//------------------------------//
// 11 As cold as stone 
// Story: A new breed of evil 
// by Rarity Belle 
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	In the cottage that neared the edge of the Everfree forest, there was one yellow coated and pink maned pegasus still fluttering through the air. She was humming some tunes to herself while she flew through the air. With the eyes closed and going towards the setting of the sun, it looked like the usually shy mare didn't had a single care in the whole wide world. Something that was rather unusual for her, but not many actually questioned her for it.

        The humming would have continued to the point to where the mare herself landed on one of the treetops. For the first time that warm evening were her eyes opened again. What was revealed were the blue and green eyes that would gaze off into the distance. The strand of mane was placed behind the ear before they looked towards the wonderful sunset over the forest. In the trees themselves sat nopony else then Ponyville’s own animal caretaker: Fluttershy.

        She looked and stared while the skies got redder and redder with a faint smile upon her face. The wind that was blowing in a peaceful manner was something that caused her almost to become one with the nature she was around. It almost made her forget that she was a pony to a certain extend. The mare her connection to the greener side of nature always had been a mighty one. One that shouldn't be fooled around with by anypony.

        From time to time had Fluttershy felt herself more like a plant than a pony. Others would have declared her crazy right on the spot and they wouldn't be blamed. Though it was the connection to her friends that she didn't just left the place and traveled further into the woods to become one with the vegetation. Perhaps her personality also played a part into it.

        Nevertheless was Fluttershy still looking at the magnificent sunset and a relaxed sigh left through her mouth. Everything seemed to be so peaceful, so serene and just so perfect. It was the best way to end a long day of taking care of everything upon her property. Some said that her work wasn't even considered as a real one. Yet the mare herself never looked up from it and just left it where it was. For her job might have been the most important one there ever had been.

        Her connection with nature was truly unmatched by every single pony in the land, or at least in the areas of both Ponyville and Canterlot. Her mixed eyes of blue and green kept on gazing to how the fiery ball kept lowering itself, until everything was just dark. The darkness had once again covered the lands as she knew and loved them. It was something that gave the chilling winds of the Frozen North to make their entry into the usual warmer states of the land. It was no exception that time either. Mere seconds after the sun had set, Fluttershy could feel the shiver down her spine.

        Though she wasn't just there to witness the setting of the sun. There was another thing that she wanted to see in the complete darkness of the land. Because with no lights to interfere with the scenes below was the game that was about to be played something even more enchanting that way. Patiently did the mare wait for it to happen. Her wings spread themselves gently and gave a couple of flutters to move the cold air away from her as the tail swayed from side to side.

        In the far distance she heard the natural callings of many creatures and critters of the woods. Creatures and critters that had been living on their own since the dawning hour of the forest. Everfree was always what it was, forever free of everything the ponies stood for. A fact that both amazed and terrified the entire species.


~~~~

                     
Yet the time to think about it wasn't there, the game was about to begin. In the far distance did Fluttershy heard the trembling of the ground and knew it wouldn't be long anymore. “This is it,” she whispered to herself. The mare looked into the direction where the moon would be risen from. That what she was about to see next, was something that went over all of her expectations.

        All of the sudden there was a cobalt blue tailed comet which begun to travel over the skies. The only light in the heavens for a good minute before the stars themselves were being turned on. Almost like somepony flicked a switch with them. Constellations and distant stars had made their appearance again just before being realigned into their proper position. All the images that the stars themselves created were revealed to the pegasus but the big finale still had to come. And that was something she never had expected.

        For in the corner of her eyes she caught something shining brightly. Something that shone in the colors that couldn't be described in any manner of actual speaking. With the main event starting, Fluttershy had turned her head over to the invading spot. There she witnessed one of Equestria’s most beautiful things. That thing being the rise of the moon itself.

        Graceful it made its way over the night skies without a hitch or problem. A massive rock that was thought to be the prison of the infamous dark mare for centuries, but it was more than a prison in the eyes of Fluttershy. It was a reminder of the fact that there were always two sides to the same story. For where the sun gave light during the day to give the way, the moon did the same but in its own manner. It was a little mindset that seemed to have fascinated her more than anything. Not to mention the fact she was closely attached to the feelings of ponies. Nopony's feelings were stronger than those from the mare that was once in and on the moon.

        With the moon that kept crawling up and up into the skies, it wouldn't have been long before Fluttershy was actually indulged into the rather magnificent light that the orb of rock irradiated. She loved it so much that she gave herself the time to bathe in it and released a soft but satisfied moan.

        Only then did her eyes dart over the skies in an attempt to find that cobalt blue comet that she saw before. For the comet wasn't just any type of comet they would usually see in the skies. It was an artificial one. It carried somepony who had been misjudged through the ages of time. “Princess Luna, where art thou?” the pink maned pegasus whispered in a soft tone. Fluttershy seemed to have lost all the tracks of the mighty princess.

        It was something that caused her to sigh deeply. As the disappearance of the mare also brought another thing to her mind, Rarity. The ivory unicorn was one of her best friends that she could have ever had. The disappearance and the lack of searching to her were consuming the pegasus from the inside out. Though there wasn't anything that she could be doing against it. Her lack of courage was something that was to blame for it, though she never blamed herself for the events as they had happened.

        “I do not know where you are, but I do hope that you are safe out there, Rarity, may we cross paths one day again,” whispered Fluttershy before her wings started to flutter even more. Something that resulted in the mare getting airborne. She then flew down with the tree trunk beneath her. One that she reached after a couple seconds of flight. Fluttershy managed to land back upon her hooves and giggled a bit while she saw a set of flowers that weren't usually seen.

        Her eyes were looking at a couple of the few flowers that would glow in the light of the moon. Most flowers and plants worked by bathing in sunlight, but some did it by bathing in the moon’s powerful light. They were unique to the world of plants. They were a true sight to behold. Not to mention that they also guided the mare back to the edge of the forest. Guiders light, were the flowers usually called. Though their real name was a lot more simpler: lunar flower.


~~~~

                     
Fluttershy left the woods for what they were. The sounds that were being created and the light cast over it by the moon and stars was something that both intrigued her and frightened her. She stood there in doubt for a couple of seconds before retreating back to her cottage. The day was long done and the following one she would be having an even busies day for herself.

        With the door of the cottage falling shut behind her, did the yellow coated pegasus look over the room she was in. Fluttershy gave a small but content nod to herself. With most of the critters present already sleeping, she blew out the candles one by one. Afterwards she would be tiptoeing on her hooves through the place and up the staircase to her own room.

        A room in which her bed was almost calling her name. Shrouded in darkness and only using the moonlight to help her out a bit, the pegasus managed to crawl into her bed and snuggled up against the blankets before her eyes were closed. Though for a minute or two did the ears continued to twitch around as they listened to every sound that could be heard among the darkness.

        All that she caught were the snoring of some sleeping animals, including her pet bunny, Angel. The pegasus was more than content with the sounds that she heard left and right of her. Fluttershy herself even fell asleep in a deep, deep sleep. Her near silent snoring was among one of the weakest sounds in the cottage, but also one of the most peaceful.

        When the rays of the sun itself cast themselves through the curtains and unto the still sleeping face of Fluttershy, the mare woke up with a loud yawn as she rose up from the pillow. While the mane was literally going into every direction, her forelegs stretched themselves a little bit. The bones were snapped back into their respectable places with some uncomfortable cracks. The eyes were opened and the hooves were brought into them to remove any of the annoying sand of sleep that had collected itself within and near them.

        Even though the day looked like a beauty already, waking up always had a fair bit of trouble for the pegasus. The only manner to make sure that it wouldn't become a problem for her was to take a long and hot shower before doing anything else. It seemed painful in her eyes that she placed herself before the animals, but there had been times it went wrong with their feeding just because she hadn't woken up properly.

        So after a couple smacks of her mouth were the blankets removed from the body and a breeze of cool air started to travel over her belly and hind legs. A shiver that almost yelled ‘good morning’ to her was send down the spine. It caused her wings to spring open wide. “E-Every, single, time,” muttered Fluttershy to herself before she left the bed. She tucked the almost golden feathered wings back against her body.

        The yellow pegasus left the room for what it was. She wandered over to the bathroom where she started on her daily routine. First were the teeth brushed before the place was prepared for the shower. A couple of towels were placed upon the ground while another one was placed in hoofdistance from the curtain. Everything was set for herself. But there was this hunching feeling that her mane reached a place it shouldn't have been, or that there was something walking upon it.

        Uncertain to what it actually was had the pegasus turned herself around and was treated with the scare for her life. For the moment she had turned herself around, there was a secondary face that could be seen just staring over her shoulder for a fraction of a second.


~~~~

                     
With a set of wide eyes did the mare look over to the mirror and couldn't believe a single thing of what she just had seen. It seemed like it was just impossible, yet she swore on the fact that she had seen it. “Am, am I, going crazy?” she whispered to herself. Fluttershy had not even the slightest of clues anymore. Perhaps she was losing her mind faster than she could have ever imagined. “…Or was it, a dream?” Anything could have been possible at that point for her.

        Though the theory didn't seem to be all too farfetched, since she had just woken up of course. Either way and whatever it happened to be, the pegasus tried to recall the face of the being in the mirror. She knew it was hinting towards Rarity herself for some reason. Though the looks didn't quite matched up together. Perhaps it was Rarity, perhaps it wasn't. The pegasus couldn't truly judge on the fact of just what it was. If she had to be honest with herself, she didn’t wanted to either.

        In the early morning it happened to be something that caused her mind to go into overdrive, which in return caused a headache for the mare. Fluttershy wanted to continue upon the train of thought but managed to set it out of her head as she closed the shower curtain behind her. For the moment it was just her and her alone.

        The warm waters were leaving the head and she felt herself just so good as they hit her body. That stream of hot, steaming water was just the thing that she was needing that early in the morning. It managed to not only wake her body, but also to clear her mind. Resulting in the horrifying image in the mirror, to almost be forgotten. It was stored somewhere in the back of her head, in a place where nopony could reach it and even she had trouble getting to it. Perhaps, that was only a good thing.

        Seconds turned into minutes though. After having spent more than half an hour under the shower, Fluttershy had washed her body almost as a whole. She was busy getting the last remains of the shampoo out of her mane. A mane that was perfect in pretty much all the ways for her, with the exception when it was wet. From time to time she could curse the sheer length and thus volume it carried with it. Though it was something that made her, her.

        In the end the curtain was opened again and Fluttershy herself stepped into a steam filled bathroom. It was something that caused her to giggle softly before she started to dry herself off the best she could. Only then she would be hoisting herself into her bathrobe and leave the room for the little mess that it happened to be.

        Usually she would be helping the creatures around her place to find their food and she wanted to it that day as well, but something deep inside of her spoke that they should be doing it on their own. And for once had the pegasus actually agreed upon that matter. Thus letting all of the creatures search their own food. It was a good thing that most of them originated and hailed from the woods of Everfree.

        Even though Fluttershy was always feeding them, they had never forgotten on the manner of how to get their own food. Which was a thing that calmed the mare down by a whole lot in more than one way. With the silence that had fallen over the cottage as all of the critters were on the hunt, the mare herself walked downstairs in order to make some breakfast for herself.

        She came downstairs and the entire living room indulged into nothing more but sunlight and the plays of light that were being made by it. All things combined made something marvelous. It was something that caused an enormous smile to form itself upon the face of Fluttershy before she giggled softly at it. Scenes and games were being played out by the dancing light of the morning sun.

        Though much attention to it wasn't given as the always bossy Angel knocked against one of the forelegs of the mare. Something that resulted in her breaking away from the play and down to the bunny himself. “Oh Angel, you know I won’t be forgetting you when it comes down to breakfast right? I’ll get started on it right away,” she spoke up before entering the kitchen and heard her own tummy rumble. It was a sound that caused the bunny to snicker to himself as he fell upon his back with tears of joy in the eyes. “Don’t laugh!”


~~~~

                     
Some time had been going by before Fluttershy could be found on a place that seemed to be rather familiar to her. Stronger even, it was a spot of grass where she always could be found if she wanted to snuggle with the animals or overall just wanted to have a quiet day. That day happened to be one of them. With a bear, a deer, a bunny family and some birds all lying around her, the pegasus herself was bathing in the warm sunlight.

        For her, that was what life was all about. To be living in harmony and enjoying that what you have in common. And which animal –outside of the obvious ones– didn't like to lay in the sun and do nothing? It was common ground and every soul present just relaxed for the time being. Although the attire of Fluttershy had changed from her bathrobe into just nothing anymore. The day seemed perfect without a single cloud in the air and the animals were calm as well.

        It was the type of day that she wouldn't be getting much in a year of her work, but when the opportunity was given to her, she took it with both of her hooves. Most of her friends applaud her for the ability of even being able to do it, but she never too much credit for the deeds and events that she had done. To her it felt like a second nature which was something almost every pony accepted from her.

        Even though she and her animal friends laid calmly in the sun, the bear himself couldn't help himself any longer and fell into a deep sleep. Something that resulted in a few massive snores at first before Fluttershy opened her mouth again. “Uhm, Mr. Bear, would you be so kind to, lower your volume, please?” she asked in her kindest and most polite tone. Her eyes had opened themselves and they looked upside down to the creature with a faint smile.

        The bear himself woke up from the sudden talk to him and looked back at her with a sleepy look before he nodded. “Thank you,” replied Fluttershy before a squee followed her. Then the bear just crashed back to earth. He didn’t have any energy to do anything else on that warm, sunny day then baking under it. Not that he complained one bit about it though.

        Where usually the storm would rage inside her head with the very thoughts on the manner of just how every single critter would be making it, that very same hurricane of thoughts had reduced itself into nothing more but a gentle breeze. The head turned itself back towards the sun with closed eyes. Just the warmth that it was giving off was something that she seemed to be enjoying more than anything. The high summer time was something marvelous for Fluttershy. Everything could be taken a lot more calmly and with a little bit more of a laid-back attitude.

        But the cherry on the cake had to be the wonderful fact that Angel suddenly crawled upon the belly of Fluttershy. With care had he made himself comfortable right there. He curled up on top of the mare her belly and gave a soft yawn before falling peacefully asleep. A thing which the pegasus herself would be doing herself as well.


~~~~

                     
Minutes turned into a good set of hours as the weather never seemed to have changed whatsoever and all of the critters and animals laid both calm and peaceful asleep. Nothing seemed to have been able to go wrong that particular day. That was until something happened. And it was something that went through the marrow and bone of Fluttershy herself. Though out of nowhere there was the screech of a critter. One that brought her back out of her sleep and sit upright in the grass.

        With a worried expression had she glanced into the very direction out of which the cry came from. Fluttershy saw that it was the place of her horrors. Everfree forest itself. “Oh no, no, no, no,” she whispered to herself. The sounds continued to indulge themselves in her ears. They almost drilled themselves right into her skull. The cries for help became unbearable but before the mare could even do anything. The screeching stopped before a powerful intimidating and unknown hiss began to leave from the forest.

        A hiss that didn't seem to be of changeling origin and thus managed to send a stone cold shiver down the mare her spine. “A-And I was having such a great day,” Fluttershy whispered to herself. She gathered the strength to stand up from her spot. She had completely forgotten about Angel though. The bunny was not only flipped off of her belly, but also did three barrel rolls before he ended up face flat into the grass below.

        A little angered by the events, did he managed to get his head free again and looked to the mare. He wanted to kick her leg for the deed. Yet the opportunity was never given to him. Fluttershy was already galloping away. But his motions were still being made in order to kick her.

        Thus the only thing that could have happened was the fact that Angel kicked nothing but empty air and landed flat on his back. Something which caused the bear to chuckle to himself. The bunny got back up to show the bear his fist and mutter something along the lines of ‘shut up.’ Not that it helped all that much to begin with sadly enough.

        Having turned her pace from a trot into a gallop, Fluttershy was making her way through the trees to go to the location of just where she heard the cry for help and the terrifying hiss. She was scared to death for certain. Yet it wouldn't stop her in order to save an innocent animal. Her will was truly stronger than her fears when it eventually came down on it. But whether or not that was a good thing, needed to be discovered.

        Darker and darker had the atmosphere seemed to have become the more she ventured into the woods of Everfree. Panting deeply to herself but still going into the strong to the location, Fluttershy was determined to find the helpless critter. Over the years she had gained some knowledge of the woods and knew that it was scattered with small openings of just grass. No trees or anything the like, just pain grass. If the creature would have gotten the critter, it would have been on one of those spots.

        At least, that was what she hoped in order to get an answer to her questions. Eventually did the galloping came to a hold. She panted deep to catch her breath. Never had Fluttershy expected that she would be running that far into the woods for whatever reason. She had found it though. She had come to the very place of just where she needed to be. A small opening in the dense forest roof.

        The scene seemed almost magical as a column of sunlight went straight down, illuminating the scene of the crime. But what fell into the eyes of Fluttershy wasn't something that she could even remotely have expected. For the scene seemed to be haunted, as of a dark spirit suddenly had taken possession unto the place.

        With trembling legs of her own fears and frights, the pegasus dared to inch forward on her own. Knowing that there wasn't any back up, she started to realize just how stupid the plan of her was but it didn't took away of the urge of the situation. She needed to save the creature for as much as she could. Even if it meant risking her own life and limbs.

        While inching closer and closer, the mare gulped a little bit before she dared to speak up her words. “H-Hello, can, can you hear me?” she squeaked up towards the bottom of the light column. But even after a few seconds of waiting there was not a single sound and the mare started to fear for the worst possible thing to have happened.

        Her nightmares became true. She dared to look down and thus discovered the horrifying truth behind the matter. In her blue and green rimmed eyes she caught the horrible sight of a full grown mother rabbit with her neck snapped. It was more than enough to make Fluttershy cry a couple of silent tears. She kept all life sacred and understood how nature worked in the woods.

        But from the body was nothing eaten, nothing cut off. The only logical conclusion was that it wasn't killed for food, but for something much more brutal. “C-Changelings d-don’t kill before extracting emotions, n-nor do they hiss, l-like that,” Fluttershy explained herself as she didn't wanted to see the facts under her own eyes. She couldn't see them that way but leaving the scene like that wasn't an option either.

        No, the reason this rabbit was killed off, was because of one sickening reason that she dared to speak aloud to the column of sunlight. “Sport...” It made her sick to the degree of almost wanting to puke her stomach empty. Never in her life had she understood the reasoning behind hunting for sport and perhaps, she never would. Yet as much as it fueled her sadness, so did it fuel her anger and she looked around.

        Her eyes went around and round in order to see anything through the barrier of leaves that seemed to be like the killer. But the longer she stared, the more the woods appeared to be nothing but the same. It seemed to be impossible, but no matter in which direction she turned herself, every part just looked the same. The natural aspect seemed to be removed.

        Gone was the anger in her eyes and gone was the sadness. They had been making place for something else instead. Something that was considerable more frightening to Fluttershy. The feeling of being utterly lost come to her. It didn't matter to where she looked, everything seemed to be the exact same when it came down to it. “N-No! This, this isn't happening… This is not happening!” the pegasus explained before she just darted off.

        Without having looked to just where she had ran off to, Fluttershy started to gallop once again. All in order to escape the fate that she otherwise would be been suffering on that spot. Little did she knew, that she was walking out of the frying pan and straight into the fires themselves.

        The direction she ran into wasn't towards her cottage. Instead it was going deeper into the woods. In her haste to escape the haunted place had she turned herself the wrong way around and thus ended up racing for her dear life straight to the heart of Everfree. Straight into a place where no many ponies have even dared to venture nor explore. A place where a mysterious tribe of ponies lived as they had done thousands of years. Unchanged and savaged, reasoning was not an option with the creatures Fluttershy would encounter next.

        For she would be running into the last meeting of her life.


~~~~

                     
Galloping over rock and under branch while the mare kept her eyes closed. Every so often she opened them to make sure she wasn't running in circles again. Her feelings of heading were fairly much nonexistent at that point. It felt to her like she was literally going all over the place. Left to right, up and down, inside out even. Nothing made sense of where she was going.

        That was until she entered a place she should have stayed away. The calming sunlight once again could be felt upon her coat. With the eyes still closed did the pink maned mare came to a standstill. Fluttershy shivered from head to tail and originally didn’t dare to open her eyes. Her ears caught something much, much more terrifying. They caught a slithering over rock like a snake. Only the snake she heard had to be the size of a pony. There was only one type of pony she had ever heard of had such an ability treat.

        It wasn't something she was happy about. They were supposed to be a myth, a legend to make sure that nopony would travel too far into Everfree. But on that moment were all the myths and legends reduced to nothing more but simple shambles of a concealed truth. A truth that never should have been discovered in the first place.

        The slithering sounds of a heavy body seemed to be coming closer and closer to her. All the way up to the point she felt the cold breath going down her neck. The tickles of a wet something upon her cheek. Fluttershy yelped on the spot but seemed to be frozen with her muscles. Terrified for her life, the pegasus could only hope that it was a bad dream. A dream to which she would be waking up from preferred sooner than later.

        While the cold breath slowly moved away again did the slithering also seem to be making its gap between her. But that didn't mean she was safe. For at least three more bodies could be heard moving over a rock like surface as well as the grass and twigs below. She wanted to open her eyes so badly, but knew the legends all too well. Instead, she managed to shiver some words out. “Y-You are t-them, r-right? T-The creatures of, of Everfree?”

        The words were out and all of the slithering stopped abruptly. With the exception of one. One of the creatures seemed to be turning itself around and closing in the distance between Fluttershy and itself. It was an action that made the mare help again as she tried to keep her wings under control and thus not to have them spread in terror.

        “I can sssmell your fear, little one,” a taunting and low pitched feminine voice spoke up just before Fluttershy felt the cold breath down her neck again. “You mussst be utterly terrified sssince you have sssearched usss out. The only quessstion is going to be, why?” The words were ended with a hiss of a strange satisfaction that went from right to left in her neck. Almost as if the creature itself, or at least the head of it, traveled that way.

        “I, I didn't do it on purpose! I, I was looking at a recently killed mother rabbit when I lost my way! I had no intention of f-finding you at all!” the pegasus yelped out in her own defense. Though she couldn't hold her wings anymore. The fears and frights for the unbearable truth had become too much for her. She was even at the point of crying.

        What sadly enough happened was that both of her wings sprung open with full force. Yet it was her left wing that managed to actually hit something. That very something made the mare her believes shatter like it was nothing. For it hit something that wasn't made out of fur and hide though. No, that what her wing managed to hit was something that was made out of scales like a fish or a reptile. “Oh no…” Fluttershy mumbled to herself just she released a gulp.

        “Wasss that an attack?!” the voice returned to her angry. “You dare to attack one of usss?! You ssshall pay for your crime!” Before the pegasus could even react to what was going on, she felt a crushing weight being placed upon her back. One that forced her down to the ground. To her it felt like something had punched her right on the spinal cord and thus forced her down. Yet with her head falling down unto the grass, the pink maned mare finally opened up her eyes in response. At first she saw nothing because of the immense dose of light that she saw. Yet slowly her eyes adjusted to it.

        Not that it is kept the creatures waiting though. One of them slithered back up in front of her. In her eyes it seemed to be just this massive black blob of darkness. “SSSaying you weren't looking for usss, but then releasssing an attack without mercy,” the creature in front of her spoke.

        Slow but sure did the eyes if the mare managed to re-adjust themselves to the levels of light that were in the area. Though wit it did the truth came finally to light. Because on front of her stood the creature that was the work of the inner circles of Tartarus itself. “No, no, no, no, this can’t be true!” Fluttershy spoke up. She thought that her own eyes were actually lying to her. Everything she saw all added up to nothing but fuel for her nightmares. The mare started to wish even harder upon the fact that it was all a dream that she was suffering.

        Sadly enough for her, it was not a dream at all. What she had encountered was the reality as bareboned as it ever would have gotten. In her ears she caught once again how the slithering towards her had been made before she felt the stone cold, scaly hoof upon her forehead which pushed it slightly up. “Can’t believe your own eyesss now, can you? Hmhmha, many can’t upon firssst sight. Mossstly becaussse they can’t tell their tale anymore. But what do you think, we are?” the feminine voice spoke up in a haunting tone. One that managed to get even more shivers down the spine of Fluttershy.

        “It, it wasn't an attack, my wings a-aren't that solid, I didn't mean to,” the pegasus pleaded almost for her life. In her ears she heard another being that slithered closer up to her as well.

        The voice and tone in which it spoke, seemed to be that of a stallion. “SSShe didn't asssk for a plea, ssshe asssked for a calling of namesss! Anssswer her!” His tone was brutal and rough and it alone seemed to be breaking the bones of Fluttershy. Luckily had the other one removed the hoof off of her forehead and started to hiss and wheeze against the male speaker. That was the moment where Fluttershy dared to open her eyes again. She would have had the best possible look at the creatures she was up against.


~~~~

                     
That what she saw was everything but pretty. The thick, green scaled, snake like tail that started out small before going onward and upwards. It ended up in the scaled upper body of a pony, complete with forelegs and all. Yet perhaps the biggest unusual change had to be the mane. Instead of hair, the creature with the mare-like body build had snakes for it. That was more than enough to determine the fact of just what they were. “G-Gor, gorgonies,” Fluttershy whispered. She opened both of her eyes and tried to stand up.

        The other creature slithered back up to the position where he came from as the one Fluttershy had met first turned itself around and looked straight at the ears of the mare. “Very good, your knowledge ssseemsss to be better than expected. Though, forgive my brother, he’sss, ssshall we sssay, thick in the head,” she spoke up before the entire body was turned to face Fluttershy.

        “I, I answered your question, will, will you let me go now? A, a feathered wing a-against a scale, is not a match. W-With all due respect, I, I never could e-even hurt you even if I t-tried,” the yellow pegasus pleaded for her life. Fluttershy spoke her most humblest of apologizes to the one that seemed to be tribe leader. Fluttershy knew one thing about the creatures and that was to never look them straight in the eyes. So she only looked at the gorgony from the chin downward.

        “Hmhmhm, if it wasss only that easssy. My brothersss and sssissstersss are hungering for pony ssstone,” the gorgony replied to her with a sickening grin clearly visible upon her face.

        “W-What?!” was the only thing Fluttershy managed to bring out.

        Though before she could be doing anything, it was too late already. The eyes of the gorgony and her own eyes met one another in an instant. Much like the cockatrice ability to stone its enemy that it looked in the eyes, so could a gorgony. Which was exactly what was happening to Fluttershy.

        Almost in an instant did the magic of the gorgonies came into play. The pegasus felt that her hooves became heavier and heavier with each rapid passing heartbeat. The stone traveled further up her legs at a rate not even a cockatrice would have been able to cast her into stone. Not to mention all the muscles that she lost one by one in a matter of seconds.

        A few minutes ago she was still a free mare, the other moment she was almost cast completely in stone. Perhaps the worst of it all, had to be the moment where her head was almost cast into it. Her eyes could still move around like nothing happened. And it was then that she saw the worst possible thing that could have happened.

        For a moment had the face of the gorgony changed into that same face she saw earlier that same morning in her own bathroom mirror. But not only that, the body of the serpent like pony spun itself around with a powerful blow. Which resulted in the tail being flung forward and straight for her stone back.

        The eyes of the mare went as wide as they were allowed. She screamed on the top of her lungs. But there was nothing that could have stopped it from hitting her body.


~~~~

                     
With a massive shock did the eyes of Fluttershy open themselves. She began to scream like mad. Only to then erupt out in tears and comforted herself with words. “It was a dream, it was a dream, it was a dream,” she continued to speak to herself. Though little did she knew that Pinkie Pie was looking at her from another bed. A bed from which she had woken up on ten minutes earlier.

        Something wasn't right in the eyes if the party mare. Though her own cries for a doctor weren't heard by any. And seeing Fluttershy in the state she was, it seemed to be best to keep her own mouth shut for the time being. The cerulean blue rimmed eyes looked to her right and saw both Twilight and Rainbow lying asleep with sweat traveling down their forehead. While right in front of her laid Applejack, who constantly shook her head from side to side.