Scootaloo looked over at Nyx as they trotted back through the Whitetail woods to Nightmare Moon's statue. She had lit her horn to light the way, and Scootaloo had popped open a light stick. They could see clearly enough to pick out the path. Scootaloo, at least, could see Nyx.

She could see that she looked mad.

"Are you okay, Nyx?" She asked. "Um, how are you feeling?"

Nyx crumpled up her nose. "Stupid," she said.

"Huh?"

Nyx stopped and sat down. "Oh gee, a new holiday called Nightmare Night," she said. "Gee, I wonder what it's all about? Nightmare Night, Nightmare Moon, Nightmare Night, Nightmare Moon. Aduurrrrrrhhh...." She stuck her hoof in her cheek, crossed her eyes and stuck out her tongue. Scootaloo bit back a snicker at Nyx's face-pulling. Nyx snorted. "Why wouldn't anybody tell me what it was really about??"

"Well, we didn't want to hurt your feelings," Scootaloo said soberly.

"Yeah, this way worked out LOTS better," Nyx said sarcastically. She got up and started walking again.

"Fair enough," Scootaloo muttered. "What're we doing out here anyway?"

"We're taking the candy," Nyx said.

Scootaloo stopped so suddenly she nearly tipped over on her nose. She flared her wings in shock. "What?? You can't take Nightmare Moon's candy---!!"

Nyx spun around and stuck her face up in Scootaloo's till their noses were almost touching.  "Whose candy?" Nyx said with a smirk.

"Nightmare Moon--"

"Whoooooose candy?" Nyx's smirk got even wider.

Scootaloo got it. She blinked in surprise, then a grin of her own spread across her face. "Ohhhh yeaahhhhhh...." she jumped up and pumped a hoof in the air. "Totally awesome LOOPHOLE! This is gonna be the most epic candy haul ever--"

"I'm giving it back, Scootaloo," Nyx said.

Scootaloo blinked again. "WHAT? But--- all that candy---" she saw Nyx's expression and tried a different tack. "But--- it's all yours--"

"No it isn't! It belongs to those kids!" Nyx yelled angrily. Scootaloo fell backwards and sat down with a bump. "Think about it, Scootaloo... for years and years and years, they've been lying, telling scared little kids that I was gonna gobble them up if they didn't fork over their candy to pay me off! "I never ate anybody in my life! Either of my lives! It's the rottenest thing I've ever heard of anybody doing to a little kid!" She turned around and stomped off. "Grownups are JERKS!"

Scootaloo got to her feet and trotted to catch up. "Hey, it's just a story, right?-- the grownups didn't make it up---"

"They sure didn't mind benefiting from it, though," Nyx growled.

"Huh?"

"Who do you think has been eating all that candy all these years?" Nyx said. "The tooth fairy?"

Scootaloo's trot slowed to a halt as this new revelation sank in. "Heyyy..." She scowled. "HEY! Yeah! That's right! those jerks!" She doubled her pace and fell in alongside Nyx.

"I can't believe it!"

"Yeah..."

"Of all the rotten..."

"Yeah..."

They trotted awhile in silence, commiserating at the injustices heaped upon kids by grownups everywhere. "So, what's the plan?" Scootaloo said.

Nyx shrugged. "We gather up the candy and drag it back," she said. "Give it back to the kids."

"Drag is right," Scootaloo protested. "That's a lot of candy. How are we gonna carry it all?"

Nyx thought a minute. "We'll carry what we can, and we'll hide the rest someplace till we can come back for it," she decided.

"That works...."

"But we definitely gotta get that one filly's bag for sure--"

"Flitter? Yeah. She left ALL her loot...wow, what a gyp."

Nyx stopped suddenly and dimmed her horn. "We're here," she hissed. Scootaloo looked over her shoulder. There it was, the clearing, the creepy statue, and all the bags of candy piled up at its feet. "Wait, Zecora just left it all here?" she asked, puzzled at the zebra's carelessness.

Nyx licked her lip, thinking. "I dunno. She might've gone to get something to drag it all off. We'd better work fast." She lit up her horn again and ran out to the statue. After a minute Scootaloo followed, shivering as the breeze blew around them. They began looking over the bags, trying to sort them out.

"Which one is Flitter's?" Nyx asked.

"Look for the one with all the candy canes," Scootaloo said. "Those were her favorites, she said---" her ears pricked. "Oh no, somepony's coming!" she hissed. Nyx dimmed her horn and the two of them hid behind the statue, Nyx trying to tuck her hourglass and her glowing bracelets under herself. Light still leaked out. Darn it, why did she have to put so many glowey things in her costume?

A greenish light approached on the pathway. Three shadowy shapes emerged from the greenery, one lanky shadow with a glowing horn, a bulky, lumbering one that seemed to have trouble walking, and a short, hunched one holding a glowing glass jar. "....do we really have to do this now, guys?" the hunched one said.

"You better believe it!"

"Yeah, no way I'm gonna risk Nightmare Moon gettin' mad at ME," replied a familiar sleepy drawl.

"Fine, whatever. Darn," the short figure shook the jar. "I think my brain is going out. got any more glow stick juice?"

Nyx groaned and nudged Scootaloo. "It's just Snips, Snails and Spike," She said. "C'mon." She came out from behind the Nightmare Moon statue--- just in time for the tardy trick or treaters to turn and see her glowing cat eyes appear out of the shadows.

The scream from the three was epic. Snails and Spike began running in circles while Snips keeled over in his cumbersome Frankenpony costume, wiggling feet sticking in the air.

"Guys, guys, it's just us!" Nyx yelled. They paid no heed, tripping over and colliding with each other in their panic to get away.

It took forever to calm them down. Scootaloo was no help whatsoever; she was rolling on her back on the ground, laughing fit to bust. Eventually the boys calmed down, or wore themselves out enough to realize that it wasn't Nightmare Moon come to get them.(1)They piled on the ground, panting. "What are you DOING??" Spike finally managed to yell in exasperation.

Nyx told them.

Snips and Snails did not take the news well. "You're gonna steal Nightmare Moon's candy?" Snip squealed. "She'll gobble you up for sure!!"

"You dummy. She IS Nightmare Moon!" Scootaloo said.

There was a pause. "...This conversation is gonna get confusin', innit," Snails said fatalistically. He could cope, he supposed. He was confused a lot.

"Well, she is Nightmare Moon...um, technically." Spike admitted grudgingly. Owlowiscious hooted in agreement from atop the statue.

"And I never ever gobbled anyone up, ever, either," Nyx said scathingly. "This whole holiday is a rotten lie." She bit her lip. "How could anybody be so mean, telling little kids things like that... just because I'm not a real pony, saying things like that about me---"

"Whaddya mean, not a real pony?" Snips said, cocking one eyebrow.

Nyx shook her head. "You wouldn't understand---"

Like his namesake, Snails was slow, but he did get there. "Are you saying that Nightmare Moon isn't real?" he asked."Cause if you're not real, and you're Nightmare Moon, then that means Nightmare Moon isn't real...."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. "She's not saying that, dummy," she said. "That's just dumb stuff Diamond Tiara keeps saying about Nyx... that because she wasn't born like a normal foal, she was born with magic." She brushed a stray leaf out of her hair. "And no, Nightmare Moon isn't real-- at least she isn't some evil ghost pony who goes around eating little foals."

Snails bit his lip. "Umm.... but Nyx is real. Right?"

"Yes!" Scootaloo said, growing annoyed.

"She was made from magic," Spike said. "All the bits and pieces of the old Nightmare Moon after the Elements defeated her. Remember?"

Snails thought carefully. "....then.... if Nyx was made of scraps of magic.... um... how do they know they got all the scraps? If they could make Nyx from magic scraps, couldn't another little piece somewhere else, y'know, grow up and become...." He pointed a hoof at the statue.

"If Nyx can be real, why can't Nightmare Night's Nightmare Moon be real too?"

Four foals, one dragon, and one horned owl froze as that horrible epiphany sank in. The forest around them suddenly got a great deal darker looking, and the sounds coming from it far more sinister. Scootaloo looked at Snails with loathing in her eyes. "Of all the times and places in the world," she said in a shaky voice, "you had to pick this one to get smart..."

The breeze picked up to a whipping wind that swirled around the clearing, picking up dust and leaves and debris. Clouds scudded across the moon, throwing everything into darkness. Alarmed, the foals and dragonling backed toward each other, looking in every direction frantically.

Something huge, dark, and bewinged soared down from the cloud-swirled sky. A mane and tail of midnight sky swirled through the air behind like the tail of a comet, raven wings and silver shod hooves churned the air. Moon white eyes gazed down on them, teeth gleamed in the dark. A malevolent laugh echoed through pealing thunder as the terrible empress of the dark bore down on the terrified foals.

"It's..." Nyx choked in terror. She screamed the words in her head. It's Nightmare Moon...

The children shrieked and scattered. Nyx couldn't run. Nyx couldn't run. Her legs were like rubber; she stumbled and staggered backwards, eyes fixed on the approaching apparition, the strap of Flitter's candy bag stuck on her ankle. All her most awful dreams come true....

Nightmare Moon alighted on the grass, wings mantling, dark mane swirling. "What have we here?" she gloated. "Some little foals who have failed to pay me tribute?" She stepped slowly towards Nyx. Her cat-like eyes were mesmerizing. "Oh, I shall eat WELL tonight..."

"No, no, no, NO...!" Nyx staggered backward, gasping for air in terror. Thunder rolled, lightning lashed the sky behind Nightmare Moon, casting everything in blinding light and shadow. Nightmare Moon drew nearer and nearer....At the very last moment, at the edge of the clearing, Nyx tried  to run, only to fall backwards into a bramble bush. The cruel branches, whipped by the wind, tangled in her mane and coat and scored her skin, drawing blood. Nyx cried out in pain.

Nightmare Moon's eyes went wide. She reached into the bramble bush, hoof outstretched.

"NOOOOO!"

The others had scattered, but they hadn't gone far. Snips' FrankenPony costume had betrayed him again, the oversized boots stumbling over each other and sending him tumbling to the grass. Snails had promptly tripped over his best friend and they'd gotten hopelessly tangled in each other's limbs. They looked up and saw Nightmare Moon about to devour one of their friends.

"We gotta save her!" Snails yelped. Snips kicked off his boots and got to his hooves alongside his friend. Terror turned to panicked resolve. "Let's do it!"

Then the class clowns, the slow-mos, the two biggest dorks and goofballs in Miss Cheerilee's whole class, did the most heroic thing of their lives.

They lowered their heads, aimed their horns at Nightmare Moon's plot, and charged.

"Well haven't you got yourself in a tangle? Well I---- EEEYYOUWWWCH!!" The Night Princess howled, moon white eyes bugging in shock as two sharp, stubby horns struck her backside.  Almost on reflex she lashed out with a kick. She caught the two hapless heroes a glancing blow, sending them tumbling across the clearing, dazed and confused.

"NYX!" Spike screamed. He pulled off his hunch and let Peewee out of his cage. "Go get help, Peewee!" The little phoenix shot off in a blur of light. "C'mon, we gotta save her!" he said to Owlowiscious and Scootaloo. He ran toward Nightmare Moon as fast as his stubby legs would carry him.

"Hold still, you--- what? Ack!!" Suddenly the dark princess found herself with a very large and pugnacious owl clinging to her horn. The bird flapped its wings in her face, blinding her. Nightmare Moon backed off, shaking her head violently to rid herself of her unwanted passenger.

Scootaloo couldn't fly very high, or very well. But she could, with a little effort, fly low and fast. She got a running start and came buzzing in, headfirst, and headbutted Nightmare Moon in the side just as she flicked Owlowiscious away into the trees. She was going fast enough to actually knock the wind out of her.

She was unfortunately also going fast enough to knock the wind out of herself. Nightmare Moon gave her a light buffet with one wing, sending her tumbling. "STOP THAT," she said.

--Only to have to dance away as green flame suddenly licked around her hooves. "Yeek! Wait a minute---" Spike was still in the game. He reared back, inhaling deep to send another jet of flame at the nightmare creature--

And spit out nothing but a puff of smoke as a shimmering magical field enveloped him. "I said, That's ENOUGH," Nightmare Moon thundered. the shimmering field spread to the rest of the would be rescuers. The moment it enveloped them, they fell instantly into a deep sleep, falling prone where they were.

"Now, let's take care of you," Nightmare Moon said. She turned back to Nyx, still tangled and bleeding in the thorn bush. Nyx's eyes grew wide with fear. Nightmare Moon drew closer, her nose an inch from Nyx's....

Nyx's scream was one of soul-shattering anguish and terror.

"NOOOOO! DON'T EAT MEEEEEE!"

Nightmare Moon gaped, stunned. These weren't the half-excited shrieks of a child at play on Nightmare Night, they were the screams of one in the very depths of horror and despair. "Good heavens, what---" she looked at herself. "Oh blast, I can't believe I... oh you royal ninny..." Her horn glowed. Her form and visage blurred, melted away in glitter and mist. A familiar face now stared down at Nyx; a face of shining white, framed by a gently blowing multi-hued mane and a golden crown. "It's all right, it's all right, it's just me!"

Nyx stared in bewilderment. "Puh, Princess Celestia?"

The Day Princess looked down on her, compassion and pity on her face. "Oh, you poor child, I am so sorry... I didn't realize I was frightening you all that much."

"Whu.... why?..."

"Princess Luna was too busy with the masquerade to play Nightmare Moon tonight, though she dearly wanted to. She asked me to stand in for her-- I apparently need more practice at it," she added ruefully. "I obviously took it a bit too far."

Nyx gaped at Celestia, her heart finally slowing. The fear and the panic subsided, and the adrenaline trickled out of her over-wrought little body. It wasn't Nightmare Moon come to eat her, it wasn't even Luna. It was just Celestia.

And the saddest, worst part of it all was that some tiny little part of her insisted that for Nyx this wasn't much better....

Her wide turquoise eyes watered, gushed over, and she started crying. She started bawling, and she couldn't stop. Wails of stress and fear and exhaustion from it all shook her tiny frame as she simply gave in and sobbed in hysterics.

Gentle hooves and magic pulled the branches away, freed her mane and tail and clothing from the thorns. A soft voice murmured in her ear as careful spells healed the myriad cuts and scrapes, a kerchief from who knew where wiped her tears, blew her nose. Eventually she came to herself; Celestia was lying on the ground, cradling her in her forelegs, her wings mantling and covering them both. She didn't know whether it was Celestia's magic or the warmth of her breath or just being held, but Nyx had never felt so safe outside of her own mother's embrace. "M'sorry," she croaked, wiping her eyes with her hoof.

"It's all right," Celestia said gently. "Heavens, where did all this come from?"

Nyx just opened up her mouth and it all came gushing out. Her nightmares, her fears that she wasn't a real pony, that she was just a pony-shaped blob of magic like Diamond Tiara had said, that someday something, maybe some lost and forgotten scrap of Nightmare Moon's magic, would come along and swallow her whole, or that the magic she was made of would come apart and she'd melt away.... or maybe even that someday she'd do something wrong and Spell Nexus or Princess Luna or even Princess Celestia would un-magic her into nothing...

"I'm sorry, but it's true!" she blurted out. "I can't help feeling it--I know you wouldnt--- you wouldn't would you...?"

Celestia shushed her and rocked her. "No, no, I promise, I never would," the princess said. "It's okay, I understand..." The princess didn't let it show on her face, but the words cut right across her heart. Fool Princess, she thought unhappily, why didn't you ever comfort this poor thing? All this time living in fear....

And Nyx babbled on; about how she'd been so excited about Nightmare Night, and then she'd found out, in the last possible moment and the worst possible way, that it was all about her--- about Nightmare Moon, and how fillies and colts thought she went around gobbling little ponies up.... and how it made her feel even more un-real than ever before, just a bogey monster someone made up to scare foals.

It seemed to take forever, but finally the torrent of words ebbed away, turned to a trickle and stopped. Nyx felt exhausted, wrung out, squeezed dry. But she felt, was just starting to feel the tiniest little bit better.

"Goodness, that's a lot for a little filly to be carrying around," Celestia said. "Didn't you ever talk to Twilight about it? Or your friends? Or anyone?"

Nyx shook her head. "I tried, but...." she waved her hooves in frustrations. "I couldn't... I couldn't make the words come out, and...." she cringed as she recalled several painful memories. Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Rainbow Dash.... "And  it made me sound like a crybaby," she said darkly. "I hate being a crybaby. I never wanna be called a crybaby again."

"If something is hurting you, you should cry," Celestia chided. "At least a little. You can't keep everything inside, you have to let it out from time to time. That's what tears are for." Her face clouded a moment. "....My... sister tried to keep everything inside herself for so long.... that's part of why she turned into Nightmare Moon in the first place. Letting hurtful things curl up inside you in a little ball..." She shook her head and sighed.

"Nyx, I think we're overdue for a long talk. There's something I'd like to show you back at-- at Luna's Castle.  Would you come with me? " Nyx nodded meekly. "Good." The Princess smiled.  "Perhaps we should wake up your friends, first. Go give them a nudge, that will break the spell." Nyx got to her feet and went to each of her downed friends. As Celestia had said, a simple nuzzle and each of them awoke. After a moment's confusion, and a brief explanation from Nyx and Celestia, all was well. Though quite a few individuals were standing around looking sheepish and awkward.

Snips and Snails were both sprawled on their backs, snoring vigorously where they lay. Nyx giggled and gave them both a nudge. They awoke with a start.  The two colts looked up and saw Princess Celestia standing over them, looking at them with a wry grin.

"WAGH, NIGHTMARE MOO-- Wait, what?" Snips said.

"Princess Celestia! Nightmare Moon was here!" Snails said, kicking and trying to get up.

"uhhh, no there wasn't," Nyx said.

"But we saw---"

"That was Princess Celestia in disguise, apparently," Spike said with chagrin.

The two colts blinked. "Princess Celestia in disguise?" Snails said faintly. His last few conscious minutes were obviously replaying in his head.

Celestia nodded, cocking an eyebrow at them. Snips and Snails' eyes bugged out of their sockets.

"We jabbed Princess Celestia in the butt," Snips squeaked in horrified awe. "We are so  dead."

Snails rolled over and looked up at Nyx beseechingly. "Since you were Nightmare Moon, I guess you're the pony to ask," he said. "Are there any nice vacation spots on the Moon?"

There was a most unprincesslike snort of laughter from Celestia. She lowered her head to the two prone ponies. "I think we'll let this one incident slide," she chuckled. Snips and Snails whimpered in relief. The Princess turned away, then looked back. "But I will be speaking with all of you and your parents later at the party," she said in a no-nonsense manner.

Snips and Snails looked at each other and groaned.

"Spike, I'm sure PeeWee will be back soon," Celestia said. "Wait here for him. Let whoever he brings know that all is well." Spike saluted. "Owlowiscious, stay with the children till somepony gets here. Nyx will be coming back to the palace with me. Are you ready, Nyx?"

"Oh wait!" Nyx ran over and pulled one of the bags out of the candy pile--- one with a preeminence of candy canes--- and dragged it out. "I've got to give this to Flitter," she said. "She didn't leave any candy at all for herself."

Nyx trotted back to the princess. With a flicker of magic, Celestia scooped the little alicorn up and deposited her on her shoulders. "Hold on tight," she said, spreading her wings. Nyx held her breath and closed her eyes. There was a whoosh of feathers, and they were aloft....