Chapter 5

When Twilight Sparkle finally woke up, she was met was a massive headache. And it wasn't just her head but her entire body was sore and she groaned as she began to move it upward.

In front of her she could see several bars in front of her and what was around her seemed to be rocky walls. She appeared to be in a cage of some kind.

"G-Girls?" she finally said, wondering if they were their with her. "You there? Hello?"

There was a long period of silence before somepony finally answered her.

"Twilight?"

The Princess of Friendship gasped. "Who's there? Applejack?"

"Yeah, it's me!"

"Thank goodness!" Twilight said, relieved. "What about the others?"

"I'm here!" A voice belonging to Rainbow spoke up. Each of the others also began to speak up one by one.

"As am I."

"M-Me too…"

"I'm here!"

"Good… your all ok…" Twilight sighed, gratefully.

"Kinda depends on you define 'ok'." Rainbow pointed out. "I mean, hello! We are stuck in cages here!"

Rarity gazed at her dirty hooves inside her cage with disgust. "Rather filthy cages I might add…"

"Nopony cares Rarity…" Applejack muttered, flatly.

"I care!" The fashionista stated.

"Oh… now I know how caged animals feel…" Fluttershy whimpered.

"Which technically we are." Pinkie Pie reminded them all.

"Not helping Pinkie." Rainbow told her, annoyed.

"Sorry…" Pinkie apologized.

"Twilight! Can't you blast these things open!?" The rainbow maned pony asked.

"I'm sorry, but something seems to be blocking my magic…" Twilight confessed. "I can't do anything!"

"So we're stuck in here!?" RD questioned.

"Indeed you are." Someone said.

They all turned and saw somepony stepping out of the pitch black shadows. His red eyes made Twilight shiver a bit before he stepped close enough for them to see him, revealing himself to be Zol.

"Zol!" The young alicorn gasped.

"In the flesh." Zol said, smugly.

Rainbow then began to pound and slam against the crystal bars that kept her restrained like a wild animal. She grunted in frustration each time she did so.

"Hey! Let us out!" Rainbow cried.

"Sorry, no can do." Zol said, unsympathetically.

"You're a meanie, you know that? A meanie!" Pinkie said, frowning.

"Oh, if you think I'm bad now, you're going to be really impressed once I figure out how I should deal with the you six…" Zol hissed.

"What do you want from us anyway?" Applejack demanded.

"Simple; all of you out of the way." Zol replied.

"For what purpose exactly?" Rarity questioned.

"Do I have to spell it out for you fillies?" The satyr questioned, annoyed. "Hello! To take back Equestria."

"That's not gonna happen!" Rainbow retorted.

"She's right! You'll never beat Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!" Twilight stated.

"Yeah! They're super duper powerful!" Pinkie Pie added.

"Oh? Well, guess what? So am I!" Zol said as his eyes glow red, making Fluttershy yelp in fear. "And they'll get there's… soon."

"Even if you stop the Princess' there are still ponies and other beings out there willing to stand up and stop you!" Twilight declared, confidently.

This made Zol laugh. "Who? That pathetic little dragon that was with you earlier? Please."

"How dare you talk about Spike that way, you ruffian!" Rarity gasped, angry.

"Yeah! Just you wait! He'll probably be the one to stop you and when he does I am so gonna laugh in your face!" Rainbow told him.

Zol zipped closer to Rainbow till her muzzle was very close to touching his, the creepy and smug grin he had on his face actually made the Pegasi shiver. "Well, we'll see about that won't we?" he remarked with a cackle before vanishing in a puff of black smoke. All was quiet until Pinkie broke the silence.

"What? What was the joke? I didn't get it," she told the others baffled, causing them to groan.

"Oh… what are we gonna do, ya'll?" Applejack questioned, a little nervous.

"I don't think there's anything we can do…" Fluttershy despaired.

"I guess… I guess we're just gonna have to have faith that Spike will find us." Twilight stated, with realization in her voice.

"You mean it's up to Spike, oh boy… are we in trouble?" Rainbow remarked, dryly.

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity scolded her.

"What? I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just saying it's gonna be pretty hard for him." The rainbow maned Pegasus pointed out.

"He is a baby dragon…" Fluttershy realized.

"Exactly! He could get hurt!" Rainbow said.

"Knowing him… I don't think he cares…" Twilight muttered.

Applejack turned in the direction of her voice and raised a brow. "What do ya mean?" she asked, curious.

"Well… during the whole battle with Zol… I told him to get to safety, but he wanted to help instead…" Twilight admitted.

"So? You were protecting him, that's understandable, right?" Rainbow Dash pointed out.

"Yeah… except… he probably blames himself for getting us captured, and knowing that dragon… nothing's gonna stop him from trying to save us." Twilight told them.

"That does sound like him…" Applejack admitted.

"Oh dear…" Rarity gulped, concerned.

"Don't worry, I'm sure he's doing fine." Fluttershy said, trying to stay positive.

Little did Fluttershy know, at that moment, inside the Everfree Forest, where the little dragon had begun his journey through was far from 'fine'.

It had only been a couple of minutes since he had entered the Everfree forest and already it had started to become very creepy. Strange sounds were heard around him and he could almost hear the heavy breathing of a creature, which quickly installed a great deal of fear in his heart as he glanced around left and right nervously.

"Maybe… this wasn't such a good idea…" he admitted to himself. He quickly shook his head. "No! I can't think that now! I gotta keep going!"

Soon enough the little dragon willed himself to put one step forward and then keep on walking further into the forest, despite being creeped out. Then, somewhere along the way, he heard a sound that he did not recognize.

"Huh?" The little dragon responded as he froze it place. The tall grass rustled behind him. "Is… is there somepony there?"

The grass rustled and shook some more and soon enough a foul odor began to make it's way through it and reach Spike's nose, making him cringe and cough upon smelling it.

"Ugh! P.U! What is that?" he remarked, disgusted. "It almost smells just like…"

A fierce growl finished his sentence for him and made his eyes widen with fear. He knew that growl. He knew that growl very well.

His guess was further confirmed when a large, wolf-like creature, made entirely of sticks and wood emerged from the bushes, it's eyes glowed a bright green and it was soon joined by two other creatures that looked just like it.

"Timberwolves!" The dragon cried out.

The three said creatures all let out a collective howl to the heavens, which Spike took as a cue to dash away and just as he started running the three wolves started chasing after him.

Spike ran and ran and ran as fast as his little legs could carry him but still the Timberwolves chased after him and were beginning to gain on him as well, due to being much faster and bigger then he was. He practically feel them breathing down his neck, and could definitely smell it also.

Along the way he tripped over a log but he quickly picked himself up and continued running while the Timberwolves started to gain on him.

Eventually he reached a small cliff and jumped off it before landing on the ground and continuing to run. The Timberwolves each leaped off and when they landed they landed right in front of the young dragon, growling and baring their teeth at him.

"Uh… can't we talk about this?" Spike asked them, nervously. He was answered with a growl and gulped. "Oh… guess not…"

The three Timberwolves began to make their approach towards the little dragon, growling and snarling, as he backed up fearfully.

"Oh… I really wish Twilight and the others were here right now…" The little dragon muttered fearfully before he quickly remembered. "But they're not… I'm all on my own now…"

As the Timberwolves growled and got even closer to him, the dragon began to quiver and shake with fear before his mind flashbacked to the moment when Twilight and the others were taken and all he could do was sit their and watch. His face then shifted from scared to determined as he stood his ground.

"And I can't afford to let them down! Any of them!" he declared, firmly. The Timberwolves continued to grow at him as he glared at him. "Back off Timberwolves! Or else…"

Spike took a deep breath and let out a long stream of green fire, creating a fiery wall between him and his pursuers, who began to yelp like real dogs and back away fearfully before turning and making tracks back into the forest.

The little dragon panted, out of breath, before he realized that they had left which made him feel pretty good about himself.

"Huh? Uh… yeah! And don't come back!" he called out, trying to sound brave. "Whew! That was close…"

"You got that right, dweeb."

Spike yelped when he heard the sudden voice and turned around. "W-who's there…?"

"Take a guess, doofus." A gruff sounding female voice said before the owner of it stepped out of the bushes; a female griffon.

"Gilda?" Spike said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Came to visit Dash, what are you doing here?" The griffon questioned.

Spike pondered whether or not to tell her that Rainbow Dash was just captured, along with everypony else, but was soon conflicted. While he knew he needed all the help he could get against Zol, he also didn't want to endanger anyone else.

"Uh… out for a stroll?" he lied, smiling nervously.

"While being chased by hungry Timberwolves?" Gilda asked with a deadpan tone and a raised brow, clearly not buying his story.

"Um… that was an accident, I uh… disturbed their rest." Spike said, grinning even wider.

"Uh-huh, sure." Gilda said, unconvinced.

"Look, I'd like to tell you before about my little 'adventure' but I really gotta get going." Spike stated as he started to walk away before Gilda appeared right in front of him.

"Yeah, and where you going?" she asked.

"Uh… nowhere in particular…" Spike answered, nervously. "Listen, I really gotta get going, so could you…"

The dragon tried walking around her but the Griffon promptly grabbed and pulled him back to in front of her. "Not until I get answers," she stated, firmly. "Where's Dash really and where the heck is a puny little dragon like you going anyway?"

"I thought you were nicer." Spike pointed out.

"Hey! My temper has improved a lot since Pinkie Pie and Dash same to Griffonstone, thank you." Gilda defended.

"I noticed…" Spike snarked to himself.

"But your really starting to push me." Gilda warned him. "So talk!"

Spike started to shake in fear as Gilda glared at him, expecting some answers, he knew he probably wouldn't be able to get past her, at least unscathed so he had no choice. "Ok… fine…" he sighed before talking really past. "Rainbow Dash, Twilight and the others have all been captured by an evil satyr and Princess Celestia and Luna sent me to go and try to rescue them before he uses his special amulet to take back Equestria."

The dragon panted upon finishing and the Griffon stared at him a bit stunned before regaining her composure. "Oh," she said before suddenly adding… "Need some help?"

Now it was Spike's turn to be surprised. "Really?" he asked. "You wanna help me."

"Yeah, well… since your such a shrimp I figure you'll need all the help you can get." Gilda pointed out.

Spike's face fell. "Oh…"

"Plus, if Dash needs my help you know I'll be there." Gilda added.

Hearing that made the young dragon smile. "Thanks, Gilda. Welcome aboard!" he declared.

"Yeah, whatever." Gilda said turning away, trying to sound tough and aloof though Spike could tell she was pleased, as well as worried about Rainbow. She then raised a brow as she glanced at him. "So kid, where to?"

"The badlands, that's where the Princess' said Zol was keeping them." Spike replied.

"The badlands, huh?" Gilda remarked. "I've heard of that place."

"And that's where were headed." Spike stated. "I should warn you though; it could be dangerous."

The Griffon said nothing at first and just continued glancing at him before gaining a smirk as she turned to him fully. "Hmm, sounds like fun."