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       #Post#: 4042--------------------------------------------------
       Takes Two To T̶i̶n̶g̶l̶e̶  T̶
       a̶n̶g̶l̶e̶  Tango
       By: Applejack Date: December 3, 2014, 8:35 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       ((Continued from
  HTML http://rpismagic.createaforum.com/canterlot/float-like-a-parasprite-sting-like-a-manticore/?message=3965<br
       />))
       Continuing through the dark labyrinth underneath the ruins that
       were the old castle, Applejack lead the way with the flashlight
       in her vest, tailed by both her coltfriend Darrus, as well as
       the pony they'd 'rescued' minutes before named Tingle. The pony
       who Applejack couldn't help but feel was suspicious, but
       couldn't quite figure out why--the pony who also couldn't seem
       to stop digging himself further into a hole as he kept making
       flirts and flirtatious gestures towards AJ, making Darrus do
       something to him in retaliation. She swore they were both acting
       like children, but she knew nothing she'd do or say would stop
       it; they were both stallions, and there was pride on the line.
       Eventually, as they wandered through the maze-like halls, Darrus
       called up to her asking if she'd felt anything, as he'd sensed
       something heavy moving. She wasn't sure what he meant though,
       and she paused for a moment to try and figure out what he was
       talking about. Her concentration was broken by Tingle quickly
       interjecting by saying it was probably nothing, causing her to
       huff slightly with a quiet exhale from her nostrils. His
       followed complaints that things were taking forever, and that
       he'd been down there for hours were met with an obviously
       annoyed look from AJ as her mouth quirked to the side.
       Thankfully, Darrus responded for her, saying that they needed to
       go slow so they didn't accidentally trigger any traps--not to
       mention the extra burden of having to help Tingle along. Which,
       of course, was only met with another snippy line from their new
       'friend', earning a shake of her head in disapproval. She was
       really starting to get annoyed.
       They seemed to finally have gotten somewhere though, as Tingle
       pointed out a hidden passage for them to go through--one it took
       Applejack a little bit to find with his description, but it was
       there nonetheless. And all they needed to do was push the wall.
       Gee, she hadn't ever encountered that before. Rolling her eyes,
       she prepared to make the wall turn before pausing as Tingle
       continued, talking about the passage beyond and how they'd need
       to turn, as well as to duck under the spike traps that were
       already sprung.
       She waited for another moment or two, watching Tingle with a
       deadpan expression to see if he had aaaaaanything else to say,
       before finally pushing against the wall and making it turn. It
       was about as simple as he'd mentioned it would be. Narrow
       corridor. Dusty. Dark. Leading into the unknown. She took a deep
       breath for a moment before sighing quietly and stepping forward,
       wishing for a moment her flashlight had a brighter setting to
       help guide her better in the darkness. The way it was now, it
       felt like she'd barely be able to see her hoof in front of her
       face, despite the light strapped to her chest.
       But all she could do was move forward. Being as bland as
       previously described, AJ had no idea how much time had passed
       before they came across the left turn Tingle had previously
       mentioned. After turning a bit into the hallway, she paused and
       glanced back to Darrus and his burden to see how they were
       faring, only to note that with Darrus being behind
       Tingle--probably to make sure he'd actually keep on--that the
       two were lagging behind thanks to Tingle's wounds. So she'd need
       to slow down just a tad to keep in pace with them... but given
       the new stallion's penchant for a wandering gaze, she definitely
       didn't want to stay too close.
       When they'd caught up to her, Applejack lead the way down this
       new corridor... which was just about as droll as the one they'd
       been walking through. Not that she should've expected much, she
       supposed. But there was something a little different about this
       one. She didn't think much of it at first, but every so often,
       Applejack flinched and spat at cobwebs that were strewn about
       the corridor. It wasn't all that bad at first, but it was
       certainly enough to make her constantly sweep herself off in
       disgust and worry that there were still spiders milling about in
       the webs. Then, eventually, a larger web was seen up ahead after
       another few moments of walking, making AJ stop in realization as
       she glanced over her shoulder. "Hold up a sec--if you'd gone
       this way before, these cobwebs wouldn't still be here like this.
       They'd already all be broken... You sure this is the right way?"
       #Post#: 4047--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Darrus Date: December 4, 2014, 8:32 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       "Uhhh..." Tingle replied, wincing at the pain caused bu his
       wound as he glanced around the annoyingly narrow passageway, his
       eyes falling on cobwebs here and there as he appeared to pause
       to think. Darrus, stuck behind him due to being forced into a
       single file, crossed his front hooves over his chest as he
       waited for an answer from the hurt pony, him raising a brow in a
       show of impatience. He opened his mouth to speak up, but before
       he could get a word out Tingle beat him to it.
       ""Huh... maybe not. I admit, I wasn't leading when my friends
       and I came through here ourselves, so I could have just
       remembered wrong. Unless this place has some kind of crazy
       species of spider that really know how to rush their work. Guess
       we'll have to trn back!" Awkwardly, the stallion turned himself
       around, having just enough room to manage and showing the rusty
       red pegasus now in front of him a little smirk.
       Darrus narrowed his eyes in disapproval over the apparent screw
       up, him not wanting to think about how long he might have had to
       deal with this pony hitting on his mare if he'd gotten them lost
       deep in the bowels of this labyrinth. No telling what might have
       happened, though Darrus believed it a good thing that the guards
       wouldn't ave been there for when a line was crossed.
       Sighing, he looked over Tingle's shoulder and to Applejack, "No
       choice in changing the line up now. Hey, AJ, pass me the light
       and I'll take lead."
       Tingle, being the literal middle man for the moment, took the
       flashlight from AJ, him sneaking in a quick eyebrow waggle and
       wink at the mare in the process while also ignoring the glare he
       received in return. Darrus, not being blind even with how dark
       it was in there, aggressively snatched the flashlight away when
       it was offered to him, him starting to wonder whether or not he
       should just punch Tingle for being unable to take a hint or
       acknowledge his persistence, then punch him for being incapable
       to take a hint while also wondering how well he'd be able to
       navigate these halls with no light source and a broken leg. He
       turned the flashlight around in his hooves for a moment before
       deciding to just hold it in his mouth since he lacked a vest
       like AJ.
       Sighing, he turned around, taking the lead in guiding the small
       group out of the halls with his magnificent navigational skills
       perfectly suited for following a narrow hallway headed in a
       single direction. It was uneventful on the way back, the
       occasional duck of the head or careful stepping over of
       triggered traps being the only sign of danger up till around
       halfway down the evidently correct corridor.
       Tingle had started to lag, complaining that his wound was
       starting to make him feel weaker and weaker and forcing him to
       walk slower and slower. It had gotten to the point where Darrus
       would have to either keep his pace purposefully slow or stop
       every few dozen or so steps to allow the others to catch up,
       shining the light back on the floor behind him to allow them to
       see where they were going. It was during one of these times
       where Darrus was walking a little bit ahead of them that Tingle
       spoke up again.
       "... So..." he began, looking forward at Darrus as he started,
       and for what must have been the seventh time slowing his pace
       down again, "Miss Honesty Necklace, tell me something," he
       glanced over his shoulder at AJ before looking forward at Darrus
       again and pausing his speech for a few seconds before
       continuing, his voice being hushed as if trying to keep the
       conversation a secret but being loud enough for all to hear
       anyway, "If somepony were to, hypothetically, take you out on a
       romantic night on the town involving a candle light dinner and
       maybe a nice hotel room, what would be good spots to consider?"
       "Arr yu idding?" Darrus reacted from around the flashlight in
       his mouth, turning back to the two with a voice sounding both
       annoyed and surprised over how Tingle was still trying and being
       so blunt and weird about bothering his marefriend, "Look yu-!"
       He wasn't able to finish however as he was interrupted by the
       sound of something being released, him snapping his attention
       back forward in time to see something glint in the light of his
       flashlight, reflexes alone taking over as his body forced him to
       duck just in time to feel something tear through the tip of his
       mane right where his neck used to be as the flashlight fell to
       the ground with a clatter, landing face down and causing the
       entire corridor to be plunged into darkness save for a small
       spot on the ground giving away the flashlight's resting place at
       his hooves. Whatever had swung for him had struck the stone wall
       of the corridor with a metallic cling, chipping part of the
       masonry away from the force of the impact which then fell on and
       bounced off of Darrus.
       Darrus was gasping a bit from surprise, the sudden dodge having
       robbed him of his breath and forcing him to stay in a low stance
       as he waited, watched and listened for anything else that might
       happen. When things remained quiet and uneventful in terms of
       danger however, he slowly stood back up and picked the
       flashlight back up, the first thing he did being to look back
       and check on AJ to see if she was okay and the second thing
       being to examine what had nearly gotten him. There, gleaming
       under the flashlight, was a long and sharp blade attached to
       some kind of normally hidden spring loaded style trap. Darrus
       reached up to his mane, him quickly noticing that a few locks
       had been lost in the near death experience.
       "... Woah... You guys see that?" Darrus asked, looking back to
       the others and then doing a boxing bob and weave before
       claiming, "I was like lighting! No trap in this old joint is
       fast enough to catch this example of divine reflexes. Also, what
       the Hell!?" he directed that towards Tingle, "I thought you said
       this passage was safe!"
       "I-uh-well..." Tingle, having worn an expression of surprise
       ever since his face had become visible again, continued to look
       the same as he tried to form an answer, "Well-I-uh-... I thought
       it was?"
       #Post#: 4051--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Applejack Date: December 6, 2014, 11:20 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Applejack's first instinct when Tingle replied that he
       remembered wrong was to roll her eyes in exasperation. Not only
       were they taking a really long time in getting out of the castle
       thanks to Tingle's wounds and the small corridor, he was also
       slowing them down by making them take wrong turns. At this
       point, she was beginning to feel like they'd be down there for
       days. And now, she was going to be stuck behind the slow moving
       pony, and things were about to become agonizingly tedious.
       Wouldn't be so bad if the pony was one she could tolerate...
       It was all she could do, though. As Darrus asked for it,
       Applejack nodded to him and took the flashlight from her vest so
       she could pass it along. She started to offer him her vest as
       well, but she doubted he'd want to wear anything "made for a
       mare". Even if it was just a simple green vest. Not to mention
       he did have that cape that might have made it a little
       difficult. Shrugging a bit to herself, she began walking behind
       the other two as they moved through the castle once again.
       For every few steps Tingle took, Applejack took her own couple
       of baby steps forward before stopping for a few seconds to give
       him some time to move ahead. She kept this up the entire way,
       eventually ducking under or avoiding the already activated traps
       as necessary, a couple of close calls made thanks to the lack of
       personal light. All she had to go off of was what she'd seen
       when Darrus shined the light over it, as well as what blocked
       her view from the ponies ahead as they arrived.
       Eventually, when Tingle began talking to her as he slowed down
       once more, Applejack half-heartedly perked her ears in
       attention, only to roll her eyes as he began flirting with her
       once again. "Ah don't even know why yer askin' since ya got no
       chance, stranger." She then looked to Darrus as he began to
       speak, only to jump and gasp in horror when something  nearly
       took off Darrus' head and made a loud noise as it collided
       against the wall. She froze for a second in shock before trying
       desperately to see if Darrus had come out alright.
       She did give a slight sigh of relief when he spoke again,
       apparently coming out of it unharmed, but she still tried to
       squeeze past Tingle--pushing him to the side just enough that
       she could look past him and inspect Darrus out of concern. "You
       alright, sugar?" she asked after Darrus and Tingle finished
       talking. "You got both yer ears intact? Not bleedin' anywhere?"
       She paused for a second, then, in spite of the situation, asked
       playfully, "Ah don't need ta kiss anythin' ta make it better, do
       Ah?"
       #Post#: 4052--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Darrus Date: December 7, 2014, 2:01 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       "Agh- What ar- Come o- Stahp i-" Tingle complained with a few
       pained grunts as Applejack pushed him aside to better look past
       him, him giving a slight and kind of wimpy whine over his boo
       boo before clearing his throat and trying to play it off while
       her attention was still off of him.
       "Yeah," Darrus answered Applejack, both of his ears momentarily
       flicking as he spoke to make sure he was actually correct in
       assuming they were both still just as pretty as ever as he
       walked back down closer to her and Tingle with a not very happy
       expression on his face, "And I'm pretty sure it missed me. Heh,
       that thing couldn't catch me even on my slowest day," he added
       on to reply to her second concern - though he didn't actually
       know for sure yet whether or not he was bleeding due to the
       awkwardness of his light - as he moved right onto his intended
       voicing of his dissatisfaction over the wounded stallion's
       directions so far.
       "But thi- Well..." and then he seemingly instantly forgot
       whatever it was he was going to say as he gave AJ one of his
       usual smirks upon hearing her playful remark, him dropping into
       his usual flirtatious tone as well as Tingle was stuck being
       pressed against a wall between them where he could only grumble,
       "I haven't been able to get too good a look at myself yet since
       there's so little room in here, so for all I know I may be dying
       right now. It may take a whole lot more than a simple kiss to
       nurse me back to health..." his smirk evolved into a suggestive
       grin for a few moments before he evidently remembered what was
       on his mind a moment before AJ had taken it over and gave Tingle
       another upset look.
       "But Tinkle here," he began, giving the stallion a poke in his
       wound and eliciting a small gasp of pain, "might be needing a
       cast to go with his bandages in a minute. First you lead us down
       the wrong way and now you send us walking down a passage still
       laced with traps? Are you trying to get us killed, or are you
       just dense?"
       Tingle winced over his pain while Darrus accused him of idiocy,
       him giving the stallion a sideways look that probably meant he
       wouldn't have shed any tears had the unfortunate happened a few
       seconds ago, "Back off! ... So I remembered wrong, big deal.
       Maybe I'm not thinking straight over being fatigued and having
       lost blood, ever think of that? I'm not even sure how long I've
       been down here for since I got left behind, so who knows what
       this place has been doing while I was fixing myself up. You ever
       hear about the halls shuffling around by themselves down here?
       Who's to say the traps don't reset after some amount of time?"
       "Bull! The other traps are still sprung. If it really reset like
       you said, then why didn't they go off on us on our way through?"
       "Old magic? Being broken? Gremlins in the wall- I don't know!
       Hey," tingle looked back at Applejack and jerked his head
       towards Darrus, "Mind calling him off? I think he's getting
       jealous about us."
       Darrus glared at Tingle, the things he'd love to do to him at
       the moment being easy to guess though difficult to pull off in
       such cramped conditions.
       "... AJ, I say we go back the way we came," he spoke up, eyes
       still locked on Tingle as he spoke, "This fool doesn't know what
       he's doing, and even if he's right that would mean any traps
       further ahead might have reset and are waiting for us. If so,
       the ones we've passed might start resetting as well, so we would
       need to get back to the regular hall quick before that happens
       and we get stuck in the middle."
       "Now hold on a sec here," Tingle argued, looking between the
       ponies, "look, I screwed up, sure, but I know we're almost to
       the other end of this passage already. It... feels right, if
       that makes any sense. I remember paying close attention to how
       long it took to get through this in case me and my party needed
       to get back through it quick, and I know we're almost out,
       making a trip back longer and more dangerous. Also, the traps
       were few and far between where we entered, so that one might
       have been the last - or rather first - one coming in. Besides,
       for all we know the traps behind us could have already reset
       while we were here bullying me. We should just keep going."
       Darrus shook his head, clearly not a fan of the idea, but he
       only looked to AJ to see what she thought.
       #Post#: 4059--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Applejack Date: December 10, 2014, 5:38 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Applejack nodded a bit in satisfaction when Darrus responded
       that he was fine, pleased to hear that he'd come to no harm to
       the unexpected trap. No good in him getting injured down here,
       too... Then, Darrus mentioned that it may take more than a kiss
       to nurse him back to health, earning a light-hearted roll of her
       eyes from AJ. Yep, that's about what she expected, and it was
       about as cheesy as anything she'd guessed he would say.
       She backed off a little bit when Darrus and Tingle began going
       at it again, Darrus putting the blame on him and Tingle
       defending himself--followed by asking AJ to call him off because
       he was jealous of 'them'. Annoyed, Applejack 'accidentally'
       pressed a little harder against Tingle as she tried to back out
       so she was no longer pinning him against the wall. This was
       tailed by Darrus suggesting they go back the way they came--and
       quickly.
       This caused AJ to gently bite her lower lip and quirk her mouth
       to the side as Tingle responded, saying they should keep going
       down the way they were. When it was finally her time to respond,
       she said, "Honestly, there's no 'quickly' with us with our dead
       weight here," she said, smacking Tingle's side where she thought
       his wound was. "So if this one's reset... and we've spent this
       much time stoppin' to chat about it, he's right. Turnin' back
       prolly wouldn't be the best idea. It's not even that; even if we
       went back out there, there ain't no tellin' if we'd just get
       even more lost. We were already perty deep, before we went
       through that wall--and Ah dunno where that is now. So Ah think
       our best bet's ta just keep goin' forward here, an' see where it
       takes us.
       "Besides, this's the adventurous path, ain't it? And these
       things cain't catch ya on yer slowest day, right?"
       #Post#: 4062--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Darrus Date: December 11, 2014, 9:15 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Darrus looked back to Tingle, expression one of uncertainty and
       suspicion over another possible screw up, but soon returned a
       smile to Applejack, "Any path is the adventurous path if I'm on
       it!" he claimed, putting his hoof currently holding the
       flashlight to his chest and looking sure of how what he'd said
       was a fact, "be it claustrophobic passages, well traveled roads
       leading anywhere or quiet paths through a park, once these
       handsome hooves of mine grace them with a clip and a clop they
       become worthy of epic poems suited for retelling across the
       world!
       "Anyway, if we are going to just ride this out the rest of the
       way then we'll need to put some more space between me and you
       two. With just one light, I'll have to pretty much sniff the
       ground all the way forward since I doubt you'd be able to pull
       off too many feats of agility with... this load getting in your
       way," Darrus gave Tingle a sideways look as he turned himself
       back around to walk forward once more, "so a few extra paces
       should work."
       "Pfft. Don't you worry, Honesty," Tingle spoke up, his earlier
       having been pushed against the wall by AJ evidently having done
       little to discourage him from what he'd been doing as he merely
       continued, "anything happens, I'll be there to save you, injury
       or no."
       "He can act as a meat shield at least," Darrus said half to
       himself, his dislike of the stallion having, to no real
       surprise, only escalated substantially with every passing moment
       he'd been forced to deal with him.
       "Your stalker is a jerk." Tingle informed the mare bhind him
       just before Darrus tried his best not to practice his apple tree
       bucking and instead ask him a question.
       "So what triggers these traps? The last one doesn't seem to have
       anything all that noticeable. Least not from a glance, and
       things went too fast for me to recall if I hit anything."
       "Tripwires," Tingle replied, glancing at his bandages and
       sighing, "tripwires and junk like that. Probably pressure plates
       or proximity triggers if it's going by magic."
       "Probably? You're going off of probablys? Don't you even
       remember from the last time you came through here?"
       "... I wasn't in the lead. Someone else dealt with the traps and
       crap, duh."
       Shaking his head, Darrus figured he'd just have to be careful
       and began to walk forward once more, his flashlight scanning the
       floor, walls and even ceiling as he looked for anything that
       might set some other death trap off. Thankfully, things went
       pretty uneventful as they walked along for the most part,
       Tingle's occasional complaints that they needed to stop so he
       could rest for a second or two not helping though, and it looked
       like it was going to end with everypony escaping into the clear.
       That was till they neared the end, according to Tingle.
       "Woah..." Darrus said, holding a hoof up to signal for AJ and
       Tingle to stop where they were for the moment as his flashlight
       showed him something odd. Lowering his head to get a better look
       at the ground where his hoof had just about been ready to settle
       his weight, he noticed a slightly off colored section of the
       floor which, through angling his light, also appeared to be
       raised just a hair more than the surrounding rock.
       "... So, what's the purpose of this passage even supposed to be
       if it's trapped?" Darrus wondered aloud as he examined the
       trigger and measured how far he'd need to step to avoid it,
       double checking for secondary ones as well while he was at it
       since that would make for a poor surprise, "Supposed to be some
       kind of escape route? I mean, this is the Princesses old castle,
       yeah? Would Celestia even be able to fit in here with how tall
       she is and stuff? And why trap something you'd need to use to
       flee through?"
       "... Maybe she was shorter back then. Can we go now? Stopping to
       ponder irrelevant questions is such a wonderful way to spend our
       time."
       Ignoring the other stallion with a flick of his ears, Darrus
       took a wide step forward and was careful to make sure his back
       hooves did the same as he navigated over the plate.
       "AJ, there's a pressure plate right where I am right now," he
       warned his marefriend, taking a some steps back to allow both
       she and Tingle some room to cross while keeping his light fixed
       onto the issue so they could see, "Dunno how well you can see it
       with Tinkle in the way, but it's a discolored section of the
       floor thats raised a bit right at the center of the light. Not
       too hard to step over if you're careful."
       "No sweat!" Tingle claimed, "Though I'll need your hooves on me
       to help me make it over," he told Applejack.
       "Alternatively, we can toss him onto the plate just to satisfy
       our curiosity on what this one will do." Darrus suggested,
       Tingle giving him a cross look as he stepped forward to deal
       with the trap. Nearing it, he paused and gave it a look, then
       glanced around at the walls and the ceiling before settling his
       gaze back down onto the pressure pad. Glancing back at AJ, he
       took another step forward.
       "So- agh!" he suddenly cried, appearing to stumble forward where
       one of his hooves slammed directly onto the pressure plate, his
       then seeming to lose strength in his legs even further as he
       dropped down onto the ground, this being where he stayed as
       several spikes in the walls triggered and shot outwards.
       There were three in total, spaced in a way intended to prevent
       easy escape as the first came out no problem above Tingle who'd
       hit the ground beyond the plate, it striking outwards just too
       late to catch him and driving itself into the wall opposite it's
       starting point. The other two though, one coming out directly
       above the plate and the other aimed for AJ behind it, thankfully
       seemed slower on the draw as, while they too were triggered
       right away they only came out an inch or so. However, the sound
       of something grinding within the walls, and the fact that they
       were shuttering constantly and violently, showed they were only
       temporarily stuck, giving only a moment at best to react.
       Darrus, obviously having seen Tingle trigger the trap and
       witnessed the spike that came as a result, had instantly and
       instinctively felt his wings snap open to attempt a speedy
       assistance of the much more important pony behind the one now
       laying on the ground, but, due to the cramped conditions of the
       passage, only succeeded in slamming his wings into the walls and
       causing his first step forward to be uneven. Darrus did however
       somehow manage to keep the light level enough for AJ to have a
       clear view of the danger with Tingle out of the way.
       #Post#: 4074--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Applejack Date: December 16, 2014, 8:19 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Once Darrus and Tingle finished their exchange--having had
       little to nothing to say or add in that time--Applejack followed
       along behind them both, once more wishing that she didn't have
       to move at such an antagonizingly slow pace. She was really
       starting to regret agreeing to transport him, but it was much
       too late to back out of it now. So disinterested was she that
       even when Darrus wondered aloud about the previous use of the
       tunnel they were currently using, she barely paid any attention
       to it--especially when Tingle responded moments later.
       Her ears perked when a trap was called to attention, however.
       Doing her best to try and see it past Tingle, Applejack craned
       her neck and leaned her body to try and get a good look at it,
       barely succeeding in doing so. Well, she knew where it was, all
       she had to do now was wait for Tingle to get past it first. But
       he wasn't moving. Her brow arched at him as she noticed him
       looking around... then at the pressure plate... then back at
       Applejack.
       When she finally managed to put two and two together, she opened
       her mouth to tell him off--but was much too late. He did exactly
       what she was afraid he'd do: step on the plate in question,
       probably 'accidentally'. Adrenaline shot through her body as she
       wondered briefly if she was going to get caught by the trap, and
       time seemed to slow down a bit for her. The first spike nearly
       immediately shot out of the wall--though that wasn' t the last
       of it. She could hear grinding in the walls next to her, and
       could see the very tips of the spikes peeking out of the walls.
       She didn't have much time to react, though.
       So she did the first thing that came to mind: drop down to the
       ground and press herself as flat as she could. Her eyes wrenched
       tightly shut as she fell, jaw clenched just as hard as she
       waited to feel, or see if she'd succeeded in avoiding the trap.
       Once the proverbial dust settled, and she realized the trap was
       over, she dared open her eyes as her body shook from the
       near-death experience. Plagued with shock and a clouded mind
       from what had just happened, Applejack's gaze nearly immediately
       found Tingle--and just as quickly filled with rage. Her entire
       body quivered as she just glared angrily at him, her mouth open
       as if she wanted to speak, but squeaks of fury were the only
       noises she produced.
       #Post#: 4076--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Darrus Date: December 16, 2014, 10:55 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Tingle, from his place on the ground, watched Applejack make her
       squeaky noises for a couple of moments, his eyes darting between
       the spikes that had recently missed her and the mare. Eventually
       he put on a nervous looking smile and tried his best to give an
       innocent shrug as his ears pinned back in the face of her anger.
       "Um... Oops? Woah-!" His attempt to speak was interrupted as he
       was gruffly dragged backwards by Darrus now that the pegasus had
       closed the distance, Darrus pulling him out from under the spike
       in order to be able to strike him with a hoof. On his wound.
       Really really hard. Tingle gave a cry of pain from the blow and
       immediately attempted to curl up as best as he was able in the
       cramped passage, Darrus just giving a furious "oops" through
       clenched teeth from above the injured pony before locking his
       light onto AJ.
       "Are you okay? Or am I about to become a murderer?" Darrus
       lacked his usual jokey tone as he asked this, his eyes searching
       Applejack as well as they could for any signs of injury that
       would be, in Darrus' eyes, plenty excuse to do mean things to
       the other pony beneath him.
       #Post#: 4079--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Applejack Date: December 19, 2014, 6:49 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Normally, Applejack might have reprimanded Darrus for outright
       smacking Tingle to deliberately hurt him. But he'd just tried to
       hurt her. Grievously, if she hadn't been able to react. So she
       was, at that moment, severely lacking in the sympathy
       department. At Darrus' approach and his questions of if she was
       okay, and if he was about to become a murder, Applejack shakily
       pushed herself onto her hooves as she replied to both questions
       with, "Yeah" and "No" respectively. Her tone was curt and easily
       showed just how she felt at that moment, though her anger wasn't
       toward Darrus--as he could probably tell.
       "Partin' ways when we get outta here," she gruffly told Tingle
       as she glared at him once more, then continued with, "Move." By
       her tone, it was obvious she wasn't interested in any funny
       business. If he took too long moving, she'd 'help' him along...
       though it wouldn't be gentle, nor pleasant for the stallion.
       #Post#: 4131--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Takes Two To T&#822;i&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  T&#
       822;a&#822;n&#822;g&#822;l&#822;e&#822;  Tango
       By: Darrus Date: January 24, 2015, 11:42 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       "Jeez! Would you relax if I said I was sorr-" Tingle tried to
       say, his being hefted up by Darrus and not so much helped as he
       was forced back to his hooves. Darrus held a glare on him for a
       few seconds before turning to continue walking, Tingle
       momentarily opening his mouth to try and defend himself and hold
       true to his claim that what just happened was an accident, but
       his mouth soon clamped back shut when it became obvious neither
       of the other ponies were willing to listen.
       Fortunately the rest of the way was uneventful, the trio
       escaping the claustrophobic confines of the narrow passage and
       entering back into the regular sized rooms and halls of the
       castle's lower level, albeit much closer to the exit as was
       promised. Their speed was also much faster now, it being blessed
       by Darrus' utter lack of patience with the wounded stallion and
       Applejack's occasional "assistance" in encouraging Tingle to
       keep pace, though Darrus at this point would have preferred to
       just ditch the stallion in the dark and leave him for whatever
       he had coming. He even momentarily considered letting AJ in on
       his idea - I mean they'd brought him most of the way so it's not
       like they hadn't helped him far more than he was deserving of
       already - but he decided to keep it to himself since he figured
       she'd want to make good on her word to at least drag him outside
       before leaving him for the wild things.
       Outside he was indeed dragged too after some time spent
       navigating old rooms full of dust and abandoned items of varying
       value, none of which shiny enough to catch Darrus' eye but a few
       things here and there being note worthy enough to at least be
       made a mental note of. Such as an old bookcases still holding
       tomes that Darrus wanted to believe were ancient steamy romance
       novels possibly taken straight from the Princess' old personal
       collection and deemed just too questionable to have been brought
       with her when she left. Or an odd hovering sphere over the
       center of a table giving off a slight hum. A small collection of
       pillows stuffed into a corner of one room also seemed to have a
       strange allure to them that Darrus couldn't quite place. All of
       these things Darrus would have found fun to check out, maybe
       especially so if he could convince AJ to check the pillows out
       with him, but ultimately the chance had been pretty ruined by
       the dead weight being forced to only trail slightly behind him
       thanks to Applejack's efforts.
       Anyway, past the oddities and whatchamathings lay the outside
       world, the air feeling less heavy and tasting much fresher now
       that they had escaped the dark bowels of the castle, Darrus
       stretching his wings just at the sight of the heavily canopied
       sky while Tingle limped his way to a spot near the doors to
       rest, slumping down onto the ground with a heavy groan of pain
       caused by his now very worked wound. Darrus didn't even seem to
       hear it as he turned back to AJ.
       "Well that was fun," he said sarcastically, eyes giving her
       another quick examination now that they weren't stuck in such
       heavy darkness to see if he'd missed anything from her earlier
       encounter with spikes, "Glad that's done with. Shall we?" he
       asked with a gesture of his hoof for them to abandon Tingle
       right then and there, Tingle of course noticing and speaking up
       in protest.
       "Hey! Woah! Hold on a second now! You can't just leave me out
       here like this! Bleeding and waiting for something to come eat
       me? You gotta get me somewhere safe, or who knows what might
       happen?"
       "Those guards should be finished with whatever they're doing
       down there pretty soon, shouldn't they? Pretty sure they can
       deal with you then."
       "Pfft! Those guards are probably dead by now. Seriously, you
       can't be okay with knowing I'll just be stuck in perpetual
       danger just waiting around in this condition? Honesty," he
       turned his attention to Applejack, doing his best to slap on
       puppy dog eyes and even going so far as to almost muster up some
       sad and desperate tears, "come on, you at least should be able
       to recognize how that would basically be the same as murder,
       right? Leaving somepony who can't defend himself out here in one
       of if not the most dangerous place in the country? Can't you at
       least drag me back to my camp? I have suplies there that I can
       treat myself better with and it's secluded way better than this
       collection of ancient rubble."
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