Returning Survivor

by Itchy

Nightmare Night

Sugary Spice was out playing on the front lawn, waiting for Mecha to finish his project for Nightmare Night before they went to pick up their costumes. So it came as a surprise to her when a large figure walked up to her, and asked, “Pardon me, but could thou tell me where Mecha is?”

Blinking, Sugary Spice nodded her head, saying, “Sure I can! But I'm not supposed to talk to strangers, so I won't!”

Caught off guard, the figure replied, “But if I should introduce mineself to thou, you would then tell me?”

Quirking her head, Sugary Spice thought for a second, before saying, “That should work... although it would be rude of me to ask for your name without giving mine first! So, I'll start! My name is Sugary Spice!”

“It is a pleasure to meet thou, my name isth Luna,” the princess replied, giving the young filly a smile.

“Luna? As in princess Luna?” Sugary Spice asked, eyes widening. Seeing Luna nod her head, Sugary Spice jumped up, and rushed forward, staring her straight into her eyes. After a few seconds, she nodded her head, before stepping back and saying, “It is a pleasure to meet you! Mecha has told me so much about you!”

Chuckling at Sugary Sweet's enthusiasm, Luna said, “All good things I hope. However, I must ask again, could thou tell me where Mecha isth?”

Rapidly nodding her head, Sugary Spice replied, “He's in that building over there, working on it. He mentioned something about genuinely scaring somepony named Pinky... something.”

At that moment, a loud maniacal laugh rang out, coming from Mecha as he trotted out from the building, eyes widen open and rolling. “I've done it!” he yelled out, mad look still upon his face.

Smiling, Sugary Spice ran up to him, saying, “And you only went a little mad doing it!”

Chuckling, Mecha replied, “Oh no, I went quite mad. I've just regained most of my mind on the trip down. Now though, I must test it!”

Looking over her friend, Luna asked, “Art thou sure thou isth okay? After all, thou did walk out with an evil laugh.”

Shaking his head, Mecha told her, “Tis but a flesh wound upon my psyche! It'll be over by the time the test is done! For now though, we need her, so...” looking around, Mecha walked over to an object covered with a giant cloth. Grabbing it, Mecha pulled it off, while shouting, “Pinkie!!! I have cake for you!!!”

Upon the complete removal of the cloth, a giant strawberry cake, complete with pink butter cream frosting and sliced strawberries was reveled. Luna opened her mouth to speak, only to shut it when Pinkie Pie suddenly appeared, jumping up and down in place, saying, “OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOH! Cake! Thank you Mecha!”

She then leaped towards the cake, mouth wide open, before Mecha grabbed her and said, “Not yet Pinkie!” causing her to groan, before turning to Mecha with the dreaded puppy dog eyes. Shaking his head, Mecha told her, “You can have your cake, after you test the haunted house I made. And I want your genuine reaction, none of your fun fear, got it?”

Nodding her head, Pinkie Pie ran up to the door, before turning to Mecha. Seeing him nod his head, Pinkie Pie opened the door, and walked in. “Well, we've got about ten minutes,” Mecha said, before turning to face Luna, “What's up? Actually, before you answer, where's Solaris? Figured he'd be with you today.”

Shaking her head, Luna replied, “Solaris was called for a meeting with his clan.”

Eyes widening, Mecha yelled out, “ARE YOU NUTS!!! You let Solaris go to a meeting with that clan of maniacs!”

Raising her eyebrow, Sugary Sweet tugged on Mecha's leg, asking, “Dad, what are you two talking about?”

Sighing, Mecha replied, “First, what did I say about calling me dad?”

“Not to do so until the Pride forsaken bureaucrats finish with the paperwork?” Sugary Spice said.”

Nodding his head, Mecha said, “Yep. Anyways, what we're talking about is my friend Solaris's clan.” Seeing the questioning look upon her face, Mecha sighed, before adding, “Extended family. Basically, aunts, uncles, cousins, great-uncle,s twice removed cousin, any family relation all living together. And Solaris's clan is completely bonkers.”

Raising an eyebrow, Luna asked, “Doth thou realize that thou isth also claiming Solaris bonkers?”

Shaking his head, Mecha replied, “Nah, you straightened him out. His only problem now would be his choice of friends, and they share his problem in insanity there.”

Sugary Spice raised an eyebrow, saying, “Did you just call yourself insane?”

Laughing, Mecha replied, “Yeah, I did. Although, considering the fact that I adopted a timberwolf cub for a pet, I'd say it was fairly obvious before.”

At this point, Pinkie Pie exited the haunted house, smiling. While covered with fake blood. And fake intestines. Not to mention she had fake brain stuck to her back left hoof. “Not bad Mecha!” Pinkie told him in her sing song voice, not noticing his shock at her happy disposition. “Although you might want to cut back on the fake blood spray, it was a tad excessive and was more ridiculous than scary. Can I have my cake now?”

Nodding his head, Mecha just stared as Pinkie Pie leapt into the cake, scarfing it down at rates physically impossible. Blinking, Mecha threw his hooves up into the air, saying, “I give up! Pinkie wins, screw making her scream in real fright!” before he turned and walked towards the front gate. “Let's go get our costumes SS, I want to forget this ever happened!”

Laughing, Sugary Spice ran up to Mecha before jumping onto his back. Whistling, she waited for a second before Wolfgang ran out, jumping onto Mecha's head. Giggling, Sugary Spice scratched the young pup behind his ears, as princess Luna stared at the trio. Blinking, she spoke her thoughts, saying, “That isth the most interesting family I've ever seen...”

“They aren't a family yet!” Pinkie Pie said from her pile of cake. “The adoption paperwork shouldn't be finished for another week!”

LINEBREAKER

Mecha, Sugary Sweet, and Wolfgang all walked down the street, enjoying themselves as they made their way towards the group of foals that were all trick or treating that night. Dressed as timberwolves, Mecha and Sugary Sweet were enjoying scaring everypony they passed with random howls and growls, with Wolfgang joining in for his own amusement.

Approaching the group, Mecha was chuckling, before he said to Sugary Sweet, “Go ahead and join them, I'm going to talk to Twilight Sparkle real quick.”

Nodding her head, Sugary Spice ran up to the group of colts and fillies, laughing as they jumped when they saw her costume. Shaking his head, Mecha walked towards Twilight Sparkle, looking her over, before asking, “Bellstrum the Bell Ringer or Star Swirl the Bearded?”

Sighing, Twilight Sparkle replied, “Star Swirl the Bearded. I don't even know who that first one was!”

Laughing Mecha told her, “A random pony I met in Manehatten. In fact, I doubt you've met him, so I really should've figured your costume out before that.”

Shaking her head, Twilight told him, “I'm just happy that you got Star Swirl the Bearded at all, as you're the first to do so. Although, I have to admit that your timberwolf costume is well done, and it was interesting to watch you three walk down the street.”

“Yeah, had Rarity do the heavy detail work. You plan on visiting my haunted house?” Mecha asked.

“I don't plan on it,” Twilight replied. “In fact, I think I'll just watch over these young ones.”

Smiling, Mecha said, “I'd be thankful if you did. Anyways, I have to go and make sure nopony sneaks into the house, keep an eye out for princess Luna would you? She vanished after I left to pick up costumes.”

Nodding her head, Twilight watched as Mecha walked off, before making her way to the stage set up for the festival.

LINEBREAKER

Mecha stood in front of his haunted house, smirking. He looked at the crowd in front of him, not a single one frightened at what might be inside. That, Mecha thought, would change soon. After all, once the first group came out, they'd change their tune. And low and behold, here came the first group, screaming as they ran out, running so fast that most couldn't see their pale faces, or their fake blood covered costumes.

The crowd started to whisper amongst itself, wondering what could've earned such a reaction from the ponies. Still smirking, Mecha walked up to the door, opening it, and said, “Next group please, should you still wish to enter.”

Gulping, a group of stallions in costumes stepped forward, eying what was most likely their marefriends. Stepping inside, they jumped when Mecha slammed the door shut on them, before turning to face the line in front of him. “They should be ten minutes, unless they start running through the place,” Mecha told the next group, before grabbing a piece of candy from a nearby bowl. After all, a crowd this large was sure to attract the young foals out looking for candy. Or Pinkie Pie. Either way, it paid to keep some candy on hoof.

Around eight minutes later, the exit door burst open as the stallions ran out, screaming much like the group before. Rushing to their marefriends, they grabbed them, before cuddling with them, shaking. At this point, the ponies in line saw their appearance, most paling at the sight. “It's all fake!” Mecha hollered, hoping to prevent a mass of panic attacks. “Corn syrup and food coloring!”

This managed to calm the more jittery ponies, but they were all still shaken. Regaining his smirk, Mecha opened the entrance door once more, and said, “Although, I can't vouch for everything you'll see in their being fake...”

LINEBREAKER

Around two hours later, and many scared ponies, Mecha found himself slightly bored. After all, watching the same scared reaction from different ponies got dull after so long. Not to mention the ones that threw up afterwords, or the ones that pissed themselves. Thankfully, he hadn't had to clean up anything in the house itself, and so he was able to keep the line moving.

Suddenly, the crowd split, as princess Luna and Twilight Sparkle walked forward. Approaching the entrance, Twilight flinched when the last group ran screaming out the exit door, while Luna looked unphased. “I've been told being scared is fun,” she said, “And was wondering if you'd be willing to let me enter your haunted house to see if it's true?”

Raising an eyebrow at her sudden change in speech patterns, Mecha shrugged his shoulders, opening the door, saying, “So long as the ponies in line don't mind you skipping ahead.”

Turning to face said ponies, Luna asked, “Do you mind if I go ahead?”

Shaking their heads, everypony watched as Luna walked through the door, before it slammed shut behind her. Mecha then turned to Twilight, and asked, “What happened?”

Sighing, Twilight replied, “She tried to get everypony to love her and change the holiday.”

Laughing, Mecha asked, “Who was it that finally explained to her that we enjoyed being scared on this night?”

“Pinkie Pie,” Twilight told him.

Shaking his head, Mecha said, “Of course it was her. You know, she's the only pony who's made it through unscared?”

Raising an eyebrow, Twilight said, “Really? This seems like the kind of thing she'd go to in order to be scared silly.”

“I told her to go through without being scared for fun,” Mecha replied. “So of course she comes out smiling, and tells me I used to much fake blood. Granted, I figured that nopony would realize that there isn't that much blood in the body, but I cut back anyways.”

Looking at the fake-blood covered ponies who'd already been in the house, Twilight asked, “How much were you using earlier?”

Shrugging his shoulders, Mecha said, “Around a gallon per pony. You do not want to know how much it cost me to get so much fake blood.”

At this point, the exit door opened, and Luna walked out, shaking and quivering, as pale as Celestia. Turning to Mecha, she stared at him with wide eyes, saying, “I think you need to see a psychiatrist.”

Mecha didn't reply until after he'd let the next group through. Turning to face Luna, he asked, “What part made you think that?”

Still trying to calm her nerves, Luna replied, “The whole house, although the live autopsy of the pegasus really sealed the deal.”

Chuckling, Mecha told her, “Would you believe me if I told you I got the idea from eating cupcakes?”

LINEBREAKER

It was the morning after Nightmare Night, and Mecha was taking down the haunted house. Throwing the fake pegasus body into the garbage, he took a bite out of the cupcake he'd been snacking on while working. Frowning, he stared at it before grabbing a jug of fake blood, and dipped it in the blood. Taking another bite, he smiled before knocking down another wall.

Turning to push the dumpster he'd rented to the front of his property, Mecha spotted a hooded figure walking towards him. Raising an eyebrow, Mecha finished of his cupcake before asking, “What's the palace's order this time?”

Chuckling, the royal worker asked, “What makes you think this is for the palace? Couldn't I have come for my own order?”

Shaking his head, Mecha replied, “You wouldn't have worn your hood then. Although I totally understand the hood, don't want everypony trying to sell you their work for the palace now, would we?”

Laughing, the hooded pony said, “True true. Although I get the feeling you'd know it was me even without this hood. But I digress, you're right and the palace wants a sculpture.”

Sighing, Mecha pulled out a pad and pen from his mechanical leg, saying, “What material?”

Quirking his head, the messenger said, “Some kind of iron, pitch black...”

“Nightmare metal?” Mecha asked.

“Yeah,” was the response from the hooded pony. “As well as that dark blue metal you used for Captain Shining Armor's armor.”

Nodding his head, Mecha said, “You realize that the treated titanium is going to cost you a small fortune, let alone the Nightmare metal.”

“I've been told there is no limit on price for this,” was the pony's reply.

“In that case, carry on!” Mecha said, scribbling something down.

Chuckling at Mecha's new found enthusiasm, the pony said, “What was requested was a scene from last night... something about a young foal made of silver leaving candy in front of a statue of Nightmare Moon, made out of the Nightmare metal, whilst Luna hides behind it, made of the blue metal, laughing.”

Nodding his head, Mecha said, “Got it. Anything else?”

“Not for the statue,” was the hooded pony's reply. “Although, you could tell me if it's true that princess Luna got scared so bad she quivered and shook.”

Laughing, Mecha replied, “Not only is that true, but I built the haunted house that did it!”

“Really now?” the pony asked. “Would you happen to have the blueprints for it? Celestia was interested in acquiring whatever scared her sister. Something about either filling her room with it or a doorway portal...”

Shaking his head, Mecha went inside and grabbed the design off his table, before walking back out and handing it to the pony. “Here you go,” Mecha told him, “One design to scare Luna! That will be... your name.”

Laughing, the hooded pony said, “Very well, I have the feeling that we'll be doing more and more business as time goes on anyways, so what harm could it be? My name is Dissonant Babel.”

“Well, good to finally have a name to go with the hood!” Mecha replied. “Now, come back in two months, and I might have it done. No promises though, do you know how hard it is to get Nightmare metal?”