Chrysalis's Night Of Nightmares
Hole-y Night
(More Bad Puns)
Nightmare Night.
The one night of the year when ponies all across Equestria dress up as their alter egos and constantly ring doorbells, smile wide, and ask for candy. The one night of the year when Ponyville is decorated with cobwebs, orange banners, and pumpkins. And most of all, the one night of the year when Princess Luna herself planned the event, and was in charge of making sure the moon stayed up much longer than normal, extending the night by many hours to let the festivities continue for many hours into the morning while it should have been sunrise. Yes, it's been one of the most anticipated, and most enjoyed, nights of the year for generations for everypony who partakes.
Everypony except for Queen Chrysalis.
Chrysalis had never heard of Nightmare Night. She barely knew what it was. But, on the same day every year, spooky decorations went up, and ponies were trotting around dressed as mummies, princesses, pirates, and clowns, bobbing for apples and taking part in the ritual of trick-or-treating, all while being scared out of their wits. She didn't understand it.
Why would anypony in their right mind want to dress up as something that they aren't, and ask for candy from random ponies? Chrysalis was things she naturally wasn't all the time, but she didn't go around asking for candy while she did it. And she certainly didn't think that things like being scared senseless, or dunking her head in a pool of water to search for apples was a good time. And most of all, she wouldn't be able to stand having a bunch of foals in costume banging on her door all night long. She didn't even have a house with a door to bang on. If she didn't like Nightmare Night, then why did she hate it so much?
Chrysalis hated candy, foals, and the whole of Ponyville for what the Elements of Harmony had done to her. And she hated that they were having so much fun.
Chrysalis now found herself on a hilltop outside of Ponyville, loathing the festivities. And as she sat there, loathing what she loathed, she spotted something she absolutely loathed more than her other loathings.
A small colt dressed as a Changeling.
She snorted to herself, disgusted by the colt. How dare they think that her children were festive and scary? Wait... That was half right. They were scary, but they certainly weren't festive.
Chrysalis decided that was the last straw. She would not tolerate any more of this "Nightmare Night".
So, she got an idea. She would use Nightmare Night against Ponyville, and force them all back into their homes, cowering for safety against the evil being that appeared in Ponyville.
But it would not be Chrysalis. Oh, no. She decided that it would be Luna who would take the blame for ruining the festivities. Chrysalis would become Nightmare Moon. She knew Ponyville couldn't resist blaming Luna after her last Nightmare Night incident. It would look as though Luna had once again had enough of the mocking night, and decided to cancel it once again. The plan was flawless, and there was plenty of evidence that would lead back to Nightmare Moon, and Luna herself. Chrysalis took flight toward Ponyville, laughing to herself. She was about to show Ponyville a new side of the Moon Princess.
Chrysalis took cover behind a small house in Ponyville, giggling to herself. It was the perfect plan! Chrysalis could terrorize the quiet town of Ponyville, and Luna would be to blame! It was flawless! Ponyville would never expect the Queen of the Changelings to be responsible!
She giggled maliciously, relishing in her evil, as she formulated her magic, and began to take shape of the dark pony. Her magic flowed up her body, shaping her form into Nightmare Moon. From the gauntlets that stretched up from her hooves, to the flowing, transparent mane that stretched from the helmet. Chrysalis's voice changed, deepening to the tone of Nightmare Moon. Her laugh became Nightmare Moon's laugh. Chrysalis was Nightmare Moon!
The only problem, she was a very bad interpretation of Nightmare Moon.
Her gauntlets clanked awkwardly against her still hole-ridden legs. Her wings had somehow become as transparent as her mane, but they were a light blue. Speaking of her mane, it was shaped like a stretched goo, as well as her tail, and they were as green as it, too. The helmet and chestplate barely covered like they were supposed to, and were very horribly embroidered. Her horn was still jagged, and stuck through the helmet like somepony had used a can opener to make the hole. Even the exo-skeleton around her back and underbelly were still there. Chrysalis looked less like Nightmare Moon, and more like a costume Rarity would have made if Derpy designed it.
I think I should mention, Chrysalis's memory of Nightmare Moon was kinda... Non-existent.
Of course, Chrysalis didn't know this. She thought she had the perfect disguise. She thought it was as if Luna herself had passed the curse of Nightmare Moon directly to her, and now she couldn't stop her evil laughter. Of course, she had to stop when there was something tapping on her badly-copied leg.
Nightmare Chrysalis looked down to see a small filly wrapped in white bandages poking at her leg.
"What're you supposed to be?" the filly asked, still poking at Nightmare Chrysalis's leg.
Nightmare Chrysalis pulled her hoof away, and hissed harshly at the filly. But the filly didn't even flinch.
"I don't get it," the filly tilted her head. "Are you supposed to be scary? 'Cause you look really funny!"
Nightmare Chrysalis paused for another second, looking over the filly. Then, she used her magic to extend her fangs, sharpen her eyes, and make the image of green fire appear in her pupils. Then, she let out a loud, growling hiss, loud enough that the filly's bandages and mane flowed backward from the force for several seconds. Still, the filly didn't move, and when Chrysalis finally stopped, she was panting.
Finally, the filly responded. "Um, I'd better go." The filly turned around, and trotted back toward the gathering in Ponyville. "See you later, silly filly!" And she was gone, giggling as she left.
Nightmare Chrysalis seethed in anger. How had a pony as sensitive as a small filly not been afraid of her? She was Nightmare Moon! At least, she thought she was. What was she doing wrong?
She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and decided to try again. She turned the corner of the house, slithering across the ground like a serpent, careful to not let anypony see her. She sneaked over to the large, wooden apple-bobbing bucket, and pressed up against the side. A few foals were bobbing for apples in it, and hadn't even seen her approach. She grinned evilly to herself, and prepared to scare.
Until she felt something catch on the tip of her horn.
An apple had fallen from the vat, and landed right on the tip of her horn, sticking itself there. She groaned, staring up at it in frustration, and tried to reach for it, but she couldn't get her hooves up high enough to reach it. As she waved her hooves toward the towering apple, a small filly in a ghost costume had trotted up behind Nightmare Chrysalis without her noticing.
After watching Nightmare Chrysalis struggle for about twenty seconds, the filly yelled, "Boo!"
Nightmare Chrysalis yelled out in fear, leaped into the air, and grabbed hold of a streetlight, hanging by all four legs, shaking vigorously.
The foals at the apple vat looked up at her, along with the filly in the ghost costume, and all of them pointed at her and laughed. She looked down on them, a look of anger in her eyes as the apple slid from her horn to the ground. She leaped off the post, and took off down the streets of Ponyville, several ponies giving her strange looks as she went. Nightmare Chrysalis felt absolutely humiliated. How could so many ponies be laughing at her while she was "clearly" Nightmare Moon? Why weren't they afraid? NIghtmare Chrysalis couldn't find an answer, and she only hated the ponies of Ponyville even more for humiliating her. Looking back in anger, she didn't even notice Applejack in her scarecrow outfit until Nlightmare Chrysalis bumped right into her.
"Hey!" Applejack said. "Watch where yer..." She trailed off as she looked up at Nightmare Chrysalis. "Now what in th' hay are you supposed t' be?"
Nightmare Chrysalis didn't answer.
Twilight appeared next to Applejack, dressed in her starry robe, hat, and long grey beard. "Hey, Applejack, I-" Twilight stopped as she caught a look at Nightmare Chrysalis glaring with hatred at her. "Um... Excuse me, um, miss. But is it okay if I ask what your costume is?" Twilight tried to sound polite, but her voice was laced with confusion. Nightmare Chrysalis only got more annoyed.
Then, there was laughter coming from above them. They all looked up to see Rainbow Dash dressed in her Shadow Bolt costume, laughing her head off on a low-floating cloud.
"That has to be the worst Nightmare Moon costume I've ever seen!" Rainbow Dash went back into a fit of laughter.
"Rainbow Dash," Applejack said. "Quit bein' impolite! She's just 'ere to have fun like th' rest o' us!" Of course, that couldn't be more untrue.
A second later, Pinkie Pie appeared. From inside Twilight's beard. Upside down.
Pinkie was dressed in a crude, rubber chicken outfit with a plastic beak strapped to her nose. She bu-gawked like a chicken, too. She turned back upright, and stared at Nightmare Chrysalis with a look of content.
"Hey, I know you!" Pinkie said.
"You do, Pinkie?" Twilight asked. "Who is she?" Pinkie just started laughing, a bu-gawk interrupting her laughs every few seconds. "Pinkie, who is she?"
Pinkie finally pointed at Nightmare Chrysalis. "That's the best costume I've ever seen!" She went into another fit of laughter. "You did great this year, Chrysalis!"
Nightmare Chrysalis, including the other three of the Mane 6, froze. Then, the three Mane 6 stared at her with angry glares, while Pinkie just kept rolling around in laughter. Nightmare Chrysalis flashed a nervous grin.
"Get her, girls!" Twilight yelled.
Nightmare Chrysalis then ran offscreen, followed by the three Mane 6, leaving Pinkie still laughing in-view. A cloud of smoke and the sounds of tussling appeared on the left side, and then abruptly ended, the three Mane 6 returning with angry looks on their faces, then trotted off-screen to the right, Applejack grabbing Pinkie by the costume, dragging her away.
Then, it flashed over to Nightmare Chrysalis, laying on the ground in a heap with her costume looking a little less beaten up than before. But she was still covered in dents and scratches.
Much less ugly than her original costume.
She then took that moment to stand shakily to her hooves, when a Jack-O-Lantern then proceeded to fly through the air and land right on her face, sticking there as if it was actually her head, her horn poking from the forehead, and her ears sticking out from the top.
"Aaaaan' stay out!" Applejack yelled in the distance.
Nightmare Chrysalis trotted the opposite direction, heading for the edge of Ponyville, not bothering to remove the projectile pumpkin, internally vowing to herself that she'd never return for another Nightmare Night.
That, or next time, she'd just put a bucket of water over every door in Ponyville.
The End
