//------------------------------// // Captured // Story: Flutternapped! // by AstralMouse //------------------------------// Animals can be scary. But sometimes even the biggest, scariest, could-eat-a-pony-in-a-single-bite animals just need to be shown a little love. Most ponies just don't realize how far a genuine, heartfelt smile can go. I hummed as I approached the edge of the Everfree Forest, carrying a bucket in my teeth. The twisted branches and strange magical nature of the forest used to frighten me, but living next to it has given me an understanding of it; I've found that the best way to conquer a fear of something is to understand it. And while the Everfree may be something I couldn't ever completely understand, I did know that the animals that inhabited it were just like any others. I stopped short of the thickly-wooded border, a seemingly impenetrable wall of dark green and brown. The underbrush rustled as something large moved within, a hulking mass that anypony else would shy away from, just hearing it. And the brave few who might let their curiosity outweigh their sense of self-preservation would certainly have their minds changed by the sudden roar that followed, a guttural, angry sound that spoke directly to my instincts, a universal "Get away because I will hurt you" that any creature would understand. I understood quite well. I didn't run. Instead, I calmly set the bucket down and whistled. More sounds came, of bushes and vines snapping and being crushed, of branches cracking violently, of leaves shuddering. The creature burst out from the thick wall and onto the sunlit grass in front of me. Its head, itself larger than a pony, was like that of a lion's, dusty yellow-orange and with a mouth full of teeth sharp enough to easily pierce bone. It had two white horns that curved up from between its ears. The mane surrounding its face was reddish-brown like loamy clay, and the hair was nearly as tangled and wild as the brush the creature had just come from. Its forelegs were as thick as tree trunks, somewhat stubby and ending in wide feline paws. Two dragonlike wings sprouted from its back. Its body was small, and its hind legs almost comically thin. Rising up from behind it was its segmented scorpion tail, making the back of the creature seem almost as dangerous as the front. "Manny!" I said, beaming. The manticore leaped over to me in one long bound and licked my face. I giggled and hugged him, my legs unable to fully encompass his neck. One tight squeeze later, I let go and pressed a gentle hoof on his chest, and he politely stepped back and sat down. "Okay, Manny, I brought you lots of yummy fish and some nice healthy milk. Here you go." I indicated the bucket with a hoof, and after a quick sniff, he stuffed his head into it, lapping up the fish and milk with his tongue. It was one of his favorite things to eat, and I always did my best to try to bring it to him every month. I smiled as I watched him, keeping a polite distance. It was only a month after pulling the thorn from his paw that I had seen him again, in this very spot. He'd seemed extremely excited to see me, and when he ran out of the forest suddenly, I'd frozen in terror. There had been no malice in his body language, however, and I quickly recognized him. We played briefly before he returned to the forest, then a month later, I saw him again. Meeting him here became regular, then later, feeding him too. Lost in the happy memory, my mind took several seconds to process what happened next. There was a sudden pop from my left. Manny tilted his head, confused, then he fell over sideways. I blinked as if that would clear up the confusing scene, but nothing changed or made sense. Time slowed. My breath felt heavy. Reality pulled away from me, and then I was watching through somepony else's eyes. The pony whose body I inhabited was Fluttershy in name and appearance, but for a confusing moment, I was so distant that we seemed to be two separate entities. She... no, I looked left. There were ponies there. One held a small hoofheld cannon with a long, smoking barrel. My mind jarringly snapped back into my body, and I was bombarded with several emotions at once. Grief, rage, sorrow, regret, disbelief, confusion. They all fought to be expressed, and when I spoke, it was only a single word, awkward and useless. "What..." Time returned to its normal steady march, and a dirt-brown stallion with a black mane spoke from behind the gun-wielder. He looked oddly familiar... "That's her! That's Fluttershy! Get her!" he yelled, pointing a hoof at me. I wish I could say I fought. I want to say that I ran for help, or resisted, or even said something. But I didn't. I froze. My body just didn't respond, and they were on me. A blur of commotion, unheard commands, and being handled like a sack of apples. Then I was tied up, all four legs bound with rope. And the closest I came to fighting was squeaking out a single pathetic word. "Manny...?" The four stallions who had tied me moved on to Manny and began to bind him with rope, too. "Whaddaya think we'll get fer this thing, boss?" one asked. His coat was a creamy off-white, and his mane short and green, like mown grass. The brown stallion who had spoken before answered him. "Nothing, you imbecile. We don't have room for it. Let's just get what we came for and get out of here before we're seen." I noticed he had a somewhat heavy accent, possibly from Mexicolt. I finally found my voice, but it came out in a quaking whimper. "What... what did you do to him?" "Killed 'im good an' dead, we did," grass-mane said with a snicker. "Oh, be quiet, Machete. He's just asleep. He'll wake up in a few hours," the one who had used the gun said. He was a small stallion, about my size, with a pale red coat and a mop of a brown mane, hanging down in strands. He indicated the gun with a hoof, which was presently sitting in the grass. "Tranquilizer gun. That dart was supposed to be for you. We need you alive, after all." "Aw, yer no fun," Machete said as he tightened a knot on the ropes holding Manny. I breathed a relieved sigh, and the pained tears that had been threatening to come retreated instead. My relief was strong enough that I didn't even care when Machete picked me up and began carrying me away. They left Manny tied up, but I knew he would easily chew and break his way through the ropes when he woke up. He'd be fine. When my worry for my manticore friend faded, I finally began to fear for myself. These stallions seemed to have come for me, but I had no idea why. I didn't want to speak up and anger them, however, so I kept quiet. After a short walk along the edge of the forest, we reached their odd transport machine. It was like a big carriage, except its wheels were on treads, a rare sight, but I knew they were sometimes used for managing rough terrain. It had a covered compartment in the front with a seat and levers. The back had a flat bed with a cage just big enough for a pony to fit in. I gulped as dread fell over me. The reality of the situation began to sink in. Machete dumped me unceremoniously onto the flat metal bed and pushed me inside the cage, which seemed to be built right into the metal bed. I yelped in surprise as he loudly slammed the door. He locked it with a key that he immediately gave to the strangely familiar brown stallion. "Good to go, Caballeron, sir," Machete said. Caballeron! I knew I recognized him! "Right. Courser! Start it up and let's get out of here." "Aye-aye, boss," came a voice from inside the front compartment. There was a sudden loud rumble as the machine came to life and vibrated beneath me. With a lurch that nearly caused me to hit my head on the metal bars, we were moving. Slowly at first, but then the stallions all hopped on and we quickly picked up speed, going faster than a full gallop. As we skirted the Everfree forest, I wondered and feared just what was in store for me.