The Turbulent Woods of Cauldron Valley

by Zoura3025

Chapter 5: The Daring Rescue

Bottle awoke as soon as her room began to lighten. She immediately climbed out of bed. They had two fillies to find, and wanted to start getting things on the road as soon as possible; every minute of daylight was valuable.
She walked downstairs, noticing that Tincture and Tinned Syrup had seemingly already left. "At least they're on top of things," Bottle muttered as she roused Angel and Hazy.
Angel and Hazy weren't too happy about being woken up. "C'mon, you two. The mama bears are already up and on the prowl," Bottle remarked.

Hazy's eyes shot open, "They're already gone?" She asked. Bottle nodded, and Hazy cursed, "...Alright, let's get going to town hall then."
Angel's Kiss didn't even bother saying anything. Truth be told, it had been bothering her, too. She darted outside, briefly noting two sets of hoofprints in the snow.
"We're on the clock," Angel commented.
Bottle and Hazy ran to keep up with Angel as she darted towards the mayor's office.

Angel crashed through the door, tumbling head-over-tail as she struck the counter, looking at the groggy receptionist.
The secretary looked at her amusedly, "Well, at least you used the door this ti-" They were cut off by Angel's frantic tone.
"We need a search party ASAP," Angel instructed, "Murky and Honey Syrup went into the woods last night, and now Tincture and Tinned Syrup are going after them," She explained hurriedly.
The secretary's eyes went wide. "They went into the woods?" They asked.
Angel nodded.

The secretary walked to the back of their area and pulled on a large rope; a loud bell began to ring. A bell reserved only for emergencies.
"You, out. I'll get the mayor; get ready to tell everyone what you told me," They said.
Angel nodded and zipped out the front door, looking at Hazy and Bottle. "The mayor'll know. You two try and catch Tincture and Tinned before it's too late," Angel demands.
Hazy Stupor was taken off-guard by Angel's sudden assertiveness, but her and Bottled Lightning nodded, heading off towards the forest.

Tinned Syrup's ear twitched as she heard the distant ringing of the bell.
"Are they calling an emergency meeting…?" She asked softly.
Tincture nodded, "Probably about the fillies. Let's keep going," She insisted, horn glowing brightly as she illuminated her way through the woods.
"Honey! Murky!" Tinned Syrup cried, to no response, "They must be deeper in," She sighed.
Tincture looked as they came to a large gorge. "This is quite a drop… Murky wouldn't dare jump it," Tincture expressed.
"I don't think Honey would, either… She's not a strong flyer," Tinned expressed.
Tincture nodded and pointed in the direction the water was flowing, "Let's follow the river. We can always backtrack the other way," She said, beginning to lead the way downstream.
Tinned followed her closely.

Bottled Lightning looked around in the blue light cast by the arcing electricity between her hooves.
Hazy looked at the dirt, "Fresh prints down this way," She observed, pointing.
Bottle nodded, following the trail, her lightning lighting the way.
They noticed the sharp turn by a gorge.

Bottle peered over the side, "Yeesh, that's a drop… Let's hope the kids didn't take the fast way down," She expressed.
Hazy looked around until she saw the horn roots of what had once been a fallen tree in the ground. "...We don't have to hope," Hazy said grimly, "These roots are freshly torn. I think they fell."
Bottle winced, "Oh, Celestia…" She murmured, before she spoke up, "We follow the river, then. If they fell, they would've ended up downstream," She said, beginning to walk in the direction of the water's flow.
Hazy stared at the stump briefly, but turned and followed after Bottle.

Angel looked over the gathering crowd of groggy ponies. "Okay, listen up!" She shouted, "We have two fillies and two mares who've gone off into the forest, and we need to find them! Pair up, and we will scour the forest until they are found!" She declared.
She spent the next few moments discussing strategy; moving in ranks of ponies not too far apart, so no group would ever fall out of communication with at least one other. Most of the town was shocked by Angel's sudden display of leadership skills; the farmers were not. She was the organizer for planting, watering, and harvesting for a reason.

---

Murky's ear twitched as she thought she heard shouting. She couldn't make out what it was; just that it was at all.
"...I think they're coming for us," Murky said, picking her pace up.
"Th-they?" Nymph squeaked.
"The adults! They're coming to find us," Honey exclaimed, quickening her pace to match Murky's.
Nymph followed after them quietly.
Another call. This one was louder.
"Mom!" Honey cried into the dimly lit woods, as if that would help.

Nymph's eyes squeezed shut, "C-can we talk for a minute!?" She squeaked as she came to a screeching halt.
Murky stopped, but Honey Syrup took longer to realize her group had fallen behind her.
"What's wrong?" Murky asked gently.
"I-I'm just… Scared," Nymph admitted softly, "S-scared the adults will take you away from me, b-because I'm a forest monster," She expressed.
Murky shook her head, "I won't let them," She promised, looking over at Honey Syrup, who was sitting on a low branch as she waited for them.
Nymph looked up at her with watery eyes.
"Mom's really nice," Murky promised, "Just trust me, okay? She won't take me away," She insisted.
Nymph nodded a little, and the two fillies ran to catch up with Honey Syrup.

Tincture's eyes widened as she heard a quiet echo of a filly's voice.
"They're this way; I hear them," Tincture said frantically.
Tinned Syrup simply nodded, following Tincture's lead as they jumped down a short cliff, landing on soft dirt.
"Murky!!" Tincture shouted.
Tinned Syrup blinked as she heard a faint, "Mom!" in the distance.
The two mares quickened their pace more; a full gallop, now. Tinned Syrup even flew, scouting ahead.
They ran and flew as hard as they could, calling out to the voices of what they believed were their foals.

They froze as they caught a glimpse of two familiar fillies. One in red and blonde, the other in dazzling shades of yellow. They were bruised; beaten, really. Murky had some small cuts on her leg. Honey Syrup had several visible bruises. Both of them were covered in dirt.
"Mom!" Each filly cried out in unison, dashing across the clearing.
Tincture embraced Murky tightly, as did Tinned Syrup to Honey. The fillies sobbed into their mothers, clinging to them tightly.

"Murky, thank Celestia… I was so, so worried about you," Tincture expressed, holding Murky close, telling her how much she had missed the filly.
"Oh, my sweet innocent Honey… Where have you been? Why did you run away?..." Tinned Syrup asked, pelting her sobbing daughter with questions.
Nymph watched the reunion from behind a bush, tearing up a little. How could she have been so selfish? These fillies very clearly needed their mothers, and their mothers needed them.

The reunion was cut short as Tinned Syrup winced at a sudden pain in her leg. She looked down at the white, jagged stone that had cut her hoof.
"What in the…?" She trailed off.
Honey Syrup followed her mother's gaze, screaming as she saw the rock.
Murky looked up, noticing the trail of jagged stones through the dirt. The fillies both quickly shoved their mothers out of the clearing as the ground began to twist and contort, a large set of four toothed tentacles erupting from the earth, zipping together into the hideous, familiar sight of a very, very large worm.
Nymph watched in horror. She had to do something.
Nymph was still tired, but she couldn't risk it.
Green and pink flames whirled around her body as it morphed and changed into the large, bipedal form it had taken on earlier.

This worm was much larger than the one she had fought off, but Nymph had to try. She lunged at the worm, arresting it in her claws. It roared and screeched, a tendril of its mouth lashing at her face. The thick chitin of her beast form would protect from the wounds, though of course, any additional strain would only shorten her time like this.
Tinned Syrup screamed at the second monster she'd see this afternoon. To her surprise, however, Honey did not have the same reaction.

"Go, Nymph! You can do it!" Honey cheered.
Murky joined in the cheering as Nymph attempted to wrestle the worm. It was, however, a slowly losing battle for the changeling; the worm's body began coiling around her, entrapping her. Its flailing, toothed tendrils slowly beat her back, as she found one, then both of her clawed arms restrained. Nymph roared in pain as her body was slowly compressed in the ever encroaching grips of the worm.

Tincture watched this, noticing Murky's worried reaction.
"N-Nymph!" Murky stammered.
Tincture blinked. She realized what she had to do, "Help me take care of it, Tinned! Go for the base of the jaw!" Tincture called, pushing Murky back behind some bushes, her horn illuminating as she fired a large blast of light at the thick worm.
With the instruction, Tinned Syrup pushed Honey back and flew into the air, gathering speed before diving into the worm, kidding at its lower jaw. The Helmintide roared and hissed, its grip loosening as it now directed its attention to the adult pegasus.

"We won't let you hurt these foals!" Tincture roared, seizing a pair of the flailing tendrils with her magic. The worm was a large target; she couldn't hope to pin all of it in place. However, she could reduce the danger for the other mare, who was currently winding up to deal another blow.

Nymph squeaked as her form finally gave out; in a flash of green and pink, she was back to her small, alicorn disguised self, still trapped in a coil of the worm's tail.
Murky and Honey looked at each other and nodded. They had a friend to save.
They dashed out, Honey leaping forward and biting the worm's tail, making it reel away, coil loosening just enough for Nymph to slip free. Murky dove for the changeling, catching Nymph on her back before regaining her footing and running to the opposing side of the clearing, Honey following after them.

The worm screeched again as Tinned Syrup's back hooves slammed into the side of its head, tentacles flailing around as they tried to snatch up the pegasus.
Tincture fired another large blast of light. It struck a tentacle, burning a part of it clean off.
Though it was a clean hit, it wouldn't be a sign of good to come; Tincture was caught off-guard as the worm's tail whipped into her, sending her tumbling across the ground.
"Tincture!" Tinned Syrup yelped, her sentence cut off by another yelp as a toothed mouth tentacle struck her, wrapping around her tightly.
Tincture quickly stumbled to her feet, firing off several beams to try and get the worm's attention. A few of them did hit, but only managed to draw the ire of the worm's tail, which now coiled tightly around Tincture, slamming her against the ground.

"No!" The fillies cried in unison, watching as the Helmintide achieved the upper hand.
This was short lived, however, as a large streak of blue lightning raked up the worm’s side.
"Let her go, beast!" Roared Bottle, her mane's stripe a blazing white as another lightning strike loosed from her hoof, making the worm drop Tinned Syrup to the ground.
"I'll tire it out. Hazy, get ready to pounce on it," Bottle ordered.
Hazy Stupor nodded and began running around the side.
The worm roared at Bottled Lightning and dove at her.

Bottle rolled to the side, leaving a large column of electricity in her wake. The worm hissed and convulsed as it dove headfirst into the cascade of bolts.
Hazy leapt on the worm's head, pinning it beneath her front hooves. "TO TARTARUS WITH YOU!!" Hazy roared.
The worm hissed and screeched, its once predatory movements reduced to uncoordinated, messy flailing.
Bottle grabbed a hold of a wiggling tentacle and clamped it between her hooves, lighting it up with large flashes of blue lightning.

The worm convulsed and writhed, until it finally laid limp on the ground. The smell of cooked flesh emanated through the clearing.
Hazy panted, waiting a few moments before she stepped off of it. "We… We did it," She said, panting, her stance trembling, "It won't hurt anypony anymore."
Bottle looked around, "Is everyone okay?" She asked weakly, her mane fizzling as she finally released her grip on the now partially fried worm.
Tincture groaned gently, "Nothing I'm not used to…" She murmured softly.
"Ugh… Just some teeth marks," Tinned Syrup huffed, slowly standing to her hooves, looking at the numerous cuts on her torso.
"Murky, Honey? Where are you? You can come out, it's safe now!" Tinned Syrup called.

"Over here," Murky said softly, walking out from behind a set of bushes with Nymph on her back and Honey Syrup at her side.
Nymph was passed out now, badly worn from her fight with the worm. Numerous cuts and even what seemed to be a broken front leg were visible.
Tincture and Tinned Syrup ran over to their daughters.
"N-Nymph needs help," Honey whined, looking at her mother with pleading eyes.
"Who is…?" Tincture trailed off as her gaze settled on the passed out faux-alicorn on Murky's back.

"We should get her to the hospital," Murky said.
Tincture nodded, "Tinned, can you still fly? We need to be out of here as fast as possible," She stated. She only needed one look at the bleeding wounds to know it was serious.
Tinned nodded. "I can. Follow my voice, okay dears?" She requests.
The group began making their way out of the forest, focusing on making it out as fast as possible. Few words were shared; the urgency of taking care of a bleeding filly took precedence.