Vacation

ooo000---000ooo

The bushes shuffled… and Limestone held her breath.

She was crouched down in the bushes, her green colored eyes glaring straight at the minotaur-like monsters wandering around the bungalow area. All of them bloodied, missing chunks of flesh, even limbs—it was insane. From every single one of the twitchy things, she heard some half strangled call for help, a faint ‘H-help me!’ half choked in a growl, almost impossible to hear unless you listened closely.

If anyone was foolish enough to fall for that, they’d be killed and turned into one of them.

She was unlucky enough to be witness to it. One of the other ape like creatures who wasn’t a monster fell for the ‘plea’ and tried to help them.

The poor bastard was taken down faster than she could react, so she couldn’t do anything, she was just glad Marble wasn’t looking.

She glanced back to look at her younger sister, the timid mare was cowering, acting more like a colt than a mare. Her body was plagued with violent shakes, eyes wide—terrified and confused. Limestone felt the same deep down… even if she didn’t want to admit it or show it outwardly, this whole situation was… admittedly frightening.

Limestone had to be the mare in the sisterly relationship they had, to protect her coltish sister.

She gripped the wrench in her hand, the blood covering the end already beginning to dry from her recent victim who was currently laying a few bungalows away from where they were hiding now. Limestone didn’t want to bludgeon his head in... but he made the mistake of pissing her off by going after Marble.

Ugh, this is fuckin’ bogus. She wriggled her snout in distaste, the smell of iron and death was strong strong in the air and it was disgusting.

Despite this, Limestone continued to scan the area for a way out of the mess they were currently in.

Getting thrown off of the airship during the storm had thrown a literal wrench into all of their vacation and search plans. She just wanted to go to this stupid island and find the stallion who was supposed to be not only her ‘chosen mate’ but her little sister’s as well. It felt so awkward to know that stallion who she was ‘destined’ to spend the rest of her life with was also her sister’s as well, but who was she to deny her sister true love if it came up?

If she even wanted it in the first place, that is.

Timid and fearful of even her own shadow—not unlike a certain Element of Harmony she had the displeasure of meeting, the idea of her little sister actually managing to overcome her crippling shyness to follow through on buried feelings was a laughable idea.

At least to her, it was about as likely as Limestone herself acting like Pinkie Pie and throwing parties.

She cursed inwardly.

Nice vacation my ass.

Limestone noticed most of the monsters were gathered near one of the bungalows and banging on the door—which she also noticed was caving in under the force of several converging on it at one time. She wasn’t one hundred percent sure why, but a decent idea did come to mind. And due to the monsters being occupied with tearing their way inside, that left the entire path up to another bungalow clear.

We gotta move.

They couldn’t hide in the bushes forever, it wouldn’t take long before one of them stumbled upon their hiding spot and they were killed, or worse...

Slowly, she turned around to look at Marble, who was huddled up on the ground behind her. Marble met her gaze with teary eyes. “Listen,” Limestone whispered, keeping her voice calm and quiet as she could. The last thing she needed was to alert the monsters to where they were. “We gotta move, but we need to be very quiet, you got that?”

Marble blinked and gave a timid nod, “Mmhmm...”

“...You barely talk anyway, why did I even bother?” Limestone rubbed her eyes and turned back around to face the path she planned on taking to get to safety.

Going back to the beach was not an option; they had just come from there after falling out into the water during the storm. Limestone had thought that for a moment they were both going to drown, but the storm had luckily swept them up towards the beach saving them from drowning.

Unfortunately, both of them were immediately attacked by the bloodied monsters that currently surrounded them.

Limestone had to drag Marble away and fight off the damned things with her fists before dragging them both away. She and Marble both were nearly bitten several times by them, but thankfully they were able to avoid it, mostly due to pure luck.

It also probably helped that Limestone was absolutely ripped from almost two straight decades of flipping boulders and rocks every day, back back to back for hours on end from working the farm, adding to her already considerable earth pony strength.

Taking a deep breath, she said, “Stick close to me, got it?” A faint ‘mmhmm’ could be heard behind her and she stood up before moving through the bushes, pushing past a few as quietly as possible so she wouldn’t alert the monsters to where they were. “And be quiet.”

Marble said nothing.

Limestone just assumed she was going to listen, if she didn’t…

It’d end badly for both of them.

The two exited the bushes and quietly made their way down the path past one of the bungalows—all of which appeared to be locked up tighter than a bank vault, for whatever reason.

Limestone kept her eyes open and ears perked up, helping her hear plenty of noises throughout the area—screams, loud distant pops and cracks, and the bloody screeching and moaning noises of the damned monsters. Her eyes couldn’t help but take in the sights of the area they were in, where the bodies of mauled creatures lay on the ground and more blood than she thought was healthy to lose painted the walkways. Scattered lounge chairs, turned over umbrellas, trash cans and many more things littered the entire place past large pools of reddened water.

She gripped her wrench tightly as they moved past bungalow #3.

The danger they were in was not one she was stoked for. All around both of them were threats, things she didn’t understand surrounding them on all sides and no helpful information anywhere in sight. She didn’t want to think it… but if Marble wasn’t here, she could have just made a run for it.

Once an earth pony got moving, there wasn’t any hope in hell of stopping ‘em.

But Marble was right behind her, one of the most timid ponies she’s ever had the pleasure of knowing. And Limestone knew, deep down, that Marble was no fighter... she couldn’t fight anyone to save her life. So she had to protect her, no matter the cost.

She was honestly surprised Marble wasn’t freaking out—all of the blood pooling on the ground, the guts and intestines strewn out everywhere like party streamers. It was horrible how many of these strange things had been killed. All of them looked as if they had been ripped apart by wild animals, their bloody and chewed corpses had lain in the hot tropical sun for who knows how long, spreading the rotting stench of death far and wide before the sun set and the moon rose.

Limestone fought back the urge to throw up.

She continued leading Marble down the path, exiting the bushes and swiftly moving over towards one of the bungalows to hug the wall. She could hear the thumps and smashes of the creatures as they tried to break into a nearby building. Limestone paid it no mind though, instead focusing on the route ahead to safety.

There were plenty of bungalows around, most were locked up tight when they passed by, and she wasn’t too keen on smashing a door open and drawing attention.

Limestone was careful as she moved down the path, nearing a turned over umbrella before crouching down behind it. She didn’t hear any of the things near them now, and that gave her some relief as Marble crouched next to her. Where do we go? Where the hell can we go? Not knowing anything about the location just made her more angry.

How was she going to keep Marble safe if she couldn’t even figure out where safety lay?

Having a weapon made her feel more confident about surviving and she was certain she could take the creatures out single handedly if she had to. But taking on entire packs of the monsters that filled the resort was another thing entirely.

Just in the area across the pool they were crouched near, she saw a dozen or so meandering around a bloodied pile of bones and sinew. Even from where she and Marble were, she could hear them chewing and gnawing on the flesh of whatever poor creature they downed and tore into like a bunch of ravenous dogs.

Damn it, this isn’t good. Limestone’s eyes continued drifting across the area before they landed on a bungalow that was a dozen feet away from them both. It was labeled #4, but that wasn’t the only thing she noticed about it...

The door was wide open.

Looking behind her, she spotted Marble huddled up on the ground looking as terrified as ever. The younger mare’s eyes, however, were locked on the feast across the pool, “Hey, hey, Marble.” Limestone snapped her fingers, breaking Marble from her stupor with a noise. “I found a place we can hide, just follow me and stay low, got it?” Without waiting for an answer, Limestone began moving towards it.

A faint squeak sounded behind her which, swiftly followed by hasty footsteps.

The bungalow Limestone spotted appeared to be abandoned, least from the outside. The doors leading inside were wide open, allowing her and her sister to slip inside with little issue.

Limestone entered first, holding her wrench at the ready and peering around for any of the monsters. The room was furnished much like a tropical bungalow was supposed to be—paintings of exotic birds and mountains, jungles and beaches, a few couches with palm leaf and ocean themed throw pillows laying upon them, a small table with magazines, and so on. And there was no one inside, so it seemed.

She frowned before ushering Marble inside and closing the door. As an extra defensive measure, Limestone pushed one of the couches up against it, causing it to skid across the floor and thump up against the door once she was done.

“Whew.” The mare breathed and backed up from the door with a couple of relaxing deep breathes. Looking to her left, she spotted Marble standing awkwardly near one of the bookcases, eyes timidly peeking out from behind her bangs over at Limestone, who only snorted in response and said, “We’re safe now... alright?” She told Marble, who just gave a little nod.

Looking down at the wrench she utilized for a weapon, she blinked at the sight of the already drying blood covering it. Thinking back to when they first left… she honestly couldn’t have thought their vacation to Haywaii would end up this way.

“Grrr…”

She whipped around at the growl, wrench raised and ears flicking up on her head. She didn’t see anything, and she doubted Marble would try and joke with her like that—she was far too shy and quiet to do any sort of thing. But she did see a door that had been smashed down—a pinkish light spilled through from it as the sounds of some strange music played from a player on a table.

Aside from the music… she could hear a faint noise drifting into her ears from the room, a pitiful growling or sorts.

But so far, she hadn’t seen any animals apart from tropical birds flying overhead.

She spun her wrench, giving Marble a hard look that the younger mare knew to obey.

Stay back.

Once she had moved back, the earth mare carefully made her way over to the entrance as carefully as she could. The music was set at a low volume with no discernable lyrics and had the beat one of those ‘night clubs’ might have. The pink light disturbed her, and the music made her gut feel strange and caused her chest to tighten up. It reminded her of the more ‘questionable videos’ she had seen while staying in a Manehattan hotel one year to sell her family’s rock candy.

Limestone had spent one bored night in their hotel watching said videos while Marble was asleep. Though she’d initially done so out of morbid curiosity, she had to admit that some of it was hot. So perhaps it wasn’t too much of a surprise that it ended up leading to her hand making a trip down her slacks for some fun.

Once she made it to the door frame, she flicked an ear up and listened…

“Grr! Rrrr!”

She recognized that noise with a clenched gut, knowing it meant one of them was inside the bungalow.

Moving a tiny bit, she saw the outline of a device inside and it almost looked like a camera, but smaller and situated on a tripod pointed at the bed. Blood covered the floorboards, fresh as could be and leading towards a body laying on the ground atop the broken door.

Limestone felt her guts clench up even more as she looked further inside.

A body was up against the wall—covered in blood and missing chunks of his neck and arm. Blood was painted across the walls all around—hand prints, splatters, and other markings that made it look like a crime scene in lower Manehattan. And on the only bed in the room was even more blood… where handcuffed to the bedposts was one of the creatures—a female to be exact.

Writhing and growling, the female monster struggled to get free of her bonds. Her eyes were wide and red as the blood that coated her body. To the disgust of Limestone, she saw the creature was completely naked. The smell of iron and a very familiar scent filled the room, she didn’t need to look any further to know what was going on in here.

The lights, the cameras, the female on the bed, the discarded clothing, and the torn wrappers of certain rubbery objects.

Someone was shooting a porno.

Yet something had gone horribly wrong, if that wasn’t already obvious. Two males were dead, the female was strapped down to the bed with handcuffs, and the smell of death was strong. Limestone wasn’t entirely sure what had happened in the room, but she didn’t want to know, nor did she want Marble to see the carnage or what had preceded it

She also didn’t want Marble to see what she was about to do next.

Limestone moved into the room and stared down at the infected wench-the bite marks and blood covering her, disgusting… Lifting up her wrench and eyeballing her murky bloodshot eyes, she brought down the tool onto the creature’s head, crushing it with little issue thanks to her strength. The head split open with a sickening crunch, brackish blood spewing forth and covering the pillows. The creature gave a pitiful gurgle and tried to move, prompting Limestone to strike again until it fell still.

She looked at her hand, which was now covered in blood. Fucking gross. She grumbled, grabbing the sheet and wiping her hand and wrench clean of the blood. When that was done, she backed out of the room with a look of disgust before shooting Marble a look, “Do not go in there, understand?”

Marble gulped-her body trembling as her eyes flicked down, no doubt to the wrench. The mare nodded her head several times, backing up to the wall and drawing her legs up to her chest.

Limestone moved back into the room and took a seat on the couch, sitting her wrench down and trying to ignore the smell of rot and iron coming from the room she was just in.

She knew she was going to have to deal with the bodies at some point...

But for now, she needed to rest...

ooo000---000ooo

Rainbow was… angry? Though, angry might be an understatement.

The human that had saved her life snoozed away in another part of the building as the others conversed silently among themselves in the dark. Outside in the lot and the roadways, the sun having fallen hours ago covered the area in a shroud of darkness barely illuminated by streetlights.

Rainbow wasn’t sure where they were… but she knew she didn’t like it, not at all. Ever since crashing here, her entire time had been on the run away from monsters and hiding in the hopes she didn’t get killed. She could easily fly away and escape this mess of course, but she had not one, but three ponies to keep safe… along with the one human who wasn’t acting like a prick towards them.

Her eyes glanced over to him; he was laying on the floor next to some tools and some discarded trash. She wasn’t entirely sure how to feel about him… he was different, that was for sure and a lot nicer than the other two males who had constantly been trying to fight with them. He was the only one who stood up for them…

That was something else she had noticed during her short time here on the island. There were more males around, at least from what few proper glances of the hoard of monsters she had gotten during the running, anyway. There were a lot more males in it than females, which was… in of itself, both sad and confusing. Sad in that so many males had perished, and confusing that there were so many.

There’re so many males on this island, way more than females... She shuddered slightly, the very idea of an island full of stallions was a… admittedly a thought that crossed plenty of mares’ minds from time to time. To just lounge on a beautiful tropical island, surrounded by gorgeous stallions waiting on your every need hand and foot, it was a literal taboo dream for many mares.

She rubbed her thighs together at the thought, this island could have been that for all she knew. But instead it was filled with monstrous ape like creatures that were out for their blood, to turn them into monsters as well.

Rainbow licked her lips a bit. Another thing she had noticed was how different males acted here compared to females—the three she had met here were more confident and less fearful than a stallion, they were willing to fight instead of cower. Meanwhile, the one female in the group was timid, afraid, and trying to protect her daughter while the males fought.

It’s like the roles are reversed… That hit her the wrong way and she frowned. Mares should be the ones fighting to protect the stallions, not the other way around… She remarked silently, she had half a mind to go over there and ask her what her deal was. Why wasn’t she stepping up to the plate to help protect the males? Rainbow had no idea, but given how tense things were now, she wasn’t looking to start another fight after what happened in the other building.

A hand rubbed her face and she did her damndest to keep her thoughts in order. “Lyra, you good?” She asked, turning towards the minty green mare.

Lyra had been leaning up against the wall for most of the night, arm resting in her lap. The mare looked over at Rainbow, “Hurtin’...” She breathed out, eyes flicking around tiredly before centering in on Rainbow’s, “And tired...”

“Get some rest, we’ll get you some help tomorrow.” Rainbow told her, patting her gently on the shoulder.

“Everything hurts...” At that, Lyra gave a tiny and weak snort. “L-listen to me, sounding like a d-damn colt.”

Rainbow shook her head and squeezed Lyra’s shoulder, “I don’t think many colts fall out of airships and almost break their bones, do they?”

“Touche.” Lyra giggled weakly, causing Rainbow to return it.

This entire situation would be incredibly bad… except she wasn’t alone; she had her friends with her and a friendly human. So long as she had them, she knew she could make it through this.

Still, no one, pony or human had any idea on what tomorrow would bring for them all...

They could only hope it would be something good.