“Is it a good plan for once?” Daylight Gleam asked her.
“Probably not, but it’s the best I could come up with.” Applejack admitted, but still sported a confident grin. “Don’t worry, things have gone pretty well so far haven’t they?”
The unicorns weren’t exactly filled with as much confidence as Applejack after that but Star Blaze at least had to admit that since none of them had died yet things were going better than he expected. Sugar Spirit was too hot and scared to complain and Daylight somewhat trusted her now.
“Okay, fine. I’ll believe in your plan again. Not like I have anything else to offer.” Daylight said to Applejack, getting a wink in return from the apple farmer.
“So what is the plan?” Star Blaze asked.
Applejack took a deep breath. “Alright, first off I want you to give me that gold coin you have.” Star Blaze sighed and would’ve fought that were it not for the situation they were in, instead he just hoofed it over to her. “Great, now, I want all of you to go back to his throne room and get as much treasure as you can.” At that all their eyes lit up. “Now don’t get too happy, once King Avarice makes it to this room I’m gonna lead him on a chase again, when I do you take all that treasure and pile it up on the middle of the bridges above that lava pit, okay?”
The three unicorns nodded, following along so far.
“And that’s it for you, I’ll handle everything else. Once you’re done moving that treasure I want you to get out of there, okay?” Applejack told them.
“Okay but you’re not going to sacrifice yourself are you? I know we just went over this but...” Daylight trailed off, frowning at Applejack.
“Nothing like that, I promise. And I don’t lie.” Applejack looked them all in the eyes as she said this. They knew she was speaking the truth.
“Good, now go hide by the big door. I don’t want to take any chances with him seeing you.” She told the unicorns.
The three ran off to the spiked door, Daylight even giving her a small salute as they went, when they got to it they opened it up and kept it slightly ajar so they could hide behind it but still watch for when King Avarice came and Applejack led him away again.
It wasn’t long before they all heard the thunder-like rumbling coming from the same tunnel Applejack came out of. Applejack stood in the middle of the chamber, waiting for King Avarice. The walls around her began to shake as he got closer and a bright light started to come from the tunnel as well. Sparks and bolts of lightning shot out from it, twisting the metal gate and scarring the stone walls. But Applejack still stood firm, waiting for him.
At last a silver glow surrounded the metal bars of the gate and tore them to the sides, creating a large hole for King Avarice to jump through, horn crackling with violent energy and voice constantly emitting a loud growling noise.
His bright eyes quickly found Applejack and he turned to attack her again, only to stop when she held up the gold coin she took from Star Blaze.
“My treasure!” King Avarice yelled at her.
“Oh yeah, it is. You don’t mind other ponies taking your treasure do you? I forgot.” Applejack grinned at him, flipping the coin in the air.
“THAT IS MINE!” He bellowed louder than ever before and ran at Applejack.
“Heh.” Applejack gave a short laugh and ran down the hallway towards the lava pit, she hoped the unicorns would start working as fast as possible, she really didn’t want to have to keep running away from King Avarice for too long.
She heard his rumbling screaming from behind her and looked over her shoulder to see him conjure up his magical jaws again, they darted forward at Applejack, biting at her hooves and tail. She kept dodging and ducking out of their way but eventually she was going to get tired, meanwhile King Avarice didn’t seem to ever slow down.
“Is that the best you can do?!” Applejack taunted him. “I’m stealing some of your gold you old nutjob!”
“Gold! Treasure!” King Avarice yelled and aimed the jaws right for Applejack’s head.
But that was easy enough for Applejack to duck under, he didn’t even get her hat.
“You’re like a broken record.” She said to herself, shaking her head as she ran from the crazy king.
It wasn’t far to the lava pit, Applejack still had the energy to outpace him for now, she felt the extra heat that bubbled up from it start to buffet her and a new wave of sweat started pouring down her face. Applejack could see the bridges now and the stalactites hanging above them, smirking to herself she got a second wind and started running harder. Everything was coming together.
King Avarice rumbled from behind her and started to fire more bolts of lightning but Applejack could easily keep an eye on him and dodge the blasts in a wide area like this. His bones and her hooves made loud clacking noises as they ran across the stone, at last making it to the bridges.
Applejack wasn’t just running across it to escape from the king though, she was constantly sending out tremors to inspect the strength and make-up of the bridge while she ran over it. If she wasn’t careful things could end very badly so she wanted to “feel” things out as best she could before she really put her plan into action. Applejack nodded to herself as she jumped away from another hastily thrown lightning bolt, taking a hard left at the middle of the bridges this time and going down one of the tunnels she hadn’t been in before. But Applejack knew there were multiple branching paths going off of it that would eventually take her back to the red room, and by then hopefully she could finally end things with King Avarice.
“Give me back my treasure! It all belongs to me!” King Avarice’s bones rumbled even louder and a shockwave exploded out from his horn.
Applejack was far enough away when it hit her that she was only launched forwards a little bit and still managed to stay on her hooves instead of being knocked to the ground. Applejack decided to pay the king back in kind and shot a tremor behind her, shaking and breaking apart the ground in front of him, causing his bony legs to stumble and fall over it.
Once more the king ended up in a twisted heap but something like that would hardly delay him for a moment. Applejack didn’t stop to smirk or taunt him any further, this was the final stretch and she needed to keep serious.
She ran down a side tunnel that would loop towards another bigger tunnel that went straight to the red room, she hoped she could get there quickly, with how narrow this tunnel was it would be difficult to avoid King Avarice’s attacks.
You know, why don’t I just...
Applejack waited until she could hear the roaring of King Avarice behind her, his voice echoing off the walls of the tunnel, and then she kicked a hoof against the tunnel wall as she ran through it, sending a strong tremor into it. Cracks shot up in a ring across the walls, floor and ceiling of the tunnel. If King Avarice wasn’t insane he would’ve recognized what was happening again, but luckily for Applejack his mind was more than just a little foggy. King Avarice kept charging ahead as the tunnel shook harder and began to collapse around him. He tried making a shield around him but it didn’t stop the tunnel from caving in on top of him, stopping him dead in his tracks for a few moments longer.
He’ll probably teleport out of all that once he gathers his wits again but that should give me enough time. I hope.
After a few more twists and turns and minutes that passed by in a flash thanks to the adrenaline that coursed through her veins Applejack made it to another tunnel that directly went back to the red room. Not taking any time to stop or slow down this time, Applejack ran towards the gate and shot out a preemptive tremor to knock the metal door completely off its hinges. Charging through it she skidded to a stop in the middle of the room and looked down at the lava pit and crisscrossing bridges.
“Perfect.”
Several mounds of gold, gems, and other treasures were piled up in the center of the bridges. Applejack felt pretty warm inside knowing that her friends actually did all this instead of just running off with the treasure like they could have. And also just like she asked they were nowhere in sight, hopefully hiding or watching from someplace safe.
A deep rumbling from the tunnel she came from told Applejack it was time to move, she ran back to where she had just gone previously, stopping in the middle of the bridge and surrounded by all the piles of King Avarice’s treasure. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, waiting for him.
And this time King Avarice just straight up smashed through the metal bars of the gate. Broken bones quickly knitting back together, his skull swiveling all around, searching for the pony that stole from him.
If King Avarice still had eyebrows they would’ve shot into space when he finally saw Applejack standing around all that treasure.
“Mine!” His horn lit up and he galloped along the floor, practically leaping with each step as he ran at Applejack. “My treasure! My gold!”
His silver magic grew into that familiar set of jaws, tied to his horn by a wispy string of magic. The king seemed even wilder than normal as he charged at Applejack, pushed beyond franticness by seeing so much of his treasure taken from his throne room and with some pony poised to steal it all away from him. The jaws snapped again and again as King Avarice ran out across the bridge to the center. Through all this Applejack stood still, bracing herself.
With a guttural cry and a thunderous rumbling, King Avarice jumped at Applejack, the silver jaws going right for her head again.
This time Applejack didn’t dodge completely, she turned her head to the side and allowed the jaws to clamp down on her shoulder. Wincing a bit from the pain but holding strong.
King Avarice’s jump still carried him into her, bony legs cracking into her chest and skull headbutting her. Applejack was pushed back slightly but braced herself with her superior physical strength, digging her back legs into the stone, getting the both of them to stop directly in the middle of the crisscrossed bridges.
“You are my slave! You obey and work for me forever! Everything in the world belongs to me forever! Magic! Power! Gold! Treasure! EVERYTHING!” King Avarice’s howling voice roared in Applejack’s face.
Applejack narrowed her eyes and stared back at him with pure defiance. She raised her right hoof in the air over both their heads. “Fine! You want it all so bad? Then take it with ya!”
She slammed her hoof back into the ground, cracking it right between them. But that was just the start, the whole chamber started to rumble as Applejack sent the strongest tremor she had ever used through the bridges. King Avarice growled in confusion as more and deeper cracks spread out from where they were standing and the ground shook violently beneath his hooves.
With a single loud crack the bridges broke apart beneath them, the rocks, treasure, and ponies now starting to fall towards the lava below.
“My treasure!” King Avarice yelled, dispelling his jaws and gathering what he could of his treasure in his telekinetic grip as everything fell around him.
Applejack didn’t pay him any more bother, jumping up from the bit of rock she was standing on she leaped high towards the ceiling of the chamber, as close to the hanging stalactites as she could get.
King Avarice madly yelled and roared as he fell deeper into the pit with the rubble of the bridges and his treasure. Applejack couldn’t make it far enough to the stalactites with her jump so she pulled out her trusty lasso from under her hat and swung it towards them, everything depended on her good aim.
She heard a final unnatural wail from below her and the bubbling sound of rocks plummeting into the lava. But she didn’t dare take her mind off her lasso, her aim was true and Applejack threw it right around a stalactite, she pulled the rope hard to get it to tighten completely around the hanging rock and not slide off. She was worried her weight when she stopped falling would pull it loose but it stayed on.
“Whoo… finally.” Applejack said as she hung there, swinging in the air a couple hundred feet above the lava. The apple farmer looked around at the rest of the chamber, bridges completely gone, impossible to climb from stalactite to stalactite. She bit her lip and laughed a little at her situation. “Really hope somepony comes to rescue me soon.”