Renting a costume for Nightmare Night had gone very well, by Noctilucent's reckoning. The only costume shop in Ponyville was mostly empty shelves and hangers by the time she had ventured through its door, but despite this, she had found suitable garb.

The simple Roanan tunic of blue cotton that she wore was technically intended for a stallion and her wearing it would have marked her out as a slattern back in the day. But the purple stola and matching limbus draperies hid most of the tunic and were for a mare of imperial class. Honestly, it was a mish-mash of period fashion and stagecraft fancies. If only she were willing to visit Canterlot she could have adorned herself with actual Roanan jewellery from her collection of keepsakes, but they would also have been far above the means of a simple medical intern. The costume jewellery would suffice.

She let herself in through the outside door of Derpy’s shared house and paused for a few minutes to cast an eye over her costume and touch a hoof to her mane. At least that and her tail were in fully authentic Roanan style; both were braided and tucked up into mounds atop her head and rump.

Noctilucent sniffled, coughed a few times and then trotted up the stairs. She knocked at Derpy’s door and when the door opened she was confronted by the most adorable little timberwolf pup that she had ever seen.

“Rawr!” Dinky growled up at her and sat up to wave her twig covered legs. Small wood claws attached to her hooves pawed at the air.

Noctilucent giggled as Derpy walked over, similarly costumed as a timberwolf. They both wore home-made suits of light green fabric that a collection of branches and twigs had been laced onto. Wooden wolf face masks completed their ensembles.

“Hi, Noctilucent! Woah, you look amazing!” Derpy’s costume clattered against her daughter’s as she petted the little wolf’s head.

“Th-thank th… you.” Noctilucent blushed a little and said, “You are both looking v-very fierce this evening.”

Derpy giggled and then barked a few times, which set Dinky off making adorable little barks of her own. Noctilucent couldn’t help laughing along with them as they trotted down the stairs together.

“Is A-Amethyst not coming?”

Derpy shook her head and said, “She’s already gone out with her friends. We might run into her though. Why?”

“No r-reason.”

Noctilucent had visited the small family several times now for evening meals. While she got along very well with Derpy and her foal, Amethyst remained distant. While she had no expectation to befriend everypony, Noctilucent was annoyed that her attempts to strike up conversations had been rebuffed. Even the small gift of a book did nothing to soothe the young unicorn’s ire. Perhaps it was for the best that Amethyst absented herself.

They walked out to the street and the overcast night. Celestia's sun had just set and her moon would still be down low on the horizon, hidden by buildings, trees, and the clouds. If it were not for the street lamps, Ponyville would have been plunged into darkness. Pitch dark shadows lurked down every side street, ready to spring forth if the magical lighting should fail. It created a suitably spooky atmosphere. A few ponies trotted past, heading for the town square. Not all of the adults were in costume, but every foal that Noctilucent saw was dressed as a monster or fanciful character. She had learned a little about the festival that memorialised…? Celebrated? That celebrated one of the most horrible events in her life, but it seemed to Noctilucent that the townsponies must know very little about the real event. She wasn't certain if she felt more insulted or relieved.

Mistress Sparkle had offered her books about the what and the why of Nightmare Night, but Noctilucent had shied away from reading them. But she couldn't close her ears to the idle chatter of her co-workers and friends. For them, this was a simple party, and she would not enlighten them with a first-hoof account. She felt a coward for doing this, hiding from what she had done and taking advantage of their ignorance, but the alternative was surely exile. She loved her false life in Ponyville too much to risk it.

They met up with several of the neighbourhood parents escorting their foals. The little ones were extremely energetic; commenting on one another's garb, trying to frighten one another and babbling in high spirits about the candy they would gather. The parents were much calmer and Noctilucent received several compliments on her own attire.

The cool and humid air made her nose run. Sniffling and coughing a little, Noctilucent wished she’d thought to tuck away a muzzle tissue somewhere in her costume.

It seemed like almost every foal in Ponyville was milling about in the town square, with a smattering of adults to watch over them. A stage had been set up at one end of the square and it, like everything else in town, was covered in spooky decorations. White bones of skeletons, spiders in their webbing, glowing pumpkins with fanged mouths carved into them, the outlines of bats, paper ghosts and the like adorned every surface. Nopony aside from very young foals seemed at all frightened by any of this and the square was filled with idle chatter and laughter.

Noctilucent certainly was not impressed with the ‘frightful' decorations. She had known real terror in the waking world and had experienced many warped and twisted visions in the dream realm. Yet for some reason, she felt on edge.

“Noctilucent?”

“Y-yes, Derpy?”

Derpy waved with a wing to where her foal was goofing around with a few other youngsters, growling and pouncing at them. “I’m gonna take Dinky and her friends around town to get their treats. Wanna tag along?”

Noctilucent nodded and followed behind the grey mare as she herded the youngsters together and off down one of Ponyville’s many residential streets. Her moon had risen enough that pale moonlight shone through artfully arranged gaps in the clouds, casting pale patches through the town. As she walked through these pools of light, Noctilucent felt her malaise fade a little. They went from door to door, pausing to give each foal a moment to receive a small treat. Every so often thunder would rumble from above, but Noctilucent knew that there was no fear of it actually raining. It was just the weather team working hard to make the night as spooky as possible.

Since Derpy and another adult pony named Rose were kept busy by the foals, Noctilucent just walked along with the group, silently enjoying the night. Late fall was her favourite time of the year with its cool weather, the scent of dead leaves in the air and the feeling that the entire world was settling in for a long sleep.

Their little herd of foals reached the northern edge of town and began making its way back to the town square.

“It’s not fair!”

Noctilucent’s ears flicked as she heard a filly’s voice whining from behind a hedge.

Being careful to walk quietly and suppressing the urge to sniffle, Noctilucent made her way to the hedge and peered over it. Sitting behind the hedge, doing a poor job of concealing themselves, were a pair of fillies. Both were wearing princess costumes, including mock horns and wings. One was a lovely light pink colour and wore very good imitations of Celestia’s golden regalia, they might even have been made of gold. The other was a pale grey and had Princess Cadence’s more minimal golden regalia along with a large pair of glasses perched on her muzzle.

‘Celestia’ waved at a basket of eggs that sat in the grass and whined, “What am I supposed to do with a dozen rotten eggs now?”

Noctilucent smirked as she imagined her big sister whining so petulantly. No, dear Tia was far too self-controlled for whining.

The ‘Cadence’ filly shrugged and said, “I don’t know, Tiara. Umm… maybe we should just throw them away?”

“Throw them away?!” Tiara stamped one of her little hooves, “No! I spent weeks finding them all. Do you know how many gross chicken coops I had to make Snips and Snails crawl into?”

“But they don’t want to egg Mr. Clickspring’s house either, Tiara. Not with him being so nice this year.” The grey filly suddenly perked up and said, “Hey! I know! Let’s throw them at the Crusader’s clubhouse!”

“Oooo…!” Tiara rubbed her hooves together, with a demonic grin on her muzzle she said, “Get the basket! Let’s go teach those blank flanks a lesson!”

As the fillies approached the basket one of the eggs on top quivered and burst, showering its noxious contents over the area behind the hedge. Gobs of pure stink splattered across their surprised faces.

As they ran away wailing, Noctilucent snickered quietly and with an another flick of her magic she teleported the basket away to the Everfree forest. At least she had gotten one trick in this evening and hopefully taught those bratty mock-princesses a lesson in the bargain. She wondered what Clickspring ‘being nice’ meant.

When she rejoined her own little herd of foals she overheard them expressing surprise that the clockmaker was handing out candy this year. So, being ‘nice’ meant behaving like a normal townspony. Good! Noctilucent smiled at this evidence that her patient was coming further out of his shell and integrating himself into the community.

She knocked on the door to Clickspring’s shop. It opened immediately and Noctilucent found herself facing the Grim Reaper.

"Here you… Oop!" Clickspring leant the scythe he'd been holding up against the wall and then pulled the papier mâché skull mask down so that it hung around his neck on its string. "Hello, Noctilucent. Wow! You look…" His wide-eyed look and flustered inability to speak clearly said more about how he thought she looked than mere words would have. Clickspring glanced away and a moment later a small bundle of four lollipops, tied together with a bow, wobbled into view.

His ears flicked underneath the black hood he was wearing as he wiggled the small bundle of lollipops. “Uhh… Treat for you?”

“No, th-thank you.” She smiled and nodded, “I like thy garb as well, Pale Horse.”

Clickspring chuckled and said, “Thanks. It seemed appropriate, you know? Time takes everypony in the end.”

“I gather that you u-usually do not dress up for this night?”

“No. But you and the doc said I should try to, you know, join in more. That and I’m fed up with cleaning egg off of the windows.”

They both had a bit of a laugh at that and Noctilucent said, "Yes, I imagine t-that would be tiresome. Well… I had best be g-going. There are colts and f-fillies waiting to meet the Grim Reaper after all. Will I see you at the town square?"

Clickspring shook his head and sighed. “No. There’ll be too many ponies for me. Have a good time, Noctilucent.” He turned to pass out bundles of candy to the next group of foals as she walked away.

“T-take care, Clicky.”

It took her a few minutes to catch up to Derpy, Rose and their little herd of foals. Many of the children were singing as they made their way back to the town square.

♫ Nightmare Night!

What a fright!

Give us something sweet to bite! ♪

The sweet voices raised in exuberant sing-song should have lifted anypony’s spirit, but Noctilucent still felt out of sorts. A dark, anxious mood which the festive atmosphere failed to banish. The cursed sniffling and tickle in her throat did not help. As they entered the crowded town square she glanced around to see if there were any threats nearby. She felt her head go a little swimmy and the singing distorted as though coming down a long tunnel. Something was definitely wrong.

Closing her eyes and bracing her legs in order to steady herself, she quickly cast a simple detection spell. One that should reveal any being that held malicious thoughts in their mind. It didn’t reveal any obvious threats, but this did not set Noctilucent at ease as there were ways to conceal oneself from the simple spell. There were a few hints of beings that harboured dark thoughts, but only the usual envies, fears, dislikes and such that were common in any pony village.

“Luci?”

Cancelling the spell, Noctilucent opened her eyes and looked down at Dinky. The filly rested a wooden paw on Noctilucent’s leg and asked, “Are you ok, Luci?”

The dizziness had passed and though the feeling of foreboding remained strong, Noctilucent nodded. “Y-yes. Thank thee… you… for your concern, little one.”

Derpy trotted over, balancing a small tray with three mugs on her back. Steam rose from the mugs, filling the air with the scent of apples and spices. They sat together for a little while, sipping the warm apple juice seasoned with cinnamon, cloves and orange peel. Ponies and foals wandered around the square, playing games, eating, drinking, laughing and chatting.

Noctilucent teleported their empty mugs and the tray back to the vendor, which earned her a wide-eyed admiring stare from little Dinky. They wandered around the square, weaving through the crowd and playing some of the games. As she still was not feeling well, Noctilucent volunteered to keep an eye on Dinky’s bag of treats while she and Derpy tossed spiders, bobbed for apples and catapulted pumpkins to their doom. None of which had anything to do with Nightmare Moon, much to Noctilucent’s relief.

One of the games was simply called The Castle. Only foals were allowed to play, so Derpy sat with Noctilucent near the entrance to a small, two-story fort built of hay bales and wood. The game was a mix of hide-and-go-seek and tag: one foal was ‘Nightmare’ and would count to twenty while the other foals hid in the castle. ‘Nightmare’ would then roam the hay halls, calling out anypony that he or she spotted, but they could be tagged out if somepony snuck up behind and touched them.

It was the ruination of the Castle of the Two Sisters, played out in miniature by gleeful foals. Celestia’s final stand when Nightmare Moon’s fell army had breached the castle’s inner ward and stormed the keep. Noctilucent remember stalking through the cold stone halls, seeking her sister and those loyal to her. Only instead of calling them ‘out’ she would torture and murder them with horrifying spells in an attempt to lure Celestia out of hiding for the final confrontation.

The playful cries of foals echoed strangely in her ears as her vision became blurry.

“Ponies of Ponyville! May I have your attention please.”

There was a moment of metallic feedback over the PA speakers which made Noctilucent fold her ears flat. Everypony in the crowd turned to look towards the stage set up in front of the town hall, where a spotlight illuminated a mare.

Noctilucent wiped at her eyes with a foreleg, clearing away unshed tears. She sniffled, swallowed and tried to recover from her memories by focusing on the stage. The mare waved a hoof and spoke into the microphone. “Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!”

As she spoke the foals who had been playing in the Castle came galloping out. Dinky ran over to her mother and grabbed up her sack of candy in her mouth before trotting off towards the stage.

Derpy stood up and turned to Noctilucent and said, “Come on, they’re about to… Are you ok?”

‘Honesty, Luna. Tis best to be honest with one’s friends.’

“I am feeling a little p-poorly.” Noctilucent stood up and started walking towards the stage and Derpy fell in to walk beside her. “I s-shall be alright.”

“You sure?”

Noctilucent nodded and smiled wanly at her concerned friend. Anything that would keep her from dwelling on a past she did not want to relive would be most welcome. Once they were a little closer to the stage she could more clearly see the costume that the spotlit mare was wearing. She was some kind of undead creature with her limbs painted so that she appeared to be stitched together from variously coloured parts of several ponies. Her black mane was mounded up very high over her head and had wide streaks of white on either side. Noctilucent didn't recognise the costume but found it more comedic than terrifying.

The mare, who she now realised was Mayor Mare, waved her orange and green forelegs in a dramatic fashion. "Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora—"

She gestured to the centre of the stage where curtains at the back parted and a thick, glowing green fog billowed forth. A pony walked out from the sparkling fog. At least Noctilucent assumed that they were a pony; most of them was covered in long, feather-like leaves which had been painted black and white and a carved wood mask of a raptor's hooked-beak covered their muzzle.

As Zecora walked to the front of the stage, Noctilucent noticed the black and white stripes on her forelegs. She was a zebra! Once she realised this it became clear what Zecora's costume was; an impundulu. A blood-drinking, immortal and quite evil creature from Zebrica.

“—to hear the legend of... Nightmare Mooooon!” The mayor wrapped up her introduction by making ‘spooky ghost’ sounds as she stepped off-stage.

Noctilucent grimaced and stepped a little closer to the stage. While she wasn’t feeling well and already besieged by memories, hearing what modern ponies knew about Nightmare Moon might be enlightening. If nothing else it could be another iota of penance for her crimes.

Zecora stepped to the edge of the stage and in a rich, warm voice she said, "Follow me and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon." With a fluttering of leaf-feathers, she hopped down to the ground and walked out of the town square, heading for the nearby forest. It wasn't the dangerous Everfree, but still looked threatening beneath the dark clouds and shafts of moonlight.

The gathering of foals trotted after her, accompanied by a few adults. Noctilucent trailed along behind them with a worried looking Derpy by her side.

“P-please relax, my friend. I am feeling better now.”

That was a bit of a white lie, as Noctilucent was still feeling a bit dizzy and anxious. Being brought near to tears had made her damnable nose even more watery than before. She sniffled repeatedly and was slow and careful with placing her hooves as they fell further behind the group of foals.

Derpy didn't look convinced but nodded. "Okay… I hope this stuff doesn't upset you, Pri… Uh… Noctilucent."

There was a flash of green light from up ahead and though Zecora’s voice was muffled by the forest, Noctilucent could hear her clearly.

“Listen close, my little dears, I’ll tell you where you got your fears.

“Of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary. Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary.”

Shifting to a trot so she wouldn’t miss out on any more of the story, Noctilucent entered a small clearing in the forest. The town’s pegasi had cleared away a wide opening in the clouds overhead, allowing the bright moon to shine through and illuminate the clearing. Feeling the cool, silver light against her hide made Noctilucent shiver as the moon’s energy trickled through her sweaty body.

There was more than enough light to see the gathering of ponies at the other end of the clearing, where Zecora waved a hoof and caused glowing green fog to boil up into the air.

“Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes.”

Ignoring the illusion show, Noctilucent stared at the statue that was illuminated by the glow. It was not accurate, but it did capture some of how she had looked during her transformation into Nightmare. While most of the time she had worn armour and the statue was dressed merely in regalia, the artist had captured Nightmare's slit pupils, fanged maw and furious expression.

It was a curious sensation, looking at what she had been. Regret over what she had done, fear of it ever happening again and also a longing to feel that powerful once more. Noctilucent was tired of feeling so weak, with her connection to the moon all but severed. Nightmare Moon was a horror, but she had been strong and confident.

“But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!”

“What?” Noctilucent gasped quietly, “I n-never…”

Derpy placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder and quietly said, “It’s just a story for the foals.”

“Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by.”

Noctilucent grouched, “Just because somepony grows fangs…”

“Shhh…”

Noctilucent settled down and watched as Zecora manipulated the green-glowing fog into taking the shape of Nightmare Moon. The apparition stalked around the clearing as if looking for something, giving the foals a quick look over.

“So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!”

Setting a small basket down next to the statue’s plinth, Zecora waved a hoof to the slightly frightened colts and fillies. “Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!”

In ones and twos, the foals approached the basket, selected a candy from what they had gathered and made an offering to the statue of Nightmare Moon. A ritual that was as old as ponykind; sacrifice to appease evil spirits.

The clearing slowly emptied as the foals and adults made their way back to the town square after making their offering. Noctilucent leant close to Derpy, swaying a little on her hooves and asked, "I-is that it?"

Derpy nodded and waved to her foal as she trotted over, the bulk of her candy haul still held tightly in her mouth. “Uh huh. I’m glad it didn’t upset you.”

"There was little to b-be upset about. The statue is m-most impressive, but otherwise, all of this had n-nothing to do with… With what h-happened."

“What did happen?”

Noctilucent looked over at her friend and saw only curiosity in her misaligned eyes. While she was not eager to discuss her fall into darkness with her friend, perhaps here again honesty would be the best thing?

“P-perhaps another time. Tis… It is not something a foal should hear.” She sniffled and turned her head to cough.

Derpy adjusted her daughter’s wolf mask and nodded. “Okay. Well, if ever you wanna talk about it I’m all ears.” She stood up and said, “Let’s get back and get some food. Some real food! You’re not just gobblin’ candy, little filly.”

“Awww… moooom!”

"Come on, sweetie. I'm sure they have corn on the cob. You love corn on the cob." Dinky nudged her daughter and they started walking to the path back to the town square.

Noctilucent slowly stood up and the dizziness wasn’t too bad, so she started after her friends. Some food might settle her insides. Something to soak up the acid and spice of the mulled apple juice. She hadn’t walked more than a few strides when Zecora stepped in front of her. The zebra held the offerings basket full of candy in her mouth, which she set down in front of Noctilucent.

“This basket of treats was left outdoors, but I feel in my bones that it truly is yours.”

Noctilucent’s eyes went wide with shock and she opened her mouth to speak, but she was overcome with a powerful coughing fit. By the time she reopened her eyes the eerie zebra was gone. After hawking and spitting into the bushes, Noctilucent shrugged and picked up the basket in her magic. There was little she could do except hope that Zecora would keep whatever she knew to herself.

Long tables had been moved into the middle of the town square by the time Noctilucent arrived, and Derpy waved to her and patted the open space on the bench she was sitting on. The tables were crowded round with seated townsponies and Noctilucent saw that Dinky and Amethyst were sitting opposite Derpy.

Amethyst was wearing a blue tweed coat, a black scarf and a strange, grey wool cap the like of which Noctilucent had never seen before: a dome with a brim at the front and at the back, with cheek flaps that were tied up with a small bow at the peak. The front of her purple mane had been dyed or painted white and she had a pipe in her frowning mouth.

She used her magic to take the pipe out of her mouth and she waved the mouthpiece at Noctilucent. “You have been getting into the spirit of Nightmare Night, even trick-or-treating I see. Aren’t you a little old for that amusement, hmmm?”

Noctilucent sighed and then coughed a little, politely holding a hoof in front of her muzzle as she lowered the basket down amidst the platters of food on the table.

“It was a g-gift. Of sorts.” She nudged it closer to Amethyst and said, “Please h-help yourself.”

Amethyst cocked an eyebrow, popped her pipe back into her mouth and puffed at it. There was no smoke as it was unlit and didn’t even appear to have anything in the bowl. Noctilucent took her place on the bench, Derpy on one side and an unfamiliar stallion on her left. She closed her eyes and sagged a little bit, grateful to not be standing on her own hooves and dealing with feeling like she might tip over at any moment. The dizzy spells were annoying and something she would need to look into. Tomorrow. Tonight she would just enjoy the company of her friends.

“Want some corn, Noctilucent?”

Her eyes opened and she smiled and nodded to Derpy, who placed a steaming cob of corn on her paper plate. Several minutes were spent with ponies around the table passing platters of food around. Despite thinking that a decent meal would help, Noctilucent's appetite deserted and left her with no desire to eat. The rich scent of the corn, potatoes, salad, sauces and slice of pumpkin pie made her feel a little nauseated. Guzzling the mug of cider would only make her dizzier and, on an empty belly, would have further consequences in the morn. Even conversation was denied as every other pony was busy filling their bellies, so she just sat and sipped a little cider.

“You are sick, Imperatrix.”

Noctilucent blinked her gummy eyes and looked across the table at Amethyst. “S-sorry. What?”

The purple mare dropped a stripped cob of corn onto her plate and then waved her pipe, using the stem to point at Noctilucent. “You are dressed as a matron of ancient Roan and purple is reserved for the royal family. Hence ‘Imperatrix’,” Amethyst grinned wickedly and said, “Though I suppose ’Princeps’ might be more fitting. Your condition is betrayed by your pale ears, sweaty hide, wavering posture and lack of appetite.”

She sat up straight, tossed her white-maned head and gazed at Noctilucent with a cool expression. "I, Silverlock, the greatest mind Equestria has ever known, deduce from my observations that you are either hungover or suffering from a malady."

Noctilucent thought that the whole act was completely ridiculous; not just the over-the-top acting but the notion that a princess could fall ill? Never. She hadn't been sick for hundreds of years, not even counting her time in the moon. Princesses just did not suffer from common sickness. Hexes, magical enervation, psychosis or the kind of spiritual interference that had led to Nightmare Moon, certainly. Violence and ill-wrought magic could affect an alicorn, but not common fevers or infection. Nonsense!

Noctilucent opened her mouth to refute the claim when she saw it standing behind Amethyst.

Midnight black armour that seemed to suck in the torchlight. Spikes and cruel curves of metal arcing like jagged scimitars from every edge. A silver crown rested atop the black helmet and green, cat-slitted eyes glowed within.

Amethyst’s amusement with teasing the princess-in-disguise vanished when she saw Noctilucent’s annoyed expression suddenly turn into unbridled terror.

“No!”

It wasn’t a scream so much as the gasping denial somepony would make after being punched in the gut. Noctilucent half-stood, half-fell off of the bench in a desperate struggle to get away from whatever she’d seen. Feeling a cold chill run up her spine, Amethyst turned to see what was behind her.

It wasn’t even sompony in a scary costume. Just a tall, mostly-black mare dressed up like a firepony; heavy jacket, helmet and big boots.

Derpy’s cry made Amethyst turn back around. “Noctilucent!”

Derpy had hopped up to fly after Noctilucent, who had stumbled a few steps away from the table and was throwing up, head down and making some really nasty splattering and choking sounds. Several other ponies at the table were staring over at them, a mix of amused and disgusted expressions on their faces. Amethyst looked down to see how Dinky was doing. Whatever this was it had to be pretty stressful for the young foal.

Dinky was standing up on the bench, hooves on the table and staring over at her mother and Noctilucent. Her plate had three chewed-bare cobs and the partial remains of a corn cob that she’d been savaging.

“Hey, kiddo. You ok?”

Dinky turned her head and gave Amethyst a wide-eyed stare. Her mouth hung open with pulped corn sitting on her tongue, so Amethyst chuckled and closed it for her with one of her hooves. “Gross! Swallow, kid.”

After swallowing, Dinky asked, "What's wrong with Luci?"

“I think she’s just sick. Flu or something. She’ll be alright. Remember when you had the flu last year?”

Dinky nodded and made a disgusted face, her little muzzle wrinkling up.

“Yeah. Not fun, but she’ll be fine.” Amethyst hoped. Much as she disliked the Princess and everything she represented, she wasn’t so heartless as to wish for anypony to get sick.

“Amethyst!” Derpy called. She was holding a foreleg against Noctilucent’s forehead and looked very anxious.

“Yeah!”

“We need your help.”

Amethyst sighed and started to get up from the table. “Grab your candy, Dinky. I think the night’s over for us.” Great. Just perfect. So much for her plans to go tavern hopping with the girls. Stupid, sick Princess.

It was not easy getting Noctilucent home, but between herself and Derpy they managed to keep the wobbly mare on her hooves. Noctilucent kept muttering about “The Night”, how sorry she was and sometimes even crying a bit. Getting her up the stairs required every ounce of Amethyst’s strength with levitation, as she was much heavier than your average pony. She settled down a bit once they got her out of the dirty and vomit-spattered costume and into a tub of barely warm water.

“She seems a bit better.”

Amethyst was sitting in the bathroom doorway, with a sleepy but too-excited-to-sleep Dinky pressed up against her side.

Derpy pressed the frog of her forehoof against Noctilucent’s brow and nodded. “Yeah. Her fever’s come down a little. She’s gonna be real, real sick for a few days though.” She sighed and sat back, keeping an eye on their patient to make sure she didn’t slip under the water while nearly unconscious. Derpy looked over and said, “Umm… Amethyst, she’s gonna need to sleep somewhere. Do you mind…?”

With a long-suffering sigh, Amethyst nodded. "Yeah, whatever. I'll sleep on the couch."

Yet another sacrifice for the comfort of the stupid, pathetic Princess. And Amethyst knew just which tired unicorn would have to help get her soggy rump out of the tub, dried and stuffed into her own bed. Worst Nightmare Night ever!

They sat and soaked quietly for awhile, just the sounds of the bath water splashing about when Noctilucent stirred and sometimes muttered to herself. Everypony except Noctilucent started when a quiet, high-pitched bell rang. There were two doorbells; one for the lower floor of the house which was deeper in tone and the high pitched bell for the upstairs apartments.

Amethyst stood up, yawned hugely and said, “I’ll get it.” She ran a hoof over Dinky’s mane as the foal settled down onto the floor and then ambled slowly over to the stairs down to the front door. The bell jingled again as she reached the door.

“Alright, alright!” she grouched as she opened the door.

A zebra mare stood outside, lowering her hoof from the bellpull. Amethyst knew about Zecora, the zebra who lived in the Everfree, but she’d never met her before.

“Uh, hello?”

“Hello to you on this fateful night, I come to ease a sick pony’s plight. It is the home of Derpy I seek, I have not come to trick-or-treat.”

It took a few moments for Amethyst to digest the zebra's rhyming speech and realise that it held an unspoken question. "Oh, yeah. You're in the right place but Derpy's busy right now. Can I help you?"

Zecora smiled and said, “The answer I would like to know, is are you willing to help your foe?”

There was another pause while Amethyst's tired mind tried to puzzle that out. "You mean, Noctilucent? Well, sure. She's sick so of course, I'll help her. Tartarus, I've given up my bed so she can stay over while Derpy does her mother hen thing."

That seemed to satisfy Zecora, who reached inside of a dark brown satchel that she had slung around her neck. She held out a stoppered flask and said, “If indeed you are her friend, use this potion to help her mend. Twice a day, a drop or two, stir it into her favourite brew.”

Thought she wasn’t a fan of ‘folk medicine’, Amethyst gently took the flask up with her magic and nodded, “Okay, well… I’ll give this to Derpy and she’ll make sure she takes it.”

“I must bid you goodnight, Silverlock, for it is well past bedtime o’clock.”

Amethyst snorted in tired amusement at the terrible rhyme as she shut the door. Zecora must be as badly in need of sleep as she was. She groaned as she slowly walked up the stairs, there was still so much to do for their sick guest before she’d get to collapse on the lumpy couch and maybe get a little sleep.

Worst. Nightmare Night. Ever.

Author's Note

Please PM me if you spot any issues. Thank you.

Edit: Now with many, many, far-too-many fixes courtesy of Cross Lament.