Final Night! Nightmare Moon's Monument

[SunsetSombra]

Nightmare Moon's Monument

As you near the edge of the festival grounds, you see a long shadow seeming to seep out of the Everfree Forest. However, upon closer inspection, you see that it is just a statue of Nightmare Moon. You approach, and notice an inscription:

You dare to seek out Nightmare Moon? Then prepare to meet your doom!

For foals she finds a special treat- unless you leave her something sweet!

The evening is wearing ever onward, and the weird atmosphere of this spot is starting to get to everypony, even yourself...so much so that you could almost swear that the Nightmare Moon statue is ready to spring to life any moment and steal all of the delicious candy hoard you've ammassed.

the weather out here is getting a little chillier as the hours wear on - perhaps being in this section of the forest isn't such a good idea afterall...but the promise of sweet treats is way too strong to ignore, even despite the fact that you're in the piercing gaze of an eerily accurate statue of Nightmare Moon herself...

Still, you're with a group of other ponies, right? So What could possibly go wrong now?

[Xiee]

Insight felt fortunate. With the event nearing it's end, he contemplated on what has happened. Able to meet both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, he felt a sense of accomplishment. Even though he found nothing to help aid in his research, he finally managed to sit back, relax and enjoy what the rest of the night. He decided to go to the first place he had visited during the start of the event, Nightmare Moon's monument.

Though he hadn't really met any new friends, he was able to talk to a few interesting Ponies With nothing else to do, he sat right in front of the monument and just stared at it...

[RarityDash]

After her second bizarre encounter with the unusual draconequus, Spirit found herself under the effects of Poison Joke. As a result, she couldn't use any of her magic without letting out a sharp scream. Being a pony who hated nothing more than brining lots of attention to herself, she decided to not venture from the statue of the scary looking alicorn.

Still draped in flames, still translucent, and still with glowing mane, Spirit stood beside the statue, scared. She hated not being able to use her magic, especially within such proximity to the Everfree Forest. Her magic was the only thing that had kept her alive in the forest after she lost the mother manticore that raised her. So Spirit stood there, looking like a real ghost, yet trembling like she had just seen one.

[DJpinkypie]

Turns had just gotten over the effect of the poison joke but was not quite full back to his normal size. At this pace it would take him a few days to get back too normal. He decided that the best place to go now was back to were he had met princess celestia. Besides what more could go wrong tonight

As he neared the statue he saw one of the ponies he had met earlier the skinny one with glasses. "Oh, uh hello again." turns called out after the pony, Are you as glad as i am that this is almost over." Turns truely did ennjoy himself most of the night the games were awsome and the festivities were grand. But unfortunatly he also had an unfortunate run in with discord and his poison joke, that pretty much ruined his night. 'Oh well atleast i got to keep my candy,' he thought to himself.

Glancing off to the side he noticed the ghost pony. He was a bit startled at first but quickly came to his senses. He noticed that something was not particularly right with the mare. "Is everything alright ma'am you look as you've seen a ghost, uhh no pun intended,"

[Mojo]

Haywire, after being scared again by Nightmare Moon, decided (in her own warped logic) that the best place to be to avoid the scary mare of darkness would be at her monument! As the white sheet covered filly trotted up to the statue, she spotted Spirit Flame and Turns.

"WOW! Y'all sure do have great costumes! Love that thar fire effect, you make a better ghost then I do! Wait a minute, ain't I seen you two somewheres before?"

[Xiee]

"Oh, uh hello again."

"Are you as glad as i am that this is almost over."

Insight had heard a familiar voice. It was the Pony who was affected by the poison joke. He was still small but that didn't bother him. He decided to take a chance and introduce himself.

"Oh hi!" Insight greeted back with a smile. "It's strange that we've meet again like this. By the way, the name's Insight. Pleasure to meet you. I see that the poison joke is still playing a nasty tick on you. I've read from a book somewhere that there's a natural remedy for that. It involves a bath with a few herbs."

"I know its almost over..." Insight continued as he looked back at the monument. "But I'm going to miss this. I've never had this much fun when I was in Canterlot. I was too obsessed with my research. I guess this event has taught me to relax once in a while."

[RoyalDice]

Survey, slowly getting a bit used to the scares of Nightmare Night.. atleast, according to himself, has found the courage of visiting the monument of the feared Nightmare Moon. Though he was scared of her and knew about the tales, he decided to visit it anyway. As he trotted towards the monument, still shaking but grinning wryly, he was talking with Brazil about his costume, apologizing for the robbery of the ancient bandages wrapped around all of his body. He chuckled nervously as he talked.

''S-so.. u-uhm it's okay.. r-right?'' he asked, sounding both ashamed and sort of proud that he did get the wrappings. He didn't try to sound like that, but the tone in his voice made it clear he was atleast a bit proud of his work. His gemstone eyes sparkling happily as he coughed in result of some leftover dust in the wrappings. Because of the sparkle, he didn´t notice that Brazil wasn´t standing near him. At all. So it looked like he was talking to himself.

[Willow Whisper]

Willow Whisper yawned cavernously as she walked slowly toward the monument of the terrible Nightmare. It was getting pretty late, and it wasn't just her hooves that were tired anymore. The crocodile costumed unicorn figured she had time for just one more stop before it was time for her to turn in. Since she had been confronted once by Nightmare Moon tonight, and once by Princess Luna herself, she figured it would be best to leave the celestial mare her tribute. As she approached the statue, she saw several ponies she had met before tonight, including Spirit and Haywire.

"Hey! Crazy night, isn't it?" She asked amiably, and placed some of her haul from the night before the statues stone hooves.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Ginger Mint was getting tired, and that was a sure fire sign that the night was coming to a close. The belt pouch around her waist was positively overflowing with candy that she had collected during the night, and it was with that in mind that she started hoofing it back to Nightmare Moon's monument for the annual candy offering. There were already a large group of ponies gathered around the statue, undoubtedly with the same idea in mind.

Its so strange, I used to believe in Nightmare Moon when I was a little filly, but then for the longest time she seemed like nothing more than an old mare's tale told to scare little fillies like myself into staying in bed. Who would have thought that she was real? Kind of ironic that she isn't real anymore... No more real than a memory.

She placed the majority of her candy in the pile at the base of the statue, leaving just enough in her pouch to satisfy her own cravings. At the very least she didn't want to give up the remaining chocolate truffle and candied buttercup that had been given to her by the Princesses, or at least, a pair of very convincing paid actresses.

When she looked back over the inscription on the base of the statue, a strange thought popped into her head, and since there was a crowd of ponies standing around her who seemed like they were waiting for something, she decided to simply wonder out loud.

"What do you suppose Princess Luna does with all the candy she's offered? Err... Ah mean, I reckon she doesn't go round gobbling up ponies nowadays, least not for real, I know I'd need one powerful sweet tooth ta eat all ah that candy from everypony in Equestria. Ya suppose she pawns some ah it on her guards? They sure looked like they coulda stood ta eat a little somethin other than sour."

There were really so many different possibilities. Perhaps thats where the candy little foals got when they went to see the doctor comes from. Maybe the extra goodies go to all the little fuzzy critters so they can have something to tide them over during the long winter. Maybe Princess Luna really does have a gigantic sweet tooth and gobbles it all up herself, though that really didn't seem very likely to Ginger Mint. Surely there wasn't some hoity toity Manehatten artist constructing a life sized gingerbread house out in the woods somewhere.

"Hey! Crazy night, isn't it?"

The question came from a mare who'd been standing a little ways behind her. When nopony answered the question immediately, Ginger Mint started to wonder if this mare had been address her. She looked kind of familiar, like she was out of some misplaced memory, but then again, Ponyville was small enough that half the ponies in town gave her that feeling whenever she stopped by to visit. At least she sounded friendly enough and Ginger Mint figured she wouldn't mind getting a reply from a complete stranger.

"I, erm... Sure is pardner! I ain't never been ta such a big an involved Nightmare Night festival as this here shindig y'all got goin on. Why, the festivals back in Fillydelphia might be a bit and a half bigger, but I reckon I ain't never had such a fright as I have tonight. Somepony sure as sugar pulled out all the stops."

And with that, Ginger Mint found herself staring at her hooves again. Even after all she'd been through tonight, the thought of making a faux pas with a stranger still made her worried. As long as she hadn't interrupted or cut off somepony that she hadn't seen, she figured she'd be alright, but her sense of perception had been playing tricks on her all night so she didn't know for sure.

[RarityDash]

Spirit soon found herself greeted by a bunch of ponies, some new some familiar. Though social interactions were usually weird for her, she was glad to have others around right now. It gave her more confidence and made her feel more secure.

She looked at the stallion she didn't know first. "No. It wasn't a ghost I saw. It was a draconequus. He threw some Poison Joke at me. I really hate the stuff."

Spirit then looked at the little filly wearing the sheet that she recognized. "Yes. We met in the forest early in the night," she said.

Finally, Spirit looked toward Willow Whisper, who she had encountered many times earlier that night in the forest. "Oh, hello again. Yes... this night has been quite unusual..." she said.

[Mojo]

"Sure has been a crazy night alright," Haywire answered. "Here I had big plans to scare every pony outta their shoes, but instead, I'm the one who's been gitt'n terrorfied! And on top of that, I saw Nightmare Moon twice and oncest, she swiped a piece of MY candy! I worked hard at trick and treatin' to git ripped off by some mean old mare! If'n I EVER see her agin', I'll give'r what fer!"

Haywire stood back on her two back legs and began 'punching' at the air with her two foot hooves.

"Float like-a butterfly, sting like a bee, ain't no stupid mare, gonna steal from ME!"

[DJpinkypie]

"Hey your name is Gingermint right one of the other ponys told me as we were walking back from the forest a little while ago, My name is Turn Tables,but everyone just calls me turns. How are you tonight?" Turns asked shyly. he hadnt met or talked to very many ponies tonight exept to try and keep tham from stepping on him and to try and sooth that crying mare he had seen earlier.

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Turn Tables was his name, and she was certain she'd seen him somewhere before. He looked just like the little foal that she'd tried to help out earlier, but he was a whole lot bigger this time.

Ok, I've heard of some strange unicorn magic before, but shrinking ponies is a new one for me. I wonder if this is his real size this time? Something still looks kind of strange, but I can't put my hoof on it.

At least he seemed like he was feeling a lot better now, quite possibly due to the lack of scary monsters jumping out of the shadows. The statue of Nightmare Moon was still very eerie, but with such a large group of ponies gathered around it, that menacing feeling didn't feel quite so urgent. Ginger Mint gave a little bit of a bow and tipped her hat in his direction.

"Ahem, well howdy there Turns. I say this here evenin's been some kinda roller coaster or somethin. Horrible frights one minute, everypony cheering and gettin candy tha next. Why, ah'm just glad my ol' ticker is still workin' after all the ups and downs. You're y'all doin yerself? You'll hafta tell me bout that shrinkin spell, I ain't never seen a thing like it."

[DJpinkypie]

Turns was glad to see the other pony was talkative. That was good he wanted to thank her for being so kind to him earlier but wasnt sure as to go about it untill neo.

"I wanted to thank you for being so nice to me earlier," He began, "And that was no spell, i had a run in with discord earlier and he dropped me in some poison joke, thats what shrunk, Im still not back to my full size yet ma'am,"

Turns couldnt wait to return to normal it had been so long to him even though really it had only been a couple of hours.

[Manestream]

" My little ponies, I'm so glad you came! "

Your group of ponies quickly kneel as the form of the princess emerges from behind the statue of Nightmare Moon. Her warm presence is immediately inviting, and the nights' frights seem to melt away as the Princess' gentle voice fills the open air.

" I have a treat for you all - please, enjoy! " Celestia speaks gently, a candy floating to everypony present as she does...gently smiling upon you all as she stretches her wings widely and canters towards you all. " Thank you for celebrating my dear sister's night - it has been a lot of fun for us both. "

As you each bid her your own farewells, she then takes off into the nightsky gracefully back from the way she'd come - making her way once more towards her next destination. What a wonderful visit from the princess, you even got a candy to boot!

[DJpinkypie]

"Well ill be, Princess Celestia herself, my what a wonderful suprise isnt it Gingermint." Turns said he had finally goten over the effects of the poison joke and was back to his large size though he didnt at all miss being the same size as the beutifull Gingermint. It was nice to be the same size as the other adult ponies for once, but all good things had to come to an end. Besides he had earned his rather large stature and was proud of it.

He wished ever so much she wouldnt speak to him as if he were a giant monster as so many other ponys did when they first met him, after all in his later school years that was a part of the mocery he had been through, Some people just didnt like a pony as big as he was to be such a softhearted fool. "Oh well here we go, maybe she will go easy on me.' Turns braced for what he thought would be another mocing mare.

"S-so mrs. Ginger what are your plans for the rest of the night." Turns asked nervously.

[Mojo]

"YAY!!!" Haywire shouted as the happy filly danced for joy, happily receiving one more piece of candy. That made three, three pieces of yummy candy for the night of festivities. Oh course, the clever little filly didn't tell anyone that she had gone out door to door earlier and already had a HUGE sack of candy waiting for her at home, IF her brother Hayseed didn't eat it all!

Haywire said goodbye to her new friends as the white sheet covered filly trotted off for home. Of course, along the way she got hungry, so as she walked, she ate all three pieces of her candy.

Nightmare Night was ending, but Haywire was satisfied with all that had happened. She got scared, she saw Princess Celestia and at least for a short time, she was the BIGGEST pony in all of Ponyville!

Life is good!

[Ginger Mint]

hi hi

Ginger Mint was following along with Turns up until the point where he mentioned Discord, at which point her train of thought sputtered to an unceremonious halt. She remembered the chaos. Chocolate milk from the skies, grass turned into colored squares, who could forget? How many ponies hadn't been able to cope with all the strangeness? With a little bit of effort, she got her mind working again if for no other reason than to avoid standing there like a slack jawed statue.

"Surely that... that wasn't the real Discord, right? I mean, erm... Plenty a ponies been playin jokes tonight. I don't rightly know what all this talk a poison joke is all about, but I reckon if Discord was out an about again, tha world'd be turned upside down and all topsy turvy like. This here poison joke, whatever the hay it is, sound's more like a parlor trick ta me than eternal chaos and all that nonsense. But, I, uhh... I guess I don't know for sure."

She wasn't an expert on any of this, and as uncomfortable as it made her feel, she figured that a little bit of uncertainty was justified. On the other hoof, there was so much trickery going on tonight that she might have even believed the silly rumors about a pony who could predict when things would fall out of the sky.

And yet, Princess Celestia's appearance washed all that doubt away. For a moment, she stopped worrying about spooks, spirits and scary old creatures from olden pony times and bowed her head low. She floated a piece of candy towards everypony present and then spread her wings to fly away, and Ginger Mint was certain that nopony could have faked that.

"And how, Turns. Just when ya think tha night can't pull anymore surprises, it goes and pulls a doozy on ya anyway."

As tiny as Turns had been back when she grabbed him by the mane and carried him around, he was now quite the opposite. She wondered if perhaps Celestia's presence hadn't washed away the remaining effects of that poison joke stuff, whatever it was. She picked up on his change in demeanor clear as day, but the reason for it was much less obvious to her.

"We'll I reckon I ain't gotta whole lot ah chance for plans tonight on account ah it being mornin right soon. I was plannin on gettin a few winks ah shuteye ta tell tha honest truth, but I ain't gotta be back ta Fillydelphia till tomorrow evenin, so I guess I got a little room ta tug."