//------------------------------// // 8. Nightmare Night // Story: Star Wars: Republic Commando: Brothers All // by TJAW //------------------------------// "I don't feel like a Republic citizen because none of us are." ― RC-8015 “Fi” *** “You did well, Delta Squad,” Princess Luna said, praising the clones as they returned to her camp. “It was our pleasure,” Boss replied, his tone that of one who was praised for an achievement they were already proud of. “You may stay in one of our tents until we return to Canterlot. After the festival, we will return you to Ponyville. If you’d like, you and your brothers may join in the festivities tomorrow night.” “Thank you ma’am, but we’re uh, not sure the locals would take too kindly to us,” The clone replied nervously. He didn’t like the way civilians looked at him. Even undercover with Omega Team on Coruscant a year earlier he’d been in clone fatigues, and been looked at as an oddity. He hated that look civilians gave him, as though he were a museum piece that one tried not be caught staring at. To the galaxy at large, clones were organic droids, with relatively few thinking of them as real people. They weren’t even Republic citizens. And if he caught that kind of look among those who knew what he was, what would ponies think of foreigners among them? From what he could tell, some of the planet hadn’t been explored, so perhaps they didn’t think him extraterrestrial, merely foreign. But if he wasn’t even a citizen of the government he was bred to fight for, what chance did he have here? He snapped himself out of that depressing train of thought. He already had enough on his plate without personal insecurities. “I can make sure they don’t cause you four any trouble,” “Well, unless you can turn us into ponies, I don’t see that happening,” Scorch remarked. “Transmutation spells? I don’t believe those exist.” *** “I did it, Bon-Bon!” “What did you do this time Lyra?” Bon-Bon asked. “I finally completed a pony-to-human transformation spell!” The mare answered giddily. “I’m sure your tulpa will be so happy,” She deadpanned. “Hey! He has feelings too! Right, Anon?” *** “Well then, I guess we’re staying in,” Sev said without much disappointment. “I’d like at least one of you to come with me. A precaution in case something happens at the festival. You can communicate over distances, yes?” Luna inquired “That’s right. My armor has the strongest comm amplifier of the four of us, but we all have a minimum comm range of three thousand kilometers even through most types of ECM.” Fixer confirmed. “In other words, any one of us will do.” “I ran a few tests, and I can hook up to your castle in an emergency to deliver a message. Expecting something bad, ma’am?” The hacker replied. “No, just a precaution,” She answered. “So Fixer would stay at the camp to be a sort of courier in case of trouble. Sev isn’t exactly sociable, and I’m uh-” Scorch said before being cut off. “A crazy Mando’ad with a penchant for property damage?” Sev interrupted. “Actually, I was gonna say I’m more of a dinner party guy, but that works too.” “Fierfek,” Boss muttered under his breath. “I‘ll go.” “Given that tomorrow is Nightmare Night, and most ponies shall be dressed in costumes, I don’t believe they’ll as scared of you as you think,” Luna said, assuaging his fears somewhat. But only somewhat. *** “Oh bed, I missed you so much,” Octavia said as she awoke in her own room and rolled over on her mattress. “That chair had the most awful ergonomics…” There was no work that day, and none that night. Nightmare Night was a holiday for most groups of ponies, and classical musicians were one of them. And after her stressful captivity, she felt she deserved to sleep in. Of course, the universe had other plans. The glass of water on her bedside table began to shake, the water rippling to the beat of Vinyl’s music. “Happy Nightmare Night- Day- Morning? Ah, whatever! Zombie time!” The musician heard a raspy moan from behind her, and she rolled over to see a disturbing figure standing at her bedside. A stallion with a mostly-absent coat, unhinged jawbone, decaying flesh, and sunken eyes shook with what she could only assume was the anticipation of a kill. She shrieked and fell out of bed, grunting as she hit the floor. A couple rooms over, she heard Coruscant’s pistol fire thrice. “Time: 2.1 seconds! Nice work, Cory!” Vinyl shouted from outside Remove the head or destroy the brain! Remove the head or destroy the brain! She looked for the pistol Vinyl had given her a few months prior, and found it under her bed. She grabbed it, then pointed what she believed to be the dangerous end at the shambling zombie, before realizing she had no idea how to use a gun. She tossed it to the floor, ignorant of firearm safety, and looked for something else. Reaching for one of her medals, she grabbed the object and swung it around, using it to bludgeon the cadaver’s head. “Time: 5.4 seconds! If that were a real zombie you’d be dead by now Tavi!” Vinyl scolded. “Okay, I’m removing the barricades now.” Some scraping from outside came through the door. As soon as it could be opened, Octavia kicked down her door, seething with anger. She pounced on her roommate and began throttling her. “One day! One day without your antics! I just wanted to rest after a nasty experience, and you scare me half to death! And this awful noise you woke me up with damn well doesn’t help!” “I find your lack of taste disturbing,” The DJ choked out. She hit the other mare with a blast of magic to remove her and got up. After shaking her head a bit and clearing her throat, she smiled at the very pony who had just been choking her and was currently grinding her teeth. “So uh, pancakes sound good?” She asked casually. Octavia sighed, letting go of her anger. “Yes, that sounds good.” Coruscant just shook his head and walked downstairs. He was going to need his armor today if that prank wasn’t alone, and he was glad he was wearing it right then. *** Shining Armor stood on a podium raised a yard and a half above the ground and facing a battalion of uniformed soldiers. That battalion was the first of their unit, and the entire program to finish their training and thus the first unit of the Royal Equestrian Army. By completing ahead of schedule, they inadvertently became the ones to make history as the first unit of the Royal Equestrian Armed Forces. The rest of their brigade was projected to finish in a week, the defensive formations of all service branches in two weeks, and the REAF itself to become fully operational within merely a month. There, in the Canterlot Gardens, the soldiers awaited the delivery of the speech he’d prepared for them. He took a breath and looked out at the massive group before him. All of them were in full combat dress, wearing armor of the 5th Internal Security Brigade and with black TR-5 rifles slung across their backs. The weapons fired charges of magic at high velocity, and could be quickly tuned to alter the properties of the bolts; various lethal, stun, illumination and welding permutations were possible on a single weapon without spending more than ten seconds. They were selective-fire and featured a charge counter just below the electronic sights. The closest traditional weapon a visual comparison could be drawn to was the Foalbrique Nationale F2000 Tactical, with a low-profile scope. Their TP-5 sidearms were similar to the Five-seveN made by the same company. They all wore the same white armor, with inward-facing diagonal blue stripes, which were located on the right side of the helmet above the visor, the left segment of the chestpiece, and the left thigh. The suits were the more rugged and effective Phase-II, capable of protecting the wearer in a wide range of environments, and providing protection on par with the conventional ceramic-based armor most nations used. Their purpose as a unit was simple and unambiguous: they would defend Equestria from all threats within her borders. In the event of an invasion, they would aid in repelling the aggressors, but never enter another nation, leaving that to other units. Internal threats such as hostile creatures and insurgencies were also within their purview. However, the present battalion was only a portion of the 5th IS. “Fillies and gentlecolts,” Shining began, speaking into the microphone before him. “Today, the 1st Battalion, 5th Internal Security Brigade has made history as the first operational unit of the Royal Equestrian Army. And it’s because even among the best of the five Internal Security brigades, your battalion showed the best overall teamwork and the most efficiency. As the first and premiere unit in our defensive formations, you have been given orders to continue your training and prepare for a public reveal when the rest of the REAF’s defensive formations become operational in two weeks. At that time, you are to ready yourselves, your armor, and your weapons for a parade.” “Sir!” The response thundered. Had the garden not been visually and audibly insulated, that gathering would’ve been the single worst leak in modern Equestrian history. But strict vetting of the initial candidates, combined with legally binding contracts, some magic, and good-old-fashioned paranoia had kept the currently 50,000 strong military a complete secret. After its public announcement at the parade, it was expected to grow twentyfold from that size within a year, with more conservative estimates closer to a tenfold increase. “With the already mighty abilities of Equestria, the addition of an unmatched fighting force will bring about a new age of peace throughout the continent, and the world. A Pax Equus.” *** “What’re you doing?” Fixer asked his brother as he reclined on a chair, looking up from his datapad. Scorch outwardly ignored him, cleaning his newly-acquired ACP array gun. “Just taking care of my new toy. These Trando weapons are pretty durable, almost never jam or overheat, but if they don’t stay clean they don’t work as good. Not as consistent as the Deece we use, but pretty good. Besides, I figure a dedicated close-range weapon rounds out my arsenal. Still, I’d rather have a Merr-Sonn CR-24 flame rifle than this if I had to choose.” Fixer set down his datapad and sighed. “Yeah. You know what I’d want?” “What?” Sev asked, joining into the conversation. He was running out of ways to stave off boredom, and he decided that this was a good choice for the moment. “One of those EMP launchers they issue to Jet Troopers. That’d be nice against SBDs and Droidekas.” “Eh, I guess,” Scorch conceded. “Fierfek, this is boring. There was plenty to do back at that farm, but now we’re just waiting here for something to happen.” “At least you won’t be playing bodyguard for a pony princess tonight,” Boss remarked. “I might as well take a nap, I could be up all night and I don’t want to rely on stims unless I have to. We’ve only got so many.” Every commando carried a bottle of stims with them. The small capsules would keep a human wide-awake and reduce fatigue for 12 hours each, essentially being sleep in pill form. But once they wore off, the fatigue from before the item’s use would return. They were extremely useful, but that also meant that they were only used as needed. “Wake me an hour before sunset or when the aruetiise want me, whichever comes first.” He laid down on a cot and shut his eyes, quickly drifting off. “Got it, Boss,” Scorch affirmed before twitching his nose. “I don’t know about you ner’vode, but I’m wondering what they have to eat.” “You have ration cubes, eat those,” Fixer said, as a mother would to her child. Not that he’d know, since the closest experience he had to a mother was a gestation tube. “But those are so boring. Besides, those last forever and they’re practically a superfood, so they fall into the same category as our stims in my opinion. I smell something sweet, and we don’t get to eat good food often. Might as well enjoy what we can and meter out our rations to pick up the nutritional slack.” The slicer and second-in-command thought for a few moments. “Haili cetare. Eat your fill.” “Vor’e!” Scorch exclaimed as he grabbed his helmet and walked outside the tent. The two commandos still awake in the tent could hear him breathe in the air outside, enjoying the relative peace and luxury. Sev just shrugged. “Kaysh guur’skraan.” *** “So Vinyl, when are you going to tell us how you learned to fight? I’m pretty curious how you and Coruscant got past all of my mother’s guards,” Octavia asked in between bites of the pancakes in front of her. Vinyl’s jaw went slack for a moment. “Uhhhhhhh…” She pointed at the human next to her. “He did it!” “No, you got more than a few of them yourself,” He replied. His chewing slowed as he pondered the question himself. “You also seemed pretty knowledgeable about crime, and you had a few contacts help us.” “I plead the fifth.” “We’re not in court Vinyl.” “Oh, right. Okay, just gimme a minute.” “A minute to do what?” “To think of more ways to delay your answer until you either forget what you were asking or give up.” “Vinyl!” “I’m sorry.” “We both know you’re not sorry,” Octavia said. “Yeah, I know. I’m sorry.” Several moments of silence passed before anypony spoke again. “Uh, Vinyl?” Coruscant reminded her. “Well, you all know I’m from the city, and that’s where I made my debut on the club scene. You probably know big-city nightlife isn’t exactly the most reputable. When one of the gangs in Manehattan started an extortion racket on my club, I had to go for help. And my help dragged me into the criminal underworld, where I freelanced for a few years before I got tired of it and moved out here. I took the train to Canterlot, then the train to Ponyville from there.” Octavia spit her hot tea all over Coruscant’s face, prompting him to get up and head to the sink to wash his face off. “So when I first met you a few years ago, you were running from a life of crime? You could’ve gotten me killed by hitponies just by sitting next to me!” “Well, I was never caught, and I was only a suspect in one case… Buck, that last job went to shit. Dead cops and civilians, everypony turning on each other… I still got a bag of diamonds too hot to fence more than one at a time. But being a freelancer meant a lot more freedom than being in a gang, so there probably wasn’t much risk of hitmares chasing me.” Octavia sighed and rested her forehead in her hoof. “Wow. This explains a lot.” “Yep. Now I just play video games, watch TV and shitpost all day, DJ all night, and rake in the cash.” She grinned with pride. “Then why did you tell me you needed somepony to help pay for a house?” Octavia said. Coruscant took a seat next to her his time, reasoning he was less likely to be sprayed by tea again there than he was directly across from her. “Two reasons. One, it drew a lot less attention than buying a house all by myself, being a celebrity and all. Two, you’re kinda hot.” Once again, the classically-trained musician sprayed more of the hot liquid over the clone’s face, and once again he got up to wash it off. “You’re a fillyfooler?” She perked an eyebrow. It was hard to find a single stallion in Ponyville, so she’d been out of the dating game like always. The thought that Vinyl had more options than her explained her less… Frustrated outlook on life. “Well, I wouldn’t use that word, and no, I’m bi. Before you say anything, don’t worry, you’re not my type.” Coruscant returned to the table, this time sitting at a different side relative to both mares. “So Cory, what’re you doing Nightmare Night?” She asked. “Playing video games, exercising, sleeping. You know, typical badass shut-in stuff.” Vinyl wiped a tear from her eye and smiled. “Awww, he made his first swear.” “Second actually, at least in your presence. Remember when you told me I had two more games to go?” He responded. “Oh, right. Well, you ruined the moment. So Octy, why didn’t you use the gun I got you last Zombie Awareness Day?” “I didn’t know how to use it,” She answered with a shrug. “Oh. I thought all earth ponies knew how to use a gun.” “Whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa-whoa, time out. You assumed, based on the ‘earth ponies are rednecks’ stereotype, that I’d just know how to use a gun with no prior experience?” “Exactly!” She chimed, smiling as she spoke. “Well, actually the stereotype is that you ponies all have some redneck characteristics.” "What do you mean, 'you ponies'?" "Nothing!" “Well, I can tell you that stereotype is utter toss. I’ve never touched a gun in my life before this morning.” “Yeah, I kinda realized that after you pointed the butt at the zombie instead of the barrel. Which makes sense, most big cities have strong anti-gun laws.” “You have cameras in my-” “Nope, just on the fake zombies.” Octavia slouched and sighed, her eyelids half-closed in resignation. “Of course, part of your little game. Am I going to have to watch out for more pranks on your part? I don’t want to be worn out for the costume party tonight.” Vinyl produced a small rectangular device and began to speak into it. “Pinkie? Yeah, it’s Vinyl. I need you to call it off. Pi- Pinkie. Pinkie! Just calm down, okay? All you need to do is call off the pranks I arranged… Yes, I know you have a no-refunds policy. You can’t call it off? Oh. You’re using a network hub to run it? What model hub? Just look on the casing, give me the make and model. Shiiit. Okay, that’s not a normal commercial hub, it’s a modified trigger for use with large quantities of remote-detonated explosives.” The last three words shot Coruscant’s eyes wide open as he saw Octavia’s surprise. He dove to the ground to avoid another spray of tea, narrowly missing that third burst. The commando got back up and returned to his seat. “No. Pin- Pinkie. Pinkie! Just calm down! Did you connect it to explosives? Then you’re fine. Yeah, I can walk you through disarming it. Well, if you mess it up all those pranks are gonna go off a once. Now open the casing. Good. You should see twelve wires, with matching colors grouped together. No, I don’t care what you saw on TV, do not cut the red one. I’m gonna tell you what you have to do, and I want you to memorize it. Once you cut that first wire, you’ll have to disarm it in the following ten seconds or you’ll trigger the fail-safe and the pranks will go off.” “Vinyl, what kind of pranks are we talking about here?” Coruscant asked, considering putting on his helmet as he spoke. Her response was to simply raise a hoof at him to quiet him down. “Okay. From left-to-right there should be two yellow wires, a white wire, a red wire, three blue wires, a yellow-green wire, another three lime-green, and an orange wire. What? Which part was confusing you? Lime-green is not the same as yellow-green. When I say ‘lime green’, I mean it’s a dark green, like on an actual lime. I don’t care if everypony uses lime-green and yellow-green interchangeably! Look Pinkie, just let me tell you what to do…” “Let’s see what’s on the telly,” Octavia said with an exasperated sigh as her friend spoke on the phone. “Yeah,” He replied. “And I’d appreciate if you leave the tea back there.” He smirked at the end of the sentence. “Right, sorry about that.” The charcoal mare flattened her ears in shame. “It’s fine. Just don’t let it happen again.” *** Protection detail. This was the first time Boss had actually done it outside of training, and he already hated it. All the dressed-up ponies who looked at him with a mixture of curiosity and revulsion. Setting his HUD to display a full 360-degree field of vision just worsened it, as he saw what displays of emotion the townsfolk didn’t want him to. Immediately after his charge’s speech, he saw the mixed reactions from the present company. “Looks like I’m a big hit with the locals,” He said sarcastically. “I wouldn’t be so sure it’s you they abhor,” Princess Luna sighed. “Besides, there are entire continents that remain largely unexplored because of our lack of long-range transportation, so they’re more likely to view you as a stranger from a strange land than an… Alien,” She continued, whispering that last word. “Alright then, if it’s not xenophobia, what is it? I get enough treatment as the ‘other’ from most people I meet, including Republic citizens. If you’re going to convince me I’m not getting that from livestock too now, then I need a damn good reason.” As the two of them made their way through the festival, heads continued to turn. Assuming they thought he was a foreigner, they’d probably also think he was a dignitary or other high-ranking official, given that he was walking with one of their leaders. They reached a jousting match and found a closed booth reserved for nobility. In the absence of any others present in the accommodation, Boss and Luna took seats inside. “I’m still relatively young by alicorn standards, around a thousand years, like my sister Celestia. Princess Cadence is mere decades old. But for most of my life, I was on the moon. And even then, my actual presence there could be philosophically debated,” Princess Luna began to explain, picking up from a few minutes prior. “The moon?” Boss repeated incredulously. He remembered the report his squad’s advisor had given him. They hadn’t landed on their own moon. He took his helmet off and smelled the air, no longer needing a complete field of view because he was inside of a box. “My sister was responsible for the raising the sun, and day. I was responsible for raising the moon, tending the stars, and the night.” Doubtful. Maybe they’re linked to their planet’s rotation? “Over time, I grew jealous of my sister. The ponies adored her, frolicked in the day, yet precious few took time to enjoy all that I had wrought. Even for a people that slept at night, they neglected to relish my works. A dozen celebrations for Celestia, and not one for me. Eventually, my angst, envy, anger, all coalesced into a second entity in my mind. An entity known as Nightmare Moon.” “Go on. This is more interesting than most of the osik I hear.” He meant it, although most stories he heard from civilians were rather dull. He had a feeling this would be similar to a Jedi lecture on "The Dark Side", but with an example of how such corruption was applied. Nonetheless, she was encouraged by his reaction and continued. “Nightmare Moon took control of my body, corrupted me physically and mentally. She refused to lower the moon, insisting upon eternal night. As my sister desperately tried to reason with me, I forgave her. Nightmare Moon however, did not. I watched with horror over the next several months as my own body committed crimes beyond most ponies’ imagination, a silent and helpless passenger in a body no longer my own. Celestia found me, and they fought for hours. Finally, she forced a bond with the Elements of Harmony and banished us to the moon. That was a thousand and three years ago, and each Nightmare Night is a celebration of that event. They see it as a holiday commemorating the punishment of a criminal, but only my sister recognized it was equally of my own damnation.” She snorted in irritation as the jousters in the arena below missed each other. “For a millenium, I shared a body with that thing, stranded and alone on a barren rock. Only able to observe the world as I was mostly forgotten, only her sins remembered byponykind as my own. A sort of link formed between our minds over time, and I began to think of myself as part of her. I began to accept and aid her plot for revenge, feeling betrayed by my sister. And a thousand years later we returned to bring eternal night. But the Elements of Harmony found their true Bearers, and gained the power to cleanse me of her influence. A few hours of unexpected night and sparse chaos were all our plans wrought.” She sighed, clearly struggling with emotions associated with the memories. “I begged my sister for forgiveness, weakened by the Elements’ immense and righteous power to the form of an adolescent. And in her grace she accepted.” Tears began to stream down her cheeks, though she seemed unaware of them, her features still indicative of angst. “But because of that link, strengthened over a thousand years of solitude, I know that some of Nightmare Moon still resides within me. And in Tartarus, part of me resides with her. My anger, arrogance, antisocial behavior, adherence to decorum, even my occasional use of the word “we” to refer to myself, they’re all remnants of a bond not cleanly broken.” There was a brief pause as the jousters switched out. “Thank you for listening. Nopony else will. Every time I try to talk about it with Celestia, she insists it’s the past, nothing to worry about. And she’s the only one I can guide to that topic without the conversation being deliberately steered away from it.” “I’m glad I could help,” Boss replied, silently wondering if he could entrust her with his own demons. “You look concerned, is something wrong? Did I do something wrong?” Luna asked, visibly worried. “No… No, I’m just worried about how I’m going to track down more CIS forces on this planet in the next month. I heard from a reliable source our initial target was destroyed a while ago, but our primary objective is to eliminate all Separatist facilities we find over the next month. We’ll probably be stay a while after that, but I don’t know how long.” That was more of a half-lie than a half-truth. He was concerned about that, but at the moment he hadn’t been worrying over that issue. “If we need your help, we shall find you. For now, let’s enjoy what little time off we have, Three-Eight.” “Ma’am, if you let me call you ‘Luna’ when we’re not in public, I’ll let you use my name,” He proposed. “It is ‘Boss’, correct?” By then, her tears were gone, no trace of them remaining. “Yeah. A bit odd for a Princess to refer to a noncom as that. How about ‘Alor’? It means the same thing in Mando’a.” Luna placed a hoof on her chin contemplatively. “Is that the language I’ve heard you and your brothers mix with Equestrian?” “Yes. It’s the Mandolorian language, something most commandos and all ARC troopers know. General infantry aren’t too fond of it though.” “I see. We shall use them out of the public eye for appearance’s sake.” “Right then.” Boss put his helmet back in place, the missing piece of his armor sealing with a hiss as it was replaced. “Where to next, Luna?” *** “You can’t go as yourself Cory, that defeats the whole point of Nightmare Night!” Vinyl berated him. “I mean sure, Octy’s gone as a horswolf the last… However many years she’s gone as a horswolf, plus the ones she’s lived here, but at least she’s dressing up!” “Look, between my anti-histamines-” Octavia retorted, or attempted to. “Your what?” Vinyl asked. “It’s a pill. I’m allergic to dust. And cats. Then there’s my inhaler for asthma. And I have to have my sucrocapsinol shipped here from Canterlot because the doctors in Ponyville don’t have it. My old doctor prescribed it for my headaches. I can’t really afford as many luxuries as Vinyl on account of that, so there’s really no budget for a new costume. Besides, you’ve gone as a vampire as long as I’ve known you!” “Well at least I went as a different vampire each time!” Coruscant took a few steps back from their argument, silently amused at their conflict. “So you showed a modicum of originality in your costumes? At least I don’t rip off Deadca7!” The DJ gasped, taken aback by this assertion. She removed her shades, lowered her brow, and bit her lip. “Bitch, it’s on like Unicon!” She threw a stack of fifty-bit bills at her, produced from her saddlebag which laid on the floor. “Go buy a new costume. We’ll meet up at Pinkie’s Nightmare Night party. Whoever has the better costume wins. If I win, I don’t have to do chores for the rest of the week. You have to do my chores, your chores, and wear a maid outfit!” The cellist narrowed her eyes. “If I win, you have to do both our chores for a week, and wear red clothing the entire time. Deal?” That was a hard bargain. Vinyl was scared to death of wearing red clothing, having associated it early in her life with terrible and pointless death. “If I win you get embarrassed, and if you win I could die? Deal!” *** The two mares arrived at the party a few hours later, with all kinds of soda, cake, candy and other sugary treats being present in abundance. There were quite a few good costumes present, with about half of the partygoers in costumes of recognizable characters. The other half, wearing generic costumes, were what Nightmare Night aficionados, of whom there were many in Ponyville, would call “filthy casuals”. The party was just outside of Ponyville’s limits and not far from Sweet Apple Acres. The area was lit by a couple dozen lanterns, but was still fairly dim. After all, who wanted to celebrate the holiday in a bright area? Both Octavia and Vinyl were determined not to end up in the shameful group this year, mostly due to their bet. The charcoal mare sauntered into the crowd, righting her fedora. A coiled bullwhip was concealed under her leather jacket, and her clothes simulated signs of heavy usage. Coruscant followed, wearing his armor and bringing a few extra bits. His helmet was covered by a mask that matched his pale armor. It was rounded into an almost perfect circle when viewed from the front, and featured a trio of lenses where the right eye would have been. The only label on the mask’s original package was “Kanohi Akaku”, and came with two other items in a bundle. He carried a sword as well, the same snow-white as the rest of his ensemble, and an identically-colored circular shield that resembled ice frozen over a plastoid frame. Of course, to his present company he was just somepony with a very elaborate costume. “Nice costume, Cory!” Vinyl said from behind them, prompting the pair to turn to face her. “I almost didn’t recognize you.” Vinyl wore almost entirely black. Black bottoms, a black combat vest, a black trenchcoat that made her look bigger than she really was, and her normal shades were tinted black. “How can you even see, wearing sunglasses at night?” Octavia questioned. “My vision is augmented,” She deadpanned. “There’s a costume contest, and they’re ranking everypony participating. Whoever gets a higher rank wins.” “It. Is. On.”