This is a non-profit fanfiction created for entertainment purposes only. This story is a continuation to Silence of Ponyville, which is a side story of Silent Ponyville and Silent Ponyville 2 by author jake-heritagu on deviantART. While it is highly suggested to read the previous stories before this one. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is owned by Hasbro and Lauren Faust. Silent Ponyville concept belongs to jake-heritagu. Please support both. -------------------- The Shop - Chapter 5 - The Maw He was adjusting to it now, waking up in some place that was unfamiliar to him. When he felt consciousness coming back the first thing he did was lay still and listen. Smelt the air around him, felt the ground beneath him. Twice now he'd woken up some place (relatively) safe but he wanted to be positive nothing was lurking in the dark for him. The first thing he noticed was it was slightly cold and the air felt crisp. Next was the feeling on his skin, like the earth was raised in some areas and not in others. Actually it was more like stone than earth or wood or any other surface he'd slept on so far. Knick came to the realization this was cobblestone, he must have been outside. Raising his head he opened his eyes and looked around seeing a dark, starless sky above him. Maybe he was outside but things still didn't look right. Coming to his feet he picked up his bat and lantern which were at the ready for him and observed his immediate area. Behind him the hole was there, with it's unusual markings around it in a circle as it sat in a brick wall. Around him there were wagons and carriages. He must have been in a lot for pony wagons. There was the faintest glimmer of hope now, there were buildings and wagons and an outside he could walk around in. Maybe he could finally find somepony else besides himself in this nightmare world. Walking away from the hole Knick found a metal gate that was used to keep the wagons protected in the night. Thankfully it was unlocked and only took a moment to slip past. Strangely it let out into an alley way that Knick would have thought rather inconvenient for moving the wagons back and forth but it was just wide enough for two to pass by each other. As he walked down what felt like too long of an alley way Knick saw light in the entrance up ahead. It looked like the street lamps were lit, however they provided little light with the filth caked onto the glass. His steps echoed through the alley way but he began to hear another sound; his watch. The grinding had started up faintly, something was waiting for him. Maybe another one of those mares with the acid mouths or those long, straight back dog creatures. Or maybe the monster with the big eye... It didn't matter. He was tired of letting this place abuse him. Knick Knack narrowed his eyes and tested his tail's grip around the bat. Once he was prepared Knick carefully walked towards the opening of the alley. But there was another sound that was filling the streets besides his own steps and the metallic grinding. It was wet and savage, an awful sound that Knick had never heard before but he thought he understood. Keeping close to the walls of the alley he set his lantern down to keep the light from giving himself away. Slowly he crept along the wall and peeked around to view the sight before him. His body shook seeing the beast. There was no other word to describe it, a beast was most fitting. It was huge, the width of its shoulders matching one of the wagons back at the lot easily. Its body shaped like that of a dog's only it was all wrong. The front part was gigantic and its front legs were disproportionately huge compared to its back legs. Worst of all was its mouth; long like it belonged to a crocodile instead of any kind of mammal. Its head sunk into its huge shoulders and the mouth snapping and swallowing. Knick couldn't tell what it was eating at first until he saw the leg fall out of its mouth, a pony's leg. He backed up to hide behind the alley wall again and felt his body shaking hard enough to drop to the ground. It was so large, there was no possible way he could ever fight it. It would murder him in seconds like it did to that other pony it was devouring. Could he sneak around it? Should he even try? Knick got back to his hooves and picked up his lantern, looking around the street. There were several buildings but the doors were all closed shut, they didn't look boarded up like his own store though. There was a storm drain that went to a lower part of the city to prevent flooding that was fairly wide, but it looked steep and if he were to try to run down it he could hurt himself pretty bad. Besides he couldn't see how far it went with how dark everything was. The only chance he had was to try to walk down the other direction of the street and try to stay out of sight. Swallowing a lump in his throat Knick readied himself to go. As he tried to lower his breathing his body kept shaking. Then the baseball bat his tail was wrapped around slipped off his back where he had it resting. He had been so nervous he didn't even think about it, till it hit the cobblestone street with a wooden "klunk". The beast turned its head towards the alley. Knick's heart stopped. There was a terrible moment as Knick listened closely to the breathing of the monster, one where he dared not move a muscle should he give himself away. He held his breath and stayed perfectly still. The beast continued to sniff the air for a while longer before opening its mouth and letting the dead pony meat slide from its long jaws. It took a single step, and the watch became twice as loud with its warning. Knick turned and fled as fast as he could down the alley way, the beast roaring as it charged after him. He felt the monster's vibrations on the cobblestone as it was coming down the alley way, he could hear its eager panting as it chased a fresh meal. Knick had thought he was prepared for anything, to face any challenge but he had been so wrong. Now he was running for his life. As he ignored the pain coming from his front legs he saw the gate before him and pushed himself that much harder. He closed the distance and slipped in at an angle through the slightly opened gate. Knick stopped in time to look as the creature collided against the metal bars and slammed the gate closed shut. It roared in rage and clawed at the gate, trying to slip its over sized jaws through the bars at Knick but there was simply no way it could get at him. As clawing didn't prove to be useful the beast eventually sat down and stared at Knick, panting hard in anticipation of the meal before it. Its eyes were red and lacked any sort of remorse, it just wanted to eat. He backed away from the bars slowly as it watched him, looking back at the hole in the wall. He had an exit, it would probably take him back to his house but he didn't care. Anywhere was better than right here, right now. Turning his back on the monster Knick climbed up into the hole and into the darkness.