//------------------------------// // Apr 26, 18:20 PM: River of Blood // Story: Tactical Shorts By Request // by TacticalRainboom //------------------------------// The prompt for this one would be a spoiler. I pasted it onto the end. ============================== "Seriously! Like, for super EXTRA serious!" she squeaked, glancing around as if she expected the serious she was talking about to come and smack her right atop her pink-maned head any moment now. She was wearing a vest and trousers that covered her rear legs, the sort worn when trudging through thorny or poisonous plants, and they were caked with dust from the road. "Like, what if Canterlot just falls off the side of Mount Harmony? And then the mountain erupts and buries everything? And then monsters come and make their OWN city on top of where Canterlot is buried? Or maybe the monster ITSELF will bury the city, like, it'll be some huge grey slime thing and--" Her mane flicked occasionally in front of her face before springing back into its usual large tuft. Mr. and Mrs. Field, a pair of aging unicorns, exchanged sidelong glances. The poor panicked filly on their front step was in danger of breaking into tears. "Um," Amber Field said gingerly, "Are you... the Pie family's young one?" "What? I mean, yeah, I'm Pinkie Pie, but that's not important! You HAVE to believe me!" "How did you get here?" Amber's husband Green cut in. "I ran! Look, I know this sounds crazy, but ever since last week when I got my Cutie Mark, I've been feeling these-" "All the way from the Pie family farms?" "Yes from my family's farm, where the heck else? Anyway, there have been these signs that warn me about things, but yesterday I started noticing a really weird one, and it really scares me because-" "Can you find your way home? Do your parents know you're here?" Pinkie stomped her forehooves and let out a frustrated little huff. "Why do you grownup ponies always get distracted from what's important? Something really ridiculously bad is going to happen, I don't know when, but really soon, and the best chance we all have is to stick together until we know what we're dealing with!" Again Amber and her husband Green tried to flash discreet, worried looks at each other. "Pinkie Pie, maybe you should come inside. It's late, it looks like it might rain soon, and your parents are going to wonder where you-" "There's no time for that! I still have to warn the rest of the farms!" She shouted, jumping up and down to emphasize her point. "Just promise me you'll come over to the Pie farm after this, please please I really really really really really need you to--" Pinkie's bouncing accelerated until she practically vibrated, her mane turning frizzy from agitation. "I'll walk you home," Green Field said, stepping forward. "You need to get back to your family before it gets dark, and..." "Argh! FINE!" Green Field galloped after Pinkie with a startled "Wait!" as the little pink doomsayer tore off down the road. As they ran, the rain began in earnest, turning the road into a minefield of slippery puddles. Pinkie pushed ahead with impossible reserves of energy while Green struggled to keep up. As she finally skidded to a halt at the Pie family's front gate, Pinkie's ears flattened against her head. A familiar sensation had taken over her backside-ish area. A twitching spasm, subtle but uncontrollable. It wasn't just her rump, though; there was something inside her head, a kind of itch, and her butt muscles were only channeling the sixth sense, which was warning her about... Pinkie turned around as she heard a disgruntled yelp. Mr. Field was rubbing something white and icky-looking on his head. A bird dropping! Pinkie narrowed her eyes. Mr. Field gave up on cleaning the nastiness out of his mane, started to walk forward, and stopped as he saw Pinkie's intense expression. Her ears were flattened--no--they were flapping back and forth, up and then down again in rapid succession. A harder one, thought Pinkie. Ears flapping. The flapping was sort of a haphazard motion, it felt somehow... messy... like big puddles or spilled cocoa powder or... Mr. Field walked forward cautiously, watching Pinkie like she had turned into a timberwolf. Unsettled as he was, he didn't notice the mud-slick between them. He had time only for a short, indignant gasp as he went down hard, splattering himself completely with mud. Just like before. The signs. The accidents. But she still didn't know about the doozy of a sign that had been going on since yesterday... a horrible, terrifying sign that came with no feeling except intermittent pain and creeping dread. She shivered slightly just thinking about it. Pinkie turned her back slowly on the scene behind her. Jaw set, staring straight ahead with grim resolve, she walked slowly towards her front door. None of the grownups could understand. It was up to her. Her knees trembled as she realized the terrible burden of being the only pony of all her neighbors who had this strange, terrible, frightening warning-sense... "Let's go," she said in as low and dramatic of a voice she could manage with her fillyish squeak. Green Field, his fur now all sorts of matted and discolored, followed as instructed. He wiped his hooves on the doormate reflexively, though there was no fixing his coat. Pinkie stopped in front of the door as she felt a sudden surge of signs. Knee cramp, eye twitch... twisting, heavy feeling... No time to lose; she had to get Mr. Field inside where it was safe! She turned and bucked the front door open full force, banging it open with enough force to send her father, who had been standing on the other side, into the far wall. Pinkie's eyes widened. The sign had been for the door hitting her dad! The warnings were happening faster all the time! "Daddy Pie! You know what I said on Monday about my tail twitching right before the pots fell out of the cabinets? It's happened again! Three times today!" Pinkie scurried forward, then started pacing rapidly in front of her groaning father as he picked himself back up to his hooves. "I'm sure now, I know it, there are signs! But that's not the scary part--ever since yesterday I've been noticing the scariest one of all, and it still hasn't stopped!" She stopped pacing, and turned to Mr. Green. The foalish panic in her eyes was gone, replaced by true, genuine horror. "I thought and thought about it but I just don't know what this one means. I can't even start to think about it. It's so... just so..." Her eyes watered and she turned back to her father, who had approached her, looking utterly exhausted on top of being dazed from the hit. "All right, Pinkie," he croaked in his usual monotone, "What kind of sign was this scary one? I bet it's nothing to worry about!" "I... I don't really want to... it's kind of gross," Pinkie stammered. "But it's really horrible! I think it means, like... a flood, or some kind of horrible smelly monster made of slime or something, or..." Tears started to trickle down her face as she choked out the last possibility. "Or somepony getting really, really hurt. And the signs are always right! I'm so scared. I wish I wasn't, but I just don't know!" "Okay," her father said, "why don't you just... Can you show us? Maybe we can help. Right, Green?" , Mr. Field, who had been trying his best to will himself invisible where he stood in the doorway, glanced in both directions before nodding once. Pinkie bit her lower lip, backing away from her father and towards the kitchen table. "Okay," she said tremblingly, "But don't say I didn't warn you... it's really... it's gross and smelly and--" Mr. Pie and Mr. Field joined Pinkie in the kitchen, both of them staring expectantly. With a deep breath, Pinkie unfastened her trousers and flipped them onto the table. The room immediately started to smell of copper. Dark stains marred Pinkie's rump and the inside of the trousers. "I don't know what it means," Pinkie said, lowering her head, "But it has to be something horrible. None of the signs were anything like this. I'm so scared. I'm just so scared." ============================== irc.canternet.org #fic [18:18:41] [WriterInTraining] Bunch of things happening to Pinkie's body to predict the future. [18:18:55] [WriterInTraining] Comedy, Pinkie Pie goes through puberty and thinks the world is ending. [18:19:54] [WriterInTraining] Sorry, not puberty. I meant to say that other thing that happens which involves the blood [18:20:01] [Cassius] Stop. [18:20:06] CoS violent spittake!!