//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Nightmare Night: The Rest of the Time // by sgamer82 //------------------------------// MY LITTLE PONY FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC NIGHTMARE NIGHT: THE REST OF THE TIME BY Sgamer82 “Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something good to bite!” As the customary chant completed, Twilight Sparkle opened the door to see the colts and fillies of Ponyville decked out in costumes. Twilight was quite impressed by some of them. Along with the costumes one would expect, such as the pirate and a space pony, one ambitious earth pony filly had dressed up as Princess Luna, complete with glitter in her mane, plastic wings, and fake horn. There was also a large dragon costume that seemed too big for just one pony. What really caught Twilight’s attention, though, was Pinkie Pie. “Pinkie Pie, I know I said last year you might be too old for this, but I think you’re overcompensating.” “What do you mean, Twilight?” “Well… your costume.” Twilight looked at her friend, who was wearing a frilly blue bonnet on her head, a bib around her neck, fluffy booties on her hooves, and a diaper around her hips. “Oh, this! Nonononono, Twilight. Y’see, this is a theme costume.” “A theme?” “That’s right! Come show Twilight, guys.” With that two small foals ran up in front of Pinkie. The girl, a unicorn, was dressed in a dress and apron. The boy, a pegasus, wore a sweater vest and tie. “Mommy!” Pumpkin Cake cried out. “Daddy!” said Pound Cake. “Baby!” they both said together as they clutched Pinkie’s front legs. “I stand corrected,” Twilight said with a giggle. “That’s actually very clever.” She levitated candy into everypony’s bags, ending with the large dragon costume. It opened its mouth, revealing not one, but three bags inside. Twilight leaned in to get a closer look and saw three fillies lined up front-to-back in the costume looking up at her expectantly. “My word, girls, this is a very impressive costume.” “Rarity helped us make it!” The unicorn in the costume replied. “We’re a dragon from Neighppon!” A pegasus said, her voice muffled from the back of the long costume. “And we’re hoping to get a prize for the costume later tonight,” Piped a yellow earth pony, positioned at the front of the line and most easily seen from the mouth of the costume. The Cutie Mark Crusaders had definitely outdone themselves with the costume. A long multicolored dragon was definitely unlike any other costume in Ponyville tonight. “Well, that’s all well and good,” another voice said. “But your costume pales next to my dragon costume!” “Is Spike wearing that same dragon suit from last year?” Scootaloo’s voice piped in from the costume’s rear. “Yes,” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle replied in unison. “Hmph!” Spike huffed, noticing they clearly weren’t impressed. “What do you think of my costume?” Twilight asked. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo poked their heads out from under the costume so they could get a good look. Apple Bloom simply looked through her costume’s mouth. “Is that Daring Do?” Sweetie Belle asked. “That’s right!” Twilight said. She was wearing the safari jacket and pith helmet associated with the hero of literature Daring Do. She had even mussed up her mane herself to make it look like the character’s. She’d considered asking Rarity, but then realized asking Rarity to deliberately mess up a mane was the same as asking Pinkie Pie to skip her in-between breakfast and lunch cupcake snacks. It just wasn’t done. Twilight basked in the fact that everypony recognized her costume this time around. “I’m surprised Rainbow Dash isn’t doing that,” Scootaloo said. “She’s been all into Daring Do for a while now.” “She was going to, but then she found out her ‘Shadowbolt’ costume from last year had caught on among the Pegasi. She’s re-using it so she can lead the squad.” As if on cue a half dozen pegasi flew over head. All of them were draped in black, hoof stitched uniforms resembling dark versions of the Wonderbolts’. Scootaloo’s head popped out of the dragon again and watched in awe. She recognized Rainbow Dash in the center of the formation right away. While they were going slower than Rainbow normally preferred, Scootaloo could tell even from a distance her pegasus idol was having the time of her life. “Awesome!” “Scootaloo!” The other two Crusaders called out. “Okay! Okay!” After Scootaloo got back into the costume the children, with Pinkie trailing behind as chaperone, went on their way. A few more houses in, everything was going great until the tail of their costume snagged on something. The sudden pull on their costume caused the Cutie Mark Crusaders to lose their balance, Apple Bloom suddenly getting yanked backward with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo running right into each other. From there the three fell forward. “Oops… so sorry,” Said a voice that did not feel very sorry at all. The Crusaders removed themselves from their costume to glare at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Silver Spoon had her hoof planted firmly on the tail of the costume. Silver Spoon’s costume had been an odd choice, as she was wearing what appeared to be blue-grey versions of the royal guard. Next to her Diamond Tiara was, predictably, a princess. With the glitter in her main and the fake horn and wings it was clear she was Princess Luna. “Just what was that fer?!” Apple Bloom said. “I’m a knight. You’re a dragon. Do the math,” Silver Spoon sneered. “Oh, brave warrior,” Diamond Tiara said, going into full Princess act. “We thank thee for protecting us from that foul, loathsome creature! Yea, let us return to our quest for things sweet!” Laughing themselves sick the two bullies trotted off, leaving the Cutie Mark Crusaders with their torn costume. Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle simply looked at it sadly. Scootaloo, on the other hoof, was livid. “Those two… they… our costume… they…” she sputtered, unable to form full sentences. “Now what’ll we do?” Apple Bloom asked. “I know!” Sweetie Belle answered. “We’ll take it to Rarity! She’ll be glad to help us fix it!” * * * * * “Ugh! You want me to fix this now?!” Rarity exclaimed. To the Crusaders’ surprise, Rarity had answered the door in robe and slippers, her mane done up in curlers. She had not appreciated being woken up. The Crusaders were about to apologize and go when she continued. “Oh, come on in, then.” “I’m sorry, girls,” Rarity told the fillies, “I don’t mean to snap. But Nightmare Night is a busy time for me, making costumes just like this. It leaves me exhausted, so I usually take the night itself off and turn in early” Rarity levitated the dragon costume. In her tiredness, the levitation flickered some. Rarity compensated by simply draping the costume over herself. “Just wait here for a few minutes. This won’t take long at all.” * * * * * Discord stood on a rooftop, watching all the ponies below. He was finding the whole display quite delightful. It was just as Fluttershy had said. Everypony was in costumes. Some were mundane, such as the vampony. Some were creative. Some were bizarre, such as the grey pegasus who had draped herself in plastic shopping bags. Discord thought one pegasus colt had made quite a respectable attempt at a draconequus. That is going to make things interesting, he thought with a chuckle. For better or for worse, Discord had no idea what exactly would happen. Nor did he care. Seeing what would happen was essentially the whole point. “Let the games begin,” Discord said as he snapped his fingers. Outside Ponyville, Fluttershy’s cottage was surrounded by a large pink dome. A dome that would prevent anything from getting in or out for the remainder of the night. “That will keep Fluttershy out of harm’s way,” Discord said to himself. “And out of my way, too.” The dome around the cottage began to shimmer. As it did, magical energies began to pulse outward from it. “Just a couple spells, exactly as promised,” Discord felt proud of himself for actually being able to keep to the letter of his promise. Of course, the spirit of the promise was another matter entirely. Small spells, used correctly, could have very big effects. Discord trembled at the thought of what he was about to witness. He hurried to conjure up some popcorn and find himself a good seat for the show. A loud roar pierced the night. Discord found himself looking towards the Carousel Boutique. “And we’re already off to a promising start!”