The cursed resident.

by Sylif Daring Doo

Nightmare's Nightmare Night.

Author's Note:

I actually finished this on the 29th, but I wanted to wait for today.

As the name suggests, this is the Nightmare Night chapter, so I will say this right now.

I apologize if I get any of the costumes wrong, but I really don't want to look into the episode and memorize them all.

Also, HAPPY HALLOWEEN/HALLOWS EVE!

_____*Ponyville, the next day, Rarity's house, 2:00 PM.*_____

Rarity was in her living room with Nightmare Moon, Sweetie Belle and Alecia, she laid down on her couch and said nothing as she stared at the silent ghost in the room.

At first everything seemed to be getting better, but once she stepped inside her house, Alecia told her everything, that being her unintentionally draining her life force just through proximity, not once however did Nightmare Moon speak, nor did Sweetie Belle.

Discord's little joke apparently made Alecia realize a lot of things, it also opened everyone's eyes to much, and judging by the fact that Sweetie Belle didn't react to the ghost's explanation, that meant that she either heard about it from Discord, or had it explained to her the previous day at some point.

After a few minutes however, Alecia spoke. "Well? won't you say anything?" She asked.

Rarity got off the couch and stretched a little. "Am I the only one being drained?" She asked, surprising the ghost.

".....As far as I know? yes." Alecia replied.

Rarity looked at her. "And it's caused by proximity correct?" She asked.

Alecia nodded sadly, and Rarity sighed. "The answer is simple then, we have to keep our distance until we can do something about this situation, and since it obviously doesn't affect me when I sleep in the boutique, I can start staying there." She replied as she walked to the family room.

"But Rarity......." Alecia said, unsure, she then took a deep breath and spoke. "This is YOUR home, I'll go, I've been cooped up for six centuries, I think it'll do me some good to sleep elsewhere." The ghost said.

Nightmare looked at Rarity. "It's possible we are overreacting, after all it is possible that Discord's defeat stopped the life drain on you." She suggested.

Sweetie Belle spoke up next. "That's right! he did seem angry about that so maybe it isn't a problem anymore?" She added hopefully.

Rarity and Alecia shared a look for a moment before sighing. "We will give it a couple of days then, besides, you may be right and we are just overreacting." She said before walking into the family room.

______*A week later, 5:29 PM.*______

Nightmare walked through the town with a perplexed expression, she knew the pink mare was odd, and she also knew that she was a party planner and enjoyed them greatly, but never before had she considered the mare strange enough to ask for her help practicing a retreat.

She was doubly surprised when the pink mare was at the agreed location with a group of foals and shouted.

"Nightmare Moon! RUN!" She shouted before running away with the foals, leaving Nightmare Moon confused and slightly concerned, not for herself mind you, but for the pink mare's mental health. 'Why would she invite me if only to run away the moment she saw me?' She wondered.

After that the Alicorn simply decided to walk around to better acclimate herself, having never properly explored the country town.

The town was decorated passionately with pumpkins, skeletons, mummies, zombies, witches, many of the townsfolk were dressed up and wearing what appeared to be costumes.

After a half hour, Nightmare Moon had managed to find a resident of the town that didn't hide from her, and discovered what was going on.

Today was known as Nightmare Night, a holiday to celebrate the supernatural, wear costumes and go trick or treating, and then a thought came to her mind. 'If Luna shows up, how long until things go wrong? what will she do? or attempt to do?' She found herself wondering.

Nightmare briefly considered the possibility that she had been pranked or something, but decided against it as no one seemed to be laughing, and after a while she stopped thinking about it, simply finding herself enjoying a relatively peaceful walk.

That thought itself made Nightmare stop walking, she looked up at the sky, knowing that Celestia would be lowering the sun soon, she chuckled to herself as she almost unintentionally cast the spell to raise the moon. "Old habits die hard i suppose." She said before walking again. 'The last time I went for a walk like this was a thousand years ago, and my friend.......' She shook her head and sighed. 'No, I can't think about that now, the past is the past, I can't change it.' She told herself.

For a few minutes however, Nightmare was unable to stop her eyes from tearing up, so she kept to herself in the park.

_____*meanwhile*_____

Rarity walked to the living room and noticed Alecia looking outside again. "Sweetie Belle is excited for Nightmare Night this year." She stated, slightly spooking Rarity.

"I wish you would stop doing that Alecia." Rarity said as she steadied her heart.

Alecia turned around with a smirk. "I have to unsettle you somehow, if I don't do it, who will?" She asked.

Rarity sighed. "You do realize that I don't need to be-" She was cut off as a knock came from the front door.

The unicorn walked to the front door and opened it with her magic, on the other side were Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Applejack. "Hello girls, what brings you here?" She asked.

"Actually I wanted to talk to Nightmare and Alecia a little bit before we go get ready for tonight, everypony else just tagged along for some reason." She said, looking at her friends.

Alecia looked over at them. "Nightmare isn't here, but why did you want to talk to me?" She asked.

Rarity pulled her friends aside and allowed Twilight to talk to Alecia. "I just wanted to clarify a few things with you while I can, about the humans." She said,

Alecia raised an eyebrow. "Why the sudden interest?" She asked.

"Well......I think it would be tragic if humans weren't remembered in any way, most species don't believe your kind existed, and unfortunately there are barely any surviving records, I just want to preserve what I can." She answered truthfully.

Alecia blinked and crossed her arms, gaining a calm expression. "Some other time, I plan on enjoying Nightmare Night this year......speaking of which, here's a fact, humans celebrated Hallows End, a more mild and somber night then this one, but very meaningful." She explained. "It was created to celebrate the fallen dead after the great battle of Gallows Gorge, in which two great armies of humans fought for days, but the last clash ended the battle In a stalemate." She added.

Twilight seemed to pratically absorb the knowledge in her mind for later use, but before she could speak, Rainbow Dash spoke. "Oh pony feathers." She said.

"What is it?" Rarity asked, everyone now looking over.

Rainbow Dash sighed to herself. "Nightmare Night is the perfect night for pranking and scaring others, Alecia would be perfect for it, but nopony can see her!" She complained, now kind of bummed out.

Alecia raised an eyebrow. "You do realize that anyone see me tonight right?" She asked, shocking them all with her statement.

"I'm sorry......what?" Rarity asked in a strangely calm voice.

Alecia rolled her eyes and walked to the steps, she sat down before speaking. "It's not that big a deal, it's just that tonight specifically, ghosts and spirits can be seen by everyone, once a year isn't much to talk about after all." She said with a shrug. "Either way I should be able to help out with pranks, it'll give me something to do." She stated.

As Rainbow seemed to mentally celebrate having a pranking buddy for the night, Alecia grinned. "But I am soooo going to scare you all, you have been warned." She said.

"I'd like to see you try." Rainbow Dash dared confidently and with a smug expression.

The only reply that she got was a large grin without words, and the look in the ghosts eyes practically screamed 'challenge accepted'.

A few more minutes later and the other mares left the house, Rarity looked at Alecia. "I'm going to go find Sweetie Belle, will you be alright until I get back?" She asked out of concern.

Alecia smiled. "Dead....can't get worse Rarity, I'll manage." She replied before vanishing with a haunted laugh.

______*later, 7:13 PM*______

Rarity smiled as she finished helping Sweetie Belle with her costume, she was going as a mummy this year and needed help getting the wrappings to stay on.

Rarity herself was going as a Witch, complete with the pointy black hat, black robe and dark purple highlights, and even though she wasn't a fan of black, Rarity had to admit that the outfit turned out great.

Nightmare Moon was working on a costume upstairs, or a disguise as she put it, and Alecia was floating in the living room, claiming that she could look different In a single second.

Rarity looked at Alecia. "Are you ready?" She asked the ghost.

Alecia looked over at the mare and nodded. "Yea, give me a second to change." She closed her eyes and vanished.

For a few moments both Rarity and Sweetie Belle looked around for their friend, but she was nowhere to be seen. "Judging by your expressions, I'm guessing that Alecia is finally getting ready?" Nightmare's voice asked.

Sweetie Belle and Rarity looked at the stairs and they shared a look of surprise, Nightmare's 'disguise' was that of a dull gray Pegasus with a silver colored mane and a cutie mark of a full moon with the Mare In The Moon on it, cyan cat-like eyes, pointed ears and short fangs. "Nightmare Moon? is that you?" The filly asked in wonder.

Nightmare Moon nodded. "Of course it is, well? what do you think?" She asked, slowly turning in a circle.

"You look great Nightmare." Rarity replied with a smile, her sister nodded eagerly and with a large smile of her own as she ran up to get a closer look.

Nightmare could not help but let out a smile as she watched Sweetie Belle look her over, apparently checking to see if she was hallucinating. "You are not seeing things Sweetie Belle, this is no illusion, it is a special spell that I use to avoid unwanted attention." She explained.

"Can you teach me!?" The filly asked eagerly and with barely contained energy.

Nightmare glanced at Rarity, who simply chuckled and kept herself from laughing, the now Pegasus looked at the filly. "It is a difficult spell you realize, and you need to work on your magic, but you should be able to cast it one day." She stated.

Sweetie Belle practically bounced with joy and soon Nightmare Moon spoke. "Now, where is Alecia at I wonder?" She asked no one in particular.

"Yea yea I got it." Said the voice of the ghost as she appeared nearby, the others looked at her and were surprised at her choice.

Alecia's costume was not what they expected in the least, she wore dark brown leather pants with gray vine patterns all over, a gray hooded tunic with a dark brown leather chest piece over it with matching gray vine patterns, sleeves all the way up to her wrists and the same leather acting as arm and forearm guards, she wore a pair of boots that were dark gray in color.

The largest change was her normal features, her hair was gray with faded red highlights, it was now shoulder length as opposed to its usual length of just above the jawline, dull purple eyes with a faint gray mist in them, and she no longer had black lightning dancing across her body, but most of all, she looked very much alive, if not for the slight transparency of her body.

The ghost had a large grin on her face. "What? surprised at my change?" She asked teasingly.

"Well.......it's a little overwhelming." Rarity said first.

Nightmare nodded slowly. "Yes, very intimidating, it looks great on you though." She said with a nod.

Alecia looked at Sweetie Belle who looked at her with a stunned expression, she chuckled before grabbing her hood and throwing it over her head. "Come on, if we stay here we will miss out on all the fun." She said before walking to the door.

Sweetie Belle watched with curiosity as Nightmare spoke. "She's right, let's go." Said the Alicorn.

______*Ponyville, ten minutes later.*______

To say that Alecia turned a few heads was an understatement, the townsponies were shocked to discover that ghosts were real when they asked about her, but some seemed to be relieved at the news, Rarity explained this as the rumor that her house was haunted has been around since before her grandfather married her grandmother.

After a while they met up with Twilight who was dressed up as Starswirl the Bearded, who Alecia promptly asked about briefly before leaving to find Rainbow Dash, of course, that was after Nightmare Moon stopped Twilight's lecture mode by saying that he was a very skilled wizard a thousand years ago.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle went off to enjoy the night together and searched for things to do, Nightmare Moon decided to stick around Twilight for a while. "How are you enjoying the night so far?" Nightmare asked out of curiosity.

"It's been fun, I haven't enjoyed a holiday this much in a very long time." Twilight replied.

Nightmare Moon took in a deep breath of the cool night air and sighed, she looked up at the stars and smiled. "Luna has done a fantastic job with the stars tonight hasn't she?" She said as she walked with the Element of magic.

Twilight looked at Nightmare Moon. "Don't you have the same powers as Luna?" She asked curiously yet cautiously

Nightmare Moon nodded and looked at Twilight. "Yes, but we do have spells unique to either of us." She answered before looking forward again.

Twilight took a deep breath, deciding to push her luck a little further. "Now that you're back.....are you going to return to ruling?" She asked hesitantly, not wishing to anger Nightmare Moon.

"No, I've had my share of that, and from what I've heard, things have only gotten worse in Canterlot." Nightmare Moon replied before blinking. "Speaking of Luna." She whispered.

Twilight looked up and saw Luna flying down with her Night Guard and in her chariot, and Nightmare was passive through it all, the unicorn meanwhile was shocked as were many locals at the princess's sudden arrival.

Luna soon landed and sent her guards away, she then promptly greeted the town In her Royal Canterlot voice, Twilight held her ears and Nightmare sighed. "Of course Celestia forgot to mention that little detail." She said to herself.

The two walked over, one with the intention to get her to stop using the loud voice, and the other with the intention to say hello.

Luna noticed Twilight and Nightmare approaching and almost used the Royal voice, but Nightmare held her hoof up. "You don't have to use that voice Luna, it hasn't been used for centuries." She said with slight irritation.

Twilight, still feeling her ears slightly ringing, rubbed it a little to help ease its pain. "I apologize, I am still not accustomed to modern society." Luna replied as she looked around, the townsponies seemed to go back to enjoying their night.

"Well, not using the Royal Canterlot Voice would go a long way in catching up.....so how has your night been?" Nightmare asked.

Luna looked at the Pegasus and immediately recognized her. "Twas good, Nightmare Moon." She said in a tense voice.

Nightmare rolled her eyes and went to speak, but just as she did, Pinkie Pie could be heard. "NIGHTMARE MOON! RUN!" She shouted, she was seen running away with a pack of fillies and colts with her.

Luna's expression saddened as she sighed. "It would seem that even here, the ponies of Equestria fear me, but why would the Element of Laughter run from me?" She asked, the question was not directed at anypony.

"Don't know, she's been doing that all day whenever she saw me." Nightmare replied.

Luna glared at Nightmare who shrugged nonchalantly. "Alright I get it, I know when I'm not wanted.....might as well go see what Alecia is up too." She said before flying off at a relaxed pace.

Twilight looked at Luna who watched Nightmare intently before calming down. "Do you....hate Nightmare that much princess Luna?" The unicorn asked.

Luna looked down at Twilight and sighed. "I.....do not know anymore, I will never forgive her for taking years of my life away, but she has paid for her crimes in more ways than one." She said, unsure of what to decide. "Let us change the subject. I do not wish to discuss the Nightmare." She stated, as though it were her final word on the subject.

______*Elsewhere, ten minutes later.*_____

Nightmare greatly enjoyed the show that Zecora put on, telling the tale of Nightmare Night, and while the Alicorn was completely certain that it was far from the truth, she had to admit that a yearly tribute of candy was tempting, she shook her head and looked up at the sky, but just as she did she noticed a dark cloud move across the sky, and on top of it was a prismatic maned mare wearing a Shadowbolt costume. "Well now, someone did like the Shadowbolts after all, liar." She smiled and got up off the bench and took flight.

"Let's see what she's doing." She muttered as she flew closer.

As Nightmare grew closer to Rainbow Dash, she saw Alecia down on the ground talking to Rarity, curious, she hid nearby and watched, close enough to hear them.

"How's your night been Rarity?" Alecia asked in a calm tone.

Rarity smiled. "It's been great so far, Sweetie Belle and myself won a few prizes at the local games, saw Zecora's show and went trick or treating for a while, then she found her friends and went off with them while screaming that Nightmare Moon was back." She rolled her eyes. "Pinkie Pie has a strange way of finding fun for others, but doesn't she realize it is a bit rude?" She asked.

Alecia shrugged. "Maybe it is, maybe it isn't, but the holiday does seem to revolve around Nightmare being the villain who strikes unless appeased with tribute, maybe it's a game?" She suggested.

"It must be, otherwise she wouldn't be-GAH!" She cried out as a bolt of lightning zapped her, not fatally, but enough to cause a sudden jolt, it was followed by hysterical laughing from Alecia and Rainbow Dash. "You two!" Rarity growled before walking off in annoyance.

Rainbow flew down and Alecia held her hand up. "One down!" She said.

"Four to go!" Rainbow replied, high fiving the ghost.

Nightmare stifled a laugh as she silently flew up to the cloud that Rainbow had been using as the two discussed who to target next, she landed on the cloud silently and carefully aimed it, and with one swift motion, made the cloud shoot lightning at Rainbow, it struck and the mare yelped loudly in shock as she jumped.

Alecia looked up at the cloud and grinned. "Nice one Nightmare! but it doesn't count as mine!" She shouted.

Almost instantly, Rainbow Dash looked up and saw Nightmare on the cloud, she flew up with her incredible speed and glared at her for a few seconds, she soon grinned. "You ain't half bad, you know that?" She said, landing on the cloud.

"What do you mean?" Nightmare asked, confused.

Rainbow placed a hoof on Nightmare's shoulder. "Anypony that enjoys a prank like that is good, but the fact that you didn't actually hurt me? that's proof enough for me." She said as she repositioned herself and started to move the cloud.

Nightmare lifted herself off the cloud and looked at Alecia who floated up. "What did she mean by that?" She asked, still confused.

Alecia shook her head. "Whether or not you can be trusted, you are dense sometimes." The ghost replied teasingly before vanishing with a ghostly and evil laugh.

Nightmare Moon simply floated in the air for a while before blinking. "I.....can be trusted?" She asked herself curiously.

______*later.*______

Nightmare Moon had discovered Pinkie's reason for running off screaming all the time......it was fun apparently, and it was a game of sorts, one that could use some refinement, but a game nonetheless.

Apparently they had to avoid 'Nightmare Moon' while trick or treating, and then they would place their tribute at a statue of her that was In a small grove nearby.

'Flattering, yet somewhat concerning.' She noted.

After a while, Nightmare Moon found Twilight who said she needed to find Luna and explain everything to the Alicorn, they searched for her quickly and thankfully the lunar Alicorn was not very difficult to find surprisingly.

Luna did not appear to be up for conversation, but after Twilight explained why they were running away, Nightmare finally spoke up. "It's getting close to tribute time, better get going and be ready for them." She said before spreading her wings and hovering. "After all, who better than the original to do the scaring?" She asked before flying off.

Twilight and Luna watched Nightmare fly off again, but this time Luna didn't seem very hostile. "Perhaps I should go as well, if only to keep her in check." She said before flying off, Twilight headed to the statue on foot, taking her time as she made her way.

_____*around ten minutes later.*______

Nightmare found it a simple task to conceal herself within the statue, but just for extra flare, she darkened the surrounding area a little more, to give the area a much needed intimidation effect, but not enough to scare them away,

Soon enough, a bunch of fillies and colts arrived at the statue site, led by a few mares and stallions, just as they neared the statue, Nightmare sprung into action, she used her spell and made the dark blue mist appear in the statues eyes as she spoke in an eerie voice, sending chills down the spines of the fillies and colts, as well as the mares and stallions. "Doom and terror stalk your town, gloom and fear abound, a tribute worthy you need, an offering from thee in need." She declared dramatically as she manifested in front of the statue in all her glory, her dark azure armor adorned her body, and her eyes shining bright in the night.

There was initial surprise from them all at first, but pretty soon the fillies and colts seemed to be even more excited and offered their buckets to Nightmare, the mares and stallions seemed on edge as they waited, but Pinkie seemed to keep them from doing anything, silently telling them to wait and see.

Nightmare mentally smiled as she counted them all, not moving at first. 'Twelve in total, seven fillies and five colts, twelve baskets.' Her horn lit up and she scanned the contents of the buckets, she eventually decided.

All at once, one piece of candy from each bucket lifted into the air, held by Nightmare's magic aura. "Hmm.....thy tribute is....." She trailed off in an unsure tone, using her diplomacy to hide her expression, she unwrapped a small chocolate coin and deliberately ate it slowly to give off an air of suspense, the chocolate was very good, no too sweet and not too soft, and just as she finished it, she used her magic to transform back into her Pegasus form. "Worthy." She declared with a satisfied smile.

The response was heartwarming to be sure, if the cheering fillies and colts were anything to go by, the adults didn't seem to approve however, as they gave Nightmare mock glares, silently revealing that they usually took the 'tribute' and split it to avoid the kids eating all the candy.

Nightmare saw a familiar Earth Pony filly approach, she was dressed as a vampire with the fake fangs to match. "Does this mean Nightmare Moon won't be scaring the town each year?" She asked, she seemed upset at the idea of losing the local tradition.

The Alicorn knelt down. "Nightmare Moon will be satisfied until next Nightmare Night, for each year her hunger returns, and then you must hide again, until then you are safe." She replied.

The answer seemed to satisfy the fillies and colts, as they eagerly ran off with their candy in tow, as well as the mares and stallions.......and Pinkie Pie.

Nightmare smiled as she sat down and laughed to herself quietly. "Luna, Twilight, come join me, there is no reason to hide." She said, looking at the pathway out.

The ponies in question soon emerged and Nightmare spoke again. "You know, I haven't enjoyed myself this much in a very long time." She said as she passed a few candies to each of them.

Luna sat down across from Nightmare and Twilight in between them, acting as a mediator. "Nightmare Moon, what exactly is your plan, now that you are alive?" The lunar Alicorn asked.

"Enjoy life, ruling a nation sucked, as much as I tried to help I only made things worse, I believe you and Celestia can do better than I can." Nightmare replied simply.

Luna rolled her eyes. "You did not seem to mind attempting to take over when you came back, what happened?" She asked.

"I died, that gave me time to think, as opposed to being stuck on the moon alone with my thoughts and anger, I had three individuals in particular help me realize that I was being irrational." Nightmare said as she chewed on some gum.

Twilight spoke next. "I know I still don't fully understand how friendship works, but I am glad that you found friends Nightmare Moon." She said with a smile.

The Pegaus nodded. "I suppose I have, but there is one important thing I would like to get out of the way." She said, standing up.

Luna raised an eyebrow while silently preparing magical defenses just in case. "And what would that be?" She asked.

Nightmare Moon held out her hoof to Luna. "Truce?" She offered.

Luna blinked, completely caught off guard, having just been expecting an attack after gaining Twilight's trust. "A what?" She asked.

"You heard me." Nightmare replied.

Luna stared at Nightmare's hoof for a while before standing up, she sighed to herself. "Very well, if the Elements and Tia are giving you a chance, then so shall I, but should you harm any of my little ponies, I will claim vengeance." She declared as she shook Nightmare's hoof.

Twilight smiled at this and stood up, and while the two Alicorns walked off, she wrote her report to Princess Celestia, she finished it and teleported it back to the library, unfortunately for her, just after she teleported it, a noise came from the trees behind her, the unicorn looked back with concern for a moment being shaking her head. "I'm going nuts here." She said to herself as she looked forward......into two dull purple eyes. "Boo!" Said the ghost of Alecia.

Twilight jumped back in fear and panted as Alecia laughed madly. "Will you stop that already!?" She snapped.

Alecia slowly managed her laughing down to a point where she could speak. "Don't worry, I just need to scare Rainbow now, see you Sparky." She said before vanishing.

Twilight sighed and quickly caught up to Nightmare Moon and Luna, saying nothing of the incident.

The rest of the night however went very well, some fillies and colts offered additional candy to both Luna and Nightmare Moon, they accepted the offer graciously and even participated in some of the games and ate some of the food, and when it was finally time for Luna to return to Canterlot, Nightmare saw her off and then walked to the center of town.

Rarity and her friends were there, as were Alecia and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Nightmare joined them and they all talked about their night, it seemed like this was a very successful night for everyone, even the ghost of the group, who both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom were both shocked and amazed with.

However, just as everyone seemed ready to head home, Alecia spoke. "By the way, Rainbow Dash." She looked up at the Pegasus.

Rainbow looked at Alecia. "What?" She asked.

Alecia grinned widely and crossed her arms as she leaned up against the fountain. "I'm still going to scare you, I got everyone else, so it's just you." She stated ominously.

"Well.......it won't be Nightmare Night then?.....Ha!" The Pegasus laughed smugly.

Alecia didn't lose her grin. "Well, why would I care? you live in Ponyville, so I can strike at any time." Twilight shrugged, as she joined in. "Technically all Rainbow has to do to avoid you is leave." She added.

"And where is the fun in that?" Alecia asked before vanishing, laughing manically, "I wish she would stop doing that." Rarity said to herself.

Nightmare nearly laughed at Rainbow Dash's expression, it was one of pure horror, knowing that now, at some point, Alecia was planning to scare her, and since she was a ghost, it was near impossible to stop her considering that Rainbow sleeps on a cloud most of the time, and lived in a cloud house.

In short, the prismatic mare only spoke two words, two words that made her regret inviting the ghost to go pranking.

"Ah buck."