Nightmare Night, what a... sight!

by Charlie_K

... But a costume isn't always needed (edited)

"So... it was actually common to go nude back then?"

Despite the initial bravado Luna had displayed, getting the Nightmare Night festivities moving again hadn't been as simple as originally thought. She had shrugged off her insecurities, but an air of awkwardness had still remained, that had caused a notable disruption on all the fun and games.

To some extent it was understandable. It wasn't every day that one saw a naked princess walking about as if it wasn't out of the ordinary, and a fair number of those who hadn't simply gone home, were having trouble returning to old business. Too many of them were taking advantage of the option to steal glances of the visiting royalty, not knowing when they'd ever have the same opportunity presented to them again.

"Quite common," Luna nodded to Rarity's question, as she sat at a commandeered picnic table, nursing a hot apple cider while in the company of her friends.

She knew full well that those around her kept looking in her direction, both old and young alike, but there was little that she could really do about it. To shy away from the attention she was receiving, would undo her efforts. So she simply doubled down on presenting an air of bravado and security.

"The founding of Equestria, was not quite as smooth as the tales would you have you believe. True, the three great tribes united, and drove back the domain of the windigoes through unity. But what came after that was another story entirely," she explained, before pausing to take another sip of her drink.

"In this day and age, fine jewelry is often the accessory of choice to those who are in possession of wealth. But this was not always the case; there was once a time when clothing was the defining trait of a pony that was well off. Back then, to go nude was neither indecent, nor a trend, but rather a necessity. Everything had to be manufactured by hand, fabric had to be woven. You grasp the general idea, yes?" she asked.

The assembled ponies nodded, signifying that they understood what the point was. That meant she could spare them the more intricate details, and focus more on the high notes of her explanation.

"When my sister and I came into power, we could easily afford to procure the finest clothing that was available at the time. But it was our decision to forego such formal trappings, to show that we associated ourselves with all of our subjects, rather than just the nobles who could afford full attires," she continued.

"Wow. So you and Princess Celestia actually ruled in the buff?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Quite so," Luna replied and nodded again, before finishing off the last of her drink, leaving nothing behind but a solitary cinnamon stick. "Oh. That was quite good. Many thanks to you for supplying such refreshments, Applejack."

"No trouble at all, Princess," Applejack replied from where she sat.

"So what changed? If you don't mind my asking. How did things shift from ruling in the nude, to wearing attire?" Rarity asked, curious about the historical events that transpired.

"Progress is what occurred, my friend. Industrialization eventually came about, thus allowing for mass production to become a viable option. Clothing could be made far faster, and far more affordable, than had ever been imagined," Luna explained. "Granted it was still several hundred years before we reached the point in time where clothing was no longer the sign of nobility and wealth that it once was, but it is still how things occurred. Eventually Equestria reached the point where Celestia and I simply no longer had need to be nude, in order to convey the fact that we associated with everypony of all social ranks equally."

"That's quite an amazing story regarding Equestria's history of development," Twilight stated, "I never stopped to consider that clothing, such a basic necessity, would actually be regarded as so valuable."

"Heh," Rainbow Dash chuckled, "if Rarity here ever got her hands on that time traveling spell, she'd be the richest mare in all of Equestria."

Rarity wasn't certain whether Rainbow Dash's comment was meant derisively, or if it was merely speculation based on what information they'd just been given. Whichever it was, she decided to hold her tongue for now.

"Perhaps that would be true," Luna said as she nodded and smiled in amusement. "But I doubt she would have been able to establish much of a domain for herself in present day through such a means. A unified legal tender was still a long way off during that time, and the bartering system was still very much the name of the game as it were. And chickens, and bushels of wheat, do not exactly carry the same value they once did."

Rarity allowed a chuckle to escape at that. As did a few of the others present. It really was all in good fun after all; at least as far as she was concerned.

"If I may be allowed to interrupt, your highness, what you speak of is not as unheard of as it may appear. In the more rural areas of my homeland, it is far more common, compared to here."

Everyone looked up, already recognizing both the voice, and the manner of speech, and knew it was Zecora.

What wasn't expected, however, was Zecora being dressed like a witch. And a cute witch at that, with the long stockings that lead up to a short skirt, the strapless top with sleeves below the shoulders, and a wide-brimmed pointy hat.

Twilight didn't know how it was done, but she was certain it was Rarity that had talked Zecora into such an outfit for the evening.

"I would hardly consider you to be interrupting us, Zecora. Please, have a seat with the rest of us," Luna replied and gestured to one of the available spaces. "It is quite refreshing to meet someone not taken aback by how I decided to attend the festivities tonight, and assume that I had ulterior motives."

Zecora merely nodded as she sat down, taking the unoccupied space next to where Pinkie currently sat.

"As I said, being nude in public is not all that uncommon in my land. In the more rural areas it is actually quite common, to the point where it may strike outsiders as being quite bland," she explained.

"Really?" Rainbow dash asked as she leaned over the table. "So... are we talking both mares and stallions?" she asked as her wings twitched.

"That is more certainly the case as it were, Rainbow Dash. Mare or stallion, both tend to go equally nude, without being brash," Zecora replied.

"Wow..." was all that Rainbow Dash had to say in response. For a second anyway. "So... what happens if a stallion, well... you know..."

Zecora couldn't help but give a cheeky grin in response and nod. "Indeed I do. But as to how such a matter is handled when it does arise, I will admit, it is a subject on which I am unwise."

Applejack just shook her head, before grabbing Rainbow Dash by the back of the kimono, and pulled her back down onto her seat.

"So what about you, Zecora? Have you ever gone naked in public before?" Pinkie asked as she turned to face her.

"Pinkie!" Twilight stated loudly, not surprised but still aghast. "You can't just ask something like that, it's downright rude!"

"It is quite alright, Twilight, I do not mind one bit. After all, it is my body we are talking about, and I am not ashamed of it," Zecora replied. "As to your question Pinkie, I do admit that I have done such before. But that was back in my homeland, and is not much of a common practice for me anymore. The ponies of this land are sensitive to the unfamiliar, and I do not wish to give them anymore reason to consider me peculiar. Being a zebra among ponies if often enough; they do not need to know I enjoy walking around my hut in the buff."

Spike just frowned in response. "Is that why I never get to tag along when you girls are going to see Zecora?"

Twilight just chuckled at that and shook her head dismissively, patting her assistant on the back. "We usually tend to knock, and wait for Zecora to let us inside, Spike. This is the first time even I found out about this; honest," she replied.

Zecora simply nodded. "When receiving visitors, I always dress in order to not offend. Comfort is nice, but not if it costs you a friend," she explained.

Luna just smiled where she sat as she listened to the talk unfolding. She really hadn't expected things to turn out like this, but she was certainly glad that they did. It was nice to know that Zecora understood that her intentions were well meant. She'd have to make an effort to talk with the zebra more often, whenever time allowed.

If nothing else, at least an open discussion was being had. Granted it was only among friends, but it was a start. The matter was slowly becoming less taboo. And perhaps she could help that development along a little bit.

"One thing that I did not yet tell you, is that by the time clothing became widely available to many, Celestia and I had been ruling for so long, it took quite a while to adjust with society. I cannot speak for my sister, but in my case, I would often forget to put clothing on before hosting the night court," she admitted.

Rainbow Dash immediately burst into a laugh at hearing that. Twilight soon followed, helpless to resist, despite her best efforts not to.

"I'm sorry, I really am, I didn't mean to laugh," she apologized, despite not stopping throughout her efforts.

"It is quite alright, Twilight Sparkle, it was intended to be humorous, to help lighten the mood," Luna told her, idly propping her head up on her left arm. "It is true though. Being unaccustomed to clothing for several centuries, certain habits were hard to break. Even when I remembered to don an attire, it felt so strange against my fur, I sometimes simply wished to pull it right off, and go without once again," she explained, before chuckling herself at the memories. That chuckling brought about more amused chuckles from around the table. "That isn't to say that going nude ended entirely, simply because clothing became more accessible to the masses. There were still circumstances that called for the old approach. We still wished to be humble to our subjects."

She paused her explanation, remembering how things used to be. They were so much simpler then, before everything had changed in the aftermath of Discord's reign of terror. He and his unmitigated chaos had done nearly irreparable harm to Equestria, and they'd been left to clean up the mess. And cleaning up the mess had been quite the tall order, and required a shift in priorities; such as portraying themselves in a way that wasn't so much about inspiring comfort in ponies, but rather a sense of security when they were looked upon.

Still, that wasn't the birth of the taboo that was at issue right now. She would have known about it, had that been the case. No, it had to be something far more recent than her banishment. And she was determined to find its origins.

"Ya a'right, Princess?" she heard Applejack ask, bringing her out of her thoughts.

"I am fine. Merely contemplating a number of things," she replied, before glancing around at her surroundings, and noticing the number of ponies that looked away when she looked up. Too few of them were actually focused on the festivities that this night was supposed to be about. "I had hoped by not letting my faux pas get the best of me, tonight could proceed as intended. Sadly it appears that is not the case. Ponies are more interested in me, than they are for ther reason they came here for in the first place," she sighed.

"Can you really blame them? They think you're hot," Spike pointed out.

"Spike!" Twilight objected.

"Come on, Twilight, you know that's the case too," Rainbow Dash interrupted. There were way too many stiff wings for anything else to be the case as far as she was concerned. "If we're going to get the night back on track, we're going to need to figure out something. What we need is some sort of distraction or something."

"You mean like me yelling "look over there!" and pointing in a random direction?" Pinkie asked.

"Nah, that's too random," Rainbow Dash replied dismissively and waved her hand. "Besides, it wouldn't last. We need something better."

"Oh," Pinkie replied, "you mean like Vinyl stripping?" she asked.

All heads at the table suddenly rotated around in the intended direction to see what Pinkie was talking about. Sure enough, the aforementioned DJ was now absent her cape, and actually in the process of unbuttoning her shirt, and pulling it right off, followed by the tie that hung more around her neck than her shirt collar.

"Good gracious, this is turning into a regular nudist convention," Rarity commented as she watched, unable to tear her attention away as the shirt was tossed aside.

"Huh," Rainbow Dash muttered as she watched, her eyes fixed on the unicorn's bare chest as a green glow stick was being hung around her neck, and came to rest right between her petite breasts. "I guess those rumors about her having pierced nipples were wrong."

Twilight, quickly snapping back to reality, reacted by grabbing Spike by the shoulder, and putting her hand over his eyes.

"Hey! What's the big idea!?" Spike asked as he pulled her hand away from his face.

"You're too young to be seeing this sort of stuff, Spike," she stated.

"Twilight, I know about breasts. And even if I didn't, it's a little too late to be hiding them from me," he pointed out, before turning his attention back as Vinyl was in the process of slipping on her black fingerless gloves.

"Ah reckon he's get a good point; ya can't un-ring a bell an' whatnot," Applejack pointed out, turning her attention back to their little party. She'd seen enough to sate her curiosity for the time being.

The others, however, continued to watch -much to Twilight's chagrin- as Vinyl proceeded to carry on as if nothing was out of the ordinary, before a particular beat started pulsing out of the sound system, effectively drowning out some of the chatter that had been bleeding through in the absence of any background noise.

"Huh," Rainbow Dash replied as she scratched her head, "do you think she heard us talking about getting things back on track? Maybe this is her way of trying to do that?" she asked.

"It's hard to say. Vinyl is certainly full of surprises," Rarity stated.

If this really was her way of getting things going again, then it was certainly unique. The glow stick would certainly serve to highlight her assets, but she doubted that, in comparison to Princess Luna, it would be enough to sway everypony's attention. The differences between them were just too vast...

But regardless of that fact, the spirit of the gesture was still there.

"This song..." Luna said slowly as she listened, "I actually recognize this song, I have heard it before. One of my guards was humming it last month when he thought no one was listening," she stated, slightly grinning at the memory. It had taken very little persuasion to get him to sing it aloud.

"Cool! Maybe you can sing along!" Pinkie suggested excitedly.

"You know what, Pinkie, that's actually not a bad idea," Twilight replied. To her that sounded like a good way of getting things back up and running.

"Oh no, no, I am not in sufficient practice for attempting such a feat," Luna protested at the idea.

"Luna, it's karaoke, nopony's practiced for it. It's all about having fun, not being great," Twilight pointed out.

"It's actually not a bad idea," Rarity stated in approval and nodded. "Why, I think it's just what we need to get things moving again. What better way than the guest of honor herself, gracing us with such a lovely singing voice?"

All around the table, the voices in support of the suggestion were drowning out Luna's attempts at opposing the suggestion. And without being impolite, she really wasn't seeing any way of getting out of it.

"Alright, alright, you win," she said as she held up her hands, admitting defeat. "I shall sing," she said as she pushed herself up from her seat. She had already embarrassed herself once tonight, she might as well try for double or nothing.

"Cool!" Pinkie yelled, before turning to face Vinyl and whistled loudly, before giving her the hand signal to start the track over again. Vinyl gave her a thumbs up, before stopping the track and bringing it back to the beginning. "Hey, everypony! Princess Luna's gonna sing!"

Much to Luna's surprise, a few excited whoops and cheers followed the announcement; and not from her table of friends. It looked like there was some genuine interest in the crowd. This night was turning out to be full of surprises.

She took the cordless microphone that Pinkie held out to her, unsure of where she had procured it, and made her way over to the clearing by Vinyl Scratch, still uncomfortable with the idea of singing in front of everypony. But then again, she had been through worse.

"I apologize ahead of time, I am not particularly well in terms of practice," she told them, figuring it was best to get that out of the way.

With the preemptive apology tended to, Luna listened as the song started over again, getting as much a feeling for the beat as she could in such a short time. With one last breath of preparation, she lifted the microphone to her lips, and began to sing along with the tune.

"Colt and fillies of every age,
Wouldn't you like to see something strange?

Come behold a ghastly sight,
This, our town, on Nightmare Night!"

All chatter immediately stopped, everyone focusing front and center, some of them slack-jawed at they listened. Despite Luna's insistence that she was hardly up for singing, her voice was very rich, and deep, and melodic. Hers was a voice more fit for opera than karaoke.

"This is Nightmare Night, It is such a fright,
Pumpkins scream in the dead of night!

This is Nightmare Night, Everyone turn out the light,
Trick or treat 'til the neighbors go and die of fright!
It's our town, everypony scream,
Nightmare Night is on the scene!"

Something had changed. There was something minute in the pitch of the words, but none of them could really tell. All they could really tell was that something in the air had taken a decidedly spookier feel.

And then her eyes began to glow as she continued, shining bright white in the dark of the night.

"I am the one hiding under your bed,
Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red,"

Luna's eyes suddenly flashed blood red as she sang along, her voice taking an undeniably harsher edge as she continued, causing some of them to flinch in surprise.

"I am the one hiding under your stairs,
Fingers like snakes, and spiders in my hair!

This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night!"

The edge remained as Luna continued to sing, but her voice started sounding deeper than before. And as she continued to sing, she began to float just above the ground as her wings flapped gracefully, gripping the microphone firmly with both hands.

"In this town, we call home, Everyone hails to the Nightmare Song,
In this town, don't we love it now, Everypony's waiting for the next surprise!

Round the corner colts hiding in the trashcan,
Something's waiting to pounce, and how you'll cry,"

The crowd had jumped back in terror as Luna suddenly appeared directly in front of them, the full intensity of her face quite apparent to them, what with the whited out eyes, and sinister grin. And just as suddenly, she reappeared back where she'd been just moments ago. It was an utterly predatory display to witness.

"This is Nightmare Night,
Creepy Slime, Black and white,
Aren't you scared?
Well that's just fine"

Luna's voice suddenly shifted again, almost a shriek at this point, as her grin grew ever more vicious and wide.

"Say it once, say it twice
Take a chance and roll the dice
Ride with the moon in the dead of night

Everypony scream, everypony scream

Nightmare Night is on the scene"

Luna was Levitating even higher off the ground now, forcing everyone present to look up, in order to observe as she grasped the microphone with just one hand, as her magic pooled in her open right hand, looking much like her mane and tail, before being casually tossed in an outward reaching arc, where it dissolved into a cloud of sparkly bits of magic that fizzled out of existence.

"I am the clown with the tear-away face
Here in a flash and gone without a trace"

The audience realized only too late that it was a distraction, pulling their attention elsewhere, and allowing Luna to suddenly appear right in front of them again. And then just as easily, she disappeared from sight, before appearing back in her original spot.

"I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?"
I am the wind blowing through your hair"

A sudden wind came out of nowhere, blowing all of their manes from behind, the voicing coming out like a shrill, haunting, ghostly wail; almost like she was singing a duet with some unseen partner.

I am the shadow on the moon at night
Filling your dreams to the brim with fright

Luna pointed upward with her free hand, and as everyone looked up, they saw her face cast upon the moon in shadow, its mouth perfectly perfectly in sync as she sang, while it looked down on them and grinned wickedly.

"This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night,
Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!
Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!"

The shadow on the moon dispersed, bringing everypony's attention back to Luna, her wings gently flapping as she sang, and the pitch in her voice completely different. It was gentler in a way, but it wasn't a true gentleness; it was the type of gentleness that hid something very, very sinister just behind the veil.

"Spooky creatures everywhere
Everyone's out to scream and scare

That's our job, you got that right,
In this town on Nightmare Night"

And then some of that hidden sinister intent started to shine through...

"In this town
Don't we love it now?

Everyposy's waiting for the next surprise
Nightmare Moon might catch you in your room
And scream like a banshee"

The scream was far more like a violent, animalistic roar as Luna appeared in front of them, her wide open maw showing off many, many sharp teeth just perfect for ripping them apart. Many did scream and jumped back in fear, not even noticing that she was once again back where she had been as if nothing had happened.

"Make you jump out of your skin
This is Nightmare Night, everypony scream
Won't you please make way for royalty

Nightmare Moon is queen of the nightmares now
Everyone hail to the Nightmare Queen, now!

This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night,
Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!
Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!"

The tone of Luna's voice was much harder to dissect and analyze. It was much deeper than before, bordering on what a stallion might sing like. But there was something far more unsettling to it that left them all tense, terrified of what might happen next.

"In this town we call home
Everyone hail to the nightmare song"

And then it just... stopped. All the harshness had come to an end, and if it had been sung by an entirely different pony in a duet, who had simply walked right off of stage to leave their softer singing partner behind to complete the final portion of the song. The sinister aspects were long gone, leaving nothing but the melodic voice of Luna as she eventually brought the song to its end.

She then took a breath, and opened her eyes to look at those present, the glow completely gone as she gently touched back down on her hooves, tucking her wings in against her back once again.

The reaction of the crowd was something she didn't recognize, but it made her uncomfortable. They looked like they were too stunned to react. Perhaps she had gone too far in her attempts at getting into the spirit of things? Had she terrified them beyond reason?

"I... I am sorry-"

Her efforts at apologizing fell short as the crowd broke into cheers, whistles, and excited clapping. Had they really appreciated her theatrics to such a degree? This sort of enthusiasm was hard to fake convincingly, but she didn't know for certain. Perhaps they were being polite to her out of fear, and a desire to avoid any reprisals.

Her thoughts on the matter were quickly dispelled, when someone in the crowd actually hoisted up a sign, proudly emblazoned with the statement of "Luna is Best Pony!" That made her both blush and laugh.

"You are all far too kind," she stated as she smiled.

---

Whether it was her attempts at singing, or the efforts of her friends, or even if the novelty of her exposure had simply worn off after some time, things had slowly gotten back on track for the most part. There were still the occasional stares from random ponies here and there, but Luna could tell that the majority of their attention was elsewhere once again, just as it should be. Now it was on the refreshments, and the games that had been supplied to everyone.

Sort of anyway.

What she hadn't anticipated, however, was the sheer number of participation requests she was subjected to. While she wasn't openly being gawked at anymore, she was being approached on an almost continual basis, by ponies seeking to have her participate with them in team events, both adults and foals alike.

Quite frankly it was a turnout she had never anticipated, and had simply never prepared for. The constant running back and forth as more and more requests had poured in, had been both greatly appreciated, and quite frankly utterly exhausting.

"Had I known being humble could prove to be so exhausting, I would have worn something more formal."

At the moment she was taking a time out to rest up from the constant stream of would-be suitors, leaning back at a mostly unoccupied table, with another one of Applejack's hot apple ciders garnished with a cinnamon stick. Sitting next to her was Twilight, looking quite content. Across from her was Rarity, simply resting her hooves.

"Do not get me wrong, the results are quite welcomed. But I am simply not accustomed to this volume of attention," she continued.

"At least the crowd has settled down somewhat," Rarity pointed out as she rubbed at her right fetlock. The leggings of this wretched costume Rainbow Dash had picked out for her, what with its hard plastic structure intended to suit a general body type, was proving to be quite uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time when movement was a factor. "They're not acting so much like hungry griffons having a choice cut of meat waved in front of them..."

Twilight nodded as she sipped at her own drink. She had noticed that, as the evening wore on, Luna's nudity was seeming less and less shocking to everyone present.

Once the initial exposure had worn off, it had stopped seeming quite so jarring to experience. And that, combined with how casually Luna carried herself throughout the evening, treating it like it really wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just made the whole thing seem overall disalarming. It was almost like being successfully talked down from having a panic attack. That was the best way she could think of to describe it.

"E-excuse me, your highness..."

Both Twilight and Luna turned at the title, and found it was Cheerilee standing there and addressing them, her costume of the evening being a suit of armor that greatly resembled that of the guards that served Celestia during the day. By the way she was fumbling with the fake spear in her hands, it was easy to tell that she was uncomfortable about something.

"Miss Cheerliee," Luna replied as she offered the "guard" before her a salute. "To what do I owe the honor of an audience with an educator as dedicated to the profession as yourself?"

Cheerilee fumbled with the spear more, not expecting to be addressed in such a manner. She needed a moment to properly compose her thought before she could speak again.

"Well, your highness-"

"Please," Luna interrupted as she held up her free hand, "I am not here in any official capacity. You need not worry about such formalities on this night. I am but one more pony enjoying the festivities of the night. Now please, speak freely. To what do I owe the honors?" she asked.

"Um..." Cheerliee paused as she looked at both Rarity and Twilight, who simply nodded back towards her. "Well... Luna..." she started uneasily, unaccustomed to speaking with such familiarity in addressing someone of royalty. But she would still honor the request regardless. "I have some students with me tonight, and-"

"Miss Cheerilee, I do not wish to be rude, but I am not yet up for anymore festivities just yet," Luna stated. "I will participate, but I am still resting my legs at the moment."

"Well I'll certainly let them know that, but that's not it. Actually they were hoping to come over and speak with you. It's just that... well..." Cheerilee hesitated.

"Is it the fact that I am nude? Should I borrow Lady Rarity's cloak before addressing them?" Luna asked.

"Actually that's not the issue. They're still young enough to not be thinking about such things like that. They just think you didn't have anything to wear," Cheerilee replied.

"Technically that is not all that far off from the truth," Luna pointed out. "Did I scare them with my theatrics when I sang? Was it too much?"

Cheerilee shook her head. "Some were. But overall they actually enjoyed themselves, much as they did last year. Especially after talking to Pipsqueak about how great of a Princess you are."

Luna couldn't hide her grin at hearing that. "Then what is the problem with them speaking to me?"

"Well... I just don't know if it's appropriate. Some of them want to know why you became Nightmare Moon," Cheerilee explained.

"Oh..." Luna replied slowly and nodded. "Yes. I can understand how that might lead to questions of appropriateness. But that is not to say that I am unwilling to answer them. Bring them around, and I will do my best to provide them what they are seeking."

Twilight and Rarity watched as Cheerilee walked off to retrieve her students, each of them surprised at just how smoothly things had gone. They didn't want to admit to it, but they'd been expecting more friction than what they'd seen.

"Well... this might prove interesting," Rarity commented as she sat up properly again.

They watched as Cheerilee approached with a troop of her students following behind her. Out of the lot of them, Pipsqueak was the only one readily recognizable, as the assortment of costumes proved sufficient to make identification just short of impossible from where they sat.

The fact that some of them were actively hiding behind Cheerilee as if they were scared didn't help matters either.

"Please, come forth children, I do not bite," Luna reassured them, doing her best to put them at ease around her. "At least, I do not anymore. I have long since grown out of that phase of my development. These days, if some little pony were to displease me, then I would tickle them!" she stated firmly, fluttering her wings in the process to emphasize the point.

Some of the foals jumped back and squealed at the sudden change in Luna's voice, fearing that they were going to be yelled at. But that fear was short lived when they realized what she was saying, and moved back closer again. She giggled at their response. This caused some of them to giggle as well.

"Now then, Miss Cheerilee tells me that you wish to know the tale of Nightmare Moon. Is that true?" she asked them.

"Yes Princess Luna," the children replied in unison, well practiced in speaking as a group when answering questions in school.

"Very well then. But please know that it is not what may qualify as a scary tale. Those of you who are disappointed over this, may wish to leave now," Luna replied as she prepared to tell them the story. "The origins of my turn to Nightmare Moon have their roots back during the Reformation Period, after the first defeat of Discord. Equestria was in a far different state back then, ravaged by remnants of the chaos that mad tyrant unleashed during his time. Many ponies were frightened and uncertain, scared of the unfamiliar, looking for guidance and assurance that everything would be alright."

Luna paused in remembrance of the time, feeling a sense of discomfort taking root as she spoke. Talking about these events hadn't struck her as being all that hard when it was just a thought. But now that she was doing it? Now it seemed more difficult. She needed to pause for a moment and focus her resolve before continuing.

"This was our first real taste of true ruling. Before then, you could more or less call it an introductory phase, before things truly got real, as some may say. No longer were our ponies looking for truly benevolent leaders, as they were firm rulers that would protect them from harm. We had to project an image of strength to those who had been touched by chaos, and were afraid of the world. Celestia rose to the occasion quite well, as so many looked to her for guidance. I, however, was not quite so fortunate..."

Another pause in the story telling, necessary to keep her resolve firm, and hide what she was feeling from her audience, as they paid close attention to her.

"It was a time of great fear for many. Anything that was unfamiliar was suspect. And, through no fault of their own, they came to view my nights in the same manner. This was a time when there were no flashlights, no kerosene lanterns, and the only oil lamps were small clay bowls that only held a few hours of oil. During the time when candles and moonlight were the chief source of illumination for many. Our subjects came to fear the dark, associating it with the unknown. Once the sun began to set, they would all head for the safety of their homes. Nopony appreciated my nights anymore, nopony stopped to look up at the stars as they used to..."

Luna stopped and took a drink of her cider, suddenly finding both her throat and her lips very dry as she spoke.

"Along with fearing my nights, our subjects began to fear me as well, because I was associated with the night. They stopped coming to me with their problems, and instead flocked to my sister, as she embodied the day, and the concept of safety, believing that they were safe in the light of the day.

"In my youth, I resented them for that. I resented Celestia as well. I... I grew jealous of the love she was shown, while I was ignored. And then that jealousy grew into hatred," she stated, shutting her eyes in memory. "But worse than hating my sister, I hated myself for actually hating her. I did not want to admit that I hated my own sister; I loved her very much.

"So I buried that fact, refusing to even acknowledge its very existence. But that just made things worse. It didn't resolve the conflict, it just intensified it all the more. I hated my sister for being loved when I was not, and I hated myself for hating Celestia."

Luna's breath was getting caught in her throat as the tale continued. She hadn't spoken of these facts to anyone other than Celestia after her return. It had hurt so much then. And that hurt had not diminished any.

"Making matters all the worse, was that I could never tell her about these facts; how could I possibly? I could not tell my own sister that I hated her, I loved her! So I just buried that fact as deep as I could, and refused to say anything. I refused to admit to how I hated and loved Celestia equally, and I hated myself more and more every day, as I became more and more jealous of her.

"And then, one night, I could no longer suppress what I felt. All of the jealousy, and the rage, and the hatred that I felt -both for her and myself- finally exploded outward, and turned me into the being known as Nightmare Moon. And then I cared about nothing, but making others know about all the pain that I felt..."

The chill of the fall breeze let her know of the dampness on her cheek fur as she spoke. So much for displaying the image of strength to these foals. She couldn't help but think that she was starting to look rather silly to them; naked and crying over not getting enough attention growing up.

"Had I been able to bring myself to tell Celestia about what I was feeling, perhaps things could have been different. My fall from grace could have been avoided had I someone to simply unburden myself to. Being strong is so difficult when you perceive yourself as all alone. And I perceived myself as nothing but alone, because I was far too ashamed of the truth," she concluded.

The next thing Luna knew, one of the foals that was present -a young filly dressed as a storybook princess- had rushed forward and hugged her. She responded by gently patting her on the back. Going by the look of the others present, the story had been far from what they'd been expecting to encounter; most of them actually looked quite sad. She had warned them, but that didn't mean she had wanted them to be sad about her tale.

"My advice to everyone, is that if you ever have a problem, do not be afraid to speak to someone about it. I know that may be asking a lot, but I can attest that it is far more painful to maintain silence, than it is to speak up," she stated, all the while rubbing the filly's back to comfort her.

No one was speaking up. Perhaps she shouldn't have opened up about her past experiences, even if doing so would do them all some good.

"Are there any questions?" she finally asked.

"... Um," Pipsqueak spoke up hesitantly from where he stood in the back. "Did you use to bite ponies that displeased you?" he asked.

"I do not deny that it was done at some point. I was... not exactly the most behaved of ponies. But I grew out of that phase long ago, when I learned that Celestia could bite back harder than I," Luna explained.

At hearing that, Rarity snorted, caught off guard by the absurdity of it.

"You actually bit Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked in disbelief.

"We were foals at the time. Foals bite one another, it is perfectly natural," Luna offered up in explanation.

And then a thought occurred to her on how to turn this situation around.

"Besides. She stole my teddy bear. I was entitled to bite her for such an offense!" she boisterously declared, before taking another swig of her hot apple cider, and audibly setting the tankard back down on the table.

Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could see Cheerliee was trying desperately to hide her mirth at the tale, behind the veneer of a mature educator. Her students were failing utterly miserably at doing the same.

"Not that I am actually advocating the biting of one another," she added quickly, not wanting to be the source of blame for any possible bad behavior that might develop as a result of her story. The last thing she needed was reports of foals biting one another in school, and telling their parents and teachers that it was alright because she used to bite her sister.

Rarity, meanwhile, was still laughing, and gripping her sides as she shook with amusement. Twilight, however, didn't know how to feel about the whole story. Was it appropriate to laugh? Would it be disrespectful to Princess Celestia? She simply didn't know. As such, she decided to play it safe and simply pretend that she hadn't heard anything.

"Well now," Luna paused as she finished off the last of her cider, setting the mug back down on the table. "As it is, I feel up to partaking in some more festivities. The night is still quite young, and Nightmare Night only comes once a year. Let us not waste the evening with sad tales of the past. Let there be fun to be had!" she declared, to the delight of all the foals who were present.

Rarity just shrugged as she looked over at Twilight, coming down from her laughing fit from earlier. "What do you say, Twilight? Shall we get back to the fun and games?"

"I don't see why not," Twilight replied as she stood up from the table.

---

There was a loud shout at Rainbow Dash slammed the heavy wooden mallet down on the lever of the "test your might" game, sending the puck shooting upwards at an incredible speed.

Unfortunately it didn't get beyond the halfway point before coming to a stop, and sliding back down to where it had rested just a moment ago.

"Oh come on!" Rainbow Dash yelled angrily, dissatisfied with her results. "This game has to be rigged!"

Applejack just chuckled and shook her head at her friend's antics.

"Step aside, Sugarcube, lemme take a swing at it," she said as she held her hand out for the mallet.

Rainbow Dash grumbled in response, before begrudgingly handing the mallet over to the farmer so she could have a shot at the game, and see for herself that it was rigged.

There was another loud shut at Applejack swung the mallet downward on the lever. Her results were much like those of Rainbow Dash, causing the pegasus to give a satisfied smirk at being vindicated.

"A'right," Applejack replied and nodded, annoyed at the results of her own efforts. "This here game is bull-"

"Huzzah!"

The excited yell off to the side served to interrupt Applejack's impolite declaration regarding the fairness of the game, and cause the two to turn their heads and see that Luna was back to partaking in the events, followed by a number of foals whose parents had refrained from taking them home for the night. And who were currently cheering over Luna's success with the balloon pop game.

"Is it just me, or is Luna being naked starting to be less jarring?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Ah don' know. She carries herself real natural and casual like. But-"

"Really toned isn't it?" Rainbow Dash asked, interrupting what Applejack was in the process of saying.

Applejack frowned in response, before -relatively- lightly punching Rainbow Dash in the arm for her response.

"Ow!" Rainbow Dash stated and rubbed her arm. "Okay, maybe that was uncalled for. But this whole situation just seems kinda surreal, you know?"

"Ah know," Applejack replied and nodded. Nightmare Night tended to have a surreal, semi-disorienting feel about it all by itself, with the combination of darkness, chilly air, and scant lighting. But Luna being present as she was just added to it. Not that it was a bad thing, it was just... odd. "Ain' the right context er nothin'."

"Yeah, I know," Rainbow Dash replied as she watched Luna claiming her prize for hitting the target, and promptly hand it off to one of the foals. "Hey. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked.

"That tacos and chocolate sauce would go great together?" Pinkie asked as she appeared next to Rainbow Dash. "Surprisingly they don't mix all that well. I think it's the hot sauce."

Rainbow Dash jumped at Pinkie practically poofing into existence next to her. She really hated how that happened so easily.

"No. What I was thinking, was that Luna ought to give this game a try. That'll really tell if it's rigged," she stated, remembering the displays of strength they'd all seen last Nightmare Night. If Luna couldn't ring the damn bell, then pretty much nopony could.

"RD, we wanna ring that bell, not send it flyin' inta space," Applejack replied, fearing that Luna getting involved might wind up breaking the machine entirely. That would be a situation that was just plain awkward to deal with. "Besides, Ah reckon it'd be rude ta interrupt right now. She's havin' fun on 'er own as it is"

"Yeah, naked fun!" Pinkie pointed out.

"Yeah..." Applejack replied uneasily, the elephant in the room once again being thrust back into the spotlight; even more than it had been with Rainbow Dash's comment. It had temporarily been forgotten due to Pinkie's randomness, but so much for that now.

"I'm... actually thinking about doing the same..." Rainbow Dash admitted.

At hearing this, Applejack turned back around to look at Rainbow Dash directly to see if she was joking. But she looked quite serious instead.

"Really, Dashie?" Pinkie asked, surprised by the admission.

"Well look around. Luna's doing it, Vinyl's sorta doing it. At least I'd be in good company if I did," she pointed out. "I dunno, it's just... nopony's uptight about it -not anymore at least- and it's kinda tempting to just join in, since nothing bad it happening," she explained and shrugged.

"Ah know Ah'm probably gonna regret askin', but wha's stoppin' ya? Too cold?" Applejack asked, torn between curiosity, and something else. She sort of wanted to know, but she also didn't want to know.

"Well it is fall," Rainbow Dash pointed out, "that's not it though, I can take brisk weather. The real reason is I don't wanna wind up doing something that might sink my Wonderbolts career before it can even begin. When you're a Wonderbolt, you've gotta keep a clean image. That's kind of hard to do when you're prancing around in the buff, even if you've got a Princess doing the same thing," she explained.

"Huh," Applejack replied. That had actually been a well thought out explanation, and more than she'd been expecting from Rainbow Dash.

"There's also the fact that if I do it, I'd kinda need to stick it out for the duration. If I stripped, and then had to put my clothes back on five minutes later because it's too brisk out, I'd never hear the end of it," Rainbow Dash added.

Now that sounded like the Rainbow Dash she knew, Applejack noted. She figured ego was in there somewhere.

And then a pumpkin ran past them.

...

Wait. Did that really just happen?

"Wha' the hay was that?" she asked.

Her question was answered as another pumpkin went running past them on viney legs.

"Looks like a pumpkin," Pinkie replied as she watched.

"Pumpkins ain' supposed ta run!" Applejack pointed out.

Rainbow Dash observed as another pumpkin came running their way, before extending her leg to trip it as it passed them, sending it rolling as it fell.

It, however, wasn't the last she saw. As she looked around, a lot of pumpkins were on the loose, and interfering with everything.

"Maybe we should find Twilight and ask her if she knows what's going on," she suggested.

---

As it turned out, finding Twilight was done almost as easily as it was said. By the time they found her, she was already with a rather frantic mayor, and a very confused Luna as one of the running pumpkins had actually leaped up into her arms.

There little group only grew as Rarity soon joined them at about the same time.

"Whatever is going on here? Ponvyille's been invaded by walking pumpkins," she stated.

"Took the words right outta mah mouth," Applejack commented.

"It would seem some rogue trickster used an errant come to life spell on all the pumpkins that were going to be used for the pumpkin chucking event," Mayor Mare explained, exasperation showing through all of the makeup she was wearing for the costume. "And now they're running all over town, proving to be a total nuisance to everypony."

Princess Luna responded by holding the pumpkin tighter, before gesturing with her free hand to administer a wave of magic, causing its vine legs to shrivel back up.

"This will simply not do," she stated as she set the de-animated pumpkin down on the ground. "Who the trickster is can be addressed later. But we must first deal with this infestation before the festivities are ruined."

"How though? There's dozens of them to deal with," Rainbow Dash stated as she looked around, eyeing the pumpkins running past ponies, jumping on tables, booths, and anything else in the way. "What exactly do we do in a situation like this?"

"That's a good question," Twilight replied as she caught sight of Pipsqueak going about his own brand of trying to address the situation.

His efforts involved swinging his wooden sword against a particularly large pumpkin that was literally waddling along on legs that looked like they could barely support its own weight, trudging along as if it didn't have a care in the world, despite being smacked repeatedly. But for all of his effort, the combination of too large and cumbersome a sword, mated to too small a frame to wield it, was resulting more in a loud hollow thud than anything significant.

"And a good answer is what we are lacking. We could cast an anti-magic wave to disrupt whatever spells are currently in place in Ponyville, that may cause more harm than good. I do not know what spells are currently being maintained, so it is risky to do such," Luna explained. That would best be resolved for a more desperate situation than they were facing right now.

"Actually, Luna, I think that I might have another idea..." Twilight replied, the gears in her head turning with gusto as a thought began to take shape on just what they could do.

Comments

[CastersFaster]

Really, and surprisingly glad that this didn't turn out as a one shot. Thoroughly enjoyed the update and looking forward to pumpkin or nudity related shenanigans. Also, nice "This Is Halloween" parody.

[Chimp]

Zecora simply nodded. "When receiving visitors, I always dress in order to not offend. Comfort is nice, but not if it costs you a friend," she explained.

Sounds like some wisdom here.

"My advice to everyone, is that if you ever have a problem, do not be afraid to speak to someone about it. I know that may be asking a lot, but I can attest that it is far more painful to maintain silence, than it is to speak up," she stated,

Haha! The wisdom has been doubled!

[Moon loving Changeling]

Do more please

[Blake Skies]

7245349 yeah baby!

[Blake Skies]

There gonna be an update anytime soon Charlie?

[livinthelife]

That tacos and chocolate sauce would go great together?" Pinkie asked as she appeared next to Rainbow Dash. "Surprisingly they don't mix all that well. I think it's the hot sauce."

Clearly, Pinkie has never tried mole. Mmmm, mole.

[Draconicus the Reaper]

I feel like it's Discord

[whee38]

7628999 not enough anarchy. These are more of an annoyance

[Bookwurm666]

a fair number of those who hadn't simply gone home, were having trouble returning to old business.