Pinkie's spectral body shook from her grip to her twitchy-tail. “Daa-aa-aa-aa-aa-shii-ii-ii-ii-ie!!!”
“Go go go go—” Twilight breathed.
“Hnnngh!” Rainbow Dash galloped. Every plank of wood and shingle dissolved behind her. Despite her full sprint, she remained in the same relative spot—on account of the building crumbling away and plummeting south over the cliff's edge. “Guh!” She leapt just as there was no more wooden surface left to traverse.
“Rainbow—!” Rarity yelped, flinching.
Teeth gnashing, Rainbow stuck her right wing out. She glided in a circle—once swinging around towards the collapsing mess. A spray of splinters and debris blew across her face. She shielded herself with a forelimb, then gasped as she spun north again. The rigid plateau flew towards her. Her friends shrieked in her ear as she aimed her legs at something... anything...
Cl-Clankkk!
“... … ...” Rainbow Dash's eyes fluttered open. She blinked. She looked down to see that she was standing neatly on a chunk of wooden deckwork, broken off from the rest of the shack and looming intact on the ridge's summit. She exhaled, then glanced south at the sound of collapsing wood.
The two-story shack was reduced to an avalanche of splinters. The mess of wood and rusted nail-work roared down the mountainside like architectural vomit. The mists parted, revealing the debris in full-blown horror as it rampaged towards the pull of gravity.
Seraphimus' eyes twitched. Although the shadow of the debris enveloped her, the griffon effortlessly swung herself to the side, dodging the collapsing wooden mess by a stone's throw. At last, the ramshackle remains of the structure slammed into the bottom of the ravine, sending a blast wave echoing in the Talon's direction.
Powwwww!
The Commander shielded herself in mid-air. Her feathers and tail billowed from the concussive wave. In the distance, Sergeants Raptr and Starstorm wobbled from the force of air-disruptive energy. They both gasped, looking the Commander's way.
Seraphimus relaxed, exhaling as she gazed at a veritable sea of twisted planks and crossbeams filling the basin below her. She swallowed hard. “Verlaxion spare me...” Charcoal eyes narrowed. “...if she's still in one piece...”
Rainbow Dash stood on the wooden deck, panting. She could no longer see the ravine south of the ridge from her position. With a gulp, she entreated Fluttershy: “Did... did they hear that?”
“Are ya kidding?!” Pinkie Pie wheezed. “I'm pretty sure Granny Smith heard that!”
“Speak to me, Fluttershy!” Rainbow growled. “Are they coming my way?”
“They... appear to be facing the ridge, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said.
Rarity nodded. “That's where the debris landed! South of us!”
“But...” Fluttershy's eyes brightened. “They're not ascending the ridge!”
Twilight beamed. “They're distracted! They probably think you were inside the shack when it fell!”
Rarity sighed, smiling weakly. “It doesn't get much closer than that, now does it?”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Whewwww...” With a dumb grin, she sat her rump down on the deck beneath her.
Crkkkkkkkkkk! A fracture formed across the wooden plank.
“... … …?” Rainbow looked down. “Huh—?”
CRACK! The sheet of wood beneath her shattered loose from the rest of the deck. The thing went sliding down the north edge of the ridge at a maddening speed... carrying the blue pegasus with it.
“Aaaaaaa-aaaaaa-aaaah!” Rainbow's friends collectively shrieked, being dragged down with her by their lavender anchorage.
Sw-Swooosh! Starstorm flew in and levitated over the mess of wooden debris. Her beak rattled, and she spun to gaze at the other two griffons. “I... I-I can't even see through the splinters! It's fallen so hard, the stuff is dense as rocks!”
“Could... could the Rainbow Rogue actually be under all of that?” Raptr wheezed.
“Sergeant, how did she even get up there?” Starstorm exclaimed. “That's hundreds of meters from the last place we saw her!”
Seraphimus' headcrest shifted under her helmet. “The clouds...”
The two Sergeants looked up.
The Commander sneered: “The Rainbow Rogue must have ridden the clouds we had made when we cleared the valley.”
“But... h-how?!”
“Menace from the west or not, she's still a pegasus.” Seraphimus pointed a silver-plated claw. “Begin searching! Cover every square inch!”
“Aye, Commander!” Starstorm started skirting the edges of the settling debris pile.
“Commander...” Raptr gulped. “If she is beneath all of this, then what are the chances that—”
“No time for speculation, Sergeant,” Seraphimus said. “Every second we waste compromises her livelihood.” She exhaled fumingly. “...I would very much want to avoid bringing a corpse back to the Council.”
“Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaiiieee!” Rarity shrieked, clinging to Pinkie Pie as the group slid violently downhill.
“Rarity! Pinkie! Everypony!” Twilight snarled into the whipping winds. “Try and concentrate! Rainbow Dash needs us right—” She yelped as their anchor hit a bump. Rainbow went airborne for a moment, and then the wooden “sled” made contact once more with the granite slope, showering splinters and sparks. “—now!”
“Okay!” Rainbow gritted her teeth as she shifted left and right in her wild slide. “If I wasn't just a sn-sneeze away from imploding into bloody bits, I'd be having lots of f-fun right now!”
“Just don't panic...” Fluttershy nevertheless covered her muzzle. “Don't panic!”
“Rarity!” Twilight hollered. “For Celestia's sake! Lend us a hoof here!”
“Just... j-just...” Flinching, the fashionista pointed a quivering hoof northward. “F-follow the slope in a northwesterly direction and try to avoid the boulders.”
Rainbow's ears twitched. “Boulders?”
All of a sudden, massive granite spheres loomed in Rainbow's immediate view.
“Luna poop!” she hollered.
Pinkie's whole body twitched. “Left, Dashie!”
Holding her breath, Rainbow grasped the wooden plank beneath her and jerked towards the west. She barely skirted the left side of the stone structure.
“Right!” Pinkie bellowed.
“Grnnngh!” Rainbow jerked in the opposite direction as a chunk of hard rock appeared to her left. Cl-clank! The corner of the “sled” struck the boulder, and Rainbow spun several wild three-sixties in mid-slide.
“Whoaaa-oaaa-oaaah!” The mares yelped, spinning and phasing through boulders.
Rainbow ended up sliding backwards. The cold winds bit at her shaved neck. The bitter kiss of falling snow tickled at her ears. Panting, she looked over her shoulder.
An array of jutting rocks stuck out of the ground, stabbing the air and forming a haphazard ramp in her path.
“Uhhh... uhhhhh...” Pinkie gulped. “Your guess is as good as mine!”
“Celestia... Spark... Nagu'n... Valkyrie... anypony!” Rainbow spun, grabbed the forward end of the plank, and lifted up with all her might. “Hope you're k-keeping score!”
Cl-Clankkkk! The sled struck the rocks and ramped off. Rainbow went flying—as did the plank of wood—but in opposite directions.
“Aaaaaaaaiiiiieee!” Rarity yelped.
“Omigoodness!” Fluttershy sniffled, twirling upside down.
Twilight tried to maintain her concentration. “Rainbow!” She hollered.
“Snow!” Pinkie cried. “Aim for the snow!”
“... … …?!” Rainbow flashed an upside down look.
Amidst her twirling peril, the pegasus spotted a patch of powdery white earth sailing towards her.
“Htttt!” Rainbow struck her right wing out, dragged air into her feathers, then steered herself awkwardly towards the wet earth.
“This is gonna sting!” Twilight curled up into a lavender ball.
Swoooooosh—Th-Thump!
“OOOF!” Rainbow grunted. Snow sprayed into the air around her.
All of the mares jolted.
Rainbow rolled, toppled, then slid for meters down a snowbank. There was a flicker of amber light—like a fire. Bodies stood up, gasping.
Fluttershy saw them in a flash. “Rainbow!” She tried to point. “Look—”
Rainbow could do nothing but tumble. “Ooomf! Unnf! Gaaaugh!” At last, her body careened backwards...
...and her head struck a wooden log beside a camp site. Th-Thap!
Rainbow's teeth rattled—as did her pendant. The mare's eyes rolled... vision teetering. “Unnngh...”
“Rainbow! Rainbow!” Twilight Sparkle levitated above her. She gave one worried look at the source of the firelight, then seethed into the pegasus' drooping ears. “Rainbow Dash! Whatever you do! Don't pass out!”
“Phweeee...” And with a drooling grin, Rainbow was out for the count.
Then...
...hoofsteps.
And your pendulum of luck has once again swung even farther the other way.
Oh what fun!
Dammit Dash. All you had to do is not pass out... but you couldn't help it.
Please be Bard and Wildcard please be Bard and Wildcard please be Bard and Wildcard please be Bard and Wildcard please be Bard and Wildcard
Then ... Theanim stares blankly at the dazed pegasus at his feet.
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6823778
I would love for it to be either of these... B & WC seems more likely though. Wonder how they'd take her.
So someone aside from Rainbow and the Talons is here. Question is, who, and more importantly, why?
"Hey, uh... You wouldn't happen to be a... *glances at smudged hoofwriting* Ms. "Rambo Rogue", would you?"
"..."
"Uh... I uhhh... Have an order from the RToV for "12 beautiful mares" to be delivered at this exact location. And you... Uh, miss? It's just that you fit the description they provided. If you could um... Sign this form? I'm f-freezing my hide off even with this fire we got lit."
"..."
"Hooooo boy. Guess the view must have done a number on her consciousness. Might be best to head back to the train, ladies!"
*A collective whine*
I'll take planksurfing and settle with that!
6823776
6823778
6823786
I bet for bandits or soldiers of the consortium, after all Keris already anticipitade something similar:
Also, first time I comment in this fic, but I've been reading it for some months already, after devouring the first amazing, books. One of the best fics ever in my opinion.
The Talon's been searching for her for days straight and gotten oh so close so many times, but ultimately it looks like Rainbow might have fallen into the hooves of the Consortium without them even trying to find her.
Then the Talon finds the Consortium and the two sides clash, allowing Rainbow to get away yet again.
To go for a ride,
Onna one plank jury rigged sleigh.
Thats our Dash, always got the jury rigging for her.
Twilight would recognise Theanim or Bard, WC etc? so why did she say no sleeping?
*wince* Euughhhhhhhhoooowwwwwwwwwwwch...
Uhhh...
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!
I think Rainbow just rolled a lot of 20's and 1's.
6823774 Don't do that.
6823778 She'd actually better hope it's not Theanim, he is travelling with monks of the Quade and I don't think they'd be too happy to see her, Sonikah least of all.
------------------------------
Dash the amount of deities you've helped over the course of your adventure, they shouldn't just be keeping score, they should be staging divine intervention and naming you their collective avatars of peace... and wisdom in Valkyrie's case.
Always gotta love those levels in games, where you're surfing an oddly mobile object down a cliff face.
-Companions have returned, inner darkness spurned. Utaan.
So much fun! And she didn't die, which I suppose is a plus.
Hoofsteps is good, right? Griffons don't have hooves.
6824229 Sorry
Satisfying chapters
Inb4 it's Longaze.
6823776 There is no way shes that lucky....but I really wish it is them.
6823240
Appledashery.
Well, that was a fun chapter.
Also, I'll second what some others have said and guess it'll be Longaze or Theanim or someone like that.
I suck at those sledding levels in video games. Good thing it was Dashie playing and not me. although she did kinda get knocked out
Anyway! Dash just cannot catch a break.
Winree?Ahh... I miss those llamas.
Ok that was neat, I'm acutally going to say it's likely Bard and maybe Wildcard at this point. They are due to come back into the story by now. Longaze is a maybe but I think Rainbow has enough issue to deal with right now for IC to also throw Longaze in there as well. Theanim is possible but I don't think his group could have made it this far that quickly.
Player 5 has entered the game!
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Do... Do llamas have hooves?
6823946 Yeah, you're like, 89 years old.
6824954 They can if you believe!
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/d1/5f/f6/d15ff61086144a282e7529ec6c63d540.jpg
sled skirts and exposition
MAAAAD MARTIGAN!!!
Would be funny if it was Floydien.
It was Aeterna.
Nagu'n, Nagu'n, I don't think she's gonna hear your prayers, Rainbow. I wonder why? Oh yes, because you murdered me!
Seriously though, yeah, we're kind of moving back into comedy lands right now.
Or, more accurately, dragonsteps, as a large form moved in the mist. An exhale of icy frost emerged from draconic nostrils, and icy blue eyes stared at the limp body of a cyan-colored Pegasus.
Verlax spoke quietly, but with undeniable power and menace. "So, we meet face to face at last, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow is channeling her inner Derpy.
Trouble, or salvation?
And she is then captured by the Consortium. Back to square one.
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Or nachos.
Could've fooled me.
Except Verlaxion, of course.
Out of the frying pan and into the fire huh.
08/19/2017
12:22 UTC
Ok, so this Continent was created by Verlax in order to test the Austraoh, but for what exactly?
Warning: Ped-Xing
Hehe! Talk about a miraculous crash landing!
Pray to everyone!
Craaaaaap.
Twas good while it lasted. A for effort.