Chapter 3 - And Darkness Takes Her
Fluttershy flew out of the bed - horizontally. Her hoof caught the nightstand, producing a loud clatter as the few dishes spilled their contents when they hit the floor along with the pegasus herself. She made several squeaky 'ouch' noises as she rubbed her fresh bruises. Painful awakenings were becoming much too common for her liking.
The nightmares had reached a new pinnacle in horribleness. Was it normal to be able to smell and taste things in a dream? The lingering sour, coppery flavor of blood and bile would not soon be forgotten and Fluttershy was beginning to suspect that there was something more to it all. But the ramifications sent her spiraling down her favorite bunny hole - denial. No, there was no way any of what she had experienced in her sleeping hours could be real; ever! And nopony was going to convince her otherwise. It was the dehydration, or fever, or… something- anything else - just... not that.
Wiping the moist pre-tears from her eyes the winged mare stood up shakily, but feeling much stronger than before. Her fever had broken. A lingering ache remained in her limbs and she was just beginning to realize the extent of the weight-loss from prolonged starvation. A little more and her ribs would have been plainly visible. If there were a mirror around, she would have been able to confirm her suspicions that her face fared no better. The almost constant grumbling in her stomach just added insult to injury.
Fluttershy looked at the mess on the floor, not quite realizing how lucky she had been to avoid getting skewered by the cutlery that had accompanied the bowls. A veritable mountain of tossed salad lay scattered about, half drenched by water. She took a whiff. Or was it tea? She poked a hoof into the largest puddle and tasted it. Cold tea. Again. This time, however, it was probably her fault. Jute did say he was going to make breakfast, she remembered. The orange rays of a late afternoon sunset suggested that the meal had been sitting there for quite some time while she slept.
The pegasus pouted at the greens as her stomach made an especially loud protest. She half expected Jute to come running in, brandishing a soup ladle to fend off whatever monster could make such a sound. Floor food never looked so appetizing. She dug in earnestly, utensils be damned. A thought occurred to Fluttershy as she paused to chew a particularly large mouthful, unable to swallow it whole; she had not heard any noises coming from the other room.
"Doot," she called quietly, her jaws still working the large green mash into a more manageable wad. After a few moments and a swallow she tried again, not much louder, "Jute?" There was no answer. "Cashmere?" she called half-heartedly in a quieter tone. Fluttershy absently stuffed another hoof-full of greens into her muzzle, completely ignoring the earthen taste, and padded into the only other room.
The room was much smaller. A pantry just about filled one wall all by itself. The other side was occupied by a large wooden block that served as a counter-top. A shovel, caked in dried mud and grime, was leaning against it. An odd place for such a thing, but there it was. At the far end a few glowing embers winked at her from a small fireplace. There was a large pot suspended over it. The floor in that section of the cottage was made of stone instead of wood. Made sense; a burning house was never conducive to good health. Or at least, it would have made sense if the stone was not covered in really old hay.
Neither sibling appeared to be home. Fluttershy tried the door beside the counter. A brief spate of panic hit her when it did not budge. After a few more anxious attempts she noticed the strange, hoof-shaped metal plate built into the wooden door. She cautiously poked at it. There was a click and the door lazily swung open.
A cold breeze blew past the pegasus as she peered out at the rich vegetation surrounding a worn path that snaked its way toward a distant cluster of buildings. She saw a rather large and quite rusty hoof-pump. But it was what looked like a nearby outhouse that caught her attention. Suddenly the pegasus remembered she had a bladder. It screamed at her, tea and water wanting out very badly.
With a slight shiver, Fluttershy strode back inside only to return a moment later swaddled in one of the bed-sheets. Her muzzle was full again and she chewed frenziedly as she trotted to the outdoor toilet. In another few minutes she was walking down the path with an exaggerated look of contentment on her face.
A great crested flycatcher with particularly uniform red feathers landed on Fluttershy's back with a loud, jarring squawk. The winged mare gasped in delight upon seeing a familiar beak.
"Why, hello there Mr. Bird! I am so glad to see you," Fluttershy cooed and nuzzled him. The bird squawked back happily; a noise that would normally have caused her to cringe, Fluttershy found comforting. "It's so scary being out here all alone. A-and I miss home so much. Oh, if only I knew which way was home. At least then-" she stopped in mid-sentence as the flycatcher took off into the air again. It circled a few times then returned, hovering before the pegasus and making various squawking noises while tugging at her pink mane. He seemed to be drawing her toward a very dense tree-line in the distance. Fluttershy recognized the wild and untamed foliage of the Everfree Forest.
"Oh my," she began, suddenly feeling her own frailty in full once more. Though the fever had broken, dehydration and malnutrition had not been very forgiving. It would be a few more meals yet before she had the strength to make any kind of journey. "I'm very grateful for the offer Mr. Bird, b-but I, um... it would be terribly mean of me to leave without thanking a new friend for her help. If you're still around tomorrow, maybe then we could... well... um, that is... if you don't mind?"
The flycatcher made a few loops in the air as it squawked happily and flew off. Fluttershy waved, the smile slowly dying on her lips. A new friend... . She felt strong enough to take a look around at least. Fresh air helped the healing process just as resting did, she justified to herself before walking off - slowly.
Rounding a bend, Fluttershy was met with her first semblance of pony society in a week, though she found it rather... lacking. Standing on the mud path that had been worn into existence by constant travel, she could see the entire hamlet; all seven of the structures that made up this patch of civilization. The houses were of simple, unpainted wooden construction with thatched roofs. The only uniform feature was the same frosted glass windows that she had noticed in Cashmere's room.
The late afternoon sunlight shimmered off a stream visible from the top of the gentle slope; reflecting on the buildings along the path and making their dull exteriors seem to glow. One of the houses she passed had a well-kept garden, with rows of flowers and vegetables neatly arranged; even decorated with small, smooth stones collected from the stream. The other smaller cottage also had a garden, but it seems that the owner had either given up on it, or had suddenly gone away on a long trip. The rows of flower beds were well arranged, but the plants there had all withered and died from neglect. This scene was also repeated at the house next to it, rows and rows of withered plants interrupted by an over growth of weeds. The last two buildings were what had to be the general store and a mill.
The mill stood on the other side of the stream and was the largest building in the hamlet. It seemed to tower over the other structures despite being only four stories tall. Even the materials chosen for this structure seemed different from the others. They were darker and larger. Its massive fabric-covered sails were not turning in the wind however. The one closet to the ground was tethered to a large stake with rope.
The General store was also different from the other buildings. Rather than a thatched roof, it had a flat wooden one that seemed to be held in place with several large stones placed at intervals along its surface. It also did not have the familiar frosted windows; large shutters covered the window spaces with slits cut into them for ventilation. Fluttershy strode up to the rickety-looking building and timidly pushed through the Appaloosa-style saloon doors. She breathed a sigh of relief as she noticed it was empty.
"Be right wit' ya," came a muffled greeting, causing the pegasus to jump into the air with a squeak. She hovered in place, ready to bolt at the first sign of danger until an elderly earth pony stepped out of a back room.
He had a speckled coat that looked like it was having a hard time figuring out if it wanted to be chartreuse or some shade of pond scum… really old pond scum. His mane and tail, however, were grey through and through; no indecision there. Then there were his eyes. The pegasus had a hard time deciding if they were just naturally grey, or if it was a very bad case of cataracts.
"Well now, wut have we here?" The old buck tugged on his grayed goatee thoughtfully. "It's not every day we get new faces 'round these parts. Matter-o-fact... haven't seen one in years!"
Fluttershy tried to put on a smile, half hidden behind her mane, as she fluttered back to the floor a few feet from the countered.
"A shy wee thing, aincha? An' wouldn't yah lookit me, forgettin' me manners I am," the buck paused to brush off a blue apron he was wearing before extending a hoof over the counter, "Watermark's t' name, pleased t' make yer acquaintance!"
"H-hello, mflrfshsh..." Fluttershy mumbled as she folded her wings and looked at the floor, tracing circles with one hoof.
"Apologies m' dear, you'll have t' speak up. Me ears ain't wut t'ey used t' be.
"I'm flrsh," the pegasus tried again.
"Tell ya' wut lass. I'll call yah Shy Beauty an' be done wit' it," Fluttershy blushed and shrunk into a sitting position, "So wut can tis ol' buck do fer yah?" Watermark asked as he pulled out a pipe, tapped it on the counter a few times and started to jam bits of dark brown stuff into the larger end. His friendly demeanor was infectious and soon the pegasus found herself relaxing a bit more. But as quickly as it had come, the reprieve was interrupted by a new concern and her eyes widened a bit as she remembered why she had left the house in the first place.
"Um, have you, um... is Cashmere here?"
"Cashy? Well now, haven't seen t' lass fer about a week now! If yah manage t' find 'er, do me a favor? Tell 'er t'ese shelves don't pack t'emselves."
Fluttershy gave the older stallion a confused look.
"Me back ain't wut it used t' be," Watermark explained as he lit the pipe and took a few puffs.
"No, it's not... um... well... h-have you seen Jute then?"
"Now t'ere's a muzzle I haven't seen fer a woile. 'Bout t'ree weeks or so. Figured 'e was workin' overtime at t' mill until I noticed it wasn't turnin' no more. Was worried 'e might've come down with somet'in' terrible. Yah seen 'im did yah? Did 'e look well t' yah?"
Fluttershy was frowning. She opened her mouth to reply but drew a blank.
"Timeberwolf got yer tongue, lass?"
"He's... um... fine. I guess."
"Well alrighty t'en! T'at wasn't so hard, now was it?" Fluttershy nodded slowly. "Have yah troid t'eir cottage up t' pat' o'er yonder?"
The pegasus shook her head, "I just came from there."
"Hmmm, well I suppose y' could try t' mill. Maybe Jute's finally gotten off 'is flarnk an' gone back t' work." Fluttershy suddenly felt stoic about the whole situation. It was still puzzling, but in that moment it simply did not matter as much. "It's down t'at way o'er yander."
Mumbling her thanks, Fluttershy set off in the direction that the old buck indicated. Something did not quite add up. Cashmere was absent in the morning when Fluttershy woke up. Jute said she went back to work. Watermark said she did not show up.
'Could something bad have happened to her?' the pegasus began to wonder. Her mind started to jump to conclusions and a growing paranoia slowly crept in. After all, if something bad happened to Cashmere in broad daylight, what was to stop the same fate from befalling anypony else? Or... everypony else!
They're coming for you...
'But what could this bad thing be? Creatures from the Everfree Forest? Some crazy pony out to get everypony else? And what would the pony do with the ponies they got?'
Fluttershy gasped as a more profound thought hit her. 'What if Nightmare Moon is back?! Why... she could be doing all sorts of mean things to the poor ponies in this village, and nopony would ever know!'
Just as the pegasus began to contemplate running to fetch her friends, still weak as she was, she caught herself absent-mindedly hugging the wall of somepony's cottage as she was making her way toward the mill. Rubbing against the wood was making a hissing noise as she moved and she immediately stopped, blinking a few times in an attempt to clear her head.
"Pssst!"
There it was again. Strange. The hissing noise was coming from nearby.
"Pssst! Hey!" an urgent whisper followed this time.
Fluttershy's paranoia escalated quickly as she looked around frantically for the source. There! A dirty mint-colored hoof beckoned her from the corner of the next cottage. The rest of the pony attached to it was completely hidden.
"Over here!" the whisper urged.
Fluttershy squeaked. Was this how the crazy pony got her victims?
"N-n-no! You come over here!" the pegasus whispered back.
"Wh... what?" A unicorn mare's head poked around the corner. The white's of her eyes had turned pinkish and dark rings hung heavily beneath them. Fluttershy could not believe her own audacity as she waved the possibly-deranged unicorn over, heavily counting on her being unwilling to step into the open. The bloodshot eyes darted about a few times before the lilac-maned unicorn disappeared entirely.
Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief. Bad ponies did not try things with so many other ponies... around? The road was empty. Her head whipped back and forth searching desperately for another (possibly) friendly face. Even strangers seemed friendly to her after seeing that deranged-looking...
Boo!
"Hey," a hoof tap on the pegasus' shoulder accompanied the voice coming from right behind her.
"Eep!" the pegasus thrust into the air on a wing stroke that would have made Rainbow Dash proud - and hit the eaves of the cottage she was standing under. She crumpled to the ground, rubbing the growing bump on her head.
Hehehe...
"T-t-that's not f-funny," Fluttershy squeaked out. The grimy unicorn looked at her appraisingly while still keeping an eye out for... something. A bath was high on the list of things this unicorn needed. Scratch that. The full treatment was in order for this poor thing. 'The usual'. At the spa. Rarity...
"Didn't mean to scare you," the mare began, but stopped to glance around again before continuing, "It's not safe here, we're too exposed."
"E-e-exposed to w-w-what?" the pegasus stuttered.
"You know," more glancing around, "them!"
"Them?"
"Shhhhhh! Keep your voice down, they have eyes and ears everywhere."
"T-t-they?" Fluttershy had begun to creep backward slowly as the unicorn stepped closer and closer.
"You're starting to sound like one of them. You aren't one of them are you?" The unicorn's face was inches away from Fluttershy's, causing the winged mare to gulp and cower in the blanket she was still wrapped in.
"No?" Fluttershy squeaked.
"Yeah, you're not one of them. If you were one of them you'd be trying to take my skin." The unicorn made the statement so matter-of-factly that Fluttershy found herself trying to decide if she was crazy, or speaking from experience. She shook her head. Why was she even considering this?
The unicorn had never stopped scanning her surroundings as she spoke, but now she began to scratch at her neck. She turned and sat with her back to the cottage wall. Her cutie mark looked like a swarm of angry... question marks.
"I've never seen you around here before. That makes you new - makes you a target."
"Nu," Fluttershy peeped. The longer she remained near the grimy mare, the more paranoid she felt. "H-how do you know all of this?"
The unicorn's horn glowed and a clipboard floated down from… somewhere. The pegasus looked up at the edge of the roof as if it might reveal exactly what had just happened, but the unicorn had other plans. She reached out a hoof and literally pulled Fluttershy's attention down to a rough scrawling that was supposed to represent a map of the town. Names were written above what she assumed were houses. A few had crosses drawn through them. All had at least one piece of colored thread tacked into the clipboard, connecting to some other location on the map. The strangest part of the picture however, was the overly large drawing of the moon that sat above everything else.
"Are you laughing at me?" the unicorn asked with an edge in her voice. But before Fluttershy could respond she found herself embroiled in a continuation of the mare's disturbing revelations. She kept going on about things that made no sense to Fluttershy; moon creatures, Nightmare Moon, stealing skin - none of it having any apparent connection to anything else. Yet, every now and again she would break for a moment to look around, adding to the already overly paranoid feeling that Fluttershy felt crawling beneath her coat.
"I don't-" the pegasus began, only to be cut off by a harsh hissing 'shhh' as the unicorn covered her yellow muzzle and more looking around.
"Keep your voice down!" the unicorn whispered urgently as she let go of Fluttershy's face.
"I don't understand," the pegasus whispered, "What is all of this about?"
"Can't you tell? Oh right, you're new here. It started a few months back. Ponies began acting strange," the grimy mare replied.
"Strange?"
"Not the same. Quiet ones started talking more. Reclusive ones began coming out. Little things like that. A week later, the place just wasn't the same no more. That was when somepony went missing."
"M-m-missing?"
"Shhhhhh! Never found 'er. After that, things got real quiet. Less ponies on the roads. Folks only coming out for essentials an' such." The itch on the unicorn's neck only seemed to get worse as she scratched it. "I've been watchin' the store to see who comes out for food. Ponies gotta eat right? Well... if they're still ponies anyways. Most recently I noticed Cashmere stopped coming. Before her, it was Jute. Sure, they live together and all, cute couple too, but Jute always brings the new fabrics from the mill to trade."
"D-did you say... couple?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Cashmere told me Jute was her-"
"You seen Cashmere?!"
"Um... well... ... Yes?"
"What did she look like? Did they get her skin?!"
"Hey!" a voice shouted. It came from the direction of the mill.
Both ponies looked around to see the Cashmere's tan form trotting toward them at a decent clip, stuffed saddlebags bouncing. The grimy unicorn's eyes widened and she immediately got to her feet.
"You'd best leave this place, it isn't safe here," the unicorn whispered hurriedly as she slinked back around the opposite corner.
"But she-" Fluttershy began to protest.
"Forever!" And she was gone.
"That's right! You go on and get!" Cashmere shouted after the grimy unicorn when she had pulled up next to Fluttershy. She turned back to the pegasus with a look of concern, "She didn't hurt you or anything, did she?"
The intense paranoia subsided quickly and Fluttershy found herself aghast at how differently she seemed to act around other ponies. Normally strangers would make her very nervous and she would do her best to avoid them. Certainly not engage in a conversation. And yet the last two encounters were... different. Not different like when she was trying to learn to be assertive, just… different. It bothered her.
"N-no, I'm-"
"And don't you come back this time!" Cashmere shouted around the corner, not hearing the pegasus' tiny voice. She returned with a scowl on her face. "Hey, listen. Don't talk to that mare. She's crazy," the unicorn said adamantly, "You saw how strange and twitchy she was right? Can't be up to any good that one." Fluttershy nodded just to appease Cashmere's stern mood. It worked. Or maybe it was the way the pegasus' expression said "please don't hurt me." In any case, the next words out of her sounded deeply concerned.
"You don't look so good; are you sure you should be up and about so soon, mysterious guest?"
"I, um... well... when I woke up there was no one around, so I thought-"
"Ugh," Cashmere pulled a hoof over her face and shook her head, "Jute you silly colt," she mutter. "I told him he'd left too early. I was on my way over right this moment actually. I'm sorry to scare you like that."
"It's... fine," Fluttershy mumbled.
"C'mon," Cashmere beckoned as she began to walk up the path back to her cottage, "Let's go get you back into bed. That blanket won't stand a chance when it gets colder in a few hours."
Fluttershy hesitated, looking back toward the mill.
"Don't worry about Jute," Cashmere said with a grin, "I just checked up on him, he'll be working pretty late tonight."
Fluttershy trotted forward a bit to catch up before falling into the easy walk behind Cashmere. "Oh, does he have to catch up on his work?"
"Huh?"
"Um, mister Watermark said that he hasn't seen the mill used for a few weeks."
"Oh yeah, Jute's catching up alright. The fabrics he spins are Withersvale's only export so... it would be pretty bad if that stopped for too long."
Fluttershy just nodded. She felt like she was forgetting something. Something she wanted to ask, but Cashmere kept on going. "We used to have some very nice sheep around here once. But with the unpredictable weather coming off of Everfree and everything they decided to move on to nicer places. After sheering, their bare skin left them at the mercy of the cold nights you see."
"You sound sad," Fluttershy pointed out.
"Yeah," she forced a laugh, "I always get a bit down when I think about those days. I used to make some great stuff out of that wool. Now poor Jute has to do twice the work to make up for it and I have to work at the store..." she trailed off.
"Oh, I just remembered. But, um..."
"Well come on then, spit it out," Cashmere prompted, good-naturedly.
"Um, well you see, Watermark asked me to tell you that he needs you back work as soon as you can."
"Oh." There was a moment of silence as the unicorn seemed to mull something over. "Yeah, thanks. Hey, did you have anything to eat?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Kinda?"
Cashmere giggled. "You're a strange one, mysterious guest."
"Fluttershy."
"What?"
"Oh, um, you see, that's my name."
Cashmere reached over and rubbed the pegasus on the shoulder, "And a beautiful name at that," she complimented with a smile. Fluttershy veered further away in discomfort. Friends or not, the unicorn's touch still made her uneasy, and she still was not sure how she felt about Cashmere's 'overly-friendly' gestures.
The unicorn's ears splayed back as her smile took a morose turn. She decided to change the subject again. "So, did you and Jute get along this morning?" Fluttershy found herself blushing as she recalled the rather awkward introductions. Cashmere took notice and ran with it. "Ooooh, now you've got me all curious!"
Fluttershy's eyes widened as she picked up on the unicorn's misinterpretation. "Oh, no, no, no. T-t-that was... I mean... doh!" she squeaked.
Cashmere laughed heartily, "If you were a filly's doll I'd take you everywhere!"
While the pegasus was trying to decide if Cashmere's comment was a compliment or just plain creepy, they had reached the cottage and the unicorn smirked at the yawning front door. She looked back at Fluttershy with a raised eyebrow, only to throw the poor pegasus into further embarrassment. "S-s-sorry."
"Aw, don't worry about it. I doubt anypony around here would resort to petty theft." She snorted before adding, "Not that I've got anything to steal in here anyway." Cashmere floated the saddlebags over to the wooden counter as they entered the kitchen. "Go on and get comfy, I'll throw together some dinner."
Fluttershy hung her head for a moment. "Um, Cashmere? Thank you... for everything."
The unicorn grinned, "It's my pleasure luv, believe me."
The mares sat on the soft mattress eating a variety of boiled ground provisions. Neither cared that the meal was particularly bland in its lack of seasoning. The unicorn said she was used to it, but Fluttershy would have eaten just about anything by the time Cashmere remembered to check the pot. Luckily, it was a little harder to burn boiled food.
Cashmere began telling Fluttershy the history of the hamlet. Who is related to whom, what year a certain family arrived, who bought the most candy from the general store and other completely random tidbits about the ponies that lived there. It seemed as though she really enjoyed having someone to talk to, regardless of the subject. She asked several times for Fluttershy to tell her story, but after an awkward silence she would just continue with the spontaneous history lesson.
After the section on the fundamentals of cloth making, Cashmere's demeanor and tone changed to almost mischievous. "Jute kept going on about how he made you cry," she said. At Fluttershy's confused look she elaborated, "He said that when he told you the story about finding you it left you upset."
"Oh, that. It's just…"
The unicorn moved closer to the pegasus, just close enough that she could whisper to her. Fluttershy's reaction to her first advance was still fresh in her mind and she did not want to make her guest uneasy.
"Jute is really sorry about that. Real good at spinning cloth, but he's got a lot to learn about a mare's feelings."
Fluttershy shook her head, "It's okay, I'm not upset anymore."
Cashmere gave the pegasus a 'pat' on the back with enough force to almost dislodge her from her place on the bed, "Ah! Great, we were worried about you there for a bit." Fluttershy shrank at the attention and hoped that Cashmere would return to one of her long winded talks about her home, or her curtains; anything that didn't involve patting, rubbing, poking or any other form of physical contact.
"I get the feeling that you have some problems where you are from. You know, if you wanted to stay here a little longer… you could. I could help you get set up!" Cashmere gave a full mouth grin at the prospect and attempted to make her feel more comfortable with the idea, "Yea Shy, I can call you Shy right? Well you can stay here with Jute and me, until you get back on your own hooves. There should not be a problem with work; we don't have a weather pony. One would be worth her weight in bits with the kind of weather we get around here!"
Fluttershy just stared at her dinner plate, poking the scraps around until Cashmere again broke the silence, "…and then there is Jute."
"Jute?" the pegasus queried.
"Yea… you know, my brother?"
"Oh…" Fluttershy murmured with a little blush. She didn't see Cashmere paying close attention to this as she did her best to look anywhere but in the unicorn's direction.
"Don't know what I'd do without my brother. I'd like to see him happy. I mean like… really happy." Cashmere drew small circles in the bedding as she talked, "The last few days, he has been happier than I've seen him in a long time. He can be a real little colt sometimes, even though he is so… big."
Fluttershy turned away from the unicorn again, choosing to focus on the flame from the oil lamp and the moth that was attracted to it. As Cashmere continued to go on about her brother, the pegasus carefully batted at the moth, trying to chase it away from its enviable death.
"Jute has been nice to me," Fluttershy interjected when the unicorn at last paused for a breath, "And so have you Cashmere. I… I don't know how to thank you two. But…" She cringed as she heard the sizzle of the moth meeting its end.
"You really are a sweet little thing. Couldn't harm a fly, could you?" Cashmere mused as she got up from the bed and went over to the window, telekinetically pulling it shut. "At first I could not figure out why he was in this mood, but then it hit me."
Fluttershy looked disturbed as another moth started to fly around the lamp. Cashmere, seeing the moth comes over and gently wraps it in her magic and pulled close to her face. The pegasus' gaze followed just as she suspected.
"You Fluttershy. I think you have had an effect on Jute… and on me too, but him more so." Cashmere reopened the window and let the moth fly free. "Sometimes he gets this look about him. Like he'd go to any length to accomplish whatever it is he'd set his mind to; face down the Princesses themselves if it came to that.
"I remember the first time I saw that look," Cashmere continued as she sat back on the bed again and stared off absently, "We were playing in the forest, back before we knew any better; barely older than foals at the time. A timberwolf pup attacked. We ran, but I was younger and slower. We both knew I wouldn't get away, so Jute stood up to it. That was when I saw it.
"The whole time I was with Jute today, the only thing he would talk about was you. And the whole time he had that look in his eye. I sincerely believe there's nothing in this world he wouldn't do for you Fluttershy," Cashmere ended in a yawn.
The pegasus stared at the flame, blushing as she mulled over these new ideas. That any buck would take interest in her seemed so foreign. Yet… it was not an unwelcome notion. She had always been the quiet, obscure filly; keeping to herself as much as she could while all the other kids laughed and played. She had quietly observed the awkward beginnings of young relationships, but had always been too scared to even think of approaching a colt.
No. She had been content to live in the background, tending to her animals and quietly cheering on her friends – friend she would not have had but for a strange twist of fate. So why was it that now, out in the middle of nowhere, that she began to entertain such thoughts? The thought of having somepony that cared and looked out for her prompted all kinds of warm feelings. But… is that not what her friends did already?
As her gaze wandered around the cozy room she began to wonder what it would be like to live with another pony. To share every moment, all the good times… and the scary times with somepony that loved her as much… or perhaps more than she loved her woodland friends. More than that, to have a warm somepony to...
'Oh my,' Fluttershy thought to herself. Thinking such things for the first time, the pegasus found herself quite embarrassed in the privacy of her own head. The majority of her mind wanted to hide behind something for that very small other part generating these ideas, while at the same time there was a burning curiosity.
Fluttershy looked back at Cashmere, wondering if somehow she would read her thoughts and scold her for being such a naughty mare. But she was asleep. The pegasus mewed in disappointment. Deep down she had really been hoping that the sleeping unicorn really could read her thoughts, if only to answer all the uncomfortable questions that were beginning to crop up. The foremost of which was, why she constantly drifted back to daydreaming about Jute's awkward yet sincere smile; his broad shoulders and chiseled form; his powerful, rippling thighs and-
'And what is this infernal tingling?!' Fluttershy clapped her hooves over her mouth, not quite sure if she had actually said that out loud. She looked back at Cashmere again. The unicorn's chest rose and fell rhythmically. The pegasus breathed a sigh of relief and stood up on shaky legs, hobbling over to the lamp and dousing it.
Perhaps sleep would bring some answers.
If these were answers, Fluttershy was convinced that she may as well have asked a rock. Many different experiences in her life intertwined into a strange abstract, like one of those odd paintings that could be found in the Canterlot Art Gallery. Just when she thought it could not get any stranger, she noticed a half-lidded eye hovering just beside her. It looked like it might have belonged to her… if she had been born a hydra. The pupil was a mere slit with no iris, surrounded by a perfect sea of luminescent green.
The eye seemed to be staring at the odd paintings that represented the relatively bland events of Fluttershy's life, until it noticed her staring. It turned its gaze on the shaking pegasus, somehow seeming to laugh yet exude an air of adoration. Then it began to speak.
"Why?" The question seemed more like a thought forced into her foremost consciousness than a voice asking. Fluttershy looked around, hoping that the frightening apparition might be addressing somepony else – to no avail. "What is it about you that confuses me so…" it mused. "None of this would have happened had you just been like all the others."
Fluttershy just huddled behind her mane, trying hard to convince herself that this was all just a dream. Nothing could hurt anypony in their dreams… right?
"Why are you so infuriatingly interesting?!" the apparition bellowed in her head, its eye flaring wide in anger. The pegasus squeaked in fear. "Look at this boring life! There is nothing here, nothing! You have no reason to be this way; to be this kind. Explain this!"
Fluttershy was thankful that one could not relieve oneself in a dream.
"Do you have any idea how much I went through, how HARD I worked to be one of her favored?! AND NOW… now I am nothing. I should be dead- YOU should be dead. WHY?! Why are we still here? Why am I like this?! WHY ARE YOU SO COWARDLY?!"
The pegasus was on the verge of going into shock, or some kind of dream-like version of it, just as the apparition seemed to take on a much softer tone as it closed almost completely. The eye seemed sad, like there should have been tears coming from it though none did, yet still it projected that same adoration.
"Why? Why do I feel this way about a pony?"
The sky was clear and the sun shone brightly as Fluttershy strode out of the Everfree Forest toward her home, led by an entourage of birds practicing their Summer Sun Celebration performance as they flew. The pegasus could not help but smile as the melodies mixed together flawlessly. She would have to reward them all with extra feed as soon as she got settled back in. As she walked across a grassy field toward the bridge, a host of butterflies took flight. There were so many of them that her vision was obscured for a moment as they excitedly fluttered around her before dispersing once more. When she looked back at the bridge again she saw a familiar red stallion standing on it. He looked up at her and seemed to squint, then rubbed his eyes as if he could not believe what he was seeing.
Big Macintosh gasped in amazement, the stalk of grass he normally chewed falling out of his mouth, before breaking into a gallop. Fluttershy was confused at first, unsure why he would be so excited, but then it dawned on her; she had been gone for a week - everypony must have been looking for her! She flushed slightly and trotted forward to meet the large buck.
"There you are," Big Macintosh exclaimed as he got close enough. He seemed uncharacteristically energetic that day. "We were lookin' everywhere for yah!"
"Oh, I'm sorry…" Fluttershy began, but did not get much further.
"Fluttershy listen… there's something I need to tell y'all," the large earth pony interrupted, rubbing the back of his neck and looking away at first. But he shook his head with renewed resolve and put a hoof on her shoulder as he continued, "When you disappeared we were all so worried about you, but… for all that time we spent lookin' for yah I realized somethin'," he gulped. "I… I…" She placed a hoof on his lips, smiling calmly.
"Shhh, I know. I've known all along," Fluttershy said huskily. Big Macintosh just gaped at her for a moment before a smile slowly started to spread over his features. A few moments passed while he just stood there… lost in the moment perhaps, then Fluttershy got impatient.
"This is the part where you kiss me," she said in her most seductive tone.
Big Macintosh jumped, a bit surprised by her forward attitude at first, but quickly got over that and leaned in toward the pegasus, lips puckered as only a first-timer would. The ensuing kiss should have been magical… or at least that is what Fluttershy always imagined her first kiss would be like, but for some reason the inside of her dream-colt's mouth tasted like sweat and damp pony hair. She wrinkled her nose as she pulled back in confusion and opened her eyes… and found herself staring into Jute's deep blue eyes, his expression just as shocked and confused as hers. With a squeak she fell off the bed in a panicked jerk. She had no time to wonder if a normal morning was just too much to hope for before Jute hosed her down with a stream of apologies.
"I'm so, so sorry! I don't… I didn't… I'm such an idiot!" he berated himself and thumped the side of his own head as he got up and rushed over to the door. Fluttershy had taken cover beneath the bed, hoping that there would be a deep dark hole under there that she could fall into just to escape the situation. Making out with a stallion's neck in her sleep had to be THE most embarrassing thing she had ever experienced!
Jute had rounded the corner and sat down with his back to the wall as he continued his verbal diarrhea, "I-i-i-it was late a-a-and I was really, really tired and I completely forgot you were staying with us and I just… I fell asleep as soon as I- ugh! I'm such a moron! Why do I keep doing stupid things?" Fluttershy heard a thump, and then another as Jute attempted to break the wall with the back of his head.
"We didn't…" A new kind of panic struck the pegasus as her mind concocted all manner of embarrassing scenarios, all of which seemed to end with her in a maternity gown.
"What? Oh…" the orange stallion stopped abruptly and turned beet-red, "N-n-n-n-no! I mean… I don't think so? Not that I don't want to but- doh! I mean, that is to say…" Fluttershy joined him in the red department. She wondered if the situation could get any worse. Jute poked his head back in, "Um… did you want to?" Of course it could get worse!
"Jute," Fluttershy exclaimed quietly. He quickly pulled back into the kitchen.
"Right! Sorry, it's just… I mean I'm ashamed to say but you should know… I did wake up a little earlier, I didn't want to wake you, but I was also really panicked and I didn't know what to do, and then you started doing that… thing you did with my neck and-"
"Jute!"
"Sorry, sorry! Argh I'm so sorry, I… I need a cold bath, yup, that sounds like a really good idea right now!"
A door slammed while Fluttershy found herself trying to break the floor with her face.
Neither pony had said anything for the last thirty minutes. Empty breakfast dishes sat neglected as they stared in opposite directions. Occasionally one would open their mouth but just close it again.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to Fluttershy, Jute broke the deafening silence, "Um… are you… how are you feel- err, how is the fever?"
"F-fever…? Oh, that fever. I think it's gone. In fact…" she cocked her head and donned a puzzled expression as her voice dropped to a mutter, "I feel fine."
"That's… good… isn't it?" Jute asked, looking at her for the first time in almost an hour.
"Um, yes…" she trailed off. It was always good to be better. But when she considered how bad she had been only a few days ago, such a full recovery so quickly…
"You must be very good at healing," Jute said in his best attempt at a compliment.
"Wh- what?" Fluttershy looked up, her eyes wide. Healing? Was that some kind of new magic?
"I mean… you were able to guide us to nursing you back to health so well… you must be good at healing others…?"
"Oh… oh! Yes, I suppose so. Whenever a little bird or mouse hurts itself I just couldn't bear to see them in pain, so I learned how to help them get better. It was just luck that my sickness has the same treatment for ponies as woodland animals," Fluttershy rambled on. Anything was better than the awful silence, being in that room with Jute made. "I'm not a real doctor or anything. In Ponyville I… I…" she trailed off, suddenly wracked by a new sickness; homesickness.
"Oh my," she blurted out as she got to her hooves with a start, "I um… I need to go." Jute balked at that. Perhaps it was the suddenness of it, or the awkward note on which she would be leaving after that morning's… incident, but Fluttershy noticed his distress and empathized. "I'm sorry Jute, I really wanted to tell both of you at the same time, that's why I waiting so long to say something. But I really need to get back home. There's no pony else that can tend to the animals for long and Angel gets so cranky when somepony else has to take care of-"
"Wait!" Jute blurted and jumped up to block the doorway as Fluttershy began to move toward it. "You mean… but… you're leaving? Just like that?" he asked incredulously.
"I know, it's so… so rude," the pegasus said, her eyes moistening as she imagined how badly it would hurt for somepony she was interested in to just get up and leave so suddenly, "And I really, really would like to repay your kindness someday, but…"
"That… but… after all I've done…" Jute mumbled, staring at the floor but not quite looking at it as his unfocused eyes darted around erratically. "I…" he looked up at her again, his own eyes moist, and dropped to his knees, "But I… love you."
The last words had been whispered, but Fluttershy heard them as if they had been shouted inches from her ear. She gasped ever so quietly and put a hoof over her mouth. After a few moments, she reached out with the same hoof as a tear rolled down her cheek. She felt completely awful for having to do what she did next.
"I'm sorry Jute but... I mean you're a very nice stallion and everything... but I can't…" she said in a wavering, guilt-ridden voice.
"Is it something I said?" he asked, his own voice equally drenched in emotion.
"N-no, oh nothing like that. It's... you see... I just… I really have to get back home. But, there's no reason you can't come-"
Jute's head fell forward with a heavy sigh, his gaze returning to the floor as a drop of wetness landed on the wood and immediately began to disappear. He shook his head as he stood back up slowly. "Well don't that just beat all," he said in disappointment. Or at least Fluttershy thought it was disappointment; she was not thinking very clearly with her chest hurting so much from the strong emotions.
When Jute suddenly lunged forward and knocked her down, the overwhelming confusion and physical hurt compounded with her already fragile emotional state and she completely froze up. But the dark-orange stallion did not stop there.
"What a giant waste of time," Jute muttered to himself as he disappeared into the kitchen area. Fluttershy heard a 'click' and a moment later he returned. The muscled stallion easily pinned Fluttershy to the floor, belly up, and grabbed her forelegs with his before she could instinctively raise them to her face. His breath was suddenly rancid as he practically breathed the words into her face, "You're going to love me, one way or another!"
Fight.
By this point, tears were flowing freely down the sides of Fluttershy's face as she looked into Jute's pin-prick pupils in shock and fear; fear like she had never known before. Except in that dream…
"Why?" the pegasus choked out as she put up a miserably pathetic struggle. Jute suddenly froze, the slowly growing sickening grin disappearing entirely in favor of an open-mouthed, shocked expression. Fluttershy took the opportunity to wiggle out from beneath him and scuttle into a corner where she promptly curled up in a fetal position.
Get up!
"What am I…" Jute looked down at his upturned fore-hooves as he sat there on his knees in disbelief. "What am I doing?" He looked up at Fluttershy slowly, regarding the shaking pegasus with an odd expression when she peeked back. "Was I about to…?" he gasped loudly… then promptly broke into a fit of maniacal laughter. "Just kidding!" he sneered after composing himself a bit.
GET UP!
Fear finally combined with instinct to get Fluttershy into motion. She scrambled for the kitchen, flying clear over Jute's reached as he groped at the air just beneath her. She hit the door with all four hooves, doing more damage to herself as she fell to the floor. Immediately, she was back up, hysterically pushing the hoof-plate as she heard the dreaded clop of steps behind her. But the plate did not budge.
"Nice, huh?" came the newly terrifying voice from the bedroom doorway. "It's a magic lock. Worth every bit I spent on it," he said with that horrible grin. Fluttershy looked around the small room frantically, searching for a way out. The kitchen lacked any windows and the chimney was too narrow.
"Don't do this Jute, please!" Fluttershy begged, barely able to keep the tears from completely obstructing her vision as she wiped away the latest flood with the back of her hoof. The stallion just laughed.
He's going to do it anyway.
Fluttershy made a dash for the open space in the doorway just about his head, but he deftly caught her tail between his teeth as she flew over, "Oh no!" he mumbled around a mouthful of pink, "Last thing I need is a loose flier wasting more of my time. I've waited too long for this!"
Stop running and fight!
Jute tossed Fluttershy across the room with a swift twist of his neck. She hit the headboard of the bed with an unhealthy cracking sound before she fell onto the soft mattress. Before she could recover from the temporary daze he was on her, pinning her down just as he had before.
Fight him you worthless mare!
"Playtime's over," he growled, groping at her face with one hoof while the other kept her's out of the way.
"Why are you doing this?" Fluttershy whimpered, wiggling her muzzle from side to side.
"Why, why, why! It's the same every time!" Every time? He had done this before? "Isn't it obvious? You have something I want, and I'm going to get it!" he snarled, finally gripping her muzzle and holding her head still. "Look at me," he commanded.
I can help you.
Fluttershy just whimpered and sniffed, then tried to scream, "Cashmere! Watermark! Anypon-" Jute adjusted his grip and clamped her muzzle shut. He was laughing again.
"Cashmere?" Jute laughed, "Are you serious? You haven't figured it out yet?"
Let me help you.
There was a flash of green and Fluttershy cracked an eyelid. She was being pinned by Cashmere. Both eyes flew open in shock as she stared up at the unicorn mare, grinning at her in that same sick way.
"Get it now?" Fluttershy just stared. "You ponies are so dense. It boggles the mind how you've thrived for so long," Cashmere drolled. "Even after all the mistakes I made trying this… boring method of getting your love, you still didn't figure it out? Didn't you think it was odd that you never saw me and Jute at the same time? Do ponies keep muddy shovels in their kitchens where you're from? I suppose you don't even keep shovels around at all do you? No victims to bury and what-not," she finished with another cackling laugh.
"Oh, don't look so glum. If I didn't have to bury that thick dolt that night I would never have found you out there! Why… you could have died!" More laughter. "But you are a lucky one aren't you? After all, loving me will be so much better than dying," the grin somehow became even creepier, the corners of her mouth getting impossibly close to her ears, "Well, at least until you die." This time she giggled. She seemed to be enjoying her reality-defying grin so much that she refused to stop to laugh. "You see, I'm a bit of an impatient mare. I don't taking things slow like the others." Others? There were other monsters like her? "Unfortunately, for you, my methods tend to take their toll quite quickly."
Ugh. A greedy one. I HATE greedy ones!
"Jute lasted… hmmm… he was a bit longer than most," Cashmere mused to herself, "A week is a bit longer than usual. But," she was right back to grinning into Fluttershy's face, "He gave up right here, on this. Very. Bed!" She punctuated each word by pushing her muzzled closer and closer to Fluttershy's. By 'bed', their noses were touching, and Cashmere's eyes suddenly flared with a greenish fire.
The pegasus blinked a few times, still crying and whimpering, but now a little confused as well. Cashmere looked positively baffled.
"What the…" she trailed off. Her eyes flashed again and again. While Fluttershy found herself unable to look away from the dancing green flickers as they appeared and winked out, little else was happening – much to Cashmere's chagrin.
She will kill you if she can't get you to love her.
"Why isn't this working? What's wrong with you?" She pulled back a bit and rubbed her eyes.
Let me help you!
Fluttershy squeaked in fear as Cashmere thrust her muzzle back into her face and let loose her green lightshow a few more times. The momentary distraction gave her time to summon up a little courage. It took everything she had to stop crying just for that moment and give Cashmere her best, most intense stare.
The unicorn reeled backward, falling off the bed but landing on her hooves. She stumbled back into a wall blinking furiously and sat down hard before shaking her head. "What the hell was that?!"
Fluttershy made a break for the window, but hit the stained glass - shoulder first - with a meaty thump. She immediately kicked off, flying to the opposite end of the room for another try. But just as she was about to give the window a flying apple-buck, a magical glow enveloped her, stopping her dead in the air.
"I have no idea what you just did, but if you're not going to give me what I need willingly," Cashmere snorted, "And you're going to just… resist my hypnosis," with a twitch of her horn Fluttershy crashed to the floor, "Then you leave me no other choice!"
Let me out and I'll make all of this go away, forever!
"And here I was so looking forward to spending time with you, dear Fluttershy…" Cashmere sighed as the shovel floated in from the kitchen, flakes of mud falling away as it moved through the air, "Such a waste… but we can't have you telling anypony about us, now can we?" The grin was back.
Then the screaming began.
Fluttershy gasped, coughing and spluttering as she tried to wipe muddy water and soggy mane out of her eyes. She was freezing, her head was throbbing and it felt like she had been stung repeatedly all over her body. Her eyes felt extremely irritated, as if she had gotten into a staring contest with somepony… while submerged in lemon juice.
It was raining heavily and large puddles had formed in the depressions of the loose earthen pathways throughout Withersvale. In the middle of one such puddle, one large and deep enough to pass for a foal's pool, was where the pegasus found herself. However, before she could contemplate the nature of her predicament, a much more disturbing realization hit her; there were... things floating in the murky water with her. Little lumps were visible above the surface of the water, like the tips of terribly ugly icebergs.
She prodded at one of the floaters and screamed hoarsely as it rolled over. Tendrils of blood snaked through the water, slowly oozing from the meaty end of a severed leg as it bobbed about before rolling back over and sinking into the deeper middle of the pool.
Fluttershy skittered backward out of the pool in horror, eyes wide with pin-prick pupils. She had just gotten onto her hooves, still backing up, when she tripped on something behind her and fell into yet another large puddle. She spat out a mouthful of earth-tasting water as she splash around trying to find where the pool ended, and solid ground began. More was the horror when she realized that it was the rest of the body her back hooves had found; horribly mangled, as if torn apart by a wild beast.
She screamed again - over and over into the uncaring downpour. But even as she did so, a more rational fear took hold. What if the thing that did this was still around? What if her screaming was just ringing the dinner bell for it? These and other less pertinent questions filled Fluttershy's mind as she got back to her hooves, her head darting back and forth as she searched for a place to run and hide.
Shock joined horror as she took in the state of the hamlet. The once quaint but beautiful cottages lay in various states of ruin. Roofs had collapsed. Most were blackened by what had to have been a raging fire. Any residents that had not died from the flames, smoke inhalation or falling debris, were lying still in the mud. A few mangled like the decapitated corpse she had shared a puddle with. Some were burnt so badly they were completely black. Or... were they? No. Ponies did not have wings like those. Crumpled and singed as they were, the wings bore no resemblance to those of a pegasus. And even at a distance, she could make out a dull green liquid seeping from their wounds.
Jarring images flashed before Fluttershy's eyes; ponies being torn in half, limbs being ripped off… but it was all wrong. Her perspective was too close to the carnage. A flash of dingy yellow and the images were gone. She pinched herself, unable to even squeak at the pain, as the paralyzing revelation that she was not dreaming set in. She looked around slowly, listening for any kind of noise that might suggest a lurking predator - then remembered she could fly.
After a few brisk flaps to get out the water weighing them down, Fluttershy spread her wings and took to the air, flying just above tree level. She was tempted to keep going; just fly away and forget the massacre behind her. Bury it in the pile with all the other disturbing things she had experienced in the past few days. But this was much too real. And it presented a possibility that she would not be able to ignore - what if those nightmares she had... were more than just bad dreams?
She caught sight of Cashmere's cottage and a swath of images flashed before her. Jute pawing roughly at her, trying to hold her down; Cashmere hurtling across the room, knocking the lantern off its hook as she slammed into the wall; bursting through the roof of a blazing cottage in a mid-flight struggle; slamming through the roof of another cottage; tearing and biting at something black and shiny; chasing after frightened ponies; running down others distracted with water buckets and fire; blood, ichor, innards...
The images flashed by in an instant, but were so overwhelming that the pegasus forgot to keep her wings moving and began to fall. She might have broken her neck if not for the shrill call of a flycatcher. The off-key screech cut through her confusion like a jagged knife. With a flourish of tan mud-soaked feathers, Fluttershy managed to slow down just enough to hit the wet slop of a road without damaging anything vital. She cried out wretchedly, straining her abused vocal cords - the dislocated shoulder was (extremely) painful, but she would live.
Unable to move without blinding pain, Fluttershy instead craned her neck to look at the red avian circling the nearest tree line. She noticed various animals peeking out from the between the thick foliage as well, many of whom she recognized. Her friend must have brought others.
Somehow, despite the pain, the pegasus managed a smile and tried to call out, "Mr. Bird," Fluttershy croaked. Her voice was a wreck. It felt like she had been abusing it in the worst possible way. But then, given her soft-spoken nature, it really did not take much.
The great crested flycatcher fluttered sporadically as if startled. It landed on a branch and gave out a long, sad call. Fluttershy did not know what to make of it at first. She reached out with her undamaged foreleg, as if she might actually be able to touch him despite the fifty meters that separated them.
"Wh- what?" she called quietly. With one final, mournful cry, the bird took off.
Confused, Fluttershy looked to the other animals, realizing with a shock that they had begun to withdraw back into the forest. She held out a hoof to the more familiar furry critters, only to get looks of fear and uncertainty before they shrunk back into the overgrowth.
Tears welled up in her eyes as suddenly the pegasus felt like she was in the Canterlot gardens once again. Except this time it was infinitely worse. Here it was long-time woodland friends that feared her, not some strange new unfamiliar critters.
An emotional vice clamped down on her heart as she wracked her brain trying to figure out what had happened. What could possibly estrange the only friends she had seen in a week, so much so that they refused to get any closer - or even stick around in a dire time of need.
With gritted teeth, she rolled over to look back at the burned cottages and massacred inhabitants. She screamed out hoarsely, clenching her eyes shut as her injured shoulder shifted too quickly. The images flashed by again - much more vivid this time. As if...
Fluttershy's eyes snapped open as she regarded each pony (and not-pony) corpse. "No..." she said in a raspy whisper, her voice quivering almost as bad as she was. She held up a hoof to her face. It was not just soiled by the mud, she finally realized. Beneath the wet earth, the normal color of her hooves was hidden by a much darker color; a mixture of crimson and green.
The distraught pegasus curled up into a fetal position, ignoring the intense protest from her shoulder, and broke down into shivering, whimpering sobs.
"Wh- what's happening to me?"