The rain was coming down hard, and everything she could discern within the storm appeared a different shade of grey. The shadowy peaks of the Black Mountains would emerge now and again, and each time she and her partner would bank to the left or right, the water slipping from their feathered wings. To fly any higher was suicide, but the spires of razor-sharp rock were also deadly. To lose focus now....
A brilliant bolt of lightning struck a nearby mountaintop, briefly illuminating the two Pegasi and causing an explosion of loose rocks. One was lean and muscular, her coat blue like the sky on better days, her mane and her tail a rainbow of colors. Close behind was a straw-haired mare with grey fur, camouflaged somewhat against the darkening sky. Each of them wore an alchemically treated satchel, the waterproof strap slung across their naked chests, their bags slamming against their rain-soaked thighs.
The light faded, but the rumble of distant thunder heralded subsequent strikes, their dim glow showing briefly on the horizon.
The storm is getting worse, and no sooner had the thought crossed her mind than did the blue mare flare her wings, grinding to a halt as another spire erupted in a brilliant shower of razor-rock, this time right before them.
The grey one tried to slow herself, but was trailing too close behind and collided with the blue. Her heavy breasts pressed against the blue one’s back; her hands, grasping in panic, finding purchase on her modest bust.
Shocked, the blue mare’s wings stiffened and the two might have tumbled from the sky but for a harrowing roar like the world’s ending which erupted from below, and a column of hot air that shot them upwards, untangling the two and allowing their recovery.
They wasted no time moving on, for they knew that monsters lurked within the shadowy abyss beneath them, and that now one had just awoken. The grey mare chanced a look over her shoulder and saw great yellow eyes burning in the gloom. Another roar split the sky, and as if in answer the clouds let loose a volley of lethal bolts, hammering a high mountain ridge just as they passed over it.
The beating of mighty wings grew loud, the deadly chase begun. “Dash!” shouted the grey one, straining to keep pace. “What are we gonna do?”
Dash was the fasted flyer in the Savage Frontier, and maybe all of Equestria, but the odds were against her, and she was not about to leave her cargo, or her friend behind.
Another flash as the sky lashed out at them again, smiting the edge of a rocky cliff and severing it to slide into the gloomy abyss of driven rain, yet it was in this illuminated moment that Dash glimpsed what might prove their salvation: The fanged maw of a Shimmering Cave, being an unnatural formation that tunneled through magic-scarred peaks. The gemstone protrusions would be difficult to navigate, but the Storm-Dragon would be unable to follow.
“Ditzy! Look straight ahead and wait for the lightning! Do you see it?”
Ditzy strained her eyes, and when the storm allowed she saw the cave. “I see it.” She called back. “You don’t mean for us to go in there, do you Dash? I don’t know if I can fly well enough....”
“We don’t have a choice, just lock your wings and focus on rolling like we practiced.”
The absurdly tall mountain rose quickly before them, the time was for their last, desperate gambit was nigh.
Ditzy felt the dragon’s hot breath behind her, pouring over her legs, and cried out.
“Dash, it’s almost got me!”
Looking over her shoulder, Dash saw the great yellow eyes, and her friend trying desperately to escape the fangs of her doom. She wasn’t going to make it.
Slipping off her satchel, Dash waited for an opening, then released the rain soaked bag into the dragon’s maw. The package was swallowed up, the contents activating as it collided with the back of the dragon’s throat, causing an explosion of purple mist that sent it reeling.
It thrust its head back and let loose another roar, only this time Dash thought it sounded broken and pained. In answer the clouds gave birth to a sympathetic fury and hammered the the surrounding mountain tops. The dragon emerged from the blinding light with renewed fury and vigor.
It barreled through sheets of rainwater, heedless of anything besides its prey.
“This is it!” shouted Dash.
Ditzy narrowed her focus as best she could, trying to judge the patterns of the crystalline obstacles ahead, glowing faintly with ancient magic. The cave was not long, but a single mistake would mean a brutal end. A second later, they were inside and out of the rain.
Left, right. Keep right. Dive.
It was over in a moment, and the two had emerged unscathed. Ditzy let out her breath as a sound like Vulcan’s hammer heralded the dragon’s collision with the mountain.
The two tumbled through the rain, flaring their wings to arrest their chaotic advance, spinning about to face the impossible scene unfold as the mountaintop shattered into razor-edged shards of blackened rock and glistening gemstone.
The enormous form of the dragon had tumbled over, coming to rest in the ruins of the mighty peak, spike-tipped tail carving down through the air to slam into the transmuted diamond of the nigh indestructible mountain. It cried out no more, and all that remained was the droning of the rain.
“Dash, your package....” said Ditzy. She looked down at her own, wishing it had been her to lose her cargo—she lost deliveries all the time.
“Its alright. I did what I had to. There’s no shame in that. Besides, this delivery is a big step for you.” Dash smiled over her shoulder as they set off again, Ditzy following close behind. The weather had begun to let up, and soon they reached their destination at Delta Spire.
Author's Note
I actually wrote the rough draft for this story in January of last year, reworked it many months later and only now got around to completing it. It’s odd how familiar the memory of my writing the first few paragraphs is. So much time, just gone like that. Perhaps in a way, I have made a connection with the past by bringing this story to the present. So much has changed, but the story is still much the same, and maybe I’ll write more about the goings on at the edge of Equestria. 