Face Your Fears

by Skylight77

What a Fright

Author's Note:

Tonight's chapter is brought to you by Berry Punch with a Pinch of sugar:
Source

Mmm! Juicy!

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Feedback and criticism are appreciated.

Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy.

Many ponies were gathered just outside the stage, consisting mostly of families who brought their daughters and sons or little sisters and brothers. Everypony was still cheering from the last show. It featured a silly performance performed by Derpy and her daughter Dinky. Dinky was dressed up as a muffin monster with a mouth, floating inside the biggest bubble Equestria's ever seen. Half the ponies found it adorable while the other half found it terrifying, and not just from the monster's scaring.

Fluttershy was nervously jittering at the sounds of all those excited ponies cheering. Nightmare Night would soon be ending. This would be the last show performed on stage for this night. After experiencing the Ghost Mansion Feast a few hours ago, she’d think she could handle a stage fright like this. It seemed no matter how much you were ready for something, there was always room for nervousness to creep up when the time came.

She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. Looking behind her, she saw the rest of her assistants prepping for the performance. Bats were hanging in the shadows, butterflies were aligning their colors, and her personal pet bunny, Angel, was taking a long look at an empty bottle that was recently used. Fluttershy looked up, noticing a particular butterfly in position. It made her smile and regain her courage.

“Fillies and gentlecolts,” Mayor Mare was speaking outside the curtains of the stage. “There are only a few minutes left before the sun rises, and Nightmare Night comes to a close. Our last performance will be played by Fluttershy and her animal assistants. This has been a wonderful night. So to end it all off, give it up for Fluttershy and her Morning Welcome Ceremony!” The ponies replied with stomps of applause.

Fluttershy gave off a smile and looked to the bats above. She gave them a nod to start the performance. Upon receiving the signal, they flew off. There were many bats that flew from the stage after Mayor Mare stepped off. The applause had stopped when they appeared. Some of them were gasping in fear as they watched the bats fly off in the night sky. A few bats shrieked their sonar towards the audience as they passed. After all the bats were outside, Fluttershy grabbed her microphone.

“Every year on this night, they come,” Fluttershy started. Her voice echoed across the entire audience so everypony could hear clearly. She started speaking a few words. At the same time, some of the bats started hovering above the audience. Spiders were lowering themselves from the bats, getting very close to a few individual ponies.

“Bats, spiders, ghosts, monsters. They strike fear on us all in these dark times.” One of the spiders lowered itself in front of a unicorn filly named Ruby Pinch. She shut her eyes and flinched back in fear. Her mother, Berry Punch, was just as scared. But when she noticed her daughter cowering, she embraced her close in a hug, calming the filly and herself. Others were not so fortunate and had to embrace the fear alone.

Fluttershy brushed through the curtains and revealed herself with closed eyes. “But as scary as the night may be, it never lasts forever.” Several lights shined upon her. As she spread her wings, many butterflies with the colors of the rainbow flew from the stage. Angel was there at the upper part of the stage, turning one light to follow the butterflies as they flew. The bats and spiders that were terrifying the crowd brought their attentions to those butterflies. Their colors mixed in with the light, shining a bright and beautiful rainbow. It brought fear to the monsters while bringing comfort and smiles to the audience. Even Ruby Pinch and her mother had stars in their eyes despite a spider being inches away from their faces.

"For every time the night comes, light will rise again." The monsters were starting to back off as the butterflies inched closer. "These scary monsters fear the light. When it rises, the monsters will be gone." There was a bright shine of light that resonated from the butterflies. It flashed against the bats and spiders, causing them all to shriek as if in pain before falling to the ground, fainted. Nopony paid attention to them and instead focused on the light. They all hummed their 'ooh's and 'ahh's seeing the light vanquish the night.

"We all know this. We wait for the light to return, to protect us, to chase away the monsters of the night." Fluttershy's mood suddenly changed. She looked down, closed her eyes, and turned away. "But..." Suddenly, all the lights turned off. The lights coming from the butterflies dimmed out. They could be seen falling to the ground just like the bats. Even the stage went dark.

Gasps of fear were growing from the audience. Somehow, the area was getting darker, and darker, until the ponies could no longer see what was in front of them. Not even the moon shined any light.

"There comes a time, a place where there won't be a light to protect us. When the sun's rise won't bring us light." Something was emerging from the darkness. Their motion brought a few yelps from the crowd. Each pony turned to the direction they heard the monster. Whatever it was, it was something big.

"With no light, the monsters will have nothing to fear with terrorizing us." The monster opened its eyes, its big, red, terrifying eyes. Many ponies shrieked. Some of them held onto their friends and family, while others tried shielding themselves behind ponies they didn't know. Ruby Pinch was huddling very close to her mother, very terrified. But as she could tell from her mother's heartbeat, her mother was just as terrified.

Something shined from where the stage was. There was a small light there. But it was dimming, looking like it could go out any second. The light flew over to the audience and towards the monster. It was another butterfly, but this one seemed different somehow.

The monster turned to the butterfly when it reached it. At that moment, the light went out, making the audience gasp. This monster towered over the butterfly like a dragon ready to prey on an innocent pony. While the butterfly appeared to be shivering, it didn’t back down. Instead, it inched closer to the monster with a confident face.

Somehow, the monster’s scary expression softened for a moment. But it returned its creepy face and growled louder. The butterfly flinched back, but didn’t cower away. It brought itself back to the monster, more determined to face it than before. There was a small light coming from the butterfly’s body. This light brought silent gasps from the audience.

“But no matter how dark the night is, there is always a light inside you. All you have to do, is bring it out.” The butterfly continued to inch itself further towards the monster. Every time it did, the monster growled louder and tried scaring it back. But the butterfly continued retaliating in the same manner. It was a losing battle for the monster. For every time it lost ground, the light inside the butterfly became brighter. Eventually, the monster was the one that had fear.

“A close friend of mine showed me how to bring that light out. That light is your courage.” Angel turned the dial every time the butterfly got closer, causing the light to shine brighter. When the monster’s expression finally winced to the point of sweating. The butterfly’s light became bright enough to illuminate itself. Everypony could now see the colors of its wings. What they saw surprised them immensely.

The wings held multiple colors. Red, yellow, blue, green, orange, purple, all of the colors of the rainbow spread like lines on both its wings. It’s body was a light blue resembling a cyan coat, with its legs and antennas matching its color. And unlike other butterflies, its eyes were white with magenta pupils.

Most of the fillies and colts could recognize who it was. It was Rainbow Dash. She was a butterfly, a butterfly who was scaring off this giant monster of the night.

Fluttershy turned back to the crowd with a smile. “If you face your fear, your light will shine. Your light will scare the monsters away.” Rainbow Dash smirked and got up in the monster’s face, her light shining brighter. The monster shrieked. Light was bursting out of its body until it was completely engulfed. When it was, the monster burst into dozens of bats, all of which rained down to the floor. There must’ve been some conscience still in them, as none of them made contact with the crowd as they fell. Some of the ponies did flinch though.

“The monsters of this night can only bring fear to you. They can never harm you. Even if you’re small, weak, and helpless, If you can learn to face your fears, you too, can scare away these monsters.” Ruby Pinch and her mother were two of the ponies still trembling from such a monster. As Rainbow Dash looked to the crowd, she noticed them barely able to peek out. She smiled and went to them.

“It won’t be easy for everypony, but you don’t have to face them alone.” Fluttershy waved to the spot in the crowd that Rainbow Dash situated herself to. The crowd followed her sights. Rainbow Dash hovered just above Ruby and her mother. She lowered herself further to meet the filly’s horn. A gentle touch to the horn was made, causing it to start emitting the same light Rainbow Dash had. Berry Punch gasped at the light her daughter emitted. It wasn’t a light being emitted from the stage. This light was coming from her daughter's magic, or more specifically, her daughter's courage.

Berry Punch couldn't help but smile at Ruby's first use of magic. A simple night light spell that she could use in the dark. It brought tears to her eyes. Her daughter must've felt the same way when she looked back at her mother. Tears poured from her eyes too as they both felt such warmth from this light. When they hugged, Rainbow hovered up to the mother's mane, spreading more light to them.

"Your friends and your families. Look to them for support, even if you have to help each other. Remember that your light is with you. It will guide you through the night. And you no longer have to be afraid." Everypony else smiled, some of them holding tears. From Fluttershy's speech, and the joy that this mother and daughter shared, it was practically impossible for them to not smile. Some of the fillies and colts hugged their parents or guardians in response, happy to have somepony to give them courage just like Ruby. Nopony even noticed that Angel screwed up the syncing of the light for a moment to shed tears as well.

All of the butterflies started picking themselves up from the ground. Rainbow soon went back to the air and the others followed. Something was rising over the horizon. It looked like the sun, and Rainbow was floating towards it with all the butterflies. She turned to the crowd, spreading her multi-colored wings over the sun while each butterfly gathered behind her.

As the sun rose, her wings lit up from the sun's flares, lighting the crowd and the stage in a multitude of beautiful colors. The rainbows shined upon the crowd's eyes, bright enough for them to gaze in awe without blinding them. If they didn’t know any better, the audience would think she was actually raising the sun.

When the sun got into position, Rainbow Dash flew towards the right side of the audience with the butterflies following suit. After getting to position, she turned a ninety degree angle and raised her altitude, which soon turned to a dive in a circular motion. Some of the butterflies slowed their flight into a stop while others continued forward, stopping a bit later. Specific colors of butterflies aligned themselves to stop in a desired pattern. That pattern was aligned with the matching colors of the rainbow.

Rainbow Dash split from the path, flying towards the stage as the rainbow was completed. The butterflies managed to form the exact shape that a rainbow made. Sighs of awes resonated from the crowd as they looked up to it. With the light of the sun shining upon it, it was as if a real rainbow had formed in the sky. Fluttershy spread her left wing out for Rainbow to land on. She finished her performance with a bow.

“Nightmare Night is now over. Thank you. Thank you all for coming!” Fluttershy closed her eyes and bowed as well. The audience gave their applause with their stomps and cheered. Berry Punch and her daughter still held each other, but they turned to the stage and waved. Rainbow and Fluttershy could see their smiling faces and waved back. They couldn’t be happier to see such smiling faces.

As the audience cheered, the bats and spiders awoke, the butterflies broke their formations, and the spiders climbed on the bats as they all flew back to the stage. They joined with Fluttershy, waving at the audience to accept their applause and sharing their smiling faces with them. Even Angel had hopped down to stand on top of Fluttershy’s mane, waving and smiling at the applauding audience.

As for Rainbow Dash, she just couldn’t tear her eyes off Berry Punch and Ruby Pinch. They just looked like such a loving family. It warmed her heart more than she thought it would. When she took a glance at Fluttershy with that family in mind, her warm feeling grew even warmer.