The princess walked slowly down the street, looking for her knight. She had lost him some time ago and, no doubt, he would be near panic at having lost his charge. However, it was dark and wild things came out at night. She walked as quietly as she could.
So did the creature following her.
He had spotted her and stalked her quickly and quietly. His venomous tail was poised as if ready to strike. It would have been easy to attack her with it. No, he felt his claws would do a much better job. He relished the opportunity and waited.
The princess turned her head slightly, looking for her knight. This was it. He pounced and she screamed!
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Every pony down the street watched the manticore attack the princess. Chuckles came from everywhere as the princess screamed, "HA HA HA STOP IT HA! UNCLE JACK! THAT TICKLES!"
The attacker stopped, lifted his mask, and asked, "Aw shucks, how did you know it was me, Shuffle?"
The princess giggled as she caught her breath. "Because (heh heh) you always go for the ribs!"
"So, what do you think? Do I look like a manticore?"
In feigned exclamation, she swooned, "Oh yes! You are like a wild beast that would rip the world asunder! ... How was that?"
Black Jack laughed. "Oh, your father is going to have a field day. You're getting good at sarcasm."
They walked down the street of Ponyville. Black Jack and his niece Shuffle looked at the decorations. Everything was spooky and fun. Cutout ghosts were hung all over. Black cat dolls were placed on hay bales throughout the street. And, of course, there were plenty of lit Jack-o-Lanterns.
Then there was the giant pumpkin in the town square. The Cakes and Pinkie Pie made a huge cake to celebrate the night, but the Card Family were the ones who commissioned it. Shuffle had come up with the idea to make it a strawberry cake with orange frosting. Many ponies were surprised, simply because they thought it would have been a pumpkin cake. Pinkie thought it would be a great prank and delicious to boot. She was right on both counts.
Of course, there was more to it. The cake was made for the Card Family Reunion. The Cards always favored Nightmare Night. When Princess Luna returned and had given Ponyville her blessing, they thought it only proper to hold their reunions here from then on.
Of course, the kids never understood why, but they enjoyed it all the same.
Nevertheless, each child would ask that question eventually. This time, Shuffle was curious. "Uncle Jack, why is Nightmare Night so important?"
As the two earth ponies walked down the street, Black Jack bought some popcorn and took them over to a bench. Tradition dictated the one who was asked answer until they told everything. No shirking it off on others or making some excuse. He did not mind, because he loved answering.
"Shuffle, you know our family is a bunch of gamblers, right?" She nodded while munching on the popcorn. "Well, gambling isn't betting money. It's taking risks because you can."
"You mean like brave ponies are afraid but they face their fears anyway?"
"No. Gambling is more about thinking. Being brave is spur of the moment. Gambling is considering the risks and following what you think will work out the best. Take the Apples. You think they just walked up to Celestia and said 'Give us some land near the Everfree?' You think Granny Smith went hunting for Zap apples? No. They took chances. The Apples didn't have a home then, and settling would mean they'd risk going hungry. Granny Smith went hunting in the forest because they needed food. It was all a gamble. It paid off."
"You make it sound like Apple Bloom and I are related," Shuffle said with a smile.
"Well, technically, you are." Shuffle looked at him wide-eyed. "Oh it was well before my grandpa was born, but there's a Card in there. But we're getting aside the point. Cards take chances. We've always seem to have a little luck when it comes to our gambles."
"OK, but what does that have to do with Nightmare Night?"
"Well, as it was told to me, it all started the year after Nightmare Moon was banished..."
Roulette ran down the dark road. She was tired. She had been running for 3 days. It was only her earth pony endurance that kept her going. She had spent a number of bits, but she was going to do everything she could. The saddlebags were just a bit loose and made her sides hurt just a bit as they flopped against her.
That was not important though. The medicine in the bags was.
Her biggest worry was tripping over something in the dark. The path she was on was not trotted on commonly. She wanted to take it carefully, but time was crucial.
Naturally, it distressed her a bit when she tripped over something in the road and went tumbling.
Her first concern went to the saddlebags. She looked at the bottle of medicine, wrapped in cloth. It was in one piece. She looked at her hoof next, which was hurting. It did not seemed to be damaged. Maybe a bruise later, at the worst.
She got up and started running again. It was difficult to see. The sun had set long ago and time was running out. She was tired, exhausted, probably other synonyms for those words if she stopped to think about it. Of course, she did not think about it because she was not stopping.
At least, until she came to the fork in the road. She didn't remember a fork. Then again, should didn't leave the little town of Roseville often. She had to run to Canterlot because it was the only place that might have medicine to cure her daughter. Her husband would have flown, but Cirrus had injured his wing last week and she was the faster runner of the two.
She had to take a chance. Left or right. ... She couldn't choose! There was too much at stake! She started crying, "Light! I just need some light! There must be a sign somewhere!"
As if answering her prayer, the moon shone down upon the road. The light surprised her. It had been so dark before! The moonlight was welcome and gave her just what she needed. A wooden, carved, rose sign pointing down the left path.
It was an hour before she made it home. The moon lit her path, showing the faint outlines of stones and roots that might have tripped her up. She thanked the moon by putting as much speed as she could into racing home to get the most out of what light there was.
She burst through the door of her house and collapsed. Panting, she motioned to the bag. "<gasp> medicine... haaa... bag." Cirrus opened her saddlebags, found the bottle, and ran to his daughter's room.
In a small bed lay a small filly. Her eyes were almost closed. Her breathing was not easy. She looked ready to leave this world. Gently, Cirrus used one of his wings to lift her head. "Mommy's back and she brought you some medicine. Drink up for us, OK?"
The filly barely recognized his voice, but her eyes looked to him. He uncorked the bottle and lifted it to her lips. He prayed to any who would listen that it wasn't too little too late.
"WILD CARD! GET OFF THAT CUPBOARD!" Roulette was happy to see her little filly flying around again after only three days, but she could be a mischievous little filly. "I know you're happy to be better, but I don't want you hurting yourself all over again."
Cirrus just chuckled. "Sweetheart, I warned you when we got married what pegasus foals can be like."
She walked over and booped him on the nose. "It doesn't help when you give her candy."
The filly landed on her mother's back. Roulette was still sore from her run, but there was no doubt she was happy. "Please be little more careful."
"Okay mommy!" She hugged her mom tightly. "And thank you. I know you hurt yourself because of me."
Roulette could just feel her daughter frowning a bit behind her. "It was a chance I was willing to take. The only place to get that medicine was Canterlot. If it meant having you healthy again, I would have run to Tartarus and back."
The filly hopped off her back and bounced around. "I don't think Princess Lula would have made you run there!"
Her parents looked at her odd. "You mean Princess Luna? I don't think she had anything to do with it."
"Uh huh! I heard you talking! You need light for the path and she gave you moonlight!"
Roulette smiled and said, "I don't think she lit it just for me." She didn't have the heart to tell her what happened to the princess. Word had gotten out about the banishment.
"Well then who did, mommy? The kids in class says that it was Nightmare Moon who was banished to the moon. Did she light your path?"
Cirrus and Roulette looked at each other. Rumors had a way of not only spreading but getting changed.
"Sweetie, does it matter who lit the moon?"
"Yeah! Because I left my candy out for them!"
The parents looked at each other. Cirrus asked, "You did what?"
"I left my candy that you got me yesterday on the window sill when the moon rose. I told the moon thank you for helping me get better and for getting mommy home!" The smile on her face said everything. She believed that someone had brought this all about.
In Wild Card's heart, whether it was Nightmare Moon or Princess Luna who helped her mom, she had them to thank.
"Every night, on that night, your great-great-great-great-great-great-great-GREAAAAAAAAAAA-" <he took a big breath which made Shuffle giggle> "-AAAAAAAAAT-great-great-grandmother would leave candy out for whoever it was. The others kids started picking up on what she was doing and had some fun with it. After all, it was a great excuse to get candy; even if they were giving some to someone they didn't meet. Now, we don't know how Nightmare Night came to be as it is nowadays, but to the Cards, the night itself is important. If the moon had stayed dark that night, we might not even be enjoying this popco... hey! You ate it all!"
Shuffle looked down at the bag she was holding, empty except for a few kernels at the bottom. "Oh no! I'm sorry, Black Jack! Um, should I get another for you?"
He mussed her mane on top of her head. "Nah, that's OK. I'm guessing you didn't notice because you were paying attention. Anyway, you have a knight to look for, don't you?"
She gasped. "Oh my goodness! Pip must be looking everywhere for me! We were supposed to come here together, but I couldn't find him!"
"I think he's over there, near Miss Applejack's Apple Bob."
She spun around and saw her friend. "That's him! Thanks Uncle Jack!" He was suddenly by himself. That was the third one he got to tell that tale to. He got up and headed towards the giant cake.
"That was quite the tale." He looked next to him, seeing a new face. "I do hope you'll forgive me if I eavesdropped," apologized the black unicorn with bunny ears and a nose.
"Oh, hi! Uh, nah I don't mind. Sorry, didn't realize you were there."
"Quite alright. I didn't make myself known. Please, allow us, uh, I mean, me to introduce myself. The name is Moondrop."
"A pleasure, Miss Moondrop. The name's Black Jack, of the Card Family."
"The pleasure is mine. So, saved by moonlight, according to the story?"
"That's the way I heard it, Miss."
"Hmm, quite fitting."
Black Jack looked at her. "Beg your pardon? What do you mean?"
"Well, we've all heard Princess Luna's tale by now. Her betrayal and banishment. One would think she would at least feel somewhat remorseful for her transgressions against her sister. Perhaps it would seem she would try to atone in some manner, even if she could not intervene directly."
"Well, maybe she did and maybe she didn't. What matters is Wild Card believes she did. That's why our family reveres Nightmare Night. It's why we have our family reunions on that night. Not to ignore Princess Luna, but if she did have a hoof in it, she has our thanks. If not, well, it's still a good night to celebrate."
There was a sudden boom over towards the cake. Apparently, some pegasus thought it'd be funny to cause thunder during the night. "That was a startle. Well, I was about to get some cake, would you... Moondrop?"
Black Jack was alone. He looked around and didn't see a pair of bunny ears anywhere. He got himself some cake, looked a little more, and just wondered where she went. Then he saw his niece with a small colt dressed like one of Luna's guards.
Suddenly, the manticore was hungry. And if there was anything a manticore liked to eat, it was princesses.