Life in Another Pony's Hooves

by HonorBound

Chapter 17: Avoiding the Inevitable

The ridges on the green dragon’s brow furrowed in concentration. His vision never wavered, never blinked from his prey.

Maybe he’s a good dragon. Like, he’s made out to look evil, but he’s really just a big softy.

“Um… yo?” I greeted the intimidating creature before us with a humble wave of my hoof.

Instead of giving a civilized response to my address, the dragon opened his maw and roared in my face. Hot air and spittle accosted my features, causing my hair to stand up on end. My fur matted down with the moisture that he created, and began to smell of something putrid. The force of his roar pushed me against the same stalagmite that Twilight was able to hide behind.

Okay, not friendly then. This is a problem.

“Twilight,” I uttered more calmly then the situation called for. “It’s time for more running.”

She didn’t say anything to me. Her eyes never left the dragon in front of us, she simply nodded her approval of my plan.

Finally taking the urgency that was needed to heart, I grabbed the purple hoof that was resting on the stalagmite for balance to hurry the young mare along. “Now!” I shouted as I lead the way to wherever the scratched out sign pointed to.

The large reptile lunged for us, missing his meal by mere inches. Misjudging his trajectory, he collided with the stalagmite sign, causing it to topple over onto him. This gave Twilight and I the time we need to get a head start on the brute.

“Where are we going?” Twilight asked me in fear.

I could hear the dragon rise up, the stone that had fallen on him tumbling to the cave floor. He roared once again, but it descended to a menacing, evil laugh that chilled me to the bone.

“Anywhere that isn’t here!” I shouted an answer to the mare.

“I’m having pony tonight!” the dragon bellowed, causing his voice to reverberate through the cavern. Looking above me in fear that the beast would cause another cave-in, I was unable to see a stray stone in my path, and tripped over the damned thing.

Twilight skidded to a halt, and turned to help me back to my hooves. Waving her on as I scrambled to my hooves, I yelled, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be right behind you.”

“I’m not leaving you!” she shouted over the dragon’s horrible echo as she came to my side, completely ignoring my words. “We’ll make it out of here, together!”

Even though we were in mortal danger, I couldn’t help but to smile at her. She was so confident, and there was no doubt in her mind that we were going to be safe. At least… none that she was outwardly displaying.

I was on my hooves by the time she had reached my side. The dragon was gaining ground quickly, and we had to act fast.

“Please tell me you know a spell to fight dragons?” I asked Twilight in a panic.

“No. Dragons are naturally immune to magic!” she informed me as we continued to run for our lives.

“What!? But… you use spells on Spike all the time!”

The purple mare gave me a confused glance, but answered me none the less. “He’s a baby dragon, he’s resistant to magic but not immune to it. I use him as a test subject because if the spell works, then I know I’ve mastered it.” She explained.

Well… Shit.

With reckless abandon, the dragon behind us barreled through the natural stone pillars that lined the path we were following. His eyes glued to our small forms as we weaved in and out of the obstacles before us. “Mine!” he roared like a greedy child.

In the darkness, a short distance from where we were running, came another roar in response to the dragon chasing us.

“You have to be kidding me!?” I exclaimed. “How many dragons are down here?”

In response to the other drake’s presence becoming known, our first pursuer doubled his efforts to capture us. Closing the gap quickly, he made another lunge to prevent us from getting away. His claw reached out for me, but just before I was within reach, I passed under an archway created by a toppled pillar. The claw that was meant to dig into my flesh left a large gash in the stone above. It slowed his attack down just enough for his claws to rend the saddle straps on my back to shreds instead of me, sparing my life for a few seconds longer.

The lost baggage was of little consequence to me, and I am not ashamed to admit that I was afraid. Not just for my life, but for Twilight’s as well. Blood was beginning to run down my face and into my eye again from the wound I had sustained in the tunnel. I glanced over to the mare that had only recently become my marefriend. Fear was plastered all over her face as she concentrated on what was in front of her.

I can’t let it end like this. There has to be something that we can do. Dragons can probably smell blood, so hiding is out. That only leaves running and fighting, but he’s faster than us, and we can’t affect him with magic. Well… let’s see how strong I am with levitation.

Spotting another downed pillar off to the side of the pathway, I decided to try something stupid. “Twilight, no matter what happens, keep running.” I ordered.

“Huh?”

“Just keep running!” I shouted while I focused all of my energy into my horn. Skidding to a halt, my hooves dug into the dirt floor with the weight of the magic I was gathering.

The dragon hesitated for only a moment, but stopped anyway with a smirk on his grotesque face. “Really? You want to try magic on a dragon?” he asked smugly. “All right. I’ll humor you. Proceed; then, you die.” he stated with a gesture of his claw.

If this doesn’t work, at least I bought Twilight enough time to get away.

“What are you doing!? I told you that dragons are immune to spells!” said unicorn demanded as she inched unsurely closer towards my side.

FUCK!!!

“Why are you still here? I told you to keep running!” I demanded through gritted teeth, not allowing my spell to falter.

“I’m not going to leave you to die alone.” she stated. “I’m pretty sure that’s not what marefriends do.”

“I’m trying to save your life!”

“But, what about yours!?

“It’s not as important as yours!” I snapped. Using all the force that I could muster, I swung the stone pillar, which I was able to levitate quietly behind the menacing dragon, like a baseball bat. It struck home with a resounding ‘crack’, and promptly shattered upon impact.

The green creature winced in slight pain, but didn’t crumple to the ground like I had hoped it would. He glared down at me, fury in his eyes. “That hurt.” he growled.

Suddenly, he reached out for us. I had just enough time to push Twilight out of the way of his claw, but not enough to dodge it myself. Snatching me up into his clutches, he brought me up to his face to look into his eyes. “That wasn’t very nice.” he stated as he squeezed me to make his point. The scales on his hands ground into my skin; causing me to flinch at the pain that they gave. It wasn’t enough to break the skin, but it was enough to make me hiss in agony.

He opened his mouth wide to, no doubt, devour his newly acquired meal. But before he had a chance to do what he wanted, a large piece of stone hit his lower jaw, forcing it closed.

Glancing down, I was able to find that Twilight had mimicked my plan of attack. “Put him down this instant!” she shouted up at the brute. However, before he had a chance to answer her demands, she pelted him a few more times with freshly cut slabs of stone.

Her attacks were having little to no effect on the dragon. The rocks would hit his scales, and shatter into smaller pieces.

He’s got to have a weak spot. All bad guys have a weak spot.

Thinking rationally about it, I went with the obvious. “Aim for his eyes!” I directed, only to be squeezed once more for my effort. She continued her assault, pelting the dragon with a nonstop barrage of stone to his face. In response, he rose his free hand up to protect himself from Twilight’s wrath.

So concentrated was he on the small mare, that he didn’t notice another large dragon charging him from the left. “Gimmie!” the apparent female of his kind shouted as she tackled the male one to the ground.

The shock that was delivered to the green dragon was enough for him to loosen his grip on me, allowing me to slip from his grasp. Not noticing my escape, the newcomer’s attack persisted.

Rolling around in a tussle for dominance, the two giant lizards squabbled about who would get to eat us. “These are my ponies! You got to eat the last ones!” The purple female dragon reasoned.

“I found them first!” our original pursuer contested.

“Doesn’t mean you get to eat them. We had a deal!”

“I don’t care! I’m hungry!”

“That’s because you can’t control yourself around food. It’s the pony problem all over again!”

“What was I supposed to do? Let them leave?”

“If you had, then we wouldn’t have had that pony creature trap us in these caves and take our egg!”

“Now look what you did, they’re getting away!” he shouted from under a clawed foot as he pointed in our direction. In the confusion of the booming argument, Twilight and I was able to make a good headway towards the path’s final destination.

“I think… I think I see something up ahead!” she gasped.

Past the monoliths and lights, there was a cliff that came out to a point. At that point, I could see two posts dug into the ground that was a clear giveaway that there was a rope bridge just out of sight.

Good! That’s got to lead to another tunnel that’ll be too small for them.

Breathing heavily, we doubled our efforts to reach the bridge before the dragons could catch up.

“You’re not getting away from us!” the green one shouted before he inhaled, and blew fire at us. The heat that it radiated was so intense that the stone columns that it engulfed would deform slightly from the heat it was producing.

I was dearly hoping that we were out of range of the fiery death, but as it got closer and closer, I found that it was anything but. It encroached upon us with a speed that could only be matched by Hell itself. Just before it had a chance to claim our lives, it struck a purple wall that split the dragon’s inferno in half. Each half diverged on a different course to our sides, creating two walls of flame.

The mare that I would gladly die for was having a difficult time. She was breathing hard and sweating profusely. Her horn flickered with her exertion, fading along with her magical wall once the fire dissipated.

“I… I can’t… do that again.” Twilight panted. Her energy reserves depleted from so much strain.

With any luck you won’t have to. Almost there! We’ll be over this bridge and…CRAP!!!!

We skidded to a halt between the two posts we were running towards, stopping just before going over the edge. Ropes hung limply from their knots attaching them to the poles, frayed from age, and swinging slowly in an unseen wind. Before us stretched a chasm so deep we couldn’t see the bottom, and there was nothing that could be considered a bridge to help us across.

All hope was quickly lost in that moment. Each of us stared blankly down at where we had expected our salvation to be hanging. Looked up to the other side of the chasm at the same time, we were able to make out an outcropping. There, in a slight mist of fog, was a building with ornate architecture that looked to me to have been built from the ceiling down.

Time seemed to slow down for me with the knowledge that death was soon upon us.

We were so close.

I glanced back the way we had come to see the two dragons rapidly approaching.

It was supposed to be the perfect life.

Turning my head to the mare next to me, our eyes met, and in them I found the moments that we could have shared together. So much laughter, fun, and heartwarming moments that were never going to happen now.

Why couldn’t we have more time?

Her eyes softened as she seemed to understand what I was thinking. A single tear escaping its confines to announce her regrets.

Even if this is all I get… I wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I scooped Twilight up into as comforting of a hug as I could muster.

If we have to die, it’s going to be on my terms. No dragons are going to eat us!

Our foreheads met in a show of affection, allowing us to look deeper into each other’s eyes. The blood from the gash on my brow matted her fur a little, but she didn’t shy away from me at all.

“I love you, Twilight.” I stated as I slowly tipped our bodies over the edge of the cliff side, only to pause at the precipice for Twilight to give her acceptance of my plan.

It’ll be quicker this way.

Both of the famished dragons noticed what I was planning to do, and jumped at us in an attempt to prevent the loss of their meals. “NO!!!” they roared reaching out with their clawed hands to snatch us up before we made our final plunge.

Twilight closed her eyes, denying me their sight, and gave a sigh. “I think I love you too.” She said as she clung to me. With a final shift she brought us over the edge.

They’re too close. We’re not going to make it!

They were within inches from our back hooves, and at the speeds they were moving, they’d be able to grab us before we passed the lip of the cliff side.

Twilight squeezed me tighter as she, must have, realized the same thing as I had. Her movement’s caused our horns to rub together, and there was a spark of energy that arced between them. It startled me at first, but the sensation continued to grow and wash over our bodies in a comforting light. Twilight’s eyes opened once more and looked into my own orbs with a blush upon her cheeks. The world around us faded to the background. Nothing else mattered in that moment, just her and me, gazing into each other’s souls. It felt like everything would turn out okay, that there was no reason to worry.

But just as quickly as it had started, it was shattered by a claw brushing against my back hoof. All at once the aura that had embraced us, condensed into a tight ball, and exploded with such force that it rattled the teeth in my mouth.

The blast of magic passed over Twilight and I harmlessly, the dragons however didn’t fare so well. They flattened up against the shockwave of the blast like they had run up against a wall. Continuing to expand, the force of whatever magic was in play pushed the couple up and away from our position. The storm of magic died down, but the dragons continued their assent up and embedded themselves into the cave ceiling.

Slipping free shortly after impact, they fell along with the stability of the cave. Stalactites were rattled loose from the domed surface, and began to fall at random intervals. This all took second place on the list of my current concerns, as we now found ourselves falling to our deaths from a foe now no longer a threat.

God damn it! Are you telling me that we really didn’t have to jump off the cliff? We could have just stood still, rubbed our horns together, and declared our love for each other to keep us safe? I call bullshit! Why couldn’t the blast save us from falling too?

The wind began to pick up as we approached our critical velocity. We already passed forty feet of free-fall, all but ensuring death once we finally hit the stone floor below.

My eyes never left her's as we descended further to our final resting place. They were comforting to look into, flicking back and forth as she analyzed my own orbs looking back.

How many times have I put her in mortal danger now? I’ve lost count. If by some miracle I survive this, I’m going to walk up to Shining Armor and beg him to kick my ass. I deserve it at this point.

Distracted by Twilight’s eyes, and my own berating thoughts, I was ill prepared for the wet impact that we received once we reached the bottom. The buoyancy of our bodies caused me to sink further than the lighter mare in my grasp, tearing us apart slightly.

Water? Water! We’re alive!!!

I scrambled towards Twilight in a fit of joy, desperately wanting to celebrate even before reaching the surface. In the small amount of light that reached this far underwater, I could make out the silhouette of the unicorn mare surrounded by random objects.

Her saddlebags must have come undone from the impact with the water, and the loose objects were now sinking into the abyss. None of the inanimate objects mattered to me in that moment, all that mattered was the mare frantically searching for something.

Just as I reached out to embrace the purple mare, I heard a splash muffled by the water that filled my ears. Both Twilight and I turned to find a large boulder quickly sinking further into the murky depths below. Sounding a lot like rain, small pebbles began to pelt the surface of the water above us separated by explosions of larger stones making their own impacts.

Twilight grew frantic in her search for whatever it was she was looking for. Realizing that we weren’t out of danger yet, I quickly grasped the unicorn’s hoof to try to lead her to safety. Having none of it, she pulled her hoof away to linger in her search.

We can’t stay here! I don’t know what is so important, but it’s not worth your life!

Being underwater, I couldn’t ask her what was wrong, or what it was she was searching for. All I could do was try to get her to understand that we needed to find shelter from the falling stones.

In a quick maneuver, I captured Twilight in a bear grip. She struggled to free herself, and began to beat her hooves against my chest in a fruitless attempt to get me to let her go. Her thrashing about prevented me from maneuvering us anywhere, and she was insistent that she persevere in her search.

Alright, now what genius?

The smaller pebbles bounced harmlessly against our manes as the muffled sounds of larger boulders made themselves heard around us. The limited air supply in my lungs had begun to deplete, alerting me to the need to breathe sooner rather than later.

I need to calm her down.

Doing what I thought would help, I nuzzled up against her cheek in a calming motion. Her flailing slowed slightly, but she was still trying to push me away. That is… until a particularly heavy rock grazed against my shoulder, causing immense pain to course through my left side. What air remained in my lungs, quickly departed in the howl of pain I produced, which was muffled by the water around me.

Twilight stared at me for a moment in shock, before using her hooves to clamp my muzzle shut, preventing me from inhaling fluid instead of air. She did a quick look at all of the falling debris around us, like she was just realizing what was happening. Adopting a strained look, her horn began to glow with a faded lavender hue. She did a quick glance down to find what she was looking for, but not seeing it in the darkness, decided to move somewhere safer.

Grabbing my right hoof in her own, she attempted to escort me to an underwater cave opening in the side of the cliff. I was in no condition to swim, but I kicked my back hooves as well as I could to help while Twilight directed me.

The cavern tilted upwards slightly and it didn’t take long for us to brake from the water’s surface. Gasping for air, we crawled to the shore of this underground spring. Clasping my right arm close to my chest, I limped over to a stray stalagmite nearby. I collapsed onto my back, wincing with the pain that came along with the feat.

“Are… Are you alright?” the purple mare gasped in worry. She knelt down next to me to analyze the damage.

“I think… I’ll live.” I answered, glancing over at my limp appendage. There were only a few scratches on it, which baffled me as to why it was hurting so much.

Twilight placed a hoof on my shoulder and my hoof, and tried to rotate my arm. She stopped what she was doing immediately when she heard me hiss in agony. “I think it’s dislocated.” she announced. “Stay still, I read this in a book once.”

She positioned my body so my shoulder was placed strategically with the pillar behind me. Removing her empty bags, she placed one of the straps into my mouth. “Bite down on this.” she ordered. “This is going to hurt.”

With a quick buck and a loud pop, my shoulder went back into it’s proper placement in my body. The straps fell from my mouth when I gave a short scream followed by an obscenity, and I crumpled to the floor bruised and sore.

In my delirium, I rolled onto my back looking up at the cave ceiling, and my mind wandered to a couple of things.

God that hurt! I hope those dragons were crushed by that cave in. That’ll show them not to mess with ponies. Green and purple… huh. Makes you think that they were… Oh Hell. And they said that somepony stole one of their eggs.

“Hay Twi?”

“Hmm?” she asked as she rested next to my prone body.

“I don’t mean to alarm you, but I think we just killed Spike’s parents.”

Twilight looked at me in utter horror, until there was a melody of infuriated roars from somewhere above us.

“Op, never mind. They’re fine.” I concluded.

The pain had begun to subside to a dull ache, and my thoughts moved to the more recent events, and got curious about what the purple unicorn was looking for earlier.

“Hey? What were you looking for under the water?” I inquired.

“Oh. I was just looking for my Element of Harmony.” she stated with no enthusiasm.

Oh! Just her Element of Harmony. That’s all.

My eyes widened in realization of what had just been lost. Both Twilight and I sat up in alarm as the same problem dawned on us. We looked at each other in shock, then back to the pool of clear water before us.

The entrance to this alcove was clearly visible with the help of some strange luminescence reflecting inside the water, and we could both see that it was filled in with loose stone, trapping us here. We weren’t leaving the same way we had come from, and the large tiara was buried under a mountain of rubble.

I could tell, in that moment, that we were both thinking the same thing.

FUCK!!!!

Comments

[Aiovas]

Thought from reading this:
"Dragons are immune to magic, well ill just pick up these rocks and....." Dragon: "what are you doing!?!?"
" ....Don't worry about it."

Amazing chapter keep up the good work

[Emerulf]

Ah, Honor Bound...
Truly, the universe hates you.

Glad to see more usage of the whole LOVE ability that was introduced... What, a season ago?
Hope we get back on track, though. I almost forgot what they were here for!

[Xzeron2000]

Do it again!

Interesting chapter! Makes me feel like I'm watching an Indiana Jones crossed with James Bond movie.