Flutter Mane-ia

by Emerald Skysoar

Shifting Mist

Author's Note:

Warning! This is where some blood comes into play! It is not excessive, but it is there. Just giving you a heads up.

Also, if you see any mistakes, comment or pm me so I can fix it. Thank you and enjoy!

Chapter Three: Shifting Mist

As soon as Rainbow Dash stepped into the abandoned hall, blackened by the recentness of nightfall, she wanted to call this whole competition off and quickly fly home to chill in her floating cloud palace. ‘Stupid castle! Why do you have to be so dark anyway?’ thought the multicolored mare, slowly advancing into through night’s veil. After a couple of seconds pondering, she shouted “I got it! I’ll just wait out the whole night on top of the castle! That way, I won’t have to deal with this smelly place! Rainbow Dash, you are such a genius!” Eyeing an ideal hole in the roof, she spread her wings and flew out into the coolness of the night, leaving a fading rainbow trail in her wake.

Before landing to wait out the night in the spire, RD took a few moments to exercise her wings in the fresh air. “Man… that castle must’ve smelled really bad if being outside feels this good.” But scanning the sky above her, she spotted something strange. Moving around the castle on all sides were huge storm clouds, tarping the land underneath them with utter darkness. But the worst news was yet to come. As she tore her sight away from the ebony masses, it was snagged once again by an ominous purple mist advancing from the ground.

“Where the heck did this weather come from? I never ordered this!” she exclaimed. As the top weather pony in all of Ponyville, she controlled all weather in a fifty mile radius of the quaint town. “Someone’s gonna get it tomorrow, and I think I know just the pony capable of this. Who would even let Derpy near the cloud factory anyway, especially after last time?”

Putting her frustration behind her, Rainbow Dash went to work right away trying to get rid of those clouds. She soared up to the clouds, hoof raised to smash through the fluffy layers. But before she even came close, a crack of lighting tore through the sky, zapping the rainbow pony with a powerful shock. Searing pain erupted all throughout the pegasus, as the heavenly bolt went its course. Then, in a second, it was gone, almost like magic. The mare tumbled down to the earth, charred smoke streaming off her unconscious body. She landed hard in the dirt, right in front of the entrance as mist and cloud surged ever closer; thunder laughing at her overhead.

When RD awoke after ten minutes, she felt surprising OK for someone who was jolted by the wrong end of a lightning bolt. Still, it took her awhile to get to her feet. The worst damage done was to her wings, which were now completely useless. She didn’t worry, for this was normal for a pegasus that was injured. Apparently, pegasi have a natural ability to heal faster than anypony else, but as a result, it takes away their power of flight during the healing process, or something like that. Twilight had tried to explain it to her before, but her egghead words made Rainbow’s head hurt. Either way, she wouldn’t be flying until at least the next day, which made her very angry. “Stupid weird clouds, with their stupid lightning…” she muttered, reentering the grand hall and taking the path she thought Applejack went down. With all the unusual weather on the way, the competition would have to be postponed until another day. Who knows what other surprises it might have on its way? She knew they needed to get out of this castle fast, before they were trapped here.

Now dashing at top speed, the multicolored mare ran quickly through the musky hall, avoiding the various debris around her. It was pitch black now, for this area seemed to have little gaps in the roof to let in the twinkling light of the stars. That made it even easier for her to accidently press the trigger to activate a moving panel, causing her to fall face first down a slide at her top speed. Round and round she spiraled down into the dark catacombs to an unknown destination, fear etched on her face. She did not scream, for she was too proud to show the terror overtaking her. Then suddenly, the slide stopped, shooting RD like a bullet into the black abyss. She landed face first at a brick wall, shattering it from the sheer force of the crash, busting through to the other side.

Barely awake, she tried to inspect her injuries. This time she was bleeding from her forehead, and two of her legs were in intense pain. But she didn’t scream, for the great Rainbow Dash was determined to never utter a cry! She almost kept her record to, until she saw somepony coming towards her through the dust, galloping at a high speed. Trying to stand, she felt pain explode all throughout her body. It was on this day that the mighty pegasus howled in pain as a halo of darkness surrounded her vision. The on comer also yelled to the heavens while continuing its approach. In a split second, the two had one unison shriek that vibrated the very foundations of the old castle, until the bleeding mare passed out from pain; her last sight a pair of white hoofs rushing forward to end her…

---

Now Applejack was not at all happy to be stuck all night in an ancient fortress destroyed by the evil Nightmare Moon. She was plum tuckered of getting dragged into stupid contests and dares with that arrogant colorful mare. She took her time walking around the abandoned halls, tentatively taking each step and trying to avoid anything she could. To adapt to the mask night had forced on her, she kept her left hoof on the left wall at all taking all the turns too. This way, she could never get lost and easily find her way back.

But life was cruel to all the Mane Six that night, and AJ was no exception. When you think you outsmart the castle, it comes right back and confuses you beyond recovery, which in this case was the infinite maze trap she activated when pressing against the left wall. Since she could not see anything ahead of her, she was blind to the walls constantly turning to always make her turn left.

As clever as she was, it took Applejack nearly seven minutes to solve the mystery of why she was going nowhere. “Darn it!” she exclaimed, very pissed off by the cheap trick. She was tired, hungry, cranky, and now down right mad. “Why can’t this just be as easy as sleepin’ the night! All I wanted to do was find a nice place to get some half decent shut eye! Well castle, the joke’s on you, ‘cause I’m sleepin’ right here, and there ain’t nothing you can do to stop me!” And nothing did stop her, as she fell asleep the moment she collapsed on the floor. Those precious seconds felt like a warm bath after a hard day of Applebucking, washing away fatigue and irritability with its rejuvenating aura.

She could have slept there too, if the thousand year old structure wasn’t so cruel to have a switch right on the spot AJ retired. She awoke to free falling down to the basement floor, malodorous stenches hitting her as she descended. Startled by her situation, she quickly spread out her hooves to grip the sides of the small shoot she was plummeting from. They heated quickly from the friction, making her almost remove them, but she knew if she did, there would be negative consequences. Finally, as the agonizing flames almost consumed her, Applejack halted right above a wide room. Seeing as it was now safe, she relieved her aching hooves and dropped down safely, her hat lazily following her.

Looking around with what very little light was in this dungeon, the orange earth pony could see long shelves lining from one end of the room, to the other. Taking a second to rest, for she knew sleep was out of the picture, she inhaled and knew exactly what was the cause of the new odor wafting through her nostrils—bat droppings. Slowly, looking above her, she could see thousands of the filthy vermin by their glowing eyes, hanging nearly everywhere but the small square AJ came in from. As the heat subsided, she gingerly rose from the ground, put her hat back on, and softly stepped forward.

Currently, she saw on the other side of the room and a bit to the right laid the exit. ‘If I can just make my way over there without creating a ruckus, I won’t have to deal with these here bats.’ she thought, taking another step. And so, the earth pony tip toed carefully over to the other side. While she was moving, she saw that on the shelves were bottles of bottles of cider from the bygone society. ‘This must be a cider cellar then.’ She was almost tempted to drink one, but restricted herself for fear of being attacked by the vampire bats.

Now she was just steps away from freedom. With filled anticipation, Applejack began to run to the door. Too bad she never saw the huge stretch of bat guano straight ahead of her. She slipped and started sliding in the direction of the wall, passing her sweet escape and coating herself with the sticky white goo. She was able to use her aching hooves to stop herself right before impact, but the true damage was already done. As she crashed with a loud ‘BANG!’ all the bats simultaneously were beginning to stir. Using echolocation, each of the creatures found their target: the orange and white earth pony, trying her best to regain her footing. When they all turned to her, she only had one thing to say “Aw buck.” before taking flight to take care of the intruder.

Finally being able to stand up straight, AJ jumped and used the bats own byproduct against them, skating across the expanse like ice. Arriving at her destination, she ran like a bat out of Tartarus to anywhere but there, the vamps hot on her tail. The only luck that she had was that the white gunk on her hooves dried fast, which didn’t inhibit her as much as if it were wet. Hastily, she hurried ran through the blinding darkness, taking turn after turn to lose her pursuers. But they could not be shaken, and now were gaining on her. The flapping mass would overtake her any second.

Suddenly as she turned the corner, a distant wall burst open, spreading dust and brick pieces everywhere. Squinting, the earth pony could see something reviving amidst the rubble. With the poor lighting and the cloud of dust plus the sweat running down her face, the figure appeared to her as a giant mother bat, staring directly at her with its fangs bared. It blared a might screech, as if trying to intimidate her. But Applejack could not turn back, so instead she let out a mighty war cry of her own. They both howled together, a battle as she saw it, until only she was the winner and the bat disappeared. Glancing behind her, the combined frequencies must have driven the lesser beasts away, leaving AJ safe for the first time in the last few minutes. She slowed down a little and eventually stopped to see someone she never would have expecting bleeding out on the cold dusty floor: her rival Rainbow Dash.

“Rainbow, are you alright?” she asked, immediately rushing to the fallen mare. Upon no response, she followed up with “Rainbow Dash, stop joking around. Get up.” Her only answer was silence. Mad, she grabbed the pegasus and shook her violently exclaiming “Why won’t you wake up? Why!?!” When the reality hit her that her friend really might be hurt, Applejack stopped her shaking and instead looked for something to stop the bleeding.

The truth was that AJ had never been comfortable around blood. It made her very anxious and want to vomit. It never really was much of a problem, with her being a farmer and all, but now it was. She felt great distress as she hurriedly looked for a cloth of some kind, knowing her friend’s vitality was growing fainter with each second. Then she saw something suitable; an old tapestry hanging on the wall. Wasting no time, she ripped off a piece and ran back to her friend. Shakily, she pressed the old wad of fabric down against the gash on Rainbow Dash’s head, sucking up the crimson liquid like a sponge.

The earth pony flinched as the blood soaked through to her hoof. Her body was telling her to pull it away, but her mind told her to hold it down. The cognitive dissonance added even more distress to strained body. However, by the power of friendship, she would prevail. All the memories of her time together with the rainbow pegasus flashed before her eyes, as she remembered all the good times they shared together. Filled with new resolve, Applejack held strong. “Don’t you worry. I’ll take good care of you.” she whispered, determined to save her friend’s life.

Later, after what seemed like an eternity in Tartarus, the wound finally stopped bleeding. By this time, AJ’s hooves and coat were stained with a mix of red and white. She was exhausted beyond belief. Earning a second to breathe easy, she slumped down on the rocky floor and let out a sigh of relief. There the two ponies lay on the floor of the pitch black passage. ‘It’s just like Rainbow to sleep while someone else does all the hard work.’ she thought, darkly chuckling to herself.

In that moment, it was as if time had frozen while the two rested on the cold floor. The respite was just the thing Applejack needed to purge her body of fatigue and exhaustion. Then, like she was told by some unseen force to get going, she stood and walked over to the snoozing Rainbow Dash. With some recovered strength, she lifted the mare over her shoulders and began treading the hidden terrain. The process was slow, since the added weight of an adult pony was no light weight. She took it one step at a time, moving her load inch by inch. They only made it to the next passage before she spotted something unbelievable up ahead: Fluttershy sprawled about the floor.

'What the heck is wrong with this place? Why does it keep sending me my friends passed out on the floor?' were the earth pony’s first thoughts before she asked “Is that you Fluttershy?”

After a few light coughs, she answered “Yes my dear friend… Applejack, it is me. I was attacked... by an evil bat. It flew past me into the next corner. Can you go check if it is gone now?” During her little recount, she got to her feet and walked over to the red, white and orange pony.

“Uh... sure, I can do that for you. Let me just put down Rainbow Dash here first.” slowly responded AJ. ‘Something is not right about the situation.' she thought. ‘Here Fluttershy was, nestled against the ground, practically waiting for us to arrive here. Something’s fishy about the here situation, and I don’t like it.' Besides, that wasn’t the only thing wrong with this picture. It could’ve been deficiency of lighting, but to her, the usually bright mare yellow mare wasn’t her normal color. Her voice and speech patterns were slightly different too. Placing her passenger resting against the wall, she followed up with another question, “How did you even get here in the first place?”

“Well, I helping some animals that wandered inside here and… uh, fell down a hole and landed near here. Now, about that bat?” the pegasus asked, with a strange smile on her face.

It was the smile that gave her one fatal clue away to Applejack. On the edges of the sinister grimace, two tiny fangs poked out, which was all she needed to prove the thing in front of her was not her pal from Ponyville. “Just who are you, and how do you know so much about my friend Fluttershy anyway?” she snapped, taking a defensive position in front of her real companion.

“What do you mean? I am your friend Fluttershy. Don’t you recognize me?” the unknown being responded, its smirk growing wider and taking a step closer towards the two.

“Stay away from us ya freak! My real friend doesn’t have fangs and would never wander into this place alone!” shouted the trepidatious earth pony, backing further up against the wall.

Then, the copycat quickly clapped for her little detective. “Well done. I believed my rouse would be decent enough to at least trick half of you ponies before having to get physical. You caught me Applejack, I’m not your timid friend Fluttershy… I’m your worst nightmare!” At that, its whole body erupted with pure darkness, forcing AJ to fly across the hall. Soon, where the impersonator once stood was a giant ball of blackness. A moment later, the orb cracked, shooting white hot steam throughout the hallway.

But, the steam was only a preview of what horror was to come though. Shattering out of the its case, sending long ebony tendrils everywhere, stood a new creature. It had broad leathery wings, spanning almost six feet across. Big, wide ears were on its head, along with a set of sharp, slender fangs. It had deep red eyes, scanning the horizon with hunger in them. Its mane was a matted mess, twist and knots everywhere. The color of the beast matched the imposter Fluttershy had, but turned even a bit darker than before.

With the transformation complete, and the mist cleared, Applejack could finally see what she was up against. A creature that was more horrific than anything she could ever imagine. A creature with the power to end her and her friend in an instant. A creature that matched the description Granny Smith told her in a story when she was a little filly, a dreaded——vampony!

And right now, it was sinking its white fangs into Rainbow Dash’s supple neck, lapping greedily at the free flowing blood…

Comments

[Shpoople96]

9,001 words total

IT'S OVER 9,000!!!!1!!111!ONE!!

[Star Brush]

"APPLEJACK!!!! YOU LET ME BECOME A VAMPONY? "

"ah don't really care "

"Meanie"

[cringe]

4777326
OMG i was thinking same thing

[cringe]

OMGEEEEEEEE

[Metal Hoof]

I. Need. MOARRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) good job