Iron Anon: A Filly in the Woods

>Eventually, the sound of her crying dies out but you kept your eyes closed until you could hear them walking away
>After the forest had gone quiet again, you opened your eyes and sluggishly made your way out of the tree
>You didn't feel anything for these ponies
>But why?
>I mean, they had emotions, feelings...
>But you still couldn't get past them being...ponies
>Animals
>Huh, you never considered yourself much of a racist but it seemed you were... what, a speciesist?
>You merely just couldn't get past their lack of a human appearance
>No matter how smart or how responsive they were, you'd probably never see them as equals as you did your fellow man
>Your boots hit the ground with a distinct thud
>You could debate about what you thought of these ponies later
>Right now, things needed to be done
>After getting your bearings, you hastily make your retreat back to the cave whilst trying to stay quiet
>There was two possibilities as to what could have happened after you split up from Gus
>One, the other half of the group gave up chasing after the hound had been... dealt with
>Or two, the other half gave chase to  Gus anyway who may or may not have lead them to the cave
>You were hoping for the former
>The day was nearing its end, so they were most likely done searching and on their way out
>As you approach your cave, you hear some rustling in the brush to your left
>You quickly tuck and roll behind a tree, before slowly peering around its trunk
>Just in time to see a little white figure stumble out of a bush

>It quickly regains its footing, frantically looking around and pumping its little front hooves nervously
>It was actually kind of cute... maybe even more so if it didn’t look so scared out of its mind
>It was a pony, but a smaller version one
>Like a pony p0ny
>It's fur coat was white with purple and pink swirls for a mane
>And a horn to boot
>???:"R-r-r-Rarity?!"
>It's take few steps forward, then to the left and right, clearly having no idea where to go or what to do
>???:"Applebloom! Scootaloo! Twilight!-"
>It begins shouting out names, this time more pleading and desperate than the last
>She even has a few nervous voice cracks
>Seemed that this thing wasn't some kind of midget pony but a child err- foal
>A young unicorn foal lost in the woods
>Must have gotten separated from the search group... Why the hell did they bring a kid with them?
>???:"Anypo-ny-y..."
>The little one begins to tear up and sits on the ground, hopeless
>Judging by her size and voice, you guess she must be pre-mature with an age around 8-10 years old
>Human standards of course
>Nothing else to compare to, unfortunately
>???[scared]:"I don't wanna live in the Everfree forest..."
>It starts crying softly and you can’t help but feel a little sorry for it
>You wanted to help it get back to the search party but you couldn’t really do that without running into the search party yourself, which was a no-no
>Too much of a risk
>They'd probably figure out you had hurt their dog and eventually that you kidnapped Rainbow
>Helping her only hurt you
>...
>Lightbulb.

>This thing was small and you mean really small
>Even if it was a unicorn, it was (hopefully) still too young to use any effective magic against you
>It couldn't do anything to hurt or stop you
>Though you weren't planning anything sinister,
>You were just going to have her deliver a message
>You take a deep breath and step away from your cover
>The young unicorn doesn't notice you until you’re within a few feet of it and you speak
"Hey-y there, you los-"
>Screaming
>Deafening, little girl screaming
>You’re much more than startled as you put a finger to your lips
"SSHHHHHHHH"
>She rears back
>More screaming
>It's starting to hurt your ears
>As she continues to shrieks with eyes squeezed shut in terror, you bring your hand across her mouth and ‘shh’ her again
>Her big jade color eyes beam at you, her form shaking underneath your palm
"I'm not going to hurt you"
>You try to calm her with an easy voice
>Much to your surprise, she indeed stops shaking and her eyes refocus
"Just be quiet, ok"
>Pulling your hand away, you reposition yourself on one crouched knee, still looking down at her but no longer towering
>She takes a step back, still a bit distressed
>???:"W-w-what are y-y...you?"
>You try to keep things simple
"I'm Anon Stoneman, and I need you to do me a favor"
>She looks even more puzzled and afraid
>She begins to open her mouth to ask another question, seeing how you didn't even answer the first one
>You don't let her though
"I need you to deliver a message for me. To the purple and white unicorns that came through here yesterday"
>???:"W-why-"
"Shh!...Just-Just listen to me and I'll help you get back to the search party"
>Her ears go flat against her head as she tries to make herself even smaller

>You didn't have time to explain yourself, nor did you need to
>This kid was just acting as your messenger
"Now listen carefully... and you tell them this as soon as possible”
>The little pony gives a quick frantic nod
"You tell them that if they want the pony named Rainbow back,-"
>Her pupils shrink and you bring a finger to her mouth so she’s only able to let out a tiny ‘mep’
"-they are to met me on dirt road tomorrow at dusk to discuss a trade"
>You temporarily drop your even tone for a more unsympathetic, deep one
"And if they try any funny business, tell them they'll never see that blue pony ever again…"
>She backs from you and begins to let out another gasp
>You again bring your finger down, cutting her off
"I said shh!"
>If she wasn't terrified of you before, she was now
>She was literally shaking from fear and now you were worried she was going to piss herself
>Yep, you couldn't just settle with kidnapping one of them
>You had to go and make a little... what was it? a filly?
>Just had to go and make one of their little filly's cry
>Asshole much?
>But then again... it couldn't be helped
>You stand up, unintentionally towering over her again, causing the filly to cower even more
>Ok, so now you need to find a way to-
>???:"SWEETIE BELLE!"
>...Well, that saves you some trouble
>???[frantic]:”Oh Sweetie Belle! I've already lost Rainbow, I can't lose you too!”
>The voice is to your right and approaching fast
>Sweetie Belle:"Rarity!?"
>Looks like that filly didn't need your help anymore
>Sweetie Belle:"Rarity! Ther-"
>You softly poke the filly in the chest
"Don't forget what I told you..."

>She nervously shakes her head, unable to speak
"Good."
>Rarity:"Sweetie Bell, I'm coming! Don't worry, your big sister is here!"
"Looks like it’s time to go..."
>As you take a step forward, you playfully ruffle the filly's mane in good faith
“Sorry about this kid”
>Might as well try to leave on a somewhat good note
>Before she can react, you push off into the woods
>Passing through some thick vines, you disappear from sight

>After putting some good distance between you and the ponies, you start walking back to the cave
>That little pony, who's name seemed to be Sweetie bell [spoiler](God damn these names)[/spoiler], would relay your demands
>Now all you had to do was prepare and wait
>A subtle smile comes to your face
>You were one step closer to home...
>Its dark when you make it back to the cave
>You had almost missed it with its new camouflaged front
>Looking around, you don't see Gus
*whistle*
>Nothing
>This could be a problem
*whistle*
>You sit down next to the cave's entrance
*whistle*
>...
>Just then, you hear some crackling above your head
>You look up just in time to see Gus
>Falling out of the forest canopy
>And onto your face
"SH-"
>The nearly hundred pound mutt hits you like a ton of bricks
>Leaving you flatten like a flapjack
>He gets up pretty quickly, having found a nice cushion to land on
>You on the other hand feel like your lungs just popped
"W-*gasp*-What the hell was that for!?"
>Being the dog that he is, he offers no reply and simply stretches his hind legs a bit
>Figures…
>You get up as you back cracks out loud
"Jesus Christ Gus, seriously what were you doing?!"
>Just a blank stare
"Fine, be like that"
>You crawl to the entrance as Gus trots up from behind to catch up
>You pull the cover of branches up, only to have Gus squeeze in before you
"I swear to-"
>He flicks your face with his tail
"...whatever"
>You pull yourself through, but leave the branches perched up as to allow what little moonlight there was inside

>Gus wastes no time making his way over to the sled to lie down
>That chase wore him out, especially when he only had some apples to go on
>You're pretty beat too, but you still had some stuff to do
>You didn't see the glow of pink rings in the shadows, so she was probably asleep or pretending to be
>Either way, she was going to have to wake up
>You head over to the sled
>She hadn't been able to wiggle out of the sled's basket
>Instead, only her front hooves were wedged a bit out the one side
>Even in the dark, you could still make out the darken red hue of the soiled bandage
>You sigh
>Judging by the quality of the bandage, you knew you probably should of changed it right away last night
>You dig through the contents of the sled till you find the first aid
>While searching, you shake the sled intentionally a few times to wake her up
>You see her staring at you in your peripherals but you don't acknowledge her as you set the case of bandages and medicine down on the cave floor
>Walking outside, you heat the herbs with a small fire
>Returning a little while later, you sit the container down next to the fresh roll of bandages
>Finally, you make your way over to Rainbow again
>Picking her up, to both of yours displeasure, you sit her down on the floor
>She tries to say something but the gag restricts her voice
>Sitting down criss-cross adjacent to her, you arrange the herbs and bandages around you
"Ok *sigh* here we go"
>You move your hands to grasp her injured hoof, still in the bindings
>Even though you give it the lightest touch, you hear her hiss in pain through the rope as she tries to pull her hoof in closer to her body
"Damn, Gus really did some damage"

>Her pink orbs stare daggers at yours as you remember how you had stomped on it the night before
"...Though I guess I may had something to do with it too...hehe-e"
>A loud gulp follows your nervous laugh
>Slowly but steadily, you try to slip it through the rope
>She resists again, causing you to accidentally inflict more pain
>A muffled yelp escapes her as you let go and pull your hands back in defense
"I'm trying to help you, but I can't do that if you don't let me"
>You drop your hands and wait for her to calm down
>She stops moving and you go to grab her leg again
>Before you make contact, you look her in the eyes to see as if for permission
>She blinks, no longer giving you the 1,000 yard stare
>Slowly but gently, you begin moving her leg out of the binding
>She turns her head and closes her eyes from the dull pain, but doesn't fight
"...good girl..."
>You mutter softly under your breath
>Soon enough, you've slip it through and carefully lay it outstretched in front of you
"Don't move"
>Silently, you undo the tightly woven cloth
>As you slowly undo the layers, it progressively gets more sticky as you begin to see fresh blood
>Finally you get it all off and discard the bloody bandages
>It was mess
>The medicine you had applied only two nights ago had already been absorbed by the bandages and damaged tissue
>You hear Rainbow mutter something and turn her head away
>You didn't blame her
>The entire length of the cannon of her leg had been torn open along with a few deep puncture wounds from Gus' teeth
>Realistically, it could have been a lot worse

>No bone was exposed and he hadn't torn any muscles or tendons
>Not to mention, it was healing properly
>Far from pretty, but the skin had started to close back up
>Even if it scared, the fur would most likely hide it
>Keeping a hold on her hoof, you reach with the other hand for the canteen
>She had chugged most of it earlier
>You pour what little is left over the wound to wash it off
>Being the idiot you are, you didn’t even consider the possible run-off until the water was dripping off her hoof and flowing towards you
“Ahh-…Shit”
>You’re holding her hoof up so you can’t move, leaving your lower body victim to the mucky overflow
>You are eventually able to put her hoof down gently as you wait for it to dry a bit
>You turn to the herbal paste, scooping out some with your two fingers
>As you applied the paste, neither of you make eye contact
>You were focused on the wound while Rainbow was off staring at nothing, waiting for it to be over
>In hindsight, you probably could have left this go
>Those ponies, whether Rainbow knew it or not, would have her back and in their care by the end of tomorrow
>You could have left these bandages go for another day…
>Then again, you didn’t really want to hand her over to those unicorns with a bloody and infected leg
>Speaking of unicorns, you still had no idea what they were capable of
>All you knew was they could use magic… and that REALLY doesn’t narrow things down
>That alone could turn tomorrow’s little meeting into a nightmare for you
“Hey pony, what-“
>Oh wait the gag
>You stop rubbing in the paste for a moment so you can reach up and pull it off
>She snorts as you remove the loop

>Rainbow:”Did you really need to make it that tight?!”
>Without missing a beat, you redirect your attention to applying the paste
>Talking to this pony while making eye contact was a bit awkward a times
“Um, yeah”
>Rainbow:” Why?”
“Cuz’ your little pony friends came looking for you again and got a little too close for comfort… didn’t need you making any noises”
>For a second, she doesn’t reply
>She was either happy that her friends were looking for her or mad that they hadn’t saved her yet
>Hopefully she won’t bring up th-
>Rainbow:”And why the hay did you rub your gross hooves all over me?!”
“Umm well you se-“
>Rainbow:”You think you can just fondle me like I’m some kind of pet?!”
“What?! No!”
>Rainbow:”Then why the hay did you do that?”
“I’m trying to expl-“
>Rainbow:”Is that what this is really about? Trying to keep me like some kind of-“
>You intentional press a little harder with the paste against her open wound
>She lightly hisses in pain, giving you a cruel opening to speak
“They brought a dog this time; I had to get your scent on me and Gus in order to lead them away”
>Again she holds up on her reply
>You can only imagine she was now fuming with new angry, realizing that the little petting stunt had actually been used against her
“But I didn’t undo your snout to talk about how badly I doped your friends and that hound today”
>You re-dip your fingers in the paste and continue onto the second half of her leg
“I need to know what these ‘unicorns’ are capable of…”
>Rainbow:”And wh- *HISS* Can you stop that!”
>You didn’t try it that time, you were moving onto the more raw part of her leg so stinging was going to be a given
“Stop what?”

>Rainbow:”EVERYTHING! Just leave my leg alone”
>You raise an eyebrow
“I kind of guessed you ponies weren’t very smart but I didn’t expect you to be a complete ding-bat”
>She flares up, that hit a nerve
>Rainbow[coldly]:”What did you say to me, monkey?”
“I was saying that if I left your leg alone and out in the opening like this, it would get infected and you’d have to live the rest of your life as Rainbow the three legged pegasus”
>She mutters something under her breath but you don’t catch it
>You continue with the paste as she gives no further protest
“So”
>Rainbow:”So what?”
“So what can a unicorn do exactly?”
>Rainbow:”And why should I-“
“-tell you anything?”
>You wipe your fingers of the paste and move on to the new roll of bandage
“Look. We’re both in a situation that neither of us want to be in. Whether you believe me or not”
>You hold the new white band of cloth between your hands
“-Lift your hoof-“
>She silently complies and you begin wrapping it
“You’re going to be staying in this cave for however long it may be till I get sent home. You telling me what the hell is going on helps me get home faster, which in turn gets you out of here faster”
>You finish wrapping the bandage, leaving it nice and even all around
>Looking up, you look into the pony’s eyes
“You can think of me as a crumb all you want, but treating me like one won’t get YOU home and back to the other ponies anytime soon”
>Rainbow tries to stare you down, possibly thinking of a retort
>You, however, don’t back down with your gaze and eventually she gives in
>Rainbow[reluctant]:”…What do you want to know?”

>The next few minutes are spent with you asking questions about unicorns and their abilities
>It seems that the purple one, Twilight, was highly skilled in the field of magic
>You’d need to watch out for that one
>Overall, the unicorns had some amazing abilities such as being able to move objects with their mind, shoot magical heat rays, and teleport from place to place
>You also learned that a unicorn’s horn glowed whenever they used magic
>That would be helpfully, for sure
>You were going to have to be on your toes for tomorrow’s encounter
>You stand up, brushing yourself off
“Well, I think it’s time to call it a night”
>You bend back over and carefully put the freshly wrapped hoof back behind the bindings
>Then you move your hand back to her mouth with lope of rope
>She pulls her head back
>Rainbow (annoyed):”Ugh, Do you really need to do that?”
“Kind of, I don’t know if you snore”
>Deadpan stare with two eyes screaming ‘really?’
>This was going to be her last night here (if everything went according to plan tomorrow)
>It wouldn’t hurt to leave her un-gagged
“Fine”
>You let the loop fall to the ground and then quickly gather up the first aid and supplies, putting them back into the sled

>Finally you crawl up into the sled’s basket, slipping into your sleeping bag
>Before you close your eyes, to take a quick glance over lethargic Gus and the already sleeping blue pony
>Without another thought, you drift into sleep
>As the creature from an alien world begins to dream, a young mare in the dark lies unknown and unseen
>She opens her eyes shortly after the sound of his deep breaths echo across the cavern
>Slowly, she cranes her neck back and begins inaudibly gnawing at the rope on her side, that was concealed against the cave wall
>The rope was made of some kind of stiff fiber she had never seen before, but nothing was indestructible
>No matter how long it took, she would get out of this
>And so, she sat silently munching on the cable into the wee hours of morning until she finally surrendered to exhaustion and gave way to sleep