A Cherished Storm

Chapter Eight: Stranded

Scootaloo laid on the couch in Fluttershy's cottage out of boredom. It was still early in the morning, and Apple Bloom had thought that there would be crusading to be had by helping Twilight and Spike with taking care of Fluttershy's animals. Sadly, that didn't seem to be the case.

Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sat on the floor in front of the couch playing a matching game with cards. Scootaloo glanced across the room at Spike, who was relaxing across a green-cushioned chair, his legs and head resting on the armrests. She lifted her head and glanced at the dining table; Twilight sat on one of the wooden chairs, double-checking notes that Spike had taken for her.

Sweetie Belle pressed a button on the matching machine; a picture of a purple-bordered triangle appeared in a frame on the other side.

Apple Bloom shook her head, "Nope, wrong again."

Sweetie Belle lowered her hoof and sighed, "Why do I never get it right?"

Apple Bloom shrugged, "I dunno. Try again!" she flipped over another card, out of Sweetie Belle's view.

Sweetie Belle looked at the buttons in thought before pressing one. A picture of a yellow circle appeared in the frame on the other side.

"You got it!" Apple Bloom exclaimed excitedly.

Sweetie Belle smiled widely, "Really?"

"Nope," Apple Bloom laughed, causing Sweetie Belle to look at her angrily.

Scootaloo rose up and hopped off the couch, over her two friends, and landed on the other side to face them, "You know, I thought we were trying to get our cutie marks as animal caretakers..."

Apple Bloom looked up at her, "Well, we were, but... There ain't anything we can help with."

Scootaloo sighed and turned to face the dining table, "Twilight? Is there anything we can help with? It's boring just sitting here doing nothing..."

Twilight glanced up from her paper and chuckled, "If you want to go, you can. I'm not going to stop you. Spike and I can handle the animals, I'm sure. Right, Spike?" she glanced over at the baby dragon laying on the chair, "...Spike?" she heard faint snoring and sighed, "Okay, well... I can take care of the animals, at least."

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom made their way to where Scootaloo stood.

Sweetie Belle looked between her two friends, "Well, we could go to the Carousel Boutique and see if Rarity needs help with anything.”

Scootaloo rolled her eyes, “Yeah, only the same things we've done a million times before.”

“Oh!” Apple Bloom said, running toward the door leading outside, “We could go help at the farm! The zap apple harvest is comin' soon... Or we could help with the new field that Big Macintosh is plowin'!”

Scootaloo walked outside with the others following behind her, “I kinda like that idea... But how are we supposed to help with plowing?”

“Those plows are probably very heavy...” Sweetie Belle added.

Apple Bloom sighed, “Oh, yeah...”

Scootaloo shook her head, “Aw, forget it. I think I'm gonna take a break from crusading for today and go ride my scooter some.”

“You've been ridin' yer scooter a lot, though, Scootaloo,” Apple Bloom complained.

Sweetie Belle nodded, running up beside Scootaloo, “Yeah! We haven't been doing any crusading for the past few days.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders made their way down the dirt path of Fluttershy's cottage. Scootaloo glanced at them and ginned, “Yeah, well... I've been trying to strengthen my wings.”

“Oh!” they said in unison.

Sweetie Belle raised an eyebrow, “Wait, how does riding a scooter help with your wings?”

Scootaloo opened her wings and let them flap wildly for a second, lifting her inches off the ground, before finally stopping. She looked at them again, “Like that! I use them to move faster while riding.”

“Oh,” Sweetie Belle laughed slightly, “Yeah... Kinda forgot about that.”

The crusaders traveled along the path, across the field, and into town. Ponyville was busy, with ponies still heading off to work in the early-morning hours. They made their way down the cobblestone roads of town, easily avoiding the occasional work cart.

They turned a corner and entered the town square. Scootaloo gasped and stopped in her tracks, causing Apple Bloom to bump into her.

Sweetie Belle stopped, “What's wrong, Scootaloo?”

Scootaloo glanced at her and pointed at the town hall, “Nothing's wrong. Look!”

A pegasus mare with white coat and and a curly mane of dark and light-blue walked toward the town hall at a hurried pace. She was unique among the crowd of ponies, though. She wore the familiar blue and yellow uniform of the Wonderbolts.

Scootaloo ran toward the unsuspecting Wonderbolt, with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle chasing after her. Scootaloo looked around quickly before setting her gaze back on the Wonderbolt, who was walking up the steps to town hall, “Wait!”

Everypony around her stopped what they were doing and looked at her. The Wonderbolt had stopped at the top of the stairs and was facing her as well.

Scootaloo stopped at the bottom of the stairs and looked up at her excitedly, “You're a Wonderbolt!”

The Wonderbolt pulled up her goggles and looked down at the orange filly. She nodded, “Yeah, I am. I'm High Winds.”

Scootaloo nodded eagerly, “Hey, High Winds!” she looked around the square, “Are there any other Wonderbolts here? Oh! Is Rainbow Dash here? Or Spitfire? Oh yeah, and Fluttershy, too!”

High Winds opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by the excited little filly.

“Ya see, Rainbow Dash and Spitfire said they would help me learn to fly when they got back! Rainbow told me to keep working my wings until she got back, which I've been doing! I've been waiting for them to come back. I was so excited and-” she looked up at the saddened look on High Winds' face and stopped her energetic talking, “What's wrong?”

High Winds sighed, “I'm looking for the mayor. I need to speak with her real quick before heading back to Canterlot...”

“What for?” Scootaloo asked, “Where's Rainbow Dash and the others?”

High Winds shook her head, “It would really be best if the mayor or somepony else told you...”

Scootaloo held her ground and looked at High Winds with narrowing eyes, “No, I want to know now!”

High Winds looked behind her at the entrance to the town hall for a moment before sighing and looking back at Scootaloo, “Fine... We all were divided up into teams to scout out the coast for... anomalies. Three days ago, we were supposed to meet with the captain's group, consisting of herself, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy...” she looked at the ground and sighed, “... They never showed up for the meet. We searched the area that they were to scout... We couldn't find them anywhere.”

Scootaloo's eyes widened.

High Winds continued, “Finally, after looking for the whole day, the search was called off by Soarin'. We landed at a nearby camp and informed the ponies of Snow Peaks about the missing team. They promised to keep a look out for us...” she exhaled heavily, “There's a possibility they're still alive... But there are very dangerous creatures by the shore right now. We... fear the worst.”

“But...” Scootaloo said, her mouth hanging open in shock, “How... No, I don't believe you.”

High Winds shook her head, “I wish I didn't believe me, too. I'm sorry,” she half turned toward the door and looked back at the shocked fillies, “I don't have much time, I need to speak with the mayor quickly before going to Canterlot to inform the royalty. Again... I'm sorry, and I hope things do turn out for the better,” she turned the rest of the way to walk to the entrance and disappeared behind the door to town hall.

Sweetie Belle swallowed hard and forced herself to speak, “They're... gone?”

Apple Bloom looked at the ground and shook her head, “Th-that can't be right... We need ta tell everypony...”

Scootaloo turned to them angrily, “What? You're just giving up? Just like that? You hear that they're... that they're gone and you just believe it?”

Apple Bloom looked up from the ground sadly, “But.. she said-”

“I don't care what she said!” Scootaloo shouted, “She's gotta be lying... Rainbow Dash wouldn't just disappear and....” she shook the thoughts out of her head, “She's not gone! Her, or Fluttershy... They can't be. I won't believe it!” she turned around and ran off.

“Wait!” Sweetie Belle called out.

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom shouted.

Scootaloo ignored them and continued on at a run, She wouldn't just... disappear. She promised me she'd come back... She promised!

Rainbow Dash grunted as she pushed against the dull, gray rocks that blocked her way to freedom. She repositioned her hind legs and pushed again, straining to move the seemingly-loose stone in the barricade. She let out a disgruntled sigh and kicked the rock, before settling herself back down against the wall. She laid her head back gently, “Ugh, stupid rocks... We never get along.”

She lifted her head slightly and glanced at Fluttershy as she whimpered quietly in her sleep. Poor Fluttershy. She's had it rough these past few days... Having to deal with the horse, and then the deer... and now this. And she's been beating herself up for us not having food... Even if it is kinda her fault...

She looked at the saddlebags beside Fluttershy and sighed. They had run out of food the first night in the cave after finding the injured deer. When they found it, it had been lying in a corner in one of the many snaking tunnels in the complex of caves, an arrow protruding from it's shoulder. It had been weak and hungry from it's run, and barely flinched when they approached.

They had opted to let Fluttershy feed it a little of what they had left, hoping that she didn't have to go through what she had before. When they ate their last meal, Fluttershy had asked if they could stay with the deer for the night, so she could keep an eye on it.  Spitfire had agreed to it and they set up camp for the night.

Rainbow sighed. She had woken up to Fluttershy crying next to the deer. Apparently it had passed while they slept: Another victim to human violence.

Rainbow slammed her hoof down against the dirt-covered, stone floor of the cave, Those humans really know how to ruin lives, don't they? Next time I see them... I'll-

“What's up, Rainbow? You look like you're gonna bite something,” Spitfire said, walking into the light from the glowing crystals that they had gathered around.

Rainbow sighed and shook her head, “Did you find anything? A way out, maybe?”

Spitfire shook her head and made her way to one of the walls, and sat back against it weakly, “Nothing. Not a single thing. But I haven't explored everything. There's a few dark caves that actually intimidated me a bit. Don't know if one of them might have the manticore.”

Rainbow chuckled and laid her head back.

Spitfire looked at her inquiringly, “What's so funny?”

Rainbow lowered her head and grinned at her, “Spitfire? Intimidated? I can't believe that.”A spike of pain enveloped her stomach, causing her to clutch at it with her hooves.

Spitfire lifted herself off the ground, “You okay?”

Rainbow nodded slowly, “Yeah... Just my stomach isn't liking this starving business...”

Fluttershy's head rose from its resting position and she yawned. She looked between the two ponies tiredly, “Did... you happen to find any food?” She sighed when Spitfire shook her head, “Oh... okay,” she laid her head back down again and whispered, “I'm so hungry...”

Rainbow sighed heavily and looked at her, “Hey, Fluttershy... I'm sorry for pulling you into this. I shouldn't have. Twilight and the others were right.”

Fluttershy raised her head, “But, Rainbow, I chose to come on my own...”

Rainbow shook her head, “No, I used something important to you to bait you in... What has that led to? You being hurt several times. That's not what I wanted. I just wanted you to learn some things to help your flying. Not for you to experience....” she went silent for a moment, thinking about her next words, “I just underestimated the situation. I should have taken it more seriously.”

“But, Rainbow-”

“No, Fluttershy...” Rainbow said, laying her head back against the stone barricade, “If it wasn't for me, you wouldn't be in this situation with me and Spitfire... I'm sorry,” she slammed her head against the wall angrily. She repeated the process, as if trying to punish herself.

“Rainbow Dash!” Spitfire shouted, “It's not gonna help us if you go and hurt yourself.”

Rainbow sighed and got to her hooves, “Whatever...” she walked over to the saddlebags and looked in them, “There's gotta be a crumb or something in here....” she picked up a looped string, with a metallic object hanging from it. She studied it in the faint light of the crystals, before grinning, “I think I know what I can use this whistle for, Boxcar...”

Spitfire walked over to view it, “What? A whistle?”

Rainbow shook her head, “Nope, freedom!” she held the whistle to her mouth and took a deep breath, letting out a loud and drawn-out whistle. The high-pitched sound echoed against the cave walls, traveling deeper and deeper into the darkness of the caves.

Spitfire sighed at her, “You know, humans could be out there...”

Rainbow shrugged, “Rather have a chance to live by outflying humans that come to help, than sit here and die of starvation.”

The whistle's cry faded from existence; a roar answered back, it's echo shaking loose weakened stone on the ceiling.

Fluttershy gulped and looked at Rainbow, “I think you woke the manticore up...”

Rainbow looked down at the whistle and slung it over her head, allowing it to rest around her neck, “Ya know... I haven't seen the manticore at all since we came in here... It has to have eaten in the past couple days,” she walked to the edge of the light and turned to face them, “I'm willing to bet that there's another exit out of here that the manticore uses!”

Spitfire nodded slowly, “Sounds logical... But how do you plan on finding it? I'm willing to bet that manticore is probably close to it.”

Rainbow lowered her head in thought, before glancing up at Fluttershy, “Hey, Fluttershy... I hate asking this, but.... You've reasoned with a manticore before... Would you be willing to try doing that here, while me and Spitfire look around for another way out? Or at least some food...”

Fluttershy gulped, “I... could try....”

Rainbow nodded and looked down at a small segment of blue, glowing crystal. She grinned, “Okay, let's go. I hope that manticore doesn't mind company... Because it's about to get some.”

Twilight had a piece of paper in front of her, held in place by her magic so she could check the list she had made, “Next up on the list, Spike, is to feed the chickens.”

Spike groggily made his way past her toward the chicken coop, “I didn't hear any roosters... Can I go back to bed after this?”

Twilight lowered her checklist, “Spike, what happened to your sleeping schedule? You used to always sleep at night... Now you're just as nocturnal as Owloysius.”

Spike shrugged, “I don't know. I blame the Gala.”

“Spike,” Twilight rolled her eyes, “the Gala was almost a week ago. You've had plenty of time to adjust, haven't you?”

Spike yawned, “Apparently not... Anyway, what do we feed them?”

“Oh,” Twilight brought the list back up to read it, “Let's see... 'Feed the chickens with the seeds from the smaller barrel.' I guess she meant that one,” she glanced over at a grouping of three barrels beside the chicken coop and pointed at the smaller one.

Spike looked at it, “She could have said, 'The darker one,'” he made his way to the barrels and climbed up the chicken wire of the fence, resting atop one of the wooden posts. He pulled up the loosened lid of the smaller barrel, allowing it to fall to the ground. He grabbed a fistful of seeds and threw them out across the chicken coop, “How much do they need?”

Twilight searched the page, “It doesn't say... I'd say to give them two more helpings, just to be safe.”

Spike nodded and did as he was told, sending the seeds scattering across the ground to feed the happy chickens.

He hopped off the post and made his way happily past Twilight, toward the cottage.

Twilight levitated the lid back onto the barrel and watched as Spike attempted to leave the scene. She shot a thin beam of magic at the door, causing a thin, translucent barrier of magic to appear.

Spike bumped into it and blinked, “Aw, come on, Twilight! I wanna sleep...”

Twilight shook her head, “Not happening, Spike. You need to get back on a good schedule. So you're going to stay up as long as you can before I'll let you sleep.”

Spike groaned and walked back toward her, “Fine... What do we do now?”

Twilight smiled, releasing her hold on the barrier, “Let's see, we've fed the chickens. Check. Now we need to feed the birds... Hmm, 'worms of a certain size?' What's she mean by that?” she glanced up into one of the trees and noticed a nest with several little chicks chirping hungrily. She smiled at them and glanced down at Spike, “I think we need little worms for them...”

Spike sighed and readied his claws, “Okay, I know what you're gonna say,” he looked around on the ground for a place to start digging.

Twilight shook her head lightly and smiled, “Maybe after we finish with the chores for today, I'll let you take a tiny nap to help you get through the day. Okay?”

Spike looked up at her and nodded happily, “Will do! I'll find those worms!”

Twilight giggled and began searching the ground as well, “Hmm... But what would be considered small for them... Maybe a couple of inches? Hmm... Guess it'll have to be a-”

“Twilight!”

“-guessing game?” Twilight brought her head up and looked down the path where her name was called from, “Applejack? Apple Bloom?” she smiled and made her way down the path to meet them, “Hello! You coming to help us look for worms, too?” she laughed.

Applejack and her sister stopped in front of her, panting slightly from exertion. Applejack shook her head and looked her in the eyes with a serious gaze.

Twilight dropped the smile, “What's wrong?”

Applejack lowered her head to face the ground and sighed, wondering how to continue, “Twilight...”

Twilight took a step forward, “Applejack, what's wrong?”

“How should I put this...” Applejack shook her head and glanced up at her, “Apple Bloom here had come runnin' back home, hollerin' fer me. She told me that a Wonderbolt had come back from scoutin' 'round the coast.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow, “Already? And only one?”

Applejack nodded slowly, “She had come back ta speak with the mayor about...” she lowered her head and sighed deeply, “I can't believe this, but...”

“But what?” Twilight urged.

Applejack brought her head back up to face Twilight directly, “She had said that Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, an' Spitfire were gone. Missin', just like that...”

Twilight gasped, her eyes widening, “G-gone? Are... are you sure?”

“I thought it was just Apple Bloom's imagination runnin' wild again,” Applejack said, glancing down at her younger sibling, “but me and Rarity went ta talk with the mayor... She said the same thing that Apple Bloom did,” she looked back at Twilight, “The mayor said that Spitfire's group was supposed ta meet with Soarin's group, but they never showed up. Says that Soarin's group searched all over the place for 'em... Found nothin', though.”

Twilight shook her head disbelievingly, “Are you saying it's hopeless to even try..?”

Applejack looked at the ground for a moment before stomping her hoof. She glanced back up at Twilight, “Of course not! Nothin's hopeless... If ya want my honest opinion, I think we should go an' search for 'em. I can't leave 'til tomorrow, though. Have some business ta finish up on the farm.”

Twilight nodded, “Okay.”

Apple Bloom slowly walked up to her, “Um.. Twilight? Could ya try talkin' ta Scootaloo? She ran off after hearin' the news...”

Twilight nodded again, “Where did she go?”

Apple Bloom thought about it for a moment, “I think she went to her house... At least that's the way I saw her headin'.”

“Okay,” Twilight said and looked back to where Spike was; he was still digging for worms, completely oblivious to what had happened. She sighed, I'll have to tell him when I get back... “Spike?”

Spike stood up and looked at her, “Yes, Twilight? Oh, hello AJ and Apple Bloom!”

“Howdy, Spike!” Applejack said with a forced smile.

Twilight sighed, “Spike, I know I said you could have a nap after work... But I need to go for a bit. Could you look after the animals for a bit by yourself? Please?”

Spike looked around and nodded with a slight sigh, “Yeah, I guess.”

“Thanks!” Twilight turned to the others again, “Does Pinkie Pie know?”

Applejack nodded, “Well, Rarity said she'd tell her.”

Twilight nodded in return, “Okay, I want you all to meet me at the library in three hours so we can figure out what we'll need.”

“Alright, Twi, I'll tell the others,” Applejack said.

“Okay,” Twilight turned to face town, “I guess I'll go speak with Scootaloo, then.”

Scootaloo laid back on the soft covers of her bed, staring blankly up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes to block out the light invading her room from the open window.

A knocking came from the door; Scootaloo sighed and rolled over onto her side, facing away from it.

“Scootaloo?” her mother's muffled voice called through the door, “Are you alright, dear? You ran past me without even saying a word.”

“I'm fine,” Scootaloo said in a forced-neutral voice. She sighed and whispered, “Oh, who am I kidding? I'm not okay...”

“You want to talk about it?”

Scootaloo glanced over her shoulder quickly and saw her mother standing by her bed. She looked at Scootaloo with worry-filled eyes, her mouth was turned downward in a frown, “What's wrong, dear? You can tell me. I'm your mother, after all.”

Scootaloo rolled onto her back, “It's about Rainbow Dash...”

“You're still hanging around her?” her mother sighed, “I thought I asked you to stay away from that pony. She's trouble.”

Scootaloo shot a piercing glance at her mother, “She and Fluttershy went with the Wonderbolts on some mission...” she jumped off the bed and walked up to the window, lifting herself up to view outside, “They're gone, mom. One of the Wonderbolts, High Winds, came back... She told me that they were missing... Missing! Gone! No pony knows where they are...” she let herself down and looked at her mother with saddened eyes, “She went to go and do something to help everypony... She's not trouble.”

She glanced down at the ground, contemplating her next words, and whispered, “Rainbow Dash didn't keep me out that night... I was out there on my own. She found me and brought me home, and covered for me so I wouldn't get into too much trouble...”

Scootaloo's mother walked up to her and gently lifted Scootaloo's head to face her, “I'm sorry to hear that, dear... I guess we misjudged her character, then,” she removed her hoof and looked down at her daughter, “Now, we'll speak about your lying to us later.”

A knocking echoed from downstairs.

Scootaloo's mother looked back toward the door and sighed, “Try not to think about it too much, Scootaloo. Get some rest.” she left the room, closing the door behind her.

Scootaloo sighed and hopped back on her bed, “Don't think about it? How am I supposed to do that?” she rolled over on her side again, facing away from the door, to sulk.

A knocking rattled the door.

Scootaloo groaned, “Come in...” The door opened. Scootaloo glanced behind her at the door and gasped. She jumped off her bed and ran towards her guest, “Twilight! Did they find Rainbow Dash or Fluttershy yet?”

Twilight sighed and shook her head, “I only just found out myself, Scootaloo. But we'll be going out soon to search for them. We just have to get the supplies that we're going to need together, since the trip will be long,” she looked down at the filly, “I heard you didn't take the news well... Are you okay?”

Scootaloo shook her head, “How can I be? Being told that somepony you really look up to is gone doesn't... It doesn't sit well with me. I mean, they wouldn't just disappear, right? They couldn't... Unless something happened to them...”

“Don't think about it too much, Scootaloo. We don't know what happened, or where they are. But I'm not going to just assume the worst... Not until there's proof...” she lowered her voice, “Oh, Celestia, please let there be no proof...”

Scootaloo turned around and jumped back up on her bed, sitting on the edge of it, letting her hind legs fall over the edge. She let out a deep breath, “Ya know, Twilight... I've never told anypony this, but...” she stopped to think about her words.

Twilight walked over to her, “What is it?”

Scootaloo looked back up at her sadly, “Apple Bloom has Applejack to look up to. They have all sorts of fun.  Sweetie Belle has Rarity... I don't have a sister, Twilight... But if I did, I'd want her to be Rainbow Dash. She's just so awesome and...” she stopped, “... and I just want her to be okay.”

Twilight nodded slowly and sat on the bed next to her, “We all want her and Fluttershy to be okay, Scootaloo. And we'll find them. But, they have Spitfire. She's a good leader, so I'm sure she'll keep them out of trouble until we do.”

Scootaloo nodded slowly, “She and Spitfire said they'd help me learn to fly when they got back. Rainbow Dash told me to keep strengthening my wings, and that's what I've been doing...”

“That's good, then they'll be able to teach you when we find them,” Twilight gently smiled at her.

“Twilight?” Scootaloo looked up at her, “Can I go with you guys?”

Twilight blinked at her, “What?”

“Can I go with you to find them?”

Twilight frowned and looked down in thought, “It could be dangerous, Scootaloo... You'd be better off staying-”

“No!” Scootaloo shouted, hopping off her bed, “It's obviously dangerous if there's ponies missing. I don't care, I want to help,” she sighed and lowered her voice, “Rainbow Dash stuck up for me a few weeks ago when I was out late. She took the most of my parents' anger for me. She helped me...” she looked at Twilight with pleading eyes, “I want to return the favor. Please, Twilight... Let me help you find her and the others...”

Twilight closed her eyes and frowned in thought, “You're putting me in a difficult position, Scootaloo...”

“Please, Twilight...” Scootaloo pleaded again.

Twilight sighed heavily, “This goes against my better judgment... But I'll talk to your parents, and with Cheerilee, about it...”

Scootaloo jumped up on her bed happily and hugged Twilight, “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, Twilight! I'll be the best helper ever!”

Twilight returned the hug and smiled, “Yeah, just don't let me regret this...” she looked toward the door and sighed, “Okay, come on so we can go talk to your mother.”

Rainbow Dash walked down the dark, narrowing cavern with a blue, glowing shard of crystal held firmly under her left wing to light the way. Fluttershy and Spitfire followed closely behind her as she led them deeper in.

She stepped over a small stream of water, “Watch your step." They continued on their way through the dark, snaking tunnels until they reached a fork in the path leading in three other directions.

Spitfire took a few steps ahead, studying each of the possible paths, "Go figure this would happen... Well, we'll either have to split up or go down them one by one..."

Rainbow shook her head and grinned, "I've got a better idea. Here, watch this," she lifted the whistle from around her neck and blew into the end. The whistle's shriek echoed against the walls of each of the individual tunnels. After a moment of listening, a roar echoed back a reply from the tunnel to their right, "There we go!" she walked toward it and the others followed.

Spitfire shook her head with a sigh, "You know, it's probably not a good idea to anger a beast that we're going to be facing..."

Rainbow laughed, "Oh, relax! If a little whistle can make this thing mad, that would be kinda sad," Wait, I got mad at this stupid thing... Maybe she has a point. She shrugged.

They slowly proceeded down the correct tunnel, careful to not kick any loose rocks on the ground. After several minutes of walking in only the faint blue glow of their crystal shard, they were greeted by numerous bright, and large, crystals scattered across the ceiling of a massive chamber, as well as the pacing of a large, ferocious-looking manticore.

To the right of the entrance to the chamber was a large, stone pillar connecting the floor to the ceiling. Rainbow nodded. She quickly, and quietly, led them to their hiding place.

They inched their heads out from behind the cover of the pillar, observing the active manticore as it continued to pace around the chamber.

It was larger than the one that Rainbow remembered from all that time ago. And that one was pretty big, jeez.

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy, who stared at the manticore with fearful eyes. She sighed, "I really hate asking ya to do this, but are you ready to go... reason with it?"

Fluttershy looked at her and gulped, "I-I think so..."

"Don't worry, Fluttershy," Rainbow said reassuringly, "If anything goes wrong, I want you to run, or fly, as fast as you can away from it. I'll be sure to be there to draw it off you. I promise."

Fluttershy swallowed again and nodded, "O-okay..."

Rainbow turned her head to face Spitfire, who was looking at the beast from the other side of the pillar, "Hey, Spitfire, you ready to go look around when Fluttershy gets it's attention?"

Spitfire looked back at her and nodded.

Rainbow nodded to her, "Okay, Fluttershy, go do your thing."

Fluttershy gulped one more time and slowly made her way out from behind cover.

Rainbow watched her disappear around the pillar, She's seriously getting braver every day... She grinned and made her way to where Spitfire was, "Okay, let's go while we have-"

Fluttershy screamed.

"Shoot!" Rainbow launched herself up and around the pillar, Spitfire following close behind.

Fluttershy cowered in fear as the manticore raised its giant claws to strike at her.

"Hey, you! Ugly!" Rainbow shouted, ramming into it's side, "Why don't you pick on someone your own size?!" she quickly turned to Fluttershy, "Run, Fluttershy! Spitfire, get her back around that- Whoa!" she dodged a swipe from the angered manticore, "Oh, you wanna play like that? Fine! It's on!"

Spitfire helped Fluttershy up and led her back around the pillar, "Okay, Fluttershy. Stay here, we'll take care of the manticore."

Fluttershy swallowed fearfully, "Just... Don't hurt it."

Spitfire sighed, "I can't make any promises, Fluttershy. But we'll see what we can do."

The cave shook as the manticore rammed into the other side of the pillar.

Spitfire looked down at Fluttershy once more, "Okay, just keep still, and keep quiet... Don't draw attention to yourself!" she launched herself back around the pillar to help Rainbow Dash.

Rainbow dodged another series of claw swipes as she flew over the top of the manticore and kicked it in the back of it's head, earning her a rewarding roar from its fanged mouth as it fell to the ground.

Spitfire landed on the ground beside where Rainbow had touched down, "Sorry I'm late. Fluttershy's safe, for now."

Rainbow nodded, "Good, she's never been much of a fighter." The manticore lifted itself off the ground and turned toward her and Spitfire. She grinned, "That all ya got? I'm not impressed!"

The manticore charged forward in rage.

Rainbow glanced at Spitfire out of the corner of her eye, "Go around its right side, I'll go around the left. Let's confuse it!" Spitfire nodded.

The manticore reached them and raised both of its claws to strike. It's rivals made their move. It tried to strike both at once, but ended up flat on its face.

Rainbow laughed, "Oh, that was too good! He sure isn't bright for a cat."

The manticore lifted itself off the ground again, shaking itself off, before turning and roaring at them in rage.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes at it, "We've heard that one before, have any new ones?"

The beast bared it's yellow teeth in a snarl and launched itself at them again. The ponies tried the same tactic, but the manticore swung its tail and collided with Spitfire, sending her sprawling across the floor and into the side of the stone pillar.

"Spitfire!" Rainbow shouted. She narrowed her eyes on the beast, "Okay, you want to play rough, huh? Bring it on!"

Rainbow ran toward the manticore. It lifted its right claw and struck down toward her. She unfolded her wings and launched forward, dodging the claw, and struck the manticore under its jaw with a flying uppercut. It's head tilted backward in response. Rainbow quickly took the chance to turn around and bucked him as hard as she could with her hind legs, sending it toppling backwards onto its back.

Rainbow launched herself into the air above it and nose-dove down toward its exposed chest, flipping herself over at the last second and dealing a powerful stomp on its exposed chest with her hind hooves. She used the momentum of the impact to launch herself back off it as if it were a trampoline. The manticore cried out in pain.

Rainbow landed on the ground near Spitfire, "Hey, you okay?"

Spitfire rubbed her head, "Yeah... I think so. My head's killing me, though."

Rainbow quickly checked her wound and sighed, "You're bleeding, Spitfire... I know you're my captain and all, but I'm benching ya."

Spitfire got to her hooves and wobbled slightly. She shook her head, "You're kidding me, right?"

"Nope, afraid not," Rainbow said, "Go check on Fluttershy, and see if you can find something to wrap that... Fluttershy can help you with it."

The manticore slowly got back up. Rainbow looked back at it, "Doesn't want to go down for the count, huh?" she looked back at Spitfire, "I'll handle it, don't worry."

Spitfire sighed, "Fine.. But as soon as I get this looked at, I'm coming back out, you're not benching me for good."

Rainbow grinned, "Good enough," she turned around and made her way to the middle of the chamber, "Ready for round two?"

The manticore shook its head violently and roared.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes, "I'll take that as a-" she launched forward, "-yes!"

The manticore spun around and swung its scorpion tail at her, she narrowly dodged it and grabbed hold with her hooves. It shook its tail and slammed it against the ground, sending Rainbow crashing down.

Rainbow quickly rose to her hooves and ran toward the manticore. It swiped at her with its large claw and spun around to strike again with its tail.

Rainbow's eyes widened, "Uh oh..." the tail struck her and sent her flying across the room, where she crash-landed into the side of the stone wall.

She slowly climbed back to her hooves and looked up with rage-filled eyes. The manticore charged toward her at full speed to finish its kill.

That's what you want, ain't it? The manticore launched itself into the air to pounce, “Well, it's not gonna happen!”

Rainbow unfolded her wings and dashed forward as fast as she could. The manticore followed her movements, watching as she disappeared under it. It slammed head-first into the side of the stone wall and fell to the ground.

The cave began to shake, with rocks and crystals raining down around them. The ground quaked beneath their hooves.

Rainbow made her way across the floor, dodging a barrage of cave debris as it slammed and exploded onto the floor. She frantically searched the room for signs of Fluttershy and Spitfire.

Spitfire pulled Fluttershy away from the pillar as it began to crumble, “Come on, Fluttershy! We have to get out of here!” A large stone toppled down from above them. Spitfire gasped and pushed Fluttershy out of the way while she dodged it herself.

Fluttershy fell to the floor and struggled to get up from the shaking floor. Above her, a large stone loosened itself from its home and fell. Fluttershy looked up and screamed as it closed in.

“Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy was pushed out of the way as the rock struck home. She rolled a few feet before she came to a stop. She lifted her head and gasped: Rainbow Dash lay in her spot, the stone resting beside her. “Rainbow!” she fought against the shaking and crawled to Rainbow's side.

Rainbow lifted her head, a pained look in her eyes. She tried lifting herself up before finally collapsing to the ground. Her vision blurred and darkened.

Fluttershy panicked, “No, Rainbow.. No, no... You can't... Rainbow Dash!”

Spitfire flew toward them and landed beside Rainbow, “Fluttershy, fly toward the exit! I'll get Rainbow Dash. Watch out for the debris!”

Fluttershy nodded worriedly and lifted herself into the air, she flew a few feet away before turning back to watch.

Spitfire lifted Rainbow onto her back and launched herself into the air. She saw Fluttershy idling, “What are you doing, Fluttershy?! Go! Get out of here!”

Fluttershy nodded and flew off toward the safety of the stable caves.

Rainbow cracked her eyes weakly. She looked around as the world around her crumbled.  Her vision faded into darkness as she fell unconscious.