Chapter 2: Bloody sand
Twilight levitated the checklist in front of her nose and scrutinized the items on the list, checking to make sure all the beach items were accounted for. "Umbrella: Check. Beach ball: Check. Towels: Check. Sun screen: Check. Snacks/water: Check... It seemed that everything was in order. She smiled and checked off the, 'Check the checklist to make sure everything is checked off' block and turned to her friends. They all sat impatiently around the library, waiting for the beach party.
Rarity wore a very stylish, and the way she put it, 'sensual' bathing suit, Spike gawked at her, Rainbow and Fluttershy talked in the corner, and Applejack and Pinkie Pie were playing tick tack toe. Twilight cleared her throat, getting every ponies attention. "Alright. Everything is good. Are you all ready to leave?" She asked. The room became warm with the eager smiles of the ponies, who nodded excitedly.
Pinkie squeed and cartwheeled out the door. "Weeee! Beach Party! Beach Party!" She yelled excitedly, rolling blindly into the streets.
"Geez. Somepony calm that mare down." Rainbow Dash chided, rolling her eyes. Rarity gave a tiny huff.
"Oh, come now, Rainbow Dash. It's not like she's harming anypony." She said with a giggle.
"HEY! WATCH WHERE YOU'RE CARTWHEELING!" An innocent bystander yelled, making the mistake of getting in the excited Earth ponies way. Rarity chuckled and lightly smiled at Rainbow. "Uh... well, she didn't kill any-" She cut herself off, not wanting to tempt fate. "Let's just go..."
The walk to the beach was long, tiring, and to Twilight, wasn't worth it. But, she had promised all her friends to do something special for their three years together as friends. "WEE! We're here!" Pinkie shouted running onto the sand, instantly flaying her things about in a swift motion. The others followed suit, albeit slower than the pink mare.
"Last one in the water is a rotten egg!" Rainbow yelled loudly, rushing the lapping waves, encircling herself in the cold surf. She took one deep breath and plunged into the ocean, using her wings to swim at blinding speed. Applejack smiled and rushed in after her, never one to back down from a challenge, especially one from Rainbow. Pinkie Pie giggled and hopped in after that, but Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike and Twilight were just as content catching some sun.
"Flip me over when I start to smolder." Spike yawned, placing his claws behind his head to get into a comfortable position. Twilight rolled her eyes and pulled out her book, while Rarity and Fluttershy had a quiet conversation.
"So, Fluttershy. You must tell me why you don't like the beach." Rarity began, taking a sip of soda pop. Fluttershy shifted on her towel and shrugged. "Uhm, It's just... there could be scary things in the water..." She gulped.
Rarity chuckled at that. Fluttershy loves all kinds of animals! How could the ones in the ocean be any worse than some of the ones on land? "Alright, Fluttershy. Let's hope you can get over this silly phobia. It's beautiful out at least, right?" She asked. Fluttershy nodded and smiled. "Yes... it is. Just... don't force me to go swimming..." She pleaded. Rarity nodded.
"Of course, darling. But I guarantee you, nothing scary will happen."
Louis could feel it more than anything else. His body was racked with pain, sore from head to toe. He couldn't move, he could barely breath, he could only let the current take him to whichever destination seemed fit. He drifted for what seemed like an eternity when his back finally scrapped against sand. He silently thanked God and tried to sit up, only to instantly fall back down. He took a deep inhale and looked at his surroundings, to see Zoey and Francis, lying face first in the dirt.
"Zo-Zoey? Franc-is." He coughed. Francis was the first to stir. He groggily got to his knees and looked over to his pals. "Hah! I told you we'd be okay!" He yelled triumphantly. He then began to pale and wobble. "Uh, Louis?" He said in a quiet voice.
"Yeah, buddy? What's up?" He answered back. Francis stared him in the eye for almost a solid minute before speaking again. "I hate the ocean." And with that, Francis fell into the sand, completely out cold.
Louis, feeling strength ebb into his muscles once again, slowly began to sit up. Once he was comfortable with that position, he managed to get himself into a standing position. "Come on, Louis. You've been hit far worse than this." He told himself, trying to will his legs forward. He fell to his knees and cursed himself. "No. You have to find something, anything to help the guys! You can't lose them, too. You've been puked on, you've been bitten, clawed and punched on every square inch of your body and your gonna let one measly tidal wave bring you down!? Hell no! GET UP!"
He yelled and got back to his feet, his body protesting the endeavor the whole time. He had a good feeling that there was someone here who could help. He knew they'd found something, but he just wasn't sure what...
He made his way down the beach, clutching his side. "I must have banged it on the side of the boat... He thought. But it didn't matter at this point. The only thing that mattered was the nagging feeling that someone was out there. He had a good feeling about it, and it was the only thing keeping him going at this point.
"Well... That looks like a problem..." He huffed, standing in front of the large boulder, separating the two halves of the beaches. He didn't want to risk going into the water, since if he fell, he'd most likely drown since he had very little strength to swim if he fell into the large waves. "Well, Louis, it looks like it's time to climb."
He began the arduous task of climbing the black mound, knowing that his friends were waiting. He wasn't going to let them down.
"Not like I did with Bill..."
"Alright, everypony!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Whoever brings back the best seashell, wins! On your marks...getsetgo!" She bolted off across the beach, scanning everything and everything to win this pointless contest of hers. Once she was out of range, the others simply went back to relaxing. "Ah swear." Applejack began. "That Pegasus can't function without everything bein' a competition. Poor girl can't even enjoy herself at the beach!" She sighed and put her sunglasses on, laying back on her towel to catch some well deserved rays.
"What did she say that competition was for?" Twilight asked, looking up from her book. Everyone shrugged and that was a good enough answer for her. Now, she could probably read in peace.
Rainbow looked behind her to see empty beach. "Hah! Left them in the dust! I know where all the best shells are on this shore! They'll lose for sure!" She chuckled excitedly and made her way to a rocky outcropping, where seashells and smooth stones are so easily lodged. She began to dig at the bottom, then climbed her way to the top. A bright sparkle dazzled in the corner of her eye.
She smiled wide, seeing the pearl sitting atop the black stone. It was beautiful, and she'd be sure to win with this! She floated to the top eager and intent on claiming her prize. She greedily reached for it, the large jewel getting closer and closer to her hooves.
SLAP
She screamed and jumped back as something hit her hand from the other side. "H-hello?" She gasped. She heard the groan and, hearing that whoever it was was in trouble, flew over to help.
"Oh my gosh, are you okay? What happ...ened." She trailed off, seeing the creature in front of her. It was tall, had dark, brown skin, and no fur of mane. It looked up at her with wide, dark eyes.
"WHOA! WHAT THE-"
"JESUS CHRIST!"
Rainbow fell to the ground out of complete shock, her wings refusing to work. The two scuttled back from one another, completely dumbfounded as to what the other was. She saw the creature pull something from his hip. It was completely black and had a hole in the middle of the square tube.
Louis sat there, aiming at the creature. Was it a new zombie? Was it going to hurt him? "No... It wasn't ripping my face off, which it would have done by now. And I swear, I heard it talk.
"Hello?" He said, testing the theory. The blue, winged creature just sat there and gawked. He cleared his throat again. He thought he was crazy, but this was as real as it was going to get. "We... need help?" He questioned, seeing as how this creature looked more like a horse than a person, he didn't expect it to-
"MONSTER!" She yelled. Louis covered his ears and watched her zip away in a multicolored flash. He felt his wounds catch up with him and began to tunnel vision.
"Son of a....bitch." He crashed to the sand face first, finally succumbing to the shock.
"TWILIGHT!"
Everypony turned to see a very frantic Rainbow Dash burst onto the scene, stopping just in front of them, kicking up sand. They all spat and shook themselves off and glared daggers at the frantic looking Dash.
"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled, shaking the sand from between the pages of her book. "What in the wide world of Equestria is going on with you today?!" Rainbow Dash continued to hop from foot to foot, a look of shear panic etched on her face.
"M-monster! Scary! It can talk! Needs help... but, MONSTER!" She wailed again, diving under her towel. Twilight perked up when she heard it can talk.
"Wait! It can talk? Did it hurt you?" She asked. Rainbow peaked out and shook her head.
"N-no! I didn't give it a chance to."
Twilight bolted down the beach, leaving the others in the dust. "Twi!" Applejack called out, but it was too late. She turned back to the others and grabbed her stetson. "Well gals? Ah guess it's time for critter huntin'." She said with a smile. She ran after Twilight, followed by the others. (Although Fluttershy was a bit apprehensive...)
Louis could here the voices around him, but just barely. They sounded like they were right there, but so far away. He tried to move, but his body was spent.
"Get me a towel! it's bleeding everywhere!"
"What is it?!"
"I don't know, but it's hurt!"
"Oh, you poor, poor creature..."
"Fluttershy! Stay back! You don't know what it is!"
"HEY! There's two more over here!"
Louis couldn't stay conscious any longer. The world went dark and the voices cut out. All he could do now was helplessly wait for whatever the heck these were to help him and the others.
Or wait for the creatures to kill them...