//------------------------------// // Nightmare's Night (Rewritten) // Story: From man to mare: Chaotic convergence // by The Psychopath //------------------------------// It was finally night, and everyone was roaming about with their costumes on. Rainbow Dash had chosen to dress as a Wonderbolt, and Applejack chose to be -ironically- the apocalypse pony of Famine, like I told her about. She might not have fully liked the idea, but even she had to admit that the costume and the irony of it was a giant pizza covered in awesome sauce. Big Mac, on the other hand, had chose to dress as Death. War would've been more appropriate considering how massive he was...fat ass. I couldn't see Fluttershy anywhere, and Rarity was completely absent. I wanted to say I felt bad about how I yelled at her, but that was only partially true. At least she wouldn't annoy me with Big Mac being around. The ponies were still setting up a massive stage in front of the town hall while Spike and I decided to wander about, bloating our egos amongst all the ponies with our cool costumes and the spell that Twilight cast on them. Finishing touches were done on the games whilst we -the gem duo- strutted our stuff. Unfortunately, they had yet to finish, and I was mad about that. Wanting to know what was so important, I followed Spike towards the crowd gathering in front of the stage, moving up next to Twilight in the process. Gray smoke erupted from the stage, producing some confused muttering in the crowd. The zebra from the first day I had arrived here 'magically' popped up on the stage, likely by a trap door. Pfff. They have magic and they're still using parlor tricks. The tiny foals shouted and whined in fear, and I understood. She looked like a charcoal-black zebra-creature with bright, red eyes and incurved fangs. Her mane and tail ebbed and flowed, twitching about randomly like someone was holding them and moving them about manually. I had to admit, I thought that was pretty cool. At least someone else here was using the magic element they were all surrounded by! She started talking about Nightmare Night whilst explaining why the little ponies had to give her candy. Eating their souls? Smells like a 'trololol' if I didn't know any better. That teeny tiny one...uh...the spotted chihuahua -whatever his name was- still seemed very eager to go to the Everfree Forest to give whatever candy he was going to get. Not sure why he would be eager to lose all his tasty treats for something stupid. Zecora further explained that, at the end of the night, when their bags were full, that they would each give a small portion to Nightmare Moon in return for not being eating, repeating what she had said earlier...in rhymes. She bid everyone a good Nightmare Night and the audience slowly dispersed around. Pinkie Pie was the first to hop around between games with the foals to gather candy as well. I waited next to Twilight and Spike. "Soooo...what do we start first?" I asked after a moment of awkward silence. "I don't know." Spike shrugged. "Want to do the water tank?" he suggested. I raised a brow. "Water tank?" I repeated. "Yeah! You know: Throw a ball, hit the target, drop the pony into the water," he explained while miming the actions. I gave him the best 'evil' look and laughter I could muster. "Um, are you okay, Silver?" Twilight asked me. "Where the water tank?" I asked her gleefully. I made sure to show her my full row of teeth. She hesitated to answer at first. "It's over there." Twilight pointed further down the road. "I'm going to go see Applejack and Big Mac while you two have fun," she said. Spike and I waved her goodbye then ran like crazy people towards the tank as fast as possible. There were lot of banners, floating crystal lights projecting 'spooky' shapes like bats, and temporary chewed-paper statues were all over the place. Made a lot of colors of blues and blacks and oranges. Not many ponies had gotten to this part of the festivities yet, so we had gotten first dibs! Spike missed all three times, and seeing his rage filled me with conviction...and possibly also determination. I mean, after all, I was very good at throwing things at people's heads!...When I had hands. "Don't worry, Spike!" I declared with as much bravado as possible. "I'll git that target for you!" He crossed his arms and scoffed at me. "Sure you will. You'll get it on the first try too, I bet." "You mock me? When I shalt smite this target?!" I clenched the ball firmly in my hoof and took a deep breathe. The yellow ball rose high into the air when I stood up on my hind legs. "And yay, did I throw this here holy hand grenade. The ball flew through the air and hit the target on the side. The impact was strong enough to push it back, throwing the stallion expecting a dry and eventless night to fall into the water. Spike stared at the target, slackjawed. I strutted around him in response. "And the princess did grin, and the ponies did rejoice!" I declared. He looked at me and crossed his arms angrily. "Yeah yeah. That was just a lucky shot. You wouldn't be able to do that again." After hearing the little lizard's challenge, the stallion climbing out of the water looked worried, but I wasn't interested. Still, I saw an opportunity and looked over my shoulder to stare at him, then the target that had been pushed back into place by the owner. "How about we try bobbing for apples now? You know, something a little more relaxed," Spike suggested. I shrugged. "Sure. Why not? Could be cool." Spike snorted and looked at me with pride. "I don't mean to brag, but, I'm a pro at bobbing for apples." I grinned. "Like you're a pro at aiming?" Spike play-glared at me and stuck his tongue out. It and the rest of his body shone more brightly as the moon became more visible. "Oh yeah? Then you try and grab one apple before I do. How about that?" he stuck out his hand. I placed my hoof in it and he shook it. "Challenge accepted!" I said. Unfortunately, this game wasn't free of people. There were plenty of ponies around, and I couldn't recognize any of them thanks to their disguises, not that I could. since I barely knew anyone here. We were growing impatient and about to leave when one tub finally freed. I turned and faced Spike. "May the best win!" I declared. Spike and I high-fived -because my way of saying is the best way and your opinion isn't valid- just before smashing our heads into the water, dousing the nearby crowd. I started laughing after realizing that, and bubbles started surrounding my head as I bounced up and down. I needed a good breather and hiccuped when I laughed. Unfortunately, that lucky dragon got an apple on his first try, taking it out of his mouth just to lean against the side of the tub with a big grin on his dumb face. It somehow didn't tear when he rubbed it on his scales to polish it, then took out a big bite. I was getting angrier and angrier because I couldn't grab the apple, and Spike just kept laughing at me. That wasn't helping! I smashed my crystalline hoof in anger, shaking with intensity until a giant stood next to me. It was Big Mac. "Y'ain't gon' get an apple like that," he said. "Gotta go n one movement. Quick in 'n out. Like this." His head dove in and plucked an apple right out without him getting wet. "See?" he said. I snorted. "That's just because you work with apples all the time..." I shrugged. "But I'll give it a try." It took a few attempts but I had finally succeeded in getting one out. "Thanks, Big Mac!" I yelled. "Ain't no problem worth thankin' me fer." His calm face switched to concern. The giant began to look around. "Ah believe Twilight was lookin' fer ya," he said. I was taken aback. "You recognized me even like this?" I asked. He just stood his ground and. "Eeyup," he said in deadpan. That was...a strange sensation of 'flattery' that popped up. Being a mare is doing something to my brain and I don't like it. Perhaps Rarity was onto something. Gross. I shared the news with Spike, and after some roaming we eventually found Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Twilight. "You called us?" I asked Twilight. "Oh, yes! We're going to watch the little foals give some candy to the Nightmare Moon statue," she explained. Annoying. "...And you called us for that?" I asked with distaste." "Well, yeah." She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "That's the best part about this celebration." "Uh huh..." Rainbow looked me and Spike over before talking to us. "Awesome costume,, Silver." She looked to Spike and pointed at him with a wink and a grin. "You too, little buddy." "Thanks. Yours looks cool too," I answered. Spike looked down in sadness. "I just wish Rarity was here to see mine," he wallowed. I frowned and turned to Applejack. "So you took my idea? Didn't expect you to use Pestilence of all of them." The farm pony laughed. "Figured it'd be a proper bit of scary irony for a farmer. Done went and nearly gave Granny a heart attack. Chased me out of the house with pots 'n pans after she realized it was me." After a short laugh, we went to a group of little ponies waiting impatiently after Zecora called everyone. We still spoke of our costumes and the reasons for us dressing up like it. Gave interesting insight, but as we talked I realized that teeny weeny was there, bouncing around almost as enthusiastically as Pinkie Pie...Dear God no. Not a second one!. The trip took us to a clearing at the border of the Everfree Forest, where a huge statue of that Nightmare stood tall with bared fangs. Do horses even have fangs? The foals were all invited by Zecora to drop some candy at the foot of the pedestal. Some were too terrified to even move forward and had to be goaded by their friends. I leaned in towards Twilight to whisper to her. "Now what?" I asked. She just smiled. "You'll see," she whispered back. Everyone here but Spike were smiling. Devious little monsters. At least Spike had a normal response to this, even though Twilight still technically considered him a 'baby' which makes literally no sense. Thunder erupted out of nowhere, startling me, and mist started to creep in from beyond the foliage. Foals were starting to panic and whine when a voice erupted from the air, like the forest itself was talking. "You come for me to feed?" it yelled. "Excellent! I have not had one since the last Nightmare Night! A fine delicacy of souls for me abounds this darkest of nights!" The foals were huddled together, trembling, and looking around for the source of the voice. Only that teeny weeny one stood firmly in place outside of the sheep herd. Giant dragon eyes formed within the mist and looked down at the foal, both eyes three times his size. He pointed to the statue, and they followed the movement. "We brought you candy, your majesty," he declared. The eyes stared at the candy, then whomever owned them began laughing whilst a body formed in the mists in front of the tiny creature. "Good! This is good," it declared calmly. "But I believe eating one of you will be more than fair this year." It laughed maniacally whilst thunder clapped above. It started chasing after the screaming colts and fillies running away from her in tears and panic but let up when they were far enough away. Laughter came from its fanged maw again whilst its form 'melted' off leaving Luna in its place. The tiny one seemed all happy and quickly hopped towards her for a greeting. "Hello, Luna," I said while being careful to not fully explode in anger. "I see traumatizing children is fun." Luna chuckled, annoying me. "Oh, it's just a bit of harmless fun." She waved a hoof. "They weren't actually harmed." She took a long look at me before resuming her speech. "Nice spell for your costume, and Twilight. You dress up as my sister?" She put a hoof to her chin and hummed while scrutinizing Twilight's outfit. "The mane is kinda short, but it is quite close to the way she looks." That lavender unicorn blushed and started passing her hoof back and forth on the sand. "Well, I figured that, since she wasn't coming, that I would dress up as my teacher." "How about we go back to Ponyville rather than staying in this wooden mosquito parlor?" I asked aggressively. "Well, we did have much fun last time I came here. To the games!" she shouted with a foreleg outstretched to the air. That tiny foal followed Luna around, and the two exchanged banter whilst we all went back down to the town for more games to play and foods to eat. There were a plethora of tables set up near the townhall, letting us rest and enjoy our food, and boy howdy was there a lot! I sighed internally whilst contemplating my meal. "I guess I should at least I apologize to Rarity for the aggressive way I handled the event," I thought. I turned to Twilight. "I uhh, have to go see Rarity for something. I'll be right back," I explain. "Do not be gone for too long," Luna suggested. "We plan on performing a 'special' event at the end of the night,' she said. She looked to Pip with a big, warm smile, and he seemed very excited about it. Turns out, Rarity hadn't been hiding in her store, and when I called out to her, I realized what she had been doing this whole time: Avoiding me. She gasped and bolted off, forcing me to chase after her. I mean, I would understand not wanting to talk to me, but avoiding me entirely like I'm some kind of monster? I barely caught a glimpse of her rounding a corner and tumbled on the floor when I tried to do the same. I cursed to myself whilst struggling to get back up. "Huh. Kinda dark over here," I noticed while wiping the dirt off of my body. "Rarity? Where'd ya go? I want to apologize about this morning!" I called out. Damn this world and its colorfulness. It drives me to feel emotions! "Derry," a hushed voice said behind me. I swung around to see someone I recognized. Someone who I hated with every fiver of my being. Someone who wasn't supposed to be here. "How?"