Nightmare Night: The Musical!

by OneLonelyPickle

Rating: everyone
Tags: Izzy Moonbow, Pipp Petals, Sunny Starscout, Comedy, Hitch Trailblazer, My Little Pony: A New Generation, Zipp Storm, Slice of Life
Length: 9573

How do you introduce a spooky Equestrian tradition to a country that's just starting to unite after centuries of interracial mistrust? With a musical, of course! And absolutely NOTHING will go wrong!

Nightmare Night.

It's one of Equestria's oldest traditions. Or, it was before the pony tribes became divided hundreds of years ago.

Months after Sunny and her friends helped the pony tribes of western Equestria see the light about pony unity, the time of year approaches when Nightmare Night used to be held. Sunny sees an opportunity to revive the ancient tradition.

But how does an Earth Pony do something like that without scaring the bejeebers out of everypony?

With a musical, of course!

...

It's going to go exactly as you would expect.

Published 2021-10-31 16:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2021-10-31 16:40:01 UTC

The Beginning Part, The Middle Part, and the End Part

Nightmare Night: The Musical!

A G5 Nightmare Night fic by: OneLonelyPickle

“MWAHAHAHAHA I AM NIGHTMARE MOON – THE DARK PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!”

The group of fillies and colts shuffled back and cried muffled shrieks of terror behind their hooves. A fire blazed in the middle of the circle of ponies, most of whom were young foals save the terrible evil one closest to the pyre, tall and dark.

She was Nightmare Moon – an ancient evil of Equestria that many had long since forgotten about. Yet there she was in the flesh – tall like the magic evergreens of Bridlewood, slender like a model but as gruesome in appearance as a spectre. She was dark blue, almost as dark as pitch night, and a strong-looking metal armor covered part of her body – the flickering fire caught in the glint.

Worst of all were the two piercing eyes of black that seemed to gobble up the quivering foals. They hid behind their hooves in earnest, and many started to cry. Lightning crashed seemingly right beside the fire and Nightmare Moon cackled evil.

“THE NIGHTTIME WILL NEVER END!” she roared before laughing again. All the foals screamed.

“Izzy!”

Sunny Starscout clip-clopped to the circle of shaking pony children, her face one part stern and two parts surprised.

“You’re taking this too far!”

Nightmare Moon looked at Sunny with blinking eyes, then back at the foals. They shivered like little mice caught in a blizzard. She giggled.

“Oops, am I? Sorry!”

Izzy Moonbow’s horn lit up and the Nightmare Moon mask she wore over her head was lifted off with a bluish glow. Her magically malformed body changed back into the usual Izzy shape. The foals all screamed.

“HEADLESS MARE!” one shouted with a pointed hoof. The foals scrambled up and ran every which way screaming. Two colts collided with one another with a thud. Izzy looked around frantically as Sunny facehoofed.

“Izzy the point isn’t to scare them so bad they never sleep again!” Sunny looked up and smiled remorsefully. “It’s just supposed to be a little scare, for fun!”

Izzy’s mouth became an O.

“Ohhhh, for fun…”

Izzy looked over at Sunny and smiled with thick dimples. She giggled.

“But what’s more fun then getting scared at a spooky story, right?!”

Sunny got closer and nudged her friend. She motioned with her head towards a colt and pointed her hoof at him. Izzy followed along.

The colt was sucking on the end of his hoof like a pacifier and rocking back and forth. Sunny looked back at Izzy with raised eyebrows. Izzy stuck her tongue out the side of her mouth.

“Oooookay… too much scary! Less scary next time!” She put her hoof up in front of her as if measuring something. “I’ll just take the Spook Factor down from here,” she squinted and lowered her hoof, “To riiiight about here. Okay?”

Sunny smiled and nodded, then her face became determined and she walked around to corral the foals.

“Okay little ones! It’s okay, Miss Izzy was just playing around! She was only pretending to be Nightmare Moon!”

The running and the screaming did not relent. Three fillies were running around in a literal circle and yelling, “SHES GONNA GET US!” Sunny rolled her eyes. She looked back to Izzy.

“Can you help me out here?”

Izzy closed her eyes, smiled, and nodded. She opened her eyes and looked up to her horn, mouth ajar. Slowly it lit up and sparks flew out of the top – then, suddenly, a bright fireworks display shot out of the top and lit up the sky. All the foals stopped and looked up.

Izzy was panting by the end of it, but the effect was successful – it was quiet once more on the outskirts of Maretime Bay where the Junior Equestrian Scouts were camping for the night. Sunny and Izzy shared a smiling glance.

Then, the foals were screaming again and running in all directions.

“NIGHTMARE MOON ROCKET ATTACK!” they shouted. Sunny groaned.

* * *

It was the middle of the next day after the failed Nightmare Night presentation by Izzy. Sunny was lazily rollerskating about the town, stopping now and again to provide tasty frozen treats to the denizens of Maretime Bay. The air was getting chillier and the days shorter, so that the sky was starting to turn orange already. Sunny wore a fluffy purple scarf. She sighed.

“I’ve got to think of a way to restart the tradition of Nightmare Night without scaring the hooves off of all the foals…” Sunny said quietly to herself. She looked up and spotted a pair of stallions looking at one of the Nightmare Night promotional posters Sunny had put up. A pumpkin carved with a scary face and a figure of what Sunny presumed Nightmare Moon looked like was painted behind it. The stallions, which tiny little pupils, reared up and then galloped away as fast as their hooves took them.

“Apparently, without scaring the adults, too…”

Sunny came to the area in front of the sheriff’s station. As she passed the door, it flew open. She craned her head back, still roller-skating forward, her ice cream freezer in tow behind her.

“Hey! Miss Starscout!”

Sunny rolled her eyes. It was Hitch.

“I told you not to call me that, Hitch,” she answered to the sheriff, who was coming to her in a huff. He waved his hoof about as he spoke with wide eyes and raised brows.

“What’s all this stuff with the posters? And I had like five different townsmares come to me earlier about their kids being scared stiff during Junior Equestrian Scout Night!? What the hayseed is going on?”

Sunny spoke matter of factly.

“I’m trying to bring back an old Equestria tradition that occurred around this time of year. It’s called Nightmare Night. It’s just for fun but the point is everypony dresses up, eats candy, and shares spooky stories! Also,” she got close to Hitch, who backed away somewhat worried, and smiled. “You can scare your friends all you want! Cool, huh?”

Hitch just stared at Sunny for a second with a grimace before shaking his head rapidly.

“Coo—no!” he shouted. Sunny drew back. “It’s scaring ponies, like, for REAL! There are these big posters of a Unicorn everywhere, and foals screaming about a big Unicorn monster with WINGS that’s going to gobble them up! How’s that fun?”

Hitch sighed and shook his head with closed eyes. Sunny became a tad defensive, her eyebrows turned sharply downward.

“Listen, Sunny, I get that all the tribes are coming together again, and that’s great! Honestly, I am all for it — you know that!”

He put a hoof around Sunny’s shoulder, the mare still not convinced of Hitch’s sincerity.

“Who, I may remind you,” Hitch said, hoof raised, “Was it that used one of his sick days to go to Bridlewood to play the part of Bonzo the Clown for Alphabittle’s niece’s cute-ceañera? It was me, wasn’t it?” Sunny snickered at recalling the memory and Hitch frowned. “I was admitted to the HOSPITAL for excessive glitter inhalation!”

Hitch continued, raising his hoof higher.

“AND may I further remind you that I appeared, of my own free will, in Pipp’s 24-hour stream of patty cake in support of the Zephyr Heights General Hospital?” Sunny rose a single eyebrow.

“Yeah Hitch, I do remember all of that — what’s your point?”

Hitch sighed. He released his grip around Sunny.

“My point is that I’m 100% committed to the cause of Equestrian unity, just like you. But it’s my strong, best friend advice that you should hold off on this Nighttime Merry or whatever thing until next year. Or change it and make it less… scary!”

Sunny shook her head.

“It’s Nightmare Night — and I don’t think that’s necessary. All we have to do is let ponies know what it’s really about — it’s for fun!”

Hitch frowned.

“Is it really though? I mean, celebrating a giant scary Unicorn and Pegasus hybrid monster thing is a for fun tradition?” Hitch started walking around and waving a hoof. “It could all be a ruse to SUMMON this Nightmare Moon character! And then what? What would you do then?”

Hitch stared at his friend and tilted his head and rose his eyebrows. Sunny looked away.

“T-that’s silly! That’s not what would happen! My dad’s research makes it clear that it was just a fun holiday!”

Hitch did not relent.

“Yes but WHY!? It doesn’t make any sense to US to celebrate something like that, and that’s why ponies are getting so spooked! Sunny, this can really damage interpony relationships — and not to mention, I’ve had to really lay on the charm to calm these mothers down!”

Hitch breathed out deep and slicked back his hair.

“I mean, it’s not that difficult,” Sunny rolled her eyes again. Hitch scratched the back of his head. “But I’m only one stallion, and Sprout’s been no help since he’s relegated to garbage pick up duty for the rest of the year.”

It was Sunny’s turn to sigh.

“I know… I know exactly what you’re saying. I don’t want to make things worse — but I want Equestria to return to the way it was! There are so many traditions to restore! So many cities and towns to reclaim, and old friends to meet!”

Hitch smiled at Sunny expectantly, and Sunny smiled back. She continued.

“Buuuuuuut I can understand if maybe we need to scale things back for now — try a different angle with Nightmare Night. Let’s ease ponies into the idea this year…” Sunny looked down in front of Hitch, then her ear twitched. She looked back up and a smile slowly bloomed on her face. “Yeah… Yeah! That’s a great idea, Hitch!”

Hitch blinked rapidly.

“O-oh, it is?”

Sunny nodded.

“Yep! Thanks a bunch — I have some brainstorming to do while I finish my shift, so I’ll catch you later!”

And she was off. Hitch still had a hoof in the air as if to speak. His mouth was open.

“Uhhh, okay. Guess I’ll get back to…”

He looked back to the sheriff’s office. A lineup of middle-aged mares was waiting for him. Hitch frowned.

“That.”

Further down the street, Sunny was beaming as if it was totally going to be her day.

* * *

“So!”

Sunny had one hoof in the air and her eyes closed thoughtfully. In front of her, in a plush room in the palace of Zephyr Heights, was Pipp and Izzy. Izzy was laying back in a vibrating armchair, while Pipp lazily lounged on an armless sofa that matched her colors, tapping on her phone every so often. Sunny continued with a clear of her throat.

“I have decided that we cannot force ponies of Equestria to accept Nightmare Night exactly as it used to be, and so, I am going to ask you two for some ideas on how we could introduce the concept in a way that explains it but doesn’t make it too scary!”

Izzy snuggled back against the vibrating armchair, eyes shut and sighed happily.

“Oh how I miss these things when I leave Z H…” she said quietly. Sunny cleared her throat and Izzy jumped up.

“R-right! The Nightmare Night thing!” she cried. Sunny giggled. Pipp sat up straight, face alive.

“Oh my GOSH, Sunny! Whatever it is, we totally need to stream to my fans – and I’m sure we can even get it to show in Maretime Bay and Bridlewood. I sort of know a gal who knows a gal – they’ll hook us up with the tech.”

Sunny pointed at her friend.

“Exactly! That’s why I came to ask you, Pipp! I knew we could count on you! Izzy, do you have an idea what we could do?”

Izzy was laying back against the armchair again. Sunny called out.

“Izzy! Focus!”

Izzy sat up straight.

“Sorry! But these things are just sooooo comfy!” Izzy cocked her head. “Hey, what if we do arts and crafts! Foals love arts and crafts! And if you want to get to the parents, you do it through their kids!”

Sunny turned and hummed.

“It’s not… a bad idea, but not quite what I think we need. We need to tell the story of Nightmare Night so that it makes sense.”

Pipp asked, “Okay, but what IS the story of Nightmare Night?”

Sunny put a hoof to her chin.

“W-well it’s, uhhh, you know, about Nightmare Moon, the scary evil Unipegasus thing that used to terrorize Equestria… I think.”

Pipp and Izzy exchanged an uneasy glance then turned back to Sunny.

“You don’t know what it’s about?” Izzy asked, getting off the armchair and approaching Sunny. “But what about the show we put on for the Scouts last night? I thought you had that all figured out.”

Sunny crossed her forehooves.

“Not quite, to be honest.” Sunny walked over to a window and looked outside. “My dad wrote a bit about it in his journals, and I remember him telling me about it one year. But he didn’t know much about the tradition either.” Sunny turned back to her friends, Pipp back into her phone. “Oh but that year he did put on a little puppet show for me. I always thought it was really neat!”

Pipp’s head shot up from her phone and her and Sunny locked eyes. Their mouths dropped.

“A show!” they said in unison. Izzy looked between the two of them and spoke nervously.

“Uhh… asparagus!” she shouted. “W-what, are we just saying random words?”

Pipp hopped off her couch and Sunny got close to her, both mares full of smiles.

“Foals love puppet shows!” Sunny proclaimed. “We’ll put on a puppet show!”

“Not EVEN Sunny,” Pipp said, full of cheer. “Because I’ve got a better idea! Okay, so stay with me here.” She pulled up her phone, and Izzy and Sunny got close. “See here? This is a play called Filly Elliot.” The mares saw a small image on Pipp’s phone of a Pegasus smiling happy toward the viewer on a poster for the aforementioned show. It looked like somepony on the Zephyr Heights Social Network (trendy Pegasi called it ZHSN) had shared the picture, and it had thousands of uphooves.

Sunny nodded and smiled.

“Yeah, yeah, okay, and? What’s the better idea?”

Izzy chimed up.

“Oh I know! Is it a puppet show – in the SKY?!”

Pipp shook her head.

“No! Listen, this play got HUGE — we’re talking it made my ZHSN account look like a NOTHING account. And catch this — it’s a MUSICAL!” Pipp looked at her friends expectantly. “We’ll do Nightmare Night — as a musical!”

Izzy gasped a long intake of air.

“WOW!” she finally cried, hopping up with joy. Her horn glowed. “A play! We’ll need lots of costumes and MAKE UP! I can’t WAIT!” She hoofpumped the air. “I KNEW buying a five-gallon tub of sequins was going to pay off someday!”

Sunny looked a bit more reserved than her Unicorn pal and questioned Pipp with a worried brow.

“I’m not sure, Pipp — won’t that be sort of missing the point? We want to get ponies used to the spooky nature of the holiday. A musical is kind of, y’know, upbeat and happy.”

Pipp went back into her phone and flicked her hoof on the screen.

“Just… wait a sec, I want to show you something…”

Pipp found what she wanted and her ears twitched. She turned the phone to Sunny.

“There! See?” Sunny saw the newest image on the phone. It was another poster for a play, this one with a green mare in a witch’s costume smiling toward the viewer, with a mare covered in white whispering to her on the right. Pipp explained. “This is a musical called Whicket! It’s about a Unicorn who is misunderstood as being evil when really she’s just — well, it was made last year, before you came around Sunny, so… it’s basically just about an evil Unicorn.” Sunny and Izzy shared an unsure look. Pipp awkwardly smiled. “B-but the point is that it was scary! For some parts, anyway. But ponies loved it all the same!”

Sunny looked at the number of uphooves and comments. Izzy looked at the phone from all angles and rubbed her chin. The light from Pipp’s window bounced off the gold case.

“I still haven’t figured out what these phone thingies are yet, but they are really shiny!”

Sunny hummed thoughtfully.

“I guess if we do this, it’ll be seen by a ton of ponies, right?” Pipp nodded. Sunny continued. “And it can still be scary, too.”

Pipp shimmied her body, jostling her fluffy, white wings. She smiled wide.

“Sunny, trust me! I can get SO many of my fans to watch — and other streamers, too! Not to mention I know the BEST stallion to be the director” — Pipp’s eyes popped open and somehow, her smile found more room to widen — “Wow! And guess what? I think I’ll even do a SONG for the musical!”

Izzy waved.

“Ooo, ooo, can I do costume design — a-and make up! Oh, and I can do the sound design too!”

Sunny rose a single eyebrow.

“The sound design? Izzy, I didn’t know you knew anything about music.”

Izzy pulled a pair of shutter shades out of nowhere and tossed them on her face. She struck a gangster pose before lowering the glasses slightly so Sunny could see her eyes.

“Seriously girl? Were you asleep when we busted those rhymes at my cottage after the jewel heist?”

Sunny smiled. She was starting to come around to the idea. A shadow swooped down from a high window and drew every mare’s gaze, bringing with it a gust of wind that blew their manes. But it was gone when they looked at where it had been. Somepony landed behind them and spoke.

“Yo. You ladies preparing to leave me out or…?”

Everymare turned around. It was Zipp. She was staring off to a wall, combing her hair up with her wings.

“I was just chillin’ up on the ledge, heard something about a play.” She sniffed as if not particularly interested in what was going on. “Anyway, I dunno, maybe you wanted somepony to, like, fly around or something in this play.”

Pipp’s eyes were shining.

“OH EM GEE ZIPP! YOU WANT TO BE IN OUR PLAY?!”

Pipp took in a sharp intake of air and squealed.

“Zipp you HAVE to let Izzy do your makeup — and we’ll get you an outfit too, something really — u-um…” Zipp looked at her sister with mild disgust. Pipp continued, forcing a smile. “Cool.” She cleared her throat and spoke again in a deeper tone, flattening her brow. “Yeah, cool. For a cool mare, like you.” Zipp smiled and rolled her eyes.

Sunny giggled and looked at all her friends. She nodded.

“Okay… Okay! This can actually work, I think!” Sunny turned to Pipp. “Pipp, do you think this director friend of yours is free right now? I’d want to get this started as soon as possible! And there is a lot of prep to do before the historic Nightmare Night date!”

Pipp puffed out her lips and screwed her mouth into a pouty look.

“’Fraid not. A.L. Winger is the premiere playwright in Zephyr Heights — shoot, I guess all of Equestria! It’s probably going to be a few weeks before we can meet him. And then, of course, the play itself will probably take him a few more weeks to get started…”

Sunny’s face exploded into worry. Her ears stuck straight up.

“But Nightmare Night’s in two weeks! We can’t wait that long!”

Pipp rubbed her cheek with one of her wings and looked up to the ceiling.

“Then… I guess I could just ask him and hope he isn’t too busy. He has always had this thing for me.”

Pipp smiled wickedly.

“Give me two days. I’ll get us that meeting with him!”

* * *

Two days came and went fairly quickly to Sunny, who in her mind was trying to encapsulate all of Nightmare Night into a single play that lasted an hour. All throughout the two days, she was lost in her thoughts. On the day she was to return to Zephyr Heights, Hitch Trailblazer caught her wandering out of town, muttering to herself and staring at the dirt.

“Sunny. Sunny!”

Sunny looked around as if awoken from a trance. She finally looked behind to see Hitch, one eyebrow raised and face pulled into a worried expression.

“You, uhh, you okay? Been acting strange the past few days. And after the whole ‘Nightmare Moon’ fiasco, the moms of Maretime Bay are starting to think you’re possessed.”

Sunny stared at Hitch without speaking. He awkwardly sucked in his lips after a minute, pupils darting from one side of his eyes to the other.

“Uhhhhhh, whaaaaaat?” he asked, becoming slowly fearful. Sunny took a step forward. She rolled her eyes to the back of her head as much as she could. Hitch’s mouth dropped as he beheld the red veins of her eyes.

“AHHHHHH! IT’S TRUE!” he trotted in place with fright for a minute before stumbling back toward town. “SPROUT! PULL IT OUT, PULL IT OUT, SHE’S ACTUALLY POSSESSED!”

From behind a bush nearby, Sprout jumped out, shaking and carrying a string of garlic in his hoof. He cowered and raised it toward Sunny, who was groaning and walking forward at a slow pace.

Sprout dared to look over his hoof and tossed the garlic at Sunny. It wrapped around her neck. Hitch stood next to his deputy.

“Got her! Good throw, Deputy Sprout! That should take care of the WITCH that possessed poor Sunny!”

Sunny inhaled. She coughed and shook the garlic off. She returned to normal, crying with laughter.

“Garlic!” was all she could manage as she doubled over from the laughing. Sprout and Hitch exchanged a look of surprise mixed with fear.

“D-did it work, s-sheriff Hitch?”

“I-I think this is the witch leaving Sunny’s body.” Hitch and Sprout watched as Sunny rolled around, holding her belly. Hitch recoiled in disgust. “My goodness, look at it writhe as it tries to hold on for dear LIFE to Sunny’s body!”

Eventually, the last of the giggles escaped Sunny and she got up.

Hitch and Spout took steps back, Sprout hiding halfway behind his superior.

“Garlic is how you destroy vampires, you goofballs!” Sunny explained, with one final laugh. Both stallions were speechless. Sprout turned to his superior and spoke quietly.

“H-Hitch, you said garlic would expel the witch!”

Hitch wrapped a hoof around his deputy and whispered.

“Sprout, my fearless deputy, I think maybe you’ll uhh” — Hitch made a clicking noise — “Well you’re going to have to take one for the team today. Say the garlic was your idea. I need to maintain a certain level of respect at the station. You understand, right?”

Sprout shoved away and begged.

“B-but!”

Hitch cleared his throat loudly and moved to where Sunny was standing.

“Sunny, it was all Sprout’s idea: the garlic, the witch thing. Totally out of my hooves — I gave him a shot at redeeming himself in the eyes of the law and, well” — he and Sunny looked back at Sprout, who was standing dumbfounded with a hoof raised — “I guess he needs more time on garbage pick up. And I thought he could return to his usual duties early! Darn!”

Sunny shook her head.

“Nevermind that, Hitch! We’re putting together a musical! A Nightmare Night musical!”

Hitch frowned.

“A musical… what?! Is that like some weird joke or something?”

Sunny shook her head. Sprout trotted up to the two.

“Nope! Pipp came up with the idea — well, I guess I sort of helped too. This way, we can spread the word of Nightmare Night without scaring everypony and their mother—”

Sprout interjected.

“My mom does scare pretty easy.”

Sunny continued.

“—and we can tell the story of its origins at the same time! And it’ll be scary too — but not too scary. It’ll be perfect! I’m taking your advice.”

Hitch hummed, not convinced.

“Hmmm. I don’t know, Sunny. That sounds pretty ridiculous, if you ask me.”

Sunny went deadpan.

“This coming from Mr. Garlic?”

Hitch’s ears and body shot up. He coughed and got closer to Sunny.

“H-hey, I said that was Sprout’s idea” — Sprout stuck his tongue out at Hitch, though the sheriff could not see — “Anyway, I’m glad you changed gears on this whole Nightmare Night thing. Maybe it’ll work, the musical. Who knows?”

Sunny smiled.

“Mhm! So, you want a part?”

Hitch twitched backward.

“Hah! Me? In a musical?” Hitch raspberried the air and turned his head incredulously. “Sunny, Sunny, Sunny. You think I…” Hitch pointed at himself, eyes wide. “Want to be in a musical?”

Sunny shrugged.

“Sure, why not? Zipp took a part.”

Sprout blinked rapidly.

“Oh, she did?” He turned to Hitch. “Maybe we should join too, sheriff Hitch. It could be good publicity.” Sprout turned back to Sunny. “I bet she’s going to stream it to her fans, isn’t she?”

“She sure is!”

Sprout turned back to Hitch.

“We gotta go, Hitch! Come on, let’s do it!”

Hitch waved his outstretched hoof towards the other two ponies.

“No thank you. We don’t have the vacation time to leave our jobs and besides: I am not musically inclined.”

Hitch walked away.

“Come, faithful deputy! There’s a cat stuck in a tree over by the old factory. I need your help.”

“Awww… fine.”

Sunny shrugged and continued on her way.

* * *

Sunny was deep into her thoughts on how to structure the musical as her, Izzy, Pipp, and Zipp stood in a golden, windowed elevator that overlooked Zephyr Heights. It didn’t have quite the same view as the one that led to the palace, but it was a pretty picture, if Sunny hadn’t been inside her own mind. The other mares were excitedly talking about their own plans for the musical.

DING

“Oh, we’re here!” Pipp exclaimed. She fluffed up her wings before grabbing her phone and using it as a mirror to look at every angle of her face. “Now girls: A. L. Winger is serious drama business.” The door to the elevator opened, revealing a chromatic lobby inside with grey plush couches. Pipp continued. “Let me do most of the talking because he’s totes not a fan of ‘outside speak’.”

“What’s that?” Izzy asked, head cocked. Pipp partially rolled her eyes. Zipp stared deadpan at her sister.

“’Outside’ speak is what non-theatre goers use — oh, just don’t talk, okay?! I know I said he has this thing for me, but I don’t want to take any chances! Now let’s go!” Pipp nodded at her reflection in her phone and put it away. “We don’t want to be late for the meeting!”

Izzy quietly ooo’d as the mares entered the lobby proper. Her head was on a swivel, taking in all the chrome. There were chrome walls, chrome potted ferns, a chrome fireplace, chrome end tables dividing the grey lounge couches, but on the walls were multiple paintings of a thin, smoky-grey stallion dressed in all black. He wore black shades that hid his eyes and had a thin blonde mustache and a mane that matched it, which was completely shaved on one side and which hung down on the other.

“That must be A. L. Wanger, right, Pipp?” Izzy asked. Almost immediately a frantic Pipp shot back at Izzy with a wide-eyed glare.

“It’s WINGER, Izzy! Don’t let him hear you—”

The lone set of double doors on the other end of the lobby opened with a creak. Pipp stood back up straight and forced a huge smile. She flicked up her mane with one last wave of her wing.

A stallion that looked exactly like the one in the innumerable paintings in the lobby slowly sauntered through the double doors. Sunny thought he looked like he might lay an egg at any moment, he was so tightly wound.

“Perrimena Petals! Daaaarrrrling!”

Everymare but Pipp visibly cringed at hearing the high pitched, whiny voice of Winger. They exchanged worried expressions. Pipp, still all smiles, curtsied and giggled before responding, with a different voice that made the other mares raise their eyebrows.

“It’s a treat to see you again, A.L.! Did you lose a little weight? You look just like a toothpick!”

Winger laughed like a little school filly as he and the short, round stallion that followed him approached the entourage. The other stallion was dressed the same as Winger but wearing a black beret to cover what must have been a short mane. His coat was an off-yellow color.

“Oh sweetheart, you’re like my angel come from the sky! But this blimp of a Pegasus needs to go on a diet capital P RONTO! Toothpick – more like Makes Me Sick, right Corn?”

Sunny watched the short stallion nod. He looked sour.

After some brief introductions (especially since Winger didn’t even look at any of Pipp’s friends), the ponies all took seats at the couches and began to discuss the ambitious idea.

“Daarrrrrrllinnggg, this Nightmare Night idee of yours” — Sunny felt like Winger was addressing her, but since he was staring off at a wall, it seemed only possible at best — “What’s the mode? The main thrust, if you will…” Winger stood up and drove his hoof into the air, screaming as he did. All the mares shuffled back in their seats except Pipp who maintained her poise.

“THE PASSION IN YOUR SOUL DARLING, WHAT IS IT? WHERE IS THE PASSION?” Winger stepped forward and fell to his knees crying. His sobs were shrill, like an overdramatic actress in a play. Sunny turned to Zipp and they both stared at eachother with open mouths. Pipp got up and Corn came to his partner’s side and offered a tissue box.

“A. L., the musical is going to be a horror piece sprinkled with a story about friendship and unity!” Pipp became emotional and fell to her knees, matching Winger. Zipp facewinged.

Pipp conjured tears and sniffled a bit as she met eye to eye with Winger.

“This is going to be the biggest thing since Whicket, A. L. It’s going to make Filly Elliot look like a schoolfoal’s play!”

Winger stared at Pipp for a few seconds then gently nodded. Pipp did the same. Eventually they were both smiling widely and nodded in big sweeping motions. The mares still on the couch could barely believe what they were watching. Izzy leaned into Sunny and whispered, not as quietly as she thought.

“I’m starting to think the air up here in ZH is a bit too thin, if you’re picking up what I’m laying down.”

Sunny turned to her friend incredulously, mouth still open, and nodded rapidly.

Winger, his bottom lip trembling, stood up and blew his nose. He handed the wet issue to Corn, who emotionless took it and shoved it in his pocket.

“Perrimena, my sweet angel. Oh my goodness. You’ve stirred my soul — the veneer on my impassionate shell is shattered. SMASHED… to a million pieces of DUST.” Winger took in a deep breath and rose his hoof confidently. “We shall put on a piece de la musique that will make the sun look like a firefly, it will shine so bright!”

Pipp’s face lit up and she embraced Winger in a hug. At the same time, she turned back to her friends and winked. Sunny finally smiled, but only warily so. A thought lingered in her mind.

* * *

As the days passed and work on the musical carried on in earnest, Sunny’s stray thought became an army of nagging sound bites and images. She found herself wandering through the rehearsal hall and the preparation rooms with a scrying eye that saw everything before her as if it had too many imperfections.

She walked into the craft room. The glare of light bouncing off five thousand sequins sent her reeling backward. She re-entered with a hoof above her brow.

“I-Izzy! What the hay is with all the sequins?!”

Sunny adjusted her vision and she saw Izzy shrug on the other side of the room. Her and many other ponies were gluing sequins to dressed and costumes.

“I thought, since I have all the sequins, and we need to put on a great show, what’s better than flashy costumes?!”

Sunny sighed and turned to leave.

“Well… scale it back a bit, okay? It’s supposed to be a light horror, not a return to disco!” Izzy smiled and nodded in the affirmative. As Sunny left, a stallion who had just entered in a fully decked out sequin outfit and a poofy brunette afro began to whimper.

“W-wait… it’s not?!”

Later, Sunny investigated the rehearsal room. She jumped in place when she realized there were no less than fifty ponies seated and leafing through scripts.

“Uhhh, Mr. Assistant Director?” It was a young stallion, his blonde locks covering half his face. Sunny thought he looked more like a model than an actor. So did a lot of the ponies in the front row. The “Mr. Assistant Director” turned out to be Corn, Winger’s little friend.

“Mr. Assistant Director, how should I read this line about saving the aliens from Nightmare Moon’s tractor beam – should I read it as a joke or with tons of dramatic flare?”

“THE ALIENS?!” Sunny shouted. Somepony in the back immediately leaned down out of sight as Zipp waved over to her friend.

“Hey Sunny! Come to watch us rehearse? Corn’s done a pretty bang up job so far, I think.”

Sunny looked over to the little stallion, who was standing on a stool in front of the many actors and actresses, staring forward emotionlessly. He opened his mouth to speak, and what came out was like a little filly’s voice brought through a pitch changer several times.

“Jus feel jer soul. When joo read, let jer heart do dhe reading.”

Zipp fought back giggles. Sunny bit her lip to hide her laughter. She quickly remembered what had made her so upset and refocused her ire.

“Why does Nightmare Moon have a tractor beam?! And ALIENS?! Hello — somepony please explain the aliens part to me!”

An actress near the front giggled and replied.

“I mean, like, how can you have the setting take place on another planet and have no aliens?”

Some gruff sounding stallion near the back answered as well.

“And ya can’t have a sci-fi thriller without tractor beams!”

Sunny sat on her haunches and cradled her head in her hooves.

“T-those aren’t answers! You just raised MORE questions! What in the name of Twilight Sparkle is going ON!”

Zipp waved at her friend again.

“Oh, uhh, Sunny?! You want to hear me say my lines?!”

Sunny dashed out of the room, determination on her brow. Zipp lowered her hoof.

“Awww, at least you could have seen the cool costume they’re doing for me.”

From the back of the collection of ponies, Hitch arose.

“Zipp! Do you think she saw me?”

Sunny ran and ran until she could hardly see straight. There was only one pony who could explain the catastrophe that Nightmare Night: The Musical was shaping up to be.

Sunny burst onto the stage of the Belleroponi Grand Theatre. She was taken aback at the sight of the audience seating area from her vantage point; she hadn’t yet been on the stage. It was quite the giant theatre, and pretty imposing to see how many hundreds of seats, from the ones on the floor to the VIP seating on the walls and even a ceiling box (where all the video equipment sat). She shook her head to return to reality.

Not far away on the stage was A. L. Winger and Pipp. Just beyond was what Sunny, in horror, realized was one of the sets.

A translucent giant white pyramid, much taller than it was wide, housed what appeared to be space-age button panels and screens. A pony that looked like an astronaut was inside. Part of the glass of the pyramid, in the front, was tinted, so it looked like it had two eyes, a nose hole, and at the bottom rows of white teeth.

Outside of the pyramid structure were various ponies of different shapes dressed like orange cubes. On top of each was a tiny green rotating prop that looked like a satellite dish. In the middle of all of them — and this really made Sunny’s stomach sink — was a tall piece of candy corn with legs. Or at least, something that resembled candy corn more than anything else.

“Come out, foreigner!” the actor under the candy corn costume shouted, “This is the planet of the Pumpkinians! Surrender your life to the great Nightmare Moon – or else!”

“Stop!” Sunny shouted. Winger shouted after.

“CUT!”

The actors took a break as Pipp and Winger turned around to face Sunny.

“What is all this?! What exactly has been going on while I’ve been spreading the word in Bridlewood and Maretime Bay?!” She directed most of her questioning to Pipp, who just widely smiled in response. Winger cleared his throat.

“Daaaaarrrling, your original idee is far too blasé for the Equestrian public in this day and age. What they need is… is…” Winger choked up. In a few moments, Sunny heard the sound of hooves stomping up to the stage. Out of nowhere, Corn appeared in a huff with a box of tissues. Winger took one and blew his nose.

“Merci, Corn.”

Corn nodded and ran back to rehearsal, out of breath. Sunny shook her head.

“What it needs is to be set HERE in Equestria and to be about Nightmare Moon! And Nightmare Night! This is all based on tradition, it’s not some goofy space story about tractor beams and pumpkin aliens!”

Pipp sucked in her lips and rose a wing. Sunny turned to her.

“Umm, technically Sunny, the Pumpkinians aren’t aliens – they’re robots built by Nightmare Moon’s evil scientist henchpony, Dr. Candy Cornage.”

Sunny facehoofed.

“That’s not my — Pipp, Winger, we need a rewrite!”

Pipp pleaded. Winger was on standby, still blowing his nose.

“But there’s no time, Sunny! We need to get this thing done within a week. If the point is to get ponies used to the idea of doing Nightmare Night every year, then like, this works! Right? It doesn’t have to match the original story exactly! This is just creative liberty at work!”

Winger clapped his hooves.

“Oh, Oh, right you are dear Perrimena. My angel.” He turned to Sunny. “By the by, daaarrrling, what IS the tradition of Nightmare Night, exactly? You didn’t give us much to work with, honnêtement.”

Sunny frowned. Just then, Sprout ran onto the stage. Sunny wasn’t even surprised anymore at random things happening.

“Mr. Director, sir! I’m here like you asked,” Sprout said, his tail wagging and ears standing up straight. Winger’s face lit up.

“Ahhh monsieur Sprout! That beau Earth Pony face of yours! It’s parfait! But the mane… that coiffure…” Winger brought up a hoof and ran it through Sprout’s mane. Sprout beamed. He turned to Sunny and rapidly raised his eyebrows with cheek. Sunny cringed.

“This coiffure is EXACTLY what the show needs! You’re perfect for the role… the role…” Winger started to cry again. Sunny just sighed and turned away, walking off the stage in despair as she heard the tell tale sounds of hooves frantically marching onto the stage. The last thing she heard before exiting was, “Merci, Corn.”

Out in the streets of Zephyr Heights, there was some hustle and bustle about the new musical. Sunny watched a few fillies and colts running about with pretend Nightmare Moon wings and horns on.

“I’m gonna zap you!” one yelled at the others. They all giggled and dispersed.

Sunny smiled. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

* * *

It was the night of the show.

THE night.

Nightmare Night.

Sunny was dressed in a blue and white-starred dress, a tiara placed in the front of her mane (which was in a double braided style for the evening). All the big names of Zephyr Heights were out to the Belleroponi Grand Theatre. Queen Haven had her red carpet out to its full effect.

Sunny entered the theatre and took her seat in the front beside A. L. Winger, who had just finished wiping his eyes. Corn, beside him, retracted his box of tissues.

“Oh I’m so excité to see it finally performed in front of the biggest audience in Equestrian history!”

Sunny twiddled her hooves.

“Haha, yeah…”

She was dreadfully afraid it would turn off Equestria more than anything.

Sunny looked around. The theatre was abuzz. News reporters lined the walkways separating the blocks of seats giving interviews in front of cameras. She glanced up and saw the cameras rolling through the filming ceiling box. She gulped.

THIS is going to be the entire country’s reintroduction to Nightmare Night?!

Sunny resolved herself to be cautiously optimistic.

I mean what’s the worst that can happen right?

“Hmmm…” It was Winger. Sunny looked at him.

“What is it?”

“I just thought that you are the only one of your little amies who didn’t take a role, daaarrrling. You’ve got the face for it, and the shape, and I think the voice.”

Sunny halfsmiled.

“Heh, well, I was worried about making sure the entire musical… came through in the end. But thank you.”

The lights dimmed.

It was going to begin. Sunny felt sweat drip down her neck, as if everypony was watching HER and judging HER already for what was about to unfold.

Smoke rose from the front of the stage. Giant speakers hidden backstage boomed with thick baselines. The smoke was illuminated with orange and black lights. A stallion appeared on stage in a costume that was simply a pitch-black ball and his mane was a tall pillar of the same shade.

“YO YO YO WE STARTIN THE STORY AT THE ‘GINNIN
ABOUT A BAAAAAD MARE WITH A BAAAAAAD TEMPER
AND A FAR-OUT ADVENTURE ON A FAR AWAY BALL NOT UNLIKE OUR OWN FLOATING IN SPACE, ALL UP IN YOUR FACE…”

Sunny hid in her dress and groaned. Winger was bawling like a baby.

After five minutes, the orange and black clothed ponies dancing in the background stopped and so too did the rapper, but not before a comical UFO picked him up and the curtain closed for the scene change. The introductory rap / soliloquy made no sense to Sunny, but the audience, shockingly, clapped.

What the—

The next scene was set to the backdrop of space, the only piece of physical material being the weird translucent pyramid that Sunny had seen a few days earlier. The astronaut main character was, apparently, some kind of space explorer looking for his long-lost love. He crash landed on the planet of the Pumpkinians to the sound of a choir singing against a rock riff.

The scene ended and more cheering came from the audience. Sunny’s face was fully in her hooves.

As the musical progressed, it became stranger and stranger, and seemed to have barely anything to do with Equestria, let alone Nightmare Night. There was a dance off about a third of the way in, a musical number about protecting the environment, and for no reason that Sunny could possibly fathom, a purple monkey ten feet tall appeared before Act Five and the astronaut main character had to defeat him with a Pegasi feather and a banana peel.

As Sunny prepared to give up and leave, a familiar face and voice entered the stage.

It was… Hitch!

“Don’t do it, Princess Treek R. Trit!”

His voice was his own only spoken as if trying to act, but it didn’t sound right. His costume was an all-black rectangle, he wore dark black sunglasses, and a black sphere was on his head. His fur was spray painted silver.

“If you stop rolling for even one second, you’ll probably explode!”

Sunny had to try to figure out again what was even going on. The character he was referring to was…

Wait.

Sunny squinted. It was Pipp! Only her face was familiar, though it was painted a dusty white, and it was hard to tell it was her because some extras were rolling her back and forth. Pipp’s body was encased in a huge sphere of white with an intricate design inscribed around it. A big frilly crest surrounded her neck and head.

“Dear Knight… of the Round Pumpkinians!” Pipp’s character spoke whenever the extras rolled her upright. “I appreciate… your concern. But we must… stop Nightmare Moon… by any means!”

The extras rolled Pipp upright and a spotlight shined on her face, the lights on the rest of the stage dimming.

“But first we must sing a song about love and pumpkins!”

Sunny groaned and hid her face in her dress again. Winger was hooting and hollering as the next song began. Electronic dance noises blared from the speakers. The stagehooves quietly moved a giant pumpkin shaped cube behind Pipp. Different colored LED lights, mostly purple and black, were twinkling on it. A near-invisible string lowered a set of neon-pink-rimmed glasses onto Pipp’s face.

The song was an experimental EDM piece. Sunny couldn’t think of something less fitting for what she thought Nightmare Night would be.

“Love, love, pumpkins, and love. Ooo yeah fly and soar, love love more…”

Admittedly, Sunny thought the song was well performed (since it was Pipp after all), though the lyrics were utter pop garbage with nothing to do with Nightmare Night except perhaps tangentially.

Against all better judgment, Sunny remained to watch the train wreck finish. There were just a few scenes left. Sunny saw Zipp fly onto the stage in Act Nine, dressed like an ebony-scaled dragon covered in ruby-red spikes.

“RAWRRRRRR!” she roared, doing a fairly convincing job Sunny thought. “YOU LITTLE PONIES HAVE WANDERED INTO THE WRONG NEST!”

The scene focussed on the astronaut main character, Hitch’s character, a giant sentient banana (for some reason), and an orange robot pumpkin that looked like the ones Sunny saw the other day in rehearsal, but taller. The party, of what Sunny assumed were supposed to be heroes, had entered a space dragon’s cave.

Zipp flipped and loop-de-looped around, making sure to shoot a smoldering look out into the crowd every so often. She landed with a flourish.

“The name’s Coolio, the coolest space dragon ever in the galaxy” — Zipp’s eyes became wide — “EVER.”

After far too little dialog, the Zipp dragon agreed to join the quest to defeat somepony called the Orange Emperor. Sunny couldn’t possibly imagine what such a character would look like, though she wouldn’t have to wait too long.

Act Ten, the final act, opened with a huge laser battle between the main characters and the Pumpkinian robots. For some reason, all the ponies had prosthetics on to make their muscles look huge (even Zipp in her dragon costume). The special effects were pretty amazing, Sunny could not deny. It looked like they had actual devices that shot lasers, although of course totally harmless.

A stray laser hit the giant banana and he fell over wheezing and shouting. Hitch’s character, now sporting some serious five o clock shadow, kneeled next to him in what was presented as a touching scene.

“Banana, I’ll avenge you.” Hitch was speaking in a ridiculous, overly gruff action hero voice. “Your son will make it to his little league game — I promise!”

Sunny had a completely emotionless expression on her face. Nothing more could shock her.

Hitch roared in his rage as he stood up from beside his friend’s body and started to shoot wildly, hitting many of the pumpkin robots. After a minute, the main characters were standing amidst a dystopian purple planet with smoldering, laser-burnt robots all around them.

“We did it,” the astronaut pony exclaimed, also in a gruff voice and with five o’clock shadow on his space helmet. “But at what cost?”

The stage started to rumble and the lights dimmed. Everypony looked around wondering what was going on. Even Sunny wasn’t entirely sure. From stage left a bright light turned on and revealed the rest of the darkened stage. Pre-recorded sounds of machine noises rang throughout the theatre. Several Pumpkinian robots came out from stage left ahead of… something big. The main cast of characters all gasped.

“It can’t be!” Zipp was also talking in a manly voice. “It’s him! The Orange Emperor!”

Suddenly an explosion of light cascaded from stage left and blinded the audience. Plumes of smoke erupted from that part of the stage. Sunny covered half her face with her hoof and waited for the lights to die down.

When they did, all she could yell was: “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!”

For taking up the entirely of the left of the stage was an immense orange pumpkin robot, at least that was what the costume denoted, with smoke and mirrors, gears and pistons all over it. The little pumpkin robots around it were carrying the huge pumpkin. At the very top was a single pony’s head, painted a deep, dark orange. The mane was undoubtedly Sprout’s.

“FOALS! YOU HAVE COME TO THIS PLANET NOT TO SAVE YOUR WORLD FROM NIGHTMARE MOON – BUT TO DIE!”

The audience collectively gasped. Sunny did too, but more because of how ridiculous it all was. Sprout’s character continued.

“YOU CANNOT STOP ME – THE GREAT ORANGE EMPEROR, AND ALSO KING, AND ALSO PRESIDENT, AND PRIME MINISTER, AND GRAND POOBAH!”

The penultimate scene of the musical, a battle between the heroes and the Orange Emperor, was set to a backdrop of glowing orange and black lights and smoke. Laser noises played from speakers all around the stage even though the characters themselves were merely hitting and bucking the Emperor, who merely laughed. Something randomly exploded near stage right in an intricate display of special effects and smoke.

“Arggh, he’s too strong!” Zipp’s character shouted, stumbling backward.

Strings attached to Hitch sent him flying backward and he screamed, even though nothing had happened to cause it.

“We cannot… fight this… awesome being…”

The astronaut pony got up, hooves shaking from the apparent pain.

“No… there is a way Sir Knight… there is but one way to kill the Orange Emperor.”

The astronaut pony spoke directly to the Orange Emperor.

“ORANGE EMPEROR – YOUR MANE LOOKS STUPID!”

The stage shook. Sprout’s character became visibly distraught. Little hoses that had hands on the end came out of the side of the pumpkin costume and grabbed Sprout’s head.

“AHHH NO – IT’S NOT TRUE! MY MANE ISN’T STUPID! THAT’S FAKE, THAT’S FAKE INFORMATION! NOOOOOOO!”

Blasts of smoke and light covered the pumpkin costume as if it had exploded. The speakers played emergency beeping noises and after one final scream in defiance from Sprout, the stage exploded with light, sound, and smoke again.

Silence at last took over. The stage was dark. Sunny waited with bated breath – did it truly end without an appearance from Nightmare Moon herself?

Then, a single orange light turned on in the center of the stage. Then a few more lights, either orange or black, flashed on the other parts of stage. Silhouettes of ponies were illuminated. Then the stage exploded into sound and music for the final dance number, set to a power rock ballad.

Each of the characters came forward to stage center to sing their own individual part of the song.

Sunny couldn’t take any more – she jumped out of her seat and onto the stage.

“ENOUGH!” she screamed. “THIS IS NOT WHAT NIGHTMARE NIGHT IS ABOUT!”

The music and lights continued for only a moment before they were cut off. On one side of the stage, the top of the banana costume of the revived-for-the-final-song banana character drooped over.

“How could all of you take part in this? Hitch? Pipp!? Even YOU Zipp?!”

On the other side of the stage, Zipp sheepishly backed up with a fake smile.

Hitch rose a hoof and spoke.

“Well Sunny it’s not like anypony actually knew what Nightmare Night was supposed to be about. You never told us.”

Pipp stood beside Hitch and nodded.

Sunny shook with anger.

“I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT WAS ABOUT OKAY! BUT I KNOW IT’S NOT ABOUT ALIENS AND ROBOTS AND POWER ROCK BALLADS!”

Down near the front seats, a stallion dressed in a torn jean jacket with a long blonde mane whimpered.

“I-It’s not?!”

Sunny snapped down at him.

“No! It’s not! It’s about… well…”

She searched for the right words, but found nothing.

Suddenly, the stage shook again. All the lights went out in the theatre and a rush of visible air blew through the seats. An eerie silence took hold and a heavy sensation of dread descended on each and every theatregoer. Sunny was actually impressed for once that it seemed Nightmare Night-ish.

Something dark blue and purplish swirled in the middle of the stage. Sunny’s eyes nearly bulged out of her skull as an unmistakable figure emerged.

“YOU FOALS!”

The voice was loud and imposing, seeming to echo for eternity. Sunny was sure she knew who it was. Tall, dark blue, fangs so sharp they could tear through steel, an evil armor of black metal, a navy-blue mane and tail that flowed like the stars in the sky – but evil!

Cruel wings and a vicious horn.

It was most definitely the REAL Nightmare Moon.

“HOW DARE YOU PUT ON SUCH A TERRIBLE SHOW IN MY NAME! DO YOU KNOW NOTHING OF THE OLD LEGENDS? OF WHAT TERROR I SOWED?!”

Sunny trembled. It was so cold all of a sudden. The cyan eyes of Nightmare Moon glowed with dark purpose, her teeth gnashed.

“KNOW THIS, PONIES OF EQUESTRIA! IF YOU WISH TO AVOID MY WRATH, IF YOU WISH TO AVOID BEING SNATCHED UP AND TAKEN FAR AWAY FROM YOUR MOTHERS AND YOUR FATHERS, THEN ON NIGHTMARE NIGHT YOU SHALL MAKE AN OFFERING TO ME!”

After a momentary pause where nothing but a ghostly murmur could be heard, Nightmare Moon cleared her throat menacingly.

“ALSO, YOU MUST PUT ON A MUSICAL EVERY NIGHTMARE NIGHT! AND IT BETTER BE FAR GRANDER THAN THIS MISERABLE LITTLE PONY SHOW YOU PUT ON TONIGHT!”

With a witchy, evil cackle the form of Nightmare Moon swirled and disappeared back into the void it arrived in. Slowly, the lights flickered back to life and the smoke disappeared.

Silence.

And then, an eruption of applause. Sunny, meanwhile, had nearly passed out from her terror.

“THAT WAS THE BEST SHOW EVER!” somepony screamed.

“WOOO ENCORE ENCORE!” yelled another.

Hoofclapping resounded from one end of the theatre to the other. All of the lights were turned on and the cast came out to bow. Someponies were dumbfounded by what had occurred; others were none the wiser and all smiles that their play went on without a hitch (well technically not) and was well received.

Roses flew up to the stage as Sunny picked up her jaw.

“THAT WAS… THAT WAS… T-THE REAL…!”

At that moment, Izzy came out from stage right dressed like a crude rendition of Nightmare Moon (complete with giant tractor beam on her back).

“Uhhh, what about my scene?” she asked, looking a tad glum she had missed her chance at dramatic fame. Sunny looked from Izzy to her other friends who were bowing (Pipp just had to stand there due to her giant costume).

“ARE YOU PONIES CRAZY? NIGHTMARE MOON IS BACK! THE REAL ONE! THIS IS TERRIBLE!”

Hitch shrugged.

“Ahhh don’t sweat it Sunny! We’ll just put on a better musical next year!”

Zipp nodded.

“True dat! I can’t wait to get a bigger, BETTER dragon costume — oh, and Izzy, I DEFINITELY want a tractor beam next year! And rocket jet packs!”

Pipp frowned.

“I mean, the song and dance routine was fine, but I’d like a slimmer costume myself...”

A. L. Winger climbed onto the stage, streams of tears flowing from his eyes.

“OH THANK YOU ALL! YOU’RE ALL WONDERFUL!”

Sunny just shook her head, eyes the size of pin pricks.

“A-am I going insane?!”

And from that point on, Nightmare Night returned to Equestria in full force. For the fillies and gentlecolts, there was no reason to scream — they got to enjoy the fun and games and “pretending” Nightmare Moon would return if they did not leave offerings to her of candy given from door-to-door strangers (but not before taking some for themselves). And for the adults, it marked a once-a-year reason to flock to theatres everywhere to enjoy some of the best entertainment Zephyr Height’s premier playwright had to offer.

To Sunny, it was a constant reminder: Nightmare Moon was back, and the threat was very real.

But that’s a story for next year.

Ehh, maybe.

FIN

Author's Note

Happy Nightmare Night / Halloween, everypony!