//------------------------------// // Filly Panic and Nightmare Returns // Story: Crazy, Clever and Cunning // by Fresnor //------------------------------// I just sit there with my face buried in my hooves as Pinkie Pie tries to interact with the filly I had brought home. Why did I think that I would have time to get her settled down before Pinkie showed up? I’ve seen how she just seems to know when something is going to happen and she just shows up unannounced, so why would this be any different. I sigh as I pull my head up and start dragging Pinkie away into another room while she still keeps babbling on at the filly. I decide to not even bother trying to quiet the pink mare down, and instead just use my magic to clamp her mouth shut and turn her towards me. “Pinkie, I know how you usually do these things, but that filly is the last pony you want to be acting like your usual self with. She already has issues interacting with other ponies and for some reason she is terrified of you.” I keep my voice as calm as I can while I say this, but I think the seriousness in my tone affects her as her eyes widen as they dart between me and where the filly is hiding. I notice that her mane is starting to straighten out, indicating she is getting what I’m saying so I continue. “She has been all alone for a long time and she doesn’t trust others easily, it took me a year to even get her show herself to me and that was only after hurting myself.” I try to think of a good way to make her understand then I realize she knows somepony that I can base things off of. “Try to think of her like Fluttershy, but like ten times worse when it comes to other ponies.” Pinkie Pie’s eyes widen even more at this as her hair starts going back to normal, figuring that the worst is over I release her from my grip. “So she needs a super duper ‘Fluttershy Special’ party? But who can I invite to it if she is only good around you?” I consider this as I know denying her the chance to throw a party won’t help as she still hasn’t given up on throwing one for me yet. “It’ll have to wait until I get her used to a few others around town, and I know the perfect three that can help, though it’ll have to be done carefully.” Pinkie Pie looks at me for a moment before she gives me a wink as I continue. “The thing is I need you to promise me not to tell anypony else about her being here until I say you can. I’m not sure how long it’ll take, but if things start to overwhelm her too much then she may run off and get hurt.” The pink mare tries to speak up, “But what if you-“ I cut her off and let her know how serious this is. “Pinkie, this is a ‘potentially lose a friend’ level of importance which is why I need your word.” Pinkie’s eyes immediately contract to pinpoints at my words as she immediately replies with appropriate hoof gestures. “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye. I won’t tell anypony else unless you say so.” I sigh and relax as she does this, having heard how Pinkie reacts to anypony even thinking of trying to break this type of promise. I set a hoof on her shoulder. “Thank you Pinkie, she really isn’t in any condition to be around others, and is also hiding from her family whom she says hate her. I don’t want any word to somehow get back to them until she is ready to face them herself. As soon as she is ready for one of your parties I’ll let you know.” At this I lead Pinkie to the door so that I can get back to calming the filly down. Before she leaves she gives an apologetic look towards where the filly is still hiding before bouncing off towards town. I sigh as she heads off and head back to the couch where the filly is still hiding under. “Are you okay under there?” I say after she quiets down a few minutes later. “I-i-i-is she gone yet?” I hear her stutter out after a few more minutes of silence. “Yes, she’s gone. She shouldn’t be back again until you are ready to see her, and I got her to promise not to tell anypony that you are here. I hear some noises from under the couch as she moves around, though she stays under for some reason. “You know you can come out from under there now?” After a few more minutes of her moving around under there she finally replies. “U-um, I can’t get out. I think I’m stuck.” I just stare at the couch wondering how she even got under there in the first place if she can’t get back out. I can understand P-Okay I don’t understand Pinkie Pie, but she does that all the time. I really hope that she didn’t somehow teach her how to do the same thing on accident; one Pinkie is almost too many as it is. Using my magic I lift the couch up so that she can crawl out from under it before I set it down again. Luckily the couch is still fairly new so it hasn’t had a chance to gather any dust under it. I lie down on part of the couch, and the filly hops up to join me, burrowing into my side. We just sit there for a while, with me trying to calm her down so that she forgets about Pinkie for now. Eventually she speaks up. “W-what were you saying about a name before?” “Well you said you mentioned not having one, and I really can’t just keep thinking you of as ‘that filly’ all the time. With a name you also don’t have to wonder who you are anymore as you will now know.” She looks at me funny as if doubting what I said. “But I don’t know of any good names that I can use.” I look at her and wonder what would make a good name. I think back to where I believe she came from, and come up with something that could work. “Well considering whom your sisters are, how about the name Selene.” She thinks about this for a while before, testing out the name a few times before nodding. “I don’t know why, but I kinda like it. It sounds familiar for some reason.” I just smile at her as a ruffle her mane wondering what she would do if she really knew the truth of her origins. <><><><><><><> The next month flew by as I tried to get Selene accustomed to being around other ponies. I decided to bring Applebloom in on this as she does seem to be the more responsible one of the trio as well as their leader. She started showing up a bit more often to finish building the last few things, as well as to help out a bit with my garden as an excuse to be around. She even brought over the occasional snack which I shared with Selene who seemed to really enjoy the apple flavored treats. She started to sneak around to watch Applebloom like she did with me at the castle, and eventually started talking with her as well. I found her actually out in the open with her after I had finished setting up my now completed greenhouse for the winter. Applebloom had accidentally ran into her after heading back from the restroom while Selene was peeking into the kitchen, distracted by the pie I had cooking. Things went as expected at first, but having dealt with Fluttershy before she knew how to deal with her. She even got her to agree to meet with her other two friends a couple days later. I didn’t say anything to let Selene know that I had set her up a bit to meet the three, but I did give Applebloom a couple more pies to take home in thanks for the help. After that she started to open up more and more, enough where Pinkie Pie was actually able to set up a small party for her and the three Crusaders. Pinkie Pie herself stayed hidden from her, yet I did catch sight of her occasionally as she snuck in refills for the food and drinks. I think Selene may have seen her a couple times as well, but other than her eyes widening she didn’t seem to react as badly as last time, though the cupcake with the big ‘I’m Sorry’ message on it might have helped as well. Soon enough Nightmare Night had arrived again and, while the Crusaders did try, Selene still wasn’t ready to go out into the open quite yet. I did make sure she had plenty of things to do and eat in case they showed up later, but considering how late they plan to be out I really doubt it. I had my own plans for the night after having gone through the previous year so that this time I didn’t feel like the odd pony out. Of course the Crusaders were a bit disappointed not to be able to hear any stories from me again, but they understood my reasoning. I head out towards my goal, after reassuring Selene again, and make it there a bit before nightfall. Knocking on the door I hear some soft sounds before a voice, almost too soft to hear, finally answers. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have any candy for anypony.” I just smile before I reply. “Well it’s a good thing I’m not here for that Fluttershy.” It doesn’t take long after that for her to open the door and peek out warily. “Oh Flarenza, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be with the others getting ready for tonight?” I shake my head at her before replying. “Well after last year’s awkwardness I decided to try something a bit calmer this time. Since I heard that you don’t really like the holiday I thought it would be a good idea to keep you company so you aren’t alone.” She seems to calm down a bit from her earlier wariness and invites me inside. We chat for a bit like we usually do, but as we run out of things to talk about we just sit there in silence while drinking tea. She seems to appreciate someone being with her as she looks much calmer than she did when I arrived. This all changes when she is surprised by another knock at the door much later. “GO AWAY! NO CANDY HERE! VISITORS NOT WELCOME ON NIGHTMARE NIGHT!” Her yelling and switch from being calm to panicking throws me off a bit; though considering how the holiday is all about scaring ponies I can see why she may react like that. Luckily it turns out to just be Twilight, and apparently Nightmare Moon from her reaction. Wait, why would Selene be out here with Twilight? I start to panic a bit myself as Twilight enters wearing some sort of bearded wizard costume and drags Fluttershy outside, not seeming to notice me at all. Huh? What is going on here? I sneak over to a window to peer out, but am forced to cover my ears as a loud voice blasts through the area. Looking outside I find that the pony she saw wasn’t Selene like I expected, but Princess Luna instead. Huh, she’s changed quite a bit since I last saw her. She doesn’t seem offended at being called Nightmare Moon though; I wonder what that could mean for Selene then if that’s the case. I ponder this as I watch the scene outside unfold as Fluttershy seems to needlessly panic and lets her fears completely take over. It’s actually rather funny watching some of her reactions, yet it is also really sad how she is treating the Princess. It seems that she came here for help in trying to tone down her voice so that she can interact with others better. Things seem to be going well, until Pinkie Pie shows up and causes a panic along with all the colts and fillies with her. Now why would she come out here with all of them knowing that Fluttershy doesn’t like this holiday and won’t have any candy? Eventually Twilight and the Princess both head back towards town, while I am forced to retrieve the yellow pegasus from her paralyzed state outside. Eventually Fluttershy recovers enough to talk again, though she still sits shivering against my side. “Now what was all that about anyways?” Well mostly recovered as all she can seem to get out right now is “Nightmare Moon.” “I thought that was Princess Luna, you know the one you freed from the curse of being Nightmare Moon? The Princess that, from the looks of it, was trying to make up for her thousand years of banishment by trying to learn how to fit in again? The one you were acting completely terrified of even after the talk we once about you seeing something in her crying for help, yet when she comes looking for it you instead run from her?” Fluttershy’s eyes widen at each point I make and when I get to the end I feel I may have gone to far as she starts to tear up and begin crying. I just sit there and hold her as she does this, feeling angry at myself for causing her to cry, even if she was being very unkind before. Luckily she doesn’t seem to be mad at what I said though. “Y-y-you’re right, I was being a very bad pony there. I let my fears of Nightmare Night just take over and I didn’t even think about who she really was or why she was here.” I just sit there trying to comfort her. “Well you still have a chance to make up for it. She will probably be around all night and probably into the morning. You can go and apologize to her, as well as Twilight for embarrassing her, and let her know you didn’t mean what you did.” Fluttershy just sniffs and nods to me as I pour her another cup of tea. Eventually she calms down enough that I feel safe to head back to my home and check on Selene. As I head off I notice the lights in her home go off one by one, as she heads off to her bedroom I assume. Once I get home I arrive to find Selene asleep in her room, but not alone. It seems that the three Crusaders had decided to make tonight a sleepover and had returned to share some of the candy they collected. I just smile as I make my way to my room and prepare myself for sleep. <><><><><><><> The second day after Nightmare night started off in a really strange way for me. I rarely got any mail beyond some business related stuff, so when Derpy arrived early in the morning with a letter from some Doctor I was really surprised. The message was short, and all it said was ‘carry your journal and circle supplies today.’ I wonder if this is some sort of joke, but turning to find Derpy I find that she had already left the area. Looking at the message again I just shrug at it. “Well I guess it couldn’t hurt to have everything today. Maybe Twilight would like to see some of the latest things I’ve come up with.” I pack everything up and I make my way into town after letting Selene know where I am going. Things with her and the Crusaders have been going fine, though I wonder how they hide where they all are when they spend the night. Something had been bugging me for a while with them, and I tried to piece together what I knew as I walked to town. I decide to visit Twilight around lunch when I knew she wouldn’t be buried in her books, so I spend some time looking around town. While it was a small town, I had found that there were things that would normally be found in the bigger cities if you knew where to look. I’ve heard some interesting music from a couple of the places on my way through town at night and had wanted to check them out, but never made the time. Taking my time at a few of the shops I wondered what to do next for Selene now that she seemed more comfortable around others. Of course with her still being wary of Twilight and her friends, though Pinkie was still trying in ways more subtle than she usually would be with other ponies, there wasn’t much I could really do. As I pass by a larger red building I get an idea. If I can get her to agree to go to school it should really help her out more. Plus with her disguise and the Crusaders she should be safe from any chance of discovery. As I try to plan out how best to do this I notice that it is getting to be around lunch time. Heading over to the café I enjoy I find that Twilight and Spike also seemed to be heading that way as well. We eventually join up at the same table and chat a bit about things, and I mention how I was planning to visit later with my enchanting things. This excites the purple unicorn as she had been bugging me for another demonstration for a while, but luckily our food arrived before she could enter her lecture mode. While we are eating I wave to the Crusaders as they speed by in their wagon and scooter conveyance, most likely heading off to my place judging by their direction. As they get out of sight I turn back to Twilight, but then I hear a crashing sound, followed by a sickening cracking sound and a shout that frightens me. “SCOOTALOO!”