Surviving Sand Island

by The 24th Pegasus

Welcome to the Nightmare

“And you’re sure there were only two? There weren’t more?”

Soft Step kept looking over Champagne’s shoulder to the jungle trees beyond, worried that pirates would suddenly burst forth from them without a moment’s notice. That Champagne had noticed pirates approaching the ruins was one thing, but her seeing only two had been what really set the masseuse off. She knew if the pirates were going to attack, they’d attack in force. So why would they only send out two?

“They emerged from the jungle a minute ago,” Champagne said. “They’re approaching these ruins right now. They aren’t even making an attempt to stay hidden.”

“What do you mean?” Blow Off asked. “They’re just walking across the open?”

Champagne nodded. “Yes. They aren’t using the trees or the shadows to move on the ruins. They’re marching right to the tomb.”

“It’s almost like they want us to shoot them,” Blow Off said. “I bet they think we’re all inside the tomb. They’ll be in for a nasty surprise when they get close.”

“But that’d just be stupid!” Soft Step protested. “There has to be something more going on.”

Blow Off shrugged. “The pirates are stupid, Soft Step. Ever since we’ve started fighting them they’ve just been making one stupid mistake after another. They started this war with the advantage, but they’ve fucked up everything since.”

“And we’re included in ‘everything’,” Soft Step insisted. “Remember when there were like, thirty of us? Remember that?”

Champagne fidgeted in place. “Perhaps we should come up with a plan,” the Prench mare said. “They’re moving on the tomb right now. Every second we waste bickering is another second they get closer.”

“Right.” Soft Step rubbed at her temples and tried to calm her racing heart with a few deep breaths. Fighting off the pirates was squarely on hers and Blow Off’s and Champagne’s shoulders, but she hardly considered herself a leader. She’d always been a follower, and now she was wishing that either Rainbow or Rarity had stayed behind to lead them. She didn’t know how to plan on her own. “Does… anypony have any ideas?”

“What were they?” Blow Off asked Champagne. “Unicorns? What are we dealing with?”

“An earth pony and a unicorn,” Champagne said. “One stallion and one mare. I couldn’t tell what they were armed with from afar.”

“No pegasi?” Blow Off asked. “You checked the skies, right?”

Champagne nodded in the affirmative. “They were clear and empty. It was only me up there.”

“It might be a feint,” Blow Off said. “Send in two obvious ponies from the front while others attack the sides. We could be surrounded if we’re not careful.”

“So what do we do?” Soft Step asked. “Should we get help?”

To her surprise, Blow Off shook his head. “No. Help isn’t going to do us any good. Even if Champagne flew back to camp as fast as she could, by the time she returned with help, the pirates would already be crawling all over this place.”

“What about the others in the tomb?” Champagne asked. “We should alert them.”

“Who knows how deep in the tomb they could be,” Blow Off countered. “Our best bet is to try and stay hidden and fight. Besides, a few gunshots should clue them into what’s happening pretty quickly.”

Soft Step’s stomach dropped. “You want us to fight them?” she asked. “It could be a trap! That could be exactly what they want us to do!”

“What would you rather do? Hide and wait?” Blow Off made her shrink back with a piercing glare. “Hiding doesn’t get us anything. An ambush, on the other hoof…”

“Ambush?” Champagne echoed. “How and where?”

Blow Off checked the pistol at his side. “That should be obvious,” he said. “They’re going for the tomb. So if we hide near the tomb entrance, we can gun them down when they’re trying to go down the stairs. They won’t have a chance to escape.”

“I see.” She turned to Soft Step. “I assume you and Blow Off will take care of that? I can go back to the sky and keep watch.”

Soft Step nodded. “I can do that. And that’s probably a good idea. Keeping an eye out for more pirates should stop us from getting surprised.”

“Take a gun with you just in case,” Blow Off warned her. “I know the pirates had a few pegasi, so you might need to defend yourself.”

Champagne nodded and snatched one of the pistols off the ground, slinging the holster around her neck and shoulder. “I will try to warn you if I see any other pirates,” she said. “Probably by shooting at them.”

“We’ll keep our ears open,” Blow Off said. “Just try to stay out of sight.”

“I’ll do my best.” Then, with a running start, Champagne spread her wings and quickly started climbing through the night sky, her shadow briefly flickering over the moonlit stones as she fled the ruins.

Blow Off and Soft Step watched her go, and then the stallion started to move. “Let’s get into position,” he said. “We need to find a good place to bunker ourselves down where we can’t be seen.”

Soft Step nodded and got up to follow him. “We’re just going to shoot as soon as we see them?” she asked. “I just want to double check that’s what the plan is.”

“As soon as they’re close enough so we won’t miss,” Blow Off corrected. “Just wait for me to act. As soon as I shoot at one, you shoot the other. With any luck, we’ll drop the two of them and we can focus on figuring out where the rest of the pirates are.”

“Okay. I can do that.”

At least, she hoped she could. Though she’d already seen her fair share of fights against the pirates, maybe even killed one, she still didn’t consider herself a fighter. Especially not when compared against a ragtag bunch of outlaws like Squall’s crew.

Her and Blow Off left the shrine behind and started moving to the stairs leading down into the tomb. They had lots of rubble and hiding places to choose from, but finding one that had a good line of sight on the stairs proved much more difficult. Ultimately, the two ponies found a nook under a collapsed archway to set up camp, and they laid out their two pistols and two cutlasses between them. Soft Step just hoped that would be enough.

It took some time, but she finally saw the two figures approaching the stairs from afar. They walked side by side out in the open, seemingly completely at ease. The moonlight shone down on their backs, illuminating their silhouettes; by their shapes and sizes, Soft Step figured that they had a unicorn stallion and an earth pony mare to deal with. The unicorn worried her the most; neither her nor Blow Off had anything to counter his magic with, and if they failed to drop him immediately, things could quickly turn very bad for them.

The two pirates didn’t even hesitate at the top of the steps, instead simply walking down them like there wasn’t anything to be afraid of. Blow Off watched them from the darkness of their cover, his pistol held in his mouth, and Soft Step quietly snatched hers and settled it between her teeth. Her heart began to pound, and for some reason, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Something wasn’t right about this. There had to be something more she wasn’t seeing.

But she never got the chance to voice her concerns to Blow Off—not like he would’ve listened anyway, she knew. As soon as the pirates got within range, Blow Off fired his pistol in a puff of smoke. It momentarily blinded Soft step as it blew in front of her eyes, but she fired her pistol as well, almost on accident as the noise startled her. The weapon rattled her jaw, blew hot ash back into her face, and nearly deafened her as it bucked in her grasp. She ended up dropping it at her hooves and coughing as the smell of burnt gunpowder flooded her nose.

When she could finally breathe again, Soft Step quickly fluttered her wings to drive the gun smoke away. She immediately let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she saw the two pirates lying on the stairs, bullet wounds in their sides. Wiping sweat off her brow with a wing, she stood up and smiled at Blow Off.

The stallion didn’t look at her. His horrified eyes were locked on the ponies they’d just shot.

Soft Step immediately whipped her head back to the stairs and screamed when she saw the two pirates casually stand up again. Blood poured from the wounds in their sides, and they slowly turned in place to stare at her and Blow Off. It was then that she noticed their eyes burned with harsh moonlight, bright white with a tinge of blue in their pupils. Their bodies were covered in dirt and grime, like they’d spent the entire day lying in the mud of the jungle floor and hadn’t bothered to clean it up. Numerous bite marks from little fangs decorated their necks, surrounded by dried blood.

And then they laughed at her, harsh and mechanical. They cackled in unison and advanced one step at a time, disregarding the grievous wounds to their bodies. Soft Step started to panic as those otherworldly eyes fixated on her, seemingly anchoring her in place. Blow Off tensed up at her side, and when she tried to unfurl her wings and fly away, some unseen force seized up her muscles and refused to let her move.

“The tomb is open,” the two pirates said in unison, and something wrenched Soft Step’s eyes to the full moon overhead. “The seal is broken. He shall return.”

The moon seemed to grow brighter in Soft Step’s eyes, brighter and fuller. She struggled to look away, but she couldn’t move a muscle. It was even difficult to breathe. Bats screeched in the night, suddenly swarming around her, and pricks of pain covered her body as they sank their fangs into her flesh. If she could have, she would have screamed again.

But the moon was comforting. It was beautiful. And the longer she stared, the more she wanted to. Nothing else mattered anymore. It was like a white cloth cleaning her mind, wiping her thoughts and memories away...

Comments

[bahatumay]

Wait, what?
Whaaaaa

[Aurora Dimmet]

Even the Moon Zombies are getting Luna's gender mixed up? How dare they assume!

Also shit, that's not good.

[Merula]

As soon as I saw that chapter title, I just knew shit was gonna go pear shaped.

And oh gods I wish I was wrong

[Lone_Stargazer]

Oh sheet. Moonblinked.

[dotLuna]

Oh mane..this is not good.

[N4rwh41]

[zaponator]

Oh shit, zombies!

[PonyDragon]

*reads the title*
"Welcome to the Nightmare"
This won't end well...

*reads the chapter itself*
That didn't end well! RUN!!!

[esplin10]

Welp, didn't see that coming.

[WanderingPony]

Oops. Looks like the winner of Airship Crew vs Pony Pirates is...elder dark god from the tomb!

[Zaveryn]

What, what WHAT

[Willmar]

Welp, I guess this explains what happened to the two pirates Squall sent off.

Hopefully this turn of events will scare off the rest of them.

[PonyDragon]

Just got another bad pun:

Things will go bad bat!

[nemryn]

Oh hey, turns out it was cursed after all. Whoops!

[CV12Hornet]

Well... at least your taxes are free the pirates are dead?

[Eroraf86]

WAT

Ohhh shite, this is not good.

[durandana]

Hoooooooly feaaaaather

[Sunny O]

Oh crap… Did Ponynesians actually have their local Nightmare Moon? And their local gods are real at least in some way? Oh my… Did they just trigger zombie apocalypse? The only thing that keeps me from freaking is that there's too many chapters left for it to truly be the end of them all.

[Circut Breaker]

Luna, take notes. Also:

Discount Nightmare Moon (ding!)