Chapter Six
No Pain, No Gain
A scream of terror echoed throughout the Everfree Forest. The shriek traveled throughout its vastness, waking slumbering creatures that suddenly found themselves in the mood for a midnight snack.
Squirrels and rabbits ran into hiding, in fear of whatever predator might have made such a noise. The predators themselves were not so easily fooled, many of which began to seek out the source of the cry in the hopes of a fresh meal.
None of these creatures though, were as fearsome as the great green dragon of the forest. The reptilian creature yawned loudly, cracking open two enormous, orange eyes, and shoved an immense, scaly head through the entrance of his cavernous cave, sniffing eagerly.
It’d been a long time since his last meal. There was only so much that diamonds could do for a dragon; it simply didn’t compare to the thrill of live prey, something he’d been sorely missing ever since he’d let a certain baby dragon and his purple companion slip from his grasp.
Standing up and stretching his mammoth limbs, the dragon turned to look back at his hoard. The twinkling gems called out to him, whispering sweet, seductive tales of their deliciousness. He sighed deeply, puffing out a stream of smoke from his nostrils as he considered his options. After several seconds, he relented, slowly making his way towards the pile of treasure and plopping down in a comfortable spot next to its base. Once the Earthquake subsided, he reached one lazy claw into the pile and stuck a handful of gems into his mouth, chewing gleefully.
Just five more months…
With that, the dragon returned to his slumber, dreaming of the day when he’d finally leave his cave to hunt.
Not all creatures however, were as lazy as the dragon. Five jagged figures outside of his cave sniffed the air in a similar fashion, their mouths watering at the idea of fresh meat. The leader of the group raised his snout towards the moon and let out a long howl as a response to the shriek that woke him up. Its companions copied the alpha male, creating a discordant symphony that warned any other predator not to interfere.
This was their kill.
The boy felt a sense of weightlessness that could only be described as the feeling you get in your stomach when riding down the crest of a rollercoaster.
He could feel his hair and clothes moving in the grip of the wind, and stinging him sharply in his right palm. But the pain he felt was soon forgotten as his vision swam with a kaleidoscope of color; blues and greens danced in front of his eyes as time infinitely slowed.
The experience was utterly incredible.
As the world finally stopped spinning, he came to realize he was gazing into an infinitely complex array of twinkling white lights, forming patterns he’d never seen before, but which gave him an inexplicable sense of Déjà Vu. Yet he couldn’t appreciate the intricate complexity of sparkling beauty, because at that moment, his brain was screaming at him to breathe.
And then another daunting fact entered his mind, as he felt the cruel grasp of gravity take hold of his body. He was not flying. He was not so much as gliding.
He was falling.
The stinging in his hand was not because of the cold wind around him. He distinctly remembered the sight of white teeth gripping his fingers. The twinkling lights above him were not simply pretty patterns to look at. They were the vast stars and constellations that inhabited the night sky. The world wasn’t spinning because he was in some sort of majestic abyss. Two blue appendages had launched him sprawling into the cold night air.
He felt his lungs deflate as the air inside of them was freed, and he heard the sharp crack that came from his left shoulder when he hit the ground.
Dirt filled his vision and his mouth, along with the bitter taste of an oily liquid in his throat. It took him several moments to finally suck in the fresh oxygen around him, and he did so greedily, clutching his chest with his arms. The pain in his hand was the least of his worries, as he frantically tried to calm the part of his brain screaming for air.
No sooner had it entered his lungs that he let it all out in a howl ten times more powerful than the shriek he’d released moments ago. The impact had been enough for him to forget what had happened, and now that he finally remembered, he feared for his life.
Because after the multicolored equine in front of him had discovered the noose around its neck, it had reacted by violently kicking two powerful fore-hooves squarely into the poor boy's chest.
Needless to say, it hurt.
For the second time that night, Rainbow Dash was panicking. Her breath came in sharp gasps at the pain in her wing. She stood on all fours, after having incapacitated the creature that had tied her to a tree.
She’d never kicked something that hard in her life, and she had to admit, she felt a little guilty at having hurt the monkey in front of her so drastically. From its ear-splitting shriek and glass-shattering howl, it was obvious that it was in a lot of pain. Yet, she shrugged it off when she reminded herself that it’d intended to trap her here.
Serves it right…
However, while the primate would not be moving for several minutes, her mind came back to her current predicament. She was still trapped. And if she didn’t escape soon, she would be dealing with a very, very angry monkey.
She’d tried escaping from the rope with sheer force, but all that had accomplished was causing a few cracks in the tree’s base as well as making it impossible to breathe. She’d tried getting out of the noose by worming her head through it, but her struggle to escape had tightened the thing around her neck so much that it refused to come off. She’d even tried untying the rope from the tree, but the three incredibly complex knots were proving too difficult, and the creature would recover before she could even manage to untangle a single tether.
So with as much strength she could muster, she began to chew. The harsh taste of the rope caused her to gag, but she continued, biting hard into the twine. As it began to give way, the creature began to stir, trying to get up again. She began to chew faster and faster, until she felt the final threads give way to her powerful teeth.
She wasted no time. With nothing holding her back, the mare galloped straight towards the creature, the pain in her wing overwhelmed with the intense desire to escape. She jumped over the creature in a wide stride, and sprinted as fast as she could toward Ponyville.
Then, the rope caught on something, causing her to nearly choke as it dug into her neck. She spun around to see the creature lying there, gripping the end of the rope firmly in its claws. Her eyes shrunk to pinpricks as she watched the creature pull the rope, forcing her to step back in the direction she came.
Oh no… I am NOT going out like this!
In fierce determination she dug her hooves into the ground, restricting her movement. Then, she lowered her head and flared her nostrils, before bolting away with all the strength she could manage.
The boy watched as the pegasus turned to gaze at him with its piercing eyes, and he saw its pupils shrink in horror as he gripped the end of the rope. Wincing at the pain, he used his powerful grip to tug on it, pulling the pony towards him.
The boy was not stupid. He could tell that this creature was terrified of him. But he wasn’t ready to let it go, not yet. He pulled harder, but was met with enough resistance to nearly tear his arm off.
Then he saw its head lower and its breathing sharpen, and warning bells went off in his head. As quickly as he could manage, he wrapped the end of the twine around his left arm, ensuring that the pony couldn't escape.
He realized his mistake less than two seconds later, as he soon felt the familiar sense of weightlessness take over him, and observed the forest transform into a blur of green and gray once again.
Edited by: Tofty