It was a beautiful day. The birds were singing, the winds blew to the east, and yes, even Fluttershy was fluttering by. Low enough to the ground to avoid stark winds that picks up with high altitudes, she glided along, not a care in the world. Everything about this day, in fact, had been perfect. It was almost like that of an omenfor the day to be this grand was simply unbelievable.
She suspected that, as with any day containing these amazing factors, something always went wrong. It had happened enough times for her to have learned a lesson by now: When the day is this gorgeous, it meant imminent doom. However, had she kept flying straight for home, nothing bad would have happened, but no. She simply had to land, if only to observe the general area with a worried expression on her face.
She settled her hooves on the grassy ground, distanced from the trees behind her, for only Celestia would know who, or what could be lurking behind the bark. She checked side to side, feeling as though she’d been being watched this whole time, and jumped at the next instance.
“Ah!” she yipped, cowering to the ground with her wings hiding her face, and even the entirety of her mane, too.
“Eep?” The squirrel asked forwardly. In animal talk, that usually meant, “Sorry for startling you.” What he really said, though, was, “I’m going to rip your bloody face off!”
Naturally, hearing the small, innocent and seemingly harmless noises the squirrel was making brought Fluttershy to take a peek, only to observe the little guy. He stood there, almost shaking a bit, and perhaps… too calm. In his dainty claws, he held a miniature acorn, barely worthy of storage, honestly. He smiled her way. If only Fluttershy could tell; that’s no smile. That was a devilish smirk, if anything at all.
“Oh, it’s just a cute, harmless squirrel,” the mare said. Unbenounced to her, she’d just set herself up for a thrashing. However, that wasn’t enough. She simply had to keep going. “Look at your poofy tail! It’s so adorable, and your fur is so silky smooth, too. How ever do you keep it so lush-looking?”
He blinked. Anger coursed through his petite body. “Hhee…”
“Why, yes, of course I’ll accept your acorn!”
He presented it to her, his fangs showing. How she hadn’t noticed his furrowed eyebrows is a mystery. No, she kept complimenting, and going on, and on, and on about how wonderfully sweet this squirrel seemed to be. Yet, she still wouldn’t take the damn acorn. Fluttershy still had a few more compliments to give. So, while her attention was diverted momentarily to compare his color with the Fall leaves that fell in the distance, he chucked his item at her noggin.
It made a rather hard thumping sound, almost louder than her going, “Ouch! What was that for?”
She looked down, only to see his beady eyes staring her down, like she’d just committed some sort of heinous crime. “Ekk, kaa!” he said, leaping forth, claws fully extended. What he really said was, “Never should’ve come here!”
Just like that, Fluttershy was knocked clean off her now trembling hooves. One scratch here, and another to her shoulder would already bring forth red blotched of blood. “Ah! What the- help! Help!”
She tried to get back up, but was held down thoroughly by her mane. He had a good grip; right from the roots, too. To make matters worse, he ever began dragging her along, towards what must’ve been his home. What would that be, exactly? Well, just a cramped hole in a tree, and if he meant to stuff her inside, then that meant she needed to escape, and fast. “Kee,” which meant, “Now you’ll pay!”
“Youch! P-please, Mr. Squirrel! I didn’t mean it!”
“Cha!” In other words, “I’m a girl!”
Predictably, Fluttershy mistaking her for a buck only made matters that much worse. Though, it wasn’t Fluttershy’s fault she fought so deceptively well. As much as she hated to be nasty, Fluttershy knew by now that in order for her to even have a future, she’d need to resort to drastic measures. With just enough moving room, her tail whipped straight up, and landed directly on top of the vermin.
She let go, luckily, because had Fluttershy been less assertive, she might not have survived this ordeal. However, the pony wasn’t without morals. The farther she limped away, the more tempted Fluttershy became. She considered glancing back, and actually did so, too, only to check and make sure her ‘little friend’ was still breathing.
She was, but barely. It lied there for a good minute, allowing Fluttershy to develop a false sense of insecureness pointed towards what she’d just done. With a tear, more so caused by physical pain rather than mental stress, she whispered to her, “S-sorry.”
“Hia!” Fluttershy knew exactly what she said this time around. She said, “I'm gonna wear that tail as a belt!”
“No more! I submit!”
Yet again, the two were at it, mane against possibly rabies infected claws, all twenty of them digging through her sensitive, yellow coat. Even more droplets of blood tainted the grass, forcing poor Fluttershy to ascent. Her last hope now was to reach the sanctity of her cottage. Even as it came into view, that sight was almost ripped away from her. One, single claw tore through her left eye, making it nearly impossible for her to see, but still, she kept going. Despite the bruises, and all the blood running through her ruined coat, she flew on.
By the time she reached the pond, she’d had enough. The tiny tyrant was right on top of her head now, a perfect place to be. Using both hooves, she reluctantly grabbed the squirrel with exact precision, and then threw her off, both of them yelling furiously the whole time. Her eyes widened, and her teeth gritted together, and in that single instance, she used her stare tactics to stop the raging thing.
It seemed to work. She halted her assault, and instantly became mesmerized, but Fluttershy knew that this was no ordinary being. Eventually, and all too soon, the effects would wear off no matter how much the pony gazed on. So, hastening to a trot, Fluttershy crossed her wooden bridge, and took one last look behind her before opening the door. The creature was rubbing her eyes now, but quickly stopped what she was doing, turned towards the cottage, and roared, “KAY!” That could only mean, “I’ll gut you like a horker!”
She opened the door, her whole body trembling with fear, and slammed it in the squirrel’s face. It was just in time, too. A second more of waiting, and that fury of a fiend would’ve finished the job. Fluttershy pressed her body up against the locked door, listened to the clicking of its claws against sheer wood, and sighed thankfully once the sounds ended. She’d gone away.
“... What in the world is a horker?!”
Snapping her fingers, the squirrel fidgeted with the door some more before leaping off in a puff of rage. She was so angry, that her very nails began to grind loose some gravel chippings from underneath her paws. Fluttershy had gotten away, but there must’ve been another devious way of get back at her, if not by death, then by other means. She glanced over at the side window found directly to the right of the entryway, and saw out the corner of her eye, a picture through the glass. There was a moment’s pause, and in that short amount of time, the squirrel leaped up and onto the sill. Further inspection, helped her figure out out that the frame held one of Fluttershy’s closest friends… A dazzlingly beautiful, purple maned unicorn.
Meanwhile, Rarity trotted along the local Ponyville well without a care in the world. Well, unless one counted picking her little sister up from Apple Bloom’s clubhouse as stressful. She’d been there all morning, and for some of the afternoon as well, but it was time for her to come home and start getting ready for the trip up to Canterlot. Rarity had an audience with Luna for the Evening Grandala, a momentous occasion in which the princess lifts the moon to an angle that makes it seem bigger in size. Not only that, but the lighting from Celestia’s sun helps it become a golden color.
The princess desperately wanted a specially prepared dress made for this event. It was just too bad that she’d never even see or hear from Rarity for the next two days, in which afterwards, she’d soon come to learn of the mare’s tragic injury.
“I can’t believe her,” Rarity fumed. “I told her to be back by two, and she hasn’t even checked in! Oooh, sometimes…”
She quickened her pace, but slowed down suddenly after hearing a small, distanced noise from up above. She looked to the sky frantically, but there was nothing there except a bunch of leaves hanging from the tree next to her. Yet, something wasn’t right. There was a diabolic chill in the air that simply wasn’t there moments ago. Not only that, but knowing good and well that she was so far away from town, and out in the park all by herself like this made it that much more frightening in her personal opinion. There wasn’t a single pony around to see an attack even if such a thing were to happen.
“H-hello?” Rarity asked while looking around nervously. “Is any… p-pony there?”
The squirrel leaped out of a bushel, startling Rarity momentarily, but in just two seconds, she came to realize how silly it truly was to be so frantic about this. “Oh… It’s just a cute, little squirrel. Hi, small guy! How are you?” The rodent was on her in a heartbeat, scratching and biting, and yanking her mane. “Ah!”
“Eekee!” Translated, this meant, “Die, N’wah!”
Just like that, Rarity’s mane and tail was ripped to near shreds in seconds, all the while, the unicorn panicking. She even accidentally slammed herself into the very same bush her attacker had jumped out of, and stumbled on the ground, running in a perfect circle. She couldn’t come up with the faintest idea of what to do. To use her magic might hurt the tiny critter, and yet, to do nothing would certainly mean absolute ruination to her coat, hair, and maybe even death.
“Get it off, get it off!”
She swiveled her head around soon after feeling it run by her ears, but that didn’t do much good, as it was already gnawing at her ankles. Before she could even try to buck her off, she was already on her rump, trying to remove her very cutie mark. In a last ditch effort to free herself, Rarity galloped for the tree nearest to her location, and horn first, stabbed directly into it thoroughly. This didn’t work out as promisingly as she thought it would, for the beast had seen this coming, and hopped off at the last second. Rarity had bashed herself silly by then, and could barely see straight.
The doe walked up with a frown, snatched Rarity by the locks, or what was left of it, and began dragging her back towards the well. “Heek,” she giggled gleefully. In the english language, this meant, “You’re mine!”
“No, anything but that,” Rarity mumbled, blood sloshing around in her mouth while she tried to speak. It was no use, though. This squirrel was out for vengeance, and she’d have it one way or another. As Rarity was sat up against the stone cold cemented rocks, her body laid itself down. She was limp now, and falling into unconsciousness. Everything around her was spinning, especially the image of that squirrel in front of her. “W-why…?”
“Heheke!”
She blinked. “What in Equestria is a Nord, and who’s Skyrim?”
Growling at the unicorn’s imputence, she simply jumped straight up, into the air, and kicked Rarity’s side. Over the edge she went, but her hoof latched onto the side, and with little power left, she grabbed the squirrel with her magic. “If I’m going down,” Rarity began, “then… you’re going down with me!”
They both fell, and fast. Had it not been for the water below, Rarity would’ve died without a doubt. As for the villain of this story, she couldn’t swim, and supposedly drowned thanks to Rarity’s last bit of energy. Meanwhile, Rainbow could be seen up above, flying around, practicing her daily flight routine. “R-Rainbow…” She took in a deep breath before going under, and shouted, “RAINBOW D-blurble!”
“Huh?” the pegasus asked aloud. “Rarity?”
Found deep down below the well, and all along the gravel path, purple strands of blood-stained hair could be seen from high above. Rarity’s life would be saved just in time by her heroic friend. However, later on, Fluttershy would learn of this issue. Within days, the whole town would learn not to trust squirrels. They’re evil. End of story.
At the well, during the late evening hours, a small, scrawny claw grabbed hold of the rocky railing. Then, her ears came into view. She would return someday to finish the job she’d started, and this time, nopony would be spared.
