Something in the woods

I know it's watching me. I can see its glistening eyes under the moonlight, it stares down at me in-between the dark and thick trunks of trees, through the dusty bedroom window on the second floor. Nopony believed me at first, but it's true.

Yesterday, I was at the farm. I'd just woken up, washed my face, had breakfast with grandma, sis and Big Mac. I was doing my usual farm chores, first I fed the chickens and gathered their eggs. But something wasn't right. They were riled up, more than usual. I didn't think much of it at the time so I went on ahead to feed the pigs, for some reason the gate to the pig pen was open. But I didn't think much of it, maybe sis forgot, maybe Big Mac had been there earlier.

It’s just a pig pen, right? Still, there was something weird in the mud that day. A small patch, it was almost like leathery skin, like it was from one of the pigs. But I ignored it too, I just threw it away and didn’t think of it.

Later that night as I was heading to bed, something moved outside. In-between the bushes, along the dark shadows, hiding away just out of sight. I saw a blur. Something was there, it was moving around, too quick for me to make out what it was, yet slow enough for me to catch the shape of something unnatural. It wasn't a pony, it wasn't a pig or a chicken, it wasn't even a Timberwolf, or an ursula.

And this morning, one of our pigs had gone missing. AJ tracked a track of blood to somewhere deep inside the orchard fields and we found poor little Daisy struggling for her life, her body leaned against the stump of a tree, blood scattered on the blades of grass, viscera and organs sprayed along the floor as her belly was ripped open but somehow her heart was still beating. Big Mac put her out of her misery.

It wasn't here for the pigs. The pigs were just a warning. Otherwise, it wouldn't have left Daisy alive. Daisy wasn't food, it was just a toy for it to play with. But tonight, we'll catch it.

I can still see it moving. Dashing between bushes, between tree trunks, always hiding in the shadows, and somehow it doesn't make a noise. It knows it's been seen, so why is it even moving? And it's moving closer too. Its eyes stalk and glisten under the moonlight.

Then, a loud snap.

“We got it! C’mon Big Mac! Granny, you n’ Applebloom stay inside!” AJ was running down the hall and consequently downstairs, while I stood watching from the bedroom window. Watching it struggle and fight against the trap that had snared and lifted it into the air, wrapping a large net around its body. I had a bad feeling about this.

I saw them rushing out to where it was, just next to the chickens. Big Mac had a flashlight in his mouth while AJ carried a shovel, but he wouldn't have time to shine the flashlight onto it, the net broke and it too broke free before he had the chance to even see what they were up against.

My eyes widen and my heart beats faster, it's difficult to see much of anything as moonlight is the only thing that helps illuminate the scene, I can only hope they’ll be okay as, my heart beats fast while I watch the scene unfold, Applejack struggles against a lump of black something over her, hairy or furry.

She can fight it at first, it knocks her down with the shovel to her side, she manages to throw in some punches but I can't tell if they land. Big Mac jumps in to help, grabbing the shovel with his mouth and dropping the flashlight in the process, I can see something. A leg? Or an arm? It's skinny, it looks too skinny even.

But Applejack gets tossed around too much, her body rolls along the floor coating her in dirt and dust, while Big Mac suddenly gets thrown across the field into the pig pen, with so much force it breaks the brand new fence. I gasp and my eyes widen, I want to help them but I'm stuck here. If it threw Big Mac around like he's a ragdoll, what could it even do to me?

But Big Mac’s laying there screaming with pain, I can’t leave him like that. I need to help him.

Applejack suddenly gets dragged somewhere, to the darkness of the orchard fields. And my heart skips a beat. I can't help but sweat, my mind runs rampant on possible scenarios. If it did that to a pig, what would it do to my sis?!

Enough of this, I can't just sit here and watch! I run out of my room and down the hallway, I pass Granny's bedroom where the open door only reveals the moonlight piercing through a broken window, a slight breeze makes the curtains flow in the air gently. Granny's nowhere to be seen. But I can't stop, I can only pray to Celestia that she's hiding somewhere. A closet or the bathroom.

Galloping down the stairs and out the open front door, I reach Big Mac who's still laying inside the pig pen, groaning with pain. He's got blood all over his rear hooves, more warm blood still pulsates out.

“Gah… Applebloom… Get inside… Don't stay out here…” He can barely muster up the energy to speak to me!

“No! I won't! I can't! Where's AJ?! Where's Granny?!” I take a look at his rear hooves a bit closer, and cringe at the sight of a bloody bone piercing his skin, broken and protruding outwards, it had ripped his skin. That’s just from the fall, not to mention the wood splinters and the large piece of broken fencing that was lodged into his stomach causing a deep, large cut going down his body. His continued scream filled the night air with Agony and pain, also filling my heart with dread. I’d never seen Big Mac like this…

“Applejack- Ngh… Can hold her own… Get inside please…” No! I can't! I won't! There has to be something I can do!

I don't know what to do, I don't know how to help him, I can't drag him inside, I don't know where Granny is, and even worse that thing is out there in the woods and I'm probably next. I'm panicking and my hooves are trembling, I don't know what to do or how to react

I'm scared, an overwhelming sensation overcomes me. There's got to be something I can do, but Big Mac's voice keeps telling me it'll be okay, and that I should head back inside, and that everything will be fine when I know it won't be!

“Please! How can I help! Please!” I ask desperately, I try to drag him but he's too heavy. If I try to push him I will just risk making him feel even more pain. I don't know how to react, in a moment of pure panic I just hug him. I hug him tight, I can feel the warmth of his blood on me, even while in pain he can still hug me back.

“It'll be okay… Applebloom… R-Run… Call someone…” Please, don't tell me these things, you know I'm just as stubborn as Applejack, please just let me help you, I'm foal but I can do something, I promise I can!

“Applebloom!” Applejack!? I turn my head to see her full sprinting at me, she's badly scratched up and hurt, I can tell, but she's alive! She 's okay! I want to hug her but I know I can't. Not right now. “Thank Celestia you're okay! Big Mac, you too!”

“...Eyup…”

“Sis! We gotta help Big Mac and Granny, please!” I'll let her take over, she knows a lot more than I do. After looking over his injuries, she has pretty much the same reaction I did, cringing at his fractured hindleg bone, before turning straight at me to look me in the eyes as they glisten in the moonlight.

“Look sugar cube, I need you to be strong for me now okay? Granny is gone. We can't help her.” What? Granny is gone?! But she was with me just a couple minutes ago, when did she— How did she?! Will she be okay? I have so many questions, I'm locked in a trance. I don't know how to feel, does that mean Granny's dead?! How?! Why?! How does Applejack know?!

A sudden pain stings my cheek, I felt AJ’s hoof slap me across the face leaving a seering sensation.

“Listen! Applebloom! Be strong! Otherwise the same will happen to Big Mac! Now I need you to follow me to the basement, we can grab something to help him out!” I can't even process what is happening, everything is a blur, my heart's beating so fast and I'm panting with fear, anxiety, and a hundred other emotions mixed together. But if I keep standing here, frozen like a sheep, I'll be an easy target, and worse, I'll get Big Mac killed.

I wipe the tears running down my face and nod.

“Yeah. Right, okay.”

“Go first! I'll try to lift him onto my back and carry him with me!” She commands and I just blindly obey, having to swallow my tears back, as I run across the field back to our house, then behind it where the basement stairs are.

It's locked and I don't even know where she keeps the key, and she didn't tell me! I need to be strong. A random rock I find lying about serves as a good tool for breaking the wooden doors, as I slam against it, again, and again, each hit carries more desperation, until the lock finally gives in, just in time for me to hear Big Mac's scream off in the distance. I try to peek my head around the corner of the house but as I lean my body out, Applejack slams on me with all her might and pulls me with her to the basement.

“It's coming! Get in! Quick!” I don't rebel, I just accept and let her take me where we need to be, and once we finally get inside, she throws me to the ground, kicking up dust as she looks behind her at the entrance, panting and taking deep breaths and sighs, her silhouette is illuminated by the moonlight.

I'm Panthing too, my hooves are shaking so much that they might give in at any moment, my eyes are still watery, and I've a few scratches from being thrown to the ground like that. Applejack just- stands there, looking at the basement stairs, looking out at the moon.

“Where's Big Mac?! What happened?! What in tartarus was that?!” If anypony should know what's going on, it's her. She knows. She's the one who's been out into Equestria, she's fought monsters, spirits, she knows. But she doesn't answer. She just stays quiet. “Sis! What was it! Please!”

It's an eerie silence. The basement is dark and damp, only illuminated by the moonlight coming from the broken basement doors. She's probably expecting something, getting ready for a fight. But then, she turns to me, her body silhouetted against the moonlight still.

Her right hoof reaches up to her face, reaching for a small cut. And then, she sinks her hoof deep into it, the skin slowly making way and peeling off.

My eyes widen and I groan, I can’t imagine that kind of thing myself. I watch it sink deep into her skin, deep, so deep she's bleeding, but she's unfazed and unbothered. Blood runs down her body, dripping onto the floor, but she doesn’t stop. She should be screaming in pain, I can see under her skin, I can see the red pulsating meat underneath. But she’s just staring me dead in the eyes.

I don't understand, why's she doing this?! Is this to deter the monster?! Applejack is almost peeling it off like the skin of an orange, and then her face… She just slides it along the ground to me.

Her mutilated face.

Lifeless, like a mask. Not a frown or a smile, just a bloody mess that flopped to the ground.

This isn't my sister…

It sinks its teeth into the skin of its hoof, biting off the meat, ripping off the coat with one head motion, blood splatters along the walls and stream down, as it continues to rip itself apart down to the bone, I’m frozen in place. I can’t move. I can’t think. I can only watch in horror as what once wore the face of my sister begins transforming before me.

Its entire body is changing. I can hear the cracking of bones and changing body parts, some bulge and grow while others retract into itself, some get shed off leaving chunks of meat on the ground, I can hear the mushy sounds of skin and meat sloshing along the insides. The hooves and legs that were once pony-like in nature have grown, longer than my entire body, tufts of skin, fur and blood begin to pool under it, the smell is putrid, a puddle of jelly, mushy red goo forms under it, a mixture of skin, muscles, and blood reflecting the exterior moonlight directly at me.

Its jaw hangs open with a raspy breath, it takes one clumsy step at me, it's too big to properly fit inside the basement. My heart is beating fast, I want to scream, I want to cry, I want to do all these things and more, but Applejack always told me I should fight. Till the very end. I’m not sure if what I just saw was Applejack, but it still reminded me of her words.

It was done transforming by now. With skinny, elongated back legs, it tries to stand up while its two arms curl up in front of its body, claws sharper than any bear or dragon I’d ever seen. It wants me now.

With one loud hiss, it chases after me, swinging one claw in my direction, I dodge just in time for it to hit a metal pipe above me, letting steam directly onto its eyes, making it heel with a scream of pain. I gallop around it, gunning it for the basement stairs behind it, but my hoof trips on something slimy along the ground, and I fall face first into a pool of blood.

My own sister’s blood. Or is it something else’s blood? I don’t have time to think. As I turn around, it’s already staring down at me with those glistening eyes. It screams again, a guttural, deep, screech that sounds almost too pony-like to be coming out of that.

I have to go. I have to go now, or else I’ll end up just like Big Mac. Just like Granny. I lift myself from the ground, my body dripping with blood and some fur from skin that had been left over on the ground, I rush up the stairs whilst hearing the thudding behind me, its footsteps were heavy, it moved like a raging bull, knocking shelves and items around as it screamed at me, a feral beast lunging up the stairs.

And I just run. I run into the forest, I run deep, somewhere I can’t be seen, somewhere where that thing won’t find me. But it was useless to think I’d lose it in the forest. I can still hear it, chasing me as I gallop between tree trunks, thick bushes and a minefield of rocks and pebbles. I can’t take it anymore, my eyes flooding with tears. My screams come from deep within my body, deep inside me, Granny is dead, Applejack is dead, Big Mac is dead, and I’m next. I’ll die here in this forest. I’ll die here and nobody will know where my body even is, if there’s even a body left to find.

It keeps thudding after me, breaking branches and stumbling over bushes, howling like a wolf, screeches worse than a Barn owl’s, it wants me badly, and I can’t even see where I’m going, in the hurry I can feel sharp branches cutting my hooves and my body, bushes move in the distance. Is it already ahead of me?

But then, there’s hope, even if just for a second. I can see something in the distance, a faint light, I recognize it too! That’s Fluttershy’s cottage! It’s still a long way away, but it’s the only chance I have.

Still, I hear it getting closer, the thudding of its footsteps, the ear-piercing screeching. But Fluttershy’s just up ahead. If I can just make it there!

Then, a rock.

Suddenly I’m sent tumbling along the dirt, before forcefully stopping at a tree trunk. My body aches, my muscles beg for me to take a rest, I can barely even breathe, sweat runs down my face, I’m covered in something else’s blood, and now, as I try to move my hoof, I can barely bring myself to do so without screaming in pain. I’m so cold. I can feel the metallic taste of blood in my mouth.

Where is it? Where’d it go?

I scan my surroundings, but I can’t see anything under the cover of the night, much less in such a dense forest like this. I can still see Fluttershy’s cottage, just the sight of the cozy place is already a sight for sore eyes.

But as I sit up and try to bring myself back onto my hooves, I scream again with pain and agony, my body gives in almost immediately. I have to make it there. I can’t stop now. I’m so close.

The wind howls, but the silence is broken by my panting and grunts of pain. I’m trying my best to walk there, but it’s so difficult to even stand up. The bushes are growling at me. The animals of the forest will be the only ones to bear witness to my death.

A screech pierces the night.

Who could it be? It’s so late already… I put on my slippers and stretch my wings. Angel doesn’t really like it when we have visitors so late, but if somepony came to me, it must be important I guess.

I make my way down the stairs while letting out a yawn, the knocking at the front door grows more impatient and as soon as I open the door, I scream with terror. This can’t be…

“APPLEBLOOM!?!?” Oh dear Celestia, the sight! The poor filly’s stained with blood, her body is badly scratched with dirt seeping into some deep injuries, but her eyes are still glistening under the moonlight. Just the sight alone is almost enough to paralyze me. “WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU!??! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!?!”

“There’s something weird at the farm! Please- Fluttershy, let me in! I’ll explain everything!” There’s no way I’d leave her out in the cold in that kind of state.

I open the door for her and let her inside.