//------------------------------// // Chapter 14 - Pony/Human: "Prisoners?" Pt. 2 // Story: World of Ponies: The Pony-Human War // by ShadowWalking18 //------------------------------// Diamond Tiara Tiara could only stand in fear, clinging to Scootaloo as she stared into the single horrible eye of the wolves as they got ready to eat them. Tiara couldn't believe that this was how her life was going to end, becoming some monsters lunch. But if she thought things couldn't get worse, she was soon very much proven wrong as from out of the forest something even worse then a wolf monster appeared. A human. A filthy mangy human, only this human had a spear in its grip and it roared as it attacked one of the wolf monsters. Diamond Tiara could only stare, before seeing more humans run from out of the woods, all of them holding sharp weapons. From there it became a battle as the wolf monsters and the humans began fighting each other. Tiara tried to find a way out, without getting hurt. She had at least felt safer of her fate with the wolves, but with the humans she didn't feel safe at all. These were not like the humans she had seen in pet stores, these were the humans of that wanted criminal. Cactus she thought his name was. Tiara had to get away, before they took her and did whatever horrible things humans did to fillies. Diamond screamed, stepping away from the body of a wolf monster as it was slammed into the ground by one of the humans, its spear through its chest impaling it. She couldn't take it anymore! With a scream, Tiara pushed Scootaloo away from her and bolted for the first clear path she could. She thought for sure she would make it, and when she got out she promised herself she would never go into the Everfree Forest again. But before she could get far, one of the wolves appeared in her path, its body was covered in injuries and it had blood dripping from its teeth Tiara skid to a halt, and fell onto her flank. The wolf snarled, and leapt at her. Tiara screamed, bringing her hooves up in a form of defense. She felt something wet splash against her, and a loud yelp. She heard a low grunt and the sound of a loud thud. Tiara blinked confused, and slowly lowered her hooves from her face. She gasped, seeing the wolf laying on the ground, a spear in its chest where she was sure its heart was. She looked down at herself, noting that something wet was on her. It was blood. Lots of blood. She was splattered with it, the red liquid staining her brand new one of a kind deluxe designer jacket. She then looked up at the human, the one who had leaped out from before, staring down at her also covered in blood from the wolf when the spear had pierced it. Tiara couldn't take it anymore and she promptly fainted, the last thing she saw was the human looking at her with a look of....concern? Valen Valen looked at the blood covered pony girl. He couldn't understand why she had fainted, though he felt sure it was just because she was a pony. He bent low and checked her for injuries, nodding when he was sure she wasn't seriously hurt. He looked around and saw the other hunters were gathering the wounded. The other pony child was on the ground, and looking around at them. Valen scratched his chin looking at the pony. He was sure it was a girl...but she didn't have anything noticeable like other girls had to specify. Though her body was slim and looked more like a females. Valen then saw one of the hunters, he was sure he name was Rogar, begin approaching him. Rogar glared at him, and he clenched his fists tightly. "What was that!?" Rogar practically shouted. "What was I suppose to do?" Valen said back, trying to keep his voice from rising to much. Loud noises attracted attention in the forest. "Leave them to die! They are ponies! The Fire Man will not be pleased." Rogar said, spitting in the direction of the unconscious pony girl. Valen glared at the hunter and stepped forward, "You would leave a child to die by Garn?" "No I would leave a pony to die by Garn. They deserve nothing less." Rogar said, glaring back at him. "That's enough!" Valen and Rogar both turned to see the elder hunter stand before them. The older hunter continued, "Now look, what is done is done. The Garn are dead, so we can take them back to the camp. But we need to decide what to do with the ponies." All the hunters looked at the ponies, and Valen saw the orange one wilt under their gaze. "Kill them! Slit their throats and leave them for the scarvengers." Rogar said, drawing his knife and went to move for the unconscious pony girl. "No!" Valen said, grabbing Rogar by the arm. His grip tightened as Rogar tried to pull his arm free, glaring at him with a look of pure hate. For a moment Valen thought that Rogar was contemplating turning that knife on him. Other hunters also looked at him with anger, some giving protest. Others, like the older hunter, looked at him confused. Valen pushed Rogar away and placed himself between him and the unconscious pony. "The Fire Man doesn't like us killing unless it is to defend ourselves. They are not attacking us. We can't kill them." Valen said, though with some bitterness. "The Fire Man is too nice." Valen heard one hunter mutter. "Then what do you think we should do with them?" The older hunter asked. Valen felt all attention on him now, and he gulped as he tried to come up with something. Frankly he didn't know what they should do with the ponies. But he couldn't kill them, it didn't seem right to kill children, even ponies. And he couldn't just let them go. "We take them prisoner. Let the Fire Man decide." Valen said finally. This caused some hunters to argue immediately. That is until a loud roar quieted them all, and the hunters all realized that in their current state, they shouldn't stick around too much longer. Blood always attracted predators. The older hunter looked at the ponies, then back to the forest. "Gather the wounded and as many garn as can be carried. Valen, you will carry the ponies. You will be the one responsible what happens next." The older hunter said, before going to help carry an injured hunter. Valen merely nodded, and lifted the unconscious pony in his arms before moving to lift the orange pony up. The orange pony girl struggled, but Valen was bigger then her and stronger. The pony girl said something, but Valen couldn't understand her, though he gave her a look he hoped told her to be quiet. If the pony understood or not he didn't know, but at least she went quiet. Once all the garn and injured were gathered, the party began to head back to the camp. All the way, Valen felt hatred filled eyes on him, and on the ponies he carried in his arms. And beyond that, he thought he heard a low moan in the wind as a now patch of snow began to fall. Scootaloo Scootaloo tried to jerk out of the grip of the human holding her, or at least loosen the bindings to her hooves. But a sharp slap on her flank, causing her to yelp, made her stop as she glared at her captor. She looked over Tiara, who still was out cold, at the human who carried them both over his shoulder. The human merely looked at her, and said something in a language she didn't understand. Scootaloo however could tell by the look that if she tried to move again she could get another slap; so she puffed out her cheeks in agitation and stood still, looking back at the ground. Though she didn't want to admit it, she was a bit afraid. She had heard of these kinds of humans, if only in rumor. Her aunt and dad had gone to go fight them, though she didn't understand why. Humans weren't that bad. Maybe a bit smelly, but not bad. In fact she had known a really awesome human years ago. Still, she was afraid right now of what they would do to her and Tiara. She had seen one human try to hurt Tiara when she was out, only to be stopped by the human that had first come to their aid. At least it seemed that the humans weren't going to hurt them now that they were carrying them off. But what would happen next? 'Maybe those books my aunt said I couldn't read were true?' She thought, thinking on one of the books she had snuck a peek at once. She still felt her face heat up when she remembered the very descriptive detail of the pony mare mating with the human stallions. Scootaloo fidgeted again in her bindings feel uncomfortable. A groan to her left, told Scootaloo that Tiara was starting to come to. "Uh...wh-what happened? I dreamt I...ah!!" Tiara screamed as she realized where she was, and began struggling to get away. "Tiara, ow stop it." Scootaloo said, Tiara's shoulder hitting hers as the scared filly struggled. "Ahh!" Tiara then screamed, as a loud slap came. Scootaloo chuckled, glad to see that Tiara was finally getting a deserved spanking, until she felt one on her own flank. "Ow! Hey!" She complained glare at the human. "How dare you touch me like that!" Tiara shouted. Two more slaps to each of their flanks made them both yelp again, and the human held up a hand to his lips, telling them to be quiet. The human then looked away, and Scootaloo saw that the other humans were all glaring at her and Tiara. Tiara noticed as well, and the both of them just lay, staring at the ground. Tiara whispered, "What do you think they will do to us?" Scootaloo had to really think on that. A part of her wanted to say something to make the filly wet herself in fear. It be the perfect moment to really give the bully what for. But at the same time, she also knew that she and Tiara were in the same boat right now and they were going to need each other if they wanted to get out of this mess unharmed. "I don't know. But if they wanted us dead I think they would have done it." Scootaloo whispered back. "They're gonna use us as breeding stock. I just know it! I don't want to be a human brood mare!" Tiara whispered franticly, looking at the humans with wide fearful eyes. Scootaloo blinked, and felt a slight blush, "Wh-where did you hear something like that? Humans don't breed with ponies." Tiara seemed to realize something, as she also now sported a blush on her face and she puffed her cheeks out and looked at the sky, "I-I don't have to explain myself to a blank flank. I...I read it somewhere." Scootaloo smirked, "I bet your dad would be really mad if he knew you were reading books like that." Tiara looked at her suddenly with wide eyes, "What!? No. I...you can't tell anypony!" Scootaloo smirked deeper, "Well...there is new scooter in the pro shop and I just don't have the bits for it." Scootaloo looked up innocently. Tiara growled, "Are you blackmailing me?" Scootaloo opened her mouth to say something, when she saw the group of humans carrying them off approach a Cliffside, in the distance was an old ruined castle. Tiara also saw this and the two of them watched in shock as the humans began descending a natural stair case in the cliff and heading toward a cave. "That's the castle of the two sisters." Tiara said. Scootaloo nodded, remembering about the old ruin from school. These humans were right in Ponyvilles backyard and no pony but them knew about it. And what surprised them the most was, as the entered into a cave, Scootaloo saw other humans standing at the entrance, like guards. The humans all stared at them with surprise, and even open hostility, but some strange words from the human carrying them and the older human, who Scootaloo was sure was the leader of this group, and the humans ignored them. The human carrying them continued on, and Scootaloo then saw something she never thought she would see. It was a crystal like tree, and in its branches were gems that were very familiar to her. The Elements of Harmony. "The Tree of Harmony." She said with awe. "I can't believe it." Tiara said, awe also in her voice. Scootaloo had only ever heard of the tree of harmony from Twilight, and its discovery had caused a stir in the history books. Scootaloo could still remember all the new test questions in history class that had to deal with it. She had groaned inwardly at more stuff to learn. But while she had heard of it, she had never thought she would see it. It was....beautiful. Scootaloo felt so warm being near it, where it was cold outside. She felt very calm near it, and even Tiara seemed to have loosen up a bit. But while the Tree itself was a surprise, what surprised Scootaloo more was the dozens, perhaps hundreds, of humans that were in the cave, and she saw that the cave had openings into other caverns. There were more humans here then had been at Appeblooms farm three years ago. How had they gotten here? Why? The other humans soon began parting, heading off in different directions. But one in particular gave her and Tiara a glare that made Scootaloo shiver, even more so when the human began finger that knife at his belt. But the human that carried her and Tiara glared at the other human, and finally the human spat and turned away. Scootaloo was glad to see him leave. But now it was her and Tiara left with the human carrying her. At least until Scootaloo saw another human beginning to approach them. Followed by other humans. The human carrying them stood still as the humans approached. One of the new humans shouted something, pointing at her and Tiara, but the led human held up a hand. Scootaloo looked at this human and saw that he was older then the one carrying them. This human said something, and the human carrying them said something back. The two talked more, before the human nodded and motioned for the human carrying them to follow. Two other humans from the new group followed after them, flanking the human that carried Tiara and herself. Scootaloo watched as the approached a door like opening in the cave, covered only by a fur to act like a makeshift door. Two humans stood at the side each, both armed with spears and they looked at the older human and gave a nod of respect, then looked at her and Tiara and gave a questioning look to the older human. The human guards nodded though as the older human said something and one pulled the fur aside, looking in and saying something. The older human stepped in, and the human carrying her and Tiara also entered as the flap was lowered. Scootaloo had to turn her neck a bit, but she saw another human, a bit smaller then the others standing by a stone table, looking down at something on it. The older human said something, and the one by the table said something. Then their carrier said something, and the human by the table slammed his fist onto the table with a loud crunch of stone that made Tiara and herself jump in their bonds. The human by the table leaned against the table before saying something and the older human nodded and left. The human carrying her then set her and Tiara down, giving them a look and then looking at the human before leaving. Scootaloo watched as her momentary protector left her and Tiara in a room with a human she didn't know and she felt a bit scared now. "What's gonna happen?" Tiara whispered to her. "I don't know." Scootaloo said, also worried. Scootaloo turned her attention to the human before them. She couldn't help but feel...she knew him. He didn't look anything like the humans she had seen. He wasn't as tall and seemed less bulky and more thin. She knew she had seen a human like that...but...it couldn't. "Scootaloo. Your skill in getting into trouble has really gotten you in over your head." The human said, turning and looking at her. "Castus!" Scootaloo gasped and smiled, "You're alive!" "Of course I'm alive. What did you think I was dead?" Castus said with a smirk. Scootaloo blushed a bit and smiled nervously, "Uh well..no but...well I haven't seen you in three years." Castus looked at her before smiling and lifted his hand. Scootaloo gasped as she felt her bonds snap and fall to the ground and she looked at Castus confused. "Well come on. Where a hug?" Castus said as he kneeled down a bit and held out a hand. Scootaloo blinked, before smiling and running over and giving Castus a jumping hug. She had to admit she was glad to see her human friend. And she felt a lot safer now seeing he was, if what she was guessing, in charge. "Hey, what about me?" Scootaloo heard Tiara whine. Apparently she was still tied up. "You I don't know. So to be safe you can stay tied up so I can avoid having you run off." Castus said as he let her go. "But what about me?" Scootaloo asked. Castus looked at her, "Scootaloo. I trust you. But, if I have to I will have you tied up again." Scootaloo gave a salute, "No worries here. I won't run off." "Good. Cause you two are gonna be here for while." Castus said. "Huh?" Scootaloo said, confused. Castus sighed, "Scootaloo...you and your friend are.....my prisoners now." "Prisoners?" Scootaloo said confused. She then smiled and said, "Cool!" "What!?" Tiara shouted. "Huh?" Castus said confused.