Chapter 7: Taste the Rainbow
“Hey Twilight, what’s up?” Rainbow Dash asked as she swooped down from her cloud and hovered in front of Twilight. "Besides me that is." she giggled.
“Rainbow Dash! I need your help!” Twilight begged.
“My help?” said the cyan pegasus, looking rather eager. She immediately touched down and saluted Twilight. “Rainbow Dash is always willing to help! What is it? A stampede? Cider shortage? Dragon attack? Is Canterlot in danger?! Let me at ‘em! I’ll hoof’em straight ways from Sunday!” She stood on her hind legs, jumped about and flayed her hooves in the air in a fighting position.
“Not that kind of help…” Twilight said giving Rainbow an awkward look. Rainbow Dash settled down as Twilight explained. “Look, I need you to find somepony for me…”
“A ‘Search and Retrieval’ mission! Gotcha!” Rainbow winked. “Don’t worry, I’ll find this pony, no sweat!”
“Not a pony.”
Rainbow cocked an eyebrow. “Huh?”
“You can’t miss him. He is the only one in town without hooves…”
“Ahem!” Twilight glanced down at Spike who frowned at her.
“…besides Spike.”
“Not a pony?” Rainbow was puzzled. “What is he then?”
“NO TIME TO EXPLAIN!” yelled Twilight as she grabbed Rainbow Dash by her shoulders and shook her frantically. “JUST GO AND FIND HIM QUICKLY!”
“Woah! Woah! Settle down girl!” Rainbow pulled away and held up her hooves to try and calm Twilight down. “Now calm down and tell me what’s going on!”
“Please Rainbow! The more we delay, the further he’ll get away!”
“Why? What makes him so important?” asked Rainbow as she cocked an eyebrow. “Did he steal something from you? I got it! He borrowed a book and now you want it back!”
“No.”
“He insulted you! He called you a bookworm and you want to teach him a lesson?” She slammed her hooves eagerly together.
“No.”
“He’s a horrible creature from another dimension and now you've got to find him before he lays waste to Ponyville and all of Equestria!” she exclaimed in a terrified voice.
“Close, but no.”
There was a long pause.
“Is he your colt-friend?”
Twilight blushed. “NO!!!” That outburst caused Rainbow to fall over backwards. “No! No! NO! It’s nothing like that!”
“Then what?” Rainbow asked even more confused as she quickly got back up.
“He’s…” Twilight bit her lips and then sighed. “Sigh! He’s very special. His name is Alex. I really need to get him back.”
“What’s an ‘Alex’?”
“Please Dash! You’re my only hope!”
Rainbow saw the pleading expression in her eyes. She could tell this was important to her. In the end she decided to help her friend. “What do you want me to do?”
“Just search the town for him. If you see him, give me a signal and hold him until I arrive!”
“Right! You can count on me!” Rainbow saluted and was airborne in a flash. Twilight looked up in the direction Rainbow flew and hoped that she wouldn’t do anything rash once she found him. Spike, having pulled himself up from the ground, dusted himself off and looked at Twilight with concern.
“Are you sure this is a good idea Twilight?”
“I don’t really have much choice, Spike.” She then smiled at her little assistant and rubbed his head. “Don’t worry. Rainbow Dash is the most loyal pony there is. I’m sure nothing will go wrong.”
Despite Twilight’s assuring attitude, Spike couldn’t help but wonder…
*****
Rainbow Dash swooped across town, looking carefully for anything out of the ordinary. It wasn’t long before she eventually spotted something sneaking out of an alleyway. It walked on its hind legs, wore clothes and had hair on its head. It looked too scrawny for a Diamond Dog and was most definitely not a pony. She landed on a nearby roof, observing him sneaking out of the alley with a nervous look on his face.
“Is that the thing Twilight was talking about?” Rainbow asked herself curiously. “He doesn’t look anything special…”
“THERE YOU ARE ALEX!”
Both Rainbow and Alex turned in the direction of the sound and saw Pinkie Pie as she galloped at full speed towards him. Alex froze as the smiling pink mare increased her speed, overcoming obstacles with great ease as she had her eyes fixed on her prize. Alex backed himself against a wall, too afraid to move.
Rainbow quickly became concerned. She had promised Twilight to find this creature for her, and now it seemed Pinkie had beaten her to it. Knowing she could not get to him in time, she watched helplessly as Pinkie leaped towards him, ready to grab him.
“WAIT!!!”
SCREECH!
The sound of tires screeching was heard as Pinkie suddenly stopped in midair at Alex’s outburst. There was a moment of tense silence as Alex and Pinkie just stared at each other.
“…I’m over there!” Alex pointed in the other direction.
“Oh!” Pinkie chirped. Still suspended in the air, she suddenly turned around and dashed off in the direction Alex pointed. He watched as the pink pony disappeared around a corner, leaving a trail of dust behind her.
Alex was utterly amazed and nearly speechless. “I can’t believe that worked…”
‘I can’t believe that worked!’ thought an even surprised Rainbow Dash as she had watched the whole thing, her eyes wide with disbelief. She knew Pinkie was random, but she never thought she was THAT random. Having shaken off what she had just seen, she realized that the creature called ‘Alex’ was now using his chance to slip away.
“Alright! It’s ‘Dash’ Time!”
Rainbow quickly dashed off into the air. She circled several times in the air in a loop, creating a colorful spiral before she shot down towards him.
****
Nearby, Twilight, with Spike hanging on, galloped through town before she looked up and saw Rainbow’s colorful spectacle.
“That’s the signal! She found him!” She exclaimed with glee. “See Spike, I knew we could count on her!” She picked up the pace and headed towards the other side of town where Rainbow was.
*****
Having just barely escaped Pinkie once again, Alex hurried down the road that led out of town. He had had enough of this crazy town and its crazy ponies. Suddenly, a cyan blur zoomed passed him, followed by a multicolored contrail and grinded to a halt in front of him. He stopped dead in his tracks and saw it was a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane and tail, taking position and blocking his path. On her flank he saw she sported a cloud with a rainbow lightning bolt.
“That’s far enough, ‘Lexy’!”
Alex blinked. ‘Lexy?’
Rainbow smirked as she scraped her hoof on the ground and snorted, making herself look more threatening so as to keep him in place. “I don’t know what Twilight wants with you but I’m sure it must be really important…”
Alex knew it was only a matter of time before Twilight realized her error and had obviously sent this pegasus to hunt him down. He was not going to let Twilight catch him again. He had to get rid of her somehow.
Eyeing her a bit more closely, he realized that he had seen her somewhere before.
“What are you? Are you a spy? Are you an alien?” She glared at him as she began to interrogate him. “If you’re planning something evil, then you can forget it. No one causes trouble in Ponyville while I’m around or my name isn’t…”
“Rainbow Dash?”
Rainbow’s eyes grew wide with surprise. “How do you know my name?”
Alex stared blankly for a moment before he had an idea and smiled. “Why… Everyone knows about Rainbow Dash!”
“You… You heard of me?!?” she asked perplexed. She knew she was famous around Ponyville, but she never knew her reputation would be known to a creature like him. A smile slowly crept across her face.
“Of course I’ve heard of you.” Alex grinned. “Every pony I’ve met has always talked about Rainbow Dash and how she is the greatest.” he lied as he sported the biggest and fakest smile on his face. “I’ve always dreamed of meeting you.”
“Well, I am the fastest flyer in all of Equestria.” Rainbow boasted. “There is no pegasus alive who is faster than me.”
Alex was quite surprised at how Rainbow Dash easily changed her demeanor. For a pony who was ready to pounce on him just moments ago, she quickly relished herself in the attention she got. It was clear to him that she liked to be in the spotlight.
“Not to mention Wonderbolt trainee and soon to be future core member of the Wonderbolts!” she exclaimed, her wings flaring up as she struck a proud pose.
“The Wonderbolts? Wow! Really?” Alex had no clue what Rainbow was talking about, but as long as she was distracted, he didn’t really care. All he had to do was play along and hopefully find a way to get her out of his hair.
“That’s right. They’ll be visiting Ponyville for one of their air-shows in a few days, and I’ve been selected to be part of the opening ceremony. I’m gonna show them just how awesome I really am. I’ll show off all my special moves. Including my newly developed and secret flying technique, codenamed the Really Awesome & Impressive New Best Original Wonder! Or, the R.A.I.N.B.O.W. as I’d like to call it.”
“Wow!” Alex said with the most impressively fake awe he could muster. He also couldn’t help roll his eyes at that. “That’s sounds really awesome! I’m such a huge fan! You sure you can’t tell me what it is?”
Rainbow laughed. “Well… It’s kind of a secret. Nopony is supposed to know about it just yet.”
“Well then you’re in luck, because I’m not a pony.”
Rainbow had to agree that he did have a point. “Well… Okay.” She looked around in case anypony was nearby and gestured him to lean in closer as he whispered it in his ear. “It’s a Super Sonic Rainboom Spin Dive!” she boasted.
“WOW!” Whatever it was, it sounded quite impressive. He then had an idea. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to try. “That sounds awesome! Could you show it to me? Just this once? Please?”
Rainbow Dash was quiet for a moment. “Uh…”
“Come on! Please? I really wanna see it!”
“I don’t know…” said Rainbow as she scratched the back of her head. “It’s kind of a secret and I’m saving it for the Wonderbolts-”
“Pretty please!” Alex begged. “I’ve always wanted to see you do those famous stunts of yours, but that one sounded COOLAWESOMAZING! I just have to see that one! Please?”
‘Coolawesomazing?’ It sounded like something Pinkie Pie would say, but Rainbow liked it. Still she really didn’t want to break her own promise. She had been very careful and making sure that no pony was around during her practices and she wasn’t about to just throw it all away due to a fanboy’s request.
“Look kid, I know you want to see it, but I really can’t do it right now. I can show you my other tricks. Like my Filly Flash. It’s…”
“NO! I wanna see that new move! It sounds way more awesome!” Alex demanded. He knew it would distract her long enough for him to get away.
“I don’t…”
“Prettyprettyprettyprettyprettypretty prettyprettyprettyprettypretty-PLEASE!”
Rainbow looked at his pleading eyes and bit her lower lip. She had promised herself she would save the stunt not just for the Wonderbolts, but for the town as well. She had practiced too long and hard for her surprise to be spoiled so soon.
“No!” She answered sternly as she put her hoof down. “I promised myself I would never show it to anypony before the show!”
Alex started to worry. He knew it wouldn’t be long before Twilight arrived, and Rainbow wouldn’t let him simply waltz out of town. He decided to try a different approach. He didn't like it, but it was his last resort.
“Bet you can’t do it!” he said wryly. Rainbows ears perked up in surprised shock. “In fact, I’ll bet you just made that up. That move sounds WAY too awesome for some pony like you to pull off.”
Rainbow glared at him. She wasn’t going to be called a liar. Especially from some non-pony! As much as she hated it, she had no choice.
“So you don’t think I can do it, huh?”
“I don’t think. I KNOW you can’t.” Alex said with a smug look on his face.
“Like Hay you do! I can even do it with my eyes closed!” She glared at him, becoming more frustrated.
“Prove it!” Alex stuck out his tongue at her, adding fuel to the fire.
“Alright! Just watch!” In a flash, she disappeared into the sky.
‘Sucker!’ With Rainbow finally gone, Alex quickly seized the opportunity to hurry out of town without looking back.
Rainbow Dash flew as high as she could above Ponyville. Having reached the acquired altitude, she closed her eyes and dove back down at high velocity. She dived so fast that she passed beyond Mach 5. She then went into a spin and caused her widely talked about Sonic Rainboom.
BOOM!
It exploded in a spectacular wide spectrum of spinning colors that spread itself across the sky like a maelstrom. It was followed by a spectacular firework of colors that trailed behind a spinning rainbow cycle that covered the whole sky for a few brief but memorable seconds.
*****
“Ooooooh~!”
The rainbow spectacle caught every pony’s attention. Some even pulled out their cameras and photographed it. Twilight and Spike, who were now only a few blocks away, saw it too.
“What in the name of Celestia is she doing?”
*****
Alex, who was running the opposite direction, was too preoccupied with getting out of town to pay any attention to what was happening above him. Whatever it was, it served as a blessing as ponies were too focused on the spectacle to pay him any attention.
*****
Having completed her Super Sonic Rainboom Spin Dive, she broke free and headed back to Alex. She stopped short a few feet above ground and landed gracefully, her eyes closed with satisfaction of her accomplishment.
“Well? What did you think?” She gloated. “Was that awesome or wha-?” The words froze in her mouth as she opened her eyes and realized that Alex had disappeared. He had left during her demonstration. “What? But... But he said… Why did he..?”
Rainbow just stood there gawking silently until Twilight finally arrived. “Rainbow Dash? What was all that about? And where is Alex? Weren’t you supposed to hold him..?”
Rainbow ignored her and instead overheard two pony stallions with Press hats and cameras that suddenly cantered passed them, one earth-pony and one pegasus. “That was awesome! I got lots of pictures!” said the earth pony.
“Me too!” smiled the pegasus. “These are going straight to the Equestrian Daily’s! All of Equestria is going to want to read about this!” He then flew off.
“What? No wait!” Rainbow quickly zoomed passed the earth-pony and stopped him while still hovering in the air. “You can’t print that! It’s supposed to be a surprise for the Wonderbolts! You can’t…”
“Sorry Miss! Freedom of the Press and all that!” With that the Press Pony galloped passed her and disappeared down the street.
“But… but…” At a loss for words, Rainbow dropped onto the ground in defeat. Her secret surprise was out.
Realization soon hit her like a ton of bricks as she figured out what Alex had done and made her do. She felt a burning anger build up from within her and gritted her teeth. Twilight and Spike noticed the burning anger in her eyes. “He… He tricked you, didn’t he..?”
“THAT… LITTLE… JERK!!!” Rainbow yelled, causing Twilight to flinch and Spike to hide behind her. “How dare he make a foal out of me!” she snorted.
“Easy Rainbow…” Twilight tried to calm her friend. “Just breathe and focus. If we hurry, we can still catch him…”
“Sorry Twilight!” Rainbow growled. “I don’t know what you want him for and I don’t care! Nopony tricks me like that and gets away with it! NOPONY!” She reared back and her wings flared up. “I’m gonna make him PAY!” She dashed off into the sky and flew after Alex.
“Rainbow Dash, NO!” Twilight yelled. “I need him!” But Rainbow Dah was long gone. Fearful for Alex’s safety and health( not to mention the risk of losing the Hoofbel) Twilight immediately set off after her, with Spike grabbing on to her tail just in time and hanging on for dear life.
*****
Alex had finally left Ponyville. He stopped running as he caught his breath and looked over his shoulder, eyeing the town behind him. He sighed with relief.
“Man! If I ever set foot in that town again, it’ll be too soon!” he said to himself. Considering everything that had happened so far, he decided he’d rather take his chances in the wild. “Not many ponies in the wild…” He paused. “Can’t believe I just said that…”
He sighed as he glanced in the direction of the Everfree Forest, the place where he first arrived and where the madness began.
High above the outskirts of Ponyville, Rainbow Dash scoured the landscape for Alex with a hateful glare. The thought of him playing her for a fool still aggravated her. It wasn’t so much of what he did, as it was more about what SHE did. She was the Element of Loyalty! It was not in her nature to fail. And a simple task such as finding and apprehending some unknown creature should have been a snap. Instead she allowed herself to be smitten by a supposed ‘fan’ that played her like an idiot. The thought of her ignoring her mission just to entertain some creature she’d never before laid eyes upon annoyed her greatly.
Just then, she spotted a figure on the ground heading away from town close to the Everfree Forest. She recognized it and smiled menacingly before swooping down towards it. “Gotcha!”
KA-BLAM!
Alex was stopped dead in his tracks as a lightning bolt suddenly struck down in front of him. It startled him so much he fell backwards. Utterly confused, Alex looked straight up, only to see there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.
“Darn it! Missed!”
Alex turned towards the sound of the voice and saw it was Rainbow Dash. Pushing a dark cloud..?
“Hold on a sec…” she reared her hind legs and bucked the cloud, causing it to spark with electricity before sending a bolt of lightning down upon him. Alex, with surprisingly quick reflexes, pulled himself up and dodged the bolt before it struck him.
KA-BLAM!
"Careful! You almost hit me!” Alex shouted. ‘How is she using that cloud?!? It’s impossible!!!’
“Oh! I’m sorry. Let me try again!” Rainbow bucked the cloud again twice and sent two bolts down. Alex again jumped aside, evading the bolts by mere inches.
KA-BLAM! KA-BLAM!
“Hey!” Alex yelled. This was getting too close for comfort.
“Will you stand still?” Rainbow shifted the cloud around for a bit and prepared for another shot.
“Whoa! Whoa! WHOA!!!” Alex shouted, waving his hands in the air. “What are you doing? Are you seriously trying to hurt me?!”
“You humiliated me!” Rainbow glared at him. “Tricking me like that! You have no idea how seriously ticked I am!”
“That’s it? You’re angry because I tricked you?” Having been tricked just recently, Alex knew how it felt. He just never expected a reaction like that from her.
“No… I’m also angry because you didn’t even LOOK!” Rainbow sent down another bolt.
Alex screamed and ran away.
KA-BLAM!
“HEY! GET BACK HERE!” Rainbow made a loop and pushed the cloud after him. Trailing close behind him she began punching the cloud repeatedly, sending small but nasty bolts down upon him. Alex found himself running about as his path constantly got cut off by one bolt after another. He felt like a duck in a shooting gallery. “STAND STILL! I’m just gonna singe ya!”
Alex just ran. ‘NO CHANCE! I HATE LIGHTNING!!!’ Besides, that would only be the least of his worries.
While annoyed that she couldn’t hit him, Rainbow was impressed that he was able to avoid her bolts like that. “You can’t dodge me forever!” She taunted.
Alex knew she was right. It was only a matter of time before she got a lucky shot. He could never outrun her in the open, so he decided to risk it and try reasoning with her.
“Look, I’m sorry I did that!” He yelled as he stopped and begged. “I’m really, REALLY sorry!”
“Yeah. Sure!” She spat. A kick to the cloud sent a sudden shower of rain down upon Alex, soaking him.
‘She… She made it rain?!??’
“I spent months perfecting that move. It was going to be my biggest surprise! I promised myself to never let any pony see that move until the Wonderbolts arrived. Everypony in town saw that move, and soon it’s just going to be yesterday’s news! How in Equestria am I going to come up with a move to top that?!” She reared up to ready up a new shot, a big one this time. “I’m going to make your life a living Tartarus!”
Alex was shaking. He had to find a way to get away from her.
As luck would have it, he realized that the Everfree Forest was really close by now. While he didn’t like the idea, it was his only chance of escape. Rainbow Dash would be unable to get a clear shot at him through the high trees and thick foliage. Just as she was about to unleash her biggest bolt yet, Alex ran straight into the forest.
“HEY!” She watched as he disappeared from view. “You think I’m scared of the Everfree Forest? Think again!” She kicked away the cloud and dived into the forest, carefully dodging the trees she closed in on Alex.
Alex could see Rainbow Dash closing in on him. He was amazed how agile she was and quickly realized it was pointless to outrun her on foot. Just then, he noticed a tree branch with long vines hanging from it. He had an idea and prayed the pegasus was too focused on him to pay attention.
Alex was nearly within Rainbow’s grasp, when he suddenly made an unexpected turn. With quick reflexes she turned blindly in the same direction. Suddenly, Rainbow felt something wrap around her, tightening around her body and legs. She suddenly stopped with a jolt in midair and swung backwards.
“Hey?! What the-?” Rainbow found herself hanging upside-down, her torso and legs wrapped up in vines. She tried to force herself free using her wings, but the vines held firm. She looked like a fly caught in window tape. She then looked ahead at Alex, who had briefly stopped to watch Rainbow’s little amusing predicament. He then made a mocking salute and smirked as he ran into the woods. “Hey! Get back here, you!” She yelled angrily, quickly sinking her teeth into the vines to pull herself free.
Making good distance between himself and Rainbow, Alex knew it was only a matter of time before she freed herself. He stopped at small clearing and quickly scoured for a place to hide and, much to his relief, found a cave just by the side of a rock wall.
After a while of struggling, Rainbow Dash finally freed herself and quickly resumed her chase, fully intent on catching him and give him what for. As she reached the clearing, she realized she had lost track of him. She looked around, but could not find any trace of him. Frustrated by having lost him, she flew off to gain altitude in hopes of spotting him from the air.
Alex, having concealed the cave with thick branches, watched as Rainbow flew away. He leaned back with a sigh of relief. He had quite literary dodged a speeding bullet. As he sat there, breathing comfortably, he didn’t notice a series of eyes watching from the dark. Suddenly, Alex felt a fouls stench in the air. His ears perked as he also heard a faint growl coming from behind him. He began to sweat as he realized that wasn’t alone in the cave. He slowly turned his head and looked at glowing eyes that stared menacingly at him.
“GAH!!”
Alex dove out of the cave and scrambled away from the entrance. He turned and slowly backed away while eyeing the creature as it emerged from the cave. It was soon joined by three others. Alex was completely baffled. The creatures had the form and appearance of a wolf, but they were completely covered in wood. Looking closely, he realized that they really were made of wood!
‘You gotta be kidding me!’ he thought. One the larger creatures stepped in front of the others, growling at Alex and let out a hungry howl. ‘TIMBERWOLVES?!?’ Realizing the danger, Alex scrambled to his feet and dashed into the woods, with the pack of Timberwolves following close behind him.
Rainbow was barely out of sight when she heard the howls. She recognized it as the Timberwolves’s howl, and it usually meant they were out hunting. At first she shrugged it off, believing it wasn’t worth her time to find out what they were chasing until she remembered Alex and thus grinded to a halt in midair and dashed off towards the direction of the howls.
It didn’t take long for Rainbow to catch up with the Timberwolves, and by seeing them she confirmed her suspicion. They had cornered Alex on top of a large rock. Alex, barely escaping with a slight tear on his jacket, had armed himself with a large branch and swatted at the wolves to keep them at bay. Rainbow hovered above and smiled with grim satisfaction.
Alex desperately tried to chase away the wolves with his only weapon in hand. Didn’t seemed like the most useful choice of weaponry. Fighting wood with wood didn’t seem to have a nice ring to it. There were times Alex wished he had a box of matches.
“What’s wrong, Lexy? Need some help?” Rainbow mocked.
Alex glanced up and saw Rainbow lying comfortably on a large branch as she watched show. “It would be much appreciated!” replied Alex as he swatted away a paw that lashed at him. Seeing how she seemed to enjoy his predicament, it was clear to him that she had intention of coming to his aid.
Just then, one of the wolves made a leap at him and grabbed the branch with its mouth. It pulled with all its might and forced it out of Alex’s hand. Alex recoiled and fell backwards, falling off the rock and hit the ground hard. Trying to get up, he quickly found himself surrounded.
‘Serves him right.’ Rainbow thought with a smug grin. Deep down however she realized that Alex didn’t deserve such a fate. Even thought he had tricked her and made her ruin her great surprise, it hardly seemed nice of her to let him get torn up and eaten. Not to mention that it was totally not cool.
In the end she got up on her hooves and decided to finally take action.
Trembling with fear, Alex shut his eyes and braced himself as the nearest wolf charged towards him. He had heard a dog’s bite was worse than its bark, but this was ridiculous!
‘This is it! I’m done for!’
CRASH!
Being only a few inches from Alex’s face, the wolf was suddenly intercepted by a streak of colors. There was a loud crash as it was smashed violently against the nearest tree. The wolves, including Alex, stared wide-eyed at the fallen wolf as it crumbled into pieces. Then suddenly a very familiar pegasus dropped from the sky and landed defensively in front of Alex, glaring at the wolves.
“Paws off! This one’s not on the menu!” Rainbow threatened. The wolves backed off a few inches, before regaining their courage realizing what was before them. Alex was surprised but extremely happy to see Rainbow Dash right now.
“You… You saved me?!”
“Don’t think I’ve forgiven you, Lexy!” She scowled at him. “I just don’t want you to become wolf dinner.” The wolves snarled at Rainbow, who replied by scraping her hoof on the ground and snorting. “Besides, if anypony is gonna chew you out, it’s gonna be me!”
“Of course…” Alex rolled his eyes.
One of the wolves attacked first, its jaws ready to snap down on Rainbow. Rainbow simply leaped into the air with ease, dodging the wolf. Before the wolf could realize what had happened, Rainbow had already descended and delivered a powerful buck, sending it crashing into its recovering brother, knocking them both into pieces. The two remaining wolves looked at each other, nodded and began to slowly gang up on Rainbow.
“You want some of this?” Rainbow turned, waving her rear in their direction, teasing them. The two wolves leaped at her, but she easily dodged them. “Fresh pony meat, come and get it!” She stuck her tongue out at them and ran away, with the two wolves in hot pursuit.
Alex watched as they disappeared into the forest. He didn’t like that Rainbow was forced to tackle them alone, but considering how well she handled herself, he wasn’t that worried. With two wolves knocked out, and the other two chasing Rainbow, Alex saw his chance to make a break for it. Should Rainbow find a way to deal with the wolves, it wouldn’t be long before she returned and forced him back to Twilight (right after giving him a real pounding).
Meanwhile, Rainbow had managed to lure the wolves away from Alex. She deliberately slowed her pace, allowing the wolves to catch up to her. Just as they were close, Rainbow suddenly flapped her wings, built up momentum and zoomed away. Using her inherent pegasus magic, she manipulated the wind around her, catching the surprised wolves in an updraft. Branches, shrubs, leaves, logs and even rocks flew off the ground along with the wolves as Rainbow zoomed through the woods.
Suddenly, she made a sudden stop and bolted up into the sky. The wolves, along with forest debris flew through the air and collided with a large rock. The force of the impact scattered their wooden remains all over the forest. Rainbow hovered over what was left, gloating as she thrust her foreleg into the air and let out a triumphant cheer.
“AW YEAH!”
As she hovered there, she suddenly realized that Alex was once again alone. Like a bullet, she soared back and arrived to find that Alex indeed had vanished. The other two wolves were slowly reforming themselves, so it was safe to say that Alex was still in one piece somewhere. She landed on the ground and carefully analyzed her surroundings. Finding a possible trail left by Alex, she took off after him just as the wolves began to stir and wake up, hearing the chirping of birds as they rubbed their heads in agony.
Not too far away, Alex was growing tired. He hadn’t had a proper chance to relax ever since he came to Equestria. He approached a clearing with lots of flowers. He stopped to take a breather, while he beheld the beautiful blue flowers.
“Hey Lexy! Where are you?”
Alex’s ears perked as he heard the sound of Rainbow Dash approaching. He didn’t have the strength to run and instead dove into the bed of blue flowers. He pushed himself down, trying to make himself as small as possible as the cyan pegasus arrived. He watched as she looked around, ears twitching as she tried to listen for any sign of him. Eventually she moved on, and Alex could finally emerge. He was tired of this whole cat and mouse game. He had never felt so small and helpless.
As he moved away from the flowerbed, he finally collapsed on the grass. Lying on his back, his arms outstretch, he let out a tired yawn and drifted into sleep.
~***~
Alex found himself in a dark place. Everywhere he looked it was darkness. Suddenly, a large hoof slammed down beside him, causing him to fall over. Gazing upwards, he saw a giant pony. It was Rainbow Dash!
“Come here you little squirt! I’m gonna squish ya!” the giant pegasus said with a sinister smile in an eerily booming voice. She raised her hoof to squash him, but Alex bolted just in time. Trying to run away, he was suddenly cornered by another giant pony. It was Twilight. She gazed upon him with mad lust in her eyes.
“You’re going to make me famous!” she smiled creepily.
Trying to get away from her, he suddenly found himself surrounded by the other ponies; Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, each sporting a creepy looking smile.
“Ya gonna make me rich!”
“You must stay with me!”
“You’re gonna be a pony!”
“You’re going to be my pet!”
Alex desperately shielded himself with his arms as the towering mares closed in on him. Suddenly, there was a bright flash and the ponies scattered into pieces and vanished. Looking up to where the source of the light came from, he suddenly saw the towering shape of another giant pony, only taller, slender and dark as the night itself. It lowered its head down towards him and looked at him with bright and frightening eyes.
“THERE YOU ARE!”
~***~
“GAH!”
Alex awoke with a shot as he realized he had been asleep. He dried the cold sweat from his forehead. At first he thought that everything that had happened had been some bizarre nightmare. But as he rubbed his eyes, he soon recognized his surroundings and let out a disappointed sigh. He then thought about the nightmare he did have. The tall pony haunted his mind. He had never seen that pony before and yet something felt familiar…
Finding a calm running river nearby, Alex bent down to quench his thirst. Feeling refreshed, he got back on his feet, brushed off a few loose flower petals and wondered how long he had been asleep. He even felt a strange tingling sensation.
RUMBLE!
He heard his stomach rumbling. All that running and excitement had taken its toll and now he was hungrier than ever. Alex looked around in a rather pointless attempt to find anything edible. He was hardly a woodsman, and anything he had learned from the handy ‘Forest Survival Guide’, was practically slim to nil.
Suddenly, his nose caught a scent. It was familiar, but impossible.
'Out here? In the forest?’
Sniff!
‘It can’t be…’
Sniff! Sniff!
‘APPLE PIE???’