//------------------------------// // Calling for Help // Story: The Green Room // by Toodle Flip //------------------------------// The main concern of Ginger Snap now was finding help. She didn’t know who she could find out in the forest. Maybe I would find Zecora, she seemed pretty friendly, if reserved. But, there also has to be a search party. A foal can’t go missing without a search party. I know they will come for me. All I need to do is call for help. Ginger looks up, towards the canopy and frowns. I’ll never be spotted in here. I need to move to a clearing without the danger of more manticores. I don’t want a repeat of last time. Which way to go though? I can’t see any hills, those are long gone, and I can’t climb to the tops of these trees. I guess I just go where I haven’t gone before. Walking into the forest again, Ginger looks around trying to figure out where there was an empty clearing. For the most part, the forest looks the same; save for the occasional puddle, or the increasing sense of that terrible smell from the bog. Not wanting to go back there, Ginger goes left, wandering into another random part of the forest. Small clearings with blue patches of flowers, and other strange plants that didn’t look so friendly anymore after her encounter with the stinging nettle, despite their sweet smell and Ginger decided to avoid those too. The air slowly became dryer, and the trees more sparse as the landscape slowly became more arid and desert-like. Ginger crossed the tree-line and she was in a desert with strange mounds of dirt all over the field. The grass did not grow, and there was a solitary tree. Taking shelter under the shade of the tree, she looks and sees that there is a strange, long hole in part of the branch. Her stomach rumbles, and she looks at it with a frown. We will have lots of food soon once the search party finds us. I just know it. All we need to do is get their attention. It will be easy to find me here. The colors may be a bit hard to find, but it is hard to ignore a filly yelling. I know they are out there… I feel so lonely here. So alone. I wish I was home, I wish I had Archer here with me. Even Diamond Tiara would be an improvement. Preparing to yell, she looks around and sees that there are plenty of rocks which could be arranged to make a sign. I think a sign will do me better, because pegasi would see my need for help, and a ground search party will notice the unnatural formation of rocks. It is fool proof! Using her limited artistic vision, Ginger sets about gathering the stones. Placing them is hard work, and the sun moves overhead, moving towards the horizon, making the day cooler. I hope I actually spell out what I mean. Eventually finished, Ginger looks at her work. Well, it might be what I need, but only time will tell. I am not high enough to see the message but I think I got it though. Ginger had managed to spell out, if a bit sloppy, “Help”. Ginger looks around, hoping to see help and in the shimmering on the horizon, sees a moving shape. Ginger had finally found a way home. “Hey! You over there! I need help! I have been stuck in the forest for hours, and I need to find a way home!” The shape turns, looking towards Ginger, and it begins sprinting. Ginger smiled, and ran towards the shape, until she heard the baying, and that the shape didn’t look like a search party. The ground beneath Ginger began to shake and she stops. A fountain of earth erupts in front of her, and out of it, a bipedal dog appears. “Pony!” The dog begins shaking with happiness, “This pony is small, cannot whine like other one did. Plus, Rover have cloth to cover pony mouth in case pony try!” Ginger looks at the—in her eyes—horrid creature. Its teeth were sharp, it smelled terrible, and its claws were sharp. Her face contorted into a silent scream. She backed away, falling on her rump. The diamond dog, an eldritch horror to Ginger, turned around to speak to his companion, “See! Pony does not even run. Pony is so scared, will probably jump into hole if Dog ask!” Ginger decides to turn around and leave, and begins galloping back into the forest. She tries to weave as more mountains of dirt erupt around her, the barking of the dogs like demons from Tartarus. She moves closer and closer to the edge of the forest, while the Dogs edge closer, some racing along the surface. Just before Ginger could reach the forest, and safety, she was grabbed by one of the diamond dogs. They had caught her back right leg, and she could not struggle free. I have to do something now! Otherwise who knows what will happen? They might eat me for all I know! As she continued to struggle, her other back leg struck the diamond dog in the nose, causing it to yelp and let go. She ran into the forest, losing sight of the Dogs. That was a close one… I know that calling for help won’t pan out here… Having failed his mission, the Diamond dog reported back to Rover, “Sorry, but me fail… Pony kick me in snout!” The Dog pointed towards his nose, which was bright red from the kick. “First Pony whine, which hurt Dog ears, then Pony kick? Starting to think that using ponies is a bad idea… Let’s try donkey. Rover think that donkey less likely to complain.” Ginger Snap waited a few minutes, watching the Dogs retreat back into their holes. She also saw that her rocks were scattered, and no message could be seen from them. Looks like rescue will have to look for me the hard way. Ginger took one last look at the sun, seeing it was very close to the horizon. I think this leads me into my next step, Shelter. I don’t think I want to be outside when night falls here… After all, if manticores and those strange dog things are what is out and about during the day… Meeting whatever lurks around in the night sounds terrible!