A Nightmare Night Chapter...

Hi Everyone,

So tomorrow I will have a chapter to release, I wanted it to be a complete story in itself but sadly life intervened so it will be split into two parts, I will aim to get part two to you ASAP, by the weekend if at all possible.

[Unpublished stories cannot be embedded]

I'll let you have a taste of what is to come here;

Out of the back of the V.I.P. tent, some of the stage helpers and free performers were taking a break for something to drink, eat or smoke. I waved and offered them a friendly hello and while I got a few nods of greeting back none of them were interested in giving me the same satisfaction of seeing me that a follower of my reputation would. I hovered there for a few seconds, just to see if a conversation might spark from my presence but as they all went back to their own business, I decided I needed to try a little harder. If the mountain wouldn’t come to me, I would go to the mountain. 

With Melody and now ‘The King of Cool’ still singing on stage, I slipped over the fence to stop normies mixing with celebrities of the Stable, out into the main audience area and around some of the food and beverage stalls set up to feed the grisly mass in the gardens. In other areas further away from the music, there were carnival games and smaller exhibits to see, but I didn’t need to go that far. Slipping through the shadows, using techniques I’d learned during my days as a raider, I moved about behind the carts until I found my first targets of the evening. 

A trio of foals, one of whom I recognized from my first trip to the hospital ward, was walking away from a caterer with gruesome red cotton-candy treats. They’d dressed up, one as a tin pony, one as a witch, and one as a lion, and each had matching containers for collecting the treats they found or earned throughout the night. I moved out behind them as they passed, then let out a soft, sinister chuckle. 

“My, those treats look good,” I cackled in my best impression of the wicked Nightmare Moon, or how my Pa had suggested she sounded when he told me the stories, “but not as yummy as you would be!” I pounced out, creating a series of squealing neighs and bleats from the tiny ponies.

“AHHH! Nightmare MOON!” They yelled, grabbing each other in a hug, eyes bigger than the namesake of my alter-ego. I laughed and strolled out of the cover of the shade, lifting my goggles and grinning.

“Nah, nay bother, wee’uns. It’s just me!” I watched the jaws drop and smiled at their stunned expressions for a moment. Their high-pitched squeaks nearly perforated an eardrum when they shouted again. 

“AHHH! Nightmare Bad Bird!” They immediately rushed forward and hugged me, all trying to talk at once in a maddening jumble of compliments and requests.

“--OHyoursongsaresocoolandIlovethewayyousingthemand--”

“--Areyougoingtosingagain? CanyougosingwithMellowMelodyandtheKingofCooland--”

“--YouweresofunnywhenyousaidthosefunnythingsaboutMellowMelodyandIlikeyoumorethanherand--”

“Whoa, whoa, easy there, lads and lassies,” I chuckled, waving them down with my wingtips and clawed hands. Inside, I was loving this, they could do it all day. I was able to ignore the anchor of amulet of Rara around my neck once more and a warm fuzziness entered my heart. “Thank ye, your jus’ as kind as I was expecting. I cannae do any more singing tonight I’m afraid, but if you’ve got anything to sign..?”      

“Oh, well…” The foals started digging through the goodies they’d been given, looking for something flat enough to sign. It was the little filly I knew, in the Princess dress, who found a long flat candy wrapped in a waxed paper that I could easily scribble on. I took it, only to notice that I didn‘t have a pen to sign anything either. I asked the foals, who shook their heads and was about to speak to a vendor of the cotton-candy stall when I happened to look at the packet in my claws again. 

“Sweet Elite Swizzling Super Sweet Stick!”

Sweet Elite. This was a product from Molasses’ candy shop in the Le Grand Sector of the Stable. The problem was that three months ago, Mole’s ascension had meant that Moley couldn’t go back to her store again and since then it had remained closed. I’d expected one of her brothers or sisters to claim the property as theirs but none had. Only one pony had ever really had any concern in wanting to keep it in operation and she was in the Under-Stable with the changelings. Or, at least, she was supposed to be...

Hope you enjoy reading part one tomorrow, have a fantastic Halloween and all good scary things!

~ Your friendly neighborhood Scaramouche