Courage the Cowardly Dog In: Dog Days

by lunabrony

8 - Hopes and Dreams

Courage and the donkey escaped from the underground tunnels with surprisingly little fanfare. Courage didn't like at all the fact that the sludge-possessed dragon had simply let them go, just like that. He understood that perhaps priority was over the children, for some reason, and he didn't want them escaping, or perhaps his magical kidnapping power was limited and he could only snatch one at at time. Whatever the reason was, he didn't like it.

Panting for breath on his little legs, the pup and his companion ran from the edge of the forest where the tunnel had let out, and did not stop running until they were back in Ponyville proper. It was only at this point that Courage looked at the long-eared donkey whom had escaped with him.

"I never got your name," Courage said.

"It's Don," the donkey said, smiling doofishly and showing off his enormous teeth.

Courage just stared at him. "Seriously?" That was like naming a goldfish Goldie or something, no originality at all.

The donkey just shrugged. "No better than naming a pink horse Pinkie," he said defensively. Courage couldn't exactly argue with that. He was slightly distracted by his own thoughts, though, trying to piece together the rest of the answers. They knew who was behind this, but he still didn't know exactly why. Were children just an easier target, or was it to make a statement? He didn't know.

Courage and Don ran into town, just as Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash were returning. It was still dark, all four had been up all night, but dawn was gradually breaking in the far horizon. Nothing spectacular yet, just a faint, barely visible dim glow.

Twilight looked absolutely exhausted, flying to Canterlot and back was no small achievement. Rainbow Dash looked weary as well, but less so.

"Courage!" She exclaimed, and the pup ran to hug her. He broke into a long series of nonsensical babbling, trying to communicate all they'd found in a matter of seconds. He morphed his body first into a puddle, then a dragon, then some sort of zombie. He looked up at her and whined.

"It's Spike," Twilight said slowly. "It was my Spike the whole time..." She was understandably stressed, but looked up, and seemed to notice Don for the first time. "You're from Donkey Xote, right?" She asked.

Don grinned. "What gave it away?" He asked. "Yeah... we just got away from the dragon. He's got a whole underground network of tunnels down there. A whole assembly line of children working slave labor under miserable conditions."

"Well we have to stop him!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Really?" Don asked. "I thought were just going to leave them there and were running around for the lulz."

"First of all, that's not funny," Twilight said. "Secondly, don't ever say 'lulz' again."

"So how do we stop him?" Don asked, while Courage looked between the two.

"Don't worry about that," Twilight said. "I sent a scroll via overnight express before we left to a secret weapon of mine. We'll have our ace in the hole by late morning. Within a few hours," she explained. "I can't go much more into detail, in case he's listening. If we can hold him off til then, I think we stand a chance of luring him out of Spike's body."

"And what do we do once he's out of the host?" Don asked. "He's most likely going to try to possess someone else."

"Yeah, me," Twilight said. "But he's not going to get the chance." She smiled faintly.

"Come on. We're going back to the tunnels," she said.

"We're what?!" Courage exclaimed. He could not think of anywhere in the world he wanted to be less.

"We're going to distract him," Twilight said. "And when my secret weapon gets here, we're going to finish him. And I'm going to get my dragon back."

Courage sighed. He desperately wanted everything to work out for the better. He wanted this whole ordeal to be over with, and for the children to be safely returned to their mothers and sisters and aunts. More importantly, he wanted to go home.

Equestria was turning out to be a very dangerous, very silly place.

In any case, Courage sat upon Don's back as they reluctantly turned around, this time flanked by Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle. As the quartet slowly returned to the hole in the ground and stood around it, looking down at its dark, ominous depths, they could hear the faint crying of children from far down below.

Courage balled his paws into fists. Hurting his friends was one thing, but hurting children was entirely another. "Don't worry Twilight," he said firmly. His mind made up. "We're going to get them out of there. Or my name's Wilfred. And it's not."

It most certainly wasn't.

Author's Note:

I'm so sorry this has taken so long to finish, I started losing interest near the end as the story is getting sillier and sillier even by Equestria standards, so I'm gonna finish this story and be done with it before the silly policeman from Monty Python comes around and puts a stop to the whole thing.

We're almost done so bear with me!

Comments

[Neko Majin C]

"I never got your name," Courage said.

"It's Don," the donkey said, smiling doofishly and showing off his enormous teeth.

Courage just stared at him. "Seriously?" That was like naming a goldfish Goldie or something, no originality at all.

I am just going to hang this here.
stylingloungelighting.co.uk/WebRoot/BT2/Shops/Store2_002E_Shop1411/4612/6E61/19A8/23FA/D644/AC10/3D2A/B0FD/moire_0020_022.jpg

I sent a scroll via overnight express before we left to a secret weapon of mine.

Please tell me it is not Megan.

...Please?

If we can hold him off til then, I think we stand a chance of luring him out of Spike's body.

This needs before it an "un" or an apostrophe.

"Don't worry Twilight," he said firmly.

Missing comma.

I'm gonna finish this story and be done with it before the silly policeman from Monty Python comes around and puts a stop to the whole thing.

Do not worry about the cop, I published a certain phrasebook to keep him busy.

~KBO.