Red Eye

by Fonypan

Session 17 - From the Other Side, She'll Save Me

Chip Mint raced through Ponyville like a swift wind. He’d grown into a tall, lanky stallion. His light build made him an excellent flyer. Not only was he the fastest courier in town, he also acted as a crier when needed.

“Red Eye is coming! Red Eye is coming!” said Chip Mint.

Chip Mint put his speed to good use, warning the others in town. The other ponies dropped everything to heed his warning. Merchant stalls were abandoned mid-transaction, carts were left in the streets. Everypony made sure to get themselves and their foals behind a latched door.

Once Ponyville had taken on the appearance of a ghost town, Chip Mint retreated to his own hiding place. Not a face to be seen, and not a sound to be heard.

A dark figure stalked the deserted streets. Blood dripped from beneath a heavy cloak. A faint, eerie, red glow cut through the darkness beneath the hood. Four ensanguined hooves left bloody tracks upon the ground.

Red Eye wandered Ponyville, keenly watching for any who dared brave the streets in her presence. Her black cloak hid much of her appearance, but her lower legs were clearly visible. Above her left-front hoof rest a pile of badly burnt flesh, loose and wrinkled like a fallen sock. Beyond it, a length of exposed bone rose up and vanished beneath the cloak.

Just as Red Eye was about to give up the hunt, an unfamiliar voice called out. “Hey, Fluttershy!”

Red Eye stopped instantly. That name felt completely foreign to her, but she still remembered what it once meant. A white unicorn filly came bounding out of an alleyway. Jagged, purple bangs bounced above a pair of green eyes.

“H-hello,” said Red Eye. “Do I know you?”

“Nope!” said the filly. “I recognized you from stories my mom and aunt have told me. Mom says you want to cut me up, but my aunt says you used to be a nice pony. You are Fluttershy, right?”

“I was. You can call me Red Eye, like everypony else does.”

“Why do they call you Red Eye, anyway?”

“It’s all anypony sees when they look at me. It’s become my identity.”

“What has?”

Red Eye sat and reached for her hood. She pulled it back slowly, revealing the horror show where her face once was. Red Eye’s lower jaw had fallen off, and much of her face had gone with it. Her mouth gaped, perpetually open. Rivulets of blood ran down a freely hanging tongue.

Much of the left side of Red Eye’s skull was bare, devoid of flesh. Blood flowed from her severed scalp to fall from her exposed teeth in thick droplets. Her right eye was intact, but unfocused and cloudy. Her left eye was but an empty socket. Within rest her namesake; a mote of unnatural, red light.

The filly stared, wide-eyed. Red Eye stared back, expecting the poor thing to scream and run away. It was, after all, a natural reaction when faced with a monster.

“Cool!” said the filly. “You look like a real, live zombie!”

“I don’t know if ‘live’ is the right word.”

The filly reared up. She planted one hoof on Red Eye’s chest to support herself, and reached up with the other to touch Red Eye’s face. She first felt the exposed skull, then pressed in on Red Eye’s nose.

“Does your face hurt when I poke it?”

“It hurts whether you poke it or not. Please do stop, though. Um, if that’s okay with you.”

“Heh, sorry.” The filly stepped back and smiled at Red Eye. “Your skin is all cold and mushy. It’s like you’re made out of mud!”

“I-I suppose.”

“How come you’re moping around, all sad-like?”

“My closest friends turned against me. I’m hoping that, some day, they stop being so angry with me so we can all be friends again. I visit Ponyville every so often to see if anything has changed, but everypony is so scared that they hide as soon as I show up.”

“They’re all silly for hiding! I’ll be your new friend!”

“You’re so sweet, thank you.”

“You can thank me by smiling!” The filly grinned widely. “See? Like this!”

“Oh, but I am smiling. Or, um, trying to.”

“Oh! Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I know it must be hard to tell with half my face missing.”

“As long as you’re smiling on the inside, that’s what matters!”

“Thank you, um… What is your name?”

“It’s—“

“Timpani!”

Both Timpani and Red Eye looked in the direction of the shout. A white unicorn mare with a wavy, pink and purple mane stormed up the street. The image of a palette and brush graced her backside. She grabbed Timpani with her magic, and dragged her away from Red Eye.

“I told you to stay inside!” said Sweetie Belle.

“But mom—“

“You’re lucky I found you in time! That monster would have cut you up!”

“She’s not a monster! I talked to her, she’s nice!”

“Oh, I’m sure she put on a very convincing act to draw you in!”

“I wouldn’t hurt her, Sweetie Belle,” said Red Eye. “You should know that. I would never hurt anypony.”

Sweetie Belle glowered at Red Eye. “Stay away from my precious little filly. I almost lost a friend to you, I won’t lose my only daughter!”

“I used to foalsit you.”

“How dare you abuse memories of Fluttershy to try and manipulate me?”

“Mom, stop! She’s not like that!”

“Quiet, Timpani.”

“Really Sweetie Belle, I was just—“

“Shut up.”

“Okay…”

“Stay away from my daughter. Stay away from all of Ponyville, unless you’re looking for trouble. We’ll find a way to stop you someday, permanently.”

Sweetie Belle turned and trotted off without another word. Timpani floated along behind her, suspended in the air by Sweetie Belle’s magic. She twisted around, and raised a hoof to wave at Red Eye.

“Bye, Fluttershy! I’ll see you later!”

“You most certainly will not! Don’t even say that!”

Red Eye returned the wave. Then, she stood awkwardly by herself for a while. It was clear nopony else intended to speak to her. With a disappointed sigh, Red Eye began the long and lonely trot home. Her greatest social accomplishment in two decades had been getting her newest and only friend in trouble.

Comments

[Limedog]

[skyward rainbow]

This is good to be back in the actual story I get back story but it should of been one chapter but thats my opinion

[Pony Knight]

SOMETHING HAPPENES WITH FLUTTERSHY AFTER SO LONG!! Oh thank god almighty for that.

[Aether Spark]

Why can't the six at least attempt to see if it's still Fluttershy instead of abandoning her to perpetual loneliness?

Why are they so adamant against seeing if Fluttershy is still in there?

Rainbow especially.