The Devil Went Down to Coltoctin
Normally, Thunder Breeze would put his foot down and say no whenever Sunset wanted to not go to school for something that was not educational. But Thunder Breeze couldn't say no to Rarity and her puppy eyes. He agreed, but only if they kept an eye on Sunset.
What he didn't know was it was in fact the opposite, especially after the limousine incident.
The girls found themselves being bounced around in Applejack’s pickup which she affectionately called 'Dusty'. She also considered the truck her 'lover'. The sun still had an hour from rising, so the night sky was lit with the infinite number of stars in the sky. Each one was as mysterious as the last one. Sunset smiled as it made her feel like she was home, waking a few hours early each morning back in Equestria to stargaze.
In front of them was an SUV, which was also throwing their occupants against each other as it struggled to continue on the rocky path. Every so often the sound of the rock meeting metal was heard, causing Applejack to swear out loud in frustration.
"Does it hurt?" Rainbow Dash asked Sunset while yawning, the events of last week fresh in her mind.
"No, it… Tickles when my body changes like that. I guess I never stopped and actually paid attention to how it feels." Sunset replied, her eyes gazing upon the stars.
"How did you find out you had it?" Fluttershy asked.
"It was a long story… I got off the wrong stop on the way home from a concert in the city and… Well, I ended up being chased by some muggers. I was tired, and they were still on my heels. So without any strength, my equestrian instincts kicked in. I shot off a beam of magic that knocked one guy out cold. Everyone else ran away. That’s when I realized that the magic here was different and unpredictable… But it had some of the same characteristics back home, like who can use it. Twilight’s spectrometer is the only thing in this world that's capable of interacting with it. Speaking of which, Twilight, where is that damned thing? I lost track of it after the Friendship Games."
Twilight perked up from her drowsiness. "Oh! It's in my bag."
Sunset became annoyed. "I thought I told you to get rid of it? Who knows what it can be used for."
"So should she throw it away and take the chance that someone could use it?" Spike asked from the same bag that held the spectrometer, and the rest of Twilight’s gear. Even though she was from a magical land of talking ponies and other mythical animals, it still threw Sunset off that she was talking to a dog. They didn't have talking dogs in Equestria though, so talking to him made things… Weird.
"You got a point there," Sunset smiled as she laid back. The stars were still in view from the pickup camper. "One thing that I should fear is that Big Macintosh is still awake, and knows," Sunset said in worry.
"Who, Big Mac? He barely talks to anyone at all!" Applejack joked.
"Eeyup!"
***
They arrived at the campsite at dawn. It was the middle of fall, so the camp was empty; void of life, minus the wild animals who used the trees as a home. They set up camp at the best spot in the campsite, overlooking the river. When it came to their "tents”, it was nothing more than Applejack's truck bed parked in front of the SUV's back end, their tailgates open to make a causeway of sorts between the two cars, as well as a tarp to cover the open space between.
The setup was easy, and the gear and bedding was used to make sure they enjoyed their quick breakfast of a whole grain bars and energy drinks. There was also the question of showers, which was why they chose the campground. They never questioned it, but even though it was deep in Coltoctin national forest was their campground, there was a heated shower stall for some reason. It was the only selling point for Rarity, who could 'rough it' as long as a hot bath or shower was readily available.
Once everything was ready, it was time to enjoy the great outdoors away from the worries of high school, life, and fighting crime with a more demonic looking-form. All of it melted away for Sunset Shimmer. If there was one thing that was worrying her, it was how chummy Flash was with Twilight. Sure, they were a cute, albeit stereotypical hot guy/nerdy girl, couple, but Sunset was still bothered by what could have been. There was also the question of what she saw in him, which was a bit unfair for Twilight since she was not a terrible person… She was just having second thoughts about the entire breakup, even if Flash was the one to end it. She had to talk to Flash about it sooner or later.
She had her chance midday at the riverbed. The beauty of Coltoctin Valley was the temperature, which was always twenty degrees warmer than the mountains surrounding it. So a sixty five-degree day around the Valley was a crisp eighty-five. So it wasn’t surprising that in the middle of fall the group were in beach weather conditions with bikinis for the girls and swimming shorts for the guys. Pinkie Pie and one the drummers for Flash's band, a tall muscular guy named Brawly Beats, were among the couple of the exceptions back at camp, getting the pineapples, onions, and bell peppers prepared for that night’s dinner. Armed with binoculars and cameras, Twilight and Fluttershy were on the river bed birdwatching around the surrounding oaks. Everyone else was in their swimsuits. The only two who were not nearly as nude was Sunset and Flash, who were in a bush together a hundred feet downstream. Dressed from head to toe in camouflage and armed with air rifles, they scouted the rocky riverbed for dinner.
"What do you think Sunny, maybe some rabbit at best?" He asked as he peered out of the bush with binoculars.
"Yeah. I really don't want squirrel, that shit is stringy." Sunset complained.
"Right." He answered back, his skin crawling at the thought.
"Hey, I've been meaning to ask you.. What is going on between you and Twi?" Sunset asked.
"Oh us? Well, we’re just friends. She doesn't seem that interested in me… Scratch that. She wants to tutor me which is strange since tests are not even until next month."
"Do you… Like her?"
"No comment," Flash answered.
On the other side of the river, a raccoon was drinking the crisp mountain runoff when another slinked up next to the one drinking rather shyly. The creature dropped some food next to his opposite, hoping to get their approval.
"Sunset, look." Flash alerted her to the spectacle.
"I see. Aww, the one who dropped the food is trying to mate with the girl." Sunset announced to him.
Flash chuckled. "Yeah, just like us back in the day."
"The only the difference is the raccoon might have been successful," she joked.
They stared at each other intently and began to blush. The soft, cuddly imagery of their once deep relationship called to them.
"Sunset?" Flash asked his ex-lover softly.
"Yeah?" She answered while she lost herself in Flash's blue eyes.
"I got the one on the left," he said.
"Sounds good. On my count." Sunset commanded as they both turned their heads and concentrated on their crosshairs
All the while, there was another eye on the raccoon couple.
"Hey, Twilight! Look! A raccoon is trying to get that other raccoon to mate with it! It always fills me with joy to see love," Fluttershy said as she continued to peer at the critters.
The sound of two loud pops filled the air. Less than a fraction of a second later, the two racoons dropped to the ground, their bodies convulsing from the instant deathblow to their heads from the metal projectiles. The seizure-like movements stopped and their bodies lied still for good, all for a certain animal lover to witness in horror with her binoculars providing a first-row view to the double-kill. There wasn't much Fluttershy could do when she was faced with watching their deaths but to release a high pitch scream of horror that sent many birds in the area into flight.
***
Pinkie and her newfound friend were happy to see Flash and Sunset arrive with their dinner, followed by Applejack and Big Macintosh with their Barlow knives in hand to skin the two unfortunate Raccoons. In exchange, they were to keep the pelts of the animal, which would make a great sweater for Winona in the winter. The brother-and-sister team hung the animals by their feet against a wooden post. They took their time at the beginning, as Pinkie and Flash's bassist were still chopping up ingredients for the kebabs. The second Applejack and Big MacIntosh felt the cold gust, they knew they were in trouble. Off in the distance were a line of menacing-looking clouds that were quickly racing through the countryside. It would hit them in an hour. Applejack and Big MacIntosh picked up the pace, trying to get the pelts off before the rain would ruin the raccoon hides.
They eventually got the fur off and cut the meat for it to soak in vinegar. They’d planned for the meat to soak for the entire day, but the impending rain would dilute it to the point that the meat wouldn’t be tenderized by dinner time. The fun on the riverbed ended quickly and everyone ended up stuck in the 'tent' as the forest around them was assaulted by sheets of rain. The sound of rolling thunder could be heard. The day quickly turned into night, with the campers adding clothes on top of their beach clothes to stay warm.
"Now what?" Rarity asked as she looked outside. The rain not letting up.
"Well ah think ah can speak for everyone when I say this... Ah’m hungry… We gotta be careful, lest this turns into the Donner Party 2.0." Applejack joked.
"Well, we did see that pizza place in town this morning. I don't see how we can’t," Flash commented.
"Crazy idea, but it can work! I even have my fake ID for some whiskey!" One of Flash's other bandmates, a mustached kid named 'Ringo', replied.
"I'm down!" Brawly replied while fishing his pockets for his keys and scrambled to the driver seat.
"Mac, you going with them?" Applejack asked.
"Eeyup. Something tells me they might get stuck in the mud somewhere," he said as he crossed the tailgates to the SUV.
***
The rains stopped an hour after the guys left for the pizza and alcohol, which left the girls with nothing to do but to sit and wait in the bed of the pickup. Fluttershy was the only one asleep, while everyone else was cuddled under a blanket waiting.
Sunset began to field weird. At first she brushed it off as gas, but it grew and grew to the point of it hurting. As her experience told her, she had to take a trip to the ladies’ stall. She did so as the rest of the girls watched her to make sure she wasn't attacked by a bear or a very rare mountain man. As if Sunset Shimmer needed protection from what they knew about her friend, anyway. When she reached the door to enter the stall the gassy feeling gave way to a burning one.
It feels like… No…
She knew in her bones that something was wrong, and that her day was about to go south very quickly. Sunset started marching away from the campsite, her friends slowly climbing out of the pickup to follow her. They shouted at her to come back. Sunset saw them and began to run through the muddy ground. She didn’t stop until she was in a hilly meadow with tall grass as high as her ankles. The gas became unbearable and she dropped to her knees.
"What is going on?!" She hollered as the gassy feeling shot up through her body to her head.
She started to split in half. From the top of her head, the two halves of her body came apart, an aura of red and yellow spouted out like a well. With her friends looking on in silent horror, Sunset was split to two halves, the magic aura leaving her and manifesting itself around thirty yards from Sunset. The magic cut off and Sunset immediately came back together. She began to cough and gag. Her gassy feeling was gone, but she felt like she was missing something… A phone? Keys? When she looked up she realized what she was missing. It was ten feet tall, it was ugly, it was floating, and it was familiar. Fear began to set it for Sunset and her friends.
She was staring directly at the She Demon form she had transformed into time and time again, its soulless eyes affixiated on Sunset.
Stats
Page generated in 0.032 seconds
Total duration
935 users online
1,849,903 hits today, 2,139,894 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.®
Oh crap that's not good.
Everyone else ran away.That’s when
I there was one thing that
even ifFlash was the one to end it
at the riverbed. the beautify of Coltoctin Valley was the temperature
Eeyup. something tells me
Sunset began to field weird
to the ladies’ stall.She did
sure she wasnt attacked
go south very quickly. .
its soulless eyes affixiated on Sunset. .
1. Forgot your spacing.
2. If.
3. Forgot your spacing.
4. Forgot to capitalise. Also, is beautify really the right word here? Feels off.
5. Forgot to capitalise.
6. Feel.
7. Forgot your spacing.
8. Wasn't.
9. Extra full stop.
10. Extra full stop.
Im evil...totally laughed when flutterswas going gaga ovr racoon love. I knew they were gonna die.
6731713
Fixed! Thanks!
Well, we go from black comedy to plain old horror. I guess it's gonna be a long night for Sunset and the girls.
Also, raccoons? I'm not sure eating them is healthy.
6733332
I researched it a bit.
You can actually eat them! [graphic for obvious reasons]
6733621 Huh. Guess you learn something new every day.
6733332
6733621
Yeah, you can eat raccoon. The meat varies depending on what it's been eating it's whole life since it's a scavenger. City raccoon is nasty and no amount of preparation will make it taste good. Even wild raccoon has a flavor that takes getting used to. Using vinegar to artificially age the meat helps but even so, the meat is greasy. It's just best to eat herbivores unless there's no other choice.
I'm curious if the others will manifest powers beyond their ponying up when they play music.
To be honest, I thought Fluttershy had lost it over the raccoon deaths, and turned into Storm.
I was wrong though.
Exactly.