//------------------------------//
// Slides, Jabberwocky, & Pixie Dust. Oh my! 
// Story: A Place Called Here. 
// by Arc Angel 
//------------------------------//

Rarity wasn't in the best of moods. True, she didn't have the greatest reason in the world to complain. She and her Friends were alive. And thanks Rain-Pies as Pinkie had called them they weren't exactly lacking for want of food (with each of them carrying a few pies on their backs). So what reason did she have to be as she would put it, just a bit miffed. That would be partially because of the black eye she received due to the pie that had nocked her unconscious, Rhubarb of all flavors. That and she had a head injury, at least according to Pinkie. Of course she trusted her explicitly, though she had to take her word for it as Pinkie Pie said she had seen the symptoms in her travels, but would not exposit further. Of course, the real reason Rarity was feeling just a bit on the salty side was cause the apparent head injury had apparently caused most she said to come out wrong. She herself was only aware of it some of the time, and while she (Pinkie)herself understood some of it, most of the things said by the the fashionista went over even the Party pony's head. For this reason Rarity had stayed silent for some time, and why she was in a less than ideal mood.

The silence had gone on after the Rain-Pies as Fluttershy seemed to be traumatized by the falling pies to the point that she didn't look at them while she ate. Pinkie on the other hoof seemed to be pretty chipper, her humming the only sound heard by our insipid travelers, apparently respecting her Friends odd states.

They had only needed to hide from the pies for about hath an hour. And it had taken 5 times that for Rarity to awaken. She took another forty minutes to recover before they finally got on the move.

They found themselves walking on what appeared to be large salt crystals, about the size of marbles, with orange and purple palm trees spread far apart. Rarity thought the trees were appalling as the colors simply didn't go together, but didn't voice it as she was afraid of what might leave her mouth.

Rarity also noted with a keen eye that she still couldn't see the sun, despite fealing that at least a day had passed since that had nearly drowned in the chocolate river. And the more she saw the more she felt unsettled in this place they found themselves, to the point that the passing thought of if Discord were with them even he wouldn't be comfortable crossed her mind. Then it occurred to her that he would probably just make it comfortable, for him anyway. Or better yet just open a portal and take them home.

Of course, Rarity was making the assumption that he could get them home. After all, this place simply seemed, wrong. But hey, what she doesn't know can't hurt her.

Pinkie was mostly fine. She had two of her Friends and while it could be better, she knew it could also be worse. Much, much worse. She was worried just a tab about Flutershy, and while Rarity was in a bad mood, she knew that she just needed some time to calm down and adjust. Fluttershy though, she was quiet, but never to the point that Pinkie was afraid that if she didn't keep her in her peripheral vision she would be gone. A real possibility in this place, Pinkie was sure. For the moment she was allowing the Pegasus to deal as best she could, but soon she would have to do something to make her Friend feel better.

While her Pinkie sense hadn't been active since Rain-Pies, she got the unnerving sensation that this place was beyond even her abilities.

Any further pondering was interrupted however as they soon stoped, as before them was a field of flowers. They seem to be some variant of sun flowers, though they hadn't bloomed yet. Also they were about the size of a small Pony.

Just as they were about to continue the flowers opened up and the three Ponies found themselves in awe at the sight of their beauty. Each flower seemed to have just five petals each the colors golden yellow, bright orange, scarlet red, hot pink, and stark white with each petal changing to the next color in the sequence every six seconds. The center of the flowers were a brilliant silver, literally! They seemed to be made of silver.

Before anypony could say a thing another surprise happened as the flowers seemed to begin to shake. It was soon apparent that these flowers seemed to know they were there as they seemed to, in the blink of an eye, became like, snakes.

Being scared the three's initial reaction was to close their eyes. However, in that tiny bit of self imposed darkness they felt themselves be grabbed,gently, and begin to slide forward.

Soon curiosity got them to look, two of them anyway. And what they saw made them look on in even greater awe than before. The flowers seemed to have come together to form a tunnel slide that shimmered and shined with the light of the colors and the silver making brilliant and unimaginable displays.

Not wanting their Friend to miss out, Pinkie tried to get her to open her eyes and remove her hooves to witness the gorgeous private show they were currently experiencing.

"Oh my gosh! Hey Fluttershy! You're missing something wonderful! The flowers are a light show! Ooh, No! They're like, like, like a personal Sonic Rainboom that you travel through, but with less colors!"

The smile slipped off Pinkie's face seeing that her Friend hadn't moved, well, not of her free will anyway. This troubled her, and so she contemplated the best way to approach this. This was especially the case because she didn't want Fluttershy to miss this once in a lifetime opportunity.

"Rainbow sucks shleep eggstuck off my back with my hurst tongue!"

This managed to get both the Earth-Pony, and Pegasus's attention. Of course, Fluttershy quickly forgot about what her Friend had said however as she finally saw what was happening around her. Her eyes soon grew big and bright with joy, which was made all the clearer by the huge toothy smile upon her face.

Rarity meanwhile, had covered her mouth with her hooves and had begun to blush quite profusely in embarrassment (though ironically she accomplished her goal when she had opened her mouth to speak) to the point that she was beginning to resemble Pinkie. Speaking of Pinkie Pie . . . .

Seeing that her Pegasus Friend was happy once again Pinkie turned to look at her Fashionista Friend and said "Good job Rarity!" while throwing out one of her front hooves in an attempt at some sort of gesture pointing in her Friend's direction.

Rarity then went from looking embarrassed to confused. Seeing this Pinkie looked at the end of her outstretched hoof in puzzlement, and then sudden realization and began to smile again as she switched to a salute.

For some reason this caused the one sound that couldn't come out wrong from Rarity's throat to pop fourth. This of course being laughter, which caused Pinkie to join in.

Between the splendor of their situation and her Friends laughing voices echoing off the flower walls, Fluttershy couldn't help but be next in the chain of laughter.

This went on for awhile.

Soon the bright tunnel of flowers deposited them back to the grass, in front of a line trees. Said trees resembled long decaying broccoli stocks. Rarity looked on with no small degree of disgust. Fluttershy seemed to have reached her normal mix of nervous and uncomfortable, while at the same time seeming at ease because of her Friends presence. Truly the butter colored Pegasus was a strange creature, only outdone by her Pink Friend, though in my opinion its debatable who between the two was truly crazier.

Anyway, Pinkie was observing it all with a curiosity and wonder only achievable by one who truly enjoyed life to its fullest. Because of this she was able to notice something significant much sooner than her Friends and thus made them aware of it.

"Hey girls! Come check this out! Its a sign!"

As the two came to their Friend's side they found that it was indeed a sign. It was was made of wood and set in the ground. It stood about a foot taller than the ponies.

Seeing that they could understand what was written on the piece of wood, they took it upon themselves to read what it said in its bold red lettering.


XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX



WARNING!



Beyond theboundary of the Coli-IQ Bush-trees you will find yourself in the Tulgey Fire Swamp of Sadness.



Here lives some of the most ferocious creatures found in Axis Mundi, most prominently the



Jabberwocky.



Only the most mad would move past this point.



If you've reached this point somehow you're clearly a completely different sort of Mad entirely, so go right ahead.



XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX


It was quiet as the Ponies absorbed the information imprinted upon the sign. They silently stood weighing their options, Rarity taking the time to look in each direction on either side of the sign and so, Rarity was the one to finally break the dreadful silence.

"Well we clearly can't go around the swamp. So unfortunately we must go through it."

Turning to look at her Friends, Rarity found them staring at her in a most befuddled manner. In her current state she couldn't comprehend why. Of, she soon didn't need to as Pinkie made it quite clear in an instant.

"Wow Rarity! You talked normally again!"

The Fashionista blinked a bit at that, not quite understanding her Friend's words. This was more due to her head injury than anything else.

"Shpool guard shwim gurl?"

Pinkie frowns.

"And now your back to making no sense what so ever." (and this was coming from Pinkie Pie) And unsurprisingly Pinkie bounces back and is smiling again in seconds, with just a bit giggling added for effect. "Oh well! It still sounds pretty funny! And I think your right.. We've got no choice but to go through the swamp. Right Fluttershy?"

Jumping ever so slightly having not expected to be addressed in the decision making process Fluttershy took her time to answer.

"Um, We . . .well, I agree that we should go through the swamp. Its our only option really."

Pinkie nodded enthusiastically and then yelled out "Then lets GO!" She then began her characteristic hopping toward the home of the apparentJabberwocky.Her Friends sent each other a quick look, before smiling and following at a sedate relaxed pace.


MLP:FIM


Currently in a bush along a plain dirt path with occasional hills hid a predator. It resembled a panther, with the exception of it's canine like muzzle, and hollow lime green eyes. Also, it had three tails and six legs.

At the moment the creature was observing what it saw as prey. It's possible next meal was a lone humanoid figure, dark, and as far it was concerned sounded like a bird. In it's mind it was an easy kill so, it waited for the prey to pass its current location, and for the prey to get a little bit ahead. As it prepared to pounce upon the biped not a shred of fear or hesitation in it's primitive stupid mind.

This creature was unaccustomed to anything dangerous (to it) entering it's territory. So obviously the biped was no different.

And so, it leapt, maw opened wide and claws out and at the ready.

In an instant however things changed. The biped had stopped moving and stood completely still. No longer was it whistling and making the music of the birds. The thing on two legs also seemed to be looking back at the creature mid pounce, then the light came. It was bright and blinding, and seemed to be emanating from the so called, prey.

When the light finally subsided and reality came back into focus, the beastly cat hit the ground less than a foot from the biped. The thing in green was looking at it's would be killer, which seemed to have been, for lack of a better term, flash fried. The thing seemed to be looking at it with a semblance of curiosity, head tilted almost in a innocent fashion. This went on for about a minute or so before the thing began to bend at the knees, and with a freakish six clawed hand took hold of the nearest ankle joint, and tore the leg from the steaming corspe.

He then once again stood and proceeded to move on, teeth sinking into the leg as though it was part of a perfectly cooked bird, and despite having a full mouth started to whistle again, and clearly without any distortion. The humanoid thing was currently on the trail of his own prey, a unsuspecting trio of Ponies. And unlike the cat, they would not be so lucky . . . . . . .

. . . to die so quickly.


MLP:FIM


Since they had entered the swamp things had been fairly peaceful, despite the warning sign. They'd only encountered one remarkably large,rat?Which Rarity had the pleasure of slaying. Of course, as indicated, one couldn't nessarily tell if it was a rodent. It could have easily been a cat it was so mangey.

But nothing much else had occurred since.

Deeper into the swamp it seemed far more, normal, compared to the outsides surrounding it. Each step they took seemed to cover their hooves in another layer of muck. And while Rarity had grown out of her stronger distaste for the muck thanks to her Friends and Sweetiebelle, the current level of mud and slime clinging to her was most certainly too much. Even the normally at ease Pinkie Pie was uncomfortable. Interestly the one most at ease was Fluttershy of all Ponies. Though, why that was could only be guessed at.

The surrounding trees were tall, and seemed to be oaks of some sort. Above vines and growth seemed to block out nearly all light, though even before they had entered the swamp they had never seen a sun.

Suddenly,somethingblocked their path. It was quite hot, and quite close. Fluttershy jumped/flew at least 20 feet before stopping.

As it turned out, the thing blocking their path was a pillar of Fire that seemed to be coming from a easily missable hole in the ground. Because of this Rarity looked more than a bit irritated. And so she began expressing her irritation verbally just as Fluttershy made it back to the ground.

"That shpit sizzle gumboil ringer strawchumickser! Vas spizna sac rum sa mooreze!"

She yelled this so loudly that Fluttershy looked both scared and confused. Pinkie on the other hoof had a wide eyed look of surprise in her blue eyes.

"She said ahmm . . . . something not nice about the sign, and the Pony who made it. And she was really mad because of how we nearly walked right into the fire."

Pinkie was now smiling wide with her eyes closed. Fluttershy and Rarity were themselves looking at her in utter amazement.

"You can understand her?"

This was Fluttershy who couldn't grasp the concept, though to be fair she can't really grasp much when it comes to Pinkie Pie.

"Not mostly, but sometimes it just comes through loud and clear. You know?"

Here Fluttershy looked a bit confused, and slightly irritated.

"No, not really."

Pinkie blinked, and then Pony-shrugged as though to sayK, suite yourself.

Then another fire pillar burst from the ground about five feet from the first. This was Rarity's response.

"Da tweedel schnitzel gozz!"

Fluttershy of course jumped once again, though not as high. Pinkie reread up on her back hooves and shielded her face with her front ones, looking like a squirrel was trying to claw it off, she has experience. She was also hyperventilating just a bit.

"Wa kabon sa noh thup?"

The terrified looking Fluttershy looked to Pinkie for a translation. Noticing this, Pinkie composed herself and cleared her throat before speaking.

"I understood that one. She asked what that was. Luckily I have an answer."

Fluttershy blinked and asked "You do?" Which immediately got a response from Pinkie.

"Of course silly!" This response spooked Fluttershy just a bit. But, that didn't stop Pinkie from continuing. "You see its like a guesser field, only with fire instead of hot water." She then proceeded to point to several spots in the direction they were formerly headed in. "I count about, 30 of them! And the last one came about four minutes after the first. So I'd say we have about a minute, maybe a minute and a hath before another of those things burst!" Both of her Friends were looking at her in abject amazement.

Because of their situation Fluttershy felt the need to ask "Hmm, ah. Wha . . .What we do then?" Pinkie did not hesitate.

"We go through of course!"

Rarity looked at her like she was actually crazy, a rare occurrence among those who truly knew Pinkie. And Fluttershy, well Fluttershy looked like she had actually died standing up. Seeing her Friends faces, she knew she had to explain, for once.

"It'd take way too long to get around it, and we could be here even longer if we change direction! So heres what we need to do. Rarity, do you still have your watch?" The mare became confused, but trusted the Earth-pony enough to simply nod. "Great! So heres the plan. We wait for the next guesser to go off and we enter the field. Using her watch Rarity will inform us 20 seconds before each guesser so we can freeze. And hopefully, we don't get to experience a horribly horrible death by fire!"

Pinkie was smiling, but under the circumstances it was clear that even she was nervous, if only a little. But seeing as she had a point about how long they could be stuck there Rarity nodded in consent. This made Pinkie's smile just a bit more genuine.

Rarity however then turned to Fluttershy, giving her a look that saidwe're doing this.Fluttershy knew better than to question at this point and nodded as well.

"Great!" Screamed out the jubilant party Pony.

With this the three gathered in front of the guesser that had gone off in front of them the first time. They waited, until the next guesser went off, luckily far away from them, and they began to move. Fluttershy went with floating jumps curtesy of her wings, while Rarity placed dainty, careful steps around each guesser. Pinkie meanwhile used her usual hopping method, I be it more carefully.

"Spop!"

This was Rarity signaling their need to, well stop. And so the three mares stopped. When the 20 seconds were up a guesser slightly behind them in the left most corner of the field went off, which of course set off Fluttershy who cried out and hopped forward, not entirely unlike Pinkie Pie all things considered. As the three moved forward they each dealt with the situation in their own way. Rarity tried to remain composed, both for herself, and her Friends. Pinkie was looking at everything at once, her eyes darting around quite erratically. Fluttershy definitely had it the worse as she was flying, not even letting her hooves touch the ground anymore, and was sweating profusely. Her eyes were also looking anywhere but the ground.

Oddly, this didn't just seem to calm her, but distract her. She began to look less nervous. This proceeded until she worked up the courage to speak.

"Um, girls?"

"Whats up Fluttershy?"

"I've been looking at the trees, and there are no birds."

Rarity raised an eye-brow and asked "Shonz?" But Flutters basically got the gist of it anyway.

"Well, its just, when we first arrived in the swamp I noticed a number of strange looking birds. But now for some reason they're gone."

Pinkie was currently examining the the trees a little more critically.

"Now that you mention it, it iissssss a lot quieter."

Rarity responded by squinting intensely upward.

Despite the examination, none of them were able to offer up a explanation. But, because they were focussing so much on the trees, they weren't paying attention to the guessers. And so, when they should have been stopping, they were moving. So when the next guesser went off, it hit the optimal target, Fluttershy.

Or rather, Fluttershy's wing. Specifically her left one. They sent her straight back to ground where she let out a horrible cry of intense pain. Her Friends were at her side in less than a second. As they looked over the now crying Pegasus, they didn't notice the sound of heavy gutturalbreathing.

"Oh my gosh Darling! Are you okay?"

This got Pinkie giving herself whiplash to look at Rarity

"OK?!Does she freakin look okay Rarity!"

The baker/party planner looked truly distressed as only a situation like this could make her. But, they never quite got a chance to continue as the source of thebreathingmade itself known.

It dropped from the trees. It had a long worm like body. Thin bony arms to which attached four hair covered claws a piece. Its head was quite fish like with beady little eyes and a round suction cup like mouth full of deadly curved teeth and whiskers hanging off it's cheeks. It was armored with scales colored a disgusting shade of purple. Truly insulting to the likes of Spike and Twilight really.

Fluttershy of course, screamed. Though, that could be because the creature was reaching out for her with a claw.

Rarity, not wasting any time, ran to defend her terrified Friend and went too kick the offending claw.

Rarity found an odd sensation in her back legs as she had expected for it to be over quickly. Being that she had closed her eyes as she has prepared to buck, and found her legs stuck in that position, she obviously questioned what happened. Opening her eyes and looking behind her, she found that her legs had been caught by the creature. It was Rarity's turn to scream.

"Rarity! NNOOO!"This was asupremelydistressedPinkie Pie.

Realizing that this was the dreaded Jabberwocky mentioned in the warning, Pinkie sprung into action and yelled out"RARITY!I'LL SAVE YOU!"and was nearly upon the beast! Now, you all might be wondering where Fluttershy was in all this. Well, in a sever state of panic she fled via flight. The fear and adrenaline overriding the pain from her damaged wing. This was why she was abandoning her Friends as well. That, and deep down her instincts informed her that her usual methods wouldn't work on the Jabberwocky, not that she knew that was what it was.

Then again, I don't think she knows who she is at the moment either.

Pinkie had reached the Jabberwocky and In doing so she hopped onto it's free claw and proceed to give it a left uppercut of sorts with all her mighty Earth-pony strength honed from her youth on the rock farm.

It wasn't very effective.

The Jabberwocky responded by backhanding her, sending her flying into the trees.

Coincidently with the same claw that currently held Rarity.

Pinkie ended up entangled in the vines, struggling to escape. So, she did the only thing she could.

Bight through them.

"Don't worry Rarity! I'll think of something!"

Feeling intensely nauseated after being swung around like a rag doll, if only as a consequence, the white Mare opted to stay silent. So instead of speaking and risking both word vomit and regular vomit, Rarity just prayed that Pinkie acted quickly. Of course, this was when the Jabberwocky decided to reorient the Pony by tossing her up in the air and catching her fully in it's clawed appendage. Rarity seriously considered vomiting towards the thing when she realized it was moving her towards it's wide open mouth.

So she screamed again.

Hearing her Friend's cry, Pinkie looked down and knew that she had to do somethingNOW!So she did what she does best.

Talk.

"Hey!Hey you!

This definitely caught its attention.

"Yeah! I'm talking to you yaugly worm, thing!"

The jabberwocky knew it was being insulted. One does not need intelligence tell such things, only an existing sense of pride. And so it began to climb back into the trees towards the Pink Party Pony named Pinkie, while Pinkie herself went back to biting away at the the vines. Rarity, became all the more nauseas.

The Pink Pony was lucky as she had been sent quite high, and the Jabberwocky was quite slow. Knowing she needed a idea soon, otherwise she would find herself and Rarity being, . . . . . . gulp. . . . . . . . . digested, she tried to come up with something as she worked to free herself. It was here, in her struggle to become free, that she saw the means of dealing with the Jabberwocky. A tree.

Some of you might be thinking,duh! There are trees everywhere. Its a forest(even though its actually a swamp).And you would be correct, rude, but correct. But it wasn't a normal tree for starters. As noted by Pinkie the tree in question wasn't as thick as the others, though it was still about as big as 4 Ponies in circumference. It was also old and full of holes, dying. It was tall enough to reach past the point in which she was entangled and slightly tilted at an angle in the same direction. This was when the epiphany struck her. But she would need . . .

"FLUTTERSHY!"

This managed to catch the traumatized Pony's attention. Instead of replying she just stared with an unblinking gaze.

"Listen! I need you to go to that tree on the opposite side to where I am!" She pointed with one of her hoof. "And wait for my order. Once I give it you need to push with ALL your might at,that, spot!" She then pointed to a more specific spot where on their side was a hole, but on the directed side was a good portion of bark helping the tree maintain a shaky structural stability.

Fluttershy had turned to look at the tree and then turned to look back at Pinkie Pie, really looked at her, and seemed to be greatly apprehensive.

"I, I do . . don't think . . ."

While Fluttershy stuttered in poor attempt to express her fears, Pinkie's expression morphed into a rare case of irritation. Inside that irritation was flowing into true anger as her patience slipped away until . . .

"Then Don't Think! Listen! We are in danger!We're All In Danger! AND UNLESS YOU GET YOUR FLUTTERY BUTT IN GEAR WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE! SO GET OVER THERE AND WAIT FOR THE ORDER SOTHAT ITDOESN'THAPPEN!"

Pinkie then went back to biting through the vines not paying her Friend any further attention. Fluttershy's face shifted through a variety of expressions including, well, all of them. She didn't know what to do. She considered everthing, her eyes shifting everywhere. Then, something remarkable happened. She hardened her expression and went to the designated spot.

Pinkie had made great progress. She had not just cleared most of the vines but had also shaped them into a sort of cradle. She herself was still sort of tangled but that was next. It was almost time for her to give Flttershy the order.. Pinkie had truly outdone herself with this. The cradle was positioned next to her and consisted of a remarkable number of intact vines. It was at an odd angle and curved facing away from the designated tree.

Pinkie observed her work and smiled genuinely, until she heard the roar of the approaching Jabberwocky. She currently had herself dangling near the lower end of the cradle, holding onto the end of a vine with her tail. She knew now was the time.

"Alright Flutters! Knock itDOWN!"

Hearing the command Fluttershy readied herself. She didn't have Rainbow's raw speed and she knew she didn't have Aj's sheer strength to buck it, and she certainly didn't posses the magical ability, being a Pegasus and all. So she did what she could, that being ram the thing with her whole body.

"Ow."

She said this softly, unheard by the world around her. When she opened her eyes however she was horrified by the fact that the tree was just as barely intact as before. It didn't seem to be affected at all. She quickly then in a newly ignited panic state looked to Pinkie who was looking at the approaching monster with nothing but anger and determination in her eyes. She then looked at the horrendous creature clutching poor Rarity, and then back at the tree.

It was mocking her in its stillness. It didn't think she had what it takes to knock it down. It thought she was a whimpering waste of space. That she wasn't worth the sperm that fertilized her mother's egg. Suddenly, Fluttershy's panic partially morphed into something similar to Pinkie's determination, and she readied herself for another go, her eyes tightly shut.

Just as Fluttershy went to move again, this time with just a little more speed, a sound permeated the air. It wasn't necessarily loud, in fact no creature heard it. It was the sound of cracking wood, as it turned out the first blow had worked just with a,delayed reaction.

Because of this Fluttershy essentially just barreled past the thing, and careened like a locomotive into the next tree, much more sturdy, and landed on a branch not far below her. In her current state she didn't really know what happened.

This wasn't helped by the branch she landed on breaking under her weight which caused her to let out asqueakas she headed for the ground.

The now hath toppled tree headed exactly where Pinkie expected it to, right into her cradle of vines, its broken jagged former top pointed nearly at the ground. A few vines snapped under the sudden increase in weight, but most of it held. Hearing it and the seeing the thing from out of the corner of her eye, Pinkie waited once again. This time, for the opportune moment. She waited for the Jabberwocky to get a bit closer, and into the right spot. As she did this she also lifted herself by her tail just a bit so that her muzzle was level with a single vine. Said vine was the most structurally integral part of the whole thing, for if it went away, so did the whole cradle.

Finally, came the opportune moment.

Pinkie before putting down her foe knew she needed his attention one more time.

"Heyc*%KSucker!"

This caught the Jabberwocky's attention. It also relieved Rarity who's nausea had only increased since the climb began.

"Why don't you Choke on myWood!"

On the ground the oh so stressed Fluttershy blushed at the proclamation.

Meanwhile Pinkie bit through the vital vine, sending the makeshift spear speeding towards her target, who unluckily caught it in his mouth. This resulted in the Jabberwocky loosing it's grip and speeding towards the ground in a hurry. It also lost it's hold of Rarity in the process.

Pinkie seeing her Friend falling launched herself and managed to catch her Friend in her front hooves.

Of course, they landed not far from where Fluttershy was currently sprawled on her back, a vacant look in her eyes.

Pinkie seemed to be decompressing.

Rarity looked more than a little green, but only a bit traumatized.

This jumped up a scale just a bit as she let out a sort of dainty scream while looking wide eyed in a particular direction. Pinkie and Flutters looked that way, only to find that the foe they had been facing was somehow still alive, barely, and reaching out for them.

The Jabberwocky was pinned to the ground, make shift spear going in through the mouth and coming out through the throat area. One eye was apparently dead while the other was locked on the Ponies. It's other front limb had been crushed under it's massive body, and a pool of dark, nearly black liquid was pooling from somewhere underneath it's head.

Don't worry though, the girls are quite lucky Ponies.

See, it had been awhile since the last guesser had gone off and, well . . . . .

In the air came an audible pop.

What followed was each and every guesser going off at the same time with a brilliant and bright glowing pillar of plasma each the color of the sun. Pinkie and Rarity both jumped on top of Fluttershy and Rarity activated a magical shield. They all held their eyes shut magnificently tight, but the death wail of their foe was so loud as to haunt them.

It took awhile but eventually everything died down. Not long after Rarity let down her shield and the three all separated from their group hug of desperation. Pinkie began to laugh hysterically in joy at their apparent survival. Rarity, began to cry to the same degree, resulting in the former grabbing the latter in a bear hug of comfort. Fluttershy meanwhile stayed in the same position she had been in the whole time. Sprawled on her back, wings spread, though her eyes were now slightly less glassy. In fact, she began to laugh, and cry at the same time. Pinkie felt it was best to leave her alone for a bit, at least until she calmed down, like a lot.

This was when Rarity threw up, thankfully not on her comfort companion.

At this point the two separated and Pinkie giggled in a slightly more subdued manner.

"You okay Rarity?'

"Yes Pinkie, but only thanks to you. I hope you can forgive me for that most unladylike display."

"Aww Rarity, Thats hardly unforgivable. You could puke all over me and I would forgive you for sure anyway! But please don't puke on me, k?"

Rarity wiped away her tears with a giggle and said "Thank you Darling, it means the world to me that you are so understanding."

"Phif, think nothing of it. And besides, I'm not the only one who saved you! Flutter-butt over there was also responsible!"

They both turned to Fluttershy, who in turn, did not look at them.

"Thank you Fluttershy. I know I wouldn't be here if it weren't for your efforts!"

With this endorsement from her milk coat colored Friend Flutters finally looked at them both and simply said "Thank you." And smiled, I'll be it a slightly shaky one. The two moved over to her and helped her to her hooves. It was Rarity who decided to get them moving again.

"Well, we've all been through an ordeal but I think it's high time we get moving again. No reason to let another terrible beastie catch us unawares."

"Right you are Rare! Right Flutters?"

While both looked befuddled at the introduction of these new nick names, the former seemed to find it amusing with a raised eyebrow. Fluttershy on the other hoof just looked confused but let out a "Sure." Anyway, the three got on the road again. They ran as far away from the guesser field as they could before slowing down and moving at a more relaxed pace.

Finding the quiet more than a bit unnerving after everything that had happened, Flutter decided to start a conversation for once, choosing to forget that the last time she did ended with a burnt wing.

"So uh, Pinkie Pie?" This got the party planner's attention. "Why the, uh, nick names?" Pinkie blinked before smiling wider as usual and saying "Don't know! I just got the strangest sense that they would become relevant soon!" She then shrugged her haunches in a sort of give up gesture before looking forward again.

Fluttershy blinked before smiling in an absolutely adorable way, only having this to say.

"Oh Pinkie Pie, you are so random."

She said this softly and with affection. Pinkie responded with a giggle and this.

"Silly Fluttershy. That's Dashie's line!"

She hopped as she always would, making it a fair distance. However, her second hop was stalled as she found herself stuck. Looking down she saw that her hooves were trapped in a sticky mud like substance.

"Oh come on!"

Pinkie yelled this to the heavens, as though calling out to some unknown holy entity (just me I'm afraid), but too late for her Friends as they were just as stuck as she.

"Well thiz hopscotch mugi juice."

This was Rarity, who looked up in repose to her own spoken statement as it seemed she was back to spewing nonsense.

"Why does stuff like this always happen to us?" Asked the remarkably calm Pegasus. In response the peeved pink one offered this. "Comes with being the protagonists probably. Though I have the strangest suspicion this isn't the work of our usual writers." Her two fellow prisoners gave her a look that said they would never truly understand her fully, while she gave them a look that siad it was probably best not to ask. That was when Fluttershy saw something and looked up in surprise.

"Uh, girls."

And so her Friends too looked up and saw what had peaked her attention. To their surprise there was a message of sort just kind of floating in mid air in bright yellow text.


IF YOU WISH TO ESCAPE THIS FATE



YOU NEED TO FLY AWAY. ALL YOU NEED TO



FLY IS A HAPPY LITTLE THOUGHT.



ANY OLD THOUGHT AT ALL.



IF THERE BE MORE THAN ONE IN YOUR PARTY



HOWEVER IT IS SUGGESTED THAT ALL OTHERS SHOULD HOLD ONTO THE



ONE WITH THEHAPPIEST THOUGHTS.


Seeing this, Rarity and Fluttershy moved to hold onto Pinkie, though they had to push through the thick malleable material they were stuck in to do so. Pinkie looked at them at this, before a look of realization came upon her face.

"Aw, you guys! That is so sweet. Okay let me think! I need a reel good one to get us out of here!"

With that Pinkie closed her eyes and began to concentrate on the happiest thought she could come up with. Not wanting to make her do all the work Rarity and Fluttershy too began to concentrate with their eye's closed. Because of this none of them noticed a peculiar golden dust that seemed to shimmer into existence at their feet. Of course, if one were to look up they might see a rather small, unique creature with transparent wings and, what might have been a tail But I couldn't say for certain. Regardless the girls didn't at all notice that they were beginning to be pulled from the, goo, they were stuck in. It was as though the power of gravity was being negated by happy thoughts,and the dust.

It was almost like an air powered rocket. build pressure enough and it just might . . . . . burst.

Oh deer.

And so the girls flew, though not entirely of their own fee will, screaming all the way.

Well really just Pinkie.

In joy, mostly.

Rarity clung to her Pink Friend intensely while looking down all the while, in sheer terror. Fluttershy on the other hoof was hyperventilating to a dangerous degree, with her eyes closed tightly to the point that it was beginning to hurt. And while her Friends will never admit if it happened or not, she may have urinated mid-flight.