Book 1 - The Behemoth came to Canterlot

by Equimorto

Palindrome

"But what if a group of cows was called a murder?"

Fluttershy, Sunset and Rainbow Dash all stared at Pinkie for a moment, silent. "That sounds oddly terrifying," Sunset said.

"Yep," Rainbow added, nodding. Fluttershy also nodded.

"Thank you for yesterday, by the way," Pinkie went on, jumping to a completely different topic as if nothing had happened.

"It's no problem," said Sunset. Then she paused for a moment. "What happened yesterday?"

"The portal, remember?"

"Yeah." Sunset's expression remained confused. "We were following you. And then we were working on getting the portal secured. And then... There wasn't a portal?"

"Uh, is everything okay?" asked Rainbow, leaning forward.

"Yes, don't worry about it," Pinkie said.

But Sunset shook her head. "I don't remember. There's something there I don't remember. Like there's a hole in my memory and things at the ends of it don't match up." Her gaze drifted towards Pinkie. "What happened?"

"But what if a group of cows was called a murder?"

Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Sunset all silently stared at Pinkie. "That sounds oddly terrifying, for some reason," Fluttershy said.

"Twilight is still working on trying to figure out a pattern for the portals, right?" asked Pinkie, completely disregarding the question she'd just asked.

"Sure is," said Sunset. "I've tried to tell her to go easy on it, but I'm not sure how much she's listening. But she has gotten better about this kind of stuff, I have to give her credit."

"Anyone heard from Applejack recently?" Rainbow asked, leaning back in her chair.

"I have," said Fluttershy. "She said she's doing alright."

"And has anyone heard from Rarity?" There was a slight tremor in Sunset's voice as she asked that.

Rainbow Dash pulled out her phone and scrolled through a couple of messages, holding it over her face as she leaned into her chair so far her head was almost parallel to the floor. "Eating ice-cream on the couch right now, and watching horribly acted dramas."

"How many tubs?" asked Sunset.

"Still on the first one."

"So it's not too bad today."

"Or maybe she woke up late." Rainbow put her phone back in her pocket.

"That too." Sunset lay her arms on the table and her head on top of them, deflated. Fluttershy placed a hand over hers, offering a smile. Sunset smiled back.

Pinkie suddenly twisted in her chair, looking towards the window on the wall behind her. The other girls followed the direction of her eyes, and saw a bird tapping with its beak against the glass. "Is that a crow?" asked Rainbow, trying to get a better look at it.

Fluttershy stood up and walked towards the window. Sunset followed her with her eyes, while Pinkie just turned back to the table. Rainbow too chose to look away. "What do you think that's about?" she asked.

"Well, she'll tell us once she's done talking to it," Sunset said, watching as Fluttershy opened the window.

But rather than stop to talk to the girl, the bird flew inside and towards the table.

Comments

[FanOfMostEverything]

Holes in memory corresponding to holes in the story, with Pinkie acting evasive... Most concerning. Hopefully the crow will help explain things. (Also hopefully, the girls are visiting Rarity. She could use emotional support from something other than frozen milkfat.)

[Saix]

Pinkie is mind raping her friends after making a pact with an eldritch entity? That's not great, really.