Ponyville was as busy as always during the night. This night was different as it was Nightmare Night, where ponies could dress up in costumes and enjoy candy. Feather Bangs came to Ponyville to also enjoy the festivities Nightmare Night had to offer. He was dressed up as a fairy tale prince with a small crown on his head and everything. Some mares who saw Feather gave him looks of interests and he enjoyed every minute of it. Feather thought the mares in Ponyville weren't so bad themselves as their costumes made them look more attractive.
"Hey girl, nice costume." Feather said to a mare dressed up as Sailor Mare. When Feather gave a wink, the mare blushed and giggled from getting such a compliment from him. As Feather helped himself to a candied apple, something caught his attention. A whitish purple mare with pale purple manes tied into pigtails trotted passed Feather. The mare dressed up as a gothic funeral mistress with a long black dress and a large, black hat that had a black veil made out of black spider webs. Around the mare's neck was a black necklace with a small pony skull hanging. Feather couldn't help but feel attracted to the mare for some unknown reason. He thought that his Nightmare Night could get better if he hooked up with a mare who knows how to celebrate this holiday. Feather finished his candied apple so he could pat himself and fixed his shirt before approaching the funeral mare who was hanging with some other gothic looking ponies.
"Hello there." Feather said to get the funeral mare's attention. She turned to give Feather a blank stare at him.
"Hi," The funeral mare replied in a monotone.
"I couldn't help but notice how cool your costume looks." Feather said with a flirty smile.
"Thanks, I made it myself." The funeral mare said as she lifted her long skirt a bit to allow Feather to get a closer look at it. "I thought the whole funeral look would be better if I added some of my preferred touches."
"I'm Feather Bangs, or should I say, Prince Feather Bangs." Feather said.
"I am Inky Rose." Inky replied while still showing a straight face.
"I take it that you enjoy Nightmare Night?" Feather asked with curiosity.
"Indeed. It's a day when I can truly embrace my inner darkness." Inky said as she looked up into the night sky.
"Cool," Feather said as he moved a little closer to Inky. "how about you and I hang out together to make this Nightmare Night interesting." Inky moved back from Feather.
"No," Inky said bluntly. Feather felt stunned from Inky's response.
"What?" Feather asked in confusion.
"No as in I don't want to." Inky said as she trotted away. Feather thought he misheard her as he quickly trotted after Inky to further question her.
"W-why not?" Feather asked nervously. "Is it because of my breath?! I swear that I brush and floss my teeth every single day!" Feather pleaded.
"No," Inky replied once again. "it is because you're not my type. No offense, but you don't exactly scream 'edgy' or 'sorrow' with that costume of yours." Inky said as she continued to trot, leaving a shocked Feather in the middle of the streets. Feather hasn't felt this sad since he got regretted by Sugar Belle. He thought that there was no way he wanted to feel that way again. Feather tried to think of a way to get closer to Inky until he noticed the costume shop and an idea came to his mind.
Feather exited the costume shop while wearing a black emo wig, a black ripped-up shirt with the Nightmare Night logo on the center, black baggy jeans, and some spiked bracelets on his hooves. Luckily for Feather, the costume shop had a sale on Nightmare Night in case if ponies needed their costumes fixed or replaced. Feather even added black mascara under his eyes to make himself more convincing. Now he looks like an authentic goth pony.
'Alright, now to find and hang out with Inky.' Feather thought as he looked around the town area to find Inky. He began to ponder on where to find the gothic mare.
'If I were a goth pony, I would probably hang out at the most scary place in town.' Feather thought before he remembered Ponyville having a Nightmare Night tradition where little ponies would leave candy by a statue of Nightmare Moon in the Everfree Forest.
'That sounds like the perfect place Inky and other goth ponies would hang out at.' Feather thought as he made his way to the forest. Feather entered the forest's path with caution as he has heard from the towns' ponies that the Everfree Forest was a place ponies try to avoid the most. He was only startled by a few hoots from a nearby owl and the sound of bugs before he was able to reach the Nightmare Moon statue. It was upon there that he saw Inky and a few other goth looking ponies sitting next to the statue and not talking. Feather took a deep breath before he approached the group.
"Greetings." Feather said in the best goth-like voice he could do. "Is this where I can sit and sulk about life's difficulties?" Inky and some of the other goth ponies turned their heads to Feather while giving him blank stares.
"Yes, this is the spot." Inky replied. Feather then sat down on the ground and just stayed silent like the goth ponies. He waited for a few minutes to see if something happens or one of the goth ponies will start a conversation. As it turns out, nothing really happened and everypony is just not talking.
'Is this some kind of mediation of silence or something?' Feather thought as he looked around the group. Feather thought that there is nothing wrong with starting a conversation as long as it involve things Inky and the goth ponies like.
"So, I believe that Princess Luna is the perfect princess of the night, don't you all agree?" Feather asked. This caused most of the goth ponies to turn to each other and nod in agreement.
"I agree." Inky replied. "Her flowing, blue manes remind me of a gentle night sky. She also expresses her passion towards the night as it is filled with darkness and mystery." All of the goth ponies once again nodded in agreement.
"I know, right?" Feather continued. "She also has those beautiful light blue eyes that look like jewels from the sky. I wouldn't mind going on a date with her." Feather went stiff from saying those last words as the goth ponies were just staring at him. He was afraid that he had blown his cover and Inky might be furious at him.
"I probably would also want to date Princess Luna." A goth stallion said as the rest of the group agreed. Feather breathed heavily in relief.
'Glad that didn't draw suspension towards me.' Feather thought.
"I would like to express my passion for this day by reading one of my poems." One goth mare said as she pulled out a piece of paper and cleared her throat.
"This world is too boring. It's full of colors and it needs to stop being full of colors." The goth mare bowed which causes most of the goth ponies to clap their hooves very slowly. Feather was left confused as he had never heard of that kind of poetry before.
'That's some poetry I never heard of before.' Feather thought as another goth pony began reading his poetry. It wasn't long until most of the goth group read their poems that are about sorrow and other gloomy things. Feather soon discovered that most of the goth ponies' poems were so deep that it almost made him shed tears. He did his best not to cry as he thought that might draw suspicion to himself.
"Are you having a good time?" Inky asked Feather.
"Yes actually." Feather responded. "I never heard such good poetry before."
"Well, it's better than being in town while dressing up as a prince. Isn't that right, Feather?" Inky said with a small smile. Feather's eyes shrunk as his cover was blown.
"H-how did you know?!" Feather asked while he was shocked.
"It was kind of obvious that you were wearing a fake wig. Also, you were starting a conversation that didn't involve anything brooding. That was a sign you don't truly embrace darkness."
"Wait, if you knew all of that, why didn't you call me out?" Feather asked.
"I wanted to see how much you could take before you got crazy for how boring we might be. I was quite surprised you survived this long." Inky replied.
"Well, I too am also a poet who knows how others express themselves through poetry." Feather boasted. Inky showed a little expression of surprise.
"Wow, I guess you do have more than just looks." Inky said which made Feather blush a little.
"Thanks," Feather said while rubbing the back of his head. "Say, how about we start over? I really want to get to know you better. I promise I won't flirt with you."
"I would like that." Inky said with another small smile. The moment between Feather and Inky was interrupted when thunder came from the sky. The sky was starting to get covered by dark storm clouds and the wind was increasing. Feather's heart race as he didn't know what was going on. He also noticed that the goth ponies weren't reacting to the sudden weather change whatsoever. It was then Feather saw a cart pulled by a couple of bat-like stallions dressed in spooky armor flying out of the storm clouds and towards the ground near the goth ponies. When the cart landed, a hooded figure got out.
"Ah!" Feather screamed as he ran to the path that led back to Ponyville while the goth ponies stayed while watching Feather running away.
"Should we tell him there was nothing to worry about?" One of the goth ponies asked.
"I'll let him know when I go look for him." Inky said as she turned to the hooded figure. "In the mean time," The figure removed the hood to reveal Princess Luna.
"Ah! It feels nice to return to Ponyville for another Nightmare Night." Princess Luna said before she noticed Inky and the rest of the goth ponies were bowing down and chanted Luna's name.
"All hail the Princess of the Night! All hail the Princess of the Night!" The goth ponies chanted as they continued to bow down. Princess Luna facehoofed herself.
"Oh sweet Older Sister, not you ponies again!" Princess Luna complained.