Deep within the woods, a grey pegasus named Bandage, ran with a look of fear etched on his face. The feather on his wings was ruffled and bruised. His breathes raspy, as though he had been running for a while. Trees past by him as he dodged. The leaves on the ground crumpled beneath his hooves and flew as he sped away. He was not alone. Behind him was a giant figure that was after the poor colt, and it was slowly catching up to him.

When he could hear that it was behind him, Bandage tried to find a way to shake him loose. He saw a branch right ahead and quickly turned to the right, hoping the creature would run straight onto it. A thud and a sound of something heavy dropping told him it worked, and he wasted no time to look for a place to hide.

Bandage hid within the safety of a bush, covering himself with a burnt hoof to silence himself. Sweat poured down his fur, and his heart drummed loud, which he hoped was not heard. His cutie mark, a roll of bandage gauze, was dirtied by the ground. Silently, he prayed to Celestia that he would not be found, that someone would come and save him from the beast.

Bandage asked, “How did it end up like this?”, as he thought back to before this all began.

(8 minutes ago)

Bandage felt cold. His whole body feels drenched. He felt like he was floating in the darkness. Was he in water? But the pegasus found he was neither in darkness nor floating when he opened his eyes and saw that he was flowing gently across a river. He was confused as to how he had gotten here and why. Maybe he could figure it out later. Right now, he needs to get on land.

He swam to the edge and gripped on tightly till he could get up. Bandage shook his whole body, flinging the water away and making himself drier. Once he felt dry enough, he took a moment to take in the scenery, but dread was the only thing that loomed in this place.

Around him were large brown trees. This place must be a forest. The atmosphere was dark and eerie, which the moon contrasted with its soft, bright rays. But even with the moon's light, it was still hard to see all around him. Everywhere Bandage looked, it was like somepony, or something was watching him from all around.

The young pegasus felt spooked and tried to fly out of the forest. But as soon as his wing had bent down, he felt pain, which broke his concentration and made him fall on the dirt. Bandage wiped the dirt out of his face and went to look over his shoulder. He was surprised by what he had seen. Both of his wings were slightly crooked and broken. The feathers were rumpled, and some were gone. How could he have missed that? It seems that it wasn’t lethal or anything he supposed, he could only feel pain when it moved so he just hoped that it would heal in time.

Bandage lifted a hoof toward one of the wings to check if there were any more damages. But what he saw made him recoil in shock. It was not the wing; it was his hoof.

“What the…?” he whispers trails off. Tears poured down the sides of his face. Half of his hoof had 3rd degree burns. Fur had been burnt away. The skin was torn, exposing the muscle. The nerves were lightly damaged as he could still feel pain. A faint amount of blood had dried on certain parts. And it was not just one hoof, but the other one was also in a similar state.

The foal remained silent, a look of emptiness on his face. Heartbeats could be heard. And it just grew louder and louder each second. He remained stationary for a while, not knowing what to do. His mind could barely process this information fast enough without his brain shutting down.

“I’m just dreaming. Right?” Denial seems to be his best coping mechanism right now.

“This all just a stupid nightmare. I’ll just wake up in a little while. I will wake up,” Bandage fell onto the ground as he spoke. The tears had now burst down his cheeks as he sobbed. He went on like this for a minute or so till he finally stopped crying. Yet the tears still flowed.

With nothing else to do, he looked up to the sky.

And why wouldn’t it? Within the dark abyss in the sky, small dots were sparkling and shining. It looked as though they were dancing. And the moon. It blinked its bright and beautiful rays across Equestria and afar. The sight was everything to behold.

“Why do most ponies do not appreciate the night's sky?” he wondered aloud, already taking his mind away from his injuries. Stargazing was one of his favorite hobbies when he was younger. Whenever he felt down or afraid, he just looked up and took in the scenery.

He even believes that there is a star for everypony to discover. A little silly, he knows. Even his parents found it cute. Yet the thought of one day finding and hold a star in his hooves. It gave Bandage hope.

Bandage held out both his hooves and put them both together, imagining that he was holding one. He was imagining that he was holding a glowing orb in his hooves. He was thinking about how warm it felt, how his injuries hadn’t even happened. His tears had stopped. A smile adorned his face as he kept on his daydreaming.

A rustling sound in the grass disrupted him from his thoughts. Looking around, he saw something moving around within the bush. Then the source of the noise revealed itself. Bandage nearly screamed at the sight. It was larger than him, and the look on its face said that it was hungry, very hungry, and Bandage was its next meal.

Seconds passed. Minutes passed, and nothing happened. Time stood to a crawl as the two kept on staring at each other. Then without warning, it ran after the Bandage.

(Present)

Not hearing the signs that it was near, Bandage had regretted not paying attention only when it was too late. Tears streamed down his face again as the beast roared fiercely. Its roar was one that could make even the Royal Guards cower. Unicorns are even afraid to fight this beast, as they had difficulty hurting it with their magic. Only the most courageous of ponies, can best it in battle.

A beast that could poison its foe with its tail, leaving them to die in agony within seconds. Its strength, more significant than that of any pony. And the worse of it all, it could fly. A being that most sentient creatures hoped wouldn’t come across. The ferocious and deadly-

ROAR

-Manticore, one of many deadly hybrids in existence.

The foal didn’t know why this was happening to him; he was just a simple colt destined to be a doctor. He didn’t do anything bad, and he never lied, he never stole, he didn’t do anything wrong. Yet here he was about to die by the paws of a manticore.

The manticore sniffed and picked up its prey’s scent and slowly circled the bush that it hid inside. Bandage could hear its breathing coming closer, and all his hope was gone.

Bandage waited for his painful demise as he thought about his family—a loving family, which he loved back. The ones who helped him find his cutie mark: a loving father and a mother.

“Mom?” Bandage felt sad thinking about his mother, yet he didn’t know why. His breathing became heavy, and his heart beats with fury as a memory flashed in his mind.

The memory showed both him and his mom were inside a cave, and he noticed that tears were streaming down his cheeks while she was on the floor crying and moaning in pain.

And Bandage was shocked and scared by what he saw. A fire had enveloped his mother’s body. She was screaming while she tried to reach out to him. She was grunting with every step. Her once light-brown body now charred to black. Her blue hair was gone, burnt away as the fire consumed her. The sight made him want to pass out.

Walls of flame engulfed the whole cave. Behind the fire, he could make out some giant figure. He paid no heed to it for now.

His mother, despite the pain, slowly crawled over to him. When she got close, she pushed Bandage off a small hole behind him. The memory showed that it was a big drop to a waterfall. As he fell, the world slowed down enough for Bandage to look at his mother for the last time.

“I… love…” She did not get to finish her last words as her head fell to the floor, and her movements ceased until she finally died. The fire had burnt through half of what she once was. Then everything stopped.

…

Anger screamed out of Bandage, louder than the manticore roared and loud enough for even the heavens to hear.

The manticore jumped back, not knowing what its prey was planning. It stood in caution. The beast did not stop for long and moved towards the bush. The lion swiped the bush away and used its poisonous tail to sting the foal in front of him. It moved the tail out of the way to see that the colt was gone.

It was picking up Bandage’s scent for the final time, where it led the beast to a river where no other signs of the foal can be seen. Roaring, the furious manticore walked back inside the woods, hoping to find another meal to feast.

Bandage jumped out of the other side of the river, once he saw the manticore was gone. Feeling tired, he laid on the ground once again, but this time he had survived a horrible encounter.

After a while, he sat up and began contemplating his situation: He was lost and alone in the Everfree Forest with no idea how to get out. His only salvation rests on his father, whom he hoped had called for help.

Bandage thought about waiting for his wings to rest. After that, he could fly out of here. Yet something was bugging him. The figure, behind the flames. Closing his eyes, he tried to peer into the memory, trying not to look at his mother again. What he saw made him shake with fury.

The figure was as tall as four houses with red scales covering its body and giant wings. It spikes coming out its back and its tail. A creepy smile could be seen, with spike-like teeth adorning it.

The culprit was – a dragon, a fully-grown dragon.

The dragon, for whatever reason, tormented him and his mother. For what? For fun? Revenge on the ponykind? Or towards his family? The questions were only answered with more questions as Bandage kept thinking about it. Though he believed he knew what the right answer was.

“You did it for your sick fun. Tormenting a family just for your fun, you bastard,” he spat the words out like it was venom in his mouth. He knew he was right when he saw the smile the dragon wore, a smile of pleasure, as he watched his demented actions unfold.

“I’ll make you pay. I’LL MAKE YOU FUCKING PAY.” Anger coursed through him even more than before. Fear wasn’t taking hold of him anymore; it was anger. Now, he wanted to avenge his mother’s death and, most importantly, killing that son of a bitch.

But he couldn’t do it right now; Bandage is just a weak foal compared to a being with many years of experience and strong feats. He would need to learn how to fight. To break every single bone in his body till he could withstand the formidable strength of his foe.

Luckily for Bandage, there was a perfect place to start with: the Everfree Forest. Its inhabitants would always force him to become stealthy and keep his guard up, and the limited food supplies will train him to be resourceful. But five or even ten years of training here is not enough to fight the dragon head-on, he needs to find a way to get stronger, fast.

Bandage believed training and learning how to survive first was his top priority, so he would have to figure this out in the future.

“I swear to you, mom. By my hooves, he shall die.” With that promise, he began his journey.

Author's Note

Hello. This is the first story that I have written, and I would kindly ask for some criticisms as well as corrections, wrong grammar, and especially suggestions.

-Restless_Band