Appledashery

by Just Essay

On a Scale of One to Ten

Blood Fire's red eyeslits jerked left... and then right. On heavily flapping wings, he pierced the rising waves of steam. His nostrils flared, and he spoke into the dense haze:

"Something is not right..."

"I'm not asking you for an assessment!" Aatxe growled from where he perched on his older brother's head. "I'm asking you to find that puny pegasus!"

"There is... a very familiar smell about this place..."

"Is it the pony?"

"Mrmmfffngh... no. Something else."

"Well, keep flying until you find the pony!"

"This... this feels like a trap. And yet..." Blood Fire's deep voice rolled. The gravel slopes of the crater appeared and disappeared sporadically beneath the mists. "I feel at ease in this place. It's something I haven't felt in a long time..."

"Grrrrrrrrgh!" Aatxe gripped the Flame Staff so hard that the stalk nearly snapped in half. "Darn it! Get your head in the game!" He kicked a length of scales across his brother's skull. "We're here to finish the Morsel Land invader!"

"Brother, the invaders are back at the castle..."

"And this is their leader! Don't you get it?! Once we finish her, everything else will fall into place!"

"I swear... I've smelled this scent before..."

"Oh for the love of brimstone...!"

As the two flew on, bickering, the shadow of Blood Fire wafted over a length of gravel and glossy obsidian several meters below. As another cloud of steam passed by, Rainbow Dash slithered out from hiding. She and Lancie peered up, blinking at the figures passing overhead.

"It's stuff like this that makes me glad that I don't have a sibling," Lancie droned. "... ... ...or a belly button."

"It's getting super hard to see," Rainbow wheezed, waving a hoof in front of her muzzle. "Are they circling back around?"

"Judging from their wingflaps, I'd say yes, Sparky."

"Good." Rainbow gulped, backtrotting towards a dark mass behind her. "We're only going to have one shot at this."

"Silver bullet time?"

"You know it." Rainbow Dash gripped the statue by his stone tail. "Go time. Just like we planned."

"Roger roger!" Lancie saluted, then straightened his entire body like a sword. He stuck his head out as far as it would go. The horns on his crown glinted in sudden amber firelight.

Rainbow held him in two forelimbs as she hovered over to a solid wall of slowly flexing, undulating scales. Between the seams, a fiery red light emanated, and the air rolled with heated breaths—like subdued thunder. Rainbow flapped her wings until she found a massive... massive set of claws resting against the dark black floor of the charred crater.

"You really think you can pull this off, Sparky?" Lancie asked.

"You're doubting me now?"

"Just saying..." He afforded a brief shrug before stretching his body out again. "This is literally like moving a mountain."

"If I can take Spike seriously at his word..." Rainbow licked her lips, aiming Lancie's sharp figure at the nearest giant claw. "...there's nothing that stings more for a dragon than something sharp poking right beneath the claw."

"What if you're a dragon that's already felt the sting of laying over three hundred eggs in a lifetime?"

"Guess there's one way to find out." Rainbow held her breath. "Clench your muscles!"

"Clenching—!"

And Rainbow shoved Lancie like a giant granite splinter right in the soft spot where the giant claw met giant scales.

Almost instantly, the flesh behind Rainbow Dash glowed with fiery intensity. A loud grumbling sound filled the crater. With a hot breath from beyond, the mists and fog started to clear.

"Go go go!" Rainbow Dash squeaked, galloping off with Lancie in tow.

The huge dark mass behind Rainbow shifted, lifting up.

This was not lost to Blood Fire and Aatxe.

Both siblings spun in the air, facing the movement.

"Hah!" Aatxe grinned, teeth showing. He aimed the Flame Staff. "This is it! Show yourself, pony!"

"Wait..." Blood Fire raised a talon. His jaws parted. "There's something more..."

"Darn it, Blood Fire!" Aatxe growled. "How many times are you going to... hold... me back..." Suddenly, his spines drooped while his mouth hung agape.

"Rrrrrrrrghhhhhh..." A gigantic neck stretched, with even larger jaws opening. Rows upon rows of teeth glinted in firelight. At last, the horned crest of a ginormous draconian body emerged from the collective bed of steam. A pair of slitted eyes narrowed, and the pure fire from within the beast's sockets illuminated the pair of broodlings. "Who wakes me from my slumber?" Smoking nostrils flared. "Blood Fire? Aatxe? What is the meaning of this nonsense?!"

Aatxe's grip of the Flame Staff began to slip. "M-Momma...?"

Comments

[RoboRed]

On how screwed those two are? Probably a ten.

[Tim the Planes-pony]

6561391 Much more than that I would say

[WhitewolfStormrunner]

6561391 On a scale (pardon the pun) of 1 to 10?

Try about 50.

Or 100.

Whichever.

[MidnightReflection]

Every time Aataxe is mentioned I keep picturing Mushu instead.

[Elsaack]

This can either go very good, or very bad now.
Was this the plan Dash? Did you know it was their mom or just another big dragon?
I don't think you can pull a Fluttershy Stare on a squirrel let alone this Dragon Matriarch.

[Phoenix Kitten]

6561391 There is no number high enough.

[Sam the Anti-Ninja]

Oooooh, someone's gonna get it. Most likely Aatxe.

[Mister Saxon]

On a Scale of One to Ten

orig10.deviantart.net/e2cd/f/2014/357/a/4/untitled_by_alucardvampiregirl-d8ax93z.jpg

[Lightning Bearer]

Somedragon's gonna get a whoopin'.

[zaponator]

Apparently this one goes to eleven...

[Cotton Fluff]

6561447
Yeah, how fast can Aataxe redirect Mommy's rage to Rainbow for being woken up is gonna be what determines if this plan works or not i think.

[Appledash_Gurl]

OOOOOOHHH, Rainbow just got them in trouble...OOOOOOHHHHHHHH

[Seraphimus]

6564098 That was the exact thought I had "oooh somebodies in trroooublee!"

also, Gotta be honest, I figured out it was another dragon when she first navigated the steam cloud. even then, Brilliant reveal, not what I expected 8.73/10 for chaos points

[arancaytar]

"I feel at ease in this place. It's something I haven't felt in a long time..."

What did Dashie find in that crater?

massive set of claws