Ponyvania

by Slycoopertr

Propane Nightmares

Rarity looked at the black, misty wall in front of her. Her face was calm, yet inside she could feel just how nervous she was. She bent her head slightly and took a deep breath. Her horn started to glow faintly, then burst with lights and sparks going everywhere. The other four ponies stood in the main lobby looking at the force field. Rarity was getting anxious; learning new spells wasn’t her specialty, fashion was.

“Alright Rarity.” Twilight said. “Remember, focus on a clear mind and the spell. When all is calm in your head, release the spell.”

The ponies began to back off, afraid that they might get hit. A few moments later a beam of white light shot from Rarity’s horn to the field.

The beam seemed to have no effect on it for a while, but then multiple bright, white cracks appeared on the wall and then disappeared into it. The wall burst open and then left a giant cloud of white smoke that didn’t vanish.

“That was SO AWESOME” Rainbow Dash yelled.

“Yes well” Rarity said almost breathless “I do believe that I need to sit for a second”

“Not yet” Twilight warned “we still need to get Fluttershy”

All ponies almost twitched at the name.

“Then what are we sittin’ around for?” Applejack asked “let’s get to it!”

With the thought of Fluttershy in their heads, the ponies started up the stairs. At the top of the stairs was a hallway going across. In the middle, in front of the stairs, was a ginormous, white door with what looked like blue and gray mist coming out the sides. A small, gold plated sign said “Ballroom” in silver letters next to it.

“Want to go another way?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“What do you mean?” Applejack replied.

“Well, I mean there is obviously something behind that huge thing, but why not go around or something?”

“What’s the matter, scared?”

“NO! I’m just…cautious that all”

“Doesn’t matter” Pinkie interrupted.

All eyes were on pinkie. My eyes as well.

“There are more fields on both sides of the hallway, we have to go in the door. These ones you can’t break through.” Pinkie Explained. I swear I got rid of that outline.

Applejack walked over to the door in front of them, then started walking right. After walking the right of the hallway she slammed into an invisible wall. She bucked it once and tried to use her whip a few time, but nothing happened.

“What the hay is going on here?” Applejack asked confused.

“You can’t skip a boss battle silly” Pinkie Pie explained.

Everypony had been with Pinkie long enough over the years to just go along with whatever she had going on in her head, even though most of the time it never made sense to them. She really hadn’t been wrong before and questioning her methods just made you wonder about your own sanity.

“Then let’s keep going!” Rainbow Dash said trying to break the silence that swept around them and started flying towards the door.

“Hold up sugarcube” Applejack Warned while grabbing Rainbow’s tail and holding her back. “We should probably think of a plan first”

“For what? It’s not like we can’t handle anything”

Before anypony could say anything against or for the matter Rainbow flew up to the door in front of them all and slowly opened the door. Peeking inside she didn’t really see anything yet and opened the door enough to walk through. A cool breeze came from it that sent a chill up Rainbow’s spine. The same breeze reached the others causing the same reaction.

“Do we really have to go in there?” Rarity asked already knowing the answer.

“Come on Rarity! It could be fun!~~” Pinkie sang jumping through to door.

Pinkie was the first to enter, Applejack chased after her followed by the other two. The inside was completely dark and quiet. The only light that was there was the light coming from the door they just came from. Rarity suggested that they head back and find a torch or something that gave out light. Twilight was about to tell her to use an illumination spell, but the door closed behind her and the room around them lit up dimly.

The ballroom was like walking into a darkened version of the Canterlot one. There were giant windows that took up most of the walls around them, yet all that could be seen through them was darkness. If there was a ceiling, no pony would have ever found it; there was only black and mist above them. On the other side from where the group of ponies stood was an organ playing lightly with the sound of electric drums accompanying it. The organ was massive, almost covering the whole opposite wall, almost seemed like half of it was just for show. The drums were not to be seen.

In the center of the ballroom was a dirty white, floor with two ponies that were ballroom dancing in the middle. It almost seemed like they were ignoring the group of friends that just walked in.

“Glad you could join us” Octavia said causing all the ponies to jump a little. “We were wondering where you ran off to. Oooh and it looks like you brought a friend with you”

“What have you done with Fluttershy?!” Applejack shouted out.

“Who?” Vinyl asked with a grin. “ OH, you mean that shaking, worthless thing we found trying to protect her precious bunny? She’s in the castle with a buddy of Lord Dracula’s.”

“Lord who?” Applejack asked.

“Simpletons, they don’t even know who’s causing all the chaos” Octavia said with a smile. “And they won’t be able to when we’re through with them”

The dancing ponies floated in the air and towards the organ. The organ stopped playing and all eyes were now on Octavia and Vinyl. A cello appeared by Octavia and a turntable burst from the ground in front of Vinyl.

“They look like they could use a rest” Octavia said after grabbing the cello. “Let’s give them a lullaby.”

The Group of ponies had a puzzling look on their faces, they all looked at each other, nodded, and all rushed the musical duo. They got halfway to their enemies when they all heard a calming tune that made them stop and stare at the air around them. The tune was calm and hypnotizing; a light bass line continued in the background as the cello played, a perfect combo. Almost like a switch had been flipped, the ponies dropped on the floor.

Applejack got up from her bed panting and sweating. She was in her old room, free from any burns or destruction. She got up and trotted over to a window, Sweet apple acres was there, apples just waiting to be bucked and eaten.

“Applejack!” yelled a familiar voice.

“Granny Smith?” Applejack pondered.

She walked across the hall into the living room…living room? Her bed was on the top of the…Maybe she slept on the couch again.

“Come on lazy, sit your butt down and eat already” Granny Smith said in a very demanding voice.

“Uhh, Howdy Granny. What’re we doin tod- “Applejack started but was cut off right after.”

“Eat your food so you can go help Mac with the work load.”

Applejack saw the “meal” that was in front of her, it looked like Sweetie bell made it. She decided to skip breakfast today and just walked out to her orchard. When she walked to outside, she noticed that the sky had been unusually cloudy and dark, the pegasi must be having a storm coming…a really big one. Before she could think any more about the matter she saw Big Mac next to a couple apple trees.

“Howdy Big Mac, how are you-“Applejack started.

“Oh I’m just fine thanks, just enjoying the sunny weather and reveling in the wonderful day of working. I do believe that today will be quite fascinating and joyous. Oh, this is so much fun!” Big Mac rambled.

Applejack had enough of this, something was definitely off. Before she had to hear what else Big Mac had to say she rushed off into the center of Ponyville. The area was dead silent and there was no sign of life anywhere. Not to mention everything seemed grayer. She started walking through the town glancing at everything. All the doors were locked and windows shut, it was a ghost town devoid of everything but the buildings.

“Applejack?!” A voice called out in the distance.

She turned around to find Twilight in the distance. The two ponies dashed to each other and hugged.

“I thought I was the only one here” Applejack said

“Well Spike’s here, but something is different about him, he hides in the corners with an evil stare and won’t listen to me.” Twilight said.

“My family back at the farm is messed up as well”

“Something is definitely wrong around here”

“Well I’m not sure what to do, I can’t find anypony else besides you, my family and this deserted place. I wonder why the weather is acting up too.”

“Must be a storm coming… wait, what day is it?”

“Tuesday? Hay I don’t know”

“Well, let’s find a calendar then”

Walking around they eventually go to the middle of town and found a calendar on town hall with the dates crossed out in order except for the 23 of June.

“So it’s a Wednesday” Twilight saw. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Last time I talked to Rainbow about the Weather patterns she said that Wednesdays are either clear or Rainy all day. Come to think of it, the clouds are moving on their own.”

Applejack looked up at the sky and agreed; the sky really was moving on its own…and orange.

“How the hay is that even possible? I mean, where are we?” Applejack asked in a panic.”

“Everything is not the same as we remember, yet is in the same world, or pseudo-world.”

“Twilight?”

“Yes?”

“Why do ah get the feelin that nothin is making sense? I just wish we had a ghost of a chance to figure out what’s goin on.” Applejack sighed.

“Yeah, but the- wait what did you say?”

“Nothin is makin any sense?”

“After that!”

“We ain’t got a ghost of a chance t-“

“THAT’S IT!!!”

Applejack jumped back in surprise.

“This is a dream” Twilight explained.

“How do ya know that?” Applejack stared pondering.

“Well it makes sense if you think about it, somepony must be creating false dreams from our memories.”

“But how come you’re in my dream?” Applejack asked.

“Because I’m in your head, remember?”

“Oh, right. But how do we get out of here?”

“We have to do something that would wake us up”

“Like what?”

Asking that question was a really bad idea in Applejack’s mind as she found herself on top on her barn with Twilight standing next to her.

“Remind me why I’m going to die again?” Applejack asked

“You’re not going to die, this is a dream. The shock will just wake you up that’s all”

“And if this doesn’t work?”

“Then you’re going to feel a bit of pressure everywhere”

Twilight reminded Applejack of her doctor when he told her of the pressure she would be feeling from the needles.

“Well, maybe we could try something else, you know in case we-“

Before she could say anything else she felt a sharp pain on her rump as Twilight kicked it and jumped off after her yelling in the process of falling.

Applejack found herself on a cold, hard floor staring a set of white teeth. She immediately grabbed her whip and, in a spinning motion, swung it, hitting a light gray mare knocking her back into a wall. Octavia fell to the floor her body lifeless, when she hit it; she burst in a cloud of black and red smoke that didn’t go away. Looking to the left of her, Applejack saw Vinyl with her mouth open and staring at her.

Vinyl and Octavia were PFF’s, inseparable, willing to do whatever for each other, and now Vinyl was alone. The anger of the white mare was unknown Applejack when Vinyl rushed her, but it did not matter. A well timed swing shot Vinyl into a wall; she landed next to the cloud of Octavia’s and burst into a cloud of black and blue. The clouds connected and combined into a white and purple cloud that floated up towards the ceiling. The Cloud hit the ceiling of the ballroom and burst in a white light, destroying the darkness around the ballroom. She had to close her eyes from the light; when it faded away she saw a beautiful white ballroom with columns around the area and windows showing the still dark sky outside.

“Nice job, Applejack” Twilight said.

“Twilight! It’s good to hear your voice again.”

Applejack realized that her other friends were still on the floor behind her. She walked over to Pinkie and nudged her a bit, but she didn’t wake up. Thinking for a bit she came with an idea that Twilight didn’t really like. Applejack turned around and kicked Pinkie in the stomach.

“I ONLY HAD 6 CUPCAKES!” Pinkie shouted waking up. “Oh, hey guys. What ha- oww my tummy hurts.”

Applejack walked over to Rainbow Dash and did the same thing.

“BUT I’VE BEEN TRAINING FOR YEARS YOU CAN’T TURN ME AWAY!” Rainbow Dash Yelled panting. “Uh. Oh um hey what… ow, I’m in pain”

Applejack continued on to Rarity, but instead of kicking she flipped Rarity over.

“BUT THEY ARE ON SALE!!!!!” Rarity seemed to scream out more than Rainbow and Pinkie Combined. She turned to her friends and blushed a bit. “Well they were”

When all the ponies were told what happened they were a bit shocked, when they saw the amazing new ballroom they were astounded by the beauty. Applejack couldn’t help but feel sad for Octavia and Vinyl; two souls that weren’t meant to live their lives in darkness. Their clouds had faded into the ceiling, but they seemed too solid to be another piece of black smoke like the rest had been. Maybe they were still in the castle, just being contained.

For a moment, all was quiet, and then the organ began to shake. The shaking was slow, but after a couple seconds it was rambling around making loud sounds like old gears working together. It did this for a minute then stopped; the middle of the organ split in two, revealing a secret tunnel going up into another part of the castle.

“Well, are you all just going to stand there, or are we going after Fluttershy?” Rarity Asked.

All of the ponies reacted in the same way, a smile and walking step forward.

“HOLD IT” A demanding voice said behind them. “None can escape the great and powerful Trixie!”

Applejack could feel Twilight facehoof. Dealing with Trixie wasn’t ideal on Twilight’s list. They had seen Trixie before, gloating and trying to make fun of everypony for her show. Trixie had obviously been turned into a vampire due to her sharp teeth and black hat/cape combo, but she still had that way to gloat about everything she did.

“Applejack, can you please get rid of her?” Twilight asked almost groaning.

In almost one motion Applejack jumped in front of her friends, took her whip, wrapped it around Trixie, and threw her out one of the windows. Rainbow Dash saw that the window was open and flew straight for it, ignoring her friend’s warnings. The window seemed to stop for a second and all the glass pieces gathered back to where they originally were. The multicolored mane Pegasus crashed straight into the glass but instead of going through it, she stopped like she hit a wall.

“Apparently only things connected to the castle can leave it.” Twilight said scanning over the window.

“Yeah…I noticed” Rainbow Dash said sarcastically.

After getting Rainbow Dash the ponies headed for the tunnel. Twilight sighed.

“Somethin wrong sugarcube?” Applejack asked in thought.

“I just remembered that I was in a body in that Ponyville dream.” Twilight reminisced. “It felt good to be walking around again.”

“Don’ you worry non, we’ll find a way to make you whole again.”

“But will that bring Ponyville and its residents back?”

Applejack was silent.