You know there's something about fate that I find absolutely hysterical, and just downright screwed up. It was fate that caused me to crash into the side of a large mountain and introduced me to Luna. It was this very same fate that caused the weather Pegasi to place overcast skies over Ponyville. And you guessed it, fate also decided that I needed to get intimate with Princess Twilight's crystal castle... very intimate, as in face meet wall, body meet branch. So, as I'm swinging by my tail upside down on a crystal branch, I couldn't help but think back as to why I flew to Ponyville in the first place.

Let's see, I know I messed up. Especially since I made Blueblood almost piss himself in front of everypony and Luna in the throne room. I panicked and ran away, then bang, here I am. As I hung there in thought I was interrupted by a sound. A soundly sound, the kinda sound that sounds cracky? Is cracky even a word? A sudden jolt then brought me to reality and why is the ground getting closer?

As I shook my head after kissing the ground, I noticed that somepony was talking to me. "Oh my gosh, Nightwind, are you ok?" I looked up and was met with twin images of Twilight Sparkle spinning around.

"Hello, Princess, could you please tell the world to stop spinning for me?" I shook my head again in an attempt to clear it up. Which surprisingly worked. "So that's how an apple feels when it falls off a tree." Twilight giggled when she noticed I was okay, but her smile quickly turned to a frown.

"What are you doing here? You and Luna aren't supposed to be here for another couple of hours." The sigh she got in response didn't help at all either, "I'm guessing what happened in Canterlot has a lot to do with you being here huh." I looked at her in confusion, "I have a magical mirror that I use to converse with Pri- I mean Celestia, she contacted me shortly after it happened."

"What did she say, that I'm to be placed under arrest on sight? I wouldn't mind that, anything actually, to keep me from having to face Luna and Ruby." Looking up to the sky I curled my claws into a fist and roared in frustration. "Look at me I'm acting like a young drake that just lost breeding rights."

"Well I can't say anything about breeding g rights, but I can say that even though you acted out, it was still technically a form of self defense, large emphasis on technically, Luna is actually very worried about you." I hung my head low, sure I felt glad Luna felt worried, but she was worried. Of course confronting Ruby won't be easy, same with Jitter.

"Lead me to the mirror I'll speak to Luna."

"Why don't you speak to me in pony?" The sound of Luna's voice made me release a breath of air that I had no idea I was holding. As I turned around, I saw her, Ruby, and 'Midnight' walking from her carriage. Of course my look of relief turned to confusion as a thought hit me, which must have been plastered on my face since Luna answered the unasked question. "When you hit the castle, Twilight was pretty certain it was you since most Pegasi don't make buildings shake on impact." Well... mystery solved. "As glad as it makes me to see that you're okay, I am still disappointed with you. Do you know how worried we were when you ran off? It's not healthy for the foal I can guarantee that much, especially when I thought you were never coming back!" As she continued to rant on tears started forming in her eyes as her emotions caught up with her. "Do you have any idea what I would have felt if you left?" Ruby being the good daughter that she is nuzzled Luna in comfort, earning her a small smile from the Princess.

"Daddy, I have no idea what happened in there, but it terrified me... all of us. And when you ran off I felt my heart break thinking I lost another father."

I sighed as I made my way towards the two most important ponies in my life, frowning when 'Midnight' visibly flinched when my claws hit the ground next to her. "I'm sorry, my dears, I didn't mean for that to happen, I just panicked. I promise I'll explain things later, but since we are in Ponyville why don't we get started on helping Twilight."

Ponyville looked completely different from the happy town that it was when we were done; banners bearing Nightmare Moon's symbol were plastered all over, torches lit the town just enough to see your hoof our claws in front of you, spiderwebs, fog, hay bales, you name it. As I made my way through the town, I couldn't help but notice that there seemed to be more foals running around this year. I guess word about Ponyville's celebration gets around. I soon found myself at my destination, a large statue of Nightmare Moon that stood menacingly with razor sharp fangs, piercing serpentine eyes, and intimidating stature. As I looked at the very lifelike statue, I swore I could see it breathing. Carefully observing the statue again, taking a good look at the eyes, I was about to call it just paranoia but then...

"BOO!" The sudden noise and the feeling of something touching my backside was enough to send me shooting up the nearest tree I could find, of course not after releasing an almost filly-like scream. When I realized what happened my cheeks started burning red hot from embarrassment as Ruby started rolling on the ground laughing. After I glided back down to Equestria, Ruby stopped her laughing and watched me with a large smile on her face. "It's so easy to scare you, Daddy. You should have seen your face."

"Laugh all you want to, Missy, but revenge is a dish best served cold." I smirked at her as she tried nuzzling my chest in an attempt to make nice. "So, where's Luna and Jitter?"

She looked at me and shrugged, "Her and Mom are with the mayor, Zecora, and Twilight, going over the route they're taking the foals and organizing events. So..." She started to nibble on a piece of her mane as she shuffled her hoof in the leaves on the ground. Her eyes shuffling back and forth like she was debating something.

"What is it, Ruby?" I spoke softly, laying down and motioning her to lay next to me. "You haven't chewed on your mane since you were an insecure filly."

She lay down next to me and made eye contact, confusion, amongst other emotions swimming in them. She let out a sigh and spoke, "well... there's... this pony and..."

"Oh Gods it's a stallion isn't it?"

"No, Daddy, it's not. And that's just it, it's a mare, but I thought I was supposed to have feelings for stallions." She looked down and shook her head, "I'm so confused."

A small chuckle escaped my lips as I nuzzled against her white body, "Tell me something, Sweetie, have you ever felt this way for any other pony?"

"No, I haven't." A small blush formed on her cheeks.

"And have you been listening to what your heart says?" I watched her closely, her eyes closed as she focused. Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, she answered.

"It's telling me that I should tell her my feelings at least, but," she turned and made eye contact, "how should I ask her, she's a Changeling and I'm a Pony, how does that even work?"

"The same as any pony I would guess... wait, you've got a crush on Jitter?" I tried hard to hide the smile threatening to destroy my poker face. I had a feeling those two were getting close, but not as a couple. My eyes glanced up to see a pair of red eyes making their way toward us, "Well you know what they say, no time like the present." With that said I gave my wings a strong flap and took to the air, "I'll go see if the evenings ready to begin." With a chuckle I turned towards town after watching the Ruby hesitantly make her way towards Jitter.

Author's Note

Part 1 of 2 of Nightmare Night, look forward to it, this is where things will get interesting.