Fear the Four

I gasped and struggled out of the Flutterbat's hold. She hissed and struck me across the face with her wing. I grunted in pain and staggered back. The claw on the tip of her wing had left a scratch on me. Flutterbat's eyes widened when she saw blood drip from the cut she gave me. She smiled wickedly and licked her mouth. I got into a fighting position and waited. Flutterbat hissed and bared her fangs as she flew straight towards me. "Whoa, shit!" I cried out, jumping to the side. Flutterbat turned around and hissed angrily. She lunged at me again. As I dove to the side, the claw scratched me once again. Same side of the face, but this cut was more diagonal. Flutterbat stopped and hovered in the air. She then licked the blood off of her claw. The way she stared at me gave me a hint that she wanted more.

"This has got to be a nightmare" I whispered to myself as Fluttershy hovered back on land and crouched down. "Yeah, this is a nightmare" I told myself. "Pretty soon, Princess Luna will stop all of this." Flutterbat lunged forward, flying full speed. Fangs bared, and hissing loudly. I quickly moved to the side and watched her bump into a tree. She landed with a thud and a soft grunt. She got on all fours, shook the slight pain out of her head and stared at me angrily. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my gun. 'I'm not going to kill you' I thought to myself as I cocked it. Flutterbat eyed the gun suspiciously, then back at me. 'But I won't hesitate to give you a flesh wound.'

Castle Nightmare

"This is exciting" the shadow said.

"I'm just doing this to ease your fucking complaints and fucking boredom" Pitch Black replied as they watched their game happen through some kind of mirror shrouded in black aura. They watched as Flutterbat flew straight at me. Pitch Black was impressed when Flutterbat smacked the gun out of my hand with her wing and shoved me hard with her forehooves, causing me to tumble and roll through the grass. Pitch Black and his shadow both chuckled with amusement.

"And you said you prevented Princess Luna/Nightmare Moon from saving him?" The shadow asked.

"Sure did. And now he'll think that he's abandoned, unwanted, and unloved. I want to see all of this unfold."

Canterlot

I staggered to my feet and leaned against a nearby tree. "Come on, Princess Luna" I whispered as I saw Flutterbat hover towards me. "Come on..." I said softly. "Get me out of this nightmare... I don't wish to harm Fluttershy." While I was talking quietly to myself, Flutterbat flew at me, fangs bared and was aiming for my neck. Thinking quickly, I backhanded the bat pony, stunning her for a second or two. I picked my gun back up, pocketed it, and ran to the nearest tree.

'I have to stall her long enough to ask for help Princess Luna' I thought to myself. But a thought hit me. 'Is this really a nightmare? Or is this real?' I started putting the pieces together and realized something. 'If this was a nightmare, Flutterbat would be gone by now.' I peeked from behind the tree and saw Flutterbat looking for me. 'Unless...' My thought was interrupted when Flutterbat suddenly flew down in front of me, eyes filled with anger and hissing loudly with her fangs bared.

"Oh, shut it" I said as I quickly grabbed an apple from the tree and stuffed it in her mouth. Flutterbat's eyes widened with surprise. Muffled hisses and screeches could be heard from behind the apple. I watched as the bat pony thrashed on the ground, struggling to get the apple out with her hooves. "Ha!" I laughed as I went down another direction. I continued deducing the now, ignoring the muffled hisses and screeches a couple feet away from me.

'This could be a nightmare, unless something is happening that's preventing Princess Luna to work her magic. In addition, she could stop a fear in the real world if a colt or filly is really afraid to face their fear. But of course she suggests that they will have to face their fear some time.' The muffled sounds soon became frantic. I peeked from behind the tree and watched the bat pony thrash on the ground. I then remembered staying in the library reading more about Pitch Black. He could perform magic that surpasses an alicorn's! That's it! The fucking king of fucking nightmares must be the one behind this! Damn I'm good! I rushed over to the thrashing bat pony struggling with the apple in her mouth. If I squinted, I could see tears coming from her eyes. I bent down next to her and tried to calm her down, to no avail. I know I'm going to regret this. I quickly grasped the apple and popped it out of her mouth. I yanked it with such force, I staggered back, lost my balance, and fell on my ass. Flutterbat began to breathe heavily due to being nearly suffocated by the fruit. She turned her head towards me and saw me eating the apple. "It's funny how I'm going to get bitten by you in a matter of seconds so..." I trailed off and took another bite of the apple. Flutterbat looked like she was in a trance. She slowly approached me, eyes wide, and drooling.

Castle Nightmare

"That's it" Pitch Black said with glee. "Go for the kill while he's eating that fucking fruit!" The two watched Flutterbat approach me with her fangs bared and what excited them more was that I wasn't paying attention. But their excitement went away quickly when she bit into the apple I was eating. "No" Pitch Black gasped. "No, no, no! This isn't suppose to happen!" He yelled. They watched me share the apple with the creature he sent to kill me. "No! Kill him! Kill him! Don't fucking have a picnic with him!!!" The scene before them made Pitch sick to his stomach. "I want blood! I want screams of pain! I want Cale to think he's unwanted! Where did this brilliant plan go wrong?! He's just a human!"

"Clearly you're underestimating him" the shadow said, clearly upset as he was but isn't showing it. Pitch Black reached into his pocket and pulled out a black pocket watch. And his rage soon turned into insane giggles.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1... Midnight." He rose from his throne and laughed. "Hell shall rain down on the four humans!" He grabbed his walking stick and tapped it rhythmically on the floor. A black portal appeared in front of him. "Come forth my nightmarish soldiers! I have a task for you..."

Emerging first was a brown hairy spider that's the size of Princess Celestia. It had eight large black beady eyes. Next was a wooden, stringless marionette. It's wooden mouth clattered together and it's beady eyes glanced all around the room while holding a kitchen knife with the blade facing down. Next one out was a clown. It wore a smile that looked like its been stuck on his face for nearly his entire life. He was even humming the tune of 'Pop Goes the Weasel'. But his hums sounded more like giggles. The last one was Slender. The entity I once faced. Now I'm about to face him again.

"Fun fact..." Pitch Black said to his shadow as they admired the four in front if them. "To beat these nightmares, the four humans has to brave them. But I highly doubt they will due to how truly afraid they are. Also, a nightmare can kill other nightmares."

"But the Flutterbat..." The shadow began.

"Nonsense... She's no longer a nightmare. How can she be one when she eats fruit and no meat?"

"Good point" the shadow said. Pitch Black opened a portal. "Go to Canterlot... Hunt the human that truly fears you and kill them." They watched as their four soldiers marched into the portal. "The time has come... The moment I've been waiting for. My time to rule Equestria is coming close. I can feel it."

"I'm so happy for you, sire" the shadow said as he reattached himself to Pitch's body.

"Soon Shadow, we will rule Equestria together. And as of now, Equestria is doomed, not while the humans are fearing the Four."

"But what about Flutterbat? You said you were changing her."

"I was... But now since she likes fruit instead of meat, it is likely that she'll never use the power I gave her. She's not a fucking nightmare anymore."

He was wrong. Because in Canterlot, while we were enjoying that one apple together, a large snake had popped out a bush and startled me. Now I'm not scared of snakes, but this just surprised the hell out of me. Flutterbat then did something I did not expect. Compared to the snake now, she was nothing. She then transformed into an anthro. She was bigger, and more feral than she was before. Like a cat stalking a mouse, she got down on all fours, pounced on the snake and bit its neck. I watched her suck the snake's blood while piercing her claws into the reptile's body, drawing more blood. I watched with shock as Flutterbat drank every ounce of the snake's blood and tossed the deformed body aside like it was trash. Also like cat, she licked the blood off her clawed hands and mouth. She then reverted back into the bat pony that attacked me tonight. She then gave me a toothy smile like nothing happened.

"Holy shit" I gasped. That was all I could think of... And say that night.