Author’s note: Hey, sorry for the wait, but here I am! Just gonna inform you all of my buddy on FanFic.net: zeno518. He is currently making a story about what if I, Alexander Ericson, had used a Quantum Singularity to turn the world into Equestria. Its jolly good fun, and I suggest you check it out here. Thanks for your support, but do please read on:

…One Week Later…

I tightened the fastenings on my steel carapace with my teeth as Whitewash did my legs. This was not my royal armour, just something I threw together for Nightmare Night. As I finished some adjustments, Whitewash handed me the matching steel helm. I slid it over my head and fastened it so that it fit snugly on my noggin. I was preparing for the local celebration of “Nightmare Night” and like my father always said: “Go big, or go home.” I wasn’t planning on coming back home anytime tonight.

Apparently, the point of Nightmare Night was that, during the Nightmare Moon crisis, ponies would disguise themselves at night in order to avoid Nightmare Moon, fearing she was going to eat them or some rubbish like that. After Princess Luna’s imprisonment, however, it quickly became an annual tradition in which ponies dress up in (usually scary) costumes and collect candy from neighboring homes. They then give some of this candy as a mock-offering to their memorial of the Nightmare Moon crisis near the Everfree forest “in exchange for their souls.” I chucked lightly at that. ‘Tonight, I’m more likely going to be giving my soul to the devil drink.’ The only thing that I found intriguing was the whole “dress up in scary costumes” part, which I adopted with much gusto. Having a professional illusionist and transmuter helps. When we finished Whitewash began her three-part spell to make me into a figure of fear and darkness… or more so at least. She came up with the idea of using both transmutation and veils to make my costume… epic, for lack of a better word.

I had smithed the steel armour for her to work with for the transmutation, after all, why have veil armour that doesn’t work when you can have real armour that does? Anyways, Whitewash was going to use transmutation magic to re-mould my simple steel plate into a much more fearsome uniform. She was also going to use veils to change my appearance to something horrific. She never delved into what that would entail, but seeing as she was a Sanguinary Guard for twenty years of her twenty-six, I hold faith that she understands the meaning of horror better than most.

“Ok… let’s do this. You’re all suited up and ready, right?” the creamy yellow mare asked. I nodded. “Ok then… believe me, when we are done, it’s going to be legen- wait for it…” Her horn lit up, and blasted me with blinding white magic. Funny how her magic was white… it was quite distinguishable, not to mention matched her name.

“Wait for it…” she said, beads of sweat appearing on her brow as she tried to be “cool” while doing her spell. This was obviously putting a huge strain on her, as her horn was now shooting sparks, and she was struggling to stand. I felt my armour shift and mold into a different shape and my body felt like a light fabric was being passed over it. Then the light subsided, and Whitewash collapsed, grinning widely.

“-dary. Here… a mirror.” She floated over a mirror to me, still panting, and I saw what I momentarily thought to be a daemon from Tartarus. Then I remembered that this was a mirror.

My armor was no longer simple steel plate. It resembled Dread Armour from the myths of Dread Knights, the soldiers of death and the underworld. It shone as red as blood, and was adorned with many spikes, rivets, and simple gems. The helm now matched the armour with spikes jutting from the back of the head, and ox horns protruding from either sides of the helm. Then, saw that my face had changed drastically. Although the helm covered most of my head, my muzzle and eyes were left showing. My eyes seemed to no longer have pupils, and my golden amber eyes gleamed like gold bits in my skull, giving off an odd glow. Grinning, I also noticed that my teeth were sharper, to the point of looking like knives. Something else I noticed is that when unfurling my wings, they were leathery and pointed, much like a bat’s. Then, the most shocking part of the ensemble hit me. My mane and tail were on fire, nay, were consisted of fire… or so it appeared to be. Its flames flicked back and forth, mimicking a real flame, but did not burn me or give off heat. I looked like something of myth and legend… the type of thing mothers warn their foals of to eat their vegetables. I looked like the Devil’s scarier cousin… like… evil incarnate.

“Thank you so much, dear Whitewash. This is perfect,” I said, noting that my voice was now much deeper. “I thank you for going the extra mile just for me. Thank you.” Whitewash just blushed and waved her hoof in a nonchalant way.

“Anything for my favorite prince, hubby.” She said sarcastically. “But seriously, thanks. I think it came out really well. The hardest part was definitely the transmutation. Also, the transmutation will not wear off, so that suit is like that forever, and just a word of warning, the veils will dispel themselves at dawn. I also forgot to ask, where did you get the armour from?”

“I made it with Spike. He’s a surprisingly good blacksmith. You know, I’m thinking of making him an apprentice. Maybe teach him the field, because seeing as he’s a dragon, he’s flame retardant, has fingers, and can breathe fire. I may even teach him how to forge Bloodsteel, if he’s up to it,” I said with a hint of madness. Whitewash flinched at this, and showed noticeable concern on her face. I shook of the feeling, and returned my gaze to her.

“You ok there, big guy? You never used to do that back home,” she said, her voice filled with worry.

“I’m fine. That just happens sometimes. It’s no big deal, really.” Whitewash looked worried, and she placed a hoof on my spiked shoulder.

“You don’t seem fine, and it is a big deal if that sort of thing happens regularly. If you need to talk, I’m here.” I brushed her off, and stood tall.

“It’s ok. I’m fine.” She said nothing, but then there was a knock at the door.

“Hey! What’s taking so long? We don’t have all night you know! Some of us actually want to enjoy tonight.” Rainbow Dash. A real tom-colt if you ask me. Whitewash sighed and answered:

“Hold on! I still need to get my costume on!” Her horn began to glow again, but this time much less brightly. I watched as she dispelled her current veil (which was a simple chameleon veil) and her silverette armour appeared, covering her whole body.

“Do you ever take off your armour?” I asked, my voice rumbling.

“No reason to… unless there’s a curious mare involved,” she said with a wink. ‘Right… forgot she swings that way…’

Her horn flared once more, and her armour disappeared, and was replaced with a black lace dress which was actually quite sultry. But that paled when I saw her body veil. She was slightly taller, with a paler crème coat and her mane was now a dark velvet-red and was much longer, along with being rather wild, but in an attractive way. Her eyes were also a different shape, and she was also lacking pupils. However, the only thing that remained the same was her emerald green iris. I was beginning to wonder if she couldn’t change her iris colour, but I realized that was silly. I felt almost enchanted by her appearance, but I shook it off when I realized why. She had a faint aura about her, and I realized she had cast a petty “Want It, Need It” spell on herself. She was a Succubus daemon, and she took her illusion to heart. Whitewash then nodded to the door, signaling for me to open it with a devilish grin.

I moved to the door, and as Dash pounded on it once more, I opened it quickly, to catch her off guard. But what really surprised her was my elaborate costume. Her eyes dilated and her wings faltered, which were keeping her afloat. What followed was a series of thumps descending the stairs and a continuous “Whoa”. That and several swears as she hit the bottom of the stairs. Once quiet returned, Whitewash picked herself up and headed downstairs. She motioned for me to hold as she passed, and I listened to her descent. I heard some “Ooohs” and some “Aaahs” and a Miss Dash exclaim something about “Damn Wing Boners”. Finally, I heard Whitewash start:

“Steel yourselves, my fellow mares, for what is about to descend those stairs is no longer the Red Storm you knew. He is now the vessel of a greater blood daemon; he is now a Dread Knight from the depths of Tartarus itself!” I took this as a signal to descend. I thought the Tartarus part was a nice touch, as most ponies forget there is an Underworld, and with that, an afterlife. I slowly stepped down the stairs, as I wasn’t paying any attention to the other ponies, but I was paying more attention to myself, trying to maintain an intimidating posture and trying not to trip. That would most certainly suck. However, as I reached the bottom, I realized the caution was not needed. Simply looking like that lives in the Devil’s closet was enough. Rainbow Dash scrambled away from me in horror as I heard a “Sweet Celestia” and a “Good Heavens”. As everypony stared on in awe, I took the time to examine their costumes.

Twilight Sparkle was wearing a flowing pink gown and a matching princess’s headpiece, likely the “Damsel in Distress” type of costume. I wonder who the “Knight in Shining Armor” was. Rainbow Dash was in what appeared to be a cat suit outfitted with a harness and night vision goggles. Reminded me of that Trott Clancy fellow… Rarity was clearly a vampiress judging from her “spooky” garment, along with the fake blood and teeth. Lots of rubies too, almost too many. Fluttershy was a difficult one to guess, but I understood it momentarily. She was a Spriggan, or forest spirit, and a lovely one at that. She had dyed her coat a lime green, and her mane a grassy green. She was also wearing an ensemble of vines, leaves, and flowers… ‘Very creative… and very seksy,’ I thought. Applejack appeared to be an easterner swordpony… a samurai, if my memory serves me correctly. She wore a long, white, cloth garment along with wooden sandals and a hairpin to keep her normally long hair up in a bun. I will have to ask her why she chose such an odd costume later. But, there at the end of the line, I saw her. Seemingly straight from my nightmares was Pinkie Pyro as I had dubbed it. She stood there, wearing that same red jumpsuit, that same air canister, and that same, damnable gasmask. It covered her whole head, (excluding her mane) and concealed her eyes behind unnerving tinted lenses. ‘SweetjumpingbabyLunaonaunicycle; that is the scariest bucking thing I have ever seen. And I have seen some scary stuff,’ I thought with a shiver. The most unnerving part is that her head was tilted slightly to one side, and who knows what she could be thinking. I certainly did not, with her wearing that mask. I pushed the thought to the side as the “Spriggan” spoke up.

“You look very scary Red Storm,” Fluttershy said with a barely audible murmur.

“Thank you, my dear,” I said, my newly acquired demon-voice rumbling. “I will take that comment as a complement.” I felt the urge to scary to dillies out of my friends with my new form, but resisted the urge, as like I said: they were my friends. I also felt bad for intimidating them in the first place, but hey, it’s Nightmare Night. Thankfully, everypony else is fair game.

“Hey, everypony! I almost forgot; there’s supposed to be party at the Cat’s Eye Café! How about we check it out?” Rainbow Dash asked, trying to lessen the uneasy atmosphere. Pinkie Pyro jumped when Agent Dash said “Party”, and kept trying to speak. Alas, to my dismay, all that was heard were muffled “Mmphs”… Sweet Luna it was horrifying. We all nodded and left the comfort of the cottage for the chill of Nightmare Night