Fluttershy Becomes the Mother of an Eldritch Abomination

by Smoker

Chapters

• 1: Congratulations! It's a - OH GOD KILL IT WITH FIRE
• 1.5: That Awkward Silence When You're Found with a Dead Body
• 2: What is this, Evil Dead?
• 3: Oh Pinkie Pie, You so Silly!
• 4: Snakes on a Train

1: Congratulations! It's a - OH GOD KILL IT WITH FIRE

“Oh, it hurts!”

“Steady, girl, steady! We’re nearly there!”

Sweat streamed down Applejack’s face as she galloped as fast as she could towards the Ponyville hospital. Behind her, she pulled a cart, in which laid Fluttershy, her belly swollen to incredible size.

“Oh god, it’s coming!” Fluttershy yelled, feeling the movement in her womb.

“Don’t worry, Flutters! Just a little farther!” Pinkie yelled; she and the other elements were following the rapidly moving cart.

Applejack, of course, had kept her spare cart parked next to Fluttershy’s house for just this occasion; she needed to reach the hospital as fast as possible.

“Oh, thank god! We made it!” Applejack cried with relief, as she pulled up outside the Ponyville hospital. Two medics were already rushing out with a stretcher.

“Hurry! The baby’ll be here any minute!” Applejack yelled at the medics as they quickly but gently lifted Fluttershy onto the stretcher, and whisked her inside. The rest of the group rushed inside, but were stopped by a nurse.

“Sorry, but you’ll need to wait in the waiting room.” The nurse said.

“Now listen here, you!” Rainbow yelled, going toe-to-toe with the nurse. “Our best friend’s in trouble, no way are we just gonna-“

“Sit down, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight said in a weary voice, as she herself sat on one of the green chairs in the hospital lobby. “It’ll be over in a few minutes.”

The rest of the elements sat down, tired from their long run. Rainbow Dash also, reluctantly, sat down. “Sorry. I just can’t believe it’s finally here.” The Pegasus mumbled.

“None of us do, dear. I’m still sort of in shock from it myself.” Rarity said. “Am I sweating? Oh dear, I think I’m sweating. Pardon me, I’m just going to visit the little fillies’ room to wash up.” She walked off to ask where the restroom was.

“Wow, did you see Fluttershy?! She looked like she was gonna pop like a balloon!” Pinkie said, still her cheery, oblivious self.

“I can’t believe this whole situation. I still can’t help but wonder, though…” Applejack said quietly.

“Applejack, it’s Fluttershy’s choice. She has the right to not tell us who got her pregnant.” Twilight said firmly. “Although it’s… uncommon, we can’t force her to tell us who…”

“Knocked her up?” Pinkie suggested happily. “Burst her balloon? Devoured her cherrychanga?”

“Well… yes.” Twilight deadpanned. “Anyways, it doesn’t matter. Fluttershy’s chosen to keep it, and I’m sure she’ll love the child, no matter who it came from.”

It was about then that the screaming began.

XXXXXXXX

Barely a minute ago…

XXXXXXXX

“Deep breaths, Ms. Fluttershy. Deep breaths.” The nurse said quietly, holding Fluttershy’s hoof gently.

“Sorry.” Fluttershy said, watching anxiously as the Doctor at the end of her bed put on gloves and a facemask.

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, dear.” The doctor said gently, bending down a bit. “Okay, it looks like it’s about ready. Now, let’s see if we can’t get that baby out…”

“Inhale…” The nurse said, and Fluttershy inhaled deeply. “And push as you let it out.”

Fluttershy strained visibly, then she started screaming. “GAAAAH!” She yelled in a voice that could shatter glass.

“You’re doing well, Fluttershy! Come on, keep pushing!” The doctor said, watching her nethers for any sign of movement.

Fluttershy closed her eyes and screamed, trying to focus on getting the baby out. When she opened them again, her vision was blurred. A million miles away, she could hear the voice of the doctor.

“Oh god, it’s crowning far earlier than normal- NURSES! NOW!”

Fluttershy winced at the dim shouting, then screamed again as the pain spiked through her abdomen.

“Okay, okay here it-…” Everything went quiet for a split second, which felt like an eternity to Fluttershy. She only felt the baby shifting restlessly.

“Mother of god…” came the voice of one of the doctor. Somebody vomited. Fluttershy screamed again as she kept pushing.

“What is that?! Is that a te-OH GOOD GOD!” There was a sickening noise, and a splurt of red in Fluttershy’s vision. She realized she was no longer the only one screaming.

“Oh god, there’s – what are – please no –“ Fluttershy’s hearing began to fade even further; she could only hear faint snatches of voices. She screamed again as the red covered her vision, covering the white walls of the room.

Then, the voices rapidly stopped. Fluttershy continued screaming, but there was no encouragement, no status reports, no orders, no nothing – just a sickening squelching noise.

Were babies supposed to sound like that?

Fluttershy gasped as she felt the pressure beginning to lessen. She screamed once more as she finished pushing; she felt the baby moving more smoothly as it finally fully emerged. “Must be the doctor bringing it out…” Fluttershy thought foggily, and sighed as the pain in her stomach greatly reduced.

She waited for the doctor to tell her to open her eyes, to tell her the gender, but she didn’t hear him. In fact, even though her hearing was returning, all she heard was a faint scrabbling noise. She opened her eyes slowly.

Then she gasped, seeing the scene around her.

The entire hospital room was drenched in blood. For a bizzare second, Fluttershy thought it was HER blood – then she saw the doctors, and the nurses, lying sprawled on the floor like they were taking naps.

The only indication that they weren’t asleep was that they each had gaping holes through their chests.

As Fluttershy looked around slowly, in shock, her eyes fell upon the doorframe. Out in the corridor, half-hidden around the side of the door, was… something. Something that definitely wasn’t a pony. Fluttershy saw blood-covered tentacles retracting into the black mass, and a single eye peering at her.

The two stared at each other: hero and monster, pony and abomination.

Mother and child.

Then the spell was broken; the monster was gone as though it was never there, and Fluttershy was pressing, pressing, pressing the emergency call button, trying to get someone to tell her what the hell just happened.

XXXXXXXX

Rarity felt the cool water splash her face. She looked up at the mirror, and sighed, nudging a split end with her hoof.

Rarity took the news that Fluttershy was pregnant the hardest of all. She’d read all the romance novels: huge, muscled stallion sweeps the dainty little mare off her hooves. This, though, was the exact opposite: the stallion had left poor Fluttershy cold and abandoned, her belly swollen. She never even knew his name.

Rarity shivered. She’d never tell it to Fluttershy, but if she herself had gotten pregnant in such a way, she would surely have… “taken care” of the child. She found it truly scary to give birth to something you never truly knew the source of.

Rarity shook her head. She’d dawdled so long in here, the baby had probably already been born. She walked to the door, trying to get the horrible thoughts out of her head.

Then she opened the door to exit the restroom, and saw the thing directly outside the door, not six inches away from her.

Rarity opened her mouth to scream, but the creature whispered, with the mouth it didn’t have, a single word:

“ftaghn.”

And Rarity knew no more.

1.5: That Awkward Silence When You're Found with a Dead Body

“Emergency call! Room 217!”

Twilight’s head snapped up. “That’s the birthing ward! Fluttershy’s room!”

“How’dya know that?” Applejack questioned.

“I’m well-read! Now hurry!” The girls sprang to their hooves and barreled through the doors, Twilight in the lead. They reached room 217 just as the doctors reached it. Twilight slammed the door open.

Then there was dead silence, as all the ponies stared at the four doctors, dead on the floor, gaping holes in their chests. Blood dripped down the walls, already beginning to congeal. And in the center bed, Fluttershy, her eyes wide.

“I can explain.” The Pegasus whimpered.

XXXXXXXX

Fluttershy sat rock-still in the interrogation chair, waiting for someone to enter the small room. She wished they’d turn that bright light above off. It was blinding her.

A door opened, then closed. “Gah, damn light…” came a voice; there was a thump as a hoof struck the bright light above, and it dimmed to a normal level. “Sorry. Dumb thing always acts up.” Said the pony across from her as he sat down. He had a slate-grey coat, a black mane, and a drooping walrus-style moustache.

“Oh, it’s okay, Chief Ironhooves.” Fluttershy said, smiling at the police chief of Ponyville.

Ironhooves pulled out a manila folder. “Well, I have good news. You’re free to go.”

Fluttershy blinked. “You mean… the hospital didn’t press charges?”

“No point. It’s obvious you didn’t do it.” Ironhooves said, flipping over a page in the file.

“But… but I was alone, in a room, with four dead ponies!” Fluttershy cried in disbelief.

“Yeah, at first things looked real bad. But then homicide got on it, and we discovered some key evidence.” The chief tapped a line of tiny printed text. “Cause of death for all four was severation of spinal cord and destruction of several vital organs; instant and painless. The thing is, the holes in their chests were huge; far too big to be made by a normal pony. You were only in there for ten minutes, tops, for god’s sake; a wound that size would require, at barest minimum, a half hour of cutting and hacking.

“Of course, your alibi was somewhat unbelievable.” Ironhooves stared at Fluttershy. “A tentacle monster crawled out of your vagina and used giant tentacles to impale the doctors.”

“Um… yes.” Fluttershy said quietly, realizing not for the first time just how ridiculous her story sounded.

“Well, it turns out, there actually is some evidence to support that.” The chief turned another page. “Multiple witnesses can testify that when you entered the room, you were nine months pregnant; obviously, that is no longer the case, meaning that something came out of there.

“In addition, we ran some DNA scans on some tiny traces of abnormal flesh left on the bones of the victims. It isn’t yours or theirs, and it doesn’t even match those on record in the department, meaning that it’s something else.”

Chief Ironhooves closed his folder. “On top of it all, we questioned over half the people in Ponyville; every last one of them testified, without hesitation, that you would never murder so much as a gnat.”

“Oh, goodness no!” Fluttershy said, nodding.

“Therefore, under overwhelming evidence that it wasn’t you, it’s been decided that a trial would be a waste of time.” Ironhooves nodded. “Like I said; you’re free to go.”

“Oh, I’m so relieved!” Fluttershy said, as Ironhooves got up and opened the door, leading her out into the hallway. “I’m wondering, though,” she continued, “did you ever find that… thing?”

“Afraid not. DNA trail leads to the bathroom where your unconscious friend was found, then goes cold. Rest assured, though, we’ll be looking for him day and night.”

“All right. Thanks again!” Fluttershy said as they reached the door. She flew off, actually doing a loop as she raced to tell her friends the good news.

2: What is this, Evil Dead?

“Rarity?”

Fluttershy opened the door. “Oh… you’re still sleeping.” She sighed. “It’s okay. I don’t mind.”

Fluttershy sat down to the unconsious body of Rarity. The only indications she was still alive were the slight rise and fall of her chest, and the beeping of the heart rate monitor next to her bed.

“I still think that green hospital gown clashes terribly with your coat.” Fluttershy said. Then she squeaked. “Not that it’s your fault! I’m so sorry!”

The heart rate monitor went Beep. Beep. Beep.

Fluttershy giggled. “You’re right, I’m being silly.” She paused. “Sweetie Belle’s okay. She’s still over at my place. She misses you.”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Fluttershy nodded. “All of the girls miss you. In fact, everyone in Ponyville. You were vain, and dramatic, but that’s what we loved about you, Rarity.”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“I… I finally worked up the courage to take down the decorations yesterday.” Fluttershy smiled weakly. “You know, those decorations in the baby room? The ones which caused me to burst into tears whenever I looked at them? I finally took them down.” She blinked tears out of her eyes. “Aren’t… aren’t you proud of me?”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

“Why, Rarity.” Fluttershy said, an accusatory tinge edging into her voice. “Why did you leave us? Why did you go into this coma? Why can’t the doctors figure out what’s wrong with you? Why?”

Beep. Beep. Beep.

Fluttershy sighed once more, and stood up. “Sorry. I shouldn’t lose my temper like that.” She mumbled. She began to shuffle to the door. “I’ll come back to see you tomorrow… like I have every day.”

At the doorframe, Fluttershy paused, and looked back, smiling.

Then she saw the black mass on Rarity’s chest, its single eye staring at her.

Fluttershy blinked, and the thing was gone. She shook her head, and walked out of the room.

Beep. Beep. Beep.

XXXXXXXX

“Hello, Twilight.” Fluttershy said as she walked into the library.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight cried, leaping over and hugging her friend. “It’s been so long since I’ve really seen you! I only ever see you when you’re going to see Rarity-“

“Twilight, I need to talk to you.” Fluttershy cut her off flatly. Her eyes were dull, but Twilight just barely saw a flicker of desperation.

“Sure thing.” Twilight said, telling it was something serious. “Let’s go to my room; privacy, and all that.”

The two walked up the stairs and into Twilight’s room. “Spike, be a dear and go downstairs to help anyone that comes in, will you?”

A little blob, wrapped in purple-checked blankets, slowly walked past them and down the stairs. Fluttershy could hear poor Spike sobbing underneath.

Twilight sighed. “Poor little guy. He still hasn’t gotten over what happened to Rarity. He was one of the ones who took the news the hardest, but you know that.” Fluttershy followed Twilight to the table in the center of the room, and the two sat down. “So, what can I do for you, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, a teakettle and teacup popping into existence on the table.

Fluttershy didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she idly questioned, “Since when have you been able to teleport inanimate objects?”

“During the time you’ve been shut in all this last month.” Twilight said. “I’ve been practicing with my magic to take my mind off the situation with Rarity, and I’ve gotten even better at it.”

“It’s even possible for you to get better at magic?” Fluttershy joked. The two laughed, and for just a moment, the room seemed brighter, more like how it was before this all started. Then Fluttershy’s face fell.

“Twilight… I’ve been hallucinating.”

Twilight blinked. “Come again?” She questioned.

Fluttershy inhaled deeply. “About a month ago, In the middle of the night, I woke up. At the foot of my bed, I saw… that thing.”

“What thing?”

“You know…” Fluttershy shivered. “THAT thing. You remember.”

“The thing that killed the doctors?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide. “How could I forget? So you saw the thing at the foot of your bed?”

“Yeah…” Fluttershy replied. “Then when I blinked, it was gone. And that was just the first time.”

“It’s happened since?” Twilight questioned.

“Almost every day.” Fluttershy nodded. “Just today, I saw it lying on top of Rarity when I went to visit her. And Twilight… that black thing… it’s getting bigger.”

“What?” Twilight asked.

“When I first saw it, at the foot of my bed that night, it was only about the size of one of Applejack’s pigs. It’s been getting bigger since… by now, it’s the size of Harry the bear.”

“Jeez, that doesn’t sound good…” Twilight said, thinking. “It’s good that you came to me about this, Fluttershy; I’ll get to the bottom of this. This could be hallucinations, but something in my gut tells me – and this is just a presumption - that this is the monster trying to contact you via your subconscious.”

“So… It’s sending me messages?”

“Exactly.” Twilight walked to the nearby bookshelf and began to peruse the titles. “Fluttershy… Has the creature ever said anything to you, in these hallucinations?”

“No, it’s always just stared at me… with that eye…” Fluttershy shivered. Then she put a hoof to her chin. “Well, actually… now that I think about it… it said something on that very first night, but it was only gibberish.”

“Can you remember what it said? Even the smallest amount of detail could help us figure out what’s going on here.” Twilight said.

“All right, but I’m not sure if I can pronounce it…” Fluttershy then made a strangled, guttural noise, a little like she was being choked:

“ ‘fhalma.”

Twilight paused. “I think I actually know that.” She said, levitating a brown book off of the shelf. She opened it, and flipped a few pages. “Yes, as I suspected.” She said, turning. She looked over her shoulder at Fluttershy.

“Have you ever heard of Lovepen?”

“Lovepen?” Fluttershy asked. “Was he someone who wrote romance novels?”

Twilight gave a short bark of laughter. “No; his name’s a bit of a misnomer. He was a writer, certainly, but he sure didn’t write love stories. No, Lovepen was a horror writer. His works are rather obscure, but they’re some of the most influential horror novels of the past century.”

“Interesting, but what does this have to do with me?” Fluttershy asked.

“I’m getting to that.” Twilight stated, walking over. She still levitated the brown book with her magic, and set it on the table in front of Fluttershy.

Fluttershy read the title, written in faded letters on the cover. “The collected works of the… necker-nomicon?”

“Necronomicon, Fluttershy.” Twilight corrected. “You see, Lovepen wrote many different works of horror, but the Necronomicon was one of his most famous. However, the actual Necronomicon was lost long ago; it was the only copy, so nobody ever truly knew what it said. A few pages have been recovered over the years from various corners of Equus – don’t ask me how they found them - but the Necronomicon itself was never recovered.”

“And so this is a compilation of the pages recovered from this… Necronomicon?” Fluttershy asked.

“Indeed. One page, though, I think you’d find particularly interesting.” Twilight flipped some pages with her magic, and stopped on one. “Look here.” She said, pointing to a line with her hoof.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “But…  but that’s impossible. You said he wrote fiction!”

“I thought he did, too, Fluttershy. I’ll be honest, I’m not sure what’s going on here. What I am sure of, though, is that Lovepen’s works hold the key to this mystery monster, one way or another.” Twilight stated.

“Come on.” Twilight continued. “I’m certain there are more books downstairs relating to Lovepen.” Fluttershy followed her down the stairs. The book was left on the table behind them, still open to the page, the words Twilight had pointed at still glinting in the book.

‘fhalma: mother

3: Oh Pinkie Pie, You so Silly!

“Okay, well, it’s official. We’ve checked every book in the library.” Twilight stated, flipping a book over her shoulder. “And still nothing.”

“Twilight… What are we looking for again?” Fluttershy asked politely.

Twilight opened her mouth, then paused. “I’m… not sure.” She said. “I thought we were looking for something about the monster, but I just realized that we don’t know anything about the monster in the first place.”

“It’s black with tentacles.” Fluttershy suggested.

“Fluttershy, half the things in here are black and have tentacles!” Twilight said.

Fluttershy was about to respond, when all of a sudden there was a knock at the door. Twilight walked over and opened the door, only to find no one there.

“Hiya!” Pinkie said from behind Twilight.

“GAAH!” Twilight said, crying out. Then she shook her head, smiling. “Some day, you’re going to tell me how you do that, Pinkie.”

“Yes indeedy!” Pinkie said happily. “But until then, there was something I wanted to ask you…” Pinkie tapped her chin with her hoof and stuck out her tongue. “Hang on… It’s on the tip of my tail…”

Then Pinkie looked around, and plucked something invisible off of her tail. “Oh yeah! You guys are looking for Lovepen, right?”

“How did you-“ Fluttershy asked.

“I listened with my earsies, silly!” Pinkie said, smiling.  “Anyways, I know where you can find Lovepen!”

“Really?” Fluttershy said hopefully, but Twilight just scoffed.

“Pinkie, don’t be ridiculous. Lovepen’s dead.”

“What? Of course he’s not!” Pinkie said, frowning.

“Pinkie, it’s a proven fact.” Twilight picked up a book, rattling off a line. “Though Lovepen was born in 1921, he died at the young age of 31, in 1952.” Twilight looked up at Pinkie.

“Well, that book’s wrong!” Pinkie said, smiling and pointing a hoof at the book like the problem was solved.

“I can cross-reference it with two dozen other books.” Twilight stated.

“Well, all those books are wrong!” Pinkie said, her voice not changing whatsoever.

“It has a picture of his CORPSE.” Twilight flipped the book over to reveal a body in an open casket.

Fluttershy walked over, curious. Lovepen appeared to be a unicorn, and while he was a stallion, he was incredibly skinny. Even in the grainy black and white photo, Fluttershy could see his bones through the thin layer of skin stretched over them.

“Faked.” Pinkie said without hesitation.

“Pinkie… for goodness’ sake.” Twilight said, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. “Even if – for the sake of argument – Lovepen WAS still alive, he’d have to be over ninety years old at this point.”

“Yeah, he’s really old. Poor guy can barely walk anymore, what with the rheumatism.” Pinkie said, hopping in place. “I bring him chocolates on occasion, though, and that generally cheers him up.”

“Wait, you’ve seen him?” Fluttershy said, walking up to Pinkie. “You’ve VISITED him?!”

“Yepperoni!” Pinkie replied.

“Fluttershy, stop encouraging her.” Twilight said, opening up another book. “She’s just playing for attention.”

“But I HAVE seen Lovepen!” Pinkie said loudly. “And I can prove it!” Pinkie pulled a piece of paper out of her hair, and handed it to Fluttershy.

The paper turned out to be a photograph. In the photograph was Pinkie, standing next to Lovepen. She had her arm around his shoulder, and the two were smiling. Well, Pinkie was smiling; Lovepen just had a blank stare. Lovepen looked signifigantly younger and healthier than the picture Fluttershy’d just seen of his corpse. Oddly, the picture was a grainy black and white, as though it had been taken a very long time ago. The two were standing in a field of some sort.

“Pinkie… when was this taken?” Fluttershy asked.

“Oopsie! That’s an old one!” Pinkie said sheepishly. She plucked away the photograph and tucked it back into her mane, pulling out a different photograph. “THIS is the one I took when I went to see him last month!”

“You went to see him last MONTH?” Twilight asked, looking up.

“Twilight… I really think you ought to see this.” Fluttershy said quietly. Twilight got up and looked over, then stared at the photo alongside Fluttershy.

In the photo, in full color, Pinkie stood next to an old-looking unicorn. They stood in what looked like a room with bare, blue-painted walls. The unicorn had a ragged, unkempt beard. He and Pinkie were grinning wildly. Fluttershy noticed, though, that the unicorn’s eyes had a slightly worried tone to them.

“What… how…” Twilight snatched the photo from Fluttershy with her magic and looked at it closely. “Pinkie, even the greatest unicorn scholars couldn’t possibly forge a solid photograph this well! How – who –“

“I told you – I went to visit him, sillyhead!” Pinkie said cheerfully. Then she pulled out a big book from her mane, and opened it. “This is my scrapbook with him! He’s practically family to me!”

“Then how come we’ve never heard about-“ Fluttershy said, but Pinkie cut her off.

“See? Here’s him and me eating lunch together!” Pinkie said, pointing to one photo where she and Lovepen sat at a table eating pizza. Pinkie kept pointing at photos, while Fluttershy took a closer look at the photos. In all of them, Lovepen had a worried look on his face, although he was obviously trying to hide it behind a big smile.

Then Fluttershy blinked, and leaned forward. In that photo on the bottom right… was that…

Fluttershy snatched the book from Pinkie, and pressed her nose right up to the page. “Hey!” Pinkie said indignantly.

“Do you girls see that?” Fluttershy said, pointing to one photo. Twilight and Pinkie looked closely. In the photo, Lovepen was making a silly face at the camera, though the worried look was still faintly there.

“In the very back corner, against the wall, in the shadow!” Fluttershy directed them hurriedly, and pointed at one corner of the photo.

There, half-hidden in the darkness of the room, a single eye shone dully.

“Is that it?” Twilight asked, astonished. Fluttershy nodded, pulling the book back to her, and staring at the monster.

For a moment, Fluttershy kept her eyes trained on the monster, unblinking, as if wishing for it to tell her its secrets.

The eye blinked.

Fluttershy screamed shrilly and threw the book across the room; it landed on the floor with a dull thud.

“Fluttershy, what’s wrong?” Twilight asked, immediately coming to her friend’s aid. Pinkie bent over Fluttershy, too, a worried look on her face.

Fluttershy just shivered, curled into a fetal position, scared to answer. “I’m fine, Twilight… just a little spooked…” Fluttershy eventually responded.

“If you say so.” Twilight said, looking into Fluttershy’s eyes a moment more before turning to Pinkie. “Pinkie, can we go visit your… friend?”

“Are you kidding?” Pinkie cried. “I visit Lovey all the time!”

“Lovey?” Twilight asked, astonished.

“What? It’s the nickname I made for him! He and I are good friends, after all.” Pinkie hopped away happily, out the door. “Oh boy, a vacation! I’ll need to tell the cakes I’m taking a bit of a break, then it’s off to the train station! Hooray!”

“Pinkie….” Twilight called after her, but Pinkie was already long gone. “That mare… sometimes I swear…” she said quietly, before turning back to Fluttershy. “Are you sure you’re okay, Fluttershy?”

“Yeah… I’m fine.” Fluttershy said, standing up again. “I just got startled… my mind’s playing tricks on me…”

“If you say so.” Twilight said, a nervous tone still to her voice. “Remember though, Fluttershy, I’m here if you need me. You can talk to me about anything.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” Fluttershy said, nuzzling Twilight. Then she stood back, rather awkwardly. “So we’re going to go see Lovepen, then?”

“Yes.” Twilight nodded. “After seeing the monster in that picture, I’m confident that this pony – Lovepen, or whoever he is – holds the key to this mystery.”

“I’m baa-aaack!” Pinkie said, holding three slips in her mouth. “Here are your train tickets!” She said happily.

“What? Where did you – “ Twilight asked, before she was stopped by Fluttershy.

“Don’t worry about it.” Fluttershy replied. “You should know by now, it’s just… Pinkie being Pinkie.”

4: Snakes on a Train

Fluttershy could only hear her heartbeat. She cowered in a room with blue-painted walls. Her heart crawled up into her brain, and Fluttershy felt it scraping the inside of her skull. She could hear it scratching, scratching, scratching.

“GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” She screamed, smashing her head against the wall. She felt warm liquid dribble down her forehead.

She saw a fork, lying on the ground. Without hesitation, she grabbed it and plunged it deep into her right ear, severing her eardrum. She didn’t care about the pain, she just wanted the scratching to end, to END.

She was about to stab the other ear when there was a great tremble, which caused her to drop the fork. She turned to see the entire wall behind her had been torn off. An enormous… thing looked at each other, its single eye fixed on her, bloodshot.

“WHY?!” Fluttershy wailed at it. “WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!”

The thing blinked once, and said something that wasn’t anything at all.

Y-thanarak nnn-‘fhalma syha’h.

XXXXXXXX

Fluttershy gasped, bolting up. Her fur was matted in sweat.

Her heartbeat slowed as she realized that she was back in the train car. Twilight was sleeping in the bed across from her, and Pinkie…

Pinkie’s bed was empty.

Fluttershy gasped, her dream forgotten. “Pinkie?” She whispered. “Pinkie Pie, where are you?”

Fluttershy slowly crawled out of her bed, and exited the sleeper car. Maybe Pinkie was headed to the bathroom, at the end of the next car.

She stopped. Crying could be heard from the far bathroom. Fluttershy began to sprint down the hallway of the train.

“Pinkie?!” Fluttershy cried out, slamming open the bathroom door.

Nothing.

Fluttershy was confident she heard the crying coming from in here, but-

“Hes-s-s-s-s-s-s…”

Fluttershy stopped, and slowly turned around. There, on the floor of the train between her and the sleeper car, was an anaconda. The massive snake was slowly writhing towards her.

Now, normally, Fluttershy loved all animals, big and small. But this… this was no ordinary anaconda. It looked as if it had been made from a dark, blue-green mist, blending in almost perfectly with the dark train car.

On one side of its head, a single eye of burning flame glinted in the darkness.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. “No….” She whispered, taking a step back. Her wings felt glued to her sides. She couldn’t walk around it; the thing could pounce incredibly fast if it wanted.

But no; the anaconda was taking its own sweet time right now, leisurely slithering towards her, knowing she couldn’t escape. The closer it got, the more scared Fluttershy felt.

Fluttershy turned around, and darted for the door closest to her. She gripped the handle, and pulled.

Locked.

The anaconda was only a few feet away now. “Hes-s-s-s-s…” It said again.

Fluttershy whimpered, jiggling the door handle furiously, trying to escape. At the last second, she darted into the lavoratory to her right, slamming and locking the door behind her.

She backed up against the far wall, listening to the snake hissing outside, feeling the train wall rumble as it carried along its midnight journey.

Her eyes widened as she saw the anaconda slither under the door, its thick, misty body flexing and squeezing like jello. She was paralyzed with fear as the enormous constrictor slithered up and around her legs. She closed her eyes as she felt its powerful muscles squeezing, squeezing, choking the life out of her, stealing her breath, snapping her bones, crushing her…

She opened her eyes. The snake was gone, as though it was never there. Fluttershy placed a hoof to her chest; it was perfectly fine, though she felt her bones snapping just seconds before.

“Am I going mad?” Fluttershy whispered herself.

knock knock knock

Fluttershy jumped so high, she banged her head on the ceiling. Rubbing her head, she quivered away from the sounds.

“Fluttershy? You in there?”

Fluttershy’s muscles relaxed. It was Pinkie Pie, only Pinkie Pie. She opened the door to reveal her friend’s smiling face.

“Heya, Fluttershy!” Pinkie said, bouncing in place. “Going to the bathroom?”

“Er, yes.” Fluttershy said, her eyes briefly glancing away. She didn’t want her friend to worry and not get any sleep; she could tell her and Twilight about the incident tomorrow.

“I was just getting some midnight munchies, myself.” Pinkie said. She pulled out a red bag of chips. “Want one?” She asked.

“Um… no thanks.” Fluttershy said, smiling politely. “I’m… just going back to bed.”

The two of them walked back down the hall toward the sleeper car. “By the way, Pinkie… are you okay?” Fluttershy asked. “I heard you crying earlier…”

Pinkie briefly stopped smiling, and tilted her head. “What do you mean? I wasn’t crying.”

“But… but I heard you…” Fluttershy stuttered.

“You might need to get your earsies checked, Flutters.” Pinkie said, raising a hoof and flopping one of Fluttershy’s ears. Then she bounced off towards the sleeper car, Fluttershy following slowly.

”I know I heard her crying…”

XXXXXXXX

“Fluttershy? Fluttershy… wake uuuppp…”

“Grrmble.” Fluttershy grumbled, rolling over and putting the pillow over her head.

“C’mon, Flutters! The train’s almost there!” Pinkie said, prodding Fluttershy with her hoof.

“hmmph.” Fluttershy said, slowly getting up and rolling out of bed. She had huge bags under her eyes, and shuffled along like a zombie.

“Fluttershy, are you all right?” Twilight asked, walking up. “You normally aren’t this… grumpy… in the mornings. You normally aren’t this grumpy at all!”

Fluttershy gave a tremendous yawn. “Sorry, Twilight. I just got almost no sleep last night. Nightmares, you see. Not to mention a little incident that happened last night…”

Fluttershy quickly described to her friends the event that had taken place late last night.

“Wow, really? A snakey-wakey?” Pinkie said, smiling as she bounced up and down. “Musta been spoooooky!”

“You’re sure it wasn’t a hallucination?” Twilight asked.

“I have no idea!” Fluttershy said. “I mean, it disappeared, but I could feel it snapping my bones!”

“Hmm… interesting. I’ll have to research the possibility of pain-inducing hallucinations… maybe your mind was manipulated to THINK you were hurt…”

“Next stop: Providence, Rhide island! End of the line!”

Pinkie’s eyes widened. “End of the line? Does that mean they’re gonna KILL US?!”

“Oh… I hope not…” Fluttershy said, cowering.

“Pinkie, don’t be ridiculous.” Twilight said, rolling her eyes. “C’mon, we need to pack up our luggage.”

XXXXXXXX

One incredibly exciting and plot-relevant luggage packing later…

XXXXXXXX

“Gotta get on top! Stay on the mountain! Na-na-naa-naa-nana-nana!” Pinkie sang as she bounced off of the train.

“Ooh, Pinkie, what song are you singing?” Fluttershy asked curiously.

“A Pinkie Pie original! I call it, ‘Gotta Get on Top, Stay on the Mountain, Na-Na-Naa-Naa-Nana-Nana!’” Pinkie replied, smiling.

“So, Pinkie,” Twilight said, following the others off of the train. “You’re sure this is where Lovepen is?”

“Are you KIDDING?!” Pinkie said. “He loves this place so much, he practically can’t go anywhere else!”

“Right, well, you lead the way… you’re the one who knows his address…” Twilight said. Pinkie nodded rapidly, and led them through the train station and out the doors.

Fluttershy blinked, looking at the Horcific sea. “Ooh… Pretty…” She said.

“Providence is right over this way! Onwards, girls!” Pinkie said, bouncing forward and down a dusty trail. The other two followed.

Fluttershy looked to one side, and blinked. There, in front of her,  was a wheat field. She’d seen dozens of them on the train ride here, but this one looked faintly familiar.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. This was the wheat field where that black-and-white photo Pinkie showed her was taken! She recognized the windmill, and the barn, and-

“Fluttershy, are you okay?” Twilight asked, snapping Fluttershy back to the present. “You were staring off into space…”

“Oh, I just recognized this place from –“ Fluttershy said, but she was cut off.

“Look! We’re here!” Pinkie said, smiling.

“Huh… it seemed farther away when we were walking over here.” Fluttershy said as she looked around at the town they had just entered.

Providence really wasn’t that big a town. All the roads were made of dirt, and the houses were single-story and run-down. A few people casually walked along the dusty sidwalks, waving to each other.

“What a charming little town.” Twilight said as the three walked forwards. “It’s always nice to see little rural towns like this.”

“I guess…” Fluttershy said, quivering away from a stranger.

“Here, I’ll give you a tour! There’s Mr Greenhoof’s Grocery Store! And there’s the Whinnysmouth Inn! And there’s Mrs Jeremiah’s donut shop!”

Pinkie continued to point out buildings and landmarks as the three slowly trotted down the street. Finally, Pinkie stopped in front of a two-story, blue-painted house, which looked as though it was falling apart.

“Oh! Just thought I ought to warn you guys…” Pinkie stopped suddenly as they reached the house. “Lovey’s a bit… eccentric. He’s got a bad memory, and he’s seriously paranoid. Just let me talk to him.”

Then Pinkie turned, and knocked on the door. “Lovey? It’s your good friend Pinkie!” Pinkie said, smiling.

She smiled as she waited for the door to open. After about two minutes, Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other. “Um, is he home?” Twilight finally asked.

“Yeah, he’s just trying to pretend he’s not here.” Pinkie banged on the door again. “Lovey! I want to see you!”

“May I?”  Fluttershy asked, walking up to the door. She knocked politely on the door. “Mr Lovepen? Um… I really need your help… and I’d be ever so grateful if you would consider –“

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing the old man with the scraggly beard that Fluttershy had seen in Pinkie’s pictures. “What? Who the bloody hell are you?” He asked, glaring. Fluttershy cowered.

“Loveyyy! It’s meeee!” Pinkie said, bouncing forward. Lovepen looked at her, and his pupils dilated.

“No… not you… NOT AGAIN! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU IDIOT!” Lovepen slammed the door, but Pinkie got her hoof in.

“Lovey, don’t you recognize me?” Pinkie said, smiling.

“Oh, I recognize you! Beast! Get the hell away from me!” Lovepen said.

“Now Lovey, don’t be like that!” Pinkie said, slipping through the thin gap between the door and the doorframe. “Just calm down, and…”

No more words could be heard, as the door slammed shut. Twilight and Fluttershy looked at each other, as they heard Lovepen’s muffled shouts and Pinkie’s cheerful voice echoing through the door. There was a crash, then a bang. Then, silence.

Twilight was on the verge of blasting the door down when it opened again. Lovepen stood there, now smiling feebly, Pinkie behind him. “Come in, come in…” Lovepen said, inviting Twilight and Fluttershy in. “We’ve much to talk about."