*Fluttershy was awoken by a long, drawn out howl coming from the forest. She sat up in bed, alert, but not frightened. She was used to hearing odd animal noises, especially because she lived around them. Usually, these sounds would lull her to sleep, soothing her into dreams about those very creatures. The only reason she woke up was because the howl sounded distressed. She recognized it from before when wolves she’s cared for in the past have been injured. There was one thing that concerned her, though. It sounded not only wounded, but angry and dangerously hungry.
Nonetheless, Fluttershy hastily climbed out of bed and to her med kits she kept in a case across the room. She then shoved them into her saddlebag and headed downstairs. With each hoof step came an obnoxious creak from the floorboards. As she made her way across the room, some of the dozens of animals she kept stirred, but never wakened, luckily. Finally, she made it to the door and opened it, revealing the front yard. It consisted of several structures housing even more woodland animals, and some from Applejack’s farm. Looking up, she saw it was about midnight. The only light available was the dim, eerie silver glow of the full moon. Another howl jostled her out of her daze. This one was even closer than the last. The yellow Pegasus trotted her way over the bridge that stretched over a small stream. Once in front of the first few trees, she halted and stared into the seemingly infinite darkness of the Everfree forest. She took a few steps back, considering heading back into her home. A third howl erupted from within the trees. This one was even closer than the last. The nervous pony made up her mind to go in, mentally scolding herself for even thinking of abandoning the helpless creature.
Fluttershy took slow, cautious steps as she advanced into the dark trees. The thick fog came quickly and obscured her vision. Twisted, gnarled branches jutted out from ever direction, occasionally creating scratches across her body. The further she went, the more anxious she became. But nowhere could she see, or even hear, the wolf. She was scared that she might’ve been too late. Suddenly, the fog cleared up, and she was standing in a clearing. It was an almost perfect circle splitting the trees. She stopped herself right in the center and carefully listened for any slight noise.
A rustling sound made Fluttershy dart her head to the right. She stared intently at the one spot of shrubbery. About a minute later, something red and grey tumbled out of the concealing darkness. Immediately, the caretaker recognized the shape. Rushing up to it, she stared down with shock. It was the same grey bunny she had taken care of just a couple weeks before. It became one of Angel’s first friends. Depending on what the two bunnies could pantomime, the new rabbit was named Chewy. Angel was saddened to see him go, but he had fully recovered, and taking care two rabbits full time would’ve been a big hassle. She stared down at the now half-bitten critter lying in the grass. Poor Chewy was torn in half, large, jagged bite marks where his torso ended. It was obvious he was dead. It had to be the wolf.
A bloodcurdling growl distracted Fluttershy from her thoughts. Her eyes darted up and focused on a new sight: Two reddish, glowing, famished-looking eyes glared right back. Normal wolves had yellow eyes, not red. Wolves were also smaller than ponies. But, judging by the eyelevel of this beast, it was well over the size of a full grown stallion. A quick flash of lightning from seemingly nowhere lit the monster’s face for a brief moment, but just that one quick sight was enough for the terrified mare to turn and bolt back through the trees.
The beast was certainly wolf-like with a muscular body, fur coat, and long snout. Its teeth, though, were much sharper than a normal wolfs’. Just that alone was an offset for the petrified Fluttershy to take flight, throwing off her saddle packs with one flex of her wings. Immediately, she darted back the way she came. Unfortunately, she only got a few yards before the giant wolf creature launched itself into the air. A searing pain shot through her back leg as she was dragged down from the air. She came crashing down like a meteorite. She only had a split second to turn over and look the beast in the eyes. Another flash of lightning sliced the clouds, illuminating the forest. Another glance showed that the wolf’s fur coat was slightly bluish rather that grey or white or black. But Fluttershy had no time to analyze whatever it was now. It raised its paw; dramatically slow at first, than slammed down at shocking speed. The defenseless Pegasus could only scream as whatever this thing was kept slashing again and again. It lasted probably only a few seconds, but it felt like hours to her. She never should’ve gone into the Everfree. Nothing good ever comes out of it. She was going to die.
An ear-splitting explosion erupted from within the forest. A second later, a small object – a bullet – imbedded itself into the wolf’s shoulder. Another mutated howl escaped its throat. Right after, another loud explosion, this one much closer. The bullet grazed the beast’s back, but struck a tree instead. The monster let loose one last howl before it ran back into the foggy night, leaving the cowering pony lying in a ball from fright.
“Fluttershy! Fluttershy, are okay?!” yelled a familiar voice. It was Applejack. She must’ve heard the howling as well.
More voices escaped the trees. A stallion and filly, it sounded like. Big Mac and Applebloom.
Fluttershy was hauled on to someone’s back and carried out of the forest. The last thing she saw was a classic double barrel rifle abandoned in the mud. Then, everything went blurry and eventually faded to black.
*Almost instantly it seemed, her vision returned. Slowly, but it did. At first, all she could see were hazy colors. Her hearing wasn’t much better, only catching blurbs here and there. Mostly, the room she was looked white. Looking in front of her, there were eight pastel colored ovals, plus the multicolored blur sitting on top of the blue oval. It took a while for her to gather in the thoughts. When she finally did, she recognized the colors as her friends and the CMC. The white room was a hospital room. As objects came into view, her hearing improved as well.
“Is that all you can tell us?” Twilight had asked.
“That’s all I can say for sure. Sorry, Twi.” Applejack responded.
“Hey, look, she’s waking up!” Scootaloo noted.
Fluttershy tried sitting up, but she only got as far as an inch before she was gently pushed back down by somepony next to her. The hoof was sweaty, but not cold, like most doctors. Instead, it was warm with care.
“Don’t try to get up, Fluttershy.” a voice had warned. It was warm and caring, just like the hoof. Fluttershy recognized it was Nurse Redheart from past visits to the hospital. She attempted saying something, but only a moan escaped her mouth.
“Maybe it would be better if we visit later to talk.” Twilight suggested. “She needs some rest from that attack.”
And with that, the friends left the room, leaving Nurse Redheart still monitoring the medical instruments attached to Fluttershy’s body. She wanted to call out and ask them back, but tiredness took over. Soon, her eyelids grew heavy, and she was back asleep.
*“Spike! Start searching for anything about nocturnal forest beasts.” Twilight commanded as soon as she entered the door of the town library.
“I’m on it!” Spike replied, rushing from the upstairs room. He immediately began tossing book around and skimming through each at seemingly impossible speed. Twilight was faster at it, though. Being the only librarian in Ponyville, she new the entire inventory of books and exactly where each one was. In a matter of seconds, she found what she was looking for. “Creatures of the Everfree” it read. She stormed through the book at lightning speed and still memorized every detail of what she read.
“Here!” she exclaimed when she spotted something. Spike dropped the three books he was reading at once and jogged over. Twilight positioned the book so that he could read along. The article was about a large, wolf like beast that comes out only at night. A Lycanthrope, as it was called in ancient mythology.
“The Lycanthrope, or Lycan for short, is a pony that has the ability to turn into a wolf like creature through will, magic, or curse.” Twilight read nervously. “The most common version of a Lycan is the Werewolf. The transformation occurs at night, usually during a full moon. Depending on the strength of the initial casting, the transformation could last from mere seconds to hours. The curse could be passed on in many forms, but the most common is by a bite from a Lycan.”
Twilight had enough of the article already. She slammed the book shut and shoved it back on the shelf she found it on. She wiped sweat from her forehead. Closing her eyes, she recalled the story Applejack and her family had told her about the event. As far as they could tell, Fluttershy was only scratched by the beast. But, just in case, she decided to take precaution.
“I’m gonna go back to the hospital, okay, Spike?” Twilight finally said. “They might need to take careful watch with Fluttershy.”
“You don’t think…”Spike responded.
“Hopefully not.” Twilight said with shakiness in her voice. “I’m just being careful, that’s all.”
And with that, she sped out the door, half running and half flying.
*As soon as Fluttershy drifted off into sleep, she had a dream. A really vivid and violent one, but a dream nonetheless. She was in the Town Square. It was dark outside. Night time. She sensed that she was being watched by many eyes. She was correct. Looking left to right, ponies that were once starring at her started darting off in fear. The yellow Pegasus was confused as to why. Then, her legs unwillingly took off. She willed herself to stop, but there was no response. She caught up to one small, terrified colt and backed him into a corner. As soon as he hit the wall, she struck. She desperately tried to will herself back, but it didn’t work. The sight was gruesome. The colt’s scream barely ever made it out before he was torn to shreds, and judging by the swallowing sounds, eaten. Eaten by Fluttershy.
“AH!” she screamed. She shot into a sitting position on her bed, panting and dripping sweat. Her sudden jolt startled Nurse Redheart, who was checking the instruments at the time.
“F-Fluttershy, are you alright?” the nurse stuttered.
Thinking back on the nightmare she just experienced, the caretaker started sniffling and eventually crying.
“No…” she replied to the question. Her voice was barely audible over the sounds of weeping, and the fact that she was generally silent herself.
“Poor thing…” Redheart said in her loving voice. “A nightmare, I suppose?”
“I-I guess…” Fluttershy shuttered. “But…it felt very real…”
“What was it about? Talking about it usually helps.”
Fluttershy told every exact detail from beginning to end. Once she was done, she did feel better, a bit. But, judging by Redheart’s expression, the nurse seemed petrified. Her eyes were wide and all that came from her mouth was a slight moan.
“Oh, I-I’m sorry if I scared you.” Fluttershy apologized.
Redheart shook her head and smiled warmly.
“No need to apologize, sweetheart.” she assured. “Nightmares can seem very real at times, but I promise you, it’s all just in your head.”
It would’ve sounded more assuring, but she seemed nervous the entire time. It was as if she knew something Fluttershy didn’t. It discouraged her, but not too much. Redheart wasn’t Applejack, but she was one of the few mares in these parts that you could trust.
Suddenly, a buzzing sound broke her thoughts. Nurse Redheart used her magic to lift a small object from her jacket pocket. The switch clicked and a voice crackled through. It seemed impossible to understand, but Redheart understood it evidently.
“Oh boy.” she moaned, but kept the warm smile. “Another sick patient. Gotta go, but I’ll see ya during the night.”
She turned to trot off, but turned back for one last announcement.
“Oh, I almost forgot! You’re probably starving. I’ll get the servers to get some food for you. I heard it’s pretty good around here.”
And the, she walked out the doorway. Fluttershy laid her head back into the pillow, waiting patiently for the food to come. She had no intention of falling back asleep, but she couldn’t help herself. The ceiling spun and the only sound she heard right before she passed out was the ominous ticking of the wall clock.
*Twilight had called a meeting among the Elements – excluding Fluttershy, of course. She had told an entire speech about what she discovered and what she requested from the hospital. Nurse Redheart agreed to monitor Fluttershy as much as she could. Depending on whatever Applejack saw, Fluttershy was only scratched, not bitten. Twilight had checked and double-checked the information and concluded their friend was going to be fine.
“So, you’re absolutely sure she’ll be okay?” asked Rarity.
“Yes, Rarity. She’ll be alright.” responded Twilight with a hint of aggravation in her voice. It was the 12th time she asked that question in the past 5 minutes.
A ringing sound filled the room. All heads turned toward the phone. Twilight trotted over to it, but picked it up with her magic before she got to the table.
“This is Twilight of the Ponyville library, how may I help you?” she asked. She had gotten a custom to say that line ever since Ponyville connected to the phone line. After all, she had to sound professional if she wanted to run a library.
“Hi, Twilight. It’s Nurse Redheart.” the voice on the other side said. Her words sounded the slightest bit dismal as she said them.
“Is something wrong?” Twilight asked. She could sense the obvious distress.
“Well, Fluttershy woke up suddenly today. Apparently she had a nightmare. She explained it to me. I think you should hear it…”
The explanation only lasted a few minutes, but as each event was pumped through the crappy speaker, time seemed to slow to a crawl.
“Oh…okay…” Twilight finally said. Just by looking at the purple mare’s face, the others could tell something awful was transferred. She hung up the phone. Turning to her friends, she simply stated:
“Warning 1: Visions.”
*Just like Redheart had promised, she took the nightshift as well. It has been about three weeks since Fluttershy’s strange “nightmare”. Redheart had a feeling it wasn’t just that. She has been continuously alerting Twilight and her friends about each incident. Some more “dreams”, starring at the moon at night, and drooling at the sight of…flesh were just a few of the things on the list. She had even snapped at one of the doctors trying to take her blood. Ever event was leading up to Twilight’s worst fear. Redheart had tried interrogating Fluttershy on the attack, but she refused to say anything about it. It was all chilling, but just like Twilight had said, there was a possibility it could all be coincidence. That the Element of Kindness would be alright in just a little while.
The Nurse was walking down the dimly lit hallway toward her patient’s room. Rarely any of the staff took the nightshift, so it was lonely, except for the occasional doctor or guard. The further she went into the hospital, the eerier the atmosphere became. The lighting buzzed and flickered and the patients’ moans echoed, making them sound more like ghostly howls rather than injured ponies. Every creepy phenomenon happened in a way that seemed like it was leading up to something big.
Redheart’s distracted state almost made her pass Fluttershy’s room. She hesitated in front of it, starring at the number. The door looked uncanny compared to the other doors up and down the hall. It was as if she would see a monster when she opened it.
“Silly Redheart” she scolded herself lightly. “Fluttershy is nothing to be afraid of. All I’ll see is her snoozing in bed…right?”
She gulped and finally placed her hoof on the doorknob. A chill went up her spine on contact. Eventually, she forced herself to turn it, but carefully and somewhat reluctantly. She swallowed her fear and swung the door open. The hinges made an earsplitting squeal from the strain. Redheart cringed from the sound, but walked in anyway. When she opened her eyes, she gasped.
The bed was empty, except for the few drops of medical fluid from the IV needle. The bag continued to pump the orange liquid despite having no vein to pump it into. The heartbeat monitor showed a flat line. The wires that were once connected to the patient were now tangled and dangling off the side of the bed.
Redheart whipped her head sideways when she heard a…growling sound. There was a silhouette of Fluttershy against the sinister light of the moon. The full moon.
“No…” Redheart whispered. She purposely said it in a low tone as not to disturb Fluttershy. But even then, the yellow Pegasus turned around. Her fur was a much darker yellow than it once was. In place of her normal teeth were large, doglike canines. Her pupils had turned a bright, crimson red. As the two mares made eye contact, neither said a thing. They didn’t have to. Just peering into Fluttershy’s almost demented eyes, Redheart knew what had happened.
After about a minute, the almost-yellow mare opened her mouth. But instead of words, what came out was horrifying.
Redheart zipped out of the room as a deafening, menacing roar escaped Fluttershy’s throat. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Twilight’s number. As the phone rang, she yelled:
“EVERYPONY, EVACUATE! CODE 9! CODE 9!”
“Code 9” meant a monster attack. The hospital had to implement it since it was so close to the Everfree. Finally, her cell picked up and she heard a groggy, “Hello?” from the other end.
“This is Nurse Redheart. It’s Fluttershy. Our worst fears came true!”
Twilight had no time to respond when a yellow blur whipped past Redheart’s head. Fluttershy stood in front of her, gazing at her with killer eyes. Then, the Pegasus shut her eyes and wobbled a bit, but kept her balance. She bent over, spitting blood and howling like a maniac. Redheart could only gawk as the transformation unfolded in front of her eyes. She could hear the faint voice of Twilight from her phone, which had skittered several feet away.
*Crackling could be heard over the suffering sounds of the yellow mare. Her hooves morphed into paws and her legs became longer, yet muscular. Several parts of her body stretched and changed as her once pony for slowly became wolf like. She had no control over any of it. The pain was unbearable, yet it felt comforting at the same time. Then, she felt her mind change along with her body. Her caring thoughts were clouded by hunger and the urge to…kill. She couldn’t stop herself. It was as if she was becoming someone, or something, else. She tried to cry for help, but all that came out was a deafening howl. Then, the world went black.
*Twilight dropped the phone to the floor and dragged Spike out of bed. She flew out the door, not bothering to close it. Spike latched on to her back as she sped though the town at a very low altitude.
Using speeds almost as fast as Rainbow Dash, she slammed on her friend’s doors until they were all up and running. No words were spoken, for they all knew what was wrong just through expression. Nearing the hospital, the 6 could hear cries of terror, twisting metal and even gunshots. But above all was the sound of a possessed howl. Ponies scattered, running in any direction but toward the hospital. Patients, Doctors, even guards ran in fright. Some were trying to fight back.
As Twilight and her friends entered the building, multicolored auras from zapping horns illuminated the hallways. Earth pony and Pegasus officers were using pistols and rifles. They were all shooting in the same general direction.
“Officer, what are you doing?!” Twilight yelled over the ruckus of the assault.
“Trying to take down the beast! What do you think we’ve been doing?!” he yelled back.
Twilight flashed and angry look. “Order them to stop! Now!”
“Look, I understand you’re a princess and all, but I can’t do that! This monster has already killed 5! We don’t need anymore casualties!”
Shock flashed across Twilight’s face for a split second. Then it returned back to anger.
“I said STOP!” she boomed. That was one thing good that came with being a princess. She could stop anyone in their tracks with one command. Sure enough, it worked.
Most of the firing had ceased and heads turned her way. They all knew when someone of royalty said stop, they meant stop. But before Twilight could say anything more, a howl erupted from the shadows, a large beast following right after. It mauled the nearest guard, scratching him until he bled out. The officers started furiously shooting again. In a split second, the lobby was illuminated by neon lasers and small flames from gun barrels.
For a small millisecond, the monster stopped its rampage. Enough time for Twilight to analyze it. Yellowish fur and a ruffed up pink mane and tail protruding from its head and flank, as well as enlarged wings attached to its back. The only problem was that it had a wolfish structure. That was all Twilight needed.
“Fluttershy!” she shouted up at the beast.
“That’s Fluttershy?!” a guard asked, shocked. She momentarily dropped her pistol, which was a mistake. A large paw slammed into her, sending her flying into a far wall. She collapsed in a heap, not moving.
“That’s not Fluttershy anymore…” Rainbow Dash commented wirily, gazing at the creature standing in front of the 6.
“T-That’s a FlutterWOLF!” Rarity added. As if on cue, she swung one of her excessively large paws down. The remaining Elements barely had time to react.
Twilight took to the air. “Get everyone out of here! We’ll handle it!” she yelled over the crowd.
“Ya heard ‘er!” one cop commanded. “Get everypony outta here!”
Immediately, a full, planned evacuation took place. Using nonlethal approaches, Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Spike distracted Flutterwolf from the running crowd. Using a gapping hole in the back, they lead their friend out into the forest. Deeper and deeper they went, resorting to illusion spells, rainbow tornadoes, lassos, and party cannons to attract the beast away.
*Small cracks of light started peering over the hills from the dawn sun. The yellow werewolf quickly noticed and darted off into the woods, almost taking flight.
“Fluttershy, wait!” Applejack yelled after her. The farmer tried pursuit, but ended up tripping and collapsing trying to keep up. Fluttershy let off one last howl before she disappeared into the deep, dark, Everfree.
Applejack returned to find her friends exhausted and weeping. Just as Twilight had predicted, but hoped would never happen, their friend was no longer.
“Come on. We gotta head back.” she announced, finally getting up. Slowly, the 6 made their way out of the forest. It may have taken hours, but they didn’t care. All they wanted was their friend back. Not a word was said the entire trip back to Ponyville.
When they finally emerged from the forest, the aftermath was horrid. Most of the hospital was in ruins and injured ponies were lying around, littering the ground like trash. Ambulances were taking whatever victims they could, leaving others to die. News outlets were scattered across the field. As soon as the 6 entered their line of sight, the news casts swarmed like bees. They sounded like bees as well.
“Just shut up and let us be!” Rainbow Dash finally yelled. Once the announcers left them alone, they headed back to their homes, dirty, bloody, and depressed from the events that took place from the start. Applejack seemed the most saddened.
After a long shower, the farmer planted herself at the dining table, her face in her forelegs. It was obvious she was upset.
“Applejack, what happened with Fluttershy?” Applebloom asked as she trotted up to her big sister.
“She’s…gone.” was all the orange pony could say. It was true. The kind, caring, shy, lovable Fluttershy was gone. Replaced by that hideous werewolf.
“Gone…how?” the filly asked, her voice becoming sad.
“She ain’t dead…but she’s just not with us anymore. And she’ll probably never will again. Not after what she turned into.”