The Mission

by Shark8

Imprisonment

“Bring the prisoner forward!” bellowed the Voice.

Obeying the prompting, the guards pushed the small purple dragon forward, and in a flash of magic he was manacled, shackled and, to all outside appearances, helpless before the Voicce.

“Into your cell!” the Voice bellowed, yet again the prisoner was compelled forward, his arms and legs bound together so he couldn’t move, and he was flung into the dungeon’s small and uncomfortable bed.

He should have realized this was what would happen for being caught. Daring to violate the sanctity of the alien world, one where their poor state of civilization failed to recognize the greatness of a dragon, was serious business with serious consequences.

He found himself struggling against his bonds, desperate to free himself and then escape the dungeon… but the Voice interrupted before he could bring his tremendous dragon strength to bear.

“Quit struggling!” it said, conjuring a magical bolt that stung enough to get his attention.

“Who?” Cried the Voice’s mocking servant, ever eager to mock Spike.

No, it wasn’t just the dungeon he needed to escape, it was the dungeon and its cruel taskmaster and the servant. But in order to do that he had to bide his time and wait for the Voice and its cruel servant to let their guard down… only then would he be able to make a move.

Waiting for hours, no… it was days! And watching for opportunity to knock, finally it did. It was when the Voice and her servant were interrogating some foolish passerby who had stumbled into their lair that was the prison.

So, while the Voice and Servant were occupied elsewhere, the Dragon flexed his mighty arms and kicked his strong legs, tearing the bindings away and shredding the blanket that covered him. Then carefully and quietly as he could manage he snuck around, eventually finding what appeared to be an exit.

As the dragon approached, he found that it was inaccessible, the tunnel leading to the middle of a cliff’s face with a dizzying drop to the ground.

For a moment the young dragon thought all was lost, until he remembered the shredded blankets from his cell, quickly retrieving them and tying them into a makeshift rope and anchoring it to a boulder just inside the cave tunnel’s mouth, he was out of the prison!

Running quickly so he wouldn’t be noticed, he planned how to make his way to the ship.

* * * * *

It wasn’t any noise that alerted Twilight Sparkle, but rather movement, that caught in the corner of her eye and drew her attention from Owlowiscious and the library patron to the window and the baby dragon’s escape.

“Get back here! You’re supposed to be taking a nap!” Twilight yelled at the retreating dragon, even as the wind caught the bed-sheet and it billowed out to cut off her sight of him.

“Who?” Owlowiscious asked, mocking her.

“Spike!” Twilight snapped back, before realizing that it was just an owl and he wasn’t really mocking her.

Author's Note:

I needed a second 500-word story to hit the 1000-word story limit...