Can This Night Be Any Weirder?
Nightmare Night was almost everypony’s favorite holiday. For the mane six, this was one of the best celebrations of the year. Rainbow Dash got to go around, playing jests on unsuspecting ponies; Pinkie Pie got tons of candy, which she always split with Fluttershy, who was too scared to go out and get sweets, so she took the time to make her house the scariest one for any contests that would commence. AppleJack was always excited for this particular night, on which she would sell her specially decorated apple treats to anypony whose stomach pursued a tasty snack. Rarity, of course, had to flash her costumes for all of Equestria to see; she never lost the costume contest, as the judges were too impressed to bother with anypony elses’.
For Twilight Sparkle, though, Nightmare Night was the time of the year where she would unleash a flurry of spells across Equestria; Spells of terror that would harmlessly scare ponies, and spells that rewarded all when the night drew to a close.
“This year, Spike, I think I’ll make an exact replica of Nightmare Moon!“ The thought of her master plan enthralled Twilight to the extent that Spike had to get her a bag for her hyperventilation.
“Remember, Twilight, you have to actually watch your spells! Last year, that group of snakes almost caused serious damage to half of the town!” Spike always worried about her spells. Half of them seemed completely unsafe to him; Then again, he was always the one getting battered when one of her spells was miscalculated.
“Yeah, I know Spike. Don’t worry, I’ve gotten better since last year!”
He continued to whisper under his breath, opening the door for a group of young fillies, and Pinkie Pie, who were expectant of candy.
“Hey Twilight! I see you didn’t dress up this year! That impression of Granny Smith you did last year was nothing compared to Granny Smith’s impression of Granny Smith!” Pinkie Pie was always waaay too overexcited for Nightmare Night. She never experienced a sugar rush, oddly enough; Her main energy was rumored to come from a super-charged piece of candy that kind of melded with her heart; At least, that’s the story told on Nightmare Night.
Twilight groaned. “Pinkie Pie, that wasn’t Granny Smith! As I’ve told you plentiful times, I was Starswirl the Bearded, esteemed astrologer of Equestria’s olden days. But yes, her impression of herself was made to perfection…” Twilight couldn’t argue with Pinkie Logic anymore; It was never wrong, and to try to inspect it always proved futile.
Pinkie looked up, shaking her head quickly before reacting and responding to Twilight. “Wish I could stay, but seems there’s more candy over there! Gotta dash!” She soared off, leaving Twilight in the dust, mouth suspended in the air. Turning around, she heard a loud zap behind her, followed by a cry of anguish from what seemed to be Derpy. “Oops, my bad!”
“Spike, we need to execute this spell immediately! If we get distracted again, I might yield to the joy of Nightmare Night, failing my spell for the year! The Princess would question me, and then I’d have to provide an explanation over how I couldn’t contribute to the festivities, and that cannot happen!” Her eyes were wide, her breaths fast. Spike came over to comfort her, patting her coat.
“Twilight, don’t worry about it. I’m sure we can get this finished and then go to enjoy some time with our close friends! Rarity already promised me a spot next to her in the costume contest, so I’m as eager as you are to finish this and get on with my life.”
Bearing her spell book in his claws, Spike held the book mere feet from Twilight, watching in anticipation for her to construct the spell so he could make his flight to beloved Rarity.
Her horn lit up, only weakly at first; As seconds passed, the room began to glow brighter until the library was engulfed in the purple warmth that was Twilight. A dark mass of clouds came in through the windows, each one fusing with the next to form a bubble that hovered over the two in the center; One looked up in terror, the other had her eyes closed in concentration.
As the magic became stronger, so did the surges of power over Ponyville. The lights in all houses flickered as winds developed into storms. The mares and stallions outside shrieked with fright, Twilight finally looked up, gazing at the bubble, which proceeded to burst; The room was now capped with the black ooze, which smelled oddly of cotton candy.
“W-what happened, Spike? Did I do it!?” Spike’s expression told her all that she needed; His pointing claw edged Twilight to swing towards her window, gasping at the sights outside. The air was filled with black smoke, a hollow figure creeping at the exterior of the library. Hustling to the window, Twilight saw the dark deceptor herself: Nightmare Moon stood just out of grasp, her humorous mania reverberating off of the houses and shops around her.
“N-Nightmare Moon!? But-but how!? The spell must have gone wrong; I brought her to life! That’s no mist figure!”
The door burst open, the shadowy character casting vicious glances about the room she now stood in. “Twilight Sparkle, show yourself!” Peeking out from the bookshelf, Twilight raised a hoof.
“R-right here, Ms. Moon!” Dang it! Her refusal to be a liar had put her in another bad situation!
“You have brought me here yet again, have you? Well, you must know my objective then, and I can assure you that it is not making this a happy Nightmare Night! Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. Once I go to the Changeling homeland and retrieve my army, I will return once again to bring havoc to your weakened Equestria!”
Twilight gawked as she watched the evil beast fly out of the library, the smoke disappearing with her. Charging outside, she became frantic, rushing up to everypony to make inquiries about the new threat to Equestria. “Did you see that!? Contact Princess Celestia immediately! She’s back!”
“Contact me about what, now?” Princess Celestia stood high above Twilight, who froze at the mere whisper of Celestia’s voice.
“Nightmare Moon, Princess. She has returned.” At the mention of the name, Princess Celestia chuckled.
“Twilight, have you been reading too many Nightmare Night tales again? I’m sure if Nightmare Moon returned then I would notice, would I not have?”
Twilight couldn’t help but give a slight glare to her mentor. “I saw her, Princess! Please, at least do something!”
Princess Celestia was replying to all of Twilight’s comments with some sort of laugh. “Twilight, if it will make you feel better, I will send out a search party. But honestly, stop reading those books! Nightmare Night is a time to hang out with friends!” With a flash of her horn and a whoosh of the wind, Celestia was gone.
Twilight stood there grumbling, trudging back into her library to put on her costume; This year she decided to try a banana, as it seemed to be the thing that nopony else would wear.
“Doth thou think we sufficiently tricked Twilight, sister?” Luna pushed the banana costume down onto Celestia, trying to fit her horn into the small hole at the top.”Well, I do admit your acting was well played, and my emotions were so flawlessly played out! I think we actually did it! Next Nightmare Night, we should trick Shining Armor into thinking his wife is a changeling...again!”
They both chortled with one another, clopping their hooves together at another successful Nightmare Night.
Author's Note
Well, here's a Nightmare Night story, in honor of our great holiday! Enjoy :)
