Nightmare Moon on Oak Street

Chapter 3: Smoke, Fire, Blood, and Screams

“Rarity!” Rainbow Dash screamed. A blue blur shot across the room and hugged Rarity tight. “I’ve got you, relax!”

Rarity continued wailing, quivering like a worm on a hook. Blood splattered into Dash’s eyes and face as she lifted Rarity to take the weight off her injured leg. “Wake up… wake up… wake up,” Fluttershy mumbled, still curled into a fetal position.

“A-Applejack?” Twilight stammered. “W-what, how...?” Her eyes looked in the direction of the bloody tree, but remained unfocused.

“TWILIGHT!” Pinkie shouted, right into Twilight's face. “Help Rarity!”

“W-What? RARITY!” she screamed, as she galloped across the barn, kicking up bits of dust and hay. She slid to a stop underneath Dash and Rarity, and just stared. “What do I do now?”

“Use your magic and get her down!” Pinkie shouted. “Focus, Twilight!” Pinkie grimaced and mumbled under her breath, “Why am I the one who’s acting level-headed?”

Twilight shook her head, clearing away the cobwebs. Her horn glowed, and so did the wire holding the hay hook and the remaining bits of the disco ball. Quickly unwinding it, Rarity screamed again when the last knot snapped open and she jerked downwards under the influence of gravity.

“I’ve got you! It’s okay!” Dash held Rarity with all four of her hooves. She floated gently down to the ground, landing in front of Twilight. Holding Rarity like a porcelain doll, Dash set her down on a thin bed of hay.

Rarity curled her left forehoof to her chest, breathing in ragged, deep breaths. Twilight swallowed as she looked at the injury. The rusty hay hook pierced Rarity’s leg just above her hoof, and glistened with blood. Deep crimson spread across her foreleg and chest, adding to the matching drops on her face and mane. Twilight glanced at Rarity’s face and instantly regretted it.

Rarity’s face contorted in pain, her lips quivered, and spittle leaked from her mouth. Her puffy, red eyes leaked tears like a broken pipe. She continued gasping for air, on the verge of hyperventilating. Twilight grimaced and said, “This will only hurt a little.” Without another pause, she lit her horn, took hold of the hay hook, and yanked it backwards.

“HEEYAHHHHH!” Rarity screamed anew as the bent metal slid back a fraction of an inch. The sound of metal scraping on bone, like nails on a chalkboard, could be heard throughout the barn.

“What are you doing?!” Dash cried. “Pull it out!”

Twilight sobbed once, and said, “I can’t, not without twisting! It isn’t a straight piece of metal.”

“It’s like an arrow— you gotta push it through,” Dash replied.

Twilight looked at Dash, her mouth open and her brows raised. “W-what? I can’t—”

“G-Get it o-out…” Rarity moaned. Snot leaked from her nose almost as fast as the tears from her eyes. She sobbed again, “P-p-please.”

The handle would prevent the hook from being pushed all the way through. Dash put one hoof on the straight section of the hook, and pressed it firmly against the ground, then whispered, “It’ll be over in just a second.”

Rarity quivered again, shutting her eyes. Twilight gasped when she realized what Dash planned to do. “Wait!” she cried, but Dash didn’t wait. Dash stomped her free hoof down on the handle.

The force of the blow sent a shockwave down the length of the hook. Rarity opened her mouth and screamed again. Every other pony in the barn flattened their ears, trying to block Rarity’s cries. The wooden handle splintered, but didn’t break. Before Rarity could jerk her foreleg away, Dash smashed the handle again.

CRACK!

The handle broke, leaving just the metal hook stuck in Rarity’s foreleg. She screamed in agony as the shock traveled down the metal and into her wound. Twilight held the metal shard in her magic while Dash held Rarity’s foreleg in place. Twilight whispered apologies and comfortless words to Rarity, then steeled herself.

Twilight swallowed, focused on the metal, and pushed. Rarity wailed again, but the metal wiggled forward, sliding with all the smoothness of a pair of mismatched gears.

Totally coated in blood, the hook slid through Rarity’s leg. Twilight tossed the metal shard away; it landed with wet thud in the dust.

Rarity gasped and pulled her foreleg to her chest. Her eyes lolled in her head as blood spurted out of both sides of her leg in a series of quick, little beats. Blood covered her chest and foreleg, staining her coat a dirty red. Twilight turned to Fluttershy and begged, “Fluttershy, help us! Rarity’s hurt... Fluttershy?”

Dash and Twilight turned to find Pinkie sitting on her haunches in front of the bloody apple tree. Pinkie cried quietly as she stuffed candy from a small plastic bag into her mouth. Blood had pooled around the tree’s roots, seeping into the dirt. Pinkie mumbled something inaudible, her hair flat and devoid of its usual fluff. Fluttershy mumbled things to herself, still curled into a fetal position, stroking her tail with a shaky hoof.

“HELP HER, YOU USELESS PIECE OF HORSESHIT!” Dash screamed at Fluttershy. “STOP BEING SCARED AND HELP OUT FOR ONCE!”

Rarity rolled onto her other side and wailed again, tears pooling beneath her face. Dash knelt beside Rarity and stroked her mane. Twilight’s mouth felt like a desert. She licked her lips, and trotted across the barn to stand over Fluttershy. “Please, Fluttershy. Rarity really needs some help. Won’t you help her?” Twilight used her magic to bring Fluttershy to her hooves, and covered her with a wing.

Fluttershy stood on her own, but she still hung her head, crying softly. “I’m s-so s-scared, Twilight.”

“This is just a dream. A bad dream, that’s all,” Twilight whispered.

Fluttershy shook under Twilight’s wing. “I’m scared of bad dreams.”

“Don’t worry, Fluttershy. We’re in this one together,” Twilight said, as she led Fluttershy to Rarity. She never looked up from the ground, but she didn’t need to once she stood over Rarity. With a gasp, she knelt, and a medical kit appeared in a small white puff of vapor. Twilight smiled as Fluttershy’s instincts took over.

Dash stood by Twilight and watched as Fluttershy set and wrapped Rarity’s injury. Twilight focused on Pinkie again. Twilight mentally braced herself and thought, one problem at a time, Twilight. A cold shiver ran down her spine when she saw Pinkie.

Still sitting on her haunches in front of the apple tree, Pinkie’s ears stood upright. Three strange white fillies surrounded her, leaning in close to her head. They whispered into her ears, things Twilight couldn’t hear, but something about the three strange fillies gave Twilight a chill. “Pinkie?!” Twilight barked as she trotted up behind her.

The three white fillies simply vanished into a cloud of white smoke that drifted away. Twilight glared at it for a moment before she gave Pinkie her full attention. “What’s up, Twilight?” Pinkie asked.

Pinkie’s body hadn’t moved, only her head looked at Twilight. She looked like a doll with its head twisted a little too far around. Her hair hung flat, and her grin bespoke ignorant joy. Twilight had only seen this once before, and it scared her even more now. “H-hi, Pinkie. Is everything alright?” Twilight asked, with a backward glance to Rarity. Dash glared at Fluttershy and said something quietly that Twilight couldn’t hear.

“Everything’s just hunky-dory, Twilight! Why don’t you sit down and chat? Applejack is a great listener,” Pinkie replied. She looked at the tree again and tilted her head. “Of course I can hear you, Applejack. Inanimate objects can be friends, too— and you’re still alive! Why wouldn’t we be friends?”

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and tears leaked down her face. She covered a gasp with a hoof when Pinkie stood before the tree and gave it a hug. Blood seeped into her fur, staining it crimson. Pinkie leaned against the tree, closed her eyes, and spoke quietly, rubbing the tree’s trunk. “There-there, AJ. I’m sure Twilight can hear you, too.” Pinkie looked over her shoulder. “Can’t you hear her, Twilight?”

Twilight froze, her brain trying to parse what she saw and heard. Pinkie’s gone mad with grief! What do I do? Twilight thought.

Suddenly, Pinkie jumped back and glared at Twilight. “Stop being rude! If you can’t hear her, get closer! She can’t move, you know!” Pinkie shouted. Without warning, Pinkie grabbed Twilight by the scruff of her neck and roughly pushed her head onto the tree’s trunk.

“Ow! Pinkie, what’s the matter with…!?” Twilight stopped when she heard it. Pinkie hugged the tree and Twilight in one embrace, holding Twilight’s head against the trunk. Twilight could see blood staining her fur, but she didn’t care. Her left ear could hear it, deep within the tree—

lub-lub...lub-lub...lub-lub

—the unmistakable sound of a heartbeat. Twilight gasped, and pushed herself a little tighter against the tree. “I… I can hear it!” She exclaimed. Pinkie smiled again.

“KILL ME!”

Twilight stumbled away from the tree as if she’d been electrocuted. The voice sounded like Applejack’s, but muffled. The agony in that voice came through clear as a bell. “W-what?” Twilight stared at the apple tree with horror.

“You can hear her, too?! YES! I knew I wasn’t crazy!” Pinkie exclaimed. Her flat hair and eyes that didn’t focus on the same thing suggested a different story.

“TRAITOR!” Rainbow Dash shouted. Twilight spun to see Fluttershy standing a short distance away from Rarity. She stood on three legs, supported by Rainbow Dash. Her left foreleg was tightly bandaged, and she sniffled a few times, but otherwise looked well. Dash glared at Fluttershy and covered Rarity with a wing. “We don’t need a pony who hurts her friends!”

Fluttershy sobbed. “I-I’m s-sorry. I d-didn’t mean t-to… do whatever it is I did!”

Twilight’s head whipped between her two groups of friends. Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy on one hoof. Pinkie and… the apple tree on the other. She looked at Dash and said, “Don’t blame her, she—”

Creak…

Everypony slowly turned their heads to look at the apple tree. Pinkie still hugged the rough bark. She held a grin so wide, it looked like her smile would take over her entire face. “Isn’t that better, Applejack? I always imagine my friends moving around, even when it’s just Mr. lamp or Mrs. alarm clock!”

The rest of the ponies watched in awe and horror as the apple tree moved. The branches and limbs creaked and swayed for a moment before the trunk split and cracked. Roughly in the center of the trunk, just above head level, a jagged maw appeared below a set of glowing, emerald eyes. The face was rough and barky, the features indistinct, but Twilight knew Applejack when she saw her.

The mouth of the tree let out a low growl, like a timberwolf. Twilight gulped, and her voice quavered. “P-Pinkie, get away f-from that thing… We’ve got to get out of here. We need to wake up!”

CRUNCH!

A sizable chunk of the roof caved in with a resounding crash. Luna landed in the middle of the barn, surrounded by moonlight, bits of roof, and splintered wood. She snorted and flapped her wings once, blowing away the debris that clung to her. “TWILIGHT SPARKLE, THOU MUSTN’T WAKE!” Her voice boomed across the barn.

Every other pony turned to look at Luna and her dramatic entrance. Twilight’s tear-stained face held Luna’s attention. Twilight’s voice cracked, but she asked, “What’s going on? Applejack... she’s… she’s changed!”

Luna looked at each pony imperiously, her gaze lingering on Twilight. “Thou must understand, ‘tis Nightmare Moon’s doing. She’s escaped into your dream and has grievously injured your friend in the waking world.”

Rarity sobbed, “How is that possible? We’re just dreaming, aren’t we?” Dash smiled and nodded, still supporting some of Rarity’s weight.

Luna looked at Rarity grimly. “We are afraid not. ‘Tis the power of Nightmare Moon. If thou give in to fear, Nightmare Moon will grow strong. Strong enough to cause your injuries here to appear upon your body in the waking world. Death’s reach can claim you as well, if the fear is strong enough.” Luna glanced about the barn. “I do not see Applejack— where is she?”

Pinkie grinned and hugged the apple tree again. “She’s right here! She’s not dead, she’s just a little… movement-impaired.”

Luna’s eyes went wide at the sight of the tree. “Her back is broken in the waking world, but We never expected this. Often such improbable deaths cause the dreamer to simply die of a heart attack, but only if we’re lucky.”

Rainbow Dash gulped. Twilight sobbed and asked, “What could be worse than death?”

Luna fixed Twilight with her gaze. “She shall lose her mind from the shock and pain. She’ll be stark raving mad. An insane pony is a perfect host for Nightmare Moon.”

Pinkie squeezed her eyes shut and hugged the tree tighter. The tree’s limbs bent, and hugged her back. Pinkie whispered loud enough for every other pony to hear, “I won’t let her take you. You’ll be safe, I Pinkie Pie promise.”

Fluttershy continued to weep. “Please, let’s just wake up.”

Twilight sniffled and asked, “Yeah, why shouldn’t we just wake up?”

Luna crept forward, towards the apple tree. “Because if thou wake up, and Applejack isn’t dead, Nightmare Moon will possess her body. We cannot allow such a thing.”

Pinkie whirled around at the sound of Luna’s voice. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Luna stared at the apple tree, and said in a low voice, “What We must.” Luna lit her horn and a lump of hay levitated in her aura. With a glance, her horn shot a spark, and the ball of hay ignited into a ball of fire.

“Stay back!” Pinkie cried.

Twilight’s eyes went wide, and she breathed in and out rapidly, her heart racing. Dash started forward and jostled Rarity, causing her to cry out. Dash stopped short and gritted her teeth. Fluttershy cried, “No! No-no-no-NO!”

Pinkie flung herself onto Luna. “NO! STOP!” she cried, wrenching Luna’s head left and right in an effort to break her concentration.

Luna shifted left and right, the flaming ball moving with her. “Step aside, Pinkie Pie. This must be done.”

“Heh-heh-heh,” laughter echoed through the barn. A black mist leaked into the barn from the hole in the roof, coalescing into a vaguely equine shape on the ground. “Careful what you wish for, Fluttershy. It might just come true…” The voice of Nightmare Moon came out of the shadowy form.

Luna whirled on the figure, with Pinkie hanging onto her like an albatross around her neck. “Showing yourself already? We thought you’d be too cowardly. We suppose you’re not going to rely on cheap tricks this time.”

Nightmare Moon stepped out of the black cloud with a mischievous smile. “Oh, dear Luna, we need not rely on such parlor tricks this time. These ponies, especially lovely Fluttershy, have provided us with an ample supply of fear. We did little more than redirect it.”

Luna snorted and lowered her head. “Thou shall not pass.”

Nightmare Moon giggled, a high-pitched, girlish laugh that threatened to shatter glass. “As if you could stop me.”

Luna snorted again and pawed the ground with a forehoof, like a bull ready to charge. Nightmare Moon lunged forward. Twilight aimed her horn, intending to hit Nightmare Moon with a bolt of magic, when she once again turned into a cloud of dark smoke. Luna shook off Pinkie, and charged through the smoke without slowing down, emerging on the other side. Skidding to a stop, Luna turned, the ball of fire still floating near her. “What art thou playing at?”

The smoke darted forward, directly at the apple tree. Pinkie growled and pounced at it, but just like Luna, she passed through it. The smoke swirled around the apple tree, seeping into its crevices. “NO!” Luna cried. She reared back and aimed her horn at the tree.

“I promised!” Pinkie shouted, as she tackled Luna, but too late. Luna let the ball of fire fly, and it hit the apple tree squarely in the branches. In seconds, it flickered to life, setting the tree aflame.

“GYAHHHH!” the tree screamed, with a deep, reverberating voice. The black smoke leaked out of the tree’s ‘mouth’ and pooled around the roots.

“Get off of Us!” Luna growled, as she struggled to her hooves. Pinkie still held fast to her.

“Applejack…” Rarity sobbed.

Pinkie turned, saw the apple tree, and let go of Luna. “Water! We need water!” She looked around frantically.

“No, leave it be.” Luna finished her proclamation by biting down on Pinkie’s tail, holding her in place.

Tears streamed down Twilight’s face. She imagined what would put out the fire in the Apple family barn. Cider, she thought, and just like that, a barrel of cider appeared in front of her. “Applejack! I’ll save you!” Twilight cried. She flung the barrel of cider with all of her magical might. It shot across the barn with the force of a cannonball.

BOOM!

Thunder rolled across the barn floor, reverberating in everypony’s chest. Fluttershy screamed. The barrel of apple cider cracked and splintered as a jagged bolt of lightning caught it in mid-air. Apple cider exploded out of the shattered barrel, spraying outward into a cloud of steam and burning ozone. Bubbling cider splashed against Twilight, Pinkie, and Luna’s hooves. Everypony stood, mouth agape, staring at Luna.

Luna’s horn smoked, like a gun that had just been fired. “Oh my, Luna, how… violent of you,” Nightmare Moon said, as she coalesced out of the smoke again, backlit by the burning tree. “Letting Twilight’s precious little friends die? Now who’s the monster?” She tittered while the tree moaned in agony behind her. Flames licked the barn’s support beams, and sent angry cinders popping into the air.

“Begone, foul creature!” Luna said, through gritted teeth.

Nightmare Moon crouched and pointed her horn at Pinkie and Luna. “You know, you learned to use lightning like that from me. It’s too bad you never learned to use it correctly. If you want to use lightning—” her smile grew predatory and her horn lit with eldritch fire. Luna’s eyes went wide as she roughly tossed Pinkie by the tail out of the way. “—you have to want the target to die. Screaming. Instantly.” Nightmare Moon’s voice burned with contempt. “Like THIS!”

“Aieee!” Pinkie flew towards Twilight, who caught her with her magic. In the next instant, everything went white and silent.

Twilight blinked several times, her heart racing. Oh goddess, no! I don’t want to go blind and deaf! I have so much more to read! She felt herself cough, then take a deep breath. She smelled something burning, a combination of paper, hair, and metal. She closed her eyes, hot, salty tears streaming down her face.

“[font size=6]Thou must flee[/font].” Twilight heard a distant voice calling to her, but couldn’t make out the words. She blinked again, and the world darkened, coming into focus.

Her heart fluttered in her chest. I can see! She found herself on her side, hot ashes raining down around her. When she saw what had happened, she wished to stay blind.

The tree burned bright, while the flames spread across the barn’s roof. Pinkie Pie lay next to her in a heap, crying. Dash and Rarity cowered on the ground, Dash still covering her with a wing. Fluttershy wailed into the night air, curled into such a tight ball, Twilight thought she might stay that way forever.

But the sight of Luna made Twilight want to crawl into a dark hole and hide. Luna had been flung against the barn doors, which had splintered from her impact. Luna’s armor had melted away, and her chest bore a charred, smoking patch of flesh the size of a dinner plate. She coughed, blood dribbling down her neck and chest from her mouth. Nightmare Moon’s mane and tail burst into blue flames as she glared at Luna. “JUST DIE ALREADY!” She screamed, as she lit her horn again.

Black mist leaked out of Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie. Thin wisps of the stuff raced across the ground and seemed to join themselves with Nightmare Moon. Luna coughed again, wheezing, and cried out with her last breath, “Flee you fools, you cannot defeat Nightmare Moon like this!”

In a flash, a wave of lightning blasted across the barn. The barn doors were atomized in an instant. Instead of a doorway, a massive, burning hole was left in the side of the barn.

Twilight didn’t think, she just screamed for her friends, lifted Pinkie in her magic, and galloped for her life.