“... and the bear is just one of many reasons I’d rather never go camping again,” Rarity huffed.
A few snickers made Rarity blush. She grumbled and shoved a large piece of peach cobbler into her mouth.
“I’ll make a note to not go camping when we visit Equestria,” Sunset chuckled. “Aside from Rarity though, it sounds like everyone had a lot of fun.”
Applejack and Rainbow Dash smiled at her from across the table.
“Yep, couldn’t have asked for a better weekend,” said Applejack.
“I could have asked for some more marshmallows,” Dash added.
“How do you and Pinkie manage to consume so much sugar?” Twilight asked.
Feeling the girls’ gaze on her, Twilight flinched and tucked her chin. “Sorry, sorry, it just slipped out!”
“Twilight, the world isn’t going to end because you asked a rather obvious question.” Rarity glanced over at Pinkie and Dash. “Heavens know I’ve asked it myself a few times.”
“Oh…” Twilight chewed on her bottom lip. “Sorry.”
“Dear, fretting like this isn't good for your complexion.” Rarity’s eyes brightened. “That’s it! We should do a nice spa day! Ooooh, it will be the perfect way for you to relax and for me to get whatever mud is still on me from last weekend!
“Yeah that mud is real awful.” Dash raised and hand to her forehead and tilted her head back. “Now excuse me dears, I simply must exfoliate my pores with this delightful mud mask!”
“Rainbow Dash…” Rarity growled.
“Alright, sorry, sorry.” Dash grinned at Rarity. “Consider that payback for messing up our campfire story.”
Rarity raised an eyebrow. “I beg your pardon?”
“You’re version of the story did seem a bit too dainty,” said Applejack. “No offense, but having the child be a ballerina didn’t really seem to add much… save for my sis and her friends getting a few laughs out of it.”
Sunset leaned a little closer and looked over her friends. “Um, what story is this?”
“The Legend of the Goat-man.” Dash crossed her arms and flared her nostrils. “It’s a classic.”
A chorus of agreement sprouted up across the table. Sunset was still leaning forward.
“That’s a new one to me.” She clasped her chin. “Strange, most folklore has some Equestrian equivalent, even down to the name.”
“It might be because it’s just a local legend.” Twilight pushed up her glasses and smiled. “When I was young, I had quite a fun time looking up all the different versions of it. I even made a map showing all the probable locations of events in the story!”
Twilight paused, feeling something lukewarm oozing between her fingers. She looked down and saw that she’d planted her hand into what was left of her mashed potatoes. Blushing deeply, she sank into her seat.
“So magical mystery stuff always interested you?” Pinkie chirped.
“Every recorded occurrence of the supernatural has to have some grounding in reality,” Twilight murmured while she wiped her hand with a napkin. “It’s my duty as a scientist to investigate and record such phenomena so that they can be properly rationalized.”
Five blank faces stared back her. Twilight sunk lower, but an amber hand reached out and pulled her back up. Sunset smiled at her and then turned to the rest of the group.
“That was a ‘yes,’ Pinkie,” she said. Sunset then furrowed her brow. “I’m still a little out of the loop on this whole goat-man thing though. Is it some sort of satyr?”
“You really don’t know?” Dash asked.
Sunset shook her head. A giddy grin stretched across Dash’s face. She rose up from the table and spread her arms out wide.
Pinkie pulled out a steaming bucket of popcorn from her backpack and chucked a handful into her mouth. “Oooh, this’ll be good!”
Dash coughed into her hand.
“A long long time ago,” she said in a deep voice,” a young child did something very very naughty. Afraid of what their parents would do when they found out, the child ran away and hid in the nearby mountain. For many days and nights, the parents searched for their lost child. The whole town joined in to help. Yet, it was as if the child had vanished off the face of the earth.”
“One night, a villager saw something in the woods near the mountain.” Dash leaned over the table and pressed her face up close to Sunset’s. “Something so terrifying that he ran screaming all the way back to the center of town where everyone gathered at night to say if they’d found anything.”
“Uh-huh.” Sunset gave Dash a small flick on the nose. “So what kind of big scary monster did the villager see?”
Dash pulled back and planted her hands on her hips. “I thought you said you hadn’t heard this story!”
“I haven’t, but I have an idea of where it’s going.”
“Well maybe I’ll just stop the story here,” Dash pouted. “The monster ate everyone. The end.”
Crossing her arms, Dash slammed back into her seat. Lowering her face towards her tray, she dug into what was left of her lunch.
Applejack shook her head. “Sorry about this. Probably shoulda warned ya that Dash really hates having her stories interrupted. I think I can take it from here though.”
After taking a swig of her milk, Applejack hunched her shoulders and tilted her head, hiding her face in the shadow and the brim of her hat.
“The villager ran back to center of town,” Applejack continued with a slight warble to her voice. “They say back then it was the huge field of buttercup flowers you can still visit at the park. The other townspeople asked him what happened, but the poor fella could barely even breathe. He was just regaining his voice when they all heard a noise.”
Fluttershy jumped at the the sharp crack of plastic snapping. A few heads across the cafeteria turned toward her. With reddened cheeks, Fluttershy sank back into her seat.
“Uh, sorry, ‘Shy.” A bit of red was on Applejack’s face too while she collected the broken pieces of her fork. Shaking her head, she raised her shoulders again. “Upon hearing the noise, the townspeople called out to ask who was there, but no one answered.”
Applejack slanted her eyes to the right. “Something ran across the street!”
She glanced to the left. “‘Did ya see that?’ someone cried.”
Throwing a glare at Sunset, Applejack leaned forward. “Then, it appeared.”
“There stood a huge beast.” Straightening her back, Applejack held one of her hands high. She then spread her arms wide and curled her fingers. “It had fur as white as bones, horns like massive hooks, and blood-red eyes that pierced into your very soul! And in its claws was the child’s cold body.”
Dash tilted her head at Applejack.
“The monster began to walk towards them. The townspeople were terrified, but they realized that if the monster had its way, no one would be safe from it.” Applejack gave her hat a tug, allowing more of her lean upper arm to show. “So, they got their torches and whatever else they could find and hurled them at the monster. But it kept getting closer and closer. Just as it took its first step onto the buttercups, the townspeople managed hit it hard enough that it went to its knees. The varmint let out a roar that chilled the townspeople to the bone but then scurried off.”
Applejack leaned back in her seat and flashed a sharp grin. “On some nights, they say you can still hear the monster prowling across the mountain looking for more naughty children.”
A few claps sounded from the nearby tables, making Applejack blush. Across the table, Pinkie brought her hands together at a slower pace. She soon stopped and clasped her chin.
“You’ve definitely got some storytelling skills,” she mused. “But you and Dashie lose points for changing the backstory and skipping the really juicy parts.”
“Hey,” Dash huffed. “Applejack was the one that said the monster killed the kid, not me. Everyone knows the real scary part is when the townspeople find out the monster was the kid.”
“Well, to be fair, your version is number four on my list.” Pinkie flashed Applejack and Rarity a tiny frown. “Sorry girls, you’re five and six. Still pretty high up on the list though! Can’t beat the ‘cowboy and indian’ and the ‘training student’ versions though.”
Pinkie shot up from her seat and jabbed her index finger up high.
“The number one best version though is the one where a young chef wanted to make the perfect dish, so he went up the mountain to find a super rare mushroom. When he tried it though, he became the monster!” Pinkie clasped her milk and gulped it down. With a contented sigh, she floated back down to her seat. “And that’s why you don’t eat strange mushrooms or climb a mountain that might be cursed.”
“Um… uh…” Fluttershy murmured.
“Something the matter, ‘Shy?” Applejack asked.
“Well…” Fluttershy gulped. “I also heard a different version of the story. It’s not really scary though. It’s actually a little sad.”
“I’m all ears,” said Sunset. “It’s not the most original story, but it’s pretty fun hearing all the different ways it’s told. So go ahead, Fluttershy. I’d like to hear your version too.”
“Oh, okay.” Fluttershy thumped her hand against her chest a few times and cleared her throat. “In the story I heard, the monster wasn’t evil at all. In fact, it was trying to take care of the child after it fell into the monster’s home. The monster tried everything it could to make the child better, but the child only got weaker and weaker. When the monster realized there was nothing else it could do, it decided to take the child to see the flowers it always talked about one last time. Its fight with the townspeople was just a big misunderstanding. I was told that if you’re ever lost on that mountain, the monster will appear and guide you back home.”
“I’d almost forgotten about that version,” said Twilight. “It doesn’t get brought up that much. As for me, the first version I heard was about a young researcher that wanted to study the mountain and instead disturbed the monster that lived there… maybe I should’ve taken the story’s moral to heart a little more.”
“Don’t sweat it, sugarcube.” Applejack glanced over to one of the large clocks on the wall. “I’d be more worried about your steak and cobbler.”
Twilight glanced down at her half-eaten entrée and untouched dessert. “Ack!”
Everyone shared a good laugh while Twilight gulped down her food. While that was going on, Sunset started down at her plate and balanced a knife on the back of her ring finger.
“You know, it wouldn’t be too crazy to say that the monster from that story came from Equestria.”
“They have killer goat men there too?” Dash asked, her eyes glistening bright. “I mean, aside from that Tirek jerk Twilight told us about.”
“I’m not sure.” Sunset shrugged. “The portal has an odd effect on anything that passes through it. If a creature from Equestria came through and retained enough of their original traits, they could potentially be misidentified as a monster.”
Sunset snapped her fingers. “Hey, what if we went to explore the mountain sometime? Who knows, maybe there’s even a second portal up there. That’d be important to keep track of.”
“I think I’ve had enough exploration for a while,” Rarity sighed. “Besides, if anything came out of Equestria at that mountain, they’d probably turn back immediately.”
“Why’s that?” Sunset asked.
“The mountain ain’t exactly in the nicest area,” Applejack answered. “It’s right by a trash dump and all sorts of nasty critters and people gather there. Not quite the place for high school girls.”
“Really?” Sunset chuckled. “You beat nigh-undefeatable sirens and two all-powerful out of control magic users and you’re worried about some trash, vermin, and petty thugs?”
Everyone glanced away from Sunset. With a sigh, she picked up her tray and stood up. “Alright, it’s not that big a deal. I’m sure if there actually were another portal, it’d provide a bit more substance than just a few campfire stories.”
The chime signaling the end of lunch rang out from the PA system. A wave of trays flew off the tables and lines formed near the collection stations and trash bins.
“Well this has been another delightful lunch.” Rarity dabbed her lips with a napkin and stood up. “I hope all your classes go well.”
“Same to ya.” Applejack followed after Rarity but stopped beside Sunset. “I’m still not big on going up that mountain but next time we go camping, how about you and Twi join us?”
“Count me in!” said Dash. “Your faces will be priceless!”
Sunset crossed one arm across her chest. “Do you even want to know what my sleeping conditions were like when I first got here?”
“Camping’s totally different.” Dash smiled. “Especially when you’ve got friends to hang out around the campfire with.”
“Thanks, Dash. Hope classes go well.”
“So do I.” Dash darted away. “See ya!”
Applejack and Pinkie followed after Dash. Fluttershy slipped past Sunset and gave her a small wave. Sunset watched her friends head off in different directions before she turned back to the table. Twilight was in the middle of chugging her milk. She slammed the empty carton down and gasped for air.
“If you don’t hurry up and put your tray back, you’re gonna be late,” said Sunset.
“I know, I know.” Twilight jumped to her feet and raced off but came to a screeching halt and ran back. Setting her tray back on the table, she crouched down and strapped her backpack over her left shoulder. “I’m usually much better with my timing. By now, I should be in class reviewing my notes from last night’s reading.”
“Yeah, friends add a lot of different variables to your life.” Sunset gave Twilight a smile.
“It’s definitely better than eating lunch alone though.”
“I’ve been there before.” Sunset placed her free hand on Twilight’s shoulder. “For now though, let’s hurry and get out of here.”
“Right!”
~~~
A few rays of early dawn managed to peek through the gaps in the curtains to Fluttershy’s room. They shimmered off a few of the metal birdcages Fluttershy kept in her room.
A tiny melodic snore escaped past Fluttershy’s lips. She rolled onto her side, revealing that her hair now stretched down almost to her knees. A few strands of it streamed over and under the bright yellow wings that poked out through the back of her pajamas.
A string of loud knocks plunged the room into a storm hisses, barks, and crows. Fluttershy bolted upward, launching herself into the air. She spun around and took in the chaos enfolding all around her. A bump on the head jolted her attention up to the ceiling. Its plaster pressed against her scalp.
The open air flowed between her toes for a second before her wings disappeared in a flash. She landed on the bed with a fwump. It was silent for a moment. When Fluttershy raised up her head, the ruckus resumed.
There was still a knocking at the door.
“Oh dear! Oh dear, oh dear!” Fluttershy exclaimed as she jumped out of bed and threw on some slippers. “I knew I should have checked my alarm last night!”
Fluttershy rushed out in the hall but soon screeched to a halt. Spinning back around, she raced back to her room and stuck her head in. “I am so sorry, everyone! I’ll get mother to feed you! Let me just invite Applejack inside and then we can get everything in order!”
Without another word, she sped through her house and nearly slammed herself into the front door. She latched onto the knob,flung it open, and bowed.
“Applejack, I’ll be ready in a minute!” she panted. “Please come inside!”
As she caught her breath, she noticed the shoes in front of her were unfamiliar red boots that were at least five sizes bigger than Applejack’s feet.
“OH WOW! I’M ALREADY GETTING INVITED INTO OTHER HUMANS’ HOMES!” boomed an unfamiliar voice. “ANYWAY, I A—”
Fluttershy let out a tiny huff and raised her head. “I’m sorry, but I’m not interested in whatever you’re se—”
Fluttershy’s heart caught in her throat. Two hollow sockets stared back at her from where there should have been eyes. She took a step back. While a scream built up in her lungs, a cold sweat erupted across her body.
Like his eyes, the stranger’s nose was only a black abyss. Somehow, even without any muscles or flesh, his teeth were pulled back into a massive twisted grin. Armor, bent and chipped, hid his upper torso while a tattered red scarf blew behind him, highlighting the void around his abdomen where there should have been a stomach, but only a spine remained. The faint scent of dust and decay swirled around him.
OH, WHERE ARE MY MANNERS? I SHOULD AT LEAST INTRODUCE MYSELF! WOULDN’T WANT YOU CALLING ME APPLEJACK… UNLESS THAT IS A THING HUMANS DO ON THE SURFACE!” The skeleton placed a gloved hand on its breastplate. “ANYWAY, I AM THE GREAT PAPY—”
Fluttershy’s eyes rolled upwards and she crashed to the ground.