpy! I think you're the jumpy one!" The pegasus hovered in-place, crossing her forehooves stubbornly.

"Rainbow..." the earth pony said softly with a smile, turning back and walking up to embrace her friend. "If yer spooked, you can just admit it. I'm a little jumpy 'bout this place too," she admitted.

"I'm not spooked, okay?!" Rainbow took a breath and blew it out. "I just... I don't like tight spaces, okay? I hate not being able to fly..."

Applejack smiled and pulled her friend closer. "Don't worry, sugarcube. You can stay here if ya want. I ain't gonna tell nopony."

Rainbow's ears perked. "You won't?"

"Nah," the earth pony said, shaking her head. A smirk alighted on her lips. "I'll just call ya 'chicken-wings' in private from now on..."

The pegasus scowled, and Applejack swore the air between them began to stink from the stare her friend shot at her. "Hey, you don't see me making fun of you for being afraid of flying, do you?"

"I'm not afraid of flyin'!" her friend replied with a grin. "I'm afraid of fallin' and dyin'."

"Yeah? Well I'm afraid of something jumping out at me in dark, cramped space and not being able to fly away!" the pegasus snorted.

Applejack stared at Rainbow Dash. The two's eyes met for a long series of moments.

Then the pair grinned at each other and burst out laughing.

Suddenly, the dark chambers felt a lot less creepy.

Comments

[Hobbestc]

Looking forward to seeing where this leads.

[Salad king]

Shouldn't it be called (2)spooky? OoOoH SpOoKy!

[Escuro]

This story is clearly gonna be continued, so I need to ask, anyone elder think it seems like its own big story, and it just got cut into segments for the prompt?

[Fury of the Tempest]

Heh, NICE. I love how you developed this.

[Mal Dash]

Applejack turned to her with a dimly-lit smirk. “Awww, does mah little Dashie got dah sniffles?”

I laughed <3