Nightmare Night Special
This is an extra chapter, and will be shorter than most (I'll be trying to write this in less than two hours)will be the longest chapter so far and was written over the course of the entire night, it's also not in the right chronological spot, and by the time I get to the real Nightmare Night episode their personalities might be different, so the canonicity of this chapter will be in doubt until such time.
As is, it's Halloween tonight, and I'm not about to pass up the chance to have Empress Twilight celebrate the equivalent holiday on the same night!
So here you guys go!
starting writing in 1...
2...
3...
Go!
"This is going to be spectacular!" Oscuridad shouted proudly, directing the professional decorators. Wrapping around the Tower were blue and silver bands, decorated with symbols, hanging majestically above the main opening was the gigantic stylized symbol of Nightmare Moon and the Night Empire; the Black Queen''s head rising from a black crescent moon, with an all-seeing eye. "Princess, don't you agree? Isn't it amazing?"
"Yeah, sure, a little to the left." Twilight said distractedly, her head whizzing from the dozens of floating cue cards.
"YOU HEARD HER PEONS, TO THE LEFT!" Oscuridad roared.
"Huh, what?!" Twilight asked, forcefully pulled from her mind-dissolving study session.
"Apologies Princess, I was merely carrying out your ord-"
"Oh! It's absolutely beautiful! Really in the Nightmare Night spirit!"
Oscuridad thought the compliment cancelled out whatever disrespect had occurred with the interruption. Not that he minded of course, if his Empress thought best to interrupt him, who was he to argue? "Yes, I think so too." Twilight frowned a little afterward. "What, what is it Princess?"
"I still feel a little awkward going through with all the expenses..."
"Nonsense Twilight." The shadhavar and the alicorn turned to see Princess Celestia walking forward. "It's my pleasure."
Oscuridad stiffened slightly at the sight of the sun princess but remained quiet. As per usual six Longma were suddenly at Twilight's side, and six glares were aimed at Celestia. The white alicorn didn't seem to notice the ill intent in the looks and merely returned a friendly smile to the six. "Thanks again for paying for the decorations... and well, mostly everything else."
"This is an Equestrian national holiday, and the National Celebration is taking place in Ponyville this year, I'm completely justified if I want to offer decorations and free candy to the entire town."
Twilight giggled. "Yes, I think you earned Pinkie's undying loyalty with that one."
Crow suppressed a shiver at the thought of someone as fast as Pinkie as a royal guard. Celestia and Twilight chatted for another few minutes before the sun princess moved on to oversee other projects. Twilight turned back to her notes soon after, and Oscuridad went back to overseeing the decorating of the Tower.
"Sir, if I may, I'd like permission for temporary leave, so that I could go and observe the Solar Nightmare Night." Den asked Jaeger. "I've never really seen much of it, and I want to see what's different."
"Denied." Jaeger replied simply. "This is an official government function, by Night Law no less than six Guards are to remain in view of the Princess."
Twilight glanced up, "Sure, you guys all go and have a blast."
Jaeger frowned even deeper. "Princess, please, this is an important cultural event. You require a guard."
"Alright... which of you cares the least about the holiday?"
Crescent immediately stepped forward. Jaeger narrowed his eyes at her "You don't like our most important festival?"
Crescent seemed as emotionless as always. "Not particularly, I just never really celebrated. I can appreciate the official function of a festival, but as a celebration I just never understood the point. Nightmare raises the Moon every night, why should we celebrate this one night in particular?"
"It's symbolic." Jaeger protested. "It's meant to honor Nightmare Moon for an entire year of service!"
Crescent stiffened slightly. "Permission to speak freely sir?"
"Yes."
"Then for a thousand years Nightmare Night has been honoring Celestia?" Jaeger seemed dumbstruck for a few seconds. "I for one never really celebrated except for taking the free night off. But the rest of you probably want to see what kind of Nightmare Night was made by Solar ponies."
Twilight had put down the cards once again, "The festival still kind of celebrates Nightmare Moon, or at least, the memory of her." The six turned back to their Princess. "I recommend that you all check it out, for the sake of... cultural understandings? A lot of my friends really enjoy the celebration, and even Princess Luna had a lot of fun last year... according to her, 'fun' didn't exist a thousand years ago." Twilight smiled. "I've been wondering about that, what do you all do for fun?"
"Read, write, research geography, etc." Den began.
"When I was younger I'd go out to dance often." Kalt offered.
"Board games." Sanguine said with a grin.
"I always enjoy a good brawl." Crow said innocently.
"Pony watching." Crescent said emotionlessly.
Jaeger rolled his eyes. "Having 'fun' means you're wasting time with something unnecessary for selfish reasons. Fun is for foals who don't have work to do." The other five guards took a step back from their leader hesitantly.
"Well, now you all don't have anything to do, so why not check out the festival? Me and Crescent will be absolutely fine. Ponyville is the safest place in the world."
"Except for the horde of monsters only a few kilometers away." Crow threw in happily. "Not that I'm disagreeing with you Princess, with your skill and us at your side, you're always in the safest place in the world!" Crow said, catching himself before he openly opposed the Princess.
"Horde of Monsters?!" Twilight hissed, looking around wildly.
"The Everfree Forest." Sanguine clarified.
"Oh!" Twilight let out a sigh of relief. "Whew, you had me scared for a second that the Festival might get it's schedule changed."
The six looked at her for a few seconds.
"-And that the town would be in danger of course... heh... heh."
"Well, thank you for the leave, Princess." Den said before fluttering away.
Crow nodded his agreement, a mischievous look on his face. "I think I remember Rainbow Dash saying something about a Nightmare Night Pranking Crusade..."
"Did somepony say Crusaders?!" Three cries came from a nearby bush.
"Oh dear Moon not again." Crow said below his breath before taking off as fast as he could, three fillies in costume chasing after him.
"Well, I'm off to try out the party games." Sanguine said happily. "Kalt, Jaeger, you want to come with me?"
"I'm staying by the Princess's side." Jaeger said stubbornly.
"Sure." Kalt replied, the two mares walking off toward the party games, for once their colors and monstrous appearance perfectly fitting to walking the Ponyville streets.
Twilight looked at Jaeger and sighed. "Jaeger..." she began.
Jaeger waited for Twilight to continue, but she just looked at him for a little while, thinking. "You know... Spike might need a bodyguard while he goes candy-gathering."
Jaeger almost sighed at the indignity of being downgraded from imperial bodyguard to his Empress to babysitting a baby dragon, but he was too professional for that. "...understood, Princess."
"I'm serious you know, what would your comrades in the Night Empire say when they found out 'Nightmare Twilight Sparkle's' 'fierce Dragon familiar' disappeared during her own festival?"
Jaeger merely nodded and went off to chaperone Spike.
"Well, I hope they all have fun... Crescent, you sure you don't want to go either?" the mare shook her head no.
"Well... alright then." For some reason she seemed incredibly content just standing there watching the ponies pass by. "Well...now to go over my speech..." Crescent watched as Twilight once again buried herself in her note cards. She smiled a little, content with just sitting next to Twilight and watching the smiling faces pass along.
"So! It's real simple." Rainbow began, smiling evilly in her Night guard costume. Crow looked it over when he first met up with Rainbow. He wasn't sure if he should be flattered or insulted she had decided to go with a costume meant to look like the outfit he wore every day. "First, we sneak up as quietly as possible by good targets, and then we just give the cloud a short buck, and BOOM, we scare the pants off em'."
"One problem."
"Shoot."
"I can't make thunder."
"....what?"
"I'm not a pegasus, I can't just flutter over to a cloud and give it a kick and expect the laws of nature to follow my whim."
"Are you kidding me?"
"Nope." Crow smiled. "No pegasus magic here. Just Longma."
"Well... what can Longma do?"
Crow gave a smile, "Thought you'd never ask."
Sanguine and Kalt walked through the main square, looking over the different games. Sanguine's smile grew wider and wider. "So... how much of your paycheck do you have on you?" Kalt asked hesitantly.
"All of it."
Kalt giggled a little. "Well, I suppose we're in for a show, where should we start?"
Sanguine looked over the square for a few seconds. "There seems like a good place to start." The two mares walk over to a spider throwing game and Kalt taps the shoulder of a large stallion.
"Eh, whadduya want-" he stops when he sees the mares. "Oh! Hello there misses... nice costumes, you vampires?"
Kalt gives a flirty smile. "Something like that. Is this a fun game?"
"Eh? This thing? Sure, I'm pretty good at it."
"Could you show me?" Sanguine asks suggestively.
"Sure, it's easy, you just put a spider in your hoof and toss it over to the web, if it sticks, you win points. The closer to the middle the better." He demonstrated, and through an act of pure luck he managed to get the spider in the middle.
"Want to make a bet?" Sanguine asked. "I'll bet fifty bits that I can get it in the center on my first try."
The stallion frowned. "Hey now. I don't have fifty bits on me."
"Alright..." Sanguine said frowning. "Fifteen then?"
The stallion narrowed his eyes. "I dunno... you seem like you could have a good hoof."
Kalt walked a circle around him. "How about if she doesn't get it we'll give you twenty bits and we'll both allow you to accompany us for the rest of the festival?"
The stallion raised an eyebrow. "Alright... I think I can-" Sanguine picked a spider up out of the barrel and tossed it, knocking the stallion's spider out of it's spot and taking it's place.
Sanguine grinned. "Let me guess, beginner's luck?"
The stallion grinned good naturedly. "How'd you know?"
"I'm willing to go for two out of three." Sanguine said happily. "If we're betting another ten bits."
"This is humiliating." Jaeger hissed.
"This house next!" one of the foals in the group shouted, leading the charge. The monstrous warrior following behind grumbling.
Spike was near the front of the crowd, but at the very back, near Jaeger was one foal who seemed depressed for some reason. "Hey... uh... child."
"Hm?"
"What's wrong? Are you not getting the right... candy?"
"Huh, no, the candy's fine... I'm just..."
"..."
"Well... last year princess Luna was here, and she scared us and played games with us and made it my most fun Nightmare Night ever!...but she's not here this year."
"...oh."
"You probably don't believe me, do you. After that none of the other kids at school thought I was friends with Princess Luna either..."
"No. I can believe it... I... I'm friends with Luna too. And I'm sure that she's doing something very important to miss her festival."
"Yeah, I know."
"Good."
"She's my favorite Princess you know... well, I haven't met any other Princesses... actually, no, Twilight's a princess now too! So I've met two princesses!"
"Hm. But you're an earth pony, don't you like the sun?"
"Well sure, what does that have to do with it?"
"Celestia's the Princess of the sun, Luna the moon, her Majesty Twilight the night... etc."
Pipsqueak raised an eyebrow. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"...I suppose... not much... anymore."
"Hey Mister, are you okay?"
"I'm fine kid." Jaeger said too quickly. He hadn't really talked about this with a solar pony before. Actually, he supposed he never talked to anypony about it before.
"...do you need some candy?"
"..."
"..."
"...yes."
Den walked through the streets, finding himself following the flow to the main square, and from there to a shrine in the woods, where a zebra named Zecora would regale the townsfolk with the tale of Nightmare Moon. He smiled and pulled out his notes as the zebra began.
He could think of several friends who are fascinated in the changes that occurred over the thousand years they were gone. The Nightmare Night Festival story, a long and honored tradition going back before Nightmare Moon called herself Nightmare Moon, was usually a classic story telling of the great deeds of Princess Luna, and her never-failed duty to always raise the Moon every night so that the world would never permanently fall to darkness. Even on the darkest, longest night of the year, or when the Moon is barely visible, Luna would always make sure it would rise again, a little fuller or a little less, but there would always be light during the night.
It was told by parents to children, brothers to brothers, seniors to juniors. It was always a tale that would justify their eternal loyalty, inspire foals to be strong and determined, and leave them in awe of their Princess.
It was not this short nursery rhyme about a demonic figure.
He wrote it down all the same, but he was furious afterwards. This was unprecedented. There was a flimsy magical special effect that made the foals scream, and even some of the adults. Ponies wearing disguises to avoid getting caught, offering candy... he was actually physically sick with anger when they accused their ruler of cannibalism. Cannibalism! It was only the scholar inside him that kept him from screaming at Zecora and the townsfolk. At least until she finished her story. But by the end of it the foals had dumped their candy and started running off, screaming. When the adults had left, it was just Den and Zecora.
"Excuse me, Miss Zecora."
"Yes, my pony friend? You seem troubled, and I have an ear to lend."
"...do you do that rhyming thing all the time?"
"Yes, isn't it the best?"
"..."
Zecora sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, I'll stop. For now. What's wrong? I haven't seen you around town."
"That story of yours..."
"Yes?"
"It disgusts me."
Zecora smiled, "Well, it is the season to scare and disgust."
"No... no it isn't. This is the season to celebrate before the cold comes. This is the season to spend inside with your family and tell each other of the beauty, honor, and great sacrifices of Nightmare Moon."
Zecora raised an eyebrow. "Well... I've never heard that before."
"Do you honestly believe any of that story?"
"Of course not, Princess Luna is a good mare, despite her past wrongdoings."
"Past wrongdoings?!"
Zecora frowned. "Of course, or does throwing the world into eternal darkness one of her great sacrifices?"
"No, it was her just revenge... and it was eternal night, not eternal darkness. Big difference."
"And what difference is that?"
"The Moon. The stars."
Zecora stared at him for a while before smiling. "I think this will be an interesting talk, come, let's go somewhere we can sit and think."
Den raised an eyebrow. "Why is that?"
"You're a type of pony I've never met before. A view far different that mine. Of course it will be interesting." She began walking back toward town. "You can tell me the Legend of Nightmare Moon."
Den felt the anger slowly ebb away. "Alright, will you tell it at the shrine afterwards?"
"Maybe, if I can find the right effects."
Twilight let out a sigh of relief after she sank back into her seat. The speech had gone flawlessly, and Celestia took over with her proper spot as well. She knew that as a Princess she would have to get more used to speaking publicly without all the extra stress, but old habits died hard. But that was over with, everything she needed to do was done, and now she could just go and enjoy Nightmare Night.
She was about to get out of the chair when a sudden explosion knocked her out of it. Crescent was suddenly there, shielding Twilight's body with her wings and scanning the area for the source of the explosion.
"Woo hoo!" Rainbow cried happily, followed by the maniacal laughter of Crow. Crescent let out a small silent sigh before turning back to the Princess.
"What was that?!" Twilight gasped out.
"Pranking masters, that's what!" Rainbow bragged proudly, "You never told me about your Longma's nifty smoke bomb tricks!"
"Smoke bomb?"
"You know, we breath smoke. Dragon magic."
"Dragon magic?"
Crow nodded. "You... didn't know?"
Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Noo..."
"We eat gems, we have bat wings and frills, and when I fly smoke trails behind me, does Pegasus magic do that?"
"Okay, it's no firebreath, but it's still pretty cool! He can make these, like, huge bursts of smoke that spread out really fast!" Rainbow Dash explained too fastly. "I tell you, when lightning comes out of nowhere it scares the hay out of ponies, but when lightning scares the hay out of them, and then they're suddenly in a field of darkness, it's a hundred times scarier!!" She giggled madly.
"'oh, I'm blind, I'm blind, how will I ever see my beloved sun ever again?'" Crow mocked, laughing in his normal maniacal way afterwards.
Twilight frowned. "Guys, that's really, really mean. I hope you two are ashamed of yourselves." She immediately regretted it as Crow sunk to the ground and put his head to the road, not looking up at her. "~sigh~... get up Crow, just... be careful okay? And don't do pranks so severe they knock ponies out of chairs!"
"Yes Ma'am, a thousand apologies Empress!"
Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes. "Thanks Twi, you broke my pranking partner."
"What about Pinkie?"
"Eh, she's always busy around this time of year, what with all the parties going on, and then the free candy being thrown around everywhere."
"Speaking of Pinkie Pie," Twilight began, walking over to where the group of candy-gatherers were returning. "hey Spike, Pinkie, Jaeger, how were your profits tonight?"
"I think I'm going to be sick." Spike reported proudly.
"Successful then," Twilight said. She turned to her chief bodyguard. "Thanks for watching them, I hope it wasn't too humiliating for you."
"NotatallprincessIneverhadsolarcandybeforeit'sreallysweetlikereallyreallysweethowmuchsugarcanyoufitintosuchasmallboxanyway?!"
Twilight blinked twice before Crow let out a simple; "...what?"
"Thesweetsthesweetsthey'rewaysweeterthanhomeI'veneverhadthismuchsugarinonenightthisisrediculousIcan'tstop!" Jaeger blurted out before closing his mouth again.
"Are you... in a sugar rush?" Twilight asked incredulously.
Crow raised an eyebrow and picked a piece of candy out of the bottom of Spike's bucket and tossed it in his mouth. His eyes widened and he spit it out. "That.... that's way too sweet..."
Sanguine and Kalt came up next. "What's too sweet?" Kalt asked.
"All my brand new sweet cash perhaps?" Sanguine said proudly, pulling out the purse that was three times as full as when she started.
"Jaeger's having a sugar rush." Twilight explained.
"...What?" Both mares said at the same time.
"Jaeger, go ahead, tell them."
"OfcoursePrincessTwilightSparkleIwillimmediatlythecandyiswaytoosweetnothinglikeintheNightEmpirethisisinsanehowmanydidIeveneat?!"
Pipsqueak smiled a little. "He ate half my bucket in two minutes after the first piece, but then the others decided to pitch in and help, because he explained that he was a Knight of Nightmare Moon! So he needed candy too! So we just gave him the candy we were going to leave at the shrine anyway."
"...that's more than seven pounds of candy..." Twilight said, already having run through the calculations.
All the ponies present took a few good steps away from Jaeger.
"Whathwhat'swrong?Iorderyoutotellmewhat'sgoingonwhyisn'tanyponydoinganythingohdearmoonmybrain..."
"Come on... I think we need to get you into bed at best and get you to the hospital at worst..."
Den and Zecora spent a pleasant evening together learning about each other's cultures, leaving the coffee shop (which had stayed open late for Nightmare Night), and when he left he had a smile on his face, a jump in his step, and saddlebags filled with notes on Solar Pony and Zebra culture.
He strolled down to the Tower and was about to push the door open when the Song of the Moon began to play in his face. Oscuridad then appeared, dressed in full Vampire costume, holding out a bowl of candy.
"An offering for Nightmare Moon, should you resist your greed foal-" the Captain stopped when he realized who he was talking to. "-oh, hello Den. You're the last to arrive."
Den stared at his Captain for a few seconds. "Sir... permission to speak freely."
"Is it about the cape?"
"Partly..."
"...fine."
"Have you been sitting outside the door all night waiting to blast our culture's holiday song in foal's faces before threatening them into taking your candy?"
"...I'm just getting into the spirit of the event... Princess Luna put her full support in the Solar version of the Holiday, why should I do any less on Solar soil?"
"...Okay." Den walked inside to see a sympathetic looking Kalt sitting next to Jaeger,whose face was green and half in a bucket, Sanguine was playing some sort of chance/tower building game with a large amount of bits, Crow and Rainbow Dash seemed to be having a loud and confused conversation about the difference between clouds and smoke, and neither seemed to be winning, while Twilight and Spike seemed to have passed out in a pile of pillows. And, strangest of all, Crescent was sitting in the center of it all with a smile on her face. "...must have been some night." Den said with finality.
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good read^^
so will you update more often again?^^
IT LIIIIIIIVES! AND IT IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!
3427511>>3427570 Yes, I'm sorry I've taken so long to update it, but I just really didn't find the inspiration to write for this story for a long time, and then I started reading Homestuck, which killed all hopes of productivity for months. But now... I'm back, and I'm prepared, and my head is full of pony.
I've already got the beginnings of the next chapter started as well, so it shouldn't be more than a week (or even a few days) til I get the next one out. And it's on top priority, so unless there's suddenly school stuff, expect more Longma!
This was hilarious!
And it was really interesting to see another side of the guards, and to see Nightmare Night from their perspective.
Also, it may be a bit belated, but Happy Halloween!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Pooor Jaeger, hes gonna feel this one in the, um later today
Love this one.
Great chapter Jeck
really the ONLY thing that's stopping me from feeling sorry for Jaeger is how hard I'm laughing right now
LOVED THIS CHAPTER, that poor poor pony
3429660>>3430603>>3429604>>3429527 Thanks, it was about time I did something worthy of the comedy tag.
3430610 I have little doubt that with this story line you would have gotten around to it eventually, even if I at least found it funny how you had Pinkie doing her thing while standing toe-to-toe with a combat veteran
her just doing what comes naturally, while he's there pulling out all the stops and can't land ONE blow
I'm so glad this has returned! And with a funny chapter to boot!
Amusing, even if it does ramble a lot. There are lots of different viewpoints and the only distinct chronological points are at the beginning and end. I also think Jaeger is a little too far out of character, unless the Longma have a serious sugar vulnerability. Admittedly it might explain why Nightmare Night is the way it is. I do have to wonder if the Longma have a blind spot for Luna's behavior a thousand years ago, given their isolation from solar ponies and not being bothered by the night... After all to have the sun stolen from them and eternal night would be like subjecting the Longma to eternal day. Obviously that's never happened to them, day and night have purportedly been in largely equal measure.
P.S.
I'd like to see Zecora and Den's conversation. :) Also, it's sad that you would mention the CMC without telling us what, if anything, they got up to this time, if only in passing.
3442789 This chapter was meant more as a halloween special than an actual chapter, as I mentioned at the top, it's not canon. I did ramble a bit, but I was just writing as I went, I had no idea where I was starting with the chapter, except that it was going to be Nightmare Night. As for different viewpoints happening at the same time, I understand it can confusing for some readers, but it's part of my style, I think, because I end up using it in almost anything I write.
Whew that was a long reply.
As for Jaeger, I wanted to have fun and get some amusement out of the most serious character. My justification is he's never had candy anything like the kind in Solar Equestria and started gorging on it; he's just never had that amount of sugar in his system before, and in the mlpverse it seems that almost all sudden ailments are much more extreme. Eating a bad muffin gets you bedridden, headaches can knock you out, insomnia can make you seem drunk.... why not have a pony whose never had anything as sweet as Equestrian Candy in his life eat seven pounds of it, and be justifiably sugar-high and then completely sick.
The day and night thing I'll get to in later parts- just a clue first, these are magical creatures who live in black tunnels in an ice castle, and who eat gems instead of plants. Everlasting Night isn't as harsh to them.
And as for the CMC.... hehehe... I'm going to have fun with them and Crow. After all, in the 'current' (just after chapter 10) story it's several months before Nightmare Night, which Twilight isn't even going to be in Ponyville for. The CMC are going to become a bigger part of the story in later chapters, don't worry.
The reason I didn't write Den and Zecora's conversation is because I'm absolutely terrible at rhyming and I don't want to expose too much Night culture yet, as that was what they were talking about.
3444024
You could refine it into a proper chapter though, I think you've got the core plot for it there.
Err, ok.
3445892 What part into a proper chapter? Also, note for the future, the chapter after the next will involve Crow, Rainbow, and the CMC.
I have to admit, I laughed most at your choice of music for the Song of the Moon. Not so much because it's not a good song...just that I wasn't expecting it.
...unless you've used that song before in the story and I just forgot...which is possible. It would explain how I came across that particular artist before...
I love that Oscuridad was able to get into the spirit of things without trouble.
Hoping to see more soon!
3447658
What I mean is that the 'Nightmare Night Special' seems substantial enough to be a stand alone chapter, and that you essentially have the core of a plot (of sorts) for it. I.e. Twilight and her new guard participate in Ponyville's NIghtmare Night celebrations with interesting results. If you wrote up some of that conversation with Zecora even if it was just the beginning and end of the conversation plus some kind of teaser/foreshadowing that would really help it in the direction of a formal chapter. At the moment it's more like a good chunk of slightly disparate accounts of the personal experiences of the night for several of the guards.
Okay, either they were ASLEEP for 1,000 years, or they were in HIDING for 1,000 years. you've got them doing both.
5722734
NO they were HISEEPINGING!!