156 - What a Fright
Nefertari dropped the hat on Silver's head and fussed with it a moment. "What a ridiculous holiday this is, but... interesting."
Silver tilted the hat back a little as he looked up at Nefer, feeling his cheeks grow warm. Her mummy's outfit had entirely the wrong, or right, effect on him. Binding her, it only seemed to emphasize what made her more like a woman and much less like a jackal. The fact that she didn't cover the top portion...
Night swatted him over the head. "You got lost on the way to her eyes."
Silver blinked rapidly. "Sorry! Er, thank you." He shook himself out a little. "I never thought I'd get a turn pretending to be Star Swirl." He assumed a regal pose. "How do I look?"
Samantha tapped her chin as she appeared, dressed up as a nurse with a large nurse's cap on display, white robes, and a red cross on her chest. "I would place that at a sixty percent accuracy."
Silver blinked softly. "That's not bad, but what makes you say it?"
Samantha started counting on her hoof, tapping with each number. "Your silver mane and tail looks about right, though his was more white I'm told. The clothes are spot on, and you're a stallion, and an experienced spell-caster! You've even made spells before, so there's that."
Night inclined an ear at Samantha. "And what's missing?"
"Oh!" Samantha pointed at Silver's eyes. "I forgot, he had your color eyes, so make that seventy percent. One major difference is that he didn't like being around ponies, but you've learned to like being around ponies." Her manic grin spread wide. "He was grey and you're all brown, so that's not right. He was also older, a lot older. You're still a young pony."
Night nodded softly. "That's a fair assessment." She turned in a circle, showing off her own outfit. "How do I look?"
Nefertari stroked her chin. "You appear fierce, but I admit to not understanding the specific goal."
Samantha thrust a hoof up. "Ooo Ooo, I know! You're an old lunar guard!"
Night flashed a smile, fangs on display. "Exactly right. Luna changed things up when she came back, but this used to be how almost every guard looked." She spread her wings in a slow stretch. "Do I look dangerous?"
Silver leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Yes, but I'd be gladly pinned and attacked by you any day of the week."
Night snorted even as her cheeks colored lightly. "You and your tongue. Alright, everypony's ready?"
Samantha perked an ear. "Where are the foals?"
Silver pointed out of the room. "They're being watched after, don't worry. They have lots of company with other foals to have a good time."
With everything ready, they started to file out of the room. Nefertari moved beside Silver. "Thank you for inviting me on this trip. As ambassador, experiencing the culture of my host nation is one of my duties."
Silver smiled happily at her response. "I'm glad you agreed to come. Let's have a fun time, all of us. I heard they're making a haunted house on the south side of the city. We should try to check that out."
Nefer raised a brow high. "I doubt anything a pony would call 'haunted' would quite measure up."
Samantha bumped up against Nefertari. "You're thinking about it too hard. The goal of tonight is anything but authenticity! Accept the frights as they are offered."
Night perked a tufted ear at Samantha. "That's surprisingly apt from you."
Samantha beamed at the praise, double-edged as it was. "I'm with all my favorite subjects tonight. I know I'm going to have fun!"
Night slowed, allowing Silver and Nefer to pass beside her before she nudged Nefer away. "We need to speak."
Nefer held up a hand, palm exposed. "I am not here to make advances on him. Until we have an accord, he is not my quarry."
The response seemed to catch Night by surprise as she raised her head up and back. "Really? Well..." She glanced left and right a moment. "Alright then. I don't mean to be grumpy, so let's have a nice Nightmare Night, okay?"
"Let's." Nefertari put a hand on the surprised lunar mare's head and scratched behind one of her ears. "Where do you suggest we begin?"
Night smoothly ducked under and away from the hand as she danced away. "Let's start in the square. Luna should appear there, and that's always a fine way to start this particular holiday."
The city was transformed as they walked through it. Orange was a powerfully present color, everypony was dressed up, and 'spooky' ornaments dangled from almost everything, from webs to ghosts and insects. Anything that could be considered frightening or creepy was on display.
Silver homed in on a pony out of the mess, the rounded form of a particular stallion. With a sudden smile he approached the one pony dressed like a trucker. "Rough Tumble! Happy Nightmare Night."
Rough jerked in surprise. "Oh! Hey, uh... Silver." His eyes darted to the company of mares moving to catch up with Silver's sudden motion. "Don't let me keep you."
Silver put a hoof on Rough's shoulder. "No running away this time. You're not a burden to me and I'm not letting you go."
Night raised a brow as she came close. "Why are you assaulting Rough Tumble?"
Silver slipped the leg around Rough's neck, pulling him closer. "Because I care about him."
"Care about me?!" He had power, and he used it in a rough shove that sent Silver staggering backwards to bump into Nefertari, which may have been the only reason he didn't topple. "You threw me away! You have a whole new family now." He glanced from mare to mare to jackal. "And you haven't changed a bit."
Silver righted himself even as he could feel Nefertari coiled, ready to do something bad. "I deserved that. I didn't react well last time we met, and that was my failing, not yours." He took a step towards Rough with a little smile. "I do care though. Come on, we're going to have fun this Nightmare Night, then we're going to do what I suggested last time and look up our other old friends."
Samantha leaned in towards Rough from the other way. "I'd go along with him. When he starts looking like that, it's hard to change his mind."
Silver quirked a smile at the idea of Samantha calling him difficult to deal with. "She's not wrong. Come on, there's no reason to be alone tonight."
Rough's head sank a little before it came back up. He gave a firm nod. "Fine. I'll show you the good spots."
Nefer's opinion swayed quickly. "Good spots? What sort of spots would these be?"
"Heh, candy's for foals. The real action's in the cider, and I know where the really powerful stuff's hitting the streets." With building confidence, Rough took the lead of the group and they cut a path through the city. The alleyways they traveled did a better job of being creepy with their poorly-lit quietness than the brightly lit jovial streets could ever manage with their 'scary' decorations.
Rough strode up to a metal door and clopped a hoof against it three times quickly. "Apples going sour."
A small slit opened in the door, looking over the batch of them. A soft whistle came from within. "Two court jockeys and a night guard? Boy if I didn't know you really well, this conversation would already be over."
Rough shrugged as he gestured back at his company. "They're just as thirsty as anypony else."
"Are they?" The slit shut and the sound of locks being jiggled filled the alleyway before the door swung inwards. "Come in."
They pressed into a dismal and poorly lit place. Night's eyes widened to take in light and Nefer's seemed to shine, but that did little to help Silver and Samantha who walked forward slowly into the gloom. A large earth pony stepped out behind the party. "Forty bits a bottle. No questions, no refunds, and no seconds. You buy what you want and get out." His dark-furred face split with a crooked smile. "Have a nice Nightmare Night."
Rough raised a hoof to the pony. "You know what I get. Hook me up." A cup was offered to him and Rough swigged it down with a contorted wrinkling of his snout as if he was swallowing fire. "That's some powerful stuff."
Silver perked an ear curiously. "Just a glass?"
"What? Do I look rich?" Rough frowned a bit as he put some bits on the ground. "I plan to visit a few more places."
Night nudged Silver. "Go on."
Silver looked across to her and his other companions. "We'll take two bottles."
The darkness was filled with laughter as two bottles rolled into view. "Nobles are always the fastest to get sloshed. Drink up."
Silver set a bag of bits down and plucked up the bottles. Soon they were back into the alleyway. Night turned the group. "Let's not miss Luna. It's not Nightmare Night without her."
Samantha looked at one of the hovering bottles in Silver's grasp. "Being intoxicated leads to dangerously skewed results. I don't want to bias the results from tonight anymore than they already are."
Rough shook his head. "I have no idea what you're saying, but the less you drink, the more for me." He put a leg over Silver's withers. "You are sharing those, right?"
Silver snorted the very idea. "Right, I'm going to just guzzle these down myself."
Nefertari held up a bottle, yanking it out of Silver's mental grip effortlessly. "Does all pony liquor have apples in it?"
They arrived at the square and the pony density grew rapidly as they formed into a mob facing a stage with excited whispers passing back and forth. It seemed they had arrived just about on time as Luna was scheduled to arrive in just a few minutes.
Night brushed up against Silver. "I wanted to tell you something."
Silver returned the brush gently. "I'm always here for you. What's on your mind?"
She glanced away before leaning in close, whispering quietly in the din of the crowd.
Silver's cheeks darkened and he glanced towards Samantha, who was gazing with a happy smile towards the stage. "Are you sure?"
Night gave a single firm nod.
Silver frowned a little with thought, shuffling from hoof to hoof before Rough bumped into him. "Sorry, it's crowded this year. Hey, can I have some of that if you're just going to hold it?"
He surrendered the bottle to his larger stallion-friend. "Go easy on it. You have more places to visit, remember?"
All eyes were drawn to the center of the square where Luna appeared in a dark flash, bats spreading from where she appeared along with her voluminous wings. "Good ponies of Canterlot! You have waited long enough. It's time to begin this most special night." The crowd erupted in cheers and thunderous hooves striking the ground.
It promised to be a fun night.
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Hmm, so Rough is begrudgingly going with the flow. Not quite hoarding bad feelings, but certainly not quite so quick to forgive like Silver. This seems like it will take more work...
So Silver knows about Samantha at least? The circle of trust strengthens!
Keep going! ;)
The families out drinking with Big Gay Tumbler. Nefer's wearing a sexy mummy costume. What's not to like?
This is got a really good chance of going downhill faster than going over the Canterlot waterfall.
If Rumble is an angry drunk, then he would really live up to his Nightmare costume.
Stephen King. Duel.
"I dare care though.
"I do care though.
7177117 Good eye, fixed!
7176911 Not covering her mummy's mammaries would only get a reaction from other humans or bipedals (or ex-humans!!), she knows what she's aiming at!
7177232 Sexy. Mummy. Costume. Trust me you're over thinking this in all he wrong ways.
7177270 I just read what i read, can't help inserting a few imaginary lines of my own.
7177397 Eeyup. The only real question is do I really wanna spend that much time drawing this. The answer is "probably yes".
white robes and a red cross - white robes, and a red cross
spot on, and you're a stallion - spot on,
andyou're a stallion (the extraneous 'and' may simply be how Samatha speaks. I leave it to you.)*****
A shame they can't pay a visit to a certain corn maze outside of Ponyville.
The interplay of the characters was enjoyable, even heartwarming in places. Samantha is as relaxed as we've ever seen her, and it seems to be having a positive effect on her emotional affect. Night still doesn't trust Nefer but maybe she is slowly coming around as Nefer continues to speak plainly of her intent.
She is going to have to learn to get out of that habit, though. I don't believe that she's intentionally trying to make Night Watch feel diminished, but I get the impression that it's hurting her case every time she takes unearned liberties.
Rough Tumble... it looks like he's trying to find salvation at the bottom of a bottle. There are no happy endings to be found on that path.
*****
I would have liked a description of what Night Watch is wearing as an old guard lunar pegasus.
Precisely!
So it's Nightmare Night again, and the whole family (and almost-but-not-quite-family-yet) are going...whatever the local version of "trick-or-treating" is called. That's rather cute, and so far has led to some interesting occurrences. How future chapters play these developments out is largely going to determine whether this chapter comes across as being just a series of happenstances or if it actually weaves them together into a greater whole.
First is Nefertari and her sexy, topless mummy costume. I flat-out refuse to believe that she's not doing this on purpose. Every time she's appeared before (that I recall) has had her keeping her tits covered, and yet now - after she's recognized that Silver, alone among ponies, is reacting to them the way a male Anubian would - she's electing to go topless. Presumably this was why Night confronted her, and why Nefertari insisted that she wasn't planning on making advances on Silver...but I honestly have to wonder about that. After all, even though Night Watch knows that Silver is attracted to breasts, I honestly can't see her understanding the significance of that, let alone what it means to see them bared. After all, ponies go naked as a matter of course, so this is one area where cultural values likely differ to a very large degree.
It's because of that that I have to wonder if Nefertari is playing fast and loose with the truth when she says that she's not making advances on Silver. While Nefertari doesn't strike me as the type to lie, I do wonder if bending the truth is something else (particularly since she's between the proverbial rock and a hard place at the moment). She might not be "making an advance" per se, but she has to know what waving her uncovered tits in Silver's face is doing to him. In essence, she's acting seductive without actually seducing him, and that suggests a whole new level of subterfuge on her part. Moreover, that's something I find entirely believable for her. Nefertari is a warrior, and her instincts are probably to, when in doubt, go on the offensive. This makes a lot more sense than her odd "truce" with Night, particularly since Night continues to leave Nefertari in limbo as to her fate. At some point, probably sooner rather than later, Nefertari will get tired of waiting and take action, whether it's to demand an immediate answer or simply do her own thing, come Hell or high water.
Ironically, I'm sure that Samantha makes for a very fetching nurse, but probably has no idea that she does (unless she's been consulting her reference material again). I can't help but be amused at the thought of Night Watch thinking that Samantha is the sexier of the pair, not realizing just how much effect Nefertari's boobs are having on Silver.
And then we come to Rough Tumble...
*sigh*
I get that Silver wants to do right by Tumble, I really do. But once again, he's screwing it up. Once again, Silver is dictating rather than listening, throwing his feelings at Tumble rather than accepting Tumble's feelings for him, and taking responsibility for past mistakes only to make new mistakes almost immediately. Silver, you can't just say "I care about you" and have that be the end of it. Caring for someone else means making yourself available to them in whatever way they feel comfortable with (with the caveat that you feel comfortable with it too). Forcing him to spend time with you, and having that time be spent on your terms, is not an act of kindness; it's just another form of ignoring what he (Tumble) wants and needs from you. It's like Silver has completely forgotten that Tumble was, and probably still is, in love with him. How would Silver feel if Celine - the original Celine - suddenly came back to life and casually mentioned that she'd met someone else, but then demanded that Silver spend an evening with her and her new husband and children? Wouldn't that be remarkably insensitive of her? That's how Silver's acting right now. He is, once again, doing exactly the wrong thing.
I swear, I honestly want him and Tumble to get drunk and wake up in bed together, just because at this point that seems like the only way they're going to break out of this rut that they're in [obligatory "rut" joke here]. It's just so unfair...in Silver's dream, Tumble kept having to go two steps back for every three steps forward, and it seemed like he was finally, finally getting the happy ending he wanted. And then *poof*, it was all gone, and he's back to being friendless and alone, pining for someone who isn't there most of the time and then comes around every blue moon only to be completely oblivious while he is. Seriously, why is Tumble this story's whipping colt?
The two of them need to talk, really talk, where Silver doesn't try to fix things for Tumble, but instead makes it clear that he's available, not just to set aside time but emotionally available, for whatever Tumble needs. For that matter, Silver needs to once and for all make it plain how he feels about Tumble and what kind of relationship they can have, and then stick to it. Just saying "I deserved that" when Tumble lashes out at him isn't enough; taking responsibility needs to be followed by taking action to rectify the situation, and how that's done needs to be according to what Tumble wants, not simply Silver dragging him around and waving his happy new family in his face.
Maybe Silver can go soak his head when he's bobbing for apples.
7177944 Typos fixed! Some healing is had, some wounds are picked at. The night is young, is it not? What wonders await us further...
It was fun making up a Canterlot in my mind to fit the holiday and run with it.
7178004 Some sharp observations there, but why so glum? You seem to focus in on the negatives and where things could go awry so quickly, even fiercely. Life could work out, could it not? There were happy points to the evening worth considering, I hope? Good news was sprung, and without the drama bomb that can sometimes come with such things.
Tumble has issues, starting with Silver, but not ending with him. Drinking likely isn't the best response, though it may prompt a moment of severe honesty between the two, if they survive the event.
While this all plays out, Samantha is happier than she ever was before, and is evolving into a new pony. She's finding belonging, and that's something she hoped to find at the bottom of enough research papers.
7177768 Upvote for you
7178139 I was a bit of a Negative Nancy there, wasn't I? It's hard sometimes not to fall into the trap of "reviewing = pointing out everything that's wrong/disliked."
I do agree that the chapter ended on a very happy note as Night gave Silver the good news about Samantha, but since that was a lead-in to the next chapter (most likely), there wasn't that much to comment on in that regard. The happy point will reach it's crest when they tell Samantha herself.
Just what we need, a drunk cat . . .