Chapter 3: Monsters
Almost all of Ponyville had rallied around the base camp once the moon had risen. The scene was getting egregiously out of hoof faster than Fleethoof would have liked. Most of the Guard was now being used to quell the cries of the ponies demanding action while the rest grudgingly geared up for another trek into the foreboding forest. With the sun gone, the Everfree had turned into one gigantic mass of twisting branches, gnarled roots, and shadows. From where he stood, Fleethoof could see the fear gripping the hearts of the ponies.
However, if they uttered a single complaint, he hadn’t heard it. The spinning of the helicopter blades drowned out every other sound with its heavy thrumming. When the copter had landed just outside Ponyville, nopony knew what was going on. The bat ponies actually looked scared at first, much to the amusement of the pegasus that had called it in.
“You’re just full of surprises, aren’t ya, Fleethoof?” Starlight said with a laugh.
He shrugged coolly. “I do what I can.”
“Aw yeah, this is gonna be awesome!” Midnight squealed in joy. “Dibs on a window seat!”
With much more gusto than Fleethoof had been expecting, the bat ponies clambered into the helicopter like a bunch of foals going on a school trip. He shook his head—and found Starlight doing the same. He glanced back at the wary ponies beginning to plod along the outside of the Everfree.
“They were never really going in during the night, were they?” he asked the Nightwatch leader.
Starlight smirked a little. “Nope. They weren’t sure yet, at least.”
“You just said that to get us to go back out?”
“Yep.”
Fleethoof nodded, half smiling. “I love how crafty you bats can be.”
“Thank you, pegasus. After you.”
Still grinning, Fleethoof and Starlight boarded the helicopter, taking their seats as it began to lift off the ground. Hovering above the ponies on the ground, the helicopter took off over the treetops of the Everfree Forest, skimming low while shining a floodlight down into the dark shroud of trees below. The ponies stared down at the ground, the bird’s-eye view and intense beam of light proving to be an effective way of searching the forest in haste.
“Where did you get something like this?” Daybreak asked Fleethoof, shouting above the rotors.
Fleethoof grinned widely. “I have friends in high places in Canterlot. This one is ours.”
“What the hell do you do up there?!”
“It’s classified,” Midnight spoke for the stallion, all-too used to his response by now. Fleethoof pointed to her and nodded.
The helicopter gave a wide pass around the western edge of the Everfree Forest. Nothing was turned up. After a few more fruitless passes, the ponies inside were beginning to get restless. Starlight kept checking and rechecking his gun. Midnight was shuffling her hooves anxiously. Eclipse had given up the search altogether, and had settled for staring at something on the ceiling in boredom.
“Shouldn’t we be getting down and looking on hoof or something?” Nocturne eventually spoke up. “We might be able to find more that way.”
Starlight opened his mouth to respond, but no words came out. He was starting to agree with the sentiment of his team. He glanced across the cabin at Fleethoof, turning the question over to him.
“One more pass, and then we’ll hoof it,” he said after mulling it over momentarily.
The helicopter circled around for another pass, this time deeper over the woods. If he was to be honest, he had hoped searching from a helicopter would have been enough of a thrill to last the Lunar Guard for the night. The thought of being on their own in the middle of the Everfree at night left a sour taste in his mouth. They would be completely isolated. What if they ran into another pack of Timberwolves?
Please find something, he prayed, searching through the darkness in vain. As the minutes slipped by, and the copter came back around to bear, Fleethoof felt his hope die. They couldn’t see enough through the trees. They’d have to put down—but at least they wouldn’t have to trek through the forest in the dark too much.
“Put us down over there,” said Fleethoof to the pilots, motioning to a clearing large enough for the helicopter to safely land.
“Is this where we’re supposed to be?” Starlight asked, checking the map in his hooves. “This looks deeper than where we were supposed to go.”
Blackjack laughed and said, “Hey, just means we’ll be closer to finding something new if there’s anything to be found out here, right?”
The helicopter circled around the clearing once, shining the large light down into it to make sure it was suitable to land it. There was no debris in the way, and no creatures as far as they could see. Slowing to a hover above the glade, the copter began to descend down into the trees. The forest rose up around them. The trees were dark pillars like teeth poised to snap down around the ponies.
Fleethoof felt the skids hit the ground, and the light outside shut off. Darkness surrounded the aircraft—and then the doors were flung open. Warm, slightly humid air rushed into the climate controlled cabin and hit the ponies like a sticky wall. One by one, they bailed out into the forest, weapons up and scanning the area like they were in the middle of a warzone.
“Keep an eye out for our signal. We’ll mark our pickup location,” Fleethoof said to the pilots, who nodded in response. He grabbed a few flares from the kit in the helicopter, and then disembarked. The rest of Ghost Team was waiting for him. The moment he shut the cabin door, the helicopter was up in the air again, making its ascent out of the trees and vanishing from sight. It was painfully clear that even the pilots were afraid of this place. Superstitious bastards…
The sound of the helicopter got further and further away, and when it was finally out of earshot, quiet stillness met the ponies. A few crickets chirped somewhere nearby, but that was it. All at once it hit Fleethoof where they were. They were alone in the Everfree Forest. He would have been lying if he said the notion didn’t worry him a little bit.
In the near pitch-blackness, it was difficult for him to see. Under Luna’s half moon, silver light illuminated outlines and silhouettes. His vision could make out some detail, but much of it was obscured and hidden. Drawing his rifle and flipping on the flashlight attached to it, he swept the beam of white light around the area. Sure enough, the ponies were completely alone. At least he could see now.
“Okay, Ghosts, we’ve got a job to do. It won’t be easy, but we’re gonna get it done,” Starlight said to the gathered ponies. “This is roughly where the Royal Guards went missing, so this is where we’ll find some clues, if anywhere. Stick close so we don’t lose one another, keep your eyes peeled, and for Luna’s sake, somepony keep an eye on Fleethoof. We don’t wanna lose him in the dark.”
“Fuck you too, Starlight,” Fleethoof remarked passively.
“I’ll keep an eye on him,” said Midnight Dasher while eagerly bouncing over to stand beside the pegasus.
“We can’t let Dasher go off with Fleethoof,” Eclipse said, grinning mischievously from ear-to-ear. “We won’t see them again till morning. They’ll be too busy ‘catching up’, wink wink.”
Midnight’s glare would have killed Eclipse if looks had the capacity to end lives. “Eclipse, I would worry that bashing your head in would ruin your good looks, but then I remember it’s you and I can’t ruin something that’s not there.”
Daybreak and Blackjack both burst into laughter, staring at Eclipse’s scowl and shouting, “Ooooh, buuuuurned!”
“Midnight, I swear, I’m gonna—”
“Okay, foals! The time for ridicule is over!” Fleethoof announced, stepping in to assist Starlight. “You two are gonna attract something that’s going to eat us, and I would really like to not die tonight. I can't begin to tell you how much I would love to not die tonight. So let’s get this over with and get back before the sun rises.
“Now, these flares are for signaling the helicopter to pick us up”—Fleethoof handed a flare to Starlight and Daybreak—“so don’t lose them. It’s going to be making rounds around the Everfree to help out the rest of the Guard, and we’ll need these to get back. Got it?”
The bat ponies nodded. Fleethoof stowed his flare in a strap on his vest, just beneath his jacket. Checking to make sure his weapons were loaded and ready to go, he gave a single nod to his partners.
“Ghosts, listen to your leader, and keep your eyes peeled.”
Starlight and Blackjack took point, leading the group of ponies south through the clearing. They disappeared into the darkness of the trees, the rest of the Nightwatch following in close behind them. Fleethoof took a deep breath and risked a glance at Midnight. She was looking at him as they made their way toward the tree line.
“Are you gonna be all right out here?” she asked, her voice hesitant.
“I’ll be fine,” he said with a forced smile. I don’t have a choice now…
And then they vanished into the night. Fleethoof kept his gun raised, shining the thin beam of bright light around to guide his path. The light wove in between the tree trunks like a laser, creating a very restricted vignette of view he had to work with. He found that by pointing the light slightly downward, he could see in front of him and the ground in front of his hooves.
The bat ponies worked their way through the woods without any trace of difficulty. Their night vision allowed them to see the surrounding forest as well as if it were daylight—maybe even more so in their case. Midnight took the lead, helping to guide Fleethoof around trees and other obstacles while keeping an eye on her friends as they fanned out to widen their search parameters.
The task was slow and arduous, with every set of eyes checking every inch of ground they covered. Not a single stone was left unturned, literally. The deeper they got into the forest, the quieter it became. Soon, even the crickets no longer chirped in the still spring night. A slight chill settled over the air. The treetops obscured their view of the moon and stars, greatly limiting the already little light that filtered down to the ground. To Fleethoof, it felt like some sort of bad game, trying to walk through the black forest with only his flashlight to show him where to go.
Midnight noted how quiet everypony was being. It was strangely uncharacteristic of her team to be so serious about a job. Granted, it was important—but there was more to it than that. Something must have had them on edge. She felt the same tension, like there was some sort of looming threat they were unaware of. She scanned around the woods, looking through bushes and between the gnarled branches of trees. The Everfree was utterly silent.
She had lost track of time. How long had they been out here now? An hour? Two? A glance down at the watch around her hoof confirmed it was the latter. How far had they gone into the forest? Did Starlight even have any idea where they were anymore? He was being very quiet as well…
Starlight had long since lost their projected path. In the disorienting blackness of night, the map they had been given was all but useless. The fact that they had been put down well off their route hadn't helped much either. So onward they plodded, hoping to find something along their way. By his logic, if they were in any part of the forest that had yet to be searched, they were on the right path.
The eight ponies spread out and walked on line, weaving between anything that got in their way. The trees had gotten so dense and the branches overhead so thick that flight wasn't even an option anymore. And then there—up ahead. The trees began to thin out, and silvered light streamed down in columns. It was another clearing. Starlight and Daybreak pushed forward through the undergrowth a little faster, leading the ponies hurriedly out into the open.
The clearing was much smaller than the one they had landed in, with not even so much as a bush or rock dotting it. It made it all the easier to spot the crumpled mass of black in the center. Fleethoof felt his breathing catch in his throat. As the group got closer, details could be made out—namely the broken glint of golden armor in the moonlight.
Daybreak trotted up to the mass and poked it a couple of times with his rifle. It didn’t move, but it was definitely organic. He rolled the body over, and instantly recoiled back from the sight. The corpse was as beaten and broken as the other they had found earlier, with its skull smashed to a pulp and throat ripped to shreds. Strikingly, the pony’s cutie mark was also torn from its skin.
“What the hell is doing this?” Midnight asked with a hint of gagging in her voice.
Eclipse turned away quickly and shielded her eyes. “Oh goddess, I can’t look…”
Only Fleethoof and Starlight stepped up closer. Fleethoof shone his light across the body. The blood had clotted long ago, and the darker stains on the grass were dried. This was not a recent kill.
“She’s been dead for some time,” said Fleethoof, looking around the surrounding area. The patches of flattened grass and disturbed dirt hinted to signs of a struggle. “She must be one of the missing Guards. But where’s her equipment?”
“Maybe she dropped it?” Starlight couldn’t think of another option to suggest.
Fleethoof pursed his lips. He wasn’t convinced. “Maybe… But why would she drop her weapon?”
“Maybe she was running from something?” said Midnight, keeping her eyes averted to the ground.
“Running from what…?”
“Let’s find out,” Starlight said, standing up again. “Fan out, Ghosts. Find anything that can help us.”
The ponies fanned out across the clearing again, searching for anything out of the ordinary. Their span widened out towards the trees. Fleethoof couldn’t shake the tightening worry gripping at his stomach. He felt like he was being watched again, just like he had earlier in the day.
A faint laugh rippled past his ear, just barely audible on the wind. Fleethoof whirled around, his eyes darting to and fro. It had sounded like a foal's laughter again—but he was alone in the dark forest. There was definitely nothing around to make a sound like that.
Get a hold of yourself, Fleet… This forest is getting in your head…
A flash of sudden movement caught Nocturne’s attention as he checked around a tree near the edge of the clearing. His head snapped up swiftly, along with his gun, scanning the trees for whatever he had just seen. There was nothing in sight. Swallowing hard, he glanced back to see where the rest of his team was. They had all spread out, and were busy checking their own areas.
Nocturne steeled himself forward. Surely he could perform a routine check without somepony checking up on him. He was still the rookie of the team—the newest member assigned to them, and they never let him forget it. Now was his chance to be brave and take initiative. If he found something, then maybe they’d stop giving him so much grief.
He cautiously stepped over a fallen tree limb, sweeping left and right with his weapon. A thin fog had begun to slowly creep its way through the forest. Even if he didn’t necessarily believe in the stories of the Everfree Forest, he had to admit, this place was damn scary. He could think of a million and one places he’d rather be.
Just as he was about to give up and turn back, he heard something move in the thickets around him. Nocturne’s body tensed up, pointing his gun at the source of the sound. He waited, listening closely for any more signs of danger. Silence greeted him. A minute passed—then two, and three. His eyes never wavered from the bushes. Once enough time had passed to satisfy his nerves, he lowered his gun and turned back towards the clearing. He heaved a sigh of relief.
Must’ve been my imagina—
Something grabbed the pony by the hooves and dragged him to the ground. He hit the earth with a hard thud, and immediately felt himself being flipped over onto his back. Something was keeping a firm pressure down on his chest, pinning him down. When he first saw his attacker, his brain didn’t register what his eyes were seeing. When the creature bared its teeth, Nocturne screamed and fired his gun blindly.
“AAAAAAAAGGHHH!”
The blood-curdling scream echoed around the Everfree Forest, instantly alerting the seven other ponies. Fleethoof and Midnight turned on a dime, staring across the clearing into the darkness where the cry had come from. Gunshots went off like firecrackers, the muzzle flashes lighting up the trees on the complete other side of the clearing.
“Move!” Fleethoof shouted, and took off like a shot across the clearing with Midnight hot on his hooves.
As they ran, they could see the other ponies of Ghost Team running toward the sound with them. Blackjack and Echo were the closest ones to the scene. They darted into the trees first, followed by Starlight, Daybreak, and Eclipse. Midnight and Fleethoof ran in just as the last of the gunshots went off. Fleethoof and Midnight leapt over a downed limb and skidded to a halt to prevent themselves from crashing into the other ponies.
Fleethoof looked around quickly, trying to see what the source of the horrific scream had been, and found it almost immediately. Lying just beyond some dense undergrowth, a pony lay sprawled across the ground, a rifle clutched in its hooves. It continued to squeeze the trigger, getting short, sharp clicks as it tried to shoot bullets that were no longer there—the last lingering muscle spasms of a dying pony.
On top of the limp, unmoving body was what looked like another pony, if he could call it that. The traces of moonlight illuminated the form of the creature. It looked almost skeletal, like it was severely malnourished. The pony-like creature had just pulled away from its victim’s neck, and the disturbing, wet sound of tearing flesh was heard. It pressed a hoof to the dying pony’s head and pressed hard, twisting the neck with a sickening pop.
“Oh goddess…” Echo whispered, her whole body quivering gently.
All of Ghost Team looked shocked and terrified. In the darkness, Fleethoof couldn’t make out what it was clearly, but they could see it. Midnight wished she couldn’t. The dark, skeletal pony looked like something out of a nightmare or horror story. She could see Nocturne’s face in the dark, contorted in a look of fear and agony as he lay on the ground, very clearly dead. She had seen the sharp teeth of the creature as they tore her teammate’s windpipe out.
The creature must have heard them, because it slowly lifted its head in their direction, locking gazes with the ponies. Fleethoof felt himself tense up. The thing’s eyes were a glowing, menacing red, with no discernable pupil or iris. It spat the chunk of flesh out onto the ground and stepped coolly off of the body of its hapless victim. A low, guttural growl threatened the ponies as it skulked closer.
Fleethoof lifted his gun. He had to see this thing for what it was. The beam of bright light hit the creature and it instantly flinched back, letting out an agitated hiss. Fleethoof felt his blood run cold. The creature was exactly what he had thought it was: a skeletal pony. Its body was black as night, with hints of decayed flesh still clinging to it. Its mane was disheveled and scraggly, and its razor-sharp teeth were a far cry from the flat ones ponies had. Its eyes were gone, nothing more than two empty sockets where an unearthly, evil glow resonated. Nocturne’s blood had stained its muzzle and hooves a sickly red.
It’s not possible… Fleethoof thought in pure horror. He could feel his pupils dilating and his heart beginning to race. They’re just myths… They’re just myths!
The creature regained its composure and began making its way to the ponies again. Everypony felt frozen in place as it drew nearer and nearer. It picked the closest target, eyeing Midnight with a murderous grin.
“Get back to the clearing!” Starlight shouted as the bat ponies made a break for safety.
The creature lunged for Midnight. Fleethoof squeezed two rounds off, the bullets smacking into the creature’s body in midair. It screeched in pain as it tumbled off to the side, into the brush. Midnight just continued to stare slack-jawed in the direction it had fallen. She was in shock.
Fleethoof rushed up to Midnight, tugging at her to urge her away. “Come on! Let’s go!”
The ponies broke out into the clearing again, scrambling into a disorderly group. Everypony looked scared out of their minds, and several were already breathing harder.
“What the fuck was that?!” Daybreak asked in a fit, pacing tensely in place. “What the fuck?!”
“Calm down, Daybreak!” said Starlight.
“No way, Star. No way! I did NOT sign up for this! I signed up to shoot guns and get cute fillies, not deal with pony-eating monsters!”
“What the hell was that thing?!” asked Eclipse, looking like she was on the verge of a breakdown. “That was not a normal pony!”
“It’s okay, I got it,” Fleethoof said, trying to settle the panicking Nightwatch.
“How do we know it’s dead? It looked dead already, but there it was!” Daybreak had a disturbingly valid point. Fleethoof didn’t know if he’d killed that thing or not. “We’ve gotta get the fuck outta here!”
Starlight looked around quickly at the ponies around him. All of them looked visibly shaken, even Fleethoof. The stalwart stallion stood firmly in place, but his blue eyes quivered with something resembling fear. He knew he only had one option.
He nodded his head. “Everypony head north, as fast as we can. We’ll catch the chopper back where it dropped us off. Everypony go—go!”
No sooner had he spoken those words, the ponies were off again. Even Fleethoof didn’t hesitate to run for the woods due north, following close beside the bat ponies to help guide him. The ponies ran at a full tilt sprint through the dark forest, running from an unseen evil. Even though he continued to convince himself that he had got whatever had killed Nocturne, Fleethoof couldn’t shake the feeling of eyes on them. It was like they were being pursued by enemies that weren’t even there.
Dashing like her life depended on it, Midnight hurdled over branches and dove through bushes, just trying to keep up with the others. She prayed that the trees would thin out again so they could have enough room to take to the air and get away. In the presently constricting confines, it was hard enough to run around the trees. Flying up into the gnarled thicket of branches was just asking for trouble. Fleethoof was just a short distance ahead, but even that felt like miles to her as they ran like maniacs through the dark forest. All she could think about was Nocturne. Images of his violent death flashed before her mind’s eye, blinding her temporarily. She tried to shake them from her head to no avail. Her heart hammered in her chest as if it were threatening to burst right out of her at a moment’s notice. They had to get out of here—they had to.
Fleethoof was breathing so hard, his lungs had begun to ache and burn. He could feel the earth scraping at his hooves as he leapt through a thicket of gnarled branches, feeling them tug at his fur and jacket. The flashlight attached to the gun slung over his shoulder bounced wildly, sending the beam of light all across the forest and barely illuminating his path as he ran. He was running blindly in the dark, hoping they were headed in the right direction. Whatever that thing was, there was no way this could be real. This had to be a nightmare—some sort of bad dream he was stuck in. The stories weren’t true. They were just stories! Nightmares weren’t real!
The further they ran, the further Midnight felt away from the end. It seemed like they were running endlessly through the night with no objective in sight. Granted, they had wandered aimlessly for two hours, and covering that distance would take time, but in her fear-addled state, every minute felt like an agonizing eternity. She just wanted to get away. Every part of her body screamed to find safety.
And then there, right up ahead, the forest opened up again. Pale moonlight could be seen burning brightly through the trees. It was the clearing! They were almost there! Midnight dared to let herself smile, feeling relief wash over her like a wave as the ponies drew closer and closer with every second. She didn't even care if the trip back had seemed to take no time at all. They were home free!
“Almost there!” called Starlight loudly. “Go! Keep going!”
Fleethoof pushed his body as hard as he could. His legs ached with the effort. He stumbled over a root, but caught himself and continued going. He wasn’t going to let something like a trip be his downfall. Up ahead he could see the silhouettes of the bat ponies breaking into the light. Just a few more feet. He looked back, seeing Midnight Dasher close behind. Nopony else had been lost. With relief coming over him, he broke the edge of the trees at the same time as Midnight—and felt that ease die.
The clearing the ponies had just run into was much too small to be the one the helicopter had dropped them off in. In fact, he was sure it wasn’t. His calmness died and dread revived the moment he saw the dark mass of the Guard’s body lying out in the open. They had run back into the same clearing again.
Starlight looked around the glade, his eyes wide with fright as he took in his surroundings. How was this possible? They had just run in a straight line. Surely this couldn’t be the same place! It was just another one that looked identical. That had to be a different body. He rushed over to verify his hypothesis—and found his fears had come true. It was the same pony. It was the same clearing.
“What the fuck is going on here?!” Daybreak shouted, evidently starting to freak out. “I wanna get out of this damned forest!”
“Take it easy, Day,” Echo said softly, but was unable to hide the tremor in her own voice.
“No! Fuck this! I’m outta here!”
With that said, Daybreak flew up into the sky as fast as his wings could carry him. The higher he went, the safer he began to feel. The others had wings too, so they could follow him out. They could all escape!
But when Daybreak broke the treetops, his heart dropped into his stomach and his pupils dilated. The Everfree Forest seemed to stretch on forever in every direction. The trees had no end. But that was impossible! When they had been on the helicopter, he remembered he could always distinctly see some edge or landmark beyond the forest. Now there was just… nothing. No Canterlot up on its mountain, no Ponyville in the distance—nothing. He flew higher, hoping the greater altitude would reveal something. Nothing but endless forest greeted his sight.
“This isn’t right…” muttered Starlight, pacing in a tight circle. “This isn’t right… Something’s wrong…”
“There’s no way out! The forest just goes on forever!” said Daybreak fearfully when he touched down again.
“Calm down, everypony!” Fleethoof stepped in between the group. “Look, we still have a way out. We’ll shoot a flare off and wait for the helicopter to come back around. Even if we can’t see the exit, they’ll know the way out. We’ll just sit tight here and keep our eyes open until they get here.”
Daybreak was already a step ahead of the pegasus. Fumbling about with the flare Fleethoof had given him, the panicked stallion pointed it skyward and pulled the string with his teeth. The flare shot up into the nighttime sky like a rocket, leaving a thin trail of smoke behind it. When it reached its peak, it exploded in a flurry of bright red sparks that hovered in the air, lighting up a good portion of the dark, fog-covered forest around them.
“Good. Now we’ll just wait for—”
An unnatural screech echoed through the forest, the cry loud, and coming right for the ponies. Fleethoof turned sharply in the direction of the noise, staring intensely into the darkness. At first, everything was completely still. Then he saw the pair of burning red eyes leering out at them from the shadows.
“I thought you said you got it?!” Daybreak snapped, clutching tightly to his weapon.
“I did,” said Fleethoof, pointing his weapon at the hidden abomination. “It obviously didn’t stay down.”
Blackjack was unfazed by the return of the horrific predator. He took a couple steps ahead of the group and found a solid stance, taking aim at the thing in the darkness. “Let it come! We’ll just make sure it doesn’t get up again! We can take one monster.”
A throaty growl broke through the silent night behind them, forcing the ponies to look back. Another pair of deadly red eyes had appeared in the darkened fog. All around them, more and more eyes appeared, until six sets of eyes glared out at the trapped ponies from all sides. Fleethoof didn’t know where to point his gun. A thrill of chilling terror ran down his spine. There were more of those things out there.
Blackjack swallowed hard, his bravado shattered like glass as he slowly backpedaled until he was with the group again. Everypony slowly pressed tighter together, forming a close circle that covered each other’s backs. The creatures began to slowly emerge through the fog, stepping into the open moonlight. Their forms continued to haunt Fleethoof. They moved and acted exactly like ponies, but resembled living corpses.
“What are they, pegasus…?” Daybreak asked in a hushed whisper to the pony at his side.
Fleethoof didn’t even realize he been holding his breath the entire time until his lungs begged for air. He managed to shake his head. “I don’t know…”
“Zombie ponies…?” There was a brief hesitation in his tone. “Do zombies even exist…?”
That, Fleethoof didn’t even bother to answer. He couldn’t. He was too busy watching these strange creatures stalking closer to the huddled ponies, trying to deduce that himself. There’s no such thing as zombies… There’s no such thing as monsters…
“More visitors to our home…” one of the creatures spoke, its voice rough and raspy. The words it spoke sounded like a cross between a gurgling, guttural noise and a hiss.
“They bear the marks… They are all cursed…!”
“They will infect us all…!”
“They must not leave…”
Fleethoof swallowed hard, feeling how dry his throat had become. His hooves flexed on his gun, keeping a tight aim on the closest pony. He had no idea what these things were, but maybe if they were capable of speaking, they were sentient and rational.
“Who are you?” he shouted to the circling creatures. He prayed they didn’t hear the slight tremor in his voice. “Stay where you are, by order of the Royal Guard!”
“More soldiers… Come to take our new friends away…” came the response of one. Still, the monsters came closer, inch by painstaking inch.
“Do you know where the missing foals are? Answer me!”
Again, his demands fell on deaf ears. The pony-like creatures were now only a couple meters away from them—much too close for comfort. If they took another step, Fleethoof resolved to shoot to kill.
“Perhaps they can be cured… They can live with us…”
“Won’t you stay and be our friends…”
“… forever?”
Blackjack had enough of the taunting, the creepy voices, and of being surrounded. He shook his head. “Not on your life, pal.”
He squeezed off a burst of gunfire, training the shots into the nearest creature. The monster gave a choking squeal as its body began to spasm with each impacted bullet, and then it collapsed limply to the ground. Blackjack let a slow grin creep across his face, feeling relief cool the burning fright in his heart. So these things could be killed.
“See? They’re not monsters—”
“Blackjack!”
At Eclipse’s cry, the startled bat pony turned back around. The creature he had just put at least a half dozen rounds into was getting back up, its body twitching as it reformed itself. Those piercing red eyes snapped open again, and it snarled at the pony that had attacked it. Blackjack felt his heart stop beating and ice run through his veins.
“That’s impossible…”
“Light 'em up!” Starlight shouted and opened fire on the nearest enemy.
An instant later, gunfire erupted from all sides as everypony desperately shot at any creature they could see. Yelps and screeches broke through the endless firefight as the creatures would get hit, go down, and get back up again. The bullets did nothing to harm them in even the slightest way. It was like they were invulnerable.
Fleethoof bit his lip as he put another shot into a creature’s head, watching it flop to the ground for a few seconds before rising from the dead again. He silently wished he had the common sense to bring his more powerful ammunition. At the time, he saw it as a waste of a finite resource. Now, he would have given his left hoof to see if they would hurt these things.
Blackjack and Daybreak ran out of ammo. They reloaded as quickly as they could, leaving Fleethoof to cover their sides as well as his own. Behind him, he heard Midnight run out of ammo as well. A moment later, his gun went dry. Between the reloading, the pony-like monsters would creep closer, tightening the noose around them. They were wasting bullets and time. They didn’t need to win. They needed a way out.
“It’s not working!” Daybreak cried out. “What do we do now?”
“Close your eyes!” Fleethoof said, shouting above the noise to be heard. He pulled a flash grenade from his vest, the only one he had considered it necessary to bring. Now he was grateful he at least had the mental capacity to plan for that.
The bat ponies all dropped to a crouch, shielding their sensitive ears and eyes as Fleethoof pulled the pin with his teeth. He picked a direction and tossed the grenade in between the two skeletal ponies blocking the path, then shut his eyes. He heard the grenade make contact with the ground, and then came the bright light and bang. The creatures all around them screamed. When Fleethoof looked up again, he was surprised to see the light had caused all of them to shrink back a few feet and fall to the ground, their hooves clutching at their heads while they writhed about in anguish. The grenade had been more effective on them than he had expected.
Bright light hurts them. Gotta remember that.
“Break for the trees! Run!” he said, popping a round into each of the two ponies’ skulls to drop them before taking off in a mad dash for the trees.
Fleethoof leapt over the downed creatures, not wanting to risk letting one of them even touch him. The bat ponies took off right behind him, bolting into the darkness of the forest. Behind them, the cries of the enraged creatures sent chills down their spines. In the darkness of the woods they had claimed as their home, the ponies were the ones being hunted now.
Midnight’s chest felt like it was on fire as she hurdled over a fallen log. They had scattered, running in every direction with no checkpoint or goal. Their only mission now was to stay alive. She panted hard as she ran, and ran. She couldn’t let herself slow down even a little. Slowing down meant falling behind. Falling behind meant death.
She jumped another obstacle she couldn’t make out. The forest was vanishing in a blur around her, barely illuminated by her night vision. The fog obscured most of the ground, and every time she landed was like a craps shoot. She muttered an inaudible prayer, hoping her luck held.
Despite his instinctive need to, Fleethoof couldn’t risk a glance back to see if they were being chased. He had to keep his head forward so he could see where he was going. The trees just went on for miles. The Everfree Forest had become a labyrinth of death and darkness they couldn’t escape from, no matter how hard or fast they ran.
Something burst from the ground right in front of him. Fleethoof flinched to the side and kicked off into the air, trying to see what it had been. All he caught was a glimpse of two red glows before his body hit the ground. The creatures were coming out of the ground at them. His rifle flew off his shoulder and hit the ground, the light smashing and his weapon vanishing into the dark forest. What in the name of Celestia are they?! he thought in a panic while scrambling back up and hauling away.
Eclipse screamed as one of the monsters jumped out of the earth at her, barely able to dive out of the way as they galloped through the night. How the hell had they caught up to them so fast? Fleethoof drew his pistol and turned the light on, glad to be able to somewhat see again. Another pony tried to grab ahold of him from the ground. The pegasus jumped over the creature like it was nothing more than a large rock. Midnight mimicked his action, following as close to him as she could.
And then she saw another one jump out from a tree in front of them.
“Look out!” Midnight cried and threw herself into Fleethoof. With a grunt, both ponies fell to the side—and found themselves sliding into darkness.
Fleethoof tumbled downward, trying to figure out what had just happened. Only when they hit the bottom did he realize the ground had sloped into a hill at the side. Midnight had saved him from one of those things, and it was up there, glowering down at them. A burst of gunfire took the creature down with a yelp, and Starlight ran up to the side of the hill.
“Keep going!” he said down to the ponies. “We’ll rally when we can. Just stay alive!”
Another bout of gunfire and a screech broke the silence. Ghost Team was fighting back, it seemed. Starlight looked back, and fired a few shots, before he too ran off into the darkness again. Faster than he could think, Fleethoof felt the ground beneath him shift and shake.
“Move!” said Midnight with dire urgency. The two ponies rolled to the side a split second before another one of the monsters pounced out of the dirt where they had landed.
Fleethoof scrambled to his hooves and pulled Midnight Dasher up with him. They took off as the pony-like creature began pulling itself up out of the ground. Now separated from the group, they had nowhere to run but wherever those things weren’t. Midnight had never run so tirelessly in all her life, and Fleethoof couldn’t think of a time he had either.
The sounds of occasional gunfire began to get more and more distant the further they ran. They were getting away from the group. But those things were still behind them. Midnight could hear their hisses and growls. How could they be so fast? They were nothing more than skin and bones!
The longer they ran, the more hope seemed to slip away. Only adrenaline and survival instinct drove them on now, just trying to keep three steps ahead of their hunters. Midnight’s legs ached worse than they ever had before, and her entire body felt tired and sore.
And then, there—a light up ahead. A silvery glow pierced the veil of trees and brush like a beacon of salvation. Fleethoof saw it as well, and veered his course towards it. They had nothing left to lose.
“Come on, Midnight! Almost there!” he said back to her.
The ponies pushed themselves as hard as their bodies could go. When they reached the edge of the trees, the open area felt like a breath of fresh air in their lungs. A large section of forest was cleared away—and in it sat a small, dilapidated town. The houses were all made of dark, weathered wood that was mostly covered in moss and vines. The dirt streets had all but been overrun with weeds and other vegetation. A welcome sign hung loosely by one of its two chains from a gate, the other completely snapped off. The ghost town looked like it had been abandoned ages ago.
Fleethoof and Midnight slowed their run to a cautious trot as they approached the town. They looked around at the decaying structures with wary eyes. The entire place felt strange… like something they couldn’t see was warning them to turn back. Fleethoof had never known such a place existed in the Everfree Forest. He had studied maps of Equestria time and time again, and never had there been a single marker here.
“What is this place?” Midnight asked, apprehensively taking a few steps forward with her companion.
Fleethoof didn’t respond. He was too busy looking around at the destroyed cart and broken barrels outside one house. His eyes turned upward to the sign hanging from the wooden archway above the street. Across its ancient, battered surface ran a single sentence, engraved into the wood for all time.
Welcome to Sunny Town.
Sunny Town. Fleethoof had never heard of such a place before. It must’ve been abandoned hundreds of years ago…
“Fleet…”
Midnight’s voice caught him by surprise. He looked over, seeing the filly staring back into the Everfree Forest. Through the fog and the trees, the silhouettes of two figures could be seen approaching the town.
“Let’s go.”
Fleethoof turned and trotted quickly down the street with Midnight close behind him. It was creepy being in a ghost town. He didn’t like it. So far, this entire night had turned his world upside down. There were monster ponies killing Royal Guards, abandoned towns in the middle of the forest, and they still had no idea where the foals were. He hadn’t heard the helicopter in a long time either… Weren’t they supposed to be making rounds this way every hour?
Searching for a place to hide, Fleethoof gasped when he felt something clamp down tightly on his tail. The next thing he knew, he was being dragged backwards up a porch and into a building, the old decrepit wood creaking under his hooves. Midnight spit his tail out and quickly shut the door, pressing her body against its surface.
Both ponies were dead silent. Fleethoof slowly crept towards a boarded up window, holding tightly to his pistol. He turned the flashlight off, not wanting to attract the attention of the things outside. The sounds of hooves shuffling along the dusty road could be faintly heard just outside the building they were in. Fleethoof chanced a peek out through the boards. Those things were lumbering slowly down the road, sniffing about and searching for them.
He slowly dropped back down behind the safety of the wall. His breathing and pulse had quickened. He had been in some hairy situations with the armed forces before, but never had he been put up against something he couldn’t even fight. The thought terrified him.
None of this should be real! he thought, trying to get his heavy breathing under control again. None of this can be happening!
Midnight held her position against the door, straining to hear what was going on outside. She didn’t move, and scarcely dared to breathe. Where were those things? A thump on the porch and a creak of wood answered her question. Her heart missed a beat. A fresh wave of adrenaline ran through her bloodstream. They were right outside.
Both ponies listened as the creature outside walked about the porch, sniffing the air heavily, as if it could taste the ponies on it. A low, guttural growl came from the creature, and then it slowly made its way back to the stairs. Fleethoof only noticed he wasn’t breathing when he felt his lungs tighten up, begging for oxygen.
Leaning against the door, Midnight listened as hard as she could. There was nothing, not even the shuffling on dirt anymore. She let out a long, drawn out sigh.
The boards above Fleethoof’s head exploded inward and a skeletal hoof grasped wildly at the air. The creature it belonged to gave a feral snarl. Midnight screamed on reflex. Fleethoof rolled away from the window with a cry of surprise.
“Out the back! Go!” he said, and delivered a swift kick to the skeletal pony’s hoof.
The monster outside wailed in pain and withdrew from the window. All at once, Midnight and Fleethoof tore from one side of the dusty old house to the other. With both their strengths, they kicked off the boards from a window and hastily climbed out into the night again. They darted across the town, following the path solely on faith. Maybe they could find some better shelter to hunker down in until those things lost their track.
The road looped around the town in a S-shape, leading back out into the forest. With nowhere left to go, the two ponies followed it, running out of the limits of Sunny Town—and spotted their answer. Up ahead, nestled a short distance away in the dense trees, sat a large manor. Fleethoof hesitated, considering their options, when the shrieks of the ponies behind them made up his mind.
“Go! Head for that mansion!” The ponies hauled tail down the road, watching the trees around them disappear as they got closer and closer to the looming structure. Fleethoof didn’t know how close behind them those things were, but he certainly didn’t want to find out.
Without a moment’s pause, Midnight and Fleethoof sprinted up the expansive front porch and threw themselves against the bulky front doors. They burst inward into an impressive grand foyer, and hurriedly slammed the doors shut again, hooves clambering haphazardly to slide the two hefty deadbolt locks into place. With a pair of clunks, the locks slid satisfyingly home, sealing the two ponies safely within.
Fleethoof let his body collapse against the doors while Midnight fell to the tile floor, breathing hard and letting the momentary relief take them away.
They were alive, but now they were trapped in Sunny Town.
Stats
Page generated in 0.026 seconds
Total duration
1,155 users online
1,983,404 hits today, 1,872,792 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Sunny town. A nice place to hold out against undead skeleton ponies.
Bet they don't put that in the tourist information office.
3067481
Welcome to Sunnytown!
We hope you enjoy your stay! Please feel free to take advantage of our complimentary hotel breakfast, free tours, and in case of Zombie Pony attack, our ballistically reinforced town center!
Tell your friends!
Sunny Town eh? Looks like there is a ray of hope in finding the kids
'stars' good buddy.
Silver out!
3070963
That was awful!
How's my favorite Brit today?
Silver out!
3071163
I'm sorry Silver. it have to be done!!!
I can live with being the second on your list of Brits
you want to killyou like, better than some people I know since the are a bunch of *Insert naughty words here*!!!!Anyway, hows life in the empire???
3071570
It's a growing Empire!
Anyways, I really feel the hopeless coming from all of them only being armed with completely ineffective weapons. Light is their only friend now. Trapped in Sunnytown and surrounded by homicidal demon ponies...how are they gonna get themselves out of this mess?
You did a superb job describing the monsters, DQ! Menacing and downright terrifying! As it should be!
Silver out!
3071633
Indeed, DQ is an amazing writer + fairly good at Chess ..... just sayin!
As for our valiant heroes, a good case of MacGyverism should be able to help them out. Try to create a massive friendship and unicorn powered railgun from two dustbins, 5 1/2 bones, a paperclip and a single hair from Pinkie Pie's Mane ;)
3072449
I'm only half decent when I really put thought into it. After you walked me into a checkmate that first game and I didn't even realize what was happened, that's when I went, Oh hell no. How did that happen?
You... You figured out the ending of the story! Are you psychic?!
3072464
If I guessed it correctly, I get to name it!!!!
I shall name it ........ SHINING ARMOUR'S LOVE GUN!!!!!!
3072518
That sounds like the title of a bad clopfic.
3072531
What about we extend the budget, employ Mcgyver and make it the ORBITAL FRIENDSHIP BOMBARDMENT CANNON!!!!!!!!!!!!!
3072561
You mean something like this?
... Yeeeeah, I can see that ending well.
3072582
cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/30451167.jpg
But with more explosions of happiness!!!!
Dasher: "what? What is this?"
Fleethoof: "Wow, what a mansion!"
Starlight: "Captain Fleethoof, where's Eclipse?"
Fleethoof: "He's probably..." "Stop! Don't OPEN that DOOR!"
3076858
YOU WIN ALL THE INTERNETS FOR GETTING THE REFERENCE!!!
You've gotten every single allusion and reference I've ever written in a story. I love you, you brilliant man. Here, have a cookie!
meals.com/imagesrecipes/18476lrg.jpg
I love seeing the update! I'm ganna enjoy these tonight, thanks for the reads!
3088417
I'm not typically one to beg, but please please pleeeease, all spoilers in private messages. I really don't wanna have to delete two million comments to keep the plot hidden. You're killing me here, pal.
If "Story of the Blanks" wasn't scary enough, you have to go and take that, send in Fleethoof and Midnight Dasher, crank up the suspense, and turn it into a shooting up zombie stories. I'm on the edge of my seat! This is awesome.
You see, this is why I like flamethrowers. Very few monsters of the dark like fire.
4001682 But, where do you put the bayonet?
holy crap.... multiple slenderponies? dang i thought i would have been able to keep up my theory for a few more chapters at least.
4185335
This story is inspired by "Story of the Blanks", originally a creepy pasta 8-Bit game, you can find it on
newgrounds
The 'Slender' creatures are the so called Blanks and their appearence is also referenced as Blood Hooves.
Here are some pictures of them in different art styles *WARNING CONTAINS DISTURBING IMAGES*:
th07.deviantart.net/fs70/PRE/i/2012/295/f/1/shadows_by_otakuap-d5ikbc8.jpg
fc05.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/139/2/e/2e1be54f8ccf6d3bc7ebde1cfbc0e424-d50dnbv.jpg
th01.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/f/2012/124/f/d/fd99b40cb2cbd1a58785126b988a0eb2-d4a3stn.jpg
fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/103/7/9/friendship_by_wonderlandfreak-d4vxq1h.jpg
fc01.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2013/224/d/e/story_of_the_blanks_by_rikori95-d49aaiw.png
fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/345/d/3/story_of_the_blanks_by_greendelibird-d4iunz4.png
24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwexdl0gJs1r8znv9o1_1280.png
fimfiction-static.net/images/story_images/76701.jpg?1358108192
'The Blanks' were the Original inhabitants of Sunny Town, before a tragical and horrendous incident happened, that led to the town being cursed and those who lived in it. If you want to know more, read the story or play the game.
This a Bizarre mix of Aliens and the zombie genre... I like it!
T
This is better than the 2020 Action/Fantasy movie Monster Hunter. Dusk Quill could have a bright future as a professional horror author.