Rarity, Applejack and Sunset arrived at Fluttershy’s cottage, supplies intact. Rarity looked at her two companions, in turn, they looked a little uneasy. Rarity, realising she had not helped herself at all through sharing the nervousness of her friends, took a moment to compose herself, before stepping up onto the porch, and reaching for the door.
The door snapped open with a crunch, and the trio entered gingerly, scoping out their surrounding before proceeding further. It was getting dark out, and this in combination with the dull lighting of the cottage had the teens severely on edge. The dishevelled state of the cottage was shocking for the newcomers, as they both looked wide eyed at the broken glass and splattered blood. Rarity nodded understandingly at them, trying her best to be of some reassurance. They weren’t convinced.
Proceeding up the stairs as slowly and quietly as they could, they heard a faint, hoarse breathing sound coming from one of the rooms upstairs. As they reached the top of the staircase, they confirmed the room from which the sound was resonating. It sounded as though it was struggling for air, and so its breath intakes were rough and gravelly. Rarity bravely took the lead, the other two girls following closely behind her. Their eyes were wide with fear, abstaining from an impending panic attack. They were trying their very best to deny their instincts which told them to flee. This was for the sake of their friend, after all.
The door to Fluttershy’s bedroom was on the floor in the hallway, bloody scratch marks scarred its surface in a crude fashion. It looked as though someone had been desperately clawing at it with their nails, until their nails had splintered off and the soft flesh underneath had bled profusely over the clawed areas as they continued to claw at it, regardless of their injuries. The three girls all gasped upon seeing this, and to their utmost horror, the breathing coming from the room suddenly stopped, enveloping the entire house in an eerie silence.
They all stood deathly still, their hands covering their mouths, not daring even to take a single breath. After what seemed to them like an eternity, they heard a sudden scuffling sound come from the room. The wheezing returned, except this time, the creature sounded panicked, as the breaths were rapid and strained.
Legs trembling, the girls encroached upon the doorway, suppressing their fear as best they possibly could. Sunset and Applejack clung onto Rarity’s arms, leaning into her sides as they slowly peered around the doorframe. Upon seeing nothing, at first, due to the severe darkness of the room, they stood in the doorway and looked directly into the shadows, searching for any signs of movement.
The breathing was coming from the back left corner of the room, and it seemed to increase in both volume and speed as the girls approached it. The girls could make out the silhouette of what looked like a particularly large human, however, its limbs were stretched to great lengths, and its head had an elongated snout. The terrifying sight clouded the thoughts of the girls, as they could think of little but their overruling fear, and prepared to flee at the slightest hint of aggressiveness.
They were close now, and the monster began to growl, the guttural bellow standing all three girls to attention as the blood went cold in their veins. Rarity noticed that Fluttershy’s clothing was shredded and scattered across her floor, which suddenly replaced a small portion of her fear with fury.
“W-What have you done with Fluttershy, you beast?!”
The other two girls looked at her like she had gone insane, as the beast began to rise its full height, standing up on its two feet.
Still mostly hidden by the darkness, the terrifying figure rose to over 7 feet in height, looming over them like a giant. It had to bend forwards slightly, lest it hit its head on the low ceiling. The beast continued to growl and began to approach them slowly, as though it were stalking its prey. However, the girls were unable to move a muscle, they were literally frozen with fear.
As the monster stepped out of the shadows, as though breaching the gates of Hell itself, the girls saw it in its full, grotesque form.
The beast was jet black in colour, all over. It had a long, lupine snout, its mouth lined with teeth coated in a thick, ethereal slime. The dark fur of the creature accentuated its yellowing teeth, and its glowing, crimson eyes. Its limbs were uncannily similar to a human’s, more muscular than the average man’s, but the main difference being the disproportionately sized hands. The digits were about a third of the length of its arms and ended with lethal, pointed claws. Its palms were the size of dinner plates and had next to no fur coating them. The beast’s torso was thin at the waist, which emphasised its broad shoulders. The legs were long and gangly, with large feet supporting its weight. The feet were humongous, about twice times the size of the average man’s, and they ended with clawed toes, touching the ground in a cruel arc.
Everything about the beast projected power, with a steadily intensifying air of authority.
Rarity noticed that upon its torso were shreds of Fluttershy’s clothing, clinging to it as though it had been wearing them,
“F-Fluttershy?”
Rarity asked as the beast brought its muzzle down in front of her face. Now being face-to-face with the creature, Rarity could smell its rancid breath as it bared its teeth in a ferocious snarl. The girls were in a cold sweat, as Rarity suddenly became overwhelmed and let out a chilling scream.
Dropping the supplies, the three girls pelted out of the room, skidding round the doorframe as they made for the staircase. They were racing for their lives when they heard the beast screech in anger, its heavy footsteps pounding the ground as it began its pursuit. It was frighteningly fast, and Sunset, being at the back of the group in fleet, was the first in its sights.
Sunset caught up with Applejack, with Rarity heading the group, as she began to leap down the stairs in jumps and bounds. Applejack followed suit, shoving Sunset aside in her panic. Sunset screamed, and doing the only thing she could as the beast reached for her, she jumped off the banister as the beast swiped at her leg, and plummeted to the ground below.
There was a sickening crunch as Sunset hit the ground, and the other two quickly turned in an effort to give her aid. Helping Sunset to her feet, the group split through the kitchen, as the beast was now at the base of the stairs, cutting off their primary escape route.
Panting and whimpering in terror, the girls ran for their lives around the kitchen table and to the back door of the house. Luckily for them, the beast had stopped and howled in the hallway, signalling its final assault. They got the back door open and sprinted into the open night air, making for the nearest place of refuge: The Everfree Forest.
The Monster bounded out of the doorway on all fours, smashing the weakened wooden door off its hinges with its massive shoulder, as it recklessly pursued its prey, like a rabid, feral animal. It was leaping like an ape towards the trio, as they made it to the edge of the forest. The girls ran through the trees, swiping the branches that were slashing at their faces in their flight.
The monster reached through the trees at the edge of the forest, grasping madly at the air, and bellowing in rage as its fury at having to let its prey escape took hold. Noticing the beast was no longer following, the girls collapsed onto the ground, gulping at the air as though they had almost drowned.
For several minutes, no one said a thing, before Applejack finally spoke up.
“Girls, are you okay? I’m not sure what that thing was, but do you think it could have been Fluttershy? It was certainly wearing shreds of her clothing...”
“I’m unhurt, luckily, and I am certain that… thing was Fluttershy. She was acting strange earlier, so there must be something seriously wrong with her…” Rarity replied, looking down at the ground in post-traumatic shock and silent contemplation.
The pair heard a strained, wheezing groan coming from their third friend, as she sounded like she had just been hit by a bus. They ran over to their friend, as she was obviously hurt.
“Sunset! Are you alright, sugar cube? What’s wrong?” Applejack looked over her cramped figure, as the blurred memories of recent events rushed up to the surface. “Oh, My… I just remembered that I… That she… I’m so sorry…” Applejack put her head in her hands and began to sob, as she remembered what she had just done to one of her closest friends.
“No time for crying, Applejack, she’s hurt! She fell down an entire storey, and has a large gash on her leg! We have to find help, quickly! You can apologise later for whatever it is you think you’ve done, but in case you have forgotten, we just ran into the Everfree forest! What are we supposed to do in terms of medical aid here?!” Rarity reasoned.
Regaining her composure, Applejack aided Rarity in lifting their friend, as they set off through the forest. They had no idea where they were, as they had been blindly running in a panic when they entered.
“How the hay did she carry on running after injuries like that?” Asked Applejack,
“I suspect it was adrenaline, darling. She was running for her life, after all.”
“I suppose so…”
The two placed their friend on the ground, any hope of a quick escape lost. They had to tend to her wounds as best they could, and so they applied pressure to the wide gash on Sunset’s leg in an effort to stop the bleeding and prayed that it would be enough to save her life. Neither had any experience when it came to first aid. They noticed the bones in her shoulder and back were dislodged, and broken. No wonder she had passed out.
“You think she’ll be okay?”
“I hope so, Applejack, I hope so…”
With the bleeding stopped, they lay Sunset on a bed of leaves and waited in what they considered a vain hope of being rescued.