//------------------------------// // Tracks // Story: Zinnias // by Serinity Southerland //------------------------------// “I think they lead this way. They seem old though, maybe two or three days. Here, what do you make of it?” An earth pony clad in golden armor motioned to his subordinate to have a closer look at the tracks in the soft soil by the creek.  “The edges seem dull around this hoof print. You’re right sir, maybe a couple days. They’re definitely following the flow of the creek though. Whoever they are, they had the right idea. It's a shame they didn't know how close they were to the forest's edge." The other armored pony, this one a pegasus, responded. “We should hurry up, sir.” “Indeed we shall. If I remember, this region is home to wolves of timber. Quicken your hooves, this path has been beaten, by our lost pony friend who soon may be eaten.” The rhyming speech of their Zebra guide did nothing to soothe the guards fear of stumbling across the gory aftermath of a ravaged pony.  “R-right! I'll scout ahead and report back if I find anything.” The pegasus took to the skies and with a few wing-beats was well ahead of the Zebra and her charge.  “Exactly how deep are we into these woods, Zecora?” The earth pony asked, beginning to trot quickly along the trail of hoof prints. The pegasus guard had said they were close to the edge, but the woods were impossibly thick here. He could barely see a hundred feet ahead in any direction but where the creek snaked through the trees.  “There is not much further to go, only a few hundred feet or so.” Zecora said, approximating their current distance from the edge of the woods. “Though if the mare were to follow this creek, the river, in one more day's time, would peek.”  He took a moment to consider her words before speaking. “So, we’re near the ravine, but because they were following the stream it would take them longer to get there than if they were to just go straight. Got it. That’s not a good sign. They’ve been lucky to make it this far through the timberwolves hunting grounds.” Zecora nodded as they continued along at a quickened pace. She knew these woods like the backs of her eyelids and had warned the Royal Guards before coming into this area that it’s home to no small number of dangerous animals. It was likely they’d find their target spread out over several hundred square feet at this point in their search.  They’d been looking for this mysterious individual for several days now, but the Royal Guard never once gave her a name or a description. Just that the individual was lost in the woods and needed help. How had they wandered this far before they were discovered missing? Another pegasus had found the beginnings of their tracks at least thirty miles away from Zecora’s current location with no tracks leading in and assumed the individual to be a pegasus as well. So why didn't they just fly back out? After some time, the two of them noticed a burning smell in the air that got stronger the further they followed the tracks along the creek. “A fire? Zecora, do you know if there was a storm in this area recently? Maybe lightning struck a tree?” Zecora only shook her head in response before stopping and pointing a hoof towards a fallen trunk. “I believe we found our smokey smell. It would appear that our friend stayed the night here as well.”  “Guess that would explain why she would be so close to the edge of the woods and hadn't been found by the patrols yet. How did the pegasi not see the smoke though?” The guard kicked some of the ash in the pit, and winced as red-hot coals came flying out. “It’s still fresh! They must have been here not too long ago!” “It would appear that this is true, and it seems the wolves have found them too!” Zecora rhymed with alarm and again pointed towards the ground. The armored stallion felt a bit squeamish, expecting to find a clump of hair or a bone, maybe even teeth but the Zebra had found multiple heavy tracks that overlapped each other and a single pair of hoof prints that lead further downstream.  The pacing of the tracks hinted that whoever it was was running as hard as they could, which wasn’t surprising in their circumstances, but a little odd. The previous tracks suggested that they hadn’t been running at all before this point, but rather limped about. It seemed they weren't aware of the dangers here in the woods and felt confident enough to simply walk the whole way. Everypony knows how dangerous the Everfree is, this area even more so, and nopony simply walks through the Everfree.  “Hey, Sergeant! I found her! Get out to the ravine and call the medics immediately!” The pegasus from before looped overhead and shouted at his associates before darting back towards the river. Zecora took the lead and ran slightly to the right of the creek into the woods and the Sergeant followed closely behind. In less than a minute the thick woods around them opened up into a clearing by the ravine and in front of them sat two timberwolves growling angrily across the ravine at the pegasus who was hunched over a tan, red, and autumn orange pile on the other side. The Sergeant ran in front of Zecora and brandished his spear, readying to fight the creatures who at his approach thought better than to fight outnumbered and ran further up the river and back into the woods. He sighed with relief, glad not to have to deal with the creatures and set down a flare he had hidden in one of the pockets of his armor. The flare launched into the air with a magical spark and shortly after, two other patrols converged on them to help.  The mare was lying across the ravine, covered in dirt, drying sweat, and a little blood. She had managed to escape the wolves, but only barely it seemed as her back and rump had been scraped up a bit by their claws. She wasn’t in any immediate risk of bleeding out, but she looked as though she hadn’t eaten in a while and was filthy from being out in the wilds for a whole week. Her mane and tail were tangled with twigs and leaves and she absolutely reeked of wood smoke. The medics came and provided first aid, quickly cleaning her wounds and bandaging her up before placing her on a makeshift gurney with magic and air-lifting her up and out of the woods to safety with two pegasi guards. The field medic who had overseen her immediate care strode up to the armored earth pony and Zecora to give his report.  “Sergeant Nut." The medic started, standing at attention. "The mare is alive, but not without concern. She is unconscious, has multiple shallow lacerations down her back, and seems to have sustained some form of leg injury as her right hind leg seems to have dislocated itself upon landing on the other side of the ravine.” The medic reads off his medical chart to his superior. “The closest medical facility from here is the hospital in Ponyville, so I took the liberty of directing the pegasi to deliver her to their care and await further instruction.”     “Good. Thank you for your excellent work as always, Quick Mend. I noticed she was a pegasus. That confirms our suspicion of how she got to where we first found her tracks without a trail leading up to it." He nodded, satisfied with that reasoning. "Were her wings injured in any way?” Sergeant Nut asked. “No, sir. They seemed to be in good shape, all things considered. Maybe a little atrophied from lack of use in recent weeks, but otherwise functional. She may not be a strong flier or have some underlying issue or condition like a fracture.” The doctor adopted a thoughtful expression. "I’ll send word to have the medical staff take X-rays, just in case.” “Why would a pegasus with two perfectly functioning wings find themselves lost in the Everfree Forest for a whole week, and not think about using said wings to just…fly up? She obviously flew in… Why would she resort to following the creek, and making camps? Especially since her hoof tracks hinted at her having a limp. I don’t understand,” Sergeant Tough Nut looked down and furrowed his brows.  “It should have been simple for her to just leave if she truly was mostly uninjured. Cloudsdale is hard to miss on a good day and nearly every pegasus knows where it is. And if she couldn't make the trip for being a weak flier, she very easily could have made the less than half-day flight to Ponyville from where she started instead of taking the long way. By Tartarus, she even passed within a few hundred feet of Zecora’s house along the way. What gives?” “Sergeant?” Quick Mend interrupted expectantly.  “Dismissed.” Tough Nut said, quickly. Quick Mend gave a quick salute and trotted back to his partner before making their way towards town. Sergeant Nut then turned to Zecora. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever seen this mare before?”  “To that, I can surely say; I have not seen her before today. Perhaps she will find someone in town who can turn her frown upside-down. Until then, Sergeant, I bid adieu, for there are potions that I must brew. I'm sure the doctors in Ponyville may ask me that I soon will.” She waved to Sergeant Nut before excusing herself, trotting towards town and safer paths back to her home in the woods. “I should report back to Captain Armor. Maybe his sister will know about the mare. If not, then we’ll have to wait for her to wake up so we can get some answers here.” He quickly gathered up the remaining guards and after a quick debrief, sent them on their way back. He took another moment to survey the area taking in everything he saw upon arriving and noticed a small ugly bowl. It looked worse than a pre-school foal's art project, but he deemed it important enough to take for evidence before he and his pegasus partner left for Ponyville.