It Happened One Nightmare Night

Chapters

CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5

CHAPTER 1

Ponyville was saturated with a festive atmosphere and for good reason. It was Nightmare Night, a night where fillies, colts and most adults dressed in costumes and indulged in the horror themes that made the occasion famous. The tradition of dressing up on Nightmare Night was really born out of a legend that ponies dressed in costumes as a means to disguise themselves from being eaten by Nightmare Moon during her reign of terror. Donating gifts to Nightmare Moon to dissuade her from eating ponies was also part of tradition. These days fillies and colts rarely cared about the true origins of Nightmare Night. All they knew that it was a night to go door to door to collect candy. Parents and other elders of Ponyville made it their mission to remind the young ones to donate half of their candy to the statue of Nightmare Moon in the Everfree Forest or else Nightmare Moon would gobble up the children. Princess Luna herself would drive home this point by disguising herself as Nightmare Moon to terrify the children into laying half of their candy at her hooves, all in good fun of course. The adults would also set the example by donating some of the candy that they saved for the children.

Princess Starburst, the daughter of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Flash Sentry was quite fond of Nightmare Night. Though she seemed too serious for her own good, Nightmare Night was one occasion apart from Hearth’s Warming where she could really enjoy herself. Instead of dressing up as a ghost or a zompony, Starburst would often dress up as one of the many legends and military heroes she learned about through her mother, her Uncle Shining Armor and all The Elements of Harmony. There she was in her room putting on an armor made out of aluminum foil and spray painted with gold which was an added touch to the latest legend she was dressing up as for Nightmare Night. She had her mane dyed dark blue and shaped into a Mohawk thanks to some hair gel. She also wore some golden horse shoes and carried a fake sword. The tiny yellow Pegasus stood at attention and spread her massive wings. She smirked and nodded with satisfaction knowing that she nailed her latest Nightmare Night costume. Suddenly there was a creak from the two large wooden doors of her bedroom. A figure with a black mask, black cape, boots, a purple cloak and a large purple wide brimmed hat complete with a purple emblem marked with a light blue capital M on its chest poked its head into the room. Starburst caught a glimpse of the figure’s reflection in the mirror and spun around to see the figure taking one full step into her bedroom. Starburst then let out a yelp and pulled out her fake sword from her sheath getting ready to do battle with the intruder. The figure let out a laugh, a laugh that Starburst recognized all too well. The figure’s hat and black mask were then engulfed in a familiar purple magical aura which removed the items from its face. The figure was revealed to be none other than Starburst’s mother. “What could you possibly do with that fake sword?” said Twilight with a chuckle.

“Geez, Mom!” said Starburst lowering her sword. “What’s the matter with you?”

“It’s Nightmare Night. It’s supposed be a scary time.”

“What are you supposed be anyway? A thief or something?”

Twilight waved her hoof dismissively. “We’ve got guards all over this castle," she said. "There’s no chance a thief could break in here. Of course I made sure of that after one too many incidents involving nefarious villains with magical abilities." Twilight then stood on her hind legs “I’m the Mysterious Mare Do Well.”

Starburst cocked her head in confusion. “You mean that superhero you, Mrs. Applejack and the others made up to teach Mrs. Rainbow Dash a lesson on how to be humble?” said Starburst.

“The one and only,” said Twilight as she landed on all four hooves. “I couldn’t help but go back in time for my Nightmare Night costume this year. I convinced Rarity to fix it up for me earlier this week.”

Twilight then circled her daughter examining her from head to toe. “Are you going out dressed up as yourself?” said Twilight with a look of confusion.

“Mom! I’m Dad,” answered Starburst.

“Really?” said Twilight with wide eyes.

“Isn’t it obvious? The spiked mane, the gold plated armor.”

“Well, I thought you were just playing some random Royal Guard like you always did when you were a filly.”

Starburst groaned at her mother’s ignorance. There was then a slight knock on the door and in stepped Starburst’s father Flash Sentry dressed in a furry werewolf costume. “Hey, Honey, are you ready?” He said.

“I was born ready,” said Twilight excitedly. She then hurried to the entrance. Flash looked back at his daughter and examined her costume. “Are supposed to be Flash Magnus?” Flash said.

“I’m you, Dad!” said Starburst rolling her eyes. “I can’t believe you don’t even recognize yourself!”

“Really?" said Flash smiling from ear to ear. "I'm impressed!" He then led Starburst to the castle entrance.

“It’s pretty cool that Princess Celestia is hosting the Canterlot Nightmare Night Ball for a third year,” said Starburst.

“Yep and you could always count on Discord to spice things up in his usual fashion,” said Flash. “Remind me to prank him for putting that fake eyeball in my punch at last year’s ball.”

“Pranking Discord is easier said than done.”

“So where are you and the others having this Nightmare Night party again?”

Starburst stopped dead in her tracks. Soon a look of nervousness appeared on her face. “At Cotton Candy’s place,” said Starburst not looking at her father. Flash furrowed his eyebrows at his daughter’s quick response. After racking his brain over what this could mean he shrugged his shoulders giving Starburst the benefit of the doubt knowing that his daughter was capable of finding her way out of certain situations and that she would never put her family to shame in any way.

Starburst and Flash Sentry arrived near the entrance of The Friendship Castle where they found Twilight briefing the guards. Starburst then noticed that her younger brother wasn't at Twilight's side. “Where’s Nightlight, Dad?” she asked turning to Flash.

“He’s at Sweet Apple Acres with the rest of the Cutie Mark Crusaders,” said Flash. “I heard the Apple Family’s Corn Maze is particularly terrifying this year.”

“Are you sure Nightlight’s not just there to hang out with Pixel?” said Starburst with smirk.

“Of course he is. But he won’t admit it.”

Starburst and Flash met up with Twilight just as she was just finishing up briefing the guards. The family soon started to make their way towards the doors when suddenly there was loud knocking on the door which echoed throughout the entrance. The guard closest to the door opened it revealing Princess Cadence and Shining Armor who was by then a colonel in the Royal Guard. Behind them were guards of The Crystal Empire. Flash of course came a long way from being a simple member of The Crystal Empire guard to marrying The Princess of Friendship. Shining Armor was dressed in what appeared to be a mummy costume and Cadence was dressed in blue, ancient Neighponeze attire and a dark green wig. “Twilight!” said Cadence smiling from ear to ear.

“Cadence!” said a beaming Twilight. They rushed towards each other and stopped a few inches.

“Sunshine, sunshine! Ladybugs awake! Clap your hooves and do a little shake!” they said in unison while doing a little dance. Flash stifled a laugh at the scene while Starburst shook her head in disgust.

“Mom, Auntie Cadence, please,” said Starburst. “You’re adults.”

“Don’t be jealous that your Mom and I have a cool greeting and you don’t,” pouted Cadence.

“Who are you supposed to be this year?” said Twilight.

“I’m Mistmane,” said Cadence.

Starburst stared at her Aunt in horror. “But Mistmane is a Neighponeze legend,” she said. “Isn’t that cultural appropriation?”

“You need to stop listening to what kids your age are saying today,” said Cadence. “It’s not cultural appropriation. I’m not trying to mock the Neighponeze or Mistmane herself and I don’t intend to benefit financially from dressing up as her. Besides I’ve shown Mistmane my costume and she was impressed.”

“You guys ready for the ball or what?” said Shining Armor.

“Ready when you’re ready, BBBFF,” said Twilight.

“Is Flurry Heart going to be there too?” asked Flash.

“No. Her boyfriend’s taking her to a Nightmare Night party right here in Ponyville,” said Cadence.

Starburst’s eyes widened in surprise. “I didn’t know Flurry had a boyfriend,” she said.

“Of course she does,” said Twilight. “Your father and I met him at the Crystal Empire last week. His name is Tremex.” Both families exited the castle and started to make their way towards a large golden carriage being pulled by four Pegasai guards. “Starburst, make sure you don’t get into any kind of trouble and be home by ten,” instructed Twilight.

“Yeah, don’t worry, Mom,” said Starburst. Twilight, Flash, Shining and Cadence boarded the carriage and after they waved goodbye to Starburst the carriage took off on its way to Canterlot.

Starburst stared at the carriage as it became barely visible from a distance. She then looked back at the guards who stood post at the door. “Are you sure we shouldn’t dispatch a company for your protection, Your Highness?” asked one of the guards.

“You just stand guard until my parents return,” said Starburst pointing a stern hoof. Soon Starburst trotted away on the path that led to Cotton Candy’s house. She covered about twenty feet when she stopped and looked over her shoulder. The Friendship Castle was at a good enough distance for the guards not to see her. Starburst continued forward at a quick pace. She turned a corner rendering herself completely out of the guards’ view. She then started to trot at a normal pace. Starburst watched the other residents of Ponyville as they trotted around in their costumes and lived it up. Some children ran past her laughing hysterically. She could not quite remember anytime when she was that carefree as a young filly. Even as a child she seemed unable to lighten up. Maybe it was due to the fact that her mother was always busy teaching at The School of Friendship or busy helping Anthea with her magic lessons or due to the fact that her father was busy rising through the ranks of The Royal Guard. At Nightmare Night ponies found it hard to believe that Starburst was enjoying herself due to her serious demeanor and Starburst tried in vain to convince those around her that she was not being a stick in the mud as usual. Starburst made her way between some buildings when suddenly a pegasus in a black ski mask grabbed her from behind. Starburst let out a scream as the pegasus took her to the air. The pegasus held her tight in its grip taking her about ten feet off the ground. Starburst struggled to free herself but the pegasus’s grasp was too tight. She then tensed her face and snapped her head backwards hitting the pegasus square in the face. The pegasus yelled in pain and released Starburst. Starburst in turn flew around the pegasus and wrapped her fore hoof around the neck. She then grabbed the pegasus’s left foreleg and twisted it behind the pegasus’s back. She flapped her massive wings flying straight down with the pegasus in tow. She slammed the pegasus against the ground and pulled off the ski mask. To Starburst’s surprise the pegasus was none other than the older son of Rainbow Dash and Soarin’ Skies. “Prism Bolt?” Starburst said in shock.

“Nightmare Night…," began Prism in pain. "What..a..fright…Give me…something…sweet…to bite." Starburst jumped off of Prism ready to tell him off when she suddenly heard galloping hoof steps. “Starburst!” said a female voice. Starburst turned to the voice to find Claire galloping towards her. The half dragon, half pony daughter of Spike and Rarity had her coat painted in a light green shade with fake wounds. Her mane was disheveled and she had a white contact lens in her left eye. “Starburst, are you alright?” said Claire. She then looked at Prism sternly. “I hope this klutz didn’t give you a heart attack!” she said.

“Hey!” said Prism staring Claire down.

“So you two came up with the bright idea to scare me to death?” said Starburst with fierce eyes.

“Starburst, you know very well that I’m the last one to ever approve of Prism pranking you especially considering those times he pranked me,” said Claire with deep sincerity.

“If it’s any consolation she nearly choked all the wind out of me,” said Prism rising from the ground rubbing his neck.

“Serves you right!” spat Claire.

“So are we still on for that party at the Castle of the Two Sisters?” said Starburst.

“You know it,” said Prism excitedly. He then looked at Starburst’s costume and then looked at his. He had a military armor made out of aluminum foil spray painted dark grey. “You stole my costume!” he said pointing an accusatory hoof at Starburst.

Starburst stared at Prism’s costume. “You stole my costume!” she said pointing her hoof at Prism.

“I’m dressing up as Flash Magnus tonight,” said Prism defensively.

“I’m dressing up as my dad,” said Starburst.

“Well in all fairness, Flash Magnus and Flash Sentry's armors have different designs,” said Claire trying to diffuse the situation. “It’s not all bad.”

“I guess you’re right,” said Prism with a sigh.

“So you’re a zompony this year, Claire?” said Starburst turning to the pony/dragon hybrid.

“Braains...," slurred Claire as she trotted slowly. "Braains..." She then let out a laugh.

“I gotta say, Cotton Candy picked out a great place for this party,” said Starburst.

“You didn’t tell your parents where you were going, did you?” said Prism with a suspicious look.

“All I said that I was going to Cotton Candy’s place,” said Starburst innocently.

Prism and Claire looked at Starburst with deep scowls. They then looked at each other and nodded with smiles. “The less our parents know, the better,” said Claire. The youths then started to make their way towards the Everfree Forest.

“How convenient is it for all of our parents to be at the Annual Nightmare Night Canterlot Ball tonight?” said a beaming Starburst. “Nothing could possibly go wrong.”

Sweet Apple Acres had one of the best attractions for Nightmare Night. Every year The Apple Family built up a corn maze that was laden with horror themed props and all types of terrifying attractions. This year Applebloom, Pipsqueak, Big Macintosh and Mrs. Cheerilee had the honors of hosting the corn maze since Applejack and her husband Caramel were away at the Nightmare Night Canterlot Ball. On this night Applebloom was dressed up as Mistress Marevelous while Pipsqueak was dressed in a brown business suit with a green bow tie representing the time lord that he did pitch sales for. Big Macintosh was dressed up as Rockhoof and Mrs. Cheerilee was dressed up as Queen Chrysalis of all characters. The members of The Apple Family stood at the maze’s entrance welcoming fillies and colts along with a few adult ponies. Among the fillies and colts were Twilight’s younger son Nightlight Jr., Applebloom’s daughter Api, Sweetie Belle’s daughter Pixel Bit and Scootaloo’s daughter Echo. Nightlight was dressed up as Starswirl the Bearded. Api was dressed up as the main villain of the Power Ponies Comics The Maneiac. Echo was dressed up as a Wonderbolt and Pixel Bit was dressed up in a bulky costume that represented the Ponymon character Pikachu. “Who knows what lurks inside this maze?” said Applebloom in an ominous fashion. “Is it a mummy who wants ta suck out yer lifeforce?”

“Or is it weeping Pegasai that freezes you in place with their stare?” said Pipsqueak in a similar eerie tone. “If you ever come across the weeping pegasai don’t look into their eyes.”

“The one who is brave enough to venture in this cursed corned maze and make it out alive will have the honor of getting free candy bars,” said Mrs. Cheerilee in her usually friendly manner. Her tone then changed into one that was deep and ominous. “Just remember, none who entered The Sweet Apple Acre’s Corn Maze ever lived to tell the tale,” she said.

“Eeeyup,” added Big Mac.

The crowd of ponies, young and old made their way into the corn maze. Nightlight was calm and relaxed. Pixel had slight nervousness on her face. Echo trembled in terror with every step she took. Api had a broad smile across her face and marched right into the corn maze. Applebloom and Pipsqueak looked on as their daughter joined her friends in Nightmare Night fun.

“Nice touch with the Weeping Pegasai, Pip,” said Applebloom.

“It was The Doctor’s idea really,” said Pipsqueak. “He said out of all his travels, The Weeping Pegasai were the most horrific creatures he’d ever had the dishonor of meeting.”

Nightlight, Api, Pixel and Echo ventured deeper into the maze darting their eyes all over the place. As they arrived in one particular area Nightlight tripped over a thread. The thread unlocked a fancy contraption and a row of five skeletons dangled from a tree blocking the young ponies’ path. They all let out a scream; soon Nightlight, Api and Pixel crowed in laughter. The only one who didn’t join in the laughter was Echo. She was genuinely afraid of the sight of those skeletons. “Is it me, or are the stuff your family put in this maze getting scarier and scarier every year?” said Echo in a trembling voice.

“Come on, Echo,” said Api. “We had skeletons last year.”

“But not skeletons of Yaks, Hippogriffs and fillies,” said Echo pointing to the hippogriff in the midst.

“Anyways, we don’t plan on staying much longer," said Api. "We’ve got a party to crash.”

“Are you sure you wanna crash that party Gold Delicious’s at?” said Pixel.

“Pixel, for once wouldn’t you wanna know what the older ponies do on Nightmare Night?” said Api.

“Well, we could’ve went to The Annual Nightmare Night Ball in Canterlot,” said Echo. “I mean; kids were invited too.”

“Please! Those parties at the Canterlot Castle are so lame,” said Api. “The teenagers have the most fun and throw the best parties.”

“Where is this party anyway?” said Pixel.

“The Castle of the Two Sisters,” answered Nightlight. The young ponies turned into another corner when Pixel steeped on what appeared to be a little button. A robotic pony whose face was covered in stitched up ponies’ skin crashed from a wall of the corn maze. In its hooves was a fake chainsaw. The young ponies screamed and ran into another corner. They arrived at the corner and stopped to catch their breaths. Soon they all erupted in laughter. All except Echo of course. “So do you know how to get to the Everfree Forest without your parents knowing, Api?” said Nightlight.

“Yup, I convinced Del to build a path towards that old tree,” said Api pointing to the tree at the far end of Sweet Apple Acres. “Remember that great Nightmare Night scare Mrs. Fluttershy pulled on Princess Twilight and the others?”

“Yep.”

“Right under the roots there’s a little tunnel that leads right under a hill. That’s our ticket to the Everfree.”

The young ponies started to make their way towards the tree when they stepped along what appeared to be skeletal bones. The bones were of course made out of twigs and spray painted white. Nightlight, Api and Pixel looked at the “bones” in slight trepidation while Echo stared at them with wide eyes and gulped loudly. “So, how did you find out about this party anyway, Api?” said Pixel.

“Well, I may or may not have overheard Del talking about it with Prism,” said Api.

Five days prior to Nightmare Night Api together with her older cousins Gold Delicious, Applejack and Caramel's son and Red June, Big Macintosh and Cheerilee's daughter were helping set up the Sweet Apple Acres Corn Maze. Api was setting up her end when she heard the buzzing of three ponies on the other side. She spread apart the hay seeing Del, June and Prism at a corner of the maze. “How’s that party setting up?” said Del.

“Cotton Candy and Lance are already putting up the decorations,” answered Prism. “Claire put down an order for the food to arrive a day in advance before Nightmare Night.”

“I don’t know about this, guys,” said June nervously. “What was Candy thinking when she said we should have a party at The Castle of the Two Sisters? The Everfree Forest is already dangerous as it is.”

“Well, for one this is Nightmare Night we’re talking about,” said Prism. “Second, she wanted a haunted castle theme this year and what better place there is than Princess Celestia and Princess Luna’s old castle?”

“Well, how are we gonna get pass Ma?” said Del. “Ah already don’t feel good lyin’ ta her. She is The Element of Honesty. She’ll see right through me.”

“Don’t worry,” said Prism confidently. “I got that under control.”

A wide smile appeared on Api’s face as she took in the scene. “A Nightmare Night party at The Castle of the Two Sisters?” she thought. “Sounds like my kinda party.”

“Whoa!” said Pixel. “Del actually lied to his mom, The Element of Honesty? How in the hay didn’t she figured him out?”

“Who cares?” said Api. “The point is we’re getting in that party one way or another.”

“What made you wanna come anyway, Nightlight?” said Echo. “Parties aren’t really your thing.”

“Pixel kinda told me,” said Nightlight sheepishly. Api then glared at the unicorn filly who flashed a sheepish smile. “The last time Mom was there she came across some ancient books,” Nightlight continued. “I’ve always wanted know how Princess Celestia and Princess Luna lived back then.”

“You really are Princess Twilight’s son,” said Api shaking her head in disgust.

The young ponies finally arrived at the large old tree at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres. Under the roots was a tunnel which the young ponies stared at with nervousness. “Careful now,” said Nightlight. “Mom said this tunnel’s a bit of a doozy. I’m gonna need you to help me give some light, Pixel.” Pixel nodded. Slowly Nightlight approached the hole and crawled through. One by one the three fillies crawled through the hole following Nightlight’s lead. Immediately Nightlight’s horn started to glow illuminating the tunnel. Pixel was the third to enter and her horn started to glow. Echo was the last one to enter; soon the young ponies started to make their way down the tunnel. Nightlight and Pixel were clearly nervous while Echo trembled with every step she took. Only Api was beaming with excitement. Suddenly Nightlight made a step which caused the ground beneath the young ponies to give way. The ground disintegrated beneath them and they were sent falling down. They landed about four feet down in the deep tunnel. They groaned in pain as they slowly staggered to their hooves.

“This party had better be worth getting broken bones, Api!” said Pixel angrily.

“Hey, don’t look at me," responded Api with an equally angry tone. "Prince Egghead was the one who made that dumb step!”

“I told you girls," groaned Nightlight. "This tunnel’s a doozy"

The young ponies continued forward down the tunnel with Nightlight and Pixel illuminating the path. They turned into a corner when suddenly they stopped dead at their tracks before three statues. They were stone statues of three Pegasai. The young ponies gasped and jumped back. Echo screamed, fell to the ground and covered her eyes. “It’s the Weeping Pegasai!” she screamed. “Don’t look into their eyes!”

“Grow a backbone, will ya, Echo?” said Api pulling Echo to her hooves. “They’re just statues Dad and the Doctor built.”

Echo stared at the stern looking stone statues with sweat pouring down her face. “If you say so,” she said shakily. Nightlight glanced down a path to his right and saw an opening. “This is the way that leads out of this place, girls,” he said pointing to the direction. “We’re almost home free.” The young ponies trotted towards the opening soon finding themselves out of the tunnel. They looked around cautiously for a few moments. They then glanced over to their left and there they found The Everfree Forest. Api rubs her hooves excitedly.

“There it is, guys," said Api. "The Everfree Forest. Awesome Nightmare Night Party, here we come!”

The young ponies started to make their way towards the Everfree Forest slowly and cautiously. “How are we gonna slip in without the big kids noticing?” asked Pixel.

“The Castle of the Two Sisters is a very old, crumbling building,” said Nightlight. “There should be a lot of areas that could make an easy entrance for us.”

“Wow, I guess you’re not a lame dork after all,” said Api.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” said Nightlight glaring at her. Api pretended not to hear him. Her main focus was to go where no filly her age had gone before: A big kids party. This was sure to get her a cutiemark for added measure.

Princess Nidra stared out of her window with her elbows on the window pane letting out a sigh of sadness. Down in the streets of Canterlot the citizens were getting themselves ready for Nightmare Night. The manner in which Canterlotians celebrated the event was far more different that most common folk. The citizens of Canterlot mostly dressed in more elegant costumes that portrayed folk heroes and mythical beings as opposed to monsters and ghouls. As much as Nidra never had a social life she did enjoy Nightmare Night. It was the one night where she could really let her dark side loose in a manner of speaking. Her ability to shape shift and transform into authentic creatures of The Everfree Forest and Tartarus was her forte. At one time Nidra even disguised herself as Ponyville’s resident Zebra Zecora all for the sake of mock and ridicule. Ridiculing Zecora was one of the shenanigans that Nidra’s mother Princess Luna and her father Supernova frowned upon. There was one particular shenanigan that got Equestria’s first bat alicorn pony grounded on Nightmare Night of all nights. For a long while Nidra had sworn to get back at Canterlot socialite Dulcinea Pearl. Next to the Rich Family Dulcinea’s family have for generations been highly prestigious with extreme wealth to boot owning several hotels and restaurants across Equestria. One time Dulcinea was hosting a party for all the youths of Canterlot who was willing and able to attend. A party Nidra only found out about the day after it was held. This was because Dulcinea was well aware of Nidra’s reputation of being demanding and constantly forcing party guests to attend to her endless demands. Nidra would have guests bring her food, drinks and even carry her around on a throne on their shoulders. She would even force her way into the position as host and loudly denounce the real hosts for poor avenue choices and music choices. To avoid this Dulcinea had the invitations sent out by word of mouth and as far away from the Canterlot Castle. Nidra took the fact that she was not invited as well as ponies expected her to take it. Nidra had Dulcinea pranked. Nidra ordered a selected few of the bat guards to round up Dulcinea Pearl and all of those whom attended the party, placed them in chains and brought to her. The bat guards obviously obliged because as guards they could not question a decree of a Princess of Equestria. Dulcinea and her guests found themselves blind folded in the Canterlot Dungeons. Disguising herself as a demonic shadow, Nidra psychologically tormented them and had them banished to Tartarus for five days. For added measure Nidra had Dulcinea and her guests plastered to the ceiling of the caves of Tartarus in changeling goo. Being of high influence it did not take long for all of Canterlot and Equestria to notice that Dulcinea and her guests were missing. Nidra meanwhile couldn’t care less. She was busy laughing up a storm for all the days Dulicinea and the party attendees were trapped in Tartarus. It all came crashing down when Princess Luna and Supernova confronted Nidra and browbeaten her into telling the truth about Dulcinea’s disappearance. As far Nidra was concerned the prank that she pulled on Dulcinea was not overreacting. Dulcinea, according to Nidra, needed to learn that nopony screwed over Princess Nidra! Of course Nidra pulled this prank without foreseeing that it would get her grounded for three months. The fact that the guards who her carried out her orders were suspended was the least of her worries. They were expendable after all.

When Nightmare Night had arrived Nidra was already in the second week of her punishment. She was to spend all day and all night in her chambers in The Canterlot Castle. Princess Luna had a magical force field around her chambers so that Nidra would not try to sneak out. The blue magical aura that hovered outside of Nidra’s window was all the indication that she would never get out. The only time she was allowed outside was for royal functions and for schooling. However, The Canterlot Castle was hosting The Annual Nightmare Night Ball. Princess Luna was keen that her daughter would not be in attendance. “Why doesn’t she just banish me to the moon while she’s at it?” Nidra thought to herself as she stared daggers at those who were enjoying the Nightmare Night celebrations on the street. Her stomach suddenly growled. One of the luxuries that was bestowed upon Nidra was to have breakfast, lunch and supper delivered to her chambers. She was only allowed to eat in her chambers and not at the dinner table with the rest of the family. Suddenly, Nidra perked up when she had an epiphany. Whenever food was delivered to her chambers the magical force field would be temporarily disabled to allow maids into her chambers. A sly smile creeped along the bat alicorn’s face. All she needed was to wait patiently for one of the maids to attend to her. Sure enough, a knock was heard of the door. Nidra turned to the window and saw the magical aura fade out into the night sky. She chuckled mischievously as the door to her chambers cracked open. Entering her chambers was Hyacinth Ivory, a pale gray unicorn mare with a snow white mane who had recently been assigned as one of Nidra’s personal maids. As was the case with all of the butlers and maids who attended to her, Nidra always trotted over Hyacinth and belittled the young mare. At every opportunity Nidra always criticized Hyacinth’s shy demeanor and her lack of a real fashion sense. Being just a lowly maid Hyacinth was of course powerless to withstand Nidra’s merciless putdowns. “Your supper, Your Highness,” said Hyacinth in her typical soft spoken voice.

“Don’t think I won’t have you fired for suggesting that I deserve to be grounded!” spat Nidra.

“I…I …I never said that you deserved it, Your Highness,” stammered the maid.

“But I’m sure you’ve been talking about it with the other staff and I bet you’ve been thinking it,” said Nidra. “What is this crud?”

“Potato frittata and Prench salad. They’re your favorite.”

Nidra levitated the potato frittata with her magic and squinted her eyes at it. “It’s cold,” she said with a scowl. She then flung the plate with the slice of frittata against a wall. Hyacinth watched in horror as the plate shattered to pieces against the wall and frittata fell to the floor in a lop sided mess. She trembled in terror and faced the princess without meeting the bat pony’s eyes.

“I’ll have that cleaned right away, Your Highness,” said Hyacinth in a trembling voice. Hyacinth then hurried over to the door.

“Hyacinth, wait!” said Nidra holding up a hoof. Slowly the maid turned to face the princess again not looking at her in her golden eyes. Nidra sighed and walked up to Hyacinth. Using her magic Nidra closed the door. “Look, being grounded is very hard on a girl like me,” said Nidra in a soft and sad tone. “I guess I deserved it seeing that I clearly overreacted over some dumb party. I didn’t mean to take it all out on you.” Hyacinth displayed a look of shock. She then looked straight into the bat alicorn’s eyes. It was not like Nidra to ever own up to her mistakes. “I should be more appreciative of all the hard work you and the rest of the staff do to make me comfortable,” said Nidra in a sincere tone. “From the bottom of my heart I really wanna apologize for all the times I’ve been mean to you. Will you ever forgive me?”

For Hyacinth this was too good to be true. Perhaps being grounded for two weeks was starting to bring desired results. Maybe the princess was really starting to turn over a new leaf. The maid felt her heart swell. A small smile then appeared on her face. “Yes, I do forgive you, Your Highness,” said a beaming Hyacinth. A friendly smile appeared on Nidra’s face. Without warning she embraced Hyacinth in a warm hug. Hyacinth eyes went wide. Many times she was fearful that if she ever got too close to the Princess she would get hurt and none of the royals would bat an eye. But on the other hoof, perhaps Nidra was indeed trying to make a change. Soon Hyacinth returned the hug. She was locked in Nidra’s friendly hug for what seemed like an eternity. Suddenly Nidra’s horn began to glow and her magic engulfed Hyacinth. Hyacinth felt her eyes heavy and she let out a heavy yawn. This was a shock to the maid. As far she knew she was not working that hard all day and she always got her eight hours of sleep so she could not understand why she was so sleepy all of a sudden. Hyacinth's fore hooves slid off of Nidra’s back and her hind hooves became rubber. Nidra backed away allowing Hyacinth to fall unceremoniously to the floor in a deep sleep. Nidra chuckled as the maid started snoring. Clearly Hyacinth bought Nidra’s bluff making it easy for the bat alicorn to cast a sleeping spell on the maid.

“How naïve can you be?” said Nidra coldly. “Honestly, I don’t know what Mother was thinking when she hired such a dumb doormat like you. The cats you’ll own will far outnumber the animals Mrs. Fluttershy takes care of.”

Nidra closed her eyes and her body was engulfed in magic. Slowly she started to take a metamorphosis until she assumed the physical appearance of Hyacinth. She looked at herself in her vanity mirror examining her transformation. “Wearing this uniform makes me look like a filthy peasant!” groaned Nidra in Hyacinth’s voice. “But it’s small price to pay if I’m to get out of this castle.” She levitated the silver tray and slowly started to make her way out of the chambers. She then closed the door behind her and locked it. She walked along the hallway and turned a corner. As she made her way towards another corner she heard the familiar voice of the head chef bidding farewell to another staffer. Giovanni was a griffon who served as Canterlot’s head chef for nearly twenty years and the cakes he baked were Celestia’s favorite. Nidra decided that her breakout could wait for just a moment. She quickly made another transformation and at that moment Giovanni walked into her direction.

“Oh, goodnight, Your Highness,” said Giovanni in his familiar friendly tone. By then Nidra had transformed into none other than her own mother Princess Luna. Nidra regarded the chef with huge contempt knowing that he was responsible for the potato frittata that was cold. “Have you seen Hyacinth Ivory, Princess?” said Giovanni. “She was supposed to be helping set the food for the Nightmare Night Ball tonight.”

“That lazy harpy is slacking as usual,” said Nidra in her mother’s voice. “Don’t waste your time with her.” Giovanni stopped dead in his tracks and stared at The Princess of the Night in horror. It was not like the Princess to disparage any of the staff especially since she was trying her hardest not to slip back into the phase that turned her into Nightmare Moon. As Nidra trotted away from the griffon she remembered the cold supper that was prepared for her. “By the way, you’re fired,” she said with a smirk. Giovanni beak went slack and his eyes widened.

“But…But…But…” he stammered.

Nidra turned another hallway finding an opened window. She jumped on the window pane. She looked all around and made sure no one would direct their attention to her position. She stepped off the window pane and fell downwards. As she fell she transformed into a cream colored pegasus mare. She was a few feet away from the ground when she flapped her wings and took to the skies. “Illusion is supposed to be at this party at Mother’s former castle in The Everfree Forest,” Nidra thought out loud. “That is a party that can’t possibly be a party without Princess Nidra as the guest of honor!”

CHAPTER 2

CHAPTER 2

Starburst, Prism Bolt and Claire slowly trotted through The Evefree Forest. Claire was quite nervous with every step she took. Starburst and Prism Bolt put on brave faces. Starburst looked at Claire and noticed the nervousness etched on the pony/dragon hybrid’s face. “What’s the matter, Claire,” asked Starburst. “You walk through this forest all the time.”

“I mostly walk through this place during the day,” responded Claire with a slight tremble in her voice. “This forest sure looks terrifying at night.”

“Then how were you able to make your candy sacrifice to Nightmare Moon?” inquired Starburst.

“I had Mum do it,” replied Claire.

“Are you sure this is the right way, Prism?” said Starburst turning to the pegaus stallion.

“Of course I’m sure,” said the blue Pegasus stallion. “I picked this short cut so that we don’t run into any kids making their sacrifice to the statue.”

“Why did you have to pick a path that’s so bushy?” said Claire as she struggled to trot past large vines and branches.

“I hope we don’t run into any poison joke,” said Starburst with trepidation.

The two young pegasai and the young pony/dragon hybrid braved though tall grass and fallen tries until they finally came across a small ravine. Starburst looked at the area with confusion. “Wasn’t there supposed to be a bridge around here, Prism?” said Starburst.

“That bridge broke down a long time ago,” said Prism. “That’s our new bridge.” Prism pointed to a large tree trunk that laid across the ravine a few feet away. “You gotta thank the yaks for bringing that tree trunk for us,” said Prism with a smile.

“So your muscles were so flabby you couldn’t carry the trunk yourself?” said Starburst snidely with a smile. Claire let out a laugh. Prism’s cheeks flushed red and a scowl appeared on his face. He then let out a growl as he started to make his way across the tree stump. Slowly Starburst and Claire followed after him. Once they made it across the stump standing before them was The Castle of the Two Sisters. As they started to make their way towards the castle already there was the faint sound of music.

“I hope the party didn’t start already,” said Claire.

“Don’t worry,” said Prism. “We’re still early.” The youths arrived at the entrance and standing before the doorway were two large yaks. The yaks’ eyes were covered with long hair but their mouths radiated sternness. Starburst and Claire looked at the yaks nervously while Prism swaggered along. As prism approached the yaks one yak raised a hoof blocking his path. “You here for party?” said the yak in a gruff manner.

“Dude, I’m a friend of the host,” said Prism with a friendly smile. “I just went to pick up a few more friends.” Without saying a word, the yaks stepped back and Prism walked through the doorway. Starburst and Claire keep their eyes fixed on the yaks’ stern faces. Slowly both girls walked through the doorway catching up with Prism.

“What are those yaks even doing here, Prism?” inquired Starburst.

“They’re here for security,” said Prism. “We needed somecreature to keep a lookout for either our parents or some monster that might come out of the forest.”

“But if there are monsters, what chance do those yaks have?” said Claire.

“Those are big tough dudes who smash things,” said Prism. “What chance do monsters have against them?”

“Wow, for somepony who’s supposed to be a top notch flier and all around chick magnet, you’re giving the yaks way too much credit,” said Starburst with a smirk. Claire giggled a bit.

“Starburst, I swear,” said Prism with a scowl and a grunt.

Starburst and Claire followed Prism down a long hallway. They noticed empty armor along the walls. “We’d better remember to keep in the middle, girls,” said Prism. “Mom said she and Mrs. Applejack ran into some traps after leaning up against the walls.”

“Your mom sure was lucky that she never ran into the crazy contraptions of this castle, Star,” said Claire.

“There’s The Princess of Friendship for ya,” said Starburst proudly. They all made it to the throne room where they discovered it void of a roof and thrones. Hanging above the empty platforms were tattered curtains.

“Isn’t that the tapestry your mom tried to get, Claire?” said Starburst.

“They sure are,” said Claire. “I don’t think she would have use for them anymore. Look how moldy they got.”

The three youths finally made their way down another hallway. Immediately the faint music they heard earlier became louder the moment they all stepped into the hallway. “We’re almost there, girls,” said Prism with a smile. The music got louder with every step they took. Up ahead were two large metal doors and it was from those doors where the music reverberated. Prism pushed against the door and before the three youths was the great hall. Across the floor was laden with ponies dressed in Nightmare Night costumes. Also among the crowd were dragons, griffons and hippogriffs dressed as famous monsters and mythical creatures. There was one particular female hippogriff that stood behind a large turntable with two speakers towering on both sides. Starburst recognized this hippogriff. Her name was Sirena Mist. Sirena Mist was a young protégé of the local DJ Vinyl Scratch, most commonly known as DJ PON3. Sirena wanted her own stage name but Vinyl advised her against it saying that “Sirena” is the type of name that could hypnotize a crowd. Soon Sirena Mist was DJing at major events all over Ponyville. The last event Sirena DJed at was a party that was hosted by Pinkie Pie to welcome a new dragon family who moved into Ponyville. Sirena Mist was dressed as Rey from that old “Star Wars” movie. Starburst scanned the crowd to see if her other friends were present. Sure enough her eyes caught Gold Delicious who was dressed in what appeared to be a circular, tin foil costume along his body complete with a tin foil hat. His fur was also painted grey. As far as Starburst could tell Del was taking after Applejack by dressing up as the Tin Stallion from that famous fairy tale. Starburst searched for more familiar faces as she followed Prism and Claire through the crowd. At one corner she saw Claire’s younger brother Turquoise Blitz who had stiches drawn across his skin and his mane shaped into a type of high top. Hoofenstein’s monster seemed to fit Turquoise well given the fact that his tall stature way surpassed most ponies his age, especially his big sister. Next to him was his girlfriend and Fluttershy’s adopted daughter Anthea. The blind unicorn mare was dressed in all black, had her light-green mane in a long and straight fashion and was wearing two elongated canine teeth. Anthea’s clouded blue eyes made her vampire look seductive and dangerous. “Hoofenstein’s monster dating a vampiress?” Starburst thought. “Very interesting.” Starburst glanced to her right and spotted Del’s cousin and the daughter of Big Macintosh and Principal Cheerilee, Red June. She wore a long white dress, a tall black and white wig and her fur was painted pale with stitches drawn across her face. June was dancing with Starburst’s second older cousin and Princess Cadence’s and Shining Armor’s son Valiant Heart. The male alicorn had a disheveled mane and was wearing an old, dirty looking scientist suit. “I’m guessing Dr. Hoofenstein and The Bride of Hoofenstein,” thought Starburst silently. Starburst passed a long table that was laden with all types of deserts, food, treats and drinks that were decorated with a Nightmare Night flair. Soon Starburst, Prism and Claire met up with Del, Turquoise and Anthea.

“We’re here, guys,” said Prism as he gave hoof bumps to Del and Turquoise.

“Right on time too,” said Del with a smile.

“Where’s Cotton Candy?” inquired Starburst.

Just then there was a squeal of the mike that took the attention of all of the attendees. They turned to the turntables where Sirena Mist stood. Suddenly a familiar grey pony rose up from the turntable and stood next to Sirena Mist. “Happy Nightmare Night, everycreature!” said the grey mare. “I’m Cotton Candy and I’ll be host for the rest of the evening.” From what Starburst and the others could tell Cotton Candy was dressed in a black witch’s outfit complete with a large pointy hat. “Get your hooves and in the case of our dragon guests, your claws ready because we’re gonna rock this castle inside out!” said Cotton Candy pumping her hoof in the air. “Take it away, Sirena.” With that Sirena turned on her turntables and a wave of electronic music escaped the two large speaker boxes. Almost on cue all the guest started to dance away. After making her big announcement Cotton Candy took to the floor and approached her friends. Her eyes widened in ecstasy as she met Prism, Starburst and Claire. “You made it guys!” said an excited Cotton Candy.

“Wouldn’t miss it for Equestria,” said Claire.

Cotton Candy looked straight at Starburst and examined her costume. “I thought Prism was supposed to be the one dressing up as Flash Magnus?” said Cotton Candy in confusion.

“I’m dressing as Dad,” groaned an annoyed Starburst.

“Dad used to tell us about the time when everpony kept getting Princess Twilight’s Starswirl costume wrong,” said Turquoise with a chuckle. “I guess it runs in the family.”

“Anyway,” said Starburst glaring at Turquoise. “On my way to the party Prism tried to pull a Nightmare Night prank on me. I’m guessing you had a hoof in that, did you, Candy?”

“No way,” said Cotton Candy shaking her head profusely. “If me and Prism are gonna pull pranks we would let each other in on our plans.”

“It was a total bust though,” said Claire with a smirk. “Starburst rammed his face right into the ground.”

“Did he bleed?” said Anthea with an evil grin. “I would’ve loved to get a taste of his blood.”

They all laughed except for Prism who glared at them. Starburst glanced over to the crowd and spotted Prism’s younger brother Icy Storm. Icy was dressed as an astronaut. “What’s Icy doing here, Prism?” said Starburst in confusion. “Isn’t he a little too young to be here?”

Prism let out a groan. “The other day I kinda borrowed Dad’s old Wonderbolt jacket without permission,” he said sheepishly. “I thought I’d showed some new hippogriff mares how awesome I’d look in it. But then I ripped it from the back. It just so happened that Icy caught me trying to sneak the jacket back in Mom and Dad’s room. He promised me that he wouldn’t tell Dad as long as I let him into this party.”

“Well, that explains it,” said Starburst with a cocked eyebrow and a smirk.

“I told you that your showboating would finally catch up with you,” said Claire as she flashed a grin.

Without warning Prism stomped away from the group as the girls laughed at him. “So, you wanna let me in on the kind of planning that went into putting up this party?” said Starburst as she turned to Cotton Candy.

“Well, we were gonna have it in the throne room,” explained Cotton Candy. “But the whole roof was gone and it could be really chilly over there. Plus, we weren’t gonna take any chances if the columns startled falling on us. It took us about a week to find a suitable room that was big enough, still intact and not falling apart.”

“How did you managed to avoid all the traps and secret rooms?”

“Well, I may have snooped into your Mom’s diary the last time I was helping her reorganize the library at the castle,” said Claire. “I made sure that Cotton Candy avoided certain tiles and walls that might set off traps. I also made sure she didn’t play with the organ.”

“It’s too bad we don’t have that organ in this party,” said Cotton Candy with a hint of sadness. “It would’ve added a spooky flavor.”

“It sure was convenient for all of our parents to be at that Nightmare Night Ball in Canterlot,” said Starburst nodding.

“Well, not all of our parents,” said Anthea.

“Aw, yeah,” said Del. “Ah forgit that your mama ain’t too heavy on Nightmare Night.”

“Such a shame,” said Claire shaking her head sadly. “You would think after giving our parents a good fright that Mrs. Fluttershy would have more appreciation for Nightmare Night.”

“Well, at least she’s not hiding under the bed anymore,” said Anthea.

“What story did you give her when you were on your way, Annie?” said Starburst.

“I told her that I was going for Nightmare Night at this great place Cotton Candy knew which isn’t too far from Ponyville,” said Anthea. “Me and Turquoise had to take a more scenic route so that she wouldn’t see us going straight to the Everfree. I feel kinda crummy lying to Mom, though.”

“Technically, you didn’t lie,” said Cotton Candy defensively. “The Everfree isn’t too far from Ponyville and The Castle of the Two Sisters is a great place.”

“What about you, Claire?” said Starburst turning to the pony/dragon hybrid siblings. “What did you two tell Mrs. Rarity and Uncle Spike?”

“I told Mom that Cotton Candy was having the party at this guest house in Ponyville,” said Claire.

“I told them I was going where Annie was going,” explained Turquoise.

“Good one, T,” said Cotton Candy. “And yes, Claire. The Castle of the Two Sisters is a kind of guest house.”

“How did you managed to get pass Mrs. Applejack, Del?” said Starburst turning to Gold Delicious. “She’s The Element of Honesty and she could smell lies a mile away.”

“Let’s just say ah got a major solid,” said Del.

On the day of the party, Gold Delicious was in his room putting the finishing touches on his Tin Stallion costume. He carefully put on his tin suit and examined himself carefully in the mirror. Suddenly there was a knock on his door. “Come in,” he said. The door opened and in stepped Applejack. She was void of her trademark hat and half-dressed in what was supposed to be her take on Dorothy. “Ah see yer dressin’ up as the Tin Stallion,” said Applejack. “Yup, “The Pony of Oz” is a great story, eh?”

“It’s alright,” said Del screwing his face.

“Alright?” repeated Applejack with a shocked expression.

“I…I mean…it’s pretty awesome,” said Del nervously.

“So,” Applejack began after regaining her calm demeanor. “yer really looking forward to this party that Cotton Candy’s settin’ up, ain't ya?”

Gold Delicious froze stiff. What was he to say on the matter? What if he crumbled before he even started? “Well, ya know Candy,” he said with his voice trembling. “That gal takes a lot after her mama when it comes to parties.”

“What does she have in mind this year?” said Applejack.

“Uh…she was thinkin’ ‘bout a kinda spooky house,” Del responded haltingly. “She’s been…talkin’ it over with Mrs. Pinkie Pie an’ Mr. Pokey Pierce.”

Applejack placed her hoof on her chin thoughtfully. “Ah don’t think their house would be good enough fer what Cotton Candy’s lookin’ for,” she said.

“That’s because she’s gonna have it somewhere else,” Del said quickly.

“Where?”

“A…really…special…place,” Del said through a nervous smile.

“What special place,” said Applejack suspiciously as she slowly approached her son. Mother and son’s noses were inches away from touching each other as Applejack glared at Del. “Del,” Applejack said. “don’t you be hidin’ anything from me.”

Del shifted his eyes away from his mother’s. If he did not have the burden of being the son of The Element of Honesty, lying would be so much easier. But he knew once he crossed that line of dishonesty there was absolutely no going back. He let out a groan. “Well…” he began. “The Castle of the Two Sisters been layin’ there for all them years. It seemed like a good place ta have a Nightmare Night party.”

Applejack’s right eye twitched slightly and her jaw slackened. “The Castle of the Two sisters?!" Applejack yelled. "Right in The Everfree Forest?! Are you outta yer mind?! Do you know the kinda monsters an’ stuff that's in that forest? Do you know the kinda crazy traps an’ doorways that's in the castle?” As Applejack spoke a mosquito buzzed between them and rested on her forehead. “Boy, if you think I’m gonna let you go off in a dangerous forest in a Celestia-forsaken castle,” Applejack continued on with a stern face. “yer crazier than Discord wearin' a bikini at the Runnin’ of the Leaves!”

Suddenly the mosquito stuck its proboscis into the center of Applejack’s head causing her entire body to go stiff. Her eyes became fixed and her face wore a blank expression. Gold Delicious meanwhile stared back at his mother with a mix of shock and surprise. “What am ah sayin’?” said Applejack in a monotone manner. “You get yer flank down there an’ have some fun.” Slowly she turned around and exited the room leaving Del dumbfounded. “Make sure you bring me back some treats, ya hear?” she called out.

Del stood there staring at the door was his jaw hanging. His mother’s sudden state left him wondering if he should call the hospital or Princess Twilight. Unbeknownst to him the mosquito who took a bite out of Applejack’s forehead was still hovering right in front of him. In the blink of an eye the mosquito grew in size until it was as tall as Del himself. Del jumped back with a yelp when he found Princess Celestia and Discord’s son Prince Illusion standing right before him. “Ahem, you’re welcome,” said the white mismatched hybrid.

Del stared at Illusion in confusion. “Do you have somethin’ to do with why my mama actin’ like she done chugged down too much cider, fell off the roof an’ hit her head?” he asked.

“Don’t worry,” said Illusion waving his hoof dismissively. “While I was in the form of a mosquito I managed to inject a little enchantment into her brain allowing her to give you her blessing to enjoy the best Nightmare Night party ever.”

“You enchanted my mama?” said Del with wide eyes.

“It’s only temporary,” said Illusion assuring. “It should wear out in about five minutes. If I were you, I’d gather up my costume and get out of this shack before she hits you with the same questions.”

“Gotcha.”

Del quickly rounded up all his materials and his half-finished costume and headed straight for the door. Just then Illusion stepped right in front of the earth pony clearing his throat loudly. “Don’t forget what you’ve promised,” he said giving Del a deadpanned look.

“What’re you talkin’ ‘bout?” said Del in confusion.

“You said that if I helped you out of this predicament you’d give me a week’s supply of Zap-apple pies.”

Del felt the all the air suck of his body. Any Zap-apple products were The Apple Family’s lifeline. Zap-apple pies and jams were the reason why the Sweet Apple Acres still functioned all of these years. As friendly as Del’s mother was, Applejack couldn’t simply give away Zap-apple products free, especially to close friends. Besides, there was a specific time and a specific amount of Zap-apples and Zap-apple products that could be harvested and manufactured. “Ah never promised you no Zap-apple pies!” said Del in shock.

“Prism Bolt came to me saying that if I did you that “solid” with your mother, you’d give me whatever amount of Zap-apple pies I wanted,” said Illusion.

Del looked at Illusion as if the Prince was crazy. Del then glanced over to his bedroom window and he just so happened to find Prism Bolt hovering outside. Prims Bolt looked back at the earth pony with a sheepish smile and waved. “Come on now, Illusion,” begged Del. “Zap-apples are pretty hard to come by each season. Besides ah won’t be able ta sneak any pies fer ya without mah family knowin’.”

“Oh, really?” said Illusion with furrowed eyebrows. “How inconsiderate of me. Well, I suppose that I could always tell your dear mother what your true plans are for tonight.” Slowly Illusion started to make his way towards the door when Del quickly placed a hoof on his shoulder.

“Okay! Okay!” said Del through his teeth. “I’ll work somethin’ out.” Del let out a grunt of anger and dashed through the door. Illusion stood in the earth pony’s bedroom flashing a mischievous grin.

“Eyyup,” said Del. “Ah owe Illusion big time.”

“Where is Illusion anyway?” said Claire.

Suddenly there was the maniacal laughter of a mare that caught the attention of the youths. They all turned to the laughs and what they saw caused them to become dumbfounded, terrified and amazed. The other party attendees stopped their partying and turned their focus on a female alicorn that approached the children of The Elements of Harmony. She had white fur, a flowing mane made of raging fire, red eyeballs, bright yellow eyes with slits, a golden helmet, an orange breastplate, orange shoes and two long canine teeth. “Prepare to face the rule of Daybreaker who has come to make the day last forever!” bellowed the alicorn. Everyone at the party stood dead in their places and half of them let out a scream. Starburst could recall an event that Mrs. Starlight Glimmer told her about involving an evil doppelganger that Princess Celestia had to fight along with Princess Luna in a dream. How was it possible for Daybreaker to became a physical manifestation when she was just a figure in a dream? Starburst, Claire, Turquoise and Gold Delicious trembled as Daybreaker trotted closer and closer towards them. Anthea could not make out the exact details of Daybreaker’s physical appearance but blotches of the raging flames that made up the alicorn’s mane was enough for the blind unicorn to let out a slight whimper and hold on tight to Turquoise’s leg. Daybreaker stared Starburst down with a grin while the tiny Pegasus dropped on her haunches with a slackened jaw. Suddenly Daybreaker let out a hysterical laugh. A laugh that now belonged to a stallion. Starburst and her friends looked on in confusion as Daybreaker slowly transformed into none other than Illusion. “You should see the look on your faces!” said the prince as he pointed his paw laughing at the young friends. The terrified expressions of Starburst, Claire, Turquoise and Del soon changed into scowls. Anthea simply let out a sigh of relief and a smile came across her face.

“Daybreaker,” said Claire with a deadpanned expression. “Such an interesting choice, Lulu.”

“I meant for it to be ironic,” said Illusion as he caught his breath. “That’s why I love Nightmare Night. I could assume the appearance of all creatures and not get in trouble. If mother were to flip her wig like Auntie Luna, I wonder what type of holiday would mark the occasion?”

“Don’t say that,” said Del with a worried look. “You wanna jinx yer family?”

“You just worry about upholding your end of the agreement,” said Illusion. He then transformed back into Daybreaker and offered a hoof to Claire. “Shall we, my lovely zombie?” he said in a female voice.

“Try to make your mane not so out of control,” said Claire fanning herself. “It’s a little too hot.”

“But of course,” replied Illusion/Daybreaker. His/her mane shrunk to a smaller size becoming a little crackle of fire. Claire then took Illusion/Daybreaker’s hoof with a smile and they both took to the floor. Starburst looked on with shock.

“Awkward,” she said under her breath. She then turned to the rest of her friends. “I’m gonna see what treats they’ve got at the table,” said Starburst.

“Alright,” said Del. “You have fun now, ya hear?”

“See you later, Star,” said Anthea.

Turquoise simply nodded. The orange Pegasus started to make her way through the crowd when her eyes caught four yaks carrying a pony on a platform. The pony was a mare with a bright, yellow coat, bright green eyes with slits, a lizard-like tail and a mane full of snakes. “Make way, make way for party royalty,” said the mare in a rather overtly haughty manner as she and the yaks moved past Starburst.

“Somepony’s full of herself,” said Starburst to herself. “Cool costume, though.”

On the streets of Ponyville it was hard to find one filly or colt who was not going door to door requesting candy. Such was the case with two young sisters Sugar Rush and Cloudy skies. They were the younger fraternal twin daughters of Pinkie Pie and Pokey Pierce and were Cotton Candy’s little sisters. But unlike their older sister both Sugar Rush and Cloudy Skies were different. Sugar Rush was born a unicorn while Cloudy Skies was born a Pegasus. Sugar Rush inherited her mother’s love of sweets while Cloudy Skies was deathly afraid of balloons. If Sugar Rush did not get her fix of anything sweet her mane would deflate and she would be down in the dumps like her mother. However, tonight was Nightmare Night. Sugar Rush was sure to get her fix of candy. Why wouldn’t she? On this night Sugar Rush was dressed as Princess Celestia while Cloudy Skies was dressed as Princess Luna. Being a unicorn all Sugar Rush had to do was wear fake wings. Being a Pegasus all Cloudy Skies had to do was wear a fake horn. Sugar Rush’s bright pink coat and Cloudy Skies dark blue coat made their respective costumes perfect. Accompanying the two fillies was their aunt Maud Pie who was dressed as her pet rock Boulder. Her costume was made out of foam and spray-painted grey. “Thanks for joining us tonight, Auntie Maud,” said Cloudy.

“…It’s pleasure,” said Maud in her usual monotone fashion. Sugar Rush looked down in her candy bag staring at two lollipops, two milk toffees and one jawbreaker.

“We’ve been out all night and we don’t have enough candy,” said Sugar Rush sadly.

“No kidding,” said Cloudy skies as she sadly looked in her half empty candy bag.

“…You won’t move the mountain with one hit,” said Maud as she stared up ahead blankly. “…You’ll move it by moving its rocks bit by bit.”

The twins groaned internally. Whenever Pinkie and her family visited the rock farm where she grew up, Auntie Maud never passed up an opportunity to let Cotton Candy, Sugar Rush and Cloudy Skies all there was to know about rocks and their formations. Such lectures would bore the Pie children to tears. The last thing the twins needed to hear was their aunt giving them anymore tidbits about rocks. “Um, Auntie Maud,” began Sugar Rush. “we don’t understand rock stuff as good as you do.”

“Yeah,” added Cloudy Skies. “Mom teaches more about baking than rock hunting.”

“…Have you ever noticed how big mountains are?” asked Maud.

“Yes,” said the twins in unison.

“…The train tunnels that go through the mountains don’t get built in a day,” Maud continued. “…Worker ponies dig through the mountains with their jackhammers and their pitch forks…. They have to do this slowly day by day with care by removing all the large rocks and boulders until they make a perfect arc…They don’t go all in…They go bit by bit.”

Sugar Rush and Cloudy Skies stared at each other with confused looks. They then stared at Maud who continued to keep her gaze focused on the road ahead. “Uh…English, Auntie Maud,” said Sugar Rush.

“…Take Princess Twilight,” said Maud not looking at the unicorn filly. “…It took four years for her to become The Princess of Friendship…Princess Celestia didn’t see her potential overnight...Princess Twilight had to prove herself in rather small doses no matter how lame it might seem to other ponies…Ponies earn the finer things in life like Nightmare Night candy in small doses, not all at once…Bit by bit.”

“But we’ve been out all night,” said Cloudy sadly.

“…If you want something good in life go bit by bit,” said Maud.

The Pies stopped in front of a house adorned with Nightmare Night decorations. Sugar Rush and Cloudy Skies approached the door while Maud stayed behind by the front gate. The fillies rang the doorbell and held out their candy bags. The door swung open revealing a unicorn stallion dressed in a vampire cape. “Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!” said the two fillies enthusiastically.

“Oh, what an honor to meet you, Princesses,” said the stallion with a bow as he tried to put on the best vampire noblestallion voice. “Your visit is most welcoming. It is definitely worthy of the gifts I shall bestow upon you.” With those words the stallion levitated four large chocolate bars in front of the fillies. Their eyes went wide, particularly Sugar Rush whose mouth watered as the chocolate bars found their way into the candy bags. “Thank you!” said Cloudy Skies as she turned away. Sugar Rush was too busy gawking at her two chocolate bars to tell the stallion how grateful she was. “Do come again, Princesses,” said the stallion. He then let out an evil laugh as he closed the door. “Two chocolate bars!” said Sugar Rush as she and her sister rejoined Maud.

“How cool is that?" added Cloudy Skies barely being able to contain her excitement. The three Pies then made their way to the other houses. “…Bit by bit girls,” said Maud. “…Move the rocks bit by bit.”

Nightlight, Api, Pixel and Echo trekked deeper and deeper into the Everfree Forest through grass and branches that towered over them. Through the heavy vegetation they saw the crumbling exterior of The Castle of the Two Sisters. A smile appeared on Nightlight’s face. “We’re almost there, girls,” said Nightlight triumphantly.

“About time,” said Pixel said pulling out twigs and leaves from her fur. “I had no idea the Everfree Forest could be so nasty.”

“Gosh, you’re starting to sound like your Aunt Rarity” groaned Api.

The young ponies pushed their way through tall grass arriving in an open field where The Castle of the Two Sisters was about a yard away. Their jaws hanged as they stared at the derelict castle in awe. To Nightlight the Castle was clearly larger than the way his mother described it. The young started to make their way towards the castle when they stopped dead in their tracks near the ravine. Before them was a downed bridge. The young ponies looked at what was left of the bridge then at the castle. The fillies groaned in disappointment while Nightlight wore a despondent look. Nightlight in particular thought his quest for ancient knowledge had come to an end before it actually began. Before the young ponies could sulk much further the faint sound of party music touched their ears. They looked around the area until they spotted the two large yaks at the front door. The young ponies looked at the yaks in confusion.

“How could those yaks get as far as the entrance without a bridge?” asked Api.

“Well they couldn’t have flown across,” said Echo. “They’re not pegasai.”

“Maybe there were pegasai who carried them across,” said Pixel.

“No way,” said Api. “I don’t think pegasai are that strong to carry those big guys all the way there.”

Nightlight glanced to his left and a smile formed across his face. “Girls, I think I found a detour,” said Nightlight. He directed the fillies’ attention to the area and they all found a fallen tree trunk across the ravine. The young ponies trotted towards the ravine and stopped near the trunk. They looked down the ravine examining how dark and deep it was. All young ponies swallowed hard. They then looked at the tree trunk that towered over them. Nightlight who was in the lead let out a heavy sigh. Slowly he climbed to the top of the trunk. He arrived to the top when suddenly he almost lost his balance. The fillies gasped as Nightlight struggled to keep his balance. Nightlight gnashed his teeth and he slammed his hooves firmly on the trunk. Slowly Nightlight trotted across the trunk keeping his focus on the castle ahead. The fillies looked on in nervousness as Nightlight made shaky steps across the trunk. Sweat poured on his face as he trotted closer and closer towards the other side. He arrived at the end of the trunk and jumped off. Pixel and Echo whooped and cheered as Nightlight arrived on solid ground. Nightlight felt both relief and pride being able to conquer one obstacle to ancient knowledge. He felt his ego inflate a bit after being able to impress Pixel. Api meanwhile wore a scowl. “Hey, we can’t let boys overshadow us girls again!” she said. Api hurriedly climbed to the trunk and made a casual, brisk trot across the trunk. Echo and Pixel then followed suit.

“Api, be careful,” said Nightlight with wide eyes. “You have to move slowly in order to keep the trunk steady.”

“I don’t need your stallionsplaining,” said Api. As Api arrived at the center of the trunk the trunk started to roll slightly. Before they knew it the fillies lost their balance and slipped off the trunk. Echo immediately started to flap her wings and hovered above. She then saw Api falling down the ravine and swooped to her rescue grabbing Api by her fore hooves. Almost simultaneously Nightlight saw Pixel falling off the trunk and in an instant he activated his horn capturing her in his magic. Pixel hovered over the ravine while engulfed in Nightlight’s magical aura. Nightlight struggled as he levitated Pixel over to the other side. Echo meanwhile let out a heavy grunt as she flapped her wings carrying Api over to the other side of the ravine. All three fillies were now on the flat surface and they stopped to catch a breath.

“I really hope this party is worth almost falling to our deaths!” said Pixel staring daggers at Api.

“Maybe your genius boyfriend could’ve used his magic to hold the trunk steady!” said Api shooting a glare at Nightlight.

“Or maybe you shouldn’t have trotted across the trunk like a big dunderhead!” Pixel shot back.

“Girls! Girls!” yelled Nightlight desperately trying to diffuse the situation. “The important thing is that we’re still alive and we made this far.” The young ponies slowly rose to their hooves and continued forward towards the castle with Nightlight in the lead. Nightlight led the fillies towards the entrance where the yaks stood. Api eyes shot open when she realized what Nightlight was doing. She grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him behind a wall out of the yaks’ line of vision. Pixel and Echo followed suit and hid behind the same wall. “What’s wrong with you,” said Nightline in a hushed tone glaring at Api.

“You can’t just waltz to entrance,” said Api. “They only let the big kids into this party.”

“Then what should we do?” said Echo.

“There’s this video game I played where the hero had to storm a castle without entering the front,” said Pixel. “He had to enter the sewers.”

“Eww,” said Echo gagging.

“Well, this castle has been around for millennia,” said Nightlight.

“Millennia?” said Api with a look of confusion.

“A thousand years,” said Nightline stressing on every word.

“Stallionsplaining much?” Api responded folding her hooves.

“Anyway,” said Nightlight. “If there are sewage systems in this castle, I doubt that they would still have poop all these years. Plus, it would make it much easier for us to enter without being detected by the big kids.”

“Too bad there’s no poop,” said Api with a smirk. “It would be my kinda place.”

“Not all of us are farmers, Api,” deadpanned Echo.

The young ponies trotted around the castle making their way down a hill. “The last time Mom was here it so happened that she came across a map of the castle,” said Nightlight. “If I could remember it right the sewers should be right around here.” Sure enough the young ponies arrived at a large sewerage pipe. They peered inside the pathway finding nothing but darkness. Echo froze still trembling while Api put on a brave face. Nightlight and Pixel illuminated their horns and trotted into the dark sewers. Api and Echo soon followed after the two unicorns.

“Sometimes it sucks to be a pegasus,” said Echo with a frustrated groan.

CHAPTER 3

It had been half an hour since Starburst had arrived at what was dubbed “The Nightmare Night Party of a Lifetime”. By now Cotton Candy had been introducing Starburst to as many attendees as possible. Being a princess it made Starburst an easy target for rabid fans wanting to interact with her and take pictures with her. She was supposed to be at that party to have fun or at least try to have fun and these fan girls and fan boys were making it extremely difficult for the tiny pegasus. An hour into the party it seemed as if the attendees were finally giving Starburst some much needed space. As she trotted across the dance floor she ran into none other than her oldest cousin Flurry Heart.

“Flurry?” said Starburst with a look of surprise.

“Hey, cousin, what’s happenin’?” said the alicorn in a deep, slow manner. “You gettin’ good vibes?”

Starburst stared at her cousin in confusion after taking note of her strange speaking pattern. Starburst then examined Flurry’s costume. Flurry had her mane in dreadlocks, wore a pink wide sleeved top and a yellow handkerchief over her head.

“What in the wild, wild world of Equestria are you supposed to be?” said Starburst with a cocked eyebrow.

“I’m Treehugger,” said Flurry in her normal voice. “She’s been helping out in the Crystal Empire teaching yoga. That’s how I came up with the idea for this costume. You like?”

“I would’ve liked if you and Mrs. Treehugger didn’t insist on stealing the Rastafarian culture from Jamareca,” said Starburst scornfully. “It’s bad enough that most upper-class ponies don’t see them as ponies. Jamarecan culture is not your damn Nightmare Night costume.”

“It’s not stealing,” said Flurry. “Mrs. Treehugger said it’s important to share cultures in order for there to be unity amongst all creatures.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” said Starburst.

“My boyfriend heard about this great Nightmare Night party right here in Ponyville,” said Flurry. “So he arranged a week in advance.”

Starburst stared at her cousin with wide eyes and a hanging jaw. “You mean this was the party you were going to?”

“Why yes,” responded Flurry. Flurry then turned her attention the crowd. “Oh, there he is,” said Flurry beaming. Starburst looked to the direction where Flurry was looking to find a giant manticore walking towards their direction. Starburst trembled slightly as the manticore stopped right next to the mares.
“Starburst, I’d like you to meet Tremex,” said Flurry with a smile. “We’ve been dating for a month now.”
Suddenly the manticore was engulfed with a green flame from its feet to the top of its head. What was now standing before the mares was a male changeling. “Tremex, this is my baby cousin, Starburst,” said Flurry turning to the changeling. Starburst glared at Flurry after her “baby” comment.

“Daww, isn’t she adorable?” cooed Tremex. He then ruffled Starburst’s mane. Starburst scowled at the changeling then licked her hoof trying to fix her mane into the spiked fashion that it once was.

“Tremex is actually Ocellus’s son,” continued Flurry. “You know, one of the first graduates of Auntie Twilight’s School of Friendship?”

“Wow, Flurry, Mom told me you had a boyfriend,” said Starburst. “But she didn’t tell me that my cousin was dating a changeling.”

“Well, she probably forgot that small detail,” said Flurry.

“I gotta say out of all the holidays my fellow changelings have been celebrating all these years,” began Tremex. “Nightmare Night is definitely our favorite. We could change into anything we want and not worry about scaring other ponies.”

“Is that the reason why you practically brought half of the hive with you?” said Flurry turning to Tremex.

Starburst looked at Tremex in shock. “You mean there are other changelings here?” she said.

“Yup, right over there,” said Tremex pointing towards one section of the crowd. Starburst screwed her eyes as she stared at the crowd of costumed revelers. “Which ones are they?” said Starburst

“I can’t tell you that now, can I?” said Tremex. “It would ruin the illusion.”

They all then glanced over to Sirena Mist who was at her turntables bobbing her head to the music. Suddenly the mare with the medusa look pushed her way towards the turntables and grabbed Sirena’s mike. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” said the mare. The music stopped all the attendees focused on the unicorn mare. Sirena stared at her with outrage. “I’ve been here for almost an hour and I couldn’t help but notice how absolutely atrocious this DJ’s music lineup is,” said the unicorn mare. There were audible gasps among the crowd and they looked at each other in confusion. “I mean most of the music I’m hearing is not what’s out there and half of it doesn’t have the Nightmare Night feel to it,” the unicorn mare continued.

“Uh, excuse me,” interjected Sirena. “I’ve been in this job for three years. I think I know what I’m doing.”

“Uh, you might want to reconsider,” said the unicorn mare levitating a flash drive. Sirena stared at the 64 gigabyte flash drive then back at the unicorn mare who simply had an arrogant smile. Sirena scowled as she pushed the flash drive into her turn table. Almost immediately a hyper-fast remix with a dark melody started to blast through the boom boxes. The revelers let out a cheer and continued dancing. “Yes, those are original tracks that a friend of mine remixed and downloaded for me,” said the unicorn mare haughtily. “Honestly, why you were hired to be DJ is beyond me.” Sirena glared at the unicorn mare as the unicorn made her way back to the dancefloor. Starburst, Flurry and Tremex beheld the scene in stunned silence. Starburst noticed Cotton Candy among the crowd with a stallion she met recently named Epic Parody who was dressed up as the movie character Mr. Incredible. She was staring at the unicorn mare and from what Starburst could tell Cotton Candy was outraged that the Medusa impersonator was usurping her role as party host. “Sweet Celestia, who does that lady think she is?” said Tremex shaking his head in disgust.

“I know, right?” said Flurry. Tremex then transformed back into his manticore form started dancing with Flurry. Starburst meanwhile continued to stare at the unicorn mare. “Geez, that girl reminds me of Nidra,” she thought to herself.

Nightlight, Api, Pixel and Echo slowly trotted through a hallway that was covered moss and hanging vines. They managed to make it this far after avoiding most of the traps that The Elements of Harmony got caught in. “Are you sure we’re going the right way, Nightlight?” said Api.

“That’s what the map said,” replied Nightlight.

“That winding staircase was killing me,” said Pixel wincing with every step she took.

“Not me,” said Echo.

“Of course not, because while we were climbing up the stairs you were flying,” said Api glaring at Echo.

“And you said being a pegasus sucks,” said Pixel.

The young ponies turned into another hallway where they heard the muffled sounds of music. The fillies’ faces beamed. “Now, there’s supposed to be a trapped door somewhere here,” said Nightlight. The young fillies’ movements became slow and they looked down to see three outlines. “You see that?” said Nightline pointing to a smaller outline above the two larger ones. “That activates the trap door. Jump over it.” One by one the fillies jumped over the outline. They looked up ahead finding the two large doors that led to the party. The more they approached the door the louder the music became.

“We’ve finally made it girls,” said Api triumphantly.

“Thanks, Nighty,” said Pixel. “We owe you one…” Pixel turned around to face Nightlight only to discover that he was nowhere in sight. A look of fear appeared on her face. Api and Echo also turned around finding Nightlight gone. “Where did he go?” said Echo.

“I think we’d better go look for him,” said Pixel with a hint of worry in her voice.

“Don’t worry,” said Api waving her hoof dismissively. “Prince Egghead knows his way around the castle. He’ll be fine.” Api got on her hind hooves and pushed against the door. Pixel and Echo joined in pushed until the door cracked open. A wave of music hit their ears as the fillies made their way into the grand hallway. Their eyes went wide and their jaws slackened as they beheld the size of room that was decorated with the Nightmare Night themes. They saw the floor littered with revelers with Sirena Mist doing her DJ duties. The last thing the fillies’ eyes fell on was the large, long table filled with food. Api rubbed her hooves together with enthusiasm. “What are we waiting for?” she said turning to Echo and Pixel. “Let’s get this party started!”

Del mingled with a few revelers as best as he knew how. He was not the sociable type, a trait he probably picked up from his Uncle Big Mac. As he looked aimlessly amongst the crowd he bumped into a reveler. “Oh, sorry,” he said. He beheld the reveler who was a unicorn mare dressed in a white clown costume complete with a puffy red wig. On her race was a round, red clown’s nose and red lipstick. The unicorn mare then widened her eyes when she realized who was standing in front of her “Goldie!” said the mare. Del cocked his eyebrows when suddenly recognized the mare upon further inspection. She was Crème De La Crème who was a top notch supermodel and the daughter of Canterlot aristocrat Fancy Pants and famous model Fleur Dis Lis. Though she was a high society mare Crème never allowed her wealth and privilege to go to her head like most mares her age. She was kind and gentle yet some ponies considered her an airhead. Del was often called upon by Crème to help bake deserts for whatever gathering she would put together and occasionally Crème would visit Ponyville to learn how to “be a regular pony.” Del looked at Crème in bewilderment. “Crème?” he said. “What the Sam Hill are you doin’ here?”

“I heard about this great party they were having here in Ponyville,” explained Crème. “so I told my parents that I was coming to help you bake.”

“You didn’t have a lie, Crème,” said Del with a cringe. “So what are you supposed to be? A clown?”

“Why, yes,” said Crème. “I’m Pennywise from “It”.”

“Uh, Pennywise ain’t got a puffy wig and Ah think ya didn’t finish with the makeup.”

“Well, my mom said that if I toned down how scary he actually looked I could overcome my phobia.”

“Phobia? You mean yer scared ah clowns?”

“Ever since I was a filly I could never really get past how creepy they look with all that white makeup, those hideous shoes and those clothes that make them look fat.”

Del looked at Crème with sympathy. “Gosh, Ah had no idea,” said Del.

“It was my idea for the costume,” Crème continued. “But Mom put on the makeup for me and I couldn’t even look in the mirror.”

“Well, don’t ya think yer makin’ matters worse by actually dressing up as a clown?”

“The whole idea about dressing up for Nightmare Night is to be scary, right? Clowns are horrifying. I regret nothing.”

“Are ya at least havin’ a good time?”

“I’m having a blast! Wanna dance?”

“Sure.” The two ponies started to move to the beat with Del being subtle while Crème danced in a manner that seemed alien to all those present.

Nightlight galloped through the castle smiling ear to ear. He simply could not contain his excitement to be able to dive into one of the many ancient books that might be available within those walls. As far as the young prince was concerned the significance of hundreds, if not thousands of historical documents, journals and spells far exceeded some mindless revelry. Nightlight galloped past an archway and stopped dead in his tracks when something caught the corner of his eye. He turned around and slowly made his way back to the archway. He peered from behind the wall and his eyes widened when he saw a giant pipe organ within the crumbling room. According to a funny story his mother told him and Starburst, Twilight and her friends were scared out of their wits when they heard this organ playing nonstop the night they visited the castle for the first time only to find out that it was Mrs. Pinkie Pie playing the organ all along. Nightlight was always quite infatuated with classical music and had the ability to play a few notes on the family piano back at The Castle of Friendship. The unicorn colt decided to amuse himself by playing a tune or two at the giant instrument. He sat on the seat, flexed his hooves and started pressing the keys. Seeing that it was Nightmare Night Nightlight decided to play in minor scale. He played away for about two minutes. “This is real music,” Nightlight thought. “Not that computerized, auto tuned technobabble those kids are dancing to.” The unicorn colt played until he hit a hard F minor on the key.

Meanwhile Prism Bolt pranced the dance floor giving hoof bumps to male partyers and kisses to the female revelers. The moment Nightlight hit the key a tile that Prism Bolt stepped on sprang up sending the pegasus stallion soaring across the room. Prism didn’t flap his wings since he was caught by surprise. Instead of hovering in the air Prism slammed flat on the floor. The partyers in close proximity to the area stopped partying and focused squarely on the blue pegasus. Soon they erupted in laughter. Prism simply laid flat on his face growling in anger and embarrassment.

At the organ Nightlight played the last notes and came to a stop. “That’s enough of that,” he thought. “There are books in this castle that are begging to be read and deciphered.” The unicorn colt then jumped out of the seat and galloped off into the castle.

At the party Prism cursed under his breath and slowly started to rise off the floor. He looked ahead seeing four purple hooves. He then looked up and his eyes widened when he recognized the pony dressed in a type of explorer’s outfit standing in front of him. “Whirlwind!” he said springing to his hooves. Whirlwind was the only daughter of Rainbow Dash’s former fellow Wonderbolts Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane. She was also Echo’s older cousin and Prism ex-fillyfriend. “Wasn’t expecting you here, Dubs,” Prism continued as he dusted himself off.

“I was actually invited here by Cotton Candy since it’s Nightmare Night and all,” replied Whirlwind. She then examined Prism’s costume. “What’re you supposed to be?” she said. “A royal guard or something?”

“Only the most awesome legend who’s ever lived,” replied Prism spreading his wings proudly. “Flash Magnus.”

“Really?” said Whirlwind with a cocked eyebrow. She then caught a glimpse of the gnarly scar across Prism’s face. A scar that he got while training for the Wonderbolts only to drop out not too long after. That was also the time when Whirlwind decided to break up with Prism. “Hey, you’re not wearing your band aid,” Whirlwind said pointing at Prism’s face.

“Well, I thought it might be cool for Flash Magnus to have a battle scar,” said Prism. “Who are you supposed to be?”

“Daring Do,” replied Whirlwind proudly.

“You mean A.K. Yearling?” said Prism with groan. “No offense, but she’s totally overrated. Don’t tell Mom I said that.”

““Overrated”?” said Whirlwind with a fierce expression. “Daring Do risked her tail more times than I could count finding the rarest artifacts and treasures in the most remote corners of Equestria! She was able to do all that with a broken wing and a ton of broken bones. I’ve read all of her books and I even got her latest adventure autographed! Did I mentioned that Daring Do is still exploring at age 56?”

“Oh yeah?” said Prism. “Well my mom took on the Storm King and could still do wing pushups at age 45!”

“Your mom’s awesome and all,” said Whirlwind. “But she’s got a long way to go if she wants to top Daring Do. Mrs. Rainbow Dash isn’t too proud to admit that.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe she still reads those books.”

“So, I heard you got yourself a fillyfriend somewhere.”

Prism Bolt looked at Whirlwind sharply with a dumbfounded look. Ever since he broke up with the pegasus mare he did not have the best of luck when it came to the opposite sex. There was that one time when he was basically forced into a relationship with Nidra. As expected it was not to last. However, being the son of Rainbow Dash, Prism was not about to give Whirlwind the satisfaction of knowing that he failed at romance. “Well…,” Prism began. “I’ve got my admirers.” He then turned to a group of five female hippogriffs standing a few feet away and winked at them. The female hippogriffs in turn squealed and waved at him enthusiastically. “Right,” said Whirlwind patronizingly.

“Who are you with tonight?” said Prism turning to her. Whirlwind’s eyes went wide and Prism could have sworn he saw beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Her eyes then started to dart all over the party. “He’s around,” she said quickly putting on a strained smile.

“Sure he is,” responded a patronizing Prism. “Let me know if he decides to show up.” With those words he swaggered his way towards the female hippogriffs. Whirlwind looked on and let out a heavy sigh. Ever since she decided to let Prism go she became reluctant to form new romantic relationships. She could not bear to give Prism the satisfaction that she too had failed to find love.

Starburst was at the table indulging herself in the Nightmare Night treats when a tall dragon stood next to her taking his share of treats. He placed something flat on the table when he proceeded to cut off a slice of cake. Starburst looked at the item he placed down and her eyes went wide when she noticed that it was an autographed photograph of Nidra. Sunburst assumed that any portrait of a Princess of Equestria had to have a royal approval before being given out. Some creature at this party was trying to leech off of the likeness of a princess. “Where did you get this?” inquired Starburst flaring her massive wings trying to appear large and intimidating. The dragon nervously pointed his claw towards an area where the unicorn mare with the Medusa costume was sitting in a large chair surrounded by revelers. Some were giving her a hooficure while two dragons were fanning her. The unicorn meanwhile was signing large headshots of Nidra one by one and giving them away to party goers. Starburst was now at her wits end with that mare. First this Medusa wanna-be tries to make herself out as host now she was trying to profit off of Nidra? Starburst marched up to the unicorn mare when suddenly to large yaks blocked her path. “Out of my way,” said Starburst staring daggers at the yaks.

“No creature allowed six feet of Medusa without Medusa’s blessing,” said one yak in his gruff manner.

“It’s alright,” said the unicorn mare with an assuring tone. “Any princess is allowed in my circle.” The yaks slowly stepped aside maintaining their stern demeanor. Starburst walked past them and straight up to the unicorn mare. “Alright, lady,” Starburst began. “How did you get those photos?”

“I keep a ton of them in my room,” said the unicorn mare as she signed another headshot.

“Look, I don’t who you are, but if you’ve been stalking Princess Nidra just to get a picture to sell you’re going straight to jail!”

“I don’t intent to profit off of them, Starburst. Besides do you really think I’d let a lowly commoner sell pictures of me without my royal blessing?”

Starburst stared at the unicorn mare with wide eyes. The unicorn mare in turn stared right back with her piercing green eyes. Starburst’s forehead started to shine with sweat. The unicorn mare’s Medusa costume was so authentic the Pegasus thought she was going to turn into stone right there and then. Suddenly the greens in the unicorn mare’s eyes began to dissolve until a pair of bright yellow eyes were staring right at Starburst. Starburst cocked her head and her jaw slackened as she instantly recognized the unicorn mare’s eyes. “Nidra?” said Starburst.

“In the flesh,” responded Nidra. “Remember what I said before? A party is not a party without Princess Nidra.”

“Honestly, where do you get off trying to tell the DJ how to do her job and trying to grab attention any which way you could?” said Starburst with a scowl. “I thought you were supposed to be grounded?”

“Now, now,” said Nidra ruffling Starburst’s mane. “Don’t start throwing stones when you literally live in a glass castle. Now if you’ll excuse me. There are a lot of creatures who want to get a piece of Princess Nidra.”

Starburst glared at Nidra while trying to fix her mane back to its spiked appearance. That was the second time someone did that to her. “All right, everycreature, time to slow things down a bit,” announced Sirena Mist. “Grab your partners.” From out of boom box came a soft, slow musical piece. All the revelers held onto their partners and started slow dancing. Whirlwind trotted over to a corner and watched on as everyone danced with a partner except her. She caught a glimpse of Prism continuing to flirt with the five female hippogriffs. She began to think maybe coming to this party was a bad idea. She then let out a sigh. “Whirlwind?” a young colt’s voice said. Whirlwind turned to her left and standing next to her was Prism’s younger brother. “Oh, hi, Icy,” said Whirlwind.

“Aren’t you gonna dance with anyone?” said Icy Storm.

“I told you before, Icy, I’m not looking for love,” said Whirlwind.

“You don’t have to love anyone in order to dance,” responded Icy.

Whirlwind let out a sigh. “It might just bring back sad memories,” she said.

Icy looked over to Prism as he was living it up with the hippogriffs. “Do you miss dating my brother, Whirlwind?” asked Icy.

“I miss the fact that when we first met he was always ready to put others above himself and he seemed pretty humble,” said Whirlwind sadly. “He always knew how to walk in others’ shoes. It seemed that ever since he decided to train for the Wonderbolts that overly aggressive competitive style brought out the worse in him.” There was silence between them until Whirlwind’s face brightened. She then turned to Icy. “You wanna dance?” she said. Icy’s jaw almost dropped to the floor and he trembled slightly. He always had a crush on Whirlwind but he knew it was never meant to be because he was three years younger than she was.

“You wanna dance with me,” Icy said in a trembling voice.

“Like you said, you don’t have to be in love with someone if you wanna dance with them,” said Whirlwind. “After all these years I’ve known you, I think you’re a really great friend, Icy.” The young colt’s heart was going a hundred miles an hour at Whirlwind’s words. His lifelong crush actually considers him a friend. A weak smile then appeared on Icy’s face. He raised a shaking hoof and took Whirlwind’s hoof. They then held each other close and started their dance. All the while they danced Icy struggled to contain his excitement. Deep inside he was screaming for joy.

Starburst walked in the midst of the crowd watching as everyone seemed to be lost in ecstasy with their partners. Suddenly Starburst spotted an earth pony amongst the crowd who was standing at the corner with no partner. Starburst recognized this young earth stallion. This stallion had recently moved into Ponyville from Norhay. His name was Fletcher. Starburst had a long crush on Fletcher and had actually managed to interact with him on a few occasions where she picked up his native language. But Starburst was desperate to actually have a real conversation with him. Fletcher was dressed in a blue jacket and was wearing a tinfoil contraption on his right forehoof. His mane was also disheveled and his face was smeared with dirt. Starburst flew over the revelers and landed right next to Fletcher. “Hallo, Fletcher!” said Starburst in Norhageian.

“Oh, hallo, Starburst,” replied Fletcher. “Jeg hadde ingen anelse om at du skulle komme (I had no idea you were coming).”

“Cotton Candy invited me,” Starburst responded in English. “How did you get dragged into this place?”

“Prism Bolt told me he’d set me up with a hippogriff,” said Fletcher in English. “But I’m not sure I'd want to go out with someone who might take me into the ocean too much.”

Starburst gave Fletcher a perplexed look. “What do you have against the ocean?” said Starburst.

“I was about ten years old when I almost drowned,” said Fletcher gravely. “I promised never to set hoof in water ever again.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that,” said Starburst. "You know, a hippogriff could help you grow a tail and fins. Temporarily of course.”

“I prefer my own pony parts, thank you very much.”

“What’s your costume supposed to be?”

“I’m a character from that video game “Fallout: Equestria”.” Fletcher then examined Starburst’s costume. “Are you supposed to be a comic book character or something?” He asked. Starburst let out a soft grumble. She was up to her neck with everyone misinterpreting her Nightmare Night costume.

There was then an awkward silence between the two. They glanced over to the crowd who danced around slowly. Starburst and Fletcher could not be any more out of place. “Would you like to dance?” Fletcher said turning to Starburst. The Pegasus’s heart seemed to swell in an instant and her cheeks flushed red through her yellow fur. Her then eyes darted around looking for the doors. She never thought she would be able to take such a big step. I wasn’t sure that she wanted to make the first step. Then she thought she had to go for it because she would probably never have a chance such as that again. “S-Sure,” she finally said. Soon a small smile made its way across her face. Both young ponies then held each other in an embrace and slowly started to dance.

Starburst and Fletcher keep their eyes fixed on one another. All the while Starburst was mentally pinching herself. “This can’t be real,” she thought silently. “This can’t be real!” However, she and Fletcher were hoof in hoof. This was as real as night and day. A warm smile appeared on Fletcher. Starburst snapped her head back slightly in reaction to the smile. Soon she returned the gesture. She then rested her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes and let out a slight sigh. She felt as if she was dancing on a cloud. She did not want this moment to end. Slowly Starburst reopened her eyes and suddenly she saw three young fillies no older than 10 years old at the food table. She recognized them well through their Nightmare Night costumes and stared at them in both shock and anger. Knowing the three she was certain that Api put Pixel and Echo up to her shenanigans. “Are they trying to get their cutiemarks in party crashing?” Starburst thought to herself. She then ripped herself away from Fletcher and started to make her way to the three fillies. “Where are you going?” said Fletcher as he looked at her with a shocked and pleading expression. Starburst stopped dead in her tracks totally forgetting that she was in a dance. She walked to Fletcher then back to table. She continued this movement four more times. She felt as if two ponies were pulling her back and forth. She was absolutely conflicted. On one hoof she had a once in a lifetime opportunity to get better acquainted with Fletcher. But on the other hoof there were many times she would give Api friendly advice on how to be more daring only for Api to cause a catastrophe because of said advice and Starburst certainly did not want to be held responsible if Api once again took her advice too far. A look of sadness then appeared on Starburst’s face. “I’m sorry,” she said leaving Fletcher behind.

“This is a great haul, huh girls?” said Api as she started stuffing desert in her trick or treat bag.

“Yeah,” said Pixel in agreement. “Makes you wonder why we spent all these years wasting time going door to door for candy.”

“Girls, I really think we should be looking for Nightlight,” said Echo with worry. “Mrs. Rainbow Dash already told me how dangerous this castle is.”

“Prince Egghead probably has his face buried in a book somewhere,” said Api. “Don't worry about him.”

“What are the three of you doing here?” said a stern female voice.

The three fillies froze at the familiar voice behind them. Slowly they turned around facing the orange Pegasus who had her giant wings flared. “H-Hey, Starburst,” said Api shakily. “Great costume!”

“Save it!” spat Starburst. “You all are supposed to be at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Come on, Star,” begged Pixel. “This party was going great so far. Can’t we spend at least another hour?”

“No!” said Starburst sharply. “You three are coming with me and we're going back to the farm.” Starburst started pushing the three fillies until they were out of the party and into the hallway. She then started to push them down the hallway.

“Wait!” said Echo. “We have to find Nightlight!”

Starburst froze at Echo’s words and an expression of horror appeared on her face. “Where is he?” said Starburst frantically. “What happened to him?”

Nightlight was seated comfortably at a long table with large, hard cover books stacked on top of one another from one end to the other. He was leafing through all titles that covered a range of topics from written journals, Equestrian history and biographies of great magical wizards. He had his nose buried in another thick book concerning the great military battles in history. The book was quite heavy even for his own magic to levitate. He suddenly took a sharp lean backwards on his chair but instead of falling flat on the floor Nightlight was hanging midway on the chair at a perpendicular angle. At that very moment the bookshelf against the wall separated from the middle and the two halves slid away from each other revealing a dark room. Nightlight stared at the dark room with wide eyes and gently set the chair back on its legs. Slowly he approached the room and his horn lit up allowing much needed light to descend upon the room. In one corner of the room was a little dusty cushion while in another corner of the room was a tall shelf laden with books. “Jackpot!” said Nightlight as he trotted towards the bookshelf.

Starburst, Api, Pixel and Echo galloped through the hallways of the castle calling out to Nightlight. “Seriously, how did you guys managed to convince Nightlight to come along with you?” demanded Starburst.

“Why don’t you ask Pixel,” said Api glaring at the unicorn filly. “She’s the one who blabbed to him!”

“When I told him that we were going to The Castle of the Two Sisters he basically invited himself,” said Pixel defensively. “Since he’s so into books I couldn’t stop him.”

“And besides, you said we needed somepony who had a clear idea of the castle’s layout,” said Echo staring Api down. The earth filly simply responded to Echo’s momentary boldness with an angry growl.

“Nightlight!” Starburst called out. “You’re in big trouble when I find you!”

Meanwhile back at the small room Nightlight scanned the bookshelf until his eyes fell upon a book that was bound by a weak hardcover. He laid it on the floor and opened the book discovering it covered with a thick layer of dust. He made a sharp blow causing a huge cloud of dust to kick up making the unicorn colt hack and cough. He waved his hoof until the dust floated away. He examined the first line in the book and it read “Magical Warfare by Starswirl the Bearded.” Nightlight’s jaw slacked at his discovery. Apart from his mother, Nightlight basically worshipped Starswirl the Bearded and had took a few lessons under the unicorn stallion. Having an ancient document written by the great Starswirl right under Nightlight’s nose was the gift that kept on giving. “It has been nearly two weeks since Celestia’s beloved sister Luna has been corrupted by jealousy, bitterness and hatred giving way to the awful entity that calls itself Nightmare Moon,” Nightlight said as he read a passage aloud. Nightlight stared at the passage in shock. “Starswirl was working on a spell to fight Princess Luna?” Nightlight thought. Though it has been years since The Princess of the Night has been freed from Nightmare Moon’s clutches the story of how Luna went through her terrible phase was the one story that traumatized Nightlight. Every time Luna visited the castle Nightlight found it hard to believe that she was the same one who almost thrust Equestria into eternal night. “Nightmare Moon is a construct unlike any maleficent individual I have ever come across,” Nightlight said aloud as he continued to read. “Celestia is insistent that I bring no harm to her sister so I had to come up with a spell that would trap Nightmare Moon and bring Luna out of her grasp. It has taken me five days without sleep and I think I have found success. By the utterance of this spell it would summon spirits from beyond that would penetrate the body of Nightmare Night and save Luna with no harm done to her.” Nightlight then came across a passage written in a type of language that was rather hard to read. He was fond of puzzles and brain teasers so he couldn’t resist a challenge. “Miatneconni sirbenet ed cude,” Nightlight read phonetically. “Ticeffe orp te metatinob da tinev eropmet ni. Artxe da mutilim etrap amixam. Egrusnoc, egrusnoc.” After uttering the passage, the words began to glow brightly and the book began vibrating. Nightlight slowly rose to his hooves and started to back away from the book. Bright mist began to swirl from the page and started to grow into a huge cloud. The cloud started to break into smaller clouds and those clouds started to form shapes. Nightlight watched in horror as the shapes slowly grew into the sizes of fully grown ponies. About thirty ponies were formed out of this cloud and they hovered in the room. The ponies had the appearances of unicorn mares dressed in long elegant robes, flowing manes and bright, blurred eyes. The unicorn mares had blank expression and did not seem to be aware of Nightlight’s presence. The female unicorns then let out a shriek and made a mad dash out of the room. Nightlight screamed and hit the floor as the unicorns flew right past him and out of the library.

Starburst, Api, Pixel and Echo perked up when they heard Nightlight’s screams and the piercing shrieks of the female unicorns. They galloped towards the sounds until they arrived in the hallway that led to the library. The moment they stepped into the hall the horde of female unicorn spirits appeared and flew right towards them. Starburst and the fillies let out a scream at the sight of the unicorn spirits as they floated right above them. Starburst spread her massive wings and covered the fillies. The unicorn spirits floated pass them and into another hall. Meanwhile the patrons at the party stopped dancing as they heard the shrieks. Slowly they began to file out of the room and into the hallway just in time for the unicorn spirits to appear. The partyers screamed as the unicorn spirits flew right into their direction. The some of the partyers ran back into the room while others hit the floor. The unicorn spirits flew right above them and disappeared into through the wall. Cotton Candy who was among the curious revelers ran to a nearby window and watched in horror as the unicorn spirits made their way towards Ponyville.

Starburst and the fillies slowly rose of floor looking over their shoulders. They then made their way towards the library where they found Nightlight still flat on the floor covering his head. Starburst’s eyes widened in horror and she ran over to her brother picking him off the floor. “Nightlight, are you alright?” said Starburst.

“I-I think so,” said Nightlight shakily as he rose of the floor.

“What heck was that, Nightlight?” said Api.

“I think I just unleashed some Nightmare Moon slayers,” replied Nightlight gravely.

Author's Note

In case you all are wondering, Starswirl's spell is the Latin word for "Arise, Arise. To my side great warriors from beyond. The time has come to fight for goodness and sisterhood. Bring forth lost innocence from darkness to light." I simply had the words spelt backwards the way the DC comic book character Zatanna casts her spells speaking backwards. The actual Latin passage is this:

"Consurge, consurge. Maxima parte militum ad extra. In tempore venit ad bonitatem et pro effecit. Educ de tenebris innocentiam."

Update 2019: I had to fix the interaction between Starburst and Fletcher. I felt that there was a huge plot hole there.

CHAPTER 4

Sugar Rush, Cloudy Skies and Maud Pie were at another house as the two young fillies were given two lollipops and two toffees. By now Sugar and Cloudy’s bags were half filled but they were sufficient enough as far as Sugar was concerned.

“This sure was a great haul,” said a beaming Cloudy as she and her sister rejoined their Aunt Maud.

“I can’t wait to dig in when we get back home,” said Sugar rush excitedly.

“Aren’t you girls forgetting something?” said Maud. Sugar Rush and Cloudy Skies looked at their aunt with confusion. “…Nightmare Moon is still prowling the skies…She’s looking for one filly or colt to gobble up…The only way to make sure you don’t get gobbled up by Nightmare Moon is to donate your candy to her statue.” Cloudy Skies trembled in terror at Maud’s words. Maud’s blank, emotionless demeanor was all that the filly needed to be reminded of the threat of Nightmare Moon. Sugar Rush meanwhile internally groaned. Of course they have to make a donation. Sugar Rush then looked at her haul. If the twins were to donate half of their candy they would only be left with three or four treats.

“Unless I keep the candy bars,” Sugar Rush thought. Maud then guided her nieces down a path making their way towards The Everfree Forest.

At The Canterlot Castle the Annual Nightmare Night Ball was well underway. The attendees numbered roughly two thousand all dressed in Nightmare Night themed attire. One of the musical acts was none other than Pixel Bit’s mother Sweetie Belle with her full band. Sweetie Belle was dressed as comic book hero Black Widow complete with a red wig and she was singing a soulful rendition of “I put a Spell on You”. Among the crowd that was taking it all in was Sweetie Belle’s older sister Rarity who was dressed in an elegant ballroom gown complete with a large white wig. Rarity’s husband Spike dressed in a golden battle armor. Applejack dressed as Dorothy and her husband Caramel dressed as The Scarecrow. Rainbow Dash dressed up as Wonder Mare and her husband Soarin’ Skies dressed as The Flash. Pinkie Pie dressed up as former villain Tempest Shadow of all ponies while her husband Pokey Pierce was dressed up as The Joker. Various other ponies, griffons, hippogriffs, dragons and changelings were dressed in costumes that represented all manner of pop culture references and horror themes. Lastly was Sweetie Belle’s husband Button Mash who was dressed up as Captain Equestria cheering her on. Flash Sentry approached the food table readying himself to indulge in some punch. He filled his tall glass with the cherry flavored drink and put it to his lips. As he chugged down the punch he felt something soft and quite squishy enter his mouth. Flash widened his eyes and spit out the object back into his glass. To his horror there were four realistic looking eyeballs within the glass. Flash grinded his teeth in rage. “Discord!” he screamed.

Across the ballroom was the crow of laughter from a familiar draconequus who was mingling with three Princesses of Equestria, Supernova and Starswirl the Bearded himself. Twilight Sparkle was dressed in her Mysterious Mare Do Well costume while Starswirl was dressed as mythical figure Lord Odin with an eyepatch over his right eye. Princess Celestia was dressed up as the character Maleficent, Discord was dressed as the comic book character Loki, Princess Luna was dressed as the comic book character Captain Marvel and Supernova was dressed as Batstallion.

“I can’t thank you enough for finally deciding to attend our Nightmare Night Ball, Starswirl,” said Celestia.

“It’s a pleasure,” said Starswirl.

“I must admit, Swirly, when you returned from Limbo I thought you were going to be the same boring stick in the mud that you were a millennium ago,” teased Discord. “But Twilight did good wearing you down.” Twilight blushed. It wasn’t common for the Lord of Chaos to compliment her on any occasion. She had always suspected that Discord might be jealous of her but she was certain that the draconequus had mellowed a great deal.

“Yes, I have learned greatly about friendship and comradery from Twilight Sparkle ever since I was rescued from Limbo,” said Starswirl. “But I have to admit I have seen great folly in today’s generation.”

Twilight displayed shock at her idol’s words. “What do you mean, Starswirl?” she asked.

“There is too much partisanship amongst Equestria’s citizens and one cannot have a simple discussion or debate without being described as an enemy of sorts,” said Starswirl.

“I was hoping you would not experience any of that, Starswirl,” said Luna sadly.

“Certain politicians who govern the cities across Equestria have taken on this divisive populism and demagoguery in their political messages,” Starswirl continued. “It breaks my heart to see that my fellow ponies consider non ponies not of Equestrian society.”

“I’ve tried to discourage this type of thinking amongst the local pony populace, Starswirl,” said Celestia. “But they do not listen and they accuse me of being complacent in the problems that non ponies allegedly bring about.”

“I do not understand how your little ponies could accuse you of encouraging lawlessness that citizens of non-pony origin supposedly commit,” said Starswirl. “There are reliable statistics that shows whatever crimes are committed by non-ponies, they are extremely low in number.”

“When me and Luna were courting they were accusing me of drinking ponies’ blood,” said Supernova with a scowl. “Can you believe it?”

“I’m sure there were only a few ponies making such ridiculous accusations,” said Starswirl with slight sternness. “But recently the certain politicians I’m talking about seem to have encouraged a lot more ponies to be bolder in their preconceived notions of other species that are not ponies. Such ponies have this message of making their cities “great again”. They boldly proclaim that non-ponies who take up residence in cities like Manehattan, Baltimare and Phillydelphia bring all sorts of ills such as crime and don’t assimilate well at all. These politicians compare the places where non-ponies come from to feces and that their cities should accept ponies from places such as our very own Canterlot. They refer to non-ponies as invaders and they adopt this elitist mindset when it comes to non-ponies seeking residence in their cities. Why should only academic scholars, nobleponies and business tycoons be the only ones who should be allowed to live in these cities? These particular politicians encourage their supporters to commit acts of violence and hostility to their critics and when the media holds these politicians to account they cry “Fake News”. I must commend you and your sister for not persecuting the media during your rule, Celestia.”

“Well, the media is rather unkind to me about eighty percent of the time,” said Celestia. “But some of their criticism is constructive and has helped me and the other princesses become better rulers of Equestria.”

“As unkind as the press may be, Celestia, they are not the enemy,” added Starswirl. “Never were and never will be. Remember that. It’s so sad these politicians cannot seem to grasp the consequences of their actions and their words. There were a few supporters who actually acted upon the words of these politicians mailing dangerous devices to other politicians who do not share such extreme views on non-ponies and other matters to cause bodily harm. These particular politicians allow their pride to consume them. Exactly when did Manehattan, Baltimare and Phillydelphia ever stopped being “great”? I would encourage these politicians to take into consideration that not all change is bad. I know that first hoof. Non-ponies who seek new lives in your cities do not automatically bring poverty, crime or laziness. It is a difference of cultures and ideas that was essential in advancing Equestria to great heights.”

“Well said, Starswirl,” said Twilight.

“Hear, hear!” said Discord.

“Having said that, however, there are those among the other side of the spectrum whose actions have veered to the point of borderline insanity,” Starswirl continued. “Too many of these individuals have become too emotional and too sensitive for their own good. While I agree that we must all be aware of how we act around others it should not be to the point of trotting on eggshells. Too many amongst today’s generation, particularly amongst the youths, are obsessed with political correctness and “safe spaces”. They hang onto every word claiming to find a “micro-aggression”. Honestly, there is no such thing as micro-aggressions. Either there is aggression or no aggression. I could remember having a lecture at a university here in Canterlot and afterwards I was confronted by a group of female students who told me that since I am quote “an uber-magical unicorn stallion” I could never grasp the emotional trauma that those in society face and that I should quote “check my privilege”. I honestly do not consider myself more privileged simply because I’m a unicorn stallion who has spent years honing my magical abilities. There are also far too many amongst our youths who want the finer things in life without having to work towards them.”

“My daughter has that problem,” interjected Luna. “She enjoys the perks of being a princess but she could never face the responsibilities that come with it.”

“Such a pity,” said Starswirl shaking his head sadly. “There are those amongst the citizenry who carry such a victim mentality and entitlement mentality. They want to work in a certain field with no skills or talent to bring to the table and when they do not get hired on the spot they quickly blame prejudice. You simply cannot expect to be cast in a musical if you never sang a day in your life. While I agree more has to be done to ensure that non-ponies and females get a fair share in life, quality always supersedes quantity. Too often when it comes to the arts non-ponies complain when ponies are depicted in roles that would represent a non-pony. Yet, it is quite alright when non-ponies are depicted in roles that would generally represent pony characters. Such blatant hypocrisy!”

“Speaking of that, Starswirl,” said Twilight. “my daughter accused Cadence of committing “cultural appropriation” just because she dressed up as Mistmane.”

“My goodness,” said Starswirl. “Why is it a crime if ponies partake in non-pony traditions and customs yet it is a birthright for non-ponies to partake in pony traditions? Instead of feeling threatened non-ponies should feel honored that ponies are acknowledging that there is a culture other than pony culture. When it comes to law and order, there are individuals who infiltrate a certain group who has concerns of particular crimes and these individuals latch onto this group’s emotions and exploit them for selfish reasons. The group then adopt an overtly emotional reaction to certain crimes and they carry a mob mentality towards an individual suspected of a crime. The group disregards the concept of “innocent until proven guilty” and throw proverbial stones at those who are accused of crimes without allowing the accused to defend themselves in a court of law. Mob justice is a trait of authoritarian regimes. Furthermore, an accusation alone is not proof of one’s guilt. It breaks my heart to see those among the female population become so vindictive, petty and devious. I’d like to stress that such females only represent a small fraction of the entire female citizenry. They push forth this message that all males are sexist, oppressive, sexual predators and that both genders can never coexist. It seems to me that the term “smashing down the patriarchy” means removing men from their positions in life and replacing them with those who are less qualified to assume said positions. You may say that I’m only saying that because I’m male but the very Elements of Harmony can attest that they would have never been able to overcome some of the perils that have befallen Equestria without the help of males.

Ponies, males and those who are heterosexual do not need to be marginalized or phased out of society in order for females, other species or those with certain romantic preferences to thrive. If it were the other way around ponies would be considered inherently evil. It is in everyone’s nature to have prejudices, not only ponies and you don’t have to be a politician or a business tycoon to be prejudiced to someone who is different to you. This phrase has been said on numerous occasions but I must say it again: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. There is only one Equestria. We have to learn to live with each other and that means respecting each other’s differences, whether in terms of culture, species, opinion, gender or politics. We must coexist with each other whether we like it or not.”

“How well you phrase it,” said Celestia.

“I second that,” said Supernova.

“Yep, you don’t have your great rep for nothing,” said Discord patting Starswirl on the back. “And that’s coming from me.”

“You gave me a good idea on what syllabus to teach our new roster of students at The School of Friendship,” said Twilight with a nod of approval.

As the evening dragged on a group of five members of the cooking staff containing a female Pegasus, a male unicorn, a female changeling, a female hippogriff and a male earth pony waded through the crowd and marched right up to Princess Luna with stern facial expressions.

“Princess Luna, we need to talk,” said the female pegasus.

“This is a rather inconvenient time, my little chefs,” said Luna. “Can it not wait?”

“No, we need to talk now!” said the male earth pony. Starswirl who was with Luna displayed a look of shock at the earth pony’s stern tone. Starswirl then looked back at Luna and wondered if she was going to allow her kitchen staff to be blatantly disrespectful to her.

“You can’t fire Giovanni,” said the female changeling chef.

“What?” said Luna with a baffled expression.

“Giovanni has worked for this castle for almost twenty years,” said the male unicorn. “He’s the best chef you’ve ever had and you know it.”

“Even Princess Celestia could vouch for him,” added the female hippogriff chef. “She loves his cakes.”

“He always ran the kitchen smoothly and made sure all meals were prepared and delivered on time,” continued the male earth pony chef. “The rest of the staff respects him.”

“This is wrongful termination of the worse kind, Your Highness!” said the female changeling.

“So after a unanimous vote we decided that if Giovanni leaves, we leave!” interjected the female Pegasus chef. “And be prepared for the rest of the kitchen staff to follow suit!”

“Yeah!” said the rest of the group in unison.

This was too much for The Princess of the Night to process. She always loved Giovanni’s dishes and it was easy to have a casual conversation with the griffon. Momentarily Luna suspected that Discord might be up to his shenanigans again. “Please do not make any rash decisions,” said Luna. “Stay right here. I’ll be right back.” In a bright flash Luna teleported from the ballroom to the locker room where she found Giovanni packing his uniform and his utensils in a large trunk. On his face was a mixture of sadness and anger. “Giovanni,” said Luna as she slowly approached him. “What is the meaning of all this?”

“Though you didn’t specifically tell me that the quality of my cooking has declined dramatically,” began the griffon. “I respect your decision to terminate my services. Just note, it would be extremely difficult to find another chef who can surpass my abilities and who can maintain the comradery of the kitchen.”

“I never fired you,” said Luna innocently.

“Your Highness, we were in the hallway when I asked you about Hyacinth Ivory’s whereabouts,” said Giovanni with his tone being a bit sterner. “You fired me on the spot without giving me a reason why. That was of course after you referred to Hyacinth as a “lazy harpy”. If that memory escapes you, the fault is not your own. Someone obviously spiked your punch.”

““Lazy harpy”,” said The Night Princess with a slackened jaw. “Hyacinth is one of the most resilient, hardworking maids this castle has ever had.” Luna then froze when she came to a sudden realization. There was only one individual who had a reputation of being ungrateful to all the work of the castle staff. Luna then turned to Giovanni and placed her fore hooves on his shoulder. “Giovanni, you’re not fired,” she said with a warm smile.

“Really?” said Geovanni with wide eyes.

“You are the best chef we’ve had in years and I simply love your dishes,” continued Luna. “You are free to work in The Canterlot Castle for as long as your health permits it.”

“Do you mean it?”

“From the very depths of my heart.”

Giovanni then fell flat before Luna and bowed profusely. “Oh, thank you, thank you, Your Highness,” said the griffon with a broad smile.

“Your most certainly welcome,” said Luna. Her expression then took a serious tone. “Now, if you’ll excuse, I need to have a little chat with a certain teenager,” she said with a scowl. Luna then teleported out of the kitchen.

Sugar Rush, Cloudy Skies and their Auntie Maud slowly trekked through the Everfree Forest until they saw the stone statue of Nightmare Moon in a distance. Already there were a handful of fillies, colts and adults surrounding the statue throwing candy into a large plastic container. After they were done it was Sugar and Cloudy’s turns to make their donations. Cloudy stopped about three feet away from the container and looked up to the statue. There weren't much details in the figure’s facial features. But the one feature that stood out was Nightmare Moon’s evil grin that revealed long, sharp teeth. Cloudy looked at the teeth and let out a whimper. She then rushed over to the plastic container and dumped all of her Nightmare Night candy not caring if her bag was completely empty afterwards. Next was Sugar Rush who took one look at Nightmare Moon’s statue and let out a soft growl. The unicorn filly did not consider the statue as one to be terrified of. She simply viewed the moss covered slab of concrete as a big, mean schoolyard bully who demanded all of your lunch money. Using her magic, she levitated candy that included numerous lollipops, jawbreakers, toffees and gums. After settling them into the plastic container Sugar Rush trotted away and looked into her candy bag containing the two large candy bars. “At least she won’t have a taste of these,” Sugar thought to herself.

Maud then stepped in her path and looked down at the unicorn filly with her trademark, emotionless stare. “…You’ve got two candy bars, Sugar Rush,” said the earth mare. “…If you don’t want Nightmare Moon to gobble you up, I suggest you cough up one of those candy bars.” Sugar Rush looked at her aunt with annoyance then looked back at the statue with an expression of rage. The filly’s body shook as she levitated one of the candy bars from the bag and into the plastic container.

“Can we please get out of here, Auntie Maud?” said a terrified Cloudy as she looked at Nightmare Moon’s statue trembling like a leaf.

“…Don’t worry,” said Maud apparently not noticing the horror on the Pegasus filly’s face. “…Nightmare Moon won’t gobble you up as long as I’m around.” As the Pies trotted away from the statue Sugar Rush’s pink, bouncy mane deflated displaying visibly flat hair under her Celestia wig which reflected the unicorn filly’s bitter mood.

The Pies were deep within the forest far away from the statue when suddenly there was an unholy screech which made them stop dead in their tracks. Sugar Rush and Cloudy Skies looked around frantically, fear etched vividly on their faces while Maud looked around with furrowed eyebrows. The Pies looked down the path where they came from and in a distance they see a crowd of bright female unicorn spirits flying in their direction. Sugar and Cloudy let out a piercing scream while Maud maintained her calm composure. Maud then grabbed both of her nieces, threw them on her back and made a mad dash through the forest. The female unicorn spirits flew past them and Cloudy managed to look at one of the spirits dead in the eye seeing nothing but white blurs. The spirits then took to the skies making their way straight towards Ponyville. Cloudy couldn’t help but think that those mares truly outdone themselves with such terrifying costumes and makeup.

The female unicorn spirits soon arrived in Ponyville and started turning over carts and destroying Nightmare Night decorations and props. They then moved on to nearby buildings, crashing through homes causing considerable damage. Nearby civilians rushed out of their homes screaming in panic. They took to the streets only to cross paths with the female unicorn spirits. Civilians ducked and covered allowing the female unicorn spirits to fly over them without causing bodily harm. The civilians looked on in shock and horror as the female unicorn spirits took to the skies once more heading straight towards Canterlot.

The Princess of the Night teleported from the kitchen and straight into Nidra’s quarters. “Nidra, you are in major trouble!” said Luna. She looked around seeing the magical force field she had created outside the room but no sign of her daughter. Luna then looked on the floor finding the sleeping bundle that was Hyacinth Ivory. The princess kneeled before the unicorn mare making a closer examination sensing Nidra’s magic flowing through Hyacinth. Luna then trembled with rage. She mentally scolded herself for not anticipating that her daughter would find some type of loophole to escape her punishment.

“When I find you, Nidra, you’re grounded for the rest of the year!” Luna said out loud. Suddenly she heard a distant screech outside. She jumped to her hooves and galloped over the window. From over Canterlot’s horizon Luna saw thirty, female unicorn spirits flying over the city. They were in white flowing gowns, had blurred eyes and long flowing white manes. Most frightening of all they were headed straight towards Luna’s position.

The revelers of Cotton Candy’s Nightmare Night Party galloped through the forest after making a rather orderly exit out of The Castle of the Two Sisters and across the tree trunk bridge. Amongst them were the children of The Elements of Harmony. If there were anypony who could handle what had just transpired it was their parents. “What are those things, Nightlight?” said Starburst as her brother struggled to keep up with her flying.

“I don’t know,” said a flustered Nightlight. “From what I’ve read I think it has something to do with Nightmare Moon and Princess Luna.”

“If that’s the case then they probably think Nightmare Moon’s still around,” said Gold Delicious.

“That can’t be good,” said a worried Cotton Candy.

“Gee, ya think?” said Claire.

“We need to get to our parents and the Princesses stat!” said Anthea as she rode on Turquoise’s back.

“Tell us something we don’t know!” responded Turquoise.

“And the party was going so great,” groaned Prism as he flew between Whirlwind and Icy Storm. “I think I hit it off with one of the hippogriffs.”

“Dream on!” said Whirlwind staring daggers at Prism.

“Such a shame to see a great party cut short due to real-life paranormal activity which defies all logic,” said Illusion still in his Daybreaker disguise.

“I should’ve seen this coming,” growled Nidra who was now back in her alicorn form. She then glared at Api, Pixel and Echo who ran next to her. “Leave it to you little brats to be the party poopers!” said Nidra.

“Hey, it’s not my fault this time,” said Api innocently. “These two could back me up.” The earth filly pointed to the unicorn filly and the pegasus filly who simply shook their heads in disgust.

Back at the Canterlot Castle the group of female unicorn spirits had Princess Luna completely surrounded in Nidra’s quarters. Using their unicorn magic, they conjured up wisps of magic that had the appearances of flowing ropes and threw them towards The Night Princess. In that moment Luna created a force field before the magical ropes caught her. The female unicorn spirits then started shooting beams of magic towards Luna’s force field in an effort to break it. The blasts rattled Luna quite a bit but she stood her ground keeping the force field up. Outside of the room Twilight, Celestia, Cadence and Starswirl teleported before the door in a bright flash. Twilight directed her magic towards the doorknob but it was blocked by the force field that was meant to keep Nidra in. Celestia then tried to blast through the force field with her magic but the force field absorbed it. Starswirl and Cadence tried to blast through with their own magic only for the force field to absorb it as well. Celestia flew straight towards the door in an effort to break it down but the force field halted her advance causing her to bounce off like a ball. She flew backwards and landed on the floor. Twilight, Cadence and Starswirl rushed to The Sun Princess’s side and looked back at the door. Twilight galloped up to the door and stopped. “Luna, what’s going on?” Twilight called out.

“There are about thirty spirits trying to break through my force field,” said Luna as she struggled to maintain his force field. “I know not where they came from.”

“Thirty spirits?” said Celestia as she rose to her hooves.

“They seem to be mares!” said Luna.

“Oh, dear,” said Starswirl gravely.

“What is it?” said Cadence noticing Starswirl’s expression.

“These spirits believe that Nightmare Moon still exist and that Luna is still trapped within Nightmare Moon’s body,” replied Starswirl.

“What?” said Celestia in horror. “What will happen to my sister?”

“They will latch onto her body and extract all of the magic she possesses until they are certain that Nightmare Moon is no more,” said the unicorn stallion. “She will be in the state she was during Tirek’s reign of terror.”

“Well, how do we stop them?” said Twilight desperately.

“The only way these spirits were summoned is because someone may have come across a book that I have written,” said Starswirl. “I left that book back at Celestia’s former castle without having the opportunity to test the spell. We must go back to the castle and find that book in order trap the spirits.”

“How long do you think we have?” said Cadence.

“In theory, the process in which these spirits do their task should take approximately thirty minutes,” said Starswirl. “I assume the distance between Canterlot and the old castle is roughly twenty minutes. So we may have about twenty-seven minutes to find that book and reverse the spell. I may need your guidance, Twilight and Celestia.”

“Very well,” said Celestia with worry on her face. “Anything for my sister!”

“What should I do?” said Cadence.

“Stay here,” instructed Starswirl. “Luna needs your full support.”

Twilight, Starwirl and Celestia started to gallop out of the hallway to carriages. Celestia then took one desperate look over her shoulder. Cadence gave her a reassuring nod as if to say that everything was alright.

Author's Note

On the little monologue that Starswirl had, I didn't want to be overtly political or sentimental. But recently with all the demagoguery and the political back and forth, I thought it would be deep for a character like Starswirl to address these issues. He doesn't take up for one group or the other. He essentially says that both sides need to take a chill pill.

CHAPTER 5

Princess Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia and Starswirl the Bearded still dressed in their Nightmare Night costumes took to the skies on their way to The Castle of the Two Sisters all in an effort to save Princess Luna. They were transported by a Pegasus royal guard’s carriage that typically had four royal guards at the helm. But to ensure fast transport for the crisis at hoof there were eight pegasus royal guards at the helm. As the trio flew over Ponyville a familiar pegasus mare with giant wings flew in their path halting their advance. Twilight stared at the mare in shock and anger. “Starburst?” she said. “Why aren’t at the castle? It’s way past your curfew!”

“Now is not the time to chew me out, Mom,” said Starburst. “There are some ghosts on the loose and Princess Luna is in trouble.”

“We know,” said Princess Celestia. “That’s why we’re headed to our old castle to find the book that has unleashed them.”

“We’ve not another moment to spare,” said Starswirl sternly. “We must hurry before all of Luna’s magic is gone forever!” Starburst’s eyes went wide at the unicorn stallion’s words. Though she and the Princess of the Night never interacted as much, Starburst found Luna the most relatable amongst all of Equestria’s royals.

“Wait for me at the Canterlot Castle,” instructed Twilight as the carriagle pulled away from Starburst. Starburst looked on gravely as they made it over the Everfree Forest.

It took the carriage over twenty minutes to arrive between Canterlot and The Castle of the Two Sisters. After bursting through the entrance it took Twilight, Starswirl and Celestia about three minutes to find the library. Luckily for them the entrance to the private quarters where Nightlight found the book was still open. Sure enough the book where the spirits were unleashed was still flat on the floor. “Thank goodness we don’t have to rummage through any shelves to find the book,” said Starswirl as he levitated the book with his magic.

“We have about four minutes left,” said a panicked Twilight as she pulled out a watch.

“We’ll never make it back in time!” said a terrified Celestia.

“Our only chance is to teleport back to the Castle,” said Starswirl.

“Wouldn’t that drain our magical energy?” said Twilight.

“If our magical energy is drained we may not have enough magic to work the spell!” said Celestia desperately.

“With both of your teleportation abilities combined we can all arrive back at Nidra’s quarters under two seconds,” replied Starswirl. “I’ll work the spell.”

Celestia looked at Twilight with a grave expression. Twilight looked back at her counterpart and gave an assuring nod. Twilight and Celestia held onto Starswirl and both their horns glowed brightly. They all then disappeared in a flash.

Back at Nidra’s quarters Princess Luna’s coat was soaked with sweat as she tried to keep the female unicorn spirits at bay with her magical force field. Cadence was outside trying in vain to blast through the force field that engulfed the door. At that moment Twilight, Celestia and Starswirl appeared in a bright flash. Twilight and Celestia collapsed to the floor in exhaustion while Starswirl rushed to the door. “My magic can’t blast through this force field,” said Cadence.

“Luna, you must disable the force field around your daughter’s quarters!” said Starswirl.

“But if I do that I wouldn’t be able to keep these spirits at bay!” said Luna.

“It’s only way for me to get to you in order for me to capture them! You must trust me!”

“I do trust you!”

“We do it on the count of three!”

In unison both Starswirl and Luna started to count. On the third count Luna disabled her force field along with the force field that engulfed Nidra’s quarters. Almost simultaneously Starswirl shot a beam of magic blasting through the door. With Luna’s force field disabled the female unicorn spirits unleashed their wisps of magic going straight for The Princess of the Night. Before the magical wisps could touch Luna Starswirl stepped in between and created a magical shield. The wisps of magic deflected off the shield cracking it slightly. “Mucet riv erederge iger!” said Starswirl as he started to recite the spell. “Odnum coh tnalubma non ut te, et marom ibit tse supo non! Itsinev ednu, orter edni!” There was then a bright flash from the book and slowly the female unicorn spirits were sucked into the book. They screeched a piercing howl as they were sucked into the middle of the book in single file like dust being sucked into a vacuum cleaner. When the spirits were all sucked in the book slammed shut and fell to the ground. Twilight, Celestia, Cadence and Luna watched with wide eyes as smoke rose from the book. Starswirl then shot a bolt of magic at the book and it was engulfed in a box-like shield. Twilight, Celestia and Cadence rushed to Luna and they all held each other in an embrace.

“I thought I was going to lose you again,” said Celestia to Luna with tears welling in her years.

“What were those things?” said Twilight as she turned to Starswirl.

“They’re Furies,” said Starswirl with a blank expression.

“Furies?” repeated Cadence with a look of confusion.

“They’re spirits whose sole purpose is to do combat with the enemies of Equestira,” continued Starswirl. “They possess tremendous magic to deal with foes who may threaten this land through magic as opposed to physical force. I have been researching on them for years as a means of a contingency plan should my magic or the magic of the Princesses of Equestria be insufficient. Yet, I never had the chance to experiment with them or work on a spell so that they may follow instructions instead of acting upon instinct. When Luna was consumed by the spirit of Nightmare Moon I have been working on a spell to enable The Furies to vanquish Nightmare Moon without bringing harm to Luna should The Elements of Harmony fail. But then I was pulled into Limbo without having the chance to experiment with the summoning spell.”

“So what will happen to The Furies now?” said Luna.

“The Furies aren’t the only spirits I have researched on,” said Starswirl levitating the book that was now encased in the box construct. “There are many spirits that can be summoned through this book. Spirits that could bring great peril upon Equestria should this book fall into the wrong hooves. It would be wise to keep it in a safe place where no one can reach it and where I would be the only one to know of its whereabouts.”

“I know just the place,” said Celestia as she held the book with her magic.

“Now that we managed to avoid a major catastrophe,” said Twilight. “I think we should have a little chat with our young ones.”

At Canterlot Castle’s throne room all of the Nightmare Night Party’s attendees were seated across the floor. At the front row were the children of The Elements of Harmony together with the children of The Princesses of Equestria and the children of The Cutiemark Crusaders. The party revelers’ elders stood in front of them still dressed in their Nightmare Night costumes “Absolutely reckless and irresponsible!” said Twilight as she paced in front of Nightlight. “What were you thinking? You of all ponies should know that you shouldn’t be messing with magical books without my guidance. Especially books from the Castle of the Two Sisters!”

“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, Mom,” said Nightlight with his head bowed. “I guess when it comes to old books I can’t help myself.”

“I suppose it’s probably my fault for telling you about that time when I went to The Castle for the first time,” said Twilight as she cupped his chin. “Next time you come across an ancient book don’t read any lines. Bring it straight to me so that me and the other Princesses could determine whether it poses any kind of threat.”

“Yes, Mom,” said Nightlight.

“I must say, anyone who can flawlessly recite one of my spells has my full respect,” said a smiling Starswirl. He then considered Nightlight’s Nightmare Night costume. “I must also commend you for having my attire spot on,” he said. Nightlight stared at the unicorn stallion with a hanging jaw and wide eyes. Did The Great Starswirl the Bearded actually commend him? Nightlight smiled from ear to ear and stifled a squeal.

“By and by,” continued Starswirl as he turned to Twilight’s daughter. “Great job on your Flash Sentry costume.”

“Finally!” said Starburst throwing up her fore hooves triumphantly. “Somepony gets my costume!”

Api looked at the exchange with a chuckle. “What’s so funny?” said Twilight turning to the earth filly.

“For once I’m not the one getting chewed out this time,” said Api with a cheeky grin as she reclined in her chair. “I had nothing to do with this.”

“But you did sneak off into The Everfree Forest where you could’ve gotten killed crossing that tree trunk,” said Applebloom as she gave her daughter a stern look.

“The fact that you even went into the forest itself is bad enough!” said Sweetie Belle as she approached her daughter. “I almost lost you!”

“But you all used to go to The Everfree Forest when you were kids,” said Pixel innocently.

“That’s when the Everfree wasn’t infested with so many enchanted beasts as it is today,” said Scootaloo who was dressed in a jumpsuit that was similar to Evel Knevel’s jumpsuit. “I expected better from you, Echo.”

“Sorry, Mom,” said Echo sadly as she bowed her head.

“Honestly, having a party in The Castle of the Two Sisters?” said Flash Sentry glaring at his daughter.

“Sounds like my kinda party,” said Pinkie Pie as she bounced in excitement.

“Pinkie,” said Twilight as she glared at the party pony.

“Oh, right,” she said flashing a sheepish smile. She then turned to Cotton Candy. “Very reckless and irresponsible, like Twilight said,” said Pinkie sternly.

“You told us that you were going to Cotton Candy’s place!” said Twilight with her tone increasing in volume as she furrowed her eyebrows at Starburst. Starburst simply folded her hooves. She was not in a mood for another one of her mother’s lectures. “The Castle of the Two Sisters is laden with secret doors and traps,” Twilight continued. “You could’ve gotten hurt!”

“We’ve been scoping out the place two months ago,” said Starburst with a sigh. “That’s how everyone was able to avoid the traps.”

“And where do you get off doin’ a mind controllin’ doohickey on me?” said Applejack as she pointed a stern hoof at Illusion.

“It seems as though the student has surpassed the master,” said Discord as he whispered in his son’s ear and gave him a friendly nudge.

“Haven’t ah taught you nothin’ ‘bout bein’ honest, Del?” continued Applejack turning to her son. “That’s the kinda things that happen when yer dishonest!”

“What can ah say, Ma?” said Del with a remorseful expression. “I’m sorry.”

“And don’t think fer a second that yer gettin’ any of our zap apple pies!” said Applejack turning back to Illusion. Illusion sunk in his chair with a sheepish expression.

“Don’t worry,” whispered Discord to Illusion. “I’ll work something out.”

“And how did you even managed to get in a big kids’ party anyway,” said Rainbow Dash turning to Icy Storm.

“Prism promised me,” said Icy motioning over to Prism with a look of fear. Prism’s eyes widened. He was well aware of his mother’s harsh way of motivating so he was in for the tongue lashing of a lifetime.

“Way to throw me under the cart,” said Prism under his breath.

“Promised what?” said Rainbow Dash sternly as she turned to her oldest son. Prim sunk in his chair trying to mentally prepare for what was in store when he made his revelation. “I kinda ripped Dad’s Wonderbolt jacket,” he said after a pause. Soarin’ eyes went as wide as dinner plates and all the air was sucked out of his body. He then rushed up to his oldest son with a fierce look. “You…RIPPED MY WONDERBOLT JACKET?!” screamed Soarin’.

“I’m very disappointed in you, Annie,” said Fluttershy who was the only parent not dressed in a Nightmare Night costume. “I expected better from you. Those Furies scared all of my animals now they’re all on the loose in my cottage.”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” said Anthea sorrowfully.

“But must commend you for protecting my daughter from those awful spirits,” said Fluttershy proudly as she turned to Turquoise.

“Does that mean that we’re out of trouble?” said Turquoise hopefully.

“Not in the slightest,” said Rarity sternly. Spike stood next to Rarity with an equally stern demeanor. Claire looked on and made a hard, audible gulp.

“You have no idea the type of drama you caused with that stunt you pulled,” said Princess Luna turning to Nidra. “We almost lost of our kitchen staff because you refuse to show gratitude to a chef that has always exceeded your cooking expectations. It would seem as if I cannot trust from this day forth.”

“So your mother and I will spend the rest of the morning planning your punishment,” added Supernova.

“That’s not fair!” protested Nidra. “I’m already grounded!”

“Would you like to be grounded for the rest of the year?” said Luna glaring at her daughter? Nidra responded by folding her fore hooves and letting out a huff.

“Can we not have a peaceful ball without someone mucking it up?” groaned Discord.

“Says the one who brought a schmooze to The Grand Galloping Gala that flooded the ballroom with slime and almost had one of Fluttershy’s friends banished to another dimension,” said Celestia snidely. Discord simply responded with a grumble.

“I think it’s best that we all get some sleep,” said Twilight. She then looked at her daughter sternly. “Our next generation needs all the rest they could get if they’re going to spend the rest of the week on their punishment,” continued The Princess of Friendship.

Starburst looked back at her mother with fear and let out a gulp.

The next day all the children of The Elements of Harmony, together with the children of The Princesses of Equestria, the children of The Cuitemark Crusaders and much of the revelers of the previous night’s Nightmare Night party were all across Ponyville helping clean up the damage caused by the Furies. They cleaned up debris and repaired damaged buildings. Prism Bolt and Icy were busy hammering nails into a damaged building when they were joined by Whirlwind. “Hey, Dubs,” said Prism with a cocky grin.

“You’re being punished too, huh?” said Icy.

“It’s no big deal,” said Whirlwind. “At least I get a little time off from the hard training from The Wonderbolts.”

“I managed to hook up with a hot hippogriff last night,” said Prism. Whirlwind let out groan. The last thing she needed was to hear her ex bragging about the many girls he smooched since they broke up. “Her name’s Sunny Horizon,” continued Prism. “Who did you hook up with last night?”

“Nopony,” said Whirlwind with a defeated tone.

“Ya don’t say,” said Prism triumphantly.

“But I did make a very good friend,” Whirlwind looking at Icy with a smile. Icy looked back at the Pegasus mare blushing profusely while Prism looked on with confusion. Whirlwind then ruffled Icy’s mane. Icy simply looked back at her with a warm smile.

Gold Delicious was busy hammering planks into a wooden building when he was approached by Creme de la Creme who looked at what he was doing with awe. Del sensed her presence and took note of her facial expression. "So this is what repairing a house is like!" said Creme with wide eyes.

"Uh...yeah," said Del looking at her in confusion.

"I've heard Mom and Dad talk about the kind of stuff ponies did in Ponyville," said Creme. "It's one thing to hear about it but to see the process with my own eyes is amazing."

"You mean you never saw a building goin' up?"

"My mother always had me on the road and modeling since I was six years old. Can I try?"

"Uh...sure." Creme then walked over to Del's side and Del went over with her on how to hammer a plank perfectly in its place.

"Are you sure you don't need my help?" Anthena asked Turquoise and Cotton Candy as they were busy putting up bricks for a concrete house. The pony/dragon hybrid and the grey earth pony mare looked at each other with trepidation. They did not want to offend their friend by saying that her blindness would prevent her from doing a good job on repairing a brick wall. Turquoise let out a sigh. "How do I say this, Annie?" he said with a cringe. "This is the kind of job where you need to make sure that every block is stacked up perfectly."

"So what?" said Anthena with a shrug. "Princess Twilight's been teaching me a few spells for the job."

"What Turquoise is trying to say is that this job is pretty strenuous," said Cotton Candy with a nervous smile. "It might be tough given your condition."

"My "condition"?" said Anthena in shock. "What's that supposed to mean?" Turquoise and Cotton Candy locked eyes and they both broke out in cold sweats. Just then Claire came trotting towards them and stood right next to the pink unicorn. "Hey, Annie, instead of helping build up walls you could help me gather up the animals at the cottage," said the female pony/dragon hybrid. "I know you could hold your own but tending to the animals might be easier for you given your blindness." Turquoise and Cotton Candy let out relieved sighs knowing that Claire got them out of the uncomfortable situation of explaining why Anthena should not be laying bricks. "Given my blindess?" said the blind unicorn mare with furrowed eyebrows. "You think I can't put up bricks?" With those words Anthena turned to the pile of bricks next to her and levitated them off the ground. She then levitated a mound of wet cement and carried them over to the area where Cotton Candy was working. Each brick covered Cotton Candy from the neck down plastering her to the building. Anthena then shot a beam of magic towards the bricks hardening the wet cement rendering Cotton Candy trapped. A smile appeared on Anthena's face as she waited patiently for praise to come from Turquoise, Claire and Cotton Candy for another job well done. Instead she got nothing but stunned silence from the pony/dragon siblings and a helpless whimper from Cotton Candy. What stood before them was a lopsided mess that Cotton Candy was caught in the middle of. Anthena wore a frown. "It's upside down, isn't it?" she said sheepishly. She then let out a defeated sigh. "I'll go help Claire with the animals," said the blind unicorn mare as both she and Claire trotted away.

Illusion, Nidra, and Valient Heart were busy painting a building. Each of their parents decided that they should help with the construction efforts in Ponyville without their magic so as to not use shortcuts to finish their tasks. So Illusion, Nidra and Valiant Heart had to do their tasks in their alternate forms. Illusion was the form of an earth pony named Coal, Nidra was in the form of Pegasus named Jet Stream and Valiant was in the form of a unicorn named Awestruck. “It could be worse, guys,” said Valiant as he levitated a paintbrush.

“Speak for yourself,” groaned Illusion has he held the paintbrush in his mouth. “You have unicorn powers.”

“I’m not supposed to be doing this,” said Nidra tearfully as she held the paintbrush in her mouth. “I’m a princess!”

Just then Princess Flurry Heart joined them carrying a paint bucket in her mouth. Unlike the other royal children, she was still in her alicorn form. Valiant looked at her shock. “What are you doing here, Sis?” he said.

“As Princess I have an obligation to serve my subjects,” said Flurry. “It’s the least I could do.”

“But you’re still in your alicorn form,” said Illusion.

“Hey, maybe you could use your magic to help us finish this menial task faster,” said Nidra hopefully.

“You’re outta luck, guys,” she said sheepishly. “Mom had a feeling that you would want me to do you a solid so she took all of my alicorn powers before I came.” Illusion, Valiant and Nidra all let out a collective groan.

Nightlight was busy loading debris into a small cart that was attached to his back. Twilight decided that it would be a fitting punishment for him to help with the reconstruction efforts in Ponyville together with being banned from reading the books in the library or any library in town. As he picked up a few brinks Pixel approached him. “Hey, Nighty,” she said.

“Hey,” said the unicorn colt sadly.

“Your mom really did a number on you, huh?” continued the unicorn filly.

“No books for the month is nothing compared to no magical practice,” replied Nightlight. “I guess I deserved it.”

Pixel looked on in sympathy as the prince continued his duties. “Even though me and the girls could’ve stayed much longer at that party,” began Pixel. “We had a great time.” Pixel then cupped Nightlight under his chin catching him off guard. “My favorite part was spending time with you,” the unicorn filly. “Thanks for saving me off that bridge.” Nightlight’s eyes widen at her compliment. Suddenly Pixel gave him a slight kiss on the cheek. The unicorn colt’s cheeks flushed red and his jaw dropped. Pixel then gave Nightlight a warm smile and rejoined Api and Echo. Nightlight looked on as she trotted away. A smile then appeared on his face and he trotted away in shaky steps.

Api, Pixel and Echo trotted around with small carts attached to their backs. Pixel used her unicorn powers to pick up whatever small debris they found. Api looked around spotting changelings, griffons, dragons, hippogriffs and yaks repairing damaged buildings. Soon she had an idea. “Look around you, girls,” said the earth filly. “I see lots of inspiration.”

“Inspiration for what?” groaned Echo.

“There are a lot of creatures looking for coltfriends and fillyfriends,” said Api with a smile.

“Don’t you remember what your mom said?” said Pixel. “Don’t meddle in someone’s love life. Love takes time.”

“Time is something we don’t have if we want our cutiemarks,” said Api. “Take this down, Pixel.” With those words Pixel took out a notepad and pencil. Api then started dropping the names of all the creatures she knew while Pixel wrote down the names on her pad.

Starburst didn’t mind indulging in hard work. It was simply more exercise to prepare her for The Royal Guard. She was busy hammering nails into a damaged building when he sensed someone joining her side. She turned to her right and there was Fletcher in the process of hammering a wooden plank into the building. Starburst considered the scene in shock. “Hallo, Fletcher,” she said in Fletcher’s native tongue.

“Oh, hallo, Starburst,” replied Fletcher.

“You’re being punished too?” said Starburst in English.

“My parents didn’t know that I would be at that party last night,” replied Fletcher in English. “That’s because I didn’t tell them.”

“You snuck out?” said the pegasus with wide eyes.

“We don’t really celebrate Nightmare Night in Norhay,” said Fletcher. “My mother doesn’t like those kind of horror themed things. She’s very superstitious.”

“It probably sucks having to do all this manual labor, huh?” groaned Starburst.

“It’s not a problem really,” said Fletcher. “Farming and construction is a way of life for most ponies in Norhay. Plus, this kind of work will help me in my training for The Royal Guard.

Starburst stopped hammering and looked at the young earth pony stallion with shock. Apart from her dad, her uncle and her older cousin Valient Heart Starburst never thought she would have so much in common with someone outside of her family. “You’re training for the Guard?” said Starburst.

“I plan to join next year,” said Fletcher with a nod.

“I’m training for the guard too!” said Starburst excitedly. “I’m joining first thing next year.”

Fletcher looked back at the Pegasus mare with look of surprise. He then nodded his head and a smile came across his face. “Det ser ut til at vi har mye til felles (It seems that we have a lot in common),” said Fletcher in his native tongue.

“Vi gjør faktisk (We do indeed),” replied Starburst in Fletcher’s language with a smile.

At Pinkie Pie’s house Cloudy Skies trotted towards the bedroom that she shared with her twin sister. She pushed the door open and on the bed was Sugar Rush with her mane in her wavy style together with a huge container of a wide assortment of candy. Cloudy’s jaw almost dropped to the floor. She then rushed to her sister’s bed. Sugar then took note of Cloudy. “Oh, hi, Cloudy,” she said as she bit off a piece of chocolate.

“You got so much candy!” said Cloudy.

“Really?” replied Sugar with feigned surprise. “I haven’t noticed. There’s your loot.” Sugar Rush pointed to a plastic bowl that was the same size as Sugar’s container. In it was an equally huge amount of candy. Cloudy flew over to her bed and popped a piece of hard candy into her mouth.

“This is awesome, Sugar!” said Cloudy through a mouthful of candy. “How did you do it?” Sugar jumped off her bed and trotted over to bedroom window. She stared out the window and got lost in thought.

The night before after the threat of The Furies were vanquished Sugar Rush joined the rest of her family at the Canterlot Castle. She was still bummed over not getting enough candy during her house to house candy search. She was especially bummed for having to donate most of her candy to the Nightmare Moon statue. As she sulked Starswirl the Bearded found her on her haunches in the hallway all by herself. By then she had discarded her Celestia wig revealing her real flat mane. “What’s the matter little filly?” said Starswirl with concern.

“I didn’t get enough candy for Nightmare Night,” said Sugar without looking at him.

“That’s a shame,” said Starswirl sitting next to her.

“Well, I got a great haul earlier,” Sugar continued. “But I had to donate almost all of it to Nightmare Moon’s statue.”

“Oh,” said Starswirl with a thoughtful nod. “But you did a good thing donating your candy.”

“How is that a good thing?” said the unicorn filly looking up at the unicorn stallion with a look of outrage.

“Now there is an abundance of candy for those who were not able to celebrate Nightmare Night,” replied Starswirl.

Sugar Rush’s expression turned into one of shock. For as long as she remembered the reason why the candy never remained at Nightmare Moon’s statue was because she ate it all up. “I thought Nightmare Moon would eat all the candy?” said Sugar giving Starswirl a confused look.

“Actually, there are royal guards who snatch it away before that horrid creature could have one bite of it,” said Starswirl with a chuckle. “The royal guards then donate all of the candy to children’s’ hospitals and orphanages.”

“Really?” said a beaming Sugar Rush.

“The candy you have given to the statue is for a good cause,” said Starswirl. “But let’s keep that between ourselves. Do you promise to keep it a secret and not tell anyone?”

“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” said Sugar Rush waving her hoof and putting it to her eye.

“What’s that?” said Starswirl looking at her in confusion.

“It’s a Pinkie Promise,” explained Sugar Rush.

“I see,” said Starswirl chuckling. “Because you have given so generously for Nightmare Night, you deserve a reward.”

With those words Starswirl shot a bolt of magic before Sugar’s hind hooves and appearing before her was a giant container filled with all sorts of candy. Sugar Rush looked at the huge container with wide eyes and a slackened jaw. She then scooped up some of the candy and laughed widely. Soon her mane inflated back to its wavy style. “Share it between your family,” said Starswirl as he patted her on the head. “But don’t tell them how you acquired it all.” With those words Starswirl trotted away.

Back in the present, Sugar smiled as she fondly remembered the previous night. “What can I say?” she said. “I’ve got friends in high places.” Sugar then spotted a familiar unicorn stallion with a bushy white beard, pointy hat and cape that was adored with golden bells trotting away from the house. Starswirl looked up at Sugar Rush’s direction, smiled and waved. Sugar Rush smiled and waved back as the unicorn stallion trotted away in a distance.

END

Author's Note

In case you're wondering Starswirl's reversal spell is Latin spoken backwards. It goes like this: Inde retro, unde venisti. Non opus est tibi coram te, et tu non ambulant hoc mundo! Regi egredere egredere vir tecum!

English Translation: Back from whence you came. Your presence is no longer needed and you will no longer prowl this world! Away, away with thee!