The rope
Silence once again took hold of the island after Lyra had finally regained control of herself. Despite not crying anymore, she couldn't stop the images that continued to replay inside of her mind. Sitting off by herself, she stared blankly at the side of the dirt mound in the center, reimagining the event that took place just ten minutes earlier; her lifelong friend grabbed right in front of her very eyes, and she couldn't do anything to help her.
Another tear dripped down her face as she thought about what was going to happen to her; Celestia's sun was still descending on the horizon, now causing the sky to slightly glow with an orange tint. Then, the sound of hoof steps behind her broke her thoughts. Turning around, she saw Braeburn trotting towards her, his face stricken with sorrow. "Hey, how are ya doin'?" he quietly asked.
Lyra wiped away some of the water in her eyes with her hoof. "I'm fine. How... How about you?"
"Could be better." he bluntly replied, perhaps a little more straightforward than necessary at the moment. Luckily for him, she didn't seem to notice it as she turned back around to stare at the hill. Seeing that she wasn’t in the mood to talk at all, Braeburn looked around to the others; Filthy and his family were all huddled together on top of the hill below the tree. Applejack and Applebloom were busily wrapping Rainbow’s injured wing to her side. Caramel was off by himself, pacing back and forth several feet from the water’s edge as he looked across to the land that was so close yet so far away. One member however wasn’t on the island.
Turning to the boat, Braeburn was surprised to see Wrangler inside scrounging around for something. Curious, he trotted over to the side and prepared to step in before something caught his eye. Looking down, he watched as the water’s edge slowly crept up to the side of a hoofprint in the dirt that he left moments before. The water inched closer and closer before spilling over the edge, it quickly filled up the interior of the print before settling down. ‘The tide is already risin’.’ He whispered to himself.
Hopping up onto the bow of the boat, Braeburn looked inside to the blue pony that was flipping through the boxes that were once piled to the back of the boat, that now were scattered throughout the interior as they floated across the water built up on the floor. “What are ya doin’?”
Wrangler turned up to the farm pony with an almost annoyed gaze, “I’m looking for a way to get out of here.”
Caught off guard by the sternness in the ponies voice, he cleared his throat for his next question. “So, how long until help is comin’ fer us?”
“I don’t know.”
“What!?” Braeburn put a hoof over his mouth after he realized how loud he shouted. Turning back to the ponies in the beach, he was glad none were startled by his outburst. Turning back to the captain, he frowned at the blue stallion. “What do ya mean ya don’t know when help is comin’?”
“I told you that I have never been this far up north on the river. None of our tour boats have.” Wrangler snapped back, “This went beyond our normal limits. And even if they did realize we were late, by the time they got a search party together and went up river, it would be hours. And if you haven’t noticed, we don’t have hours.”
Braeburn gritted his teeth together hearing that. “Why didn’t ya tell us earlier that help won’t arrive on time!?”
Face hoofing, Wrangler let out a low grunt. “Because I knew you would react just like you are now. Now why don’t you just calm down, alright?”
“Look Wrangler, ah just saw a pony get eaten by a fuckin’ crocodile. Ah’m a little stressed out right now.”
“What do you want me to do about it? I’m doing my best to figure out something so we-
“Hey, someponies coming!” Rainbow screamed out excitingly.
“What?” Wrangler turned out to the lagoon and couldn’t believe his eyes; a boat was heading down the river towards them.
---
Sipping on his can of beer, Sharpshooter guided his golden pontoon boat down and around the bends of the small river. Once finished with his can, the brown stallion let out a large belch and tossed the empty can overboard. As he continued down this new stretch of water for him, he eyed the shores for anything that he could kill quickly. Reaching down with his free hoof, he checked the crossbow he had set by his cooler of beers to make sure it was loaded for a quick hit if needed. His eyes then floated over to the two four foot crocs he had sprawled out on the floor below him, their dead corpses bringing a grin to his face.
Poaching was one of the most hated crimes in Equestria because of the mere thought of killing animals for items was so frowned upon. Despite the large outcry against it, there were always ponies who relished the items that were made from the hides of animals; furs from beavers always made comfortable and warm hats, while croc skin that was formed to create styled purses and other knick knacks. Growing up raised by a poaching family guaranteed that Sharpshooter would become one too, which he didn’t mind. As a matter of fact, he enjoyed the thrill of hunting.
As he came around a final bend, Sharpshooter was surprised to find a large lagoon. At the very end of it, a single island sat out in the middle, with a boat up on the shore of it. Gathering up on the beach was a crowd of ponies. The sight made the poaching pony laugh. “Heh heh, must have broken down out here. Sucks for them.”
Then, a cold idea crawled into his mind, and he chose to act on it.
---
“Look, here he comes!” Rainbow yelled as she pointed a hoof out to the water.
All of the others ran over excitedly next to their broken boat as they all cheered. Wrangler followed Braeburn as hopped onto the beach as well to join the others. From what he could tell, Wrangler saw that the boat approaching was about twelve feet long, quite small, but perhaps just big enough for all of them to squeeze in and get out of here. “I can’t believe our luck right now. A boat traveling down this small stretch.” He happily said.
Applejack reached down and pulled her sister in a warm embrace. “Don’t worry sugarcube. We are almost outta here.”
The boat was rapidly coming towards the shore, but then about twenty feet from shore, it turned sharply to the side and ran parallel to the shore. All of the ponies on the beach were confused with what was happening. “What is he doing?” Filthy questioned.
“Whoops, sorry about that. I missed my landing.” Sharpshooter laughed out loud when he saw the disappointment on their faces. Turning the boat away, he acted like he was leaving now.
Lyra felt her heart sink when she saw the boat turn away from them. “He’s leaving us! HEY! Come back!”
“You idiot! Help us out here!” Caramel yelled.
When Sharpshooter reached about a hundred feet away from the beach, he spun around again and stopped, shutting off his engine. He could hear all of the screams and yells from the stranded group, but he put a hoof to his ear and acted like he couldn’t. “What? I… I can’t hear you! Speak up!”
“Help us!”
“We’re stuck!”
“Please! Get us out of here! There’s a crocodile!”
"Yeah? Cool, I have crocs myself!” reaching down, he picked up the two dead crocodiles and waved them over his head with a grin.
Applebloom stared at the dead creatures hanging from his hooves. “Did he kill those things!?”
Wrangler frowned when he saw that. “He’s a poacher.” Despite hating ponies who chose that line of work, he wasn’t going to let that get in the way of a ride out of here. Cupping his hooves around his mouth, he yelled out to the hunter. “Please, we need a ride out of here. There is a massive crocodile here.”
Laughing at their trouble, Sharpshooter dropped the crocs back to the floor and reached into the cooler pulling out another beer. Closing the lid, he used it as a hoof rest and sat back in his seat. “You know, I’ve had a few drinks, and it isn’t safe to ride with a person who has been drinking and driving. Heh heh. Why don’t you just relax on the beach and enjoy the-
BOOM!
Lyra screamed out as she watched the small boat’s bow launched seven feet out of the water, causing Sharpshooter to be catapulted into the lagoon. She dropped to the ground and threw her hooves over her head. “Oh Faust no.”
Sharpshooter burst through the surface gasping for air. He looked back to see his boat sinking beneath the water, all of his contents floating lazily along the surface. “The hell was that!?” he yelled to himself. Panicking, he kicked his legs as fast as he possibly could towards the beach.
Wrangler watched as the pony began making its way towards them, but something else caught his eye; something below the water’s surface caused a disturbance as it passed by the floating cooler, heading straight for Sharpshooter. “Oh my gosh. Hurry! Swim!”
“Come on, hurry up! It’s coming!” Rainbow yelled out.
Sharpshooter had no idea what they were talking about, but whatever it was it did not sound good. His adrenaline pushed him harder and harder towards the beach as he gasped through the water splashing in his mouth. He was only thirty feet from the beach, believing he was almost to safety… until he felt a massive force clamp down on both of his back legs. Before he could scream out in pain, he was pulled under the surface. Thrashing around, he tried to wriggle out of the vice like grip, but the feeling of what seemed like dozens of knives impeded in his skin kept him tight. After a moment, the force suddenly let go of him, only to have the same thing engulf his chest and body, crushing all of the air out of his body. Losing consciousness, he began to black out as he tried to look at what had grabbed him. All that he could make out through the cloudy water was a bright yellow eye staring right at him, embedding into his mind as the last thing he would ever see before death.
Back on the shore, all of the ponies stared in disbelief at yet another pony disappearing under the water. Minutes passed before any of them finally moved their eyes away from the water, knowing that there was nothing they could do to help.
---
Luna’s moon now watched over the small island in the lagoon. The white orb’s glow allowed just enough light for the ponies to be able to see good enough to eye the shore that sat ominously across the channel of water separating them from their passage back home.
Caramel sat on the shoreline as he watched the gentle current slowly push the water ever so further up the dirt. Since they had crashed, the water had removed eight feet of beach from all sides, making their small refuge that much smaller. He cursed himself for ever thinking coming here was a good idea. Now he was stuck here because they just had to go and search for a flare to a dead pony. He then noticed something floating towards the shore that caught his eye. “What the?”
The two small croc corpses that were in the boat from earlier bobbed up and down in the water as they were pushed up the dirt and lay still on the beach. Coming in behind them was a small white cooler as it lazily drifted along the surface before it settling on the dirt just several feet to his right. Curious, Caramel trotted over to it, but stopped just a foot from the water’s edge. He shot his eyes back and forth in the water, checking for anything that could be the Rogue croc. Seeing no disturbances, he shot his mouth forward, gripping the handle and pulling the cooler out. Sitting down on the dirt, he flipped open the lid to find several beers inside. A small smirk spread across his face, "I can at least enjoy myself a little bit."
Looking over to the boat, he noticed that Wrangler had hopped out of it and was trotting over to the small fire that Applejack Had started. Over the captain’s neck hung several long bundles of rope as he signaled all of the others to come over. Sticking the cooler against the side of the hill, Caramel trotted over to the rest of the ponies.
Once all of the group besides Lillyflower and the two fillies were in the circle, Wrangler spoke up. "Alright, I know a way we can get across."
Caramel shook his head at hearing that, "Hey, we just saw a boat flip and it..." he stopped himself when he saw the others glaring at his negativity. Not wanting to look like a fool, he took a deep breath to clear his head. "Ok, how are you are getting across without getting in the water?"
"I am getting in the water."
Gasps escaped all of the adults listening in on that. Rainbow thought he was being sarcastic, but the look in his eyes told her that he was being completely serious. "What!? That is crazy, you can't swim with that thing out there!" Rainbow yelled out.
Putting his hoof up to calm everypony down, Wrangler then pointed to the water to his right. "I'll swim across, real quietly with rope, then put a loop around that tall tree on the far side. Once it's on, you can tie it tight to the tree on top of this island. We can pull it so it gets suspended a few meters above the water, then we climb across."
Filthy Rich actually thought it was a good idea, but there was a problem; Lillyforth couldn't do it. "What about my wife? She won't be able to cross."
"She's going to have to somehow." Wrangler sternly responded.
Filthy turned around to see his wife sitting on the dirt to the side with the two younger ones. He knew that no matter how much she could try, climbing across would be impossible. He turned back to the circle, his mind racing on what to do. "alright, uh... What if you got across really fast, and then left to go get help?"
Wrangler chuckled at hearing that, "By the time I got back, this island is not going to be here. You would be swimming anyway. You don't want to be doing that when that thing comes back."
"What makes you so sure it's coming back?"
"Look around you, champ... We are still in its territory and it doesn’t like it. Now that it has tagged us that thing will keep coming and-
"Wait a sec, what?" Applejack interjected, "Tagged us? What in tarnation does that mean?"
"It tagged us as a food supply. That is why it keeps attacking..." wrangler looked around to all of their shocked expressions. "It's like giving a dog a bone. It will just keep going until it's gone."
"So, this is like that croc in that photo back in the store?" Braeburn questioned, "Ya know, where it ate like thirty ponies?"
"You didn't read the full story on that thing. That crocodile was living right along a small town, and those killings were done over a three month period as standard meals. This thing will come after us even if it isn’t hungry. Once grabbing us, it will take us back to the place it stores its kills and..." Wrangler closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, "It will have a den or a burrow that it goes to. Somewhere it can get back quickly if need be."
“Oh sweet Celestia.” Filthy cursed to himself as he put a hoof to his forehead.
“I’m just saying now is the best time because it’s probably still busy with its last victim, alright?”
All of the other ponies nodded in agreement despite this being perhaps the craziest thing they ever heard of anypony doing.
---
Lillyflower sat quietly on the ground as she stared at her daughter and Applebloom. Neither of the fillies had spoken to each other most of the night. In fact, she noticed that they even avoided eye contact, keeping their backs turned and staring out away from the island. Deciding to break the awkward silence, she tried to strike up a conversation. “So, your name is Applebloom, right?”
Applebloom looked up to the mare. “Y-yeah. That’s mah name.”
“You go to school with my daughter?”
Applebloom glanced over to Diamond, who was also staring back at her. Normally the pink filly would never look her direction without casting a glare. Now, she was almost giving off a pleading image of silence. Figuring that Diamond’s mother didn’t know what tension was between them, she decided to keep it that way. “eeyup. We have been in the same class a while now.”
Lillyflower gave a kind smile. “Perhaps after we get out of here you too can hang out more often. I believe you two would make wonderful friends.”
Before either filly could respond, Filthy came up to them. “Hey there.” He paused for a moment as he prepared to give the news. “We… we are going to climb across the water on a rope.”
Diamond’s eyes went wide as she glanced up to her mom, who was equally shocked. Swallowing, she tried to encourage her restricted mother. “D-don’t worry. You can make it, mom.”
“Of course I can. I had you didn’t I?” Lillyflower playfully responded, trying to hide the shakiness in her voice. Forcing herself up off the ground, she began to take wobbly steps down the small hill to the beach to get out of the way of the orange mare making her way up to the tree.
Carrying one of the ropes, Applejack trotted up the embankment to the top of the mound. Tying a section into an open knot, she threw it over one of the low hanging branches and caught the end. Once in her hoof, she wrapped it around the base a few times before wrapping around itself and tied it tight. She pulled the rope a few times to test its strength. "Alright, ah got it." she yelled as she tossed the rest down to Braeburn.
Grabbing his own rope, Braeburn tied the two ends together to create a longer rope. He did the same to the third rope, creating the distance needed to reach the other side. Setting the large bundle on the ground, he created a noose on the very end and held it out to Wrangler. "Carry this over and the slack will follow ya. Good luck."
Wrangler slipped the noose around his neck and stepped down towards the water. He stared at the dark water that was so still it gave off a perfect reflection of the bright moon. His heart rammed inside of his chest as he swallowed the lump that built up inside of his throat. Now that he was actually about to swim, he was unsure about his bright idea. Despite his fear, he knew that he had to do something to get them off the island. "Alright, let's do this." he told himself.
Flashlight in mouth, Wrangler slowly put his hoof in the warm water, and carefully placed it down to the muddy bedding. He slowly continued to step further and further out, hardly making a ripple on the surface. After a few more feet, he lost traction with the ground and was floating on the surface. Taking as shallow breaths as possible, he slowly kicked his legs, pushing himself away from the safety of the island.
Rainbow stared intently at what was perhaps the bravest pony she had ever met. She could pull off the toughest attitude possible, but she knew that going into the water like this was something she couldn't bring herself to do. Wrangler on the other hoof was risking his own life to try and get all of them off of the island. She gave a smile of gratitude to what this pony was risking for all of them.
Using their flashlights, Braeburn and Caramel scanned the water all around looking for any kind of movement. Swishing back and forth, the beams of lights lit up the water, illuminating the bank across from them.
Braeburn turned back to light up Wrangler, who was about halfway across now. The country pony was surprised and equally impressed at how silently this tour guide was able to move in the water. Hardly a ripple was traveling out from the blue pony as he slowly treaded on the surface.
After another minute, Wrangler felt his hooves connect with the mud beneath him. As soon as he could, he burst out of the water and ran up the shore. Crashing through the reeds, he hopped behind the tree to give something to stand between him and the water. Slipping the rope off of him, he took the end and tossed it over the branch above him. As it fell to him, he began to pull the slack between the two branches. Tug after tug, the rope began to lift up out of the water. Once pulled to height, it was suspended eight feet above the surface. Taking the slack, Wrangler wrapped the rest of it around the base and knotted it over itself. Once tight, he spit the flashlight into his hoof and waved it to the island to signal them to go.
Applejack let out a sigh. "Alright, who wants to go first?"
Lyra looked around to the others who were all hesitant at attempting the climb across. Looking up, she swallowed before talking. "Can I go first? I... I just want to go home."
Applejack stared at the unicorn for a moment before nodding and signaled her to come up. Lyra obliged and trotted up the embankment to the base of the tree where Applejack was crouched down on the ground. “Here ya go, ah’ll give ya a boost up.” She generously offered.
Lyra took several shaky breaths before stepping onto Applejack’s back, giving her an easier reach to the rope. Wrapping her front hooves around the makeshift bridge, she hoisted herself up and wrapped her back legs criss-cross to hold most of her weight. However, as her weight caused the rope to slightly dip, Lyra gasped and nearly lost her grip before catching herself.
"Don't worry, sugarcube, y'all alright. Ya can do this." Applejack reassured her.
Taking a deep breath, Lyra closed her eyes and hung for a moment to calm her mind. Reopening her eyelids, she looked across the water to where Wrangler was waiting for her. Using all of her willpower, she began shifting her hooves along the rope, pulling herself away from the island.
Caramel stood up on his hind legs and gripped onto the rope to try and steady it from shaking too much. He looked out at Lyra who slowly trekked her way over the water. She was now about ten feet out from the beach, dangling just meters above the eerie dark lagoon. 'Come on, this can work. We can get off of this stupid island.’
“Doing good, Lyra, keep it up.” Rainbow cheered on from the beach.
Wrangler grinned to himself as the unicorn made her way towards him. The rope was holding steady, perhaps a little wobbly, but was much better than taking the risk like he did earlier. He felt like they actually had a chance to get out of here alive now.
Lyra continued to slowly crawl further out over the water, her white streaked tail dangling below her. She was now almost forty feet from the island, and still had another seventy to go. Turning her neck around, her golden eyes looked down to the black water below, afraid of what was possibly eagerly waiting for her to slip and fall down to it. Her mind began to play tricks on her, imagining a massive mouth bursting through the water to latch down over her body and ripping her off of her perch. She then thought of Bon Bon, fearing that she was going to end up like her friend. A loud whimper escaped her throat as her legs began to tremble. Now terrified, she pulled herself up and wrapped her elbows over the rope, freezing on the spot.
Seeing Lyra freeze caused confusion among the others. “What’s she doin’?” Applebloom asked.
“Is she stuck?” Rainbow questioned.
Braeburn frowned; he could see with his light Lyra trembling as she hung there knowing exactly why she stopped. “She’s scared. Ah don’t know if she can go any further.”
“She has to get going, what about us!?” Filthy exclaimed.
“Lyra come on, ya have to move!” Applejack yelled out across the water. Instead of moving, the response she got was crying.
Tears dripped down Lyra’s face as she hung helplessly over the water. She could hear the pleas and yelling from the island, but she couldn’t act on the demands. No matter how hard she tried to move at all, her body wasn’t listening to what she told it to do. Fear had overcome every sense that she had, locking her like a stiff doll.
Filthy Rich began to grunt to himself. He couldn’t believe this one pony was holding all of them up. Their lives were at stake and the mare had to block the one way off the water prison. Angered, Filthy bent down and pushed his daughter up the hill. "Come on, we're going."
Lillyflower watched confused as her husband began trotting up towards the tree. "Filthy, what are you doing?"
Braeburn looked over as Filthy Rich positioned himself below the rope. Concerned, he trotted up to his side and put a hoof on the ponies shoulder, "Hey now, ya can't go yet, Lyra hasn't made it across and-
Filthy turned around and swatted the hoof off of him. "Don't you touch me!" his face was twisted with hatred and fury, "Don't you fucking come anywhere near me!"
Diamond Tiara cowered down to the ground, horrified by the way her father was acting; never once in her life had she seen him snap like this before. The tone in his voice sent shivers down her spine. "Daddy, please stop!" she pleaded.
Too enraged, Filthy ignored his daughters words as he reached down and picked her up and lifted her to the rope. Out of reaction, Diamond gripped the rope and held on. Looking to his side, he saw Rainbow coming at him. Turning his backside towards her, he positioned himself to buck out if she attempted to come any closer. "I said stay away from me! Me and my daughter are going across! I'm not going to let that stupid unicorn risk my family’s safety!"
"Filthy, ya can't do that! The rope won't hold three ponies!" Braeburn exclaimed. His words went unheard as he watched the furious earth pony reach up and grab onto the dangling rope and hoist himself up. As soon as the added weight pulled down, Caramel felt the line pull tighter away from him, causing him to strain to hold it steady. His back hooves scraped across the dirt as he was pulled slightly out away from his position due to the weight.
Diamond was terrified by what was happening; hanging upside down under the rope scared her already, but her angered father was actually more intimidating at that moment. Seeing him crawling after her on the rope, she only did what she thought was best. Crawling forward, she pulled herself outward away from the island, quickly followed by her dad.
Wrangler panicked as he watched from across the water the turmoil that grew out of control. The rope on his side began pulling tighter and tighter from so much weight. The knot on the top above him that connected two of the ropes began to slowly slip out of itself. "No you stupid idiot, get off the rope!" he shouted across the water. He then looked to Lyra who was still stuck in her same spot. "Lyra you have to go no- shit!" he fumbled as he lost his grip on the flashlight. As he bent down to pick it up, however, he froze when he heard a branch snap behind him.
The blood pumping through wranglers veins turned as cold as ice when he heard the rumble of a growl at behind him. His lungs felt too shocked to be able to move on their own anymore as his heart beat faster than ever before. Turning his neck, his eyes were met with a giant mouth bursting through the bushes and clamping down on his head. The hit was so fast that he didn't even have the time to register what happened to him except for a force of pressure crushing his skull. Blackness then overtook his mind... Or what was left of it.
---
Rainbow jumped up and tried to help Caramel hold the rope tight, but it still wasn’t enough. They could both feel the knots straining under the three ponies as they dangled above the water. “It’s not gonna hold much longer! They have to get off it!” Rainbow yelled.
Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara were now stuck behind Lyra, who still hadn’t moved from her spot. Filthy snorted out of frustration that he was pinned because this mare had to get cold hooves. “For Faust sake, move!” he screamed out.
Lyra continued to whimper as she hung there, still too afraid to go any further. “I can’t go!” she cried out.
“Shoot, we gotta somehow get her off!” Braeburn began panicking as he thought of what to do. “Wrangler, she’s freaked out. Try to talk to her and get her movin’!”
From across the water, no response came back. Applejack stared at the far tree, now afraid something else went wrong. “Wrangler?” She yelled out. Once again no voice answered back. She saw his flashlight sitting in the reeds, pointed down to the water. Next to the beam of light she saw the massive tail of a crocodile slipping into the water, causing her heart to skip a beat. “Oh no! MOVE! MOVE!” Her yells were useless as the next instant, the knot across the water popped, causing the three ponies on the rope to fall into the dark water.
Lillyforth put a hoof to her mouth to stifle the scream that tried to escape her throat. Tears immediately filled her eyes of fear seeing her family in the water defenseless from the monster that hunted them. Forcing herself to stand up, she hobbled down the shore towards the water's edge. "Somepony help them!"
None of the others ran in, however. They were all too afraid for their own lives to enter the water. All they could do was stand at the water’s edge and pray to Celestia that they could swim fast enough.
Thrashing in the water, Lyra was screaming out in terror. Turning around, she began to kick with everything she had back towards the island. Filthy reached over and wrapped a hoof around his panicking daughter and through her up on his back. Spitting out a mouthful of water, he pumped his legs with every ounce of strength that he had after the green mare.
All of the ponies on the beach yelled at the top of their lungs out of panic to their comrades.
"Come on! Swim!" Applebloom screamed.
"Go! Swim faster!" Rainbow yelled.
Hooves flailing, Lyra swam like she never had before, churning up water like crazy. Her heart felt like it was going to burst at the rate it was beating due to exhaustion and fear. Despite the pain in her chest, she continued faster, pushing her body to its limits. After a few more strokes, she felt the ground beneath her hooves. Bursting out of the river, she charged up the beach and collapsed in the dirt curled up into a tight ball. Her body shook uncontrollably as her breaths came in rapid gasps.
Filthy Rich made it up onto the dirt as well and dropped down, his belly splashing down on the edge of the surf. Diamond jumped off her dad and ran into her mother's embrace, visible tears streaming down her face through the soaked fur on her cheeks. Lillyforth rocked gently with her daughter curled up in her forearms, ignoring the water that dropped off the pink filly and soaked her own coat.
Lifting his head off the ground, Filthy Looked around to the ponies all around him. Their own eyes were filled with sorrow for his daughter and Lyra, but when they turned their focus onto him, he felt their anger and hatred. Their glares sent a wave of guilt through him as he realized what he had just done; his impatience just caused their hope of getting off of the island to crumble down and sink.
Shutting his eyes, he let his chin fall to the mud. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He began to sniffle as his emotions built up. "Please forgive-
The water exploded behind Filthy as the enormous crocodile launched out of the river. The giant mouth clamped down on the stallion's right foreleg, cracking the bones there instantly. Filthy screamed in agony as the mouth opened up and closed back down, causing him the flail helplessly. Then, the beast flipped its head backwards with so much force Filthy flew through the air thirty feet into the center of the lagoon, his leg still dangling out of the crocs mouth.
Screams of terror escaped all of the ponies on shore to what they just witnessed. Diamond Tiara and Lillyflower cried out as they watched their husband and father mangled like a helpless animal. Teddy continued to bark ferociously at the creature that didn’t even turn its head towards the annoying dog. Braeburn could have sworn he felt his chin hit the dirt below him as he stared dumbfounded to the sheer size of the crocodile on the beach.
The beasts head alone was over five feet long, it's huge jaws snapping open and swallowing the flopping limb down its gullet. The long and sturdy body was built like a train, thicker than any buffalo he had seen back in Appleloosa. Even laying on its pale and scaly belly, the top of the ridged back was near eye level to him. Not even half of the tail was out of the water yet, and it still dwarfed any croc that the group had seen earlier that day. It was a true monster for anypony to behold in their time of life.
Out in the water, Filthy Rich whined in pain as he bobbed on the surface like a top, his body in shock from the loss of blood. The rogue turned its Giant head to the water, eying the target in its mind. Using its short but powerful legs, it pulled itself in a tight turn back towards the water, the clawed feet pushing through the mud. As it turned, its enormous tail swung back towards the group, catching Applejack by surprise as it smacked her through the air like a doll into the side of the mound. When she fell to the ground, she cried out in pain as she landed on her front left ankle wrong, causing it to buckle under her.
“Applejack!” Applebloom screamed out as she ran to her sisters side. As she helped her older sibling up, she felt the fur on the back of her neck stand up when the ear splitting sound of Filthy Rich echoed in the air. turning, the young filly gasped in horror as she watched the monstrous jaws enclosed themselves over the thrashing stallion in the water. Just as fast as the beast appeared, it vanished under the water, dragging Filthy Rich down with it.
Crying once again filled the still clearing as Lillyflower cradled her trembling filly in her hooves, mourning the loss of their family member.
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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It should have eaten Lyra instead.
She fucked up the whole plan!
Then again, things might have gone south anyway considering what happened to Wrangler.
1982896
No.
Just... No.
I just died
Poor Diamond Tiara.
This was very predictable, except when Wrangler died...and Lyra lived...She lived right?
Do you what's funny? I saw the movie Rogue yesterday, and then the day after, this chapter came up! What a coincidense! Though here the movie is called "Territory" for some odd reason. But I know that it was Rogue.
If Lyra dies...
I will hunt you down, I will find you...
And I will kill you!
I love Taken, never piss off Liam Nelisson
You had me on the edge of my seat, fantastic job.
1994178
Well it wasn't, you silly filly! 
i thought it was a "Lake Placid" thing love that pic though. now i see Gummy with teethe would be scary