A Night to Remember

by Valen

Rating: everyone
Tags: Cloudkicker, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe, Other, Comedy, Slice of Life, Twilight Sparkle
Length: 7044

Alula, Firelock and Bee Bop enjoy an entirely uneventful Nightmare Night. Yup, nothing interesting will happen. At all.

A Lunaverse story.

Alula has always been nervous around others, especially when her resemblance to an Alicorn is involved. Typically on Nightmare Night she just stayed in-doors and played with her sister, however this time things will be a little different. She's going to be going out dressed as that which she fears most, but there's no need to worry! Firelock and Bee Bop have got her back, and they are going to make sure that tonight will be a night to remember!

~~~

This is my first pony story and my entry to the 'Lunaverse october writing event'. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who helped me on this story.

To my editor/co-author/conspirator/pretty much everything else FluxerCry, thank you!

To my artist and friend LoveBronyOtakuChan87, thanks!

To my co-author and collaborator Whiteeyes Thanks for the help!

And last but not least, a huge thank you to Cerulean Voice my grammatical editor.

If you liked this, please drop me a comment, if you didn't, post me some ways to make it better! I appreciate any feedback you can give me.

Published 2013-10-27 00:30:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-27 00:30:03 UTC

A Night to Remember

A Night To Remember

“Tag! You're it!” Dinky Doo yelled excitedly as she tagged Snails. Clumsily, the colt stumbled forward a bit, looking around in circles until he realised what happened. Grinning, he began galloping after Dinky, who let out a small ‘eep’ before running off.

It was a surprisingly bright day for October, and all the foals were happily running around the schoolyard playing various games. Dinky Doo, Snips, Snails, Applebloom and Twist were busy enjoying a game of ‘tag’ whilst Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were playing catch. By contrast, Diamond Tiara lazed under a tree with her friend Silver Spoon, the two appearing to be in deep conversation.

A little further away from where the rest of the foals were playing, sat two fillies. The first was a unicorn who had an orange coat and short red mane. She happily patted the sand into a shape roughly reminiscent of a tower. Outside of it was a blob which resembled a long body. Every few seconds, her green eyes would dart from side to side, glancing at the incredible feat of sand architecture next to her.

A huge fortress stood next to the filly: thick, crenelated walls surrounded a cluster of spires which rose high into the air. At the centre of all this was a tall, thick tower, which rose higher than most of the foals could stand. Small windows dotted the outside wall, and at the very top was a proudly displayed purple flag.

Sitting next to the castle was a small filly with a sandy-yellow coat and purple mane. Her vast cerulean blue eyes stared intently at the walls as she delicately patted more sand onto the bottom stabilizing it. Perhaps the most identifiable features of this filly, however, were her horn and wings.

Alula was a pegasus-unicorn (Or ‘Pegacorn’ as some ponies called it), a rare hybrid of the two tribes. This resulted in her having both a horn and wings, meaning that she could both fly and cast spells. Unfortunately, it was difficult for her to do either of these things, as she had to split her time between learning both of them.

Outwardly, Alula appeared to be an Alicorn, though she could confirm that she most definitely was not. Unfortunately, most of the Ponyville foals believed that this was really some set up, and she was just waiting for the right time to unveil her true nature.

“Hey, Alula?” the orange coated filly asked. Alula jumped a little at the sound, but smiled as she saw that it was just Firelock.

“Yes Firelock? What is it?” she asked softly, unconsciously shifting so that her wings were mostly hidden.

“How did you do those arches?” the unicorn asked with a frown, gesturing with a hoof towards one of Alula’s spires. Alula immediately brightened up, scooting around so that she was next to Firelock.

“Th-they’re called the um… the Arcading” Alula said, smiling softly. “I uh, I just used my hooves to poke little holes like this.” Alula demonstrated on one of her walls, carefully poking a series of holes at regular intervals. “Then I smoothed them over with my wings, so they don’t fall apart,” she continued, spreading one of her wings and delicately stroking it across the newly created holes. “See?” she asked, gesturing at her new series of five arches.

“That’s really cool Alula!” Firelock said with a grin. “Oh, but I won’t be able to do it,” she added, her face falling.

“O-oh no that’s okay. I can help you,” Alula said, scrambling to make sure that her friend wasn’t upset. Luckily, Firelock's face immediately brightened back up.

“Really? Awesome!” However, just as she turned back to her own tower to begin working on it again, the school bell rang, signalling the end of break.

“Awwww!” Almost every foal whined in perfect sync. This would be slightly disturbing if it didn’t happen on a daily basis. The foals slowly began to dribble back into the school house. Firelock turned to look longingly at her tower before finally sighing and trotting after the others, Alula following just behind.

The two foals entered the classroom last and quickly took their places near the centre. Cheerilee smiled at the assembled foals. She had a special lesson planned for today, and was excited to teach it. Well, not really a lesson, but she couldn’t help herself, it was the end of the day and she wanted to do something fun.

“Hello everypony, how was break?” she asked in a magenta voice -- though none of the foals could quite understand how a voice could be magenta, it just was -- which the entire class responded to by chattering all at once about what they had done. The overall tone of it could roughly be translated to ‘Good’ or something to the effect.

“Wonderful!” Cheerilee said happily. “Now, who can tell me what day it is?” The class went silent, thinking exceptionally hard about the question which was obviously some sort of test. Tentatively, a hoof rose into the air. “Yes Snips?”

“Um, it’s Thursday isn’t it?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. Cheerilee allowed herself a small, suppressed giggle.

“You’re right, Snips, but that’s not what I meant. This afternoon gives way to Nightmare Night!”

All the foals immediately broke into excited chattering. Many of them had been coming up with costume ideas for the past month and were brimming with excitement. One particular colt was talking animatedly with Dinky about how he was going to be a pirate.

Cheerilee shook her head, still smiling, and continued as her students quietened down again. “Now, today I thought it would be fun if we were to design some costumes. So can we all get out the paper, pencils and paint?” The foals immediately complied; drawing sessions were always great, though they usually ended with everypony being covered head to hoof in paint.

Alula cautiously trotted around her desk, walking over to where the other foals were gathering with the various pieces of art equipment. She slowly sat down next to Firelock, who was already hard at work drawing a picture of a pony who appeared to be… burning?

“Uh, Firelock? Isn’t that kinda dangerous?” Alula asked. Firelock turned and raised an eyebrow questioningly. “Fire hurts,” Alula added simply.

“Oh! Oh yeah. Huh, I didn’t really think about that,” Firelock said, her eyes suddenly growing very focused. After about a minute of watching Firelock just sit there, Alula leaned in to get a better look at her friend. Yes, she was most definitely still breathing. Tentatively, she reached forward with a hoof and prodded the filly in her stomach.

Nothing.

“Firelo--”

“I’ve got it!” the unicorn shouted suddenly, leaping up with a wide grin on her face. A high pitched squeal escaped Alula as she fell backwards, her wings flailing madly in an attempt to keep her upright. It didn’t work.

“Heh, sorry about that Alula,” Firelock said awkwardly, before offering Alula her hoof. The yellow filly took it thankfully and righted herself.

“So, what was your idea?” she asked, preening her newly-ruffled feathers.

“Well, um, I was thinking we could go together and I could be like, a guard and you could maybe b...” she trailed off, her voice dropping down to inaudible levels by the end.

Alula cocked her head to the side. “Pardon?”

“I was wondering if maybe I could be a guard and you could be , um, a princess?” Firelock asked hopefully, smiling as widely as she could manage. She knew that Alula didn’t like being called a princess, or even having anyone mention her resembling one, but she couldn’t help herself! It would be so cool!

Unfortunately, Alula reacted just as Firelock expected. She immediately looked down and began scuffing one hoof against the floor, her wings fluttering a little in nervousness.

“O-oh, I um, well I mean, I don’t know,” she said softly, sniffling a little.

“Please ‘Lula?” Firelock asked, doing her best puppy eyes. “It’d be so cool!”

Alula closed her eyes in thought. She really didn't want to go around looking like a princess. It seemed almost… disrespectful? Plus, she never liked the attention, although she did like the idea of getting free candy. Besides, Firelock was her best friend, and friends make sacrifices for each other right?

But what if ponies make fun of me? What if they laugh at me; or even worse, what if I spawn some kind of crazy cult who might try to overthrow Luna so that I can be Princess? Oh no! Then I’d get lots of ponies in trouble! Maybe Princess Luna would banish me for being so mean! Or put in a prison! Or put in a prison in a place I’m banished to! They might even take away my pottery!

Alula’s panicking was interrupted by a hoof on her shoulder. She looked across at her friend who smiled back encouragingly.

“O-okay Firelock, if you want me to,” Alula sighed. Before she knew it, she was entangled in a pair of orange hooves.

“Thanks ‘Lula! This is gonna be awesome!”

“Hey, is Alula going to be a princess?” Scootaloo asked, looking up from a drawing of a batpony.

“Yeah!” Firelock grinned happily.

“Yay!” Shouted Sweetie Belle. “All hail Princess Alula!”

“ALL HAIL PRINCESS ALULA!” The other foals echoed excitedly.

What have I gotten myself into? Alula thought as the foals began to chatter about what kind of princess she should be.

~~~~~~~~~~

The sun was already setting by the time school had finished. The art session had gone well as all the foals had successfully designed something. Firelock was already jumping up and down at the prospect of being ‘Commander Firestorm’ of the honour guard. Alula herself remained skeptical, still not entirely pleased with the situation.

She and the other foals stood outside the school house. Everypony chattered excitedly about their plans for the night, many of them deciding to go in groups. Alula would have joined them, but she really wanted as few people as possible to see her as a princess. She felt uncomfortable when in large groups anyway.

A bright blue filly with yellow mane appeared suddenly in front of her, grinning widely. Alula let out a high pitched ‘eep’ and fell backwards. Quickly recovering, she righted herself. Seems like falling over is going to be a theme for today. The filly scratched the back of her head awkwardly.
“Heh, sorry about that.”

“O-oh that’s okay.” Alula replied quietly. “W-would you like something Bee Bop?” she asked, looking at the floor.

“Well, I was wonderin’ if I could come with you and Firelock for Nightmare Night?” she asked hopefully. Alula awkwardly pawed the ground with her hoof.

“W-well I mean, I-if you want to you ca--”

“Yeah!” an energetic voice shouted. Alula squealed and fell backwards, Yep, definitely becoming a theme. Luckily, she was caught by Firelock who appeared to have been the culprit. “Sorry.” Firelock said sheepishly. “But the more the merrier right?”

Alula looked between the two fillies and sighed. she didn’t want to upset anyone; besides, Bee Bop seemed like a nice foal. Why not? “O-okay, if you want to come you can.” She smiled slightly at the cobalt filly. Bee Bop grinned, fluttering her wings.

“This is gonna be so awesome!” she yelled happily. “I’ve got so many ideas for costumes and stuff an--“ Bee Bop stopped, drawing in a big breath. “YAY!” Bee’s cheer sent Alula and Firelock flying backwards, resulting in a few cracked windows in the schoolhouse.

The bell on top of the schoolhouse tolled thrice. Alula suddenly became very aware of the time. Losing all of her previous anxiety she quickly got up.

“Sorry everypony, I have to go home. I’ll see you around seven!” Alula called as she galloped towards town centre.

~~~~~~~~~~

Firelock trotted down the streets of Ponyville, slashing the air with a toy sword which was held in her telekinetic grip. Around her neck was a bag with a grinning pumpkin on it. It was seven o’clock: finally it was time to go and get herself some candy!

Next to her fluttered Bee Bop, who wore a large shaggy piece of red faux fur around her neck. On her front hooves were long orange socks which ended in cardboard claws. By contrast her rear legs were covered by a pair of green socks. When Firelock has asked what she was, Bee Bop had simply responded with a ‘roar’ which shook the surrounding buildings

The two walked through the transformed streets of Ponyville towards Alula’s house further towards the edge of town. All around them, groups of foals -- sometimes accompanied by an adult -- bounded around in a variety of costumes. There were dragons, zomponies, skeletons, and all manner of demonic creatures.

Firelock glanced down at herself, readjusting her chest plate. She had opted for something resembling that of a royal guard, except her armour was black and orange, with little swirls of fire she had painted herself. Now all she needed was a princess to protect.

The orange filly sped up as she finally caught sight of Alula’s house. This is going to be great!

~~~~~~~

This is going to be awful! Alula thought unhappily as she sat in her room, tapping her hooves together. She looked at herself in the mirror and immediately shied away, trying to cover up her wings, and failing miserably. She wore a dark purple and silver chest plate with an old rune emblemized on it. A similarly coloured helmet sat upon her head; it resembled that of a guards-pony, but was more curved. It also featured a hole for her horn to poke through.

Alula grimaced. I look stupid! Why would I go out like this? This doesn't just add more to the stupid rumour of me being a princess, but it also makes me look really silly! The yellow filly sagged. Mommymade this for me, am I really going to not even wear it? besides, Firelock had seemed really excited about going trick-or-treating with me. I don’t want to disappoint her.

Suddenly a knock came from her door eliciting a small ‘eep’ from the startled filly. Quickly regaining her composure, Alula looked at the door. “Come in,” she said quietly. Slowly the door opened and an off-grey unicorn mare walked in.

“Hey there sweetie.”

“Hey mommy!” Alula said as she fluttered over and hugged her mother.

“Firelock and Bee Bop are here, are you ready to go?” Alula glanced back at the mirror, frowning a little before nodding. Blank Canvas smiled at her daughter. Alula had told her about what had happened at school and knew that she wasn’t entirely happy with being a princess, even for one night. It made her proud to know that Alula seemed to be getting over her fears, even if only a little.

The two walked out the room together. Alula’s head was bent low but there was a look of grim determination on her face. She stared at the floor, imagining her friends laughing as she stood before them.
“Ha! You look so stupid Alula!” FIrelock laughed, pointing a hoof at the yellow filly.
“YEAH!” Bee Bop yelled “LUNA’S GONNA COME EAT YOU FOR PRETENDING TO BE A PRINCESS NOW!!”
The apprehensive filly was suddenly jolted back to reality after walking directly into her mother’s hind leg.

“HI ALULA!” two fillies shouted from somewhere in front of her. Slowly, Alula looked around her mother’s legs. Standing in the doorframe were none other than Firelock and Bee Bop. Not laughing, or being mean, just standing there. Alula cautiously walked around her mother, now facing her two friends. Now that she could see them properly, Alula was able to get a good look at their costumes. Bee Bop appeared to be some kind of… hair monster? Alula couldn’t really tell, but the blue filly appeared to have just taken every piece of clothing she could find and threw it on. Not that it looked bad of course. Just, well, different.

Firelock on the other hoof was wearing a set of very realistic guard armour. Swirls of flames ran across its surface -- which Alula had to admit did look pretty nice -- the orange and yellow complimenting the black of the armour very well. Her friend’s helmet forced her mane into a plume, which in the end made her look as if her head was aflame. Alula couldn’t help but giggle at this, especially as an image of her friend singing about how wonderful fire was had popped into her mind. Alula had to admit that the look suited her friend very well.

Thinking about it, it made sense that Firelock had access to some realistic armour like that, Her father did work in the guard, alongside Alula’s own. Any doubts about going were now pushed aside. If her friends had gone through this much work, only for her to back out, then they would never forgive her! Sucking in a deep breath, Alula walked forwards.

“Hey Firelock, hey Bee Bop.” she said, taking her place beside the two fillies.

“Are you ready, my princess?” Firelock asked, bowing and grinning widely. Alula shot a glance at her mother, who smiled back at her encouragingly.

“Y-yeah, yeah I am,” the yellow filly responded, taking a few hesitant steps forward.

“Awesome! Let’s go!” Firelock said happily.

“Alright then, but you three be careful okay?”

“We will, bye Mrs. Canvas!” with that, Firelock bounded away, Alula and Bee Bop following close behind.

Within a few minutes the three were already well on their way towards the town centre, and Alula could now see many other groups of foals too. She was beginning to feel like her fears had been unjustified. Nopony was making fun of her and Luna hadn’t swept down from the heavens to punish her for such treason. Feeling a little more confident, a thought struck her.

“Hey, Lockie?”

“Yeah?”

“What exactly are we going to be doing?”

“Well, I figured we’d start off at the library then circle ‘round until we get to Ms. Trixie’s place.”

Alula blanched a little. “Oh, okay. But aren’t you a little worried?”

“Why?” Firelock asked, her eyebrows raised in confusion.

“Well, Miss Twilight lives in a tree. Trees are made of wood.”

“Yeah Firelock, you might wanna be careful,” Bee Bop added.

“Hey! It’ll be fine, it’s not like I’m some maniac who just goes and burns down somepony’s house! No matter how beautiful the flames would be as they consumed the books, slowly engulfing the pages in their warm embrace…” Firelock stopped walking, a small smile spreading across her face. Alula and Bee Bop stopped to look at their friend. They glanced at each other, then back at Firelock. This went on for a good minute or two before Alula stepped forward and bopped her friend on the nose.

“Firelock? Hey Firelock, are you okay?” she asked, a look of worry etched upon her face. Bee Bop took a step forward, gently pushing the yellow filly out of her way.

“Don’t worry Alula, I got this.” Bee Bop slowly turned to face Firelock and sucked in a very long breath. Realising what was coming, Alula quickly put her hooves to her ears and crouched down.

“FIRELOOOOOOCK!!!” Bee Bop yelled, sending the orange unicorn hurtling backwards into a pile of pumpkins. Alula closed her eyes, but that did nothing to block out the sound.

Splat.

“Hu-wu-buh-wah!?” spluttered a foal-shaped pile of orange goop. The thing that used to be Firelock attempted to stand up, but only succeeded in falling face-first into another pumpkin. She scrambled back up, her head now stuck inside a pumpkin.
“GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!!” Firelock cried as she tried to pull the orange fruit from her head.

Bee Bop stared at the pumpkin covered filly and totally didn’t laugh.

Nope.

Not. One. Bit.

~~~~~~

Bee Bop shook with barely contained laughter. She couldn’t help it, Firelock just looked so hilarious! Alula had managed to clean most of the pumpkin juice off her friend’s armour, but she couldn’t seem to remove the pumpkin from Firelock’s head. The filly’s horn jutted through it and her plume had emerged from the back However any efforts to actually remove the pumpkin had been unsuccessful. In the end, they had settled on cutting eyeholes and a mouth so that Firelock could see and speak.

The group was now nearing the library. Alula had met Twilight a few times in the past, and had decided that she seemed like a very nice pony. Besides it seemed that Cloud Kicker had taken a liking to the purple unicorn, and that was good enough for her. Alula smiled at the thought of her sister, who had gone to some party with a few friends. Cloud Kicker had promised to take her little sister flying when she got back, something which Alula looked forward to very much.

Alula still had difficulty flying properly. She couldn’t really do it without help, so she relished the times when Cloud Kicker could take her flying. She loved the feel of the wind riffling through her feathers, the freedom it gave her. Whenever she flew it was like she could forget that she was different. It was as if the rushing wind blew away all her worries, if only for a while.

“Lula!” Firelock’s scratchy voice shook Alula from her reverie, as she became aware that the towering tree of ‘Golden Oaks Library’ stood before her. Alula had always wondered how it worked, living in a tree. Wouldn’t it be difficult to cook without setting the place on fire?I guess Miss Twilight put up some kind of spell to protect it from being burnt down. Alula shot a quick glance towards a certain orange filly. Maybe I should ask Miss Twilight to teach me that spell, just in case.

Alula trotted over to her friends, who gestured to the doorway. The three approached the door and Bee Bop floated up to knock. After a few seconds, the door opened and the foals were greeted by a bookish unicorn mare.

“NIGHTMARE NIGHT, WHAT A FRIGHT, GIVE US SOMETHING SWEET TO BITE!” the three foals cheered loudly. Well, two of them cheered at least; the third simply shouted it in quite possibly the best impression of the ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ known to ponykind. Unfortunately, most ponies aren’t prepared to be hit by what roughly equates to a train in vocal force; Twilight was no different.

The poor mare was sent hurtling backwards into a bookcase, which promptly fell over, scattering books all over the room. The three foals cautiously peered in. It appeared as though a tornado had swept through. The room was a complete mess, three bookcases had toppled over and books were scattered everywhere. From underneath a pile of books poked three lavender hooves, and the end of a dark purple tail.

Amongst the chaos sat a guffawing grey pegasus mare with a long, golden mane. She was wearing a pointy hat and some torn black robes, but most importantly this was Cloud Kicker, Alula’s big sister. The grey pegasus stopped laughing long enough to look at the door and spot the foals, smiling even wider as she waved them in. The three of them obeyed -- Bee Bop somewhat reluctantly -- and sat down in front of the mare.

“Hey ‘Lula,” Cloud Kicker welcomed.

“Hey Cloudy!” Alula replied happily, running over and hugging her big sister. Suddenly the pile of books let out a pained groan.Oh yeah, Twilight. The group quickly rushed over and fished out the dishevelled unicorn, leading her over to the sofa. After she had a couple of seconds to recover, a frown crossed her face.

“Okay, who did that?” she asked angrily. The foals looked between each other, before Bee Bop hesitantly stepped forward.

“S-sorry Miss Twilight. I didn’t mean to, honest! I can just get a little… uh...” Bee Bop trailed off uncertainly.

“Carried away?” Firelock offered.

“Yeah, carried away.”

Twilight’s gaze immediately softened at the display. She should really offer some kind of punishment, right? This filly had, even if by accident, torn apart her entire library.

Then she made the mistake of looking directly at the foals.

Ugh, no, will to resist, fading!

“It’s… It’s fine, just be more careful from now on, okay Bee Bop?”

The change in the foal’s demeanour was instantaneous: one minute she looked as if her entire world had come crumbling down around her; the next she was grinning wildly from ear to ear.

“Awesome! Thanks Miss Twilight, you’re the best!” the filly carefully shouted. Twilight smiled at the cobalt pegasus, before turning back to Cloud Kicker who had been patiently sitting nearby, talking with her sister about whatever came to mind.

“So, Cloud Kicker, where were we?” Twilight asked, gesturing to a now overturned table. Underneath, the remains of two cups of tea lay, shattered by Bee Bop’s cyclonic voice. Cloud Kicker fluttered over and pulled some paper from underneath the table.

“Well, you were helping me out with some weather work, but I think we were about done anyways. If you want we can head out now,” replied Cloud Kicker with a smile. A few weeks ago, Trixie had appointed Cloud Kicker as Twilight’s second escort after a personal recommendation from Raindrops. Cloud Kicker hadn’t really been sure how to react at first, but she soon found the help with her paperwork most welcome, the two becoming fast friends.

“Great! Do you girls want any candy while we’re here? I think I have some in the kitchen.”

The three foals nodded their heads vigorously at the prospect of free sweets. Smiling, Twilight trotted through the desolation of her living room and began to rummage through her pantry.

“So where are you three going next?” Cloud Kicker asked.

“We’re gonna circle ‘round to Ms. Trixie’s place, but we’ve gotta make sure we stop off by Bon Bon’s on the way first though.” Alula cocked her head to the side.

“Why’s that?”

“‘Cause she has the best candy, an’ we’ve gotta beat Snips and Snails.” This time, both Alula and her big sister cocked their heads in confusion. Alula turned to Bee Bop who merely nodded along with Firelock.

“We met after school and decided to have a competition; whoever gets the best candy, wins!”

“How can you decide whose candy is the best?”

“‘Cause it’ll taste the best!”

Everypony was silent for a second as they contemplated whether or not that was a very effective way of judging a competition. In the end, everypony decided it was best to leave it and just continue with their life.

“Well, I’ll be heading to the fair in town centre, so when you guys are done, come find me. I’ll walk you all home. Then we can go flying, m’kay ‘Lula?” Cloud Kicker offered, standing up as Twilight returned, levitating a bowl of sweets.

“Yeah! Thanks Cloudy!”

“No problem sis.” Twilight chose this moment to interrupt, clearing her throat to get everypony’s attention.

“Sorry it took so long everypony, I’m still getting used to this place. Anyway, here you go!” she said, levitating small clumps of sweets into each of the foals’ bags. The three thanked the unicorn before happily trotting out of the library. They had spent a little bit longer there than they had planned, but that didn’t matter -- they were still going to win!

~~~~~~

The next hour or so passed pretty uneventfully. Bee Bop managed to avoid shouting anymore potential candy-givers into oblivion, Firelock somehow succeeded in not burning down anything (Alula was immensely proud of her for this) and Alula was able to endure the few comments she got on her costume without more than a sniffle.

The group had managed to garner a large amount of candy, their bags were already overflowing. Luckily Bee Bop had devised a cunning plan to use their stomachs as storage units. Needless to say, the other foals agreed without a second thought.

The foals were now rounding on the town centre, deep in conversation about whether or not Changelings were real. Alula had heard about them in a story Cloud Kicker had read her recently and Firelock had found them in a book about fire magic. Bee Bop however, was thoroughly convinced that they were just stories made up to scare little foals, just like the ‘Hydra’, ‘Cerberus’ and ‘Windigoes.’ The other foals were less than convinced, but before things could blow up into a full scale argument, they arrived at the town centre.

The three let out a collective gasp. It looked so different! All around the area were fake cobwebs, carved pumpkins and lanterns shaped like skulls. Tents had popped up all over the place, sporting various ‘monster’ themed designs. Many stalls had been set up selling things such as cotton candy and many other treats.

A little further away was an apple bobbing area, followed by a set of pumpkin catapults. But perhaps the biggest of all was the area immediately around the town hall. Prismatic lights shone brightly as Ponyville’s resident DJ, Vinyl Scratch, pumped out some Nightmare-Night-themed club music. Everywhere ponies were dancing, laughing, playing, and simply enjoying themselves.

Alula quickly scanned the crowd of dancing ponies, finding her sister and Twilight dancing near the back. The two were talking animatedly about something, though whatever it was, it looked like it was funny. Alula smiled. It was nice to see Cloudy having fun; she was always so stressed about work. In fact, she only ever really hung out with Flitter and Cloudchaser, even these events occurred pretty rarely. Alula felt good knowing that her sister was beginning to make some more friends.

“WOOOOOOOOO, PARTY!!!!” yelled a familiar voice from behind Alula. To her credit, she only screamed a little bit before regaining control of her body. She was about to turn around but was cut off as a cobalt and yellow blur shot past her towards the crowd. Luna have mercy on their souls.

“Looks like it’s just you and me ‘Lula.”

“Yeah, do you wanna go play on the pumpkin toss?”

“Sure!” With that, the two remaining fillies left for the catapults, sending one last glance towards the third member of their group -- now utterly lost within the crowd. The two spent the next ten minutes slinging pumpkins at targets, though most of the time they missed. Firelock would be sure to apologise to Tootsie Flute when she got the chance.

“Hey ‘Lula, have you heard about our dads?” Firelock asked her friend, firing a pumpkin in the general direction of the target. She’d have to apologise to Silver Spoon too.

“What do you mean?” Alula asked, firing her own pumpkin which managed to strike the target dead center. “Yay!”

“They’ve been sent down to Elkenborough ‘cause of some kinda problem with the locals. Dad wasn’t allowed to say much.”

“Wait, Elkenborough? You mean that city on the border of Elkenheim? I hear it’s really pretty there!”

“Yeah. Wouldn’t it be great to just get out there, and go on an adventure? Hey! We should do that some time, you and me. We could go explore the Griffin Kingdoms, or maybe Elkheim, or we could find some super secret country nobody knows about! It might even have volcanoes!” Firelock grinned at the prospect of exploring the world. Alula smiled at her friend’s enthusiasm. She had to admit, it did sound pretty fun. Maybe she could go and study some ancient castles?

Suddenly there was a screech from the town centre. Now of course, logic would dictate that if ponies were screaming, you would flee in the opposite direction, or maybe go find some help. The logical thing to do would be to make sure you know what you are getting into before running straight towards potential danger.

Unfortunately, Alula and Firelock were foals, and when it comes to children, all senses of logic are thrown out the window. The two galloped towards the source of the screaming. As soon as they arrived at the town centre, Alula realised something was wrong. Grass wasn’t normally red. Nor did it move. Nor did it crawl all over ponies and bite them. This was a problem.

“Fire ants!” somepony yelled. One of the insects scuttled over to the two fillies, and Alula could have sworn that it was smiling. The insect then spewed a gout of fire from it’s mandibles and scuttled off again. What!? Firelock’s face immediately brightened up; Alula didn’t even know how this was possible given that it was still encased in a pumpkin, it just was. Even worse, Alula recognised that smile. This was Firelock’s ‘I just formulated an incredibly stupid plan’ smile. Firelock slowly started trotting forward, her horn glowing a bright red.

“Lockie? Firelock! Firelock, what are you doing!?” Alula desperately called after her friend who was beginning to move even faster. Just as Firelock reached the edge of a group of fire ants, she turned around and her pumpkin head shot a slightly demented grin at the yellow filly. That in itself was slightly terrifying.

“Simple ‘Lula! They’re fire ants right?” she asked, a small flame flickering into existence at the end of her horn. “So I’m going to do what I do best -- fight fire with fire!” and with that she shot a small gout of flame at a cluster of ants. The insects began to scatter as the orange filly gleefully shot plume after plume of flames at them.

“BASS FOR THE BASS GOD! WUBS FOR THE WUB THRONE!” yelled a familiar cobalt pegasus. She sped through the air, dumping buckets of water on groups of ants. Unfortunately Bee Bop had been too preoccupied with her warcry to notice where she was flying.

Of course, this resulted in her plowing directly into Firelock, who had been preparing another fire spell at the time. The orange filly fell backwards, the impact causing her to release the spell. A sizeable burst of flame shot towards a wooden box labelled ‘Fireworks.’ It was as if time slowed down; Firelocks eyes widened as she saw her fire-bolt hit the box, sending sparks scattering everywhere. I am so grounded.

Suddenly, there was a flash of light, as fireworks rocketed out of the tent, hurtling throughout the sky and exploding in vivid flashes of colour. The tent itself caught on fire not two seconds after the first firework shot off. Soon half the town centre was burning.

One of the fireworks careened wildly to the side, flying directly towards Twilight. The unicorn just stood there, apparently frozen by indecision. Luckily for her, Cloud Kicker was not similarly impaired, and she managed to shove the lavender unicorn to the ground. The firework continued on its erratic course over their heads…

...Directly into Representative Trixie Lulamoon’s front window. There was a resounding crack as the window shattered inwards, a bright green explosion accompanying it.

“Why!? WHY!? WHAT HAVE I DONE TO EARN THIS!?” a certain blue mare cried as Windowpane, who had been waiting next to Trixie’s house for this to happen, set to work.

Throughout all of this, Alula simply sat, watching the chaos unfold before her.

“Popcorn?”

“AH!” Alula shrieked, falling backwards in surprise. Getting back up, she saw that Pinkie was casually sitting next to her, eating a huge box of popcorn whilst watching the marketplace burn. The party pony appeared to be wearing a cupcake -- not a cupcake costume, an actual cupcake. Suddenly, Alula became fully aware of what was going on.

Her home town was BURNING and she was just going to sit here and do nothing? Daddy would never sit back and watch ponies get hurt. He was big and strong, he’d jump straight in there and help them. It was time for Alula to do the same.

Sucking in a deep breath, the yellow filly righted her helmet and slowly began walking forwards. She had no idea what she was going to do, but she had to do something! following a sudden loud crack, Alula’s head whipped around to see Firelock and Bee Bop trapped underneath a overturned cart, which was beginning to burn up. One of the nearby wooden beams had snapped and was beginning to fall towards the pair.

Alula cried out in terror. She had no idea what to do -- all she could think about was how her friends were in danger. Closing her eyes, she focused on her inner reserves of magic, feeling the energy flow through her body and out of her horn. Stop falling stop falling stop falling stop falling! she silently wished. Yet the beam continued to fall. I’m not going to make it!

Scrunching her eyes shut, Alula poured every last bit of magic she could into the spell, willing the wood to halt its descent. Then…

Nothing. There should have been a crash, a scream, something, but no. Alula cautiously opened her eyes. The wooden beam -- perfectly poised only seconds earlier to crush her friends -- hovered unsteadily in the air, a purple aura surrounding it. Not only that, the cart which had been atop her friends was suspended in the air too, along with many other nearby small objects. Carefully, Alula willed them away from her, the items complying. The large beam of wood and the cart floated ponderously over to the apple bobbing stand. Carefully, Alula placed them down.

The second she did so, the yellow filly collapsed, landing on one of the unburnt patches of grass. It looked as though the fire department had managed to arrive on scene. She heaved in deep breaths, her body aching from head to toe. Miss Trixie had warned her about how dangerous over-channeling was, but she hadn't really had time to think about that. Her friends had been in trouble and she had needed to help them. Alula let a small smile spread across her face. And I did save them! Sure, maybe I expended pretty much all my magic doing it, but that doesn't matter, because they’re safe!Slowly, painfully Alula began to sit up…

...Only to be tackle-hugged back to the ground by three separate ponies.

“OhthankLunayou’reokaydon’teverdothatagainyoumademesoworried!” Cloud Kicker cried, doing her best to crush her sister's ribs. Firelock, who had her hooves firmly around her friend's neck simply nuzzled the yellow filly, smiling all the while.

“That was awesome ‘Lula! I didn’t know you could do that!”

“Me either!” Bee Bop added, finding it difficult to latch onto a spot to hug.

“Can’t… breathe… help.” Alula replied weakly. The three ponies immediately relinquished their grip, though Cloud Kicker still kept a protective wing over her little sister. Firelock immediately trotted back over and nuzzled her friend.

“Thanks ‘Lula, if it wasn’t for you I’d be paste.” Alula smiled lightly, swaying slightly, but gratefully returning the nuzzle. At that moment, Twilight Sparkle walked over.

“Hey Cloud Kicker, I just wanted to say thanks for saving me back there. I really appreciate it.”

“No problem, Twilight.”

“Heh, looks like your whole family is full of heroes Alula,” Bee Bop commented, grinning widely. Cloud Kicker and Alula simultaneously blushed.
“No well--”

“I mean I--”

“You see--”

“Relax, I was just messing with ya. Anyway, I’ve gotta get home, Mum’ll be worried sick. See you two at school tomorrow!” With that, the cobalt filly sped off towards her home.

“Bye Bee Bop!” Firelock exclaimed. Alula simply offered a weak wave. Twilight chuckled lightly.

“Looks like somepony needs some rest. I think we all do,” she recommend.

“Yeah. C’mon, we’ll go home together. I’m legally obligated to make sure you get back anyway,” Cloud Kicker said, playfully jabbing the unicorn mare. Exhausted, the four ponies walked off into the night, finally heading for home.

~~~~~~

Alula squealed in delight as she soared through the sky. Cloud Kicker flew alongside her, keeping a careful eye on her sister so as to make sure she didn’t fall. Alula grinned happily; the night sky was laid out before her, a beautiful tapestry of blues and whites and grays and purples. Stars shone brightly and the moon gazed down upon her like the watchful eye of Princess Luna herself.

She glanced across at her sister, who offered a smile back and gestured towards a lone cloud floating just outside of Ponyville. The two fluttered down, landing on it. Alula happily sat back and simply stared, gazing into the vast expanse of the sky. She dreamed of the infinite possibilities of what might lay beyond.

She thought back to what had happened on this day, how she and her friends had torn apart a library, pelted other foals with pumpkins and razed half the marketplace. She thought of all this and more, how many other mistakes she had made in the past. How many I’ll make in the future.

A warm wing wrapped itself around her as Alula looked up to see the softly-smiling face of her big sister. She thought back to how she had conquered her fear of being thought of as a princess; how she had bonded with her friends -- even made a new friend in Bee Bop -- and how she had managed to save them both from being hurt.

Yes, today had been hard, and a lot of days would be. Yet as long as she had her friends and her family by her side, she could handle anything. Gazing up at the sky, she leaned into Cloud Kicker, nuzzling closer to her big sister. As she did so, one of the stars seemed to shine just that little bit brighter, as if Luna herself watched over them. Alula smiled happily at the thought. If nothing else, she could say this: tonight had most certainly been a night to remember.

Author's Note

Wow! There we have it, after a month of work my first Ponyfic is up. If you liked the story, please leave a like and a comment. If not, leave a comment anyway and tell me how to improve. Anyway, I'll see you all soon. Thanks for reading!

~DeepShift