//------------------------------// // 33 Taken too far // Story: Crushed: The Beginnings // by Silent Wing //------------------------------// I had spent an interesting afternoon with Rumble and Georg in Canterlot and am on my way back home now. As I make my way through the portal and from then on walk towards home, I already have a bad feeling about the rest of this day. After a moment of thought I decided to get today's new school newspaper and take a look at the newest shit Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom came up with. Whoever they targeted today, I already feel sorry for them. For some odd reason, I have a bad feeling about it. The strange looks I receive from everypony aren’t helping me to feel better at all. In truth they make me feel very uncomfortable. In fact, those looks I receive make me change my plan and I decide to avoid as many ponies as possible for now. I turn around and leave the more populated part of the town and walk to a nearby lake. Once I am there I lay into the shadow of a tree, getting one of the textbooks and something to write out of my saddlebags before I start with my homework. Usually I don’t have this stuff with me, but since we went to Canterlot directly after school. Today is one of the few occasions where I didn’t bother to drop the stuff at home first, which comes in pretty useful right now. Math is taken care of pretty fast, with history I struggle a bit more but not that much. As usual it’s equish I have problems with, so much that I just drop it annoyed after some time. A short look at the sun reveals that it’s time for me to return home, if I don’t want to be late for dinner. A bit sluggish I get up from my comfortable position and slowly walk home, however, what awaits me as the house comes in sight isn’t something I ever could have imagined. There, right in front of the house is a mob of ponies, holding torches and pitchforks in their hooves. I approach them slowly, wondering what all that could be about when somepony screams something I never expected to hear. “There, there is the monster. Get her!” Within a moment's notice everypony is focused on me, the looks they are giving me are some of utter hatred and disgust. I wait for a few seconds, totally confused at what’s going on, but when a pitchfork comes flying into my direction, I immediately turn around and run as fast as I can. I don’t care where I am running to as long as it’s as far away from those crazy ponies as possible. I hope that whatever possessed them to act that way towards me will pass soon. It's a worried pegasus that looks through the window, sighing in relief when the gathered ponies begin to leave. Not even a minute after the first pony left, the entire front yard is completely empty again. "Rainbow, they are all gone now." She tells her marefriend, relive evident in her voice. "Do you have any idea what that was about?" "I wish I knew Flit's, but honestly, I don't plan to go out and find out about it just yet." "Neither do I. Maybe Mango and Wingy know something when they come home, which should be pretty soon." She replies worried, hoping that both of them are alright. Her thoughts are by her two loved ones as she spends the next ten minutes laying the table and putting the final touches on dinner. "Flitter, Rainbow, please tell me that Wingy is with you." The stallion that ripped the door open asks, sounding as he had just run a marathon. "No. Do you know what's going on and why there had been a bunch of ponies waiting in front of our house earlier?" She asks her beloved, now once more extremely worried about her little filly. Instead of saying anything, he just hoofs her something, which proves to be today's issue of the Foal Free Press, showing the newest Gabby Gums article. "I am gonna kill that bitch!" The usual calm pony screams, no trace left of the kind mare she normally is. A short glance at the headline of it was enough to cause this reaction. Silent Wing, the monster wearing a ponies coat. Is written there in bold letters. She doesn't need to read anymore, knowing that everything the article has to offer are only more lies. She doesn't know nor care why that horrible pony saw it as a good idea to write such things about her little filly, since there are far more pressing matters at hoof.  With the knowledge the newspaper gave her, and the actions of those ponies from earlier, a terrible thought comes to the mind of the worried mare. “If Wingy isn’t here, and those ponies from earlier left in such a hurry, that can only mean one thing.” “We have to find her!” The rainbow coloured pegasus says first, quickly followed by the other two ponies as all of them come to the same conclusion. The two mares are already halfway to the door when they are stopped by their coltfriend. “Stop!” He shouts, making them stop instantly, more surprised than anything else by his stern tone “We can’t just run around blindly, that way we will never find her in time.” “Flitter, you go to Canterlot and tell Luna what happened, we need as many Guards as possible.” He orders the greyish blue pegasus before he addresses both of them at the same time. “I’ll get all the Guards and we start to search the Everfree forest.” “Mango, why focus on the forest, I mean Wingy could be everywhere.” “Because that is where I saw many ponies heading on my way home. I wouldn’t be surprised if they chased her in there.” He replies stoic, trying to keep his voice from worry in an attempt to not make the mares even more nervous, than they already are. “Hey, and what about me?” The brash pegasus protests, as the two others are already on their way to leave. Not in the slightest happy, that he forgot about her. “You stay here!” He says with such finality that no normal pony would think about protesting, but Rainbow Dash isn’t a normal pony. “Rainbow, you are seven months into your pregnancy. There is no chance that I let you set even a hoof into that forest and that is final.” He states before the mare is able to say anything, knowing that under normal circumstances she would ignore all of his commands. "Rainbow, I know how hard this must be for you but I would never be able to forgive myself if something happens to you or our foal." He continues, his gaze trayling off from her face to her swollen belly, that is clearly showing the signs of the mare's pregnancy. I lost them, I finally lost the ponies chasing me. I still don’t know why they did this and honestly, I don’t care anymore. The only thing I know for sure is that I can’t go back into the town, at least not yet. I really know that I shouldn’t go any further into the Everfree forest, but with what would await me if I should go out too soon, I don’t really have a choice in the matter. Still, I stop for a moment to think about where exactly to go now. I could try to go into the castle and wait there for a while, but with how far that is, I don’t really think of it as a good idea. Heading west, where the terrain is mostly flat, doesn’t seem like a good idea as well. So, the only real option that is worth trying would be to head east, where the terrain is made out of small hills, which would reduce the chance to get spotted by any predators tremendously. The only drawback with this plan is that I wouldn’t see them from afar as well, making it much more difficult to avoid them. Slowly, I begin to make my way into the direction I choose, examining everything that could be the entrance of a burrow or a small cave, where I could spend the night in relative safety. The journey is slow and tiring and I regret that I dropped my saddle bags earlier, where still a small canteen with water was in it. Truly, something to drink would be really nice right now. I walk in silence for quite some time, but stop when I hear something very unsettling. I approach a nearby rock slowly, trying to make as less sound as possible before I look around it. What I see there is absolutely horrible and it cost me all my willpower to not throw up. There, only a few meters away, a Manticore and her cubs are eating something that looked like it once used to be a deer. Without a second thought I turn around, knowing just how dangerous of a situation I am currently in. There is only one more thing unsettling me, more than what I just witnessed. Where the fuck is the partner of this Manticore? To my misfortune, I get this question answered sooner than I would have liked, as I stumble right into it on my retreat. Frozen in fear I am unable to move even an inch until the Manticore roars directly into my face. I bolt instantly, wanting to get as far away as possible from the creature, that thinks of me as a threat to its offsprings, or as food for them, what would be even worse. Unwilling to find out what it is, I gallop as fast as my hooves can carry me back to where I came from. I raced down the hill, headed for a denser part of the forest, hoping that it wouldn’t follow me into it. Sadly, it does and while I struggle slightly to make my way through some bushes, it simply powers through them like they aren’t there. Coming far more closer than I am comfortable with. When I spot a hole in the treecover that could allow me to fly above the forest into relative safety, I am quick to spread my wings and take to the sky. Only to scream in pain as my left wing collides with a thick branch, sending me tumbling back to the ground. The impact on the ground isn’t very comfortable but the pain from that is nothing compared to the pain in my wing. I get up again and try to bolt once more, only to scream in pain again when the Manticore sinks its teeth into my right hindleg. The short moments I needed to get my bearings back under control was obviously enough time for it to close the final gap. Instead of simply biting my leg off, it just keeps hold on me and begins to drag me back to where we both came from, thinking me defeated. The Manticore drops me to the ground, more from surprise than pain, as I kick it with my good hindleg in the snout. I try to get as far away from it as possible, but with one bad leg, I don’t get very far before the beast is over me again. This time however the Manticore wants to make sure that I am finished, as it tries to ram its stinger into me. I manage to roll to the side, its stinger landing harmlessly into the ground. I manage to pull this off once more before the Manticore gets too annoyed and simply steps on my already ruined leg. Once more I scream in unimaginable pain, which distracts me so much that I almost don’t realize what its true intentions are. As in slow motion I see its jaw approaching, aiming directly for my throat. I don't know how I do it, but somehow I managed to avoid this, only to realize that it didn’t miss me entirely when its jaw closes around my uninjured wing.  Its sharp teeth are quick to go through the flesh before they make contact with the bone. This however isn’t enough for the best as its jaw mercilessly crushes the bone. Much to my surprise, I am not the only one to scream in pain when something unseen by me, hits the Manticore into its back. Some time earlier at the Ponyville Guard post: Princess Luna pants heavily when she and 30 Guards arrive with a pop at the small barracks, usually housing the Guards stationed in Ponyville. By now however it had been repurposed and serves the Captain of her Guard as a command post, from where he organizes the search for the missing filly. She waits for a few moments until Captain Nightshade gave his orders to the newcomers before she approaches him, curious how the situation is developing. “Any news yet Captain?” “The questioning of the locals confirmed that they indeed chased the filly into the Everfree forest. With those Guards you brought we have now 158 ponies searching for her in there.” “What about the 10 Royal Guards stationed here. What are they currently doing?” I ask after a few moments of thought, when I realize that he never mentioned them. Hopefully, he has a good  explanation for this. “They have found out who Gabby Gums is and should currently arrest them and the editor-in-chief of this horrid paper.” He replies, making it clear that he knows more than he is letting me know. “I see, throw them in the Castles dungeon once you have them, Tia and I will deal later with them.” I reply before I leave him to his task and make my way into the Everfree forest, joining the search parties myself. “Are you sure it is a good idea that we didn’t wait for reinforcement to arrive, sir?” One of the stallions in the first group to enter the forrests asks his CO, concerned about the fact that they are far ahead of everypony. After all, usually that would mean that it takes quite some time for back up to reach them, should it be necessary. “No, but that is why I didn’t protest when you brought purple smarts to the base and she insisted on going with us.” He replies to his subordinate, earning once more a groan from the unicorn in their group, who clearly dislikes that nickname. “If something goes wrong, she can not only shoot flares into the sky, but also teleport us out if necessary.” He continues his explanation, which, even if it's only slightly, raises the spirits of everypony in his group. “Besides Eve, you and I both know that her brother taught her some things.” The focus on everypony turns now to the purple unicorn in their group, and they are about to ask her just what her brother taught her, when they hear a terrifying scream. “It came from there.” One of the eight Thestral says, pointing into said direction before all of them run into the direction the scream came from.  The unicorn of the group all the while shooting red sparks into the sky, hoping that anypony would see them and come to their aid. Within two minutes they are atop a hill and spot the Manticore standing over the helpless filly, only around ten meters away. The Guards are quick to approach the beast, but they aren’t the first to strike, as the Manticore screams in pain when a bolt of purple magic slams into its back, only a moment after it bit down on the fillies wing. As a second bolt slams into its back, the Manticore turns around, but not without delivering one more blow to the filly as it buries a paw deep into the fillies side. Now, enraged by the purple unicorn that is reading another spell, it storms towards whom it thinks to be the greatest threat, only for a sword to cut deep into it’s leg as it passes a Guard. The Manticore leaps at the unicorn only to crash right into a purple wall before the sword of a Night Guard cuts through its tail and serves its stinger. While one of the Guards rush to the filly to treat her wounds, will the remaining seven encircle the wounded predator. “Twilight, how long can you keep that shield up?” The commander of the small group asks, mere moments before he aims with his own sword for one of the beast's legs, but has to cut his attack short as the beast now goes after him. “Not more than fifteen minutes, if I still want to be able to teleport all of us back to Ponyville. Should it only be me, Silverfang, and Wingy not more than two hours.” She replies immediately before she drops the shield and sends a gust of flames at the Manticores back. “But I don’t plan to sit idle by and just watch.” Once more, the beast turns it’s focus onto Twilight and lunges at her in its rage, only to crash once more in a purple shield the unicorn created. The confusion of the Manticore is quickly replaced by a scream, as three Guards take full advantage of its momentary distraction and ram their swords in its back before retreating quickly. However, the new wounds aren’t slowing the Manticore down, only managing to enrage it even further. In a bold move, the only Guard to be armed with a spear, charges the ferocious beast, almost catching it by surprise. The Manticore swings a paw at him, hitting his right forelegs and its claws leaving deep cuts into them. This however doesn’t stop the Guard and he successfully rams his spear in its open mouth with so much force that the tip of it comes out the back of its head. The Manticore staggers for a moment before it collapses to the ground. To ensure that the beast is indeed dead, one of the Guards cuts its throat open before everypony focuses on their medic and the filly they had been searching for in the first place. “Silverfang, how is she doing?” “Not good sir. We need to get her to the hospital immediately, if she is to have a chance to survive the night.” The Thestral in question replies, draining the color out of their commanders face as he receives the devastating report.