Carrot Top was in the kitchen cooking a meal for her and Derpy. Her head spun a little as the lack of sleep caught up to her. She held a pot of boiling water which she was just above to put on the stove when-
"Carrot?"
The suddenness of Derpy's voice caught her off guard, causing her to drop the entire pan. Luckily most of the water splashed away from her, but a bit of it caught a small portion of her hoof. She cursed and hopped away from the pan. Derpy stood in the doorway looking horrified. A visible red mark was now appearing where it had burnt her.
"C…Carrot I'm s…so sorry!"
She sighed. "It's fine Derpy, a little cold water will cool it down."
"I…I burnt y…you…"
"You just surprised me that was all; I should have been paying attention more."
"T…the entire p…pan could have g...gone over you…s…scalding you to d…death…" Derpy shook violently; threatening to fall to the floor in her legs shook anymore. "Y...you could of d…died…" Derpy shook her head. Carrot Top walked to wards her in an attempt to calm her down but Derpy only backed away from her with every step.
"N…no…stay away from me! I…I might hurt you even more!" Her voice became louder every time she screeched, tears leaked from her eyes, drenching the sagged skin underneath that had appeared from lack of sleep. Before Carrot could say a word, her wings sprung from her sides and she flung herself round the corner, flying towards the front door.
"Derpy wait!" Shaking her head to try and clear it a bit, she started off at a trot. The front door slammed open where Derpy had raced through it. Carrot sped up to a canter as she began to lose sight of the grey mare. She jumped out the door looking around drastically. She spotted Derpy flying towards…the Everfree Forest. Carrot gulped. 'I need to find help!' she thought. At that moment, Dasher and Sparkler came running round the corner, gasping for breath.
"Sparkler! Dasher! Oh I'm so glad you're here, you have to help!"
The smiles vanished from their faces and they forgot about their news. Fright wrote itself all over Carrot's face.
"What's happened?"
"It's Derpy, she just ran out of the house and she's flying towards the Everfree Forest!"
Sparkler blinked and stuttered. Dasher quickly stepped forward. "We need to get Rainbow Dash! She's probably our fastest hope of finding her! Carrot, Sparkler, follow Derpy to the edge of the forest but don't go in, it's too dangerous! I'll go get Dash!"
The mares nodded and swiftly cantered off in the direction that Derpy had flew. Lighting his horn, Dasher quickly teleported himself to underneath where Dash's house was.
"Rainbow Dash!" He yelled. There was no answer. He shouted again, attracting some stares from the local town's folk.
"RAINBOW DASH!"
A blue head popped over the side of the cloud mansion above him. "What do you want?"
"Come down here, quickly it's an emergency!"
Rainbow Dash bolted to the ground. "What is it?"
"It's Derpy, she's flying off to the Everfree Forest!" Dasher turned and cantered back towards the forest, Rainbow flying alongside him with ease.
"But why has she gone in there?"
"I don't know, there wasn't time to explain but we have to find her fast."
"Fast huh? You came to the right mare!" Rainbow sped up ahead of Dasher. Soon, two shapes came into view. She grinded to a halt next to Carrot and Sparkler.
"Oh Dash, I'm glad you came so quick. This is where Derpy went into the forest!"
"I'm on it!" With a flurry of her wings, she was off, leaving a rainbow in her wake. Dasher soon caught up to the two mares, and they waited anxiously for Rainbow Dash to return.
Rainbow swerved in and out of trees, narrowly dodging their branches, looking for signs of the grey mail mare. A few snapped branches told her that something had been here recently. Her fear of the Everfree Forest and all it's dangerous creatures that lied within vanished; she had to find her friend. Her head shook vigorously from left to right, looking for any signs of movement. She eventually came to a small clearing. She thudded down, tucking her wings in for a moment. She glanced around and sighed.
"There's no way to tell which way she went…" She muttered to herself. The darkness made it hard to see anything more than several feet away. She strained her ears, listening for anything that could give her a clue. Then she heard it. It sounded distant, but there was no mistaking it; it was the roar of a dragon. Her heart in her mouth, she instantly flew up and followed the noise. As she flew on, the noise became louder and more clearer. It was only when she saw a burst of fire rip up through the trees that she stopped.
"I can't just fly down there, I might be killed!" Dropping her height, she continued on through the growth of the forest, allowing easy hiding places if she needed it. Then she spotted something moving. She ducked down, only to realise the familiar coat of none other than Derpy. A smile crossed her face, but it quickly died down again. Only a few feet away from Derpy, was the dragon. 'I have to fly in now and rescue her!' Rainbow went to move forward but couldn't. Her back legs have become entangled in vines from the forest. She panicked and began kicking her legs but it had her wrapped tight.
Derpy stared at the dragon. She couldn't fly away, she'd smashed her left wing on the panic of flying through the forest. The dragon lifted it's head up and took a big breath in. In an instant, it threw it's head down, and a blazing ball of fire came hurtling towards her.
"Derpy run!" She heard the distant voice of her friend but it was no use. Her eyes were penetrated on the burning weapon hurtling towards her. The last thing she saw was Dinky in the flames, running towards her, glad to be reunited with her mother.
Rainbow looked on horrified. The flames had just completely engulfed her friend, and all that remained was a pile of black ashes. Tears leaked from her eyes as she finally managed to slip her legs free. The dragon had wandered off, satisfied that it's intruder was gone. She fluttered over to the remains of the broken mail mare. She sniffed, a single tear dropping onto the pile.
"Maybe it's what you wanted…to be reunited with your daughter…" She gazed up to the night sky, clear as ever, it's stars twinkling above. "We're all going to miss you Derpy."
Hanging her head, she flew upwards till she was completely above the forest. She then drifted back to the three ponies waiting anxiously at the edge of the forest. She landed next to them with a small thud, not daring to meet their eyes.
"Couldn't you find her?" Sparkler leaned forward, her questioning gaze staring into Rainbow.
"I found her…but not before Dinky did first…she's dead…"
The trio let out audible gasps, and Sparkler embraced a distraught Rainbow Dash. Rainbow sniffed, her voice cracking slightly. "A dragon….it did it…she didn't get out the way of it's flame…"
"Perhaps she truly couldn't…"
The four ponies stood there for a while, embracing each other tightly.
Carrot spoke up. "It's sad that she's gone…but maybe this is the end of the nightmare. Derpy is finally back with her colt and their daughter. All of her suffering ends tonight."
Sparkler gazed at her. "You're right…and as her eldest daughter…I need to make her proud." She looked down at her stomach. "You're going to be the perfect child…just like Dinky…
The End.
Thank you all for reading! I must admit this probably isn't my best work, but it was my first attempt at writing a longer story. I probably could have made it longer, but I got a little bored halfway through.
I'd appreciate any comments/criticism you have or ways to improve my writing further. My next story is going to be a lot longer, and I'm going to take more time on it so that it is as perfect as I can make it.