A Nightmare Night Kiss Pt3

A Nightmare Night Kiss: Pt 3

This story contains scenes some may find shocking.


Dash returned to Ponyville in a blur. She vaguely recollected flying, and as she landed in the town centre, she regained lucidity enough to notice Twilight in solemn conclave with the mayor.
As Dash approached, Twilight averted her eyes.
“The children!” the mayor whispered desperately. “Are they... Did you bring them-?” Dash shook her head, feeling like it was made of lead. The mayor stared at her for a moment, and then swayed on the spot. Twilight reacted quick enough to magically pull a bench for her to sit on. “W-What... what’ll I say?” she asked, as though speaking to herself. “What do I tell them?”
Dash and Twilight looked at each other fleetingly. The discomfort was too great right now.
“Did you find Spike?” Dash asked, quietly. Twilight lowered her head. Dash had feared that. She hadn’t looked thoroughly over the bodies, but suspected Spike was...
“We can’t inform the Princess,” Twilight sobbed. “Pinkie is gone, and Applejack is missing. We have to get the rest of our friends.”
“Fluttershy took Rarity home,” Dash remembered. “We should go there first.”
“I’ll go there,” Twilight said, more firmly. “You go check on Fluttershy, gather everyone back here.” She turned to the mayor. “Go home, lock your door. We’ll try to figure this out.”
Whether the mayor would have protested they didn’t know. She seemed too distracted to answer them, but rose shakily from the bench and stumbled her way through the half-formed night festivities.


As Dash’s feelings mingled within her, she didn’t feel a return of her rage, but a desperation, a desire to make sure no one else was hurt. It had appeared first when they’d found Dinkie, and had since waxed into a furious numbing agent, blinding her to the horror of the night until she achieved one thing: he friend’s safety.
As she soared down to Fluttershy’s home, her resolve was tested once again. The dim lights of the house lit a land of slaughter below. The myriad animals that Flutterhsy cared for were scattered like dolls across the grass and trees, blood splattering every surface. As Dash landed by the house, a flash of green flickered under the trees, and disappeared into the shadows.
“Fluttershy!” Dash hit the door so hard that it blew off its hinges. Inside was a scene of equal devastation. Animal corpses lay scattered over the cottage. Angel Bunny lay sprawled in his feeding bowl, his white fur soaked in what Dash was sure was his own blood.
“Fluttershy!” Dash screamed.
“R-Rainbow Dash?” Dash’s heart rose in her chest. From the doorway of another room, with her characteristic tentativeness, Fluttershy’s head poked, still dressed in her half-formed bat-pony costume.
Dash leapt forward and hugged her, perhaps harder than was necessary. “Celestia’s ghost, I thought you were dead!”
“N-No!” Flutterhsy gasped as Dash let go of her. “S-Something was here. It... it...” she teared up, looking around her cottage. Dash grimaced sympathetically.
“I know, Fluttershy. I’m sorry. But we have to go, now.” She took Fluttershy’s bloody hoof. Getting a good look at her, Dash saw that she was smeared in blood like the rest of the cottage. Whatever that monster was, it was sick, killing all of Fluttershy’s animals in front of her.


Dash and Fluttershy took longer than they should have to get back. Fluttershy was so freaked by what had happened that she moved slowly, tentatively flying over the trees to the town.
As they landed back in the town centre, Twilight ran up to them, her eyes wide.
“Where’s Rarity?” Dash demanded.
Twilight opened her mouth to speak, but couldn’t seem to bring herself to do it. Dash looked quickly over to the boutique. Its door was open, and its insides dark.
“I’m glad that you’re okay, Fluttershy,” Twilight said, her shaky voice registering genuine relief, however little. “But... the rest of the town...”
“What do you mean?” Dash asked, her heart sinking. Twilight gulped.
“I think... I think it must have been whilst we were gone to the forest... I don’t know how. It was there with us.”
“Maybe there’s two,” Fluttershy said, quietly.
“Two?” Dash asked, desperately. “Twilight, you don’t mean-?” she looked around. Many doors were open, as though someone had hurriedly looked through every house. Twilight looked at her hopelessly.
“The mayor. We have to find the-“
“Dash,” Twilight said, flatly. “I think we have to face facts. We... we might be the only ones left.”
“Y’all would be correct there.”
Dash jumped and spun around. From between two houses trotted a pony with an orange coat and yellow mane. Her green eyes seemed to glow in the moonlit night.
“Applejack!” Twilight cried. “You’re safe!”
She started to run forward, but Dash held up a hoof to stop her. An uncomfortable finger of ice was running up her spine as Applejack trotted towards them, a little smile playing about her mouth.
“Don’t come any closer!” Dash barked. “Who are you?”
Twilight frowned. “What are you talking about, Rainbow? It’s Applejack.”
“That’s not Applejack,” Dash said, aggressively. Applejack had ignored her warning and continued to step forward. “Fluttershy, get behind us,” Dash muttered to Fluttershy.
“What do ya mean, Rainbow?” Applejack asked. It was unnerving after what had happened that night to hear how calm and normal Applejack’s voice sounded. She was almost to them now, almost out of the shadows of the houses. “Of course I’m Applejack. How could you forget a friend?”
“If you’re Applejack,” Dash snarled. “Then where’s Applebloom?”
Applejack paused, just shy of the moonlight. She stood calmly there, staring at them with her green eyes. “And Sweetie Belle? What about Scootaloo?” Dash’s voice rose.
“Rainbow, what are you saying?” Twilight asked, breathlessly.
“Where’s Granny Smith? Big McIntosh?” Dash yelled. “Pinkie and Rarity, Applejack. Where are they?”
Applejack didn’t reply for a moment or two. Then she chuckled. A low, sneering sort of laughter bubbled up from her as she stepped forward into the moonlight. Twilight recoiled.
“You got it all figured out, ain’t ya, sugar cube,” Applejack smiled, showing her pointed teeth. Her maw was dark and bloodied, her face flecked with blood spots. Her ears were tufted, her eyes cat-like slits. Even weirder, she had a pair of nubs on her shoulders, covered in a gauzy material, as though she were sprouting bat wings.
“You did it,” Dash said in a low, fierce voice. “You did all of this.” Applejack laughed again, her green glowing eyes narrowing.
“Not all of it, darlin’. I heed the call of another. Mistress, is it time yet?”
“Mistress?” Dash muttered, confused.
A cracking and a scream of pain from beside her made her look away from Applejack. Twilight feel to the ground with a shriek, her back legs bent the wrong way. Before Dash could fully register what had happened, a yellow, snarling beast had leapt upon her and bit down on Twilight’s left wing. There was a horrible, crunchy snap as the wing bone shattered under the pressure.
Dash was so horrified that she didn’t notice the sound of rapid hoofsteps. She turned in time to see a glint of green, a toothy grin, and a hoof rising to meet her.
She hit the floor hard, her vision badly shaking. She dimly heard Twilight’s screaming abruptly cut off. Her vision coalesced for a single moment, and she looked up at two faces. Applejack’s orange, freckled face smiled down at her familiarly, as though she were waking her up from a mid-day nap. And then Fluttershy’s face, her blue eyes glowing in the night like azure fire. Her mouth curved into a warm smile, revealing a pointed fang. Her tufted ears flicking slightly, she raised a hoof.
“We need you to sleep a little longer, Dash. We’ll wake you up soon.”
As the hoof descended, darkness overtook Rainbow Dash.


She wished she didn’t have to wake up. Her headache made her want to just lie down and sleep again.
As lucidity took hold of her however, she realised lying down wasn’t going to be a problem. All four of her hooves were tied to wooden stake driven deep into the ground, like in an old western film. The armour pieces of her costume had been discarded, leaving her in the dress beneath, like a damsel in distress. The cool night air filled her lungs and her thoughts returned quickly.
“I wouldn’t try to move too much,” said a soothing voice close to her. “It’s not really worth it, darling.” Dash turned her head a little too quickly and received an indignant stab of pain.
“R... Rarity?” she groaned. “But... Twilight said-“
“That I was dead?” Rarity asked, kindly. “Well,” she lifted her head, revealing a half-healed, half open tear in her throat. “It depends how you look at it, dear.” Dash stared at her, at the tufted ears and glowing sapphire eyes.
“H-How?” Dash asked. She was interrupted with a giggle.
“Oh you silly,” said Pinkie Pie’s high voice, and suddenly her bright smile sprang upside down into Dash’s vision. “We’re all dead. Well, kinda, because of course we’re not dead too.”
“Uh...” Dash was uncomprehending.
“Don’t worry about it, darling,” Rarity said, tenderly, caressing Dash’s cheek. “You’ll understand soon enough.”
“Leave her, Rarity,” said Applejack. “The Mistress is seeing to her soon.”
“Oh but dear,” Rarity pouted. “I’m ever so hungry.”
“The Mistress will provide,” Applejack said, sternly, placing a warning hoof on rarity’s shoulder.
“Do we really have to call Fluttershy that?” Pinkie asked, hopping over Dash excitedly. “Is that a thing now?”
“It’s respectful, is all,” Applejack replied, solemnly.
Dash wasn’t really listening. She was looking around at everything, and what she saw made her feel quite ill.
As though Nightmare Night had recommenced, the town centre was full of ponies. Not just ponies, but animals as well. But even from her position on the ground Dash could see that something was very wrong. The entire area was dreadfully quiet, and nopony was moving. They all just stood around like ghastly puppets, glowing eyes and bloodied coats surrounding her and Twilight like a ghostly crowd.
“Hush now, my children,” said a familiar voice. Dash turned her head suddenly to look at the podium where the mayor usually took to speechify. Spreading her hooves and bats wings out as though to embrace them all, she smiled kindly to the entire town. “We now welcome the last of our dearest friends to our new family. The Family of the Night.”
No one said anything. No one except Pinkie Pie anyway, who in characteristic fashion was yelling, whooping, and swinging some rattlers around, all of which echoed dismally in the silence.
Fluttershy descended the platform, her glowing blue eyes fixed on the two ponies strapped to the ground. “Isn’t this wonderful, Rainbow Dash?” she said pleasantly. “We’ll all be together soon. Forever.”
Rainbow Dash had never before admitted openly to being scared of anything. But the sight of her friend, smiling as kindly as ever from behind the guise of a blood-soaked monster terrified her beyond anything she had ever felt before. Fluttershy’s soft pink mane blew faintly behind her in the breeze, as though it were light as air. It was chilling that she could look so much like her friend.
“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight said, urgently. Dash broke her stare and looked at the alicorn, twitching painfully against her restraints. Her broken legs and wing were obviously occasioning her extreme pain. “Rainbow, don’t listen to her. T-That’s not Fluttershy anymore.”
Fluttershy gave Twilight a sad look, as though hurt. “How can you say something so cruel, Twilight?” she asked, in a dangerously sweet tone.
“Rainbow, the real Fluttershy would hurt anyone. You know her, you know-“ Fluttershy had given Applejack a look. The orange pony smacked Twilight hard across the face to shut her up. The dull crack resounded through the town.
“Sorry Twilight, really.” Applejack said. “Ya’ll both see soon, this is for the best.”
“Leave her alone!” Dash bellowed. “She’s right, you’re not the real Fluttershy. None of you are my real friends!”
“You’re wrong, my dear Rainbow Dash,” Fluttershy said, sitting down next to Dash’s head and leaning low over her. Dash felt no warmth coming from her, and saw deep in her eyes a kind of light, like a cold blue flame. “We will be closer friends than ever before. And you will be my queen of the night.” Dash was so bewildered by this statement that she barely registered Fluttershy plant her lips tenderly onto her own until a probing tongue pressed against her loose mouth.
“F-Fluttershy...?” Dash croaked as Fluttershy pulled away. She felt tears run down her face.
“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight cried. “You can’t let her get to you! We’ll save them, but we can’t let them get away with this.”
“May we bring her home, Mistress?” Applejack asked, frowning at Twilight. Fluttershy seemed faintly distracted, touching her lips faintly with her hoof.
“I think Rarity mentioned being hungry,” Fluttershy said, absently. “Allow her to begin.”
Rarity was all delight. Leaping lightly over to Twilight, she positioned herself over her, like a tiger upon a rabbit. Twilight looked up briefly as Rarity bared her fangs, and then turned back to Dash.
“You have to tell the Princess!” she cried. “Please, Rainbow, you have to get out an-“
Dash looked away as Rarity’s fangs flashed downwards. She tried her hardest not to listen as her other ponies joined in, the sounds of tearing flesh and Twilight’s choked screams and gaspings for air.
“I’m sorry, Dash,” Fluttershy said, so kindly that Dash believed her. “I’m afraid that you are different. You must see.” So saying, she gently, but firmly, turned Dash’s head to the side, and forced her eyes open. Dash’s breathing became shallow, her heart raced, and the tears came thick and fast.
“No!” she choked.
Fluttershy exhaled, as though genuinely regretting what she was doing. Standing up, she went to kneel next to Twilight’s mauled corpse. With careful deliberation, Fluttershy impaled her own tongue on one of her fangs, and then brought Twilight’s limp head around. Dash could tell, dimly, that the kiss was nowhere near as passionate as Flutterhsy had given to her, but it was still as tender as a friend deserved.
“Why are you doing this?” Dash moaned, all of her courage spent.
Fluttershy stood again. She didn’t answer immediately, but seemed to debate within herself for a moment. “I’m doing this because I feel it is right,” she said. “Because I love you all.”
“But...” Dash couldn’t. She dissolved into tears. Fluttershy seemed to understand the unspoken question though.
“I think it was the fruit bats,” Fluttershy said, quietly. “Tonight, before the sun went down, it all just flooded onto me. How small, how brief our lives are. How much better it would be if we all could live forever, be friends forever.” She walked around Dash, her head a little bowed. “But also the hunger. I was so hungry. When Applejack came to get the spices for tonight, I...”
“She gave me the gift,” Applejack said, robustly. Perhaps she sensed the hesitancy in Fluttershy’s voice. “She’s right, Rainbow. This is for the best. See, Twilight will be fine.” She gestured to Twilight. Dash didn’t look, but couldn’t block the sounds of tiny pebbles and debris moving as Twilight’s body twitched back to life.
“What’s a moments pain, darling, for an eternity of being together?” Rarity asked, coaxingly.
“Like getting your shots,” Pinkie put in, brightly. “I mean, I hate getting my shots, and I kinda hated Applejack horribly murdering me and sucking my blood, but you know,” she shrugged.
“We do kinda get a little carried away,” Applejack said.
“In fairness to Fluttershy, she was quite the dear about it really. Didn’t get a single drop of blood on any of my designs,” Rarity said, thoughtfully.
“You weren’t quite so nice, were ya, sis?” Applebloom said, glaring at Applejack with her gleaming orange eyes. Applejack flushed slightly and didn’t look at her sister.
“It’s okay, Rainbow Dash.” Dash turned her head so quickly she cricked it. Scootaloo stood a little ways off with her friends, her eyes glowing purple. From beside her emerged a small figure with eyes of shimmering yellow. Dash’s insides dissolved as it emerged from the crowd.
“Thank you, Rainbow Dash,” Dinkie said next to her. “You stopped it hurting. I feel so much better now.”
Dash looked on in horror. In some part of her mind she knew how much of a disgusting display this all was, a parody of all that she had known. But her misery was washing over her, drowning it and filling her with a desire to end it.
“Will you join us, Rainbow Dash?” Fluttershy whispered in her ear. “Please?”
“Why are you asking?” Dash asked, tonelessly.
“Do I have to say it?” Fluttershy asked, sounding a little pained. Dash looked listlessly into her glowing blue eyes, and in that instant she believed, against the protests of her broken and shattered heart, that all of this had been done with good intentions. She saw the love in Fluttershy’s eyes.
“Yes. I will.”
Fluttershy’s eyes brimmed with tears.
“Come on, ya’ll,” Applejack said, quietly. “Let’s give ‘em a little space.”
“Oh!” Pinkie said. “But I want to-“
“No, no you don’t.”
Fluttershy rested herself lightly over Dash, wiping a tear from her cheek.
“You’ve made me so happy Dash. I promise; we’ll love each other, and our children, forever.”
Dash didn’t reply, but put her head back and stared at the sky. She thought of nothing in particular, and barely registered the pricks of pain as Fluttershy’s fangs pierced her. As darkness stole upon her, she felt rather as though a heavy weight were being lifted from her shoulders.
She was flying again.


The Griffon Kingdom, Talonfist Castle


Celestia found her sister on the balcony, gazing at the moon. The delegation behind her were plying the Griffon royalty for the moment, so she felt it safe to slip away for a short moment.
Luna was toying absently with her drink, making the cocktail onion twirl around inside as she stared into the sky.
“I’m sorry, Luna,” Celestia said, quietly. Luna looked around, startled.
“What for, sister?” she asked, evidently puzzled.
“For dragging you here on tonight of all nights,” Celestia said, sympathetically. “I know how much it means to you.”
Luna did not exactly reply to this. She looked back up at the moon, and opened her mouth as though to say something, but no sound came out.
“Sister. Dost thou feel as though something has changed?”
Celestia blinked. “No. Why? Is something bothering you?”
Luna paused, and then looked back at her sister with a small smile. “Nay, sister. Tis probably just the time of year. Tonight of all nights is a night for change.” She raised her drink, and Celestia did the same. “To Change, and the opportunities it may bring.”
They clinked their glasses and drank. Celestia eyed her sister cautiously.
“Luna, I don’t want to pry, but if there is anything wrong, you do know that you can tell me, right?”
Luna set down her glass. “Verily, dear sister.” She paused. “As a matter of fact, there was something I hath been meaning to raise with you.”
Celestia smiled more warmly, glad that Luna was opening up. “Oh? What is it?”
“We have been wondering...” she hesitated again, and then set her expression. “We wondered whether you might consider again the proposal we put to thee a thousand years ago. To make new colonies for the fringes of the kingdom.”
Celestia blinked, her smile dimming. She had not expected that. “Luna,” she said, careful to keep her voice light. “Do you mean the proposal you made after Discord’s defeat?”
“Yes, sister,” Luna said, a hardness in her eye. Celestia remained silent for some time. She didn’t want to argue with her sister. Too many times their arguments had had too many unhappy results. Taking advantage of her silence, Luna pressed on.
“We know that last time the idea was dismissed because of the delicate state of the kingdom. But now with the kingdom’s strength more secure than ever before, we believe the time may now be ready for this important step.”
Celestia still wasn’t entirely sold. The logistics had to be worked out first, but Luna was right about the state of Equestria. With the Crystal Empire recovered and free of evil, and the advent of her faithful student Twilight as a powerful new princess, Equestria was indeed safer than it had ever been. The time did seem right.
“We shall speak of it at length when we return home. We shall work out the details then. But all in all I think you may be right.”
Luna’s eyes shone with happiness and disbelief.
“Come, Luna. Let us not make the Griffons think we’re bored,” Celestia chuckled. Luna smiled and followed. She smiled for the rest of the evening, thinking of Ponyville, and of her plan to help her citizens, and contemplating all of the joy awaiting her upon returning home.
A happy change was soon coming.


- The End?