Appledashery

by Just Essay


Oh Snap

Plateaus, mesas and buttes glided by to the left and right of Rainbow Dash as she flew west.

She maintained a gentle glide, balancing the weight of the chariot behind her with masterful ease. The dry desert air tickled her nose, and she flew high enough to avoid the bulk of the landscape's rising heat.

By late afternoon, the arid earth beneath her had taken on a golden glaze in the setting sun. She saw a tiny sprawl of buildings to the north, intersected by a railroad and flanked by a tiny cluster of luscious apple trees. A slight smile crossed the pegasus' muzzle, and she kept flying.

For the umpteenth time since she left Canterlot earlier that day, Rainbow pulled a map out from her saddlebag and examined it. She traced an invisible dotted line with her eyes, heading towards an X drawn with questionably red has marks. A large fissure in the earth was highlighted, a place labled as "The Pit." For the first time, Rainbow Dash closely examined the names of the locations located directly around it: "The Final Blight," "Breath's End," "Purgatorial Divide."

"Hmmm..." Her lips curved. "Sounds like a spectacular summer home."

A rattling noise.

Rainbow's ears twitched.

Another rattling noise.

Her face scrunched. She flung a look over her shoulder.

The canvas material of the bag inside the barrel rippled, rippled, and settled to a stop.

Rainbow's lips pursed. She felt her heart beating. A shadow loomed. She looked forward, gasped, and veered to the right just in time to avoid slamming into the north wall of a steep mesa. Catching her breath, she spread her wings wide, glided, and lowered herself towards the desert floor of the valley between plateaus.

Touching down, she padded to a stop, stretching her legs with the faintest tingling sensation. Unhitching herself, she trotted around to the rear of the wagon and peered into the chariot.

The barrel lay dormant, the canvas bag inside it twice as much.

Gulping, Rainbow Dash reached a hoof in to touch the junk through the bag. She paused halfway through the gesture, though, blinking at her own forelimb. With a snort, she leaned back from the package, smirking.

"Meh... just the wind." She exhaled breathily. "Still, would be a pretty wicked cruel time for the side effects of your potion to kick in, Zecora."

Rainbow heard a whistling noise along the arid winds. She turned around, squinting towards the eastern sky.

She saw what she first thought was a cloud—only it broke into three separate pieces. Dark shapes loomed high above, dark shapes with broad leathery wings. With dramatic speed, they dove towards her general vicinity.

"Heh. Speaking of which." She waved a forelimb, smiling into the shadows. "Hi there, figments! Better you than the numb tingling, am I right?"

There was a flash of bright orange light. A gigantic fireball flew straight down like a missile.

"Gaaaaah!" Rainbow ducked low. The streaking flame nearly tore her head off, instead singeing a few hairs as it soared past and exploded against a row of cacti. Chunks of rock and vulcanized dust pelted the pegasus' body as she scrambled back to the front of her chariot. "Definitely not hallucinations! Definitely, stupidly real!"

Two more flashes of orange light. The winged creatures flew closer, but their burning projectiles were ten times as fast.

"Nnnnngh!" Rainbow pulled and pulled on the chariot. Her wings tore at their sockets, but succeeded in lifting her off the ground—not to mention out of the way of flaming annihilation.

Craaaaack! A burning crater formed in the earth right behind her.

Panting, Rainbow Dash flew through the cloud of ash and skimmed the north edge of the plateau. She heard the flapping of thick leathery wings and picked up the pace, scrambling through the air as swiftly as her awesome appendages could carry her.

"Crap crap crap crap crap crap crap..."

And then her pursuers started to roar. The air filled with rancid breath and the scent of brimstone.

"...megacrap!"