There existed an old tale on the mountains of Sanhill, tales of a giant man who roamed the cliffs in search of hikers brave enough to travel or camp in its domain. The last sighting of this elusive man was twenty years ago and people had lost interest in such a tale. In no time, almost everyone forgot about it, like they forgot about the Loch Horse Monster-
“Hang on, hang on.” Rainbow Dash waved her hands through the dream. “Forgot about the Loch Horse Monster? I still remember it, hoax or not, it’s still remembered, right? Come on, if you’re going to tell a story, at least get the facts right. And what’s a Sanhill Mountains? I may be bad at geography, but at least I know there’s no such place.”
Applejack frowned and blew up at her blonde fringe. “It’s a story, Dash. Ah don’t need to make it happen in a real place. And come on, gimme some creative li-bur-tay, how ‘bout that?”
“Just saying.” Rainbow lifted both hands in surrender. “I mean, you interrupt my stories all the time with questions, so here’s one.”
Applejack frowned and raised her hat higher. “At least Ah give valid questions.”
“Right…”
The campfire they sat around flickered and danced in the light wind, with all of the group huddled around it to warm themselves. Fluttershy had opted to sit out of the story again, this time retiring early to get some rest for their canoe trip the next day. Lightning Rain had gone off with Roseluck to go pick flowers in the forest, leaving only Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie, Home Run and Jetstream seated around the warmth of their campfire. The wood crackled under the fire and sent out a puff of cinders, blowing away into the air.
“Come on, get on with it!” Pinkie said in a Trottingham accent and pretended to stroke a moustache. “Let us hear the rest of the story.”
“Yeah, I wanna know what this mountain man is,” Home Run said. “Sounds like a good story.”
“Can’t be as good as the ones I tell.” Jetstream folded his arms and smirked smugly. “But fire away. Let’s see where this goes.”
Applejack nodded and cleared her throat. “Right. As Ah was sayin…”
Sunset Shimmer was one of the five students that decided to go camping up in the Sanhill Mountains. It was for a school hypothesis to see just what kind of plants were able to grow up there.
“Okay, okay, sorry AJ, but why is it always me?” Sunset interrupted. “Can’t it be someone else for a change?”
“And really? For a school hypothesis?” Rarity was the next to say something. “How about just for a time of leisure.”
Applejack sighed, and lowered her brows. “Fine. Ah’ll change it. But no more interruptions.”
Rarity was one of the five students that decided to go camping up in the Sanhill Mountains. The group of friends had decided to spend their holidays together in some place exotic, so what better place to go than one of the tallest mountains in the world?
Rarity had come here with Jestream, Velvet Breeze, Rainbow Dash, and of course her beloved boyfriend, Home Run.
“Uh, Applejack, you know…” Home Run rubbed the back of his neck. “You know I have a girlfriend right? And it’s not Rarity?”
“And thank goodness she’s not here to hear this story.” Sunset chuckled. “But come on, I’m still in the story?”
“Not as a lead role, yeah?” Applejack said and leaned back against a log. “And seriously, it’s just a story, okay? Ah’m the story master tonight, so Ah get to decide what happens, okay?”
“What a joke!” Rainbow guffawed. “Home Run and Rarity? Now that’s a weird couple.”
“Hey, Ah’m just bringin’ in somethin’ different, okay? May Ah continue?”
“Okay, okay, sure.” Rarity raised both hands. “I don’t mind having a boyfriend anyway. I wish I had one in real life.” She looked at Home Run. “Some people have all the luck. You’d think with my charms, I’d have one already.”
“Hey, don’t look at me. I’m not the one-”
“Alright, may Ah continue?” Applejack waited for her friends to stop before continuing.
It was a chilly afternoon as they hiked up the rocky cliffs of Sanhill. The pathways were made of small rocks, while boulders and tall trees flanked their sides. A small stream flowed down from somewhere higher up the mountain, adding a soft and soothing ambient sound to their otherwise gravel-crunching journey up.
“It’s so high…” Rarity complained, wiping sweat from her forehead as she struggled to keep up. “How much longer.”
Home Run fell back to where she was and took her pack for her. “You’re the one who wanted to come here, remember?”
“Well, it is a nice place. It’s just high. But thanks for being such a sweetie and helping me.”
“Anytime for my girlfriend.” Home Run smiled.
“No, no, don’t you interrupt me.” Applejack wagged a finger. Home Run looked like he was about to say something, but stopped.
“Stop flirting there and let’s get on with it!” Velvet called with a wave of her arm. “The faster we get up there, the faster we can set up camp!”
“Coming!” Rarity picked up the pace and hurried on, with Home Run in tow.
The hiking group pressed on, entering into a more dense section of a forested area, the view of the cliffs disappearing by the start of the forest. The woods were filled with trees that reached up high to the sky, most of the leaves already gone, falling away as winter began to creep closer.
As the group got higher, the air around them began to get colder and colder and visibility faded as a light fog began to envelop them.
“Almost to the designated campgrounds now.” Velvet peered over the map she was holding and pointed ahead. “We’ll know it when we get to a clearing.”
“I wonder if anything lives up here.” Rainbow exhaled, watching as her breath appeared in front of her face. “I hope we get to see some real sights up here. I don’t want to have hiked up all the way for nothing.”
“It’s supposed to be. Mostly untouched by humans. It should be rather nice.”
“I suppose.” Rainbow Dash turned around and waved. “Come on, Home Run, you’re too slow.”
“Gimme a break! Rarity packed all kinds of unnecessary things in her pack!”
“Now what in my pack would you say is unnecessary.” Rarity folded her arms and huffed. “I only bring the essentials.”
“Uh, a hair dryer?” Applejack groaned, interrupted again. She was beginning to know what it was like to constantly be interrupted.
“A hair dryer is an essential. What if my hair gets wet? I can just blow it dry.”
“And you’re going to plug it into…?”
Rarity gestured a square shape. “I always bring a battery pack too.”
Applejack slapped a hand to her face. “Anyway, may Ah continue?”
The five students finally decided to set up camp when they arrived at the clearing. It was a circular area with a stack of stones in the middle for a campfire. There was plenty of room for at least ten tents, so the group set each of theirs up with enough space between each other.
“I’m going to go scout out our surroundings, get a feeling of where we are.” Rainbow got up after setting her things beside her tent.
“I’ll get the fire going.” Velvet pulled a box of matches from her sleeve. “We’ll break for the night and go exploring first thing tomorrow morning.”
“That works.” Jetstream stabbed his last tent peg into the soil below their feet. “I could use a good time to relax.”
Home Run had placed all of Rarity’s gear inside her tent before setting up his own. He hadn’t packed as much himself, but he had brought a fan favourite snack, knowing just how much everyone enjoyed it.
“Who wants some Turnip crackers!” He pulled out a green box from his bag and shook it.
“We do!” Everyone’s head tilted up and smiles appeared on their faces.
“Hol’ up!” Jetstream stretched a hand out to stop Applejack. “Really? Turnips? Gross! Why would we like that!”
“Turnips are wonderful snacks. Y’all don’t think so?” Applejack looked at her friends.
No one answered.
“Right, uh, anyway, my story my rules, got it?”
After a hearty time of eating turnip crackers, the group settled down around the campfire, having a proper meal of chicken stew that Velvet had brought with her.
“This sure warms you right up.” Home Run took another spoonful from their pot, which hung above the campfire.
“Absolutely delicious. Wise of you to bring this, Velvet dear.” Rarity slurped at her spoon.
“Exactly why I cooked it and brought it.” Velvet grinned, then looked to the edge of the forest. “Hey, Rainbow hasn’t come back yet. Do you think we should go look for her? Maybe she got lost.”
“Wait, they started eating without looking for me?” Rainbow asked. “Some friends.”
“Ahem.” Applejack coughed and frowned. “It’s a story. My story. May Ah continue?”
The athlete raised both hands in surrender.
“I’ll go have a look.” Velvet set her bowl down and got up.
“Be careful. There are supposed to be bears and such on this mountain.” Rarity watched her go. “If a bear sees you, play dead!”
Velvet raised a hand in acknowledgement before vanishing through the treeline.
“I wonder just what’s taking Rainbow so long.” Jetstream eyed the forest and tapped his spoon against his bowl. “Maybe she found bigfoot.”
“Bigfoot? No way.” Home Run blew a raspberry. “Bigfoot doesn’t exist.”
“He does! Remember that robot from the dance?”
“That was no robot.”
“It was!”
“What does it even have to do with Bigfoot?”
“My point is… Hey, there’s the captain.” Jetstream pointed his spoon at the returning rainbow haired girl.
“You guys didn’t wait for me before eating?” She put her hands on her hips.
“Rainbow, you’re back!” Rarity exclaimed, then looked past her. “Wait, where’s Velvet?”
Rainbow Dash looked around. “Velvet? I didn’t see her. I did, however, find some deer. They seemed fine. Probably adjusted to the air up here.”
“But no Velvet, huh?” Jetstream clapped his hands together, then rose to his feet. “Guess it’s my turn to go look. If she comes back, just let me know.”
“How?” Home Run asked, but Jetstream didn’t reply and bungled his way through a bush. “Great. Are we taking turns to get lost in the woods? It’s getting dark. And the fog isn’t helping with visibility.”
“He’ll be fine, dear.” Rarity gave him a peck on the cheek. “He’s Jetstream.”
“Ew, gross!” Rainbow bent back with laughter. “Come on, Rarity, do that right now. Give Home Run that kiss on the cheek. I just can’t picture it!”
“I will not do something as scandalous as that.” The fashionista folded her arms. “Home Run already has a girlfriend. I won’t do anything that may potentially change that.”
“Thanks, Rarity,” Home Run said after a sigh of relief. “AJ, could you continue on, please?”
“Ah’d be happy to.”
Finishing their dinner, Home Run and Rainbow helped put away the bowls and utensils before looking back to the treeline, where Rarity was standing, a blanket around her shoulders.
By now, the sun had already set and the area was thrown into a deep black. Jetstream and Velvet were still out there somewhere.
Home Run sighed and removed a flashlight from his backpack. “Okay, I guess it’s my turn to go look for them.”
Rarity grabbed his sleeve as he attempted to leave. “No! You can’t! What if… What if you don’t come back too?”
“Well, we can’t just leave them. Someone needs to find them. They could’ve fallen somewhere.”
“What if you disappear too? What are we going to do?”
“I won’t. I’ll find them. Don’t worry, Rares.”
“Heroic boy, isn’t he?” Rainbow nudged Rarity as Home Run was next to disappear into the thicket. “Hey, don’t worry, he’ll be fine.”
“Well, thanks for the hero title.” Home Run smiled. “But splitting up is the last thing anyone should do in a horror story.”
“Yeah well, people still do it in all them horror movies.”
“True. Okay. Continue.”
Rarity had gone back into her tent to wait for her friends to return, curling up into the blankets she had packed and read a great romance novel she had brought along.
It had only been about ten minutes when something caught her ear. It sounded like a footstep.
Averting her eyes from her book, Rarity looked around from inside her tent. With the campfire casting its light on the area, she could kind of see if there was anything outside her tent. At first, the only things she could see were the faint outlines of Jetstream’s and Sunset’s tents, but then there was another footstep on the dirt outside. Then another. Suddenly, a hulking shape came into view, which made every nerve in Rarity’s body freeze and jump-
“How can a nerve freeze and jump at the same time?” Pinkie chuckled. “It’s like saying I shrank back motionless. It’s weird.”
“Alright, alright, Ah’ll change it, okay?” Applejack resisted the urge to wipe a hand across her face.
Suddenly, a hulking shape came into view, which made every nerve in Rarity’s body freeze up like a deer in the headlights. From the shape alone, she could tell it wasn’t human. The thing outside stood about half a body taller than Home Run, and its back was hunched almost like that of a turtle shell. It had a rounded head that didn’t seem to sport any nose, but what scared her most were its arms. The thing’s elbows passed below its waist, and its arms stretched back up almost to its neck. Rarity didn’t know how something with arms that long could walk around normally, but there it was, just outside her tent.
Wrapping her blankets tighter around herself, the girl could only watch in fear as the shadow outside continue to creep along her tent, looking in the direction of the campfire. Whatever it was out there, Rarity had no intention of letting it know she was here.
“I’m back!” Jetstream’s voice suddenly rang out in the clearing. “Couldn’t find them. Holy m-!”
The creature suddenly shifted its head in the direction of his voice and with a low guttural growl, its shape faded away from Rarity’s tent and she heard a thundering of footsteps as Jetstream screamed with terror.
Rarity shut her ears as flesh was torn and bone was broken, silent tears sliding down her face. She didn’t know what was happening out there, and she didn’t know if the others were okay.
She shut her eyes, trying to push it all out of her head. It wasn’t happening. It wasn’t real. She was probably just dreaming. If she opened her eyes again, maybe it would be gone.
When she finally decided to do so, Rarity realized it had all gone quiet. Dropping her blanket from her eyes, Rarity peered through her tent, hoping not to see the hulking creature. She was sorely disappointed. It was now standing close to Sunset’s tent, its body heaving up and down with breath, though she heard nothing.
Just when she thought it couldn’t get any worse, she heard Rainbow scream from her tent before the creature roared and charged.
“No, no…” she whispered, but she dared not speak out as the creature began tearing at Sunset’s tent.
“Gee, thanks, Rarity.” Rainbow Dash folded her arms and leaned against her knees. “For, you know, just sitting in there.”
“It’s not me, dear.” Then the fashionista squinted at Applejack. “Applejack’s the one giving me a bad image here.”
“Hey, would ya have helped her in this situation?” the cowgirl asked and tipped her hat higher.
“And hey, am I already dead?” Jetstream stroked his moustache and leaned back against his log. “I’d think I would’ve won against that thing.”
“Uh… sure, Jets...” Home Run snickered. “But yeah, Rarity wouldn’t have been able to do anything about that, right?”
Applejack nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. So let me go on, otherwise we’re gonna be here all night.”
Rarity heard footsteps lumber away from her position after Rainbow had gone quiet. She didn’t dare leave the safety of her own tent just yet. She might not have been able to see the creature anymore, but it could still be out there somewhere, just away from the campfire and tents.
Jetstream, Rainbow Dash. Rarity knew they had to be dead. She had heard the sound of rending flesh and breaking bone, along the the crunches of something chewing through them; Rarity was likely going to hear this through the rest of her life. That is, if she ever made it out of here. She needed to get off the mountain, fast. But then there was Velvet and Home Run. Her beloved Home Run. They were both still out there somewhere, looking for each other and Jetstream.
Rarity could only hope they had seen what had happened and were hiding somewhere right this moment.
She wanted to leave right now. To run down the mountain in the direction they came, but Home Run and Velvet were out there. She couldn’t just leave them up here with that thing.
Vowing to find them before she left, Rarity got to her feet and crept slowly towards the exit of her tent, careful not to make a sound. One hand made its way to the tent’s zip and held it. Rarity wanted to pull it down and peer out, but her entire body had froze. She didn’t know if the creature was still out there, maybe waiting for her to go outside and be its next meal.
Images of the creature’s eye appearing just outside her tent filled her mind and it became even harder for Rarity to pull the zip down.
“Your friends need you, Rarity…” she whispered out loud to herself. “You need to find them. You need to get off the mountain with them.”
With all the courage in the world, Rarity pulled her tent zip down and held her breath. The creature wasn’t there anymore. As she pulled it down lower, the sound of the crackling fire outside became more noticeable, and that seemed to be the only sound out there in the forest right now. Everything else was deathly silent. No rustling of any bushes, no wind amongst the trees, and not even one animal call anywhere in the distance; it was so quiet that Rarity could hear her heartbeat smashing in her ears, almost drowning out the campfire in the middle.
Very hesitantly, Rarity slipped one leg out of her tent, then the other. When she was completely sure nothing was going to come and attack her, she fully stood out of the tent and crept to Rainbow’s.
The athlete’s tent had been completely decimated. The entire thing had collapsed in the attack and pieces of it were strewn everywhere, all caked in fresh and glistening blood. Rarity almost choked as bile began to rise from her stomach. Pieces of Rainbow lay on the tent’s torn floor, with the only discerning piece left being a-”
“Wooooaahhh, woooaahhh!” Home Run held up a hand, then raised the other to his mouth. “You can stop the description there, AJ.”
“What’s the matter, Home Run? Can’t take a little gore?” Rainbow prodded him in the shoulder. “And you say you’re a man? Keep going, AJ.”
“I mean, you can just tone down the descriptions, right guys?” Home Run looked to the others.
“I can take it.” Jetstream smiled smugly. “I’m a man.”
“I’d rather not have to listen to such detail, if that’s okay.” Rarity began to fan herself with a hand.
“Yeah! And remember, this story doesn’t have a gore tag!” Pinkie blew a balloon and began tying it. “You can’t go on with gore if you didn’t have it, silly.”
“Uh, yeah. That.” Home Run pointed a finger in the air. “So let’s just go on with what’s going to happen, how about that?”
“Alright, alright. Ah’ll tone down the uh, gore. Ahem…”
With tears streaking down her face with the loss of her two friends, Rarity stumbled away to the forest, hoping to find out where Home Run and Velvet had gone. She crept along into the forest, walking as carefully and quietly as she could. With the darkness of the night and the layer of fog all around her, it was hard to see very far and in no time, everything around her began to look the same. She had forgotten which way was forward and which way was back.
Rarity recounted tales of this mountain in her mind. Just like that of Bigfoot or the Loch Horse Monster, the Sanhill Mountains were supposed to have its own cryptid. The Man on the Mountain, people had taken to calling it. A rather unoriginal name, Rarity thought, but she didn’t know how else to describe it. It’s description was that of a hairy man, giant in height and ferocious in behaviour. She didn’t know about the hairy part, but the ferocity and the size seemed to be right.
So now here she was, atop the mountains with the Man on the Mountain. It was really a mouthful.
Creeping quietly past another few trees, Rarity’s eyes began to adjust to the darkness and she could see her surroundings a little more clearly, though the fog still did a good job to keep her visibility low.
She tried to look out for tracks, for any signs of shoeprints in the soil beneath her feet, but it was a lot harder than any detective shows she watched back at home. Already hard to see through the gloom, she had to look out for odd shapes in the ground, which were never shoeprints.
“Come on… really?” she groaned to herself. This wasn’t as easy as it was on TV.
And then she saw it, grooves in the soil that looked like shoeprints. Measuring her foot next to one, she determined these were Home Run’s shoeprints. Her beloved and most handsome Home Run.
“Is that what you really think of him, Rarity?” Rainbow Dash snickered, with Pinkie Pie joining in a few seconds later. “You should’ve said something sooner.”
“No, it’s not!” Rarity covered her reddened cheeks. “I’ve never thought of the boy that way. AJ’s the one telling the story. Maybe that’s how she feels.”
“Naw, hey, Ah’m just addin’ that to add a little more character,” the cowgirl explained. “Ya know, for us to really know how much ya like him in the story.”
“Uh. Yeah, okay. Could we continue? It’s getting weird.” Home Run adjusted his seating position uncomfortably.
Rarity trudged through the woods, frantically twisting her head left and right as she looked for signs of her beloved and Velvet Breeze. Perhaps they were close now. Before she was able to do anything else, there was a crackle of something to her left, somewhere beyond the fog. Suddenly, there was a thump, followed by another, then another.
Footsteps.
Rarity tensed up and pressed her back against the nearest tree, keeping her ears attentive, trying to determine where it was coming from. The footsteps were slow and heavy, unlikely to be Home Run or Velvet.
Rarity gulped. Home Run and Velvet Breeze were close, and now, so was the beast. What if it found them first? She needed to do something about it.
Picking up a rock on the floor, Rarity weighed it in her hand and looked to her right. With a deep breath and a large pull back, Rarity threw the rock as hard as she could into the distance, watching as it sailed into the air before disappearing into the fog, impacting against the wood of a tree.
There was a grunt, followed by a deep growl from behind her tree, then a thunder of footsteps as something hurried in the direction of her thrown rock. It was frightening how loud the beast’s footsteps were as it tried to search for the source of the sound. Rarity took this chance to scramble away, following Home Run’s footsteps, every now and then turning around to look behind her to make sure she couldn’t see the Man on the Mountain.
As she passed a cluster of boulders, something suddenly swung out from the corner and smacked her right in the forehead, knocking her down.
“Oh my gosh, Rarity?”
Rarity rubbed the stars from her eyes and shook her head. Velvet stood above her, a branch in one hand.
“Ve-Velvet? What on earth are you doing that for?” she said as the teal-grey haired girl helped her up.
“I thought you were the monster.”
“You were going to hit the monster in the face with a branch?”
“I don’t know. What are you doing all the way out here? It’s not safe!”
“I came looking for you and Home Run. Speaking of which, where is he? Please tell me he’s with you? Oh, I can’t bear to think what would happen if he got eaten by that thing!”
“I’m okay, I’m okay, Rares.” Home Run walked out from behind Velvet, his hair a mess and housing a twig. There were scratches all along his body and his outer shirt was torn in two places.
“Oh, my darling!” Rarity grabbed him in a bear hug and kissed him repeatedly. “I thought I’d lost you!”
“Ew…” Rainbow Dash snickered with Pinkie Pie as they pointed to Rarity, who was steadily blushing. “Now that’s something you don’t see everyday.”
“I wouldn’t- It’s not me!” The seamstress covered her cheeks. “Oh, how disastrous. Uh, no offense, Home Run.”
Applejack was not amused. “Did ya seriously interrupt my story just for that, Rainbow?”
“What? It’s weird! Really? Home Run and Rarity are such an odd couple.”
“Reason why Ah picked it! Ah didn’t want to go for somethin’ common.”
“We need to get off this mountain,” Rarity said after she had finished kissing her boyfriend. “That thing… It already killed Rainbow and Jetstream. It was… It was so dreadful. We need to go before it gets us too!”
Just then there was a roar, coming from somewhere beyond the fog, echoing across the forest. A creature like that wouldn’t make loud sounds like that unless it had found something.
“We need to go. Now.” Home Run ushered his friends past him. “If we can get back to the camp-”
“No, we need to get off the mountain. As soon as possible!” Velvet hissed. “Forget the stuff!”
“But-”
“No buts! Let’s go!”
Pinkie Pie snickered. “Butts.”
Applejack sighed and ran a hand down her face.
Home Run led the way, with Rarity sticking close behind him, not wanting to lose him again. Velvet kept up behind them, branch in hand, ready to give the monster a good beating should it appear.
Rarity didn’t know what that little stick was gonna do against the Man on the Mountain. She had heard Rainbow’s cries as the beast tore into her. A stick wasn’t going to be much good, but it was better than nothing.
The rush through the woods seemed to go on forever, with tree after tree passing them in a blur. They needed to make sure not to run into a tree in their bumbling escape as well, so they couldn’t go down the mountain too quickly.
After what felt like forever, Rarity could see the fire of their campsite burning ahead. They didn’t stop, but the torn tents could be seen from here; it still wasn’t a pretty sight.
Behind them, they could still hear something bellowing, something with malevolent intent.
And it was coming.
“Go, go!” Velvet pushed Rarity and Home Run with her branch. “I think it’s picked up on our scent! Go!”
“Can we even outrun this thing?” Home Run called out, not even turning around to look as he led the way down.
“We have to try!”
Rarity ran along with them, but as she had expected, she soon began to tire, unable to keep up with Velvet and her boyfriend. “I’m tired! I can’t… keep going…!”
“Really?” Velvet was bewildered. “If we stop, it’ll get us!”
And then Home Run decided to do the heroic thing and picked Rarity up under his arms, running down the hill carrying her.
“Woah, woah, woah!” Rainbow waved her hands through the fire’s smoke. “Home Run might be strong, but he’s not that strong!”
“Now how would ya know how strong he is?” Applejack slapped a palm to her forehead. “It’s my story, Dash.”
“Come on, Ah’m sure Home Run can carry Rarity. She’s light, ain’t she?”
“Now, how do you know how heavy she is?”
Applejack sputtered, then sighed. “It’s my story, Dash! My story, my rules. Now, can Ah finish? Otherwise we’ll be here all night.”
Home Run ran on with Rarity, with Velvet continuously looking back as the sounds behind them got louder and louder. Trees began to shift, but it was too dark to accurately see how far the Man on the Mountain was.
Rarity held on for dear life, willing Home Run’s legs to go faster. She could feel it. They were almost to the bottom now.
And then behind them, a tree snapped in two and the beast barreled through it, using its long arms to propel itself forward as it charged.
It’s face was like that of a man’s but its mouth opened wider. Much wider. Rows of sharp dagger-like teeth lined it from side to side, with some meat even still stuck on them. It’s eyes were black and beady like that of an animal, and its nose was sharp like that of a bird-looking man, and it didn’t look happy.
“Keep going!” Velvet yelled, throwing her branch back at the creature. It bounced off its head, but did nothing to slow it down.
“Aaaaah! I want to go home!” Rarity cried out.
“Stop that!” Velvet waved a hand, trying to get Home Run to run faster. “Keep running!”
“What do you think I’m doing?!” Home Run called out.
Velvet gritted her teeth. They weren’t going to get much further before the large creature were to catch up. Something had to be done.
“Keep running, Home Run. Don’t you stop! Get Rarity to safety!”
“What? What do you mean?”
Without another thought, Velvet diverted away from the two of them and grabbed another branch from the forest floor. Rolling to a stop, she faced the monster fearlessly and readied her weapon.
“Velvet, no!” Rarity called out.
Home Run wanted to run back to help her, but there wasn’t much more he could do. Velvet knew what she was doing. The best he could do was to do as she told him. To get Rarity out of here.
Picking up speed again, Home Run didn’t turn back as the monster roared. Its footfalls had ceased, but only for a moment, before they started again, but judging from their sounds, it wasn’t coming after them.
“We should almost be out now! Once I get you out of here, I’m going back to help Velvet.”
“What?” Rarity looked at her boyfriend with shock. “No! You can’t!”
“I can’t just leave Velvet in there all alone!”
Behind them, the monster’s scuffle had died down and there was silence.
“Oh no…” Rarity gasped and covered her mouth.
There was a loud guttural bellow from within the woods and the sound of heavy footsteps started up again. Velvet hadn’t lasted long against it.
“Run, run faster, Home Run!” Rarity pounded on his shoulder with a hand.
The pounding behind them increased in volume as they ran.
Stomp. Stomp. Stomp.
It was closing the distance again, and it was closing it fast.
“Is that… Is that road?”
Rarity looked ahead. Down the slope and past the trees, she could make out the end of the road. This must’ve been the way they had come when they began their climb up the mountain. They were going to make it!
A street lamp illuminated the broken gates they had come in from. They were close!
Turning back to look behind Home Run, Rarity could just see the Man on the Mountain’s white shape coming up, smashing through trees with its lanky arms, ready to grab its next meal.
“Just a little more!”
Reaching the gates, Home Run basically threw Rarity to her feet, beckoning for her to squeeze out of the space between the gates. The girl stuck one leg out, then followed through with the rest of her body. In her rush, she cut herself against one of the gate’s barbed pieces of metal, but that was definitely better than getting mauled by a monster.
“I’m through, I’m through! Come on, Home Run!” She waved both hands furiously.
Home Run had stuck one leg out when he suddenly stopped in his tracks. Rarity shared one look of horror with him before he was pulled back through the gates, his screams piercing the night.
“Home Run, nooooo!” Rarity reached a hand out, but the sound of crunching could already be heard. There was nothing more she could do.
With tears blinding her vision, Rarity stumbled away from the gates, running on wobbly legs down the road, away from the nightmare she had gone through. They were gone. Her friends were gone, and she wasn’t able to do anything about it.
When she had reached far enough, Rarity dropped to her knees and cried. She didn’t stop until a car with sirens pulled up behind her.
“What, seriously?” Rainbow snorted. “That’s how this ends?”
“I’m not finished.” Applejack tipped her hat lower and growled.
Three days had passed as Rarity slammed her prepped backpack on her dining table. She had made sure she had her flashlight, some food, and even a machete she had procured recently. She knew this was a terrible idea. She did. But she also knew she had to go back. Her friends were all gone, and no one else believed her. She had to do this herself. She had to find justice.
“For all of them…” Rarity said to herself as a tear slid down her eye. “For Home Run… That beast… must… die.”
“The end.” Applejack clapped her hands together and leaned back, a satisfied smirk plastered on her face.
“Oh. That’s it.” Rainbow stood up and dusted her skirt. “Well, not bad, AJ. Not bad. Could use some work and could be a little more awesome, but entertaining enough. A few plot problems too.”
“You’re one to talk…” the cowgirl said.
“And really?” Pinkie chuckled. “You killed Velvet? She’s like, an Assassin and all.”
“Ex-Assassin.” Rainbow reminded. “I’m sure she’ll get a kick out of hearing that story. We should really get her to come to the next camping trip.”
“Yeah, and she killed me off so early too!” Jetstream threw his hands into the air. “I’m not that bad! I’m a skilled swordsman, you know?”
“Right, right.” Home Run patted him on the shoulder. “Well, it’s time to get some shut eye. Good story, AJ.”
“Sounds good. Anyway, Home Run and Rarity?” Sunset looked at them and covered a smile. “I don’t see that ever happening in real life.”
“Come on, y’all. It’s my story. My story, my rules, remember?” Applejack scratched at her forehead. “Next time, someone else can tell their story and decide on their rules, alright?”
“Right. Yes. Someone with more relationship sense, eh?” Rarity fanned herself with a fan she had brought along. “Uh, no offense, Home Run.”
“Right...” Home Run picked up the bucket and dumped its contents over the fire, plunging them all into darkness.
Pinkie began to whistle a tune as they tried to find their way back to the tents.