A bright white light washes over the outside world as I approach the exit. Inhaling sharply, I leap out of the trees as color returns to—
“HOLY SHIET—!”
Thunder roared from the heavens as I try to stop my momentum, leaving a trail on the ground behind me as I skid—
“Noooo no no NO NO NO—!!!”
I chant as the edge of the cliff is getting closer and closer...
...and I stop a few inches from the edge.
I throw my head forward as I let out the biggest “phew!” I've ever phewed.
...
... ...
... ... ... and then the earth is shaking. The stormy air is filled with thuds and breaking trees from behind me.
...fuck!
I quickly walk away from the edge and look around for an—oh you've got to be fucking kidding me!
The rope bridge is still wildly waving up and down and left and right with the violent winds.
...It's either a fall to my death or get eaten and die.
...I've been bitten a lot of times now, sooo...
I hurry to the bridge, stand on my hind legs and—
“Whoa whoa whoa—!” I wave my front hooves around, stopping myself from falling on my back. Recovering, I extend both front hooves and grab the rope-railing on each side, and start running like a maniac on this wavy bridge.
...Only that I realize that I'm actually not grabbing the railings as the bridge whips up, throwing me up—
—I quickly bite one of the railings as the bridge whips down, slamming my two hind hooves down on the wooden flooring.
Wait... I've survived all of the biting incidents since I became a pony. Maybe I can survive one more?
...from a dragon?
I hear a loud explosion of sorts, and see a wave of broken trees flying from where I almost fell off—
“Grrfff—!”
I tighten my bite as the bridge flies up, up and up and suddenly whips itself down once again. My hind hooves slam hard on the wood—
A mighty roar.
I glance back and see the dragon looking around, trying to find me, its green scales and yellow back spike-thingies reflecting the thunderous heavens above.
Yeeeaaahhh, I'm not surviving a bite from that.
I gulp and slowly, slooooowly work my way towards the other end of the bridge while keeping a watchful eye on the dragon—!!!
I stop and hold my breath as the dragon is staring at me.
...
... ...
... ... ...
It looks elsewhere.
Huh...
I ... guess me being brown, it probably thinks I'm a part of this bridge.
Well then, here's to hoping it'll continue to think that.
The dragon then eyes the cliff. Slowly walking on all four claws towards it, the large dragon pokes its large head over the cliff, looking down.
A random realization comes to mind. Boy, am I glad that its flames didn't start a forest fire. That would have been a nightmare.
...As if my current situation isn't a nightmare already.
The dragon's low growl snaps me off of my train of random thoughts. Still inching towards the other end, I glance at the dragon, who is now turning around, probably to return to the castle.
Well, good riddance.
I look ahead and continue my quiet and slow progress.
...
... ...
... ... ...Wait.
The dragon is returning to the castle! And things aren't back to normal yet!
Well, I mean, will it quickly return to normal once Seri finds the book? Does she even know what to do with it?
I quickly release the rope from my teeth, take a large breath, and holler: “WAIT!”
The faint thudding noise stops.
...This is a stupid idea, on top of the other stupid things that has been happening as of late.
I look back and see the dragon raise its head above the trees, looking around.
“Hey! Ugly!” I holler, trying to catch its attention—
My breath freezes in my lungs as it's draconian gaze immediately lands on me.
Silence, except for the thunder, winds, and groans of the rope bridge.
I blink. “...Can't we talk about this—?!”
It lets out a loud roar before it runs after me again, trees breaking and flying from its wake.
“Holy shi—!”
Heart racing, I quicken my pace towards the other end of this rope bridge—
A blinding light.
A booming roar of thunder.
Ears ringing, and vision returning, I see tiny white orbs all around me, disappearing a second or two later—
The bridge whips up again, and I'm not prepared for it—!
“Aaahhh—OOF!”
I was thrown up in the air, and helplessly land on the other cliff's ground, rolling twice or thrice.
I gasp and quickly return to my four hooves, wincing from the pain. I look back and see the dragon is standing still, shaking, sparks of electricity dancing, appearing and disappearing around it.
It ... got struck by lightning?
It shakily raises its head up, and let's out a mighty roar, a wave of electricity sparking out of its scales. It shakes itself, growls, and glares at me as it slowly extends its large, leathery wings.
Oh, for fuck's sake... It can freaking fly?!
My ears droop as the dragon flaps its mighty wings, slowly going airborne.
I quickly turn around and ... the forest is freaking dark to see anything!
The dragon roars from behind me.
Fuck it! I grit my teeth and run towards the forest, but as I enter, I am hoping against all hope that the dragon can't see me in this darkness as I quickly turn and hide behind the trees.
Sounds of mighty flapping wings echo in the air as—
THUD!
Wait... Why did it land—?
CRUNCH!
Holy shiet! It's biting the tree I'm hiding, and its sharp teeth are bare inches away from my freaking head!
I quickly run deeper into the dark forest as it pulls the tree out of the ground.
I am soooooooo sooo so so so dead!
I hear a rumbling and burning noise from behind, growing louder and louder—
I quickly jump out of the way, tripping on an uproot and making me fall on the ground as the forest behind me starts to burn.
“Oof—!”
I wince as I quickly get back up, but ow, my everything hurts! I open my eyes and see that I'm a clearing—
A mighty roar.
Heavy thuds.
All from behind me.
I feel my ears and heart sink as I slowly look back and see the dragon on its two hind claws, raising its upper body up in the air, its piercing eyes locked on me.
It rears its head back as...
...welp, I'm dead.
It lunges—
“WAIT!” I yell.
And for some fucking reason, it freaking worked this time!
The dragon jerks its head to a stop, growling at me.
A roar of thunder.
“Ummmmm uuuuuhhh—” I nervously stutter as I look around and—wait, are those...?
I smile a nervous smile at the dragon as I slowly walk sideways towards the patch of yellow flowers. I might as well be asleep before I get eaten, right?
“O-okay!” I say as I step on the flower patch. “You can—”
I almost black out. I move my hooves to steady myself. Holy shiet, these flowers are—
The dragon lets out an ear-splitting roar before it lunges its open jaws at me—