Flowers in the Forest
Sweetiebelle woke with four people standing over her. Three were friends and one was Spike. Her eyes flickered open and she found herself laying in the white bed of the infirmary and the sharp pain in her abdomen had ceased.
She let out a groan and she looked around as she regained focus, "ugh.... what happened?" she asked weakly.
"You passed out after your gash started to bleed again." Lyvia answered.
"I what..?"
"You passed out, don't you remember. Cinder said that you started feeling a large amount of pain before you gash started to bleed heavily again. But this time you passed out."
"When did this happen?" Sweetie questioned, she didn't remember anything that had happened.
"Just yesterday afternoon. You've been out for a day at least." answered Lil' Dew.
This was all new to Sweetie, she sat up and rested her back against the pillow as she rubbed her head, "Why don't I remember any of this..?" she said with a tint of fear in her voice.
They shrugged, but the nurse intruded in and gave her opinion, "Miss Belle, I believe that you don't remember any of this due to the fact that your body is repressing the memory as it was such a traumatic experience. Whether you agree with it or not you could have died from blood loss and thus your body prioritised on healing and not saving the memory. So you have it, but you can't access it." ... "If that makes sense."
Sweetiebelle shook her head, it made no sense to her.
"Basically your brain blocked it because at the time it wasn't important and it hasn't unlocked it as of yet." the nurse explained further.
"So I will remember it?"
"Yes, in time." ... "When it becomes important enough to reveal itself."
"When will that be?"
"Hours, days, weeks, months... years." ... "It's impossible to tell, but as of now, your memory of the event is not important. We need to focus on getting you healed and fixed up."
"Okay..." she gulped and fiddled with her fingers, "How bad is it?"
"Hmm?"
"How bad is my wound, has it got worse?"
"No, it was just bleeding, but you've lost a lot of blood, I've stitched it up and applied antigen-soaked bandages to the wound so hopefully we can prevent infection and in the best case we can stop the bleeding." ... "However, to ensure its success I need to supply you a pill that should stop the blood from escaping your body if it does reopen. However..."
"However what?" Sweetiebelle asked.
"It will disrupt your menstrual cycle." the nurse admitted.
"My what?"
"When your period comes."
"Oh..."
Everyone went quiet, "So it stops my period?"
"You could say that. It more or less delays it. As I said, it this pill stops blood from escaping your body. From every point."
"I don't see a bad side here. I don't have to put up with my period." she paused, "wait, is this like 'The Pill?"
The nurse shook her head, "no, it not The Pill, its different as it doesn't attack your hormones, it lowers your blood pressure and immune response time. It's actually quite dangerous if you overdose and its not recommended unless you have a serious injury or you commonly lose too much blood from an injury." ... "This pill has to be medically subscripted to you and I can only supply you a bottle a month." ... "But in the end you do get the choice to take this."
"I want it."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"You're not even going tot think about it?"
"I have." ... "I want it."
The nurse sighed, "alright, I'll go fill out some paperwork and I'll make sure you have a bottle before your admitted out of my care." she finished and left to go to her office. Leaving Sweetie with Spike, Lil'Dew, Lyvia and Cinder as they crowded around her.
Cinder looked pale and she was making an uneasy smile, Sweetie could tell that she felt bad for what had happened, even though it wasn't her fault and she had no way of knowing.
"I wish I could get rid of my period." she let off an uneasy smile.
"It doesn't get rid of it, it delays it," Sweetie corrected, "I have no idea what that means but it's a god send."
"Can I take a few pill from your bottle when you get it?" Cinder asked.
Spike eyed her, "Cinder, thats a bad idea. Didn't you hear the nurse when she said that these pills can be dangerous?"
"I did, but I don't care."
"Is fucking up your menstrual cycle really more important to you then your health?" Spike question as he raised an eyebrow, "Like, I know that periods can be bad, I've heard Sweetiebelle go on about them when she's in a bad mood, but it isn't worth it."
"Piss off Spike, you're not a girl, you don't know what we go through." Cinder threatened.
He sighed, "fine." he stood up and made his way out of the infirmary and closed the door behind him and the moment he heard the click of the door he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"I need to speak with you boy." Spike recognised the voice, it belonged to the drunk, but highly skilled captain of his squad, Silver Blaze.
Spike turned around to face him, "talk about what?" he asked.
"About the Black Apple Gang," Silver answered simply, "now come with me to my office." He began to lead Spike down the corridors. Turning left and right, up some stairs and through some more corridors until they reached a large office with a view over the courtyard. He sat down in his chair behind his desk that was covered in piles of letters with a small knife stuck in the wood. "sit," he said and motioned for Spike to sit just across from him, which he did.
"Now Spike," he paused, "that is your name right?"
Spike nodded.
"Good." ... "Now, I'm sure you're aware of the Sweetiebelle's encounter with a member of the Black Apple Gang yesterday. Am I right?" he asked, pulling out a piece of parchment lined with notes.
"Yes, Cinder told me about it after Sweetiebelle passed out," he answered.
"Then I'm sure you're aware of their presence surrounding the school."
"What?"
"Oh, you don't know." ... "I would assume that my men have been doing their job too well because the Black Apples have been trying to infiltrate the school grounds for the past month. They're growing bolder and more dangerous, they're attacking my men left and right and I fear that they're after you and Sweetiebelle."
"What are you going to do then?"
"Well, I want to evacuate you two from the school grounds and see if they're attention is diverted from the school to you guys. I need to know if its you they're after or something else."
"Where would we be going?"
"To a holiday house in the mountains. You will be accompanied by two of my best soldiers who have had experience in escorting and guarding civilians during situations such as this. They will be keeping you under a low profile but they can't do everything. You two will need to help them out by making sure that your friends don't know where you're going or why you're going. By all means let them know that you have to 'disappear' for a while, but by no means are you to tell them for how long, where you're going or why you're going." ... 'Discretion is a must."
"Okay..." was all that Spike could say, he was shocked and confused. He didn't really understand what was happening other than that they had to run away for a little while. But he didn't fully understand why, all Silver told him was that they had to go so that he could see if the Black Apple Gang was after them or not. But Spike new who they were after, they were after Sweetiebelle, they had been for a while. They had encounter her twice so far, there's no doubt that they wouldn't keep trying to catch her.
He sighed. He was going to have to go along with it, whether or not he liked it, and if he actually understood the reasoning or not.
"Alright," Spike said, "when are we leaving?" he asked.
"Tonight." he answered.
"Tonight?!"
Captain nodded, "Tonight."
"And you didn't think to give us a little warning?"
"There was no need," he answered, "as I said, discretion is a must."
Spike raised an eyebrow, "You do know that Sweetiebelle's in the hospital don't you?"
"She's what?!"
"The gash on her stomach reopened and she passed out. Now they're subscribing her a packet of pills that should help control the bleeding in her body,"
"Do you know if she'll be fit to travel by midnight tonight?" ... "If not, then we'll have to carry her to the cart and bring along, Sheela, our medical expert. She'll know what to do," he looked at the dragon, "Don't worry, boy. We'll keep you two safe until we know it's safe."
"Alright," Spike accepted and sighed, "But keeping me in the same house with my ex-girlfriend is a bad idea." Spike exclaimed as he left the room, leaving Captain Silver Blaze to his work.
Tonight, everything would have to change, and it killed him inside to keep all this from his friends. Never the less, he had to go along with it, and so did Sweetiebelle. So he rushed back to the infirmary to tell Sweetie the news and that she would have to be good by tonight. To which the nurse replied on her behalf, yes.
That night when the clock struck twelve, as the moonlight fed through the windows to softly light to corridors of the now all-quiet castle-like school, did Spike and Sweetiebelle stand in the not-so-grand courtyard that tainted the entrance of the school.
"Alright kids, are you ready to go?" asked a female guard who looked a lot like the captain, only smaller, younger, longer hair and obviously a different gender. She was wearing the customary golden armour and her sword at her waist. She did not have a shield, but instead wielded a second blade, a dagger which sat on the other side of her belt. Over her shoulders and along her back hung a deep-red cape that marked that she was an elite soldier, the cape was marked with the symbol of her squad, which was the head of a wolf that howled at the moon. This mark was also located on her luggage, which she held on her shoulder like a dead body.
"Yes," the two of them said in unison.
"Alright then, lets go. We shouldn't waste any time." the guard led them just outside of the school ground to the main street of the Canterlot City, which was also dead quiet. There was a horse and cart, already on it was another guard, wearing the same uniform as his squad member. "Spike, Sweetiebelle, this is Buzz, he'll be our guide through the mountains." ... "Now," she climbed into the back of the cart, "climb in, we have a lot of ground to cover."
The cart stood still until Spike and Sweetiebelle had seated themselves in amongst all their supplies which included food, blankets and spare clothes. They had been told to pack anything they would need for the next few weeks and that they shouldn't expect to be going back to school before then.
"Why are we using a cart?" Spike asked, "wouldn't a car be faster and safer?"
"They guard has always preferred using carts opposed to cars, plus, its much easier to hide this then a shine hunk of metal that roars like a lion. Carts are quieter and easier to handle, plus, this way I can shoot anything that may try to harm us along the way without having to lean out of a window. This is much more efficient then a clumsy car." she stated and readied a bow with an arrow. "Because trust me, we will be followed."
"How do you know," Sweetie asked.
"Because I've been tracking these people for months now and I know what they do. They like to chase their targets in packs and hunt them down like prey." ... "Its brutal but for them its effective."
"So what are we going to do?"
"You mean what am I going to do? Buzz will control the cart while I shoot down any pursuers... this was never going to be easy, you should have known that."
The cart sped along the cobblestone road that lead out of Canterlot and down the mountain. Luckily it was night and no one was using the path allowing Buzz to race along. The guard was standing up with her blades at her side and a bow in her hands, on her back she had equipped a large quiver which housed plenty of arrows.
"Buzz!" she called out.
"What?" he replied.
"We have company!"
"Where?"
"In the trees," she pointed out to a few faint, fast moving and vanishing shadows that sprinting through the landscape like ninjas.
"Aye, I'll slow down for you to get a good shot." he did as he said and slowed the cart ever so slightly to steady it's movements and let her get a precise aim.
She drew her bow and held her position as she stood still, the wind blowing past her and causing her cape the flail in the wind. She smirked and fired the arrow. It flew. And it hit. Dead on point. Right between the eyes.
The body flew back and hit the tree as the shadowy figure burst in smoke that flew off into the wind. She readied another bow as the other shadowy figures launched out of their hiding spots, flashing around as they vanished into balls of smoke and gas, only to reappear a few metres away. They were fast, and camouflaged. It was hard for her to get a good shot, so... she ditched the bow and drew her sword and dagger, dual wielding with both hands as she traced the movements of her enemies with her eyes.
"Get the girl!" she heard one of the yell as she immediately knew that they we indeed after Sweetiebelle.
POOF! And one of the shadowy figures appeared in a puff of smoke, coming right towards her, bearing teeth as sharp as a tiger's and claws of a bear. The guard spun around and used her momentum to slash her blades across the face of the figures as he dashed by, causing blood to litter the cart and her armour.
She immediately readied herself again by raising her blades and positioning herself in a defensive stance as she dashed her eyes around her field of view, chasing down then vanished and appearing figures.
Again, she heard another POOF! and as she turned around she saw another figure charging towards her with the same features as the last. She ducked this time and aimed her blades upwards, letting them slice the belly open her attacker, causing even more blood to spray across the cart and her armour, drenching her sword in a crimson red. Before she even got a chance to stand up she was attacked by a third figure and decided to land on the cart next to her, with first engulfed in flame.
"Haha!" he laughed, "think you can take me?!"
The guard yawned and shrugged, "meh. you'll be no challenge." she raised her arm and pointed her blood-soaked sword towards him.
The figure charger her, pummelling a flaming fist in her direction. But he was not quick enough and she spun to the side, slashing her sword into his wrist, immobilising the movement in his hand as she launched towards him with dagger in hand. She plunged the tip of her blade deep into his neck as she ripped open his Jugular and sliced away the throat.
"Three down, a hell of a lot more!" she said to herself, kicking the body off the cart and watching it roll and bounce along the road as it burst into smoke. "Buzz!" she called out again.
"What?"
"Take us off road into the forest if you can, we'll get to the cabin faster!" she ordered. "We can't afford any delays, I can only do this for so long."
Buzz pulled the cart off of the road and into a small, unstable path into the forest as he dashed the cart around the trees in a hazed rush. She looked behind her and saw that the shadowy figures had not given up and were still chasing the cart down. This time, there kept their distance and didn't charge mindlessly into the tip of her sword.
"They're learning," she commented to herself and got herself into her defensive stance, keeping her blades close to her as blood dripped from the metal of both her sword as well as her once-golden armour.
"Need help?" Buzz asked.
"Nah. I'm good for now." she smirked, "I'm just warming up."
It was as soon as those words escaped her mouth that four shadowy figures consecutively appeared out of nowhere and charged her with all their might from different directions. She swung her blades, spinning and thrusting as she stepped to the side and ducked continuously... but she only managed to kill two of them before she was knocked off the cart and pinned to the dirt covered ground.
"Get off me!" she yelled as she desperately tried pushing them off. She went for her sword and dagger but they had been knocked out of her hands when the tackled her off the cart that had stopped in its tracks.
POOF! A shadowy figure landed on the cart in front of Spike and Sweetiebelle. He grinned, bearing his wolf-like teeth and grabbed Spike by the scruff of his shirt, "goodbye!" he scowled and threw him off the cart with a loud thud. He then yawned and grabbed Sweetiebelle. "Hello cutie," he grinned again.
"Please," Sweetie begged, "Let me go... don't hurt me... I'll do anything... I'll say anything you want me to!" she panicked and tried to kick off him.
The figure chuckled and unsheathed a knife all to similar to the one that injured her months ago. "I don't want to hear you talk, Miss Belle, I want to hear you squeak!" he raised the knife and lunged it down.
But before it could make contact with her the man was pulled off of her and onto the cart floor. Spike stood over him and growled loudly as he cracked his knuckles. "Don't you dare hurt, Sweetiebelle!" he snarled and pinned the man down, grabbing a hold of his hand and tugging violently until he heard a loud snap. He broke his neck and the bone protruded the skin and cloth of the cloak, causing the cart to become even more covered in blood.
Spike stood up quickly and glared back at the driver.
"Good job kid," he was aiming a crossbow at the dead figure who had also burst into smoke. He smirked and divided his attention towards the two who had trapped his teammate. "One, Two." he counted as he fired the arrows, each one piercing the skulls of his victims. Buzz looked around, there was no one left, they had survived, for now at least.
The female guard climbed to her foot and limped into the cart, resting herself down against the blood-stained supplies and placing her weapons at her side. She let out deep sigh and smiled, facing the two teens as she spoke. "We survived."
Spike and Sweetiebelle were both breathing heavily and in shock, they both had blood staining their clothes as the wind chilled them to the bone. But the didn't care, they did survive it, and it was all thanks to the brave guards that worked before them. They nodded and Sweetiebelle went to cuddle up against Spike for comfort, she was just about in tears.
"You alright, Sweetiebelle?" Spike asked.
She shook her head.
"What's wrong?" he asked calmly and sweetly.
"I could have died..." she replied weakly.
"Wouldn't have been the first time, Sweetie." he stroked her long, soft hair, "you're a tough girl, even if he did stab you, you would've survived it. I know it. No one can get rid of you, Sweetiebelle, not that easily." ... "Believe me, I know that first hand." he chuckled.
Sweetiebelle smiled and rested her head against his shoulder, "thank you, Spike." she looked up to gaze at his emerald eyes
"You're welcome," he said and planted a long, loving, passionate kiss on her lips.