The Sixth One
“Yeah, like what?”
In the dim candlelight of the ancient Apple barn, even through the haze of too much cider, Twilight could still recognize Rainbow’s infamous thinking face. It didn’t happen often.
Twilight set her mug down as the room went silent.
Waiting.
Finally, the sage known as Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak. Six ears pricked up, eager to hear her words of wisdom.
“I dunno, like... I did some pretty stupid stuff as a filly.”
Applejack rolled her eyes and took another swig of cider.
“Don’t look at me like that, Jackie. Fluttershy can attest to all the dumb things I did.”
Everyone looked at Fluttershy, who immediately cast her gaze downwards.
“Uh, well... we all do silly things when we’re foals, don’t we? It’s not like we know any better...”
“I guess.” Dash conceded, her voice flat.
“Well yeah. I mean, Apple Bloom still thinks foals come from shootin’ stars and all that.”
Twilight took another sip of cider.
“I was such a know-it-all as a filly.” She said quietly, staring down into the amber liquid.
“You still are, egghead.”
Dash chuckled at her own wittiness, but if the light in the barn had been better, she could’ve seen how intensely Twilight was blushing.
“Fluttershy, you probably don’t have any embarrassing moments like that, do you? Dash says you barely talked as a foal.” Twilight was all too eager to steer the conversation away from her.
“Yeah, but she had all these imaginary friends.” Dash replied for the mare.
Fluttershy shot her a half-stare, but Dash didn’t make eye contact.
“They weren’t imaginary. They’re real.”
She spoke with a fierceness they hadn’t seen in her in a long time.
The room went quiet again as all three stared at the yellow mare for a moment.
“Um, okay then... anyway.”
The subject was changed again, but Fluttershy didn’t pay attention. Instead, the barn and its occupants faded away as she slipped into a memory.
Fluttershy stood, her neck crained upwards, watching Rainbow Dash do loop-de-loops over and over again.
It was a perfectly beautiful summer day, the sun warm but not uncomfortably so, not a cloud in the sky, yet Fluttershy couldn’t stop shivering.
“Come on, you know you want to come up here!”
Fluttershy shook her head violently.
“Why are you so afraid of heights, Fluttershy?”
It was a variation on a question she was asked almost daily. Most of the time, she shrugged and didn’t reply. But she trusted Rainbow Dash, didn’t she?
“Well, because when Bubbleheart was-”
Rainbow stopped flying, mid loop, and hovered, her hooves on her hips.
“Fluttershy, for the last time, these ‘friends’ of yours do not exist.”
“But they are real, Dash. I know they are.”
“Okay, yeah sure. Whatever.” She paused for a moment. “I didn't come here for stupid filly talk.”
Before she could say goodbye, Dash turned around and flew off, leaving Fluttershy alone.
Well, not truly alone.
Slowly, directly in Fluttershy’s line of sight, a figure started to materialize.
No, not just a figure. She knew exactly what- and who it was. A pony, just a pony.
Fluttershy watched in silence until the shape was definite. A translucent, grey-ish pony, but a pony none the less.
“Are we alone now, Shy?”
The pony sounded like she was speaking through a bad phone connection or whispering as loud as possible, but it was a sound Fluttershy had grown used to.
She nodded.
“Why... don’t they believe you?”
“Because they can’t see you like I can.” She said quietly.
“Fluttershy... can you make the pain go away?”
She involuntarily shivered.
“No. I can’t. I’m sorry.”
It didn’t stop with that. It never did. The voices, they followed her everywhere. Interrupted her trains of thought. Stared deep into her soul with their cold eyes. Tried to pull her down when she attempted to fly. Distracted her from any hope she had of being a normal pony.
And she couldn’t do anything about it.
Why did they always have to say the same thing? Make the same request? Their stories would pour directly into her brain, vivid stories filled with blood and fear and things worse than anypony could dream up. All pleading.
And then, the knocking started again...
They all told me they loved me, but I knew the truth...
I had never known what it tasted like before that...
Every breath had me wishing it could all be over...
Everyone knew I would be gone any moment...
I thought it would be peaceful, just like falling asleep...
He doesn’t regret any of it...
As if that could convince her.
And she had tried. Oh Celestia, how she had tried.
But she couldn’t reach them.
And so the stories kept coming and coming and never stopping, a stream of consciousness that flowed like the river Styx...
“Fluttershy. Earth to Fluttershy!”
“I thought one more drink couldn’t hurt...”
“Do you think she’s okay? She looks pretty zoned out.”
“If I had only turned around, I would’ve seen it...”
“Nah, she’s fine. She does this all the time. It’s probably just the cider.”
“Cows are a lot stronger and faster than you’d think...”
“Fluttershy... hey, Fluttershy.”
She snapped to consciousness to see Twilight standing over her, her purple form slightly blurry and shaking. Or maybe it was just Fluttershy who was shaking. She couldn’t tell.
“Wh-what?”
“You okay?”
Fluttershy paused, trying to think of what to say, trying to push the voices out enough to make a thought of her own. She knew what to say. She had done this before. Yet...
“Fluttershy! Are you okay?”
“No. I'm not.”
And then, for the third time that night but the first time, truly, inside Fluttershy’s mind, everything was quiet. Perfectly, peacefully quiet.
Agony would be an understatement.
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9/10 the worst story ever written ~ IGN
Cows are nasty, evil bastards and don't let anyone try and convince you otherwise. Vicious monsters. Just as soon murder you as look at you.
Reminds me of a near death encounter with a cow
5040433 5040545
One almost killed my mum when it landed on her car. True story.
5040433
Almost as bad as donkeys. Standing out in those fields, obviously up to no good. Nobody ever believes me. Evil, the lot of them.
5044789
They're in cahoots!
5044797
Wow. That was disturbing and it made sense. Fluttershy is afraid of so much because she knows the final experiences of so many. Well done. Thank you for this.
5040433
Almost as dangerous as sheep. Every 350 years, there's a minor aerial war. It's like clockwork.
5044918 It'd explain her constant cycling between fear and somewhat less fear too. Sometimes they're everywhere, sometimes they're not.
"Man, it got silent all of a sudden," Pinkie Pie pointed out.
"Yes," Fluttershy said. "Dead silent!"
Rarity frowned. "Fluttershy, what's the matter with you?"
"Nothing," Fluttershy shrugged. "I love drinking cider with you guys in the dead of night!"
"Wait, are we telling ghost stories now?" Twilight asked. "Is that what this is?"
"You're wrong, Twilight," said Fluttershy darkly. "Dead wrong!"
Applejack leaned to Rainbow. "Um, is she always like this when she drinks?"
"Yeah," Rainbow sighed. "Dead on."
5040577
Wait, what?
5046642
Yep. She was at a concert with some friends, in Scotland. While driving back, the road cut through the ground, so they were lower than a the fields either side. A cow landed on the roof of the car, before walking away like nothing happened. If it hadn't been a Land Rover, it might have been a lot worse than it was
When they went to talk to the farmer about it, apparently this was a common thing. That one cow had learnt to use cars to break its fall so it could escape from the farm.
5046726
5046726 good lord I thought you were kidding
5040433
Also, I should stop trying to second-guess stories I read. I'm not understanding the last sentence. is it the silence that's an agony to Fluttershy? Why? Does she like hearing the dead ponies?
5070359 Let's imagine you're alone in your house, at night, when you hear knocking at the door. You get up to answer it, and as you do, the knocking grows louder and more insistent, until it's a ceaseless pounding. Then, suddenly, the knocking stops.
Is that clearer now?
5070732
Certainly. Thank you for the explanation.
Should i be mildly depressed? or question the very fabric of the universe?
Amazing!
It was a lot too short, but still effective. It managed to be ominous without overdoing it. Generally speaking, a well-written smidgeon of creepy pasta.
You can has review.
This is interesting, and would have been more so if the A/N hadn't given the game away instantly! Nice writing style, especially for such a short story, and a pleasantly creepy atmosphere. Fluttershy's bond with animals is an issue, though, and maybe could have been addressed. Otherwise, good reading and worth an upvote.
So a reference to The Sixth Sense then?