//------------------------------// // Epilogue // Story: Fluttershy's First Griffin Holiday // by Gnarl //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash knocked on the front door of Fluttershy's cottage. None of the others had seen hoof or tail of her since she left for Griffin Stone, and they were becoming worried. The others were certain she'd come out when she was ready, but Rainbow was never the 'wait around doing nothing' type. Her determination to find out what was going on was hardened even more by the fact there was no sound coming from Fluttershy's house... at all. With how many animals she kept at one time the place was only quiet at night and even than the crickets she took care of were always chirping. "Fluttershy? It's Rainbow, are you okay in there?" Rainbow called when she didn't answer the door. Her ears heard only silence. Rainbow knocked on the door harder this time. Rainbow nearly jumped when the door slowly creaked open. Its hinges groaning and squeaking not unlike the door in the horror movie she'd watched two nights ago. Rainbow tried to see inside, but it was all veiled in long, deep shadows. Her nerves were starting to tingle with fear as her eyes darted back and forth between shadows. "You home Flutts?" She called out. The only response was a soft, cold breeze that was completely out of place with the warm sunny day outside. Rainbow shivered, this didn't feel right. She slowly stepped inside her head on a swivel and her eyes flicking left and right trying to catch any kind of movement. The door closed behind her with a loud click making all Rainbows hair stand on end. She hadn't closed the door. She looked behind her to see... no pony. Swallowing the goose egg in her throat she slowly crawled up Fluttershy's stairs. The once bright, cheerful and noisy home was now dark, foreboding and the silence was deafening compared to constant animal roars and squeaks. it made Rainbow extremely twitchy, remembering what happened to the main character of the horror movie who was in a similar situation didn't help her at all. She made it to Fluttershy's room and found the door ajar. Rainbow knew Fluttershy closed the door whenever she wasn't home, so she was here. "Fluttershy?" Rainbows asked the gloom of Fluttershy's bedroom and got no answer. the only light was a sliver that somehow managed to make its way through the curtains. Rainbow's eyes were drawn to Fluttershy's rocking chair, slowly going back and forth facing the far corner of the room. She crept closer, and she started to hear soft mumbling and murmurs saying what sounded like 'chisels' from what she could hear. Slowly approaching Rainbow peered around the rocking chair and found Fluttershy, eyes glassily staring at the wall in front of her, whispering. The scene made all the instincts in her head scream to run and hide under her cloud bed and never come out, ever. She gently poked Fluttershy with her hoof but Fluttershy just stayed there rocking back and forth. Rainbow knew something was wrong, so she turned to go get the rest of her friends for help. Just as she turned she felt a hoof latch onto her withers with a grip of iron. Sweat poured out of every pore on Rainbow’s body as she shakily turned and looked into the wide, staring, piercing eyes of Fluttershy. Her legs threatened to give out as seconds passed while Fluttershy stared at her. She’d felt the effects of 'The Stare' before, but this was something else and much, much worse. “....” Fluttershy said something, but it was too soft to hear. Rainbow, while afraid, figured she was trying to tell her something, so she strained her hearing as hard as she could, and she managed to pick up what Fluttershy said. “The weasels.” was what she said over and over again. Rainbow was confused before all the pieces clicked in her brain and her hoof met her face, hard. “Gilda, you bucking idiot.”