Chapter 54
Lose My Way
Stormy weather brewed in the swamplands of Bichumonterre. And with the impending foul weather, the wildlife of the swamp took immediate shelter. Diving into holes, burrowing under riverbeds, anchoring themselves to rocks, or climbing into trees, they all awaited the impending squalls.
But, there was one among them who weathered the storm.
Through the screen of blown leaves and torrential rain, two large lights glinted through. The more they moved through the foliage, the more it was seen they were embedded in a darker shadow, which tore its way through.
A giant, four-toed hoof stomped onto the marshy ground, scattering the creatures who lingered in its path.
Driven from its home by the storm, the beast wandered further than it ever had before. The land was foreign to it. New. Fresh. A terrain that it had not explored, rife with new things to eat.
The storm had driven many of the prey into hiding. And with a deep, heavy sniff, the beast searched for its prey. But, for its effort, not a scent was detected.
The wind and the rain dampened all of its senses. Nothing was to be heard or smelled through the torrential downpour, the howling wind or the blowing foliage. It would have to rely completely on its sight to find anything to eat.
And it found its source.
A bright light was seen in the distance. Not at all like the natural phosphorus or bioluminescence it was used to seeing. It was curious. Alluring.
While not a powerful swimmer, the beast readily took to the water, ready to hunt down and devour whatever the light held.
Thunder crashed, and another bolt of lightning split the sky.
In the brief flash of light, Mr. Cray’s vicious form appeared right before Goofy, raising his claw to strike.
Dash and Pinkie shot to either side, while Goofy parried the blow.
Mr. Cray’s claw was knocked aside, but the force of his attack knocked Goofy backwards.
As the goof staggered, Mr. Cray’s other claw shot forth, aimed at Goofy’s wrist.
Goofy recoiled and yelped as his sleeve was shredded. Clear from danger, he advanced again, lashing out with his fishing pole.
While they fought their duel, Pinkie and Dash both took it upon themselves to handle the weasels.
Theef, Sneek and Cheepskate all rushed forward to have at the mares, while Cheet and Creep pulled Max back toward the balloon.
Dash dodged a hit from Cheepskate, and another from Theef.
Theef spun when he missed his full-force swing and tried to attack Pinkie next.
Pinkie dodged right into the way, and was struck by Sneek.
She reeled from the hit and tried to attack Theef, who ducked under her blow.
Cheepskate dodged Rainbow Dash’s buck by swapping places with Theef, who was still crouched.
Dash’s blow went over Theef’s head, who sprang up with a haymaker uppercut.
The moment Theef went up, Sneek attacked next, striking Dash twice in the face.
Dash spun with her wings outstretched, missing when Theef landed on her back and pinned her wings.
Between the two weasels, Dash was beginning to feel at a disadvantage. Even as she tried to throw Theef off of her back, she continued crashing into empty oil drums, crates, fuel tanks, coils of rope and nearly everything else that was on deck.
Theef remained steadfast, even as he partly took the brunt of each hit. Until finally he was thrown off when Dash was hit by a rolling barrel she knocked over.
Pinkie’s battle with Cheepskate fared no better.
Pinkie rapidly dodged backwards as knife after knife was thrown at her.
She bumped into a wall, and tried to move to the side, only to be stopped by a thrown knife.
When she moved to the other side, another knife stopped her.
She ducked under a particularly large bowie knife, and jumped over a still larger dagger.
Now with her hooves resting on the handles of the first two thrown knives, she was stuck. And Cheepskate drew a hatchet with a blade the size of his nose.
He raised the giant blade over his head, and was struck from behind by a rolling barrel.
Saved by the barrel, Pinkie hopped off of the knife handles and landed hard on Cheepskate’s stomach. After knocking the wind out of him, she hopped into the midst of Dash’s battle against Theef and Sneek.
“About time! Gimme a hoof with these guys!” Dash said.
As if she had not heard a word, Pinkie galloped away from the fight.
“Pinkie!!” Dash yelled, before she was forced to dodge one of Sneek’s attacks.
For Pinkie, there was only one real target.
Cheet yelped as he was kicked in the face and knocked back, releasing Max in the process.
“Give me back my hot sauce, Ripoff!!” Pinkie shouted.
Max, who had been waiting for a moment to be freed, was somewhat let down when his father’s friend overlooked him for a bottle of hot sauce.
For a moment, Cheet was confused. But, a devious smile soon crossed his face. He took the condiment from inside of his jacket and brandished the bottle.
“This hot sauce? Ya want it? Come get it, sister!” he taunted.
Pinkie lashed out to attack.
Cheet easily dodged and held the bottle as far from Pinkie as possible.
And like a nasty game of keep away, Cheet continued to dodge every blow Pinkie swung.
Creep snickered at the show, enjoying how Pinkie was obsessing over nothing more than a simple meal supplement.
“Hey, Creep! Catch!” Cheet yelled.
He tossed the bottle right over Pinkie’s head, who failed to catch it, and watched as it was caught by Creep.
Now, Max was freed from the grip of the two weasels, and took the opportunity to escape. He started by slugging Creep in the stomach as hard as he could, before he turned heel and ran away.
“Get back here, ya little punk!” Creep shouted.
Before he could try to apprehend Max, he was jumped on by Pinkie Pie, who furiously reached for her hot sauce.
Creep fell down the steps from the balloon’s landing pad and let the bottle go from his grip.
Pinkie immediately stood up to chase after her hot sauce, pushing past Max to retrieve it.
Max stumbled a bit, and caught himself against one of the overturned barrels.
From where he was, the young goof could see his father valiantly continue his fight against Mr. Cray.
Wanting to help bring the crustacean’s downfall, he took the barrel he was leaning on and rolled it toward his father’s battle. Once he felt he was close enough, he pushed with all his might toward Mr. Cray’s back.
“Dad!” Max called out.
Hearing Max’s voice, both fighters turned to face him. Mr. Cray would have been furious to see the young goof free from his minion’s grasp, if he were not knocked off his feet by the rolling barrel.
And though Goofy was hit next, he was overjoyed to see his son running free.
Mr. Cray snarled loudly and swung at the goof, as he recovered from his prone position. And the moment he was on his feet, he charged for Max.
Goofy saw the danger his son was in and cast his fishing line upward to snag the hook of a crane. Once taut, the goof swung forward.
Max started to run away, just as Mr. Cray was upon him.
Goofy kicked his legs forward and struck Mr. Cray in the back, knocking forward.
Max cleared out of the way and ran to safety.
Mr. Cray regained his balance and with a snarl turned around and slashed his claw, aiming to bisect Goofy at the waist.
Goofy jumped and used the crane to swing around to Mr. Cray’s back.
He was forced to release his line when Mr. Cray whipped around and nearly got him.
Past his opponent, Goofy could see the barrel Max had sent his way was still rolling.
Goofy cast his fishing line, caught the barrel and reeled it in hard.
Sensing danger, Mr. Cray dodged to the side, sending the barrel into Goofy.
Goofy found himself stuck down to his waist inside the metal barrel, unable to see his opponent, or swing his weapon.
Mr. Cray took full advantage and sliced through the barrel.
It was only Goofy’s staggering retreat as he tried to free himself that allowed only a gash to be cut through the barrel and not himself.
“Hang on, dad!!” Max called, as he tried to charge Mr. Cray.
He was stopped suddenly by an arm wrapping around him.
“Let go!!” he shouted, fighting against his captor. He relented his assault when he saw it was a silver hoof that was holding him.
“It’s not safe here, Max! We need to leave!” Miss Argente said, as she tried to guide Max away.
“I’m not going anywhere without my dad!” Max argued.
“Please! Listen to me! I know a way zat we can all leave zis ship! But, you must follow me first!” Miss Argente said.
And with one last look back to his father, Max agreed to follow Miss Argente down the nearest flight of stairs.
When they went, the battle on the upper deck raged on.
Though he was handicapped, Goofy tried to fight back. He bent at the waist and swung his upper body.
Mr. Cray recoiled only slightly from the blow, and blocked a thrust of the barrel.
He knocked Goofy back and furiously bludgeoned the barrel around Goofy with the broad side of his claws, denting it deeply.
Goofy was shaken and rattled around the inside, feeling like he was sitting inside of a paint mixer.
The goof tried to back away from the assault, but tripped when he stepped on Pinkie’s rolling hot sauce.
Mr. Cray pounced to slice the barrel open and gut the restrained goof. But, he was knocked over when Pinkie went running after her keepsake.
To catch himself, Mr. Cray ended up jabbing both of his claws into the front of the barrel.
Inside, Goofy had to suck in his gut to keep from being gutted.
With both claws punched into the barrel, Mr. Cray now had a solid grip. And with a vicious shout, he hoisted Goofy over his head to throw him overboard.
Goofy slipped to the back of the barrel, and the weight and inertia of his movement popped out the bottom, allowing him to slide out onto the deck, just as the barrel was thrown.
The goof cast his line and caught the barrel, reeling it in to hit home on Mr. Cray’s face.
In a blink, the shellfish sliced through the barrel before it hit him. However, he was unable to block the half of the barrel that struck his face anyway.
Goofy was struck by the other half, and staggered just out of the way of Mr. Cray’s next attack. Right into Creep’s back.
Creep lurched forward and hit Dash from behind, who in turn lurched toward her opponent.
Sneek toppled back and crashed into a control console, smashing the controls and bringing the loading gear near the landing pad to life.
Cranes swiveled in mad circles, raising and lowering their hooks at random intervals. Overhead, many conveyors started jostling back and forth, turning along whatever route they were set upon.
Dash had to roll out of the way of a hook, and crashed into Pinkie, who was still chasing her hot sauce.
“Would it kill you to help out!?” Dash angrily asked, as she deflected a hit from Cheepskate.
Once again, Pinkie didn’t answer. She single-mindedly pursued her treasured condiment, ignoring all else around her.
The only thing that snapped her to reality was when she saw the bottle roll up somepony’s outstretched leg. When it reached the knee, the owner of it popped the bottle up to his waiting hand.
Once again, Cheet Ripov brandished the bottle of hot sauce to Pinkie, taunting her to come and claim it.
The moment Pinkie rushed to attack him, Cheet raised his hand up and caught one of the hooks that Sneek had set in motion. And he rode the hook up to another rising hook.
Pinkie tried to follow suit by grabbing onto a hook, which swung out of her way before she could grab it.
Not about to relent, she chased it toward the battle that Dash was struggling to win.
Sneek just had Dash where he wanted her, and was about to deliver the blow that would take her out of the fight, he was jumped on by Pinkie Pie, who leapt to the hook she was chasing just before it rose beyond her reach.
With the fight tilted in her favor, Dash knocked Sneek away, and was assaulted by Cheepskate and Creep both at once.
She dodged out of the way of their attack, and right into the path of Theef, who successfully struck her.
Dash took two more blows, before she felt something roll across the deck and bump her rear hoof. She flipped it over her head and used it to block Theef’s blow.
What she found was a life preserver in her hooves. Not the greatest choice of weapon, but it would do in a pinch.
She blocked each of Theef’s successive blows, and dodged when the weasel’s fist punched through the open middle of the preserver.
Dash twisted her weapon and locked Theef’s arm, before she swung him around to hit Cheepskate, Creep and Sneek.
When she released him, Dash maneuvered to the center of them all, tossed the life preserver and caught it on one of her outstretched wings.
With a flap, the preserver went spinning around her wing, allowing her to uppercut one weasel with it, then the next and the next as she moved between them all.
Creep hooked his arm through the preserver and stopped it from spinning.
Dash took advantage and flipped the preserver over Creep’s head, restraining one of his arms.
Before the weasel could free himself, Dash bucked him into his brother.
The two remaining weasels came bearing down on her.
With no friends in sight, and with no magic, Dash knew that she was in for the fight of her life. Again.
Goofy had to duck beneath a claw that was jabbed at him, and stuck into the metal wall behind him.
He tried to counter, but was deflected by Mr. Cray’s free claw.
With a powerful swing of his arm, Mr. Cray sliced his trapped claw out of the wall and swung it at Goofy.
The goof toppled back and cast his line, hooking a rolling barrel and throwing it at his opponent.
Without stopping, Mr. Cray sliced through the barrel and continued his advance.
Goofy cast his line again and threw a crate that he had hooked.
Mr. Cray cut it to splinters the moment it was within his reach.
Goofy didn’t even look to see what he hooked on his next cast, and threw it with all of his might at his opponent.
Clouded by rage, Mr. Cray didn’t notice what he had gripped. Only that it didn’t immediately crumple in his claws.
Goofy gulped when he saw Mr. Cray tightening his grip on a fuel tank for his balloon. And with one last powerful squeeze, the canister exploded, blowing the two fighters away from one another.
Without looking, the goof knew he was too close to going overboard.
Lashing upward, he cast his fishing line to catch one of the hooks on the overhead conveyor.
His feet just bowled over the edge when his hook anchored to the conveyor, allowing the goof to reel himself up and over the battleground.
From his higher vantage, Goofy could see how the battle was going. Dash was fighting off three of the weasels as they moved their fight up toward the balloon, which was slowly filling up. He had to swerve out of the way of Cheet, who tried swinging Pinkie’s bottle of hot sauce at him. And he swerved again when Pinkie hopped from the hook she was riding to the top of the conveyors, where she ran after Cheet.
Though he tried, he could find no sight of Max. The last place he had seen his son was near one of the cranes, where he had toppled Mr. Cray. And after twisting around only once, he saw two silhouettes on a lower deck running toward the side of the ship. Though his vision was shrouded by rain and mist, there was no mistaking the smaller of the two forms, just before it disappeared into the haze.
“Maxie!!” Goofy called out.
Before he could swing to his son’s rescue, the entire conveyor system shook violently.
Goofy trembled like a fish on a hook. And through his shaking vision, he saw some monstrous silhouette climbing up one of the fixtures on deck, up to the top of the conveyors where it ran rapidly toward the dangling goof.
The silhouette jumped into the air, and another flash of lightning revealed Mr. Cray with his claws raised.
The conveyors shook again when he landed, and with a sickening grinding sound the hook that Goofy was riding stopped when it was clasped in the crustacean’s claw.
Goofy was shaken loose by the sudden stop and cast his line to the furthest hook from Mr. Cray and closest to Max. And like the king of the jungle himself, the goof swung across to his destination, swinging around the conveyor and landing atop it.
“Maxie! Where are yuh!?” Goofy called
A sudden vibrating beneath his feet alerted him to danger. Whirling around, Goofy was just able to see Mr. Cray’s burly silhouette charging toward him.
Wielding his fishing rod like a rapier, the goof readied to fight.
Mr. Cray growled and plowed straight through Goofy’s attack, and knocked him off of the conveyors.
Goofy cast his line again, catching Mr. Cray by his suspenders.
The shellfish lurched forward, nearly falling off of the conveyors himself. He found his footing, but was quickly slipping along the wet metal.
Taking his claw, he snagged the fishing line and cut through it.
Goofy had swung upward just in time to avoid falling to the deck below, and scrambled to climb back up on top of the conveyors and tie another hook to his line. The moment he finished was exactly the moment he stood up and blocked another attack from the charging Mr. Cray.
The two continued their battle atop the conveyors, focusing completely on getting the upper hand on one another and maintaining their footing. Not even Cheet running away from Pinkie Pie distracted them as they viciously fought.
Mr. Cray quickly advanced, swinging his claws furiously.
Goofy struggled to keep his footing, knowing that any false step would send him plummeting to the deck below. But, as the waters started tossing and rolling, and the wind blew ever harder, and the rain kept the metal beneath his feet sleek and slippery, staying upright was going to be an ordeal in itself.
He dodged an attack from Mr. Cray, and answered with a riposte of his fishing pole.
Mr. Cray shrugged off the hit and slashed with his claw, cutting Goofy’s weapon arm.
The goof shouted in pain and held his fishing pole laterally to block both of Mr. Cray’s claws.
The fishing pole was too slim for the crayfish to snip through, and he had no leverage to slice through it with his open claw. But, his grip on the simple tool was strong enough for Goofy to be unable to wrench it free.
Stopped face to face, they could see one another clearly through the rain. The fierce determination of a father against the living incarnation of rage itself. Neither was going to relent, until the other was defeated.
What began as a low growl from the depths of Mr. Cray’s gullet soon grew to a vicious roar, as he shot his forward, still clenching the fishing pole.
Goofy’s whole body lurched when he narrowly dodged the attack, still keeping his grip on his weapon.
He retaliated by trying to jab one end of the fishing pole at his opponent’s head.
Mr. Cray proved too strong to budge, and stopped the attack before it reached him. And with a surge of strength, he tried to throw Goofy off.
Goofy was shaken back and forth, but managed to keep his feet on the top of the conveyor. And through his constant flailing, managed a few hits on Mr. Cray.
Each blow seemed less effective than the last. No matter where or how hard he was hit, the shellfish shrugged off each hit. And with each blow, his rage intensified.
Mr. Cray roared again and swung upward, hoisting Goofy over his head, and threw him to the deck.
Goofy managed to keep ahold of his fishing pole and cast his line again at Mr. Cray, this time catching him by the knee of his pants.
There was no time for the raging shellfish to cut the line again, when all of a sudden he was yanked off of the conveyors by the force of the flying goof.
Just as he was flying overboard, Goofy started losing his momentum and gravity took its toll.
As he dropped, his fishing line draped over another line of conveyors, and allowed him to swing back to the ship. Unfortunately, Mr. Cray was swinging right toward him, suspended upside-down and claws at the ready.
Goofy curled his body up and over the claws, and missed when he tried to kick Mr. Cray as they swung past one another.
When they passed, Goofy caught one of the moving hooks beneath the conveyor.
Mr. Cray caught a swinging crane hook, righted himself and tried yanking the fishing line, only to cut through it again. Furious from not being able to pull Goofy closer, he started shaking back and forth graduallying gaining momentum to swing toward the goof.
Goofy held the conveyor hook in one hand, his fishing pole between the soles of his shoes, and fumbled to tie a new hook to the fishing line with his one free hand.
From the corner of his eyes, he just registered Mr. Cray swinging at him like an enraged wrecking ball.
Yelping loudly, Goofy swung out of the way, his legs pumping as if he were running on air.
He heard the fabric of his shirt tear, and felt the sting of the claw slice his back. Though painful, he knew it wasn’t as bad as it felt. If he was going to rescue his son, he had to weather the injury.
Mr. Cray’s feet planted on a wall, and he kicked off, swinging to attack again.
Goofy raised his fishing pole, ready once more to clash with the raging shellfish.
The balloon wouldn’t finish filling for some time yet. And Miss Argente knew so. After witnessing only as much of the battle as she could stand, she went scouting for an escape. And it wasn’t long before she found one.
The moment she returned for Max, she guided him straight to it.
And with one strong pull with her cloven hooves, she undid the ropes that secured the tarp over one of the lifeboats that hung suspended from the side of the ship.
“Climb in,” Miss Argente instructed.
With help from the cervequin, Max was able to climb inside of the small boat.
“Stay here. And do not leave under any circumstances. No matter what you may hear. No matter how long I seem to be gone. You must stay exactly where you are. And do not do anything to reveal yourself. Don’t even clear your throat. Do you understand?” Miss Argente said.
“Uh-huh,” was all Max said, the gravity of everything weighing heavily on his young mind.
“Good,” Miss Argente said, as she took Max’s hands in her hooves. “Remember to stay put. I’m going to go retrieve your father and his friends. Zen you can all leave zis horrible place together.”
“Are you coming with us?” Max asked.
“I…”
Miss Argente hesitated with her answer. The fury that Mr. Cray would bring down on her already for helping Max escape was sure to follow her wherever she went. The moment she was gone, she would live her life on the run from the raging crustacean’s wrath. That is, if the beasts of the swamp didn’t get her first. But at the same time, she recalled what Max had told her before. Mr. Cray would be horrible to her anyway, even if she had not helped him to escape. And what was her reason to stay? To pay off the debt her husband had purposefully passed onto her?
She would have none of that. Deep inside herself, she knew it was time to start making her own way through her life, free from the creatures who tried to keep her under their control.
“Yes. I’ll go with you,” Miss Argente answered.
Max was so excited to hear his new friend was going with him that he couldn’t help but hug her.
But, for the urgency of the situation, Miss Argente had to end it quickly.
“Stay safe,” she urged him, before refastening the tarp back over the top of the lifeboat.
Inside the lifeboat, the sounds of the storm seemed to muffle ever so slightly. The sound of the rain pattering against the tarp muted almost any other sound outside. It was only the sudden crash of thunder that Max was able to hear beyond the safety of his shelter.
Beyond the lifeboat, a new sound joined the storm. A low, rumbling growl that distantly sounded, as two lamp-like eyes drifted through the water toward the Double Down.
At the very top of the Double Down, near the smokestacks that billowed their vile plumes into the air, Cheet ran for cover around a corner.
He clutched the bottle of hot sauce, thoroughly enjoying the obsessed pursuit he was leading Pinkie on. As long as she stayed on his tail, it would be one less goof for his associates to deal with.
When he felt his thumb atop the cap on the bottle, a devious thought occurred to him. And with a sinister chuckle, he popped to top off to begin his plan.
Pinkie darted about the precarious rooftops, hunting ceaselessly for the weasel who had stolen her hot sauce.
Her mind raced as fast as her hooves, going over all of the ways she was going to make Cheet pay for stealing her keepsake. But, had she kept her mind on keeping her hoofing, she wouldn’t have slipped on the rain-slicked metal and slid on her face for a meter or two.
She lifted her head, and felt something dripping down her face. Something much thicker than the rain that had soaked her. The trickle reached her lips, and her eyes shot wide.
The hot, tingling sensation was unmistakable. And she clambered to her hooves to see why, or what had happened for such a thing to be.
Mostly washed away by the rain, there was a fresh streak of orangish-red where she had just plowed through.
Pinkie gasped at the sight. And again when she saw more blotches of hot sauce splattered about like a scene from a mystery novel.
She rushed to the rapidly thinning blotches, desperately trying to scoop them up in her hooves. But, as it always was with liquid in a hoof, it slipped away from her.
Her heart beat rapidly in her chest. Somewhere, her hot sauce was in danger. And she wouldn’t let up until it was safely back in her possession.
Another trickle of orange-red streamed in from somewhere ahead of herself. With no other thoughts in her mind, Pinkie followed it along.
The blotches of hot sauce wound around the smokestack, until Pinkie found it dripping from the rungs of a ladder that led up the sheer surface.
She climbed the ladder, finding no more of her hot sauce dripping its way down. A minor relief for that moment. But, she dreaded what she would find at the top of the ladder.
The end of her climb came in what seemed seconds to Pinkie. She set herself atop a small platform that ran along the perimeter of the smokestack. Before her, a great cloud of black, dotted with red embers.
The ship rocked in the stormy waters, and the wind blew harder, both moving the smoke enough to reveal on the other side of the vent Cheet Ripov.
With a devilish grin across his face, he stood with one arm extended. In his outstretched hand, he held the bottle of hot sauce over the open mouth of the smokestack.
“Checkmate, goof!” he shouted. “Ain’t no way for you to win now! You move: I drop this! You don’t move: I drop this! Either way, you an’ your hot sauce take a fiery plunge!”
Pinkie clenched her teeth and stared warily at her hot sauce, as it rapidly was obscured and revealed by the smoke. She knew that she had seen her way through more difficult situations. All she needed was a little imagination to get the better of almost anything. But, looking to her precious hot sauce, her mind was coming up blank for any solution. There didn’t seem to be anything at her immediate disposal to use. If she had cooperated with Goofy, he might have been able to cast a line to retrieve the hot sauce. If she had cooperated with Dash, she might have been able to hop across the black smoke as if it were clouds and wrest the bottle from Cheet.
It was too late now. Pinkie was on her own, wracking her brain for a solution. But, she could feel her concentration slipping like the bottle from Cheet’s gradually loosening grip.
Not about to lose her hot sauce, Pinkie took a deep breath in and attempted a leap across the length of the opening of the vent.
Partway across, she knew that what she had attempted was stupid and insane. There was no way that she was going to make it. She could already feel the heat of the fires below against her stomach, and knew that she was going to plummet to a fiery demise any moment.
The wind blew the smoke from her vision, revealing the sight of the balloon below. And an idea sprang to Pinkie’s mind.
Straining her cheeks, she sucked inward and caused her mane to inflate like a parade balloon.
It wasn’t much. But, it was just enough lift to carry her across the rest of the way.
As Cheet’s grip loosened, his grin melted away to pure shock. When he had once been so sure of Pinkie’s elimination, it was beyond his belief to see her sailing toward him.
As though time had slowed down, Cheet could feel the glass bottle sliding millimeter by millimeter from his grip. And he could feel himself beginning to retreat, when a flash of lightning illuminated Pinkie against the black smoke, just as her hoof bumped the bottle from his hand.
The hot sauce dropped down the side of the smokestack. And before she even landed, Pinkie grabbed Cheet and released the air from her mane, letting it deflate back to its normal, sopping wet lank.
The sudden weight she added to herself allowed Pinkie to tackle Cheet and use him as a makeshift sled to chase after her falling hot sauce.
Cheet yelped and groaned as he was ridden over what felt like every bolt and rivet along the side of the smokestack. And his ride seemed to have no end in sight.
Pinkie was rapidly growing nearer to her prize. She raised her hoof when she saw she was only mere meters of the coveted condiment. And with a satisfying clasp, she felt it against her hoof and quickly clutched it against her chest.
She had won. And without the help of her friends. Pinkie felt invincible. As if she could conquer anything. And with a crash of thunder, she shouted victoriously across the swamp. Unfortunately, it didn’t last long.
The ship started to rock violently, and Pinkie’s ride atop Cheet began to wobble. Still tightly clutching her bottle of hot sauce, she fell from the weasel’s back and went rolling the rest of the way down to the deck.
Pinkie rolled and rolled, until she crashed through the four weasels on deck like they were bowling pins. Along with them, she crashed into Dash, who was backed into the basket of the massive balloon. Before Dash knew what was happening, she was hit, and was knocked into the basket with Pinkie on top of her.
“For pony’s sake, Pinkie! You’re killing me faster than these weasels!” Dash shouted.
Pinkie almost responded, until she noticed that she had once again lost her hot sauce.
Before she could begin panicking over it, the ship tremored again. And a gigantic four-toed hoof crashed onto the deck.
The entire boat rocked more violently than ever.
Dash and Pinkie knocked their heads against each other and toppled about in the basket.
The weasels all scrambled around, dodging the various objects that were sliding and rolling across the deck.
Cheepskate dove over a large wooden spool, and laid as flat as he could to avoid the next, which passed right over him.
Partway up the stairs to the upper deck, Miss Argente had to grab onto the railing to keep from falling over. The bump was so violent that her glasses nearly fell off of her face, dangling off of one of her ears.
She fumbled to replace her glasses, nearly losing them in the process. Once they were securely back over her eyes, she resumed climbing the stairs, keeping hold of the rail as she ascended.
Inside the safety of the rowboat, Max held tightly to one of the seats. Whatever was happening beyond the tarp that covered him, he dared not to look. No matter what, he was determined to listen to Miss Argente and reunite with his father.
The only ones not fazed by the monstrous intruder were Goofy and Mr. Cray, who furiously continued their battle from their swinging hooks.
Back and forth, the struggle consumed them. All other things were put out of their minds, both vying to overpower one another and end the fight.
Even as the ship rocked and tilted, sending them swinging around, neither goof nor crayfish stopped their battle, even as the next giant hoof slammed onto the deck.
Goofy cast his line to catch another conveyor hook and swung around to dodge Mr. Cray’s next attack. He raised his fist to attack, but quickly retracted and spun out of the way when he saw a claw aiming right at his neck.
He and his opponent swung back toward one another, getting their lines tangled in the process.
They were face to face once more.
Goofy used his free hand to hold back Mr. Cray’s encroaching claw. Only, it was no good, as the shellfish was far stronger than himself.
As Mr. Cray’s claw inched closer to Goofy’s face, the gigantic, crocodilian visage of the king of the beasts rose into view.
Goofy jerked out of the way, just as Mr. Cray jabbed his claw forward.
He swung back and the two spun around one another, just as the beast announced its arrival with a ferocious roar.
Pandemonium struck.
The weight of the monster tilted the entire ship to one side, sending all who were on deck sliding toward it.
Dash and Pinkie both lurched when the partly-filled balloon suddenly started lazily drifting downward. Though the envelope was up in the air, it was not full enough to support the weight of two grown mares.
They were rapidly drifting toward the king of the beasts, who eyed the floating ponies menacingly.
Not about to become an entree for an oversized, prehistoric monster, Dash leaned her waist out of the balloon and started rapidly scuffling her hooves across the deck. And after catching on to the notion, Pinkie joined her.
Little progress was made toward the escape. Though their descent was slowed, the balloon was still sliding toward the snapping mouth of the monster.
“Duck!” Pinkie yelled, as she ducked back into the basket.
A metal barrel rolled toward them, and Dash had to stop trying to pull them up the sloping deck by deflecting it with her bare hooves. Unfortunately, without Pinkie’s help, she could only soften the blow as the barrel crashed into her, before she pushed it away.
“Pinkie!!” Dash snapped, as her friend reappeared.
“Duck!” Pinkie shouted again as she retreated.
Dash reached out and caught a long, metal tube that was rolling across the deck. As if she had intended to do so all along, she started using the tube as a gondola pole, and used it to climb up the deck away from the mouth of the beast.
“Pinkie!!” Dash repeated, when Pinkie appeared again.
“Duck!!” Pinkie shouted once more.
Dash passed the metal tube to Pinkie, just in time to stave off the assault of Theef and Creep, who were suddenly sliding toward her.
Creep slid around to the side, and grabbed the outside of the basket. Theef, however, grabbed right onto the edge in front of Rainbow Dash and punched her square in the face.
Dash retaliated, before he had a chance to climb in and nearly knocked him off of the balloon. It was only the quick reflexes of the weasel that allowed him to grab the ropes on the outside of the basket.
On the other side, Creep outstretched one arm and caught a cable that was tossed to him by his brother.
Once secured, Cheepskate, Sneek and Cheet all started shimmying their way toward the balloon.
Straining to stay upright, Miss Argente finally arrived back onto the upper deck, where she gasped at the horrifying scene before her.
A beast unlike any she had seen was climbing onto the deck. Though slowly, it was only a matter of time until it was able to crawl up and wreak its havoc upon all in its path.
The beast raised its hoof and slammed it onto the deck, making the ship lurch again.
Miss Argente fell forward and lost her footing.
She slid some distance along the deck, until her cloven hooves were able to find a catch. Struggling to right herself, she recoiled when she heard a sudden clash above her head.
Glancing up, she saw two silhouettes swinging from the many hooks above. One, she recognized as her heartless employer. The other, the distinct form of Max’s father.
“HEY!!” she called to Goofy’s silhouette.
She couldn’t continue, when the deck lurched again. Miss Argente rolled over herself and went sliding down the deck. Right toward the balloon, as it was lowering again.
Theef and Cheepskate teamed up to take on Dash, while Pinkie was busy trying to climb the sloping deck against the extra weight of five weasels.
Cheepskate pulled another knife from his jacket and tried to cut Dash.
Dash dodged and tangled the weasel’s arm with one of the ropes that was dangling from the balloon.
With Cheepskate’s arm under her control, Dash manipulated him into attacking Theef, who ended up falling off of the balloon.
Determined not to become the king of the beast’s next meal, Theef reached out and grabbed the steps of the balloon’s landing pad, staying his demise.
Cheepskate pulled another knife from his jacket with his free hand, and attacked again.
Dash manipulated his own arm to parry the blow.
Cheepskate slashed again, and was parried once more by himself.
The self-inflicted duel grew more frenzied, and Dash found herself struggling to properly manipulate her opponent to block his own attacks.
With a flick of his wrist, Cheepskate twirled his knife into a reverse grip and stabbed downward.
Dash quickly moved Cheepskate’s other arm so that his wrists crossed, keeping the blade only an inch from her face.
The two struggled, and the blade drew closer to its mark.
Without even thinking, Dash ducked at the very moment Cheepskate suddenly lurched forward. He went over the other side of the basket, nearly hitting Cheet, who was forced to retreat back over the side.
Cheepskate missed Theef’s waiting hand and bounced off of the sloped steps. The only thing saving him from falling overboard was a metal ring on the landing pad where a rope had once secured the balloon to the deck.
When she stood back up, Dash saw what had caused Cheepskate to go flying. The silver cervequin who had accompanied Mr. Cray when they arrived on the upper deck was hanging precariously from the side of the basket.
“Oh, no you don’t! No friend of a crawdad’s coming aboard this balloon!” Dash said, readying to push Miss Argente over.
“Dashie! Stop!” Pinkie said, staying Dash’s hoof. “She’s friends with Max!”
“Who?” Dash said.
“Goofy’s son!”
“Yes! And he is only moments from escape!” Miss Argente said.
“No way!” Dash said, taking a moment to fight off two more weasels who were climbing aboard.
“We must collect his father first! Zen, we can all escape!” said Miss Argente, as she tried to climb aboard.
The balloon drifted back toward the deck, and Miss Argente had to raise her hindquarters to keep them from being crushed under the basket.
Pinkie started furiously using her metal pole to climb back up the deck. The envelope of the balloon was fuller now, and allowed her to more easily get aloft. But, she knew it was also the magic she had learned from Goofy that allowed her to do any such thing at all.
However, the weight of the weasels were still keeping her from making any real progress. The extra passenger they now had complicated things further. But, as long as there was a way to escape, Pinkie was going to apply every fiber of her being to it.
She looked up and saw she was slowly drawing closer to the battle Goofy was waging against Mr. Cray. That was where she was going to go, no matter the obstacles.
There was a sudden jerk, and their progress suddenly halted.
Looking to the back, Pinkie, Dash and Miss Argente all saw that the weasels had cooperated to stop the floating goofs in their tracks.
Creep had tossed the excess length of cable he was holding to Theef, who had in turn tossed the excess to Cheepskate.
Cheepskate took another knife from his jacket and threw it up to the deck. His opponents were out of his throwing range, so he decided they were suited to another use.
Cheet, who already had one shoe planted firmly on a handle, set his other foot atop the newly planted blade’s handle, just as the other weasels had done.
Now that they were all anchored, the five weasels all pulled hard on the rope, yanking the balloon towards themselves.
Pinkie struggled against the weasels, but found that her metal pole was barely able to touch the deck anymore.
She leaned further out of the basket, and was supported by Miss Argente to keep from falling, allowing her to reach the deck.
Behind them both, Dash tried to undo the knot that tied the rope to the balloon, but found her fumbling hooves to be of little use. After a few desperate moments of trying, she resorted to grabbing the rope and pulling it from the grip of the weasels.
Again outnumbered five against one, Dash found her effort to free them as futile as the last one.
Working as one, the weasels all strained as they pulled the rope again. And the balloon started drifting back.
Dash was the only one who could see where they were going. The jaws of the king of the beasts separated ever so slightly, as a low, hungry growl escaped its throat.
Her mind racing desperately, she did the one thing she knew had seen her through most everything else in her life. She flapped her wings, and found that the balloon was drifting to the side, away from the monster that was climbing onto the deck.
The weasels all pulled again, trying to feed them balloon and all to the beast, but were resisted once more.
Two groups, desperate for survival, fought one another. And whoever lost was sure to be a meal for the king.
With the deck angled, the cables on each of the cranes wobbled more dangerously than ever.
Mr. Cray had to climb up his own cable when Goofy reeled himself upward.
At the top of the crane he had climbed, Mr. Cray took hold of the cable and started swinging the giant hook at Goofy.
Goofy was forced to unhook his line and cast it again, swinging about in a way that Mickey had once described doing in a dream where he was climbing a great mountain.
“Wo-ow!!” Goofy shouted, when he quickly had to retract his line, before he was hit.
He tried to cast his line again, aiming for one of the hooks of the conveyor. But, his cast was intercepted.
Mr. Cray’s swinging crane hook snagged onto Goofy’s tiny fishhook.
Goofy could only see his opponent’s silhouette against the flash of lightning behind him, and heard his beastly shout over the booming thunder that sounded off.
Mr. Cray heaved as if he were reeling in the great granddaddy of all muckasaurs from the waters. And with a pull that would have uprooted a tree, he yanked Goofy toward himself.
Goofy held tightly to his fishing pole, not daring to let go or unhook his line for fear of flying in some unknown direction. And with one last shout, Mr. Cray let him fly.
The world spun around as the goof flew through the air. And like watching the same loop of pictures, Goofy watched as the fanged mouth of the king of the beasts approached nearer with every pass.
“AH-HOO-HOY!!” the goof shouted as he readied to cast his line again.
It did not matter what his hook anchored to. As long as it was not the mouth of the monster again.
There was a snap of jaws, and the entire ship rocked.
Goofy yelped and bunched his body up to keep from losing his legs, and kicked off of the snout of the beast.
He swung back and saw he was headed right toward the envelope of the giant balloon.
Pumping his legs like he was running on air, Goofy swung to the side, out of the way of the balloon.
His added inertia supplemented Dash’s effort to resist the pull of the weasels, who all surged forward, nearly losing their precarious footing.
At the very back, Cheepskate began to grow wary as the hoof of the beast started slamming the landing pad, coming ever closer to him.
The entire balloon surged as Goofy slammed into the side of the basket. Hanging by only one hand to the outside, he was just able to see Pinkie and Dash both above himself.
“Goofy!” Pinkie greeted him when he arrived. “We know where to find Max!”
“Maxie!?” Goofy said. He hurriedly pulled himself up to peer into the basket. “Where!?”
“Zat way! In a lifeboat on ze lower deck! But, we must hurry! Or zat monster may reach us first!” Miss Argente said.
Dash answered by groaning loudly, as she resisted the pull of the weasels once more.
“Thanks. Uh, who are yuh anyway?” Goofy asked.
“Lumiere Argente. Monsieur Cray’s se--former secretary. I’ve been looking after Max since he arrived,” Miss Argente answered.
“Well, thanks again.”
“Can we please focus on getting out of here!?” Dash strained, as she rapidly flapped her wings against the pull of the weasels.
“Uh, right,” Goofy said, as he climbed into the basket, and helped Miss Argente in.
All of their weight combined into one spot made the balloon start to drop back down to the deck, where it slowly started sliding back down toward the king of the beasts.
The beast thrashed its rear legs, scraping its hooves against the hull to climb all of the way up.
The resulting tremor shook the weasels back and forth, until they were knocked loose of their footholds.
Keeping their grip on the rope, Cheet, Sneek, Creep, Theef and Cheepskate swung across the deck, just before Cheepskate was smashed by the king of the beast’s hoof.
The balloon was sliding toward them, and they all started careening overboard.
In the basket, Goofy looked for the next place he would need to anchor to next.
His eyes narrowed and his mind focused, as he determined the exact spot he would need to hook in order to take them toward Max’s hiding place.
Through his squinted eyes, he managed to see through the heavy screen of rain to a swiveling crane. That was where he needed to take them all.
He nudged the others to give himself some room, and once again readied to unleash the secret technique of the Goof family.
“Ten o’ clock!” he said aloud, as he swung.
The balloon was growing closer to the edge.
“Two o’ clock!”
Cheepskate was right at the edge, and began to slip.
“Quarter to three!”
Cheepskate slipped, and his weight pulled Theef down with him.
“Tour jete!”
Theef tried staying up, but was bumped by Creep, and knocked off the ship. After him, Creep, Sneek and Cheet went sliding overboard, still holding onto the rope.
“Twist! Pas de deux! I’m a little teapot!”
The weight of the weasels was rapidly pulling the balloon overboard.
“Wind up!!’
Goofy lifted his fishing pole high over his head, and twirled it around.
The hook and line went straight upward into the envelope, where they caught aflame.
They swirled about the inside of the balloon, like a great, flaming tornado, which filled the envelope further with its lifting gasses.
“AN’ LET ‘ER FLY!!!!”
Goofy cast his line, which shot forward streaking flames behind it like a tiny comet. The rain soon doused the hook and its line, as it wove back and forth in tandem with the swinging crane. And in another moment, it caught.
“Got it!!” Goofy victoriously shouted, as he started reeling in.
Soon after he started, Pinkie, Dash and Miss Argente all started to help him reel, pulling them more quickly on.
The weasels were all pulled upward, and Cheet slammed into the edge of the deck. He was hit from behind by Sneek, who was hit by Creep, who was hit by Theef, who was hit by Cheepskate. And the rope they all held slipped right from their grip, sending them splashing into the water below.
The ship floated away without them, and they were just able to see the shape of the king of the beasts climb further aboard, before it disappeared into the fog with the Double Down.
After it had gone, the very log that had carried the goofs into the swamp drifted by, and they all climbed aboard.
“Well, that was a bust!” Creep said, as he was helped up to the log by his brother.
“Yeah. Most profitable gig we had in years, an’ the goofs gotta torpedo it! An’ now they’re gettin’ away!” Sneek said, shaking a small fish from his pant leg.
“They ain’t gonna get away for long! If Cray or that walkin’ handbag don’t do ‘em in, we know right where they’re goin’,” Cheet said.
It was true. Even if the goofs escaped, there was only one way that the rivers flowed out of the swamp. That was where they were going to find the goofs next, and finally eliminate them.
The passengers of the balloon all reeled for all they were worth. With the weight of the weasels gone, they were able to lift off of the deck. And with the air Goofy had stirred up within it, they were able to just get nearly ten or fifteen hooves high.
They were nearly at the edge of the ship, and Goofy looked over the side of the basket, eager to see where his son was waiting for him. They were still not over the edge of the upper deck. But, it was only going to be a few moments until Goofy was reunited with his son. The anticipation was almost murder for him, but he knew he could easily wait it out.
As they reeled closer and were nearly over the edge, Pinkie saw something that made her heart leap. There, caught on one of the conveyor hooks in the direction they were heading was her bottle of hot sauce.
They were getting nearer to it. So tantalizingly close that Pinkie could almost taste it. Only, at the rate they were going, they were going to pass it up entirely.
Pinkie wouldn’t have it. Taking her metal pole, she reached it out, passed it through the eyehole of the hook and waited half a second for them to drift to a point where they would be safely snagged.
Goofy’s line went taut when the balloon stopped moving. Looking to the source of the snag, they saw Pinkie carefully pulling them up the length of the balloon.
“Pinkie! Whut’re yuh doin’!?” Goofy shouted.
“I’ve got to get my hot sauce!” Pinkie explained.
Between leaving the ship and helping Pinkie, Dash did not know what to do. And at the same time, she knew that their mission in Bichumonterre had not been completed. They hadn’t yet freed the land from the wrath of the creatures that lived there now. Nor had they done anything of particularly great significance.
Mr. Cray’s words echoed in her head, the very same as they had done when he told her that her mission was a complete wash. Even if they did stay to defeat him, or to rescue Pinkie’s hot sauce, what difference would it have made?
The balloon lurched again when a sudden weight on the fishing line made it dip.
Through the heavy rain, they could see a large silhouette sliding toward them along the fishing line. A flash of lightning revealed Mr. Cray, his claws snapped firmly around the line, letting him slide rapidly toward the passengers of the balloon.
Miss Argente quickly put Dash, Pinkie and Goofy between herself and her former employer, hiding at the back of the basket.
Mr. Cray crashed into the side of the basket, making the whole thing shake violently, almost making Miss Argente fall out.
There was no room for him to crawl inside. But, that didn’t stop him from viciously attacking the passengers.
The very moment that he arrived, he snapped at Goofy’s arm, aiming to amputate it.
Goofy parried with his fishing pole, which was caught again by Mr. Cray, whose eyes had shot as red as his shell.
Nothing about Mr. Cray was recognizable anymore. His face was completely contorted by rage, rendering him the appearance of a monster as terrible as the king of the beasts.
With deep, guttural growls, he attacked again, and was again blocked by Goofy.
Mr. Cray snarled and tried to attack Pinkie who was still trying to reach her hot sauce.
Dash threw a rope around his claw, stopping him inches short of his target.
Another growl was loosed, as he leaned far into the basket, reaching for Dash next as he cut the ropes that restrained him with his other claw.
Dash had to lean far back, and nearly fell out of the basket.
None of them were relenting.
Mr. Cray changed his tactics and started cutting the thick ropes that held the balloon’s basket to its envelope.
Goofy tried to stop him by attacking with his fishing pole. But, to little effect.
Miss Argente watched warily as her chances of escape slipped away. She kept her eyes on Mr. Cray, knowing that no matter what she did, her life with him had ended. She couldn’t even feel her own movements as she took hold of the clipboard that hung around her neck and lunged at her former employer.
Mr. Cray grunted loudly as he was bludgeoned over the head by the cervequin he deemed didn’t have the backbone to stand up straight in his presence.
And with one loud, satisfying crack, the clipboard broke over Mr. Cray’s head.
Miss Argente stopped for a moment, stunned by what she had done. But, her astonishment turned to fear when Mr. Cray grabbed the broken board that still hung around her neck.
She didn’t even have a chance to struggle as she was yanked out of the basket and thrown to the deck.
Everyone shouted as she grabbed onto one of the dangling ropes that was attached to the balloon’s basket. For one terrifying second, Miss Argente caught sight of the king of the beasts just as it climbed aboard. And it was looking directly at her.
The balloon was drifting further over the side, and the hook Pinkie had snagged was sliding along its groove after them, making the bottle that was caught in it wobble dangerously.
The king of the beasts started toward them, hungrily baring its jagged teeth.
Miss Argente could bear no longer. In a surge of panic, she let go of the rope and went falling back to the lower deck, where she landed on the tarp that covered Max’s lifeboat.
She was saved from severe injury, but still received a good thump when the tarp pulled loose from its securing.
Max, who had been hiding beneath the seat of the lifeboat, crawled out from beneath the crumpled tarp and saw who had joined him.
“Miss Argente!” he said. “Are you okay? Where’s my dad?”
Between panic and the fall she had just taken, it took Miss Argente a moment to recollect herself.
“Your father...He’s…”
She glanced up, and she and Max were just able to see the balloon, as it hovered overhead.
The ropes in the tackles and pulleys that held the lifeboat suspended started to loosen. Miss Argente’s hard landing was too much for them to handle, and they dropped suddenly down the side of the ship, stopping just halfway to the water.
When they stopped, their eyes went back upward, and they both called to the goofs in the balloon. Unfortunately, the balloon’s passengers were still occupied.
Mr. Cray started tearing the basket apart with his bare claws, hoping to drop them all out to feed to the monster on the deck.
Goofy attacked by ramming Mr. Cray with the butt of his fishing pole.
Mr. Cray recoiled slightly, and relented his attack. However, he took hold of the improvised weapon and wrenched it from his opponent’s grip, throwing it into the water.
Taking a cue from Dash, Goofy started trying to use the ropes around the basket to restrain Mr. Cray.
The moment Dash and Goofy got a rope around either of his arms, the crustacean swung his arms together and knocked his opponents into one another.
He then pulled his arms back and snapped his claws at them, narrowly missing once more. After he missed, Mr. Cray set to cutting apart more of the ropes, to keep them from being used.
Pinkie was now just beyond the reach of her hot sauce. Looking over her shoulder, she saw the trouble her friends were in. But, she also knew that she would only be a few milliseconds longer.
“Almost…” Pinkie said, as she reached her hoof out.
A loud bellow sounded beneath herself, as the king of the beasts lunged to attack.
Pinkie quickly turned, and saw the monster rushing toward them. Perhaps, she turned too quickly.
The bottle of hot sauce slipped from its hook.
Pinkie only just noticed it falling from the corner of her eye, and turned to catch it.
Her hooves frantically reached out, swiping only the air as the bottle fell past her.
The bottle fell between Dash and Goofy, and landed directly onto Mr. Cray’s face, where it shattered, splattering its contents all over his face.
It was a pain like no other for Mr. Cray. He yelped and shouted, as his entire face felt as if it had caught fire. And in his fury to get it off, he let go of the side of the basket.
He was only in the air for a moment, when the king of the beasts jumped upward with its mouth open. And with a sickening snap, Mr. Cray disappeared behind the wall of teeth that had closed around him.
Mr. Cray had been defeated. But, the ordeal was not yet over.
The impact of the king of the beast’s landing shook the entire ship again.
The lifeboat that was weighed down by two passengers could no longer support its own weight, and plunged into the water.
The Double Down was getting away from them, and the balloon was full enough that it was able to support its few passengers.
“Dad!!” Max called as loud as he could.
“Maxie!! Where are yuh!?” Goofy called, as he looked around in a panic.
In a moment, his eyes landed upon a silhouette that floated through the water. One that he could see two passengers aboard.
“Maxie!! Up here!!” Goofy shouted, waving frantically at his son.
He tried looking for a rope that he could lower to climb down to his son, but found they had all been cut by Mr. Cray.
With a heavy heart, he could only watch as Max once again moved beyond his reach, drifting into the mists of the swamp.
“All rivers out of zis swamp flow to Galway! Look for us zere!! In Galway!!” Miss Argente’s voice called, before she and Max were both engulfed in the mists of the swampland.
The balloon drifted higher, until it was above the fog. After so long in the mists, none of the goofs had any idea how much time had passed since they had entered the foggy swamplands of Bichumonterre. Not even the sun was seen through the dark clouds that filled the sky, which continued to pelt rain to all beneath it..
There would be no finding Max now. He and the river he rode on were lost in the fog below.
Looking ahead, Goofy could see where the fog ended, and saw where the river wound through the land and branched out in many directions. That was where he needed to go. But, in a hot air balloon, there was no way to steer, leaving the three goofs at the mercy of the wind that sent them in a direction lateral to the river.
Goofy looked a moment at his shredded shirt and sighed. Realizing it was useless as a garment, he shredded it completely apart and put it to use as a makeshift bandage, dressing the wounds he had sustained during his fight against Mr. Cray. And once he was finished with that, he ducked down into the basket. A moment later, he reappeared, wearing his normal clothes.
With a sigh, he placed his hands on the side of the basket, and waited to drift beyond the reach of the foggy landscape.
Time passed. The rain clouds slowly ebbed away, revealing the sun just as it was peering over the horizon.
With the sun, the land began to illuminate, revealing the countryside below. The kingdom of Bichumonterre beyond its swamps was a peaceful one. Seemingly a kingdom free of the dangers its wilds presented. And with the coming of the light, a road was seen below, which ran along the outermost of the many branching paths of the river.
Dash reached up and lowered the heat on the balloon’s burner, allowing it to gently drift to the ground. Along the way, she aided the balloon’s direction by gently flapping her wings. Whether it had helped or not, it was a matter of many minutes until the balloon landed with a gentle bump upon a hilly bank by the river.
Goofy was the first to disembark. For as long as they had been drifting, he had kept careful watch on the river, waiting for something to leave the mists. No such thing had happened. And with a grim sigh, he conceded the fact that Max and Miss Argente may well have taken a different branch of the river than the one he and his friends had landed beside.
The magical light that had guided them from Ponyville appeared once more, and gently drifted along the road that ran beside the river.
There was only one thing to do for it. Goofy, Dash and Pinkie all started walking after the light, knowing that it would take them to where they were needed next. To rescue Max and hopefully finish their exhausting quest.
Many miles were crossed, and not a word was said in all that time. Only the ambient sounds of the land filled their ears, along with the gentle tinkering of the magical light that guided them.
The sky gradually brightened as the sun climbed overhead. One more day since the beginning of the magical quest. One more day since any of them had seen their other friends.
Even though none of them said it, Dash, and Pinkie and Goofy all wondered how their friends were faring. For the tribulations they had faced, for all the grief that they endured and with more sure to come, they hoped the best for all of the others.
The light guided them to the middle of a crossroads, where the path split into many directions.
In the very middle of the road, a single, tall signpost stood, directing any creature traveling to their destination. But, the goofs had a more decisive guide than a simple road sign.
The magical light drifted slowly onward, as if to try and pinpoint its way. Then, it settled on a path that was set a small ways to their left
That was the way. The direction to continue, and hopefully finish their quest.
Goofy looked to the signs that named each destination. Partway down, he found the one where the light would lead them to. And to his dismay saw that it led to a place called Brumbury. Looking back to the post, he saw that below that was another sign that said ‘Galway,’ which led in the opposite direction.
Dash and Pinkie both started forth on the path toward Brumbury. But the moment their hooves touched the ground after the first step, they stopped when they saw Goofy walking the other way.
“Goofy?” Pinkie said, breaking the long silence.
Goofy paused and looked over his shoulder
“Whut?” he asked.
“We’re supposed to go this way...To Brumbury,” Pinkie answered, pointing toward the light.
Goofy sighed and shook his head.
“Maybe you are. But, I gotta go tuh Galway tuh find muh son,” he said
The light tinkered slightly louder, beckoning them forth.
“But, the light says we have to go--” Dash started to say.
“Nuts tuh whut thuh light sez!!!” Goofy snapped. “That thing’s dun nuthin’ but take us places where anybuddy at all could o’ solved their own problems!”
“Like horse apples they could! You saw Rex! He was huge! And that crawdad was just as bad!” Dash rebutted.
“An’ anybuddy at all could o’ took ‘em on! Even if yuh didn’t have yer fancy magic!”
“But...We did it, because we learned your magic. We couldn’t have learned it without you,” was all Pinkie could think to say.
“You weren’t there when we were talkin’ tuh that crawdad. He spelled it out plain an’ simple that our whole quest’s been nuthin’ but a snow job. An’ if me bein’ here’s pointless, yuh never needed me tuh teach yuh magic,” Goofy said.
In actuality, Pinkie had heard everything that was said over Theef’s radio. She knew full well the futility of their involvement. And there was no arguing Goofy’s point. Even after their magic had been stolen, she and Dash were able to hold their own against the obstacles that came their way.
In fact, Dash realized that she and Pinkie had both very much discovered how to use magic like Goofy’s on their own. And with only minimal guidance from the goof.
“Thuh folks in Brumbury can look after themselves. My son needs me. So, I’m goin’ tuh find him. No matter whut that twinklin’ bug zapper says,” Goofy said, with complete finality.
And with those last words, he walked onward to the path to Galway.
The mares stood stunned at the sight. Never in their wildest dreams did they imagine their own friend leaving them behind. Nor could they imagine going anywhere without one another.
“Dashie...I…” Pinkie stammered.
Dash could barely believe her eyes when she saw Pinkie take a step after Goofy. And with one last look over her shoulder, Pinkie continued on, keeping her head low to the ground as she followed Goofy.
Never before had Rainbow Dash felt so alone. The Bearer of Loyalty without a friend, and the burden of her responsibility to Equestria weighing heavily on her.
She looked back to the magical light. There was the path that would lead to the salvation of Equestria. To the completion of their quest and to the reunion with all of her other friends.
On the other path, her friends who had accompanied her. Who had seen her through the best and worst times of the quest were walking away. And in a few short moments, they would disappear around the bend in the path ahead.
It was the worst conflict Dash had felt in her life. As if one part of herself was tearing itself in two, trying to pull her in different directions.
Swallowing hard, she made up her mind.
Her hooves shakily left the ground as she hesitantly walked after her friends.
Behind her, the magical light twinkled one last time, before it burst into stardust and dissipated from existence.
There would be no more guiding the goofs. Now, they were making their own way, lost and bewildered on their own path to finish the magical quest.