//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Be Careful What You Wish For // by darkstone57 //------------------------------// Be Careful What You Wish For By Darkstone57 Chapter 5 As she stood on the lone platform, Twilight stared at the dragon, her heart pounding heavily in her chest as it stared right back at her. She couldn’t turn away from the dragon’s eyes. She knew if she did, it would not end well. The seconds felt like an eternity as she waited for the dragon to strike, forcing all of her being not to blink. Then, like a bolt of lightning, the dragon charged head on toward her. She inhaled deeply as it came closer by the second. Then, within inches of impact, Twilight disappeared in purple flash. The dragon went through the spell and quickly brought itself back around to search for the intruder. Twilight was flapping her wings with anticipation, her breathing quickening as she watched the dragon stare her down. She panicked and as it slowly approached her, Twilight dived down. Twilight weaved her way through various platforms, forcing all her might into increasing her speed. As she made her way over an array of stalagmites aimlessly drifting through the air, she made a quick glance behind her, to find that the dragon was on her tail. Twilight decided to change tactics as she saw several columns of water connecting between platforms ahead of her; she took a deep breath and put more power into wing beats. Taking a sharp right, she swayed around the first column of water and took a nose dive toward the second, she glanced back to see the dragon was effortlessly keeping up. As she aimed toward the end of one the columns she increased her speed as the dragon cried out toward her, making her instincts force to keep going. Just as she was about to touch the columns end, that touched a large lake, Twilight lit her horn and dived right into the bottom of the column and, with a shield of magic in front of her, forcing the water out of her way with ease, she flew upward. The dragon, however, dived down head long into the water with a resounding crash as Twilight suddenly went up. Twilight dared not look back as she kept going upward, her teeth clenched as she continued to push. The shadow dragon bellowed in frustration as it shot out of the water and gave chase. Twilight was almost as the other end. The dragon was breathing down her neck as it gained momentum toward the intruder and was almost close to having the intruder in its grasp. Twilight looked back, still forcing her way up, and gasped as she the dragons’ huge maw wide open as it was almost close enough to bite her tail. She looked ahead and could tell she was almost at the other side. With a sideward glance, she saw her destination and before she touched the other end of the column, she vanished before the dragon could get a hair off of her. The dragon kept going and, once again, made a resounding crash into the water, this time though, the impact sent the water shooting out in various directions. On a platform, near a large column that had a corner of darkness for one to hide, Twilight reappeared, dropping to one knee as she caught her breath. She glanced over toward the shadows and, through ragged breathing; she began to slink her way over. As she did, she looked over to where the dragon had crashed. Only to freeze on the spot at what she saw... The platform erupted with a massive explosion, the force of it billowed powerful gusts of wind in every direction, forcing Twilight to use her wings to shield her eyes. When the dust settled the dragon dived downward in spiral fashion only to stop in the middle of the air, set itself upright and unleashed a furious roar. The dragon hastily looked in every direction for the intruder with its brimming with frustration. It looked ahead for a moment and with a growl and flash of its crimson eyes, it vanished... Twilight rested her head against cliff wall, as her body was covered by the shadows. She slowly took her time to regain her composure, taking deep breaths and relaxing her nerves. When nothing but silence lasted for a few minutes she breathed a sigh of relief. “That was close...” Twilight mumbled quietly, “But, I think..., I managed... to get away...” Twilight said through heavy breaths, feeling victorious in her escape. “You thought wrong!” A deep, booming, masculine voice, shot through her head. Dread overcame her as she looked around to find the source. Only to see the dragon appear right before her frightened eyes... It’s titanic body looming over her. Their heads metres apart as he snarled at her. Twilight began to sweat at the sight of the dragon being so close to her, afraid of the possibility of her doom. “You have been elusive, little intruder,” The dragon spoke, unimpressed by Twilights actions, “But, the games end here.” Twilight sucked down a long gulp as it spoke to her. “I, Giratina, defender of the Distortion World and all realities, demand to know; who you are and why you are here!” Giratina demanded as he narrowed his gaze at Twilight. Twilight began to realise she was shaking at the mere presence of Giratina being, covered in black and red. Feeling that making him wait wouldn’t help her situation, taking a deep breath and a long exhale, she stood up and tried to remain calm as she spoke; “I am Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship from Equestria. And...” Twilight hesitated as she decided to choose her next words carefully. “And?” Giratina prompted her on, his voice low and threatening. “And, I am here to bring Starlight Glimmer, the one you brought here, back.” Giratina reacted to her statement with annoyance, shown by his deep growl and squinting eyes. He observed her quietly, watching her to see if she would hesitate under his gaze seeing if there any signs of hesitation. Nothing... After a moment, Giratina retreated away a few feet and turned his head left, toward a large rock near Twilight. Twilight wondered what he was up to, only to find she didn’t have to wait long. Giratina opened his red mouth and after sucking in a lungful, bellowed out a torrent of swirling air that crashed into the rock. The rock didn’t break but instead a purple hole expanded in front of it that stopped at the size of Twilight herself that had a white centre. Twilight was left even more confused, and when she looked at Giratina, she found him looking back at her as he said with certainty; “That, is a portal that will lead you back to your world. Take it, and Starlight will remain here forever.” Twilight was shocked at the prospect of the possibility placed right in front of her. “However,” Giratina spoke up, gaining her attention, “If you truly think that she is worth saving,” Giratina turned his head to the right and his crimson eyes flashed again. After a moment, a small platform with an indentation in the middle appeared out of the ether, much to Twilight’s awe. “Take this platform and it take you to a place where we can speak over Starlight’s well being.” Giratina looked at Twilight with annoyance, who looked back at his shadowy being with apprehension, “I doubt you will be able to convince me, but, you are welcome to try.” With those words, Giratina began to rise up from the platform, still keeping his gaze on Twilight. “Don’t keep me waiting...” Giratina warned her before his eyes flashed and he vanished instantly. Twilight was left stunned by what had just transpired before. The all powerful dragon called Giratina was offering her a chance to bring her home. The portal, however, caught her eye and she was left doubting herself once more as she looked back and forth between the platform and the portal with that question she was dreading to ask looming at the forefront of her mind; ‘Is Starlight... really worth it...?’ To Be Continued...