"You dragon, you beast, with eyes of fire
Release that critter or the consequences will be dire!"
Angel opened his eyes, and spotted a striped pony stood facing the monster.
It was a zebra. what an Earth was a Zebra doing here, in Everfree forest?
The dragon's tight grip on Angel tightened a little more, and from its chest came a deafening thunder-clap that sounded through the forest.
"I shan't tell you again, don't you roar at me,
Now let him go in one, two, three..."
Angel raised an eyebrow sarcastically. Sure, he appreciated the effort to save his life and such, but how did this zebra expect to defeat a dragon?
The zebra decided that the dragon had been given enough time to let the small animal go, and began to gallop to the side of the beast. She did a whole circle, dodging through trees and jumping over fallen branches until she was back where she started. But she didn't stop there. From where Angel was, he couldn't hear anything, but he noticed the zebra's lips moving frantically, speaking a complicated, lengthy passage. At her third loop, she stopped and sat still, panting slightly and watching the scaly monster.
It also returned a gaze, seemingly confused as to what the zebra was up to.
Without warning, the dragon staggered back. It's claws loosened and seconds later the forest seemed to creak under the weight of the dragon's fallen body. The zebra waited for a few seconds, just to be sure, then cantered up the dragon's claw, then his leg, then trotted over his huge stomach and pulled Angel gently from its grasp. She turned and placed him onto her back, then jumped down and trotted away.
Hey! Where are we going? squeaked Angel, sitting up and peering ahead.
The zebra made a shushing sound and carried on moving. With the grace of an elegant doe she cantered through the trees, continually changing direction and taking shortcuts over tall undergrowth. It wasn't a smooth ride and Angel had to cling to the zebra's mane as tightly as he could.
Eventually they came to a clearing, where the Zebra stopped and helped him down.
"You look dreadful, tired as can be,
Won't you come in for a warm cup of tea?" she asked, turning and slowly walking toward a huge tree across from them. Angel folded his arms, thinking I'm not going in there.
The zebra didn't look back, but continued toward her spooky house. A strange noise echoed from behind the bunny, and he jumped and looked back to see glowing green eyes in the darkness between the trees. With a frightened gasp, he sprinted after the rhyming zebra.
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Days after, Rainbow Dash was still walking. She was so hungry that she began to eat the dead grass she was walking on, and that never filled her up much. Every time she managed to fall asleep she would wake up even more tired, and begin to walk in another direction. She had no idea which direction she was going; for all she knew she could be trotting further into the woods, but she didn't want to stop.
It was on one of these dreary, sore and hungry nights that Dash came across a familiar tree home. Grinning, she galloped as fast as she could and banged a dirty hoof against the door. "Zecora!" Rainbow Dash cried, as the zebra opened the door, "Have I ever been so glad to see you!"
"The rainbow pony, do come on inside
While you recover, here you can reside." Zecora stood aside and welcomed a very weary mare into her exotic home. Dash staggered gratefully in and barely made it to the seat before she slumped down with a huge, relaxed sigh. "I don't know how you live here, Zecora."
"I seem to remember you with wings dear,
Tell me pony, what brings you here?" the Zebra asked, closing the door and taking a seat opposite Dash.
"You won't believe it Zecora, I fell down into the middle of Everfree forest with this annoying pet of Fluttershy's. We didn't stop walking for days and I was so hungry, but then he found some food and guess what the greedy furball did? He ate it all himself! Every last berry. And then I went off on my own, and I came across a timberwolf! But don't worry, even without my wings I'm still a very fast runner-"
"Fascinating, but i wonder, why did you fall,
And where are your wings, do you have them at all?"
"Oh right, yeah, well this might sound a little weird, but when I was flying, this weird pony shot past, she was kinda shadow-coloured... And then she looked at me, with weird shiny eyes, and then she was gone... And so were my wings..."
Zecora looked with interest at the blue pony as she told her tale. She rubbed her chin thoughtfully. She jumped up and hurried into another room, then searched swiftly for a book in her many bookshelves. Content with her choice, she carried the leatherback novel back into the main room and placed it carefully on the table. With her black hooves she briskly flipped through the dusty pages with a searching eye.
Dash watched her lazily, stretched back in the chair, feeling calm for the first time in what felt like years. Suddenly Zecora gasped, reading something wide-eyed. She then closed the book, fixed a saddlebag to her back and then slipped in a few supplies.
"Rainbow-maned mare, we have an emergency,
I have to go - it's a matter of urgency!" With that last rhyme, Zecora left the house and slammed the door behind her. Dash wondered what this emergency was, but she wasn't willing to let go of the feeling of relaxing just yet, so she slid back and closed her eyes.
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Angel woke up that night after a much needed nap in the nice zebra's house. What did she say her name was, again? Oh yeah, Zecora. Last night Angel had watched while she concucted a strange cauldren of orange liquids. It smelled disgusting, but as soon as she poured a drop onto the withering plant on the countertop it sprung back to life. She was quite the herbalist. Rubbing his eyes to wake himself up more, Angel scampered down the spiral steps and into the main room. He didn't even notice the sleeping pony until she gave a very loud and very surprising snore. He nearly yelped but managed to hold it in, then took a seat at the table and caught his breath back. What was he supposed to do now? The zebra had left him alone with that traitor of a Pegasus, who left him to fend for himself in the Everfree forest where he came far too close to being crushed by a dragon. As he mulled this over in his mind, he subconsciously crossed his arms and glared across at
Dash. As if she sensed it, Rainbow suddenly woke up (perhaps from her own snoring) and jumped when she noticed the bunny glaring at her. She gathered herself right away, and stood up to stretch. "Look who it is." She said, with a twinge of malice.
Angel stuck by his guns, arms crossed and brow creased.
Dash pulled the dirty old book across the table curiously, then began reading the page Zecora had opened it to. As her mind registered the letters and strung them together into words and pieces those into sentences, her breath quickened and eyes dilated, and her voice began to speak, "The Shadowpony has escaped the moon... and she wants revenge. The whole of Equestria is in danger!"