//------------------------------// // Subject 82: Sunny Nights of Terror // Story: Interviews With Equestrians // by Jmaster49 //------------------------------// No, no, no, no, no--BUCK! I looked up into the sky, only to have my suspicions and fears confirmed. Celestia had become Daybreaker, and Luna had become Nightmare Moon. Except the former had completely overpowered the latter, and trapped her within a cage of flames in the sky. “Ahahaha! I’m back, baby!” the fiery alicorn shouted from above. Her voice boomed with the force of a thousand screams. “Now it’s my turn, sister! My turn to incite fear in our adoring little subjects! Ahahaha-heee!” As expected, everyone else--who was also transformed into their costumes--looked above and started to ‘ooh’ and ‘ahh’ at the sight of the alicorns. Indeed. They thought of it as nothing more than a show. I would have also, if it wasn’t for the fact that my best friend didn’t try to kill me with a feather earlier! Now what to do, what to do...grr...this was troublesome on so many levels. “A-yo! Wus goin’ on ‘eyyer?” a gruff, yet familiar Manehattan accent shouted from behind me. I turned, and found Babs Seed. Except the brown mare was no longer brown, and her mane was no longer red. Instead, she had become a monochrome version of her former self, decked out in a casual suit and a fedora. Fitting the look of a mobster from the old movies. “...Babs? Is that you?” “Yeah, yeh. But muh voice is loike, supa thick, brudda. Can’t prunounce nunna muh words right!” she walked up next to me, and smelled of used cigars. “Also, why do I gots the urge to whack somebody?” I shook my head. “No, no. There is to be no whacking here. Not the time. It’s true. Everypony’s become their costumes. Grrr…” Babs looked at me with her oddly discolored eyes fairly close as if to inspect me. “Waitta minute. Everypony’s else’s been changed, but yous is still pretty normal. I wunda why…” “...!” I let out a whinny-wheeze combination of a noise. She was right. I had never considered it until now, but why hadn't I changed into my costume? I was Dr. Jockey and Mr. Hide. The mad doctor from the book of the same name who was one part gentlecolt on the surface, and another part crazed, unsympathetic murderer who--oh dear. It hit me. I already was the two-faced stallion from that novel. In a manner of speaking of course. For whatever reason, Babs’ accent seemed to have gotten thicker as a result of the magic spell, but I gained no such trace of a Trottingham accent. It was odd since Jockey and Hide was a novel written by a Trottish stallion named RL Hayvenson. Also the author of Treasure Island. I adored his work. Right, back to the topic at hoof. So I didn’t change because my traits already perfectly matched the character that I had chosen to dress up as--more or less. Was that the power of convenience or stupidly created spells by short-sighted individuals? Then again, I’m sure they weren’t counting on the astronomically small possibility that somepony would dress as something that they themselves already are. Who does that? Gah! Where was Cozy?! I hadn’t seen her around here anywhere! Well, if she was out of harm’s way, then maybe she would be safe. But still, I was worried for the kid. Unless she...no...she wouldn’t. Anyway, now wasn’t the time for distractions. Costume spell or no, Daybreaker must have been extremely powerful if she was capable of overthrowing her sister so easily. Nightmare Moon was so strong that she had to be put away with the powers of the Elements of Harmony, and was sent to the moon in order for her to cool off. But now, the tables have completely turned. Daybreaker had ended, and captured her sister in swift succession. And now, she was approaching us. “Babs, get back,” I warned her, “and if you happen to see Cozy, tell her to head home immediately. This is probably a prank.” I said that only to comfort her. I was most certain that this was real. “But still.” “Okay, okay--gotcha. I soiure as heck wuldn’t wanna fight dem anyways,” the grayscale earth pony mare responded as she retreated behind me to check on Zecora’s group. With a powerful, flaming aura, her white hooves landed upon the ground and set everything ablaze in a small area around her. “Ponies! Nightmare Night is no more! From now on, you will all worship me, me, and--oh yes, me! I am truly the most terrifying thing around, am I not?” she put a hoof to her chest, and smirked at the surrounding ponies in the distance behind me. “Oh, and anypony who disagrees will be fried. ‘Kay?” While she gave her boastful monologue, I snuck around. I stuck to the shadows of the night mixed with the nearby bushes and creeped up behind the mage of flames that Lu--Nightmare Moon was entrapped within. “Psst.” Her ear flicked, and she turned to face me. Her face black as night, mouth full of razor sharp teeth that hissed at me with hatred. “What do you want, peasant? Don’t speak to me. I have no intention of communicating with common ponies.” “Give it to me straight, Luna. Is this a prank?” I asked rather sharply with my own teeth gritted, “I need to know now.” Sadly, my suspicions would essentially be confirmed with her response. “Go away you common earth pony. Return to your farmlands or whatever it is you do,” she responded with an annoyed eye roll. “My sister has gone mad with power, and I am trapped here. At best, I will become a mere servant for her and whatever stallions she wants me to marry. Blech.” Okay. That was it. There was definitely something going on that forced absolutely everyone to become their costumes. But how...who could have caused this? Gah. This was ridiculous. But I had no time to worry about that. I had to-- “YOU!” Shit. I was caught in Daybreaker’s fire red magical aura grip, and brought around from behind the cage. “Yes...I remember you. You’re that detective that I spoke with a while back. You attempted to help solve my problems. Well guess what?” she paused, and brought me close to her. Enough to where both of our foreheads were in contact. “I am the problem now. An unsolvable one! Do you think it would be as simple as that? The weak-minded fat-flanked alicorn facing her fears, oooh, how stunning and brave!” she mocked herself. Well, her good self, anyways. “Rrgh...did she really not get rid of you? Well...I suppose we all have our own inner demons to battle,” I responded with an annoyed, yet sympathetic sigh. “Hmph. So just what do you intend to do, Daybreaker?” “Do? Ohohoho. As expected from the commonfolk. Always thinking with the wrong heads.” “The wrong wh--ahh!” I was confused for a moment, but my thoughts were interrupted when the flaming alicorn flung me backwards by a meter or two and I landed on my rear. With an elegant, prideful stride, she stepped forward. The heat from her body was unpleasant, and I felt all sense of mobility slip away. I was being roasted slowly from the outside in. “You fool...I’m not going to just do anything. I’m going to make everything. Again! Ahahahaaaaa!” she said with a sadistic cackle. While I couldn’t move, I could still press her for answers. So I did what I could. “Geh...hm. Elaborate, you fiend of a queen.” “It’s simple. Equestria has become soft and squishy, my dear stallion. Peace has ruined us. We’re weak, and could easily be taken over at any moment!” she leaned her head down to me, and spoke with a quieter, more sultry tone, “That is why, we’re going to declare war on the entire world. And you will be my king. Right at my side, dear Pale.” she tried to put her hoof up to my cheek. I nearly gagged, and smacked her hoof away with as much force as I could apply. “First of all, no way in Tartarus’ 9th circle would I ever support somepony disgusting like you. And second. What’s even the point of that? Taking over not just all of Equestria, but the entire planet?!” I raised a very skeptical eyebrow. “Assume you do finally manage to conquer everything, trample over every single non-pony race, and even manage the entire thing to stop potential uprisings and rebellions. What then? You’ll have your regime and nothing will ever oppose you anymore! So where’s the fun in that?” Daybreaker’s head rose. For a while, she said nothing. She simply allowed her unbearable heat to consume me, and smirked with a hint of demonic satisfaction that exposed just a few of her sharp fangs. “Tsk, tsk, tsk. Oh sweet little innocent Pale Vestige. But that’s what I like about you. It will make you a very...agreeable partner once it is all said and done, hmhmhm,” she replied with a tiny chuckle. “I refuse--” She interrupted me with a stomp of her hoof that increased the flaming aura. “Once we take over this world. We’ll move onto the next. Such as the one Sunset Shimmer lives in! I wonder how the look of delicious terror on her human face will be when she sees her old mentor take over her new home, her new friends, and enslave them all to my will as my Fire Mares. I will erect several cathedrals dedicated to my name, and they will all work there!” she stood on her hind legs and put her hooves up like an excited filly. “And you get to be with me to watch it all, detective. No more hatred, no more corruption, no need for hunting anypony down. They’ll all listen or be cast into the fiery pits! Ahahaha!” she cackled, and put her hooves down with a violent stomp. “Tis a win-win, really. And why stop there? We can find even more dimensions and universes to take control of while we’re at it!” How sickening. Words could not describe how much contempt I felt for her in this moment. Whether this was a prank or not didn’t matter anymore. Celestia still had loads of inner turmoil that she didn’t face. That she couldn’t face. Not alone, anyway. Unfortunately for me, no one in the crowd seemed to do anything. They all stood in awe as they watched the struggle with no sign of urgency or fear. Once again, it proved just how gullible the overall population was since they likely thought this was an elaborate show put on for Nightmare Night. In their defense, though--I’d be stuck watching as well if I was in the crowd. No one would realistically fight such a powerful, godly being right? “You…” was all I could manage to utter. The demonic mare of the sun bit her lip as she chuckled. “Heh-heh...you don’t have many options left, Pale. You’re just a weak, generic, pathetic earth pony. How can you stand against somepony as beautiful and strong as myself,” she looked down at me with eyes that were filled with bestial fury that bore holes into my very soul. “So what’ll it be?” she put her hooves against her chin to feign innocence with a cunning pose, “Here’s a hint, honey. Give in, and let your desires run free.” I hid my face beneath my hat. There was no way in hell that I would allow her to see my fragility in that moment. Appear strong when you are weak, as they say. “I…” “Hm…” “I...will...never in a million years--!” I snarled with a viscous cry, but my response was interrupted. SHING! A pair of chains flung out from behind me, and wrapped around my hooves. “Wh--” I couldn’t manage to say anything since a shot of fear had struck into me at that moment. But then, I was pulled in, and away from Daybreaker. She was just as confused as I, and looked up to see who had managed to snag me away. “What the devil?! Who dares to interrupt my monologue!” Once I was pulled in, I was face-to-face with a unicorn that had pins lodged in all parts of his head and neck. “I dare. Ya nonce.” The chains retracted, and I stood up. It was Flash Drive! Except his face was covered in actual silver pins! What?! How was he moving and not bleeding?! “F-Flash?! How are you?!” “We can discuss that later, mortal,” he responded with a menacing, yet otherworldly tone of voice that matched Pincrest from Tartaraiser perfectly, “I cannot rule this land with such a garbage numpty of a pony in my way.” “You...you insolent fool!” Daybreaker shouted with a stomp of her hoof as she readied her horn to fire off a blast of magic. “I will not be denied! You will all serve me! FWOOSH! A beam of fire barreled towards us with speed that we were not ready to counter. That was, until… “SADDLE-LAO! GIVE ME STRENGTH!” With the roar of a dragon, we watched as Neon came in and punched the beam of fire directly with his hoof while empowered by a golden dragon. It was just enough to cancel out the attack from Daybreaker, but not enough to repel it against her. After a moment, she deactivated the spell, and allowed the batpony to make his entrance. “And just who are you?” she questioned. “Would you gents like an extra hoof?” The dragon returned to his fake hoof, and Neon landed on his hind legs with a firm stance. “Iron Hoof at the ready. I will repel all evil and fight with honor to my last breath!” Naturally, Daybreaker didn’t look intimidated at all. “Oh how cute! More servants just keep walking right into my trap! And to make sure you don’t get away…” Her horn flashed. In an instant, a massive ring of fire was erected around all of us. It was at least as tall as she was with no reasonable way to escape. The being of Tartarus and the noble martial artist next to me both cursed under their breath. “Damn…” Flash swore. “I like challenges, but this...” Neon mumbled. Even I had to admit that this was pretty crazy at this point. But I had to think fast for the sake of my team. “No worries. What we need to do next is--” Neon interrupted me as he sniffed the air. “Why do I smell flesh burning?” Flash and I both sniffed as well. I could sense it. Somepony was burning in the flames! “Behind us!” Flash cried out. We all turned to look. Somepony had taken it upon themselves to walk through the wall of flames. It was unbelievable. From what we could tell, it was a pegasus. But they didn’t react to it. They didn’t even flinch! Just who was this?! I didn’t notice, but Daybreaker was just as awestruck as the rest of us, and chose to watch the events play out with this pony who had stepped through the flames completely unharmed. The pony walked closer, and closer until they stood in line right next to Neon. Once there, they stopped on a dime. They didn’t move any further, nor did they utter a single sound. The pegasus simply stood there as the flames ate away at their mechanic’s jumpsuit costume. Wait… Mechanic jumpsuit costume?! I trotted directly in front of the pony. There were those familiar gray eyes! “CORK! Is that you?!” “...” No response. At least, not for a while. But after what felt like forever, he slowly nodded his head once. Corkscrew had returned. How could I forget? Michael Flyers was nigh-invulnerable, and has managed to survive being burned alive, shot, stabbed, the works. Now he had returned to aid us, despite being confined to the character’s eerie vow of silence. “Is he gonna be alright?” Neon asked with a concerned tilt of his head. “I believe so?” I responded as I stared at the flaming pegasus stallion. Flash Drive was a bit more impatient, however. “Okay, gents. Let’s get a move on and handle this hag of a mare.” “HAG?! How dare you!” Daybreaker screamed as she got her horn ready again, “That’s it! No more interruptions. I’m going to make you all into my slaves right here and--” NEEEEEIGH! “OH COME ON!” I had to admit, it was hilarious to see someone so high and mighty get frustrated. But just where did that majestic whinny come from? Above us. “Wheeee-heeee!” Guttersnipe flew in from above. Though, she didn’t look like herself. The lower half of her red body was scaly, her tail had become a long fish fin, and there were now gills on the sides of her face. She also had quite the crown of seashells and starfish that rested upon her head. But most interestingly of all, was that her wings were no longer her mechanical augments. They were now fleshy and feathery as if she always had them. “I am the legendary Capricorn! Here to liberate all of the seas and rule with the creatures of the deep!” she stood on her hind legs, and clapped her hooves twice. A rain cloud released water upon Corkscrew, and put out the flames on his body. Now we could properly see the--perfectly unharmed--skin of the dark orange pegasus. Yup, that was him alright. Much to my surprise, he turned his head to her in a slow, almost artificial manner before he uttered two words. “Thank you.” “Aw, no problem!” Guttersnipe replied as she reclined on a floating body of water in a casual manner, “Couldn’t let ya burn like that, buddy!” “Ahem,” Daybreaker cleared her throat to catch our attention. We all turned our heads to her. “I’m so happy that your little friends are all here. Just like my annoying student and her friends used to do. Blech. Anyways. Can we get back to the part where I enslave you and take over the world or do you have another sudden helper to pull out of your flank?!” she growled as she stomped her hoof. Steam came out of her nostrils as she huffed. This alicorn really did despise being interrupted, huh? My crew and I all looked around for signs of anypony else that wanted to join in at the last minute. Nope. No one came. We all shrugged. “Good!” the fiery mare shouted, “Now come at me with everything you have. And make it a nice, hard struggle!” Meanwhile within the massive crowd of spectators that had formed two of them started to speak to each other… A spectator mumbled to themselves . “...They need my help. I know they do. But will they really accsssssept me?” A second spectator reassured the first. “Of course they will. If I was in the same position, I know I’d jump in to help my friends. Even though I feel like I wouldn’t contribute much, I know that they’d be ecstatic to see me there by their side. All together in this world of strife to make a final stand against the odds That’s how we’d choose to fight.” “We’d choossssse to fight...I sssssee. Thank you. I think I’m ready to go,” the first spectator responded. “Do it. I’d help too, but because of this stupid costume-morph anomaly, I can only cast stupefy. Tch. How lame,” the second said with a sigh. Now the first would try to comfort the second. “Hey...don’t ssssay that. I’m sure you’d know what to do in this sssssituation more than I.” “Know...know...that’s it!” the second spectator chirped, “I need to find Starlight immediately. I just hope she hasn’t turned into something small. Go do what you can, and we’ll figure out how to stop this!” The second spectator ran off to find their friend. The first spectator took a deep breath, and exhaled. “You’re not dying today, old friend.” And they charged in.