The little fires that sparked started to spread. Pretty soon they were essentially gonna be trapped in a forest fire. That was bad news. If they didn’t leave right now, they would all be toast.
But Rainbow couldn’t move. She was gritting her teeth harshly from the pain of her right hind leg being crushed under a large tree branch. It’s width and length was too large for Rainbow to move herself in her condition.
And to think, that was the least of their worries. The pony who started these fires was nearby, glaring at them with intense rage. Fluttershy was staring at him, practically paralyzed by fear. Rainbow was able to recover enough to see him too.
They recognized him as Strike. But his body was an absolute mess of wonder on how he was even standing right now. What happened to him? There were claw marks, burns, scars, and ripped coatings decorating his body from head to tail. Actually, almost his entire tail was missing and ripped off. His Cutie Mark was no longer visible. And it looked like one of his ears had been bitten off.
He was also wearing something. It looked like braces that strapped around him from head to his torn off tail. Some of the lines of the brace spread around in a way that looked like it was supporting his chest area. The brace that went down the fetlock portion of his front hooves had something else connected to them. They almost looked like see-through claws, but very short claws that barely reached halfway to the rims of his hooves. One more brace went up the back of his neck to connect all the way up to his horn.
What was shocking though, was that each portion of the brace’s lines that wrapped around his hooves and body had a line that appeared to be piercing inside his coat. Even a spot around the back of his neck had one of these.
All the while, his magic appeared to be enveloping all around these braces, enveloping his body like electricity in a very dangerous and unstable looking way. He didn’t seem to care. His brace started… flickering. It was flickering quite fast, until it started to full on glow.
“Ah!” Fluttershy yelped. Strike was charging up his horn for another blast. His brace seemed to be fueling up energy for it, and it only took about a second before his horn flashed, then fired like a laser cannon. Without thinking, Fluttershy dived toward whatever cover she could find. She managed to avoid contact with the blast as it flew right above her. The blast exploded behind her, causing more fires to spread.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow yelled. That was when Strike brought his attention to Rainbow. “Oh no...” She attempted to remove the branch on her leg. But all that accomplished was a sharp pain, causing her to grit her teeth harshly. “I can’t even get it to budge. Nnngh…”
Strike’s horn started flickering again. Rainbow was the target this time. She tried searching around the area for any way to stop herself from getting hit. But there was nothing around. Nothing she could use to escape, nor stop this blast. Sweat began dripping down her face.
“Stop it!” Fluttershy yelled. “Why are you doing this?!” At the last moment, Strike turned his head, and his horn fired. The new target was in Fluttershy’s direction. Rainbow gasped. Fluttershy screamed as she tried to move away from her position. She managed to avoid contact with the beam, but not far enough away from its impact sight. It exploded, catching Fluttershy in the blast radius.
“Aaahhh!!!” Fluttershy screamed as her body was blown forwards. She landed with a bounce on her stomach, limbs spread forward and back.
“Fluttershy! Are you okay?! Fluttershy!”
Fluttershy was twitching from the pain she felt from the blast. It only just barely nicked her, but it didn’t make it any easier to endure. She attempted to pick herself up from the ground. But when she was able to lift her face up, Strike stomped a hoof down close by in front of her. It made her flinch, then freeze. Strike was looking down at her with malice. With the fires in the background, and Strike towering over her, she was more terrified than when she was swallowed by that tatzlwurm. What she would give to be back in there instead of right here right now. One small move, and Strike would probably finish it.
“Why, am I doing this?!” Strike responded menacingly. “Because I NEVER WANTED THIS JOB IN THE FIRST PLACE!!!” He turned his attention to Rainbow Dash. “It was all because of X that I got stuck in this stupid job! Because of her that I've been stranded here for the past four days, fending off the most dangerous of monsters just to survive! All for a stupid job to capture a stupid tatzlpony that I know next to nothing about!”
Strike took a few stomps toward Rainbow Dash as he yelled out his anger. The heat was rising quickly in this burning forest. “None of this would've happened if I had taken charge! Our Client claimed that she had told us all that we needed to know! That anything else we’d need to know was already told to X! But what she failed to understand was that X, DOESN’T TELL US ANYTHING!!! SHE NEVER SAYS ANYTHING TO US!!! EVER!!!”
While Strike was looking away, Fluttershy risked trying to pick herself back up again. Unfortunately, Strike looked back the moment she tried it, like he was expecting it. He sparked his horn again. Rainbow gritted her teeth out of fear. Fluttershy was about to get hit directly by one of his blasts.
Upon instinct Rainbow immediately lashed a tongue out towards him. He looked back in surprise, jumping out of the way of the grab. Fluttershy immediately took this opportunity to bolt in the opposite direction. Rainbow’s eyes went wide when she realized the new target for that blast was actually her tongue now.
“SHE STOLE MY LIFE FROM ME!!!” Strike yelled as he fired. Rainbow retracted her tongue as quick as she could. It barely missed, causing the blast to explode on the ground. When her tongue managed to return to her, she closed her mouth with her tongue cringing and quivering inside. Fluttershy continued running and went to hide in closest source of cover she could find.
“It was all because of her…” Strike continued after he landed. His tone was deep, and he seemed to be wincing from the unstable magical waves that was surrounding his body from the braces. “All because of her! I worked my life for that position! But one day, Clang brought her in out of nowhere and stole it from me! She made a mockery of my comrades and set me with a permanent stain on my record that will never go away!”
Strike looked towards the direction Fluttershy went, then started stomping his way. Rainbow noticed this. He was probably looking for Fluttershy again. She struggled again to remove the branch off her hoof. But it was no use. And at this distance, Strike would be too far for her tongues to reach.
“And now, I’ll finally get back at her. By destroying BOTH of you! Because I, don’t, care, anymore!”
Rainbow gasped, then grunted as she looked down toward her stomach. That was his plan to get back at X? She grunted angirly.
“What are you talking about?!” Rainbow yelled. “How does destroying us make you get back at her?” Although, with X still in her stomach, Rainbow knew that answer was obvious in one way. But there was no way Strike would know that, right? Thanks to the space and compression she made, her stomach wasn’t bulgy enough to tell that a pony was captive inside it.
“Because sheeee’s the leader of our little operation!” Strike said with venom. “Any misconduct that happens is her responsibility.” Fluttershy was shaking behind one of the few trees that weren’t burning yet. Sweat dripped down from her feared face as she listened with gritted teeth. “Once I eliminate you both, all I have to do is report the tragic fate that happened to two unfortunate ponies caused by X’s poor leadership. It will be her record that’ll be tarnished and destroyed. And she’ll be out of my mane forever!”
Comrades? Record? Operation? Strike was speaking like there was more than just them three in their group. As much as they wanted to, there was too much going on right now to focus on that. Fluttershy was shaking even more now and started whimpering audibly. Rainbow winced. She could hear Fluttershy’s whimpering from where she was. But more importantly, Strike could hear her. He was now marching toward her position.
“Oh no…” Rainbow said to herself, then blurted loudly. “Fluttershy! He knows where you are!”
But Fluttershy didn’t move from where she was. What could she do? If she moved, she would have nothing to cover her. And if she stayed, Strike would just get to her anyway. There was no way out!
Strike sparked up his horn one more time. “Say goodbye! AAACK!!!” Just before he fired, something huge roared and shook the ground, causing his blast to go completely astray. It was the tatzlwurm! Before Strike could respond, the tatzlwurm slithered quickly up to him and rammed him with its head, shoving Strike clear away from Fluttershy. Both Rainbow and Fluttershy gasped. And Strike was just growling fiercely.
“What?! No! That’s impossible!” Strike managed to slip away from the tatzlwurm’s shove. It stopped in its tracks and faced Strike, with Strike staring back. “That blast should’ve put you out of commission! You should NOT be moving right now!”
The tatzlwurm just roared again and thrusted its face down towards Strike. He jumped out of the way to avoid contact. It just kept going and dug itself back underground. Strike kept running in the direction he jumped, but found himself quickly stopped when the tatzlwurm suddenly emerge from the ground in front of his path.
Fluttershy, still startled by this sudden event, peaked out of her cover to see Strike’s struggle with the tatzlwurm’s attack. She worried for the tatzlwurm for a moment, then looked around the area. Their surroundings were already covered in fires without any clear paths out. It was very hot, causing her to breathe harshly. With all the light that these fires were causing, one couldn’t even tell that it was past midnight. More branches were starting to fall off the trees. They had to get out of here before they were engulfed in the flames.
Fluttershy noticed Rainbow Dash and rushed to her as fast as she could. “Rainbow! Are you okay?!”
Rainbow grunted as she tried to move her hind leg again, only to wince. “I don’t know. Ah… Ooh, that smarts…”
“We have to get you out,” Fluttershy said. She proceeded to try and lift the branch up with her hooves.
Meanwhile, Strike was trying desperately to fend this tatzlwurm back with blasts from his horn. Some were missing, some were hitting. But somehow the blasts just weren’t doing enough damage to stop this thing.
“Gah! I will NOT be stopped by this oversized worm!” As he was running, the claw portions of his braces located at the fetlock portions of his hooves began to flash. They then seemed to start generate bright blue electricity. There seemed to be tons of twittermites buzzing around in them. It was then that the tatzlwurm chasing behind him spread its mouth open to launch its tongues towards him. Those tentacles would reach Strike fast, so he stopped running, turned a one-eighty, and swiped with one of his hooves.
The swiped caused electric surges to fling out, which he then captured in his horn’s magic. They formed as a barrier between him and the tatzlwurm. When the tatzlwurm’s tentacles made contact with it, a flash sprung, causing it to hoist back as a quick electric surge conducted along its tongues and surrounded its body. It retreated its tongues back, roaring just before it closed its mouth. And then it lunged towards the barrier again. Touching it caused the electric surge again, which it endured. About a second later, it broke through the barrier. Strike gasped and yelled as the tatzlwurm managed to ram him.
“Nnngh! Uhn!” Fluttershy huffed as she promptly gave up on trying to move the branch with her bare hooves. “I can’t do it! It’s too heavy!”
Rainbow grunted painfully. “If only we could reduce its weight. Is there any way you can chip it off?”
Fluttershy quickly looked around. It took a bit of a moment, but a quick, yet cringey answer came to her. “Fire!” She quickly picked up one of the smaller branches then ran towards one of the surrounding fires, letting the stick get fed to it. When the branch got lit, she quickly rushed back to the large branch and rubbed the flames against the opposite end of where Rainbow’s leg was stuck under.
Strike slammed his hooves against the tatzlwurm’s face as he was being pushed along. Large amounts of electricity shot out from it, zapping the tatzlwurm. The amount of electricity that was spouting out was causing a little shock from him too. But he didn’t stop until the tatzlwurm was starting to slow down.
Strike began climbing the tatzlwurm, digging his hooves into the scales to zap at deeper parts to its body. The tatzlwurm tried to shake him off, but the zaps were paralyzing most of its movements while Strike braced himself tightly. After getting to the top, his horn flared up again. He began firing a less concentrated beam on the top of the tatzlwurm's head. It didn’t explode on impact this time. But it kept firing on the tatzlwurm, causing the tatzlwurm to wail.
Fluttershy set fire to a few more spots of the branch to speed up the burning process in areas that were furthest away from Rainbow Dash. After that, she threw the stick away towards an area that was already engulfed in flames.
At this point, Fluttershy could hear the tatzlwurm’s painful cries. The tatzlwurm was roaring and wailing as Strike continued to fire that beam on its head. Strike continued to hold his ground as Fluttershy watched the scene in horror.
“Hurry up, Fluttershy!” she heard Rainbow shout. “I don’t think that tatzlwurm can take much more!”
Fluttershy, wanting desperately to help their tatzlwurm friend, knew that she wouldn’t be able to do anything alone. She needed Rainbow’s help. So she turned away with a cringe and went back to the branch, trying her very best to lift it off Rainbow Dash. Rainbow tried moving it as well. It took a while, but it only just now started to budge, not nearly enough to get Rainbow freed.
They kept trying though. Rainbow started to dig her tail underneath the branch as a way to help lift the branch. But she couldn’t seem to find the space to allow it to slip through. Trying something else, she looked for a spot where her tail could dig around her trapped hoof.
The tatzlwurm continued to roar and squirm. It didn’t show any signs of stopping. A few more seconds of struggling, and Strike pulled out one last trick up his sleeve. Removing his left fore hoof from his grip on the scales, he moved it up to his horn. With the fetlock claws concentrated to target his horn, he yelled.
“I did NOT spend the last four days being lost here in a desperate battle against harsh climates and predators to kick the bucket now!” The claw shot electricity directly towards his horn, fueling the braces and sending what looked like quite a massive surge all over his body. He was screaming at the top of his lunges while his braces were fuming with magical radiation. But the beam he was shooting became huge. It was like alicorn levels of magic was being forcibly casted from Strike's horn, and causing drastic results to his body.
Strike’s head was barely able to stay stable enough to keep his magic’s beam to stay concentrated on the tatzlwurm. The tatzlwurm’s pain became unbearable. With its last strength, it fought through the electricity paralyzing its body. Its head vibrated instently as it fought. A few more seconds of struggling, and all of a sudden, the beam exploded massively.
Strike yelled as the explosion caused to tatzlwurm to thrust its head violently, making Strike fly in the air. Rainbow and Fluttershy halted their struggles as they heard it happen, now gazing at the results. They saw their tatzlwurm friend collapse while Strike flew and plummeted to the ground with smoke tailing behind him.
Rainbow and Fluttershy continued watching in wide eyed shock. Both Strike and the tatzlwurm weren’t moving. But an electric current was still resonating on both their bodies. The tatzlwurm’s died out first while Strike’s kept going. It showed no signs of stopping.
As a branch snapped off in the background, Strike’s body twitched. Rainbow and Fluttershy released a shuddered breath. Another branch snapped off in the background while Strike struggled to stand. The electric current around his body wasn’t helping that matter at all.
Snapping out of her fear, Fluttershy hurriedly went back to the branch that held Rainbow in place, attempting once again to lift it. She groaned and gritted her teeth so hard. The branch was budging a little more, but still not enough to get Rainbow out. Rainbow was gritting her teeth in pain from trying to free her hoof. Her tail still couldn’t find a spot to start digging. After learning they weren’t gonna make any progress fast, Rainbow started saying something in a desperate whisper.
“Fluttershy… you’ve… got to get outta here…” Fluttershy suddenly stopped her struggles as she gasped in surprise,
“What?! Rainbow!” Fluttershy responded in a much louder whisper. She knew full well that the fire on the branch would reach Rainbow way before the branch would be light enough for her to lift alone. If she was saying that, then…
Fluttershy flinched when a small explosion sounded. Rainbow saw that Strike managed to stand. But the brace on his left hind leg seemed to burst in smoke. He cringed and yelped in pain while his hind leg suddenly lost all balance and fell to the ground. The rest of his body stopped him from falling and continued to force himself to stand. All the while, Rainbow could see the menacing glare on his face.
“You gotta go before it’s too late,” Rainbow said. She could hear Strike commenting under his breath.
“Come on… stupid machine! Nnngh!”
Fluttershy moved closer to Rainbow and pleaded. “No Rainbow! I can't leave without you! I can't!"
It was then that Rainbow finally found a spot for her tail to dig through with her tail. All she needed was one last thing, for Fluttershy to leave.
“If you don’t leave, none of us will make it out alive!” The argument halted when Strike stomped his hoof down. His left hind hoof looked struggling to stand, but stable enough for him to light his horn up again.
“Look at you miserable worms. You act as if you’re backed into a corner. But I know you’re not.” Rainbow gasped and her tail froze. Did he know what she was planning? “All that fear you’re trying to hide behind… Nngh… It’s no different from what X uses. If there was ever anything Clang couldn't be more wrong about, it is that! He claims that fear being as real as it shows. But no. I know... just like the display you two are making..." Strike’s horn glowed very bright. It looked ready to fire.
“GOOO!!!” Rainbow yelled one more time, a lot louder than she wanted.
Fluttershy flinched back, looked in Strike’s direction then back to Rainbow. She was absolutely shaking, completely unsure of what to do.
“THAT. FEAR. IS. FAKE!!!” Strike yelled one more time.
And then... he fired. The color left Fluttershy’s world at that point. It was being aimed towards Rainbow Dash, not her. Rainbow couldn’t defend herself like this. What could she do? The beam was only getting closer and closer, and if she didn’t do something…
She had to save Rainbow. After everything Rainbow did to protect her, she couldn’t let it end like this. It was her turn to protect Rainbow. Without hesitating, Fluttershy jumped in front of Rainbow, directly in the path of the blast.
An echoed gasp sounded from Rainbow. Fluttershy snapped her eyes closed as the beam closed in. Just as Fluttershy spread her hooves…
Now the color in Rainbow’s world left her. The blast made contact with Fluttershy. It exploded around her facial area, leaving a smoke trail behind as her body flung over Rainbow.
“FLUTTERSHY-SHY-SHY!!!” Rainbow’s shout echoed many times as Fluttershy’s body flew over her in such slow motion to her. She had been spared, but Fluttershy had taken the full blow. It wasn’t possible for her to see where Fluttershy landed, but she could tell that Fluttershy landed somewhere far, far away. Slowly, the color started coming back when the smoke trails vanished. All she could hear, was huffing and puffing from Strike.
“Idiot!” Strike shouted. “What was she thinking? If she thought that little stunt would save you, she couldn’t be farther from correct!”
Rainbow felt as if a scream far louder than a Sonic Rainboom had gone off in her head. She looked back at Strike with fire in her eyes that burned brighter than the flames currently burning this forest. Her anger was far greater than Strike’s could ever be. It was as if the flames in this forest were being used to fuel the fires in her eyes right now. With her tail, she rapidly dug around the area where her hoof was trapped. The fires from the branch was starting to get close to her coat, but she didn’t care.
“Time for you to join her!” Strike said as he charged his horn back up. Rainbow wasn’t phased. She kept pulling on her leg, despite the pain.
Just as Strike fired another blast, the brace on his left hind leg burst again, knocking his leg to the ground and interrupting his focus on the blast. The blast went a little astray. Rainbow ducked as it came close to her, slightly grazing the branch that kept her hoof trapped. She continued digging.
“Gah! Come on!” Strike tried to lift his left hind leg up, but it stayed limp, as if he lost all movement in it when the brace burst. He went back to flaring up his horn for another blast, but his horn quickly fizzled out. His braces were downright pouring out with magical radiation. If it continued, who knows what could end up happening to his body. But he didn’t care. With both hooves, he sent a flow of electricity to fuel his horn, giving him a massive shock. From that view, it looked like even the twittermites inside were suffering. This jolt quickly made his horn ready for another blast.
At the same time that Strike fired, Rainbow screamed at the top of her lungs while jabbing at the ground one last time with her tail. Pop! Her leg was free! Enduring the immense pain that followed, she leaped out of the way from the blast, buzzing her wings to increase her distance. The beam’s only target became the branch that kept Rainbow in place. It burst into multiple pieces.
“No! I won’t let you get away!” Strike shouted as he chased his horn after Rainbow. Rainbow had absolutely no intention of running away. Using her left hind leg, she kicked off the ground to change her direction, dodging another blast from his horn. Due to all the feathers lost on her wings, she couldn’t exactly fly reliably. But that didn’t stop her from gliding. She continued to buzz them and gain massive distance with her jumps.
“Gaah!” The last beam Strike released caused another one of the braces on his limbs to burst. It was his left forehoof. Rainbow used her tongues to grab a branch and pull her body towards it to avoid that beam he fired. She was closing in on Strike fast, yelling like a wild predator.
Strike was now two hooves in the grave, his right hind leg, and now his left forehoof. Grinding his teeth, he desperately lifted his head and tried to charge one more blast. Too late. Rainbow reached Strike, tackling her whole body against his and shoved him against a tree. Only her left hind leg was being used to stand.
“Get off me! Argh! Get off!” Strike’s right forehoof claw charged more electricity into it. He jabbed Rainbow with it in the chest, giving her quite a shock. But Rainbow endured it. She used her left forehoof to remove Strike’s, halting the shock, then slammed it against the tree, restraining it. As Strike struggled to free it, Rainbow jabbed him square in the face.
Strike retaliated with a quick charge from his horn. But when he fired, Rainbow just jerked her head away to avoid being hit. Rainbow lashed her tongues out on Strike. One of them wrapped around Strike’s neck, squeezing it tightly. With no hooves free to remove the tongue, Strike couldn’t do much but endure.
Strike’s mouth slightly opened as he tried gasping for breath. That gave Rainbow her chance. For extra measure, she sent her knotted tongue right inside that mouth, using the knot to block his wind pipes. His eyes shrunk. No breath was coming in, or out of Strike. There was no mercy coming from Rainbow.
Strike’s last ditch effort was his horn. He tried charging it one last time. But when Rainbow saw this, she used her third tongue wrap around it, blocking his magic. Or so she thought. The electricity that was resonating along Strike’s body was extra concentrated on his horn. When Rainbow wrapped her tongue around it, intense shocks surged out, causing massive blinding flashes across the forest.
Rainbow kept her tongue on Strike’s horn, squeezing her eyes shut as electricity flew from their bodies. It seemed to be far more concentrated on Strike’s entire body whereas Rainbow was only feeling the brunt of it from her tongues. She wasn’t letting go though, no matter how much it hurt, no matter how much Strike tried to pry her off.
Rainbow could feel Strike’s breath desperately trying to go through her knotted tongue. One last nail was all Rainbow needed to hit. With her right forehoof, Rainbow fought through all the shock and jabbed at Strike’s stomach. For that moment, Rainbow could feel the breath pushing harder as Strike’s body jolted from the punch. Pulling her hoof back, she threw her hoof harder and punched again.
The same result occurred, and Rainbow could swear her tongue slipped back at the force this time. It wasn’t enough for Rainbow. She pushed her body away and jumped, but keeping her tongues attached to Strike. When she got far enough, she buzzed her wings to propel her forwards. For a moment, Strike was able to move his left forehoof again, but was unable to respond in time. Rainbow used the momentum from her wings and the pull from her tongues to make one final kick, right into Strike’s stomach as hard as she could.
That did it. Strike’s limbs thrusted as his breath was forced out so hard, it released Rainbow’s knotted tongue from his mouth, as well as some of his own spit. All four braces on Strike's limbs burst and flung off his body. Then, all his struggles stopped. His brace's claws stopped glowing, as if they shut off. The electricity that was flowing from his horn stopped surging. And finally, all the magical waves surrounding his body dispersed.
Rainbow held her left hind leg pressed deep against Strike’s stomach. Strike just stared widely, unable to suck his breath in, unable to move his limbs, and unable to use his magic. Steam was emanating from his body like fire had just been put out. It was unclear just how much pain Strike was feeling. But it was very clear that he was finished. With his last breath, Strike spoke.
“C-Curse… Y-oo-uu…” A long pause. “...Jenkal…” With that last word, his eyes closed, and his head dropped. The brace on his neck slowly peeled itself off.
At that moment, Rainbow felt as if she suddenly just woke up from her internal instincts. The rage inside her quickly left. Slowly, she let go of her grip from Strike, letting her wings carry and gently drop her to the floor, keeping her right hind hoof off it. As her tongues unwrapped around Strike, Strike’s body just limply fell forwards, straight to the floor with an audible pomph with dust kicking up. He landed right in between the two brace claws that his forehooves were previously wearing. They had snapped open at some point, allowing the twittermites inside freedom. But they looked exhausted right now and weren’t flying away yet.
Rainbow panted carefully, out of exhaustion, out of pain, and with her tongues just dangling down from her mouth. Besides her right hind hoof, that was where most of her pain was coming from. If it wasn't for the fact that her tongues were already black, she'd probably be seeing a few burn scars on one of them.
Rainbow was in complete disbelief over what had just transpired with her. She didn’t regret what she did. Strike deserved it. But it still surprised her that it escalated like this. Words didn’t even want to escape her mouth when it happened. There was a lot of things that Strike said during this whole encounter. A lot of it had to do with X. Maybe this all could've been avoided had she released X.
But they needed X for a different reason. And even if they didn't need her, Rainbow wasn't just gonna let somepony else get forcibly sacrificed like this just for a chance to save themselves. That wouldn't be right. Right now what she was trying to wrap her head around, was that last thing Strike said.
”Curse you, Jenkal.”
Jenkal. Who was Strike referring to? It sounded like a stallion's name. But it certainly wasn’t any name she knew. What about Fluttershy? Rainbow gasped.
“Fluttershy!” Rainbow hastily turned around as she suddenly remembered what happened to her. “Fluttershy?! Where are you?!” she called out. No response came from Fluttershy. Instead, Rainbow was responded by a branch snapping off. It landed directly in front of her, making her flinch.
Rainbow then winced as her right hind hoof suddenly screamed out in pain. No way was she gonna be able to walk on it for a while, not without any sort of bandages. She had no idea where their bags landed. And with all this fire around…
“Fluttershy?! Can you hear me?!” Still no response. She could only hear the fires that just kept roaring all around them. Even with their light, all Rainbow could find was their tatzlwurm friend still unmoved from its spot. Fluttershy was nowhere near there either.
Rainbow closed her eyes, deciding to try one last thing. She lifted her tail then gently stuck it in the ground, lowering her body as best she could with just three legs. Breathing carefully, she felt for any sudden movements she could feel across the field. It wasn't gonna be easy with some of these branches dropping down, but she just needed one little sign. The first thing she felt was X, still breathing silently inside her stomach. Somehow, X had been able to sleep through all that chaos that just happened. X wasn’t harmed and still curled up comfortably inside. Well… other than the usual shivering X was also doing. Was all the things Strike said about her true? As much as she wanted to know, she needed to concentrate on one thing at a time.
“Come on, Fluttershy. Where are you?” Rainbow continued searching, ignoring Strike, X, the tatzlwurm’s locations, and any hard thuds she felt from fallen branches. “Give me some sort of sign. Anything…” She raised her ears for extra effect, breathing as silently as she could. “You’ve got to be out there. Just… give me it. Whatever sign you can.”
Silence followed. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven.
Rainbow gasped and opened her eyes, turning her head negative thirty degrees from where she was facing. “There,” she said. “I can feel you somewhere over there. You’re breathing. Just barely... but you're breathing. That’s good. Nnngh.” Her teeth gritted. "Just hang in there. I'll come... get you."
And when Rainbow took her first, she heard a bang.