//------------------------------// // The coming storm // Story: The Exiled // by maxxxxxx //------------------------------// “Twilight, uh, could I maybe get a hoof over here?” Rainbow Dash said with impatient urgency. Flapping her wings as fast as she could she struggled against the binding vines that gripped her hind leg like a vice. More of the green tendrils rapidly slithered towards her. She could feel her hoof beginning to go numb from the blood being cut off. “Hang on Rainbow Dash, I'm coming!” Twilight yelled, her horn a glow as she fired her magic against the plants, stunning them into immobility, but their numbers were great. It seemed as though the entire wilderness was one large predator. She spun around to face Rainbow Dash, she was less than ten meters away but between them slithered a writhing mass of animate vegetation. What should I do?! None of my other spells worked on them. I could teleport but they seem to know where I'll appear when I do. What is this place!? No, I can't give up, Rainbow Dash needs me. I cant let her die out here, I wont! I'll protect her! Determination burned in her eyes, and she made a mad dash towards her friend. She weaved between the vines as they lunged for her, but her body was exhausted and weak, she quickly slowed down. Only half way to Rainbow Dash she was pulled back, something gripped her tail and pulled her off her hooves. It dragged her back slowly. She watched through the obscuring vines as they closed in around Dash. “I said let go!” She stopped flapping her wings, and fell towards the ground where more tendrils were waiting for her. However, just inches before she would have been grabbed she spread her wings and flapped with all her might, sending her backwards. The vine on her leg followed, refusing to let her go, which was exactly what she was counting on. A smile spread across her face as she turned around on a dime, still less than a feathers length from the forest floor. Vines shot up to snare her but with another quick turn she circled around them, entangling them with the one that held her captive. Her hooves briefly making contact with the ground she ducked back under the one that bound her leg, completing the knot and successfully binding up the vines. “Ha! Not so tough now are you! I could take..” Her jeering was cut off as the vine squeezed tighter around her leg. Suddenly, she was pulled back and swung around, the force looked as though it could snap her leg. with one more mighty swing it released her, sending her skidding across the ground right in front of Twilight. She tumbled, slamming against rocks and debris until coming to a stop within hooves reach of Twilight. “Rainbow Dash! No!” She struggled as hard as she could but only got a few inches as she felt more vines creeping up her body. Dash was bleeding from her side, staining her fur and the ground a dark red. No... Rainbow Dash. How could I have let this happen? After what you have done for me, all you sacrificed. Tears were now streaming down her face, even as the vines crept around her, she only felt sorrow, regret and... useless. She felt useless to protect her friend. “No!” She screamed, lunging forward and grabbing a hold of her injured friends hoof. Light erupted from her horn, it flicked in intensity before becoming a nearly blinding light. After a moment it ended and she could no longer feel the movement of the vines. Looking behind her she saw that her spell had frozen them in place, all of them. Frantically she shook of the stunned plants off her body. “Twilight..” Dash groaned, staggering back to her hooves. She had a long laceration running along her side. Thankfully it wasn't too deep. “We have to get out of here. Come on.” She spoke weakly, taking long labored breaths, trying to recover the air that had been knocked out of her. She quickly extended her wings, wincing from the pain. “You're no condition to fly! Hold still, I'll get us out of here.” Her horn again lit up with a light purple glow. But her concentration was broken as the felt the forest shaking beneath her hooves. They both looked around, scanning the trees however, they saw nothing. Just as suddenly as it began, it stopped. The forest descended into an ominous silence. It was unnerving, Twilight could hear her heart, it was pounding with fear and anticipation. “We need to get out..” Before Twilight could finish the ground beneath her erupted, sending her skyward atop a monstrous mass of twisted vines and branches, it was taller than Golden Oak Library but still didn't come close to reaching the canopy of this massive forest. “Twilight!” Dash screamed starring up at the creature. It turned to face the source of the sound. It's only distinguishing feature were two green orbs on stalks protruding from it looking down at her. They looked like insect eyes, they were a shiny, almost unnatural green. It was clearly looking at her with intent. A grumbling sound reputed from within it as the vines beneath it's massive eyes began to separate. At first it seemed to open a dark, void like cavern, but quickly sprouting from the vines at it's perimeter, were thorns longer than a pony and looked terrifyingly sharp and jagged. It was a mouth. Dash's jaw dropped. Dash was too stunned to move, they stared at each other in ominous quiet. Then, the beast let out an ear splitting screech from its maw. The force of the sound seemed to push on Dash. Long tendrils shot out from it's sides and it began to lurch forward, shredding the earth in front of it as it moved towards Rainbow Dash. Twilight watch from atop the monster, she could feel it's vines writhing under her hooves. They grew around her, almost as though they could see her. What do I do? How could I let her come to this place with me, this is all my fault! “Rainbow Dash! Run! Get away! I'll distract it but you have to get out of here!” She shouted at the top of her lungs, hoping, praying that Dash would heed her words. Her horn ignited, firing a cone of magical light, stunning the vines in front of her. She leapt forward, narrowly avoiding the weeds that swung down behind her. Dash still stood, looking up at the behemoth, but now, her look was not stunned of scared. It was serious and determined. “I am not leaving you alone with this thing! We're getting out of this together and that's that!” No sooner than after she finished speaking did the monster's tentacles lunge forward at Rainbow Dash, fragments of rock and earth shot at her. Quickly she unfurled her wings, tugging at the open wound on her side, but she didn't hesitate as she launched into the air.. “Twilight! Jump!” Dash flew back away from the monster while gaining altitude. Twilight struggled against the vines that were wrapping around her hooves, she felt them pulling her down into the beast's body. Jump? I'm not as fast as you, it'll snatch me out of the air. Teleporting wont work, and even if I could I cant leave you with this thing? What are you thinking Dash? She fired another blast of magic, but her strength was waning. She could feel her reserves of magic running dry and her focus was scattered at best. “Twilight! Jump and teleport! Trust me!” Rainbow Dash propelled herself forwards, the force of the air blasting against her flank stung her wound. Being careful to conserve enough magic to teleport she released one more blast of magic, successfully stunning the vines. She didn't have time to consider any alternatives, all she could do was trust Dash's plan. More vines reared up from around it's head like a crown. They were closing in on her, surrounding her. Steeling herself for one more moment, she unfurled her wings and dove down. As she thought, the monster was ready for her. She fell right in front of it's large eyes and more tendrils exploded at her, she didn't have time to fly out of the way. Her horn lit up and she disappeared just as the tentacles occupied the space she had just vacated. Somehow though, it knew where she would reappear. She was looking down at the fast approaching earth as she fell along the side of the monster. But, just as before, already had a net of vines awaiting only a tail length away now. Shutting her eyes tight she waited for what she knew was about to happen... and it did! She felt a hard impact on her side, knocking the air out of her lungs. It was painful, but she knew it was better than the alternative. Rainbow Dash and come through. A streak of rainbow had blown through the vines separating them. For a moment, Twilight was filled with relief, until she realized they weren't flying, they were in a tumbling through the air and falling fast. Rainbow Dash! She she screamed in her mind before their trajectory brought them skidding along the ground. They rolled over the grass, dirt and rocks, Twilight's eyes shut tight through the whole thing. They finally came to a stop. Twilight slowly opened her eyes, perplexed at how soft her landing was until her opened her eyes. Laying beneath her, among a patch of pure white flowers was Rainbow Dash, her mouth was bleeding and her eyes were still closed. Panic took over, part of her mind on her injured friend, the other on the sound of the vine monster coming closer to them. They had made it a considerable distance but still, they wouldn't have much time. “Dash! Dash wake up please! You have to get up!” She shook her unconscious friend with her hooves, her tears falling onto her, soaking into her soft blue fur. They sound of the monster stopped, it had to be right behind her. “I won't leave you...” Shakily, she stood up, her entire body was sore. The scent of blood mixed with the dull scent of the flowers and the forest's damp smell. She braced herself, she didn't know what she would do but, she wouldn't leave Dash. She slowly turned to face it, fear and determination danced in her glistening eyes.... But it was nowhere to be seen. “I- it's gone...” The forest's natural sounds returned, birds and small animals could again be heard. She felt as though she was safe. 'Twilight..' A voice echoed. It was a familiar voice, one she knew very well. “Rainbow Dash?” Twilight called out. 'Twilight. Twilight!' *********************************************************************************************** “Twilight. Twilight, we need to get moving.” Dash said as she shook Twilight's shoulder with her hoof. The white glow faded from her eyes as she blinked her eyes as though she had just woken up from a long nap. “Rainbow, what time is it? How long was I out?” She said slightly dazed. They were in a thick growth of trees and bushes, it surrounded them on all sides, giving them at least a semblance of security. Though, as long as Dash was watching over her, she felt safe. Dash looked up towards the canopy, the bright green glow of mid day was now dim and the temperature was slightly cooler. “It's getting dark soon, you've been out for a few hours. A storm is coming, I think we need to find a better shelter. Those cliffs we saw the other day are in the direction we're going, I bet we could find a cave.” Dash said, her generally confident and brash attitude was now serious and with a sense of urgency. Twilight smiled softly. “I think that's a good idea, we can't be far now let's..” She stopped, a sudden pain shot through her head. Shutting her eyes tight, she gritted her teeth against the pain, even staggering a slightly. Dash rushed to her side, supporting her against her flank which had a large leaf bound around her with thin vines, covering a healing injury. “Twilight! What's wrong, are you okay?” She asked, her voice filled with worry and caring. After a moment of silence, Twilight stood on her own and smiled at Dash. “Thank you, Rainbow. I'm alright, I think I'm just a little dehydrated. You're right, we should try and find that cave. There may be fresh water running through the rocks as well.” Twilight began to walk forward, her pain quickly ebbing. Still holding her worried look, Rainbow Dash followed close beside her. “So, how far back did you go? Were you able to control it better? And... Did you find anything?” Dash inquired. To which, Twilight looked at the forest floor and solemnly shook her head. “No, I didn't find any clues or proof of my innocents. I wasn't even able to go that far back.” She frowned, her voice was heavy with melancholy. “You were in there for a while, when did you go?” At this Twilight seemed to brighten up. She even gave a weak smile to Rainbow Dash. “It was one of our first days in exile. When we fought that vine monster.” “Wow, what a day to relive.” Dash chuckled. “We really didn't have a clue what we were doing back then. It sure was lucky that it decided to leave us alone.” “I still really want to know why though, it seemed really determined, then to just give up like that.” Twilight's eyes drifted upward as she lost herself in thought's going over the details of that day that were now fresh in her mind. “Don't worry too much about it Twi, I'm sure it's not the last we've seen of that thing.” She grinned. “I for one hope we never have to deal with that again.” They were both smiling now. With spirits raised they continued to head north. Twilight imagined what it would have been like if she was exiled alone, if Dash hadn't done what she did. However, she banished the thought quickly. I doubt I would still be here if not for her. And if I was, it wouldn't be with a smile on my face. The two walked side by side as the sun descended, and thunder rolled from black storm clouds over head.