//------------------------------// // Nightmare Night Holiday Special // Story: Stories in Stone, Memories of Twilight // by TDR //------------------------------// Stories in Stone Memories of Twilight...... sorta. By TDR Nightmare Night Holiday Special “Why are we doing this again?” Jer'rahd grumbled, moving out of the way as a number of ponies in outlandish costumes rushed past him, carrying some sort of giant pumpkin made of wood. “HOW are we doing this again?” “It's a random distraction from everything else that's going on right now in our canon story, mostly,” Bleu responded, looking over a bit of paper and humming to herself in time with a gaudily-dressed alicorn stallion tuning a guitar. “Yeah, I get that part... Okay, no I don't. I'm not even sure how we got here or where 'here' is,” Jer'rahd grumbled. “It's one of those things that you kinda get used to when you know Pinkie Pie,” Twilight explained, grumbling as Rarity helped her with some make up. “There really is no better way to explain it.” "This is true, Jer'rahd darling; we even have a clause in our insurance coverage to deal with random acts of Pie.” Rarity sighed. “The monthly cost is outrageous, but it has paid for itself several times over already.” “Yes, but Pinkie Pie is supposed to be dead, not directing some stage show with Discord.” Jer'rahd snaps. “It's Pinkie Pie... best not to question it,” Applejack grumbled, trying to fit her hat on top of the skeleton mask she wore. “Even worse when Discord's involved.” “They both promised no one was going to be hurt and we could go back to what we were doing after this without any lasting repercussions from what happens here.” Fluttershy pointed out, flying past with sizable number of live bats hanging from her forelegs. “What does that even mean?” Jer'rahd sighed. “It means that this chapter has nothing to do with the continuity of the story.” Rhede pointed out as he took a bite from a caramel apple and waved the confectionery in the direction of his friend. “Not sure how she did it, but I was dying a little bit ago, and I'm not even bleeding now. I'm not in any rush to get back to that, thank you very much, Jer, so stop trying to rush it..” “Yeah, okay, fine. Not even going to try to figure out the rest of it… but this is a Nightmare Night event. We all know what went on during that time, and now there's a celebration for it?” “The event has changed rather significantly thanks to Rhede's brothers and my sister; it's a celebration of fear still, but not any real fear; something more along the lines of an enjoyable startlement than real terror. It is more a foals' holiday than anything else” Luna stated, stepping out of a changing room and adjusting her Nightmare Moon armor, looking rather uncomfortable. “I do not recall this armor being so tight before.” Jer'rahd blushed, watching Luna fidget in the armor and trying to ignore the way it clung to her form. “Errr, it looks fine on you, Princess. Are you sure you are alright with this sort of thing?” “I am. Nightmare Night was quite an enjoyable experience last time I participated. Though it seems I will have a more direct hoof in the festivities,” Luna responded with a smile. “Yeah, Mr. Grumpyhead, Nightmare Night is fun!” Pinkie shouted, popping out of a crate. The crate floated into the air and Discord popped out of the bottom of it . “This is delightful-- a whole holiday devoted giving out candy and dressing up. I truly need a holiday for myself based around chaos,” Discord shouted, slipping out of the box and pulling Pinkie free of the top part of the box, then setting her down on the ground. “You have one. It's called Black Friday,” Rarity muttered. “Ahh yes... busiest shopping day of the year... I do so enjoy that,” Discord reminisced. “Little old ladies beating each other up with the hottest toys of the season.” “Enough. Why are you having us do this again? I get the reason for the event and that everyone else seems to be enjoying it. But why are we the ones here doing this? We were in the middle of something rather pressing,” Jer'rahd snaps. “Well, to be perfectly honest, it was the author's idea. Best to humor him before he does something worse with your canon,” Pinkie sighed, rolling her eyes and gesturing behind the gray unicorn. “Not like he hasn't proven he's willing to kill a couple of us already.” Jer'rahd glances back, seeing a small black rabbit with glasses sitting on a crate eating candy corn and watching the goings on. “What?” Jer'rahd mutters. “SHOW TIME IN FIVE! PLACES, PONIES!” Starfall shouted as she glided in, half-hidden in a cloak with Rainbow Dash dressed as a ghost looping around her. “Alright, we have Octavia, Pontera, and both versions of the Platinum Swan here. Seriously, while I guess it's kinda cute, I'm not sure I like having a band named after me.” Platinum sighed, rubbing her hoof though her hair as she trotted in dressed as a director. “Wait! What ? How... when?” Jer'rahd stuttered, staring at the silver-haired mare who grinned and waved sheepishly at him. “Hello MCFLY!! God of Chaos here, author over there. You really think a guest appearance by some dead ponies is hard for us?” “I give up,” Jer'rahd sighed. “Good. It's about time. Now hurry up and get into costume and let's get this party started!” Pinkie giggled. ================================================================== A massive crowd murmurered and milled about the front of a huge darkened stage. The gathering was much larger than any amphitheater should ever have had seating for. Changelings, Dragons, Diamond Dogs, and Griffons rubbed shoulders with ponies, Royal Guard past and present, as well as Harpies, zebras, and any pony that had ever been in the 42nd. Half-Dragons and Buffalo towered over many of the rest, and pegasi and unicorns floated in the air to get a better look at things. A few arguments happened here and there, but the atmosphere was oddly calm, with none of the gathered races seeming to want to fight. Whether it was due to Discord's magic or the author being too lazy to type out a massive brawl remained to be seen. Princess Celestia sat in the back atop the statue of Forge Scale along with her old companions, the current villains, and a number of other ponies and creatures, all of them pointedly trying to ignore Chrysalis and Sombra making out behind the dragon statue. A sudden guitar riff followed by the rhythmic beat of drums and a piano silenced the crowd as a flock of bats erupted from the darkened stage, flowing over the crowd like a living wave before scattering into the night. Pinkie Pie appeared in the middle of the stage with a pop of pink smoke. The pink earth pony was dressed like the grim reaper, her scythe having a microphone on the end, and face done up in a skeletal visage, though her trademark pink poofy hair was unchanged. A number of other figures playing instruments and dressed in rather simplistic costumes came into view behind her as the music built and the lights come up a bit. “Colts and fillies of every age, Wouldn't you like to see something strange?” Pinkie sings as her shadow slips from her stretching and elongating into Discord dressed as a jester. “Come with us and you will see, this our town on Nightmare's eve.” The CMC popped up from behind a large wooden pumpkin cutout dressed as pumpkins themselves, Scootaloo's costume already burning with a green fire as they sang. “This is Nightmare Night, this is Nightmare Night,” Scootaloo and the others screamed and ran off, trying to put Scootaloo out. Rarity, Trixie, and Twilight floated in on brooms and, in Rarity's case, a vacuum cleaner, dressed up as witch ponies to finish the chorus. “Pumpkins scream in the dead of night...” Ghost Dash zipped across the stage, trailed by Soarin, Spitfire, and Derpy, also dressed as ghosts. “This is Nightmare's eve, everypony make a scene, Trick or treat 'til the neighbors gonna die of fright.” Derpy spiraled out of control after getting tangled in her costume and crashed into the others, sending them crashing to the ground behind a massive black cat figure as Applejack, Granny Smith and Big Mac trotted out from behind a grave stone. “It's our town, every pony scream, in this town on Nightmare's eve.” A section of the stage lit up, showing a bedroom with Pipsqueak laying on top of the bed. The foal hopped up and looeds down as a coal black pony leg slid out from the darkness under the bed. A rather horrific singing voice came from the darkness under the bed, forcing Pipsqueak, and much of the audience, to cover their ears. “I am the one hiding under your bed, Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red.” Rhede's eyes flashed crimson as he offered a fanged grin, and the spotlight changed to focus on a rickety-looking stair case. A black and white striped tentacle with a fanged maw at the end slipped out between the slats of the stairs. “I am the one hiding under your stair hooves like snakes and spiders in my hair!” Velkorn's grinning face appeared under the stairs briefly before a massive black crystalline spider burst through the stairwell wearing a large striped zebra wig. It waved briefly before skittering off stage. “This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night” Rainbow Dash and the other ghosts chimed in, trying to extricate themselves from Derpy. Platinum, Fox, and Wolf, dressed as a scarecrow, an actual fox and a sheep, popped up from behind the drummer. “Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! In this town we call home Everyone hail to the darkness's song!” Maw Pelt popped up dressed as a clown. “In this town ,don't we love it now? Every pony's waiting for the next surprise.” Pinkie Pie cartwheeled past, running into Discord, who popped into multiple smaller versions of himself that sang. “Round that corner colt, hiding in the trash can somethings waiting now to pounce and how you'll...” Witch Rarity, Trixie, and Twilight leaped out of a cauldron with a shower of sparks. “SCREAM!, this is Nightmare's eve Purple, blue, and black between.” Fluttershy popped up in a hockey mask and a bloody machete behind the unicorn trio, sending them scrambling away in a panic. “Aren't you scared? Well that's just fine!” Pinkie Pie appeared in a puff of smoke before the cauldron and blade-wielding yellow pegasus.. “Say it once, say it twice, Take a chance and roll the dice.” The pink reaper pony threw something towards the crowd: a pair of dice that turned into eyeballs before spinning around in the air over the crowd's heads and rolling up Discord's body to pop back into his empty eye sockets. “Every pony SCREAM, every pony SCREAM!” The pegasi ghosts took to the air again, though one was flying upside down. “In this town on Nightmare's eve!” The spotlight illuminated Bleu, who was dressed as, of all things, a mime. “I am the clown with a tear-away face...” The dragon reached up, grabbing at her face. The white coloration changed to bright crimson suddenly, making it look like she tore her own face off. “Here in a flash and gone without a trace!” Bleu shrank suddenly, dropping into a much smaller hole in the floor. Starfall soared over the heads of the crowd dressed as a massive bat with glowing white eyes. “I am the 'who' when you call 'who's there?' I am the wind blowing through your hair!” The pegasus sang as she buzzed the crowd with a gust of wind. The lights panned up to the back of the stage, and a single gray unicorn dressed in skeletal armor, one eye glowing bright red in the dark socket of the bone helm. “I am the shadow on the moon at night...” The lights brightened and Jer'rahd's shadow distended, stretching back to tower massively over the stage like a gargantuan creature all its own. Six points of crimson light began glowing like eyes on the massive shadowy form. “Filling your dreams to the brim with fright...” The CMC popped up again, with Scootaloo now being carried in a iron cauldron between the others, her green glowing wings making the pot glow eerily. “This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!" Pinkie Pie and Discord shuffled past the trio. “Fun and candy everywhere , though life's no fun without a good scare!” The witch unicorns returned with the addition of Maw Pelt, the Apples, and Platinum. “That's our job , but we're not mean In our town on Nightmare's eve. “ The pegasi ghosts chimed in. “In this town” Fluttershy popped up again, swinging the machete and causing the others to run as she leered at the crowd from behind the mask “Don't we love it now? Every pony's waiting for the next surprise!” The whole group suddenly joined in as the stage went dark. “Nightmare Moon might catch you in the back and scream like a banshee. Make you jump out of your skin!” A high pitched wail built from behind the crowd as a massive shadowy form of fangs and glowing eyes soared over the crowd. The whole group continued singing as the full moon began quickly rising over the back of the stage, showing the silhouette of the dark alicorn. “This is Nightmare eve, every pony scream! Won't you please make way for the ruler of the night. Our Prin~cess is queen of pumpkin patch Every pony hail to the Nightmare queen now! " The full moon glowed brightly as Nightmare Moon stepped out of the shadows before it, looking down over the crowd. “This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!" The CMC popped up again, Scootaloo's wings setting another set of decorations on fire. The burning ghost cutout was quickly put out with a bucket of water by Applejack as the three bounced around, singing as loud as they could. “In this town, we call home Every Pony hail to the nightmare's song!" The stage flashed brightly as the entire cast of the musical number screamed out in unison, bolstered by the addition of the Royal Canterlot Voice from Luna, Discord, Bleu, and Pinkie Pie, most of the stage beginning to collapse around them from the reverberations. “LA LA LA, LALALA LA LA, LALALA LA LA, LALALA LA LA EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” Everyone on stage screamed out as the stage collapsed, sending a plume of dust and orange and black decorations into the air. The music thrummed out a few more beats before dying off. As the audience cheered massively, Jer'rahd shoved his way out of the rubble with a curse. He whipped his head around, dislodging a lantern with Luna's silhouette on it and glared at the little black rabbit who was clapping his paws together in amusement. “My weirdness quota has been filled for a while. Can we go back to the regular story now? At least that sorta makes sense,” the unicorn snarled. The Dark Rabbit considered a moment before nodding and turning to look at the reader. “Happy Nightmare Night, everyone.”