Chapter One: Sugar Cube Corner
Whirl Wind and Sonic Flare in:
Nightmare Night
Chapter 1: Sugar Cube Corner
It was a sunny day in Ponyville as Whirl stepped out of the Town Hall. He turned around and closed the door saying, "Another day, another weather analysis prepared for next week." The green pegasus turned back around and stretched his wings with a yawn. He had just worked an eight hour shift planning the weather for all of next week, including Nightmare Night which was tomorrow.
"I like working as a weather analyst but it can get a bit repetative after a while." He thought as he took off into the sky. It was the time of the day where he had to check the weather teams work. He had to make sure that they had followed the schedule he drew up. Everything looked just fine, clear skies just as he ordered... except... there was one cloud with a red pegasus laying on it. Whirl gave a sigh and flew down to the cloud.
The pegasus was fast asleep. Whirl knew this pony all too well, in fact it was his best friend Sonic Flare. "Flare!" He shouted to wake him up.
"WARBLEGARBLE!" Flare shouted as he was jolted awake from Whirl's voice. "Geeze Whirl! Give me a heart attack why don't you?!"
"I am sorry Flare, you just looked so relaxed on that unauthorized cloud."
Flare looked down at the cloud and then back up to Whirl. "Hey! Don't give me that! You know I love relaxing on the clouds! Besides, Rainbow Dash does it all the time!" He shouted in protest.
Whirl gave him a serious look. "Rainbow Dash gets permission to use the clouds. You just go off and pluck them from the sky like free floating beds."
Flare folded his forehooves with a 'hmpf'. "Yeah yeah..." He said as he kicked the cloud. In an instant it poofed away.
"Now then, lets go to Sugar Cube Corner. I'm buying." Whirl said trying to cheer his friend up.
Flare's expression immediately turned into joy. "Ah! You always know how to get me!" he said with a grin.
Whirl nodded. "How long have we known each other? Thirteen years? I think I know how to cheer up my best friend."
Flare was not even listening, his mind was lost on all the stuff he was going to make Whirl pay for. "I am going to get twenty muffins and a cake!" He thought.
Whirl saw that Flare was not paying attention at all. "Race you there!" He shouted as he took off.
Flare instantly snapped out of it. "You are on!" He yelled after him as he started to catch up.
Whirl did not even stand a chance, Flare was way better at just taking off like that. After only a short while Flare passed him flashing his orange meteorite cutie mark as he passed. Whirl put all of his effort into his flying and passed Flare just enough to flash his sapphire meteorite cutie mark. Flare pushed past him again and took the lead. He gave Whirl one last salute before really taking off.
Going at the speeds they were flying, they soon reached Sugar Cube Corner. The place was decorated for Nightmare Night, which was tomorrow. Flare landed at the door gracefully and Whirl landed next to him with a loud thud. Whirl, being the large pegasus he was, made the ground around Flare shake slightly when he landed.
"Always got to land with style, huh Whirl?" Flare asked regaining his balance.
"What? If I am going to lose, I might as well go out with a bang."
"More like a boom..." Flare said under his breath.
"Oh ha ha, what are you a comedian now." Whirl said playfully.
"No, I am just a way better skydiver than you!" Flare responded while opening the door. "After you, we can't both fit through at the same time."
"You are so hysterical. You know you should rea--WHOA!" Whirl began before being startled by a pink pony wearing a top hat. She had just set off a smoke bomb at the entrance to the store.
"Welcome, to Magic Cube Corner! I am you magician host, Pinkie Pie!" She said with glee.
"A magician? *cough* But you are an earth pony Pinkie." Flare said as he walked through the smoke. "Nice entrance though, it was good enough to scare the flight out of Whirl."
Whirl simply stood there with a scared look on his face. He shook his head and said, "Pinkie, that was not nice at all. But I agree with Flare, nice entrance."
Pinkie bounced in between them and pulled out some powder from a small bag. "No worries on the whole 'earth ponies can't use magic' thing. I borrowed a bunch of stuff from Zecora this year and I can now do all sorts of cool stuff like her! Watch this! This powder will magically seat you!" She said as she threw the powder on the ground. They were enveloped in smoke and then dragged to a table. "See?! It is amazing huh?" She said as she stood next to the table they were now seated at. "Now then, how can I help you two today."
Whirl paused for a moment thinking about what he wanted. Meanwhile, Flare was ordering his twenty muffins and cake. Whirl decided this was going to hurt his wallet for offering to pay so he just ordered a single muffin. Pinkie nodded and dashed back into the kitchen.
"So, how did planning the weather for Nightmare Night go?" Flare asked.
Before Whirl got to answer Pinkie Pie had already come back with their order. "Here you go you two! Enjoy!" She said just before throwing down another smoke bomb. Both Flare and Whirl coughed a lot before the smoke dissipated. Whirl eventually caught his breath.
"It went well enough. I think that this will be a nice and slightly cloudy Nightmare Night." He said with a smile.
Flare had already eaten five muffins before Whirl finished his sentence. "Coo--" Flare said with his mouth full of muffin.
Whirl simply shook his head. "You are so uncivilized." He said as he took a small bite out of his muffin.
Flare had just finished his last muffin. "Hey Pinkie! Can I get this cake to go?!" He asked. Pinkie can back over with a box.
She put the cake in it and set it on the table. "Want to see something cool?!" She asked. "ALAKAZOOM!" She shouted. All of a sudden the box with the cake exploded covering everypony at the table in chocolate cake.
"Well... there is goes..." Whirl said jokingly as Pinkie Pie giggled.
Flare was all out laughing. "Pinkie Pie, you are a riot! That is why I love eating here!"
Pinkie gave him a smile. "Thanks! Come back anytime!" She said as she returned to the counter.
Whirl and Flare stood up and left, but not before Whirl payed the hefty tab. It started to get late as they walked down the streets.
"So what are you going to be for Nightmare Night?" Flare asked.
"I was thinking about being a royal guard. What about you?"
"I am going to be a night guard! This is perfect! Day and night! What a great idea!"
"Sounds like a plan to me! I will go buy the costume right no--- AUGH!" He started to say before more smoke appeared in front of them. Flare burst out laughing as Pinkie Pie stood there. "I almost forgot to get you another cake Flare! Here you go!" She said giving him the cake.
"Thank you Pinkie. Breath Whirl, it was just Pinkie Pie again."
Whirl took a deep breath just as Pinkie vanished again. "That Pinkie Pie is going to give me a heart attack." He said holding his chest.
"Naw, that will be me. When I am declared the newest skydiver for the Wonderbolts and you aren't!" He said with a chuckle.
"In your dreams. Anyway, I am going to go buy that costume. I will meet you tomorrow outside Town Hall, okay?"
"Yeah yeah, no worries! See you tomorrow!"
Chapter Two: Nightmare Night
Chapter 2: The Guards
Whirl woke up the next morning with a lot of energy. He had his costume, which he was to wear to work, ready to go. Whirl had managed to grab the only one they stocked this year. It was a perfect replica of the Royal Guards armor. He leaped from his bed and stretched. "Always good to limber up before work, because it will be the only time I get to do so all day." After he stretched he went to his bathroom to prepare for the day. He brushed his teeth and thought about combing his mane, just like he did every morning. Normally he wouldn't bother to comb his hair, but he was going to be wearing his costume all day. "I had to lose that race against Flare last week..." He thought as he pulled his comb through his mane. Normally he wouldn't comb his mane, but he didn't want it to look bad after he took off the helmet.
He got his costume and put it on. It was a bit heavy, he had to get an exact replica made of metal. He posed in the mirror and smiled. "Oh yeah, this is great." He thought with confidence. He ate a quick breakfast and headed off to work. He got about half way when Flare landed right next to him. "Looking good!" He said with a chuckle.
Whirl sighed. "Yeah, this armor is very heavy you know."
"You got the metal version too?! This is going to be the best Nightmare Night ever!" He said with a large grin.
"Yeah if I am not dead from exhaustion." Whirl said ironically.
"Nah, you will be fine. All you have to do today is desk work right?"
"Yeah, but this armor is HEAVY!"
"You can tough it out, this is nothing compared to that time you lifted those boulders off of my property."
Whirl gave him another sigh. "True, but... HEAVY!" He said as they arrived at Town Hall. "Meet me here at 6 P.M. when I get off. Be in your costume." Whirl said in a serious tone.
"Yeah yeah, I will have it."
"Princess Luna is supposed to visit, I don't want you to embarrass me. Be. Here. On. Time."
"I will be, I know you have a crush on the Princess. Bye!" Flare said as he took off.
Whirl just shook his head and turned around. The Mayor was right behind him. "All dressed up I see. Don't worry, your secret crush is safe with me." She said as she trotted off. Whirl just stood there and blushed with a stupid look on his face. "First embarrassment of the day." He thought as he trotted through the door.
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Meanwhile, Flare had gotten to the post office. He met up with his wife Air Mail and they started their route together. "So Flare, how is Whirl doing?" Air asked with a grin.
"He is not doing too well, he lost a bet last week and he is now wearing an exact replica of Royal Guard armor. It is made of real metal and everything."
"You are making him wear that all day? That is just cruel."
"That is the point!"
"Well, I am just going to have to send him something to cheer him up after today."
"Like that pie you sent him? By the way, he found out he is allergic to roses. So no more rose pie."
"Oh my, was he okay?"
"Obviously he was, he is still alive isn't he?"
Air bopped him on the head. "Don't be a smarty pants! I know he is still alive, I was just concerned about his health. Anyway I got the candy to give out to the foals and you don't get any. So sayeth the Spider Queen!"
Flare gave her a fake look of fear. "Oh no! The Spider Queen! I am doomed!" He said with a sarcastic tone.
Air bopped him on his head again. "Don't sass the Spider Queen!"
Flare rubbed his head where Air had bopped him. "Okay, okay! I will obey! What is your wish my Queen?"
Air gave him a kiss. "Keep working hard, we will have fun later." She got back to work.
Flare gave he a smile and then continued his work.
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Whirl wiped the sweat off of his brow. This day was going terribly. He was embarrassed on numerous occasions and on top of that the suit of armor was making it so hot! But all bad things must come to an end. He stood up at 5:55 P.M. and started to clean up his desk. When he was done he walked out the doors and was greeted by Flare in his Night Guard suit.
"Whirl! Come on! It is 6:01!"
"Flare... I am not making any more bets... ever..."
"Bad day?"
"The worst."
"Well, it is okay. Come on the Princess is supposed to arrive here any time now! Hurry up!"
Whirl took a moment to look at Flare's wings, he had managed to get his wings to look like bat wings! "Flare, how did you get your wings like that?" He asked as they walked to the Nightmare Night event.
"Oh, well I met this unicorn and she said she could give me bat wings. I said yes!"
"What? Aren't you going to miss your feathers?"
"It is only for tonight. Then it wears off."
"Oh... Here we are. Oh look!"
Luna's chariot landed in the town center and Princess Luna disembarked. She was absolutely stunning. Her mane moved like a cloud and glistened in the moonlight. She walked up to that stage and started to speak. "CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!" She said in the royal Canterlot voice. "I HAVE COME TO GRACE YOUR TOWN WITH MY PRESENCE!" After she said this there was a cheer from the small crowd that had assembled. "TONIGHT IS NIGHTMARE NIGHT! THIS YEAR, I HAVE COME UP WITH A WAY TO MAKE THIS THE BEST NIGHTMARE NIGHT IN A THOUSAND YEARS! TONIGHT, WE SHALL RECREATE THE TIMES OF OLD! TONIGHT, YOU SHALL RUN AND I WILL CHASE YOU DOWN! DO NOT BE ALARMED, THIS BUT A SIMPLE GAME OF TAG! IF YOU ARE TAGGED YOU MUST GIVE ME HALF OF YOUR CANDY!" After she said this she transformed herself into Nightmare Moon. "BEGIN!"
After she said this the foals in the crowd ran in all directions. Luna leaped of the stage and landed in front of Flare. "YOU! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be back at the castle night guard? Or are you part of my security detail?" She asked him. Whirl gave a little chuckle. "And you! You are not even supposed to be out past dusk! Are you working over time? No matter, I need you two to help me find these ponies that are now hiding from me. YOUR PRINCESS COMMANDS IT!"
Whirl nodded his head. "Of course we will help, but..."
"Are about to question your orders soldier?"
"No... I mean I..."
"OF COURSE WE WILL HELP!" Flare spoke up suddenly. "Don't you get it, she thinks we are actual guards!" He whispered into Whirls ear. "We will get on it right away. How shall we signal you if we find somepony?"
"Simply whistle, I will find you." She said as she took off over the town.
"ARE YOU CRAZY FLARE?! What if she finds out we are not real guards?!"
"Then we tell her the truth, duh. For now, lets have some fun and rat out some ponies!"
"Okay, but I still think this a bad idea."
Flare took to the sky and gestured Whirl to follow him. Whirl reluctantly flew up after him. "Okay, you got me up here. Now what?" Whirl asked.
"What do you mean? Look for somepony and whistle... like that one!" He whistled loudly and Luna swooped down in her Nightmare Moon look. She landed next to the pony and tagged him. "HALF OF YOUR CANDY CITIZEN!" She floated a bag up to the pony who gave up half his candy. She looked up to the sky and gave Flare a wink before returning to the skies.
"See, easy enough right?" Flare asked.
"I suppose." Whirl responded. He spotted a large red earth pony trying to hide, it must have been Big Macintosh, he was always with his little sister on Nightmare Night. Whirl whistled loudly and pointed down. On cue Luna flew down and landed next to the figure. She said nothing but flew up to Whirl instead. "THAT WAS A SCARECROW! Do not anger Nightmare Moon again! Or you shall feel my wrath!" She quickly turned around and flew off. Whirl's expression was that of total fear. He was slightly pale and he was sweating.
"Way to go Whirl! You got her to catch a scarecrow!" Flare said while laughing.
"Right, scarecrow. Those are not real ponies." Whirl said with the same expression on his face. He did manage to spot a large group of foals traveling with a light blue pegasus dressed as a Wonderbolt. He couldn't be sure but he thought it was Rainbow Dash "Second chance, here I come!" He gave a loud whistle and Luna swooped down on the flock of foals. They ran away screaming with the blue pegasus following swiftly behind.
"RUN MY LITTLE PONIES! RUN! NIGHTMARE MOON IS GOING TO CATCH YOU!" Luna shouted with a large smile on her face. "That will teach you for scaring me last year!" Whirl thought. Luna soon caught the group and got a rather large sum of candy. She flew back up to Whirl and pulled out a piece of chocolate. "Here, that was quite a find. I think you deserve a piece." She moved her hoof over to him as if to give it to him.
Whirl stared at the piece of candy for a moment before taking it from her hoof. "Thank you, Princess Luna." He said softly.
"SPEAK UP WHEN ADDRESSING YOUR PRINCESS!" She shouted suddenly.
"THANK YOU, PRINCESS LUNA!" Whirl shouted back with a fearful look on his face.
Luna simply giggled and said, "Now then, keep up the good work." She flew up to a group of clouds and laid down on them. She pulled out a lollipop and started to eat it.
Flare flew up next to Whirl. "Way to go champ, for real this time. Keep this up and you might even get a kiss from her."
Whirl blushed. "Don't say that too loudly! I do not want a kiss from the Princess!" He shouted unwittingly.
Luna looked down from the cloud and giggled. "This pony really has a crush on me. I was right to choose these two to pick on. I am willing to be they really think that I believe that they are real guards. That is so cute." She thought as she continued to suck on the lollipop.
Whirl saw her looking and took off, Flare following suit. "Thanks Flare! Now you have embarrassed me in front of Princess Luna!"
"I was not the one who shouted it! You did that on your own!" Flare said while laughing.
"Just keep an eye out for more ponies!" Whirl said as he veered away from Flare. He found himself a nice cloud to lay down on. He looked down below to keep an eye out for unsuspecting ponies.
"Keeping an eye out?" Said a familiar voice.
Whirl turned around to see Princess Luna in her normal form sitting on a cloud. Whirl got a bit nervous. "Uhm yes Princess... I uhhh... Will perform my duty as best I can!" He stammered before giving her a salute.
Princess Luna simply giggled. "You can drop the act, I know you are not a real guard. Nice costume though, it is really realistic."
Whirl gave her a dumb look. "You knew all along? Why did you ask us to help you then?"
Princess Luna continued to giggle at Whirl's expression. "Because it is fun! That and I liked you and your brothers costumes. They were really well put together."
Whirl nodded. "Thank you, but Flare is not my brother. Well not by blood, I like to think of him as a brother though. He has helped me quite a bit in social situations. I used to be quite the shut in."
"Oh really, you seem very normal to me. Well not too normal, most ponies are always too afraid to talk to me."
"Flare taught me that all ponies are equal, that talking to one should not be different than talking to another. Although I don't think he foresaw me talking to a Princess like this. Am I being rude by not talking to you all fancy like?"
"No, it is quite nice in fact. I have not had a normal conversation with anypony except for Celestia and her protege Twilight Sparkle. Her friends too I guess, although they seem to show a bit of fear still."
"Well, allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Whirl Wind. I work at Ponyville's Town Hall as a weather analyst. It is my job to set the weather schedule for the week. I am glad I made it partly cloudy, it makes the night's sky look beautiful."
"You really like it? I worked really hard to make it look extra special for my holiday. I didn't think anypony would notice, thank you."
Whirl blushed again and looked down. He saw Flare sitting on a cloud below them watching for ponies. Whirl grinned evilly. "Princess, may I ask a favor of you?"
"I am not going to kiss you if that is the favor you want." She said with a wink.
"No, no, no! Flare is down there on that cloud. He has been giving me grief all day! Could you maybe.... go down there and scare him?"
Luna looked down at Flare. She smiled and transformed into Nightmare Moon. "Sure thing, stay here though. I am enjoying our conversation." She flew down behind the cloud and let out a frightening roar. Flare sprung up and flew off screaming. Whirl fell onto his back and laughed so hard. Princess Luna flew back up to him laughing as well. "I used to hate this holiday, but now I love it!"
Whirl nodded. "I know, I was here last Nightmare Night. That was quite a fun time. I have to admit, I was a bit worried about you being Nightmare Moon also. But I saw you walking away from Ponyville after you canceled Nightmare Night forever. I saw how sad you were and I... guess that is when I got a crush on you..."
Princess Luna giggled again. "Well, you are very sweet." She moved next to him and kissed him on the cheek. "But, I am not interested in any relationship right now." She explained. "Come on, lets go hunt down some more foals." She dove off of the cloud leaving Whirl alone.
He was rubbing the cheek she had kissed. Whirl felt warm inside, like his heart was a burning ember. He chuckled a bit before leaping off the cloud to continue his search.
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Flare had just reached his home after being scared to death by Princess Luna. He landed in front of his house and knocked on the door.... No response.... He knocked again.... no response. Then suddenly he was tackled from behind. "I have you now Flare! You are under my complete control!"
Flare looked behind him and saw his wife sitting on him. "Oh no, the Spider Queen has captured me! I must obey her wishes!"
"Well that is good, you can go inside and do the dishes!"
"Nice.... I forgot to do them before I left huh?"
"Yes, yes you did. Now get to it!" She said giving his flank a soft kick.
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Whirl whistled loudly, signaling Luna to swarm a small little filly dressed as Celestia. He was having a blast. He could not even remember a time where he had this much fun. His mouth was starting to get a bit sore from smiling so much. But all good things must come to an end also. It was getting late, all the families were at home and the clean up crew was almost finished. Princess Luna was getting ready to disembark and Whirl was right there next to her. "Now then, you have my instructions on how to write to me correct?"
"Yes Princess! I am so happy you are allowing me to send you letters!"
"I enjoyed our conversation, so why wouldn't I allow it. I just hope Tia doesn't read my mail." She said with a smile.
"Tia? Oh that is what you call Princess Celestia I take it."
She simply giggled and nodded. "Well, time for me to go. Farewell Whirl, I can't wait for your first letter." She said just before ordering the night guards to take off.
"BEST NIGHTMARE NIGHT EVER!" Whirl shouted.
Chapter Three: The Next Day
Chapter Three: The Next Day
Whirl had fallen asleep quickly last night, it had exhausted him immensely. He sat up in bed, he was still wearing his costume so sitting up was a task all on its own. He took off his helmet and dropped it to the floor. He shook his head and blinked his eyes repeatedly. "Was it all just a dream?" He thought as he looked around his room. He spotted a note on his bed side table. He picked it up and it read,
Dear Whirl Wind,
I had a wonderful time last night. Our conversation was fun and our tricks were even more fun. I especially enjoyed it when you made that colt cry and gave him half of your candy to cheer him up, that was very sweet.
Remember to write me every now and then so that we may continue our conversations. You seem like a nice stallion and I would very much like to hear from you again.
Sincerely,
Princess Luna
P.S. I hope I didn't frighten your friend too much. He seems nice too.
Whirl let out a laugh at that last part, but the letter confirmed that last night was definitely not a dream. He had a huge smile on his face as he jumped for joy on his bed like a school foal. "Princess Luna wants me to write her letters! This is so---" *BANG* Whirl's suit of armor had come undone and fell off of him onto the floor. The sound startled Whirl and he fell off the bed onto the floor as well. Whirl sat up, his eyes spinning in his head, and tried to stand. This turned out to be a bad idea as he stepped on his helmet and fell right into his bathroom. "This is going to be a great day... I can already tell..." He thought as he rubbed his head.
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Flare was out and about on this fine Sunday morning. He was going to get something special for Air, she was rather upset with him. While he was doing the dishes he dropped her favorite tea cup. It shattered beyond repair and she spent the night crying. On top of that she made Flare sleep on the couch. "Note: Do not drop Air's favorite tea cup." He thought as he reached town. He walked into a china shop and tried to find an exact replica of the cup he broke.
"What can I do for you sir?!" Said a stallion wearing a name tag. The stallion trotted over and gave Flare a smile.
"Uhhh yeah... I am looking for a tea cup with Princess Luna on the side of it."
"Ohhh... Sorry, we don't have anything like that. But our sister store in Canterlot might!" The sales-stallion said with glee
.
"CANTERLOT?! Great.... road trip..."
Flare walked out of the store without saying another word. He knew only one pony who knew Canterlot well enough to help him... Whirl.
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Whirl head a knock on the door. "Who could that... Flare.... I can just feel it..." He thought as he approached the door. As he opened it he said, "What do you want Fla... Oh sorry... I thought you were somepony else." A large guard was standing at his door. "Please come in."
The guard shook his head. "I am not here to visit, I am here to deliver a letter." The guard pulled out a scroll and gave it to Whirl. With a salute the guard turned around and trotted away.
Dear Mr. Whirl Wind,
It has come to my attention that you have approached my sister with an interest of friendship. While I do not have a problem with this I must warn you, Princess Luna has not had a friend in over a thousand years. She may act a bit... differently. Please, be patient with her. I am so happy that she has a friend now, this will help her adjust to modern day life. I am counting on you to help her as much as you can. I will be disappointed if you fail her.
Sincerely,
Princess Celestia
"OH CRAP! Princess Celestia is watching me!!!" Whirl thought as he finished the letter. " 'Very disappointed' oh no! If I screw up, I am going to be banished to the moon for sure! I don't want to live on the moon!" Whirl was sweating like crazy. He trotted around in circles in his living room. Then there was another knock on the door. He immediately walked over to it and opened it. Flare was standing there with a smile. "ROAD TRIP TO CANTERLOT!" Flare yelled as he pulled Whirl out the door.
"CANTERLOT?! NO! WHAT IF CELESTIA SEES ME THERE?!" Whirl thought as his friend dragged him to the train station.
To be continued...
