Furry Contraband

by UnweptSchlipps

A Life of Grime

Far out in wilderness of Equestria, a pair of shadows flew further from society under the cover of the darkness. The night was still new, the stars beginning to twinkle high above the earth. A few of the animals, mainly the otters, stared up at the sparkling lights in wide-eyed wonder. Then suddenly, the bag they were in jolted forward, causing them to fall on top of each other.

They began to squeak angrily, to which Fluttershy whispered, “Sorry.” She had been lagging behind, flying tepidly across the plain, scanning her surroundings with a cautious eye. The sound of a rustling bush had caused her to suddenly stop, shaking all the animals she had in her possession.

A little bit further ahead, Rainbow Dash flew backwards slowly, weighted down from carrying the phoenixes and Fluffy. She rolled her eyes and muttered angrily, “Come on ‘Shy, it’s just the wind! We’re not gonna get anywhere if you keep stopping every ten seconds.”

“R-right. Sorry,” she apologized again. Grabbing hold of Fang and the mice’s cages, she sped up to her rainbow-maned friend.

“Honestly Flutters, I’m carrying the big ones here and I’m still flying faster than you,” Dash told her, grunting as she pulled the two containers along.

Fluttershy tried to give a small smile, replying, “Well…I suppose it’s better to be safe than sorry.”

Snorting, Rainbow resumed her nonchalant flapping, floating above the ground with two heavy cages dangling from her hooves. It was clear from her jagged flight path that the heavy load affected her, especially since she was a pony who preferred to fly light. Eventually, the constant shifting caused a quiet growl to emit from the manticore cage. However, Dash kept moving straight ahead, paying no heed.

Finally, Fluttershy said, “Dash, Fluffy says you’re shaking his cage too much.”

“Huh? Oh,” the cyan pegasus replied, looking down at the tiny snout sticking out of the bars. “Well you’re a manticore, deal with it. You don’t see the phoenixes complaining.” Fluffy responded with another growl, this time a bit louder.

“That’s because they’re sleeping. Manticores, on the other hoof, are nocturnal. The more you know.”

Trying tonkeep the cages steadier, Dash rolled her eyes and uttered, “At least I learned one thing outta this trip.”

And so they moved on through the wildly rolling grass hills of Equestria, their furry contraband in tow. The moon was still casting its watchful gaze, and Fluttershy still couldn’t help but cast a glance or two skyward. Lucky for them, all was peaceful so far; they had not seen a single other pony yet. It was just two friends—and a band of random woodland creatures hanging on their limbs.

By now, their eyes had adjusted to the extreme darkness of the frontier. Squinting, Rainbow Dash peered ahead, the outline of trees starting to appear over the horizon. “I think I see the swamp up ahead already, Flutters. This ain’t too bad,” she whispered, a slight smirk playing on her lips.

“That’s because we haven’t seen any guards yet. But now that we’re at the swamp, we need to be extra cautious. This is probably where they’re patrolling,” Fluttershy answered. The duo made their way to the tree line, gazing up at the tall foliage with wide eyes. Fluttershy gingerly landed in the soft dirt, carefully balancing the mice and Fang on her back. “We have to go on hoof from here, Dash. The trees are too thick to fly through.”

Heaving a sigh, Rainbow reluctantly touched down as well. She eyed her two cages for a second, giving a look that said, You’ve gotta be kidding me. Then, placing the lighter phoenix cage on her back, she lifted Fluffy’s cage with her teeth. Feeling more like a pack mule than a companion, Dash led the way into the dark foliage, with Fluttershy meekly following behind.

Moonlight struggled to shine through the dense trees and hanging moss, causing the swamp to be even darker than the field. The duo could barely see the ground they were walking on, which was basically mud with a few puddles of dank water strewn about. Once, Dash tripped over a hidden root, and she almost stumbled into the thick grime. In her spin, she accidently banged Fluffy’s cage against a mossy tree, and the manticore let out a low growl. “Hey Fluffy, no offense, but could ya stand to lose a few pounds?” the pegasus said, trying to wipe the dirt she had splashed on her coat. To this, the manticore let out an even longer growl, baring its long white fangs.

Smirking, the mare replied, “Calm down, Fluffbutt. I’m just joking. Fluttershy, when do we….Fluttershy?” Rainbow Dash glanced back, only to find that it was just her and her animals. Peering into the darkness, quite a bit away, Dash could make out something protruding from the mud. It was no tree root, however. This thing was colored yellow, and was wriggling about.

And it was slowly sinking.

“Fluttershy!” Rainbow cried, immediately flicking her wings out. Placing Fluffy and the phoenixes safely on a tree stump, the pegasus shot forward, leaving a faint rainbow streak in her wake. She nimbly maneuvered around the tall trees, somersaulting and gliding her way toward the sinking hoof of her friend. The swamp was incredibly dense, and it was difficult for Dash to squeeze her wings past the trees’ thick trunk. But sure enough, the veteran flyer managed them with grace, soon finding herself hovering over Fluttershy hoof.

Rainbow Dash grasped her friend’s leg, beat her wings, and began to tug. Inch by inch, Fluttershy began to rise out the muck. First her ears, then her mane, her eyes, her snout, and then finally her whole face was free of the suffocating mud. After that, it became much easier for Dash to heave her free. With a loud shlurp, the mud had relinquished its vice grip on the timid pegasus, who began to cough.

Rainbow Dash took her to a tree trunk at the side of the deep mud, behind which the mice and the snake were busy trying to kill each other from behind their cages. Dash also spied an empty saddlebag, which was just that. Empty.

Finally, once the coughing had subsided, Fluttershy weakly said, “The otters…save the otters.” She pointed a shaky hoof towards a clearing, where Dash could make out the shape of three otters fighting each other…while gradually descending into the brown goop.

Blowing her mane out of her face, Rainbow uttered, “Oh boy.” Then she raced towards the tiny critters, which were totally oblivious to the fact that they were near death.

Luckily, they were much closer than Fluttershy had been, so Dash easily zoomed up and grabbed up the triplets in one single scoop. They seemed very peeved, chattering and smacking at Dash’s chest, their paws balled into a little fist. Taking them over to Fluttershy, Dash told them, “Jeez, don’t you guys ever stop complaining? I know you don’t like this and all, but sheesh.”

Rainbow let the triplets down into Fluttershy’s caring (and grimy) hooves. As the last one scurried off, Dash said, “There you go, Giovanni.”

Placing the otters back into their pouch, Fluttershy stated quietly, “Umm, that was actually Anton.

“That one?”

“No, that’s Francesca.”

“So that one’s Gio?”

“No, that’s Anton. Can’t you tell?”

The pair locked eyes. Dash shot a laser-glare at her muddy friend, unsurprisingly not amused about the fact that her friend almost drowned in a sea of quicksand. Fluttershy responded by giving a timid smile….revealing a set of teeth coved with a layer of mud and moss.

And despite what had just happened, the sight of her dirty friend caused Dash to burst out into laughter, and Fluttershy couldn’t help but join in. The two friends shared their laughter and pointed at each other for a few minutes, until Dash said between giggles, “Okay, hahaha…let’s just get out this freakin’ swamp, yeah?”

“Agreed,” Fluttershy replied, a slight smile playing on her lips. Maybe there’s still some hope for you yet, Dashie.

xxx

A growl pierced the silence of the night, causing Fluttershy to jump. “Now Fluffy…”

“Um, acshually that wash me,” Rainbow sheepishly said through the manticore cage’s handle, much to Fluttershy’s chagrin. “Whah? I didn’t have anyfin’ ta eat before I left! I wash bushy fusshing over this bucking smuggling advenshure!”

“Language.”

“Yeah yeah, I know.”

Giving a quiet sigh, Fluttershy sat atop a tree trunk and said, “But…since you’re hungry, I suppose we can take a bit of a break. But not for too long.”

Rainbow Dash took no time plopping herself down, dropping her cages into the mud. She began to massage her hoofs, wiping the muck that coated her fur. Then she whipped off her beanie and began to fix her prismatic mane, uttering, “There’s muck everywhere. On the ground, on the trees, in the air. I’ve got mud inside my beanie; how does that even happ—?” She let out a cough, and a fly fluttered out of her mouth. “Oh that’s disgusting…”

Fluttershy flipped open her pack and tossed a granola bar over to her friend, who licked her lips and hastily tore open the wrapping. She took a bite of the Sweet Bar O’ Celestia, happy to finally have something to eat.

But when Dash looked to her left, she found Fluffy eyeing the delectable treat. At first, she ignored the manticore and continued to glance down at the ground. But soon, her eyes wandered back to the cage and the manticore’s big black longing eyes. Her attention was soon caught by a long drop of drool descending from his hanging tongue and down his fur.

Taking a final bite, the pegasus muttered reluctantly, “You want one, Fluff?” Dash could have sworn she saw it nod, so she tossed the rest into the cage. The animal happily gobbled up the treat and let out a soft purr before curling up into a ball. Dash couldn’t help but chuckle at the cute feline, and she whispered, “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it, buddy.”

She stood up and made her way over to her smuggling companion, who sat with Fang on one side and the acid-spitters on the other. “So the snake and the mice are awake, huh? They’re not nocturnal too, are they?”

“Nope,” Fluttershy replied, finishing up the last of her bar. “I’m surprised, actually. Usually their kind stays sound asleep.”

The rainbow pegasus could hear a faint rattle droning in her ears, so she whispered, “You should probably tell Fang to stop rattling.”

But Fluttershy only gave a confused look, and she turned around only to find Fang curled peacefully in his cage. “That’s not Fang.”

Dash listened more carefully, the sound seemingly getting louder….closer. “Your stomach?” Fluttershy asked.

“Shhh,” Rainbow whispered, perking her ears. Finally, the rattling sound was close enough for Dash to realize that it wasn’t rattling at all. It was the sound of rustling leaves and low murmuring.

“Where are ya leading me now, huh? We’ve been scouting this swamp for hours.”

Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash immediately tensed up as the faint glow of a unicorn horn began to pierce the darkness. Grabbing Fang and the two large cages, Dash whispered, “Oh shoot, we need to hide!”

One of the voices said, “But seriously, I heard something over this direction. It was like some kind of growling, like a big hungry animal!”

Fluttershy narrowed her eyes towards Dash, who pointed an accusing hoof at Fluffy and muttered, “It was him!”

But there would be no time for Fluttershy and berate Dash for her insatiable appetite. A bright light flashed towards the two, and another duo of silhouettes wearing golden armor peered out of the bushes. At first, the light blinded the smugglers. But Rainbow Dash was still able to react quickly, screaming, “Run!” She quickly took off with her animals, once again nimbly weaving through the dense trees. Fluttershy did her best to follow Rainbow’s lead, while at the same time trying to keep the otters from falling out of her pack.

“Hey, get back here!” a voice yelled behind them, followed by the sound of hooves sloshing through the muck. Despite the lack of wings, the athletic Royal Guards we able to gallop through the deep sludge and keep up with the two pegasi, who were having difficultly steering.

Rainbow Dash whizzed through the swamp, not even daring to look back for a single second. All she knew was the sound of rapid sloshing behind her, and the sound of Fluffy being bounced around in his cage. “Sorry, bud!” Dash shouted while swerving back and forth, dodging the incoming trees. She had been so caught up in her flying, in fact, that she hadn’t realized that Fluttershy was no longer following behind.

xxx

Fluttershy had constantly kept bumping into tree trunks, and she soon lost sight of her companion in the dark night. However, the guards we still close behind her, their splashes getting louder and louder with every second. Her eyes darted around the forest, and her chest rapidly rose up and down as she took in sharp breaths. “Oh no, oh no, oh no,” Fluttershy muttered, searching hastily for some kind of escape.

Finally, one of the otter triplets pointed toward a large tree branch jutting out above them, covered by some low-hanging foliage. With wide eyes, the pegasus wasted no time springing up and latching onto the branch, dangling upside down.
And at that moment, the two guards popped out of the bushes, stopping right underneath the branch.

“Did you see were they went?” one of them asked, checking one of the shrubs.

“Naw, but they can’t have gone too far,” the other responded, dimming his horn. “We’ve got two others scouting the place up ahead. They’ll catch up to ‘em sooner or later.”

As the two conversed, Fluttershy did her best to not tremble, or breathe, or do anything that could alert the two muscly stallions below. Please don’t look up, she thought, sweat starting to pool on her brow. Fluttershy could have sworn she had felt something move in her pack, but she was too frozen by fear to even look down.

And that was a terrible, horrible, extremely fatal mistake.

The glass box that held Martin and Mathias was slowly sliding out of the upside down pack. By the time she looked down, the box was out of the bag, falling towards the ground, set on a collision course with one of the guard’s head.

The box seemed to move in slow motion. Time seemed to crawl. Fluttershy’s heart seemed to stop. The mice tumbled about their glass prison, watching the guard’s golden helmet get bigger and bigger. All the pegasus could do was utter a peep and watch helplessly as the glass container descended towards its—and Fluttershy’s—doom. She shut her eyes, and waited for the flash of the guard’s magic to reduce her to ashes.

But unfortunately for doom, it would be forced to wait for a bit longer. When Fluttershy realized she wasn’t a pile of ashes yet, she reluctantly opened her eyes. The box had been halted just a few inches above the guard’s head, caught by a chain of otters swinging from the open saddlebag.

Fluttershy let out a silent breath of relief as the trio of deft critters climbed back up into the bag with the mice in tow. And if it wasn’t for the fact that she was clinging on for dear life, she would have gladly kissed each one of their furry heads.

xxx

Okay…I lost Fluttershy, but don’t panic. Gotta worry about myself first, Dash thought as she trekked through the marsh. I’m sure Fluttershy escaped. I know she’s not the best flyer…or runner...aww crud.

The pegasus touched down in the mud, surveying the dark crowded swamp. All was silent; the guards seemed to have fallen behind. Dash took this time to catch her breath, leaning against slimy rock, not even caring about the grime that coated its surface. After carrying five fairly large animals while trying to somehow weave through an army of trees, she certainly felt the wind knocked out of her wings.

Rainbow checked the family of phoenixes, who were actually awake for the first time during this trip. The little chick was nestled in the protective wing of its parents, whose heads seemed to jerk in every direction. “Sorry for the rough ride, folks,” Dash whispered. “What about you, Fluffy? You a’ight?”

The manticore responded with a gruff growl, his scorpion tail flicking back and forth irately. “What’d you expect? We’re smugglers, not the Royal Escort Service.”

Their moment of calm was soon cut short when Dash spied a bright light out of the corner of her eye. It was still quite a ways away, but Rainbow could tell it was the same light the came from the guards. “We gotta go,” the pegasus uttered, picking up Fang. She wheeled in the opposite direction, ready to gallop away.

However, the mud concealed an evildoer who would put a damper on her escape, an evil that came in the form of a large root. When Rainbow tried to pull her hoof out of the muck, it caught on the root, and she tumbled straight into the mud. As she fell, the glass box flew out of her hooves. Rainbow Dash caught a face full of muck, and she could only watch helplessly as Fang was flung straight toward a tree trunk. The glass box shattered, and snake plopped into the mud, rattling furiously.

And so, Rainbow Dash was submerged in mud with glass pieces scattered everywhere, sludge inside her mouth, and a pair of angry guards behind her saying, “What was that?”

Dash did her best to regain her footing, but her wings were too weighted down by the mud to fly. So she was forced to place Fluffy and the phoenixes on her back and waddle away with the stallions quickly closing the gap. Rainbow snatched up a hissing Fang as she passed, making sure not to look down at its red eyes.

The cyan pegasus knew she wasn’t going to get far with the mud and the animals weighing her down. She glanced back to see the light bouncing through the foliage, much closer than it had been a few seconds ago. Realizing it was no use, her eyes darted around the swamp, looking for someplace to hide. They lighted upon a small nook in a tree covered by some hanging moss. She brushed the moss aside only to find the alcove much too small for all of them to crawl into.

Heaving a hesitant sigh, Dash placed the two large cages inside the nook, whispering, “You guys better say quiet.” She placed the moss over the opening, hiding them perfectly from sight. Then, drawing one final breath, she pulled her beanie over her face and ducked into the mud at the base of the trunk. Letting out a groan, she plopped the mud atop her body, doing her best to cover every spot of blue. She held her breath and lay motionless, just as the two guards passed.

The stallions rushed by, not even stopping to inspect the area. But despite this, Dash stayed in the same position for a full minute, not even daring to risk moving. She probably would have stayed there longer too, if it wasn’t for a tingling sensation on the back of her neck.

“Fluffy, is that you? Stop poking my neck,” she whispered, keeping the beanie pulled over her face. But the tickling continued, even after she swatted a hoof angrily at the spot.

“Fluffy, I said quit it!” Dash commanded, sliding the beanie off her face. But when she opened her eyes and turned her head, she didn’t find a bright red lion's mane in front of her. And by the time those red, serpent-like eyeballs registered in her mind, it was too late.

Author's Note:

Boy, poor Dash. I can feel her pain. Writing this, my term paper, finishing up some final projects...I guess you could say I'm feeling a bit...

swamped.

Comments

[Rainbow87dash]

Lol poor Dash

[Riverwing]

YEEEEEAAAAHHH!

[Csquared08]

Trying tonkeep the cages steadier

Dat fat finger.