• Published 13th Sep 2024
  • 261 Views, 15 Comments

Tell Her Tail - Matthais Unidostres



After a major defeat courtesy of Sunny Starscout, Allura and Twitch find themselves a long way from Equestria.

  • ...
1
 15
 261

Chapter 7

Allura, bold, did take the leap,
A daring dive, a perilous steep
But fate had plans, a cruel decree,
As she was stuck, a tragedy

Twitch, watching on, with wide-eyed stare,
A comical sight, beyond compare
He jumped and stomped, with all his might,
To free her from this dreadful plight

The centaurs came, their spears did gleam,
A perilous scene, a dreadful dream
Twitch, quick and clever, did escape,
A daring feat, a desperate leap

Allura, freed, did tumble down,
Into the darkness, trouble bound
The tunnel's depths did swallow them whole,
A chilling plunge, down the hole


Allura and Twitch hurtled through the narrow sewer tunnel, the damp, grimy stone walls whizzing past them as they careened down the twisting, turning passageway. Allura's claws scraped against the wet surface, trying to slow their descent, but it was no use—the slope was too steep, and they were moving too fast. Her wings, pressed tightly against her sides, felt useless in the cramped space. She clenched her teeth, trying to brace herself for whatever lay ahead. Twitch clung to her fur, his wide eyes darting around as they shot through the dark tunnel, bouncing off the walls with jarring thuds.

And then, suddenly, there was light. The tunnel opened up, and they shot out of the sewer's mouth like a cannonball, splashing down into the shallow waters of a bay. Allura gasped, sputtering as she lifted her head from the salty water, her fur soaked and heavy. Twitch popped up beside her, his fur clinging to his small frame in dripping tufts. They were alive. Miraculously, they were both alive and relatively unharmed.

But Allura was furious. "I cannot believe this!" she growled, her voice echoing over the bay. "I was nearly fed to a cragadile, almost filled with arrows, stuck my hindpaw into a disgusting chamber pot, and then I got humiliatingly stuck in a drain!" She whipped her tail around in frustration, water spraying everywhere. "Could this day get any worse?"

Twitch, sensing the rising storm, tried to calm her down with a gentle wave of his paw, his expression nonverbal but soothing. He reached out, touching her foreleg with a reassuring tap, trying to convey that they were safe now, that things could be worse.

But Allura wasn't having it. "Oh, don’t give me that!" she snarled, glaring down at him. "You fell into the chamber pot, for crying out loud! Why aren’t you as mad as I am?"

Twitch blinked up at her, his whiskers twitching in amusement. He gave a sly grin and reached into his fur, pulling out a small object—something he’d tucked away during their frantic escape. Allura’s eyes zeroed in on it immediately, and her tail flicked with greedy anticipation. It was a bar of soap, swiped from the bathhouse. Twitch waved it in front of her, his grin widening as he watched her expression shift from fury to desire.

Without a second thought, Allura snatched the soap right out of his paws and flopped onto her back in the shallow water. She extended her hindleg toward the sky, stretching it so she could reach it with her front paws, and began furiously scrubbing the damp fur of her paw, her eyes closing in bliss as the grime and filth began to melt away.

Twitch, still dripping wet and feeling more than a little indignant, huffed and puffed out his chest. He’d gone into that chamber pot, and he deserved that soap more than she did. He waited for the perfect moment, then leapt forward, yanking the soap right out of her paws. He hopped a few paces back and started scrubbing at his own fur, his ears flopping wildly as he quickly worked up a lather, his fur becoming foamy and white in places.

Allura’s temper flared, and with a roar, she pounced onto Twitch. The two of them tumbled into the water, paws splashing wildly as they wrestled for control of the slippery bar of soap. Allura's wings flared slightly, trying to give her an edge in the water, but Twitch's nimble footwork kept him just out of her reach. The soap squirted out from between them, shooting up into the air, sparkling in the sunlight.

Twitch darted after it, ears flying behind him, but just as he reached out to catch it, he smacked face-first into the pad of Allura's open front paw. She used her other front paw to deftly snatch the soap out of the air and held it up triumphantly, her grin smug and self-satisfied. "Hah! Superior feline reflexes!" she boasted, turning to look at Twitch with a twinkle in her eye.

Her victorious grin vanished in an instant when she saw Twitch floating face-down in the water. Her heart seemed to freeze in her chest, and her breath caught in her throat. "Twitch!" she cried, panic and genuine concern lacing her voice. She waded through the water toward him, eyes wide with fear. "Twitch, no! Come on, don’t do this to me—"

But before she could reach him, Twitch sprang up like a jack-in-the-box, snatching the soap from her paw and diving into the water with a splash. Allura stood there, stunned for a moment, water dripping from her whiskers. Then, she let out a small, incredulous laugh, unable to help herself. "You sneaky little rabbit," she muttered with a hint of admiration. "A trickster after my own heart."

Twitch surfaced a few feet away, his fur completely covered in soapy lather, looking like a frothy cloud. He tossed the bar of soap back to her with a playful smirk, paddling in the water like a contented duck. Allura caught the soap and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t suppress the smile tugging at her lips. She lifted her hindpaw again and began to lather it up, rubbing the soap against her fur in vigorous circles, feeling the dirt and grime slough away. Bubbles frothed around her paw, and she dipped it into the water, watching with satisfaction as the filth washed away, leaving her fur clean and gleaming.

Twitch caught her attention with a wave, gesturing with his paw and pointing to her back. He mimed a motion as if he were rubbing fur and wrinkled his nose in disgust. Allura followed his gaze, and realization dawned. "Oh, for the love of—did I miss a spot?" she grumbled, craning her neck to try and reach the spot where he had been riding. But no matter how she twisted and turned, she couldn’t quite get to it. Her frustration mounted, her tail flicking with agitation.

Twitch, seeing his opportunity, hopped up and snagged the soap from her paws again. With a deft leap, he landed squarely on her back, paws already moving to scrub the offending spot. Allura growled, a mix of annoyance and begrudging amusement. "You're making it really hard for me to stay mad at you, you know that?" she muttered, half under her breath.

Twitch just smiled smugly, his ears flopping back with satisfaction as he worked up a good lather on her fur. The soap bubbles drifted in the air around them, catching the sunlight like little rainbows, and for a moment, despite everything, Allura found herself chuckling.

Allura stepped out of the water, shaking the last of the suds from her fur with a vigorous shake. The salty breeze felt cool against her clean fur, and for a brief moment, she allowed herself to savor the feeling of being rid of the filth that had clung to her all day. Twitch, now equally clean, hopped out of the bay behind her, his fur fluffed up as he shook himself dry.

But just as they reached the dry sand, a dark shadow fell over them. Allura’s fur bristled, and she looked up, eyes narrowing. A massive satyr airship hovered overhead, its cannons gleaming ominously in the sunlight.

Before Allura could react, Twitch dove for the beach, scrambling into the sand with a speed only a rabbit could muster. In seconds, he was half-buried, his small frame disappearing under a mound of dirt as he frantically covered himself. His wide, nervous eyes peeked out from beneath the sand as he motioned for Allura to do the same.

“Don’t you dare!” Allura hissed, baring her teeth as she glared at him. “Don’t even think about ditching me, Twitch.”

Twitch shot her a look, his ears flat against his head, and pointed up at the airship. He made a silent motion with his paws, indicating she should try to blend in, maybe disappear from sight.

Allura glanced up again, her eyes catching the deadly cannons mounted on the sides of the airship. Her heart skipped a beat. Cannons. Big, centaur-made cannons that were already lowering toward the beach, their heavy barrels aimed right at them.

Her fur puffed out slightly in alarm. With an awkward huff, she dropped down into the sand and began rolling around, using her paws to throw sand over herself. Her long tail swished wildly, scattering even more sand in all directions.

"See? I'm blending in," she hissed under her breath, trying to maintain her usual haughty attitude, though the sight of those cannons had her nerve faltering just a bit.

Twitch, now buried up to his neck, stuck a paw out of the sand and waved it frantically. Allura paused mid-roll, her paw frozen in mid-air, sand clinging to her purple fur. Twitch’s paw motioned for her to stop moving. She glared at him but reluctantly fell flat on her belly, the sand covering parts of her back and sides. She lay still, hoping desperately that she wasn’t too purple to pass for a rock or a lump of sand.

For a brief, tense moment, everything was still.

Then, with a thunderous boom, a cannonball landed just a few feet away from her, sending sand flying into the air. The force of the impact rattled the ground beneath her paws, and her eyes widened in shock. Before she could react, Twitch erupted from the sand, landing squarely on her back. His powerful hind legs gave her a swift kick that sent a clear message: Run. Now.

Allura didn’t need to be told twice. She leaped forward, her claws digging into the sand as she sprinted across the beach. Cannonballs rained down around her, smashing into the ground with deafening explosions, sending shockwaves and clouds of sand flying in all directions. She zigzagged, her agile body strafing and leaping to avoid the deadly projectiles.

Twitch clung tightly to her back, his ears flat against his head as he kept his balance with surprising ease. He was light, barely noticeable amid the chaos, but his presence spurred her on. She couldn’t afford to slow down, not for a second. The centaurs weren’t holding back, and if one of those cannonballs hit its mark, it would be game over.

Ahead, Allura spotted the dark opening of a cave. Hope surged through her veins. If she could just reach it, they’d have cover. She gritted her teeth, put on a burst of speed, and sprinted toward the entrance, her paws pounding the ground in rapid succession. The cave was so close now, just a few more strides—

A cannonball smashed into the beach behind her, the force of the blast almost knocking her off her paws. But she didn’t stop. With one final leap, Allura dove into the cave, sliding across the stone floor just as another cannonball hit the entrance, causing the rocks to collapse in a heap of rubble.

Allura skidded to a stop, breathing hard as she whipped her head around to look at the now-blocked entrance. The cannon fire ceased, and the sounds of battle faded. She blinked, panting as she realized they were safe.

A triumphant grin spread across her face. "HA!" she cackled, tail lashing in victory. “Take that, you pony-legged, monkey-faced fools!” She sauntered over to the collapsed entrance, swishing her tail dramatically. "You thought you could outwit me? I’m Allura! You’ve got nothing on me!" She flicked her tail in a smug wave, her whiskers twitching with satisfaction.

Confident that no centaurs could pursue them now, Allura turned and strutted deeper into the cavern with a swagger, her paws leaving prints in the damp stone as she surveyed their new surroundings. "Well," she said, her tone still dripping with haughtiness, "this place better lead somewhere decent. I’ve had enough nonsense for one day."

Twitch hopped down from her back, shaking the last bits of sand from his fur. He glanced around the cave warily, his ears swiveling as he listened for any sounds of danger. But for now, it seemed quiet. They were indeed safe. For the moment, at least.