//------------------------------//
// Worse 
// Story: Stroll 
// by re- Yamsmos 
//------------------------------//

	When she was a filly, living a nice life with her family down in... well, she'd rather not openly admit where exactly, Octavia started out as a bit of a recluse. Recluse as in a huge shut-in, spending her time learning music from her mother while shunning the outside and everypony in it. Though her parents—and she as well—wanted her to go to their very close private school just a couple blocks down, something had ended up changing in the listing and Octavia instead found herself in a public, loud, crowded elementary school.

And this was where being a recluse miserably ended, and Octavia found friends for the first real time of her life. And with friends came dozens of new ponies in her life, as by a huge mistake, Octavia had grown to be quite a nice young mare when she was by herself for whatever reason. Thus, many new friends to talk to, walk with, and, inevitably, play games with. One such game became Octavia's favorite for an embarrassingly long time.

Hide-And-Seek.

Something about the idea of being hidden filled her with what she later realized to be adrenaline, waiting out of sight for somepony to find her in the confinements of a bush, or underneath a shed, or inside a wagon. Something about it was exhilarating, and Octavia always wanted to play Hide-And-Seek whenever she met up with her friends outside. For a time, music was ignored, sitting back in her bedroom for her to pay attention to like some stuck-up school teacher.

Octavia loved the game though.

But right now, standing with her back pressed against a wooden wall and her hooves holding a pair of handles to her chest, she hated it. Gritting her teeth, she struggled to breathe in silence as the first few hoofsteps resounded across the old shack and into the dark depths of her mind, where it stuck to it like glue and refused to let go. She attempted to steady herself, only a slight bit successful as she silently cursed at herself for being such a wimp.

Though one part of her brain did so, the other part told her that she was right in being so. After all, there was an armed, definitely dangerous, possibly bandit pony stalking through the cabin with enough creakiness to make old Black Mare jealous right outside her hiding place, which just so happened to be a tall, wooden dress closet with a few holes in it for her to conveniently see through. The moon in her eyes, she strained an eye and looked through the large gash at her current eye-level.

She could tell that the pony was green, his coat shining from Luna's Object and showing her the color of envy. She didn't particularly show envy to anypony to be honest, and certainly not to some bandit, but these thoughts were shoved away as she noticed the large crossbow nestled under his leftmost wing, his entire body covered in a light armor that resembled something out of a medieval show. Teeth bore in a sickly looking grin, he looked about slowly, as if completely off guard despite his calling to them.

"C'mon now. C'mon out, I ain't gonna hurt you." His wing patted his crossbow, and Octavia noticed that it was in a sling that attached to the bottom of his left hindhoof. "Just wanna talk is all."

Liar. Liar liar liar.

Octavia gave an involuntary gulp, and as she glanced back up to the stallion, she immediately backed up as his head began to swivel her way. The hooves stopped, but started once again not a moment later. Leaning forward ever so slightly, she blinked an eye and looked through the large hole once more. Following the bandits black tail, she remained fixed on the underside of the bed that sat in the farthest corner from her.

From where she stood, nestled inside a dress closet, a pair of eyes made themselves out to her, and then the rest of the body followed suit. Sheriff Water looked up at her, eyes blinking in tandem with hers. She dared to not move, and the dare was pulled off thanks to the bandit turning around from his pacing about the shack. Another gulp sounded out from her throat, and she pulled a stupid move to glance through the hole once more.

Sheriff Water took a few crawling inches out from underneath the bed, ensuring to the both of them that his head was visible from the darkness. Gazing at her, he gave a short nod. Octavia blinked. A sudden, unexpected shiver went down her spine, and she suppressed the urge to choke on her own spit. She abruptly thought to the whereabouts of Deputy Beagle, having not seen him since she took shelter in the closet.

Ugh. She really hoped that Beagle didn't take a distasteful jab at her hiding spot if they made it out of this. Letting out a long, low breath, Octavia raised a shaky hoof to her head and wiped the sweat that was present there. She didn't really like where this was going. Hesitantly, she looked back at Sheriff Water and finally nodded. Water returned the gesture, and Octavia ducked her head back inside and hoped for the best. The best didn't immediately make itself clear.

"You know what? I think Autumn was a bit chilly outside. Maybe I should get her," she heard the crossbow click, "coat."

Octavia looked to the back wall of the closet. There was no coat.

Her ears listened to the sound of the hooves clacking against the wood, and she suddenly looked down as a hoof came into view from a gathering of scars in the wooden exterior. Another joined it, and Octavia sucked in a breath and prayed that somepony would save her. Gods, it couldn't end like this... she didn't want to die! The heat from the closet was beginning to get to her, and her fur was feeling damper by the second. She stifled a sniffle from her nose, and waited for the door to swing open.

A large portion of glass instantly shattered from somewhere else in the cabin. The bandits hooves turned, and they began to walk away as he spoke, "All right then, I guess you're first, huh? Hiding behind the bookshelf, are you–"

The bandit would not finish his thought, instead finding himself tackled to the ground by a navy blue blur. Struggling on the ground, Water threw a hoof into the bandits head as he shouted her way, "Chell! Run!" Not a second later, the Sheriff was thrown off and onto the ground a couple inches away. The Pegasus got up, his crossbow coming back up from underneath his wing. Lowering the front of his body, he steadied the weapon and closed an eye to look down the scope.

His hindleg rose, preparing to kick down and pull the trigger.

"Yaaaaaaaah!"

For the second time that night, the bandit was tackled to the ground by a lawpony, this time coming from a window to his right. As Deputy Beagle gave a swift kick into the downed Pegasus, he bent his neck and bit down on the crossbow's length. Ripping it from its gun cast, he threw it into the air, where it was enveloped in a green aura as its string was pulled back, an arrow being placed in the flight groove. The aura disappearing, the weapon landed back in Beagle's waiting hooves, who struck an aiming pose and immediately fired with the tip of his hoof. The arrow shot through the air, and Octavia got out of the closet just in time to witness it hitting the side of a mare standing in the doorway.

Sheriff Water, grabbing the now empty crossbow from Beagle, looked at Octavia as she stood motionless with her eyes widened to capacity. Holding a hoof to his mouth, he shouted once again, "Chell... RUN!"

This time, she didn't have to be told twice. Sprinting down the shack's one room, she lowered her stance and jumped through the back window, landing and rolling onto a large patch of grass. Taking time to dust herself off, she yelped as she saw three more ponies come from behind the Sheriff's wagon, weapons in their hooves. Turning tail, she bore her teeth and began to frantically dart across the Everfree Forest, ignoring the sounds of fighting behind her.