My Little Pony: Friendship is Bothersome

"I'm so excited about Nightmare Night. I'm gonna stuff my face full of candy." Barb said excitedly as she bounced around the Library.

"I don't mind you eating as much candy as you want, but I urge you to eat it in moderation. We don't want a repeat of the Canterlot Castle flood. Some of the cleaning crew still haven't forgiven you for that." Dusk replied, fixing up his costume.

"I thought you were going as Starswirl the bearded." Barb said, stopping to look his costume over.

"I am. I've just taken a bit of artistic license with it. I wanted to see if I could pull off Starswirl if he'd turned evil. It gives me the chance to go out with my eyes their real colour." he said, turning to face the dragoness with glowing red eyes.

Barb swallowed before sighing. "I still can't believe you're back. I mean how did it happen?" she asked.

"I figure the Elements of Harmony damaged Celestia's seal and it just took a bit of nudging to break it. But make no mistake, my dear Barbara. I am not the same as I was before. But enough about that. It's supposed to be a scary themed night, not an actually scary night." he replied.

"And it's statements like those that prove you spent the last seven Nightmare Nights indoors with your nose glued to a book." Barb commented.

"This coming from the girl who dressed up as her own kind for Nightmare Night."

"It's an Alligator!"

"You look like Barney the Dinosaur."

"I look like a dragon."

"You look like something Sweetie Belle might keep on her dresser."

"Well I can't go dressed as a Timber Wolf again, Granny Smith would probably start swatting me with a broom!" there was a pause in the argument before Dusk burst out laughing at the implication. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh it up, Starswirl." Barb crossed her arms as she moved towards her room. "Trixie went out to get candy for tonight. I asked her to get that chocolate you like." she added. Just as she'd reached the steps, a pair of purple arms wrapped around her and pulled her into a strong but gentle embrace. The laughing had subsided and Barb turned her head to see the smiling face of her big brother, his eyes closed in a look of pure happiness.

Dusk held her closely, feeling the hum of her reptilian body as she breathed. "It'll be a dark day for me when my favourite dragon decides to go off and make a life for herself with Trixie. How could I ever manage without you?" he asked. Barb turned around and hugged him, throwing her arms around his neck. Dusk lifted her into the air and carried her over to the nearest chair. As he sat down, the dragoness melted onto his lap where they just snuggled together for a while. "Without me, you probably never would have gotten that scar." she said finally. Dusk tightened his grip on her.

"I'd give up my magic to have you in my life, Barb. I can't imagine a world that I'm in, and you're not." Dusk replied.

"But aren't I to blame for the last thirteen years?" she asked, her voice breaking.

Dusk angled his head and kissed Barb between the eyes on the bridge of her snout. "Of course not. You were a victim just as I was, if not more so. If anypony's to blame it's... them." Dusk replied, his anger seeping through with the last word. But he quickly reigned it in. "Which brings me to an important question;" he said, causing Barb to look him in the eyes. "Do you hate me for what I wound up doing?" he asked. Barb lost her composure and began to shed tears over the memory.

"How could I ever hate you? It's because of what you did that I chose never to leave your side, even after Celestia turned you into an emotionless husk. I'd do what you did myself if it meant I could stay with you." she replied. "That day, you became the most important pony in my life. I love Trixie, but she comes second to you. That's how I feel about you, my brother." as she spoke, she began to smile. It became clear to Dusk that if she could, Barb would let the world burn if it meant nothing changed between them. He would live as he saw fit, and she would be there by his side, as it was meant to be. A moment of silence was shared between two smiling faces before Barb decided to tuck herself into the crook of Dusk's neck.

A knock on the door drew Dusk's attention. Not wanting to move, he called out to the visitor. "Come in." The door opened a second later to admit Miss Cheerilee, Ponyville's resident school teacher. "Miss Cheerilee. How can I help you. Does the school require new text books, or recommended reading material?"

"Actually, Dusk... I was wondering if you'd be interested in coming to the school after lunch hour as a guest. Scootaloo recommended you as somepony who could make the history of Nightmare Night and I quote 'Even Cooler'." Cheerilee replied.

Dusk tilted his head slightly as he considered the invitation. Already, he was thinking of ways to make it as Scootaloo advertised. "Alright, Miss Cheerilee. I know exactly how to entertain your students. Best make sure the toilets are handy though. I plan to make some of them nearly wet themselves with fear." he said. Cheerilee gave him pause before blinking.

"Oh... Right. Good! I'll just uh... get everything ready on my end." she said uncertainly. Dusk watched with amusement as Cheerilee went back out the door. As she closed it he heard her mutter to herself. "Dear Celestia, what have I done?"

The two chuckled amongst each other at Cheerilee's expense. "You really should think about dialling it down a notch. Never mind scaring the foals, you're going to give her a heart attack." Barb said. Dusk grinned back at Barb before teleporting out from under her. The dragoness fell into the soft cushion of the chair.

"Fine, I'll leave the fog machine here." he said, going upstairs to prepare for the day's events.

Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were barely able to contain their excitement as the School day seemed to fly by. The only class they had left was the History class, which to their opinion wouldn't be a total bore because it was about Nightmare Night; easily their second-most favourite holiday. Today had been special because even Diamond Tiara was in such a good mood about the holiday she hadn't even bothered to bully anypony. She just chatted with Silver Spoon about their costumes for the evening. They expected Cheerilee to be the one discussing Nightmare Night's history, but the appearance of a surprise guest made Scootaloo above all else grin from ear to ear.

"Alright, class, today we're going to be learning about Nightmare Night from a very special pony. Upon Scootaloo's recommendation, I've invited Mr. Dusk Shine here to teach us all about Nightmare Night. So without further ado, Dusk, would you be so kind?" Miss Cheerilee said.

Scootaloo knew it would be good when she noticed Dusk had a cheeky grin on his face. "Thank you, Miss Cheerilee." he began before turning to the rest of the class. "Nightmare Night... Nightmare Night. NightmareNight-NightmareNight-NightmareNight-NightmareNight-NightmareNight-NightmareNight-Nightmare... Night! Show of hands who thinks they know what Nightmare Night is all about?" Dusk asked, taking a rather relaxed attitude towards the whole thing. He's so cool! Scootaloo thought.

Immediately, Diamond Tiara's hand went up. Nopony else dared go before her. Dusk pointed to the light pink filly and waited for her answer. "Nightmare Night is about the exorcism of the demons Nightmare Moon conjured during the war one thousand years go. It's the anniversary of the day the last of the demons were banished from this world and sent back to Tartarus." she replied. Everypony seemed impressed by Diamond Tiar's knowledge of the subject, all except for Dusk who seemed as smug as all get out.

"Actually, Nightmare Night has nothing to do with the exorcism of demons from the Dawn War." Dusk replied, making Diamond Tiara's face drop from happy to unamused. Scootaloo watched the transition with unhidden glee. "Nightmare Night goes further back to before the rise of Nightmare Moon. The origin you spoke of was a gimmick that those who hated Nightmare Moon told in order to spread fear and hatred towards the lunar princess. It gave birth to a cult who lived in the name of Princess Celestia. As some of you could imagine, Celestia was not too pleased with those ponies, choosing to favour her over Luna even after the war, which was what initially started it in the first place." Dusk looked around the room at his temporary students, their eyes gazing at him with the desire to know the truth behind Nightmare Night.

"The true origin of Nightmare Night is more romantic in nature than that. It's actually the anniversary of the night the Orphanages throughout Equestria were emptied. About ten years before Nightmare Moon came to be, Luna proposed to Celestia that they expand the country to another location, creating a whole new nation. Many believe that Celestia rejected the idea, and Luna, out of rage, took the orphans of Equestria from their beds and carried them all to a new place beyond the world we know. Some even go so far as to claim that those orphans are on the moon, or that they became her stars. The truth is, that Celestia agreed to the idea, and suggested the orphans be given a home together."

"Whether or not the part about them going to the moon or becoming the stars is true or not, nopony knows. And after a thousand years, Luna has lost track of her little nightmares. But legend has it that throughout Equestria, those nightmares descend unto Equestria on the anniversary of their unusual Adoption, taking on the title of 'Children of the Night'. That's why we ponies dress up on this day, so that the Children of the Night can mingle amongst us without us knowing if they're one of us or from the stars above." The whole class was listening in to Dusk's story, Diamond Tiara's anger forgotten as she found herself drawn in.

"And guess what, my little ponies. Tonight's the night." he said. as if on cue, a soft giggle of foals began sounding from within the walls. None of the class had made the sound and foals were looking left and right.

Scootaloo looked back to Dusk. "But how come we dress up as scary creatures?" she asked.

"The Royal guard were new at the time, not used to the creatures we take for granted nowadays. Other ponies, they could handle, but creatures the likes of which they'd never seen before terrified them. Legend has it that the spirits of the guards from back then are still searching for the Children of the Night, and so we dress up to help them confuse the guards and make it home to their beloved mother moon." Dusk replied.

"Is all of that true?" asked Silver Spoon.

"Heard it from the Princesses themselves. Are you calling them liars?" Dusk asked. Suddenly, the pale faces of foals nopony had ever seen before emerged from the walls and all pointed to Silver Spoon with angry glares, their eyes hollow. "Because her children don't seem to like it." he added. Silver Spoon began shaking as she looked at the eyeless faces all around her.

"Could we become Children of the Night?" asked Sweetie Belle. The faces turned to the pale unicorn filly and their angry expressions turned to smiles. They were almost like theatre masks that showed different expressions.

Dusk's grin became scarier than those of the foals' pale ghostly faces. "You'll have to ask Luna herself when she gets here tonight." he replied, earning mutterings from the classroom. "That's right, little fillies. The lunar princess is back to bring your nightmares tonight." All of a sudden, the room went pitch black, even the light of Celesti's sun couldn't shine through the windows. All anypony could see were the faces of the young ghostly foals, and the crimson eyes of Dusk Shine.