//------------------------------// // A Little More Time // Story: Ofolrodi // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// "She wants us to go where?!" Flynn barked. Logan's brow furrowed. "A cave?!" Ariel slumped in the back of the wagon. "Yes," she exhaled breathily. "A cave." She helped a wincing, injured Wildcard sit carefully in the center. "Thanks to her friends, Rainbow told me where we can find it too." "No offense, but..." Flynn jerked his head back and forth between Ariel and the direction he was aiming the wagon. "...right now, with a bunch of bloodthirsty freakjobs at our tail, a cave sounds like the absolute worst idea." "She says there's a tunnel system!" Ariel exclaimed. She pointed at the tallest mountain forming a silhouette before them. "Up there! About halfway up! There's an entrance that leads to it!" "What of ourr purrsuerrs?" Kepler asked. "We can blow the entrance shut with enchanted runestones!" "Can that work, Keps?" Logan asked. "Ach..." The wyvern stroked his hairy chin thoughtfully. "We will have to get the carrriage quite a distance into the hollow of the mountain so that the chaotic aurra won't interrferre with the lunarr command. But—yes! I do believe it is a viable strrategy!" "It's impulsive, stupid, and cowardly!" Flynn cackled. "We'll be dead meat if those things manage to get in there and find us!" "Well, what would you rather us do?!" Ariel frowned, reaching into a supply cannister of bandages to treat Wildcard. "Cruise pointlessly in an open valley and wait for them to overrun us?! Rainbow and General Death Turkey are doing their best to buy us some time right now but even they can't pull their stunts off forever!" "Uhhhhhhh yeahhhhhhhhh..." Logan gave a nod towards the mountains. "I'm for the impulstive, stupid, and cowardly plan." "Dammit Logan—" Flynn began. "Baldy..." Logan waved a meaty fetlock at the unicorn. "When all of this is said and done, remind me to teach you the difference between nerd-smarts and get-away-with-your-balls-intact-smarts." He squinted. "Now are you gonna take us to the mountain, or do I have to get out and push?" Flynn sighed long and hard. Nevertheless, he relented, tilting the vehicle slightly towards Omega in order to make for their new destination. "Sometimes—I swear—I've no friggin' clue how Rainbow Dash survived so long before she met the Herald." "She didn't have bald-headed blowhards to make her think twice about every little dayum thing." "I just want us to survive this shit! Is that such a crime?" "We'll read the law books once we're in the cave. Shouldn't be hard. You've got a friggin' night-light stapled to your forehead." "Can we stop with the bickering and move on with the cruising?!" Ariel snapped, bandaging Wildcard. "Goddess on a treadmill—you two need to get a room." "Maybe we can carve one out the cave," Flynn muttered. The blunt end of an axe lightly bopped him on the head. "Ow!" "Get a move on!" Logan growled. Kepler, in the meantime, was already hard at work with his alchemical kit. "I shall prreparre an apprroprriate mix forr the inevitable explosion..." As the vessel began its gradual grind uphill, Wildcard looked back towards Edgeside. The griffon clenched his beak tight as his goggles reflected two tiny figures streaking loopty-loops above a pale sea of surging bodies. "Hresssssssh!" Row after row of enraged trolls leapt up at the two. Seraphimus dodged with ease and even swiped down once or twice with her talons—Schiiiiiing!—removing digits and claws. As the black blood spray dissipated, even more creatures attempted to tackle the dipping targets. Rainbow found it much harder to bait and evade their leaping forms—but that was probably because she was distracted. "Friggin'... death... scab frogs... swear to Luna..." Discord fizzled into existence as two beasts leapt up, fazing through him. "'Scab frogs!'" He lifted a claw, grinning. "I think I'm going to steal that!" The trolls descended on the downward arc of their dive, and Discord disappeared. Twilight Sparkle materialized in his place. "Don't forget, Rainbow!" she exclaimed. "You and Seraphimus can't do this forever!" "Wow," Rainbow Dash droned sarcastically. "I'm so devastated." Twilight pouted. "I'm only saying that you should pay attention to—" "Fluttershy!" Rainbow looked over her shoulder. "How far up the mountain are our friends?" "I... I can't tell..." Fluttershy whimpered, ears drooping. "Why not?!?" Rainbow blinked hard. "Oh... dang it... the chaos stones—" "Dashie—!" Pinkie yelped, pointing. Discord appeared in her place. "He's at the twenty! The ten—!" "Htttt!" Startled, Rainbow Dash flapped her wings hard and lifted— "Hressssssssssssssssssssh!" A swiping beast flew towards her flank. WHUMP! Seraphimus rammed into it, forcing it to fall back down and ragdoll into a sea of angry beasts. "Aaaaaaaand—sacked!" Discord pumped a big foam lion's paw. "That was their last chance for redemption too—" Seraphimus flew in a zig-zag, but she found the time to holler over her shoulder: "For a pony who wishes to survive, you're not doing a very good job at it!" "At least you have the decency to call me a 'pony' now!" Rainbow retorted, sweating and frowning. "Rainbow Dash!" Applejack could be heard hollering. She and her friends had rematerialized again. "We can see the wagon from here!" "You can?" "It's shining like a beacon in the night, darling!" Rarity added. "We shall keep an eye out for you!" "We will tell you when they arrive at the cave—" Fluttershy said, her voice being drowned out by hisses. "Hrnng!" Rainbow shook and juked to the side, narrowly missing pouncing figures. "Haaah!" She twirled, kicked a leaping troll in the forehead, and flew a little higher. She rejoined Seraphimus in circular orbit of the advancing front. "Bad news...!" She gulped. "Or good news—depending on how bloodthirtsy you are..." "We need to give your companions more time?" Seraphimus said. "Uh huh." Seraphimus exhaled. "Why does that not surprise me?" She dove down extra low this time, raking faces into ribbons with her talons. "RAAAAAAAUGH!" Sl-Sl-Sliiink!