It Happened One Nightmare Night

by Scroll Surfer

CHAPTER 3

It had been half an hour since Starburst had arrived at what was dubbed “The Nightmare Night Party of a Lifetime”. By now Cotton Candy had been introducing Starburst to as many attendees as possible. Being a princess it made Starburst an easy target for rabid fans wanting to interact with her and take pictures with her. She was supposed to be at that party to have fun or at least try to have fun and these fan girls and fan boys were making it extremely difficult for the tiny pegasus. An hour into the party it seemed as if the attendees were finally giving Starburst some much needed space. As she trotted across the dance floor she ran into none other than her oldest cousin Flurry Heart.

“Flurry?” said Starburst with a look of surprise.

“Hey, cousin, what’s happenin’?” said the alicorn in a deep, slow manner. “You gettin’ good vibes?”

Starburst stared at her cousin in confusion after taking note of her strange speaking pattern. Starburst then examined Flurry’s costume. Flurry had her mane in dreadlocks, wore a pink wide sleeved top and a yellow handkerchief over her head.

“What in the wild, wild world of Equestria are you supposed to be?” said Starburst with a cocked eyebrow.

“I’m Treehugger,” said Flurry in her normal voice. “She’s been helping out in the Crystal Empire teaching yoga. That’s how I came up with the idea for this costume. You like?”

“I would’ve liked if you and Mrs. Treehugger didn’t insist on stealing the Rastafarian culture from Jamareca,” said Starburst scornfully. “It’s bad enough that most upper-class ponies don’t see them as ponies. Jamarecan culture is not your damn Nightmare Night costume.”

“It’s not stealing,” said Flurry. “Mrs. Treehugger said it’s important to share cultures in order for there to be unity amongst all creatures.”

“What are you doing here anyway?” said Starburst.

“My boyfriend heard about this great Nightmare Night party right here in Ponyville,” said Flurry. “So he arranged a week in advance.”

Starburst stared at her cousin with wide eyes and a hanging jaw. “You mean this was the party you were going to?”

“Why yes,” responded Flurry. Flurry then turned her attention the crowd. “Oh, there he is,” said Flurry beaming. Starburst looked to the direction where Flurry was looking to find a giant manticore walking towards their direction. Starburst trembled slightly as the manticore stopped right next to the mares.
“Starburst, I’d like you to meet Tremex,” said Flurry with a smile. “We’ve been dating for a month now.”
Suddenly the manticore was engulfed with a green flame from its feet to the top of its head. What was now standing before the mares was a male changeling. “Tremex, this is my baby cousin, Starburst,” said Flurry turning to the changeling. Starburst glared at Flurry after her “baby” comment.

“Daww, isn’t she adorable?” cooed Tremex. He then ruffled Starburst’s mane. Starburst scowled at the changeling then licked her hoof trying to fix her mane into the spiked fashion that it once was.

“Tremex is actually Ocellus’s son,” continued Flurry. “You know, one of the first graduates of Auntie Twilight’s School of Friendship?”

“Wow, Flurry, Mom told me you had a boyfriend,” said Starburst. “But she didn’t tell me that my cousin was dating a changeling.”

“Well, she probably forgot that small detail,” said Flurry.

“I gotta say out of all the holidays my fellow changelings have been celebrating all these years,” began Tremex. “Nightmare Night is definitely our favorite. We could change into anything we want and not worry about scaring other ponies.”

“Is that the reason why you practically brought half of the hive with you?” said Flurry turning to Tremex.

Starburst looked at Tremex in shock. “You mean there are other changelings here?” she said.

“Yup, right over there,” said Tremex pointing towards one section of the crowd. Starburst screwed her eyes as she stared at the crowd of costumed revelers. “Which ones are they?” said Starburst

“I can’t tell you that now, can I?” said Tremex. “It would ruin the illusion.”

They all then glanced over to Sirena Mist who was at her turntables bobbing her head to the music. Suddenly the mare with the medusa look pushed her way towards the turntables and grabbed Sirena’s mike. “Can I have everyone’s attention, please?” said the mare. The music stopped all the attendees focused on the unicorn mare. Sirena stared at her with outrage. “I’ve been here for almost an hour and I couldn’t help but notice how absolutely atrocious this DJ’s music lineup is,” said the unicorn mare. There were audible gasps among the crowd and they looked at each other in confusion. “I mean most of the music I’m hearing is not what’s out there and half of it doesn’t have the Nightmare Night feel to it,” the unicorn mare continued.

“Uh, excuse me,” interjected Sirena. “I’ve been in this job for three years. I think I know what I’m doing.”

“Uh, you might want to reconsider,” said the unicorn mare levitating a flash drive. Sirena stared at the 64 gigabyte flash drive then back at the unicorn mare who simply had an arrogant smile. Sirena scowled as she pushed the flash drive into her turn table. Almost immediately a hyper-fast remix with a dark melody started to blast through the boom boxes. The revelers let out a cheer and continued dancing. “Yes, those are original tracks that a friend of mine remixed and downloaded for me,” said the unicorn mare haughtily. “Honestly, why you were hired to be DJ is beyond me.” Sirena glared at the unicorn mare as the unicorn made her way back to the dancefloor. Starburst, Flurry and Tremex beheld the scene in stunned silence. Starburst noticed Cotton Candy among the crowd with a stallion she met recently named Epic Parody who was dressed up as the movie character Mr. Incredible. She was staring at the unicorn mare and from what Starburst could tell Cotton Candy was outraged that the Medusa impersonator was usurping her role as party host. “Sweet Celestia, who does that lady think she is?” said Tremex shaking his head in disgust.

“I know, right?” said Flurry. Tremex then transformed back into his manticore form started dancing with Flurry. Starburst meanwhile continued to stare at the unicorn mare. “Geez, that girl reminds me of Nidra,” she thought to herself.

---

Nightlight, Api, Pixel and Echo slowly trotted through a hallway that was covered moss and hanging vines. They managed to make it this far after avoiding most of the traps that The Elements of Harmony got caught in. “Are you sure we’re going the right way, Nightlight?” said Api.

“That’s what the map said,” replied Nightlight.

“That winding staircase was killing me,” said Pixel wincing with every step she took.

“Not me,” said Echo.

“Of course not, because while we were climbing up the stairs you were flying,” said Api glaring at Echo.

“And you said being a pegasus sucks,” said Pixel.

The young ponies turned into another hallway where they heard the muffled sounds of music. The fillies’ faces beamed. “Now, there’s supposed to be a trapped door somewhere here,” said Nightlight. The young fillies’ movements became slow and they looked down to see three outlines. “You see that?” said Nightline pointing to a smaller outline above the two larger ones. “That activates the trap door. Jump over it.” One by one the fillies jumped over the outline. They looked up ahead finding the two large doors that led to the party. The more they approached the door the louder the music became.

“We’ve finally made it girls,” said Api triumphantly.

“Thanks, Nighty,” said Pixel. “We owe you one…” Pixel turned around to face Nightlight only to discover that he was nowhere in sight. A look of fear appeared on her face. Api and Echo also turned around finding Nightlight gone. “Where did he go?” said Echo.

“I think we’d better go look for him,” said Pixel with a hint of worry in her voice.

“Don’t worry,” said Api waving her hoof dismissively. “Prince Egghead knows his way around the castle. He’ll be fine.” Api got on her hind hooves and pushed against the door. Pixel and Echo joined in pushed until the door cracked open. A wave of music hit their ears as the fillies made their way into the grand hallway. Their eyes went wide and their jaws slackened as they beheld the size of room that was decorated with the Nightmare Night themes. They saw the floor littered with revelers with Sirena Mist doing her DJ duties. The last thing the fillies’ eyes fell on was the large, long table filled with food. Api rubbed her hooves together with enthusiasm. “What are we waiting for?” she said turning to Echo and Pixel. “Let’s get this party started!”

---

Del mingled with a few revelers as best as he knew how. He was not the sociable type, a trait he probably picked up from his Uncle Big Mac. As he looked aimlessly amongst the crowd he bumped into a reveler. “Oh, sorry,” he said. He beheld the reveler who was a unicorn mare dressed in a white clown costume complete with a puffy red wig. On her race was a round, red clown’s nose and red lipstick. The unicorn mare then widened her eyes when she realized who was standing in front of her “Goldie!” said the mare. Del cocked his eyebrows when suddenly recognized the mare upon further inspection. She was Crème De La Crème who was a top notch supermodel and the daughter of Canterlot aristocrat Fancy Pants and famous model Fleur Dis Lis. Though she was a high society mare Crème never allowed her wealth and privilege to go to her head like most mares her age. She was kind and gentle yet some ponies considered her an airhead. Del was often called upon by Crème to help bake deserts for whatever gathering she would put together and occasionally Crème would visit Ponyville to learn how to “be a regular pony.” Del looked at Crème in bewilderment. “Crème?” he said. “What the Sam Hill are you doin’ here?”

“I heard about this great party they were having here in Ponyville,” explained Crème. “so I told my parents that I was coming to help you bake.”

“You didn’t have a lie, Crème,” said Del with a cringe. “So what are you supposed to be? A clown?”

“Why, yes,” said Crème. “I’m Pennywise from “It”.”

“Uh, Pennywise ain’t got a puffy wig and Ah think ya didn’t finish with the makeup.”

“Well, my mom said that if I toned down how scary he actually looked I could overcome my phobia.”

“Phobia? You mean yer scared ah clowns?”

“Ever since I was a filly I could never really get past how creepy they look with all that white makeup, those hideous shoes and those clothes that make them look fat.”

Del looked at Crème with sympathy. “Gosh, Ah had no idea,” said Del.

“It was my idea for the costume,” Crème continued. “But Mom put on the makeup for me and I couldn’t even look in the mirror.”

“Well, don’t ya think yer makin’ matters worse by actually dressing up as a clown?”

“The whole idea about dressing up for Nightmare Night is to be scary, right? Clowns are horrifying. I regret nothing.”

“Are ya at least havin’ a good time?”

“I’m having a blast! Wanna dance?”

“Sure.” The two ponies started to move to the beat with Del being subtle while Crème danced in a manner that seemed alien to all those present.

---

Nightlight galloped through the castle smiling ear to ear. He simply could not contain his excitement to be able to dive into one of the many ancient books that might be available within those walls. As far as the young prince was concerned the significance of hundreds, if not thousands of historical documents, journals and spells far exceeded some mindless revelry. Nightlight galloped past an archway and stopped dead in his tracks when something caught the corner of his eye. He turned around and slowly made his way back to the archway. He peered from behind the wall and his eyes widened when he saw a giant pipe organ within the crumbling room. According to a funny story his mother told him and Starburst, Twilight and her friends were scared out of their wits when they heard this organ playing nonstop the night they visited the castle for the first time only to find out that it was Mrs. Pinkie Pie playing the organ all along. Nightlight was always quite infatuated with classical music and had the ability to play a few notes on the family piano back at The Castle of Friendship. The unicorn colt decided to amuse himself by playing a tune or two at the giant instrument. He sat on the seat, flexed his hooves and started pressing the keys. Seeing that it was Nightmare Night Nightlight decided to play in minor scale. He played away for about two minutes. “This is real music,” Nightlight thought. “Not that computerized, auto tuned technobabble those kids are dancing to.” The unicorn colt played until he hit a hard F minor on the key.

Meanwhile Prism Bolt pranced the dance floor giving hoof bumps to male partyers and kisses to the female revelers. The moment Nightlight hit the key a tile that Prism Bolt stepped on sprang up sending the pegasus stallion soaring across the room. Prism didn’t flap his wings since he was caught by surprise. Instead of hovering in the air Prism slammed flat on the floor. The partyers in close proximity to the area stopped partying and focused squarely on the blue pegasus. Soon they erupted in laughter. Prism simply laid flat on his face growling in anger and embarrassment.

At the organ Nightlight played the last notes and came to a stop. “That’s enough of that,” he thought. “There are books in this castle that are begging to be read and deciphered.” The unicorn colt then jumped out of the seat and galloped off into the castle.

At the party Prism cursed under his breath and slowly started to rise off the floor. He looked ahead seeing four purple hooves. He then looked up and his eyes widened when he recognized the pony dressed in a type of explorer’s outfit standing in front of him. “Whirlwind!” he said springing to his hooves. Whirlwind was the only daughter of Rainbow Dash’s former fellow Wonderbolts Cloud Chaser and Thunderlane. She was also Echo’s older cousin and Prism ex-fillyfriend. “Wasn’t expecting you here, Dubs,” Prism continued as he dusted himself off.

“I was actually invited here by Cotton Candy since it’s Nightmare Night and all,” replied Whirlwind. She then examined Prism’s costume. “What’re you supposed to be?” she said. “A royal guard or something?”

“Only the most awesome legend who’s ever lived,” replied Prism spreading his wings proudly. “Flash Magnus.”

“Really?” said Whirlwind with a cocked eyebrow. She then caught a glimpse of the gnarly scar across Prism’s face. A scar that he got while training for the Wonderbolts only to drop out not too long after. That was also the time when Whirlwind decided to break up with Prism. “Hey, you’re not wearing your band aid,” Whirlwind said pointing at Prism’s face.

“Well, I thought it might be cool for Flash Magnus to have a battle scar,” said Prism. “Who are you supposed to be?”

“Daring Do,” replied Whirlwind proudly.

“You mean A.K. Yearling?” said Prism with groan. “No offense, but she’s totally overrated. Don’t tell Mom I said that.”

““Overrated”?” said Whirlwind with a fierce expression. “Daring Do risked her tail more times than I could count finding the rarest artifacts and treasures in the most remote corners of Equestria! She was able to do all that with a broken wing and a ton of broken bones. I’ve read all of her books and I even got her latest adventure autographed! Did I mentioned that Daring Do is still exploring at age 56?”

“Oh yeah?” said Prism. “Well my mom took on the Storm King and could still do wing pushups at age 45!”

“Your mom’s awesome and all,” said Whirlwind. “But she’s got a long way to go if she wants to top Daring Do. Mrs. Rainbow Dash isn’t too proud to admit that.”

“Yeah. I can’t believe she still reads those books.”

“So, I heard you got yourself a fillyfriend somewhere.”

Prism Bolt looked at Whirlwind sharply with a dumbfounded look. Ever since he broke up with the pegasus mare he did not have the best of luck when it came to the opposite sex. There was that one time when he was basically forced into a relationship with Nidra. As expected it was not to last. However, being the son of Rainbow Dash, Prism was not about to give Whirlwind the satisfaction of knowing that he failed at romance. “Well…,” Prism began. “I’ve got my admirers.” He then turned to a group of five female hippogriffs standing a few feet away and winked at them. The female hippogriffs in turn squealed and waved at him enthusiastically. “Right,” said Whirlwind patronizingly.

“Who are you with tonight?” said Prism turning to her. Whirlwind’s eyes went wide and Prism could have sworn he saw beads of sweat forming on her forehead. Her eyes then started to dart all over the party. “He’s around,” she said quickly putting on a strained smile.

“Sure he is,” responded a patronizing Prism. “Let me know if he decides to show up.” With those words he swaggered his way towards the female hippogriffs. Whirlwind looked on and let out a heavy sigh. Ever since she decided to let Prism go she became reluctant to form new romantic relationships. She could not bear to give Prism the satisfaction that she too had failed to find love.

---

Starburst was at the table indulging herself in the Nightmare Night treats when a tall dragon stood next to her taking his share of treats. He placed something flat on the table when he proceeded to cut off a slice of cake. Starburst looked at the item he placed down and her eyes went wide when she noticed that it was an autographed photograph of Nidra. Sunburst assumed that any portrait of a Princess of Equestria had to have a royal approval before being given out. Some creature at this party was trying to leech off of the likeness of a princess. “Where did you get this?” inquired Starburst flaring her massive wings trying to appear large and intimidating. The dragon nervously pointed his claw towards an area where the unicorn mare with the Medusa costume was sitting in a large chair surrounded by revelers. Some were giving her a hooficure while two dragons were fanning her. The unicorn meanwhile was signing large headshots of Nidra one by one and giving them away to party goers. Starburst was now at her wits end with that mare. First this Medusa wanna-be tries to make herself out as host now she was trying to profit off of Nidra? Starburst marched up to the unicorn mare when suddenly to large yaks blocked her path. “Out of my way,” said Starburst staring daggers at the yaks.

“No creature allowed six feet of Medusa without Medusa’s blessing,” said one yak in his gruff manner.

“It’s alright,” said the unicorn mare with an assuring tone. “Any princess is allowed in my circle.” The yaks slowly stepped aside maintaining their stern demeanor. Starburst walked past them and straight up to the unicorn mare. “Alright, lady,” Starburst began. “How did you get those photos?”

“I keep a ton of them in my room,” said the unicorn mare as she signed another headshot.

“Look, I don’t who you are, but if you’ve been stalking Princess Nidra just to get a picture to sell you’re going straight to jail!”

“I don’t intent to profit off of them, Starburst. Besides do you really think I’d let a lowly commoner sell pictures of me without my royal blessing?”

Starburst stared at the unicorn mare with wide eyes. The unicorn mare in turn stared right back with her piercing green eyes. Starburst’s forehead started to shine with sweat. The unicorn mare’s Medusa costume was so authentic the Pegasus thought she was going to turn into stone right there and then. Suddenly the greens in the unicorn mare’s eyes began to dissolve until a pair of bright yellow eyes were staring right at Starburst. Starburst cocked her head and her jaw slackened as she instantly recognized the unicorn mare’s eyes. “Nidra?” said Starburst.

“In the flesh,” responded Nidra. “Remember what I said before? A party is not a party without Princess Nidra.”

“Honestly, where do you get off trying to tell the DJ how to do her job and trying to grab attention any which way you could?” said Starburst with a scowl. “I thought you were supposed to be grounded?”

“Now, now,” said Nidra ruffling Starburst’s mane. “Don’t start throwing stones when you literally live in a glass castle. Now if you’ll excuse me. There are a lot of creatures who want to get a piece of Princess Nidra.”

Starburst glared at Nidra while trying to fix her mane back to its spiked appearance. That was the second time someone did that to her. “All right, everycreature, time to slow things down a bit,” announced Sirena Mist. “Grab your partners.” From out of boom box came a soft, slow musical piece. All the revelers held onto their partners and started slow dancing. Whirlwind trotted over to a corner and watched on as everyone danced with a partner except her. She caught a glimpse of Prism continuing to flirt with the five female hippogriffs. She began to think maybe coming to this party was a bad idea. She then let out a sigh. “Whirlwind?” a young colt’s voice said. Whirlwind turned to her left and standing next to her was Prism’s younger brother. “Oh, hi, Icy,” said Whirlwind.

“Aren’t you gonna dance with anyone?” said Icy Storm.

“I told you before, Icy, I’m not looking for love,” said Whirlwind.

“You don’t have to love anyone in order to dance,” responded Icy.

Whirlwind let out a sigh. “It might just bring back sad memories,” she said.

Icy looked over to Prism as he was living it up with the hippogriffs. “Do you miss dating my brother, Whirlwind?” asked Icy.

“I miss the fact that when we first met he was always ready to put others above himself and he seemed pretty humble,” said Whirlwind sadly. “He always knew how to walk in others’ shoes. It seemed that ever since he decided to train for the Wonderbolts that overly aggressive competitive style brought out the worse in him.” There was silence between them until Whirlwind’s face brightened. She then turned to Icy. “You wanna dance?” she said. Icy’s jaw almost dropped to the floor and he trembled slightly. He always had a crush on Whirlwind but he knew it was never meant to be because he was three years younger than she was.

“You wanna dance with me,” Icy said in a trembling voice.

“Like you said, you don’t have to be in love with someone if you wanna dance with them,” said Whirlwind. “After all these years I’ve known you, I think you’re a really great friend, Icy.” The young colt’s heart was going a hundred miles an hour at Whirlwind’s words. His lifelong crush actually considers him a friend. A weak smile then appeared on Icy’s face. He raised a shaking hoof and took Whirlwind’s hoof. They then held each other close and started their dance. All the while they danced Icy struggled to contain his excitement. Deep inside he was screaming for joy.

Starburst walked in the midst of the crowd watching as everyone seemed to be lost in ecstasy with their partners. Suddenly Starburst spotted an earth pony amongst the crowd who was standing at the corner with no partner. Starburst recognized this young earth stallion. This stallion had recently moved into Ponyville from Norhay. His name was Fletcher. Starburst had a long crush on Fletcher and had actually managed to interact with him on a few occasions where she picked up his native language. But Starburst was desperate to actually have a real conversation with him. Fletcher was dressed in a blue jacket and was wearing a tinfoil contraption on his right forehoof. His mane was also disheveled and his face was smeared with dirt. Starburst flew over the revelers and landed right next to Fletcher. “Hallo, Fletcher!” said Starburst in Norhageian.

“Oh, hallo, Starburst,” replied Fletcher. “Jeg hadde ingen anelse om at du skulle komme (I had no idea you were coming).”

“Cotton Candy invited me,” Starburst responded in English. “How did you get dragged into this place?”

“Prism Bolt told me he’d set me up with a hippogriff,” said Fletcher in English. “But I’m not sure I'd want to go out with someone who might take me into the ocean too much.”

Starburst gave Fletcher a perplexed look. “What do you have against the ocean?” said Starburst.

“I was about ten years old when I almost drowned,” said Fletcher gravely. “I promised never to set hoof in water ever again.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that,” said Starburst. "You know, a hippogriff could help you grow a tail and fins. Temporarily of course.”

“I prefer my own pony parts, thank you very much.”

“What’s your costume supposed to be?”

“I’m a character from that video game “Fallout: Equestria”.” Fletcher then examined Starburst’s costume. “Are you supposed to be a comic book character or something?” He asked. Starburst let out a soft grumble. She was up to her neck with everyone misinterpreting her Nightmare Night costume.

There was then an awkward silence between the two. They glanced over to the crowd who danced around slowly. Starburst and Fletcher could not be any more out of place. “Would you like to dance?” Fletcher said turning to Starburst. The Pegasus’s heart seemed to swell in an instant and her cheeks flushed red through her yellow fur. Her then eyes darted around looking for the doors. She never thought she would be able to take such a big step. I wasn’t sure that she wanted to make the first step. Then she thought she had to go for it because she would probably never have a chance such as that again. “S-Sure,” she finally said. Soon a small smile made its way across her face. Both young ponies then held each other in an embrace and slowly started to dance.

Starburst and Fletcher keep their eyes fixed on one another. All the while Starburst was mentally pinching herself. “This can’t be real,” she thought silently. “This can’t be real!” However, she and Fletcher were hoof in hoof. This was as real as night and day. A warm smile appeared on Fletcher. Starburst snapped her head back slightly in reaction to the smile. Soon she returned the gesture. She then rested her head on his shoulder, closed her eyes and let out a slight sigh. She felt as if she was dancing on a cloud. She did not want this moment to end. Slowly Starburst reopened her eyes and suddenly she saw three young fillies no older than 10 years old at the food table. She recognized them well through their Nightmare Night costumes and stared at them in both shock and anger. Knowing the three she was certain that Api put Pixel and Echo up to her shenanigans. “Are they trying to get their cutiemarks in party crashing?” Starburst thought to herself. She then ripped herself away from Fletcher and started to make her way to the three fillies. “Where are you going?” said Fletcher as he looked at her with a shocked and pleading expression. Starburst stopped dead in her tracks totally forgetting that she was in a dance. She walked to Fletcher then back to table. She continued this movement four more times. She felt as if two ponies were pulling her back and forth. She was absolutely conflicted. On one hoof she had a once in a lifetime opportunity to get better acquainted with Fletcher. But on the other hoof there were many times she would give Api friendly advice on how to be more daring only for Api to cause a catastrophe because of said advice and Starburst certainly did not want to be held responsible if Api once again took her advice too far. A look of sadness then appeared on Starburst’s face. “I’m sorry,” she said leaving Fletcher behind.

“This is a great haul, huh girls?” said Api as she started stuffing desert in her trick or treat bag.

“Yeah,” said Pixel in agreement. “Makes you wonder why we spent all these years wasting time going door to door for candy.”

“Girls, I really think we should be looking for Nightlight,” said Echo with worry. “Mrs. Rainbow Dash already told me how dangerous this castle is.”

“Prince Egghead probably has his face buried in a book somewhere,” said Api. “Don't worry about him.”

“What are the three of you doing here?” said a stern female voice.

The three fillies froze at the familiar voice behind them. Slowly they turned around facing the orange Pegasus who had her giant wings flared. “H-Hey, Starburst,” said Api shakily. “Great costume!”

“Save it!” spat Starburst. “You all are supposed to be at Sweet Apple Acres.”

“Come on, Star,” begged Pixel. “This party was going great so far. Can’t we spend at least another hour?”

“No!” said Starburst sharply. “You three are coming with me and we're going back to the farm.” Starburst started pushing the three fillies until they were out of the party and into the hallway. She then started to push them down the hallway.

“Wait!” said Echo. “We have to find Nightlight!”

Starburst froze at Echo’s words and an expression of horror appeared on her face. “Where is he?” said Starburst frantically. “What happened to him?”

---

Nightlight was seated comfortably at a long table with large, hard cover books stacked on top of one another from one end to the other. He was leafing through all titles that covered a range of topics from written journals, Equestrian history and biographies of great magical wizards. He had his nose buried in another thick book concerning the great military battles in history. The book was quite heavy even for his own magic to levitate. He suddenly took a sharp lean backwards on his chair but instead of falling flat on the floor Nightlight was hanging midway on the chair at a perpendicular angle. At that very moment the bookshelf against the wall separated from the middle and the two halves slid away from each other revealing a dark room. Nightlight stared at the dark room with wide eyes and gently set the chair back on its legs. Slowly he approached the room and his horn lit up allowing much needed light to descend upon the room. In one corner of the room was a little dusty cushion while in another corner of the room was a tall shelf laden with books. “Jackpot!” said Nightlight as he trotted towards the bookshelf.

Starburst, Api, Pixel and Echo galloped through the hallways of the castle calling out to Nightlight. “Seriously, how did you guys managed to convince Nightlight to come along with you?” demanded Starburst.

“Why don’t you ask Pixel,” said Api glaring at the unicorn filly. “She’s the one who blabbed to him!”

“When I told him that we were going to The Castle of the Two Sisters he basically invited himself,” said Pixel defensively. “Since he’s so into books I couldn’t stop him.”

“And besides, you said we needed somepony who had a clear idea of the castle’s layout,” said Echo staring Api down. The earth filly simply responded to Echo’s momentary boldness with an angry growl.

“Nightlight!” Starburst called out. “You’re in big trouble when I find you!”

Meanwhile back at the small room Nightlight scanned the bookshelf until his eyes fell upon a book that was bound by a weak hardcover. He laid it on the floor and opened the book discovering it covered with a thick layer of dust. He made a sharp blow causing a huge cloud of dust to kick up making the unicorn colt hack and cough. He waved his hoof until the dust floated away. He examined the first line in the book and it read “Magical Warfare by Starswirl the Bearded.” Nightlight’s jaw slacked at his discovery. Apart from his mother, Nightlight basically worshipped Starswirl the Bearded and had took a few lessons under the unicorn stallion. Having an ancient document written by the great Starswirl right under Nightlight’s nose was the gift that kept on giving. “It has been nearly two weeks since Celestia’s beloved sister Luna has been corrupted by jealousy, bitterness and hatred giving way to the awful entity that calls itself Nightmare Moon,” Nightlight said as he read a passage aloud. Nightlight stared at the passage in shock. “Starswirl was working on a spell to fight Princess Luna?” Nightlight thought. Though it has been years since The Princess of the Night has been freed from Nightmare Moon’s clutches the story of how Luna went through her terrible phase was the one story that traumatized Nightlight. Every time Luna visited the castle Nightlight found it hard to believe that she was the same one who almost thrust Equestria into eternal night. “Nightmare Moon is a construct unlike any maleficent individual I have ever come across,” Nightlight said aloud as he continued to read. “Celestia is insistent that I bring no harm to her sister so I had to come up with a spell that would trap Nightmare Moon and bring Luna out of her grasp. It has taken me five days without sleep and I think I have found success. By the utterance of this spell it would summon spirits from beyond that would penetrate the body of Nightmare Night and save Luna with no harm done to her.” Nightlight then came across a passage written in a type of language that was rather hard to read. He was fond of puzzles and brain teasers so he couldn’t resist a challenge. “Miatneconni sirbenet ed cude,” Nightlight read phonetically. “Ticeffe orp te metatinob da tinev eropmet ni. Artxe da mutilim etrap amixam. Egrusnoc, egrusnoc.” After uttering the passage, the words began to glow brightly and the book began vibrating. Nightlight slowly rose to his hooves and started to back away from the book. Bright mist began to swirl from the page and started to grow into a huge cloud. The cloud started to break into smaller clouds and those clouds started to form shapes. Nightlight watched in horror as the shapes slowly grew into the sizes of fully grown ponies. About thirty ponies were formed out of this cloud and they hovered in the room. The ponies had the appearances of unicorn mares dressed in long elegant robes, flowing manes and bright, blurred eyes. The unicorn mares had blank expression and did not seem to be aware of Nightlight’s presence. The female unicorns then let out a shriek and made a mad dash out of the room. Nightlight screamed and hit the floor as the unicorns flew right past him and out of the library.

Starburst, Api, Pixel and Echo perked up when they heard Nightlight’s screams and the piercing shrieks of the female unicorns. They galloped towards the sounds until they arrived in the hallway that led to the library. The moment they stepped into the hall the horde of female unicorn spirits appeared and flew right towards them. Starburst and the fillies let out a scream at the sight of the unicorn spirits as they floated right above them. Starburst spread her massive wings and covered the fillies. The unicorn spirits floated pass them and into another hall. Meanwhile the patrons at the party stopped dancing as they heard the shrieks. Slowly they began to file out of the room and into the hallway just in time for the unicorn spirits to appear. The partyers screamed as the unicorn spirits flew right into their direction. The some of the partyers ran back into the room while others hit the floor. The unicorn spirits flew right above them and disappeared into through the wall. Cotton Candy who was among the curious revelers ran to a nearby window and watched in horror as the unicorn spirits made their way towards Ponyville.

Starburst and the fillies slowly rose of floor looking over their shoulders. They then made their way towards the library where they found Nightlight still flat on the floor covering his head. Starburst’s eyes widened in horror and she ran over to her brother picking him off the floor. “Nightlight, are you alright?” said Starburst.

“I-I think so,” said Nightlight shakily as he rose of the floor.

“What heck was that, Nightlight?” said Api.

“I think I just unleashed some Nightmare Moon slayers,” replied Nightlight gravely.

Author's Note:

In case you all are wondering, Starswirl's spell is the Latin word for "Arise, Arise. To my side great warriors from beyond. The time has come to fight for goodness and sisterhood. Bring forth lost innocence from darkness to light." I simply had the words spelt backwards the way the DC comic book character Zatanna casts her spells speaking backwards. The actual Latin passage is this:

"Consurge, consurge. Maxima parte militum ad extra. In tempore venit ad bonitatem et pro effecit. Educ de tenebris innocentiam."

Update 2019: I had to fix the interaction between Starburst and Fletcher. I felt that there was a huge plot hole there.