Appledashery

by Just Essay

Rainbow Delirium

"Uhhh... Sparky?" Lancie pulled and tugged on the mare's tail. In the distance, a howling shriek loomed closer and closer, accompanied by frigid waves of rancid breaths. "Errr... no time for napping, Sparky. Only for crapping!" He yanked harder on her tail hairs. "In the spirit of an age-old idiom: Move it or lose it, sister!"

"Mrmmff... I'm... I'm flying..." Rainbow Dash grumbled, lurching onto her hooves. "Knock it off, ya lawn ornament," she shoved him aside, stumbling. "Why's everypony gotta..." She spat up some bile, then teetered into a stalagmite. "...g-gotta pull on my tail? It'll friggin' snap off... swear to Luna..."

"Uhhhh..." Lancie arched a stone eyebrow. "Sparky? Are you feeling okay?"

"Just... lost my tail wind..." Rainbow took two steps forward, collapsed, and slumped her boy up against another rock formation. She shivered while skittering claw-scrapes drew closer and closer. "Mmmmfff... Gilda... silly friggin' goose..." She held up the ruby shard—but dropped it limply to the cave floor.

Lancie sucked in a hissing breath, then went scampering for the rock. If it weren't for the luminescent crystals looming all around them, the cavern would have bathed them in pitch black. "Watch it, Sparky!" Lancie's voice cracked. "Has anypony told you that you suck at juggling?"

"Mrmmfff... ghhhghh..." Rainbow's eyes teetered sleepily back and forth. "Grmmm... muggle juggle... h-huggle..." She shook her head. Hard. "Blblblblbbb!"

"Is... is it your noodle-limbs?" Lancie stood up straight, holding out the Wind Chalice stone. "Do I need to play Dr. Statue and pour some zebraquil down your gullet?"

"It's... no no it's... different..." Rainbow Dash wheezed. Stumbling, she nevertheless grasped the statue and managed to fly herself into a low hover. "Feeling... really... really thin..." She gulped. "...in the blood tubes."

"But, I don't get it! You just outflew all those creepy crawlies!" Lancie shrugged wildly. "Why would you be suffering the spooks now—?" Right as he said that, a few drops of blood spilled across his chiseled features. He wiped his stone goatee clean and squinted at her. "Say... Sparky..."

"Huh...?" Rainbow Dash turned, blinking. She looked down at her flank. Just below her cutie mark, a long red scrape tarnished the skin. Trickles of blood ran loose from the wound, as well as a different fluid... a green fluid. "The... b-buck is that...?"

"Stay calm, Sparky," Lancie suddenly muttered in a firm tone. He stroked his chin in thought. "Take nice, even breaths. Regulate your heartbeat."

"Regulate... urp... for one?"

"Because I know giant spider venom when I see it."

"Wh-what?!" Rainbow Dash stammered, eyes wide. "But I thought I avoided the freak's fangs!"

"Well, apparently you didn't avoid it enough." Lancie pointed with a stone talon. "The bugger totally grazed you."

"Grazed me?!" Rainbow Dash seethed through clenched teeth. "And just how bad is 'grazed me' on the Grand Uh Oh Scale?"

"Shree-ee-ee-ee!" The matriarch's banshee cry rippled through the tunnel. Rainbow Dash turned to look with a gasp.

Beyond the penumbra of the crystals' glow, she saw an ink-black web of shadows. Brightly lit stalactites hung like fangs... and soon they moved like fangs. The mouth of the cave drooled, its long through stretching and receding at the same time. Tiny gnarled shapes in the ceiling and floor formed perfect arachnid eyes.

Rainbow's ears folded back as she nervously backtrotted from the sight. "Lancie... do... do you see...?"

"A spider of that size has enough venom in a single bite to paralyze a herd of buffalo," Lancie's voice said. "But... just a drop of that? In a petite pegasus' open wound? Well... who's to know what the venom can do?"

The hairs on the back of Rainbow's neck stood on end. She felt things crawling past her fetlock, and then a slimy curdling in the statue's direction. With a sharp gasp, she spun to look at Lancie.

"But, at least you're not rolling on the floor, foaming at the mouth," said Lancie, his necrotic skin covered all over in postules and cockroaches. His eye fell out, dangling with red meat, as he turned to look casually up at the mare. "Hey, Sparky. Yoohoo... are you still in there?" At the last word, his mouth opened wide, and a dead filly with a red bow was vomited out, covered in phlegm.

Rainbow Dash yelped, stumbling backwards. CRACK! Her body jolted. She raised two forelimbs before her wide eyes. Her legs had broken and the bones were sticking out. "Gnnngh! Mmmmf!" She covered her eyes with a pair of healthy fetlocks, shuddered, and reopened her eyes.

Her hooves were back to normal, but her lower legs were lying in a hospital bed. An electronic beeping noise echoed across the cave, and she looked over to see a sobbing young pegasus nuzzling her side.

"Dad..." The filly wept. "Daddy, you c-can't go! You're too awesome to die!"

"Rrrrgh!" Rainbow hugged herself, hyperventilating. She felt tiny legs crawling all over her. She swung a hoof, batting the shadows away, only to feel her limb bitten by savage eagle beaks. "Aaaaugh! Hnnng!" She grabbed the beak, squeezing hard, until she heard a hissing sound. Her eyes opened.

Lancie dangled in her grip, his stone throat being strangled to the breaking point. "How's... the trip... going...?"

"Lancie... Lancie..." Rainbow panted and panted. Sweat poured down her brow and filled every pit. She looked around, her pinprick pupils reflecting the otherworldly crystal glow while the martiarch's limbs skittered closer. "... ... ...I'm in it d-deep."

Comments

[RoboRed]

Giant spider + thousands of smaller-but-still-damn-big spiders + hallucinogenic spider venom trip = VERY BAD TIME.

[MidnightReflection]

"Grazed me?!" Rainbow Dash seethed through clenched teeth. "And just how bad is 'grazed me' on the Grand Uh Oh Scale?"

I'd say it is probably just a 'meh'...

"But, at least you're not rolling on the floor, foaming at the mouth," said Lancie, his necrotic skin covered all over in postules and cockroaches. His eye fell out, dangling with red meat, as he turned to look casually up at the mare. "Hey, Sparky. Yoohoo... are you still in there?" At the last word, his mouth opened wide, and a dead filly with a red bow was vomited out, covered in phlegm.

...yeah, definitely just a 'meh'. N-nothing to worry 'bout!

[Lightning Bearer]

She ought to bottle that stuff. Probably make a fortune in Las Pegasus.

[JodiePonyPuddinAndPie]

We can't stop here, this is spider country.

[viofriedsevey]

Fuckin' brilliant twist.

[zaponator]

Remember when the Zecora potion was supposed to cause hallucinations?
Well, we'll have plenty to go around now.

[Hestia]

And just when I thought Dashie might catch a break.

[JodiePonyPuddinAndPie]

6297160
hmmmmmmm... I'm hoping this is all just one big misunderstanding. Yep. That's what I'm going with.

[Dash32]

At this point Dashie is tripping major balls.....if she had any.

excuse me while I choke on cyanide now..