//------------------------------//
// Quick Getaway 
// Story: Cranky and Steve's Final Adventure 
// by libertydude 
//------------------------------//

Cranky made his way down the street, a certain quickness to his step. His legs burned all the way up, but he showed no signs of resting. 

I just hope Steven managed to stay out of trouble, Cranky thought. I’d hate to-

“CRAAAANKYYYYY!” Steven’s voice shouted from behind. Cranky turned to look back, but found himself immediately surrounded in large purple hands. 

“Oooof!” Cranky said, lifted up into the air and pressed against a reptilian chest. He looked up to see Steven’s worried face. “Steven! What the hay are-?”

“No time! Escaping from evil ponies!”

Cranky looked back and saw the large onslaught of the townsponies making their way toward them. Their eyes no longer seemed glazed over, but staring with an intensity reserved for hungry predators. 

“We gotta get to the dock!” Cranky yelled.

“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Steven said. His slither vibrated the town, signs and tables rattling with each twist of his body down the streets.

“You find the spa?” Cranky shouted over the growing cascade of clopping hooves. 

“Unfortunately!” Steven said, ducking under a low-hanging walkway stretching over the street. “I followed the weirdo in the lousy cloak!”

“I saw him too! He’s got them under some kind of mind control!”

“Obviously! Nopony would willingly follow someone with such a lousy taste in fashion!”

Cranky wanted to grumble, but out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a large stallion throwing himself off a nearby roof. 

“Duck!” Cranky shouted. Steven’s head shot downwards, leaving the stallion grasping for air before he tumbled in the dust. 

“Barricade!” Steven said, staring at the large stack of boxes covering the street in front of them. A half-dozen ponies stood on top, a combination of mares and colts growling at the oncoming serpent. 

“Right turn!” Steven hollered, turning on a dime and almost throwing Cranky out of his hands. The barricade ponies howled in anger and jumped in with their brethren. 

“Sweet Sister!” Steven cried. “They’re everywhere!”

“Turn here!” Cranky said. He pointed towards the General Store coming into view. “I came in this way!” 

Steven did so, just in time for a group of ponies to slam into each other with his sudden reversal of course. But their stumbles didn’t slow down the rest of the horde, whose hisses could be heard now by the duo. The lead, once generous, continued to slip. 

A bolt of light whizzed by Cranky’s face, just missing his head. It impacted the nearby building, exploding into a brilliant blast of crimson. Cranky glanced back, and found himself greeted by a line of enraged unicorns with lit horns. 

“I hope you’ve got thick scales!” Cranky said. 

“What’re yo-ooooow!” Steven said. A scale on his lower back glowed bright red, and a voice in the crowd shrieked in delight. 

“Step it up, or you’ll get worse!” Cranky said. 

Steven lowered his head and wiggled harder than ever. Dust threw itself up into the crowd’s faces, and they began to tumble over one another. Not even those in the back could withstand their momentum, and they found themselves unable to stop colliding with their comrades. 

The dock soon came into sight, along with the long river stretching ever onward. Cranky glanced back. The pursuers weren’t quite reoriented, still coughing and rubbing the dirt out of their eyes, but it wouldn’t be long before they were back in the chase.

“Eek!” Steven said. Cranky turned to the river and gritted his teeth. All along the shoreline, a line of ponies stood in wait. 

“What do we do now?!” Steven said. 

“You’re twenty times their size, you numbskull!” Cranky growled. “Smack them!”

“Oh, right,” Steven said with a sheepish grin. With that, Steven reared his tail high into the air and slapped a small group over to the side. From there, his body dived into the water with a grace saved for ballerinas. 

“Alright, now we-” Cranky felt himself jerked upward, a thin aura of violet magic surrounding him. Steven’s hands, covered in water, gave before the serpent could react. 

“Cranky!” Steven shouted. He reached out to the donkey, before a dozen blasts of red hot magic began to sear his scales. 

“Go!” Cranky cried out, his body hurtling back toward the shore. 

Steven’s eyes glistened before he managed to dive underwater. A few ponies leaped into the rapids, but soon found themselves grasping at nothing but water. 

Cranky landed on the shore with a mighty whumpf. A split second later, a flurry of hooves began to claw at him. They hit him everywhere, smacking his head and body with a firm, painful blows. 

“Get off!” Cranky screamed. He flailed hard, swinging and kicking at everypony he could reach. But the blows came too hard and too fast. He could only flap about, drifting deeper and deeper into unconsciousness as angry eyes stared down at him. Soon, their shrieks ceased. The landscape made no noise, save the low howl of the prairie wind and the rumbling river.