[M] [WRITING] [NSFW] MLP Challenge: Ponies By Night

[Dishonored]

Just because there's been so much My Little Ponies discussion around lately, this is my contribution. Old school MLP, as requested by the person who said I couldn't ruin their childhood. Graphic violence, horror, and gore, no sex. Enjoy!

Ponies By Night

Buckles-n-Bows had been feeling strange lately. She stood in the barn near her stall, rubbing her right shoulder against a beam, scratching as hard as she could.
She had been itching ever since her friends took her into Deepdark Cave, looking for the barette that Cherry Blossom had lost last week. They had found it down a short side tunnel filled with bats, and Buckles had scraped herself on the rock wall.
The itching kept getting worse, but she couldn't find any reason for it. Of course, she had been feeling sort of ill lately. Nothing tasted right to her, but she was always hungry. Maybe it was time to go see Wrappers to find out what was causing it.
As she considered it, however, her best friend Rainbow came in, her brightly colored mane flowing cheerfully behind her. "You haven't been outside all day, and I came to drag you off, you silly-" Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the shape Buckles was in.
"Buckles, are you okay? You don't look very well," Rainbow said, trotting over to her friend. "Your eyes are funny."
Buckles barely even heard Rainbow. A wave of nausea passed over her, and she staggered, slumping weakly against Rainbow's right shoulder. "...Itches..." she said weakly.
Rainbow supported her friend's weight and was shocked when she saw the red blood that Buckles had left on the side of the stall. "Oh, Buckles! We need to get you to Wrappers!"
In her weakened state, Buckles didn't even respond. All she could think of was how badly she itched...and how good Rainbow smelled. So good, in fact, that she began drooling, saliva streaming from her mouth as she lost all rational thought.
With a sudden jerk of her head, Buckles bit deep into Rainbow's neck, tearing a chunk of flesh the size of a pie pan from her.
Rainbow whinnied loudly in pain and fear, shying away, as Buckles stood, placidly chewing the flesh of her friend. Her eyes had rolled back into her head, the whites a sickly yellow color. And as Rainbow watched in shock, she swallowed.
"Rrrrainnnboww..." Buckles moaned in a horrible voice. "...taaasty..."
That was enough to jolt Rainbow. Fear lending her speed, she bolted from the barn towards Ponyville, a spray of blood spurting from her neck with every hoofbeat. The sky had turned leaden, and Rainbow felt the first cold drops of rain as she ran.

Wrappers had just finished bandaging Cherry Blossom's left hind leg in her office when the first spatter of rain hit the windowpane. She nudged Cherry and said "See? Good as new! Just don't run or jump too much for the next few days, and it should be fine."
Cherry nodded to the dappled tan doctor with the dark mane. "I guess I should be more careful when I'm playing," she answered. With a glance outside, she sighed. "Looks like I don't have a choice. It's gonna rain all weekend." the younger pony lamented.
Wrappers shook her head and whickered as she put away her medical supplies in a nearby cabinet. "Don't get so upset. It's just a little rain, and you know what rain brings."
Almost before she finished speaking, there was a loud thump at the front door, as though something heavy had been dropped just outside. Both Ponies jumped a little; then Wrappers clopped over to the door to check.
Lying on the doorstep was Rainbow, mud and dirt and leaves tangled in her once-bright mane. She was incredibly pale, and she had left a trail of blood through the mud as she dragged herself to Wrappers' office.
She rolled one eye upwards to their shocked faces, and whispered "Buckles..." before passing out cold.
Wrappers shook her head to clear it. "Cherry, help me get her inside." She stepped gingerly outside into the blowing rain to take Rainbow's tail in her teeth. Cherry did the same, and between them they managed to drag her into the office.
Half an hour later Wrappers finished bandaging Rainbow's wound and sank back with a sigh. It had been close, but with Cherry's help she had managed to suture the larger veins and seal the wound with compresses and bandages.
"Wh-what do you think did it, Wrappers?" Cherry asked quietly, as they pulled the curtain closed so Rainbow could rest.
"I don't know, Cherry, but I'm going to find out. I've never seen that sort of wound before; it looked like an animal did it," Wrappers said wearily.
"An animal? D-do you think it could still be out there? Didn't she say Buckles was in trouble?" Cherry said, worrying.
Wrappers finished cleaning herself up, and nodded. "She did say Buckles...Cherry. I'm going to go get Minty, Starsong, and Wysteria and check on Buckles. I want you to stay here."
Cherry Blossom swallowed nervously. "A-alone?"
Wrappers nickered softly and nudged the younger Pony. "Rainbow is here too. And if she wakes up while I'm gone, she may be scared. I want you to stay here in case she needs you." She held the pink Pony's eye. "You can do that, can't you?'
Cherry nodded. "Yes, ma'am." A flash of lightning outside cast eerie shadows on the wall for a second. "But please, don't be gone too long."
Wrappers gathered her emergency bag from the stand nearby, and opened the front door. "I'll be back as soon as I can. You rest, and take care of Rainbow if she needs you." Trotting out into the storm, Wrappers closed the door behind her, leaving Cherry Blossom to watch the office.

A loud clap of thunder woke Cherry with a start. She had nodded off on the couch in the waiting room, while the storm raged outside. She blinked sleepily at the clock on the wall, and saw that several hours had passed.
A sudden crash from the recovery room made Cherry sit bolt upright; then she remembered Rainbow. "Rainbow? Are you okay in there?" she called softly.
There was no answer except the sound of someone moving around. Cherry realized that if Rainbow was awake she might be groggy, so she trotted to the recovery room to check. "Rainbow?"
As she nudged the door open, the first thing she noticed was that the privacy curtain had been torn down and now hung at an odd slant. Rainbow stood next to it, swaying on her feet, her eyes a sickly yellow color. A mass of deep purple veins spread out from beneath the bandages on her neck, and her usually bright skin was pale.
Rainbow swung her head groggily, her evil-colored eyes focusing on Cherry Blossom. She took a shambling half-step forward, moaning, then lunged at Cherry, her teeth snapping the air just short of her face.
Cherry whinnied in fright and backed out, nearly tripping over the blanket she had left on the floor. Scrambling to keep her balance, she ran for the door and out into the storm.
The rain lashed at her and lightning split the sky, as she ran for Buckles' house on the edge of Ponyville. Skidding through the mud, all she could think of was the way Rainbow had sounded, and getting to Wrappers.
As she reached Buckles' house, Cherry began to have second thoughts. Maybe Rainbow was just sick, and scared? She briefly thought of going back, but she had already reached the house, and she might as well find out what Wrappers had learned.
Buckles' house was dark, which was really odd, but a dim glow came from the big barn behind it. She made her way through the mud towards the barn, her mane plastered to her rain-soaked hide and her injured leg throbbing in pain.
The door was open partway, and swung slightly in the wind. Hanging on a peg just inside was a lantern, turned low. Cherry Blossom turned it brighter, and carefully took the handle in her mouth before stepping inside.
Even turned up, the lantern didn't cast very much light. Cherry was several paces inside before she smelled an incredibly foul odor, and her eyes teared up from the smell. She could hear the sound of someone working ahead, and took a few more steps. "Wrappers?" she asked hesitantly.
Cherry saw three other Ponies kneeling around something on the floor. It looked at first like they were working, but there was a wet, oddly organic sound. Yellow Starsong and purple Wysteria were facing away from her, but moved aside slightly at the sound of her voice.
In the dim lantern light, she could see Minty raise her green head from the body of Sunny Daze, dragging a loop of pale intestine from her stomach. Blood soaked her muzzle as she chewed, dragging in another mouthful while staring at Cherry with sickly yellow eyes.
Cherry backed away in horror as Wysteria and Starsong began to clumsily stagger to their feet. She whirled around...and came face-to-face with Wrappers! Sobbing, she took a step forward.
It was then that Cherry realized that Wrappers was spattered with half-dried blood, and her right rear leg was set at an odd angle. As Wrappers moaned softly, Cherry realized that something had nearly torn the leg off, and that Wrappers was dragging it behind her.
Cherry Blossom whinnied and dropped the lantern, bolting past Wrappers. She felt teeth graze her ear and a sharp pain, but fled out into the storm. She could hear moaning coming from the barn as she ran back towards Ponyville, her injured leg forcing her to canter painfully along.
As she made her way back down the hill into Ponyville, Cherry began to see shapes in the rain. Other Ponies began to come from the buildings and bushes, shambling towards her. In the street ahead, Lollipops screamed as two more Ponies savagely knocked her over and began to feed.
With dozens of Ponies shambling in the rain, Cherry Blossom ran. Her leg was screaming in agony as she bolted for Deepdark Cave, the one place she could be safe. She managed to find the mouth of the cave by flashes of lightning, and half-dragged herself deep inside. She found a smooth hollow in one of the side tunnels and curled up on the cold stone, sobbing to herself in fear and pain. As the rain and thunder outside the cave began to diminish, she finally fell asleep.

"Cherry! Cherry Blossom! Wake up!" Cherry blinked sleepily at the sound of the voice. then sat up with a start. She was sitting at the edge of the big field, in the bright sunlight. Several other Ponies were kicking a ball back and forth, and Minty and Wysteria were laughing at her.
"That must have been some dream!" Minty said, tugging at Cherry's mane playfully. "You've been asleep for over an hour! Let's go see if Lollipops has lunch ready yet!"
Cherry Blossom stood unsteadily, shaking her head. "More like a nightmare..Yeah, I could use something to eat." She followed her friends out of the field and into Ponyville, leaving the others to play.
At the edge of the field, Buckles-n-Bows was rubbing her shoulder hard against a fencepost.

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

Oh, you evil sod. That was awesome!

[Dishonored]

 Thank you! Higher praise I cannot imagine!

[llearch n'n'daCorna]

I'm tempted to link to the other MLP story someone else I follow is writing, and that's a MLP/WH40k crossover, I think. But I won't, because that would be telling. ;-]

[Dishonored]

 Ooooo! When it's ready, I'd love to read it!