It was a good day for the small mouse. Waking up on the right side of the nest will do that to you. A certain kind of good mood extending over the entire rest of your day.
In fact: the small mouse felt so good today that it wanted to explore beyond the safety offered by the land surrounding its familys burrow.
Momma mouses near constant warnings to never go beyond the safety offered by the natural barriers near their den, a wall of tightly dense trees and foliage, briefly flashed through the small mouses mind before being soundly ignored.
Deftly stepping around still sleeping family members, the small mouse made its way out of the nest. Pausing briefly to reconsider its chosen course of action, the mouse made an executive decision that it was old enough to go for a simple walk. And so through the foliage it went.
'Perhaps feeling good today was a bit hasty of a decision,' the small mouse couldn't help but think to itself as it circled around the same rock for the third time while trying to make its way home.
The small mouse made it particularly far from safety before the call of adventure was instead replaced with fear of the unknown. The dark, damp forest finally taking it toll on the sanity of the mouse.
If only the mouse knew that something else wanted to take it toll, too. Something that wanted more than just sanity. A beast made of wood and magic wanting to water itself with flesh.
Toxic green eyes stared through the bramble at its soon-to-be lunch. Step by oh-so-slow step, the predator made its way silently padding through the brush towards its prey.
The small mouse, of course, knew none of that. Despite that, it couldn't help but notice the hairs along its body slowly rising, seemingly noticing something the rest of its body missed.
Breaking into a sprint, the mouse overheard the rustling of plants, and the breaking of twigs as something else joined it in its run.
It was, infact, a horrible day for the small mouse. First it got lost and couldn’t find its way back to its nest, then it just had to get the attention of a predator. A Timberwolf to be precise.
Over the log and under the brush went the small mouse, but in the end, it didn’t matter. The Timberwolf was too large, and the small mouse too small.
CHOMP
Agonizing pain was all the small mouse could feel as its right forelimb was removed from its body.
As the wolf paused to chew up its morsel; the small mouse, running on adrenaline, managed to escape through a particularly thorny bush. Small dots of blood marking its trail was all the small mouse left behind.
Running out of time, and blood, the small mouse remembered what momma told it about the nearby town, more specifically a yellow pegasus which lived near the edge of the Everfree.
Fluttershy, her name was. The memory of her name passing through the small mouses mind.
North-east, further and further, the small mouse limped. Covered in scratches, blood, and less one limb, the small mouse eventually found its way past the tree line exhausted and broken.
Passing over the ridge of a hill, the small mouse spotted a small, cozy house surrounded by all manner of animals and animal keeping gear. But more important, was the yellow pegasus in the back.
Getting close to blacking out, the small mouse made its way into the backyard, where it heard the mares gasp as she finally spotted the injured rodent. It was here that the small mouse fell into unconsciousness as it trusted Fluttershy to save it.
Fluttershy took the mouse to a nearby table to assess its injuries. A missing forelimb, scratches from thorns likely to become infected, exhaustion, and an unknown amount of blood loss. To say the mouse was looking bad would be an understatement.
The chances of survival would be null if the mouse were still in the forest. Here though? Fluttershy knew that if she cauterized the wound and fed the mouse plenty of fluids, it would have a decent, but not complete chance of survival. But what kind of life would it live after that?
Would the mouse travel back to its den? The weakened mouse would either be rapidly hunted and eaten by a predator in the coming days, or, if it survived beyond that, it would be a burden upon its den mates. Potentially even causing their deaths alongside its own.
Perhaps it would attempt to stay under the safety of Fluttershys home, as too many others had. Would it abuse her hospitality and refuse to leave? As painful as it was to say, Fluttershy couldn't keep all the hurt animals of the forest in her home forever.
No, she knew what sometimes had to be done. Something that happened in nature hourly. Nature would take its course, though here much faster and less painful. She could ensure the mouses passing would be far less traumatic than it would be in nature.
Several tears fell from her face as she grabbed a scalpel. She made it fast, a quick stab straight through and up the back of the neck. Painless, efficient. And the small mouse knew no more.
Fluttershy quickly wiped away her tears, cleaned her scalpel and table, and began to mentally prepare herself for what came next. An animals sacrifice couldn't be wasted.
She gently picked up the corpse and walked outside to a small garden where a sickly snake was resting. The snake would make a full recovery within the week and be able to fend for itself. But to do that it would need to regain its strength. Fresh food being best for that.
After placing the carcass in front of the snake, she swiftly turned around and left before the sickly snake awoke to consume its meal.
It was a good day for the sickly snake.
Author's Note
I'm sorry if this story isn't good. In-fact, I'm fairly certain it isn't. But this is my first attempt at making fanfiction, and writing in general.
I've always wanted to write, but been perpetually afraid of my worse than abysmal grammar and writing “abilities” showing themselves. I wanted to write something, anything, and finally I forced myself to put this together. A quick oneshot of the first idea that came to mind. I know it's not good, and I'm sorry for that. But at least I finally tried.
