"Dude, check it out! Nightmare Moon's in the new game!"
"No way! I'm next!"
"No way, it's me!"
"This is going to be so awesome!"
Litwak chuckled under his breath as he watched the line grow before the Soul Calibur console. Of course, there would be a long line to try the new game, both one player and versus. Nightmare Moon being present in the game the day it was first playable just added to that. Though he could hear some of the customers wondering about why Nightmare Moon didn't have alternate colors or costumes - and why only one person could play as her at a time - Litwak was pretty sure he could guess as to why.
He sat back and watched with a smile as the first player cleared the campaign mode with Nightmare Moon, all the way up to the battle with Inferno. He started to get nervous at that point, however. He knew that all the characters had drawn image cinematics after campaign victory. He knew he hadn't programmed one in, despite what everyone assumed. He was half afraid of what would happen if one didn't show up.
He needn't have worried. With Inferno's defeat, the first gray scale image appeared, showing Nightmare Moon standing proudly over a scorched battle field against a starry backdrop. Text appeared under it as unusual music played.
Nightmare Moon stood over the battlefield, staring down at her defeated foe.
It had been a long battle, but she had overcome.
And now, a decision awaited. She spoke to the blade.
The next image appeared shortly after. This time the view was from over Nightmare Moon's shoulder, staring down at Soul Edge where it was half embedded in the ground.
"You have fought well, demon. You have great power.
But in the end, that is all you are. Power without control.
That is your destruction."
The text faded, and the next paragraph appeared.
"If that is the sum total of your ambitions, then this is your end.
However...if you would be more, I can make that possible.
Tell me, demon...will you serve your Queen?"
The third image of browns and grays appeared, a close up of Soul Edge's eye, fading as the eye swiveled.
There was silence for a time, the evil sword unresponsive.
Then, without warning, the demonic eye swiveled to lock on its vanquisher.
A voice echoed, carrying no sound, reaching straight into the soul of the listener.
The screen faded to black.
"Yes."
The last image showed Soul Edge's view of Nightmare Moon as she grinned. Above her head, the stars spelled out, "Thank You For Playing".
The customers were going wild. Litwak let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. Not only had the sprites taken care of things once again, they'd done an amazing job with it. He briefly wiped his glasses before pushing them back on, turning back to the rest of the arcade, reminding himself he had more to do than just watch whatever Moony was up to that day.
Halloween brought a huge surprise to the first person to put a quarter into Sugar Rush. Instead of the usually brightly colored tracks, the entire game plunged into night, and Nightmare Moon laughed. "The Night shall last Forever!" she proclaimed loudly.
This wasn't something completely new. Ever since Nightmare Moon's 'growth spurt', Eternal Night triggered whenever a player came in first with her every round of the Grand Prix, allowing them to take a victory lap around each of the tracks at night, seeing the beauty the glowing terrain and the stars gave when the sun didn't blot out the light. At the same time, the sound track for the course would be transposed into a Minor key.
This time, however, all the tracks were in night from the start for the entire day. Not only that, but the main background music was very different from normal, and quite familiar. Not only that, but the usual candy along the tracks had been replaced with pumpkins, candy corn, and other Halloween themed treats, with a tree full of candy apples revealing its burden to be brightly colored bats halfway through the track.
At one point as the player drove by spectators, they sang out.
"This is Nightmare Night
This is Nightmare Night
All make way for our Dark Queen, ho!"
The real shocker, though, came with the bonus track that appeared in single race if the player didn't choose to race as Nightmare Moon. Milky Way.
The various karts appeared up amongst the stars on a cotton candy cloud colored dark blue swirled with black. The racers sat in their karts, and then Nightmare Moon flew up in Dream Eater, stardust trailing behind her. Flowing up, the kart caught the tip of the cloud. "Follow the Queen of the Night, mortals, if you dare!" Nightmare Moon proclaimed, turning to drive off. "Witness the beauty of my Night!"
The track took shape behind Dream Eater as it flowed through the night sky, stars twinkling around it with the world a panorama down below. If they drove off the edge of the starlight, they would fall to the world below. If they fell too far behind, the track disappeared behind them. If they pulled ahead of Nightmare Moon, they drove off into infinity. It was definitely a track that required high levels of skill and control...but the view was absolutely breathtaking. And the music was gentle, relaxing, and soft...though everyone who listened felt like there should have been lyrics. When the song ended, so did the track.
Each time the track was played, the path was different, seemingly dictated by the whim of Nightmare Moon, sometimes even defying gravity as the track performed the occasional loop-de-loop or corkscrew.
If the player won the track, their racer would sit beside Nightmare Moon in Dream Eater, staring up at the moon. "The song's so familiar..." Nightmare Moon whispered softly. "But what does it mean?"
After the same events on December 21st, the longest night of the year, the sprites gathered after closing to celebrate Nightmare Moon's first year as a sprite in the arcade, a major milestone for them. Not all games lasted a full year. However, despite the celebratory mood, she remained melancholy, always glancing up at the moon she had raised for her own party in wonder.
What does it mean? she asked herself silently. She could almost, but not quite, hear the words the song was supposed to have...