Cheerilee, Lyra, and Applejack wave to the two incoming carriages full of ponies as they approached the campground. The colts and fillies filling them up were singing a happy and raucous song at the top of their lungs as they rolled along the packed dirt road. A large sign spanning the road spelled out “Camp Cutie Lake” in bold iron letters, and the carts erupted into cheering as they went under it, the foals as excited as the drivers that they had arrived at their destination.
“Well, How many was that? About 20, 25?” Cheerilee asked.
“Looked ta be about 30 t’me,” Applejack said.
“Oh dear. I don’t know if I can handle that many foals at once.” Lyra ran in place, anxiety plain on her face.
“You’ll be fine, Lyra. Bon Bon will help you out. You said she’s had experience working with foals before?” Cheerilee asked.
“Yeah, though she never explained where or in what capacity,” Lyra said.
“Well, I’m sure it will be just fine. If you get confused or can’t handle them, just let us know and we’ll come help you out,” Cheerilee said. “Now come on, we should go greet them with the rest of the counselors.”
The three ponies follow the carts to the meeting area where the campers were unloading themselves, and their luggage. Bon Bon and the three flower sisters, Daisy, Lily, and Roseluck, were all helping them and keeping the group under control as best they could. The foals were excited, and rightly so. Summer camp was beginning, and the camp had just been repaired and renovated for public use. It was brand new, and these foals would be the ponies to break it in. Cheerilee went to chat with Bon Bon, and check the attendance list.
“Alright fillies and colts, everypony please may I have your attention?” Cheerilee said.
The group stopped what they were doing and turned one by one to face Cheerilee. She remembered most of the faces before her, and most of them had seen her in school while growing up, so they knew better than to test her patience.
“I know you’re all very excited to be here, and I know you can’t wait to get started exploring, but first I need to take attendance and go over some of the camp rules,” Cheerilee said.
A collective groan went up from the audience.
“I know, but they’re for your safety. I’ll try to make it as quick as I can.” Cheerilee cleared her throat. “First, if you’re going out at night, check with your assigned counselor. They’ll accompany you. Never go out alone. It’s dark, wild, and you can easily get lost. Those pegasi who can fly already will have an easier time of it, but some of you can’t, and everypony can easily get lost.
“Second, don’t eat anything you don’t recognize without asking. Some plants are edible, but some are poisonous. We don’t want you getting poison joke. It’s not dangerous, but it can ruin your summer. There will be books on the local flora, and Daisy, Lily, or Roseluck will be happy to help you identify anything you don’t recognize.
“Third, while the lake is open for swimming, please make sure there is a lifeguard on duty before going in. The designated lifeguards are Bon Bon, Lyra, and Applejack.” Cheerilee pointed to each pony in turn. “Now, that is all I have to say, the rest of the events and rules for them will be explained as they come up. Please meet with Daisy, Lily, and Roseluck for your cabin assignments, and remember, you may not end up with your friends in their cabin, but if you ask nicely, we’ll try to accommodate you!” Cheerilee yelled the last part as the foals started scrambling to the flower sisters.
The foals all clamored around the flower sisters, getting their assigned bunks. There was, of course, complaints from several of them, but they were sorted out soon enough. She was sure that some of the foals wouldn’t be happy with the assignments still, and they’d have to keep an eye on them. The older ones especially. Summer camp, while fun, was always a place for experimenting away from their parents. This being a mixed camp, that made it all the more likely to happen.
Cheerilee sighed and watched the sisters get the foals organized. The groups moved out in three groups of ten, isolating the colts as well as they could manage from the fillies, and they all got them settled in. Cheerilee went to go check on Applejack and Lyra as they worked on supper.
The mess hall was big. It had to be to accommodate all the ponies that might show up. With only thirty foals, they’d have a lot of room, but they were a small operation. Other cities might have more, but Ponyville and Hollow Shades didn’t have huge populations, so there weren’t that many. Just thirty.
“How’s the chili coming along Applejack?” Cheerilee asked.
“Oh just right as apples Miss Cheerilee. We’ll have the sloppy joes ready in time for all of these colts and fillies to get themselves unpacked. Bon Bon’s getting’ the bonfire ready for tonight, so we can show ‘em all a good time before we try to make ‘em work on some skills tomorra’,” Applejack said.
“Excellent. Keep up the good work you two,” Cheerilee said.
She then went over to the campfire to see how Bon Bon was doing. The mare had a huge pile of wood ready, complete with tinder. All that would need to happen was a simple match and the whole thing would go up in flame. The foals would love it.
Satisfied that everything was set up and prepared for their first afternoon at camp, Cheerilee left to go manage the paperwork of each foal having arrived to make sure nopony was missing. The parents would want to hear that they all arrived safely. Her job was the dreary part, since she had been the one to repair the campground in the first place. Summer was dreary and empty for her, since there was no teaching to be done, so Cheerilee had gone the extra mile and made a summer camp. A fun bit of extra work.
Lily, Daisy, and Roseluck were having a bit of a tougher time of it. They had agreed to be the camp counselors in charge of each group of foals, and that left them with the job of wrangling the young things every day as they traveled about the camp.
Lily had gotten the youngest group, which was mixed into both fillies and colts, making up 14 of the foals. Daisy had the group of older fillies, constituting 8 ponies altogether, and that left Roseluck, with six older colts, who did not seem sad at all about their counselor. On the contrary, they were excited and were paying rapt attention to the mare, which was not unexpected, but could be troublesome if they got it into their heads to try to impress her.
“Alright fillies and colts, if you could follow us, we’ll give you a tour of the campground.” Roseluck waved to the groups and led the way, with her group following close behind her. “We’ll have many fun activities for you here at Camp Cutie Lake, and we’re hoping you’ll enjoy getting to know yourselves, your neighbours, and us. Every activity is designed to test you in different ways, and who knows! Maybe you’ll end up finding your cutie mark while you’re here!”
Lily spoke up as they passed a series of challenging poles, ropes, ladders, and other structures. “This is our obstacle course! While what you see down below is most of what we have, we do have some cloud structures above as well. While we don’t have a Pegasus counselor, you are still welcome to use them if you feel you’re strong enough to fly, but we do ask you to remain in sight of a counselor at all times.”
Daisy’s turn came up as they passed the lake itself. “The lake has been a fixture of the community for years, and while it has experienced difficulties in the past, Cheerilee put her all into cleaning it and preparing it and the surrounding area for us to use this summer, so be sure to thank her! There will be canoeing, swimming, and many other fun activities centered around the lake. Just make sure that Lyra, Bon Bon, or Applejack are near the lake when you swim, for your safety.”
As they came up to the mess hall, Roseluck turned around and addressed the group. “Now, does anypony have any questions?”
One pony raised his hoof. “Are you single?”
Sniggering filled the group of colts, while the fillies all rolled their eyes, and the younger foals mocked gagging.
“I am, but I’m afraid you’re just not my type,” Roseluck said.
“Ohhhhh!” The group laughed.
“Any other questions.” Roseluck scanned the groups for any other hooves. “Well, if not, welcome to the mess hall! Who’s hungry?”
A cheer went up from the crowd and they piled into the mess hall. Ponies chowed down and sat together in their little cliques and crowds, while the counselors had a small snack and watched. Somepony in the group spilled food on the table and the foals all sang a song and forced her to run in a circle around the mess hall for her screw-up. The flower sisters laughed at the fun and games.
After the dinner, they allowed the foals to explore the camp as they wished, with each counselor giving out explanations of what things were, and each one of them watching an area to make sure no accidents happened. Most of the colts went to the obstacle course to show off their skills to Roseluck, who had the misfortune of being stationed there. She just watched with a smile as they blew off their machismo, chiding them time and again to not hurt themselves as summer had just started.
Most of the fillies went to hear Lily talk about the plants they could find around the campground. The population was mostly earth ponies, so that was to be expected. Some of the youngest foals wanted to ride in the racing carriages the camp had, and Applejack was more than happy to oblige.
What was odd was that nopony except one small foal wanted to go swimming. Lyra was on lifeguard duty, so she watched the little colt as he paddled about in the shallow water, but she would have expected more of them to want to swim in the lake. It was summer, and the days were hot, so why was nopony interested?
The answer came when the night fell and the bonfires were lit. They provided some marshmallows for the foals to roast, and everypony was gathered into their groups, sitting near their designated counselor. Inevitably, it came time for ghost stories, and one of the older colts told the tale that had gotten the camp shut down so many years ago.
It was a sad story of a summer getaway just like this one, and the foals were all happy and cheerful, but one of the ponies was bullied by the rest, and thrown into the lake. The lifeguards on duty were off rubbing snouts in the woods, and they didn’t see or hear what was going on, and the foal drowned. Some say he still haunts the waters, looking to pull anypony under.
Cheerilee didn’t interrupt the story, even though she wanted to. It was all part of growing up, but she’d have to show them tomorrow that the water was safe to swim in or they’d go home traumatized. The rest of the bonfire was spent chatting in their little groups and eating marshmallows. There was only one crisis when come colt thought he’d try to impress Roseluck by eating marshmallow while it was still on fire. He got some marshmallow fluff stuck in his fur and had to be put out, but he was okay. Only a small burn.
When the fire was down to a small flame, the night was done and the flower sisters showed up with lanterns to guide the foals to their bunks, and Cheerilee, Lyra, Applejack, and Bon Bon were left to clean up the marshmallow and plastic mess. They all retired to their own bunks and slept peacefully until the morning.
The next day started early, with Applejack making sure everypony was wide awake by playing reveille on the roof of the counselor’s cabin. Many of the foals weren’t sure what was going on, and stumbled out of their cabins looking to see what was happening with sleep still in their eyes.
“Mornin’ y’all! Breakfast is waitin’ for y’all in the mess hall, but we got a big day ahead, so let’s not waste any sunshine! Yee-haw!” Applejack jumped off the bunk and marched over to the mess hall, with the flower sisters close behind.
After the initial shock of being woken up in such a strange manner, the day went off pretty clean. Breakfast picked up as time passed, with Applejack having supervised the creation of a big stack of flapjacks ahead of the reveille. Lyra and Bon Bon served them up, and before long the foals were bright-eyed and bushy-tailed once more.
After breakfast came the first big hike. Everypony came along on this one. With 28 foals to watch, losing sight of just one could be a catastrophe, so every counselor was on duty. Bon Bon lead the hike, with a talk about which plants were useful, which ones detrimental, and which ones were lethal. She explained the use of tree bark, shoots, roots, tubers, flowers, ferns, vines, and many more. Cheerilee didn’t know where she’d learned so much, but she was invaluable, and the foals were all enraptured by her speech and information. She made it easy to follow, which was helpful.
After the hike, it was time for lunch. Applejack had prepared it ahead of time, so mess hall was filled with ponies making delicious sandwiches, or partaking of some fruits and vegetables.
Following the light lunch, it was time for some fun games. Foals were given a choice of taking part in some hoofball, which was meant to attract the older crowd, or playing on the jungle gym and obstacle course, or go swimming.
Unfortunately, due to last night, only the same one foal wanted to go swimming. Lyra took the colt down to the water again and watched him swim as long as he wanted. He paddled around and splashed to his heart’s content. He didn’t look like he was getting bored, so she waded out into the water with him to see if he wanted to talk at all. Being alone like that must not be that great.
Lyra splashed out to the colt and sat down in the water nearby. “What’s your name little guy?”
“Wet Willy,” he said.
“A good name,” Lyra said. “What’s got you out here in the water?”
“I like water,” he said.
“I can see that. What do you like most about it?” She asked.
“It’s wet,” he said.
Lyra scrunched her face up in frustration. This colt did not want to talk at all. She satisfied herself with watching him play as he splashed, dug mud up and throw it, and generally just messed about in the water.
He didn’t seem to want to leave the shallow shore, so she waded a bit further out. If she was going to be in the water watching this kid, she was going to enjoy her own bit of swimming. She hit the spot where she had to start swimming, and she heard Wet Willy calling to her from the shoreline.
“If you go out that deep, Deep Cutter’s gonna get you,” he called.
Deep Cutter? Lyra wasn’t sure if that was the name of that pony from the ghost story about the lake from last night or not, but it must be or he wouldn’t have mentioned it.
“Deep Cutter is just a story, Wet Willy. He’s not real,” Lyra said.
“Yeah he is. I like swimming, but I’m not going to take chances. Not with Deep Cutter out there,” Wet Willy said.
“Look, I’ll prove it to you. I’ll swim all the way out to that buoy, and then come back,” Lyra said.
“Don’t do it, Miss Lyra,” Wet Willy said.
Lyra didn’t listen. She and Cheerilee had agreed that they needed to prove to the foals that there wasn’t anypony living in the lake, or the place would have a horrible reputation. She kicked her hooves and swam as hard as she could. The water split in front of her, and her powerful strokes took her out to deeper and deeper water. The buoy ahead of her grew in her vision, rocking back and forth in the gentle summer breeze. She smacked the buoy with a hoof, rocking it harder, and kicked off it as she swam back toward shore. She smiled in confidence, and looked beneath her at the deep water.
There was somepony staring up at her from below.
Lyra felt a chill go through her and screeched in fright. Her paddling became frenzied and she splashed for all she was worth for the shore. Wet Willy had left the water and was sitting on the pier watching her swim for her life. She felt something grab her rear hoof just as she reached the pier, she wrapped her forehooves around the ladder and felt the yanking intensify. She squealed in fright and held on for dear life as the tugging intensified, trying to drag her under. She felt something wrap under her armpits and yank as well, but she refused to let go of the ladder.
“Lyra, it’s okay, I gotcha,” Applejack said.
Lyra looked up, and the tugging on her hinds ceased. Lyra let Applejack help her out of the water and onto the pier, where she looked at her hind hooves for any sign of injury. She was whole, and well, and there didn’t seem to be anything wrong with her except for a piece of freshwater seaweed wrapped around her leg. She sighed and pulled it off.
There were teeth marks on her leg under where the seaweed had wrapped around it.
Pony teeth marks.
Lyra tried to cover it before Wet Willy could see, but he’d already noticed.
“I told you,” Wet Willy said. “He’s not gonna be happy you got away. I’m gonna go play on the jungle gym.”
Wet Willy turned and left, leaving Lyra and Applejack alone on the pier.
“What was all that about?” Applejack asked, checking the bite on Lyra’s leg.
“You remember that story the foals told last night? About the pony who drowned in the lake some years ago?” Lyra said.
“Yeah. Somethin’ about him still bein’ under the lake, ready to pull anypony under,” Applejack said.
“Well…” Lyra gestured to the teeth marks in her hind leg. They hadn’t broken the skin, but they were stark and obvious to anypony who looked. “…I think he just tried to grab me.”
“Lyra please. We don’t need any of the counselors to lend any credence to that tale of hogwash,” Applejack said.
“Well come on, Applejack, something tried to pull me under, and it had a pony’s teeth. Do you know of any fish that have pony teeth?” Lyra said. “I mean, just look!” She gestured to her leg and the bite mark on it.
Applejack sighed and looked at Lyra’s leg. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t want to believe that there was a pony lurking under the lake’s still surface. Ponies couldn’t hold their breath that long, and a unicorn sitting under there with a spell just to kill ponies was a bit out there, but not outside the realm of possibility. It was all a bit much for the honest pony to take in.
“I’ll get Bon Bon to help me out, and we’ll scour under the lake tomorrow. With two of us it should be safe. Don’t let any foals in the water until we’ve given it a look, but don’t tell them that this story is real, either!” Applejack said.
Lyra nodded and stood up. She limped back to the counselor’s cabin to clean her leg and wash it. She didn’t want to risk infection despite it not breaking the skin. She didn’t know where… whatever’s mouth had been.
The rest of the day was uneventful, filled with play, and fun, and a lot of colts trying to impress Roseluck on the obstacle course and in hoofball. There were no injuries, but plenty of fights among those colts who thought they were better. Roseluck’s sisters were less than amused, but they accepted it. They thought it was because Roseluck had red hair. There was no better explanation for why she got all the attention, but there wasn’t much point fussing about it.
Evening arrived and a new bonfire was lit. ingredients for s’mores were divvied out and everypony had a grand, sticky, and chocolatey time before bed.
Unbeknownst to any of the ponies at the bonfire, angry eyes watched them from the water’s edge. A dark and muddy form hunkered down on the shoreline, eyes reflecting the fire’s light. Nopony noticed, but the eyes watched as the counselors went back and forth around the groups, talking and laughing with the foals. The figured splashed sideways in the water, turning to watch the flower sisters approach with their lanterns. The figure’s eyes narrowed as they focused in on Roseluck, and with a bubbling growl, it disappeared back into the mud.
The foals were led to their cabins, and the rest of the counselors cleaned up the rubbish left behind. They cleaned the bonfire space, made sure the fire was out, and went back to their own bunks. The flower sisters returned shortly thereafter, and everypony was bedding down for the night.
Except one.
Roseluck laid awake in her bed. She’d gotten an anonymous message in her bed. It was from one of the older colts, no doubt. The message read; “Come to the pier after lights out. -A secret admirer.” She didn’t want to, and she had debated what to do about it. She could ignore it, and the colt would probably get the hint. But he might also think she hadn’t found the message and keep trying until he embarrassed himself in front of the rest of the foals and counselors in his misguided attempts to woo her.
No, it was best to talk to him and get the message across without any doubt. That way she could nip it in the bud before it could become something more obvious and detrimental, and he could move on to somepony closer to his own age.
Once Roseluck was sure everypony else was asleep, she slipped out of bed, tip-hoofed to the door, and sneaked outside, making her way through the moonlight to the pier. She couldn’t see anypony waiting for her, so she just stood on the wooden surface, waiting. She’d give him fifteen minutes.
Roseluck admired the lake in the moonlight. The surface was a mirror’s surface under the stars, and the faint sound of the wind, combined with night creatures calling in the darkness as they communicated matters both deadly and harmonious, made the night almost perfect. She would have to come back out here when a colt wasn’t about to confess his love to her. And with him half her age! He had guts, she’d give him that.
She stood on the edge of the pier and looked down into the dark waters. She thought she saw something down there in the darkness. Fish swimming about, most likely. She tried to imagine what kind of fish it was. In this lake, maybe a pike? She couldn’t tell.
A voice called to her from the shore. “Roseluck? You actually came! They told me you wouldn’t, but I knew you would! You’re just too perfect to ignore a love letter.”
“Okay, listen, before you go any further…” Roseluck felt something grab her hind hoof and yank, and she fell into the water, disappearing under the lake’s surface.
Roseluck couldn’t tell what had grabbed her. The water was too dark, and it felt like there were multiple things wrapped around her limbs. She felt a stinging on her leg where the thing had grabbed her, and she was confident she was bleeding. She heard muffled yelling, and tried to swim upward, or the direction she thought was upward, but the thing held her fast, preventing her from moving. She saw a hoof above her, and grabbed for it. She grasped it and held as tight as she could, but the thing underwater that held her was far stronger then the poor colt on the dock. He couldn’t hold on, and Roseluck’s hoof slipped out of his grip, and the moonlight up above grew dimmer and dimmer as Roseluck disappeared underwater, something holding fast to her as her lungs finally gave out.
The next day was a flurry of emotions and activity. Cheerilee oversaw a subdued breakfast, while Applejack ran to the next town to fetch carriages to get the police and carriages to send the foals home. Nopony wanted to say anything or do anything, and the flower sisters were inconsolable. They spent the day in their cabin, weeping over the loss of their sister. All of the foals were sitting quietly in the mess hall, picking at their food and playing board games or other amusing games to keep themselves busy while they waited for the carriage.
Lyra and Bon Bon had offered to go investigate the lake, and maybe try to dredge it for her body. Cheerilee had expressly forbade them from going or onto the lake until the police arrived. The colt who had seen her go under, who went by the name of Dressy Shoes, had insisted, time and again, that it was a pony who had grabbed her. The pony, he said, had long and muscular legs, a misshapen skull, and had something on his head. Dressy hadn’t been able to see much of the thing underwater, especially with Roseluck’s body in the way, but the thing had surfaced once to scream at him, which is when he had let go.
Cheerilee was satisfied with the explanation, and the poor colt was clearly traumatized, but if this was Deep Cutter from the story, then why had he decided to show himself now? If it was the foals, this was going to get very dangerous, very quick. But then why had he attacked Roseluck? Cheerilee couldn’t make sense of it, and that was what worried her the most. A murderer without an obvious motive was dangerous. She satisfied herself with working on breakfast and keeping the foals entertained while they waited. Nopony was alone out there, so all they could do was wait for Applejack to return.
Daisy and Lily were crying in their room, hugging each other tight. They had long since failed to produce any more tears, and were just heaving with dry sobs as they tried to reign in their emotions. Roseluck had been their sister their whole lives, and they had all worked together as a team to sell their flowers. They had been inseparable. Roseluck was the mare the stallions all came to see, and she would sell them a rose. Then as the stallion turned to leave, Daisy and Lily would swoop in and badger the poor colt to buy more flowers to complement the rose she had sold him. Roseluck would agree that it would be flattering, and he would buy it just to please her. Now they had lost a sister, a business partner, and a friend all at once, and they couldn’t even find the body. They sobbed and sniffled, trying to get over it, when they heard a stomping and cracking sound outside the cabin.
They both went silent.
When they stopped making sound, the hoofsteps outside did as well.
“What was that?” Daisy said, her voice low.
The crackling moved a small amount. The bushes outside moved and shuffled with whatever was out there.
“I don’t know, but I don’t trust it,” Lily whispered.
The hoofsteps moved again, and this time it sounded like they were coming from outside the wall they were leaning against. The two mares pulled away from the wall, staring at it with wide eyes. Their heartbeats were loud in their ears as the bed creaked underneath them, and the rustling sound from outside got even louder.
It stopped outside their wall, and the two remaining sisters clung to each other, waiting for some other indication that the sound had moved on.
A metal hook on a long pole crashed through the wooden wall, splinters flying toward the sisters. They screamed in terror as the pole speared through, came close to their faces, then ripped back outside.
An eye peered in the hole the pole had made, taking in the state of the room and the sisters. It pulled away and hoofsteps started moving to the front and only door into the cabin. Daisy and Lily screamed and bolted for the entrance, realizing the intent. They ran for the door, with Lily the first one out. Daisy followed close behind, and they both turned to see the thing that had attacked them.
It was a stallion, of that they were certain. He was taller than average, with wiry muscle and a sack covering his eye. Two eyeholes were cut into the sack at different heights, and he was holding the pole he had stabbed through the cabin wall in his teeth as he advanced on them at a slow but inexorable pace.
Lilly and Daisy bolted, aiming to head for the mess hall where the rest of the ponies were holed up, but Daisy felt something stab into her hind leg. It pulled her to the ground, and she started sliding back toward the stallion following them.
“Ahhh! Lily, help!” Daisy cried.
Lily spun about to see her sister, the boathook embedded in her leg as the stallion yanked her toward him. Lily ran back and grabbed her sister’s forehooves, trying to pull her away. He made no sound as he pulled, far stronger than the two of them, but he yanked harder, and Daisy’s flesh tore as the hook came loose, carrying a chunk of her flesh with it. Daisy screamed as she was freed, and Lily yanked her to her hooves. She helped support her sister as they made for the mess hall, Daisy leaving a trail of blood behind her.
Lily chanced a look behind as the stallion pulled the chunk of flesh off the hook and tossed it to the side. He put the hook back in his teeth and started walking after them, not running as she might have expected. Still, he was keeping up with them, not losing much ground as the two sisters hobbled away.
Daisy and Lily hobbled toward the mess hall, the wide-open windows and doors calling to them as the stallion behind them kept up his pursuit. They started screaming for help, and a crowd gathered at the doors to see what the commotion was about.
Cheerilee pushed through the crowd to see what was happening, and gasped, then immediately rushed out to help carry Daisy into the hall.
“Quickly, children, lock all the doors! Even the ones in the back, and stay away from any entrances! Quickly! Quickly!” Cheerilee yelled.
Some of the older colts rushed away from the group and went to lock all other doors and windows, and as soon as Cheerilee, Lily and Daisy were inside, everypony slammed the large double doors and locked them. Cheerilee brought several benches and tables up to the doors and slammed them up against it, barring it as well as she could manage.
Crying foals were all over, and Cheerilee brought everypony into the middle of the room while she checked the other doors and brought out a first aid kit. She began bandaging Daisy’s wounded leg while asking colts about the other doors.
“The windows are higher than a normal pony can reach, so I don’t think he’ll come in there,” Cheerilee said.
“He has that hook, though,” a colt said.
“Yeah, but Deep Cutter isn’t a unicorn, he’s an earth pony,” another one said.
“That’s not Deep Cutter,” a filly said.
“Of course it is, why else would he attack us?” a colt said.
“Was he the one who drowned Roseluck?” somepony asked.
“Yeah, she was too pretty and he was jealous,” another pony said.
“No, she got grabbed by an octopus,” somepony answered.
“Octopuses don’t live in lakes,” somepony said.
“Octopi.”
“Is he gonna break in?”
“No, the doors are too solid. He’d need something bigger.”
“What’re we gonna do?”
“Is Applejack back with the police?”
“Who’s out there? I wanna go home!”
“Everypony quiet!” Cheerilee yelled.
The ponies all quieted down and looked to her.
“Now I know we’re all scared, but we have all the doors locked, and the windows are high up. He hasn’t gotten in yet, and I don’t think he will, but we need to remain calm,” Cheerilee said. “I need you all to listen to me and do exactly as I say when I say it, understand?”
They nodded.
“Good, now I don’t know who’s out there, and I don’t know what they want, but they’ve hurt Daisy, and they may or may not have been the one who attacked Roseluck. The problem we have now, is that Lyra and Bon Bon are out there, and they don’t know that he’s dangerous. I need to go out and warn them,” Cheerilee said.
“No, you can’t! It’s too dangerous!” somepony said.
“I can, and I must, or his victims will grow. Lily, I need you to lock the door behind me when I go, and make sure everypony stays in the center of the room at all times. Gather anything you need from the kitchen to defends yourselves if necessary, but make sure everything stays locked. Only open the door for Applejack, Lyra, Bon Bon, or myself, and make sure you hear their voice before opening the door, okay?”
Lily and Daisy both nodded.
“Okay, Cheerilee, but take something to defend yourself with, okay?” Lily said.
Cheerilee went into the kitchen, with Lily following behind her once Daisy was set on a bench. Cheerilee looked for the kitchen utensils, finding a drawer full of knives and other implements. She grabbed a wicked looking chef’s knife herself, and Lily grabbed the rest and began divvying them out among the older foals. Once all the dangerous kitchen tools were divided up, Lily took a cleaver for herself, and joined Cheerilee at one of the rear doors.
Cheerilee stood behind the door and cracked it open. When nothing happened, she swung it wide. When still nothing happened, she finally peeked around the door outside into the woods. There didn’t appear to be anything, and there was no noise, so Cheerilee decided that was going to have to be good enough. She slipped out of the mess hall, across the open ground and into the woods. She waved to Lily once she was hidden in the underbrush, and Lily waved back, then shut the door and locked it, sealing herself and the foals inside the building once again.
Cheerilee crept away through the trees, keeping herself as inconspicuous as she could. She tried to avoid as many branches as possible, and kept her knife at the ready in her right hoof. It made walking slow, but rushing wouldn’t be safe, so that was fine. She just needed to find Lyra and Bon Bon and let them know there was a killer about. They said they were going to try to dredge the lake where Roseluck had gone under to see if they could recover the body. That meant they were armed with implements similar to the hook Deep Cutter had been carrying, if the pony was indeed Deep Cutter. At this point Cheerilee didn’t care. He was a danger to them all, and they needed to be protected from him.
She skulked through the woods toward the pier, and crested the hill that led down to the pier itself. She tried to spot Lyra and Bon Bon as she went, but was unable to see any mint green or cream colour. They had started at the pier, but if they hadn’t managed to find her body there, they would have moved a bit down the shoreline. But which direction? She had to choose, so she went to the right of herself, hoping to see some sign of them.
Lyra and Bon Bon stuck their hooks into the deep and murky waters ahead of them. Cheerilee had forbade them from going out into the lake any deeper than their fetlocks, which stunted Bon Bon’s ability to help, and wasn’t going to give them much luck in dredging up a body that had sunk to the bottom further out. Still, they owed it to Roseluck to try until the police arrived.
“So, do you think it was Deep Cutter, like the foals claim?” Lyra asked.
Bon Bon sighed yet again. They’d had this conversation several times since they had begun dredging, and it hadn’t changed yet. Lyra was obsessed with finding out if the ghost story was true or not. She seemed almost excited about it.
“No, Lyra, I do not,” Bon Bon said. “ If it is a pony and not just bad luck on Roseluck’s part in getting dragged under by an anim, then I think it’s a pony who is taking advantage of the ghost story to get away with murder, and have it be blamed on the phantom in the ghost story instead of him or her self.”
“I’m just saying, maybe it’s magic,” Lyra said.
“I know, you’ve said it multiple times, but magic can’t bring ponies back from the dead. That foal in the story died, what, twenty years ago? Surely somepony would have noticed them coming back,” Bon Bon said.
“But what if it’s—“ Lyra stopped as Bon Bon raised a hoof to cut her off.
Bon Bon’s eyes narrowed and her ears twitched, swiveling on her head to try to pinpoint some sound she had heard.
“Get out of the water,” Bon Bon said.
Lyra didn’t hesitate and moved out of the shallows up to the muddy bank with Bon Bon close behind her. Lyra knew her well enough to know that something was out of place, and Bon Bon meant to defend the both of them with her life.
“Move back toward the mess hall slowly, and keep your boathook at the ready. Somepony is watching us, and trying not to be seen. I don’t know if they mean us harm, but if they didn’t, then why are they hiding?” Bon Bon said.
Lyra and Bon Bon walked up the shore to the main path that led back to the mess hall. Unfortunately, it narrowed further ahead, putting them within reach of the woods on either side. The alternative was to walk along the shoreline, but the water was dangerous as well, as whatever had pulled Roseluck under might still be there. Bon Bon didn’t know if it was the thing that had taken Roseluck watching them or not, but there was no safety in giving it the benefit of the doubt.
They walked along the path for a short distance, but were stopped short when they saw that one of the boats had been dragged from the shore and placed sideways along the path, forcing them to either climb over it or go around it into the woods. Neither option was safe, since they couldn’t see through it to find if a pony was hiding behind it.
“What do we do, Bon Bon?” Lyra asked.
Bon Bon’s ears were still flicking about as she tried to pick up some noise besides themselves. “We may have to wait. This pony means us harm, and is looking to put us in a position that is advantageous to them. The tricky part is, I don’t know if they’re still here anymore or not. If they’re here, they’re not attacking anypony else, but if they’re not here, then we’re stuck here unable to help everypony while we debate. But where is the pony that is threatening us?”
Bon Bon hefted her boathook and pointed at the boat straight ahead, motioning with her head. Lyra nodded, hefted her boathook with her magic, and shot it straight forward through the hull, to sink into something on the other side with a satisfying SHUCK!
Lyra tried to pull her hook back out, but a hoof grabbed it before it could slip out of the wood. Her horn glowed brighter as she yanked on it, sliding the boat toward them a bit, but she couldn’t pull it free. There was a thumping sound, and the boat blocking their path split in two with a horrifying CRUNCH, leaving them looking at Deep Cutter himself, with the boathook stuck into his right shoulder. He had grabbed onto it with his left hoof and was holding it tight, unwilling to let Lyra steal it back from him.
“Lyra, stop pulling and push instead!” Bon Bon said.
Lyra tried to push it deeper into his flesh, but only made it an inch or so before he managed to prevent it from moving again. “He’s not letting me, Bon Bon, he’s incredibly strong!”
“Grab him directly, then!” Bon Bon said.
Lyra let go of the hook and wrapped Deep Cutter in magic, then began lifting him off the ground. He looked confused for a moment, then focused his eyes on Lyra herself. Without even so much as a grunt, he ripped the boathook out of his shoulder, and hurled it at Lyra. Bon Bon’s hoof flashed out kicked it away, sending it spinning into the woods, but Lyra still flinched. Her magic winked out.
Deep Cutter lifted one half of the boat and chucked it in their direction. Bon Bon grabbed Lyra and dove into the trees. The boat splintered and slid along the path, crashing into trees. Deep Cutter grabbed the other half of the boat and hurled it at their new hiding place. The boat impacted the tree they were behind, sending a shower of leaves and seeds down on top of them. Bon Bon pulled Lyra to the side just as Deep Cutter’s other boathook speared the ground where she had been standing.
“He used the boat as a distraction. I’m not sure if he’s smart or just clever. Either way, he’s strong,” Bon Bon said.
Bon Bon pulled Lyra further into the woods, looking behind her as Deep Cutter walked up to his boathook and pulled it out of the dirt. He turned toward them and started casually walking in their direction again, hefting the spear in his right hoof.
“What does he want? Why is he doing this?” Lyra said.
“I think he just wants to kill us. Why is a moot question,” Bon Bon said.
Deep Cutter crashed through the underbrush, walking in as straight a line as possible toward them. Bon Bon motioned to the branches above as they hurried through the bushes themselves, and Lyra nodded.
They stopped for a moment, Lyra’s horn glowing. Deep Cutter didn’t hesitate or even seem to think about it as he plowed forward. Lyra’s horn flared and the sound of splintering wood came from above as she yanked a heavy branch down from the thicket above him, onto Deep Cutter’s head. He crumpled under the impact, and dropped his hook, which Bon Bon Bounded forward to snag. To her surprise, however, he wasn’t unconscious. He still had a firm grip on his boathook, and yanked it to himself, using his other hoof to bear hug her.
Bon Bon felt the air squeezed out of her as his hoof crushed her. She used every trick in her considerable book to try to get him to let go. She chopped at the vulnerable spot on his neck, but he didn’t react to it at all. She smashed her hooves into his temples, but he didn’t react to that either. She tried to jab his eyes, but he headbutted her in the muzzle, breaking her nose and dazing her. She couldn’t breathe, and she felt her ribs cracking under the pressure of his grip. Spots started to appear before her eyes, until she heard a THUK, and his grip loosened.
Bon Bon fell to the ground, and pain shot through her as she landed. Multiple ribs were broken, and her breathing sounded wet. She wasn’t sure if that was from the blood in her nose, or if she had a punctured lung, but it was bad. Lyra grabbed her hoof and yanked her to her hooves.
“Bon Bon! We have to go! He’s still moving!” Lyra shouted.
Bon Bon turned to look at Deep Cutter. The boathook Bon Bon had dropped when he grabbed her was sticking through his head, and one of his hooves was pulling it out of his skull.
“That… that shouldn’t be possible,” Bon Bon said.
“He’s bad magic, Bon Bon, come on!” Lyra said.
Bon Bon struggled to her hooves, and they started shuffling out of the forest, Lyra supporting Bon Bon as they went. Bon Bon was struggling to breathe well, but she kept an eye behind them as they moved on. Just as he disappeared behind the trees, Bon Bon saw the hook being pulled fully through his head, and he looked in her direction. She felt a horrible chill as her sight of him was lost. She felt more vulnerable now than when she had been right next to him. Now she didn’t know where he was, and that was horrifying.
Their path led them to the main area of the campground, and the mess hall was just ahead. There was a huge section of open landscape, and it felt unsafe, but there was no way around it that was as quick as straight ahead. They would have to pass through more forest if they wanted to sneak around, and that would cost them time. Time he could catch up to them. There was nothing for it but to run across the open ground. Bon Bon’s breath rattled in her throat, every inhalation causing her pain. Applejack was supposed to be coming with police. They should have medical staff with them.
Lyra dragged Bon Bon closer to the mess hall. She began shouting for help. Cheerilee had said she was going to be waiting in the mess hall with the foals until Applejack showed up, so they must still be inside if Applejack wasn’t there yet.
“Help! Somepony open the door for me! Bon Bon’s hurt!” Lyra yelled.
The door stayed shut, and Lyra continued hustling for the door, Bon Bon groaning beside her when her breath wasn’t whistling. Lyra trudges as fast as she can go closer and closer to the door. A strange whistling sound came from behind and started to turn and look. Bon Bon’s eyes went wide and she shoved Lyra to the side. A boathook landed with a THUK in the ground where Lyra had been standing.
Without Lyra’s support, Bon Bon fell to the ground, grimacing in pain and clutching her hooves to her chest. A second whistling came from the direction of the forest they’d left. Lyra looked up to see the second boathook coming down toward Bon Bon.
In a flash, her horn lit up and snagged it right out of the air. She turned it back around and launched it toward Deep Cutter. He let it hit him in the chest, and ripped it back out, then prepared to toss it again.
“Bon Bon get up, my magic can’t take him, and I can’t think of a good way to stop him,” Lyra said.
Bon Bon coughed, but pulled herself up to her hooves, and limped off toward the still-closed door. Lyra lifted the other boathook off the ground and brandished it in Deep Cutter’s direction. He seemed unaffected by her threat, and the hole in his chest didn’t seem to slow him down in the least. Lyra followed after Bon Bon, putting herself between her and Deep Cutter, while watching him for any signs of attack.
“Open the door, please! Bon Bon’s hurt and somepony is attacking us out here! We need in, please!” Lyra yelled.
They had reached the doors but they still weren’t open. Lyra could hear commotion behind them and some sort of movement, but the doors weren’t opening at all. She pounded on the door with a hoof.
“Open the doors, please! He’s injured Bon Bon! Let us inside!” Lyra shouted.
“No way! You’ll let the monster in!” somepony shouted.
What? The foals had gotten too scared or something, and now they weren’t letting them in.
“Where’s Cheerilee?” Lyra shouted.
“She went looking for YOU! If you were actually Lyra, you’d know that!” somepony said.
“I couldn’t know that if she never found me! Open this door right now!” Lyra said.
There was no further response. Lyra turned around to look, and Deep Cutter was much closer. Only a short distance of a walk and he would be on top of them. Lyra looked at Bon Bon and back at Deep Cutter, then up at the window above them.
“I’m sorry Bon Bon.” Lyra kissed her on her broken nose, lit her horn, and lifted Bon Bon up into the air, she tossed her at the window, and just as glass broke, she saw a boathook go flying in the window after her. Her horn winked out and there was a wet THUK, then screaming from inside the mess hall.
Lyra’s blood went cold.
She turned to look at Deep Cutter, who didn’t show any sense of satisfaction, remorse, glee, or pity. The blood-stained sack on his face didn’t betray anything that was going on inside his head, but he advanced toward her.
Lyra’s vision went black at the edges, and her horn blazed, she lifted the remaining boathook and launched it at Deep Cutter, a small CRACK accompanying the speed at which it sailed. It impacted Deep Cutter, and ripped into his torso. He staggered in place.
“You absolute BASTARD!” Lyra shouted.
She ripped the boathook out of his chest, then stabbed it back into him again from a different angle. His hooves flailed at the location he was expecting the hook, but she didn’t let up. He was covered in holes and blood, and Lyra still kept the hook stabbing into him. He dropped to his knees, reaching out at the hook with both forehooves. He tried time and again, but Lyra’s fury was unrelenting. Finally, he stopped moving. Lyra stabbed the hook into his chest and held it there.
“I don’t trust you, mister,” Lyra said. “I stabbed you in the skull once, you should be dead by now. I’m not going to take my eyes off you for one second until I’m absolutely sure.”
Lyra watched him as he bled. It was thick, dark brown, and seemed more like syrup than actual blood, but it leaked out of him just the same. She kept watch, waiting for some sign of life. If he never died, then what could even be done with him? That was quite the pickle. How would they even transport him anywhere? This was a job for better unicorns than herself.
She kept him pinned, and kept her magic on the hook. The mess hall had gone silent, but she was sure they were still in there, scared stiff. She didn’t know what had happened to Lily or Daisy, but Cheerilee was missing. She could be dead, but Lyra would worry about that later. She had this guy down, and she needed to keep him that way. If he was working alone, he couldn’t hurt anypony else while she held him.
She saw a hoof twitch, and gasped in surprise. She tried to rip the hook out, but his hooves both flew up and latched onto it, preventing her from pulling it out.
“What even the Tartarus are you?” Lyra cried.
Lyra tugged at the hook, but Deep Cutter’s grip was not weakened by his wounds. He held the hook inside his body as he pulled himself back to a standing position. Lyra’s magic couldn’t budge the weapon as she pulled, pushed, and even tried to twist it. Now that he had a grip, he wasn’t letting go for anything.
Once he was standing, Deep Cutter pulled the hook out of his chest himself. Lyra’s magic didn’t seem to be able to control the hook at all, and she let go. He was very close to her now. She turned to the left and made to run for it, but he stabbed out with the hook, blocking her path. She turned back the other direction and tried to run that way, but the hook once again came stabbing past her face into the stone wall of the mess hall. She turned to look at him and tried to lift him into the air with her magic, but as soon as her horn lit up he wrapped the hook around it and yanked down, slamming her head into the ground. Dazed, Lyra tried to get back up, but he grabbed her horn and dragged her over to the door to the mess hall.
Lyra struggled in his grip, but was unable to break free or even cast any magic. She was lifted up and pressed against the door. He made no sound as he lifted the hook, and stabbed her in the gut with hook. She choked as the tool speared through her insides, and felt something liquid dribbling out of her mouth. Blood poured out of her wound as he stabbed her again, then again, then again. Lyra stopped breathing after the fourth of fifth stab, but Deep Cutter kept going, ripping chunks out of her flesh with every stab. The door couldn’t stand up to the onslaught, and it splintered and tore, until it eventually fell inward.
Behind the door, hidden and hoping to be ignored, the foals cowered as far away from the door as they could. Daisy and Lily were tied up in another corner, and there were three colts holding kitchen knives that were standing in front of the group. Bon Bon’s body was lying in the middle of the room with the boathook through her torso, and most of the foals were crying.
Deep Cutter slowly advanced into the room. He went first for the other boathook and yanked it out of Bon Bon, to the accompanying cries and intensified weeping of many foals. He looked around the room, first at the foals, then over at Lily and Daisy. He stomped over to the older mares, tied up and helpless, then nonchalantly stabbed both of them. He alternated hooves as he stabbed one, then the other, multiple times. He picked up Lily with one of the hooks, and tossed her limp and bloody corpse at the crowded foals. They spread apart in a panic as her body landed in their midst. Some of the foals were pushed in his direction by their neighbours, and he raised a hook to attack.
A kitchen knife buried itself in the back of his skull, sprouting out one of his eye sockets. Cheerilee bucked him to the side and motioned to the foals.
“Everypony outside, now! Now now now!” Cheerilee yelled.
The foals only hesitated a little before bolting for the collapsed door. Some were far too distraught to run, and Cheerilee picked them up and hoofed them off to older foals.
“Carry anypony who’s too scared or weak to move! Do it! You’re older than them, take care of them!” Cheerilee said.
Cheerilee pulled the knife out of Deep Cutter’s head, then stabbed it into his neck, severing his spinal column. His head was moving, but his limbs were limp.
“I’ll follow after you in a moment, hurry outside, Applejack is coming down the road. Get on the carriage and go immediately,” Cheerilee said.
With the knife stuck in his neck, Cheerilee dragged his body into the kitchen. She stuffed him into the brick oven, and latched the door shut. The coals in the furnace below were still warm from breakfast, and with a little coaxing, she got it going again. Once the flames were licking at the wood, she added more to the fire pit, eager to see it blazing hot as soon as possible. Once she was satisfied it wasn’t going to go out anytime soon, she closed the furnace door and followed the foals outside.
Applejack was there with two members of the police, and the carriage drivers from before. The foals had all piled in, most of them still sobbing and wailing in fright. The police were looking around in disbelief at the scene, but were trying to make sure all the foals were accounted for.
“Alright, you’re miss Cheerilee? How many foals came to camp,” the officer asked.
“Twenty-eight,” Cheerilee said.
“That’s all of them, then. Both of you, please accompany my partner back to the station. He’ll get more officers out here as soon as he knows you’re all safe,” the officer said.
Cheerilee didn’t argue. She climbed in the carriage, sat down and hugged as many foals as she could. Applejack did the same in the other one, and they both watched the camp disappear behind them. Cheerilee took little comfort in knowing the foals had escaped with their lives. Many lives had been lost, and the foals would carry these emotional scars for the rest of their lives. She only hoped nopony else would ever have to deal with what they had been put through. She looked at the smoke rising over the campground, and prayed she was right.
The officer left behind at camp surveyed the scene with a tight-lipped grimace. The wounds on the deceased, the trail of blood, and the bloody boathooks indicated a pony who was utterly unstable. The perpetrator had been causing injury just to cause injury, and didn’t want anything else other than for them to die. It was a small comfort that he had targeted the counselors first, and the foals only afterward.
He shook his head and followed another trail of blood into the kitchen. The fire was roaring in the furnace under the oven, and the door was latched shut.
“Oh, dear Celestia. There better not be a body in here,” he said.
He unlatched the door and opened the oven, stepping back from the heat that poured out. There was indeed a body inside the oven, and a hoof stabbed outward, holding a red-hot knife. It stabbed into the officer’s throat and slid easily through his flesh to the side, opening his jugular. He fell to the floor, choking on his own blood as the blackened pony pulled itself out of the oven and down to the floor. Flakes of burnt flesh sloughed off him, revealing stark red flesh underneath.
Deep Cutter stomped on the officer’s skull for good measure, then walked back out to the main room. He grabbed his boathook from the floor and stepped outside. He walked out to look at the road leading away from camp, then turned toward the lake. He walked into the water, and disappeared underneath, giving the shoreline one last look before the surface closed over his head.
The End.
