Nightmare Moon on Oak Street

Chapter 6: Heroism Will Cost You

Twilight blinked away tears, hoping things would change every time she opened her eyes— they didn’t. With a giggle, Nightmare Moon flapped her wings and alighted in the stands just above the doorway. With a flash of her horn, a huge array of bright lights lowered itself from the ceiling and focused on Twilight. The lights blinded Twilight, causing her to squint. She felt as if she would melt beneath the heat. The straps held her down and kept her exposed— she couldn’t do anything to cover herself.

Fluttershy ran, the horrible screech of the bone saw scraping against the wall still chasing her. Pinkie and Fluttershy both quivered, black smoke coming out of them with each breath. Fluttershy darted into the room, and skidded to a halt. Her eyes darted everywhere, taking in her surroundings. She could see everything except for Nightmare Moon, who leered at her from above the doorway. “W-we have to g-get out of here!” Fluttershy gasped out between breaths. “Rarity… she… she...!” Fluttershy sobbed.

“Fluttershy! Unstrap me, quickly!” Twilight called. Fluttershy moved slower than Twilight would have liked, but she bit down on the straps over Twilight’s hind legs and pulled.

Nightmare Moon scowled as a strap slid free. She turned to Pinkie, curled into a ball, quivering, and said, “Aren’t you worried that psycho with a bone saw is going to cut off somepony’s wings? Aren’t you going to stop her? Oh, that’s right, you were too scared to do anything. You just sat in your room and watched while she took that bone saw…” The screeching quickly grew in volume. “...while she hacked off that poor pegasus’ wing. What was his name again?”

Pinkie curled into a tighter ball and sobbed, black smoke flooding out of her. “I… I… I—”

“DON’T KNOW?! That’s right, you sniveling filly! You never knew his name! Some friend you are! You think that just because you know everypony’s name in Ponyville, it’ll make up for it?” Nightmare Moon snorted with derision, but Twilight could see her breath turn from crimson to yellow. Nightmare Moon pointed her horn at Pinkie. Tendrils of dark smoke peeled away from her and shot to the table like venomous snakes. The straps holding Twilight suddenly tightened down.

Twilight wheezed as the straps dug into her fur. The strap across her chest forced the air out of her, causing her to gasp for breath. The strap over her forehead slammed Twilight’s head onto the table. She groaned, spots dancing across her vision. Fluttershy bit down on the strap around Twilight’s belly, but her quivering didn’t instill confidence. The horrible sound of the metallic screeching grew to a crescendo… then stopped.

Fluttershy let out a little “eeep!” and darted away from Twilight. Twilight blinked, but couldn’t move her head even a little as she stared up into those bright hospital lights. A silhouette appeared in front of Twilight’s vision, and a hot, sticky liquid dripped onto her right shoulder. “Oh, Twilight, darling. There you are. You’re such a good friend, aren’t you? Not like selfish Fluttershy over there.” Fluttershy whimpered somewhere out of Twilight’s vision.

Twilight shut her eyes and asked, “What’ve you done with Rainbow Dash?”

“Look at me when I’m talking to you!” Rarity snarled. Twilight felt cold metal grinding against her left cheek, and the strap on her head suddenly snapped off. With a cry, Twilight opened her eyes as she received a sliver of pain across her left cheek. Rarity stood over her with a bloody bone saw in her aura. Fresh blood from Twilight’s cheek dripped from the end. “It’s rude not to pay attention when another pony is talking.” Rarity put her face into Twilight’s so they were almost nose to nose. Twilight could feel the miasma of colors that Rarity breathed out. “There now, isn’t that better? Now then, you had a question? Rainbow Dash, yes? Don’t worry about her, Twilight. I’m taking good care of her. Why, I’d give her the shirt off my back.”

Twilight took this opportunity to look around again. Pinkie whimpered, staring at the bone saw. Fluttershy stood with her flank pressed against the elevator, which led to… the hallway on the other side of the room? Twilight wasn’t sure, and didn’t have time to think about the nonsense physics of dreams. Nightmare Moon held Twilight’s attention, subtly moving her horn like a conductor’s wand. The black smoke responded, coalescing around the straps, and wrapping itself around Fluttershy and Pinkie. Twilight felt a tightness in her chest, like the rush of panic that accompanies a fall. Nightmare Moon is trying to scare me with fear itself! I can’t let it get to me. “I’m not scared, this is all just a dream. Rarity, don’t you remember why you’re here?”

Twilight looked at Rarity and watched as more and more of that rainbow-colored mist clung to her. Rarity tilted her head. “Why, I’m here to help ponies, poor ponies like Rainbow Dash. And the best way to help ponies is by being generous, by giving of yourself. Don’t you agree, Twilight?”

Twilight swallowed the lump in her throat. Knowing you’re afraid doesn’t really make you less afraid. But I shouldn’t be afraid, this is just Nightmare Moon’s doing. Keep it together, Twilight! And keep Rarity sane! “Of course I agree. Why don’t we all just calm down and go back to Rainbow Dash? I’m sure she’d like it if we played a board game with her to pass the time. Being in a hospital bed is no fun.”

Rarity’s smile grew so wide, Twilight was sure it hurt her. Somehow, the smile didn’t actually tear into Rarity’s face, but the grin told Twilight that Rarity had no more self-preservation. Rarity held up a bloody stump of foreleg. “But we can help Rainbow Dash so much more if we give of ourselves! You don’t need these wings as much as she does, and you don’t even need to give her both of them, just one! I’ve already given her my leg— SEE?” Rarity grinned and pushed the still-bleeding stump into Twilight’s face. “Aren’t I the nicest, most generous pony you’ve ever met?”

Twilight couldn’t help the cold pit forming in her stomach, and her own foreleg twitched with sympathy. “Th-that’s so nice of you, Rarity. How about—”

“Now just hold still, Twilight! This will free up those wingy thoughts of yours!” Rarity tilted her head and looked at Twilight’s left wing, positioning the bone saw to begin her grisly work.

Twilight felt the rush of panic, and cursed herself. She could see Nightmare Moon in the edge of her vision, tittering. Black mist filled the room. Twilight screamed without thinking, “ANYPONY, HELP!”

As Rarity brought the saw down, a blue blur slammed into her from behind, and Rarity hit the wall with enough force to crack it. Twilight tilted her head sideways to see Rarity and Rainbow Dash wrestling with each other. “Get us out of here, Egghead!” Dash shouted.

“Dash, I’m only trying to help you! I don’t have any wings to give. Don’t be so ungrateful!” Rarity tackled Dash, shoulder-checking her into the wall, and slammed her head into the tile. Dash fought back and returned with a solid left hoof.

A solid, white, left hoof.

Twilight couldn’t stop staring at the white foreleg stitched onto Dash’s missing one. She still didn’t have a left wing, but it wasn’t bleeding anymore. Dash breathed out a thick cloud of reddish-orange vapor to mix with Rarity’s rainbow colors. Twilight took the opportunity to rally her friends. “Pinkie, Fluttershy, look at how brave Dash is! There’s no reason to be scared!”

The black mist stopped leaking out of Pinkie as she watched Dash. Rarity bit down on Dash’s blue foreleg. Dash snarled and used her white hoof to pound Rarity on the horn, sending her sprawling. “This is crazy, and I know something about crazy!” Pinkie swallowed when she saw the bone saw lying next to the table. Gingerly, she picked it up and held it over Twilight. “I’ll get you out of there in two shakes of a lamb’s tail!” She still quivered as she said it.

“GIVE THAT BACK!” Nightmare Moon screamed at Pinkie.

“Keep it up, Pinkie!” Twilight smiled as the saw bit into the first strap.

Nightmare Moon drew the shadows in around herself, growling like a wolf. Twilight watched in horror as she flapped one wing and sent a massive wave of black vapor at Rarity and Rainbow Dash. Dash pounced on Rarity just as the wave overtook them. Twilight gasped and held her breath. Dash momentarily stopped and shivered as a horrible, oily feeling raced up her spine.

The blackness hit Rarity as well, but it washed over the rainbow vapors like oil and water— the two didn’t mix. While Dash flinched, Rarity took the opportunity to buck her in the stomach. Dash flew across the room and smacked into the wall near Fluttershy. Rarity scrambled to her hooves and stumbled towards Pinkie. “Excuse me? Are you a psycho?! Give me back my jagged, sharp thoughts!” Rarity cried.

Pinkie’s eyes crossed and focused on the bone saw held in her mouth. With a start, she dropped it while stumbling back. Twilight tried to think past the panic and shouted, “Pinkie, cut me free with something else!” Twilight tried to think of something sharp in a hospital. “I know! A scalpel!”A shiny, razor-sharp scalpel appeared right in front of Pinkie in a purple flash.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. A scalpel will take too long. THIS will be faster… and more painful!” Rarity exclaimed, as she hopped onto the table again, the bone saw held in her aura.

She tried to bring the weapon down on Twilight’s wing, but Rainbow Dash tackled her at the last second. She used her one good wing to hold Rarity in a headlock while bashing her with the white hoof. Luckily, Twilight didn’t get stepped on as they tussled on the table. “Yeah, have a taste of your own medicine! Heh, sweet, I got to make a quip that’s totally in context!”

“Forget the quips, get me out of here!” Twilight screamed.

Rarity slapped Dash’s wing away, then followed up with a zap from her horn, knocking Dash sideways. Twilight gasped, but Dash kept her balance by using her one remaining wing. “Dash, use this!” Pinkie cried, as she tossed the scalpel in a lazy arc.

Twilight watched the horror unfold in slow motion. Dash tilted her wing to catch the scalpel. Rarity flicked her attention to the bone saw, bringing it back for a swing. Dash caught the scalpel with her wing and continued to turn, bringing the point in a low arc. With an insane glint her eye, and a low growl, Rarity brought the bone saw across her body in a high, vicious swing.

Twilight didn’t hear anything besides the blood pumping in her ears. Rarity faltered. She stopped breathing out rainbow-colored vapor; instead, her breath turned black. Tiny crimson spots appeared all over Rarity, like somepony hit her with a giant, red spray can.

Then Dash obscured Twilight’s vision with her body as she slumped on top of her. Twilight could feel Rarity crumple and fall on top of her hind legs. “Dash?” Twilight whispered.

Dash slipped and her hind legs fell off the side of the table. Twilight could see Dash’s upper body, her hooves holding on to keep her from slipping off. Twilight felt a hot liquid spilling across her chest. Dash smiled and cried. When she spoke, it came out as an airy rasp, as if she sucked on thin air. “I didn’t fail… I totally stopped… the psycho… I got… to be… the heroine…”

Twilight and Fluttershy screamed. Blood spurted out of Dash’s neck and all over Twilight’s chest. The cut on her throat severed both arteries and her windpipe. Tears burned hot in Twilight’s vision as Dash slowly slid off the table, spraying her lifeblood everywhere.

With a wet thud, she hit the floor, allowing Twilight to see Rarity. Twilight’s scream didn’t miss a beat. Rarity lay on her back, turned the opposite direction of Dash, across Twilight’s hind legs, facing the ceiling. The scalpel stood, buried in Rarity’s chest, right over her heart. A thin rivulet of blood ran from her mouth, and her missing leg still seeped blood onto Twilight’s leg and the table.

Nightmare Moon stood high above, cloaked in shadows. Twilight could only see two cat-like green eyes, and the white, devilish grin just below. The scalpel’s handle seemed to point right at that smile. Twilight focused on it. The scream died on her lips.

The blood of her friends covered her, hot and sticky and dead. Burning her. Seeping into her. Her own blood boiled.

It should have been a cause for tears, but Nightmare Moon smiled. Smiled a true smile, the kind Pinkie Pie held when she made other ponies smile, and it sparked a rage in Twilight she had never felt before in her life.

She’d been irritated past her breaking point with Pinkie before. She’d felt her blood quicken in battle with Tirek. She had even felt true anger at Trixie that time she enslaved ponyville. But never in her life had Twilight felt such white-hot rage, or so quickly. It wasn’t an emotion she was accustomed to. Not until she actually had something precious taken from her and the perpetrator enjoy it so, did this ancient emotion awaken.

Twilight’s mane and tail turned to fire, her tears into steam. The vapors in the room seemed to melt away, and everything looked crystal clear to her. As she rose to her hooves, the straps snapped like worn violin strings, making a discordant sound. For a brief instant, Nightmare Moon seemed to shrink. The room grew hot. “BURN!” Twilight growled, her entire body shaking with rage.

The room turned into an inferno. The doctors, silently seated around the amphitheater, screamed. Flesh blistered, blackened, and sloughed off in the heat. Fur and hair burned to cinders. Even hooves cracked and split. Everypony in Twilight’s vision screamed in unbearable agony, and she wanted Nightmare Moon to feel all of it. Nightmare Moon laughed behind the flames.

“No! This isn’t right!” Fluttershy shouted. “Twilight, come with us!”

“We’re not leaving anypony behind!” Pinkie cried.

Hooves dragged Twilight backwards and into darkness.

~~~~~

Everything Twilight saw held a red tint. “Uh…?” She blinked and tried to focus. Her head felt like it was stuffed with hot popcorn: full, but nothing of substance. She heard music.

Smooth jazz.

“It’s okay, Twilight. Everything’s okay now. You burnt her to ash. It’s over,” Fluttershy said quietly. Twilight blinked as her thoughts flowed back into her head. She suddenly felt exhausted and empty.

“It’s not quite over,” Pinkie sobbed. Twilight looked around, and her surroundings came into focus.

She stood next to Fluttershy in the elevator car. Smooth jazz played through the speakers, and a new button had appeared on the panel below the others. In Fluttershy’s delicate script, the label read, ‘Peaceful graveyard for friends.’ Blood stained the elevator car in a thick line starting at the doors and leading to Pinkie.

Rarity lay on her back next to Pinkie, her eyes glassy. Pinkie cradled Rainbow Dash in her hooves. Dash’s eyes stared up, quivering. Her mouth opened and closed, like a fish out of water trying to breathe. The gash in her throat poured blood out between Pinkie’s hooves in a small river. Pinkie bent over Dash, tears splattering down her face and onto Dash’s chest. The tears did nothing to wash away the blood pouring down her front.

Dash’s mouth moved. Twilight couldn’t see; everything became blurry with tears. “Twilight, Dash wants to tell you something,” Pinkie said through her tears. Twilight knelt and tried not to cry as she put her ear near Dash’s mouth.

“Embrace fear,” Dash whispered.

“Wh-what?” Twilight turned her head to look at Dash, and immediately wept again. Blood seeped out of Dash’s neck, but her eyes didn’t focus on anything, and she didn’t move. “NO!” Twilight cried, wrapping her hooves and wings around Dash. The body still felt warm.

Twilight simply sobbed.