Nightmares
Twilight let out a groan and opened her eyes, a yawn escaping her lips. Rubbing her eyes, she looked to her right at the digital clock on the bedside table. It read 11pm. Looking to her left, she saw Midnight still asleep, looking quite peaceful. The unicorn then rubbed her head and sat up, looking around the dark room. Sleeping on the smaller bed in the corner by the door were Diamond, Azure, and Collie.
Letting out a sigh, Twilight slid out of bed and stood up, stretching a little before walking over to the pets' bed. She then placed her hand on Diamond's head, rubbing gently before taking the bed sheets and pulling them up to the mares' necks, tucking them in.
"Sleep tight, girls..." she cooed softly, kissing each one on the forehead before walking out of the room.
Once in the main room, she sat down at her desk and opened the laptop. Letting out a yawn, she watched it wake up and get back to the camera feeds monitoring the city. Eyes feeling heavy, she continued to monitor the laptop before she heard a bump from somewhere behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw nothing. Eyes scanning the room, all she saw was darkness. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Letting out another yawn, she got up from the desk, coming to the realization that she was too tired to work.
Entering the bedroom again, she rubbed and looked over at the pets, giving a light smile before she noticed a fourth body in the bed; a green mare. Tilting her head and narrowing her eyes, Twilight cautiously approached the bed. Reaching out, she gripped the sheets and pulled back. When she did, the green mare sat up instantly like a pop-up, eyes gouged out and blood leaking from her sockets, nose, and mouth.
"Master," she said with a hoarse voice, choking on her blood.
Twilight let out a gasp and fell backwards on her butt. "E-Emerald?!" She asked, wide-eyed.
Silence fell over the room once more. Panting heavily, the unicorn slowly stood up and looked around. Seeing nothing, she rubbed her eyes and groaned. Eyeing the bed, she only saw the three mares. Walking over to it, she let out a sigh and reached a hand out, rubbing a lump in the sheets which she assumed to be Azure's foot.
As she let out a sniffle, a hand grabbed her ankle. Letting out a startled yelp, she fell backwards again and scooted away from the bed. Suddenly, a green hand slid out from under the bed and then a second, fingers trying to grip the floor as the fingernails broke off. Twilight covered her mouth with her hands and whimpered, watching the green mare drag herself out from under the bed.
"Where were you?" Emerald choked, crawling towards Twilight. "You weren't there..."
"I-I'm sorry..." Twi squeaked, looking away and closing her eyes. "I'm so sorry... Please..."
A few seconds passed and she heard nothing, her breathing becoming more shaky. As she looked back at the bed, she found herself face-to-face with the ghostly image of Emerald, her empty eye sockets inches from Twiight. The unicorn screamed and scrambled to the side, rushing to the door and slamming it shut behind her.
"What the fuck?" She gasped. "What's going on?!"
"Twilight..." a female's voice sang from behind her.
Her voice catching, Twilight turned towards the laptop, seeing nothing out of the ordinary. Walking over to it, she sat down in her chair and stared at the screen. On it was nothing but white. No text, no nothing. When she was about to turn away, text began to appear on the screen as if being typed on the keyboard.
T w i l i g h t S p a r k l e . . . W e l c o m e t o m y w o r l d . . .
Leaning in, Twilight rubbed her eyes. "Wh-Who the fuck... are you?" She asked, voice cracking.
Y o u ' l l f i n d o u t s o o n e n o u g h . . . F o r n o w , e n j o y t h e g a m e . . . I h a v e s o m e f u n p l a n n e d f o r y o u . . .
"Who are you?!" Twilight yelled.
M a k e i t t o t h e 5 t h l e v e l o f y o u r n i g h t m a r e . . . Y o u ' l l f i n d m e t h e r e . . .
Suddenly the door to her room flew backwards off its hinges, disappearing into darkness. Turning around in her chair, Twi noticed the hallway was gone. All that was outside her room was pure darkness. Getting up from her seat, she slowly approached it, peering into the void. After hesitating, she slowly slid a foot out the door to find that there was still a floor somewhere in the darkness. Taking a deep breath, she left the room.
Midnight awoke with a yawn and rubbed her eyes, looking over at Twilight. "Oh, you're... still asleep..." she said with a yawn, stretching her arms. As she did, Diamond, Azure, and Collie awoke as well. Looking down at Twilight again, the black mare noticed that the purple mare was twitching as if she were having a bad dream.
Reaching out, Midnight gently shook her in an attempt to wake her. "Wake up, Twilight..." she said sleepily, letting out another yawn. When her attempt failed, she shook her again. "Twilight?" She then shook her again and again. "Twilight!" Quickly grabbing her wrist, she checked for a pulse. Finding made her even more confused. "Wh-What..."
"What's wrong?" Asked Collie, watching from her bed.
"I-I dunno... She's not waking up..." Midnight placed her hand on Twilight's forehead and used her thumb to open her left eyelid. Instead of seeing Twilight's purple eye, she saw an all black one. Midnight gasped and jerked back, going wide-eyed. Quickly climbing off the bed, she quickly got dressed. "I need help..." she stammered in a panic.
The three pets watched and huddled together. "Is she okay?" Asked Azure.
"I-I don't know," Midnight whimpered before running out of the room.
Midnight ran down the hall to Luna and Celestia's room and began banging on the door. "Hello?!" She called frantically, hoping they were in there. "Luna! Celestia!"
She soon heard the sound of approaching footsteps before the door opened, revealing Celestia. The alicorn was wearing a loose robe, holding it closed with her hand. "What is wrong, Midnight?"
"I-It's Twilight!" The black mare yelled, eyes wide and full of tears. "S-Something's wrong with her! She won't wake up!"
Celestia went wide-eyed and tightened her hold on her robe. "Oh, no... But... I think Luna... could actually help more than I can..." she said, looking back into the room. "Luna?! Twilight needs you!"
Twilight blinked a few times, looking around and noticing she now stood in a hall. It was a narrow hall with pictures lining the walls. One picture depicted Emerald's face. Nothing sinister. Just her face. Stepping closer, Twilight let out a sigh and placed her hand on the picture.
"Oh, Emerald..." she whimpered softly, a tear falling from her eye.
Even though this picture was a nice one, Twilight knew its purpose was to torment her. Finally pulling away from the painting, she turned and looked down the hall. The next picture was that of Tech. Another nice picture. Twilight stepped up to the picture and looked it over.
"You are some fucker..." Twilight growled to whoever put her here.
Suddenly, a scratch appeared in the picture, making Twilight step back. More scratches appeared in it until it spelled out YOUR FAULT. The mare stared as her breathing picked up in frequency, finding it hard to catch her breath.
"What... the fuck?!" She yelled, tears falling from her eye.
"Oh, what's the matter?" A female's voice echoed throughout the hallway. "Not having fun?"
Twilight took deep breaths before getting to her feet. "Who the fuck are you?!"
"There'll be time for that later..." the voice cooed. "You might want to run..."
"Run?" The unicorn asked, looking around to find the source of the disembodied voice. "What for?!"
Just then a large blade was shoved through the picture of Tech, coming straight for Twilight's face. Letting out a gasp, she dove out of the way as is hit the wall. Looking at it, Twilight notice that it looked like a large machete about three times the length and size. Too large for any normal mare or stallion to carry. It was then pulled back through the wall as if there was someone on the other side.
Quickly looking down the hall, Twilight noticed a red door, which opened slowly with a creak. The large blade was suddenly shoved through the wall again as Twilight turned to the side, watching it slide passed her and hit the wall.
"Shit..." she gasped, seeing how close it was to cutting her. She then took off running.
She heard the blade get pulled back into the wall before it was shoved through again right behind her.
"Better hurry..." the disembodied voice sang.
Twilight let out a growl and pushed herself to run faster, jumping to the side and hitting the wall as the blade shot up through the floor. Stumbling to regain her footing, she kept running towards the open doorway. As she ran, she passed by more and more pictures. One began to slide along the wall to follow her. It depicted a burning car.
"No..." Twilight muttered, remembering Citrus and Blitz.
Suddenly the blade shot out right in front of her. Letting out a gasp, she dropped to one knee and slid under it. Panting heavily, she stumbled to her feet once more and dove through the door.
Luna quickly left her room wearing only a blue bra and panties, pulling on a bathrobe.
"Come on, Midnight!" She urged, rushing down the hall. "We do not have time to lose!"
"Y-You know what's wrong?" The black mare asked, quickly following.
The alicorn nodded. "I have a pretty good idea..."
Twilight watched the door slam shut before looking around her new surroundings. Standing up, she noticed the floor around her and the door was gone. She stood on a small pillar over a pit of blackness. Looking some more, she saw more sections of the floor atop what looked like thin wooden pillars. In the distance, she saw another door.
"Are you shitting me?" She asked, stepping up to the edge and looking down into the darkness. "Oh, how I wish I could fly..."
Looking at the closest section of floor, she took a deep breath. After taking a couple steps back, she ran and jumped, sailing over the darkness. Letting out a grunt, she hit her mark and slid, grabbing the edge of the floor to keep herself from falling off the edge.
"Shit..." she gasped, looking down to where she almost fell. "This is the worst nightmare ever," she grunted, getting to her feet. "But, this one's a cakewalk..."
Taking another running jump, she aimed for the next platform.
Luna and Midnight burst into the suite and ran into the bedroom. Azure, Collie, and Diamond all looked up at them. Cauliflower was looking into Twilight's eyes before the other two came in. Luna let out a gasp upon seeing the unicorn's eyes.
"It's just as I thought..." she said as she moved closer. "The black eyes... Not waking up... Completely still as though she was dead..."
"Wh-What's wrong with her?" Azure asked worriedly.
The alicorn eyed her and smiled lightly, gently rubbing her head. "Nothing after I am done... I promise..."
Twilight leaped to the final platform before diving through the door. As the door slammed, the darkness around Twilight disappeared in a flash of light. The unicorn quickly shielded her eyes with her arm and let out a groan. As the light faded, she slowly lowered her arm and looked around, blinking a few times. She now stood in what appeared a maze of mirrors.
"What the shit?" She asked, turning in place to look at all of her reflections. "Why the mirrors?" She then looked up. "Hey! Bitch?! The fuck's with all the mirrors?!"
"Face yourself, Sparkles..." the voice cooed as though whoever it belonged to was enjoying the show.
Twilight looked back at the mirrors and gasped, seeing Surprise there instead. Jumping back in fright, she saw that the reflection of Surprise copy her movements. After catching her breath, she raised her right hand, flexing her fingers. The images of Surprise all did the same. Tilting her head, she approached one of the mirrors and stuck out her tongue. The reflection of Surprise did the same. Slowly reaching her right hand out, she placed it on the mirror, wtaching Surprise copy her.
"What the fuck is this?" She asked, before looking at her hand.
She then noticed that the reflection's fingers were in a different position than hers. Then, suddenly, the reflection's hand grabbed hers. Letting out a gasp of fright, she looked at Surprise's image to see it smirking with an evil glare.
"You're becoming like me, Twilight Sparkle..." all the reflections spoke at once, creating an eerie echo. "Just like me..."
"No..." the unicorn whimpered. "I'm not!"
Surprise let out a giggle as her grip tightened. "Why fight it? Why not use your new strength to make others do what you want?"
"B-Because..." Twi shuddered. "It's wrong!" She then pulled with all her might, tearing her hand from Surprise's tight grip. "And fuck you!" She yelled, taking off into the maze.
As she ran, she noticed all the reflections doing the same thing; shaking their head in disapproval.
"You're lying to yourself..." the reflections cooed, before reaching off to the side. Twilight watched them pull a large blade into view; the one she saw in the hallway. "I'd run faster if I were you..." the Surprises sang.
The purple mare gasped as she weaved through the mirrors as she followed the path before bumping into one, finding herself face to face with Surprise.
"Hey, sexy," the white mare cooed, reaching out and holding Twilight against the mirror so her lips pressed against the glass.
When her lips came into contact with the mirror, Twilight felt a pair of lips against her own rather than glass. When she felt a tongue push into her mouth, she squealed and pulled away. Coughing a couple times, she took off again as all the reflections laughed at her.
Twi then noticed that Surprise was lifting up her large blade with both hands, aiming it at her. Letting out a gasp, Twilight dropped to her knees and slid as Surprise thrust the blade forwards. As the blades left the mirrors, some came into contact with other mirrors, shattering them.
The white mare then pulled the blade back into the mirror and sighed. "How many years of bad luck is that?" She asked, before shrugging. "Ah, who cares? I'm already dead..."
Scrambling to her feet, Twilight took off again. She kept her eyes on the mirrors to see what Surprise was doing. The white mare dragged her blade so it rested behind her. Gripping the handle tightly, she lifted it again and aimed it at Twilight's legs. When she thrusted forwards again, Twilight jumped and began to kick off the blades as they hit the floor. As Surprise pulled back, Twilight began running on the ground again.
"Not bad, Twilight..." Surprise cooed with a smirk before Twilight finally made it out of the maze, panting heavily before noticing a red door in front of her.
She watched it open with a creak before sighing. "What next?" She asked, her heart racing from fear and adrenaline.
After she calmed a bit, she stood up and move on, determined to beat this mysterious voice's sick game and wake up.
Luna laid beside Twilight and let out a sigh. "I need you all to do me a favor..."
Midnight looked over at the other girls before looking at the alicorn. "What?"
"Don't tell Twilight about this..."
The black mare tilted her head in confusion. "Why not?"
"Because..." Luna started, sounding nervous. It was clear whatever she was about to do worried her. "I am about to enter her dream."
Midnight went wide-eyed and took a step forward. "Wait... What? You can enter dreams?"
"You can not tell her..." Luna repeated, looking into the mare's eyes.
Midnight looked back, hesitating. She then sighed and nodded. "Alright... So, do you know what you're gonna be up against in there?"
The blue mare nodded slowly. "I have a pretty good idea..."
Twilight closed the door and looked around. She now appeared to be in an autopsy room with the lights off. Feeling the wall, her fingers hit a light switch and the lights came on, illuminating the room. Twilight could now make out nine operating tables in a 3x3 grid. The three closest to her had Aqua, Citrus, and Blitz. The second row had Tech, Emerald, and Diamond. The third had Midnight, Azure, and Collie. Each body was naked and had an incision down their torso like they had all just been opened up recently, blood staining the table and dripping to the floor.
The unicorn held a hand to her mouth and whimpered, looking at the bodies. She let out a shuddered gasp and looked away. "Oh, fuck..." she muttered.
"What's wrong, Twilight?" Asked the voice. "This is easy. Just get to the door."
The unicorn looked around and sniffled. "Fuck you, you bitch!"
"Ho ho, temper..." the voice cooed. "Just go through the door and you'll finally be able to meet me..."
Twilight wiped her eyes as she started to feel more anger than sadness now. "Fine... If that's what you want..."
She took a step forward before Aqua's body jerked with a wet crunching noise. Stopping and gasping, Twilight watched a spurt of blood shoot from the mare's chest. Just then the large blade from before pushed its way upwards and out of the body, before sliding back and forth to cut the stitches. Twilight fell backwards in shock as she watched a bloody hand reach out and grab hold of the body. The hand holding the blade emerged before Surprise pulled herself out of the mare's body halfway, grinning at Twilight.
When she looked down at the corpse she was in, pulling herself out the rest of the way, Twilight ducked behind Blitz's table. The bloodied, naked white mare finally pulled her body out before growling in frustration. Giving up with trying to climb out, she rolled the body off the table, hitting the floor with a wet slap. Crawling out of the body and standing up, Surprise stretched and looked herself over.
"About damn time..." she sighed, observing her body. She then moved towards the door while eyeing the room. "Where are you, Twittles?" She cooed as she dragged the large blade behind her. "Come out and play..."
Twilight covered her mouth and tried to breathe quietly, not wanting the mare to hear her.
"Why are you taking so long?" The mysterious voice cooed. "The door's right there... Don't tell me you're afraid..."
Twilight held her hands over her ears to try and drown out the voice. "Stay out of my head..." she groaned.
"Oh, Twilight..." the voice sang, giggling. "I'm already in your head..."
Just then, Twilight heard a sound behind her and looked back to see Surprise standing on the other side of the operating table.
"Hello, Twilight," the white mare cooed.
Letting out a gasp, Twilight rolled to the side as the white mare thrusted her weapon at her. Letting out a growl, Surprise quickly pulled the blade back, making the table topple over, Blitz's body falling to the floor.
"Just stand still..." the bloody mare growled, watching the mare run for the door.
She grabbed a scalpel from a nearby operating table and threw it at the mare. Twilight let out a yell of pain as the scalpel stuck in her shoulder. As she slowed down to pull it out, Surprise ran over to her and swung her over-sized machete. Pulling out the surgical tool, the unicorn looked over just in time to jump back, dodging the attack as the blade struck the floor.
The purple mare then let out a growl and punched Surprise in the face before tackling her to the floor. "I fucking killed you once! I can do it again!"
Surprise chuckled and grabbed the purple mare's neck before rolling them over, with her now on top. "Won't be so easy this time..."
As she choked, Twilight could feel her energy slip away. Looking for Surprise's weapon, she noticed that it was both too far and too heavy for her to lift. She then got an idea. One last thing to try. Letting out a yell, she grabbed Surprise's face and dug her thumbs into the mare's eyes, making the white mare scream in pain.
"Fuck you!" Twilight yelled, pushing her off before running to the door.
Looking back, she saw Surprise squirming around on the floor as blood poured from her eyes. Letting out a deep sigh, Twilight stepped through the door.
Luna opened her eyes and found herself standing on a rocky floor with a black sky and darkness on the horizon. Turning around, she saw a single purple door in the distance... on fire. Letting out a gasp, she began running towards it.
"Please, no!" Luna yelled, hoping she wasn't too late.
When she was about a hundred feet away, she heard the voice that had been talking to Twilight...
"Princess Luna..." the voice cooed, making the alicorn gasp. "Or... is it Nightmare Moon?"
Twilight looked around her new environment, noticing she was on a circular patch of rocky flooring, with nothing but darkness surrounding it. A door sat at the opposite said and a table rested in the middle.
"Is... this it?" She asked, walking towards the table.
"Ah, you made it..." the voice cooed, only this time it sounded like it was coming from above.
Looking up, Twilight saw a nude bat pony hovering in the air. The figure then began to lower itself onto the table so Twilight could make out all the details. The figure was a red bat pony, with black bat ears and black bat wings, but had the black tail of a lynx. She also had the snout of a bat and sharp fingernails. Her short hair hung down a little passed her shoulders, with bangs that hung down over her left eye. She stared at Twilight with her fully black eyes and smiled, showing off her sharp fangs.
"What... the fuck... are you?" Twilight asked as she stared at the weird creature.
"My name... is Nightmare..." the bat pony cooed, stepping off the table and walking towards the unicorn. "Come closer..." she said as she held out a hand. "Let me get a good look at you..."
Twilight hesitated, heart racing as fear began to creep back into her mind. She then slowly began walking towards the bat pony.
Luna watched as a bat pony mare landed in front of her, smiling at her. "It's been a while, Princess..."
"I'm not a princess anymore, Tantabus..." Luna said with a glare.
"THAT IS NOT MY NAME!!!" The mare yelled as fire ignited around them. "I am... Nightmare... Your dark side... And your hatred for your sister gave me the power to infest dreams and turn them into Nightmares... You... made me... And now I am stronger than ever before..."
Twilight stood in front of Nightmare and stared into her black eyes as the mare smiled.
"So... you're Twilight..." Nightmare cooed as she began to circle the unicorn. "If it's any consolation... Surprise had a nightmare about you the night before you killed her..."
"Good..." Twi spat as she looked over her shoulder. "Bitch should've been scared..."
Nightmare smirked and grabbed Twilight's ass. Letting out a gasp, Twilight jumped a little. Then, before she knew it, she was lying on her back on the table, naked and with Nightmare atop her, staring into her eyes.
"I will give you options now... Twilight..." the bat mare sang with a smirk. "You can stay here with me... and have tons of fun..." She said as as kissed the purple mare's neck. "It gets awfully lonely in here... The second option is you take the door and wake up..."
Twilight's eyes narrowed. "I'll take the door, thanks..."
Nightmare sighed and nodded, sitting up. "Oooo... Fine..." she said as she climbed off the table. "Take the door... You earned it..."
The purple mare raised an eyebrow and sat up. "Just like that?" She asked as she slid off the table.
"Just like that..." the bat pony confirmed as she crossed her arms with a smile.
Twi eyed her before walking over to the door and opened it. Hesitating, she peered out into the darkness. Suddenly, she got a bad feeling. Thinking back to the other rooms she was in, she let out a silent gasp. "This was all too easy..."
Luna took a step back before holding up her fists. "If you do not stop this... I will..."
Nightmare let out a giggle. "Oh, mother... You have no power here..." she sang before lunging at the alicorn with her claws out.
Luna jumped to the side and swung her foot into the bat pony's stomach, sending the mare tumbling backwards across the rocky floor. Quickly getting to her feet, Nightmare glared at Luna.
"H-How--" She began, before getting cut off.
"I can also manipulate dreams, Tantabus..." Luna said with a smirk. "And I created you... so, I can defeat you..."
Twilight turned from the door and looked at Nightmare. "You want me to go through the door..." she said as she took a step forward. "I'm supposed to face my fears, rather than run from them..."
The bat pony's eyes narrowed as she glared at her, looking less than happy. "If that's what you want..."
After she said that, Surprise dropped down onto the table, eyes still gouged out with her sockets leaking blood. Hopping off the table, she dragged her blade towards the mare.
"Miss me?" She asked as she licked her lips.
Twilight began to walk towards her as she smirked. "Good luck fighting me without your eyes, you fuck!" Twilight yelled as she jumped to the side and lunged at the mare.
Surprise smiled and swung at her, making her gasp in surprise as she dropped to her knees, the blade just missing her head.
"What makes you think I need eyes?" The white mare cooed. "This is a nightmare... None of this is real..."
Twilight smiled and got up. "You're right..." she said. "It's a dream... My dream... My head..."
Surprise growled and raised her blade before Twilight kicked her in the stomach, knocking her back and dropping the blade. Twilight quickly picked up the weapon and swung upwards at Surprise, cutting her right arm off. Letting out a yell, Surprise looked at her bleeding stump.
"Fucking cock!" The white mare yelled in pain.
Twilight then swung at Surprise's legs, cutting them off as the mare dropped to the floor, bleeding everywhere.
As Surprise yelled in pain again, Nightmare glared at the purple mare as she let out a soft growl.
Nightmare turned to the purple door and growled. "No..."
"What's the matter?" Asked Luna. "Not going the way you hoped?"
The bat pony looked at her again and hissed. "I'll kill you!" She screeched, leaping at Luna. "Twilight's mine!"
The alicorn smiled and held up her hand, sending a wave of blue magic through the dream as Nightmare fell to the floor, holding her head.
"You have no power when I'm around, Tantabus!" Luna yelled as another pulse of magic came from her hand.
When Surprise was just a torso on the floor, Nightmare screeched and lunged at Twilight. Whipping around, Twilight gasped before the bat pony burst into a cloud of black smoke.
Coughing and waving her hand to clear out the smoke, Twilight looked around. "What the fuck?"
Luna stared down at Nightmare, who was now blue with a glowing purple outline.
"You're weak against me, Tantabus..." The alicorn stated as she got to one knee. "It's over..."
The form of Nightmare looked up at her and hesitated before the world around them disappeared in a flash of light.
Luna awoke with a gasp and sat up as Midnight and the others all stood up.
"Is it over?" Asked Midnight, as Luna slid off the bed and got to her feet.
"Yes..." the alicorn replied. "She should be waking up shortly..." Luna then began to head to the door, not wanting to be there when she unicorn woke up.
"L-Luna?" Asked Midnight, climbing into bed with Twilight.
The blue mare stopped and looked back at her. "Yes, Midnight?"
The black mare gave her a smile. "Thank you..."
Luna gave her a nod before leaving the room. When she was gone, Midnight felt Twilight stir before sitting up with a gasp, looking around. Hugging her tightly, Midnight buried her face in the mare's neck.
"Oh, Twilight, you're okay..." she sobbed.
The unicorn hugged back and nuzzled her head. "It's good to see you, too... All of you..."
"What happened?"
Twi rubbed Midnight's back and sighed. "I don't know, but... I did get over my fear of Surprise... And I now know what I must do..."
"W-Well, that's good, but..." Midnight said with a sniffle as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. "what must you do?"
"Protect this city... Whatever it takes..."
Midnight nodded, not liking the dark undertone in the mare's voice. Hugging her again, she kissed her neck. "As long as I have you..."
Twi hugged back and nuzzled Midnight's neck, the two laying down on the bed together as the other three mares watched...
The End?