//------------------------------// // Side Chapter: Halloween/Nightmare Night // Story: A New Chaotic Life on the Road // by FeltyElk7 //------------------------------// "Well, that was an interesting story", I thought as I close the book. It was late in the afternoon and I had already closed up shop for the night. I was sitting in the chair by the fireplace, its flames glowing bright, and I had just finished reading a book on Discord's backstory. Turns out, he was the adopted brother of Celestia and Luna. The three of them were like best friends. But, the ponies of Equestria still saw him as a monster. He tried to show them how amazing his powers were, but sometimes, things went out of control and some ponies got hurt. When Celestia saw this, she thought that he was hurting them on purpose. Discord tried to explain things to her, but she wouldn't listen and ended up calling him a monster. That enraged Discord and he soon decided that if they wanted a monster, he would give them a monster, and thus, his rule over Equestria began. " I never would have realised that Discord had such a troubled past", I thought as I put the book back on the shelf,"He should have at least gotten his own holiday, just like Celestia has the Summer Sun Celebration and Luna has Nightmare Night." Nightmare Night I realised that I had missed one of my most favorite holidays. Even back in my old life, though it was called Halloween, it was still one of my favorites. "What is wrong with me?', I asked myself,"I was so caught up in my new life that I forgot to celebrate Nightmare Night. Well, I can still celebrate it now, even if it is a bit late." "Hey, Nightshade", I called. "Yeah, Breezy?", she asked, coming out of her room. "Look, I know it might be a bit late",I said,"but, how do you feel about celebrating Nightmare Night with me?" "I would love to", she said,"After all, it's so much fun to dress up as monsters and scare others." "That's true", I said,"Alright, let's go, but first, let's change into our human forms." We then began to focus our magic and transform ourselves. You see, while practicing my magic on my journey, I also practiced transforming into other creatures, including a human form for myself. I transformed in a flash of bright light while Nightshade transformed in a massive swirl of darkness. In just a few seconds, we were standing in our human forms. We still retained our eye and hair colors, but I was wearing jeans, sneakers, and a t-shirt that said "Chaos Rulez" on it while Nightshade was wearing black boots, black jeans, a shirt that had a picture of a black wolf on it, and a black trenchcoat. Once we were transformed, we made our way through the trailer. While we walk, we tried to decide what we should goes as. We soon decide on wolves and after a few minutes of walking, we found the door we were looking for and opened it. Inside, there was a large room filled with all sorts of costumes. A lady in a uniform greeted us as we entered the room. "Good evening, madams", the lady said,"How can I help you?" "Do you have any wolf costumes?", I asked. "Ah, we have the perfect ones for the both of you", she said,"Right this way, please." She lead us through the rows of different costumes until we saw the ones that we were looking for. Two large wolf costumes, one grey and the other black. They both looked lifelike, the details on them were flawless. "These will do wonderfully", I said. "Very well then", the lady said,"Also, you both are required to put these on so you don't damage the suits." She handed us each a skin-tight bodysuit, mine was blue and Nightshade's was red. She then pointed towards the changing rooms where we could put them on. We then made our way to the rooms and we each entered one. I removed all of my clothes and began to put the bodysuit on. Once it was on, I zipped it up and slipped on hood of the skinsuit. I then got a good look at myself in the mirror. The skinsuit covered me from head to toe, the only thing not covered was my eyes. I then stepped out of the changing room just as Nightshade was. She was dressed like me in her skinsuit. As we headed back to the wolf suits, we saw two women standing next to the them. They were probably there to help with putting them on. I grabbed my costume and set it down on the floor. I unzipped the full-length zipper on the back that ran from the neck to the base of the tail and saw inside the suit. The inside was covered with thick padding and there was a radio microphone next to where the mouth was. One of the ladies reached inside the suit and flicked a few switches. I could hear a tiny electronic whine as the eyes of the head suddenly blinked and the ears wiggled. Next, I began to crawl into it, lining my feet and arms with those of the heavy costume. I felt my legs bend to the correct position as the lady closed the zipper. I could feel the steel-skeletal structure of the suit confine to my muscles and press them into position. I turned and looked at Nightshade, who had also finished putting on her costume. Now forced to walk like wolves, we made our way to a large door and opened it. There was a cave inside with tunnels connecting to the whole room. As we enter the room, the door shut behind us and disappeared. "So, how do you feel, sis?", I asked through the radio while trying not to move my chin. Due to the jaw of the head connecting with my chin and the microphone being next to the mouth, the wolf's mouth moved whenever I talked. "I feel great, sis" , Nightshade said,"I feel like I'm really a wolf." "Good to hear", I said as we ran through the final checks of our suit's functions. We tested the arms and legs, making sure they worked properly. We tested the tails of our suits, wagging them from side to side. We opened and closed the mouth's and growled, testing the "voice" of the suit. "You know, I gotta tell you, sis, you were right. These costumes are amazing", I said as I paced back and forth, getting use to the feel of the suit. "I know, right?", Nightshade said,"It makes you feel like the real thing." "Well, since the suits are working properly, why don't we go scare some trick or treaters?", I asked. "Let's do it", she replied. We headed through one of the tunnels leading to the outside. Soon, we saw moonlight at the end of the tunnel. We stepped out of the tunnel and found ourselves in a large forest. The moon was full and high in the sky. "Hey sis, you thinking what I'm thinking?", I asked. "Oh yes, I am", she replied. We raised our heads and howled at the moon, just like wolves did. Our howling let those who entered the forest know that we had arrived and we would scare the hell out of them. Once we were done howling, we darted into the forest, looking for people to scare. After running for a few minutes, we saw something up ahead. It was a large statue of Nightmare Moon. "Ok, Nightshade, here's the plan", I said,"I'll hide in the bushes on the left side of the statue, you'll take the right side. When someone comes to offer their candy to Nightmare Moon, we rustle the bushes a bit to get them nervous and freaked out. Then, on my mark, we jump out and scare the pants off of them, got it?" "Got it"' she replied before getting into position. Once we were both in position, the waiting game began. We just stood there, hiding in the bushes. After a few minutes of waiting, we saw our first victims. A large group of kids, all dressed in costumes, made their way to the statue. They all looked a bit frightened as they left some of their candy at the base of the statue. "Okay, Nightshade", I whispered over the radio,"Commence Phase one." "Roger that", said Nightshade. She then proceeded to rustle the bushes, getting the attention of the group. "What was that?", one of the kids asked. "I'm scared", said another. Meanwhile, I rustle the bushes I was hiding in, scaring the group even more. They moved closer together, their faces covered with terrified expressions. "Alright Nightshade", I whispered,"We jump out on three, one... two... three!" We leaped out of the bushes, growling at the group and showing the fangs of the costume. The group immediately screamed at the top of their lungs and ran off, leaving a trail of dust behind them. "Heh heh, that was a pretty good scare, huh sis?", I asked, chuckling as I thought of the group's reaction. "Heh heh, yeah, it was", she replied, chuckling along with me,"So, what are we gonna do with the candy they left?" "Don't worry, I got a plan", I said as I made my way to the statue. Then, using my magic, I gathered the candy into two spheres and teleported them to different locations. So, where'd you send the candy?", Nightshade asked. "Well, I sent one sphere to an orphanage and the other to a children's hospital", I replied. "Awww, that's so sweet", she said in a happy tone. "Hey, the little fellas deserve it more that I do", I said, "Besides, I have the powers of Discord at my disposal. I can just summon up some more candy any time I want." Soon, we went back into hiding and the process began again. Kids show up, put some of their candy in front of the statue, we scare the living daylights out of them, they run off, and I teleport the candy to random locations. This went on for a couple of hours before we both got tired and headed back to the cave. "So, what ya think?", I asked as we headed inside the cave,"Was it a fun night for you or what?" "Yeah, I've gotta admit, it was pretty fun", Nightshade replied. "Plus, this has given me an idea for a new way for us to hang out", I said. "Really?", she asked curiously, "What did you have in mind?" "Well, you know how when zoos start to lose money and they can't get any new animals, so they have people dress up in realistic animal costumes and role play as them for extra pay?" "Yeah, what about it?" "Well, we should totally do that." "Wait, what?", she said, sounding surprised, "That sounds rather strange, Breezy. Why would you want to do that?" "Two reasons", I said, "One, I enjoy role playing, acting, cosplaying, and stuff like that. Not to mention, the practice could help if we ever decided to prank Celestia." "And the second reason?", Nightshade asked. "That's... complicated", I replied, feeling nervous about discussing the matter with her. "Complicated how?", she asked. I tell she had an eyebrow raised at me. I let loose a sigh. I knew I would have to talk about this sooner or later. "Look, Nightshade, when I reveal to the Mane 6 and the princesses that I'm really Discord, we have no idea how they're gonna react." "What do you mean?", she asked, sounding a bit sad. "Well, they could either listen to what I have to say or they could just assume that I'm trying to deceive them and try to blast me the Elements of Harmony, turning me to stone." "NO!", Nightshade yelled, her voice filled with sadness and tears coming out of her eyes, "I won't let that happen! You're the only family I have. Without you, I'd be all alone. I don't want to be alone." I immediately went over to her and try to comfort her. I wasn't surprised with her reaction. I had expected her to act this way. "Hey, look at me", I said in a soft voice, "That's why I want to do this with out. I want something to look back on in case that happens. I wanna remember all the fun times we had together, as siblings. Okay?" "O-okay", she replied. She had finally calmed down a bit. "So, what do ya say?", I asked, "Are you up for it?" She took a minute to compose herself before replying. "Yes, I am. However, I have a few conditions that I want to make." "Alright then", I replied with a smirk, "What are your conditions?" "First off, I don't just want to role play as zoo animals. I also want to role play as characters and creatures from different video games, cartoon, movies, and anime. "Alright, but no role playing as characters who are couples." "Fair enough", she said before continuing, "Secondly, when we do prank Celestia, we use the old "fake alien abduction" prank." "Ah, one of oldest and most entertaining pranks of all time", I said, already imagining the look on Celestia's face, "Very well then. Any other conditions?" "Yes, there is. I would also like to make a new addition to our group." "Ok then, how did you have in mind?" "Princess Luna." "What, what?!", I said rather shocked at her suggestion. "Look, I know that she is still Nightmare Moon and I know that freeing her from her banishment early would mess up the timeline, but I refuse to let Luna suffer any longer because Celestia failed as a big sister and didn't take responsibility for her actions. Look, do you remember Starry Night?" "Yes, what about her?" "Well, she reminded me of Luna. She was so young, but she was constantly in her big sister's shadow, and therefore, she suffered because of everpony treating her like she wasn't important, and I'll be damned if I'm going to let Luna be stuck on the moon any longer!" I remained silent as Nightshade spoke and I was impressed by her resolve. She was determined to help Luna in any way, regardless of the timeline. "Alright then, I see if I can find a way to free Luna from Nightmare Moon and her banishment that doesn't mess up the timeline, okay?" Okay", she said, happy that I agreed to help Luna, "And for my final condition, when you reveal yourself and things don't end badly, I would like it if Fluttershy would join us when we role play as animals." "Wait, why Fluttershy?", I asked. "Well, she's an animal caretaker and she'd probably enjoy it if she got a chance to experience things from the animal's perspective." "Huh", I said, " You know, that's not a bad idea. Yeah, we can do that." "Wonderful", she said. "Well", I said, letting out a yawn, " I think it's time we got some shut eye. It's been a long night." We headed over to one side of the cave and laid down next to each other. We said good night to each other and began to doze off. Before long, we were both fast asleep, dreaming of all the fun that we were going to have.