47: A feast for your eyes to see, an explosion of catastrophe.
A feast for your eyes to see, an explosion of catastrophe.
Chapter published 31st Oct 2014
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It was a dark and stormy night.
No, really, it was.
It was the night... the night that young fillies and colts whispered about in playgrounds and schoolyards; the night that the adults talked about in hushed tones when they thought that the children could not hear them; the night that those in charge tried oh-so-hard to wrap in a veil of secrecy, to keep the details hidden from young eyes and ears.
Tonight - the night - the night of nights.
The young gathered all together, staying in groups for safety, crowding around the older children, the teenagers who had been tasked with keeping the younger ones safe, to shepherd them out of harm’s way until the night was over.
This was the night... the night that she would return. They all knew it, every single filly and colt, no matter how the adults had tried to hide it from them. They knew what was coming.
Time was almost up, the wait almost over, and soon, soon she, Nightmare Moon herself, would return.
For tonight was Nightmare Night.
***********************
The adults of Ponyville were ready. They’d spaced themselves out around town exactly as the plan dictated.
The earth ponies had spent the afternoon moving the heavier tools and equipment into position whilst the unicorns had spent their time setting up protective barriers and charms. All the while the pegasi had been working the skies; charging and relocating clouds, setting up weather banks and surreptitiously keeping a watchful eye on the town below them, and especially on the youngsters.
Soon, soon she would be here... and the town of ponyville would be ready for her.
Plans had been made, blueprints drawn up, outfits and uniforms created. They had set up barricades, created bottlenecks. They all had their roles, their positions, their responsibilities. They’d even brought in help from the big city. They’ve been told, time and again, that they’d hired the best- and so far they hadn’t been disappointed.
The stage was set, and they were ready.
She was coming, and they were ready.
The time had come, and they were ready.
The mistress of the night was approaching. They knew what she wanted to happen, how she expected this night to play out, and they knew just how to deal with it.
Tonight was the night, tonight was the night they had spent weeks preparing for, tonight was the night it all happened.
For tonight was Nightmare Night.
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Thunder rolled and lightning flashed.
Silver armour glinted in the moonlight as her ethereal mane flowed around her head and back. Cat like eyes of brilliant teal flashed as wickedly sharp teeth glinted, shining brightly against her jet black coat..
All around her, her guards gathered- a sea of bat wings and fur-tipped ears.
All across town her minions had scattered, moving out according to carefully laid out plans, taking their pre-planned positions with military precision.
Oh, how the children would run, how they would cry out in fright. How they would scamper and wail, as they were chased and contained, ushered and herded, right up until they were exactly where she wanted them.
Oh, yes. Right. Where. She. Wanted. Them.
All of them... every single filly and colt. This would be a night that none of them would ever forget. The night to end all nights.
This night... this night was going to be perfect.
For tonight was Nightmare Night.
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Between the buildings they ran, brilliant shafts of moonlight peeking between the structures lighting their way. Tiny hooves thundered down the twisting alleyways, foals pressed close together as they ran. Some of the older unicorn foals created small balls of light around their horns, trying to add what little extra light they could to their procession.
At the head of the group was one of their leaders, one of the original three, her white coat and purple and pink curls tinted with the pale green of the shimmering ball of magic she was projected around her own horn.
Way out in front was the second of the original three, her orange wings beating, holding her aloft as she peered around the next corner, checking that it was safe for the rest of them to proceed across the small crossways where two sets of alleyways met. Confident that the coast was clear she motioned for the rest to follow.
Scuttling from shadow to shadow to shadow, the group moved a few at a time from behind one building to the next, each foal dashing across the narrow gap between the two structures.
With only a few left to make the short but exposed distance, a groaning suddenly came from the side alley as a lumbering figure - an earth pony mare with glassy eyes and a washed out grey coat - lurched out of the shadows.
At the sight of the colourless - and cutie-markless figure - one of the smaller colts screamed, a high pitched girly scream. As the rest of the group turned to glare at him, silently scolding him for giving away their position, he pointed at the nearest filly, attempting to pass the blame. Nopony was fooled, even for a second.
But it was too late, the figure was onto them and with a second mindless groan it turned and shuffled towards them. From the far end of the alleyway they could hear others of its ilk answer its call with similar grunts and groans.
As the alleyway behind them was blocked by similar slowly shuffling, washed out figures, the third of the original three picked up the last few stragglers, Tossing the them onto her back she used her earth pony stamina to carry them off down the alleyway after the rest of the rapidly fleeing group.
With their pursuers still slowly shuffling along behind them, the gaggle of foals continued their flight for freedom through the backstreets. Every so often their pegasus guide would urge them to stop while she checked out up ahead, either calling them to join her or urging them back so they could try another route, all the while making sure that they remained undetected.
Anytime any of the younger pegasi try to take to the air, the ominous sounds of bat wings flapping overhead could be heard, causing them to drop to the ground once again. Should any foal think to try one of the back doors to the buildings that they passed they’d find it either locked up tight, or the darkened house beyond would be full of nothing more than mindless, groaning adults.
The original three, their older caretakers, had said that they were heading towards the town square, though the journey had taken them all about town rather than down anything like a direct route. Every shortcut that they’d tried had been blocked, either by a shuffling figure here, a bat winged night-pegasus there, or a glint of tooth or claw wherever they’d tried to dart or dash.
Eventually they came to alleyway behind Bon-Bon’s Bon Bons, which meant that the town square was just ahead. Her back pressed against the wall, the purple haired leader crept forward, just far enough that she could peer into the square itself. Seeing nothing between their hidden alleyway and The Clockwork Clinic directly opposite - the slowly swaying sign hanging in the darkened window declaring that the Doctor was not in - the pegasus motioned for the group to follow her out across the cobbles.
One at a time, foal by foal, the youngsters moved out of the safety of the shadows, clumping together not far from Rosehip’s Tea Shoppe. Slowly, as a group, they crept their way across the town square, darting from oversized toadstool tables of Garcon’s Cafe to the cover of the town square’s central fountain as fast as they could without the clatter of their hooves against the cobblestones giving them away.
This was it, they were home free... they’d almost made it.
Almost.
Form all around them maniacal laughter boomed, the sound filling the square, rattling both teeth and shop windows.
From the darkness of the alleys, from the cover of the doorways, from behind chimney stacks and from under thatched eaves they came.
The minions of Nightmare moon, the followers of mistress of darkness, the children of the night.
From the shadows came the Zomponies; their grey, washed out coats leaving them virtually indistinguishable from each other as they shuffled about the square.
Silently touching down on the rooftops of the nearby building came the Vamponies; their glowing eyes and sharp fangs glinted in the darkness.
Rhythmical clopping rang across the square as the Headless Ponies came next; their rusty horseshoes ringing out like bells whenever they hit the hard, cobbled ground.
Behind them came more Headless Ponies, this time riding upon the backs of other Headless Ponies. The riders clopped their forehooves together, the metal on metal action sending a clanging all around the square. They didn't need either heads or faces to make it plain that they were laughing. And not the nice kind of laughing either... no, the evil kind.
All around the edges of square, the air shimmered as the Night-Mages released their invisibility spells, robe clad unicorn after robe clad unicorn popping into existence with a tiny flash accompanied by the smell of ozone. Tiny arcs of lightning danced around their eyes as each came into view, the same harsh sparks dancing across their teeth as they smiled their disquieting smiles at their captives.
Hoping from rooftop to rooftop came the Marewolves; their shaggy tails swishing from side to side as they threw back their equally shaggy heads and howled to the moon, celebrating their mistress’s certain victory.
And above them all flew the Thestrals, the Night-Pegasi; their sharp fangs and silver armour catching the moon’s rays and reflecting them down into the square like some kind of twisted disco ball.
From its rightful place high in the night sky, the moon steadied its gaze, focusing just a small portion of its power, merging moonbeam after moonbeam into one huge beam, pushing it downwards, illuminating the very heart of Ponyville with a biggest spotlight the nation had ever seen.
All the while, the maniacal laughter continued, echoing through streets and alleyways, bouncing down cobbled avenues and leafy lanes, around the trees it carried far and wide on the breeze.
The sound of wings beating against the cool night air broke the laughter, an immense shape moving across the moon. These huge, glossy wings spread wide, casting a huge silhouette on the ground below, clearly defined from one side of the square to the other.
The figure descended, slowly, ever so slowly. Without a single sound four gleaming silver horseshoes touched down as wings folded inwards, tucked against their owner’s sides.
Stepping forwards, into the middle of the square, the mistress of the night grinned, moonlight reflected from her bared fangs dancing around the crowd.
As one, her minions bowed to her, their heads - those that had still them - held low, eyes averted from their majesty’s radiance.
Throwing her head back, Nightmare Moon laughed, long and loud.
The time had come, the time long foretold, the time long planned and prepared for... the time was now.
For this was Nightmare Night.
********************
“So, we meet again, my young friends,“ NIghtmare grinned as she towered over the gathering of tiny fillies and colts in front of her, their innocent young faces staring back up at her, the silver moonlight reflected back at her from the whites of their eyes. “I have you now, my tasty little morsels. You and your little appetizers too!”
As the children huddled around their trio of caretakers, the pegasi of the three took a step forward.
“You’ll never win, Nightmare Moon,” Scootaloo stated with confidence, her wings flared and chest pushed out in an attempt to make the teenager look as large as she possibly could. It was a valiant attempt, but against a full grown alicorn she had no chance of looking anything other than tiny.
“You really think so, young Toodle-oo?” NIghtmare snorted. “Nice try, but I don’t think so.”
Sweeping a wing, the alicorn of the night took in the entire square around them, full as it was of her creatures of the night.
“Do you not see what you're up against.”
Dissolving herself into a glittering silver cloud, Nightmare rolled all across the cobbled ground before reforming into a foal sized version of herself in the middle of the crowd of similarly sized foals.
“I am here.”
She dissolved again, a young teenage version reforming right next to Applebloom.
“I am there.”
She reached out and tweaked the nose of one of the fillies still carried on the earth pony’s back before melting away again, just to reform as a late-teenage-version of herself at Sweetie Belle’s side. Resting the elbows of her forelimbs on the young unicorn’s back, a tall glass of chocolate milkshake with two straws appeared in the alicorn’s hooves.
“I am everywhere.”
Taking a long pull on her milkshake, the alicorn winked an eye, winking herself out of existence just seconds later.
“You think you can defeat the night? You know nothing! I. Am. The. NIght.”
As the alicorn’s disembodied voice echoed around the square. Sweetie Belle stepped forward to stand at her young herdmate’s side.
“You don’t scare us, Nightmare Moon, “ the unicorn stated to empty air.
“Yeah,” Applebloom added, one of the fillies on her back waving a tiny hoof in agreement.
“Really?” came the disembodied reply. “In which case, my dear little Apple Blossom, you haven't truly grasped what you're up against.”
From the darkest and shadows of every corner of the town square burst hundreds of tiny black shapes, each fluttering and flapping on their own tiny pair of black wings. Within seconds each of the itsy-bitsy forms had converged on a single section of the square, where a large stage had been set up. The bats flapped their way into the center of the stage where they they formed a cloud, which itself burst into a puff of smoke which blew away to leave the alicorn of the night standing alone in front of a huge pair of closed, dark blue velvet curtains.
“I think it’s about time,” huge black wings spread wide as the moon itself narrowed its gaze down upon the stage, illuminating the mare of the moment, “that I took you kids back to school.“
Behind Nightmare Moon, the stage curtains whisked open, revealing a full orchestra of drooling, glassy eyed earth pony musicians. Each of the mares and stallions stood stiffly, a sea of light grey coats and dark grey manes, their instruments held tightly against their bodies, crumpled sheets of music lay on stands before each and every one of them.
From the wings strode a single earth pony mare, her usual grey on grey colouration dyed just for tonight into shades of brilliant crimson and scarlet with a large black panda-like blotch around each of her eyes. Reaching the conductor's podium, she bowed to the mistress of the night before turning and picking up her baton. Tapping the baton against her music stand, she let out a small cough... then a bigger cough... then an even bigger hacking, spluttering cough.
Turning to face her audience, Dead-tavia held out her forehoof so the colts and fillies could see what she had coughed up.
“Sorry, just had a frog in my throat,” she quipped. The large green frog sitting on her hoof just rolled its eyes and hopped away as, from the rear of the stage, a trombonist dropped in a quick wah-wah-wah-wah-waaaah.
“Maestro,“ Nightmare interrupted, feigning annoyance, “if you would? We don’t have all night you know.”
Putting a hoof to her chin, the alicorn made a big show of pondering her own words before grinning widely at the audience.
“Actually... We Do!” She cried, “For The Night. Shall Be. Eternal! Bwahahahaha!”
As the band struck up their tune, Nightmare hopped off of the stage and danced her way over to her captive audience. All around the edges of the square, the minions of the night swayed from side to side as they joined in with the Nightmare’s song.
Dancing and twirling around the square, Nightmare’s magic flashed as she repeatedly disappeared here, just to reappear there. Zomponies lurched from shadow to shadow whilst Thestrals fluttered overhead. From the rooftops Marewolves howled and Vamponies hissed as the orchestra of the undead played their song.
--Nightmare Moon--
Fillies and colts all over town
Don’t you know what’s going down
Deep in your bones you can feel the chill
As I sweep through the town of Ponyville
--Minions--
This is Nightmare Night, this is Nightmare Night
--Nightmare Moon--
Your cries and screams are my delight
--Minions--
This is Nightmare Night, little foals all filled with fright
--Nightmare Moon--
My minions chasing every youngster in sight
--Minions--
Into your town, into your dreams
--Nightmare Moon--
I’ll slither and I’ll crawl and I’ll make you scream
--Nightmare Moon--
I am the one whispering inside your head
Invading your dreams while you’re lying in bed
I am the mistress of the shadows at night
Pushing and pulling and overpowering the light
--Minions--
This is Nightmare Night, this is Nightmare Night.
Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!
--Nightmare Moon--
In this town you call home
--Minions--
Everypony listen to the NIghtmare’s song
Your fear and fright, don't we love it now
Every monster yearning for your screams and cries
--Vamponies and Thestrals--
Way up high, Vamponies and the Thestrals fly
Waiting for our chance to carry you high
--Zomponies--
Zomponies make your stomach churn
--Marewolves--
Marewolves to our kind you’ll turn
--Zomponies and Marewolves--
Once we get our teeth on you
--Headless Ponies--
Still not scared
--Headless Ponies Riding On Other Headless Ponies--
It won’t last
--Night Mages--
Once our evil magic gets a hold of you
--Nightmare Moon--
I can’t wait to start the endless night.
Colts and fillies all fleeing in fright.
It’s gonna be such an awesome sight
--Minions--
Everypony scream, cower in the light
--Nightmare Moon--
On this, my night of Nightmare Night
--Minions--
Zomponies moaning that they never die
Vamponies hunting you from the sky
Olden Ponies searching for their rusty horse shoe
And the NIght Mages are coming, and they’re coming for you
--Nightmare Moon--
I watched you all from the moon at night
Plotting my escape from my prison so tight
--Minions--
This is Nightmare Night, this is Nightmare Night
Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!
Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!
--Minions--
Shivering little foals running everywhere
Life's no fun without a good scare
--Nightmare Moon--
It’s my pleasure to fill you with fright.
On this my night of Nightmare NIght.
--Minions--
This is Nightmare Night, this is Nightmare Night.
Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!
As the minion’s chant died away, Nightmare Moon returned to her position in the middle of the stage. Behind her the orchestra took a slow - and creaky - bow as they downed their instruments.
“So, my lovely, tasty little colts and fillies...” Nightmare eyed the crowd, giving her wings a quick flap just for the flourish, “do you see what you're up against? There’s no way you can win again my army of the night!”
Once again, Sweetie Belle stepped forward.
“You’ll never win, Nightmare Moon,” she declared, “Princess Celestia will save us.“
“Bwahahaahaha,” the alicorn of the night laughed in response, “oh, my dear little Sweetie Bot...”
With a quick flash of Nightmare’s horn, Sweetie Belle was suddenly covered in a full body wrap of what looked like baking foil, giving her the appearance of some kind of... cyberpony.
“...you still don’t get it, do you? I’m afraid that my sister can’t help you now, especially now that your Precious Princess Prissy Plot has been banished forever... TO THE SUN!”
At each side of the stage, large spotlights flared into life, spinning in place before settling on a spot on Ponyville Town Hall’s topmost balcony. A collective gasp came from the audience as they saw what was awaiting their gaze.
Mounted up on the roof was a huge... massive... gi-nor-mouse even, cardboard cut out of the sun, covered in gold foil with golden streamers flapping from the disc’s edge like sunbeams.
But what made the crowd really gasp was what was poking from a hole in the centre of the cardboard moon... Princess Celestia’s head.
Fixing her younger sister with a stern gaze, with just the front of her ethereal mane flowing with the sun-beam streamers, the alicorn of the day uttered three little words.
“Princess. Prissy. Plot?”
“Quiet, prisoner!” Nightmare cried, “Stick to the script.“
Trying her best not to laugh - and not doing a very good job of it - Celestia recited her lines.
“Oh noes! Mine all powerful and absolutely lovely-eth little sister hast defeated me-eth. Whatever are we to do-eth?”
“Do?” Nightmare called back from her spot down at centre-stage. “You shall do... eth nothing but watch, fool, as l bring forth night eternal. Guards! Guards!”
Pacing back and forth across the stage, Nightmare glared theatrically into the wings.
“Where is my Captain of the Guards?” she cried.
From the wings came Captain Shield- though rather than sporting his usual Night Guard uniform enchantment he was all dressed up in a hoof-made Thestral costume. It was very impressive, it had to be said, even if one of his fluffy ears was starting to come a bit loose at the edges.
“My. Lady.” Captain Shield said slowly, his words stilted with nervousness. Give him a spear and something to poke and he’d be fine... stick him on stage in front of dozens of youngsters and... well... he was a little less fine. “My. Lady. Your. Captains. Have. Arrived.”
“Very good, Private Shield.” Nightmare replied, emphasising her subordinate’s rank, “Bring them forward.”
As Private Shield shuffled awkwardly to one side, Captain Hide - also in a hoof-made Thestral costume, though he carried it off with a lot more fabulousness than his tongue-tied colleague - stepped out of the wings, escorting this evening’s two guest Captains.
With Captain Hide guiding them to centre of the stage, Captains Pipsqueak and Dinky took up their positions on the pieces of coloured tape that had been marked out for them. Like the older guards, Pip was wearing a hoof-made Thestral costume - and looking rather dashing in it as many of his fellow teenagers had already noticed - while Dinky was clad in a thestral glamour of her own creation.
The teenage filly’s horn sputtered occasionally as she struggled to maintain the spell, the bulk of the armour flickering in and out of existence or her own coloration momentarily showing though just to be covered up again just as quickly. Nightmare was impressed- a glamour of this nature, especially without any kind of external enchantment to assist, usually took months to perfect... and young Dinky had managed to hold it for this long, and at this age, without help. This girl was one to keep an eye on.
Head held high and chest puffed out, Captain Pip announced their arrival.
“My liege!” He darn-near shouted, “I, Captain Pip, am at your service!”
“Very good,” Nightmare acknowledged, checking her ears, “and your colleague?”
“Captain Dinky, your highness.”
“Good, very good.” Nightmare walked around behind and then between them, spreading her wings wide so she could rest them on her young Captains’ backs and usher them closer to the front of the stage.
“So, what do you think we should do with these...” the alicorn grinned again, flashing her teeth at the crowd, many of whom responded by shaking their forehooves at the evil princess, “...interlopers, hmmm? These jackanapes? These fiddle-faddlers? Should we bring out the iron-maiden? The stocks? The rack?”
“The comfy chairs?” Private Hide stage whispered from his place at the edge of the stage.
“The soft cushions?” Private Shield stage whispered back.
“Be quiet, my lowliest of minions!” Nightmare shut the both of them down with a glare, “or it’s five years dungeon for both of you... again,” she shrieked.
“Yes, boss.”
“So, my dear Captains,” Nightmare bent her neck down to bring her head level with her two guests as she continued in a conspiratorial manner, “what dastardly punishments should we inflict on these foolish children that believe they can stand up to me, the mighty and quite frankly magnificent Nightmare Moon!”
With a determined nod, Pip made his choice.
“The spiders!” he said.
“The spiders?” Nightmare asked.
“Oh no, not the spiders!” Dinky cried.
“Yes!” Pip declared. “The spiders!”
“Bwahahahaha!“ Nightmare laughed as she held a single forehoof daintily to her lips, “The spiders! I like the way you think, young Captain Pip.”
Spreading her wings wide, Nightmare made her declaration to the skies above Ponyville.
“Bring forth... THE SPIDERS!”
From all around the edges of the town square, up at roof height, dozens of small dark clouds appeared from where they had been hidden, each pushed into place by a single black clad pegasus.
“NOW, DROP, MY PRETTIES!”
From the bottom of each of the clouds dropped a large black papier-mache spider on a string, each hanging just low enough to be just a few feet from the ground. As each spider dingled and dangled, bobbing around on its string, the pegasi above pushed the clouds around the town square, chasing the crowds of children as they ran about letting out screams and shouts... and quite a bit of giggling too.
“Okay, gang!” Applebloom shouted as the pair of fillies still on her back hoofed over foam baseball bats to every eager child that wanted one, Sweetie-bot and Scootaloo passing out the rest, “let’s show these nasty spiders who’s boss.”
As what occurred next involved dozens of poor defenseless papier-mache spiders against just as many over-excited children wielding foam baseball bats... Well, the outcome was pretty much a given from the start, especially once the kids discovered that each spider was stuffed full of brightly wrapped sweets, courtesy of Bon-Bon’s Bon-Bons - proud co-sponsor of this year’s Nightmare Night festivities.
From the back of the stage, Dead-tavia waved her baton frantically as the orchestra played a fast-paced little number, one most suitable for the confectionery based carnage that was erupting all around them.
It didn’t take long for the kids to track down each and every spider and batter its little sugary brains out. Even the spiders whose cloud-wranglers had thought themselves particularly clever by hiding their spiders behind the bushes or on top of window frames, as no matter where they hid the kids proved - once again - that wherever parents hid any snacky sweets, tasty treats or even the whole cookie jar, kids always knew where they were like they had some kind of glucose based radar.
As the children ran around the town square, searching for any plump and tasty victims that may have escaped their clutches, that one last sweetie laden prize that even now could be shivering on the end of its bit of string, a plaintive wail came from the stage.
“STOOOOOOOP!”
With one last blast from an over enthusiastic tuba, the orchestra ceased their playing as Nightmare stomped her way to the very front of the stage.
“You may have defeated my spiders, but you will never defeat... My Minions!”
Spreading her wings wide, Nightmare called forth her minions from where they’d been hanging out all around the edges of the square. Zomponies moaned as they shuffled and lurched forwards, Marewolves howled as they hopped from rooftop to rooftop while Night Mages conjured balls of flames on upturned forehooves.
“Prepare to face your doom!” Nightmare threw back her head and laughed her maniacal laugh as her minions moved ever closer to her audience, growling and hissing as they slowly shambled their way across the cobblestones.
Pretty soon the foals had been backed into a group in the middle of the square and all was looking grim.
But then, from the rooftops came a shout, a cry of salvation.
“NOT SO FAST, NIGHTMARE MOON!”
As one, the foals turned to find their saviors watching over them. The six mares that would save them from the dark princess of darkness and stuff.
Standing on the rooftop balcony of Sugarcube Corner were two unicorns and two earth ponies while hovering above them were two pegasi mares.
Across each of their backs was a short, brightly coloured cape which conveniently matched their brightly coloured boots and nicely accentuated their equally brightly coloured short pleated skirts.
Around five necks lay five of the elements of harmony while the sixth sat in a golden tiara atop one of the unicorns’ heads.
All six struck heroic poses that really managed to show off their heroic outfits, all while the orchestra played for them a short symphony suitable for a heroic entrance. On the whole it was pretty heroic.
The four non-pegasi hopped down from the roof and into the centre of the square, one of the earth ponies managing to snaffle some escapee spider guts on the way before stuffing it into her mouth. The two pegasi flapped their way down to join them as all six soon formed a line facing the stage, the crowd of foals between them and Nightmare Moon.
As hidden pegasi off at one end of the square flapped their wings to create a stiff breeze, the short brightly coloured capes draped across each of the six mares’ backs fluttering in the wind, the group’s leader stepped forward to face down the evil princess, her striped mane flapping in a gosh-darn heroic manner.
“You’ll never triumph, Nightmare Moon,” the purple unicorn declared, “not while we - I can’t believe I’m saying this - the Pretty Pretty Princess Luna Guardian Scouts have anything to say about it!”
“And me!” came a shout from behind her as a green scaly biped about the size of a tall earth pony stepped out of the darkness of an alleyway. He was wearing a tastefully tailored black suit with matching top hat and tails with a white dress shirt and gloves. He was also wearing a black mask covering his eyes to protect his true identity but, to be honest, he could have been wearing a full body potato sack and everypony in town would still have known who it was.
“Don’t forget me - Tuxedo Dragon!”
“Yes, and him,“ the purple unicorn agreed.
“So, who are you seven supposed to be?” Nightmare asked with a sneer, “I didn’t think the circus would be in town for at least another week.”
“Circus? Where?” One of the earth pony guardian scouts asked as she bounced all over the place searching for the aforementioned source of entertainment. The unicorn scout that wasn’t currently glaring down the alicorn of the night had to grab her and pull her back into line before she managed to bounce her way right out of town.
“Well Ah’m the Element’a Honesty, yer royal snootyness, an’ Ah’m here ta put yer right back in ya’ box,” the orange earth pony scout said.
“I’m the Element of Kindness,” the pink pegasi scout next to her added, “and, erm... have you tried being not evil? I’m sure if we all just sat down and talked about it you’d find that being nice is much more fun than being all meany mean-pants. How about a nice cup of tea? I have carrot cake if you’d like some.”
“Oh, that sounds divine, my dear,” the white unicorn of the group added. “I’m the Element of Generosity and I must say, Nightmare darling, though I positively love the black and silver look you have going on here, I do feel it may be a bit severe for this time of year. Have you considered maybe a nice deep blue instead? It'd be very striking while a touch less... fierce. Or a few dabs less with the eyeshadow perhaps?”
“SILENCE, FOOL!”
“Well, it was just a suggestion. Maybe next time?“
With just a quick flap of her wings, the sky blue pegasi of the group shot over the heads of the crowd and thrust herself all up in Nightmare’s face.
“Hi. I’m the Element of Awesomeness, and you don’t scare me.”
“Rainbow!”
“Oh come on Twi, can’t a girl ad-lib a bit?”
“NO!”
“Phooey. Okay, so I’m the Element of Loyalty, yadda yadda yadda, and if you don’t cease and desist I’m gunna have to get all sonic rainboom-y on your flank. So quit it, you got that?”
“YEAH!” came a shout from smack-dab in the middle of the crowd as a pink head with a equally pink poofey mane appeared from the depths of a sack of candy much, much smaller than she was, “I’mTheElementOfLaughterAndWeveComeToMagicOfFriendshipYouUpYouBEEEYATCumphhh”.
With a sky blue hoof stuffed in her mouth, the hyperactive pink pony found herself being carried back to the join the others.
“Sorry,” the Element of Loyalty added sheepishly, “she’s had a teeny bit too much sugar.”
“...umfNEVER! There’s No Such Thing!”
Shaking her head, the purple unicorn moved back to the front of the group.
“And I’m the Element of Magic, and I demand that you cease this act of evil, you evil-doing doer of evilest evil, or in the name of the true mistress of the moon we will punish you!”
“Really?” Nightmare asked, a crafty smirk gracing her lips.
“Really!” her unicorn nemesis confirmed.
“So, quite what do you six silly fillies-”
“And me!” Spik... err, Tuxedo Dragon added.
“-expect to do, hmm?”
“OH WE’RE GUNNA GO ALL DARK AGES ON YOUR FLummph” the pretty pink earth pony scout started before her white unicorn friend managed to subdue her.
Really putting her back into it, Nightmare leaned back, head to the sky, and laughed her most maniacal laugh so far. Thunder and lightning crashed all around her from several of the small dark clouds overhead as her black-clad pegasi helpers worked their magic, which mainly involved jumping up and down on their own particular clouds.
“BWAHAHAHAHA!”
She was really starting to enjoy this.
“Oh, you're not going to do anything to me, especially you, Twilight Sprinkles! And yes, I do know your secret identity... not like it was much of a secret.”
Nightmare swept out a single forehoof towards the back of the stage, where a loud squeaking could be heard from the walkways far above the orchestra.
“...for behold, I have captured your beloved coltfriend!”
From the lighting gantry above the stage was slowly lowered a struggling figure, wiggling and thrashing against the ropes around his torso that held him tightly bound, his dangling feet coming to a stop just a scant few horn-widths from the stage.
A gasp of shock moved through the crowd. They knew the Guardian Scouts were really in a bind now - no pun intended - as the evil Nightmare Moon had the coltfriend of two of the scouts in her clutches. Whatever would they do next?
Moving over to the human’s side, Nightmare ran a forehoof down the human’s chest, all the while giving the Element of Magic the ol’ stink eye.
“Oh, look. I have your man, however did that happen? Now, I’ll just deal with you six-”
“Seven!”
“-quickly so I can take him back to my moon castle and do all kinds of... mmmm... naughty things to him.”
As the alicorn ran her forehooves all over the human’s chest - more licking of lips going on than anyone had expected - Lero lent as close to his captor’s ear as he could and whispered, “you know, Luna, I think you might be starting to enjoy this a bit too much.”
“Hush, you,” the alicorn whispered back as the chest rubbing diminished... not one bit.
Pushing her captive away so that he was left swinging slowly back and forth - and feeling not just a little bit seasick - Nightmare walked back into the centre of the stage, making sure that her fore-hooves ended up exactly on the correct tape marks on the floorboards.
“Oh yes, you will lose, you silly fillies,” the alicorn mocked, “and I will have... IT ALL! Bwahahahha.”
There was a long pause, after which Nightmare turned to glare up at the large dark cloud hovered over the stage behind her,
“AHEM!! And I Will Have It ALL!”
Thunder rolled around the square as lightning flashed and shot out of the cloud, scorching the stage in several places. Better late than never. From the pegasi atop of the cloud, small tufts of blonde mane poking out of her outfit, came an apologetic, “Sorry! I got this!”
Stamping a hoof on the cobblestones, Nightmare’s nemesis brought everypony’s attention back to her.
“Oh, it won’t be me stopping you, Nightmare Moon. The power of friendship is within every pony. You may have foalnapped my stallion, but you still cannot defeat us!”
As the Element of Kindness and the Element of Aweso... Loyalty moved to opposite sides of the crowd, the Elements of Honesty and Generosity started gathering the foals around them
“Come on in, kids, gather ‘round. Git in nice an’ close now.“
As the foals gathered around the adult mare’s hooves, the pink scout bounced her way around the crowd.
“OH YEAH! LET’S GET READY TO BLAST THIS BITC-umph”
“No more sugar for you, darling.”
“-uurghNOOOOOO!”
“It’s too late, Sprinkles. I’ve won... nopony will be saved from my minions’ clutches.”
As if to emphasise the point, the various Zomponies, Vamponies and the like gave out a collective “yaaargh”, just to remind everypony that they were still there.
“Never! Together we’ll save everypony. Even you!”
“Ha!” Nightmare laughed. “And why would I need saving?”
“Because you need it more than anypony here, so that’s what we’re going to do!”
“Yeah” the Element of Loyalty added from the edge of the crowd where she was making sure that every pony was in place, “take this, Nightmare Moon.”
As if on cue - which it actually was - a rainbow ring of light formed around the group of foals, spinning faster and brighter with every passing second.
“Come on, kids. You gotta believe in the magic of friendship!”
From the back of the stage, the orchestra struck up a hopeful tune, one of soaring violins and powerful brass. As the rainbow ring span faster and faster, its colours shining brighter and brighter, the music became louder, the tempo increasing, becoming ever more confident.
Faster and faster the ring span, harmless but impressively sparkly offshoots of magic flying off and bouncing off of walls, doors, windows, anything that got in its way.
Where the magic hit any of Nightmare’s minions they’d shimmer and shine before flashing out of existence. In less than a minute every monster, mage or member of the undead had been banished back to whence they had came.
“Nooooo! My minions!”
Without warning the ring exploded outwards, its waves of colour washing outwards over the town. Caught in its wake, Nightmare screamed.
“Nooooo! I’m melting!”
With a loud bang and a flash, a vast column of smoke enveloped Nightmare Moon, reaching into the sky, obscuring her from view, just as the orchestra came to their crescendo, the music suddenly cutting off as both silence and darkness fell over the town.
Silence continued to reign, even as a single spotlight came to life, lacing out from the lighting gantry to fall on the column of smoke as it finally began to drift away on the cool night breeze.
As the haze cleared, all that was left on the stage was a single, small, light blue alicorn, her even lighter blue mane blowing around her head. Gone were Nightmare Moon’s silver battle armour, replaced instead by Princess Luna’s jet black tiara and torc.
“Luna!”
A second spotlight flared into life, illuminating the cardboard sun at the top of the town hall. Next to it stood Princess Celestia, her mane and wings both spread out freely behind her.
“Celestia!” the smaller alicorn called back.
Princess Celestia had really been looking forward to this bit.
Leaping from the balcony - the spotlight caressing her pure white wings, bouncing the light back all over the square - the alicorn of the day used her mighty wingspan to glide gently down onto the stage where the two sisters rushed to each other and embraced deeply.
The crowd cheered, many of the foals jumped up and down, several hugged and danced and hoped and skipped in little circles in delight. Hidden in alleyways or peeking out from behind nearby buildings, many of the adult ponies did the same... though their monster make-up made it quite the sight to be seen.
“My dearest little sister.” Celestia said, letting her younger sibling go after the cheering had died down a little. “It has been a thousand years since I have seen you and I have missed you so. Will you put our differences aside and rule with me, side by side, in the true spirit of friendship?”
“My beloved older sister.” Luna answered, “I am so sorry for the things that I have done. If you can forgive me, I will stand by your side, as together we lead this land into a future of health and happiness.”
“Then so it shall be,” Celestia nodded as the crowd went wild... again.
Moving to the edge of the stage, the true princess of the night addressed her young audience.
“My beloved subjects. It is I, Princess Luna. Through the power of friendship you have saved me from the corruption of the evilness of Nightmare Moon, and brought peace back to the magical land of Equestria!”
Behind her, her captains - permanent and temporary - wheeled out four of the largest party cannons the town had ever seen.
“Now, my friends, in honour of Nightmare Night... Candy. For. All!”
As one, the four cannons went off, shooting hundreds of gaily wrapped sweets up into the air, each floating back down to earth on its own tiny little parachute.
“OH YEAH! MAKE IT RAIN!” a particularly passionate pink party pony yelled as she leapt from rooftop to rooftop, catching candies on her tongue left and right.
So, yeah, all told this year had been a pretty good Nightmare Night.
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Sooooo.....A Sailor Moon reference. Cool.
The.... Comfy chair?
Nobody expects that kind of horror.
Well, this was a fun read
Double capital in 'Nightmare'.
I needed this today.
Thank you.
5208881 it's a complete misnomer as well. No matter how you wriggle about, you'll never find a comfortable spot!
*applauds* well done, indeed! And I literally laughed out loud in the middle of a coffee shop reading 'pretty pretty princess luna guardian scouts'.
"Uh, girls, can someone untie me?" Lero called as he swung gently back and forth behind the curtain.
"I'll untie you, Lero," Pretty Pretty Princess Luna Guardian Scout Rainbow said as she flew up to him.
"Heh, thanks Rainbow."
".....Eventually."
"Eventually?"
Rainbow rubbed her cheek against his and purred into his ear. "Trick or Treat?"
"Treat," Lero said with a smile in his voice.
"Uh huh," Rainbow said as she nibbled his earlobe. "Delicious."
“You think you can defeat the night? You know nothing! I. Am. The. NIght.”
"I...AM...BATMARE!!!"
5210883
Heh, that's what I thought at the end of the chapter. "They never cut Lero down!"
Tuxedo Dragon is hands down the best superhero ever, if only for the name.
Oh mygoodness that is glorious!
Precious Princess Prissy Plot!
And Lero is just dangling around like a poor piniata.
This is the worst NightmareWeen I've ever read.
Lyrics are awful. And stage is... there is no stage.
But Pretty Pretty Luna Senshi and what after them are good.
P.S.: And Tuxedo Dragon!
The ending made me think of the Pretty Cure All Stars movie and how they would give kids in attendence 'Miracle Lights' (i.e. little light up wand) and they would actually be included in the story of the movie, with characters breaking the fourth wall and asking the kids to light up to cheer on the PreCures so they can power through the final battle, and all the bystanders in the movie also do the same. It's a pretty cute gimmick.
Plus it leads to some pretty epic stuff...
Right! This chapter is entirely too silly! Get on with it. Get on with it! GET ON WITH IT!
(If I wasn't on my phone I'd have linked the video, but you get the idea.)
The most unrealistic aspect of this chapter is Celestia remembering her lines, stage direction and generally being a decent actor