Chapters Ch. 6: Star-Eyed Bat
Fluttershy and Thorne finally made it to the spot Thorne mentioned earlier. It is a small clearing in the far side of the Everfree Forest.
“Here we are, my dear,” Thorne says as he helps her out of the boat.
“It’s so beautiful,” Fluttershy says when she sees the clearing.
“Indeed you are,” Thorne dreamily says.
“What?”
“It is! The clearing certainly is!” he nervously says, “Whenever I think of Tambelon, I come out here and make a wish on one of the stars.”
“Oh Thorne.”
“Maybe we can do a little stargazing together.”
The two sit on a nearby log as they watch the stars together.
****
Meanwhile, Discord is flying when he sees the boat Thorne and Fluttershy were in.
“There’s the boat!” he says, “I’m getting close.”
He continues to fly when he sees the two from the air.
“There they are! When I get my hands on that bat, I’m gonna use him to hit baseballs!”
He flies down into some nearby pine trees and sees Thorne wrapping his arm around Fluttershy’s shoulder from behind, causing him to burn with envy. Thorne and Fluttershy hear him.
“What was that?” Fluttershy asks.
Thorne looks around the woods and sees Discord looking at him furiously from behind some trees, making Thorne fearful of him.
“P-probably a woodland animal in need of help,” Thorne lies.
“Poor thing must be hurt. I better go and help it.”
“NO! I mean… uh… I’ll go help the poor animal. Why don’t you wait here and keep looking at the stays..”
“You’re so sweet, Thorne,” Fluttershy says while nudging him.
Thorne goes into the trees to find Discord.
“Discord?”
Discord suddenly appears in a puff of smoke looking angry red. It frightened Thorne a little when he saw how he looked.
“Discord. What a surprise to see you here!” he nervously smiles, "How was Saddle Arabia?”
“Don’t even try, Mango Breath!” Discord growls, “I leave for a few hours, then you go and sweeping Fluttershy off her hooves!?!”
Thorne floats into the air as Discord turns into a hulk-like figure ready to beat the living daylights out of the poor bat imp.
“WAAAAAIIIIT! Do you think you can grant a dying bat’s last request first?”
“What is it?”
Thorne takes a ship in a bottle out of his shirt.
“Would you care to explain how one gets a small ship into the bottle?”
“That answer’s obvious.”
Discord changes back and shrinks down to get inside the bottle to explain it to Thorne.
“What they do is merely put the pieces of the ship inside the bottle…” Discord explains.
Before he could finish, Thorne slams the cork into the bottle opening, trapping Discord into the bottle as Thorne laughs.
“I can’t believe you fell for that!” he laughs some more.
“You double-crossing rat with wings!”
“And don’t bother getting big. That bottle is made of quartz, the one substance that renders a draconequus helpless. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a very special pony.”
He walks sway while looking smug as Discord bangs his head on the bottle.
Chapter 1: First Nightmare Night
It is Nightmare Night (Equestrian version of Halloween) in Ponyville. Everypony, including the Mane 6 (except Fluttershy), are dressed up for it. Twilight is dressed as Clover the Clever; Rainbow Dash is dressed as a Wonderbolt; Applejack is dressed as a Calamity Jane-type pony; Pinkie Pie is dressed as a jester; and Rarity is dressed as Celestia. They are at the Carousel Boutique, waiting for the Knights to come out in their costumes.
“Ready to show us your costume, Scorpan?” Twilight asks.
“All set, Twilight,” Scorpan replies.
Scorpan, Catrina, and Rep came out in their costumes. Scorpan is dressed as a cavalier; Catrina is a gypsy princess with a dress that sparkles like the stars; and Rep is a minstrel.
“Thanks for making our costumes, Rarity,” Rep says, “We look wonderful.”
“My pleasure, Rep,” Rarity says, “We wanted your first Nightmare Night to be a memorable one.”
“Say...aren’t you guys one knight short?” Rainbow Dash asks as she looks around.
“Where’s Thorne?” Scorpan says as he looks around for him.
“He got his costume done early,” Rarirty explains, “He wanted to get some candy collecting done right away.”
“Ain’t the little bat a tad old for candy?” Applejack asks.
“Aww come on! Nopony is too old for free candy!” Pinkie says.
“Besides that, the candy he’s collecting is not for him,” Rarity explains more, “I told him about how Fluttershy locks herself in her cottage on Nightmare Night. He says he’s going to collect candy for her and see about having her come out on Nightmare Night.”
“Discord’s not gonna be happy about that,” Scorpan says.
“Relax,” Applejack says, “Discord is filling in for a jester in Saddle Arabia. He won’t be back until later.”
“At least Fluttershy won’t have to worry about being alone on Nightmare Night,” Rainbow Dash says.
***
In the town square, the CMC are collecting candy with Thorne, who is hauling a big bag of candy for Fluttershy. The CMC are dressed as their sisters while Thorne is dressed as the Scarlet Bat, a masked hero from old bedtime stories he used to hear as a kid.
“That’s a lot of sweets, Thorne,” Apple Bloom says.
“Are you gonna eat all of it?” Scootaloo asks.
“Oh no, Scootaloo,” Thorne says, “I’m going to give this candy to Fluttershy.”
“Aww, that’s sweet of you to do that for her,” Sweetie Belle says, “But, why do you want to do that?”
“Rarity told me about how scared she gets on Nightmare Night and how she never ever went out on the holiday in her life. I’m going to give this bag to Fluttershy and see about treating her to the most romantic Nightmare Night ever.” Thorne tells them.
“You realize Discord has a crush on her too though. Right?” Sweetie Belle reminds him.
“Please! Discord is way too old for Fluttershy. Besides, he’s away on business for the Princesses. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt me.”
“Okay,” Apple Bloom says, “We’re gonna go to the Carousel Boutique to meet our sisters. See ya.”
“You young ponies have fun! I know I will after my date with the pony of my dreams!”
He waves goodbye to them as they leave for Rarity’s, and then heads for Fluttershy’s home.
***
Thorne hauls the huge bag of candy on his back as he takes it to Fluttershy’s cottage.
“I made it,” he says to himself, “Now to finally woo my Pegasus princess.”
Thorne puts the bag of candy down and knocks on the door.
“GO AWAY!! NO CANDY!!! VISITORS ARE NOT WELCOME ON NIGHTMARE NIGHT!!!!!!” Fluttershy loudly screams in horror.
When he heard Fluttershy’s scream of horror, he was immediately shocked.
“This is worse than what Rarity said.” he thought to himself.
“Fluttershy, it’s me. Thorne.” he says with another knock.
Fluttershy slowly opens the door and peeks outside to see Thorne and his bag of candy.
“Thorne! It is you,” she softly says, “I’m sorry for shouting the way I did. I thought you were someone or somepony in a scary costume."
“Don’t worry, my dear Fluttershy,” Thorne says, “Rarity has told me all about how scared you get on Nightmare Night, so I brought you candy.”
After he said that, Thorne digs into the candy-filled bag, and brings out a chocolate bar. He hands it to Fluttershy, who extended her hoof and accepted the tasty snack.
“That’s very kind of you, Thorne,” Fluttershy says, “How much did you collect by the way?”
“Enough to help you make up for all the times you missed out.” Thorne tells her.
“Goodness. You must be exhausted from all the carrying, then,” she said with some concern, “Won’t you come in.”
“But of course.”
Thorne goes inside with the bag of candy.
A few minutes later, they are having tea together.
“So why are you afraid of Nightmare Night, Fluttershy?” Thorne asks as he sips tea.
“I just get jittery because scary stuff always come out on Nightmare Night," Fluttershy explains, “You never know who it is under the costume, scary or not.”
“Oh yeah?” Thorne says.
“I’m afraid of being alone at night too, especially outside of my cottage. I get so scared that something would jump out and try to eat me.”
She began to hyperventilate a little when she started thinking about her fears. But it stopped when Thorne put his hand on her hoof to calm her down.
“The night doesn’t always have to be scary, Fluttershy. Take it from a bat imp who knows. I’ve seen magical things happen that only come out when the sun is down.” Thorne told her.
“Really? Like what?” Fluttershy asks.
“How’s about if I take you out and show you those very wonders? I promise to make sure you are never alone during our night out.”
“It would be nice, but, I don’t have a costume.”
“We’ll improvise on that.”
Fluttershy takes Thorne to her room upstairs. He opens her closet and sees a lovely white dress with flowers.
“That’s my spring maiden dress from the Canterlot Flower Festival,” she says.
“It’s perfect for the costume I have in mind,” Thorne says.
Fluttershy puts the dress on for Thorne as he puts a flower wreath over her head.
Fluttershy looks in the mirror and sees how beautiful she looks.
“You make a lovely nature princess, Fluttershy,” Thorne compliments.
“Thanks. That reminds me. What are you dressed as?” she asks about his costume.
“I am the Scarlet Bat, the Flying Protector of the weak and hero of Tambelon.”
Fluttershy giggles.
“Shall we go, my dear?”
“Lets.”
Fluttershy and Thorne step out of the cottage and fly away to their evening out.
Discord's Jealousy Chase Begins
Ch. 2: Discord’s Jealous Chase Begins
What Fluttershy and Thorne don’t know is that Pinkie Pie and Rarity were watching from some bushes and saw them leave together.
“Well I’ll be,” Rarity says, “That bat actually got Fluttershy out of her house.”
“Let’s just hope they get back before Discord does, Rarity,” Pinkie says, “Remember how jealous he got at the Grand Galloping Gala? He almost sent Tree Hugger to another dimension.”
“We better let Twilight know. Just in case.”
Right away, the two friends hop out of the bushes, and head straight back to Carousel Boutique.
****
Later, at the Carousel Boutique.
“Thorne actually got Fluttershy to come out of her home on Nightmare Night?!” a shocked Twilight asks.
“And in a delightful nature princess costume I might add,” Rarity says.
“I should take my hat off for Thorne,” Applejack says, “He did the impossible and got Fluttershy to come out and have fun on the holiday that frightens her so much.”
“You might as well keep your hat off during his funeral after Discord gets through with him, Sis,” Apple Bloom states.
“Relax. He’s away at Saddle Arabia. He won’t be back until tomorrow.”
Suddenly, there is a familiar burst of light. When the others open their eyes, they see Discord, wearing a turban, some black sunglasses, and a beach shirt.
“Surprise, Everypony!” Discord shouts.
“Discord, what are you doing back in Ponyville?!” a shocked Twilight asks.
“The Diplomats called in a temporary jester when my pranks got slightly out of hoof,” he explains, “I think it might be because I overdid it with the chocolate milk and cotton candy clouds.”
He laughs when he said that, because next to his friends, nothing delighted him more than causing some chaos here and there. After he stopped laughing, all he could see were the shocked expressions of his friends not expecting him to be back so soon. He cleared his throat, and made his vacation clothes for Saddle Arabia disappear.
“Anyway, I decided to come back on Nightmare Night and keep Fluttershy company.”
“Last we saw Fluttershy, she went to bed early,” Rarity nervously giggles.
“I’ll just go to the cottage and check in on her then.”
“Wait! The mayor...um...wants your help to make the party more fun!” Scorpan lies.
“It won’t take long, Scorpan,” Discord says, “I just need to make sure Fluttershy isn’t too scared being by herself.”
Discord walks toward the door to go to Fluttershy’s place. The more he approached, the more Scorpan’s anxiety about what he would do to Thorne grew.
“Better let me tell him,” Applejack whispers to Scorpan, “I am the Pony of Honesty after all. “
Before Discord could touch the door knob, Applejack touches his lion arm to get his attention. When Discord turns, he finds Applejack to be more nervous than usual. He also finds that the others were the same way.
“Discord,” Applejack says, “Actually, Fluttershy is not home.”
“Well, where is she then? And why do you all look like cats on hot bricks?”
“Well…Thorne sorta’ had this idea in his head and…” Applejack nervously says.
Applejack whispers into his ear, and what he just heard made his eyes go wide, and his mouth fall to the floor. Literally.
“THORNE IS...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!”
His temper flared up so bad, the Carousel Boutique almost lost its roof.
“I go out for a few hours, and that...that Passion Fruit Bat goes and tries to reel Fluttershy in with romantic charm!! When I get through with him, I'm going to pin his wings on my living room wall, and make him eat moldy cheese!!!”
Discord flies off to find Fluttershy and Thorne, flying like Rainbow Dash in a race.
“We better go after him before he gives Thorne a parting farewell!” Scorpan says before he runs off after him.
“I’ll stay here and help the CMC with their candy collecting,” Rarity offers.
The others nod at her decision, and run off to catch up with Discord.
“Thorne is Timberwolf Food now,” Sweetie Belle says.
“MmmmHmmm,” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo say in agreement.
Ch. 3: The Night Owl
Fluttershy and Thorne land in a spot just east of the Everfree Forest where nopony has ever gone before. When Fluttershy saw the creepy trees, she squeaks and hides behind Thorne.
“It’s okay, Fluttershy,” he says while holding her left fore-hoof, “The trees won’t hurt you.”
“W-what are we doing here?” Fluttershy nervously asks.
“We’re heading for a place called the Night Owl.”
“The Night Owl?”
“It’s a club where creatures of the night like me go to relax and unwind. I go there to be with my fellow night owls.”
The two come across a large tree with a door and a sign that says Night Owl Café.
Thorne knocks on the door, and when it opens, out comes a vicious-looking werewolf, causing Fluttershy to scream and hide underneath Thorne’s cape.
“Hi, Lupo,” Thorne greets the werewolf.
“Hey, Thorne,” Lupo says, “Nice costume. You make a great masked avenger.
It was then that Lupo noticed Fluttershy hiding underneath Thorne’s cape.
“Who’s your little Pegasus friend?” he asks.
“This is Fluttershy, my pony friend.” Thorne replies.
Thorne lifted his cape from Fluttershy, but when he did, she covered her eyes with her hooves.
“Fluttershy, it’s okay. This is Lupo. He works as a bouncer for the Night Owl.” Thorne assures.
When Thorne said that, she put her hooves down and stopped shaking in fear.
“R-really?” Fluttershy nervously says.
She comes out from behind Thorne, and stands next to him, coming face to face with Lupo.
“Sorry for the scare, Little Pony. Gotta keep the riff-raff out.” Lupo says to Fluttershy.
“Oh, that’s alright. Thank you.” Fluttershy replies.
Lupo shows Fluttershy and Thorne in.
“Speaking of riff-raff,” Thorne says as he hands Lupo a picture of Discord, “If you see this Draconequus come in, make sure he doesn’t until we leave.”
“Discord? The one who betrayed the ponies? With pleasure,” Lupo agrees.
Lupo cracks his knuckles, readying himself for when Discord comes by.
****
Thorne and Fluttershy sit down at a booth while looking at menus. Fluttershy sees all kinds of bat imps, manticores, werewolves, and Diamond Dogs sitting at their table. They sat while eating, playing cards, and enjoying the band playing a really catchy tune.
“Do you come to this place a lot?” Fluttershy asks.
“Yay. I come here to unwind just like the others,” Thorne explains, “These guys may seem rough around the edges, but they would never hurt ponies.”
“They do seem nice, especially that Lupo friend of yours.”
Just then, a large green gargoyle comes to their table, because tonight he was going to be heir waiter.
“Evening Thorne. So, what will you and your friend have?” the waiter asks.
“I’ll have a nice green salad, please,” Fluttershy says.
“And the usual fruit platter for me,” Thorne says.
“Coming up,” the waiter replies.
The waiter writes down their orders and leaves to send them to the chef.
“You enjoy a fruit platter?” Fluttershy asks him.
“Indeed. I’m a vegetarian, or a fruit bat in my case,” Thorne replies.
“That’s good. Us ponies are known for being vegetarians.”
“It seems we have a lot in common.”
Thorne holds Fluttershy’s hoof and dreamily looks at her.
****
Meanwhile, Discord is flying all over the Everfree Forest, worriedly looking for Fluttershy and Thorne. He lifts up trees and rocks as he searched. One of the trees even had a raccoon family, who got deeply disturbed and frightened about what was happening.
“Where could Fluttershy and that Casanova Winged Rat be?” he worriedly asks.
Twilight, Scorpan, and the others are still chasing after him.
“Does Discord always get upset whenever Fluttershy is with someone, Twilight?” Scorpan asks.
“Well...” Twilight was about to say.
But before she could finish her sentence, Rainbow Dash flies up and interrupts, answering the question for her.
“This is nothing,” Rainbow Dash says, “You should see how mad he was at the Grand Galloping Gala. He tried to send Fluttershy’s new friend Tree Hugger to another dimension because he thought he was being replaced.”
“I’m gonna guess that Discord has the same feelings for Fluttershy as Thorne does,” Scorpan says.
“And I’m guessing that he’s gonna do worse to Thorne when he gets both his paw and claw on him,” Rep says.
“All the more reason we have to keep up with him,” Twilight says.
The heroes continue to follow Discord as he searches for Fluttershy with fury.
Ch. 4: Dance the Night Away
Back at the Night Owl, Fluttershy and Thorne have already eaten their dinner when the band begins playing a romantic song.
“That melody is very enchanting,” Thorne says, “Care to dance?”
“Of course,” Fluttershy says.
Thorne takes Fluttershy’s right hoof and guides her to the dance floor. As the music plays, the two slow dance together. Thorne feels happy to be dancing with her. Ever since they first met, he has become attracted to Fluttershy’s gentle nature. He feels like he’s dancing with a true sky princess.
Fluttershy, on the other hand, just sees Thorne as a friend and doesn’t realize that he took her out on a date. She is still grateful that he convinced her to come out of her shell on Nightmare Night because she couldn’t remember having any kind of fun.
****
Discord was searching for Fluttershy when he hears music coming from the Night Owl. He takes out a stethoscope and listens in through the door. He hears Fluttershy giggling and suddenly got worried.
“Fluttershy!” he worriedly calls, “I gotta get her out of there before those weirdos scare the daylights out of her!”
He was about to go inside when Lupo blocks his way of entry, glaring at him like he doesn’t like him at all.
“Sorry, but we don’t invite the likes of you into our humble abode,” he says with his arms crossed.
“You got a problem with Draconequui, canine?” Discord angrily asks.
“No! I have a problem with those who sell ponies out to evil doers!”
Both Discord and Lupo get into a growling match.
****
Meanwhile, Thorne and Fluttershy continue to dance to the music. But the music stopped being the only sound to Thorne when he hears Discord shouting at Lupo outside.
“Oh no,” he says softly but nervously.
“What was that?” Fluttershy wonders.
“Lupo is just taking care of a troublemaker,” Thorne lies, “We better get out before it gets ugly. Besides, I want to take you to somewhere special.”
“O-okay. It’s probably good for us to leave right now anyway.”
Thorne and Fluttershy leave the Café through the back door as Lupo and Discord fought.
“I knew that troublemaker couldn’t stay in Saddle Arabia for long,” Thorne grumbles to himself, “I better get Fluttershy out of here before he unleashes his temper in front of her.”
Thorne leaves with Fluttershy as Discord, while blocked by Lupo, watches them leave.
“You blasted bat! When I get my hands on you, I’m turning you into a Louieville Slugger!” he shouts while raising his eagle claw.
Lupo takes Discord by the feet and throws him into a tree causing his head to get stuck.
Legend of the Scarlet Bat
Ch. 5: Legend of the Scarlet Bat
A few minutes later, Twilight and the others are pulling Discord’s head out of the tree until they all fell.
“Discord, why don’t you just trust Fluttershy to see for herself?” Twilight inquires.
“Twilight, I trust Fluttershy completely,” he says, “It’s Thorne I don’t trust because he’s the type of dashing do-gooder girls go nuts over.”
“Don’t count on it,” Rep said, “He never had much luck with girls back in Tambelon. In fact, a lot of those girls just dated him because of his rich and noble lifestyle.”
“You don’t know Fluttershy like we do,” Rainbow Dash says.
“Indeed. Which is why I must find her before Thorne gets too romantic,” Discord says as he flies off with the others following, much to their frustration.
****
Meanwhile, Fluttershy and Thorne stopped over at a riverboat station run by a griffin.
Thorne pays him his bits as he rents the riverboat for Fluttershy and himself. Then, they sail down the river as the fireflies come out and glow the way for them.
Fluttershy giggles, “Don’t the fireflies look lovely on Nightmare Night, Thorne?”
“Indeed, and perfect for the special spot I am taking you to.”
“On the way over there, why don’t you tell me about the Scarlet Bat?”
“Sure, Fluttershy. I’d love to tell you about him...Centuries ago, long before Grogar took over as King, and shortly before the Moochik took power, Tambelon was called Midnight Valley, an evil place ruled by an evil rogue gargoyle named Balthazar, who forbade music and enslaved the creatures within. One gargoyle under his servitude could not stand to see the creatures he enslaved, but at the same time, he wouldn’t betray Balthazar for fear of what he could do. Then, the young gargoyle decided to sneak out and seek the guidance of a wise old gnome at a nearby forest. The gnome foretold that a mysterious hero of red shadow will stand against Balthazar’s evil and defeat him when the time has come. The gargoyle realized that he must be that hero, so with the help of the gnome, he put on a red cape, hat, and mask and became the Scarlet Bat! As the Scarlet Bat, he helped free the slaves and stole money back for the poor. He inspired the people to revolt against Balthazar. At that same time, he fell in love with a young maiden who was arranged to marry Balthazar, and the young maiden returned his affections. Their love for each other helped the Scarlet Bat to overthrow Balthazar. After their battle was fought, the Scarlet Bat’s gnome friend casted a spell, imprisoning Balthazar to the farthest reaches of Tartarus. After that, the people made the gnome the new ruler. That gnome was the Moochik, Fluttershy.”
“Really?” an impressed Fluttershy says, “Wow! What happened to the Scarlet Bat after that?”
“As the Moochik’s first decree, he knighted him and made him the first Knight under his command. Then, the Scarlet Bat was free to marry his maiden. The Moochik’s next act was to rename the valley Tambelon, which means “music bringer” in the gnomes’ ancient language. To this very day, the Four Codes of Tambelon Knighthood are based on the heroic actions of the Scarlet Bat.”
“What a wonderful story, Thorne! I can see why you look up to him.”
“The stories of him were what inspired me to become a knight like him. I hope to one day be seen as a hero and to find a maiden who will one day love me.”
“I hope you do find her.”
“I may have already.”
****
Back at the riverboat station, Discord arrives whilst the griffin counted his money.
“Did you see a bat imp with a yellow, pink-maned Pegasus go by?” Discord hurriedly asks.
“Yes. They came here not long ago and rented one of my riverboats,” the griffin replies.
“Then I’m on the right track!”
Discord flies up and zooms with Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Scorpan following.
“Discord, slow down!” Twilight commands.
“No time! I have a romance-crazy squirrel with wings to stop!”
Discord took off in a grey version of the Sonic Rainboom, causing the three to go out in a tailspin.
“I’m sorry if this night is not turning out great for you and the others, Scorpan,” Twilight apologizes, “I really wanted your first night to be special.”
“It’s not your fault, Twilight,” Scorpan says, “Besides, this turning out to be more exciting than I hoped. Besides, at least we are having our first Nightmare Night together.”
Twilight smiles and blushes at Scorpan.
“Heh-heh! Looks like Thorne is not the only Tambelonian with a pony crush,” Rainbow Dash says to herself.
Ch. 7: Goodnight Kiss?
Fluttershy is admiring the stars when Thorne sits back down with her.
“Is the poor animal alright, Thorne?” Fluttershy asks with concern.
“He’s fine, Fluttershy,” he says, “He…got caught in something.”
“I’m so glad that you took the time to help an animal in need.”
“Thanks.”
As he looked at Fluttershy, the moon shined down on her, opening to him how glorious his pony princess truly was.
“Fluttershy. I want you to look below the hill and look carefully.”
Fluttershy does as she says and looks below the hill. Sprouting out are glowing, lily-like flowers.
“Those flowers are so beautiful, Thorne,” She says as she gets up and gets a closer look at them.
“They are called moon lilies, Fluttershy,” Thorne says, “They come out only at pnight, and they release a beautiful glow that is similar to Princess Luna’s moon. Alas, not one can compare to your beauty.”
Fluttershy sheepishly blushes to what Thorne said about her.
****
Meanwhile, Discord is pushing against the cork of the bottle he’s in in order to get out.
“I gotta get out of here before Fluttershy falls under Thorne’s love spell,” he worriedly says.
Just then, Scorpan, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight arrive.
“Scorpan! Twilight! In here!” Discord screams as he bangs his hands on the bottle, getting their attention.
“Discord? What happened?” Scorpan asks as he picks the bottle up and tries to open it.
“Your batty friend made me fall for one of the oldest tricks in the book, that’s what happened!”
“Are he and Fluttershy close by?” Rainbow Dash asks.
“They are, and Thorne is getting too close to her!”
“We’ll let ya’ out, but only if you promise not to overreact,” Applejack says.
“I promise, Applejack,” Discord says as he wears a Boy Scout outfit and salutes with one hand. However, he has one hand with his fingers crossed behind his back.
****
Back at the clearing, Thorne is giving Fluttershy a moon lily for her to keep.
“Thanks, Thorne,” she says, “This moon lily will make a great nightlight for all those scary nights. Plus, I’ll always think of you when it opens.”
“That’s means a lot to me, my dear Fluttershy,” Thorne says, “Just one last thing that makes the night a good thing for everyone.”
“What’s that?”
“A good-night kiss from someone who cares about you.”
“Huh?”
Unfortunately for Thorne, Discord overheard and got mad enough to blow a lot of steam.
“Stand back! He’s gonna blow!” Twilight warns.
Discord’s anger made the bottle so hot, it made Scorpan drop the bottle. Before it could hit the ground, Discord’s steam causes the bottle’s cork to explode open like a firework. With incredible speed, Discord zoomed toward Fluttershy and Thorne.
Thorne is about to kiss Fluttershy as she shyly backs away from him. Before he could kiss her, Discord appears from behind and grabs him by the blouse.
“Discord! What a surprise to see you here!” he nervously says.
Discord magically transform his eagle claw into a boxing glove, ready to clobber Thorne as he shakes like a leaf.
“Not the face!” he shouts as he covers his face.
Discord is about to hit him when Fluttershy between and blocked Thorne, causing Discord to stop.
“Discord, stop!” she shouts while giving him the stare.
“Fluttershy, step aside! This is between me and Thorne!” he growls.
“Discord, why would you want to hurt Thorne?”
“He took you out on the scariest night of the year without my knowledge and kept you away from me throughout the night.”
“Discord, Thorne didn’t scare me! He helped me!”
“Say what?”
“I used to be afraid of Nightmare Night, but Thorne got me outside and showed me some wondrous things he has seen. He showed me that just because something looks scary doesn’t mean it always is. Thorne was a truly good friend tonight.”
“Friend? And nothing more than that?” Discord asks much to Thorne’s dismay.
“Of course! Did you truly believe this was a date? If it was, Thorne would have asked me out a few days ago.”
“D’oh! I knew I made a dating error somewhere!” he whispers to himself.
Thorne’s ears drop down in dismay.
“Now put Thorne down and apologize.”
Discord puts Thorne down like Fluttershy asked.
“Thorne, I am terribly sorry for nearly beating you to tofu,” Discord apologizes.
“Apology accepted,” Thorne replies.
“Thorne,” Fluttershy says, getting Thorne’s attention, “I think you owe Discord an apology too.”
“What?” he responds with confusion.
But that was when he remembered she was right, he did a lot of things to keep Discord away, even by trapping him in a bottle. Heck, it wasn’t even honorable.
“Discord, I’m sorry about trying to keep Fluttershy away from you all night. What I did wasn’t honorable as a knight at all.” Thorne apologizes.
“Chocolate river under the bridge, my good bat,” Discord responds.
The two shook hands, eagle claw and bat claw.
Nearby, the others watched and smiled, glad that nothing terrible happened to Thorne and that things were settled between them.
Ch. 8: Start of Frenemies
Fluttershy is escorted home by Thorne and Scorpan when she yawns from the long night.
“Tired from our first Nightmare Night together?” Thorne asks.
“Oh yes,” Fluttershy replies.
“Ohhhhh. Let’s get you to bed.”
Thorne cradles Fluttershy and is about to fly her into her bedroom when Twilight uses her magic to pull him away and toward the glaring ponies and friends.
“I’m sure Fluttershy can put herself to bed, Thorne,” Twilight says.
“Besides, you’re in enough hot water with Discord,” Scorpan whispers.
“Night is still young,” Applejack says, “What do y’all say we stop at Granny’s hay maze?”
“Good idea, Applejack,” Scorpan says.
The others go over to the maze with Thorne right behind them. He was about to fly with them when Fluttershy calls him.
“Thorne!” she calls from her bedroom window.
Thorne flies up to her.
“Yes, Fluttershy?” Thorne asks.
“I want to thank you for getting me out of the cottage and showing me such a wonderful time,” Fluttershy says.
“My pleasure, and thank you for saving me from Discord. Pardon me for asking, but is he your special someone?”
“Oh no. He’s as much of my friend as you are. I have plenty of time to think of who my special somepony will be. Anyway, I want to give you something earlier. You said you wanted a goodnight kiss, right?”
“Yay, I did.”
Fluttershy kisses Thorne on his right cheek, causing him to blush and smile at the same time.
“Goodnight, Thorne,” Fluttershy says as she closes her window.
“Goodnight, Fluttershy,” Thorne says as he floats happily toward the ground while in a daze over the kiss.
Unfortunately, he bumps into Discord.
“Oh, Discord,” he nervously laughs, “You didn’t see that kiss, did you?”
“I did,” Discord replies while sneering, “I have a fitting punishment for that.”
With a snap of the fingers, Thorne is turned into a baseball bat with wings. Discord laughs to his misery, but Thorne is infuriated.
“Big Mistake!” he says before he hits Discord on the head.
Discord tries to grab him, but Thorne keeps hitting him repeatedly. But his problem was solved when he turned himself into a woodpecker, and started pecking Thorne repeatedly, much to Thorne’s pain. The two get into a scuffle as Twilight and Scorpan watch in disbelief.
“Looks like the beginning of a very harsh relationship between those two,” Scorpan says.
“Yay. Let’s go see about separating them,” Twilight says.
The two run down to the combatants right away.
****
As Fluttershy is about to fall asleep, she sees the moon lily that Thorne gave her glow, proving to her the beauties of nighttime with the comfort and security needed for Nightmare Night.
“Best Nightmare Night ever,” she softly says as she goes to sleep.