Slenderpony

Three weeks passed by and still nopony knew for sure what had happened that night. No matter how often the girls were questions it was always the same story given. When they had went to Fluttershy's cottage they had been rambling about some monster, but upon Scootaloo's return they denied any such thing; claiming they had just gotten lost in the forest. It didn't take much to figure out they were all covering for each other, hiding something but pressing them on it hadn't worked so it had been left alone, for a while.

Scootaloo had emerged from the forest that night just as the sun had gone up. She had no recollection of ever going in the forest or even finding her way out. She remembered talking with her friends of exploring the Everfree Forest but apparently as they got closer her memory became more fuzzy. The next thing she did remember was seeing six worried faces peering down at her and wondering where she was and how she'd gotten there. It had been speculated she was lying, to get out of trouble but after being examined more thoroughly it seemed more likely she was repressing some sort of emotional trauma. The important thing, it seemed at the time, was that Scootaloo had returned safely, so the three fillies had been let off the hook and resumed their normal lives.

It was not completely normal, however. Applejack and Rarity reported that their sisters often suffered from horrible nightmares that left them tossing and turning all night. During the worst of nights they would wake up screaming, crying even, sometimes. Still, when asked, they maintained that everything was fine and that it was nothing but a nightmare.

Nightmares weren't the only side effects, though. Some were more obvious than others. They had all grown paranoid and jumpy, scared of the dark. They grew nervous when they were alone for any length of time and they no longer wished to play anymore. Even the hunt for their cuties marks had stopped for the moment. All their friends and families could do was stand back and hoped that they got better, as difficult as it may be.

"Girls? Girls!" Cheerilee called out for the fourth or fifth time and all three fillies snapped to attention at once. "I was asking you if you had anything you'd like to talk about." Cheerilee tried to talk to them at least once a week. "All day you three seemed out of it, again. I'm starting to wonder if you're learning anything at all." She tried her best to sound cross, but came across as sympathetic instead. She, like everypony else, was aware of what the three girls had went through. Their families hadn't told her all the details, mostly because they couldn't get them out of the girls either, but she at least understood they might need a bit of time. It had been three weeks though, and the special treatment, as minor as it may be, could not go on forever. "I think i'm going to call Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash." The fillies eyes went wide.

They all looked at each other, then back to their teacher but it was Applebloom who spoke. "Ahm sorry, miss Cheerilee. Could we maybe do this tomorrow instead? Ah promised Applejack'n Big macintosh that ah'd help'em find Winona today. She's gone missin' an' that's not like her at all." There was no hiding the hope in the other two fillies' eyes.

Cheeriliee thought about it for a moment then sighed. "Alright, girls. Please let the three of them know I'd like to see them tomorrow."

"We will." Was chanted simultaneously and the three were gone faster than Cheeriliee could keep track of.

I sure hope those girls will be alright...

**

"What are we gonna tell them?" Sweetie Belle sounded close to crying.

"Maybe we tell them what we saw..." Was Applebloom's hesitant response.

"What did we see, really?" Scootaloo snapped to her two friends who turned to her in shock. "Shadows and nothing else. There's no such thing as monsters, or that...thing! So how about the two of you just keep your mouths shut!?"

Neither Sweetie Belle or Applebloom knew how to respond. Sure, Scootaloo could be a little pushy sometimes, borderline rude at others but she had never been downright mean. Yet, that is how she was acting towards the two fillies who were supposed to be her best friend. Now it was their turn to wonder if maybe Scootaloo remembered more than she was letting on. Or maybe she was more upset about the fact that she didn't.

"Scoot...What happened that night?" Applebloom asked tentatively. "If 'yer worried about gettin' in trouble ah don't think th-"

"We didn't see anything, and nothing happened that night, okay!? Ugh." Scootaloo huffed. "I don't have time for this." and without another word Scootaloo sped away.

The other two fillies said their goodbyes as well and made their way to their respective homes.

**

Scootaloo wanted nothing more than to be alone. She had made her way towards one of Ponyville's many ponds. Rainbow Dash had shown her this one, it had been a good day and being there where pleasant memories had been formed but her more at easy, made her less jumpy. "Don't even know why I'm jumpy...Not like anything happened anyway..." Even as the words left her mouth Scootaloo knew she was wrong. Something had happened she just couldn't remember what. She took a deep, calming breath under the tree where she lay and shut her eyes. She tried to remember.

Immediately her head began to hurt, a sharp throbbing pain to the front love of her head. It was literally as though someone had taken a knife, jammed it into the center of her forehead and was twisting it back and forth. Still, she took a deep breath again and clenched her teeth, trying to think through the pain. There was nothing, really. just the same incomprehensible things she always saw.

She saw the forest, the trees. It was deathly silent there was definitely nopony around and oddly enough no animals either. She was paralyzed with fear yet she couldn't understand why. Then the scene shifted and the next thing she had seen were the six ponies representing the Elements of Harmony. Scootaloo grit her teeth, all that only to be left with a headache.

For some time the filly relaxed. It may have been the first time she'd felt able to relax since that night. Normally being alone made her nervous but now there was only...Calm? She wasn't sure how to describe it. She knew she should be afraid, in fact her brain was telling her to leave yet there was something else, something she couldn't identify sending a different signal to her, telling her everything would be okay. Then everything wasn't okay and the survival part of her brain took over.

She saw it, only out of the corner of her eye. Just like that night... she couldn't remember specifically but somehow she knew she had seen it before.It was hard to identify. By the time she turned to face it, it was gone. It had been vaguely pony shaped but it was far taller than any stallion she'd ever seen. Perhaps somepony playing a prank on her. It would have to be one mean pony to play this kind of prank on her. There wasn't a single resident of Ponyville who didn't know what had happened to her and her friends.

"Come out, before I kick your f-flank!" She was upset with herself for stuttering at the end, but figured it was better than saying nothing.

For a while all seemed well again until she got up to leave. She felt it behind her, unable to move her entire body trembled under the large shadow it cast over her. She wasn't even sure what it was but she knew it was bad, despite the still nagging feeling that it was trying to be friendly. She swallowed hard, audibly. Then her throat tickled for a moment before a fit of coughing over took her.

This was no normal cough. She couldn't stop herself. She coughed, and coughed and coughed. She couldn't breath, couldn't move, couldn't stop. Eventually she fell to the ground, flat on her belly yet the coughing continued, accompanied by another headache. Soon her young body gave up and she leaned to her side, only catching a glimpse of the entity's face before darkness overtook her once more. Upon seeing it's face her eyes widened before closing against her well. She managed to utter only two words before she was gone.

"No eyes..."

**

"Winona!" The call was followed by another whistle. They'd been at it for hours with no luck in finding the missing dog. Applejack sighed, it was time to stop. She knew they could continue their search after dinner. "C'mon sugarcube, let's grab a bite. We can keep searchin' after." There was no response so Applejack turned to her sister.

Applebloom was standing there, clearly she hadn't heard a single word her sister had spoken. Her eyes scanned the surrounding land, so much to take in. Every shadow cast by a tree was another enemy, every gust of wind the breath of some deadly creature. She was more paranoid than usual and she couldn't pinpoint why. Another call from Applejack made her jump and she finally gave her sister her attention.

"Sorry Applejack. I guess ahm just worried 'bout Winona..."

"Don't worry, we'll find her, sugarcube." Applejack offered the young filly a reassuring smile. "I bet Granny Smith and Big Mac're waitin' on us for supper right now, so let's head in."

"Alright."

They had been out quite a ways, so the walk back to the farm was a pretty long one. It took several minutes at the least, but as they walked they talked. Applejack was careful not to bring up anything to do with the forest incident and Applebloom was grateful for it. She would already have to deal with that tomorrow, so perhaps just for the night she could relax. Walking home with her big sister she felt untouchable. No monster would dare lay a hoof on her, Applejack would send whatever horrible beast back where it came from. Her fears dissipated for the moment Applejack even managed to get a laugh from her but it was abruptly cut short.

As they neared the farm Applebloom's eyes scanned their home. She looked at that house everyday. Her mind knew what should and should not be there so when there was an odd figure in one of the windows she noticed it right away. It took her a second to focus on it but when she did she gasped and stopped walking immediately. In the time it took her to blink, it was gone but she knew it had been there. We weren't crazy....

Another moment passed and Applebloom realized it wasn't just any window she'd caught the figure in. It was the window in her room. Whatever had scared them in the forest, and now she was convinced there had been something no matter what Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo might say, was in her home. Her stomach turned and she felt as though she might vomit, she held it down though. At this point Applejack had noticed that something was wrong.

"You alright there? 'Yer lookin' a little sick." An equal mix of concern and suspicion.

"Oh, don't worry 'bout me sis!" Her response fooled nopony, not even herself but she pressed on past Applejack heading into the house.

Sure enough supper was already on the table. Granny Smith and Big Macintosh were already seated. Applejack and Applebloom joined them at the table and the three adults began talking. Applebloom kept to herself, slowly munching at her food. She was vaguely aware of her family chatting but it all seemed so distant to her, she could barely hear it. What she did hear was an odd noise.

It was a sort of distorted sound that came out of nowhere. It would stop momentarily before continuing, there was no rhythm to it, no pattern just inexplicable noise. Her entire family turned towards it's source, a radio situated on the counter. It had been broken for years, and although Granny Smith laughed it off while Applejack gave the thing a good whack to make it stop Applebloom knew better. The noise filled her with dread, and overbearing sense of despair as though she were doomed and fighting her fate was impossible. She rose from the table and ran outside, the concerned shouts of her family behind her.

She ran to the side of the house where nausea overtook her and she did vomit. She wiped her lips with a shaky hoof and spit, getting the taste of sick from her mouth. That was when she caught sight of it. It was a bag, made of plastic she assumed but she'd never seen anything like it. At first she could have mistaken it for a garbage bag but she stepped towards it suspiciously and she'd noticed the bag seemed somehow...Odd. It was reflective yet seemed transparent. The transparency did not reveal the content of the bags though, which is what had made it so odd. Instead it seemed to be reflecting darkness, so much so Applebloom felt as though if she stepped too close she might get sucked in. There was another color that struck her more, though.

There was a pool of crimson around the bag. Red mixed with the color of the earth in a sickening shade of red. Applebloom swallowed hard as she poked the bag with her hoof, but nothing happened. She wasn't sure if that was a good sign or not. Another hard poke with her hoof cause the bag to tip over and some of the contents to spill out.

Her eyes met the lifeless eyes of the missing Winona, and she could just barely make out a severed paw by the dismembered head. Tears quickly began to stream down her cheeks and then she let out the most horrified, deafening shriek that her lungs allowed her.