With your injuries now healed and your belly’s chitin completely regrown, you woke up as soon as the library was illuminated by the colors projected by the stained glass under the sunshine. You’ve been grounded for longer than was comfortable, but now you were ready to spread your wings and fly!
You fluttered down the stairs leading to the main hall, exercising your newly grown wings, happy to hear their soft buzz again. You immediately turned to your right and went straight to the hatchery, where your eggs lay safe and sound. On your way to the hatchery, you noticed how eerily devoid of life the corridors were, your changelings must have gathered someplace else to sleep. You could worry about them later, now you had to check up on your eggs.
As you approached the hatchery, you could hear the little snores coming through the other side. Peeking your head in, you found your drones sleeping in a pile surrounding your eggs. The eggs’ glow slowly pulsated like heartbeats, synchronized with your drone’s breathing as if they were purposely trying to copy the rhythm.
You could feel the eggs’ connection to the hivemind, their small, still developing minds so serene and tranquil, the presence of their grown-up siblings carrying them through pleasant dreams. They were the most well-guarded treasure in all of Equestria, nothing would be able to harm them.
You pondered for a second letting your drones sleep in today, but the hive needed to be prepared for tonight’s events and you wouldn’t be able to do it all on your own in time. So, with a heavy heart, you swayed your drones to awakeness through the hivemind.
Come on, my children, it’s time to wake up.
Slowly, your drones began to stir from their sleep, one by one. As more of them woke up, they would repeat your broadcast to their sleeping brothers and sisters, coaxing them to get up as well. Your drones carefully left the hatchery, following you back to the main hall, now more alert and ready to start the day.
“What are your commands, my queen?”
“You all have been working hard this past couple of days and thanks to that, our hive has grown. But now I believe you deserve a little break!” you announced, giving a short pause for dramatic effect.
“Tonight is Nightmare Night, and we’re joining the party! We’ll host a scary maze and show the ponies how it’s done!” You reared and threw a hoof up in the air. Your drones buzzed their wings and clapped their hooves again the cold stone floor of the castle ruins, their excitement flowing through the hivemind.
“What exactly are we going to do, my queen?” one of your workers, Apathy, asked.
You’ve been thinking about what to do for Nightmare Night for a bit, some basic ideas came to mind, but nothing all that concrete, you still needed something for the grand finale. But you could worry about that as you worked. “We’ll turn this castle into something straight out of a horror novel. It’s our goal to make things scary, but not too realistic, or ponies might freak out. Gather some information about haunted or cursed sites from the library. We could use that as a basis,” you commanded some of your drones.
“Yes, my queen!”
“The rest of you, follow their instructions. I have to visit the mayor to talk about this event. I’ll be back shortly to help finish the preparations,” you relayed your last orders before spreading your wings and taking off.
The Ponyville town hall was busier than ever as ponies went through all the permits and registrations of all the other booths for the night. It didn’t take you long to find Mayor Mare, buried under a pile of papers over her desk, heavy eye bags signaling a poorly slept night.
You approached the distressed mare with caution, worried that she might pounce at you at the slightest disturbance. “Uhm, Mayor Mare?” You cleared your throat to catch her attention.
“Gah!” the mayor cried, jumping a bit from the scare. The sudden movement sent all her papers flying to the floor. You picked them up with your magic and put them back on her table in a more organized pile.
“Sorry, Ms. Mare, I didn’t mean to scare you,” you apologized, putting the last papers on the top of the pile.
“Oh, that’s not your fault, I’m a bit sleepy and was taken by surprise by your call.” She rubbed her eyes, trying to make her sleepiness leave her in peace so she could finish her work.
“Woke up earlier today?” you asked, while the Mayor’s mind slowly recovered from the shock.
The mayor hung her head in defeat. “Yeah, I wanted to make sure all the permits were taken care off with enough time left in case something else show up. But don’t worry, I’ll take a nap after I’m done with this. Now, how can I help you?”
“Okay then. I was thinking about hosting a scary maze where I’m currently residing at the Castle of the Two Sisters. I have all that I need to set the event, I just need a permit and maybe a way to announce it to the town’s residents,” you explained.
Deflating at the prospect of even more work, the mayor pointed you towards an office room across you on the second floor. “Please talk to my assistant, Raven Inkwell, she’ll give you everything you need.”
“Alright, thanks, Ms. Mare!” You headed to the appointed office room.
Knocking on the door, you heard a voice calling you in from inside. There, a white earth pony mare with dark brown mane welcomed you in and asked you to sit. “How can I help you?”
“I wanted a permit for hosting a Nightmare Night event. I'd also like to have it advertised, if possible,” you explained again.
“Oh, alright then, please fill these forms and your event will be announced by the mayor at the town's plaza during the festivities.” She hoofed you papers and a quill.
Quickly filling out the form, you thanked her and left the town hall.
Alright, everyling, time to build a scare maze so creepy and frightening that these poor ponies will never dare to come close to our hive again! you rallied your drones, hearing their chittering cheers coupled with a wave of glee and excitement throughout the hivemind… with only a tiny amount of mischievous intentions thrown in as well. Just a tiny bit…
Building a perfect scare maze was no easy task. A lot of love supply was invested in the project to produce building slime, but if what Derpy said about Nightmare Night was accurate, the influx of energy would be worth it.
The first thing you did was hiding you eggs and crystal in a safe place, ultimately deciding that the organ chamber was a secure enough place to keep them. Then, you and your drones proceeded to seal and secure all the rooms that would not be used in the maze with slime, adding an extra layer on the organ chamber just for safety. With the castle secured and the maze path set, your hive spent all the remaining time sculpting giant slime spider webs along the halls, adding more flavor to the already creepy armors, sculpting some distorted figures in dark corners, always making sure that there would be enough room for ponies to run back to the exit in case they decided to flee midway through the maze. Judging by your drones’ diligent and amazing work, they would need the extra escape routes.
With all the work done and the full moon shining brightly in the sky, it was time to party.
“Great work, everyling! Now, change into your costumes and enjoy the festivities! We'll return later for the scare maze!” you announced, rearing up in excitement. Your drones’ enthusiasm infected you as well.
Your changelings swarmed out of the castle, shapeshifting into various costumes as they flew toward Ponyville. Changing into your own costume, your usual persona wearing a classic witch dress and big pointed hat, you decided to meet up with Twilight.
It didn’t take long for you to reach the town’s plaza. The place was packed with ponies, all adorned by a wide range of costumes that went from cute to spooky. Dozens of stands filled the streets, offering food, sweets, and games. In the middle of the plaza, a stage was set up and a country band, all in scarecrow costumes, played their lively Nightmare Night tunes for the folk dancing on the floor. Navigating your way through the crowd of happy ponies suddenly made you feel a bit restless, like their energetic glee was feeding onto you.
You shook your head, trying to clear your mind. Not wanting to take any risks, especially since you would be hosting an event really soon, you immediately relayed a report to Derpy, asking if she knew of anything that could cause this reaction.
Changeling Queens tend to be really susceptible to pony emotions, that’s how they find the best targets for harvest. Maybe you awakened this trait after you laid your eggs? And since you haven’t gotten out of your hive since then, the crowd of ponies might be overwhelming your senses. You just need to let your body adjust, there won’t be any problems, she explained, soothing your worries. Apparently, your fully developed body had more tricks than you expected.
Backpedaling from the crowd a little bit, you took a few seconds to adjust. A few moments later, you noticed Twilight and Spike walking down the street, the former ranting about something while the latter ate a huge pile of candy. You waved and trotted towards them.
“Hello, Miss Sparkle.” You checked her costume, she was wearing a dark blue, starry robe and hat with a fake, long white beard. It didn’t take you long to identify the costume as Starswirl the Bearded, Twilight’s idol sorcerer.
“Great costume, Miss Sparkle. It doesn’t surprise me you chose to dress as Starswirl,” you said, earning an excited squeal and hoof claps as a reward.
“Thank you, finally! Somepony who gets my costume!” she thanked you excitedly, doing a little spin to showcase the costume. Apparently, ponies were having a hard time identifying her character, understandably.
“What about mine?” Spike asked from behind Twilight, striking a pose like a mighty dragon claiming his candy as his treasure. He was wearing a dark purple and green dragon costume.
“Yours is… uhm… very original, Spike. Great job,” you commended.
You continued walking with Twilight as she went on and on about starting a group study about unicorn history in the hopes of teaching some Ponyville residents about classic unicorn and sorcery history. Eventually, you reached the food stands area where Twilight asked if you’d like to get something to eat. But before you could choose, a pink earth pony mare dressed as a white chicken, along with a bunch of foals approached Twilight, showing off their gathered candy.
“Twilight, Twilight! Look at our haul! Ah! Can you believe it?” The pink pony pecked at her candy as if she were a real chicken. “And then, we went to Cheerilee's house, and got a bunch more goodies. Didn't we, Pip?” she asked a white and light brown colt dressed as a pirate, who nodded enthusiastically.
“Sure did!”
You unconsciously zoned out the pink pony’s chatter as you felt the group’s emotions. They were all happy and excited, eager to knock on the next door and ask for more candy. However, you noticed a new kind of emotion approach from above, it was a mischievous glee. Somepony wanted to cause trouble, but nothing dangerous or harmful, it felt like it was seeking a target for a prank.
Moments later, a dark cloud slowly crept towards you, a rainbow-maned, blue pegasus mare placing it right on top of the group of children. In one quick strike, she hit the cloud, causing a thunderous lightning bolt to spark out of it, startling the pink mare and the children, who quickly fled.
The lightning didn’t seem to affect Twilight all that much, just like you. However, the thing that caught your attention the most were the emotions left by the fleeing group. You could feel their fear, but also… excitement? The two emotions seemed to mix together, creating a surprising reaction.
A maniacal laughter brought you back from your haze as the blue pegasus kicked and rolled on her cloud.
“Rainbow Dash, that wasn't very nice,” Twilight scolded her.
“Lighten up, old-timer. This is the best night of the year for pranks!” Rainbow countered.
“Look what you did to Spike!” She pointed to the poor baby dragon, coughing and twitching on the floor, choking on some candy. You helped him get the candy out with your magic, leaving him winded, limbs splayed on the floor, gasping for air.
“It's all in good fun,” the pegasus dismissed. “Oh! Oh! There's another group over there!”
And with that, Rainbow Dash pushed her cloud towards the next victims, leaving an annoyed Twilight Sparkle carrying an almost passed out Spike on her back.
You proceeded to the game stalls near the stage. There Twilight greeted another of her friends, Applejack, who was also dressed as a scarecrow. Maybe the musicians on stage were her parents? you thought, pondering how the Apple family appeared to be as big, if not bigger, than your hive!
“While y'all are here, ya' feel like bobbin' for an apple?” you heard Applejack asking her friends. Following where she pointed, you found Derpy in a big tub, mistakenly pulling its plug instead of an apple. She was wearing paper bags on her head and hooves, the weirdest costume you’ve seen so far.
“Hey, Derpy!” you greeted her, lending a hoof to help her out of the now empty tub.
“Hello, my Quee… I mean, Ms. Enigma! Nice meeting you here!”
“Say, what is your costume?” you asked, giving up on trying to decipher it.
“Oh, isn’t it obvious? I’m a giant muffin! See?” She lowered her head, showing the Sugarcube Corner logo on the paper bag.
“Oh, of course. I see it now.”
Your exchange was cut short as a round of cheers and applause could be heard from the stage. Ms. Mayor stood up behind a stand, wearing a clown costume, she raised her hoof, asking for silence.
“Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!” The ponies cheered and stomped their hooves. “Tonight, we have two special events! Our newest resident, Ms. Enigma, prepared a special scare maze waiting for you later tonight! Would you dare cross the ‘Hive of Horrors’ and claim its rewards?” Even more cheers came from the crowd.
You could feel their excitement and anticipation building up, some eager to see what rewards they could win, and others thrilled to take on a new challenge. Their emotions sure were infectious, as more and more ponies joined their fellows in at the prospect of adventure.
“Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora to hear the legend of... Nightmare Moon!” the mayor continued, letting out a creepy laughter that didn’t work all that well with her costume.
A green mist took over the stage. From within it, Zecora, wearing a dark cloak with a straight white mane filled with spiders appeared like a ghostly image. “Follow me, and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon.” She beckoned the little ones, who followed her towards the Everfree Forest.
You already read about the tale of Nightmare Moon and the Nightmare Night festival. How foals had to make candy offerings to Nightmare Moon or she would come back to gobble them up. So you decided to stay in town and observe the ponies a little more, taking on their reactions to some pranks and their emotions. After a couple of minutes, you managed to take quite a number of notes that would help you fine tune your scare maze so it wouldn’t be too scary, nor too dull.
As you strolled through the city, you bumped into a couple of your drones here and there. All of them felt rested and relaxed, having the time of their lives as some played games, others pulled some pranks, and another few just took the opportunity to spend some time with each other and have fun, some of them even appeared to have made some pony friends!
It looked like your more, friendly approach had echoed through the hivemind, causing your drones to be more at ease near ponies, consequently causing ponies to be more at ease around them. Surely, this demeanor would greatly intensify the amount of passive love collection as your drones started to form proper bonds with ponies. But maybe, it would also cause your drones to be too at ease, potentially lowering their guard in case an aggressive action was taken against the hive.
I wonder if this is the right path to take… you thought to yourself as the idea of meeting other changeling hives passed through your mind. Maybe you won’t be able to protect your drones… protect your eggs… alone. If you were to keep on the more peaceful path, you would have to find like-minded allies. Otherwise, you would have to toughen up and strengthen your army.
Your wondering was abruptly interrupted as a stampede of screaming children led by that pink mare ran past you. You could still feel that weird mix of fear and excitement emanating off of them, albeit, this time the fear factor was way higher.
A few seconds later, dark clouds covered the skies as a dark blue, almost purple chariot pulled by two bat-winged pegasi loomed over the plaza. A dark hooded figure slowly descended from it into the town. The hood turned into a swarm of bats upon landing, revealing a dark blue alicorn mare!
The whole town lay flat on the ground in fear, their emotions spreading thoughts in the hivemind as each and every pony bent their knees in terror of the image before them.
Even though you couldn’t feel any sort of dangerous or harmful intents emanating from the mare, you decided to lay down as well, just to keep a low profile, if nothing else.
The dark mare spread her wings as she walked towards the cowering crowd. Grinning, she shouted in a booming voice, “Citizens of Ponyville! We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real Princess of the Night!” Everypony slowly backed away from the Princess as she continued.
“A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!” Her speech was punctuated by a frightening lightning strike in the background.
“Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!” the pink mare screamed to the children from within the crowd, causing them to flee. Again, you could feel the same weird mix of emotions, but this time there was almost no fear emanating from the pink mare, instead, it felt almost like playful fun?
What the heck? you thought to yourself.
Your attention was brought back to the alicorn, as she continued in a confused and surprisingly wounded tone, “What? No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight is what your princess desires, not screams of terror!” She punctuated her speech stomping her hooves, cracking the ground underneath her.
She suddenly turned to the Mayor, pointing at her. “Madame Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived.”
The mayor just curled into a ball, covering her eyes with her hooves in fear.
“What is the matter with you?” Luna turned to other ponies, but all of them just cowered in fear. She then curled her wings beside her body and began to smugly walk away. “Very well, then. Be that way. We won't even bother with the traditional royal farewell!”
Even though Princess Luna held her smug pose all the while walking away, you could feel her emotions clearly. She was insecure, she was nervous, but most importantly, she was sad, very very sad. You felt pity for such a wounded pony. Even though she was a Princess, she was all alone.
You sent a quiet prayer to the Mother Queen, thanking her for never knowing true loneliness thanks to the hivemind. But ponies didn’t have the same privilege. You decided to try and talk to her, maybe try to cheer her up, or at least offer her company. But before you could move, you noticed Twilight following the Princess, apparently, she had thought of the same thing.
The commotion stirred up the hivemind as well, your changelings chattering with each other about what to do. Calm down, my children, you soothed them. No need to panic, the pony Princess is not a threat to us, yet. Go back to the hive to make sure everything is in order, being discovered with her around could prove catastrophic. Once that’s done, you can return and enjoy the festivities.
Yes, my Queen!
It didn’t take long since the Princess left for the festivities to resume. Ponies still were a bit uneasy, but most of them just pushed those feelings aside and enjoyed the night. Their uneasiness proved to be a very valuable research note, whenever someone was pranked, they would be scared much worse than before Luna had arrived, however, once they saw the prankster laughing at them, they quickly relaxed and laughed as well. You relayed that information back to your drones at the hive, adjusting some of the pranks at the maze to these new parameters.
However, soon enough, Twilight Sparkle had returned with Luna, and everypony they passed by dropped to their knees at her presence. For every pony that cowered when the Princess walked by, you could feel her depression growing and growing, and you noticed a small tinge of frustration starting to build up as well.
This is bad… you thought. You didn’t know what Twilight had done with her while they were gone, but it clearly didn’t work. If things won’t start to get better soon, the situation could escalate really quickly…
You decided to join them to help stabilize her emotions. Being a changeling, you could try and search for the source of her insecurities, and hopefully, help her overcome them. You approached the unicorn and alicorn, making sure that your presence was well-known from a distance, to avoid surprising or aggravating the already unstable mess of a princess.
“Ah, Ms. Enigma! Let me introduce you to Princess Luna,” Twilight called you nervously, her expression that of someone desperate for assistance.
You gave her a little wink to let her know that you got her back. You faced the Princess and kneeled. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Princess Luna.” You took her hoof and kissed it, adjusting to Luna’s old-time proper mannerism.
Already you could feel a sense of relief sparking inside the princess. The fact that someone seemed to remember the old ways she was so accustomed to lifted a considerable weight from her shoulders.
“Charmed,” the princess replied, a tinge of happiness in her voice. “But please, thou hast no need to kneel.”
“Alright then. Shall we continue toward the game stalls?” you asked, standing up.
“Great idea! Let’s go!” Twilight replied, taking the lead. She muttered a silent “Thank you” as she walked beside you, to which you nodded.
As you walked down the street, you decided to prod a little bit to see if you could get any hints out of Luna. “So, Princess, what sort of activities did you partake in during Nightmare Night back in your time?” You knew that Nightmare Night was a more recent event, but you wanted to find out what sort of reactions you would get from her.
Immediately, you could feel her mood drop drastically. Guilt, regret, and sorrow washing away what little bit of good emotions she had. “There was no such thing as Nightmare Night back in my age. ‘Tis a festivity that came to be after I… after I turned into Nightmare Moon…”
So that was it. She was still beating at old wounds, not allowing them to heal.
You finally reached the game stalls. Twilight led you to Applejack. She was taking care of a couple of bobbing apple tubs, catching that white and light brown colt that leaned too close and almost fell inside the tub. Once the farmpony noticed that Luna was right next to her, she also ducked and lay on the floor, covering her face.
“Uh... Applejack, the princess is looking for a little advice on how to fit in around here,” Twilight said, trying to get her friend off the ground.
“‘Fit in’? Really?” Applejack asked, confused, receiving an annoyed grunt as a reply. She quickly got up and recomposed herself. “I mean... that's easy! 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?” Princess Luna asked, confused. The duo pointed towards a game stall that had a bowl of plush spiders and a spider web set on the side. Luna approached the spider toys with curiosity.
“Pray tell, what purpose do these serve?”
You remembered that one of your drones played this game. Quickly going over its memories, you went over the rules of the game and explained it to the princess, “All you need to do is throw the spider on its web. The closer to the center, the more points you score, and you’re not allowed to use your magic or wings, only your hooves.”
She nodded, picking up a spider plushie and threw it, landing only a few centimeters away from its target. “Maybe a little higher, Princess,” you encouraged her. This time, the toy landed right on the web. You could feel a spark of joy lighting up in the princess’ heart, excitement running through her system like a sugar rush.
“Ha! Your princess enjoys this "fun"!” she proclaimed. “In what other ways may we experience it?” she asked Applejack, trying too hard to keep up her regal pose.
Applejack and Twilight then led her to a pumpkin catapult game, where you had a little friendly dispute with the princess. She proved to be quite skilled, beating you with ease. Slowly but surely, ponies started to relax and gather around her and as more and more ponies approached her, her heart warmed more and more. Things seemed to be going exceptionally well!
However, the little colt from before tried to grab an apple again, this time unsupervised, and fell in the tub. Luna quickly jumped into action, before Twilight and you could even react, grabbing the colt by the shirt with her teeth and pulling him out of the tub.
The timing couldn’t be worse as that crazy pink mare approached with her group of foals, searching for the missing colt. “Hey, gals. Anypony seen Pip? We lost him the last time we had to run–” As soon as she landed her eyes on the Princess, Tartarus broke loose. “Aaah! Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak! Everypony run!” she cried. Again, you were left confused by that crazy pony’s antics, there was almost no fear in her, nor malice, only… thrill? Of the chase? Of being chased?
It was at that moment that you made up your mind for sure in a very important matter; Ponies were so weird.
Whatever appeared to be good progress was thrown right out the window. The princess lost her temper, causing ponies to back off, and things only spiraled out of control from there. Princess Luna tried her best to get earn their trust back, worsening the situation even more. Soon enough, ponies began running around in panic, causing all sorts of problems.
Luna tried to halt her subjects before anypony got hurt, but they wouldn’t listen. You could feel a deep worry on her on behalf of her fellow ponies, but an even deeper resentment took hold of her. With a thundering voice, she boomed, “Be still!”
All the ponies quickly threw themselves to the ground. Nopony dared to move a muscle.
“Princess, remember! Watch the screaming!” Twilight tried to calm the princess down but to no avail.
“No, Twilight Sparkle! We must use the traditional royal Canterlot voice for what we are about to say.” Luna silenced her. She conjured an eerie lightning storm as she flew up into the sky, looming over Ponyville. “Since you choose to fear your princess rather than love her, and dishonor her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be canceled! Forever!” she declared before vanishing into the clouds.
Everypony was speechless for a couple of minutes, their emotions, a complete maelstrom as they tried to process what just happened. Until their emotions finally settled into one, sadness. Foals cried along the plaza, their plans for future Nightmare Nights now lying in ruins.
But still, the deeper sadness came from Luna herself. It felt like canceling Nightmare Night struck a stronger blow on her than anypony else. You couldn’t leave things as they were! Luna needed help, and you knew you could help her! Besides, your drones worked their asses off getting everything ready for that damned maze and nopony, princess or not, would ruin their work!
You followed Princess Luna’s emotion trail to the edge of town. There, you found the princess, lowly crossing the bridge that lead out of town. Her head hung low in frustration and disappointment.
You approached her. “Excuse me, Princess?”
“Leave me be, Enigma,” she dismissed you with the most pitiful tone you’ve heard so far.
“Please, Princess, let me talk to you. I want to help you,” you insisted. She paused, then slowly walked to the river bed and sat there, looking at her reflection.
“It can’t be helped,” she said, softly, her voice wavering. “Ponies never liked me. And after today, they never shall…”
You sat next to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “That’s not true, Your Highness. We make ourselves into who we want to be. You can do it too.”
“But how? You saw what happened, they backed away every time I was nearby. They never trusted me!” she cried, a single tear running down her cheek. “They never gave me a chance… not then, not now…”
“That is because you didn’t trust in yourself, Princess,” you said, wiping her tears with your magic.
“What?” she asked, confused.
“I’ve spent a good time with you tonight, just like Twilight Sparkle and everypony else. However, let’s just say that I can see… deeper… than other ponies. I could see through you, how unsure you were, how scared you were. How scared you still are,” you explained. Princess Luna stared at you intently, her gaze lost in your eyes.
You continued. “You see, emotions are a very powerful thing. And just like a virus, it tends to spread. If you’re filled with self-doubt and fear, these emotions will propagate and infect those around you. However, if you’re filled with joy and self-esteem, it will attract other ponies towards you, seeking that same energy.”
You could almost see the gears turning in Luna’s mind, her turmoil of emotions slowly calming down. “But how can I overcome these emotions? After everything I’ve done as Nightmare Moon, I’m scared it might happen again.”
“By accepting who you are. The past is not today. Nightmare Moon was a horrible thing, but that’s still a part of you. It is you who decides if it will be your prison or just a cocoon from which you will break free and spread your wings.” You got up and offered a hoof to her.
“But nopony will give me another chance!” Luna insisted.
“Follow me, I have a plan.”
<Hivemind>
Back in Ponyville, the group of foals gathered near the stage. “Gosh. I never thought my very first Nightmare Night would be my very last,” Pipsqueak said.
“Come, little Pip. Now don't you fret. Nightmare Night's not over yet. We still have candy left to give, so Nightmare Moon might let us live,” Zecora said, cheering him up.
“Yes. Come on, little ponies. What's Nightmare Night without the annual candy offering? Oh, and Ms. Enigma still has her Scary Maze set and waiting for us!” Mayor Mare added.
“Come on, kids! Doesn't that sound like fun?” Applejack nudged them.
The foals followed the pumpkin lanterns set in the Everfree Forest leading towards the Castle of the Two Sisters. The ruins’ entrance was illuminated by some eerie dark blue, almost ghostly-like lit candles resting on the cold stone walls, their flames almost like a portal to the dark void of space. As the foals approached the steps, the doors were thrown open, violently banging the walls.
From within the destroyed halls, a booming, threatening voice spoke to them. “Mwahahahaha! Welcome to my domain, little ones!” the voice had a wavering undertone, almost insect-like, alien in nature. “Come, entertain me! Reach the end of my maze and you shall be rewarded! Back away now if you don’t have the courage to move on!” And just as it came, the voice vanished, leaving only a sinister laughter in its wake.
Some of the foals ran away immediately, but the few that remained marched forward. The doors slammed shut as soon as they stepped into the halls. An unsettling skittering could be heard from all directions, its source nowhere to be found. They cautiously trotted down the main hall towards the old thrones. However, midway there, a sinister symphony could be heard as giant stone walls came out of the floor, trapping the foals who wailed and screamed in fright.
Shortly after, two paths opened, one leading into a creepy corridor filled with thick spider webs, and the other back to the entrance, now open. Another few fillies ran back to the entrance abandoning their quest, but the rest continued deeper into the maze. Movement through the webs was getting harder and harder, some of the younger foals getting trapped in them. As the young foals struggled in the web, the skittering became louder and louder.
Suddenly, giant star spiders came crawling from the ceiling towards the trapped foals. The older foals came to the rescue, hitting the spiders with their bags of candy. Their assault caused the spiders to fall from their webs in a comical over-dramatic death. The little show drew chuckles from the children, who felt emboldened by their victory. Freeing their companions, they managed to power through the rest of the webs to a clean hall.
The foals reached a long corridor lit up by torches of the same blue eerie lights, creepy looking armors adorning its sides. Their metallic forms appeared to be overtaken by a gross-looking infection, like overgrown mold. The foals proceeded with caution, never taking their eyes from those creepy armors. Suddenly, the torches at the end of the corridor went out, and so did the ones in the back. More and more torches dimmed out until only the one above them was left. The fillies and colts shook in fear, clinging to each other for dear life. Suddenly, one of the armors bent down towards them and blew out the last candle.
The foals let out a loud shriek and ran through the corridor as fast as they could, quickly climbing the spiral stairs of the tower as the haunted armors followed suit. One of the fillies took one of the torches with her magic, her little horn barely holding it close to her. She threw it at the feet of the armor in the front, causing it to trip and dismantle itself on the floor as more and more armors piled up on top of it.
The foals cheered their success and followed the path up the tower. They reached what seemed to be a library, but all the books lay scattered on the floor. Nightmarish still images of creatures popped out of the books, like trying to escape their paper prisons. But there, at the end of the library, was a huge bowl of candy, just waiting to be claimed.
Tempted by the prospects of even more candy, the foals quickly ran to collect it. But as soon as the last piece of candy was taken from the bowl, the sinister organ played once more. The bowl retreated into the floor through a trap-door. A pillar of rainbowy-iridescent flames took its place.
From within the flames, a dark figure emerged with holed hooves, jagged horn, and insect-like carapace and wings. “My my, what have we here?” the freakish creature taunted the children, slicking her large fangs with her long tongue. “Little thieves stealing my guest’s treats?”
Suddenly, more iridescent flames appeared amongst them as some of the foals turned into smaller versions of the same monster! They laughed and giggled maniacally, flying circles around the frightened group, corralling them.
Before the children could even scream, another sickening laughter could be heard. A whirlwind of dark magic filled the room, designating the nightmarish creatures from the books and concentrating into a single silhouette. It was the fabled dark mare herself, Nightmare Moon!
Her fanged smile froze the foals in place as they shook in fear. “Don’t worry, my dear friend,” she replied, turning the other monster, slowly circling the children, surrounding them. “Let them eat to their heart’s content. Let them grow chubby and sweet so I can gobble each one of them!” Nightmare Moon threatened, chasing the children with her mouth wide open.
The children cried and screamed, fleeing through the other side of the library. As soon as they all left, Nightmare Moon turned back into Luna, who spat a set of fake fangs.
<Hivemind>
“I’m not certain that was a good idea, Ms. Enigma…” Luna stated.
“Trust me. They’ll return,” you assured her.
“I’m really having difficulties believing in--”
“Um... Princess Luna. I know there's not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?” Pipsqueak asked her, pulling on her ethereal mane.
Luna watched as the rest of the group peeked through the door. “Child. Art thou saying that thou... likest me to scare you?” she asked, confused.
“It's really fun! Scary, but fun!” he squeaked.
“It... is?”
“Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year,” Pipsqueak reaffirmed, wagging his tail.
“Well then. We shall have to bring Nightmare Night back!” Luna shouted with her thundering voice, excitement taking over her.
“Whoa! You're my favorite princess ever!” The little colt hugged her before running back to her friends. “She said yes, guys!”
The foals cheered over the great news and ran down the staircase, leaving the ruins and returning to the city with their newly acquired candy.
You patted Princess Luna on the back, praising her. “See? You just had to embrace yourself fully-EEP!” You let out a very undignifying squeal as Princess Luna enveloped you in a tight hug, surprising you. You just realized that this was your first contact with a pony in your real form. You could feel the huge difference in texture as the princess’ soft fur was pressed tightly to your hard carapace. It wasn't unpleasant, just... different.
“Thank you, friend... Thank you so much…” you heard her say softly over your shoulder, sniffing.
“You’re welcome, friend.” You returned the hug.
Her happiness was unmeasurable, you’ve never felt anything like that before. It was like her one thousand-year-old dream finally came true. Her emotions fed into you, filling your energy supplies immensely, even leaking through the hivemind.
A few minutes later and Princess Luna had returned home. Everypony in Ponyville heard the news of how the cancelation of Nightmare Night was, ironically, canceled, and celebrated. While you, still at your hive, helped your drones with the cleanup. You were cleaning the spider webs in the main hall with a bunch of workers, happily chatting about how their Nightmare Night was and what they did. In your distracted chatter, you failed to notice a light pink pegasus with an off-white mane and tail looking at you from the entrance.
You and your drones froze in place as you heard the castle door closing behind the pink mare.
Was your cover blown?!
What should you do?!
Can you salvage the situation?
What the heck is a pony doing here this late?!
That and many other questions ran through your mind as the pink mare just smiled at you. Her smile eventually turned into laughter as she flew towards you. You braced for impact but was surprised as the mare was engulfed in pink flames and turned into a changeling right before tackling you into a tight hug.
“Ohhhh, that was so awesome! How did you manage to pull that off?! Ohhhh, you’re exactly the help I needed! I missed you so much! How have you been? Did you miss me?!” The changeling assaulted you with questions at such a rapid pace that only one creature could do.
“Cicah?!” you exclaimed, surprised.
“Yay! You remember me! Oh, I’m so happy to see you!” she squealed, hugging you tighter.
“I’m happy to see you too but, how did you find me?”
“Well, I heard from Twenty-three and Twenty-four that you established your hive here in the castle, so I decided to visit! When I arrived and heard that you would be throwing a party, I couldn’t hold myself and came in disguised as one of the fillies to see what it was all about! And it was awesome! Everything was awesome! You managed to throw such a big event without getting caught. That’s exactly the kind of talent I need right now. You gotta help me!”
“Wait, wait. Help out with what?” You tried to slow Cicah down, unable to process that huge amount of information that quickly.
“You see, there’s this big event coming up in my hive and I’m supposed to be the organizer, but I kinda lost my crew and I really really really need help to make sure this event runs smoothly!” Cicah explained as slow as she could, which was not all that slow at all.
“Wait, Mother is throwing an event?” That confused you on so many levels…
“No silly! My original hive!”
“Wait, I thought you were an outcast, just like the others!”
“What? No way! I and the other cicadas were on a tour. Queen Elysia is a good friend of our Queen, Arch Queen Sicaria.” She gasped. “You could even meet her! Ohhh, you’ll love her, she has such a great voice and sings so well!”
“Okay… where is this event taking place?” you asked, slowly getting the picture of the whole thing.
“In Manehattan! Isn’t that cool?!” Cicah exclaimed excitedly.
“Wow… that’s far…”
“I know, but it will be super worth it! And I really really really need it! Pleeeeease?” Cicah begged you, throwing her best puppy eyes at you.
You stopped to consider for a few moments. It would be a really lengthy journey, maybe even a week or so…
Could you leave your hive now?
What about your eggs?
Could you take them with you?
Maybe you should take the whole hive with you! Or at least a couple of drones…
Maybe you won’t need to, Arch Queen Sicaria appears to be friendly enough…
A lot of things ran through your mind. But in the end, Cicah was your friend, and as she said, she really needed your help. Plus, this would be a great opportunity to build your first alliance with another hive.
“Alright Cicah, I’ll help you!”