They were hanging off a huge cliff, or the wall, of an impossible cavernous world. A protruding balcony allowed the view of a horizon that shouldn’t be, cradled in the dark of a starlit night that the sun had never chased away.

A noticeably warm wind blew their way, an impossible comfort in winter. Smells burst in her nostrils like crackling seeds, strong wafts of spices and sweet sugar. Leaves, dandelions, and multicolored blades of grass rode on a hundred currents above the trees, each of them on criss-crossing paths. A small gust almost pulled Applejack’s hat from her head and she looked up.

There was a sky, its shades of purple and magenta overlaying the grays and browns of stone and dirt. Waves of silver shimmered through the air, breaking randomly like sea waves splashing on rocks, soaking the overcast with a foam of falling stars. The land beneath was bathed in almost kaleidoscopic hues, everchanging waning textures and patterns. The hue of a full moon night rose above them while in the distance lustered the almost vibrant red of a descending twilight, only to suddenly ripple in swaths of a golden dawn before the dark fell again.

The ground beneath was littered with trees of a thousand different kinds, most of which she didn’t recognize: Some were tall and thin, some short and stout, and every now and then, like a stray dot on a great canvas, was a humongous beast of a tree, wider than houses and reaching for the closed sky.

Most of them blossomed and bore fruits. They shone and absorbed all light, huge connected specters that almost formed recognizable shapes out of the land, vines of greenery and riches, from where she stood. Other strands were bare or torn, broken and trashed, but even they carried the promise of life as either leaves or tree sprouts struggled for light and dew.

Specular waters shone like mirrors across the forest. Dark amethysts that were lakes and emerald rivers that snaked among the trees. Ribbons of blue silk fell from above, waterfalls without beginning or end. The rushing waters of a river, or several, flowed towards a waterfall. The waters reached the cascading pillar and climbed upwards, flowing up and up, rising into the sky, drilling into the stone and clawing at the world above.

The titanic world-cavern was blotted with massive pillars of stone that held up the irate sky. Huge stalactites kissed the ground, their bases lost among trees and in the depths of lakes and riverbeds. Winged shapes circled them, in swarms or lonely flight paths, ranging from small flocks to almost dragon-sized creatures.

Applejack looked up, and realized she was standing on the side of one herself. She felt so small, a foal in the belly of an ancient, immeasurable titan, and stormed to the side to see as far behind them as she could. There was no end to them. They went in all directions, until they were lost in hazed and shimmering lights.

There was more: Pillars of towering, golden, effervescent light chased each other like colts in a field; Clouds of glowing dust motes roamed the sky, and bubbles of lazy ice blue wantonly floated up from the ground; Colors everywhere, metallic and chromatic, imbuing each other and everything around them with unearthen hues.

And far on the horizon, a drab, colorless silhouette cut an imposing presence by its nakedness. A wide mountain rose away from them, its peak beyond the limits of the short sky, its outline marked upon by the descending lightning bolts currently burning even beyond it. It looked so close, only a few kilometers away, but unreachable and forbidden by more than distance alone. It was abominable in its simplicity in this anomalous world of colors, but the sheer weight and reality of that mountain made it a welcome addition, grounding the otherworldly plane Applejack now found herself in.

“Delightful, is it not?” Luna asked, also taking in the sight.

“Finest landscape Ah ever laid mah peepers on, that’s for sure,” Applejack answered, licking her dry lips. “Not what anypony would expect, Ah bet.”

Luna hummed in agreement. Her right wing spread out, the leading feather pointing up.

“Never forget that behind this beauty lies danger. See above, beyond the lights that shine upon us? You can see them if you strive: dark veins and pock marks on the ceiling of this forest world. Each of them a route that leads here, more often than not through a treacherous fault or ravine—and to death, unless one is unlucky enough to be ‘saved’ by the insidious magic of this realm. ‘Tis why we take this path instead of the one above where the danger would be less yet the journey more time-consuming. On hoof, we would only find our literal downfall in almost complete certainty, and, should we survive the descent, still have to wade through this land. Better we choose it of our own will than it be forced upon us. We had some time to prepare, and we can move with even more speed when we have no fear of finding ourselves someplace worse.”

Thinking about it, this made quite some sense to Applejack now. Kinda like a band-aid: Rip it off and get it over with. It was a little crazy to decide that you’d come down on your own volition when you had a small shot of, ya know, not, but it’s not like it could get any worse. Not unless…

“What if y’all fall through another hole and end up in a third Everfree Forest?”

So that’s what an Alicorn looks like when all her hair heckles up. Huh.

“Let… Let us dismiss the possibility of this. For my mind’s sake,” Luna pleaded, heading to the left where a gentle waterfall fell near enough the precipice they stood on to splash the edge of it.

“Maybe it’s Everfree Forests all the way down.”

Luna shivered, and it wasn’t because of the cold water.

Applejack did her best to keep her thoughts shallow and focused on the now as she washed, gray dust and black sludge running down her hooves.

Luna cleaned herself quicker than Applejack, and set on using thread and needle on herself. There had been a long gash below her chin, earned sometime during their crawling, claustrophobic journey through narrow ducts and passages.

Applejack stared at her trembling legs. She’d rather do anything other than that again. Even the most laborious, hardworkin’ days at the farm were child’s play compared to that experience. She’d rather go tell a napping dragon to hoof its hoard over. Or go find an ancient castle where an ancient princess with a chip on her shoulder hides and give her a list of all the ways the sun is better than the moon. She threw her face into the waterfall, gulping down great big mouthfuls of water.

Applebloom isn’t here, but this is the road to her. Applejack kept repeating this line in her head until she calmed down. Rarity’s with her and Rarity will take care of her and Spike both. Deep breath and then focus on helping, not needing help.

Consarnit, they wouldn’t have to do the same to get up top, would they? She huffed, pushing the thought away. That was in the future. For now there were more urgent matters. She went back to cleaning the stubborn gunk out of her coat.

Somepony tapped her shoulder, admittedly spooking her. Raegdan was waiting patiently when she turned. Fluttershy was on his side, looking slightly nauseous and leaning on his leg for support. Raegdan pushed Fluttershy over to Applejack.

“Help her get cleaned up, and take care with the wing. Less it moves, the better. Where’s Luna?”

Applejack pointed to the side. Raegdan moved away, walking the edge with most of his attention on what laid below.

“Hey, sugarcube. You feeling better? Are you still in pain?” Applejack asked her friend.

“Yes. No! I mean, not that much! In pain, that is,” Fluttershy quickly seesawed. “It feels numb now and it’s better. I’m… sorry I didn’t tell you how bad it was…”

“Ah’m real sorry Ah dragged you along, Fluttershy,” Applejack said.

“Umm, I could have said no,” Fluttershy commented.

“Oh, come on now, Fluttershy. Ah wouldn’t have managed to get even halfway through the Everfree if it wasn’t for ya.” Applejack pulled Fluttershy where she previously stood and starting helping her wash up. “ ‘Sides, tell me this here view ain’t worth it!”

“It is very pretty,” Fluttershy admitted with full admiration, her eyes following a ribbon of yellow gold that melted to silver rain when it touched the stone ceiling.

“Ya better get an eyeful while you can. If Rarity’s just half dirty as we are and she sees ya on top of that, she’ll lock the both of y’all in the spa for days. You won’t get out till you’re more pruney than Granny Smith!”

“Oh no,” Fluttershy gasped. “The scrubbing!”

Applejack snickered along with her and they soon both grew into outright laughter, taking the joke further and further, making light of all their friends’ reactions until they could both no longer hold their roaring laughter at bay.

Their sojourn through the earth was forgotten, their pains wiped away, and their fears retreated. When this moment was shared with their friends, Pinkie would smile, proud that her grandma’s little tip against fear was remembered.

But for now, the Everfree Forest in the underneath resounded for the first time with a sound of happiness it had never heard before. The sky lights above the two ponies stalled for a second, as though confused, and then sparkled in bright, flashing colours of warm orange and soaring yellow, as if laughing alongside them.

Raegdan and Luna laid prone at the edge. The blue waters of a lake simmered below them, disturbed by the rushing waterfall.

“How high do you think it is?” Raegdan asked.

“I thought you said you ‘have it’,” Luna commented drily, her hooves making air-quotes.

“Alright. I get it. You’re sore I’m looking out for you,” Raegdan retorted bitterly, turning his head.

Luna scowled. “‘Sore’ is certainly a word. As are ‘looking out’, I would suppose.” Her expression softened a smidgen. “Do not misconstrue me, there will be far more words at a more appropriate time, but… I am touched by your concern, mainly. But I retain my right to be upset.”

“I’m… Okay, what does that mean?” Raegdan asked, confused.

“Tell me true: If I were to request the penalty for throwing yourself into a suicidal cause, would you pay it? Or was that oath always meant to be a deception designed solely for my benefit?”

Raegdan faced her gaze only for scarcely a second before looking back down again, silent.

“I believed you. That you’d never lie to me,” Luna said.

“That wasn’t a lie,” Raegdan mumbled.

“No, it was another word. ‘Pretense’ maybe. ‘Justification’ could also work. You’d enjoy ‘distraction’ mostly, I believe.” Luna released a heartfelt sigh. “But like I said, I believe I understand better now. ‘Forgiven’ is not the word I’d use... but neither is ‘unforgiven’.” She turned her sight back to the bottom. “I think this is too high a jump for you. It must be over forty meters to the surface.”

Applejack measured the distance easily enough. She had an eye for that kind of thing. She could tell how many apple trees would fit in a field in a glance. “About fifty meters at most, Ah wager. Give or take a couple meters.”

“See, fifty puny meters,” Raegdan said, indicating Applejack with a jerk of his head. “That’s practically nothing. I can pee that far.”

“Um, you’re not really thinking about it, are you? It’s really dangerous.” Fluttershy sidled to the edge, peeked down, and when the vertigo hit her she backed off with a quick meep. “So high…”

Raegdan scratched at his chin, his helmet resting beside him. “It beats climbing down from over there.” He pointed at the furthest side where the only climbable section was a sheer vertical wall that ended a half-dozen meters over the lake. Sharp rocks protruded at all directions around it.

“Luna can fly all of you down, but I have only two options, and falling in water beats a stone-bed safety net. Besides, I distinctly remember seeing one person take a dive from a cliff higher than this one so I know it’s doable,” Raegdan continued.

Luna’s doubt and mistrust of this route was plain as day. “Did he survive?”

Raegdan scowled. “Yeah, the fucker. I had to go all the way down where he landed to finish the job. Anyway!” He stood up dusting himself off absentmindedly, the steel of his armor clinking dourly. “If he made it while flailing like a chicken, I don’t see why I can’t. If I dive properly.”

“How much do you know about diving?” Luna asked suspiciously as she stood up.

“Practically nothing. I’ll ‘wing’ it,” he said, his fingers bent in air-quotes.

“What if it ain’t deep enough?” Applejack asked, imagining Raegdan’s legs sprouting up from a very shallow lake like a carrot. “Or there are rocks under the water?”

Raegdan moved to the face of the cliff behind them, tapping a boulder almost half his size. “Luna, give me a hand with this, will you?”

With the three of them together—Applejack couldn’t just stand aside when she could be useful, she had the hind legs after all—pushing the large stone to the edge was easy enough. They had chosen a part where the waters below seemed deeper. Luna gave a push with her magic, and the boulder slipped over the side.

It fell straight, almost whistling as it cut the air, building up speed. They could see its shadow on the waters where it would land. The shadow grew as it came closer.

Then it grew even larger than the rock itself.

When the boulder was a dozen meters above the water, a gigantic fish jumped out. It was over twice as long as Raegdan was tall. Its scales were light blue and glinting with the sharpness of silver. The eyes were patches of blackness, and there was no hint of a mouth to speak of. It soared in a straight line, ready to meet the falling stone with its face.

When the stone was almost upon it, the fish-creature split in half. A line formed vertically between its eyes, and it opened up widely, revealing a nightmare of spiral-set teeth between its halved torso. It let loose a warbling shriek that tore at their eardrums. The rock fell lower and the moment it was within the body-jaws they slammed shut so fast that nopony could hope to follow the movement.

The rock was crunched into a thousand fragments, most of them ending in the fish-creature’s stomach. It fell back down in the water with a graceful, acrobatic somersault and barely a hint of disturbance.

“Right. Everfree Forest. How could Ah forget?” Applejack humphed after a few minutes of stunned silence.

Luna blinked for the first time since the fish appeared. “I… That was new. I wonder how many of them are down there.”

“Raegdan can do his dive and find out,” Applejack suggested.

“Hilarious,” Raegdan commented. He knelt down, searching for a way to get to land without getting near the water. Unfortunately, even though the natural column they were on was almost on the edge of the small lake, it was still some distance to the shore.

Luna wore the remaining saddlebag on her back. “Let’s keep it simple. I’ll take down the girls and then come back for you with a rope. I should be able to carry you that way, as tiring as it will be. You’re first,” she said, turning to Fluttershy.

The Pegasus climbed on Luna’s back, mindful of her own broken wing. When both were ready, Luna spread her wings and soared in the air. Applejack moved to the cusp of the edge to watch. The princess lifted off with a few strong flaps of her wings, gaining height and speed slowly.

Fluttershy glanced back at Applejack and then immediately did a double take. She looked up, alarm and horror wrestling for dominion on her face. Screaming won as the unexpected newcomer, and she did so almost directly in Luna’s ear which caused the Alicorn to swerve sharply to the side at the sudden assault.

A terrible beak oriented sideways, as of an ant’s pincer mandibles, snapped at where the two ponies had been just a moment ago, followed by a quartet of bloodthirsty claws.

They started making themselves known over the noise of the small waterfall―huge bird-like creatures with long, feathered necks with the black glossiness of tar, and two pairs of legs that ended in eagle-like talons. Long tails weaved behind them, pointy horns gleaming at the sides of the heavy, swinging appendage. They would almost look like immense crows crossed with dragons if not for the cluster of solid red eyes, numerous as a spider’s, that took over most of their faces.

Applejack looked up and she saw more clamber out of unseen ridges in the pillar higher than them. They scrambled on the rocks, leaving gouging trails behind them, and let themselves fall or soared into the air. They were silent apart from their wings slicing the wind, until one of them loosed a keen wail and its flock mates joined in.

The shriek pulsed in everypony’s eardrums, building up until Applejack found herself on her knees. It felt like a drill was working itself in the back of her brain. It was a siren that screamed to her to stay still and surrender to the predator.

Luna hovered paralyzed in the air, her hooves ineffectually pawing at her ears in an attempt to keep the noise out. One of the malformed crows lunged for the easy kill. It shrieked in hungry triumph, only to cry a pained wail when a crossbow bolt punctured one of its many eyes.

Next to Applejack and unaffected by the agonizing shriek, Raegdan was reloading the small crossbow as fast as he could, unleashing another bolt before shouting, “Luna, go into the forest and head for the mountain! We’ll catch up, go! Follow the plan and I’ll find you!”

The Princess stalled for a second. The monstrous crows had now spotted Raegdan and Applejack, and Raegdan dug another bolt among the breast feathers of the closest monster that attempted to divebomb them. “Go! We’ll be right behind you!” Raegdan roared one more time, and Luna flew masterfully among reaching claws and between heavy tails, dodging them all and heading for the thick cover of the canopy.

Many followed, but equally as many crows stayed behind, eyeing the remaining pair and clicking their mandibles hungrily. Applejack and Raegdan ran for the cover of the tunnel.

Sharp claws descended upon them. Raegdan rolled to the right, getting up and running without losing a beat. Applejack jumped to the left. She narrowly escaped the claw only for the crow to peck at her with its wicked mandible.

Her right hind leg kicked the beak with enough strength to chip it, propelling her forward in a burst of speed. Applejack was absolutely certain that one hurt. It also infuriated her hunter to a greater degree. The crow cawed dazedly and angrily behind her, and Applejack ran, her heart pounding.

They made it just in time, diving to the floor as another of the Deep Crows crashed on the opening, screeching and struggling to get through the entrance that was too small for it to comfortably enter. It snapped its beak at them, narrowly missing Applejack. She gulped when she looked at the gouge it left where she stood mere moments before.

Raegdan took the opportunity, while the crow was trying to attack Applejack, to slip to the side of its neck. He brought his arms around its head, grabbing the mandibles. They clicked open and shut trying to catch the biped’s fingers but their curve left enough of a space for him to safely hold them.

The monster bird twisted its head, and Raegdan pulled it along even further. It screeched in pain and slashed at Raegdan with one of its front talons, cutting at his armor. The crow managed to find an opening at his thigh’s side, piercing through the thick fabric around his waist and drawing blood.

Raegdan still held the crow’s head by the mandibles and crossed his arms over his head, forcing the neck to twist even more as he stepped in front of it, the movement almost dance-like. Each attempt to bite at him failed as Raegdan redirected to the sides, using the momentum to twist further.

“Break, damn you. Break! Fucking break already!” Raegdan shouted.

The crow wailed in pain, its eyes open wide. Raegdan put all his strength into his arms, pressing one leg on the tunnel’s wall for resistance. He let out a half-scream in a final effort.

There was a crack, and the crow fell silent, its body thumping on the ground. Its head lolled limp and its eyes remained open, but the life behind them had been snuffed out. Applejack turned her head away at the miserable, quiet whimper. It had just been an animal doing what it was born to do.

The corpse of the crow covered the exit, effectively working as a barricade against the rest of its kind. It moved when some of its fellows shook its body from the other side, but none of them tried to clear the entrance and make an attempt themselves. It seemed that, for the time being at least, they were out of sight and out of mind.

Raegdan threw his helmet at the wall, almost striking Applejack and scaring her out of her mind with the sudden near-assault. He went berserk, hitting and kicking the walls, the fresh corpse, whatever he could reach. He was shouting, and no doubt swearing, in his own language.

The frightful tantrum lasted only a couple of minutes. After one last kick to the dead monster’s head, Raegdan’s arms hanged loose, his whole frame sagging. He moved to the opposite wall of the tunnel from Applejack and fell in a sitting position, drawing his knees near him and bowing his head between them.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“No harm done,” Applejack responded, and Raegdan let out one bitter cackle. “Any reason ya didn’t just whack it on its head with yer hammer?” she asked after a minute of silence.

He pointed deeper into the tunnel with a half-hearted effort. “They’re still coming. Blood will only bring them here faster.”

She held for a moment, but there was no answer coming. “Why are we not leaving yet?”

He shrugged. “We can’t. The birds will kill us out in the open. We have to wait for them to get bored and leave.”

“And if they don’t?”

“I don’t know.” Raegdan’s hands cupped the back of his head, as if to contain his reason lest it abandon him. He spotted Applejack’s hat that had fallen off her head at some point and picked it up.

A minute passed.

“If they leave…” Applejack hesitated. “If they leave, then what? How do we get down to shore?”

Raegdan shrugged again. “I don’t know.” He looked up at her, straight into her eyes as he passed her hat. All she saw was surrender. “I don’t think we have anywhere to go anymore.”

It had been at least an hour, but the crows were still outside. They seemed to have claimed the outcrop as a resting spot if not a new nest. Very few were sitting outside the blocked passage, but many more of them flew at spitting distance from the ledge. Applejack could see them flying past, through the unblocked part of the exit.

Mostly, however, she had been spending her time as far in the back of the tunnel as the light allowed. Sometime in the last couple of minutes her patience had been rewarded, if she saw fit to use the word ‘rewarded’ cynically.

“Ya hear that?” she asked Raegdan.

Halting his unsuccessful attempts to whittle pieces of one of the few torches he had kept into bolts—this type of wood wasn’t meant for that—Raegdan tilted his head. After a few moments he nodded. “Time’s nearly up.”

“We gotta do somethin’, already!” Applejack proclaimed. She pointed at the backpack sitting next to Raegdan. “Don’t we have anything we can use to get out?”

Raegdan opened the backpack. “We have some nuts and chocolate as rations, spare water, a few bandages and other medical stuff, a few steel hooks and nails that are used for climbing, a flask of oil, a small hammer, a crowbar…” He closed the backpack and continued in the same deadpan voice. “A pile of useless sticks that will break on impact, a crossbow with no bolts, a hammer, three daggers, a few bombs, and a pony I can use as bait. What do you think sounds most useful?”

“You didn’t bring any weapons?” Applejack asked in bewilderment.

“We did,” Raegdan nodded. “They’re in Luna’s bag.”

“Can’t you blow them up?” she almost pleaded, pointing at the source of the cawing noises.

“Alright.” Raegdan struck his palms against his thighs and spoke firmly. “Let’s suppose I had more than I do. Let’s suppose by some miracle I end up killing them all. Let’s suppose the outside was clear! What next? See who gets closest to the water before being swallowed by the Revenge of the Salmons?”

“Ah thought you had a plan!” Applejack hissed, feeling betrayed and shaken with the realization that dawned on her. “You told Luna we’d catch up!”

“She would never leave otherwise.” He half-turned to face Applejack. “I’d have spared you this if I could but there wasn’t any time. Two of us get to live. That’s not bad at all. Make your peace with being one of the two that don’t,” he said as kindly as she’d ever heard him.

Her lips trembled. “So… That’s what we’re doing? We are waiting to die? That’s your plan?” Her throat felt constricted, and her lungs labored to draw breath without giving into crying.

A dagger was pulled from its sheath. “We could try fighting through the mob that comes. I doubt we’d make it, not if I have to watch for you too. Even so, we’d have to make it to the surface again, and neither of us can see in the dark. I’m sorry, little apple, but I don’t think there’s a choice of saving you. The monsters probably will be quick enough though not gentle, but… if you want... I can end it painlessly before they get here.”

The glinting edge demanded all her attention. “And you?” she asked through dry lips.

He shrugged once more, sheathing the blade and breaking the spell. His eye stayed on her for a few seconds, cold and calculating. “Nevermind what happens to me after. We’re talking about you.”

Was that how it was going to end? Those were her choices? Either a surrender akin to going to sleep, lights out, pull up the blanket, and shutting your eyes or being torn apart and—

“Little apple, listen. I… meant to tell you, about your…” Raegdan started, reserved.

Applejack stood up with a snarl, pacing back and forth. “Ah’m not giving up! Mah sis is out there somewhere scared outta her mind waiting for me and Ah ain’t disappointing her. And you sit back down and stay away from me. Ah ain’t said yes!” she yelled, taking a step away from Raegdan.

For his part, he sat down again. “Promises are broken, little app—”

Applejack pulled her hat back, shouting fiercer now. “Ah ain’t been made a liar yet, and Ah ain’t gonna start now. We promised to catch up? Then that’s what we’re doing. Now come on! There’s always a solution. Buckle up and let’s get to work instead of this giving up talk.” Her teeth pulled her torn cloak aside and she dropped her weathered rope on the floor. “You got climbing hooks, ya said. Can’t we sneak out and climb higher and find some other passage? Get to a column thingy that doesn’t end in water, get back down, and then find Luna and Fluttershy?”

Raegdan bent his head wearily. “There are still the birds waiting for us outside. Stealth is out of the question, and if we try climbing they’ll peck us dead. For heaven’s sake, you think I’ve been taking a nap this whole time?”

Applejack ignored him and kept thinking furiously. There had to be a way out of this mess! What would her friends do? Twilight would have teleported herself and everypony else down to the lake shore but Applejack didn’t have any fancy horn. Rainbow Dash would have flown straight through, faster than these darned avians could react. Again, no fancy wings. Fluttershy might even have been able to convince these featherbrains to take her side by now. Rarity might have been able to do some magic of her own, though most probably she’d knit a bridge down, and the less she thought about what Pinkie would have done the better.

What did Applejack have? A knack for bucking and rodeo sports, and a propensity to be honest, and in her honest opinion she had no way to get out of this little hovel by herself. She couldn’t kick every stupid overfed crow out there, and even if she could she had no idea how she’d swing her way to shore without getting her flank bit by—

Her breath hitched. She had a rope. A coil about a dozen meters in length, already frayed after being tirelessly dragged through caves full of murderous rocks, but a rope nonetheless.

And she knew quite a number of rodeo tricks.

“Ah, uh… Ah think Ah have an idea,” Applejack interrupted him.

“Is it to throw ourselves into the lake?” Raegdan sourly asked from where he was slumped.

“That’s just about the gist of it.” She offered a full smirk at his surprised face. “So it’s right about yer level of bad ideas. Wanna give it a shot?”

“Yep, it’s official. This here’s the worst idea an Apple’s ever had. At least if it doesn’t work, nopony will ever know. And if it does, Ah ain’t tellin’.” Applejack pulled her legs tight around Raegdan’s neck from her place on his back, taking care not to choke him.

“Can you make the throw or not?”

“Ah can make any throw, don’t ya worry yer pointy little head.” Applejack pulled the hat tight around her head, making sure it wouldn’t fall off. She checked the lasso’s knot once more and eyed the end of the rope twirled around Raegdan’s arm. “You just hold on tight.”

“As long as you’re sure,” Raegdan said with a hint of hope that made some of her unease evaporate. He hefted his hammer with his right hand. In the left he held one of his hand bombs, the metal ring already pulled off. As soon as he threw it, its magic would return and start counting down the seconds.

“Oh, shoot, you’re making me blush! Let’s get this done…Now!”

The gray canister flew over the exit’s opening and bounced on the rough stone outside. Numerous sets of numerous eyes followed its trajectory, their predatory instinct guiding them. One or two of the crows took to the air, and one landed in a crouching, ready position.

A flash of blinding light accompanied by thunder exploded into existence. Pandemonium reigned as the crows lost their minds. They flew off, crashed, and squawked a storm, many of them falling into the waters below.

Predatory fish jumped to the bountiful harvest in a feeding frenzy, tearing flesh and feathers and turning the waters white with foam and red with blood.

Raegdan, with Applejack as a backpack, had come out running the instant the world flashed white. He zig-zagged among the disoriented Deep Crows, evading talons and swishing horned tails.

“Over there!” Applejack shouted. The one flying behind the one there, Ah can get that!”

A crow was petering by the edge on its own, and Raegdan beelined for it. His hammer came down on its skull, knocking it unconscious if not dead, and he rammed against it and pushed it off, throwing one more victim to the jaws below.

As it fell, so did they. Raegdan held fast onto it, the crow’s body beneath them. Their weight rested on the body for a second, and Raegdan jumped off it and forward, getting them closer to the target she chose.

He yelled something, and though Applejack didn’t hear what he said through the squawking bedlam she knew what her part was. She was already swinging the lasso.

She threw.

The lasso crowned the crow’s head that was flying over and in front of them, and down around its neck. As they fell the noose tightened. The monster shrieked in surprise as it took their weight. Their previous, limp ride continued on its own, abandoned. It splashed in the waters of the lake, and whether it was still alive or dead became a moot point as the school of fish started taking bloody bites out of it.

Applejack and Raegdan were still in the air, one end of the rope around an unwitting flyer, the other around Raegdan’s left arm that had gone pop really loud. Applejack saw the shore getting closer as the crow’s surprised, circled flying slowly brought them towards it.

They were nearing the water as well. Their ride was slowly losing height, perhaps due to their weight or maybe… She glanced up and locked eyes with a couple of the crow’s multitude. The crow was sizing them up, uncertain. It was only a matter of time until it tried to charge, throwing them into the waters below.

She glanced down again, meaning only to measure the distance, and saw a familiar shadow following them. Silver scales broke the waters and then dived deep, building momentum for the leap.

Applejack warned Raegdan extremely efficiently, with a high-pitched scream and pushing his head to look down with strength only a smidge less than it would take to break his neck. “Incoming! Incoming!”

“Fuck!” Raegdam swore loudly. He swung his legs forward and back, doing his best to swing them like a pendulum at the end of the rope.

“This isn’t helping!” Applejack screamed. Despite Raegdan’s attempts they would never build enough momentum to evade the jaws that would come for them as soon as they lowered enough.

The shadow beneath the water’s surface lengthened.

The hand holding the hammer swung back.

The fish breached the lake, water drops springing ahead of it like pearls across silver.

Raegdan threw the hammer at the crow’s head.

The crow screeched in pain and shook its head as it fluttered around in confusion. The sudden movement threw them barely out of the course of the snapping jaws. Time slowed for Applejack as she saw the interconnecting teeth, sprouting from a fleshy, halved torso, close less than a hoof’s distance from her head.

It’s just going to try again, her logical side echoed. Raegdan doesn’t have anything else to throw, the logistical side said. The illogical part showed her an image of trying to throw a bomb either up or down and how bad it could go in a very humorous and gory manner. Practicality shouted out for her to do something.

She wasn’t sure what, but muscle memory rose to the challenge.

While the carnivorous monster was still in the air, hovering next to them for one deadly second, Applejack held tight with her front hooves on Raegdan. And kicked.

She wasn’t sure what exactly happened later. She suspected that the rope simply gave up the ghost. Thankfully, they were on a great arc heading for the shore courtesy of the unwitting boost they got from the seafood-that-wasn’t. Unfortunately… Not close enough.

They plunged into the deadly waters. It was cold, the chill cutting deep. She wondered how the water could be this cold without freezing to ice.

Applejack let go of Raegdan and tried to make for the surface and air, but Raegdan’s hand grabbed her and held tight. She tried to swim harder, but she wasn’t a good enough swimmer to carry them both, and with Raegdan’s armor they sunk even faster.

Precious bubbles of air burst out of Applejack’s mouth in frustration when, almost immediately, Raegdan’s palm wrapped around her muzzle. They touched the bottom of the lake, landing among rocks and seaweed. Clouds of sand rose around them as they stirred the untouched lake bottom.

As the dust clouds covered them Raegdan pointed up. Applejack managed to catch a glance before the muddied waters hid everything from her view. She saw the light scattering through the waves above, sparkling in hues across the bodies of the monstrous fish swimming above them, their torsos opening up as they bit huge chunks out of the crows’ bodies, and sometimes each other, near the surface.

The dust clouded all from her view. Applejack couldn’t see anything. She felt Raegdan pulling her through the water. Her lungs were already burning. It was as if they had been lit on fire. She hadn’t taken a good breath, she had no idea how long it had been since she had filled her chest with oxygen, it burned with fire and need…

Applejack tried to breath. Cold water rushed in her lungs, and instead of quenching the fire it made it grow stronger. It was pain like no other. Everything grew dimmer, darker.

It hurt. She wanted to breathe and she couldn’t. Just to breathe. One breath, just one to make the searing agony in her chest leave. She tried again but more water came in, cold, painful, and suffocating.

Her mind jumped back to a glinting knife edge and she wondered if she chose wrong.

As if she summoned it, a silver streak jumped out from among the blur and clouds. It was there for a second, She felt more pain, as if her legs were torn from her or a jagged piece of wood savagely ran across her midsection. Mists of red floated in front of her and she closed her eyes.

She thought of Applebloom. Applebloom laughing, Applebloom playing, Applebloom back on their farm, with Applejack there no longer, but Applebloom back and safe.

Her torso was a shape defined entirely by cutting pain and sharp need. The cold was everywhere, dulling her, and then it was not. Instead, the wind blew on her with a gasp, freezing her even worse.

Applejack opened her mouth once more and vomited a torrent of water. Coughs wracked her body, rattling her bones, but she didn’t care. She gasped and air flew back into her lungs. She coughed it off again but then she breathed more, and more, and—

Air! Air, air. Air, air, air, air, air, air...

She opened her eyes, ignoring the stinging pain, both in her eyes and her ribs. Somepony was crouched over her, arms still half-wrapped around her but no longer pressing her ribs to push out their contents by force. A helmet lay thrown to the side. A dark shape moved at her, hiding everything, and her lungs were forcefully filled with air again. The shadow pulled back and the light became too much. She shut her eyes, wincing, and spat out more water.

She tried to move and her insides stirred as if they wanted to get vomited themselves. Her throat convulsed and cold water rose up her throat again. She spit it out, the pain lessening as she did, replaced by dullness. Something forced her on her side, shifting her so she could retch her lungs empty again.

“I thought you drowned!” somepony said, and it sounded as if whoever spoke had been a step away from starting to cry. She couldn’t make heads or tails of where she was, what she was doing, why it all hurt so much…

She remembered the rush of iced water in her lungs as if it had been a foggy dream. When had that happened?

“Stand still, for heaven’s sake, stand still. I’ve got it. You’ll be okay, I promise. We need to find somewhere safe, so don’t bleed out, okay? Don’t die on me, not now.”

It was all a blur. Taste was strange, as if she had spent days suckling on a salty ice cube. Everything was unfocused, blurry shapes with dull colors save for the bright, colorful ones that flew above her.

She saw large columns sprouting out of the earth or from the stone sky above, and memory prickled. She knew that. She almost knew where she was. Everything hurt, and she was so tired… When was the last time she slept?

The world roared. Lazily, she opened her eyes again. The columns burst with movement, as if a cyst broke inside them and fluid pus puked out, screaming on its way. The column that towered over her, those further away, every one of them, all came alive, crawling and jumping out of every crevice, heaving and screaming like newborns.

“We have to go. We have to go now! Can you walk? Little apple, wake up! Don’t fall asleep! You have to help, I can’t keep carrying you! Get up!” Somepony was shouting at her, and she wanted them to stop. She wanted to rest. She had a long, tiring day.

They moved her. How rude. She hurt and she wanted to sleep. She was cold enough, tired enough. She wanted to lie down, stop thinking, and wait for warmth to come.

She felt leaves brush around her coat. Was she back at her farm? Was she sleeping on an apple tree like Rainbow used to do sometimes? Everything became so green.

And the noise behind her. So hungry, whoever it was. Somepony should feed them some grub.

The rush of wind on her mane felt nice. As if she was running without actually running.

She felt herself falling and her fall was broken by the crunching of leaves and springly branches. Somepony picked her up again, their struggling breath roaring in her ear.

She fell asleep.