//------------------------------// // This is Nightmare Night // Story: The Nightmare Before Nightmare Night // by Silent Bob //------------------------------// Nightmare Night was now close at hand, Everyghoul in Terrorsville now heeding to Trixie's plan. And as they did so, life and death searched the mines, For two missing young they were determined to find. Cold, still numbness... The clopping of hooves... Ghostly mist for breath... "Ugh, where in the world could they be?!" Twilight cried. "Why would Blackblood go and move them so far from me?" Her eyes then widened in horror. "You don't think he..." Rainbow quickly shook her head. "No, I would have known if he did. As douchey as Prince Blackblood is, I guess he draws the line at killing foals. I'll give him that, at least." "But then where are they? Could have taken them for some reason? Hostages perhaps?" Twilight said. Death gave a shrug. "I have no clue, Twilight. He didn't go into detail about his plans." She then gave a grunt. "Gotta give him credit for being somewhat genre savvy too, I suppose." "Well, we need to find them soon... we have to stop Trixie," the mortal mare said, before giving a gulp. "She... extracted a few things from me..." Rainbow gave a curt nod at that. "Hey, don't worry about it. Our Twilight could probably give a hoof if whatever she's pulling on the other side becomes too dicey." At that, a small sobbing sound could be heard, perking their ears. "It's coming from this way!" Twilight cried, beginning to gallop down the cold, dirty tunnel. "Hurry!" "Got it!" the one-winged angel said, quickly catching up to her with a few large flaps of it. Eventually, they came upon a mound of rubble blocking the way forward, though the sobs were much more pronounced now. Panting, Twilight leaned closer and stuck an ear to it, her eyes widening. "They're on the other side!" she cried. "T-Twilight?" came the winded voice of Apple Doom. The mortal mare gave a nod. "It's me, girls! Are you two alright?" "N-No! Scootaweb's really hurt... a boulder came down on her!" There was a small break of silence, followed by, "She's looking very feint..." "Oh no," Twilight whispered. Death took a deep breath. "I swear... if she's-" She paused, her eyes narrowing as she continuing with, "I'm going to make Blackblood wish he was dead." She then turned to Twilight. "Get us over to the other side, quick!" The mortal mare gave us a quick nod, and in a flash they had made it over. There lay Scootaweb, collapsed on her chest, her eight legs limp. As Apple Moon had said, she was looking very feint. Death's eyes suddenly flung open wide. "She's leaving us..." she whispered. "I can sense it." "I-Isn't there anything you can do, Rainbow?" Apple Doom squeaked, her own eyes moistening. "Maybe..." Rainbow said, starting to pace, before suddenly pausing, a look of resolve coming upon her. "Actually, yes. You know what? I can do something about it, and I'm going to do something about it!" At that, she scurried over to Scootweb's side, kneeling down before her. "Hang in there, kid. At the very least, you'll reach the gates with a friend." "W-What are you going to do exactly?" Twilight gasped. The grim reaper turned towards her. "I'm going to do the best I can." She then gave a slight smile. "For once, I'm going to make sure everyone lives while I'm around." She then took a deep breath, reaching towards the fallen spider with two hooves and chanting, "mortalis infans mihi spiram vitae tuae." And with a puff of black smoke, she was gone, Apple Doom and Twilight staring at the scene with both shock and awe. ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ Lonely, brown fields of infinity strung out as far as far as the eye could see, the only noticeable features of this land a winding dirt road, a few blades of dead grass, distant, surreal and distorted black trees… and Scootaweb and a certain Great and Powerful temporary reaper, standing before two massive, golden gates. "The Great and Powerful Trixie welcomes you to the planes of death, young ghoul," a certain cloaked reaper said, smiling down upon the figure. "I have to say, I'm starting to get used to seeing all these... interesting creatures turning up here." "B-But," whispered Scootaweb. "I'm not ready just yet... I want to go back and be with my friends..." Trixie gave a sigh. "I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice...” She then took a deep breath. “However, The Great and Powerful Trixie offers her condolences. I am... sorry." She then turned away from her, muttering, "I swear... fifth time today someone's denied paradise..." "Hold on there, Trixie," a voice called from the distance, Rainbow Death approaching the two. "I'll take this one." Trixie raised an eyebrow. "Is Trixie's shift up already? She was having a most enjoyable time ferrying the dead..." "No," Rainbow said, rolling her eyes. "I still need you to keep watch. I've got stuff to handle on the mortal planes." "What kind of stuff?" she asked. "Weird, crazy stuff," she sighed. "Actually, your counterpart on the other side is involved with it." "T-Trixie has a counterpart?" she said with awe. "Yeah... she does," Rainbow grunted. "Anyway, go ahead and escort somepony else. I'll take this one." Trixie gave a nod. "Very well. She's all yours." At that, with a wave of her great and powerful scythe, she disappeared in a black puff of smoke. With a deep breath, Rainbow then approached Scootaweb, kneeling down by her side. "Hey kid..." Scootaweb gasped for breath. "R-Rainbow... please don't make me go just yet..." Death gave her a smile. "I don't intend to. I hate seeing kids here. It's just... unnatural." Her glance then turned serious. "Being a ghoul, you have the choice of becoming a ghost like Rotten... is that what you want?" Scootaweb looked downward. "If I do that... I'm never going to see my mother again..." Rainbow gave a curt nod. "I thought you wouldn't want that option. However, there's also option two. You can pass through the gates and leave it all behind..." She gave a sigh, shaking her head. "And if I do that... I'm never going to see Rotten any of my immortal friends again... like you." "I wouldn't say that," Rainbow said, holding up a hoof. "All things come to an end, entropy forever unforgiving. It may take trillions of years, but everyone will see these gates eventually, even Death herself. Might be sooner than later now, actually, cus I might get kicked out of the reaper club just like my predecessor with all the rule shredding I've been pulling today." Scootaweb didn't look up, trudging a single leg in the dirt. "B-But... what about everyone else?" Death gave a chuckle. "Yeah, I know. A pretty long time, huh? Too long to be spent twiddling your hooves waiting for everyone to catch up to you." She then gave another warm smile. "Which is why I'm giving you this once in a lifetime offer, a third option, of returning back to the mortal world with me... but not as a ghost. Sound good?" "B-But... aren't you going to get in trouble?" Scootaweb gulped. "Heh. Maybe, but I've been allowed a little leeway with this kind of thing during Nightmare Night, anyway, and guess what night it finally is?" she grinned. "Even so, I'm a bit curious to see just exactly what's waiting for me beyond those gates one day, too, you know." At that, Death reached her hoof out towards Scootaweb, smiling widely as she lifted her up. "Come on. I still have to take you zombie hunting one of these days. Twilight tells me you kicked a lot of flank when it comes to them, lately." She then gave a grin. "And when you do finally kick it one day, you'll meet Death as an old friend. Best way to go, right?" Scootaweb gave a slight smile in return. "Best way." The two then began walking the opposite way from the gates, Scootaweb taking one last glance at it. "Rainbow..." "Yeah?" "What's it like... paradise that is?" She was met with only another smile. "Whatever you want it to be." She then gave a sigh. "I just wish you were allowed to remember this." The spiderpony's eyes widened. "W-Wah-" With a puff of black smoke, they were gone. ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ Death reappeared back in the Nightmare Ream, smiling down as Scootaweb's eyes fluttered open. She then turned towards gawking, her expression estatic. "For once, everyghoul lives who deserves to live, Twilight. Everyghoul lives! Hahahaha!" "You were right, Rainbow," Twilight smiled. "Death isn't something to be feared." "Heck no! People should only fear me on Nightmare Night!" She then grinned wickedly. "And once we go and get my Twilight back, it's going to be the best. Night. Ever!" ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "Spike! The screaming dragon skulls need to be about one inch to the left!" Twilight Soulshard cried, standing before the ladder he was on, him working tirelessly to get Twilight’s borrowed treehouse decorated for Nightmare Night. "Ugh! Can't you just do it with magic?" he called from his ladder. "Oh, right," Twilight smiled sheepishly, before levitating the bewitched skulls into their proper place. "I swear," Spike said, rolling his eyes. "I've never seen you this finicky about Nightmare Night before. Bewitching skulls to scream when people come near, actually putting a spell on the treehouse that will turn it into the friggin' Whomping Willow. It's like you took a crash course in the Fear Tactics University of Scares overnight." He then gave her a pleading look. "And you didn't bring me?! That would be awesome!" Twilight gave a grunt. "I just want the treehouse to be perfect for Nightmare Night is all!" Spike rolled his eyes. "Seems like you're just becoming obsessed with scaring people, not that I mind. Scaring people on Nightmare Night is awesome! I can see why Zecora loves it so much." At that, Twilight's eyes widened in realization. "Oh no..." she whimpered to herself. "I'm... letting myself get drawn into Nightmare Night... It's like an instinct to me or something..." She then let loose a sigh. "I'm supposed to be enjoying the other side's fun, for crying out loud!" She then turned to Spike. "Hey Spike, feel like going to the roller ring?" The dragon beamed down at her. "The roller ring? Heck yeah! We never go there! I hear they’re having a Nightmare Night themed skating competition going on. Oh! And I hear Pinkie's having a movie marathon, too, nothing but scary ones! Nightmare on Elm Street, Friday the 13th. And that one really bad movie about some leprachan wanting his gold back..." A look came to Twilight's face that best resembled a nervous breakdown, her pacing away from Spike as he hung up more decorations. "Curse you Nightmare Night, curse you!" she hissed to herself. "You just can't let me go, can you?" "Of course not," bone dragon Spike said, hiding in her 'Lich Queen' black cloak costume. "We are ghoul. Lower your defenses and prepare to service us. Resistance is futile. You will be re-assimilated." "Shush, Spike! We're not the friggin' Borg," Twilight grunted. "I'm kidding, for the love of the night!" her Spike cried, exasperated. "But look around at the town. They're doing a bunch of stuff on Nightmare Night that doesn't involve scaring. No need to freak out." "Huh?" Twilight said, quirking an eyebrow as she began gazing about. Curiously, she quickly spied some sort of pumpkin catapult game, another one consisting of a web that ponies were attempting to toss spiders on, and an apple bobbing station. She smiled slightly upon that. "Heh... well I guess there's more to Nightmare Night then just fright here." She then took a nostalgic breath. "You know, I bet they're getting ready for it back in Terrorsville right now, too..." "Think they're singing the song?" her Spike said, grinning. "Oh heck yeah they're singing the song," she grinned back. “Hahaha! I can’t wait to see what they have prepared for us!” She then turned back towards the town, gazing at all the ponies having fun during her celebration. “You know, I think I was wrong, Spike. Our holiday is more than just some corporate affair.” She then put on a warm smile. “I just hope it always stays that way.” ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ A dimension away, the town of Terrorsville was finishing the final stages of preparation for Nightmare Night's gritty reboot, most of them now singing as they worked: "Ghouls and horrors of every age, Let's bring the other side something strange. From the world of ghosts and graves, Comes the thoughts of those depraved!" ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ A flash of purple light. A mad flapping of wings. Rainbow Death, now somehow carrying Twilight, Scootaweb, and a very relieved Apple Doom made headway Southward towards Terrorsville, flying high in the night sky. "Hey, check it out!" Scootaweb shouted, pointing a leg high towards a moon that was slowly becoming overwhelmed by tendrils of blood. "A bloody moon," Apple Doom grinned. "What does that mean?" Twilight called over the cold winds. "Nightmare Night's beginning," Death said, smiling. "Normally, I'd be freaking out with joy right now. However... Blackblood's going to make his move sometime tonight." Her eyes then narrowed, her wing flapping becoming more pronounced. "Gotta pick up the pace! Temple of the Doors, here we come. BEEEYA!" ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "This is Nightmare Night! Drown out all the candle light! Make good of the promise, Of this cycle's fright!" ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ Inside the TERRODIS, Dr. Whoovenstein cackled madly as he pulled a series of levers, the machine whirring to life for the first time in ages. "Oh, this is going to be so fantastic, Derpy!" the evil doctor grinned, glancing at a fully repaired Derpy Stitched. "D-Don't you think this is a bit too far, though?" she gulped. The mad scientist rolled his eyes. "Oh, don't be such a sissy! He can take it!" He then grinned wickedly. "Alright, Doctor. Time for the flight of your life." He then took a deep breath before singing: "Come ride with me, Through the veins of history, I'll show you a god, Who falls asleep on the job!" "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! HERE COMES THE DRUMS! HELLON-ZY!" At the doctor's madness, Derpy gave a single gulp. ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "This is Nightmare Night! Let our flame burn oh so bright! Show no quarter to the mortals, Of the side of light!" Trixie gave a smirk at that, watching over the town's proceedings from the top of Town Hall. ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ Blackblood stood in the forest before the Temple of the Doors, watching... waiting... scheming. However, after a brief moment, his many eyes narrowed as he looked towards the direction of Necropolis, him letting loose a somber sigh. "I am the shadow on the moon at night, A freak among freaks; the universe's blight. But I am the only one who can say for sure, That I’m the ghoul who deserves to be yours!" ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ Smiling happily, Twilight Soulshard pranced about Ponyville, taking in the festivities of Nightmare Night. "What's this?! What's this?! Our holiday they love! What's this? Thank the moon so high above! What's this?! There's children loving all the sights, Even if it's only half a fright, It's been dragged down from corporate heights! What's this?!" ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ "This is Nightmare Night! This is Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!" ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ Slendermare, Vinyl, Octavia, and Lyra Heartstab, and the remaining Elements of Fear trotted through the Everdead Forest towards the Temple of the Doors. "So... you guys don't have any doubts whatsoever about this?" Applemoon said, raising an eyebrow. "What's so bad about showing videos to my counterpart of humans eating horse meat?" Lyra Heartstab said. "Because that's... that's too far! It's sick!" Lyra gave her a beaming smile. "Thanks!" "Sick in a bad way!" Applemoon cried. "There's a such thing?" Vinyl said, adjusting her baseball cap to make sure it was ninety degree sideways. "Man, the other Vinyl is so gonna freak when I show her Hilary Bluff's cover of My Generation. Oooo, and the newer Maretallica albums. Buahahahaha!" "Not bad," Octavia smirked. "Though I plan on playing Iván Erőd by Ludwing Van Neighhoven." "What's so scary about that?" Pinkie said, cocking an eyebrow. "Ooooh nothing," Octavia said whimsically. "I'm just going to make minor changes to it here or there that subtly ruin the piece! And then I'm going to make it look like I'm taking her place so I can spread this new 'Neighhoven' around Equestria! Hahahaha! Her inner perfectionist won't be able to take it!" "Ooooo, that is good," Pinkie said, bouncing. "Well, at least those two don't sound too bad," Applemoon whispered to herself. "Unless I severely underestimate how OCD classical musicians and DJs can get..." She then turned to Slendermare. "What do you think about this whole thing?" The Eldritch Abomination simply gave a shrug as if to say, 'meh. Been there, done that.' Applemoon gave a silent cry. "Ugh! I’m still not liking this…" "I-I still have my doubts too, you know," Flutterfright squeaked. "As do I, dear," Scarity said. "Well good," Applemoon said, her eyes narrowing. "Cus I have a feeling that the Witch of the West doesn't have the best interest of the other side in mind when it comes to this whole deal." ☼☼☼ ☼☼ ☼☼☼ Trixie gave one final cackle as the song came to an end, glancing towards the Temple of the Doors with lust filled eyes. "In our town! We call home! Everyghoul hails to the pumpkin song!