You Better Not Go Alone
Fluttershy hummed to herself as she finished checking on all her animal friends before bed. She had run terribly behind and it was now very late. The sun had long gone down and a nearly starless night had bathed Ponyville in darkness. Fluttershy shivered as a cool breeze passed; this was not her idea of a pleasant night. After seeing to the last of her animals, she made her way back to her house, continuing to hum to herself in an effort to calm her nerves.
Another cool breeze passed by Fluttershy, ruffling her feathers. The sound of a twig snapping made her jump. She would never say such to Luna, but Fluttershy was always weary of the night. The long, deep shadows it cast; the scarcity of nocturnal life to keep her company. It was all too easy to imagine something watching you; something bad.
Fluttershy resisted the urge to fly top-speed to her house and continued her steady walk. Be brave, Fluttershy. She thought to herself. There is nothing to be afraid of. This was most likely true, she knew, but that didn't stop the uneasy feeling in her stomach. She quietly sang the tune she had been humming; an old lullaby she loved as a kid.
"If you go out in the woods today,
you're sure for a big surprise.
If you go out in the woods today,
you better go in disguise.
For every bear that ever there was,
will gather there together because,
today's the day the teddy bears have their picnic."
She was halted in her walk when she heard a sound. It was faint, like it was coming from far away, but it set her on edge none the less. She turned to the direction of the noise. There it was again. It sounded like some kind of animal and it was coming from the Everfree Forest.
Fluttershy stood frozen in place, her ears perked up and listening for anymore of the noise. It was there again, more constant so she could make out details of the cry. It wasn't a cry she recognized from any animal she was familiar with, but she could recognize the anguish in it's voice. Whatever it was, it was hurt.
Fluttershy had always feared the Everfree Forest at the best of times, let alone in the dark of the night. The thought of going into it right there and then, all alone, was enough to make her stomach drop and her heart thump against her ribcage. But compared to the thought of leaving that poor animal to suffer all night, it was nothing. With a deep breath, she ran into the forest.
At first, she stayed on the path that she and the others would usually take, but it became clear that the creature's cries were coming from somewhere far off the path. Without hesitation, she glided over the thorned bushes and galloped deeper into the forest. Shaded from the moon by the tops of trees, Fluttershy grew increasingly anxious in the growing darkness. She seemed surrounded by a maze of trees whose twisted bark resembled scowling faces and whose branches looked like clawed hands reaching out to grab her. What a dreadful thought it was to be lost in this place. Still, the creature's cries pulled her forward. She also reminded herself that once she found the poor thing, she could fly out of the forest and back home, so there was no real way of getting lost. Unless something happens to my wings. Fluttershy's worried side thought. She mentally told herself to shut up and focus on finding the creature.
As she got closer, the creature's wails became more clear. It sounded strange; like some kind of mix-mash of different animals. Fluttershy slowed her trot as she got nearer; she could pick up hints of different animals in the creature's screaming, from the roars of bears to the chirping of birds to the hissing of snakes to the growls of timberwolves. It sounded unnatural; almost synthetic. She reminded herself that the Everfree was home to many strange creatures that would seem abnormal to most ponies, and in any case, it was no reason to leave the poor thing wounded. Despite her resolve, the knot in her stomach tightened.
The sounds were close now. She could pick up more noises in the mix; crying. The crying of a foal. Or was it laughter? Or was it screaming? Or none? Or all?
This was wrong. She shouldn't be here. She could feel it in every ounce of her being; something was wrong here and she should leave. Fluttershy swallowed hard and pressed herself against a tree. The noises were right on the other side. She could still hear the pain in it's voice. I can't just leave it; it could be injured. Fluttershy told herself. I have to at least look; I have to know.
The noises seemed to get louder as she forced herself to slowly move to the side of the tree, preparing for what she was about to see. Unknowingly closing her eyes as she faced the source of the noises, with a deep breath, she forced them open.
Nothing. She was facing a small clearing in the mass of trees, still covered by the canopy of leaves above her, yet even in the darkness, she could see that nothing was there. And what's more, the sound had stopped.
Confused, Fluttershy cautiously stepped into the clearing, looking around for where the source of the noise could have gone. There was no sign that anything had been here, animal or pony; the ground seemed undisturbed. Nothing; not a single clue as to what was making those sounds or where it could have gone to. At this point, Fluttershy's drive was gone and she opened her wings to fly the heck out of there, but she froze when she heard humming. Still as a statue, Fluttershy slowly moved her eyes around to find the source of the sudden humming. That's when she realized that she knew the tune; in fact, it was the same one she had been humming just before she ventured into this dreary place.
"H-Hello?" Fluttershy asked out loud. She wasn't entirely sure why she did it or if she expected an answer. That's when the humming turned to singing.
"If you go out in the woods tonight,
you're in for a big surprise."
The voice allowed Fluttershy to finally realize where it was coming from. She slowly looked down and not a second later, the ground opened up.
She fell screaming into some kind of tunnel, tumbling and rolling through until she landed on a pile of sharp rocks. Wincing, she opened her eyes to find herself in total darkness. For a while, she could hear only her own heavy breathing and the shuffling of the rocks under her as she tried to get up. Then the voice returned.
"If you go out in the woods tonight,
you better go in disguise.
It isn't safe to be out late;
there's monsters here that kill and rape.
And tonight's the night, that you, my dear,
made a big mistake."
Horrified by these words as they echoed in the cavern, Fluttershy stumbled in the dark, away from the voice. To her increasing terror, she heard the shuffling of the rocks from nearby, coming towards her. Remembering her wings, she flexed them; other than some bruising, they weren't hurt from her fall. With a jump, she made to fly away, only to hit her head on the cavern's ceiling.
Everything went blurry as she fell down onto the pile that seemed to completely cover the floor. She put a hoof to her head and felt the warm, sticky sensation of blood. She moved her other hoof around to get her bearings in the blackness she was stuck in, when it came to rest on a particularly oddly shaped rock. She absentmindedly traced her hoof over it and her eyes shot open at her discovery. There was no mistaking it; the defined shape, the sockets, the row of chipped teeth; it was a skull. With that realization came an even more horrifying one: these weren't rocks covering the floor.
Adrenaline pumped through Fluttershy as she got up, and upon hearing the shuffling nearly upon her, she quickly fled. While she wasn't able to fly in such a closed area, she could still use her wings to balance her steps on the uneven ground. She had to get out of here. She knew she had to get of here, but how? She couldn't see a thing, she was underground, and that thing was behind her. There was no way she could attempt to go back to the shaft from where she came with the monster there, so all she could do was move.
Fluttershy went face first into a solid wall of rock. Blocked. Need to move. She turned, having her wing graze the wall, and ran until she felt nothing more on her wing. She turned to the opening and continued, the sound of bones shuffling behind her driving her forward. The creature continued singing, this time in a different voice.
"If you go out in the woods tonight,
you better not go alone.
If you go out in the woods tonight,
then you're all on your own.
Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide,
Just darkness here, you're trapped inside.
Tonight's the night, that you, my dear,
made a big mistake."
Fluttershy felt tears welling up in her eyes. She continued to stumble along, bumping into walls and turning corners, but not seeming to make any progress. She still couldn't see anything and that thing was still following her. Could it see her? At the very least, it knew where she was and had no trouble following her. Fluttershy couldn't help but think that the creature was toying with her; that it could catch her at any time. Maybe it wanted her to tire herself out. Maybe it wanted to see how long it would take for her to give in. She couldn't give in. She had to keep moving. How big was this cavern? She had been stumbling through the dark for what seemed like ages. The bones never stopped crunching and shifting under her hooves. How many creatures met their end down here? Was she next? Keep moving.
The creature continued to sing in different voices, constantly shifting between them. So many voices. Did they belong to it's victims?
"Clip and clop, you try to run,
yet your time here has just begun.
Fumble and tumble, all through the night,
but you will never find the light.
You've lost your way from up above,
away from all of those you love.
You were a fool to follow my trail,
a trail you followed straight to Hell.
A foolish pony in our trap,
and now, my dear, there's no way back.
We'll make you scream. We'll make you cry.
We'll cut your wings so you can't fly
We'll break your legs against the wall.
We'll squeeze your head to crush your skull.
We'll make you swallow sticks and stones.
We'll rip your flesh right off your bones."
On and on, the creature sang; the plethora of voices echoing throughout the pitch-black tunnel with every sadistic verse. To Fluttershy, the voices seemed to come from every direction. There seemed no end to this cavern; no end to the sea of death surrounding her. No end to the darkness. She cried. "P-Please. Pl-Please don't hurt me." She begged, cowering against a wall.
A chorus of laughter answered her. The voices were all around her. The shuffling of bones were all over the place. She had no place to go. She couldn't hide and she couldn't run and begging did nothing. All she could do was cry and wait. Wait for the monster to take her. This was it, she thought. She would soon be just another drop in the sea of bones. Would the monster take her voice too? Would it use her voice to lure in her animals? Lure in her friends?
It was that very thought that snapped her out of her haze of defeat. The thought of what the creature would do to her was one of the scariest she could ever imagine. But compared to the thought of the same happening to her friends, it was nothing. She was going to escape. She was going to live and take care of her animals, and help her friends, and not let this horrible monster get them. She didn't know how, but she had to hold on to whatever hope she had left. And if she was in fact going to die here, she would not die cowering, but fighting.
With a final prayer, she quickly got back on her hooves and, facing the wall, bucked out her hindlegs with all her might. They connected with something. Whatever thoughts were in Fluttershy's head were immediately drowned out by the screams and yells of hundreds, maybe even thousands of voices of animal and pony alike. In the same instant the cavern was filled with an army of voices rising out of pain, anger, and surprise, Fluttershy fled. If the creature was playing with her before, it would surely not be now and she needed to put distance between them.
Yells and roars echoed throughout the tunnels, nearly deafening in volume. The shuffling of bones was replaced by a torrent; the sounds of brittle remains colliding against rock mixed with the monster's shouts. Fluttershy let out a squeal when some of the bones hit her, but she didn't slow down. She dared to take off from the floor on the chance the room may be more open; while it was slightly higher than before, her back soon scrapped against the ceiling. Biting her lip against the pain, she managed to land on her hooves and continued her trot. Again, she collided with a wall, but with every bump, she bounced off it and continued to evade the creature. She ignored every bruise and cut; she had to focus on escaping.
The monster was gaining on her, bounding through it's grisly hoard, growling and laughing in several voices. Closer and closer it got. For all Fluttershy's hope and determination, it was fruitless. She still couldn't see nor did she have any idea where she was or how to escape. Her body was aching, her head was pounding, and she was running out of breath. It was right behind her. I tried. In a final act of defiance, she halted her gallop, skidding across the floor, and bucked out her hindlegs once more.
The monster was evidently prepared this time and while Fluttershy's kick missed, she felt a sharp blow against her body. She went flying through the air and landed hard against what seemed to be a hole in the wall, with her lower half dangling off the side. Dazed from the blow, Fluttershy caught a fresher scent in the air; she felt the dirt on the ground under her and noticed the lack of bones. All of this clicked in her mind and snapped her out of her daze. It was a tunnel leading to the surface just like the one that had dropped her in. Judging from the noises made by the monster, it realized this the same time she did.
She had no time to waste. Fighting against her exhausted body, she pulled herself the rest of the way into the hole and quickly started climbing. The creature hissed and roared and cursed behind her. The tunnel was curvy and awkward; it was too thin to fly through, but Fluttershy was able to use her wings to press herself into the walls of the tunnel, steadying herself in her hurried ascent. The sounds of monster did not diminish; Fluttershy could feel the vibrations of banging and rumbling through the tunnel. It was still chasing her.
Continuing to climb the jaggedly made tunnel, Fluttershy caught a glimpse of light above her. It was small and slight like the last star to fade away during the sunrise, and it was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She moved upward as fast as she could. She was so close. The monster knew she was getting away; the trembling of the tunnel's walls got stronger and stronger the closer Fluttershy got to the tiny, precious light.
Closer. Closer. She could hear the ominous yet wonderfully natural sounds of the Everfree Forest. She could smell the cool night air. She could feel something brushing against her tail and hindlegs.
With a final push, Fluttershy blasted out of the loose land covering the hole. As soon as she met the free air, she extended her wings and took off, breaking through the canopy of treetops, branches and all, and into the night sky. It took her a few moments to get her bearings, but once she was able to pinpoint the direction of Ponyville, she made her way home, doing her best to ignore the screeches of the monster she left behind.
Twilight was awoken by a tapping on her window. At first, she dismissed it as the wind, but when it continued, she sat up. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she lit a candle and looked to the window. Her eyes widened in surprise. "Fluttershy?"
Indeed, the timid pegasus was flying right outside her window. Confused, Twilight got out of bed and went to the window, opening it to greet her friend. "Fluttershy, what are you..." The question died on her lips as she got a good look at her.
Fluttershy looked absolutely exhausted and shaken. Her mane was a messed, her eyes were unfocused, and she was covered in cuts and bruises. There was some blood on her mouth that Twilight couldn't tell if it was from a busted lip or internal bleeding. Either way, the pegasus was in bad shape. "Fluttershy, what happened to you?! Please, come in!"
Fluttershy crawled through the window, landing on shaky legs.
Twilight held her friend steady, grabbing her gently so as to not hurt her. "Fluttershy, what happened? Are you okay?"
Fluttershy looked at Twilight and slowly nodded. "Y-Yes. I'm okay. I escaped."
"Escaped from what?" Twilight asked with growing concern.
Fluttershy swayed a bit and gulped. "Something evil... in the Everfree Forest."
Twilight nodded and decided Fluttershy wasn't in a good state to answer questions. "Alright, Fluttershy, let's get you cleaned up. Then you can get some rest here and tomorrow, we'll talk about it."
Fluttershy nodded and Twilight guided her to the bathroom. Before they reached it, Fluttershy said one more thing. "Don't go out in the woods at night."
Twilight nodded, deciding to wait until tomorrow for further explanation. With that, she brought Fluttershy to the bathroom and tended to her wounds. She wasn't even finished before Fluttershy fell asleep.