"It's such a beautiful day," said Twilight, as she and her friends walk along a trail.
"It really is," said Applejack, as she kicks a small stone out of her way, "it's really peaceful."
"I wonder if there's a place for us to take a dip into the water," asks Rainbow Dash, as she looks to her left towards the trees to see if she could see a river or lake past them.
"That would feel wonderful on a day like this," said Rarity, as she wipes away a bead of sweat from her forehead. "It's very hot today."
"The skies are blue, the birds are chirping. Everything about this place is perfect," says Pinkie, as she skips along the trail.
"I'm glad we have a three day weekend," said Sunset.
"What do you think of today, Fluttershy?" asks Spike.
"It's really pretty," says Fluttershy, as a monarch butterfly catches her attention. "Oh! A butterfly!"
Fluttershy runs off the trail and runs after the butterfly through the forest.
"Don't go too far Fluttershy!" shouted Twilight. "If you're lost, remember the trail that leads towards our destination to the campground!"
"I'll be fine!" calls out Fluttershy, as she disappears into the forest.
As Fluttershy rummages through the bushes, she finds an opening and spots the butterfly perched on a branch. The branch also happens to be at the edge of a cliff, which made Fluttershy a bit nervous knowing that if she screwed up, she'll fall.
"I'd better be careful," whispers Fluttershy, as she tiptoes towards the butterfly as stealthy as she could. "I don't want to fall off the cliff."
Fluttershy then brings her hands close to the butterfly and tries to grab it, but the butterfly flew away in the nick of time. Fluttershy then looks down and is frightened by how far down the cliff was. She moves backwards, but slips onto her bottom and slides quickly forward.
"HOLY MOLLY!" shouted Fluttershy, as she grabs onto the branch with a firm grip.
Fluttershy was on a state of panic, as she kept holding onto the branch.
"Phew! At least this branch is-" Fluttershy was cutoff, as the branch was slowly starting to come apart. "Oh no."
The branch snaps, as Fluttershy falls backwards towards the bottom.
"AHHHHHH!!!!" shouts Fluttershy, as she makes her way down.
Fluttershy lands with a bang and hits the back of her head on a few rocks. Flutter shy weakly opens her eyes and looks around with blurry vision till she was out cold. Fluttershy laid on the stone ground, as little of blood flowed down the back of her head.
20 Minutes Later…
The friends made it to their campsite and sat down in their chairs bathing in the sun. It was like as if they were at a beach with the sound of the streaming water close by.
"Um… is anyone worried about Fluttershy?" asks Sunset, as she leans up from her chair and removes her sunglasses. "She's been out in the forest for quite a long while."
"Now that you mention it," says Twilight "She's been gone for a while."
"Should we go look for her?" asks Spike, as he stands up from Twilight's lap.
"We should, darling," agreed rarity, as she to stood up with her sunglasses still on. "I'm starting to worry about her as well."
Everybody stands up and looks back at the trail from where they have entered from.
"Wherever she is, I hope she's okay," says Twilight, as she, the girls, and Spike set off towards the trail from where they came.
10 Minutes Later...
"FLUTTERSHY?! WHERE ARE YOU?!" shouted Pinkie, as she jumps onto a tree trunk and searches the area.
"FLUTTERSHY?! TELL US WHERE YOU ARE!!" shouts Twilight, as she and Sunset went into the forest.
"FLUTTERSHY, DARLING!! PLEASE ANSWER US!!" shouts Rarity.
"FLUTTERSHY!! ANSWER US!!" shouts Applejack and Rainbow Dash.
"Twilight, I'm very worried than ever," said Sunset, as she pushes aside a bush to see behind it. "What if Fluttershy was attacked by a bear or worse!?"
Twilight leans down to Sunset and pats her back.
"It's okay, Sunset," said Twilight in a calming manner. "We'll find her."
"Let's hope so," said Sunset, as she stands up and walks past her to look around the area a little more. "Let's hope so."
"Fluttershy, where ever you are, please be safe," thought Twilight, as she walks back to the trail to see if the other girls found anything.
Elsewhere, a person wearing peasant-like clothing that looked as if he came out of the do period and is walking along through the forest for a stroll until he heard a scream that caught his attention. The thing looks around the forest with it's large tennis ball sized eyes that are shown besides it's bandaged up face to search for the source of that scream. He then walks down into a very small gorge and finds a girl with pink hair lying on the ground, as the blood from the back of her head makes a tiny little puddle..
"Huh? A girl?" said the thing with a gruff-like voice, as it walks up to the fallen girl.
He leans down towards the girl and places his right hand in front of the girl to check if she still had a pulse. He felt her heart beating, but it was a bit weak.
"She's alive," said the thing, as it slowly picks her up and carries her on his shoulder. "No need to worry, Miss. I'll take you to a place where you can recover."
The sun began to set behind the mountains and the girls are beginning to lose hope on finding their lost friend.
"Twilight, it's hopeless now," said Rainbow Dash. "It's getting dark and we don't have our flashlights with us at the moment."
"Dashie is right, but we still need to look for Fluttershy," said Sunset.
"I think… we should look for her tomorrow," said Spike. "Once it gets dark, it'll be a whole lot difficult to find her, even with our flashlights."
There was a moment of silence till suddenly, they heard the sound of clanking wood coming from the trail.
"Hello there," shouts a person from the distance, pulling with him a cart filled with vegetables and potatoes. "Why are you ladies doing around this trail at this time of the day?"
As the person got closer to them, the girls got a good description of the person. It was an old man around his sixties; he wore clothing like that of a peasant from the edo period, wore an eye patch on his right eye, long gray hair, and was wearing sandals. Beside him is a german-shepard with a scare on its left shoulder.
"Sorry, but we're looking for a girl with pink hair. Have you seen her?" asks Twilight.
"A girl with pink hair, you say? Hmmm… no, I haven't," said the old man. "Come with me. I'm about to cook me and Gara some soup. Care to join?"
"Sure," said the girls.
"That's good to hear. Follow me," said the old man, as he and the girls followed him down the trail towards the camp grounds. "My place is a little further from the camping area. It's been a while since I've had some company with me."
8 PM
Darkness has come and some animals run around free through the night. A wild boar munches on some grass when suddenly, the thing that saved Fluttershy clamped its right hand onto the boars' neck. The boar squeals and thrashes from the thing's grip, till the thing throws the boar as hard as he could against a boulder, making the boar stop squealing. The boar was out cold, as the thing came up to it and grabbed ahold of it by the head. The thing used all of its strength until the boars head was pulled clean off.
"I wonder if that girl is hungry," wondered the thing, as he threw away the boars head.
He places the boars body onto his right shoulder and walked off towards his hiding place where Fluttershy lays unconscious.
Fluttershy's eyes slowly open from the drop of water that lands on the tip of her nose. She slowly leans up and looks around, noticing that she's not with the girls or at the campsite, but in a cave. She also realizes that she's sleeping on a comfy somewhat handmade bed made out of leaves. On the left side of her is a tiny fire that made the cave visible to look around.
"W-where… where am I?" said Fluttershy, as she looks around the cave.
Suddenly, she hears the sound of pebbles falling. She turns her head forward and looks up to the entrance of the cave. There stood a large being caring a headless boar on his shoulders with bandages around its face and hands. She stands up, as the thing comes up to her. She quickly grabs some small rocks that stood beside her and threw them at the thing. As the rocks landed on the thing's chest, the thing did nothing to retaliate; it stood there with the headless boar still on its shoulders.
"STAY AWAY FROM ME, YOU MONSTER!" shouts Fluttershy preparing to throw more rocks at the thing.
"Please don't hurt me," said the thing. "I won't harm you."
Flutter shy stops her next throw and tosses the rocks aside her after hearing the thing talking to her.
"You… you can talk?" said Fluttershy.
The creature nods.
Fluttershy's body felt tired and she fell to her knees.
"You shouldn't be moving at all yet," said the thing. "Your body needs rest. Please go to sleep."
Fluttershy obeyed and lies back down onto the bed. She looks back at the thing, who seems to be making a fire and stares down at it as though it was a TV. She wanted to know if this thing was lying to her or telling the truth, but she felt her eyes being heavy and she instantly fell asleep.
The girls and the old man sat near the fireplace and began to have some warm vegetable soup.
"Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself earlier," said the man before blowing on his wooden spoonful of soup. "My name is Joe and I'm known as the hermit around here."
"I'm Twilight and this is my dog, Spike," said Twilight, as Spike gave Joe a few barks.
"I'm Applejack."
"The name's Rainbow Dash."
"Pinkie."
"Rarity."
"I'm Sunset Shimmer."
"Nice to meet you girls," said Joe before eating a spoonful of his soup. "Mm, that's delicious."
"It's really good," said Sunset, as she took in another spoonful.
"Anyway, tell me what happened to your other friend that you were looking for," asks Joe, as he set his bowl aside.
"Fluttershy was trying to catch a butterfly and she hasn't come back," explains Twilight. "We searched around the place and couldn't find her."
"Do you know where she could be if she gets lost?" asks Sunset.
"I'm afraid not, but I believe that something took her," said Joe.
"What?" said the girls.
"I'm afraid that your lady friend might be dead. Big eyes must have found her and ate her."
"Big eyes?" said the girls with confusion.
"That thing took my eye out twenty years ago. Ripped it right out of my skull," explained Joe, "he's a goddamn demon!"
"Where can we find this 'big eyes'?" asks Sunset.
"You can't go out there now. The forest is dark and you won't be able to find your way back. Even if you have flashlights, you won't find the way back. Do you girls have a place to sleep for the night?"
"Yes, we're at the campsite," said Applejack.
"Good. Come over here to my house and we'll go looking for her first thing in the morning," said Joe, as he picked up his soup and continued to eat more. "But please, relax and enjoy my soup."
"Fluttershy, I hope you're not dead," thought Sunset, as she and the girls continued eating soup.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Fluttershy wakes up with the sound of crackling fire. She leans up and sees the thing from last night that told her to rest. She gives out a yawn and rubs the back of her head, until she felt a sharp sting.
"Owch," said Fluttershy, making the thing turn around and look at her with its big eyes.
"Are you okay?" asks the thing.
"I'm feeling a little dizzy."
"I guess you got hurt in the head back there. Hehehe," chuckled the thing.
Fluttershy looks down at her arms and legs and notices that she had green mush covering on some spots.
"What is this stuff?" asks Fluttershy, as she pokes at the green mush on her elbow.
"Its special herbs that can heal wounds. I learned it years ago when I was younger," said the thing, as it stood up and took a knee down close to Fluttershy.
"How long do I have to keep these on?"
"You can clean them off down at the lake," said the thing, as it stood up. "Come, you should get cleaned up down by the lake."
"The lake? I hope my friends are there," said Fluttershy, as she slowly stands up and limps towards the cave entrance. "Where is it? The lake?"
"It's about five minutes away from here," said the thing, as it grabs ahold of the headless boar and places it around his shoulder, making Fluttershy a bit nauseous. "Sorry if you have to see this."
"I don't want to look at it," said Fluttershy, as she looks away from the thing.
"I promise you, after you get yourself cleaned, you'll love the taste of cooked boar meat."
Fluttershy looks continues to look away, as she walks out of the cave.
"Wait for me," said the thing, as it walks to her left side with the boar on his shoulder.
As Fluttershy and the thing made it to the river, which wasn't the river Fluttershy hoped for. As the thing began to cook the boar, Fluttershy took off her clothes and went into the river and cleaned her body from head to toe. The thing stood a little further from where Fluttershy was and turned his head around and stared at her as she cleans the back of her head.
"I've never seen anyone so beautiful as she is," said the thing to himself, as he turns his head back towards the cooking boar.
He then heard Fluttershy walking out of the river and heading towards her dry clothes that are hanging on a long branch of a small tree.
"When you're done, the meat's ready," said the thing, as Fluttershy places her shirt over her head.
"I'm not that much into meat," said Fluttershy, as she began to put her panties on. "I'm a vegetarian."
"Oh! Well… sorry," said the thing, as it takes the two pieces of meat off of the stick and sticks them with another stick that he tore off of a branch.
Fluttershy walks towards the thing as she straightens out her skirt and sits down in front of him.
"Here," said the thing, as it handed her the stick with the two pieces of meat.
Fluttershy gives out a sigh and grabs ahold of the stick. She stares at the pieces of meat and takes a bite into one of them.
"Whoa! This is better than I thought," thought Fluttershy, as she gobbled more into the meat.
"Do you like it?" asks the thing, as Fluttershy continues to eat more of the first piece of meat.
"I normally wouldn't eat meat, but that was pretty good," said Fluttershy, as she gave out a small belch. "Excuse me."
Fluttershy and the thing chuckled together.
"Also, have you seen my friends?" asks Fluttershy, as she sticks the end of the stick towards the ground. "I got separated with them after trying to catch a butterfly."
"Friends? I didn't see anyone else, but you," replied the thing.
Fluttershy stands up and walks away.
"Wh-where are you going?!" asked the thing, as it stands up.
"I need to go and find them," said Fluttershy, as she continued to walk away.
"Wait!" shouts the thing, as it runs up in front of Fluttershy and kneels down to her, "Please! Stay with me a little longer! Please!"
The creature gave out a tear, as Fluttershy looks down at him. She then notices the stained blood on the things left shoulder.
"It's blood from the boar that I caught the other night," explained the thing, "I didn't kill any of your friends. I swear!"
Fluttershy exhaled and walks up to the thing and places a hand on its right shoulder.
"Okay, I'll stay with you a little longer," said Fluttershy with a faint smile. "Here, give me that part of your clothing. I'll wash it for you."
Just like that, Fluttershy begins cleaning the thing's clothing, as the thing sat ten feet away from where she was and watched her cleaning.
"Um… excuse me," said the thing, getting Fluttershy's attention.
"Yes?" asks Fluttershy, looking at him.
"What's your name?"
"Oh! It's Fluttershy."
"Fluttershy," repeated the thing. "That's a pretty name."
Fluttershy blushes and goes back to her cleaning.
"I guess so," said Fluttershy. "What's your name?"
"My name?… it was once 'Mora', but people call me 'Big Eyes' because of how big my eyes are now," said the thing, as it looked down.
"Mora? That sounds like a nice name," said Fluttershy with a smile.
Even though Fluttershy can't see it, but under Mora's bandaged covered face was a blush.
"Thank you, Fluttershy. Are you hungry?"
"What are you talking about, you silly guy? I just ate a minute ago," said Fluttershy, as she giggled.
Mora couldn't help, but giggle along with her.
Elsewhere, Joe and the girls set off to find Fluttershy, with the help of Spike and Gara who have a great sense of smell. Joe carries a shotgun in case things went south.
"I sure hope your lady friend is alright, Miss Twilight," said Joe, as he walks over a puddle. "I will say that if she's still alive, it would be tough to get her. Big eyes is not only a monster, but in an immortal too."
"Immortal?" said the girls with surprise.
"You betcha. You can stab it and shoot it and it still won't die," explained Joe. "Twenty years back, there were nineteen men including myself and we thought we finally got him. We cornered it, but it retaliated. Luckily, I lost an eye. The only way to kill this thing is to chop off its head."
Suddenly, Spike and Gara lifted their heads up and gave out three barks.
"Judging by Gara and Spike, I believe they found their scent."
"It's them! Come on, girls," said Sunset, as she and everybody else followed Spike and Gara.
Mora finishes planting in a new flower that stood along with the other beautiful colored flowers that were in front of his cave.
"They're pretty, Mora," said Fluttershy, as she kneeled down beside him. "Did you plant these?"
"I did," said Mora. "They're my only companions."
"Really? You don't have anyone else to talk to?"
Mora didn't reply; he stood there silent. Fluttershy looks around Mora and sees yet again his bandages that covered his face, hands, and feet.
"Mora… could you tell me what happened to you?"
Mora looks back at Fluttershy and then back to the flowers.
"A long time ago, I never look like what you see before you," explained Mora. "I was once an ordinary person. I lived down by the sea with my papa and ma. One day, while I was walking along the beach, I found a tattered mermaid corpse. I heard rumors saying that if you eat mermaid flesh, you gain immortality. So I took it home and ate it in secret. Suddenly, I felt a horrible pain, as if my body was turning inside out. The pain was terrible, and then everything went blank. When I came to, everyone in the village was dead… including my ma and papa. I then heard a women screaming at me. I looked at my reflection in a barrel full of water and was terrified of what I had become. I was so scared that I ran and ran and ran. So I settled here in the everfree forest so that no one could see me, if they do they'd be scared."
Fluttershy rested her head against his right arm and patted it.
"You poor thing," said Fluttershy.
"Ever since then, I've been all alone. However, I was happy when I found you. You made me feel human again."
Suddenly, there was barking half a mile away. Fluttershy and Mora stood up.
"What is that?" asks Mora.
Fluttershy squints her eyes and sees Spike with another dog, the girls, and an old man who was pointing a shotgun at her and Mora.
Mora stands in front of Fluttershy, as the bullet went off. The bullet hits Mora on the shoulder, which made him groan in pain.
"We meet again, you monster!" shouted the old man, as he reloaded his weapon.
"Fluttershy! We and our new friend Joe with his dog Gara, are here are gonna save you!" shouted Pinkie.
Mora instantly grabs ahold of Fluttershy and carries her into the near the entrance of the cave.
"What are you doing, Mora?! Let go of me!" shouted Fluttershy, as she thrashes around between his arm.
Mora ignored her and smacked his arm against a pole that held a platform above them, which made rocks tumble and block the entrance.
"Damn it! He got away," shouted Joe in frustration.
"Is there another way in?" asks Sunset.
"There has too, come on!" said Joe, as the girls ran around towards the other entrance of the cave.
Mora continued to walk quickly away with Fluttershy in his arms to the other exit of the cave, even though there wasn't that much light in the cave to see much.
"Let go of me, Mora!" shouted Fluttershy. "Those girls were my friends!"
"Be quiet, Fluttershy!" demanded Mora, as he continued to walk forward with her thrashing around.
"There's no need to run away! Let go of me!"
Mora then stops and places Fluttershy on her feet.
"W-why? Why Fluttershy?" asks Mora, as he places his bandaged hands on her shoulders, "It's… it's because I'm ugly isn't it?"
Fluttershy looked up at Mora with a little of pity.
"Even though I may look like this… my heart… my heart is still the same!"
Mora releases his grip on Fluttershy's shoulders and slumps to his knees.
"Go back," said Mora, as tears began to make his vision blurry. "Go back… to your friends."
Fluttershy kneels down and places a hand on his shoulder, which made Mora flinch.
"Come with us," said Fluttershy. "We can take you home and make you feel human again. You may look different, but I can definitely see that you're still human."
"Human?" said Mora with surprise, as he turns his head towards Fluttershy who gave him a faint smile.
Suddenly, a light came in and it was none other than Joe holding onto both his shotgun and a lamp.
"Don't let him go back outside! He's a goddamn monster!" shouted Joe, as the girls, Spike, and Gara came in from behind Joe.
"Fluttershy! Stay away from that thing!" said Twilight.
"That thing is a killer!" said Sunset.
"He'll eat your flesh and grind your bones," said Pinkie.
"He'll eat your skin!" said Rarity.
"Come over here, Fluttershy," said Applejack.
"Come here," said Rainbow Dash.
"He's not a monster!" retorted Fluttershy, "He's-"
Fluttershy was cutoff from her footstep onto something that made a crunching sound. Joe lifted the lamp up higher and revealed to everyone the skeletons of Mora's kills.
"What?… what is all of this?" said Fluttershy with terror.
"He must be destroyed!" shouted Joe, as he points his gun towards Mora.
Mora covers his face and begins to quiver.
"Sometimes… my head doesn't feel right," said Mora with fear. "Everything goes foggy and I don't know what I'm doing anymore."
Joe pulls the trigger and hits Mora in the back of his right shoulder.
"STOP IT!" shouted Fluttershy, as she blocks Joe's way, "DON'T SHOOT HIM!"
"GET OUT OF THE WAY, YOU FOOL!" shouted Joe.
Suddenly, Mora begins to snarl behind FLuttershy. She turns around and sees that his eyes began to glow red.
"Get out of the way, Fluttershy!" shouts Sunset.
Mora stands up and pushes Fluttershy to the side. Mora begins to sprint, heading towards Joe.
Before Joe could make another shot, Mora lifts his right hand and slams him against the stone walls. Joe falls to the ground, as Mora runs past the girls and towards the exit.
"Joe! Are you hurt?!" said Rainbow Dash, as she runs up to him and held up his head.
"Get… him. He's getting away!" said Joe with pain, as Gara came up to lick his master's cheek.
Fluttershy runs past the girls, trying to catch up to Mora.
"Fluttershy, what are you doing?!" shouted Sunset, as she, Twilight, Pinkie, Applejack, Rarity, and Spike run after her.
"Here, Rainbow, take these," said Joe, as he pulls out a knife that was tapped to dynamite.
"What do you want me to do with these?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"Ignite it, throw it at big eyes, and he'll go boom," explained Joe, "you seem to be athletic and can finish the job."
"I won't fail you," said Rainbow Dash, as she takes it. "What about you?"
"Leave me here with Gara. We'll catch up as soon as possible. Now get going!"
Rainbow Dash stands up and runs up towards where the girls went.
"Mora! Stop running!" shouted Fluttershy, as she chases Mora out of the cave.
Mora turns around and swats Fluttershy, making her land on the ground.
"Why? Why would you do that?!" said Fluttershy with tears rolling down her face.
"Stand back!" said Rainbow Dash with the knife attached to a stick of dynamite.
Rainbow Dash threw it and lands onto Mora's shoulder with a boom.
"GRAHHHHHH!!!!" shouts Mora in pain.
"NO!" shouts Fluttershy, as she stands back up and run towards the fallen Mora.
As Fluttershy looks down at him, she notices the details. He had charcoal colored skin, long teeth, and notices that the bandages that were once covering up his hands and feet were claws. Fluttershy was so surprised that she took three steps back.
"I'm sorry, Missy, but he needs to die!" shouted Joe, as he limps toward Mora with a axe in his right hand.
"Where did you get that axe?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"I had it within my clothing. I just had this with me in case the dynamite didn't work," explained Joe, as he walks up towards Mora and lifts up the axe to give a deadly blow.
"Don't do it!" shouts Fluttershy.
Suddenly, Mora grabs Joe by the shirt and raises him high in the air, which makes Joe drop his axe. Fluttershy was shocked that she ran up to Mora and jumped onto his lifting arm.
"LET GO OF HIM, MORA! PLEASE!" shouted Fluttershy, as she and Joe were being thrashed back and forth.
Suddenly, Rainbow Dash picked up the axe as quick as she could and strikes Mora in the throat. Mora stops and falls to the ground, along with Joe and Fluttershy who fell along with him.
"JOE! FLUTTERSHY!" shouts the girls, as they ran up to them. "Are you two okay?"
"I'm fine. Just a little scratched up," said Fluttershy, as she stood up slowly.
"I'll live," said Joe after giving out a few coughs. "The good thing is that it's over."
Fluttershy looks over at the fallen Mora and slumps to her knees.
"He wasn't a monster… he was… my friend," said Fluttershy, as many tears rolled down her face. "He was so kind to me."
Suddenly, Mora lifts his head and looks straight into Fluttershy's eyes.
"Flut…ter…shy," said Mora, making Fluttershy gasp, "Flut…ter…shy."
She crawls toward Mora and held his head between her arms.
"There there," said Fluttershy, as tears dripped onto his dying face. "I'm right here."
"Flutter…Shy," said Mora, as the life in his eyes disappear.
The girls, Spike, Gara and Joe stood in a circle around Fluttershy and Mora.
"He became human again… before he died," said Sunset.
"It wasn't the axe that killed him," said Pinkie. "Twas beauty that killed the beast."
Everyone dropped their heads and had a moment of silence.
"Sleep Mora… the bad dream is over," said Fluttershy.
THE END
