//------------------------------// // Chapter 8: Escalating Situations // Story: A New Life, or an Old Strife? // by Chrome Masquerade //------------------------------// Chapter 8: Escalating Situations Whisper wishes continued with what she was saying. “Yes, things are already changing. We already have ponies, timberwolves and poison joke, as far as we've seen. Things are getting worse. We need to prepare further. We need to help the ponies in need. We need to get this out, before something else happens.” At that moment we heard a scream. “HEEEEELP!!!!! Somepony HELP ME!!!” “Like that?” asked Thunder Roller. “Not what i meant, but...” Whisper replied. I took the initiative and started galloping out the door, saying, “I'll take care of it.” as i went. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When i made it to the source of the scream, i saw a human in black clothes having just chased down a pony and tackled her, trying now to stuff the pony, a pegasus into a bag of some kind. “Stop squirming, you!” the man said. “Oh, yeah, like i'm gonna do that!!” the pony retorted, redoubling her efforts to get free. I stepped up and said, in my best intimidating “Stop right there, criminal scum!!!” Man i always wanted to say that! “Huh?! Who do you think you are?” the man said, addressing me. “Allow me to introduce myself. For the honour of Celestia!” i exclaimed, my armour appearing and attaching to me. I immediately felt the rush of power that came with the suit. I reflexively took out a badge from... somewhere... or... other, stating that i was a member of the Canterlot law enforcement division. “Winter Fields, Royal Law Enforcer, First Class.” “Oh, thank Celestia! Help me out here! I have a bunch of-” the pony quickly zipped her lips, cutting off what she was saying. “Oh, so there's more of you, eh? It turns out that you ponies go for a pretty penny. A few hundred thousand o' them apiece. People want you and we're gonna be rich if we can supply that demand.” Enough reason for me. “I think not.” i said, readying to charge. As i galloped toward the man, two more stepped from the shadows, raising pistols. “Fusion! Chiller!” I ordered my guns sub-vocally “Low power, tranq rounds. We don't want to kill them.” “Yes Master.” they said. With my tail, i grabbed my two weapons and fired four rounds at them but not before they returned fire at me. Fortunately my armour protected me, but they were packing some serious heat! .45's at least. The two men went down, but not without putting some dents in my protection. The last man had succeeded in stuffing the pegasus into the bag and was making tracks. “Halt!” i said, to no avail. (sigh) That never works. Accelerating, I had to fire eight rounds, the extra speed affecting my accuracy, but i tranq'd him as well, and caught up to him, releasing the pony from the bag. Burlap, as it turned out. “Oh, THANK you, miss. It was REALLY stuffy in there.” “Get to safety.” i said. I didn't have to tell her twice! She booked it toward the house, but took an abrupt left turn. I turned back toward the downed man. “You ponies are more dangerous than i thought. You don't belong in this world.” Pouring some of my earth pony magic into my teeth, i bit the man. I then said “Yeah, but we all used to be human, you know. Possibly more human than people like you. None of us really “asked” for this, and here you are, oppressing us just because you can, just because you're bigger.” As with the previous guy, i bit the other two as well. “Let's see how YOU like it. Welcome to the herd, ya plot-holes.” i raised one hoof and stomped the ground, causing vines to ensnare the men. With that, i went off, searching for the pony. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Even if you had no tracking skills at all, you could clearly see the trail she left. Chearly she was in a hurry. I followed her trail, which led me to a large tree, under which were the mystery pegasus and six foals of varying ages and races. I didn't notice before, but she had a busted wing (very large, by the way) and a few bullet holes in her underside. She smiled sadly and said “These aren't my foals, but i found them along the way. My name is Sunny Flutter. I'm Fluttershy's daughter. I used to be... to... be...” She was struggling to remember, but was having trouble. The transformation had made her forget her name. “I'm Winter Fields. Come with me, we'll get you fixed up.” “Wait!” she said. “What of these little ones? I can't feed them anymore and they'll die alone if they stay here.” Sunny rolled further to one side and i saw that her teats had been shot. As it was, she wouldn't be able to produce much milk. And what she could... ugh. Who knows? Mewling and babbling, the little ones climbed onto Sunny's back. I responded by lifting her onto my back, careful not to knock the little ones off. “Comfy?” i joked “Yeah. Comfy like a sack of flour.” she responded hoarsely. I chuckled as i brought her toward the house. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sunny Flutter's POV When i awoke i was on a comfortable bed. I tried to get to my belly,feeling something squish against me. My eyes opened i shock! I hadn't felt that since... i looked at my underside and saw my filled teats, repaired, good as new! There were little sucking noises as i also saw the little foals i was protecting suckling at me, taking turns politely, quite unlike children. A bit of motherly love bloomed within me. Whether these were really my foals or not, they clearly thought they were. They had imprinted on me as if i was their mother, so.... I smiled and tried to get some sleep. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “How is she?” I asked Caramel Cream. “Weak, but she's okay. Her wounds are healed, so she just needs to rest.” “I'm glad.” I said. “If she was hurt, or captured, those little foals....” “That's in the past. You saved her and she can protect and feed them now.” Kendo Rein said “You did well, Winter. Be proud of yourself. Get some rest.” “Thanks. I'll do that.” i replied. “By the way,” i said before walking away to my room, “here may or may not be three more ponies coming soon. Watch out for 'em. They may be a little confused and/or.... upset.” i chuckled as i went to my room. It was a productive day. Seven ponies saved. Things were getting interesting, and i didn't doubt that this was juuuuust beginning. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ (Sunny Flutter) Later on, i awoke once more. I felt refreshed and healed. Whatever my “doctor” had done, they were truly miracle workers! “Ah, so you're awake.” a voice said. “feeling better?” “Much, thanks.” i said. “I'm Caramel Cream, your nurse for today. Just roll over, i need to check your wounds, real quick.” i obliged and she poked and prodded, asking if any of it hurt at all. At length she finished and said “Good news! You look to be completely healed. Just a little scarring, but besides that, you'll be just fine.” “Thank you so much! I'm not even sure what I’d do if my little ones were to come to harm, or would go hungry if i-” “You can stay as long as you want. Don't worry. We'll keep you -and your little ones- safe.” Then i did something reflexive. Something i never thought i would just.... do. I nuzzled her. I actually reached over, pulled her in for a hug, and nuzzled her. “Thank you! Thank you SO much!!” i exclaimed, tears of joy springing to my eyes. Gah! This pony personality of mine was a LOT more emotional than i was used to. And three times too touchy-feely. At any moment i was liable to hug someone or burst into tears! Okay, maybe i'm exaggerating a bit. Anyway, miss Cream left me to rest. She gave me a clean bill of health (figuratively) and said that i was free to go or stay as i wished. After much consideration, i decided to live in one of the houses nearby. Later on, i was lying down on one of the couches. One of my foals (i named him Spring Zest, for his limey colouration) trotted up to me and tugged on my hoof, which was dangling over the side of the couch. “Mama? Where are we?” He called me mama. HE CALLED ME MAMA! I barely contained a squeal of joy, but answered his question. “Home, Spring. We are Home.” .... Celestia damn it, i'm crying again!