Sometimes my actions in Equestria didn’t impact my future choices. To be perfectly quite a few didn’t have any sway on what I was going to do. Some days were just there for the simple reason of existing and there was tranquility to be found in those days. When it came to my first Nightmare night celebration though… Well let’s just say that it was a mix of both.

“Let’s see… Costume, check. Sun has set, check. Ponyville has been properly decorated,” she threw a glance out of closest window, “check,” Twilight muttered to herself as she went over the mental checklist she had thrown together just in case. Perhaps I should cross reference with the written lists just to be sure I haven’t forgotten something. She thought, but before she had time to light her horn to bring the aforementioned documents over the door to her chambers opened, revealing a less than amused Spike.

“Are you done yet Twilight? Luna’s gonna be here any minute now and I really don’t want to miss this year’s opening event,” he greeted as he walked into the room.

“Hang on for one more second Spike, I just need to check the lists one more time,” she answered her number one assistant.

A loud groan could be heard from Spike before he spoke up once more. “Twi your commander Hurricane costume looks fine and the town decorations look fine too, so can we please get going today? I’ve heard from the Cutie mark crusaders who heard from that griffin Stella that Cloud’s going to be part of the opening event,” he pleaded.

“But what if-” She tried but was quickly interrupted by Spike.

“No, no more but. We have to get going now,” he said with a tone of finality.

With an effort of will she forced herself to levitate the checklists back to the desk before turning to Spike to give him a quick nod. “Alright, let’s get going then,” she agreed.

“Finally,” Spike said with a hint of theatrical exasperation, causing her to smile a bit to herself as she watched him hurry out of the room.

Despite her promise that they would get going she threw a glance towards the discarded lists. One last look couldn’t hurt, right? She caught herself thinking before shaking her head violently to clear her head. She then proceeded to hurry after Spike so that she wouldn’t risk falling back into her list checking pattern. By the time she caught up with him though he was already standing at the main entrance to the castle, tapping his foot impatiently. It’s strange really, although he isn’t that much younger than me he has retained more of his inner child than I have. She pondered as she approached her charge. His green outfit for the evening was from some sort of game called The legend of Epona apparently and was complimented by a small wooden shield and a short, magically dulled, sword. Upon reaching her assistant she offered him a smile before she spoke.

“Alright then Spike shall we get going?” she asked.

“Thought you’d never ask,” he said, returning her smile before he pushed open the door.

Together they started to walk down the path leading into Ponyville, the lights coming from the town telling a tale of activities already in full swing. They only made it about halfway to Ponyville though before Luna’s chariot swept over them, heading straight for town. She threw a glance towards Spike and saw him looking at her with a pleading expression.

Resisting the urge to chuckle she spoke. “Fine you can go on ahead, just remember that we’re meeting up at Cloud’s home later in the evening.”

“Thanks Twi, you’re the best!” he exclaimed before rushing off towards the town square where Luna’s chariot still could be seen descending.

Spike disappeared from view a few seconds later as he reached the town border but that didn’t worry her. He was old enough to take care of himself and there was no particular reason to be worried for his safety tonight. So instead she observed the ‘spooky’ decorations that had been put up all over town for the event as she walked at a steady pace through the town. Eventually even she reached the town square and she was just in time to catch Luna in the middle of a sentence that had to pertain to this year’s opening event.

“…so I implore you citizens of Ponyville. This disturbance I felt is not to be taken lightly, if you know something, anything don’t hesitate to tell me,” Luna addressed the crowd that had gathered to watch this year’s performance.

Luna herself though was wearing some sort of dark brown robe and underneath that Twilight could see a hint of some sort of tunic in a whitish color. To top it all off Luna’s otherwise flowing mane was tied back in a warrior’s ponytail. The attire itself gave of a simple yet efficient feel but before Twilight could ponder further on where Luna had gotten the idea for her outfit a dark chuckle permeated the air in the town square. Twilight, like the rest of the assembled ponies, turned their heads in the direction of the sound only to find their resident human wearing a large robe much like the one Luna was wearing. Well it was almost like the one Luna was wearing, Cloud’s robe was pitch black and he had a hood on his that was up making it so that only his chin and mouth were visible.

“Who are you stranger?” Luna demanded, a guarded tone had snuck into her voice.

“Who am I? Tsk, tsk, have you really forgotten the old enemy so quickly Jedi?” Cloud spoke, his mouth transforming into a sneer as he spoke the last word.

“I’ll have your name Sith!” Luna responded quickly, the last word laced with venom.

“My, my, such anger you’d make a fine apprentice if you’d only cast away the petty ideals of the Jedi,” Cloud taunted.

“I will never turn to the dark side,” Luna stated with conviction in her voice.

Cloud released a theatrical sigh before pushing back his hood, revealing eyes that were glowing with a malicious intent. Next he reached inside his robe, producing a long metal rod with odd protrusions, buttons and dials on. With his right hand he held the rod along his leg as he hit one of the buttons on the rod and a moment later a red energy field shot out from the end of the rod with a hissing sound. It quickly became apparent that the rod was supposed to be some sort of melee weapon as the energy field remained unchanging, filling the air with an ominous humming while casting an eerie red glow on the surroundings.

“Oh you will call me master sooner or later,” Cloud mused before continuing, “It’s just a matter of how whole you’ll be at the end!” He declared with a snarl twisting his face as he launched himself at Luna.

Cloud’s weapon made a horizontal slash towards Luna’s throat only for it to be stopped by a similar weapon levitating in the firm telekinetic grasp of Luna’s magic. This weapon though was about half the length of Cloud’s and the energy field it emitted was a brilliant green.

“I see it won’t be that easy,” Cloud called with a sneer as he leaned into the attack, trying to force away Luna’s weapon.

They’re supposed to be some sort of fancy swords. Twilight realized as she saw Luna push back against Cloud’s blade. She didn’t have to time to ponder from where they had gotten the idea for the energy blades as Cloud and Luna broke their power struggle, whirling back simultaneously to create some distance between them.

For a few seconds the two observed each other just as the Ponyvillians observed them with bated breaths. Then at some sort of silent command the two charged forward, exchanging a quick series of humming slashes, blows and thrusts towards one another. Neither combatant managed to land a blow though as they seemed to be evenly matched in skill. Soon the two broke apart once again and started to slowly circle each other.

“You have no hope to win sith. Even if I should fall there will another that will defeat you,” Luna stated with certainty as she kept her eyes on Cloud.

“Are you attempting to scare me with such empty words jedi?” Cloud asked disdainfully.

“Scare you? No I’m attempting no such thing, although I have something you don’t,” Luna replied.

Cloud gave a humorless snort. “And pray tell what’s that?” he questioned.

Luna smirked. “Allies,” she said as a bat pony clad in similar clothes to Luna dove down from the sky towards Cloud, a blue bladed weapon in his mouth.

In the light from the blue blade Twilight saw Cloud’s eyes widen slightly as he threw himself backwards to avoid the bat pony’s attack. Around her she could hear the ponies that were watching whisper excitedly to one another as they took in the spectacle that was playing out before them. Together with the bat pony Luna pushed their attack on Cloud, blades flashing as they slowly started to gain the upper hand. Cheers started to rise from the ponies in the crowd as it started to become apparent that their princess had gained the upper hoof with the addition of the bat pony. But despite that Cloud proved to be a tough opponent as he managed to hold his ground against the ponies. However, even Cloud couldn’t hold off the assault forever. The fight reached a point where he was forced to block a high vertical swing from the bat pony with his blade while Luna’s blade made a horizontal slash towards his abdomen. It looked as if the fight was about to end right there but in a whirl of motion Cloud somehow managed to avoid being hit by both attacks.

A gasp echoed through the crowd, which now was fully entranced by the events playing out before them, as Cloud stopped moving. The weapon he had been using was emitting a second blade at the other end of the rod. Cloud spun the weapon around in the air in front of him, causing it to emit a series of the louder hums that Twilight now associated with the weapons being swung. A few moments later Cloud stopped the whirling weapon before settling into a ready stance.

“You didn’t think it would be that easy, did you jedi?” He taunted before going on the offensive.

If the crowd hadn’t been completely entranced by the spectacle playing out before their eyes they certainly were now as Cloud, Luna and the bat pony danced about and traded blows with their odd weapons. Oh´s and ah’s rang out as both parties seemed evenly matched and performed ever increasingly complex techniques. Soon shouts of encouragement started to ring out from the crowd, most of them cheering for Luna and her bat pony ally. However with that said Cloud had a distinct number of voices cheering for him as well, strangely enough though all of them seemed to be the younger generations of Ponyville.

Suddenly Cloud’s voice boomed out loudly, “Enough!” he cried out, bringing the fight to a paus.

“You’ve done well to push me this far jedi but it all ends here,” Cloud declared as he moved his double bladed weapon over to his right hand while simultaneously raising his left towards the bat pony.

Curious as to what was going to happen Twilight held her breath only to gasp in sync with the rest of the crowd when arcs of electricity leapt from Cloud’s left hand, hitting the bat pony. Said bat pony gave a surprised yelp before the electricity knocked him ‘unconscious’ but not before he managed to throw his weapon towards Luna who deftly caught it in her aura, reigniting the blue blade. With a battle cry Luna charged forward towards Cloud while dual wielding the green and blue blade, exchanging a flurry of blows with him. For a few more minutes they battled before Luna managed to sweep Cloud’s balance causing him to stumble backwards. And before he managed to recover Luna’s blades quickly came to rest at either side of his neck.

“Do you yield?” Luna demanded.

A resigned look flickered across Cloud’s features before he answered, “I yield,” he said.

A wild cheering erupted from the ponies as their diarch had come out victorious. A wild cheering that redoubled when Cloud, Luna and the bat pony got up and stood side by side in front of the crowd bowing to the cheering ponies. Twilight caught herself joining the stomping applause that were showering the three individuals that had performed this year’s opening act. The cheering and applause only died down when Luna raised a hoof, indicating that she’d like to speak.

“I’m glad that you seem to have enjoyed this opening act for this year’s Nightmare night,” she began simply, causing a new round of applause to start up. Luna waited patiently for it to die down again before continuing. “So without further ado I’d like to declare this Nightmare night officially started!” She exclaimed, spawning a third round of applause and cheering before the crowd started to disperse among the different activities that were waiting to enjoyed.

Luna, Cloud and the bat pony were still standing around, and by the looks of things they were animatedly discussing their performance. I know that I’m going to have a chance to ask later tonight but I really want to know how they planned all this. Twilight thought to herself as she approached the trio.

“…really good transition when you dove down this time Star,” she heard Cloud praise the, to her, previously unnamed bat pony.

“Oh, that was nothing it was just like we practiced, right? If anything I’m still more baffled how you can remember the entire fight sequence,” the bat pony replied in a clearly teasing manner, causing both Cloud and Luna to chuckle.

The three were so enraptured that didn’t notice Twilight until she cleared her throat. “Hi, I’d like to start by thanking and congratulating you for that amazing performance,” she started but before she could continue Cloud interrupted her.

“Oh, hi Sparkle butt. Nice outfit, some kind of guard deal?” He said cheerfully, causing the bat pony to clearly struggle to not burst out laughing.

Twilight shot her human friend a scathing look while trying to tell herself that he was doing it just to frustrate her. Instead she turned to Luna, choosing to ignore the nickname that he used from time to time.

“I’m just going to ask you straight away instead of beating around the bush but how are those blades made? And how did Cloud shoot lightning?” she asked barely keeping the intrigue out of her voice, or least she thought she did.

As Luna launched into a detailed explanation regarding the spell work that had gone into creating the fake light sabers I turned to Star Spark as I had heard Luna’s explanation before.

“Hey Star I’m going to head over to my place to take a shower and to prepare for the gathering later,” I said to the bat pony.

Star turned her head towards me as I spoke, “Okay, I’ll see you there later then?” she asked as I stopped speaking.

I nodded before replying, “Aye, see you later. Oh and before I forget could you relay where I went to the alicorn pair once they’re available to the world again?” I requested, pointing a thumb towards Twilight and Luna who were completely engrossed in their magic discussion.

Star gave me a toothy grin, “Will do,” she promised simply.

“Thanks,” I said before unfolding my wings, taking to the sky with a few strong flaps.

As soon as I had cleared the rooftops I angled myself in the direction of my home as I was indeed desiring to take a shower due to having worked up quite the sweat during the performance. But that wasn’t the only reason I was heading home from the Nightmare night celebrations this early. No, I had invited a few individuals to a smaller private gathering towards the later hours of the evening. That of course meant that I had to prepare quite a few things in advance as any good host should. Not that I felt that I was missing out on the celebrations in town, after all there would be more opportunities in the future for such things.

Not to mention the fact that a private gathering could be more finely tuned to my own preferences. There was so much that I had missed in terms of small luxuries since I had established my home here in Ponyville. But with time I had managed to track down or recreate alternatives for these things though and one of those things that I had managed to track down was alcoholic beverages. Nothing extravagant like the almost unending options I had had available back on earth but enough to have a few different options available for the rest of the evening. This is going to be an entertaining evening or so I hope. I thought to myself as I saw spotted my house growing closer in the distance.

I had about three hours left to get things done for my guests had been told to arrive so I was hardly pressed for time. So I kept flying at a leisure pace, thinking that there would be no reason to work up more of sweat. Besides the slightly chilly evening air felt nice across my skin as it served to keep me cooled off, it was probably not healthy but I didn’t really care. Once my home was close enough for me to be able to notice details I came to a pause midair. For some reason the lights were on, on the ground floor. Strange, I’m certain there was no one in the house after I left. I pondered as I slowly started to approach my home again.

It can’t be Ranger or Gil. I thought as I touched down on the edge of the floating island my home was situated on. They were busy helping out with different tasks for Nightmare night, or more precisely Gilda was hanging out with Rainbow and Pinkie and Ranger was helping Zecora out with some sort of guided tour. Who it could be still eluded me as I made my way over to my front door. I had already ruled out the possibility of it being a burglar as such an individual would’ve kept the lights turned off. That didn’t keep me from being slightly on guard though as I pushed open the door and entered my house.

Almost immediately I heard someone humming a soft tune, and so I closed the door behind me and kicked off my shoes before walking into my living room. The sight that met me caused me to freeze and my cheeks to burn in that exact order. There in front of me was Celestia wearing a very snug and formfitting Wonderbolt outfit.

*Pomf*

Author's Notes:

I live! (And other overused things authors say when they feel guilty about not updating). All in all though let's start with the standard things. I hope you enjoyed the chapter despite it taking some time to be completed and if so I'd love to see comments likes and favs. If not I can always work with constructive criticism.

Next chapter will most likely be called Nightmare night, part 2 (great shock I know).

As for a release schedule...
Well aren't you guys (and gals if I have any readers that identify as such) in luck. With the end of this week I'll be able to return to more frequent updates.