//------------------------------// // The Prologue // Story: The Creatures that Came to Ponyville // by knives4cash //------------------------------//           She couldn’t move. Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. She looked down. She was stuck to the wall, encased in an amber-like substance. She was cocooned. Just like before. “W-w-what’s going on? Where am I?”           A familiar voice with a southern accent grumbled, “Yer grave.”           She looked in front of herself. Apple Jack was cocooned on the opposing wall. “Applejack, w-what do you mean?” Fluttershy started to hyperventilate. “What’s going on?” She looked to her right and saw Rarity, cocooned as well, glaring at her.           Rarity hissed with venom, “This is your fault.”           She heard chewing. She looked to her left. Rainbow Dash was cocooned next to her. Her chest was open, her guts were spilled on the floor, and a chest-burster was feasting on her corpse. She began to whimper. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry!”           “’Sorry’ doesn’t help us, Fluttershy!”           She looked up to see Twilight Sparkle cocooned on the ceiling. “You’ve doomed us all, Fluttershy! You’re the reason we’re all going to DIE!”           “You’re… a horrible… pony.”           She looked down to see Pinkie Pie cut up and bound by saliva in an egg-like sphere. “You… don’t… deserve… to live…”            She felt something bite her inside her chest. She could feel it moving inside her, withering and worming its way out of her.  More pain. More biting. She couldn’t scream. The pain was excruciating. Blood exploded out of her chest. She looked down. A shrill cry came from her chest, and a chest-burster emerged, soaked in her blood and covered in bits of her flesh.           She shot up from her bed, crying. Her cold sweat made her feel sticky. Just like its saliva. Hyperventilating, she threw off her covers and quickly made her way to the bathroom. Cold water running, she splashed herself repeatedly. She looked in the mirror. Her chest was whole. She turned off the water. She left the bathroom and trotted downstairs to the living room.           It was mostly dark out, but she knew that the sun would be coming up soon. She’d woken up the same way at roughly the same time for the past four months. It had become her new morning routine. Wake up from the same nightmare, wash it off, have some coffee, eat some breakfast, and wait for Rainbow Dash to check up on her. Rainbow Dash would drop in at eight and give her some supplies, while asking how she was doing. Fluttershy would lie to her and say that she was fine. Rainbow Dash would leave, and Fluttershy would go to her new job, working at the Ponyville train yard, specifically operating the newly introduced machines called Power Loaders. Maybe do some overtime, get a little extra pay to help make ends meet.           After the incident, Fluttershy had undergone therapy. Lots of therapy. It wasn’t cheap, and it didn’t work. Not only were most of her savings gone, but when ponies stopped bringing their pets, she had to find another means of making money. She had received many ‘nice’ letters from her clients saying that they didn’t want to burden her with their pets, but she knew the truth. They didn’t trust her. Why would they? Why should they entrust their beloved pets with a pony who accidentally takes in parasitic, killer monsters that want to use you for their horrific breeding cycle? They shouldn’t. She understood their skepticism, but it still made her sad.           She entered the kitchen and turned on the light. She prepared her pot of black coffee and set it on the stove to heat up. She looked at the clock. 4:27 AM. “I guess I slept in”, Fluttershy whispered. “I still have plenty of time, before Rainbow Dash comes.” She opened the fridge. Half of a gallon of milk, a bag of lettuce, two carrots, a dozen apples, courtesy of Applejack, and three-fourths of a cake courtesy of Pinkie Pie lay before her. “I need the lettuce and carrots for Angel,” she thought aloud. “I need the milk for the cats.” She removed two apples. “I guess that’ll do. I’m sure the soup kitchen will be serving some nice lunch today.”           She took her apples and coffee to the kitchen table. Crunching on one of the Golden Delicious, she picked up yesterday’s paper and began reading it. She could always count on somepony to discard their copy of Equestria Daily, once they had deemed it useless. The front heading read, “PRINCESS CADANCE PUTTING ON WEIGHT!!! BAD DIETING??? OR FOAL ON THE WAY???” Fluttershy gave a little giggle. “Poor Shining Armor,” she thought to herself, “I can’t imagine how he feels about this publicity.” A smaller article caught her attention. “Neighland-Yutani makes possible breakthrough with Ponyville’s alien visitor!” Her eyes widened in horror as the memories flooded back to her. Finding Scuttles, finding out what Scuttles was, finding out where it came from, finding out WHAT it did, what it would do if it was allowed to live, the lives it would claim, with that pitch-black color, and its eye-less cowl, and its two sets of razor sharp teeth, and that spiked tail that could snap a pony’s neck in half, and its ability to stalk, to hunt, to kill- “Stop it, Fluttershy!” she shook herself as she came back to reality. “Scuttles is dead!” She said to herself while she gulped her coffee, “It can’t hurt anypony anymore. It’s dead.”            She picked up the paper again. She began to read the article. “Neighland-Yutani, the company that has put its four hooves forward in the dirty businesses of colonization and scientific exploration, has announced that they have made a scientific breakthrough, thanks largely in part to their study of the creature that came to Ponyville. When asked if he could specify, the president of Neighland-Yutani said, ‘I won’t bore you with the technicalities, but in our time with the Xenomorph specimen, we’ve been able to analyze and identify some of its biology and apply it to our everyday usage. I don’t want to get pony’s hopes up for the improbable, but if success continues, we may see things like improved medical aid, maybe better armor for our soldiers, perhaps even an upgrade to technology in general!’ When asked about the creature itself, the president had this to say: ‘It is truly a beautiful work of nature. I would give almost anything to be able to observe it in its natural habitat, to watch it grow, learn, and conquer its fellow animal kingdoms. I also wouldn't mind if it grew its head back, but it is all unlikely, so we’ll take what we can get.’          She put the paper down. She remembered reading the story shortly after Scuttles had been dealt with.  They had only written about Fluttershy finding the creature in the river, and then completely ignored what soon followed. They had said the creature attacked Apple Jack, when Fluttershy had failed to control it, and that Apple Jack had put it down in self defense. They said nothing about the ponies it harvested and killed, or the other monsters. Celestia herself had explained to them that she didn’t want her subjects to panic, not when an energy crisis was at hoof. Sighing, she picked up the paper again and turned to the job section.             After her meager breakfast, she placed the pot of coffee in the fridge for dinner and filled the cup with water and set it in the sink. She trotted back out into the living room. The sun had started to come up. Going upstairs, she glanced at her couch, the same couch that Scuttles had used. She shivered at the thought.  “No, Fluttershy,” she told herself, “Just get your uniform on and do your chores.” She went back into her bedroom and donned a grey jumpsuit that she was assigned for the loading docks. She recalled Rarity exclaiming how ‘those ruffians’, as she liked to address Fluttershy’s new coworkers, were so insensitive to fashion. She recalled Twilight being worried sick about her taking a manual labor job, saying that she shouldn’t hang around ‘those kinds of ponies’.           Twilight. She missed Twilight. They all did. Two weeks after the incident, Princess Celestia had called her and Spike back to Canterlot on some secret assignment. None of them had heard from her since. “I’m sure they’re fine, Fluttershy,” she spoke quietly to herself as she lay down to take a quick nap. “They’re probably having fun.”           Fluttershy jumped at the sound of a loud knocking coming from downstairs. She glanced at her bedroom clock. 7:42 AM. “It’s too early for that to be Rainbow Dash.” She said quietly to herself. The knocking got louder.             Fluttershy rushed downstairs, quietly shouting, “I’m coming! Please hold on!” She got to the door and opened it, revealing two white Pegasi in their iconic golden armor, and a carriage resting at the foot of her bridge.             The guard on her right asked, “Fluttershy?”           Fluttershy answered timidly, “Um, yes. Can I help you?”           The guard on her left answered, “You must come with us.”           Fluttershy sputtered, “B-but why? Did I do something wrong? I’m so sorry, I don’t have much money now, but I promise I’ll pay for-”           The guard on her right interrupted, “No, Fluttershy, you misunderstand. Princess Celestia has ordered your presence in Canterlot immediately.”           Fluttershy asked, “W-what? B-but  I-I have a job to go to, a-and my friend is going to come by, a-and-”           The guard on her left said, “Rainbow Dash has also been called, along with Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie. Princess Celestia has labeled the matter as ‘urgent’.”           Fluttershy said, “Well… okay. I do hope it’s nothing bad. How long will it take? My boss won’t like it if I’m late.”           The guard on her right said, “As we speak, your boss is being informed of the delay. Your job will be there for you, when you return. Come, let us make haste.” He said, turning around and trotting to the carriage. “It would not be wise to keep Princess Celestia waiting.” The guard on her left stepped aside, allowing her to follow.           Fluttershy left the entrance of her cottage, but quickly reared back. “Wait! My animals! Who will take care of my animals?”           The left guard said, “I have been assigned by Princess Celestia to care for your animals, while you are gone. Fear not, they are in good hooves.”           Fluttershy continued to the carriage. “Well, please be careful with Angel.” She got on the carriage. “He’s still a somewhat picky eater.” As the carriage took off, her voice went out of earshot. If you liked this, let me know via a thumbs up or comment! Both are welcomed. And if you didn't like it, let me know via dislike or comment. Both are also welcomed.