//------------------------------// // In Search of Nightmare Night // Story: In Search of Knowledge // by thehalfelf //------------------------------// In Search of Nightmare Night Maybe this wasn’t the best idea after all... Cheerilee stood in front of the door to the Ponyville library.  She shifted awkwardly, reaching back and biting one of the wire-framed transparent cloth that served as wings on her costume.  It was somewhat hard to judge their form on top of the black and yellow stripes of her costume, but eventually she gave up and assumed it was okay.  She hadn’t really planned on meeting Twilight here, or at all really, but the tree was on the way to town square, where most of the festivities took place, and she found herself stopping anyway. Just as she finished fixing her wing, she heard a voice, muffled by the heavy library door. “Come on, Twilight!  We have to hurry!”  Even through the door, the voice obviously belonged to Spike. A small laugh followed his outburst.  “Okay, Spike.  You go ahead, I’m right behind you.”  That voice was unmistakably Twilight’s.  Before the implication of the exchange hit Cheerilee, something else did--something small, purple, and possibly shot out of a canon. Spike barrelled into Cheerilee, the impact taking both of them down onto the dusty road.  Cheerilee hit the ground with grunt, cringing as she heard her wireframed wings squeak as they bent.  Again. Bouncing up and dusting himself off, Spike gave Cheerilee a sheepish smile.         “Sorry, Miss Cheerilee.  I didn’t think anypony was there.” Drawn out by the crash and grunting, Twilight stuck her head out of the door.  “Is everything okay out here?” “Yeah, I just fell over is all,” Cheerilee replied, reaching back to straighten her wing once again.  She never imagined it was going to be so troublesome.  Satisfied, she looked up.  Spike was dressed up like some sort of goblin.  His purple scales were covered in a pale green paste that only partially covered his normal color.  Two long stretches of something were stuck to his head.  From where they were and their shape, Cheerilee assumed they were supposed to look like goblin ears, even though one was slightly lower than the other. His costume was a stark contrast to the mare standing in the doorway.  Twilight crossed the threshold and, noticing Cheerilee’s gaze, smiled.  “Something wrong?” “You’re not wearing a costume?”  It was true.  Though Twilight’s mane and tail were darkened, so much so that they almost blended in with the shadows as the library door swung shut, she wasn’t wearing anything that could be considered a costume. “No, I am.  My costume is still at the Carousel Boutique, so I have to go there to get dressed up,” Twilight explained.  “Actually, I’m meeting some of the other girls there, but the square is the other way...”  She trailed off, casting a worried glance to Spike. “Twilight, I go to town by myself all the time!” Spike whined.  “Can’t I just go?” “It’s not you being alone I’m worried about.  I don’t want you eating all of your candy at once and getting sick.” “Twilight...” “I can take him,” Cheerilee said, cutting off Spike.  “I’m heading that way anyway.  I was going to help set anything up that still needs doing before the Mayor’s annual speech.” “A-Are you sure?  I don’t want to bother you...” Twilight began, but Cheerilee cut her off. “It’s fine.  I doubt Spike will be any more trouble than the foals.  Besides, it’s only until Zecora takes the children into the forest, right?  Don’t worry.”  Cheerilee put a hoof around Spike and gently shepherded him towards the town square. “Thanks, Cheerilee,” Twilight called after them.  “I’ll see you later tonight!” Cheerilee stopped and turned back to the library.  “How will I know it’s you?  What are you wearing?” Twilight giggled almost maniacally.  “Trust me, you’ll know.”  Leaving the teacher pondering the last statement, Twilight trotted off towards the Boutique. --_--_--_-- Almost an hour later, and the setup was finally finished.  Most of Ponyville waited in the town square in front of a hastily constructed stage.  In just a few minutes, Mayor Mare would take the stand, and officially begin the festivities.  Already, small crowds gathered around the games, practically vibrating with excitement and eyeing one another to be the first one to play. “Attention citizens of Ponyville!” a voice called from the stage.  Everypony turned towards the raised stage.  Their original looks of expectation mutated to looks of confusion, then to curiosity.  “I have returned!”  A bolt of lightning cracked at the end of the sentence, briefly blinding the gathered ponies and obscuring the speaker. The entire town as one blinked and smiled.  “Hi Princess Luna!” they chorused.  “Happy Nightmare Night!” The Lunar Princess stood tall at the front of the stage.  She smiled, the white of her teeth contrasting with her dark coat.  With a single hoof she waved.  “Let me see,” she muttered to herself, not realizing her voice was still being projected.  “I know the mayor gave me some sort of speech...” There was a collective laugh from the crowd.  Luna blushed and cleared her throat in an attempt to downplay her little error.  From behind a podium, a small stack of notecards fell to the floor and were quickly kicked from sight.  “I want to give thanks to all of you for allowing me to return this year, after last year’s... incident.  This town is important to me, for just outside of it, in the old castle, I was freed from the Nightmare.” Luna sniffled and blinked rapidly, rearranging her thoughts.  “So naturally, when I received a letter from your mayor asking me to return this year and oversee your celebrations, I leapt at the chance.  Thus, it is with great honor that I declare this Nightmare Night celebration open!”  A roar of pounding hooves drowned out the rest of the princess’ speech.  She patiently waited for her expectant stare to quell the crowd before continuing.  “Now, I have come to understand that one of your traditions involved recounting the story of Nightmare Moon?” As the crowd earlier cheered, they now all found great interest in their hooves and the dirt ground.  Luna laughed, dismissing their discomfort.  “All things become corrupted, given enough time.  I would give the actual story, but it... stings in memory, and for the moment I would rather forget.  However, I see no problems with collecting candy.”  Luna’s declaration was met with cheers from the foals, though none were louder than Pinkie Pie.  “I may not gobble you up,” the princess said, once again cutting through the cheer, “but candy donations will be accepted.  Happily.  Just beware, I may no longer be Nightmare Moon, but her spirit may still yet remain,” she finished in a low pitched wavering voice.  A few in the crowd looked around worriedly, but most laughed it off. Princess Luna stepped off of the stage, muttering to herself about how she detested giving speeches, only to be mobbed by foals as she reached the ground.  All their questions and requests bled together.  Luna tried her best to keep up, but there was simply too much.  Eyes wide, she tried her best to answer questions that she caught.  The entire area swarmed with snippets of multiple excited conversations until a loud stomp cut through the voices. “Don’t you want to get candy?” a kind voice asked.  As one, the mob of foals turned to the new voice and beamed.  Luna shot an appreciative look over the foals head to Cheerilee. “Candy?” Pinkie shouted, popping up nearby.  “Come on, there’s candy to collect!”  Pinkie Pie charged off, leading a crowd of every foal in Ponyville.   As the thundering crowd of hooves faded in the distance, Luna looked towards her savior.  “I thank you.  I am... not good with foals.” “You did fine last year.  At the end of the night, anyway,” Cheerilee replied. “Yes, last year...”  Luna trailed off, eyes scanning the tops of the buildings.  Suddenly, she pulled an envelope from under her wing.  “I must be off, there is something I must do.  Could you give this to your mayor for me?” “Uh, sure...”  Cheerilee took the note in her mouth, effectively ending the conversation.  Luna nodded her thanks, then took to the skies, leaving the teacher to find Mayor Mare. --_--_--_-- Outside of Ponyville, four figures waited impatiently.  It wasn’t their original base camp, but due to a rather dauntingly large amount of spells needed for their plan to work, they had to go somewhere more remote.  After all, nothing looks quite as suspicious as a glowing building on a dark night.  Even though, their plan was flexible enough that their impromptu location change shouldn’t debunk things.  All they needed was the signal, and everything would begin. They didn’t even risk conversation.  The entire plan hinged on nopony knowing where they were or what was happening until the last minute.  Their costumes were designed perfectly, enchantments weaved tightly, roles perfectly rehearsed. “Bird call!  Bird call!”  The words echoed over the dark town.  Four hooves met four faces in perfect sync. “This was not in the plan, was it?” one of the figures asked.  She shifted her wings, gently brushing against her armor.  “Was that supposed to be the signal?  I am ready to begin.  This armor is uncomfortable.” “My apologies,” another figure said to the first.  “It was difficult to get proper measurements, considering you could not leave Canterlot, and I was too busy working here to see you.” “She had one job,” a third figure said with a scratchy voice.  “Well, she has a couple...  But this was totally the most important.” “Did I do it right?” Pinkie Pie asked, trotting up onto the hill.  “Hey, why is it so dark?  I could barely find you.”  One of the cloaked figures handed the newcomer a costume.  Pinkie wasted no time slipping it on. “That wasn’t the signal,” the last cloaked figure replied, horn lighting up as she began to weave spells around Pinkie.  “You were supposed to do a bird call, not say ‘bird call.’” “Sorry, Twilight,” Pinkie mumbled still trying to fix the glittery armor to her barrel. Twilight sighed.  “It doesn’t matter...”  Costume donned and enchantments in place, Pinkie took her place with the rest of the group.  “Okay, girls--and princess--it’s time to go.  PInkie Pie has successfully distracted the foals, the note to the mayor is taken care of, and we are all set.  Stick to the plan, and I’m sure this will go great.”  She put a black hoof out towards the group.  “Ready?” Pinkie stuck her hoof in.  “Ready Freddy!” Rainbow added hers.  “Yeah, let’s go.” Rarity gently set her hoof on top of the pile.  “Of course, darling.” Luna added a wing, draping the stack in downy blue feathers.  “I have been looking forward to this,” she said in a barely controlled voice.  “Let us begin.” The pile broke apart, and all of the ponies split up, taking separate routes towards the middle of town. --_--_--_-- Cheerilee slowly trotted through the town, occasionally dodging groups of foals dashing around trying to get more candy.  The message had been rather easy to deliver, Mayor Mare was standing where she usually did on Nightmare Night; she was always near the games, as though trying to work up the courage to play them herself.  Far more worrying, at least to Cheerilee, was the absence of Twilight.  It had been almost an hour, and she still hadn’t showed. So, Cheerilee went to the boutique.  The building was dark, and nopony answered the door.  Likewise, the library was visibly devoid of all life.  Resigned to just wait for Twilight, Cheerilee was heading back towards the town square heard it. A scream. And then another. Worried, Cheerilee took off towards the sounds.  They led her away from the town square, more towards the last group of foals she passed a few minutes ago.  Before she could track them down, however, all that was left of the screams were the echoes bouncing off buildings. “You aren’t a foal,” a voice called from behind Cheerilee.  The cold, spiteful voice made her hackles rise.  “What are you doing out in the town?  Looking to get gobbled up?”  Slowly, as though trying to disguise her movement, Cheerilee turned around.  All it took was the glint of blue armor on top of pitch black fur to make her spin around quickly, to find herself eye to eye with Nightmare Moon. Cheerilee promptly screamed, and bolted. Behind the numerous illusions and costume used to disguise her as Nightmare Moon, Twilight giggled.  There actually were five of them running around disguised as the Mare in the Moon, fulfilling the wish of the foals last year for Luna to come back and scare them.  That was the plan, but Twilight simply couldn’t resist messing with Cheerilee when she saw her walking alone down the street.  Committed to her side plan, Twilight stalked down the alley Cheerilee ran down. “Where are you, little pony,” Twilight breathed.  One of the spells she had cast on all of them disguised their voices.  The fact that Luna had helped arrange this, and was actively participating spoke volumes of her growth over the couple of years.  “You’re a little big for my tastes, I prefer foals, but you have the smell of a foal, and I suppose I can make an exception...”  A small bush began shaking as Twilight drew nearer. “For you!” Twilight shouted, blasting the bush into the air with her magic.  Cheerilee screamed and ran further down into the alley, though there was no way out.  She cowered down in a corner, shaking from fright.  Seeing what may or may not be the object of her fantasy cowering because of her, Twilight paused.  She walked forward slowly, meaning to apologize, but Cheerilee began speaking quickly. “Y-You can’t gobble me up, you’re a spirit, not even a spirit, you’re a legend.”  The words sounded forced, as though the only thing keeping Nightmare Moon away were the words.    “Even if you could, the legend says you can only gobble foals, and I’m not a foal, but if I was, I would have given you candy and you would have eaten that and not me, and--” Cheerilee began to ramble faster.  Figuring her joke had gone on long enough, if it was even a good idea in the first place, Twilight stepped forward, voice taking on a softer tone.  “Cheerilee...” The teacher’s eyes shrunk to the size of pinpricks.  “T-That’s my name!  How do you know my name!?”  Oh right, her voice was different to fit the costume. “Cheerilee,” Twilight said again after dispelling most of her enchantments.  She returned to her normal size, coat shimmered back to lavender, voice took back her normal tone and pitch.  So that she didn’t feel weird, she also took of the black mask that made her visual enchantment easier to cast and maintain.  “I’m sorry.” Cheerilee blinked.  “W... What?  I don’t understand what’s going on.” Twilight sighed and took a seat.  “You remember last year, when the foals asked Luna to come back and scare them?” Cheerilee nodded. “Well, about two months ago, Princess Luna sent me a letter, asking for advice on what she should do.  She wanted to come and scare the foals, but wasn’t quite sure what to do.  All the girls and I got together, and we decided that we would dress up as Nightmare Moon with the princess, and chase the foals.  Kind of like last year, but intentional.  Applejack didn’t want to, because she likes helping work the games, and Fluttershy... is Fluttershy. “I was on my way to intercept another group of foals when I saw you, and I couldn’t help myself.  I just wanted to play a little joke on you, but it didn’t work quite like I intended.”  Twilight hung her head.  “I’m really sorry...” Silence settled over the two like a wet blanket.  As the seconds dragged on, Twilight grew more and more uncomfortable, until she peeked up through her bangs discretely.  Cheerilee was still sitting in her corner, shoulders shaking. “Are you okay?” Twilight asked, sliding slowly forward.  Cheerilee’s shaking got worse, moving from just her shoulders to her entire upper body.  Twilight went a little closer, and rested a hoof on the teacher’s shoulder.  “I’m sorry.  I’m so, so sorry.  I didn’t mean to upset you like this...” “It’s not that...” Cheerilee slowly said, enunciating each syllable.  She looked up with a face-splitting smile.  “I was so worked up over nothing.  I really shouldn’t be laughing, but...”  A small giggle slipped past her lips.  “You got me good, Twilight.” Hesitantly, Twilight smiled.  “So... you aren’t mad then?” “No.”  Cheerilee shook her head.  “My family has always been real big on jokes and such, especially on Nightmare Night.  I’ll... I’ll be fine.  You go, do your thing.  I’d be willing to be that the rest of your group is wondering where you are.”  Cheerilee waved a hoof towards the alley’s entrance. “Still sorry,” Twilight said, getting to her hooves.  Slowly, she began applying the spells   Cheerilee shivered as the mild lavender unicorn morphed before her eyes into the subject of many terrible stories and legends. “Before I forget,” Nightmare Moon said, snapping Cheerilee from her thoughts.  “Since we didn’t really get anything accomplished yesterday, I thought we might make next Saturday just for the book.” “Aye-uh, yeah.  S-Sure, just... just don’t say anything while you’re in that disguise, alright?  It’s... weird.  I like your voice so much better than Nightmare Moon’s...”   A single cricket chirped in the silence. “S-Saturday,” Twilight mumbled before calmly strolling out of eyesight before scrambling to find the others.