//------------------------------// // It Was Not to Be // Story: The Completely Normal Pet of Spike the Dragon // by DauntedSuperior //------------------------------// Taking a step back and looking at all that had happened to me in the last few hours, it was a little overwhelming. This is with the knowledge that I probably have even more powers that I don’t know about, Hopefully it won't be a lot. I'd never remember them when I need them. “Ahhh!” ‘And the fillies are still screaming.’ my paws returned to covering my ears as I used my grip claws to stay on Scootaloo’s back. She had yet to say anything about it so I assumed that she didn’t feel them and they weren’t hurting her... hopefully. ‘So. Got my gripping claws, which don't hurt anything. My regular claws, which cut through anything. Then whatever I did to shut the door earlier...’ I mused as the three ponies continued to run down the hallway. Thunk-KSH! The floor under us suddenly gave way and parted. Reflexes took over and I jumped back towards the way we had come. I heard Apple Bloom and Scootaloo scream some more while Applejack shouted something. Meanwhile I had latched my grip claws into the wall and watched as they slid down the slide-like tunnel. ‘Seriously? We got traps to worry about too?’ I thought as I heard their screams start to fade away. rrrrrrrRRRRR- The doors began to shut, making me choose between freedom and following them, ‘I hate being a good guy sometimes.’ My claws retracted and I fell past the closing doors. My body twisted as I attempted to come down on the slide paws first. As if the situation wasn’t bad enough, all my legs went outward as I made contact. I then began to slide down and started to gain speed. To top that off, I began to spin as I felt the pull of gravity take me down into the depths of the castle. A few moments later my eyes snapped shut to try and stop the sick feeling rising in my stomach. The thought of using my claws to stop ran through my mind. I considered it for only a moment before the tunnel began to change to a steeper angle. My sense of direction was flipped as I felt myself be propelled upwards. As my body was put through loop after loop it became obvious that some form of magic was at play. I couldn’t even feel any friction from the stone I was sliding on. Then the ground under me was no longer there. Wind rushed through my fur as I flew through the air like a black frisbee. Any thoughts of why I had subjected myself to this torment were thrown out of my head with the only thoughts remaining: ‘Stop! Halt! Freeze! Cease an-' everything stopped. My stomach still felt like it was doing flips, but I was frozen on the spot. Literally. When I opened my eyes again I found myself facing down a long, square tube with some sort of symbols carved on the floor. With the entire room seeming like it was still spinning I couldn’t make out any distinguishing features on them. What I could make out was that my paws were frozen to the ground, with only a few inches in between. Hesitantly I picked up my front right paw and felt it go right through the ice I had just made. Nothing but confusion ran through my mind as I stared at my paw and the ice on the floor. For almost a solid minute I stared at that same spot, my mind refusing to work. After the whole room had stopped spinning I looked at my hind paws to find them in the same icy confines. I could also see the large gap I had to of just cleared behind that. My free paw landed back on the floor as I was about the try and pull my other fore paw free, but it was jerked forward as it landed. I quickly retracted my paw into the air as I saw the symbols on the floor flash blue for the smallest of moments. ‘So the floor is enchanted, or something. I have some kind of control of ice and the others are probably still sliding to where ever this thing is leading...’ Not gonna lie, I whimpered a bit at what I knew I had to do. Frowning, I placed my paw on the ice I had made, ‘Still got to test that later.’ and pulled my other paws through their ice casings like they weren’t there. ‘At least this doesn't take too much magic. I only feel a little tired.’ I thought as I looked at the ice one last time. With my eyes focused on the path ahead of me, I took a deep breath, let it out slowly, and jumped forward. My paws connected to the floor and my front legs stayed standing proud. Back legs, not so much. They were swept forward, pulling me into a sitting position and giving me a front row seat for this magic roller coaster. The walls once again blurred past my face as I felt my eyes starting to water. Despite this I dare not close them. For all I knew there was a pool of water full of sharks with lasers attached to their heads. If I could remember and count all the times I’ve ran into that situation, it’d be in the double digits. It wasn’t long before I could see the end of the tunnel and the stars of the night sky... ‘Wait a minute.’ my eyes narrowed and I was right. I could see the stars and the night sky. That meant I was being shot into the air! Just as this startling realization came to me I felt myself once again enter the air. As if on a set path, my body arced perfectly towards a pond, ‘So help me if I called it-’ The rocky head of a creature lifted up out of the pond and stared at me as I reached the apex of my arc. My eyes widened, ‘Crikey, that's a big croc.’ I thought as I started swinging my limbs to slow my fall. I knew I couldn’t make it out of this one without a fight. It was right where I was going to land and it knew I was coming. What it did not know was that I was no ordinary kitty. With a battle cry I unsheathed my claws and pulled whatever magic I could to the surface and everything slowed down. I could see my breath in front of my face as my entire body felt colder. My heart began to race as I looked at the rock covered crocodile. I loved the rush of situations like this. The rush of fighting an uphill battle, of fighting against all odds and winning. It’s moments like this I could actually remember. The Croc and I were close now. I could see into it’s eyes and it stared right back. This would be a fight to remember for sure. Then I felt the rope loop around my stomach and my concentration was broke, “I got ya!” I was violently jerked away from my opponent and towards the side of the pond. ‘Oh come on!’ I mentally yelled as I felt myself collide with something soft and furry. “There ya are Scruffy. Was startin ta wonder where you was at.” Applejack said as she took the rope off me and placed me down, “You’re awfully lucky I was here ta lasso ya, otherwise you’d be gator chow.” ‘I hate you.’ I thought as the rope was stored back into her hat. “I told you he’d be okay.” Scootaloo’s said from behind Applejack. “Ya sure it was you that said that?” Apple Bloom asked, “Could’ve swore ya were freakin out about him missin.” As Scootaloo gave her rebuttal I looked back at the Croc as it made it’s way away from us, ‘B-but... the epic battle...’ “Well come on ya’ll, we better find a way back inside.” Applejack said as I continued to watch the Croc disappear into the water, “Me an Scruffy will take point. We’ll high tail it back ta the tents an see if th’ others have come back yet.” “An if they didn’t we can still grab a camera to try and see the ghosts that Scruffy points out!” Scootaloo said excitedly. As I felt Applejack pick me up with her hooves and put me on her hat, I looked back one last time at where the Croc had disappeared under the water, ‘It would've been legendary...’ We started our trek around the castle and I couldn’t help but feel a little bit cheated.