//------------------------------// // Solar Eclipsed // Story: Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic // by Invinsible //------------------------------// Friends, Forgiveness, and Magic Solar Eclipsed Trixie kicked the door open and leapt into the library, flashing lights dancing around her as she gave the library a hammy grin. “Greetings friends! Behold, the Great and Powerful Star Swirl the Bearded!” “Star Swirl, huh? Hold on Trixie, we’ll be down in a second,” she heard Nightmare Moon say. Trixie smiled and waited for her friends, adjusting her Twilight Night costume. Within a few seconds, a black and dark blue dragon climbed down the stairs. “Nice costume Trixie.” Trixie tilted her head in confusion as she started at the midnight black dragon. “Um, thanks…Smog?” The dragon smiled. “You’re half right. It’s me, Nightmare. I’ve fused with Smog.” Her eyes widened in realization. “Oh! Forgive Trixie for asking, but I thought you were reluctant to use that spell. To Trixie’s knowledge you haven’t possessed anyone since you possessed the Great and Powerful Trixie herself.” Nightmare Smog shrugged. “I’ve been tweaking the spell a little. Smog has a little more control now. Besides, he asked me to.” Trixie blinked. “Smog asked you to possess him?” Nightmare Smog grinned. “Sure! I mean, check me out!” The dragon struck a pose. “I am the eternal dark dragon! The master of dreams and nightmares, the lord of the night! I look awesome! Totally worth it.” Trixie grinned. “Ah, Trixie sees you now Smog. Very well then, shall we depart to join the Twilight Night festival?” “WOO! Candy!” Discord shouted as he appeared in the library in a swirl of darkness. “Like my new entrance? I’m mixing it up a little. Don’t want flashes of light to grow boring, now do we?” “Hey Discord,” Trixie said. “Hello Star Swirl! Would you like a sherbet lemon?” Discord asked as he offered her a yellow sweet. “Um, okay. Oddly specific candy choice,” Trixie said as she ate the offered sweet. “Ooh, looking good you two! I see you took my suggestion. I am curious though…” Discord examined the possessed dragon. “Are you a boy or a girl now? Or both?” Nightmare Smog shrugged. “I dunno. Wanna go join the festival?” “Hold on. What about your costume Discord?” Trixie asked. “That’s the problem!” Discord exclaimed as he pulled on his ears. “I can’t decide! I can be whatever I want!” He snapped his fingers and donned a cyborg costume, a vampire costume, a demon nine-tailed fox costume, an elf costume, a fairy princess costume, and an Apple Bloom costume. He banished the costumes with a wave of his paw and pulled on his horn and antler. “How can I choose?!” Nightmare Smog’s ears twitched as they heard a knock at the door. The possessed dragon opened the door to see the scariest creature they had seen all night. “Well you could always dress like her. Doesn’t get much scarier than that.” Pinkie Pie, dressed like a chicken, flew into the room and zoomed around the place. “Candy! Candy, candy, candy, candy, candy, candy, candy, candy, candy!” “Well, I’ve just encountered my new nightmare for the week. Farewell friends! The Great and Powerful Trixie – I mean, Star Swirl – shall now disappear from this weirdness.” Trixie gave them a bow before she threw a smoke bomb and dashed out the door. “Pinkie, calm down!” Nightmare Smog said. “Aren’t you a little old for trick-or-treating anyway?” “Too old for free candy?!” Pinkie shouted as she paused in her search for candy and flew into Nightmare Smog’s face. “Are you CRAZY?!” “I’m not the one dressed like chicken,” Nightmare Smog replied. “CANDY!” Pinkie shouted as she spotted a candy stash. She flew towards it and began pecking at the candy bowl. “Hey! Those are for the kids! Get out of there!” Nightmare Smog said as they tried to pull Pinkie away from the bowl. “I thought we were leaving for the Twilight Night festival. Who’s going to hand out candy if nobody else is in the library?” Discord asked. “Honour system,” Nightmare Smog explained as they pulled Pinkie away from the candy. “Hey Pinkie Pie, I bet there’s lots of candy out in the Big Apple or Cloudsdale. Do you really need to stick to Peaceville when there are whole cities with tons of doors to knock on?” “CANDY!” Pinkie clucked like a chicken before she vanished with a snap of her fingers. “There. Let her be someone else’s problem for the night,” Nightmare Smog said as they dusted their claws. They groaned as they heard another knock at the door. “Oh, you’ve got to be kidding! Even Pinkie can’t be done that fast!” Nightmare Smog opened the door to see Big Macintosh wearing a black top hat and black cape with a skull on it. He was watching over a few trick-or-treaters including Scootaloo, who was dressed like a wolf, Diamond Tiara, who was dressed like a princess, and Silver Spoon, who was dressed like a cute witch. “Twilight Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!” the fillies sang. “Well hello there everyone. Nice costumes,” Nightmare Smog said, nodding in approval. “Happy Twilight Night, Big Macintosh.” “Same to you Smog,” Big Macintosh said. “Is Miss Moon here?” “Um, yes. I fused with Smog as part of our costume. Do you like it?” Nightmare Smog asked, striking another pose. “Really? That looks so cool! Hey, can you fuse with me?” Scootaloo asked excitedly. “I want to see what I look like with a black coat, all magical, and mysterious, and moony!” “Um…maybe next year,” Nightmare Smog said, dodging the question. “Where are the rest of your friends?” “Snips and Snails are doing their own trick-or-treating. As for Sweetie Belle, she’s helping Rarity with something and Apple Bloom is feeling sick,” Scootaloo said. “So we’re getting double candy for them! We’ve already visited a bunch of houses! The Chaos Corner is actually spitting out chocolate cakes from its mailbox!” “Speaking of candy, why are you two fusing? Won’t that mean you get less candy?” Diamond asked. Nightmare Smog chuckled. “As much fun as trick-or-treating is, we’re a little too old for it, unfortunately. Besides, we visit the Chaos Corner a lot. Candy tends to rain from the walls there.” Discord grinned. “I’m so glad you enjoy my treat distribution system! Oh, but you might want to check to make sure there aren’t any hidden tricks inside those treats. It’s bad enough when one finds a worm in their apple...oh don’t give me that look, I’m sure the cakes are fine! Just double check before you eat them, just some simple friendly advice.” He snapped his fingers and created a bag full of various…things, before he floated out the door. “Well, have a happy Twilight Night everyone! I’m gonna go throw toilet paper over some houses.” Big Macintosh frowned. “That’s not very nice.” “Oh, I’ll clean it all up tomorrow morning,” Discord said, waving his claw in dismissal. “What’s important tonight will be my prankees reactions. Which I will find hilarious.” He gave them a mischievous chuckle before he transformed into a cloud of bats and flew away. “Boy, that Discord fella’s a fun character. Just like Eris told me,” a colt said from somewhere behind Big Macintosh’s group. Walking up towards the library was a white and brown earth pony colt dressed like a pirate. “Happy Twilight Night, dark dragon! Pipsqueak the pirate, at your service!” “Happy Twilight Night, Pipsqueak. We are Nightmare Moon…and Smog. We fused together for our costume.” Pipsqueak’s eyes widened. “Blimey! That sure beats my old costume.” “Now don’t say that, you’ve got a great costume,” Nightmare Smog assured him. “Better than the costumes I wore when I was younger.” They looked down at their shared body and frowned. “To be honest, it’s better than what we have now.” Magical mist poured out of their mouth and reformed into Nightmare Moon. Smog sighed. “Sorry Nightie, this isn’t working as well as I thought. You’re right, it would be best if we had our own costumes. Even if I did look awesome as a dark dragon.” Nightmare shrugged and smiled. “It’s okay. I thought this might happen. Luckily, I left our costumes from last year upstairs.” Smog smiled. “Sweet! I’ll go bring them down!” He quickly ran upstairs. “What are you going to dress as now?” the curious Pipsqueak asked. “Well, Smog dressed up like the great dragon Spike. He’s always admired the older dragon. As for myself, I’ll be going as a space mare,” Nightmare said proudly. Smog came back downstairs, wearing a black and purple dragon costume. “Hey! Did you paint my costume a different colour?” Nightmare smiled. “Yes. However, considering the fact that you’re wearing it, you’re obviously not upset about the colour change.” Smog snorted. “I’m a little upset.” He rolled his eyes. “Fine, just ask me first next time.” He held up a costume, which Nightmare took from him with her magic. Nightmare slipped into a blue cloak, and put on some fake alien antennae. “Um, excuse me? Now that you’re done changing, can we have our candy now?” Silver impatiently asked. “Oh. Go right ahead. Honour system, you can take any three pieces of candy you want but no more than three,” Nightmare explained. “Um…Mister Macintosh sir…can I have some?” a voice whispered behind Big Macintosh. “It’s alright, little one. This here’s what Twilight Night’s about. Go ahead,” Big Macintosh said. Slowly, another filly shyly stepped out from behind her hiding spot. Her costume was incredibly detailed, with black, dark blue, and dark green body paint all over her. She wore a realistic looking fake crown, fake horn, and fake changeling wings. The filly smiled shyly at Nightmare. “Hello there. That’s a beautiful costume. What are you dressed as?” Nightmare asked. The filly spoke with a soft, quiet voice. “Um, I’m…I’m Nightmare Pupa.” Nightmare raised an eyebrow. “Who?” “She…she’s my fan novel original character,” the filly shyly explained. “She’s the alternate universe daughter of y-you and Chrysalis. She can’t control her magic and she has trouble making friends b-but she’s really sweet and nice.” Smog and Nightmare blinked. “Oh…huh. That’s uh…that’s…neat. But, I don’t think Chrysalis would, well…” Nightmare shook her head in confusion. How was she supposed to respond to that? “What? You…you don’t like it?” the filly sniffled, her eyes watering a little bit. “I’m sorry Nightmare Moon! I…I’m just such a huge fan of yours! The Elements are my heroes, and all the older colts and fillies keep talking about your amazing adventures and I just imagined what a happy ending would look like for you because you’re all so amazing and I’m sorry I’m so freakishly weird and-” “Whoa, whoa. Easy there,” Smog said, gently calming the filly down. “Nightmare Pupa is a very nice name.” Nightmare nervously chuckled. “Yeah…I’m sure Chrysalis would, um…well, you did say it was an alternate universe. All kinds of crazy things can happen there!” “I’m sorry. It’s just…you’re all so super special sugoi,” the filly said. Smog shivered. “And now I’m reminded of Eris.” Nightmare smiled and patted the filly on her cute little head. “Listen, don’t worry too much about what I think. It’s a very nice costume. Go ahead and take some candy. See you all at the festival!” Nightmare and Smog smiled and waved at Nightmare Pupa, Pipsqueak, Diamond, and all her friends before they continued on their way to the festival. Nightmare and Smog walked through Peaceville, admiring all the Twilight Night decorations that had been put up. As they made their way to the town square in the center of Peaceville, they saw Fluttershy playing a few games. “Hey Fluttershy!” Fluttershy turned around and smiled at them. “Hi Nightmare, hi Smog. Did the fusion idea not work?” “Sorta. Not exactly but…” Smog shrugged. “Speaking of costumes, nice vampire fangs Fluttershy.” Fluttershy giggled. “Funny thing about that.” She winked at them, her eyes flashing green as she did so. “Before this, I turned into a zombie Princess Twilight.” “Wow. Good job Chrysalis, I didn’t even know it was you,” Nightmare said. Chrysalis giggled. “That’s the idea. Of course, I think I’ve been Fluttershy for a while now.” A flash of green fire consumed her body, turning her into a cyborg Rainbow Dash. “Before Fluttershy, I turned into Sunset. I’m cycling through everyone we know.” Nightmare nodded. “Interesting. So where are Rainbow, Sunset and Fluttershy?” Chrysalis shrugged. “Gilda and Rainbow are out pranking people. They’re dressed up like those Wonderbolts that Eternal Twilight created, and they’re scaring kids with thunder. I think Fluttershy is staying home tonight. From what I’ve heard, she’s not a fan of Twilight Night. As for Sunset, she should be around here somewhere. She’s getting pretty excited about the band that’ll be playing later today.” “Really? Which band?” Smog asked. Chrysalis smiled. “Peaceville actually managed to get the famous DJ Pony to play the music. And on vocals we have…the Dazzlings!” She did a little dance. “They’re one of my favourite bands!” Smog smiled. “Cool. Can’t wait to meet them.” “Excuse me, everyone. We just need to…oh, hi Rainbow Dash! Hi Nightmare, hi Smog!” They turned around to see Mayor Derpy, wearing a paper bag costume. The mayor’s assistant Mary was following behind her, wearing a monster clown costume. Smog shuddered a little at Mary’s clown costume. “I remember that creepy thing from the last Mane-iac comic.” “Great costumes everyone!” Mayor Derpy said with a smile. “My costume is a paper bag!” Nightmare titled her head as they all examined the mayor’s costume. “…Interesting choice. Sorry mayor, but I don’t really see what’s cool or scary about a paper bag costume.” Mayor Derpy’s smile faded. “When Dinky was born, I had a really bad dream about her and Sparkler getting stuck in a big paper bag and suffocating. Even if it was just a dream, paper bags still scare me to this day.” Nightmare, Smog, and Chrysalis all stared at her. “Well…that’s dark,” Smog mumbled. Mayor Derpy’s smile returned. “Oh, it’s not so bad. If I remember correctly you and your mom ended the nightmare before it got too bad,” she said to Nightmare. “And neither Sparkler or Dinky have ever choked on a bag.” She chuckled a little. “I’m such a silly filly, aren’t I?” “I don’t think it’s that silly. You’re a good mom, Derpy,” Chrysalis said. Derpy blushed. “Aw…thank you.” Mary tapped her on the shoulder. “Um, excuse me mayor, but we need to go introduce the princess now.” “Right! Let’s go Mary!” Derpy said as she flapped her wings and flew over to the podium onstage. “Hey guys,” the real Sunset Shimmer said as she walked over to them. “Hey Sunset. Nice costume,” Nightmare said. Sunset smiled. “Thanks. I couldn’t decide between a fire demon or a rock star, so I mixed them together.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Hey, hurry up guys! The show’s about to start!” Diamond, Silver, Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, Nightmare Pupa, and a bunch of other colts, fillies, and changeling nymphs hurried over to the stage. A few partying stallions and mares came up to the stage too. Once the crowd was focused on her, Mayor Derpy smiled and spoke into the microphone. “Thank you everybody, and welcome to the Twilight Night festival! Now then, if all the kids who have been out collecting sweets can listen closely to our friend Zecora, she’ll tell you all about the legend of…Eternal Twilight!” she finished with an evil laugh. “Meh. I give her evil laugh a five out of ten,” Sunset muttered. Green fog began to rise up around the stage. Zecora, wearing a swamp witch’s costume, stepped out of the fog. “Listen closely and on this night, you’ll hear the tale of Eternal Twilight.” The crowd waited with bated breath for Zecora to retell the legend. But Zecora didn’t say anything further, as she, Derpy, and Mary all kept glancing at the stage curtain. “Um…wait just a second here everyone,” Mary said, smiling nervously. She pushed through the stage’s curtain and went backstage. Nightmare frowned. “Excuse me guys,” she said to her friends. She then transformed herself into a starry cloud of magic. The magical mist flew up to the stage and behind the curtain, before reforming back into Nightmare Moon. “Is everything okay back here?” Princess Twilight and Mary blinked at her. “Oh um…yes, everything’s fine, Nightmare Moon. Thank you for asking. Oh, and happy Twilight Night,” the princess said. “Happy Twilight Night to you too, Your Majesty,” Nightmare said with a smile. “I’m really excited this year. Twilight Night is my favourite holiday, and this year we all get to meet the legendary holiday figure herself.” Princess Twilight looked down at the floor as her ears drooped. “You of all ponies have had enough of Eternal Twilight.” Nightmare gently laid a wing on Princess Twilight’s back. “Princess, tonight you have a chance to show Eternal Twilight in a positive light. This is holiday is for you, not the spirit that possessed you. Tonight is about caring as well as scaring.” “But…I don’t want the kids to see me like that,” Princess Twilight whispered. Mary smiled gently. “It’ll be okay, Your Majesty. They know it’s just for fun. Just play your role and it’ll be over soon enough. You can play some games with the kids afterwards.” “She’s right. Those kids might be scared if they see you…but they’ll be sad if they don’t see you,” Nightmare said. “Well…okay,” Princess Twilight sighed. Nightmare titled her head in thought. “You know princess…I can help you, if you want.” “What do you have in mind?” Princess Twilight asked. Nightmare’s smile grew sneaky. “Earlier this evening, I fused with Smog as our costume, before I changed into a space mare. I can be pretty scary when I want to be, and tonight is the night to take full advantage of it.” Princess Twilight hummed thoughtfully before she nodded. “I think I get what you’re saying. Alright then, you have my permission.” Nightmare smiled and transformed into a cloud of magical mist. The mist poured into Princess Twilight’s mouth, transforming her. Her purple coat turned purplish-black while her hair turned a darker colour and began to flow magically. Mary smiled. “Alright then. We’ll get started as soon as you’re ready.” She pushed through the curtain and stepped back out onto the stage. Nightmare Twilight shivered a little. “That felt a little too much like when the real Eternal Twilight possessed me. Oh, I’m not sure about this.” Her posture shifted a little as she smiled. “It’s okay, Your Majesty. I fused with you, not Eternity. We’ll just go out, put on a show for the kids, and I’ll leave as soon as we’re done.” Nightmare Twilight sighed. “Alright then.” Her horn flashed with power, disguising herself as Eternal Twilight. Outside, everyone in the crowd turned back to Zecora as she spoke. “Yes…listen close my little dears, and I’ll tell you where you got your fears of Twilight Night, so dark and scary. Of Eternal Twilight, who makes you wary.” From behind the curtain, Eternal Twilight leapt out and cackled evilly. The kids in the audience all screamed while the adults gasped with fright. “Tonight, Eternal Twilight wants just one thing: to gobble up people in one quick swing!” Zecora said. Nightmare Twilight licked her lips hungrily. “I will consume your flesh and devour your soul!” The dark alicorn flapped her wings and flew in a tight circle above the terrified crowd. “Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves, from her searching eyes,” Zecora said, continuing her spooky tale. “Hmm, I want to eat ponies, but I can’t find any!” Nightmare Twilight scowled as they held their right hoof up to their eyes and searched high and low among the audience. “I demand pony blood, not monster blood!” “You have fooled the spirit, my clever friends. But Eternal Twilight you must not offend. Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won’t return to come eat you!” Zecora spookily exclaimed. The kids jumped with fright as one of the nearby clouds spat out a lightning bolt, the thunderous noise startling them. They quickly opened their candy bags and tossed out dozens of the sweets they had gathered that night. Mostly the ones that weren’t their favourites. The kids might have been scared but they weren’t about to do something as stupid as give up the candy they were really looking forward to eating. “Ah ha! I see candy! Om nom, nom!” Nightmare Twilight cackled as they picked up a few chocolate bars and sweets and hungrily shoved the treats into their mouth. Zecora smiled. “Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nobody, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Everfree is safe for another year!” “Blast! The people of Peaceville have defeated me once again!” Nightmare Twilight dramatically exclaimed. “But at least my belly is full of yummy candy. Oh well, I can always come back to destroy you all next year!” Nightmare Twilight smirked at them. “Enjoy your victory Peaceville and enjoy Twilight Night! But I’ll be back!” They laughed evilly before they flapped their wings and flew straight up into the air. Once the sound of kids cheering had faded from their ears, Nightmare Twilight smiled and teleported back down to ground, far away from the town square. Magical mist poured out of their mouth and reformed into Nightmare Moon, while the princess shed her Eternal Twilight disguise and returned to normal. “See Princess Twilight? That was fun,” Nightmare said. Princess Twilight sighed and smiled. “You know something…it was fun. Thank you.” Nightmare smiled. “No problem, Your Majesty. Would you like my help when 'Eternal Twilight' visits some of the other towns?” Princess Twilight shook her head. “Oh, I can’t ask you to do that. This is your favourite holiday; you should enjoy it with your friends. Now that I know what to say, I should be able to redo our performance when ‘Eternal Twilight’ makes her appearance in the Big Apple, Cloudsdale, the Crystal Empire, and so on.” She paused as she remembered something. “I also need to find Celestia. She was talking with King Sombra yesterday but she left looking a little sad about something. I asked King Sombra, but he didn’t know what it was either. She seemed happy, but I want to make sure she’s okay.” “Well, you can at least stay for a few games, right?” Nightmare asked. Princess Twilight beamed. “Sounds like fun! I’m going to go try that pumpkin throwing game, I’ve got all the calculations figured out in my head. I’ll win a bunch of points for sure!” She clapped her hooves excitedly and teleported away. “Hey Nightmare!” Nightmare turned around to see Smog, Diamond, Silver, Scootaloo, Pipsqueak, and Nightmare Pupa walking towards her. “You missed quite a show.” “We fooled Eternal Twilight. It was super special sugoi wonderful!” Nightmare Pupa said with a giggle. “Best Twilight Night ever! We’re gonna go throw pumpkins and spiders with the princess. You want to join in, Miss Moon?” Pipsqueak asked. Nightmare chuckled. “Sure. Give me a minute, I’ll catch up with you.” Pipsqueak beamed and ran off. “Um, excuse me Miss Moon?” Nightmare Pupa shyly smiled at Nightmare. “W-would you like some of my candy? I-I wasn’t sure if you had any, so I saved you some.” She offered a few treats from her bag. “Oh, thank you. That’s very generous of you. Maybe I’ll take just one.” Nightmare smiled at her and took a single chocolate bar. “You like chocolate too?” Nightmare Pupa asked with sparkling eyes. “It tastes so good, doesn’t it?” She reached into her bag, pulled out a chocolate cake, and took a big bite out of it. “Mm…” she mumbled as her tail swished happily back and forth like a puppy wagging its tail. “Hey guys! The show’s about to start!” Nightmare looked up to see Sunset being carried on…a flying Rarity’s back. Chrysalis touched down on the ground and winked at them. “Do you like it darlings? I transformed myself into a vampire Rarity.” “Neat disguise Chrysalis.” Nightmare glanced at Sunset. “Wait, I thought the show already ended?” Sunset grinned. “Not that show! Now that Peaceville has defeated ‘Eternal Twilight’ we can move on to the REAL show! The Dazzlings are on now! Come on, we gotta go see them!” Lights danced all around the stage. The crowd cheered as the laser show and the fog machine kicked into overdrive. A spotlight shone down on the unicorn who walked out onto the stage. She had a white coat, a blue mane and tail, dark purple glasses, and a winning smile. “Good evening Peaceville! DJ Pon-3 is in the house!” The unicorn grinned as everyone in the crowd cheered for her. “Happy Twilight Night folks! For those of you who have been living under a ROCK, I’m Vinyl Scratch. You can call me DJ Pony, or DJ Pon-3, just don’t call me late to the party!” She chuckled as a few ponies laughed with her. “Okay, okay. As much as I’d love to captivate you all with my rocking voice, you folks didn’t come here to hear me sing. I’m just your disk jockey for tonight. I’ve got a rocking track we can shake our tails to. Now then, without further delay I give you…the Dazzlings!” As Vinyl rushed over to her DJ machine, three earth ponies gracefully walked out onto the stage. The three earth mares were dressed like sirens, each of them wearing fake pink and green wings and aquatic looking dresses. Their beautiful voices matched their costumes perfectly, as they began to vocalize to their adoring crowd. The earth mare in the middle had a very pale coat and a vivid orange mane and tail, with a few streaks of blue and purple dyed into her mane. “Oh my gosh! Adagio Dazzle!” Chrysalis squeed. The earth mare on the right had a pale pink coat with a purple mane and tail, a few rainbow streaks dyed into her mane as well. “Aria Blaze!” Sunset squeed, her eyes sparkling with fan girl glee. The earth mare on the left had a bluish white coat and a bright blue mane and tail with a few dark blue streaks. She also wore pale pink glasses and a goofy grin. “Sonata Dusk!” Sunset and Chrysalis both squeed together. Adagio smiled as the Dazzlings finished vocalizing. “Alright, time for the lyrics. Hit it Vinyl!” A rocking theme tune played out from the DJ machines as the Dazzlings sang: “We’re gonna cast our spell on you. You’re gonna do what we want you to. Mix it up here in my little bowl, say a few words and you’ll lose control. We’re the Dazzlings! And we’re gonna put a spell on you. Gonna put a spell on you Yeah, we’re the Dazzlings! and we’re gonna put a spell on you. Put a spell on you!” As the Dazzlings sang, their eyes started to glow blood red. The fog coming from the fog machines gained a red tint. The people in the crowd ‘oohed’ and ‘aahed’ at the special effects as the blood red fog flowed around them. “You’ll feel the fog as our words cloud your mind.” The Dazzlings began to slowly dance around the stage in a circle. As each mare passed through the spotlight, they gave their tails a little flick and winked at a few stallions and mares. “You’ll become entranced As our beauty makes you go blind You’ll wake up in the dead of night, missing our song when we’re out of sight. We’re the Dazzlings, and we’re gonna put a spell on you. Gonna put a spell on you Yeah, we’re the Dazzlings, and we’re gonna put a spell on you.” The Dazzlings walked to the edge of the stage and smiled down at the crowd. They stood up and raised their right hooves in the air. If they had fingers or claws instead of hooves, you could almost imagine them clenching their fists in victory. “Our words fill you with such emotion, As you fall in to dark devotion. If you ever lose affection, We can change your whole direction.” The Dazzlings leapt off the stage and began singing and dancing right next to people the crowd…to the crowd’s growing joy. “‘Cause we’re the Dazzlings, and we’re gonna put a spell on you. Gonna put a spell on you. Yeah, we’re the Dazzlings, and we’re gonna put a spell on you.” The Dazzlings leapt back on stage as an excited Trixie conjured up fireworks with her magic. “We’re gonna put a spell on ALL of you!” The Dazzlings all smiled as the crowd cheered wildly. Vinyl moved two of the microphones off to the side, leaving only the main one. Once the cheering faded a little, Adagio spoke into the microphone. “Thank you everyone. Before our next song, my sisters have something they’d like to say.” Adagio jumped to the side to dodge Sonata as she ran over to the microphone next. “Hi guys! We just wanted to say happy Twilight Night! We also wanted to let you know that…that…” Her eyes watered a little with tears of joy. “We…we wouldn’t be as popular as we are now if it weren’t for your support. You love us, you really love us! And we love all of you too!” Aria nudged Sonata away from the microphone and smiled. “What she said, but with less mush. You guys rock.” Adagio smirked. “Speaking of rocking, let’s get back to the show. Vinyl, next song!” “Next song coming up!” Vinyl shouted from backstage. “As soon as I can find the...where did it go?” As the Dazzlings got ready for their next song, Nightmare and her friends talked for a bit. “I can see why you two like them so much. They’ve got a great voice.” Sunset smiled. “I know, right?” “Some people say their songs are so good, they must be sirens or something,” Chrysalis said. “Of course, nobody’s seen a siren in who knows how many years.” “The same could once be said about Pinkie. But who cares about any of that? The Great and Powerful Trixie got to add her spectacular special effects to the show!” Trixie said with a grin. Sunset smirked at her. “I thought you were the Great and Powerful Star Swirl?” “If Discord and Chrysalis can be multiple ponies and creatures for tonight, then so can Trixie!” “Um, excuse me miss?” Pipsqueak said as he reached up and tapped Sunset on the back. “You’re a fan of those Dazzlings, right?” Sunset looked down at the pirate and smiled. “Well, ‘matey’ you could say that.” “Well, don’t most rock bands play their instruments when they sing? If they use a record or a DJ, isn’t that cheating?” “Well, it’s like this. The Dazzlings play the instrumental part of the song and record it. Then they have a DJ play the recording while they sing during the show. That way, they can move and dance a bit more on stage instead of worrying about carrying a heavy guitar everywhere,” Sunset explained. “But guitars aren’t that heavy, are they?” Pipsqueak said. “It gets in the way of dancing,” one of the trees said. The tree transformed into Discord and floated over to them. “Did that scare any of you? I’ve been making spooky faces in the bark, but it’s only worked a few times.” Sunset rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, it was terrifying. I’ll be having nightmares about tree monsters for days.” Pipsqueak frowned in confusion. “Really? It didn’t seem that scary to me.” Discord shrugged. “See? Only half the time.” He smiled and held up a chocolate cake. “Well, at least my treat side of trick-or-treating is working out. I’ve had more trick-or-treaters arrive at my door than any other home in Peaceville! I even saw one little filly make several return visits!” Pipsqueak smiled. “Oh, that’d be Sunshine. She told me that cakes are her favourite dessert, and no one else in Peaceville is giving out free cakes.” Nightmare blinked. “Wait…Sunshine? Who’s that?” “Oh, she’s the filly trick-or-treating with me!” Pipsqueak cheerfully explained. “Nightmare Pupa, remember? I know, you can barely recognize her with all that black and green makeup.” Nightmare titled her head in thought. “Huh…” Princess Twilight frowned in mild concern. “Um, you really shouldn’t eat two cakes at once. You might get fat.” Nightmare Pupa looked up from the cake she was eating and beamed. “I most certainly will,” she giggled. “I will get ALL of the fat!” “Somewhere in the world, my uncle is putting that phrase on a t-shirt,” Discord said as he and Nightmare teleported next to them. “And they will sell like hotcakes. Speaking of which, so you’re the filly who’s been revisiting my house for double cakes?” Nightmare Pupa blushed and shyly smiled. “Oh! Um…h-hi there! D-did you guys want some of the fat too?” Discord chuckled. “I’ll leave you three alone, shall I?” Once Discord had teleported away, Nightmare smiled down at Nightmare Pupa. “We know it’s you Aunt Celestia.” Celestia sighed. “And I thought my disguise was perfect.” She wiped some of the black and green paint off herself, revealing her white coat. “I even used body paint on top of this form.” “It was a great disguise. It would have fooled us completely if you hadn’t told Pipsqueak your name was Sunshine,” Nightmare said. A bright flash of light engulfed the white and pink filly, returning her to her majestic true form. “Surely that couldn’t have been the only clue. There are many wonderful people in our kingdom who have the word sun as part of their name,” Celestia said. “There was also the cake. By now everyone knows how much of a sweet tooth you have,” Nightmare said. Celestia sighed as she stared longingly at the chocolate cake stuffed in her treat bag. “I suppose that’s true.” She looked at Nightmare and asked, “Would you like some?” Nightmare smiled. “No thanks. If would like to know though…why did you do all this? Turn yourself into a filly and go trick-or-treating on Twilight Night?” “Am I not allowed to have fun?” Celestia asked. “Of course you’re allowed. But why disguise yourself?” Nightmare asked. Princess Twilight sighed. “Here, we’ll show you. Excuse me, I need to borrow one of Chrysalis’ friends.” She teleported away before she reappeared with a changeling nymph dressed like a ladybug held in her magic. Celestia smiled kindly at the startled changeling. “Good evening, little one. Happy Twilight Night.” The changeling nymph screamed. “Ah! Daybreaker! Please don’t eat me!” Princess Twilight’s magic caught the changeling before she could fly away. “She’s not Daybreaker anymore! She doesn’t want to eat anyone! For magic’s sake, where did you hear such a ridiculous rumor? I thought this holiday was meant to stop me - I mean Eternal Twilight from eating people.” Celestia sighed sadly. “Could you please put her down, Your Majesty?” Princess Twilight levitated the changeling back down, who stood frozen in fear in front of Celestia. The taller alicorn smiled kindly at her. “I believe you dropped this.” She levitated the bag of sweets that the changeling had been carrying with her. The changeling blinked in surprise. “You…you’re giving me my candy back? You’re not gonna…” Celestia knelt down to her level and hugged the changeling. “You no longer have reason to fear me or Her Majesty, Princess Twilight. The monsters that took control of us are gone now. This holiday is meant to be a celebration of your strength, of the cunning required to hide yourself from the eyes of monsters. You are braver than you believe yourself to be, my friend.” “Oh…okay. Can I…” the changeling mumbled. “Of course, little one. Return to the celebration and rejoin your friends.” Celestia’s horn glowed as she teleported the changeling back to her the festival. Celestia stood up and turned back to Nightmare. “You have become quite popular, my precious niece. The adventures of the Elements of Redemption have reached many ears. My own defeat being one of them. And just as it is with many legends, sometimes the facts are exaggerated to create a more interesting story. Many changelings are aware of how I viewed their kind in my darker years, and although I have been trying to make amends, my past is difficult to escape.” “I think I understand why you were disguised now,” Nightmare said. Celestia looked up at the night sky and smiled. “When your mother and I ruled this kingdom, we would occasionally assume disguises to mingle with the populace in order to better understand them. I have worn many masks in my life and the mask of a child is often easier to wear than the mask of a princess or a queen.” Nightmare nodded. “Right, I get it now. Although, where did you get the idea for Nightmare Pupa?” Celestia smiled. “I created Sunshine’s personality based on what Sparkle was like as a filly. Shy and bookish, with an incredible fascination with information, magic, and adventure. From what I have gathered, many boys and girls possess similar personality traits, and creating fan characters to insert into their favourite stories is but one of the activities they enjoy.” Princess Twilight spoke up. “Celestia, now that you’ve explained what you were doing, do you want to go back to the festival?” Celestia smiled warmly at a tree close by. “I’m afraid I’m not finished explaining yet. Pipsqueak, do you have anything you’d like to ask me?” Nightmare and Twilight both blinked in surprise as Pipsqueak came out from behind the tree. “Where’d you come from?” Nightmare asked. “Pipsqueak is extraordinarily good at the game hide-and-seek,” Celestia said. She walked towards the colt and knelt down to his level. “I’m sorry for lying to you about who I was Pipsqueak.” The colt stared up at her. “Blimey. You’re a lot bigger than me now, Sunshine.” Celestia smiled warmly. “Indeed I am, Pip.” “So…you’re Celestia, right? The alicorn who tried to set fire to stuff, but then got switched around so that you’re nice?” Pipsqueak asked. Celestia nodded. “You are correct once again.” “Oh…does this mean we can’t play anymore?” Pipsqueak asked. Celestia smiled kindly at him and gave him a gentle hug. “I have enjoyed the games we’ve played together immensely. You are an adventurous, creative, and kind-hearted young hero, Pip.” She released him from the hug and stood back up. “I have responsibilities like many grown-ups, so I can’t spend my days playing, even though I would prefer to. However, I encourage you to visit me whenever you have free time” She giggled. “I’m sure Sunshine will always be eager to go on another adventure with you, if you ask.” Pipsqueak smiled. “Aw, thanks Sunshine. Er, I mean Celestia. Are you coming back to the festival now?” Celestia glanced at the moon’s position in the night sky. “It’s getting quite late. Good boys and girls need their rest, even if they are allowed to stay up late on Twilight Night.” “But I’m not tired,” Pipsqueak said, even as he let out a little yawn. Celestia smiled knowingly. “Of course not.” She unfurled her majestic wings. “Would you like me to carry you back home? The stars look wonderful when you’re flying up so high.” “The stars? Sure, I’d love to see them up close!” Pipsqueak smiled as Celestia levitated him up and gently placed him on her back. “Off we go then.” Celestia smiled back at Nightmare and Princess Twilight. “If you’ll excuse us, Your Majesty, Nightmare Moon. I wish you both a happy Twilight Night.” “Hold on,” Nightmare said before Celestia could fly away. “You’re leaving now? I’m sure Pipsqueak could stay up a little longer. If you wait long enough, I think the Dazzlings are going to start signing autographs. I know my friends are excited about that.” Celestia smiled thoughtfully. “Well, I’ll have to remember to buy one for Pipsqueak.” “That’s nice, but that’s not what I meant. Tell me you don’t need to leave just because I figured out Nightmare Pupa was Celestia.” Celestia sighed and smiled sadly. “Peaceville is full of loving and open-minded people. But for everyone who accepts me as I am, there are still others who fear me for what I did as Daybreaker. I must reintroduce myself to the world slowly.” “You’ve already done that,” Princess Twilight argued. “Patience is a virtue, my friends. Especially once you consider how long I’ve lived; how long we will continue to live.” Celestia nodded. “I’m confident that my redemption will go much more smoothly at a slow and steady pace.” Princess Twilight sighed. “Well, if you say so. But Celestia…promise me you’ll remember to have fun. You told me once that I needed to enjoy life more.” Celestia giggled. “I got those cakes for myself, didn’t I?” “Yes, but if I remember correctly, I also saw Nightmare Pupa give away all her non-cake treats to everyone she met,” Princess Twilight said. Celestia looked up at the stars. “Candy on Twilight Night makes kids happy. I love making children happy. I love making all my friends happy.” She smiled and bowed to Princess Twilight before she flapped her wings and flew off. Once she had returned Pipsqueak back home, she flew into the night sky and hovered over Peaceville, watching the festival from the air. Celestia thought about Nightmare and all her friends. She thought about the excited colts and fillies. She thought about all the Dazzlings fans, listening to their performance before they left for the next town. Celestia smiled and flew away into the night sky. “Above all, to love Everfree is my one desire.”