> Pathogen Island > by Mechazilla88 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prelude to a Nightmare > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a dark stormy night in the vast open seas. A large cargo ship was thrashing about due to the waves crashing into it. Within its lone, desolate halls, a lone earth pony stallion wearing what looked to be military garb was running like he never ran before. “Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!” The soldier screamed. The soldier kept running before spotting an open door up ahead. He went straight for it before slamming it behind him, locking it tight. “By the Allmother, that was close.” The soldier breathed heavily, “I-I gotta find her or else I might end up like the others!” However, he heard a low growl from above, the soldier slowly raised his head and instantly screamed when he saw what it was. A clawed hand from above then grabbed the soldier and dragged him upward. All while the soldier was kicking and screaming… Three Days Later… A thirteen year old young man was sleeping soundly on the seat of an airliner. In appearance, he had messy green hair and for attire, he wore a purple hoodie over a green shirt, gray jeans and green sneakers with purple trimmings. “Hey Spike, wake up! We’re nearly there.” Said a human girl who was shaking him awake. In appearance, the girl was five years older than him, her hair was the same color as his but much longer, and her eyes were heterochronic with her right one being green and her left one being purple. For attire, she wore a white jacket over a purple belly shirt which showed off her soft and slightly pudgy stomach, brown jean shorts, and black shoes. Spike stirred awake, opening up his emerald eyes. Spike then lets out a loud yawn before asking, “Are we there yet Barb?” Barb couldn’t help but giggle, “Just about baby brother.” Spike stretched out a little, “Finally, I can’t wait to get off this plane.” “Yeah,” Barb started as she leaned toward her brother, placing her head on top of his, “It’ll be nice with just the two of us for three whole weeks.” She sighed happily. Spike sighed when his sister leaned on him. It’s no secret that Barb has a huge brother complex towards him, constantly smothering him whenever she can.  Though, Spike couldn’t really blame his sister for this. After the death of their parents a few years ago, Barbara has always been very protective of him, so he can’t necessarily blame her for being clingy towards him. “You that our cousins as well as our friends are gonna be there as well right?” Spike pointed out. “Right…” Barb grumbled, “I almost forgot…” Spike shook his head, “Come on sis, don’t be like that.” Barb sighed, “You’re right Spike. It’s not always about us. I just like it when it’s just you and me ya know.” “I know sis, I know.” Hoiho Mohoao Island. A place of paradise where humans, ponies, zebras, griffons, Abyssinians, and many other races come here to relax on the beach, ride the waves, get drunk at parties, and forget their troubles.  Very soon, a yacht pulled up in a small harbor and dozens of people walked out of it. However, a group of nine stood out in particular. The first of these girls was a unicorn mare with lavender fur, purple eyes covered by a pair of glasses, violet hair with purple and pink streaks done up in a ponytail.  The second girl is a unicorn mare with amber fur, red and blonde mixed hair, and cyan eyes.  The third girl is yet another unicorn mare with white fur, long elegantly curled purple hair, and blue eyes.  The fourth girl is an earth pony with a muscular build, orange fur, blonde hair tied in a ponytail tied with a brown stetson over it, and green eyes.  The fifth girl is a pegasus with butterscotch fur, long pale pink hair, and cyan eyes.  The sixth girl was also a pegasus with an athletic build and cyan fur, messy rainbow hair, and scarlett eyes.  The seventh girl is an earth pony with pink fur, a slightly chubby build, poofy darker pink hair, and light blue eyes.  The eighth girl was a human with cerulean hair that had arctic blue streaks done up in two long pigtails, and moderate azure eyes framed by a pair of glasses.  The ninth and final girl was also a human with a petite figure, scruffy moderate aquamarine green hair, and grayish tangelo eyes.  Each of these girls were around the age of eighteen and were ready for the best vacation of their lives. “SUMMER BREAK!!!” The pinky earth pony yelled happily. “Geez Pinkie, could you be any louder?” The orange earth pony grumbled.  “I can’t help it, Applejack.” Pinkie said happily, “I’m just so excited! This month and a half is gonna be a blast!” “I hear that, Pinks!” The cyan Pegasus added, “Hoiho Mohoao has got the best waves this side of the Thestrailian continent and I can’t wait to ride them!” “Me too.” The amber furred unicorn spoke up. She then turned to the white furred unicorn, “How about you Rarity?” “Well Sunset darling, I was thinking of doing a little clothes shopping while we’re here.” Rarity replied. “I am interested in what sort of fashion the natives of this island have.”  “Or finally find a good looking guy to shack up with.” Rainbow said with a chuckle with Pinkie joining her. This earned them both a scowl from the alabaster unicorn.  Sunset couldn’t help but smile and roll her eyes. She then turned to the lavender unicorn, “How about you Twilight? Are you looking forward to this?” Twilight was looking at her phone before turning to Sunset and replied, “Well there’s an 82% chance that it’ll be sunny during our stay here. So indeed I am!” “And the other 18%?” Applejack asked. “That we might get monsoons.” Twilight replied. “Always taking precautions, eh egghead?” Rainbow asked jokingly. Twilight just gave the cyan Pegasus a stern look but didn’t say anything. Meanwhile, the butterscotch pegasus and green-haired human were looking around rather nervously. “Sure are a lot of people around here…” The human girl said to the Pegasus who in turn only nodded in reply. “Hey Wallflower! Fluttershy! Come on you two, we’re heading to our huts!” The pig-tailed human called out. Wallflower and Fluttershy just looked at each other before shrugging and joining up with their friends. On the other side of the island, three Zestrals (Zebra and bat pony hybrids who are native to Hoiho Mohoao and its neighboring islands) are scouting out an area nearby the beach. There have been reports of strange sightings and disappearances, so they decided to check it out. So far, they saw nothing out of the ordinary.  Though, they have found a few trees that were torn to shreds. The claw marks were unidentifiable and something the scouts couldn’t recognize. They eventually made their way to the beach and what they found shocked them. Washed ashore was a massive ship that looked like it did so recently. The wreckage looked abandoned but one couldn’t be too sure. Two of the Zestrals went over to the ship to investigate it while the third one stayed behind to keep watch outside. Once the two Zestrals made it inside the ship, they both split up. One checking the upper part while the other checking the lower part. The Zestral investigating the upper part decided to check the bridge and once he got there, he was horrified. Within the bridge was nothing but mangled corpses littered all across the room. The Zestral nearly vomited from both the horrid sight and the horrid smell the rotting bodies were giving off. Who, or what, could have done something like this? The Zestral that was scouting the lower deck have been walking around the empty halls, trying to find any sign of life. However, he stopped when he came across a large claw mark on the wall. It was similar to the ones they found on the trees. The third one who was waiting outside just whistled to himself until he heard ruffling and low growling from some nearby bushes. Curious, the third Zestral decided to check it out… The two Zestrals that were in the ship regrouped and were about to inform each other of what they just found until they heard a loud scream from the outside. Realizing that they’re comrade may be in danger, the two scouts quickly left the ship and made their way outside. Once they did, they found their fellow scout nearby some bushes, on his knees, clutching his left hand which was bleeding profusely. One of the Zestrals reaches out to his bleeding comrade to see if he’s okay. However, the moment the scout touched his shoulder, the bleeding Zestral shot around and snarled at him. He then jumped at the scout and went straight for the throat. The scout let out a bloody scream as his throat was being torn out before going limb. The other scout was horrified by what he just witnessed, noticed that the feral Zestral was now looking at him with a crazed look in his eyes. His mouth was covered in blood and the wound on his hand was beginning to fester and mutate. Before the shocked scout knew it, the feral Zestral lunged at him as well… Not too far from where the wreckage was, a lone unicorn mare in a revealing, skin tight suit was walking down the forest when she heard a scream coming from the beach. She stopped, but only for a second before continuing on her way…