Chapter 13
It’s been a few weeks since the dream bank incident and at this point I was starting to get worried, I had been seeing Luna less and less both in real life and in my dreams. She always said that she was too busy to hang out and even in my dreams she remained elusive, I couldn’t find her for the life of me.
It wasn’t all bad though, it gave me some time to focus on my friends here in Ponyville and find out what they were doing. One day I was in the library reading some of twilight’s tomes on magic seeing if there were any abilities here I could learn and use for myself, most of it I already knew. There was really no pony else here, even Twilight was out doing who knows what, so it was just me and Spike in awkward silence.
While I was reading I heard the bell on the door ring and instinctively looked up to see who it was. It was Twilight, she came in and then went to her desk and wrote something down on a scroll. I couldn’t read it from the position where I was sitting but knowing her it’s probably something important.
She finished it, rolled it up, and walked over to Spike, dropping the scroll into his claws. “Here Spike, could you send this to the princess for me please?”
“Why?” He asked; I was curious as well.
“Well, I was just talking to Rarity and she said that she’s planning a trip to Canterlot soon. I know that it’s a bit hectic around this time so I thought I’d ask the princess could maybe lend her a place to stay for a day or two.”
Once I heard it was headed for the princess I decided I would take it there myself, any excuse to talk to Luna and find out what was wrong. I put my book down, got up from my chair, and got Twilight’s attention.
“Actually Twilight if you want I could take that to Canterlot for you myself.” I said, nicely.
“Oh that’s alright Will I can see you’re in the middle of a good book and I wouldn’t want to disturb you.”
“No I insist, it would be my pleasure as a good friend to teleport that scroll for you personally.”
Again she dismissed my offer. “No really it’s okay, besides I know that a teleportation spell of that distance could be very draining.”
Alright, time for a different approach. I levitated the book I was reading from the table and I put it in a random shelve in the library. This irritated Twilight and she dropped what she was doing to go put it back.
“What are you doing? You put a reference book in the non-fiction section; do you know how aggravating that is?”
Thank you ADD, while Twilight had her back turned I took the scroll from Spike. “I got that for you little buddy.” I snapped my fingers and teleported out of the tree house and to Canterlot.
Meanwhile in Canterlot, Celestia was just sitting atop her throne bored out of her mind with nothing to do. Then with a small popping sound I appeared in the middle of the room unexpectedly.
“Hi princess!” I said as disruptively as possible.
“Ah!” My appearance shocked her and she shook a bit in her throne until she gained her composure. “Don’t scare me like that Will, can’t you enter the room like a normal person?”
“Hm.” I thought about it for a moment. “Nope. Anyways, I come bearing a message.”
“What is it?”
I tossed her the scroll and she caught it with her magic. “It’s a scroll from Twilight, I think she wants something.”
Celestia quickly read through it and put it next to the throne. With my mission completed it was time to activate my evil ulterior motive.
“So, how are things?” I asked
“Fine, thank you.”
Not the answer I wanted to hear. “Oh, alright…well, there’s nothing else for me to do here. Guess I’ll just head home.”
I started to walk out of the room slowly, intentionally giving Celestia time to think
“Come on Celestia, please have something for me, please have something for me…”
“Wait!” She said. “There is something that’s been happening.”
I smirked. “Excellent…” I turned around to face her. “What’s the problem?”
“As of late my sister has been a bit…anti-social.”
“Well that seems normal for her; I mean she doesn’t really get out of the castle a lot.”
Celestia nodded. “This is true but now it’s gotten worse. She hasn’t talked to anyone or come out of her room in a few days; I fear that she’s upset and I know that you two are good friends so I was wondering if you could talk to her.”
I nodded and gave a smile. “I’d be more than happy to do that for you.”
I levitated off the floor and then floated up to the ceiling and phased right through it. As I phased through I could see into Luna’s room and she was lying on her bed with her back to me. I finished phasing through the floor and landed on the ground.
“Hey Luna, what’s the good word?”
She still wouldn’t look at me.
“Oh come on, I phase through your floor and you don’t even glance at me? That’s hurtful.”
Still nothing, she was still laying on her bed looking out the window absent mindedly.
“Come on, what’s wrong? Is it the great equestrian holiday: Luna be a grump day? Here, let me check my calendar.”
I snapped my fingers and a calendar appeared with me as Mr. October, I was wearing a sweater and playing in a pile of leaves. I checked today's date.
“Nope it’s not Luna be a grump day, which is good because if it was I’d look pretty foolish without some decorations on my home.” I continued searching the calendar and saw something interesting. “But look, Nightmare Night is next week.”
“I know.” She said, that seemed to get her attention. “That’s what has me in a…less than pleasant mood.”
“I can’t imagine why.” I said nonchalantly
Now she raised her head and looked at me, her eyes seemed distant to me, like she was here and yet she had so much else on her mind.
“Why? WHY!?! Do you know what this feels like? To know that there was a holiday created solely because ponies feared me and my evil.” She slumps back onto the bed. “And to think, I used to wonder why ponies do not wish to interact with us.”
Now that I heard it out of her mouth it all made sense, it explains why she was never around in the first season. She felt rejected and alone, pony’s fears of her did not go away even after she returned from the moon. More so is that she didn’t forgive herself because of all these constant reminders of her evil. I needed to help her.
I walked up and sat next to her on her bed, I put my hand on her shoulder. “Luna, I don’t know if this will make you feel any better but after a while holidays begin to lose their roots. I don’t know if you’ve seen what Nightmare Night is about but it’s pretty far from its origins. What started out as a ceremony created in fear of you has become a time of celebration. Ponies come out dressed in costumes, scaring each other, playing games, and eating many sugary treats and candies, it isn’t about fear anymore it’s about fun!”
She still seemed hesitant. “I don’t know.”
“Luna one more thing you need to remember; you keep saying ‘me’ and ‘my evil’ when in fact it wasn’t you at all. That was the darkest part of your personality and it’s gone now, you’ve changed and I’ve seen it for myself.”
“You say that, but I know ponies still hate me for what I’ve done.”
“Luna that was a thousand years ago, I think you’d be hard pressed to actually find somepony who actually remembers what happened that day other than your sister. The only reason ponies are scared now is because they’ve heard ghost stories about you, but I bet as soon as they get to know the real you they’ll realize that’s all they were, just stories.”
“Still, I don’t think that I could come to your Nightmare Night festival, I think ponies would be too frightened of me for me to have fun.”
I needed to get her out of the castle; it’s the only way for “Luna Eclipsed” to take place. Then I thought of something, it was staring me in the face the whole time.
“Come with me.”
Luna looked at me confused. “What?”
“Well you say that ponies will be afraid of you because you were Nightmare Moon, so they need to get to know you. To do that they have to trust you, so maybe it would help if you were seen with someone trustworthy, someone who the ponies know, maybe even someone who helped save their town once or twice.”
Now Luna caught on to what I was saying. “Are you asking to escort me to the Nightmare Night festival?”
I put one arm in front of me and did my best old butler voice. “Yes, if it pleases her majesty I shall escort you to this soirée.”
She laughed at my impression. “Alright, with you there perhaps it shall not be bad. So Will, would you like to escort me to the festival?”
I put my hand to my chin in a philosopher style. “Hm, I don’t know let me check my schedule.” I pulled out a small booklet and flipped through it for a second. “I think I can just squeeze you in.”
Now Luna gave me a glare of amusement. “Well I’m glad to see that I can fit in to your apparently tight schedule.”
“Yep, it was a bit difficult but-Oh no!”
“What is it?” Luna asked
“I don’t have a costume for the festival, and it’s in a few days!”
I snapped my fingers and summoned a small folding wall with a ton of costumes behind it; you know those little changing walls that you see in movies or dressing room? It’s that one.
“Why are you worried? You have dozens of costumes literally at your fingertips.”
“Exactly, that’s the problem. I have so many to choose from it’s going to be too hard to narrow it down to just one.”
I began to rummage through my costumes until I found one that I liked. I went behind the panel and came out dressed as Megaman X; I pointed the buster out for effect.
“Who’s that?” Luna asked
I looked at her a bit disappointed. “I seriously need to get you some new games to expand your library, this costume won’t work anyway it’s too metal and clunky.”
I went back behind the panel and came out dressed as a clown. “Nah, this is too funny.”
Back behind the panel. This time I came out dressed as Peter Griffon from Family Guy “Eh, I don’t know I mean this used to be funny but not really anymore.”
I took off the costume and put on my original outfit, after getting back behind the panel I had finally found the perfect costume. “Of course! Why didn’t I think of this earlier? It’s the perfect costume both visually and in the spirit of Nightmare Night! I’m a genius!”
Luna cleared her throat to get my attention, I looked at her. “Yes, it’s great that you’ve found a costume for yourself but what about me? Don’t I need a costume as well?”
“You’re right, hold on a second.” I rummaged through my costume box until I found what I was looking for, the black cape. I threw it towards her and it hit her in the face. “There you go.”
She picked it up in her magic and examined it. “A cloak? Really?”
“What? It’s black, cool, mysterious enough so that if you wear the hood over your face no pony will know who you are, and it’s got one really cool feature.”
“What’s that?”
“Put it on and see for yourself.”
She swished the cloak over her body, it fit her nicely and the hood was big enough to obscure her muzzle.
“Now what?”
“Watch what happens when I surround it with magic.”
I pointed my fingers at the cape and surrounded it in a magical barrier. Then the cape separated into a colony of bats and swarmed around Luna’s face for a moment, she slapped them out of fear until they flew over and clustered near my hands.
“It turns into a swarm of bats! Isn’t that cool?” I said enthusiasticly.
“No!” Luna screamed. “I mean yes but it isn’t cool when it’s attacking me.”
I laughed a bit. “Don’t worry, they aren’t real they’re just pieces of cloth filled with magic that take the shape of bats and fly around wherever the caster directs them. I’ll put them back for you.”
I pointed my fingers at Luna and the bats swarmed her again but this time they formed the cloak around her again.
“All you need to do is surround the cloak in your magic and you’ll be able to control the swarm however you want.”
“Very well, I shall see you before the festival then?” Luna asked
“Yes, I’ll come here to the castle and then we can go together and make an entrance. Trust me Luna; in a few days you’re going to have a lot of fun.”
A few days later…
This time instead of the throne room I teleported myself to the front of the castle and walked through the front door. As I did I was greeted by two guards.
“Are you the one who’s here to see Princess Luna?” One of them asked
“Yes, that’s me.”
“Follow us.”
They led me through the castle’s hallways and eventually led me to large pair of doors; I knew it wasn’t Luna’s room because the doors didn’t look right so where did they take me? I opened the door and was greeted by Luna standing next to a black metal carriage with a gothic design pulled by two pony guards with black bat wings and armor.
“Glad to see you’re on time Will.”
“Luna, what’s this?” I asked pointing at the chariot.
“You said we were going to make an entrance, so I asked two guards to escort us.”
“Um Luna I don’t mean to be a downer or anything, but if our goal is to make you less feared than…” I was about to finish my thought until I laid eyes on the guards who were pulling it, I had only seen them once before and seeing them up close was pretty cool. “Ooh, you got the different guards to pull the carriage.”
“Actually sir we’re thestrals, though most just call us bat ponies because of our wings and eyes and the fact that we mostly live in caves and only come out at night.” One of them spoke.
I had a whimsical smile on my face, I loved these guys. “Well in my opinion you are very cool and are perfect fit to serve the princess of the night.”
This made him happy as he smiled at me and nodded his head. “Thank you sir, it’s nice to hear that others respect our abilities. Now, will you be going soon?”
“Yes.” I said, hoping on to the carriage. “Let us take the night while it is young, are you ready to go Luna? Do you have your costume?”
She nodded and put on her cloak. “Do you have yours?”
“Indeed, hold on.”
I snapped my fingers and turned myself into a scarecrow that stood in place on the carriage.
Luna looked at me questioning my decision “A scarecrow, really?”
“Trust me; this scarecrow has a few surprises up its sleeves. Now hop on and let’s get going to the party.”
Luna also stepped onto the carriage and within a minute or two the guards had taken off and we were soaring through the sky.
“Hey you wouldn’t happen to know any igniting spells, like for a torch or something, would you?” I asked Luna
She looked at me curiously. “No…why?”
“I sort of need it for my costume to complete the ensemble but that can wait until later.”
“You won’t have to wait very long you two, should only be about a half an hour flight from here to Ponyville.” One of the guards said.
“Oh good, cause I had this great idea that might add to our entrance…” I began to tell Luna about how we could make this entrance very cool as we continued to fly to town.
Meanwhile, in Ponyville…
Nightmare Night was in full swing, ponies were out, good times were being had, and there was candy a plenty to satisfy every pony’s sweet tooth. We were not very far now, I could see Ponyville was just over a hill.
“We’re almost there, are you ready Luna?”
She nodded, and we used our magic’s together to part the clouds that floated above town, the thestral were able to cause a great breeze with the flaps of their wings and excite the clouds so that they created some thunder and lightning. Ponies noticed this and most looked up in shock and fear, once we were directly over the town Luna jumped from the carriage, while carrying me in her magic, and glided safely to the ground and set me down. She rose up her hood, and the drama was aided with a few well timed lightning bolts.
“All right, this is going well so far. Once ponies see that she isn’t going to try and destroy them everything should be smooth sailing.” I thought, hoping this plan would work.
When every pony realized that it was Luna they immediately bowed at her feet, then she did the trick I showed her turning the cape into bats.
“Okay this is really cool; I think we’ll be…”
“CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!” She screamed in her loud voice.
I mentally face palmed. “Oh yeah, I forgot about her royal Canterlot voice.”
“WE HAVE GRACED YOUR TINY VILLAGE SO THAT YOU MAY BEHOLD THE REAL PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT!” She boomed, making my ear drums ring even though I was behind her. “A CREATURE OF NIGHTMARE NO LONGER BUT INSTEAD A PONY WHO DESIRES YOUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION! TOGETHER WE SHALL CHANGE THIS FESTIVAL INTO A BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS FEAST!”
I saw that a lot of the ponies started to back away out of fear; Luna noticed it to and looked back at me knowing that it was time to make the move.
“WE HAVE ALSO BROUGHT A FRIEND WITH US TO SHARE IN THESE REVELRIES!” She used her magic and brought my scarecrow form forward. “DOES ANYPONY HAVE A TORCH THAT WE MAY BORROW?” She asked
Quickly somepony rushed up with a lit torch, handed it to the princess, and rushed back to where she was standing.
“THANK YOU, WE APPRECIATE YOUR KINDNESS!”
She brought the torch near my body and I grabbed it from her and broke free from the post that I was supported on.
The ponies looked shocked when they found out that I wasn’t a regular scarecrow, they were even more afraid when I swallowed the torch and my whole body set itself on fire. I cackled evilly as I shambled around, waving my flaming arms at ponies making them flinch in terror.
Finally to finish my performance I somersaulted into the air, did a few flips and then landed in the bucket they used to bob for apples. I sank completely to the bottom and then slowly rose up revealing my true costume, a skin tight black and white pinstripe suit with a bat bow-tie, and I replaced my hands and head with bone hands and a skull. I was the king of Halloween; I was Jack the Pumpkin King.
Once my transformation was finished I somersaulted back out of the bucket and landed right next to Luna. During that time Twilight had gotten up from her bow, and walked towards the two of us, showing no fear (which is good for her)
“Princess Luna, it’s so good to see you here!” She then looked at me curiously. “Will? Is that you under there?”
“Were you expecting someone else?” I replied, and then I stepped forward to address the crowd again, but this time with a bit more diplomacy. “Mares and stallions, though I may look strange you should know that I am no stranger, I am Bedlam.”
When they realized they had nothing to fear from me some of the ponies began to slowly rise up.
“Some of you may know me personally, others have heard tales of what I have done, therefore you know that I can be trusted. So believe me when I say that the princess who stands before you is not even close to the wicked mare of darkness that once ruled your nightmares. She is kind and wants only to befriend you; all I ask is that you do her the same kindness that you showed me when I appeared. Show no fear, treat her as one of us, and show that Ponyville is a kind and forgiving town, because I know it is! Do you agree?”
Now they all stood up slowly and looked at me nodding their heads, I heard several “Yeah’s” “All right” “Let’s do it”.
“Then let this Nightmare Night be the greatest! Hahahahaha!” I bellowed from deep in my lungs.
This got everypony in the spirits and they continued their daily routines. Twilight looked at the crowd disperse and was pleased.
“Wow, I didn’t think that would go as well as it did. You really have a way with words Will.”
I shrugged. “Eh, it was a heat of the moment kind of speech, plus I just love to talk in general so those things go together quite well. They shouldn’t fear her as much now, it will take some time for them to perfectly co-exist, but for now it’s enough.”
Now that the speech was over Applejack, Pinkie, and Spike began to walk up to the three of us.
“Well that sure was something, glad y’all could make it Will I thought you of all people would be out enjoying the festivities so I was a bit surprised when I didn’t see you around.” Applejack said
“Well now you can see why I wasn’t around at the beginning of the festival, I had to escort the princess here and see how things went with the crowd.” I looked over at Pinkie and didn’t see the small group of children with her. “Speaking of escort; Pinkie where are the kids?”
“What?” Spike asked
“Since I couldn’t be here at the beginning of the festival I asked Pinkie if she would watch Screwball for a bit because I knew she was chaperoning a few other kids. However, I don’t see the group of kids with you, so where are they?”
Pinkie looked behind her. “Oh they probably went off to get more candy, we can go look for them if you want.”
I nodded. “That sounds good, it’ll give us a chance to walk around a bit and find Screwball at the same time.” I turned to the rest of the group. “What do you say then girls, you in?”
“Actually, I have to get back to my apple game so I can’t join you right now, maybe later.” Applejack said.
“Alright, anypony else have an objection?”
None of them spoke up so I assumed they were all okay with the idea.
“All right then we’ll be off, come on Gandalf.” I said gesturing towards Twilight.
As usual Twilight got in a hissy fit. “I am not Gandalf; I am dressed as a great wizard!”
“Gandalf was a great wizard Twilight, take it as a compliment.”
We walked through the town and took in all the things that were going on, everywhere ponies were running, screaming, and laughing with each other and having fun. As we passed, some ponies were awed by either my presence or the princesses which made things more interesting.
“So where are the rest of our friends?” I asked Twilight.
“Well as you already know Applejack has to work, Rarity said she wasn’t going to be a part of something so uncouth though she sent Sweetie Belle out with the rest of the crusaders, Fluttershy is staying inside her house out of fear, and Rainbow Dash is around here…somewhere.”
While we were talking I heard a small gasp from Pinkie. “There they are!”
She pointed her hoof in a direction and we turned around to look. There was a group of children each in a different costume ranging from a ladybug to an astronaut and…two pirates? I looked a bit closer and saw that one of them was Pipsqueak, the small colt from Trottingham (I remember him being in this episode) but it took me a second to figure out who the second pirate was.
“Is that Screwball over there with Pipsqueak?” Twilight asked.
I nodded. “Yes, I remember seeing that pirate costume a few days ago, she must have decided to wear it for Nightmare Night.” It was a really cute costume; the sleeves around her hooves were poufy, the costume was a bright red with a few black sashes around her waist, it came with a small wooden sword, and she was wearing a pirate’s bandanna and an eye patch over one eye
“Why does it look like they’re arguing?” Pinkie asked.
“Probably because they are, let’s listen in and see what it’s about.”
I focused in on the conversation they were having, they were definitely arguing because of the looks on their faces and the tone of their voices. Even though I had no ears right now I could hear, more or less, what they were talking about.
“I thought you said we were going to divide this up evenly.” Screwball said.
Pip nodded. “I did, but now that I see it in front of me I think I deserve more.”
Pip tried to take some candy but Screwball swatted his hoof away. “That’s not fair, we had a deal that if I helped you get more candy we’d split it up evenly at the end.”
“Yeah but I came up with idea.” Pip retorted.
“I did more leg work than you!”
They stared each other down, neither one of them looking like they were going to give the other an inch.
“Should we interfere?” Twilight said.
I held up my hand “Not yet, let’s see where this goes.”
I turned my attention back to the argument. Screwball raised her head and looked Pipsqueak dead in the eye. “You know what must be done.” She said
“We shall settle this like true pirates!” Pipsqueak said, using a fake pirate’s voice along with his Trottingham accent.
“Aye, matey, have at you!” Screwball cried
They both pulled out their fake swords with their mouths and they began to duel. Pinkie, Spike, and Twilight looked in shock at the display while I was feeling a mixture of pride and excitement.
They seemed evenly matched at first but eventually Screwball went on the offensive, she began slashing quickly and wildly and all Pip could do was block them. Eventually she had backed him up so much that he tripped over his own hooves; the sword fell out of his mouth as he lay on the ground defenseless and Screwball breathed heavily above him with that look of determination still in her eyes.
Since the scuffle was over I decided to talk, I walked closer to the two children without them noticing me and then spoke up. “Good…let the hate flow through you.”
When she heard my words she turned around and saw me, her eyes went wide and she instantly dropped the sword.
“Dad! This isn’t what it…um…” She sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get into a fight it just kind of happened. I hope you aren’t mad.”
“Mad?” I questioned. I leaned down and tussled her mane making her smile in contempt. “I was rooting for you.”
I got up off my knee and looked down at small Pip. “You’re Pipsqueak correct?” He nodded. “Well if you want to be a pirate you have to remember that pirate ships ran like democracies, everyone got a say and if the crew was unhappy they could over throw the captain. Life lesson for you buddy.”
He saluted. “Thank you for the advice sir.”
“You’re welcome.” I turned to Screwball. “So, how’s the trick or treating going?”
“Pretty good, I’ve got a lot of candy so far and everypony else seems to be having a good time.”
“Is everypony else having a good time?” I heard Pinkie ask.
“Yeah!” Was the collective answer.
Pinkie looked around a little more but now she had a worried look on her face. “Wait a minute…” She was pointing out each of the kids with her hoof, as if to count them “3,4,5, square, purple, apple…there’s somepony missing.”
Pip looked around. “Snake Eyes walked away a little while ago, I think I saw her hiding underneath that box.”
I looked to where Pip was pointing and I saw a giant cardboard box, I walked over to it and opened it and saw a little filly crying. The filly had a silver coat with a golden mane, her costume consisted of a light blue full body suit with many straps around the waist and a bandanna wrapped around her forehead. Wait, she was hiding under a box in a getup that looks like its used for stealth, there’s no way she could be…
“Snake, are you okay?”
The filly sniffled and looked up at me. ‘You’re…you’re that hero guy right? The one who ponies are saying beat the dragon?”
I nodded. “That’s me, are you alright?”
She sniffled again. “No, I lost my daddy and now I can’t find him.”
“Hey, don’t shed anymore tears little one, I’ll help you find your father. Tell me his name and what he look like.”
“His name is High Roller, his coat is gold and his mane is green. His cutie mark is of a pile of bits.”
I nodded. “Alright, I’m gonna go look for him. I’ll be right back I promise.”
I spread out my arms and turned into a swarm of bats, and then I flew off into the night sky to see if I could find this stallion. As I soared over every pony’s heads I could see many varying forms and colors but none like she described. Eventually, when I reached the outer limits of the city I saw a stallion entering the Everfree forest that matched the small girl’s description.
I closed in on him, then when I reached the ground I re-materialized into my Jack Skellington form. “Excuse me, are you High Roller?”
He just continued walking away from me, I started walking behind him so that I wouldn’t lose him.
“Hey fella, don’t you think you should get back to Ponyville? Your child is looking for you?”
Once again silence, now I was getting annoyed with him. I knew he could hear me and he was choosing not to listen so this time I got physical, I grabbed him by the shoulder and made him stop moving.
“Hey! What the hell’s wrong with you?”
He turned around and his stare was cold and felt like it pierced my very soul, probably because his eyes were turned completely blue. He pushed me down to the ground because I was impeding his progress.
“Well, guess that answers that question.”
“Mare…night…”
He continued to walk away from me and into the depths of the forest. I got up and brushed myself off; I couldn't help but feel that there was something sinister behind his eyes being one color and it’s my job to stick my nose in his business.
“Let us go out this evening for pleasure, the night is still young.”
I snapped my fingers, getting ready for what seemed like it was going to be one of my most interesting nights in a while.