The Beast of Everfree

by phantompen

Rating: everyone
Tags: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Original Character, Tragedy, Adventure, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 2341

A mare has a dangerous encounter with a beast in the Everfree forest and lives to tell the tale

A mare encounters a dangerous creature in the Everfree forest. She lives and now sets out to kill it.

Published 2015-05-02 03:30:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-05-03 15:50:52 UTC

The Aftermath

The thud of my hooves and the woosh of the wind that whipped my mane into my eyes and sent it cascading down my neck were the only noises I wanted to hear as I bolted out of the Everfree forest.

“Help!” I shrieked, “Somepony help meeeee!” I skidded into Ponyville, my hooves spitting up gravel, dirt, and twigs as I slid through the abandoned town streets. Flapping my wings a few times to slow down my hurried pace, I glanced around wildly, peeking up at the dark windows that suddenly came to life as light from candles illuminated the rooms. Soon doors burst open and a swarm of ponies flooded the streets, worried complexions on their taut faces.

“It’s….i-i-it’s..” I yelped, “it’s after me! The..the thing, the beast, it’s after me!”. Gasps and whines from the younger fillies spread through the crowd which parted as the newly crowned princess, Twilight Sparkle, walked through.

“What’s the matter?” she asked urgently.

“It’s the beast…” I told her, “The beast..i-it’s after me! I saw it! The gleaming ruby eyes, the white pointed teeth..the...the...long, black fur...spikes….the claws...the huge claws...and….and…” as memories of the creature’s potent, dead breath and the blood-curdling screeches it produced as it sprung to attack, as it all swirled around in my mind, making my vision dim and blurred, I sunk into a heap on the road.

“It was there…”I sobbed, “I saw it, it was horrible….all of it…”. I felt a hoof gently rest on my trembling shoulder.

“It’s alright, you're safe from it now.”

“No…I-I’m not...not yet..not, not now...never…”

As everything around me began to spin and small white specks flickered in front of my eyes, I placed my muzzle onto the earth and tried to dig into it as I struggled to reach the cool, moist soil beneath the dry, hard-baked surface. A feeble groan escaped my lips as I felt the upper-half my body sag sideways and collapse, landing with a twump on the street. There was a blinding flash and then:

Darkness.

It consumed me.

I remembered nothing more.

Author's Note

Hey Everyone, thanks for reading. I'll accept a lot of different feedback, but if it is negative, please do your best to make it constructive so I know what to fix.
Thanks!

The Waking

“There, there, dear...It’s alright..”

The voice was far, far, away, fuzzy and distant...echoing. I let out a tiny moan to let whoever spoke know I was alive. A chilled, damp cloth was placed under my mane. I tried to move, but my limbs were held down, immobilized, crushed, by the pressure that weighed on my entire body, full fatigue had overcome me and I had succumb to it. The thin cover above me was stuck to my body, covered in sweat.

“It’s alright dear..”the soothing voice repeated, “Just rest now, you’ve suffered quite the ordeal…” as my mind slowly creaked back to life, the voice became focused and my ears perked up a bit.

“There...it’s all alright.”

“No..”I croaked hoarsely, “I-it...it isn’t..”

“Oh, but it is. It is alright. You aren’t in any danger, all is well.”

“No it isn’t. It’s not and it never will be..until I destroy the beast.”

“But, my dear, there is no beast.” the female’s sugar-coated voice was becoming painfully nauseating. She thinks it’s all alright, doesn't she? I thought bitterly, ‘everything is fine dear, there is no beast’ well there is! There is and I’ve gotta kill it.

“There is a b-”

“No beast. You’ve just been through a traumatic experience so all we need from you now is to relax and stop rambling about this...beast.”

Deciding my attempts to talk about the beast were futile, I nestled into my pillow and sighed.

“Fine.” I snapped, “I’ll stop talking about the beast and nap for a bit.”

“That’s good, dear, you do that now.”

I heard the clop of hooves and a door close before I finally shift to the side and try to fall asleep despite my throbbing head. After a long while, I finally drifted away into the land of dreams….

The aroma of food caused me to stir. I opened my eyes wearily and tried to gain control of my surroundings. A bland plastic tray filled with a green mush was on my lap. Shoving it away hastily, I scrambled to the farest corner of the bed and looked around. Uncontaminated white walls with pictures of golden meadows surrounded me. My mane….my cool, sleek looking, maroon mane..all crumpled...destroyed. The only other time my mane looked like that….

The ground! I nearly threw myself over the bed railing in my panic. The hospital! I concluded, staring deep into the tiled floor.

“Nurse!” I called, “Nurse?”

A few moments later a white earth pony strode in.

“Yes, dear?” she asked. It’s that nurse…. I mentally groaned

“Ummm...can I please have my belongings and be on my way?”

“Oh, don’t be silly. You’re in no fit condition to travel, just look at your wing.”

“My...my wing?” I asked urgently, panic steadily rising in my voice. My eyes sharply averted their attention to my right wing. My blood turned to hard, solid, stone and my heart skipped a beat.

A few pieces of shredded flesh and sinew flimsily clinging to bits of shattered bone were all that was left of my once fully-operational, strong, smoky grey wing.

No.

No….

NO!

The Dream

‘The trials you must face to get to me...alive’ the beast hissed, his eyes flashing dangerously in the moonlight as he prowled around, circling me like a cornered mouse.
‘If you succeed...’ he growled before stopping, and for the first time in our encounter I saw his features and frame falter for the quickest second.
‘If I succeed...then I win.’ I replied triumphantly, rising a little. Something inside the creature must have snapped because he sat back on his haunches, let out a ferocious howl , a piercing shriek, and then leapt out to attack…

“Gaughhh!” I shot up instantly. Taking large, heaving gasps of the freezing hospital air, I slid out of bed and walked to the window, gingerly tucking my fragmented wing into a patch of fur. Placing my forehead against the cool glass, I focused on the skyline which was beginning to blur. Large tears leaked out from under my closed eyelids and rolled down my face, and before I could stop it: large, convulsive, childlike sobs rolled out of me like waves of thunder. After I wept for a few more minutes, I eventually pulled myself together, rubbing my nose and brushing my hoof across my red, swollen, eyes. Sighing, I ambled back to the bed and crawled into the covers. I pulled the sheets up to my chin and nestled into the plush bed, murmuring a lullaby my mother used to sing to me as a filly.

“Little child
be not afraid
your mother is here
rest now
the day has done
the sun has set
now night time is
amongst us
but you’ve no
fear
of the things in the
dark
for I'm here
little child
be not afraid.”

The Doctor

“Dear, rise and shine…”

“I don’t want to get up...” I whined, shoving my face into my pillow to block out the warm morning light pouring in through the window.

“Well dear breakfast is ready…”

“Fine.” I roll around and cast a distasteful look at the light brown goop on my tray. My nose wrinkled as I picked up the spoon and let it fall with a clunk and seep into the mystery slop.

“I think I’ll pass...”

“But you must eat something, dear.”

“Why do you call me dear?” I asked, trying to evade the moment when I must eat the hospital meal, “why don’t you just call me by my name?”

“Well de-...Dawnstrike, it’s what I do to most of my patients and they seem to appreciate it..” the nurse replied stiffly.

“Alright, but miss…”

“Tender Hoof.”

“Tender Hoof, I just need to get out of here and you need to stop calling me dear, alright?”

“But you can’t leave, Dawnstrike.”

“Why can’t I?”

“You’re in no fit condition to travel.”

“So? I’ll just wrap up my broken wing, get my stuff back, and be on my way.”

“But dea- Dawnstrike, it’s not that simple, wish it was, but it isn’t.”

“Well what do I have to do?”

“A doctor has to give you permission to leave.”

“Well, then where’s the doctor?”

“Please, just have some patience.” Tender Hoof snapped, exasperated, pushing me back into my pillows and placing the tray on my lap, “Dr.
Wingham will be in here soon enough. He was busy, though, there’s a patient with a manticore bite on floor five.”

“Well then I’m going to go see Dr.Wingham for myself and get out of here.” I declare, clambering out of bed and marching down the hall to the elevator where I take it down to the first floor. I stride up to the receptionist's desk and ask:

“Where’s Dr.Wingham?”

The yellow unicorn looked up at me from her paperwork and replied blandly, “Second floor. Room..” her horn lit up and she scanned the ceiling, “409”.

“Thanks,” I said, “That’s great”.

“Your welcome.”

I quickly take off again back to the elevator. After ascending to floor two and finding room 409, I cautiously extend a hoof and knock the door feebly. A muffled “It’s open.” came from inside. I peeked in and saw a blue pegasus wrapping bandages around a colt’s leg.

“Who are you?” the doctor asked sharply, glancing at me before returning to his work, “and can’t you wait? I’m in the middle of something here…”

“No, actually. I was wondering if you could please discharge me now. I have matters to attend to and I have to leave.”

“Well, what do you have to do?”

I gulped and tried to wriggle my way out of the situation by hastily muttering, “I just have to go and visit my aunt in Manehatten. She needs my assistance in running her... shop... because one of her favorite workers just passed. Poor thing,so distraught.”

“My condolences, but you can’t leave yet until I give you an examination, let me finish here and then I’ll look at you. Go wait in the hall, I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Author's Note

Thanks to all of you who read this piece, action is coming soon!

Leaving

Author's Note

This chapter is just a little thing I threw together to keep the plot moving, not my best work and it isn't meant to be.

Leaving

“Well Dawnstrike, it looks like you're in a stable condition, but we still need to worry about your wing. Manehatten has a lot of diseases, not to mention rats. One disease from a nasty creature and you could get a serious infection.”

“But I could just place a nice strip of thick dragon hide over it to provide a cover!” I protested.

“I suppose, but the wing will still be an issue. I can give you some herbal remedies that will help soothe pain and ward of the mosquitoes and horseflies.”

“Great!” I reply, shaking his hoof, “Nice examination doctor, but I really need to be on my way, so..”

“So be on your way, “Dr.Winningham replied heartily, “I’ll ask Tender Hoof to get you a strip of hide and the remedies. The staff can provide you with a small knapsack for them and some food for the train ride.”

“Thanks!” I said, bolting off down the hall gleefully.

I dashed into the closet in my room where Tender Hoof had just placed my belongings. I let out a tiny shriek as I was reunited with my leather coat, hiking shoes and my small hunting knife that desperately needed to be sharpened. All so familiar. I grinned as I slipped on the coat and sheathed my knife. I got into my boots and slung the knapsack over me before nurse Tender Hoof walked in.

“How do you feel?”

“Amazing..great…”

“Good. Now here’s the hide. I’ll help you attach it to your wing”. I murmured a quick thanks as Tender Hoof diligently wrapped my fragmented wing.

“Is this good? Not too tight, is it? It should feel snug, and not too loose.”

“It’s perfect.” I reply, patting it gingerly, “It feels fine.”

“Alright...well...I don’t see no reason why you aren’t fit to travel now.”
I thank her and scurry out, happily dashing out of the doors and galloping to the blacksmith’s.

The Story

“What did you do?” I wailed.

“We had to amputate…” the nurse replied, rubbing the ground nervously with her hoof, “it was the only way to keep you alive…”

The trials you must face to get to me...alive….

“Gahh!” I yelped suddenly, snapping back into reality.

“What was it dear?”

“N-n-n-nothing..” I stammered, trying to produce a laugh which came out like an awkward high-pitched squeal. The nurse eyed me suspiciously before deciding to continue:

“Well anyways dear, your wing turned a nasty shade of black one night and...your feathers began to fall off, we couldn’t just let you die so the doctor decided to take you in for an emergency operation.”

“Why did my wing turn...black?” I asked, a sensation of dread seeping into me and settling itself in the pit of my stomach which began to churn.

“We don’t know, dear, and we probably never will but it’s a good thing we got that wing off you.”

“Right…Well...I don’t seem to need you anymore….if you could just...go now?”

“Sure thing.” The nurse replied. She cast me a smile, turned, and left.

The beast! The fur….that black fur...that obsidian fur….my wing….

“My wing….” I repeated in a mere whisper, placing a hoof tenderly under the small fragment of wing I had left and inspecting it carefully:

“No.”

Author's Note

I hope you all enjoy it so far! Feel free to comment and express your opinion, but please keep it PG.