The Angel of Equestria

by Robobrony


Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Charles awoke the next morning with a yawn as he sat up, he went to the bathroom for a shower, slipped on his clothes, the blue jeans, grey shirt and red jacket, placed his crystal around his neck and took his staff up and put it on his back. He stepped out of his room with a smile on his face, as soon as he did, his nose was greeted with a delightful familiar smell. “Mmmmmm, smells like someone’s trying to make the French toast I shared with them, and from the smell of it, they are doing a good job.” Charles made his way to the kitchen and greeted Twilight as she sat at the table reading a newspaper.

“Good morning Charles, did you sleep well?”

“I slept great, thanks for asking.” Charles made his way over to Twilight, bent down and gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

Twilight blushed a little and chuckled. “hm hm, my, someone’s in a good mood.”

“And why wouldn’t I be, I got a great life forming before me, I got a job, friends, a place to live, and, not one, but four fabulous beautiful marefriends.” Charles then turned his attention to Spike who was busy at the stove. “And how are you doing this morning Spike?”

“I’m good, just trying to make that French toast you showed us that one morning, I think I got it right so far.” Spike replied as he eyed the food on the stove.

Charles walked over and looked down at the stove over Spike’s shoulder. “Looks like you’re doing a fine job Spike, you got it down. It smells great too.”

“Thanks.” Spike said with a smile back at Charles.

Once breakfast was finished, Charles announced that he had to head out, he had a few things to take care of. “Well, I need to be heading out, got a few things to take care of.” He said before giving Twilight another kiss on the cheek. “See ya later beautiful.”

“What are you up to Charles?” She asked.

“I have a few things I need to take care of to get my plans for Nightmare Night together. I’ll be back later today, I’ll see you then. I do need to get started on studying those illusion spells after all.” Charles then headed out, it was another cloudy day, but there were breaks in the cloud cover allowing a few rays of sun to shine through.

On his agenda for the day, Rarity’s place. He decided to walk there, deciding that it was too cold to fly there, the wind chill factor just wasn’t worth it. As he walked, he saw a few of the ponies around town wearing coats or just scarves. He noticed the pegasai didn’t have anything on to protect themselves from the cold weather. “Huh, I wonder why the pegasai aren’t wearing anything.” He thought to himself.

It was in his looking around that he noticed Stunner and Fluttershy sitting at a table in front of a kind of bistro. He went over to say hello. “Good morning Fluttershy, Lt. Stunner sir.”

Stunner gave a smile as he greeted Charles. “Charles, good morning, and no need for the titles here, I’m off duty today, I’m just on a morning date with Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy greeted as well in her usual soft voice. “Good morning Charles, how are you this day?” She asked with a smile of her own.

“I’m doing great, I was just on my way to see Rarity. I’m going to help her with a design from earth that I’m going to wear on Nightmare Night.”

Stunner then got curious about his statement. “Oh, is it some kind of costume?”

“Sort of, it’s really a kind of suit that was worn a long time ago from old times. In the right setting, it can be considered creepy.”

Fluttershy recoiled a bit at this. “Oh…my. Um, Nightmare Night isn’t exactly my favorite night. I just get so……scared.

Charles looked to Fluttershy with a sympathetic eye. “Really, so does that mean you won’t be there when I perform?”

Fluttershy shook her head. “I’m sorry, but Nightmare Night is just too scary for me.”

Charles hung his head in disappointment. “I see, I was hoping you and the others would be there, I just know you all would like it.”

Stunner decided to speak up then. “C’mon Fluttershy, I’ll be there to protect you, I promise, I won’t leave your side, I love Nightmare Night, but it won’t be any fun if you’re not there with me.”

Fluttershy looked to her coltfriend, then to Charles. “Oh, all right, I’ll be there.”

Charles smiled at Fluttershy. “Great, thank you Fluttershy, I promise it won’t be too scary. I’ll leave you two love birds alone now, I gotta get going, see you later.” Charles gave a wave as he left.

***

The days went by and Charles was just about ready for Nightmare Night, on the day he stopped by Rarity’s to tell her about the outfit he wanted, he also went by Vinyl’s place to help her put together the song he had in mind for the show he wanted to put on, then, of course, he had to go by the mayor’s office to discuss having use of the stage and setting up a scenery. Thankfully, she agreed and he supervised the construction of the set.

For the few days leading up to Nightmare Night, Charles went by Vinyl’s in the afternoon to work on the music, and helped set up the stage at the center of town for the show he wanted to put on. He had the ponies setting up the stage make an easy to build makeshift house on the stage. It was a dark blue color and looked really old with shudders that were broken, one of them just hung on the window, there was also a stone chimney on the top of the house. The background had a cliff just behind the house and on the left, a fake moon was painted on the backdrop and coffins were set up and lined on the sides of the house.

Nightmare Night was finally here and Charles was wearing the suit he asked Rarity to make, he was wearing a white undershirt with frills that were thin at the bottom near the center of his chest and spread out further up to the neck, the sleeves had frills at the end as well. Over the shirt, Charles wore a black light over jacket with pants and shoes to match. He also had on a cape that was black on the outside and red lining on the inside. It certainly looked like something from a few centuries ago.

Charles had a satisfied smirk on his face as he looked himself over. “Not bad, once again, Rarity does a great job.” Then his smirk faded. “But it just isn’t enough. I just don’t look all that scary with a suit on. Let’s see, what can I do to make myself look scary.” Charles put a hand to his chin in thought. “AH HA, I got it.” He smiled brightly as inspiration struck. Before he could do anything, Twilight entered.

“Hey Charles, you ready for your first Nightmare Night.” It was then she noticed his outfit. “Well, I’ll admit you do look handsom, but not scary really.”

Charles smiled at Twilight. “I just had an idea to fix that. Watch this.” Charles then closed his eyes and looked as if he was concentrating. A second later, a small flash emitted from between his eyelids, Charles opened them and Twilight gasped in surprise at what she saw.

“Oh my, Charles, your eyes.” She looked into his eyes and saw his irisis were now slitted.

Charles then turned to the mirror to look at them. “Nice, it worked, now to continue with the illusion.” Charles then focused his magic again and another flash emitted from his mouth. He opened his jaw and grinned, his teeth now appeared jagged and sharp. “Whoa, nice, what do you think Twilight?”

Twilight recoiled a bit in fear. “Wow, um, that is rather scary.”

"I’m not done yet, two more adjustments to make and I’ll be ready.” Charles then decided to get the last two things out of the way at once. He focused his magic again, and in a flash, his hands and wings had changed. His hands now had long sharp fingernails that looked very sharp. His wings now no longer looked black and feathery, they were a dark brown color and looked like bat wings. Once done, Charles gave himself another look in the mirror. “Perfect, well Twilight, what do you think?”

“Wow, you look very scary Charles.” Twilight answered with a smile.

It was then that Charles noticed what Twilight was wearing for her costume. She also had on what looked like a white button up shirt, her mane was put up in a bun, she was wearing a black skirt and fake glasses rested on her snout. “Um, Twilight, what exactly are you supposed to be?” He asked with a raised eyebrow.

“I’m a librarian of course.” She answered non-chalantly.

“Riiiiiight, but……don’t you have a job as a librarian already, why wear a costume that makes you look like something you already are?”

Twilight’s face fell. “Because last year at Nightmare Night, the costume I chose before didn’t go over as well as I hoped. This is all I could really come up with for a costume.”

“Ah, well, that doesn’t change the fact that you look good. I think you look cute with glasses.” Charles stated with a wink. He then followed up with a kiss on the cheek. This elicited a blush from Twilight. “Any way, is Spike ready yet?” He asked as he made his way out of his room.

As if to answer his question, Spike emerged from the room he and Twilight shared wearing an interesting costume. He had on a helmet with horns on it, a grey moustache, and brown clothing with brown boots on his feet. “Tadaa, what do ya think, pretty cool huh?”

Charles looked him over as Spike made his way downstairs. “Not bad Spike, are you supposed to be a Viking or something?”

“Yep, what do ya think, pretty cool huh?”

Charles nodded in agreement. “Not bad Spike, not bad, but don’t you think your missing something?”

Spike then looked up at Charles with confusion. “What do you mean, what am I missing?”

Charles gave a smile. “No self-respecting Viking would be caught dead without his weapon, that is what your missing, and I believe I can help with that.”

Twilight then tugged at his sleeve to get his attention. Charles leaned down so Twilight could whisper in his ear. “Charles, what are you thinking, he’s a baby dragon, I don’t want him messing with weapons.”

Charles whispered back. “Don’t worry Twilight, I’m not going to give him a REAL weapon, I’ll let him borrow my staff after I make a change to it, it will be perfectly harmless, I promise.” Charles then went to his room to retrieve his staff and came back out. “Now then Spike, would you like a sword, or an axe?” He asked with a smile.

Spike then looked to Charles with a surprised expression. “Wait, you’re going to let me use your staff? Thank you Charles.”

“Hey, don’t mention it, now what would you like?”

“I think an axe would be cool.”

“you got it, one axe coming up.” Twilight still wore an unsure expression on her muzzle. Charles began to focus his magic in to his staff, soon it shrank down, the color and shape changed and soon, the staff looked like an old fashioned axe, like the kind a true Viking would have.

“Charles, why are you giving Spike an axe?” Twilight asked.

Charles then turned to Twilight to alleviate her fears. “Twilight, relax, its not even sharp, I made the blade of the axe plastic, it’s completely harmless, look.” To demonstrate this, Charles banged one side of the blade against his hand, leaving no marks what so ever. “See, totally harmless. Here you go Spike.” Charles handed the toy axe Charles made to a very grateful little dragon Viking.

“Thank you Charles, this is so cool, now I look like a real Viking.”

With Spike looking so happy, and the fact that Charles proved that the axe wasn’t dangerous, Twilight’s fears melted away. “I’m sorry for doubting you Charles, I should have known you wouldn’t give Spike a real weapon.”

As Spike gave his new axe a few test swings, Charles turned to Twilight. “It’s fine, I can understand why you were worried, Spike is like a little brother to you, isn’t he?” His answer was a simple nod from Twilight.

“I got him when he was just an egg, I hatched him from an egg as part of an entrance exam to get into Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns. Ever since then, my parents and I took care of him, he’s not just a good friend, he’s my little brother.”

Charles happy demeanor turned slightly solemn, his smile was still there, but it was more like a sad smile. “Yeah, It must be nice having family that cares about you.” He said absent mindedly.

Twilight quickly turned to face Charles. “Oh, um, what I meant was, um……I.”

“It’s fine Twilight, I know you didn’t mean anything.” Charles interrupted her. “It’s just hard for me to let go of what happened, they were my parents…….but even so, they…..they still….” Charles stopped his thought. “But it doesn’t matter, that’s all in the past, and I NEVER have to worry about seeing them again, so come on, let’s go out there and have a spooky time, shall we?”

Twilight could see it, he was still hiding his feelings, despite everything he had gained, he still chose to hide some of his emotions away. She decided it was best to let it go for now.

Before anything more could be said, there was a knock at the door, Twilight opted to get the door. She trotted over and used her magic to open the door, she was then greeted by three fillies with the standard Nightmare Night greeting. “Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite!” They exclaimed together.
Twilight greeted the three fillies. “Well hello there cutie mark crusaders, don’t you all look great.” Sweetie Belle was wearing a pink dress with a pink cone hat and white stars on it with a pink veil hanging down from the top of it. Scootaloo was wearing a rainbow colored wig and had a picture of Rainbow Dash’s cutie mark on her flank. Applebloom was wearing a cow costume of white with black spots.

Spike Came to the door too to greet them, he then saw Sweetie Belle and just had to compliment her. “Wow Sweetie bell, you look great.”

Sweetie Belle blushed at Spike’s compliment. “Thank you Spike, Rarity made the costume for me. I’m a princess.”

“Hey, what about my costume?” Scootaloo complained. “Don’t I look just awesome?” She said as she struck a pose.

Applebloom decided to speak up. “I don’t think it’s that great, it’s just a rainbow wig with Dash’s cutie mark."

This earned a glare from Scootaloo. “Now girls, lets not fight.” Came Rarity’s voice from behind the fillies.

Twilight then looked to Rarity to see what her costume was. She had on a pair of red devil horns, a red cape, and was wearing black eye shadow. “Wow Rarity, nice look.”

“Thank you darling, is our stallion ready for the night?”

“Be right out, I’ll just get the candy for the fillies.” Charles called from inside the library. He came back and beside Twilight with the bowl in his newly gained claws. “Hello girls, care for a……bite to eat?” He said sinisterly. Then followed up with a cackle as he revealed his sharp looking teeth.

The girls gasped, Rarity did the same and spoke. “Goodness Charles, you look absolutely frightful, what in heavens have you done to yourself?”

“You like it, pretty scary huh?” He asked with a grin, making sure to show off his teeth.

Scootaloo was the first to compliment. “Whoa, cool, you look real scary Charles, how did you do that?” She asked with a smile.

“Magic.” Was his simple answer.

“Gosh Charles, you look real fearsome, is that still you?” Applebloom asked with a bit of fear.

Charles pulled back from the girls so as to not look as threatening. “Relax girls, it’s still me, I just used my magic to look like this for Nightmare Night.”

“Well I think it looks cool.” Scootaloo said.

Charles bowed his head to Scootaloo. “Thank you Scootaloo.” Charles finally turned his attention to Rarity. “And Rarity, I see your looking rather…….devilish, HAH.” No response from his little joke was made. “Oh come on, you got to admit that was somewhat funny?” Still no response. “Whatever, anyway, you really do look nice Rarity.”

“Thank you dear.” Rarity said.

“Yeah, you really fit the bill for my,” Charles then adopted an old Transylvanian accent. “Mistress of the night, mwa ha ha ha ha.” Still no response. “I give up.” Charles finally decided the fillies waited long enough for their candy and deposited two pieces in the bags that hung around their necks. “Here you go girls, enjoy.”

“Thank you.” They said in unison.

“Well then, shall we be on our way?” Rarity asked.

“Of course, just give me a second.” Twilight then levitated a stool outside, then a quill and parchment and proceeded to write a note on it. She then placed the note on the stool and Charles set the bowl on the stool so the note would be held in place by it. The note simply read, take one piece each. With that now out of the way, Twilight, Spike and Charles headed out with Rarity while Spike and the fillies went off on their own for fun.

It was a clear night tonight, all the stars could be seen as the moon was full in the sky. Charles, Twilight, and Rarity made their way to the center of town where all the festivities were taking place. There was a pumpkin catapult game, a game with spiders and a web, a bobbing for apples tub set up and being run by Applejack, a ring toss game and many other booths with games to play. The three made their way over to greet Applejack. Charles was the first to say hello. “Hello Applejack, how are you this fine evening? Nice costume by the way.”

“Thanks partner.” She was wearing a light brown shirt with patches on the elbows……or whatever part of the leg that was called, with bits of straw sticking out, and a straw hat. “I’m a scarecrow.” She said with a smile. “Care ta try yer luck at bobbing fer apples?” She asked as she gestured to the tub.

“No thanks.” He politely dismissed Applejack’s offer. “But it is always nice to see you.” Charles walked up to her and gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Aw shucks, thanks Charles.” She blushed.

“Charles, comrade, how good to see you.” Called a familiar voice from behind. The girls and Charles looked in the direction of the voice off to the side. Black Cloud was approaching.

Charles gave a smile at his friend. “Black Cloud, nice to see you buddy, how are you enjoying Nightmare Night……wait, you’re not wearing a costume, is something wrong?” He asked with concern.

“Nyet, nothing is wrong, it is just that we did not have Nightmare night where I came from, I was not sure how this holiday worked. This is my first Nightmare Night. So far, it is very interesting, so many games to play and treats to eat.”

“Well, that is the idea behind Nightmare Night. You having fun so far anyway?”

“Da, is a most interesting holiday, is very fun yes? I am having a, how you say, the time of my life.”

“That’s good to hear.”

“Charles, how are you making yourself look like dat?” Black Cloud asked, finally getting curious about his appearance.

“I just used my magic to make myself look like this.”

“I see, you really look very spooky.”

“SURPRISE!” Came a shout from behind everyone. They all gave a shout and jumped.
The shout came from behind where Rarity and Twilight were standing, the girls and Charles turned to see Pinkie with a wide smile on her face. “Were you surprised, were you were you were you?” Pinkie asked rapidly. She had somehow died her coat chalk white and her mane and tail were now blonde. She also had a pair of fake wings attached to her sides like a Pegasus.

Rarity scolded. “Pinkie Pie, dear, that was not very nice.”

Twilight agreed. “You almost gave us a heart attack.”

Pinkie waved a hoof in a dismissive manner. “Awe come on, it was a joke, it is Nightmare Night after all.”

Charles couldn’t help but agree. “I guess your right there Pinkie, but what or who exactly are you supposed to be?”

Pinkie kept her smile as she answered. “SURPRISE!” She shouted again.

The girls, and Charles looked to eachother in confusion, but none looked more confused than Black cloud. “So, you are pony named surprise?” He guessed

“That’s right! You’re the first pony to get it!” Pinkie exclaimed.

Applejack then interjected. “Uh, Pinkie, who in the hay is Surprise, I don’t know any pony by that name.”

“Well DUH, that’s because no pony has ever met her.” Pinkie said.

Charles then asked. “So, is she a new pony in town then?”

“Nope.” Pinkie simply answered.

“But then, who is she?”

Pinkie giggled. “Heh heh heh. Oh silly, it doesn’t matter, now come on, let’s go have some fun.”

Charles, along with the others, just shrugged off Pinkie’s antics. Applejack had to stay where she was to monitor the bobbing for apples station. Charles invited Black Cloud to hang out with him and his three other mare friends while they looked for the other girls. He accepted happily and the group went on their way.

Little do they know, they were being watched by a Pegasus mare from the shadows, Dark flash had come to Ponyville to monitor the human that ruined her plans so far. Her horn was missing though, she was using her magic to make herself look like a regular Pegasus. “Enjoy the night while you can creature, I will make sure it is your last.” She said to herself. She had a wicked grin form on her muzzle. “I’ll let these ponies enjoy their night a little longer, then I shall make my move.” What dastardly plans could she have in store for Ponyville, or our hero?