The Day My Life Began

by Authora97

Halloween. Pony Style

“Thank you, everypony, and welcome to the Nightmare Night festival!”

Yep. The Nightmare Night Festival was fully underway. I had waited about two weeks for this. Time in cartoons is beyond fucked up. It was Christmas, in Equestria, and we were just now doing Halloween.

It made my head hurt too much if I thought about it. I just went along with the Cartoon Time Line.

This year, I had opted to dress like the Mad Hatter. What can I say? I love his top hat. I managed to put the whole thing together soon after Twilight’s mega-freak out.

Oh. Now that was a tail and a half (Pony pun!). At first, I planned to be a bitch. Then, I saw the look in Twilight’s purple eyes. I had felt that level of terror more times than I could count. That fear where everything is just going to be drop kicked out of your life because you failed.

So, I tried to give her advice. I told her to relax, and that sometimes winning is losing, and losing is winning. She looked at me like I was just another disturbance in her life. She ran off. She even admitted it, under her breath.

I immediately went to Lilac. I wrote a letter to send to Princess Celestia, begging her to come to Ponyville. That Twilight was falling apart, and Celestia was the only pony Twilight would listen to.

Lilac was in the park with the Crusaders when I found her. Twilight would show up any second, ready to make things crazy.

The white alicorn arrived just as the episode said. She took Twilight to the library, and I followed after them. I listened in, hearing as the Mane Six panicked over Twilight leaving. Then, somepony asked who told Celestia to come.

That was when I walked in. I told everypony I sent the letter to Princess Celestia. I told her Twilight was having a panic attack over being tardy, and needed help. I told them that I understood the pain of a panic attack, and how much pain Twilight was in from this whole thing.

Apparently, none of them expected this as the answer. Then, Rainbow Dash had to ask where I was when Discord was around.

I answered simply. “I was having a panic attack, wondering if my daughter was okay in Canterlot.”

Speaking of.

Lilac was next to me, dressed as Alice. I had told her the story of the little blonde filly after Discord, and she fell in love with it. So, obviously, I had to find her the outfit. A pale blue dress, with a large black bow, and a white apron. On her shoulder, was a stuffed bunny with a fake golden watch. She looked so darn adorable!

Lilac and I were using teapots as candy pickets, going full on with the Alice in Wonderland theme. We had them mostly filled, but then I used a little spell I may or may not have borrowed from a witch princess to make them bigger on the inside.

That spells work wonders, I swear.

Of course, it took a while to get the spell right. I’ve been focusing on that power, the one River Song told me about. It was mostly just a bunch of meditation, trying to focus on the power from Frederica Rose (one of my other Jumps) to help with my Plan. I knew I was going to be in River’s past, and I knew that she knew not to mess with a message from Future Me to Present Me.

So, that meant Future Me had already done this. That meant I succeeded. Many think this is a wrong train of thought, that I had already succeeded and thus didn’t really need to put forth much effort. Wrong. I see it as saying ‘I did it because I worked hard, now it’s time to work hard’. Hopefully, I’ll figure it all out.

“Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend Zecora to hear the legend of... Nightmare Moon!”

Lilac shivered next to me. I wrapped a good over her shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. To control your fear, you must embrace your fear.”

Lilac nodded. “Rule 40?”

I smiled. Lilac got a handle of the Rules much faster than my sister did. “Exactly.”

Mayor Mare gave the stage to Zecora, who was dressed up in a very Halloween themed outfit. All while appearing in green smoke. Golly gee, I love this holiday.

Zecora smiled at the crowd. It was sinister enough for the story, but kind enough so nopony was scared. “Follow me, and very soon, you’ll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon.”

Before I knew it, all the foals (plus Twilight and Spike) followed Zecora to a safe spot in the Everfree Forest. It was in front of a Nightmare Moon statue.

Zecora stood next to the statue. “Listen close, my little dears, I’ll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary.”

She pulled out some green dust. Blowing it, the dust formed into Nightmare Moon. “Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary.”

The dust dive at the foals, making them gasp as it became a fog. Lilac gripped onto my forehoof.

“Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes.” Zecora explained.

Two foals screamed, all in good fun.

“But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!”

Pinkie and Pipsqueak screamed.

Lilac clung tighter to my forehoof.

“Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!”

I didn’t see what she was doing, because I was brushing her scales.

Pipsqueak came forward. “Uh, Miss Zecora, if we wear costumes to hide from Nightmare Moon, so she won’t gobble us up, how come we still need to give her some of our candy?”

“A brilliant question, my little friend.” I interrupted the story. Zecora looked at me, giving a faint smile. She was used to my interruptions. I walked up to Pipsqueak, patting his back. “For Nightmare Moon, you must not offend.”

Zecora pulled out more dust. “Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won’t return to come eat you!”

The dust cloud attacked the foals again.

Pinkie clucked. “Everypony! Just dump some candy and get out of here!”

I laughed, almost shaking my head. I pulled out some of my candy (mostly the caramels that always got stuck in my teeth and the jawbreakers. Oh, and the pony version of snickers, Mike and Ike, and some jelly beans.

Then, Lune showed up.

“It’s Nightmare Moon! Run!” Pinkie clucked.

Would it surprising that I was expecting an egg after she clucked in terror?

---

The walk back to Ponyville certainly was fun. Especially since I was maybe a tiny bit startled by the jump scare of Lune’s arrival.

Lilac was on my back, clinging to my costume.

“Rule 40.” I reminded her.

This calmed her, just a tiny bit. She was just shaking now. Using my magic, I pulled her to ground. I held her with my hood. “Lilac, honey, it’s just Princess Luna. You know that.”

Lilac gulped. “Yeah, but she’s still scary.”

I nodded. “So was your aunt, but we got used to her.”

“Citizens of Ponyville!”

I flinched. Damn, that was loud.

“We have graced your tiny village with our presence, so that you might behold the real Princess of the Night!” Luna announced. “A creature of nightmares no longer, but instead a pony who desires your love and admiration! Together we shall change this dreadful celebration into a bright and glorious feast!”

Thunder and lightning, very very frightening.

“Did you hear that, everypony?” Pinkie Pie cried out. “Nightmare Moon says she’s gonna feast on us all!”

Oh. I get it. She’s scared of everything, because she’s dressed like a chicken! Wow, I’m stupid.

Everypony screamed. Lilac held me a bit tighter.

Princess Luna gaped at the screaming crowd. “What? No, children, no! You no longer have reason to fear us! Screams of delight is what your princess desires, not screams of terror!” She stomped her hoof. “Madame Mayor, thy Princess of the Night hath arrived.”

I couldn’t help the chuckle that came out when Mayor Mare flinched away from the hoof.

“What is the matter with you?” If I had a nickel every time someone asked me that. “Very well, then. Be that way. We won’t even bother with the traditional royal farewell.”

“I would actually like to see that.” I announced walking towards the Night Princess.

Luna looked at me, and a ghost of a smile came to her face.

“Was that a smile?” I asked.

The smile was gone. “Nay.”

“Princess Luna, I think that was a smile.” I teased, walking through the crowd to get to her. I held my hoof out. Luna looked down at it. “Luna, hoof bump. We’ve talked about this.”

Luna looked down at her hoof, then mine. She bumped her’s to mine. I smirked.

“Finally. Your time with me has been paying off.” I laughed.

Twilight sputtered next to me. “Raspberry?! You know Princess Luna?”

“I call her Lune.” I smiled, nodding. “She really doesn’t like it.”

“We do not approve of such a ridiculous name.” Princess Luna said.

“Oh, Lune, please. You know you love it.” I smirked. I showed off my costume. “Hey, remember this? I had it made for tonight. I thought it was funny.” I held up the teapot. “And, I made this teapot a basket.”

I could make out the hints of a grin on the corner of Luna’s muzzle. “Thou dost love thy top hats.”

“Lune, speak Equestrian please.” I commented. Luna just gave me a stare. I rolled my eyes. “Must thou always rain on my parade?”

“There is no parade.” Luna commented.

I chuckled dryly. “Oh, hahaha. Always so serious. I thought we had made some real progress on making you less.”

“You’ve been working with Princess Luna?”

“In my dreams.” I commented, smiling innocently. Twilight gave me a look like I had just said checklists were stupid. “Luna, come on! I have a thing I want to show you!”

The Princess looked hesitant.

“Come on, Lune, have I ever steered you wrong?” I asked her, galloping in the direction of the Nightmare Moon statue before she could give me an answer.

---

“Knew you would come after me.”

I was sitting in front of the statue, Lilac next to me. We were digging into our candy. I had given Lilac some sapphire gems that Diamond Dogs brought to me. Apparently taking down the Beta’s made you some kind of Honorary Member, and the sapphires were my part of the Hoard. Don’t ask about how I did that.

Princess Luna trotted up to my side, coming down on her haunches. She stared at the statue, looking crestfallen.

“How did you know?”

I smirked at her, taking a quick bite of a chocolate bar. “Easy. Cause I would’ve come after you.”

This surprised the Princess of the Night. “Truly?”

I nodded. “You’re my friend. True friends don’t care who you are on the outside, they care about who you are on the inside.”

“Mommy taught me that!” Lilac cheered.

Luna smiled (a genuine one, I could tell) at us. “Well, tis truly an enlightening lesson to be taught.”

“Learned that first hoof.” I said, holding up a hoof. “I have only just begun to understand it.”

“Princess Luna?” A voice called out from behind us. “Hi, my name is-”

“Star Swirl the Bearded.” Luna pointed out. “Commendable costume! Thou even got the bells right.”

Twilight looked like somepony had just said they like schedules. “Thank you! Finally! Somepony who gets my costume!”

The night alicorn frowned, looking back to the statue.

“Uh, I just came to welcome you to our celebration! My actual name is-”

“Twilight Sparkle.” Luna interrupted. I put earmuffs over Lilac’s fins and my ears. “It was thou who unleashed the powers of harmony upon us and took away our dark powers!” She said in the Royal Canterlot Voice.

I took off the ear muffs.

“And that was a good thing, right?” Twilight asked.

“But of course. We could not be happier. Is that not clear?” Luna asked.

“Well, you kinda sound like you’re yelling at me.” Twilight commented.

“Unfortunate habit.” I said. “My voice gets louder when I’m excited.”

“Mine doesn’t.” Lilac admitted, frowning. “Sweetie Belle’s does.”

Luna scoffed. “But this is the traditional royal Canterlot voice! It is tradition to speak using the royal ‘we’, and to use-” Earmuffs “-this much volume when addressing our subjects!”

“Lune, take from me, ponies do not like it when you come into a place screaming. Kuzco taught me that.” I explained to her, wrapping a goof around her neck. “You just need to change your approach?”

Luna glared at me, then my earmuffs. “Why art thou wearing earmuffs?”

“The Canterlot Voice.” I admitted. “Lilac’s got ‘um too. A voice that loud could harm her eardrums.” I shook my head. “Sorry, Lune. Mother first, friend second. You just gotta lower the volume.”

“Ohhh. We have been locked away for a thousand years. We are... not sure we can.” Luna admitted, nervously glancing down.

I cheered. “Admitting you have a problem is the first step!”

“And the second?” Luna asked.

I paused, then frowned. “Never got that far into the program, to be honest.”

---

The night went on as normal. Most of it, Lilac and I spent going from house to house to get more candy. I Barry remembered what was going on until I heard Princess Luna ban Nightmare Night.

I was the one who told Twilight about a brilliant plan to get ponies on Luna’s side.

Much later, Zecora and I were guiding the foals back to the Nightmare Moon statue. None of them noticed it was much more lifelike than before.

The foals poured more candy in front of the statue. They all looked so sad.

“Goodbye, Nightmare Night.” Pipsqueak whispered. “Forever.”

The wind picked up.

“Citizens of Ponyville!” Luna yelled, wearing a Nightmare Moon disguise. I’m surprised she was able to do that with the false teeth. “You were wise to bring this candy to me. I am pleased with your offering. So pleased that I may just eat it... instead of eating you!”

I giggled.

The foals screamed, running to hide in the bushes. Lilac was clinging to my jacket.

Luna stepped down from the pedestal. She took out the pointy teeth. “I am not certain that did what you meant for it to do, Raspberry Stardust.”

“Just wait.” I smiled knowingly.

Luna scoffed. “For what? For... for them to scream some more?”

Pipsqueak pulled on Luna’s flowing mane. “Um... Princess Luna?”

I walked over towards Twilight. The two of us just watched.

“I know there’s not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?” Pipsqueak asked.

Luna was very confused. “Child. Art thou saying that thou... likest me to scare you?”

Pipsqueak grinned. “It’s really fun! Scary, but fun!”

“It... is?”

“Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year.”

Princess Luna smiled. “Well then. We shall have to bring Nightmare Night back!”

“Whoa! You’re my favorite princess ever!” Pipsqueak ran over to his friends. “She said yes, guys!”

The foals all cheered. Luna looked so happy.

“See? They really do like you, princess.” Twilight said.

Princess Luna was reeling from finding out ponies liked her. “Can it be true?” She flew up. “Oh, most wonderful of-” Luna cleared her throat. “I mean... Oh, most wonderful of nights.”

---

“Tonight, I’ll make it your pick.” I said. “All of time and space, where do you wanna go?”

Luna gave me a smile. “Could...could we simply look up at stars, on this night?”

I smiled. The landscape changed, to one I had become familiar with. There was a garden, with a simple picnic blanket laid out on the grass. The perfect place to see the stars.

“Happy Birthday, Lune.” I said, showing off the stars.

Author's Note:

My brother's sixth birthday. Ah, it's so sweet.
Sorry I made y'all wait a month. The next one is ready for publishing, but I'll wait til I get back from work to publish it. Working at Regal is weird.
Comment, like, favorite, and read it's sequel 'Day My Life Ended'

Comments

[tsaukpaetra]

Where have all the commentors gone? Hmm....
I was surprised she didn't trade banter with Zecora more during the presentation, could have had a Flim Flam moment. ;)
Keep going! ;)