> Nightmare Night, what a... sight! > by Charlie_K > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > We usually wear costumes... (edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The chill in the autumn air was crisp; and it was even crisper without the warmth of the sun to stave off the slight bite that it carried with it. But for the fun that was to be had on Nightmare Night, there were very few ponies who were unwilling to brave the chill. It was a small price to be paid for the festivities that were to be had. And from the look of the town square, the festivities to be had were going to be as impressive as ever. All around were strands of colored light hung from poles and posts, decorative banners, pumpkins carved out and playing host to flickering candles, and all manner of refreshment stands, tables, and various games, as a slightly spooky techno beat was pulsing in the background, courtesy of one Vinyl Scratch. Twilight smiled to herself as she took everything in. Ever since moving to Ponyville, Nightmare Night had become one of her favorite holidays to experience. Truth be told, she would start decorating for it at the first of the month. The spookiness to it all was a lot of fun to experience. Plus it gave her an excuse to play with glow sticks. Last time, she'd gone with a historically significant costume, looking like Starswirl the Bearded. But the lack of recognition by anyone other than Princess Luna had discouraged such investments in time and research this time around. This time around she'd gone with a simpler, slightly different route; in this case, a steampunk route, involving a costume that was better suited for a stallion, yet she wore nonetheless. The whole aesthetic of the cane, trousers, suit jacket, the derby, and the modified welding glasses... she wouldn't apologize for it, it just plain appealed to her. Standing next to her was Spike in his costume. Although he wasn't wearing the same dragon costume as last year, he had certainly maintained a dragon theme with drawing his inspiration from the comics he read; something about "Pony Rangers" or some such strangeness that she didn't fully grasp. She was certain that Rarity had done the work, what with the blending of the green, white, and gold that made up the costume. "Look at it all, Spike, don't you just love how everything culminates to create the atmosphere?" Twilight asked as she leaned on the cane she carried, taking in the sum total of the decorations around the town square. "Sure do," Spike replied as he pulled his helmet off. "Where are the cupcakes for tonight?" he asked as he looked around. Twilight just shook her head and gave a chuckle at Spike. Oh well, everyone celebrated Nightmare Night in their own way. Truth be told, she was getting a bit hungry for sweets herself, and some candy corn was sounding good right now. "Let's go and find out," she suggested." "Halt! None shall pass!" The two of them looked at each other, and then looked behind them to see who was addressing them. The Trottingham accent was a dead giveaway though. Standing there behind them was Pipsqueak, but he was no pirate this time around. Instead he was dressed like a knight, his armor made of what looked like cardboard and tinfoil, clearly indicating that he'd made it himself. Slung over his shoulder, as there was no other way to carry it, was a wooden sword cut out of what had to be ploywood, and looked as long as he was tall. Currently he was doing his best to look stern and serious. But as far as Twilight was concerned, he was adorable. "Well aren't you a handsome knight, Pipsqueak," she said and smiled at him. "How come you aren't going house to house with the others colts and fillies?" she asked. "I wanted to, Princess Twilight, but they said my sword got in the way and posed a hazard to the others. And a knight should never go without his sword, as he has to be ready to protect fair damsels from vile dragons," Pipsqueak stated. "Oy!" Spike objected and frowned at the insult. "Oh, sorry Spike, I didn't mean you," Pipsqueak apologized upon realizing his mistake. "Truth is you seem more pony than dragon." "Yeah? Well I still take offense to it, on behalf of my species," Spike stated as he set his helmet down on the ground. "Impudent knight, prepare to face a dragon's fury!" "Taste a knight's blade, foul beast!" Pipsqueak yelled right back in response. Twilight didn't have time to react before Spike tackled Pipsqueak, growling and snarling as the two grappled with one another, Pipsqueak at a distinct disadvantage because of how boxy his armor was. He had little chance as Spike effortlessly pinned him down to the ground... ... and began tickling one of his exposed hooves. Pipsqueak was helpless against the assault as his frog was tickled by Spike's expert fingers, sending him into unrestrained laughing as he lay on the ground, pinned down and unable to escape. "Heh," Spike grinned as he paused tickling, "surrender, impudent knight. Say uncle!" he demanded. "A knight never-" Pipsqueak protested, only for the tickling to begin anew, leaving him thrashing on the ground as he laughed unwillingly. "Uncle! Uncle!" he called desperately, unable to take anymore. Just like that, the tickling stopped, and Twilight watched as Spike climbed off of Pipsqueak, before helping pull him back up onto his hooves. "You two are complete goofballs," Twilight stated, unable to hide her amusement at their playful squabbling. "I should hang the both of you up like decorations." "Ah reckon they'd look mighty silly hangin' next ta a couple o' jack-o-lanterns." Twilight turned around at hearing Applejack's voice, smiling as the farmer strolled up in her costume. She knew that is was supposed to be one of those superhero characters, but the name escaped her at the moment. Who was the one with the cape and big hammer? Never mind, it wasn't important. She'd ask later. "Worse, they might get mistaken fer a couple o' ornery piñatas," Applejack added. "They just might," Twilight replied and giggled. "Have you seen the others yet?" "Sorta. Pinkie's off bein' a pirate somewhere. Fluttershy's in her cottage an' won' come out fer nothin', so par fer the course fer her. Ah ain't seen hide nor hair o' Rarity an' RD anywhere, so no telling wha' they might be up to," Applejack replied and shrugged. "Ya mind if Ah ask. Why're ya dressed like a stallion?" "It's easier to find era-looking trousers, than it is a hoop skirt," Twilight replied as she reached into her costume's vest pocket. "Beyond that, mares didn't carry pocket watches at the time. And it's little touches like that, that just completes the outfit and makes it worthwhile doing." "Ah," Applejack replied, deciding not to get too involved in the questioning. She could always pick Twilight's brain later on, but tonight was supposed to be about fun. "Punch?" "Please," Twilight replied as she pocketed her watch again. She was about to ask Pipsqueak if he cared for some refreshments as well, before noticing that he'd already disappeared; off to talk with a filly who was wearing what she could only assume was a Princess Luna costume. All she could do was chuckle in response, and shake her head. The refreshment tables were completely chock full of all sorts of goodies, both homemade and store bought. Candied apples, fritters, bowls full of assorted loose candies just ripe for the picking... Colgate was going to have a lot of customers over the next few days; Twilight was certain of that fact. Right now she, Spike, and Applejack were taking the opportunity to have a quiet moment around near the punch bowl. "So, anypony have any idea what Vinyl's supposed to be?" Spike asked as he looked over in the DJ's direction as she browsed the plate of Nightmare Night themed cookies. Applejack looked over in the direction of the DJ, trying to figure out her costume. But it was tough to tell just where her costume separated from her usual attired when she was doing her music gig. The black and purple striped stockings that went up to her black shorts were new, although the sleeveless button up shirt and tie weren't. The collared cape that reached down to her lower back just plain seemed out of place, and clashed with the overall color scheme. She looked more like she was trying to satisfy some dress requirement than anything else. "Ah dunno," she eventually replied and shrugged, before returning back to her punch. "Arr me maties! Hoist anchor and prepare to set sail for the high seas!" The others turned to look at Pinkie, dressed like the stereotypical image most associated with what a pirate looked like. Topped off by Gummy sitting atop her right shoulder, and dressed in a rather colorful parrot costume. "Hey Pinkie," Spike replied and gave a brief wave. Her whole sudden appearance had been slightly less startling after finding out from Applejack what she was coming as. But only slightly. "I thought you volunteered to chaperon the foals around house to house," he commented. "I did. But Carrot Top suffered a nasty sprain while getting the catapults set up for the pumpkin chucking event, and I needed to take over for her," Pinkie replied before shrugging. There really wasn't much that could be done about it right now. Applejack just shook her head. Carrot Top was lucky that the farming season was over, otherwise an injury like that would keep her out of commission for a long while, and result in her crops suffering in turn. Before she could say anything about it, however, her attention was drawn elsewhere by the arrival of Rarity and Rainbow Dash walking side by side, and Rarity didn't look one bit happy about something or other. Rainbow Dash's costume was easy enough to figure out; the flashy kimono, the sash around her waist, and the curved fake sword stuck through it all screamed Neighponese samurai; a common theme from the latest "Daring Do" book to grace Ponyville's library shelves. Rarity, however, was a lot harder to figure out, since her costume consisted of long flowing red robes that went down almost all the way to her hooves, leaving nothing but her head visible. "Hey there RD," Applejack greeted and waved. "Hey Rares. Wha's wrong? Ya look like ya bit inta a sour pickle." "I'd much more prefer a sour pickle than the fate that befell me, Applejack," Rarity groaned, looking very displeased by everything. "Show 'em," Rainbow Dash said, barely able to suppress a grin as she lightly elbowed Rarity in the side. "Show us what?" Twilight asked curiously. "Her costume," Rainbow Dash explained, before turning her attention back to Rarity. "C'mon, do it." "You ruffian," Rarity complained as she scowled in Rainbow Dash's direction. Not that the cocky pegasus cared, however. "Bear in mind, the only reason I'm wearing this, is because I lost a bet I was foolish enough to engage in with Rainbow Dash, and was left with no say in the matter," she grumbled, before slowly undoing her robes. The robes turned out to be a long, flowing hooded cloak, which parted with ease and revealed Rarity's source of displeasure. Twilight nearly spat out her punch in surprise at what she saw Rarity was wearing. The term "chainmail bikini" instantly came to mind at seeing the top, which looked like it was about one to two sizes too small for its intended purpose. The bottom was slightly better, consisting of a fabric loincloth of generous width to avoid any undue embarrassment from accidental exposure. Although the sword belt that rode on her hips looked counterproductive, and might even inhibit with coverage if she wasn't careful in how she moved, or even stood. Spike, at seeing the getup, choked on his drink, and needed Twilight to slap his back to help him breathe again. "Wow, Rares, Ah can see why yer upset. Ain' much of a costume ta be wearin'," Applejack commented. "It's not that, darling," Rarity replied with a sigh as she let the cloak droop limply on her shoulders. "The warrior maiden is a perfectly fine fantasy character to dress as. No, the sore point for me isn't the level of exposure, but rather the quality of this gauche abomination! Just look at this cheap plastic chainmail, the paint is just utterly flaking off! I could have easily done far better than this. But oh no, I have to get involved in a bet with Rainbow Dash of all ponies, where the loser has to wear whatever costume the winner picks out for them!" she stated and growled angrily at Rainbow Dash. Rainbow Dash just shrugged in response. "Hey, you knew the stakes going in. You've got nopony to blame but yourself." "I swear Rainbow Dash, as opposed as I am to violence, the only thing keeping me from dueling you right here, right now, is that this costume you stuck me in, is rented," Rarity stated in annoyance. Unfortunately Rainbow Dash just seemed to derive more amusement from this fact. "Don't let that stop you. Just take it off," she quipped. "Oh you'd like that very much, wouldn't you, you degenerate?" Rarity asked, seething at the very suggestion. "Now hold it right there, Rarity! If you're gonna call me something, call me something that I know what it is," Rainbow Dash retorted. Twilight just facepalmed in response. She just knew that she was going to need to step between the two of them, and keep them from trying to hurt each other. Before it could actually come to that, however, a lightning bolt struck the ground just outside of the town square, kicking up a mess of smoke and dirt, and drawing a frightened scream from everyone present, the celebrating dying immediately. As the smoke cleared the area, they could all see Princess Luna standing where the lightning had struck, shrouded from her neck down to her hooves in a thick, dark cloak. "GOOD CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!" Luna called in the bellowing Royal Canterlot Voice, addressing them all as a group. "Do I know how to make an entrance, or what?" she asked, her voice suddenly much calmer and relaxed. That caused the rest of them to relax in turn, a few relieved laughs sounding as a result. "Well now, this is quite the pleasant surprise," Mayor Mare spoke as she stood herself back up, and proceeded to dust off her clown costume from last year. "It's so kind of you to grace us with your presence at our little celebration, your highness." "The pleasure is all mine, dear ponies," Luna replied as she stepped forward to join the others at the center of town. "Out of any location that celebrates Nightmare Night, Ponyville does celebrate in a most genuine fashion. It is something not found in larger cities. It is not I that graces you with my presence, but rather the other way around," she stated as she smiled. Although the smile turned into a frown when she saw that everypony was bowing as she spoke. No, that simply wouldn't do. "Please, arise everypony, I am not here in an official capacity. I am but one more participant in the fun that is to be had here on this night," she stated, wanting to be at ease around her. The fact that they were rising back to their hooves was a good start, but it was not good enough for her; not yet anyway. "It is so refreshing to not need a crisis taking place, to warrant making a trip here." "I'll say," Rainbow Dash replied. Not getting to socialize outside of something threatening the world was really tiring to deal with, and left little time for swapping small talk. "So. Been looking forward to tonight?" "Ever since last Nightmare Night, Rainbow Dash. It is my sincere hope that this one starts out smoother than last year," Luna replied. "Ah doubt it could be much rougher," Applejack mumbled, remembering how things had gone. It had worked out well enough in the end, but that didn't mean there hadn't been some worrisome points during the night. However her thoughts were interrupted as a colt ran past her, nearly pushing past her in an effort to get by. "Princess Luna!" "Greetings, young Pip, it is good to see you again," Luna replied as she smiled at the colt as he made his way through to the front of the group. "And what do we have here? A brave knight, to protect his princess?" she asked as she regarded his costume. "That I am, your highness!" Pipsqueak replied proudly and stood at attention. At least for a moment. "Although... so far I haven't had much luck. Dragons are harder to outmatch than I thought..." "Ah. That I understand quite well, dragons have a penchant for being quite ferocious. Trying to match them in terms of strength is quite unwise, rather one must seek to out think them. But this is no easy feat, for dragons are as cunning as they are strong. To do such successfully, a knight must be wise, able to think quickly under pressure, a knight must... stay in school," she said as she crouched down to his level and ruffled his mane, causing him to giggle in response. "And that concludes our public service announcement for the evening," Pinkie giggled, before popping a handful of loose candy into her mouth to munch on. "Party!" Mayor Mare couldn't help but chuckle at that one. "Well now. If there's nothing more to add, what say we get back to celebrating this evening? The night is still young, and we have a fair number of events to get to," she pointed out. "Seconded!" Spike stated quickly at the suggestion, eager to get things going again. "I would have to agree. Nightmare Night comes but once a year, and should be enjoyed by all participating," Rarity added and nodded. She would squabble with Rainbow Dash about her selection of wearable abominations later on. More cheers of excitement followed, everyone eager to get the festivities rolling again. "Most excellent then! Let the fun, and friendship building, commence immediately!" Luna cheered and snapped her fingers. In an instant the cloak that she wore was gone, and revealing what she wore underneath it for the occasion. Or rather... what she didn't wear for the occasion. Without the cloak to conceal her, everyone in Ponyville could see that Luna stood stark naked, from the tip of her horn, all the way down to the bottom of her hooves. No matter where they might look, there wasn't a scrap of cloth, or a single piece of jewelry to be found anywhere on her entire exposed body. And what a body it was, that much was for certain! Twilight couldn't help but stare, slack jawed and wide eyed, and take in all the details that were so freely being displayed to her, and the rest of Ponyville with so much openness. She had no idea that anypony could have breasts that were petite, while paradoxically managing to be large and supple. And yet here she was, staring -unwittingly- at just such a pair of paradoxes, all the while noting that even Luna wasn't immune to the chill in the air... The combination of artificial lighting and genuine moonlight shining down on her dark blue coat actually made things even worse, by serving to highlight not only her curves, but also emphasizing, and drawing attention to the outline of each and every one of her toned muscles, giving her body the appearance of being able to rival the physiques of both Rainbow Dash and Applejack. she was vaguely aware of the tell tale sound of at least one wingboner being popped somewhere in the crowd. She had no idea as to why, but she was reasonably certain Rainbow Dash had been responsible for it. "Good gracious!" was the shrill cry from Mayor Mare that broke the stunned silence of the crowd that had come from the unexpected reveal. "Oh wow..." Pipsqueak breathed, not knowing what to think about what he'd just witnessed. "My word!" Rarity gasped upon finding her voice, her eyes immediately darting back and forth in search of Sweetie Belle. At the moment her elder sibling instincts were telling her to find her little sister, and cover her eyes for her own sake. And if that didn't work, she'd settle on young Pipsqueak instead, since he was the youngest present, and had no need to be seeing anything of the sort! "Whoa nelly!" Applejack stated, nearly dropping her hammer to the ground. "P... Princess Luna? Why... why..." Spike tried to ask, but couldn't get the words out, despite his best efforts. The fact that he was pinching his nose shut didn't help either. "Just why in Tartarus are you naked!?" Rainbow Dash asked loudly. Despite the setting, Luna remained quite calm throughout it all. "It was Celestia's idea that I might attend tonight's celebration in such a manner," she stated calmly, showing no signs of discomfort despite the looks she was getting from everyone. "When I did inquire to her as to how I might be able to better associate with our subjects on this night, and have them regard me not so much as a ruler, but as a potential friend, she suggested that I appear to them in a less than formal manner, as was done long ago. But alas, my entire wardrobe was without any attire that could be qualified as being of less than a formal nature. In light of such circumstances, as you might say, I decided to improvise on the matter," she explained. All through the crowd, there was a great deal of stunned silence, apart from hushed murmurs and whispers amongst themselves, as they waited for the explanation to be continued. "Improvise?" Rarity asked in disbelief. "I apologize, your highness, but how does attending a social gathering, while completely nude, constitute improvising?" "Ah'm a might bit curious about that mahself," Applejack added and nodded, wanting to know the answer as well. "Sister suggested that I appear before you in a way that would convey humility, rather than elitism. Not having an appropriate attire that conveys such, I simply forewent such formalities that struck me as counterproductive. So I stand before you all now, without regalia, without pomposity, and in the humblest of manners that I can manage; just as was done by other members of royalty in ancient times, who cared more for their subjects, rather than solely the state of their domains," Luna declared. For a moment, not a single pony spoke up. For some it was out of fear of who it was they'd be criticizing, for others it was simply being too stunned to speak. It was only when Twilight managed to raise her voice, that the silence was broken. "Princess-" "Please, Twilight Sparkle, there is no need for such formality to be had; especially not from a fellow princess. Please, call me by my name," Luna stated. "Alright... Luna..." Twilight continued uneasily, trying to tune out what she was starting to hear from the gathered crowd. "I get what you're trying to do. And I really admire it. But I really don't think this was the best way to go about doing it..." "How do you mean?" Luna asked as she gave herself a cursory looking over. "Am I not humble in this fashion? Am I not absent, the trappings that many would associate with royalty, and serve as intimidation, by presenting them with a constant reminder of the office that I hold?" "Well... yes..." Twilight reluctantly admitted. It was hard to argue with that logic. But Faust help her, she was going to try. "But nudity doesn't really carry the same sort of connotations that it once did. Appearing naked before a crowd might've suggested humbleness in the past, but now it tends to suggest... promiscuity..." she said uneasily. Luna blinked. "Pardon?" "Oh for crying out loud... sex!" Rainbow Dash elaborated as only she could. They'd be here all night if they waited for Twilight to get to the point, as everypony knew that she was just too polite to come out and state what needed to be stated. "Somepony being naked in public usually means they're a whore looking for sex." "Rainbow Dash!" Twilight objected, taken aback by her friend's utter bluntness. "You can't just say that!" "Well you weren't getting to it anytime soon, so somepony had to say it," Rainbow Dash shot back. "Whore? You... you mean a trollop? A streetwalker? A concubine?" Luna asked, her calmness being shattered with ease, as mortification quickly set in at the realization. She didn't even notice as Pinkie swooped in and plucked Pipsqueak up to carry him away to elsewhere. "Oh dear. I am... I am so sorry, everyone, truly I am," she quickly stated as she tried desperately to wrap herself in her wings. "I was not aware of such a social standard being in place; truly I was not. My learning about modern times had not yet brought this fact to my attention, or I would never have done such," she stammered, the dark fur on her cheeks turning even darker as she spoke, as the blush behind it was desperately wanting to make itself known. Rarity didn't say a word, instead opting to close the distance between herself and Luna, removing her cloak in the process, as she draped it over the alicorn's shoulders to preserve whatever trace of modesty still remained after everything that had transpired. She might not have been proud of her own costume, but at least she was wearing something, and thus could afford to spare the accessory. Luna simply didn't have that luxury right now. Even if she couldn't afford to spare her cloak, she still would have done so anyway. This whole incident hit just a little too close to home for her comfort, and reminded her far too much of her own unveiling at the Grand Galloping Gala. Granted the circumstances were different, but that was just splitting hairs right now. "I am so embarrassed by this. I-I sought to make myself humble to my subjects so that they would have no need to fear me, and instead I have wound up making a fool of myself in front of everyone, giving them reason to believe that I am but a common trollop," Luna stated as she looked at the ground in embarrassment, unable to make eye contact with anyone. "Making matters all the worse, is that I have nothing with which to clothe myself; the cloak was merely an illusion for the occasion. I did not foresee this development occurring, and thus had no reason to anticipate the need for actual clothing tonight..." "You can have mine!" Pinkie replied without an ounce of hesitation on her part, as her hands practically flew towards the zipper; only to have them stopped in place as Twilight's magic wrapped around her wrists like shackles. "Huh? What?" "It's a generous offer, Pinkie, nopony will deny that. But there's no need to go quite that far. I'll just take Luna back to the palace with me, and find something there that she can wear. It shouldn't take too long," Twilight explained as she canceled out her magic. It was the fastest explanation she could give as to why there was no need for anymore displays of public nudity to be had on this night. Her ears were already starting to burn from everything she was picking up; talks about disgust, indecency, eccentricity of royalty and such. And if she could hear them, it went without saying that Luna could hear them too. "I'll tag along with you, darling. Perhaps I can concoct something," Rarity added. If nothing else they could always turn a bed sheet into a toga for the evening. "I appreciate your generosity, everypony, truly I do. But I fear that it is of no use at this point. I have thoroughly embarrassed not only myself, but also the crown itself, with my lack of social understanding. I fear that a change of attire will be insufficient to remedy the damages rendered," Luna replied and sighed as she closed her eyes, unable to look at the others who she was certain she had offended. Another Nightmare Night ruined for so many. And this time she doubted that it could be remedied as easily. "I will simply depart for Canterlot at once, so that you may salvage the rest of this evening without my being around to compromise it with my indecency..." "I hardly think the night's been ruined. Perhaps a little shaken up, but this is Ponyville; it's par for the course around here," Rarity pointed out as she patted Luna's shoulder in an effort to comfort her. "Yeah. It's not like you knew any better and did it anyway. You said it yourself," Spike added. "Huh..." Twilight replied as she scratched her chin, a thought forming in the back of her head, and slowly working its way to the front. "You know what, Spike, you're absolutely right," she said as a smile took form. "I am? About what?" Spike asked. "You'll see in a minute," Twilight replied as she stepped forward, raising her hands in the process. "Everyone, everyone! Could I have your attention, please?" she called to bring Ponyville's attention to her, instead of each other as they continued talking -and whispering- amongst themselves. Some of them were lost causes, as they were already leaving, with foals likely being taken home by their parents or guardians. There was nothing she could really do about them, but they were a moot point. She was looking at the larger overall picture, rather than the individual components. Once she actually had the attention of those that remained, she continued. "I know that we were all caught by surprise, by what happened here tonight, and that's perfectly understandable. We've all grown up with certain social trends being the norm, so we never knew any better; never stopped to consider anything different. But I really don't think it would be fair that we hold that against Princess Luna; a lot of things have happened in the last thousand years, that she had no way of knowing about. Even attempting to research the progression of history, that's still more than three hundred and sixty thousand, two hundred and fifty days worth of development to catch up on, in a span of a little more than two years. That would be a tall order for anyone to try and fill. Even I couldn't do that," she explained. Those that were still present, she could see that she still had their attention, even if they were starting to mumble amongst themselves again. But this time the mumbles she was picking up on were of a different sort. That difference made her smile, and moved her to continue. "I'm fairly willing to bet that most of you present can't readily recall all of the changes in law Manehattan enacted last year, am I right? Even I can't really tell you more than five of them off the top of my head," she stated. More murmurs followed that little admission of fact. "That's just one city. Expand that thought to every city, town, and territory in all of Equestria, and consider how savvy you might be, even if you tried researching them out, and had no reference of where to start." Twilight looked over the crowd gathered, and smiled at they quieted down, looks of realization starting to come over their faces as all of the facts started to set in. That meant she could forego explaining the finer details about the process of enacting law, the constant appeals, judicial holds, and so forth, that put everything in a constant state of legal limbo. If she tried to explain that, she'd likely melt a few brains, and lose their focus. She then looked back at Luna, who looked a little relieved, and even appreciative of her having spoken up. "Many thanks to you, Twilight Sparkle. It is refreshing to meet someone who can comprehend what it is like to feel as a stranger in their own land," Luna stated as she held the cloak shut around her. "You're welcome. But I'm not done just yet," Twilight replied, before turning back to the crowd. This time around they were much more receptive, and paid attention right away, rather than needing to be told to. "Everypony. Despite the... admittedly unorthodox way in which it was done, Princess Luna did seek to put us at ease around her, by going with an approach that was historically traditional during her time. She wanted to be humble before us, rather than pompous like some members of royalty would insist upon. I don't think she should really be faulted, for putting us ahead of herself, wouldn't you agree?" she asked. It was slow, but the entire crowd was motivated to nod in response to her question. Her smile grew more. "Show of hands please, everypony, how many here would like Princess Luna to stay for the Nightmare Night festivities, even after what happened?" Twilight asked. Every right hand shot up almost immediately at the question. She turned back to Luna, gave a friendly smile, and then turned back to the crowd. "How many of you would like Princess Luna to provide us with a lesson about the social trends of her time?" Confusion set in almost immediately, all hands being lowered as everyone looked between themselves in confusion, not fully understanding what was being said. "Wait. Is... is she asking what I think she's asking?" Pinkie asked as she looked at the others for clarification. "It certainly looks that way," Rainbow Dash replied softly, not sure what to think about it all. "Princess Twilight," Mayor Mare spoke up curiously, "are you suggesting that Princess Luna should actually remain naked for tonight?" "Well, Mayor, Princess Luna did come all the way here to take part in the festivities with us, rather than anywhere else in Equestria. And she did make a considerable effort to ensure that her status as royalty wouldn't make anyone uncomfortable, or affect the proceedings, despite having no need to do so. I can't help but think that it would be incredibly rude of us to not appreciate the efforts she made, simply because we find them a little odd," Twilight explained, doing her best to remain diplomatic throughout it all, and put as much of a positive spin on the situation as she could. After a brief moment, she stepped closer, so she wouldn't have to speak at the same volume she had. "There's also the fact that we could hardly try and hold Princess Luna to the same social standards as everypony else, even if we tried. Wouldn't you agree?" she asked. "... You... may have a point there," Mayor Mare admitted, seeing what Twilight was getting at. They could either proceed democratically, or proceed otherwise. What could any of them really do, if they disagreed with Princess Luna's decision; ask her to leave? And what if, for whatever reason, she decided not to honor their wishes? What could they really do then? In recognition of such facts, she turned to face the present crowd and address them, knowing what had to be done. "Show us hands, everypony, who thinks we should show our appreciation to Princess Luna, for considering our feelings above her own?" Slowly, hands rose once again. It wasn't all of those that were present, that were showing their acceptance of what was being proposed. But it was the clear majority of them did so. "Well, it looks like the ayes have it," Mayor Mare commented at seeing the voting results. A better turnout for the results was unlikely. Having watched everything unfold, Luna couldn't help but be stunned by how things had transpired. Stunned, and very impressed. Twilight Sparkle was certainly not her sister, but she still managed to be nearly as mischievous as Celestia herself was when she wanted to be. She had managed to take a very embarrassing occurrence, and flip it around with great ease, so that she did not have to be embarrassed about her faux pas. She felt so very blessed, to have such wonderful friends looking out for her. "Well, Luna?" Twilight asked as she turned around to face her, smiling the entire time, and threatening to evolve into a grin. "Do you feel like giving everypony an impromptu history lesson, in the midst of fun and festivities of the evening?" Despite Twilight's efforts, Luna would be lying if she said there wasn't still a sensation of discomfort about being nude in front of everyone present in Ponyville. The revelation of what her actions could have suggested, had left her quite shaken in the aftermath. It was quite easy to feel confident and comfortable in nothing but your fur in front of others, when you didn't believe that there was anything wrong with it. It was considerably less easy when you suddenly learned that what you were doing, was technically wrong, and had apparently been so for quite some time. Despite her friends managing to turn this whole debacle around, that didn't necessarily make it any easier for her. Looking around her, at everyone gathered, everyone who had been convinced to give her a second chance, she realized that there were two ways to proceed. She could either shirk back in embarrassment and discomfort, and hide back in her room until she developed the nerve to actually go outside again. Or she could swallow her fear, and carry on as she had intended to, projecting an image of confidence just as Celestia did when tending to those that petitioned her council. She ultimately chose the latter rather than the former, smiled to her friends, and slowly nodded, her gratitude towards her friends growing greatly. "Well... so long as there are no complaints. Yes. I believe something could be arranged," she replied as she shrugged off the borrowed cloak, no longer feeling the need for the protection it offered her. The chill of the autumn air met with her exposed frame as she unfurled her wings with a forced sense of pride, but it didn't bother her; not with the growing good mood that she was in, knowing that her friends were there with her. If anything the nip of the air just added to the exhilaration she was feeling right now, knowing that not only was she among friends who cared about her, but would stick by her even if she did embarrass herself. "Thank you for the use of your cloak, Lady Rarity," she said as she handed the folded cloak back. Standing before everypony, naked and more or less on display for all to see. It was easy to feel shaken in her confidence. But standing with her friends, it was easy to not let that lack of confidence overcome and take hold of her, as she had ample reason to believe that everything would work out in the end, just as it had before. She might be subject to some embarrassment, and her regal image might take a bit of a beating as a result. But she knew that there was more to life than just being regal. Respect meant nothing if it brought only loneliness with it. Besides such, she had rebounded from far worse than this. This should be foal's play compared to past experiences. "So do we try this again?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Yes, I believe we shall," Luna replied and nodded, a small smile to herself. If she couldn't stand a little social embarrassment, she wasn't fit to be a princess. With confidence renewed, she addressed the crowd. "Let us try this once again, shall we? Let the fun, and friendship building, commence immediately!" > ... But a costume isn't always needed (edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So... it was actually common to go nude back then?" Despite the initial bravado Luna had displayed, getting the Nightmare Night festivities moving again hadn't been as simple as originally thought. She had shrugged off her insecurities, but an air of awkwardness had still remained, that had caused a notable disruption on all the fun and games. To some extent it was understandable. It wasn't every day that one saw a naked princess walking about as if it wasn't out of the ordinary, and a fair number of those who hadn't simply gone home, were having trouble returning to old business. Too many of them were taking advantage of the option to steal glances of the visiting royalty, not knowing when they'd ever have the same opportunity presented to them again. "Quite common," Luna nodded to Rarity's question, as she sat at a commandeered picnic table, nursing a hot apple cider while in the company of her friends. She knew full well that those around her kept looking in her direction, both old and young alike, but there was little that she could really do about it. To shy away from the attention she was receiving, would undo her efforts. So she simply doubled down on presenting an air of bravado and security. "The founding of Equestria, was not quite as smooth as the tales would you have you believe. True, the three great tribes united, and drove back the domain of the windigoes through unity. But what came after that was another story entirely," she explained, before pausing to take another sip of her drink. "In this day and age, fine jewelry is often the accessory of choice to those who are in possession of wealth. But this was not always the case; there was once a time when clothing was the defining trait of a pony that was well off. Back then, to go nude was neither indecent, nor a trend, but rather a necessity. Everything had to be manufactured by hand, fabric had to be woven. You grasp the general idea, yes?" she asked. The assembled ponies nodded, signifying that they understood what the point was. That meant she could spare them the more intricate details, and focus more on the high notes of her explanation. "When my sister and I came into power, we could easily afford to procure the finest clothing that was available at the time. But it was our decision to forego such formal trappings, to show that we associated ourselves with all of our subjects, rather than just the nobles who could afford full attires," she continued. "Wow. So you and Princess Celestia actually ruled in the buff?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Quite so," Luna replied and nodded again, before finishing off the last of her drink, leaving nothing behind but a solitary cinnamon stick. "Oh. That was quite good. Many thanks to you for supplying such refreshments, Applejack." "No trouble at all, Princess," Applejack replied from where she sat. "So what changed? If you don't mind my asking. How did things shift from ruling in the nude, to wearing attire?" Rarity asked, curious about the historical events that transpired. "Progress is what occurred, my friend. Industrialization eventually came about, thus allowing for mass production to become a viable option. Clothing could be made far faster, and far more affordable, than had ever been imagined," Luna explained. "Granted it was still several hundred years before we reached the point in time where clothing was no longer the sign of nobility and wealth that it once was, but it is still how things occurred. Eventually Equestria reached the point where Celestia and I simply no longer had need to be nude, in order to convey the fact that we associated with everypony of all social ranks equally." "That's quite an amazing story regarding Equestria's history of development," Twilight stated, "I never stopped to consider that clothing, such a basic necessity, would actually be regarded as so valuable." "Heh," Rainbow Dash chuckled, "if Rarity here ever got her hands on that time traveling spell, she'd be the richest mare in all of Equestria." Rarity wasn't certain whether Rainbow Dash's comment was meant derisively, or if it was merely speculation based on what information they'd just been given. Whichever it was, she decided to hold her tongue for now. "Perhaps that would be true," Luna said as she nodded and smiled in amusement. "But I doubt she would have been able to establish much of a domain for herself in present day through such a means. A unified legal tender was still a long way off during that time, and the bartering system was still very much the name of the game as it were. And chickens, and bushels of wheat, do not exactly carry the same value they once did." Rarity allowed a chuckle to escape at that. As did a few of the others present. It really was all in good fun after all; at least as far as she was concerned. "If I may be allowed to interrupt, your highness, what you speak of is not as unheard of as it may appear. In the more rural areas of my homeland, it is far more common, compared to here." Everyone looked up, already recognizing both the voice, and the manner of speech, and knew it was Zecora. What wasn't expected, however, was Zecora being dressed like a witch. And a cute witch at that, with the long stockings that lead up to a short skirt, the strapless top with sleeves below the shoulders, and a wide-brimmed pointy hat. Twilight didn't know how it was done, but she was certain it was Rarity that had talked Zecora into such an outfit for the evening. "I would hardly consider you to be interrupting us, Zecora. Please, have a seat with the rest of us," Luna replied and gestured to one of the available spaces. "It is quite refreshing to meet someone not taken aback by how I decided to attend the festivities tonight, and assume that I had ulterior motives." Zecora merely nodded as she sat down, taking the unoccupied space next to where Pinkie currently sat. "As I said, being nude in public is not all that uncommon in my land. In the more rural areas it is actually quite common, to the point where it may strike outsiders as being quite bland," she explained. "Really?" Rainbow dash asked as she leaned over the table. "So... are we talking both mares and stallions?" she asked as her wings twitched. "That is more certainly the case as it were, Rainbow Dash. Mare or stallion, both tend to go equally nude, without being brash," Zecora replied. "Wow..." was all that Rainbow Dash had to say in response. For a second anyway. "So... what happens if a stallion, well... you know..." Zecora couldn't help but give a cheeky grin in response and nod. "Indeed I do. But as to how such a matter is handled when it does arise, I will admit, it is a subject on which I am unwise." Applejack just shook her head, before grabbing Rainbow Dash by the back of the kimono, and pulled her back down onto her seat. "So what about you, Zecora? Have you ever gone naked in public before?" Pinkie asked as she turned to face her. "Pinkie!" Twilight stated loudly, not surprised but still aghast. "You can't just ask something like that, it's downright rude!" "It is quite alright, Twilight, I do not mind one bit. After all, it is my body we are talking about, and I am not ashamed of it," Zecora replied. "As to your question Pinkie, I do admit that I have done such before. But that was back in my homeland, and is not much of a common practice for me anymore. The ponies of this land are sensitive to the unfamiliar, and I do not wish to give them anymore reason to consider me peculiar. Being a zebra among ponies if often enough; they do not need to know I enjoy walking around my hut in the buff." Spike just frowned in response. "Is that why I never get to tag along when you girls are going to see Zecora?" Twilight just chuckled at that and shook her head dismissively, patting her assistant on the back. "We usually tend to knock, and wait for Zecora to let us inside, Spike. This is the first time even I found out about this; honest," she replied. Zecora simply nodded. "When receiving visitors, I always dress in order to not offend. Comfort is nice, but not if it costs you a friend," she explained. Luna just smiled where she sat as she listened to the talk unfolding. She really hadn't expected things to turn out like this, but she was certainly glad that they did. It was nice to know that Zecora understood that her intentions were well meant. She'd have to make an effort to talk with the zebra more often, whenever time allowed. If nothing else, at least an open discussion was being had. Granted it was only among friends, but it was a start. The matter was slowly becoming less taboo. And perhaps she could help that development along a little bit. "One thing that I did not yet tell you, is that by the time clothing became widely available to many, Celestia and I had been ruling for so long, it took quite a while to adjust with society. I cannot speak for my sister, but in my case, I would often forget to put clothing on before hosting the night court," she admitted. Rainbow Dash immediately burst into a laugh at hearing that. Twilight soon followed, helpless to resist, despite her best efforts not to. "I'm sorry, I really am, I didn't mean to laugh," she apologized, despite not stopping throughout her efforts. "It is quite alright, Twilight Sparkle, it was intended to be humorous, to help lighten the mood," Luna told her, idly propping her head up on her left arm. "It is true though. Being unaccustomed to clothing for several centuries, certain habits were hard to break. Even when I remembered to don an attire, it felt so strange against my fur, I sometimes simply wished to pull it right off, and go without once again," she explained, before chuckling herself at the memories. That chuckling brought about more amused chuckles from around the table. "That isn't to say that going nude ended entirely, simply because clothing became more accessible to the masses. There were still circumstances that called for the old approach. We still wished to be humble to our subjects." She paused her explanation, remembering how things used to be. They were so much simpler then, before everything had changed in the aftermath of Discord's reign of terror. He and his unmitigated chaos had done nearly irreparable harm to Equestria, and they'd been left to clean up the mess. And cleaning up the mess had been quite the tall order, and required a shift in priorities; such as portraying themselves in a way that wasn't so much about inspiring comfort in ponies, but rather a sense of security when they were looked upon. Still, that wasn't the birth of the taboo that was at issue right now. She would have known about it, had that been the case. No, it had to be something far more recent than her banishment. And she was determined to find its origins. "Ya a'right, Princess?" she heard Applejack ask, bringing her out of her thoughts. "I am fine. Merely contemplating a number of things," she replied, before glancing around at her surroundings, and noticing the number of ponies that looked away when she looked up. Too few of them were actually focused on the festivities that this night was supposed to be about. "I had hoped by not letting my faux pas get the best of me, tonight could proceed as intended. Sadly it appears that is not the case. Ponies are more interested in me, than they are for ther reason they came here for in the first place," she sighed. "Can you really blame them? They think you're hot," Spike pointed out. "Spike!" Twilight objected. "Come on, Twilight, you know that's the case too," Rainbow Dash interrupted. There were way too many stiff wings for anything else to be the case as far as she was concerned. "If we're going to get the night back on track, we're going to need to figure out something. What we need is some sort of distraction or something." "You mean like me yelling "look over there!" and pointing in a random direction?" Pinkie asked. "Nah, that's too random," Rainbow Dash replied dismissively and waved her hand. "Besides, it wouldn't last. We need something better." "Oh," Pinkie replied, "you mean like Vinyl stripping?" she asked. All heads at the table suddenly rotated around in the intended direction to see what Pinkie was talking about. Sure enough, the aforementioned DJ was now absent her cape, and actually in the process of unbuttoning her shirt, and pulling it right off, followed by the tie that hung more around her neck than her shirt collar. "Good gracious, this is turning into a regular nudist convention," Rarity commented as she watched, unable to tear her attention away as the shirt was tossed aside. "Huh," Rainbow Dash muttered as she watched, her eyes fixed on the unicorn's bare chest as a green glow stick was being hung around her neck, and came to rest right between her petite breasts. "I guess those rumors about her having pierced nipples were wrong." Twilight, quickly snapping back to reality, reacted by grabbing Spike by the shoulder, and putting her hand over his eyes. "Hey! What's the big idea!?" Spike asked as he pulled her hand away from his face. "You're too young to be seeing this sort of stuff, Spike," she stated. "Twilight, I know about breasts. And even if I didn't, it's a little too late to be hiding them from me," he pointed out, before turning his attention back as Vinyl was in the process of slipping on her black fingerless gloves. "Ah reckon he's get a good point; ya can't un-ring a bell an' whatnot," Applejack pointed out, turning her attention back to their little party. She'd seen enough to sate her curiosity for the time being. The others, however, continued to watch -much to Twilight's chagrin- as Vinyl proceeded to carry on as if nothing was out of the ordinary, before a particular beat started pulsing out of the sound system, effectively drowning out some of the chatter that had been bleeding through in the absence of any background noise. "Huh," Rainbow Dash replied as she scratched her head, "do you think she heard us talking about getting things back on track? Maybe this is her way of trying to do that?" she asked. "It's hard to say. Vinyl is certainly full of surprises," Rarity stated. If this really was her way of getting things going again, then it was certainly unique. The glow stick would certainly serve to highlight her assets, but she doubted that, in comparison to Princess Luna, it would be enough to sway everypony's attention. The differences between them were just too vast... But regardless of that fact, the spirit of the gesture was still there. "This song..." Luna said slowly as she listened, "I actually recognize this song, I have heard it before. One of my guards was humming it last month when he thought no one was listening," she stated, slightly grinning at the memory. It had taken very little persuasion to get him to sing it aloud. "Cool! Maybe you can sing along!" Pinkie suggested excitedly. "You know what, Pinkie, that's actually not a bad idea," Twilight replied. To her that sounded like a good way of getting things back up and running. "Oh no, no, I am not in sufficient practice for attempting such a feat," Luna protested at the idea. "Luna, it's karaoke, nopony's practiced for it. It's all about having fun, not being great," Twilight pointed out. "It's actually not a bad idea," Rarity stated in approval and nodded. "Why, I think it's just what we need to get things moving again. What better way than the guest of honor herself, gracing us with such a lovely singing voice?" All around the table, the voices in support of the suggestion were drowning out Luna's attempts at opposing the suggestion. And without being impolite, she really wasn't seeing any way of getting out of it. "Alright, alright, you win," she said as she held up her hands, admitting defeat. "I shall sing," she said as she pushed herself up from her seat. She had already embarrassed herself once tonight, she might as well try for double or nothing. "Cool!" Pinkie yelled, before turning to face Vinyl and whistled loudly, before giving her the hand signal to start the track over again. Vinyl gave her a thumbs up, before stopping the track and bringing it back to the beginning. "Hey, everypony! Princess Luna's gonna sing!" Much to Luna's surprise, a few excited whoops and cheers followed the announcement; and not from her table of friends. It looked like there was some genuine interest in the crowd. This night was turning out to be full of surprises. She took the cordless microphone that Pinkie held out to her, unsure of where she had procured it, and made her way over to the clearing by Vinyl Scratch, still uncomfortable with the idea of singing in front of everypony. But then again, she had been through worse. "I apologize ahead of time, I am not particularly well in terms of practice," she told them, figuring it was best to get that out of the way. With the preemptive apology tended to, Luna listened as the song started over again, getting as much a feeling for the beat as she could in such a short time. With one last breath of preparation, she lifted the microphone to her lips, and began to sing along with the tune. "Colt and fillies of every age, Wouldn't you like to see something strange? Come behold a ghastly sight, This, our town, on Nightmare Night!" All chatter immediately stopped, everyone focusing front and center, some of them slack-jawed at they listened. Despite Luna's insistence that she was hardly up for singing, her voice was very rich, and deep, and melodic. Hers was a voice more fit for opera than karaoke. "This is Nightmare Night, It is such a fright, Pumpkins scream in the dead of night! This is Nightmare Night, Everyone turn out the light, Trick or treat 'til the neighbors go and die of fright! It's our town, everypony scream, Nightmare Night is on the scene!" Something had changed. There was something minute in the pitch of the words, but none of them could really tell. All they could really tell was that something in the air had taken a decidedly spookier feel. And then her eyes began to glow as she continued, shining bright white in the dark of the night. "I am the one hiding under your bed, Teeth ground sharp and eyes glowing red," Luna's eyes suddenly flashed blood red as she sang along, her voice taking an undeniably harsher edge as she continued, causing some of them to flinch in surprise. "I am the one hiding under your stairs, Fingers like snakes, and spiders in my hair! This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night!" The edge remained as Luna continued to sing, but her voice started sounding deeper than before. And as she continued to sing, she began to float just above the ground as her wings flapped gracefully, gripping the microphone firmly with both hands. "In this town, we call home, Everyone hails to the Nightmare Song, In this town, don't we love it now, Everypony's waiting for the next surprise! Round the corner colts hiding in the trashcan, Something's waiting to pounce, and how you'll cry," The crowd had jumped back in terror as Luna suddenly appeared directly in front of them, the full intensity of her face quite apparent to them, what with the whited out eyes, and sinister grin. And just as suddenly, she reappeared back where she'd been just moments ago. It was an utterly predatory display to witness. "This is Nightmare Night, Creepy Slime, Black and white, Aren't you scared? Well that's just fine" Luna's voice suddenly shifted again, almost a shriek at this point, as her grin grew ever more vicious and wide. "Say it once, say it twice Take a chance and roll the dice Ride with the moon in the dead of night Everypony scream, everypony scream Nightmare Night is on the scene" Luna was Levitating even higher off the ground now, forcing everyone present to look up, in order to observe as she grasped the microphone with just one hand, as her magic pooled in her open right hand, looking much like her mane and tail, before being casually tossed in an outward reaching arc, where it dissolved into a cloud of sparkly bits of magic that fizzled out of existence. "I am the clown with the tear-away face Here in a flash and gone without a trace" The audience realized only too late that it was a distraction, pulling their attention elsewhere, and allowing Luna to suddenly appear right in front of them again. And then just as easily, she disappeared from sight, before appearing back in her original spot. "I am the "who" when you call, "Who's there?" I am the wind blowing through your hair" A sudden wind came out of nowhere, blowing all of their manes from behind, the voicing coming out like a shrill, haunting, ghostly wail; almost like she was singing a duet with some unseen partner. I am the shadow on the moon at night Filling your dreams to the brim with fright Luna pointed upward with her free hand, and as everyone looked up, they saw her face cast upon the moon in shadow, its mouth perfectly perfectly in sync as she sang, while it looked down on them and grinned wickedly. "This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!" The shadow on the moon dispersed, bringing everypony's attention back to Luna, her wings gently flapping as she sang, and the pitch in her voice completely different. It was gentler in a way, but it wasn't a true gentleness; it was the type of gentleness that hid something very, very sinister just behind the veil. "Spooky creatures everywhere Everyone's out to scream and scare That's our job, you got that right, In this town on Nightmare Night" And then some of that hidden sinister intent started to shine through... "In this town Don't we love it now? Everyposy's waiting for the next surprise Nightmare Moon might catch you in your room And scream like a banshee" The scream was far more like a violent, animalistic roar as Luna appeared in front of them, her wide open maw showing off many, many sharp teeth just perfect for ripping them apart. Many did scream and jumped back in fear, not even noticing that she was once again back where she had been as if nothing had happened. "Make you jump out of your skin This is Nightmare Night, everypony scream Won't you please make way for royalty Nightmare Moon is queen of the nightmares now Everyone hail to the Nightmare Queen, now! This is Nightmare Night, This is Nightmare Night, Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night! Nightmare Night!" The tone of Luna's voice was much harder to dissect and analyze. It was much deeper than before, bordering on what a stallion might sing like. But there was something far more unsettling to it that left them all tense, terrified of what might happen next. "In this town we call home Everyone hail to the nightmare song" And then it just... stopped. All the harshness had come to an end, and if it had been sung by an entirely different pony in a duet, who had simply walked right off of stage to leave their softer singing partner behind to complete the final portion of the song. The sinister aspects were long gone, leaving nothing but the melodic voice of Luna as she eventually brought the song to its end. She then took a breath, and opened her eyes to look at those present, the glow completely gone as she gently touched back down on her hooves, tucking her wings in against her back once again. The reaction of the crowd was something she didn't recognize, but it made her uncomfortable. They looked like they were too stunned to react. Perhaps she had gone too far in her attempts at getting into the spirit of things? Had she terrified them beyond reason? "I... I am sorry-" Her efforts at apologizing fell short as the crowd broke into cheers, whistles, and excited clapping. Had they really appreciated her theatrics to such a degree? This sort of enthusiasm was hard to fake convincingly, but she didn't know for certain. Perhaps they were being polite to her out of fear, and a desire to avoid any reprisals. Her thoughts on the matter were quickly dispelled, when someone in the crowd actually hoisted up a sign, proudly emblazoned with the statement of "Luna is Best Pony!" That made her both blush and laugh. "You are all far too kind," she stated as she smiled. Whether it was her attempts at singing, or the efforts of her friends, or even if the novelty of her exposure had simply worn off after some time, things had slowly gotten back on track for the most part. There were still the occasional stares from random ponies here and there, but Luna could tell that the majority of their attention was elsewhere once again, just as it should be. Now it was on the refreshments, and the games that had been supplied to everyone. Sort of anyway. What she hadn't anticipated, however, was the sheer number of participation requests she was subjected to. While she wasn't openly being gawked at anymore, she was being approached on an almost continual basis, by ponies seeking to have her participate with them in team events, both adults and foals alike. Quite frankly it was a turnout she had never anticipated, and had simply never prepared for. The constant running back and forth as more and more requests had poured in, had been both greatly appreciated, and quite frankly utterly exhausting. "Had I known being humble could prove to be so exhausting, I would have worn something more formal." At the moment she was taking a time out to rest up from the constant stream of would-be suitors, leaning back at a mostly unoccupied table, with another one of Applejack's hot apple ciders garnished with a cinnamon stick. Sitting next to her was Twilight, looking quite content. Across from her was Rarity, simply resting her hooves. "Do not get me wrong, the results are quite welcomed. But I am simply not accustomed to this volume of attention," she continued. "At least the crowd has settled down somewhat," Rarity pointed out as she rubbed at her right fetlock. The leggings of this wretched costume Rainbow Dash had picked out for her, what with its hard plastic structure intended to suit a general body type, was proving to be quite uncomfortable to wear for long periods of time when movement was a factor. "They're not acting so much like hungry griffons having a choice cut of meat waved in front of them..." Twilight nodded as she sipped at her own drink. She had noticed that, as the evening wore on, Luna's nudity was seeming less and less shocking to everyone present. Once the initial exposure had worn off, it had stopped seeming quite so jarring to experience. And that, combined with how casually Luna carried herself throughout the evening, treating it like it really wasn't anything out of the ordinary, just made the whole thing seem overall disalarming. It was almost like being successfully talked down from having a panic attack. That was the best way she could think of to describe it. "E-excuse me, your highness..." Both Twilight and Luna turned at the title, and found it was Cheerilee standing there and addressing them, her costume of the evening being a suit of armor that greatly resembled that of the guards that served Celestia during the day. By the way she was fumbling with the fake spear in her hands, it was easy to tell that she was uncomfortable about something. "Miss Cheerliee," Luna replied as she offered the "guard" before her a salute. "To what do I owe the honor of an audience with an educator as dedicated to the profession as yourself?" Cheerilee fumbled with the spear more, not expecting to be addressed in such a manner. She needed a moment to properly compose her thought before she could speak again. "Well, your highness-" "Please," Luna interrupted as she held up her free hand, "I am not here in any official capacity. You need not worry about such formalities on this night. I am but one more pony enjoying the festivities of the night. Now please, speak freely. To what do I owe the honors?" she asked. "Um..." Cheerliee paused as she looked at both Rarity and Twilight, who simply nodded back towards her. "Well... Luna..." she started uneasily, unaccustomed to speaking with such familiarity in addressing someone of royalty. But she would still honor the request regardless. "I have some students with me tonight, and-" "Miss Cheerilee, I do not wish to be rude, but I am not yet up for anymore festivities just yet," Luna stated. "I will participate, but I am still resting my legs at the moment." "Well I'll certainly let them know that, but that's not it. Actually they were hoping to come over and speak with you. It's just that... well..." Cheerilee hesitated. "Is it the fact that I am nude? Should I borrow Lady Rarity's cloak before addressing them?" Luna asked. "Actually that's not the issue. They're still young enough to not be thinking about such things like that. They just think you didn't have anything to wear," Cheerilee replied. "Technically that is not all that far off from the truth," Luna pointed out. "Did I scare them with my theatrics when I sang? Was it too much?" Cheerilee shook her head. "Some were. But overall they actually enjoyed themselves, much as they did last year. Especially after talking to Pipsqueak about how great of a Princess you are." Luna couldn't hide her grin at hearing that. "Then what is the problem with them speaking to me?" "Well... I just don't know if it's appropriate. Some of them want to know why you became Nightmare Moon," Cheerilee explained. "Oh..." Luna replied slowly and nodded. "Yes. I can understand how that might lead to questions of appropriateness. But that is not to say that I am unwilling to answer them. Bring them around, and I will do my best to provide them what they are seeking." Twilight and Rarity watched as Cheerilee walked off to retrieve her students, each of them surprised at just how smoothly things had gone. They didn't want to admit to it, but they'd been expecting more friction than what they'd seen. "Well... this might prove interesting," Rarity commented as she sat up properly again. They watched as Cheerilee approached with a troop of her students following behind her. Out of the lot of them, Pipsqueak was the only one readily recognizable, as the assortment of costumes proved sufficient to make identification just short of impossible from where they sat. The fact that some of them were actively hiding behind Cheerilee as if they were scared didn't help matters either. "Please, come forth children, I do not bite," Luna reassured them, doing her best to put them at ease around her. "At least, I do not anymore. I have long since grown out of that phase of my development. These days, if some little pony were to displease me, then I would tickle them!" she stated firmly, fluttering her wings in the process to emphasize the point. Some of the foals jumped back and squealed at the sudden change in Luna's voice, fearing that they were going to be yelled at. But that fear was short lived when they realized what she was saying, and moved back closer again. She giggled at their response. This caused some of them to giggle as well. "Now then, Miss Cheerilee tells me that you wish to know the tale of Nightmare Moon. Is that true?" she asked them. "Yes Princess Luna," the children replied in unison, well practiced in speaking as a group when answering questions in school. "Very well then. But please know that it is not what may qualify as a scary tale. Those of you who are disappointed over this, may wish to leave now," Luna replied as she prepared to tell them the story. "The origins of my turn to Nightmare Moon have their roots back during the Reformation Period, after the first defeat of Discord. Equestria was in a far different state back then, ravaged by remnants of the chaos that mad tyrant unleashed during his time. Many ponies were frightened and uncertain, scared of the unfamiliar, looking for guidance and assurance that everything would be alright." Luna paused in remembrance of the time, feeling a sense of discomfort taking root as she spoke. Talking about these events hadn't struck her as being all that hard when it was just a thought. But now that she was doing it? Now it seemed more difficult. She needed to pause for a moment and focus her resolve before continuing. "This was our first real taste of true ruling. Before then, you could more or less call it an introductory phase, before things truly got real, as some may say. No longer were our ponies looking for truly benevolent leaders, as they were firm rulers that would protect them from harm. We had to project an image of strength to those who had been touched by chaos, and were afraid of the world. Celestia rose to the occasion quite well, as so many looked to her for guidance. I, however, was not quite so fortunate..." Another pause in the story telling, necessary to keep her resolve firm, and hide what she was feeling from her audience, as they paid close attention to her. "It was a time of great fear for many. Anything that was unfamiliar was suspect. And, through no fault of their own, they came to view my nights in the same manner. This was a time when there were no flashlights, no kerosene lanterns, and the only oil lamps were small clay bowls that only held a few hours of oil. During the time when candles and moonlight were the chief source of illumination for many. Our subjects came to fear the dark, associating it with the unknown. Once the sun began to set, they would all head for the safety of their homes. Nopony appreciated my nights anymore, nopony stopped to look up at the stars as they used to..." Luna stopped and took a drink of her cider, suddenly finding both her throat and her lips very dry as she spoke. "Along with fearing my nights, our subjects began to fear me as well, because I was associated with the night. They stopped coming to me with their problems, and instead flocked to my sister, as she embodied the day, and the concept of safety, believing that they were safe in the light of the day. "In my youth, I resented them for that. I resented Celestia as well. I... I grew jealous of the love she was shown, while I was ignored. And then that jealousy grew into hatred," she stated, shutting her eyes in memory. "But worse than hating my sister, I hated myself for actually hating her. I did not want to admit that I hated my own sister; I loved her very much. "So I buried that fact, refusing to even acknowledge its very existence. But that just made things worse. It didn't resolve the conflict, it just intensified it all the more. I hated my sister for being loved when I was not, and I hated myself for hating Celestia." Luna's breath was getting caught in her throat as the tale continued. She hadn't spoken of these facts to anyone other than Celestia after her return. It had hurt so much then. And that hurt had not diminished any. "Making matters all the worse, was that I could never tell her about these facts; how could I possibly? I could not tell my own sister that I hated her, I loved her! So I just buried that fact as deep as I could, and refused to say anything. I refused to admit to how I hated and loved Celestia equally, and I hated myself more and more every day, as I became more and more jealous of her. "And then, one night, I could no longer suppress what I felt. All of the jealousy, and the rage, and the hatred that I felt -both for her and myself- finally exploded outward, and turned me into the being known as Nightmare Moon. And then I cared about nothing, but making others know about all the pain that I felt..." The chill of the fall breeze let her know of the dampness on her cheek fur as she spoke. So much for displaying the image of strength to these foals. She couldn't help but think that she was starting to look rather silly to them; naked and crying over not getting enough attention growing up. "Had I been able to bring myself to tell Celestia about what I was feeling, perhaps things could have been different. My fall from grace could have been avoided had I someone to simply unburden myself to. Being strong is so difficult when you perceive yourself as all alone. And I perceived myself as nothing but alone, because I was far too ashamed of the truth," she concluded. The next thing Luna knew, one of the foals that was present -a young filly dressed as a storybook princess- had rushed forward and hugged her. She responded by gently patting her on the back. Going by the look of the others present, the story had been far from what they'd been expecting to encounter; most of them actually looked quite sad. She had warned them, but that didn't mean she had wanted them to be sad about her tale. "My advice to everyone, is that if you ever have a problem, do not be afraid to speak to someone about it. I know that may be asking a lot, but I can attest that it is far more painful to maintain silence, than it is to speak up," she stated, all the while rubbing the filly's back to comfort her. No one was speaking up. Perhaps she shouldn't have opened up about her past experiences, even if doing so would do them all some good. "Are there any questions?" she finally asked. "... Um," Pipsqueak spoke up hesitantly from where he stood in the back. "Did you use to bite ponies that displeased you?" he asked. "I do not deny that it was done at some point. I was... not exactly the most behaved of ponies. But I grew out of that phase long ago, when I learned that Celestia could bite back harder than I," Luna explained. At hearing that, Rarity snorted, caught off guard by the absurdity of it. "You actually bit Princess Celestia?" Twilight asked in disbelief. "We were foals at the time. Foals bite one another, it is perfectly natural," Luna offered up in explanation. And then a thought occurred to her on how to turn this situation around. "Besides. She stole my teddy bear. I was entitled to bite her for such an offense!" she boisterously declared, before taking another swig of her hot apple cider, and audibly setting the tankard back down on the table. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could see Cheerliee was trying desperately to hide her mirth at the tale, behind the veneer of a mature educator. Her students were failing utterly miserably at doing the same. "Not that I am actually advocating the biting of one another," she added quickly, not wanting to be the source of blame for any possible bad behavior that might develop as a result of her story. The last thing she needed was reports of foals biting one another in school, and telling their parents and teachers that it was alright because she used to bite her sister. Rarity, meanwhile, was still laughing, and gripping her sides as she shook with amusement. Twilight, however, didn't know how to feel about the whole story. Was it appropriate to laugh? Would it be disrespectful to Princess Celestia? She simply didn't know. As such, she decided to play it safe and simply pretend that she hadn't heard anything. "Well now," Luna paused as she finished off the last of her cider, setting the mug back down on the table. "As it is, I feel up to partaking in some more festivities. The night is still quite young, and Nightmare Night only comes once a year. Let us not waste the evening with sad tales of the past. Let there be fun to be had!" she declared, to the delight of all the foals who were present. Rarity just shrugged as she looked over at Twilight, coming down from her laughing fit from earlier. "What do you say, Twilight? Shall we get back to the fun and games?" "I don't see why not," Twilight replied as she stood up from the table. There was a loud shout at Rainbow Dash slammed the heavy wooden mallet down on the lever of the "test your might" game, sending the puck shooting upwards at an incredible speed. Unfortunately it didn't get beyond the halfway point before coming to a stop, and sliding back down to where it had rested just a moment ago. "Oh come on!" Rainbow Dash yelled angrily, dissatisfied with her results. "This game has to be rigged!" Applejack just chuckled and shook her head at her friend's antics. "Step aside, Sugarcube, lemme take a swing at it," she said as she held her hand out for the mallet. Rainbow Dash grumbled in response, before begrudgingly handing the mallet over to the farmer so she could have a shot at the game, and see for herself that it was rigged. There was another loud shut at Applejack swung the mallet downward on the lever. Her results were much like those of Rainbow Dash, causing the pegasus to give a satisfied smirk at being vindicated. "A'right," Applejack replied and nodded, annoyed at the results of her own efforts. "This here game is bull-" "Huzzah!" The excited yell off to the side served to interrupt Applejack's impolite declaration regarding the fairness of the game, and cause the two to turn their heads and see that Luna was back to partaking in the events, followed by a number of foals whose parents had refrained from taking them home for the night. And who were currently cheering over Luna's success with the balloon pop game. "Is it just me, or is Luna being naked starting to be less jarring?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Ah don' know. She carries herself real natural and casual like. But-" "Really toned isn't it?" Rainbow Dash asked, interrupting what Applejack was in the process of saying. Applejack frowned in response, before -relatively- lightly punching Rainbow Dash in the arm for her response. "Ow!" Rainbow Dash stated and rubbed her arm. "Okay, maybe that was uncalled for. But this whole situation just seems kinda surreal, you know?" "Ah know," Applejack replied and nodded. Nightmare Night tended to have a surreal, semi-disorienting feel about it all by itself, with the combination of darkness, chilly air, and scant lighting. But Luna being present as she was just added to it. Not that it was a bad thing, it was just... odd. "Ain' the right context er nothin'." "Yeah, I know," Rainbow Dash replied as she watched Luna claiming her prize for hitting the target, and promptly hand it off to one of the foals. "Hey. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked. "That tacos and chocolate sauce would go great together?" Pinkie asked as she appeared next to Rainbow Dash. "Surprisingly they don't mix all that well. I think it's the hot sauce." Rainbow Dash jumped at Pinkie practically poofing into existence next to her. She really hated how that happened so easily. "No. What I was thinking, was that Luna ought to give this game a try. That'll really tell if it's rigged," she stated, remembering the displays of strength they'd all seen last Nightmare Night. If Luna couldn't ring the damn bell, then pretty much nopony could. "RD, we wanna ring that bell, not send it flyin' inta space," Applejack replied, fearing that Luna getting involved might wind up breaking the machine entirely. That would be a situation that was just plain awkward to deal with. "Besides, Ah reckon it'd be rude ta interrupt right now. She's havin' fun on 'er own as it is" "Yeah, naked fun!" Pinkie pointed out. "Yeah..." Applejack replied uneasily, the elephant in the room once again being thrust back into the spotlight; even more than it had been with Rainbow Dash's comment. It had temporarily been forgotten due to Pinkie's randomness, but so much for that now. "I'm... actually thinking about doing the same..." Rainbow Dash admitted. At hearing this, Applejack turned back around to look at Rainbow Dash directly to see if she was joking. But she looked quite serious instead. "Really, Dashie?" Pinkie asked, surprised by the admission. "Well look around. Luna's doing it, Vinyl's sorta doing it. At least I'd be in good company if I did," she pointed out. "I dunno, it's just... nopony's uptight about it -not anymore at least- and it's kinda tempting to just join in, since nothing bad it happening," she explained and shrugged. "Ah know Ah'm probably gonna regret askin', but wha's stoppin' ya? Too cold?" Applejack asked, torn between curiosity, and something else. She sort of wanted to know, but she also didn't want to know. "Well it is fall," Rainbow Dash pointed out, "that's not it though, I can take brisk weather. The real reason is I don't wanna wind up doing something that might sink my Wonderbolts career before it can even begin. When you're a Wonderbolt, you've gotta keep a clean image. That's kind of hard to do when you're prancing around in the buff, even if you've got a Princess doing the same thing," she explained. "Huh," Applejack replied. That had actually been a well thought out explanation, and more than she'd been expecting from Rainbow Dash. "There's also the fact that if I do it, I'd kinda need to stick it out for the duration. If I stripped, and then had to put my clothes back on five minutes later because it's too brisk out, I'd never hear the end of it," Rainbow Dash added. Now that sounded like the Rainbow Dash she knew, Applejack noted. She figured ego was in there somewhere. And then a pumpkin ran past them. ... Wait. Did that really just happen? "Wha' the hay was that?" she asked. Her question was answered as another pumpkin went running past them on viney legs. "Looks like a pumpkin," Pinkie replied as she watched. "Pumpkins ain' supposed ta run!" Applejack pointed out. Rainbow Dash observed as another pumpkin came running their way, before extending her leg to trip it as it passed them, sending it rolling as it fell. It, however, wasn't the last she saw. As she looked around, a lot of pumpkins were on the loose, and interfering with everything. "Maybe we should find Twilight and ask her if she knows what's going on," she suggested. As it turned out, finding Twilight was done almost as easily as it was said. By the time they found her, she was already with a rather frantic mayor, and a very confused Luna as one of the running pumpkins had actually leaped up into her arms. There little group only grew as Rarity soon joined them at about the same time. "Whatever is going on here? Ponvyille's been invaded by walking pumpkins," she stated. "Took the words right outta mah mouth," Applejack commented. "It would seem some rogue trickster used an errant come to life spell on all the pumpkins that were going to be used for the pumpkin chucking event," Mayor Mare explained, exasperation showing through all of the makeup she was wearing for the costume. "And now they're running all over town, proving to be a total nuisance to everypony." Princess Luna responded by holding the pumpkin tighter, before gesturing with her free hand to administer a wave of magic, causing its vine legs to shrivel back up. "This will simply not do," she stated as she set the de-animated pumpkin down on the ground. "Who the trickster is can be addressed later. But we must first deal with this infestation before the festivities are ruined." "How though? There's dozens of them to deal with," Rainbow Dash stated as she looked around, eyeing the pumpkins running past ponies, jumping on tables, booths, and anything else in the way. "What exactly do we do in a situation like this?" "That's a good question," Twilight replied as she caught sight of Pipsqueak going about his own brand of trying to address the situation. His efforts involved swinging his wooden sword against a particularly large pumpkin that was literally waddling along on legs that looked like they could barely support its own weight, trudging along as if it didn't have a care in the world, despite being smacked repeatedly. But for all of his effort, the combination of too large and cumbersome a sword, mated to too small a frame to wield it, was resulting more in a loud hollow thud than anything significant. "And a good answer is what we are lacking. We could cast an anti-magic wave to disrupt whatever spells are currently in place in Ponyville, that may cause more harm than good. I do not know what spells are currently being maintained, so it is risky to do such," Luna explained. That would best be resolved for a more desperate situation than they were facing right now. "Actually, Luna, I think that I might have another idea..." Twilight replied, the gears in her head turning with gusto as a thought began to take shape on just what they could do. > Ponies, and pumpkins, and nipples, oh my! (Part 1) (edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nopony would truly expect a pumpkin would be able to run quite so fast on two spindly vine legs. Nor would they expect it to be able to scream quite so loudly as it ran, considering it had no mouth with which to scream. But that's exactly what was happening right now all over Ponyville, with pumpkins running about in every direction. "Come back here and face thine demise with honor, thou bloodless coward of a gourd!" Luna shouted furiously, a large wooden mallet that'd been procured from the test your strength game, grasped tightly in her hands as she chased after one of the pumpkins in question, bearing down on it like a ferocious predator in the process. The pumpkin chucking event, in light of recent developments had been cancelled and instead replaced by a new event to account for circumstances beyond their control. Instead of pumpkin chucking, they now had the pumpkin run. The whole goal of the game, despite being the creation of Twilight on the fly, was incredibly simple, and very straightforward; smash the pumpkins to terminate the come to life spell that had made them ambulatory under their own gremliny power. While straightforward in concept, actual implementation was difficult. Everyone who wished to participate was given access to some form of blunt instrument to use for use in rendering a pumpkin into mush, but catching them to do that was proving to be a challenge in itself as they ran, jumped, rolled, scurried, and did all manner of other things to avoid actually being made ready for pies. It was a fact that Luna -as well as many others- were learning the hard way right now. As fast as she was, the pumpkins just seemed to be one step ahead of her the whole way. "You're already dead, you just don't bucking realize it yet!" And speaking of fast... Luna recognized that voice as belonging to Rainbow Dash, who was currently chasing after another rogue pumpkin, a crowbar gripped in her hands as she raced along. That fact made her feel slightly better, knowing that she wasn't the only one apparently having difficulty with catching her quarry. If it were just her, that would be one thing. But this was apparently a group effort in terms of difficulty. "Be made into a pie!" she yelled as she closed in on her quarry and swung the mallet downward. Unfortunately all she hit was ground, as the pumpkin had jumped out of the way. "Foul vegetable! Thou shalt be made to suffer one way or another!" she declared. And then, much to her surprise, her words came to pass as a filly she recognized as Sweetie Belle came charging up, and performed a running jump and landed hooves first on top of it, smashing it to pieces with ease. "A most excellent save, Sweetie Belle," Luna commented, impressed by the feat. "Thanks, Luna," Sweetie Belle replied, feeling a sense of pride in her accomplishment. Unfortunately that sense of accomplishment came to a sudden end as another pumpkin came running out of nowhere, and slammed into her from behind, knocking her off balance as it ran by, sending her falling to the ground with a thud. "BUTTS!" she roared in utter voice-cracking fury. Luna was tempted to laugh at the display of anger exhibited by the filly, but now wasn't exactly the time for laughing. In the competitive mood she was in, neither was lending a hand. But she would make it up to her, after the fact. Despite the thickness of her makeup at the moment, it was evident to everypony present and paying attention, that Mayor Mare was quite worried about the level of chaos that had managed to engulf all of Ponyville. All around them, dozens of pumpkins were running about, utterly ruining the festivities of Nightmare Night. And all around them were dozens of ponies, armed with blunt instruments attempting to smash the pumpkins to pieces. It was a recipe for utter disaster; made all the worse by the fact that she had actually agreed to it! Granted they didn't have any better ideas at the time, so Twilight's idea for what they were referring to as the "pumpkin run" just felt like a serious accident -or accidents- waiting to go wrong. There was such a potential for injury if the participants got competitively combative with one another; broken bones were the least of their concerns right now. Perhaps she'd feel better about all the competitively driven, unrestrained violence being carried out in town, if Twilight were actually paying more attention to their surroundings, and what was going on, rather than looking at whatever notes currently held her attention more. Whatever it was, it couldn't possibly be that important... could it? "Princess," she spoke up, "I know that I actually agreed to this. But is this really a good idea for handling the situation?" she asked, yet again. "Under present circumstances, yes," Twilight replied as she looked up from her charts and notes in order to address her. "Granted it's not the greatest of ideas, but I wasn't sure what else we could do. Everypony put a lot of work into making tonight a lot of fun, and a spell to cancel out the enchantments on all of the pumpkins, would risk undoing that hard work by wiping out all the enchantments in place simultaneously, not just the come to life one," she explained. Mayor Mare nodded, remembering that part of the conversation quite well. "I know that, Princess, I really do. It's just... so many things could go wrong. Somepony could get seriously hurt, and not just by slipping and falling while chasing the pumpkins either," she explained. It was Twilight's turn to nod in understanding. Ponies getting competitive and sabotaging others in the form of deliberate injury had certainly been a concern. But she didn't want to believe that it was necessary to stipulate that such tactics wouldn't be acceptable; surely something like that would be basic common sense. "If that happens... then we'll just deal with it as necessary," she finally replied and looked out at everything unfolding around them. What immediately caught her attention was both Pinkie and Scootaloo chasing after a pumpkin, with some kind of complicated teamwork maneuver being pulled off as Scootaloo extended her arm, with Pinkie grabbing it, swinging her around as she was lifted off the ground, and then hurled like a hammer toss. Scootaloo soared, before coming in for a landing as she grabbed the pumpkin with both hands, skidding to a stop and jumping up, and proceeding to smash it against the ground hard. "Well... at least they're using teamwork," she thought to herself as she watched the two high-five each other. One by one, bit by bit, the number of rogue pumpkins was being whittled down, Ponyville being stained with orange vegetable innards in the process as the nuisance was quelled. Despite the initial concerns about ponies getting competitive and hurting one another for the sake of winning, things really weren't shaping up in that manner; quite the opposite actually, as many were actually working together to eliminate the orange gourd menace that was ruining their fun. They were learning the hard way that individual victories were going to be rare, and the only way to succeed was to assist one another, with sometimes three ponies being necessary to deal with a single pumpkin. Finally it was down to the very last rogue pumpkin, and it was turning out to be the trickiest of them all. It was showing no signs of falling to whatever herding tactics had been used to take down its brethren in the widespread slaughter. So that meant the residents had to change up their game in accordance. That led them to where they were now; a good portion of Ponyville all surrounding the pumpkin with a body wall, preventing it from having anywhere to go, except around in a circle as it tried to find some escape. "This is gonna be so good," Rainbow Dash said with a grin as she cracked her knuckles, looking forward to finishing this game. "Ya said it, Sugarcube," Applejack agreed. They'd been given a lot of runaround for no good reason. And although it had been fun for a while, everything had to end sooner or later. "Please. Allow me." Everyone looked to the sound of the voice and saw Luna approaching, looking weary as she dragged the heavy wooden mallet behind her. "I would like to be able to say that I managed to crush at least one pumpkin tonight," she stated. She'd been given the runaround as much as anyone, but she didn't have a single squashed gourd to her name. Naturally this left her a bit peeved, as she felt that she'd been largely useless at handling this mess. Thankfully she didn't have to explain that fact to those present. At hearing her request, the portion of the crowd parted to allow her entrance into the makeshift arena, and draw on her quarry. As if it sensed its own approaching doom, the pumpkin started running around even faster, trying to find some manner of escaping its fate. "I am far too tired for eloquence after all that has happened tonight," she said as she hoisted the mallet, raising it above her head. "So let us simply settle on good riddance!" The force of impact to Luna's blow caused a pretty sizable explosion to occur, sending bits of rind and pumpkin guts flying. More than a few were caught in the blast range to some degree, but none of them to the extent as Luna herself! She stood there, a blank and disbelieving look on her face, pumpkin innards hanging off of her body in various areas. Nopony dared breathe, for fear of what sort of response the night princess might have. That response came fast and furiously, first in the form of a snort, and then an outright laugh as she picked the stringy pumpkin mess from her horn and away from her face. It was the sort of laugh that had one throwing their head back as their belly visibly quaked. This lead the others nervously laughing in response, before succumbing to more genuine laughter at realizing nothing bad was going to happen. "Per chance would somepony be so kind to as lend me a towel?" she asked them as she picked the stringy mess from her horn and out of her face. As much fun as the pumpkin run had ultimately been to participate in, she didn't want to continue through the rest of the night with sticky fur. > Ponies, and pumpkins, and nipples, oh my! (Part 2) (edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "What a night," Scootaloo mumbled as she rubbed her temples. With the crisis averted, and the impromptu pumpkin run now concluded, Ponyville could get back to the more fun aspects of Nightmare Night while they still had the opportunity. Clean up tomorrow was going to be quite a messy hassle, but that was more or less always the case with Nightmare Night; this time around they just had the added task of dealing with smashed pumpkins all over the place, rather than in the designated target area. But that would be tended to tomorrow. Right now it was the time for fun. Or in the case of a few fillies and a certain young dragon, catching their breath and recovering from all the running about they'd done in an effort to catch and smash as many rogue pumpkins as possible. And of course the best place for doing that was by the refreshments table where they could suck down the available punch to quench their thirst. "Tell me about it," Apple Bloom replied, before more or less chugging her cup. "Twilight did a perdy good job o' salvagin' the night an' makin' it fun, but it still kinda sucked," she admitted. Not that being free to smash any pumpkin she could find with a 2x4 hadn't been enjoyable. But she, like most others, had spent more time running than smashing, and for all of their efforts there was no prize to be had at the end. Although there was talk about seeing if the pumpkin run could be turned into a proper and regular event, with more structure and actual prizes next year. If that was the case, then she wouldn't mind it so much. "Tell me about it, I didn't even get to participate," Spike muttered, having been tasked with helping Twilight with keeping everything running smoothly. "Ah'm never gonna get all the grass stains outta my costume from where Ah fell," she added. Scootaloo just shrugged. "You shouldn't have gone with such an easy to stain costume," she replied, "besides, you and Applejack aren't even superheros from the same comic series! Some sisters you turned out to be." "It's not mah fault Supermare's the only one who's strong enough fer me ta be," Apple Bloom retorted and shrugged dismissively. Scootaloo frowned at this. Apple Bloom was deliberately trying to draw her into a comic book war. She knew this, but she just couldn't resist taking the bait. "Ironhorse is way better than Supermare. He's got armor that can do anything! No matter the threat, he's always prepared!" she boasted, seeing it only appropriate as she was dressed as Ironhorse for the night's events. Apple Bloom snorted in amusement. "Always prepared, except fer a meeting with Supermare, that is. She could jus' use 'er heat vision ta heat up his armor until he had ta eject, then he'd be outta luck." Spike nodded in agreement, remembering that being in an early issue of the "Ironhorse" series, when Ironhorse had to fly into an active volcano, and the heat of the magma nearly cooking him alive in his armor. "Are you kidding? Ironhorse is a genius! He could just integrate a kryptoneight core into his armor, and then Supermare would be at his mercy!" Scootaloo stated. "Kryptoneight wouldn' produce the gigawatts per second that Ironhorse's armor needs ta function, ya goofball," Apple Bloom laughed. Scootaloo scowled, severely tempted to just tackle Apple Bloom to the ground and proceed to tickle her until she surrendered. But if she did, then she was signalling that she didn't have any other response to rely on. That left her with just frowning in response as she folded her arms over her chest. Sweetie Belle had said nothing the entire time, not wanting to get involved in this argument over which comic series was the better of the two, or which hero would triumph over the others. "Couldn't Ironhorse just integrate pieces of kryptoneight into his missiles? Or maybe as a focusing lens for his repulsors?" That question got the three of them turning to look and see Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both approaching their current position. Despite the advancement that had been made in their friendship since getting their cutie marks, there were still areas where the two groups simply didn't get along together. It was... a work in progress as they learned how to stop taking shots at one another. Or at least make the shots taken all in good fun. Interestingly enough, it was Silver Spoon presenting the question as they approached. "If it can't power the armor itself, what about just using it to amplify the weapon systems in the armor?" she asked as they stepped closer. "... Huh," was all Scootaloo could say in response. "Tha's a good question," Apple Bloom admitted as she observed both them and their costumes. Diamond Tiara was taking the more classical approach to a costume and looked a lot like a mummy, all wrapped in bandages and such, while Silver Spoon was decked out in what looked like punk rock fashion; not something they'd come to associate with either one of them, making it really surprising. But then again, that was part of the fun of Nightmare Night. "Wha' brings ya two by?" she asked, a bit suspicious of what their intentions might be. "Well you two were going at it so loud, we thought a fight was brewing," Silver Spoon admitted. She was going to go on further, but she stopped when she saw Sweetie Belle's costume. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and even Spike could be figured out, but she was different. "And just what're you supposed to be?" "I'm The Nerd," Sweetie Belle replied. "A nerd isn't a costume," Diamond Tiara stated. Her costume, if it could even be called that, looked like she was an office worker or something, with khaki cargo pants, a white button up shirt with a pocket protector full of pens, a pair of black-rimmed glasses... and some weird glove on her right hand. Definitely not a costume. "Not a nerd, The Nerd," Sweetie Belle emphasized, much to the confusion of the others present. "You know, the stallion that does reviews of the arcade games? Thinks "Super Mareio Brothers" is the best game ever created, always shouting swear words when he gets angry?" The four fillies present looked between themselves, hoping somepony would have a clue what Sweetie Belle was talking about. But none of them did, as they were each coming up blank. All they could do was shrug in response. Sweetie Belle just sighed in frustration and shook her head in response, before pushing the glasses back up into place. "He's right about his reviews a lot of times," Spike stated. "Although when you follow his reviews, you sometimes wanna try them for yourself because you think it's not as bad as he makes it out to be. Turns out it is." Silver Spoon just sighed and shook her head, before moving to procure herself a cup of punch. "So then. What's the group consensus on Princess Luna being here as she is?" she asked to change the subject. "Ta be honest wit' ya, Ah don' know what ta think," Apple Bloom replied as she shook her head. "It's weird seein' somepony walking around naked an' everypony not actin' like it's a big deal." "Tell me about it," Scootaloo agreed. She'd been confused since Princess Luna had showed up, and that confusion hadn't eased up since. "I get that she wanted to make us comfortable around her, but... I don't know," she concluded as she shook her head. Spike nodded. His experience with nude ponies was... limited. Very limited actually. There were a few times when he'd accidentally catch sight of Twilight coming out of the shower and not properly covered up, but that was seriously different from all this. Luna was in full view, Vinyl was flashing her tits, it was... it was kind of weird. "Rarity said Princess Luna told her it used to be really common back in the old days for everypony to be naked in public because nopony could afford clothes," Sweetie Belle commented. Diamond Tiara shuddered at hearing that. "I don't even wanna think about what that was like." "It was normal, because nopony knew any different then," Sweetie Belle pointed out, "It wouldn't be any weirder to them, than wearing clothes is to us." "Maybe," Silver Spoon replied, still not convinced. "It's still weird though. The idea of seeing everypony's private bits, and nopony reacting to it? I don't know how to process that," she stated. For a while there was nothing but silence amongst the two groups, surrounded by the noises of the festivities continuing on uninterrupted. Nopony really knew what to say, and all of them were really just waiting for somepony to break the silence. That somepony eventually turned out to be Diamond Tiara. "Do... do any of you think you'd actually do something like that? If it was normal, I mean?" she asked as she uneasily rubbed at her right arm. "What? Like going nude in public?" Sweetie Belle asked, to which Diamond Tiara nodded. "I don't know. Maybe? I mean, like you said, it'd be normal, so it's not like it would be an unusual thing to do. I guess for me it'd come down to the weather," she replied. "I..." Spike paused, "I'll get back to you on that one," he said, needing to think that over for a while before he could give an answer. Scootaloo shrugged uncertainly. "I'd kinda wanna wait and see first before doing something like that. But if I wasn't the only one doing it? Yeah, I... guess so." "Eh," Apple Bloom replied and shrugged in a disinterested manner. "It ain't that big o' deal. Ah mean, Ah'm already not wearin' underwear when Ah work on the farm, so-" Apple Bloom response was cut off as a fine mist of punch erupted from between Silver Spoon's lips in a spit take, followed by her coughing as Diamond Tiara immediately started patting at her back in reflex. "You what?!" the choking filly finally managed to get out. "You don't?" Sweetie Belle and Spike asked simultaneously, also genuinely surprised by that revelation. "Nope," Apple Bloom replied and shook her head. "Farm work is hard an' makes ya sweat somethin' fierce, an' wet underwear ain' no fun ta wear. So Ah jus' don' wear 'em." "You're making that up," Diamond Tiara accused. "Nope, serious," Apple Bloom replied. Scootaloo, who had been silent for most of the exchange, now found herself quite curious about the blue skirt that Apple Bloom was wearing for her costume, and what it might've concealed underneath. It was long enough, and loose enough that it could easily conceal the outline of any underwear she might be wearing, so it was hard to tell what was there... or what wasn't. She even found herself thinking about trying to catch a peek, just to sate her curiosity as to whether or not her friend was going commando. "Sweetie Belle, is she for real?" Silver Spoon asked. Sweetie Belle, in response, poked Apple Bloom in her bicep. "She feels real to me." Silver Spoon groaned, not sure whether Sweetie Belle had misunderstood what she was asking, or if she was simply playing a game with them. Either way, she didn't like it. "No, you nerd, I'm asking if you know if Apple Bloom really doesn't wear underwear," she stated in clarification. "Oh," Sweetie Belle replied, before giving a shrug. "I don't know. It's never come up before now." Scootaloo just shook her head before she could be asked, because she didn't really want to give too much thought to the question. There were just certain thoughts that she didn't want to be having about one of her best friends. "Am I interrupting something?" At hearing the voice behind them, all six of them turned around and saw Luna approaching them, sans the pumpkin innards and such from earlier, looking freshly showered and cleaned, and still just as nude as before. That was more than enough to distract all of them from what they'd been discussing just a moment ago. "It sounded like a rather serious discussion you five were having," Luna added as she made for the punch bowl to get herself a drink. "Actually, not really," Apple Bloom replied, "we were jus' discussin' underwear." "Ah," Luna replied, before sipping at her punch. "With regard to such clothing, I prefer boxers myself." As soon as the words left her mouth, the five were staring at her as if she'd just told them her moon was made of a solid piece of cheddar cheese, in a mix of confusion and disbelief. Had she unknowingly committed yet another social faux pas? "Boxers?" Diamond Tiara asked as she finally found her voice again? Luna nodded. "I find that they are quite comfortable to wear." "But aren't boxers for stallions?" Silver Spoon asked. At this, Luna found it impossible to suppress giving a cheeky, mildly embarrassed grin at the filly's question. "Um... perhaps?" "Oh there's got to be an interesting story behind that," Spike stated and grinned. "Perhaps there is," Luna replied cryptically, before downing the rest of her punch. "But that is a story I will tell later. Right now I would like to rejoin the festivities after refreshing. Rarity was kind enough to allow me to shower at the boutique after my unfortunate incident with the last pumpkin. I swear that she has more bathing care products than both myself and my sister together..." Her statement had the effect of bringing a bout of amused giggles from the group of fillies. But then again that had been the intention all along. "If you will excuse me, I am sure there are a great many ponies waiting," she stated before turning to leave. "Um, Princess," Silver Spoon spoke up, her voice clearly uneasy as she did. And as she saw that she had Luna's attention once again, she started to speak once more. "Was everypony really naked back in the founding of Equestria? Even in public, around others?" Luna nodded. "There were exceptions to the rule, of course, but for the most part that was certainly the case." "So... what was it like, seeing everypony's private bits out in the open?" Silver Spoon asked hesitantly. Luna's brow furrowed at the question she was being presented. "It would appear the history books of today leave something to be desired. At the time there was no unified currency in use. There were no bits to be had for several..." she started to explain. But the looks on their faces told her that something was wrong. "We are not discussing currency, are we?" "Nope," Sweetie Belle replied simply, "bits as in private anatomy parts," she clarified. "Oh," Luna replied slowly as the understanding sank in. "You must understand, the context of social nudity was different back then as a matter of necessity. Yes you could see each other's "bits" as you put it, but it was not the same as them being put on display for the purpose of being stared at. It was not treated as something that was obscene or shameful, when it was widespread and encompassed most, if not all the population at the time," she explained as best the could. But even she realized that it must've been a difficult subject for these young fillies to wrap their heads around. "Huh," was all Apple Bloom had to say in response. "Ah guess that was a lot o' boobs out in the open then." "The proper term is breasts, young Apple Bloom," Luna pointed out, "however even I will admit that "boobs" is more fun to say." The statement had been delivered with a grin, which brought another bout of giggling from the fillies, as well as a nod of agreement from Spike. "Are there any other questions you would like to ask before I depart?" "Actually..." Scootaloo spoke up slowly, "I do. But it's not exactly polite..." "Oh?" Luna asked, to which Scootaloo nodded uneasily. Now she was really curious as to what the filly had to say, and how it compared to some of the things she'd heard since her arrival. "I will not judge," she assured her as she leaned down to bring herself closer to Scootaloo's height, and signaled for her to approach before resting her hands on her knees. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and the others watched as Scootaloo cautiously stepped forward, before leaning in to whisper whatever her question was into Luna's ear. Their ears flicked as they tried to hear whatever was being said, but despite the short distance between them, Scootaloo was whispering far too quietly for them to hear. Instead they had to settle for watching Luna's facial expressions change as she listened. That fact alone made them really curious to find out what was being said. "Oh..." Luna replied slowly as she stood back up. "Yes, I can see how that may be judged as impolite. But nevertheless it is still a very good question. May I answer it aloud for the benefit of your friends?" Scootaloo looked back at the others, before hesitantly nodding and stepping away backwards. "Yes, at the time there were stallions, and even colts, who did experience, ah... displays of physical arousal when out and about in public," she admitted as discreetly as she could, noting the blush that followed for all of them as she spoke. "But it was not something that was done on purpose. It was a physical reaction as involuntary as a muscle spasm; not something that was done in a provocative manner. "Nor was it considered a provocative act in and of itself should it just randomly happen. If it occurred, and could not be dealt with appropriately, it was polite to try and not draw attention to it; just as it was polite to try and ignore it if was encountered. To do otherwise would be as rude as making fun of somepony for suffering from a sprain," she explained. Silence followed. But whether it was out of shock, embarrassment, or merely trying to comprehend the given answer, she really wasn't sure what motivated it. "Are there any other questions?" she asked tentatively. The only answer received were heads being shaken. "Alright then. I will be taking my leave now. Have a good Nightmare Night, young ones," she said, before finally walking away. Leaving the six of them standing in awkward silence by the refreshments table. "So," Diamond Tiara finally spoke up, "so... what were we talking about again?" For the second -and likely not the last- time this evening, Rarity found it necessary to sit down, and rub at her right fetlock to abate the soreness that was developing from the resulting hot spots from the legging of her costume. She was most certainly going to get back at Rainbow Dash for this, she just wasn't sure how yet. It had to be something sufficient enough to let the prismatic pegasus know that she was displeased, while not going so far as to motivate retaliation some point in the form of a prank war; she would undoubtedly enlist Pinkie for backup on such a matter, and she'd be doomed in such a scenario. Revenge would be hers, to some degree or another, she just had to select the right method for that first. But first, Twilight. Her friend was swiftly approaching the table she was sitting at. She knew from experience that talk of payback wouldn't go over well. Best to save it for later. "Well, darling, I'd say your pumpkin run idea was-" "A smashing success, right?" Twilight asked before Rarity could finish. "You wouldn't believe how much mileage that joke has gotten tonight already," she sighed as she sat down on one of the available benches to rest her hooves. "Nevertheless the point remains, it was quite the success. The menace had been dealt with, the perpetrator apprehended, everypony had a good time, and we may have a new event for next Nightmare Night," Rarity pointed out. "Well a few things will have to be ironed out first, but maybe," Twilight replied. Once all the excitement had calmed down, her mind had started going to work on formulating how to make the pumpkin run a successful Nightmare Night event that could be employed regularly. Already she was coming up with some revisions and refinements to what had been thrown together, that would allow things to go much smoother. Rarity simply nodded politely in acknowledgement, deciding not to get into a discussion about the various ins and outs of what would go into setting up an organized event; especially if Twilight was involved with that organization. She dearly loved her friend, but she was simply in no mood for highly technical discussions tonight. Fortunately it looked like that wouldn't be the case, as she spotted Luna out and about, who she waved to. Luna waved back in response to acknowledge being seen, before making her way over to the table. "Many thanks to you for the use of your facilities, Rarity, it feels good to not have my fur sticky any longer," she stated as she approached and sat down with the others. "Although perhaps I should have waited longer before stepping back outside. The difference in temperature is quite jarring," she added. "Yes. Not to be rude, but I certainly can see that; your dark fur really isn't doing much to conceal those facts," Rarity replied and nodded. "Would you care for something to wear?" "In truth I would very much appreciate a hooded sweatshirt and a pair of socks right now. But I do not wish to send mixed signals to the others present, and lead them to believe that something has changed simply because I am covering up," Luna admitted as she rubbed at her arms. "I appreciate your concern, but I will be alright. Once I rejoin the festivities and get moving again, the chill of the fall air will be abated by the enjoyment to be had." "So long as you're certain," Rarity replied and nodded, "I'd hate for you to catch cold out here due to the party." "Actually it's been scientifically proven that being out in the cold doesn't cause you to get sick. While it does lower the effectiveness of the immune system, it doesn't have a mechanism that actually causes somepony to get sick, as opposed to staying inside where it's warm," Twilight pointed out. Once again, Rarity decided to just politely nod in acknowledgement of Twilight's statement, and not get into anything that could lead to further discussion about the topic. That was best reserved for another day, when there was nothing else better to do. Although that certainly did explain why a cold compress seemed to help whenever Sweetie Belle managed to get into poison ivy. Luna, however, hadn't shown the same restraint, and now she and Twilight were both discussing commonly held misconceptions about health and wellness. It was enough to make her want to politely excuse herself before the whole thing got taken too far. Or at least it would've been, if not for turning around to see Vinyl Scratch approaching their table with a tray of food in hand, her glowstick still dangling from her neck as it rested between her breasts. "You classy mares mind if I sit wit' ya for a bit?" "Not at all, Vinyl, pull up a seat and make yourself comfortable," Rarity replied, grateful for the timely interruption to all the science-type discussion that would've been taking place otherwise. If it meant stopping Twilight from going into lecture mode, she'd readily welcome the eccentric DJ to their table. "Thanks! I'm famished, and I hate eating around my turntable; that's really sensitive equipment to be getting crumbs in," Vinyl replied before plopping herself down on the first available free spot, before turning her attention to her sandwich, letting out a contented moan in the process as she bit into it. It was basic courtesy and politeness that kept the other three from engaging Vinyl in discussion as she ate. Although as the last traces of her sandwich were wolfed down, that courtesy evaporated as she became fair game. "Miss Scratch?" Luna asked, being the first of the trio to speak up. "Just Vinyl," the DJ replied as she pushed her empty tray back. "Very well then, Just Vinyl," Luna replied, earning a smirk in response. "I do not mean to pry into what is ultimately your business, but might I ask why you decided to strip shortly after my arrival?" "Well, you see, Princess-" "Please, for tonight it is just Luna." "Well, you see, Just Luna," Vinyl started again with a small smirk at returning the joke, "you were kinda drawin' a lot of attention by showin' up all butt naked an' such, and it wasn't the sort of attention that somepony in your position and standing should be getting paid. So I just figured I'd run interception for ya; I'm an entertainer so I'm more used ta fans givin' me lewd looks an' such," she explained. "Oh," Luna replied, uncertain of just what to say in response to hearing that. She needed to reevaluate her thoughts on the DJ after hearing such. "Well... thank you for your consideration." "Yeah. Only problem is it didn't really work out since my assets don't exactly measure up to yours," Vinyl replied and looked down at her chest to emphasize her point, much as she'd used the glowstick to try and emphasize her breasts. Rarity mentally cringed at Vinyl making the same comparison she had earlier. She hadn't said that out loud, had she? "Nonetheless, it was a gesture that I appreciate you making as you did," Luna replied. "You may not have achieved your desired results, but the end results were still satisfactory regardless." "Quite right. Everypony has calmed down and settled in for the night's festivities once again," Rarity added with a nod. "Yeah, I'd say that was Luna's theatric karaoke more than anything me and my girls managed to do," Vinyl replied. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining. I like the svelte look I've got going on. It's just that not everypony appreciates being trim. Now my roommate, she's got a nice set of fun bags to her, those would've attracted the crowd a lot better than these pancakes!" she stated as she rubbed her arms. Luna wasn't quite sure how to respond to Vinyl's statement. Between the self depreciation of her own body, to whatever these "fun bags" were, to her discussing her roommate when she was absent, it was all very confusing to her. But regardless of such details, what stuck with her was the fact that Vinyl had been trying to help her out of her social faux pas in her own unique way. It was hard not to appreciate that. "Anyways. Thanks for the seat and the talk, but I've gotta get back to my turntable before my discs get cold," Vinyl stated as she stood up. "Oh? But what about you? Aren't you cold like that, dear?" Rarity asked. "Naw, I always keep my nipples hard enough to cut glass; 'cuz you never know when you might need to do that," Vinyl replied. Twilight's wasn't really sure how to respond. Was Vinyl being serious, or sarcastic? Her tone of voice certainly gave no indication one way or the other. In the end her response wasn't vocal, but instead involved standing up, and unbuttoning her costume dress jacket, freeing up her wings in the process, before holding the garment out to the topless unicorn. "Here." "Hey, cool," Vinyl replied and took the offered up jacket and slipped into it without missing a beat. "Thanks, Princess." "No problem at all," Twilight replied and waved dismissively. Honestly, she was just glad that she'd even had the suit jacket to actually offer up, and had foregone the wing holes. "Anyway I've gotta get back ta work. We've got something special for the guest of honor all the way from Trottingham and we need to get it ready," Vinyl stated. "Oi, Vinyl! Over here!" a voice out in the crowd called. "Sorry, ladies, but duty calls. Catch ya later," was all Vinyl had to say before bidding a hasty exit, leaving the three behind in relative silent. "Well now, that was... a most interesting conversation to have," Luna muttered, unable to think of anything else to say on the matter. Anything that might be considered polite anyway. "Vinyl tends to be... unique... in how she conducts herself," was all Rarity could offer up. Her own interactions with the DJ had been limited, leaving her with little information to reliably draw on right now. "Well unique is certainly not a bad thing," Luna replied. Despite the mare's... unusual nature in how she carried herself, the conversation had made her feel better, knowing that she was willing to go that far to help out another pony. She was truly among friends, even when she didn't realize it. "Princess Luna?" And speaking of friends... She turned to regard the one addressing her and saw Pipsqueak standing present. Just looking at him she could tell that his efforts at valiance were failing him as the night wore on. He looked tired and slouched as he stood, no longer trying to keep his oversized plywood sword aloft, but rather letting it rest against the ground to save on his arm. She was honestly surprised he hadn't thrown his shoulder out in his pumpkin smashing efforts, considering how much exertion he had to put into his swings. "And what is my brave young knight up to now?" she asked him. "Well others are getting their pictures taken, and I was wondering if we could possibly get one taken together as well," Pipsqueak explained, vaguely gesturing with his free hand in the direction of the aforementioned activity. Luna opened her mouth to respond, only to close it again as she caught sight of the curious looks her friends were giving her; as if they were waiting to hear what she had to say. "Under normal circumstances I would say yes. But I believe it would be best if I speak with your parents first. They may not appreciate my being nude in a picture with you," she explained. "Oh," Pipsqueak replied, "well, couldn't you put something on for the picture?" he asked. That made her pause in thought. She then realized that Pipsqueak wasn't asking for a nude picture of her, as much as he was simply asking for a picture while she just happened to be nude at the time of his asking. And while that might not seem like a great difference, it most certainly was to her. He was more interested in a picture with one he considered to be a friend, than he was in how she presented herself. "Yes, that can certainly be done. Although I will still speak with your parents first, and see what they have to say on the matter," she explained as she reached out and tussled his mane, causing him to giggle as he backed up and tried to grab at her hand. "I may be in need of your services again shortly, Rarity," she continued as she turned to regard her other friends at the table. "Something tells me you might," Rarity agreed and nodded, mentally running through the list of clothing that was available at the boutique, and what of it would suit Luna properly. Luna nodded as she stood up from the table, before turning to face Pipsqueak. "Let us go find your parents, and see how they wish to proceed with this." It was hard for Twilight and Rarity to not smile at Pipsqueak's enthusiasm at the prospect of Luna meeting his parents. Twilight honestly wouldn't be surprised if Pipsqueak tried to lead her along by her hand in an effort to make the meeting occur faster. It was all kind of cute really. "Alright. I think I'm going to get back to the festivities now. There's a lot I want to get done before midnight," she said as she stood up from the table. "Before you go, darling, could I speak to you about something first?" Rarity asked. "Of course," Twilight replied and sat back down again. "What's up?" "It's about Princess Luna. Or rather what she's been doing since her arrival in Ponyville," Rarity began slowly. "Oh? What about it? Have you noticed anypony acting... improper about it?" Twilight asked curiously. Rarity shook her head. "Not since she first showed up, no; quite the opposite actually. Everypony is acting like tonight is no different from any other Nightmare Night; it's easy to forget she's nude until you catch sight of her again. It's all just..." she paused as she tried to think of the right word to say. "So different." Twilight nodded in response. She certainly understood what Rarity was talking about, what with how Luna's nudity seemed in contrast with what was the usual response to somepony being naked in a less than private manner. But she felt that it was Luna's sincere desire to make them feel at ease around her, that was making the difference in it all. She had shown up with pure intentions, and with a little assistance had made it all work out quite well. "... I'm actually thinking about participating as well," Rarity continued, quieter than previously. It took Twilight a moment to understand what Rarity was actually saying. And once she did her eyes went wide with surprise. "Participating? As in you going nude in public?" she asked. Rarity slowly nodded in confirmation. "Wow! I-I never thought that I'd hear you actually consider something like that." "Before Luna's appearance, neither did I. But seeing how things have turned out, it's hard not to at least contemplate such. Everypony present is conducting themselves quite well despite the circumstance, things are progressing as smoothly as any Nightmare Night can be expected to. It's... it's somewhat tempting to test the waters out and see what comes of it; see if it's something that catches on if another pony is willing to try," Rarity explained as best she could. "I was hoping that discussing the matter would make it easier to explain my reasoning behind it. But it appears that isn't the case..." "Oh," was all Twilight could really think to say at the moment. "So this is something you want to do?" "Not so much as wanting as simply being willing to try it out. Perhaps it's like jumping into a swimming pool in the summer; once the initial shock it over, it's really not so bad," Rarity contemplated. "At least I'd be in good company, so it wouldn't just be me doing it for sake of it." "That's true," Twilight noted. Princess Luna had gotten the ball rolling with her arrival, Vinyl had nudged it along further, and there was really no way of knowing just what might happen if a few others will willing to add further. They might just be standing at the edge of a new Nightmare Night tradition. "Well if you do, you know you'll have our support," she stated, regardless of whatever that support might entail. "I know, darling, and I appreciate that fact a great deal," Rarity replied as she reached over and patted her hand. She would wait and see if Luna would be in need of her services -which was all but guaranteed really- before proceeding with her plans. If she waited longer than that, she might wind up thinking more about what she was doing, about what could go wrong, and wind up chickening out of doing it as a result. And while there wasn't necessarily anything wrong with refraining, it simply wouldn't do. Beyond such facts, she wanted out of this blasted costume that Rainbow Dash had selected for her. A bit of social embarrassment would be an acceptable price to pay for not having her fetlocks rubbed raw by hard plastic, and her bosom being uncomfortably constrained by such a tacky mail brassier. "Oh dear," Twilight mumbled as she rubbed her chin. "I just thought of something." "What's that, darling?" Rarity asked, curious as to what had caught Twilight's attention. "Well it's just that, if Spike sees you he might, er, he might... ugh there's no way to be polite about this," Twilight groaned. "Polite about what?" Rarity asked. Twilight let out a sigh, before looking to Rarity. "If Spike sees you nude in public, his dick may snap off its hinges," she mumbled, just loud enough to be audible. Rarity hadn't expected to hear such a statement being made. The unexpectedness of it had left her both blushing, and giggling in response to it all. "Yes, that could certainly be a problem," she replied with mirth in her voice. It was one of the worst kept secrets in Ponyville that the young drake had a crush on her. One would be hard-pressed to find a pony who didn't actually know about it. And catching sight of her in a less than dressed state might be more than he could take if it were suddenly just sprung on him like that. "Could I trouble you to let him know about what I'm planning? Just so he's not caught completely entirely by surprise and can actually prepare himself?" "I can do that," Twilight replied and nodded, before standing back up again. "I guess we'll be seeing you shortly?" "Unless something unexpected comes up, yes," Rarity stated as she stood up as well. "Wish me luck." "Good luck, but hopefully you won't be needing it," Twilight replied, feeling a bit anxious herself over how things might be proceeding once Rarity did what she was thinking about doing. "Yes. Let's hope so," Rarity quietly agreed. She knew full well that there was the potential for things to go wrong. But she also knew that there was the potential for things to go quite right as well. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And with everything they'd been through together, all the dangerous missions they'd been on together, she sincerely doubted that a little nudity on her part would be that bad. Right?