//------------------------------// // Castle Dashers // Story: Appledashery // by Just Essay //------------------------------// "Omigoshomigoshomigosh..." Panting, Rainbow Dash zig-zagged through the dim brick corridors of the castle. She jerked left and right, nearly bumping into random walls as the floating structure shook from the intense draconian chase on her tail. "Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh!" The corridor lit up. Rainbow could smell the brimstone from Blood Fire's imminent flame. At the last second, she held her breath, backflipped, then flew straight up, sailing into a niched portion of the ceiling and pressing her tiny body to the edge of the alcove. FW-FW-FW-FW-FWOOOOSH! The scaled bodies of her angry pursuers soared past her from below. After a full minute of leathery wrath, the dragons stopped blurring. The flamelight dimmed, and the rumbling lessened. Rainbow slumped in place, catching her breath. "Mrmmfmmfmff!" Lancie muttered. "Oh..." Rainbow wheezed, releasing her tight grip of his mouth. "S-sorry..." "Pftehhh..." He hung a granite tongue out. "Nice zooping," he managed with an exhausted smile. "Yeah..." "Stuck in a lair full of dragons who want to rip your bowels out and feed 'em to birds." "Mmmmff... yeah..." Rainbow swiped her slick bangs back. "And to think..." She panted, smiling deliriously. "...I once worked my way up from quarry eels." "Look, I'm just about as impatient for the next dinky chapter as any other pony..." Lancie gulped. "But how in the heck are you gonna pull yourself out of this one, Sparky?" "Well..." Rainbow gulped. "I could... uh... circle west around the world at sonic rainboom speeds... reverse its rotation... and turn back time to a moment before dragons existed." "What are you, stupid?" "Well, I dun friggin' know, Lancie!" Rainbow hissed, practically shaking him. She peered down into the dark corridor while the castle rumbled in the distance. "I totally wanna try and grab that staff from Aatxe again, but not when it's Burn City!" "That's what you get for doing a sneaking mission in the day time." "Dude, this is no friggin' vacation." "Not that anyone can blame you for failing to get the drop on someone named Big Boss." He shrugged. "By the way, that was pretty nifty." "Uhhhh... when and where and how much?" "I mean you sticking up for a 'garden gnome' like me earlier." "Oh. Right. That." Rainbow gulped. "Look, it was for practicality's sake." Lancie rolled his gray eyes. "How did I just know you were going to say that?" "For realsies!" Rainbow Dash took a deep breath. "If you fall into the hooves... er... claws of Aatxe and his broodling brothers, we're done for! And I mean all of us! You. Me. Applejack. Apple Bloom. Noir. The Lunar Code. Luna. Celestia. Equestria. Digestia. The whole kitten kaboodle!" "You know, for a pony who thinks occasionally about the big picture, you certainly rely on pinhole logic." "Look, I'm trying my best here!" Rainbow took a deep breath. "I'd say we... ditch this place, make them think I've run for the hills like a true blue coward... and then come back when it's safer and darker and grab that staff when no dragon's looking!" "That's... ... ..." Lancie eventually nodded. "... ... ...a rather sound plan, actually." "Right." Rainbow plopped him back into her saddlebag and refastened it around her body. "Should be easy as pie so long as I don't run into any—" CRASSSSH! Blood Fire's snarling face burst through the nearest wall of bricks, growling at her. "HRESSHAAA!" "OH COME ON!" Rainbow dove just as his breath drew flame. "ZOOP TWO!" Lancie yelped, clinging on for dear life. "THE REZOOPENING!" In the shadow of the flying castle... "Come on..." Romulus perched on a tree branch, peering up at the structure through his spyglass. "...come on!" He lowered the instrument, exhaling angrily through his beak nostrils. "She was friggin' invincible this whole time until now. If she dies to those flying lizards... we have nothing left to trace." The griffon watched... watched... and sighed. "Hmmm... then again, Aatxe and his brood would be making the job one step easier for me." He began to smirk. Smasssssh! A big, burning hole exploded out the south side of the castle. A winged blue pegasus shot out, chased by two dozen rampaging dragons. Romulus' smile instantly faded. "...well then." FLASH! Sunset Shimmer appeared on the tree branch beside him. "Hey! Feathertool! Don Canter's stallions want to know if we're any closer to—HOLY SH—" "GET DOWN!" Romulus plowed into her, and the two villains plunged just milliseconds before the chasing dragons' breaths incinerated the treetops. FWOOOOOOMB!