My New Life

by Ark125

Cold

Weeks Later - Northern Equestria

"Sir!" One of the rescue team members yelled to be heard in the blizzard. "We need to head back to base camp! Somepony is going to get hurt if we continue like this!"

The captain was a brown stallion with a greying mane and tail. Scruff lined his lower jaw and he had a calm demeanor about him. "Not until we find those lost hikers!" The captain said. "Come on! We still have a few hours of daylight left!"

The band of ponies continued there search for the group of teenage hikers for two more hours before stopping.

"Alright team! That is all we can do today! Let's head back!"

"Sir! We won't make it back before dark! We need to find shelter for tonight!"

The captain tapped his hoof on his chin and thought. "Alright! I believe there is a cave just over that hill! We can stay there for the night!"

"But sir, this area is known for its bears!" Another pony in the group yelled.

"Don't worry! This time of year, they are just starting to hibernate! We should be safe!"

On that note, the rescue team made its way over the hill and headed towards the cave that was in the side of another hill. As they approached, they saw a glow coming from inside.

The captain stepped in to investigate. He then yelled back out, "It's the missing hikers!"

The rest of the team ran in and found that it was indeed the lost group of hikers. The team started pulling out survival blankets and wrapping up the shivering ponies tight.

"Don't worry kids. Come tomorrow, we will get you home."

"Uh, captain?" One of the team said. "The report said that there were five ponies missing, but I only count four." He held out the report with all the names and pictures of the group which the captain took and confirmed himself.

"I'll take care of it. See that these ponies are fed and their wounds tended to." The team member nodded and went off to delegate while the captain walked over to a pair of the hikers that were huddled together. He sat down in front of the mares and began inspecting them for wounds. He was unable to see the yellow one's face so he decided to take care of the other first.

As he did so, he struck up a conversation. "So what are your names?"

"Blue Bell. And this is Sunny Day." She pointed to the mare hugging her tightly.

"Good, my name is Captain Sherwood. Can you tell me what happened Blue Bell?" He asked as he checked her breathing.

"Well, we were just camping out here, having a good time and such, when this freak blizzard came in. We didn't know what to do, so Rusty suggested we find a shelter that was better than our tents. We found a cave after a few hours of searching and settled down inside.

"A day later, we woke up to a strange sound. Rusty had told Chuck to stay here with Joy, Sunny, and me while he went out to investigate. Well, two hours passed without him coming back, so we began to get worried and all decided to go and look for him.

"We searched for an hour before we found any trace of him. To our horror, that trace was his blood soaked coat. It was torn to shreds and even worse, there were bone fragments and skin scattered around it as well. We didn't have long to mourn though. We could hear that same sound again, except this time it was much closer.

"Suddenly, we saw a silhouette in the distance. Chuck thought it was Rusty and so-called out saying that it wasn't a very nice prank. But the silhouette began to grow bigger and bigger as it came closer. As it got closer, a horrible stench grew in the air and it was a few meters away. We still couldn't make out what it was, but just as we were about to look closer, it made that sound from before and stood up on its hind legs. Before we knew it, I was being dragged away by the 2 meter tall beast. Sunny reacted by bucking it in the legs and it howled in anger, dropping me and taking a swipe at her.

"Before it could get its bearings, we ran as fast as we could back to the cave. The whole time we were running, we were being chased by the beast. Before it could catch us though, we were able to make it back to the cave. We thought we were done for but it didn't come in.

"We don't know why it didn't come in, we just knew that if we stayed here, it wouldn't get us. So we have been here for the last couple of days." She finished speaking and then went quiet.

The captain was awestruck at the tale he had just heard. "Miss Blue, I am sorry to hear that you have gone through so much." He turned to Sunny. "I guess she is taking it the hardest though, huh?"

Blue Bell nodded. "Rusty is... Was, her older brother. They were very close. She hasn't said a thing since."

"That was a very brave thing you did, bucking that monster to save your friend." He said to Sunny. She didn't say a thing. She just sniffled. "If you don't mind, I'd like to take a look at the cuts you received when the creature attacked you."

She didn't make a move. Blue Bell softly rubbed her back. "It's okay."

Sunny sniffed again and nodded. She slowly started to turn around and as she did, he saw the cuts on her body. There were four long cuts that were parallel to each other going down her right side. Each cut was about one centimeter across and two centimeters deep, stretching from just above her right eye to her right flank. He gasped after seeing them for they were still oozing and bled when she put strain on them.

"Oh my gosh. We need to get you patched up as soon as possible." I turned to our doctor. "Doc Leaf, you need to take a look at this."

Our mare medical examiner quickly came over. "Oh my. I don't have any equipment to sew her up. I don't even have anything to clot her bleeding."

"We have to do something. She is nearly bleeding out."

Leaf thought for a moment. "Well the only thing I can think of is kill the infectious bacteria and then bandage her up."

"Will that help her?" Blue Bell asked.

"It will help keep her alive until she can receive proper treatment."

Sunny gripped Blue Bell and looked her in the eyes. Blue Bell saw fear in them.

"Will it hurt?" Blue Bell asked.

Leaf sighed. "I'm not going to lie to you. Yes, it will hurt a lot. But it is the only thing we can do to stop her from getting an infection."

"Doc, before you start, what do you make of this right here?" The captain pointed to the smallest claw mark in Sunny's flank.

Leaf looked closer. "Hold still my dear." She focused on the sliver in her flank and quickly plucked it out with his magic, causing her to yelp. "Got it." She looked it over. "It looks like a claw fragment. We will need to get this checked out when we get back." She pulled out a bag and put it in. "Alright, now let's get you prepped for this." She turned to the captain. "Get a few flat, pointed rocks and place them in the fire."

"Sure thing Doc."

She turned to some other team members. "I need you to hold her down." They nodded and came over to her.

"Is there anything I can do?" Blue Bell asked.

"If you could hold her head still, that would be good." Blue Bell nodded and helped Leaf lay Sunny down. "Sunny, I am going to wrap up your eye first so we don't get anything in it." She began to bandage her eye. "Alright, let's get this done."

Several miles away, a beast stands up from its meal and runs toward the sound of something screaming in pain. Running towards its next meal.

"One more bandage and you should be good." Leaf set the last bandage. "There, that wasn't so bad now was it?"

"You weren't the one holding her down, Doc." One of the team members said.

Leaf rolled her eyes and walked towards the captain. "Sherwood, you may want to talk to Blue Bell, I think she is in a lot of pain too."

"Okay Leaf. Thanks."

Leaf smiled and went to check on her medical supplies. Sherwood walked over to Blue Bell who was gently stroking Sunny's mane, who had passed out from the pain within a few minutes of the treatment starting.

He sat down next to her and stared at the ceiling. "Some day, huh?"

"I guess so." She said back.

"So how did you know Rusty?" Sherwood asked.

The mare sighed. "We were engaged."

Sherwood wasn't prepared for that, so all he could say was, "Oh."

After silence fell for a few more minutes, he spoke again. "So I guess that's why you are taking such good care of her then, huh?"

"She has always been like a little sister to me. I just know that right now, she could really use the support of an older sibling."

"That's good to hear. You keep on doing that and she will be fine. But make sure to let your feelings out too, okay?"

She sniffled. "Okay." He stood up and was about to walk away when she stopped him. "Thanks."

He gave a tired grin. "No problem."

"Hey captain!" One of the team members called out.

"Yes."

"Bumper hasn't returned from getting firewood and we sent him out over an hour ago."

"You know him, he is probably out there waiting to prank us."

"Wait, do you smell something?"

"It is probably the burnt flesh from cauterizing Sunny's wounds."

"No, this is different."

"It's back!" Joy screamed in terror. "It's going to kill us all!"

"Not if I have anything to do about it!" Chuck yelled. "Love you babe." He winked at her and then ran out the front.

"Don't be an idiot!" The captain yelled.

It was too late though, for as soon as he ran outside, he turned around looking for the beast. When turned to face the entrance, he shrugged his shoulders. "Guess it knew I was coming and was going to mess him up so it ran away." He laughed in victory.

"My hero." Joy said. Everypony else just rolled their eyes.

He was still laughing when there was a horrible screech. He covered his ears and then looked up. His jaw dropped and along with the rest of his body when everypony in the cave saw a large clawed paw swipe down at the pony, lopping off his head in one fell swoop.

Joy screamed in terror and ran out to his aid before Sherwood could stop her. Suddenly, another clawed paw came down and killed her too.

"Does anypony else want to try to rescue them, or have we learned our lesson?" Sherwood said sarcastically. Everypony shook their head. "Good. Now maybe we can figure out what to do before it decides to come in after us."

As they weighed their options, the decrepit arms of the beast could be seen still reaching down from the roof of the cave, each time hooking onto another piece of the fallen hikers. The sickening sounds of bones crunching and flesh slapping around in the beast's mouth that could be heard as the creature chewed was only matched by the sight of blood quickly dripping at the cavern's entrance.

"Stupid thing. Why can't you just leave us alone?" Said one of the team members, kicking one of the hot embers of the fire at cave entrance just as the beast was reaching for some last scraps of the ponies. The ember connected with the creature's arm and it let out a blood-curdling screech as it quickly retracted it arm. It could then be heard having what could be described as a tantrum on the roof just above their heads.

"Did you see that?" Doc Leaf asked. "That must be why it wouldn't come into the cave."

Sherwood nodded. "I believe we just found our ticket out of here." He turned to the team. "Get together all the supplies. We are gonna make some torches. See about making a sled as well." He turned to the girls. "Don't worry. We will get you two home safely."

"Alright, are we all ready to go?" Captain Sherwood asked. Everypony else raised their torches and nodded. "Then let's show this beast what we are made of."

With Sunny Day safely tethered down to a makeshift sled, the group of rescuers began their way out of the safety of the cave and into the freezing tundra beyond, exposing themselves to the elements and the vicious brutality of the beast that lie in wait.

"Next stop: Vanhoover!"