A warm evening. Wind whistles through the canopy of the Everfree Forest. Down on the ground, a solitary earth pony trots down a well-worn trail. As the sun touches the horizon, she begins to hum. She stops and leans down, peering closely at a colorful trailside flower. The carnation matches her coat, so she tucks it behind one ear.
Amidst the trees behind her, a flicker of pale yellow. A whisper in the bushes.
The earth pony looks up and resumes her trot. Her humming turns into wordless singing, then dancing. She counts out the steps of a slow waltz, her progress along the trail slowing to a halt as she frolics.
Somewhere nearby, a snapped twig.
The earth pony’s momentum builds, a waltz turning into a bolero into a quickstep. Soon, she twirls to a stop, out of breath and laughing. A moment to compose herself and she begins to trot once more down the trail. Within a hundred paces she breaks the silence once more, plotting aloud to the night a party to be thrown on her return to Ponyville. Her flank proudly displays three balloons.
Out of the corner of her eye, movement. She turns, and her eyes widen. Joy. Confusion. Fear. The pink earth pony’s voice stops short as she sprints down the trail, desperately hoping for safety that does not come, mercy that is not given. The soft sound of air on wings, and a shape crashes down onto her. She does not feel the knife.
The trail passes along, flowers dotting the bushes on either side. Light is fading from the sky, the woods are silent. On the ground, streaks of drying blood trace out a path of crushed foliage, as if something heavy and bloody was dragged along it. Above, the sun has finished setting. Wind whistles through the canopy of the Everfree Forest. A warm night.
A unicorn knocks on a door, and waits. There is no response. She knocks again. Nothing.
She calls the name of the resident, her patience quickly turning to frustration. The pony that lives here is known for flightiness--ironic, given her lack of wings--, but the unicorn had hoped their friendship would ensure this meeting was kept. Still, the house remains quiet.
“Pinkie? It’s eleven o’clock, you have to get up!” With mounting frustration, the white pony shoves open the door. “Where are you? We were going to talk, remember?” She moves through the building quickly, glancing into rooms as she passes. “You said you had costume ideas!” The house is intricately--if bizarrely--decorated, and save the invader is completely empty. After a few minutes, she realizes this. She trots out and down the road, mumbling disgruntledly.
A unicorn sits in her favorite chair, poring over a weathered book. A stack of others lie around her, varied in size and condition but all filled with bookmarks and annotations. The unicorn does not move, barely awake and lost deep in thought. Suddenly, a tap sounds at her door. The purple mare barely blinks, eyes still flickering from word to word. The tap repeats, more urgently this time. The reader stirs, but does not rise. A loud knock sounds through the door, and the unicorn jolts in shock. The book flies away as she leaps to her hooves, but is quickly caught and set down gently by a purple magical glow. “Just a visitor. Somepony came by. That’s all,” she reassures herself, picking her way through the books to the entrance. She raises her voice, calling out “Sorry, sorry! Coming! I was half-asleep, I wasn't sure I heard you at first.” She opens the door wide.
The hallway is empty.
“... Hello?” She calls, suddenly nervous. “Who’s there?”
The hallway is silent.
“Must’ve been the wind,” she mutters, turning back.
A white unicorn skids around the corner, galloping up to the door. “Twilight! Wait!”
“Oh! Rarity, hi!”
“Spike said you were in here, but then you didn’t answer, and I got worried, and...”
“What’s up?”
“I was just wondering if you know where Pinkie Pie is. We were supposed to meet up this morning, but she didn’t show. I went by the bakery, and she wasn’t there. Any ideas?”
Twilight Sparkle frowns in thought. “Nothing comes to mind... Maybe she’s throwing a party for somepony?”
“Maybe? We were supposed to be planning a party, though...”
The purple pony’s expression transforms from contemplative to concerned in an instant. “She wouldn’t miss that. Let’s go, I’m sure somepony will have seen her.”
“Nope, sorry. Did something happen?”
“Pinkie? Yeah, about a week ago. She helped with my colt’s birthday party. Well, she did it, and I helped.”
“Not in the past couple of days, no.”
“Who? Wait, that pink pony with the balloons? I haven’t seen her, no. Why do you ask?”
“Not since last night. She said she was going to go for a walk.”
It takes a second for the yellow filly’s words to register. “Oh, well thanks anyw-what did you say? Did she say where?” Twilight’s posture is the picture of carefully checked tension.
Apple Bloom thinks for a second, then shakes her head. “I don’t think so. I don’t remember. Sorry.”
“No, thank you. This is all we’ve heard so far,” Rarity says. “This was at the orchard?”
The younger pony nods.
“If you see her, would you let her know that we’re looking for her?”
She nods again.
With carefully hidden worry, Rarity and Twilight Sparkle trot off. Apple Bloom stands in thought, then begins a slow canter.
In a cozy sitting room above the Ponyville Library, two unicorns and a pegasus are waiting. The unicorns are tense: still, quiet. Nervous. The pegasus is tense: pacing, muttering. Anxious. She doesn’t know why she’s been asked here.
In the streets of Ponyville, an earth pony is trotting towards the Library. Most of her best friends are waiting for her. She’s happy for the meeting; it’s been a while since they’ve gathered. She’s worried about the meeting; the invitation had a very serious air about it.
On the outskirts of Ponyville, an earth pony filly is having a meeting of her own with her own best friends. They are far less tense; this meeting has undertones of excitement. The friends are plotting out an adventure.
In the Library, the door swings open, and the earth pony walks in. The purple unicorn speaks.
“Applejack! You made it!”
“Ah sure did. What’s th’ matter?”
The pegasus jumps in. “They’re not saying ‘til everypony’s here.”
Rarity’s tail swishes. “Rainbow Dash, we are all here. Fluttershy is in Applewood, remember? And the reason we called this meeting... Pinkie Pie is missing.”
Just north of Sweet Apple Acres, Apple Bloom rolls out a map. Her best friends crowd in and peer at it. Without waiting, the filly launches into her pitch.
“Pinkie Pie visited us yesterday, and left about half an hour before sunset. She said she was going to go for a walk. Earlier today, Twilight Sparkle and Rarity asked me if I’d seen her. Apparently nobody has since then. I asked Big Mac, and he said he was in the orchard and saw her walk off towards the east. Look here: That takes her right into the Everfree Forest. So here’s what I’m--go ahead, Scootaloo.”
“This map is so cool! Where are we on it?”
Apple Bloom taps a point halfway between Ponyville and the orchard. “Right here. So here’s what I’m thinking: We should go find Pinkie! I bet she lost track of time or something, and we can go help her. Plus, it’ll be kinda like an adventure!”
The unicorn filly is skeptical. “I don’t know, Apple Bloom. Isn’t the Everfree Forest kinda dangerous? Plus, why would she go there?”
“That’s where Zecora lives. Probably she was visiting her. Come on Sweetie Belle, it’ll be fun! We’ll be careful, and if something dangerous pops up we can just run away. Scootaloo, you’re in, right?”
Slowly, hesitantly, the tiny pegasus nods.
To the north, the mood is tense. Nopony speaks while the pegasus and earth pony process the news. Finally, Applejack breaks the silence.
“So... what do we do now, then? Some sorta search party?”
Rainbow Dash is nearly bouncing off the walls, fluttering in circles around the ceiling. “I can ask around. I bet somepony’s seen her. She wouldn’t just go off. What did you say Apple Bloom said? A walk? Where?”
“Nopony knows, Dash. I suppose we can assume it was somewhere dangerous, so...” Twilight Sparkle walks over to a bookshelf and starts picking through it. “Has anypony seen my map? I thought it was here...”
“Maybe somepony borrowed it. It is a library, Twilight.”
Sweetie Belle interrupts. “Apple Bloom, maybe we should leave a note. Just in case somepony comes looking, you know?”
“Oh, alright. We can even show on the map where we’re going.”
“And while we’re being safe,” the unicorn filly presses on, “maybe we should take an adult with us. I bet Big Macintosh would come with us.”
The earth pony deflates a bit. “He’ll just try to stop us from going. We don’t need him.”
“No, I know. I’m sure you’re right,” Twilight Sparkle replies.
“Maybe we should just head on over to Sweet Apple Acres, see what’s what there? Could be there’s hoofprints. Big Mac or Granny Smith might’ve seen something, too. Ah want to talk to my sister, too.”
“Let’s do that one. If nothing else, I can get an aerial view, and that’s almost as good as a map,” Rainbow Dash chimes in, settling the plan.
In the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ Clubhouse, a map of Ponyville County, property of the Ponyville Library, sits abandoned on the floor. Next to it is a note scrawled in childlike hoofwriting. Nopony is inside.
Sweet Apple Acres is a sprawling orchard, and at this time of year the fruits are just starting to ripen. A large earth pony meanders across the grounds, inspecting the trees. He pokes at an errant root, considering it. He startles.
“Big Mac! There you are! Have you seen Apple Bloom? We need to talk to her!”
Four ponies are galloping down the trail. No; three ponies. Over their heads and in front of them, a pegasus is flapping hard: It’s this pony who called out.
He waits for them to get closer before responding; Big Macintosh doesn’t like to shout. “Howdy, Rainbow Dash. Er’pony. What’s happen’n?”
“Howdy. We’re looking fer Apple Bloom. Have ya seen ‘er? Oh, ‘nd Pinkie Pie, too, while we’re askin’,” The orange-yellow mare slows to a stop as she reaches her brother, the unicorns beside her gasping for breath.
“Eeyup, both of ‘m,” the stallion responds, “Pinkie I saw last night, going out fer a stroll in the Forest. Bit b’fore sunset. I just saw Apple Bloom t’day. She was going up to meet Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle by their clubhouse.
“Much obliged, Big Mac.” Applejack turns to address her friends. “Ah‘m startin’ to get worried now. D’y’all want to check out th’ clubhouse first, or just assume they went for the Forest?”
The ponies glance at one another uncertainly. After a moment, Rainbow Dash speaks up.
“Well, if they’re in the clubhouse we should check that before we go running all over the Forest looking for ponies who aren’t lost.”
Twilight shoots the pegasus a relieved look. “Good thinking, Dash. Let’s go.”
The four mares gallop off just as fast as they came. Behind them, Big Macintosh stands silent, a worried look on his face. After a moment, long after the other ponies have left earshot, he speaks. “Apple Bloom?”
In the Everfree Forest, muffled by vegetation and distance so much that nopony can hear it, a shriek rings out, and is silenced.
Two quick knocks echo through the great hall. The massive stone doors creak and groan as they are shoved open. In through them walk a trio of ponies: white, purple, and orange. They are whispering loudly.
“Th’ place has been abandoned fer a thousand years, Rare.”
“It’s always polite to knock, darling. Even if nopony is inside.”
“Ah know, but still.”
“Both of you shh! I want to hear if there’s hoofsteps.”
The ponies fall silent and still, gazes darting around. The entrance chamber is dark and silent.
Applejack clears her throat, then calls out. “Apple Bloom! Scootaloo! Sweetie Belle! Pinkie Pie! Anybody here?”
Her words echo off the crumbling stone, and silence returns.
“We should search anyway. With Dashie covering the rest of the forest there’s really nothing else for us to do. It’ll go faster if we split up, so...” Twilight trails off, forehead creased.
The ponies exchange glances.
“Let’s stick together just in case,” the purple unicorn finishes.
“This place ain’t much less creepy now than at night,” Applejack observes.
“Let’s head for the throne room. It seems like a good place to start,” Rarity suggests.
“You’re right, AJ. Definitely an unsettling atmosphere,” Twilight comments as they plod onwards. “Pinkie Pie would cut right through it, I’m sure, with some joke or antic. I can’t think what it would be.”
“Well if we can’t have laughter, perhaps a conversation to lighten the mood? Twilight darling, have you seen Fluttershy’s latest movie?”
“The golf one? I saw it. I’m not much for sports, but I liked it.”
“Hold up, what’s this? Ah knew our Fluttershy was actin’, but Ah haven’t heard about some golf movie,” Applejack breaks in.
“It just came out. ‘The Greatest Game Ever Played’. Fluttershy plays a pony who gets told golf is only for rich ponies, but she--Do you care about spoilers?--She plays anyways because she loves the game, and she gets good enough to play in the Equestrian Open against her foalhood hero. It’s really good.”
Elsewhere, Big Macintosh plods up to a wooden hut. In the treetops behind him, a shadow emerges. He knocks on the door.
“Ah can still hardly believe it. Our own Fluttershy, an Applewood superstar.”
“It’s definitely a long way from Ponyville. I wonder how her animals like the big city?”
The ponies enter the throne room.
“Huh,” Applejack grunts, “Ah guess we’re keeping looking. Ah’m still voting for sticking together.”
“Hello!? Is anypony there!?” Twilight Sparkle’s voice echoes through the grand hall.
Rainbow Dash flies over the Everfree Forest. Wind whistles in her ears. She looks down at the canopy, and at the ground hidden beneath.
“I suppose there’s nothing for it but to start looking,” Rarity shrugs and trots towards a side chamber. “Say, have either of you been in that new coffee shop? Their equestricanos are sublime, and the decor! Simply to die f--”
Rarity steps over the threshold. The floor swings out, and she falls.
“Rarity!” Twilight gallops forward, horn glowing, but the trapdoor swings shut.
“We have to go after her. How do we get down? That probably goes to the dungeons. Applejack, help me look for stairs!” Twilight is gasping for breath, eyes rolling and filled with panic. The orange earth pony is frozen. Twilight makes a flying leap across the trapdoor and sprints down the corridor, frantically slamming open doors.
Rarity struggles to her hooves, then collapses, gasping. Her hind leg slips out at an unnatural angle. Gingerly, she rises to three legs, looking around the stark cell. A chute in the ceiling marks her entrance, a splintered table the furniture, and the single door hangs ajar. She hobbles through it.
“Twi! Wait!” Applejack gallops after her friend, barely following her twisting path. The earth pony rounds a corner and crashes into the unicorn, sending them both stumbling. “Darn it, Twi, Ah thought we were gonna stick together!”
Twilight Sparkle looks back at her, breathing heavily. Slowly, her breath quiets. Her posture falls. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t apologize. Ah was scared too. Let’s just... keep walking. Th’ place has been abandoned for a thousand years, she can’t be in too much trouble.”
“Yeah. Let’s... um. Applejack?”
“Yeah?”
“Which way did we come?”
“Ah... Ah’m not sure.”
Rarity staggers down the hallway, breath hitching with each step as her broken leg is pulled across the floor. “Hello? Anybody?” she calls. Her only answer is the screech of metal on the stone behind her. Rarity twirls, hissing at the movement.
The hallway is empty.
“If I were a staircase going to the basement, where would I hide?” Twilight mutters as she wanders through the maze of corridors.
“Maybe we oughta look for a window. We could jump out, reorient from outside? Ah’m not saying we leave Rarity, just to find the entrance again, y’know?”
“That... That could work. Good thinking, Applejack. If we go in a straight line, we should find some outside wall or other, right?”
The screech sounds again. Rarity cringes back, pressing herself into the wall.
“Who’s there? I need help! I need medical--” SCREEEEEEEEECH. The sound is close now, so close it’s nearly deafening. Rarity whips her head back and forth. Nothing. She looks up. She screams. The hallway’s other occupant descends.
At the end of the hallway, a large window looks out into the Everfree Forest. The two mares look at it.
“Well that’s a mite unsettling,” Applejack remarks. On the window is a design, painted in brownish red. Dried lines mark the dripping edges of a stylized butterfly. A trail of the liquid leads from beneath the window through a door halfway down the hall.
“Do you think... that’s not blood, is it?”
“Ah don’t know, Twi. It looks old, at least.”
“Does that... We still have to go through, right? That’s still the best plan we have.” Twilight Sparkle trots slowly towards the window, looking fearfully from side to side. Applejack hesitantly follows.
A few scant lengths from the window, Twilight Sparkle stumbles. At her hooves, a thin wire is snapped and unnoticed.
“Twilight! Look out!” Applejack shouts.
A soft twang spills out of the wall as the orange mare knocks her friend aside.
Applejack cries out and collapses, an arrow deep in her flank.
“Applejack? Oh no! Um, um, um. Healing spells. Why don’t I know any healing spells?”
“Ah’ll... Ah’ll be alright,” Applejack groans. Her blood pools beneath her, painting the floor a brighter red. “Just need some medical... y’know. Help.”
At the other end of the sanguine trail, the door opens. A pony steps out, covered from head to toe in a black robe. Twilight scrambles between her friend and the newcomer. “Who are you? Did you do this?” she asks.
The figure is silent, taking in the scene.
“If you didn’t do it, can you help? My friend is hurt and my other friend fell through a trapdoor. Do you... live here?”
The figure is silent. It takes a slow step forward, then another.
“Can you talk? You’re... You’re kinda creeping me out here.”
The figure accelerates, rapidly closing the distance.
“Twi... Ah don’t think... they’re friendly,” Applejack groans. Twilight’s horn lights up, too late. The figure leaps, spinning in midair to buck Twilight in the chest. The purple unicorn rolls back. The hooded pony reaches into its cloak, producing a small object and taking aim at Twilight. The mare pulls herself back up, freezing at the sight. Light from the window illuminates the dark metal and the engraved logo. Fetglock, reads the weapon.
The gun clicks as the figure pulls back the slide.
The sound of the shot is deafening. Twilight flinches. When she opens her eyes, she gasps. Applejack is standing, wrestling with the hooded figure for control of the weapon.
“Twi... Go! Ah’ll... Ah’ll be right behind you,” the earth pony grunts.
“I’m not leaving you! I’ll, umm... I know!” Twilight Sparkle’s horn lights up. She quickly finishes the spell, and as the figure yanks the hoofgun from Applejack’s grip its cloak lights up with pink energy, ripping apart and away.
Beneath the cloak is a pegasus with a pale yellow coat and a pink mane. The mare’s cutie mark shows three butterflies. In an instant, the pegasus spins and fires into Applejack’s head. Blood and gore splatter the hallway.
“I... Weren’t we friends?” Twilight barely manages to speak. She scrambles back, legs giving out as Applejack’s body falls to the floor.
Fluttershy turns the gun towards her.
Birds sing from the treetops, and the waning twilight casts pleasant shadows on the grassy floor. A cool breeze blows along, crisp and quiet. Rainbow Dash notices none of it. She chews on her lip, eyes flashing about but taking in nothing. She stretches her wings experimentally, but the trees are too close together to allow her flight. She walks on, utterly alone.
In the corner of her eye, movement. Rainbow Dash spins, and spots her friend.
“F-Fluttershy!? You’re supposed to be--” the rainbow-maned mare begins.
The other pegasus’ mouth stretches into a twisted mockery of a grin. She lowers her head and begins to gallop. Rainbow Dash flees. The fastest pegasus of her generation finds that without her wings, she is little quicker than an earth pony, and her pursuer is more accustomed than she to the terrain. The gap narrows to thirty feet. Twenty nine. Rainbow Dash frantically glances around for an escape, but finds nothing. She casts a look behind her. Rainbow Dash notices the blood running down Fluttershy’s chin and down her flank, turning her coat from a pale yellow to a grisly matted brown. Rainbow Dash notices the knife, gripped firmly in the other mare’s teeth.
Rainbow Dash accelerates, and her frenzied gallop drives all other thoughts from her mind.
Rainbow Dash slows to a stop and looks around. Night has fallen, but she cannot see or hear her attacker. She breathes a sigh of relief. She looks around again, and tension returns to her posture. She steps one way, then the other. The trees provide no help. The pegasus eyes the canopy appraisingly, then shrinks in fear as a feathered shape flies just above it. Crouching, Rainbow Dash picks a direction and begins to slink through the bushes. At first her passage is noisy, but as she proceeds onwards she quickly learns better. The blue pegasus is very carefully climbing over a fallen tree when she spots the light: A cottage stands, built into a tree, illuminated from within. Rainbow Dash’s eyes sparkle hopefully, and she creeps towards it.
Rainbow Dash is within a hundred feet of the hut when she glances down and freezes. Carefully, very carefully, she moves her hoof away from the steel ursa minor trap. She shivers, and her slow crawl drops to a near standstill as she begins again to slink towards the hut she can now recognize as Zecora’s. A hundred feet now. Fifty. Ten. Rainbow Dash gingerly sets hoof on Zecora’s doorstep. She raises a foreleg to knock, when her eyes widen. Inside the small residence, visible through the windows, sits Fluttershy. She faces away from the door, hunched over in concentration. A low rasp grinds a steady rhythm, audible outside the door. Fluttershy shifts and Rainbow Dash muffles a gasp as a large ax becomes visible in Fluttershy’s hooves. Rainbow Dash twitches anxiously, glancing back and forth between the hut and the dark woods behind her. She peers inside, examining the area around her friend, then cringes back, retching quietly. Along the wall lie the corpses of ponies, great chunks of meat carved from their flanks. In the kitchenette, a sizzling steak still shows three apples in a cutie mark. Rainbow Dash’s face fills with resolution.
The blue pegasus slowly, slowly, slowly opens the door. The yellow one doesn’t react, still focused on her task. The blue takes one cautious step. Another. The yellow is oblivious. With a final lunge, Rainbow Dash wraps her foreleg around Fluttershy’s neck and squeezes tight. Fluttershy grunts, struggling. The yellow mare pulls one way, then the other, and slips free of the headlock. Taking a step back, she drops the ax and produces a knife, held firm in her teeth as she lunges at her friend.
Rainbow Dash desperately ducks under her attacker’s wing. Fluttershy pivots and bucks Rainbow Dash in the side, sending the blue pegasus across the room and crashing among the corpses. In seconds, the cannibal pony is upon her friend, pushing the knife closer and closer to Rainbow Dash’s chest. Rainbow Dash shouts in pain as the knife pricks her coat, twisting her friend to the side. Bleeding now, she stands and bucks Fluttershy in the flank before the yellow pegasus can stand. Fluttershy stumbles from the blow, but does not fall. The attack resumes, Rainbow Dash ducking and dodging the flurry of stabs and swipes Fluttershy unleashes. Cuts appear, one by one, turning the blue coat a deep red. Rainbow Dash is backed into a wall, one step at a time. She looks around, but there is nowhere left to run. Determination settles over her, and as the pink-maned murderer closes in she jumps up, bucking the wall and careening straight into Fluttershy. The shocked mare is knocked to the ground, and Rainbow Dash seizes the opportunity to wrest the knife from Fluttershy’s mouth.
With a powerful lunge, Rainbow Dash thrusts the blade into Fluttershy’s stomach. The yellow mare gasps in pain, her kidney punctured, and collapses to the floor. Her breaths turn ragged, then slow, then stop.
Rainbow Dash stands, tears streaking her cheeks. She staggers to the door, then turns around. “I’m sorry,” she whispers. She trades the bloody knife for the ax lying on the floor, and limps out into the woods. She doesn’t look back.
Rainbow Dash limps along, her injured wing held close and an ax gripped in her teeth. She rounds a tree and sighs, the edge of the Everfree Forest coming into sight. Behind her, a twig snaps. Rainbow Dash spins. Fluttershy stares back, murderous intent clear in her gaze. Strapped just above her hoof, directed into her friend’s forehead, is a pistol.
“Why?” Rainbow Dash asks. Fluttershy does not answer. The gun presses into the blue mare’s skull.
Rainbow Dash surges forwards, knocking the weapon aside and crashing into Fluttershy.
“Didja forget I’m a black belt in hoof-jitsu? Gonna take more than a fetglock to get me!”
she cries. Fluttershy winces and rolls her shoulder before leaping into her friend’s grapple. Within seconds Rainbow Dash is panting and straining, pushed to the limit. Fluttershy yawns, pressing harder.
“You. Forgot.” Rainbow Dash grunts out, slowly giving ground, “This!” She pulls an ax from her rainbow mane and swings directly for the other mare’s neck. Fluttershy rolls quickly to the side, then steps back, and leaps up, and twists, each time narrowly avoiding the deadly blade. Matching Rainbow Dash’s tempo, Fluttershy knocks a blow aside and steps in. Rainbow Dash pulls back and reverses the slash, catching Fluttershy in the neck. The yellow pegasus stumbles, then drops to her knees. Rainbow Dash lifts the ax high and repeats the stroke. Twice, then three times, then four times the ax falls down, until with a final thwack Fluttershy’s neck is severed.
Rainbow Dash quickly backs to the edge of the clearing, breathing quickly. Tears streak her muzzle; her safety brings no relief. The moon shines bright on the Everfree Forest.
fin
Author's Note
The entirety of my knowledge of MLP is through Fallout: Equestria and the wiki, both of which I referenced extensively for this project. I was inspired to write this entirely based on the titular pun, and I have no intention of coming back to it; as far as I'm concerned, this is finished.
