//------------------------------// // The Monster in The Closet // Story: Freeport Venture: The Hunted // by Chengar Qordath //------------------------------// This one trembled against Dad’s side, clinging to him almost desperately. It had not let go of him since waking, even though dozens of clanponies had been in and out of our temporary residence, searching for any sign of how the Monster had gotten in and carved our wall. Many of them stopped to talk to Mom and Dad, but this one did not pay any attention to what they said. It just wanted its father to hold it. While this one stayed near Dad, Mom alternated between stalking around the living room and occasionally yelling at one of the clanponies investigating the scene and sitting on the couch across from us. The coffee table was covered with more than a dozen daggers, dirks, and other blades. Mom was spending a lot of time sharpening them, even though this one knew that she always kept her weapons in perfect working condition. This one jumped in shock when something pounded against the front door. It was so nervous that at first it did not even realize that the sound was just somepony knocking. Mom picked up one of her daggers and quietly slipped it behind her back. “Door's open, come on in.” The door opened up, surrounded in a familiar turquoise glow. This one’s ears perked up, and a second later the Shimmer-mare stepped in. “Hey. I came as fast as I could. Is Kukri alright?” “Shimmer-mare!” This one nuzzled its father one final time, the hopped off his lap and galloped over to her. It latched its forelegs around her neck, burying its face in her chest fur and hugging her as hard as it could. “Whoa, girl.” The Shimmer-mare gently rubbed and patted this one’s back, holding it reassuringly. “Easy there. I'm here.” Dad smiled at both of us. “Thank you for coming, Magus.” “Of course.” The Shimmer-mare let go of this one, though it remained close to her regardless. “Kukri, why don’t you introduce me to your parents?” She grinned, and her voice dropped down to a whisper for this one’s ears only. “I am kind of curious to see what kind of parents give their kids names like ‘Kukri’ and ‘Kunai.’” Mom stepped forward first, offering her hoof. “Knives Doo. Kukri’s told us a lot about you, it’s a pleasure to finally meet.” The Shimmer-mare blinked, then shook Mom’s hoof. “Right. I guess that ... er, it’s nice to meet you too, Mrs. Doo.” Dad shook her hoof next. “Codex. This one thanks you for coming. This one... This one is sorry to say that this matter seems to be beyond us.” The Shimmer-mare nodded gravely, the friendly smile vanishing from her face now that Dad had reminded her why she was here. “Right, let’s get down to business. I assume you want me to check for whether the intruder used magic to get past the guards?” Mom nodded sharply. “This compound is one of the most secure places in Freeport. There were guards outside our residence all night. Whoever is after us just came in, spent a couple hours in our bedroom, then left without anyone so much as hearing a peep.” “It turned an entire wall of our bedroom into a sculpture without any of us waking up.” Dad followed up. “This one cannot imagine such a thing is possible without some form of magic. Either that, or we are being stalked by a master artisan.” Mom grunted and jerked her head back towards the bedroom. “I’ll show you where it is.” This one reluctantly detached itself from the Shimmer-mare as she followed Mom back to the bedroom. While it did not wish to be parted from the Shimmer-mare, it would not go back into that room ever again unless forced to. It certainly hoped that its parents did not expect it to try and sleep there tonight. This one went back to Dad, joining him on the couch and hugging him while it waited. After holding this one for a while Dad said, “So ... the Shimmer-mare seems nice.” “She is!” this one declared, quite eager for the distraction. “She is smart, brave, wonderful, and brilliant. This one is quite certain that she will be able to identify the Monster at once and capture it easily. In fact—” Before this one could say any more, it heard the Shimmer-mare’s voice come drifting down the hallway. “...no idea what could be responsible.” This one’s ears wilted, and it glanced sheepishly back up at Dad. “This one is quite certain that the Shimmer-mare will eventually succeed.” After a few more minutes, this one heard Mom’s voice coming down the hallway once more, reassuring it that they were returning. “...Glaive's ponies are some of the go-tos for escorting VIPs and general protection work. And I’m a light sleeper. I can’t imagine anything with purely mundane abilities pulling that off.” “I’m inclined to agree with you,” the Shimmer-mare conceded. “Assuming that’s the case, now it’s a matter of narrowing down what exactly we’re dealing with.” The Shimmer-mare rounded the corner into the living room, and this one immediately returned itself to her side. She wrapped one foreleg across this one’s shoulders and continued speaking. “I don’t have any solid evidence for it yet, but I’ve got a working theory about what we’re dealing with: I think it’s a phobophage.” She paused a moment, then sighed when she noted how confused this one and its parents seemed. “A supernatural predator that feeds on fear.” Dad frowned and shook his head. “This one is curious to know how the Shimmer-Magus came to that conclusion.” “It’s just a theory right now,” she demurred. “But I think it’s a pretty reasonable starting point, at least. The thing is, the pattern of attacks we’ve seen so far doesn’t match something that just wants to hurt you physically. Why sneak into your bedroom and leave behind an artpiece when it could’ve just eaten you?” This one swallowed a whimper, shivering and burying its face against the Shimmer-mare’s chest once again. It knew that she was trying to help, but the idea that there was a monster that might gobble this one up the next time it went to bed was not helpful. Mom muttered several words that would have gotten this one into trouble if it said them within her hearing. “So how do we kill one of these phobophages?” The Shimmer-mare grimaced and shook her head. “‘Phobophage’ is really more of a broad category of creatures. I can think of a dozen supernatural predators that feed on fear, each of which have different abilities and weaknesses.” Dad groaned and massaged his forehead. “Is there any way you can narrow down exactly what we're dealing with?” “Not unless I get more information.” One of her ears twitched. “Once I’m done here I’ll do some reading and see if anything comes up.” Mom sighed, nervously drawing and sharpening one of her daggers again. “It's a start, at least. We can ask the Strikers if Cold has any known associates who would have the knowledge and resources to call up one of these phobophages.” The Shimmer-mare nodded. “Yeah, anything that might help us narrow down what we’re dealing with is good. Most summoners have some kind of theme with the creatures they summon, so if we can get more information on whoever called this thing up...” She let out an annoyed huff and flicked one of her hooves, as though brushing aside an annoying insect. “In the meantime, while I can’t narrow it down there are some pretty common qualities across all types of phobophages. Most of them can shapeshift, though they usually go more for taking the form of their target’s greatest fear rather than imitation. No reason they couldn’t take someone’s form, but I doubt they’d be as good at impersonation as a cha...” She trailed off, her eyes awkwardly resting on this one and its father. “Not as good as changelings,” Dad finished for her. “Er ... yeah.” She cleared her throat, then continued. “A lot of them also have some supernatural method of getting around. Fetches can travel through mirrors, boggarts can teleport as long as their destination is a dark, enclosed space, popobawas can squeeze into impossibly small spaces, and so on. I’ll draw up a list, and we can lock out as many of them as possible.” “Whatever it takes to keep our daughter safe,” Dad said, placing a hoof on this one’s back. “So how do we kill it?” Mom growled, already sharpening her fifth knife. “Most phages can still be killed the old-fashioned way if you hit them hard enough,” the Shimmer-mare assured this one’s mother. “They draw most of their power from causing fear, so as long as you don’t give them any fear to feed off of they’re beatable. If you go into a fight with one while you’re scared, it’ll use that to get stronger, and fighting a monster that’s too strong for you makes you even more frightened of it, until...” “That won’t be a problem,” Mom snarled. “I’m not scared. I’m angry.” The Shimmer-mare continued on as if Mom hadn’t interrupted. “Beyond just hitting them enough, it depends on what we’re dealing with. A fetch has the usual Fey weakness to cold iron, a popobawa will go ballistic if you say you don’t believe in them, and so on...” Mom continued working with her blade, nicking her foreleg as her frustration boiled over. “Give me something I can stab, any day...” “The Shimmer-mare can stop the Monster once she knows what it is and catches it, right?” this one asked. “Of course,” she answered with a reassuring smile. “With creatures like this, identifying them is the hard part. Once you know what it is and what its weaknesses are, taking them out is usually pretty easy.” This one sighed in relief and tightened its hold on the Shimmer-mare. “Could the Shimmer-mare stay with this one tonight?” This one paused, glancing towards its parents. “As well, it means?” She did not immediately answer, glancing to this one’s parents before answering. “I ... I’ll have a lot of work to do. I need to go back to my tower to do most of it, and the boat ride from here to Freeport takes four hours, so...” This one whimpered as it grasped what she was about to say, but tried not to show its distress in front of her. The Shimmer-mare looked down at this one sighed. “So I better go back and pack up everything I’ll need right away if I want to make it back before sundown.” This one beamed and hugged her tightly. The Shimmer-mare made it back in time for dinner. By then the clan’s leadership had moved us to another secure residence, for which this one was duly grateful. While it was just as sterile as the last one, its bedroom wall was untouched. Though this one was still not sure if it wanted to sleep in bed with its parents or join the Shimmer-mare on the couch in the living room. Perhaps it could spend some time with both? Dinner was candied yams and fried breadfruit, though this one took little pleasure in the meal. Its mind remained entirely fixed upon the approaching night, and the fresh terrors that would bring. Every time one of its parents left its sight, even for something as innocuous as a trip to the bathroom or when Mom stepped out for a while to talk to the guards, it could not help but wonder if they would come back. To distract itself from such worries, it turned its attention to the Shimmer-mare. “What will you do, now that you’re here?” The Shimmer-mare paused to swallow her current mouthful of food before answering. “I figure the first thing I’ll do is look around the house and close off anything that might help out the common types of phobophages. Make sure there are lights on in every single room, cupboard, and closet, cover the up mirrors, that sort of thing.” “So we’re going to have to sleep with the lights on?” Dad grimaced, but nodded. “That’s inconvenient, but this one will sleep far easier in a brightly lit room where its daughter is safe than a dark one where she is in danger.” “Exactly,” the Shimmer-mare agreed. “Anyway, after that I’ll work on setting up some wards around the apartment. I won’t be able to do that much for tonight—properly warding the place would take days, especially since I’ll have to protect against dozens of different creatures, each of which will try to break in a different way.” She sighed and ran a hoof through her mane. “I might have to go back to Freeport tomorrow to pick up more diamond dust.” Dad grimaced at the mention of diamonds, shooting a look at Mom and then nodding. “Alright then, whatever it takes to keep Kukri safe.” He traded another look with Mom, then said. “Cost isn't an issue. We'll make it work.” The Shimmer-mare waved Dad off. “No charge.” Both my parents blinked in surprise, but Mom spoke first. “No charge? You’re using diamonds. That can't be cheap. Really, it's—” “Kukri's a friend,” the Shimmer-mare answered simply. “No charge. I’ve still got plenty of money left over from some other jobs. Besides, diamond dust isn’t as expensive as you’d think; it’s not like I’m buying high-quality, expertly cut gems and grinding them up. So ... don’t worry about the money, okay?” Mom thought it over for a moment, then nodded. “Thank you.” “Yes, thank you.” Dad smiled, then added, “But this one will find a way to pay you back, even if you insist on working for free.” The Shimmer-mare was silent for a long moment, then shrugged. “I suppose it would be rude to refuse too much.” This one knew it should be hugging and thanking the Shimmer-mare for her generosity, but its mind was occupied elsewhere. When it noticed that the table had fallen silent and the Shimmer-mare was looking curiously at it, it finally knew it must speak its mind. “This ... this one does not know if it should remain here. The Monster is after this one, not any of you. This ... it'll leave you alone if this one isn't there.” This one turned to face Mom “When you locked this one out of its bedroom on the first night, it thought you ... that y-y-you...” This one sniffled and furiously rubbed its eyes, saying nothing more so that it wouldn’t risk crying in front of the Shimmer-mare. It did not want to look like a scared baby in front of its hero. Dad immediately walked across the table and hugged this one. “You aren't going anywhere, you hear?” Mom joined him a moment later. “I’m never letting you go. Not until all this is over.” The Shimmer-mare cleared her throat and said as gently as possible. “There's no guarantee Kukri's the main target of the attack. It might be...” “We might be the targets,” Mom finished the thought. “It’s ... I can’t think of anything more terrifying to a parent than knowing that their child is in danger and not being able to help them. And if Kunai’s heard about this yet, I’m sure she’s worried sick.” Dad groaned and rubbed his forehead. “It keeps coming back to the same problem. We don't know nearly as much as we need to.” The Shimmer-mare nodded. “With any luck, I’ll know by the time tonight’s over. If nothing else, seeing how it handles all the new security I’ve set up should tell us a lot about what we’re dealing with.” This one whimpered softly, trying to hide it by shoving some breadfruit into its mouth. By the time it had swallowed, it was no longer quite so scared when it asked. “The ... the Monster will attack us again tonight?” “It has for the last two nights, so it would be odd for it to stop now.” The Shimmer-mare sighed. “Creatures like this are kinda like sharks: once they start feeding, they can’t stop until they’re full. The good news is it probably won't go past just trying to scare you for a while.” She reached down and squeezed this one’s shoulder. “You're a brave kid. I’m sure you’re not gonna let some big dumb monster scare you, right? Especially not when you know that me, your mom, and your dad are all gonna be right here, ready to squish that monster as soon as it shows its big ugly face.” She put her hoof under this one’s chin and lifted it up. “Nobody’s gonna get you while I’m around. You know I’d never leave you hanging.” This one leaned against her, nuzzling her chest. “Buck no.” Dad sighed. “Language, Kukri.” He shot an apologetic look at the Shimmer-mare. “This one is afraid that its daughter is going to have quite the mouth on her when she grows up.” He shot a playful glare at Mom. “Her mother doesn’t help with that.” Mom shrugged. “I’m a soldier, not a society mare.” Sunset grinned and shrugged. “For the record, I watch my vocabulary around the kid. Though she's probably a lost cause already after spending six months as a cabin filly: she probably already knows how to swear like a sailor.” Dad sighed and shook his head. “The cost of learning a trade. At least this isn’t as bad as the time she tried her hoof at carpentry.” This one’s eyes widened, and its jaw dropped in horror. “Daaad! Not in front of the Shimmer-mare!” Said Shimmer-mare grinned and leaned back in her chair. “That’s funny, Kukri never mentioned she was a carpenter.” “It is quite the tale.” Dad smiled and gently nudged Mom. “You were there for the best part.” Mom hesitated for a brief moment, then grinned and nudged him back. “Yes, but you were always a better storyteller than me.” Dad chuckled and nodded. “Alright then. This one wasn’t there for it, but apparently its daughter decided that it would be a good idea to line up a nail and hold it steady using the hole in her foreleg. The only problem was that she didn’t check whether the head fit through the hole.” He snickered and ruffled this one’s head-crest. “She came trotting in with half a birdhouse stuck to her leg.” This one groaned and tried to swat his hoof away. “Daaad! Stooop!” The Shimmer-mare clamped a hoof over her mouth, vainly trying to conceal her laughter, and this one’s groans redoubled. Now the Shimmer-mare surely thought this one a clumsy fool who was unworthy to be her apprentice. She smirked down at this one. “Guess it's a good thing I didn't ask you to help me with setting up my tower. You’d probably end up dangling off the side of it or something.” This one slammed its face onto the dinner table. Dad sniggered and gave this one a pat on the back. “Needless to say, after that we thought it was best to look into other careers for her.” The Shimmer-mare grinned and squeezed this one’s shoulder. “Well, she's been a pretty good student so far.” “This one knows.” Dad smiled at this one. “Ever since she met you, she’s been reading books just because you recommended them. Our little sailor is turning into a regular bookworm.” This one looked up at the Shimmer-mare, smiling sheepishly but proudly. “This one has enjoyed its reading list so far.” “Glad to hear it,” the Shimmer-mare declared. “Because if you’re serious about wanting to become my apprentice, you'll be reading five times as much as you are right now.” Dad rubbed his chin, looking down at this one thoughtfully. “This one can imagine a far worse fate for its daughter than being a scholar.” He nodded, half to himself, then smiled at this one. “Why not? You’ve taken a try at being a carpenter and a sailor, this one sees no harm in adding magical scholarship to the list.” This one’s ears perked up, and a huge smile split its face. “Thank you! This one would love the chance to become the Shimmer-mare’s student!” “Then it’s agreed.” Dad said. The Shimmer-mare grinned down at this one. “We can start right away. I wouldn’t mind a little help with inspecting the place and setting up the wards. I’ll have to do a lot of it myself, but you can fetch things for me and other little stuff like that.” Dad smiled. “I’m sure she’ll enjoy that. Though she won’t be able to join you right away; first she needs to do the dishes and clean up the kitchen. Though you might think she’s a lost cause, this one is not quite prepared to give up on dissuading her from using bad language.” This one’s face fell. “But Daaad!” “Listen to your father,” Mom chided. This one crossed its forelegs over its chest, grumbling several words that this one probably shouldn’t have used within Dad’s hearing. Dad raised a single eyebrow at this one’s choice of language. “Are you sure you want to keep digging yourself deeper, Kukri?” This one groaned. Life could be so unfair. By the time this one finished with its chores and helping the Shimmer-mare, it was already near its bedtime. Despite this one’s nervousness at the prospect of attempting to sleep once more, it was quite tired and ready for bed. This one’s chores had seen to that. It suspected that had been part of Dad’s plan: make this one so tired that it would immediately fall asleep and sleep so soundly that no monster would be able to wake and frighten it. Dad had already gone to bed, and the Shimmer-mare was setting up in a study that she had converted into a guest bedroom. Meanwhile, this one and its mother were in the kitchen, where mom surveyed the results of its work. Its first attempt at cleaning the kitchen had been rushed in an effort to finish the job quickly and spend more time with the Shimmer-mare. Mom had not been fooled, and once this one was done with the Shimmer-mare she insisted that this one do the job over. And then a third time, when she was still not satisfied. However, after Mom’s third check she slowly nodded. “That’ll do. Go ahead and brush your teeth, then go to bed.” This one nodded and trotted into the bathroom. It cleaned its fangs, washed its face, and attended to all its other pre-bed rituals. It was in the middle of flossing when it noticed the shower curtain twitching. This one jumped in surprise, nearly hurting its gums. For a moment it was tempted to flee the room screaming, until it recalled last night. Last night, when it had been certain that the bedsheet being taken away or the door moving was a sure sign that it was about to be snatched away. This one had nearly persuaded itself that the shower curtain was nothing to worry about when it twitched again. This one did not jump nearly as much, but it was still startled. It took a deep breath and decided on a new course of action. It would pull back the curtain, just to reassure itself that there was nothing there, and it had no reason to be afraid. Yes. It would do exactly that, and then it would go to bed. This one pulled back the curtain. The shower stall wasn’t empty. However, there wasn’t a monster hiding in the shower. It was Mom, bound and gagged. This one stared at her, shocked and confused. A few moments later, this one’s mother—the one from the kitchen— walked into the bathroom behind it and closed the door. She spoke, but it wasn’t Mom’s voice that left her throat. It was the Monster’s. “Hello there, little snack. Much as I would have loved to drag this out for a few more weeks, your little magus friend might make that difficult. Though I really do hate to go through such a rich meal in a single sitting ... we’ll have to speed things up.” This one tried to scream, but it could not make its throat produce any noise. It tried to run, but it could not make its legs move. It tried to fight back when the Monster grabbed it, but its muscles remained frozen. And that was how the Monster picked up and carried this one away. She walked right past the guards for our quarters, telling them she was just taking it out for a quick walk before bedtime. This one should have shouted the truth to them, but it couldn’t. It couldn’t do anything, because it was too scared. The Shimmer-mare was wrong. This one wasn’t brave.