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Chapter 1: Goblins and Ghosts
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The bell over the schoolhouse rang as children rushed into the doors, ready to start the day. There at the door stood Ms. Cheerilee, watching them as they came in, colts and fillies eagerly moving past her to get to their seats. She counted each and every one of them as they walked past her, taking a mental note of how many papers she’d have to pass out throughout the day.
Ms. Cheerilee tallied up her students and sighed. Everyone was accounted for, except for a certain alicorn filly that had yet to show. She looked towards the gate, hoping to see her coming through, only to find it vacant. She frowned. She hoped that the girl was alright or had woken up this morning with a bad cold at the least. Twilight had come to her a few weeks before to discuss a few personal matters, directing her to keep a close eye on Nyx from now on. Ms. Cheerilee, on her behalf, completely understood. She kicked herself daily for not keeping a watchful eye on the girl during the school field trip to Baltimare, but little could be done about it now.
And so now she was standing there, holding her lesson back a few minutes, waiting for a filly that may or may not show up. Cheerilee tapped her hoof as she looked up at the clock inside the classroom. Ten o’clock. Five after ten. Ten minutes after ten. The clock kept on ticking as Cheerilee rolled her eyes. She decided to give up and put it aside for later, making a mental note to stop by the castle after classes to see if everything was alright. Turning her head, she started to head back into the school.
But just as she was about to close the door, Nyx ran up to the school gate, leaning against it for a moment to try and catch her breath. Cheerilee watched her out of the corner of her eye, the filly heaving and wheezing as she hunched over. She had run all the way across town to get to the school as quickly as possible, but all she wanted to do now was calm the beating of her heart.
Sighing as her strength returned to her, Nyx walked towards the school door where her teacher was waiting for her. Nyx shrank a little under her gaze, wondering what she would have to say.
“Practicing for a marathon, Nyx?” Ms. Cheerilee asked, raising an eyebrow and giving a half-smile.
“I-I lost track of the time,” Nyx said a little sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.
“I can see that.” Ms. Cheerilee nodded, moving aside to let Nyx pass through, “Remember to be more mindful of the time in the future, young lady. I don’t like to be held up in my lessons,” she warned, albeit relieved that her student was alright.
“Yes, Ms. Cheerilee,” she said in a dejected tone, repositioning the glasses resting on her muzzle. Her spirits were soon lifted however as Cheerilee smiled at her, shooing her into the classroom as she closed the door behind them. Nyx quickly made her way to the back of the room, sitting down at her desk directly across from Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
“Psst, Nyx! What took ya so long? We were waitin’ for you out in the playground,” Apple Bloom asked as she leaned to the side, looking straight at her.
“Slept in late, I guess,” Nyx gave her a half-truth, having kept the bad dreams between herself and Spike for the moment, rubbing her eyes as she pulled out her notebook and a pencil from her bags.
“Late’s putting it lightly. We were waiting outside for almost an hour!” Sweetie whispered rather harshly, not very fond of the considerable chill in the air earlier that morning.
“Sorry,” Nyx said under her breath, slightly annoyed by Sweetie Belle’s disgruntlement, her lack of sleep making her a little grumpy herself.
“Ah shucks, it’s alright. We still got lunch and recess to talk, don’t we?” Apple Bloom reassured, oblivious to her friend’s sour mood.
“Then we can finally go over our trick or treat route, right?” a voice came from behind them. Apple Bloom and Nyx turned around, looking at Scootaloo who was leaning over her desk to talk to them, making a bit of a scene.
Apple Bloom let out a groan. “Yes, Scoot, we’ll go over the route. Now stop lying on your desk before you get us in trouble!” she whispered through gritted teeth, her eyes shifting to the front of the class just as Ms. Cheerilee began to address them.
“Right, good morning, everypony. Before we get started, I assume every one of you took the time to finish the home assignment for yesterday’s chapter in history,” she said, tapping a ruler on her front desk, “if you’d be so kind, I would ask that everypony pass their work to the front of the class. Featherweight will collect each pile and stack them on my desk.”
Featherweight perked up when he heard his name being brought up, smiling at Ms. Cheerilee as he got up from his desk and waited for everyone to pass their assignments forward. The students began to shift through their papers to gather the desired essay. Both Nyx and Apple Bloom placed their papers neatly on their desk, both having kept them safely tucked into their bags. They smiled proudly at their effort, they were after all two of the neatest of the group of school children, for what that was worth. That couldn’t be said for the other two of their friends, Nyx glanced over to Sweetie Belle who fumbled through her bags and pulled her assignment from her bag, almost ripping it in two as it was so crudely packed in there. She watched her iron out the wrinkles before Scootaloo plopped her paper on Nyx’s desk to pass to the front of the class.
Apple Bloom and Nyx stared at it for a long moment, both taking note on how little it resembled a paper at all. The pages if you could call them that were wrinkled and torn, covered in muddy spots and what looked like words, though they weren’t quite clear on what exactly they were supposed to say. Nyx gave the bit of homework an odd look, sighing as she passed it forward. With everyone’s work gathered together, Featherweight presented it to Ms. Cheerilee, who thanked him and took the papers to be graded later, placing them in the middle of her desk. Satisfied to have that taken care of, Ms. Cheerilee spun where she stood and directed her attention to the class, giving them all a warm and inviting smile.
“Alright class, as I’m sure all of you know, our town and many others across Equestria will be celebrating Nightmare Night in the next few days. I’m also sure you’ve all picked out your costumes of little goblins and ghosts,” she stated, taking in the grins of foals who had spent weeks planning for this night. Suddenly Rumble pursed his lips, making a strange droning sound that resembled the theme for a radio science fiction serial. The students giggled at that, Ms. Cheerilee smiling at it as well.
“In light of this, I thought it would be a good idea for us to go over the history of the holiday,” she said, turning to the chalkboard to write the words ‘HISTORY OF NIGHTMARE NIGHT’ on the green surface. Smiling, she looked back at them. “Now, can anypony tell me how the holiday got started?”
Nyx groaned. She was, in fact, well aware of what Nightmare Night was. This would be her second experience with the holiday since she had first been ‘born’, although perhaps experience wasn’t the right word. In fact, she hadn’t experienced it at all. Twilight had mentioned the holiday to her the year before, hoping to ask her about a costume, but the moment the filly found out it centered around Nightmare Moon ‘gobbling up ponies’, she had wanted no part of it. She thought that would be that and she wouldn’t have to think about it anymore, but now here she was, having to listen to this unpleasant dribble.
“It started when Luna turned into Nightmare Moon!” Pipsqueak blurted out, rising from his desk as he declared it proudly, feeling good for having the bit of knowledge. Ah, there it was, she thought, frowning at the innocent response.
“That’s a good guess, Pip. Nightmare Moon has been associated with the holiday for centuries. However,” Cheerilee raised her hoof, giving a pause to emphasize the word, her voicing becoming rather coaxing, “would it be interesting for you to know that the holiday actually goes way back before Nightmare Moon?”
Ms. Cheerilee grinned as her class looked at her curiously, confused by the bit of information. Even Nyx had risen an eyebrow at this, leaning forward a little to rest her head on her hooves as Ms. Cheerilee continued, “Now, I’m sure you’re all aware of the story of Nightmare Moon. Ms. Zecora makes a fine show of it every year. This is a well-known story in our society.”
“But what isn’t well known is the story of the ‘Children of the Night’,” Cheerilee said as she wrote the title on the board, talking as she scribbled words and drawings, “In the old days after Discord was defeated, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna tried to undo the damage he caused. Sadly, that was easier said than done. Much of Equestria was broken at the time, so Luna, seeing the problems presented to her ponies, proposed that a second colony be made in a distant land from Equestria. Somewhere that would be more suitable for their needs.”
The colts and fillies of her class all listened in earnest, paying close attention to her words. Nyx tilted her head, intrigued by the story that Ms. Cheerilee told. None of this was familiar to her, feeling as though this was even a small aspect of herself being talked about right now. They all gave her their full attention, their young eyes locked onto her as she moved about the front of the class.
“Why didn’t she?” Sweetie Belle asked, waving her hoof in the air for her question even though she blurted it out anyway.
“Thank you, Miss Belle, I was just getting to that before you decided to interrupt,” Ms. Cheerilee gave her a disapproving glare, the filly slumping down into her chair, trying to hide. The teacher ignored the outburst for now, readdressing the class.
“Celestia however, did not agree with her sister at all. She was afraid that Equestria would be divided by such a move, weakening and ultimately destroying the unity of the kingdom. This was no doubt a wise observation, but Luna wouldn’t let the idea go.” Ms. Cheerilee rolled her head, thinking about those few words for a brief moment. “So she took things into her own hooves.”
“Now as I said before on Nightmare Night, Nightmare Moon comes to gobble ponies up that don't give her candy. But it wasn’t Nightmare Moon that took ponies away in this story, but Princess Luna herself.” She then presented a book, an olive-colored binding that was encrusted with gold leaf. Nyx immediately recognized the particular tome, eyeing it sharply. Ms. Cheerilee flipped through the pages to find the text she so desired, coming across a few interesting illustrations in the process.
“That night, Princess Luna went out into the city and abducted the town’s orphans,” she said matter-of-factly, gaining several gasps from the colts and fillies, “she used a magic lullaby to put the whole city to sleep and took them in the dead of night.”
“What hathened to lem?” Peppermint Twist asked, rather alarmed, the other foals raising their questions up as well.
“Nopony knows. The records from the time are very unreliable, and Princess Luna herself doesn’t like to talk about it,” Ms. Cheerilee answered, vague as it was. “Many scholars believe that this was what started the divide between the two sisters that lead to Luna becoming Nightmare Moon.”
“Now I believe that there’s a lesson in all this.” Ms. Cheerilee leaned against her desk, closing the book and setting it down upon the wooden surface. “We must always remember to be mindful of our actions. We may mean well, but we can cause a lot of pain if we’re not careful. Acting on feelings alone will only get you in trouble if you don’t think about it first.”
The students nodded, looking to their teacher as if she had the wisdom of Celestia herself. Ms. Cheerilee smiled at that. She loved the attention and adoration from her students. She lived for those looks of wonderment on their little faces and longed for the questions they asked her.
Ms. Cheerilee moved on in her lesson, but Nyx continued to think on her words as she took down some notes. This was a new bit of information that she had to study up on, fascinated by the circumstances revolving around it. She looked up from her notes and stared at the trees outside. She wondered what had happened to those foals that Luna had swept away. Did they have children of their own? Did they live on to have better lives, and if they did, was it all worth it? The filly let out a sigh, her mind pondering why Luna would have gone to such an extreme. Had things been that bad, what had she in mind that she thought would have given them a better chance?
The lesson had continued on from there to go over the traditions and ways of celebrating the holiday and how they came to be. But time passed and the noon soon came around, and the students were all let out to eat and play. And what a nice day it was to eat a meal in the outdoors.
Nyx looked around at the playground adorned in beautiful warm colors, leaves matting the grass in hues of orange and red. The courtyard trees swayed gently in the breeze, the sound of their crinkling leaves carried on the wind. Autumn had come over Equestria, and it was by far her favorite time of year. The way the colors changed from shades of green to the warm vivid shades of the Fall, the sudden chill that was brought on by the gentle wind, it was all so peaceful and lovely. And of course, the color of her fur helped as well, her shiny black coat absorbing the warmth of the sun far better than any other. She breathed in the cold air as young colts and fillies run around while others played on the slides and swings, while still others sat in groups, eating their lunches. In fact, in one particular corner, on a bench between the bushes and swings, the Cutie Mark Crusaders sat enjoying their meals, deep in conversation.
“Ah can’ believe Princess Luna would do that,” Apple Bloom said in a disbelieving tone, taking a bite from her sandwich. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo nodded their heads in agreement. They all felt that the story was so far-fetched that it couldn’t possibly be true. All of them, except for Nyx, who slowly shook her head in disagreement.
“It’s true. Ms. Cheerilee got that story from the Encyclopedia of Early Equestrian History,” Nyx said casually as she took her lunch-sack out of her saddlebags, digging into its contents.
“Huh?” Apple Bloom tilted her head, a confused look spread over her face by the title.
Nyx turned to look at the southern filly. “The book. It’s an updated historical article overlooked by the Princesses themselves. I recognized it from mom’s library,” Nyx remarked, caught by the rather hard piece of information herself as she pulled a bright green apple from the brown bag and took a bite out of it.
“Well, she had to have a good reason for taking them. I mean she’s just so... cool!” Scootaloo said with a frown as she bit into her peanut butter and jelly, a little upset that her vocabulary wasn’t wide enough to come up with a better word.
“Well, I can’t believe you guys got your cutie marks while I was visiting the Crystal Empire! How?!” Nyx fussed, staring at the three semi-identical marks on each of her friends’ flanks. She had only been gone for a week, but when she came back it was as if the social structure at the school had done a complete one-eighty on itself. Secretly, however, she just wanted to change the subject.
Apple Bloom shrugged her shoulders. “Hey, it just sorta happened. Cutie marks are just what we’re good at, Ah guess.”
“It’s not like we didn’t try to send you a letter, but you left by the time it got there,” Scootaloo said as she looked up from her notebook, scribbling pictures and ideas inside. “Just bad luck that our cutie marks and your cousin being born happened at the same time.”
“What’s the baby’s name again?” Sweetie Belle asked, scraping her fork around her salad.
“Valiant Heart. You should have seen him, he’s so cute!” Nyx beamed at the thought of her little cousin, remembering his little gurgles and whines. Shining Armor and Cadence had announced that they were having a baby during the Hearth’s Warming celebration the year before, and both she and Twilight had waited in anticipation from that point. Twilight was particularly excited about being an aunt, boasting on about how she’d spoil the child every chance she got.
Nyx, on the other hand, had been far more apprehensive about the situation. Admittedly, she had been more afraid than happy with the idea of having a little cousin. Not that she didn’t want one, no, but she was afraid that they wouldn’t like her. She had gone to help Pinkie Pie with the Cake twins once a long time ago, and it had not gone well at all. Pound and Pumpkin had been downright terrified of her, and she’d never offered to help since. This, of course, cemented in her head the idea that the same thing would happen with Valiant as well. However, seeing her for the first time had only made him curious, much to her relief.
Nyx sighed. “When he’s older, I could help teach him everything I know. I could even help him with his magic!”
“Are you sure you can do that? Your magic is almost as bad as my flying!” Scootaloo laughed, earning giggles from the other fillies finding the red colliding in Nyx’s black cheeks all too funny.
“Yeah, almost, you equine turkey,” Nyx growled a little, unamused by her teasing.
Scootaloo almost choked on her peebee and jay as she shot her a look. “Hey, what’s got your tail in a twist?” she asked, her wings buzzing angrily as she crossed her arms.
Nyx groaned as she slumped into the bench, kicking herself mentally for being so snippy. “I’m sorry. Not enough sleep, I guess.” She waved it off, not wanting to go into any more details. “Can we please change the subject?”
Scootaloo immediately smiled, quickly forgetting about the tension between the two fillies only moments before as she started pulling out scrapbooks and note papers, throwing them around on the ground. The girls watched her, amazed at how much the pegasus could stuff into one small bag, a wad of paper even striking Sweetie Belle in the nose, making her sneeze.
“Okay! So I’ve been working on a route for over a month now to get us the most candy,” she said confidently, spreading out a crudely made map of Ponyville. “I’ve kept a list of the best houses to hit from the past few years, but I think we could make it big this time!”
“What about Mrs. Sauerkraut? You’ve got her right in the middle of our route,” Sweetie Belle asked, pointing out the mean old mare’s house. Mrs. Sauerkraut was notorious among the town’s children for being a rotten old hag, taking every opportunity she could to make them miserable, whether it be taking away toys that fell on her property to just straight up screaming at them. No one knew exactly why she was so cruel, but many of them theorized that she was from the depths of Tartarus itself.
“What about her? If she messes with us she’s just taking the bait again.” Scootaloo smirked. Out of all of them, Scootaloo was the only one who liked having Mrs. Sauerkraut around, mostly because it gave her the excuse she needed to prank the old bird.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle leaned into the map, mesmerized by the plans, starting to ask question after question on what kind of pranks they could do. Nyx just listened, content on watching her friends plan alone. In truth, Nyx wasn’t too keen on the holiday herself, yet seeing her friends so invested in it made her consider it for just a moment. She couldn’t deny that it sounded fun, and the prospect of free candy kindled her interest. But it was that reminder that gave her pause, a scar that marred her character. It was her resentment that held her back, keeping her from wanting to partake in it with her friends.
“Ah guess so. What do ya think, Nyx? Traditional tee-peeing or somethin’ more original?” Apple Bloom asked, catching her friend off guard by asking for her input.
“Oh, I…” Nyx, mumbled under her breath, twiddling her hooves anxiously.
“Hey, Apple Bloom?”
The four fillies all turned, staring at the pony who had crept up on them. Diamond Tiara stood there with Silver Spoon close behind, both of them stepping forward to stand face to face with the group of fillies eating their lunch. Yet instead of the usual snied glares of superiority, both fillies gave them pleasant smiles.
“Oh, hi, Diamond Tiara! Whaddya want?” Apple Bloom chirped, getting up to meet the two.
Nyx looked away from their conversation awkwardly. The sudden mended bridges between her friends and the bullies had been a bit of a shock for her. She had left for the Empire with Twilight to see her newborn cousin, only for her to come back and suddenly they were all buddies now? Or at least, they were. Honestly, she didn’t really know where she stood with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon now. She hadn’t spoken with her tormentors since the ‘incident’, and that had made things rather complex on its own account. The two fillies kept their distance for the most part, ignoring each other at best.
“I was just wondering about possible food that’ll be at the town party. Father was asking about it this morning during breakfast,” Diamond asked, earning a prideful smirk from Apple Bloom.
“Well, only Sweet Apple Acres finest! Applejack and Granny have been at it all week, getting things ready. Caramel apples, ciders, and all kinds of tarts!”
That does sound good, Nyx thought, taking a tiny nibble from her sandwich.
“Oh…” Diamond Tiara cooed, hiding her watering lips at the thought of the treats. In the years prior to knowing Apple Bloom she had never admitted it, out of both spite and rudeness, but she was rather fond of Sweet Apple Acres and their produce. As she cast her eyes down, she noticed the papers scattered about, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
“Hey, what’s up with the outside office?”
“We’re just going over plans for Nightmare Night. Gotta make sure everything’s perfect for the night,” Scootaloo said as she gave her a moment’s glance before diving back into her notes.
“Oh, do you have your costumes already? I’m still trying to decide,” Silver Spoon asked, leaning over from behind Diamond.
“We’re good. What we can’t do ourselves Rarity promised she’d help us with.” Sweetie smiled, jumping a little where she sat.
“We wouldn’ mind havin’ a few others in the group for trick or treatin’, you wanna join us?” Apple Bloom asked, leaning against the bench as Diamond waved her away.
“Oh, no. Me and Silver Spoon have plans of our own, don’t we?” Diamond said as she pulled Silver into a hug, smiling as her friend gave out a surprised yelp.
“Aww, well if you change your mind, you’re always welcome to join,” Sweetie Belle offered, giving a genuinely kind smile.
Diamond Tiara smiled back, making a mental note of the offer as she began to leave. But, as she turned her head, she caught a look from Nyx and turned. Quickly Nyx turned her head away, looking to the ground to try and pretend that she hadn’t noticed. But Diamond didn’t relent, and Nyx knew she couldn’t ignore her forever. There was a pause, then Nyx raised her head to meet her eyes. Diamond stared at her for a moment, a lingering glance that lasted a few seconds before she gave a passing nod and turned away.
Nyx frowned. She might have made amends with her friends, but Diamond Tiara’s stare still made her feel cold inside. She couldn’t help but see her old tormentor standing before her instead of the changed filly that took her place. Perhaps in another life, they could have been friends, but in reality, there was too much bad blood between the two. They had both certainly done their fair share of awful things to each other, intentionally or not, it mattered little in the long run. She only felt disdain for her, and really, it was a resentment that hurt her inside as well.
And perhaps, Diamond felt the same way too.
The rest of the day had gone by as quickly as most, and school soon came to a close. The four fillies walked side by side as they made their way into town, talking with each other casually, excluding Nyx who was content to walk silently. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were deep in some argument, holding a paper between the two, pointing at it like two energetic film critics. Scootaloo chimed in every now and again, slowly pushing herself forward on her scooter, her bags thrown over her shoulder.
But as the fillies walked down the pathway to town, Nyx began to ponder. If her friends were going out to trick or treat, and her family would be attending parties, why should she mope at home? Heck, if even her former bullies could enjoy the holiday, why couldn’t she? She knew why of course, but as she thought about it more and more, it occurred to her why she should be left out on all the fun? All because of some bad memories?
Nyx snorted at the idea, pushing her glasses up confidently as she thought. She was being ridiculous. Princess Luna herself spent each year going around Equestria pretending to be Nightmare Moon in the spirit of the holiday. If she could get over the tenderness of the night’s sting, then so could she!
“Yeah, guys?” she said a little loudly, quickly earning their attention.
Scootaloo skidded her scooter to a halt, tilting her head at the filly, “Yeah, Nyx? What’s up?”
Nyx suddenly gulped, her apprehension and hesitance returning. This perhaps was a bad idea after all, yet she persisted. “How much fun is Nightmare Night? Really?”
The three fillies stopped, turning to look at her. “Are you kidding? It’s one of the best things ever! The candy, the pranks!” Scootaloo said with an energetic, yet serious tone.
“Not to mention ponies scaring you out of your wits,” Sweetie Belle continued, giggling a little at the fond memories.
“And best of all, we get to do it all together. It don’ get any better than that.” Apple Bloom smiled, putting her arms around both Sweetie Belle’s and Scootaloo’s shoulders.
Nyx stared at them for a moment, then smiled. She felt lucky to have three great friends to give her the motivation and drive she needed. She glanced down at her hooves and kicked the dirt bashfully. But then she looked up, her confident smile returning to her lips. Her friends were always honest with her after all, and seeing how excited they got talking about Nightmare Night only cemented in her mind that perhaps… perhaps it was time to give it a chance.
“Okay, I’m in.”