The Price of Friendship

When The Forest Weeps

The colt humbly escorted the three fillies to his cabin which was not more than ten minutes away. He smiled as their eyes beamed at the sight, “No way! Oh my gosh, mister! Thanks a lot!” Sweetie Belle shrieked in joy. He smiled and shook his head, “Don't thank me, Little Ones. You still have a life ahead of you. Don't want any future princesses getting torn apart by no Jaggerwolf!” he laughed winking at the trio. The three of them giggled and walked inside. He took aside young Sweetie Belle and cleaned her wounds, bandaging them up much to her appreciation. She thanked him a soft hug and waddled off to her friends. The room was well lit, and furnished lavishly for a home out in the middle of nowhere. Applebloom, scanned the room in pure astonishment; it was littered with any type of weapon you can imagine: Swords, knives, pistols, rifles, shotguns, and there was even a cannon propped up in a corner. The stallion stretched his legs, “You girls make yourself at home. I am going to get you guys some fresh grub! Sound good?” he said walking off into a separate room. The girls couldn't believe their luck, they were finally safe from harm!

Scootaloo grinned wide-eyed, “Dude, no way! Look at all this stuff! H-He must be some sort of secret agent for the princess. I bet he can teleport..” she said trailing off in wonder. Applebloom nodded quickly, “Yeah, yeah! And he can, uh, back-flip and prolly beat up anything I might reckon!” Sweetie Belle giggled at her friends, “I wonder if he has a wife?” she said entering the same stupor as the others. A laughed erupted from behind them as the stallion spoke up, “Well..if you must know..” the girls turned around quickly and blushed deep red. Slingshot handed each of them freshly made soup, chuckling to himself as they gobbled it down in an attempt to subdue their embarrassment. He pulled over a pillow and took a seat, “You all have no idea how much danger you were in do you?” he began, “I'm sure everyone you know is in a mighty panic, and although I do like company every now and then. I wish it was under more enjoyable circumstances.” the girls looked at each other frowning, then continued to devour their meal. “Girls.” he thought, and to think I was bad with woman.

After their meal, Sweetie Belle walked up to the colt tugging at his jacket, “Slingshot, sir, but what are you even doing out here?” he looked down at her as he cleared off the table scraps, “Well..I'm here to make room for the Ponyville expansion.” he said trying not to include the grisly details. She smiled nodding in attention her eyes glistening in the candle light; it made the colt feel uncomfortable. “WELLLP!” he said with emphasis, ushering the fillies to his bed, “You all better be getting to sleep! The sun rises in eight hours and I want you girls in tip top shape! No excuses, now get.” they didn't bother complaining, for they were entirely exhausted from their frightening day. As they climbed in bed, he noticed something odd about Scootaloo. “Orange one, Scootaloo am I correct? How'd you get your cutie mark?” his voice was soft as he questioned her, but Scootaloo had no idea what he was talking about. Slingshot pointed a hoof towards her flank, the image of a dark blue, expressionless mask stared blankly from her hide, the filly suddenly burst out in sheer joy.

Applebloom glowed in happiness, gazing eagerly at her flank. “AHHH! Finally! My cutie mark!!!!” Scootaloo squealed. Sweetie Belle frowned, her eyes darting to her own plain flank. It wasn't fair, what did she even do to deserve that? Scootaloo was dancing around the room as Slingshot pressed on, “How'd you get it exactly? I've never seen anything like it before.” the words made Scootaloo stop in her tracks. “Probably because of how much I helped us out today.” she said, full with pride. Sweetie Belle didn't buy it, “Surrree..like falling from the sky and almost dying helped us so much” she spoke up with a tense tone, “And falling on your face helped any better” Scootaloo said defensively. Sweetie Belle fumed turning her back away from her friend, she wasn't in the mood for braggarts. Applebloom just shook her head pulling the covers up and snuggled in, closing her eyes. The colt walked to the edge of the room and blew out the candles, then there was darkness once again.

Slingshot walked to the front door and stepped outside, it had been one hell of a day. He fiddled for a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it up taking in a deep breath. The nicotine felt good, and his body agreed with him. He exhaled watching the smoke vanish in the caustic environment, a stifled howl erupting from the wood line, but he payed no attention. The creatures around here knew better than to fuck with an alpha. He took another drag, as a second howl pierced the silence, “Hmm, those Jaggerwolves sure are up to something exciting tonight” he pondered, pulling out his revolver just in case. He checked to make sure it was loaded when multiple whelps and howls echoed at what felt like only thirty yards away. He threw his cigarette butt to the ground and stomped on it with his hoof, “Now what's going on you little shits..trying to team up on me again?” he unharnessed another revolver and scanned around, “Come on you little cocksuckers come and ge--” before he could finish a large fur covered body flew from the cover of darkness and slammed into the side of a cabin. Slingshot jumped in surprise, quickly aiming his pistol whatever attacked his cabin.

What he saw shocked him, a Jaggerwolf  flopped dead on the porch, it's skin was gone and it was shaking intensely; it's hind legs appeared to of been shattered from the force of the impact and it emitted a low pitched wine. He examined it puzzled, trying his best to come up with and explanation,“What in the hell..” he walked over to the creature and sighed wrapping his hands around it's throat. Poor bastard must of walked into the wrong pack. He quickly twisted the suffering animals neck and with a soft crunch it died. He threw the indignant creature of the porch and resumed  his attention to the woods, these little pricks were up to something. At this point the howls were significantly closer than before. His trained ear tried to hone in on their cluttered cries, yet it didn't seem like they were ones of anger, they seemed like they were of fear. There was a loud thud as something else flung itself onto the ground feet away, Slingshot couldn't believe his eyes. The beheaded corpse of yet another Jaggerwolf sat in a pool of it's own fluids. He tried to reason with himself once more, “Maybe a turf war, it has to be..” the colt said, as storm clouds began to take shape in the sky. He looked up quickly, muffled sounds of thunder momentarily catching his attention. Something was odd with the stars, he couldn't make it out, but they seemed black, and appeared to be getting larger. The stallion, took a step back after making a startling conclusion. They weren't stars, they were bodies, and by the look of it, hundreds of them. He choked on the midnight breeze as the first body slammed into the ground splattering on contact, a mass of flesh and bile plastered the damp grass, “Great Celestia have mercy..” the mercenary said, and that's when the bodies began to drop.

Sweetie Belle was walking happily through Ponyville, it had been eighteen years since she and her friends had gone through that terrible night, and tonight was the exact anniversary. Her soft mane swayed elegantly as she strolled to the local bar, for on such an occasion, alcohol was the best way to set yourself free and remember the good times. She thought about calling up her old companions, but decided against it, they were off doing big things; Scootaloo was a Class 3 flight instructor at some prestigious school, and Applebloom was busy managing the farm with her big sister, and for Sweetie, well, she was going to be too drunk to care. A smile grew across her face as she entered the establishment, setting eagerly at the bar, “Excuse me, but may I have just a shot of moonshine, please?” she raised her hoof as she ushered the bartender. The bony mare looked at her and nodded placing the shot 180proof alcohol in front of her, “A bad night, Sweetie?” he said assuming, but she just giggled, “No, just a little fun.” the bartender smiled, “No harm in a little fun.” Sweetie whole-heartedly agreed and downed the shot, as peculiar stranger sat down on the seat beside her. The bartender acknowledged the figure and walked off to deal with more customers, “Last time I saw you, you were downing food the exact same way” the figure cackled softly. Sweetie was confused, “And who might you be good, sir?” she said turning to face him. The gentleman took off his hat and smiled lightly at the mare, “Why it's the man who saved your life way back when, but you wouldn't remember.” Sweetie Belle immediately seized the colt in her arms hugging him tightly. It was Slingshot, and he looked as young as he used to be, his short jet black mane neat and tidy, and his hazel eyes just as beautiful as she remembered. He returned the hug and smiled at her, “So you do remember me, eh?” she looked into his eyes as she finished off another shot, “I never forgot, Sling.” she uttered softly. They stared into each others eyes for a few moment, “Neither have I” he said pulling out a pistol, and placing it between his lips, “AND NEITHER HAS IT.” he pulled the trigger as the back of his head blew apart, she shrieked falling off the bar stool, and didn't even have time to catch her fall before she woke up.

She shot out of a deep sleep, quickly looking around the room. It was all just a dream the relieved filly thought. Nothing terrible like that can exist. She reached out to shake Applebloom, but to her surprise, she wasn't there. Sweetie Belle looked around, as a gunshot echoed from outside followed by loud thumps and screams. Fear replaced her curiosity as she began to panic, “G-Girls? Applebloom? Scoot! Where are you guys!” she began to speak up in a worried tone, but no response. A small rabbit ricocheted off a window, a blood stained crack appearing in it's midst, Sweetie jumped backwards as more and more thuds began to riddle the cabin. She began to swell up with tears, “S-Sling..” she said through a soft sob, as another yell pierced through the thick cedar walls. There was a loud crack as if something slammed itself against the door in the other room, growls and laughter like a disease poured through the shattered blockade, and with another loud slam the door flew from it's hinges. The young filly looked around for a hiding spot, she knew not what was coming through that door, but she didn't want it to see her. She squeezed herself behind a large potted plant, and pulled it closer covering her whole body. Something shifted around as it entered the room, she held her breath as the being lurched through the doorway.

She could barely comprehend the amount of arms it had, all laced with fish-hook like blades, and it's face was decorated in the same fashion. It's wide head shifted around in bulbous motions, and as quickly as it had entered the room it disappeared. Her eyes darted around the small space in awe. Where was it..? What did it want..? Then the possibility of her best friends being dead flowed through her mind, and she let out a silent whimper. The world around her seemed oddly silent, then as if something was reading her mind a sand-papery voice spoke up, “Three little fillies in the dark all alone, but each false step brings them farther from home. They shiver. They cry. They go west. They go east, but sooner of later they will all face the beast. And when the beast came they all scattered in fear, but you cannot run when the something is here.” the voice stopped, and a disgusting distorted face appeared in front of the fillies only inches away, it's gnarled fangs flickered in the darkness, as it finished. The helpless mare screamed at the top of her lungs and the creature attacked.

Rules of Everfree Forest:

1) Never enter alone..

2) Never enter at dark..

3) Never assume you'll make it out alive..