//------------------------------// // Confrontation // Story: Divergence // by Seattle_Lite //------------------------------//    ════════════════════════════════ ► Divergence ◀ ════════════════════════════════     Chapter 2 Confrontation An MLP:FiM Fanfiction by Seattle Lite Twilight Sparkle and Applejack stood nervously next to one another, the other ponies arrayed behind them, peering anxiously into the thick fog that surrounded them in all directions, hoping their friend was okay. There had been an inexplicable orange glow a moment ago that reminded them of a bonfire, and Dash was taking so long… As if summoned by their shared concern, appearing in her trademark spectrum, Rainbow swooped out of the mist, alighting with a flourish in front of her friends. "Rainbow!" Twilight shouted with relief. "I knew you could… do it?" she trailed off in confusion. The bridge was still impassable, one side hanging straight down. Applejack snorted her impatience, scuffing the ground with a fore-hoof. "C'mon Dash, we need to get a move on! What’s the holdup?" Dash's brow furrowed in concern at the imminent discussion, already taking a poor turn. Her gaze flicked off to the side as she took a deep breath and a pensive stance in front of her friends, one hoof lifted in trepidation. "Look Twi..." she started lamely, ignoring the workpony entirely for the moment, "um, maybe this isn't such a good idea after all." Twilight's jaw hung to the hinges, unable to take the words seriously enough to form an immediate reply. Her mind went into autopilot, cycling through possibilities at high speed. Applejack stepped forward with a much better reaction time, having never been one to overly suffer from cognitive dissonance. "What the hay are you on about girl? We need to get a move on and we need to go now! So get yer scrawny flank across that there chasm and tie off that bridge!" Dash clenched her jaw, her wings flaring out reflexively—her hesitant posture abandoned and uncertainty evaporating at the direct challenge from the orange Earth pony, her long-time rival; though, their relationship was a bit more complex than either cared to dwell upon for too long. "Back off, Applejack; there’s more going on here than you know, okay?" Applejack stood with her mouth agape for the second it took for Rainbow to turn to the purple Unicorn. "Twi, listen—there's more going on here than you told us, and more than you know about either. I think…" Twilight’s eyes narrowed to violet slits as she stepped toward the flustered young mare, having settled on the most likely possibility to explain the situation. "Rainbow. What happened over there? You know that Nightmare Moon is back! She kidnapped the princess! She's been setting traps for us the entire way here; she’s trying to stop us from stopping her! Trying to kill us! I don't know what happened to you over there, or what lies she told you, but we have to keep going!" "Twi, listen: what’s going on up there at the castle? That's… that's god stuff, we can’t go up there, we wouldn't survive!" Dash’s hoof reached out toward the Unicorn, desperate to convince the only one who stood a chance of convincing the others. "And she, I mean, it—didn't nab the princess, at least I don't think so. I mean, how could it have? Celestia's the damn su—wait! The sun! Didn’t you see it? Like, two minutes ago! It rose!” Twilight looked at her sideways, ears plastering back against her skull. “The sun, Dash? You mean that orange glow? You thought that was the sun?” Twilight was staring at Rainbow in sheer disbelief, certain that something had happened to the blue Pegasus; though whether she had simply knocked her head, or there was some more sinister explanation, she couldn’t say. Frankly, right now she didn’t have time for it.  “Yes it was the sun! She rose—um...” Dash trailed off, thinking furiously; Shit, how do I even mention Luna without sounding like I've lost it? Of course they’d think I've been looped. Twilight stamped her hoof with an academic finality, frustration lacing her voice as she said, "That’s why we need the Elements! To get back the real sun! That’s why you've been so thoroughly deceived, that’s why… Oh, we're wasting time! Move aside, Rainbow; I have to go on, stay if you like!" she declared, turning away from the increasingly desperate Pegasus. Twilight began to prepare a teleportation spell, squinting to see a clear path through the opaque mists to the far side of the canyon, looking for a safe landing zone. A determined look on her face, Dash interposed herself between Twilight and the canyon. "No, Twilight! I can't let you throw your life away like that. If you'll just listen to me for a minute, there are some things you have to hear. I’m not really sure how to start, but—" "I've listened long enough!” Twilight interjected, cutting Dash off. “It couldn't be more apparent that Nightmare Moon tricked you or put a spell on you or… or something! I thought you were loyal Rainbow! I thought you'd ‘never leave Ponyville hangin’.’” Twilight spat the final words bitterly; her concern for whatever was going on with this Pegasus paling against the urgency she felt to save her life-long mentor. Ouch. "I-it’s not that simple, Twi! I…" Gaah! How in the hell do I convince them?! Dash thought desperately, shaking her mane in frustration, trying to rally her thoughts. A difficult process for her under the best of circumstances, not made any easier with Applejack, having recovered, stomping up nose-to-nose with her, green eyes glaring into her own. "Rainbow, Ah dunno what's come over you, but we ain't got time fer yer fillyfoolery! Time’s a wastin’ an’ we gotta git. So either git with us, or git outta the way!" she said, the last words punctuated with a strong hoof to the cyan mare’s chest. Dash's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Listen, AJ, don't go there. I'm trying to get you all to see reason here, and you're not makin' it easy! You won't even listen to me for two seconds!" Although she tried not to show it, Applejack was sick with worry for her family back on the farm. Little Apple Bloom had been crying something fierce and pathetic when she'd left, and now her frustration was spilling over despite her best efforts. "Horseapples to that, Sally!” she growled. ”It’s plain as day y’all have either been hoodwinked or just up an’ chickened out, but we don't have no more time to be wastin’ no-how!" Rainbow’s expression turned furious, matching her rapidly building feelings of outrage and incredulity at her friends’ stark refusal to so much as hear her out. "So. You're callin’ me either a coward or an idiot, is that it AJ? Never thought I'd see the day you got any denser!" Dash said, her jaw clenched as she squared up to the Earth pony. "Ah call ‘em like I see ‘em sugarcube," Applejack said, not backing an inch, sparks glinting in her narrowed eyes. The tension in the air was building toward something inevitable, something explosive. In a small, very private corner of her mind—locked against the world—was a place Rainbow Dash held her doubts, her fears. Rarely released from its tightly controlled borders, the pony in that dark little space was now prancing about and chanting in a shrill voice, Ohmygosh this is getting out of hoof. Reeeeeally quick. Do something do something do something! Crap-crap-crap-crap-crap! A cascade of impressions flit through her head in the space of her next breath, too quickly to be solidified in thought— Twilight had moved slightly to her flank, getting clear of AJ. Twilight was a student of the princess, some magical protegé thing, so she was as wild-card as it got in Dash's book. She may try to attack, or just teleport across the gap, heading pell-mell to her own stupid death. On that note, she was also the only one both willing and able to go ahead alone. Bookworm: priority one, for her own sake Applejack: Powerful and sturdy, with unbelievable stamina. Dash knew she couldn't match her only real rival in Ponyville with strength alone. She'd seen AJ put her hoof into a dead tree with such force that it had shattered in a resounding crack, the corded wood splitting right up the trunk. She'd have to be really, really fast. Fortunately, she'd known the Earth pony long enough to know how she moved, how she thought, and—hopefully—how she fought. They'd scuffled before, sure, but never like this was shaping up to be. Never for real. On the upside, Applejack wasn't very imaginative; she was a heavily traditional pony. Once Dash got her rhythm down, it wasn't likely she'd have to deal with many surprises. She could do this… but it was really gonna suck. Fluttershy: Poor filly hadn't made more than a series of squeaks since Dash got back. As nopony had accorded her attention, she hadn't gotten any. No threat, but certainly no help either. She cowered behind Pinkie with a terrified, disbelieving look across the bit of her expression visible behind her mane. Pinkie Pie: Frozen in place; she looked to be in shock. Hopefully that would last, Dash had no clue what was going through her head—at least one thing tonight was normal—and had no notion of which way she'd go, or what the hell she'd do when she got there. Rarity: She'd been making indignant squawks for the past few moments of "Darling!" and "Really now ladies!" Dash figured she'd stay out of anything that might chip a hoof; her most significant contribution likely to be ear-splitting noises. As usual. Suddenly, Dash caught a glimmer of magic forming around Twilight’s horn, arching into electrical currents as it built, pointed not across the canyon, but right at her. The ingrained muscle-memory of the thousands of hours of training it had taken to get her black-belt kicked in, and that was that. In single a fluid motion, Dash stepped to the side and back, dropping low to brace on her front hooves and pivoting her haunches, she snapped out one hind leg in a blur, nailing Twilight precisely on target on the side of her head—hopefully with just enough force to put her down. Twilight cried out as the hoof slammed home, the magic that had built in the Unicorn’s horn flaring brightly as the spell dissipated. The Unicorn fell to the ground in a crumpled heap. Bringing her attention back to Applejack, she was thankful for the space she created between them in sliding back, because she just had time to register the blur of a hoof arching toward her head. Snapping her head to the side, it glanced off her shoulder and away as she regained her balance, pulling into a light stance in front of Applejack after a quick flutter backwards; Applejack followed—powerful, full bodied punches lashed out in a classic one-two, then spinning around, she launched into a full-force buck with her hinds. Predictable, Dash thought, the Earth pony's body language too telling and far too slow for a Pegasus that felt most at home at near-subsonic speeds. Dash’s head jinked right, then left; she felt the first blow graze her cheek, the second knifing through her mane. As Applejack went for the buck, she ducked low, pulling her wings in tight, then surging up with her shoulders while AJ's legs were above her, connecting with the workhorse’s belly and sending her flying head over hooves in an uncontrolled roll. In the lull of the exchange, Dash took stock. Rarity had begun screeching, and looked altogether disinclined to stop anytime soon. Twilight was immobile and insensate on the ground, a trickle of blood leaking from her mane, her head laid on the ground and her eyes closed. Amazingly, Fluttershy had gone mobile and was now crouching over the unconscious Unicorn, nuzzling her and whispering to herself, having gone fully into medic-mode. Pinkie, on the other hoof, looked to be carved out of stone, not even bothering to blink away the tears that poured down her face, in stark and disturbing contrast to her usually unbounded effervescence. A groan drew her attention back to the orange mare on the ground, who was struggling back to her hooves. Applejack was glaring pure fury at the Pegasus from beneath ragged blonde bangs, torn loose from the tight braid she usually wore. She gasped sharply as she rose, trying to catch the breath that had been knocked out of her from the impact and subsequent roll across the hard ground. Spitting out a bit of grass, Applejack roared, "You… you buckin' traitor!" She flung herself straight at the rainbow-maned mare. Dash was expecting another combination, not the full-bodied slam that AJ delivered. She attempted to roll around it but the force of AJ's rush had already over-balanced her and she fell backwards, cracking her skull sharply against the ground. She felt a weight settle roughly on top of her before stars exploded and her head was wrenched to the side, the vivid imprint of a horseshoe left across her face, trailing the solid blow AJ leveled at her after getting the athletic pony in one place. Another connected. And another. "Aaahh!" Dash tasted blood in her mouth and looked up at the wild-eyed Applejack straddling her, reaching back for another blow. The Earth pony's hooves were hardened to the point of stone from hard years of harder work, and each strike had felt like slamming straight into… well, an apple tree. No way she could take a few more of those; Dash already felt her face swelling, and a cut had opened up above her eye. Shit. Snapping her tail above and behind AJ, she connected with her old friend’s beloved hat, knocking it forward over her face. There was a startled gasp from beneath the hat; Dash used the distraction to stretch both front hooves above her head before bringing them in a full arch right into the center of the worn Stetson with all of her strength. The hat produced a deep "Uff!" and the orange pony tumbled backwards. Dash quickly flapped her wings and gained her hooves, blinking rapidly to clear her vision and spitting the blood from her muzzle. Altogether more blood hit the ground than she was happy with. Lesson learned. Dash gave the sturdy country pony no chance to recover this time. She was airborne, slamming both hoofs into AJ's side with as much speed as she could gather on the way over. Applejack lashed out blindly with an elbow, but the lightning-quick Pegasus rolled up and out of its path, sending a hoof down to snap across the work pony’s face for her trouble. Flowing with the momentum of her punch she spun on her mid-air axis to deliver a powerful buck, throwing her opponent back to the ground. As Applejack tried to rise again—She just won't quit!—Dash stepped in for a snapping uppercut under the orange pony's jaw, sending her blonde mane flying back and collapsing the workhorse into an unconscious pile of bruises. Panting heavily, she stood over AJ, making sure the stubborn ass was done, and gasped out, "Da… damn it! Why wouldn't you just listen?! That’s all you had to do! Just take two seconds and fucking listen to me!"  Her legs suddenly trembling, she reached up an unsteady hoof up to wipe away the blood that had begun to trek down the side of her face. A strained, weak voice broke through her reverie, "...Dashie?" Divergence Chapter 1 ← Chapter 3 →