Taboo

Chapter 2: Under Stars and Candle Light

Oh this was a terrible idea. I shouldn't of bothered Twilight but I needed to talk to somepony about...this. This is horrible, just horrible...oh why did this have to happen? Twilight and Fluttershy walked towards the latter's cottage making sure not to disturb the sleeping denizens of the town. Twilight had insisted on two things before allowing Fluttershy to leave the library. The first being that Fluttershy would go to the hospital before they did anything else. When she had refused Twilight had insisted that she at least wash the blood off her hooves and get herself cleaned up. The next thing that the Princess/Librarian had insisted on was that they keep this to themselves for the time being. Both had agreed that there was no need to panic the rest of their friends during the dead of night. Twilight's right, I just need to calm down. Twilight will know what to do, Twilight always knows what to do...right?

Save for the light coming from the stars and crescent moon above the trek towards Fluttershy's cottage was made in almost completely pitch black darkness. The two friends stayed close to one another in an attempt to not lose track of the other. All around them the sound of night time filled the air. The serenade of crickets chirping, owls hooting, and gently breeze rustling through leafy trees would usually have been enough to calm a tense Fluttershy. Not tonight though, not after what she had seen.

"Hey Fluttershy, just know you don't have to answer this if you don't feel comfortable but you mind telling me what happened? I mean if you're alright with it of course."

Oh I want to tell you what's wrong Twilight, I really do. It's just that what I saw is just so... "I'm sorry Twilight, but maybe it'll just be better if you see it with your own eyes."

"It's alright by me Fluttershy but can you at least tell me what I can expect? I've only been thinking of worst case scenarios ever since I saw you with blood on your hooves. Being a little less vague would really calm my mind." Silence found the two of them for enough time that Twilight had believed she had gotten separated from her friend. "Fluttershy are you still behind me?"

"Yes." Fluttershy squeaked

"So why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because you told me to tell you something that would calm your mind and I don't really like lying to my friends."

***

The two friends finally arrived at Fluttershy's cottage. To Twilight's surprise candle light glowed through windows around the house with the front door also being wide open. If Twilight had to make a guess she could only theorize that Fluttershy had left to go find her in a hurry.

Fluttershy ran past Twilight and over the small bridge into her cottage. She bolted up the small flight of stairs to her bedroom. "Angel Bunny! Angel Bunny where are you!?" Please be okay, oh please be okay. Oh why did I leave him behind? I can be so stupid and selfish sometimes! Fearing the worst the peagsus felt fresh tears begin to cloud her vision. It was only after she felt a light thumping on her side that a small smile crept onto her face.

With out thinking she quickly swept up her beloved pet in her hooves and began nuzzling him sweetly. "Oh Angel I'm so sorry for leaving you! I was just so scared and wasn't thinking straight! I promise I'll never leave you alone again! Especially not after..."

"Hey Fluttershy! Are you upstairs? Is everything okay up there?"

It really was a difficult question to answer. Things would probably never be one hundred percent 'okay' after that night. Looking at Angel Bunny and seeing that he was safe however gave the pegasus a momentary peace of mind. She realized that things could of been a lot worse. "Yes," she called down stairs, "Everything is fine up here, I'll come down in a minute."

After giving her pet a quick look over to see if he was hurt Fluttershy went back downstairs with Angel in tow. She found Twilight in her living room looking at one of the lit candles. "Twilight I..."

"Fluttershy don't take this the wrong way but could you just show me what's wrong? It's really late at night and I have to get up early to open the library." A tired yawn escaped the Princess putting more emphasis on the point she was trying to make. "So far all I've seen are numerous fire hazards with all the candles that you left lit."

I guess there no putting it off any longer. I have to show her even if it's...it's... An audible timid squeak escaped her. Without saying anything else she quickly made her way outside motioning for Twilight to follow her. Putting a soft glow around her horn Twilight followed her friend outside. They made their behind the cottage and came to what looked like to Twilight as a holding pen. There was a small shack with a wire fence around it.

Only when they got closer did Twilight notice the gaping hole in the fence. The wire had been cut in such a way that it seemed that something had slashed it's way through it. Fluttershy stopped at the opening in the fence unwilling to go further. "Through there Twilight, you'll see it in the shack."

Twilight made her way through the gap in the fence taking caution not to scratch herself on the wire. Immediately she noticed a horrid smell coming from inside the little wooden structure. She covered her muzzle with a hoof as she made her way into the shack.

Poking her head inside she increased the intensity of the glow on her horn and immediately regretted doing so. There basked in the light of her magic Twilight saw a scene that made her stomach retch. Scattered across the floor of the small shed was fur, blood, and what Twilight could only guess had once been somethings small intestine and internal organs. The walls were splattered with blood  and covered in scratch marks. In the middle of the nightmarish scene lay the body, or at least, the remains of what was once some sort of animal.

Feeling her stomach heave Twilight quickly retracted her head out of the shack and tilted it to one side as bile and her dinner purged out of her mouth and onto the wet grass.

"His name was Mr. Ruffled Ears. He was a stray dog I found a few days ago in PonyVille. The poor thing was sick so I brought him here to nurture him back to health. I was woken up by horrible noises coming from his pen. When  I looked inside I saw...that."

"Fluttershy, I'm so sorry. No pony should have too see something as gruesome as...that. Do you know what type of wild animal could of done this? Do you think it was timber wolves?"

Shaking her head slowly Fluttershy looked back towards the shed. "No, it wasn't a wild animal that did this. Not even a timber wolf. This...this was something else."

"What makes you say that Fluttershy? How could this of been anything but a wild animal or a timber wolf? What else could of possibly done this?"

Fluttershy took a deep breath and focused her gaze on Twilight.  "When I found Mr. Ruffled Ears he was still alive."

"The dog...I mean...Mr. Ruffled Ears was still alive?"

Gently nodding her head Fluttershy continued, "The poor dear was still breathing. I thought of everything I could do to try and help him. I tried to stop his bleeding but the wound was too big. Suddenly out of nowhere his entire shack started shaking like something was banging against the sides. I could hear terrifying noises coming coming from outside. I panicked and ran out the shed not thinking of where I was running too. I ran from my home and it was only when I go into the town that I decided to run to you. I just...I just didn't know what to do."

Just as Twilight was about to speak a loud howl came from behind the two. Both Fluttershy and Twilight turned to face the source of the noise. The pegasus's eyes went wide when she saw where the howling was coming from. There, standing in the light of the one of the windows, was a small black dog. It's eyes glowing a ghostly white as they reflected the moon's light.

No...no it can't be. But Twilight saw you...I saw you...how is this possible? Mr. Ruffled Ears? Gathering up her courage Fluttershy lifted her hoof to take a step forward. As soon as she brought her hoof down onto the grass again a powerful gust of wind blew over the cottage causing both Fluttershy and Twilight to close their eyes. When they reopened them they saw that in the dogs place stood what appeared to be a pony.

The pony looked strange since the two friends could only see it's silhouette against the candle light coming from the windows. They could see that the pony was a unicorn but couldn't make out it's face. The rest of the stranger's body was covered by what appeared to be a bear skin and several strange ornaments.

Out of the corner of her eye Fluttershy could see that Twilight wasn't moving, seemingly petrified from fear. She swallowed down the wad of saliva that had built up in her mouth and passed her tongue over her lips which had gone dry from her mouth staying open. "Who..."

"SkinWalker." Fluttershy heard Twilight whisper before the lights from the candles, stars, and even moon faded to black.