*Thump*

A loud banging noise suddenly brought Fluttershy to her senses. The yellow pegasus looked around in a fearful daze while trying to scan her surroundings to ascertain any danger. She found herself looking at an eerily familiar room.

There was warped and soaked-through wallpaper adorning the walls. Streams and droplets of water fell freely from the ceiling and dripped down onto the floor, making a quiet splashing sound as it hit water. The floor was made out of damp wood that felt cold and wet on the yellow pony’s hooves. And the floor opened up to a large body of water that had two thin sections of broken floorboards serving as a bridge to the other side of the room.

“Oh no…” Fluttershy exclaimed in horror as she realized where she was. The loud bang that jolted her to her senses before happened again, shaking the pegasus to her very core as the floorboards vibrated from the force.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie will get us out of here.” The nervous voice of her purple unicorn friend made the yellow mare turn to look beside her. Twilight was standing there giving her a look of fear and concern, while also trying to appear confident to ease her fears.

“What’s going on?!” Fluttershy squeaked in a panic as she sank to the back wall to get away from the water. She never imagined that she would be back in the school dealing with this situation again. The pegasus’s mind raced as she tried to retrace her steps up to this point. She was certain that she had already experienced this before, and had since moved on to try and forget it. Yet here she was, reliving the worst experience in her life thus far.

“Pinkie! Get on the other side of this and pull!” The muffled voice of Rarity yelling in a panic came from a room across the hall. Fluttershy realized that the two mares must be in there pushing the shelf to rescue her and Twilight.

“This can’t be real… This isn’t happening.” Fluttershy muttered as she tried to logically figure out what was going on. Either she was having the worst case of déjà vu ever, or she was actually reliving this nightmare.

Twilight walked over to the frightened and confused pegasus and knelt down to be at eye level. She then put a reassuring hoof on her shoulder, causing her to look up and face her.

“Don’t worry… that thing can’t get us up here. The girls will have us out of here long before the floorboards break.” The unicorn spoke in a comforting tone. Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she suddenly remembered what came next.

“Oh no!” Fluttershy exclaimed in horror while looking out to the water fearfully. She knew that at any moment now, the bloody creature would cease its assault on the floor and make its way up to get at the ponies on land.

“Don’t worry girls! We-” Pinkie exclaimed reassuringly across the hall, but her voice cut off in surprise as she stared in shock into the room Fluttershy and Twilight were in.

“What’s wrong with her?” Twilight spoke loud enough for Fluttershy to hear as she puzzled at the shocked pony across the hall.

Fluttershy grew pale and started sweating nervously as a thick sense of dread washed over her. She slowly got to her feet and looked down into the water at the far wall. A disturbingly familiar red mass of liquid was slowly bubbling up to the surface.

“What’s wrong darling? Why did you stop pulling?” Rarity’s muffled voice became slightly clearer as she walked to the door to inspect her shocked friend. She gasped in shock as she noticed the red mass floating in the water. Twilight followed her friend’s gaze and froze in fear as she played out the rest of Fluttershy’s twisted memory.

“Twilight… get back.” Fluttershy spoke in a concerned tone as she tried to protect her friend from the events that would soon unfold. The unicorn either failed to hear the pegasus or was too terrified to comply as she stared at the red liquid.

Suddenly, a loud splash of water indicated something breaking the surface. A bloody arm and a half formed hand sprang out of the red mass and twitched in place as it came into existence. More of the liquid ran up the arm and filled into the hand as its fingers slowly formed. The bloody appendage sent a new feeling of horror and dread into Fluttershy. She could feel the whole room spinning around her as every molecule in her body told her to flee.

“We need to run!” Fluttershy exclaimed while turning and trotting up to the door to look across the hallway. “Girls! Please hurry and get us out of here!” The pegasus begged nervously to her friends across the hall. Rarity and Pinkie snapped out of their morbid fixation on the bloody appendage and looked at the frightened pegasus.

“Alright… come on Pinkie!” Rarity exclaimed before running over to the other side of the shelf. Pinkie gripped the shelf and pulled on it with all of her might, fueled by the intense desire to rescue her friends.

Fluttershy smiled in satisfaction with changing the course of her memory. Now that the girls were already working on getting the shelf ready, the creature might not have time to attack. The pegasus turned around only to be greeted with another horrifying sight.

The red liquid had already climbed up and out of the water, and was now undulating in a crimson puddle on the floor. The puddle started rising into the air as the creature’s body started taking its basic shape. The process seemed to finish much quicker than the yellow mare remembered, and the creature was already staring at the two ponies with its empty eye sockets.

Oh no… It’s already here. Fluttershy thought to herself as she surveyed the situation in front of her. Twilight stood frozen in place as she did the last time while the creature turned its head to focus on her wound. Fluttershy glanced back at the doorway to see her friends’ progress with the shelf.

They aren’t going to make it in time… I need to save Twilight so she can snap out of it and fight back. The pegasus gritted her teeth and prepared to jump in front of the unicorn to sacrifice herself like last time. Now that she had to think about her actions, she found it much harder to move her body into harm’s way. Much to Fluttershy’s fear and confusion, she discovered that it wasn’t just apprehension preventing her from acting. She couldn’t move forward, despite her best efforts.

“What the…?” Fluttershy muttered in bewilderment as she tried her best to get her body to move. It was like she had been numbed and lost all feeling in her body, so trying to elicit a response from her limbs did nothing more than give the dull sensation of her muscles contracting in her legs.

“Oh no… Twilight move!” The yellow mare cried out in a panic to warn her friend. The unicorn shook her head to wake herself from her daze, but she reacted far too late to be able to do anything to change the grim event taking place. The creature had already reeled back its arm and then shot it forward to use its water-like properties to stretch its arm to the ponies.

Fluttershy watched in horror as the bloody missile collided with the unicorn head on. Twilight yelped in pain and shock as she was thrown off her feet while the sharp claws of the creature’s hand pierced her body. The monster carried the helpless pony across the room and slammed her into the wall as it had done to Fluttershy before.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy reached out a hoof in dismay as she regained feeling in her body. She watched with horror and concern on her face as the creature started siphoning the unicorn’s blood straight out of her body. Twilight was bleeding from the new wounds created by the creature, as well as her old wound. The bandage had been ripped off and the creature was seemingly sucking the blood right out of the gash.

“Guh… F-Fluttershy…” Twilight groaned in pain as she struggled against the arm pinning her to the wall. The arm holding her was solid enough to grip her and hold her in the air, yet when the purple pony swiped her hooves at it to fight, they went straight through as if it were made of water.

Fluttershy turned and looked at the crimson monster. She gulped nervously as she stared at its deformed face. Despite the overwhelming sense of terror the creature gave her, she needed to rescue her friend.

“Leave her alone!” Fluttershy exclaimed while leaping forward. The pegasus hoped that assaulting the monster directly would distract it enough to make it let go of Twilight. The beast jerked its head over to stare at the incoming pony, causing her to widen her eyes fearfully. It let out a garbled roar before swiping its free arm to strike the yellow pegasus.

Fluttershy grunted from the impact. The creature’s claws had made a small gash in her chest as they raked against her. The force of the blow sent the yellow mare flying backwards. She smacked into the floor and slid backwards to her original position by the edge of the room.

Taking a dazed look up at her friend, Fluttershy gasped in shock as she noticed the unicorn drooping her head down. Twilight’s eyes were halfway closed, and her struggles were getting less prominent by the minute.

“Twilight!” Fluttershy cried while getting up and rushing to her friend. She tried desperately to grab the purple mare and pull her down from the wall, but any attempt she made only resulted in minimal movement and a painful yelp from Twilight as the creature’s claws dug further into her body.

“Fluttershy… run… s-save yourself.” Twilight muttered in a sleepy tone while struggling to stay awake. Fluttershy noticed that the unicorn’s breathing was slowing down as she fought for every breath she took.

Suddenly, Twilight’s painful moans and gasps for air ceased as she progressively grew weaker. The unicorn’s eyes drifted shut and her head drooped down all the way. Her kicking and flailing had ceased, and her limbs fell to the side and hung lifelessly as the creature finished its job.

The monster reeled its arm back in, causing the lavender pony to fall to the floor. Twilight’s head rolled to the side like a ragdoll as her body settled from the impact. Fluttershy stared at the motionless pony in front of her with a shocked expression of disbelief.

"No…” The pegasus muttered sadly as tears started streaming down her face. She placed her ear to the unicorn’s chest to listen for a heartbeat. Much to Fluttershy’s horror, she discovered that the purple pony was in fact dead.

“No! Twilight, wake up!” Fluttershy yelled while picking up the unicorn in her arms and shaking her. After a few moments, the pegasus gave up as the purple mare’s body flopped around limply. Finally, she clutched her friend close and buried her head into her shoulder to cry.

“This is wrong… this isn’t what happened!” The pegasus shook her head in refusal as she tried to convince herself that this wasn’t real. She couldn’t accept that her friend had just died in front of her when there was nothing she could have done. But strangely enough, there should have been something she could have done. Fluttershy vividly remembered this experience from before, and she knew that she and her friends had escaped relatively unharmed.

As she heard a noise in front of her, Fluttershy darted her head to the side fearfully, expecting the monster to be aiming for her life next. Much to her confusion, she realized that the creature was missing. The pegasus barely caught a glimpse of a trickle of red tinted liquid flowing into the water off the side of the floorboards.

Suddenly, the noise of a shelf hitting the water drew her attention away. Much to her surprise, Fluttershy noticed Rarity carefully trotting on the shelf to get over to the classroom. She and Pinkie Pie ran into the room and huddled around Fluttershy protectively.

“We’re here darling… where is that horrible creature?” Rarity asked in confusion while looking around at the empty room.

“Oh no… Twilight!” Pinkie exclaimed in shock and horror as she noticed the lifeless unicorn lying beside Fluttershy. The two ponies knelt down and let fresh tears fall from their faces as they tried to process the tragic image before them.

“She can’t be… is she?” Rarity asked no one in particular as she feverishly checked for a pulse on the unicorn. “Oh dear sweet Celestia… she’s dead!” She stated with a squeaky voice as she started weeping mournfully.

“We need to get out of here… that thing will come back and kill us too if we stay here. I don’t think Twilight would have wanted that.” Fluttershy stated sadly as she got up from her crouching position. She looked down at the lifeless unicorn and held back another sob before averting her eyes. Rarity and Pinkie sniffled one last time before nodding to the pegasus.

“Come on girls, let’s get out of here and put a stop to this… for Twilight.” Rarity spoke with a sullen expression while rushing to the door. Pinkie and Fluttershy quickly followed the white mare and carefully walked across the floating shelf.

“Whoa…” Fluttershy whined nervously as the shelf shifted underneath her weight. She had to struggle just to balance herself to avoid being dumped into the icy waters below.

“Are you ok, Fluttershy?” Rarity asked with a concerned tone while turning her head to observe the pegasus swaying side to side as the shelf moved underneath her.

“Yeah, I’m fine. We just need to be careful on this thing. I have a bad feeling that the monster is still watching us.” Fluttershy replied while nervously glancing to the water that surrounded the group.

Suddenly, the sound of something breaking through the water startled the three ponies. Fluttershy cried out in surprised as she felt something grab onto her leg to yank her. Her body slammed into the shelf as she was pulled to the floor.

“Fluttershy!” Rarity and pinkie screamed in unison as they turned around to see the pegasus struggling. A bloody red clawed hand was wrapped around the pegasus. The arm was coming from the water just beside the shelf, with the creature’s head jutting out just above the surface.

Fluttershy stared at the sinisterly grinning monster as it leered back at her longingly. She could feel its icy stare piercing her very core as it pulled against her weight. Her body slid off of the shelf and into the water. The creature dove down and wrapped its arms around the pegasus’s midsection. Fluttershy yelped and reached her arm out only just in time to be grabbed by her two friends.

“Fluttershy, hold on!” Pinkie cried frantically while struggling to keep her friend’s head above the water. She and Rarity strained against the powerful force of the creature in a desperate attempt at saving the pegasus.

“Help me! I don’t want to die!” Fluttershy sputtered fearfully as water splashed into her mouth. She could tell that her friends were powerless to help her as she slowly sunk further into the water. Suddenly, a bloody hand slowly reached up out of the water and casually lifted higher into the air next to Fluttershy.

All three ponies stared at the arm with fearful expressions as it reached up above the yellow mare and clamped down on her head. Fluttershy screamed in fear as she felt herself being yanked powerfully out of her friends’ grip and into the water.

“Fluttershy!” The pegasus could barely hear the muffled sounds of her friends calling her name. She flailed her arms in a desperate attempt at getting away. Suddenly, the creature’s ghastly face shot out at her from the side as it jerked its head in front of her. The sudden flash of the monster’s terrifying appearance sent a jolt of fear and terror through Fluttershy’s body. She could feel herself tense up as everything suddenly went black.

“Ack!” Fluttershy yelped in fright as she sat up in bed. She panted heavily and shivered as she slowly regained her wits. She looked around and noticed that she was still in Twilight’s bedroom, safe and sound.

“Are you okay?” The soft sound of her friend’s voice made the pegasus turn her head. She was relieved and excited to see Twilight standing next to the bed. Fluttershy leapt forward and wrapped her arms around the unicorn in a joyful hug. Twilight was confused and slightly concerned by the odd behavior of the pegasus, but held her in a friendly embrace to comfort her.

“What’s wrong Fluttershy?” Twilight asked with a worried frown as Fluttershy backed up while keeping her arms around her. The yellow mare had tears streaming down her face and she was shaking fearfully. After taking a moment to calm down, Fluttershy took in a deep breath and tried to think of how to describe her experience.

“I’m fine… I just had a really bad dream.” Fluttershy explained while looking down nervously. She rubbed her eyes to ensure that she was awake and alert, and to assure herself that she was safe. Twilight frowned sympathetically as she watched the nervous pegasus trying to calm down.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Twilight asked while putting a caring hoof on her shoulder. Fluttershy instinctively thought back to the events of the nightmare, but shook her head to remove the horrible thoughts from her mind.

“No… I… *sigh* It was about what happened back at the school… I’m just glad to see you.” Fluttershy stated sadly while thinking back to her dream. Twilight frowned sympathetically at the pegasus. She had her suspicions that due to her sensitive nature the yellow mare would still be frightened by the events at the school, but the unicorn had no idea that she would be affected this badly.

“I’m sorry to hear that… how about you head home and get some rest? I’m sure Tom can sort out your problem for you so you can relax.” Twilight suggested to get Fluttershy’s mind off of her dream. The pegasus looked over to the balcony and was surprised to see that it was almost dark.

“Oh my… I must have slept in. I was hoping to just lay down for a little while so I could help you guys with the research.” Fluttershy huffed in disappointment. Twilight smiled at the thoughtful pony. She always put others before herself, no matter the situation.

“Don’t worry about that, we finished a while ago. Brimstoke and the others are having the books analyzed to find hoof prints or magic signatures.” Twilight stated happily.

“That’s good… I better get going then, Angel is probably worried sick.” Fluttershy said whilst climbing out of bed and stretching to acclimate her body to moving around again.

“Thanks for letting me use your bed Twilight. As bad as that nightmare was, I’m still glad to have gotten some sleep.” Fluttershy stared at Twilight happily while still feeling thankful that she was still alive. The unicorn smiled at the cheerful pegasus. She was happy to see her high spirits returning to her.

“Not a problem. Now let’s head downstairs. I’m sure the others would like to get home before long.” Twilight suggested while turning towards the door. The two walked out of the room and climbed down the stairs. As the pair reached the bottom, they noticed Applejack was standing with the others while talking idly.

“Applejack, it’s good to see you made it.” Twilight greeted the farm pony, causing her and the others to turn around to face her.

“Yeah, sorry for getting here so late… Ah guess the others have already packed up and left?” Applejack asked while looking around at the relatively empty room.

“Yeah… sorry for the inconvenience, but we finished with the research for tonight. You can come back tomorrow afternoon when the others will hopefully have some news for us.” Twilight frowned slightly at the wasted trip her friend had to make. Applejack nodded with a content expression on her face.

“Whatever it takes to end this mess… If there’s anything else Ah can do, you be sure to let me know.” The orange mare replied confidently. Twilight nodded in response before turning to the others.

“Alright everyone… thanks for your help with everything so far. We wouldn’t have gotten this far without everyone working together. If anyone wants to help out still, you should come back here tomorrow afternoon so we can discuss what to do next.” Twilight stated happily to her group of friends. Everyone nodded before walking closer to the door.

“Goodnight everyone, I will see you all tomorrow.” Rarity said while waving and walking out of the door. Applejack waved goodbye to the group as well and followed the unicorn out of the door. Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie stood next to Fluttershy and waited for her to head home.

“Are you guys still coming with me?” Fluttershy asked unimposingly. The two nodded eagerly before giving her a friendly smile.

“Of course we are! We wouldn’t offer to come stay the night with you and then bail on you.” Rainbow Dash stated happily while putting a loving arm around the yellow pegasus.

“Yep! If anyone can cheer you up and make you feel comfortable in your home again, I think I can do it!” Pinkie exclaimed cheerfully while giving the shy mare a warm grin. Fluttershy was flattered to see her friends going out of their way to help her.

“I’m ready to go whenever you want Fluttershy.” Tom stated while walking up to the three. Fluttershy smiled at the human with appreciation bubbling up inside her.

“Thanks Tom, I really appreciate this.” Fluttershy expressed her gratitude with a cheerful expression on her face. The yellow pegasus got up and walked over to the door to wait for her friends. The three walked over to join her and looked back to Twilight and Spike.

“Are you sure you will be able to get back here on your own Tom?” Twilight asked courteously to the human while giving him a slightly concerned expression. Tom nodded confidently to the unicorn before turning back to his three companions.

“I’m not sure if I will even be back tonight… This might take a while, so I might just spend the night at Fluttershy’s. If I do come back, I’m pretty sure I can find my way… if not, I’ll ask for directions.” Tom stated confidently. Twilight and Spike waved farewell to the four as they walked out of the door and started their journey to Fluttershy’s house.

The sun was just barely peeking out from below the horizon. The sky was dark enough to make out the first few patches of stars littering the areas farthest away from the glowing orb. Numerous clouds covered the space around the golden circle, creating a beautiful mosaic of colors and shapes to accent the sunset.

The cool breeze from earlier had intensified, creating a chilly blast that rushed past the ponies, making them shiver slightly from the cold. Other than the sound of the wind whistling and their feet clattering against the sidewalk, there was a peaceful silence around the group.

“Hey Fluttershy…” Tom spoke up, breaking the veil of silence that hung in the air. Fluttershy looked up from her blank forward stare and turned to face the boy.

“Yeah?” The yellow pegasus asked curiously and waited for a response from the human. Tom looked at her while deep in thought and spoke up again.

“Is there anything else you can tell me about what happened last night? The more I know about your problem, the easier it will be for me to identify and solve it.” The boy said while observing the yellow mare and waiting for an answer. Fluttershy felt a twinge of uneasiness cloud her mind as she thought about the disturbing noises and sights she had experienced in the middle of the night.

“All I know is that whatever it was made this horrible moaning or howling noise. It was so terrifying that I could hardly muster up the courage to look out my window to see what it was. There was also this strange green glow in the tree line of the Everfree Forest. Now that I think about it… it was kind of small, and only appeared in a few places.” Fluttershy explained while trying her best to think of anything useful to assist the human’s investigation.

“You said you saw something moving out there as well?” Tom asked while thinking back to when the yellow mare had told the story earlier. Fluttershy exclaimed in revelation as she remembered the fuzzy details of her experience.

“Oh yeah… I do remember that. I didn’t get a good enough look to see what it was though… sorry.” The pegasus frowned sadly as she resolved that her story wasn’t very helpful.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure that Tom can deal with whatever it is. In the meantime, we should focus on relaxing to get your mind off of it.” Rainbow Dash spoke up while giving the shy mare a reassuring expression.

“Yeah, I have some great party games we can play! That should keep you distracted.” Pinkie suggested while trying to smile big enough to cheer up the yellow pegasus. Fluttershy smiled at her friends attempts at making her feel better. She was glad that they were there to spend the night with her.

After a few more minutes of walking through the countryside of Ponyville’s outskirts, the group found themselves walking up to Fluttershy’s cottage home. The ponies walked over the bridge before taking a quick glance over to the far away tree line of the forest to scan for any signs of abnormalities.

“I don’t see anything right now…” Rainbow Dash squinted her eyes to search for a glimmer of green light.

“Depending on what it is, it might not appear until later on.” Tom explained while making his way over to the trees. The ponies reluctantly followed the human as he walked until he was standing just outside of the forest.

Staring into the dark and misty woods filled the three ponies with a growing sense of fear and dread. Considering how many terrifying monsters had popped up recently, they only had their vivid imaginations to limit their fearful thoughts about what could be lurking within the pitch black forest.

“What are we doing over here?” Pinkie asked nervously. As if on cue to answer the pink mare’s question, the human let loose a puff of blue mist from his mouth to investigate the area. Tom scanned his head back and forth while using his senses to scope out any possible energy signatures. He paused briefly while focusing his search on a particular area of the trees.

“I’m picking up some faint ambient energy, but that might just be from the forest itself. I guess we should head inside and wait for something to happen.” Tom stated while turning to walk away. After taking one last anxious glance to the forest, the ponies decided to follow the human before he got any further away from them.

The group walked over to the front of the house and stepped up to the door. Fluttershy opened the door and ushered everyone inside before walking in and closing the door tightly for assurance. Everyone walked around the living room of the cottage while finding a place to stand idly, save for Tom, who examined the interior of the house curiously.

To say that Fluttershy took care of animals in her spare time was putting it mildly. Nearly every element of her house was designed with animals and nature in mind. There were small enclosures and toys scattered around for all manner of small woodland creatures to use. Perches for birds adorned the ceiling. Beds and feeding dishes for small animals were placed against the walls. Even the furniture looked like it was used for animals.

“Make yourself at home guys… I’m going to go check on Angel and get you some pillows and blankets.” Fluttershy said in a friendly manner while walking up a set of stairs to the side of the room. Tom sat down on the couch while taking note of the numerous animal friendly features the house had.

“She sure likes nature and animals, doesn’t she?” The boy observed casually.

“Yep… I imagine she’s been like that her whole life, but she really discovered her love of nature back in flight school.” Rainbow Dash stated while thinking back to the day she and her friends got their cutie marks.

“You have flight school? I would imagine that would be something you just figure out.” Tom scratched his head curiously as he thought about the prospect further.

“Well… we get training to fine tune our skills, so we can be prepared to take jobs in weather management or other pegasus related areas of expertise.” The cyan pony explained while thinking of the merit of flight school herself.

Just then, Fluttershy walked back into the room. She was carrying a pile of blankets and pillows, managing to traverse her house on memory alone as she struggled with the large bundle. She sat the pile down on the couch and breathed a sigh of relief.

“There… I managed to find enough for everyone. If you get tired just grab a blanket and a pillow and find a comfy spot.” Fluttershy said courteously before sitting down on the couch next to the large pile.

“Hey, where’s Angel?” Pinkie asked curiously while looking to the side of the room where the rabbit usually slept.

“Oh… I moved him to my bedroom after I got back from the school. I thought he would help me feel safer after everything that happened.” Fluttershy explained with a slight frown.

“Don’t worry Fluttershy. I’m sure that everything is going to be sorted out soon enough.” Rainbow Dash stated in a reassuring tone before turning to the human. “So… how long do you think it will be before this thing shows up?” She asked curiously.

“Who knows? It might be a while, so I would get settled in if I were you.” Tom shrugged in a dull tone while getting up and moving over to a chair next to the couch.

“*Sigh* I guess we wait now…” Rainbow Dash spoke in a bored tone while resting her elbow on the arm rest of the couch. Everyone settled into a comfortable position and prepared to spend the night.