Chapter 4: Multicolored beat down

Everypony was fast asleep on their cloud beds, each out like a light and resting comfortably. The day had been very long and filled with more stress than anypony could believe was even possible, and they were all exhausted and in need of shut eye. The way they felt right now there was no way they were waking up for anything.

Anything that is except for a blood curdling roar from the south that shook all of them from an otherwise sound sleep. In a flash nopony was sleeping anymore, and the way they felt it was possible none of them was going to sleep again.

"Wha' the buck was that?" Applejack was the first to ask.

Another roar sounded, this time far closer than anypony was prepared for. Frantically they all looked around for the source of the noise, looking up, down and to the sides, but there was no sign of everything.

"Where could that dreadful noise be coming from?" Rarity asked, shortly before another roar sounded off to her left. Spinning around quickly she nearly tripped on her own hooves at the source of the noise; Pinkie Pie was still out like a light, splayed out on her back, snoring in the most unladylike manner she had ever seen, along with her stomach growling almost in response to all the commotion, "oh for the love of Celestia," she moaned and facehooved. She'd given up a good night's rest for this?

"Whew, false alarm," Spike replied as he wiped the swear from his forehead and collapsed back on the cloud he was sleeping on, "what a relief."

"Unbelievable," Twilight moaned. They had been so on edge over the threat of Adunamai that every little noise was starting to set them off; not that Pinkie's snoring or stomach growling were little noises, but to think that the growl of a hungry earth pony was comparable to the blood curdling roar of that walking mass of evil that was responsible for so many violent deaths? The stress was getting to them, no two ways about it, "anypony feel like they could go back to sleep?" she asked.

"I would've if I hadn't shot outta bed to get a better view," Rainbow Dash announced from her spot in the air, having left Twilight's side to act as a lookout the moment she'd woken up.

"Ah've slept through a whole lotta commotion before but Pinkie's snorin' is way too loud for me," Applejack replied and yawned, "what time is it anyway? How long we been out?"

"That's a good question Applejack, I don't really know," Twilight responded as she looked up at the moon to try and figure out the answer. Usually the position of the moon on a clear night was a good indication of what hour it was, but something was different this time around that threw that measure right out the window, "the moon...it hasn't moved since Princess Luna raised it."

"Say what?" Rarity asked and looked up, squinting at the moon, "you're right dear Twilight. The moon always moves in accordance with the hours. What does this mean?"

"I don't know, Rarity, I've never seen this before except...except for when Nightmare Moon was free and eternal night was in place. But..." she paused, had Princess Luna actually become Nightmare Moon again and her resurrection caused eternal night again? Worse, what if she was dead and the night would never end because there was nopony left to raise the sun and the moon accordingly anymore, "...we might have worse problems than we thought," Twilight mumbled to herself.

"Say what Twi'?" Rainbow Dash asked as she came down for a landing on her original cloud.

"Nothing Rainbow Dash," Twilight replied, not wanting to get the others excited by her unconfirmed fears about the sun and the moon, "what say we get something to eat and then get moving? Those ruins aren't going to find themselves," she said and changed the subject.

"Oh that sounds so good right now I'm starving; pretending to be an earth pony is harder than I thought," Rarity stated and readjusted the stetson Applejack had lent her.

"Ah don' know Twilight. I mean, Luna let Adunamai have it with dropping the moon rock on 'him an' all. Do ya really think he survived that?" Applejack asked.

"Yeah Twilight I'm starting to have doubts about that too. I mean, I flew back to the crash sight and looked, remember? I couldn't even get close. That rock was still glowing hot from entering the atmosphere and was buried like halfway in the ground. Could anything survive something like that?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"If it were really that easy, I'd like to think Princess Celestia would've tried it when Adunamai first appeared thousands of years ago," Twilight replied shortly before her stomach grumbled, "somepony wanna wake up Pinkie Pie so we can eat?"

As if on cue Pinkie Pie was not only awake but alert, standing on all four and looking around. "Did somepony mention food?" she asked excitedly. Twilight just shook her head.

"So how exactly do we get down from here? Do we jump or somethin'?" Applejack asked as she looked over the side of the cloud she was perched on. It wouldn't be impossible to make a landing in one of the trees and use the branches to reach the ground. At least it wouldn't be hard for her, the others she wasn't sure about.

"We won't need to do anything quite that desperate just yet, Applejack, hold on," Twilight replied as her horn glowed. In a flash they were all down back on the ground, "there we go. Let's eat."

"Ah tell ya what Twilight I wish ya'd quit doin' stuff like that. Teleportin' an' all is hard on ma stomach," Applejack complained as she slumped to the ground.

"Sorry Applejack, but it was the quickest way to get everypony down safely. And if we're going to get anywhere we're gonna need quick. Going by what Princess Celestia showed us the temple is still a long, long way off. And on hoof is going to slow us down," Twilight explained.

"Yeah it's too bad we're not all pegasi, then we could reach the temple and the remnant a whole lot faster," Rainbow Dash pointed out as the food was starting to be broken out.

"...Hey wait that gives me an idea," Spike spoke up and turned to Twilight, "Twilight remember how you studied gravity spells for that test on the Crystal Empire?" he asked.

"Well of course I remember that Spike," Twilight started, but was quickly interrupted as Spike continued.

"So you could do something like cast that anti-gravity spell on us so we could float? And then Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could pull us along as they flew and we could get there quicker?" he asked.

"You mean we'd get to be balloons?" Pinkie asked excitedly. However any further rambling was stopped as Applejack put her hoof over her mouth.

"Well it really is a great idea Spike, but that was a while ago and I don't have my spell books with me. If I try and cast the spell and use the wrong ratio there's no telling what could happen. We could become so light we'd float away into space, or we might all wind up so heavy we couldn't even move. The strain from such weight could cause severe injury, it might even drive us into the ground because there would be too much localized density, like dropping a rock into a pond. It's too dangerous to try," Twilight explained.

"Now hold on a minute," Applejack spoke up, "that spell can make ya heavy enough ya can actually sink into the ground, like through all the layers o' dirt an' all?" she asked. Twilight nodded, "well alright then! We might just have somethin' we can actually use."

"What're you getting any AJ?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Well don't ya see Rainbow Dash? Twilight's spell might not be able ta make us float like balloons, but if Adunamai survived Luna's moon rock an' still comin' after us then maybe she could sink 'im deep underground an' give us all more time ta get ta the temple an' find the relic," Applejack explained before turning back to Spike, "way to go there little guy."

"Well if that's the case then I'm all for it. I say we proceed back and send that detestable creature straight to the planet's core where it can never get free from again," Rarity stated.

"It's not that simple!" Twilight yelled to be heard over everypony else getting too caught up in their only plans to hear her, "yes we could go back there and try to carry out this plan if we wanted to, but there's no guarantee it'll work. Like I said I don't remember the exact ratios for the spell so there's no way to guarantee what might happen. Adunamai might wind up sinking into the deepest recesses of the planet never to be seen from again. But it could just as easily send him into the stratosphere and beyond where he'll eventually get stuck in Equestria's atmospheric orbit and eventually crash land who knows where, possibly in a location we'll never be able to reach. Even if we did, without knowing the exact nature of the remnant there's no way to be sure we'd even be able to bring it with us," she explained, before being forced to stop and take a breath while she let it all sink in, "I'm not saying it's a bad idea. But there are too many unknown variables right now to try it. We'd be much better off simply continuing on north like we've been doing."

Nopony had much to say after hearing Twilight explain the situation, each one of them silently more or less agreeing with things as she explained them. There were too many unchecked variables right now and none of them wanted to make the situation worse, like sending Adunamai somewhere where he could hurt and kill a lot of innocent ponies he otherwise wouldn't have touched. Instead they just settled in to eat something before moving on. However even though the moment was peaceful that didn't mean there was actual peace to be had.

"Something's...really weird here," Fluttershy observed as she looked around inbetween bites at her food.

"Well we are in an unexplored region of the Everfree Forest and all. Things are bound to be weird here," Rainbow Dash replied through a mouthful of food.

"That's just it Rainbow Dash. The Everfree Forest isn't a quiet place, it's filled with all kinds of dangerous creatures. So why haven't we heard so much as a cricket chirp since we got here?" Fluttershy asked. Everypony stopped in the middle of their eating to look around their surroundings and note the indeed lack of noise that was to be had. This was by no means normal, in fact it was downright spooky!

"F-Flutteryshy, you're the animal expert. W-what does it usually mean when the things in the Everfree Forest aren't making noise and trying to eat you?" Twilight asked.

"I really don't know, Twilight, I've never heard the forest so quiet before. But...there's a sense of it being peaceful here, it's almost calming and relaxing," Fluttershy replied, the look on her face suggesting she felt happy right now, "it's like we're...being protected..."

"Huh...could this be what Princess Luna was talking about? Maybe she cast some enchantment so we'd be safe?" Spike asked.

"I guess anything could be possible Spike," Twilight replied, not having actually given that any thought. Princess Luna had said she'd be with them, but she never thought about it in that way before. But then again passive enchantments weren't something she'd had much opportunity to study before.

They took a long moment to stop and actually observe the tranquil feeling around them. Despite it all there was something peaceful in the air right now. It wasn't like back in Ponyville, but...it certainly wasn't like the Everfree Forest. But peaceful moments never lasted forever and everypony soon remembered why they were here and what needed to be done. Quickly they returned back to eating.

"Ugh this is so barbaric, not even an opportunity to wash your hooves off before sitting down to a meal," Rarity complained despite the fact she was using her horn to levitate her food.

"That's no way fer an earth pony ta be talkin' and whatnot," Applejack pointed out, having no objection to simply wiping her hooves off her coat to indulge in some otherwise fine eating. Not that she would actually eat when covered head to hoof in mud if it could be avoided, but Rarity was making too much of a fuss about her coat not being snow white right now.

"Being an earth pony is harder than it looks," Rarity muttered to herself and shook her head. This whole playing the part thing wasn't turning out like she'd thought, it wasn't serving all that great as a coping mechanism right now. Her coat was dirty, she was itchy, Applejack's hat was smelly and tilted, oh sweet Celestia why her?

"Whatever," Rainbow Dash muttered as she scarfed down one of the apples, "I'm gonna go on ahead and scout what's ahead, see if we're anywhere near the ruins," she said as she stood up again.

"Rainbow Dash we've already been over this. It's too dark and it's too dangerous to go by yourself, the reasons from last night haven't changed," Twilight stated.

"Twi' it still is last night," Rainbow Dash pointed out, "and gimme one good reason why I shouldn't; besides the ones from earlier."

Twilight was fully prepared to launch into a lengthy explanation of why trekking off through the Everfree Forest at dark on your own was a bad idea, not limited to just the creatures that could be encountered but the damage posed by the forest itself in the form of poisonous plants, falling rocks and more plants. However any reply she could've given was stopped from being formed by a blood curling roar in the distance; a real one this time that sent shivers down each of their spines, not one generated by the sleep deprived imagination of a bunch of ponies who'd just heard a traveling companion's stomach growling. This time around there was no doubting it, that was definitely Adunamai in the distance.

"How about that?" Twilight proposed.

"Ya gotta be kiddin'! He survived Princess Luna droppin' that rock on 'is head?" Applejack asked in disbelief, "what's it gonna take ta stop that thing?!"

"I don't know but I really don't wanna stick around and find out. Alright everypony we're leaving now before he finds us," Twilight stated quickly as she started working on her teleportation spell.

"Hold on Twilight," Rainbow Dash said as she dug around in her saddlebag and pulled out a set of goggles, slipping them over her neck before tossing the bags over to Applejack to carry.

"Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked.

"You can get more distance with fewer ponies, right?" Rainbow Dash asked, two which Twilight absently nodded, "you guys go on ahead without me. I'm gonna stay here and serve as a distraction, see if I can buy you some more time to get outta here safely," she explained. The reaction she got was pretty much right up there with what they'd all given Princess Luna when she'd made the same statement. All voices shouting at her, calling her crazy, pleading with her not to do it, etc. She didn't expect any less from her friends.

"Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both had immeasurable levels of magic and tried and they both died! Rainbow Dash you don't stand a chance in a fight with Adunamai!" Twilight stated, only one of the voices actually heard through it all.

"Who said anything about fighting?" Rainbow Dash asked during a rare moment when the others weren't saying anything, "I'm not crazy enough to think about fighting him head on, I'm just gonna be a distraction and slow him down for ya. The longer I keep him busy the more time you've got to get away from here. I can just zoom circles around him for hours and then take off and catch up with you later. And after what Princess Celestia and Princess Luna put him through he can't be in too good of shape, he could just be hanging together and got no fight left in him for all we know," she explained, pausing to look towards the south and then back at them again, "listen, I love you guys, but it doesn't make sense for us all to stick together like this. Twi' you said it yourself this thing can overtake us if we don't do something so I've gotta be the something. I've got the best chance out of anypony getting in and getting back out again without getting hurt or killed."

"But Rainbow Dash," Twilight tried to plead.

"Twilight, with Princess Celestia and Princess Luna gone you're automatically the smartest pony present, meaning that out of everypony here you've got the best chance of figuring out just how to get that relic functioning so we can stop this thing. It matters most that you get to the ruins safe and sound, we're all more or less expendable whether we like it not and I recognize that fact," Rainbow Dash explained, "Applejack, Pinkie Pie, can you and the others get Twilight to the ruins while I run interference?"

"We can do it sugarcube but leavin' ya'll behind don't sit too well with this pony none," Applejack replied.

"Yeah Dashie, you brought us all together with your Sonic Rainboom and gave us our cutie marks! What would we do without you?" Pinkie Pie asked.

"Yes darling please thing this through, surely there are other options available," Rarity added.

Another roar in the distance, one bad enough to send them all shaking. Adunamai was getting closer and announcing himself.

"Hey like I said I'm just gonna distract him. Get in, get out, hide on a cloud he can't reach, he doesn't stand a chance. It'll be a piece of cake," Rainbow Dash replied casually to try and calm them down, "now go on and scram, you guys're wasting time just standing around and talking."

"No, not again," Twilight objected, "we can't keep losing ponies, everypony that stays behind winds up dying. Princess Celestia said we had to stay together for the future, the Elements of Harmony can't get broken up," she stated, becoming more hysterical as she continued.

Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head, Twilight was being impossible to work with and wouldn't listen to reason. This was going to require one of those desperate times things, she could see that. And she had an idea of what to do to really get some cooperation out of her.

"Twilight do you remember what I said earlier?" she asked as she stepped closer to her, "well it still stands but...ah what the hay?" she sighed. Leaning in she placed a kiss on the unicorn's lips, much to the surprise of everypony present. When she looked again Twilight's eyes were wide with shock and the others had their mouths hanging open, unable to believe what they just saw take place, "alright enough of that. Get her outta here before she comes to again, and when she does get her to teleport everypony further away. And tell her when she gets the relic running to give Agibany an extra one for me," she instructed.

"Adunamai!"

"Whatever, just go!" Rainbow Dash yelled shortly before another roar sounded, much closer than ever before and making them highly uncomfortable.

Nopony wanted to admit that Rainbow Dash was right on the matter, that she was best qualified to be a nuisance and was best suited for staying behind to provide them a distraction to get away. Nopony wanted to, but deep down they knew she was right. Without another word they all got moving north again, with Spike and Fluttershy dragging Twilight along until her legs got moving on her own again. Rainbow Dash watched as they left, the image growing smaller as they got further away until they were finally out of her sight. Now she was alone on this matter...

"Don't worry you guys I'll be alright," Rainbow Dash muttered to herself as she watched the dust settle back into place. It was easy to be brave in front of them when she had their strength surrounding her and offsetting whatever insecurities she had regarding herself, but when she was on her own all she had to rely on was herself. Not that she was scared or anything, far from it! She was the bravest flyer in Equestria and nopony outmatched her!

"Hey wait a minute. Why'm I just waiting here to be found? Forget that I'm going after him!" she stated and took to the air. Waiting around was for losers and took up way too much time that could be better used in slowing him down, giving the others time to get away, stuff like that, "alright I just gotta keep an eye out for that walking pile of death and destruction. Surely something that evil can't be that hard to see, right?" she asked herself as she looked around. Sure enough she didn't have long to wait as it was directly up ahead, still some distance away but still way too close for comfort.

"Booyah!"

If Adunamai had seen Rainbow Dash's approach, the only visible sign being a cyan blur traveling through the air at high speeds, the reaction came far too late to stop her from slamming right into his chest hooves first, with enough force to pick it right up off the ground as she continued traveling along, before dropping him back to the ground to perform a midair loop.

"Hey! Tall, dark and ugly! Remember me!?" Rainbow Dash called as she came back down and hovered in his view, her front forelegs folded over her chest in a boisterous manner, "I'm the fastest, strongest, bravest flyer in all of Equestria! And if you think you're getting past me and getting at my friends then you've got another thing coming to you Amigadan!" she stated.

Adunamai seemed less than amused or interested and simply stood back up, paying little regard to Rainbow Dash as anything other than an annoyance.

"I didn't say you could get back up again!" Rainbow Dash stated and swooped in, spinning around in midair to kick Adunamai in the chest, sending it staggering back from the impact. However that was just the beginning as she quickly followed up with getting in close and a quick series of successive stomps to the head, before zipping off north again, "catch me if you can!" she taunted.

Even after all that had happened Adunamai's approach was slow and lumbering like always, footfalls heavy and deliberate to induce fear and terror rather than keep pace with something so small and fast.

Without warning lightning began to rain down all around. Large bolts of lightning coming down and striking the ground and Adunamai as well as anything else that was in the way. Looking upward it was easy to see Rainbow Dash jumping between the clouds gathered from the previous night for sleeping purposes. And with so many clouds to choose from she had an impressive arsenal to select from.

"There's no way on Equestria that I'm letting you anywhere near my friends!" she exclaimed as she hopped between each cloud and stomped on it to generate another lightning burst before moving onto the next one and repeating the process.

However despite the impressive barrage of lightning raining down it seemed Adunamai was either unimpressed or simply unaffected and continued the trek northward, walking right out from under the clouds.

"Hey hold it! I just finished saying I'm not letting you anywhere near my friends, and that's exactly what I'm gonna do!" Rainbow Dash stated angrily, now at the point of hopping mad at being ignored, "enough of those foal's games, you're getting the rainbow tornado!" She slipped on her goggles before plunging into a nosedive and immediately righting herself before flying around Adunamai, making multiple passes in quick succession and soon generating an impressive sized tornado around him. Even if he could just shrug off the lightning generated from non-storm clouds nopony could escape the pulling force of a tornado. "Let's see how well you fly!"

At first Adunamai was unaffected by the forces generated, but that quickly came to an end and he became quickly propelled upward and skyward, becoming victim to the direction of the tornado's spin.

"Gotcha now!" Rainbow Dash yelled in swooped in on the next pass, plowing into Adunamai's back full force, thus disrupting the stability of the tornado while at the same time propelling him backward. However unlike last time this wasn't a simple hit and run attack meant to impede his advancement. Instead she was going to push him as far away from the others as she could. And with her wingpower being as high as it was that was gonna be pretty far, "oh yeah! What're you gonna do now Adidas?!" she taunted.

As if on cue Adunamai reached around behind its back and swatted Rainbow Dash off to the side, a move that she managed to dodge but was still sent careening out of control into the side of a tree, at the same time interrupting the flight and resulting in a hard crash to the ground and bouncing before skidding to a halt and digging a trench in the ground.

"Horse-apples," Rainbow Dash muttered and shook her head to clear her senses. She really should've seen that one coming but she'd missed it entirely and nearly gotten creamed. And on top of it she'd lost sight of that...thing. Where the buck could it be now? However she didn't have long to look since there was an awful commotion down below, signalling just where to find him. "Round two!" She bellowed and took off like a shot.

Her approach was fast and hard, resulting in a clipping pass to the side of the head as she swooped on by, before veering off to come back around for a follow up shot, practically bouncing off the shoulder blades and heading off to the side. From there is was only a matter of time before her overall approach resembled a pinball game with her slamming into and off of him, staggering him with each successive hit; including one particularly brutal zooming uppercut right to the chin that caused his feet to leave the ground before falling backward.

"How do you like them apples?" she asked as she hovered overhead and looked down smugly. What'd she have to worry about anyway? She was the fastest flyer in Equestria, there was no way anything could catch her! Triumphantly and full of smugness she blew a raspberry.

Adunamai's reaction was quick and nearly devastating to Rainbow Dash who just barely managed to avoid the upward swipe. When had he gotten that fast!? It didn't take nearly long enough for him to get back to his feet before following up with another attempt to grab her, but this time around it was much easier to dodge, not that it did anything to stop any followup attempts, and now she found herself put on the defense as she was trying to avoid getting caught on those massive hands.

"Now I can see why the Princesses had so much trouble with this guy!" she said to herself as she barely managed to avoid a downward swipe that would've snagged her left wing. This close in stuff was getting way too dangerous and warranted putting some distance between herself and him, "I guess Princess Celestia and Princess Luna didn't slow him down any in their fights," she muttered as she flew up and out of the way to escape his reach, "and how can something that's so big and awkward be so quick on the move? Can he snatch a hummingbird right out of the air?"

Looking down she could see Adunamai was again on the move, heading northward just as before, seeming to completely lose interest in her presence. What was up with him? Unless she was down there mixing it up with him he seemed content to ignore her and just continue onward to try and find the rest of the Mane Six. What was...she stopped that train of thought when it suddenly occurred to her; the only logical explanation was that she was serving as a nuisance, and unless she was down there where he could possibly hurt her he didn't care about her actions and would just ignore her.

"So that's how it is huh?" she asked rhetorically. If he wanted a fight she'd give him a fight, she'd give him one hay of a fight! "Round three, horse-apples for brains!"

"Is Dashie gonna be okay on her own with that big meanie head back there?"

They'd been running at full gallop as soon as Twilight's teleportation had ended, an absolute necessity considering the difference in distance compared to what Princess Luna could do with the same spell. But even now, driven by fear and focus and the need to make it to the ruins, they still couldn't stop thinking about the fact that Rainbow Dash had remained behind to buy them more time.

"I don't know Pinkie, I hope so," Twilight breathed as she struggled to keep pace with the rest of them, "Rainbow doesn't have magic like the Princesses do so she can't fight as hard, but she said she was just going to distract Adunamai while we escape and would catch up with us later," she panted, "if she just flies about and acts like a nuisance she should be fine."

"Well if bein' a nuisance is all she gotta do then Rainbow's gonna be just fine. Ah never met a stubborner an' more annoyin' pony before in ma entire life," Applejack stated, "and jus' what the hay was up with that kiss anyway?"

"I don't know Applejack, I don't know," Twilight replied as she desperately tried to suppress the blush that was born from those memories, she had to stay focused on more important matters at hoof, like the stitch in her side right now that was making it difficult to run with the others and was currently slowing her down. Spike riding on her back didn't help either, "can't keep up..." she panted.

"No worries Twilight, the Pinkie Pie Express is at your service," Pinkie exclaimed and ducked her head under Twilight's waist and with an almost disgusting lack of effort managed to scoop her up onto her back without missing a beat and keeping pace with the others, "sorry but there aren't any snacks on this ride."

"Pinkie you really are random. But thanks," Twilight replied just before they swerved to miss a rock. Unfortunately Pinkie's approach was extreme and the force sent Spike flying from her back with an excited yell of fear, "Spike!"

"I've got you," Fluttershy stated as she leaped into action, taking to the air and catching spike in her forelegs, "see, no need to worry. I won't let anything happen to you."

"Thanks Fluttershy," Spike replied in a grateful manner before being eased onto her back as she continued flying along.

Their progress however was soon rocked by a loud explosion in the distance, causing them all to go skidding and toppling to a halt in surprise. Looking back in the direction they came they could see a rising rainbow-colored mushroom cloud, and the advancement of a massive multicolored shock wave that kicked up dust and debris in its path as it traveled along unimpeded, heading right in their direction.

"Hit the dirt!"

Everypony hunkered down as best they could, covering their head with their forelegs as Twilight immediately deployed a forcefield around them, debris of all sizes bouncing off of it as the shock wave traveled overhead, a large cloud of dust traveling in its wake and smashing against the protective barrier around them.

"Was that the Sonic Rainboom?" Rarity asked as she finally looked up and saw the mushroom cloud fading.

"Looked more like Rainbow's atomic barn buster ta me," Applejack replied as she stood herself back up again. The last time she'd seen Rainbow Dash use that move the results had been devastating, but that was rather up close. This was a lot further away...and still just as devastating even at this distance, "girl must'a gone all out."

"Ohmygosh!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, "does this mean that Rainbow Dash is..."

"Don' think so Pinkie. Last time Rainbow Dash did that on ma old barn she was just fine afterwards. That mare's got way too hard a head to get hurt from somethin' like that," Applejack explained in her best attempt to calm whatever fears were brewing in them. She wasn't the smartest of the group and she was both aware of and comfortable with that knowledge, but even she knew that they didn't have time right now to be entertaining their own worst fears about the possible death of their friend.

"We...probably shouldn't wait around here to see where this goes. Rainbow Dash...she said she can catch up with us, let's...let's get going," Twilight struggled to say. Everypony nodded silently in agreement, not saying a word as they continued racing on. They all knew they had to get to the ruins, now more than ever.

Rainbow Dash's music, Indestructible by Disturbed