The Nightmare Night Fright
As Written By:
Mandarin Scroll
Chapter 1
(of 1)
It all began one dark and stormy Nightmare Night! The air of the night was crisp, as it began to seep through every crack and crevice in the walls of Fluttershy’s cottage, leaving a distinguishable chill. A thick, dank fog was building up through the floorboards, making it very hard to breathe, let alone see. Fluttershy, a usually timid pony, knew that something was different about this Nightmare Night. It didn’t feel the same as all the other nights she had spent curled up under the throws of her warm blankets. She knew that her friends would know what was happening in Ponyville, but that also meant that she would have to venture outside on this, the most terrifying night in all of Equestria. She prayed to Celestia for mercy as she trotted forth from her cottage.
She first went to see Rainbow Dash, who was in town square, riding amidst a thunder cloud of her own creation and scaring groups of hapless candy seekers while dressed as the Captain of the Shadow Bolts, as usual. The sonic blast from the first thunder clap was enough to make Fluttershy second-guess her choice, but setting her own fear aside, she drew upon the hidden bravery from her heart, which had been lying dormant for so many years, to approach her friend; she asked about the unseasonable cold and dense fog that had overtaken her cottage. Rainbow Dash, not knowing anything about the strange weather, dismissed Fluttershy’s claim and darted off into the moonlight.
Next, Fluttershy went to see Applejack, who was at her family’s farm, guiding ponies through their famous corn maze. Fluttershy figured that Applejack, who lives closer to her than anypony else, would have surely recognized the strange weather and would be able to better explain it. Applejack, who was busy with other things per the usual, greeted her with a very hearty “Well, howdy Fluttershy, what brings you out tonight?” When asked, she did notice that it was slightly cooler than usual but hadn’t noticed any sort of mysterious fog.
Her next logical choice was to go and speak with Twilight, who had decided to stay home at her castle and pass out candy to the fillies and colts of Ponyville; she chose not to venture out and indulge in the frights of Nightmare Night, so she can allocate more time to her studies. Fluttershy, remembering that Twilight always makes it her business to record anything strange in Ponyville, thought she would probably be her best chance at solving this mystery. So, without hesitation, Fluttershy proceeded to tell Twilight about what she had experienced at her cottage. Intrigued, Twilight asked Fluttershy to take her to her cottage and show her. When they arrived Fluttershy noticed that the fog had become even thicker, and the air traveling with it had grown even colder. Worried about Angel Bunny, she raced into her house to make sure that he was alright! Relieved to see that he was safely snuggled under the blankets of her bed, she picked him up and raced back out of her cottage as fast as her wings could carry her. Stunned by the fog’s unnatural behavior, they thought it would be a good idea to round up the rest of their friends and go on a little road trip to the “Castle of the Two Sisters”, because Twilight had remembered seeing a book in the castle’s library about strange weather phenomenon. It also helped that the fog seemed to originate from the forest as well. With Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and even Rarity now hesitantly in tow they ventured forth into the forest unaware of the dangers that awaited them! Oh, and Spike too.
Almost immediately, they felt as though they were being watched by something they couldn’t perceive, as an overwhelming sense of fear and uncertainty washed over them. Pinkie Pie, who was taught by her grandmother to laugh at her fears, began to chortle and giggle, while muttering under her own breath “There’s nothing scary here, nothing at all”. Twilight, now experiencing a flashback to their first walk through the forest, recognized what Pinkie was doing, and was slightly relieved at the fact that she wasn’t the only one who had felt it.
Moments later, Rainbow Dash noticed what felt like a cold hoof touching her flank. She screamed in terror and bolted past her friends, who were looking behind her as she fled. Her heart now racing, she told Twilight what had happened. Twilight, feeling skeptical and remembering the story of “The Pony of Shadows”, told Rainbow Dash that ghosts simply cannot exist and that she was letting her imagination get the best of her. But then, Rarity ran forward, saying that she had just felt something similar. Realizing this to be more than a mere coincidence, Twilight asked the two of them to show her where they were standing when they felt the mysterious touch; then just as Twilight stepped into that spot then she felt it too. Now, questioning everything that she had ever read about the supernatural, Twilight screamed and ran away, with her friends following closely behind!
Pinkie Pie's Pinkie Sense later went haywire, causing her entire body to tremble uncontrollably as they came upon an abnormally dense fog bank that seemed to emit an eerie green glow.
(By the way, for those who are not aware, when Pinkie Pie trembles uncontrollably like that, it means they are about to encounter a doozy of a problem.)
Having learned through first-hoof experience to trust the Pinkie Sense, Twilight immediately went into a defensive stance. It was at that very moment that a Hydra emerged from the fog. Everypony became frightened beyond all measure from the sight of it! They ran as fast as their hooves could carry them, running deeper into the forest. Finally, when they reached their destination, they entered through the castle doors to find Starlight Glimmer standing before them with a very large, gleeful smirk on her face.
Fluttershy, now exhausted from running, collapsed on the floor; all of her friends soon followed suit. Twilight, outraged, asked Starlight if she was behind all of this, to which she very smugly nodded her head in agreement.
Twilight asked Starlight why she had done this. Starlight explained that she merely wanted to help her new friends enjoy this wonderfully scary night. The only way she could think to accomplish this goal was by giving them the scariest night they could have ever imagined. She had been preparing for this for months, preparing spells to create eerie fogs and to hypnotize creatures of the Everfree Forest to do whatever she wanted them to do. She only wanted the scares to be perfectly planned. She hadn’t intended for Fluttershy to be the target of the scares, it just so happened that the fog she had created reached her cottage first, and that she was sorry if the scares went too far. Twilight, being the forgiving pony that she is, accepted Starlight’s apology and they all traveled back to Ponyville together.
“THE END”
Author's Note
I hope all of you enjoyed this Nightmare Night story, and I look forward to reading all of your comments about it. The original inspiration for this story came to me while watching one of the Nightmare Night episodes of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic when Fluttershy had to leave her cottage on Nightmare Night because she forgot to stock up on food for Angel.
