//------------------------------// // Ch 4: Caving Under Pressure // Story: There Is Nothing New Under The Sun // by chasethebrony //------------------------------// Caving Under Pressure the Evening was approaching and I am beyond exhausted. I have been running from my pursuers for far too long. My legs are cramping up and i am beginning to feel the results of not eating anything more than a granola bar in the past eight hours. I drained the last of my water about three miles ago, and I am beyond tired. Looking for a place to hide for the night, I keep trudging forwards. Each step blurs into the next and I eventually look around to find myself in a small ravine. Looking down the ravine, I can see a lake about a quarter mile away. While walking down the ravine I notice an interesting grown over area in a bend of the trail. Upon closer inspection i can tell that it is a hibernating spot for some large animal, behind the vegetative growth is a small cave. It is tall enough for me to sit upright in, and about five meters long and four meters wide. Looking around with my flashlight, I see that it is unoccupied for the moment as well. Deciding that this is as good as it’s going to get, I go ahead as set my stuff down inside along the back wall. I begin to think of ways to help reinforce this natural hiding spot against my pursuers. With this in mind, I go out to make sure that I had covered my tracks. going back along my trail, I make sure to erase any of the little traces I left on my trip through the ravine. After clearing up my footprints, I return to the cave and sit down for a bit. After running all day, Just sitting still feels amazing. Another feeling soon pops up after it: thirst. Awesome, I am out of water. Again. damning my unquenchable thirst, I gather my canteen, water bladder and filter. Might as well take advantage of the last rays of sunlight to go and fill up at the lake. The Only Thing to Fear is Fear Itself Between the fading sunlight and her raising fear, following Henrietta’s tacks was getting harder and harder for Fluttershy. “Oh please don’t be much further away” whispered Fluttershy to herself. “It’s getting dark, and only Luna knows what may come out in the night.” Fluttershy froze when she heard something move in the bushes nearby. Suddenly, a chicken sprinted past her further off deeper into the woods. Being so close to her quarry, Fluttershy snapped into action. Jumping into the air and flying forward the yellow pegasus dodged trees and branches in pursuit of her featherbrained pet. Then something stroked along her back. Her wings snapping to her side, Fluttershy dropped from the air with a high pitched “Eep!” closing her eyes to avoid looking at the beast that touched her, she waited. and waited. and waited. Not feeling anything else, she slowly opened one of her eyes to see... nothing. just more trees and bushes all around her. “C’mon Fluttershy, you have been through scarier situations before. Remember that time you stood up to a dragon? Be confident and brave like that. You can do this.” Standing up, she suddenly realized that she had no idea where her chicken had run off to now. Suddenly a loud squawking noise pierced the air “Henrietta! I am coming for you!” Streaking through the air in the direction the sound came from, she didn't notice when she burst out into the lake shore. When she did notice, It was like something from her worst nightmares. There was this two legged... monster holding Henrietta by the neck. Towering above everything else, it suddenly looked at her. Then it started walking towards her. Her muscles frozen in fright, she did the only thing she could do. She fainted. Putting Food on the Table After filling up my water containers at the lake, I started to turn around to head back, when I saw something that looked familiar. It was a chicken. Before you could say dinner, I ran after that tasty beast and finally dove to the ground and caught it. It began to release i hideous squawking noise, so I did what farmers had done for centuries. I wrung it’s neck before it could escape. Holding my dinner up with a happy grin i heard something burst through the bushes behind me. Turning around, i saw a winged horse frozen in place staring at me. As I looked it in the eye, it suddenly fell over unconscious. A little confused, I had no idea what to do in this situation. On one hand, I could leave it here and not worry about what happened to it. However, when it regains consciousness, it could go and tell the other horse-creatures where I was. I really didn’t feel like killing any more than I had to, so i did what any decent man would do. I took her prisoner. I figure that maybe I could learn about these equine creatures, and figure out if it is possible to communicate with them. And worst case scenario, I could kill and eat it for food. After my little mental debate was over, I went to pick it up. The winged horse was surprisingly light, though I suppose they had to cut down weight to fly. Tossing it over my shoulders, I picked up my water gear and my dinner and I headed back to my cave. Once I got there, I went ahead and bound and gagged her with some 550 cord. I tied it snugly around its wings and its legs so that it couldn’t move anything but its head. I also made a momentous discovery while tying it up. It was a girl. Well at least, It wasn’t male. Even with my admittedly limited knowledge of equine physiology, there was a definite lacking of any male genitalia. ergo, it’s female. I guess that in reality, it wasn’t that important of a discovery, as both males and females can kill you if they put their mind to it. It was just that it added a bit of reality to the situation. It’s easy to generalize a bunch of enemies chasing you, probably planning to kill you, but it’s when they start to have faces and individuality that things start to change. Well, now I have enough water to last me for a day or two if I am careful. Now to go take care of food. After thinking about what to do with the chicken, I stick my head outside to look around for any signs of enemy presence. nope, nothing. Holding the chicken in one hand, I slowly sneak down to the lake sticking to the edge of the ravine for concealment. Arriving near the lake shore i go ahead and dig a hole in the ground. Above the hole i skin and breast the chicken. Taking any more than the breast and the legs is too much work, and I need to get this done quickly. Ripping out the easy nits of meat, I bury the carcass and distribute some vegetation and stones around it to disguise the hole and the blood on the ground. I run down to the waters edge to wash my hands and the chicken meat, and then I begin to sneak my way back to the cave. While moving along, I also gather some dry wood in case I need to make a fire. After sneaking back to my underground abode, I sit on the floor and pull out my flashlight. Setting it on end, I turn it on so that it helps illuminate the cave. Using my canteen cup and my propane stove, I quickly boil up some water. Adding the chunks of chicken breast I end up with a decent soup. taking the soup off, I roast the drumsticks directly over the gas burner. after everyhting has been cooked, I turn off the stove and lean against the wall to enjoy my first real meal since I awoke here. What has Been Seen Cannot be Unseen Slowly returning to consciousness, Fluttershy realized that she couldn’t move. Her hooves were tied and hre mouth was gagged. Startled, she opened her eyes to a scene taken straight from her worst nightmares. The two legged monster from the Everfree forest was sitting across the cave from her. It was STARING AT HER. too scared to even ‘meep’ Fluttershy just sat there staring at it from behind her mane, hoping that if she didn’t move a muscle it wouldn't notice her. It didn’t work. The creature was staring at her quizzically, as if not sure what to make of the situation. Suddenly it moved over, closer to her. Trembling with fear at what kinds of horrors and tortures it was going to release upon her, she realized that it was talking. Well, not really talking, but it was making some kinds of noise from its mouth and was holding some kind of tube in her face. Realizing that she couldn’t understand it, it held the tube up to its mouth and bit on the end and swallowed. Then taking it out of its mouth, it pointed it at her snout and pinched the end. If she could have screamed, she would have. Something terrible and icy was dripping down her snout. Awaiting some sort of pain from what was most assuredly poison, she sat there struggling against her bonds. Then, suddenly a drop of the vile substance ran into her mouth. It was water! Realizing that he was trying to give her water, she looked at it in hope that it might offer it again. It just sat there watching her, when it pointed at her, then the tube, then his mouth. ‘He must be trying to ask if I want water’ she thought. nodding a yes, the thing moved closer to her. it gestured around it’s head like as if undoing something tied around it and then put a talon to it’s lips and made a “shhhh” noise. Thirsty for something to drink, she nodded yes. Slowly putting down the tube, it approached and reached behind her head. Then it messed with the cordage around her snout and the gag came free. Before she could even think of yelling, it shoved the tube in her mouth. surprised, she bit down on the tube, and caused a trickle of water to come out. ‘It must be like a flexible straw’ she mused. Sucking a bit on the tube rewarded her with more water. However after a bit, the thing took the tube from her mouth and pointed at the now mostly empty clear pouch. He placed it next to a bag in the back of the cave, and then walked over and pantomimed that it was going to put her gag back on. He did so gently (for which Fluttershy was ever grateful for) and then tied it securely behind her head. He then returned to his former spot against the wall and picked up something from the ground. Fluttershy couldn’t see what it was, but suddenly a new smell came to her nose. It was the smell of... burnt flesh. Her beautiful eyes widened in shock as she realized that the thing was eating Henrietta. With that revelation, Fluttershy fainted once more into blissful darkness. Food for Thought ‘Well, that was odd’ I thought to myself, after finishing my dinner. My ‘guest’ had woken up, and did nothing but watch me like I was going to eat it’s soul. After giving it some water, it seemed to soften up a bit, but as soon as I resumed my meal, It’s eyes went wide in shock, and then it passed out again. Since I had a free moment to myself, I went ahead and fed my one guilty pleasure. The one thing I can take with me wherever I am, and what i can do to help forget the stress of the day for a little while. I pulled out my e-reader, and I read my book. I travel a lot, so I normally keep a full library of novels on my reader. Last time I checked, there were something like three thousand books on it. Most of them being glorious Science Fiction or Fantasy. Classics like Heinlein and Asimov, contemporaries like Elizabeth Moon or David Weber. Hard Sci-fi, Space Opera, High Fantasy and Cheap Humor, I have read them all. I also pepper in some biographies and non-fiction works, but Sci-fi and Fantasy are my bread and butter. However, exhaustion soon overtook me and I turned my light off, curled up in my sleeping bag, and dropped off into heavenly sleep. Back at the Camp “Uhh, Has anyone seen Fluttershy lately?