Winter's Comin' Early
(A Nightmare Night story)
Three fillies ran terrified through their home town. Everywhere they looked homes had either been turned into cottages of ice, or the residents had been turned into perfect frozen party decorations. The thee little ones were desperate to find somepony able to help them.
"Stop you guys, I need to catch my breath." Sweetie Belle huffed as she continually fell farther behind. Her costume was in tatters and the make up she'd used to make her appearance fit the costume was ruined. She kept checking behind her to see if their pursuer was still following them. Screaming in fear, she was pulled into the hiding spot the other two fillies had found.
"Ah think we lost 'im." Apple Bloom panted. The lion costume she wore had last it's mane and the tail had been ripped off. She wished her sister was here to save Ponyville.
"It's Nightmare Night right, so where's Princess Luna when we need her?" Scootaloo asked rudely as her wings buzzed in irritation. Her dragon costume, inspired by a close friend of theirs as all three fillies' were, looked as if it had been used to fight a real legendary pokemon. The wings had been twisted backwards and the long neck and head hung at an odd angle that made the costume appear to stare off to Scoots right. Worst of all it, as well as the other twos' costumes, had patches of frost and ice in spots all over their costumes. Their night of fun had turn into a night they wished was over.
It had begun on their way to the town Nightmare Night festivities. In front of them appeared what they thought was somepony dressed in a ghost Nightmare Moon costume. It wasn't until all three lost consciousness that they realized the strange alicorn wasn't.
When the three fillies awoke they found themselves right where they'd blacked out. Everything seemed is normal as it had before they lost consciousness. All three shrugged thinking it was a Nightmare Night prank and continued toward town square. Little did they know that they were now players in the scariest game of cat and mouse of their lives. For them Nightmare Night was going to be one big nightmare.
"Hey let's go hit up Cheerilee and show her our costumes." Sweetie suggested in excitement. Getting candy from the ponies around town was one of the best parts of the holiday. The three fillies headed straight for the booth the teacher usually ran.
Reaching town square the crusaders found a strange sight. There was nopony in sight at all. On this night town square was usually the center of the festivities. All three fillies looked at each other and shrugged. They decided to see if anypony was hiding in the nearby stores or in some of the attractions.
An hour and a half later, the three fillies walked up to the door of the candy maker Bon-Bon. Sweetie took point and knocked loudly on the shop door. The door creaked slightly open and a light peeked out from the crack.
"Miss Bon-Bon are you here? Is it okay if we come in?" Scootaloo called as the crusaders slowly entered. When the door was almost fully open the fillies, spotted a silhouette in one corner of the room. As they inched closer, they noticed the shade was Bon-Bon. Approaching the candy maker, they inquired her reason for working in the dark but received no answer. Deducing that Bon-Bon had earmuffs on that the dark lighting of the room hid, the fillies moved in to nudge the candy maker.
Sweetie went up to the still mare and tapped on her shoulder to get her attention. In response the candy maker tipped over onto her right side. All three crusaders screamed at this reaction.
"She's ice cold, I think maybe somepony froze her." Sweetie deducted with a gasp and holding the very hoof she'd tapped Bon-Bon with. The crusaders moved to tip Bon-Bon upright and face her toward the main light source of the room. Hitting the light Bon-Bon's clear face lit up and the look of horror on her face became apparent. It was hard to tell whether it was the cold radiating off Bon-Bon's frozen form or the fact that she'd been frozen by something scary that sent chills down the fillies' spines.
"Ah think we should got git Twilight's help on this one." Apple Bloom stuttered as she shook. The other two instantly nodded their heads in agreement. Twilight was certainly the best pony to seek out for situations like this.
Out in the streets they bumped into the same alicorn they thought had played the "prank" on them. He was part icy blue and perfect snow white. On his flank was an icy skull in the center of what appeared to be a snowflake made of swords. His wings were like that of a dragons and his ears ended in three sharp points. His slit eyes and fanged grin radiated a grim sense of glee.
"Well it seems my young morsels, that you have awoken early, shame I wanted to save you three for last." He said with a sadistic tone. His mouth salivated and his pupil shrank until it was paper thin. His horn glowed with an icy blue aura as the alicorn charged up a spell.
From out of nowhere a rebellious voice called out to the fillies. "Run squirts I've got this jerk handled." came the words in an overconfident tone. As the fillies turned to follow orders the alicorn launched his spell at them. As the flash of the spell signaled it's launch a rainbow colored streak blew between the targeted fillies and the alicorn launching the attack. The crusaders didn't stick around to see how that ended.
"You may have proved a decent enough distraction and, let my prey get away but you sacrificed yourself in vain." The frozen alicorn, known as Nightmare Frozen Factor, laughed as the life essence of the pegasus he'd just iced was absorbed into him by his horn. N.F.F. then checked on the spell he'd cast over the town that trapped all but him within. "They can't escape anyway so maybe I can toy with them a little bit before using them as the last three town residents to be frozen for the sake of sating my appetite." The alicorn predator purred with a grim satisfaction.
The toying he was referring to was that he'd already froze most of the town and it's residents. There was nopony for the three fillies to turn to for help, and if indeed they did find somepony their stalker happened to have missed, that pony was flash froze from behind the fillies. Nightmare Frozen Factor allowed the crusaders to traipse back and forth to all corners of town all while giving them a reason to hurry with his random appearances. He knew it was the time to strike when he heard the three fillies crying out for help from somepony at the edge of Frozen Factor's barrier. Nightmare Frozen Factor descended from the air above Ponyville and cornered the fillies with an evil grin of victory.
"Well ladies it's been fun tailing you three and hearing your hopes die with each former neighbor you've discovered frozen, but mom always did say that I shouldn't play with my food for too long." N.F.F. quipped with hunger and eagerness in his eyes. The alicorn once more charged a spell, knowing that success was just moments away. "Any last words my tiny little desserts?" Nightmare Frozen Factor laughed in the tone of a predator close to claiming it's meal.
At this moment Scootaloo took the opportunity to play hero. She stood, courageous, proud and rebellious, not letting the predator have any influence on her mind nor emotions. The other two fillies took note and stood with her, in a stance that their friendship will never allow the icy terror scare them. Their speech got no more than a laugh from their attacker. In their last moments the three looked at each other more than the predatory alicorn. As the beam of ice arced toward them, the crusaders, among tears and hugs, said their goodbyes.
Princess Celestia sat bolt upright in her bed, panting at the fear the nightmare had instilled in her. After a few seconds she sighed and rolled her eyes at the irony of the holiday. "This is why I'm glad Nightmare Night only happens once a year, that was one doozy of a nightmare." she laughed as she wiped the sleepiness from her eyes.
From behind she heard he door open. "Was it dear Tia?" Celestia heard her sister ask in a foreboding tone. Celestia turned planning on staring into Luna's eyes and judging for herself whether her sister was pulling a holiday prank on her. Instead of her sister at the door Celestia found herself staring into the slit eyes of the villain from her dream. His horn had a charged beam and, as he attacked, his grin became a gaping maw.
