Appledashery

by Just Essay

Potion Hut Delivers

Fwooosh!

Rainbow's four hooves landed in an open clearing of the Everfree Forest.

As her mane settled, so did the saddlebag full of empty cartons rattle to a stop along her sides. The mare stared straight ahead at Zecora's trademark wooden hut.

"Well then..." Rainbow murmured to herself, tail flicking. "...here's hoping you're still in generous spirits, girl."

The pegasus took one step forward.

POWWWW! An explosion rocked the heart of the forest. Rainbow let loose a voice-cracking cry as she fell back on her flank. She winced, looking up in time to see a plume of flame erupting out of every window of the hut.

"Zecora!" she bellowed. Ignoring the numb tingling in her limbs, she flapped her wings and bulleted forward. She struck the front door with her broadside, knocking it down instantly. The mare's hooves scuffled to a stop against the floorboards, and she stood in the center of a smoking hut interior, coughing and wheezing. "Zecora! Zecora, say something! Anything! I gotta get you..." She squinted. "...out of here?"

"It's alright. It's alright, Rainbow Dash!" The zebra in question was fanning the fumes away with the wave of a thick rug flapping in her grasp. "Please forgive all the soot and ash." She pushed two separate window frames open, airing out the smoke and haze. "It was not our attempt to startle you. We simply mixed the incorrect brew."

"Friggin' warn somepony that you're gonna be playing with crazy chemicals, then!" Rainbow frowned. "I about had a heart attack, girl! If anything happened to you—" She stoppded dead in her words, blinking. "... ... ... what do you mean 'we?'"

"Guhhh..." A familiar voice rasped. A stallion in a burnt cloak came shuffling out of the nearby closet. Noir tossed a bucket of sand on a flaming pot in the middle of the hut, putting out the fire. "Well... now we know how lunar dust reacts to Arachnium. I really think we should have utilized the blood essence of snakes instead."

Zecora laughed heartily. "Ah, but what a serpent bleeds is not what this mixture needs! We need a far more potent mix to reduce the enemy's swords to sticks!"

"Uhhhh..." Rainbow Dash blinked. "Enemy? What enemy?"

The cloaked sarosian glanced Rainbow's way, his slitted eyes glimmering from underneath the protective hood. "In my travels, as of late, I've caught wind of Aatxe's minions."

Rainbow gritted her teeth as a bitter chill ran through her. "Ah jeez... do you mean—?"

"The dragon patriarch himself," Noir said with a nod. "The one you've heard called 'Big Boss.'"

"Noir has learned enough information to become aware of Aatxe's chaotic confiscations," Zecora said. "It would seem our mutual enemy has been gathering shards liberally."

"And it's my estimation that he has almost as many pieces of the total package as you do, Rainbow Dash," Noir said. "In fact, Aatxe may very well be in possession of an entire fifty percent of the missing parts."

"But... I don't see how that could be," Rainbow said. "I thought most of that crud had been lost through the black market."

"Indeed." Noir nodded. He lowered his hood just enough so that his muzzle and the tips of his leafy ears could brave the torturous sunlight. "But Aatxe's winged minions are many. It's quite likely that he's scoured the furthest edges of Equestria in order to strengthen his horde. No pony is safe."

"Then... that means..." Rainbow was already biting her lip.

"If it weren't for your intercession, there'd be a smoking crater where a certain fashionista's penthouse resides in Manehattan," the sarosian said. "And Dredgemane—for all we know—could otherwise have been reduced to rubble."

Rainbow gulped. "He's that strong, huh?"

"And obsessive. He'll stop at nothing to get as much power as he can, even if he must gather chaos shards to do it." Noir sighed. "I fear that my associates and I have underestimated Aatxe's reach. I... was so terribly preoccupied with Don Canter and his nefarious associates."

"Well, duh." Rainbow smiled weakly. "I mean, the guy and his griffon bully did try to blow you up."

"And, alas, we'll soon have a concoction of our own." Zecora smirked, sweeping dark ash and sediment across the floor. "Just in case the dragon decides to investigate our home."

The coat hairs on the back of Rainbow's neck stood up. "You r-really think the dude can do that?" She grimaced. "Or will do that?"

"That depends. He only sends his minions to strike when he knows for a fact that there's chaos to be found there," Noir said. He brushed his hooves off and trotted towards her. "Which brings us to the issue at hoof. You found another shard down in Orlandoats, correct?"

"Yes." Rainbow gulped. "Yes I did."

"You've proven to be both loyal and competent, Rainbow Dash," Noir said. "Which is why I've not protested your insistence on hiding the shards on your lonesome. But, considering the magnitude of the threat now, I presume you would like to change your mind about that."

"But... we... uh..." Rainbow cleared her throat. "We have an edge over the enemy, right? I mean..." She gestured with her hoof. "The bad guys could get some really nasty juju on their side if they possess all of the shards. Right?"

"That's one way of putting it," Noir said.

"Then so long as they don't know the other half is here... then what's to be freaked out about?" Rainbow smirked. "Aatxe never completes his hoarde, and Don Canter and his goons don't become gods among horses! It's win win... win?"

Noir's nostrils flared. "Sometimes I wonder why I bother..."

"Hey, I've got this!" Rainbow said with a smile. "I overcame all odds in a dream-within-dream made by the ancient alicorns, eh?" She turned towards the zebra, smiling. "Zecora, you remember me telling you about that, right?"

"Indeed, and your courage is beyond compare." Zecora nevertheless sighed. "But this situation goes beyond a simple dare."

"I know the risks at stake."

"Do you, my winged friend?" Zecora's face grew long as she leaned against her broom. "I do not desire you to face such an unfortunate end."

"If Aatxe sends a single one of his draconian teamsters here to shake up Ponyville, then I'll move the shards to someplace triply hidden, I promise," Rainbow said, crossing her heart and placing the hoof against her eye. "After I'm done kicking that dragon's teeth in. Until that moment arrives, I say we keep going with the usual plan. I mean... there's gotta be some shards left out there that the Big Boss hasn't touched!"

Noir and Zecora exchanged glances. With a lethargic expression, Noir looked Rainbow's way. "I'll keep researching with my agents in the field. In the meantime, I think it would be best if Zecora and I continued our alchemy so that we might establish a proper defense."

"We're quite close, as our results will show." Zecora shrugged, smiling. "We might even concoct an explosive for you, Rainbow."

"H-Hey! Now that's more like it!" Rainbow grinned wide. "And... uhm... while you're at it..." She blushed slightly, pivoting to show off the empty cartons. "Maybe a potion of a different kind will help me too..."

Zecora chuckled. "But of course." She gestured towards a stool as she went about to gather the ingredients. "Sit down, and soon I'll have you strong as a horse."

"Great..." Rainbow shuffled over and had a squat. "Cuz, lately, I've been feeling like a horsefly..."

Comments

[alarajrogers]

I wonder if Aaxte is keeping all his shards in the same place. Because it seems like if he is, sneaking an additional, slightly more animated shard in there with all the others he's got might not be too difficult; he might even be tricked into doing it himself, And if Lancie gets hold of 50% of his body at the same time... he's been giving RD the wishes to keep her motivated to finding more pieces for him, but with that many pieces he could well throw in some for himself. Like "bring all the rest of my pieces to me now so I can mostly reassemble myself." :-)

It doesn't seem that anyone but RD is aware that the consciousness of the being whose pieces they're gathering is active in one of the pieces. Everyone might be employing different strategies than they are if they knew that Discord himself was a player in this game.

[Cotton Fluff]

Man, I forgot about Noir, it's good to see him and Zecora preparing for what we know is coming soon. With the explosives Zecora hinted at, RD will at least have some edge against all the doom that's about to hit Ponyville.

5967916
Ahh, but that sounds like such an easy and quick plan. Where's all the action? The excitement? The chances for RD to headbutt everything?

[HopelessRomanetic]

I dont know but it seems to me that she'll have to tell the mane six everything because the stupid griffon knows where Rainbow Dash is because of Trixie.

[Sharp Quill]

Potion Hut Delivers

Riff on Pizza Hut delivers ad slogan.

[Lightning Bearer]

I might've said this before, but it's nice catching up with all these characters again.

Also, it sounds like there might not be many shard-fetching missions to go. Might we be drawing near-ish to the end of the story? Perhaps within the next few arcs?

... oh, who am I kidding? Inb4 the one-million word mark.

[YoshiFawful64]

...Huh. This story might actually be coming to an end after all. 600 chapters would seem a fairly rational length (one fourth of Austraeoh and everything). Then again, it could just be that the battle against the League of Evil happens soon, but the story just doesn't end there. Guess we'll have to wait and see...

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

5968041 Are there any references you don't get?

[Leftover of Saikano]

Now I remember there was a time this story didn't have chaos shards and stuff. I wonder if it will still go on once those elements are out of the story.

[zaponator]

Hm, as other people have already said, this feels almost like the beginning of the end. On the one hand, nothing lasts for ever, and I do look forward to a satisfying end to this someday. I'd rather have it end conclusively than be simply abandoned or something.
On the other hand, while I trust you to whip up a real ending, I know you'll want to drag it out for another million words first, and I'm alright with that too.

[Hestia]

Explosives?

Well that got my attention.

[Sharp Quill]

5968128 That falls under "unknown unknowns" for me. You'd have to ask JE if I'm missing any of them.

[Fishberry]

Ooohh-ho! It looks like the next arc will be a Michael Bay style one.

Kabooom!

[Sharp Quill]

5969362 Ugh, bad enough I was just reminded of one theme park ride gone bad, this reminds me of a different theme park ride that was, unfortunately, working exactly as designed: the Transformers ride at Universal Studios. You know how these rides always come with a warning that people with heart problems, bad backs, pregnant, and whatever else the lawyers can think of, shouldn't ride it? This is the one ride I've ever been on that seemed designed to give you a back injury. Still falls short of capturing the experience of watching a Michael Bay film.

[Fishberry]

5969445

The experiemce of tumbling in a drum dryer with lit fireworks and random engine parts?

[Shipmun]

Yup, this is the beginning of the end.

Of the first half of Appledashery

(I mean, Aatxe might only be a miniboss. Think about what happens when all the shards are finally gathered together. Who's to say that Lancie won't take up another huge section of the book before being reformed/defeated?)

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

5969445 So, it's kinda like throwing yourself into a blender with thousands of explosions, every cliche ever expressed in front of a camera, and at least one hot girl whose hair and makeup always seem to be perfect at any given moment, but not quite?

[FloydienSlip]

It's win win... win?"

Rainbow Dash confirmed for Michael Scott.

[arancaytar]

"And, alas, we'll soon have a concoction of our own." Zecora smirked, sweeping dark ash and sediment across the floor. "Just in case the dragon decides to investigate our home."

It's already "our home" for Zecora and Noir, eh?