//------------------------------// // Dash Silent and Dash Deep // Story: Utaan // by Imploding Colon //------------------------------// Seraphimus veered left and right, wings spread wide. Starstorm glided closely beside her. Both griffons pierced the clouds, in search of the source of the echo that brought them there. The mists came in rolling vapors, parting ways only to reveal more humid puffs of pea soup obscurity. Seraphimus' beak tightened. She glanced to her left—but suddenly jolted as her wing struck something. Scrkkkk! With a shower of sparks, the guardian's right armor plates dragged across pure rock. She retracted them with a loud clack, exposing her natural feathers. Craning her head to the right, she traced the cliff-face until she found the remnants of a precarious, craggy path leading north. Following the ridge, Seraphimus discovered that it jutted straight out into the open, connecting with another land bridge. The Commander exhaled sharply. She looked over her shoulder, then signaled at Starstorm. Starstorm nodded, and both griffons descended, skirting over the stone surfaces... until they stumbled upon a plateau of converging paths. They slowed down, hovering in place. A brief opening in the mists allowed them a space in time to investigate the scene. Rainbow had slowed her pace—if only to silence the clopping of her hooves. With panting breaths, she shuffled along the rightmost path. It ascended, its floor ascending in sudden steep steps without much warning. Rarity waved her hoof at varying frequencies, indicating when to remain cautious and when to increase her speed. Fluttershy looked behind at the merging clouds. Her brow furrowed as she got a fix on the Commander and her sergeant. Clearing her throat, she float up to Rainbow's side and whispered in her ear. Rainbow heard the ghostly pegasus' update, and she nodded. All of a sudden, Pinkie Pie's right cheek twitched. She rubbed her muzzle, squinting curiously at Rarity. Rarity blinked. She turned around... then grinned. Waving at Rainbow Dash, she gestured for her to approach the right edge of the path carefully. Rainbow did so. As she pierced the mists, she found a series of ancient wooden stakes chiseled into the granite surface of the platform beneath her. At last, the remnants of a wooden support beam coalesced. It was rough and splintery at first, but soon came together with a varnished coat. What's more—a countless number of rusted rivets and nails had been hammered into the body of the railing at regular intervals. It presented a consistently notched texture, skirting the right edge of the path as it ascended into the higher altitudes. Twilight Sparkle smiled at Rarity, then at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow smirked back. However—at the sound of Fluttershy's earnest whimpers, the mare swiftly picked up the pace. Her marefriends followed along as she followed the railing up and in between several looming pillars of rock and sandstone. Starstorm touched down, squirming where she stood on the plateau of converging paths. She swallowed a lump down her throat, then looked back at her Commander. Seraphimus flew close to the surface of the earthen platform. She stared at the path leading to the northeast, the one sticking due north, and the one angled northwest. She stroked her feathery neck in thought, armor rattling as she hovered in circles. At last, Seraphimus stopped in mid-air. Her eyes did the work, tracing every square inch of the landscape beneath her. “... … ...” Starstorm watched, waiting breathlessly. Seraphimus looked left, then looked right. At last, she touched down, talons grinding into the stone... anchoring her. Then—with her breath held—she flapped her wings fiercely towards the north. Fwooosh! Some of the mists parted. But—more importantly—a fine layer of soil and dust blew away from her... except in a few key places. Starstorm blinked. Seraphimus immediately locked her eyes on the spots of soil that hadn't moved. She scrambled over, crouching low. Her hawkeyes followed several round shapes where the weight of an equine body had applied pressure, sticking much of the moist dust and grit to the stone surface of the humid environment. There weren't many hoofprints, but they were most certainly fresh. In addition to that, they all headed up the northeast path. Seraphimus' brow furrowed. She stood up, signaled Starstorm without looking, and short northeast like a bullet. Starstorm followed swiftly behind. Fluttershy gasped. Eyes wide, she looked behind them. The world was a narrow slit of gray mists lingering behind a cleft of tall rocks. Gulping, she rushed ahead, phased through the walls of the narrow corridor around them, then flew right in front of Rainbow Dash. This caused the group to halt in place. Twilight and Rainbow's other friends looked at Fluttershy curiously. Fluttershy leaned in, murmuring in Rainbow's ear. She pointed behind them—down the cleft through which they had ascended. Rarity and Pinkie Pie exchanged worried looks. Rainbow gnashed her teeth. She looked behind her. A narrow chasm lingered, devoid of mist, giving an open view to where she was positioned. Rainbow looked straight ahead. There was at least a good fifty meters of rising steps before she was clear of the narrow niche she was traversing. Fluttershy bit her bottom lip. She constantly glanced behind the group, shivering in place. Twilight paced around in circles while Rarity squeezed her hooves anxiously together. Pinkie blinked. She looked straight up, her eyes tracing several jutting branches and oddly placed trees. With a gasp, she signaled Rainbow and pointed straight up. Rainbow tilted her head. Blinking, she tightened her muscles and stood up on her hind limbs. Seraphimus and Starstorm followed the path with the notched railing. Ahead of them, a series of sandstone pillars loomed, overshadowing the path. They saw a narrow pass forming, and they drifted until they were flying single-file with Seraphimus in front. The Commander's trained eyes followed the granite surfaces of the craggy steps below. Her vision darted from hoofstep to hoofstep, set deep and fresh within the narrow layer of dust and sediment. She and her wingmate were about halfway up the pass... ...when the hoofsteps suddenly vanished. “... … …?” Seraphimus flapped her wings, hovering at a stop. Starstorm stopped behind her. She craned her neck curiously. Seraphimus blinked. She looked once more at the ground, drifting ahead slightly to study each step. Sure enough, the hoofsteps had completely disappeared. With a muffled growl, the Commander looked left and right. It was very claustrophobic in that pass, and the looming pillars of rock were layered with solid granite faces. Feathers ruffled, Seraphimus looked straight up. Starstorm's vision followed her superior's. A thin layer of green vegetation clung to the pillars on the left side. High above, bent tree branches stuck out of the rock, swaying with lotus blossoms in the breeze. The boughs were naked, exposed, with no room for any pony-sized body to hide. Starstorm blinked curiously. She looked at Seraphimus with a gawking expression. Seraphimus fidgeted where she stood. She paced back and forth, shuddered, then flew north up the pass at a brisk pace. Starstorm flexed her wing muscles to follow. That's when she noticed a slight hint of movement out the corner of her helmet. Curious, she glanced to her left, spotting a thick vine dangling in the humid mountain breeze. Her gaze started traveling up the stringy vegetation— Seraphimus whistled shrilly from ahead. Obediently, Starstorm flapped her wings and followed after her. Both griffons exited the north end of the canyon, split up, and followed both the east and the west edges of the next layer of pillars. Meanwhile... Up above, several lofty feet along the length of vine and hidden in a tiny... narrow niche of rock was a fuzzy blue figure, obscured by shadow. Rainbow Dash waited... waited... then finally protruded her body outward from the narrow space so she could breathe. Her lungs expanded and contracted as she wheezed, wincing. She squinted at the pass ahead of her. After several seconds, Twilight and Fluttershy came floating back. Phasing through the rocks, they smiled and nodded at Rainbow, signaling that the coast was clear. Rainbow nodded back. She looked at Pinkie and Rarity. Both mares calmly motioned up the rockface with gentle motions of their hooves. Holding her breath again, Rainbow leapt upward with a muffled grunt. Twilight and Fluttershy tensed— Thwpp! Rainbow grasped ahold of the vine. Her bandaged wing twitched, and she grimaced slightly. Recollecting her senses, Rainbow slowly... carefully climbed up the dangling vegetation until she reached the jutting trees up above. Then—navigating one branch at a time—she ascended until she was perched against the very summit of the topmost pillars. She hung there for a while, panting, trying to calm her heartbeat. She waited for a shift in the clouds. Then—very cautiously—she shimmied northeast, hugging the face of the pillars. Up ahead there was a dip in the rockwork, allowing a spot where Rainbow and her friends figured she might be able to climb onto the very roof of the columns.