It was a clear night. Neither clouds nor stars marred the inky darkness, and Luna’s moon bathed the world below it in its beautiful silvery glow. Normally, ponies would be out and about, but things were different this Nightmare Night.
The town of Ponyville was unusually quiet. Doors were locked and windows were shuttered, and every doorstep had an offering of raw meat on it.
Whispers in the town told of a mare who would transform on the night of a full moon. She would become a savage beast, full of rage and hungry for blood and flesh. And that night just so happened to be the night of a full moon.
In the Castle of Friendship, Twilight Sparkle and her friends discussed the odd behavior.
“Girls, there is no such thing as the Moonlight Madmare,” the alicorn said, rolling her eyes. “It’s just some old pony tale.”
Pinkie Pie shook her head, her poofy hair bouncing with the rapid movement. “Nuh-uh, Twilight,” she said, “the Moonlight Madmare is real! I saw her with my own eyes! She’s got the body of an earth pony and the eyes and fangs of a batpony!”
“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight said, pinching the skin between her eyebrows, “you probably just saw a mare wearing a costume. There has to be a logical explanation for all this.”
Rainbow Dash sat in her seat, arms crossed and her muzzle fixed in a pout. “I was gonna pull the most awesome prank tonight,” she grumbled. “Stupid full moon! Stupid Moonlight Madmare!”
“Look, Dash,” Applejack said, “none of us are too chipper about the situation, but we all remember the last few full moons. Ponies up and went missing in the night, only for skeletons to be found in the morning. The strangest thing was that the skeletons were all picked cleaner than a plate at an Apple Family reunion.”
Rarity nodded. “Applejack has a point, darling,” she said. “Though I must say it is quite a shame; I had the most fabulous costume made for tonight.”
Fluttershy cowered behind her long hair, trembling like a leaf as she gripped the fuzzy white fabric of her sweater sleeves even tighter. “U-um, excuse me, but if it’s okay with everypony else, can we please just pretend this isn’t happening?”
“I’m sorry, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, a sad look in her eyes, “but we can’t just pretend that this isn’t happening. Now, I’m sure that there’s an explanation for everything, and I’m even more sure that this is all a big misunderstanding. We’ll get through this together, just like we always do.”
A knock at the castle doors made every head turn. Twilight steeled her nerves and went to answer the door, much to the dread of her friends.
Out on the doorstep was an overweight earth pony mare doubled over in pain, her eyes tightly closed behind her thick glasses as tears streamed down her pale face.
“Oh my Faust, are you okay?” Twilight asked, concern written all over her purple face.
The mare could only groan through her clenched teeth, but shook her head as she clutched her stomach.
“Come inside,” the alicorn said. “We’ll get you some ginger ale and crackers.”
As the mare followed her inside, Twilight couldn’t help but think that she had seen fangs, but quickly brushed it off as nothing. She heard a low growl come from behind her and assumed it was the mare’s stomach.
In the meeting room, the other five mares waited anxiously for their friend to return. When she did, they breathed a collective sigh of relief. Their relief was short-lived when the strange mare followed Twilight into the room.
“IT’S HER!” Pinkie Pie shrieked.
Twilight rolled her eyes and said, “Pinkie, I told you the Moonlight Madmare is just an old pony tale! This poor mare is in pain, and I’m going to find out what’s the matter. Come on, now, it’s okay.”
With that, the mare followed Twilight out of the meeting room and down the hall, leaving the other five to talk among themselves.
“Now, I don’t want to beat the hornet’s nest,” Applejack said, “but did y’all see that mare’s teeth?”
Rarity cocked an eyebrow. “Don’t be rude, Applejack,” she said. “Not everypony has perfectly white teeth.”
“Naw, naw, I mean it looked like… like…” the farmpony trailed off.
“Spit it out, AJ!” Rainbow Dash shouted.
Applejack swallowed the lump forming in her throat. “...like she had fangs.”
Fluttershy began to weep quietly as she curled up in a ball. “Pinkie was right,” she said through her tears. “Faust help us all.”
Meanwhile, in her study, Twilight sat the mare down and opened a medical book with her magic. She heard another low growl and asked, “Is it gas?” Yet another low growl was the answer she received, prompting her to turn around. As she looked into the mare’s glowing yellow eyes, she froze on the spot like a deer caught in headlights.
Her heart threatened to burst out of her chest as the mare sniffed the air around her, steam billowing from her flared nostrils with each exhale. As the mare slowly rose to her hooves, Twilight opened her mouth to scream, only for terror to take the sound before she could make it.
“BLOOD!” the mare screamed, lunging toward the alicorn and knocking her to the floor. Pinning her down, she bared her glistening fangs at her prey, gazing deep into the violet eyes of the terrified princess before she sank her teeth into the soft flesh of Twilight’s neck.
Blood quickly began to pool on the carpet below and sprayed all over the mare as she tore out Twilight Sparkle’s throat. That unmistakable coppery-sweet smell filled her nose, and she let out a low growl as she ate.
After a long while, she grimaced as another stomach cramp gripped her. She needed more meat. She needed fresh meat. Tears pricking at her eyes, she let out a pained growl and rose to her hooves. She could smell fresh blood nearby. With another growl, she made her way back to the meeting room.
The Moonlight Madmare's Massacre
Rainbow Dash and Applejack had just closed the doors to the meeting room when the banging started.
“Where the hay is Twilight?!” Rainbow asked, her heart pounding violently as she barricaded the doors with her body.
Rarity was busy comforting a crying Fluttershy, too worried to answer.
Pinkie Pie popped up from under the map table and said, “The Moonlight Madmare ate her and now she’s gonna eat us!”
“Pinkie Pie!” Rarity hissed, holding the yellow pegasus tightly.
The banging grew louder and more violent, and the mares could hear something growling on the other side of the doors.
“Get ready to fight, RD,” Applejack said as the doors began to give way.
Finally, the doors burst open as the Moonlight Madmare charged into the room with a roar of extreme hunger and pain.
Rainbow Dash and Applejack took defensive stances, only for the both of them to be bucked hard and sent to the floor. The mare pinned the blue pegasus to the ground and pulled at her wings until they began to separate from her back.
Rainbow let out a cry of agony as she felt her wings being slowly ripped off, tears pricking at her cerise eyes at the feeling of something warm beginning to trickle down her sides from her back.
Applejack slowly got up to stop the monstrous mare and was met with a bone-crunching grip on her wrist. The mare began to twist Applejack’s arm as hard as she could, grinning sadistically as she heard the farmpony’s screams. She eventually let go, and the orange mare collapsed to the floor, holding her arm and fighting back tears.
The Moonlight Madmare returned to the sobbing blue pegasus under her weight. She got up and grabbed Rainbow Dash by her prismatic hair, exposing her neck and growling hungrily. Smelling fresh blood coursing through Dash’s veins, she sank her teeth deep into the pegasus’s flesh and took a chunk out of her neck, spraying blood everywhere.
Rarity cried out in horror at the sight and fled the meeting room, her coat even paler than normal. Fluttershy followed the unicorn, trying not to scream as she practically flew out of the room.
The mare ate her fill of Rainbow Dash’s flesh, stopping only to pluck a feather from one of her severed wings and pick her teeth, sucking whatever bits of meat she found into her mouth.
Applejack felt her stomach lurch at the sight of her friend’s body being desecrated in such a gruesome way. Her heart was thundering in her chest as the mare turned her attention toward her. “Don’tcha come any closer, y’hear?!” she shouted, rising to her hooves and spitting in the mare’s direction.
The Moonlight Madmare roared and lunged for the farmpony, baring her fangs and glaring at the orange mare as she knocked the Stetson off of Applejack’s head.
“That was my pa’s hat, ya monster!” Applejack growled as she prepared to punch the mare, only for her fist to be caught by a pale hand. She gritted her teeth as the mare began to twist, trying her hardest not to scream as pain exploded in her fist. Eventually, she lost the fight, crying out as tears welled up in her green eyes.
The mare growled and took a hunk of flesh from Applejack’s neck, cutting her cries short and sending blood spraying. As she ate, she couldn’t help but notice that the farmpony’s flesh smelled and tasted a bit like apples.
She grew hungry again soon enough, wracked with pain as another cramp overtook her. As she looked under the map table, she saw Pinkie Pie pull something out of her hair and throw it at her. The object hit her muzzle with a squeak before hitting the floor, making her look down. At the mare’s hooves was a yellow rubber duck. She glared at the pink pony with an expression of annoyance before she approached the table.
Pinkie crawled out from under the table with a triumphant smile and said, “I knew you were real!”
The mare growled and punched Pinkie Pie, sending her to the floor before pinning her down. She bared her teeth before sinking them deep into the party pony’s neck, tearing out her throat. Pinkie’s blood and flesh were unusually sweet, a pleasant surprise as she swallowed a mouthful of pony meat.
A voice in the back of her head made a joke about blood sugar, making her laugh for a moment before she felt another cramp. She left the room in search of the final two mares, smelling the air for traces of their blood.
Eventually, she found them hiding in a bathroom. Rarity burst into tears and wailed, “Please, you brute, don’t hurt Fluttershy! Take me instead!”
“Rarity, no!”
“Don’t try to stop me, darling,” the unicorn said through her tears. “Save yourself!”
Fluttershy wept and ran off as Rarity took off her favorite necklace and exposed her throat, still crying.
The mare rolled her eyes at the dramatic display and let out an annoyed growl before sinking her fangs into Rarity’s throat. The smell of high-end perfume mixed with the smell of blood, making the mare spit the unicorn’s flesh out and gag. Instead of eating that, she tore Rarity’s body to pieces and took a chunk out of her leg. It was the only part of her that didn’t make the Moonlight Madmare feel sick.
She anticipated another stomach cramp, but none came. Wondering why, she wandered the halls of the castle. When she looked out a window, she saw the sun rising, and she collapsed on the floor, tears streaming down her face as she let out a wail of anguish.
Fluttershy heard the distraught cries of a mare coming from somewhere in the hallway and slowly left her hiding place, wiping her eyes. When she found the mare, she almost fainted.
“Faust help me,” she said quietly, crying alongside the bloody sobbing mare. She couldn’t help but cry. “A-are you going to kill me, too?”
The mare threw her arms around Fluttershy and blubbered her apologies, begging alternatingly between wanting forgiveness and death.
“I hate this stupid family curse,” she sobbed. “I’m sorry I killed your friends! I was just so… hungry and angry and hurting and I’m sorry I killed all those ponies and-”
Fluttershy hesitantly put a finger to the mare’s bloodstained muzzle and shushed her. “What do you mean ‘family curse’?” she asked gently.
“M-my meemaw was a vampire batpony and she went on a rampage every full moon. She was the original Moonlight Madmare. I… I inherited her bloodlust, and I hate it. I loved Meemaw to death, but I hate that I carry her dark legacy. Can you please do something for me?”
“What’s that?” Fluttershy asked, cocking an eyebrow.
The mare took a deep shuddering breath, tears still in her yellow eyes. “I want you to end my suffering and tell everycreature that I’m sorry.”
The pegasus’s eyes widened at the request. “I’m afraid I can’t bring myself to do that,” she said.
“Please,” the bloody mare pleaded, “I can’t take it anymore. I can’t live with the guilt or this stupid bloodlust. Please, I deserve more than the death penalty for what I’ve done. This is the least that I deserve.”
Tears filled Fluttershy’s eyes as she hugged the mare tightly before letting go. Taking her head into her yellow hands, she choked out, “I’m sorry.”
A snap echoed throughout the castle, and it was over. Fluttershy sat on the floor next to the lifeless mare and cried until she couldn’t cry anymore.
