Cherished Emotions

The water around her began to shift; rocks, sand and small sea creatures continuously bashing against her prison. 'What's happening?' Cherie thought from within the impervious self-sustaining prison that Mannequin had built just for her. 'Has someone found me? Have they come back for me?' A small bud of hope and terror bloomed within her heart. Hope that someone had come to free her from this hellish existence, and terror at the thought that the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine had come back to torture her or give her to Bonesaw for an experiment, not that there was much difference.

Cherie didn't know how long she had been trapped at the bottom of the Boat Graveyard, it could have been years for all she knew, but almost anything was better than being trapped down here for thousands of years with nothing but her thoughts to occupy her time. Being trapped for long periods of time with nothing but your thoughts was an effective way of causing insanity, and Cherie wasn't sure how much longer she would last before she began begging for a relief-even through death-from this punishment.

Her prison was moving erratically, that much she could tell for sure, though what was happening she couldn't say for sure since she was unable to see at the moment. A sudden change in the chaotic movement of the water surrounding her sent a burst of alarm through her body, and an ominous feeling crept up her spine, sending her into a panic.  A distorted drawn out sound echoed in her ears, and she got the distinct impression of falling, which confused her considering that she was at the bottom of a body of water, there wasn't any farther she could possibly fall.

The sudden total destruction of her prison sent Cherie into shock as her senses, which had been almost unused within her prison, were assaulted by the bright light of the sun and the explosion of undistorted sound; a drastic change from the pitch black and mostly soundless prison that had been her home for who knew how long.

A scream escaped her lips as she slammed into what felt like dirt, a sudden numbness from her left arm alerted her to the fact that her arm was probably broken. Cherie lay there for a while, her long black hair with red highlights splayed out around her and tears of pain and joy dripping down her cheeks onto the soft earth below. Her eyes slowly opened, greeted by a dark and gloomy forest that was so overgrown with plant life that Cherie was surprised there was enough sunlight for the bushes and flowers in the undergrowth to survive at all. She breathed in deeply, and the dank and musky smell of wet earth filled her nostrils; it had rained here recently.

Looking down at her left arm only confirmed that it was broken, which caused Cherie to sigh. She had been through much worse during the tests she had endured in order to cement her place in the Slaughterhouse Nine, but a broken arm would still cause problems that she would rather be without. Twisting her body so she could get her right arm underneath her, Cherie lifted herself off the ground a foot or so until she could get on her knees. She grimaced at the sight of her torn up jeans, she would need to get some new ones once she got back to civilization. The thought of civilization made her grin, she was free! A laugh tore itself from her throat, scratchy and rough from under use.

Shoving herself to her feet Cherie stumbled forward a few steps before catching herself on a tree trunk, where she took a second to find her balance and catch her breath. After she was done with that Cherie slowly maneuvered her broken arm into a position where, after messing with her bright pink shirt for a little bit, she was able to create a sort of makeshift sling to hold her broken arm while she tried to find a way to the nearest city or town.

Taking a few steps forward Cherie looked around for a bit, searching for a sign that showed her the way to the closest town, before finally deciding on the direction that seemed to have the least amount of undergrowth blocking her way. She moved slowly, checking beneath her feet to make sure she wasn't going to step on something dangerous, and checking around her to look for signs of any possible predators that might be nearby. She was pretty sure that she could twist the emotions of any animals with a large enough brain to be afraid of her so they stayed away, but she wasn't certain, so she kept an eye out just in case.

it was around an hour later that Cherie sighted a stream of light from an opening in the canopy above, and she made her way towards it as fast as she could while still being careful. When she got there she emitted a bubbly cry of joy, it was a clearing, a respite from the repressing darkness that seemed to stretch forever. Moving forward at a fast walk Cherie entered the clearing and made her way into the middle of the slightly oblong area. She sat down in the grass lifted her chin and closed her eyes, loving the feeling of the cool breeze gently winding its way through her long hair, brushing it out of her face like the hand of a lover.

It was when she heard the telltale snapping sound of a stick under a foot that Cherie knew she had made a mistake. She was on her feet in an instance, the superior reflexes she had gained as a member of the Slaughterhouse Nine coming to her rescue as she dodged a beam of light that had been headed straight for her unprotected back.

"Shit!" She yelled as she dodged three more beams before making a break for the quite large area of trees where no beams of light were coming from. 'They're herding me' The pattern in which the aggressors were firing the beams suddenly made sense to Cherie, and she jumped over a beam that came from the direction she was running. After feinting to the left she quickly sprinted right, her legs burning as she pushed her beaten body to its limits.  Her face twisted into a grimace as she dove through some thorny bushes and kept running. Cherie could hear the clopping sounds of a horse behind her, and while she wasn't sure why whoever was after her was on horseback, she couldn't care less at the moment.

Cherie gasped in delight as she noticed that she was finally coming up on the edge of the forest, and she pushed herself harder even though it hurt. She had not survived the punishment of the rest of the Slaughterhouse Nine just to be captured by some dumbasses who didn't even know what a car was.

She broke out of the forest a hundred meters ahead of her pursuers, and she quickly surveyed the landscape before making the decision to enter the city that was a mile away at most. She could feel the anger and rage coming from her pursuers, but she was too exhausted at the moment to play with them. He first priority was to escape.

She was almost at the outskirts of the city when she realized just how close her pursuers actually were to catching up with her. Making a hasty decision that she knew could cost her, she took out a small syringe out of her pocket and injected it into her bloodstream. One of the great things about Bonesaw was that she always had medical supplies on hand, so stealing a syringe filled with adrenaline was quite easy. Cherie grinned as her body went into overdrive, allowing her the extra burst of speed she needed to get away.

Briefly looking up as she entered the city Cherie saw a large banner with the city's name stretched across it in bright bold letters. 'Manehatten?' She thought curiously. 'Isn't it Manhattan?' Cherie shook off the part of her that continually whispered in her ear how wrong all of this was and dashed through the outskirts and into the heart of the city itself.

The sudden absence of light as the sun plummeted down the horizon caused Cherie to start panicking. 'What the hell? That's not supposed to happen! Oh god oh god oh god. Where the fuck am I?' Acting on instinct Cherie rushed into what appeared to be a marketplace, and instantly regretted it.

"Fuck me..." She breathed out, eyes as wide as they could be and mouth dropped open in utter shock. There standing in front of her and looking just as shocked as she did, was a red-furred Unicorn with a bright green mane and a pencil in its hoof. Slowly backing away from the mythological creature that could somehow hold a pencil Cherie twirled on the heels of her feet and took off in the opposite direction, only to come face to face with a Pegasus. Her eye began twitching erratically as she looked around to find herself surrounded by Unicorns and Pegasi of all different colors and sizes. "I've gone mad!" She spoke, a shrill laugh bubbling forth from her chest.

"Somepony contact one of the Princesses!" Cherie heard one of the abominations speak before she collapsed to the ground in a dead faint.