Nightmare on Stirrup Street

by Waxworks

Chapter 6

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo raced through the dark city, headed for Golden Oaks Library. Applebloom had a much longer way to run than they did, so they weren’t exactly sure how much time they had, but they knew they needed to hurry. Applebloom would take care of her family when she got there, they needed to be in charge of bringing backup. Scootaloo skidded to a stop in front of the library, jumped off her scooter, and started pounding on the door.

“Twilight! Spike! Wake up! We need help!” Scootaloo shouted.

There was a commotion inside, and they heard the pit-pat of little dragon feet hurrying to the door. It creaked open, and Spike stood there, tears wet on his cheeks and blood on his claws. He sniffled and stared at the two fillies.

“I don’t know what *sniff* happened.” He blubbered. “She was sleeping, then I heard her gasping, so I got up to check, but the next thing I knew, she just… she just…” Spike broke down and started sobbing.

The two fillies looked at each other, and Scootaloo leaned down and put a hoof on Spike’s shoulder.

“Spike, this is gonna sound pretty awful of me, but we know what’s happening. Nightmare Moon wasn’t defeated, she’s attacking and killing ponies in their dreams, and she’s after Twilight’s friends now. We need you to send a letter to Celestia, okay? Tell her that Nightmare Moon killed Twilight, and that we need her help at Sweet Apple Acres, okay?”

Spike nodded mutely, snot leaking out of his nose.

“Do it now, Spike, I know you’re upset, but we need to handle this immediately. We’ll be back after we check on Applebloom’s family.” Scootaloo gets back on the scooter, Sweetie Belle holding onto her tightly. “And if Rarity comes by, tell her where we’re going!” She yelled, as the two disappeared down the road.

Applejack stood staring at the tree in front of her. It looked like an apple tree, but the bark was covered in strange whorls and swirls. The fruit on it, though shaped like apples, were the colour of a clear night sky. The tree itself towered above the rest of the trees in the orchard, dwarfing any of the trees nearby.

“Ah don’t quite know what ah should make of you. Y’all clearly don’t belong here. Y’just smack of magic, and though ah do love my granny, ah never trusted magic.” Applejack muttered.

She looked around at the rest of the orchard. Her regular apple trees looked so small and threadbare compared to this one, and those apples were massive. Easily the size of a pony. They’d certainly sell for a lot, if anypony was interested in buying a dark blue apple. She sighed and turned away from it. She’d talk to Twilight about it tomorrow, ask her why this tree was in her orchard. Until then, she had work to do.

“Oh come on! You’re not even going to kick it? Isn’t that what you Apples do? Kick trees?” A voice said in frustration.

Applejack turned around to see that the tree was gone, and in its place stood Princess Luna. Though she looked a lot more sinister than Applejack remembered. Her eyes were green and cat-like, and her teeth looked kind of sharp.

“Oh hey Luna. Nah, ah ain’t foolish. Ah figured ah’d just leave it for ponies who know that kind of stuff better than ah do.” Applejack said matter-of-factly.

Luna rolled her eyes and grunted. “Ugh. Such delicious irony wasted because of common sense. I even had a delightful pun ready for when you were lying broken and bleeding on the ground under the falling apples.”

Applejack narrowed her eyes and bent low to the ground. “Y’all sayin’ what ah think yer sayin’?”

“Yes, Applejack. I killed Rainbow Dash.” Luna said with a wicked smile.

Applejack leaped as soon as the words left Luna’s mouth. Luna was impacted by the orange cannonball and knocked to the ground. She laughed as Applejack started beating her in the face, her teeth flying out of her now broken jaw. One of her eyes swelled with blood as her brow was cracked. Applejack’s hooves were scraped and covered in blood as she continued pounding Luna’s smug, laughing mug into applesauce. When she finally stopped, breathing hard, she looked down at the mess she’d made and crawled slowly off Luna, spitting on the prone princess.

“Ah figured you’d put up more of a fight or somethin’. Princess and all. Guess ah figured wrong. Ah’m probably goin’ to prison fer this.” Applejack said, turning away.

“Oh no, Prison won’t be where you’re going.” Luna said, wheezing. She stood up slowly, her pulped head lolling weirdly. It slowly began to pull itself back together, bones knitting and bloodstains disappearing before Applejack’s eyes.

“Wut in tarnation…?” Applejack said, aghast.

“I think you’ll find, Applejack, that I’m very upset with you and your friends. You see, like I was telling Twilight not too long ago, yes, I’m Luna again, but I’m still rotten to the core!” Luna crowed, as an apple flew off one of the trees and struck Applejack square in the face.

“Consarn it! That buckin’ hurts!” Applejack cursed.

“It’s supposed to!” Luna gleefully shouted, hurling more at the farmer.

Luna kept the bombardment coming from all sides. Apples that were ripe, rotten, large, small, and average, pelted into Applejack. At first the farmer covered her head with her hooves, protecting herself from the onslaught, but when she realized it wasn’t going to let up, she knew she had to get somewhere else. She peeked out for a moment, feeling a particularly solid apple strike the back of her skull, and spotted the barn.

“An Apple…” *Smack* “…a day…” *Crack* “…keeps the doctor…” *Splat* “…away!” Luna crowed, punctuating her words with apple projectiles.

Applejack could feel the bruises growing. She needed to do something or go somewhere, so she decided to take her chances. She glanced at Luna once more, then kept her head ducked down and ran for the barn. Apples splattered on the ground behind her, more than a few still managing to pelt against her flank and legs. She could hear Luna laughing behind her.

“What makes you think that’s any safer? That’s where you keep all your tools, isn’t it?” Luna shouted after her.

Applejack ignored her and dove inside, slamming the door behind herself. She knew exactly that this was where the tools were kept. That was why she came here after all. She grabbed the axe, a length of rope, and hid in one of the many empty stalls that lined the spacious interior. She wasn’t sure how all this shit Luna was pulling worked. She’d pulped the mare’s skull, and she was perfectly fine, so she didn’t actually think hitting her with an axe would work, but she wasn’t going to sit idly by and die. Rainbow’s death was unfortunate and sad, but at least it gave Applejack some forewarning.

Luna walked slowly down the middle of barn, packed earth hard beneath her hooves, giving off a soft clopping sound as she moved. “Applejack, please. We both know how this is going to end, and I still have three more of you to deal with. I had to practice on some others while I was waiting for all of you to fall asleep, but only two were successful. Your little sister is unfortunately a very light sleeper, by the way.”

Applejack’s eyes widened as she realized that Applebloom had been telling the truth! This was Luna, not Nightmare Moon, but to a filly having a bad dream, they were the same thing. She reared up in anger and leapt out of the stall, heavy axe between her teeth. It impacted the back of Luna’s neck, and the alicorn’s body slumped to the ground as control of her body was severed. Luna merely had a mild look of surprise on her face as her head rolled away on the dirty floor.

“Oh! There you are! How very surprising. I did not see that coming at all.” Luna said sarcastically. “If you were that interested in the barn, though, why didn’t you go for something bigger? A lonely mare like yourself surely wants to get ‘plowed’!” Luna giggled maniacally.

Applejack was busy trussing Luna’s body up in rope, but she heard the implication in Luna’s voice and swiveled to look at where she kept the farm’s plow. Sure enough, it was flying through the air toward her, deadly point shining menacingly. Applejack dove to the side, but felt the it slash viciously across her side. She tumbled to the ground, a hoof pressed against her injured torso. She glanced down at it quickly. It seemed to just be a flesh wound, but there was no time to stop and check. She hopped to the side as the plow dove at her position. It missed this time, but the tip dug into the soil, tossing dirt every which way. It got stuck in the ground, and Applejack felt a mild sense of satisfaction. Then she found herself face first on the ground, a ringing in her ear.

“Can you DIG IT!” Luna’s head laughed. She swung the shovel again and swatted Applejack on the ass, tossing the orange mare along the ground.

Applejack’s vision swam. She stumbled to her hooves, falling down the first few times until her hooves finally listened to her. She looked hazily in the direction of the door and wobbled toward it, unsteady, but as fast as she could manage. Luna, meanwhile, had managed to loosen the rope Applejack had hogtied her body with, and her body was pulling itself upright. Applejack exited the barn with as much haste as she could muster, and ran into the orchard. She passed under the canopy of leaves and tried to think properly. Her side was bleeding, her head was probably bleeding, and she had literally chopped Luna’s head off, and hadn’t stopped her. She didn’t know what to do. Pain wasn’t waking her up, and there was no way she was going to win this fight the way it was currently going. Luna could have simply blasted her and been done with it, there was no way she could actually stop a princess even outside of a dream, so what was her game? Applejack wished Twilight was here, but that didn’t seem like it was going to be an option anymore. She felt tears welling up behind her eyes, but quickly forced them back. This was not the time for crying. Once she was safe, and her friend were taken care of, then she could allow herself the luxury of crying.

A mocking voice floated over to Applejack on the wind. “Even if you wake up, you must sleep again sometime, Applejack. There’s never an escape from your dreams. Just as night follows day, so must sleep follow wakefulness. This is my realm, and one where my law is absolute. You will never have rest again.”

Applejack grabbed a branch from a tree nearby, biting off the excess and hid behind a tree, waiting. She closed her eyes for just a moment, breathing heavily.

“Applejack?”

Applejack heard Applebloom calling her name, she snapped her eyes open, and swung her stick in the direction the voice had come from, cracking her younger sister across the head.

“Applejack, stop! You’re okay! You’re safe now!” Big Mac said, seizing her hooves.

Applejack struggled a bit more, but eventually stopped, realizing that he was right, and if she were still dreaming, he’d have hurt her or killed her by now. Applejack let go of the stick, and embraced Applebloom, pulling the stunned filly onto the bed. “Oh ah’m so sorry Applebloom, ah thought you were Luna comin’ to git me.”

“Ah’m fine Applejack. Only slightly worse than a switchin’. Ah’m just glad you’re okay.” Applebloom said, hugging her back.

“It were a close thing, let me tell you.” Applejack said.

“Land sake’s filly! Yer bleedin’! Wut in tarnation have you been up to, and why exactly didja wake us all up, Applebloom?” Granny said, holding the lantern high to get a closer look at Applejack’s bed.

There was a significant bloodstain from Applejack’s wound bleeding onto the bed. Big Mac said nothing, but ran off to fetch some bandages presumably. Applebloom finally let go of her sister to look at the injury. It ran from Applejack’s rib down to her cutie mark, and was a ragged, but fairly shallow, gash. Applejack herself was covered in bruises from head to toe, though most of them were concentrated on her sides and forelegs.

“Wut the devil happened to you?” Granny said, noticing her injuries.

“It’s a long story Granny, but ah don’t really have to get into specifics, but Nightmare Moon is after me and my friends. She already got Rainbow Dash and Twilight, but ah’m pretty sure the rest are still alive. She was gloating about it while hitting me with apples.” Applejack said.

“Apples don’t sound like what I’d use if I wanted to off somepony.” Granny said.

“She was just enjoying the feeling of bein’ in charge, ah think. She attacked with farm implements afterward, which is how ah got this, then I ran and grabbed this here… stick…” Applejack trailed off. “Did you bring this stick inside with you Applebloom?”

“Ah didn’t. Ah came straight to wake all of you up after me n’ the crusaders figured out what was happenin’. You didn’t have it till ah woke you up.” Applebloom said.

“Ah grabbed this here stick to fend off Nightmare Moon, but that was in the dream. This don’t make a lick o’ sense. Ah shouldn’t have been able to bring it with me.” Applejack said.

“Applebloom!” A shout comes from outside in the hall, and Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo come charging in, followed by Big Mac with some bandages.

The two fillies climb onto the bed and hug Applebloom, Applejack Winces in pain as they bump into her wound, and Big Mac scoops all three up and deposits them on the floor. He then begins cleaning and stitching up Applejack’s injury with his teeth.

“Good to *ngh* see you here girls. Ah assume you’ve *ugh* figured out what’s happenin’?” Applejack asked.

“We did, but we were too late to help Twilight. I only hope Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are okay. Rarity got attacked, but I woke her up in time. As long as she doesn’t go back to sleep, she should be okay for now.” Sweetie Belle explained.

“Well, then we gotta go find the others before it’s too late. Once Big Mac gets me stitched up, we can be on our way.” Applejack said.

“Not in yer condition ye won’t be! You’re gonna stay here and stay immobile, but not too comfy. I don’t quite get what’s goin’ on, but if it happens in yer sleep, then ye ain’t goin’ back to sleep on my watch!” Granny said.

“No buts! I’ll keep ye company. Big Mac, tie that off and get movin’ with these fillies, Wake up as many ponies as ye can!” Granny ordered.

With a nod, Mac tied off the stitches and followed the crusaders downstairs, they stepped out the door and straight into Fluttershy, who was just landing in front of the farm.

“Rarity told me I had to check on you immediately, and she said you’d be here, um, is everything okay? She was limping and bleeding, and she said something really bad was happening. I could tell she was serious because her makeup was smeared. Is everything okay here?” Fluttershy said.

“Well, to make a long story short, Nightmare Moon is attacking ponies in their dreams.” Scootaloo said. “We’re trying to figure out how to stop her, but I guess if you’re here, that’s one less pony we have to wake up.”

“Rarity told me she would go wake up Pinkie, but the walk out to the farm was a bit much for her to make. Is Applejack okay?” Fluttershy asked.

“She’s hurt, but she’ll live for now.” Applebloom said. “We still need to actually stop Nightmare Moon, though, or we’re never gonna be able to sleep again! We can’t touch her in the dream, though. Applejack said she fought back, but nothin’ worked!”

“If there were a way to get her out of the dream?” Sweetie Belle said hopefully.

“Dreams aren’t real for most of us, though. They’re only real places for Nightmare Moon.” Scootaloo said.

“Wait! Come with me!” Applebloom shouted.

She trotted quickly back upstairs and burst into Applejack’s room, scanning around for the stick. She lifted it triumphantly as the rest of the ponies filed inside.

“It’s… a stick.” Scootaloo said flatly.

“It’s a dream stick! Applejack brought it out of the dream when she woke up holding it!” Applebloom shouted excitedly.

“Hey yeah! Rarity had a bunch of sewing tools sticking out of her flank when I woke her up!” Sweetie Belle blurted.

“I still don’t get it.” Scootaloo said.

“So all we gotta do is get somepony to go to sleep, then wake them up once they grab hold of Nightmare Moon!” Applebloom said.

“That… that’s the plan?” Scootaloo said in disbelief. “GRAB Nightmare Moon!?”

Applebloom nodded.

“That’s the dumbest plan I ever heard! She’s been killing us when we get close, and you want somepony to get the closest they possibly can?” Scootaloo said, waving her hooves in the air. “And then how will we know when to wake them up? We could wake them up to soon, or too late, and what if Nightmare Moon doesn’t even attack them?”

“Well, we could watch for REM to see if they’re dreaming, and if they are, we can watch for injuries, then give them a minute or so to grab her, and wake them up then.” Sweetie Belle offered.

“REM?” Applejack asked.

“Rapid eye movement! It’s when a pony’s eyes move under their eyelids indicating they are dreaming! I read about it in the library yesterday while we were learning about dreams.” Sweetie Belle said proudly.

“Well, ah don’t have any other plans, and ah think this sounds incredibly dangerous and foolish, but ah’m willin’ to try it. Ah didn’t have that stick in my room before ah went to sleep, so it just may work.” Applejack said.

“Applejack no! You’re already injured!” Applebloom protested.

“Well somepony’s got to do it, and we don’t know that she’ll actually attack anypony but me and my friends.” Applejack said.

“She attacked me!” Applebloom insisted.

“And ah ain’t lettin’ her do it again.” Applejack said, staring her sister in the eyes. Applebloom wilted under her stare and relented, looking away.

Comments

[Clawfoot]

I take it you're a fan of Nightmare in Elm Street.

[Moosetasm]

“Can you DIG IT!” Luna’s head laughed. She swung the shovel again and swatted Applejack on the ass, tossing the orange mare along the ground.

Crusaders, come out to play-ay!
Crusaders! Come out to Play-Ay!
CRUSADERS! COME OUT TO PLAY-AY!

[Skyblazer9]

9622929
I love refence to The Warriors. :)