//------------------------------// // Chapter 1: Taggers // Story: Forest For The Trees // by Kartac //------------------------------// Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic or any of the characters therein, they are the property of other people and companies that are incredibly awesome and should continue making it... FOREVER! Author's Note: This story is being written in conjuction with 'Leigh-Anne G' as part of her Human Equestria sequence of stories. If you have not read them, they are not required reading but they may help fill out some details that may seem odd on the surface. Her first story was "The Way You Love Me" and fleshed everything out. She's working on her second story now, "Desperado". I'm not sure if either of them are here or just on fanfiction.net but you can locate them I'm sure. Chapter 1: Taggers Fluttershy was alone in Animal Shelter putting the last bandages on a hurt cat. The poor kitty had accidentally fractured her leg when a heavy box landed on her and Fluttershy couldn't help but change her bandages that night even if she didn't need to, because in her heart she wondered how she'd feel if the creature she had to bandage up had been her friend Rarity's cat Opal. She smoothed down the loose end of the bandage on the cat's leg very gently, making sure not to utter a peep, which unnoticed to her gave the place a very grave feel. Most of the animals were asleep and the only noises around her were the occasional barks, purrs, chatters and chirps of the animals that couldn't (or wouldn't) surrender to Luna's night. On this particular night, Fluttershy was joining them, Luna had raised the moon ages ago and even though Doctor Whooves had left at about that time, Fluttershy offered to stay behind and clean, which turned into her helping very poor creature in the place that needed her help. Luckily she was on her last little friend. "There you go Ella, all done. Let's get you back in your..." Fluttershy's whispering voice trailed off. She couldn't say cage, she hated the word. It made her feel as if the animals that she took care of every day were prisoners, but that wasn't true. They were her friends, all of them, and she treated them all with love and care, even though the Doctor had warned her about getting emotionally attached to them. She couldn't help it, even now as she was getting ready to put her last friend back and turn out the lights she worried about how they must feel here, alone in the dark. As she put Ella in her holding thing, (she couldn't bring herself to think cage, she just couldn't,) she lingered momentarily on the thought of staying there that night with them so they wouldn't be lonely. She knew she musn't though, Twilight had told her she wasn't allowed to. She wasn't even supposed to stay after hours anymore, on the orders of all of her friends. She flicked off the lights in the holding room and walked to the front door of the clinic resting her hand on the knob. Her friends just didn't understand where she was coming from, they all felt bad for the animals in her care but none of them felt how she felt. She couldn't understand why anyone would abandon or hurt animals the way that she has seen. Just resting on that thought for even the shortest second made the tears well up in her eyes, she quickly took her sleeve and used it to wipe them, the thin yellow fabric pressing softly against her skin to make the droplets go away before they fall. She allowed her hair to fall as it liked, thankfully covering one of the eyes now covered in gently smudged makeup, though she didn't wear much, mostly because it always got ruined. She turned the knob slowly and opened the door with a feeling of sadness. She knew that she would see all of the little critters tomorrow but she hated leaving them regardless. She stepped outside and closed the door behind her, the gentle chime of the doorway bell and the thud of the door closing felt more to her like a vault door locking and sealing itself... and then she was outside, all alone, breathing in the cool fall air. A couple deep breaths later and she felt much better about having to leave, she had to get home and feed her pet bunny Angel and after a pleasant reminder from her grumbling stomach, she needed to feed and take care of herself too. She had just taken her first few steps, down the stairs in front of the entrance and did as she did each night, pausing for one second to stare at the Everfree Forest which bordered the edge of the property. This time though, he thoughts were punctuated by younger voices coming from around the side of the building. "Oh for Luna's sake, you couldn't remember to double check which cans you'd grabbed? You are the worst tagger I've ever seen man." Spoke one of the voices out of sight. Fluttershy heard mutterings of a couple of other voices but couldn't make out what they were saying as she moved closer and closer to the sounds. She gingerly leaned around the corner and saw a couple of youths in ski masks holding paint cans towards the building, she watched as one of them slowly and methodically sprayed in the direction of the wall, she listened for more voices but the night was silent except for the gentle hiss of spray. It took her a second to realise that they were all holding flashlights, which explained the strange and scary way they all looked in the shadows. She ducked back behind the corner unsure of what to do, she had to call the police but where could she go to do it? She walked slowly back around to the front of the clinic, and back up the few stairs to it's front door. She reached into the pocket of the moderately loose jeans she had been wearing but she didn't find what she was looking for, no keys. She began to panic a little and her hand dove into each different pocket desperately hoping she'd find what she was looking for, but there were no keys... and worse, she had no pocket phone. She was far too scared for her own good, her breathing quickened, and she let out a little squeak. What if they had weapons? She took a few steps down onto the walkway from the street to the clinic still breathing very heavily, but no hoodlum popped out and threatened her. She ultimately decided that all she could do was run home, it was just a few blocks away and call the police from there. Hopefully those people were just thugs and didn't have any intention of breaking in or possibly hurting the animals. Fluttershy didn't know why they would even consider breaking in but just as she got to the gate at the end of the walkway and set her hand on the gate she had a terrible thought. Oh, what if they're arsonists? What if by the time the police get here, the building has burned down and all the animals are... Her eyes welled up again, and this time she had no intention of stopping the tears. She wasn't crying because she was sad, now she was angry and she wasn't letting those terrible people do anything to hurt the animals or their home. She walked back over to the corner of the building and stepped out into their easy eyeshot. "Hey You! Get away from here..." Her voice started out loud (for her) but partway her voice suddenly quieted down to her usual hushed tone. Now they were all staring at her, and none of them were leaving, or showed any intention of following her order. She hoped she'd at least startled them but all she could see was black ski mask and not a sign anywhere of anything. She immediately retreated from the gaze of the three criminals and took a half step back. "... please?" She pleaded in her quiet voice, a quiver of fear apparent in it. "Oh boys, the young lady said please. We should listen to her... after we're done our business." The shortest of the crooks spoke with a firm tone between a mischievous smile. Immediately after this, the other two criminals starting walking towards Fluttershy. She knew that the right thing to do was to turn and just run away but her legs wouldn't move and it was less than a minute before her cheek was scraping against the brick of the building as one of them held her there. She didn't struggle at all as they forced her up against the building and she was thankful that the one that was holding her wasn't being very rough with her. His whispered threats from behind her were more than enough to keep her quiet, even if he wasn't really threatening her with anything. Her lip trembled as she stood there, right cheek pressed against the wall, she hoped that her assailants wouldn't notice the silent tears now softly pouring down her face. She could see the fence at the edge of the property out by the road under the dim light of streetlamps. If she had only gone home and ignored them then she would be safe and the police would be dealing with this, and she wouldn't have to worry that maybe these guys just weren't going to let her go. After what happened with Rarity and Mac, then Granny Smith's passing, was she going to be the next one? The hissing of cans stopped behind her and the one who was apparently in charge threw the paint aside. "There we go gentlemen, all done. Another payday for us." He spoke confidantly while turning to his teammates. "So what are we going to do about her?" Fluttershy heard the one whose arm was pressed against her back speak, with a female voice. There was an incredibly awkward pause where Fluttershy was the only one making any audible noise, short, sharp, audible breaths. The leader stood there and thought, he couldn't rightly just let her go, not without teaching her a lesson first. Right as he opened his mouth to give the order, there was a rustle in the taller grass away from where Fluttershy was facing, towards the part of the building that faced the Everfree Forest. "The sensible thing to do is leave." came a mysterious voice that Fluttershy had never heard before. The woman behind her let her go so Fluttershy took the opportunity to turn her head and look at the figure, she wasn't quite sure what she was seeing. With only the light of the flashlights and the dim streetlights in the distance it painted a very gaunt figure. She saw a long, thin robe covering the figure from head to toe and with it's hood up it looked like all she was looking it was a flowing white garment. She couldn't get a good look at his face under the hood and unfortunately, her captors were too stunned to shine the light where his face would be or give him a good once over. She needed help, oh why had she come back like an idiot. Fluttershy's breaths quickened further as everyone stood there in an uncomfortable silence. This time, when her breathing pace changed, her vision blurred and she felt really woozy. She felt her face scrape uncomfortably against brick before she mercifully gave way to darkness.