Silent Child

Twilight awoke suddenly, sunlight streaming through her window and into her eyes. Squinting, she looked at her alarm clock. 10:15! Twilight Sparkle jumped up so fast that her head crashed into the ceiling of the little alcove where she slept. Moaning, she rubbed her head with one hoof. "Spike!" she yelled. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

The little purple dragon which was Twilight's assistant stumbled up the stairs. "I just wanted to let you sleep," he mumbled. "After all, you do wake up at six every morning..."

"Spike!" the purple unicorn complained. "I have to go help Applejack with something on the farm, and now I'm late!" Twilight proceeded to throw off her covers, which landed right on Spike. She ran around her room, gathering things and getting ready. "Oh, where's my saddlebag!" she moaned. "And my checklist, quills, ink..." she turned to Spike. "Could you make some breakfast please?"

"Ohka" Spike says, his voice muffled by the covers. He threw them off and rushed downstairs to make breakfast. Twilight then gets ready at a speed that would make Rainbow Dash proud. As she walked down the smooth wooden stairs to the lower half of her tree house, the smell of eggs and hay filled the air and mixed in with the smell of dusty books. Twilight Sparkle found the scent quite pleasant, and her stomach growled at the thought of the warm food Spike had cooked for both of them. She sat down and took one bite, then looked at the clock on the far side of the kitchen.

"Oh no! I'm going to be late!" she yelped, then grabs an apple off the table with her magic. "Bye Spike!" she said as she ran out the door.

"Bye," he said, but Twilight is already gone.

Twilight arrives at Sweet Apple Acres in a record amount of time. "Hiya there Twilight!" Applejack greeted her in her famous country accent. Twilight takes notice that her friend's smile looks a bit too strained, and that AJ is shaking and pale.

"Is everything alright?" she asked, studying her friend's face. Sweet Apple Acres suddenly became deathly quiet, with only the breeze ruffling the tops of the trees making a sound. A slight gust of wind blew back Applejack's hair and she flinched at its cold touch.

"Well," she said, her voice quivering. "Me and Big Mac were bucking some apples, and Ah saw somethin'," she sighed shakily. "Let me just show you."

Applejack lead Twilight through the orchard, the wind becoming great gusts that almost blew Twilight off her hooves. They soon approached the edge of the trees that were closest to Fluttershy's cottage, and the Everfree. The trees had all died, and little bunnies, birds, and squirrels were hanging from their branches, some skewered on them. From the looks of it, something, no somepony had smeared their blood all around the bottoms of the bare apple trees. Some of the animals had even been gutted, their entrails spread about, adding to the already horrifying, grotesque scene. Twilight gasped and flung herself backwards. "Wh-ho would do this?" she stammered.

"Ah don't know sugarcube," Applejack sighed, turning away from the horrific scenery. "But take a look here," she pointed a shaking hoof at the nearest tree. "That's Angel right there."

Shivering, the purple unicorn turned her eyes to the tree that her friend's orange hoof was directed at. Sure enough, hanging from a branch was Fluttershy's bunny, Angel. Except now his fur was stained with red and brown and his eyes had rolled to the back of his head making it appear as if he had no pupils. Suddenly, it felt like the cold wind was trying to encircle Twilight, and it became hard to breathe.

"Are you ok sugarcube?" Applejack worried. Suddenly Twi felt the farmer pony's strong hooves enveloping her and it all stopped suddenly. "You looked like you were about to faint!" she exclaimed. "Do you need a glass of water, Twilight?"

"No, I'm okay now," the purple unicorn stammered. Dread suddenly made her whole body go cold. "When was the last time you saw Fluttershy?" she asked Applejack.

The earth pony's eyes shrunk down to pinpoints, and her blood turned to ice. "Now that Ah think about it, Ah haven't seen her since the day before yesterday," the country accent wavered with fright.

Twilight's eyes went wide. "And you didn't check on her when you discovered this?" she screamed. "Fluttershy could be seriously hurt!"

"Ah-h didn't know what to do!" Applejack stammered. "Ah was just waitin' for you to get here, Ah was so gosh darn terrified Ah couldn't think!" being the Element of Honesty, Twilight knew her friend was telling the truth, but she was still worried.

"You go contact Mayor Mare, alright?" she said to Applejack. "I need to go check on Fluttershy and she if she's okay!" Twilight ran off. After she left, Applejack crumpled to the ground and screamed in agony at her apple trees.

The purple unicorn darted through the trees, making sure to not step on any of the assorted animal organs that were strewn about on her way to Fluttershy's cottage. Twilight would have gone around the trees that had been mauled by... by whatever this thing was, but she had to get to her friend as fast as possible. As she exited the orchard, she could make out the cottage, which was not to far away, but to Twilight it seemed like a lifetime before she got there. The cold air was burning her lungs and her hooves ached from trodding on every rock and stick in the path to Fluttershy's cottage. But she had to get to her friend. She HAD to.

Twilight had just reached the cottage, when she saw the trail of thick, red blood leading from the bridge over the small stream surrounding the cottage up to Fluttershy's front door. The water in the stream around the bridge was tinted pink, and the blood covered the entire path up to the front door of the cottage. The very sight made Twilight's stomach twist, and the thought of having to walk through it made her empty her stomach of the meager breakfast she had eaten that morning. Her hooves shook as she stepped onto the blood-coated bridge. The blood was sticky, and Twilight's stomach went cold as she realized it was still warm. The stench was so overwhelming that she ran as fast as she could to get to the front door, and out of the warm, sticky blood. That was a mistake, as Twilight was practically coated in the stuff when she reached the door. Her hoof left a splattering of blood on the door when she knocked, blending in with the blood that was already there.

The wind swirled around Twilight, and it was eerily quiet. When nopony answered, Twilight bucked down the door with more force than she ever imaged she possesed. She tore a gash in her leg, and felt her blood mix in with the blood of... Twilight didn't even want to think about it.

"Fluttershy?" she called out. The purple, blood soaked unicorn limped into the cottage. The gash in her leg stung, but it was just oozing blood, and not much either. The cottage smelled musty, like it hadn't been cleaned in a while, and Twilight could smell more blood. Animal carcasses were spread about, and from the looks of it, somepony had gutted them and strung their intestines up like decoration. Suddenly, Twilight's legs buckled and she plopped to the ground. She wept for all those poor little animals for minutes, her salty tears mixing in with the smeared blood on her face and turning pink. Twilight tasted blood. Shakily rising to her hooves again, Twilight clopped slowly up the stairs to the upper floor of the cottage, ignoring the splayed bird corpses on the fireplace.

Her hoofsteps echoed in the empty hallway, and she could only hear that and the sound of her breathing. She heard a clatter from upstairs and rushed up the rest of stairs, making them moan like dying animals. The small hallway had only two doors; the door to the guest room and the one that lead to Fluttershy's room. Somepony had taken great care to paint the walls up here entirely with rabbit blood, and then had proceeded to stick carving knives in the walls.

"Fluttershy?" Twi called out again, her voice quivering. "Where are you?"

Twilight could hear a muffled cry coming from Fluttershy's room, and she hastily yanked the door open with her magic. Unlike all the other rooms in the house, Fluttershy's was filled with bright sunlight. But, Twilight realized, Even Celestia's sunlight feels cold and unwelcoming here. Sitting upon a shredded feather mattress was Fluttershy. Twilight gasped when she saw the knives stuck in the bed, and the blood-soaked sheets. The stench was terrible, and Twi wasn't sure she would have been able to keep down anything, if she had anything to keep down. "Fl-Fluttershy?" Twilight stammered, her voice laced over with fear. Fluttershy turned to her and she screamed silently.

Fluttershy's eyes were bloodshot, like she hadn't slept in days. Her fur and hair were matted, and caked with both fresh and dried blood. She turned to Twilight and smiled in a very disturbed way.

"Hello Twilight," Fluttershy said in a sinister manner. "So kind of you to join us."

"Us?" Twilight asked, shaking.

Fluttershy gestured to thirty or more splayed squirrel, mouse, bird, and various other animals corpses' scattered around her bed, laying in pools of blood.

"Us," she repeated. The smile on Fluttershy's face was so utterly terrifying Twilight had to look away. How could shy, sweet Fluttershy be capable of such evil?

"May-maybe we should go over to Applejack's," Twilight stammered, trying to find a way to get Fluttershy out of the house.

"They called me crazy," Fluttershy laughed. "They sent me to the asylum, they tried to give me their "medicine," she yanked one of the bloodstained knives out of the ruined, stinking mattress and threw it at the door behind Twilight, slamming it closed. "I tried to be good," her voice rose. "And then they sent me here." Fluttershy yanked up another carving knife and slowly crawled off the mattress. Twilight's breathing shook and she tasted bile as her insane friend got closer towards her.

"But these animals," she gestured to the splayed corpses littering the floor, then picking one up and slamming it down again. "Just wouldn't listen."

"That's fine," Twilight's whole body shook with pure fear. "But I still think maybe, m-maybe-," she was interrupted by a loud scream from Fluttershy.

"YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE ME!" she bellowed at the animal corpses. Fluttershy then turned to Twilight, twitching, and Twilight realized with disgust and fear that Fluttershy had smeared animal blood all over herself and cut her face to look like tears.

"And so are you, Twilight," she whispered eerily at the purple unicorn, so close that Twi could smell her breath. Her teeth were stained pink, and Twilight realized with horror that there were bite marks on many of the animals. And, her breath smelled like corpses. Twilight cringed.

"What? Are you afraid Twilight?" Fluttershy's voice shook with pure insanity. "Well, you should be," she sneered. "After all, I'm just a monster, aren't I?" her voice shook.

"N-no," trembled Twi, "But if you kill me, you will be," tears streamed down Twilight's face as Fluttershy pressed the bloodied knife to her stomach.

"Oh Twilight," Fluttershy's voice shook, and her eyes stared down the frighted purple unicorn with the look of insanity. "I already am."

She traced the knife up to Twilight's lungs and pushed it in just at the diaphragm, so she would suffer. Twilight felt the warm blood in her mouth, and cried out, realizing she would never see Spike or anypony else ever again. She coughed, splattering blood all over herself and Fluttershy, who was pressed up against her. Not that it matters, she thought deliriously. We're both just about covered in it.

Twilight felt woozy and slowly lost her grip on the world. She tasted more blood in her mouth, and her eyes had started to close. The last thing she heard was Fluttershy's lullaby. What used to be a soothing lullaby now sounded like the opening of a horror film.

"Hush now, quiet now, it's time to go to bed..."