Appledashery

by Just Essay

Web-Sling(!)

"Guh!" Rainbow Dash flapped her wings, pushing herself in reverse.

"Uhhhh..." Lancie wiped a fresh layer of spider goops off his stone face and stammered, "Not to be a buzzkill, Sparky, but you might wanna move your—"

"SHREE-EE-EE-EE-EE-EE!" The martiarch lunged at her, its vertical mouth full of chomping beaks.

"Gaaaaaaaaah!" Rainbow flew backwards from it. The monster's padipalps lashed out, grasping the pegasus and trying to reel her in. Rainbow Dash stabbed downward with Lancie, deflecting one fang after another as the venom-drenched barbs strove to impale her. At last, in a fit of desperation, Rainbow shone the ruby stone right in front of the round black eyes of the beast.

"SKREE-EE-EE!" The matriarch did not like that one bit. One leg flew up, smacking Rainbow hard across the flank.

"OOMF!" Rainbow flew off, bounced off a stalactite, and fell onto a swath of polished stone. "Unnngh..."

The dim cave grew dimmer... and foggy. The skittering of baby spiders became a distant percussion, along with the thudding hooked feet of the matriarch as it stumbled about, recovering from the exposure to managlow.

Rainbow Dash crawled across the floor, then found herself anchored in place. Exhaling with a shudder, she looked back to see that her right fetlock had gotten caught in a strand of spider silk attached to the wall.

"Oh come on...!" She shook, thrashed, and strained to yank herself loose. "Nnnnnngh—COME ON!"

"Sparkyyyyy..." Lancie scurried up, mounted her backside, and shook her shoulders. "...now would be a very good time for a sonic rainboom or something."

"A sonic rainboom?! In here?! Are you crazy?!" Rainbow spat and hissed, fighting the silk. "I can't even friggin' move!"

"You're a mortal!" Lancie exclaimed as the beast's thudding steps came closer. "You're always the lucky one in these circumstances!"

"Lucky?! How am I lucky?!"

"You get to die!" Lancie pouted. "Me? I'll have to live forever here in Spiderville! Undigestible and without wings!"

"But I thought... grnngh... you liked... th-these things!"

"I did at first! But did you catch her breath? Whew! For being so far away from Fillydelphia, it smells like these arachnids got plenty of cheesestake!"

"Gotta get out of this... gotta... gotta..." Rainbow looked around, then stared directly into the ruby light of her Wind Chalice stone. "Of course!"

"Care to fill me in on the cream filling?"

"Just hold on! And tight!" Rainbow gnashed her teeth, clutching the stone to her chest as she flapped her wings hard and harder.

The wind around her picked up, forming a tight cyclone. The spider hatchlings skittering towards her found themselves held back by an invisible wall.

"Grnnnngh... almost... g-got it!" Rainbow hissed, flapping her wings with the aid of the magical wind.

"SHREE-EE-EE-EE-EE!" Fangs glistening, the matriarch fearlessly trudged through the cyclone.

"It's no good, Sparky!" Lancie shouted, his lower body flailing as he gripped to Rainbow's mane. "Stop trying to hold her back and start trying to move your keister!"

"Mmmfnngh! Got it!" Rainbow angled her wings, then propelled herself forward with a pulse of ruby energy.

Fwooooosh! She soared straight forward—only to come to a shuddering stop. She looked back, gasping—seeing that the silk strand was still holding her in place. Like a bungie cord, it flung her back the way she came, and directly towards the Matriarch and her looming fangs.

"Ah jeez!" Lancie buried his face in Rainbow's mane. "It was nice knowing you—"

Rainbow's lunge accelerated, and the strand flung her back faster than the beast could strike.

CL-CLANK! The spider's giant fangs struck the cave floor right after she passed.

Rainbow flew beneath the spider's bulbous body, past her spinneret, and came to a stop above the sea of tiny hatchlings. At this point, the silk strand was stretched to its full limit. Yet again, it flexed, then flung Rainbow forward.

"Gaaaaaaaaaiiie!" Rainbow flailed, concentrated, then flung her wings in time with the forward swing. FWOOOOOSH! The enchanted wind flew her forward. She pivoted in time to thread through the beast's two sharp fangs. SNAPPP! The strand finally broke, and Rainbow was a free bullet, sailing violently through the winding tunnels.

"Right!" Lancie hollered.

Rainbow darted to her side. Stalactites loomed.

"Left!" Lancie shouted.

Rainbow gritted her teeth and twirled in the direction indicated. She cleared the stalactites, then found herself sailing towards a flat wall full of holes.

Lancie gulped. "Multiple choice!"

"Uhhhhhhh—" Rainbow looked all around—then jerked. Out the corner of her eye, she spotted a flicker of light. Curving her wings, she aimed her body towards the hole in question, narrowly threading through. Her figure pinballed off the tight walls of the cave before rolling out onto a cavern full of dimly glowing light. Thick crystals pulsed with blue and green mana, giving the place an ethereal feel.

But Rainbow was too numb and battered to enjoy the view. "Unnngh..." She rolled over on numb limbs, lifted her head, then collapsed with a heavy wheeze.

Comments

[michaelb958]

Is that a Polar Express reference with the direction-calling?

[zaponator]

Man, this adventure is already going crazy and she hasn't even entered the dragon lands yet.

[Hestia]

Finally out of that spider trap!

[remnants]

Relax Lancie, our gals got it

[MidnightReflection]

Lancie would get screwed if... Hey wait! He can move on his own, can't he?! So the only real problem he'd have is finding somepony else to gather up his shards.

[JodiePonyPuddinAndPie]

Don't collapse yet Dash! You're not outta range of these spiders yet!

[Leftover of Saikano]

Sparky buried his face in Rainbow's mane.

I guess.

Well, now that we left the spiderses behind, we can move on to centipedes.

[arancaytar]

Lancie gulped. "Multiple choice!"

I don't mean to criticize, Lancie, but you're not even remotely as useful as a marshmallow ghost horse.

[arancaytar]

At last, in a fit of desperation, Rainbow shone the ruby stone right in front of the round black eyes of the beast.

Aiya Eärendil Elenion Ancalima!

[True Edge]

6290736
I was thinking of Twister, personally.