Nightmare Day

by Leafdoggy

A New Dusk

It’s a bright and sunshiny morning in Ponyville. Or at least, it should be. Today, however, as the early risers slowly trickle out into the streets, they find no sun to greet them. Rather, the moon hangs proud in the darkened sky, casting the world in its soft glow. Puzzled ponies wander the streets, wondering what to do. Some steadfastly go about their day as usual, while others simply return to the comforts of their beds. The moon does not flinch, though, and one by one the ponies of Ponyville come to accept that today is just going to be a very dark day.

Stranger yet than the frozen night sky is the town’s utter lack of concern over it. Or at least, it should be. Would be, on any day but today; any morning apart from the morning before Nightmare Night. While, yes, this particular oddity was unprecedented, and Nightmare Night has never left the confines of its nighttime festival, there has been a notable escalation in the events of recent years. That it would come to spill out of its designated timeslot is, well, unsurprising.

What is surprising is just how explosively the day’s festivities begin. An hour or so into the day, once the majority of the town has filtered out onto the streets, comes the sudden crack of lightning, the boom of thunder, and the roaring of wind. The sky in the center of town lights up, visible to any who look, and illuminated before the ponies of Ponyville is the massive form of Twilight Sparkle.

“Everypony, I need your help!” Twilight’s voice reverberates throughout the town. “I need you all to gather in the town center, where I am waiting. It is absolutely vital to the survival of Ponyville that as many ponies join me as possible!”

Another bolt of lightning arcs through the sky, slicing the image of Twilight in two, and the thunderclap tears apart what magic remains in the night sky, leaving only a faint shimmer against the darkness overhead. Throughout the streets ponies gather themselves and slowly, be it with confusion or curiosity or excitement, they make their way towards the town center.

Tall, proud, and trying very hard to keep a straight face, Twilight Sparkle stands behind a podium and watches the ponies file in. Rows upon rows of ponies, mingling, gossiping, laughing. Soon the large square is full to bursting with life, and Twilight clears her throat to gain their attention.

“Ponies of Ponyville!” she announces. “As I am sure you have all noticed, the day has not come. First, and foremost, there is no need to be alarmed. I have the situation well under control. As you might have guessed, this is the work of none other than Nightmare Moon!” She pauses for the feigned gasps of the crowd. “She’s back, but she’s still weak. I’m using all my strength to keep her contained to Ponyville. This is where I need your help! Throughout the town, Nightmare Moon has hidden away the keys to seal her away again. I need some brave ponies to find these keys for me! I suggest that anypony interested in joining the hunt gather in the town hall after this. And to everypony else? I suggest that you go, and have a wonderful Nightmare Day!”

---

Inside the town hall, Rainbow Dash yawns. “Couldn’t she have just done like, a Nightmare Afternoon?” she asks.

“Aw, cmon Dash, get into the spirit,” Applejack responds. “This woulda been awesome when we were younger.”

“It is awesome,” Scootaloo says. “I mean, we don’t even have to go to school!”

“Nightmare school,” Sweetie Belle says, and the three young ponies share a laugh.

“Enough bickering, now,” Rarity says from across the room. “Shall we get things started? It looks like we have all the interested ponies.” She turns and addresses the small crowd, a scattered group of twenty or so. “Now, there’s no need to be too formal, but this does seem like it will require some teamwork. As such, I propose we keep a home base somewhere to gather any clues we get.”

Mayor Mare waves from the crowd. “Oh, I could do that,” she says. “I should stay and oversee the fair anyway, so anypony can come to me with information.”

“Excellent!” Rarity exclaims. “With that settled, let’s set off! I would suggest small teams of two or three to make things simple.”

A murmur fills the hall as the ponies chat and decide on groups. Slowly, the crowd dissipates as duos and trios set off on their hunt. As the final group heads out, only one pony remains in the hall, her legs quivering.

“Um, g-guys?” Fluttershy asks the empty room. “I d-don’t have a group yet...”

Comments

[EverfreePony]

Read through just the first chapter and so far, all I can say is that the grammar is fairly solid and that the story seems to flow nicely. I have yet to see how the Thriller and Comedy tags are going to work together.