Isle of She-Beasts

The next morning, Spike woke up to the sound of clopping hooves. He blinked an eye open to see none other than Twilight, who was pacing in a circle that has completely worn the ground down.

“Uh, T-T-Twilight?” Spike called, rubbing the sands from his eyes.

“Morning Spike!” Twilight greeted, as she continued her pacing.

“How long have you been pacing?”

“All night.”

“All night?!”

“Well, I just couldn’t sleep. I’ve been wracking my brain nonstop, trying to devise a plan to get off the island and back to civilization, but it’s no use. I’m stuck!”

Twilight stomped her hoof hard to further emphasize her frustration.

“We could build a raft,” Twilight ranted. “But then we’ll just be drifting in the open seas for days. Lost and with no food, we won’t even last the entire journey, halfway around the world.”

Twilight continued as she expressed her thoughts.

“And if by some miracle we made it back to civilization, how will we get back home? Everyone on the mainland will more than likely capture us, put us in zoos, or…dissect us, sooner than we could even explain ourselves!”

Both Spike and Twilight shared discomfort expressions, especially at the mention of dissection.

“And what would our families think?!” Twilight hyperventilate. “Shining Armor will never look at me the same way again! Cadence might not even let little Flurry see her aunt had been turned into a horse-woman hybrid! And…I’LL BE DISOWNED!!!”

“Aren’t you overreacting a little bit?” Spike asked. “What makes you think your family would disown you?”

“Because they’re my family!” Twilight replied. “And that’s what families do when one of their relatives turns out to be a freak! I’m a freak! And I’m—neigh!”

Twilight immediately covered her mouth, shocked at what she just said.

“Did that came out of me?” She asked to an equally shocked Spike, who nodded. “Oh no! It’s getting worse! Very soon, I’ll…I’ll lose myself to my inner beast and…I’m losing myself!”

“Uh, I’m no psychiatrist,” Spike began. “But wouldn’t it be easier if you just calm down?”

“Calm down? CALM DOWN?” Twilight whinnied in panic. “How can I calm down?! I’M LOSING MY HUMANITY! I’M TRAPPED ON FURRY HELL OF ISLAND 731 AND DR. MOREAU!! My IQ is dropping by the seconds. I’M BECOMING ONE OF THEM!!!”

*SMACK*

Twilight’s panic came to a halt, with a sounding smack to the face, courtesy of Spike’s remaining boot.

“I’m sorry I had to do that,” Spike apologized. “But you really need to calm down.”

After a moment to collect herself, and to rub the inflicted area, from the boot, Twilight composed herself.

“No, I actually needed that,” Twilight sighed. “But I’m still worried to how we can get off this island and escape from Dr. Grogar.”

"Maybe Newt Chimera knows," Spike suggested. "He's the only one who knows how to get off this island and back again. Right?”

“Maybe,” Twilight sighed. “It’s too bad he’s not here with us now. Otherwise, we would’ve asked him how he’s been able to board a ship, navigate across the sea, go to civilization, and back.”

At that moment, epiphany struck both Spike and Twilight, like lightning, as they looked to each other.

“The shipwreck!” Spike and Twilight exclaimed in unison.

“Maybe we could salvage what little remains are left on that ship!” Spike stated. “And hopefully, whatever Newt used to navigate, like a compass, a map, or—“

“—even a radio, might’ve survived!” Twilight added. “We can probably send out an S.O.S. or—“

“—We could repair the ship, using the trees, on this island, and we’d be able to sail off the island and back home!” Spike concluded.

And so, Spike and Twilight were on the beach, arriving at the remains of Newt Chimera’s ship. Putting their plan into action, they started rummaging through the wreckage and salvaging for possible supplies, that had survived the crash, to assist them in getting home.

“I’ve got some life preservers,” Twilight exclaimed. “They still have some buoyancy, which is a good start. How about you, Spike?”

“I’ve found a compass,” Spike held up said navigational tool, “but it’s completely useless if we don’t know our exact location, or where we should be going.”

“Well, at least we’re making some progress,” Twilight sighed. “Me and the girls hardly made any progress in months, so this is a big deal for us.”

Spike scratched his chin and pondered for a moment, before he snapped his fingers, “Wait a minute! I just remembered, before we crashed on the island, Newt Chimera always has a map in his bunker. He said it’s how he charters his trips to ‘photograph dolphins.’ But I wonder…”

“Do you still remember where his old bunker is?”

“Yeah! Follow me!”

With that, Spike led Twilight through the creaking hallways of the shipwreck, until they arrived at the room, where Newt Chimera once slept in. Hanging on the wall, to the right, was a large map, detailing the route taken from the mainland, through the ocean, and in the vicinity of the dreaded Isle of Beasts.

“Okay! We have our map!” Spike pointed.

“Excellent!” Twilight nodded, as she took the map off its post and examined it’s entirety very closely.

Spike watched as the pony-woman traces her fingers across the map, determining their current location, the route taken across the ocean, and back to the mainland. Twilight seemed rather pensive, shown through her darting eyes, furrowing brows, and her clenching teeth.

It wasn’t like any expressions of an average horse, but it’s enough to convince that her humanity is still intact. That, or it could be Twilight desperately trying to grasp onto her humanity.

“What’s your status, Twilight?” Spike asked.

“Do you know where we are?” Twilight rolled up the map, closed her eyes, solemnly.

“Twilight?” Spike repeated.

“Spike…” Twilight turned to look at Spike, before her face brightens up, “WE’RE SAVED!!! According to this map, home is not that far away! It’s roughly a 30 miles sail, due northwest!”

“No way, for real?” Spike asked in sarcasm. “Then why don’t we just swim our way there?”

Twilight simply rolled her eyes in response, “C’mon! We gotta go tell the others!” She said as both she and Spike carried their latest spoils. “They’ll be happy to hear this!”

“Right behind ya!”

Both man and She-Beast excitedly made a run for the exit of the shipwreck. Unfortunately, they didn’t get a chance to leave the ship, when they arrived outside, to find themselves surrounded by Boar-Men.

The Boar-Men appeared to be wearing padded vests, and were armed to the teeth, with electric rods, and guns.

Fortunately, the hybrid swines didn’t notice Spike nor Twilight.

“Great. Some Man-Beasts,” Spike frowned.

“Not just any Man-Beasts, Spike,” Twilight frowned. “These are Dr. Grogar’s henchmen! Like all the others, they were ordinary people, until Grogar mutated them to be his obedient slaves. With enhanced strength and sharp tusks and teeth that can chew threw flesh, these guys are tough customers.”

“Yikes!” Spike shuddered.

The young man has heard of reports on wild pig attacks. Though often rare, and avoidable, lots of people have known to die from fatal wounds, from a wild pig. Especially a boar.

In fact, lots of people have died from bee stings, more than shark attacks.

Speaking of which, Spike and Twilight were staying out of sight, when they heard a peculiar sound. It sounded like the shrilling and irritating vibration of a cicada, with the loud humming buzz of a bee, wasp, or horsefly, combined.

It was so loud and irritating, both Spike and Twilight crouched to the ground, covering their ears.

“AAAHH!!!” Spike groaned in agony. “What’s that sound?!”

“Oh no!” Twilight moaned, with a look of dread that spells knowing fear of what’s to come. “It’s her!”

“Who?”

Suddenly, from inside the wreckage of the ship, both Spike and Twilight heard the bloodcurdling, and human-like screams of pigs, being slaughtered alive. To Spike, it sounded worse than the cry of the puma in the classic Sci-Fi novel, The Island of Dr. Moreau.

Spike was scared to look, knowing he would soon regret it. Nevertheless, curiosity got the best of him. Against his better judgement, Spike carefully peeks through the cracked windows, to a gruesome scene.

Attacking the Boar-Men, appeared to be a grotesque mangled creature that resembles a human, a horse, and all kinds of insects.

It looked mostly humanoid, with the head of what appeared to be a horse, possessing eight eyes, two legs, and pincers of a spider, mounted around the mouth. Large pair of insect wings, like those of a dragonfly, protruded from the back, an extra pair of arms protruding from its torso. The abdomen is the lower-half of a horse, like Twilight’s pony half, but with the addition of a stinger, that seems to be a cross between a scorpion’s prehensile tail and a wasp’s tail end.

“BLECH!” Spike cringed in disgust.

Spike watched as the bizarre horse-bug abomination attacks the Boar-Men, by shooting a string of spider webs from its mouth to trap and immobilize Man-Beasts.

With the Boar-Men rendered helpless, the creature moved in to sting one of its latest victims, for a whole minute until the struggling Beast-Man became still as a corpse. The humanoid Bug-Equine then moved onto the next victim, repeats, and so on.

“Ugh! That’s disgusting!” Spike groaned, looking ready to puke. “Now I know how a fly must feel, having its intestines sucked out, like a straw…”

“It’s worse than that, Spike,” Twilight began to explain. “She’s laying eggs into those Boar-Men! And once they hatch, her offsprings will attack the brain to zombify the host.”

“Zombify?!” Spike exclaimed, in horror. “As in real zombies?!”

Twilight nodded as she continued, “The parasite larvae will control the host’s brain, affecting their need to savor their appetites. The larvae will then feed off the nutrients consumed by the host. Once they’ve consumed enough nutrients, they mature into adulthood and come bursting out of the victim’s chest.”

“Ugh!”

Spike and Twilight resumed watching the gruesome show. They hoped to wait for the grotesque monster to leave, when it is safe to leave the ship.

Spike tried backing away, to hide deeper in the ship’s crumbling hallways, when he accidentally kicked an empty glass bottle.

The bottle bounces and rolled across the deck, creating a loud clang. This didn’t go unheard. Outside the ship, the giant bug-equine creature heard the sound, and turned its attention towards the ship.

Spike hid behind Twilight, “She won’t see us if we just hide. Right?” He asked.

“I’m afraid that won’t be simple, Spike,” Twilight frowned in worry. “I’m no entomologist, but I know that bugs have antennas that helps them detect preys.”

“Oh shit!”

Before they had time to react, the ship was suddenly rocked to the side, causing Spike and Twilight to fall over, screaming, and land on top of each other.

After a moment to blush their faces a shade of pink, the ship rocked to the side again, and the two friends rolled again.

Spike and Twilight quickly scrambled to their feet, looking out the window, for any sign of the bug creature.

Instead, what they found outside was a beach of massacred boat-men, with some wrapped in silky cocoons, incubating the parasitic larvae within.

“Where did it go?” Spike asked in a whisper.

“Shhh,” Twilight quietly shushed, as she ushered Spike to step back quietly.

With a firm grip of their latest salvaged goods on hands, both man and pony-woman retreated to the darkest depth of the shipwreck.

They cast frightened looks, left and right, trying to spot any sign of sudden movements. Spike also listened carefully for any sounds of the bloodcurdling buzzing, or any other sounds, that the bug creature would make to give itself away.

But the only sound he could hear were the creaking moans of the decaying shipwreck, the crashing splash of the ocean waves, and the deafening beat of his heart.

Then, without warning, both Spike and Twilight heard the bloodcurdling cicada-like sound again. It made their skins crawl, and their ears ached, to which they covered with their hands.

“Where is that sound coming from?!” Spike groaned.

The sound was attacking both Spike and Twilight from every directions. It was almost as if they were being stalked by, not one, but thousands of the fiendish bug monster.

“The vents!” Twilight exclaimed in horror. “It’s coming from the vents!”

“What?” Spike asked, unable to hear what Twilight said.

Without warning, Twilight threw herself at Spike, “LOOK OUT!” She screamed, just as an insect’s leg burst from the ceiling, almost snatching Spike away.

Both Twilight and Spike looked up in horror to see it was the horrible bug-horse from before. The grotesque monster burst its head through the vent, snapping its pincers, reaching its spider appendages after the two.

Spike frantically backed away, when he tripped and fell onto the control panel of the rundown ship. Spike’s hands pressed on the buttons, some of which activated several loud noises around the ship. One of them was the air horn and the ship’s radio.

Combined, the two sounds created an irritating, if not, earsplitting sound that shook the whole ship.

“AAAARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!!!” Spike and Twilight shouted as they both fell to the floor of the ship, covering their ears.

“Spike!” Twilight groaned. “What did you do?”

“I don’t know!” Spike replied. “But I now know how dogs must feel!”

“Whatever you did, make it stop!” Spike was about to comply, when Twilight stopped him. “Wait! Don’t stop. Look!”

Spike followed Twilight’s finger to see the monster thrashing it’s head wildly, as if the sound was driving it crazier than them.

Both man and She-Beast watched as the monster wriggled itself free from the ship’s hull, retreating from the noise. With a buzz of its wings, the monster flew away, leaving behind Spike, Twilight, and the cocoons it had left on the beach.

“It’s gone!” Spike sighed in relief as he bent down to pick up the goods he and Twilight had been salvaging. “Let’s get back to camp before that thing comes back!”

“Not so fast, Spike,” Twilight pointed at the cocoons. “First thing’s first, we need to deal with those things before they hatch.”

“What’s your plan of attack?” Spike asked, to which Twilight answered by picking up one of the Boar-Men’s machine gun.

At that moment, one of the cocoons burst open, to reveal a zombified Boar-Man, who let a grotesque shriek that is no longer human, nor animal. Something akin to a death rattle, and a person screaming in pain.

“BLECH!” Spike cringed in disgust. “Yeah, let’s put those thing out of their misery!”

Soon after, both Spike and Twilight were walking through the jungles, on their way back to camp, with the goods they had salvaged, when Spike strikes up conversation.

“This island just keeps getting better and better,” Spike commented sarcastically, as he listed, “Piranha-Gulls, Octo-Gators, giant crabs, She-Beasts, the likes, and a mad scientist? I’d be stirred crazy the longer I stay here.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Twilight replied. “And if we don’t get off the island soon, it’s going to get a whole lot crazier.”

“What’s next? A dinosaur? Or more of those bug-monsters that turns you into a zombie? How does Grogar even come up with these things? He’s like the Father of Monsters, or something. And where does he even get the fundings for all his experiments?!”

“From his benefactors,” Twilight answered.

"And who are they?" Spike asked.

"Currently, we don't know. Previously, they were Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, Sombra, and the Storm King." The Pony-Woman replied. “Rumor has it that it was Tirek who was the first to fully support Grogar’s experiment, by volunteering his brother, Scorpan, against his will.”

“What?! Tirek, Cozy Glow, Chrysalis, Sombra, and the Storm King?!” Spike immediately remembered five mentioned criminals, when he looked at their profiles, back at Grogar's lab.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that whatever they were planning with the mad doctor's experiments, it obviously wasn't to end world hunger. A scary thought then crossed his mind, "I'm scared to ask but what happened to them?"

"They were getting impatient and felt that Grogar wasn't fast enough,” Twilight explained. “Demands turned to threats and talks got violent. I don't know allthe details but he managed to trap them, and they became yet another one of his experiments."

Twilight shuddered in fright, as she continued, “He then injected more than one animal DNA into each of them, causing them to become quickly savage and more animal than most beast-folk. We call them "Berserkers". In fact, we just happened to be some of the luckiest few to have escaped Chrysalis."

“Whoa, wait a minute!” Spike exclaimed in alarm. “Did you say Chrysalis? As in one of the worst criminals in the world, Chrysalis? That thing was her?!”

Sharing Spike’s disturbed expression, Twilight nodded in solemn confirmation. "Whatever humanity they have left is long gone."

Spike was frozen stiff in his tracks. To him, Chrysalis was already scary enough, as a normal human. But to see she had become a misshapen, mangled, bug monster with the resemblance of a horse. It definitely looked like a freak show from a freak carnival.

“So, if that’s Chrysalis,” Spike began to ask. “Then…then…” Spike stopped mid-sentence as he struggled to decide whether he should ask or not.

“Then what?” Twilight asked.

“Then, what about the others? Where are they? Or do I even want to know?”

Twilight shuddered in fright as she replied, “Just be glad we don’t have to run into any of them. Rumor has it that each Berserkers now control five parts of the island as their territories.”

“I see. And what do they…” Spike shook his head as if he gave up.

“…You know what? Forget I asked,” Spike replied, while thinking to himself. ‘Maybe it’s best I never have to know how the other criminals are looking now…’

Later that night

Once they were safely back in camp, Twilight began to survey the map both she and Spike had recovered from the shipwreck.

All the while checking over the amount of foods and supplies they have saved for the long trip back home.

“Map, checked,” Twilight listed. “Foods, checked! Compass, checked! Life preservers, checked!”

“Now all we need is to build ourselves some kind of boat, or a raft, and we’re home sweet home!” Spike concluded as he walked up to Twilight, with a coconut for her to drink, complete with an umbrella and straw.

“Thanks Spike,” Twilight smiled as she gratefully took the coconut and drank it through the straw. “Don’t know what we’d do without you!”

“Well…feeling’s mutual, I guess,” Spike replied.

After she had her drink, Twilight went back to formulating the escape plan.

“A raft, or a boat is definitely what we need,” Twilight began. “Now, comes the part where I have to take into account the number of weights, depending on the number of passengers and the supplies we are carrying. I must figure out the buoyancy, the length, and width our vehicle needed to be.”

Standing next to her, Spike was definitely stumped by what the Pony-Woman had said.

“Uh, can you run that by me again?” Spike asked. “But repeat it slowly? And in smaller words?”

“In order for all of us to leave the island, we need to build a boat, or a raft, that is strong enough to carry us all! Including our supply of rations we’ve been saving that would last us for the entire journey.”

“Ooooh!” Spike nodded in acknowledgment. “Wow, for a…a She-Beast, you’re smart!”

“Thank you!” Twilight smiled.

“So, refresh my memory. Didn’t you say you were a robotic engineer before?”

“Yup! And the winner of the robot tournament, with the prize being…a holiday vacation of this god forsaken island of a paradise.”

“Yeah. It’s a very big shocker for me as well.” Wanting to change the topic, Spike asked, “So, do you have a family?”

“Huh?” Twilight asked.

“Do you have a family?” Spike repeated. “Like parents? A sibling?”

“Oh, yes, I do!” Twilight confirmed with a longing frown. “I have some of the most loving and supportive parents in existence. A B.B.B.F.F. who is now a member of the Navy.”

“B.B. What?”

“Big Brother Best Friend Forever.”

“Okay. Continue.”

“A big sister-in-law, who was formerly my favorite babysitter, and a cute loving niece!”

“No way! You’re an aunt?!” Spike gasped.

“And proud of it!” Twilight smiled proudly, before she frowned tearfully, “I just wish I could be home right now, so that I can hold my sweet Flurry Heart in my arms again.”

Twilight let’s out a flood of tears to fall from her eyes as she continued to think long and hard about her family, and her precious niece.

Twilight’s tearful thoughts were interesting when she felt a loving hand on her shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” Spike apologized.

In response, and after she’s calm enough, Twilight took a deep breath to compose herself, and reassured, “It’s okay, Spike. I’ve been meaning to share this, with everyone, for quite sometimes.”

“…Either way, I know what’s like to missing a family member or two.”

Twilight then turned to Spike and asked, “So, what about you? Do you still have some family?”

“Well, I recently moved out of my parents’ house. But you know, we stayed in touch. Other than that, I have no other relatives, so I pretty much live alone. Well, me and Peewee.”

“Peewee? Your dog?”

“My parrot. Given to me by my parents as a birthday gift. Named after my favorite character, Pee Wee Herman.”

“Aw, that’s so cute! And believe it or not, but I have a pet bird of my own as well! An owl named Owliscious!”

“That’s amazing! And what kind of owl is he, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“I believe he’s a Great Horned Owl,” Twilight confirmed.

“Omigosh! That’s one of my favorite kind of owls in the animal kingdom!” Spike exclaimed with starry eyes. “They’re fierce birds of prey that can take on larger animals bigger than them, like falcons and ospreys. They have a force of 28 pounds to open their claws, they have a good sense of hearing, and have soft feathers that lets them fly so quietly to sneak up on their preys and… Oops, I was rambling there, wasn’t I?” He blushed a shade of pink, which Twilight finds adorable.

“It’s fine, Spike!” Twilight giggled. “You must really love your animals, don’t you? Just as much as Fluttershy does!”

“I guess I do,” Spike chuckled. “In fact, there have been times when the animals were like the only friends I’ve got.”

“Don’t you have any…human friends?”

“Well, yeah. And they’re all men, who went their separate ways, dated girlfriends, some of them became their wives, and all that. Blah blah blah.”

“What’s so wrong about that?” Twilight asked, noting the disdain in Spike’s tone of voice.

“Nothing wrong. I’m happy for them. But for me…I may never get to experience that kind of feeling, because…” Spike sighed despondently, “You know why.”

“Oh Spike. I’m sorry,” Twilight apologized.

A part of her was guilty for attempting to pry such sensitive information from him. But another part of her knew that sooner or later, the truth will be known and that it will set him free eventually.

“I know this is still a hard topic to talk, but I need to know, what happened to you?” She persisted.

Again, Spike was hesitant to talk. He got up, turned around, and walked away, leaving a worried Twilight.

“Spike?” Twilight called to him.

“I just want to be alone, Twilight,” Spike replied. “Today’s been an eventful day and…I need some sleep.”

“Oh, okay,” Twilight abided.

Still, the look of concern she had for Spike, never left her face.

Somewhere, on the island

Under the covers of the trees, several of the Beast-People were going about their days, hunting, pilfering, and such, when they felt a disturbance in the air.

They sniffed the air. They perked up their ears. Their hairs stood on end, as they caught onto the presence of another being. Then, with the clear expression of fear on their faces, they retreated, as a lone figure stalked the scene.

The figure’s icy cold gaze glowered at the forest floor, like those of a predator hunting its prey.

The figure got down on the forest floor and inspected a track of footprints in the dirt. Those made from the boots of a man…and She-Beast.