Twilight quickly galloped down the path to Fluttershy’s cottage. She leapt over a fallen log in her path, the large timber not deterring her from her journey. “I have to see if Fluttershy is alright! if the weather and plants are acting up, it’s only a matter of time before animals start causing all sorts of havoc! Like that bunny stampede…”
She kept on running, she had to see if her friend was alright, and make sure- WHAM.
Twilight was sent rolling backwards with a blur of pink speed, before landing on her back and stopping. Now atop her was one very hyper active, small pupilled, usually bubbly mare known as Pinkie Pie. Her irises were the size of pinpricks, her face stony and stern, as if she had peered into the void, and the void had gazed longingly back into her very soul.
“TWILIGHT!!” Pinkie screamed atop the lavender mare. “Pinkie? What’s gotten into you? Are you alright? What happened? Also, can you let me up?” Twilight asked from her prone position.
“Yes, but hurry! We haven’t got much time!” Pinkie said hurriedly, lifting Twilight from the ground with her forehooves. Twilight dusted herself off, wondering how strong Pinkie would have to be to lift her using only her forehooves… aw well, she’d figure out later. “Pinkie! Calm down, explain what happened…” Pinkie took a few breaths, inhaling and exhaling, and started speaking:
“WellthismorningIfeltarealdoseyfrommyPinkieSense™andthenIheardthatAppleJackhadtroubleatherfarmandRainbowcouldn’tcontoltheweathersoIrushedovertoRaritiesandhersueingmachinewouldn’tworksoIcameheretocheckonFluttershybeforesomethingAWFULhappenssoIcameoverheretoseeifshewasalrightandthenIfoundyouandthenItackeldyouandnowwe’reHERE!”
“What?” Twilight replied. “Well, I said-” Pinkie attempted to explain once more, but Twilight quickly placed a hoof over her mouth, stopping her from going off again. “Never mind, Pinkie. Quick, follow me, we have to see if Fluttershy’s alright!”
“But that’s what I just said!” Pinkie and Twilight resumed their gallop to Fluttershy’s cottage home, quickly arriving at the path to her door. “Wait…” Twilight said in a hushed voice. Leaning in slightly, she listened in for any noise from the cottage or the outside. No chirping… no roaring… nothing. “It’s quiet…” she said, “Too quiet.” Pinkie by now was already up to Fluttershy’s doorstep, throwing caution to the wind. Already with a hoof on the door, Pinkie began pushing the door open to Fluttershy’s home, “Hey Fluttershy? Are you okay?”
This was an understatement. Fluttershy was more than okay. All around the cottage lay dozens of animals, all of them lying in one position or another. Badgers, Beavers, Bears, Cats, Dogs, all on their sides, their backs, their stomachs, there was even a tiger sleeping in her kitchen. The interior of the cottage looked like it had been through a warzone. Practically nothing was left unturned or untouched or splattered by what seemed to be fruits and vegetables. Fluttershy herself sat atop a very large bear, war paint beneath her eyes, a Rambo-style bandana adorning her forehead, her mane wild and de-shriveled, a lit cigarette in her mouth. To her right she held a tranq-gun, the ammo of which was splayed along the walls and floors in well lined patterns. Said darts were in the rear or side of each animal, and Fluttershy seemed to have an annoyed expression on her face.
Twilight and Pinkie gawked at the site, their mouths slamming to the floor.
“Well? Are you going to stand there all day or do I have to invite you in?” Fluttershy said, taking a puff of her cigarette and blowing the smoke out in rings. Pinkie and Twilight entered the cottage wordlessly, their mouths still dragging on the floor from the site in front of them. The door shut behind them and Fluttershy dropped off from the bear she had been sitting on. She gave the unconscious animal a few pats, whispering something to it as it slept. She joined her friends in her living room as she removed her bandana and war paint, stroking her mane back into place before stopping in front of the still gawking pair.
“Oh, I’m terribly sorry for that, it’s just that my animal friends started acting up and wouldn’t listen to me! So I had to put them all to sleep…” Fluttershy stated matter-of-factly. Twilight and Pinkie had recovered from the initial shock of seeing their pegasus friend so… assertive. assertive in an aggressive way no less! Shaking her head from side to side, Twilight quickly began her investigation.
“Fluttershy, I have to know, did anything suspicious happen before the animals started acting up?” Twilight asked her friend, making a mental checklist as she waited for a response.
“Well… I was noticing some strange noises in the Everfree, and loads of my animal friends started acting up, and pretty soon they wouldn’t listen to me… not even Angel! Everypony just seemed so agitated and wild…” Fluttershy said, looking over her shoulder at her animal friends. She had a look of concern on her face when she looked at the battle field of her living room, giving a slight whimper at the destruction the fierce battle had caused.
“What kind of noises?” Twilight asked, curious of the happenings around the Everfree.
“Well, there was a loud rumbling as if the forest shook, like it was scared, almost shivering! Then trees started groaning and creaking, and I hid under the couch. Angel tried to comfort me, but then he started to act really strange and skittish. Then he started acting… well, like an animal.” Angel seemed to emphasize this as he kept himself to a form that accented his “rabbitness”. Rather than standing as he usually did, he was on all fours, ears slightly flopping as his nose wrinkled. He hopped about, sniffing a few things before ducking under a cabinet.
“I’ve never seen any animals act like this before…” Twilight thought to herself, he mental note pad scribbling like mad. She looked around the cottage, noticing something else about the animals. They didn’t seem… normal. They didn’t have their usual shades of colouring, as if they had somehow been dumbed down, and their furs looked rougher, less smooth and more furry. It’s as if someone had taken away their ability to think, reduced their minds to match their beastly bodies, leaving nothing but primal and base instinct. This was most definitely not normal.
Suddenly, the door to Fluttershy’s cottage swung open, a peeved white coated and purple maned mare. Her eyes were narrowed and aggressive, glaring down to the kitchen, causing Fluttershy to ‘eep’ in surprise. Rarity entered the small hut, politely closing the door behind her, that or she was experiencing the same thing that Twilight was, increasing migraines. She calmly sat next to the door, still peeved looking while an equally peeved looking, cyan colored pegasus hovered inside. Rarity shut the door, her expression dissolving into a strange smile, almost serene and oblivious to the goings on around her.
“Well? Is anypony going to ask us what happened?” Rarity asked, still standing next to the doorway. Her friends looked at each other briefly before Twilight broke the silence, “What happened Rarity?” She asked, her voice inquisitive as to what could drive her to such annoyance.
“I had been minding my own business, when suddenly, my sewing machine began to sputter and cough! Before I knew it, it had stopped entirely and completely ruined the new dress that I had been tasked with making! I couldn’t even start from scratch as all my fabric seemed to have… ‘lost’ their appeal!” Lost their appeal?
“Rarity, what do you mean, ‘lost their appeal’?” Twilight pressed, curious as to what she meant, “Well, I had been planning to use some excellent yellow silk when it suddenly… turned. Its as if its color had left it, no longer shining but… dull and sullied.” As if by magic, she brought forth a yellow silk cloth from her side. She held it in her mouth and Twilight levitated it in front of her. In a way, Rarity was right… the cloth seemed dull and far away, not the usual brightness that most pieces of cloth had. She lifted it with her mind and for the enth time this day, she felt as if a weight had latched onto her frontal lobe. It took all of her being not to slump down then and there horn first.
It was like this cloth wasn’t cloth but lead. Little pieces of fluid lead that had been strung together. Twilight was practically gritting her teeth to hold this thing up. Her aura released the grey-ish cloth and it fluttered to the ground. She let out a gasp, trying to recover herself from the exertion. Her friends immediately moved in.
“Twilight! Are you okay?” Rainbow Dash inquired, concern painting her face at the sudden fall of her friend. Twilight struggled to keep awake, it was like that piece of cloth carried a greater force with it, something almost… ominous. She couldn’t do it.
Darkness.
______________________________________________________________________________
“Aw shit, it’s worse than I thought.” A lanky figure said. He examined his surroundings from atop the hill that acted as his perch. Behind him was a hole and a coffin that he had clawed his way out of. The coffin looked more like eons old swiss cheese, with trillions of holes lining its sides and top.
The figure was clad in dusty, hole ridden clothes, the once bright color looking dull and worn from time. He was skinny beyond belief, his ribs showing through his grey and flaky skin. His face looked thin and sharp, with small white lips.
“Case you were wondering what’s gotten worse I mean me.” The figure spoke to no one in particular.
“My jacket looks like it went through the time-space woodchipper, I’m fairly certain I’m now related to the Crypt-Keeper. Jesus Christ my voice is gravelly.” he said, coughing and sputtering out his words.
“Never mind the fact that the author is blatantly ignoring my attempt to break the 4th wall, even after all that backstory.” The walking corpse said, now gazing over his surroundings.
“...it looks more pastel than I remember. More outlines… that’ll fade away soon enough. Wonder if the animals started acting up yet? Aw, I might have meta gamed there. Oh well.”