The Gloom and the Moon
Nightmare Night. A holiday filled with candy, games, music and entertainment. Where fillies and foals alike dressed up in various costumes and went door to door to collect as many sweet treats as they could. Originally, it was a holiday that was centered around the legend of Nightmare Moon. Yet, some time after Princess Luna’s return… and the unexpected incident that came with her sudden arrival during Nightmare Night in Ponyville, the holiday was now seen more to commemorate her return rather than celebrate the nightmare she once was. Something that the princess herself greatly appreciated.
Yet, tonight was a bit different than the previous celebrations that the princess had attended. For it was the last Nightmare Night before she and her sister Celestia would retire and have Twilight Sparkle take over as the princess of Equestria. While things had been rather… complicated over the last couple of months, the two sisters have made all the proper preparations they needed. They even got the chance to have a proper vacation, something that they hadn’t had in… well, forever.
Of course, there had been a few surprises since they first told Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony of their plans. One such surprise came in the form of a magical cat from another world named Yuumi. She and her sister had read Twilight’s letter on the cat as well as encountered both her and some companions of hers before they went back to their world. Yet, it did not stop Yuumi from making visits whenever she felt like it to the point that she started to see Equestria as a second home.
Though, this isn’t a story about Yuumi. Instead, it was a story about someone else that Luna happened to encounter on this night.
It started as a stroll through Ponyville that led to the Princess heading into the Everfree Forest. While it might not have been seen as the safest place to go, Luna wanted to venture out in the dangerous woods tonight after visiting the festivities in town. Not for anything regarding the celebration, but more for… personal reasons. She wanted to visit the Castle of Two Sisters since that was the same place where she had returned to Equestria after being away for a thousand years. So much had changed since then, but to her, arriving back in Equestria and being forgiven by her sister felt like it had only happened yesterday.
However, much to the surprise of Luna herself, the old castle wasn’t entirely empty. Yet, the only occupant inside wasn’t exactly thrilled to be there. “Ugh, this suuucks!”
At that, the princess’ ears twitched as Luna looked around to try and find who it was that was speaking. It sounded like it was coming from farther inside the castle, but she couldn’t tell where exactly it was coming from. If anything, they could pretty much be anywhere in this castle, whether it be in the main hall or in any of the various rooms throughout the ruins. Heck, the creature could’ve been inside her old study for all she knew.
Yet, when the princess did find them, Luna was surprised to see that they were actually at a rather familiar location in the castle. The pedestal where Twilight Sparkle first awakened the Elements of Harmony and freed her from Nightmare Moon. Though, what it was that she found there was something Luna herself didn’t even expect. For it wasn’t even a creature that was from Equestria.
It was a Yordle, one of the species from the world where Yuumi was from. Yet, unlike the ones that Luna happened to have met before, something about this one was different. Not just by appearance and clothes, but how they were acting. The Yordles that she met before were upbeat and rather positive about anything they were up against. Yet, this one was the exact opposite. They seemed to be rather apathetic and gloomy, being a downer even though everything seemed to be okay.
Not only that, but the power that Luna felt from them was akin to that of Shadow Magic. Something that reminded her of the Pony of Shadows. Yet, it wasn’t the same as that.
“Ugh… Shadow, please don’t tell me that a normie is here. I don’t want to deal with them right now.”
At that point, Luna decided to introduce herself, “Deal with what, exactly?”
Immediately, the yordle turned around… and looked a bit conflicted. As if they were going to say something, yet something else prevented them from saying it. Which had what was going to be a statement turn into a question. “You’re… not a normie, are you?”
A simple question, it may have seemed. Yet, such a question left Luna rather puzzled by their words. “A… normie? I don’t understand what that means.”
The Yordle groaned, rolling her eyes before turning herself towards the princess of the night, “You know… boring people who like stupid things like colors and happiness. You don’t look like one, but are you one?”
That was something Luna honestly did not expect to hear from the Yordle. If anything, it reminded the princess of when she was a young filly in her teenage years. “Um… no? I don’t believe so.”
“Good, because I’ve had to deal with enough normies today,” She said, before letting out a groan, “I just want to be left alone, but everyone here is just crazy! It’s like they don’t care about personal space, especially the pink one.”
That gave Luna the impression that this Yordle must’ve arrived in Ponyville somehow. Yet, the kind of welcome she was given was one that did not make her feel comfortable. Especially if Pinkie Pie was somehow involved. “Well, if you don’t mind me asking, what’s your name?”
The Yordle was silent for a moment, but it was during this time that the princess noticed them look down at the ground under their feet… and that their shadow moved on its own. She watched as the shadow’s eyes took form, before it made a few gestures. Then, the Yordle sighed as it then looked towards Luna.
“Fine, but only because Shadow told me to,” she said, “Vex is my name. Now, who are you, miss ‘not a normie’?”
Well, since she was so polite in answering her question, who was she to refuse? “My name is Luna.”
“Luna huh? Doesn’t sound like a normie name,” the yordle said to herself, before she looked back at the princess, “But why are you here anyways? Does this dump like… really mean a lot to you or something? Because I came here just so no one can bother me.”
“Why the nerve on this one-!” Luna thought, before having to hold herself back. To lose her temper right now would not exactly be a good idea. Especially if this Yordle was as young as any of the children back in Ponyville. “Well, since you asked, this place used to be my home.”
“Used too?”
“It’s a long story,” the alicorn told her, “That and I don’t think you would want to hear me go on and on about it.”
“Okay, I… guess,” Once again, Vex looked back to her shadow. Only this time to be caught off guard by what they were trying to say, “Wait, you want to-. But she said-” A few seconds later, Vex let out an annoyed groan, before looking back at Luna, “Shadow wants to hear that story you mentioned. I don’t really care, but-”
“It’s fine. It’ll be short,” she insisted, “This used to be the home of both my sister and I… though, a long time ago, we had a falling out in our relationship and I had been gone for a long time. When I finally returned and had forgiven my sister, the place that was once our home was… well, the way that it is now with much of it being untouched. And many of the…” At this point, Luna chose to clear her throat for a moment, before picking her words carefully, “ones you call ‘Normies’ are too scared to come here. Some even think this place is haunted by ghosts.”
“Pfft, that’s a dumb thing to be scared about. I hang with ghosts all the time.”
That statement baffled Luna. Especially since what Vex just said was unheard of. No creature in their right mind would simply just ‘hang’ with ghosts if they think that the place is haunted. If anything, they wouldn’t want to be near such a place or have it be burned to the ground. “You… spend time with ghosts?”
“Yeah, like, all the time,” the yordle replied, before she let out a deep sigh as she just dropped onto the ground, “Though, some are kind of… well, annoying. Like Karthus… seriously, I can’t stand his singing. It’s like he’s trying to kill me with boredom. Morde’s alright too, but he’s got serious anger issues…”
As Vex went on, the alicorn of the night was having trouble trying to comprehend some of the things that she was saying. Mainly because many of the creatures the yordle was talking about were ones that she had not heard of before. So, all she could really do was just listen, while nodding her head a couple of times to show that she was paying attention.
Though, it was as they finished speaking that Luna decided to ask her a question. “Where you’re from sounds much different than here. If I may ask, how did you get here?”
“Eh, don’t really know,” Vex shrugged, “One moment, I was in Morde’s realm. Then, I just… showed up.. It was… fine. But then Butterball found me and… didn’t want to leave me alone. Just… Ugh.”
“Butter… ball?” the princess thought to herself, “Wait, does she mean Fluttershy-?”
Though, before Luna could even finish the thought, that was when the yordle looked back at the princess, “Are you done? This is getting boring.”
Luna was unsure of what to say, though she had to give it a try. “Well… tonight is Nightmare Night and-”
“You have a holiday about Nightmares?”
“… Something like that. Some ponies even go as far as to scare others for pranks,” The alicorn admitted. Yet, what she didn’t realize was that response was enough in order to intrigue the gloomy yordle.
“Really?” Vex asked, before looking over to the shadow that was under her feet, “What? It’s not like we have anything better to do. Can’t even play gravedigger in a place like this.”
“A-are you sure this is a good idea?”
“Ocellus, it’s going to be perfectly fine,” the dragon named Smolder assured her friend Ocellus. The two of them were walking over to join the rest of their friends from the School of Friendship. They had planned to have some fun, play some games and to get some candy from the carnival that was set up all around Ponyville. Though, when they arrived, the changeling was beginning to have some second thoughts.
“I-i know, but-”
“Hey, relax. From what Sandbar told me, Professor Applejack and her family help set this up every year,” Smolder replied, “There shouldn’t be anything to worry about. We even made sure to get costumes too.”
Just as they said that, the two of them noticed a familiar earth pony in what looked to be a vampony costume wave them over. “There you are! I was wondering where you two were.”
“W-we just had to make sure our costumes were ready, t-that’s all,” Ocellus spoke nervously.
“We decided to try and dress up like two of those creatures in that one monster movie Professor Dash showed us in class,” Smolder said as she tried to take on the form of an intimidating monster, “I think this one was called… Dragojira or something while Ocellus was the Moth Queen.”
“Well, both of you look great,” Smolder smiled, “Personally, I went with a vampony count. Though, Spike almost mistook me for some villain in that Oubliettes & Ogres game that he plays.”
Smolder couldn’t help but chuckle at that, before looking around the rest of the carnival. At first, it was hard to make out where the rest of her friends were. However, after a moment or two, she spotted Gallus in a neighponese costume alongside Silverstream in a pink kimono that matched the color of cherry blossoms. Not only that, but the dragon also noticed that Yona was wearing mummy-like bandages around her horns and a jack-o-lantern between them with the usual cloth that was on her back replaced with one that was black and orange.
Also, the yak was sitting at the dunk tank, waiting for some creature to knock her over into the water. “COME ON! YAKS THROW HARDER THAN THAT!!”
“Yona seems… excited to say the least,” Ocellus replied.
“Yeah, she and I had been doing most of the activities here and Yona… really wanted to try that one,” the earth pony chuckled. “Yuumi wanted to try and knock her over, but I had to tell her that doing so would be too easy.”
“Wait a second,” the dragon blinked, “Yuumi is here? Where?”
“Right behind you, actually.”
Immediately, both Smolder and Ocellus turned around to find that the magical cat was floating right next to them. Much to their surprise, the cat was also dressed up as well. Though, they were wearing a costume that had their appearance closely resemble that of a witch. All with her own special hat and Book acting as her broom, “Hi there!! Happy Harrowing, everyone!”
“Um… Harrowing?” Ocellus asked.
“Her book told us that it’s… pretty much like her world’s version of Nightmare Night,” Sandbar summarized, before Yuumi floated over to him as it looked like the cat was carrying a bag of candy with her tail, “So when Yuumi heard about the festivities going on in Ponyville, she decided to join us and even dress up as well.”
“Yup yup!” the cat nodded her head in approval, “Speaking of which, I’m going to go see if I can find Fluttershy and her friends. Bye!”
As the cat floated away, Ocellus wanted to try and say something. Though, the changeling had trouble trying to form the words. It was around then that Smolder took a quick glance around the carnival before she looked back towards the earth pony and chose to speak up, “So… since we just got here, what do you recommend we should try first?”
“Well, every one of the booths looks to be rather busy,” the stallion replied asn he scratched his chin with his right forehoof, “Though, I think there isn’t a lot of hoof traffic at the haunted corn maze, since that was the first one that opened up. It’s near Sweet Apple Acres if you want to take a look.”
“I-is it scary?” Ocellus nervously asked.
“Kind of… though, not too much. When Yona and I went through it, there were only a couple of things that startled us. But nothing that would make you want to just immediately run out of there.”
“I’m sure it’ll be a piece of cake for us,” Smolder said confidently, before she looked at her friend, “Besides, it doesn’t really sound too bad. Let’s go, in and out, something to do while we wait for the lines to die down. That sound good?”
“O-okay, I guess.”
“See, what did I tell you? Not too bad so far.”
To Ocellus, she didn’t really think the same way that her friend did. There had been a half dozen times where she felt like she was going to jump out of her chitin because of the amount of scary things that they came across so far. And they were nowhere near close to the end of the maze. She was trying her best to keep it together, yet Ocellus would find herself getting startled by the smallest of things.
“Are you sure you’re doing okay, Ocellus-?”
“Yep yep! Perfectly fine!!” the changeling impulsively said before the dragon could finish her question. Which only had her friend raise an eyebrow before the two of them continued their trek through the maze. They only had to just continue on a little bit more. Then, the end would surely be in sight for them.
Though, it was as Smolder turned around a corner that something caught her eye. For a brief moment, it looked as if some kind of shadow had moved. At first, she thought it belonged to another creature. However, she did not hear any sounds at all. “What the heck? Ocellus, did you see that?”
“S-see what?” the changeling asked as she was shivering in place.
“I… thought I saw something move,” the dragon replied, before trying to shrug it off, “I think it’s some kind of creature on the other side or something-?”
Before she could finish, there was a shuffling sound in the wall that was right next to them. Immediately, Ocellus jumped and stayed close to her friend. As for Smolder, she was trying to backtrack her steps to get away from whatever they just heard. To the two of them, they thought that it was going to be some creature in a costume. “M-maybe we should try to go back-?”
Yet, when the two of them turned around, they were greeted by a different sight entirely. A giant shadow that was moving along one of the walls of the maze. At first, they thought it belonged to some kind of creature like a mouse. Though, that was when a pair of eyes formed on the figure as it blinked once. Twice. Three times. All while acting on its own.
“W-what is that?!”
“D-don’t look at me! I’ve never seen anything like this before!!” the dragon retorted, her eyes now darting all over the place as if she was trying to find a way out. Black like mist was now seeping in from the walls of the maze as it began to seep into the ground they stood on. The grass that was under their feet began to wither and die as both of the students were having trouble trying to make sense of everything that was happening. “C-come on, we should go-!”
Yet, just as soon as they turned around to leave, the same shadow reappeared on the other side of the wall. Taunting them all the while as the mist still continued to form around them. Though, it was at this moment that they slowly turned around and saw another figure. One where the mist was circulating around and the shadow from the wall began to take form from under their feet. The two didn’t even get the chance to see who they were looking at because of how terrified they were.
Then, it lifted it’s hood and spoke. “Boo!”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!”
Immediately, both the dragon and changeling were off to the races, dropping some of the candy they had on the ground as they tried to get as far out as possible.
“There ya go. Take it easy on the treats, youngins. Happy Nightmare Night!”
For the earth pony named Granny Smith, her job tonight was rather simple. While Applejack and Apple Bloom were helping out around the rest of the carnival, she and Big Mac were at the barn and had a simple job. Greet those that came to the barn, give them some candy and wish them on their way. The same process went for those who dared to go through the haunted corn maze as well, but many of them didn’t exactly always come through to the other side.
Except of course, for the changeling and the dragon that just arrived by the front porch of the barn. “Well, ah’ll be. You two look like ya got the souls scared out of ya! Did you have a good time?”
Both Smolder and Ocellus looked back at each other, hesitant to answer at first. Though, after a bit, that was when the dragon asked a question. “Ms. Smith? W-what was that t-thing near the end of the maze? W-with the shadows and the smoke?”
That had the earth pony a bit confused, “What are ya on about? We don’t have anything fancy schmancy like that for the maze. And if we did, it would’ve been obvious.”
While helpful, all the answer did was leave a permanently horrified expression on the two friends for the rest of the night.
“You know Shadow, that was actually fun,” the yordle told her shadowy companion. Throughout the night, they used the maze that was set up to scare every living being that came through. It was just as entertaining as the time that she scared away her uncle back in the Shadow Isles. The only difference being that she got to scare all of them over and over again, “Maybe this place isn’t as bad as we thought.”
Now back in the confines of her castle, she now sat down and began to lean back on the mountain of stolen candy that she acquired from her haunting escapades. “Only bummer is that this happens once a year. Well, at least I can get some quiet now.”
Of course, the yordle’s rest was… rather short lived as she heard Luna step in. “You know, when I told you about Nightmare Night, I wasn’t implying for you to give creatures literal nightmares.”
“Uh… sorry? What did you expect?”
“No no, I don’t mean that in a negative sense at all. If anything, I’m just glad to see you had fun,” the alicorn chuckled, before looking over to the giant pile of candy that was right next to the yordle, “Do you mind if I have some?”
“… Ugh, fine. But shadow calls first dibs.”