The Price of Friendship

A Mothers Love

The fog thickened around the fillies as the continued upon an uncertain path, huddled together like cows to the slaughter. Leaves crunched outside of their range of sight, the girls jumped with each pant and growl the mystic shadows spewed forth, “W-We almost there..we gotta be clo--” Sweetie Belle said but was cut off as she tripped over something. She landed face first into the ground, her nose cracking under the pressure of the fall, and she began to cry. Applebloom quickly lifted her up as she held her nose in pain, “Waaahhhh! I-I'm gonna die here aren't I!” she choked out of fear and pain, blood slowly dripped from what she assumed was a broken nose. Scootaloo frowned and looked around, “No..no of course not! I'll get us outta here, maybe if I just fly up to see through above the treetop we can get a better look.” she said to them flexing out her adolescent wings. Sweetie Belle shook her head slightly, cupping her nose as Applebloom tried to assist, “Yea, well, just hurry it will ya? She's really hurt.” Scootaloo sighed and began to take off. She didn't know if this was an adventure she'd always wanted, but right now adventure was the last thing on her mind.

Although young, Scootaloo was an adequate flier, she could fly for about ten minutes each hour. This is a surprising amount of time for a filly of such young age, even more so, one without a cutie mark. She took off, and gained height flying above the menacing fog. Ten feet, twenty feet, twenty-five feet, she thought to herself, struggling to break the canopy. “Almost there, almost there!” she said finally breaking her head above the dense leaves and prodding thorns. Everywhere she looked there was nothing, no sign of light from Ponyville, not even Cloudsdale was within distance. Her stomach lurched into her throat. How far inside were they? She closed her eyes, her friends couldn't be let down, and she had to give them some sort of hope. She'd lie about their situation, of course. Her wings began to tire as she pulled her head out from the treetops and into the forest once more. She peered around and stopped dead in her tracks. A shadowy figure was glaring down at her friends from a tree not more than 16 feet away, ten skinny legs waved silently in the fog. What was this thing? Scootaloo let out a frightened gasp, her hooves suddenly enclosing over her mouth. Oh god, she thought, what have we gotten ourselves into?

Slowly, the creature turned it's head towards Scootaloo as it's smile widened. She felt her wings begin to give way as the creature slowly put a leg in front of it's lips shaking it's distorted head 'no'. Her eyes closed and she passed out falling from the sky. Appleboom was using her bow to clean up the blood from Sweetie Belles nose when she heard tree branches snapping from above, “What the..” she said looking up as Scootaloo can plummeting through the fog. She immediately sprung into action jumping in the nick of time to capture the senseless pegasus. She began to shake her friend violently, “SCOOT! SCOOT! WAKE UP!” she begged thinking the worst had happened. Tears began to take shape in the corners of her eyes, but then Scoot began to move, “H-Huh..who's..Applebloom..?” her words didn't make any sense, but she was awake! Even better she was alive! “What in tarnations happened up there!” Applebloom said as Scootaloo began to gain her ground. The tense filly sat up and looked to the sky disheartened, “N-Nothing..we're going in the right direction..don't worry. I got this.” Sweetie Belle smiled relieved and got up walking over to her friends, “This is great! I think the bleeding stopped, but jeez louise it hurts still!” she said handing back the bow back to a reluctant Applebloom. They all agreed and began to walk on. Slowly Scootaloo felt something take form at the end of her flank, the image of mask.

Slowly they ventured into the forgotten bowls of the forest, and although they felt security in numbers, each of them had a hidden fear burrowing into their soul. Except for Sweetie Belle, she carelessly walked in front of the group expecting to be the first one to take sight of Ponyville, “Hurry up you guys! I wanna make it home before sunrise!” her bubbly voice emitted, “I wouldn't mind just makin' it home if yah'd ask me” Applebloom said rolling her eyes. Something pounced from behind them and they Applebloom and Scootaloo jumped. Sweetie Belle stopped in her tracks and turned around, “Guys..?” she questioned trying to figure out why they had stopped walking. The two frightened fillies ushered their friend to her side, but she just laughed and shooed them away, “Seriously guys..what's wrong? Let's just g--” suddenly something jumped on top of Sweetie cutting her off. It dug it's claws into her skin as it's daggered mouth took snaps at her neck. The filly screamed holding back the beasts head, her strength slowly diminishing as the monsters strong back legs pushed further. She felt it's hot breath brush against her neck as it's tongue slid against her skin. The young mare screamed for her friends, but they remained in shock. The last of her muscles cramped and she gave way, the beast wrapped it's mouth around her neck. There was a loud bang and something wet dropped the ground.

Sweetie Belle clenched her eyes tight as the dog-like creature fell off of her. The top half of it's had had been blown off, it's brain matter painted the ground in sickening chunks. She quickly opened her eyes and gasped, kicking herself back till she hit a tree. “HELP! PLEASE!” she screamed, her eyes darting around for her friends who were nowhere to be found. Her chest heaved as she heard something walk up behind her, it put a hoof on her back, “Don't you worry about your friends” the male voice spoke, “You'll be joining them soon.”

Young Sweetie Belle kicked away the colt, getting up about to run as his hands grabbed her quickly, “Your dumbass goes running away in this fog, and it'll be worst mistake in your life!” it spoke up with anger. She nodded as her heart raced, “Please..I just want to get home..don't..do anything” she begged softly. The colt laughed setting his rifle against the side of the tree, “What are you talking about , Little One? I'm not going to hurt you. On the contrary, I'm here to save you.” he said releasing the panicked filly from his grasp, “The names Slingshot, and I'm probably the most confused pony right now.” he said in a soft caring voice, her two friends slowly walking out from behind him. Sweetie Belle smiled seeing the familiar faces and got up wincing at her wounds. The colt shook his head, “I don't know why you all are even out in these parts, but you might want to come back to my house and get yourselves something nice to eat, and clean up those wounds.” he said propping the rifle into his firing mechanism. The three of them jumped behind him huddling close to their only source of security and trotted off.

The loud bang had frightened the something, and it darted away from the noise hiding in the canopies above. It was so close to to tasting their flesh, however, there was a thorn in it's plan. The colt. It had seen the male before, a skill marksmen paid by privately owned security contractors in Ponyville. His main goal, to rid Zone 1 of the evils that lurked so that they might be able to colonize it. The something always kept a close eye on him, but it feared for it's life of the danger he possessed. It had to hold off for awhile, suffice it's appetite on something less appealing.

A young doe frolicked playfully in the summer night, her new born fawn walking clumsily after her. The mother softly licked at her child's face content with what she had brought into the world. Her baby brushed it's head against her mothers side and cried in happiness. The something grinned in the darkness, small feeble animals, but they would do well. It jumped from the cover of black an slammed it's legs into the doe's groin, an instant death as the sharp, barbed hooks cut away at her vital organs. Blood poured out of the wound, splashing the earth as it's ilk scuttled from beneath the ground burrowing their selves into it's flesh eating it apart from the inside. The fawn shrieked loudly as it attempted to escape, but nothing escapes from the something. It grabbed the fawn be the back leg and hovered it over it's mouth; it kicked wildly crying out to a mother it no longer had, and slowly it's time in the world ended. The nothing slashed it's teeth through the fawn tearing it in half. Bile escaped from the twitched rear of the corpse as it swallowed the succulent taste of blood and despair. It's ilk began to chitter to each other as they fought over the remaining bits of the doe. It smiled at the though, they were learning, and one day they'll grow up to be just like their mother.

"Slingshot's the kinda colt who could kill and Ursa Major in three minutes, but when it comes to a mare, he can kill the conversation in three seconds."

-General Morningstar, Equestrian Royal Guard