What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
If Fluttershy knew what the loud, slow, rhythmic pounding at her door would lead to, perhaps she would not have gotten out from the bed she was cowering under.
But, she knew not what the future entailed. The shy pegasus waited a few more minutes after the heavy knocking had stopped, and the sounds of wind and rain on this dark night filled the void. One hoof in front of the other, she slowly made her way to the front door. When she took a look out of the peep hole, there was nopony there.
Cautiously, she opened the door. On the other side sat a parcel. Curiously, the package was in a very old style box, the type used for mailing hundreds of years ago. Fraying twine crisscrossed the container, securing it. Fluttershy looked to the left and right, but didn't see anypony at all. With hesitation, she pulled the package inside and closed the door. She looked the box over, but there was nothing indicating who it was from.
She placed the parcel onto the table in her living room, and went to the kitchen to find a knife to cut the twine. Reaching over one of the counters and taking a small slender knife in her teeth, she returned to the living room. Holding the box in her hooves and maneuvering the knife against the twine, she started to cut.
Once one part of the twine was cut, the rest immediately unraveled. Fluttershy gave the box a curious look, then set down the knife. She placed her hooves on either side of the box, her forelegs shaking in anticipation. A sense of dread filled her to the core as she lifted the lid off of the box. After setting it to the side, she took a look at the contents.
Sitting on a royal velvet cushion was a crystal orb.
Fluttershy tilted her head slightly, wondering who would send her such a thing. It was well constructed, no doubt; The craftsponyship of the orb was perfect, almost too perfect. As she took a closer look, a red and black mist began to fill the orb, and a slit of pure darkness opened in the middle. It looked like some sort of reptilian eye, and it stared into her soul. Fear gripped the pegasus to the core, but she could not look away. The edge of her vision began to darken as she stared deep into the orb, and it stared just as deeply into her.
A twinge of pain hit her, then another. A dull ache filled her body, and grew more and more intense. Fluttershy closed her eyes, but she could still see it staring into her. Her entire body felt like it was being pulled apart in an infinite number of directions, and she fell into the dark infintity.
When she opened her eyes, her sight was blurry and a throbbing pain filled her head.
Slowly and cautiously, Fluttershy stood onto her hooves. Her body felt... Strange. Like there was something in her essence that had been fundamentally altered, yet felt strangely right, as if this was how she was supposed to be. She turned to the table, and saw that the orb was inactive, like nothing had happened in the first place.
A growl from her stomach ceased any further thought about what had just taken place. A craving hit her, an intense craving that she could not hope to resist. She trotted towards the kitchen, and began rummaging through the fridge. Finding only fruits and vegetables, she slammed the refrigerator door in frustration before stopping to think. Why was she frustrated? What was she craving?
Slowly, her head tilted towards her other fridge, the one where she kept the food for her animal friends. Once she opened it, she saw exactly what she wanted:
A full packaged pound of imported meat, one meant for her carnivorous animals. She found herself drooling at the sight of it, which gave her pause. Why did she want to eat meat?!
She rubbed her temples with her forehooves. This didn't make any sense! What did that orb do to her? Why would she even consider eating meat if she was a pony? Ponies don't eat meat!
And yet, the craving was intense. She had to have it, she had to eat it. She needed it. Before she realized what she was doing, she had already torn the package open and began devouring the meat ravenously.
Fluttershy dropped the pan and the metal clanged against the floor. The meat was gone, and watered down blood dripped down the sides of her mouth. She panted, her eyes wide with shock.
“What... Why did I...”
Her tongue absently ran along her teeth, and hit a fang. Time seemed to stop for a second.
“N... No...” She said quietly, as if denying it could make it go away. “P-please no... Not again...”
She rushed to the bathroom, and stared at her reflection. Duller yellow fur, pointed ears, red eyes, fangs, bat wings... She was Flutterbat again, but now she had a taste for flesh instead of apples. Her vision became blurry as tears streamed down her cheek, and she screamed until her throat was hoarse.
When she could scream no more, she scrambled to the toilet and began to dry heave. Fluttershy continued to heave, but nothing came out no matter how hard she wanted to cleanse herself. After a few minutes she gave up and collapsed onto the floor, whimpering. After another ten minutes, she passed out.
Sunshine filtered through the windows of Fluttershy's cabin.
A tired eye opened gradually. She was still lying on the bathroom floor, a heavy throbbing in her head canceling out any thought. She gradually got to her hooves, then quickly turned to the toilet and proceeded to evacuate the contents of her stomach into the bowl.
As she looked down at pieces of partially-digested meat, Fluttershy wiped some dripping vomit from her muzzle. “What... Why is there...” She muttered, but ceased the train of thought when another wave of pain in the form of a migraine washed across her skull.
She washed the horrible acidic taste out of her mouth with water then gazed into the mirror. She was back to normal, though she looked very rough. Her fur was unkempt, her mane was all over the place, there were bags under her bloodshot eyes, and there was still small chunks of meat in her mane as well as stains on her chin.
She shook her head to get some semblance of thought into it for once. “Asprin...” She whispered, her voice having not recovered yet.
One toilet flush later, she made her way to the kitchen. She placed the tray with bits of meat on it into the sink to be cleaned later. She flew towards the ceiling and opened her medical cabinet. She spotted the aspirin immediately. Was it just a trick of the light, or did it have some sort of heavenly glow to it?
“Come to mama...”
After a gracious dose of headache-healing medicine, Fluttershy trotted back to her living room, where the orb still sat in its container. “Angel bunny?” She said softly. No sign of her rabbit, or any of her animal friends inside the cottage. “Oh... They must have been scared off by... By...!” She turned, and glared at the orb that caused this mess. She felt a boiling rage spread to every part of her being. Grabbing the orb, she began to smash it repeatedly against the floor.
She continued doing so to the point of exhaustion, and now it felt like her limbs were burning. She panted, and glared at the undamaged orb before her. “What is this...?”
Curling up and placing her hooves on her head, Fluttershy began to whimper once again. Who sent this to her? Why did it do this to her? Why in the name of Celestia can't she destroy this accursed thing?!
Her eyes lit up as she raised her head. “Twilight. She might know something.”
She searched around for her saddlebags, finding them under her couch. She placed it upon her back and tightened the strap, then placed the orb into it. Twilight should have the answer, right?
The shy pegasus stepped outside and locked up her home before setting off to talk to her friend.
