//------------------------------// // No Mane, No Tail // Story: Wings // by SkyMunki //------------------------------// Crunch. Crunch. Snap. The twigs on the forest floor sounded whenever Dash stepped on them. Angel, on the other hand, was hopping over them silently and gracefully, and a lot quicker than she was. Even though it was already dark, what little light they could see soon drained away, until both of them were bathed in darkness. "C'mere, we'll shelter in that cave. It's too dark to keep on trotting." Rainbow Dash suggested, turning into a gaping whole at the side of a boulder. Angel wasn't too keen on the dark, and definately wasn't fond of sleeping in creepy caves, but he would rather do so than loose Dash. The two had to stick together if they wanted to get out alive. He just had to convince Rainbow Dash. The bunny jumped along and slumped next to her in the mouth of the cave. A biting wind howled through it and Angel shook with cold, then snuggled into Dash for warmth and protection. She gently pushed him back with a hoof and muttered, "No hugging, it's not cool." It was a scary, freezing night and it was hard to hold onto reality, the only sound he could hang onto - the mare's soft snoring. Everfree Forest was too still. Too silent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- They must have fallen asleep because all of a sudden there was light, and with it came warmth and, well, just a spark of hope. They got up and started walking through the trees again, without a word. So much walking. A few hours of trotting later, Dash suddenly spoke up. "It's no good, I can't walk any further with such an empty stomach." She looked down at her belly, which gave a wobbly growl in agreement. Angel jumped up and down, finally feeling useful. Fluttershy had taught him all about the kinds of berries a pony should and shouldn't eat, and he didn't know whether they could find any in this Forest but he knew for certain he was going to try his best. He began scampering slightly further ahead, his sensitive nose searching. He continued to do so until his paws were red raw from so much travelling and his nose had been pricked by far too many thorns. And still, as they sat down in a clearing to catch their breath, Angel was rewarded with nothing. In the quiet of the clearing, Rainbow spoke up. "I'm done, I'm ready to be eaten by an Ursa." Don't say that! squeaked Angel indignantly. "C'mon, Squirt, how are we to know which way we're going? We could just be walking around in circles." She was right. Almost every tree, every crooked branch that grasped into the air so it could find sun in this deathly land, looked just like the next. Angel sighed. He flopped down on his back and closed his eyes. Maybe she is right, he thought sadly, maybe this is it. All of the sudden, he remembered something he saw in the split second he shut his eyelids. He jumped up, quick as a flash, and bounded over to a single red berry. He picked it up with a flourish and a huge grin, gave it a big sniff and realised that more of the very same smell was just to his left. He turned eagerly, to see a whole bushell of berries, that should do him for a while! Bubbling over with happiness, he picked each berry and stuffed it gleefully into his mouth. As stuffed as a teddy bear, he staggered back to the clearing and was about to lie back down when he noticed Rainbow Dash. She'd sat up and was giving him a look of daggers. Angel's belly was huge and his face smeared with berries, it was quite clear what he had done. "You found food and you didn't share it!?" Dash cried, standing up angrilly. Angel immediately felt guilty; in his excitement he had completely forgotten about the starving blue pegasus he had been walking beside all day. "I can't believe you! I knew all animals were selfish, greedy furballs, but I was just starting to think you were different." With each word, Angel sank a little further into a bubbling cauldren of regret, but he knew he couldn't defend what he did. Dash was right. "Leave me alone." she said, turning with a swish of her tail and striding away toward the trees. Wait! yelped Angel, chasing after her. She didn't stop, or even look back at him. "No mane, no tail, no friendship!" she hissed, before kicking off and galloping far ahead. Angel sat on the ground, alone with his over-zealous belly and the monsters of Everfree Forest. W-wait! The monsters! Angel panicked and scrambled up a tree, for fear of being attacked. What was he supposed to do without Dash to protect him? He hauled himself to the top of the canopy of leaves and searched for a rainbow mane. He couldn't see any sign of Rainbow Dash and knew for good he had blown it. He slumped into the curve of a branch and stayed there, feeling completely deflated. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Out of the blue, a massive shake swayed the whole forest, making Angel fall down from his tree with a shocked squeal and a crash. He looked around, ears pricked and very alert. Something was coming. Something BIG. He sprung from the ground and bounded as quickly as his little legs could carry him away from the creator of the sound. He pounced through long grass and tumbled over protruding tree roots. Even though he was running, the sound was getting louder and the shake stronger; the beast was getting closer. He couldn't keep up his sprint for much longer, each jump was getting harder and the wind seemed to be pushing him back with such strong hands. Angel dared to look back, and as he did he slid into a wide Oak tree, landing upside down on his back. Through this confusing rotated vision, it took him a moment to realise what this towering purple creature was. Fluttershy had only mentioned it one before but it was in passing, he didn't know how to deal with it at all and doubted he ever could. It was a huge, red-eyed purple dragon with angry flames flicking like snakes from its gaping jaws. It stood hundreds of feet in the air and stomped its clawed feet, swung its spiny tail and sent all the nearby trees crashing down, sending lots of little creepy critters hurrying away. How Angel would have liked to do that, but before he could yell for help, he was swept up and trapped in the dragon's giant, squeezing talons.