Condemned: Fluttering hope

by Amadeus cancer

The world below the sky

The first thing she felt was the cold.

Letting out a gasp when a gust of freezing wind hit her straight in the face, she groaned in exasperation before rolling over to her side, where she could feel the wall of her cottage next to her bed. Reaching her hooves down, she attempted to grab her blanket and pull it over her head, only to feel nothing at the base of her body. Moaning, she limply moved her hooves around to feel if it had somehow accidentally fallen off the bed. Except when she did, she felt hard stone instantly contact with her hoof, signifying that she must’ve been on the floor. Small confusion began to surge in her still waking brain. Had she fallen off her mattress?

More icy wind bit into her exposed skin as what she could only presume was droplets of snow landed on her body and hair, melting straight on impact due to her body heat. Holding back a shaky breath, she instinctively curled inward at the unwelcomed contact, the murky bleariness clouding her mind slowly fading. Fluttershy whimpered as unknown noises from far away echoed through her ringing ears, causing her to cover them as she squinted her eyes shut.

It sounded like she was outside, but that couldn’t be right. Why in the wide world of Equestria would she be sleeping outside, and in winter weather no less.

Wait a minute, she didn’t recall going to sleep. And last she checked, it was right in the middle of summertime.

Slowly, she eased her eyes open to see splotches and blurred outlines fill her field of vision. What’s worse, everything seemed dull and grey, with little to no color in anything, making it harder for her to determine where she was. The familiar sickening sense of fear began to stew inside of her as she tried to blink the blurriness away, though her body remained curled on the floor.

After a few tries her vision began to regain itself, the blurred outlines and shapes focusing into view as she made out the setting before her. From what she could see, though very limited due to the darkness and shadows, in front of her was the side of a massive concrete building with a large garage door. Her confusion growing, Fluttershy inched her head to the side to see the rest of the area, where she saw a long row of other concrete buildings stretching down the small little road she was apparently sleeping on.

Dread quickly overgrew her confusion, causing her to try and scramble to her haunches. Except, when she did her hooves didn’t seem to work as well as they should’ve, instead something in her front appendage bent in an awkward angle, causing her face to hit the snowy stone road in surprise.

Squeaking in shock at the freezing snow and her now sore nose, Fluttershy automatically brought up her hoof to stop herself from sneezing. However, what came next made her body go ramrod straight.

Whereas her original plan was to sooth her nose with her hoof, instead she felt cold smooth skin touch her equally smooth face. The world seemed to go in slow motion when she looked down, her mind blank when she saw the weird appendage in place where her hoof used to be.

It looked like the hand of a primate, yet with absolutely no hair to be found. Her heart began to pound louder and louder in her chest, echoing in her ears as she shakingly twisted the thing before her eyes from side to side. Her breathing quickened at rapid pace when she stretched it outward, further paling when it was all but confirmed that this new appendage was indeed now hers. Without thinking, she looked down to survey the rest of her body, praying to the high ends of Equestria that her growing suspicions had to be false.

What she saw made her scream bloody murder which echoed loudly throughout the alleyway.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUUGGHHHH!”

Flying backwards, Fluttershy gawked as she stared down at what had replaced her previous body. Replacing her previous equine form, she now resembled something strikingly similar to a monkey or a minotaur, only the difference being that the rest of her appearance, albeit the parts that weren’t covered in clothing, were also hairless, showing her rather pale skin even through the darkness of the night. Speaking of which, adorning her “torso” area was some kind of cottony hoodie, its color a faded yellow, almost the same as her original pony body’s fur coat, and underneath she could see a sky-blue shirt covering the rest of her. What’s more, covering her…legs she remembered Twilight calling them, was a pair of light brown jeans ending with small pink shoes.

She flinched when she heard the sounds of honking, distant city chatter, and even a train echo off the walls of the alley, the sounds suddenly bringing her back to reality. Nervously darting her eyes from side to side, Fluttershy began to notice small but significant differences in her surroundings, noting how what few miscellaneous that occupied the alley appeared to have some sort of feature or feeling that set itself separate from anything else back home.

For example, like how some of the nearby dumpsters had strange lips on the sides of the lids, or how the weird, destroyed bike-looking object off in a corner had way too many mechanical parts attached to it, confusing her as to how a pony could even get that thing to move with their own four hooves. Not to mention how pretty much every single object was way too tall for any pony to reach without wings.

Instinctively breathing in deep as to calm herself, Fluttershy felt herself slump against the ice-cold brick wall behind her as she tried to gaze up at the cloud-covered sky, hoping the sight of nature would grant at least a fraction of ease to her worries.

It seemed to work for a moment, but soon she found herself pausing once realizing that even the very sky itself looked different than Ponyville’s. The stars from the winter constellation, something she always made an effort to gaze at with Twilight, were mismatched and replaced, their formations in opposite places and spaced further apart.

Quickly understanding that her technique at calming herself was failing horribly, Fluttershy instead brought her eyes down while looking back at her “legs”, her still stunned mind fumbling for any kind of answer.

Why? Why was this happening!? Was some pony playing a trick on her, because if so, then this wasn’t funny at all! Perhaps Twilight had accidentally placed a spell on her again? As much as she loved and admired her friend, the ex-unicorn sometimes had a habit of getting a little too excited with her magic.

Heaving puffs of air, Fluttershy looked to her old friend, her eyes full of anger and self hatred. As soon as she saw Rainbow Dash’s own horrified look however, her look immediately turned to one of regret and fear.

"I-I..."

Before she could finish her sentence, a loud roar crackled through the air, followed by a burst of fiery green magic ripping straight through the crowd of ponies, scrapping many of their sides and causing them to fall back.

Fluttershy kept her gaze on a stilled Rainbow Dash, before the sound of ponies yelling and the sudden static in the air caught her attention.

Confused, she looked to the side. And her eyes widened when a stream of pure green energy slammed into her at full force.

She gasped when realization hit her, ice forming in her chest as the memories resurfaced. No, this wasn’t some prank nor Twilight’s doing. It wasn’t even an accident. Chrysalis had hit her with her magic, and it must’ve sent her to this place, giving her this body.

In a matter of seconds, questions flooded her mind as quickly as the memories did, her stress growing with each word. Why would Chrysalis do this though? The queen had made it abundantly clear that she utterly despised Fluttershy and her friends, so why would she send her to this place instead of just outright destroying her? (Ugh, the very thought made her nauseas and visibly shiver.) Apart from her initial shock, she’d be confident enough to say that she was otherwise perfectly fine. No visible cuts or burns, and she at least had some sort of clothed protection against this strange weather.

Letting out a couple more shaky breaths, Fluttershy gulped before lifting up her arm and placing her palm on the icy brick wall of the building behind her, fingers gripping tightly onto a loose handhold as she began pulling her weight upward until she managed to lift herself onto her feet. As her back unconsciously leaned further into the wall, she cast her eyes nervously ahead of her, focusing on where in the world she could possibly go.

Through the falling snow, she could see at the end of the long alleyway was what had to be a public road, as she could just barely see lights and movement passing by the narrow entrance. She silently thanked Celestia that wherever she’d been dumped at was fortunately occupied with life.

Hands still firmly clutching to the safety of the wall, she nudged her head towards the right and called out, her voice oddly hoarse and sore.

“H-Hello?”

Wincing at her low volume, when hearing no response, she gulped to try and soothe her rather scratchy throat before deciding to call out for help again, this time slightly louder.

“H-Hello, can any pony hear me?”

No answer.

“I-I ne-ed help!”

Each word felt like a dagger slicing down her throat, making it almost unbearable to say anything. Blinking back tears, Fluttershy huffed in exasperation. If no one could hear her, then she needed to get closer. Which required movement.

Peering at her feet, the ex-Pegasus lifted her left leg and placed it forward, her show firmly planted on the ground. Simply the act itself made her give a small smile. Okay, this didn’t seem so bad, as opposed to her recollection of Twilight’s tale from the princess’s experience at CHS front the world beyond the mirror. With her weight on her leg Fluttershy ever so gently leaned her body forward, hand still clutched onto the brick wall’s handhold. Straight away she felt her leg begin to wobble as if it’d been asleep at the sudden increase of pressure, nearly causing her to drop back down to the ground in surprise, although her balance kept her right. So far, so good, just keep doing what Twilight did.

With her leg still out, she shifted her second and moved it forwards as well, making sure its trajectory was a little further than her left legs’ position. Once she was satisfied with her stance, in a fit of confidence she quickly let go of the wall and pushed herself out onto the small alley roadway, both arms shooting outwards to balance her torso.

For a minute nothing happened, at least nothing majorly precarious, aside from her legs wobbling like jelly from underneath her torso’s weight, she was almost balanced. A tiny smile began to form across her lips as she distinctly heard the sounds of her friend’s roaring cheers inside her head, she felt a spark of warmth in her chest at the victory, despite the current situation.

Alright, she could do this, she could do this. Just one, two. One two. Simple filly steps. Puffing out her chest, the ex-Pegasus sucked in a deep breath and lifted her left leg back up, aiming forward. All of a sudden, while suspended mid-step a heavy weight on her back quickly began to pull her backwards to the wall she’d previously pushed off of. Swinging her arms rapidly as she back peddled, Fluttershy let out a squeal before her legs gave out from underneath her and landed roughly onto the snow-covered ground.

“Ow!” She cried, swinging her arm behind her back to massage the new sore, only to freeze when feeling a familiar, yet at the same time unfamiliar feathery presence. Gulping down a stone, Fluttershy brought back her other hand and placed it too on her backside, instantly feeling the exact same feathery lump attached near her spine.

It was then she became acutely aware of the growing heat slowly emerging into the extra appendages behind her, much like how blood rushes back through the veins of a person’s leg when it’s asleep, an invisible fire melting away solid ice in order to revive a person’s movement. As more and more body heat burned through her middle spine and spread widely through the two appendages, she found herself helpless of control as her wings ever-so-gently fluttered open, shivering at the creaking and popping of inhuman bones forming into place, as if they were stretching their muscles after a long sleep.

Twisting her head over her shoulder, Fluttershy gaped in awe at the sight of her equestrian gifts. They looked exactly the same from back home, their color still a brilliant, pure yellow with thick protective feathers keeping her skin safe from the cold snow. The only difference now being that they were significantly bigger, no doubt to better fit her new “body.”

Shock eventually fading away, she blinked rapidly in order to make sure what she was seeing was actually real. Just to make sure, she reached out a hand and gently placed it on the wing’s middle, the smoothness of the feather still cottony and clean just how she usually kept it.

That didn’t stop her heart from beginning to beat faster and faster, causing her breathing to sharpen. Using what little strength she had left, her wings slowly furled back towards her spine, their ends sprouting from two perfectly cut holes in her hoodie. Although who it was that cut them was a mystery, right now she’d consider it the least of her worries. Gripping the sleeves of her soft jacket, Fluttershy grit her teeth as more tears streamed down her face, sniffling while trying to cover her face from the wind. Where were her friends, did they know where she was? What she wouldn’t do for Twilight or Applejack’s advice or Pinkie Pie’s optimism. They always seemed to know just what to say to her to calm her nerves. She winced again, why couldn’t she be more like them? At least then she’d have at least an inkling of what to do in this situation.

A loud honking noise broke off in the distance, snapping her mind back to reality. Oh right, she’d momentarily forgotten about the apparent civilization currently just a few yards from her. Breathing in, Fluttershy once again pulled her arm up and grabbed the brick wall, easing herself back to her two feet.

Pushing off the side of the building, a yelp nearly escaped her when she felt the weight of her wings begin to drag on her back causing her to sway her hands in order to keep her balance. Luckily, she was more prepared this time and instead propelled her torso forward to keep steady against the extra weight.

Using this strategy, the ex-Pegasus eventually found herself making her way down the alley, although, in a very wobbly/unsteady fashion. Every so often, she’d stumble or trip over her own feet causing her to quickly latch onto a nearby railing or dumpster in order to keep herself from falling to the floor.

The icy wind continued to prick at her skin the faster her pace got, causing her movements to at some points be slow. It certainly didn’t help that with the lack of hair to protect her body from the weather, her face and palms were quickly beginning to feel more and more numb with every attempt at catching herself. How could humans live like this?

“Hey, you.”

Freezing in place, Fluttershy’s blood ran as cold as the snow falling around her while simultaneously turning her head into the direction of the new voice that’d broken through the air.

In said direction, from what little she could see, there was a small gap in between two towering buildings beside her creating an even thinner and much more darkened pathway. However, if she were to narrow her eyes she’d be able to see a hunched form clinging to a side of the shadowy wall just a set few meters away.

Before she could pawn it off as a figment of her delirious imagination, the figure shuffled slightly causing the piles of discarded trash around him to crinkle, further announcing his presence. If that wasn’t bad enough, the stranger began to cough harshly and spoke again, this time in a louder voice.

“Yeah, I’m talking to you little girly.”

His voice was throaty and growled, almost as if it was hard for him to talk at all. A noticeable shiver ran down Fluttershy’s spin, and she was pretty sure it wasn’t because of the cold.

The stranger leaned further down and coughed wetly into his palm, before turning his head to the side and spitting out something off to the side, the sight making Fluttershy’s stomach twist in disgust. Finally shuffling over just a hair the stranger stepped out of the shadows with his form somewhat visible in the dim moonlight, and she quickly covered her mouth to stifle her gasp.

The stranger was a hooded figure, obviously male, and about three times her age and size. Though the darkness didn’t help, she couldn’t help but notice how his skin was sickly pale, but even that was hard to see through the mass of dark splotches coating his cheeks down to his chin. Speaking of which, she swore she could see some sort of material etching across his lips, it looked almost like it was metal.

The man didn’t appear to notice her initial shock as he slowly rose, easily towering over her form, the dark alleyway making him look even more sinister. Suddenly, almost like her instincts had kicked her into recognizing the issue, Fluttershy found herself backing away into the building behind them, heart stopping when realizing the already small space between them was even smaller then she’d originally thought.

She watched as the man before her coughed once more into his fist while snarling, almost as if it was painful for him to even speak.

“Didn’t mommy and daddy teach you that it’s dangerous for kiddies like you to go wandering out at night. Especially in this part of town.”

He took another step, causing her to scrunch up further into the brick wall.

“You’re going to need someone to protect you.”

Now, as a member of the Elements of harmony Fluttershy had quickly gotten accustomed to coming face-to-face with a various amount of unfriendly, to downright terrifying villains. From the old pony’s tale turned real-life Nightmare Moon, all the way to the sly and admittedly rude Discord. However, something about this stranger made something within her body recoil, an all-new type of fear she’d truthfully never experienced before.

She remembered the warnings her parents had thrust onto both her and Zephyr when they were only foals. About how they should refuse if any pony older than them offered treats and other goodies when they were alone, or how to never accept any pony else, who were not close nor family, to be escorted home with.

The ponies who committed those kinds of actions were true monsters in her eyes.

Gazing back at him, she swallowed her growing inner hysteria and spoke in a shaky voice while simultaneously trying to hide as much as she could behind her hair.

“N-no thank you. I’m fine.”

The stranger’s grin etched larger, placing his palm on the wall just above her head while gazing his eyes darkly towards her torso, his free hand creeping dangerously closer by the second.

“Aww, but what kind of gentleman would I be if I left such a lonely little kitten alone in the streets of big bad Metro City?”

Within an instant she quickly swiveled off to the side, barely missing his grubby fingers by an inch, and began to relentlessly backpaddle further away from him, her backside turned towards the end of the alleyway leading to the street .

“S-so sorry…” She spluttered. “…But I really need to get going.”

With that, she instantly turned on her heel while preparing to high tail it as fast as she could. Obviously the man didn’t seem to take her refusal lightly.

“Hey, get back here!”

She would’ve attempted to full on sprint if she hadn’t nearly toppled over a stray grocery cart sitting right out of her field of view, causing her momentum to slow increasingly. As she was struggling to gain back her balance, the stranger seemed to take this as the prefect opportunity.

“I SAID GET BACK HERE YOU FUCKING LITTLE BITCH!”

Suddenly, she felt a calloused hand grab a fistful of her hoodie, stopping her clear in her tracks. The edge of her jacket yanked back in response to the offending momentum, causing her to nearly choke as the tight collar pushed into her throat. Although, she rarely paid it any mind, as she was now currently focused on the primal growl practically breathing down her neck.

“Now you listen here, girly…” The man snarled viciously, which caused her own skin to turn pale. “…I’ve had a very shitty night, so I’m just gonna skip the damn niceties and…”

Whatever was left of his sentence was abruptly cut off, his words seemingly dying in his throat and replaced with eerie silence. His hand still holding tight to her jacket, she shuffled uncomfortably as a sort of incoherent mumbling could be heard coming from his mouth. After a few more seconds of painful silence, the man behind her finally managed to breathe out a sentence.

“What the fuck?”

Fluttershy blinked in confusion, wondering as to what in the world could’ve caused her attacker to switch his attitude so suddenly.

That’s when it hit her.

Her wings. Unlike the rest of her body, her wings were completely uncovered from clothing, big and bright for all the world to see. And if she recalled Twilight’s lecture correctly, humans weren’t supposed to have Pegasus wings.

The man holding her had obviously thought the same thing, because no sooner had the puzzle been completed when she felt something shift from behind and a calloused, meaty hand grabbed harshly onto one of her wings. Eyes widened and body shuddering, Fluttershy nearly choked as a pit of nausea began to boil in her stomach from the touch, and in a second of instinctive motivation she jolted forward. This only seemed to annoy her captor more as he grunted in surprise before quickly tightening his grip on the wing, rough nails digging into the feathers and skin as he pulled her back by the wing bone.

This time the young woman couldn’t help the startled shriek that escaped her lips and once again pushed away from her captor, this time more forcefully, before the hand let go of her wing and went over to grab a fistful of her jacket.

Suddenly Fluttershy found herself whipped around and facing the man head on, her nose mere centimeters from his own. Whatever other words or movement she planned on making ceased instantly as she felt her body freeze in place, her mind too comprehended with what she was currently being forced to look at.

Whereas the stranger had been near completely shrouded in darkness earlier, with the dim light of the moon alongside a few stray blinking lights in the alley, it was not too difficult to get a good view of the man’s face. He was beefy and muscular, his teal eyes, surrounded by his sickly pale face, beamed through the shadows.

But the worst part, was the fact that the lower part of his face was coated in what could only be blood, which was now crusted stuck across his busted lips and down his chin. Peering up, she could see that his nose was practically smashed to pieces, obviously the culprit of his horrid appearance.

Grabbing the folds of her hoodie, he pulled the young girl closer towards him, making her gag from the stench of his blood and alcohol mixed breath. Showing a row of rotten yellow teeth, the man growled in a low, and oddly serious voice.

“Who-What, the fuck are you?”

Fluttershy winced in his grasp, trying desperately to ignore the foul smell and focus on escaping this perilous situation. She opened her mouth to answer, but to her horror could only speak in a mess of jumbled words.

The man huffed exasperatingly and without a second’s hesitation, threw her headfirst into the alley he himself had just previously been in. A cry of pain echoed throughout the narrow street when she toppled over small metal dumpsters and other hard litter. Shaking off the discarded trash now piling on top of her, Fluttershy lifted her head up as the stranger closed in on her sprawled form, his eyes gleaming with malice. Did she hear ringing?

Unzipping the top of his hoodie, the man reached inside the folds and pulled out an odd-looking object, before a small flick was heard and the glint of metal shone through the night. Fluttershy felt her heart quicken while attempting to scramble backwards, the man’s arm lifting as he fiddled with the knife.

“You’re coming with me. They’re gonna love you.”

Now just within arm’s reach of her, Fluttershy desperately wracked her brain for any form of plan, only to come up with nothing. Her hand reached back, absentmindedly trying to pull away from the danger, when she felt her palm graze over the trash spilled from one of the dumpsters.

Suddenly, an idea formed.

In seconds she whipped around and scooped up a mass of mucky litter into her arms before flinging it straight into the man’s face, causing him to snarl in surprise when a couple pieces of trash landed in his eyes. With her attacker distracted, she scrambled to her feet and took off down the dark alley, now in a completely separate route than the one towards the street.

sprinting through the darkness, Fluttershy strained her eyes to search the path for any obstacles and just where in fact the road was leading. That and also being instantly aware of the following sounds of footsteps right behind her, signifying her captor wasn’t done with her just yet.

Though it was difficult to see much of anything, not to mention her movements were inconsistent and awkward due to her new body’s autonomy, every now and then she’d catch glimpses of shapes rowed alongside the walls. In desperation she swung her arms out and pulled down the nearest object she could get her hands on, a loud clanging sound echoing while the trash bin fell to the ground. She then proceeded to grab whatever she could find and threw them behind her in hopes of blocking the stranger’s pathway, bins, potted plants, bikes, and other miscellaneous to stall for time.

It seemed to be working too, she could hear the fallen items being stepped on and tripped over, coupled with the consistent vile curses and swears. Looking forward, she noticed that the alleyway finally ended with a massive fence guarding the rest of the way, with dim light luminating from behind it. Once she got close enough, she hopped onto a strange barrel looking thing and propelled herself over the wooden barrier, scratching her torso on account of her new human body’s uncomfortably extended length as opposed to her past Equestrian self. Luckily, she was quick enough to kick the barrel down and out of the way before he could climb up after her, therefore halting his progress for a few spare seconds.

Dropping from the top of the fence, Fluttershy felt air being punched through her lungs as gravity slammed her onto the pavement emitting a short gasp of pain from her mouth. However, the sounds of something climbing up the fence sparked a sense of adrenaline in her body which forced her to roll off her injured side and claw her way back up to her feet before taking off once more.

The alley behind the wooden gate was slightly more illuminated than before, with flickering streetlights hanging off backdoors and garages which made it thankfully more easy for the ex-Equestrian to navigate as to where she was going.

It wasn’t long before the road forked, causing her to pause. On the right you could see more of the alleyway due to there being more lights show casing the pathway curving up ahead, leaving its intended destination anonymous. Meanwhile, the left side was the exact opposite, with it being nearly completely dark therefore giving her no indication as to what she’d find were she to go on that route. Were it a far less stressful situation, Fluttershy might’ve taken note of the cliché, however the sounds of grunting and angry yelling coming from behind her stifled the thought before it could register.

Gripping onto the folds of her jacket, she chewed her lip as her eyes darted from side to side. Come on, think! Do something before he gets you, the others would know what to do. Suddenly she heard a voice roar from behind.

“GET BACK HERE! YOU CAN’T RUN FROM US!”

On que she bolted down the left side, sprinting as fast as she could even with her limited vision. She was once again covered in darkness, the shadows of the gigantic buildings beside the small girl made it seem as though everything had been swallowed up into a black hole. That didn’t stop her from desperately attempting to escape whatever horrific things that man had in store for her though, so she pushed on.

After what she could only guess was 15-or-so minutes, Fluttershy soon picked up on the distinct lack of running footsteps trailing her rear. Did she loose him? Not wanting to mistakenly slow down to check, only to be immediately jumped, she continued her pace as best she could.

As the minutes slowly passed with her stumbling blindly through the dark alley, she soon began to slow her pace when the aching in both her legs and her lungs made it too difficult to carry any further, eventually forcing her to a steady light jog.

In the corner of her eye was one of the many gigantic metal dumpsters which had rowed alongside the many walls she’d seen in the past few minutes. An idea quickly popped into place, although it made her physically cringe.

She attempted to screech to a halt, sliding on the slippery ground a few inches before catching herself from falling by grasping the dumpster’s handles. Dragging her legs inward, Fluttershy took a second to catch her breath, then released the handle and fumbled around the edge of the dumpster’s lid in order to open it. With every ounce of strength she had, the young girl heaved the heavy plastic up and over, resting it high against the building it laid against.

With that said and done, she grasped both hands onto the open edge of the bin and quickly hoisted herself over the opening torso first. Having to flail her legs in order to fully push her whole body in the dumpster, she let out a cry of shock when she eventually slipped down and landed into a face-full of garbage. The dumpster must’ve shaken due to its newest occupant’s movement, as the bin’s lid pushed off of the wall and crashed back down. The loud noise of the closing latch echoed through the metal container, rattling Fluttershy’s brain like marbles in a jar, causing a new sensation of pain to shiver down her spine.

After a few seconds of vibrating, the dumpster was silent once more, leaving her in the pitch-black darkness. Even with her body in a dreadfully uncomfortable state, the young woman held her breath while silently waiting for any sort of sound from outside her new hiding place.

Despite the appearance of the seemingly tough metal, it wasn’t at all difficult to hear the terrible wind outside, the now much farther sounds of traffic and even a distant train horn. None of which were connected with a would-be ponynapper.

After what felt like ages, Fluttershy inched her body into a more desired state while trying to keep the crinkling of trash bags at a minimum, luckily for her there were apparently no sharp glass or plastic objects in the dumpster making it surprisingly more comfortable than she’d like to admit. Although the smell she could’ve definitely done without.

The minutes ticked by as she waited, her breathing so quiet that the loudest thing she could physically hear was the sound of her own rapid heartbeat jackhammering against her chest. Wrapping her arms around her legs, water began to pool in the corner of her eyes as she buried herself into her knees, horrid realization and shock finally sinking in. The young woman twitched as the small space echoed with uncontrolled sobs.

Where was she, where were her friends? She needed them, she needed them now!

Twilight said that the people from the mirror world were mostly kind, just like everyone from back home, so did something go wrong? Did she unknowingly insult someone, or perhaps something? God, this was all so utterly confusing.

Suddenly, the ground beneath her began to shift forcing Fluttershy to cease her crying. Before she could say anything, a loud coughing sound erupted from under the hefty trash bags as a large form emerged to reveal a burly, orange clothed man, scars and numerous bandaged covering her face.

“Wha- who’s there.” He said in a thick and dangerous voice.

Fluttershy for her part decided to instinctively cover her mouth with her hoof palm, this time not wanting to gain another’s attention. Luck really seemed to despise her today though, because almost instantly the homeless man turned his head to look her straight in the eyes.

Both froze immediately, with Fluttershy silently sucking in a breath and giving a small wave while the homeless bum jerked his head, blinking rapidly.

“What the f- Lindsey, i’ssat you? Thought you was entertaining Jesse tonight.”

She cringed when he snorted, leaned over and spit something off to the side, the wet sound nearly making her want to gag. He then began to shift himself further upwards, to the point where he raised his hands and slowly began to lift open the dumpster lid above. In doing so, the brilliant moonlight from outside quickly leaked through the cracks, illuminating what had originally been her cover.

As fast as she could, Fluttershy scooted away from the incoming light until she huddled against the dumpster’s inner corner, trying desperately to appear as small as possible in hopes that whoever this new person was couldn’t immediately tell she was not, in fact, “Lindsey.”

“That coke-sniffing prick better not have sent you back here to steal from me again, ‘cause if so, I’m gonna-“

He abruptly stopped mid-sentence. While he had successfully opened the lid, with his torso fully outside as the lid leaned against the wall, the other half of the dumpster lid where Fluttershy occupied was still closed.

He let out a sound of irritation before flinging the second half of the dumpster bin open, his expression traveling from initial annoyance, to shock, to full on fury when his eyes laid on the woman before him. Wrenching his hand away from the wall, the man scrambled to his feet, (as best he could, considering he was already waist deep in garbage), and pulled out a hidden rusty pipe from underneath him. If she wasn’t too occupied at the moment, she might’ve heard that odd ringing sound drifting through the air.

“And just what the fuck do you think your doing, you little bitch!?”

Now fully terrified, all Fluttershy could manage was a barely contained whimper that seemed to enrage the bum even more as he loomed over her trembling form.

“You thinking of stealing my stash? Because let me tell you alley rat, I’m about two Fucking seconds from sticking this thing up your ass!”

It seemed as though his mind had already been made up however, because no sooner had he finished that sentence, he brought up his weapon with a howl of uncontrolled rage before crashing it down towards her forehead.

Faster than she expected, Fluttershy whipped her head to the left just as the pipe slammed into the metal edge of the bin and followed up by scurrying towards the opening. The wind picked up as the bum recuperated his missed attack by swinging the pipe at her upper back, which missed again when she toppled out of the container and back onto the wet road.

Almost as soon as her body hit the pavement, she rolled and flung herself away down the street, the crazy bum shouting rambling nonsense at her as he waved his weapon in the air while still seated in the filthy shelter.

His words bounced off of her though, as Fluttershy continued to run at near breakneck speed with the full intent on not stopping.

Signs and other potential hiding stops were ignored in her panic as she weaved through multiple turns/forks without the slightest hesitation, even pushing aside stray objects and running past broken cars. She didn’t care anymore. Nothing here could provide her enough safety, not with those dangerous creatures humans about. No, the only place that could possibly be safe was the outside street, definitely not in these Celestia-forsaken alleyways.

She just hoped that through her frenzied state of mind she’d somehow be able to find a path leading to it.

The burning that had begun to grow in both her legs and chest weren’t doing her any favors either, already it was starting to take a toll on her speed. At least the pathway she’d chose to run down was actually well lit from the overhanging lamps, therefore sight wasn’t much of an issue like before.

Every now and then, she’d pass by a few stray humans accompanying the sides of the building doors and steps. Some ignored the hysterical girl speeding across them while others gave her a curious gaze, regardless, she slightly picked up speed whenever she saw one.

Minutes later her legs seemed to finally give out from exhaustion, causing the young Equestrian to quickly topple over towards a railing in order to give steady balance. Gripping onto the freezing metal like a vice, Fluttershy’s chest heaved up and down as she panted in loud, exaggerated breathes, to the point were one would think she was having a small stroke. Honestly, she wouldn’t be surprised if she actually was having a panic attack, her life had just been threatened twice in the span of just thirty minutes!

Placing a hand on her rapidly beating heart, she winced when it felt like it would burst out of her chest.

What to do. What to do. What to do. What to do. What to do!? She mentally demanded, there had to be some way she could get out of this horrible alley. the road could be that far!

Suddenly she paused when something caught her ear. Quieting her pants as best she could manage, the young woman closed her mouth and cautiously lent an ear out to listen, trying to ignore the strong winter wind and her slowly beating heart.

There it is again!

There was another sound just off into the distance, hidden behind the tall building high above her. Just hearing it made her wings flutter in exasperation, which made her blink.

Wait, she still had her wings, regardless of the changes to the rest of her body. How had she forgotten?

Removing her shaking hands away from the railing Fluttershy backed up towards the middle of the small road, before turning her head back to peer at the two appendages. Rolling her shoulders, she gingerly ruffled her wings, much like how she would sooth one of her animal friends in order to wake them up back home, the bones still rather stiff and groggy. Fortunately, she was still able to fully open them, although once again lost in temperamental awe as their wingspan nearly covered the entire alleyway.

Despite the rather dire situation, Fluttershy decided to slowly take her time in stretching them out, tensing the muscles and flexing them. After a short while, when she felt confident some of her strength had resurfaced, she turned her gaze away from them and towards the bulky store to the left.

Okay, here was the plan: Fly over the building, attempt to land somewhere people wouldn’t immediately notice her, ask somepony somebody where she was and also for directions to a person who could help her get back home. Simple!

Taking a long breath in, Fluttershy steadied herself into a flying position, with her legs split, head low, wings tall. Shallowing her breathing, she mentally chanted over and over to encourage herself, trying her best to forget about her clammy hands.

She flapped her wings down, the wind trailing behind them blowing snow off the floor and into the air. At first, her wings flapped up and down while the rest of her body continued to stay on the floor, her new body’s weight was far heavier then her previous Equestrian form, therefore she realized it made sense they required much more a “push” to get her entirely off the ground.

With a surprising amount of strength, Fluttershy squeezed her eyes as she brought her wings down harder, stirring up even more wind and snow, until she felt the ground underneath her shoes give away.

The feeling made her eyes open in shock while immediately looking down. Though hard to tell, she was pretty sure the ground was about 4 feet from her. Eyes sparkling, Fluttershy brought her hands to her chin alongside a massive grin.

“I-I did it!” she exclaimed, kicking her legs in the air in her joy.

Just as she was celebrating her victory, her body began to wobble from the erratic movement with her suddenly having to flap even harder in order to keep herself from collapsing back down to the Earth. Waving her arms wildly, she straightened up while bringing both legs and arms close to her chest, an embarrassed blush growing.

Ok, back to business. Craning her neck upwards, she glared at the building she planned on flying over, a new sense of determination filling her soul. She could do this, it just took filly steps.

Flapping her wings down with more force, the young woman began to ascend higher and higher from the floor, although her movements were rickety and unbalanced, reaching the third floor in mere seconds. With her gaining elevation the air seemed to grow more and more tense, a weird sense of alarm going off in the back of her head, warning her about something unseen.

She ignored it and pressed on, the sight of the roof making her give a smile. The structure below her must’ve been small because the roof was rather short length, despite its bottom’s towering appearance. Lucky this meant she had a better view of the street.

Only what she saw made her audibly gasp in utter horror.

When she inevitably reached the street, Fluttershy had initially expected to see people scurrying about, perhaps not as many due to it being night, but at least she knew there had to be a few people busying about.

Instead, what she saw below was an absolute warzone. Humans of all shapes and sizes tearing into one another with fists, teeth, and practically anything else they could get their hands on. Men and women ripping each other apart with the most animalistic fury even a dragon would’ve deemed excessive. From her spot high in the air, it was evident the chaos had just started, with numerous people seemingly spilling out of hidden corners and shadows from within the city to join the fray.

Staring wide-eyed at the scene, the young Equestrian was beyond certain she was witnessing the most atrocious thing to ever happen. How could such a horrific thing be possible? Faust, she felt beyond ill just looking at it. This had to be some sort of nightmare, it had to be. Any second princess Luna would appear and stop this madness, any second now.

However, instead of a certain princess of the night, Fluttershy felt her body stiffen as an immense ringing sound erupted from the night sky followed by overwhelming surges of pain which cracked through her skull. It was like somepony had drilled poison straight into her brain with it running like river down her vertebra, paralyzing her muscles and nerves into a comatose state. The ringing was so loud and forced, she was sure her head would burst at any second.

Unable to hold it in, Fluttershy screamed in pure agony while the tortuous sensation reached her wings, forcing her instincts to kick in and furl them back to her sides. Obviously once this happened, gravity suddenly overtook her and sent the girl careening downwards at rapid pace, her trajectory leading right smack in the middle of the bloodbath. Trying to stomach through the pain, she desperately tried to open her wings again, only to be met with harsh resistance. It was as if they were glued shut!

Fluttershy’s struggle eventually bore fruit when her wings opened just in time to teeter her inches over the heads of the crazed rioters, (who either fortunately or unfortunately were too busy killing each other to even notice her), quickly ducking underneath the elevated train rail that towered over the street and its occupants, and finally lifted herself up over a brick wall that stood alongside the edge of the road.

Her split-second actions must’ve finally been the last straw for her strength, as any power left in her wings evaporated like fog and caused the young woman to lose control while falling down onto the floor behind the brick wall. She braced herself for the landing, feeling the sharp sting of concrete slam into her skin while her body rolled for a couple feet before slamming into something.

“Ooowwww.” Fluttershy groaned as she massaged her sore head, her head dangling low while her stomach laid on what felt like a surprisingly soft object. Using her elbow, she pushed off the object not knowing her feet were in the way which resulted in her tripping over them and onto her rear.

She huffed irritably while glaring ahead, only to stop herself from full on retching.

Apparently the “soft” object she’d landed on was no other than the body of a bulky, deceased human lying face-down in a pool of his own blood. Face-down being highly suggested considering his entire head was splattered all over the pavement. Unable to look any longer, she quickly turned away while instinctively covering her mouth, trying to keep the incoming bile at bay as she leaned over.

Her body shivered as the rancid stuff burned back down her throat. Letting out a very loose breath, the ex-Equestrian slowly rose to her feet, doing her absolute best to ignore the roaring riot just on the other side of the small wall which guarded her and the building it belonged to. Although apparently it couldn’t keep out a few stragglers. As she looked around, the area was merely a few short yards, barely enough to fit two or more carriages in place.

What’s worse, the small lot was littered with bodies. Dead men slumped over in corners, a bench, over what were supposedly once decent plant decorations, you name it. Bringing her freezing hands inward, she looked up at the towering scraper that was now her new residence trying to get at least an inkling of what this dusty mess was supposed to represent. no such luck however, as the building’s advertising sign was far too high for her to see, not to mention it appeared beaten to all Tartarus.

Awkwardly weaving around the crumpled forms at her feet, Fluttershy peered up at the cloudy night sky hoping it would somewhat soothe her nerves. The odd pain and ringing from earlier was still there, she could feel its presence continuously buzzing in her brain. Only it seemed to be less heavy now for some odd reason, as if someone had thankfully shut off a switch.

Once she finally made it to the steps, she paused once noticing that both the front double doors were wide open giving a clear view of the messy inside. So, someone had to be in there, but whether they were friendly or not was the question.

Something in her mind, oddly Twilight-like, scoffed loudly. Of course there’s somepony in there, somepony who won’t think twice about tearing you limb from limb! You need to find somewhere else to hide, so they won’t find you.

Then another voice spoke up, this once accustomed to that of Rainbow Dash. Yeah, but where else can you go?! This whole place is crawling with nutjobs, at least in here it looks like there would be some good hiding spots. You could wait this whole thing out then escape by morning!

Nervously clasping her hands together, Fluttershy gazed back at the area behind her, then past the guard wall in the far back where she could see a portion of the new city she’d been stranded in. Despite their towering looks, she couldn’t help but wilt at the nauseating aura emanating from within the place, the overwhelming greyness of practically everything felt crippling and desolate. She didn’t want to sound too crazy, but it was as if the entire city itself was crying out for help.

Where in Equestria was she?

The sound of a loud bang echoed across the road from underneath the overhead commuter tracks, making up her mind for her before hopping through the already open doors and slamming them behind her back.

Silence engulfed the disastrous lobby. When she turned the urge to groan nearly overtook her, the place was an absolute pigsty with chairs, clothes, and other miscellaneous all over the carpet floor, the sight reminding her of a certain younger brother’s room when they were younger.

A good look around the room confirmed that at the moment she was the only pony human in the room, however the distant coppery smell of blood also confirmed she wasn’t exactly alone in the building itself.

To her left was a rather large desk that looked similar to that of a hotel counter, prompting her interest as she ran over. Her spot of interest being the phone sitting on the edge, which she immediately threw herself at and slammed the buttons for the police before placing the receiver to her ear. Her hopes were instantly crushed though when she heard the cursed sound the automatic no service message tauntingly inform her of the situation.

She huffed while placing the phone back into position and had begun to walk off when she stopped, a poster on the wall behind the desk catching her eye.

“Don’t miss it, Neil Young with special guests Wilco & Everest here live at Preston Hotel. 4/18/2008”

On the poster was a man playing his guitar while singing into the microphone, with other supposed scheduled times listed on the bottom of the paper.

Preston Hotel hmm? That sounded about right. After all, the surrounding area did look something akin to an inn. Moving away from the counter, she winced when her back bumped straight into a baggage carrier sitting right behind her, the rustic wheels of course making quite a ruckus.

If she was going to stay here for the time being, then a place to hide was top priority. Specifically someplace no crazy wacko could be able to either find and/or reach her.

She inched away from the metal carrier and took one last look around the room. Most of the hallway entrances were blocked by piling trash, making it nearly impossible to think most of it was not intentional. The only place which seemed akin to accessible was a small entrance to her left where the clutter was somewhat removed enough to create a path down one of the hallways.

Excitement got the better of her as she quickly squeezed past the piles of junk guarding half of the counter in order to reach the next area. However, once passing she stopped in her tracks.

Laying square in the middle of the small room was yet another dead body. Only something was different with this one. Taking a shallow breath, Fluttershy had no choice but to inch closer to the body while taking note of the once living being’s form.

Unlike the humans she’d seen earlier who were brutish, ill looking, and dressed in honest scraps, the lifeless man before her appeared to be that of an officer. The tattered police uniform he was wearing was coated in dark blood which leaked from an odd-shaped hole gaping from between his shoulder blades. Just beyond the body she could faintly see a trail of blood etching back down the hallway, gore staining the already gross carpet.

Her stomach dropped, the poor man must’ve died trying to crawl to safety!

Dropping down to a knee, the ex-Equestrian gingerly placed a hand on the human’s shoulder as fresh tears spilled. Gulping down a stone, Flutterhy rubbed her eyes with her sleeve while staring into his lidded, pale eyes.

“I-I…” She paused for a minute to blink out more tears before whispering. “…I’m sorry. So, so sorry this happened to you.”

Using her palm, she pressed against the officer’s cold forehead and dragged it down to close his eyelids, praying to all the high beings of Equestria it could somewhat bring closure to the man’s resting soul. The girl then stood to move when a loud bang sounded off from the hotel’s front double doors. Gasping, she whipped around as faint noises could be heard coming from just outside the entrance, loud shouts and screams of rage barley muffled from here inside the building. The rioters had found a way over the wall!

Eyes widening, Fluttershy scrambled past the dead officer towards the hallway, squeezing by a moved couch before beginning to turn left. She stopped to take one last look at the officer on the floor, her mind somehow drawn to him.

This man had a whole life planned before this. He helped people, had friends who care about him, had a family who loved him, and now it was all taken away by these horrid people. He’d never relax after a hard day or be there to celebrate his own birthday again. She couldn’t help the sensation of anger and sadness start to boil in her heart, this was wrong, this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

She gave one last look of sympathy towards the body before turning heel and bolting down the hallway, hoping to get to a hiding spot before the rioters found her.

_________

The deeper she went into Preston Hotel, the more dirtier and filthy it got. Combinations of moss, age, and blood stained the graffiti filled walls surrounding her, giving an overwhelming sense of claustrophobia which made her feel sick. The floor was piled high with scattered papers and cans which crinkled loudly underneath her feet.

She’d stopped running once the sounds of the rioters were far, however she could still hear them through the paper-thin plaster walls. from the sound of it, more and more of the crazy people were piling inside the building, as evidence of the massive crash when they busted through the double doors a little while earlier. She wrapped her arms around herself for comfort as their constant screams and shrieks echoed across the entire first floor.

She had to find safety now.

Up to her left Fluttershy saw a small entrance break off from the rest of the hallway, catching her interest. Quickening her steps, she pulled up to the entrance to see a small room filled with decayed washing machines and dryers, most of them having trash or old clothes spilling out of the openings.

This must be the laundry room. she deduced. This could certainly do for a hiding spot.

Once entering, she walked around to survey the area. Again, most of the machines were chalk full of loose garbage and other things she’d never seen before which blocked the space. What’s worse, was that even with her small body the dryers/washing machines were far too small to hold her.

KKKKSSSSHHHHH!

The young woman jumped when a loud staticky sound burst from out of nowhere, her heart nearly leaping into her throat in terror. Twisting around she gawked wide-eyed as a small mechanical box sitting on an abandoned chair to her left sparked to life, its screen buzzing with white noise. She blinked rapidly at the object, her mind trying to comprehend what she was seeing. She hadn’t realized she’d backed straight into the wall.

For a few seconds the strange box whirred and fizzed with white static as if it were trying its darndest to come to life, with every now and then millisecond frames of pictures popping out at her. Eventually, the screen seemed to find a correct signal as the static left and a loud jingle sounded off with a bright logo igniting most of the dark room.

Metro City News it read in bold letters. The logo then flicked away as a woman in what appeared as a reporter’s outfit appeared on the screen with a bright smile.

“Good evening, I’m Sarah Brenton with City News.” The human woman introduced. “Tonight we would like to introduce a new segment called Streets, hosted by our good friend Tony Rhodes. Tony is perhaps best known for his work last year during the SKX murders, and we’re very excited to see and learn what he uncovers about the city we live in. Tony?”

As the woman placed a hand up to her ear, the screen then flicked to a picture of a nicely dressed man giving a charming smile towards the camera. A new voice, undoubtably his, spoke in a boasting voice.

“Thank you Sarah… The streets scream out to us, they are in pain, but no one knows why. I’m going to live, eat, breathe the streets for the next few weeks to see if we the public can find out what evidentially the local government can’t or won’t tell us. Stay tuned to City News with further live on the scene reports…. I’m Tony Rhodes”

The screen then flickered out like a light, darkening the laundry room once more. Fluttershy for her part continued to sink into the wall not sure what to do next.

Unfortunately, Tony’s broadcast must’ve been quite the interesting proposal as thunderous footsteps could be heard heading towards her from far down the hall, originally distant voices becoming more and more closer by the second.

Forcing her frozen legs to cooperate, she dove head-first into a stray laundry bin, digging deep into the moldy clothes like a bunny. She buried herself all the way to the bottom just in time to hear the now muffled voices reach just around the corner.

“The bitch must be in here somewhere!”

From within the hamper Fluttershy could faintly see two blurred shapes round the corner and enter into the room, both wielding what she could only assume were hoofball bats.

“How do you even know she’s in the building dumbass?” One of the man growled. His partner seemed to shove him back with his elbow.

“Because I saw her enter fuckface! Now quite yakking and start looking.”

She heard the other man sigh in frustration before the two men spread out across the room, the noise they were making it seem as though they were throwing all the miscellaneous around the room in their search.

She held back the urge to sigh in relief when neither of them seemed to approach the hamper, too preoccupied with the machines and shelves. After about a minute of searching, the second man caved in.

“Man, this is bullshit! She’s probably miles away from our asses by now. We need to get outta here, word is there’s some cops in here.”

His partner wasn’t so easily deterred by this however, as he scoffed in annoyance.

“I’m not leaving until I find her!”

Another scoff, this time from the partner.

“Jesus Christ man, what’s it gonna take you to get over Racheal huh?! Look I’m sorry but sooner or later your little obsession will bite you both in the ass!”

“What did you just fucking say to me?!”

BANG!

Everything came to an immediate halt when what sounded akin to one of Pinkie’s cannons exploded from the upper second floor silencing the arguing humans. After the sound faded, a tension hung in the air like a fog, its weight crushing Fluttershy’s heart.

The partner was the first to break the silence.

“Look, if you wanna waste your time in this hellhole, you go ahead, but I’m outta here!”

With that, she watched as one of the blurred shapes back out of the room and bolted back down the hallway, leaving the other one behind. The abandoned man said nothing as his former partner left, instead standing still for a moment as the sounds of the rioters from within the surrounding floor grew louder and louder.

The man snarled before roaring and tossing his bat away in anger. It flew right into the side of the hamper.

To her absolute horror, this allowed the man to finally take notice of the container, the sinking in her stomach maximizing ten-fold. Through the hamper’s cloth she could see the man begin to walk over to where he threw the bat, the wood creaking under his boots like twigs snapping in a quiet forest. Before she knew it his body was right above the hamper, most of her vision blocked by his dark, blurred form hovering over her.

She felt the container shift as he began to pull clothes out, the weight over her shoulders decreasing bit by bit. Her heartbeat rapidly as sweat formed down her brow. If he removed all the clothes, she’d need to find a way to surprise him so she could get a head start. Using her free hand, she laced her fingers around a plastic shirt hanger by her stomach, hoping it could save her precious time.

The hamper was now nearly empty, his grabbing hands mere inches from her wings. She prepared herself.

3…

2…

1…

A loud crash from the wall behind her seemed to startle the man, the crazed sounds of the rioters roaring louder than ever before. The man gazed at the hamper, then back at the wall, where she could only guess he saw something that squashed his original confidence as he began to back further away in fear before taking off in the direction his partner went.

A welcomed sigh of relief escaped her lips as she instantly stood, pushing the gross clothes off her and hopping out of the bin. Curiosity got the best of her as she peered back at the wall in order to see just what scared the man.

It was a massive dent aimed straight towards the laundrey room, inches from busting open. Through the cracks she could just barely see people fighting one another in the other room.

Oh why couldn’t this nightmare just end!

Gripping the hanger, Fluttershy turned and flew out of the room back out into the hallway, where she then continued to bolt down the left side. After a few minutes of clumsily vaulting around and over stuff, the young woman finally reached a smaller hallway further down, where rooms stood tall by her sides.

Absentmindedly picking one to her left, she gingerly pushed the door open to peer inside. The room itself looked alright considering the rest of the building’s condition. Fortunately there was little to no clutter in the room for any people to hide in, making her feel slightly more safe. Inching her way in, she nervously scanned the corners for any sign of life, only to see none, the room was practically gutted.

To the back of the room was a rather decent sized window peering out to the world outside. The glass had long since been smashed, but the frame appeared well guarded. Walking up to it she gazed out at the city beyond, still feeling that bad aura from earlier wafting into her senses like an unwelcome plague.

What could have caused all this chaos? Caused people to act like monsters for no reason at all? Questions ping-ponged around in her brain, yet no answers remained. She sagged at the growing exhaustion clouding over her, what was she going to do now?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sound coming from the bathroom off to her right. Holding the hanger to her chest, she sucked in a breath while whirling to face the new potential threat.

However, instead of another brutish man like she expected, what busted out of the bathroom door confused her more than anything. It was indeed another human, at least, she assumed it was. “His” body was near horribly skinny, in fact all the man had was skin, with it being paper sheet pale and his ribs jutting outward for all the world to see. His face looked sunken and disfigured as large bumps covered his entire balding head. She wished she didn’t accidentally look down to see him wearing nothing but a pair of stained underwear and socks to cover himself.

She watched as the straggly human twitched and mumbled while his milky crazed eyes bore into hers, like if he was trying to figure out what he was seeing. His mind must’ve declared her as an enemy, because not three seconds later he shrieked at the top of his lungs and charged with his hands waving wildly in the air.

Fluttershy didn’t need to be told twice as she too screamed in terror while taking off into the hallway and straight into the nearest open room with the creature right behind her tail. Reaching the handle, she slammed it shut with a click while the crazed man started to beat on the door while still screaming like a banshee.

Fluttershy didn’t care though, because she was too busy dragging the nearest sofa and blocking the entrance before immediately backing away.

Sweat poured down her brow as she panted, her chest feeling like a constrictor that was cracking through her ribs and into her heart. She sucked in and out, trying her best to get soothe the internal burning within her lungs, yet nothing was working. Was this what a panic attack felt like?

Backing as far away from the door as possible, she was too preoccupied with calming her hyper-stressed nerves to notice the wet substance underneath her shoes.

“Wooaaahh!” She yelped in surprise when her foot slipped from beneath her, sending her body tumbling down onto something both surprisingly cushy as well as painfully pokey in certain areas. She winced when she felt a sharp jab through her side causing her to flinch, the movement creating a sickening gooey sound from whatever her back was laying against. A thick substance seemed to cling onto the feathers of her wings adding to their weight.

Fluttershy shivered in disgust while pushing herself off the floor. One of her hands reached out towards the ground to steady the balance when it landed on an extremely soft object where she felt the palm actually begin to sink. Warm fluid coated all over the hand and seeped through her hoodie’s sleeve, the disgusting gooey sound increasing.

Gagging at the feeling, she hastily yanked her palm out of the substance and brought it up to her face. The hand was coated in a deep, smelly crimson with black spots all over staining her sleeve just above the wrist. Face paling, she jumped to her feet, only to have them buckle due to the pure exhaustion and causing her to fall onto her butt.

Before the ex- Equestrian was something that would haunt her for the rest of her life.

The body was gutted wide open revealing its many intestines, stomach, kidneys, and all other biological parts she’d rather not look at. Blood surrounded every square inch of the room, some areas crusted while others the gore was too thick to dry leaving messy red teardrops trailing down. The walls were decorated in orange candles and blood-drawn eyes, each drilling through her wide ones straight into her frozen soul.

Each joint of the body had small metal poles sticking out, their formation giving the corpse a hauntingly symbolic stature, although the expression of raw terror on the body’s face added to the sensation that this display was meant to be anything but divine. Just above it on the wall was a sentence written in bold, gory letters.

MY EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY.

Her breathes became heaved and uncontrollable as she scurried away from the corpse, eyes dead set on the taunting dent in the body’s chest area, signifying where she had recently been laying. Unconsciously she brought a hand to her mouth, going ramrod straight as the blood on her palm smeared over her lips.

That was it, you could almost hear the snap coming from within the young woman’s body at that very moment. She couldn’t stop herself, honest, but it was just too much for her. Not without her friends. After everything that had happened during the last hour; The scary man in the alleyway who tried to kidnap her, the drunk in the dumpster, the monster from the bathroom, this atrocity. Fluttershy just…couldn’t hold it in anymore.

Twisting to the side the traumatized girl retched onto the carpet, puking her guts out as all of the night’s events came crashing down on her. Once every last remain of the burning bile left her throat, a deep sob erupted from her very heart as she brought both hands to her forehead. Without the slightest care for who heard her, she wordlessly screamed in a mixture of rage, anguish, and hysteria while dragging both palms down.

She continued to gaze up at the ceiling while screaming, ignorant or uncaring of the massive gaping hole above gazing back. Soon her throat became far too sore from screaming forcing her to settle on weeping softly.

What did she ever do to deserve this, why would she be sent to this Hell? Was it because of her weakness? Was she really that much of a burden to her friends, to Equestria, why couldn’t she be smart like Twilight, or brave like Rainbow Dash, or professional like Rarity, why wasn’t she as fearless as the rest of them?

Why was she even an element?

The floorboards above her creaked ominously as a new sound of a door opening on the second floor reached her ears, the sound easily heard coming close to the hole on the ceiling. Closing her hiccupping mouth, she got on both her hands and knees while scurrying into the room’s bathroom. The sofa was too heavy and noisy to move fast enough before she could escape.

Kicking the door closed Fluttershy crawled into the dirty bathtub on the far end, scooting to the corner while huddling her knees to her chest.

This was it, there was nowhere else to run. The room’s front door was blocked by her own hands, the person upstairs would’ve no doubt heard her screaming and coming through the hole leading down to here. They would for sure check the bathroom, see her, then it’d be all over for her.

Clenching her teeth together, Fluttershy let more sobs escape as she buried her head into her knees. Some heroic savior right?

Suddenly the bathroom door busted open as a beefy man entered the room, an aggressive scowl on his face as he quickly surveyed the tiny bathroom, his eyes reaching her in no time. Taking her own eyes away from him, she buried herself deeper into her knees, preparing for the inevitable.

However what he said next confused her.

“Rosa, I’ve got a civilian.”