"Blast!" Kepler hissed through his tusks. The wyvern had to grip a strapped crate in the middle of the wagon to keep from being flung violently off the careening hovercraft. "Arriel!" He threw a worried look over his shoulder. "Wherre in heaven's name did she get thrrown to?!"
"I-I can't see!" Flynn stammered, struggling to reorient the craft. The thrown boulder fell back down from its arch, landing in a thunderous slam against a random rock formation below. Channeling magic, the unicorn stallion struggled to maintain forward momentum. "She was spinning like crazy, though! I dunno if she can catch air in time to avoid the stalks below!"
"Now Rainbow..." Logan grunted, being thrown left and right. "I know you care for every member of the Herald, but stay level-headed! Whatever you do, don't go flying blindly off in some ill-farted attempt to save—"
"Hold on, Ariel!" Rainbow Dash dove clear off the starboard side, wings spread. "I'm coming!" Fwoooooooooosh! She glided into the twirling madness below.
"Oh goddess damn it!" Logan hollered as the vessels pun even more crazily. "Rrrrnngh—Wildcard?!?"
Naturally, the Desperado didn't respond. He struggled to balance the craft, throwing both wings into the act. The strain was evident on his feathered face, and bulbs of sweat ran wildly past the straps of his dark goggles. He flexed both wings from the back of the wagon as the craft spun and spun and spun and—
Swoooooooooooooooosh! Rainbow Dash plunged into the great dark. As her eyes twitched to make sense of the vomitous dive, a sea of deathly waving stalks came into focus directly below. They grew closer with alarming speed.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight Sparkle's voice cracked as she and her fellow friends barreled after their anchor. "Don't you ever listen?!"
"Just drop it, Twilight!" Rarity's voice cracked. "We have a pegasus to rescue!"
"Ohhhhhhhhhh boyoooooooooooooo!" Pinkie's voice warbled as her entire body vibrated.
"The stalks!" Twilight flashed Pinkie a look. "They're attacking, aren't they?! From what angle?"
Pinkie pointed... with all four limbs... in every direction.
Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-Thwpppppp! An explosive briar patch of red tendrils flew hungrily straight for Rainbow's plunging body.
"Look out!" Rarity shouted—
"Htttt—!" Rainbow Dash was already pulling up. She twirled upside down and re-angled her wings for good measure. She ascended just inches above the lashing plant tongues.
Th-th-th-th-th-thapppp! The living whips struck nothing but air. A few of Rainbow's tail hairs sacrificed themselves to the claps of thunder, and soon she was ascending again, outflying the collective aim of the hive-minded probisci.
The omega horizon straightened out—as curved as it was—and Rainbow found a diarrheic assortment of limestone rocks winding and curving above the living forest ahead of her. Several chunks of the porous formations had been ripped clean, bouncing and flouncing in the grip of the forest's summit.
"Well..." Twilight Sparkle wheezed. "...now we know where they got the boulders from!"
"Who cares?!" Applejack looked all around. "Where in the hay is Ariel?!"
"Fluttershy—?" Rarity looked over.
"Shhhhhh..." Fluttershy's eyes were clenched shut. "I'm searching..."
Ahead of Rainbow's flight, a veritable river of tentacles converged on a large boulder, ripped it to a dozen pieces, and armed themselves with an artillery line of skull-crushing stones.
"Coulllllllld you search faster, darling?" Rarity purred intensely.
Almost immediately, Fluttershy's turquoise eyes flew open. She pointed a yellow hoof upwards. "There!"
"... ... ...!" Rainbow tilted her gaze up.
A dizzy pegasus with a tell-tale gray coat sat—perched limply—atop a distant cleft of limestone overlooking the waving forest. Her eyes rocked from obvious disorientation, and her wings hung limply at her sides.
"Flighty femme at nine o'clock!" Pinkie Pie squawked.
"I'm there," Rainbow grunted, and—THWOOOOOOOOOSH! She sailed thunderously forward, ascending towards the loop of limestone.
"Rainbow! Look out!" Twilight shrieked. "The boulders—"
"Incomin'!" Applejack shouted, for the vines were already tossing their murderous ammo.
Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-Thw-Thwooosh!
Fluttershy and Rarity shrieked.
Rainbow didn't. With a determined scowl, she weaved up and down, left and right, spiraling past air-burning arcs of stone and granite. One grazed her shoulder. She spun blurriedly from the impact—all of her friends gasping—but then she evened herself back out. With a massive flap of her wings, she roared ahead, outflying the next bevvy of rocks being thrown her way.
Swoooooooosh!
Ariel scarcely had a time to take one dizzied look from where she lay draped. Rainbow Dash was already upon her. Thwummmp! She scooped the mare up in both forelimbs and ascended rapidly. Milliseconds later—
SMASSSSSSH! No less than six clusters of tentacles slammed into the perch from opposite sides, rendering it to pebbles and dust beneath the two fleeing pegasi.
"Whoah nelly!" Applejack stammered.
"It... was a tr-trap!" Fluttershy yelped.
"It's like—somehow—they all knew Rainbow would be drawn in!" Applejack exclaimed. "They was waitin' for her! They didn't want only Ariel!"
The moment wasn't lost to the Heraldite in question. She took one squinting glance down and clung even tighter to Rainbow Dash. "Holy sh-shit!"
"Yeah." Rainbow nodded, wheezing in spite of her stern expression. The petite mare carried Ariel effortlessly skyward, into the starlight. "Doesn't get much holier."
"Oh jeez..." Ariel clenched her eyes shut and hissed through her teeth. "Dammit!"
"What?"
"I sw-swear..." The mare in Rainbow's arms pouted. "I'm not doing this on purpose! I'm not trying to be the damsel-in-distress all the time! It frickin' sucks!"
"Don't worry, girl." Rainbow managed a sweaty grin. "It's not your fault."
Ariel blinked at her. "Then whose is it?"
Rainbow stumbled for a reply.
Just then...
"Daa-aa-aashiiiie!" Pinkie Pie squealed.
"???" Rainbow Dash looked below her... and instantly regretted it.
A fine red mist juicily lit the air above the forest. At first, it was difficult to tell why... until Rainbow realized that several of the stalks were outright ripping their twitching siblings out from the roots. Working together, the stalks formed a solid chain of detached vines... and then flung them upwards like an elongated whip.
"Uhhhh..." Pinkie went stone-faced. "Move?!?!?"
"Rainbow—!" Ariel started to shriek.
"Fly!" Rainbow tossed the pegasus clear from her grip and flapped her wings, sailing backwards. "Split up before—!"
It was too late. The elongated coil of dead stalks ripped its way through the air between both mares...
...and wrapped around Rainbow's lower left leg.
"Guhhh!" Rainbow yelped as she was dragged back towards the hungry earth below.