Author's Note

Hello everyone. Now, I know what you’re thinking. And No. I will not be putting Redemption for a Cloverleaf on hiatus.

Admittedly, I did have a MAJOR case of writers block. Especially on how to write the origin story of Bud Bloomington. This might have been the worst case of it I ever had. And it didn’t help that my hours at work were getting to be a pain in the ass as well.

For the record though, I DO have a draft written for Chapter 21. I need more time to finish it, but I haven’t quit on it. It will be out soon. Can’t say exactly when, but soon.

Anyway, onto this story. August 24, 2023. That will be a day that will forever live to be one of the worst days of my life.

People, you probably don’t know too much about me. So, let me tell ya, I am a HUGE pro wrestling fan. Have been ever since I was little. And one of my favorites for the past decade was “The Eater of Worlds” Bray Wyatt.

Whether it was The Wyatt Family, The Fiend or just Windham Rotunda, he always had my attention. His promos, his eerie presence, and just his overs character were entertaining as hell.

Now, of course, we will always talk about how the WWE, Cena and Orton screwed him over royally by burying him. And yes. His storylines, admittedly, did get repetitive. And it was hard to take him seriously when he LOST most of the time.

However, even with all the bad booking, the repetitive storylines, and the dumb character moments(Sister Abigail anyone?), I was always a fan of his. I always supported him.

It just breaks my heart knowing that, at only 36 years of age, he is now gone. It’s been a month now, and it still doesn’t feel real. He should be here with us still.

I will miss him. And I will never forget him. Rest in Peace Bray Wyatt. I will always follow your light.

And, after seeing this cover photo, I INSTANTLY got an idea in my head. And that was: What if the Wyatt Family existed in the MLP universe?

And No, not some crossover like some people do. No, what if a similar character like Bray Wyatt existed in Equestria? And…what would happen if Twilight and the Main 6 encountered them? What would their reaction be to this kind of evil? And how would they handle something like a cult?

So, the more I thought about it, the more I felt “FUCK IT. I gotta write this.” So, that’s what I did. For all of you. I hope you like it.

Now, be warned. This is a very dark story. This may be triggering to people who are sensitive to violence, trauma, mental health issues, manipulation and cults across the world. So, read with caution.

Anyway, if you liked this chapter, make sure to comment, like, favorite and follow for future updates. Thank you all and goodnight everyone.

“Hey….you wanna see something….REALLY scary?”

“Oh Celestia.”

That came from somepony carrying a camera from its perspective. From his voice, he sounded very young. Probably in his early 20’s. So he must be a college student. He also sounded very scared. Even terrified.

He knew what location he was at. He was somewhere close to the Smoky Mountains. It was home to a family that exceeded generations. The Hooffields and the McColts. However, he was just a bit north from that place. He was currently walking through a wooded path. It was clear as day that he had no idea where he was going. Or how eeeie and spooky it was going to be.

The pony’s name was Film Reel. He had been studying cinematography at Manehatten University for almost 2 years now. He had ambitions to become a famous director in Ponywood. His dream was to make his own Dark Stallion movie on the big screen. He even wrote a script and had a cast of actors who he wanted to play the characters in his story. He could almost see it now in a daydream.

For now, however, he had been making small documentaries for the small screens. This was only his third one. The first documentary he did was on the native Zebra tribes in Zebrica. Their heritage. What they eat. Some famous zebras who lived there. Some fascinating stories. And, kind of ashamedly, he saw just how hot and attractive the female zebras were.

It wasn’t the best documentary he ever did, but it was a hoof in the door for his career. And he was thankful for that.

The second one was on the tragedy of the fire at the Baltimare Opera Theatre over 95 years ago. This one was pretty tough for him. He went through hours of research to find facts about what had happened that fateful day. When over 75 innocent ponies, who just wanted to put on their play, were burned alive in a fire that broke out in that very theatre. It was tough for him to read the horrors that went on that day. Especially given that there were several foals who died as well. He only wondered what the victims last thoughts were before they died.

This one actually did do pretty good numbers. It was well received by critics and was even given good reviews by family members who were there and even experts who studied the tragedy longer than he did. This documentary helped him start to gain some notoriety in the film world.

Now, this next one, was something he was always fascinated about. Something that he knew he would get eyeballs on. Something that other ponies of Equestria were fascinated with, if not, borderline, obsessed with.

Cults in Equestria.

He had heard about the Equality Cult from years back. It was a cult of ponies who gave up their cutie marks to their leader, Starlight Glimmer. These ponies believed that different talents lead to different opinions, which lead to ponies disagreeing with each other. And that lead to them not being friends anymore. So, replacing their cutie mark, an equal sign was placed upon their flank.

They dressed similarly. They had their manes styled similarly. They smiled huge smiles, which looked full of fear. They had similar beliefs and opinions. They all agreed with each other and never raised their voices.

It was amazing to him that only NOW ponies were starting to recognize that this was indeed a cult.

From what he’s heard, Starlight Glimmer had reformed, and was even running a school that taught friendship to ponies and other races across Equestria. Some of the cult members had married their special somepony, got a nice job to make a great living and some were even running the small town that they had lived in when the cult was still a thing.

It was just amazing how the Princess of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle, was able to help turn these ponies’ lives around.

This cult, however, was something a little different. He had heard about this one in particular from a series of rumors around the very Smoky Mountain area. Stories about a backwoods cult that lived there.

That cult was named the Wyndham Family.

He looked and looked and looked for ANY type of research on this family. He looked for as many books he could find. He searched the web for hours. He even tried looking through old papers from way back when. All of that research and the only thing he found was where the Wyndham Family was located(although, again, it was only rumor not fact) and, according to ponies who lived not too far way from the Smoky Mountains(Not the Hooffields and McColts), they stayed as far away from the Wyndham Family as possible. The backwoods was their turf, apparently.

And that’s where he was now. Just walking the path toward wherever he was going frightened him to no end. He almost felt like turning around right now and hightail it out of here.

Then, as he was rounding a corner of the backwoods, he heard a noise that was not to far away from him. He looked to his right and saw something that looked peculiarly disturbing.

There was a young earth pony mare. She looked to be around her mid 20’s, so only a few years older than him. She had a pink coat with a baseball bat cutie mark. Her mane was long and blonde with pink highlights in it.

She was currently swinging on a swing set that was facing him. It looked to be hoof made. The seat looked to be made from actual wood. Just about the right size for her flank to fit. The ropes were hung over a V shaped branch that was high above her.

What was also creepy about this mare, was she wasn’t alone on this swing. She used her right hoof to hang onto a rope of the swing. Her left hoof was holding a doll that was sitting on her lap. The doll looked a bit like her, except very grotesque and horrifying. The eyes were wider, the teeth were bigger and the hair looked a bit out of place.

However, if that didn’t look creepy enough to him, then the look on her face did. When Film Reel and this mare locked eyes, hers grew very large like the doll on her lap. It was as if she was taking in every inch of this young stallion.

Then he saw her grin. It was large and showed her teeth. He saw red in them. Either she had just gotten done drinking a nice cherry smoothie…or that was blood dripping from her mouth.

Then, she got up from her swing. Film wanted to run away. This was a mistake. He never should’ve come out here. Or rather, he shouldn’t have come here alone. How stupid he felt now.

He couldn’t move, however. He was stuck to the floor. It was like his fear was making him stay here in this terrifying moment.

The mare with the doll on her back got closer to him. She circled his body. She even sniffed him. As if she was smelling fresh meat.

He heard her let out a small giggle.

“Hi.”

He didn’t answer her.

“My name’s Bliss. And this—“ she took the the doll off her back. “—is Lilly. She’s my best friend.” She said, nuzzling the doll as if it were a real pony.

“What’s your name, handsome?” She asked in a flirty way, tracing her hoof over his chest.

Admittedly, he did think this mare was pretty attractive. However, he also knew just by looking at her that she was completely crazy. He was scared just looking at her.

He gulped. “U-U-Uh, I-I-I’m Film Reel. I’m a film student at Manehatten University. I…I heard rumors about a family that lived out here. I thought about making a documentary about them. D-Do you know them, Miss Bliss?” He asked, unable to mask the terror in his voice.

She let out a giggle again, which sent a chill down his spine.

“Of course I do, you silly filly. In fact…” She paused, before she looked behind Film Reel. He saw that grin again. He heard her giggle again. This didn’t seem good. He needed to run away. Now.

“You can feel it. Can’t you, my son?” He heard a voice from behind him. Only now, this voice was male. Then, he heard hoofsteps. After that, he heard more hoofsteps.

He wasn’t alone anymore.

Film Reel turned around, and he felt his terror rise to levels he had never felt before.

Walking toward him were three earth pony stallions. Two were huge. Almost gigantic.

One was bald and wore a light green jumpsuit. He also had a huge red beard that covered his chin. However, what stood out to Film Reel, was the sheep mask this guy wore. It looked so creepy. Especially in this moment.

The other one did have a pitch black mane, and beard as well. However, they both looked scraggly and not well combed. He also wore a red sleeveless shirt and a pair of blue jean pants that looked dirty as hell. His eyes also looked full of craziness too, as well as his head random head tilts. And, for some reason, he was muttering the words…”yeah yeah yeah yeah” under his breath, although he was still heard.

However, the scariest one of all, was the pony leading them. This guy looked to be around Bliss’ age. He even looked younger than the two ponies behind him. He was shorter than BOTH of them, but he must’ve carried enough weight for both of them to follow him.

Follow…that word.

This stallion also had a huge beard and long, kind of silky black hair that had a brown and yellow hat covering his head. He wore white pants and a Ponylulu shirt that just covered his shoulders. He had demonic looking tattoos on his arms.

However, what filled Film Reel the most about this stallion, was the smile on his face. The look in his eyes. He knew that only one word described this stallion, as well as the other ponies here with him.

Evil.

“You feel the fear in your heart and in your mind and in your soul and ALL around your body, man.” The stallion then let out a laugh, while the sleeveless stallion them mimicked using a bow and arrow and shooting it at Film. With that psychotic wide eyed look.

He was right. Film Reel had never felt so scared in his life. Who the hell were these psychopaths? And what did they want with him? What were they gonna do with him?

He saw the stallions face turn into a terrifying glare. He almost wet himself right there. “Well, you should be scared, little man. Your parents LIED to you when they said Monsters aren’t real. Well, you’re looking at one right now. My name is Wyndham. And I am the Eater of Worlds.” He now said in a low and menacing tone. It almost felt like a demon had shown himself through this stallion.

The stallion put his arm on Film Reel’s shoulder. He saw Bliss and the two other stallions circle around him. Trapping him from running away like he wanted to.

Bliss was giggling, the sleeveless one was chuckling and the one in the sheep mask was just staring at him.

“Hey….” He said, showing a sinister grin, while now putting his hoof on the back of Film’s neck. He was putting his head close to Film Reel’s, who was now letting tears of fear run down his face. A small whimper escaped his throat.

Was he going to die here? Was this how it was going to end? Was he going to see any of his friends or family ever again? Was this it?

“…do you wanna see something…REALLY scary?” The stallion asked, before letting out a laugh full of evil.

No pony was around to hear Film Reel’s screams.