Tonight was Nightmare Night, and Ponyville was bustling with excitement of the scariest holiday of the year. As soon as night was about to fall, everypony set up the decorations, bringing a horror themed feel to the town, along with stands with spooky, yet tasty, food, games, and once that's all done, they got into their costumes. As the light of the sun sank in the horizon, colts and fillies in their outfits ran around, accompanied by a chaperone as they ran around trick-or-treating.
Sora was in his room at the Apple farmhouse, his door closed as he put on his costume and applied some added features to match his outfit from Halloween Town. They matched his casual clothing, though they were more darker, the shoulders of his black costume's jacket gray, a pair of small black bat wings on his upper back. On his forehooves, he wore white gloves with fake clawed fingers, and on his back forehooves were a pair of black pointed shoes, black and red bandages wrapped around his hind legs.
To accent his ghastly appearance, he dyed his mane and tail a little darker, as well as painted the upper part of his face black, making it look like his eyes were peering in the darkness. As soon as the dye and face paint was dried, he put on a small jack o' lantern mask over his right eye. The mask had two pointed horns at the top, its teeth were jagged and out of place in a grin, and its right eye was green, the left one scarred as if it was cut out. For the piece de resistance, he put a pair of fake fangs in his mouth, giving his jaws a few test chomps, fitting perfectly with his now flat teeth. He looked over at himself in the mirror, staring at himself in his Halloween Town as a pegasus stallion.
"Yeah. Perfect!" Sora hissed at himself, showing off the fake fangs while trying to look scary. Admittedly, the goofy orange mask over his eye seemed to ruin the illusion of him looking like some double winged vampire, but this was what he had when he entered the holiday world. "Wait until the girls see me."
"Sora! Are ya done yet!?" Apple Bloom asked outside of his closed door.
"You're taking forever!" Scootaloo called out impatiently. "All the good candy's gonna be given away!"
"Oh, I'm ready, little girls," Sora said in a creepy voice, creeping up to the door and turning off his lamp. He slowly pushed the door open and hid in the shadows, seeing the Cutie Mark Crusaders in their costumes: Sweetie Belle was dressed like a real vampire, Scootaloo was a werewolf, and Apple Bloom was the bride of Frankenstein. "Ready to sink my fangs into little fillies who's bold enough to face...ME!"
He leapt out of the shadows and hissed, the fillies screaming in fright and running down the stairs. It was all in good fun though, for tonight was a night of fear, terror, hauntings, spooks, and free candy. As he pranced downstairs, hearing the fillies giggling with delight, they got a better look at the teen's costume.
"Wow, Sora, your costume would have been a little scarier without that silly mask over your face," Sweetie Belle commented.
"What? It's part of my costume." He tilted the mask a little to easily keep his right eye covered, though he was able to see through it thanks to a little magical enchantment by Twilight. "And if you make fun of the pumpkin mask I worked hard on, I'm gonna steal all your candy and devour it in front of you."
"No way! That's our candy!" Scootaloo exclaimed.
Suddenly, a knocking came from the front door of the farm house. Sora opened the door and saw a group of colts and fillies in random costumes, along with Pinkie Pie in a chicken costume.
"Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!" they all chanted, holding bags and pumpkin-shaped buckets as they begged for candy.
"Well, happy Nightmare Night!" Sora grabbed the nearby bowl of candy for the trick-or-treaters, giving some candy to the foals, but when Pinkie popped up with her own bucket, he hesitated. "Pinkie, aren't you a bit too old to be doing this?"
"You're never too old for free candy!" Pinkie said. "Now, enough chit-chat! Time is candy!"
"...I think you've had enough sugar...for a decade." He pulled out some candy, but instead of giving it to the sugar-crazed party pony in the chicken suit, he dropped it in a small white earth pony colt's bag, dressed like a pirate.
"Hey! No fair!" Pinkie tried to leap for the candy, only for Sora to shut the door on her, making her hit the wall.
After placing the bowl back on the small table nearby, he opened the door and let the Crusaders out, joining the rest of the group he agreed to chaperone. At least Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon weren't a part of the group, probably engorging on their own expensive candy while having a party wherever they lived. As he closed the door, Pinkie was still glued to where she slammed into it headfirst, finally sliding down it and plopping to the ground.
"Come on, everyone! Let's get some candy!" The foals all cheered as they ran on ahead, eager to get more candy. One of them, the small pirate colt, ended up tripping over his hooves and dropped the toy sword he had in his mouth. Sora helped him up, noticing he had some brown spots on parts of his coat. "You ok, little buddy?"
"Yeah! I'm just so excited since this is my first ever Nightmare Night!" the colt said with a cockney accent. "Well, my first Nightmare Night in Ponyville."
"Oh. Where you from?" Sora asked as they hurried after the rest of the group.
"Trottingham! My name's Pipsqueak. Pipsqueak the Pirate!" the colt introduced himself.
"Name's Sora." Pipsqueak gasped in surprise.
"Wait. You mean the same Sora my classmates talked about, with a sword shaped like a big key!?" Pipsqueak asked. "No way! I'm being chaperoned by a hero of Equestria!"
"Hero? Against Discord?" Pipsqueak nodded enthusiastically. "Oh boy. Guess there were some ponies who saw me fighting against that guy. I wonder what the new window looks like at the castle."
As the two caught up with the group, they walked along the road to other houses to get some more free candy. Sora noticed all the decorations hung up around Ponyville, seeing some stands set up for refreshments, a DJ booth where some ponies were dancing to the music playing out in the square, some games involving a spider toss and pumpkin chunking. The next house they came up to was the Golden Oak Library, the kids all shouting the same chant to get some candy, surprising Spike as he opened the door.
Sora had to roll his eyes at the baby dragon's idea of a good costume; a purple dragon...which he already was. It would have been hilarious if his costume was black and purple, he'd look like a chubbier, smaller version of Maleficent in her dragon form. He spewed out green flames just like she did, though if they were actually related, Sora would lose his mind. Spike went to get the candy while Twilight took his place, wearing a wizard's costume littered with stars, bells jingling off the end of the hat, and wearing a fake white beard.
"Sora? Is that you?" Twilight asked.
"No, I'm Big Macintosh with bat wings." The foals all laughed at his joke as they got their candy from the baby dragon dressed as a baby dragon. "Uhh, Twilight? Why do you look like my Master Yen Sid, only without all the stars and bells?"
"I'm Star Swirl the Bearded," she replied, only getting confused looks from the teen and the foals around him. "Father of the amniomorphic spells?" Still no response. "The famous unicorn wizard who made at least a thousand different spells in his lifetime?" Nothing. "Seriously!? How do you not know about him!?"
"...Maybe it's because I'm not exactly from here, Twilight. You kids know who Star Swirl is, kids?" Sora asked.
"No!" they all replied, making the lavender unicorn groan.
"Welp, we're all unedumacated! Let's all call you Grandpa Twilight!" The foals all laughed at the silly name, Twilight sighing in defeat as she murmured to herself. "So, where's Kairi? I haven't seen her in the last few days after that weird spell."
"She's here...getting ready," Twilight said. "Though why she chose something like that for a costume..."
"Hey, I didn't know Halloween came early around here, so I didn't have much time to plan on a costume!" Sora heard Kairi shout from inside the library. "Besides, I think he'll find me irresistible."
"She bought a costume from a store?" Sora asked.
"And some face paint." Soon, Kairi came walking out of the library, making Sora's jaw drop at what she was wearing.
"Hi, Sora." Kairi stood in the doorway, wearing a cat costume. She was in a white, furry body suit that matched the fur of a feline, a fake tail hanging off the end while her real tail was stuffed in the suit. She wore white cat paws on her hooves and a pair of cat ears over her own, her face painted to look like a cat's nose and whiskers. She raised up one of her hooves, looking cute as she made Sora's slightly darkened cheeks turn bright red. "Meow."
"...Woof?" the pegasus squeaked, too speechless to offer an actual response.
"Interesting costume design, Sora." The white and pink "feline" approached the blushing stallion, the foals all backing away from the couple as Kairi brushed her fur against Sora's. "Though, I don't think you're some kind of dog. What are you supposed to be?"
"...A-A uhhh...v-vampire?" Kairi looked back at the fake bat wings behind his shoulders, then down to his ruffled pegasus wings at his sides as he stood flustered by her kitty costume.
"I see. And, does this specific vampire you decided to dress up as have a weakness to pretty kitties?" Kairi asked, fluttering her eyes.
"...Meep." Sora fell on his back, frozen like a statue, almost feeling his heart stop at the gesture.
"That answers that question," the pink unicorn giggled.
After Sora's fainting spell, the group of foals, baby dragon, and the adults/teens headed off to the square to enjoy some of the attractions in the square. Thankfully, many of the kids were busy snacking on some of their candy or playing the games held for the holiday, keeping them in the stallion's sight. Out of all their friends who are taking part in the festivities, Rarity and Fluttershy couldn't attend, the former too exhausted from all the orders she's made for Nightmare Night, while the latter was greatly terrified by the holiday. Applejack was out near her farm, dressed as a scarecrow, while Rainbow Dash was seen flying around the air with a storm cloud, scaring random ponies with a storm cloud as she wore a Shadowbolt costume, the same pegasi that they ran into back in the Everfree Forest.
With Nightmare Night in full swing, it was about time for something that Sora and Kairi were surely new to; hearing how the holiday began. The mayor had called for all the foals to come forward to the stage as Zecora would tell them a tale of Nightmare Moon. The zebra wore a dark cloak, but to everyone's surprise, her hair was draped down instead of in her usual mohawk style, fake spiders clipped to her hair like it was a spider web. It was the first time Kairi had seen and met her, and was a bit curious when she spoke in rhymes.
The foals, Sora, and Kairi followed Zecora toward the Everfree Forest, Pinkie Pie trailing behind them while acting like the animal she's dressed up as. Thankfully, it wasn't a dangerous part of the forest as they walked up to a statue of Nightmare Moon. Zecora pulled out a small bag, pouring some green dust into her hoof.
"Listen close, my little dears, I'll tell you where you got your fears. Of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary. Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary." She blew the dust, shrouding everyone in a green mist, making the scenery of the forest more eerie as the foals shuddered in fright. "Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes." Through the mist, a pair of eyes and razor sharp teeth appeared behind some of the foals, the image of the Mare in the Moon forming from the green mist. They saw the terrifying alicorn and screamed, fleeing from the illusion. "But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!
"Hungrily, she soars the sky." Zecora blew more powder to continue her magical illusion as the first wave of it disappeared. Mist Nightmare Moon appeared, but began searching around for the foals right in front of her, unable to see them. "If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe for another year."
The mist illusion flew up into the air, failing to find any of the foals and disappeared into the night sky. Green sparkle exploded from Mist Nightmare Moon, slowly floating down on the fillies and colts.
"Wow. That's a scary story," Kairi said, huddled close to Sora.
"Yeah, but Nightmare Moon's gone," Sora said. "We turned Princess Luna back to normal. Come to think of it, I haven't heard anything about her from Celestia since we saved her. I hope Luna's doing alright."
"Umm, Miss Zecora?" Pipsqueak asked, approaching the zebra. "If we wear our costumes to hide from Nightmare Moon so we don't get gobbled up, how come we still have to give her some of our candy?"
"A perfect question, my little friend. For Nightmare Moon you must not offend." Zecora blew out some more of her mist as the Nightmare Moon illusion flew up into the air. "Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return...to come eat you!"
The misty alicorn dove forward and opened her carnivorous maw, chomping down on the tiny earth pony colt as she exploded into mist. "AHHH! Everypony dump your candy and run!" Pinkie shouted as she lead the young ponies to dropping some candy in front of the statue.
"This is a weird tradition," Sora commented.
Suddenly, a light shone from the full moon above them as something began flying down toward them. From the moonlight, it looked like a pair of pegasus stallions pulling a chariot, a hooded figure riding on it. What was odd about these pegasi was that they seemed to also be part bat by the look of their wings. They flew down low, everyone ducking as whoever was on that chariot was heading straight for Ponyville.
"Sora, who was that?" Kairi asked.
"I don't know, but if their shrouded by a cloak, then they might be bad news. Come on!" Sora ran on ahead with Kairi, leaving Zecora and Pinkie with the foals.
While the Keyblade wielders ran, they were overtaken by Pinkie and the group of foals as they screamed in terror past them. The rest of the town looked up as they heard lightning strike from above, watching the chariot fly in over Ponyville. The figure leapt down from their ride, spreading its wings as it looked down on the other ponies with its eyes glowing white. Everyone began to panic as the figure unveiled their face concealed by their hood. To Sora's surprise, the figure was a blue alicorn mare, her mane waving in an invisible breeze like Celestia's, only her hair was like the night sky, a dark blue with small white stars inside. On top of her head was a black tiara, obviously a princess.
The ponies all bowed in fear as the alicorn stepped forward, her cloak turning into a flock of bats, fluttering off in the distance. "Is she...evil?" Kairi asked.
"No way." Sora squinted his eyes, getting a better look at the mare intimidating everyone. He recognized the crescent moon cutie mark on the splotch of black on her flanks, the same mark that Celestia's younger sister, Luna, had. "Is that Princess Luna? She hit a big growth spurt in the last few months.
"Citizens of Ponyville!" Luna said with a booming voice at was almost deafening. "We have graced your village with our presence for you to behold the princess of the night! We are a pony who seeks your love and admiration, no longer the demon who wishes to terrorize! Together, we shall turn this holiday of dreariness into a glorious feast in our name!"
"Oh no! Nightmare Moon said she's going to feast on us all! EVERYPONY PANIC!" Pinkie screamed, causing everyone else, including the foals around her, to scream in fear.
"What!?" Luna exclaimed in shock "Neigh, children! You do not need to fear us anymore! Your princess desires screams of delight, not fear!" No one listened to her as they continued screaming in terror. The princess approached the mayor, who was wearing a clown costume that made her look creepier than Sora. "Mayor Mare, they princess of the night hath arrived!" She tried to reach a hoof out to shake the mayor's hoof, only for the older mare to flinch and cower in fear. Confused, she tried to reach a hoof out to the others, only to have them react in the same way. "W-Why do you still fear me? I-I am not..."
Though many of the other ponies had looked away from Luna in fear, Sora and Kairi could see the painful expression on the alicorn's face. She held back the tears welling in her eyes as she stormed away from the town, away from all the ponies that shunned her out of fear.
"Is she ok?" Kairi asked.
"I don't think she is. Luna...had almost been engulfed by the darkness a few months ago, when she came back from being banished after a thousand years. Saving her seemed to be one of those little objectives of mine when Master Yen Sid sent me here for more training. She's actually lived with that darkness close to engulfing her heart, but the Elements of Harmony had kept that darkness from getting closer for a millennium." Kairi's jaw dropped as they watched Luna stomp down to the park. "She's not bad now, but no one else thinks so.
"I'll see if I can cheer her up. Go to Twilight and try to help her convince the others that Luna's not the Mare in the Moon anymore." Kairi nodded, the two splitting up to help the young alicorn sister fit in and convince everyone else Luna was not who she was anymore.
As Sora entered the park, he began to search for the alicorn. Luckily, the area was pretty empty since all of Ponyville was in the town celebrating the holiday. Luna was sitting by herself in an empty field of grass, poking around at the blades beneath her hooves. She seemed really upset, understandably so after everyone freaked out, with no help from Pinkie Pie as she caused the chain reaction of screams and fear.
"Hey, Luna!" The pegasus approached the princess, looking over in his direction. "It's been a while. You look...very different."
"...Dost we know thou?" Luna asked, not finding Sora recognizable.
"It's me, Sora. Back when the girls and I saved you?" He lifted up the pumpkin mask covering his eye. "I'm wearing a costume, a little outfit I would always end up in when I ended up in a certain world. Like it?"
"...Thou hast two pairs of wings, wearing two different types of hoofwear, one pair looking like claws unfit for equines and the other making thou look like a jester, false canines in thy maw, and a cardboard drawing of an orange fruit with a face that has no purpose to fit with thine outfit." Sora wilted as Luna had criticized his costume more than admired it.
"Well, that's a bit...harsh." He chuckled, putting the mask back down over his eye. "Anyway, odd criticism aside, you doing ok?"
"We are not," the blue alicorn sadly said. "Our subjects fear us still, even though the Nightmare has been expelled from our heart...Our sister thought it was a good idea to have us appear in Ponyville to celebrate this holiday...A night of...lies, and slander of us."
"...Uhh, 'our'?" Sora asked as he questioned her way of speaking. "Are you speaking in some olden language?"
"Yes. It is how we spoke one thousand years ago," Luna said. "And we use the Royal Canterlot Voice to address our subjects in the traditional royal 'we'!"
Sora was nearly blown off his hooves by Luna's booming voice. "Ahh! I think I've gone deaf!" He shook his head, his hearing slowly coming back to him. "I think I know one reason why everyone thinks you're intimidating: that Royal Canterlot Voice of yours."
"And what is the problem with our voice!?" Luna asked in her loud voice.
"You sound like a drill sergeant terrorizing a litter of newborn puppies." Sora dug a hoof in his ear as he almost went deaf again. "We can fix that. And maybe get you out of speaking in Ye Olde Equestrian."
"T-Thou would...help me?" the princess asked. "But, after what we had done to thee-"
"You weren't yourself, and the girls and I rescued you from what you became. I'm more than happy to help, and we'll get you fitting in to the new era after a whole thousand years." Luna nodded her head, wanting to be liked by her subjects instead of feared. She had heard of how friendly Sora was from Celestia, and if there was anyone that could help her, it was him. "Now, let's start with a simple greeting. Hello, my name is Sora."
"Greetings, subjects, thou art thine princess of the night, Luna!" The pegasus fell on his back after being shoved from Luna's Royal Canterlot Voice.
"...Ok. Good start, but still too loud." He sat back up, his mask somehow turned over to the back of his head. "Try to drop the booming voice this time and repeat how I spoke, only introducing yourself and not calling yourself Sora." Sora chuckled at the last correction, though he would have found it comical if Luna really did repeat what he had said. "Try again."
"Ok...H-Hello, we art Princess Luna," Luna tried to repeat, thankfully a little softer, but still speaking in the old language.
"A little better. You're getting it. One more time," Sora said.
"...Hello, my name is...Luna?" she said in slight confusion, finding it odd to speak like her subjects of today.
"There we go! Perfect!" As he praised her, Luna snatched the stallion in her forelegs and gave him a back breaking hug.
"Oh, joy!" Luna said as she reverted back to her Royal Canterlot Voice. "We thank thee, oh hero of our world and soul! Our normal speech shall win the adoration of our loyal subjects!
Sora hung limply in Luna's legs, feeling like his entire spine was turned to mush. While dazed, Pinkie Pie and the group of foals ran up to them as they tried to find the teen.
"Sora! You gotta help us from-" The chicken-suited mare clucked in fright as she and the foals saw the pegasus stallion in a broken daze, Luna staring at them in confusion. "Oh no! Nightmare Moon's got Sora! She stole his voice so he won't call out for help before she eats him! RUN AWAY!!!!"
They all ran away, only making Luna more upset as she dropped Sora to the ground to reach out to them. "Neigh, children! Wait!" She quickly silenced herself, automatically reverting to using the loud, intimidating voice. "I-I mean, wait children. You do not need to fear me..."
"This is gonna be harder than I thought," Sora slurred as his limbs twitched, trying to feel the nerves that were broken by the bone crushing hug Luna gave him.
After Sora recovered, the two walked through Ponyville, the ponies spotting Luna cowered in fear or hid behind something. "It is no use, Sora. Nopony will ever love us, not even in another millennium."
"Don't worry, Luna. I'm sure there's something we can do to help everyone realize you're a changed pony." While looking around the square, he noticed some of the games set up for Nightmare Night. "Hey, how about some fun games?"
"'Fun'?" Luna asked. "What is this 'fun' thou speakest of?"
"...Wow. You have no idea how to have fun?" Sora asked in shock. "Follow me." He lead the princess over to the spider toss. A bowl of fake spiders were in a bowl on a table, set at a distance from a cobweb to throw the toy arachnids. "Here. Let's play some spider toss?"
"...'Spider toss'? What is the purpose of throwing spiders?" Luna picked up one of the fake spiders, feeling the fuzzy toys in her hoof.
"It's just a fun little game. The point is to toss the spider onto the web, and if you get it closer to the center, then you win." Sora picked up a spider and tossed it, overshooting it as it barely grazed the top of the web. "Darn. I missed. Your turn."
Reluctantly, the princess of the night took aim and tossed the spider. She managed to get it directly on the center of the web on her first go.
"Ha...That was actually...enjoyable," she said. "What other ways may we experience more of this 'fun'?"
"...Well, I definitely lost. Let's move on to some pumpkin chunkin'." Sora lead Luna to where the small catapults were, along with a bevy of pumpkins, all of them perfectly sizable for the launchers. The few devices were aimed toward some targets, where some of them had bits of the big fruits splattered on or around them. "Same rules like the spider toss, only instead, you launch a pumpkin with one of these catapults and smack the target." He grabbed a pumpkin and placed it in a nearby catapult, winding the launcher up until it was ready to fire. "Fire in the hole!"
The teen released the medieval machine, sending the pumpkin flying into the air, splattering just a few inches shy of one of the targets. Luna decided to give it a try, placing her own pumpkin on a free catapult and wound it up to fire. She took aim and fired, hitting a perfect bullseye.
"Hah! The fun has been doubled!" While beaming with excitement, she noticed that the ponies had been watching her and Sora, slowly warming up to Luna.
They were all noticing her as the old princess that she was back then, not Nightmare Moon. While feeling appreciated, Luna had noticed that one of the foals across from the pumpkin chunking station, Pipsqueak, trying to grab an apple from the apple bobbing tub. With his small size, he had to lean over while standing on the small edge of the large wooden tub. He accidentally slipped in, making the alicorn panic, not knowing if the colt could swim, running up to the tub to help Pipsqueak.
"Hey, has anypony seen Pip?" Pinkie asked as she lead the colts and fillies. "We lost him after we got away from-" She froze when she saw Luna grabbing the pirate costumed colt in her mouth. "Nightmare Moon! She's gobbling up Pipsqueak! RUN AWAY! AGAIN!"
"Pinkie!" Sora couldn't stop her in time as she began screaming and running away, the others following suit.
"Ahh! Help!" Pipsqueak shouted. "My backside is being gobbled!"
Luna put him down, watching in sadness as the colt she saved ran from her. "Tis a lie! Thine backside is whole an ungobbled, you whelp!" Lightning struck behind her, making her look threatening as everypony backed away from her. She quickly controlled her anger, not wanting to lose her subjects' affections. "W-Wait, fair villagers, let us make merry in fun!" Looking around, she found one of the spiders that had been tossed too far from the spider toss, tossing it at them to try and have fun with them, but they only backed away. "I-Is it not enough? T-Then, how about this?"
Using her magic, she began animating the spiders, all of them skittering about and freaking the ponies out. Kairi and Twilight appeared, all of them unsuccessful with trying to tell everyone that Luna was no longer Nightmare Moon, but with Pinkie Pie randomly making assumptions and scaring the fillies and colts, along with the alicorn's spell to animate the fake spiders, it was only making her look more terrifying than ever.
"Oh no. This is really bad," Twilight said.
Soon, the whole town was in a ruckus as the spiders began crawling around on some of the ponies, making them all run around in a blind panic, smacking into things and causing a mess. Luna watched, feeling her chances of making amends slipping away into an endless void, unable to get it back. This holiday, dedicating to her as Nightmare Moon causing nothing but sorrow and despair, both to her and everypony she ruled. She would forever be feared, and no one wanted anything to do with her, just like a thousand years ago.
"ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!" Luna shouted, using her Royal Canterlot Voice, everyone stopping as they stared at the princess.
"Luna, wait! Remember the shouting!" Sora warned, trying to get her to calm down.
"No, Sora!" she yelled, her eyes glowing white as she looked at the pegasus. "We must use the Royal Canterlot Voice so everypony will listen to us! Everypony fears me, and with this accursed holiday, it only makes our image worsen! And this had gone on for a thousand years, when we were banished!?" Tears began rolling down Luna's cheeks as she flew up and looked down at Ponyville. "Since you all fear your princess instead of love her, then I decree that this...this stupid holiday that insults us shall be canceled!FOREVER!!!!!!!!!"
Everyone gasped in shock and horror as Luna flew off somewhere, heading off toward the Everfree Forest. All the ponies, especially the foals, were miserable as the scariest holiday of the year was now forever cancelled by the princess. Sora groaned in annoyance as Pinkie had continued instigating fright in everyone, making Luna's reputation worsen.
"Everything was going so well...and Pinkie had to go and escalate the problem," the pegasus grumbled. "You two find Pinkie and find out why she kept screaming like a banshee. I'll go and get Luna."
"Ok," Kairi answered as both she and Twilight nodded. "I hope you can convince her not to get rid of a holiday the whole world celebrates."
Deep in the dangerous forest near Ponyville, at the ruins of the old castle where the Elements of Harmony were once held, Luna flew over the trees and landed in what used to be the foyer. Tears streamed down the depressed alicorn's face, her anger and frustrations turning to sorrow as everyone would only look at her as Nightmare Moon.
"T-Tia...You lied to me," she sniffled as she walked down the ruined halls of her former home. Everything she had ever known before her banishment was all gone, the essence of herself having vanished along with the castle ruins. "Nopony cares about me anymore...I shouldn't have come to Ponyville...They all just see me as that monster I became."
"Well, then why don't you show them lousy ponies the respect you deserve by asserting that authority of yours, princess?" Luna gasped in surprise, looking around to find who else was in the ruins. She found where it came from as the male voice stepped forward. The alicorn was looking at what appeared to be a fat minotaur, most of his black fur covered in suit colored blue, red, and black. The only odd thing about this minotaur was his face, looking more like some kind of cat or dog, not a bull as minotaurs are half bipedal and bovine. "You're the leader of your kingdom, so why not give those idiots a little shove to show you're no pushover?"
"...Who are you? And how do you know me?" Luna asked, feeling wary about this odd minotaur.
"We know a few things that go on here in this here world of yours. And I can see you're pretty bitter, having everyone think you're still a crazy psychopath by being that evil Nightmare Moon, and no one believes you've changed." The alicorn growled, firing a beam of magic to silence the offending creature. Before it struck him, a red barrier appeared around him, making him invulnerable for a short time. "Ooh. You're a bit feisty."
"Answer my question, you foul mouthed cretin!" the princess demanded. While the two spoke, Sora flew down at the gates of the castle's front door, hoping to find Luna safe inside the ruins and not out in the forest. Before he could walk in, his ears perked up when he heard her speak. "What are you, you obese demon!? What did you mean when you said you knew about my world!?"
"Aww, is that any way to talk to someone who wants to help you?" Sora's jaw dropped, recognizing the owner of that voice. "You want to be appreciated, right? Then why don't you show some force and be that Mare in the Moon everyone's scared of? They'll respect you more that way."
"...N-No...I don't wish to be her again," Luna whimpered. "Never...Never again..."
"But you do. I can feel it." The pegasus growled as he peeked around the corner, looking through the crack in the wall. He saw the minotaur and recognized the clothing he wore, and seeing him trying to manipulate Luna into turning back into Nightmare Moon only made him angry. "That darkness in you is wanting to come out. All that sadness will go away if you accept it again."
"No! Leave me alone!" The minotaur snapped his fingers, summoning Heartless in front of him as they slowly approached the frightened princess. Seeing the black creatures again brought her back to commanding them as Nightmare Moon, that terrible power she felt something she never wanted to be around. "N-No. No! Stay away from me! I don't want to go back in the dark!"
"It's not that bad. You just have to give in to it, and you won't feel a-" Sora leapt in and threw his Keyblade at the back of the minotaur's head, smacking him hard and making him fall flat on his face, alerting the Heartless to the bane of their existence.
"You stay far away from Luna, Pete!" Sora shouted, casting Thunder spells to destroy the Shadows, Soldiers, and strange bat looking Heartless called Hook Bats. He stood before Luna to defend her, watching Pete slowly stand back up. "I knew you and Maleficent were here in Equestria. After she tried to brainwash Twilight, I'm not going to sit by while you follow her every move!"
Pete growled, rubbing the bump on his head as he glared at the pegasus. "You never learn to just quit, don't ya, you brat? Why can't you just let us take over one world!?"
"Oh, sure. Like I'm going to have a world covered in darkness by a fatso like you," Sora mocked, making the trasnformed henchman more angry. "Seriously, how much weight have you gained since the last time I saw you? Fifty tons?"
"That's it! I've had enough of you getting in my way, but no more! Time for you to get a taste of the new and improved Pete!" Pete charged in as he let out a battle cry, taking Sora on solo.
Unfortunately for him, the fight against him ended sooner than expected. Luna visibly flinched as she watched Sora pummel Pete repeatedly, the minotaur yelping and grunting in pain as he was wailed on by the teen's Keyblade. After one more hit, Pete tumbled backward until his head smacked into one of the pillars, his eyes spinning in his head as he was defeated, yet again.
"By new and improved, you mean fatter and the same annoying Pete you always were. I still don't know why Maleficent even keeps you as a sidekick if you can't even take me on, or even land a single hit on me." Pete slowly got up, grumbling in irritation.
"You're lucky I'm not used to being a minotaur, twerp. I'll be back, and I won't hold back!" The doof of a henchman escaped, Sora not bothering to chase after him.
"He never learns," Sora said, dismissing his Keyblade. He turned back to Luna, helping her back up on her hooves, making sure she was unharmed. "You ok, Luna?"
"...Y-Yes...I am unharmed...Thank you, Sora." The teen raised a brow, actually hearing the princess not speaking in the royal "we".
"Wait. You're speaking normally...You had some trouble with that earlier, and now you're not?" he asked.
"...I-I had only recently stopped speaking with the royal "we" a week ago," Luna admitted. "...I...I was nervous, and scared of what my subjects thought of me..."
"Oh...I thought it was weird, seeing as we haven't seen you in the past few months when you were freed. Celestia might have taught you how to speak normally and some events that have happened in the last millennium," Sora thought as he tapped his chin with a hoof. "I guess it must have been an old habit to fall back on, seeing as you missed out on a lot."
"I wished I'd miss more of my life passed over this horrendous holiday." The alicorn growled, stomping her hooves on the ground. "They celebrate their fears of me as Nightmare Moon, make up some false story about me eating ponies, and it only keeps bringing back those horrible memories of what I turned into back then! Hurting my sister, terrorizing our kingdom, threatening to destroy the world by making the night last forever! I mean, what was I thinking!? I could have frozen Equestria into an ice age and kill everypony! All because I wanted to be loved by everypony just like my sister, but I let my anger and envy only made me into something worse, and nopony will ever forget what I've done! Not in a million years!"
Luna began to weep as her sins continued to trouble her, always reminder her of what she became and wishing to stay in solitude for the rest of her life. Sora felt pity for her, having lived with a guilt of being a villain for over a thousand years. He never did think about the consequences of having an endless night until she had mentioned it, a lack of sunlight for several years would definitely freeze an area of the planet over and eventually causing an ice age. And if there was a sun and moon just for the world that can be controlled, the other side would suffer from a deadly heat wave that could have destroyed the land by shriveling up plant-life and quickly evaporate any body of water in its rays. Even if she had succeeded as Nightmare Moon, she would have destroyed the world she tried to rule over.
The teen gently patted Luna's shoulder, consoling her, hating how darkness has caused so much pain everywhere it always showed up. "Luna, don't blame yourself. The good thing is that you're not Nightmare Moon anymore. I'm sure everyone will see you as the princess you were before, but if only Pinkie Pie didn't keep instigating everyone's fright over a scary story! Back in my world, we have a similar holiday like Nightmare Night, called Halloween.
"It's pretty much the same thing: dressing up in costumes, trick-or-treating for free candy in the neighborhood, spooky decorations, parties with a haunted theme as well as the snacks and games. The whole point of the holiday is to just have fun being scared, enjoying the thrills and chills of the things that don't-" Sora paused as a thought suddenly crossed his mind as he explained Halloween. His eyes widened as he realized both these holidays are one and the same, the only difference being a scary tale about Nightmare Moon on Nightmare Night, and to everyone, being scared on this night was supposed to be the point. Because of Luna trying to make ammends on a night that everyone "feared" her, she didn't notice that was the point of Nightmare Night. "...Oh my gosh."
"What?" Luna asked, confused at the sudden pause he took.
"Luna, no one in Ponyville's actually scared of you!" That only confused the out of place alicorn more. "Nightmare Night's supposed to be about having fun while being terrified! The scary story about Nightmare Moon, which all of us know isn't really the truth, scary decorations and costumes, the entire holiday is meant to be about having a good time scaring and being scared!"
"That does not make any sense. How is instilling terror on my subjects considered 'fun'?" the princess asked.
"I'll show you when we get back to Ponyville. I've got an idea." Sora rubbed his gloved forehooves together, wearing a silly, malicious grin. "And it's gonna be a Nightmare Night everyone in town will not soon forget. But first, you know any illusion spells that can change us into something else?"
Back in Ponyville, Twilight and Kairi found Pinkie Pie, after leaving a trail of candy to corner her in an alleyway. In the oddest of answers as they questioned her why she kept causing a panic, the pony chicken just plainly said it was fun to be scared. That wouldn't help them, or anypony else, since Luna had just gotten rid of Nightmare Night forever, being too sensitive and serious about wanting to find adoration in her subjects in the way she wanted.
"Well, I guess this is going to be the last Nightmare Night in Equestria," Twilight said as the two unicorns wandered around town, many of the foals upset that one of their favorite holidays was going to end forever. "Unless Sora finds some way to change Princess Luna's mind."
"Since she was corrupted by darkness, it's understandable if she reacted like that if she wanted everyone to like her. Sora can turn her around...at least I hope so." As they found their way back to the square, they saw Sora hovering down, but there was no sign of Luna. "Sora! Did you find her!?"
"I did, and don't worry. I got this covered." The pegasus lifted up his mask and winked at them, heading flying back up in the air over the town. "Attention, fillies and colts of Ponyville! I know Princess Luna had said that Nightmare Night was forever cancelled, but don't let that stop you! Follow me and we'll have the last Nightmare Night be the best Nightmare Night you'll ever have in your lives!"
"He still wants to celebrate Nightmare Night?" Twilight asked.
"Whatever he's planning, this is probably gonna be scary." The lavender unicorn looked at Kairi in confusion. "Trust me. I know that face he's making. He has that every time on Halloween when he has a big trick up his sleeves."
The foals all listened to Sora and began following him, the teen leading them all down back to the Nightmare Moon statue in the Everfree Forest. "Alright, kiddies," Sora said in a slightly sarcastic tone, his eyes glancing up at the statue every so often. "If we want to appease Nightmare Moon, we must offer a tribute of candy to the terror that is the Mare in the Moon."
Though they tried to be enjoy the last few moments of the holiday as best as they could, they sadly offered some of their candy from their bags in front of the statue. "Goodbye forever, Nightmare Night," Pipsqueak sadly said as left some of his candy.
Before he could leave the statue, he saw the form of the evil alicorn's shadow move under the moonlight. Looking up, Pipsqueak gasped as the Mare in the Moon was actually posing as the statue, leering down at the foals. Sora let out a fake gasp as the foals all stared in fear, quickly leaping forward, summoning his Keyblade to defend them.
"Your offering is insufficient for my belly, little foals!" "Nightmare Moon" said. "To sate my appetite, I must eat you all!"
"Oh no! Nightmare Moon has come back!" Sora acted, quite terribly, though the kids didn't notice as they cowered behind him. "Fear not, kids! I, Sora, the hero of Equestria, shall smite the evil alicorn back to the moon from whence she came!"
"You were only lucky in stopping me, peasant! I have grown stronger than that tiny key your call a sword!" The armored alicorn shot a beam of magic at Sora's hoof, knocking the Keyblade out of his hoof. He let out a gasp in shock, watching his weapon fly out into the forest. "You may be too large for me to digest, but you make a suitable minion for my future reign of Equestria!" She fired another beam at the pegasus, engulfing him in her aura, veiling his body as he let out a fake scream of defeat. Stopping the spell, Sora fell to the ground, his body and outfit more dark than before, the stallion slowly getting up on his hooves, his head hung low. "You are now under my control now."
"Yes, my princess," Sora said in a darker tone.
"Now, my first order. I command you to grab one of these foals, so that I may consume them and sate my growing hunger!" Sora let out a sinister chuckle, slowly turning his head to the right.
"As you command, princess." The pumpkin mask over his eye had changed, its color now blue and black with a glowing yellow eye, looking like a manic, twisted form of Luna's face. The foals, including Twilight and Kairi who followed them, gasped in shock as Sora's face was now completely dark, his visible blue eye now the same shade of yellow as a Heartless's, the fake fangs in his teeth more sharp than before. "Now, which of you will be your new princess's first course?"
The kids all screamed and ran away, not wanting to get gobbled up by Nightmare Moon, or caught by the now turned Sora. The pegasus didn't chase after them, however, focusing on the two mares watching in shock. He couldn't hold the charade any longer and began to laugh.
"...Wow, Sora. That was...not as convincing as I thought it would have been," Kairi said as her boyfriend approached them.
"Hey, they believed me, so I think I got a good career in acting," he said, flashing his illusionary teeth. "Think this looks better on me, or does my old look fit better?"
"Neither." Sora fell over comically, the illusion cast on him and Luna disappearing, the alicorn spitting out a pair of fake fangs into her hoof.
"Sora, I don't think this had worked," the princess sadly sad. "How was this supposed to be fun if we both scared the children?"
"Umm, Princess Luna?" The alicorn flinched as she felt someone pulling on her starry tail. Looking down, she saw Pipsqueak getting her attention. "Even though you cancelled Nightmare Night forever...can you come back next year and scare us again?"
Surprised, she looked over at where the foals had fled, hearing them peeking around some bushes as they looked at her, not as scared as they were earlier. "...Y-You...You actually like to be frightened?"
"Yeah!" Pipsqueak said excitedly. "It's scary, but it's fun! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year!"
Luna smiled as tears welled up in her eyes, quickly brushing them away with a hoof before they fell. "W-Well then...I guess I have no choice but to bring Nightmare Night back!"
"Yay!" the little colt cheered, hugging the princess's foreleg tightly. "You're my favorite princess ever, Princess Luna!"
Pipsqueak ran back to his friends to tell them that Nightmare Night was brought back, greatly excited for the next year for the holiday to come. Hearing somepony, especially a young colt around his age, saying that she was his favorite princess made her heart swell with joy, threatening to bring her to tears again. Sora approached the awestruck alicorn, nudging her side to snap her out of her daze.
"See? Told you so," he said. "Now you've got yourself a little fan, and plenty more with the scares you can come up with."
"...You are right, Sora," Luna said. "I...I guess I should look away from the past and focus on the present...My sister told me some strange phrase Twilight Sparkle had written in one of her letters to her...What was it again?"
"Hakuna matata," Sora answered. "It means no worries from another world, but it's a pretty universal term I want to help spread."
"Hakuna matata...I love it!" the princess exclaimed, making Twilight facehoof. "It is catchy, yet it sounds made up!"
"Indeed it is," Sora agreed. "Now, how about we really celebrate Nightmare Night, for real this time."
"Yes! Let us make merry and have fun at the festival, and wallow in misery as I best you in the spider toss and pumpkin chunking!" Luna pranced off back to Ponyville, the foals all crowding around her as they looked up to her as their favorite princess.
"Well, seems like Celestia's gonna get an earful, hearing her little sister has some very loyal subjects," the pegasus chuckled.
"Sora, that hakuna matata phrase is spreading faster than the common cold," Twilight grumbled. "Now you have Princess Luna wanting to make it a thing here in Equestria."
"Perfect!" He draped a wing around both unicorns with a big grin on his face. "Now, let's all enjoy the rest of the night! We got some celebrating to do, and I want a rematch against Luna on that pumpkin chunking. She got lucky!"
"Easy, Sora," Kairi calmed the teen, kissing his cheek. "Just be glad Riku isn't here. You two would end up destroying all the pumpkins before anyone else would get a turn shooting them."
The trio headed back to Ponyville, where the festivities was back after Luna announced that Nightmare Night was here to stay. It was a lot more enjoyable for everyone now that the blue alicorn princess was actually having fun. She had let the holiday dedicating her evil persona as Nightmare Moon go and instead saw it as just a holiday to spread terror in an exciting way. For the remainder of the night, Luna celebrated with all of Ponyville, actually finding one positive outlook as her dark persona created this fun holiday she couldn't wait to come again next year.