"Have you managed to find the missing filly yet?" Asked the unicorn in a guard armor.
"Not yet, sir. I'm afraid we already searched the entire town already." Came the reply from another guard. "From what I heard from the witnesses, I guess she was heading to the south-west and went outside the town."
The unicorn guard sighed, "Dammit, there was a report about a lone Maulwurf lurking around the area if that kid was heading toward the canyon." With a shook of his head, he asked. "Is there any news from the pegasus team? Have they arrived from the search?"
"They will back in a few minutes." Replied his subordinate, "I'm sure they will find her."
⁂
On the south-western side of Ponyville, the pegasus team were on their search and rescue mission to bring back the missing filly that was last seen heading towards this direction. The group were in loose formation, separated from one another and had a voice transmitter enhancement on their helmet for an easy communication.
One of the pegasus saw an unusually bright light near the cliff which were recently collapsed, possibly from the Maulwurf activity. "I see something on our right. There is a bright light over there, and it's seem like there was a landslide."
"Excellent work Seeker 2, everypony follows Seeker 2 and maintain the altitude, we don't want the Maulwurf to just jump up and catching us off when it thinks it can reach us." Said the flight lead to his wingponies.
Approaching the light which was emitted from the ground near the cliff, the guards arrived at the scene and saw that a good portion of the cliff was collapsed. The area was still covered in a thick dust from the landslide, but they focused their attention to the source of light and upon a closer inspection, the light was actually a sunlight reflecting from the gemstones that was scattered around the ground.
"My goodness, what the heck was happened here."
"Not a clue, better keep an eye for the girl, she must be... oh wait I see her."
"Be careful Seeker 3, I don't want to see you going back home without a wing." Joked his squad mate.
Banking his wings to make a descent, the other pegasus followed his lead while the rest of the team were maintaining their altitude. When they flew closer just enough to see the scene.
"What the hell? is that... is that a Maulwurf? A baby Maulwurf she killed?" Said the rookie member.
On the ground, there was the creature laying on its back with a burn marks over its face, half buried by the rubble. It was unknown whether the creature was still alive at that point. Although a group of guard could theoretically dispel an infant Maulwurf, it's still such a rarity for them to see the creature up in the open, let alone to actually see it incapacitated, but defeated by a small filly? Despite it still a baby, the Maulwurf was just slightly bigger than a regular bear in size but is on par with a Cragadile when it comes to toughness.
"Just focus on the extraction and get the hell out of there, the rest of the team, keep an alert if the mother is nearby and decide to come by." With a shake of his head, the leader of the team looking down at the unconscious filly on the ground and said. "Her parents is surely gonna like to hear this..."
⁂
Cookie Crumbles was trotting around the town, taking a deep breath to fill her lungs with the fresh cold air which is such a rarity back in Manehattan. Along the way, she began to think about the pros and cons about living in Ponyville. Overall, her week there was uneventful, beside some confusing house layout which is a stark contrast to the grid block building layout of the city. The town was bigger than she thought, and the lack of transportation means she has to travel around town by hooves with a fairly long distance just to get groceries. The road was mostly limited or non-existent, only a plain dirt road leading to the most crowded area or the 'main street' and nothing else.
Sighing, she looked around her and so far, everything seems good, she might've been too paranoid about a monster attack or the Everfree but who can blame her, Rarity was inside her belly when she first arrived and her husband attempt to comfort her has caused the opposite effect and now, there was a recent report which increased her uneasiness. But despite the report, the ponies so far seems pretty content like it was nothing. They kept doing their own business, smiling and talking with each other and even laughing at some of the jokes they heard. The town was indeed full of friendly pony and the neighborhood were nice and actually seems to care with each other. Most of the commodity there were natively grown from the farmland and local business were thriving. Despite the distance with the market, she guessed she will get used to it and maybe her fear was just a temporary thing.
Smiling, compared to Manehattan, maybe it wasn't as bad as she thought it was going to be.
But when she was arrived at the boutique where she stayed for a couple of a day, she saw that there was a crowd of ponies and the mare she recognized as the mayor of the town. Confused and worried, she took a slow steps closer to where her daughter was when she was left.
⁂
It was a huge blow to Rarity's parents for learning that her precious daughter went missing. The front door of the house was left open when Cookie Crumbles, the mother of young Rarity came back home from the train station after she did a negotiation with the railroad company about the possibility of them to transporting large furniture across the country. She was about to open up with her husband idea to live a simple life in a town where they had some sense of community compared to the city. The witnesses said that her daughter's horn was glowing, and she was screaming along the way when she was resisting the pull from her own horn.
Hondo Flanks was in shocked by what he heard from the mayor by the time he was back to the boutique, he had a hard time believing what he heard.
"Mr Flanks, I know that is hard for-"
"But you said this town is safe!"
"Ye-yeah the town is safe, but we don't know what was happened to your daughter that caused her-"
"Shut up! Where is she now?"
"W-we did our best to try-"
"Sir!" A new voice was heard.
Their attention was shifted by the time a pegasus guard arrived from where they went, and he spoke. "We have found your daughter sir, and-"
"You found her? Where is she?!"
The guard remained silent for a few seconds, mentally prepare himself to deliver the bad news about the filly's condition.
"We send her to the hospital by the time we speak, and she is now under the care of the professionals."
Hondo's previous fury was gone in an instant by the time he heard that his daughter was in the hospital, a cold feeling spread throughout his body and suddenly everything he saw become so blurry, he never had thought that his daughter would end up in the situation like this and a dozen of images forming up in his head about how severe his daughter's condition was.
It took him awhile to get over his shock, shaking his head, he banished the mental thought about how bad his daughter condition was and began to think more rational. In his mind, Rarity might be unharmed and only need some physical check here and there for a precaution before she was clear to go home. As much as he wanted to believe it though, the way the guard informed him was not an appealing one. But still, he kept thinking that way and nothing will change his mind until he saw his daughter himself.
"T-take me to her."
⁂
How is such that thing is possible? It was like the fate itself intentionally pulled her daughter into a trap.
Compared to her more adventurous husband, Cookie Crumbles is a lot more cautious and conservative. Had Rarity wasn't encounter the Maulwurf and come back in one piece from her little adventure, she might've settled that Ponyville wasn't as bad as she thought. But with the recent incident, her worry were proven correct, and now she was sobbing on the floor while the townsponies were trying to console her.
Hondo himself was eerie silent by the time he landed his eyes on his daughter and saw her condition. It was the second time they visited the Ponyville General, but compared to the previous one, this time it wasn't a happy moment.
Rarity was laying motionless on the hospital bed with an IV along with other medical instrument attached to her body. There was a bruise on her forehead, and she had several small cuts all over her body. Her right hind leg was wrapped in a bandage, possibly from the blunt force from the impact of the falling debris. Her eyes socket was sunken, her usual pristine white coat were now duller in comparison to her usual self with a sweat and dirt and crimson patches into the mix. Her mane was a mess, wrinkled, tangled, and has lost its spark from the accumulated dust. From the looks of it, she had a severe dehydration, and it's unlikely for her to wake up anytime now.
Sitting on the bench outside the room, Hondo just stare ahead with a blank expression on his face. His heart was shattered in pieces, he was the one who had the initiative to moved into Ponyville. He always has a place for the sight of green hill and trees, and he would love to have a life near them despite the fact that this town is not the safest place in Equestria. Sighing, he realized just how selfish he has become. Because of his selfishness, his daughter was paying the price. He supposedly become a figurehead of the family, to be a selfless pony who prioritize the other. And now, he had a lot to make up for his family.
Cookie Crumbles has stopped crying now, but she found herself unable to look at her husband. In her mind, this whole situation will never happen had she stays with her feeling, part of her wanted to turn and never seeing him again, but another kept telling her that it's worth nothing. The damage has done, and she wanted to vent out her frustration, but she couldn't. She was just looking out at the window, eyes still puffy from the tear she shed. She wanted to leave the town as soon as possible once her daughter was in good condition, she couldn't imagine the horror her daughter faced. The filly who deserve better.
According to the guards, she was found on the rubble which indicated that she was on the cliff before the Maulwurf attack. The existence of the Maulwurf itself was still under investigation, and she must've used her entire mana reserve to defend herself from the Maulwurf but not without hurting herself in the process. It was too early for them to concluded that the recent Sonic Rainboom might've done something with her that cause her magic power to overcharged, but at the end of the day.
She was alive.
The gemstones that was found nearby was allocated to Hondo's family with a small amount of them will be used for the hospital bill while their daughter were there. The gemstones had a low exchange value at that time because how much easier for them to be found. Despite the quantity, they aren't worth that much and only serve as a painful remainder.
What is the point of having them if your child is laying motionless in the hospital? It's pretty much their fault for letting this to happened to their daughter. It's their fault for leaving her alone in the boutique.
Maybe, they will deal with the other problem next time, because for now, they only want their daughter safe, but deep down in their heart.
They know their daughter will never be the same...