1:26 a.m.
Fluttershy woke up in darkness. Her throat was dry and her head was heavy.
“Wh- Where am I?” She tried to get up but her head hit a wooden surface.
“Ouch!” she squeaked, rubbing her forehead. She felt the wooden surface above her, then her sides. She was stuck in a box. A long and rectangular box.
Fluttershy called out.
“Is anypony out there?”
There was no reply.
She shifted around uncomfortably in the box, trying to find a weak side that she could kick off. But after trying for a couple of minutes, she realize that the box was very very solid. That wasn’t the only thing about the box. Its interior was smooth to the touch, and seemed to be of fine work. And on the base of the box was a cushion.
Who puts cushions in a box?
Fluttershy felt around some more and found a cork, lodged on the side of the rectangular box. She pushed on it with all her might and the cork fell out. She was able to see the outside from her hole.
She was in a bright room, with white walls. She could see a rusty table, and a hose on top of it. There were other tools hanging from the wall, but she couldn’t make what they were for.
“Hello?” Fluttershy whispered through the tiny hole, “Is anypony out there?”
Still, no response.
“Help! I’m trapped in here!” Fluttershy gave her box a shake. She felt she was on top a shaky table.
Fluttershy stopped to think for a moment. Maybe if she shook hard enough, she’d fall, and the box will break.
Fluttershy pushed the side of the box with all her might and it shifted.
Still not good enough.
Another push. Another one. One more. Suddenly she felt the surface beneath her give way, and she fell to the floor. She had broke the table.
Fluttershy rubbed her forehead. The box fell hard, but it didn’t break. So much for that…
With a loud bang, a door opened. Fluttershy couldn’t see who it was because the hole was above her now. All she could hear were footsteps.
Then it fell silent.
“Hello?”
Then she saw the scarecrow peering in from above.
“Ahhh!!!” she screamed, “It’s… It’s you!”
The scarecrow stood up, then went away, but Fluttershy could still sense its presence in the room. She heard rustling coming from a table, then it spoke.
“Yes, I see you are excited with my plans for you tonight.”
It had a low distorted voice. But it wasn’t its voice, but its words that sent chills down her spine. “Plans? What plans?” Fluttershy shivered.
“You’ll find out now…”
Fluttershy heard rustling coming from the table again. The scarecrow had just grabbed something.
“No! It’s ok! I don’t wanna find out! Please just let me go!” Fluttershy whimpered.
The scarecrow didn’t change its mind. Fluttershy felt herself being picked up and carried towards someplace else.
“Wait! Where are we going?!”
The scarecrow cackled.
“Somewhere fun.”
Fluttershy pushed on all sides of the box with all her strength, but it was too sturdy to break.
“Please! Just let me go! I promise I’ll be good! I won’t tell anyone about you! I’ll… I’ll leave this mountain and never come back! If… If that’s what you want…”
Fluttershy felt her words fail. There was nothing she could do to convince the monster to let her go.
Then she was set down. She heard the sound of gushing water.
“Wh- What's going on?” Fluttershy shouted, unable to see much of the outside from her hole.
Suddenly, the hole closed up and she heard water running above her.
“EEEEK!!!!” Fluttershy screamed. Water shot from the hole into the box.
“What are you doing?! Please let me go!” Fluttershy shouted. The scarecrow just laughed.
“Oh but this is only the beginning…” It turned the tap further, and more water went in.
“Wait! Stop! Why are you doing this?! I never did anything to you!”
No reply. Just more water.
“STOOOOOPPP!” Fluttershy screamed at the top of her lungs, but it didn't stop. The box only had enough space for her to kneel and the water was quickly reaching her chest.
“Please! No!” she prodded the walls. “Don’t do this to me!” she cried. “Please…” At this point, Futtershy was pressing her head onto the roof to keep talking. Water continued to rise. Tears fell from her cheeks. Her entire life flashed before her.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!”
It was silent. The scarecrow turned off the tap. It laughed maniacally in its seat.
Time for its next victim.
1:45 a.m.
Icy winds howled as they covered the venturing mare with layers and layers of spine-numbing chill. She had finally reached her destination, and she let out a sigh of relief.
If only he was here too.
She shook the memory of their argument out of her mind. She had already wasted an hour crying over spilt words. There’s no more time to waste.
I hope he’s fine.
She climbed the rickety stairs and reached the top. Closing the hatch, she scanned the room she was in. Pinkie said there was electricity here, so where was it? She spotted some wires that led outside and followed them until she reached the fuse box.
“Bingo. Good sleuthing Twilight,” she said, patting her own back.
With a stroke of the lever, the tower whirred to life. Light shone in all directions around the radio tower.
Before going inside, she grabbed a flare gun from the emergency box. Never know when you’ll need it. She smirked.
Twilight started working the radio. She’s had some experience tweaking with radios before, and a book to back her experience. But for a while, it didn’t produce anything.
“Come on, work…”
It may have been that this radio was old and not functioning, but Twilight feared it may have also been her inexperience, and the radio didn’t match any model she’s experimented with before. There were a couple more settings she had to work with, and some of the labels were a little worn. She sweated as she adjusted the different settings on the radio. Not before long she heard a smooth frequency.
“Hello?” she paused, waiting for a response.
Then a deep, raspy voice came through, “Yes hello. This is Blackhoof Town radio station. How may I help you?”
“Yes, my friend has gone missing on Blackhoof Mountain, can you please contact the authorities?” She let out a cold breath with each syllable she uttered.
“You said your friend is missing. Where was she last spotted?”
“She was in the lodge. My friend was checking on her but found she was missing. There was also a broken window in her room. We think she might have been kidnapped.”
“…”
“…”
“Alright miss, we will alert the police immediately. Just hang in there. We’ll send help by tomorrow morning.”
“Tomorrow morning?” Twilight stuttered, trying her best to remain calm.
“Yes, sorry but the storm is too big to travel in. We think it’ll only clear by dawn. We could get professionals to come get you but that will take longer. It’s best to stay indoors in the meantime.”
Twilight held her breath. Rainbow could be dead by then. But it couldn’t be help. She knew more than anyone that snowstorms are no weather to fly in. And the only professional pegasi team she knew of was the Wonderbolts. Travelling by train took them one day; flying non-stop would take them 8 hours at least, and it would be morning by then.
She lifted the microphone closer, and tried her best to convey her utmost gratitude to the stallion over the radio, “Thank you anyways. We’ll stay indoor- Aaaahhhhhhh!!!!!”
Twilight let out a deafening shriek. Plastered against the window was an abominable creature, with limbs as long as hockey sticks and teeth as sharp as icicles.
“Hello miss? Miss?”
The creature started breaking through the glass, reaching its hooves in to grab her. Twilight backed away and aimed her magic. The floor shifted beneath her, causing her focus to lose and she shot the roof instead, letting in the harsh winds. The tower tilted dangerously, forcing Twilight onto the glass window. It didn’t break but the one above her did, dropping the creature onto her. Twilight blasted it before it even came halfway through, sending it off into the skies, but the force from her blast worsened the tower’s condition. She felt it drop all of a sudden and stopped. Twilight stared wide eye in horror at her feet. Beneath her was a deep gorge. Anything that fell in would surely die.
*Snap*
Twilight turned around to find the radio falling straight to her face. Her pupils contracted quickly as she failed to react to the falling debris. She flinched moments before the weight hit her.
But it never did.
Twilight opened her eyes. Everything was surrounded by blue aura and was still. In her mix of confusion and distress, she saw a familiar face outside.
With a snap of his fingers, Twilight was safely in his arms. With another snap, the radio fell through the glass and into the gorge, harming no one.
“Dis-”
“Fluttershy was right. We need to get out of here.” Without further explanation, Discord flew away from the gorge, carrying Twilight in his hands. The tower crumbled with every inch it tilted closer into the gorge, finally falling into the endless abyss.
“What's going on?”
Discord remained silent. He continued to focus on the obstacles ahead, trying to ignore the question she just asked. Twilight knew something was wrong. In his embrace, Twilight could feel his heart racing and his claws growing sweaty. It had something to do with that creature back there. She knew it.
Finally, he spoke.
“Wendigos.”