Protective Thing

>Be Anon
>A loud crashing sound causes you to wake up suddenly
>You sit up in bed
>It takes your eyes a moment to adjust to the darkness
>You notice that Thingpone is not in her usual spot, snuggled up beside you
>Another crashing sound echoes through the house
>It sounds like the noise is coming from the kitchen
>Is Thingpone trying to bake something again?
>You get out of bed and quietly open the bedroom door
>Peering down the hall you can see the entire house is dark except for a light coming from the kitchen
"Thingpone?  Is that you?"
>Dead silence
"This isn't another prank right?"
>More silence
>You decide you may as well get this over with and see what horrors she has in store for you this time
>Even though you already know it's coming, you're still afraid to see what type of abomination she has transformed into this time
>You creep down the hall
>Peering around the corner what you see is both horrifying and a great relief
>There is no terrifying abomination waiting to make you shit your pants
>Instead it is two diamond dogs
>"Hello, hello, what have we got here?  You aren't a pony.  What do you think that thing is Jake?"
>"No idea Cooper, but that just means we can charge more for it bein a rare find and all."
>You start to back away from the two of them only to bump into something standing behind you
>Two massive paws come down and grip your shoulders, holding you in place
>"You weren't thinkin bout leavin were you?"
>You look up to see a third diamond dog sneering down at you
>"Good timing Duke. What'd you think of that other pony we caught by the way?"
>Cooper motions to the room behind you that Duke must have come out of
>Duke doesn't answer immediately, instead there is an awkward silence
>Jake and Cooper glance at each other, then back to Duke
>"Duke... ?"
>"There wasn't any pony in there."  Duke says finally, sounding a bit confused
>"What do you mean?  Jake tied her up himself and carried her in there.  I saw him do it."
>"Well then Jake must've not tied her right cause there wasn't no pony in there."
>Cooper scowled
>"If you messed this up and that pony escaped I'm going to..."
>Cooper turned towards Jake
>Jake was staring straight forward and his breathing had gone ragged
>Cooper stepped towards him and waved a hand in front of his face trying to get his attention
>"Jake! .... Jake?  Hey, snap out of it."
>Cooper grabbed Jake by his shoulders and shook him
>The moment Cooper started shaking Jake, a loud cracking and squelching sound filled the room
>From just under his chin all the way down to below his belly, Jake split open revealing a mass of teeth, flesh, bones, and even a couple eyes
>Jake lurched forward before Cooper could even scream in surprise and engulfed almost the entire upper half of his body
>A muffled screaming could be heard as Cooper desperately punched and pushed at the Jake-monster to no avail
>He couldn't even get the monster to budge an inch
>You and Duke can only look in stunned horror as Cooper's flailing slows and his yelling dies down
>With a final soft whimper, Cooper goes limp and the monster slowly turns to face you and Duke
>"Wh-what IS that!?"  Duke finally manages to regain some of his senses
>"N-no!  NO!  Stay back!"
>You notice that the areas where the monster had closed around Cooper have fused back together
>The creature had added Cooper to its own body
>It stepped forward using Cooper's feet as well as Jake's
>Duke began to back into the room he had come out of, dragging you along as a human shield
>"D-don't!  Stay back!  Oh f-f-fuck..."
>Duke shoved you forward at the creature and dove backwards into the room, slamming the door shut
>Cooper's arms snap around backwards and catch you
>Terrified, you look up and meet the monster's gaze
>It grins at you
>"Go back to bed dear."  It says in an unsettling mix of both Jake and Cooper's voices  "I'll be back as soon as I finish cleaning this mess up."
>The Jake-Cooper thing gently sets you aside before forcing the door open and going after Duke
>You hear the sounds of a brief struggle, that squelching and cracking noise, a scream, then silence
>You don't dare look into the room
>Instead, you find yourself stumbling back into the bedroom
>You sit down on the edge of the bed and stare blankly at the wall
>Some time passes before Thingpone enters the room
>She looks just like her normal pony self
>"Anon?  Anon I'm sor-"  She belches suddenly, tentacles shooting out from behind her head to cover her mouth
>"I'm... Excuse me.  Sorry... Anon I was hoping to take care of them before you woke up.  I'm sorry you had to see that."
>She gives you a reassuring smile
>You can only nod your head slowly
>She jumps up on the bed and rubs your back with her hoof
>"There's nothing to be afraid of Anon, I'll never let anyone hurt you."