[Nightmare Night] Day 1 - Nightmare Moon's Monument

[MyLittlePonyTales]

The statute standing just at the edge of the Everfree Forest is a traditional stop for all Nightmare Night goers. The foals of the town frequently leave candy offerings, and there is already a significant pile gathered. There is a rumor that, should anypony dare to take a piece from the foot of the statue, it will come to life, and consume the offending pony. More often than not, however, one of the locals will just jump out and scare whoever was trying to sneak a piece. But every since Princess Luna's return, someponies could swear there were more mysterious workings surrounding the monument.

Engraved in the front of the statue:

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!

[Bellosh]

Sugar Apple always considered herself to be a respectable pegasus; one who’d never ever do something as naughty as stealing. However, this particular Nightmare Night… she would conduct an experiment in the name of science! According to Ponyville folklore Sugar Apple overheard recently, anypony who attempted to steal Nightmare Moon’s annual tribute of tasty confectioneries would be gobbled up by the Princess of the Night. Sugar Apple knew better than to believe such pony tales, but she also knew that there would be some ponies lurking around the Nightmare Night statue that’d make at least some sort of effort to keep the tradition alive.

Which was why for this Nightmare Night, Sugar Apple dressed herself in a pretty-accurate costume of a Lunar Guard outfit. Aside from the armor and bat-like prosthetic wings (which unlike the real thing, made flight darn-near impossible for the mare), the pegasus took the extra effort to paint her coat grey and to dig up a pair of cosmetic contact lenses that made her eyes appear as irises. Just about the only thing that would set Sugar Apple apart from an actual Lunar Guard was the lack of tearing on the tip of her ear.

Sugar Apple’s theory was quite simple; costumed in a Lunar Guard outfit, she believed that whoever guarded Nightmare Moon’s tribute would be fooled into thinking that she actually belonged in the guard. She’d look like she was taking a piece of candy away as part of whatever duties a guard needed to do. Just in case any hidden sentinels were suspicious, Sugar Apple would leave behind one of her Cloudsdale-famous sugar apples. Of course, the mare would also return whatever piece of candy she took before the tribute was collected; all she wanted to do was see if she what would happen if she tried taking the candy, and nothing more.

That didn’t stop Sugar Apple from getting cold hooves just as she got to the Nightmare Moon statue. She didn’t expect the place to feel so… eerie. It could have been her mind playing tricks on her, but it seemed like the breeze became much chillier around this particular spot. Additionally, not a peep from any nocturnal creature could be heard… except for the small gust blowing through the trees, the place was too quiet. And so Sugar Apple just stood there in front of the candy pile, irrationally starting to believe in the back of her mind that the old pony tales just might be true in one way or another…

[Lerian]

Curiosity giggled to himself as he moved around his cluttered bedroom packing the costume parts into his saddlebags. After years of being scared out of his wits by ponies jumping out, making spooky noises and frightening him as a young colt, he was now old enough to be doing some of the scaring! He hoped some of the others showed up with their pieces of the costume. There was enough here to make a passable Nightmare Moon but the jewellery would make it much better and if that pony who said they were good at illusions showed up, perfect!

He trotted to the chest of drawers which contained his current masterpiece and with playful reverence lifted it above his head....

The variable voicebox volumiser!

He settled the small meshwork box around his neck and gave it a little charge of magic, making it rustle and squeak before settling into silence. A slight drawing of breath and,

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING LITTLE FOALS! BOW TO THOU PRINCESS OF THE NIGHT... THOU? THINE! OH, UH...'

'Curiosty! What is that noise up there, are you still not ready?' His mother's voice drifted up the stairs, carrying more weight for him than any shouting.

'SORRY MUM! OH HOLD ON!'

More rustling and squeaking emanated from the box as he removed it from his neck and went downstairs.

'I'm going to meet the others at the uh, place for Nightmare night.'

'Okay dear, have fun and don't be too scary for the little ones... Remember what you were like?'

The teenager blushed through his blue-grey coat and mumbled an agreement before dodging a mane tousle on his way out of the door.

Apologies if this is private or invite only, feel free to delete if I missed that part. On my way to work and wanted to try to get in on this before I let my shifts kill ANOTHER RP for me.

[MyLittlePonyTales]

[colour=#0080FF]Scout was dressed very simply. She wasn't one to dress up and get all excited about Nightmare Night. She wasn't the type to spend money on a costume, not when there were more important things needed like food and blankets. With Winter coming soon, warmth was definitely needed in high supply.

But, she wasn't one to pass up on free food, or free candy. The trip up from Fillydelphia had been a bit of a chore, as traveling usually was for her. Still, she was here now, and could relax. Well, mentally relax. She had a lot of work to do, scaring ponies and stealing candy. Without a costume, she didn't have much chance of going door to door trick or treating, although she had tried to blend in with several foals earlier in the night.

But when she just dressed in a plain black hoodie that shrouded her face, some ponies were curious as to who and where her parents were. Ponies from all over came to the Ponyville Nightmare Night festival, and it was easy for foals to become lost, sometimes not even realizing that their friends or family were not in their presence any longer. Scout was not lost, but she did her best to avoid any questions about parental guardians.

And there is was, a giant pile of candy, left unguarded and unattended. Scout glanced around, looking skeptically at the unattended sweets. Surely this was some sort of trick... Well, she was a fast runner, so she moved forward and began filling a large brown sack, sneaking a piece here and there.[/colour]

[MyLittlePonyTales]

This hungry spirit ruefully looks down upon the ponyfolk who mock her so openly on a night dismissively named after her. With a great clap of thunder and in a storm matching her fury, she will come down upon you and you will know true fear on this night! Only an offering of candy will send her away, as even cackling deities enjoy chocolate. Nightmare Moon steals one candy!

[MyLittlePonyTales]

[colour=#0080FF]Scout eeped as the entity the statue was molded after appeared, in the flesh! She ducked into the shadows, hoping that the nightmare mare wouldn't see her. She looked up, in time to see the dark pony grasp one of her candies, before poofing away in a magical cloud of smoke. Everypony present looked pretty shaken up, and Scout noticed she wasn't the only one to lose some candy. But, perhaps that was enough time spent at the statue. Scout picked herself up off the ground, heading for another of the festive locations of Nightmare Night.[/colour]