Unknown Disturbance

Amber awoke to the sight of sunlight streaming through the… Branches? She tried to sit up, only to find her hooves were tied up. She gave a small sigh, remembering the night before. She had stumbled onto the creature’s hiding place, but apparently had been knocked out by it. Above her, she noticed a layer of branches resting on a frame. Why she had been put here, she didn’t know, but assumed it had something to do with the giant.

Next, Amber looked down to see what was holding her legs together. After a moment of focusing through her still-drowsy eyes, she noticed two bands of Hzunt vine holding her front and my back hooves together. She gave a small groan, knowing that it would be impossible to get the vine off. Hzunt vines were magical in nature, being virtually impossible to break without serious work. She rolled over, and tried to get them to fray by rubbing them on a nearby rock, only to get just what she expected: Nothing. Somehow, during the mess of moving herself around she found herself in an… awkward position, with her spine bent backwards as she had tried to break the vine.

Amber gave another sigh, rolling over into a more comfortable position. At least she could finally get some rest without somepony knocking on her door every five hours with an emergency. Her only worry was for the town’s safety: What if the creature attacked, and why had it spared her? The questions ran through her head several times before she heard hoofsteps outside of her little shelter. Turning slightly to look at who bothered her, she saw it.

The creature was definitely bipedal, and very tall. It was holding a half-eaten Apple in one hoof – wait, hoof? Amber looked closer, and saw that it was actually some type of paw or claw… Actually, hands, like on a monkey. Its face seemed squashed, and its nose just barley protruded from its face, instead of its entire mouth, like it should have.

It looked at Amber with undisguised curiosity. She shot it an intense glare back, causing it to flinch slightly. It pulled an object from behind it – another apple, she saw, fully untouched. She glared at him, fully expecting a trick. When there was none, she slowly scooted herself up to it and took a bite. Shortly after that, the thing turned around and left her.

She heard some rustling from a few feet away as the creature apparently did something. Seconds later, she heard a low growl, a sound she knew all too well: Timberwolves. Two seconds after that, she heard a small click, followed by a loud *BOOM*. Amber heard splinters flying and hitting the ground, followed by a running sound as the rest of the pack retreated. She simply assumed the creature had used whatever weapon, magical or otherwise, it had used on the Manticore.

A few minutes later, Amber Star heard the sound of the creature leaving the camp, apparently going off to attack Ponyville, or do some other nefarious act. She tried to move her bonds, to break them, for at least another half hour, before giving up. With nothing else to do, she simply decided to daydream.

Her mind wandered, over everything she could think of. She knew there would be no search parties for at least another day; her disappearance had probably caused them to rethink the patrols. She hoped, inside, that she would eventually be found, because she would hate to become a pet to that creature, subject to it.

Above all, Amber knew, she would miss her brother. While it wasn’t common knowledge, both her and her brother, Azure Star, had joined the Royal Guards. They both shared a fascination with protecting others, and that had led to an obvious career choice, even if her Cutie Mark happened to be an amber, four-pointed star surrounded by smaller, cyan stars. Her brother’s was the same, although with an azure star instead of an amber one.

She looked up at the sky, squinting in surprise. It was already darkness, and she hadn’t even noticed the passage of the day. Sighing, she lay her head down on the surprisingly soft grass on the ground, and quickly fell asleep.

The sun woke her up again. She groaned, knowing she had to go through another day of complete inactivity. She heard hoofsteps, and once again the creature came into view. Amber gave it an intense glare, hoping to convey a message; ‘respect me, and I’ll respect you’. She blinked as the creature tossed her another apple. She scooted forward yet again to eat it, enjoying the taste, and the variety it added to her otherwise-dull day. At least the apple had plenty of juice inside of it, although she knew she would eventually need water.

Once again, the creature made itself scarce, a fact of which she heard minutes later when she heard it move out of the clearing. Moving into her daydreams again, she was surprised at how easy it was to lose herself in them. Then again, she had never really had the chance, the last few years being occupied with guard duties and such nearly every day. She couldn’t remember the last time she had ever had a vacation, so compared to her work, this was great.

About five minutes later, Amber decided she had waited long enough. Starting slowly, she tried every method she could of getting the vine off of her hooves, including trying to chew through them. She could even do that, not able to reach her hooves with her mouth. A crunch two feet away announced the creature was back, and she looked at it as it gave her a small, knowing smile. Amber glared at it, unhappy that she had been unable to get out of the freakishly strong vines.

The creature held up a small, partially clear container, which appeared to be full of water. She cocked her head, wondering how she was ever supposed to get water out of it. The creature held out one of its miniature hooves, and then ran off, towards the town. Amber gave a small sigh, knowing she wouldn’t be getting answers from it any time soon.

Ten minutes later, the creature came back, holding something in its hands. Amber glared at it as the creature put it on the ground, opening it up like a small pouch. She saw it was made of that cloth that Rarity always used in her waterproof clothes, so she judged he was making a bowl of some sorts. After it had loosened up, he poured some water in and moved out of her eyesight, towards what she now figured was his hut.

She slowly scooted up to the bowl, raising her head slightly and taking a deep drink of water. The feel of it running down her throat was as if Celestia had finally decided to take her into the clouds. Laying her head down on the ground, Amber decided to take a small nap.

Amber was awoken suddenly by the sound of hoofsteps outside of the frame. Groaning, she looked to the side only to see a familiar blue pegasus.

“Rainbow Dash!” She gasped, shocked at her appearance. She had been found!

“Amber Star!” The blue pegasus said, taking in her appearance. “Hold on, I’m going to get the rest of the search teams over here!”

After that, Amber passed out. She faintly remembered the next few hours, including the arrival of the unicorn search team. She was checked out by to less than three doctors during that time, and declared fit for the journey to Canterlot.

Amber rose to her feet off of the hospital bed. She followed a unicorn guard to a waiting carriage outside, for the journey to Canterlot. Apparently, Twilight had finally captured the creature, after a chase lasting well into an hour. Celestia wanted to seek her opinion of the creature, and she was going there to give it.

As the flight journeyed towards Canterlot, Amber felt herself drifting off. It had been a long week, and all she needed now was rest.

With that, she fell into a deep slumber.