“Fluttershy! Fluttershy, where are you?” Rainbow called as she flew over the Everfree frantically. At first, she had flown as high as she could to see if she could spot something through the treeline. When that didn’t work, she decided to look in a grid pattern, determined that she wouldn’t leave any part unchecked.
The deeper she got, the more worried she became. If the creature didn’t get her, then something else could. She shook her head, clearing her thoughts. She needed to concentrate.
Then, out in the distance, she managed to spot a yellow coat through a gap in the trees. That’s got to be her, she thought as made her way to where she had seen her friend. Relieved of having spotted her, she made her way quickly to where she had seen her friend. The closer she got, the faster her heart raced.
She kept following the speck of yellow through the forest. When it neared a bigger opening in the treeline, Rainbow stopped and prepared to call out to her. Her voice, however, died in her throat the moment she saw her friend completely. She was hanging limply over the shoulder of a tall bipedal creature. His arm was wrapped around her, making sure that she wouldn’t fall. As the creature continued walking, she also managed to spot a beaver on the creature’s other hand.
A chill went through Rainbow’s body. The creature that had attacked Twilight and Zecora had now captured Fluttershy. She needed to set her free, whatever the cost. She dove at the monster as fast and hard as she could. Within seconds, she clashed with that of the creature, knocking both Fluttershy and the beaver from his grasp and sending them both tumbling into the ground. As soon as she felt herself stop rolling, she steadied herself on top of the creature and began her assault.
“No one! Hurts! My! Friend!”
Each one of her words was accentuated with a strike to the beast’s face. When she finally felt her rage subside, she stopped her assault on the creature and turned to check on her friend.
“Hmph, and Twilight said you were tough,” she spat out before reaching Fluttershy.
She reached down and began shaking her passed-out friend’s back lightly, trying to make her react. “Fluttershy. Fluttershy, come on, get up. We need to get out of here.” Seeing how she still didn’t react, she then started shaking her more forcefully. “Come on Flutters, wake up.” She still did not react.
Growing frustrated, she grabbed her friend’s body and turned her over. Her eyes widened. She could feel the color draining from her coat. Nausea racked her body as she stared at the lifeless partly-closed eyes that gazed back at her. Her eyes wandered down to her body. There, a red stain adorned the center of her chest. Her eyes began to sting, tears threatening to come out. ...No...this...this can’t be happening…
“Fluttershy...Fluttershy! Please, say something! Anything!” she shouted as she violently shook her friend’s unresponsive body.
A small sob escaped her throat, a tear also making it way down her cheek....why...why now...? Her oldest friend, the pony she considered a little sister, was dead, and it was all her fault. Ever since the moment they met, she had promised that she would protect her against everything. And she had failed her.
A low growl brought her out of her thoughts. She turned and identified the creature as the source of the noise. ...you... Rainbow could feel her blood starting to boil, her sorrow quickly evolving into anger. She shook from an anger she had never before felt. Her eyes narrowed at the now-rising creature. Once the creature had fully risen, Rainbow noticed just how intimidating it was. The blood and cuts on its face from her earlier assault did not make it easier to look at, but she was not going to back down. Instead, she flared her wings to her fullest, trying to make herself more intimidating.
Both creatures gave each other rage-filled glares, but neither took a step back. The creature’s grip on his spear tightened, while Rainbow dug her hooves deeper into the ground, ready to charge. Silence filled the clearing, as if the surrounding animals themselves were watching.
Breaking the silence with a mighty roar, the creature drew back his spear and charged at her. When it was about to get within striking distance, Rainbow Dash dove to the right and got behind the creature. Before the creature could stop and redirect his attack, Rainbow took to the air and got behind him, delivering a strong one-two punch to the back of his head. Stumbling from the unexpectedly strong blows, the creature once again brought his spear back and swung it in Rainbow Dash’s direction. The pegasus, being much smaller and more agile, managed to evade its blow easily.
A small smile made its way to her features. As big and scary as the creature was, he was not fast enough to hit her. Their little one-sided exchange continued, the creature swinging in a blind rage while Rainbow dodged and countered each of his attacks. Although, unbeknownst to her, instead of tiring the creature, each one of her blows only made him angrier.
Becoming overconfident in her ability to dodge to the attacks, she began to embellish her evasions, spinning, pirouetting and even flying backwards with her hooves behind her head. The creature began taking notice of her carelessness. In an attempt to outsmart his opponent, the creature feinted a sideways swing; when the pegasus went into one of her evasive maneuvers, he swung as hard as he could onto his unsuspecting target.
The blow connected at the side of her barrel and wing, sending her crashing into the ground. Dazed from the unexpected blow, Rainbow barely had enough time to roll to the side, a wooden spear sinking deep into the spot she had been in just seconds ago.
She quickly got on all fours and made herself airborne. Instantly, her wing and ribs erupted in pain, but even so she pushed back both tears of pain and anger and continued airborne. Noting that the creature was occupied trying to dislodge the spear from the ground, she pushed aside the increasing pain and charged the creature once more.
The creature quickly took notice and let go of the spear, preparing himself to strike with his bare hands. Again he attacked and again she evaded, only this time he noted that the pegasus was “sidestepping” the bare minimum to dodge his attacks. When she finished attacking, instead of going for a direct blow, he reached out in a grabbing motion at the direction he thought she would evade.
Rainbow’s breath was suddenly caught in her throat, a hand managing a firm grip around it. She brought up her hooves to the offending appendage and tried to pry it open. Instead, the grip only tightened, cutting off more of her blood flow. She began flapping her wings harder, trying to get out of the creature’s grip.
The creature kept its iron grip on her throat, feeling the rapid heart beat of his prey. His grip intensified; soon enough, it would have to pass out. The struggling started to become weaker, hooves losing their strength, wings beating slower, until finally, her tussling ceased.
Her head fell, wings and forelegs quickly following suit. Now sure that his prey was out cold, he let her go, her body flopping unceremoniously to the ground.
He turned back, made his way to his spear and pulled it out of the ground in one swift motion. It seemed his luck had finally returned. Not only had he managed to catch a beaver, but he also managed to get two of these strange winged equines. In the end there would be some uneaten meat, but their hides would serve him well in the winter months. Their feathers also meant that he could make more accurate arrows.
Gripping the spear with both his hands, he made his way towards his unconscious prey. When he was above it, he lifted his arms over his head and prepared to put it out of its misery. The spear came down and let out a cracking noise as the spearhead split off from the impact on an all-too-familiar transparent lavender dome. He could only stare at his broken spear, rage quickly making its way back into his body.
The pain in Twilight’s legs gave her a small feeling of deja vu. That feeling, however, left her as soon as it had come once she arrived at the edge of the clearing. Once again, the creature was towering above one of her friends, ready to strike her down. Her horn flared, and again, her purple dome appeared above her in the nick of time, the creature’s spear breaking in the process.
She made her way into the clearing, no doubt a very angry creature awaiting her. The moment she fully stepped out, the creature's eyes were fixed on hers. A shiver traveled down her spine the moment they made eye contact. She was almost certain that this creature was sapient, but the current look in its eyes almost convinced her otherwise. Without any warning, the creature let out a an angered roar and charged. She waited; she needed to get him as far from Rainbow as she could. When she saw him almost above her, she flared up her horn. A quick teleport later, and she found herself next to a recovering Rainbow Dash. What it had done to her she had no idea, and she didn’t exactly have time to ask.
“Rainbow Dash, are you alright?”
“Yea...never—ow—been better,” she said while rubbing at her throat.
“Did you find Fluttershy? Because we need to get out of here before it really gets mad!” she said while motioning to the creature.
At the mention of her friend, Rainbow’s ears fell, her head lowering as well. “She’s... over there…” she said, barely above a whisper.
Twilight followed her friend’s hoof. When she saw where it was pointing, she gasped, her hoof making its way over to her mouth. “...Oh no...” Tears began forming at the edge of her eyes. They were too late. The creature had taken its first victim.
Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by a sudden jolt to her horn, almost making her fall to her knees. When she turned, she was greeted once again by the sight of the fierce creature, axe in its hands and preparing for another strike.
“We need to go. NOW!” she blurted out.
“What?! NO! We can’t just leave her out here; we need to take Fluttershy’s body with us,” Rainbow responded, the words tasting foul as she said them.
“We don’t have a—gah—choice,” she said as the creature assaulted the dome once more. “If we don’t leave right now, we’re next!”
“No! I won’t leave her out here to be eaten by a bunch of animals!”
“Rainbow! This isn’t —gah— a question, we’re leaving!” she said, her horn illuminating even more.
Rainbow’s eyes widened as she stared at her friend’s horn, realizing what she was about to do. “Oh no! Don’t you da—”
“—re leave—”
“—her—”
“...behind...” Rainbow trailed off as she stared at their new surroundings, still feeling a bit light-headed from the sudden teleportations. No longer were they surrounded by the dark trees of the Everfree. Now, they found themselves in the backyard of their deceased friend, the soft chirping of birds contrasting the eerie silence of the clearing. Beside her, she could see Twilight trying to catch her breath as she rubbed her aching horn.
“...how could you…” she said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“What was tha—”
“How could you!” Rainbow exclaimed as she tackled her into the ground.
“Ow! Rainbow...get off of me,” Twilight said as she struggled to free herself.
“How could you just abandon her like that!” she yelled at her once more, her face one of pure anger.
“R-Rainbow, you d-don’t understand… if I didn’t get us out of there, we could have—”
“—We could’ve done something, anything, to get her out too! But no. We needed to abandon her!” she interrupted, her forelegs trembling.
“R-rainbow, you need to—”
“NO!”
Rainbow Dash raised her hoof above her head. Twilight’s eyes widened; she covered her face with her forelegs, turned her head away and shut her eyes tightly, preparing for the incoming blow.
But it never came.
Instead, she felt a tear hit her cheek. When she opened her eyes, she found her friend immobile, face scrunched in anger, a trembling hoof above her head and eyes shut tightly, tears brimming at the edges. She had never seen her friend in such anguish.
Suddenly, a small whimper escaped Rainbow’s mouth. Twilight tried to get up once more, her friend not stopping her, and hugged her. As soon as Rainbow’s head touched her shoulder, the dam broke. Tears came out freely as Rainbow wept openly into Twilight’s shoulder without a care in the world.
“S-she...she’s gone! I can’t believe s-she’s gone! I failed her! I p-promised that nothing would happen to her, and I failed her!” Rainbow cried into her friend’s coat, remembering her Flight Camp promise.
Twilight didn’t say anything. What was there to say? Nothing she said could have soothed her grieving friend. Instead, she did the only thing that could help. She tightened her embrace, tears of her own also making their way down her face. She needed to support her friend.
“Don’t worry, Rainbow… we’ll get her back. I promise.”
The two in each other's embrace for what felt like hours, but they did not care. When, they had finally regained enough of their composure, they headed back into town. Their friends needed to know what happened in the forest. After all, there was a rescue mission to prepare.
“Are you sure it’s this way?” Applejack asked. They had been walking for more than half an hour, and they had yet still to find a solid trail of the creature.
“Rainbow said that she saw some smoke in this direction, and if what I think of the creature is true, then it's gotta be,” Twilight explained. “Rainbow, could you please go back up and check if we’re close?”
“Sure thing,” Rainbow Dash responded. She gave a weak salute to her friend before flying up into the sky with some difficulty, her wing still injured from the fight.
Her mood had barely improved since their escape. In fact, none of them fared any better. Ever since they had broken the news to each one of their friends, none of them felt like themselves. Applejack’s once strong, sturdy steps had become slow and sluggish. Rarity’s once straight, impeccable posture was reduced to a slouched gait. Even Pinkie’s mood had soured. Her characteristic smile was all but gone, her vibrant coat seemed to lose its shine and even her hair had looked less curly, a far cry from her normal self.
“Yep, I can see a cave dead ahead from here. Shouldn’t take us much before we reach it,” Rainbow Dash said as she came back down from the canopy.
In the meantime, they began discussing how to fight the strange creature. Magic was going to be mostly useless, so they were going to need a good plan to get out of there alive.
After much discussion, the trees started parting until they revealed the side of the cave Rainbow had spoken about. Just like she said, a small trail of smoke could be seen coming out. They approached slowly, making sure that their hoofsteps did not give them away.
As they got closer to the entrance, their noses scrunched up as they picked up a strange smell that was mixed with the smoke. Suddenly, Twilight stopped walking, causing her friends to send questioning looks her way. Then, they also stiffened up when they too identified the smell.
Burning flesh.
Their hearts began to pound in their chests. Had they arrived too late yet again, or was their sense of smell betraying them? There was only one way to find out. Twilight took a deep breath, steeling herself for the battle to come. When her heart had finally reached a reasonable pulse, she looked over to her friends, making sure that they too were ready. With a nod from the four of them, she slowly began to tap at the ground.
...One...
...Two...
Three!
Hours Prior
The man had quickly made his way back to his cave after the small skirmish, and was finishing making a spit on which to cook his latest catch. Reclining it on the wall, he turned to the small fire growing beside him. He added more firewood, making sure that it would grow to a big enough fire to cook his next meal. With that done, he grabbed his meal-to-be and headed for the river. Before he began working on it, he was going to need to clean up his face from the cuts the blue one had inflicted with its hooves. As he got up, a sharp pain flared from his right side. It seemed his little battle with the blue one had left him more than some cuts and deep bruises. He was lucky his rib had not punctured his lungs. Putting the pain aside as best as he could, he continued towards the river.
After almost half an hour of carefully skinning his prey, he was done. Dunking it in the water, he washed away some of the remaining blood on the pelt. Now finished, he turned to what remained. Using his bone knife, he began cutting a big enough opening for him to be able to reach into its insides and get rid of any undesirable parts. Next, he reached for his axe and began using it to cut off its head and tail. If he wanted to run the spit more easily through his meal, he was going to need to get rid of them.
Now finally done preparing his meal, he slung the hide over his shoulder and took the meat back to his cave. Inside, the fire had grown to a decent size, crackling in the middle of two Y-shaped branches. Grabbing the spit on the wall, he passed it through the animal and placed it over the fire. All that he needed to do now was sit by the fire and turn the spit every once in awhile, making sure that the meat cooked evenly enough.
While he waited for the meat to cook, he grabbed some decently straight branches and began sharpening their tips. After all, he was going to need new arrows for his bow. When he was on his second arrow, he turned to look at his other catch. It was a very strange equine, now that he could think about it. Before, it had been nothing more than a strange animal with the eyes of a demon. His survival instincts, as well as his rage, had not let him take notice of other finer details.
It, along with the other equines, were all quite the mystery. Strange unnatural coloring, the strange rhythm of the sounds they made and most importantly, their extra appendages. Equines were not supposed to have wings or horns. The only one that did were those of myth. And yet, there they were, prancing around the forest and, most importantly, impeding him of hunting.
The purple one was strangest of them all. While two had the capability to fly, that was nothing compared to what the purple one was able of. Its glowing horn granted it paranormal powers. It also seemed too insistent in not letting him kill any of the other equines he encountered. Maybe it was a lead mare or stallion and it was merely protecting its herd members.
Today had been the exception, of course. Both it and the blue one had appeared too late to stop him from killing the yellow one. His eyes went back to the dead creature. Its teal eyes were still partly open, its face still holding a slight grimace. The way these creatures could convey emotion was beyond him. From the startled zebra and the surprise of the purple one to the rage of the blue one. How had he not noticed those expressions? Now that he thought back, they were clearly visible. They clearly felt emotions. Just like him.
His thoughts went back to the encounter with the yellow one. First, at the disapproval of its piercing gaze, the terror when he decided to attack… the look of dread when he was above it with his knife raised. A shiver went down his spine. The final memory he had of the yellow one, was of her eyes growing wide one last time as he struck her, how they began to lose focus, slowly closing as its life was drained.
His knife fell from his grip.
Had he truly killed another sapient being?
He rested his head on the palm of his shaking hands. The signs had been all there. He had just been too blind to see them. What had this world done to his head, that he could no longer identify the most obvious signs of sapience? His stomach ached, but this time, it was not from hunger. He felt like a murderer.
No.
He was a murderer.
His eyes widened as the realization struck him. His stomach continued to turn inside of him, threatening to empty itself of its contents. He began hyperventilating. He turned back again to look at his victim.
Now that he had the time to look, it displayed many feminine aspects. His nausea returned with a greater force. Who had he just killed? Was there a husband out there wondering when the love of life was returning? Or had he stripped away a child from his loving mother?
What had he done?
His breathing was now shallow and erratic, his imagination going wild as to what kind of person had he just killed. Tears started to fall from his face.
What kind of monster had he turned into?
They rushed in. In the few seconds that they took to reach the inside of the cave, Twilight’s head swam with dark images of what could possibly await them. But not even the most wild part of Twilight's imagination could come up with what she was witnessing.
Kneeling down beside her friend’s body was the creature. One of its hands was gently closing Fluttershy’s eyes. When it finished, it moved its hand up to the top of her head and stopped on her hair before retracting it back to its side.Then, it turned its head towards her, their eyes once again meeting. This time, its bloodshot eyes did not convey the feral rage of an animal. Instead, there was only thing she saw in them.
Regret.
They all tensed up when the creature began moving. Its hands took hold of its bear hide and began taking it off. Then, it held it above their friend's body and began covering it. When it was about to reach her head, it stopped and seemed to stare at her for a moment before finally covering her completely. Its arms then met the ground and slid under Fluttershy’s body. Rainbow Dash’s wings instantly flared, ready to leap into action. What was the creature planning on doing?
Answering their unspoken question, it slowly got up, turned to their way with its head down and began to take careful steps towards them. They all froze, not sure if they were indeed seeing correctly.
The creature stopped a couple of meters away from them, then, to everypony’s surprise, knelt down and carefully put Fluttershy’s body on the ground. Then, It lifted its head and met Twilight’s eyes one more time, the same look of regret etched inside. With that, it stood up and made its way to the back of the cave, where the body of a beaver hung above a fire. It sat down, crossed its legs in an awkward manner and used one of its knives to carve a tip into a small branch.
Rarity was the first one to recover from their catatonic state, tapping Twilight on the elbow and jerking her head slightly backwards. Twilight let out a breath she did not know she was holding; it was indeed time to go. She lit up her horn, enveloped her friends’ body in her purple aura and made her way back out of the cave, her friends following shortly.
Their retreat through the forest was a slow and silent.
They had all expected resistance from the so called Terror of the Everfree, a battle that would no doubt put their lives in danger. Yet, here they were, making their way back to the town without even a scratch. So shocked from all the events of that day were they that none took notice at how deadly silent it was. As if the creatures of the forest knew who it was under the hide.
Or at least, that was until an ear-splitting cry reverberated across the forest. Their ears picked it up, but they did not as much as flinch. Instead, they continued their trek. After almost half an hour of walking, they had managed to finally clear the forest. A vast green plane now was the only thing between them and the bridge connecting to the town.
Their silent trot continued.
Even as they entered the town, not a noise was made. The bystanders they met simply got out of their way without a single word. None interrupted them. All they could do was stare in shock at the covered body they carried.
They had all heard the rumors, but for once, they did not want to believe in them. When they confirmed them with their own eyes, they had no way to react. The Element of Kindness had died, and at the hands of a forest creature no less. They all knew her. They knew of the things she and her friends had done, the dangers they faced, and yet she had fallen to a simple creature of the forest.
To see her covered body pass by their eyes felt wrong. They all lowered their gaze as she passed, hoping that would at least make the pain subside.
When the night had fallen and the stars covered the town’s sky in their light, not a single soul could be seen out of their home, all still mourning their loss. Even the moon itself seemed to be paying its respects. What was supposed to be a full brilliant moon that night now found itself covered in black, only a small crescent of light illuminating the town below. The lack of pegasi in the air also meant that a few stray clouds from the Everfree sailed above uninterrupted.
The silence in the town was broken when two sets of hooves made their way out of the Golden Oaks Library and into the street, carrying a crown of flowers between the two of them. Like the day before, the majority of the journey was spent in silence, until with a low voice, Rainbow Dash spoke.
“Thanks for helping me out, Twilight, and sorry for keeping you up this late,” she said, looking to her friend and offering a small smile. “I wanted this to be placed by her tombstone at the ceremony, but they had a delay and didn’t bring it until after it was done.”
“Don’t worry about it. Now I see why you needed my help; it might be beautiful, but it’s a little too heavy.”
Rainbow looked back forward. “Don’t worry, we’re almost there,” she said as she saw the entrance to the graveyard.
As they arrived at the gates, they paused for a moment, allowing their legs a bit of a rest before continuing their way through the dirt path that lead to their friend’s tomb. As they began to near Fluttershy’s final resting place, a peculiar sight caught Twilight’s eyes. In front of Fluttershy’s tombstone, a small form was visible. It seemed that they weren’t the only ones that had come to give her friend a final visit. Twilight squinted her eyes, trying to identify whoever it was. Then, the stray cloud that blocked out the Moon’s glow moved, allowing the dim moonlight to wash over the figure.
She came to a complete halt, her eyes widening.
Beside her, Rainbow also stopped, turning a questioning glance at Twilight. She waved a hoof in front of her face, trying to get her attention. When the mare did not respond, she turned to look where her gaze was fixated. As she did, her body stiffened, and her eyes widened, realization washing over her.
There, right in front of their eyes was the creature, sitting with its legs tucked under. It remained as still as a statue, its rising and falling chest the only movement it made. Its hands were resting on each of its thighs, and its head was bowed down with closed eyes.
Carefully, they began to put the crown down, trying to not make too much noise. When it was finally settled, they crouched down and began to slowly make their way closer to the creature. They needed to know what it was up to. Sticking their heads out from behind a tombstone each, they continued observing the creature.
Now closer, they could hear the short ragged breaths it took. When they looked up at its face, they also noticed the damp spots that covered its beard, the tears that continued falling not letting them dry. Then, one of its arms began to move, reaching inside its hide.
Their bodies tensed up. Nothing good ever came from inside that hide. When its hand came back out, their eyes widened again. In its hand was a small bouquet of easily recognizable blue flowers. It brought them up, took a deep breath of its aroma, and placed them on top of her grave, beside other ponies’ offerings.
Suddenly, and to their surprise, the creature spoke up.
“I’m... so… sorry.”
Its low baritone voice rang in each of their ears. They both had to stifle a gasp, each turning to one another with a look of surprise. Ever since they saw it, they thought that it did not speak, or if it did, it would be a strange language they had never heard of. It took a slow, deep breath, then, spoke once more, its voice quieter than before.
“If only I had known, this would have never had to happen.”
It choked out a sob, another wave of fresh tears trailing down its face.
“Please. Wherever you are. Forgive me.”
With that, it slowly opened its puffy, red eyes and brought up a hand to try and clear the tears that had escaped. When they saw it open its eyes, they tried hiding their heads back behind the tombstones. In its peripheral vision, however, it managed to spot the movement. Turning its head quickly, its eyes widened as they once more made contact with them. It shot to its feet, causing them both to flinch back at its restored height, and without another word, started making its way off in the opposite direction.
Rainbow quickly shot into the air and prepared herself to go after him.
“Hey you! Come back here!” she tried calling out.
Instead, it only sped up, reaching the low wall of the cemetery before jumping over it with little trouble.
“Rainbow, wait!” Twilight said. “Just let it go…”
“What?! You saw what happened! Don’t you want answers, too?”
“Yes, I do. I really do. But right now is not the time,” she said as she looked back towards the fleeing creature.
She saw it as it ran, how it made short work of the distance between the cemetery and the forest. When it reached it, it stopped and took a look back. Their eyes met one last time, neither averting their gaze from each other, until finally, the creature turned back to the forest and disappeared.
After that night, many tried looking for the elusive creature. Some, fueled by anger, tried to slay the creature who killed the Element of Kindness. Others, motivated by justice, wanted it to be brought to pay for its crimes. Even the remaining elements tried looking for it, not for vengeance or justice, but for closure. They wanted to know what had driven it to kill their friend. But they never found it.
No one ever did.
Author's Note
This chapter was written as a little experiment, I wanted to try my hand at killing a character. That one of my chapters on S:E gave me chance to do that was just a happy coincidence. Until now, the closest that I came to writting something like that was an "off screen" death and a funeral scene on a currently unpublished story that I want to rewrite so that I can publish again.
Anyway, thank you all for reading, please leave a comment telling me what you think of the chapter, be it good or bad, that way I can know how to improve my writing.
