Flash Sentry was having a problem and that problem was something he was not familiar with: insanity. He had never been crazy before. Well at least, he didn't think he had and yet he was fairly certain that he was going insane now. The room was laughing at him. Flash had never liked being laughed at.
The room didn't care. It was a child's room, filled with stuffed animals that were belting out the worst bleating, long-winded laughs that he had ever heard. Flash was backed into a corner, hands pressed over his ears. His shotgun was on the floor in front of his feet. He grabbed it and pulled it closer, then went back to shutting out the laughter of the room. The lamp and ceiling fan had started as well, and he prayed they would stop.
An awful pressure was building in his chest. Flash tried to swallow, but his mouth was dry. The pressure built until he felt like he would explode, until it was actually causing his pain. He opened his mouth and laughed, eyes wide and pupils constricted, pitting his own laughter against the demonic noise surrounding his. Shakily he up from the floor, bumbling around and forgetting all about his shotgun. He weaved almost drunkenly around the room, laughing in the faces of everything he could. Flash stood in the center of the floor and danced a crude jig, giggling like a maniac. The lamp dipped along with him, looking very happy at having a dance partner. Flash laughed until his throat hurt and his voice was hoarse. He then noticed that the entire house had gone quiet.
"Huh? Go on, laugh!" Flash bellowed. The room remained silent, mocking him by ignoring his words. Flash gritted his teeth and grabbed his shotgun.
"I SAID LAUGH!" He screamed, and blasted one of the stuffed animals to smithereens as he laughed again, crawling to the ruined toy and holding his face inches from it. "Ha ha ha! Take that you fluffy bastard!" The floor behind his creaked and Flash spun around, but nothing was there.
"W-Who's there? What's there? Answer me!" He asked the madness forgotten momentarily. Silence. Flash had never heard silence so complete.
Flash had come here for a nice vacation with his new girlfriend, Twilight Sparkle... That is the Twilight from his own world, not the princess from the magical pony world called Equestria... Flash had to admit his life had gotten extremely weird.
More to the point, it was Flash, Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie on what was basically a camping trip minus the actual camping. Flash and everyone had been enjoying themselves until the sun set. Then all hell had broken loose. The girls had been possessed by something. Flash didn't know what, but he knew one thing. It was pure evil. He was forced to kill them. With no way to fight off such great numbers alone, Flash had to grab the first weapon he could find... The shotgun above the fireplace. Flash managed to grab the gun and blasted the three of them until they'd stopped twitching... He didn't have a choice.
Flash leaned against the wall and tried to catch his breath. He ran his hands through hair hair as he then started to feel punishingly thirsty. His throat was dry and painful from his mad laughter and he slouched into the kitchen for some water.
The sink didn't work. He remembered Celestia saying that some of the "utilities" were in need of repair. Growling he began banging and hitting the sink with his fist, taking his anger out on the inanimate object before he collapsed on the floor, hands over his face forcing back tears. Flash then thought back to how this nightmare began.
Principle Celestia had allowed the four to use the cabin that weekend, as a kind of gift to allow for the newest student, Twilight Sparkle to take her mind off her magical mishap as it were and to bond with her new friends not to mention new boyfriend. Apparently one of her old friends, a Professor Starswirl had been using the cabin for research of some kind, but as she had not heard from him in a while assumed he was done with it, the old man never having been one for remembering to call. When the four arrived, there were research papers scattered all around Twilight had become quite curious upon looking over the notes. That is when she found it... That book. Twilight had spent all day going over the notes, which apparently were Starswirl's attempts at deciphering the ancient text of the dark tome. Then roughly one minute before sundown, Twilight had managed to decode one passage... However she was foolish enough to say them aloud.
"Nightmare night... What a fright... Give me sweet flesh to bite."
And as soon as the sun went down, all hell broke loose. A giant wind blew through the cabin and Twilight started screaming extremely loud, almost making everyone's ears bleed. Twilight transformed into her Midnight Sparkle form once again, the evil exuding from her more potent than ever, blasting Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Rarity turned into a pitch black demon with bright slit eyes and a glowing long strand of hair, Pinkie Pie's hair going flat and straight, a crazed and demented smile on her eyes which now spaced apart. The next and what would be final words Flash would ever hear her say were forever burned into Flash's mind.
"You're going to die tonight."
The floor behind Flash creaked again, shaking him back to the present. He turned around and was struck by a rotting fist. He wasn't sure what a fist was doing there, or why it had decided to attack him, but by the time he'd crashed through the kitchen table he was ready to do something about it. He shot up, shotgun in hand as he saw what attacked him.
"PINKIE PIE?!" Flash stammered, backing up until he bumped into the wall. Pinkie was a good friend and had come along to help cheer him up. Less than an hour ago Flash had buried what remained of her in the cellar.
"Hey there, Flash!"The undead girl said, smiling wickedly. Flash screamed and fired his shotgun, emptying both barrels into the former party girl's head who fell to the floor in even worse shape than she had been before. The silence that followed was, again, utterly suffocating.
"That'll teach ya." Flash breathed, reloading quickly. A bucket by the fireplace caught his attention. Rarity had wanted to use the fireplace that night, but Twilight had insisted they have water ready in case it got out of control. Flash rushed over to it and dunked his head in, guzzling water so quickly that he half drowned himself. He used what remained to slick back his hair.
After several more minutes of quiet Flash decided that he didn't want to wait around for something awful to happen, again. He had to go looking for another weapon. The shotgun was doing a great job, but he had only a few shells remaining. He didn't want to be caught defenseless later. Flash remembered seeing plenty of sharp objects in the basement, so he decided to start there. The steps creaked as he descended, each step advertising his location to anything that happened to be listening. It didn't bother him that much. So far there wasn't a single creature that had been unable to find him, and he doubted being quiet would make a significant difference.
There was a workbench set against the wall with something bulky lying on it. Flash walked over and squealed with glee. It was a chainsaw, oiled up and ready for action! He picked up the chainsaw as he wandered about to look for anything else of use. In a corner he found what looked like a collection of leather belts. They might have been some sort of harness, but the individual pieces had fallen apart and were impossible to identify.
There was also a collection of tools in one corner. Flash wasn't sure what to take with his, so he just took the chainsaw and left before anything could jump out of the dark at his. As he was walking up the stairs a decaying hand reached out from beneath the staircase and tried to trip him, but he ran out and locked the door before whatever it was could follow.
"Now I'm ready for ya." He said quietly. Flash sat down next to the fireplace and examined the chainsaw. As he did though, the rotted form of Midnight Sparkle burst through the door.
"What's the matter? Don't wanna be my boyfriend anymore?" The possessed girl said with a wicked edge, smiling at him as she lunged. Flash quickly cranked his chainsaw and slammed it's whirring blades into Midnight Sparkle's head. Sighing and taking a deep breath, he saw the body seemingly melt and seep through the floor. After a few long minutes Flash sat back down to get his breath, readying himself for the next assault. Flash nearly drifted off to sleep, but he forced himself to sit up and stay awake.
"Don't worry, everything's gonna be fine. Just relax." He whispered, trying to reassure himself.
"Fine? Don't be an idiot!" A voice chastised. Flash leaped to his feet, pointing his shotgun around the room.
"Who said that?! Get out here and take your lead like a man!" Flash yelled as he frantically searched for the voice. The voice laughed at him and, for a second, Flash nearly recognized it as his own. He scanned the room and saw a rocking chair slowly lean back as though someone was sitting in it.
"What do you want?! Why can't you just leave me alone?! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME YOU BASTARDS?!" Flash screamed in fear and rage.
"Because we are hungry."The voice didn't come from the rocking chair, which had started to move back and forth at a relaxed pace.
"We've been alone for so long. Your friends were fun for a while, but we want new blood! And by process of elimination you're next."
Flash still had his shotgun aimed at the chair, but he didn't think it represented any real threat. In fact it was probably meant to distract him from the real danger, whatever that was.
"What are you? Some kinda demon or something?" Flash asked through gritted teeth. The laughter that sounded wasn't the insane, maniacal laughter that he had taken part in earlier. It was calm, cold, and utterly devoid of mirth.
"We are the Nightmare Forces! Those that were and shall be again. You will be dead by dawn! DEAD BY DAWN! DEAD BY DAWN!"
Flash dropped to the ground and covered his ears, screaming to drown out the awful noise. The laughter returned with a vengeance and he emptied his lungs over and over. Again the silence returned and he failed to notice. Eventually Flash sat up and looked around, shotgun held close by just in case this was a trick.
"Take it easy. Just…just relax. You're dreaming or hallucinating or something. You'll be fine."
"Fine? No you're not! Stop saying that!" The voice said again. Flash howled in a blind rage and blew the rocking chair to bits, though it had long-since stopped moving. He whirled around and tried to find who was speaking, but there was no one that he could see.
He caught his reflection in a mirror and nearly shot it. Flash sighed and walked over to look at himself, and boy was he a mess. He covered in blood that was from numerous sources both alive and dead, his hair was a tangled mess, and his eyes were wild and frightened.
"You need to calm down. Panic doesn't help." Flash ordered himself trying to return to his former mentality. "Good. Just try to remain calm. You're alright now." The Flash in the mirror leapt out at his and wrapped its hands around his neck.
"I told you not to say that! We just killed our girlfriend and two of our friends!" His reflection yelled. Suddenly its skin turned jet black with its eyes turning turning into slits.
"Does that seem alright to you?" It asked, a sinister smile etched on its face. Flash screamed and tried to pull away, but the specter in the mirror had his in a death grip
"Murderer!" It shrieked, now the multitude of voices again.
"Killer! Butcher! Monster!" It howled with laughter as its teeth grew into fangs, then grabbed Flash's right hand and bit so hard that he could hear bone crunch. He smashed the mirror with his shotgun in a desperate attempt to get away and the monster shattered along with the glass.
Flash crawled away, leaving a thin trail of blood on the hardwood floor. Tears streamed down his face from the pain as he remembered the leather straps in the basement and thought about making himself a tourniquet.
The pain in his hand suddenly disappeared, replaced by a tingling numbness. Flash saw fractures slowly creeping across his hand. He cried out and held his hand close, trying to pinch off whatever it was that was invading his arm, as his hand began convulsing, putting his entire arm through spasms that he couldn't control.
Just when he thought things couldn't get worse Flash became aware that something was wrong. His hand wasn't just twitching randomly. Out of nowhere it rocketed up into his jaw, sending him sprawling back onto the floor. His own hand drove itself into his belly, then chopped him across the neck. Flash forced it to the ground and sat on it, watching as it squirmed around trying to get free.
"You bastards! Give it back! Give me back my hand, you dirty sons of... Oh hell." Flash said as his hand finally managed to get free and tugged him toward the kitchen. Flash was pulled along with far more force than his hand alone should have been able to manage. He grabbed hold of the door-frame and watched in horror as the aging wood fell apart under the sudden pressure.The possessed hand moved behind Flash's head and rammed it onto the counter-top.
"Traitor!" Flash shouted as his face smashed into the stove. He tried to get up, but his hand held him firmly in place. It slid him painfully over into the stove again, then began fumbling with the controls. He managed to wrench himself away, but got hit in the stomach again for his trouble, but eventually he managed to kneel on his own leg and stop the infernal thing from jerking his around anymore.
Flash noticed that his chainsaw was still sitting next to the fireplace.
"NOW YOU'RE IN FOR IT!" He yelled as he managed to fling himself all the way over to the fireplace with a mighty leap, fighting the traitorous appendage in mid air.
"That's right, you little bitch!" He shouted as he yanked the starter rope. "WHO'S LAUGHING NOW?!"
A bloodied Flash tumbled down the basement stairs, his mind numbed with pain. He felt down at the cauterized stump where his hand had been, duct-taped all over to stop any bleeding, wincing at the sudden jolt of pain that coursed from it. He immediately found the pile of leather straps and, after selecting the shortest one, bound the bloodied stump at the end of his arm. He held both the chansaw and shotgun in his arms, carrying them as best he could without a right hand
"Now I'm angry!" Flash laughed out, his previously questionable sanity now long gone. It was surprisingly easy to create the harness, but Flash still needed to bind his stump in something. He ripped off most of his undershirt and wrapped it around what remained of his arm, using the leather strap to hold it in place.
"Let's do this!" He laughed and jabbed the stump into the manacle he'd attached to the chainsaw. He tightened the straps and held up the "modified" limb for inspection. Flash nodded at his impressive piece of work, though he admitted some personal bias. Flash yanked the starter rope and listened to the chainsaw's engine rev up. He then took the whirling chain to the barrel of his shotgun, cutting it down to a more maneuverable size. He inspected his work and, with a smile that could have frightened the undead back into whatever hole they had crawled from all on its own, slid the shotgun into the sheathe he had strapped to his back. Flash, for some reason, found himself thinking back to a time Pinkie Pie threw a 70's themed party to celebrate some old band she liked retiring. Flash just chuckled at the memory and said, "Groovy."
Flash walked back up to the living room, chainsaw at the ready. Suddenly he heard a large crash as the decaying body of Rarity came up from the floor.
"What's this? Calling on a lady without bringing a gift?" The floating undead Rarity asked, before cackling evilly.
"Here's your gift right here you bitch!" Flash yelled, knowing his friend was long gone. He pulled his shotgun and fired, however Rarity dodged and threw him against the wall. Flash quickly pulled the ripcord of his chainsaw hand and got ready. Suddenly Rarity's body morphed, extending her limbs and face, changing into a pitch black unicorn mare with those same snake-like eyes she had since turning. She stabbed at Flash with her horn, bucking and kicking as well, but Flash managed to get in close and cut her head off.
"I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL! I'LL SWALLOW YOUR SOUL! I'LL SWALLOW... URK!" The head yelled before Flash stomped on the remainder of neck.
"Swallow this." Flash deadpanned as he fired the other round into the monster's head.
Morning was moments away now and the sun was just starting to rise. As Flash sat down on the bed, he looked around at the toys crowding the room.
"Nobody laughing now. Nope. Nobody but me." He said quietly.
"Not true!" A familiar voice called. Flash readied his weapons, but since nothing threatening had appeared yet he didn't know which way to look. "Don't think that we'll be gone just because the sun rises. You're ours, Flash! Ours forever!"
Something in the basement howled, like a hurricane trapped below ground. The air in the cabin was quickly whipped up into a powerful whirlwind that threatened to blow Flash right off his feet. he braced against the door and tried to ride out the storm, but the winds became too strong. he couldn't even think straight in the noise and chaos of a tornado indoors, let alone do anything to fight against it. He was pulled out of the bedroom and down the hall, towards the cellar he had so recently used. he caught hold of a table as he passed by and held on for dear life. The desk in the corner of the living room was slowly inching along.
"LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE DAMMIT!" Flash shouted against the howl of the wind. The desk tumbled forward and crahed through the table he was clinging to. Wood splintered and, with his anchor destroyed, Flash flew backwards and into the cellar. his head caught the cellar door as he passed and the world went dark.
Flash awoke in a desert-like field… Getting to his feet, slowly but surely, he heard a terrible screeching as he looked up… A manticore was flying right at him. Pulling his shotgun he blasted it’s head apart, the beast falling to his feet. He heard the sound of clanking, looking to see knights… Medieval knights staring at him.
"HUZZAH! Hail the chosen one! He who fell from the sky to release us from the terror of Nightmare Moon!" A knight yelled as Flash looked around and whispered just one word.
"No..."
"HAIL!" The other knights cheered.
"No."
"HAIL!" They all cheered
"No!"
"HAIL!" The gave one final chorus of applause
"NOOOOOOO!"
