//------------------------------//
// Chapter 32 - Happy Nightmare Night! 
// Story: My Little Pony: Ren's Adventures In Equestria 
// by MaxTV1234 
//------------------------------//

"Come on Ren! We're going to be late!" Kaede called over, feeling impatient for me.

"I'm coming guys! Just hang on!" I called back as I put the finally touches in Kodi's outfit. "You ready, Kodi?"

"You bet I am!" Kodi nodded with a grin. We both smiled and headed out to the dining hall and showed our friends our costumes.

"Ta-da!" We both exclaimed in joy. I was wearing a pirate costume with a fake beard and all that. I look exactly like Jack Sparrow, isn't this such a great costume? Meanwhile, Kodi was wearing a hot dog costume.

"Well?" I asked with a grin.

"Hm? A pirate and a hot dog, eh?" Mason asked with a soft smile as he was wearing a werewolf costume. "I say pretty good choice, but however, never underestimate that. They're pretty old while a werewolf is quite lovable." 

"Hey!" I exclaimed, feeling offended of that. And...do I detect a boastful tone in him?

"I say you look pretty good, Ren and Kodiak." Kaede chuckled as she wore a pilot's outfit.

"Thanks, so what are you going as Kaede? A pilot?" I asked in confusion.

"Duh, I'm Bessie Coleman!" Kaede answered with a smile before giving me and Kodi's blank expressions. "The first African-American to ever fly?...Do you even know her?"

"Uhh...let's say I'm quite terrible at history." I chuckled nervously.

"Yeah, besides, I never heard anyone of that name." Kodi said with a shrug.

"Well, I guess I can understand Kodiak since he's a puppy, but you Ren, you need to learn more of your history." Mason sighed. Well it's not my fault that I barely know history!

"But I don't know about her nor other famous figures, big brother." Carrie pointed out, wearing a female magician's outfit. "So does that make me dumb Mason?"

"Of course not! You're a little girl, so it makes sense that you don't know much." Mason assured, causing me to sweat-drop. Is he just implying that I'm stupid?

DING-DONG!

"Oh, looks like we got trick-or-treaters!" I exclaimed, walking towards the door while Kodi provided the candy by holding the bowl of candy on his head. I opened the door, seeing multiple fillies at the door with different costumes. 

"Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!" All the foals said in unison.

"Hey everypony! Great costumes!" I said as Mason, Carrie, and Kaede came over while Kodi leaned his head a little for the foals to receive their candy.

"Oh hey Granny Smith! I didn't know you were joining in." Carrie said, smiling at the old pony. Hey, why do I have the feeling  I've seen her a bunch of times?

"Yes, it's pretty late and I was thinking that you went to take your nap back at the farm." Mason said in confusion.

"Exactly! I should have been asleep five hours ago!" The old pony known as Granny Smith said. You know, she sorta reminds me of my own grandmother, a lovable person but likes to sleeps a lot.

"Pipsqueak the pirate, at your service!" A pony with brown spots on his eye and white overcoat with a light brown mane and tail. Hey, wait a minute! He's wearing a pirate costume like me! "Oh wow! You're those humans everypony back home was taking about! Wow, seeing you guys here in Ponyville for the first time is such a rare sight!"

"Oh, does that mean you moved here? From where?" Kaede asked curiously with a soft smile.

"Yep! I'm from Trottingham!" Pipsqueak answered. Trottingham? It's been a while since I last heard that name back then.  "And also this is my first Nightmare Night in my entire life!"

"Wow, that's awesome! This is my first Nightmare Night as well!" Carrie exclaimed in excitement.

"Same here Pipsqueak..." I grinned as I said "And we welcome you to Ponyville and a happy Halloween!"

"Hall-o-ween? Do you mean Nightmare Night?" Pipsqueak questioned.

"Well yeah, for your world, but in our world, we call it Halloween." I corrected.

"Really? Wow, that's amazing. It's like our worlds are similar to each other." Pipsqueak giggled. "Well except the names of the holidays don't sound funny."

"...I don't get it." Mason sighed, shaking his head.

"Oh well, thanks for the candy!" Pipsqueak said happily. Suddenly, a familiar energetic friend of ours popped out along with the foals. 

"Ba-kaw! Hold it! What about me?! Where's my candy?!" 

"Pinkie Pie?" Mason asked in confusion. "What exactly are you doing dressed in some chicken costume?"

"What do you think? I'm celebrating Nightmare Night!" Pinkie replied with a tooth-eating grin before pecking the ground.

"But aren't you a little old for this kind of stuff?" Kaede asked.

"Hey! Nopony is old enough to celebrate Nightmare Night!" Pinkie exclaimed. "Now enough talk! Hand over the candy!

"Okay!" I said, handing some candy to her before saying " But I feel ya Pinkie, we shouldn't grow old of celebrating this time of year! I'll never grow old of this stuff! Never!"

"Me too!" Carrie nodded in agreement. Mason and Kaede looked at each other and softly smiled and sighed.

"Ren...you act like a little kid most of the time." Mason sighed, causing me to glare at him. You take that back!

"Well, shall we?" Kodi asked as I took the bowl off his head and rest it on a nearby table next to the door.

"You bet Kodi!" I nodded with a smile. "Woo! Candy, here I come!"

"Wow, you're really excited." Kaede said in surprise. "I didn't know you were into this holiday."

"It's like Halloween, and besides, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays of the year!" I answered with a smirk.

"And this is my first time doing this kind of thing!" Kodi said as he started drooling. "Think of all the candy we can get."

"Yep! This is my first time we're doing this, even in a new world we're in." Carrie said, crossing her arms in thought before smiling. "But at least we'll have fun!"

"You're right." Mason nodded. "Now come on, our friends are waiting for us to show for the party." Soon, Mason's pet squirrels came out of his werewolf costume and hopped on Kodi's back, who was glad to see them.

"Ahh, thanks for coming with us, you guys." Kodi smiled at the two squirrels, who waved at him with soft grins. "Now come on everyone! How about we head over to the party!"

"Yep! I wonder what the others besides Pinkie are wearing for Nightmare Night!" Kaede wondered.

"I don't know..." I shrugged before smiling. "We better find out! Come on!" I said as me, Kodi, and Carrie dashed off towards town with Mason and Carrie following after us. 

So I bet you're wondering, what are we doing? You see, the other day, Twilight told us about this special holiday that Equestria celebrates every year. They call it 'Nightmare Night'...Why would they chose some weird name remains a mystery for us to know. But however, when we learned that kids get candies from other houses, we soon realized that it was similar to Halloween, and we couldn't miss an opportunity for this. Tonight, we're going to be celebrating the best night of all of Equestria...or so we thought.



Later
"Aah...what an awesome night to be trick-or-treating, right guys?" I asked, carrying a bag filled with all the candy we managed to get. We walked through town, seeing different ponies either wearing costumes to go and trick-or-treat, or just having fun at the many activities like bob an apple, throw a spider on the cob web, and such.

"It sure is, still though, aren't you too old for this kind of stuff?" Mason asked, which caused me to give him a playful smirk.

"Oh come on Mason, I still do trick-or-treating beyond this day." I replied.

"Yeah!" Carrie nodded. "Besides, this is my first time trick-or-treating! Normally, the servants back home would hand us a stack full of candy besides of me, Mason, and Elena going out into town and trick-or-treating like normal kids."

"Ahh...that's so sad." Kaede said, feeling bad for her. "I guess being with a wealthy family has its disadvantages, huh?"

"Yeah, but I learned to adapt to it. Besides, ever since I became a personal bodyguard for Elena, I gave up trick-or-treating years ago." Mason shrugged like it was no big deal.

"So then, why are you wearing that costume?" Kodi wondered as he was chewing on some chocolate as I saw the chocolate smudges on his face. 

"Well...I just wanted to at least get along with you all in this holiday spirit." Mason answered hesitantly.

"Well back when I was a kid, I used to make tons of costumes for the young children back at elementary school, even for my classmates." Kaede chuckled, remembering that fond memory of hers.

"Wow, you must be a real talented costume maker Kaede." Carrie chuckled as she ate some of her candy until she noticed somepony not too far from here. "Hey, isn't that Twilight and Spike?"

"Huh?" I asked before seeing them as well. Twilight was wearing some wizard costume while Spike was wearing a...dragon's costume? Okay, kinda confusing since he's a dragon and all that. "Oh yeah! I'm glad that they showed up! Let's go meet up with them!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Kaede nodded as we walked over to them with grins on our faces.

"Hey Twi! Happy Halloween!" I exclaimed with a big grin. Twilight and Spike noticed us and became happy to see us in costume.

Twilight chuckled at me and said "First of all Ren, it's Nightmare Night! Second, thanks! Nice costumes by the way!"

"Same here! I'm Jack Sparrow!" I grinned, confusing the two.

"I don't know who's that, but you look like a pirate to me." Spike shrugged.

"Speaking of which, guess who I am?" Twilight grinned.

"Umm...Dumbledore?" I asked, much to Twilight's irriation. Alright, let's try again. "Gandalf? Merlin?"

"No! I'm Starswirl The Bearded!" Twilight answered, tired of me getting the wrong answers.

"We're sorry Twilight, but you just looked like a wizard and we have no clue on who do you speak of." Mason reminded her, which made her realized that.

"Yeah, who's Starswirl The Bearded?" Kodi asked curiously while Carrie and Mason's pet squirrels chuckled at that name.

"Tee-hee! It's sound like a funny name!" Carrie chuckled.

"Ugh..." Twilight face-hooved herself before explaining who that was. "Anyway, Starswirl The Bearded is only the most conjurer of the pre-classical era. He created more than two hundred spells. He even has a shelf in the Canterlot library magic named after him."

"Wow, he does sound a lot like Merlin!" I exclaimed, which confused them.

"And who is Merlin? You said that a while ago when guessing Twilight's costume." Spike said, taking a bite of his candy.

"Well, I don't know him by history, but my movie..." I admitted, rubbing my head bashfully. "He's a special wizard in the dark ages in our world. He's known as the greatest sorcerer to ever even create magic."

"Well, I wouldn't say he was the greatest sorcerer..." Kaede chuckled nervously. "But Ren is right about him being a special wizard in the medieval dark ages."

"I see..." Twilight nodded with a soft smile. "Well, it's nice to hear that at least. Though I wished everypony would even know about Starswirl The Bearded...." Twilight grumbled.

"Don't worry Twi, they're just fillies. They don't go to some fancy boarding school like you." I shrugged, which made Twilight sigh.

"Yeah, I guess you have a point." Twilight agreed.

"So Spike, what are you?" Kodi asked curiously.

"Me? Oh easy, I'm a dragon!" Spike said with a big grin, which caused us to look at him with incredulous looks. 

"Seriously? But aren't you already a dragon? Is this some sort of joke that we're missing out?" Mason said with a raised brow, causing Spike to give him a deadpan glare.

"But anyway!" Kaede clapped her hands together with a smile. "Let's just continue with Nightmare Night! I do want to try out many activites anyway!"

"Yeah, same here Kaede!" Carrie chuckled as we were about to go until we heard a loud sound, scaring some trick-or-treaters, even us. 

"What the?!" I exclaimed as I immediately took out my Hacking Gun and saw a dark cloud floating aimlessly in the middle of town, and there was somepony there. "Ah! A Shadowbolt!" I exclaimed as I shot 'Break' towards it, causing the 'Shadowbolt' to dodge it and glared at me.

"Hey! Watch where you aim that thing Ren!" Huh? That voice, is that?

"Rainbow Dash?" I asked incredulous as the 'Shadowbolt' took off her goggles, revealing to be Dash. 

"Yeah, it's me! What? Too scared of being pranked by me that you have to use your little megaphone gun?" Rainbow taunted, causing me to sigh.

"Hey! You nearly scared us!" Kaede exclaimed.

"Yeah! And look at what you did to poor Spike and Kodiak!" Twilight pointed out, seeing both Spike and Kodi choking on their candy. 

"It's all in good fun." Rainbow waved it off.

"What's so fun on nearly giving someone a heart attack?" Mason asked, narrowing his eyes at her. Before Rainbow could respond to his question, we heard another laughter from another bunch of trick-or-treaters, which brighten her mood.

"Oh! Oh! There's another group over there! Catch ya later!" Rainbow grabbed the dark cloud and raced off, setting out another lightning bolt at the next group of trick-or-treaters, which caused us to sigh heavily.

"Oh well, at least there's other ways to celebrate Nightmare Night." I chuckled nervously while rubbing my head bashfully. "Besides, it can't be Halloween/Nightmare Night without some pranking."

"Yeah, but don't bother following her footsteps." Mason said dryly before turning to Carrie. "Especially you, young lady."

"Got it big brother!" Carrie nodded with a big grin. Why do I have the feeling that she's lying?

"Howdy, you all!" We were greeted by Applejack as she was wearing a scarecrow costume. "Nice costumes!"

"Thanks! I'm a magician!" Carrie said with a proud look on her face.

"Yeah! And I'm a hot dog!" Kodi added, bringing up a tooth-eating grin.

"Ha ha! I see." Applejack chuckled as she gave him a pat on the head, much to his joy that he wagged his little tail before noticing the rest of our costumes. "Hmm...you know, you look good at being a pirate, Ren."

"Ha! Thanks AJ!" I smiled.

"And Mason, you're dressed as a wolf while Kaede is dressed as some pilot?" 

"Technically, it's a werewolf costume, and yes, I chose it. I thought it might look decent." Mason replied, with a soft smile. 

"Yeah, I made this costume with help from Rarity." Kaede replied, slightly blushing. "This pilot's costume is actually based on a famous person back at our world.

"I see." Applejack nodded before noticing Twilight's costume. "Hmm...with that beard, I reckon you're some sorta country music singer."

Twilight let out an annoyed grunt that somepony else didn't knew about her costume while I snickered at what Applejack guessed. She barely looks anything like a country music singer, but it was still hilarious!

"I am sorry but what Twilight is wearing is based upon Starswirl The Bearded." Mason corrected Applejack, who smiled sheepishly at her friend.

"Oh...heh heh, sorry about that Twi." Applejack rubbed the ground with her hoof, feeling bad for her.

"No no, it's okay Applejack. I'm sure there's somepony out there who respects my costume or even guess it right." Twilight assured with a soft grin.

"Yeah..." I nodded before realizing that we're missing somepony. "Oh man! I forgot about Flutters! She's missing the fun out here!"

"Oh...actually Ren, I think it's best if you left Fluttershy alone for the night." Applejack said with an apologetic smile.

"Huh? Why's that?" I asked in concern.

"Because well...Fluttershy doesn't like to enjoy Nightmare Night." Applejack admitted, much to our shock. She...doesn't like Nightmare Night?! "See, she's too scared to even hang out and get used to all this."

"But why would she be scared of all this?" Kodi wondered. "I mean, with all the spooky decorations, the creepy costumes, and the dark moonless night."

"...Yeah, I wonder why." Mason said sarcastically in a deadpan expression before turning to me with a soft smile. "I'm sorry if she couldn't come, Ren. Maybe next time..."

I sighed in depression before making a smile and responded "Yeah, I guess you have a point."

"Say, why not take all your worries away with some carnival games?" Applejack offered as she pointed over to a big barrel filled with water and apples. "You feel like bobbing for some apples?"

"I see why not." I chuckled as I headed over to the barrel and proceed to bob an apple until something came out, taking me by surprise. "What the?!" Unfortunately, it was a grey Pegasus with light blonde mane and tail and some weird cross eyes.

"Oh hey! Wanna some of this apple?" She asked politely. I sweat-dropped a little and chuckled nervously and replied "Oh, no thanks. I'm good..."

"Okay!" She said before chewing on the apple and diving back into the barrel of water. Yep, I think I'll skip that for the rest of the night.

Soon after, I heard and saw everypony cheering as I turned around and saw Mayor Mare on stage with some...is she wearing an afro or something? 

"Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!" Mayor Mare announced, causing everypony to clap their hooves on the ground and cheered for her. "Now all the little ponies who have been collecting sweets should follow our friends, Zecora, to hear the legend of...Nightmare Moon!" She said in a creepy voice and began laughing like a mad scientist. Wait, did she say Zecora and Nightmare Moon?

It's been a while since I've last seen Zecora ever since the...*shudder*....Poison Joke incident. I seriously did not being a girl, no offense to all women. But I'm glad to hear that now everypony finally accepts her. Also, Nightmare Moon? Jeez, haven't heard about her since I first got into this world. Wonder why she's related to Nightmare Night? 

"You know, the spooky voice might've work better if she wasn't dressed like that." Spike chuckled.

"Yeah, that afro just makes her look silly!" Kodi said, laughing alongside with Spike. We soon followed them and laughed about that too. Suddenly, a shimmery green haze started to appear around the area, resulting in seeing a familiar zebra dressed in a witches' outfit with spiders in her mane to come forward through the green fog.


"Follow me and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon!"


With a swirk of her cloak, she walked off-stage and made her way towards the Everfree Forest. 

"Who...was that?" Kaede asked in shock. 

"Oh that. That was Zecora, she's a good friend of ours and an potion maker who lives at the Everfree Forest." I answered with a tooth-eating grin.

"And she's a talking zebra?" Mason said with an unsure look on his face. 

"Yeah, I thought it was weird too, but I got used to it." I shrugged.

"But why is she taking us to the Everfree Forest? Isn't that dangerous to go to?" Carrie asked in worried.

"Don't worry! Ren and Twilight will protect us!" Kodi assured. "And besides, Zecora seemed to still be okay living there in one piece."

"Mm-hmm!" I nodded in agreement. "Trust me, Zecora is a very nice zebra. I can take you to her right now while we follow her."

"Well alright. Though, I don't know we're surprised to see a talking zebra." Kaede said, chuckling nervously. "I mean, we've seen pretty weird things lately." Well...you're not wrong there.



Later
Man, even by night here in Nightmare Night, the Everfree Forest still creeps me to this day. While we walked, I allowed my friends to catch up to Zecora as I whispered to her and said "Hey Zecora!"

"Hm?" She turned around and smiled upon seeing me. "Ah! Loodan, it has been so long, I do not know where to began."

"Huh? Did she rhythm?" Carrie whispered to Mason, who shrugged.

"Heh heh, it sure is. By the way, these are my new friends." I pointed over to them and said "The one in the werewolf costume is Mason, the one in the magician's costume is his little sister, Carrie, and the one in the pilot's costume is Kaede."

"Ah, more human friends that mysteriously were brought and sent." Zecora smiled, amazed to see new humans here in Equestria.

"Oh, you do rhyme!" Carrie giggled. "It must be hard to do that a lot, huh?"

"Yes sweet child." Zecora rubbed her head with a soft smile. "But I don't mind it."

"So Ren says you're an enchantress, correct?" Mason questioned with a raised brow.

"Yes, I live here in the Everfree Forest to help those that want to be retiree." Zecora explained.

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Kaede asked curiously.

Zecora let out a chuckle and said "Well you see human girl, that I make potions to help a pony to uncurl their issues."

"I think in other terms, problems that they might not solve." I translated, which made them go 'Ahh' as they finally managed to understand it.

"I am sorry to cut short our talk but I must tell the young ones of the legend of Nightmare Moon somewhat." Zecora apologized.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm curious about it as well." I said with a soft smile. Seriously though, why is Nightmare Moon involve in this? It can't be because both her name and this holiday have 'Nightmare' in it. That's just...well stupid.

"Yeah, me too!" Kodi said with a smile, which Zecora chuckled and scratched under his chin, much to Kodi's joy. We soon arrived somewhere around the Everfree Forest and saw ourselves a statue, but not a normal statue. It was a statue of Nightmare Moon. 

"Is that...Nightmare Moon?" Kaede asked, feeling a little scared of it.

"Yeah." I nodded with a serious expression. Man, even by this day, she still haunts us.


Listen close, my little dears. I'll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary, of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary.


She blew some green powder around us, and before you know it, Nightmare Moon appeared before us. Before I could grab my Hacking Gun, Mason stopped me.

"Wait, it's just an illusion, Ren." Mason assured, causing me to take a closer look at her. Oh yeah, I see it now. Darn these flashbacks of her again!


Every year we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes.


The foals, Carrie, Kodi, and Pinkie screamed in fear, running from the Nightmare Moon illusion. Pipsqueak and Kodiak kept running into their bumped into the statue.


For Nightmare Moon wants just one thing, to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!


Pipsqueak and Kodi accidentally bumped into Pinkie, who'd been hiding her head in the ground like an ostrich, making them both screams. Okay, I'm not even going to begin how did Pinkie do that because she's...well, Pinkie Pie. Soon, Zecora threw out another pair of that green powder stuff.


Hungrily, she soars the skies. If she sees nopony, she passes by...So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year.


The image of Nightmare Moon looked over the fear children but left them alone before soaring up to the skies and exploding into shower of green glimmers of fireworks.

"Umm...Miss Zecora?" We all turned to see Carrie tugging on Zecora's cloak. "If we wear these costumes in order to hide from Nightmare Moon, so she won't eat us alive, then how come we still need to give her some of our candy?"

Zecora pulled on a wicked smile and began explaining.


A perfect question, my little friend, for Nightmare Moon you must not offend.


She blew more of that green powder stuff, showing off another illusive image of Nightmare Moon.


Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you.


As soon as the kids, Pinkie, and Kodi saw the fangs coming out of Nightmare Moon, they screamed in fear and immediately dumped all their candy in front of the statue.

"Quick everypony! Just dump some candy and get out of here!" Pinkie exclaimed in fear.

"Ahh...they're throwing away their treats." I pouted as I held tight on my candy bag.

"You aren't gonna dump your candy at the statue?" Twilight asked.

"Course not! I'm sorry if I'm being too possessive, but I can't! I love my candy!" I exclaimed.

"Of course you wouldn't, you're too old to fall for this trick." Mason sighed. "Zecora just told a mere story."

"But Nightmare Moon isn't! She's real!" Spike exclaimed. "I mean, Ren, Twilight, and the others saw her, am I right?" We nodded in agreement, remembering the first time we saw Nightmare Moon when I first came to this world.

"While that may be true, it doesn't change the fact that it's just a trick." Mason shrugged. "I can understand the children since they're too small to understand and I don't want to ruin this for Carrie since she's enjoying Nightmare Night very much."

"Well, same goes for Kodi." I smiled before taking out some candy and eating it.

"Okay, but what about Pinkie Pie?" Kaede wondered before we saw throwing all her candy away and kept clucking like a chicken. 

"Uhh...she's just an excuse." Mason said blankly.

"Yeah, but you gotta admit, she's funny." I chuckled until I felt some heavy winds blowing around. "Huh? Is it just me or did it feel too windy here?"

"No, you're not the one who's feeling it!" Kaede said, feeling the wind blowing in her face as well. We all noticed the clouds swirling above with the moon in the eye of the apparent storm, much to our worries.

"What's happening?!" Kodi demanded.

"I'm...sure this is part of Zecora's trick, right?" I asked with a nervous smile, but I noticed that Zecora had a worried look, meaning that this wasn't her doing. "...Never mind."

"Hey, what's that?..." Huh? We all looked at where Carrie was pointing up and before you know it, a great flash of light appeared, and through it was the scariest-looking chariot that I've never seen before, and I saw a bunch of Pegasus Royal Guard carrying it, but what really surprised me was that their 'wings' were actually bat wings and had scary red eyes. 

I just hope for my sake that they're costumes. Soon, we saw somepony else inside the chariot as we felt somepony in their gazing at us with its horn lighting up.

"AAAAAHH! IT'S NIGHTMARE MOON! EVERYPONY RUN!" Pinkie screamed as everypony ran for their lives while Kodi and Carrie hid behind me and Mason. I took a closer look at the figure in the chariot as they unveiled their cloak, causing me to widened my eyes in shock.

"Luna?" I asked, surprised to see who it was. It was Princess Luna, the younger sister of Celestia and the ruler of the night. What is she doing here? Did she come to Ponyville to celebrate Nightmare Night with us?

"Oh!" Carrie soon smiled, realizing it was just Princess Luna. "It's Luna! Ha ha, I guess I got scared for nothing!"

"Yeah, same here!" Kodi nodded, happy that they got to see her again.

"Yes, but still..." Mason watches the chariot fly off towards town with a hard and serious look. "What's going on? Why is Princess Luna here?" 

"Maybe she came by to celebrate Nightmare Night with us? I mean, she does love the night time." Kaede suggested.

"Well, that might be a possibility." Twilight agreed. "Let's go find out."

"Okay." I nodded before turning to Zecora. "Sorry if it was all ruin."

"Nay, it's quite alright, Ren." Zecora assured. "But I hope you might enjoy a lovely night in Nightmare Night."

"Alright, thanks Zecora!" I said before we ran off back to Ponyville. "Happy Nightmare Night!"

"Come on! We gotta hurry!" Kodi called as we continued to run through the path of the Everfree Forest. Well, I'm kinda more excited than fearful to see Luna again. We haven't seen each other for weeks and I was wondering why she would show up. After all, she told us that was fearful of meeting everypony of this day due to her past. Maybe she's...she's trying to overcome that fear?



We soon finally arrived to Ponyville and saw Princess Luna descending onto the ground, and judging by everypony's looks, they were terrified to see her.

"Hey, why is everyone acting so scared? It's just Princess Luna." Carrie said, confused to see everyone likes this.

"Yeah, they shouldn't be afraid!" Kodi said, growling angry at them.

"Calm down everyone." I assured, patting Kodi on the head. "I'm sure Luna will explain her reasons of being here and will calm everyone down and see how fun she is."

Unfortunately...I spoke too soon.

"Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold...the real Princess Of The Night!" Princess Luna shouted, causing us all to cover our ears.

"Yeah...I highly doubt that." Mason said, covering his ears in pain. 

"Well wasn't expecting that." I said in a sweat-drop.

"A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration!" Unfortunately, everypony who was bowing to her scooted away from her, which she still haven't noticed. "Together, we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!"

As if on cue, we heard some thunder cracking and lightning blasting off. Okay, that was TOO convenient for something like that to happen.

"Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!" Pinkie screamed, causing everypony to scream in fear and run away, creating a disaster around the place. Princess Luna finally noticed everypony's fear as she tried to stop them and calm down.

"What?! No, children, no!" Luna said, trying to calm them down, but to no avail. "You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight are what your princess desires, not screams of terror!"

She stomped her hoof on the ground real hard, causing some of the ponies to whimper in fear. Luna turned to Mayor Mare, who was ducking in fear.

"Madam Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived!" Luna raised her hoof at her, causing Mayor Mare to whimper and look away in fear. Luna noticed it and looked at her, feeling irritated. "What is the matter with you?!" She tried to raise her hoof to somepony else, but no matter, they would either turn away in fear or covered their eyes, too scared to even look at Luna.

Seeing this makes me feel bad for Luna, she doesn't deserve this and she's trying her best to make everypony accept her. Luna pouted at them before scoffing "Very well then, be that way! We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell!"

"Princess Luna..." Carrie said sadly.

"What's wrong with these ponies?!" Kaede exclaimed in anger. "She was trying to get along with them and yet they just ignored her?!"

"It wasn't that Kaede..." Mason shook his head, much to Kaede's confusion. "They were scared of her because of her loud voice, the lightning and how she break the concrete on the ground with only her hoof."

"Oh..." Kaede said, finally understanding why everypony is afraid.

"She doesn't deserve this..." Twilight said, feeling bad for the princess as she walks away from everypony. She then pulled off a determined look and said "I'm gonna go talk to her!"

"Same here!" I nodded until Spike tugged both my pants and Twilight's cloak as he had a worried look and exclaimed "You can't! That's Nightmare Moon! She'll devoured you!"

"She's not!" Twilight said sternly.

"Twilight's right!" Carrie agreed. "She's a very nice princess! We even met her right after the Grand Galloping Gala!"

"Mm-hmm! She's nice!" Kodi argued, glaring at Spike.

"Guys, calm down." I said, trying to calm them down. "Luna is very caring like her sister, Twilight and the others used the Elements of Harmony to turn them back to her original self. She's just...having trouble fitting in after being gone a thousand years."

"Ren's right." Twilight nodded. "That's why we're go talk to her."

"Well...can I come?" Carrie asked with a pleading look. "I...just want to check on her, that's all."

"...Okay, sis." Mason softly smiled with a nod before turning to me and Twilight. "Can you  two watch her for me? Me, Spike, and Kaede will stay behind and try to calm the crowd. You guys go over and try to cheer her up."

"Yeah." Kaede nodded.

"We are?" Spike asked, flinching from Mason and Kaede's glares. "I-I mean, we are! Good luck you guys!"

Me, Carrie, Kodi, and Twilight looked at each other before smiling back at our friends. "Okay! We'll be right back! See ya!" I bid them goodbye before we followed Luna's trail towards the Everfree Forest. Please Luna, don't go! We're going to help her get back on her own two feet...hooves...whichever comes first.



"Man, the Everfree Forest still scares me even to this day..." I muttered as we walked through the same path that Zecora led us towards the statue of Nightmare Moon. 

"Well I'm not scared!" Carrie smiled in determination.

"Me neither!" Kodi exclaimed, feeling confident until we heard a snapping sound, causing him to jump out of fear and into my hands.

"Careful Kodi, it was just a stick you just stepped on." I assured with a soft grin. Kodi looked down and saw it was a stick as he chuckled nervously.

"Oh..." Oh Kodiak...

"Guys, look!" Twilight pointed towards the end of the path. We walked towards it and finally her, sitting on the shadow of the Nightmare Moon statue. I couldn't help but feel bad for Luna. It's like she's being overshadowed by her alter ego. 

"Luna." I called for her, gaining her attention. She widened her eyes upon seeing me, Kodi, and Carrie. "Remember us?"

"Ah, sir Ren, sir Kodiak, and madam Carrie. It is an honor to meet you once again." Luna said, getting back up with a serious expression.

"Luna!" Carrie said happily as she run over and gave her a big hug, much to the princess's surprise. Luna didn't mind and returned the favor back to her. "I'm so glad that you came back! I wasn't expecting you to show up here in Nightmare Night."

"Of course, it is a thy tradition of ours to arrive for the glorious night of Nightmare Night." Luna answered with a soft smile.

"Really? But everyone seemed afraid of you." Carrie said sadly.

"Yes...Thou seems so..." Luna sighed as she and Carrie ended their hug.

"Umm...Princess Luna?" Twilight gained her attention as she cleared her throat and said "Hi, my name is-"

"Starswirl The Bearded. Commendable costume! Thou even got the bells right." Luna said, smiling over Twilight's work.

"Thank you! Finally! Somepony who gets my costume!" Twilight said happily, before noticing our raised brows. She blushed a bit before clearing her throat and said "Uh...We just came to welcome you to our celebration, your highness. My actual name is-"

"Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of the Element of Magic." Luna said, interrupting Twilight before she flapped into the air and storm clouds blocked the moon. "It was thee who, along with Ren Loodan, wielded against us with the Elements of Harmony and took away our dark powers!"

We all covered our ears from the loud voice she was making while trying to stand still from the powerful gusts. As soon as it was over, I asked "And it was a good thing, right?"

"But of course, we could not be happier!" Luna nodded. "Is that not clear?"

"Well, you sound like you're yelling at us in anger." Kodi said, confusing Luna.

"But this is the traditional royal Canterlot voice! It is tradition to speak the royal 'we', and we to use..." Luna cleared her throat before switching the volumes of her voice. "This much volume when addressing our subjects!"

We covered our ears in pain until she was done using that voice as we re-adjusted our costumes as Twilight asked "You know, that might explain why your appearance was met with...mixed results?"

"Besides, you never did that to us when we first met." I said in confusion. Luna rubbed her hoof and replied "I was...trying to fit in, that's all. But this Nightmare Night, and its tradition to use the Royal Canterlot Voice."

"Oh..." I muttered, rubbing my cheek in embarrassment. That explains why she sounded like a banshee back there.

Carrie smiled at the princess and said "But I know they'll accept you if try to act different from before."

"What...do you mean by that, young Carrie?" Luna asked curiously.

"She means that maybe we could try a different approach." Twilight translated. 

"Change our approach?" Luna asked, reverting back to the loud voice.

"She means lower the tone of your voice, Luna." I clarified, which made Luna finally understand what I mean.

"Ohhh..." Luna said, covering her mouth while blushing. "We have been locked away for a thousand years. We...are not sure we can."

"Hmm..." I rubbed my chin in thought until I know one pony that can do the job. "I know! Let's go to Fluttershy's!"

"Fluttershy? Why her?" Kodi asked curiously. "I mean, she doesn't want to come out since she doesn't like Nightmare Night that much."

"But we can still give it a try." I shrugged with a smile. "Besides, I'm sure she'll understand, right?"

"You're right!" Twilight nodded with a smile on her face. "Fluttershy is the only pony who has a soft voice. So come on!"

With that, we began to head our way towards Fluttershy's cottage, in hopes that we might able to help Luna with her...social problems.



We led Luna to Fluttershy's cottage, and it seemed to be no decorations of Nightmare Night. I guess Applejack wasn't kidding that Fluttershy doesn't like Nightmare Night.

"Don't worry Princess, Fluttershy can give you some great pointers." Twilight assured.

"Yeah, she's sweet, delicate, and a very nice pony." I added with a smile. "She's also my...um...girlfriend..."

"You mean special somepony?" Luna corrected me.

"Well, yeah that." I shrugged with a smile. "She's teaching me about love by going out and such."

"Hm, we see." Luna nodded. "We are appreciated that you and miss Fluttershy are now a couple. My dear sister told me a lot about you two." What? So Celeste knew this too? Oh come on, does everypony I met so far know how close we are?!

"Anyway..." Carrie walked over to the door. "Do you really think it's okay to get Fluttershy?"

"Well of course Carrie!" Twilight nodded with a grin. "Like Ren stated, she's sweet and has a very soft and caring voice."

As Twilight knocked on the door, a loud voice boomed right through the cottage's door. "GO AWAY! NO CANDY HERE! VISITORS ARE NOT WELCOME ON NIGHTMARE NIGHT!"

"Umm..." Kodi blinked in surprise while Luna gave us a deadpan look, causing me and Twilight to chuckle nervously. 

"Don't worry, let me talk to her." I assured as I knocked on the door and said "Fluttershy, it's me, Ren. It's okay to come out."

Five seconds later, the door started to unlock as she slowly opened it and revealed herself, just a little timid that's all. "Oh, it is you, Ren! Thank goodness!" Fluttershy said, relieved it was just me before noticing the others. "Oh, and Twilight's here. Along with Carrie, Kodiak, and Nightmare Moon..." As soon as she saw Princess Luna and realized what she said, she widened her eyes and gasped "Nightmare Moon?! EEK!"

She immediately closed the door, locking it back while Luna gave me another deadpan expression. I sighed and knocked on the door again and said "Flutters, it's not Nightmare Moon. Remember, she's gone for good. It's Princess Luna, and don't worry, she's a very good pony, not a monster."

She unlocked the door again and peeked her head out of the door with a scared look as she said "A-are you sure?"

"Of course, just trust her." I assured with a soft grin, which seemed to do the trick as she slowly came out of the house and looked at Princess Luna with a nervous smile. "So Flutters, you remember Princess Luna back when I first came to this world?"

"Charmed." Luna said in her booming voice.

"Likewise..." Fluttershy chuckled nervously. I patted her on the back and muttered "It's okay, we'll be by your side."

"...Okay." Fluttershy nodded and looked back at Luna with a soft but timid smile. "So, what brings you here your highness?"

"Twilight Sparkle and Ren Loodan spoken of the sweetness of thy voice. We ask thou teachest to us to speak as thou speakest." Luna asked, still using that Royal Canterlot Voice.

"Okay." Fluttershy nodded, her voice squeaking out.

"Shall our lessons begin?" Luna asked.

"Okay." 

"Shall we mimic thy voice?"

"Okay."

"How is this?"

"Perfect, lesson over!" Fluttershy exclaimed as she tried rushing back to the house until I stopped her and said "Come on Flutters, you can do it. You can't be afraid. I know you're scared, but you need to be brave, besides, you're not alone."

Fluttershy blinked in surprise before looking back to see Twilight, Kodi, and Carrie looking at her with smiles. Fluttershy soon took a deep breath and smiled softly and said "Okay, I'll try." 

She turned to Luna with her timid smile and said "Okay Princess Luna, try to calm the tone of your voice a bit down."

"How is...this?" Luna asked, lowering her voice a bit down.

"It sounds a bit better, right Fluttershy?" Carrie asked curiously.

"Yes." Fluttershy nodded.

"How...about...now?" Luna asked, her voice almost sounding normal.

"Now you're getting it." Twilight smiled.

"And...how about now?" Luna asked, speaking in her normal tone.

"Yes! Well done!" Twilight smiled.

"Yeah, looks like you dropped the RCV." I chuckled, confusing everypony.

"The RCV?" Kodi asked curiously. I sighed and replied "The Royal Canterlot Voice. I thought I shorten the name, that's all."

"Well, I thank thee, sir Ren Loodan and miss Twilight Sparkle." Luna said before turning to Fluttershy and giving her a big hug, a tight one that is. "But I thank mostly thee, dear Fluttershy! Our normal speaking voice shall surely win the hearts of thy fellow villagers."

"Yeah! They have to love you now!" Kodi said with a smile until his ears perked and started sniffing.

"Something wrong, boy?" I asked in worried.

"It smells like somepony's coming." Kodi said, looking around, trying to find the scent. That's when we heard her voice.

"Fluttershy! You've gotta hide us!" Oh no, not now! We looked over to see Pinkie, along with the foals walking on the path that leads to Fluttershy's cottage. "Nightmare Moon is here and...BA-KAWK! Ah!" As soon as she saw Luna holding a dazed Fluttershy after receiving the severe spine hugging she got, Pinkie yelled "Oh no! She stole Fluttershy's voice so she can't scream when she gobbles her up!"

With that, she and the foals all screamed and immediately ran off in fear, much to our shock. I face-palmed and muttered "Ahh...crap-baskets."

"Yep, I should've seen that coming..." Kodi sighed, feeling bad for Luna now.

"Nay children, wait!" Luna called in that booming voice of hers until she cleared her throat and spoke normally and said "Uh...I mean, nay children! Please wait!"

"Ahh..." Carrie sighed sadly before walking over and looked at Luna with a soft smile. "Don't worry Princess Luna, I'm sure Ren and Twilight might think of something else, right guys?"

"You're right. We'll get them to trust Princess Luna." Twilight said in a determine smile. "Come on everypony, time for Plan B."

"Yeah..." I nodded before realizing something. "What's Plan B?"

"You'll see, just follow me." Twilight gestured as she led us back towards town. But before I left, I turned back to Fluttershy and helped her up. 

"You okay, Flutters?" I asked in concern.

"Y-yeah...I think so." Fluttershy dust herself off before looking at me with a sad look. "I'm sorry if I wasn't that much help."

"Nah, you were helpful." I assured before sighing and said "It was just Pinkie. She just literally came by at the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You're right. Anyway, I should go back inside and wait until Nightmare Night is done and over with. See ya Ren." Fluttershy said as she was about to walk back into her house until I spoke up "Wait Flutters!"

"Huh?" She turned to me with a confused look.

"Look...it's not fun without you being a part of it. You should enjoy Nightmare Night with me and the others." I said with a soft smile. "I mean, if you don't want to...then I understand."

"...Ren." Fluttershy looked at me with a soft smile. "...I-I'll try to participate later. For now, you should go on ahead and help Princess Luna."

"Thanks Flutters, and I'll see you later." I said before heading off into town while waving goodbye to her. I really hope she'll come by and join in the festivities because it won't be fun without her. 



"AHHHHH!" 

And once again, more screams and terrors. Everypony that see Princess Luna runs away in fear, hides somewhere safe from a far distance, and whimpers and cowards her from her presence.

"Wow, they're really afraid of her." Kodi muttered, seeing how everyone's acting.

"It is of no use, Ren Loodan and Twilight Sparkle." Luna said with a sad and depressed look. "They have never like us, and they never shall."

"Don't worry, our friends, Mason, Kaede, and Applejack are the most likeable people around." I assured, patting Luna on the back. "I'm sure they'll have some ideas."

"Ren's right. I'm sure they might help." Twilight nodded.

"Mm-hmm! Both my big brother and our friend will help you out! They always will!" Carrie added with a warm smile.

"Yeah! And I already see them already!" Kodi pointed out, seeing them around that barrel of water where ponies were bobbing for apples. Mason and Kaede were apparently helping out Applejack maintained the station as Mason saved Pipsqueak from falling into the barrel.

"There you go." Mason said softly.

"Thanks mister." Pipsqueak thanked before running off. Mason smiled before turning around and noticing Luna was in front of him with a soft smile. 

"Ah, Princess Luna, fancy meeting you here." Mason smiled, catching both Kaede and Applejack's attention, who the latter flinched upon seeing her, which made Luna make a flat look at her.

"Charmed." Luna said, looking at Applejack with a flat look while replying back to Mason.

"Hey big brother, we were wondering if you guys help out Princess Luna." Carrie pleaded.

"Yeah, maybe a way to make her fit in with others?" I answered, getting confuse expressions from Mason and Kaede while Applejack looked at us with a serious expression and said "Fit in? Really?"

Twilight glared at her for that remark, even in front of Luna. Applejack hesitate from her glare and look at the princess with a nervous smile. 

"I-I mean...that's easy!" Applejack answered quickly. "All you gotta do is have the right attitude. Loosen up a bit, be positive, play a few games, have some fun."

"Fun? What is this 'fun' thou speakest of?" Luna asked curiously. "Pray tell, what purposes do these serve?"

I looked at her in shock and exclaimed "What?! You never experienced what fun is?!"

"Ren..." Kaede spoke up. "You should know that the princess didn't experience that because of you-know-what?" You-know-what? What is she...oh right. I forgot.

"Oh right...sorry." I rubbed my head bashfully.

"But anyway, you never had fun before like playing games or spend time with your friends?" Carrie asked curiously.

"We have not. Pray tell what is fun?" Luna asked us curiously. 

"Well...um..." I rubbed my head bashfully, wondering on how should I explain it. "Hmm...what is fun?"

"Ren...I thought you knew what it was. After all, you are the definition of fun." Kodi chuckled with a light smile.

"Ain't that the truth?" Kaede giggled, causing me to chuckle nervously and sweat-drop before resuming to Luna's question.

"Well you see, I wonder that too Luna. What is fun?" I wondered until I remember a certain cartoon that described fun for me. "Here, let me spell it for you all!"


Ren:


F is for friends who do stuff together! U is for you and me! N is for anywhere and anytime at all!



Chorus:


Down here in Equestria!


Everypony gave me incredulous looks after singing that short song. "...We still thou not understand." Luna said bluntly, causing me to tilt over in shock.

I then got back up and laughed nervously before saying "Well...to put it simply, it's just like friendship, that's all."

"He's right!" Carrie nodded before walking her over to the throw a spider game. Carrie picked up a toy spider and said "Here, give it a try. All you have to do is throw the spider into the cotton web and you win!"

Luna grabbed the spider from Carrie's hand and aimed it towards the web. She gave it a light throw which resulted in the spider landing a few inches away from the target. Luna looks back to us with a worried look.

"You can do it, princess!" Applejack encouraged.

"Yeah, give it another go!" Kaede cheered.

Luna then let out a determined and bold look and gave it another shot, and throwing the spider a bit harder, only this time...she actually managed to hit the target straight into the cotton web. 

"Ha! Your princess enjoys this 'fun'!" She said in an excited tone before looking back at us with a smile. "In what other ways may we experience it?"

We all looked at each other and smiled happily, seeing how the princess is finally enjoying it.

"Hey! Try this out!" Kodi offered, pointing towards the pumpkin catapult game. We walked over as Luna looked over it curiously.

"Fire away, princess!" I shouted as Luna nodded and loaded a pumpkin onto the catapult, pulled it back before releasing her hooves from it, and allowed the catapult to fire the pumpkin. It shot upwards and landed directly on the painted target. "Ha ha! The fun has been doubled!" Soon, other ponies came out of their hiding places and walked over to the princess, an I saw that they were enjoying themselves with her around.

"What do you know? It looks like it's working." Mason smiled. 

"Yeah! Now Luna can finally enjoy herself with the townsponies." I agreed with a smile. I can already see that this Nightmare Night won't go wrong!

"Hey, why don't you try bobbing for some apples?" Applejack suggested. "We got the best apples in Equestria, Princess?"

"I ask thou call us...I mean, me, Luna, fair Applejack." Luna requested with a soft smile. Every trick-or-treater cheered at her as Luna walked over to the barrel of water until she saw Pipsqueak fall over into the water. 

Luckily, Luna was able to save him and pulled him out of the water by lifting him by his vest. Yep, she's finally accepted to this town! Now, nothing can go wrong!

"Hey everypony! Anyone seen Pip?"

Oh crap-baskets!

We all turned to see Pinkie and the other children walking by as Pinkie asked "We lost him the last time we had to run..." As soon as she noticed Luna holding Pipsqueak by the vest, she let out a chicken sound and screamed.

"Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak! Everypony run!" Pinkie screamed, along with the other foals as they immediately ran away in fear. Pipsqueak did so and struggled to get out of Luna's hold, screaming in terror as he ran and exclaimed "My backside has been gobbled!"

"Wait! Oh dang it, Pinkie!" Kaede exclaimed.

"Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!" Luna yelled in anger before stomping her hoof through the hard concrete ground, along with the sound of thunder and a blast of lightning making everypony back away in fear. 

"Uh oh..." Me, Kodi, Mason, Kaede, and Carrie muttered in shock. This can't be good...

Luna soon realized that they were feeling intimidated by her again as she said "Fair villagers, please do not back away! Let us join together...uh..."

She looked around before teleporting to the spider throwing game. "...Fun!" She exclaimed before picking up the spider and throwing it over to the ponies, who only flinched at it.

"No offense, but they get scared too easily..." Kodi sighed, which I nodded in agreement. He's right, they're too easily scared.

"Not enough fun for you? What say you to this?" Luna asked before her horn glowed and shot a beam of magic straight at the toy spider, who started to transformed into a real one, scaring everypony as they immediately ran away in fear. I immediately took out my Hacking Gun and aimed it at the giant spider.

"Burn!" I exclaimed, firing multiple 'Burn' shots straight towards the giant spider, causing it to be burned and turned into ashes, much to our relief.

"How many points do I receive?" Luna asked with a smile, causing the pony by the counter to screamed in terror, along with everypony else. "Do not run away! As your princess we command you!"

Uh oh...

"L-Luna! Calm down!" I tried to as she began getting irritated by the second as he watched everypony running away and screaming like maniacs. She gritted her teeth in anger and yelled "Be still!"

Her Royal Canterlot Voice echoed throughout the entire town, making everypony who was screaming lay in fear.

"Princess Luna!" Carrie called over in worried.

"Princess, remember! Watch the screaming!" Twilight warned, but Luna glared at us as her eyes started to glow white.

"No Twilight Sparkle! We must use the traditional Royal Canterlot Voice for what we are about to say!" She exclaimed before turning to us all and flew in midair. "Since you chosen to fear your princess rather than love her and dishonor her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be canceled...forever!"

We all froze in shock upon hearing this. This can't be happening! This was our first Nightmare Night and it's going to be canceled forever?! Before any of us could respond or move, Luna vanished from the flash of lightning.

"Nightmare Night canceled...forever?!" Kaede exclaimed.

"But...she can't do that!" Kodi exclaimed before looking at me with a worried look. "Can she?"

"...I'm afraid so, Kodiak." I sighed sadly as we looked around, seeing everypony becoming heartbroken that Nightmare Night will be gone for the rest of their lives. The foals were crying and moaning in sadness while I grew sad that none of them weren't gonna celebrate Nightmare Night anymore. There's gotta be something we can do...

"*sob*..." Huh? Is somepony crying? We looked over and saw Carrie crying. 

"Carrie, please don't cry." Mason said, bending down to her height and giving her a hug. "Please...I'm sure we can fix this..."

"But...it's not fair. Princess Luna didn't do anything wrong all because everyone is just afraid of someone they don't know!" Oh, don't get me started on that. First Zecora, now Luna? Yep, I feel like this town don't get a lot of different visitors from other places these days...No offense to them.

"Carrie, just calm down. We'll figure something out." Mason assured with a soft smile. His pet squirrels, Nate and Maddy, came out of his werewolf costume and nuzzled her cheek, making Carrie smile a bit.

I looked at her with a sad look before making a determined look. "Guys...we need to find Luna."

"Huh? But we don't even know where she went!" Kaede said in surprise. 

"Ren's right!" Twilight agreed with a serious expression. "I'm going to do what I do best. Lecture her!"

"Yeah! Come on everypony! Let's go!" I exclaimed. "I mean, I know Luna was upset and had no choice but to banned Nightmare Night, but it wasn't her fault! It was all of our faults because we didn't respect her and kept fearing her because of her past, but she changed thanks to the Elements of Harmony! Now we're gonna try and bring back the spirit of Halloween/Nightmare Night back to everypony's hearts!" 

Whoa...after saying all that, I felt inspired by it. I noticed my friends giving me surprised expressions as I asked "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"N-no Ren, it's just that...wow." Kaede said in amazement. "You inspired us all thanks to your little pep talk."

"Mm-hmm. I can't believe that I'm being encouraged by a kid, but..." Mason warmly smiled at me. "Thanks for the speech."

"Yeah! That was amazing!" Carrie nodded.

"Ren's right! We gotta go and save Nightmare Night and Princess Luna! If we don't, then we won't have be able to get any candy forever along with Princess Luna!" Kodi exclaimed in fear. 

"Yeah..." Twilight nodded before turning to me. "Come on! I think I know where she went!"

"Alright, follow the way Twi!" I replied as Twilight led us to where she thinks where Luna went. Hang on Luna, it's not too late to change your mind!



"Seriously? Back here again?" I sighed before face-palming. "No offense Twi, but do you think there's a better place than to keep coming back here?"

"Trust me Ren, she has to be here." Twilight assured until she spotted her near the statue. "There she is!"

"P-Princess Luna..." Carrie called for her. Luna glanced at us before looking back at the statue with a sad look and replied "Leave me be, my friends..."

"Princess..." I walked over to her with a soft grin and said "We're sorry if this didn't worked out how we wanted. But you have to believe me when I tell you that Nightmare Night is one of the most favorite holiday ever! I mean, this is actually my first time me and my friends are doing this. So please, give us another chance..."

"But even so..." Luna looks down with a sad look. "They'll be scared of me and run away in fear of me..."

"Luna..." I muttered sadly.

"Well, it's not their fault that they keep getting scared that easily." Carrie pointed out. "I mean, mostly we see them with Pinkie and she makes some random stuff up, right?"

"Now that you mention it, we do see her with the little children and keeps making them fear Luna." Kaede thought until we all looked at each other and made a smile.

"I think we found our problem!" I exclaimed in joy. "And I think I know how to draw her in."

"Really how?" Kodi asked as I looked at him with a sneaky grin. Ooh, this is going to be so fun!



Later

"Are thou sure this will work?" 

"Don't worry Luna, I'm positive." I assured her as I finished putting down the last piece of candy on the floor all the way here in this alleyway. 

"Same here, if I know her for a while, she's too gullible to fall for anything." Mason agreed as we waited for her to arrive. See, the plan was simple for us. We used some of our candy to make a trail here so that we might draw Pinkie Pie in this alley to confront her.

"Hey, I hear something." Kodi said, his ears perking up as we saw noticed somepony eating the candy trail I made. I took a closer look and saw it was Pinkie, and just make sure she doesn't noticed us by where she could probably see us. I took out my Hacking Gun and shot 'Paralyze' at her, shocking Pinkie. It was enough time for Twilight to tackle her and pin her on the ground as the effects of 'Paralyze' were gone.

"No! No shrieking! No screaming or squealing either. Okay?" Twilight demanded as she covered Pinkie's mouth to make sure that she doesn't scream.

"Okay." Pinkie said through Twilight's hoof.

"Pinkie..." Kaede walked over to her with a serious expression. "There's something we want you to see. And we promise that it's safe, but you really, really can't shriek. Do you promise not to shriek."

"Mm-hmm." Pinkie nodded, making Twilight to remove her hoof from her mouth. Once so, she saw Luna walked out of the darkness of the alleyway, making Pinkie squawk fearfully for her but realized what she promised as she covered her mouth with her hooves.

"Pinkie Pie, you remember Princess Luna, right?" Twilight asked.

"Ah, the ringleader of the frightened children." Luna said, glaring at her. "Hast thou come to make peace?" She made a soft smile and raised her hoof at Pinkie. Pinkie saw it and slowly tried to reach it, but unfortunately, it happened.

BAM!

"What the?!" Mason exclaimed in shock.

"AAAHH! Nightmare Moon!" Pinkie screamed, making another chicken sound.

"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled as we looked up to see a cackling Rainbow in her Shadowbolt costume.

"Ha ha ha! Sorry, I couldn't help myself!" Rainbow exclaimed, laughing very hard. I sighed and raised my Hacking Gun at her, shooting 'Break' at her, causing her to blast off somewhere not too far, hopefully. I then noticed the raised brows at everyone's faces, causing me to be confuse.

"What? She ruined the moment with her little prank." I shrugged until I noticed PInkie getting away. "Oh no, you don't! Dance!" I shot 'Dance' at her, and once the melody note beam hit her, she began dancing non-stop until Mason grabbed her by the mane.

"Alright, that's enough Pinkie Pie!" Mason exclaimed. "Like Twilight and Ren stated, she's completely change!"

"Yeah!" Carrie agreed with a nod, making a serious expression. "She's not evil or scary anymore, and she definitely doesn't want to gobble you up!"

"...Well duh!" Pinkie said, much to our surprise as we all said "Huh?!"

"I know that, you guys!" Pinkie giggled. "I'm almost as big as her, how's she gonna gobble me up?!"

"Then why in the world do you keep running away and screaming all the time and make the others scream as well?!" Kaede demanded.

"Sometimes it's just really fun to be scared!" Pinkie smiled.

"Fun?" Kodi wondered. I crossed my arms and thought for a while at what she said. Fun...Ah! That's it.

"That's it! Pinkie, you're a genius!" I said with a happy grin.

"She is?!" Kodi exclaimed.

"No, I'm not! I'm a chicken!" Pinkie stated before making another chicken sound, causing us to sweat-dropped.

"Yeah...I think genius is pushing it there." Mason said as he dropped Pinkie on the ground before looking back at me with a small grin. "So Ren, what's the plan?"

"Well you see, why not we make everypony love Luna by being scared by her?" I suggested, much to everypony's confusion. "Think about it, this is Nightmare Night so everypony loves a good scare, right?"

"That could work!" Twilight beamed at that idea. "Ren, that's a great plan! Alright, let's try it out!" 

"Are thou sure about this?" Luna asked in concern.

"Don't worry Luna, I'm positive this will work!" I assured before saying "I mean, what could go wrong?"

As if on cue, we heard screams of terrors coming outside of town. 

"You just had to say that, didn't you?" Kaede sighed, causing me to rub my cheek in embarrassment. Well, it's not my fault that it would happened. 

"Come on! Let's go find out what's happening!" Mason exclaimed before turning back to Carrie and Luna. "Carrie, stay here with Luna. We don't want the townspeople to fear her again and I don't want you to get hurt, okay?"

"Got it!" Carrie nodded as we ran into the scene in order to find out what's happening. As soon as we arrived, we all widened to see shadow monsters attacking and scaring the ponies.

"What's happening?!" I exclaimed in shock.

"Uhh...does this normally happen?!" Kaede asked in fear.

"No! I never seen these things before!" Twilight shook her head while I took a closer look at them. Hold on, haven't I seen them before?....Wait!

"I-it's them..." I muttered, loud enough for them to hear. "It's those shadow monsters that we encountered back at the Castle of the Two Sisters."

"What?!" Twilight looked at me in shock. "Since when?!"

"Well, it was when you went after Nightmare Moon when you tried to make the Elements of Harmony working that me and the others went pursuing you until we encountered these things. We assumed that they were Nightmare Moon's minions, but after we turn her back into Luna and seeing them now, it seems that I was wrong." I explained until I saw a shadow monster chasing some of the fillies, and Spike was with them. 

"Oh no! Spike!" I gasped, drawing my friends' attention. I quickly drew out my Hacking Gun and shot 'Break' at it, destroying it. Spike became relieved and looked back at us with a wave and said "Thanks!"

"Your welcome!" I called back.

"What are we gonna do?!" Kodi asked in worried.

"We need to protect everypony from these shadow monsters." Twilight said with a serious expression before blasting one of them with a beam of magic.

"With pleasure!" Mason nodded before drawing his bamboo pole. "It's a good thing I brought this with me!" He quickly ran and managed to save some of the ponies from the shadow monsters.

"But wait! What can I do?!" Kaede asked. I looked around and saw a bow and a bunch of arrows sitting around see the archery game. I quickly picked it up and threw them at Kaede, making her catch them.

"Use them!" I yelled, much to her surprise.

"But I don't know even the first thing of using a bowing arrow!" Kaede exclaimed.

"Well, tried to think of it like your sewing and making clothes." I assured, causing Kaede to sigh.

"Well...I'll give it a try at least." Kaede sighed as a shadow monster appeared right before her, causing me to gasp and shoot it with 'Burn', burning it into oblivion. Kaede sighed in relief before smiling and said "And thanks for saving me."

"Anytime Kaede!" I assured with a grin before continuing to shoot multiple shadows with my Hacking Gun. Some of them were quite similar to animals like wolves, crocodiles, frogs, tigers, and bears. I don't know why, but these things just give me the creeps. I saw Mason swatting them away with his bamboo stick with some help from Applejack and Big Mac, who were apple-bucking some of these monsters.

Kaede and Twilight managed to standby as Twilight was shooting many of those that comes to their side while Kaede tries out her bowing arrow and managed to at least shooting some of them while mostly she keeps missing them. Well, it's a working progress and it's a good thing nobody is getting from either the monsters and those bowing arrows.

"AHHH!" Me and Kodi turned to see a familiar yellow Pegasus backing away in a corner as two shadow wolves confronted her with growling teeth.

"Fluttershy!" I exclaimed. What was she doing?! Oh right, I asked her to decide whether or not to not participate Nightmare Night. 

"Ren! Help me!" Fluttershy pleaded.

"Don't worry, we'll save you!" I said, aiming my Hacking Gun at them. 

"I got this!" Kodi said as he ran towards them and bit one of their legs, causing them to wince and tried to shake him off. I managed to shoot both of them down with 'Break', destroying them for good. Kodi fell on the ground and shook his head before smiling happily and said "So how did I do?"

"You did well, thanks boy." I winked before scratching his chin, much to his relief. Fluttershy came over and gave me a tight hug, at the verge of tears.

"Thank you Ren! I thought..." Fluttershy tried to hold back some tears as I hugged her back. 

"It's okay Fluttershy, we're here." I soothed, patting her on the back. "Just calm down Flutters."

"T-thank you, still..." Fluttershy sighed in relief while I asked "So what are you doing here?"

"Yeah, we thought you were gonna stay in your cottage for the rest of Nightmare Night?" Kodi asked. "We thought you hated it because you were afraid it."

"Well true, but..." Fluttershy looked at me with a soft smile. "If I had to choose between to stay in my cottage for the rest of Nightmare Night or spend it with my special somepony, then I would gladly take the second choice."

"Flutters..." I smiled softly at her, feeling happy that she would tried to conquer her fear to spend time with us. I'm...so happy to hear. Suddenly, she and Kodi let out a gasp, much to my confusion. 

...Oh no, it's standing behind me, isn't that? I turned back and saw a shadow bear monster right behind me. Yep, called it.

"Ren! Look out!" Kodiak exclaimed as he jumped on the bear and bit it's leg, causing it to roar in agony before shaking him off and landing in my arms. "Well...at least I tried."

"Yeah, now it's my turn." I said, aiming my Hacking Gun at it. But as I pushed the trigger, nothing came out. I kept pushing the trigger, trying to make something come out, much to my annoyance. What's wrong with this thing? I looked over at the battery power and saw it was out of juice. "Ahh....crap-baskets."

"Oh dear." Fluttershy muttered in shock as the bear was about to slash us until it was shot in the back with the bowing arrow, causing it to poof. 

"Huh?" I looked over to see Kaede was the one who was able to shoot it as she pulled a grin and said "I think I'm getting the hang of it."

"Thanks Kaede!" I thanked her, which she returned a thumbs-up until we saw more and more shadow monsters coming out. I don't get it! Where are they even coming from?!

"There's too many of them!" Mason exclaimed, seeing them surrounding everypony, including us. Great, the Megaphone Hacking Gun is already out of power, Kaede is out of ammo, Twilight, Mason, Applejack, and Big mac are getting exhausted. Is there anything we can do?

"We're done for!" Kodi exclaimed as he tugged into my costume in fear. "Ren, if we don't make it, I want to tell you that you're the best friend a dog could ever ask!"

"Same as you Kodiak!" I said, hugging him and Fluttershy tight.

"And also, I was the one who ate your pancakes for breakfast this morning!" Kodi exclaimed, much to my shock as I looked at him in shock and said "Wait what?!"

Suddenly, before he could respond, we felt a wind breeze through us as we looked up to see the clouds forming around the moonless night and thunder cracking and lightning flashing. Wait, where have I seen this before? Oh of course, Luna! She's here to save us! We're saved!

"You ungrateful beasts! You were wise to hurt these ponies of Ponyville! But your actions have consequences! So prepare to face the wrath of...NIGHTMARE MOON!" 

...Or not...

Unfortunately, we looked up to see instead of Princess Luna, it was none other than Nightmare Moon. Okay, what?! How is she here?! Didn't we turn Luna back to normal?! What is exactly happening here?!

"I am not pleased that you demons tried to take over this town! You should know to never upset the Mare of the Moon! Now....BEGONE!" She unleashed a shock wave to the entire town, destroying every single shadow monster. Everypony looked at her in shock as she flew down and landed on the ground. "Citizens of Ponyville! You are now safe from those demons! But know this that I am not pleased for your actions of not handing me your candy! I'm so angry that I could possibly eat all of you!"

With that, everypony let out a scream and all hide away in fear. Me, Kodi, Fluttershy, Kaede, Twilight, Mason, Applejack, and Big Mac stared at her in shock before growling at her. We defeated her once, we can do it again!

"Okay Luna, I think that's all!" Huh? Carrie came out of the alleyway and ran over with a big smile. Nightmare Moon let out a giggle and said "So...did I do well Carrie?"

Wait, what the heck? Nightmare Moon then swirled around and wrapped herself in a dark blue aura, transforming back into Princess Luna. What the heck is happening?!

"Carrie? Princess Luna?!" Kaede gasped. 

"Whoa, you saved us!" Kodi beamed happily. "Looks like you came to the right moment! We thought we were gonna die!"

"Eeyup!" Big Mac nodded.

"It is quite alright." Luna assured. "Though, I don't understand what were those creatures even doing here."

"Huh? Do you know them Princess?" I asked curiously.

"Yes, those were shadow demons. They came from Tatarus itself, but I don't understand how they got out." Princess Luna wondered.

"I see...but more importantly. Could anypony care to explain to me why did you transformed into Nightmare Moon all of a sudden?!" Twilight demanded.

"Oh, that was young Carrie's suggestion." Luna replied with a soft smile, causing us to look over here.

"Wait, so you asked her to save us from those demons while scaring everypony?" Kodi asked.

"Yep! A great plan, right?" Carrie giggled.

"But...why?" Fluttershy asked, hiding behind my back.

"Oh, you see...." Carrie began her explanation. "While you guys were fighting off those shadow monsters, I really wanted to help out in fighting them while also wanting to prove to everyone that Luna is a fun loving princess like her sister. That's when I thought of a great idea and asked Princess Luna to turn into Nightmare Moon, which was just an illusion by the way, and she managed to save all of you while giving everypony a good scare as well."

"Huh?" Mason asked in surprise. "You...really thought of that Carrie?"

"Yeah, I mean, like Pinkie said, everypony loves a good scare! Now they'll think of Luna as a hero!" Carrie giggled, which made Mason sigh and smile at her.

"Sometimes Carrie, you just surprise me." Mason patted her on the head and gave her a hug. "I'm proud of you."

"Ahh, thanks big brother." Carrie smiled, hugging back her older brother while Luna turned to her with a worried expression.

"Are you sure this is such a good idea? Wouldn't it caused them to be fear of me more?" Luna asked, having doubts about this. Before Carrie could respond, Luna felt a tug on her mane as she looked down and saw PIpsqueak with a curious expression.

"Um...Princess Luna. I know there's not gonna be anymore Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?"

"Child. Art thou saying that thou...likest me to scare you?" Luna asked, feeling surprise of this.

"It's really fun! Scary, but fun!" Pipsqueak replied with a smile, much to Luna's surprise.

"It...is?" Luna looked over to see every foal who was hiding were peeking out, awaiting for her answer.

"Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year!" Pipsqueak exclaimed happily. I let out a chuckle and said "Well Luna, looks like you gotten yourself another fan. So, what now?"

Luna smiled at me before saying "Well then...We shall have to bring Nightmare Night back!"

"Hooray!" Kodi cheered happily, causing us all to smile in joy.

"Whoa! You're my favorite princess ever!" Pipsqueak declared as he gave Luna's leg a hug before running back to his friends, who were still hiding. "She said yes, guys!"

"Yay!" All the kids cheered as Luna looks over in wonder and joy.

"You see? They really do like you, Princess." Twilight said.

"Yep, and it took a great plan like that in order to make you likable." Kaede chuckled.

"Really? C-can it be true?" Luna asked herself before throwing her head and arms up, exclaiming "Oh most wonderful of-"

"A-hem!" I said, clearing my throat while giving Luna a playful glare as she realized that she can't do that anymore while blushing.

"I-I mean...oh most wonderful of nights!" Luna exclaimed happily as everypony came out of their hiding places and cheered for their princess. Five minutes later, the festival was back on as everypony was enjoying themselves, but not as much as Princess Luna as she was having the time of her life.

"Well, looks like we did it, huh?" Mason smiled at me as I replied "Sure did, but if it wasn't for your sister, I guess we wouldn't been gobbled up by those shadow monsters, eh?"

"Seems so." Kaede nodded. "I'm just glad that Luna finally has a place here and is finally accepted like she wanted. I guess she's taking some small steps in order to redeem herself, huh?"

"Yeah, she's still got a long ways to go." Mason said as he watched his sister spending time with Luna as they both enjoyed eating cotton candy together. 

"Yeah..." Kodi nodded before realizing something. "Though, there is one thing I don't get. Where did all those shadow monsters come from?"

"Actually...you make a good point." I agreed while rubbing my head bashfully. "Luna said that they came from Tatarus, and it seemed like they were locked up or something."

"Well if so, then who brought them here? At this time of night as well?" Kaede wondered.

This seems too strange. How could this have possibly happen? Oh well, I guess we won't be able to find answers tonight. We should at least enjoy it while it lasts.



Meanwhile
Up on the hills outside of the town, a cloaked figure wearing a bamboo cloak with a black mask with his left eye visible while his right eye was darkened watched over Ponyville as he said "Well...it seems to me my shadow demons were to no use for me once more. Oh well, I should've realized that. Besides, there were no use to me. It was merely amusing of me for releasing them out of their prison again to go and try to get revenge on those that trapped them in Tatarus for a millennia. Oh well, time to go out and find someone else to manipulate for my own...amusement."

With that, he disappeared in a flash, leaving no trace behind except for an evil laughter.



Later
We were all back at the Nightmare Moon statue, and Fluttershy was with me as we watched over Twilight sending another message to Princess Celestia.

"Dear Princess Celestia, when you first sent me to Ponyville, I didn't know anything about friendship. I met somepony tonight who was having the same problem - your sister, Princess Luna. She taught me that one of the best things you can do with friendship is to give it to others and help them find it themselves." Twilight stated as Carrie went up next.

"I'm also glad to finally spend more time with Luna. She had an amazing time here tonight in Ponyville, and the rest of us as well. I'm happy to hear that everyone learned that even if somepony seems a little intimidating, even scary, when you offer them your friendship, you'll discover a whole new pony underneath." 

"Nice job, Carrie." Mason smiled.

"Thanks big brother." Carrie chuckled happily.

"And while Twilight's costume didn't go so well, it still turned out to be the best Nightmare Night ever." I finished up the letter with a grin before taking a bite of a candy corn next to me, Kodi, and Spike's candy pile. Twilight gave an amuse smirk before her horn glow and made my hat tilted down on my face, blinding my sight. "Oh har har har, very funny Twi."

"Well serves you right for judging my Starswirl The Bearded costume." Twilight said. Huh? What the?

"Hey, isn't that Rainbow Dash?" Kaede pointed out as a dark cloud, along with a certain rainbow colored mane Pegasus came over with a sneaky cackle. I thought I taught her a lesson or two about this? That's when it happened. Another dark cloud appeared before her and made a lightning sound, causing Dash to be frightened and fly off in fear.

"AHHHHH!" Rainbow screamed before disappearing.

"Well...that was certainly surprising." Mason said before we all looked over to the small dark cloud and saw it was Princess Luna herself that did that. She gave us a wink before we all started laughing, which she eventually joined in.

Soon after that, Fluttershy turned to me with a soft smile and said "You know, I must thank you for inviting me over to Nightmare Night. This is the first time I ever been out in this holiday."

"Really?" I asked in surprise.

"Yeah, since I was younger. I never liked being scared by others, but thanks to you Ren, I feel...happy of spending Nightmare Night with my friends." Fluttershy giggled.

"Heh heh...thanks." I blushed a bit as she gave me a quick kiss on the cheek, much to my embarrassment. Well didn't see that coming.

"Well anyway, I must be off." Luna said in a serious tone. "I must go back home and tell my sister about what happened tonight. I need to figure out why did those shadow demons came out of Tatarus."

"We understand and happy Nightmare Night, Princess Luna." Mason bowed as Carrie came over and gave Luna's leg a hug.

"And I hope we see each other again, Luna." Carrie giggled, causing Luna to smile happily at the young girl as she replied "Same as well, young Carrie."

She returned the hug to her before flying off back to Canterlot.

"Well this was a fun night!" Kodi exclaimed as his belly was nearly filled up with all the candy he was eating.

"It sure was, and it looks like it's time to head home. It was fun spending time with you Flutters and Twi." I said with a smile.

"Yep, we should get going. Happy Nightmare Night." Kaede wished them as we headed home while Fluttershy gave me a quick kiss on the cheek again, making me blush a bit. I then returned the favor by kissing her on the cheek, making her blush as well.

"You owe me..." Fluttershy whispered, which I nodded as we began to walk out of the Everfree Forest and headed back home.

We returned Fluttershy back to her cottage, wishing her goodnight, as we continued our way back to the home-ship. Carrie stretched her back a little and said "You know, I'm glad we managed to get Princess Luna feel accepted by everypony here."

"Yeah! And we somehow managed to save Nightmare Night if it wasn't for you Carrie." Kaede chuckled as we finally gotten to the doorsteps of our home-ship.

"Exactly, good plan back there sis." Mason smirked at her.

"Aww, thanks." Carrie giggled.

"Ooh...I'm so full..." Kodi said, rubbing his aching tummy. I sighed and grinned at him before saying "Well that's what happens when you eat too much candy, Kodi."

"Same for you as well, Ren." Kaede said, smiling at me. I chuckled nervously and realized that she was right. Oh well, it was a fun night and I don't have any regrets about wearing this pirate costume at all!

As soon as we entered the place and turned on the lights, we were met by a surprise.

"Huh?!" We all asked upon seeing a new figure in the room. It was a human boy with short spike blue hair with a small ahoge. He was wearing a simply dark black shirt with a red tie that has a strange symbol on it, wore dark blue jeans, fancy brown dress shoes with dark brown laces and had a small book in his arms. He had dark blue eyes and a pale skin tone and a slim figure.

"W-w-who's there?!" He asked before noticing us, his expression turning pale. "S-stay away from me! Please don't hurt me!"

"Whoa whoa, calm down!" I said, trying to calm him down. "Look, we're surprised as you, so please don't panic."

"Yeah, you heard Ren. Just relax and stay calm." Kodi barked, making him even more scared from before. 

"AAHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed in fear before passing out. We all looked at him on the floor with sweat-drops and confusion. Kodi jumped off my arms, his tummy still aching, but was able to move towards the boy and looked at him with wondered before looking back at us with a confused look.

"....Did I say something wrong?"

To Be Continued