A Nightmare's Night for Fillies

                   Luna was watching as a unicorn colt with a bright white coat and cerulean eyes  and his younger sister (who was also a unicorn) with a paleish purple coat and violet eyes were carving pumpkins in their kitchen. The colt giggled as he finished his pumpkin and turned it, around revealing two crazy looking eyes and it sticking out its tongue, “Look, Twily, mine has a silly face.” He boasted.

                  The young filly turned from her carving and said in reply, “Shining, they have to have scary faces. That's what it says on ‘How to make a proper Jack-o-lantern on Nightmare Night’.”

                   Shining nudged his sister, “You’re such an egghead!” He teased.

                   “Am not! I’m well read!” Twilight shouted in reply

                   “Now, now, you two, what did I say about fighting?” Their mother asked, as she trotted into the kitchen, she was a unicorn mare with the same coat as her son, and her eyes were a slightly lighter shade blue than his. But her mane and tail were styled similar to her daughter’s, including the skunk like stripe running down the center (her name was Twilight Velvet, but to avoid confusion with her daughter who shared her first name, she was often called simply Velvet).

                  Shining looked up, “We weren't fighting, Mom. It’s just Twilight being an egghead again.” He said as innocently as possible

                   “No I'm not, Shining was making his pumpkin wrong.” Twilight retorted.

                   “Hey both of your pumpkins look fantastic,” Twilight Velvet said with a sincere smile. She came up and nuzzled them, kissing them on the foreheads. She replied, “Are you two ready for candy collecting?”

                   Twilight jumped out of her seat, “Yeah, I want to try on my Starswirl the Bearded costume!” She eagerly shouted.

                    Shining giggled, “Well, I'm going to be a knight! Right, Mom?”

                   Twilight Velvet smiled, “Of course. How about we put your pumpkins on the front porch?”

              “Wait, mine’s not done yet!” Twilight shouted! She finished her pumpkin with delicate precision.“Finished.” She turned the pumpkin, showing a, evil smiling jack-o-lantern.

                    “Oh honey, that’s beautiful.” Twilight Velvet smiled again.

                   Twilight rose her head in pride, “Thanks, Mom, I just followed the directions.”

                    Shining rolled his eyes as Twilight Velvet turned to face him, “Shining, yours is beautiful too.” She told him.

                     Shining blushed as his mom rubbed the back of his head. Then Twilight Velvet continued, “Well how about you two go upstairs to change into your costumes? I know you’ll get lots of candy tonight.”

                     The two foals ran up the stairs as Twilight Velvet smiled at them lightly. Nightmare Night was always a fun night for foals.

                      Luna left Twilight’s dream as she went back to the real world in Canterlot. Here she continued on her way through the castle with her head hung low, She went back to her room and sat down on the bed. She continued sitting down on her bed until she felt the rays of her sisters sun shine through. She looked through her window to see her raise the sun outside her window. All the while she pondered, “Do Celestia and I have such memories of doing fun activities together? Nightmare Night was never established until after I had left, but surely we still at least carved pumpkins, right?”

                       Celestia came forward looking up at Luna with her head hung. “What’s wrong, sister?” She asked.

                       Luna smiled at her sister, “Oh, it’s nothing. Nothing at at really.”

                       But Celestia only came closer and whispered, “Come on Luna, something's bothering you and the last time I ignored it the end result saw you banished to the moon for 1,000 years.”

                       Luna sighed, “I can’t remember anything from our foal hood that we spent together.”

                       Celestia gasped, “Really?! That's just terrible!”

        “It's quite alright dear sister. It’s not that big of a deal.” Luna lied, hoping her sister wouldn’t notice. She did.

        “There’s something else, isn’t there?” She asked her sister.

      Luna turned her head, “I can’t say, you’d think I’m crazy.” She protested, the idea was too outlandish.

    But Celestia just sat next to her sister and whispered, “Come on, you can tell me. We promised never to keep secrets from each other after the Nightmare Moon incident.”

       Luna dropped her head again and mumbled, “Please don't laugh at me when I say this.”

      Celestia was looking at her sister as she said sincerely, “I promise that I won't laugh at you. Now, what is it?”

        “I...I  watched Twilight’s dream last night, in fact It was more of a memory of Shining and her carving pumpkins as foals,” Luna replied nervously. “Seeing that has made me wish to dream up a fantasy of my own: Wanting to experience Nightmare Night as a filly.”

      Celestia stifled her urge to laugh, “You think that I would be disappointed with you for that, Luna?” She asked.

    Luna looked up and blushed, “You don’t think it’s weird?”

       Celestia shook her head, “No, Luna I think it’s fine. You're not the only who has reminisced about other ponies and their foal hoods. There are days that I find myself missing when Twilight was but a filly and she was my young student.”

        Luna sighed, “I'm going to get some sleep. But thank you for your concern, sister.”

       Celestia was still concerned about her sister but she decided not to pry any further. “Just ask if you need anything.” She told Luna, as she got up from the bed. Luna was already getting under her covers as her sister eyed her and sighed. Quietly, Celestia stepped out of the room and shut the door behind her. If only there was some way she could help her sister to address these reminiscent feelings.

        That night, after Luna had raised the moon over Equestria, Celestia was walking back and forth in front of her sister’s chamber. She was trying to think up a good excuse for her proposal, when she heard an unfamiliar noise. ”Luna, is that you?” She asked from the other side of the door.

        Luna gulped and opened the door slowly, “Yes sister, it’s me. I’m… sorry for disturbing you when you should be resetting.”

          “Is something wrong?” Celestia asked her younger sister.

        Luna looked like she was going to start sweating profusely, before she finally breathed out a sigh and and invited her sister in fully determined to explain to her what she was going. “Sister, this may seem crazy but remember what I said about wanting to actually experience Nightmares Night as a filly?” She asked.

        Celestia was a bit stunned as she asked, “Luna, you do realise that even for one night, you being a filly could prove disastrous, right?”

      Luna tried to resist the urge to roll her eyes, “That's why I've been busy this whole afternoon, sister. I looked up a temporary age spell that’ll only regress me to the age of a filly for a single night. Please sister, I want to experience Nightmare Night without scaring everypony this year. I want to see what it’s like.”

     Celestia smiled as she replied, “Well, I can't stop you from having a little fun for a change. But as a filly you're going to need a guardian, and I’m unfortunately going to be too busy to fulfill that role. My royal duties keep me very busy.”

        Luna smiled, “Actually, I was hoping Twilight could be my guardian for the night.”

    “You do know that she isn't my student anymore, right?” Celestia asked Luna.

       Luna looked at the ground, “I was thinking more along the lines of asking her myself. It’ll be easier that way anyways.” She said sheepishly.

  Celestia smiled, “Alright, I’ll allow you to be a filly for Nightmare Night. On one  condition.”

        Luna tilted her head and asked, “What’s that?”

             Celestia giggled, “Get me some pictures with you and Twilight. I want to make sure I have a way to always remember this.”

             Luna nodded, “Sure thing sis, I'll make sure Twilight gets some cute ones just for you.”

         Luna flew to Ponyville a short time later, arriving at the front door of Twilight’s castle, which she quickly knocked on.

      ”Coming!” Spike shouted. He opened the door and upon seeing Luna he bowed and replied, “Oh, Princess Luna. What a surprise to see you here your majesty”

          Luna smiled, “Stand up, Spike. It’s quite alright. This isn’t an official royal duty,” Spike looked up as Luna added, “But I do need to speak to Twilight on an urgent matter.”

     “Of course, right this way,” Spike replied. He lead Luna through the castle to Twilight’s room. Spike knocked on the door. “Twilight, Princess Luna’s here to see you. She says it’s urgent.” He called.

         A moment later, Twilight quickly opened the door and bowed despite the sleeping cap on her forehead, “Princ-” She began, but before she can finish Luna scooted Spike out into the hallway and hurriedly replied,”Thank you for your services Spike, now please go along.” She quickly shut the door and placed a magical lock around it to keep Spike out.

    “You could’ve just asked politely before you shut the door on me.” Spike huffed, and went off in a huff.

     Meanwhile, Twilight was trying her hardest not to freak out. Having the Princess of The Night show up on your doorstep without advanced notice seldom meant good news. “Did something break out of Tartarus again?!” Twilight asked. “Have the changelings returned?! Has some ancient evil thought defeated reared its head again?!”

   Luna turned to Twilight and explained, “Nothing is wrong, I came because  what I will ask of you will be no trivial task.”

    Twilight perked up, “Princess Luna I faced Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis,  King Sombra,and Lord Tirek in that order. I can handle anything.”

    Luna sighed and had to pause for a few seconds before asking rapidly, “Twilight can you care for me as a filly for Nightmare Night?”

     Twilight was stunned and seemed not to understand. “I’m sorry I didn’t catch that.”

    Luna blushed and asked again, “Can you be my guardian while i’m a filly for Nightmare Night here in Ponyville?”

   Twilight looked up at Luna who was looking at her with pleading eyes. Unsure of what to do and not wanting to disappoint the princess Twilight reluctantly said, “Sure, I wouldn't mind.”

     “You sure I’m not intruding on any plans you’ve already made?” Luna asked again. “I know you have your own student now, even though she is currently away visiting Sunburst in The Crystal Empire. You’ve got a lot of responsibilities that come with taking on a student.

       But Twilight only shook her head, “At the moment I don’t have anything of importance to tend to. In fact I’ll be chaperoning the colts and fillies for candy gathering this year. But…”

      Luna gasped thinking Twilight was changing her mind, “But what?” She asked.

   “Oh I'm just curious. Why do you want to be a filly again?” Twilight asked bluntly.

     Luna, relieved that Twilight wasn’t changing her mind smiled and said, “Well, I have to apologize for something. I have watched you dreams. Many times they are memories of you and your brother. To be honest I don’t remember having any such memories with my sister and I just wanted a chance to experience something fun. Like what you experienced with Shining.”

                Twilight was taken back, “I’m sorry about that. I..I didn't mean to pry. Though I would’ve appreciated you asking permission before delving into those personal memories. There are some I’d rather nopony see.” She blushed at the thought of Princess Luna seeing some of her more embarrassing memories as a foal and young filly.

              “It’s fine,” Luna replied. “It's only fair you be a bit shocked, what with me looking into your dreams without your permission."

               Hoping to change the subject Twilight looked around and asked, “So, besides that do you have a spell ready?”

                Luna replied, “Of course I do. I wouldn't be asking if I didn't.”

               “How about raising and lowering the moon?” Twilight continued. “I don’t know if Princess Celestia can just take over doing that again.”

              Luna replied again and explained, “I’ll raise the moon the night of Nightmare Night and then come straight here to perform the transformation. My sister should be able to take care of lowering the moon for one night without my assistance. By morning I’ll be back to being my old adult self.”

              "But won’t the ponies of Ponyville miss your presence?” Twilight asked. “Pipsqueak especially was looking forward to seeing you again.”

              Luna responded, “I'll tell them I have prior engagements and will have no time for fun this Nightmare Night. That should hopefully be an adequate enough explanation for them.”

             “And about you as a filly?” Twilight asked with concern. “Ponies will ask where you come from, especially since you’ll be quite noticeable as the only alicorn among ponies."

      “I can make up some story about a filly just passing through Ponyville,” Luna replied. “And you needn't worry about the alicorn part, I have a way of making sure they stay hidden. A cloak should do just fine.

                 Twilight nodded, “Alright I think we covered everything. Except, what kind of costume would you like?”

                 Luna pondered then smiled, “A witch’s costume will be perfect.“She then hugged Twilight with the young alicorn being quite stunned at the gesture. “Thank you, Twilight, for doing this.” Luna said happily.

                 Twilight hugged Luna back, “It’s no problem. As long as you’re sure Celestia is okay with this. I don’t need any problems.”

                 “My sister is already onboard with this, she was the one who I first confided in about my desires,” Luna replied and she began to trot out the door but not before she added, “Good night, Twilight. I await our engagement tomorrow.”

               “Can’t wait.” Twilight replied with a sheepish grin.

                Luna took off from the ward and went down the stairs, as Spike came up with a comic clutched in his claws and he asked, “So, what was that all about?”

               Twilight looked at Spike nervously, “Spike, I’m going to need you to keep a secret.” She told him.