//------------------------------// // Just Beneath the Skin // Story: Flesh and Blood // by PajamaHam //------------------------------// Celestia's shining sun bathed Equestria in its glorious light. The birds chirped their magical melody as the warm summer breeze washed over the citizens of Ponyville. The ponies in the market went about buying and trading for things ranging from fresh produce to beautiful jewelry. Other ponies played and had picnics in the rolling hills just outside of town. It seemed like an average summer day for everypony. All except for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. For them, no two days were the same, there was no average day. Every day was different and filled with new adventures in their quests to find their special talents and gain their Cutie Marks! This led the trio to their next adventure, at the edge of the Everfree Forest. Applebloom carefully looked over a piece of paper covered in writing and other scribbles. The red-maned earth pony looked up from the parchment and turned to her pegasus friend, Scootaloo. "Ya sure this'll work?" asked Applebloom. Scootaloo looked up from the book she was scanning over. "Of course, it says right here all we've gotta do is get the orthrus to argue with itself. While he's occupied we can throw the net over him. It's fool proof!" She said proudly, grinning ear to ear. "But... what if both heads turn out to agree with each other on everything you've listed?" asked Sweetie Belle with a very worried look on her face. Scootaloo turned to the pessimistic unicorn as she spoke, "Oh come on. There's gotta be something they'll disagree on! And if not... we'll improvise," she explained in an attempt to reassure her friend. "You sure?" asked a not yet satisfied Sweetie Belle. "Positive!" Sweetie Belle continued to look at the orange-feathered filly skeptically. Then, smiled softly as she said, "Ok Scoots, I trust your judgment." Scootaloo smiled back and turned her attention back to Applebloom who was carefully putting their battle plan back into her saddlebags. Applebloom turned to Scootaloo smiling. "Ah trust ya too, Scootaloo," she spoke happily. Scootaloo returned the gesture before dramatically marching towards the edge of the vast forest, then, spun around, "Alright then!" Scootaloo said loudly with a look of determination on her face. "Are you fillies ready?!" She asked in a serious manner. Applebloom's face mirrored Scootaloo's, "Ah'm ready!" she declared, dropping low, preparing herself to sprint off into the unknown. "Me too!" Sweetie Belle announced as she looked over at Applebloom and awkwardly mimicked her stance and facial expression. The three exchanged glances one last time before turning to their heads back to the woodland. Taking in deep breaths, they simultaneously shouted "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS MONSTER HUNTERS!!!" at the top of their lungs while charging into the Everfree Forest. The three fillies blindly ran through leaves, vines, various plants, and anything else in their way. Birds and other animals fled in all directions to avoid the intruders, stirring up quite the commotion. Light from the midday sun shone through the tree canopy of the forest. It beamed harmonistically off of the water droplets that still lingered from yesterday's storm, illuminating the forest just enough to reveal the array of colorful plants that rested within the backwoods. The whole moment made the normally dark and scary forest look quite tranquil, aside from the disturbance the three little fillies had brought upon the timberland. After a few minutes of exploring, Scootaloo called out to her friends, "Either of you find anything yet?!" she shouted. "Nope!" replied Applebloom. "I still don't see it yet, sorry," dismally responded Sweetie Belle. The Cutie Mark Crusaders stopped at a clearing in the trees to catch their breath and get a look at their surroundings, no orthrus to be found. The forest was still filled with the sounds of animals panicking from the recent invasion of their homes. But what really stood out was the distinct noise of a chicken clucking, it seemed out of place. Sure enough, a chicken popped out from behind the bushes running around and fluttering its wings. It stopped for a moment and stared at the Crusaders in confusion, the girls stared back, just as perplexed. As they looked over the fowl, they spotted a collar around the chicken's neck. Letters in the collar read 'Elizabeak', followed by an address. It was one of Fluttershy's chickens! The girls silently exchanged glances before their eyes fell back on the feathered creature again. The ponies then huddled together to discuss what to do. "What do y'all think girls?" whispered Applebloom, "Should we get this chicken back ta Fluttershy's first?" "Um..." thought Scootaloo, "W-What do you think Sweetie Belle?" she quickly uttered, putting the spotlight on the unicorn filly. Sweetie Belle silently tapped her chin. Then, she looked up as she declared "The orthrus can wait, let's get the chicken back to Fluttershy first." The other two looked a little disinterested. "Maybe we can try and get 'Chicken Catching Cutie Marks' again," she coaxed, catching their attention. "I mean, we have the chicken right here! But we still haven't found an orthrus." Scootaloo and Applebloom nodded their heads in agreement. "Ok, here's the plan; Scootaloo, you distract the chicken by making chicken sounds or something," Sweetie Belle began, "Applebloom and I will-" "Whoa whoa whoa! Why me?!" interrupted a rather peeved Scootaloo. "Cuz' yer best at it, bein' related an' all," cracked Applebloom with a smirk. Scootaloo responded with a menacing look "You just won't ever let me live that down, will you?" she hissed. "Nope," Applebloom giggled. "Ok, you know what?" Sweetie Belle sighed, "New plan! How about we ALL surround the chicken and ALL make chicken noises, maybe it'll throw her off, confuse her a little," she suggested with silly hoof motions. "Then when we're close enough we can grab her," she concluded. "Sounds good," Applebloom concurred while Scootaloo silently nodded her head in agreement, still sore with Applebloom about the chicken remark. The group dispersed and slowly surrounded Elizabeak. Once they were all in position, they each began calling out to the chicken, imitating clucks as they advanced towards it. "Here chick chick chick chicken!" "bwak bwak bwak!" Elizabeak was on edge, frantically turning to each Crusader, frightened by the whole situation. "Almost..." Scootaloo began to annunciate as she closed in. "…GOTCHA!" The three shouted as they lunged at Elizabeak all at once. The chicken jumped up just in time for the Crusaders to crash into each other. In a panic, it darted back into the bushes as the girls recovered from their collision. "She's gettin' away!" shouted the distraught Applebloom. "Really?" Scootaloo asked in an extremely sarcastic manner. Applebloom gave the winged filly an annoyed look, "Just move yer flank!" she hollered. The fillies gave chase! They charged through the thick foliage of the now much denser forest, tripping over and bumping into nearly every branch, vine, hole, and root, while the fleeing feathered fowl easily ducked under and hopped over each obstacle. The distance between the girls and Elizabeak grew immensely every second! The chicken eventually leaped through another wall of leaves and out of sight. Finally, the girls reached the hedge in question, but stopped dead in their tracks from the thunder of a blood curling roar and the squawk of chicken being silenced. The sound emitted from just the other side of the bush, and continued to echo for a few seconds. The forest was dead silent now, not even a single bird chirped. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, pale as ghosts, stared into the leaves as if they were in a trance. Then, the sound of a very, very hungry animal gorging promptly filled the air. Hundreds of thoughts filled the Cutie Mark Crusaders' minds as they stood silently before the hedge. What could have made such a horrible sound? Could it be an orthrus? Was there any chance that Elizabeak was okay? The curiosity proved too much for the girls to handle, Scootaloo gulped hard as she cautiously made her way to the shrubbery, Applebloom and Sweetie Belle followed closely behind. With a shaky hoof, Scootaloo slowly parted some of the leaves away to peer through the hedge at the scene beyond it; the other two did the same. What they saw froze them all in fear. There, the pale yellow back of a large beast could be seen as it sat, hunched over, eating what was left of Elizabeak. Its large, dragon like wings shrouded the front of it, using them as a shield while a scorpion tail was at the ready to protect the savages' food from any other animal that may want it. There was no mistaking it, the large monstrosity was a manticore, a fully grown one at that. The grass around the behemoth was splattered with crimson and littered with feathers and entrail chunks, soon to be eaten as well. The gore around this feasting was sickening enough, the sound of the beast devouring the chicken just made it worse. The three horrified fillies stood peering through the hedge wide eyed in absolute silence. All of this was way too much for the young unicorn to handle. With Sweetie Belle's posh and easygoing lifestyle, and her limited access to media, made this unbearable. The most violence she would ever see was when she was Crusading with her friends, and even then they only received a few cuts or bruises. The gruesome scene before her began to sink in as she became light headed and her stomach began to ache. She started to shake uncontrollably as she breathed heavily, causing her heart rate increase. Scootaloo slowly turned towards the straining filly, "Are you okay, Sweetie Belle?" she carefully whispered. Applebloom took her eyes off of the manticore and glanced at Sweetie Belle to see what all the commotion was about. Sweetie Belle's face was contorted in anxiety while her ears dropped down to the sides of her head as she began to sweat. "I-I-" She choked out as her mouth began to fill with saliva. Sweetie Belle's eyes shot open, "Oh no," she squeaked in dismay. The frantic unicorn quickly spun around and spotted a nearby shrub. She clamped her mouth shut as she swiftly galloped over to it. Scootaloo and Applebloom covered their mouths to contain their gasps. Sweetie Belle leaned into the plant and loudly expelled the contents of her stomach into it. She did her best to try to quiet her gagging and coughing, but it was no use. With their hooves still on their mouths, the other two fillies stared in shock at their queasy friend. After a few seconds that seemed too long, Sweetie's vomiting ceased and she stumbled back to the ground with a groan of anguish. The Everfree Foreset was silent again, not even the manticore made a noise. Realizing this, Applebloom quickly turned back towards the hedge. She slowly parted away some leaves and peered through again just to find a pair of eyes, hungry and filled with bloodlust, staring back. Applebloom jolted back with a yelp. Scootaloo whirled around and looked at the red-maned earth pony in confusion, which soon turned to panic when she saw the fear on Applebloom's face. "Get away from there Scootaloo!" Applebloom screamed as she pointed at the hedge. Scootaloo twisted around just in time to see a gargantuan, blood soaked claw rushing out from the leaves towards her. With a gasp and a leap Scootaloo took to the air, dodging the claw by an inch. The razor sharp nails impaled themselves into the ground right where the orange-pegasus had just been standing, trees shaking from the impact. Scootaloo's tiny wings were only able to keep her airborne for a few seconds as she almost immediately dropped to the ground. She quickly made her way to Applebloom, never taking her eyes off the claw. With shaky legs, Sweetie Belle started to stand up slowly, finally beginning to catch her breath. The manticore's face began to emerge from the bushes, snarling and growling viciously. Its teeth were stained a pale pink and the fur around its muzzle and chin was matted down with blood. Its face also carried many scars, from past clashes no doubt. The rest of its body shortly appeared from the leaves, telling a much similar story. The manticore's wings were pressed against its body while its scorpion tail swayed back and forth. Its red eyes slowly skimmed over each Crusader; there was no way the manticore was planning to pass up an opportunity for a meal like this. The manticore was now between the ponies, Scootaloo and Applebloom on one side and Sweetie Belle alone on the other. The brute menacingly rotated around to face Sweetie Belle, singling her out as the weakest part of the group. The unicorn filly could only stare in despair as the creature's eyes focused on her. Seeing this, Applebloom frantically looked around her surroundings and spotted some decent sized stones scattered about the turf. The manticore let out a wicked roar as it prepared to charge at the paralyzed Sweetie Belle. Applebloom scrambled and snatched one of the rocks and with all her might hurled it at the unsuspecting manticore. The projectile, moving at a speed that would make the School's Softball Team's pitcher jealous, nailed the beast square in its right eye. The manticore howled in pain as it faltered away from the attacker. In the moment of confusion, Applebloom kicked off her saddle bags and unbuttoned one of the pouches. She pulled out the net she was carrying and threw it over the monster, draping it in the material. "RUN!" Applebloom hollered as she and the other two ponies darted back into the trees. The manticore shook itself from the strike and caught a glimpse of the Cutie Mark Crusaders racing back into the timber. The frustrated monstrosity let out a roar in rage as it sliced the net to shreds, then, took off after the fleeing fillies. The girls had no idea where they were going, but they didn't care, the further away from the carnivorous chimera the better. The Everfree Forest was now much sparser, light shining through the leaves overhead again. Sweetie Belle, running at the back of the pack, looked over her shoulder to check on their pursuer, it was nowhere to be seen. With a small sigh of relief, she turned back to her friends and continued running through the forest. Applebloom, leading the fillies, gawked at a break in the trees, an almost blinding glow beaming through it. "Hey! Ah see an' openin'!" she announced as she sped towards the phosphorescent space, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle not far behind. The young equines ran into the breach and were temporarily blinded by the full exposure to the midday sun. They sightlessly ran, hoping to soon see the sight of Ponyville in the distance. They couldn't wait to get home and tell of their exploits in the forest today. But all these thoughts suddenly came to an end as the Crusaders collided into a large, obscure object. Applebloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle staggered back after their bump with the unyielding mass while their vision began to return. Before the dazed ponies was a marble cliff side of one of the many mountains in the Everfree Forest. "What the hay?" spoke the perplexed Applebloom. Silence fell upon the Cutie Mark Crusaders as they all studied the large ridge. Realizing how awfully quiet it now was, Sweetie Belle hastily spun around to check on their atrocious pursuer. The unicorn filly gazed into the dark timber for a few seconds; nothing could be seen or heard. "I don't see…" she paused, catching her breath, "I don't see him anymore." A wave of relief washed over the fillies at those words, but their troubles weren't over yet. "How did we get all the way out here?" asked the dumbfounded Scootaloo, turning to Sweetie Belle. "Don't look at me, I was following you," stated Sweetie Belle. "W-well I was following Applebloom," declared Scootaloo. "Are ya sayin' this is all mah fault?" said the annoyed Applebloom. "N-no...!" stammered Scootaloo "Then what are ya sayin'?" "What I'm saying is... you know what, yes! Yes that is what I'm saying!" "An' why's that?" "Well, if you knew where you were going and didn't run off like that, we wouldn't be completely lost!" "Well excuse me for saving yer feathered flank from that manticore!" "We wouldn't even need to have worried about the manticore if you hadn't taken your eyes off of him!" "Ah don't think a two ton monster would be intimidated by a filly lookin' at em' through some bushes." "That's not what I meant! You could have let us know when he started to move or something." "Sorry, didn't know it was mah job!" "I never said it was!" "Ya sure act like ya did." "It's common sense." "No it aint. Common sense is not tryin' ta get everypony killed!" "Well it was stupid! I guess this is what I need to learn to expect from a hillbilly farm girl." "Are ya suggestin' that Ah'm dumb?" "Maybe if you learned to speak properly, then it wouldn't be so obvious!" "We're in the same class ya moron, an' the only thin' stupid here is yer idea to catch an orthrus! That's what got us here in the first place! Who in the hay has ever even spotted an orthrus out here?" "Well, if that's true, then that makes you stupid for thinking it would work!" "Ah did it so ya wouldn't get yer little feelins' hurt!" "Stop talking to me like I'm a baby! You're not that much older than me!" "You're right. If you were a baby, ya wouldn't whine as much and probably could have flown us out of here by now." Scootaloo furrowed her brow in enmity as she glared at the smirking Applebloom. "Take it back," she demanded. "No!" Appleblom responded, puffing out her chest and standing tall. "I said take it BACK!!" Scootaloo screamed, pouncing Applebloom. "Girls!" Sweetie Belle broken heartedly shouted. "This never solved anything before, and it won't solve anything now. We need to work together if we want to get out of here," she elucidated, but to no avail. Her words fell on deaf ears. Becoming aware that they weren't listening, her heart began to sink, "Girls, this is just going to make everything worse, like it always does." Applebloom and Scootaloo continued to ignore her, "Please, stop fighting..." the saddened unicorn filly whimpered, moisture starting to form in her eyes "...please." The fighting fillies flailed their hooves at one another as they struggled to gain control of the tussle, letting out screams of fury with every strike. Scootaloo used her upper body strength to overpower Applebloom, knocking her onto her back and pinning her forearms. "Take it back right now!" Scootaloo screeched, getting in the red-maned filly's face. "No!" Applebloom barked as she got a clear shot at Scootaloo's abdomen with her powerful back legs. Scootaloo, winded, propelled a few feet into the air from the sudden strike. The orange-pegasus hit the ground hard with a thud, kicking up some dirt. Sweetie Belle could only watch helplessly as her two best friends battered each other left and right. Applebloom, back on her hooves, charged at the paralyzed pony. Scootaloo stayed put, secretively regaining her breath and planning her attack as she observed Applebloom out of the corner of her eye. The unwary farm girl approached with a cocksure smirk on her face, Scootaloo saw her chance. The feathered pony sprung up, startling the pink-bowed pony, as she delivered a powerful right hook to the unsuspecting pony's left eye. Applebloom's world spun as she wobbled back, nearly collapsing. Scootaloo began to advance towards the dazed pony to follow up her attack but was blindsided by an abrupt force. Scootaloo, once again, came crashing down into the dirt. The flustered feathered filly looked up to see what could have knocked her over. Sweetie Belle stood over the winged pony, tears in her eyes, staring down with a look of anger and sorrow. Applebloom shook herself back to normal; the first thing she noticed was the down Scootaloo, charging right at her, not even noticing the whole situation. Sweetie Belle quickly jumped in the way and stopped the irate farm pony, shoving her away. Sweetie Belle now stood between Scootaloo and Applebloom. "What is wrong with you two?!" the frustrated unicorn filly yelled, looking between Scootaloo and Applebloom. "At what point did you think that fighting would get us out of here?! What? Did you think it would summon some sort of magical sprite to magically fly us out of here?!" Sweetie Belle raved; the other two fillies hung their heads low. Scootaloo continued looking at the ground as she spoke, "I'm sorry Sweetie Belle. I didn't think-" "Darn right you didn't think!" Sweetie Belle interrupted, silence fell upon the trio yet again. Sweetie Belle looked over the faces of her friends as she made up her mind. "I'm done with this, I'm going home," she uttered, purposely knocking against Scootaloo's shoulder with her own as she passed by. Scootaloo stared at the dirt below her, aghast at this new side of Sweetie Belle. Applebloom looked up to see Sweetie Belle aimlessly walk back towards the forest. "Sweetie Belle, what do ya think yer doin'? Ya don't know the way out!" Applebloom called out. Sweetie Belle swung around to face the puzzled Applebloom. "Well it's a lot better than staying here and pointlessly beating each other to a pulp," the spiritless unicorn retorted. Applebloom sighed, "Look, Sweetie Belle, Ah'm sorry..." she paused, glancing towards Scootaloo, "we're sorry. Ah know we can get on each other's nerves a ton, an' Ah know how upset ya get when ya see us do this..." she apologized. "Yeah, it'll never happen again," piped up Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle lowered her head, her facial features casted in shadows. "Eight..." she muttered. "Wha-huh?" Scootaloo muddled with a quizzical look on her face. "What do ya mean by 'eight'? " Applebloom asked, baffled. "Eight times!" Sweetie Belle snapped, looking up with fire in her eyes. "You've given your 'I'm sorry' speeches 8 times already! All of them were lies!" she screamed, angrily slamming her hooves into the ground. Applebloom and Scootaloo gawked at the fuming Sweetie Belle, mouths agape. The silence continued, Sweetie Belle's eyes bore into Applebloom and Scootaloo, almost as if she was expecting them to say something. Scootaloo took it as just that as she began, "Sweetie, we-" "You've lied to Applejack!" Sweetie Belle interrupted, "You've lied to Rarity! You've lied to Big Mac! You've lied to Miss Cheerilee! You've lied to Rainbow…! You've lied to yourselves… and you've lied to me…" she said irefully, speaking between small sobs. Applebloom and Scootaloo gawked at Sweetie Belle as it all began to sink in, tears beginning to form in their eyes as well. For the first time, they truly understood what their actions were doing to each other and the ponies around them. Their once playful habits had escalated into the very thing tearing their friendships apart by the seams. Applebloom, with a mournful look, adjusted herself so she was facing towards Scootaloo. Scootaloo turned her head towards Applebloom, and did the same. With lament in their eyes, they slowly walked closer to each other, stopping a foot apart. Their faces both displayed the same message, but Applebloom felt it needed to be said. "What have we been doin'?" Applebloom began, "We're best friends… an' we're treatin' each other like enemies. It doesn't matter how or why the fights began, it was stupid for us ta be even arguin' like we did. Ah said some really stupid things, an' Ah regret it all. Ah wish Ah could take it all back! But, Ah know I can't. So, Ah am just gonna say it plain an' simple." she sighed. "Scootaloo," Applebloom started, looking into the filly's violet eyes, "Ah'm sor-" but was unable to finish as Scootaloo lunged at her, wrapping her hooves around her. "I'm sorry too!" Scootaloo sniveled, trying her best not to cry, "For everything! All the names I've called you! All the times I've hurt you! Everything…!" Applebloom stood shocked for a moment as she processed what was happening. Smiling, she placed her hooves on Scootaloo's back and tightly returned the hug. All of the pent-up anger and spite seemed to melt away at that moment. It was almost as if balance was finally restored and the fillies could now see the world clearly again. Sweetie Belle, smiling, wiped the tears away from her face as she saw her friends finally bury the hatchet. As they hugged it out, Sweetie Belle began to spot some shadows crawling over the landscape as a drop of liquid landed on her head. She looked up to the sky to notice some rain clouds rolling in from the east, more than likely due to Fillydelphia's lazy weather team not taking care of all of their clouds. Sweetie Belle shook her head at that thought before looking back at Applebloom and Scootaloo. She couldn't help but think about the incoming precipitation and remember how much fun they all had the last time there had been a storm. Her older sister, Rarity, had let them stay the night at her home and shop, Carousel Boutique. They all had such a great time staying up late, telling stories, playing games, all the while sipping hot cocoa. It sounded like the perfect way to end this insane day. Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to call out to her friends, but the liquid that landed on her head had worked its way to her muzzle and landed on her tongue, it was revolting. She immediately started to spit out the nasty fluid to try and get the taste off of her tongue. She brought her left hoof to where she could still feel the trail on her face and wiped it off. Upon inspecting her hoof, she gasped, the liquid was a crimson red. Applebloom pulled out of the hug to see why Sweetie Belle was making such a fracas, her eyes widened as she froze when she looked at Sweetie Belle, jaw dropped in fear. Scootaloo opened her eyes as she realized Applebloom wasn't hugging back anymore. Looking at the pink-bowed earth pony, she followed the filly's eyes that eventually led to Sweetie Belle. Instantly, Scootaloo's facial features matched Applebloom's, quaking in horror. Sweetie Belle, eyes full of worry, looked away from her hoof as she saw the looks of alarm on her friend's faces. At first she thought they were looking at her, but they were in fact looking a foot above her. Sweetie Belle, terrified, slowly started to move her hooves one-by-one to turn herself around. Her heart raced as she came face to face to a pale yellow, scarred body, accompanied by two massive front legs. Her eyes followed up the body to its blood red mane, and finally to its hideous, blood soaked, fanged, bleeding face. The manticore had found them again! The beast loomed over the frightened unicorn, snarling and gnashing its teeth. Some drool began to leak out of the manticore's mouth, landing between Sweetie Belle's eyes, it too was crimson red. The paralyzed filly looked up at the fiend, eyes wide, and trembled. The monster stared back at her, its left eye never broke away from the pony, while the right was too swelled and bloody to make out. The manticore's mangled face pierced Sweetie Belle's soul, so much that she didn't even see the brute begin to raise its right paw and twist its body along with it. However, Applebloom and Scootaloo did. They frantically started to run and call out to the stunned unicorn in an attempt to save her. "Sweetie Belle move!" "Get out of there!" "On your left!" "Look out!" "Get away!" Their alerts scrambled together and became unintelligible, but still hit Sweetie Belle like a ton of bricks, snapping her back to reality. It almost seemed like time slowed down as she turned her head to her left, spotting the razor sharp claws heading right towards her. Sweetie Belle leaped back away from the manticore, turning her body to the right to try to eliminate any injury. But it was no use; the doomed filly was just in the monstrosity's reach. Its lower nails dug deep into Sweetie Belle's barrel and shredded up to her shoulder, while its top nails jabbed and tore right into the side of her face. The manticore continued its swing, its lower nails hooking into Sweetie's humerus and effortlessly dragging her into the air. The fiend's swing began to end as the mutilated pony was launched off of the creature's claws at a blinding speed. She flew straight through one of the larger trees in the area, reducing nearly its entire middle to splinters. "SWEETIE BELLE!!!" Applebloom and Scootaloo bellowed as Sweetie Belle's mauled body viciously fell through the trees and came smashing back down to the ground, motionless. The manticore stopped its momentum and regained its foundation. It almost appeared to be standing proudly as it looked upon its handiwork, snorting in satisfaction. The horrified fillies stared in shock and terror at the wreckage, tears streaming out of their eyes. It happened so fast, Sweetie Belle wasn't even able to scream. Applebloom grit her teeth, glaring at the haughty, bloodthirsty behemoth. Her whole body shook in rage and woe as memories of the unicorn filly flashed before her eyes. The agitated pony squinted her eyes tightly shut when she thought about Sweetie Belle's future; how she would never be able to earn her cutie mark and follow whatever dreams she desired. The reason why they set hoof into the grim forest is the reason why she lay, butchered, on the cold, unforgiving ground. Applebloom, seeking vengeance for her fallen friend, charged at the unaware manticore with reckless abandon. Abruptly, the enraged filly was forcibly brought to a halt by something with a grip on her red tail… somepony, rather. Swinging her head around, Applebloom discovered that Scootaloo had her tail clenched in her teeth. The pink-bowed pony settled down as she stood, meeting the concerned, sobbing pegasus eye to eye. Scootaloo spat out Applebloom's tail, her face unreadable. Scootaloo simply shook her head, tears rushing down her cheeks. "I don't want you to die too…" Scootaloo whimpered, her voice not even a whisper. She shook as she tried to keep her sorrow quiet, but just the thought of Sweetie Belle's smiling face struck her hard in the heart. Applebloom quickly grabbed the feathered filly and pulled her into a warm embrace to try and calm her down, and maybe herself, too. The grieving earth pony tried to clear her thoughts of anything relating to Sweetie Belle long enough so she could find an escape route. She shot glances around the area; there were walls of marble to her left, right, and rear, far too steep to climb. The only other place to go was straight ahead, back into the dark forest, but the massive manticore stood in front of the only clearing. Applebloom's face went grim at the realization, there was no way out. Scootaloo wouldn't be able to fly them out of there, she can barely carry herself. Applebloom looked above the trees and prayed to Celestia that a pegasus would soar over the horizon of leaves and rescue them, but only if she was that lucky. Their fate was sealed, they were trapped. The red-maned filly slowly brought her attention back to Scootaloo, who was still leaning over the earth pony's shoulder, sobbing. Feeling all hope leaving her body, Applebloom buried her face in the orange-pegasus' purple mane and wept quietly. The storm clouds shrouded the light of day and darkened the land of Equestria. Lightning lit the sky over the Everfree Forest while thunder shook the world beneath it, startling the remaining Cutie Mark Crusaders. Applebloom and Scootaloo jumped out of each other's hold and looked to the sky; they had never even noticed the storm clouds approaching. Suddenly, the sound of movement hit the girls' ears. They followed the sound with their eyes and met with the manticore's, it was staring right at them. The terrified fillies rushed backwards until their backs were pressed up against the marble cliff side. The beast began to slowly and menacingly advance towards them. There was nothing they could do to escape this nightmare, all they could do was watch the savage winged animal slowly approach them and wait for their brutal demise. "HELP!!!" Scootaloo screamed as loud as she could through the thunder and lightning, causing Applebloom to jump. The frantic feathered pony looked at Applebloom with pleading eyes. The bowed pony got the message as she too began to yell out into the darkened skies. "HEELLP!!" "Somepony?! Anypony?!" "HELP US!!!" If the manticore had vocal cords, it would be laughing at their feeble attempts to call for a rescue. Thunder and lightning disrupted reality more and more often as the pony-eater closed in, almost acting like a timer till their lives come to an end. Applebloom and Scootaloo wrapped their hooves around each other and held tightly, squinting their eyes shut while they waited for their impending doom. A bolt of lightning struck near Sweetie Belle's disfigured corpse, skimming the side of the tree that she had flown through. The manticore was now only 5 yards away, striking as much fear as possible into the fillies before slicing them to ribbons. There was a prolong sound of creaking that emanated from behind the brute while it continued its approach. Suddenly, there was a loud snap! The manticore hissed, turning around towards the source of the sound, the girls continuing to keep their eyes shut. Forthwith, the ground beneath the fillies shook once and hard. Then, there was nothing but silence. Scootaloo and Applebloom slowly began to open their eyes back up to the dark world. They gasped in shock at the scene before them; the top half of the tree that Sweetie Belle crashed through had fallen, the lightning had weakened the last pieces of bark holding it up. Crushed underneath the fallen timber was the manticore, blood puddling from its body. Dust and other particles that had been kicked up by the tree filled the already dark air, making visibility very limited. The cruel monstrosity was dead, the fillies were safe. They should feel happy, or at least relieved. But how could they? Their best friend was dead because of this stupid adventure, and they nearly suffered horrible deaths as well. Their minds began to wonder while they sat there in the dark. How could their lives ever be the same without Sweetie Belle? Would they be to blame for this? How would they tell Rarity and her parents? All these thoughts filled their heads to the brim. Applebloom started to think about whether Sweetie Belle's body could be collected and cleaned up for a funeral before more carnivores got to it; she deserved that much at the least. The pink-bowed pony knew there wouldn't be enough time to make it back to town and find somepony to carry Sweetie; she'll just have to do it herself. Applebloom stood up and walked towards the mess before them, Scootaloo following close behind her. Careful not to step in any blood, the earth pony climbed over the collapsed tree and headed in the direction where Sweetie Belle's body lay. Scootaloo scaled the bark and looked back at the manticore's broken figure. Her body shook with anger and hate as she viewed it, every fiber screaming for her to tear what was left of the monster apart. With all her might, she stopped herself from assailing what was left sticking out from under the tree. She turned away from it, and caught up with Applebloom who was waiting just a few feet away. The two ponies followed a trail of branches and shrapnel to where Sweetie Belle's body was, or where it should be. Applebloom and Scootaloo's eyes grew wide; they looked upon the spot where they swore she would be just to find an impression of her body in the grass. Could another creature have gotten to her already? Quickly, they began to search the immediate area for her body, but couldn't find a thing. The strangest part was, there were no trails of blood to follow. There was no way in Tartarus that those claws didn't puncture her skin. They franticly continued to rummage through any and every conceivable spot, but still no luck. "Where is she?!" Applebloom said to herself in a panic. "I don't know!" responded Scootaloo, heart racing. "Maybe I can help." an all too familiar, squeaky voice jokingly said. Applebloom and Scootaloo froze, not believing their ears. They turned to the source of the voice when they stood. They were able make out a pony shaped silhouette in the murky atmosphere. "S-Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo nervously asked. "That's me…" Sweetie Belle said, fighting back tears. "I'm okay." she choked out The amount of emotion that washed over them brought tears to their eyes again, but these were tears of joy, no longer ones of sadness. The pegasus and earth pony started to walk towards her; Sweetie Belle did the same to meet them half way, smiles of relief and joy spread across all their faces. Soon enough, their slow walks turned into brisk trots, then breaking out into full gallops. As they got closer, Sweetie Belle became more visible, and so did her injuries. This worried Scootaloo and Applebloom, plus, something did seem different from what they expected to see, but they figured it was just the light playing tricks on them. However, as they drew closer still, it became evident that Sweetie Belle's condition was amiss. Suddenly, lightning struck, illuminating Sweetie Belle's body entirely, revealing her status completely. This surprised the approaching fillies, causing them to slam their front hooves into the dirt, screeching them to a halt, eyes filled with confusion, shock, and terror. The unicorn filly ceased her movement as well when she noticed her friend's expressions. "What's wrong?" Sweetie Belle asked in fear, quickly looking over her shoulder and then back to her friends. The dust began to settle back to the ground, making everything much more visible. "Is there something on my face?" She asked frantically, bringing her right hoof to her face, gliding it across the right side of her face, it seemed perfectly normal. "I don't feel anything there" she stated as she started to move her hoof across to the left side of her face. She froze; she did not feel the softness of her coat she was used to. Instead, she felt a cold, hard, overall smooth surface. Sweetie Belle wasn't able to feel her hoof touching her face, but she got all she needed to know from the nerves in her appendage. She continued to move across the left side of her face, sliding her hoof over many grooves that led to even more cold pieces. When she explored where her eye should be, she felt something rounded and glass. Sweetie Belle removed her hoof from her face, examining it momentarily before looking back up at her fearful friends. "What is that?!" Sweetie Belle screamed in panic. She took a step forward towards her friends, just to have them back away as she did so. The distressed unicorn quickly shot glances over the area, spotting something sparkle through the trees. She immediately ran towards it, Scootaloo and Applebloom stood in silence, watching the unicorn run off. With every step she took, Sweetie Belle heard the sound of motors. She recognized the noise from a remote control carriage she had gotten for Hearth's Warming Eve, except these ones were louder and sounded much more powerful. Eventually, she reached the opening and leaped through it, running up to a small, peaceful lake. She stopped at the edge of the lake and peered into the water, looking at her reflection. Sweetie Belle gasped as her eyes widened; the pony staring back was something of nightmares. The skin around the left side of her face, neck, and body had been torn apart like fabric. Instead of seeing veins, bones, and muscles, like she learned from her pony anatomy class, she saw nothing but metal and other strange parts. Beyond the skin of her face, many pistons, wires, bolts, and other mechanical pieces could be seen from exposed parts of her steel plated skull. Where her eye originally was, a device that looked like a green, unlit, glass bulb occupied the spot. It was surrounded by five dark, metal plates, each closing in around the bulb in unison with her good eye contracting. Many gears, wires, and other unrecognizable parts ran behind the eye, allowing it to move and be used. On the far left side of the assembly of parts, a small section of the cranium had been split open, two exposed wires severed. More wires, gears, pivots, and pistons cocooned some tubes at her neck. The exposed side of her body didn't look much different from her face and neck. Applebloom and Scootaloo popped out of the trees, spotting Sweetie Belle leaning over the water, staring into it. She must have looked over her awful injuries ten times before her mind finally broke under how overwhelming this all was, moisture beginning to form in Sweetie Belle's one intact eye. A tear slid down her cheek and drifted to her chin, ultimately, falling through the air and into the water, rippling her image. Soon, more droplets of water began to rapidly hit the reflective surface, few of which were Sweetie's. These drops of water had fallen from the black clouds overhead, it had begun to rain. The distraught unicorn's tears mixed with the downpour, all the while she shook her head, trying to deny everything. She repeatedly struck herself in the head with her right hoof, convincing herself this was all a dream and trying to wake up from it. She eventually gave up; accepting what had happened today was reality. Sweetie Belle collapsed to the ground, covering her face and sobbing, terrified of what she was.