Gothic Novel collapsed to the floor, dragged down by the weight of the ravenous beast on top of him. His breath was knocked from his lungs by the collision, and it was all he could do to hold its face away from his neck. "Somepony close that bucking window before more get in!" he choked. Big Macintosh rushed to bar the entrance as Gothic struggled to pull a sickle from his saddlebag. "You... son of a... AAAAH!" He screamed in agony as the beast shifted its head, clamping down on his left hoof. Tears of pain and rage streamed from his bloodshot eyes as he hacked wildly at the monster's neck. Big Mac took this opportunity to try and buck it off of him. Big mistake. With a sickening wet snap, Gothic's hoof was torn from his foreleg. His eyes rolled back into his head as the life poured from his body in a brilliant cascade of deep scarlet.
Fluttershy stared in shock as Derpy leaped into action. Bolting across the room at near-impossible speeds, she reached the wendigo, launched herself into the air above it, and, to everypony's surprise, promptly sat on it. The beast let loose an ear-piercing shriek as its ribs were shattered, puncturing its incompassionate heart. Within moments, it was dead, a bright red foam bubbling rapidly from its mouth and pooling around the disfigured, gargoyle-like head. Big Macintosh clomped over and crushed the demon's head, just to be safe. It would not be getting up again.
Fluttershy crawled to where Gothic writhed in pain and shock and did her best to bandage his wounds, singing softly in an attempt to calm him. Slowly but surely, he began to grow still. He stared up at her blankly, tears still leaking down the sides of his face. Big Macintosh went and whispered into Fluttershy's ear, and she nodded sadly. "Um... Mr. Novel. W-we're going to help you, okay? I'm sorry, but it's going to hurt very badly. But I need you to stay still. I mean, if that's all right with you..." Big Mac carried the lamp to where Fluttershy knelt over the wounded pegasus and broke the top of it off, holding Gothic's sickle in the flame. When the improvised weapon began to glow, he grabbed hold of the writer's bleeding stump, lined up his aim, and pressed. The stench of burning hair and flesh filled the house, and Gothic's voice cracked in screams of pure agony. When the heated tool was removed, he immediately blacked out. Big Macintosh hefted the unconscious visitor onto his back and glanced back at his friends. "We should move further into the house. It's not safe here anymore." The girls all agreed, and they spent the remainder of the night barricaded in Dinky's room.
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The morning came without further interruption, which was an enormous relief to the group of survivors. Dinky and Gothic stared at the charred branch that remained of his left foreleg, one curiously, the other with disdain. Derpy glanced at them briefly before returning her attention to her saddlebag. There were many things Derpy Hooves would never understand, and how her daughter could possibly have slept through such a loud attack was one of them. She shrugged and hummed to herself as she divided up the morning's rations. Stranger things had happened in her life that had gone unquestioned. She beamed at Fluttershy as she passed her a muffin. "Are you okay, Fluttershy? You look sad." The shy little pegasus had not said a word since the incident. This was hardly unusual, but somehow the mailmare could tell that something just wasn't quite right.
"Oh... It's nothing," Fluttershy murmured. "I-I'm just a little shaken up, that's all. I'll be okay." She forced a small smile as she accepted her breakfast from her kind host. This, of course, was a bald-faced lie. How could she possibly be okay after something like that? Had everypony else forgotten everything that had happened last night? They could all have died horribly, and now here they were, trotting about, calm as you please. Were they blocking it out? Was she just too weak to be able to take everything that was going on? If that was true, could she even be of any use to her friends? Or would she just hold them back? She would be devastated if somepony got hurt because of her. And how many different mistakes could she make? She could lose their food, or throw the dynamite at the wrong time, or- Dinky cuddled up to Fluttershy and grinned up at her innocently. The yellow pegasus pony couldn't help but smile back. What was it about the Hooves girls that could make her forget her constant worrying, if only for a moment? She nuzzled the laughing filly's head affectionately. It didn't matter. For now, she was happy again.
The survivors decided to pack up and leave at about 10:00 AM. They were surprised when there were no signs of wendigos near the home. And even more surprised when a certain grey stallion announced that he would be taking a different path. "B-but, don't you want to come with us?" Fluttershy stammered, genuinely concerned for her injured new friend. Gothic smiled sadly. ""I would love to, but I can't. I have other business to attend to." He straightened up a bit and coughed awkwardly. "Actually... There was somepony I wanted to find before I left Ponyville. You... haven't seen any other survivors, have you?" "No..." "...Nnnope." "Nuh-uh." His smile faltered for a fraction of a second. "I see. Well, I'll have to hope for the best, then. Good luck, all of you." At this he turned and began to walk away. "I hope you find your friend!" Dinky called after him. Gothic paused for a moment, lowered his head, and continued on his search.
He didn't make it four blocks.