//------------------------------//
// Ryder's Tragic Tale 
// Story: Equus' Unexpected Future 
// by Robert Emerald Fountain 
//------------------------------//

Hearing Ryder say that he and the pups were chased to Equus had come as a shock to everyone.

“What do you mean you were chased here?”, asked Minnie out of confusion.

“It’s going to be a frightening story, so brace yourselves.”, said Marshall nervously.

Everyone nodded their head in acceptance.

“We’re called the PAW Patrol. Where we come from, we are famous as rescuers in the city of Adventure Bay. However, we have an enemy named Humdinger. He is the Mayor in another city. Recently, he and his nephew, Harold, had been spotted acting suspiciously in our area. We had just finished a large rescue one night, when an alarm sounded at our headquarters. To our horror, they were charging towards us with a multitude of weapons in an attempt to kill us. Growing desperate, we boarded our largest vehicle and converted it for space travel.”, explained Ryder.

Lizzie threw her hand up in shock.

“Did you just say they tried to KILL YOU?”, she asked with a shriek.

“Yes, you heard Ryder correctly.”, said Chase.

“They chased us all the way here and shot our engines and wings to the point that we had to abandon ship. Most of the pups landed together in one area. Me and Chase, on the other hand, landed far apart from everyone else.”, continued Ryder.

“Do Humdinger and Harold know that you’re still alive?”, asked Taylor.

“No they don’t.”, answered Ryder.

“How come?”, asked Iris.

“Good question. It turns out that our bio-monitors got damaged and shorted out as we entered the atmosphere. If they had tried to find us on radar, they wouldn’t have picked up our life signals.”, said Rocky.

“I was the one that started the search for everyone. I landed in the woods near the edge of the town here. I sprained my paw when I cut free from my parachute, but that was minor pain. As I ran to Twilight’s castle, I tripped on an exposed root and ended up with a nosebleed and a bruise on my forehead. I was dehydrated when I reached the castle and I passed out after knocking on the doors. I was in the hospital when I woke up, and then I told Twilight what had happened after I was checked out.”, explained Chase.

Everyone was quiet for a moment, and then Marie spoke up.

“That’s terrible. Why would someone do that to you?”, she said.

“Well Marie, that’s a simple question to answer. Humdinger doesn’t like us.”, said Liberty.

“He did this only because he doesn’t like you? GOOD GRAVY! That’s ridiculous.”, said Callie.

“You said it.”, growled Everest.

“Should we help them fight back?”, asked Minnie.

“Let’s meet in my castle and figure that out.”, said Twilight as she opened her castle door.

“Give us a minute.”, Flurry said to Ryder as Twilight led everyone inside.