Appledashery

by Just Essay

Brooding Situation

Rainbow Dash had outflown many a thing before, but very few of them were capable of setting her mane and tail on fire. Breathless, she streaked past two large plateaus and approached a series of jagged rocks sticking out of the arid stone earth like stalacmites. Without thinking, she dove low, losing herself amidst the slender spires. She couldn't tell how far away her pursuers were, but she wasn't about to waste time with guessing. Bobbing and weaving around the jagged rock formations, she attempted to perform as many movements of misdirection as possible.

She must have succeeded, for the fireballs that landed now were impacting further and further away from her. Rainbow dove even lower, wincing as she heard the wagon grinding against the narrow columns of rock she was attempting to lose herself in. More than once, she flung a glance over her shoulder to make sure the barrel and its bagged contents were intact.

They were. Relieved, she looked straight ahead, only to receive a face full of dust and pebbles. A fireball had exploded into a column of stone several yards in front of her, and its debris was crashing down towards her figure. Gasping, she jerked hard to the left in order to avoid the bulk of the collapsing mess.

Her body easily dodged the avalanche. The chariot was not quite as lucky. She was already wincing before she heard the tell-tale sign of the wooden frame cracking down its center. Darting a glance through her peripheral vision, she saw the barrel falling loose from the heart of the wagon. Duty trumped sanity, and before Rainbow knew it she was unhitching herself from the chariot in mid-air. She planted her hooves against the first solid object they could make contact with—which turned out to be a fallen boulder. Bucking off, she flew like a missile into the barrel and shoved it out of the way of a murderously falling tower.

Thud!

The wagon imploded into wooden splinters and sawdust. Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash and the barrel spiraled towards the thin space of earth afforded to her between the forest of vertical rock columns. It took all the remaining might in her wings, but she managed to pull herself and the barrel at an even angle to the ground's surface upon impact. The rest was up to inertia.

Wh-Whack! The barrel struck first, and then her body. She rolled like a ragdoll for several feet, bumping to a stop against the base of a quivering tower of rock. Wincing, she looked up and gasped.

The canvas bag had untied at the top, and several chunks of gray stone had fallen out of the bag contained inside the barrel.

"Oh jeez oh jeez oh jeez..." Rainbow wheezed. As she got up on wobbling hooves, her ears pricked at the sound of flapping leather wings. All she needed to do was take one twitching glance skyward, and she saw red-scaled bodies circling tighter and tighter around the sea of earthen needles.

Panicking, Rainbow scurried forward like a forraging blue squirrel, picking up all of the pieces she could find. A slab of scales here... a stone talon there... a granite antler along the outer edge of the spill...

The air heated up. Rainbow smelled brimstone and sulfur once again.

With a quiet squeak of joy, Rainbow picked the last of the pieces up and shoved the loose bits back into the canvas bag. As she tied the thing up, she darted her head all around—then did a double-take.

A cleft in the earth loomed a few feet in front of her, leading towards a shadowed hollow at the base of one earthen tower. The shadows doubled, and from the crumbling vibrations Rainbow judged that one of the creatures was perching on the tip of the spire above.

Hoisting the barrel over her backside, Rainbow limped on tingling hooves, moving as swiftly towards the miniature cave as she could. Halfway through the trek, she tripped on something. Looking down, she gasped in mute horror.

She had neglected to pick up one last piece of the delivery's spilled contents. It was a jagged gray horn, about the size of a scimitar.

Rainbow Dash began sweating. It didn't help that two more vibrations shook through the stone forest as the remaining pair of creatures perched alongside their breathern. Slimy, reptilian voices hoarsely echoed through the dense geological maze.

"We lossssssssst it! It flew into this place from the last time I saw."

"Perhapsssssss we roasted it to ashes?!"

"No, you sssssstupid whelp! We would be sssssssmelling pony flessssssh at this point!"

"Then sssssssshe could be anywhere by now! Search the resssssst of this place!"

"You idiotsssss! Don't you get it?! This is just one big dissssstraction! Where issssss the Griffon?! Where is the blasssssssssted mercenary?!"

Panting, Rainbow Dash looked up at the sky. All she saw was smoke and dragonscales. Wincing, she looked at the stone horn, at the cave, then back at the horn. With buckling legs, she scurried over, clamped her teeth over the thing, then carried it and the barrel down into the cleft. Hiding deep inside, she briskly slid the horn into her saddlebag and hugged the barrel, using the object to obscure her figure as she stared out of the hole with blinking ruby eyes.

"Isssssssn't it obvious?! She is in league with the Scourge of Squirrelsssss!"

"That'ssssss exactly what Romulus wants us to think! I'm telling you, thisssssss was all set up to throw ussssss off!"

"If that'sssssss true, then what was she carrying into this place?! Huh?!"

"We'll never find out by sssssssssssitting here and arguing! Big Boss wants the shardssssssss, and he wantsssssss them now!"

"Fine! Fan out! Check the north, east, and south edges of this maze! Cover all edgesssssssss, then meet up at the west end!"

"I ssssssssssay we just fly east to pony landsssssss! Knowing her kind, she'sssssssss frightened stiff by the likes of us, and will be flying home with her tail between her legssssss!"

"Hah hah hah! If it comesssssssss to that, we'll use that as a lasssssssst resort! Now move! Big Boss does not reward slackersssssss!"

The air heated up, accompanied by flapping wings. The shadows darted north, east, and south, leaving behind a clear patch of glowing sunset.

Rainbow Dash did not immediately fly out. She gulped, hugging the barrel with trembling limbs.

She stayed there until nightfall. Peeking her head out, she saw nothing but starlight. Then, fueled by pure adrenaline, she yanked the canvas bag out of the barrel, hoisted it over her shoulders, and darted swiftly west, continuing on to her destination, and hyperventilating all the way...

Comments

[Aatxe360]

A barrel full of Discord. That can't be good.

[Lightning Bearer]

So, it is Discord, then. And considering where this story takes place, canon-wise... oh god, are you seriously telling me that Flash Sentry had something to do with Discord's return?

Now I'm just wondering who this "Big Boss" is, that apparently wants the Discord pieces. And what the hell is up with Romulus and those goddamn squirrels?!

[SuperKamiGuru]

[youtube=http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VaHu2WoDWMU]
Your welcome!

[zaponator]

I bloody knew it!
Also, the dragons seemed to know who was coming. Like, right down to the name. Either the mob has a mole, or the whole thing was a setup. That would certainly explain why they sent Romulus instead of their brand new super-fast courier. They clearly didn't like the guy, so maybe this "delivery" was supposed to get rid of him.

[Future Regret]

I love comparing this story with Audtraeoh. It makes them both seem richer.

[Metal Aura]

5130327 What if Austraeoh is just what RD hallucinates as a side effect of the remedy in this story, and (Austraeoh spoiler) when she goes unconscious in Austraeoh she returns to the normal world here.

[Snowdrifter]

4149287

I know! Next they'll try filling a barrel with GASP

MONKEYS!

[arancaytar]

Rainbow Dash had outflown many a thing before, but very few of them were capable of setting her mane and tail on fire.

Meanwhile in Austraeoh, that's most of them.

[arancaytar]

The canvas bag had untied at the top, and several chunks of gray stone had fallen out of the bag contained inside the barrel.

Roll out the barrel
We'll have a barrel of Fun*.

(The Dwarf Fortress kind.)

Panicking, Rainbow scurried forward like a forraging blue squirrel, picking up all of the pieces she could find. A slab of scales here... a stone talon there... a granite antler along the outer edge of the spill...

"It's totally not my fault this time, it was broken when I got it!"