It was a beautiful day, out in the forest. The birds were singing their songs, butterflies were fluttering, the sun’s rays beaming down from the heavens.

Just the perfect day to go out and enjoy. Of course, nobody was enjoying it more than Fluttershy.

The sweet, bashful, animal loving girl was out in the woods, walking down a path, smiling and humming herself a merry tune.

“Such a lovely day,” Fluttershy smiled, watching some birds tending to their nests, while having some idle chit chat with one another.

A loud knock echoed through the woods, causing Fluttershy to turn her head to see a woodpecker hard at work.

She giggled when a mother duck was walking out of the bush, leading her line of cute, fluffy ducklings. The ducks all took notice of Fluttershy and they each looked up at the girl with curiosity.

“Hello there,” Fluttershy greeted the duck sincerely. “You have such beautiful children, mother duck.” The duck let out a loud quack, as if to say, “thank you.”

Just then, the bushes shook again, and a green headed mallard duck appeared. Fluttershy knew right away that the duck was the father.

Both the mother and father ducks went up to each other and nuzzled their bills, before the father duck looked up at Fluttershy.

“Hello Mr. Duck,” Fluttershy greeted. “You have such a beautiful family,” The male duck quacked in gratitude, before he went on to have a lively conversation with Fluttershy. “Oh, of course,” Fluttershy nodded in understanding. “You’d do anything to keep your loved ones safe.”

The duck then asked the girl what she was doing, “Oh, well you see, my friends are here,” She explained. “It was Rainbow Dash’s idea. She wanted to go camping, out here in the forest, with the rest of our friends. So I’m on my way to see them right now.”

The duck parents all exchanged looks at each other. They looked rather troubled at what the girl had told them. The mother duck asked Fluttershy where her camp is.

“Oh, well from what Applejack told me in her last text, it should be up ahead, past that old tree,” The ducks looked deeply upset, as if they had seen a ghost. With that, they took their leave. “Uh okay. Goodbye,” Fluttershy waved to the ducks, before she was on her way.

For the remainder of her journey through the woods, Fluttershy thought of nothing else, but the fun she and the girls will have together.

The whole Rainbooms, plus the CMC, even their new friends Trixie and Wallflower Blush will be there.

Without a doubt, Pinkie Pie has already packed a whole supply of cakes and sweets that would last them for the week. Applejack and Rainbow Dash are likely to compete together in all kinds of sports, like archery. Rarity, while not a fan of camping, would still be there to make sure everything was in order.

Sunset Shimmer will also be there to have fun, with the whole gang, as always. Twilight would definitely drive everyone crazy when the sun sets. The science girl was planning on watching the constellations and will try to identify every lady one of them before she falls asleep.

Wallflower Blush will enjoy exploring the forest, taking notes on all the florals and fauna the forest has to show, with the CMC joining in the fun.

But those were all the wonderful activities that Fluttershy was looking forward to with her friends, when she suddenly realized something was amiss.

She didn’t know it then, but she had traveled deeper in the depths of the forest. And from where she was standing, the forest had gotten quiet. A little too quiet for her comfort.

The birds have suddenly ceased their chirpy singing, with the branches above her growing thicker and thicker, barely letting in a few sunlights.

Fluttershy’s happy demeanor quickly shifted to her usual look of worry, as she cautiously looked around her, unsure what to make of the forest’s sudden mood change.

Then, ahead, she saw billows of smoke rising from the distance ahead. A campfire!

Not wasting a second, Fluttershy quickly broke into a sprint, banishing all her doubts and fears away. But not for long.

Upon arriving at the camp, the bashful girl was disturbed to find the area, ransacked and ruined.

“Goodness!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “What happened here?!”

The tents, each with the Rainbooms and their friend’s signatures were all torn up, with noticeable claw marks. Nothing like anything Fluttershy has ever seen! They were too big and too sharp to be made by those, like a bear.

To further add the eeriness of it all, all of the Rainboom’s backpacks were all laying around on the grounds, scattered, and left unzipped, spilling all of their contents out, blowing in the breeze. It’s just not like the Rainbooms to leave their packs unattended like that. Especially Twilight and Rarity.

What could’ve happened?

Fluttershy didn’t know what to do. She wanted to call and alert the police, but they were too far from civilization to receive any receptions for an emergency phone call. She wanted to talk to some animals and ask if they knew what had happened, but there wasn’t even a mouse in sight. It’s as if the animals were afraid to even be in this area.

But Fluttershy didn’t have to ponder any longer, when a loud bloodcurdling scream echoed, from the distance. It doesn’t sound like an animal.

“Oh goodness!” Fluttershy screamed, terrified beyond all reason, with the eerie feeling returning, and took a firm hold on her.

Fluttershy was trembling with terror, the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, as she looked off in the direction of where the scream was heard.

Something or someone is out there, waiting for her!

Dread quickly raced Fluttershy’s mind, when she theorized, what if it’s her friends? What if they’re in trouble? What if there’s a scary monster on the loose and it got her friends? What will she do? What would any of her friends do?

Poor Fluttershy was so conflicted at the moment. A part of her wanted to leave the forest and save herself and come back with the police. But another part of her wanted her to go after her friends, and try to save them from whatever it was that had attacked them.

If she decided to leave the forest, then she would be deserting her friends. And by the time she comes back with help, then it would be too late.

But she doesn’t know what’s out there. So if she tries to save her friends, without any knowledge of what she will be dealing, then she’ll be in greater peril, and no one can save her, or her friends.

With a sigh, Fluttershy started walking down the road, in the direction of the scream, deciding to investigate, just a bit.

As the girl continued her trip down the road, she noticed some more claw marks, scratched on the side of the trees, and kicked up in the dirts below. What could’ve made those terrible marks?

But as she traveled further, her nose twitched and she winced in disgust at the stench.

“Ew! What is that awful smell?” Fluttershy asked, looking down to see a kill.

It was the bloody corpse of a stag. And from the smell, it was fresh, as if it had recently been killed by something. The flies were already buzzing noisily around at the remaining meats that lingered on the bones.

Could this be the work of a pack of wolves? Was it a mountain lion that did this?

Fluttershy didn’t have time to ponder, when the sound of a branch snapped. The frightened girl turned her head, to see several tall trees were moving apart, shaking uneasily to the sides. Something big was heading her way!

Not wasting a second to find out what it was, Fluttershy took off in a sprint. She wanted to get away from whatever it was that is now pursuing her. She looked back to see the trees were still moving behind her.

Not looking where she was going, Fluttershy tripped over a log and she tumbled down the sides of a rocky hill, rolling to the bottom, where she hits her head on something hard and her world turned dark.