• Published 10th Sep 2019
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Gems II: Dawn of The Princesses - Pen Dragon



Barely escaping the hooves of the Order, Watcher and Celestia take refuge in Everfree City in hopes of starting over while also searching for the other three lost princesses.

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Chapter Six: The Party Before Nightmare Night

Chapter Six: The Party Before Nightmare Night


Almost an entire month has gone by and Celestia couldn’t help but notice how quickly the color of the leaves had changed from green to vibrant colors of red and orange. The trees were preparing to give up their sugar-collecting ways for another long winter, and leaf after leaf fluttered down from the increasingly barren branches.

“It’s so odd, seeing the trees just give up their leaves like this,” she said to herself quietly, trying not to disturb the serenity of the outdoors, “I remember the Running of the Leaves so well. Don’t the ponies of today recall their roots at all?”

Of course, with the autumn leaves came the harvests of the fall fruits, fresh apples, cider, and pies would all be produced in due time. Celestia remembered the time she passed out caramel apples during the harvest season, and that one unfortunate guard whose ‘buddy’ stuck one of the goodies onto the back of his helmet where he couldn’t get at it!

But even the memories of the good times and the silly moments of yesteryear weren’t enough to completely heal her hurting heart. Something was clearly missing from the picture, something that made the season complete. It was seeing Grey Granite outside in the garden putting up decorations that reminded her what was coming up ahead. He was placing down fake tombstones with funny sayings on them in the rose garden, and putting up black-colored streamers.

“Ah… Nightmare Night,” Celestia said, her misery returning to her, “oh how much that meant to her. How much I hated it...”

She could remember the first year Nightmare Night was held. Propagandists had taken full advantage of her ancient decision to banish her sister to the moon to portray Luna as a true monster, a beast that killed and ate foals who wandered too far from home. She remembered how they would hold Nightmare Night, looking for ponies who might have sympathies for her lost sister, and lock them up or even torture them. Celestia’s heart was broken by their behavior, and she had to crack down on it with the full force of the crown. Several imprisoned ringleaders were not enough to fix the damage, however, as her subjects had been terrorized by the raids.

“But I did the right thing,” she said to herself, satisfied.

From that point on, Celestia had turned Nightmare Night into a peaceful holiday where foals could feel safe from the nasty rumors and gather some treats to take their mind off of their fears. It didn’t stop their older siblings from joking that Luna would devour them if they wouldn’t share their treats… but it did end the cult. To Celestia, it was worth keeping around the holidays if it meant nopony took her sister being a demon seriously.

The princess resolved, “I must make this Nightmare Night special too. It will be for you, Sister.”

Ahem! Is everything alright Tia?” Watcher asked, appearing behind the former princess to which she levitated a nearby flower pot and threw it, only to strike the wall five feet away from the large unicorn. The poor impatien planted in the pot managed to just barely land right-side up.

“W-Watcher!” She shouted, jabbing him in his shoulder. “Don’t sneak up on me! I could have killed you!”

“No offence to your throwing skills, but that wasn’t even close Tia.” Watcher stated, rubbing his shoulder as he gave the princess a curious look. “Is something wrong?”

“No it’s nothing… I-” Before she could continue, there was a knock at the door and Celestia let out a deep sigh before approaching the door, “You can come in.”

“Hello!” Aura shouted, nearly bashing the door down, “Thought Techie and I might check in on you guys!”

“Techie?” snorted Watcher, giving the inventor following behind a condescending glare.

“Oh shut up,” Techorse answered, turning a bit red, “it’s a nickname I’ve always had, okay?”

He snickered back, “Sure thing Techie!”

“Watcher, please,” Celestia growled, softening up for Aura, “it’s very good to see you Aura Lace. I appreciate you coming to check in on us.”

“So what are you two doing anyways?” Aura asked pleasantly.

“Well I came to check on Celestia, but not much else… I’m not sure what she’s up to,” Watcher replied, scratching the back of his head, not mentioning the broken flower pot. “Which reminds me, what were you doing Celestia?”

“Nothing Watcher, just recalling the past is all… Nothing more.” Celestia replied, trotting towards the window, seeing ponies just outside the fence setting up for Nightmare Night. “But enough about me! How about yourselves?”

“We’ve been thinking, there’s this Nightmare Night party tonight, and we ought to all go out and have some fun!” Aura said, ear-to-ear smile at the thought of going out, “There’s going to be a ton of candy and fall activities out there. Plus cider! Tons of cider!”

“But isn’t Nightmare Night tomorrow though? Why not have it then?”

“Normally yes, but this is something Umbra had planned with a colleague of hers two weeks ago and we’re all invited! Did I mention there’s going to be cider!?” Aura said, grinning excitedly as the large unicorn rolled his eyes.

Techorse nodded, “There’s a tavern here that serves a private batch of cider to esteemed guests. Umbra happens to be one of those, so she offered to get us in! Up for it?”

“Well it’s been almost a year since I’ve gone drinking… Sure, why not?” Watcher replied, giving the small earth pony a shrug as the pair followed Tech and Aura out to hopefully get their minds off of things and have a good time.

Meanwhile, outside the city, Midnight couldn’t help but look down at the ponies entering the city, unaware that there long lost princess was hiding there, plotting to take control once more. It was almost laughable for the blue unicorn as his eyes glowed bright green and the scars on his body began to glow the same. It was as if he had woken up as a new pony, filled with confidence as a smirk formed on his face.

Midnight had become a lot stronger, the change in his magic was proof of that and he couldn’t wait to test his new abilities. He had spent three long weeks training with the mysterious Moro, being forced to endure pain and suffering during that time. He could still recall their conversation that day when he had awoken, discovering a horrible truth that made him believe that the princesses had indeed returned.


Three Weeks Ago

“I can promise you this Midnight… they are real… And you are going to help me kill them.” Moro said, growling as his hoof began crushing Midnight’s chest, causing him to yell, but no pony could hear him. “Feel that pain? Hurts doesn’t it? Makes you angry at the one who gave you that massive scar there right?”

“Screw you!” Midnight shouted in rage, his horn glowing a bright blue as he shot of a beam of magic into the air which made the stranger stumble backwards to avoid it. Midnight stood up quickly despite the pain he felt throughout his body. “You’re delusional! They aren’t real! Besides, even if they were, why the hell would I help the likes of you!?”

Moro couldn’t help but let out a loud sigh as his horns glowed a dark shade of green and levitated an old newspaper article and threw it at Midnight’s hooves and began to leave the room, but not before giving the unicorn a stern look. “I suggest you read it Midnight Blaze… You might be able to recall your lost foalhood memories…”

With that, he took off ignoring the unicorns yells as the stranger’s grin began to show as he closed the door behind him, leaving Midnight alone.

“Damn… I should have jus-” He paused mid-sentence as he looked down at the article and realized what Moro was telling him. Using what little magic he had left, he levitated it off the floor and placed it on the nightstand as he began to read it. Uttering one word as he began to grit his teeth in anger, now recalling what Moro had said… His foalhood and the one who took that away from him and his former friend. “Ponyville!”


Outside Umbra’s Mansion

Watcher and Techorse waited patiently outside the mansion’s doors for both Aura and Celestia to come out. It was frustrating for the charcoal unicorn as he continued to pace back and forth by the entrance. He wasn’t happy, especially since he had to wear a very bright yellow bee costume due to him losing a bet with Tech and Celestia.

“Techorse… I want you to know that I hate you… and everything you stand for,” Watcher muttered out loud for the earth pony to hear, but Tech simply rolled his eyes.

“Yeah I know… heard you the first thousand times,” he responded, adjusting his bow tie.

Techorse was dressed as a secret agent, complete with tuxedo, dress pants, a silver watch on his left leg, and a cool set of sunglasses, “Don’t get why you’re blaming me, you lost the bet! Aura was never going to wear something that obvious, Watcher.”

“That’s the last time I take a bet from you,” he grumbled, adjusting his antennas on his head, “and what are you supposed to be anyways? A waiter?”

“I’m a secret agent, of course,” Techorse answered, adjusting his sunglasses with his hoof, “notice my high-tech sunglasses and wristwatch complete with laser beam.”

Knowing Tech, there probably were such devices in his accessories. Watcher wished he could have been something more interesting. It was degrading for him, and he couldn’t shake the feeling that Tech had was goading him into take that bet, perhaps conspiring with Aura so his guess would have been wrong no matter what.

Dropping it, he asked, “What’s taking those two so long!?”

“I’m not sure… want me to go check it out?” Tech asked.

“No, I’ll go… last thing I want is to wait out here in this… thing… whoever made this stupid costume is going to beg me to send them to Tartarus before I’m through with them!” he shouted, pushing through the doorway and making his way up halfway through the flight of stairs. “WHAT’S TAKING YOU TWO SO LONG!?!

However, before he could continue to make his way upstairs, he felt a hoof, grab hold of his shoulder, causing the stallion to yelp as he turned around quickly to find Grey Granite standing behind him with his usual expressionless face. “Master Watcher… I must advise you not to scream in the Mistress’s home while she’s away… Now I know it’s an exciting time to go dress up in you new costume that Umbra has gotten you, but please control your excitement.”

“Grey… You’ve got it wrong! This wasn’t my choice and Umbra didn’t get me this!” Watcher tried to explain, but Grey Granite didn’t respond as he made his way past him. “Great… I better head back out… Last thing I want is to run into Umbra dressed like this.”

Muttering to himself, Watcher decided to head back downstairs towards the kitchen while he waited for the two ladies to finish getting dressed for the party. Meanwhile, Celestia had a hard time deciding on a costume that could impress everypony, but she wasn’t sure whether or not she should dress up as zombie nurse or a witch. However, the lights in her room soon turned off and Celestia couldn’t make out anything two inches in front of her soft muzzle. The unicorn didn’t like being plunged into the dark so suddenly, turning around rapidly and looking for the switch.

“Did a fuse go out?” she said aloud, feeling slightly uncomfortable.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop around her, and a creaking noise came from the floorboards, ratcheting her anxiety upwards. She walked forward slowly, the rods in her eyes not yet adjusted to the dark, and she dared not use a spell.

“Is somepony… th… there?!”

A figure sprang out from the darkness, flashes of light illuminating it from a nearby strobe light that came to life without warning. The creature hissed loudly as it pounced upon Celestia, its red, black and white dress billowing behind it, a pair of leathery black bat wings helping it glide through its leap. The princess screamed as she was tackled to the floor, her blood curdling shrieks echoing in her room as her attacker slammed her onto her back and bore its face in the flickering light of the strobe, bright white fangs dripping with saliva primed to sink deep into her throat!

“NOOOOoooOOooo!” screamed the unicorn, shutting her eyes and holding her hooves out in front to protect herself.

Celestia stopped thrashing after a short bit. For some reason, the creature wasn’t enjoying itself ripping her apart yet. In fact it was… laughing!

“HAHAHAHAHA! Ohhhhh Celestia you should have SEEN your face!” said Aura, using her bat wing to turn off the nearby strobe.

The room lit up again, apparently having been set to shut off on a timer, and Aura, dressed as a vampony from the stereotypes of centuries ago, was indeed the ‘monster’ pinning her down. Her wings were tucked into leather bat wing covers, and her fangs were some kind of temporary magical illusion Umbra had provided. It had all been a very cruel costume-based prank.

“A… Aura, that wasn’t funny at aaaaall,” bawled Celestia, pushing her away and rolling over, “I thought I was going to d...die! Devoured by some creature of the night!”

“Well relax, it’s just me,” Aura chuckled, “Nothing’s going to chow down on you.”

Celestia dried some of her tears with her hoof, “You’re so mean! What if I had fainted?”

“You almost did,” she giggled, putting her right wing to her mouth teasingly, “oh man, that would have been so good!”

“Seriously Aura… That wasn’t nice.” Celestia said, rubbing her eyes.

“Oh come on, Tia! Where’s your Nightmare Night Spirit? It’s a time for scares and treats! If that had happened to Watcher, you’d be laughing your mane off, right?”

“NO!” shouted the princess, “I… I wouldn’t. Watcher might be a bit rough, but I wouldn’t be cruel to him.“

Aura rolled her eyes, augmented by some pale eyeshadow, “It’s not cruel, just a stupid funny joke.”

“If it happened to you, it wouldn’t be so funny,” Celestia answered, stamping her hoof in defiance.

“Well… I guess if you put it that way…” Aura hummed, putting her hoof to her lip, “I’ve got a wager for you, Celestia. If you can scare me this evening, and I don’t find it very funny, I’ll spring for that chocolate orange flavored cake I caught you drooling over when we went shopping last week.”

“Hmmph! Fine! But I won’t be doing it for the food, I’ll be doing it on principal,” answered the indignant former royal, “I’d be very careful if I were you, Aura Lace. By the end of the evening, I shall have you in tears! Mark my words!”

“Whatever, your Grace,” joked Aura, walking out with her vampony costume bouncing every step of the way. However, the doors to their room burst open, revealing a large unicorn in a yellow bee costume with a very angry expression.

“Celestia! Aura! Would you two hurry up?” Watcher shouted, growling in irritation, and normally the two mares would have been startled, but seeing the large charcoal unicorn in a bumblebee costume made it quite difficult for them to take him seriously.

“Pfft… Nice costume Watcher… You look handsome in your bee outfit!” Celestia said, before she fell to the floor laughing, “Hahahahahaha!”

“This is so humiliating,” Watcher muttered as Aura placed a wing on his back to comfort the large unicorn, catching his attention. “I thought you were going as zombie… since I saw your bags with zombie makeup.”

“It’s a Nightmare Night Makeup kit for costumes… Not just for zombies Watcher… But I can understand why you’d Bee-lieve that!”

“Yes, they’re the bee’s knees,” Celestia added, cooperating.

“Please… Just kill me…” Watcher asked, feeling pain from their horrible puns.

“Don’t be a buzzkill Watcher.” Aura said, laughing with Celestia as the charcoal unicorn groaned in irritation.

“Can you two just finish getting ready… It’s bad enough that I have to wear this, but waiting for you two get ready while waiting outside like this is degrading for me.” Watcher explained, noticing Celestia was still not in her costume. “Scratch my previous statement… Celestia… GET READY ALREADY!”

“Alright, alright! Aura, do I go with Zombie Nurse, or Spooky Witch?” asked Celestia, using her magic to shift back and forth between the bases for the costumes over her frame, “I’d be rather pleased with either option!”

Rolling his eyes, Watcher trotted out of room, muttering about his regret for coming to the party and making a ridiculous bet. However the two mares ignored the stallion and tried to decide between the two costumes Celestia had picked out.

“Hmm.., well, if I was you, and I’m not,” said Aura, smirking, “I’d make Watcher even more angry by going as a zombie, since that’s what he guessed I was gonna be!”

“How can I say no to that?” Celestia giggled back, “Ok! Zombie nurse it is then.”

“Cool, let me help you with that. You gotta apply the makeup in just the right places,” said Aura.

Celestia easily fit into the nurse uniform, which was a white buttoned up well-fitting blouse, and a nurse’s cap. Tears and worn out fabric were used over the costume to give the appearance of having turned undead suddenly, but the makeup was really where the costume was recognizable. Aura painted a set of stitches on Celestia’s left cheek carefully, then blurred eyeshadow underneath her eyes to make them look sunken, followed by some dirt around the forehead and horn area. Lastly, a puff of sickly light green powder to the face gave the perfect drained look. Celestia contributed by using a little starch spray to help put tangles and stiffness into her tail and mane, a choice she would regret later if she didn’t carefully wash it out, but effective for now.

“Perfect! We have ourselves a zombie nurse,” Aura said, happy with the result, “now all you need to do is play the part.”

“Hmm, let’s see,” said Celestia, pretending to think it over, “how to be the best zombie possible...”

“Any ideas, silly?” the pegasus said, shaking her head.

“Brains!” declared Celestia in a cute, timid voice.

Aura smiled softly, “That’ll do it.”

“This is going to be so much fun!” Celestia smiled, all giddy like she was a little filly all over again. However, the two decided to make their way downstairs since they’ve kept the boys waiting longer than they should have.

By the time the two arrived downstairs, Celestia and Aura stopped in their tracks after seeing Watcher tear his costume apart, while beating the poor earth pony with it. “YOU KNEW WHAT SHE WAS GOING TO BE THE WHOLE TIME!!!”

“Hey, come on, Watcher! Tonight’s the night for pranks, and you’d have done the same to me, right?” Techorse rebutted, but received a conk on the head from the plastic stinger that was attached at the end of what remained of the bee costume. It was amusing to see the two stallions fight about something as ridiculous as bet they had made.

“Boys, come on. We’re ready now, so let’s all head out!” Aura cheered, gaining the two’s attention as they both stared blankly at the two of them.

“Sure! Let’s go!” Tech cheered, earning a loud growl from the now naked stallion, spitting out a piece of what was once his costume.

“Finally!” Watcher shouted, trying to make his way out the door, but soon felt something tug on his tail and pull him back over. Riling his head around, Watcher was soon staring at an angry princess, who was holding him in place with her magic. “What is it now?”

“We’re all supposed to dress for the occasion Watch… Now go grab one of the spare costumes and hurry! I don’t want to be late to the party!” Celestia stated angrily, releasing her grasp on his tail, before shoving him up the stairs while the charcoal unicorn growled in annoyance, but said nothing as he didn’t want to argue with her.

“Geez… I almost feel sorry for him, heh heh,” Techorse chuckled, only to receive a playful jab to his side by the pegasus beside him. “Ow! What did I sayyy?”

“You know what you did you goof,” Aura said, earning a laugh from Celestia and she couldn’t help but laugh along with her as Techorse rubbed his side from the blow delivered to his ribs.


Everfree’s City Hall

After Watcher had finally put on a different costume, now dressed as Frankinstallion, all made their way City Hall where the party was being hosted at, which was odd since these types of parties were mostly held for aristocrats, politicians, and nobles. However, Umbra did say to meet her outside of this specific address, and he’d hate to disobey her order and have to “suffer the consequences” for it.

The outside of the City Hall looked elegant enough, two tall winding columns holding up a wide roof, vines chasing the spiral grooves in them up to the top. Out front was a long brick pathway that led up to the entrance, many food vendors and game operators had set up shop and had themed their storefronts for the season. A dunk tank, knock over the bottles game, and a caramel apple stand caught Watcher’s eye. He remembered a long time ago nearly ripping out a tooth on the thick coating of hardened caramel when he tried to consume the treat a little too quickly. The thought still made him shudder.

“Don’t get distracted, the vendors do this every year,” Techorse said, “used to be not too many ponies were invited to the party from what Umbra told me, so in protest the residents sort of set up their own carnival.”

“Oh, I’d really like some of that cotton candy,” Celestia said softly, clearly fantasizing about the taste of the nearby confection, which had been dyed orange.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty inside,” assured the secret agent dressed stallion with a corny tip of his sunglasses, “they copy just about everything the party has to offer here. I’m sure you’ll be able to get some.”

“It’ll be fine… just try to avoid the caramel apples… They aren’t as good as they look.” Watcher warned, trying not to speak too loud as to ruin the vendor's business.

“I’ll keep that in mind Watcher… But shouldn’t Umbra be around here? She did tell us to meet her here.” Celestia reminded them, searching around for the dark unicorn.

“Aww… I didn’t realize you missed me this much Tia~” The voice of Umbra whispered into the white unicorn’s ear, causing the mare to yelp as she jumped away and hid beside Watcher.

When they all saw the dark unicorn, they couldn’t help but marvel at how elaborate her choice of costume was. Her dress was long and black, frilled and ruffled gently all the way down to her back hooves, with red stripes along her waist that twisted around and crossed over multiple times down towards her tail. Ruby red high heels on each of her hooves clacked noticeably on the pavement, but the most striking part of her appearance was her detailed makeup. Her face had been painted and touched up perfectly to make it look like her skull was exposed, the smooth polished white of the dry bone covering her face all the way down and under her chin, the only thing remaining of her original mug was her bright eyes, which had patterns of pink stripes in circles and a few cobweb patterns heading out towards her left ear, which had been adorned with a single red carnation bloom. All of this to pay tribute to the generations of deceased shadow unicorns before her.

“My, my,” she finally said after permitting her houseguests to take in her look, “you all look so adorable… and Watchy~ I am so glad you’re here!”

“Hehehe… Yeah… Me too,” He uttered, blushing at her appearance while earning a smirk from Umbra as she slowly approached the stallion before she quickly hooked her hoof around Watcher’s front leg and began to pull him along with her. “Come on, slow pokes! We’ve got a party inside~”

She led them into the Town Hall, the interior opening up into a vast room with four load-bearing columns holding up the vaulted ceiling, everything made out of either marble or the ancient, polished wood of Everfree Trees selected to become a part of the town’s history. Where normally there would be hundreds of seats for those at meetings with the local government, there was now a dance floor which occupied much of the tile space, party tables filled with snacks and various thematic drinks, and all sorts of special effects machines. A second floor balcony wrapped around the wall, the DJ seated at the far back of the room, setting up his tracks and shining down bright lights on the dance floor that sent all sorts of colors onto the dancers below. The loud boom of the music and the conversations of ponies in all kinds of costumes was deafening, although it would quiet down after all the initial meet-and-greet was finished. Umbra helped her guests squeeze in and move onto the big dance floor, the sound of her heels somehow piercing the music and heavy chatter.

“It’s perfect, isn’t it?” she half-shouted, “Hopefully I can convince our DJ to lower the volume by a few decibels though! I think the loud music makes our other guests talk louder too, a vicious cycle!”

“I’ll say,” muttered Watcher, feeling his eardrums thump with every bass hit.

“Ah, well, the music since I was last around hasn’t changed much, I see,” said Celestia, wincing in pain and shielding her ears, “I was never able to get into this ‘techno’ fad.”

“Aw come on, it’s FUN,” Aura said, already getting into the beat and stepping to it, vampony bat wings bouncing along, “let’s party!”

The pegasus started pulling some dance moves that shouldn’t really be possible in such an outrageous costume, earning her the attention of some of the other party-goers, who cheered and tried to join in with moves of their own. Techorse, who had absolutely no idea how to actually dance whatsoever, tried to point and pose at various intervals just to see what would work.

“Hey, Tech, come on… that’s disco. They’ll play that later, but this is techno,” Aura said to him, “just do what I’m doing!”

Her body movements, rapid and mesmerizing as she swung herself around and used her wings for balance, were hard to follow, but Techorse stepped up his movements and managed to begin to catch up, getting in sync with the mare. Celestia could feel herself starting to bounce along to the beat as well, Watcher rolling his eyes in disgust.

“Come on, Tia! Join us!” Aura chuckled, doing a stunt where she spun around on her left wing while staying elevated above the ground.

“We are not dancing like that, you’ll break something,” Watcher protested.

“Oh yes we aaaaare!” Sang Celestia, grabbing him with her magic and dragging him out to their friends.

Now with the power of 3 dancers and 1 reluctant participant, the four put on a fantastic display of club dancing for the party goers, who were also starting to rock along with the electronic jam in the background. The sounds of ponies talking were replaced with hooves on the floor, the height of the musical number hitting just as most of those present were putting everything they had into dancing. Various skill levels were on display, but the spotlights above started to focus on the four in the middle, Celestia taking advantage of the light to swing her mane out from under her nurse cap and flaunt it while she rocked out.

“I haven’t danced like this in years!” she squealed, “Oh how fun this is! Why haven’t I done this more often!”

“I can think of a lot of reasons,” Watcher answered, trying to stay in rhythm despite really hating the song playing.

Finally, the last measure of the music finished just as Umbra reached the DJ’s setup. The crowd cheered for itself, and resumed its normal conversation slowly. Umbra had selected a curious DJ, somepony wearing a black balaclava and leather jacket, perhaps going as a bank robber or stalker. In front of his mask was a pair of spectacles, a rather inconvenient thing to have to wear with the cloth on.

“Excuse me,” she said to him, “the music is very good, but a little loud. Do you think we can turn things down a little?”

“Absolutely Umbra, let me set it to something softer, like disco. I didn’t get any complaints so I wasn’t sure,” he said, “Thanks for letting me know, tinnitus is a horrible thing.”

“Wooooooo, DJ!” Aura laughed, her bat wings barely carrying her up to the balcony, “That song was hot! Did you see your crowd going wild?”

Techorse, Watcher and Celestia had been forced to take the stairs, but stood nearby with excitement on their faces. Except for Watcher of course, who still scowled at everypony and everything. He still wasn’t quite thrilled to be here, but it made Celestia happy and for some odd reason, he couldn’t help but give a little grin.

“Oh, what a surprise,” the DJ said, “you decided to be a massive ham, Aura Lace.”

She let a moment pass before speaking, “Wait… Affinity? Is that you?!”

The DJ pulled off the ski mask, accidentally flinging off his glasses and revealing that he was indeed her brother.

“Of course it’s me, dear sister. Who else did you think Umbra was going to trust with the music for the evening? You know I enjoy setting up the perfect soundtrack for a party,” he said, smiling, “it’s good to see you enjoying yourself alongside Techorse.”

Aura giggled with a slight red blush to her otherwise pale vampiric appearance, “Oh well, yeah. We sort of all got carried away. Heh...”

“Care to introduce us to your friend Techorse?” Watcher asked, his blank expression unchanged as he stared blankly at this stranger.

“Yes… I guess it would be rude not to introduce myself.” The pegasus replied, stepping forward as he looked up towards the the charcoal unicorn. “My name is Affinity, I’m Aura’s brother. And who is this lovely mare beside you?”

“Oooh… My name is Celestia, but everypony just calls me Tia.” Celestia giggled, blushing at Affinity’s compliment as Watcher rolled his eyes in response.

“Aura never mentioned to us that she had a brother.” Watcher said, shooting the little dressed vampire a glare. “So this is the first we’ve seen you in person, let alone heard of you.”

“The topic never came up!” Aura shouted nervously, looking towards her brother, who also shot her a glare as well.

“Yeah, why is that sister? You mean to tell me you’ve not once mentioned me to your friends. Shame on you.” Affinity said sternly as his little sister hid behind Techorse.

“C-Come on… I mean… They never really asked and… It may have slipped from my mind.” Aura laughed nervously as she still continued to hide behind the green earth pony. “Besides, you’re meeting them now aren’t you?”

Rolling his eyes, Affinity extended his hoof out towards Watcher as he looked up towards the large unicorn, but he seemed hesitant to shake his hoof. However, he slowly reached out and shook his hoof as a small grin appeared across the charcoal unicorn’s face, which surprised Celestia as she stared wide eyed at the two.

“It is… Nice to meet you Affinity.” Watcher responded, earning a smile from the pegasus as everypony stared in silence.

“A pleasure as well, Mr. Watcher,” he answered, nodding, “Techorse has told me a lot about you.”

“Please don’t call me Mr… Makes feel old.” He responded, chuckling at his comment.

“And your handsome light grey mane does not?”

“It’s snow white… Not grey.” He replied bluntly.

Affinity smirked, “Techorse was correct, you cannot accept a joke! No matter, I’m sure we’ll get along fine, we’re on the same team.”

“I see that imbecile’s sense of humor has rubbed off on you.” Watcher responded, shooting the green earth pony a quick glare. “Anyways… I’m sure you’ve heard of what Tia’s and my situation is somewhat? Correct?”

“If you haven’t been informed… we could discuss it with you another time where it’s more… private?” Celestia suggested as the charcoal stallion groaned in response at how she worded it.

“Anyways… If you are free, we’d like to get you caught up on the situation next time when it’s just us.” Watcher replied, but before he could go on, Umbra stepped in and shoved a cupcake in his mouth.

“You shouldn’t talk with your mouth full Watchy~” Umbra said, wrapping her hooves around his hoof. “Now, Affinity do enjoy the rest of your night… Now it’s time to dance Watcher~”

“Mmmph!!” Watcher muffled as he was dragged away by the dark mare.

“Hold on Watcher! I’ll help you out!” Celestia shouted, following after them.

“Should we go help them?” Techorse asked rhetorically.

“Probably,” chuckled Aura, “let’s hurry up before Umbra starts covering his face in lipstick!”

It took a little bit of effort for them to free Watcher from Umbra’s grasp, but they managed to convince her to let go of the stallion when they pointed out just how many of the party guests were staring. A bit embarrassed, Umbra retreated for her favorite snack table, which was always located just outside of the building in the back.

“I’d better follow her,” glared Celestia, “just to make sure she doesn’t try anything funny again.”

“Much appreciated,” grumbled Watcher, still trying to rub the white makeup that had come from Umbra’s cheek, “lovesick mare...”

The princess incognito trotted out of the building behind Umbra, and took in the scene in the backyard of the town hall. More of the carnival from the front was set up outside, including a few hastily-constructed thrill rides. There was even a petting zoo for the younger ponies, with cute baby animals such as rabbits and tamed wolf pups.

“Aww, how precious!” cooed Celestia, forgetting her original mission of spying on Umbra, “I’ll just take a quick moment to scratch that little wolf behind the ear.”

She moved up to the pen and extended a hoof out to pet the young canine, it happily accepted her care with bright eyes. Once satisfied with her thorough indulgence in puppy petting, Celestia looked up from the pen and spotted the owner of the petting zoo with an amazing animal sitting next to him. She wasn’t sure how she hadn’t noticed it before, but the keeper had a huge female manticore sitting right next to him with an absolutely calm expression on her feline mug!

Celestia couldn’t help but walk over to inspect the magical beast, “Oh goodness gracious, a lady manticore?”

“Yeeeeep that’s right, ma’am,” answered the keeper in a twangy country accent, “Princess Gracie here showed up one day outside my farm as a kitten. Such a sweet, misunderstood creature, totally tame. I get a permit every year for her to come into town and say hi to all the kind folk, she’ll let ya pet her if you’d like.”

The barbed scorpion tail on the creature bobbed back and forth, the stinger kept pointed down and not dripping with venom, a good sign the beast was indeed pleased to be there. Celestia scratched Gracie under the chin, feeling the big cat’s soft purr shortly after it shut its eyes in appreciation.

From one princess to another, you are truly beautiful! Celestia thought, So strong... and a bit scary to anypony who doesn’t know you’re a softie!

The thought gave birth to an idea, “Princess Gracie is truly royalty. My name is Tia, your Majesty! Can you introduce your friend here?”

“Well shucks, I’m just here to show off the animals,” said the humble farmer, an earth pony with a brown coat and a long golden mane dressed as a true-blue carny complete with striped hat and vest, “my name’s T. L. Hitch. My family has been caring for and taming animals for gen-er-ations now! But Gracie’s just our friend.”

“She wouldn’t hurt a pony, right?” asked Celestia curiously.

“Absolutely would not harm a hair on anypony’s head!” assured the stallion, “Of course, there was that one time she spooked a burglar off, but she didn’t even raise a paw on him. Guy never did come back, smart stallion I figure. Even so, Gracie isn’t allowed indoors. Too much noise.”

“Well, I just came out from the party, I can’t stand the company of who I thought was my friend!” Celestia continued, acting dramatically, “she snuck up on me today, cut the power to the room, and made me think I was under attack! Scared the life right out of me, oh… it was just AWFUL!”

Hitch could see where this was going, “Heh heh heh! I know what you’re gonna ask me to in-sti-gate for ya. You wanna get some payback on her, don’tcha?”

Celestia batted her eyelashes, “If only it isn’t too much trouble, perhaps I could borrow Princess Gracie?”

“Well, again, she can’t go in the building, but Princess Gracie would be fine helping pay back that unkind deed with a little spook, isn’t that right?” the farmer asked his friend.

The manticore showed her fangs, and growled in a positive way, almost as if it were trying to chuckle at the idea.

“I think she’s up for it,” Hitch smiled, “but again, she ain’t allowed indoors, so go ahead and lure out your ‘friend’, and Gracie will take care of the rest.”

“I’ll be right back!” said Celestia, “She’ll be wearing the vampony costume. I really appreciate it, Mr. Hitch!”

“Oh pleasure’s all mine, it’s Nightmare Night after all, let’s pull ourselves a prank!”

It didn’t take very long for Celestia to locate Aura Lace inside, she was busy chatting up Techorse by one of the punch bowls. The two were discussing their plans for the week ahead, when the princess stepped up with a broad smile on her face. It was time to spring the trap!

“Oh hello, Aura Lace!” Celestia said cheerfully, “May I borrow you for a moment? Umbra was absolutely correct about the snack table outside, it’s got the best goodies in the house!”

“You don’t say!” Aura Lace answered, being a relatively easy mark, “I knew they were keeping all the good stuff where we couldn’t see it.”

“Follow me, I’ll take you over for some treats,” she said, “I hope you don’t mind Techorse.”

“No problem,” answered the stallion, taking another sip of his punch, “I’ll wait here.”

Aura Lace followed her friend outside to the treat table Umbra was still snacking at. There were indeed some better items than indoors, including chocolate frosted cupcakes decorated with Nightmare Night toppings such as gummy worms, and vegetarian sandwiches packed to the brim.

“Oh wow, this does look good!” said Aura Lace, licking across her temporary fangs, “Don’t know what to try first!”

Hitch looked over from his post and saw Celestia point at Aura Lace while her back was turned. The farmer made eye contact with Princess Gracie, who nodded and began a stalking prowl towards the table.

Aura Lace was totally clueless as to the big cat creeping up on her, “So maybe two cupcakes and a full sandwich, forgot how hungry dancing makes me!”

Suddenly, she felt hot, heavy breathing on her back, “Ugh, Celestia! Stop breathing down my neck, will ya? I’m trying to hurry I swear…”

Realizing there was no way it was Celestia, Aura Lace turned around, seeing the manticore right in front of her with its teeth bared and drool leaking down its lips.

“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” Aura Lace let out a horrified scream, running away and knocking over the treat table.

Princess Gracie gave chase, surprised the pegasus had forgotten about her wings. Ponies at the carnival would have started screaming, but many of them didn’t notice because they were distracted by the rides and games. Celestia let out a hearty laugh and galloped off after the pair on foot.

“Nononononono!” screamed Aura, her heart pounding in her chest out of mortal terror, her legs carrying her as fast as they could go, “Not like this! NOT LIKE THIS!”

She looked behind herself as she ran alongside the building, the monster breaking into a full gallop and preparing its stinger, which oozed with neurotoxic poisons primed for injection. Aura Lace had always heard about the pony-eating manticores, but her adrenaline level was way too high for her to ponder what one was doing at the party. All she could think about was what her primal instincts were screaming “don’t get caught!”.

The creature spread its giant bat-like wings, preparing to take off. Aura Lace remembered her own upon seeing this, and tried to fly off in hopes it couldn’t pursue as well. The costume, however, interfered with her flight, and Princess Gracie soon caught up with the pegasus, grabbing her with its front paws and tackling her to the ground just seconds after they lifted off. Now the terrified pegasus, pale as a sheet, was on her back with a pair of heavy claws pushing on her chest. Princess Gracie could feel her victim’s pulse pounding away like crazy, and the intelligent part-lioness knew she had to wrap up the prank quickly lest Aura suffer a heart attack!

Aura Lace knew she couldn’t escape under the weight of the monster, and began to cry as a final expression of her plight,“NOOOOOOOO! PLEASE DON’T EAT ME!!

The pegasus cried bitter tears of despair and horror, shutting her eyes as she waited for the beast to stuff her head in its mouth and crunch her up. Instead of living a full and happy life with her brother at her side, and finally telling her friend how she felt, Aura Lace was going to meet the wretched end of being dinner for a manticore! She could feel its breath get closer to her face, its mouth opening up to take the first bite, and…

*lick*

The manticore was casually giving her a gentle lick instead. Aura could feel the little feline hooks on the tongue, almost like a kind of sandpaper. Her attacker was now chuffing and purring softly, clearly not interested in taking her head anymore.

Aura Lace opened her eyes, her makeup ruined by her tears, “Oh.. y.. you just wanted to p… play?”

“Ha ha!” laughed Princess Celestia, trotting triumphantly up to the pair, “I told you Miss Aura Lace, that you would cry before the night was over!”

Aura turned her head and saw the princess standing over her, the manticore was still licking her cheek gently. Suddenly, she felt a wave of guilt come over.

“C… Celestia? You sicked this manticore on me!?” she whimpered, still sobbing a bit, “I… I thought I was going to die!”

“I didn’t sick her on you, she’s a friend of a friend,” answered the princess softly, “and I know you thought you were going to die... as did I when you chose to prank me!”

Princess Gracie finally removed her paws from her catch, letting the pegasus stand up. Her costume was a bit damaged, her makeup was ruined, and she was dirty, but she was in one piece. Aura’s legs shook, her adrenaline level had not yet caught up to her current state of safety.

“Oh… Celestia,” she said, more tears forming in her eyes, “I’m so sorry!”

She grabbed the unicorn, bringing her into a tight hug. Celestia rubbed a hoof through her mane, letting the pegasus sob in regret into her. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Hitch give her a friendly wave, and beckon back Princess Gracie, who ‘bowed’ humbly and lumbered back, a purr still on her lips from the huge amount of fun she’d just had.

“Honestly Aura, I probably went a little too far,” Celestia whispered, “I do see you as my friend, and the thought of being a treat for a manticore couldn’t have been fun. Let’s agree to not scare each other any more, okay?”

“Yeah,” she sniffed, “no more pranks. Just hugs.”

“Just hugs,” agreed Celestia, rocking her back and forth in a motherly way, “let me know when you want to go back in, ponies are starting to stare...”

“Okay, okay,” Aura answered, pulling out of the hug and smiling weakly, “let’s go back in. I need to get to the mare’s room and wash up.”

“I’ll take you back,” answered the princess, smiling and feeling fully avenged, “but first I’ve got to say thank you to my friends over there. Will meet you there!”

The friends parted ways, and as they did, Aura Lace swore to herself that she’d never, ever pull a prank again... on Princess Celestia. Everyone else was still fair game.


Hours Later

Watcher wasn’t quite sure how all of them ended up arriving at the local bar, but he had a feeling that during sometime at the party they had been kicked out, because either Celestia threw wine at one of the nobles for making fun of Aura, or because Techorse and him had gotten into a fight with some other aristocrats and Umbra asked that they meet her ... somewhere after she sternly told them to leave.

It was all a blur for the charcoal unicorn as he turned to see Celestia and Aura giggling like school mares. Their faces were a bright shade of red, probably from sending a bit too much alcohol down their throats, Affinity wasn’t anywhere in sight, most likely because the party wasn’t stupid enough to kick out their DJ. Techorse was probably the only relatively sober one, although he had a rather blank look on his face and had followed them out, perhaps in disbelief. Watcher assumed he was in a daze like him or he somehow died sitting up. He couldn’t tell, mainly because he didn’t want to waste what little energy he had to check. Umbra on the other hoof was a no brainer since he already knew where she was. The dark unicorn was resting … on his back, giggling about him as she muttered his name a few times.

W-watchy… stop that… *Hick* not… *Hick* my neck~” She muttered, causing the stallion’s face to turn a dark shade of red, but he was kind enough to let her rest on his back because he couldn’t say no to her earlier since she had been acting rather cute as they drank together. Something he thought he’d never admit.

“Ugh… Hey, Green Techboy! You alive or dead?!” He shouted, not receiving a response until he grabbed a spoon with his magic and threw it at his hoof, knocking the stallion’s hard cider out of his hoof.

“Hey... I was... gonna finish that,” he said slowly, clearly, and quite blankly.

“Sure you were… Clearly staring at the wall like a statue was going to get that drink finished faster. Get off your ass and ask the girls to take Umbra home… I’m going to the restroom.” Watcher said, levitating Umbra off his back and placing her on the soft cushion bench near the two giggly mares and marched towards the nearby restroom.

Techorse seemed to snap to attention, making Watcher think alcohol was simply a sleep aid for him, “Oh! Sorry, was dozing off there. I’ll make sure everypony gets back safe, okay?”

He trotted over to the red-faced ladies, “All right, you heard the stallion. We’ve got to get Umbra home in one piece. Can we get her back on hoof or do I need to get a cab?”

“Whhhhyyyy… I was asking Aura…*Hick*... Hehehe… *Hic* Why she bit me on my neck earlier… Very naughty~… Wrong~ Bad Aura Lacey~” Celestia giggled as Aura giggled with her.

“Cab it is then, since I’m clearly the only one with enough blood left in my alcohol system. Just how many did you two have anyways?” he asked, facehoofing.

“Twenty-teen?” Aura slurred, leaning against Celestia and pointing at the stallion, “Hey… *Hic* think I can… I get a kiss from my… frien-”

...was the last thing she said before she passed out on Celestia’s shoulder. Techorse couldn’t help but laugh a little, before Celestia kissed her nose in her drunk interpretation of the question, before passing out herself afterwards.

“I guess I’m the heavyweight here. Napped off my share of tonight’s beverages,” he muttered, “they’re really going to regret that when they wake up. Time for a cab.”

He rolled his eyes in annoyance and threw his hoof in the air before trotting off to go get the carriage home for them. Making his way outside, he felt a slight chill as the cool night air brushed against his fur coat, and he noticed that there weren’t any carriages nearby, leaving him with only one option, to find a pay telecommunications booth and call Grey Granite to come pick them up in Umbra’s private carriage.

‘Oh, you've got to be kidding… where am I supposed to find a booth to call Grey? I doubt Watcher wants to carry two drunk mares on his back all the way home? He could probably do it… but I doubt he’d want to.’ Techorse thought to himself, sighing to himself, before noticing a stallion across the street in a dark cloak. It was strange for him as he thought the pony’s eyes were glowing a bright emerald green in the dark as Luna’s moon shone brightly in the night.

Tech stared at the pony a little longer then he should have and probably was creeping the stranger out and decided to turn his attention away from them, and started looking around for a booth, before noticing that a little ways down the street on the other side of the road was a booth he could use to call Umbra’s mansion. It wouldn’t take too long for the earth pony to cross the street, but he was hesitant before glancing back at the pony across the street, only to find them staring at him.

‘It’s all in your head, Tech. They’re just making sure you’re not up to something. Same reason you’re staring at them…’ He thought to himself, but he figured that if he focused his gaze on the booth, he’ll be able to get this over with and return inside. However his ears twitched at the sound of a flash before turning his head back to find the stranger wasn’t anywhere insight. Tech’s heart was beating rapidly at that point, expecting to find that perhaps the stranger was beside him.

Letting out a sigh of relief, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. “Heh, I guess I had too much cider… I’m getting scared for no real reason… It’s Nightmare Night after all.”

You of all ponies… Should have a reason to be afraid.” A voice whispered behind him, causing the earth pony to whirl around quickly, to find the same stranger in the same cloak behind him. “After all… You have much to repent for… Bounty Hunter.”

His caution went into full force and his senses sharpened at the haunting words. Not only did this stranger know who he was, they had also managed to catch him off guard without his full set of weapons. It was a golden opportunity to strike, and Techorse knew he’d have to play things diplomatically.

“Who are you?” he asked with a carefully measured amount of contempt, “Who leaked my identity to you?”

“Oh, we’ll get to that.” The stranger said, and from the tone in his voice, Tech could tell that he was a stallion, but before he could give any kind of response, the stranger’s horn glowed a dark shade of green as multiple tendrils with hooks formed and began to grapple around Tech’s forelimbs, pulling him closer to the stallion as he struggled to pull away, only for more to wrap around his body, legs, and neck.

“We can’t have you leave so soon… I have a few questions I need to ask you after all.” He said, chuckling as he hoisted Tech into the air and brought him close enough to look up. It was then that the earth pony was able to see his face under the light of the full moon.

“Oh… it’s you!” he said, impressed and yet quite disgusted at the same time, “Surprised you survived that double rocket to the barrel. Is that what this is all about?”

“Heh… I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced you simpleton… I am Midnight Blaze… And believe me when I say that I’m far from happy right now.” Midnight said, grinning as the cool night air blew back his hood, revealing a long scar across his face, one that looked rather new. It wasn’t the only thing Tech noticed as he discovered his eyes and the color of his magic had also changed to that of emerald green. “However… I have a few questions for you… Since you obviously have the time.”

“Well Midnight, I guess you’re correct about that,” Techorse said, still thinking about all the ways he would blast Midnight to pieces if he had even one of his gadgets, and cursing the fact that his original hit hadn’t done the job, “and since you managed to impress me by pulling out okay, I’m a bit more open to talking. Fire away.”

Midnight couldn’t help but chuckle at his response, but he could tell clear as day that the stallion was indeed afraid. “Now… I’m sure you are fully aware that… the princesses are alive… So my first question is… do you believe that to be true?”

The wiggling inventor gave him a useless answer intentionally, every second stalled for counted in these kinds of situations, “Honestly, the princesses being a part of our world was just a foal’s story my parents told me. I believe the mare I met matches the description, but what kind of a question is that anyways? You tied me up to talk about my foalhood?”

“Oh, it’s so much more… But perhaps I’m not asking the right question.” He responded, tapping his chin with his hoof, as the tendrils around Tech began to tighten. “Ah! Tell me… Would you give your life for them? If you knew what kind of ruler’s they were? Would you die for them?”

Struggling against the magical tendrils threatening to crush his ribs, Techorse made sure he gave Midnight the sternest look possible when he responded, “You know what? I couldn’t care less if that Tia was a total dictator in her past life. Whatever she was had to be better than that sad waste of carbon you call Chancellor. I became the town Bounty Hunter to make sure anyone following that demon who dared to harm a single innocent saw prison or the ground. Guess who’s also on that list?”

“Hmmm… still think The Order matters to me, Techorse? So naive… now don’t get me wrong… The Order clearly doesn’t give a damn if ponies die by the hundreds every day, and you have, in your own foolish way, done well to hunt down their most vile members. However, life is not such a simple question of good and evil… Celestia is much more than a tyrant, and her fellow princesses have had it coming for a very long time…”

“So you work alone now, huh?” he asked rhetorically, “But then why continue to hunt the princesses? She’s not a bad mare at all! How could you want her dead this badly?”

“Hahaha! If you knew what she did to me… to Watcher… To Ponyville… You’d want her dead as well.” Midnight explained, gritting his teeth as his brows furrowed. Using his magic tendrils, he slammed Tech to the ground repeatedly before throwing him towards the wall, the hooks of the magical tendrils digging into his skin, causing blood to drip as the one around his neck tightened to the point it was choking him.

“You’re insane!” Techorse sputtered, struggling to stay conscious.

“If that is what it takes to be the one who destroys both your friends and the princesses, then so be it. I plan to remake Equestria in my image, but I’m getting off topic. Now… for my final question… What do you think the big difference between me and Watcher is? How does some lowly piece of trash who gave everything up for some mare unknown to him, a stranger, a liar, and a murderer… compare to me? Somepony who surpassed him in the academy? Who had known him all his life!”

“Watcher is a total jerk, and a pain in the flank,” the strangling stallion commented, still managing to smirk at Midnight despite his face turning blue, “but he’s been doing everything he can to save that mare and make her life happy. You’ll never be as powerful as him because of that, Midnight.”

“Hehehe… HAHAHAHA! I knew it! It all makes sense now… Like all of the dots connected.” Midnight smirked, his eyes glowing brightly as his magic tendrils held the earth pony in place as his horn began to form a large hook around his hoof. “Everything… Is CELESTIA’S FAULT!”

Closing his eyes, Techorse braced himself for the inevitable slash of the magical energy through his throat. All he hoped was that someday, somehow, Watcher would get Celestia and the other princesses to safety. However the final blow never came and when he looked up, he saw Midnight’s hook inches away from his face, but noticed that the crazed unicorn’s hoof was wrapped in a dark red aura and he was flung towards a bunch of empty barrels across the street. The magic tendrils dissipated and the earth pony was able to breath once more.

“Hey, jackass! You’re not dying tonight… you made a promise to help Celestia! Cabs are down tonight, and I’m not going to be the one carrying all those drunk mares home tonight by myself!” Tech heard, turning up to see Watcher, glaring at him, no longer wearing his costume. Despite struggling to stand, Watcher offered a hoof for the earth pony.

“Perfect timing, Watcher,” he answered, gratefully as he took his hoof, “and I did not forget my promise! It would have helped if I had been able to reach my watch before he bound me, would have made it a bit easier to keep...”

Techorse reached his hoof down and twisted the dial on his watch, a red ring of energy appearing around it. Now the device had been armed, activating the weaponized machinery inside.

“Oh, you've got to be kidding me,” Watcher growled, “that dinky thing was a laser after all, wasn’t it?!”

“You honestly think I’d go out unarmed?” Techorse chuckled, “On Nightmare Night?”

“Technically it’s almost Nightmare Night… But whatever. So who's the moron trying to ki-” Watcher froze, his eyes widening as he got a clear view of the one attacking Techorse. “M-Midnight!? Y-Your-”

However, the charcoal unicorn was unable to finish his sentence, before being blasted by a large sphere of magic and sent crashing into the bar’s windows. Midnight snarled, readying to launch another sphere of energy at the earth pony this time, but as the sphere began to form, Techorse retaliated with his watch, pointing it at Midnight and quickly twisting the dial again. Four smaller beams of energy met in the middle over the clock face and shot out a red ray barely the thickness of a pencil at the unicorn, enough to force him to react.

“Damn-” Was the last thing the blue unicorn was able to say before the red ray collided with his sphere, causing it to ignite and blow up in the unicorn's face, sending him stumbling backwards as he tried to rub his eyes clean of debris. “Y-you and your stupid toys!”

“If you don’t like it, stop earning these beatings!” countered Techorse, his shouting hurting his already damaged trachea.

“Tch! Wasn’t expecting this much trouble…” He muttered to himself, before looking up at the moon. “Moro… Care to bring me back?”

And before Techorse could react, grey slime began to come from the ground, surrounding the blue unicorn until he was no longer in view, the last thing Tech saw was him smirking, not at him though, but at the charcoal unicorn, he was now trotting at full speed towards him.

“MIDNIGHT!!!” Watcher roared, his chest seared with burn marks from Midnight’s attacks as the charcoal stallion’s eyes turned red once again, slits forming and his teeth sharpening to a point. Leaping into the air, the stallion’s hoof was surrounded in red magic and was nearly close to landing a blow towards his former friend, but when the slime dissipated, Watcher struck the street, creating a small crater. “NOOOOOOOO!!!! DAMN IT!!!!”

One thing Watcher knew was that his former friend was still and well. He couldn’t help but punch the ground repeatedly, tears now streaming down his face. It was hard to believe that his best friend since they lived in the orphanage was still alive. His only friend that had stuck by his side for years, was alive. The one who became an Alpha class unicorn and took the mare of his dreams, was still alive. It was as if he had been hit by a hurricane of emotions all at once. Gritting his teeth, he clutched his hoof tightly before standing up once more, wiping his tears away, he turned towards the green earth pony.

“What the hell happened? I thought he was… You blasted him… I saw it.” Watcher stammered, glaring at Techorse. “He’s supposed to be dead!”

“I didn’t know he survived! He took a missile to the face! Midnight shouldn’t have been able to survive that attack and even if he did, he should have succumbed to his wounds.” Techorse explained, causing the larger stallion to growl, before shoving past him.

“Whatever, just call Grey Granite already… I’ve had enough for one night.” Watcher muttered, rushing back to the bar to explain the commotion to the shop owner, while Techorse called Grey Granite to come pick them all up.

It wasn’t long until the old butler arrived with the carriage and the two stallions had to carry the three mares inside before making the journey home. Watcher couldn’t help but gaze out the window of the carriage, not paying the earth pony any mind as stared up at the moon. ‘Every time I think things are going my way… They turn for the worst… Princess Luna… If you are alive or even real… Give me a sign… that everything I’ve been fighting for was worth it?’

He thought to himself and for what felt like an eternity, they had arrived back at Umbra’s Manor and the large stallion hoisted Celestia and Umbra onto his back and with the help of Grey Granite opening the doors, he made his way inside with Techorse following behind him with Aura on his back. “Hey, Watcher… I know you don’t want to hear this but, thank you… for saving my life.”

“Tch… Yeah… Just remember we aren’t friends…” He replied.

“Yeah I know… You only saved my life, something a friend wouldn’t do right?” He said, chuckling a little as the large stallion rolled his eyes, but gave the small earth pony a grin.

“I saved your sorry ass because you have a promise to keep… However it’s a start.” He said, before finally making his way up the stairs and towards Umbra’s room, laying her gently onto her bed and covering her in her soft blankets. After he had turned off the lights to the mares room and closed the doors to her room, he began to make his way towards Celestia’s room and he began to tuck her in. However for some reason he could help give a smile at the sleeping mare and after looking around the room to make sure nopony was around. He gave the princess a quick kiss on her forehead before making his way out, shutting all of the lights and closing the doors behind. ‘Why… Did I do that?’

He wasn’t sure why he gave the princess a kiss on the forehead, but after a long night he decided to brush those thoughts aside for now and make his way towards his room and finally get some long well deserved rest.At least that was what he had hoped, but all he could do was lay there, staring up at the ceiling, his mind wondering if it was some kind of cruel trick, but as he laid there, his vision started to get blurry due to tears forming in his eyes.

‘Please… Somepony… I need help… I need advice… I can’t do this alone.’ He thought quietly, wiping away his tears once more before covering himself in blankets as he eventually drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note:

After almost an entire month or planning, re-planning, writing, the re-planning again!!!! DX I have finally been able to finish this chapter. A lot is going on, both irl and Dawn of the Princesses.

I hope this chapter has everything you guys want from a Nightmare Night Special.