Chapter One: A Strange Occurence
The Fridge Incident
Chapter One: A Strange Occurrence
Twilight was cleaning up the teakettle, she had just sent Spike off with Rarity to an adventure in the big city after tea with the fashionista, I hope Spike stays safe, Manehatten can be crazy. She was picking up the tray of biscuits that they hadn’t finished when a loud thump was heard at the door. Twilight was slightly startled; it wasn’t too strange for ponies to literally crash through her door, but still having someone bang on the door while she was busy cleaning was an unsettling experience. Twilight meandered over to the door, having finished putting the kettle away. When she opened the door Fluttershy tumbled in. She was distraught and looked unbelievably tired. Her normally well kept mane was sticking up at odd angles and she had massive bags under her eyes but as tired as she was she seemed strangely alert, almost alarmingly so. Needless to say, Twilight was worried for her, “Oh my gosh Fluttershy, are you all right?”
Fluttershy’s bloodshot eyes darted across the room looking everywhere before settling on Twilight, she spoke with a voice both shaky and worried, “Twilight, it’s so awful, and I’m not entirely sure I’m not just going crazy! I mean the idea alone is getting me on edge!”
Fluttershy darted across the room, looking out the windows before closing the shutters and blinds with a loud clang, she turned back to Twilight and spoke in the same manic tone, “Twilight, I don’t want everypony to think that I’m crazy, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anypony,”
Twilight nodded in assurance, adding in, “I promise Fluttershy,”
Fluttershy, who was locking one of other windows in the room, looked over her shoulder to Twilight, “Pinkie Pie promise?”
The librarian rolled her eyes, and proceeded to give the customary promise, “Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my….”
She stopped just short of jamming her hoof in her eye, blinking twice to make sure it was closed before finishing, “Eye.”
Fluttershy relaxed slightly, breathing deep she resumed speaking, “Twilight something just strange has been happening to my home, it all started about two weeks ago, when I bought that new refrigerator.”
Thinking back Twilight remembered helping her install it. This fridge was powered by magic and Fluttershy used it to keep her pets’ food cold and fresh. Twilight was thinking of getting one herself, Spike made such delightful treats and most of them went to waste because she couldn’t fit them in her fridge because it was too small. Finishing her mental recollection, Twilight motioned for Fluttershy to continue, her voice grew shakier as she spoke, “Well the first few days, every time I opened it I felt a strange...”
She stopped thinking of the right word, “presence. It was angry or at least I think it was, and then every day after that just weird things started happening.”
Twilight was confused and slightly annoyed; her friend was probably just scared at nothing right now, “So your fridge started to scare you huh?”
Fluttershy nodded. Twilight started thinking to herself that her friend might be overreacting just a touch, She’s afraid of her own shadow to begin with, maybe the fridge is just making weird noises at night, maybe I should stay over to help her through whatever this is.
Twilight continued, “Fluttershy there is probably nothing to worry about, do you want me to stay over tonight?”
The shy pony relaxed a look of relief coming over her entire body. Apprehensively she quietly added in, “If you don’t mind that is.”
Twilight affirmed a weary and forlorn smile coming to her face, “It would be my pleasure Fluttershy, let me get my things.”
Twilight went up the stairs to pack a saddle bag, leaving Fluttershy down in the main room. Twilight watched her friend as she packed, a book fell from one of the upper shelves creating a loud smack upon impact with the floor, Fluttershy squeaked and leapt into the air. Illustrating how on edge she was, she flew up and over to Twilight, grabbing onto her and almost knocking her over. Twilight, sighing, patted her friend on the shoulder as she slung the saddle bag onto her back.
As they walked to Fluttershy’s cottage they talked, Twilight was curious about what other “strange” things had been happening. Fluttershy was quick to provide details, “Well the first time it happened was about a week and a half ago, I was putting away the eggs I had gotten from the chicken coop when a few of them started to shake, eventually the shaking got so violent that they just jumped out of their shells. I was so scared, there they were just sitting on my counter when they started cooking themselves!”
Nervously, she glanced back over her shoulder to make sure that no pony was watching them before she continued, “After that all of the animals that came to my house started acting just so odd, some of them wouldn’t eat, and none of them went into the kitchen anymore, not even Angel. Eventually I just started feeding them outside instead and that seemed to work for a while, but now not even a single bird has been anywhere near my cottage in almost three days. But the scariest thing is the feeling I get when I open that awful refrigerator, I hear laughing, and I think it wants to eat me!” Fluttershy’s voice grew to a squeak as she finished speaking.
Twilight raised an eyebrow, she wasn’t entirely sure what to make of this, on one hoof Fluttershy was one of her best friends and probably one of the most stable ponies in this entire crazy town, on the other she was afraid of everything on the face of the earth and could very easily be overreacting. Twilight, ever the skeptic, didn’t know what to think. She kept listening to her friend as she lamented her strange situation over the past two weeks, “With my animal friends gone I’ve been so lonely, and things have just gotten weirder and scarier. That’s why I went to you Twilight, you’re going to know if I’m just going crazy or if something is actually wrong.”
Twilight was humbled by what Fluttershy thought of her, seeking to provide some comfort she spoke softly to her friend, “I’ll see what the problem is, and then we’ll fix it.”
The two friends had made their way to Fluttershy’s cottage, it was getting late and Twilight decided to look at the fridge in the morning. As they stepped inside Twilight was overcome with a strange feeling, she looked around, unsure of what to think. The further she went into the cottage the more she felt just, wrong. Maybe it’s something in the air, maybe it’s something about to do with how tired I am, or maybe it’s something to do with the fact that I have never, ever, seen Fluttershy’s cottage completely devoid of animals.
It was true, the place was deserted, and as they made their way upstairs to bed Twilight had a most foreboding feeling.
They had been sleeping peacefully for almost an hour when a loud clanging noise was heard downstairs. The two awoke with a start and began to make their way down the steps. Twilight, using her horn for illumination, led the way while Fluttershy clung to her, staying so close it was almost uncomfortable. They made their way to the kitchen where they saw the strangest thing, all of the pots and pans in the room where up and flying around. Some were whacking the roof while others scrapped along the floor and the rest just flew around in random arcs in between the two. Twilight and Fluttershy just stared, Twilight too dumbfounded to move, Fluttershy too scared. Twilight managed to mouth, “What in the world?” just as the door to the refrigerator flung open and a deep maniacal laughter poured out of it.
Inside the fridge was a swirling mass of energy, random tendrils of which lashed out at the walls and ceiling. The two friends were gaping at the strange spectacle before them when all of a sudden they heard words, distant and dramatic, “GO NOW, TEST MY PORTAL,” followed by a swift smack.
Out of the fridge flew a canine shape, it looked like a normal short haired black dog but for its massive teeth, gigantic muscle structure, and imposing stature. It stood almost as tall as a pony. The thing seemed generally surprised at its predicament, after it stood it just stared in blank surprise at the two ponies in front of it. The noises and strange energy that had been swirling inside the fridge ceased. The dog looked at the two ponies for about a minute, when out of nowhere its coat burst into flames. The dog, where before it had been too awestruck to move, was now in motion, running around the kitchen yipeing at the top of its lungs. The thing moved so fast that it was practically running on the walls and ceiling. The dog bolted towards Fluttershy and Twilight, who quickly sidestepped as it ran into the sitting room. It began to tear up the furniture, knocking over everything it ran into still yipeing as loud as it could. Eventually it found the front door and launched itself at it, knocking it completely off of its hinges. It started running towards Ponyville. Twilight’s jaw dropped at the damage done to the cottage, Fluttershy’s mind was focused on a different target, “Twilight! Quickly! We have to get to town, that poor dog might be hurt!”
Twilight shook her head, and quickly focused. She started towards the town at a full gallop, while Fluttershy flew behind her.
The two had made it into town, the dog had almost eluded them, it had run down a myriad of alleyways and taken many sharp turns as it ran. Somehow the dog was still moving despite having had its coat on fire for several minutes, the animal was clearly very tenacious. They continued chasing it, eventually they were led to the town square, where the dog was running in circles around and around the square. Eventually the dog turned towards a nearby building and leapt through the window. Fluttershy was right behind it, she dived through the window and into the building. Twilight focused all of her energy into her horn and concentrated on the teleportation spell. With a bright flash and an audible snap she transported herself inside the establishment, leaving a large black scorch mark on the wood floor. Berry Punch was leaning against a counter asleep, this was her Inn. The dog was running around the lobby, knocking over tables and causing general mayhem in the building.
Berry Punch jumped to her feet, startled awake she spoke “What is going on in here?”
She looked up and over to the dog as it made its way to the café, where it began to knock over tables and chairs. Her jaw dropped when she saw the destruction the dog was doing. Twilight was trying to block off the dog’s path while Fluttershy tried to talk to it, “It’s okay, you can stop running! We ‘re trying to help.”
The dog, which was still on fire, continued running gaining speed as it slammed into the door, halfway knocking it off its hinges. Fluttershy looked to Twilight, a worried look in her eye, when Twilight spotted a bucket full of liquid at the base of the counter. Twilight yelled, “FLUTTERSHY!” as she pointed with her hoof over at the bucket. Fluttershy swooped low, picking up the bucket she turned her attention to the dog.
She began to fly at the dog when Berry Punch, having realized that there was a dog, on fire, running around her inn, saw what she was about to do. Panicking at the sight and what Fluttershy was about to do, she yelled, “NO DON’T THAT’S NOT WATER THAT’S,”
Fluttershy dumped the bucket onto the dog, cutting Berry Punch off. The fire on the dog’s coat swelled, causing a massive explosion of flames all catching some of the decorations on the walls on fire. Berry Punch finished speaking, “Alcohol.”
Twilight concentrated on the dog’s figure, lifting it up off the ground magically. Shifting her stance, she focused, forming a translucent purple bubble around the dog. Grunting, with sparks and light pouring out of her horn, she warped the bubble to the dog’s shape. The dog’s panicked eyes shifted back and forth as the bubble closed around it. The flames collapsed as the barrier came down and Twilight lowered the dog back to the floor. The dog gave a look of relief to Twilight before it collapsed onto the ground.
Fluttershy was panting, she had chased this dog thing all the way to and all over the town, moving as fast as she could. Twilight was similarly exhausted, but her curiosity far outweighed her fatigue. The librarian motioned for Fluttershy to stand close, they both stood over the dog. Twilight’s horn glowed brightly and in a bright flash the three of them were gone. Berry Punch looked around her trashed inn, the window was broken, the door would need to be fixed, the walls needed to be painted, the café was completely trashed, and now there were two gigantic scorch marks on the ground. She stomped her hoof on the ground angrily exclaiming, “Screw this I am going to bed!”
Twilight, Fluttershy and the dog popped into existence just outside of the library. Fluttershy went to the dog while Twilight steadied herself from the massive exertion it took to transport three pony sized objects that distance. Fluttershy exclaimed loudly as Twilight shook her head to clear it, “Twi! Come here look at this!”
Twilight stumbled over to the dog, and gasped at what she saw. Despite having been on fire for the better part of a half hour the thing was hardly injured; apart from some minor burns on its back, its short black hair was hardly even burnt. Twilight looked at the thing and back to Fluttershy, ordering “Alright we are staying at the library tonight, we need to figure out what is going on with your fridge, because I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to do this.”
Fluttershy nodded in agreement, and they both dragged the dog inside the library, setting it down on one of the couches inside. Finally they moved over to the bed and collapsed, it had been a long night.
Deep inside the domain of Tartarus on the highest room of the tallest tower in a gigantic onyx castle an imposing bipedal figure stood in front of a mirror and laughed at his success, ceasing his maniacal cackling he spoke in a dramatic and theatrical tone that grew louder as he spoke, “Yes, my experiment was a success, I have done it! YES! SOON! SOON I SHALL BE FREE OF THIS PLACE, AND THEN I,”
Another slightly higher pitched voice rang out cutting the first off, “CAN YA KEEP IT DOWN SOME OF US ARE TRYIN’ TA SLEEP!”
The first voice returned, just as loudly as before, “SORRY!”
