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The Three Sisters: Like Fudge

by Wanderer D

Chapter 13: Chapter XIII: I'm on a Highway to Nightmare Night

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The Three Sisters: Like Fudge

Chapter XIII: I'm on a Highway to Nightmare Night

By Wanderer D

Twilight Sparkle and Hidden Tale stepped out of the train and onto the platform at Ponyville Station just as the day was starting to darken.

"I'm telling you, Hidden Tale," Twilight said, smiling at her companion. "Nightmare Night is a very important tradition to Ponyville. It's the ideal day to spend some time with some of your daughters. Ponies will be disguised, there'll be plenty of magic tricks, and everypony here really gets into it!"

"Ah'm gonna dah on the Night of Nightmaaaares!" Granny Smith wailed from somewhere in the crowd.

Twilight nodded. "See? Granny Smith is already in character."

"I... see." Hidden Tale looked around at the Ponyvillians decorating the structures in town. "I doubt it'll be as... flamboyant as the ones in Canterlot?"

Twilight chuckled. "No, it's delightfully rustic. Plus! Luna might visit again this year, I know the colts and fillies are certainly hoping she does."

Hidden Tale pondered this for a moment. "Okay, I'm leaving."

"Oh no, you're not!" Twilight growled, levitating the disguised changeling and having him float behind her as she made her way downtown. "You're going to spend some time with Acari before she and I leave for the Crystal Empire, and then you're going to find all your daughters and spend some time with them. It's been years since you've seen them all! And they are all different ages, you must take advantage of that an—" Twilight stopped talking and walking, her brow wrinkling in a frown. "Wait. If you were working for Celestia all that time and doing missions, how can they all be your daughters? You were in Canterlot most of the time, correct?"

Hidden Tale shrugged. "I visited Chrysalis on my off-time."

"But didn't she order that you should be disposed off when you were posing as a worker?"

"That's just the way she was."

"But you were spying on her!"

"Ponies—and changelings—say a lot of things in b—"

"I don't want to know!" Twilight interrupted. "Fine. You found the time to get busy every time you visited Chrysalis. And now you have daughters that need your attention."

Hidden Tale didn't struggle, but he didn't seem too enthusiastic either. "I fail to see how that is my responsibility given that I was unaware of any progeny of mine until recently."

"Hidden Tale."

"Yes?"

"Do you know what Litmus' Limited Leverage does?"

Hidden Tale raised his eyebrow. "I'm not familiar with three-alliteration spells."

Twilight told him.

"I suppose I could spend some time with my daughters," Hidden Tale conceded.

Sæla glared at the two fillies as they continued to wash the dishes. "Hey, brat," she called, pulling a dish from the drying rack and showing its stained surface to Diamond Tiara. "Does this look clean to you?"

"It's cleaner than before!" the filly growled.

"Well that doesn't mean it's clean!" Sæla retorted, dropping the dish into the soapy water.

"Do you really need to give us that attitude?" Silver Spoon asked tiredly as she placed a clean bowl on the rack. "We're already being punished."

Sæla snorted. "Not nearly enough after that stunt you two pulled." She shook her head. "Not only do you two spend time antagonizing us omnivores and carnivores, what you did could have turned really nasty, really quick."

"It's not our fault that you are uncivilized brutes, willing to eat animal produce!" Diamond Tiara snapped.

"Tiara!" Silver Spoon hissed. "That's—"

"I hate to break it to you, brat, but those cakes and cupcakes and ice cream you like so much? They have animal produce in them." The gryphoness replied icily. "I've seen ponies eat chicken. You all like your milkshakes, which contain... guess what? Milk. Which comes from cows, most of the time, for your information, brat." She shook her head. "And even if you were truly ignorant of those facts, it doesn't excuse what you attempted to do to those poor fillies earlier. I mean, what's your problem, brat?"

"My NAME is Diamond Tiara!"

Sæla looked at her silently for a moment. "And that's your problem?"

"No!"

"Well, then we're not getting anywhere with this conversation, are we?"

Diamond Tiara gritted her teeth furiously as she turned to glare at the soapy water in helpless fury.

"I expect you two to be done soon, so we can all go home and enjoy Nightmare Night," Sæla said, walking out of the kitchen.

"Sæla..." Diamond Tiara hissed. "She'll rue the day she found me! I shall add her to my plans for tonight!"

"Tiara," Silver Spoon said, not looking up from her own dishes.

"What?"

"Shut up."

Spike pondered his next course of action. On the one claw, he knew that Thysa really, really liked him. But he dared not act, just in case Rarity finally confessed her love to him, as star-crossed lovers usually did. Never mind that she had shown no actual interest in a romantic relationship with him, or that she treated him like a really, really young friend, with that sympathetic smile adults sported when trying not to cringe at what their foal or filly had just said. Or the fact that they had little in common other than knowing Twilight and an appreciation of gems. One as culinary ingredients (or munchies) the other as potential glittery material for dress-making. Spike imagined that, in the deepest recesses of her heart, she was somehow aware that she loved him just as much as Thysa did. Maybe. Possibly.

But that was not his problem at this time. His problem was that he had found out that Acari, who was soon to leave with Twilight, had a crush on him. And the poor girl was so shy she had hid it so well he hadn’t even known. But maybe Acari was like Rarity. Maybe the young—although still older than him—changeling was just shy and would not vocalize her feelings due to… something. Or other.

Spike sighed. A handsome, promising, well-educated, gentle-drake like himself with an almost guaranteed future in an important position (in the next 120 years or so when he finally reached dragon maturity), was a prime catch, after all. The Hydra in the Everfree Forest had said so itself, while tossing Spike into the air and opening its maws wide to eat him whole.

Thankfully Twilight had been there and teleported him out of harm’s way. But, if a monster with nine heads was of the opinion that you were choice material, who were you to argue, really?

And that might have been technically battle, or at least lunch, but Spike was sure that the same principles that applied in War would apply with Love.

He pondered that conclusion.

“So… in order to get Rarity I must cut her supply line?” He frowned. “That… doesn’t sound right.” He shook his head. “Focus, Spike! Rarity is not the problem right now. You have to decide what to do with Thysa and Acari!”

He sat down. “Okay, Thysa already told me she likes me. She can transform into a dragon… but then so can Acari. Thysa is closer to my age, but Acari probably has more in common with me about things to talk about… but she’s leaving tonight! I need to make a decision! It’s not fair to all three of them if I’m stringing them along!”

Spike sighed and put his face in his hands. “Why does this have to be so difficult?” He looked out the window at the ponies decorating for Nightmare Night. “And on Nightmare Night of all nights.” He snorted. “I bet it’s an easy night for Changelings to disguise themselves. They’d do it quicker than Rarity, in any case.”

He stared out the window in silence.

Rarity… Thysa… Acari…

Changelings.

Disguises.

Spike blinked. “Wait. Can’t Thysa or Acari turn into Rarity? Maybe even a Rarity my age?” His eyes widened. “Wow. Why didn’t I ever think of that?”

Spike smiled. “I can get what I want in one single pony!? And they both want me, so I’m sure they’d be willing to be Rarity for me since they’re changelings! This is perfect! And I get a dragoness whenever I want, too!”

Spike grinned as he jumped off to the floor. “I’ll have to find Thysa and ask her to be my aged-down Rarity for tonight! Then I can ask Acari when she comes back, to be my Rarity for the days I want her to look normal! They won’t mind, I basically own their hearts!”

“Spike! I’m home!” Twilight called from outside as she magically opened the door and walked in, dragging a pony behind her in her levitation field.

“Oh, hi Twilight! Hi, Hidden!”

“Spike.” Hidden Tale nodded politely from where he floated.

Twilight tilted her head. “Spike, you seem a bit different, did you trim your claws?”

“Huh?” Spike looked down at his claws. “Nope.”

“I think he’s a bit taller,” Hidden Tale quipped. “At least from last week, when I saw him in Canterlot.”

“That might be it,” Spike said, nodding. “I’m a growing dragon after all.”

Twilight frowned. “Have you been taking things for a hoard again?”

Spike shook his head. “Nah, I learned my lesson, Twilight. I’m not taking stuff just for myself.”

Twilight smiled. “Okay then! I need to pack, do you think you could give me a hoof?”

Spike cringed. “Um, I was hoping to do something really quickly, if you don’t mind, Twilight.”

“Oh,” Twilight shrugged. “Okay, Spike!”

“Thanks, Twilight!” Spike called back, already on his way out.

He closed the door behind him and started trotting towards the Crusader’s HQ. “This is going to be the best Nightmare Night ever!”

o.0.o End Chapter 13 o.0.o

Author's Notes:

There are a few lines—for those of you well-versed in fanfics—that are a direct nod to one of the most amusing writers I've ever had the pleasure to read fics from: Black Dragon6

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