Crushed: The Beginnings

by Silent Wing

02 First steps into Ponyvile

Date: arrival + 2 days, location: Everfree Forest close to Ponyville

A full day has passed since the evening I lost Twilight in this forest and the second one is also nearing its end. This means that I spent almost two days searching for a way out of it, in which I didn’t have anything to eat and only a bit of water to drink, from some small creeks. There had been a few bushes with berries, but since I have no clue which of them could be dangerous, I decided to play it safe and ignore them, at least for now. But with my empty stomach, I begin to wonder if I should just try some berries on the next bush and hope that they aren't poisonous.

I walk in silence, thinking really hard about this problem and because of that it takes me a while to realize that even with the approaching night, the forest begins to get brighter. I look up from my hooves and far ahead, I am finally able to see the end of the forest. With the end of those dark and depressing forest in sight, everything begins to feel lighter and my speed increases from a slow walk to a quick trot.

It takes me not long to reach the forest border and a long forgotten feeling of joy spreads through my body when I make my first steps on an open field, after all this time in the Everfree forest. However I can't see much since it appears that I left the forest in a small valley and have to get out of it, if I want to find out more about my location. Luckily, it's surprisingly easy and there is a small hill nearby. The moment I reach the peak of it, an amazing view reveals itself to me and I can't do anything other than stare at it for several minutes, taking in the landscape I have never seen before.

Behind me is the endless sea of trees I just left earlier. When I look to my left, I can see a wide open area and in the far distance, the beginning of another forest. Slowly, I begin to turn my gaze more to the right, but see nothing else than a wide open sea of green for a while, until I spot a small town only a few kilometers away. If my guess is correct, this town should probably be Ponyville and far behind the town, I am able to see a large mountain. With the location and the size of the mountain in mind, I just assume that this has to be the Canterhorn. But since I can't see Canterlot itself, I am uncertain about this.

The walk to Ponyville itself is uneventful and long, but it is quite enjoyable after Princess Luna finally raised the moon. I stumble more than once over my own hooves, with my eyes glued to the night sky, then where I am actually going. Even if this isn't the night sky I am used to, it is an impressive sight, something I couldn't enjoy for a long time. Now I just have to use the opportunity at hoof. I may be used to staying up almost all night and sleeping half of the day away, but I barely could motivate myself enough to actually leave my home. On the rare occasions I did this, I was either too drunk to do anything when the night came or it was so cloudy that I just couldn't see anything.

When I finally entered Ponyville, I could have meant that I just walked into a ghost town, wouldn't there be lights burning in most of the windows? I roam the streets randomly till I reach the marketplace and search for leftover food, that wasn't sold or lost by somepony, but since I am unable to find anything I begin to grow devastated for anything. I think by now I would have even tried some of those berries. "Honestly, who cares if they are poisonous when the other option is death by starvation?" With these thoughts and similar in my mind, I leave the marketplace behind me and begin to wander towards the outskirts of the town.

I don't know why, but something draws me towards a small alley and at the end of it I see a grey garbage can. Before I even realize it, I do something I never expected myself to do and quickly push the lid from it. Barely able to reach it at all I grab the top with my hooves and pull myself up, leaning slightly over the rim so that I can take a good look into it. The garbage can is almost half full and from everything inside there, I can clearly see the corner of two pizza cartons. I try to reach them with my forehooves, but when my forelegs prove to be too short, I lean even more into it, until I lose my balance. This causes me and the garbage can to topple over and buries me halfway in the trash.

Most would be upset to be covered in all the trash and dirt, but at the moment I am unable to care about this. I pull the pizza carton out of the mess and open the first one. The moment I realize that it still contains an only halfway eaten Pizza, I just can't resist screaming a loud "YES" in joy. Soon another "YES"echoes into the night air, when I realize that two of those toppings are part of my favorites. I don't care about the paprika or the corn, they aren't bad, but what really makes my heart beat faster is the garlic and the onions. "Honestly, a pizza without garlic and onions is just a terrible crime," is all I am able to think, when I grab the first slice and happily start to eat my first meal in almost three days.

I am so focused on my meal that I don't even hear the approaching hoofsteps from behind me, nor do I care at the moment so the voice that speaks to me suddenly catches me totally by surprise. "And what do you think you are doing here young miss?"

I turn around with half of a pizza slice still hanging out of my mouth and see a grayish blue pegasus mare with red eyes and a very light turquoise tail and mane, which is kept together by a pink bow, staring down at me. Her eyes go wide in shock, when she sees the pizza slice in my mouth. "Don't tell me you are actually eating that old, nasty thing."

Carefully, I lay it down back on the carton, to save it for later and answer. "Okay, I won't tell you that,"

"Ugh, that is not what I meant," she replies with an annoyed sigh in her voice, before she comes closer and pulls the pizza away. "And now you tell me why you are out alone at this time, sitting in my trash.”

"Well I was or am still starving and I was looking for something to eat. I did look into that garbage can, but unfortunately I lost my balance and fell over with my snout still deep in it."

"That explains why you are sitting in THAT, but why had you been looking in there for food in the first place," she asks with a groan, clearly disapproving of my food source.

"I didn't have anything to eat in over two days and just made it out of that dark forest a few hours ago," I reply, while pointing towards the Everfree forest with my right hoof, hoping that she doesn't ask how I ended up there. This would be something I rather not try to explain, unless it is absolutely necessary and even then, there is the possibility that she doesn't believe me.

"Do you mean that you spent the last few days in the Everfree forest," she asks really shocked about my answer, when I make it sound like it would be nothing special. I just give her a nod in reply, while still pointing towards the forest.

"Anything else you want to know or can I finally continue my meal, before I find some place to sleep?" I try to stay as calm as possible, but I fail to hide the fact that I am a bit upset about the fact that my first meal in over two days got interrupted.

She slightly relaxes, the moment she hears this and either way she doesn't realize that I am slightly upset or she simply doesn't care. "That won't be necessary," she says in a soft voice, "you will sleep with me tonight."

"Wh- what?" I mumble, unable to comprehend what she just told me and after a few moments of silence, I answer in a way she clearly didn't expect, if I read those shocked expressions correctly. "Okay, but what do you want in compensation for this?"

"Why in Tartarus would I want anything from you, you are just a filly after all."

"I don’t know, isn't that how things usually work?"

"Luna forbid, I would never take advantage of any pony in need of help." She exclaims pretty upset about the idea, that somepony actually would consider this.

"Really?" I ask her, unable to believe what she just said.

"Of course silly. Is it really so hard for you to understand, that I just want to help you, because it is the right thing to do?" She replies with a growing smile on her face, but this changes the moment my tears start to flow and I begin to cry. Now clearly shocked by this reaction, she runs the few remaining steps over to me and pulls me into a tight hug. She holds me close to her, not caring how filthy I am currently, and gently strokes my mane, to make it easier for me to calm down.

"Thank you," is all I am able to answer with a last sob, after a while. She continues to hold me for a bit longer, before she starts to pull away. Unwilling for this moment to end so soon, I hastily clinch into her fur and ask. "Can you please hold me just a bit longer?"

Without hesitation she pulls me close again and I rest my head in her fur for a bit longer, before we separate for the final time. She looks at me for a moment, before she places me on her back and marches us into her house, joking about the bath we both obviously need now.

Author's Note:

Sorry to keep you waiting so long.

Actually writing stories is a lot harder than I thought and my respect for all those amazing authors out there grows with everyday. I doubt that I will ever reach the quality of Irrespective, Obsi, Night--Mist or all the other authors I look up to, but I keep trying. Without a doubt I can say that they inspire me greatly and helped me a lot in more than one way.

Again I try to get the next Chapter done this week, but I can't promise that it will work out, since i plan to make it a bit longer.

edit: I just looked one more time over the chapter and changed a few, but small things. I hope that it’s now better, and you won’t find mistakes anymore. 17.05.2020

Comments

[Black--Soul]

Die Geschichte braucht starke überarbeitung. Ich leihe mir nen Laptop nächstes Wochenende weil mein Pc gerade Schrott ist. Soll ich dir Pms schicken oder hast du ne E-Mail wo ich die korrekturen hin schicken kann ?

Needs work. Well done anyway

[Silent Wing]

Was würdest du den überarbeiten, abgesehen von den offensichtlichen Rechtschreibfehlern?

[Ali della Morte]

9958416
Mind translating that?

[Silent Wing]

10133777

He: The story needs to be heavily edited.

Then, he offers me his help as soon as he got his notebook repared, but that never happened

Me: What would you channge, if you ignore the obvious spelling mistakes?

[Deltorix]

Wait.. Is he turned into a filly along with being turned into a foal? That sucks but he doesn't seem to care or notice yet

[Silent Wing]

10277888
He is turned into a filly around a fifth of his age and no, he doesn't care.

[Black--Soul]

With the end of those dark and depressing forest in sight, everything begins to feel lighter and my sped increase from a slow walk to a quick trot.

speed

[Black--Soul]

Daaaw... The end was so whomesome ♡

[Silent Wing]

10340163
Taken care of, thanks for pointing that out.

[Luckyfanisaac]

"That explains why you are sitting in THAT, but why had you been looking in there for food in the first place," she asks with a groan, clearly disapproving of my food source.

Unwilling for this moment to end so soon, I hastily clinch into her fur and ask. "Can you please hold me just a bit longer?"

Awwwwww

[Darksoul85]

Great chapter

[lainverse]

"Okay, but what do you want in comparison for this?"

Compensation.

[New Rebellion]

Is this character a filly or colt? I can't really tell.

[Silent Wing]

10909592
A filly. It becomes more clear later in the story.

[Codiert]

11139201
I think he/she? was stressed-out the last days. And now he relaxed and the emotion just run rampage.

[Silent Wing]

11139201

11141982
While you have a point, there this isn't the only reson.

"Of course silly. Is it really so hard for you to understand, that I just want to help you, because it is the right thing to do?"

Honestly, I really thought this would be explanation enough. But to answer his question: Yes, it is.

hopefully, this makes it a bit more clear, without spoiling to much.

Also, sorry for the late reply, I have a loot of rl stuff going on