When They Come: Pt. 8

>It’s night time when you awake.
>You open your eyes and there’s a moment of panic when you see the cold stone walls surrounding you. Then you remember your escape and blind dash through the forest. That’s where you are: the forest. In a small cave. It’s ok. Twilight and you are both ok.
>Crickets are singing their ode to the night and there’s no trace of light outside. The evening air smells crisply of pine and oak. The shadows of the cave swirl around you with the rustle of wind in the trees outside. Beside you Twilight lies breathing slowly and evenly, sleeping peacefully you hope.
>The memory of earlier events washes over you like a warm wave. The smell of her body, the softness of her lips, the sound of her ecstatic moans. That happened, that was real. You look down at her tenderly and run your hand gently over the curve of her head and neck. You look down to her hindquarters and see some faded evidence of the deed still clinging to the backs of her legs and her rear.
>Something stirs in you seeing her body like that, your cum still staining her purple coat. Arousal, maybe, but also pride. She’s yours now, she’s given you a most precious gift in her virginity. No matter what happens to you, no matter what happens to her, that fact will remain. You were her first and you always will be.
>You stretch and sit up, too alert now to go back to sleep. Even with your bit of fun the night before, there’s still a lot to think about and deal with. You need to get back to Ponyville before more ponies put themselves in danger for you. You need to find food, water, figure out where the fuck you are. Your days of injuries still make you feel weak, but you’ve gained strength with rest and the food Twilight found. Plus there’s not much time to waste.
>How long have to been away, you wonder. You count the sunsets and dawns you’ve witnessed. At the hillside, day one. In the cave, at least day two. You ran for a long time, well into the afternoon, and it was morning when you woke up in Twilight’s arms. That means you were unconscious for a full day in the woods with Twilight? Shit, no wonder she had time to collect food and heal her own wounds so perfectly. And now tonight.
>You’ve been gone for a total of three nights then, which means they’re definitely looking for you. It’s only a matter of time before they venture this far, especially if they have that zebra Zecora for a guide and Pegasi searching from the clouds. Which means it’s only a matter of time before the man finds one of them and captures them. Or worse.
>It’s night now, though, so there’s not much you can do. You don’t know the woods well or how to find edible plans. Any signal you sent for help would also attract the man. So all you can do now, if you feel up for it, is to figure out where you are. Sure, Twilight has said that she’ll just teleport up to the top of the rocks in the morning, but if you do it for her then she can save her magic for other possible issues.
>Besides, you feel like climbing, running, being alive. You just had the most amazing sex of your life and the lack of endorphins in your body now by comparison to then are getting to you. A shot of adrenalin might do you good.
>You look back to her before you go, drinking in the image of her lying there with your mark on her. You take a mental picture, memorize every detail.
"Sleep well," you whisper.
>Placing a soft kiss on Twilight’s cheek, you creep out of the cave into the beckoning night.
>The dark sky stretches above you, an endless field of white gleams and swirls of light cloud. The air is crisp, but not so cold that it bites through your now ratty shirt. For the first time in days, you feel some measure of peace. You have a task ahead of you, a sense of purpose and no desperation coursing through your veins. All you have to do now is climb.
>You look up at the mass of rock in front of you, defiant in the generally flat landscape. The stone is mostly a slatey gray, though there are lines running through it that resemble granite. It doesn’t look particularly difficult to climb, and the light of the large, full moon gives you a good picture of what you’re doing. More than that, nothing really looks very vertical. You may just be able to walk up the damn thing if you choose your steps carefully.
>You start out next to the small semi-cave with an easy foothold. The jutting bits of rock make easy handholds and you find it ladder like ad you begin your ascent. Sure enough, after only a few feet you find a flat spot that leads to another open space. Then another. A few steps up, a simple hop from this ledge to that. It’s surprisingly simple.
>You’re vaguely aware that this is probably not the safest way to do things, but you trust your own steps. You’ve climbed before, back in your own world, and by comparison to some previous climbs this is incredibly easy. Any sense of danger slips away as you focus in on your next step, next move. It’s just you and that next foot of rock, nothing else matters. You go higher and higher quickly, moving fluidly between ledges and spires, rarely even using your hands for anything more than balance.
>There’s a low glow on the horizon as you finally near the top. You can’t see the sun yet, but its light is creeping up over he hills, and you finally get a good look at your surroundings.
>Trees stretch out far towards rolling hills of bright green grass. Light clouds dot the sky and occasional spikings of rock jut up through the foliage below. Unfortunately, here are no obvious landmarks that jump out at you as being places you've been to or heard about. You squint your eyes and follow the line of the horizon trying to find anything you find familiar.
>Then you see it.
>Far off to your left, behind a low dip of hills, a fluffy column rises into the air. Smoke? It puffs up in a solid mass like a thick cloud. By the size of it, you can tell that whatever it is has been burning for some time now. As the light crowns upon the horizon, the smoke is lit up revealing...pink?
>Yep, pink.
>Like a huge mass of airborne cotton candy, the pink smoke shines out it’s signal to you clear as day. We’re here, it says. Ponyville is right here, come home to us. You can’t help but smile as you think of Pinkie Pie fueling that fire for you to try to get you home. They couldn’t find you, so they wanted to make sure that you could find them.
>Your smile quickly fades though. If you can find them, so can the man. He might even believe the smoke comes from you and Twilight and make a b-line for ponyville! A lump forms in your throat as you realize that as kind as Pinkie’s intensions might be, she’s putting everyone at risk.
>Shit. And they don't even know what's coming.
>Scrambling in the new light of day, you make your way down the rock towards where Twilight is still sleeping. Your heart has begun to pound, and you ignore the swirling in your own head as you make your descent. A very real fear has begun to take hold, that these totally unprepared ponies will have no idea how to defend themselves against a human with weapons. Hell, you’re not even sure how many weapons he has!
>You jump the last few feet to the ground and half sprint to the cave.
“Twilight, wake up!” you hiss, shaking her shoulder.
>Twilight makes a happy murmuring noise, stretches like some sort of cat, and blinks her eyes hard a few times. She lifts her head slowly, focuses on you, and smiles gently.
“Good morning Anon,” she says with a yawn. Then she seems to notice your alarmed expression. “What is it?”
“Pinkie Pie’s sent a smoke signal up to we can get home.”
"Well that’s wonderful!” she says, sitting up with a grin. “It...is isn’t it?”
“It’s visible for miles. Visible to anyone who bothers to fucking look.”
>Her smile falls.
“He’ll go straight to Ponyville.”
“My thoughts exactly,” you say. “We need to get moving. Now.”
>She’s on her feet before you can even finish the sentence.
“Come on, let’s go,” she says, dashing out of the cave past you. “Which way is the smoke?”
>You point to your left.
“Miles off, but we can probably make it there in a few hours if we really try.”
“Then let’s try.”
>She begins to trot swiftly in that direction, and you hit a light job to keep up. It’s a slightly faster pace than you would have liked, but you need to get to Ponyville first. Even if it hurts, even if you honestly have no idea what you’re going to do when you get there. All you know is that you have to get there, you just have to.

----

>A few hours later, you have to drop out of your very gently jog. The gnawing feeling in your stomach is beginning to take over, and your mouth is dry from how long you’ve been without water. Panting, you slow down to nearly a trudge.
“I’m sorry Twilight,” you gasp. “I can’t keep going like this. I need...I need to...”
>Twilight too slows her pace and she turns around to face you. She looks frustrated at your exhaustion, but she doesn’t say anything about it.
“Ok, ok,” she says with a heavy sigh. “Why don’t we rest for just a few minutes, ok?”
“Yes, please.”
>You stand still for a moment, trying to catch your breath. Twilight too stops, but she shifts her weight impatiently from hoof to hoof, almost prancing with anxiousness. Minutes pass and you still don’t feel any better or more able to run. If only you had something to eat. If only you had some water.
“Hey Twilight,” you say, struck with a sudden thought. “I don’t suppose you have magic that can turn rocks into food, do you?”
>She brightens.
“Actually I do! It’s not perfect, but I can turn things into apples and oranges if you want me to give it a shot.”
“An orange, if you’re able. I can at least get some juice to drink with that.”
>Twilight searches the ground, then nods as she spots a pinecone.
“Hold that,” she orders. “And stand to one side so I don’t accidentally hit you.”
“You...could turn ME into an orange?”
“I told you I wasn’t perfect at this.”
>You swallow hard as you hold the pinecone at arms reach and wait. Twilight spreads her legs and distributes her weight evenly over them as she readies herself. Then, she lowers her horn, closes her eyes, and begins to concentrate. A spark of light flies from her horn tip, then it begins to glow. A ray of violet light shoots out to the pinecone which also begins to glow and levitate slightly off of your hand. To your amusement and wonder, the pinecone spins, becoming smaller and rounder with each rotation. All at once it flashes brightly, and a large shining orange plops heavily into your palm.
“Holy shit Twilight!”
>You've seen her do basic magic before, move things, teleport, change things colors. But this is another level of cool. You beam at her, openly impressed.
>She smiles weakly and wipes a few drops of sweat from her forehead.
“Glad to help. Whatever gets us to Ponyville sooner.”
>You peel and bite into the orange, passing a section to Twilight for her own strength. The juices, sweet at first, soon turn on your tastebuds. You grimace and look to Twilight. She also wears a disgusted expression.
“Still tastes like pine to you too?”
“Yep,” she says with a sigh. “But it’ll have to do, we need to get moving.”
>You quickly down the rest of the orange, trying to ignore its bizarre flavor. Even though it tastes awful, you can feel it quenching your thirst somewhat and revitalizing your muscles. You toss the peel onto the ground and nod to Twilight that you’re ready to go.
>You may have lost a little time, but you estimate that it hasn't been long, so your lack of good stamina hasn't done much damage to your travels.
>Twilight again begins a brisk pace, and you jog beside her as best you can. Your muscles are sore, your head burns, but at least your stomach isn’t killing you anymore.
“How much further you think?” Twilight calls over her shoulder to you.
“Maybe a few miles? Not much, maybe an hour more.”
“Good,” she calls. “And still no sign of-"
>As if on cue, the rope tightens around one of her front hooves. She shrieks as she topples forward onto the ground, the rope jerking taught beneath her. You move frantically to help her, but a sudden spike of pain at your throat stops you.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” a voice says at your ear.
>The knife again pricks your throat and you stand stalk still. You feel color and strength draining from your body as you realize where you are, who this is, and what sort of position you're now in. Where did he come from? How did he find you?
>Twilight scrambles to her feet, shaking off the rope, and spins to face the two of you. She lowers her horn and strikes the ground with one hoof menacingly.
“Let him go,” she growls.
“No no, not this time,” the man says with a smile in his voice. “You see, I figured it out. You’re the one with power you purple bitch. He’s the one I need to threaten and capture, not you. Fuck, I should have killed you in the first place.”
“How did you find us?” You say, but he grips your arm tightly and painfully before you can ask any more questions or try to squirm away.
“Oh, I heard you running this way after I saw that pink shit in the sky. I followed you and when you took a rest I set up this lovely little trap just barely in your path. Didn’t take long either, but I appreciate the opportunity.”
>Your stupid hunger. Your stupid decisions. This is all your fault, you realize. Again. Twilight shows no animosity towards you, just concern.
“I swear, if you hurt him I’ll kill you,” she says, still holding her horn at the ready.
“Twilight he won’t-“
“Shut up,” the man tells you. “You are in no position to say a word right now. All you’re going to do is follow me and help me and there’s not going to be any bargaining this time.”
“Why should I help you, I’d rather you kill me,” you hiss.
“Because I know where all the pony’s live,” he says softly. “And I know how much you care about all of them now. If you don’t help me, I don’t leave this place and I go right on killing ponies as I see fit. So it’s in your best interest now.”
>You search your brain for a way out of this, some come back, anything. But he’s right. Chillingly right. As long as he's here or alive, no ponies are safe. That means you have to kill him or help him, and being that he's the one with the knife right now you don't see the first option as being very likely.
“What about Twilight?” you demand.
“She can go home,” he says. “And if she comes back for you, I can kill her. If you don’t help me I can just kill her later. All I need is you now.”
“I’m not leaving him you psycho,” Twilight says sharply.
“Yes, you will.”
>Your words seem to shock her. She takes a step back.
“What? But Anon…”
“I won’t let anyone else get hurt because of me. Just go home, tell the others,” you try to make your voice confident, but you’re quaking inside. You know he’s just going to kill you once you tell him what you know, but you can’t let Twilight see that in your face. “Please. I’ll be fine.”
>She shakes her head.
“No, Anon I’m not-“
“Twilight!” you bark, and she shuts her mouth. “Please. Go home. Be safe. The others will come looking for us if we don’t come back, and we can’t risk anyone else’s safety.”
>The man has remained silent for a while, probably amused at your little argument, you decide. Still, that grip never loosens and the knife barely gives you enough leeway to say what you have to. Twilight is still shaking her head slowly back and forth.
“But-"
“Please Twilight. Go.”
>Her eyes fill with tears as she stares up at the man then back down at you. You force yourself to smile despite the man behind you tightening his grip on your arm and throat. Twilight glares at him then turns all attention to you, her face completely wracked by grief.
“Please come home,” she begs you. “Please come back to me safe.”
>Without saying another word, she turns and gallops away into the woods, headed for Ponyville and safety. Despite your fear, you feel a wash of relief knowing that she’s not going to be hurt anymore. No one else is going to die because of you.
>The man loosens his grip on your arm and walks to stand in front of you. He opens his arms wide, a rope dangling from one hand, and smiles.
“Just you an me now,” he says warmly. “Lets get this over with, shall we?”

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End Pt: 8