Rainbow Dash was still exhaling the full extent of her scream when Nevlamas soared violently over the heads of her and all her equine cohorts.
Several Ledomaritans shrieked, diving towards the muddied ground.
Most of the Xonan warriors—however—stood their ground, gawking at the Divine monstrosity.
"Malladraak siul Xon..."
"Merrana sen Lasairfion Xon-Ameek!"
"Berakka thennulien trentte bleen!"
"The false Nagu'n..." A warrior sneered.
Breathless, Rainbow glanced at him. "Huh?!"
He frowned while glancing at the burning swath the dragon was flying. "It stands for all of Lasairfion's treachery. Now it is a monster that seeks to devour both the friend and the enemy."
"Yeah, that's great! Like I give a flying feather!" Rainbow Dash hovered high, cupping two hooves around her muzzle as she shouted up the mountain slopes. "Keraaaaa!" She panted, panted, and bellowed, "Roarkkkkke!"
The nearby ponies craned their necks to look at the charred rubble where a manaship once hovered. "Who were they?" a nurse asked.
"Nnnngh!" Rainbow rammed into her, knocking the mare onto her flank. "Don't talk like that!" Darting upwards, Rainbow hugged the edge of the mountain, shouting with each leg of her ascent. "Kera! Roarke! Zetta! Anypony! Say something! Anything!"
Another pony helped the nurse up as she stammered, "Was it something I said?"
"I think that monster just burned her friends alive."
"Oh, dear Spark..."
"Well, we can't just stand here!" A soldier spun around, shivering. "If the Xonan bombshells don't take us out, then that giant winged freak will!"
"It matters little at the moment," a Xonan warrior said. "It needs our help for honorably helping the strangers in the darkness."
"Huh?!"
The Xonan glanced over. "Is it so full of thickness?"
Ponies exchanged confused glances.
"I think I understand him..." A Ledomaritan engineer trotted forward. "She lent us a hoof when we needed it. Whoever she is, should we abandon her now?"
A few ponies stared at their hooves. Others courageously nodded in agreement.
"Very well then." The engineer hopped onto the managlider. "Any volunteers?"
"Guys!" Rainbow dove towards a charred piece of wreckage. What remained of the manaship had melted into a blackened obelisk leaning crookedly over the edge of the mountain. The pegasus' eyes glossed over as she hovered over the smoldering site. "Nnnngh... Oh no. Oh Celestia, no." Her muzzle quivered. "I shouldn't have gone on my own! There was nothing I-I could have done to stopped all of this craziness." She drifted lower, her body dangling limply on pathetic wings. "I... I-I shouldn't have left you guys alone..."
Silence...
And then...
"Pffft! Unnngh! Darn right, you shouldn't have left us!"
Rainbow gasped, her eyes darting low.
A stallion with a yellow-streaked mane poked his head out from beneath the wreckage. "You totally could have fetched us some grilled cheese sandwiches along the way!"
Rainbow's mouth exploded into a psychotic grin. "Zaid!" She shot down in a prismatic blur. "You're alive!" She planted her hooves on his shoulder. "Omigoshomigoshomigosh! But—"
"Settle down, Rainbow Dash, we're all in one piece," droned Zetta's voice. Several more bodies crawled out from beside the ex-cultist. A perfect patch of unburnt soil lay beneath the charred surfaces of the overturned manaship. Zetta stood up, wobbling slightly until Basso steadied her. "Unnngh..." She flounced the smoldering edges of her roasted mane and sighed with a limp smile. "Well, we're mostly in one piece..."
"Zetta!" Rainbow Dash flew in and nuzzled her dearly. "Praise Luna! For a moment there, I almost had to kiss a stallion!"
"You're welcome..." Zetta's muzzle scrunched up. "I-I think?"
"It's all Zetta's doing," Basso said with a smirk.
"Huh?" Rainbow Dash glanced around as all the Ledomaritan survivors gradually stood up.
"Indeed." Nightshade emerged from the shadows, her mane a mess. "It was her bright idea to swerve hard and overturn the manaship so that its lower hull shielded us from the monster's flames. Aside from a few bumps and bruises, I'd say that we're rather—"
"Yes!" Rainbow's voice cracked as she beamed in Nightshade's direction. "You made it!" She flew forward, tossed Nightshade aside, and scooped Kera into a sweet, sweet hug. "Friggin' A, girl! If you burnt to a crisp, I don't think I'd ever sleep soundly ever again!"
"Guhh!" Kera grunted, wall-eyed from Rainbow's hardcore nuzzling. She managed a smile, adjusting her grip of the glowing tome. "And we all kn-know how you love your power naps."
"Nnngh..." Nightshade struggled up to her hooves, frowning as she dusted herself off. "I can only imagine..."
"Rainbow, stop squeezing me! It's hard to breathe from all the smoke!"
"Erm... s-sorries..." Rainbow placed the filly down in the shadow of the overturned manaship. "Where's Roarke?" She glanced across the many faces blinking at her. "Is she okay too?"
"I'm right h-here, Rainbow," grumbled a voice.
Rainbow spun about with forelimbs wide. "There you are! Hah! Praise Luna! You almost became Roarke Most Medium-Rare—"
A light brown-hoof slammed across Rainbow's face.
Kera, Zetta, and Basso winced.
Rainbow fell to the ground as Roarke loomed above her. "Are you mad?!" Roarke howled, her eye-lenses pistoning in and out with steamy fury. "You let that damnable thing live?!"
"Woohoo!" Zaid pulled Nightshade into a bouncy side hug as he watched. "Lover's quarrel!"
"The fuzz are you going on about?" Rainbow Dash barked, then rubbed the red whelt on her muzzle. "And darn it, girl! You sure you even need armor?"
"At least I have my wits about me!" Roarke leaned forward, spitting. "Why didn't you finish the dragon off when you had the chance?!"
"What makes you think I did have a chance?!"
Roarke pointed towards the aquamarine bearer of flames above the battlements to the north. "She obviously fell behind our manaship for a reason! What else in this Searo-forsaken continent could have slowed her down but you?!"
"Well, jeez! I'm sorry!" Rainbow Dash stood up, snarling into Roarke's enraged face. "Maybe I left my 'dragon-slaying' license back in Equestria!"
"You think I'm joking?!"
"Well neither am I!" Rainbow shouted. She pointed at her pendant. "In case you haven't noticed, I've got my hooves full with being the last bearer of Harmony! Not Homicide!"
"It certainly didn't stop you back in Blue Nova or Gray Smoke!"
"Well maybe I actually wanna be stopped!" Rainbow stamped her hooves. "Maybe I wanna stop all of this! Maybe I'm sick of death and destruction happening everywhere I friggin' turn!"
Roarke waved her hoof once more towards the carnage in the north. "Well, what a fine job you're doing so far!"
Rainbow hissed. "Why, you ungrateful, stuck up, rusted piece of—"
"Go ahead! Say all you want!" Roarked barked, grinding her bare hooves. "I don't need any metal to survive a beating from you—"
As the mares rushed each other, Nightshade was suddenly standing between them with forelimbs calmly stretched into their chests. "Ahem... if I may." She glared at Rainbow Dash. "All foolish mistakes aside..." She then glared at Roarke. "We can still stop this unnecessary catastrophe."
"Darn it..." Zaid leaned back, forelimbs crossed. "It was starting to get good, too."
Zaid and the gang are now with Rainbow!
Zaid is still the best comic relief!
Hooray,they're alive! And Dash and Roarke's bond...strengthened!
So, they survived. And Zaid wants a grilled cheese sandwich. Roarke and Rainbow are having a, how did Zaid put it?
Ah, yes, thank you Zaid. And then Nightshade was the voice of reason.
So, situation normal?
Ah, Rainboarke. How I missed thee.
Alliteration is nice, but I don't know if that's worth the controversial implication that all of the characters were actually humans all along.
I like Zaid.
Zaid is fun.
He deserves a Grilled Cheese Sandwich(TM) at the end of this.
3762349
Equicide? Hursicide?
Eh, they all sound reallly weird, but Homicide in Equestria doesn't really have any historical root either.
Wouldnt the generic form be more like Hippocide?
Well, whatya know the power of grilled cheeze commands Duck And Cover to be a valid option, followed by a slap fight. Now things are really getting warmed up.
Damnit, I was SOOO ready for them to kiss just then...
you had them almost get crisped just for that line didn't you?
also: starting to get good? just starting?
Hooray!
Noone died yet!
I'm sure the joyful reunion won't be cut short by, say, a giant dragon goddess.
No, sir.
ALL ABOARD THE CATACLYSM TRAIN!
IIIIIt's Dashie's evaluation time!
Awesome, now the gang's all in one piece. Also, Dash didn't kill it because she was sick of death and destruction...even though more will happen now because Nevlamas is alive. Okay, Dash. These are my thoughts so far.
-MASH
3762339 Yes, situation normal, because this shit is all fucked up. AND LOVING IT!
Come on Rainbow, save that dark divine and prove your awesomeness!
Yeah... Maybe you should have killed the crazy mutant chaos dragon of death...
Love and friendship are all well and good, Dash - really, they are - but maybe we can make exceptions for the unholy flame-spewing abominations puppeted by fanatical prophetesses of chaos and sowers of mass murder, hmm? Just try it this once, and if it feels wrong, I won't ask you to do it again.
Also, hardcore nuzzles are best nuzzles.
So Roarke is a scruffy-looking nerf herder now?
Rainbow and Roarke are fighting because of me. Roarke almost got another beating because of me. For that alone, life was worth it.
Zaid, I'm glad you're there to represent the Jury and say what we are all thinking. If I could get you a grilled cheese sandwich, I would do so in a heartbeat.
Zaid
Zaid Zaid Zaid
Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid Zaid
Zaid
yeah thats it
>I almost had to kiss a stallion!
Lel
Well Nightshade has finally done something respectable.
3774303 Zaid.
Book. Now.
-Spirit
Zaid needs to join the party. After all, with the power of Shipping , he must be one of the symbols
"You almost became Roarke Most Medium-Rare—"
that was GENIUS!!
Just kiss already, dammit.
Anyone who still held onto their doubts concerning Dash's sexuality, you can let go of them now.
Damn, Zaid won't ever get any. Poor dude.
Wait a minute
Oh, that's what was happening
Please save all squabbles until after the apocalypse has been averted.
it is rare to find a joke so well done.
6625963 I oughta roast you for that one, but there's a lot at steak here.
6625963 my god you people are horrible. It's not rare, it's still mooing!
5532366 Yeah, am I the only one who thought when they ran at each other they were totally going to kiss? And the nNightshade, god of beaver dams, appeared?
6997535
Yet it is a rare day indeed, when one goes from the pan into the fire, yet still is most rare and has time to smack a filly for milking bad puns, and letting a a massive jerk live.
Also Terra wants that bad pun back.
Can the makeouts wait until we're clear of the battle, ladies?
Rainbow, you deserved that for that horrible pun.
05/27/2017 21:03 UTC
I will never tire of how delightfully gay Rainbow is in this fic.
talk about chop liver
I just passed away in a Place Most Public 😂😂😂
This chapter has me cackling. The comments section only made it better.
We got plenty of over done puns. I don't need to add any.
Could I be the only one who actually kinda likes Nightshade? She reminds me of my old English teacher a bit.