ECHIDNA

Shape

Fluttershy opened her eyes in the timeless, howling currents of chaos of Tartarus; standing before her was the three-headed dog, who left out a howl of appreciation at seeing her awake again. Fluttershy smiled at it and caressed his left paw with her hoof.

The dog swayed his tail like a puppy.

Then, Fluttershy felt the pain mounting again, this time slower, and she knew that it was coming. It looked like she had come here just in time.

When it was the moment, it always built up slowly; she steadied on her hooves and closed her eyes, and the dog took a step back, looking down at her with an expression that looked like a mix of worry and solemnity.

It was like a tide, far in the horizon, coming, coming; Fluttershy was steadfast in her decision to face it bravely, so she stood on her four hooves, and she even opened her wings, but she couldn't stop the crying.

Or the screaming.

Or the small bulges that started to form under her coat, under her skin, under her flesh and bones, coming out from who knows where, who knows when; Fluttershy shuddered, and sweated, and bit her lips, but she stood up, arching her back like a scared cat.

Then, it started to come out; it looked like small drops of substance, of the colour of ochre, but maybe it was something else, the light in Tartarus was always strange, pouring from her chest and barrel and throat, building up in her mouth, even.

Fluttershy tasted something wrong in her mouth.

And with a gurgling sound, a yellow mass of something came out of her stretched mouth, wet and pulsating, strange in its form, and gurgling obscenities in a language made of clatters and snips and short crackles, rolling on the ground.

Fluttershy coughed, and reeked, expectorating more of the ochre matter, until she batted her eyes, and passed her hoof over her mouth, gagging.

The gibbering globe rippled and thrashed, small mouths and eyes, and limbs, and some other things Fluttershy had no name for opening on his body – if body was.

The dog, behind them, stood in silence, but two of his head looked warily to the thing, and the central one was fixed on Fluttershy's form, slowly walking towards the newcomer.

Maybe sensing that something was coming, the globe turned... or did something like that, and leapt towards Fluttershy; tentacles sprouted from its form and attached themselves to her back, and small mouths bit into her chest and neck.

The dog growled, but Fluttershy made him sign to stay put, and instead, shivering under the assault of claws and teeth of the... thing that had came out of her, she cooed and caressed its sticky surface... skin... or what it was, talking slowly.

“Shhh... calm down now, calm down, it's all right, now...”

The thing didn't stop; two tentacles unfurled like flowers of rotten flesh, revealing curved spines, that positioned themselves before Fluttershy's eyes, waving back and forth. She ignored them.

“Hush now, quiet now...” Fluttershy sang, her voice for some reason unaffected by her long journey, the pain, the fatigue. “Hush, now, quiet now...”

The thing... trembled, for a moment, like took by doubt.

Fluttershy smiled.

“Hush now...” she passed a hoof over its... skin, and the thing emitted a low sound, like a flute put underwater. “... quiet now...” and the thing retracted its tentacles, and stood between Fluttershy's hooves, its small eyes pointing to her smiling muzzle.

“... hush now...” Fluttershy repeated, and the thing retracted again in a featureless yellow glob, save for one large eye, that looked at her.

“... quiet now, it's time to lay your sleepy head...”

The thing cooed, and emitted another fluting sound, before pulsating slowly and caressing Fluttershy's hooves.

“... hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed.”

The thing's eye slowly sank into its mass, and it emitted one last fluting sound, before standing still and silent, and finally quiet and peaceful.

Fluttershy nuzzled its skin before putting it down to the ground.

The three-headed dog snorted in appreciation.

Then, appearing from the encircling darkness, tentacles, eyestalks, fingers, claws, tongues, and paws all moved to encircle Fluttershy.