Deep In the Everfree
by InfantHorizon
"Oh no...no, no, no!"
Fluttershy was running through town frantically. She had been babysitting those Cutie Mark Crusaders like she was supposed to, only to have them run off in the Everfree Forest. She was freaking out, they nearly got turned to stone the last time they ventured in there. And now, here she was, running to Twilight so she could wave her horn and fix everything. Only, she knew it wouldn't be that easy. They'd have to go in after them.
Bad things happened to ponies who went in there, very bad things. First, they get lost, and everypony knows why: there's barely any light in there. But then, then they disappear. Nopony knows how, or why, but they do. And frankly, Fluttershy didn't really want to know how or why, that was part of the reason she didn't like going in there in the first place. She didn't even like going in there to get to Zecora's hut. But no matter what she wanted, she would have to go in there, with help, of course, to make sure those Cutie Mark Crusaders didn't suffer the same fate as those who were unlucky enough to venture too deep in the forest.
Fluttershy knocked on Twilight's door with her hoof very lightly. Had Twilight's library not been completely silent as it usually was, Twilight wouldn't even have noticed. She stood up from her crouched position and put her book she had been reading back on the shelf. She knew it was Fluttershy, nopony else knocks that softly. She went to the door and opened it, revealing a panicky, wide-eyed Fluttershy, sweat dripping down her forehead, her body shaking back and forth, her legs doing the same.
"Oh," started Twilight, "hello, Fluttershy. Why are you here? I thought you were watching those silly fillies."
"Um, well, y'see, I..." Fluttershy said, her voice filled with fear, "they went into the Everfree Forest and I need your help. I'm not sure I can go in there again...not after what happened last time..." she gulped in fear and looked around back and forth, nervously.
"I suppose I could come help you," said Twilight, "I don't really have to study right now."
"Oh, thank you Twilight!" Fluttershy said as her heart screamed with joy. "Well, good luck then!" Fluttershy began to quickly walk away.
"Oh no," said Twilight, a bit angrily, "you got me into this mess, and you're going to help me fix it!"
"B...but I..." Fluttershy looked at her angered friend and nodded. She knew she had to go in the forest. It was just a matter of time until she actually did.
The two mares walked silently to the forest. Unfortunately, it was getting dark out, and that meant most of the creatures Fluttershy hated the most would be active. Usually, she loved animals. But the creatures that lurked in the Everfree Forest were... different. As Twilight and Fluttershy reached the edge of the forest, they could already feel the wind get much colder and stronger. The air grew foggy, and the night sky was completely black. Barely any light was visible, and this meant only one thing: they were in the Everfree Forest.
***
"Come on girls, ya chicken?" asked Scootaloo, giggling as she trotted ahead of the other Cutie Mark Crusaders. They had been getting farther into the Everfree Forest, the fog growing as they went. The light that had leaked in through the tops of the trees decreased with every step they took.
"Come on, Scootaloo!" Sweetie Belle whined as she and Apple Bloom followed slowly. "Can't we call it a night? I don't think that the Cutie Mark Crusaders Everfree Explorers is such a good idea!"
"Yeah, she's right, ya know!" Apple Bloom protested. "Ah dunno if anythin' out 'ere is gonna help us find our Cutie Marks, Scootaloo!"
"You girls are just scared!" said Scootaloo. "If it's dangerous as they say, why don't they guard it?"
"Probably because nopony is brave enough to stand near this place all night," moaned Sweetie Belle.
"Yeah, I think I'm gonna head on home," said Apple Bloom.
"Me too," said Sweetie Belle, "follow us if you want."
"I can't believe you guys!" exclaimed Scootaloo. "You guys came up with this idea, not me! And if you think you can just walk away and-"
Her sentence was cut off by a loud, deep, roar. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle both had horrified facial expressions. Scootaloo gulped and slowly turned around. A large, black shadow stood a few hundred yards away from her. It was somehow darker than the forest itself, and it had deep, blood red eyes. It roared again, revealing its white fangs, stained with red blood, and a pitch black mouth. All that was visible of this creature were its outline, which appeared to be a giant pony of sorts, its red eyes, and its white fangs when it opened its mouth.
Scootaloo tried to scream. However, she was so scared out of her mind that she had made no sound. The pony slowly took a step toward them. Scootaloo snapped back to reality. "Let's get the buck outta here!" she screamed, and she began running, followed by the other Cutie Mark Crusaders. It didn't take long before they ran into a dead end, the shadow coming around a corner they had just turned themselves.
"What d' we do now?" asked a frightened Apple Bloom, tears forming in her eyes as she accepted she might not be able to just "do" anything. The creature was coming, coming for them, and it was, as far as she could tell, not a very nice creature, either. It had blood on its teeth, that could only mean one thing: it had been eating something that was once living.
"Come on!" Sweetie Belle urged Apple Bloom, "let's go already! We cleared the bush!"
Apple Bloom did not budge. She was obviously in shock, her brain randomly spitting out thoughts at her. She had no control over herself. Fear had overcome her as she sat there, doing nothing except existing, giving the creature which was now coming straight at her a perfect chance to strike. She knew she was doomed, just when she would die, or how painful it would be, that's what she cared about.
Scootaloo grabbed Apple Bloom and attempted to lift her up, but nothing happened. "Come on, Sweetie Belle, gimme a hoof!"
Sweetie Belle began attempting to help her friend lift the paralyzed Apple Bloom, but it was no use. She was just too heavy. Scootaloo pushed her muscles as far as they would go, and finally, Apple Bloom was lifted on to her back. She grabbed Sweetie Belle's hoof and began to run. The creature was so close, it could simply reach out it's arm and grab them all right then with its claws. Wait, claws? Scootaloo looked back and saw the hooves of the shadow pony. On the end of them were grey, bloody claws.
Great, thought Scootaloo, it has claws. She continued running, but the creature was much faster than her. Scootaloo was approaching a cliff. Sweetie Belle was literally holding Scootaloo's mane as she flew through the air. Scootaloo knew there was only one way out of this.
"I need to jump," Scootaloo said to Sweetie Belle.
"Are you out of your bucking mind?" asked Sweetie Belle. The cliff was getting closer into view.
"It's our only chance! I can fly away!"
"But you...you can't even fly!"
"It's worth a shot if it means surviving!"
"I...okay, I trust you!"
Scootaloo braced herself, getting ready to spread her wings. She had her front hooves on the very edge of the cliff, and she kicked up with her back legs, making her jump into the air and off of the ground. She was above the cliff. She spread her wings and prayed to Celestia that they didn't fail her once again. After she prayed, she screamed.
***
"Well, here we are," said Twilight as she walked into the forest. "The Everfree Forest."
"It's so...dark..."Fluttershy said cowardly, still with wide eyes. A stick cracked under her hoof. "Whazzat? Who's there?"
"Fluttershy," said Twilight, "it was your hoof!"
"I..."she looked down and saw in the fog what looked like her hoof resting on a broken branch. "Oh," she said embarrassed. Twilight simply rolled her eyes and continued onward. It did not take very long for Fluttershy to once again step on a branch and start freaking out. As time went on, the dark fog only thickened, just making the shy yellow pony even worse off than she was before.
"I truly hope we find those fillies soon, said Twilight, "it's WAY past Spike's bedtime."
"I...yes, me too," said Fluttershy.
"Calm down," said Twilight, "nothing will happen to you or the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Maybe they're at Zecora's hut. We should look there first. It's pretty close by."
"Okay, if you say so," said Fluttershy, still not convinced that the trip was totally harmless. The two mares walked slowly and grudgingly through the thick fog until the spotted the blue Poison Joke flowers on the ground.
"Careful," said Twilight, "don't want that stuff again."
"R...right," whined Fluttershy. They walked around the flowers to reveal a long pathway. At the end was a wooden hut which they knew was Zecora's residence. Twilight and Fluttershy trotted toward it and knocked on the door.
"Zecora?" called Twilight, "are you home?" The door flung open to reveal a very sleep-deprived Zecora. They had woken her up, and she had been having a tough enough time getting to sleep with all of the noises going on that night. Still, she greeted her guests very kindly.
"Oh, Twilight, and Fluttershy, too. Is there something I can do for you?"
"Well," said Twilight, "we've lost track of the Cutie Mark Crusaders again, and it's pretty dark out. Have you seen them?"
Fluttershy, with a hopeful expression, looked at Zecora, but her hope was destroyed when she heard the zebra's answer.
"I'm truly sorry, that is true, but I have not seen that silly crew. I did hear some noises though, if you want to check it out, they was just north of here, of that I have no doubt."
"Thank you, Zecora," said Twilight. "We'll look into that. RIGHT, Fluttershy?"
"Oh, um, y-y-yes, Twilight, oh, um, thank you, Zecora."
The zebra smiled and shut the door. The search needed to continue. Twilight use her horn to tell which way was north, and then she headed off, followed by an extremely tense and worried Fluttershy. They moved along through the spiky plants and branches that blocked their paths, both of them getting cut or scraped a few times. They came across a large pond where both of the mares took a short drink.
Shortly after hydrating themselves, they continued their search for the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The ponies were stopped when they saw a long pathway with hoofprints still in the dirt. That meant it had to be recent. Three of the tracks were hoofprint, most likely those of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The other set of tracks they saw were like a ponies, but much larger, and they had three lines coming out of them, as if the creature with the track had claws of some sort.
After examining the tracks, Twilight came to a conclusion, and her mood changed completely. She was now very worried. "Fluttershy," she said, "I think you're right. They were in danger." She pointed at the Cutie Mark Crusaders' tracks. "These are the tracks the Cutie Mark Crusaders left behind," she said, "and they are close together, as if they were running." She pointed toward the tracks of the creatures. "This set of tracks is a large creature of some sort. It's not an Ursa, but it has claws, so it definitely couldn't be friendly. It appears that it was chasing them."
At this statement, Fluttershy made a small whimper. "Twilight," she said, "I want to go home now."
"I know Fluttershy," Twilight comforted her, "I do too. But we're so close, I know it! We need to follow these tracks, no matter what kind of danger it may lead us to."
"I...okay," said Fluttershy, standing up and sniffling, "I'll do it. For the fillies."
The two Elements walked together, following the tracks. Twilight was very closely examining them for any change in the way they were moving. There was one spot where it had appeared that they had stopped moving, but they continued to move after that. Twilight just ignored the spot, assuming it wasn't anything important. They followed that same trail for a long time, but they finally came to a stop when they reached a cliff.
"It's a dead end," said Twilight, confused. "It looks like the hoofprints all merged here, as if somepony were carrying them, and then they went off the cliff here...oh...oh, no. Scootaloo must've tried to fly them over. Chances are, she didn't even make it across. And if she did, we can't track her anymore."
"S-s-so, w-what do we do now?" asked Fluttershy, tears forming in her eyes. But she had no time to cry, because Twilight once again discovered something.
"Wait," she said, "be absolutely quiet."
Fluttershy was very good at that. She nodded and ceased to make any noise. Twilight softly walked to the tracks of the creature chasing them. "Look here," she said in a whisper, "these tracks, they...they turn here. They lead right over...there."
She pointed to a small enclosed area with trees. Fluttershy actually had to try not to make a noise, because she wanted really badly to bawl out in fear and run home. But she couldn't do that. There was no time for her to do that, because the instant she even thought about it, a large, black, shadow-like pony came out of the area Twilight had been pointing to. It had red eyes and really sharp, grey claws, drenched in blood. The creature roared at them, showing its white teeth, which were also coated in a thick red blood. Luckily, it didn't look like it was recent.
The creature moved toward them at a fast pace. Fluttershy could take it anymore. She screamed. She ran at the creature, knowing that if she ran away, it would just be more painful. This was the end. She was in front of Twilight now, who was looking at Fluttershy, wide-eyed.
"No, Fluttershy! Don't!" Twilight yelled as if that would stop the yellow pegasus, who had just gone completely insane. She ran at the creature, and looked up to see its claw coming at her.
***
A rush of excitement pushed Scootaloo's fear right out of her. She had just flown over the cliff, holding two ponies! And, in addition, a horseshoe with wings had appeared on her flanks! She had a Cutie Mark! She set Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom down. Apple Bloom regained control of her brain as she shook her head clear of the garbage she had been thinking earlier. Before any of them had time to speak, a loud shriek got their attention.
The three fillies looked over the cliff in horror to see a pegasus with a yellow coat and pink mane whom they knew was Fluttershy get flung a few hundred feet into the air and land on the ground after getting whacked by the creature's claw. Her body was on the ground, lifeless. The yellow, pink, and now red body was a mess. One of her legs was still on the creature's claw. The three fillies could only watch in horror as the creature turned to Twilight and picked her up in its mouth.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders wanted to scream, and partially vomit, as they saw the purple pony's limbs get torn apart by the creature's teeth, one by one. The legs all were consumed by the creature, who then spit the screaming torso and head of Twilight onto the ground. With one last roar, it jammed its claw into her stomach, picked her up, and ate the remains of the body. It did the same to Fluttershy's body. The fillies had no time to think about those two losses that had been made for them, they had to run. The creature had turned its attention to them.
The fillies started running. The fog got thinner and thinner as they ran, the light getting easier to see. They had been in there all night, they noticed, as they got to the edge of the forest where the sun was visible. Just as they were a few feet away from the exit, the shadow pony stepped out in front of them. It looked at them, its eyes narrowing. The fillies slowly backed away. Scootaloo flapped her wings in fear, but didn't do anything with them.
The creature made its violent roar, then slammed its claw into Sweetie Belle. Blood flew onto the faces of the other two ponies. Sweetie Belle was then picked up and eaten by the shadow. It turned to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, who were still in a little bit of shock. The creature studied the two of them as it made its next move.
"Hey," Apple Bloom said, "only one of us can get outta here alive."
"Oh no," said Scootaloo, "you're not doing that!"
"He's lookin' closer at me, meaning he's gonna get me first! When you see 'em raise that claw o' his, fly outta here!"
"But I-"
"Just do it, Ahm gonna die anyway!"
Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom one last time. "Good bye, Apple Bloom." The creature raised its claw, and Scootaloo quickly flew up, avoided it, and escaped the forest. A scream came from the forest, followed by the sound of a fluid getting sloshed about. The creature turned to Scootaloo, blood dripping from its mouth. It walked toward her, but as it took a step out of the forest, it instantly caught on fire. The shadow exploded in a shower of various neon colors as it disappeared forever.
***
Rainbow Dash was still asleep when the loud knocking on her door started. Groggily, she opened it. "What?" she asked, grumpily. When she saw that the pony in the door was Scootaloo, she apologized, and let her in. What Scootaloo told her made her want to vomit, cry, and jump with joy all at once. Ponies were brutally slaughtered, some of her best friends were dead, and Scootaloo got her Cutie Mark.
"I..." Rainbow began, but she couldn't find the right words. "That's...awful."
"Rainbow," said Scootaloo, "thank you."
"Thanks you?" asked Rainbow Dash, taken aback, by Scootaloo's comment. "Thanks for what, exactly?"
"Without you, I never would've been able to fly two ponies over that cliff, let alone fly at all. It was all of those tips you gave me."
"Well, I..." Rainbow Dash didn't know what to say. She was fairly upset right now, but happy, too. Just as she was about to say something, another knock came on her door. "Who could that be?" she asked out loud. She trotted over to the door and opened it. A black stallion with a green and orange mane and tail was present. He was a pegasus, of course."
"Um, do I know you?" Rainbow asked him.
"No, I don't believe so. Is this where Scootaloo lives?"
"Yes, why?"
"I need to speak with her."
"Come on in."
The stallion walked inside the house and spotted Scootaloo. He sat next to her. "I'm sorry about your friends," he said, "My name is Shadow Leaf, by the way. I wanted to thank you."
"Thank me?" asked Scootaloo. "For what?"
"For forcing me out of the forest. For breaking the spell. Now, I can forever be free. No more killing."