Nightmare Night: The Rest of the Time

by sgamer82

Rating: everyone
Tags: Scootaloo, Adventure, Discord, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy, Cutie Mark Crusaders
Length: 6749

It's the Cutie Mark Crusaders vs Discord, with the fate of Ponyville and Nightmare Night on the line.

When Discord learns about Nightmare Night, he decides he absolutely cannot pass up a chance to sow a little chaos. After all, he promised to be good, but only most of the time.

With all of Ponyville, including the bearers of the Elements of Harmony themselves, caught in Discord's little sideshow, only three ponies are in a position to do anything about it.

The fate of Ponyville and Nightmare Night itself are in the hooves of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. The Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Published 2013-10-31 08:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2013-11-02 08:27:17 UTC

Prologue

“More tea, Discord?”

“Why, don’t mind if I do, Fluttershy.”

It was an odd pairing to be sure. A demure yellow pegasus and the outgoing mishmash of creatures that was a draconequus. Yet Fluttershy’s kindness had created a friendship where none had ever existed before and, in their own ways, both were better for it.

“These little visits of ours have been quite the treat, I must admit,” Discord said. “If nothing else, I’m genuinely grateful that you let me indulge in my chaos unhindered while I’m here. Celestia and Luna can be such bores about that. Hardly any fun at all.”

“Of course. Just please remember-”

“Everything back exactly how it was when I leave. Of course, my dear, of course.”

Given that the walls and floor were decorated in a rainbow-themed checkerboard pattern, with cushy armchairs for the occupants rather than Fluttershy’s rustic cottage, this might seem quite a feat. Discord, however, could undo his magics as easily as he could cast them. Fluttershy, for her part, understood that it rankled on him to do so, which was part of why whenever he visited (which could happen almost anytime, Discord was not one for schedules) she made sure to clear all the animals out of the house and let him go wild. The only compromise was putting everything right back, even if he didn’t enjoy doing so. Despite Discord’s acceptance of that condition, that there was always at least one knickknack or two out of place. Fluttershy had accepted it simply wasn’t in Dicscord’s nature to put things back exactly as they had been.

The two drank in silence for a few moments before Discord spoke up again.

“By the way, I’ve been hearing that this coming night is quite a special one? Being trapped in stone I haven’t kept up on all the holidays and news as well as I should have. Not easy to get around and hear the gossip y‘see. So what’s the, what is the phrase, hullabaloo?”

“Oh… Oh!” Fluttershy gasped as she looked at the calendar. “Oh dear.. it’s… it’s Nightmare Night.”

“Nightmare Night?”

“It’s… it’s a terrible night.”

“Ohh, tell me more!” Discord said excitedly, not noticing how Fluttershy had begun to tremble.

“W-well… it’s supposed to be a night about Princess Luna… I mean Nightmare Moon… I mean Princess… you get the idea. Everypony dresses up in scary costumes and goes door to door. They’re supposed to just ask for treats, but some ponies like to play tricks too.”

“Really?” Discord replied. “Tricks you say?”

Fluttershy let out a sudden squeak. Discord finally noticed how she was not enjoying this thread of conversation.

“I take it you don’t enjoy this particular holiday?”

Fluttershy shook her head.

“Yes, I can see how it’d be quite frightening for a sweet pony like you,” Discord said in a singsong voice. He then sat straight in his chair. With a snap of his claws Fluttershy’s cottage returned completely to normal.

“I’ll tell you what. Since we’re such good friends, I’ll put a protective barrier around your house that will last from when the moon rises until it sets!”

“You would do that for me?” Fluttershy asked.

“Of course! That way you can spend a quiet night at home with nopony to pester you or scare you.”

“That sounds wonderful. What will you do? Did you want to stay here?”

“Oh I must decline. This night sounds like my kind of fun!” Discord proclaimed.

“Discord…” Fluttershy’s voice took on a sudden edge.

“Oh worry not, my dear. I have no intention of causing major havoc. Just a small spell or two, a couple of pranks. Everything back exactly how it was when I leave. Pinkie Promise!”

To make this point an actual cupcake appeared in the air and flew into Discord’s eye. Discord’s tongue came out of his mouth, wrapped itself around the cupcake and ate it whole. Fluttershy seemed to be placated by this promise. She definitely liked the idea of spending Nightmare Night undisturbed.

So we both win, Discord thought. Fluttershy gets her quiet night at home, while I get to have some fun of my own. And I know just the way to do it, too.

Author's Note

My goal was to have this done before Halloween. Didn't quite pull that off but I'm still putting up what I do have and will post the remainder over the next day or so. So won't be too long.

Chapter 1

MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC
NIGHTMARE NIGHT: THE REST OF THE TIME
BY
Sgamer82

“Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something good to bite!”

As the customary chant completed, Twilight Sparkle opened the door to see the colts and fillies of Ponyville decked out in costumes. Twilight was quite impressed by some of them. Along with the costumes one would expect, such as the pirate and a space pony, one ambitious earth pony filly had dressed up as Princess Luna, complete with glitter in her mane, plastic wings, and fake horn. There was also a large dragon costume that seemed too big for just one pony. What really caught Twilight’s attention, though, was Pinkie Pie.

“Pinkie Pie, I know I said last year you might be too old for this, but I think you’re overcompensating.”

“What do you mean, Twilight?”

“Well… your costume.”

Twilight looked at her friend, who was wearing a frilly blue bonnet on her head, a bib around her neck, fluffy booties on her hooves, and a diaper around her hips.

“Oh, this! Nonononono, Twilight. Y’see, this is a theme costume.”

“A theme?”

“That’s right! Come show Twilight, guys.”

With that two small foals ran up in front of Pinkie. The girl, a unicorn, was dressed in a dress and apron. The boy, a pegasus, wore a sweater vest and tie.

“Mommy!” Pumpkin Cake cried out.

“Daddy!” said Pound Cake.

“Baby!” they both said together as they clutched Pinkie’s front legs.

“I stand corrected,” Twilight said with a giggle. “That’s actually very clever.”

She levitated candy into everypony’s bags, ending with the large dragon costume. It opened its mouth, revealing not one, but three bags inside. Twilight leaned in to get a closer look and saw three fillies lined up front-to-back in the costume looking up at her expectantly.

“My word, girls, this is a very impressive costume.”

“Rarity helped us make it!” The unicorn in the costume replied.

“We’re a dragon from Neighppon!” A pegasus said, her voice muffled from the back of the long costume.

“And we’re hoping to get a prize for the costume later tonight,” Piped a yellow earth pony, positioned at the front of the line and most easily seen from the mouth of the costume.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders had definitely outdone themselves with the costume. A long multicolored dragon was definitely unlike any other costume in Ponyville tonight.

“Well, that’s all well and good,” another voice said. “But your costume pales next to my dragon costume!”

“Is Spike wearing that same dragon suit from last year?” Scootaloo’s voice piped in from the costume’s rear.

“Yes,” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle replied in unison.

“Hmph!” Spike huffed, noticing they clearly weren’t impressed.

“What do you think of my costume?” Twilight asked.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo poked their heads out from under the costume so they could get a good look. Apple Bloom simply looked through her costume’s mouth.

“Is that Daring Do?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“That’s right!” Twilight said. She was wearing the safari jacket and pith helmet associated with the hero of literature Daring Do. She had even mussed up her mane herself to make it look like the character’s. She’d considered asking Rarity, but then realized asking Rarity to deliberately mess up a mane was the same as asking Pinkie Pie to skip her in-between breakfast and lunch cupcake snacks. It just wasn’t done. Twilight basked in the fact that everypony recognized her costume this time around.

“I’m surprised Rainbow Dash isn’t doing that,” Scootaloo said. “She’s been all into Daring Do for a while now.”

“She was going to, but then she found out her ‘Shadowbolt’ costume from last year had caught on among the Pegasi. She’s re-using it so she can lead the squad.”

As if on cue a half dozen pegasi flew over head. All of them were draped in black, hoof stitched uniforms resembling dark versions of the Wonderbolts’. Scootaloo’s head popped out of the dragon again and watched in awe. She recognized Rainbow Dash in the center of the formation right away. While they were going slower than Rainbow normally preferred, Scootaloo could tell even from a distance her pegasus idol was having the time of her life.

“Awesome!”

“Scootaloo!” The other two Crusaders called out.

“Okay! Okay!”

After Scootaloo got back into the costume the children, with Pinkie trailing behind as chaperone, went on their way. A few more houses in, everything was going great until the tail of their costume snagged on something. The sudden pull on their costume caused the Cutie Mark Crusaders to lose their balance, Apple Bloom suddenly getting yanked backward with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo running right into each other. From there the three fell forward.

“Oops… so sorry,” Said a voice that did not feel very sorry at all.

The Crusaders removed themselves from their costume to glare at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Silver Spoon had her hoof planted firmly on the tail of the costume. Silver Spoon’s costume had been an odd choice, as she was wearing what appeared to be blue-grey versions of the royal guard. Next to her Diamond Tiara was, predictably, a princess. With the glitter in her main and the fake horn and wings it was clear she was Princess Luna.

“Just what was that fer?!” Apple Bloom said.

“I’m a knight. You’re a dragon. Do the math,” Silver Spoon sneered.

“Oh, brave warrior,” Diamond Tiara said, going into full Princess act. “We thank thee for protecting us from that foul, loathsome creature! Yea, let us return to our quest for things sweet!”

Laughing themselves sick the two bullies trotted off, leaving the Cutie Mark Crusaders with their torn costume. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle simply looked at it sadly. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, was livid.

“Those two… they… our costume… they…” she sputtered, unable to form full sentences.

“Now what’ll we do?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I know!” Sweetie Belle answered. “We’ll take it to Rarity! She’ll be glad to help us fix it!”

* * * * *

“Ugh! You want me to fix this now?!” Rarity exclaimed.

To the Crusaders’ surprise, Rarity had answered the door in robe and slippers, her mane done up in curlers. She had not appreciated being woken up. The Crusaders were about to apologize and go when she continued.

“Oh, come on in, then.”

“I’m sorry, girls,” Rarity told the fillies, “I don’t mean to snap. But Nightmare Night is a busy time for me, making costumes just like this. It leaves me exhausted, so I usually take the night itself off and turn in early”

Rarity levitated the dragon costume. In her tiredness, the levitation flickered some. Rarity compensated by simply draping the costume over herself.

“Just wait here for a few minutes. This won’t take long at all.”

* * * * *

Discord stood on a rooftop, watching all the ponies below. He was finding the whole display quite delightful. It was just as Fluttershy had said. Everypony was in costumes. Some were mundane, such as the vampony. Some were creative. Some were bizarre, such as the grey pegasus who had draped herself in plastic shopping bags. Discord thought one pegasus colt had made quite a respectable attempt at a draconequus.

That is going to make things interesting, he thought with a chuckle. For better or for worse, Discord had no idea what exactly would happen. Nor did he care. Seeing what would happen was essentially the whole point.

“Let the games begin,” Discord said as he snapped his fingers.

Outside Ponyville, Fluttershy’s cottage was surrounded by a large pink dome. A dome that would prevent anything from getting in or out for the remainder of the night.

“That will keep Fluttershy out of harm’s way,” Discord said to himself. “And out of my way, too.”

The dome around the cottage began to shimmer. As it did, magical energies began to pulse outward from it.

“Just a couple spells, exactly as promised,” Discord felt proud of himself for actually being able to keep to the letter of his promise. Of course, the spirit of the promise was another matter entirely. Small spells, used correctly, could have very big effects. Discord trembled at the thought of what he was about to witness. He hurried to conjure up some popcorn and find himself a good seat for the show.

A loud roar pierced the night. Discord found himself looking towards the Carousel Boutique.

“And we’re already off to a promising start!”

Chapter 2

“There’s a dragon in the boutique!”

“Why is there a dragon in the boutique?!”

“I don’t know why there’s a dragon in the boutique!”

“Where’s Rarity?!”

“I don’t see her nowhere!”

“Look out for the tail!”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders dove for cover as the tail of the dragon that had suddenly appeared in Rarity’s dress shop swept towards them. The dragon tried to turn to face them, but the boutique’s work room was too small for a creature its size. It apparently decided it didn’t like this, because instead of trying to eat the Crusaders it crashed its way through the dress shop’s roof, let out a mighty roar, and flew off.

When the dragon was safely gone, the Crusaders burst out from under the table they had hidden under.

“Rarity!” Sweetie Belle cried. She yelled over and over as she tried to find her sister.

“What in the name’a Granny Smith’s ol’ dentures was that?!” Apple Bloom asked.

“I’m not sure…” Scootaloo began, “but… I think that was our dragon.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you notice how long it was? That was more like a Neighpponese dragon than an Equestrian one.”

“I didn’t notice anythin’ but a really big dragon in the room, Scootaloo. Now you mention it though, that couldn’t’a been our dragon. The colors were wrong.”

“Yeah, that’s true. Our dragon had green and yellow. This one was white and… and…”

“...purple…” Apple Bloom finished.

“Rarity! Where are you?!” Sweetie Belle said, ignoring the other two. She was in tears now. Scootaloo went to the nearest window and looked outside.

“Oh wow…” she muttered. Apple Bloom ran to the window to see for herself and gasped.

Outside, where there had been ponies celebrating Nightmare Night, were now beasts, monsters, and everything in between. Apple Bloom saw her own brother, Big Macintosh, transformed into a large, red lion that roared at anypony that got close. Twilight Sparkle appeared to be keeping him at bay using Daring Do’s trademark whip. This was not being helped by the Mayor, who the girls had last seen re-using her clown outfit from last year, capering around them honking a horn.

“It’s like something’s turnin’ everypony into their costumes!” Apple Bloom declared.

“Oh this is bad this is bad this is very, very bad,” Scootaloo stammered. Sweetie Belle had finally stopped crying for Rarity and now was just crying. Apple Bloom walked over to her to explain the situation and let her know Rarity was all right… sort of.

A loud wail told Scootaloo that Apple Bloom’s explanation hadn’t gone over too well, but Sweetie Belle was soon calmed down enough to see the situation for herself.

“That is crazy!” Sweetie Belle declared. “What do we do?!”

“I don’t know…” Apple Bloom replied.

“Hm… what would Rainbow Dash do?” Scootaloo asked.

“Get caught in the spell,” she heard Sweetie Belle say.

Scootaloo looked up herself and saw a squad of pegasi fly overhead. They were tormenting the ponies whose costumes had turned them into flying creatures. In the center, leading the herd, Scootaloo saw a pony leaving behind a rainbow trail.

“So much for that idea,” Apple Bloom muttered.

“Well that’s just great!” Scootaloo fumed, “Twilight Sparkle’s outside! Rainbow Dash up there! Rarity’s flown off who-knows-where?! What do we do about this?”

“What about Pinkie Pie, or Applejack?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“I don’ know where Applejack is,” Apple Bloom replied. “And if everypony’s turnin’ into their costumes Pinkie won’t be any help to us. Remember what she was wearin’?”

When they had last seen Pinkie Pie, she had given them the okay to head to Rarity’s to fix their costume. Then she had begun rambling about words that rhymed with stitches. At which point Pound Cake had stuck a pacifier in her mouth.

“Oh right…” Sweetie Belle said as remembered Pinkie had been dressed as a baby. “What could’ve done this?!”

“Oh I thought nopony would ever ask!” said a cheerful voice.

Above the crusaders a new creature appeared. The creature had the head of a pony and his body was a mish-mash of all sorts of things. They took particular notice of the eagle’s claw, lion’s paw, and snake tail.

“I know you!” said Scootaloo. “You’re that statue from Canterlot Gardens!”

“Well remembered, young filly,” the creature said. “I am Discord, Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony, at your service.”

“Are you doin’ this?” Apple Bloom asked.

“Indeed. I heard all about Nightmare Night and just couldn’t resist seeing it for myself!”

At this a film screen and projector appeared out of nowhere. The projector turned on, displaying scenes all over Ponyville as everypony acted out their costumes. Scootaloo watched as a stallion dressed as a firefighter was working to put out the fires caused by Rainbow Dash and the Shadowbolts. Sweetie Belle gasped as she saw the white dragon she now knew to be Rarity face to face with a large purple dragon. Apple Bloom saw her elder sister, Applejack, dressed as the Tin Mare from the Wizard of Hoss, completely frozen in place. Twilight Sparkle, as Daring Do, was navigating the town, avoiding the various monsters everypony had become. Last but not least, two ponies the Crusaders had never seen before, a pegasus stallion and unicorn mare, were running from a ghost that resembled the Crusaders’ classmate Dinky. The mare had a crying pink foal in the grip of her levitation.

“Why are you doing this to everypony?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Why? Why?! Look at that chaos! Only a couple spells and everypony’s doing anything and everything! You expect me, the very soul of chaos itself, to pass up an opportunity like this? I swore to be good, but only most of the time.”

“So, what? This is the rest of the time?” Scootaloo asked.

“Pretty much,” Discord replied with a shrug.

“You ain’t gettin’ away with this!”

“Oh, and who’s going to stop me, little ponies? You?!” Discord began to laugh until he took a second look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ expressions. “Oh, my. You mean it don’t you? You actually want to try and stop me!”

Discord began to laugh so hard he began to cry.

“Oh you naive little fillies! I’ve been defeated before, true, but it took both either your precious Princesses or six particular ponies. And in both cases they had the most powerful magical artifacts in all of Equestria! But okay, if you insist.”

The Crusaders looked at Discord in surprise.

“You really want to try and stop what I’m doing, I’m going to give you that chance,” he explained.

“Why?” Sweetie Belle asked, only to be immediately hushed by the other two before Discord changed his mind.

“I’m not without a sense of sportsmanship, little Sweetie Belle. And yes, I know who you are,” he rolled his eyes at the fillies’ surprise. “Three of those six ponies were your sisters after all. In any case, as promised, you’ll have your chance. The hint is in my little film here. Find the missing element within and you’ll have your means to end all this lovely chaos. You should have enough time to watch it once more before the horde shows up. Toodles!”

With that, as suddenly as he appeared, Discord vanished. The eyes he’d rolled away earlier popped out behind him. Apple Bloom trotted over to the film projector and started it up again.

“We’d better take a good look at this, if we’re only gonna get to watch it once.”

“Until a hoard shows up?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Why would anyone dress as a dragon’s treasure?”

“Somehow I don’t think that’s what he meant,” Scootaloo said as she sat down to watch.

The film played again, once more showing their friends and sisters trapped in the personalities of their costumes.

“I don’t see what’s missing,” Scootaloo said.

“Of course we don’t see it,” Sweetie Belle replied, “it’s missing.”

“Hm…” Apple Bloom mulled it over, “It’s got our sisters. An’ Twilight an’ Pinkie Pie…”

In a moment it hit them at once. The most powerful magical artifacts in all of Equestria. The Elements of Harmony. The missing element was the Element of Kindness.

“Fluttershy!” They cried out.

“Of course! When Discord was messin’ up Sweet Apple Acres it was Fluttershy what made him stop! If we can get to Fluttershy, she’ll make him quit!”

“But we don’t know where Fluttershy is!” Sweetie Belle told her.

“Yes we do,” Scootaloo said. “Fluttershy’s not gonna go anywhere on Nightmare Night, so she’s sure to be at her cottage!”

With that Scootaloo began to climb the dress shop furniture to reach the hole in the roof that the Rarity dragon had made. Once up she called down to the others.

“I can see Fluttershy’s cottage from here! There’s some kind of big bubble or something around it and- oh… I think I just realized what Discord meant by ‘horde.’”

“What?” Sweetie Belle asked, as Scootaloo rushed back down.

“Do you remember that filly last year who said she wanted to be a zombie this year?”

“Yeah… oh…”

“Yeah.”

Apple Bloom took a glance out the window and saw what her friends meant. A rotted, decaying filly was shambling towards the Carousel Boutique, with a good dozen or more rotted, decaying ponies right behind her. She immediately ran to her bag of candy and upended it. The other two Crusaders looked at her in shock, followed by anger when she did the same to their candy bags.

“Apple Bloom! What are y-”

“We don’t got a lotta time!” Apple Bloom said, interrupting Sweetie Belle and throwing her and Scootaloo their bags. “Take yer bags and fill ‘em with whatever you can find that’ll be useful. And not candy, we got more important things t’worry about righ’ now!”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo’s jaws dropped. They closed their mouths when they realized Apple Bloom was right and started scouring the Boutique for anything and everything they could carry. Once they were properly equipped they left the Boutique out the back door just as the zombie filly and her friends began to start trying to break down the front door.

* * * * *

“Don’t you think that hint was a little too easy?”

Discord, sitting on a rooftop watching the scene below, looked towards the voice and saw a miniature version of himself looking at him. The pegasus colt who had tried his hoof at a draconequus costume. Discord decided he would call him “Mini D.”

“Hmm… perhaps. But then again, they are only fillies. The game’s no fun if there’s no chance of their succeeding. They know where to go, now to see if they can get there. Ah, there they go now.”

Discord watched as the Cutie Mark Crusaders left out the back door of Rarity’s boutique. Tied to their sides were bags fit to burst with whatever they could carry.

“The looting started early,” said Little D.

“Seems they decided to try and prepare themselves. Let’s follow and see how prepared they really are. Come Tiny D!”

Chapter 3

Fortunately for the Crusaders, Rarity’s boutique was close to the edge of town. They didn’t want to get too deep into Ponyville proper, where everypony else was, if they could help it. Staying on the outskirts should keep down how many other ponies they run into.

“Any sign of the zombies?” Apple Bloom asked as they moved through back alleys. Scootaloo looked behind them.

“Nothing. It doesn’t look like they followed us out of the boutique.”

“That’s a relief. Now we just need to get outside of town and head towards Fluttershy’s cottage.”

“And then what?” Sweetie Belle asked. “There’s a big bubble shield around it. How will we get through?”

“Dunno yet,” Apple Bloom admitted. “But no point worrying about it ‘til we get there, anyway. For now, just keep an eye out for anypony. We don’ know who’ll be friendly right now.”

As if to punctuate that statement, a loud honk blared behind the Crusaders. The fillies jumped and looked behind them. The Mayor of Ponyville stood before them. A bicycle horn in her mouth, which she was honking enthusiastically.

“Shh!” Scootaloo told her. “You’re making too much noise.”

The Mayor complied and stopped honking her horn. She began performing cartwheels. This wasn’t much better, as the Mayor’s costume included squeaky clown shoes. Scootaloo covered her face with her hoof.

“Let’s just get out of here before something nasty shows up,” Sweetie Belle urged.

“Too late!”

The girls looked up at the voice they had heard. The Mayor simply ran for it. Two of the Crusaders quickly realized that was probably the smart move.

“Rainbow Dash!” Scootaloo cried happily.

“That’s the name, kid,” Rainbow Dash replied, as she floated down to street level. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle saw a number of other pegasi still on the rooftops watching them. Scootaloo, however, only had eyes for Rainbow Dash.

“Oh, Rainbow Dash, I’m so glad to see-”

“Scootaloo, get away from ‘er!”

Apple Bloom’s warning came too late as Scootaloo suddenly found herself thrown to the ground and pinned under Rainbow’s hoof.

“I’m not sure just what’s going on here,” Rainbow Dash began. “But everypony’s acting crazy and so far you’re the only ponies other than ourselves who aren’t being affected by it. The Princess will definitely want to see you.”

“Princess? You mean Princess Celestia?” Sweetie Belle asked hopefully. Rainbow Dash snorted.

“Hardly. I mean the true Princess of Equestria. Our lady Nightmare Moon.”

The pegasi on the rooftops reverently chanted Nightmare Moon’s name in unison. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom huddled closer together.

“Nightmare Moon?” Scootaloo asked. “You mean Princess Lu-oh no…”

“Yes,” Rainbow Dash confirmed. “Our lady arrived in Ponyville only a few short minutes ago. She’s managed to be untouched by this madness, but for her subjects she’s determined to figure out its source.”

“It’s Discord!” Sweetie Belle yelled out.

“Discord? Oh, I should’ve known. Cloud Kicker! Report this to the Princess, let her know we’ll have more information as soon as we finish interrogating these fillies.”

Interrogating? The Crusaders thought in unison.

“Rainbow Dash, you don’t need to interrogate us,” Scootaloo said from under Rainbow’s hoof. “You already know Discord’s behind this. Why not let us go?”

“Kid, I like you and all, but you gotta understand. I’m Captain of the Shadowbolts, the greatest fliers under our Princess of the Night. I can’t just say it’s Discord and leave it at that. Not with the holiest of her majesty’s nights on the line. You obviously know something about this, and I’m gonna find out all of it. You’d best answer honestly, because if my duty to my Princess means I gotta get rough, that’s what I’m gonna do.”

“YEAH!” a voice boomed from the roof. Scootaloo was starting to panic. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked at one another and nodded. This could be their chance.

“Okay, we’ll tell ya,” Apple Bloom said. “Discord’s kicked up some kinda spell turnin’ everypony into their Nightmare Night costumes. We wanna stop him, and he found it so funny he gave us a hint t’do it.”

“We gotta get to Fluttershy’s house,” Scootaloo finished.

“Fluttershy?!” Rainbow asked in surprise. “Hm… that actually makes sense. She does exert some control over him. Very well. Blossomforth, get these fillies someplace out of the way. The rest of you ponies, we’re going to Fluttershy’s.”

“Wait, don’t send us away!” Sweetie Belle cried.

“We need to see this through,” Scootaloo said.

“An’ Discord may’ve left somethin’ for us to use that you can’t.”

Rainbow Dash appeared to consider these words.

“Tch… fine. Shadowbolts, change of plans. We got ourselves an escort mission! Form up!”

The pegasi wearing Shadowbolt uniforms began to come down from the roofs and circle around the Crusaders, but before they could go any further than that a loud wail came from the air.

“Oh, great, not her again…” Rainbow Dash muttered. She turned to the fillies. “Hide somewhere. We got this. Shadowbolts, attack!”

The Shadowbolts took to the air. The Crusaders watched them and saw the white-scaled dragon they now knew to be Rarity.

“Run?” Scootaloo asked.

“Run,” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle replied.

They ran.

The white dragon, preoccupied with the Shadowbolts, didn’t pay them any mind immediately. Eventually it caught a glimpse of them getting out of the alley, getting into the streets proper, and changed targets. With a swipe of its long tail it swatted most of the Shadowbolts away and began pursuing the Crusaders.

“We gotta run faster!” Sweetie Belle yelled.

“No kidding!” Apple Bloom replied.

“What’s that up ahead?” Scootaloo asked.

Up ahead was another large creature, a large purple dragon was ahead of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. It was coming right at them.

“It’s another dragon!” Sweetie Belle cried.

Caught between two dragons the Crusaders froze. The Rarity-Dragon was nearly upon them when the large purple one tackled her and began to hold her down. They struggled for a few moments before the girls heard it.

“Get out of here!” the large purple dragon said to them. Scootaloo was the first to realize it.

“Spike?!”

“There’s a root cellar two houses down and to the left. It’s safe there!” Spike said to them.

“But Spike, you-”

“I’ll be fine. Go!”

“Spike, that dragon is Rarity!” Sweetie Belle called. “Be careful!”

“All right.”

The Crusaders galloped away, leaving Spike to deal with Rarity. They followed the dragon’s directions and found the root cellar he had described. And next to it…

“Girls, over here!” They saw Twilight Sparkle beckoning them forward. With a sense of relief all three Crusaders charged into the cellar Twilight left open. Twilight went in next and closed the door behind her.

* * * * *

“Well, now, that’s new,” Discord muttered to himself.

“What’s wrong, Big D?” the smaller Discord asked, pulling himself away from watching the fight between the dragons..

“Well, Wee D, it seems as if I actually cannot see into that cellar those ponies just went into,” he pulled out an ear trumpet and held it against his head. “Can’t hear inside,” he vanished and reappeared in a moment, looking a little singed. “Teleport inside, either.”

“Twilight Sparkle?”

“No, I’ve had occasion to become familiar with her magic. Besides, she’s not Twilight Sparkle, she’s Daring Do. It’s not Twilight, but whoever it is is powerful nonetheless.”

“Princess Luna? There was a filly dressed as her.”

“Good guess, but no.”

“The real Princess Luna? She was supposed to come to Ponyville.”

“No, the magic I’m sensing belongs to neither unicorn nor ali-wait… did you say Luna was coming here?”

“She promised us last year she would,” the smaller Discord said, calling on his real identity’s memory.

“Well that’s just great! That may put an end to this whole thing earlier than I’d planned.”

“Not necessarily…” the small Discord said in a singsong.

“You know something, don’t you D Minor?”

“Last year she scared all the kids in town by dressing up as Nightmare Moon. She’d probably do the same this year.”

“She would, heavens know she’s not very imagin… she’s going to be dressed as…” Discord began to snicker, then laugh out loud.

“So we have the real Luna as Nightmare Moon in town? Y’know, I always wanted to meet Nightmare Moon. Couldn’t at the time though, bit of a rocky period for me, if you know what I mean.”

Discord’s counterpart nodded in understanding, then looked down and south a ways.

“Hey, what’s that?”

Discord teleported over for a closer look. In that area, he saw a grey pegasus with criss-crossed eyes draped in plastic shopping bags and laughing maniacally. Around her was a tornado of those self-same bags flying all around her and clinging to anypony who got close enough. The two Discords simply stared at this display for several minutes.

“I can honestly say I have no idea,” Discord responded finally, then he began to grin. “I love Nightmare Night!”

Chapter 4

“Twilight, are we glad to see you!”

“Why does everypony keep calling me Twilight?” Twilight said in frustration. “Just because whatever’s affecting this place made a horn sprout out of my head everyone forgets who Daring Do is! Well, whatever. Zecora, we got three more.”

“Zecora?!” the Crusaders said in unison.

“Indeed it is, my little ponies. Seeing you here is a sight to please.”

Zecora approached the fillies. She wore an outfit not unlike the one she had last Nightmare Night. The girls looked around the room and saw about a half dozen other ponies. Like Zecora, they seemed to still be in costume. Unlike Zecora, they appeared to be behaving as their costumes. The girls noticed a filly dressed as a rabbit huddling in a corner. They saw who they now knew to be Pound and Pumpkin Cake fussing over an infant Pinkie Pie, trying to give her a bottle. An astro-pony was pacing through the room, a breathing sound emanating from his suit.

“Are you really you, Zecora?” Apple Bloom asked.

“We saw Spike before, and he seemed to know who we were,” Sweetie Belle said.

“But so did Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo pointed out. “and she still acted differently.”

“I am indeed myself, down to my soul. The curse that afflicts Ponyville appears to possess a single loophole. My own costume is obtained from items on my shelves, for you see I am in fact, dressed as myself. My garb is that of a Zebrecan shaman, while Spike dressed himself as a dragon. Thus, we are gifted with the powers of our costumes along with our memory. Between us we possess quite the impressive armory. ”

“Y’mean you weren’t affected because you dressed as somethin’ you already were?”

Zecora nodded.

“Rainbow Dash retains her identity but not in whole. She sees herself as Rainbow Dash the Shadowbolt.”

“Rainbow Dash said Nightmare Moon was here,” Apple Bloom reported.

“Princess Luna was due to come to Ponyville soon. If she dressed as before she’s been subsumed by Nightmare Moon. Stay here, fillies, while we seek the answer. What causes this in Ponyville I am as yet unsure.”

“It was Discord,” Sweetie Belle told her. Zecora looked at the filly in surprise. The trio told Zecora everything they knew about Discord and his claims of causing everypony’s odd behavior.

“So our problems are caused by the spirit of Chaos. Seems he enjoys nothing more than to raise a fuss.”

“Discord?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “That’s the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony from the old legends. The one said to have been defeated by the Princesses. I’d heard he was free now, but somehow less dangerous. Is that because of this Fluttershy?”

“Indeed, Mistress Do, Fluttershy is unique. She befriended Discord so her approval he seeks.”

“But now he’s put her behind some kind of bubble or something,” Scootaloo asked. “If we got Discord’s clue right we gotta get past that.”

“I saw the barrier of which you speak, and felt within lay the answers we seek. I’ve examined the shield’s nature with my gifts from afar. It is made especially to allow only one to enter or depart.”

“Bet’cha that’s either Fluttershy or Discord,” Apple Bloom said.

“So does that mean that to get that barrier to go away and break Discord’s spell…”

“...we gotta get Fluttershy or Discord to cross the barrier,” Scootaloo finished for Sweetie Belle.

“That would go well with Discord’s riddle,” Twilight explained. “We need to be cautious though. While historically Discord’s known for enjoying his games, he’s also known to violate his own rules if it looks like he’s going to lose. Miss Zecora, we need to get to that cottage and convince this Fluttershy to pass the barrier.”

“Miss Daring Do, I agree with you,” Zecora said. “But I can not leave this place, or these ponies become prey. My powers are all that keep the dangers at bay.”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom asked. Twilight answered for the zebra.

“What she means is that her powers are providing their own shield over this cellar. The ponies you see here are rendered helpless by Discord’s curse. If Zecora leaves that protection goes with her. And a group this big would be spotted by something out there if we all went together.”

“So then what?” Apple Bloom asked. Twilight adjusted her pith helmet.

“I go alone.”

“We go alone!” Scootaloo corrected.

“You can’t go alone, together,” Sweetie Belle told her.

“You know what I mean.”

“That’s out of the question. I can understand, and even admire, wanting to see this thing through to the finish. But you’re only children. Even I’m not so reckless I would put kids in danger like that.”

“An’ what about the possibility that we have to be there?” Apple Bloom corrected. “Maybe Discord left somethin’ there for us.”

“A point to consider,” Daring Twilight replied. “But if we’re right about the riddle, and I believe we are, then it’s more likely nothing will be there. At the very least I can go, check it out, and bring you back if I absolutely have to.”

“You said Discord plays by his own rules unless he’s gonna lose,” Scootaloo tried. “If you go without us, he may just make you disappear and reappear somewhere else or something like that. And if you do need us there, it’ll be better if we go with you in the first place.”

“I said no!” Twilight shouted, baby Pinkie began to cry, prompting Twilight to speak quieter. “I said no. It’s dangerous enough as it is. For some reason I’m a unicorn instead of a pegasus, and I don’t know magic. So I’ll only have my brain and my own four legs to handle any trouble that shows up. I’m not gonna be able to watch you three at the same time.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were mutinous. That was when Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“We’ll just sneak out anyway, you know.”

Everypony looked at her.

“Zecora, you know us. Have you ever known us to simply stop when something was important to us? And, let’s face it, if we’re really determined-”

“And we are!” Apple Bloom said.

“And we are,” Sweetie Belle continued. “Then the instant you’re not paying attention we’ll try to bust through the door to that cellar. Or dig our way out. Or I can experiment with teleportation magic. Or we can convince Pinkie Pie that her very first birthday party is waiting outside.”

“And those are the good ideas,” Scootaloo pointed out. “Even I’m not sure what we’ll try if those don’t work.”

Twilight’s jaw had dropped.

“You can’t be serious.”

“In fact, I fear, they mean what they say,” Zecora responded. “They enact crazy plans day by day. Loathe I am to admit it is so, it may indeed be best to take them when you go.”

“Zecora!”

“Either we let them leave, with you and your watchful eye. Or, Daring Do, we chance on what would occur to them to try.”

Twilight was clearly angry that Zecora appeared to be siding with the Crusaders.

“Fine! On one condition! You three follow my orders, to the letter. No pretending to misunderstand. No looking for loopholes. I give you an instruction I expect you to obey it precisely as I explain it. Clear?”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders considered this and nodded.

“Agreed,” Apple Bloom said, speaking for the three of them.

“Then let’s go.”