Run
Chapter 1
RUN, RUN! Were the only thoughts that were pounding through the young filly's head. She galloped through the trees, trying to gain some distance between herself and her pursuers. It seemed like Mother Nature herself was against her; the low bearing trees and their branches, viciously trying to catch her in their web. Roots shooting out of the ground, trying to trip her when she least expected it. The crescent moon gleamed through the trees ominously, giving of only the faintest of light. Her path was nearly invisible.
“Find that blasted wench now, we are too close to finishing just to lose her!”
Keep running! She could hear her pursuers behind her, slowly making ground. She couldn’t tell how many were chasing her, but it was definitely more than one, and she couldn’t risk turning around to find out. They were getting closer, she could hear the individual hooves pounding on the ground, slowly gaining, slowing closing the distance. They had seen her by now, but that didn’t matter, she had to keep running. Why is this happening to me, she thought to herself, tears welling up in her eyes, what did I do to deserve this? “No!” she shouted out loud, pushing the tears away. Now was not the time to cry; to become weak and give in. For now she would run, as fast and far as her little legs would carry her, she would have to keep running.
“Sir, we need to find her now! We’re nearing the edge of the woods and it’ll be easier for someone to find her.”
It was only through sheer willpower that she was able to continue, hoping with every fiber of her being that someone would come and help her. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would even across a town; a place where she could rest, a place where she would no longer be hunted like a wild animal. There would be other ponies like her, ones that would love her and wouldn’t preform all those horrible painful tests.
She didn’t see the rock cloaked in darkness until it was too late. She hit the ground, rolling several feet before coming to a stop in the middle of a large clearing, unable to get back to her feet. She could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she saw the light of her pursuers drawing near. She looked around quickly, trying to find a place to hide, trying to find a place to escape her attackers, but shelter was nowhere to be found. In the light of the moon she was completely exposed, and her pursuers where on to her. The group broke through the brush directly behind her, circled around her in a flash, cutting off any possible escape. There were five of them, all huge stallions, each wearing an identical black cloak, a scarlet cowl covering each of their faces. The only thing that was clearly visible dark night, was the distinctive glowing blood red insignia surrounding the left eye. The mark; every pony at horrible place had one, and while the little filly had no idea what it represented, its’ crimson glow was enough to set a paralyzing fear in the foal.
Slowly, one of the stallions approached the filly. He was the tallest of the bunch, and his commanding stride showed that of the leader of the group.
“Why do you run away from us Nine?” He questioned in a slick tone, slowly pacing around her in the dark, using the light of the mark to guide his way like a lantern.
“Do we not provide for you, give you shelter from this harsh environment?” He asked as he walked up to her, his dark hood covering her face from the white light of the moon, so that all she could see was the stallion’s piercing eyes awash in red. The filly cried in fear, and tried to push herself away from him, only to find herself running into the legs of another stallion, laughing as he shoved her back into the center. Smirking at her vain attempt, the leader slowly approached, lavishing in every second of her turmoil.
“Do you… FEAR US?!” he jeered cruelly as he lashed out, the sound of hoof against flesh resonating off of the trees as he sent the young filly flying into the chest of the stallion who pushed her away. The sound of laughter surrounding her as she sank to the ground, tears streaming down her face as she struggled to maintain consciousness. She reached up and touched her cheek where she had been hit, and felt a warm trickle of blood from the wound she had just received.
“Please stop this!” she begged, looking into the faces of her persecutors, hoping to find a look of sympathy in one of their eyes. But all she was met with was cruel, stone cold gazes. With a nod from their leader, they all started to close in on her, time for play was over, it was time to finish the job. Suddenly, she felt the rough edge of a rope wrapping around her feet, dragging her to the ground. The stallion who was holding the rope began to roughly hogtie her, the rope ripping into her flesh with each tight pull. With all hope of being free slowly being burned to the ground, the young filly let out a horrible, blood curdling scream which echoed throughout the entire forest.
The lead stallion quickly shut her mouth with his two hooves, a fiery rage burning in his eyes. One of the others produced a small vial and a handkerchief from under his cloak and, after pouring some of the clear liquid into the cloth, shoved the fowl smelling liquid into the filly’s face.
“We can’t have any more of that,” the leader shouted as filly felt herself losing consciousness, “Don’t want you waking up any of the creatures in these woods. Don’t want any ursa’s coming and tearing us all apart.”
Suddenly, as the young filly was sure she could no longer stay awake, the handkerchief that was covering her muzzle suddenly flew into the air, the stallion still gripping it tightly. The filly tried to look up to see what could knock that huge stallion off of her, but was could feel the effects of the liquid still holding her hostage. Her head felt like lead as it fell to the ground in a thud. As the world slowly grew dark, she could see a slight ball of color flying through the air, followed closely by the loud thud of a nearby pony. Soon, it was over, and she heard a muffled voice as a face covered the moon little curve of the moon… Then darkness…
Author's Note
Thanks for reading, and I'll will be working on the next part soon. Please let me know what you thought about it.