//------------------------------// // 5 - Skin of Their Teeth // Story: It Came from the Stars // by JackRipper //------------------------------// Noise. Someone was reaching out to Twilight, yet she stayed isolated in her little bubble. She hadn’t needed her bubble in a long time. She sat there with a blank stare plastered across her face. IT was as if she was staring at the world— —and the world was staring back at her. Twilight could see now. It was Spike, staring up at her with a bewildered and disturbed expression, yelling something at her. The bubble was quivering. Just a little longer, that’s all she needed. She just needed enough time to collect herself, to think. Slap! Twilight reared her head back, gasping as Spike looked at her apologetically. “Wake up, Twilight!” “W-what? Spike, where am I?” She blinked multiple times, briefly attempting to stand up before collapsing to the ground again. Her head was pounding, visions of what she saw in the cave swirling in her mind… “You’re still out here in the forest. We have to get you out of here, fast!” Spike grabbed Twilight’s hoof, helping her up. Twilight groaned as her headache dulled. She looked around. Rainbow Dash was still holding the little orange filly, but she was no longer crying. The silence was deafening. Twilight looked around, still in a daze. “W-where are the others?” Rainbow slowly lifted her head towards Twilight. Their eyes met and Rainbow slightly shook her head. “I don’t know, Twilight.” Twilight turned to Spike. “I don’t know how you found us, or why you’re here, but that doesn’t matter right now. Have you seen the other two?” Spike gulped. “I uh… haven’t seen anyone else but you guys.” Twilight sat down and rubbed her temples, still processing what she had seen down in the cave. Applejack and Rarity; now she also had to worry about where they had gone. She’d hoped they weren’t still down in that awful place... But the other two fillies were definitely still down there. They would have to do something, anything, she couldn’t just leave them down there. She knew that she couldn’t do this alone. This was a whole lot bigger than just a simple geological land survey. “Twi?” Spike was standing near Rainbow Dash now, twiddling his claws. “What are we going to do?” Twilight didn’t answer for a second. Her grim expression growing as she stared deep into the forest. “We’re going to need some backup, Spike.” “W-what?” A plume of smoke filled Spike’s vision as Twilight conjured a hefty amount of parchment from the air; he knew better than to question it.   “Take a letter…” “Keep runnin’! We gotta put some distance between us!” Rarity was panting, her mane matted and her coat gleaming with sweat. She didn’t reply to Applejack, she was entirely focused on getting away from whatever-the-hell was chasing them. Applejack didn’t know how long they’d been running for, and she didn’t exactly have the time to count the seconds. Her hooves ached and she was beginning to wonder where she was even running to. There was nothing in that stupid cave, nothing but what looked like eggs from what Applejack could tell. Then that thing showed up, and the frying pan felt much hotter than before. Now they were in the fire, and she could only pray to whoever was looking down on her that she hadn’t just abandoned her sister. “Applejack, watch out!” Rarity screamed. Applejack slammed her hooves into the ground, sliding a few more feet while kicking up dirt. She was so lost in thought that she didn’t even notice the cliff right in front of her. Her head whipped side to side before she spotted a bridge. “Over there!” Rarity wasted no time rerouting herself towards the bridge. “Is that even safe!?” “Looks like we’re gonna find out!” Applejack galloped straight for the bridge, ignoring the fraying ropes and barreling past Rarity. She quickly crossed and turned around to see if Rarity was alright: she was about halfway across the bridge. Applejack couldn’t see that thing behind them anymore, but she knew they weren’t out of the woods yet. Snap! Rarity yelped as the bridge gave way, the bridge collapsing underneath her. She lunged for the edge, half her body smashing into the ground right at the end of the bridge. “I gotcha!” Applejack dove and grasped Rarity’s hooves with her own and reared her body back. Rarity’s horn lit up as her lower half was doused in a soft blue, as she attempted to pull her lower half onto the cliff. Together, they managed to pull her up and promptly collapsed to the ground. “Well, I think we should be safe now…” Rarity heaved, chuckling nervously after nearly dying. “Yeah, but what are we going to do now that the—” Applejack stopped. There it was again, the same hissing she heard back in the cave. Except this time, it was much louder. She swerved her head around trying to locate the source of the hissing. Sweat poured down her face as she feebly attempted to stifle her shaking. A tree, right across the short bridge they had cross, swayed and shook. “Rarity, run!” Without question, Rarity scrambled to her hooves and booked it in the opposite direction of the chasm. Thud! Applejack’s skin crawled as she heard the creature presumably jump clean across the gap. “Faster! Go Faster!” Applejack tried her hardest to keep the fear out of her voice, kicking it into overdrive with Rarity following suit. “Up ahead! Look!” Rarity yelled behind her. Focusing on the path ahead of them, Applejack spotted an ancient, decrepit castle. “We can hide in there!” They ran up the decayed steps, hooves clacking on the stone as they burst through the broken doors. “Over here!” Applejack grabbed Rarity’s hoof and dragged her down the hallway into the closest room to them. The interior of the room was filled with shelves upon shelves of books reaching as high as the ceiling. Wasting no time, Applejack dragged the pair towards another door on the other side of the room and whipped it open. Stuffing Rarity inside the dark room, she quickly but quietly shut the door and pressed her body against it. “Be quiet,” Applejack murmured. She pressed her ear up against the rotting wood and listened carefully. Rarity was pressing her hooves into her muzzle. Neither one of them could see anything. They both stayed silent for a minute, slowly but surely gaining control of their breathing. Applejack concentrated on hearing through the door. She swore she could hear a faint stomping far away. Slam! Applejack and Rarity jumped as the library door smashed open, splinters flying to the ground, a hiss resonating throughout the room. Applejack silently scooted over toward Rarity, pulling her close and muffling her breathing with her forearm. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Each step the alien took, Rarity’s breathing became more and more erratic. Applejack pulled Rarity close into her chest. They could both hear the creature knocking over chairs and desks, slowly making its way to the door. Applejack could feel Rarity shaking violently against her. With the alien coming closer, Applejack leaned down right next to Rarity’s ear and whispered, “Just breathe. It won’t find us.” Applejack slowly slackened her grip on Rarity, in what she hoped was a soothing gesture. It seemed to have worked; she ceased her hyperventilating, and her breathing becoming steady once again, clinging onto Applejack’s sweat-covered body. It was close. Applejack could hear it, and she prayed to Celestia that Rarity couldn’t. If she started freaking out again, it would be over for both of them. Applejack closed her eyes and calmed herself down, thinking of her family and if she was going to see them again. No, she would see them again, she wasn’t going to have it any other way.   A few seconds passed—minutes? It was hard to tell. Hiss… There was one more frustrated slam of debris as the creature stormed out of the room. Rarity flinched at the sound, before slowly relaxing in Applejack’s frame, sighing in relief. They both laid on the cold floor, catching their breaths. Rarity let out a small chuckle, not believing their luck. Applejack quietly got to her hooves and looked through a small crack in the door. In the dim moonlight, she could see the room in disarray. There was no alien in sight, nor could she hear it. “I… they were there, Applejack. They were right in f-front of me… and I couldn’t... I couldn’t—” “What are you goin’ on about, Rarity?” Applejack’s voice was soft with concern. “Both of them… I saw them down there, Applejack. We could have saved them, and if it doesn’t find us, it’ll find them instead. I-it’s only a matter of time.” Applejack slumped down onto her haunches, eyes drifting to the floor. So they were down there, in that damn cave. She didn’t want to believe it, but part of her knew the second she’d stepped foot inside. She looked up at Rarity. She was crying; what was left of her mascara making fine lines down her face. Applejack shook her head. “We have to go back.” Rarity didn’t answer, nodding weakly as she buried her face into Applejack’s chest. “Don’t worry, Apple Bloom. I’m comin’ for ya.”