The Ponyville Aberration

by Rinderin

Chapters

Chapter 1: Lusus Naturae
Chapter 2: Miscreation
Chapter 3: Evisceration
Chapter 4: Coagulation
Chapter 5: Abomination
Chapter 6: Ad Mortem
Chapter 7: Aberration (Part 1)

Chapter 1: Lusus Naturae

Lusus Naturae

a deformed person or thing;

freak.

'I can't forget it. The screaming, I mean.'

'How so?'

'I… I hear it at night when I’m in bed. It’s like some kind of horrible orchestra right outside my bedroom door.'

Dr. Blot Hermane reclined slightly in his rustic, burgundy chair, an inaudible sigh escaping his lips. His client, a disheveled magenta mare by the name of Cheerilee sat across him, her once lively emerald eyes bloodshot and puffy. She"d been witness to perhaps Ponyville’s greatest tragedy in recent memory; The Ponyville Schoolhouse Burning as it was dubbed by the townsponies. While unclear to the Ponyville authorities as to what exactly caused the fire, Cheerilee practically labelled herself as the arsonist.

'Cheerilee, you need to understand that you couldn’t have possibly stopped the fire. By the time anypony noticed the smoke that morning…' Blot decided not finish the sentence, noticing the tears fighting their way out the corner of Cheerilee’s eyes.

'It’s not about stopping the fire, doctor,' Cheerilee choked out through her tears. 'It’s about the what ifs. What if I started it somehow? A loose paper in the wrong place, a candle I forgot to put out. I left them alone, doctor. I. Left. Them.’ She buried her face into her hooves and openly cried out in the office.

Blot carefully repositioned himself, sagging his torso slightly and relaxing his forelegs. He loosened his shoulders and his facial expression, mustering a soft smile. Sympathetic, open and caring but above all:

Understanding. He thought.

He let the school-mare cry. Something he’d learnt over his years as a private therapist; expression is almost always better than suppression. The sooner she accepted what had happened and that she wasn’t responsible, the better.

Rays of light from a nearby window illuminated Cheerilee as she wept, drenching Blot’s oaken desk in light. Every aspect of his office’s decor had been hoof-picked. Cozy (yet tasteful) furniture, soft carpeting, unimposing bookcases, plenty of windows.

Presentation is everything.

Even the doctor’s appearance had been finely crafted and tuned for his clients. Clean, side-combed burgundy mane. Well washed, precisely trimmed pristine white coat. His bright, turquoise eyes almost seemed to shine from their sockets. Had he possessed a horn or wings, they too would have been well shined and plucked respectfully. He practically screamed ‘clean’. Being well kept felt almost like an obligation.

Lead by example.

‘The fire is in the past Cheerilee,’ Blot started, after Cheerilee’s cries and sniffles seemed to wind down. ‘Agonizing over what might have happened isn’t the way forward. Nopony blames you for what happened. You were out of that classroom for barely half an hour.

‘I want you to spend time with the ponies closest to you this week. Be it your coltfriend, family, friends or otherwise; lend their strength and love, it’ll help you come to terms with what happened. I’d like to see you again, the same time next week, as usual.’ he finished, calmly rising from his seat.

‘What if they don’t want to see me?’ Cheerilee whispered.

Blot circled with practiced grace to Cheerilee’s chair, and rested hoof on her shoulder. ‘Cheerilee, I can promise you, they will want to see you. You are loved by many ponies, they’re all waiting for you to reach out. Indulge them, and you’ll reap the benefits too.’

With a weak smile, Cheerilee rose from her seat and to Blot’s surprise, wrapped her forehooves around the doctor’s neck and pulled him into an embrace. ‘Thank you doctor, that means more than you know,’ she said, slowly releasing him from the hug.

‘Please Cheerilee, allow me to walk you outside.’ Blot said as he led the still puffy eyed school-mare out his office and through his small town house. The rest of his home, much like his office, beamed of coziness. Antique paintings, well varnished tables and the likes decorated much of the household, contributing to the doctor’s concept of ‘atmospheric therapy’.

‘I’ll let you know how the week went next time, doc,’ Cheerilee said, as Blot opened the front door. She produced small coin purse and picked out five gold bits, which she promptly offered up on an outstretched hoof.

‘Thanks Cheerilee, I look forward to our next meeting,’ Blot said, accepting the coins. ‘Stay safe and have a great week.’ he finished, flashing an almost trademarked smile, which Cheerilee returned upon leaving the house.

Blot closed the door behind the mare and immediately placed a hoof on his cutie mark; that of an ink blotch. His skin stung and crawled under his fur. He stumbled haphazardously towards a nearby chair, dropping his newly earned bits on the floor. His scalp felt as though it were aflame; a feeling which slowly spider-webbed its way down his spine and through his body.

An insatiable hunger emerged from the depths of his bowels, emanating extreme waves of nausea and stomach aches, wracking his body in pain. It was all he could do to stifle a cry, lest Cheerilee or some other pony hear him from the outside world.

They can’t know. They can’t see.

He shut tight his eyes and gritted his teeth together and fought desperately against the thing inside, screaming to be let loose.

An eternity passed.

And for a time, he won.

Or rather,

he survived.

‘Apple Bloom, would ye please kindly get yer flank out from up there,’ Applejack called out to her younger sister, who had somehow managed to climb up to the top of the Sweet Apple Acres’ barn. ‘Ah know things’ve been hard recently, with the school and all but-’

‘How can ye know Applejack? How could ye possibly know? Yer fibbin’ Applejack. Yer fibbin’.’ Apple Bloom cried out from her perch, her vibrant amber eyes lined with tears.

The question took Applejack by surprise. How did she actually understand? How could she possibly know the depths of her younger sibling’s trauma. Apple Bloom and her friends had been just outside the schoolhouse when the fire started from inside. The fire must’ve started nearby the front door, since when Sweetie Belle tried to use her horn to twist the door handle, it refused to budge.

By the time the windows caved into the heat, every filly inside had already succumbed to the smoke. Apple Bloom had heard their screams, desperate and clear. She had stayed back, trying to break the windows, while her friends headed into town, clamouring for help from anypony who would listen.

Her teacher, Cheerilee, had arrived at the high crescendo of the screams, but by then, it was far too late.

‘Apple Bloom, we’re all worried about you. Macintosh is all up an’ disturbed, pacin’ around in the house, waitin’ for you. Granny’s made ye some tea, yer friends are even waitin’ fer you. Apple Bloom, Ah’m worried about you.’ Applejack pleaded to her sister, who having heard her sister’s concern, crept slowly down from the top of the barn and into the welcoming embrace of her sibling.

‘Ah’m sorry sis, Ah’m so sorry.’ cooed Apple Bloom, firmly attached to her sister.

‘Don’t be, it’s okay. Just please, don’t scare us again like that. Now come along, yer friends are waitin’ for ye in the house.’ with that, Apple Bloom made for the farmhouse.

Applejack sighed.

Therapy.

Her friends had convinced her to go, after all that had happened in her life. From losing her parents to the daily stress of managing the orchard, Applejack had plenty of mentally, physically and emotionally strenuous things to deal with. She hated the idea of it, but, admittedly, she had a lot that she still needed to let go of.

Too much, maybe.

She thought back on her younger sibling, who reminded her of herself when she was but a filly. Would she too need help for what she’s seen? Applejack shuddered at the thought and turned her attention towards the entrance of the orchard.

As she left the property, Applejack couldn’t help but take in the sight of the nearby setting sun. Golden, pristine rays of light bathed her as she walked along the road leading to town. In the distance she spotted the blackened remnants of the Ponyville schoolhouse, a jarring contrast to the rest of the town’s colourful, lively buildings.

A chill ran down her spine.

Ah’d better get a move on, wouldn’t want to be walking home in the dark.

Dr. Blot Hermane awoke in a cold sweat, on the surprisingly comfortable carpeted flooring of his living room.

‘Buck, what time is it?’ The disheveled earth pony slurred as he slowly gathered his bearings. A quick glance to the window brought fruition to one of his worst fears.

A client would be arriving soon.

He wasn’t ready.

The weakened doctor stumbled towards his bedroom, and practically collapsed onto his sink. His mane lay without care to the side of his muzzle, drenched in sweat. His eyes bulged, bloodshot with swollen capillaries.

Fortunately, the hunger had left him.

For now.

He ran the tap of his sink and submerged his mane underneath, desperately trying to wash out the sweat and simultaneously wash his face. His frantic self care was interrupted by a rapping at his front door.

‘Doctor Hermane? Are ye home? It’s Applejack, from Sweet Apple Acres, Ah have an appointment.’ called a distinct, accented voice.

Buck.

Blot slicked his hair to the side and dried his hair with a towelette, before rushing to the front door, stepping on the golden bits he had dropped earlier.

With a deep breath and a lackluster smile, he opened the door. Outside stood a clearly annoyed orange mare, wearing what he considered a rather tasteful stetson.

‘Hi, Ms. Applejack, please come in! I was just getting ready for you.’ he stuttered, moving to the side, allowing the flustered farm-mare into his home.

‘Ye got a nice place here, doc. Seems like ye dropped some bits on the floor here though.’ Applejack stated, with a nod to the floor.

She’s an observant one. Buck.

‘Uh yes, I-I must have dropped them earlier when my last client left,’ the exasperated therapist stammered out, frantically picking up the bits from the floor and dropping them off on a nearby table. ‘Please, follow me to my office.’ he finished, as he motioned Applejack along through his antique littered home.

Once they entered his office, Blot beckoned for the mare to take a seat, as he circled to the back of his desk.

‘Now, Ms. Applejack, how may I help you?’ Blot said, having finally gathered himself.

‘Ah was hopin’ you’d be the one to answer that exact question, doc,’ Applejack replied with a blush. ‘And please, call me Applejack.’

Blot assumed a marginally more authoritative position by tensing his shoulders and moving closer to the desk. The farm-mare in front of him reacted in kind, anxiously adjusting her steston and crossing her forehooves.

Their eyes met and while Applejack’s eyes erratically avoided his, Blot stood fast and kept his gaze.

‘Well, Applejack, why do you feel you came today?’ he asked, maintaining eye contact.

‘Ah um… Ah guess because of my friends. They’ve been urgin’ me to go for a while. They think Ah’m too stressed out.’ she replied, eyes darting around the room her shoulders shifting uncomfortably.

‘And what do you think? Are you stressed?’ queried Blot, refusing to break eye contact.

‘Ah… Ah think so. Ah tend to and manage most of the Acres. Mah brother, Big Macintosh is a great help, but he doesn’t have much of a mind fer business and all that,’ Applejack rolled her shoulders back and slowly relaxed in her seat, once again meeting the doctor’s gaze. ‘Ah just sometimes feel like it’s a lot fer one mare to manage on her own y’know, and of course bein’ the Element of Honesty and all.’

Blot allowed himself an internal pat on the back.

The eye contact had worked.

Blot untensed his shoulders and reclined ever so slightly in his chair, eliciting a similar response from Applejack, who visibly calmed at the sight of his change of position.

‘That’s a very reasonable thing to feel Applejack. Running an orchard is no small job, and I’d imagine it can become quite strenuous, managing the whole place by yourself. Couldn’t you find someone to help you manage the business? An assistant of some kind perhaps?’

‘Well, Granny Smith used to help me, but she’s gettin’ on in the years, and Ah can see that time is startin’ to do its work on her. She doesn’t walk much anymore, she’s mostly just bedridden,’ Applejack said, her eyes drooping to the floor. ‘And besides, Apple Bloom, mah younger sister, is still too young to help take charge, y’know.’

‘I can see that your family means a lot to you Applejack. How has Apple Bloom been since the incident at the schoolhouse?’ Blot asked.

Tears began to well up her eyes.

‘Ah want to help her, y’know. But… Ah feel like she’s trapped behind a wall of glass or somethin’. Ah just can’t get through to her. She saw so much that day, too much fer a filly of her age,’ she started. ‘Too much fer anypony really, Ah think. We’ve lost so much doc. Our parents when she was real young, and now this...

‘How does that affect a filly like her? Can’t be good for her mental health, y’know.’ Applejack finished, beckoning to her head. She was clearly uncomfortable with the concept of mental health, and therapy in general it seemed. Yet, she showed up to this meeting.

Blot admired that about the mare; her willpower.

‘Why do you feel like you can’t get through to her? You seem to have a strong relationship, the two of you. You’ve been through a lot together.’ Blot said quietly, giving the air to the hardy mare sitting across him.

‘Ah, well, today she…’ Applejack stammered, struggling to stifle the tears. ‘She was on top of our barn. Ah… Ah was mighty worried she’d do somethin’, y’know. Ah only barely got her down from up there. She looked so scared y’know, scared of everythin’. Even me, Ah think.’

Applejack rose a hoof to wipe away the oncoming tears.

She fought an uphill battle in quelling the tide.

Blot’s features contorted in sympathy. Applejack wondered what went on in that head of his. He had to deal with the pain of so many as a profession. It’s a job that even she, the Element of Honesty wondered if she could pull off.

An unanticipated sense of respect filled Applejack.

‘How did you feel when your parents passed, Applejack?’ the doctor asked, pulling himself closer to the desk.

Applejack paused, casting a pained glance towards the ceiling.

‘Afraid. More than anythin’, Ah felt afraid. Afraid of mah new responsibility especially. Ah had a little sister to care fer. Ah cut mahself off from the world for a while after it happened. Ah thought it would slow things down, y’know. Stop the world from crashin’ in, at least for a while.’

Doctor Blot Hermane found himself genuinely taken back by the strength of his client. So much responsibility for a mare not a day older than himself.

He felt a sense of comradery with Applejack.

It terrified him.

Whatever evil lurked beneath his skin brought with it an unfathomable weight upon his shoulders. The responsibility of keeping the pain and the hunger to himself, sometimes felt as though it were almost too much to handle.

He’d battled with his affliction for months. It had begun suddenly on one late evening. He had awoken in a cold sweat, terrible pain lacing his body. He’d tumbled out of bed, desperately gasping for air. His hooves had clawed desperately at the wooden flooring of his bedroom, which was, by all accounts of a totally different atmosphere than the rest of his home. Rather than fancy antiques and paintings, his bedroom was decidedly plain and ‘post-modern’, with vivid colours and efficient use of spacing throughout the room.

He had pulled his bedside table to the floor, shattering his lamp in the process, shrouding him in darkness, nought for the moonlight.

On that night, the thing inside of him had taken control.

His skin had torn, allowing for the pale, hairless thing hiding beneath to emerge. Bones had popped and snapped, malforming into something unrecognizable by ponykind. His once well structured muzzle had shattered and reformed into a gaping maw of endless, jutting fangs. The flesh on his back could no longer contain the bone within and as such, his spine broke through the skin and glistened in the moonlight.

He remembered little of that night, asides seeing himself in the mirror briefly after his transformation and the terrible, inconceivable hunger that had overtaken him. The next morning he had awoken in blood soaked bed sheets and after reading the news had discovered that a local farm animal had been eviscerated and devoured late the night before.

‘Uh, doc? Ye all there?’ Applejack queried, snapping her therapist out of his trance. ‘Ye went quiet for a while there.’

‘Oh, sorry Applejack. I was just taking in what you had said,’ he began. ‘Right now, Apple Bloom is feeling exactly how you felt when you were younger. She needs you more than ever. Don’t let her drown herself in isolation. You can be her lifeboat; in fact, I’d say she needs you to be just that.

A small bead of sweat began to run down Blot’s forehead.

He could feel the hunger slowly surfacing.

It was starting again.

‘I think this is a good point for us to wrap up. This week, I want you to focus on Apple Bloom and yourself, rather than the farm. Bring friends over, connect with family but most importantly, don’t stress yourself out. I’d like you to come back next week and give me the full run down of how the week went.’ Blot finished, rising with practiced if strained grace from his chair.

Applejack followed him out of the office and up to the front door. The house was noticeably darker than when they’d arrived, the sun had likely set, she realized.

‘And Applejack, off the record as your therapist, I’d like you to know that you can drop by here whenever you’d like. I understand what it feels like to have everything crash in around you.’ Applejack smiled softly and nodded at the doctor, before producing a handful of bits, which she promptly passed over.

‘Don’t drop these, doc,’ she teased, with a genuine smile. ‘And thank ye for yer help today, Ah must admit, Ah really do feel better.’

‘I’m glad to hear that Applejack. Stick with it.’ Blot laughed half-heartedly, now sweating profusely under the cover of the darkness.

With that, Applejack exited the home, leaving Blot alone in the void around him. He collapsed immediately after the door shut, spasming violently, and once again spilling his bits all over the floor.

The hunger was all enveloping this time, and he could feel the beast within practically bursting at the seams of his skin. He clung desperately to his normal state, out of fear. Fear of what he might do. Fear for Applejack’s safety.

She can't be far from here. I have to hang on, if only for her sake.

He stifled an endless scream and battled with the affliction for what felt like an eternity.

Before finally, he felt the first of many bones snap.

He screamed.

Applejack walked home, cast into a spur of deep thought on her recent therapy session. She was amazed by how well it had gone. Although the doctor occasionally fazed into trances of what she could only assume to be deep consideration, their conversation had been truly helpful.

She reflected on his final comment before she’d left into the night and resolved to visit him as a friend off the clock sometime in the week.

She looked forward to spending more time on herself for a change.

Perhaps she’d try to disseminate the work load between herself, Big Mac and Granny Smith. Maybe it’d even help the old pony get back into form.

She stopped suddenly and glanced around her surroundings, an icy web covering her heart.

Where in the hay am I?

She’d somehow, in her spur of thought led herself to a very quiet Ponyville neighbourhood. She seemed to be somewhere in town, however, couldn’t quite place the street. Several housing areas had to be rebuilt since Tirek’s attack on the settlement a few years ago, changing their looks drastically. Moreover, entirely new housing areas which she hadn’t quite explored had also popped up, filled with ponies from all over Equestria, who had flocked to the town.

Rumors of more ‘unsavoury ponies surfaced in Applejack’s memory and she felt a wave of dread wash over her.

For the first time in her life, Applejack felt afraid to walk the streets of Ponyville at night.

‘Well, nothin’ a spot of backtrackin’ couldn’t fix.’ she said, allowing the escape of method chuckle.

‘There certainly won’t be any backtracking for you tonight, missy.’ somepony in the dark sneered, stopping Applejack in her tracks.

She spun around, and saw the silhouettes of two ponies in the dark of an alleyway to her left. Her heart dropped into her stomach, performed a loop and returned to its origin.

‘Ah’m sorry y’all, didn’t mean to disturb yer evening,’ she called out, feigning a weak smile. ‘Ah’ll just be headin’ home now.’

Applejack turned and before she could react, felt something hard and cold connect with her temple.

Darkness.

Applejack awoke and almost regurgitated her lunch due to the nauseating spinning of her world. She tried desperately to make sense of her surroundings, but found herself struggling to focus.

A warm sensation tingled the side of her head and she tasted an unmistakable tinge of metal in her mouth.

Ah’m bleedin’, what happened?

She could hear muffled, fuzzy voices somewhere in the distance, shouting.

Two ponies. An argument.

As the ringing in her ears slowly subsided, she overheard parts of the conversation.

‘You dumb buck… dead… honesty…’

She heard the voices get closer and the tone of the conversation change as a trio of unkempt ponies loomed over her.

‘Told ya I didn’t kill her, I buckin’ told ya. I felt her breathin’ when I lugged her into the alley.’ stated a stallion with a deep, gritty voice and an almost recognizable accent.

‘Yeah, yeah, yeah, fair enough,’ another voice chimed, who she recognized as whomever had called out to her in the first place. ‘Listen missy, you’ve found yourself in quite a predicament here. Don’t bother screaming for anyone, my unicorn friend here has your whole body in paralysis.’ he sneered, nodding towards the third member of the trio, who she could faintly make out as a dainty grey, slightly built unicorn.

A large, powerfully built stallion who she identified as the the pony with the accent, stepped forward and gave her a lofty smack across the jaw, snapping her awake.

‘You awake yet, ma’am?’ he laughed, before receiving a condescending look from his comrade.

‘Don’t rough up the goods. We haven’t even had our fun yet.’ he muttered, casting the battered mare an insidious grin. He seemed to be a well kept pony, light teal coat, neatly combed violet mane and somehow, that made him evermore sickening.

Applejack felt a sickly shiver run down her spine at the use of the word ‘fun’. She thought back to Apple Bloom, who probably sat at home, waiting for her return. She thought of her friends, Big Mac, Sweet Apple Acres, even Winona.

She tried to scream.

Nothing emerged from her throat, save a desperate cough.

‘Let’s get started,’ the well kept earth pony said, grabbing Applejack’s mane with his teeth and throwing her muzzle first to the floor.

She tried to move, but found herself still too dazed. She must have suffered a serious concussion.

Or maybe that unicorn fella has somethin’ mighty nasty on me. Mah legs feel like glue.

She felt a hoof wrap itself around one of her back legs and desperately tried to fight back; resist in any way possible, but found herself unable to.

Putrid, steaming breath brushed against her neck.

'Fun time.’ stated her captor with an edge sinister glee.

She awaited her fate.

It never came.

Instead, she felt the hoof wrapped around her back leg get violently ripped away.

An ear-splitting scream brought her back to reality.

She suddenly felt power return to her body and scrambled away from her would-be attackers. She turned to face the source of the scream and felt all colour leave her face.

The unicorn who had previously enchanted her, had been eviscerated. She could faintly make out the remnants of his face and horn, but the rest of him was covered in what she could only assume to be his own innards.

To his side, the well kept pony held a hoof desperately over a bloodied stump of where his foreleg had once been. Somewhere in the dark, back section of the alley, she saw his larger comrade desperately clawing at the dirt, mouthing the words ‘help me’, before being dragged into the depths of the blackness.

Applejack, in pure shock, had begun to crawl away, towards the light of a distant streetlamp.

‘Please. Please don’t leave me here with that thing,’ she heard the stallion still clawing at his stump leg cry out from behind her. ‘I’m so sorry for what happened. Really, I am. I just-’ he never finished his sentence, as she saw a thing of nightmare pounce from the shadows and onto the broken body of her attacker.

Pale, hairless skin drenched in gore, covered the entirety of whatever monstrosity had eviscerated her would be assailants. The horror easily tripled the size of even Big Macintosh and she could make out hideously malformed claws rather than hooves sprouting from the end of the creature’s frontmost appendages.

Applejack stood a mere three meters from the beast, when it relieved the attacker of his esophagus with the use of its flesh-flecked maw.

It slowly turned its malformed parody of a muzzle towards Applejack.

Minutes slowed into hours. Days. Weeks.

Applejack stood motionless, eyes locked with the twin abysses on the creature’s face. The monster twitched and spasmed and closed shut its endless rows of teeth.

It… Recognizes me.

The horror, with a twinge of uncertainty, retreated into the unabating darkness, a trail of blood left by its gore-drenched body.

Applejack stumbled onto the street, covered in a coagulation of her own blood and that of somepony else, and cried into the night as loudly as she could.

Author's Note

Hey everyone who managed to read to the end of first chapter. I plan on making this story an ongoing series of chapter uploads, something like one or two per week.

Maybe three at most, depending on how motivated I feel.

Hope you enjoyed it!

This chapter was spruced up by sevenofeleven.

Chapter 2: Miscreation

Miscreation

1.
The act of creating something wrongly or badly

1.1.
An ill-formed or misshapen thing

Dr Blot Hermane awoke in a coagulation of blood and vomit.

Alongside what could only be compared to the worst hangover to ever grace Equestria.

He desperately tried to roll out of his blanket dried in the remains of last night’s escapade but every movement sent waves of nausea throughout his body. A splitting headache echoed from the back of his skull and he could feel his eyes stinging from lack of sleep.

What in the hay happened last night?

He faintly recalled an alleyway, a struggle, a stetson on the floor, an orange mare.

An orange mare.

Applejack.

With a heaving effort, the near incapacitated therapist tumbled out of bed and dragged himself to his bedroom’s door frame. His heart dropped when he noticed the unmistakable bloodied print of a claw decorating his hallway.

Applejack… What have I done?

He collapsed right in front of his still wide open front door, his mouth agape in horror.

His entrance lobby had been practically re-painted a sickening shade of crimson. With the last of his strength, Blot launched himself against his front door, closing it shut.

Have to clean. Now.

But what about Applejack?

Buck.

After a short rest to catch his breath, Blot stumbled haphazardously towards his guest bathroom. Ugly blotches of dried blood littered his once pristine coat, which he took to hastily washing out with panicked splashes of water and hoof-wash.

I have to know what happened.
If I hurt somepony...

Blot shook the thought from his head. He’d cross that bridge when he got there.
Crusted blood turned into a deep shade of brown, as it dropped off his coat and into the sink and floor. After a quick dip into the shower, he emerged from the bathroom and took in the full carnage of what had happened the night before.

His lobby had been overturned, with furniture having been flung across the length of the room. Many of his once priceless paintings had been torn in two, including a family portrait featuring his mother and father. A lamp had been tossed into the doorway leading into his kitchen.

He peeked a glance towards the hallway which led to his office.

It seemed untouched.

Fortunately.

Blot shuffled the most noticeably displaced furniture back into its normal position and wiped down the inside of his door frame. Dealing with the blood on the floor would take a while, but fortunately, he wasn’t expecting any clients to come in today.

His hair slicked back and coat at least semi-presentable, Blot opened the front door and stepped out into the warm morning sun. Ponies had gathered in worried communion throughout his neighbourhood. A grey mail pony flew haphazardously above, dropping newspapers and mail envelopes.

The mare passed directly overhead, close enough for Blot to see the panic in her eyes.

A newspaper landed squarely in front of him.

The Ponyville Herald

Ponyville’s Premiere Reporting Office

THREE PONIES FOUND DEAD IN STARSWIRL DRIVE,

ELEMENT OF HONESTY FOUND AT CRIME SCENE.

Blot backed away from the headline in front of him, his eyes widened in panic and shock.

Three ponies dead? I couldn’t have.

Fledgling details of the night before surfaced. Applejack face-first in the dirt. Three stallions, one a slim unicorn.

He… He went first.

Blot looked down at his hooves and saw the beast’s claws inside the abdomen of the unicorn, his face locked in an endless scream.

He shook his head and the claws were gone, he was outside his house again.

Terrified ponies looked to one another. The panic spread like a wildfire, the newspaper acting as the tinder.

Most ponies fled into their homes. The brave banded together and marched towards the town centre, desperate for answers.

‘Blot. Have you read the news? Murders, right here in Ponyville. I can hardly believe it!’ a masculine voice called from somewhere to his left. A towering column of white entered his view, blotting out half of the sun. Unbelievable amounts of muscle riddled his body, veins on the verge of bursting at the seams.

Bulk Biceps. His first Ponyville client and now, one of his best friends.

The pegasus had suffered from an extreme case of body dysmorphia as well as severe bouts of anger and anxiety. They’d worked together for months and in the process, became good friends.

Not to mention the fact that the giant lived right next to him.

‘Yeah Bulk, I actually just saw the headline. Do you know what happened?’ Blot replied, turning to face the gargantuan pegasus.

‘YEA- I uh, I mean yes. According to the news, somepony or something did a real number on some hooligans in an alleyway off Starswirl Drive. Only witness is Applejack, and from what I’ve read in The Herald, she’s barely said a peep.’

A swathe of relief washed over Blot’s body.

She’s alive.

‘Was Applejack hurt?’ Blot inquired.

‘From what I know, she’s got a mild concussion, asides from that, physically speaking, she’s fine. I’m more worried about here and here,’ Biceps said, beckoning to his heart and then his head. ‘Some of the ponies here think that she’s the one responsible for what happened.’

Blot cast a troubled look towards his friend, ‘I need to go into town and speak to her. She’s my client after all,’ he said, trotting down the street leading to the greater Ponyville area. ’I’ll talk to you later Bulk.’

‘One second doc,’ the massive pegasus called from behind him, freezing Blot in his tracks. ‘I noticed that your door was open this morning. There were some marks on the stairs, but I wiped them off for you.

‘Is there something you’re not telling me? You know you can trust me.’ Bulk finished, a worried expression spread across his face.

‘I- Nothing’s wrong Bulk, don’t worry. I had a bit too much to drink last night and spilled some cranberry ale all over the place. Thanks for the help.’ the off-guard therapist stammered out before hurrying off towards town.

Applejack stared absently into space, sat in her chair bordering the Cutie Map.

Twilight Sparkle and company sat all around her flanked by ranking members of the Ponyville guard and police forces. They had tried getting the usually bright mare to talk for hours.

Applejack tried to close her eyes as little as possible, for when she did, the images of her eviscerated attackers flooded her thoughts. She raised a hoof to her temple and rubbed erratically.

‘Ah don’t want to see it anymore. Ah don’t.’ she croaked, in pain from whatever spell the unicorn from last night had put on her.

‘What don’t you want to see anymore, Applejack?’ she heard Twilight ask from her side.

Applejack turned to face her, eyes as wide as dinner plates.

‘The thing that did this. Ah don’t want to see their faces and t-their bodies either. Ah don’t want to. Ah can’t.’ Applejack stammered out, fresh tears welling around the corners of her bloodshot eyes.

Twilight cut a concerned glance to her multi-coloured pack of friends and the authorities looming over them.

‘Applejack, we didn’t find anypony else at the crime scene. Just you. You need to be more specific. Was it an animal? Something from the Everfree? Why were you there?’ Twilight pressed, a sense of urgency in her voice.

‘Twilight, don’t you feel like you’re asking her too much?’ Fluttershy squeaked from across the Cutie Map.

‘Whatever did this could still be out there, Fluttershy and if it is, all of Ponyville is in peril. I’m only asking because I have to.’ Twilight replied with authority.

‘Ah… Ah don’t think it came from the Everfree. It was too… violent,’ Applejack managed. ‘Much too violent. Ah was on mah way back from that therapy session and-and Ah got lost in the dark.

‘Those ponies, they wanted to-’ she paused, thinking about the well kept pony and his hoof on her thigh. ‘-hurt me but the thing got to them first.’

‘What was it Applejack? This thing you keep mentioning.’ Twilight asked, her usual friendly tone taking over.

‘It… Ah… It was somethin’ unnatural. Somethin’ Ah’ve never seen before,’ Applejack paused, rubbing her eyes frantically with her hooves. ‘A monster.’

Silence descended on the gathering.

Which was interrupted by rushed hoof-steps echoing throughout the crystalline castle.

Doctor Blot Hermane stood in the chamber's glimmering crystal doorway.

All heads turned, with the exception of Pinkie, who’d been silent and deflated since the interrogation had begun.

‘I’m here to talk to my client. We’d like some privacy.’ Blot demanded.

Behind him, the group could hearing hasty hoofsteps, followed by a guard stumbling into the once silent chamber.

‘Princess! He just barged in, I tried to chase him but I- uh slipped.’ the burgundy earth pony guard admitted, the fire of embarrassment rising to his cheeks.

‘What in the hay do you think you’re doing?’ queried the head of the combined Ponyville police and guard forces, a stallion referred to by all his underlings as ‘Mr. Watch’. ‘This is an investigation!’

‘I’m very aware that this is an investigation, but my client needs psychological counselling after what happened.’ replied the stoic therapist, his face contorted into a visage of stone.

‘It’s okay, Mr. Watch. He’s right, Applejack saw some very troubling things last night,’ Twilight said, to the police chief’s dismay. ‘We’ll take what we’ve learnt with a hint of salt for now but be sure to increase patrols, especially around Starswirl Drive. This can’t happen again.

'But, Doctor Hermane, you should know better than to barge in here like that. Especially after what happened.' Twilight finished.

Blot nodded curtly and entered the chamber.

Without further dispute, Mr. Watch alongside his teal unicorn assistant and guard-ponies begrudgingly made to leave the room, cutting Blot a look of disregard.

‘Okay, this is horse-manure. We can’t just leave Applejack alone with a shrink! She needs her friends, not some pansy-pransy doctor.’ Rainbow Dash exclaimed, hovering above the Cutie Map.

‘There will be plenty of time for us to spend with Applejack later,’ Rarity said, hopping off her seat. ‘She first needs some help that nopony here asides from the good doctor can provide.’

After several minutes of arguing, Rainbow Dash and the rest of Applejack’s friends left the room. Pinkie Pie left last, casting a sad glance Applejack’s way, before closing the door. Blot move to sit next to Applejack, who he kept a soft eye on.

Silence dominated the chamber.

Blot waited for Applejack to say something. Anything.

But he wouldn’t push her. He’d wait until she felt ready to speak, be that a minute from now or a day.

He’d wait.

‘Thank ye fer comin’ to check up on me, doc.’ Applejack croaked out after several minutes.

‘Please, call me Blot,’ he replied, cutting Applejack a cheeky grin. ‘Do you want to talk about what happened?’

‘First time somepony actually asked if Ah wanted to talk ‘bout it,’ she replied with a sigh. ‘Mah friends mean well, but sometimes they can be a bit much, y’know.’

‘Trust me, my friend Biceps is the same.’

‘As in Bulk Biceps? Ye know the big fella? Didn’t take him for the friend makin’ sort.’ Applejack said with a pained chuckle.

‘He wasn’t, for a long time. But I helped him and I guess in a way, he helped me too.’

The two sat in companionable silence for a few more minutes, enjoying each other's presence. Even under the circumstances, the atmosphere felt oddly relaxed to Blot.

‘Ah think Ah’m ready to talk about some parts of last night.’ Applejack spoke up.

‘Whatever you’re comfortable with. No need to rush.’ Blot said, making gentle eye contact with the farm mare.

‘There’s somethin’ specific about last night. Somethin’ more disturbin’ than the rest of it, if you’d believe it,’ Applejack started, a pained expression on her face. ‘It was some kinda monster that did it. That killed all those ponies.

‘It… Looked like it recognized me, Ah think. Ah could’ve just as easily been among the bodies in that damned alleyway, excuse mah cursin’, but it just looked me over an’ left.’ Applejack said, exasperated.

Blot’s face contorted in confusion.

It… I recognized her? How is that even possible. Was that really me in there? Some decrepit fragment of my personality in there.

Or is it more than that?

‘Doc, yer doin’ that deep thought thing again.’ Applejack said, shaking Blot from his internal monologue..

‘Yeah, sorry Applejack. It’s just a lot to take in. You’re sure whatever it was recognized you?’ he asked.

‘Ah’m not certain, no. But Ah do truly believe that it did.’ Applejack replied, shuffling around in her seat completely to face the doctor.

‘How do you feel about it recognizing you?’ Blot asked sympathetically.

‘Ah… Ah really don’t know. Ah mean, it did save mah life in a way. But what it did to those ponies, however wicked they may have been… Ah wouldn’t wish that on mah worst enemy.’ She replied, meeting Blot’s.

They lingered for a moment.

A sense of familiarity in the encounter washed over Applejack. One she neither could or wanted to shake loose.

Suddenly, the entrance to the chamber bust open.

A massive red stallion held the chamber doors open with a stoic but concerned look on his face. From beneath him a tiny blur of yellow and red barreled towards Applejack.

The blur took to the air and firmly attached itself to the farm-mare’s abdomen.

‘Applejack, why didn’t ye come home?’ the tiny shape asked, face buried into Applejack’s side.

‘Ah was going to Apple Bloom. Ah just had to make a stop here first, that’s all.’ Applejack replied, putting a reassuring hoof on her sister’s back.

The gargantuan stallion from before (whom Blot quickly came to recognize as none other than Big Macintosh), began walking towards his sister. He cut Blot a quick glance and a curt nod, before resting his head against his sister’s shoulder.

‘Good to see yer okay, Applejack,’ Big Mac said.

‘Blot, Ah think Ah need some alone time with mah family. Thanks fer comin’ to check up on me. Ah’ll see ya later this week,’ Applejack said, as Apple Bloom wiggled her face deeper into her older sister’s belly.

‘Of course. My advice from yesterday’s session still stands. Take the week off. You’ve earned it.’ Blot said with a smile.

‘Will do, doc.’ Applejack winked.

With that, Doctor Blot Hermane left the Apple family in what could only be described as a three-pony-pillow.

‘Bulk. You’re cheating. Again. We’ve spoken about this! You need to take it easy with the weights.’ a rather annoyed therapist said.

‘But Blo- I mean doc, it’s hard to resist! I mean, I keep a set of barbells in my room and well, they just sing to me. It’s hard to wait for my bi-weekly workouts, y’know.

‘A few reps, a pump. That’s all it was.’

Blot sighed and cast his friend a sympathetic look. ‘Bulk. You don’t need to get any bigger. Even though you’ve lost weight, your size is still a health hazard. Next week, I want you to workout only once, no more than that.

‘I don’t want to hear about “a few reps and a pump” again. Alright?’ Blot scolded, an accusative hoof held aloft.

‘Yeah, alright doc. I’ll do my best.’ the Bulk conceded, his sheer mass eliciting a creak from Blot’s office chair.

‘That’s what I like to hear. Now, let’s get some cider from the fridge.’ Blot laughed before strutting out his office, down the hallway and into his kitchen.

Bulk Biceps followed in pursuit and shut his friend’s office door behind him, a smile on his face. He loved these ‘emergency’ sessions with Blot. They almost always ended in the pair kicking back with some fine Apple family cider. Technically speaking, he was already well on his road towards recovery, having felt more comfortable in his own body than ever before. He’d even lost close to seventy kilos of muscle mass!

But every now and then he had to break protocol.

Nopony’s perfect.

As Bulk entered his well kept friend’s lobby, he couldn’t shake the strange feeling that something had changed.

‘Hey doc, you do any redecorating in here?’ he called out to his friend who he could hear fiddling with a refrigerator in the next room.

‘I-uh, yeah, I did actually! Thought I’d move one or two things around. Give the room a fresh feeling, y’know?

‘And Bulk, we’re off the clock. It’s Blot, not “doc”.’ Blot joked as he exited the kitchen, with two glasses of cider. Blot kept himself a secret stash of the stuff, hidden away throughout his house over the years. He’d caught his enormous pegasus friend searching for his hidden treasure several times, earning him a good old scolding.

‘How did you even get so much of this stuff, Blot? Last time I checked, the Apple family is almost always low on cider because of its popularity.’ Bulk said, grinning as he took the glass from Blot’s incredibly dextrous hoof.

‘I’m a therapist, Bulk. I’m a good talker I suppose, and Granny Smith is an even greater listener!’ he laughed, before the pair sat across one another on Blot’s antique chairs.

They sat in companionable silence for a while, occasionally sipping on cider.

‘Blot, I wanted to ask you about what happened last week with Applejack down at the castle. You never told me how that went.’

‘Well, considering what she had seen the night before, I think it went well. Ended with her family storming the castle, not that I can blame them, I practically did the same thing,’ the doctor said, his face tightening. ‘Whole town’s been up in arms since that night.’ he finished, taking a lofty sip of his cider.

‘Yeah, well, ponies haven’t been killed here since well… Ever, really. Most violent crime is supposed to take place in those big city type places like Canterlot and Manehatten,’

‘Except from what I’ve heard, whatever killed those three scumbags wasn’t even a pony,’ Bulk said with a grim expression. ‘You know if that’s true?’

Blot’s demeanour had gone from jovial to deeply troubled in the span of two minutes.

‘According to Applejack, it’s true. She said that she saw “a monster” or something.’ Blot said, eyes locked with Bulk.

No reason to lie about this. He might as well know. Word spreads fast here anyways, if I didn’t tell him, somepony else would have.

‘Sweet Celestia, shouldn’t we be worried then?’ Bulk asked, a look of terror on his face.

‘Bulk, I don’t think you have anything to be concerned about. The monster will take one look at you and head for the hills.’ the therapist laughed, seemingly back to his normal demeanour.

‘Yeah, real funny, “doc”,’ Bulk replied, a smile escaping his face. ‘I’m serious though, what if it comes back?’

‘Then we’ll be ready next time. Twilight has already doubled the guard presence here, and police-ponies are on standby too,’ Blot began, finishing off his cider. ‘Plus, there’s nothing indicating that whatever it was will even come back!’

‘I guess that’s true,’ Bulk said, finishing his cider.

‘Now, Bulk. If I recall, correctly, you mentioned a mare that you fancied the last time we spoke.’

The pair spoke on end for several hours, starting with Bulk detailing his affection for a certain rose merchant. They drifted from topic to topic, as friends do in deep conversation.

A sudden rapping at the door disturbed them from their conversation.

‘I’m coming, I’m coming.’ Blot called out with a laugh, rising from his seat.

He opened the front door with a great, goofy smile which disappeared as soon as it had emerged. A terribly pale Cheerilee stood off balance against his door frame, drenched in blood.

‘Doc, I’ve done something awful. I-I didn’t know where to go, I need your help.’

Behind him, he could hear Bulk rising from his seat.

Worse still, he could feel an all too familiar hunger rising from his gut.

Buck.

Author's Note

Slightly less action this time around.

There will be plenty next time.

That having been said, I'm looking for proofreaders who're digging the story. If you're interested, don't hesitate to drop me a comment or a DM.

Thanks!

Chapter 3: Evisceration

Evisceration

To remove the entrails of; disembowel

To take away a vital or essential part of;

Weaken,

Damage, or

Destroy

Blot hoisted a bloodied Cheerilee into his home and kicked the door shut behind him.

He laid her down on a chair, scanning the magenta mare for any obvious, serious injuries.

He found one.

A jagged cut above her left forehoof, straight through both veins and arteries. Blot could clearly see a thing layer of fat, as well as the unmistakeable white gleam of bone.

Cheerilee… What have you done.

‘Bulk, you need to get a cloth. Any cloth. Maybe some kind of pin and needle too, I don’t know!’ Blot frantically shouted to the gargantuan pegasus looming behind him.

‘The screaming… It got too loud… I was too scared to go to the hospital…’ Cheerilee slurred, falling in and out of consciousness.

She’s losing blood. Fast.

Blot felt his insides tumbling and turning at every slight movement. Fire spread from his spine down to the keratin in his hooves. He gritted his teeth and glanced erratically around the room.

What happens if I turn into the thing here? What if I hurt somepony I care about. That can't happen.

‘Bulk, where’s the damn cloth? She’s fading!’ Blot screamed, only to see Bulk stumble back into the lobby,a first aid kit clenched in his jaws.

He spat the box out in front of Blot, whose faced was masked in bewilderment.

I forgot I actually had one of these.

‘I remember seeing it the last time I was digging around for your cider stash,’ Bulk exclaimed in a mixture of pride and terror. ‘There should be stitches and bandages inside, I think.’

Blot held a hoof against Cheerilee’s open wound while Bulk ransacked the first aid kit for supplies.

‘Here,’ Bulk said, passing Blot a gauze, disinfectant and a set of stitches.

Blot cast his friend a worried look. ‘I’m not exactly well versed in first aid, Bulk.’

‘Well hay, neither am I!’

They sat in a moment of silence, exchanging panicked expressions.

Only to be interrupted by Cheerilee’s groans of pain.

Buck it.

Blot popped open the bottle of disinfectant and poured nearly half the container over Cheerilee’s wound. She screamed and kicked in protest, biting a pillow in her struggle.

‘Bulk, you need to hold her down. I’m not strong enough.’ Blot groaned while desperately holding the school teacher in place.

With a curt nod, Bulk placed two massive forehooves on Cheerilee’s arms and legs, fastening her in place. Blot, with a tremor from a mixture of pain and fear, pushed the needle into Cheerilee’s open wound.

She responded with more thrashing which even Bulk struggled to contain.

Blot stitched the foreleg with as much care as a manticore in a cupcake store, resulting in ugly, imperfect lines of thread running from one end of the wound to the other. Sometime during the process, Cheerilee had passed out in Bulk’s massive forelegs.

Blot wrapped the poorly mended wound with a layer of gauze and cut his friend a glance that could freeze a cockatrice.

‘You need to get her to Ponyville Hospital right away, Bulk.’

What about you, Blot? You’re not coming with?’ Bulk replied, carefully lifting up Cheeriles and resting her over his shoulders.

‘I can’t. I’m feeling unwell.’ Blot stressed, feeling a familiar snap in his back hoof followed by a spike of pain up his leg.

‘But, Blot-’

‘Bulk, leave right now. Please.’ the therapist pleaded, as he felt his spine slowly begin to metamorphosize.

With a look of concern and not another word, Bulk Biceps rushed through Blot’s door and into the Ponyville evening, a motionless Cheerilee on his shoulder.

Blot had but enough strength to shut the door behind his friend, before the first of many screams escaped his lips.

An aberration of pale skin, wicked claws and an endless maw rose to its full height within the confines of Blot’s home. The beast’s malformed skull made contact with the room’s ceiling, eliciting a startled snarl and an impromptu swipe at the air.

It scanned the home for life.

For food.

It gingerly stalked through Blot’s home, moving with miraculous silence for a beast of its size. Entering the kitchen, two slits resembling what might have abstractly resembled nostrils inhaled in sharp spurs, drawing in a plethora of aromas.

One smell piqued the thing’sinterest.

Pony-flesh.

With a chittering growl, the beast went to work on the kitchen, ripping it apart in hopes of finding its prey. Drawers and cabinets were torn from their hinges and flung careless across the room.

In one compartment, it found a large container of amber liquid. A sniff revealed to the beast that it contained nothing edible.

It flung the container clean through the kitchen window and into the blackness of the night. Once every compartment had been cleared of its contents the creature concluded that whatever food had once prowled the room had already left.

The beast cast its gaze towards the shattered window and twitched.

Hunger.

Bon-Bon squeezed her confectionery shaped pillow as though her life depended on it.

She hid underneath a fortress of blankets and pillows, manned by none other than her very own regiment of assorted stuffed animals.

She trusted them to keep her safe from the monsters of the night, just like her momma had told her when she was but a filly.

They’d been off duty for years, especially during her time as an agent in Canterlot.

But with what happened last week, she needed to be ready.

Full conscription was in order.

All hooves on deck.

Yet, even with her small army, she’d barely gotten a wink of sleep since the news broke out. Three stallions dying had been scary enough. But the rumors that Princess Twilight and the Ponyville guard thought that they’d been murdered by something that wasn’t even a pony.

That terrified her.

Memories of her time as a monster hunter ran rampant, but everything she’d ever chased before had never come even close to such levels of brutality.

Not even the Bug-Bear could’ve been so violent.

She’d prayed and hoped to Princess Luna that sleep would come, but when it did, she found herself in dreamless slumber, only to wake up one or two hours later. Alone.

She squeezed her pillow tighter.

She thought about Lyra, her mint coloured best friend. She’d gone to Canterlot two weeks ago under a noble’s commission. She’d been ecstatic for her friend at the time, her chance at a big break. Now, she felt as though every creak of their shared home was caused by whatever had hurt those ponies.

Oh Lyra. Please come home.

‘Oh I’m so selfish. I want you back here so that I can feel less alone, but that would bring you closer to danger.’ she whispered, a tear escaping the corner of her eye.

She shut her eyes tight, fighting the urge to cry.

She’d be brave for Lyra and for herself.

‘Princess Luna, I hope you’re listening. Please let me dream of cotton candy clouds and toffee streets. Also maybe lollipop trees, if that isn’t too much.’ she prayed with a weak smile.

Somewhere in the bowels of her small Ponyville townhouse, she heard something break.

Or at least, she thought she did. Her retirement had left her “monster senses” dull and untuned.

‘I-It’s probably nothing.’ she whispered to herself and dug her head even deeper underneath the covers.

A faint creak.

There’s nothing to be scared of… Whatever hurt those ponies can’t be here… It can’t be. I have nothing to be afraid of, I’m Agent Sweetie Drops!

She closed her eyes and tried her best to fall into a deep sleep.

They shot open as soon as she heard her bedroom door groan as it opened.

A breeze maybe? But all the windows are closed…

Every essence of Bon-Bon’s being screamed at her to get up and run. To book it onto the streets and straight to Twilight’s castle.

And yet, she found herself frozen in place. This would never have happened during her time as an agent.

She heard another creak, except this time, it came right by the side of her bed, no more than a meter away. She felt tears run openly down her face.

She felt something heavy climb onto her bed. Her fortress had failed her.

Oh Luna please, help me. Anypony. Please.

Suddenly, whatever lurked in the darkness flung itself on top of her. It tore at her blankets and pillows, before finally ripping them clean off the bed.

Bon-Bon sobbed openly now and continued her silent prayers.

‘Bon-Bon, why’re you crying? It’s me, silly!’ Lyra Heartstrings laughed as she hugged her friend.

‘L-Lyra? But how? I-The monster?’ Bon-Bon managed, her blurry eyes coming into focus on her friend. ‘W-Why would you scare me like that? With what happened last week?’

Lyra stopped laughing for a moment. ‘What do you mean? What happened last week?’ she asked, her jovial tone all but gone.

‘You didn’t hear about the ponies in the alleyway?’ Bon-Bon asked her friend, who had moved close to her side.

‘No? I only just got back to Ponyville about fifteen minutes ago! I walked here straight from the station.’

Either Twilight didn’t want to worry Celestia and Luna, or they know exactly what’s going on but aren’t letting anypony know.

No accountability.

Bon-Bon sat at a loss for words. Could the princesses really be keeping what happened under wraps? A thousand thoughts ran through her head.

‘Hey, Bon, what happened to the window in our kitchen by the way?’ Lyra asked her clearly puzzled friend. ‘It was all dark and spooky in there too.’

Bon-Bon felt her heart drop into the depths of her bowels.

‘Lyra, we need to close the bedroom door.’ Bon-Bon urged her friend as she climbed gingerly out of bed.

‘Why, Bon? What happened while I was gone?’

‘I-Three ponies were um… killed by something horrible, Lyra. That’s why I was so afraid.’ Bon-Bon said, turning to face her mint tinged friend.

Lyra’s face radiated terror.

‘Bon, I thought I was seeing things earlier since it was so dark,’ Lyra paused, shaking her head. ‘I think there’s something in our kitchen.’

Bon-Bon spun around and closed the door to their bedroom, making extra sure to lock it. Her hibernated agent instincts returning in full effect.

‘Lyra, can’t you teleport us out of here?’

‘Bon, you know that I’m not exactly magically gifted,’ Lyra muttered with a roll of her eyes. ‘I can’t get us out of here.’

‘So we’re stuck here?’ Bon whispered with a tinge of agitation.

‘Not exactly,’ Lyra beckoned towards the closed curtains, behind which a window facing the outskirts of Ponyville. ‘We climb out the window and make a break for Sweet Apple Acres. It’s not far from here.’

‘Lyra, you wanna run around in the dark with a monster? Have you gone hay-wire?’ Bon-Bon exclaimed. ‘As an ex-monster hunter, I’m gonna have to disagree.’

‘It’s better than being trapped in here.’

Bon-Bon scanned her room, in desperate search of alternatives.

She found none.

A gentle yet surprisingly cool breeze from the now open window sent a shiver down Lyra Heartstring’s spine. Bon-Bon and her had stood together in front of the nighttime abyss in front of them for the better half of five minutes.

Oh gosh, what if I didn’t really even see anything inside the kitchen.

Doubt ran rampant across Lyra’s thoughts.

‘Lyra, we’ve been stood still here like a pair of cockatrice statues for ages. We’re either going or we’re not.’ Bon-Bon exclaimed.

Lyra felt taken aback by her friend’s sudden surge of courage. She wondered how Bon (Or Sweetie Drops as she’d apparently previously been called) had been back in Canterlot.

‘Okay then, Bon. You’re the ex-monster hunter, agent pony. You go first.’

‘Fine, I will.’ Bon-Bon replied, putting a hoof on the windowsill.

‘I’ll be right behind you.’

And with that, Bon-Bon disappeared into the night. While they were still only on the first floor, Lyra couldn’t help but worry that her friend had landed awkwardly, given the extreme lack of light.

Lyra heard a scuffling sound below her, but couldn’t quite make out any discernible outline of her cream coloured friend.

‘Bon, you okay down there?’ she whispered as loud as she could.

More scuffling.

‘Bon?’

‘Lyra, I landed funny,’ Lyra heard her friend call out from below, a swathe of dread and relief washing over her. ‘It’s been awhile since I’ve done all these theatrics.’

‘Are you okay?’ she whispered back, casting the occasional glance at the locked bedroom door behind her.

‘I-I think I twisted my hoof, Lyra.’

Buck.

‘Okay, Bon, I’m coming down.’ Lyra whispered, putting a hoof on the window sill.

‘Alright, I’ll try-’

Lyra retracted her hoof slowly from the window, at the sound of a sickening wet crunch from below.

‘Bon, you okay?’

Silence.

An overwhelming sense of terror filled Lyra’s heart and out of instinct, she slammed the window shut and tumbled away, landing on her flank.

Tears streamed down Lyra’s cheeks, as she rested her back against the wall right next to her bedroom door.

Oh Celestia, Bon. I left you out there. What have I done?

Lyra recoiled in terror, hitting her head against the wall, as Bon-Bon began banging on the glass of the window.

‘Lyra, open the window, please!’ Bon cried, leaving marks of some dark substance on the glass.

Lyra shoot to her hooves and stumbled towards the window sill, tripping over herself and landing just short. She looked up to see Bon’s eyes wide open in panic, but something seemed off.

Oh no...

A wave of nausea overtook the mint tinged mare as her eyes focused on something protruding from her friend’s neck. Four wickedly sharp spikes gleamed under the moonlight, covered in what Lyra knew to be her best friend’s blood.

Bon-Bon seemed unaware of what had happened, and continued to frantically bang on the window, before a series of violent spasms overtook her. Blood flowed like a river from where the four spikes in Bon’s throat had emerged, and to Lyra’s shock, her friend began to float.

Lyra backed away from the window, drawing on every fibre of her being to stifle a scream.

It occurred rather quickly to Lyra that her friend was indeed not floating.

She was being lifted up.

The four ‘spikes’ in Bon Bon’s throat were actually the talons of something horrible. Behind her friend’s now lifeless corpse, Lyra made out the outline of a massive, hideously pale thing. It moved Bon to the side, revealing an unending maw which to Lyra’s disgust, took a chunk of flesh out of her friend’s abdomen.

Lyra sat frozen nought but a meter or two away from the monstrosity. She found herself in equal parts horror and paralysis. The sheer violence and mass of whatever lurked outside her window made her realize something terrible.

This thing wasn’t in our kitchen. Bon died because of me.

She’d seen something small. In hindsight, it could have been anything. Just not this.

The monstrosity beyond the window continued to feast on Bon’s lifeless body, and Lyra found herself unable to look away. Lyra’s life flashed before her eyes. Every stupid argument she’d ever had with Bon, every word left unsaid.

Painful thoughts crossed Lyra’s mind.

She had jumped straight into it. Because of me.

Because of me.

A gasp of realization escaped Lyra’s throat, stopping the beast in its tracks. The thing dropped Bon to the ground, and slowly turned its horrible gaze towards a trembling Lyra.

The beast’s gore-filled maw morphed into what Lyra could only possibly imagine to be a grin.

Because of me.

Glass shattered, and Lyra was dragged into the blackness of the night.

Strained coughing awoke Bulk Biceps.

He opened his blurry, sleep-ridden eyes and looked around him. He was in a hospital room, spread out on a couch which was clearly too small to sustain the full weight of the massive pegasus. The room had been painted a dull beige, with pictures of flowers and small animals decorating the walls.

He faintly remembered stumbling into the hospital, exhausted, with Cheerilee strewn over his shoulder. He recalled waiting a few moments outside an ER room, then falling asleep on a waiting chair.

Somepony must’ve moved him.

How?

Suspending his disbelief, Bulk scanned the room around him, settling on a hospital bed a few meters away from him. Cheerilee lay in the bed, connected to all manners of machine. As he drew closer to the injured mare, he noticed that her poorly mended wound had been re-stitched and properly dressed.
More importantly, the subtle hush of her breath lifted an insurmountable weight from Bulk’s broad shoulders.

She survived.

He, as quietly as possible wandered to a nearby set of curtains, burgeoning with sunshine. A quick peek behind the fabric revealed to him a beautiful, sunny day.

I must’ve fallen asleep here.

Suddenly, his mind drifted to his Blot. His friend had urged him out of the house. In fact, he’d almost demanded his departure. Bulk recalled what he could only think to be the sound of a distant scream as he had run towards Ponyville hospital.

He cursed his miniscule wings.

With a final caring glance towards Cheerilee, Bulk made for the exit.

Only to be bumped into by a small earth pony wearing a nurse’s hat with red emblem in the shape of a heart on it.

‘Oh my, you’re awake,’ whispered Nurse Redheart, clearly aware of the still fast asleep Cheerilee. ‘Let’s speak outside the room.’

The pair entered a quiet hallway, devoid of life asides from the occasional nurse passing in and out of doors not unlike Cheerilee’s.

‘Is she going to be okay?’ Bulk asked quietly, leaning down to look Redheart in the eye.

The nurse nodded with a soft smile. ‘You managed to get her here just in time. She lost a lot of blood, but she’s stable.

‘The mending that you and Doctor Hermane had given her was rudimentary, but it probably saved her life.’

‘Wait, did you just say “Doctor Hermane”? He was here?’ Bulk asked with a confused expression.

‘He checked in on the pair of you about an hour ago. He didn’t want to wake you,’ Redheart said, taking a seat nearby Cheerilee’s door.

Reality hit Bulk like a wagon without breaks.

‘How long have I been asleep?’
‘Well, you stumbled in here with Ms. Cheerilee a day and a half ago. You’d almost run yourself to death so we gave you some liquids and let you rest.

‘You should be proud, you’re a hero.’ Nurse Redheart finished, before standing up and entering Cheerilee’s door, closing the door behind her.

A day and a half? Sweet Celestia.

‘Applejack, tell me about your week.’

‘It’s been good. Ah took yer advice and tried mah best to relax,’

Doctor Blot Hermane raised a skeptical eyebrow at the clearly uncomfortable farm-mare in front of him.

‘Why do I feel like there’s a “but” missing here?’ Blot queried, locking eye contact with Applejack.

‘Well- Ah, um might have worked just a bit on the farm. Just some buckin’ here and there, that’s all.’ Applejack admitted squeamishly.

‘Applejack, you’re many things. A good liar is not one of them,’ Blot said with a giggle and an accusative wink. ‘How much did you really work?’

‘More than Ah should have,’ Applejack conceded. ‘But, Ah did really try an’ work less, that’s a promise!’

‘I believe you,’ Blot chuckled and then paused, his face tensing up. ‘Applejack, how’ve you been since what happened last week?’

Applejack fidgeted uncomfortably in her seat at the question.

‘Ah’ve been okay. Better than expected, at least.’ she said anxiously, tapping the table with her hoof.

‘Anything about that night you’d like to speak to me about?’

Applejack shuffled again, averting Blot’s gaze. ‘Ah um, Ah don’t know really.’

Dark bags hung woefully underneath Applejack’s eyes, and Blot cursed himself for not noticing earlier.

‘You haven’t been sleeping much, have you, Applejack?’

‘Ah-um, well, Ah’ve been tryin’ to, but it just doesn’t come. Maybe it’s the lack of workin’ or somethin’.’

‘Applejack, I think we both know that isn’t the truth.’ Blot stated with a worried expression.

The farm mare across him audibly stifled a sniffle.

‘Ah’ve been seein’ those three ponies at night when Ah close mah eyes. Ah’ve been seeing… that thing.’Applejack managed, before the tears overwhelmed her.

Blot watched the mare in front of him sob quietly. He sat lost in thought, the fledgling memories of his disastrous evening two days ago running rampant. He felt relieved that Bulk had made it to the hospital with Cheerilee.

He recalled very little of what had followed his transformation.

Some muddled, hazy recollection of a house, broken glass and a cream coloured pony.

He did however very clearly remember spending the day after cleaning up his home, as well as entirely removing a window from his kitchen.

As Applejack’s cries quieted down, Blot snapped back to reality.

‘I know what you saw that night was… disturbing to say the least Applejack, but you need to realize that it’s in the past. Whatever that thing was, it’s probably long gone from here.

‘What happened to those ponies was awful, but again, it’s in the past. Focus on the present.’ he finished with a soft, reassuring smile.

‘Ah’m tryin, doc. But, Ah sometimes wonder if they deserved it, y’know. What they were gonna do-’ Applejack stopped herself, with a scowl of both fury and terror masking her face.

Blot felt a shiver go down his spine.

He opened his mouth to ask Applejack what she meant, but before he could, his office door flung open.

Bulk Biceps stood drenched in sweat, a newspaper in his mouth.

He dropped the paper on the desk with a look of horror.

The Ponyville Herald

Ponyville’s Premiere Reporting Office

THE PONYVILLE ABERRATION STRIKES AGAIN

TWO MORE PONIES FOUND DEAD IN TOWN HOME

Princess Celestia felt a tear run down her cheek.

She stood atop a porcelain balcony overlooking a very sunny Canterlot. Glorious towers of marble surrounded her on all sides. Below, thousands of her ponies went about their daily business.

Her heart swelled with pride.

She loved them. All of them.

A small parchment basked in her magical aura floated in front of her. She used to find great joy in reading these letters from her former apprentice.

But, as of late, she dreaded them.

Not even a week ago, Celestia had received the disturbing news from Twilight regarding murders in Ponyville. The letter had been frantic and panicked.

Desperate.

As much as it pained Celestia, she was very aware of crime all across Equestria. Gang violence in Manehatten, rape in Fillydelphia and even the occasional murder right under her muzzle in Canterlot.

However, she hadn’t heard of three murders in a single occurrence in a very long time.

More shocking still had been the Element of Honesty’s eye-witness account of the killing.

And the monstrosity she had described. Celestia recalled the failed monster hunting agency she had helped bring together.

They couldn’t have contained this.

Behind her, she heard the familiar hoof-steps of her beloved younger sibling.

‘Has it happened again, sister?’ Luna asked from Celestia’s side.

‘I’m afraid so.’ Celestia replied.

The pair stood together in silence, wind whistling through their ethereal manes.

‘You said that if it happened again, we’d intervene,’ Luna said, breaking the silence. She cast her sister a glance with her turquoise eyes. ‘The beast comes at night. Allow me to send a detachment of Lunar Guard.’

With a woeful, pained sigh, Celestia nodded her head. She trusted Twilight's abilities as a princess with her life, but if whatever had murdered those ponies is still out there...

She'd do anything to keep her ponies safe.

Luna’s horn blared with powerful magic, and nighttime fell upon Equestria.

Author's Note

After several re-writes, chapter three is here!

Enjoy!

(Side note: Decided to refer to 'Sweetie Drops' as Bon-Bon throughout the chapter, it felt unnatural writing her in as the former. Moreover, I like to think of Sweetie Drops and Bon-Bon as two sides of the same coin, wherein the former has become more of an alter ego than anything else.)

Thanks!

Chapter 4: Coagulation

Coagulation

to change from a fluid into a thickened mass; curdle; congeal

Cheerilee saw nought but sunken gloom surrounding the once colourful, proud and lively town of Ponyville.

The town’s once vibrantly coloured buildings had fallen into a state of utter decay. Broken shards of glass sprinkled the cobbled pathways meandering throughout the town. The paint on the outside of the buildings had faded drastically, leaving behind a dull shade of beige. It appeared to Cheerilee as though the entire town had all at once deserted, leaving the settlement to degenerate.

A ghost town.

Cheerilee wandered the ash littered streets, carefully avoiding shards of glass as she went. An unmistakable, massive shadow enveloped the ground in front of her.

The Castle of Friendship? What’s left of it at least.

A mockery of the once magnificent crystalline fortress loomed over Ponyville. Its banners had been torn and its sharp spires in a state of disrepair. The keep’s front door had been torn clean off the hinges.

With a sad shake of her head, Cheerilee continued through the town.

She passed by several of the town’s ruined landmarks, such as what was once Sugar Cube Corner. And then, upon a hill of ash and shattered glass, Cheerilee found what she’d been searching for.

The Ponyville Schoolhouse.

It radiated with colour and liveliness and life, just as she had remembered. Green glass, a seemingly unerring blue sky, vibrant red paint.

A stark contrast to the otherwise bleak world around it.

Cheerilee approached the schoolhouse, enjoying every step. Walking up to the front door, she heard the unmistakable rattle of classroom chatter. A turn of a door knob, and she was face first with her class.

Most of her foals sat in their chairs, but some had scuffled around the class to interact with their friends. Ecstatic conversation racketed from desk to desk alongside excited squeaks and laughter.

A warm smile spread across Cheerilee’s face.

And a tear ran down her cheek.

The chatter grew louder and louder, overwhelming her. Cheerilee tried to control the rampant uproar, but found herself drowning in the noise. The cacophony grew ever-louder and Cheerilee could feel her ears straining to deal with the overwhelming sound.

‘Please class, stop!’ Cheerilee shouted, hopeless wails scattering to the wind.

A single lit candle sat everbright on Cheerilee’s desk.

Have to silence the screaming.

Cheerilee frantically darted towards her desk with a crazed twitch in her eye. She grasped the lit candle by its base, warm wax burning her gums and tongue.

The orchestra of speech had reached a high crescendo.

And in that moment between the screaming and pained throbbing of her ear drums, Cheerilee knew what had to be done.

She dropped the candle into a pile of papers, which were quickly enveloped in flame. The fire spread unbelievably fast, encapsulating a nearby bookcase in a matter of seconds.

Her class had taken notice, but Cheerilee beat the nearest foal to the door.

Which she promptly slammed shut behind her.

The once happy squeals of her class slowly shifted to that of panic, and eventually, terror and pain.

Cheerilee walked away from the burning schoolhouse and towards the ruined Ponyville. A triplet of filles chattered amongst themselves to her left, but she paid them no heed.

I had to stop the screaming.

Ponyville and the burning schoolhouse behind her fade to black, and Cheerilee found herself spinning endlessly. Until her eyes opened to the burning artificial light of a ceiling lamp. Cheerilee awoke alone in her hospital room, a bead of sweat running down her forehead.

Was that a nightmare… or a memory?

Around her lay a treasury of assorted gifts she’d accumulated during the two weeks since her incident at Doctor Hermane’s home. Flowers, get well cards and a plethora of other similar well intended gestures.

And yet, asides from her daily visits from Nurse Redheart and the occasional checkup with Doctor Hermane, she had been completely isolated. Cheerilee looked down at the masses of bandages wrapped her foreleg. The cut had been deep, yes, but not deep enough to warrant two weeks of hospitalization. Cheerilee theorized that Doctor Hermane had spoken with the hospital officials about keeping her out of fear of what she might do.

Or what I might have already done.

Cheerilee rubbed her temples and laid her head back into the pillow and stared into the beige ceiling tiles above her. A sense of drowsiness washed over her, but she dared not shut her eyes for too long, lest the screaming begin anew. Regardless, not much in the way of sleep had visited the once jovial mare as of late anyways.

And when it did, she more often than not wished she were awake.

She cut another glance at her bandaged foreleg. Above all, she felt embarrassed about the incident, partially why she hadn’t gone straight to the hospital in the first place. She felt like everypony saw her as “the mare who went mad” after what had happened with the Schoolhouse.

Even more embarrassingly, with her recent thoughts, Cheerilee couldn’t help but wonder if they were right.

‘I’m thankful for your help, Captain, but really, we have things under control here. I’m sure however, that we can draft up some orders for your regiment.’

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood face to face with the Captain of Princess Luna’s bat pony ‘Lunar Guard’ outfit. She felt somewhat insulted. In her letter to Celestia, she had clearly written (if somewhat hastily) that she had the situation under control.

Seems like the Princesses don’t agree.

An impressive, muscle rippled specimen; the bat pony stood easily as tall as Big Mac, with just as much mass to boot. A short cut, crimson mane cut a clean contrast against his deep teal coat.

‘You seem to misunderstand the situation, Princess. As much as I respect you, I’m not here to follow your orders. I’m here to clean up after you,’ the bat pony started, with a cold shine in his eyes. ‘And please, call me Coal.’

‘You think that my guard can’t keep Ponyville safe? I’m no filly, and neither are my guards.’ Twilight replied with a scowl.

‘I don’t doubt the abilities of your guard, Princess. At least, their abilities in the day. But whatever this thing is. It only seems to come out to play in the night,

‘We’re bat ponies, ma’am. We’re used to the night; specialized in it, even. We’ll catch your monster.’ Coal finished as he paced around the crystalline antechamber the pair found themselves in.

Hay… He has a point.

Twilight raised an exhausted hoof to her temple. She’d been researching the nature of beast plaguing Ponyville the entirety of the last week, barely taking time to sleep. She cared too much for her ponies to let this thing get the better of her.

And yet, she’d found nothing resembling Applejack’s description. The Ponyville Aberration the local papers had called it. The name had spread through hushed whispers throughout the developing town. Eventually, she’d even caught her own guard ponies murmur about the thing when they thought she couldn’t hear. Nothing in any of her vast stacks of tomes made mention of such a violent being.

After the most recent killings, Twilight felt willing enough to believe in just about anything.

She couldn’t let injured pride get in the way of the safety of ponies.

‘I- Okay, Coal. I grant you permission to handle our nighttime operations. However, should you encounter the um-Aberration, I expect to be informed post-haste.’ Twilight stated, looking the bat pony dead in the eyes.

‘Thank you, Princess Twilight. Consider this beast a worry of the past.’ Coal replied with a smirk, promptly leaving Twilight to her thoughts.

For the sake of Ponyville, I hope you’re right, Captain.

Doctor Blot Hermane sat alone in his office chair, his eyes fastened on the desk in front of him. More specifically, on a piece of parchment.

A Pained Confession,

For the last six to seven months, I’ve struggled with something. Something horrible and twisted. Something I thought I could control.

I was mistaken.

I realize that now. Except, it’s too late. Far, far too late. Ponies have been hurt… by me. It’s impossible for me to put this all on paper. The pain, the fear. I’ll do my best. It seems that, I’ve been infected with some kind of pathogen. Or perhaps I’ve been cursed or possessed by some supernatural being.

To be honest with you, I’m not sure.

What I am sure about however, especially as of late, is that whatever this thing inside of me is, it has to be stopped. I feel this hunger sometimes. It feels insatiable, neverending. It turns me into something horrible.

It turns me into a monster.

That’s just it. A monster.

With this letter, I aim to confess to all the recent murders here in Ponyville. Bon Bon, Lyra, those three stallions down in Starswirl Drive. All of them.

I didn’t want anypony to get hurt, but this can’t continue.

I won’t let it.

I am the Ponyville Aberration.

I confess.

Signed,

Doctor Blot Hermane

Blot’s eyes were rimmed with tears. He’d written the letter hours ago. It had been bright when he first entered his office, but now, Luna’s moon hung solemnly in the night sky. He stared at the parchment in front of him, knowing it to be the right thing to do. He’d bring it to Twilight and confess audibly. He’d stand in front of her, and tell her everything, from the beginning.

He’d give her his confession, and then she would decide what comes next for him.

And yet, the doctor couldn’t budge from his seat.

He had responsibilities. Bulk, Applejack and even Cheerilee in her sorry state back at the hospital. The rest of his patients and his family. What would they think of him? He realized now that he needed them just as much as they needed him.

Maybe even more.

He raised a hoof to his troubled head, and went through a series of stretches. His shoulder bone crackled, and his neck popped. He rested his head on the desk, laying his muzzle on the parchment.

And then, he felt his leg crack in several familiar places.

It’s starting.

Buck.

Blot hastily shoved the parchment into a desk drawer and slammed it shut with a resounding crash.

Cartilage dislodged and bended. Tendons stretched and tore.

Before finally, after an eternity; the transformation concluded. His malformed, pale shape lay prone on the floor, and yet; something felt off.

I’m still in control…

How?

Blot struggled to stand straight, unused to controlling the spindly, broken form of the aberration. He towered a good half meter above even his highest bookcases. A ray of pale moonlight cast Blot’s broken shadow on the ground and he did all he could to stifle a gag.

He stumbled towards the doorway, half falling on its frame. His claws sunk deep into the woodwork. He pushed on the frame in an attempt to correct his position, however, with unnatural strength ripped of a chunk of polished wood.

That’s going to be expensive.

In the back of his mind, Blot sensed an overwhelming darkness biting at the heels, desperate to be let loose. Battling its advances took all of his willpower; and yet, he somehow managed to keep it at bay.

I have to stay indoors. Nopony can see me like this.

Blot entered the hallway and despite having surprisingly clear vision of floor in front of him, stumbled like a drunkard towards the bathroom. He barely managed to fit his gargantuan form inside, before slamming the door shut and locking it for good measure.

This is going to be a long night.

Applejack laid in bed, eyes glued to the ceiling.

Her room had been bathed in darkness, asides from the pale illuminance of the moon shining through her window.

She’d been replaying her fateful encounter in the alley way over and over again, as she had been doing for weeks.

She’d analysed every detail of the scene.

And she still couldn’t figure out why she’d been spared.

By all rights, Applejack’s survival had been a work of some miracle. Whatever that thing was, she couldn’t possibly have outrun it.

It had moved so quickly.

So violently.

Applejack shuddered.

She remembered the look on the monster’s face. It wasn’t anger or hatred. It was recognition.

And yet, how could it possibly recognize her. She’d never seen the “Aberration” in her entire life.

Except she couldn’t quite shake the feeling. However distant and improbable.

That she’d recognized the beast too.

Chapter 5: Abomination

Abomination

a thing that causes disgust or loathing

a feeling of hatred

The disfigured body of Doctor Blot Hermane shaked and jittered in torment, sending toothbrushes and various gels flying across his bathroom.

He’d begun to lose his grip on the aberration some half hour ago. It began with the ever present darkness creeping into the corners of his vision. Then, fifteen minutes ago, he’d begun to loss control of his limbs.

From that point onwards, things had gotten out of control.

Blot shifted in and out of consciousness, and in his lapses of lucidity finally found access to the aberration’s horrific memories.

Memories he knew in his heart he’d never unsee.

The gushing of pony-blood in a dark alleyway. Dragging Lyra Heartstrings into the woods, before devouring chunks of her flesh.

But somehow, most unsettling to the semi-aware therapist: the look of absolute terror on Applejack’s face.

And just like that, Doctor Blot Hermane faded into the darkness and the Ponyville Aberration took control. An unimaginable hunger wracked the thing’s body.

It wanted food; flesh.

The monstrosity tore the bathroom door from its hinges with little effort, and bounded into the hallway. A quick predatory glance revealed to the aberration its exit from Blot’s home, and just like that, it burst into the night in search of prey.

It was at that moment that the aberration heard the distant yelping of some distressed animal. With a wicked twitch of its malformed head, the beast turned to face the direction of Sweet Apple Acres and set off into the night.

Applejack awoke to a rapping at her door.

And the faint, yet familiar sound of a dog yapping outside.

‘Come in.’ Applejack called out, sleep still caking her eyes.

Her bedroom door whined as it opened, and in walked a tiny filly shaped figure. Applejack’s room was dark, however, in the minimal illuminance from the hallway, she had no trouble seeing that her sister’s face was just as exhausted as hers.

‘Winona’s ah barkin’ again sis,’Apple Bloom slurred while rubbing her eyes.

Applejack sighed and begrudgingly slid out of bed. She trotted towards her younger sister, who she afforded a loving pat on the head.

‘Head on back to bed, Apple Bloom. It’s past yer bedtime anyways.’ Applejack chuckled, cutting her sister a cheeky grin.

Apple Bloom returned the grin, and after a quick hug, pantered off back to her room.

Applejack couldn’t help but smile. Things had gotten so much better between the two of them since she’d followed Blot’s advice to focus less on work and more on family. She’d actually had time to bond with her family for the first time in what felt like an eternity. Family picnics, outings and the likes had finally become common place again.

She trotted to the stairs, careful to not wake up Big Mac, whose room was only a few meters down the hall from hers. The wooden stairs of their farmhouse seemingly creaked in agony as she descended into the darkness below.

Hay, Ah should’ve brought a candle or somethin’ with.

Applejack finally reached what she believed to be the bottom floor, and began stumbling through the darkness and towards the front door based on nothing but memory. Winona’s barking grew louder and louder as Applejack gradually grew nearer.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot across Applejack’s snout, causing her to tumble back.

Moonlight filled the farmhouse and Applejack felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her. She’d walked straight into the front door. Outside, drenched in moonlight, Winona barked with an unusual ferocity into the night.

‘Winona, what’re ye barkin’ at?’ Applejack called into the night, as she approached one of her oldest friends.

Winona either didn’t hear Applejack, or just completely ignored her. Either way, she kept barking with unrelenting tenacity at what Applejack could just about make out to be a tool shed.

‘Winona, are ye barkin’ at the darn toolshed again?’ Applejack exclaimed with marked irritance. She approached the distressed canine, and grasped her collar firmly between her teeth before trying to drag her away back to the farmhouse.

To her surprise, Winona didn’t cease her barking. Instead, the small shepherding hound fought hard to escape her master’s grasp. Applejack released Winona and stomped her hoof in annoyance.

‘Winona, what’s gotten into you tonight?’ Applejack cried out. ‘There’s nothin’ in that darn toolshed!’

Rather abruptly, Winona stopped her barking.

‘Good girl, now c’mon will ye. It’s late.’

Suddenly, a deep, threatening growl escaped Winona’s throat. The shepherd dog backed off protectively towards Applejack, putting herself between the now pitch black orchards beyond and her master.

‘Winona?’ Applejack asked, before straining her eyes to see into the dark woods beyond.

Winona’s growl had grown guttural and evermore violent. Snarls escaped the hound’s muzzle, and her pristine white teeth were on display where they glistened in the moonlight.

Somewhere beyond her line of sight, Applejack heard the rustling of bushes and then, as if from some nightmare, she saw the pale outline of something in the treeline.

‘Winona, run.’

This time, her faithful companion didn’t hesitate. Winona and Applejack spun on their heels and sprinted desperately towards the farm house. Behind her, Applejack heard the monstrosity bound out of the woods.

‘Macin-’ Applejack began, before an unimaginable force sent her sprawling to the floor.

The beast moved with supernatural speed, yanking Winona away from the front door by her tail. Winona crashed to the ground with a yelp, before landing some distance in between Applejack and the monstrosity.

Applejack had forgotten the true size of the beast. It towered over both her and Winona, moonlight illuminating its grim, disfigured features. A look of horrible hunger flicked in the beast’s eyes as it focused it gaze on Winona.
‘Don’t you touch her, ye damn filthy monster,’ Applejack cried out, crawling towards her injured pet. ‘Winona, you get up. Get outta here. Please.’

Winona stirred finally. It became immediately clear to Applejack that her friend had suffered worse wounds than she’d initially realized. A small pool of crimson surrounded Winona, who had begun to growl defensively once more.

‘You stupid animal, please, just get outta here.’ Applejack pleaded, a deep pang making itself known in her throat.

The beast approached Winona gingerly, enjoying every step. It stopped less than a meter away from the badly broken dog, before revealing its endless, ever hungering maw. Applejack’s legs failed her. The courage had been sucked out of her body, alongside her breath.

She was powerless to do anything but watch as her loving defender was devoured by some heartless abomination.

The Ponyville Aberration reeled backwards, preparing to pounce on the injured hound, before a whistle somewhere behind Applejack sounded in the darkness.

‘Loose!’ somepony cried from behind her.

Black bolts of fury whistled out from the woods, embedding themselves into the beast’s chest and neck. It howled in agony and collapsed backwards, sprawling to the ground. Suddenly, an ebon pony charged from the toolshed, a sharp lance strapped to their shoulder.

With a hearty war cry, the pony drove the lance clear through the stunned beast’s abdomen, pinning it to the side of the farmhouse. Big Mac emerged from the farmhouse and shut it behind him, likely to keep Apple Bloom inside. A look of horror dawned on his face as he look the impaled beast over.

More ebon ponies emerged from the woods, some flying; most approached on ground with either sharp objects attached to their backs or some form of crossbow.

These are Luna’s bat ponies.

Applejack finally felt strength return to her, and she crawled over to Winona, who had collapsed in the commotion.

‘Big Mac, help me with Winona. She’s hurt real bad.’ Applejack exclaimed before passing Winona’s limp body to her older brother, who in turn brought the injured dog inside.

The bat pony who had impaled the beast moved away from its unmoving form, and approached Applejack.

‘Are you okay ma’am? I’m sorry we didn’t act sooner, I had to alert my company,’ Captain Coal said with a solemn nod.

‘Ye came just in time Ah think. Thank y’all, really. Ah owe ye mah life,’ Applejack said, before cutting the creature a glance. ‘Is it um…’

‘Dead? Yes, most certainly. Very few things in Equestria could’ve survived such an ambush.’ Coal replied, resting a hoof on his temple.

Coal barked a set of orders at a nearby guard pony, before returning to face Applejack. Faintly, she could hear words leaving his mouth, and yet found them unintelligible. They seemed to be coming from hundreds of kilometers away.

This must be shock.

Applejack felt a wave of mixed emotion wash over her. Despite all the terror the beast had caused, at the end of day, it had saved her life in that fateful alleyway. The reality of the situation struck her. The Ponyville Aberration had perished.

She’d never know why it saved her.

‘What happens now?’ Applejack asked, looking Coal in the eyes.

‘Well, first, we contain the creature’s body. Then we-’ Captain Coal never finished his sentence.

Around the pair, his guard’s faces were lined with terror, some dropping their assorted weapons to the ground. Coal wretched, and Applejack felt a warm substance splatter on her face.

She looked down and saw a dark pike emerging from the captain’s throat. She felt her mouth drop as she back away from the struggling bat pony. Her eyes fell on the towering figure behind the captain. The lance that had once been firmly skewered in its midsection had be repurposed into the back of the bat pony captain’s neck.

All at once, Luna’s royal guard flung themselves into a panic. Some began opening fire whilst others simply cowered in terror of the beast. The aberration dropped Coal’s now lifeless body to the ground and began going to work on the panicked guard ponies.

Its claws ripped into their flesh, and it seemed to completely disregard the various injuries it had suffered. One brave bat pony tried to lance the monstrosity, but had his jaw ripped apart by the creature’s razor sharp talons.

Applejack backed away and shut her eyes,refusing to lay witness to the massacre taking place in front of her.

A cacophony of blood curdling screams rung out around her. They grew louder and louder, reaching a grand crescendo.

Before finally, all went silent, except for the sound of her own heartbeat and the strained breathing of the creature before her.

Applejack slowed forced her eyes open.

She regretted it instantly.

Bat ponies lay strewn around her, all either dead or dying. Some, it appeared died fairly cleanly. Applejack looked to her side, where a bat pony’s foreleg lay stranded.

Others it seemed, weren’t so lucky.

Amidst the bloodied chaos, stood the aberration. Its body had been riddled with bolts and deep gashes. It turned to face Applejack, all signs of bloodlust gone from its gore-drenched face. Deep blue eyes connected with hers, and once again, Applejack couldn’t shake a feeling of familiarity.

Despite all the death around her, the monster didn’t seem aggressive in the slightest.

In fact, Applejack could just about make out what appeared to be a deep sadness in the beast’s eyes.

They stood across each other, both covered in the gore of the ponies between them. Somewhere to her side, the farm door opened, and Big Macintosh rushed out, armed with a pitch fork. The beast regarded Big Mac with something resembling fear, and fled once more into the woods.

‘What in the hay happened out here, Applejack?’ Big Mac asked, dropping the pitch fork.

‘Ah don’t know,’ Applejack replied, her gaze locked in place with where the beast had stood mere moments ago. ‘Ah truly don’t know.’

Applejack collapsed, somewhere from behind her a filly screamed.

And then all went to darkness.

Bulk Biceps awoke to a scream.

His massive form shot out of bed and instinctively made straight for the door.

It took several steps down his hallway for him to question why he’d begun to run in the first place. He scanned the hallway with his massive head.
A scream. I heard a scream.

He began calling around his surprisingly small home, searching for the origin of the scream. In his half asleep state, it took the giant a full five minutes to figure out that the scream had come from outside.

Buck. Blot.

Bulk Biceps charged down his own hallway and burst out his front door. The street was dead silent. He cantered over to his friend’s residence to find the entrance wide open. The inside of the dwelling was a black abyss.

Another scream, this time, it sounded more contained.

Bulk entered the home quietly and slowly, allowing for his eyes to adjust. He felt a warm, wet substance on the under part of his hoof.

Is Blot drinking again?

He stood in the middle of living room, and found nought but a single light source coming from what he knew to be the bathroom. He approached gingerly, before finally reaching his destination.

‘Blot, are you okay?’ Bulk asked as he knocked on the door.

‘Bulk? I-Um yes, I’m fine. Don’t come in.’ Blot replied from the other side of the door.

It was clear in Blot’s voice that he was not alright. Bulk opened the door, and almost collapsed as he did.

Crimson lined almost everything in the bathroom. Blot’s sink once porcelain white sink had been drenched in what Bulk could only identify as the insides of some animal. Blot was seated on his toilet, except, something seemed off. He too was covered in a deep red, alongside the throne he sat upon. His legs and forelegs seemed the same.

His head and neck however, were far from normal. Half his face seemed the same, whilst the other was hairless and lined with a set of sharp fangs much too large to fit his body. His neck twitched and cracked, gradually returning to normal proportions.

Except for the spines visible on the back of his neck.

Bulk tumbled out of the bathroom as Blot struggled to shut the door.

Everything went dark.

Doctor Blot Hermane sat meters away from the unconscious form of his best friend. Things had gone from bad to worse that night. He had no clue what happened after he’d lost control of the beast.

But judging from the amount of blood in the bathroom.

It couldn’t have been good.

Bulk had walked in on the worst possible time. The painful hour or so that made up his transformation back to a pony. It felt unfair somehow, the transition to the beast was painful, yes, but it was also relatively quick.

This however, felt as though every minute took an hour.

And Bulk walked in right as my face was still half bucked up. Perfect.

Blot pondered what to do now. Bulk had been out for at least half an hour, and the transformation had completed. He’d managed to put a pillow under his massive friend’s head, as well as clean up the blood in the bathroom. He’d also shut the door, and wiped off whatever blood he could find leading to his home.

And yet he’d noticed something strange. This time, he’d identified two distinct pigmentations in the blood. One the regular crimson. The other much darker… almost black in colouration.

Was the aberration injured?

Blot shook his head and rested his back against the wall opposite a passed out Bulk Biceps. What felt like an eternity passed, before he heard his friend begin to stir.

‘Bulk, you awake?’ Blot whispered to his friend.

And then, in the blink of an eye, Bulk was on top of him. Blot had known the pegasus to be strong.

But not this strong.

Bulk choked the life out of his therapist, pinning him to the ground.

‘You’re a bucking liar, Blot!’ Bulk screamed as he squeezed down on his best friend’s throat with his hooves.

Blot’s world began to spin and go hazy. First there was just one Bulk on top of him, then there appeared to be three, four even five. In the back of his mind, he could feel the darkness pining to be let loose.

It took all the concentration he had left to fight it.

‘Bulk… You’re… Choking… Me.’ Blot managed as he struggled to stay awake.

Bulk’s pupils dilated, and as quickly as he’d begun, he fell back to where he’d been lying. Regret washed over Bulk’s face immediately, and he looked down to his own hooves in horror.

‘Blot… I’m so sorry, I don’t know what came over me.’ Bulk managed, offering his friend a hoof in assistance.

Blot choked and waved the hoof away, ‘It’s okay, I’m okay. You’re right anyways, I am a liar.’ Blot coughed out, massaging his badly bruised throat.

‘Did… Did you kill all those ponies, Blot?’ Bulk asked, staring at the floor between them.

‘I-Um. I did, Bulk,’ Blot started. ‘But I didn’t want to. I wasn’t in control of myself.’ he finished, bowing his head in shame.

‘What did I see earlier… In the bathroom. Did you hurt somepony again?’

‘I don’t know Bulk, I don’t know.’

Princess Twilight Sparkle stood alone in her bed chamber.

It took all her effort not to break down into tears.

An hour prior, a grievously injured bat pont had arrived at the gates of the keep. He explained that the aberration had cut down and devoured all of his fellow guard ponies, including Captain Coal.

She’d contemplated contacting the princesses, especially Luna, to let them know what had happened. And yet, found herself unable to. She knew they’d want to begin spreading word of the aberration to other counties in Equestria.

She’d become known as the princess who failed to protect her ponies.

She contemplated informing her own royal guard, but feared the widespread panic that would ensue.

And so she’d come to an impasse.

Unwilling to do nothing, but incapable of doing much of anything.

Except perhaps, one thing.
In her many travels across Equestria, Twilight had met one pony who could shift the tides and perhaps take care of her monster problem for good.

Perhaps.

So for now, she’d keep quiet about what happened at Sweet Apple Acres, informing only her most trusted circle.

And then...

She’d find a way to kill The Ponyville Aberration.

Chapter 6: Ad Mortem

Ad Mortem

Unto death

Sunlight bathed Twilight’s chamber through a nearby crystalline window. Colours danced vividly throughout the room, sending arcs of light in every possible direction.

The effect both amazed Twilight, and irritated her beyond comprehension.

It distracted her.

And this was by no means a time for distraction.

Across the room, a dark figure sat on one of Twilight’s finely cut crystal chairs. The figure was covered head to toe in a cloak, concealing their identity.

‘Thank you for wearing the shroud as requested. Whilst the facade has begun to falter, I need my ponies to believe that the situation is still under control,’ Twilight said, shifting uncomfortably in her own seat. ‘If they saw an outsider entering the castle, the situation might escalate unnecessarily.’

‘And is it not under control?’ the figure queried with a solemn, monotone voice.

‘I’m afraid not.’

The figure released a chortle, before unveiling their cloak.

Before Twilight sat a grizzled, badly scarred stallion. His grey coat featured several lines of ugly, pink tissue wherein some unimaginable monstrosity had raked its claws.Further still, his muzzle and face too held its own set of scars. One closed one his blue eyes in a singular downward line.

‘Well, that’s why I’m here, isn’t it, Princess Twilight? You must be pretty desperate to have called me here.’ the stallion cackled, reeling back in his chair.

‘Well yes, the situation is… Less than optimal.’ Twilight replied, avoiding eye contact with the scarred pony in front of her.

‘I remember the last time we met, back in Trottingham. You were passing through on some or other “important business”. Did you enjoy your stay?’ the stallion asked with a cruel grin.

‘I wasn’t there for very long, you know that.’

‘Ah, yes. I do however recall from that brief visit of yours, that you wanted absolutely nothing to do with me. In fact, the exact words were “Crackle, I would never ask of your services, even if Ponyville were on the fringe of eradication”. And yet, here we are.’ Crackle finished, flashing a toothy grin in Twilight’s direction.

‘And yet, here we are.’ Twilight repeated as a sick feeling flushed through her stomach. Crackle was right, calling upon his help was an absolute act of desperation. She remembered the grizzled stallion in front of her explaining the extreme nature of his services more than a year ago.

At the time, she couldn’t comprehend a situation wherein he might be of help.

Crackle was a monster hunter without equal.

Twilight had heard whispers of his name throughout Equestria, as well as rumours of his violent methods. She’d wanted to meet the pony for herself in her trip to Trottingham; see for herself whether he was worth his salt.

And she’d been disgusted.

And yet here we are. Have things really grown so out of control?

Twilight thought back to the report of the mangled bodies across Ponyville in the wake of the Aberration.

Yes, yes they have.

‘Now that the formalities are out of the way princess, shall we begin?’ Crackle asked, reclining in his chair.

‘I suppose so, Crackle.’ Twilight replied, shaking her head in defeat.

I can’t believe I’m accepting this creep’s help.

‘Now, tell me about this little monster problem of yours.’

Twilight exhaled.

‘They call it The Ponyville Aberration.’

‘Ah don’t know what to tell ye doc. Ah’m feelin’ fine!’

Doctor Blot Hermane and Applejack sat together in his office. Two days had passed since the events at Sweet Apple Acres, and for the most part, the princess had kept its occurence on a ‘need to know’ basis.

Fortunately, being Applejack’s therapist, Blot was filled in on the matter.

‘Applejack, what you saw was beyond horrible. According to Twilight, you spent a full day repeating the words “What happens now?”,’ Blot said carefully. He’d discovered in his sessions with Applejack that the best way to get through to her was to be as straightforward as possible.

Applejack pouted and crossed her forelegs, imitating a filly.

‘Doc, Ah told ya, Ah’m feelin’ good. What happened, happened. It’s over now.’ Applejack said with a reassuring smile.

Blot leaned back ever so slightly in his chair. He’d grown accustomed to Applejack’s telltale signs of distress and anxiety. He searched for them frivolously, and to his amazement, found nothing.

Is she really okay? Or has she convinced herself that she’s okay?

Blot adjusted his seating position to juxtapose a sense of control over the conversation.

‘Applejack, I need you to be honest with me. You know that you can tell me anything, this is a safe place for you. I’ve never judged you, and I never will. It’s true, I’m your therapist, but I’m also your friend and I’m worried about you.’ Blot stated, holding eye contact with Applejack.

And then, for the briefest of moments, Applejack’s mask faltered.

‘Ah… There’s one thing about that night. One thing that Ah can’t quite shake off.’ Applejack started, looking to the ground and by extension breaking her eye contact with Blot.

‘And what’s that Applejack?’

‘All Ah can think about when it comes to that night, is Winona. Ah don’t concern mahself with the deaths of all those ponies. Ah think of Winona gettin’ hurt. She can’t walk properly anymore y’know. The doctors say she might not walk normal ever again,

‘Ah don’t know why, but that’s the only thing that bothers me. Is somethin’ wrong with me? Shouldn’t ah feel bad for all those bat ponies? For Big Mac and Apple Bloom?’ Applejack exclaimed, and as she did, her mask shattered completely. Tears began to run freely down her soft cheeks.

Blot sat back in his chair and regard Applejack with a look of genuine sadness.

‘Applejack, there’s nothing wrong with you. Trust me, I would know.’ Blot said, his own mask faltering.

Applejack raised a teary face and reaffirmed here eye contact with Blot.

‘What do you mean by that?’

Blot froze for but a moment, before recovering his senses.

‘I-um, well I’m a therapist. I mean, I- yeah. I know when something isn’t right.’ he hastily stammered out.

If only I could facehoof.

Applejack nodded and leaned back in the chair with a sigh.

‘What should Ah do, doc?’ Applejack asked, wiping away her tears. ‘An’ don’t tell me to spend more time with mah family, Ah’ve been doin’ plenty of that already, Ah assure you.’ she teased, before returning to her original sitting position.

‘I’d like to see you again tomorrow, Applejack, instead of next week. I think we have a lot more to talk about. For tonight at the very least, just try to get some good sleep. Don’t think that I didn’t notice the bags around your eyes.’ Blot finished with a concerned tone.

Applejack nodded and arose from her chair.

‘Ah’ll show mahself out then doc,’ Applejack stood up and began to walk towards the door. ‘Ah’ll see ye tomorrow then.’ she said with a soft smile.

‘Take care, Applejack.’ Blot waved and returned a half-hearted smile of his own.

Applejack closed the door behind her, leaving Blot to his thoughts.

A deep sigh escaped the doctor and he found himself fully reclined in his chair.

Where does this end Blot? The lies, the murders; all of it. How many more ponies have to die because of your pride?

‘None.’ Blot said out loud, breaking the silence in his office.

He opened the drawer of his desk, and produced his confession from within. Strapping on a saddlebag which he kept under his desk, Blot slipped the piece of parchment inside, and made for the door.

This ends here. Applejack won’t get her appointment tomorrow, but the violence ends here.

Blot stormed down his hallway, and made for his front door.

‘You seem to be in a hurry, Doctor Blot Hermane.’ a grizzled voice called from behind Blot as he put a hoof on the door handle.

Blot spun around in shock, dropping his saddlebag in the process.

A grey stallion stood up from his seated position on one of Blot’s lobby chairs.

‘I’m sorry doctor, I truly didn’t mean to frighten you.’ the grizzled, scarred stallion said, as he approached Blot.

‘Who are you, and why are you in my house?’ Blot asked, making eye contact with the stallion in front of him.

‘My name is Crackle, I’ve been enlisted into the service of Princess Twilight. I’m here to help with the *ahem*, situation,’ Crackle said, with a cruel tinge in the last word of his sentence. ‘As for why I’m in your house, that orange mare; Applejack I think her name is, she let me in.’

Blot tilted his head in suspicion. He didn’t like the look of his stallion at all.

Nor did he like the idea of him being anywhere near Applejack.

‘I still don’t understand what you’re doing in my house, Crackle,’ Blot said defensively.

‘Well, I’m following every lead I have available to me. And the only one which seems even remotely tangible, is Miss Applejack. She’s the only one who has seen head nor tail of this “Aberration”. Furthermore, in every case so far, she’s been the only witness. A little suspicious, don’t you think?’ Crackled finished, with a cynical look in his eye.

‘You don’t seriously think that Applejack is responsible for all this, do you?’ Blot half quieried, half exclaimed.

‘You know what else is suspicious to me, doctor? That so much information is being entrusted to you. You know more about this case than most of the town does, and you’re just Miss Applejack’s therapist. Ah, yes, don’t be alarmed, Princess Twilight has told me all about you.
‘But don’t worry doctor, we’re on the same side here. We both strive for the truth. I think you’ll be a valuable asset to my investigation. A most valuable asset indeed.’ Crackle finished as he began to make for Blot’s front door.

‘You still haven’t answered my question, Crackle. If I’m not a suspect, then why are you in my house?’ Blot growled, as the monster hunter reached his side.

‘I came to size you up for myself. Seeing that we’ll likely be working together quite a bit in the near future, thought I’d get our initial introductions out of the way,’ Crackle opened the door and took a step outside of Blot’s house, before pausing momentarily. ‘Oh, and doctor, don’t be mistaken. Everypony is a suspect.’ Crackle nodded his head and closed the door behind him.

Blot picked up his saddle bag and slung it underneath a nearby cabinet.

Buck.

Cheerilee took a deep breath as she rested a hoof on the door handle in front of her. She’d spent weeks in the same, tiny room, and now, she was to be set free.

And yet, while she yearned for the freshness and warmth of the outside world, the same freedom terrified her. She felt better than she had a few weeks ago, and had just returned to something resembling a normal sleep pattern.

And now, she was to step back into her old life.

Back into Ponyville.

Se couldn’t help but feel a small part of her tugging her back to her room. She could plea that she still felt unwell and have every need and whim taken care of once more. She wouldn’t have to face the scrutiny of the ponies on the outside.

Return to safety. Return to your cage.

She press down hard on the door handle and flung the hospital door open.

Sunlight beamed onto Cheerilee’s face, and the familiar chirping of birds filled the air. Hills of emerald green encapsulated her view; and a short distance away, the colourful town of Ponyville stood proudly.

Cheerilee found herself taken aback by the tranquility in front of her.

She found it almost difficult to believe all the terrible things Blot had told her about what had happened in the town as of recently. And yet, she’d read about it in the news too.

Cheerilee set off for Ponyville, taking her sweet time as she traversed the hills surrounding her town. To her surprise, the streets of Ponyville were almost entirely empty asides from the occasional exhausted looking guard pony.

It took all of Cheerilee’s willpower to not cut a glance towards that forlorn hill where her schoolhouse had once stood.

She knew it wouldn’t be good for her.

And so, she set off home.

To her own new beginning.

Author's Note

Welcome back to The Ponyville Aberration.

With the holidays/exam season out of the way, and a destination for the story set, expect plenty of more content in the coming weeks!

Hope you enjoyed this last one, consider this the calm before storm.

Chapter 7: Aberration (Part 1)

Aberration

a departure from what is normal, usual, or expected, typically an unwelcome one.

A strained whimper escaped Cheerilee’s lips.

She saw nought but the black fibers of her blindfold. A tight, mark leaving knot kept the fabric in place. The unmistakable tang of metal ran rampant in her mouth alongside a throbbing pain along the inner rim of her bottom lip. Thick, bristled ropes barred Cheerilee from cleaning the blood from her mouth.

How did I get here?

‘Good, you’re awake. Shall we run through your story again?’ a cruel, malevolent voice hissed from somewhere to her right.

‘What? How did I get here? Who are you?’ Cheerilee sobbed, straining against her bindings

A tremendous force connected with her muzzle. Cheerilee felt more blood ooze into her mouth, as she struggled to regain her composure.

‘You’re being rude. I asked you a question first, so as per common courtesy, you have to answer it!’ the voice screeched from no more than a foot in front of her face.

Blood and mangled chips of Cheerilee’s teeth dripped from her mouth and onto the floor.

‘Let me help you with that,’ the voice cooed maliciously as a rag cleaned away her mouth. ‘There we are. Now, tell me again, what is your connection with the Aberration?’

Memories flooded Cheerilee’s head, dissipating the grogginess. Trotting towards town. A conversation with a veiled stallion. What did he say his name was?

Crackle.

She recalled hazed details of their interaction: interest in her name, something about the school incident, responsibility and… the Aberration?

Cheerilee shook her head and meekly raised her chin in the greatest facade of courage she could muster.

‘I don’t know anything about the Aberration. Nothing that you don’t know already at least. I’ve never seen head nor tail of the thing outside newspaper headlines.’ Cheerilee managed, speaking slowly as to not worsen the sorry state of her mouth.

An irritable sigh escaped her captor’s lips, followed by the clitter clatter of hooves on concrete.

‘Listen, that just can’t be possible. As far as I’m concerned, there’s only a handful of potential leads here, and you’re high up on the list, alongside that Applejack mare. She just happens to be the only witness to have ever seen the beast, and you’re the only other mare to have a link to some form of massacre here in town,’ Crackle paused his monologue, and Cheerilee could feel his breath on her face. ‘That’s a bit fishy, don’t you think ma’am?’

Cheerilee instinctively moved her muzzle away, and turned her head to the side.

‘Buck you.’ Cheerilee managed, after spitting a hefty glob of bloody saliva in Crackle’s general direction.

‘Somehow, I was hoping you’d say something like that. Y’know, it’s natural for ponies to fear the unknown,’ Crackle started, as he paced somewhere behind Cheerilee’s back. ‘That’s why I use blindfolds for this sort of thing, keeps the atmosphere tense y’know?’

Cheerilee felt a tug at the base of her skull, and then, light flooded her vision.

‘But for this, I want you to see everything.’ Crackle whispered in her ear.

As Cheerilee’s eyes adjusted to the room around her, several things become readily apparent. Firstly, she was in a basement, more specifically, the basement underneath her old schoolhouse. Secondly, Crackle had bound her to some sort of support structure, something she clearly couldn’t escape from.

Finally, she realized the chances of her leaving this place alive had begun to steadily drop.

Before Cheerilee sat an assortment of tools and devices spread neatly atop platters of silver. The instruments were sharp and wicked looking. Some she recognized as scalpels from her time at the hospital, others looked more like industrial tools used in the construction of barns or houses.

Most notably among the platter however, was the midnight black chair seated mere meters away from her.

The chair featured knobs and levers of all sorts. A plethora of holes of all shapes and sizes decorated the chair’s seat, back board and armrests. A trypophobiac’s nightmare. Some sinister metal gleamed maliciously within.

‘This is your last chance to tell me something I don’t know, Cheerilee. I’m done playing games with you,’ Crackle said, trotting into view.

Terror swelled in Cheerilee’s bowels.

‘Please, listen. What happened at the schoolyard was an accident, I swear. I’m just scared and alone. I have absolutely nothing to do with what’s been going on here recently, I couldn't have. For Celestia’s sake, I’ve been hospitalized for months now!’ Cheerilee pleaded, her voice cracking and whining.

Crackle raised a pink, scarred eyebrow.
‘Hospitalized?’ he inquired, cocking his head to the side.

‘Yes, hospitalized. I-I um, injured myself.’ Cheerilee admitted, a curtain of shame encompassing her body.

‘Ah, I see. That explains the scar on your foreleg. But that wouldn’t have taken more than a few weeks to heal at best. What kept you there for so long?’ Crackle asked, moving closer to Cheerilee’s face.

She wrinkled her nose in revolt.

‘My therapist. I think he was concerned about my mental state.’ Cheerilee managed, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Cheerilee felt Crackle rise up and look down on her.

‘Blot Hermane. Maybe there’s more to you than meets the eye after all,’ Crackle thought aloud to himself, before turning to Cheerilee once more.

‘Tell me everything you know about your therapist.’

‘Bulk, I already told you that I can’t come clean,’ Blot called out as his gargantuan friend paced around his office. ‘I’ve thought about it, believe me. I even wrote a letter. But I’ve got ponies that rely on me. Can you imagine how ponies like Cheerilee would react if they found out the truth?’

Blot raised a hoof to his head and massaged his temple. Bulk had questioned him for hours on end about the Aberration, and what lengths he’d already taken in his attempts to control it.

And now, for no less than the fourth time since the conversation had begun, Bulk had once again brought up the topic of confession.

‘Blot, how many more ponies have to die before you see what’s going on here. I’m your friend, and as your friend, it’s my duty to tell you when you’ve lost control. As far as I’m concerned, at this point, you’re headed down manure creek without a paddle.’ Bulk exclaimed, throwing a frustrated hoof in the air.

‘I know Bulk, I know. But you need to understand, the Aberration can’t be contained. Even if I were to confess and get incarcerated in Tartarus, there’s no guarantee that I won’t escape. And then what? What if the Aberration goes feral and I lose all control?’ Blot started, looking his disgruntled friend in the eye. ‘I’ve made some progress controlling it.’

Bulk stomped, eliciting a pained whine from the floorboard below.

‘What do you mean, you’ve made some progress? More than a dozen ponies are dead, Blot! How do you even know if you’ve made “progress”?’ Bulk cried out, tears threatening to burst.

‘Because Applejack would be dead if I hadn’t! I have to hang onto that. I have to hang onto some kind of hope.’ Blot exclaimed, visibly deflating in his chair. For the first time, he’d allowed himself to become truly vulnerable with another pony.

Bulk’s face untensed, and his shoulders slumped back. The giant took a strained seat.

Silence reigned supreme in the office for what felt like hours.

‘If you won’t confess, then let me help you liked you’ve helped me over the years,’ Bulk said, breaking the silence.

‘How?’

‘I’ve got an idea. You say that the Aberration doesn’t harm those that you care about, right?’ Bulk asked, looking Blot in the eye.

‘Well yes, but I wouldn’t say that’s entirely concrete either.’ Blot started with a puzzled eyebrow. ‘Why do you ask?’

Bulk leaned back in his chair, as the brilliance of his idea swept across his features.

‘Because, I’m moving in with you.’

‘What?’ Blot cried out, rising out of his chair.

‘Oh yeah, that’s right. I’m gonna tame the Aberration. Friendship is Magic after all isn’t it?’

Blot felt his jaw hit the table.

‘For the record Bulk, I think this is a terrible idea.’ Blot called out from down his hallway, before dumping a bundle of blankets and pillows at Bulk’s hooves.

The pair had spent the afternoon converting Blot’s living room into a makeshift campsite for Bulk to spend the forthcoming weeks. They’d installed nets, failsafes and of course a set of light weights for the giant to use in his free time.

‘You’ve been dealing with this alone for long enough, Blot. I’m just fulfilling my duties as your friend.’ Bulk chortled, retrieving the assorted beddings from the floor.

‘Best friend, Bulk. Best friend.’ Blot corrected with a warm smile.
Bulk felt a smile of his own emerging. Things for the first time in what felt like an eternity, felt as though they were going back to normal.

‘Best friend.’ Bulk acknowledged, before dropping the linen onto the bed he’d transferred from his own home.

‘Run me through your plan again, would you?’ Blot grumbled, sitting on one of his living room chairs.

‘When you start to feel the… change, you call out for me. Then, I lead the Aberration into this room where I try to talk to it. Maybe a friendly voice is all it needs to bring you back into control. If things start to go south, I trigger the net and bolt into the next room and set up the barrier we built earlier. Then, I book it out the window.’ Bulk finished, with a look of pride spread across his face.

‘Alright Bulk, I’m still not sure how you intend to fit through my window, but if you claim you can do it, I believe you.’ Blot laughed, before rising out of his chair and trotting over to the kitchen.

Bulk rolled onto his bed and allowed a chuckle of his own to echo throughout the room.

‘Listen alright, I did a test run earlier, and it worked just fine. I slipped through like a salmon in a stream.’ Bulk boasted with another chuckle.

‘Like a salmon in a stream? What does the even mean?’ Blot called from the other room. ‘By the way, I’m making us some fried pumpkin for dinner tonight. Nothing particularly exciting of course, but it should fill us up.’

Suddenly, a cascade of of what Bulk identified to be dishes crashed to the floor in the kitchen.

‘Everything alright in there? Pumpkin too much to handle?’ Bulk chortled, sitting up on his bed.

‘No… Bulk, something’s wrong. Don’t you hear that screaming?’ Blot cried out, panic rising in his voice.

Bulk flung himself from his bed and spun into the kitchen. Blot sat with his back against a cupboard with his hooves covering his ears. His jaw muscles worked and strained, keeping his mouth clamped shut.

‘I’m here Blot. I don’t hear any screaming though.’ Bulk exclaimed, rushing to his friend’s aid.

‘It sounds like… Cheerilee.’ Blot managed through his grated teeth, before a sudden snap echoed throughout the kitchen.

Bulk turned off the stove which shimmered dangerously above .

Safety first.

‘Bulk, it’s starting. You have to get ready. I think Cheerilee’s in danger.’ Blot managed, before another snap echoed out from his twitching form.

Bulk could do nought but watch as his friend writhed in pain before him.

Get ready. Its show time.

Bulk rushed back into the living room, as Blot’s grunts and whines grew louder with every passing moment. He readied the net, alongside a long, prodding stick to keep the Aberration at a forelegs length should things go south.

With a deep breath, Bulk turned to face the kitchen and to his dismay, he faced darkness and silence. Somehow, all the lights in the kitchen had inexplicably gone out.

No, not quite silence.

Something took deep, lurching gasps of air in the shadows.

Bulk readied himself.

The Aberration arose in the darkness of the kitchen.

A barrage of smells and scents assaulted its senses. Pumpkin, spices, oils.

Pony flesh.

The beast lumbered towards the scent of its prey, and allowed its malformed head to duck out into the light.

‘Sweet Celestia, what’s happened to you Blot?’ something called out.

A hiss escaped the Aberration’s throat, as it took a step into the almost blinding light, and in the direction of its prey.

‘Blot, I know you’re in there somewhere. It’s me, Bulk Biceps. Your friend!’ the pony thing called out once again.

Bulk?

The Aberration shook its head in agonized confusion.
‘That’s right, fight it Blot! You’re stronger than this!’ the thing called out again.

The Aberration’s twisted eyes finally adjusted to the light. Furniture littered the room ahead, formed in some crescent shape towards the kitchen. Ropes hung from the ceiling, and then the beast spotted it.

A meaty, muscled pony with a stick mounted to its shoulder.

Not just any pony.

Bulk Biceps.

Friend?

The monstrosity shook its head once again, and latched a clawed hand onto a nearby wall. As if all at once, a cacophony of screaming and Bulk’s words of encouragement scrambled the Aberration’s mind.

Cheerilee. Danger.

The Aberration released a guttural screech in Bulk’s direction, who reeled back in terror. It bounded towards the door, and begun hacking at it with ebon claws of fury.

‘Blot, stop! Ponies will see! It’s still early!’ Bulk cried out, before prodding at the Aberration with his stick.

With a snarl, the beast whacked the stick away, sending Bulk sprawling to the ground.

‘This way! Out the back window!’ Bulk called out as he stumbled towards the kitchen and gingerly reeled the glass panel back.

Hunger. Danger. Cheerilee.

The Aberration spun its head around and bounded towards the kitchen, before acknowledging Bulk’s bruised form on the floor.

‘That’s right, whatever you are. I’m looking out for you. You’re not hurting anypony tonight!’ Bulk cried out, poking the Aberration with his stick.

The beast hissed before leaping out the window, followed in suit by a notably slower Bulk Biceps.

In hindsight, maybe Blot had a point earlier about this being a terrible idea.

Bulk had been tailing the Aberration’s tracks and trails for nothing short of half an hour. Every now and then he’d stop, thinking that he’d lost the beast in his pursuit. Then, a broken branch or clawed footprint would set him on the right path once again.

At first, he’d assumed that the Aberration would head straight for the Ponyville Hospital. Perhaps Cheerilee had refused an operation or something of the like.

But given the beast’s tracks, it seemed as though it was headed straight for the old schoolhouse on the hill.

But that’s been abandoned ever since…

Bulk shook his head and gingerly continued on his way, before the woods began to thin out. Just as expected, no more than a mere twenty meters from the treeline stood the ruined remains of the Ponyville Schoolhouse.

A shudder ran down his spine.

Suddenly, he felt a presence warp to his right. As if on cue, the pale form of the Aberration slinked next to Bulk and laid in wait betwixt some bushes and a tree.

‘I knew you understood me. I don’t know if that’s really Blot in there or not, but either way, looks like we’re on the same team.’ Bulk whispered from his own hiding spot in the undergrowth.

During their excursion to the schoolhouse, the sun had set, drawing a curtain of darkness across Ponyville.

‘I still don’t hear any screaming though.’ Bulk added, peeking his head out from his cover.

The Aberration hissed with a gnarl of irritation, before slipping almost silently out of his hiding spot and onto the hill. Bulk followed in suit, except, with half the care of a bison. The pair approached the blackened building carefully, the Aberration’s head twitching at every miniscule sound emerging from within.

And then, Bulk heard the faintest sound of what might have been a scream coming from… underneath the building? Puzzled, Bulk lowered his head to the ground, and placed an ear to the floor.

Sure enough, a definitively feminine cry greeted him.

Sweet Celestia, Blot heard that all the way from his house?

The Aberration began searching erratically around the schoolhouse, before eventually finding a securely locked trap door round the back of the building.

‘Now listen, I can’t let you go down there,’ Bulk exclaimed, stepping in between the trap door and the Aberration. “If you do, then not only will somepony get hurt. But there’s a good chance that you’ll get us both in some serious trouble.’

The Aberration towered over Bulk, its pale form gyrating in unbridled fury. A threatening hiss escaped its throat, and it drew closer to the muscled pegasus. With a gulp, Bulk readied his stick for the worst.

The beast nudged Bulk to the side, sending him tumbling to the ground, before unceremoniously ripping the trapdoor open.

‘No, don’t!’ Bulk half whispered half screamed, before to his surprise, the Aberration retreated from the trapdoor.

The beast acknowledged Bulk with a nod and then hissed at the newly opened abyss between them.

‘Wait, you want me to go down there?’ Bulk whispered in dismay, before the Aberration snarled and backed off into the shadows underneath a nearby broken pillar.

Some part of Blot is definitely in there.

With a determined look on his face, and a heart of gold, Bulk descended into the darkness below.

Cheerilee’s head hung low in exhaustion and defeat.

She’d been strapped into what Crackle called the ‘Throne of Thorns’ for nearly an hour. The routine was deceptively simple. He’d ask her a question regarding Blot, and if he he didn’t like the answer, he’d turn a knob which burrowed dozens of tiny spikes into various parts of her body.

By now, the chair had been practically repainted.

‘Cheerilee, how many times are you going to bucking lie to me tonight?’ Crackle asked with a maliciously soft tone. He turned the knob again, and the miniscule drills went to work once again.

They opened old wounds and generated new pieces of what he called ‘art’ on her body, eliciting yet another cry of anguish from the broken school mare.

‘Please! Please stop. I’ve told you everything I know about Blot and about the Aberration. I’ve told you everything.’ Cheerilee cried out through gritted teeth.

Crackle turned the knob again, and the ‘thorns’ retracted.

‘Somehow, I sense that our time together is drawing to a close. You know more than you care to admit, and I can’t stand a liar,’ Crackle began, before walking over to the ominous lever attached to the right of the apparatus. ‘I’ll be frank with you then, ma’am. You’re going to die tonight.’

Tears escaped Cheerilee’s eyes.

I already knew that.

‘I can make this as painless, or as painful as you’d like it to be,’ Crackle said, hovering his face in front of Cheerilee’s.

‘I burnt down the school.’ Cheerilee managed deliriously.

‘What?’ Crackle asked with his typical raised eyebrow,

‘I burnt it down… They died… I killed them.’ Cheerilee whispered, falling in and out of consciousness between words.

‘That’s lovely Cheerilee, but do you know who or what the Aberration is?’ Crackle inquired, resting his hooves on Cheerilee’s forelegs. ‘This can end. All of it. The pain, the guilt. Just tell me.’

‘I know who the Aberration is.’ Cheerilee whispered almost inaudibly.

Crackle leaned mere centimeters away from Cheerilee’s face, allowing his ear to face her mouth.

‘I didn’t hear that.’ he whispered with all the kindness of a manticore

Cheerilee opened her mouth to speak. Her eyes shot open, and she clamped her jaws shut on her captor’s ear, ripping and tearing at the sinew.

A howl of agony escaped Crackle’s lips as a he attempted to pull away from the mare’s vice grip, only worsening the damage.

‘Dumb whore!’ Crackle screamed through his agony.

With an audible rip, Crackle tore himself free from Cheerilee’s grip, tearing his ear off in the process. Sheer agony wracked his body, as he thought his way to his hooves. Cheerilee struggled desperately in the Throne of Thorns before a hefty hoof collided with her jaw, shattering her teeth once again.

‘This is going to be great-’ Crackle never finished his sentence. In her jarred, blurry vision, Cheerilee saw a gargantuan pony collide with her captor.

The pair sprawled to the ground, and Cheerilee saw a meaty hoof raise in the air and promptly strike Crackle in what seemed to be his midsection. Suddenly however, her saviour was upended, and sprawled to the ground in pain.

Crackle raised unsteadily to his hooves, and moved to strike who she now identified to be Bulk Biceps but was flung carelessly into one of the basement walls, sending an assortment of torture tools flying. The flurry of metal sliced and cut away at both Bulk and Crackle as the pair steadied themselves.

Brandishing a bloody scalpel, Crackle took a swipe at Bulk’s meaty neck, but slipped atop one of his own silver platters. A meaty hoof connected with the back of his skull, nearly cracking it at the base.

Bulk’s fury grew chaotic, and he lifted Crackle by the scruff of his neck and flung him against another wall, snapping bones and ligaments as he collided with the rough concrete surface.

Crackle struggled to stand before a final, meaty hoof connected with his jaw, shattering it instantaneously and flinging the stallion into a state of unconsciousness.

A bloodied and victorious Bulk Biceps rose from the ruined stallion before him, fury turned into concern as he looked over Cheerilee’s body.

Cheerilee felt herself slipping, and before long, the world around her grew progressively darker.

Words of comfort seemed distant and forlorn.

‘I killed them.’ Cheerilee muttered, before the blackness took her.

Author's Note

The Aberration returns at last!

In many ways, this was my favourite chapter to write so far. I've been busy with exams for a while now, but luckily, the holidays have finally rolled on in, giving me plenty of time to write.

Enjoy!

:pinkiecrazy: