Helltown is a town that got its name from a wicked and malevolent creature that lurked within it. Many thought of it as some sort of demon that was summoned as a result of rituals, others heard it had lived there long before the town itself even came to be. Either way, legends were passed from the tribes long ago to the settlers who came. With those legends however came a dark legacy that would forever haunt the area for generations to come.
It was coming up on Nightmare Night, as usual children were out to scare one another. Two individuals however were out to look for something they had heard of. Those two were the scared pegasus Fluttershy and the devious draconequus Discord.
“Are you sure this is safe to do?” Fluttershy whimpered as she peered into the forest of Helltown. Dense trees towered the area as a heavy foliage blocked out the moonlight. Stepping forward she listened to the dead silence.
“I’ll protect you, don’t worry.” Discord cooed, “Besides, it’s just a disgustingly horrible monster that seeks out the flesh of the living! Or in this case… the bones.”
“O-oh my…” Fluttershy began to cry, “I don’t know if I want to do this.” Stepping back she hid her tail between her legs. But suddenly a shriek filled the air and caused her to run to Discord, “What was that?!”
“Probably his next victim.” DIscord dead panned. “I bet he is getting the bones ripped from his flesh just as we speak. But I guess we should get moving, ey?”
Clutching him, Fluttershy whimpered as the draconequus began to walk into the forest. As the two made their way deeper in though, they began to notice a peculiar detail. Every few feet there seemed to be a stone buried halfway in the ground. On each stone was a “W” carved in.
“What do you think these are for?” Fluttershy asked with fear in her tone.
“Maybe markers? Perhaps telling us we are going West!” He spoke with pure certainty despite having no idea. “So.. West it is!” Deeper in they went.
That was until there was a shriek once more. Fluttershy stopped dead in her tracks as her feathers ruffled, “Another victim?!” She cowered.
Discord shook his head, “Just a bathroom break, you can’t kill all night.”
At this point Fluttershy had her hooves over her eyes, “I really don’t want to be here.” She cried. Discord placed the scared pegasus on his shoulders and continued on his way, a hint of worry filling his mind.
“You know i’ll protect you, right? I mean, obviously if anything it will go for the bigger meal.” He raised an arm, “What a treat when the beast learns I have no bones!” His arm went limp as it fell to the side. “Or fears!”
“But didn’t you get scared when I moved the couch last week and it squeaked?” Flutter asked curiously.
Discord rolled his eyes, “I was simply alert.” Moving branches out of his face he lit his finger on fire and looked around, surprisingly the leaves weren’t too dense here so he could somewhat see a clearing. Stepping ahead to where the light was beaming down, it became clear that there was a building of sorts up ahead.
“Maybe we can hide there for the night?” Fluttershy whispered as she flew off his shoulder and landed beside the metal door outside.
Discord looked over the door, “Well it looks to be abandoned, we should be fine.” Digging his claws into the side he pulled it open, but stopped at it began to creak with rust. “Welp, this definitely hasn’t been in use, but maybe we can find a room inside to huddle in?”
Fluttershy followed behind, “Why of course-” The shriek filled the air again. “But maybe we should look fast?” She began to shove Discord desperately.
At first the building didn’t seem like much. Five or six halls seemed to just end without any warning. Finally however, there was a breakthrough when the two found a conference room as the sign implied. Inside was chairs scattered about as if whoever was there left quickly, papers were all over and wedged in the tables.
Discord picked one up, “The Wendigo? That’s the name?” He smirked, “Doesn’t beat Draconequus!” He crumpled it up and threw it to the floor.
Fluttershy picked up one that had an image hastily drawn on it, “How.. horrifying…” Handing it to Discord he felt the hairs stand on his neck. The beast had an open ribcage as it stood bipedal. Large arms reached all the way down to the ground with huge claws. The face had gnarly fangs that poked out from the lips as two antlers draped what looked like severed skin. The whole beast was covered in what appeared like dry blood which matted the fur.
“Is that what shrieked? Well, let’s hope we don’t run into it!” He smiled. But the sound of the door opening up the hallway broke his joy.
“It’s coming isn’t it?!” Fluttershy prepared herself to run.
Discord shook his head, “Just stay calm Flutter Butter, We should head up the hall a bit while it’s still at some distance, we could maybe find a safer place to stay at.” Picking her up he quietly flew up the hall. Multiple rooms were left vacant, one had a poker game that was left halfway through. Another was a kitchen area with bowls and plates lying across the floor.
Passing a few rooms he presumed were just for sleeping, he came across a large safe of sorts. Looking up it stood what he assumed was 10 feet tall, a small pathway was to the left which lead behind. “Maybe we can hide in here.” Making his way around he found a small window on the wall side which was shattered. Only a wire mesh was left behind to hold in the shards. “Odd..” Leaning down he looked it over but Fluttershy began to push him again.
“I can hear it!” She cried to him. “It’s coming we need to hide!”
Grabbing Fluttershy he began to fly faster until the two arrived at the back of the safe, the lock was pushed out leaving a huge hole to sneak in. “Here, go and hide in the corner, i’ll stay in front of you incase it sneaks in.”
Huddling in her wings Discord listened as the monster was definitely on their trail. The sounds of claws scraped against the side of the safe as light hoof clops echoed. Occasionally it would stop and sniff the air before letting a ghostly howl and moving forward. Then, two claws grabbed onto the side of the hole.
Discord held his breath as he watched fearfully. First were the antlers which dripped of what he thought was the victim he mentioned. As the snout came through a broken bone fell to the floor and hit with a loud slam. Fluttershy gasped and the creature howled. Forcing its torn body through it dug its hands into the ground and slipped it, Discord covered his mouth.
The safe was filled with a musk as the Wendigo shook its head and growled. Almost like Discord and Flutter could smell their doom coming. The beast stood up and took a moment to look at the two before finally lunging, Discord took his tail and blocked it, causing the Wendigo to fall back and howl loudly. With the echo Discord could barely hear it getting back up. Grabbing a hold of Fluttershy he shoved her back through the hole then slipped though.
“This is the part where we run.” He said uneasily as he snatched up the pegasus and made his way back up the halls, all he could hear was the joint sound of their hearts beating as one. As he began to get closer and closer to the front door, a sudden smell of ash filled his nostrils. Skidding across the metal floor he stopped an inch from it and looked to Fluttershy.
Outside were voices. Did you see it? I heard it was lurking tonight. We should get a picture!
“You can’t be serious…” Fluttershy backed up, the Wendigo could be heard back in one of the halls creeping around.
Suddenly a devious idea came to mind, “Do you think we should give them what they want?” Discord asked with a grin.
Fluttershy wanted to disagree but with the sudden tension of being caught she simply nodded. “Hide me.” She bowed her head.
Peering about Discord played with the ceiling for a moment until he found a loose tile and slipped her in. “Stay quiet, my dear. You don’t want to really be butter.” Making sure she was secure, he closed the ceiling back up and vanished with a claw on the doorknob.
Sniffing filled the air as the Wendigo made its way closer. The arms dragged along the floor, clearly the beast was annoyed by the loss of prey. Occasionally it would stumble and slam its hooves into the floor causing a dent to form. When Discord thought it was close enough he pulled open the door.
Sudden bloodbath filled the creature’s eyes as it stopped sluggishly walking and began to run out the door followed by bloody screams. Shutting the door Discord placed his back to it and tried to shut out the noise. “Oops, did I do that?” He laughed uneasily as Fluttershy poked her head out from the ceiling.
The carnage seemed to last forever before a sudden silence broke the tension. But even when it was quiet the screams still echoed in Discord’s ears as he felt guilt. Fluttershy pushed him aside and peered out before shoving her face in his goat leg. He in return looked out for himself.
Blood coated the grass outside as three bodies were left scattered around. The Wendigo however was nowhere to be seen, which did make Discord feel a little better. That was, until he actually examined what it did. The bodies were almost as if they were empty, the bones were missing as blood slowly trickled out.
“My dear Fluttershy, I promise you I will never drag you here again.” He clasped his claws and shivered.
“It’s fine Discord.” She had an unnerving smile which made Discord look at her worried.
“Why is it… fine?” He asked.
“Because, silly.” She skipped by, “Didn’t you know, i’m friends with all animals? And the Wendigo spoke to me, he said you’re next.”
