A Beast in the Dark: The Azure Menace

A yellow Pegasus with a long pink mane is laid up in a hospital bed sleeping restlessly dreaming of the events from the night before, her mind twisting it from the shock and horror of the events causing it to be a horrific nightmare. Her mind still reeling from it even in her unconscious state the brutality of the event very nearly having broken her.

A thunderstorm raged overhead the pegasi having outdone themselves with this one, Ponyville was being racked by a torrential downpour the sound of the rain being broken only by the flashes of white energy from the sky and the loud booms that followed. No pony moved in the storm all hunkered down in their homes to ride it out, all that is but a trio of young filly's trying to get to somewhere safe after another adventure that had ran long had left them out after the storm had started. The three little ponies were running around desperately trying to stay warm and dry the rain having an unnerving chill to it, the three ponies had been out near the edge of the Everfree forest when the storm had started and were now running up towards Fluttershy's cottage.

As they were running the first of them spoke up. "Come on girls we gotta make it, its just'a coming down to hard for us to stay out here any longer!" Applebloom said with some urgency to her voice, the other two nodding in silent agreement, the three ran on with Applebloom being flanked on both sides by her two best friends.

After awhile the three of them saw the light of Fluttershy's cottage coming into view in the distance and they pushed themselves a little harder trying desperately to escape the storm.

The three filly's finally reaching their safe haven ran right up to the door of the cottage desperately banging on the door and calling out to Fluttershy. "FLUTTERSHY HELP PLEASE LET US IN!" The three cried and yelled out hoping that the pegasus who lived there could hear them over the booming sound of the thunder.

After a few moments the door creaked open and a yellow pegasus with pink hair stood in the doorway looking at the three rain soaked and shivering filly's. She stared at them for a moment before speaking in her ever so soft voice. "Oh girls" -She ushered them inside. "What are you girls doing out here in this storm?" The three filly's looked down at the floor as they entered Fluttershy's home.

"Well" -Scootaloo begins, "We were out trying to earn our cutie marks and it ran long and we got caught in the storm," Fluttershy goes about the business of getting them each a blanket and a warm cup of hot cocoa, after that with them seated on the couch she says to them.

"Well the storm is going to continue on for many hours still so you can all just stay here until it passes over," Fluttershy said in a motherly tone. Just then something crashed against the roof making all four of the ponies jump in fright.

"What...what was that?" Sweetiebelle asked, her friends to busy imagining all the monster's that it could be.

Fluttershy trying to reassure the frightened filly's says, "It was probably just a branch blown off a tree by the storm"

At this all three filly's relax until the scraping of claws could be heard moving along the roof. The three filly's huddle together shaking, scared stiff from the sounds of the roof.

Fluttershy knowing she has to be brave for the three filly's offers to go out and see what was making the noise. Figuring a large bird had fallen from the sky and was now scratching along the roof looking for a place to hunker down. Fluttershy walks off outside closing the door behind herself, some time passes and Fluttershy doesn't come back in the three filly's quickly becoming nervous.

Scootaloo goes to the window to look out it for Fluttershy seeing only darkness the land surrounding the cottage illuminated only by the periodic flashes of lightning. One such bolt landing near enough to the cottage to light up the area within Scootaloo's field of view causing her to fall back, her eyes wide. Another flash lights up the area to show the now severed head of a pony lying in the dirt just a few feet from the cottage.

Scootaloo screams as she falls upon her back, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Her two friends running over to her, both saying in unison, "Scootaloo whats wrong what did you see?"

Shaking so hard that she can barely talk Scootaloo says, "I...I...I saw..." -she says as tears begin to flow down her cheeks," "saw a...a...ponies head..." She chokes out and begins to cry into her hooves.

Before the other two can react though something begins to bash itself against the door. BANG!...BANG!...BANG!. The door shudders with each hit making each of the three whimper in fear, the door groans and begins to splinter as whatever it is keeps bashing against the door.

BANG!...BANG!...BANG! The three friends hold each other tightly as the door suddenly bursts inwards sending shards of wood flying across the room with such force that they impale themselves into the wall across from the door. In the doorway shown only by the regular flashes of lightning stands a creature as much unlike a pony as any creature could be. It stands about 4 feet tall, its heated breath sending clouds of steam into the cottage. It throws the headless body of Fluttershy into the cottage, it landing about a foot from the doorway blood rapidly pooling from her stump of a neck as well as several other gaping wounds, this causes the three filly's to huddle closer together.

The creature steps in through the door, the candles in the cottage shedding light upon the creatures body. It is covered from head to toe in deep azure colored scales, standing upon only two legs, claws adorning its fingertips and toes. It ruffles its feathered wings curling them up along its sides as it dives down upon the still, headless form of Fluttershy. It buries its pony like muzzle into the dead ponies soft belly rending and tearing at the flesh with its full set of sharp fangs, quickly chewing its way into her gut blood splashing and spewing out along with several of her organs.

The three filly's scream, "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The screams of the three filly's draw the creatures attention, it turns its gaze towards them looking at them with the cold, impassive and hungry magenta slits that are its eyes. It lets out a long, low growl from deep within its chest, it stands turning its whole body to the shaking and crying filly's. It now ignores Fluttershy's corpse for fresher meat walking over to the three, in a flash it has reached down grabbing the little orange pegasi in its scaled, clawed hand by her throat.

This makes the other two suddenly jump up and begin to beat at the creatures legs, "Let her go..let our friend go you beast...!" Applebloom and Sweetiebelle cry in unison.

Ignoring them it focuses its attention upon the squirming pony in its grasp. It lifts her up to its face studying the small pony that it held in its hand. After a moment it opens its mouth showing those same sharp pointed teeth to Scootaloo, who would have cried out in fear where it not holding her throat so tightly.

The other two stop as the creature leans in clamping its mouth down around Scootaloo's muzzle. The sounds of bone crunching and flesh tearing is heard as it bites through her cheeks, tearing her muzzle from her face with a quick jerk of its head sending fresh spurts of blood down upon her friends. It rears its head back chewing and swallowing the little ponies mouth as blood gushes from the wound. With a quick twist of its hand it snaps her neck dropping her to the floor before turning its attentions to the other two.

Barely heard over the sounds of the still raging storm are the screams of two little fillies as they are brutally torn apart.