Hidebehind
Chapter 2: Hidebehind
Carrot Top breathed in deeply as she trotted down the path. The morning air in Whitetail Woods was fragrant with the smells of trees, flowers, and other sundry vegetation. In the mid-summer, the air was warm, with just the faintest chill left over from the night; perfect for a light morning jog. Her pace was brisk, but fairly slow as she followed the paths that ran through the woods. These were the less-used paths, narrower and less worn than the ones used for the Running of the Leaves in autumn. They wound out farther from Ponyville, deeper into the woods, where the sounds of birds and other animals were even more prevalent as they gathered in the areas less frequented by ponies.
This had been Carrot Top's morning routine for years since moving to Ponyville to open up her carrot farm near the Apple Family's orchards. For years, she had enjoyed a sort of friendly rivalry with the Apples, though comparing carrots and apples was like...well...comparing apples and oranges. There wasn't any real competition besides the gentle ribbing she and Applejack engaged in every once and a while. She'd even had an eye on Big Macintosh before he and Ditzy had made their relationship official.
Now was a time for quiet contemplation and a little exercise to help get her blood moving and fully wake up. She enjoyed the peace and the quiet of the woods in the time before more ponies made their way in over the course of the day.
The quiet...
Carrot Top hesitated, her steps faltering. Now that she thought about it, it was a little too quiet right now. The air should have been filled with the sounds of birdsong and small creatures moving through the underbrush. But that was suspiciously absent right now. In fact, the only sound she heard was the faint rustling of leaves as the wind moved through them.
Carrot Top slowed down a little bit more, listening more intently. What she heard at that moment sent chills down her spine. She picked up a faint sound as her pace slowed. The sound of steps. For just a second, she heard the sound of an extra set of steps before whatever it was slowed down a beat behind her to match her pace, the sound blending in with that of her own steps. Carrot Top came to an abrupt halt. This time, she heard the sound even more clearly, the sound of something else walking, a sound coming from right behind her. She heard exactly one extra step when she stopped, then the noise of whatever was shadowing her vanished as well. Whirling around, Carrot Top searched the woods behind her intently, looking for whatever the noise's source was. However, she only saw trees.
Frowning, Carrot Top turned and resumed her jog, picking back up to her usual pace as she made her way along the paths. She trotted for a few minutes before halting suddenly, her ears perked up as she listened intently.
There!
Her eyes went wide as she heard it even more clearly this time. Whatever was following her had been thrown off by her sudden stop and continued for three more steps before the noise vanished. Again, Carrot Top spun around, searching for the source of the noise, but saw nothing but trees.
"H-hello?" she called out, her eyes searching for any sign of her shadower. Nopony or nothing responded to her. All was silent.
Trembling now, Carrot Top once again resumed her jog, this time picking up her pace a little more, moving more quickly down the paths, already taking a more direct route back to Ponyville than she usually did. After a few more minutes, she again stopped abruptly, spinning in place to try and catch her pursuer in the act.
Whoever-or whatever-it was proved to be a bit more canny than that. Carrot Top couldn't see anything. But she still heard those steps. Again, another set of steps before her stalker ceased to move. Carrot Top's blood was like ice in her veins, her whole body shaking as she tried to figure out what to do.
It wasn't merely the strangeness of the sound. She got the distinct feeling that whatever was following her was up to no good. She didn't want to hang around to find out what its plan was once it got tired with just following her. Turning back around, Carrot Top broke into a gallop, racing for home as fast as she could manage. Though her legs ached and her lungs burned, she didn't stop until she was well out of the woods. Coming to a halt, she spun around and looked at the line of trees a fair distance behind her.
She stood, panting for breath, looking for any sign of the thing, for she was definitely sure it was a thing, that had been following her. Despite being winded, she held her breath, trying force down the thunder in her ears that was the sound of her own heart hammering in her chest. Her ears perked upright as she listened intently for the slightest trace of sound from pursuing steps...
...
...
...
Nothing.
Carrot Top's breath exploded out of her in a relieved whoosh and she resumed panting, slumping to the ground, feeling tired and drained. Her body quaked and trembled as she thought about what had just happened. Though she'd never seen anything and nothing had happened to her, she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd just escaped a horrible, painful death. What was that?
"Hi, Carrot Top!"
Carrot Top let out an earsplitting shriek of surprise, leaping to her hooves, spinning around. The pony behind her squeaked in surprise and fell back onto her rump, amber eyes spinning round as she tried to recover.
"Ditzy!" exclaimed Carrot Top between breaths. "What are you doing, sneaking up on me like that?"
"It's fun," replied Ditzy, closing her eyes and smiling widely at Carrot Top. The light-gray mare's expression was benevolent, clearly indicating she had no idea what Carrot Top had just been through. Opening her eyes again, Ditzy looked at her friend. Though they weren't whirling about wildly in her sockets, those eyes were still fairly misaligned, giving her concerned expression an unintentionally humorous look. Clearly this was one of Ditzy's better days, as her ongoing pregnancy sometimes left her incredibly lethargic and ill. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Carrot Top tried to force herself to calm down for the second time already that day. Ditzy meant well and she couldn't have known what Carrot Top had just been through. There was no real reason to be angry at her. "I didn't see a ghost," said Carrot Top, her tone low, "But I think I heard one...There's something in the woods."
She half expected Ditzy to laugh and scoff at the idea. But Ditzy was still giving Carrot Top a concerned look. Great, she thinks I've gone crazy. Next thing I know, she'll be suggesting I go see a psychiatrist or something.
Instead, Ditzy gave Carrot Top a reassuring smile and walked forward to drape a wing over her friend's back, pressing Carrot Top's side up against the bulge in Ditzy's stomach as she did so.
"Come on," said Ditzy. "Let's go talk to a friend."
"Who?" asked Carrot Top.
The teahouse wasn't open yet. The door and the shutters were all closed, giving the place the impression of a home that was locked up while the family that lived there was away. Despite that, Ditzy didn't seem discouraged in the slightest, walking right up to the door before rapping lightly on it and pushing it open. Carrot Top frowned as she watched Ditzy casually walk in, not sure how she felt about her friend walking into other ponies' businesses during their off hours. Still, she followed Ditzy in.
The inside of the teahouse was still dark, with only a few lanterns providing light, throwing stark shadows around the room. Carrot Top shivered, still on edge after her frightening ordeal in the woods. She bit back a scream when she saw one of the shadows actually moving, just barely realizing that it wasn't a shadow, but a pony with a black coat. Fortunately, Dawn Lightwing's silver mane and tail set him apart enough from the shadows that he didn't look as though he'd melted straight out of the darkness.
Hearing the sound of Ditzy and Carrot Top coming in, Dawn turned to look at the door. He'd been in the middle of wiping down tables and setting out cushions before going in the back to prepare everything in the kitchen. After working so long in the teahouse, he could open and close it without Arkenstone's help and occasionally did so. This was one of those days, given that Arkenstone was still over in the library with Twilight.
"Hello Ditzy," said Dawn, smiling pleasantly, in spite of the intrusion. "Can I help you with something?"
"Yeah," said Ditzy. "Carrot Top here had something really scary happen to her in Whitetail Woods. I thought you might be able to help her with it."
Despite the fact that Dawn had been a resident of Ponyville for years, Carrot Top couldn't quite suppress the shiver that ran down her spine as his catlike eyes looked at her. However, the feeling was brief before Dawn broke his gaze away from her and nodded at Ditzy. "Have a seat and give me a moment." He went back into the kitchen.
Ditzy and Carrot Top sat themselves down at one of the tables, Carrot Top glad to be off her hooves, now that the adrenaline was out of her system. Her limbs were still quivering after her terrifying ordeal. A few minutes later, Dawn emerged from the kitchen, balancing a tray on each wing.
Carrot Top wouldn't call herself a frequent customer of the teahouse. She had occasionally come with Ditzy or some of her other friends when they went. However, she was a more frequent visitor to Berry Punch's bar. For some ponies, the thing that hit the spot after a hard day's work wasn't a cup of hot tea, but a mug of cold beer. Granted, though alcohol would be welcome after what she'd just been through, Carrot Top figured that drinking herself into a stupor and trying to forget what had just happened was not the ideal way to cope.
Dawn slid the tray off one wing and onto the table before turning around and doing the same with the other. Carrot Top always found herself marveling as she watched the young stallion deftly use his primaries to manipulate the implements much more easily than most ponies could with their mouths and hooves. Dawn had prepared pots for each of them. Ditzy pulled the lid off hers and breathed in the scent wafting out and humming with pleasure before putting the lid back and pouring herself a cup.
Dawn poured Carrot Top's tea for her, setting the cup under her nose. Taking a sniff, Carrot Top was surprised to find, not the smell of tea that she was used to, but chamomile, with a substantial amount of lavender and vanilla. The smell was floral, sweet, and pleasant. Holding the teacup between her hooves and taking a sip, Carrot Top found that the herbal blend had been sweetened with just a little bit of honey. Taking a longer sip, she felt her heartbeat slow and her tremblings ease as the taste and scent relaxed her, her body sagging a little as she let out a breath and set the cup down.
"Thanks, I needed that," said Carrot Top.
Across from her, Dawn took a sip from his own cup, keeping his eyes on it, rather than her. Carrot Top realized that he must have noticed his eyes unsettled her and was trying to keep her from feeling uncomfortable. He's a good kid, she thought, not that she'd ever really entertained any thoughts to the contrary.
"What happened?" asked Dawn, finally looking up at her, though lowering his gaze to keep her from having to meet it.
The memory of what she'd just experienced made Carrot Top shiver. Ditzy extended a wing and used to gently brush up and down her back. Carrot Top smiled gratefully at her friend before returning her attention to Dawn.
"Well...I was in Whitetail Woods for my morning jog when..." She began to describe her experience. When she got to the part about hearing steps behind her and how they would continue after she stopped, Dawn dropped all pretense of politeness and stared at her openly, the expression on his face nervous and tense. By the time she had finished, she noticed that his black coat was looking a shade lighter than it had when she had started.
"Dawn?" asked Ditzy, giving the young stallion a nervous glance. She was more than a little distressed by the troubled look on her friend's face. Dawn had faced down deranged cultists, the lethal agents of manipulative nobles, a dangerous stallion with razor-sharp wings forged from pure mithril, and a stallion who'd been planning to rend reality asunder just to see what was on the other side. He had taught her how to read the wind with her wings, the feel the contours of the objects around her, helping her to avoid obstacles her faulty eyesight would miss routinely. To Ditzy, Dawn was a rock of stability and calm even during the most trying of times. The fact that Carrot Top's story actually made him pale was very disconcerting.
"Are you sure that's what happened?" asked Dawn, his voice tight. "You heard something behind you, but saw nothing."
Carrot Top expected some measure of disbelief in his tone. She was surprised that instead, he looked like he believed her completely...but desperately wished she might have been mistaken. However, she shook her head. "I know what happened. I know what I heard. I know it seems like some silly ghost story, but..."
"Then this is a very serious matter," said Dawn, swallowing hard. He looked over at Ditzy. "I need you to take a message to the Mayor. This is urgent."
"What is it?" asked Ditzy.
"Tell her to close off access to Whitetail Woods," he said. "We need to keep ponies out of there. It's too dangerous for anypony to go in right now."
"Why?" asked Ditzy.
"Because, if what Carrot Top described is accurate, then I believe that a hidebehind is in Whitetail Woods."
"A hidebehind!" exclaimed Twilight Sparkle, looking up sharply from her book as Dawn spoke. "Are you sure?"
"Fairly," said Dawn. "Carrot Top's description is consistent with its behavior and what I've experienced."
"You've been stalked by a hidebehind?" demanded Twilight, her expression shocked. From her place behind him, Carrot Top also stared in surprise at Dawn. She'd been surprised to that he'd recognized a real threat from her vague experience. But to find that he'd actually been through the same thing once was even more amazing. If the haunted look on his face was anything to go by, his experience had been much worse.
After sending Ditzy out to inform Mayor Mare of the situation, Dawn's next destination had been the library, residence of one Princess Twilight Sparkle. She, Spike, and Arkenstone had been in the midst of enjoying a quiet time reading after breakfast when Dawn had burst in. Both Arkenstone and Spike waited off to one side, listening as Dawn explained the situation.
"That's bad," admitted Twilight finally, her wings twitching agitation as she began to pace around in circles. She had changed little over the years, though observers occasionally thought she might be growing a bit taller and more slender, a possible sign that she would someday gain the same statuesque figure sported by the other three Princesses. However, for the time being, she appeared to be mostly the same lavender-colored unicorn she had always been...albeit, with a pair of wings to go with her new status. Her violet eyes were troubled as she searched out a book on the shelves. "Spike! Where is Volume 3 of Hazards of the Everfree?"
"Second to the top shelf, just left of center in the outdoors section," replied Spike without the slightest hesitation.
Dawn's eyes went to the young dragon and he found himself chuckling, in spite of the dire situation. Spike had changed the most out of their close group of friends, having grown considerably larger in the years, from a small, slightly pudgy dragon small enough to ride on Twilight's back to a size that allowed him to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Big Macintosh. In fact, with his elongated neck, Spike was, overall, just a little bit taller than Ponyville's most massive stallion.
He'd grown out of his infantile roundness, his body elongating, and front legs extending. Spike now went about on all fours nearly all the time. Time spent helping his fillyfriend in the Apple Family's orchards had built up a pretty impressive layer of muscle underneath those purple scales. His head now perched atop a snakelike neck, sporting curved green spines that ran down its length and proceeded down his back, tapering as they ran down the length of his sinuous tail. His face had changed quite a bit as well, narrowing and lengthening. However, instead of the beaklike shape Dawn had seen most other mature dragons sport, it ended in a more rounded muzzle, the overall shape of his head not being all that different from a pony stallion’s. That, combined with a pair of friendly, twinkling green eyes was probably the main reason Spike's current appearance caused little stir whenever he went out and about Ponyville.
However, his most impressive features were, without a doubt, his wings. Dawn remembered when the pair of wings had been little more than tiny growths on the dragon's back. But now Spike sported a pair of broad, leathery, bat-like wings that extended far wider than any pegasus'. The membranes were a pale green that matched the scales running down his belly. Despite their size, Spike proved to be a surprisingly agile and precise flyer, able to manage flying within the confines of the library with little trouble, once he had learned how to maneuver.
Perhaps it was a part of his draconic instinct, or possibly a simple manifestation of him having worked as Twilight's assistant for so long, but Spike had a nearly encyclopedic knowledge of the library's contents. He hadn't read every book, but after years spent shelving and re-shelving them, Dawn wouldn't have been surprised to find that Spike knew the exact location of every single title there.
"Thanks," said Twilight, the aura of her magic collecting around the book in question as she drew the volume down from the shelf. Dawn eyed the hefty tome appreciatively. That it was third in a series of such tomes, all of similar girth, was a testament to the variety of threats that called the mysterious Everfree Forest home. Dawn had had plenty of encounters with those threats, including some that hadn't been in Twilight's original volumes. Plumbing the depths of Dawn's experiences during the year he'd spent living alone in the Everfree had resulted in an expansion to the newest edition of the books to be published after Twilight had sent the notes she'd taken from Dawn's stories into the publishers. Even then, the series could hardly be considered complete, as both Dawn and Twilight strongly suspected that there were still plenty of strange (and deadly) creatures that neither of them, nor anypony else for that matter, had ever encountered.
Flipping the book open, Twilight paged through it until she found the entry she wanted. The page depicted a black creature, looking like a monstrous mishmash of wolf and lion, peering out from behind a tree, its malevolent gaze focused on some unseen prey outside the boundaries of the picture.
"That's what you think was stalking me?" gasped Carrot Top, her body beginning to shake all over again as she stared at the terrifying creature.
"It's an artist's best approximation of it," replied Twilight. "Nopony knows exactly what a hidebehind actually looks like because they're almost never spotted. The truth is, if you did see a hidebehind, odds are that you're already its meal."
Carrot Top's stomach began to rebel, threatening to eject her breakfast at the thought of what she had come within a hair's breadth of experiencing.
"We're lucky that hidebehinds are one of the more well known hazards of the Everfree," said Twilight.
"Well known, despite the fact almost nopony's seen them?" deadpanned Carrot Top.
"Unfortunately, their notoriety comes from the fact that they've claimed plenty of victims over the years," Twilight deadpanned back. "They're pretty much the reason nopony tries logging the Everfree anymore. They became famous for picking off unwary lumberjacks all up and down the forest."
"But they live in the Everfree," protested Carrot Top. "What's one doing in Whitetail Woods?"
"I have no idea," said Twilight, glancing over at Dawn, who merely shrugged. "Hopefully we can find out. I don't want to think that they might start moving into our territory. We can only hope this is an isolated occurrence."
The door swung open to reveal a panting Ditzy. "I told the Mayor," she said. "She agreed, but we can't actually close off the woods. The best we can do is have the Weather Team distribute emergency flyers through town and hope everypony listens."
"That makes sense," said Twilight. "The border of Whitetail Woods is a lot of ground to cover, particularly given how small the Ponvyille Guard contingent is. Given some time, I could set up some wards to help warn us if anypony tries to go in, but it'd be faster, hopefully, to just take care of the hidebehind itself...assuming it’s the only one."
"What exactly are we dealing with here?" asked Arkenstone, coming forward to stand next to Twilight. Gently brushing his beige coat up against her as he lifted a hoof to run it over the text on the page.
Arkenstone's presence was a reassuring one. Beneath his beige coat rippled supple muscles, the envy of nearly every stallion in Ponyville. Despite the fact he was average in size, there was no question that his build was powerful and solid. Even though his sightless eyes were nearly always hidden behind closed lids, he acted as calmly and naturally as though he knew where everypony and everything was, even though he could see none of it. Few ponies, however, knew that Arkenstone was one of the seven Knights of the Celestial Order, in direct service to the Princesses of Equestria and empowered with the authority to act on their behalf in their absence. The Knights were the highest caliber of warriors known to Ponykind, their power being enough to route entire armies. They were the stuff fables and stories were made of and, to Equestria at large, they were nothing more than a myth. Only a privileged few ponies knew that the existence of the Knights was very much a reality.
Twilight glanced at her coltfriend, looking a bit reassured by his presence. "The hidebehind is a predator. We don't know exactly what kind of predator, given that ponies have only ever caught fleeting glimpses of them. Like the name suggests, they are notoriously good at hiding behind things, possibly supernaturally so. It's been suspected that they can contort their bodies to hide behind obstructions as small as saplings."
"Could they maybe be invisible?" asked Ditzy.
"Nope," said Twilight, shaking her head. "All sightings clearly report spotting them ducking behind something or vanishing out of sight, but never into thin air. They're quick though, especially when it comes to getting behind cover."
Dawn nodded. "I think they have some heightened sense of awareness, possibly even a form of clairvoyance that enables them to perceive the limits of their prey's senses, such as their field of vision. The ones that hunted me were always far too good at getting out of sight, just when I would have seen them."
"They're also good at shadowing their prey," said Twilight, nodding in agreement before looking pointedly at Carrot Top. "It's what you experienced when the one in the woods followed you. It mimicked your steps almost perfectly and didn't give itself away until you started stopping suddenly to throw it off. And even then, you still couldn't get a look at it." She gave Dawn a curious look. "How do you figure they're clairvoyant, though?"
"When I was followed by them in the forest," explained Dawn, "They would follow me constantly. However, once I perfected my wind-sense, they backed off and left before I could find them. They never followed me after that."
"I see," said Twilight. "Even though there was no visual indicator, they were apparently aware that you'd expanded the scope of your senses and that there was no way to approach you."
Carrot Top had only a slight idea about this wind-sense was. Ditzy had explained it to her a couple of times in the past. She got the idea that it was something that allowed Ditzy and Dawn to sense the things around them without needing to see them. It seemed silly to her, but the fact that Ditzy could fly her rounds without crashing after learning the trick from Dawn spoke volumes about how effective it was. "How did you keep from getting eaten before you could sense them?" she asked.
"I kept to the trees," replied Dawn, "Fortunately, hidebehinds are apparently purely terrestrial predators. They never seemed able to follow me up there."
Twilight turned her attention back to the book. "We have a few factors on our side. Hidebehinds may have a lot of unusual qualities, but they are pretty typical predators when all is said and done."
"Why is that a good thing?" asked Ditzy.
"Because it means they're cautious," replied Twilight. "Most predators are like that. Hunting always carries the risk of injury and, since animal predators don't have some kind of special hospital for hunting wounds-"
"Unless they go to Mom," Dawn cut in wryly.
Twilight giggled and continued. "-an injury could mean serious problems for a predator. It inhibits their ability to hunt, which makes it harder for them to get the nutrition they need to heal the injury, which can become life-threatening because of that. That's why so many predators either use ambush tactics or hunt in packs. The hidebehind is the same way. It's so cautious that it will hesitate to attack if it realizes its prey is aware of its presence. That trick you pulled by suddenly stopping so you could catch its footsteps...that might very well have saved your life. The hidebehind refrained from attacking because it realized you knew it was there and might have injured it if it had attacked."
The revelation didn't exactly comfort Carrot Top very much. if anything, the revelation clued her in that she had been even closer to a messy, unpleasant death than she'd first thought.
"So what do we do about it?" asked Spike, looking at the page nervously. "We can't keep Whitetail Woods closed forever. But we can't let ponies go in there while that thing is skulking around."
"I'd hate to say it," said Dawn, "but we may have to kill it. There's only one other alternative I can think of and I don't really want to risk it."
"You mean...have Fluttershy try and talk to it?" asked Twilight.
Dawn nodded. "I know from experience that hidebehinds are persistent predators and not easily dissuaded. If this one chooses not to listen to Mom, it might well decide to try and eat her instead."
They thought about it silently for a little while. "Still..." said Twilight, "I don't think Fluttershy would forgive us if we didn't let her try to reason with it first. The hidebehind might be lost and could have simply wandered into Whitetail Woods by mistake. If there's any chance that we can get it to leave peacefully, especially since we found out about it before it killed anypony, she would want to take that chance."
Letting out a resigned sigh, Dawn lowered his head. "I'll go talk to her and see what she wants to do."
Dawn was stooping down for a landing outside the cottage when sensed a familiar pony approaching him from behind. Stopping and turning around, he saw Scootaloo as she rushed down towards him.
"Dawn!" she shouted. "Is it true that there's a monster in Whitetail Woods?"
"A hidebehind, yes," replied Dawn. "I take it you helped deliver the fliers then."
Scootaloo nodded. "Yeah. Raindrops asked that some of the Weather Team spend their time keeping an eye on the border to make sure nopony tries to sneak in. But we can't keep that up forever."
Dawn nodded in agreement. The Weather Team had their own work to do. Having them play border guards for Whitetail Woods would stretch them thin before long. Besides that, ponies wouldn't want to stay out of the woods forever. For one thing, some townsponies had sources of revenue in the forest. The maple syrup brewers harvested the sap from the maples that grew in Whitetail, for just one example. At some point, someone was bound to get tired of the restrictions and risk going in. Then...at some point...ponies were going to start vanishing...never to be seen again. If they wanted to avoid that, they were going to have to be proactive and deal with the hidebehind before the residents of Ponyville lost their patience.
"What are you planning to do about it?" asked Scootaloo, looking anxiously at her coltfriend.
Dawn jerked his head towards the cottage. Scootaloo's eyes widened and her mouth opened in a silent "oh" as she realized what Dawn meant. She didn't look happy about it, but then, Dawn wasn't exactly happy about it either.
Opening the door, Dawn spotted his mother, humming as she moved about the living room, dusting off furniture, helped by a few of her animals as they did their part in maintaining the cleanliness of their collective home. Over in one corner of the room, a playpen had been set up. Inside it, little Pepita was crawling around, his teal eyes solemnly watching the animals as they flew or crawled about the house, clearly fascinated by their activities.
On a clear space of the floor outside the pen was Larksong, singing wordlessly to match her mother's hums as she stacked a series of blocks as high as she could reach. When she stacked them as high as she could, she stepped back and giggled, clapping her hooves together. A second later, Angel Jr. came barreling into the blocks, knocking over Larksong's tower and scattering them across the floor. Far from being distraught at the destruction of her creation, Larksong laughed and clapped her hooves together. "Again! Again!"
"Maybe you're destined for demolition work, Li'l Sprout," commented Scootaloo wryly as she came in behind Dawn.
Larksong gasped and gaped up at Scootaloo and Dawn. "Big Bro! Sista Scoot!" Squealing excitedly, she flung herself in their direction. It was Dawn who caught her. He gave her a quick hug and a nuzzle before passing her to Scootaloo, who began to lightly tickle the little filly as Dawn went over to Fluttershy.
"Is everything all right?" asked Fluttershy. "You're home early...Oh dear..." Her smile fell when she saw the grim look on her son's face. "What happened?"
"We think there might be a hidebehind in Whitetail Woods," explained Dawn.
Fluttershy let out a small gasp. "Oh my! That's terrible. Was anypony hurt?"
"Not yet," replied Dawn, "Though Carrot Top had a close call, which was how we found out about it in the first place."
"Is she all right?" asked Fluttershy.
Dawn nodded. "Very frightened, but she managed to escape without injury."
"I...I see..."
"Mayor Mare has agreed to close off Whitetail Woods," explained Dawn. The Weather Team hadn't been able to distribute the fliers out this far yet, given that they were probably still being printed.
"But...we can't keep that up forever," said Fluttershy. "Some of our animal friends live in Whitetail Woods. We can't go visit them with a hidebehind in there."
Dawn nodded. For a moment, silence descended on the cottage. It was clear that Fluttershy was thinking about the situation as she gazed pensively at the floor. "You want me to try and talk to it, don't you?"
Dawn nodded slowly. "I don't want you to. But I figured that you would want to. The only other certain alternative is killing it, because simply driving it out might lead to it coming back at some point." He looked down, scuffing his front hoof against the floor. The room had gone strangely quiet. Even energetic little Larksong watched silently from Scootaloo's arms, clearly understanding that her mother and brother's silence meant something that was possibly bad.
"It's up to you, Mom," said Dawn. "I know everypony will understand if you don't want to." After all, Fluttershy had two foals to help raise. Nopony would judge her harshly if she balked at the idea of risking her life trying to communicate with a creature that might very well simply kill her from behind before she even knew it was there.
Fluttershy closed her eyes, standing there silently for a while. Secretly, Dawn prayed that she chose not to go. He didn't want her in harm's way if he could prevent it, knowing she often felt the same way about him. However, she had been through similar trials working as an Element Bearer with Twilight and the others, so the choice was ultimately hers to make. Dawn wouldn't decide for her any more than she would decide for him.
Finally, Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes and smiled calmly and serenely at Dawn. "I'll go," she said. "I don't want you to kill it unless you absolutely have to. Maybe there's a way to convince it to return to the Everfree."
"If you're sure..." said Dawn.
Fluttershy nodded.
Gnawing at the inside of his lip, Dawn met her eyes before sighing. "I'll go let Mayor Mare know and get Dad to come look after the foals."
"Okay," said Fluttershy.
Scootaloo hoofed Larksong back to her mother before following Dawn out. "Are you sure about this?" she asked pointedly. "I don't like the idea of sending Fluttershy in there alone, not if this thing is as dangerous as you think it is."
"I don't plan on letting her go alone," replied Dawn as he took to the air. "In fact, hopefully we can help Mom force the hidebehind into listening to her, or at least put it in a position where we can stop it if it decides to attack." He looked pointedly at his fillyfriend. "I'm going to need your help..."
A few hours into the afternoon, the ponies responsible for dealing with the issue of the hidebehind assembled near the border of Whitetail Woods. The woodland park looked as it always did, contrasting sharply with the imposing Everfree Forest. It was hard to imagine that such a dangerous creature could lurk within it.
"Are we certain that this will work?" asked Mayor Mare, looking dubiously at the woods.
"Not entirely," admitted Arkenstone. "But we wanted to take the chance to end this without bloodshed. Fluttershy will hopefully be able to negotiate with the creature. It's a rather rare occurrence for a monster from the Everfree to try and reside in an area outside of it for any length of time."
"Why is that?" asked Mayor Mare, looking curiously at the blind stallion.
"Whenever circumstances bring you near the edge of the Everfree, I'm certain that it exudes a rather foreboding atmosphere to you," he said.
Mayor Mare shivered. "Yes. I never go anywhere near it if I can help it. Luckily, my job affords me with plenty of reasons to stay away from that place."
"That is because the Everfree is governed by its own magic," commented Arkenstone. "It is not directly harmful to us, but it does contrast sharply with our own innate magic, which generates an unpleasant sensation. Likewise, our lands have been Cultivated over the years through the application of earth pony magic with influence from the other two tribes as well. As a consequence, the aura of magic that pervades our lands is as...unpleasant...to the inhabitants of the Everfree as the Everfree's is to us. That is why something like this is such a rare occurrence. Monsters might occasionally strike out from the forest if they they are in the midst of a chase or if they are pursuing a vendetta, but they almost never try to take up residence in Cultivated lands."
"Thank Celestia for that," muttered Mayor Mare.
"Which means that this hidebehind might be an aberration of some kind," continued Arkenstone, as though he hadn't heard her. "There might be some quality to this monster that allows it to ignore the aura of our lands or something drove it out of its normal habitat."
"The latter possibility is an unpleasant one to consider," muttered Mayor Mare.
"Either way, hopefully we can find out," said Arkenstone, shifting his attention to the woods. "Are we ready?"
"I-I think so..." said Fluttershy, shifting nervously. Beside her, Dawn leaned up against her and rested a wing on her back.
"Scootaloo and I will be as close as we can manage," said Dawn softly. "We don't want to let the hidebehind slip away, but we can't let it know we're close until it's time."
"I understand," said Fluttershy.
"Be careful," said Dawn, nuzzling his mother, "I don't want you to get hurt."
"I will be," said Fluttershy, giving him a smile. "Hopefully we won't need to kill it either."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Twilight, frowning. "Not that I don't think you can...You managed that dragon after all. But the hidebehind might not even give you a chance to talk to it."
"We'll see," said Fluttershy. She wished her other friends were there to see her off. It always felt better when the six of them were all together. But Rainbow Dash was still off with the Wonderbolts. Rarity was in Canterlot, overseeing one of her boutique's branches out there. Applejack and the rest of her family were busy with the latest harvest. Even Pinkie Pie was off visiting her family's rock farm. Right now, she and Twilight were the only Element Bearers present.
Still, Dawn and Scootaloo were there, watching over her. Arkenstone stood behind her, waiting next to Twilight. They would move to help once things started. But, once she was in the woods, Fluttershy would be on her own with the hidebehind, possibly for several minutes. She could only hope that she could reason with it.
"Let's go," she said softly, moving forward and heading straight for the edge of Whitetail Woods.
Dawn and Scootaloo immediately took to the air, flying well above the canopy to hover apart from one another. They both extended their wind-sense as far as possible, until their awareness brushed against the topmost leaves of the trees. If Dawn's suspicions about the hidebehind's ability to detect the range of other creatures' senses, then they wouldn't want to drive it away before it approached Fluttershy.
Fluttershy didn't bother with any of the actual paths through the woods, instead walking straight through the undergrowth, her hooves crunching on fallen leaves, pine needles, and the other myriad objects that made up the layer of organic debris that covered the forest floor. She was no graceful stalker, making enough noise to easily be heard for several meters. As she moved, she was relieved to be surrounded by the voices of her animal friends as birds and various small rodents called their greetings from hidden holes and branches. Their presence reassured Fluttershy. From what Carrot Top had reported, if the hidebehind was near, they would fall silent.
Fluttershy continued to walk until the trees completely obscured the view outside of the woods. She couldn't see Twilight and the others anymore and the branches and leaves overhead completely obscured her view of Dawn and Scootaloo. She still didn't feel quite alone yet...until she did.
The animals abruptly fell silent, their sudden hush making Fluttershy's skin crawl. It must be here, she thought. Carefully, she reached for the object Twilight had given her. Tucked beneath her wing was a small gem. When Fluttershy dropped it and it hit the ground, it would release a magical signal that Twilight would be able to detect. That would be the signal for the others to close in.
As she walked, she thought she could hear a second set of steps mirroring her own. She came to an abrupt halt, listening intently. Her ears picked up an extra step after she stopped. The sound came from behind her.
Swallowing hard, Fluttershy turned around, facing where she had heard the noise coming from. "H-hello..."
Silence, smothering and absolute, greeted her words.
"I-I know you're there," said Fluttershy, stepping back a little. "Please come out. I want to talk to you."
Still nothing...
"Please," repeated Fluttershy. "If we don't talk, my son and his friends are going to have to do something drastic. I don't want you to die if we can avoid it."
The sounds of leaves crunching came from behind her again. With a startled squeak, Fluttershy spun around. She wasn't sure when it had happened, but the hidebehind must have managed to move around behind her when she turned around. In her surprise, she dropped the crystal, which hit the ground.
Fluttershy couldn't feel the magical pulse that the crystal released, but Twilight did. "Move in!" she told Arkenstone before lifting her horn and firing a spark of purple magic into the sky. It was silent, but glowed brightly enough that Dawn and Scootaloo were able to easily see it from their positions.
The two pegasi immediately dropped toward the ground, staying just far enough apart that the respective ranges of their wind-sense only barely overlapped. Meanwhile, Arkenstone advanced from the forest edge, all three of them coming together roughly where they knew Fluttershy to be.
"Oh dear!" exclaimed Fluttershy, looking down at the crystal. Looking up again, she continued searching for the hidebehind. "Please! My friends are coming. If we don't do something...they'll kill you. Please talk to me!"
Something large and heavy slammed into her from behind, knocking Fluttershy onto her back. When she landed, a pair of heavy paws landed on her forelegs, pinning her to the ground. Her eyes widened in terror as she saw the hidebehind looming above her.
She couldn't see the rest of its body, but it looked as though somepony had merged aspects of a wolf, a cat, and a bear together. Its blocky, thick muzzle was lined with curved teeth that protruded down from its upper lips. It was covered in black, wiry fur and looked at her with eyes that were completely pitch-black. The sight of those eyes made Fluttershy want to scream. Its paws were broad and heavy, much like those of a bear, mixed with a big cat. Fluttershy could feel it's long, hooked claws, just barely missing piercing the skin underneath her coat.
The creature's lips curled back to reveal even more of its fanged maw, streams of drool dangling down towards Fluttershy's face. Its breath was fetid with the smell of old meat. Though it made no sound whatsoever, Fluttershy could practically feel the thing's eager growl as it got ready to savor its next meal. Its eyes met with Fluttershy's own...
...And that was the hidebehind's mistake. Fluttershy had been dealing with predators ever since she'd begun working with animals. She understood better than anypony in Ponyville the nature of...well...nature. Some animals ate other animals. That was the way of the world. There was nothing wrong with that. It was just the way they were born. She had come to accept that fact to the point that, when she had discovered the bones of Ferdinand the Vole in an owl pellet, she could only shake her head and remember that she'd warned him he was too reckless about going out of his burrow at night. A pack of timberwolves might be too much for her to handle all at once, but a single predator could not overwhelm or mystify Fluttershy. She might be frightened or terrified, but no longer to the point of being paralyzed by fear and panic.
Her eyes narrowed as they met the hidebehind’s. She projected her will out through her gaze, implementing her infamous Stare. "Stop that right now," she said firmly, frowning sternly at the hidebehind.
The monster froze, its jaws hovering mere inches away from her. "You need to listen more carefully when ponies are talking to you," scolded Fluttershy, the force of her gaze actually driving the hidebehind back. She got to her hooves, careful not to break her gaze. "You shouldn't be in these woods. Your home is the Everfree Forest."
Though the hidebehind made no sounds, in fact Fluttershy was certain that it was incapable of vocalizations, she was able to get a sense of the creature's feelings. It liked these woods. The strange aura that permeated pony lands was a little bothersome to it, but it kept all the rival predators of the Everfree away. The creatures in these woods, especially the ponies, were less cautious, less dangerous, and more plump. Here, the hidebehind could hunt all that it pleased without having to worry about strong rivals.
"Absolutely not, Mister," said Fluttershy, doubling down with her will on the hidebehind, who quivered beneath the weight of her gaze, "You are not going to eat any ponies under my watch. You are going back to the Everfree and you're staying there. That's that."
Again, the hidebehind's lips curled back in that soundless snarl. It didn't want to go. It didn't want to listen to her. It wanted to eat her, to bite into her sweet, tender flesh. It wanted to hunt the ponies that wandered through the woods without a care. It wanted to pick off the little, juicy ones that always played in the clearings or amongst the trees. Ponies were delicious and easy to catch.
The bottom fell out of Fluttershy's stomach as she realized what the hidebehind's response meant. "Oh no," she whispered softly. "You've already killed ponies, haven't you?" It was her worst fear. The hidebehind was already a complete mare-eater.
That wasn't so odd in and of itself. After all, ponies who wandered carelessly into the Everfree were pretty much fair game for any monster that happened upon them if they couldn't handle themselves. However, the hidebehind's behavior indicated that, not only had it killed ponies before, but it had hunted in pony lands. It obviously hadn't hunted in the vicinity of Ponyville before. The town's residents would have noticed if somepony had vanished over the past few years. But the hidebehind had clearly ventured out of the Everfree to hunt ponies before and was planning to do so again.
She'd heard about this from other animal experts. Some predators got a taste for pony flesh and, when they did, they became acclimated to hunting ponies and did so almost exclusively. When they reached that point, it became necessary to put the creature down, lest it kill any more ponies. She remembered reading about such an incident with a bear outside Baltimare.
The hidebehind was growing more agitated. Though her gaze held it in place, it wanted to run, not because she had gotten through to it, but because it sensed the approach of Dawn, Scootaloo, and Arkenstone. It could feel their collective awareness closing in on it like a trap. It needed to bring down its prey and escape before all avenues were closed off.
A strangled whimper wormed its way out of Fluttershy's throat. She knew there was only one way this could end now. Even if they drove the hidebehind away, it would simply find some other pony settlement to settle near and begin hunting ponies all over again. It had come to like their taste too much and it found hunting outside of the Everfree much too easy to pass up. She knew what she had to do. She just wished it wasn't so hard.
Leaves cracked behind her on two sides, while a heavier tread sounded out from the direction she had come from. With a sad sigh, Fluttershy closed her eyes. With the force of her Stare broken, the hidebehind surged towards her, its jaws wide open, aiming to take her throat before she could even think of escaping.
A loud crack echoed through the forest, actually making Fluttershy's ear pop. Her fur stood on end as a bolt of electricity surged past on her right, the bolt of lightning striking the hidebehind clean in the chest. Its mouth opened in a soundless cry of pain as electricity played across it, burning away its wiry fur and searing the skin underneath. The attack ended, leaving behind the smell of ozone and the stench of cooked flesh. The hidebehind fell limply to the ground, lifeless and unmoving.
"Mom!" shouted Dawn, immediately galloping to her side. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," said Fluttershy, a hitch in her voice indicating that she might have been somewhat untruthful in that respect.
Resting a wing over her back, Dawn pressed his side against hers and began to nuzzle into her neck. "I'm sorry," he said. "You tried..."
"I know," said Fluttershy, looking at the hidebehind's carcass. "I'm sorry too."
So...yeah, I had the sudden urge to write a chapter that came off a bit like a Monster of the Week episode of The X-Files. This wasn't meant to connect to any larger story arc, though I considered it. I just felt like writing a bit of a suspenseful interlude. It's inspired by this video from youtube...
(Warning! Do not watch if you are reading before bedtime)
Next chapter: A visitor shows up with a bang.
Stats
Page generated in 0.058 seconds
Total duration
979 users online
37,926 hits today, 2,814,898 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.®
I just finish reading the latest chapter of Sunset Reset and this comes out. This is the life
Damn! That was definitely something worthy of Goosebumps!
the idea of the Hidebehind feels like an Unseelie Fae and I love it
I have heard of the hidebehind before on an old western TV series (maybe Gunsmoke or Here Come the Brides; I don't remember). An old French Canadian was telling a young boy about "evil creatures" and said the hidebehind was the worst; but the owl was the "friend of man" and would always let him know by hooting when there was on about.
Pop culture is useful after all! (I love cryptids and monster folklore!)
7291151 You too huh? XD
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/Hidebehind.jpg
Imagine you did a chapter similar to the Jersey Devil
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Jersey_Devil_Philadelphia_Post_1909.jpg
Or even the Flatwood Monster
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4b/Flatwoods_monster.png
Great chapter!
Fuck you I do what I want! Also, technically it's after bedtime, I'm alone in the dark in my room.
EDIT: I have made a terrible mistake. At least I'm not that close to any woods.
Thanks for the warning. Cause that is exactly what I was going to do. The chapter was a bit much for me.
Is normal that my mind jumped first to gravity falls when i read the title?
Fuck why did I stop reading this series?! I'm going back and reading where I left off.
7291400 I did it anyway.
I could have sworn the hide behind was from Gravity Falls......oh. the theories. And what visitor? More importantly, what kind of bang??
7291810 The hide behind does indeed feature in Gravity Falls, particularly in this short:
that was a unique take on monsters.
neat.
Hopefully Twilight can learm from studying the body.
...what the fuck just happened?
Cartman: "Oh My God! They killed Slenderpony!
"
"
Kevin: "Those bastards!
Dawn: "
"
"
"
"
Arkenstone: "
Scootaloo: "
Fluttershy: "
7291810 comon, it's a night possibility it's swift. He likes explosions.
Aww. I was hoping it was Discord, screwing with everypony. Wishful thinking.
7291810 The hide behind has been a legend since the 1900's.
I think it's a nice establishing chapter. What Dawn and the rest of the gang do: Everyday life, along with the occasional anti-monster heroics.
Also, I have a theory as to who this "visitor with a bang" is, based on the fact that we've already tied up all the loose threads from the series except one, which may or may not be a thread to begin with.
holy crud... this is one long friggin series. i don't know if i could ever read the whole thing
Great chapter, can't wait for the next one!
Something that bugged me:
-I believe this is supposed to be then?
7292291 huh. Did not know that.
7293220 There have been ACTUAL sightings, but only in ONE specific Grove. I checked. That Video is legit.
7291232 More like Slenderman
media.moddb.com/cache/images/groups/1/9/8633/thumb_620x2000/I_Know_The_Fact_Enderman_Were_Based_Off_Of_Slenderman_22e6bd7739ecddc4fd1513fdf3d6aab1.png
Missing word: and used it to gently brush
Sentence fragment. The period before "Gently" should be a comma.
enough to rout entire armies
The T in "They" should be lowercase; Dawn is saying one sentence, not two.
Missing word: when he sensed
Missing words: If Dawn's suspicions about the hidebehind's ability to detect the range of other creatures' senses were correct,
Obvious error is obvious.
Damn you!
I liked this chapter and thought that maybe it hinted directly to what this story's antagonist was going to be. Like maybe an old apprentice of Morning Star/White Shade was doing experiments and the ambient magic they created were slowly driving the creatures of the Everfree Forest out of their natural habitat.
Holy crap! Finally somepony who doesn't drink tea.
Sorry I keep commenting about this I really do just find it amusing.
I have lived in the moutons most of my life, do I believe you are dang right I do.
Katys Church
I have stood in this grave yard I have put my hands on that old tree.
yep there is defiantly crap in this world we do not want any thing to do with.
a vary good chapter.
I was expecting a maraca owl...
7311329
Mmmmm I approve of this gravity falls reference
You know an idea entered my head after I read the series from beginning to know. It was that this story would work great as a fanfic video on YouTube. The story of dawn lightwing brought into a visual for all to see. From the brining to end as a great animation. I don't know about you. But I think that would be an epic series to watch, and I can't be to only one who thinks this. Anyone else agree?
7330108 When I was younger and the series was newer, I'd imagined it as some great cinematic summer blockbuster with sequels and spin-offs. Since the fandom itself was newer as well it would prove that brownies could be cool if they wanted to. Those were the good days, reading the author talk about his retail problems without a care because the story was so long, we knew it wouldn't end. We knew Morning Star would be the big bad final boss but so many other events were taking place that it seemed like their battle would never happen. But then it did. Though that may be a good thing, as the view count obviously shows, quite a few people are pony fatigued like I am now.
Those hard decisions tho...
I feel so bad for Fluttershy. That’s really hard. Makes me want to hug her
If you've seen a hidebehind, odds are you're already its meal... unless you're Fluttershy. And this is the same mare who once won a staring contest with a cockatrice. We made plenty of Chuck Norris jokes about Granny Smith, but it seems Fluttershy could give her a run for her bits.
You know, I wonder what would happen if an Earth pony inverted their power in the Everfree. Taking in the magic of the forest and releasing it instead of releasing their magic before taking it back in.