Escapism

The little blue filly trudged up the steep hill, panting. Ever since the day the war had started, she had never felt so trapped. She was not yet ten, and had yet to earn her cutie mark. Her messy black mane blew in the wind, her wings shut against her body, for fear that she just might blow away. The trees surrounding her also swayed in the breeze, however, they were rooted in the ground. A little colt followed her, a tan pegasus pony who had little coal colored spikes of hair at the top of his head. He had also not had a cutie mark.

The reason they were stuck in this dark forest, was because of a certain unicorn that had called for the mass murder of Pegasi, for reasons unknown. The country of Ponyland, a once happy and simple country, had fell ashambles. Pegasi were being murdered let and right, and whole towns were burning. Windows had been broken into shards of small, shiny glass, shops were boarded up, and everyone had to be wary and not trust ANYONE. But the worst part of them all, was that the little filly's parents were just two of the hundreds of slaughtered Pegasi.

She had remembered those fateful days, the first just when her mother told her, in tears that on the way to the little store to buy bread for the week, her father had been grabbed, taken to the top of a hill, and shot.

"His body was left to rot." she sadly whispered.

The second time was when her mother was going to visit a friend, she had been cornered, taken into the middle of the street and had her throat slit with a sharp piece of glass that had been from one of the broke windows. All this was just the result of pure hatred. She, however, remembered the words that her mother had spoken to her before she left:

"If I die in this world, please run to the hill that is on the edge of the town. Climb up on it, and when you reach the top, you will see Equestria. Jump up and fly there. This country is peaceful, and has no fighting ate all. If your wings are too tired, try to land a few feet from the border. Be careful, for guards patrol this area. Try to sneak into the country, for the second you make it into there, you'll be safe."

"But mother," the filly asked, "I can't fly just yet."

"Do not worry. my dear, for I know you will be successful at the top of the hill."

The day after her mother died, some guards arrived in her town to have all the Pegasi executed. The filly, taking her mother's words to heart, ran behind her house, the colt, whom she did not know, following. A female Earth pony guard took notice of this and chased after them screaming,

"You know I can still see you, right? Give up already!"

A shard of glass from a home that had once been in the thicket before burning down, was sticking up out of the ground. The guard stepped on it, the shiny shard piercing her hoof, causing the blood to spurt out, and also making her fall in the process. She screamed in pain, but knowing that this gave them chance to get away, she was even more angry. The foals ran away as fast as they could, trying not to trip, as the forest floor was very rocky, and the hill was very steep. Soon it evened out, making it easy for them to move and considering that they were far away enough, they stopped running and walked. Normally, the birds would be chirping on a day like this, but as the war had been going on for a month now, the birds and other woodland creatures had left.

"Good for them." the filly thought.

She pushed herself to move and the colt did the same. However, unknown to her, a hole lay in the middle of the forest, waiting for it's prey. The foal trotted towards it, when all of a sudden...
"Sssss," she hissed. She had fallen to the ground, like the guard, and was it pain like the mare. The colt walked over to her, asking if she was ok.

"I-I'm going to be fine." she replied. Pulling herself up and out of the hole, she looked down at her hoof and saw that it was already swelling up! "I think it's twisted." she replied. "But I want to keep going."

The colt sighed, as he was very tired already, but pushed himself to move, if he wanted to survive. He felt bad for her, as it must have been very painful for her, but her confidence amazed him.

"She's so beautiful." he thought. He pushed himself to move and he soon caught up with her. After a while, the foals saw a small pile of stones that looked like someone could sit on it.

"I would like to sit here." the colt exclaimed.

"No. We must move on, for we need to live, and if we need to live we need to escape, and if we want to escape, we must get to the top of the hill.

"But I'm tired. You've been pushing me all day, how do you think I feel?"

"I'm sorry, we must get to the top."

"I'm going to rest."

"Ok, be that way."

The filly walked off, despite the pain in her hoof, but determination blocked out most of the pain. It was lonely, yes, but she didn't care. She was almost there anyway. She heard a gunshot in the distance, causing her to jump. She ran up the hill, until she couldn't hear it anymore. Noticing the sunlight, she trotted towards a clearing, which was a wildflower field. However, something was off about it. Some smoke was rising from it. Her curiosity got the best of her, and she crept into the field. Noticing a tail, just lying there, she pulled it closer to her, and when she saw what it was, she almost screamed.

It was the colt, dead from gunshot. With a large, gaping, bloody hole in his abdomen, and a smaller one in his chest, she couldn't help but cry out,

"WHY DID ALL OF THIS HAVE TO HAPPEN!?"

Looking to make sure no one was around, wiping the blood on her hooves off, she snuck out of the field, back into the forest. She trudged up another steep slope, noticing another field, similar to the previous one, but more peaceful looking. She turned a corner around it, and there it was. The top of the hill. She hurried towards it, not caring about the pain. She stopped to sit and look around. The mountains and lake in the distance was a sign Equestria was a wingspan away. She also thought about her mother, her father, her friends, the little colt. All had been victims of this pointlessness.

"Don't worry everyone! I will avenge you!"

She jumped up in the air, spread her wings, and amazingly to her, she flew! Her mother had been right all along.

"Oh Mother, thank you!"

Soaring over the trees, she felt finally free. She had never even hovered before, so this was a big accomplishment. Swooping down towards a pear tree, she decided to eat something, as she was starving, she only had breakfast two hours ago.

Grabbing a pear off it's branches, the filly munched on the sweet, juicy fruit. It wasn't much, but it was like a feast to the filly. Noticing a fire in the distance, she tiptoed around to make sure it wasn't guards. When she heard the familiar flutter of wings, she trotted to the heat.

"Hello!" she yelled. "Mind if I share the fire with you?"

"Of course, sweetie." a mare replied. She was a light pink, with a striped cloak around here.

"Why do you have a fire in the middle of the day?" the foal asked.

"It's very cold for us, so we have to warm up." a stallion said. He was brown, had a blue blanket wrapped around him, and spoke in a deep, but calm voice.

"Oh, okay. I need it anyway." the filly replied. "I'm trying to escape to Equestria, as my mother told me to. She and my father were killed, so I took her words to heart. What are you guys doing?"

"We're just hiding, but who cares if we live or die. We have nothing else in life. Everything is gone." another stallion replied. He was blue, and sitting on a quilt.

"Nearly everyone and everything I ever knew is gone, should I just give up and die?"

"No, that's true, you're a filly, you have plenty years left to live. We are just ponies, we have had many years well spent, and we aren't scared anymore." a second mare said. She was brown, with a purple cape, but you could barely see her eyes, for the hood was covering her face.

"So I shouldn't give up?"

"Yes!" the pink mare exclaimed. "Go on and live your life. Don't die of hatred, die of old age. Get married, have foals, do whatever!"

"Just don't give up." the blue stallion said.

"I want you to live, who cares if we die, just get out of here!" the brown stallion yelled.

"Your parents and friends would want you to escape!" said the brown mare.

"Thank you! I'm glad I met you all!" the filly cried, hugging them all goodbye.

"Goodbye, have a safe trip!" they all yelled back.

She flew away into the sky, as soon as she heard some yelling and four gunshots, she flew faster, their words fresh in her mind. She however, stopped again, after seeing something on the ground. Seeing it was just a corpse, she flew back up, but stopped when she heard two male voices.

"Hey, did you just hear something? It sounded like fluttering. Can you check it out?" a young male asked.

"It's probably nothing." an older stallion replied.

"Please check it out, it better not be one of those damn Pegasi."

"Fine, I'll go check." he sighed. "Hello, is anyone out here?" he yelled. The filly was as quiet as possible, for fear of being caught. The pain in her hoof came back to her once again, as she had finally came to her senses. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the older stallion say,

"It was nothing, probably just a bird." She ran away as fast as she could, so that they couldn't hear her wings. When she was far enough she flew again, into the sky, telling herself to never land again. She was able to let go and felt powerful. When she looked down, she saw a gate!

"That must be the border!" she thought. She decided to land on last time, a few feet away from the gate, just like her mother said. Noticing three guards that seemed to be distracted by something else, and three shacks, she hid behind a shack, so they wouldn't see her, and thought of the perfect time to strike.

She thought of her favorite memories of Ponyland before the war. The store where her father had shopped at. Crisp apples. The first snow. The family wagon. Simple games with friends. Learning how to sew, with her Grandmother's help. Her mother's cookies, those sweet, sugary shortbreads. The big fair and losing and winning the games. Dinner with her grandparents. Homemade, salty, creamy, butter. Chocolate candy. Starry nights. Cool lemonade. Train rides. Dried applesauce. Dance lessons. Drawing. The entire town. All was taken from her for reasons unexplained.

The guards soon left, and the filly ran out of her hiding spot. She jumped up in the air, and over the fence, into Equestria.

"I made it Mother! I made it Father!" She was sure she could see her parents, friends, the colt, those four adult ponies, all smiling down on her, as they knew she could do it.

She walked into a town nearby, and went to a shopkeeper, asking for a place to stay, but all she could do was cry.

"What's wrong?" the wine colored mare asked.

"I-I came from Ponyland, and I lost so many ponies along the way!"

"P-Ponyland?? I heard so many things about what was going on there, but I didn't know what to think."

"It's all true. Whole towns are gone." Soon the street overheard the conversation.

"She's from Ponyland?"

"Isn't there genocide going on there right now?"

"Don't worry dear, I'll take you to the National Equestria Orphanage. It's in this town, and they treat you very good. At least that's what I've heard." the shopkeeper said warmly.

"My ankle is also twisted, can it be treated?"

"They can fix you up there sweetie."

"Oh thank you ma'am."

"You're welcome honey." They walked to the orphanage together, the mare occasionally letting the filly ride on her back, being an Earth Pony giving her extra strength. As soon as they stopped in front of a tall, elegant, brown, red, green, and grey building, the mare told the filly,

"Just walk in, tell them your story and they'll be very kind. If you ever need me, I'll be in my shop in the marketplace, my home is above it. Oh, and by the way, I never got your name. What is it?" The filly replied,

"My name is..."