PyraohXBlaze - Why thank you, I thought that was a nice little touch myself :D

DragonLovingBrony - Oh, don't worry, that's still happening, it just hasn't gotten to that point quite yet.

KyuubiMakai009 - Ah, that's kind of what I figured. I can't say I'd use an idea like that, but if I do, I'll be sure you get credit.

xXRebelxShadowXx - Hmm... Can't say I've ever read any of the EG fics out there, but if you'd like, I could give you a hand. You'll have to get creative with your contact info though, the site deletes anything that's written as an email address or website address.

KillerBeast 1998 - Well, to be perfectly honest, my own OC looked very much like her, at least his coat and mane colors, but I created him before the first movie was even announced, so I didn't know about her at the time. Once the first EG movie came out, I changed his colors to keep him original.

Lone The Dark Hearted Wolf - Eeyup

PBJFanFiction - Lol I dunno why, but I read that 'yay' in Fluttershy's voice in my head... Well, she hasn't explained it herself yet, but one would guess that that's how Chrysalis wanted her to refer to herself. And that's second person; the way Trixie talks is third person. And her 'natural form' would be what she looks like when she's not using magic to disguise herself. So in other words; a fairly typical changeling.

shadows being - Lol you ain't kidding. And thanks :D

Kyguy - Hmm... it's always assumed that changelings lay eggs... but is that really how they reproduce? They could have live births for all we know...

coldshadow92 - Well, here's more! (Sorry it's a little delayed, info will be in the A/N)

pianouniverse - Oh, don't worry, Blake will sing again... eventually... As for Derpy... We'll have to wait and see, won't we?

Mikalzilla - Lol right? Hmm... I actually haven't decided if I'm going to add that in or not.

KillerWoW - As if he would do any differently... :P

SquirtlePWN - That'll be explained in this chapter.

The Blackening - Neither can I to be honest... It's strange though; it doesn't feel like this story's been going on for nearly that long though.

ShadowfireAngel - Lol well fine then! :P

DarkSpider11 - Yup. Not gonna lie; manly tears were shed when I saw that little short. Eh, pony names are like that I've found.

centaurus2 - Lol maaaaybe... ;)

A/N - Howdy everypony! Sorry for yet another late update; I got roped into cleaning the in-laws hot tub yesterday... and I do mean by myself, so I was busy from around 8AM to about 6PM doing that, and I crashed at round 9PM, which was shortly after I finished making dinner (Which I didn't even have the energy to eat by that point). I was so busy in fact, that I pretty much only had time to eat some biscuits and gravy before I got started. Beyond that though, not much new to report on this end. As always, don't forget to follow/favorite, review, and most importantly; enjoy!

I eventually got over my initial shock at the gorgeous and strangely sexy outfit Twilight was wearing, which she had explained was styled after something she'd read about in a book, something ancient unicorns with strong magic used to wear as a sign of their station. When I finally managed to collect my jaw off the floor, we decided to head out.

We collected Luna first, and I felt blood once again rushing to my lower regions as I saw her in her outfit; it seemed to be a fairly standard, stereotypical witch's outfit, but the way she wore it, the way it hugged her curves just right, was out of this world. It was subtle enough to go over any younger ponies' heads, but was overt enough that any stallion, and possibly some of the mares, who saw her would be jealous of me for having the heart of a beautiful mare like her.

Scootaloo and Dinky were next. The former of the two was dressed like some sort of eighties hair-metal band member, while the latter was painted up to look like a tiger. The pair really were adorable, and Twilight and Luna apparently agreed, as they both 'Aww'ed at the sight of the little fillies.

Derpy, unfortunately, was made to work, meaning that she would have to catch up with us later on in the evening. Rarity had told me that she had made some improvements to her costume, but I had yet to see them, and I was actually fairly curious to see what they were.

The four of us headed out into the evening air, and headed for town square, where several games and other Nightmare Night themed attractions awaited us. I spotted Applejack fairly quickly, running an apple-bobbing game and wearing a foal-friendly timberwolf getup. She also had a stand nearby selling her usual run of apple-related treats, and a new addition of candy apples that I guessed were only for this particular night.

"Hiya everypony!" A high-pitched, energy-filled voice that could only be Pinkie Pie's suddenly called out enthusiastically from behind us.

We all turned to see Pinkie, wearing a large, foam number four and carrying an umbrella, which was casting a light shadow on her in the moonlight. Twilight stared at her for a moment before facehoofing. "Pinkie Pie… Please don't tell me you're 'four-shadowing'…"

The eccentric pink mare giggled and smiled. "Sure am! It was Blakey's idea!"

Twilight gave me a look that seemed to ask; 'Why… why would you do that?'.

I chuckled at Luna's deadpan expression as the pun clicked with her. "What can I say? She lost a bet."

Twilight's ears perked up. "What bet would that be?"

I grinned at her. "I heard that she likes to put hot sauce on everything, so I bet her that she couldn't handle spicy foods as well as I could."

She blinked several times in surprise. "And you won?!"

Pinkie nodded so vigorously I was afraid her head was going to pop off. "Yup! He had some weird peppers… I don't remember what they were called, but they were super spicy!"

"They were some of the ghost peppers Wanate gave me before we left. I have to say though; I'm impressed she did as well as she did; not many people… or ponies… can handle something that hot."

"Y'all're crazy Sugarcube!" I snorted out a laugh as AJ called out to us from her apple-bobbing stand.

Twilight shivered. "I remember Applejack telling me about the one she ate… I can't say I'm surprised Pinkie lost if they're really that hot… But… why make her wear this costume for losing?"

I winked at her as my laugh died down into a chuckle. "Because I thought it would be funny; either other ponies would get a laugh out of the pun, or I would get a laugh out of their reactions."

Twilight groaned. "I swear, sometimes I don't know what to do with you…"

A smirk creased my face as I leaned down and whispered in her ear. "Oh, I'm sure you know exactly what you could do with me…"

She shivered at the implication, and then smiled, somewhat lustily, up at me. "Down boy…"

I stood up and looked around the square, still smiling. "So, what should we do first?"

Scootaloo hopped up and down, waving her forelegs in the air. "Ooh! Ooh! I wanna launch some pumpkins!"

Luna smiled at the suggestion. "I too enjoyed that game. Come, let's launch some pumpkins!"

I allowed the four to lead me over to the field near the Whitetail Wood, where I saw several small catapults set up, ponies happily loading pumpkins into them and stepping on the bucket before jumping off of it to launch the bright orange squash down range towards a number of targets that had been set up.

I watched the spectacle for a moment. "Man, it's a wonder no one gets jacked in the jaw by that thing…"

"Look, I see an open one over there!" I followed Twilight's pointing hoof and saw that there was indeed an unmanned catapult, just waiting for us to use it.

As we approached the open launcher, a blur of pink shot past us, stopping behind it. "Look Daddy! I found us an open one!" I felt my blood heat as Diamond Tiara, dressed in an overly extravagant, stereotypical princess costume, complete with pointed hat and sash, called past us as though we weren't there.

I quirked an eyebrow at the filly, but Luna beat me to the punch. "Oh, did you now? Never mind that we were very obviously headed towards it, and no more than three meters away when you shot past us."

The pink filly actually glared at her. "Listen here, missy! I don't care how good your Princess Luna costume is, or why you bothered to wear another costume over it! The fact is, I got here first, and that makes this catapult mine!"

It was Luna's turn to quirk an eyebrow at the little filly's outburst. "And what, pray tell, makes you think that my appearance is a costume?"

The oblivious little filly pointed a hoof at her. "Oh, come on! For starters, that mane is so scraggly compared to a real Princess's… and don't even get me started on how ratty that fur looks! What even is it, an old carpet?"

I could literally feel Luna's rage radiating off of her at the obnoxious little filly's comments, and I couldn't blame her. I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Don't even listen to this little brat, Lulu… she wouldn't be worth the space she'd take up in a prison cell."

Diamond Tiara then turned her attention o me. "And you! I know you're just a monkey, but it's pretty low to play into these sick little fantasies! I mean, just the fact that this mare is even around something as repulsive as you makes it easy to see that she's not the real Princess Luna; she'd never be caught dead with the likes of you!"

I was about to say something, but a stallion's voice from behind caused me to hold my tongue. "Diamond Tiara! What on Mythis do you think you're doing?!" I turned and looked over my shoulder to see Diamond Tiara's father, Filthy Rich, and his wife, Spoiled Rich, walking towards us.

Her father seemed to be a good stallion, and we seemed to get along fairly well on the rare occasions we'd had to actually interact, and he seemed especially amiable towards me after the whole 'foalnapping' incident a few months back. Her mother, on the other hand was a spoiled, manipulative mare, and I could easily see where Diamond Tiara got her rotten personality from.

"I'm trying to explain to the trained monkey that I saw this catapult first! He's trying to take it away from me! And he's playing into the delusions of this weird mare that thinks she's Princess Luna!"

The pair walked past me, and I was glad that Spoiled Rich seemed content for the moment to let her husband do the talking, though that was perhaps only due to Luna's presence. Her father glared at her sternly. "Diamond Tiara! I've told you before that Sir Marshall is not a monkey; he is a human being, and he's also Knight-Defender of the Realm. He is to be spoken to with respect and civility. And that is not an imposter! That is the real Princess Luna!" He turned to us. "I'm sorry about this, Sir Marshall, Princess Luna, I really don't know what's gotten into my daughter."

Diamond Tiara's jaw dropped. "Daddy! Don't tell me you actually believe that this… this fraud is the real Princess! It's probably really a timberwolf under there!"

Rich's pupils shrunk to pinpoints at the outburst, but Luna stepped forward. "You truly do not believe me to be who I say I am? Then watch the moon, and I will show you that you are, in fact, speaking ill of the true Princess of the Night." Her words were so filled with ice and venom that I wondered why Diamond Tiara didn't simply cease to exist.

The little filly huffed and complied. "Fine! But don't go running off crying when I start laughing… at… you…" Her voice trailed off as we all watched Luna's horn light up, causing the moon to shift slowly through its phases, from a waxing crescent all the way up to a full moon, then shrinking down again until it disappeared as a new moon, and stopping when it returned to a waxing crescent again. The formerly confident filly was now quaking inside her princess costume, not daring to look back at us. "R-real P-princess…" She stuttered.

Luna enveloped her in magic and spun the filly around to face her. "Yes. You have heavily insulted not only a member of the royal family, but her future husband as well. Either of these offenses alone are punishable by a prison sentence. Fortunately for you, you are still a filly, and therefore can't be punished as an adult for your actions." Diamond Tiara breathed a sigh of relief. "However, that does not mean that you will escape punishment… I'm sure your mother and father will take care of that quite nicely." She looked to the cowering filly's parents as she finished speaking.

Filthy Rich nodded to Luna, and then glared at his daughter. "That's right. For starters, your Nightmare Night is officially over young lady." Diamond Tiara's eyes went wide in horror. "You'll also be helping to take these catapults down in the morning… and I do mean the morning; as in, you will be awake and working before Princess Celestia raises the sun." Diamond Tiara's eyes opened wider, and started to fill with tears. Her father's stern expression didn't waver in the slightest. "And that is just the beginning; your mother and I will be having a talk about what we'll be doing for the rest of your punishment later tonight, after you've gone to bed with no dinner."

Luna set the stricken filly on her hooves, and her parents led her away, with her mother shooting us a rather angry glare that seemed to have been lost on the others as they went.

Dinky and Scootaloo were quiet for some time afterwards, as was everypony else as we watched them leave. I cleared my throat, dispelling the silence. "So… now that that's over, what say you all teach me how this game works?"

Twilight blinked and shook her head vigorously. "Wait wait wait… You and Luna are getting married?! When were you going to tell the rest of us?"

I grinned sheepishly. "I um… Sorry Twi… a lot happened after I proposed to her, and I never really found a good time… I mean, what was I supposed to do, tell you and Applejack while we were trudging through the Everfree, or after Dash broke my nose with a cantaloupe?"

Luna nodded next to me and sighed. "He's right, Twilight… our lives have all been far too hectic lately to give everypony the news. We haven't even had time to plan a ceremony, or even decide on a proper date for when the wedding should take place. I myself haven't even told my sister about it yet…"

Scootaloo and Dinky were both wide-eyed as we spoke, and looked at one another with excited grins. "Do you hear that, Dinky? Mama Luna and Papa are getting married! Isn't that so cool!?"

Dinky bounced up and down a few times. "Yeah! Then Daddy can marry Derpy, and I can have a big sister and a daddy! It'll be so awesome!"

I chuckled and scooped the two smiling fillies up and placed them on my shoulders. "Don't get too carried away, girls; that's still a ways off after all." I paused and looked to Twilight, to let her know that I was including her in the next portion of what I had to say. "And I'd like to propose to everyone in the order that I started dating them, so that nopony feels like I'm playing favorites. I'm not going to ask all at once because I love them all dearly and I want them all to have their own special day, when the time is right."

Dinky looked down at me from her perch on my shoulder. "So… that means you're gonna marry my sister third?"

I nodded. "That's right, Dinky; your sister is the third mare I started dating, and she's going to be the third one I propose to." I gave Twilight an apologetic look, since I knew that what I was telling them meant that I was going to be proposing to her last, but she gave me a soft smile in return, seemingly grateful that I had implied that I was going to propose to her at all. I returned the smile and looked up at the fillies. "Anyway, how about that catapult?"

The pair grinned at each other and hopped off of my shoulders, landing at a run and heading for the available pumpkin launcher. Twilight grinned at me as the two fillies stood by the wood and metal machine, waiting for us. "So Blake, did you have anything like this back on Earth?"

I chuckled as memories of my first Halloween outing with my grandpa flashed into my mind. "Are you kidding?! We had a whole sport dedicated to it; it was called 'pun'kin' chunkin', and it was awesome! People would spend years sometimes building machines that could launch the things farther and faster… it was always fun to watch."

Luna smiled at me. "Yes… I remember seeing you at such an event through Celestia's memories…"

I paused and regarded her. "What do you mean 'through her memories'? I thought you were watching me too?"

She shook her head and blushed slightly. "No… I was still imprisoned on the Moon when she began her search; I didn't see you outside of her memories until just a few months before we brought you here."

I blinked a few times. "I… I never knew that… I always thought you were both watching me together."

She shook her head again. "I wish I could have, but that is not the case."

I took a deep breath and nodded. "I see. Well, that's all ancient history now, and it doesn't really change anything, so I say; 'why worry about it'? Besides, we've got a pair of feisty fillies to enjoy Nightmare Night with."

Luna smirked at me as we approached the catapult and the fillies. "I believe I remember you saying something very similar in regards to another event of your past."

I chuckled and looked the launcher over. "I wouldn't doubt it… Ok you two, how does this thing work?"

The pair grinned and went over the 'instructions' with me. Apparently, it was no more complex than; load, draw back, release, and they demonstrated for me once, though it took both of them to actually weigh the thing down enough to draw it back. I watched as the orange squash flew through the air and landed miserably short of the target in front of us. The fillies didn't seem disappointed though; instead, they seemed more excited to see me give it a shot.

Not wanting to disappoint, and being quite interested myself, I grabbed a pumpkin from the pile next to the launcher and pulled it down, kneeling to make sure it was drawn back far enough before releasing. The five of us watched as the squash sailed through the air, ultimately landing short of the target as well, though not by much.

Dinky and Scootaloo jumped up and down excitedly. "Wow! Didja see how close Daddy got to the target, Scootaloo? Go again, Papa, I wanna see you hit the target this time!"

I chuckled at her enthusiasm and patted her on the head. "Thanks Dinky, but it wouldn't be fair to Luna and Twilight if I took all the turns myself. We'll make it fair for everyone and all go in turns. You'll get to see me launch another one off, I promise." The girls gave disappointed 'Aww's, but didn't object.

Twilight stepped up to the launcher next, eyeing the target carefully for a long moment before loading a pumpkin and drawing it back. I could see by the look in her eye that she was doing calculations in her head, though in a world that seemed to run almost as much on comedy as it did on physics, I had no idea how effective they would be.

Twilight released her pumpkin, and, true to my suspicions, it sailed clear over the target, landing on some poor pony in the distance, if the pained groans that followed were anything to go by. Twilight's cheeks turned crimson with embarrassment, and she backed away from the catapult with an equally embarrassed grin.

Luna went next, and to everyone's surprise, more given our luck so far than anything else, she actually hit the target. The fillies cheered and Twilight smiled brightly at her and told her what a great job she did. I on the other hand, settled for a more sedate form of congratulation; a loving kiss on the cheek, and a warm smile.

Luna smiled and blushed lightly, and motioned me up to the pumpkin launcher once more. I eyed the target carefully, though with nowhere near the level of scrutiny that Twilight had, and loaded my pumpkin again. This time, once it was low enough, I held the launcher down with my foot, pulling it back quickly when I was sure the launcher's arm was at the right tension.

The bucket shot up in an arc, stopping when it hit the cross-brace and sending the orange pumpkin flying through the air. I watched as the brightly colored projectile arced through the air, coming down and splattering squarely in the center of the target. Scootaloo and Dinky cheered and hopped around while Twilight and Luna gave me warm smiles.

I chuckled and shook my head, leaning in close to the two mares. "Beginner's luck… I'll probably never be able to make another shot like that again…"

Luna shoved me playfully. "Oh, come now… I'm sure you'll do just as well for the rest of the evening."

I waited as the girls all took their turns on the launcher again, and watched as they all came tantalizingly close to the bullseye, but either falling just short, or overshooting by a slim margin.

Finally, it came to be my turn again, and I repeated what I had done the last time. We all watched as the pumpkin sailed through the air… and landed with a *SPLAT!* on the ground behind the target. I shrugged and stepped aside. "Told you…"

Luna looked like she wanted to say something, but never got the chance, as Scootaloo and Dinky started prancing around and whooping. "Ooh! Ooh! We want to go apple-bobbing now!"

I chuckled and looked over to the other side of the town square, where Applejack was diligently running both her apple-bobbing station and her concession stand. I smiled warmly at her as she looked up and noticed me, and she returned it with a wave of her hoof. "Sure girls, sounds like fun."

The fillies laughed and giggled as we made our way over to the apple-bobbing area. Applejack smiled brightly and trotted over to us. "Well howdy y'all! Ah was wonderin' when ya'd be payin' me a visit."

I walked up to the country mare and gave her a deep kiss. "How could I go the night without seeing the sweetest timberwolf in all Equestria?"

She chuckled and kissed me back. "Ah think yer in tha wrong place fer that, Hon; Aurora's still back at tha house."

I wrapped her in a hug. "No, she's the most adorable… that still makes you the sweetest…" I leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "And the sexiest…" She shivered in my arms.

She cleared her throat as she blushed heavily. "S-so… Y'all here ta do some apple-bobbin'?"

Luna gave her a knowing smirk, and nodded. "We are… the fillies here suggested it, and we all thought it would be a fun game to play after launching pumpkins from the catapults."

AJ smiled brightly. "Well, y'all're in luck! Ah just so happen ta have a few open tubs right over here!" She led us over to a pair of large, wooden tubs that were filled with water and floating apples. "Y'all enjoy now, and remember; if'n ya get tha special apple in tha bucket, ya win a prize… you'll know which one it is." She smiled at us and trotted off back to her station to tend to the other ponies that were also apple-bobbing.

I looked at the four girls. "So… how are we gonna do this?"

Twilight looked around. "Well… I'd say we should have no more than three to a bucket… but beyond that, I'm really not sure."

Luna looked at the tub closest to us. "Each of us could take turns bobbing against the fillies. That will increase their play time as well as leave more tubs free for other ponies to use."

Dinky grinned. "Yeah! I like that idea! That means we get even more chances to win the special prize!"

I chuckled and watched the two little scamps take their places by the tub, waiting for one of us to start the game with them. "Well… that settles that I guess. So, who's going first?"

Luna pointed a hoof at me. "I believe you should have that honor, Love; this is your first Nightmare Night after all."

I wanted to argue against the special treatment, but I knew it was a pointless effort, so I saved myself the trouble and just went along with it. As I knelt down, I became aware that the centaur costume I was wearing wasn't exactly the most agile of constructs, even with the amazing articulation that Rarity and Hammer Hoof had no doubt worked together for who-knows-how-many hours perfecting. Once I was down, Dinky looked over to Twilight and Luna. "Will you count us down, Mama Twilight?"

Twilight stood there for a moment, a dumbfounded look on her face at the title she'd been given. She shook her head to clear it, and nodded. "Oh… R-right…"

Luna giggled next to her. "Don't worry about it overmuch, Twilight; I had much the same reaction the first time little Scootaloo called me 'Mama Luna'…"

I chuckled at the memory. "Yeah, I remember that… I don't think you would have been more surprised if your own sister had said it to you…"

This got everypony to laugh, including Twilight, which as was a relief. Luna stuck out her tongue at me. "You're being mean to me again…"

I chuckled and smiled at her. "Oh, you love it." I punctuated my point by sticking my own tongue at her, which earned me a mock gasp and subsequent 'Hmmph!'.

Twilight giggled and looked to us. "Ok you three… on three. One… two… three!"

The three of us dunked our heads into the tub at the same time, each flailing blindly to latch onto one of the many apples floating within. I finally managed to grab one, and pulled my head out of the water. Scootaloo had an apple too, a red delicious from the look of it, but Dinky was still under the water, struggling with the apple she'd latched onto.

I was about to intervene when she popped her head out of the water, clutching the biggest apple I'd ever seen in her teeth. "Holy… Well, I guess we know which ones are the 'special' ones…"

Right at that moment, I felt a strange, yet familiar tingle in the back of my mind. I felt the smile that was already creasing my face at Dinky's victory widen as another victory became apparent to me; slowly, very slowly, Falathiel was waking up.