After a long day tending to the many new animal families that had begun to flourish, Fluttershy was exhausted. She trotted quietly through the soft soil and made her way back to her cozy hillside cottage. ‘I wonder what my Angel Bunny was up to all this time, I hope his poor little tummy isn't grumbling.’ The pale yellow pegasus thought to herself. She smiled at the image of her tiny white companion hopping gaily around the house just as she reached for the door. Fluttershy walked quietly into her abode and spoke at a soft whisper "Hello, everyone. I am home." Chitter arose from around her happily at her entrance. Fluttershy floated through the next few hours with a twinkle in her eyes, cleaning, making supper, and finally preparing for bed. Fluttershy laid down on her soft four post bed with a sigh. She snuggled up under her thick blankets and stretched one last time before getting comfortable. Not long after doing so she drifted into sweet thoughtless sleep. The only sound was that of her soft snores and the occasional sedate shift to a new position. This relaxed feeling did not last.
Fluttershy’s face twitched and contorted in realization. Fear flooded her mind. ‘ I just have to wake up, that’s it.’ She tossed and turned with no avail, she knew by now that such effort only ended in vain. She felt as if her eyes lids were covered in concrete. The world melted from a soft gray to the darkest jet-black one can imagine. The black was thick and inky, it gave one the feeling as if it was trying to make you part of it's stagnant pallet.
’The dreams...No, no. No. No! NO! NOT AGAIN!’
Powerless to her own subconscious, Fluttershy slipped back into the familiar abyss that occupied the deepest recesses of her mind. This was a place she thought she had long covered up. This plain was one of torture and fear that just wanted to swallow the timid pegasus whole. "No...Please, I c-can't be here. I do not belong here." Fluttershy pleaded to the malignant depths. In response the world shifted, fuzzy at first, then more clear terrifying images splayed in all directions. The pegasus was surrounded by dark woods with glowing eyes hiding in every shadow. From the corner of her eye she saw faces like snakes baring their teeth, but the second she turned her head they vanished. Fluttershy fell to the ground and covered her eyes with her soft flaxen hooves. "This i-i-isn't real, it is not re-e-al." the scared pony tried to convince herself, near tears. The shadows hissed and murmured menacingly. The snap of branches launched Fluttershy into the air squealing and flapping her wings. She landed less than gracefully and after regaining her balance she broke off into a full run, eyes squeezed shut and teeth clenched.
Slow, deep, husky rhythmic music filled the air. The beat created a vile and intoxicating aura throughout the foreboding woods, like the wings of a butterfly then more forceful, knocking the breath from her lungs. Fluttershy was sapped of all energy she slowed and opened her eyes, she had run no more that what seemed to be a few paces from her original place. It was like there was an invisible force was holding her back, slowing her down and lapping up her will to go on. Vines beneath her hooves slithered sluggishly toward the confused pegasus. In one well executed movement they all jumped and pulled at her wherever a tendril could get a grip. Fluttershy’s hooves were drawn in different directions, wings tied down and her back was then swiftly thrusted toward the ground. The fair pegasus yelped in pain and surprise. The few creepers that had not grabbed onto her body drug her mane and tail every which way for a more compromising hold.
The serpent creatures emerged from their hiding places. Fluttershy’s eyes widened, she had never seen such grotesque bodies in her life. The entities had reptilian faces littered with scars and a smile that rivaled a saber teeth, their chests looked carved to ribbon and was covered in battered feathers, the arms and legs looked stitched together with scraps of fur and skin, the last thing Fluttershy noticed was the alligator-like tail the swayed as they walked upright toward her. The vines tugged on her body to evoke a cry of pain, this seemed to please the creatures. Tears flowed freely from the terrified pegasus‘ eyes, she was surrounded and tethered to the rough ground with no hope of escape. A female creature stared intently at Fluttershy’s tear-stained face. It flicked it’s thin forked tongue at the pony’s nose which caused the pegasus to look up, eyes gaping. The creature smiled a most smug and villainous smile. That one gesture told Fluttershy that this would be slow and excruciating.
Fluttershy thrashed and screamed in her sleep, tossed blankets and pillows off her plush bed. She whimpered and gasped with pain at frequent intervals. The pegasus‘ face flushed red and sickly green as she winced and arched her back in protest. A small figure watched from a shaded corner. He hopped closer slowly and cautiously concern growing apparent on his fluffy face. Angel stood near the edge of Fluttershy’s bed, he could not actually climb up, usually Fluttershy picked him up and placed him on the lush surface. He bounced as high as he could, with no luck, he was just too small.
Fluttershy shrieked as the serpentine creatures pulled out each of her feathers one by one. They has already stripped her mane and tail into jagged pieces, sometimes slipped their sharpened spears onto her neck or rump to garner a reaction and she found if she struggled or did not comply it would only become worse for herself. A small pile of her bloodied feathers were stacked next to her, occasionally a creature would pick up a few and string them along a vine and place it around their neck as a feather necklace the color of fresh lemons splattered in strawberry topping...
To Be Continued?
