Flesh and Fear

Berry Punch hummed to herself as she gathered the delectable fruits from the trees above her. True to her cutie mark, as were so many ponies, she had developed a minor obsession with both grapes and berries, crucial ingredients to the punch she adored. She didn’t mind that many of the town regarded her as a drunk, they meant no harm by it anyway, it was just a little fun. She staggered a little as she stood to reach some of the higher, plumper fruits on the tree. Maybe she was still a little tipsy? Indeed, she normally knew better than to be out late picking fruits, especially when her personal orchard was so close to the edge of the Everfree.
But she felt safe. The nearest houses of Ponyville weren’t all that far away. In fact, she could see them with her bare eyes from this distance. The same familiar thatched roofs that seemed to glow in the sunset. But still, something felt wrong. Her gaze directed back towards the dark recesses of the Everfree forest. The boughs of the trees bent awkwardly at the border between the environments. Berry Punch shuffled her hooves awkwardly. No, she knew she had a job she needed to finish before she left. She reached up again, plucking down another bunch of grapes delicately with her teeth.
The tree’s seemed…different somehow. Like they weren’t following the usual rhythm of her weekly fruit pickings. Circling the tree gave her an answer. Much of the leaves and thereby fruits had been hollowed away. Below the scene of agricultural carnage, pulped remains of half eaten berries, smeared into the grass. The timid pony stepped away. Many of the limbs on this tree were well over four inches thick, a size she could barely hope to shake, yet so many were snapped cleanly. Not sawed, snapped! The stake like endings seemed to glare at her maliciously. Suddenly, Berry Punch didn’t feel so safe anymore.
Grasping the baskets in her teeth, she swung her head back up to place them upon her saddlebags. She needed to leave, right now! Stepping backwards cautiously, she kept her gaze upon the trees, before turning around to bolt.
But no sooner had the earth pony gotten herself rearing to run, she was halted. The path she had previously used to come into her orchard was now swamped, engulfed by savagely thorned vines. The dark vines wept thick sap from the awkward bends in their forms, creating a disturbing visage that all too closely resembled blood pooling amidst hair. The pony backed away from the vicious looking plants, veering to one side.
She couldn’t help, but worriedly taking notice that the vines groaned and leant in the wind, a wind that was absent. Berry Punch froze, so did the vines. Did she dare to move now that she knew that, somehow, they were following her movements? She peered over her shoulder, towards the trunks and shrubs of the Everfree. Did she dare run for it? She considered it, but still there was an overwhelming fear of that single open spot amongst the plants that led into the dark.
A groaning noise caught her ear. She whipped her head back, and screamed in agony as a thorn sliced her eye open. The pinkish equine collapsed to the floor, screaming as the evil plant continued to twist within the socket. Thick, ocular fluid ran down her muzzle, Berry Punch frantically trying to convince herself that the warmth she felt was merely blood.
With motion that almost could have been seen as clinical by an observer, the thorny plant withdrew, carrying the pulped remains of an eyeball upon its barbs. It stopped for a moment, before sharply tugging, and the long, red optic nerve tore with it, the nerves valiantly holding to their mooring within the ponies skull for a moment, before they stretched taught and finally tore. The mare, too lost in the pain to scream again, simply watched as the remains of one of her precious eyes was ravaged by the thorned plants. Almost like wolves setting upon a carcass.
Larger, heavier vines arched their way towards her. Like snakes they wound around her ribs, brutally tight, but with an eerie precision. Thorns slid into her flesh with ease, hooking between her ribs. And ever so slowly, they began to lift. Berry Punch whimpered as the ground stopped supporting her weight, the vines now acting much like a snare around an animals neck. In a single motion, she was rotated to face the forest, and they started to carry her.
When the frantic pony was no more than a dozen feet from the darkness of the forests edge, she realised why she had felt so afraid. It had been watching her, ever since she arrived. It had been so well masked amongst the darkness, all but invisible, no one would have been any wiser than she was. It wasn’t just that it looked different that made her afraid, simply looking at it made her feel wrong, like it was a violation to just look at it.
The vines tightened themselves swiftly, breaking Berry’s thoughts. She now realised she was past the boundary of the forest, the heavy shadows of leaves falling on her. She gasped inwards, then retched. The smell was revolting. The smell of sickly rot. And not the rot of fermented fruits, this was the smell of rotten flesh. A rush of wind blew past them, and for a moment she was able to see it clearly. How was it even alive? Its skin was rotten, blackened and holey, showing greyed bones beneath. It grabbed her muzzle with long, reflective claws, the pressure making her jaw groan.

She yelped, tears rolling from her one remaining eye as she looked up to its face. Those eyes….both hideous and perfect, the green glaring into her face. What could she do now but watch? She was strong, all earth ponies were, but not strong enough to break this grasp. Slowly, her attackers jaw unfolded, unveiling glittering, long fangs, barely fitting into its maw. Its breath exhaled, and Berry watched in morbid fascination as a blue, starry vapour seeped from its mouth, more from between its ribs. But the blue, almost beautiful sight quickly corrupted itself.
The fog like material quickly turned inky black, a thick oily substance dripping from where it ran alongside skin. And dimly, somehow, Berry could swear she heard voices, millions of them whispering together. It was deafening without ever becoming loud. The wonderment over the spectacle was the last that Berry had as with a sick CRUNCH, the entities jaws closed about her throat.
A short gasp came from between her lips, quickly replaced by a heavy gurgle and she vomited a cascade of blood, staining her coat. A few pops tickled her ears, before a snap ended her thoughts. He head bent back, her throat torn apart, her head was held in place merely by the few strands of muscle that had not torn. Flesh was torn from her body in a frenzy. Skin was peeled back from muscle, and a quick slash spilled organs from her body. With callousness, claws grabbed at the skin of the once happy pony, dragging her into darkness, leaving only a smear of blood amidst black vines.

Authors note: Okay, yes, to all who just read this chapter, this is indeed a grimdark fic. Please don't hate me for it, I have no problem with constructive critiscism, but keep it civil. Enjoy