Run

by cjledford

Getting out alive

Run.
Just run, get out of there, get away from whatever is following you.
And whatever it is.
It’s got the same idea.
Run.
*********
I skid to a halt, panting and gasping for breath. It seems the more I run, the faster it gets. I can’t keep it up. It’s near impossible
I looked around, expecting it to come and do whatever it plans to do to me.
Rip me to pieces. Eat me. Anything that might be painful. Celestia, for all I know, it might just want to talk to me.
But God knows that’s not possible with that thing.
Made out of wood, in the shape of a wolf.
Everypony calls it a timberwolf.
But what do I call it?
A vile creation against the Creator's hoof.
And that creation is closing in on me now.
There’s nowhere to run, but there’s one plan in mind. If I’m fast enough...
Go.

I took off running, as fast as my legs could take me, the sounds of hooves and wood thwapping against solid earth filled the forest. If I could make it before the monster rips my legs off, I could survive.

I jumped over fallen logs, vaulted over trees, broken by years of storms. I hurled myself over brambles, not wanting the searing pain to slow me down. But I just heard it getting closer and closer, the wood creaking, the snarling, the pure hatred illuminating the darkness.
I heard it’s jaws snap together behind me, and realized just how close it is. But I had just one chance. Up there.

I hopped into the air about 7 inches, grinned, and the second my hooves took place on the molding, rotting wood, I kicked off as hard as my little legs could go. I heard the crashing and tumbling of the timberwolf, before I ended up crashing and tumbling myself. But I had to get up. I had to keep running. As far as I know, they are much stronger than that. It could take a beating, being made out of trees and all. In fact, for all I know..
There could be more.

I burned out, galloping as fast as I could.
But I had no idea which way to go.
I kept turning, skidding corners, avoiding trees, the branches reaching out to slow me down, to make me fall, for me to wait for my approaching inevitable death. But I had a plan. A smart plan.

I bolted through an opening, and there it was. The Everfree Ravine. The very ravine me and my friends were trapped from when the bridge went out. The very lake that my best friend earned her right as the Element of Loyalty. The very lake that should save my life.

I pumped my legs to the limit, hearing the timberwolf nearing me. I saw the point of access, the bridge. I jumped over a rock, landing right on the wooden panel, but froze.
The bridge is old. Older than me. Older than me and all five of my best friends put together. And it’s very unlikely to be able to withstand me galloping. So I can only walk. But the longer I take, the closer it gets. So I racked my brain for something to save my life.

The Timberwolf broke through the forest into the clearing, snarling at me. I had been perched up on one of the ropes of the bridge, smirking at it.
“Hey, big boy!” I called out, sticking my tongue out at it, making a face. Naturally, this only made the wolf angrier. More bloodlust. The more reason to rip me to shreds. The exact thing that I needed.
It charged, snarling, those red eyes glowing in the night, getting closer, locked onto me, the natural desire to cause as much pain as it possibly can just flickering in those eyes. The closer it got, the more clear it got, the malice, the hatred, the pure desire to draw blood. And it was coming right at me.
My legs trembled as I stood on the front plank of the bridge. But I had to move now. The timberwolf got to pouncing distance, and sped up.
Now.

I jumped, jumped as high and hard as my little legs could push. I felt the wind whipping my mane around, the timberwolf skidding to a stop on the bridge below me. It looked down to the sound of creaking.
Bingo.
The bridge gave way to the two hundred pound monster. The planks breaking, the wolf pawing at them for grip, before the bridge broke, and along with it, it took the timberwolf. It seemed like a brilliant plan.. Until I realized that I jumped straight up, when I was supposed to jump forward.
I started falling. Falling with the broken bridge. With the timberwolf. With the debris whipping in my face. It became clear, my biggest fear.
I was gonna die.

I felt myself slipping back into consciousness. I was instantly shot with searing pain, a scream escaping my bleeding lips. I curled up, holding my stomach, which seemed to be bleeding heavily. And I quickly found why. Upon landing, I hit my head, which was throbbing painfully. I may have broken my leg, as well. But the worst is what’s lodged into my stomach. A large chunk of wood, jagged from snapping the wrong way, jabbed straight into my body. Thank god it didn’t puncture an organ or anything important. But the pain was worse than anything I ever imagined.

Another scream escaped my lips as another searing jolt of burning pain ripped through my body. I felt burning hot tears in my eyes at the fatal realization. There was nopony there to save me this time. Unlike how Rainbow Dash always saves my life. This time, she isn’t there, nopony’s there. I was gonna die alone, and possibly never be found. Nopony will know how I died.

I tried my hardest to stand up, but the more I tried, the more I bled, the more I felt the pain. I let myself drop back down onto the dirt, defeated. This couldn’t be it, what about my friends? What about the Elements of Harmony? If I die, who’s gonna be the Element of Laughter? This isn’t a time for games, Pinkie Pie.. It’s time to get out of there.
I looked around desperately for some sort of method of survival. There were many sticks from the remains of the timberwolves, and there was an occasional fallen leaf. Yeah, that’ll do me a lot of good..

But the more I think of it, if I can get over to that bush, I might be able to put together a sort of bandage of leaves to stifle the blood flow. Years and years of icing cakes, maybe I can do this. But then, if I do what I think I’m doing, I’m just gonna chicken out.. I’ve barely ever been hit, how am I gonna rip a jagged broken chunk of wood out of my stomach? It seems like I got no choice right about now. There’s a large piece of wood in the timberwolf’s remains, I might be able to make a cane out of it. But still, how do I get out of here?

My heart sank when the crushing realization hit me. I’m trapped, walls all around me. I was in a ravine with no way out. I’m too weak to stand, let alone play a nice game of rock-climbing with no tether. But what other choice do I have? Wait for help? Yeah, sure, maybe the timberwolves will come and save me. I still don’t know the remainder of them, if there’s one more, two more, hell, there could be a pack of twenty for all I know.
But what do I do?

It’s those moments when all you wish in the whole world is to rewind time. To fix your errors. To save your own life. Yet, there was so much more I was planning to do before all this happened. The most depressing part of it was I was going to get some ingredients for a special cake. It was gonna be for Rainbow Dash for her birthday, the birthday I never miss. I never miss anypony’s birthdays. But now I have no choice but to lay in here and rot.
Rot.. Gone from Ponyville.
Of course, somepony’s gonna come looking for me, but what’s the chances of them coming straight to this cliff, look down, and see me bleeding out? By the time they realize I’m gone, I’ll probably be on my descent or ascent to heaven or hell. Now who’s gonna keep the spirit of Ponyville up? Without me, who’s gonna make everypony smile? But I have no choice. I’m gonna slowly and painfully bleed out with a chunk of wood in my gut. I just wish Rainbow Dash was here.. She’d get me to a hospital in an instant..

Is this what it feels like to die? It feels like everythings slipping past me, things blurring, everything I ever worked on, everything I ever did, all the ponies I met, all gone, put to waste by a stupid wooden wolf. I felt alone, just completely alone.
I just hope someone will at least find my body, know what happened to me. I can’t bear myself leaving without somepony knowing why or how I died. And all the ponies who will miss me.. Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity..
I felt weaker and weaker by the moment, my natural impulse to close my eyes kicking in. I don’t wanna die, I just wanna get up, climb those rocks, rip the wood out, and return home, to be with all my friends. I want to just be with them before I die, to not be alone. But what else am I to do? I can’t think of anyway to stop the bleeding. Even if I do, to hell with having enough energy to get up those rocks. So what do I do?
The more I look, the more my eyes light up. The bridge fell, hitting the side of the clff. So if I find a way to climb up to it, I might be able to crawl to the top. But then there’s the stick problem. There IS plenty of wood about to bite on. I guess I should make the bandages and get it over with.

Using the knowledge of years of frosting patterns, I start tying up leaves, putting them on sticks, making a sort of stiffened bandage, the sticks acting as padding. I’m almost done when another cry of pain escapes my lips. I grip my hind leg, which I was sitting on. The leg I broke. Ignore the pain, Pinkie. It’ll get at least six times worse when this comes out.
Let’s get it over with..

I took a hold of the wood, inhaling and exhaling deeply. I grabbed a chunk of wood from the remains of my attacker, and put it in my mouth. I gritted my teeth, and gripped the chunk of wood that invaded my stomach.
As soon as I started slightly moving the wood jabbed into my stomach, I let out a guttural scream. The pain was like a death itself. My jaws clenched on the wood, I heard it cracking, as I used it to muffle murderous screams. I felt the wood sliding out, and felt the stinging hot tears on my face.
I groaned one last time, bursting out in a shorter howl of pain. The wood finally yanking out. It looked like it fallen in a paint bucket, there was so much blood on it that it was dripping. I bit the wood to muffle another scream of pain as I felt blood gushing out of the hole. I gotta move fast.
I started wrapping the leaves around my lower torso as quickly and carefully as I could, the pain was overwhelming. By my guess, I’ve lost about a quarter of the blood in my body. But I still keep myself awake, driven on getting back to Ponyville, to see those friends, to get some real medical attention.
I jabbed a stick through both ends of the leaf gauze, sealing it firmly. I hope they’ll last out.. I can’t move too fast, the blood might soak through the leaves. I groaned, standing back up, unsteadily. Oh, I miss my bed. I wish I could just lay down and go to sleep, never wake up. But I had to do this, I need to make it out of here, I couldn’t stand the thought of my friends mourning for me, trying to move on. Truth is, I don’t think I could move on myself.

I looked around for a way to get to the bridge. There was rocks, sticks, a few patches of dirt and grass... Bingo.
I looked among the wall, grinning with hope. The wall as covered in vines that look like they might be sturdy enough to hold my weight. I’m the lightest of my friends, after all. So I groaned with each limping step, staying off my broken leg as much as I can. I feel so numb, so weak. But I can’t die yet.. Can I?
I might have lost enough blood to pass out right now, and just bleed out in my sleep. But I gotta make it at least close to the entrance to the forest, I might make it if I do, somepony might find me.
I sighed, and grabbed a hold of the vines. If I’m gonna do this, I gotta do it now.

I lifted myself up, grabbing a higher vine with my other hoof. I put my good hind leg on one of the lower vines, hoisting myself upwards. Pain shot through my body with every movement, but I did my best to ignore it. But it was so hard, I just wanted to stop. I wanted to stop so bad, just give up. But I HAVE to do this. I need to get out of here, I need to get out alive.
I kept climbing, gritting my teeth with pain. I should have brought the wood to bite on, it’d help so much. But I eventually got to the point where the vines end. The bridge hangs right behind me. I gotta try.

I let go with one hoof, holding onto the vines with the other, hind hoof still on a lower vine. I studied the distance. Can I make the jump with only one hoof? It’s a large chance I won’t make it, an even larger chance I won’t be able to grip the bridge strongly enough. But I ready myself anyway.
And I push off the mountain.
I let out a yelp as I grabbed the wooden plank, gripping it for my life. It’s at least a twenty foot skydive to death. So I put my hind hoof on the plank, and swing myself around, rotating to the side of the bridge, gripping with my other hoof on the other side. I shimmied over so that I’m in the middle.

The planks are big, can I climb them? The ropes are in large knots. I should be able to step on a knot, and climb up the plank. I just gotta avoid stressing my lower torso too much, or stepping on my broken leg.
I shimmy back over, grab a hold of the plank above me, and lift myself up, groaning in pain. I place my hind hoof on the rope, and push myself up. I get that same leg up on the plank, grabbing the rope for balance. I shake my head, and keep going.

It hurts.. So bad. Just ignore it, just ignore it. I kept climbing, my eyes lighting up, watching the cliffside getting closer and closer. Getting closer and closer to home, to safety. I finally gripped the cliff’s edge, hoisting myself up. My legs ached, I think I’m bleeding heavier, and my head is throbbing greatly. I rolled myself over, onto dirt.
I made it.

Out of the ravine, anyway. Now I gotta crawl to Ponyville. Maybe I could get halfway there, then-
I burst out with one of my loudest screams of pain yet. The pain was excruciating, but not as bad as ripping the wood out of me. I doubled over, hitting the floor on my side, groaning in pain. It was coming from all over, the pain searing through out my body.
Everything was blurring, I felt like I was slipping through a cold darkness. But I can’t die yet! It can’t end now, I got so far! I saved Equestria from eternal night, I stopped the god of chaos, I defeated a changeling army, I saved the Crystal Kingdom from an evil demon thing. I got away from a timberwolf. I saved Ponyville from the parasprites. I can’t be defeated yet, all the things I’ve done. I’ve tried so hard, and gotten so far, just for it to end now?
The darkness was clouding my vision, I felt myself getting weaker, losing consciousness. Before I slipped away, I hear a faint thudding.. Is it...?
I don’t have time to ponder this, as I fade away before question.

**************** Chapter one end.

Comments

[heckler341]

Well, certainly some very nice imagery and word choice. This might be better suited as a prologue as opposed to the first chapter, though. This feels more like a... dramatic scene, I suppose... than the beginning of a well told story. If I may suggest, it may be a good thing if you added more exposition; that is to say, better set up the story. Why is she there, how did she get there, etc. You did answer some of those questions, but it was in the middle of the action; more like a screenplay, I suppose? It's only my opinion, but it might be better if you did the set up in the beginning, as opposed to the middle of the chapter. Or, if not at the very beginning, among the action!
Overall, I liked it, you set a tone of dread, dark, and fear very well. I'll be watching out for this!
Best of luck!

Oh, by the way, the only mistake I noticed was a use of "it's" where "its" should have been used. Keep on the lookout for those!