Trixie was not amused when I told her I hadn't spent my day in school and her anger only rose to new heights when I let slip Twilight Sparkle was the one that had led me to Zecora's home.
She all-but exploded in rage and the terminology she used was far from repeatable in front of any audience.
I lost all my privileges because of that day, and Trixie said that if she hadn't gone into town that day to get me a costume for Nightmare Night, I would not have been allowed to partake in the festivities.
But the money had been spent, and I would just have to repay her for her kindness. I had to take her word for it, as I had not seen a costume anywhere in the carriage...
I slept uneasily that night, worrying what my tasks would be the next morning, but my lack of sleep meant I didn't have any nightmares to bother me.
A small relief, as I was faced with the task of not only making tea and sandwiches for breakfast, but also doing the dishes afterwards - something Trixie usually did as she worried about me breaking things.
With the threat of more restrictions following if I broke even a single item ringing clear in my ears, I somehow managed to survive the chore with everything still in one piece.
Trixie didn't say anything about it, instead just produced some saddlebags made of brown leather, a slightly darker shade than the brown of my coat, and proceeded to secure them to my form a little too tight for comfort.
I knew this was meant as punishment, so I tried to swallow my discomfort. Besides, what could I say with my mouth reduced to a small hole through which I could only whistle?
Trixie led the way into town and on to the market, stopping at Quills and Sofas (A store selling quills and sofas nearly exclusively) to get a new quill for herself. It disappeared into one of my bags and we continued on to browse the other stalls.
She bought an empty book to write in, a new frying pan since the one we had had a dent in it ever since the wheel incident, and a bag of alfalfa.
The book and pan went in with the quill on my left side, and the alfalfa went into the saddlebag on my right side, balancing the weight relatively well.
It wasn't perfectly balanced, but I could easily correct it while walking.
With the weight of the saddlebags slowing me down, Trixie started to use her magic to tug on my collar, half-dragging me through town as she continued her shopping trip with no apparent goal in mind.
Trixie just seemed to be looking at everything that she could find, moving from one stall to another, and even into some of the larger shops to have a look around.
We made a wide arc around the area in town that held the tree library Twilight lived in, but we pretty much saw all the rest of town before she decided to head back home again.
I was exhausted by the time we got back to the carriage. I had not been used to carrying so much weight on my back, and while Trixie had bought herself an apple for lunch, I had not been given any food since breakfast.
It wouldn't be time for dinner for another hour, but I had considerable trouble hiding my growling tummy from her.
I climbed up on the landing, half-tripping as I misplaced one of my hooves on the few steps leading up, and then just collapsed in a pile of misery.
Trixie had already headed into the carriage, and used her magic to take the items from my bags and put them in the different cabinets in which they belonged.
She finally unbuckled the straps of the saddlebags once they were empty, and I sighed from relief as the pressure the straps had forced upon my form let up.
With more freedom to breathe, I was able to recover enough to get up on my own hooves and at least head for my pillow pile, where I curled up and promptly fell asleep without having even had dinner yet.
I slept without dreaming that night, probably because of the exhaustion I felt, and woke up refreshed the next day.
It was spent much the same as the former, with the difference that instead of going to the market with Trixie, I was put to work on Sweet Apple Acres instead.
I had to help Applejack with her applebucking by magically moving filled buckets of apples onto a cart until the cart was full.
The cart would then be pulled over to the farmhouse by Big Mac, who emptied the buckets and returned the cart back to us. I then had to put the empty buckets back under the trees that still needed to be bucked so the process could repeat itself.
Trixie left me in Applejack's care after getting bored watching me, and even if I was supposed to be punished, Applejack was nice enough to give me something to eat and drink while we were waiting on the cart's return.
It was not a bad day, considering. Tiring, but not bad. Applejack told a few stories about life on the farm while we were working, helping the day go by faster.
Applejack really helped keep my mood up, even when the headaches started from overusing my magic, but with her support I still managed to keep a smile going until Trixie came to pick me up.
I was experiencing a doubling of my vision by that time, but both of Trixie looked like I was far from forgiven just yet.
I did manage to get dinner in, even if I had to resort to using my hooves as - try as I might - I could not get my magic to work in any reliable fashion.
Trixie's grumbling at having peas randomly launch themselves at her face quickly told me to stop trying.
Another dreamless night followed, but the headaches were still there the next day. It was bad enough that even Trixie took notice of it.
That little sliver of her caring about me showed in how she thought up an easy enough task for me to do, something that didn't require me to use my magic; I had to watch grass grow.
I'm not kidding; I was told to sit down beside the cart and watch the grass grow. All day. While she did her own things without me.
I was given permission to come inside the cart again for lunch, but then had to go back out and stare at the grass moving in the breeze that swept across the land.
If it hadn't been for my headache I could have done a lot of thinking, but mostly I lay there where I was told to sit, my chin resting on my forehooves, and my eyes sort of half staring at the grass and half staring into nothingness.
I mostly just wished for pain relief medication, but did not dare bother Trixie to ask for any.
I honestly don't remember what else I thought of that day. It was so, incredibly, boring...
Dinner came around at some point, and I was happy to see the alfalfa we bought earlier that week used in the dish.
Trixie had burnt it of course, but it still looked like a nice... er... something-or-other that could have at one point been an attempt at making a pie of sorts.
The attempt at a pie had fallen apart, and Trixie had mashed it into little pieces and fried it in a frying pan afterward to make it look like it was meant to look that way.
The bits that weren't burnt weren't that bad, really. She had got most of the ingredients right and the time in the frying pan had let some flavors come to their right which would have otherwise become lost in the pie.
My head didn't hurt that badly anymore as I went to sleep, and I actually dreamt this time.
In my dream, I was in a sort of half-space between Equestria and the human world.
I was back in the street I had used to live at, with the buildings on either side of the road obscured by the trees of the Everfree Forest.
It was night, and the moon was shining brightly in the clear sky, the mare in the moon clearly visible upon its surface.
This shadow upon the lunar surface started to take a more clear form as I looked at it, and a body formed to meet the head that placed itself a few feet away from me, Nightmare Moon looking down at me with some confusion on her face.
"DO NOT BE SCARED, YOUNG FUU!" she cried out, and I responded by being frozen in place from mortal fear.
She frowned at my response, shook her mane, and then looked around.
"THIS PLACE IS UNFAMILIAR TO US. WE HAVE SEEN SOMETHING SIMILAR IN THINE DREAMS BEFORE. IT INTRIGUES US." Nightmare Moon continued, and I felt cold sweat run down my flanks.
"It... It does?" I managed to squeak out, my voice barely a whisper compared to Nightmare Moon's booming voice.
She turned her eyes back to me and snorted. "DID WE NOT JUST SAY THAT?"
I cringed and tried to back away, but my body remained frozen in place.
Don't you just hate dreams like that? Being unable to do anything and just... stand there... while the thing you fear can do just about everything you're scared of it will do?
I was praying and hoping Trixie would wake me up before Nightmare Moon would gobble me up...
"WE TOLD THOU NOT TO BE SCARED. WE MEAN YOU NO HARM. WE MERELY WISH TO UNDERSTAND WHAT THESE PICTURES MEAN," Nightmare Moon continued, but all I could see was her fierce visage in front of me.
She was towering high above me, her voice making my ears ring even if they were resting flat against my head.
"WE HAVE LIMITED TIME TONIGHT. WE WOULD LIKE YOU TO COME MEET US IN CANTERLOT!" Nightmare Moon decided, and I whimpered while slowly shaking my head.
"I don't think Trixie would allow that..." I muttered.
"TRIXIE?" Nightmare Moon demanded, and I managed to get enough control over my form to fall flat against the ground, peeping out my answer.
"My guardian; Trixie Lulamoon..."
"WE SEE. THOU STAYS NEAR TO PONYVILLE, DOST THOU NOT?" She asked, and I nodded quickly to her question.
"WE ALREADY HAVE PLANS TO VISIT THINE TOWN TWO NIGHTS FROM NOW," she stated what I already knew. "WE HOPE TO SEE YOU AFTER THE FESTIVITIES, YOUNG FUU. WE FEEL WE HAVE MUCH TO DISCUSS."
I didn't know what to think of that. On the one hoof I knew Nightmare Moon had been changed back into Princess Luna after Twilight Sparkle had used the Elements of Harmony on her.
But on the other hoof, all the stories I had been told in the past week about Nightmare Moon coming to gobble us up on Nightmare Night, and her appearance in my dream, made me fearful of her in a way I could not rationally explain.
"THINE DREAM IS COMING TO AN END. WE WILL LOOK FOR YOU ON NIGHTMARE NIGHT, YOUNG FUU." Nightmare Moon suddenly broke through my thoughts, and as I looked up I noticed her body started to go up in smoke while her face merged back into the shadow on the moon's surface.
The smoke continued to expand as Nightmare Moon disappeared, spreading from the moon to the stars to the trees and the buildings, the street... and then I opened my eyes as I woke up.
There was no headache anymore, but I felt a little queasy from the remnants of my fear washing out of me. I sat up and stared at the wall opposite me as I tried to make sense of what I could still remember of the dream.
It was fading quickly, as dreams tend to do, but one thing kept repeating itself in my head. Nightmare Moon said she would look for me on Nightmare Night... Two nights from now.
Nightmare Moon said she would look for me. Personally.
Nightmare Moon. Me. On Nightmare Night. With her looking for me.
I shivered as I tried to put away the fear of getting gobbled up. There was no choice now; I would have to get enough candy together to distract the mare in the moon for long enough so that I could sneak away and remain out of her sight...
Trixie was still asleep, judging from the mild snoring sound that came from the bed. My hope that her dreams were better than mine soon faded as I heard her mumble angrily about "that Twilight filly".
It was clear that the events of last season were still weighing heavily on Trixie's mind.
I lay my head down again in the hope to catch some more sleep, trying to ignore the sleepy mumbling coming from the bed. Sleep came quickly again, and I slept a dreamless sleep until Trixie woke me up again for breakfast.
Trixie took me over to Sugarcube Corner, telling me to help the Cakes out baking their wares.
I tried my best, really I did, but after the third mess of flour hitting the floor rather than the mixing bowl I was put in the front of the store to help customers with their orders.
Sitting on a stool behind the counter so that I could actually look out over it, I helped a lot of Ponyville's residents throughout the day, feeling my cheeks burn each time one of them remarked how helpful I must be to the Cakes and how good it was of me to show my interest in running a shop.
I even got tipped a few times, even if all I really did was use my mouth, hooves, and a little magic to move their orders to the counter and take their money in return.
When Trixie came to pick me up, I had a small bag of coins to present to her and Trixie stared at it in surprise before half snorting a compliment my way.
It clearly was not what she had expected, but she took it "as payment for your transgressions" while barely able to suppress her smile, and I knew it was ok.
I slept a dreamless sleep that night, waking up the next morning to be told by Trixie to keep myself busy around the cart while she went out to "make preparations".
Her words confused me, but I did as told; doing the dishes, cleaning up the cupboards a little, and laying down on the front porch to continue reading my Daring Do book once I was done with it all.
Trixie arrived home just before sundown to find me caught up in a particularly exciting bit of the story; Daring Do had only just escaped from a trap laid by Ahuizotl.
When Trixie's hoof poked me in my side as she passed me by I leapt from the porch as if I had been a pegasus trying to take flight. Unfortunately, lacking the wings of one, I then came crashing back down just as quickly again.
While I was picking myself back up from the ground, Trixie emptied out the saddlebags she had been wearing and stored them in the drawers under the bed, then pulled a costume out from those same drawers and placed it down on top of the bed.
I tucked my book back under my pillows before peeking at what she was doing, and Trixie stepped aside to give me a bit of a better look at it.
It was a onesie in my size; grey with a lighter off-white underside to it. Where I expected a hole for a tail was instead a small fluffball. The outfit's hood had a pair of long ears stitched on it and it made me recognize it for what it was supposed to be.
"Is that a bunny costume?" I asked of Trixie, who just narrowed her eyes at me and motioned her left forehoof in a downward gesture.
"Lower your voice or Trixie will mute you, you know Trixie likes her peace at home," she warned, but then smiled at me regardless. "You wanted an outfit for Nightmare Night. Trixie found you one which should suit you."
I honestly didn't think I had been that loud, just asking a simple question, but I was starting to notice a pattern in Trixie's behavior: She always was more sensitive to sounds and prying questions after having been out to town. Something about being among the other ponies made her antsy and she needed to calm down from it back home in our cart.
She clearly loved the attention while on stage, but anything more than superficial contact with others got on her nerves or something. Like she was afraid to be seen without her performer's mask on.
I expressly focused on speaking softer as I peered at the outfit again. "You think I'd look good as a bunny? That's what you think best suits me?"
"Trixie came to the store late; most of the costumes had already been sold. This was among the remaining ones," Trixie remarked with a huff, her smile disappearing. "Do you want it or not?"
"I appreciate you going through the effort for me, miss Trixie," I spoke, smiling my most genuine of fake smiles at her in the vain hope it would stop her mood from souring more.
She stared at me for a moment as if to judge whether I was being honest with her, then just nodded. "Yes, of course Trixie would put effort in for her assistant to experience her first Nightmare Night. I fully expect a similar effort in actually listening to what Trixie tries to teach you, Fuu."
"Yes, miss Trixie," I sighed. "I'm doing my best."
She narrowed her eyes to me, then motioned to the outfit. "Good. Now try it on."
"What, now?" I squeaked in surprise.
"Trixie needs to see if it fits you or if you need to visit Rarity's shop to have it altered," Trixie explained, in a surprisingly gentle tone. "We only have a day left before the festivities start, so you would have to go in the early morning."
I wasn't looking forward to getting up early in the day if the festivities happened later at the fall of night. I would be too tired to truly appreciate the festivities, and to then talk with Nightmare Moon afterward.
She would surely gobble me up if I fell asleep when she was trying to talk with me!
I used my magic to pull the costume up toward me noting it was basically a full suit with no zippers visible on it. I figured I had to just put my back hooves down through the same hole my face would stick through, then pull it up around me from there.
Finding the back legs of the outfit, I rolled the sleeves up a little to be able to put my back hooves in them as if they were socks, then pulled the suit up to my rump with my magic.
There was a bit of stretch to the material, which helped when I had to stuff my tail hairs into the inner bag of the fluffball. Once I got them all in and pulled the suit up around me some more, I noticed I could move this bunny tail as if it was my own, what with my tailbone connecting to it just the same.
It wasn't too uncomfortable, just a bit of a funny feeling to have these tail hairs stuck in a ball.
Trixie was watching me with her right eyebrow slowly rising up.
I decided to stop focusing on my tail and instead pull the suit up further, sticking my forelegs into their respective sleeves before pulling the hood up further over my head.
My ears fitted into the bunny ears sewn on top of the hood in a similar fashion as my tail fitted into the bunny tail, even if they would not help to keep the big floppy things raised up.
Now fully wearing my bunny outfit, I struck a pose on a whim.
Trixie frowned at me.
"The collar shows under the suit," she spoke dismissively. "You're going to have to pull the hoodie up underneath it or wear a scarf. This just looks weird."
"Do we have a scarf I could wear, miss Trixie?" I wondered.
"No," she replied simply, staring me down.
I sighed and pulled the hoodie off again, then worked it under the collar and pulled it up anew so I was wearing it properly anew with the collar now on the outside of the suit.
"How's this, miss Trixie?" I asked, and she gave me a slow nod.
"Turn around. Let Trixie see the fit," she demanded.
I turned around in the small space of the cart, being scrutinized by Trixie's discerning eye.
Once I had done a full turn, I noticed she was smiling at me.
"Good, Trixie bought the right size. You don't need to go to town in the morning," she considered. "Take it off again while Trixie makes us some sandwiches for dinner."
"Yes miss Trixie." I agreed, promptly pulling the hood off my head. "Sandwiches sound good."
"Sandwiches won't burn when Trixie looks away for a second," my guardian grumbled. "They are obviously superior to pie."
"And they taste very nice when you make them, miss Trixie," I tried to boost her self-confidence on the subject, attempting to be supportive as Zecora had told me.
"You're just saying that because you have a limited palate, Fuu," Trixie huffed as she got to work preparing our meals. "Trixie hasn't shown you the world beyond Ponyville yet. Perhaps Trixie should get her show out on the road so you can see more."
I continued to undress myself, then folded the suit up carefully and placed it at the footend of the bed.
"You did say I should get my magic under control so I could help you with your shows, miss Trixie," I reminded her.
"Yes, Trixie remembers," she hummed while putting some alfalfa and other ingredients between slices of bread. "You have made great progress, but Trixie can't have you crashing down between shows as you have these past days with the headaches and nightmares. Trixie wonders if they will leave you after some time. We will have to see."
I'm sure it was just pragmatic to not have to deal with a hurting and tired filly after each show, but Trixie's words still made me feel like she did care for me even with her dismissive attitude.
"Is there anything I can do besides using my magic?" I wondered carefully, sitting down on the ground a little away from her as she finished up the sandwiches.
"Trixie wouldn't know. Using Trixie's magic is what led Trixie to overcome her own problems. Maybe you're just hit with it harder because you used to be a human? This is something to consider," she returned to me.
Trixie sat down on her bed and floated her own plate with sandwiches over to herself, looking at me pensively.
"Honestly, most of the problems Trixie sees with you is because you used to be a human," she stated slowly. "You have too many questions, you don't act like a normal filly. You only half listen when Trixie speaks."
"I do listen," I protested, glancing between her and my own plate still on the sink. "There are a lot of things I don't know, but I do try to follow along as much as possible."
Trixie studied me while bringing a sandwich up from her plate, then spoke past it. "Get your plate already. Why are you waiting for Trixie to tell you to get it? You're obviously hungry."
"Because you sometimes want me to show initiative, but punish me for showing initiative at other moments. I honestly don't know when I'm allowed to do something or not, miss Trixie," I stated bluntly.
Trixie narrowed her eyes at me but took a bite from her sandwich instead of remarking about it, and I quickly grabbed a magical hold of the plate and sandwiches she had left out for me and pulled them toward myself to do the same.
With both of our mouths now filled with tasty food, I could only just glance at her every so often to see an expression I could only guess at.
She was clearly thinking some things over, taking this moment of quiet to set her thoughts straight, but I was sure I had crossed a line just now.
I had only spoken the truth; she had been going back and forth so often that I was just waiting for her to tell me what to do instead of going by my own initiative.
Trixie finished with her sandwiches and put her plate down on the sink, then just fell down on her bed and pulled her legs up to herself.
"Trixie will work on communicating better," she mumbled. "It is clear you don't pick up on body language and need more explanation."
"You're mostly just sulking on the bed or looking at me as if I've done something wrong," I mumbled. "I don't know what I can read out of that."
"That being an adult is tiresome," Trixie grumbled.
I floated my empty plate over to the sink and placed it on top of hers.
"Want me to do the dishes, miss Trixie?" I asked gently.
"Yes. And make Trixie something to drink while you're at it," she agreed. "You'd best stay up a little longer tonight and then sleep until late in the morning tomorrow; Nightmare Night starts when twilight sets in and lasts for a few hours longer than your usual bedtime. But try to remain quiet; Trixie needs her own rest."
"Yes miss Trixie," I agreed before getting up to go do my tasks.
With the dishes done and tea made for both Trixie and myself, I settled on my stack of pillows on the ground and sipped my own tea while reading my book.
Trixie just rested on her bed with her own tea until she moved her cup over to the sink and left it there.
I barely noticed when she had fallen asleep as I was too engrossed in this Daring Do book until I had finished reading it fully.
After I cleaned up our mugs as quietly as possible and had put my book away, I turned the light off and fell asleep myself.
Nightmare Moon stood towering over the lands of Equestria, her head at the same height as where I had expected the moon to be, her body breaking through the clouds, each of her legs a massive skyscraper.
One of her massive hooves stood on the fields of Sweet Apple Acres, with Applejack trying to buck at it in a futile attempt to get her to lift it again.
I realised with horror that that hoof stood where I knew the Apples' family home to be, and I could only guess at the fate of Applejack's family members.
Nightmare Moon's head turned slowly in the air as she beheld the lands under her.
"NIGHTMARE NIGHT IS SOON UPON US! WE SHALL VISIT PONYVILLE TOMORROW!" she decried in a loud booming voice which parted the clouds before her.
"AND WE WILL SEEST THOU THERE, YOUNG FUU," she reminded me, her head coming down from the sky toward me at a frightening pace. "PERHAPS YOU WILL FEAR US LESS WHEN WE MEET IN PERSON!"
I could only peer up at her huge face before me as I once more stood frozen from fear.
"WAKE UP, FUU," she spoke again, the air from her breath flinging me backward into Trixie's cart behind me.
I crashed into my stack of pillows, flailed around to get my bearings, and then got captured by somepony else's magic.
"No! Let me go! Don't gobble me up!" I cried out, struggling against the magic hold on me.
"Fuu!" Trixie called out. "Snap out of it. You had a nightmare again."
I looked around in bewilderment, hovering a few inches above my pillow pile as I was still held by Trixie's magic.
She stood only two paces from me, closer to the door, her horn glowing.
Daylight shone in from the half-open door behind her, not a sign of Nightmare Moon.
I tried to control my breathing as I noticed I had been hyperventilating, and Trixie took that as a sign to lower me down upon my pillows again.
"Trixie will be happy when you are done with these nightmares, Fuu. They are a nuisance," she decided.
I nodded my head to her statement. "I will be too, miss Trixie. My heart is pounding so fast I swear it's trying to escape from my chest."
"Well, don't let it," Trixie returned with a smirk. "It's already past lunchtime. Trixie thinks we should go to town so you can meet up with your friends. Get your costume on, Fuu."
"Are you going to be taking part in the festivities as well, miss Trixie?" I wondered as I looked around myself for the costume.
"That depends on if there is a calm spot where Trixie can just have a drink and not be bothered too much," she told me. "Trixie is not dressing up for it. That's something for you foals."
I used my magic to lift my pillows off the floor, looking under them. "Where did the costume go?"
"You kicked it under my bed," Trixie stated.
"Oh, thank you miss Trixie," I answered here, looking under her bed for the crumpled-up costume and pulling it free with my magic.
I quickly got dressed up and made sure to put the collar on the outside of the suit as Trixie had instructed me to do the day before.
She walked out of the carriage without waiting for me, and I quickly pulled my saddlebag out from where it was stored, put it on, and shoved my book in it before walking out as well.
Trixie had already walked toward the road and I closed the door to our cart before hurrying after her.
She looked back at me with a questioning look on her face. "Why did you put your saddlebag on?"
"I finished my book, so I thought to bring it back to the library and swap it out for the next volume," I explained.
Trixie just sighed and used her magic to pull my bag off me. "You're not doing that. Wait here while Trixie puts your bag away again."
I watched as she walked back to the cart with my bag in her magical hold, put it in the cart, and then returned to where I stood.
"I don't get why you did that," I stated honestly as I walked beside her to her right. "I thought it would save us some time since we're going into town anyway?"
"What would you do with a book while gathering up candy?" Trixie asked me pointedly. "Your costume looks better without saddlebags on it."
"So I'll just be a collared bunny then," I chuckled weakly. "I guess I'll have to do it tomorrow after school."
"It's Nightmare Night tonight; there is no school tomorrow. You have missed a few days in class, but surely somepony would have mentioned it before then?" Trixie wondered.
I shook my head at her. "No, miss Trixie. I wasn't aware."
"This is what Trixie meant; the problems with you missing clues because you were formerly a human," she pointed out with a sigh. "Too many things Trixie needs to inform you about which anypony growing up in Equestria would have been aware of much faster already."
"I guess you're right, miss Trixie," I mumbled. "There are a lot of unsaid things which aren't explained to me by anypony until they become an issue."
"That is what Trixie said," Trixie pointed out. "The Great and Understanding Trixie will just let you have your night of fun, but she will expect you to learn about these things more proactively starting tomorrow, Fuu. It might not be a school day, but there are enough ponies other than Trixie whom you can ask to explain things for you."
"Yes miss Trixie," I agreed, noting we were turning toward the market square.
A number of stalls were set up, properly dressed up with spooky decorations, and games were set up a little distance away from the food stalls. There was also a large podium which was still being set up with some last minute corrections to the starry drapes by a couple of pegasi, under the watchful gaze of Rarity.
The sun was still high in the sky, but even so there were a number of younger ponies already going around with their guardians, all of them dressed in various costumes like I was.
The only ones not with their guardians were Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and a third pony who I could only barely recognize as Apple Bloom by way of the big bow she wore on her mane.
Scootaloo had dressed up as a Werewolf, Sweetie Belle was very clearly a vampire, but the most work had gone into Apple Bloom's Bride of Frankenstein look.
Applejack's little sister had a big wig on, on which her usual bow had been placed after it had first been cut up and badly stitched together again.
She also had a bunch of fake tattoos of stitching all over her face and body as if the notorious doctor had stitched her together from different bodyparts taken from other ponies.
"Hi girls," I offered as I approached them, and the trio turned to face Trixie and myself.
"There she is, I told you she was gonna be fine," Apple Bloom suggested. "She worked the fields with my big brother and sister just the other day."
"But I got worried about her since she wasn't at school," Sweetie Belle hissed past her false fangs.
"Well, she's here now," Trixie pointed out. "You're her friends, so keep an eye on her. It's her first Nightmare Night and Trixie has to do grownup things."
"Yes miss Trixie!" all three of them exclaimed loudly, making both Trixie and me wince from the loudness of their combined voices.
"Oh! Have you met Pipsqueak yet, Fuu?" Sweetie Belle asked all of a sudden as if she just remembered something.
"Of course not," Scootaloo pointed out with a roll of her eyes. "She wasn't at school when he joined our class."
"Pipsqueak?" I wondered, noting Trixie just walking off from my peripheral vision.
"It's his first Nightmare Night as well," Apple Bloom told me. "He moved here from Trottingham, ya know?"
"I didn't even know there was a place called Trottingham until yesterday," Sweetie Belle admitted. "Rarity said she'd show me on a map but she was too busy with sewing outfits for everypony."
I tried to follow the conversation, turning my head from one of the girls to the other and the suit's left bunny ear flopped down over my left eye as a result.
I blew air up to try and get it out of my face, but it just flopped back again so I had to move it with my magic a moment after.
"Ooh, you've gotten better with your magic, Fuu?" Sweetie Belle realised.
"Yeah, although I've had a few days of bad headaches and nightmares from it," I admitted to her.
"Oh, I used to get those all the time as well," she told me with a smile. "You'll grow out of those."
"Wait, you unicorns get headaches?" Apple Bloom wondered in concern.
"Yeah," Sweetie Belle stated with a big grin. "That's normal when we first learn to use our magic."
"So that's like the pain from when your pin feathers grow out then?" Scootaloo considered, looking back at her wings sticking out of the werewolf costume she was wearing.
"I guess?" Sweetie Belle admitted, and I likewise shrugged at the question.
"I'm not sure I know what that would feel like; we don't have feathers," I pointed out.
Pinkie Pie suddenly popped up between us and pulled us into a big hug, with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo on her right and Sweetie Belle and me on her left.
"Are you ready to gather up some candy? Ba-gawk!" the pink pony dressed like a chicken clucked in our ears.
"Oh yeah!" three out of four of us shouted out, the other Cutie Mark Crusaders far more in tune with one another than I was compared to them.
Pinkie turned her head almost impossibly toward me to peer at me past the fake beak she had propped up on her nose.
"How 'bout you, Fuu?" she asked. "Are you ready to get candy?"
"It's Fuu's first Nightmare Night," Applebloom pointed out, and Pinkie let go of us all in shock.
"Her first Nightmare Night?! Buk, buk, ba-gaaawk! We have to make sure she doesn't get gobbled up by Nightmare Moon then!" she decried.
"It's mah first Nightmare Night too, miss Pinkie Pie," a very British sounding voice called out from beside me, and I turned my head to find a much smaller young colt dressed like a pirate walk up to us.
I quickly compared his size to mine and realised I wasn't the shortest in our group anymore.
"We MUST gather candy, for the sake of these two foals not getting gobbled up on their very first Nightmare Night," Pinkie Pie said with a very serious face. "Follow me, everypony!"
I was taken aback by how quickly the afternoon turned into a mad swirl of Pinkie Pie deciding where we younger ponies would go, but the group just grew under her guidance and soon I was unable to do much else but follow everypony else's example.
It was a lot like Halloween, in a way; we'd go around from door to door and sing this silly rhyme; "Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!"
We would then get candy in our special Nightmare Night bags which Pinkie Pie had made sure we all carried on us, and move on to the next house.
I recognized a few of the ponies who opened their doors to us; having met them out in town before or in school. We got a bunch of goodies at our teacher Cheerilee's house, something Pinkie Pie especially was very happy with.
As the chicken went over the contents of her bag, Cheerilee took me aside a moment.
"How are you doing, Fuu? We have missed you at school these past few days," she asked with a worried look on her face.
"I have been having a lot of headaches and nightmares lately, miss Cheerilee," I answered. "Trixie thought it would be best to keep me at home so I could rest up."
I thought Cheerilee would have been confused by that, what with her being an earthpony, but she instead gave me a bit more candy.
"It's good to hear you're just going through some growing pains, Fuu," Cheerilee told me with clear empathy to her voice. "Some of my classmates back when I went to school were late bloomers like yourself; unicorn magic doesn't grow at the same speed for everypony. If you need to take a few more days off, I can come by with some homework so you don't fall behind in class?"
I thanked her, but Pinkie Pie pressed me on to continue moving to collect more candy so I rejoined the group.
So far so much like Halloween back home.
My bag had filled up with quite a bit of candy before nightfall, but then Pinkie Pie suddenly directed us all to the main square where the mayor of Ponyville decided to hold a speech dressed as a clown.
The mayor introduced Zecora to us, saying she would explain the story of Nightmare Night, and I was immediately invested as the Zebra walked out of a green cloud with spiders stuck to her mane.
"Follow me, and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon," Zecora started, then led us away from the podium to the edge of the Everfree Forest.
"Listen close, my little dears, I'll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary. Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary." she continued, using green dust to make Nightmare Moon appear in the sky and come charging us.
"Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes," she continued, hiding in the dust she had spread around the area. "But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!"
More dust was spread around, and Nightmare Moon was searching around as Zecora continued talking.
"Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!"
Zecora threw a lot of effort into her storytelling, and I must admit to having been scared by a few of these depictions appearing around me, but then Pipsqueak walked forward to ask a question I had not even considered.
"Uh, Miss Zecora, if we wear costumes to hide from Nightmare Moon, so she won't gobble us up, how come we still need to give her some of our candy?" he asked the Zebra.
"A perfect question, my little friend. For Nightmare Moon you must not offend." Zecora answered. "Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!"
At this last part she released more of her magical green smoke and Nightmare Moon jumped at us from out of the cloud in a fearsome vision of her trying to eat us!
We all cried out in fear, but then Pinkie Pie said "Everypony! Just dump some candy and get out of here!"
So we all did, dropping some of our candy out of our bags at the foot of the statue of Nightmare Moon.
The wind picked up as I was pulling candy out of my bag, and I looked up as the rest of us did.
The clouds parted and a dark chariot pulled by a pair of evil-looking ponies descended from where the moon sat in the sky, a third pony shrouded in darkness riding the chariot down to the ground.
I backed away with the group I was in, trying to figure out what was going on, but then suddenly Pinkie Pie shouted out;
"It's Nightmare Moon! Run!"
And we did.
We ran away from the statue as if the devil was on our heels, right into town as Pinkie Pie tried to lead us to safety.
My heart beat fast in my chest as the chariot followed us and landed in the town square, and we all dropped to the ground in fear.
Princess Luna stepped off her chariot and addressed the crowd cowering before her in fear.
"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! WE HAVE GRACED YOUR TINY VILLAGE WITH OUR PRESENCE, SO THAT YOU MIGHT BEHOLD THE REAL PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT! A CREATURE OF NIGHTMARES 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!"
A crack of lightning quickly followed by a clap of thunder followed her loud shouting and I am sure I let out a whimper.
Pinkie Pie jumped up and cried out, "Did you hear that, everypony? Nightmare Moon says she's gonna feast on us all!"
I ran.
Pinkie Pie ran, the group of foals I was with ran, and I ran with them, in a disorganised stampede until Pinkie Pie slowed down again and turned to us.
"I don't think we're being followed. Has anypony been gobbled up?" she asked, doing a quick headcount as we all calmed down from the frightful event.
I was panting hard at this point, being led around from one frightful situation into another. I had not run so much since coming here, except for that one day when I had to find a doctor for Trixie, and I was definitely feeling it.
"Buk, buk, buk. We have to go to Fluttershy's house. She can keep us safe from Nightmare Moon!" Pinkie Pie half-clucked.
"As... as long as we don't have to run," I panted out.
"Aww, sure. We can walk; it's not that far," Pinkie offered with a grin. "I'm sure she'll have candy too!"
She led us out to Fluttershy's cottage on the edge of town and called out "Fluttershy! You've gotta hide us! Nightmare Moon is here and..."
Pinkie Pie did a doubletake as we saw Fluttershy in princess Luna's grasp, supposedly dead or fainted.
"Bakawk! Ah! She stole Fluttershy's voice so she can't scream when she gobbles her up!" Pinkie declared, and ran past us again the way we came.
I had no choice but to follow the group as we ran back to town again, trying once more to find safety.
"Hey, has anypony seen Pipsqueak?" Apple Bloom asked, far more used to running and not at all out of breath yet.
Pinkie Pie stopped dead in her tracks and we all sort of collided into her as there was no way for us to stop that quickly.
As we sorted ourselves out, Pinkie did another headcount.
"Oh, you're right! We are missing Pip!" she noticed. "Let's go look for him before he misses out on all the fun!"
She clucked to herself as she turned for the town square again, and I just tried to make sense of this night of running and ducking for cover.
The gathering up of candy was fun, but then it had all devolved into a right mess.
When we came to the games area, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack were waiting there for us.
Pinkie Pie addressed them; "Hey, gals. Anypony seen Pip? We lost him the last time we had to run..."
She did another doubletake and I looked ahead to spot Luna halfway through eating Pipsqueak!
"Bakawk!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed again. "Aaah! Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueak! Everypony run!"
And we were back to running for safety, with Pip catching up to us.
I could hear Luna shouting behind us, but I just ran with the group since Pinkie Pie was leading us around this way and that, and I didn't want to end up alone during this frightful night.
We finally returned to the square where everypony were in a dire state.
A few of our group left to join their parents, who were all in various states of shock.
"Well, that's it for Nightmare Night, Apple Bloom," Applejack suggested in a sad tone as she approached her sister and the rest of us Cutie Mark Crusaders.
"What do ya mean, Applejack?" Apple Bloom asked in shock.
"Ah, princess Luna just as much told us so, it's sad but true," Rarity offered as she walked over to us as well. "Perhaps we should head home then, Sweetie Belle?"
"But this can't be the last Nightmare Night!" Pipsqueak decried. "It's only been my first!"
"Mine too," I added, wondering why I was feeling so bad to hear this scary time was apparently over.
More of our group disbanded, and Pinkie just stood there seemingly in shock at everypony around her being all out of sorts.
I looked around in an effort to find Trixie, but she was nowhere to be found.
Pinkie suddenly wandered off but since she wasn't leading our group anymore I didn't follow.
I joined Pipsqueak and a few others near the podium, waiting for Trixie to come find me.
"Gosh. I never thought my very first Nightmare Night would be my very last," Pipsqueak considered.
I sighed in empathy, but then Zecora piped up. "Come, little Pip. Now don't you fret. Nightmare Night's not over yet. We still have candy left to give, so Nightmare Moon might let us live."
I perked up, noting that Applejack was talking with Twilight Sparkle off to the side, but then turned to walk in our direction.
The mayor walked up to us, still dressed as a clown. "Yes. Come on, little ponies. What's Nightmare Night without the annual candy offering? You don't want Nightmare Moon to gobble you up, do you?"
Spike walked by with a bunch of skull-shaped lights on a string, and I heard him say "Aw, the rainbow wig just kills it for me."
Applejack joined up with us and spoke "Come on, kids! Doesn't that sound like fun?" in way too eager a tone.
"What's the use?" I wondered, but Zecora and the mayor led us all out toward the statue again anyway.
We each deposited some more candy at the statue, and I looked up at it as it was my turn.
This was the Nightmare Moon from my dreams. This was the horrible monster who was supposed to gobble us up.
I had seen the princess Luna a couple of times now, and she had looked... different.
And she had told me in my nightmares that she wanted me to be less afraid of her, so why was she scaring us so much?
I walked away from the statue to let the others deposit their candy as well, and could hear Pipsqueak muttering behind me.
"Goodbye, Nightmare Night. Forever," he said.
There was a gust of wind and Nightmare Moon's voice called out from somewhere but it sounded like it came from all around.
I noticed the adults were as confused as we were, and we were all trying to figure out where the voice came from.
"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE! YOU WERE WISE TO BRING THIS CANDY TO ME. I AM PLEASED WITH YOUR OFFERING. SO PLEASED THAT I MAY JUST EAT IT... INSTEAD OF EATING YOU!" Nightmare Moon decried, and suddenly appeared where her statue had stood a moment before!
We all ran in fear again, hiding in the nearby bushes to not get gobbled up!
And once more Pipsqueak was the boldest among us and was walking back.
I wanted to call out to him to warn him, but then noticed Luna talking with Twilight Sparkle near where the statue had stood a moment before.
"Um... Princess Luna," Pipsqueak called out. "I know there's not gonna be any more Nightmare Night, but do you suppose maybe you could come back next year and scare us again anyway?"
I planted my left forehoof to my forehead. Surely he wasn't?
Luna was confused by this statement. "Child. Art thou saying that thou... likest me to scare you?"
"It's really fun! Scary, but fun!" Pipsqueak stated.
I noticed the foals around me all nodding their heads and considered how I felt myself.
We had been running all over the place, running on adrenaline pumping through our veins, we had gathered up candy and worn costumes.
With Luna or Nightmare Moon chasing us it had almost been like one of the haunted houses back home during Halloween.
"It... is?" Luna wondered.
Pipsqueak grinned. "Yeah! Nightmare Night is my favorite night of the year."
I was calming down from this recent scare again, and I could see where he was coming from. Halloween was just a fun kind of scary; when you were sure you weren't in actual danger.
"Well then. We shall have to bring," Luna started, but then suddenly shouted out loudly again, "NIGHTMARE NIGHT BACK!"
The ferocity of her voice startled me, but the feeling was quickly followed by one of a strange elation; I was actually happy to hear that this world's version of Halloween had not just ended the very first time I had been able to experience it!
"Whoa! You're my favorite princess ever!" Pipsqueak called out before running our way again and shouting to us "She said yes, guys!"
"Yay!" We all called out in unison, a wave of happiness washing over us.
"Buk, buk, bakawk! In that case it's time to gather up more candy!" Pinkie Pie decided as she popped up from behind Apple Bloom like she had been with us all along. "Who's with me?"
"I am!" I heard myself call out before I knew it, caught up in the moment.
"So am I!" Scootaloo decided.
"And me!" Apple Bloom offered up.
"Yeah! What they said," Sweetie Belle added.