Chapter 1 - Nightmare Night

My Little PonyPrincess of DiscordChapter 1 - Nightmare Night

"Not so rough, Sweetie!" Erroria's cries echoed throughout the whole of the Apple family house. Her hoof swatted nervously at her friend with her eyes watering from the pain, or rather an over-reaction to the pain.

It was the first time her wings had been preened since she was found in those woods. Well, probably even longer than that, but that wasn't really something she could be sure of. If preening her wings were going to be this painful every time though, then she'd rather just skip on the whole flying thing altogether. She'd probably only try preening one time because Sweetie Belle said it shouldn't hurt as much if she preened regularly, but of course she had some doubts from the pain she felt with each bite of her friend.

"How do you even know about preening?" She looked back at her friend with curiosity sitting plainly on her face.

"Rarity explained it to me; she had to learn how to preen several of her pegasi customers that were dressing up for fancy stuff," She replied before placing her mouth onto a broken feather, roughly yanking it out with her bite.

"Ow! Well, I guess that makes sense, but shouldn't Scootaloo be doing it too?" Erroria's gaze shifted to the pegasus that was cowering in the corner from Sweetie.

"Me? Oh no, I already preened them!" She said quickly, obviously trying to cover up from fear of Sweetie doing the same to her. It was only a few months ago when she had to endure the same torture that the alicorn was going through now.

Sweetie's good intentions were obvious, but they were a pretty harsh lesson so she didn't have to do it again for her friends. It was a bit of tough love, but Rarity was right when she said it was the only way sometimes. The ground was adorned with broken yellow feathers, making a rather unsightly mess in Applebloom's room.

"I taught her how to already," Sweetie replied with agreement, "Besides, the pegasi at the orphanage watch and make sure she does."

Scootaloo nodded nervously, masking the cold sweat that had broken out, "Exactly! My wings are always awesome!"

Erroria pleaded Scootaloo for help with her eyes, only to have an apologetic gaze be returned. Her doom was definitely going to be at the hoof of their unicorn friend, and the only other pony that knows the pain of preening is cowering in fear.

"So when is Applebloom supposed to be back?" Scootaloo fell onto her back in boredom, looking over at her marewolf mask that was sitting on said earth pony's bed. Last she checked, Applebloom had gone to Rarity's house for her make-up on her costume, but it had been nearly three hours. All Scootaloo wanted to do was just go out with her friends and get some free candy. After all, what if her cutie mark was in candy collecting?

"Well, she does have a Frankenmane costume, so doesn't her mane need to be all black and stand-upy?" Erroria asked with a nod as if to answer herself.

"That does make sense I guess, it did take like an hour to get my hair all slicked back and vampire-y like this," Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement, "Her's would probably take that long too."

"I still can't believe you all decided on the whole classic-monster thing without telling me!" Erroria whined at her friends, "I could've been a zombie instead of an astronaut then."

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that..." Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head with a hoof, "We kinda decided before we met you, so I guess we just kind of forgot to mention it..."

Erroria simply nodded before yelping in pain again from another feather being torn out of her wing. The assailant grinned with the feather between her teeth, "I think I'm done."

Erroria nodded before folding her wings around her, examining them closely to see the damage. To her surprise though, they actually looked really pretty! She was expecting to be bald, but they were actually really smooth and sleek. In fact, they felt less stiff when she tried to move them too. Maybe Sweetie really was onto something with this whole preening thing.

"Well, how do they feel?" A crack came out of her friend's voice, having the white fur on her cheeks tint a slight red.

She was always a little shy about that voice crack she had; probably because of how Diamond Tiara always made fun of her for it. Of course the Cutie Mark Crusaders tried to comfort the unicorn, but of course there would still be a bit of lingering doubt. As the saying goes: 'sticks and stones make break my bones, but words will just scar me'.

"They feel great! I can actually move them!" Erroria decided not to mention her friend's insecurity. Her smile showed thanks to her unicorn friend as she fluttered her wings to show off just how much of an improvement there was.

"Well, now that that's done, let's go pick up Applebloom already!" Scootaloo whined impatiently as she put her marewolf mask on, "I'm getting soooooo bored sitting here!"

Erroria and Sweetie Belle looked at each other for a moment, then back to Scootaloo with a nod in agreement. They already wasted a few hours just fixing up Erroria's wings; they couldn't waste another second of candy-grabbing time. Applebloom would have to hurry up and finish up if she isn't by the time they get there.

~~~

"It's Nightmare Moon!" A pink earth pony howled in fear while pointing at the skies with a look of sheer terror on her face, "Run!"

With those four words, every filly and foal was running in horror of the night princess, escaping her nightmarish gaze as her chariot rode overhead. Thunder and lightning cracked behind them from Nightmare Moon's presence alone, almost stopping their hearts dead in their tracks from surprise.

"Ah thought she weren't Nahtmare Moon anymore though," Applebloom looked at her three friends while taking a few gasps for air from their running.

"I think Twilight said something about that before too," Erroria nodded in agreement before they were both silenced by Pinkie's voice interjecting.

"Well duh, silly fillies! Of course she's not evil anymore, it's just Nightmare Night. You know, a night where it's fun to be scared," Her bright blue eyes were wide over a large grin, "I mean, you all seem to be enjoying it anyway."

Sweetie Belle took a few gasps for air before nodding, "It was kind of fun now that you mention it."

"Y-Yeah! But I knew we were just pretending all along," Scootaloo agreed with a nervous chuckle. After all, she had to be just like her idol who was never scared of anything.

Erroria smiled at her friend knowingly, "Of course you did."

"Well, yeah!" Scootaloo put her hoof proudly to her chest, not picking up on an ounce of her friend's sarcasm, "I am the brave one after all."

"Brave enough to talk to Princess Luna?" Erroria asked, stopping Scootaloo's brave facade dead in its track.

"T-Talk to her? Of course I could, I just don't really need to," She spoke with a wavering voice, having dozens of excuses shuffle through her mind as she tried to find the best reason to not talk to Nightmare Moon.

"Oh? Well, what if I dared you to?" Erroria took a step forward towards her friend.

"I still don't have a reason to," Scootaloo rejected the dare flat out, but her eyes widened from Sweetie Belle joining in the conversation.

"Oh yeah? Well I double dare you!"

A double dare, things were definitely getting serious now, but Scootaloo still rejected the idea, "I don't see why it even matters though..."

"Y'all are gonna make me, aren't 'ya?" Applebloom said with a step closer to Scootaloo as well, "Ah triple dog dare ya to talk to her!"

A triple dog dare! Not even the most cowardly pony could go back on a dare like that. Scootaloo knew she was cornered with this one, so she decided to drag a friend down with her, "Fine, but only if she does it too!"

Applebloom's and Sweetie Belle's eyes both turned to who Scootaloo was pointing her hoof at. None other than Erroria was staring back at the pegasus with wide eyes, having her heart almost stop at the thought of talking to Luna. There was no way she could talk to a princess like that! In fact, the very idea left her too speechless to even reject the proposition from her pegasus friend.

"Then it's settled!" Sweetie Belle chimed in happily, putting her hooves on her cheeks with a wide smile.

"Wait, where did Pinkie go?" Applebloom spoke up again when she realized that Pinkie had only appeared to say that one little quip before vanishing into thin air.

"I.. Where did she go?" Erroria started to answer, but found herself just as lost as her friends on the matter. No matter how many times she had talked to that pink mare, she found herself confused at the end of the day.

~~~

The night air was cool but refreshing on Twilight, helping her clear her head. There was so many questions she had on her mind about Erroria, but at the same time, she had to help Luna with fitting in. Her head was reeling before she went for the night walk, but now she actually was feeling rather relaxed and understanding of the world around her. Right now Luna was to take priority and needed her help to fit in.

It was hard to believe how long it had been since she had used the Elements of Harmony to stop Nightmare Moon and return Luna to who she once was. It makes sense that she was upset about all she did when she was that monster; feeling guilt was one of the most painful emotions. She could only imagine how the princess felt with all she had done dangling over her head.

"I just wish there was some way to help her out..." Twilight spoke to herself thoughtfully, "Maybe it's how she acts?"

"Twilight dear, what are you wearing?" A voice called from behind her, snapping the lavender mare from her trance.

There stood a vampiress unicorn with pale white fur and a mane made into a bulbous bouffant with a decorative bat in the middle of it. Her body was covered in a dark cloak that added to her appearance, but at the same time creating an air of beauty that only Rarity could pull off. She even had two small, but noticeable fangs in her mouth that showed through her kind smile.

"Why does nopony get my costume?" Twilight lamented to herself for a moment before turning back to face her friend, "Hi Rarity! Great costume!"

Rarity put her hoof to her lips, suppressing laughter at her friend's fake beard, "Thank you, darling. It was just a little something I threw together." She spoke nonchalantly about her costume as expected, but was secretly adoring the compliments, "I can't believe you're spending Nightmare Night alone though; if you asked I'm sure we would have all spent time with you! Well, apart from Applejack and that apple stand she insists of running tonight of all nights."

"Well, I heard she makes quite a few bits when ponies get hungry for dinner," Twilight shrugged off the idea of asking her friends to spend time with her. It wasn't that she didn't want to spend time with them, it was just that they each were doing their own thing for the night. In fact, last she checked Rarity was doing face-paintings in the town square. "Weren't you busy tonight with your own stand though?"

"Oh no, I painted pretty much everypony before the fair actually started. So I'm free for the rest of the night," Rarity smiled kindly and began to walk aimlessly through Ponyville with Twilight. "Darling, you seem to have something on your mind though. I'm here if you want to talk about it."

They simply walked through the cool night air without saying another word for the longest time. Twilight had so much on her mind these past few days, and adding the idea of helping Luna on top of it all? It was almost too much to handle. What was Celestia going to tell her about Erroria? What was she going to do about Luna fitting in? What if Celestia wanted to take Erroria away? She was an alicorn after all. Her house would be awfully lonely if anyone disappeared from it, and that filly was no exception.

Twilight let out a soft gasp as she felt her friend lightly bump against her, as if it were meant to break her trance. She felt her heart sink a little, but maybe confiding in Rarity would help calm her nerves.

"I just... I need to help Luna fit in," Twilight agreed with herself to tackle the immediate problem at hoof, "She's being treated as if she were still Nightmare Moon, and it's really hurting her."

"So that explains everypony running away from the town square earlier," Rarity mumbled before returning the smile to her face, "Well, maybe you should find the reason why they're afraid of her."

"Isn't it because she was Nightmare Moon?" Twilight asked on a more rhetorical level, but her friend answered anyway.

"No, I mean why they're assuming she's Nightmare Moon. Last time we had seen her, there was a blatant difference between the two. Maybe it has something to do with Nightmare Night itself? After all, wasn't the holiday made based around the legend of her returning from the moon for one night?"

"I..." Twilight started before suddenly getting that 'I've-got-an-idea' look appeared on her face, "Rarity! You're a genius! I know exactly how to at least figure out why."

"No I'm not, I'm a vampire," Rarity's smile turned wry at her friend, knowing that expression on her face all too well.

"I'm going to catch me a chicken," Twilight glared menacingly at Pinkie Pie, who was currently hopping around the town square and practically gorging herself on candy.

~~~

Even after a thousand years, the nights were just as lonely for Luna as they had been in the past. She found herself resting at the base of the Nightmare Moon statue with water welling up in her eyes from her own depression. Even after trying to befriend her subjects, it ended with her only being hated and feared. Perhaps it was her lot in life to have her night be despised and ignored. Being a princess sometimes felt like more of a curse than a blessing, but it was something she had to do.

The sweet taste of gumdrops mixed with the salt of her tears, creating a pleasant taste that reminded her of those cold nights when Celestia used to comfort her as a filly. Even after a century, that candy hadn't changed a bit. It was such a shame that they were given to her out of fear though; she almost felt like she was stealing the candy from her subjects.

Maybe she should just return to Canterlot and finally let her emotions out. After all, it was inappropriate for royalty to show her subjects any kind of weakness. She had to be kind, but firm. Strict but understanding. Wise but helpful. She had to be like her sister for her subjects to love her.

"Princess Luna?" A voice called from behind her.

Luna calmly wiped her eyes with her right forehoof and turned to face her subject. To her surprise though, there wasn't one, but two pegasi fillies standing in front of her. While the orange one wore a brave face, she was clearly trembling in fear. The yellow pegasus on the other hand looked nervously in all directions, as if expecting some kind of monster to be lurking in the shadows.

"Yes, child?" The princess spoke after collecting the strength in her voice, but keeping her shouting under control.

Erroria nervously scuffed the ground with her hoof before opening her mouth, "H-Hi... We wanted to j-just talk to you..." Her voice was shaking with a nervous stutter becoming more than apparent, "M-My name is Animatia Erroria, a-and this is Scoo-Scootaloo."

Animatia Erroria? That name was all too familiar, but at the same time it was impossible. That name in particular once belonged to a mare that she knew all too well. Yet, here stood a filly with features strikingly similar. There was only one way for her to be absolutely sure though, and in her mother's name, she hoped that she was wrong.

"It is very nice to meet you, I am Luna," She responded with a certain regality in her voice, while still refraining from shouting in her Royal Canterlot Voice.

Erroria nervously fiddled with her helmet to take it off, realizing how rude she could be being by wearing it. It may have been Nightmare Night, but Twilight told her that it was rude to wear hats when talking to elders, or was it when she was indoors? She never really paid too much attention to her lectures, but it was better to be safe then sorry.

"I ju-just wanted to welcome you to Ponyville."

Scootaloo nodded nervously before feeling Erroria's leg against her own, signaling her to say something. No matter how she looked at it and how she reasoned that she wasn't Nightmare Moon, the cry of terror that Pinkie Pie had earlier was overpowering her will. No, she had to be brave like Rainbow Dash though!

"Yeah, we really are happy that you're here, Nightm- Princess Luna!" She caught herself in mid-sentence from calling the princess a monster.

"It is very kind of you," Luna started before being startled at Erroria's appearance. No, she was in fact an alicorn, and she was definitely her. There was no doubt about it now. However, she wasn't acting anything like she had back then. She seemed more... pony than before. No, she didn't just act like a pony, but she also seemed to genuinely not know who Luna was other than just the Princess of the Night. "Tell us, why are you two here without your parents?"

"Our parents?!" Scootaloo squeaked before shaking her head, "Well, I live at the orphanage and well, they said as long as I was with friends I could go candy hunting with them."

Erroria nodded in agreement, her wings fluttering nervously, "A-And Twilight said it was okay for me as long as I was with an adult. W-Which you're an adult, right?"

Luna simply smiled at their excuses. It did make sense from what Celestia had told her of Ponyville. The town was small and everypony knew everypony, so it stands to reason that they wouldn't really be to cautious about each other like they would in Canterlot. Wait! She mentioned that Twilight Sparkle had given her permission?

"So you are Twilight Sparkle's daughter then?" Luna said with curiosity audibly in her voice.

"W-Well..." Erroria looked down for a moment in thought before nodding, "Y-Yeah, I suppose I am."

It almost hurt for her to say those words. She knew that she was only temporarily staying with Twilight, so lying to herself and the Princess like that was only going to make that day ten times worse. No matter how she felt on the matter, it simply wasn't going to happen the way she wanted. That's why... That's why she couldn't let herself get attached to Twilight or Spike... and maybe not even the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

"I see..." Luna spoke, dropping the royal we unintentionally before returning to their conversation, "Thank you both for coming an greeting us though; it really has made our night better."

"Princess, are you alright?" Scootaloo piped in when she noticed how red and puffy the princess's eyes were.

Luna's heart skipped a beat when she heard the pegasus mention her condition. Normally she would have reprimanded her subjects for something so embarrassing, but something stopped her. She was just a filly, and what's more? She seemed legitimately worried about her. She simply nodded before answering.

"'Tis just allergies."

Erroria and Scootaloo glanced at each other before nodding and stepping closer to the princess. Erroria replied with a smile, "I'm glad to hear it's nothing serious, but uhm... W-We have something to cheer you up."

Erroria nervously approached the princess before reaching into her saddlebag and pulling out a large lollipop that was given to her by Cheerilee and placing it at Luna's hooves, "I know you don't want to have this holiday anymore, but Happy Nightmare Night, Princess."

Scootaloo followed suit and placed a few boxes of gumdrops at the princess's hooves before they both ran off, leaving Luna baffled at their gifts. It was something so small, but it was enough to give her a little more hope in making friends here in Ponyville. If those two cared, then maybe the other fillies and colts would as well if she showed them her warm side.

~~~

Pinkie Pie clucked in a rather realistic impression of a chicken as she pecked the ground eagerly for candy, having found the ultimate jackpot! Somepony must have had a hole in her bag and was dropping pieces one delicious bite after another. Her sugar levels were probably enough to kill most normal ponies by now, but as anyone could tell you, Pinkie was far from a normal mare.

Thud!

Suddenly a purple unicorn was standing in front of her with a hoof covering her mouth so she couldn't make any sound. Twilight's eyes were filled with a combination of worry and seriousness as she spoke.

"No! No shrieking, no squealing or screaming either. Okay?" Twilight's voice was angry almost, shooting fear throughout Pinkie.

"M'kay!" She muffled through Twilight's hoof with her two huge blue eyes looking up at her.

With the formalities out of the way, Twilight's gaze softened into a slight frown, "There's something I want you to see, and I promise that it's safe but you really, really, really can't shriek. Do you promise not to shriek?"

"Mmhm," Pinkie nodded with a soft voice this time. Twilight was obviously in a panic over something, so as a friend she had to definitely do what she could to help her out. Granted, her specialty was helping ponies laugh off their worries, but she was perfectly capable of helping try and solve them as well.

With that promise, she found her mouth free of Twilight's hoof. Her unusually relaxed demeanor was brought to a halt the moment she had seen Nightmare Moon slowly walking towards her, causing her to almost shriek in terror. No! She promised Twilight she wouldn't shout! In that instant, her own hooves covered her mouth in fear of breaking a promise.

"Pinkie Pie, you remember Princess Luna, right?" Twilight said with hope on her face and a hoof pointing towards the alicorn mare that stood next to her.

"Ah, the ringleader of the frightened children. Hast thou come to make... peace?" Luna stepped closer to the chicken, nervously folding one foreleg over the other.

Pinkie apprehensively examined the princess for a moment before giving a soft smile and stretching her hoof out towards the princess, offering a shake on good will. Just an inch more and...

Boom!

Lightning and thunder boomed behind the princess, creating a monstrous visage of Luna that caused every hair on Pinkie to stand up underneath her outrageous costume. She was going to gobble her up for sure!

"Nightmare Moon!" She cried out suddenly before bolting down the alley way from the monster behind her.

Thud!

She found herself on the ground this time, being pinned by an angry purple unicorn. Ooh! It was just like that dream she had the other- No, never mind, Twilight wasn't angry in those dreams, she was playful! Well, maybe playful wasn't the right word, but in any case they were really fun but really weird dreams. Dreams that made Pinkie's cheeks flush a light shade of red in remembering them, which the blush was masked by her already pink fur.

"She's changed Pinkie! She's not evil or scary anymore, and she certainly doesn't want to gobble you up!" Twilight was practically begging the pink earth pony at this point, wanting something, anything to help Luna out.

That's when Pinkie said something completely unexpected, "Well, duh!"

Twilight released Pinkie in shock, almost falling back onto her rump, "Wait, huh?"

"I know that, I mean sheesh Twilight! I'm almost as big as her, how's she going to 'gobble me up?'"

"So why do you keep running away and screaming?!" Twilight almost yelled in anger and confusion, unsure of what to make of her friend's reaction.

"Well, sometimes it's just really fun to me scared!" Pinkie cheered happily, losing every last drop of her forced fear.

"... Fun?" Twilight paused for a moment before getting that 'I've-got-an-idea' face appeared again, "Pinkie Pie! You're a genius!"

"No I'm not, I'm a chicken," She replied happily with another eerily realistic chicken 'ba-cock'.

That was it! She knew exactly how to help Luna fit in. All it would take is a little bit of her shapeshifting magic and some acting. It was definitely going to work though, no matter what it had to work.

~~~

Pip was the last colt to offer his candy to Nightmare Moon, almost having a few tears form in his eyes from his first and only Nightmare Night come to such a horrible ending. It was supposed to be fun and exciting, but instead ended in heartbreak and disappointment. Even the candy didn't taste as good as it should have, almost as if losing the magic of the holiday had drained the sugar from them.

"Citizens of Ponyville, you were wise to bring this candy to me! I am pleased with your offering; so pleased in fact, that I may just eat it instead of eating you!" A voice boomed throughout the Everfree, all coming back to the statue of Nightmare Moon that was brought to life by the full moon.

All of the fillies and colts let out a simultaneous scream of fear as they cowered away from Luna, almost shattering her heart from surprise. No, she knew this was a stupid idea to begin with. How in Equestria did Twilight actually convince her that this was a good idea? No, she had to at least ask where she came up with this convoluted idea.

"I am not certain that that did what you meant for it to do, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight simply smiled knowingly before answering, "Just wait!"

"For what? For them to just scream some more?" Luna fought back the water in her eyes again, far more effectively now that she knew she was in the company of her subjects.

Suddenly she felt a tug at her mane, breaking any chance of her crying in an instant, especially when she heard the voice of a young colt, "Uhm... Princess Luna, I know there won't be anymore Nightmare Night, but uhm... Do you suppose that you could maybe come back next year and scare us again anyway?"

Luna was taken aback by his bizarre request. What was he thinking? Since when was being scared considered a good thing? No, maybe time has changed something in ponies, or maybe he was just strange? She noticed several of the fillies and colts standing behind a bush, all with a hopeful gaze on the princess. No, maybe it was like a game to them.

"Child, are thou saying that thou likest me to scare you?" Luna needed to clarify just to be sure, but that sure is what it was sounding like.

He nodded eagerly, "It's really fun! Scary, but fun!"

"It is?" Luna stared in disbelief. Suddenly the events over the past few hours made so much more sense to her though. Well, except maybe that incident with animating the spiders. In hind sight, she could see why that would've been horrifying.

"Well then, we shall have to bring Nightmare Night back!"

Pip squealed happily and hugged Luna's ankle happily, "You're my favorite Princess ever!"

And with that, he ran off to tell the other children that hid behind the bushes. It had definitely been an interesting night, that's for sure. But now she understood a little more about her subjects, and even actually made friends with a few of them. Maybe Celestia was right about Nightmare Night; the holiday was made because of Nightmare Moon, but it stayed because of what it had become. It was just another holiday to spend time with friends, have a fair, and even have the addition of free candy.

"They like me...." Luna said softly, almost forgetting about what she needed to ask Twilight. Almost.

Erroria walked up to the Princess with a smile on her lips, "Th-Thank you princess, me and Pip were worried our first Nightmare Night w-would be our last... I'm glad you're feeling better too!"

Luna kneeled down closer to the filly, giving her a surprisingly warm muzzle against her cheek before whispering, and yes legitimately whispering so nobody else could hear, "You gave me the courage to keep trying."

~~~

Twilight smiled as she finished her letter to Princess Celestia which recounted the events of her Nightmare Night; namely the part that involved Luna not fitting in. Just because her assignment changed doesn't mean she can't send her a report about her sister finding the magic of friendship. In fact, it was also a lesson for her too. She learned-

"Twilight Sparkle, we... I need to talk to you about something important," Luna spoke with a serious tone in her voice.

Twilight stopped in her tracks, swallowing the piece of candy corn that she was chewing on before nodding to the Princess. What was she wanting to talk about? Last she checked, Luna seemed perfectly content at the fair in the town square. Maybe something happened and she needed help again?

"Of course, Princess. What's on your mind?" Twilight smiled as she turned to face Luna.

"It's about the filly that I had met earlier, Animatia Erroria," She began, almost stopping Twilight's heart from beating in her chest out of fear.

She forgot about Luna meeting Erroria! How could she be so dumb? If Celestia knew about her, then it would've easily been feasible for her to know too. Looks like she was going to learn all about the filly she was caring for a lot sooner than she had anticipated. No, she needed to know this, so it's better sooner than later.

"Y-Yes, what about her?"

Luna must have picked up on Twilgiht's nervousness because she had folded a wing around the purple unicorn, as if to comfort her, "I don't know if thou hast told my sister yet, but I feel as if thou needst to know about Erroria. I am correct to assume she hast amnesia though, right?"

Twilight nodded slowly, "Over everything before I had found her in the Everfree Forest..."

"I see... that is probably a good thing then," Luna heaved a sigh of relief, "But you still need to know everything..."