Running After Safety

Puddles underneath the hooves of a light teal furred filly with a blue, white, and red patterned mane in stripes in that order. The soft pitter-patter of the rain droplets on the rough gravel ground. The filly walked, soaking up the rain that fell on her lush coat of fur like a trotting sponge. Her mane was drenched; She had been walking for over forty-five minutes through the light drizzle. The filly wasn’t smiling nor scowling to the thought of having to carry two bags on either side of her, which were filled halfway with food she had gotten from the local homeless food bank she walked to every now and then to get food to take back to her place.

She let out a low groan, trying to keep herself moving through the growing muddy roads towards the forest which used to be a thriving city till it was all demolished and left with trees in its place. Well, most of the buildings were demolished. The filly sighed heavily as she entered the forest from an untrailed area.

She moved further into the forest with the trees emptying all the built-up rain on to the head of the toothpaste maned filly. She was slightly irritated but continued on instead of stopping to hide and let herself dry off. Her bags were shut tight and the food inside was securely put into a way so that the perishables from the rain were shielded by another bag which was put in upside down just so it was extra secure from the rain.

A full ten minutes of agile and precise turning and trotting through the otherwise difficult to navigate forestry and she was on her way home. She moved quickly and quietly the entire time until she eventually came to the front yard of a large two-story house.

The house was isolated in the forest; Windows were broken except for possibly three on the second floor. Most of the broken windows downstairs were boarded up and the second floor’s windows were all covered up by several layers of plastic wrap which was slowly deteriorating. The filly walked towards the front door, turned her head and looked behind her into the rain covered forest. She opened the door and stepped in, her right ear twitching as the bushes ever so slightly moved.

She made her way in and closed the door behind her, unable to lock it due to the rusted and chipped lock not allowing her to twist it to engage it into place. The filly sighed heavily, moving deeper into the house. She turned to her right and into the dining room which was connected to the kitchen.

She peeked past the wall to see if anything or anypony was in the kitchen. Nothing and nopony. She trotted over to the roughed up dining table and placed the bags on top of it, letting out a loud groan of relief and yelling, “Bl-Blueberry! I’m home!”

Blueberry, a dear friend of the filly, lived with the filly and had been kicked out of her original home. Her fur and mane were both blue, her mane being a darker shade of course.

Blue’s light steps could easily be heard through the thin walls as she walked out of her room and down the creaky, old stairs. Blue was a year younger than the toothpaste filly and was much more cheerful although having gone through a rough background. Blue turned the corner and spotted the toothpaste maned filly and smiled brightly, running over to the ten-year-old filly. “Minty!” yelled Blue. Minty was the name of the ten-year-old toothpaste filly.

Minty smiled and hugged back, her day’s trials all going away as she felt the little blue pony tighten her hooves around Minty. Minty embraced her, “Hehe, hey there Blue. Miss me, huh?” she asked. Minty looked down at her embracing friend. Blue looked up at Minty and nodded, letting go of Minty and running over to the ragged table and peeking at the contents displayed in front of her.

Minty walked over and spilled the canned food on to the table, taking the other bags out which were mainly things like a loaf of packaged bread and a box of cookies that someone outside of the food bank and generously given her. Minty looked at it and then looked over at Blue, who at this point was jumping in place, like the pink mare in the bakery just ways from the food bank, “Someone gave me those cookies so I could bring it back here for you, Blue.”

Minty collected the cans and left the bread and cookie box on the table as she went into the kitchen and began to put away the canned goods in the run down cupboards. She had done her best to clean up the place over the two-year span. “Can I have one of the cookies?” asked Blue. The kitchen was connected to the dining room so she didn’t need to yell.

“Sure, but only one, ok?” responded Minty. She finished up putting all the cans away. She turned her head and saw Blue open the box and take a cookie out, staring at it with stars in her eyes. Minty grinned childishly, proud to be able to make Blue happy.

Sadly, happiness was a luxury she would have to wait to savor. Three flashlights suddenly beamed at the house, one directly at the dining room window. Minty’s grin quickly disappeared as she ran over to Blue and picked her up and put her under the table, the beam of light moving closer to the window and aiming closer towards where she was located. She had to react fast. The house was dark due to bad lighting and no lanterns, trees blocked out most sunlight, so candles had to be lit every now and then. Luckily the only candles in the house that were lit were upstairs where Blueberry slept.

Minty rushed to hide the bread and cookies. Blueberry didn’t say anything as she saw Minty dodging the light and hiding the foods in the cupboards.

Blueberry knew the situation, she had seen it play out before her three times before. Blueberry was calm, quiet, but slightly scared.

Minty quickly rushed over to Blueberry and signaled her to come out from under the table. “Stick close to me and we’ll be ok, ok?” Minty said. Blueberry nodded as response and saw as the flashlight moved from the dining room window to the front door which was only a couple feet away. Minty moved into the kitchen, Blue right behind her. Minty looked around before spotting the only window in the room. She knew it was the only viable option before they came in to get out of the house.

“We know you fillies are in there! Come outside or we’re going in! Please, we only want to help you!” yelled an unknown but familiar mares voice. Minty nodded towards the window and Blue quickly hopped on to the countertop, peering out into the ‘backyard’ of the house. Two more flashlights all looking up at the second floor. Blue quickly hopped down on to the floor.

“Two more bad ponies outside,” informed Blue. Minty yelled internally before turning around and quickly but silently moving into the living room where a very old ripped up couch resides and a fireplace was. The backdoor was being peered into by a third pony from the backyards group.

“I see them!” yelled the unknown stallion. Minty froze in place as she had the flashlight beam on to her and Blue who was barely hidden behind Minty.

“Oh no! Blue, upstairs!” yelled Minty.

Blue was terrified. This wasn’t the first time they had been searched for, but this was the first time they had been caught. Blue was scared, shaky, but still did as she was told.

Blueberry quickly ran upstairs, the front door quickly bashing open as she was halfway up the stairs. She turned to look behind her and saw Minty buck a stallion trying to reach for her. Minty yelled, “Run! Run! To your room!” Blue was shaking from fear but ran quickly upstairs.

“Detain them, but don’t hurt them!” yelled the familiar mare. Blue heard Minty yell and rush into the kitchen. Blueberry ran into her room at the end of the hall and closed her door. Her door had a working lock, but it was flimsy. Blueberry was always told to grab her necessities and escape from her window. Her window had a bit of the roof just under it so she would be able to walk and slide off the roof on to the soft yet wet grass.

The drop after the slide wasn’t too high so she knew she would be fine. She collected her bag and stuffed her plushies and a couple of snacks alongside her diary and pencils before heading over to her window.

‘BANG! BANG! BANG!’

Her door was being pounded on by heavy hooves.

“Open up! We’re here to help you, honey!” yelled a sweet mare’s voice. Blue ignored her, no matter how sweet and kind she sounded, and opened the window and hopped out. She walked a bit before sliding down the roof and on to the grass. She ran into the forest towards the place Minty told her to hideout in case this very thing happened.

Minty, however, was having it a little rougher to escape the house. Minty had to collect her stuff too, it was essentials that, if they didn’t have they’d be caught much more frequently.

Minty was about to move upstairs behind Blueberry but stopped as the door broke down and a stallion and two mares stepped into the house. Minty felt one reach for her tail and bucked, hearing a stallion yell in pain. She looked up and saw Blue staring at her fighting back and yelled at her to keep moving. She saw her quickly snap out of her little trance and move upstairs. Minty turned around and faced the three adults.

“Hey, hey, calm down. It’s ok, we’re to take you back to Ponyville. We only want to help you.” said an eerily familiar mare voice. Minty was having none of it, and as the other mare with a flashlight reached for her, she ducked and ran past her, nearly causing the mare to lose her balance. Minty ran into the dining room and heard the familiar mares voice said, “I’ll deal with her, just go after the blue one.” To this, the mare she nearly toppled over could be heard going upstairs. Minty ignored this and just ran into the kitchen where she found herself trapped.

The stallion followed right beside the familiar mare and had her cornered in the kitchen. Minty heard the upstairs door being pounded on but hoped Blue had already escaped. “Come on, we’re only here to take you back and find you a home.” said the familiar mares voice as she stepped into the kitchen. Minty glared at her and barked, “You’re a liar! You promise us protection and safety but you’re a liar!” The mare seemed slightly agitated but said nothing.

The stallion looked over at the mare and she nodded. He quickly moved towards Minty and threw himself at her. Luckily, she was quick and nimble and moved out of the way. Minty then jumped on him and on to the countertop, rushing towards the window. “Get up! After her!” commanded the mare loudly. Minty heard the stallion getting up and the mare moving towards her. Minty was already at the window when she felt her tailed yanked and her two back feet were now dangling from the countertop. She bucked and successfully after a few hit the pursuer square on the nose.

Minty got back on to the countertop and opened the window, jumping out but knowing she still can’t leave. The three ponies who were outside all now were inside. Minty ducked low to the ground and quietly headed over to the living room backdoor. Just as she approached she saw a flashlight- no, two flashlights suddenly point towards the door and she quickly hid behind a very dense bush which scratched and scraped her fur.

The rain was still going, having picked up its heaviness and was now pouring down from the sky. Minty sat completely still as she saw two ponies with flashlights quickly run out from the backdoor and head towards the forest, luckily, away from where Minty had originally told Blue to go in case this ever happened. She waited a couple more seconds and saw as a third walked outside and began to patrol, walking right past Minty. She quickly jumped out after the said pony turned the corner of the house and ran towards the backdoor.

She peered inside and saw nopony. She heard the sound of trotting upstairs, “One pony upstairs,” she thought to herself. She stepped inside and quickly moved towards the coffee table in front of the couch and hid under it. There was a thick black cloth over it so she would be well hidden if somepony came into the living room. She stays there for a bit and saw a mare step into the living room and move towards the fireplace and then back out of the living room and out the front door.

“Two in the house, two outside, and two probably patrolling outside.” Minty thought to herself, keeping a mental note. She crawled out from under the table and looked around. Nopony. Quickly moving towards the stairs she heard it, “Where’d those two go....” There it was, the same familiar voice. It came from the kitchen. Minty took note of this and very very quietly moved upstairs, trying to minimize the sound of the creaks of the floor.

Once upstairs, Minty turned right and saw nopony. Knowing somepony was upstairs with her, she kept herself on high alert. With a swift but silent dash, she moved towards her door but stopped as she heard hooves moving towards the door on the other side. She went pale and hastily moved aside and picked up a four by two by twelve plank that was supposed to be used for boarding the windows. The unknown pony opened the door and as they stepped out, “Psst.” The pony looked to their left and saw as Minty brought down the plank on to their head. With a thud, they fell, unconscious.

“What was that?!” yelled the mare downstairs. Minty blew her cover of stealth but she had only her in the house so she knew time wasn’t a big problem. With haste, Minty dragged the pony, which was a mare, out of the way and stepped into her room. She slammed the door, her eyes darting around the room soon after for a way to block her door as the lock was broken. Her eyes locked on to the little drawer beside the door and she quickly moved to push it in front of the door. One push, two pushes, three, and then finally in place.

She quickly picked up her leather bag which she had stolen from a store and stuffed it with things they needed like; A notebook full of time schedules for certain stores, some clothes, two small sacks of bits, a hoof attachable knife, a map, a watch, etc. She fitted the smaller things last and the big things first. The bag was now full and she knew she could leave. She quickly went to her window and ripped off the wooden boards with a bit of might. The pounding of hooves was at her door and after a quick glance over her shoulder, she lept out of the window on to the roof and slid down to the forest ground.

She ran off into the forest, never daring to turn back to look at the house as she darted into the direction of where Blue should be waiting. The rain continued to pour, the clouds began to grow darker. A storm was brewing, and this time there was only one place to go if she wanted to survive it.

A trip back into Ponyville.