The Campfire

Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes, pulling up her small hooves as she rubbed at her eyelids, trying to wake herself up. It wouldn’t take long before her young eyes focused on the closest source of light, which was coming from a small, dying down campfire. The soft crackling of flame filled her ears, joining the sounds of the world around her to form a simple, natural melody. The filly blinked, her vision still covered with a gentle layer of blur.

Scootaloo looked around, taking in her surroundings, trying to make out where she was. She saw wooden logs placed around the campfire. They were used as seats whenever ponies chose to gather around the flame to tell scary stories or roast marshmallows. She remembered that from the many times she went camping with her friends.

She tried to jog her memory, trying to remember how she even got here. Was she with someone before? Was this a part of another one of the camping trips? Her mind was completely blank, everything seemed to be clouded by a thick layer of fog that obscured her most recent memories. A dull feeling of numbness had forced her out of the world inside of her head.

Scootaloo’s back rested against one of those tubular wooden logs. The filly winced, feeling one of her wings going numb due to the uncomfortable position she was in. With a groan, Scootaloo stood up, standing wobbly on her stubby legs. She reached with one of her hooves to try and massage the numbness from her limb, as she explored her location further.

Looking around, the filly realized she was in some kind of a forest. Dense foliage obstructed her ability to see into the woods, which wasn’t helped by the thick fog that seemed to have drowned the world around. Her eyes moved to trees, which were some of the tallest ones that Scootaloo had ever seen. Their trunks were almost entirely covered with either moss or vines, who’s shades of green contrasted well with the dark brown bark.

The filly looked up, her head gently spinning as she reached the top of the trees. She couldn’t even see the night sky, as the upper branches were overgrown with dark green leaves. She tried to look for any opening but wherever there was even the slightest opening, a bunch of sharply edged twigs were making flight incredibly dangerous even if the filly knew how to fly.

Overwhelmed by the size of everything around her, Scootaloo took a step back. Being focused on something else, she tripped over the wooden log that was placed behind her. With a yell of surprise her little body tumbled backwards, landing her head on something soft.

The filly shut her eyes and groaned, moving her hooves up to massage her sore spot as she touched something soft. Scootaloo opened her eyes slowly, still wincing from the pain before just to have them go wide as she found the source of the strange softness. The pegasus would almost instantly turn onto her belly as her sight focused on the mess in front of her.

On the ground she saw what remained of two sleeping bags, torn to shreds by an unknown force. They were covered with what remained of a green piece of fabric, camping supplies scattered all over the place. Scootaloo knew those objects all too well. She had fond memories of them from the times she spent camping with Rainbow Dash and other crusades. A source of so many beautiful memories now completely ruined. Her wide eyes were quickly moving between the objects, thoughts running through their young brain, trying to make any sense out of what she was seeing. Every line of reasoning leading only to more questions…

CRACK!

A sudden loud noise coming from right in front of her had pulled her back into the reality she found herself in. Scootaloo’s ears perked as she raised her head. Her pinpoint pupils staring deeply into the darkness of the woods, trying to find the source of the sound somewhere between the fog and the foliage. It was all in vain, as the only thing that she was able to see, was the dull darkness of the forest.

CRACK!

Another loud noise coming from the opposite direction made the filly jump to her hooves. She looked around, cold sweat appearing on her forehead as her eyes were moving frantically from tree to tree, looking for the source of the cracks. Her small heart was beating like crazy, making her breathe faster.

„H-hello?” Scootaloo asked. The only response she received was a quiet whistle of the leaves behind shuffled by the wind. Other than that, the world around her was silent, which only made her grow more anxious. The fear of the unknown was something that always was a part of her, no matter how much she tried to battle it. Now, she felt it worse than ever before in her relatively short life.

Then, Scootaloo thought she noticed something in the distance. A faint red glow seemed to be resonating between the bushes. The filly squinted, focusing her eyes on the strange aura in the distance. It seemed to be growing stronger and larger with each passing second. At first being the size of a mere spark, it became as bright and big as a sizable lightbulb. Whatever was the source of this glow, it was getting closer.

The filly moved back, making sure to step over the wooden log that tripped her up before. Rather than being a conscious decision made by Scootaloo in the heat of the moment, her body started to move on its own, fueled by some sort of primal fear. Her legs worked completely independently from her brain as the speed of her retreat matched the one of the mysterious light.

Part of her wanted to call out to the mysterious being, but the voice wouldn’t come out of her throat. The entity coming towards her seemed to be surrounded by an aura that made Scootaloo’s heart beat faster than ever before. She felt each instance of her blood being pumped into her veins, each thud of the muscle felt like a strong punch to the chest.

The tension in the air grew with each passing second, as red light reached the edge of the forest. Crimson glow illuminated the leaves and grass around the creature. Scootaloo tried to make out any features of whatever stood before her. The body had resembled the one of a muscular stallion, with strange protrusions sticking out of it’s back.

SHHHH...

The being made a loud, wheezing sound that reminded Scootaloo of her first ever visit to the weather factory. The noise was reminiscent of the one made by a broken machine, that tried to release all of the steam that accumulated inside. This entity added it’s own, meaty spin onto that cacophony, making it sound even more disturbing.

The time seemed to freeze as the filly stared at the monstrosity before her. The only thing that separated them were two wooden logs and a campfire in between. The soft crackles of the flame joined in with the wind and filly’s heartbeat to create a disturbing melody that filled her ears. The only thing that broke the rhythm of the world was the sound made by the thing across from her.

Suddenly, the beast took a step forward. Then another and another. Something in the little filly’s brain snapped. A single message sent from her brain to the rest of her body. One coming from the most basic of all instincts.

Run.

She didn’t need to be told twice. Her body almost instantly spun around as she broke into a sprint. Abandoning the warm light of the campfire as she jumped into the woods. She could hear the monster following in her hoofsteps. The being chased her, the heavy thuds of it’s hooves shook the ground with each step. Whatever it was, it wanted her, and she did not want to find out why.

She ran fast. It didn’t matter to her in which direction she’d go. The only thing she was sure of at that time was that she wanted to be as far as possible from whatever was on her tail. She could hear it’s foul, unnatural breathing on her back, making her hair stand on end. What was worse for the filly, is that the monster seemed to be closing in on her with each passing second. She needed to find a way to lose it, or at least slow it down enough to buy herself some time.

To her right Scootaloo spotted a tree that had broken down and was laying on it’s side. Based on its scorched trunk, it looked like it was struck by lightning. Since most of its branches were rather thick and gaps between them seemed big enough, the filly saw this as an opportunity she couldn’t pass up on.

She ducked under a particularly sizable, lower branch that seemed to have merged with the ground. The filly crawled under the tree onto the other side of it, scratching her pristine orange coat in the process. She shut her eyes as she felt tiny wooden splinters enter her hide, trying to not think of the pain as she made her way back up onto her hooves. She looked back at the direction she came from, breathing heavily and hoping that this would stop whoever was chasing her.

Her hope was immediately shattered like the thick branches under the hooves of the monster behind her. Scootaloo’s eyes went wide as she saw those heavy pieces of wood turning to splinters as the being got closer and closer. Her heart pounded even stronger than before as she resumed running away from the preoccupied monster.

Scootaloo’s mind was focused on one thing only, and that was to make sure that the thing chasing her would not get close. She would constantly look back, checking the distance that separated them and hoping that it was still moderately large. Due to her fixation on the chase, the filly failed to notice as the environment around her changed. The fog became thicker as Scootaloo ran out of a forest, and onto a mountain path.

The filly didn’t notice a metal object laying on the ground until her hoof snagged against it, making her trip and tumble down the side of the mountain. Scootaloo yelled from both surprise and pain as her petite body slammed against rocks and bushes, causing many bruises. One of her small wings would get caught up on a bush sticking out of the ground. The sharp branches scratched and tore the meaty limb, causing deep, painful wounds. The filly continued to scream as she rolled down until she reached the bottom of the hill.

In pain, she’d whimper as she slowly raised her head, tears rolling down her cheeks. Her whole body ached horribly, making her feel the most pain she had ever experienced. No amount of crashing on her scooter could ever even come close to what she felt right now. Through her teary eyes, she could see the silhouette of the monster looking down at her from the path above her. It picked up whatever it was that tripped the filly up and disappeared out of her field of view.

Scootaloo might have been a naive little filly, but even she had enough of a brain to assume that it’s only a matter of time before the monster finds a way down the mountain. She knew that staying here and crying could end really badly for her. The filly tried to pick herself up from the ground, the aching muscles and bones making any sort of movement incredibly painful. She shut her eyes, grinded her teeth as she managed to stand up on her wobbly legs. Letting out groans mixed in with sobbing she made her way forward, entering the woods once again.

She walked slowly, listening for the sounds of the beast that chased her. She looked around constantly, being on the lookout for the red glow that announced the presence of the threat before. Her eyes went wide for a moment as she saw her injured wing hanging limply on her side. She tried to move it, but the shot of intense pain was what discouraged any further attempts. Scootaloo let out a sad whimper, knowing that if her little wings weren’t completely useless before, there was no use for them in their current state.

The filly continued to wobble forward, moving through the woods with a hope that she finds a way to civilization. She wanted to scream for help, but knew that making any more noise could attract something other than help. The urge to cry was strong, as she felt like multiple nerves in her body burned with pain. At moments like this, Scootaloo always asked one relatively simple question in her head.

What would Rainbow Dash do in this situation?

The pegasus could never imagine her idol being the one to break down sobbing, and so she shouldn’t be doing it either. Scootaloo wanted her sister to be proud of her, therefore she would not be able to forgive herself if she gave up. The filly just gritted her teeth further and focused her mind on her objective. Doing her best to ignore the pain and injuries, she made her way forward.

It didn’t take long before she spotted something in the distance. Squinting her eyes, she was able to make out the rectangular shape of a wooden building. It had a singular window that was facing towards her. A soothing yellow light was coming from the inside, blinking from time to time like an old lightbulb. This in turn sparked a flame of hope inside of the little filly’s heart.

As a smile slowly creeped up onto her muzzle, Scootaloo picked up the pace and started trotting towards the building. The pain seemed to go away as the filly made her way towards the strange house. A thought of a warm blanket and soft bed was already firmly engraved into her brain, giving her a pleasant, fuzzy feeling inside.

The closer she got to the mysterious building, the faster those images perished inside of her mind. The building less resembled a house, and more a broken down, crudely built shack. Scootaloo’s smile slowly disappeared, turning into a sigh of disappointment as she reached her destination.

Scootaloo approached the building from one of the sides, looking it over carefully. The shack lacked a proper entrance with a crude hole in one of the walls serving as an entrance. On the opposite side of the room there was another opening, although it was completely blocked off by a piece of wood.

The filly walked inside, looking around the spacious construction, making sure to tread carefully on the squeaky floor. The light coming from the single light bulb on the ceiling illuminated the room relatively well, allowing for the Scootaloo to see the complete state of disrepair that the shack was in.

Almost everything wooden that was placed inside of the building was completely rotten. Only a sizable chest placed by the opening in the wall was in somewhat of a better shape. It had edges reinforced with metal corners and the wood it was made of looked fresh and polished.

Leaving bloody hoofprints on the ground, Scootaloo approached the mysterious chest. She noticed that it lacked any sort of a lock, making opening it easy. The filly would grab the lid with her forehooves and lift it up, revealing its contents. Inside, she found a bunch of worn out, dirty rags that made her gag with their stench.

Amongst those, a small red box captured her attention. She reached her hooves to pull it out, making sure not to make too much noise. It appeared to be a first aid kit, the kind you would see commonly on camping grounds. It looked a little old and rusty, but Scootaloo didn’t care. Anything that could make the pain go away was lifting her spirits. She wouldn’t hesitate further and opened the box.

All that awaited her was a disappointing roll of bandages, that didn’t even look particularly fresh. Scootaloo felt like something died inside her in that very second. She let out a defeated sigh, she pulled out the bandage and looked it over. The filly disregarded the sweat and blood stains on the piece of fabric and sat down on the floor.

The deeply unpleasant feeling of sitting in her own blood made Scootaloo shudder. After taking a deep breath to calm herself, she put one end of the bandage under her injured wing. The short sting of pain made her whimper as she tried to hold it in place, while with the other hoof she ran the fabric around her waist. Once her wing was stabilized tightly to her body, she tied up the remaining part of the tape.

Scootaloo stood up, shaking her behind from the excess blood. She looked over to the bandages on her side, wishing she’d have more to cover up all of the wounds on her body. Only now she truly realized how bad of a shape she was. Her previously vibrant orange coat was now muddied and bloodied with a purple accent of bruises. Filly’s usually clean mane was fitted with small twigs and leaves from her tumble down a mountain. She was truly a mess in her current state.

Shhhhhhh...

A familiar sound pulled the filly out of her moment of self pity, as her heart rate jumped very quickly. Whatever was chasing her earlier was back and now she was trapped. She took a quick glance around the room, looking for a way out. She could jump out of the window, sure, but she was unaware where exactly the monster was coming from. The last thing she wanted was to come out and be face to face with whatever was looking for her.

As the sound of breathing grew louder and louder, Scootaloo started to panic more and more. She would be looking all over the room for a way out, before her attention went back to the chest. A moment of clarity filled her head as she got an idea. She couldn’t run away without the monster spotting her, but she could still hide from them. That seemed like the best thing she could’ve done at this point.

SHHHHHHHH.....

As the entity got closer, Scootaloo’s heart pounded in her chest like a bird, trying desperately to get out of its cage. She wouldn’t hesitate further, lifting the lid of the crate up, as she jumped inside. As the box closed with a quiet thud, the filly landed on a pile of dirty, stinky rags. Holding off her gag reflex, she’d bite her muddied hoof, trying to keep any sounds made by her to the minimum.

Soon enough, the sound of breathing would be accompanied by a familiar squeaking of the shack’s floor. The footsteps of the beast were loud and heavy, making Scootaloo wonder that the wood wouldn’t cave in under all that weight. The filly thought about lifting up the lid of the chest to be able to see what was going on, but she decided against it. Anything that could make it even remotely easier for the monster to see wasn’t a good idea in her mind.

Her heart rate was rising as she could hear the breathing and hoofsteps getting closer towards her. The thoughts were racing through filly’s head, making her anxious as she was focused on making as little sound as possible. Did the monster know where she went? The fear mixed with confusion was eating her from the inside as she tried to remain quiet.

Her body was momentarily covered with a cold sweat as she realized something. She completely forgot about the trail of blood she was leaving behind. The crimson hoofprints would lead anyone straight into the box in which she was hiding. The filly froze as the sounds of the beast became really loud. She knew that it was only a matter of time before it opened the chest and finds her. The thought of all the possible horrors it could do to her made Scootaloo shiver. She shut her eyes and prayed to the princesses in her mind.

Please, let it just be another nightmare!

As if her prayers were listened to, the sound of hoofsteps and breathing seemed to start growing more distant. The filly opened her eyes, stunned by how lucky she was for the monster to not find her. She heard him leaving through the opening in the wall, which was followed by a very unpleasant sound.

CRANKK!

The sound of metal scraping against metal made the filly’s ears hurt. She wasn’t sure what it was coming from, as when she entered the shack she didn’t notice anything capable of producing this sort of cacophony. Scootaloo wanted to check out the source of the sound, but she decided to wait a minute longer to be certain that the monster had already left the area.

After the coast was clear, Scootaloo lifted up the lid of the box with her hooves and crawled out of the container. She winced as she had to peel off an old, stained rag from her flank while trying to hold back the urge to puke. After getting a hold on her own gag reflex, she made her way towards the opening in the wall. On the ground there she found the source of the painful sound.

At first, the filly wasn’t sure what she was looking at. It was a ring made out of metal, its sides being fitted with thick, sharply ended teeth. On the inside, she noticed a small pressure plate that was connected to the rest of the contraption with some sort of a spring. At first sight she could tell that the thing looked very unpleasant, but it took until she remembered one of miss Cheerilee's lessons to figure out its purpose.

During one of the presentations about the history of ancient equestria, her teacher mentioned something about traps that ponies used to set for big and dangerous animals like young bugbears and timber wolves. The way she described them was eerily reminiscent of what stood before Scootaloo. Before she disregarded it as one of the oddities of the ancient times as she couldn’t imagine a trap like that affecting any feral beast.

With that said, being now within reach of one of those traps, her opinion drastically changed. The thing was big, the diameter of the metal ring being nearly as long as the filly’s body. She knew that since that thing was built for large animals, her petite body wouldn’t stand a chance against it. The issue was that this thing was now standing in her way, and she needed to get around it.

Firstly, the filly came up with an idea to move the trap. She gently moved her hoof onto the outer edge of the ring and tried to push it off to the side. It didn’t even budge, only making a slight, metallic sound that scared her briefly. Scootaloo thought for a second about activating it, but abandoned that plan as she realized that the sound could attract the attention of the monster that chased her.

Since the filly realized that she wouldn’t be getting out of the shack the same way she got inside, Scootaloo turned her attention to the window. It was relatively close to the floor, so the pegasus could easily get out through it, even with her current injuries. She would rest her forehooves on the windowsill, sticking her head outside.

The filly scanned the woods outside for any sign of the red light emitted by the beast. The darkness that would normally be scary to her seemed to have calmed Scootaloo’s nerves. She let out a sigh of relief as she lifted her tiny body up to the window. Letting out a few grunts of pain, she sat on the windowsill, giving herself a brief pause.

As much as resting made her feel every single wound on her body, she needed to regain some of her strength. She didn’t know what awaited her, but she was pretty sure that the unpleasant surprises weren’t over for her. What Scootaloo knew is that she couldn’t give up. She had friends and her older sister to live for, and the memories of them were what was keeping her going. And if there was anything she was ever certain of, it’s that those were the ponies she’d never want to fail.

Hey girls! You won’t believe what adventure I went through!

An image of herself dressed up as Daring Do, an adventurous mare from one of her favorite books made Scootaloo chuckle quietly. A tiny smile has crept up onto her muzzle, as she entertained the idea further. In moments of helplessness, Scootaloo always used to dive into her imagination, as it kept her spirits up. This time was no different, as that brief time she spent inside of her own head has reignited the flame in her heart.

Scootaloo smirked, filled with the determination to survive and see her friends again. The shere willpower that she was filled with made her wounds much less painful. The filly turned her head to check on the bandages keeping her wings tied up. After making sure that it was still in a proper position, she out of the window and on the ground below her. She wasn’t far off the ground, and the layer of moss she saw would surely soften her drop further. Taking one final relaxed breath, Scootaloo would push herself off of the windowsill and…

SNAP!

The pegasus yelled at the top of her filly lungs as the rusted jaws of a trap have inserted it’s teeth into the Scootaloo's rear legs. The sound of her bones snapping like little twigs accompanied the cries of pain that were leaving her throat. Tears were rolling down her cheek as she lost all of the composure she had up until now, screaming for help. The amount of pain she was in at this very moment was immeasurable, trumping her previous experiences. Through her tears filled eyes, Scootaloo looked down to see the cause of her suffering.

The serrated jaws of a metal trap have bitten down on her like a ferocious timberwolf, inserting their sharp teeth deeply into filly’s body. The cute and gushes were made on the whole length of her rear legs, the moss that hid the trap from view entering her body. She could feel as her flesh was torn open, her bones being not as much broken, as they were smashed to bits by the powerful spring. The feeling was indescribable.

Scootaloo cried loudly, begging any force to make the pain stop. She wasn’t even trying to regain her composure, as her confidence and inner strength was ground to dust by the horrifying contraption. With all of her nerves inflamed, the filly wasn’t even capable of thinking straight. Her brain was panicking as she kept bleeding out, her vision experienced slight fuzziness. Just then, her ears caught a familiar, yet terrifying sound.

Shhhhhhhh...

With her throat getting sore from the yelling, it was only a matter of time before the hunter would come for his prey. The filly started panicking even more, as she started frantically looking around, spotting the red glow left by her chaser in the distance. He was coming her way and there was not much she could do.

Desperate Scootaloo tried to move inside of her trap, the sharp shot of pain made her cry out even louder than before. She looked around for any way to open the mechanism on the jaws, but with her sight already hampered by the blood loss, she couldn’t even tell specific parts of the contraption apart.

SHHHHHHHH...

The monster was getting close, as she could almost feel his breathing on her skin. She needed to get herself freed from the trap, as soon as that was possible. The ground seemed to shake with each stomp of the beast, its heavy hooves leaving a deep print in the dirt. The stallion wasn’t fast, but that's because it wasn’t required of them. Scootaloo wasn’t going anywhere even if she were to free herself, and the entity knew it.

Running out of time, the filly used her both front hooves, ramming them in between the jaws and tried to pry them open. Her hooves cracked as the new, deep cuts started to form on the frogs. The tears were still rolling down her cheeks as the pain dulled slightly due to a shot of adrenaline her brain had received. This in turn helped her regain focus on the promise she made earlier. A promise to not fail her older sister.

Through sheer determination, desperation and adrenaline, Scootaloo put all of her strength left in her body to spread the jaws apart, allowing her tiny body to fall out of the trap and onto the dirty ground below. She tried to crawl, using her injured forehooves to provide forward momentum as the dirt entered the cuts in her frogs. She pulled her weight, slowly dragging her useless back legs behind, leaving a trail of blood. Gritting her teeth she taught only about her one objective, which was to get away from the monster behind her.

She slithered through dirt and mud, doing all she could to move forward until she felt a cold yet heavy touch on her rear leg. The touch would quickly turn into a sharp stab of pain, as the monster had pressed her limp into the ground, making sure that whatever part of her bone that was still somewhat miraculously intact would turn to dust.

The filly screamed loudly, begging whatever beast was torturing her to stop. She pleaded for her life, apologizing for every little bad thing she ever done in her entire life that might have caused anypony to dislike her, but to no avail. The monster lifted up his other hoof before bringing it down onto Scootaloo’s rump, breaking her pelvic into many little shards.

The pegasus yelped again, the pain overtaking her lower regions as they became nothing more than bags for meat and broken bones. The injuries made her unable to move her rear legs, making any further tries to get out completely pointless. The filly collapsed on the ground motionless, being only able to beg for her life as she tried to turn around to face the beast.

She was stopped mid turn as the hoof that used to put pressure on her leg was now stomping down onto her back. The filly’s eyes went wide as she could feel her chest cave into the ground, broken ribs puncturing her lungs which caused her to cough up blood. Her already pathetic wing bent and broke into many directions as she could hear it crack under the massive leg of the beast.

Scootaloo wasn’t able to scream anymore, as each time she opened her mouth only the sounds of wheezing and coughing followed up with blood could come out.the ears rolled down her cheek and onto the muddied ground below, as she lacked the strength to lift her head up. The filly could feel as her body was slowly filling up with blood and other liquids, as most of her organs were full of holes.

The pegasus fought for every single breath at this point, as her punctured lungs wouldn’t hold onto the oxygen. She mustered all the remaining strength she had to look to the side, trying to get even some sort of a view onto her tormentor. She managed to catch a glimpse of the beast’s dark blue overalls as she saw it raise both of its front hooves into the air, preparing for a one final stomp.

The time seemed to freeze for the filly, as she realized that she was done for. There was nothing that Scootaloo could have done to save herself at this point. Even if she somehow managed to dodge the incoming attack and stun the monster, she couldn’t move anywhere, let alone run away. Laying there on the cold, bloodied dirt, the filly accepted her fate, swearing and scowling internally at herself.

I’m sorry girls… I’m sorry Rainbow Dash… I wasn’t good enough…

The filly would spend her last moments filled with a feeling of disgust towards herself, wishing that she was a smarter and more resilient pony. She wouldn’t notice as the monster had brought down it’s hooves down onto her small head, as her consciousness already fled from her body. What awaited her was just cold, hopeless darkness…

Scootaloo slowly opened her eyes, pulling up her little hooves as she rubbed on her eyelids. She awoke quickly, breathing heavily as she looked down onto her body. There were no wounds, no broken bones and no pain. The tears of joy started rolling down her cheeks as the filly stood up, jumping in place happily.

„IT WAS ALL JUST A NIGHTMARE!”

The joy in filly’s voice was carried far by the echo of the place around her. Scootaloo froze, her ears folding down as she opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was the disturbingly soothing light of the campfire in front of her. The soft crackling of the flame has filled her heart with dread, as she felt that it started to beat faster and faster. Scootaloo’s body started to shudder as a familiar sound pulled her out of the terrified state.

CRACK!