Nightmare Night: The Rest of the Time

by sgamer82

Chapter 4

“Twilight, are we glad to see you!”

“Why does everypony keep calling me Twilight?” Twilight said in frustration. “Just because whatever’s affecting this place made a horn sprout out of my head everyone forgets who Daring Do is! Well, whatever. Zecora, we got three more.”

“Zecora?!” the Crusaders said in unison.

“Indeed it is, my little ponies. Seeing you here is a sight to please.”

Zecora approached the fillies. She wore an outfit not unlike the one she had last Nightmare Night. The girls looked around the room and saw about a half dozen other ponies. Like Zecora, they seemed to still be in costume. Unlike Zecora, they appeared to be behaving as their costumes. The girls noticed a filly dressed as a rabbit huddling in a corner. They saw who they now knew to be Pound and Pumpkin Cake fussing over an infant Pinkie Pie, trying to give her a bottle. An astro-pony was pacing through the room, a breathing sound emanating from his suit.

“Are you really you, Zecora?” Apple Bloom asked.

“We saw Spike before, and he seemed to know who we were,” Sweetie Belle said.

“But so did Rainbow Dash,” Scootaloo pointed out. “and she still acted differently.”

“I am indeed myself, down to my soul. The curse that afflicts Ponyville appears to possess a single loophole. My own costume is obtained from items on my shelves, for you see I am in fact, dressed as myself. My garb is that of a Zebrecan shaman, while Spike dressed himself as a dragon. Thus, we are gifted with the powers of our costumes along with our memory. Between us we possess quite the impressive armory. ”

“Y’mean you weren’t affected because you dressed as somethin’ you already were?”

Zecora nodded.

“Rainbow Dash retains her identity but not in whole. She sees herself as Rainbow Dash the Shadowbolt.”

“Rainbow Dash said Nightmare Moon was here,” Apple Bloom reported.

“Princess Luna was due to come to Ponyville soon. If she dressed as before she’s been subsumed by Nightmare Moon. Stay here, fillies, while we seek the answer. What causes this in Ponyville I am as yet unsure.”

“It was Discord,” Sweetie Belle told her. Zecora looked at the filly in surprise. The trio told Zecora everything they knew about Discord and his claims of causing everypony’s odd behavior.

“So our problems are caused by the spirit of Chaos. Seems he enjoys nothing more than to raise a fuss.”

“Discord?” Twilight Sparkle asked. “That’s the Spirit of Chaos and Disharmony from the old legends. The one said to have been defeated by the Princesses. I’d heard he was free now, but somehow less dangerous. Is that because of this Fluttershy?”

“Indeed, Mistress Do, Fluttershy is unique. She befriended Discord so her approval he seeks.”

“But now he’s put her behind some kind of bubble or something,” Scootaloo asked. “If we got Discord’s clue right we gotta get past that.”

“I saw the barrier of which you speak, and felt within lay the answers we seek. I’ve examined the shield’s nature with my gifts from afar. It is made especially to allow only one to enter or depart.”

“Bet’cha that’s either Fluttershy or Discord,” Apple Bloom said.

“So does that mean that to get that barrier to go away and break Discord’s spell…”

“...we gotta get Fluttershy or Discord to cross the barrier,” Scootaloo finished for Sweetie Belle.

“That would go well with Discord’s riddle,” Twilight explained. “We need to be cautious though. While historically Discord’s known for enjoying his games, he’s also known to violate his own rules if it looks like he’s going to lose. Miss Zecora, we need to get to that cottage and convince this Fluttershy to pass the barrier.”

“Miss Daring Do, I agree with you,” Zecora said. “But I can not leave this place, or these ponies become prey. My powers are all that keep the dangers at bay.”

“Huh?” Apple Bloom asked. Twilight answered for the zebra.

“What she means is that her powers are providing their own shield over this cellar. The ponies you see here are rendered helpless by Discord’s curse. If Zecora leaves that protection goes with her. And a group this big would be spotted by something out there if we all went together.”

“So then what?” Apple Bloom asked. Twilight adjusted her pith helmet.

“I go alone.”

“We go alone!” Scootaloo corrected.

“You can’t go alone, together,” Sweetie Belle told her.

“You know what I mean.”

“That’s out of the question. I can understand, and even admire, wanting to see this thing through to the finish. But you’re only children. Even I’m not so reckless I would put kids in danger like that.”

“An’ what about the possibility that we have to be there?” Apple Bloom corrected. “Maybe Discord left somethin’ there for us.”

“A point to consider,” Daring Twilight replied. “But if we’re right about the riddle, and I believe we are, then it’s more likely nothing will be there. At the very least I can go, check it out, and bring you back if I absolutely have to.”

“You said Discord plays by his own rules unless he’s gonna lose,” Scootaloo tried. “If you go without us, he may just make you disappear and reappear somewhere else or something like that. And if you do need us there, it’ll be better if we go with you in the first place.”

“I said no!” Twilight shouted, baby Pinkie began to cry, prompting Twilight to speak quieter. “I said no. It’s dangerous enough as it is. For some reason I’m a unicorn instead of a pegasus, and I don’t know magic. So I’ll only have my brain and my own four legs to handle any trouble that shows up. I’m not gonna be able to watch you three at the same time.”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders were mutinous. That was when Sweetie Belle spoke up.

“We’ll just sneak out anyway, you know.”

Everypony looked at her.

“Zecora, you know us. Have you ever known us to simply stop when something was important to us? And, let’s face it, if we’re really determined-”

“And we are!” Apple Bloom said.

“And we are,” Sweetie Belle continued. “Then the instant you’re not paying attention we’ll try to bust through the door to that cellar. Or dig our way out. Or I can experiment with teleportation magic. Or we can convince Pinkie Pie that her very first birthday party is waiting outside.”

“And those are the good ideas,” Scootaloo pointed out. “Even I’m not sure what we’ll try if those don’t work.”

Twilight’s jaw had dropped.

“You can’t be serious.”

“In fact, I fear, they mean what they say,” Zecora responded. “They enact crazy plans day by day. Loathe I am to admit it is so, it may indeed be best to take them when you go.”

“Zecora!”

“Either we let them leave, with you and your watchful eye. Or, Daring Do, we chance on what would occur to them to try.”

Twilight was clearly angry that Zecora appeared to be siding with the Crusaders.

“Fine! On one condition! You three follow my orders, to the letter. No pretending to misunderstand. No looking for loopholes. I give you an instruction I expect you to obey it precisely as I explain it. Clear?”

The Cutie Mark Crusaders considered this and nodded.

“Agreed,” Apple Bloom said, speaking for the three of them.

“Then let’s go.”

Comments

[Crack-Fic Casey]

This is one of, if not THE best version of this idea I've ever read!

[sgamer82]

3916998
Actually the idea for the whole fic was inspired by Scootaloo doing that. Original idea was she was a fan of Doctor Whooves and donned a bowtie etc to be the Eleventh Doctor, followed by a pony version of Eleven's opening scene ("Ooh, feathers, lots of feathers! I'm a girl!") I scrapped it since I figured the idea was good enough to stand on its own but if/when I finish this fic I may include it as a "deleted scene" sorts.

[Puzzle Reader]

3918725 That sounds AWESOME.

[Crack-Fic Casey]

3918725
I don't suppose you know where that story is? I'd like to read it.

[sgamer82]

4013049
It's not written. That was my original idea for this fic. I may include a chapter as a kind of deleted scene for later. I'm about to wrap up Nightmare in Old Equestria so I"ll be free to work on this one afterward.

[StrigidaeFan]

Is this based off of Buffy, by any chance?
(With Doctor Who thrown in of course.)

[sgamer82]

4016397 The concept is, at least in the sense that the Buffy Halloween episode is where I'm personally most familiar with it. Though I imagine it's seen use elsewhere, too.

[StrigidaeFan]

4016700
This is one of the few FIMFics I've seen that uses the Buffy Halloween setup.
Good job on it.