Blackhoof Mountain

by DeskManiac

Chapter 5: Adrenaline (7 hours Until Dawn) Part 2

It was quiet.

Too quiet.

Fluttershy woke up from her nap. She stared widely at the space above her as she came to the realization that something was wrong. She quickly glanced at her bedroom clock.

12:37 a.m.

Pinkie hasn’t checked with her for the past hour. Where is she? Tossing her bedsheets aside and crawling to her door, Fluttershy took a peek into the hallway. No one was there. And she couldn’t hear anything.

“Pinkie?” Fluttershy called, stepping out into the empty hallway. She examined Pinkie’s room, which was next to hers, but she couldn’t find anyone there. She tip toed quietly downstairs, doing her best to avoid unwanted attention. She expected to find something in the living room, but thank Celestia there was no one there.

You’re letting your imagination get to you, Shy.

"Pinkie? Pinkie?" She continued to whisper. The entire lodge seemed to be empty. No one was around.

"Hello?"

No one answered.

Approaching a dark hall, Fluttershy let out a soft ‘eep’. Turning around to see that no one heard her, she then focused on the pitch-blackness that lie ahead. She held her candle as close as possible and prepared for the worst. Letting out a soft breath, she then took a step forward.

Every step she took she dreaded being on top of this mountain. The unknown danger, her missing friend, the eerie silence.

"Applejack?" she pushed on the bedroom door. She wasn't there.

Fluttershy’s breathing quickened. 3 of her friends are missing. She began to panic as her worst fears danced in her head, tormenting her to no end.

No Fluttershy, you’re better than this. You don’t have to be scared. Maybe they all just went outside?

Despite comforting herself from all that’s going on, she could only think of hiding in her room. Hopefully, they would all return to the lodge and everything will be alright. Right? Oh how she wished Discord was around right now.

Suddenly, she heard a window crack. Turning to her right, she saw a figure, a figure dressed in raggy clothes with a head of a scarecrow, staring at her from outside.

She screamed. Fluttershy rushed to the stairs and into her room. Slamming the door behind her, she locked it shut and pushed a bookcase in front of it for good measure. She hyperventilated. What the hell was that?

Fluttershy stayed as quiet as she could, her back pressed against the wall as she tried to listen for any footsteps.

There was banging on the door. Fluttershy dug under her covers, hoping that her plan would succeed. Suddenly things went quiet. For a while, she could hear absolutely nothing. Fluttershy let out a sigh of relief. Maybe it won’t bother her anymore.

*Crash*

Fluttershy screamed as she covered herself. Pieces of glass flew everywhere. And perched on top of her window was the scarecrow. It closed its wings and leaped into her room, slowly moving towards her.

She shrieked, desperately reaching for the bookcase and pulling it away. She tried desperately to move it, but it only moved an inch every time she pulled. The scarecrow took its time to approach its victim.

Finally, the bookcase moved enough for her to open the door and escape. But she was too late. With one yank on her tail she fell to the floor, putting her directly under the scarecrow’s disfigured face. She screamed, shoving a hoof straight into the scarecrow’s face and knocking it down. She ran.

Once downstairs, she contemplated between hiding and running. Beads of sweat was forming on her head. She probably couldn’t go far, could she? In a panic, she hid herself in a nearby closet and hoped for the best.

Again, she had to wait agonizingly for the scarecrow to go away. Closing her eyes and praying for the best, Fluttershy remained as still as a statue in the uncomfortably tight space.

Minutes passed as Fluttershy sat in the stuffy closet. She couldn’t hear anything. Could it be gone? How long more did she have to wait?

Suddenly, a knock came on the closet door. Fluttershy couldn’t help but utter an undesirable ‘eep’. Loud enough for the pony outside to hear.

Before she knew it, an axe came crashing through the closet door, landing merely an inch from her face. Fluttershy screamed, kicking away the closet door and pushing the scarecrow to the ground.

Fluttershy opened her wings and flew for the exit. Hiding in the closet was a bad idea, a really bad one, and now she regretted it. At least now that the scarecrow was knocked down, she had some time to esc-

She heard furious fluttering coming from behind her. Turning her neck around, she saw that the scarecrow was flying at immense speed towards her. Fluttershy’s eyes widened in surprise as she strained herself to fly faster.

But it was no use. She felt the momentum hit her, forcing her downwards and crashing into the floor. Fluttershy tried to get up, but she was paralyzed. She desperately wanted to make a run for it, but she couldn’t move. Her body was taking in too much pain for her to get up. She watched helplessly as the scarecrow sauntered over to her, looking pleased with its catch.

Tears formed in her eyes. She was only inches from the door.

The scarecrow positioned itself above her, its gaze met Fluttershy’s.

“Why are you doing this?” Fluttershy whimpered.

The scarecrow didn’t answer. It reached for its pocket and held a cloth towards Fluttershy’s face.

Fluttershy jerked her face, trying her best to retaliate. But it was no use. The scarecrow eventually got hold of her muzzle and pressed the stained cloth firmly on her face.

Fluttershy resisted, but she passed out eventually. The scarecrow smirked, tonight’s plans was going well.

---

Applejack woke up. She was in complete darkness. Immediately she felt a sharp pain in her arm sockets. She could feel that she was being hung from a wall and her feet were suspended from the ground. The back of her head throbbed from the assault earlier. Applejack cursed herself. How could she have been so careless?

She needed to get out of here as soon as possible.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

Instantly, a bright flash of light broke out, blinding her momentarily and revealing the room she was in.

The first thing she noticed were two buzz saws on a track. One aimed at her and the other one at…

“Pinkie Pie!” she shouted. Her friend was still unconsciously hanging from the wall.

“Pinkie Pie!” Applejack tried to kick her, but she was too far away. Luckily, her friend was coming back to her senses too.

“Wh- Where are we?” Pinkie looked up, her eyes trying to adjust itself in the light. When she had opened them completely, her eyes widened in response to the situation they were in.

A voice came through a speaker.

“Hello my ponies. It seems you have waked.”

The voice was extremely low and distorted, like a machine’s.

Applejack was about to say something, but Pinkie broke out in words first.

“You liar! You said you would stop!”

Applejack froze in shock. Pinkie knows this person? What the hay was going on?

Again the voice spoke, “Did I say that? No, I think I said I would stop when I’m done having fun,” The voice chuckled. Pinkie growled in response.

“Pinkie, who in the hay are you talking to? And what the hay is going on?”

Pinkie looked wide eyed at Applejack. Then she fell silent, gazing away from Applejack.

“Pinkamena and I have been waiting long enough for this night. The night when all you little ponies come to this mountain and enjoyed our fun. A lot of work was put into this. And I don’t want any of it to go to waste…”

“Pinkie what is going on?!” Applejack yelled. Pinkie quivered, not knowing how to answer.

“Pinkamena can’t tell you because she made a promise to me,” came the voice through the speakers, “A PINKIE PROMISE…”

“What? That’s dumb!” Applejack shouted at the voice.

“It’s not dumb!” Pinkie shouted, earning a delightful response from the voice.

“Oh really Pinkamena? Why don’t you tell Applejack who I am…”

Pinkie was silenced again. She wanted to. But she couldn’t. She made a Pinkie promise and that was final. Even if it was to keep the identity a secret.

“C'mon Pinkie. You can tell me! We don’t have to care about that Pinkie promise!”

Pinkie cringed. Her emotions circled her head, each telling her different things. She could break her promise and tell Applejack, or she could keep it and watch Applejack suffer. Pinkie struggled for some time but finally, she could only hang her head in shame, “I can’t Applejack. I just… I can’t......”

The voice roared in laughter. “How pathetic! Can’t even save your friend some insider information before you die!”

Applejack retaliated, trying her best to defend her friend, “You leave Pinkie alone! Yer… yer no good varmit!”

The voice continued to laugh, and the buzz saws whirled to life, much to Applejack’s horror.

“I have a game for you two. It’s simple. Break yourselves free from your bondages or prepare to be sawed in half!” The voice announced, laughing.

“But this game isn’t fair!” Pinkie shouted.

“Oh?” replied the voice, as if he was actually concerned about that, “But you were the one who designed this Pinkamena.”

“WHAT?!” Applejack looked in shock at Pinkie, unable to believe what she had just heard. Pinkie glanced back with a sorry look, her face full of regret.

“Yes I did. But I wanted to scare ponies then. I don’t want to scare them now!”

“It’s too late to go back now, Pinkamena!” the voice shouted, and the buzz saws started to move towards them.

“NO!” Pinkie shook her head, flailing helplessly.

Applejack focused on getting the bondages off herself, but they were tied pretty tightly. Summoning all her strength, she pulled one of the ropes out of the wooden wall, freeing one limb. Her body now hung from just one hoof. The buzz saws were already halfway there, and Applejack had to be quick in removing her other tie. Pinkie shook her body but was doing no progress.

“Don’t worry Pinkie! I’ll help you!”

Realizing that she had to submit to the killer’s plan, and that Applejack can’t actually help her, Pinkie only had one thing to say.

“Applejack I’ll be fine.”

“What?”

"JUST GO! LEAVE ME!"

Applejack finally chewed off her rope and fell to the ground. “That’s nonsense! Let me help you!” Applejack ran over to Pinkie, avoiding the buzzsaw that came her way.

But it was too late. The buzz saws were already coming too close to her. In her last second, Pinkie managed to say one more thing, “Just remember the training sessions you had with Das-- AAAHHHH!!!!!!!!”

“PINKIE!!!” Applejack screamed, watching her friend get sliced in half. Her guts sprayed everywhere. Pinkie screamed in pain, her neck jerking wildly. In mere moments, Pinkie was reduced to just an unconscious upper body.

Applejack took a step forward, then back, unable to approach the guts and blood spilt on the floor. Pinkie was dead. And it was all her fault. If only she had listened to her.

Behind her a door opened. Applejack knew there was nothing more she could do. She took one last glimpse of Pinkie.

“Ah’m so sorry Pinkie…” Applejack said, tears trickling down her cheeks. Turning her heels, she ran out of the shed and into the woods.

Author's Note:

Don't ask where Rarity was in all of this. She was asleep? With very thick earmuffs on? Eehhh......

At least it's done. Another chapter another step closer to to completion. To say I had a rough week is an understatement. I was sick and trying to finish my assignments. And one assignment didn't turn up too well. But I don't care. This semester is coming to an end and I'm glad. I'm really looking forward to relaxing and just doing nothing during my holidays.

Comments

[Berry Delight]

She's.......she's not really dead is she? please tell me this isn't gonna be one of those fics where everyone dies