Lessons in quirks

by Mike84

Chapter LXI

Wind was rustling in the leaves above and it was carrying occasional sparks with it. Some of them went out in flight, but others sparked new sources of fire. Twilight hurried as much as her battered legs allowed, but for her great dismay she was forced to flee in the very direction in which the wind was driving the fire, which blocked the safer direction for her. In spite of the darkness and the fear of fire, Twilight soon realized that she had come down near a part of the forest which she knew. Of course she was not a frequent visitor to Everfree Forest and having been turned to stone here on one occasion hadn't exactly fostered her curiosity for it, but she did recognize some landmarks that told her she wasn't far from the ruins of the castle of the royal sisters. With the fire blocking her way back to Ponyville, the castle ruins were probably her best bet to stay out of the fire which she wouldn't be able to outrun much longer. Of course, the partly overgrown castle with plenty of wooden components was far from providing a safe harbor, but it was certainly safer than the surrounding forest.

Also, it was where the Tree of Harmony with the Elements was and while the Elements and their magical powers remained in many ways mysterious even to Twilight, though she was probably more knowledgeable about them than any living pony other than the royal sisters, she still had a strong hope that their mysterious magic could provide protection in such dire need. Last but not least, if Rainbow Dash or anypony else were looking for her, they would most likely check out the castle. She hadn't been running long since making up her mind to head for the castle when it occurred to her that it might be a good idea to send up some light signal. It would make it easier for Rainbow or whoever else to find her. Whoever else... Twilight hesitated. She presumed for the mysterious attacker to be far away by now, but she couldn't be certain. If he was still around, he would see the signal too. But then again, hadn't she been trying to catch him in the first place? She stopped for a moment to catch some breath. "Rainbow?" she shouted. "Rainbow Dash?"
There was no response. Twilight hesitated for a short moment, but then made up her mind and sent up a flare of white magic light that would be easy to distinguish from any lights the fires might produce. She waited for a few more seconds but then decided to run on and give more signals as she went.

"Rainbow!" she shouted after she had run some distance. She had reached a small clearing, stopped and send another white flare up through a gap in the foliage above. "Rainbow!"
She listened carefully for some moments, but there was nothing to be heard except for the ominous sounds of fires eating their way through the forest and coming closer. She looked back. The glowing of the fire was some distance behind her, too far to feel its heat, but close enough that it would probably reach this spot in a matter of minutes. There was no time to pause. She turned and was about to start running again when she suddenly spotted a motion in the underbrush ahead. Twilight startled. She hadn't encountered any creature since she had woken up and had expected for everything close to the fire to have already taken to their heels or wings thus posing no danger to her anymore.

"Who goes there?" she called, trying to sound braver than she felt. "Rainbow, is that you?"
There was no response.
"Who goes there?" she shouted, trying to drown out her strain.
There was a rustling of leaves and for Twilight's boundless relief, Rainbow Dash stepped out from the brushwood on the other end of the clearing.
"Rainbow!" she sighed. "Why didn't you say anything? You gave me quite a fright there! Do you know where the others are?"
Rainbow Dash was stepping closer, but she shook her head fiercely, gritted her teeth and made an unmistakable gesture to order silence.
"What is it?" Twilight breathed quietly as her brightly colored friend silently edged closer towards her. Rainbow didn't respond but pointed at a spot behind Twilight. She cast her head around and stared into the darkness of the forest, illuminated only by the glow of the fire in the distance. She didn't spot whatever Rainbow was warning her of.

Suddenly Twilight's heart skipped a beat. Rainbow Dash's fur and mane were spotless, without even a speck of soot!
She cast her head forward again. Without any sound of hoofstep, 'Rainbow Dash' had crossed most of the clearing and had almost reached her. There was a viciously triumphant glare in her eyes that Twilight doubted Rainbow's eyes could muster even in her most intense moments of mischievous joy and a hungry expression around her slightly opened teeth baring mouth. Twilight's horn flashed bright as 'Rainbow Dash' pounced upon her.

As they waded on through the shallow water, the stream bed became ever deeper and its banks steeper. "Darling...", Rarity said to Applejack as she stopped to send a white flare towards the sky, "...I do not think we will be able to climb out of this gully anymore if it gets any deeper and steeper."
Looking ahead where the river bed turned ever more into a canyon, Applejack nodded. "Wish Ah had mah rope along. That would make things easier. But Ah think we're pretty close to the castle anyway, so I guess we can get out here just as well."

Frank probed the slope of the right bank. Close to the bottom, the earth was still muddy enough to prove slippery, further up it turned dusty and rocky as it became steeper. Way up, close to the where the regular water level would probably be, the roots of some trees were protruding from the slope, offering some hold. It wouldn't be an easy climb for anyone of them. Spike jumped from Applejack's back. His claws made it a lot easier for him to get a hold on the slope. As they were all working their way upwards, Frank found that the small projection of his left horseshoe that was meant to hold a quill gave him a slight edge too. As the slope got steeper, the climbing ever more turned into drawing themselves up along the dusty wall.

"You're doing fine, Rarity!" Applejack said encouragingly.
Rarity had stifled any complaint or whining about this action that left her shining white coat all soiled and dirty and the ends of her mane and tail ruffled beyond recognition. As Spike reached the edge of the bank and turned to offer a helping hand to Frank who was closest behind him, it gave Spike a stab to see a tear washing a smeared line across Rarity's now dusty face. Only someone who didn't know Rarity very well would have discarded her woes as simple vanity to depreciate the fatalistic determination with which she was struggling on, her mind focused on the thought of Twilight.

As Frank reached the edge, he cast a short look down the stream bed to where the fire was approaching, still some distance away, yet close enough to reach this place within a couple of minutes.
"Give me a hoof, if you don't mind!" Applejack said through teeth clenched around one of the roots near the edge. Frank turned towards her and extended a hoof, but suddenly froze in motion. He turned his head jerkily towards the forest . He slowly shifted his gaze from side to side as if he was scanning the forest, his strange hat sitting slightly askew on top of his head.
"What...?" Spike began.
"A voice", Frank said. "I hear—"
Out of view from beneath the edge of the bank, there was a purple flash of light somewhere between the trees ahead. With a kind of growling, Frank dashed off and disappeared between the trees before Spike could say anything or try to stop him.
"What in tarnation? That darn—"
Applejack hastily dragged herself up over the edge, turned around, grabbed Rarity's hoof and while she was dragging her up, she shouted to Pinkie Pie, who was last in line: "Hurry Pinkie!"
And turned to Rarity, she called: "Sugarcube, give us a yellow light now!"

Author's Note:

Last edited on December 17th 2015.