Marcus ran as fast as he could, his heart pounding violently. They were hot on his heel, unrelenting in their pursuit of him as he tried to escape them in the dark forest. He was running blind, desperate to get away before they could catch him.
How did this all go so wrong? When he first appeared here, he thought it would be a dream come true - but it quickly turned into a nightmare. He should have noticed something was off, should have noticed how strange they were acting, should have realized the danger he was in. But he didn't, and now he was about to pay the price.
They were closing in on him, their hoof steps pounding on the forest floor not far behind. He dreaded to think of what would happen if they caught him, the thought too terrifying to imagine.
He kept moving, leaves and branches smacking him in the face as he ran. He just had to get away, he just had to.
And then the unthinkable happened.
He tripped.
He slammed into the forest floor, the impact forcing the air from his lungs. Ignoring the urge to nurse his pain, he quickly scrambled back up.
The fall had cost some valuable distance between him and his pursuers, who were now almost upon him. Knowing he wouldn't be able to outrun them anymore, he took cover amongst the foliage around him. Hiding behind a large mound of dirt, he got out of sight before they could spot him.
Soon the sound of hoof steps could be heard coming to a stop, as the owners started to search the area for him.
"Oh, Marcus~" trilled a singsong voice. "Do please come out, darling, we only wish to... talk..."
"Yeah, we promise we just want to hug and cuddle you half to death, definitely nothing more sinister." Chimmed in a familiar, bubbly voice.
He didn't trust them, not one bit. He knew that behind their assurances and sweet smiles, their intentions for him were not good.
He kept silent, doing his best to control his breathing and avoid drawing them to his position. They continued to search for him though, drawing closer and closer to his hiding spot. He knew he had to move, or else it wouldn't be long before they found him.
Making sure the coast was clear, he abandoned his hiding spot and started moving through the thick bushes around him.
"Got you!" Shouted a brash voice.
For a second, Marcus thought it was all over, his heart leaping in his chest. Whirling around, he expected to see one of them looming over him menacingly, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. Instead, he discovered that what really happened was that a certain rainbow-maned pegasus had jumped out at where he'd just been hiding, clearly expecting to find him there, with a confused look on her face when she didn't.
With a small smirk, he kept moving through the bushes. Once he felt he was far enough away, he stood up and was about to make his escape.
"Hello," said a soft, meek voice from behind him.
Marcus froze, fear overtaking him as a chill ran down his spine. Slowly, he turned around to the sight of a small, butter-yellow pegasus staring up at him.
He bolted.
"There he is!" he heard one of them shout, the ponies soon converging on his position.
They were right behind him, Marcus running in a panic through the woods as he tried to shake them. He didn't know where he was going, he just knew he had to get away.
Soon, he broke out into a clearing, a river running through it that blocked his path. He tried to double back, but before he could, six ponies burst out of the treeline, covering him.
He was trapped.
"There's nowhere to run," said the alicorn, Twilight Sparkle as she stepped forward.
"Please, don't do this," Marcus begged with fear.
Unfortunately, his pleas for mercy went on deaf ears to Twilight. "Get him!" Cried the alicorn.
At her word, all six ponies charged at the human, their eyes filled with hunger. Marcus tried to fend them off, but they proved to be too strong as they overwhelmed the poor boy.
.
.
.
"Ohh, he's so cute. Yes, he is, yes he is," cooed Fluttershy in baby-talk, pinching Marcus' cheek.
As the ponies started swarming and showering him with affection, Marcus did everything he could to shake them off.
"Please," he begged again as Rarity started planting little butterfly kisses on his face. "Stop."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Pinkie Pie shook her head. "But after your little escape attempt we're going to have to tickle you twice as hard now," she smirked devilishly as she ripped up his shirt and started blowing raspberries on his belly.
He tried to resist laughing, but with the addition of Rainbow Dash and AppleJack tickling under his armpits, and Twilight nibbling at his toes, it was pretty much a futile effort.
"Hold on," said Twilight, getting the others to pause. "Look at us. What do we think we're doing, smothering this poor boy out in the woods?" As she spoke, Marcus felt a spark of hope bloom in his chest... but then that hope was quickly dashed. "We should do it at my place, it'll be much cozier there."
The rest of the group cheered at her words, getting off of Marcus as they started heading home. He tried to scramble away, but quickly found his feet enveloped by Twilight's magic, preventing his escape. Soon he found himself getting dragged along behind the ponies, all of them giggling with childlike glee as they made for Ponyville.
"No. No. Please!" Marcus pleaded desperately as he was taken along. "Let me go! Please, I beg of you."
He dug his fingers into the dirt, creating claw marks as he was dragged off. "I just wanted some personal space!" He cried as he was taken to his cute and cuddly fate.
Author's Note
Just a little one-shot I came up with a little while ago. What do you think?
