The Tune by Wax Tailor
Alright guys, actually motivated myself to write. Have to admit, it's been hard motivating myself lately. Not just writing, but like… everything. The amount of hours I spend a week just staring at a wall is rather alarming. But I was able to get myself motivated enough to write. And this will be more of a test chapter I guess. While I have been planning to make the chapters more episode-oriented, I realized that the general events and outcome of the episodes aren't changing much. So you'll basically be reading a synopsis of the episodes, just with a new character essentially. So we'll do this chapter, and if people find it boring or it seems like filler, I'll change up my plans for the story. Anyway, thanks to seanandjay29, Rex T. B and JOOP-ROLL for the follows and favorites. They are much appreciated. Sigh… my AN's are too long, but I'm too lazy to make them short. If that makes sense.
Spike tapped his foot impatiently as he waited on the first floor. He glanced at the clock. The Nightmare Night Festival was going to start soon! Normally, the words 'late' and 'Twilight' almost never found themselves in the same sentence but… Twilight Sparkle was going to make them late. Just as he was about to go on an angry rant to himself about females and 'getting ready', a knock interrupted him. He went to the door and opened it, finding a stallion staring down at him with a blank face.
"Oh, hey Twenty-Three", the dragon greeted, moving aside and gesturing for him to enter. Twenty-Three did just that.
"Greetings, Spike", the stallion replied, adjusting the tie around his neck. Spike noticed this and was mildly surprised.
"What's with the tie?" He asked.
"Well, I was told that ponies generally wear costumes on this night and, unfortunately, this was all I had", he answered while finishing with all the adjustments. One does not simply attempt the Trinity Knot without making sure everything is tightened.
"Oh, well what are you trying to dress up as? A waiter?" Spike asked. Twenty-Three looked down at him with a raised brow.
"What do you mean? I'm not trying to dress up as anything", he said.
"Oh. Well then what's the point of the costume?" Spike asked.
"I think our definition of costume is different", Twenty-Three said. Then he studied Spike's costume. "So you're… dressing up as a dragon?"
"Yeah, pretty sweet isn't it?" Spike replied, striking different poses to show off his costume.
"Yeah…" Twenty-Three said, looking around "Where's Twilight?"
That seemed to snap the dragon out of his little show. He ran to the stairs leading up to the second floor.
"Come on Twilight! We're going to be late for the Nightmare Night Festival!" He called up, just as he noticed a purple hoof enter view. Twilight stepped into eyesight and then immediately struck a pose, her costume on and everything. She then walked down the rest of the stairs with a flourish in her step. It was honestly, almost amusing for Twenty-Three to watch. She reached the first floor and struck a final pose.
"... Are you that one kooky grandpa from Ponyville Retirement Village?" Spike asked, causing Twilight to drop her pose and deadpan at him.
"I'm Starswirl the Bearded", Twilight said. Twenty-Three then wondered what was so important about Starswirl's beard… to him it just sounded like they were calling him Starswirl the Unshaven. After a brief moment of silence from Spike, Twilight continued. "Father of the amniomorphic spell?"
There was another brief pause of silence as Spike just blinked at her.
"Did you even read that book I gave you about obscure unicorn history?" She asked, pointing an accusatory hoof at Spike.
"Uhm... " He droned before another knock at the door sounded. "That sounds important!"
He rushed by Twilight, causing her to spin and get wrapped up in her costume. Twenty-Three probably would have probably been laughing at the sight, but he felt… nothing. He shook his head as a physical act to get rid of the thoughts and helped Twilight. She thanked him and then went to see who was at the front door, Twenty-Three following closely behind. Spike was walking away from the door as they saw that there were three little fillies, dressed as a princess (he guessed), an astronaut (rare to find a filly interested in science fiction) and a… ladybug, who all appeared to be chaperoned by an older mare. In fact, Twenty-Three noted, she looked like one of the oldest ponies he'd ever seen.
"Hi everypony! Great costumes!" Twilight greeted as she got to the door, she then addressed the older mare. "Happy Nightmare Night Granny Smith."
"I should've been asleep five hours ago", she responded. Wait… Granny Smith? Like… the apple? Was she related to Applejack? Was she called Granny Smith as a filly or is it just a title? What was it with Equestrians and confusing names?
Spike then returned with a bowl of candy, to which Twilight grabbed a piece for each filly. Then a small colt broke through them, wearing a pirate costume and swinging around a rubber sword. He unbalanced himself though and fell over. He quickly recovered though as he got up and saluted at Twilight.
"Pipsqueak the Pirate, at your service! It's my very first Nightmare Night!" He said, surprising Twenty-Three with a foreign accent. Where was it from again?
"Since you moved here from Trottingham?" Twilight asked. Twenty-Three nodded, standing on the sides, as he recognized the name of the city.
"No", Pipsqueak said before continuing, "My very first Nightmare Night, ever!"
Suddenly, a giant chicken popped out of nowhere- wait, no. That wasn't a giant chicken, Twenty-Three recognized. It was the Element of Laughter: Pinkie Pie, dressed as a chicken.
"Enough chit-chat! Time is candy!" She exclaimed.
"Pinkie Pie… aren't you a little old for this?" Twilight asked, as Pinkie Pie was actually imitating a chicken with surprising accuracy.
"Too old for free candy?" She repeated before gasp- wait, where did that chicken noise actually come from? Pinkie Pie narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice a bit. "Never."
Twilight rolled her eyes and gave her a piece of candy as well. Then, she got Pinkie Pie's attention with the bell on her hat before striking a pose.
"Do you like it?" She asked, flicking the end of her hat for emphasis.
"Yeah! Great costume Twilight! You make a fantastic bearded clown", Pinkie Pie said before suddenly pecking into the candy bowl and dashing off.
"Clown?!" Twilight yelled after her. She shook her head and stepped out, with Twenty-Three following her and Spike closing the door behind them as he followed. Twilight though was focused on her costume and commented something about the borders.
"It's a great costume", Spike said, clearly more used to Twilight randomly speaking out loud. He then added as he continued walking, "Heh… Grandpa."
Twilight seemed to fume for a bit before both her and Twenty-Three followed Spike towards the festival. Pretty much the entire way, Twilight was droning on about Starswirl the Bearded so Twenty-Three just tuned her out for a bit as he looked around at the festivities going on around them. There were so many street decorations and so many ponies dressed up. He hardly saw the same costume twice. He tuned back into what Twilight was talking about.
"- conjurer of the pre-Classical era", she said, still talking about Starswirl the Bearded. They passed by a large red stallion… dressed in black, pulling a cart with cheering fillies. "He created more than 200 spells! He even has a shelf in the Canterlot Library of Magic named after him… maybe I should just start up a pony group to teach ponies about history. I bet everypony would love it. Don't you two?"
Both Spike and Twenty-Three agreed dismissively. Twenty-Three then noticed that Spike had a tower of candy in one of his arms. However, he was too distracted from eating and crashed into Twilight, dropping all of it. Twenty-Three then realized the Twilight had stopped walking and was looking around.
"Hey look, we're here already", she said, seemingly oblivious to the pieces of candy that had rained down upon her. Twenty-Three looked around as well and noticed numerous stalls set up that seemed to match the theme of the street decorations.
"Should we get something to eat?" She asked turning back to look at the both of them. She saw Spike, sitting in the mess of candy and frowned.
"Twilight! Twilight!" A high-pitched voice that Twenty-Three quickly identified as Pinkie's called out. She came running up and presented her bag, filled with candy, to Twilight. "Look at our haul! Can you believe it?!"
She then proceeded to… eat the candy, but… Twenty-Three was currently unsure of what she was doing. Though, he was surprised by the amount of candy they had considering they had next to none at Twilight's house. He then realized she had stopped… eating… and was talking again.
"-Cherilee's house and got a bunch more goodies!" She said. From the childish look in her eyes, Twenty-Three never would have guessed that this pony helped save Equestria. He then noticed a low, black cloud that was moving towards them at an alarming speed. It stopped above them, piquing his curiosity. He turned to Twilight to say something and then there was a sudden flash, crackle and chicken speeding off. Twenty-Three tried to blink the white spots out of his eyes as the kids chased after Pinkie Pie. He then picked up on somepony laughing.
"Rainbow Dash, that wasn't very nice", Twilight said. Twenty-Three looked up to see a rainbow-maned pegasus laughing on top of a cloud. So this was the Element of Loyalty? He noticed that she was wearing some performance suit or something related to acrobatics. He had heard that she was an excellent flier and wanted to join the Wonderbolts.
"Lighten up old timer", she said, done laughing now. Twenty-Three heard Twilight mutter something under her breath and assumed it had something to do with Starswirl the Bearded. "This is the best night of the year for pranks."
"Look what you did to Spike", Twilight said, gesturing over to him. Twenty-Three then noticed that he was on the ground and seemed to be choking. He looked around and nopony else seemed to be concerned with it. He doubted he could help much though, the anatomies of dragons and ponies were fairly different, and he could end up doing more harm than good.
"Aw, it's all in good fun", Rainbow Dash said dismissively before suddenly perking up. "Oh! There's a group over there!"
She grabbed her cloud and sped off. Twilight shook her head before looking down at Spike. After looking down at him, Twenty-Three saw that he wasn't moving… and that Twilight wasn't panicking. She rolled her eyes and then lifted him onto her back with magic.
"Uh… is he going to be okay?" He asked Twilight as they continued walking.
"Yeah", she said, nodding her head. "He's just being overdramatic."
Twenty-Three then heard what sounded like a miniature lightning strike, screams and then laughing off in the distance. This night seemed much more dangerous than he had anticipated. They continued walking until they came across a place where there was a barrel of water and some apples in it. Some ponies then dunked their heads into the barrel… while Twenty-Three had never made it personally, he was pretty sure that that's not what apple juice was.
"Happy Nightmare Night Applejack", Twilight greeted the Element of Honesty, who was dressed up as… a scarecrow he believed.
"Howdy Spike! Hey Twilight!" She said, then she noticed Twenty-Three walking next to them. "It's you!"
"Hello", Twenty-Three said back. There was a brief moment of silence as Twenty-Three and Applejack had a stare-off. Twilight seemed to notice the tension and laughed nervously.
"So… Applejack, I see you've met Twenty-Three", she said, adding in another bout of nervous laughter.
"Twenty-Three? That's his name?" Applejack asked, breaking eye contact to face Twilight. Before Twilight could answer though, Twenty-Three spoke first.
"That is indeed my name", he said, Applejack shifting back over to face him. They had another brief stare-off before Applejack turned back to Twilight.
"Ah like yer costume", she complimented. However, before Twilight could reply, she was interrupted again.
"Thanks!" Spike said, before gesturing to himself. "I'm a dragon."
"She means me, Spike", Twilight said sternly.
"With that beard, Ah reckon you're some sorta country music singer", Applejack said, playing with Twilight's fake beard. Twenty-Three could see Twilight's frustration and Spike's laughter despite that they were both trying to hide them… one less so than the other. Applejack then turned towards him. "And Ah like yer… fancy tie."
Twenty-Three looked down at his tie. Was there really anything fancy about it?
"Thanks… I like your costume as well", he replied.
"While y'all are here, would ya like bobbin' for an apple?" She asked all of them, but Twenty-Three immediately stood straighter than normal.
"What are we doing for an apple?" He asked. Applejack looked at him with a raised brow.
"Bobbin'", she answered.
"What is… bobbing for apples?" He asked, causing Applejack to gasp.
"Yah don't know what bobbin' means?" She asked. Twenty-Three shook his head.
"No, I know what bobbing means. I'm just confused as to how one could bob for an apple. If the apples bob themselves that would make more sense, but to have a pony bob for an apple is where I'm confused", Twenty-Three explained, causing Applejack to deadpan.
"He's one of yer Canterlot friends, ain't he?" She asked, turning to Twilight. Who was, again, interrupted before she could speak.
"Prance actually", Twenty-Three answered. Applejack practically whipped around towards him, making him take a step back. She went to say something but there was a popping noise and they all looked to see the barrel of water draining with a grey pegasus who was holding a plug in her mouth. Applejack sighed, and then they were distracted yet again by the sound of cheering. They turned to see… Mayor Mare Mare Mayor… the Mayor giving a speech.
"-And welcome to the Nightmare Night Festival", there was another burst of cheering. Twilight and Spike went to join the crowd with Twenty-Three following close behind. "Now, all the little ponies who have been out collecting sweets should follow our friend, Zecora, to hear the Legend of Nightmare Moon! Mwahahaha!"
Twenty-Three guessed that she was trying to be somewhat spooky or something, but it was totally killed by her clown costume. Though, apparently someponies found clowns terrifying for some reason.
"Spooky voice might work better if she wasn't dressed like that", Spike said. Twenty-Three nodded, glad he wasn't the only one thinking that. They looked back up to see the mayor gesturing towards her right, where a small explosion of green gas clouded the stage. Out from the smoke emerged a… zebra?
"Oh Zecora's a zebra? Huh, Probably should have guessed that from her name", Twenty-Three muttered out-loud, catching Twilight's attention.
"Have you met a zebra before?" She asked. Twenty-Three nodded.
"Numerous actually. A lot of zebras immigrated to Prance once we colonized some of their countries so there's a pretty decent number of them", Twenty-Three answered.
"Follow me, and very soon, you'll hear the tale, of Nightmare Moon", the zebra said, throwing her cloak around her and vanished in the smoke as quick as she appeared. The audience cheered a bit at her act and then began walking in the same direction.
"Oh, we should go with them so you can learn a bit more about Nightmare Night!" Twilight said to Twenty-Three, smiling brightly. He couldn't help but feel that Twilight also wanted to go partly to simply attend something 'educational'.
"Okay", he said, eliciting a groan from Spike on her back.
"Ugh, do we have to?" He asked, sounding fine now. He even hopped off of Twilight's back. Twilight frowned down at him.
"Come on Spike, this is an opportunity to learn!" She said, causing Spike to roll his eyes.
"Fine, but only if I get extra candy", he said. Twilight seemed to debate a bit in her head before sighing.
"Well, I guess we could just tuck in early tonight if we're not going to join in the festivities…" She said, pausing dramatically. "Which, of course, means no more candy at all tonight."
Spike's eyes widened in fear and he waved his arms desperately in front of him saying, "Not that! Not that! We can go!"
Twilight did a little victory 'squee' before walking off.
"Come young scholars! We have much to learn!" She said happily, causing both Twenty-Three and Spike to sigh. They exchanged looks.
"Should've said no", Spike said as they walked after her.
"And put that", he said, gesturing to Twilight, "the personal student of Celestia and one of the most gifted unicorns in all of Equestria, in a bad mood? No thanks, I like my face and body how they are."
(Timeskip)
They had made their way towards the outskirts of town, where the Zecora was waiting for them by a statue. Twenty-Three studied the statue. It was an alicorn adorned with a ceremonial helmet and hoofwear. For some reason, he was vaguely reminded of Princess Luna. The crowd made it to the zebra and once she was sure everypony was close enough, she began speaking.
"Listen close, my little dears, I'll tell you where, you got your fears", she rhymed. Now that they were closer, Twenty-Three could see the look of rage on the statue's face. "Of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary."
She reached into her cloak and pulled out some… shining green dust? He was reminded of when she first appeared in the green gas. She blew the dust out of her hoof, where it swirled upwards and began taking shape.
"Of Nightmare Moon", the dust formed into the alicorn and began swooping down. "Who makes you wary."
The apparition crashed into the middle of the crowd and they were all blanketed by the green gas.
"Every year, we put on a disguise", Zecora's voice echoed around them. Twenty-Three noticed that Spike was actually looking around fearfully. "To save ourselves, from her searching eyes."
A couple of fillies screamed to their right, causing Spike to jump in the air. Zecora emerged from smoke, but quickly disappeared again.
"But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing, to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!" Her voice echoed. There was another scream… and a chicken noise or something. By now the cloud of gas had disappated and they could see everypony again. Zecora was standing beside the group, with another pile of dust in her hoof. She threw it up in the air.
"Hungry, she soars the skies. If she sees nopony, she passes by", she as the dust formed into a cloud with Nightmare Moon's upper body sticking out and moving around. "So if she comes, and all is clear, Equestria is safe, for another year!"
The cloud flew up into the air and burst, causing sparkling dust to rain down on the crowd. Twenty-Three followed a piece that eventually landed on the bridge of his snout. He shook his head to get it off before turning to Twilight.
"That was interesting", he said. Twilight nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, Zecora's really good with visual effects. It's really impressive especially as a unicorn as she doesn't use magic at all", she said. Twenty-Three saw that said zebra was talking to Pipsqueak. Actually, it looked like he had asked her something.
"A perfect question, my little friend", Zecora said outloud, attracting the interest of everypony else. They regrouped around her. "For Nightmare Moon, you must not offend."
She reached quickly into her cloak and pulled out more of the green dust. She blew it out of her hoof at the group, where it took shape into Nightmare Moon, walking towards them.
"Fill up her belly, with a treat or two, so she won't return, to come eat you!" The apparition jumped at the crowd, eliciting several gasps before covering them again in a cloud of gas. Twenty-Three heard several screams before Pinkie Pie's voice spoke above them.
"Everypony, dump your candy and let's get out of here!" She said, all of them rushing to the base of the statue and dumping their candy. Suddenly, a strong wind started blowing, whipping up leaves from the trees. Twenty-Three looked at Zecora, but she seemed anxious as well. Everypony looked up to see the cloud swirling in a vortex that only left them with a view of the moon. In a flash of light, a chariot descended. It was being pulled by two ponies who looked like they had bat wings. On the chariot was a cloaked and hooded figure whose horn was sticking out. The chariot sped down, causing the group to start becoming fearful. It swooped down and stopped above them. The cloaked figure was facing them and Twenty-Three could have sworn the figure looked familiar.
"It's Nightmare Moon! RUN!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, causing everypony but Twilight and Twenty-Three to run off. However, the chariot began following them into town. Twilight began following the chariot, and with a final glance back at the statue, Twenty-Three followed Twilight.
They ran all the way into town, where a crowd had gathered surrounding the chariot. The figure stepped off the chariot and began descending to the ground, rather gracefully. Twenty-Three noticed the hoofwear on the figure's hooves and immediately figured out who it was. After landing, and a simple flick of her neck, the hooded figure did turn out to be Princess Luna. All of the ponies began doing a mix of bowing and cowering in face of the Princess.
"Princess Luna", Twilight whispered, a smile growing on her face. She went to walk forwards, but was pulled down by Spike, who shushed her before she could speak. He then noticed that Twenty-Three also wasn't bowing. So he got his attention and indicated that he wanted Twenty-Three to bow. Twenty-Three looked from the dragon to the rest of the ponies before shrugging and bowing on the ground as well.
Princess Luna began walking towards the nearest pony and unfurled her wings, causing her cloak to come undone. Her cloak flew off with the wind, causing Twenty-Three to frown… that was a pretty nice cloak. She approached the mare and smiled down at her, which seemed to just frighten the mare even more. Princess Luna cleared her throat and raised of hoof.
"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE!" She exclaimed, surprising Twenty-Three with the sheer volume of her voice. There was also a weird echo in it. "WE HAVE GRACED YOUR TIME HERE WITH OUR PRESENCE, SO THAT YOU MIGHT BEHOLD THE REAL PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT! THE CREATURE OF NIGHTMARE IS NO LONGER, BUT INSTEAD, A PONY WHO DESIRES YOUR LOVE AND ADMIRATION! TOGETHER, WE SHALL CHANGE THIS DREADFUL CELEBRATION, INTO A BRIGHT AND GLORIOUS FEAST!"
There was a lightning bolt that struck somewhere and Twenty-Three sighed. He understood what she was trying to do, but her delivery was… rough.
"Did you hear that everypony?" Pinkie said standing up, causing Twenty-Three to sigh again. This wasn't going to help at all. "Nightmare Moon says she's going to feast on us all!"
Her and the group of kids that had been following her all night ran off screaming, much to Princess Luna's surprise.
"What?" She asked in bewilderment, no longer using the same volume or echo. "No children, no. You no longer have reason to fear us. Screams of delight is what your Princess desires. Not screams of terror!"
She slammed on her hoof on the ground and Twenty-Three swore he heard a crack. She whipped around towards the mayor.
"Madam Mayor", she addressed, but didn't wait for a response. "The Princess of the Night, hath arrived."
She then extended her hoof towards the mayor, probably waiting for a greeting. At least, that's what Twenty-Three guessed. It also looked like she was just pointing at her. After not getting a greeting, she tried to do the same to the mare next to the mayor but got the same reaction.
"What is the matter with you?" Princess Luna asked. She tried this on several more ponies but got the same reaction each time. "Very well then! Be that way! We won't even bother with the traditional Royal Farewell!"
Twilight got up and began walking, saying, "I'm going to go talk to her."
She was impeded by Spike though, who held onto her cape.
"You can't talk to her, she's Nightmare Moon", he said. Twenty-Three also stood up, his legs starting to fall asleep.
"No she's not, I saw the Elements of Harmony change her back to good", Twilight said. This piqued Twenty-Three's curiosity. "But it seems like she's having trouble adjusting after being gone for a thousand years."
Twilight began walking off back in the direction that they had came from. Twenty-Three looked down at Spike, who shook his head. He rolled his eyes and began following Twilight, despite the protests from Spike. He caught up to her, but they walked in silence as they entered the forest. They walked a bit, before Twilight suddenly perked up.
"Princess Luna", Twilight called out, making him focus on what was going on now. He saw said Princess, laying in front of the statue. Her head lifted up though at the sound of her name. "Hi, my name is-"
"Starswirl the Bearded", Princess Luna interrupted, standing up now and facing them. "Commendable costume. You even got the bells right."
"Thank you! Finally, somepony who gets my costume", Twilight said. If they were about to launch into a full on discussion about how great this Starswirl the Bearded was, Twenty-Three was going to somewhat regret tagging along. The two mares held eye contact, neither sure of how to continue. But Twilight tried first. "Uh… I just came to welcome you to our celebration. My actual name is-"
"Twilight Sparkle", Princess Luna interrupted again, before suddenly slipping into that loud and echoing voice. "IT WAS THOU WHO UNLEASHED THE POWERS OF HARMONY UPON US, AND TOOK AWAY OUR DARK POWERS!"
After recovering a bit of her senses, Twilight smiled at the Princess.
"And that was a good thing, right?" She asked.
"But of course", Princess Luna answered, using her regular voice again. "We could not be happier. Is that not clear?"
"Well…" Twilight said, picking her words. "You kind of sound like you're yelling at me."
"But this is the traditional Royal Canterlot Voice. It is tradition to speak using the royal 'we' and to use THIS MUCH VOLUME WHEN ADDRESSING OUR SUBJECTS!"
"You know", Twilight started after adjusting her hat and beard. Twenty-Three briefly wondered if Starswirl had to do such things as well. "That might explain why your appearance was met with… mixed results. I think if you just changed your approach a bit, you might be met with a warmer reception."
"CHANGE OUR APPROACH?!" She asked. Twilight had to flatten her ears a bit.
"Lower the volume?" She suggested.
"Oh… we have been locked away for a thousand years. We… are not sure we can", Princess Luna admitted.
"I think I know just the pony who to ask for help from", Twilight said, bringing a hoof up to her chin. It was here were Twenty-Three decided to make his presence known.
"Hello Princess Luna", he said, startling both mares.
"Oh jeez, I forgot you were there", Twilight said, having to take a deep breath to recover from the initial shock.
"Ah, Twenty-Three, it is good to see you once more", Princess Luna said, recovering fairly quick.
"Wait you two have already met?" Twilight asked.
"Twice actually", Twenty-Three answered, Princess Luna nodding in affirmation.
"Oh… well that makes things easier. Oh, and I can introduce you to Fluttershy", Twilight said, smiling.
"Fluttershy… the Element of…" Twenty-Three droned on for a bit, searching his memory.
"We believe she was the Element of Kindness if our memory serves us correctly", Princess Luna chimed in. He looked at her before nodding.
"Yes, that is correct, I remember now", he said, before adding, "She was the one who liked animals, correct?"
"Yeah, that's why she lives near the Everfree Forest", Twilight said, walking with the stallion and Princess in tow.
(Timeskip)
"Don't worry Princess, Fluttershy can give you some great pointers. She's delicate and demure with the sweetest little voice", Twilight assured. This had pretty much been the entire conversation while they walked. Princess Luna would express some doubt or worry and Twilight would reassure her. Twenty-Three just more or less walked behind them and stayed quiet.
They had arrived at some house that just made him think of the word cottage. Twilight approached the door and knocked a few times before a shout interrupted her.
"Go away! No candy here! Visitors not welcome on Nightmare Night!" It said from the other side. The three stood in a brief period of awkward silence as Twenty-Three and Princess Luna stared at Twilight.
"Uh… haha", she laughed nervously before going up to the door again. "Fluttershy… It's me, Twilight."
The door cracked up and a yellow pegasus peeked out.
"It is you", she stated, this time much quieter. She then opened the door more, seeing Princess Luna. "Oh, and Nightmare Moon… Nightmare Moon!"
She then proceeded to scream and slam her door shut. Twilight and Princess Luna exchanged glances, causing Twilight to laugh again.
"Wait right here", she said, Princess Luna rolling her eyes in response. Twilight walked into the house, briefly making Twenty-Three wonder what the point of closing the door was if she didn't lock it. Unless she didn't want a draft in her house. Twenty-Three walked next Princess Luna as several crashes could be heard from inside the house. They exchanged looks, but Twenty-Three just shrugged in reply. The pegasus reemerged from her house with Twilight pushing her forward. "Fluttershy, you remember Princess Luna."
"Charmed", Princess Luna said, using the echoes but not as much volume from before, as well as extending her hoof. Twenty-Three pinched the bridge of his snout with a hoof. The pegasus tried to run back inside, but was caught in the magical grip of Twilight. She brought the pegasus right in front of Princess Luna.
"Likewise", she got out. Based on the context, this had to be Fluttershy who was the Element of Kindness.
"Twilight Sparkle has spoken of the sweetness of thy voice. We ask thou teachest us to speak as thou speaketh", Princess Luna said. Fluttershy, who was no longer in Twilight's grasp, mumbled out a response. "Can our lessons begin?"
Fluttershy gave the same one word, mumbled response yet somehow was even quieter.
"Shall we imitate thy voice?" Princess Luna asked. Fluttershy managed to give out an even quieter response. "How is this?"
"Perfect, lesson over", Fluttershy said, speeding up to go back into her house, only to have the door shut in her face by Twilight.
"A little quieter, Princess", she suggested.
"How is… this?" Princess Luna asked, back to speaking at a level like she was addressing many ponies in a crowded room. She seemed to have an easier time talking to him, but he figured it had to with a mix of anxiety and wanting to follow customs she knew.
"Better. Right Fluttershy?" Twilight asked. Said pegasus removed her face from the door, looking fairly dazed.
"Yes", was all she gave.
"How… about… now?" Princess Luna asked.
"Now you're getting it", Twilight responded.
"And, how about now?" Princess Luna asked, speaking at normal levels again.
"Yes! Well done", Twilight congratulated. Luna then grabbed Fluttershy with her magic and pulled her into a hug… or at least tried.
"Uh, thank thee dear Fluttershy! Our normal speaking voice will surely win us the hearts of thy fellow villagers", Princess Luna said, more or less throwing Fluttershy around her shoulders like a construction worker would a bag of sand. Twenty-Three paused, that was an odd metaphor. Or was it a simile? He had never learned the difference. He heard hoofsteps behind him and he turned to see Pinkie Pie followed by the kids that she was apparently chaperoning now. He sighed, knowing that this wasn't going to end well.
"Fluttershy! You gotta hide us! Nightmare Moon is here and-" Pinkie suddenly let out a cluck. "She's stolen Fluttershy's voice so she can't scream when she gobbles her up!"
The kids screamed and then chased after Pinkie Pie as she ran off. Luna went to follow them.
"NAY CHILDREN, WAIT!" She called out, using the Royal Canterlot voice. She seemed to realize then and tried to correct herself despite that they were far gone now. "I mean… nay children, no wait."
"Well that escalated at a rapid pace", Twenty-Three remarked, startling Twilight again.
"I forgot you were there again", she said, taking a deep breath.
"Sorry", he responded. Twilight dismissed it and went over to Princess Luna.
"Come on Princess, time for Plan B", she said. Twenty-Three sighed, knowing this might be a long night.
(Timeskip)
They made their way all the way back towards the Nightmare Night Festival where they were immediately noticed and interrupted the dance or whatever it was called. Many of the ponies stopping to do that weird thing where they bow and cower at the same time.
"It is of no use Twilight Sparkle", Princess Luna stated. "They have never liked us and they never shall."
"My friend Applejack is one of the most likeable ponies around", Twilight replied, which Twenty-Three had to agree with. She sold some very delicious apples. "I'm sure she'll have some ideas."
They found the Element of Honesty at the… bobbing for apples station? Or was it just apple bobbing? She was helping out that colt Pipsqueak who was dressed as a pirate. However, once she turned and saw Princess Luna she immediately started to bow and cower… bower? No, that was already a word…
"Uh… Applejack", Twilight said, bending down towards her. "The Princess is looking for a little advice on how to fit in around here."
"Fit in? Really?" She asked, looking up at Twilight. Who replied with a face that read, 'Help me Celestia, you are doing this and that's final'. Applejack got up and laughed nervously, "Ah mean… that's easy! All yah gotta do is have the right attitude. Loosen up a bit. Be positive. Play a few games. Have some fun."
"Fun?" Princess Luna asked. "What is this fun, thou speakest of?"
"Ah, yes, fun", Twenty-Three chipped in. "I've heard a lot about it from Princess Celestia. Supposedly it's very enjoyable."
While Princess Luna seemed to understand, the other two mares looked at him in confusion.
"Ugh… yah know, why don't both of you come this way?" Applejack asked, leading them to what looked like a basket of… toy spiders.
"Pray tell, what purpose do these serve?" Princess Luna asked. There was a mare on the ground who answered her.
"Try, to land the s-s-sp-s-sp-s-spiders on the web", she answered, though she remained on the ground. Twenty-Three and Princess Luna both grabbed a spider and after some visual communication, Twenty-Three went first. He tossed the spider, which travelled about five hooves before landing on the ground. He turned to face the mares.
"This is much more difficult than I had first anticipated", he stated before stepping aside. Princess Luna seemed to swallow a lump in her throat before tossing the spider, which landed right in front of the web. She looked back to Twilight and Applejack, unsure of what to do.
"You can do it you two!" Applejack encouraged. Princess Luna then grabbed another spider and tossed it. They all watched as it sailed through the air before hitting the web, dead center.
"Ha! Your Princess enjoys this… fun", Princess Luna said, noticing that there ponies gathering around. "In what other ways may we experience it?"
Twilight and Applejack smiled at each other before leading the Princess off. Twenty-Three grabbed another spider. He tossed it, watching sail through the air and miss the web. He looked down at the bowl of toy spiders.
"I will figure you out… mark my words", he said, before following after the mares.
They were sitting in front of… miniature catapults. They seemed to have finished explaining what to do as Princess Luna grabbed a pumpkin and loaded it onto a catapult.
"Fire away Princess!" Twilight cheered. Princess Luna put some weight on it before letting it go. The pumpkin arced beautifully before smashing against the middle of the target.
"Haha! The fun has been doubled!" Princess Luna exclaimed, a chorus of cheers coming from the crowd that had gathered to watch her.
"Why don't you try bobbing for apples? We got the best apples in Equestria here, Princess", Applejack suggested.
"I ask that though call us… Luna", she responded. "Fair Applejack. Hear me villagers! All of thee, call me Luna!"
There was some talk amongst the crowd as the three mares continued and the stallion followed them.
"Show me to the bobbing apples", Luna said. She suddenly stopped before launching herself forward. Before any of them could ask what was going on, a very familiar voice distracted them.
"Hey gals, have anypony seen Pip? We lost him we had to run fro-" She then made another clucking noise, still to the mystery of Twenty-Three on exactly how- "Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak! Everypony run!"
The kids that were following her all screamed and chased after her. The little colt pirate ran between them.
"Ahh! My backside has been gobbled!" He yelled as he chased after the group.
"Tis a lie!" Luna shouted after them. "Thy backside is whole and ungobbled thou ungrateful whelp!"
There was a strike of lightning as everypony in the crowd began backing away from Luna, which she took notice of.
"Fair villagers, please do not back away. Let us join together in… " She paused for a brief moment. "Fun!"
She glanced around, before noticing a toy spider at her hooves… one that Twenty-Three had absolutely no fathomable idea how it could have possibly ended up there. She picked it up and threw it towards a group of mares, who just looked at it questioningly.
"Not enough fun for you?" She asked, her temper visibly rising. "What say you to this?!"
A spell shot out of her horn zapping the toy spider and… turning it into a real spider?
"You can animate non-living things?" Twenty-Three asked as ponies started screaming. "That seems entirely illogical."
She then zapped the entire bowl of toy spiders which then turned real and began scuttling about. Several jumped onto a mare in a bee's costume, bringing her down. Some crawled onto the webs. Twenty-Three saw one crawl right at him. He picked it up in his hoof, as it seemed to study him. He stared from it, to an empty web. He looked back at the spider and narrowed his eyes at it. He tossed it towards the web, and hit it dead center.
"Hey, I actually-" And then it crawled off the web and went after somepony else. "... That's against the rules right? I got that. Did anypony else see that?"
He looked around and saw that everypony was running around wildly, damaging stalls and running into each other. Princess Luna looked like she was trying to talk but was also beginning to panic. Twilight and Applejack were trying to calm ponies down. Eventually, Luna seemed to snap.
"BE STILL!" She shouted in her Royal Canterlot voice, causing everypony to freeze and bow on the ground.
"Princess remember, watch the screaming", Twilight said, running up to her.
"NO TWILIGHT SPARKLE, WE MUST USE THE TRADITIONAL ROYAL CANTERLOT VOICE FOR WHAT WE ARE ABOUT TO SAY!" Luna yelled down at Twilight. She then began to steadily rise in the air. "SINCE YOU CHOOSE TO FEAR YOUR PRINCESS RATHER THAN LOVE HER, THEN DISHONOR HER WITH THIS INSULTING CELEBRATION, WE DECREE THAT NIGHTMARE NIGHT SHALL BE CANCELLED… FOREVER!"
There were many sudden gasps from the crowd, who were mostly standing at this point.
"Awh shoot, we had everything going our way. Luna was happy. Everypony in town was happy. Now look at 'em", Applejack said, gesturing to the crowd where most adults seemed to be trying to comfort the kids and those who weren't just looked lost.
"It's not over yet", Twilight said, grabbing the attention of Applejack and Twenty-Three.
"What are ya gonna do?" Applejack asked.
"I'm going to do what I do best", Twilight started. Twenty-Three was unsure though about using magic in su- "Lecture her!"
Applejack and Twenty-Three stared at her.
"Twilight, that sounds like a terrible idea", Applejack said, with Twenty-Three nodding in agreeance.
"Nonsense!" Twilight said, running off after Princess Luna. Twenty-Three rolled his eyes and ran after her.
"I wonder what Spike's been up to this whole time", he mumbled to himself.
(Timeskip)
Twilight eventually found Princess Luna crossing a bridge in a part of town that Twenty-Three didn't even know existed until just know.
"Princess!" She called out.
"Leave me be Twilight", Luna responded, not stopping or even looking at her.
"Princess… I'm sorry it hasn't worked out how we planned it", Twilight said, causing Luna to stop and look back at her. "But, you have to believe me when I tell you that Nightmare Night is one of the most popular celebrations we have."
"Yes, I can tell with all the adoring shrieks of the children as they run away", Luna responded, with what Twenty-Three was pretty sure at least, sarcasm. She then continued walking forward. Twilight opened her mouth to say something but stopped. She then looked back to Twenty-Three. He saw a fire in her eyes.
"Come on, I think I know what we need to do", Twilight said, running back into town.
"Weren't you going to lecture her or something?" Twenty-Three asked himself before running after her. "And is it normal to run so much on this holiday?"
(Timeskip)
"Twilight…" Twenty-Three asked, watching the mare work.
"Yes?" She asked back.
"... Are you positive that one, this will work and two, that this is necessary?" He asked her as she placed down the last piece of candy.
"To answer both those questions, of course", she said, grinning at her work. "Now hide over here and wait for my signal."
They both walked over towards the end of the alleyway. Sure enough, Pinkie Pie came within thirty seconds… pecking the candy wrappers open and eating the candy. Twenty-Three watched her with some sense of fascination. He'd never been on a safari… but this is probably what they're like. Once Pinkie Pie got the second to last candy, Twilight sprung and tackled her, trapping her against the wall with a hoof over her mouth.
"No! No shrieking! No squealing or screaming either, okay?" She asked Pinkie Pie, who just let out a muffled 'okay'. Twenty-Three though just stood there awkwardly. Had he missed the signal? Because this seemed to have escalated at a rapid pace.
"There's something I want you to see and I promise it's safe, but you really, really, really can't shriek", Twilight said, her voice soft again. "Do you promise not to shriek?"
Pinkie Pie nodded and Twilight stepped away before looking at Twenty-Three. He raised a brow before understanding so he told Princess Luna, who they had asked to give them one last chance, to entire the alleyway… which still seemed like a terrible place to do this in his opinion.
Pinkie Pie saw Luna and made a series of clucks before physically shushing herself.
"Pinkie Pie, you remember Princess Luna, right?" Twilight asked as Luna stepped forward.
"Ah… the ringleader of the frightened children", Luna said, before looking away and seeming unsure of what else to say. "Hast thou come to… make peace?"
She extended her hoof out to Pinkie Pie who seemed hesitant at first but then went to shake her hoof. Twenty-Three was distracted as a black cloud suddenly appeared above the two… where had he seen it before? He was reminded by a sudden flash of light and a crackling sound.
"Nightmare Moon!" Pinkie Pie yelled as she ran to exit the alleyway, leaving behind… an egg? Okay seriously, what was going on?
"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled up at the pegasus who was laughing on the black cloud. Twilight then disappeared of flash of light and reappeared in front of Pinkie Pie, who had also been running on her hind hooves… an impressive display of balance and agility. They collided and rolled until Twilight had pinned her down.
"She's changed Pinkie! She's not evil or scary anymore! She definitely doesn't want to gobble you up", Twilight said refusing to let her get up, however she stopped and stared at Twilight.
"Well, duh", she responded, surprising Twilight.
"Huh?!"
"I know that. Sheesh Twilight, I'm almost as big as her, how is she going to gobble me up?"
"So why do you keep running away and screaming?" Twilight asked, genuinely confused at this point.
"Sometimes it's just really fun to be scared", Pinkie Pie explained.
"Fun?" Twilight asked, before an idea came to her like a light bulb being turned on. "Pinkie Pie, you're a genius!"
"No I'm not, I'm a chicken", Pinkie Pie retorted before making a chicken noise (I don't know what it's called okay! You know? The BGOK noise?).
Twilight rushed back over to Princess Luna and Twenty-Three, who definitely was not secretly still bothered about how one bobs for apples.
"Princess Luna! I finally figure out why you're having trouble being liked", she said, causing Luna to roll her eyes.
"Forgive me, if I withhold my enthusiasm", she replied.
"Come with me, I'll explain everything on the way", Twilight said, walking off. Princess Luna and Twenty-Three exchanged looks with Twenty-Three just shrugging and following Twilight.
(Timeskip)
"Are you sure this is going to work?" Twenty-Three asked Twilight as they, and Princess Luna, stood behind the Nightmare Moon statue.
"I share his doubts as well", Luna voiced.
"I'm positive this will work, you just have to trust me", she replied. They heard voices approaching and fell silent. They waited until they were sure that the ponies had finished with the Candy Offering. How candy was supposed to satisfy a pony-eating demon, Twenty-Three wasn't quite sure. In fact, he had some nagging feeling that it was devised by parents to keep their children from eating too much candy, but what does he know.
"Okay, Luna, just we talked about", Twilight said, causing Luna to sigh and put in the fake vampire teeth. Using a spell to whip up wind like when she first arrived, she began their plan.
"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! YOU WERE WISE TO BRING THIS CANDY TO ME! I AM PLEASED WITH YOUR OFFERINGS! SO PLEASED, THAT I MAY JUST EAT IT, INSTEAD OF EATING YOU!" While they were distracted she climbed onto the pedestal of the statue, teleported the statue off and used illusionary magic to make herself look like Nightmare Moon. All the ponies, kids and adults alike, screamed when they saw her and they all ran off. Once they were out of sight, she dropped the illusion and spit out the fake teeth.
"I am not certain that did what you meant for it to do, Twilight Sparkle", she said.
"Just wait", was all Twilight responded with as Luna jumped down from the pedestal.
"For what? For them to scream some more?" She asked when suddenly something tugged at her mane. She looked down to see the colt who she had pulled out of the barrel of water and apples.
"Um… Princess Luna, I know that there's not going to be anymore Nightmare Nights… but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?" He asked her. She looked over to see the same group of children from before.
"Child, are thou saying that thou liketh me to scare you?" She asked him.
"It's really fun!" He answered. "Scary, but fun!"
"It is?"
"Yeah, Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year."
"Well then, we shall have to bring NIGHTMARE NIGHT BACK!" She yelled, causing the colt to actually fly back several hooves.
"Wow! You're my favorite princess ever!" Pip said before running up and hugging her leg. He then ran back to the group of children. "She said yes guys!"
Twilight walked up to Princess Luna as the group erupted into cheers.
"See?" She asked her. "They really do like you Princess!"
"Can it be true?" She asked out loud.
"I think you're pretty cool", Twenty-Three added as he joined them, blank face ever present as the sun began to rise.
"OH MOST WONDERFUL OF-" She stopped short and corrected herself. "I, uh, I mean, oh most wonderful of nights."
(Timeskip)
While Luna had gone back into town to partake in the festivities once more and Twilight had said something about a 'friendship report' which he was pretty sure was just the letters she sent to Celestia, Twenty-Three had decided to call it a night. Of course, not until he had seen this 'apple bobbing'. Which, after watching, everything made sense. But now he was back home and in his bedroom. He wrestled his tie to undo the Trinity Knot before balling it up. He stared at it and then at his travelling bag. He put his bag in the hallway and went back into the bedroom, leaving the door open. He turned around and studied the bag before looking at the balled up tie in his hoof. He weighed it a bit before tossing it towards the bag. It travelled about five hooves before unravelling and falling to the floor. He narrowed his eyes and picked it up.
"You may have won the battle today", he said to the tie. "But I will win the war."
He stuffed the tie into his bag and moved it back into his bedroom. He laid in bed and sighed contentedly. He had spent all day learning about an Equestrian holiday and it had been… fun, he thought. At least, he imagined he was having fun. Or what he thought fun felt like. Which was pretty hard when you have a lack of emotions.
PLEASE READ
Alright, I know I said last chapter that I tried to update earlier in the month… but I'm lazy. Also, this isn't fully edited so sorry if there were a bunch of errors, I'll notify y'all though if I get the full edits up. And, I expect some reviews about my question I asked earlier! In fact, I'll open a poll about it so if people are more comfortable with that they can do that as well as get me some EXP for polls since I've never done one. But I'm expecting at LEAST 5 reviews otherwise I'm not sure on how to progress. Anyway, I'll list some pro v con stuff for doing these chapters based off my opinions. Pros: chapters will be longer (rather noticeably), I can do these faster ironically (took me four days to get this out), you see more canon stuff so not much worries about OOC, some humour brought into the episodes, more chapters of the story. Cons: Pretty much filler, Not as serious as before, see less of Twenty-Three, writing is simplified, basically reading episodes with little to no change in the outcome, information about Twenty-Three will be revealed more through dreams than in real-life. That's just some stuff that I noticed and based off of my own opinions. I'm pretty much up for either in all honesty so it's really up to the readers. Sigh… one of these days I'll have a short AN. Just not today. AAAAHHHH, please follow and favorite.