A chance encounter (Rewrite)
The day was peaceful, the sun was high in the sky, rolling rays of gentle light onto the dancing grass below. Many animals frolicked about in the meadow, all peacefully at tune with nature. Up in the skies, many birds flew aligned together, cheerfully singing a beautiful tune. To Rainbow Dash, this was a perfect day to fly.
She stood on a hill located relatively close to the meadow, the gentle grass tickling her hooves. Gracefully, she stretched her wings and took flight. She flew at a slow, but steady pace, letting the cool breeze wash over her body as she flew. It was a rare sight for the cerulean blur to be flying at a pace like this, but all things considered, it was easy to explain why. The animals gazed up at the Cyan Pegasus, watching in awe and wonder as she did a few spins and twists. It was like an aerial Ballet, each spin and twist being equally as graceful.
The Pegasus turned her body upwards, flying straight up into the sky. The animals all watched in wonder as she came to a halt. She looked down, getting a devilish grin on her face as she rocketed downwards. She sped down, rapidly gaining speed as she descended. A small cone was beginning to form around her. The air whipped away at her face making her eyes water.
The animals slowly backed away while the cone grew in size. The Pegasus gained a large grin as the cone reached it's apex. She could feel it, she'd break the sound barrier. Suddenly she halted, her forward momentum coming to a complete halt. She looked around puzzled as she realized what this meant. She immediately felt the resistance of the cone, struggling to whip her back. She was sent flying from the backlash, soaring uncontrollably into the nearby forest of Everfree. Down below the animals watched puzzlingly, then three pulled out a small piece of paper with a Nine-point-five on it, and held it up.
Rainbow Dash yelled in fright as she saw she was hurtling towards the Everfree forest, an abomination of nature, filled to the brim with monsters and evils. The very laws of nature itself were shattered by this mysterious land. She braced herself as she drew closer to the ground, and before long, she crashed down into the tree canopy. She bounced of a few branches as she continued her plummet and finally hit the ground, landing face first into a puddle of mud. She lay there for a minute, everything hurt. Rainbow Dash slowly shambled to her hooves and looked herself over. She seemed fine, so she stretched her wings and prepared to take flight, when a jet of pain rocketed through her. Rainbow looked at her wings, they weren't broken, so she figured she simply dislocated her wing.
"Great." She huffed. "I was gonna break the sound barrier, and what happened? It broke me." Rainbow looked at her surroundings, trying to see if she could tell where she was. The only thing she saw was an odd rock formation. At least she thought, it was hard to tell in the darkness of the forest. One thing that caught her eye was a blue slug-like object on the pile. Curiosity got the better of her as she walked closer to the rocks. As she drew closer, she saw the pile took a somewhat humanoid shape. Rainbow Dash came to a halt in front of the rocks, seeing that it wasn't rocks, but a creature of some sort.
"What the hay..." She said to no-one in particular. She covered her mouth with a hoof, noticing the creature stir as she spoke. Twilight should see this... Rainbow through to herself. She turned to leave and slowly trotted off, careful not to awaken the creature. She gave a last glance towards it, then continued on her way. The creature stirred again after she left, as is it was having a nightmare.
"Samus...No..." It said.
Rundas fired an onslaught of ice shards at a figure in front of him. In his head, he was screaming at his body to cooperate, but a dark figure had overtaken complete control over his form. He watched helplessly as a stray shard of ice impaled the figure through the shoulder. SAMUS! He yelled at himself.
It was painful for Rundas, he'd been closer to Samus than either Ghor or Gandrayda, and now he was trying to kill her against his will.
Samus ducked behind one of the many pillars of ice surrounding the area. Noticing this, Rundas helplessly flew towards her using his ice as some sort of surf-board. He closed the distance easily as Samus leaped out from behind the pillar and fired a slew of missile fire at Rundas, each one striking him square in the chest.
Rundas was staggered by the concussive shots. Samus fired three more, each one hitting him with enough force to send into a dazed state. He was glad that his possessed form had at least created a shield of ice armor to protect himself, otherwise he would have died then and there.
His hopes were quickly snuffed when Samus latched onto him using her grappling beam. A quick tug was all it took and the armor was torn clean off of him. Rundas's hopes for survival dwindled as Samus's powersuit began to glow a deep azure blue. Glowing tendrils sprouted from her armor, the cannon on her arm opened into a full configuration. The icicle embedded in her arm melted quickly as the Phazon energy rushed through Samus's veins, instantly regenerating the puncture.
Samus fired a salvo of Phazon-enhanced particle beams at Rundas, who had recovered just in time to dodge the blasts. He retaliated by blasting shards of ice at her, each one shattering harmlessly against her empowered form. He ducked and ran as she fired another missile, this one engulfing the ground it struck and anything withing two meters with a Phazon powered explosion.
Rundas deployed his Ice-board again and began to fly around the arena they fought in, landing atop one of the large ice columns after dodging another salvo of Phazon.
Rundas's mind was reeling now. Never in all his life has he fought like this. He had to say, even if he wasn't under his own control, he did feel somewhat proud. Dammit, what am I thinking!? Rundas internally yelled.
He couldn't dwell on it, as he began to unwillingly create a large ice pillar in front of himself. The large pylon gained mass until it was nothing more than I giant shard with enough force to crush anything caught under it.
That's when Rundas began to twirl it about, preparing it as if it was some sort of sling. Then he let it go, sending flying across the arena and towards Samus, who fired hopelessly a the large pillar.
It crashed into the wall, smashing Samus along with it. Both a wave of relief and horror washed over Rundas. Relief that he was alive, but horror at what he had done.
"Sa...Muss...." Rundas struggled to say. Though he could not cry because he had no eyes, Rundas was completely overcome with grief. He had just killed the only person he had ever willingly worked with, but also killed the closest thing he had to a friend.
That's when Rundas heard a sizzling sound. He glanced up to the ice spire, which had a circular hole being melted through it. Steam filled the air, obscuring Rundas's view. Something blue glowed inside the steam, before Rundas could react, a bright blue laser beam soared through the air and struck him dead in the chest.
The blast knocked Rundas off of his perch and he fell, landing hard on the grated floor. Rundas rolled over, seeing that he was now at Samus's mercy.
Rundas realized that he was now able to control his body somewhat. Not enough to run or speak, but he could still manipulate his ice.
"Samus...Run..." He managed to say. In an attempt to keep himself from doing anymore harm, Rundas summoned large spikes of ice from the ground below him, each one impaling him through the chest. He sat there in great pain as he saw the form of Dark Samus appear above him. He knew this was the end...
Rundas was jolted awake by the dream. He looked around himself, noticing he was in some sort of swamp. He stammered to his feet, and noticed almost immediately that his P.E.D. was gone. He breathed a sigh of relief, not having to worry about being corrupted again. He took a deep breath then looked around himself one again. He took a better analysis of the area this time, writing down every detail about the area as he looked. He was in a swamp, one very reminiscent of the jungles of Tallon IV.
He could see the sun sitting high in the sky, but the forest was somehow dark enough that he could barely see. He took a few steps forward and stretched himself out, taking more notes about the residual area. One thing he knew for sure, he wasn't on Bryyo anymore. Out of the bottom of his vision, he saw what appeared to be tracks, horseshoe tracks if he wasn't mistaken. He followed the trail with his eyes and saw a small light at the end of the trail.
"Might as well start here." Rundas muttered under his breath. He then set out towards the edge of the forest, hoping to find why exactly he was here.
Twilight sat content at her desk in the Library. The old oak tree had seen better days, but with her away on political nonsense most of the time, she hasn't found any time to keep the place up to snuff. The Princess sighed, glancing out the nearby window. It was a beautiful day, maybe she'd go out and enjoy it.
Her thoughts were interrupted when a small stack of papers were set in front of her. Twilight turned away from the window to see who had given her these papers and saw the only person it could have been, her dragon assistant, Spike. He was much older now, standing at least twice as big as Twilight, and he had began to develop wings. His neck seemed to bend a bit more than it used to, but Twilight payed it little mind.
"Hey, Twi," He began, his voice sounding like a fully grown stallion's. "Princess Celestia wanted me to give these to you. She knows that you're on vacation for a few days, but she says that this is urgent."
Twilight glanced down at the papers and read them aloud.
"Strange robberies in Trottingham. Several banks around the state have been broken into by means of melting through the walls. The banks have been entirely cleared out, but with a large sum of the cash being returned afterwards." Twilight put a hoof to her chin. Why would someone rob a bank, but then give the money back? Twilight repeated the thought to Spike, who simply shrugged.
"I honestly don't know." He said. "Celestia's more interested in how they're able to melt the walls despite how most pyromancy spells are outlawed." Spike walked closer, lifting a long clawed finger and tapping it on the paper. "Read further. It gets weirder."
Twilight complied and read on, Spike was right, it seemed. The perpetrator always seemed to be one step ahead of the guards, always laying traps for them, but never harming them. There also was no report on what the felon looked like, due to no one seeing them.
"Is the Princess so sure that this is urgent? Trottingham is home to the most productive ale breweries this side of Equestria. They can easily make double the money in just a few weeks." Twilight asked, giving a half-hearted shrug.
Spike returned the shrug, then continued. "As I said, Princess Celestia is more interested in how they're able to melt the walls."
Twilight was about to press more, but she was interrupted by a knocking on the front door.
"Spike, could you please get that while I read the rest of this?" Twilight politely asked.
"Sure." With that, Spike lumbered down the stairs and over to the front door, each step making the wood of the tree they were in creak loudly. He reached a claw and wrapped it around the handle, then he pulled the door in. Standing on the other side was Rainbow Dash, with an excited look in her eye that made Spike nervous.
"Hey, Spike!" She said happily. "Where's Twilight?"
"Uh...She's upstairs worki-"
"Thanks!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. She then ran past Spike and up the stairs, stopping once she came to Twilight.
"Twilight!" She called. "I need you to come see something!"
Twilight sighed, irritated. She looked up from the papers and gave Rainbow Dash an impatient look.
"Please don't take to long with thi-"
"I found something in Everfree!" Rainbow Dash interrupted again with barely contained glee. "Twilight, I think I discovered a new species!"
That was enough to snap Twilight away from her work.
"You found what!?" Twilight gaped.
"I said, I think I found a new Species!"
Twilight immediately got out of her seat and ran downstairs, searching the shelves for something, what it was, Rainbow Dash didn't know.
Rainbow Dash went down the steps and stood near the door with Spike as the two watched with a slight sense of amusement as Twilight panickedly searched for, by what she was muttering, some scientific things that Rainbow Dash couldn't bother to remember the names of.
Once Twilight had finished, she sprinted right to Rainbow Dash.
"Alright, lead the way!" She said with unbridled glee. Twilight stretched her wings and prepped to take off, but Rainbow Dash pulled her down.
"Sorry, we can't fly. I dislocated my wing doing stunts. We're gonna have to run if we wanna make it before nighttime."
Twilight disposition lowered drastically, going from her excited self, to very disappointed in a matter of milliseconds.
"Alright. Spike, stay here and watch the Library while I'm gone!" Twilight called.
"No way," Spike politely said as he came lumbering over to them. "I'm not passing up an opportunity like this. The Library will be fine while we're gone."
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but Spike beat her to the punch.
"Twilight, every time you go out there, something tries to eat you. I'm not that powerful for a dragon, but I can definitely protect you now. Give me this chance." The usual sarcasticness and veiled annoyance that Spike's voice usually carried was gone. For once, Spike was being entirely serious.
Twilight as taken somewhat aback by the sheer sincerity in his voice. She thought a moment, the released a defeated sigh.
"Alright then, let's get going. I'll let you be my guard dog this time."
"Hey, I thought we'd never bring that up again!" Spike said, the cheeriness back in his voice.
With a collective chuckle, the three set off towards Everfree.
Rundas trudged through the murky waters of the swamps, keeping his cryokinesis primed and ready, should the need arise.
He found it odd, this jungle. There was something not right with it. It seeped with a dark presence, one that felt very familiar to him. Rundas felt the voice of Dark Samus seductively purring to him in the back of his head, beckoning for him to become hers once more.
"It is only a matter of time..." The voices repeated again and again. "The cold will know corruption again..."
Rundas clutched his head as the voices grew in volume, quickly blocking anything else he could hear.
"You will be ours again, Hunter... Just as the others..."
"No..." Rundas muttered. "No." He repeated loudly. "NO! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Rundas began to thrash his head about madly as he tried to shake these dark thoughts out of his head. His only response was Dark Samus's sultry voice laughing mockingly at him.
"It is only a matter of time..." Then the voices stopped.
Rundas panted heavily. Even without Phazon, Dark Samus's will still resided within him, and she was still able to communicate with him.
Or maybe I'm just going insane... Rundas thought to himself, though that option didn't make him feel much better. Even if it would make more sense.
Rundas tried to the best of his abilities to push these thoughts out of his head and focus on the now. He still had no idea where the hell he was and needed to get out of this jungle. Rundas moved forwards again, shifting his view occasionally to see if there was anything noteworthy about.
He stopped short when he heard a rustling coming from nearby. Rundas instinctively turned towards the noise, creating two ice blades that engulfed his fore-arms. The rustling came closer, then stopped.
Rundas shifted cautiously, waiting to catch a glimpse of moving brush. His hopes were dashed as the sound came back, but this time from several directions. Rundas tensed as he prepared for a fight.
A large reptilian creature suddenly erupted from the bushes, smashing its spined tail into the ground multiple times before charging at Rundas.
Rundas expertly leaped out of the way, swiping at the creature's side as he did so. The lizard let out a loud distorted screech as a small gash appeared through its thick scales. Dark liquid seeped through the monster's scales and dripped steadily onto the ground, but the liquid seemed to be moving back into the creature at the same rate it was leaking out at.
The beast let out another howl and charged again, opening its gaping maw in an attempt to swallow Rundas whole.
Once again, the hunter jumped out of the way, but he was intercepted by the creature's tail, which slammed full-force into him and sent him soaring into a nearby tree, impacting hard with a loud *Smack*. Rundas fell to the ground dazed, an opportunity that the monster tried to take.
It lashed its tail again and the tail increased in length as it slammed into Rundas again. Thankfully for Rundas, the creature was using the dull part of its tail, not the spiny part. The creature did not relent though, and it attacked again with another charge.
Rundas had enough time to recover, and he blasted a cryogenic blast directly into the lizard's mouth, causing it to come to a halt. The lizard pressed down hard with its jaws, and the ice that held its mouth open began to crack.
Not wasting an opportunity, Rundas materialized several ice spears above himself and launched them systematically into the creature's hide.
Each spear ran deep through the lizard, which let out a muffled screech with each hit. The beast began to back away, thrashing its tail in front of itself and knocking away any more spears that Rundas was launching.
Rundas ceased fire and stood, waiting for the monster to make its next move.
The beast forced its jaws down hard, and the ice in its mouth shattered effortlessly.
"Crap..." Rundas said aloud.
The beast shrieked again, but this time, instead of attacking, the beast turned tail and fled, tearing down anything in its path as it went.
Not one to give up a fight, Rundas pursued this monster, creating his ice-board again and going after it.
The beast turned its head and seemed to glare at Rundas with its many dark yellow eyes.
Rundas didn't have a mouth, but he'd surely be smirking right now if he did.
Also, if he could smirk, it would have been smacked clean off his face as the creature stopped running an whipped its tail again, with predictable results. Rundas landed hard on the ground from the beast's attack, buck quickly got up and prepared to fire at the lizard.
The creature hissed again, but it began to, apparently melt away. Dark liquid formed at the base of the creature's clawed feet, and it hissed loudly at Rundas as the skin around it's eyes melted away, showing one singular eye that glowed a terrifying red in the middle of it. The glow intensified as strands of violet electricity began to dance around the eye, a loud ring building up as it did.
Rundas knew what was coming and leaped out of the way once again as a bright beam of energy launched at the hunter.
The beast did not halt, but instead followed Rundas with its eye, causing the beam to cut across the ground, burning a groove into the jungle floor as sit did so.
Rundas ducked as the beam narrowly missed him. The heat of the laser passing over him hit though, and it made the hunter feel very disoriented, due to his cold body-temperature.
The beast had now faded away, in its stead was a large puddle of a viscous dark fluid, which quickly separated and fled into the bushes.
Rundas tensed up again as the bushes began to rustle once more. The rustling moved away from him, however, and the creature fled deep into the forest.
[End music now]
Rundas panted heavily again as he recuperated himself from the battle. He wiped a bit of sweat that began to form on his face, then he cautiously continued in the direction he was heading earlier.
"Eh, screw walking." He said aloud. Rundas leaped into the air and began to form his ice board again, leaping right on when it was done and soaring through the thicket.
All the while, he had the suspicion that the creature he fought was still following him.
Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Spike stood out front of the forest, looking into the only opening with a hint of dread.
"Are you sure we need to go in there?" Twilight asked nervously.
"Yep. If we wanna find out what this thing is, we need to go in there." Rainbow Dash replied, her voice not sounding too confident either. "Hey, at least we got a dragon with us."
"Yeah. Remember, if anything tries to get us, I can easily take care of it." Spike said, comically waggling his claws and breathing a small bit of green fire to emphasize the point. "That's why I'm here."
Twilight chuckled as she walked over to Spike.
"Right. That's why you're here." Twilight repeated with a motherly tone. "And I know you'll protect us."
Spike smiled slightly, a look that honestly looked somewhat creepy on Spike's older face.
All warmness that they had set up in the atmosphere vanished and was replaced with seriousness as they began to hear an odd humming sound. The group collectively turned towards Everfree, where the hum seemed to be coming from.
"Wait here," Spike said. "I'll check this out." Spike crouched down and flared his still-developing wings, taking a combat ready stance as he moved cautiously towards the forest.
"Be careful!" Twilight called.
Spike turned his head to Twilight and gave her a respectful nod, then continued towards the forest.
The humming became louder as Spike neared the forest's maw, he peered into the unwelcoming gates to oblivion, seeing nothing but trees encompassing a small dirt pathway. But the humming persisted. Gathering up some nerve, Spike walked closer to the entrance, preparing a fire blast in his throat.
Spike glanced nervously between the pathway, a faint electrical sound could now be heard atop the humming.
Spike tensed up, whatever it was, it was close. Spike's wings flicked slightly. His tail move closely besides his face, prepared to lash at anything that came at him.
Then it stopped. The humming ceased, as well as the electrical noise. Spike still looked around, not quite about to let his guard down. Once he was certain nothing was there, Spike turned back towards the group.
"I guess it was nothing." Spike told the two.
Suddenly, a large violet laser beam erupted from the pathway, striking Spike in the chest and launching him out of view.
"Spike!" Twilight yelled with fear. She turned toward the entrance to the forest, a dark liquid was seeping forth from the trees. The Liquid shifted and rose to a pillar stance, a large glowing red eye appearing on top. The eye shifted about, but stopped dead when it saw Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
A alligator-like mouth formed from the liquid and screeched as it began to take a new form. The liquid engulfed the eye, shifting the eye deep inside itself. Two long, almost skeletal arms formed next, ending with three claws each, then more of the liquid wrapped around it like sinews.
A bony torso formed next, with an exposed ribcage and several spines sticking out of its back. It glowed a faint red as well, signifying that the orb was in its chest now.
Finally, two digitigrade legs formed the same way the arms did, only no sinews wrapped around the legs, giving them a rotted, almost skeletal look.
The creature let out a distorted roar , raising a three-clawed foot as it slowly lumbered towards Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
"No one messes with my friends!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she flared her wings out.
"Rainbow Dash, wait!" Twilight called. "This thing looks like its out of our league!" Rainbow Dash glared with determination at Twilight, who knew not to argue further at this point. "Alright," Twilight said with a sigh. "What's the plan?" The black beast was slowly getting closer to them with every passing second.
"I have no idea." Rainbow Dash said confidently. "But I'm not letting that thing get away!" Before either pony said another word, Rainbow Dash went into a full on gallop towards the Spike's assailant..
The liquid monster stood completely still as the cerulean blur drew dangerously closer and closer, until stepping out of the way at the last second. Its arm whipped out and grabbed Rainbow Dash by her hind leg, stopping her dead in her tracks. The beast opened its maw and growled as it held Rainbow Dash in front of its face.
YOu WiLl, SeRve Us...
The liquid shifted on the beast's back, exposing a glowing red core while forming a tentacle of darkness from it's back. Rainbow Dash's eyes widened as the beast moved the tentacle in front of her face. She hoped that this wouldn't be taken to its logical conclusion.
The liquid monster moved like lightning and forced the tentacle down her throat, turning back into a fowl tasting liquid that slithered down her throat. The dark monster laughed, then tossed the gagging Pegasus aside.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight screamed for her friend. The beast turned towards Twilight.
NoW YoU, PriNcESs...
The beast went down on all fours and charged at Twilight, several more tendrils forming from its back. Twilight flew right into the air, dodging the beast in the nick of time. Instinctively, Twilight fired a blast of magic at the liquid creature, only for it to melt away and move to the side seconds before the shot could hit.
The monster reformed and growled again. The beast opened its mouth, the orb inside its chest moved up its throat and into its mouth. Purple lightning began to dance around the spines on its back, then it moved to the orb. A large purple laser blasted out of the beast's mouth and towards Twilight.
Twilight flew out of the way of the beam, but the monster simply moved its head, the continuous beam following with it. Twilight ducked and bobbed out of the way, surprising herself with how well she was able to maneuver herself. She was swiftly proven wrong as the beam grazed her flank, spinning her out of control.
Twilight crashed with a loud *thud* and a crack. Her wing felt as if it was on fire, though it was her flank that had been burned. Twilight turned towards the beast.
The ground shook as its three-clawed foot stepped into the soil, it's leather-like skin gleaming in the sunlight.
Whatever this creature had planned for her, Twilight hoped that it would be painless.
[End music now]
The beast stopped. Twilight glanced nervously about, as did the monster. Something was nearby, the could both feel it in the air...A coldness that carried a hint of sadness in it.
From the bushes, a triangular creature burst forth on what appeared to be a surf board made of ice. Two trident like arms projected the frigid air that it floated on, the figure's oddly slug-shaped head glowing a neon-blue in the sunlight.
The dark beast roared, then swiped at the new arrival. The ice creature back-flipped elegantly away from the attack, the ice board dissipating as the creature landed.
The ice creature held its arms forward, spraying the liquid creature with ice. The dark beast roared as it began to freeze over, struggling to strike its attacker as its joints froze up. Within seconds, the beast was completely encased in ice. Then the ice creature casually walked over to the beast. It raised its pronged hands into the air, white icy mist beginning to emanate from its arms. A large pillar of ice began to from above the newcomer, continually increasing in mass as more ice was added to it.
The ice stopped and the creature held the massive ice club behind it.
"Batter up!" The creature spoke in a raspy, guttural voice. He then swung the club into the frozen monster, both the club and the beast shattering upon hit. Small violet ice shards rained from the sky, the ice creature standing with what appeared to be pride in its stance.
Twilight stared in awe at the scene before her. The only thing on her mind right now was trying to figure out which creature was the one Rainbow Dash wanted to show her. Rainbow Dash! Twilight quickly tried to stand up, only to be brought down by the pain in her flank. With little options, Twilight glanced nervously about the landscape, trying to find her friend.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight yelled, unaware that she had caught the ice creature's attention. "Rainbow Dash, where are you!?"
"Hey!" The ice creature called as it walked over to her. "What's goi-Holy crap, are you a Unicorn?" The creature's tone was surprisingly casual. Twilight wasn't sure what to say to this creature. She said the first thing that came to her mind.
"What...who are you?" Twilight asked.
"Name's Rundas..." He said glancing around. "Oh, I'm definitely not on Bryyo anymore..." There was an awkward silence between the two. Twilight looked down at the ground, then back to Rundas.
"Uh, My name's Twilight Sparkle...Uh, Princess Twilight sparkle..."I'm the princess..." Twilight mentally face-hoofed herself as she realized how stupid she must have sounded to this new creature.
"Twilight Sparkle? Did I die and end up in some Five-year-old-human-girl's dream?" Rundas yelled as he threw his arms into the air.
"What little girl dreams of giant monsters that force disgusting goop down your throat?" Another raspy voice called. Twilight glanced past Rundas and saw Rainbow Dash walking in a very disoriented way towards them.
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight called, glad to see her friend. "Are you alright?"
"I'll get back to you on that..." Rainbow replied queasily. She turned towards Rundas swaying in place as she looked over the alien. "Twi...Tha-thats what I wanted...to show you!" Rainbow Dash began to speak as if she was intoxicated. Before anyone could reply, Rainbow Dash violently gagged before vomiting a translucent purple liquid.
"Whoa there!" Rundas said as he rushed to her side. "Is she gonna be alright?"
"I don't know," Twilight finally managed to stand up, not without pain, however. "I've never encountered a creature like that...or like you." Twilight limped over to the two, looking Rainbow Dash in her magenta eyes. Something was amiss though. There was a purple vein of some sort in the corner of her retinas. "We need to get her to the hospital." Twilight turned towards Rundas. "Then, I have a few questions for you."
"Alright then." Rundas responded. "Then I have a few questions for you."
[End music now]
Suddenly, out of the corner of his vision, Rundas saw a large figure flying towards them.
A violet dragon, one familiar to Rundas, flew over the trees. The dragon's somewhat small wings flapped as it scanned the land below with dark green eyes.
"Ridley..." Rundas muttered to himself.
"Who?" Twilight asked.
"GET DOWN!" Rundas yelled as Ridley landed in the clearing. Rundas threw Twilight to a safe spot, much to the anger of Ridley. Ridley stepped forward, an odd sight to Rundas, who mostly knew Ridley as a flyer by heart. Regardless, Rundas now had to face this dragon, despite it being somewhat smaller than when it was attacking Norion, he knew the threat Ridley possessed if left unchecked.
Not wanting to beat around the bush, Rundas leaped into the air and fired a skew of ice at Ridley.
"SPIKE!" Twilight yelled as the ice struck.
