The Hyuugan Mash - A Nightmare Night Story

Rain raises her brow at the invitation. A small tilt to the head, "Harle darling... can you clear out your schedual?" She asks falling onto the bed beside her love. Her head resting on her belly.

Fire rests in a project she had been working on inthe desert. she chuckles. Walking into a cabin she takes a seat and kicks on an AC. She sighs and leans back, "yeah i'll go..."

Violet frowns setting her cane down, "hmmm..." she gets up to go find a manager that runs the farm for a couple questions. Then she remembers, she IS the manager! Adjusting on her cane she begins moving to one of her PC's to book train tickets.

(Moon)

Moon looked at the invitation and tilted her head, settling down on her sofa. She pulled out her diary and wrote down the date, before turning on her old computer and booking some transport to the event. She had always celebrated Nightmare Night, and was known for insanely terrifying decorations. It suited her well. She giggled as her cat climbed onto her lap and settled down, purring softly.

(Mist)

Mist sat in her run-down apartment and stared at the invitation, tilting her head in confusion. Her razor fingers sliced up an apple as she read the invitation, wondering at first if it was a trap. But eventually, she decided she would go. It would be a nice break, even though she knew she would have to quit work soon.

There is a shriek above the port of Lashtoka as a falcon dives from the air. It dives at one of the ponies, who is standing on the docks with one arm outstretched and the other holding the invitation. The bird slows at the last moment landing on the outstretched arm.

"Well this could be fun," she adjusts her arm so she can hold the falcon more comfortable "Should we go?"

She turns to the bird who glances back to her. It gives her a quiet shriek to which the girl cracks a smile. She turns and starts walking back off the docks, petting the bird as she walks. "Alright! Now, let's go see if we can convince that stick in the mud husband of mine to go too."

Kaylee Brown wrote:

"Why're you opening my mailbox?! I told you to fire the torpedo!" Jake Kellforce shouts at his smartphone, as the digital assistant displays the invitation on it's screen instead of the targetting reticle linked up to its camera, which he'd been expecting, "Do I look like i'm in a situation where I can deal with that right now?!"

Another depth charge detonation in the water nearby released a shockwave, which shook everything in the small midget submarine Jake now found himself in. He fell out of his seat in the tower and ended up hanging upside down from the seatbelt.

"Alright, switch to manual control, i'm going to have to fire this thing myself! Last time I save time by plugging in my iPhone..." Jake barks at the phone, which deactivates the automatic targetting system, and pulls up the manual firing joystick. He grabs it whilst still upside down, and moves the reticle over the helicopter hovering above on the phone screen.

"Not yet... not yet... now!" Jake cries, pulling the trigger. A loud clank's heard in the cabin, as a small porthole opens on the side of the minisub, and a sea-to-air torpedo launches from it. The torpedo rushes through the water, piercing the surface and leaping up to the unsuspecting helicopter, impacting clean on its underside. The helicopter erupted in a series of incandescent explosions, as its own munitions suppy cooked off, before the burnt husk that remained spun out of control and crashed down into the sea off to the side.

"Haha! That'll teach you to raid commerce shipping and set up your own private empire" Jake laughs, before noticing the ever-growing stream of water entering the cabin via the stuck-open torpedo port, "Oh come on". He quickly unplugs the smartphone and throws it in a waterproof bag, before climbing back up into the tower and putting on an oxygen mask. Once the cabin had filled up with water completely, he unscrewed the top hatch, and swum out into the open water, abandoning the submarine to its fate.

When he gets to the surface, Jake starts treading water, and finally looks at the invitation. "A Nightmare Night party, huh? I don't usually like going back to old faces if I can help it, but it might be suspicious if I don't show, so I guess i'll be saying goodbye to Jake Kellforce early, and saying hello again to Rogue Fire." With that, he starts swimming back to shore.

The days after the Digital Waltz have been tough. After all, while ultimately a good thing, the techological revolution it has caused in it's time could not be undone, and everyone noticed it sooner or later what the loss of the waltz meant to their daily lives.

Twilight especially has seen the results. The previous world of politics was undone, it was far more chaotic now that the strings of the puppets were cut. She thought it was more interesting now there were more opinions, but it certainly was more exhausting listening to everyone's arguing. She also didn't have her previous bodyguards to fall back on, as one was deemed unfit for the job after a severe injury, while the other was still raiding the bases of the Digital waltz for all possible blueprints to burn.

What didn't help either was that she still had the idea to leave the Union, at least on a military level. The resulting discussions from this idea kept building, putting her at odds with many more people. Though there were sympathizers, and people who understood her viewpoint, there was still not enough support to truely realize "Exitquestria".

------

After another exhausting day filled with goverment business, Twilight returned home, heading to the living room, and just threw herself into the chair.

She was reflecting back on the day, which seemed almost pointless to her. Another day of bickering and arguing, with no one seemingly listening to eachother.

~Sounds like the days of Slavegear again.~

Then, her phone made a noise. She checked what was on it, letting out a small smile as she answered it.

"Hey there, how was your day? Mine was just the worst, nothing seemed to have happened at all.... An invitation? For that group? Huh, must've missed it somehow. Hang on, gonna read it."

She puts the call on hold, the opened to check the invitation send around. "Well, speak of the devil..."

She then continued her phone call.

"We've got mail!"

Derpy had just got herself her regular cup of coffee from the Tardis's replomat, and had walked into the control room when the familiar hum of the main console was interrupted by her partner. "Mail? How've we got mail?" She said, eyeing the excited Changeling with bemusement.

"I don't know!" V'tara replied, swinging around the main computer screen to show off the invitation. "But it's from Kaylee! We haven't seen her since..." She stopped.

"Since Slavegear." Finished Derpy, putting a hand on V'tara's shoulder. "I'm sure they were fine- they'll understand we had to leave unexpectedly." She gave V'tara a sly smile. "Now, what do you say I find something for us to wear? I used to love Nightmare night when I was a filly! Speaking of which-"

Sable walked in with a handful of tools, the half-changeling filly glancing a wary eye at the two. "Morning? What's come up, another adventure?"

"Hopefully!" V'tara said, starting to type in the coordinates. "Just have to trace back the temporal signature. With any luck you'll be able to meet your godmother..."

Switches were thrown, dials flipped, odd looking doodads did whatever it was that odd looking doodads did and all three of them grabbed onto the main console as the TARDIS careened through the Time Vortex.

The port town of Lastochka was abuzz with activity. Countless people in warm winter coats walked through the colorful streets, as the holiday lights sparkled from atop every building.
Strings of lights hung over the roads, sparkling with every color of the rainbow and as a gentle snowfall began to cover the town with shining white dots, faint traces of smoke began to rise from the house' chimneys.

You could see a lit window inside every house, the whole family gathered together around dinner table. Others walked the streets in couples and large groups, loudly laughing and buying food and souvenirs from the countless shop stalls, that opened up along the main roads.


The port was swarming with veteran sailors, unloading their fishing boats or preparing to set sail again. Among the rusty old vessels stationed there, one stood out in particular, a compact timid looking warship, with no visible weapons.
Its gun batteries seemingly dismantled and taken off long ago. The torpedo tubes on the deck, replaced with tents and dance floors.

A blue Union flag proudly hung from its tallest pole. The words "B-031 Hyuuga" written in large, white capital letters on its side.


A swarm of sailors in blue Union uniforms, were coming up and down the ships main ramp, carrying massive wooden boxes of provisions aboard the small ship.


A single girl with green hair and gray pelt, stood on the dock with her back to the ship and hopelessly tried to warm up, hopping in place from one foot to another.
The massive blue winter coat was too big for her, but seemingly did little to protect her from the cold.

She was holding a clipboard and seemingly reviewing something on it, as the sailors moved back and forth, past her.


You notice a navy officers hat atop her head, and a small flag attached to her back. The flag towered above her head and reminded you of something the tour guides use, to pinpoint the guides location to the group.

The flag was green, with a cartoon pony's face drawn on it, and the words:

"HYUUGA NIGHTMARE NIGHT FESTIVAL" written on it in yellow.

Kaylee Brown wrote:The port town of Lastochka was abuzz with activity. Countless people in warm winter coats walked through the colorful streets, as the holiday lights sparkled from atop every building.
Strings of lights hung over the roads, sparkling with every color of the rainbow and as a gentle snowfall began to cover the town with shining white dots, faint traces of smoke began to rise from the house' chimneys.

You could see a lit window inside every house, the whole family gathered together around dinner table. Others walked the streets in couples and large groups, loudly laughing and buying food and souvenirs from the countless shop stalls, that opened up along the main roads.


The port was swarming with veteran sailors, unloading their fishing boats or preparing to set sail again. Among the rusty old vessels stationed there, one stood out in particular, a compact timid looking warship, with no visible weapons.
Its gun batteries seemingly dismantled and taken off long ago. The torpedo tubes on the deck, replaced with tents and dance floors.

A blue Union flag proudly hung from its tallest pole. The words "B-031 Hyuuga" written in large, white capital letters on its side.


A swarm of sailors in blue Union uniforms, were coming up and down the ships main ramp, carrying massive wooden boxes of provisions aboard the small ship.


A single girl with green hair and gray pelt, stood on the dock with her back to the ship and hopelessly tried to warm up, hopping in place from one foot to another.
The massive blue winter coat was too big for her, but seemingly did little to protect her from the cold.

She was holding a clipboard and seemingly reviewing something on it, as the sailors moved back and forth, past her.


You notice a navy officers hat atop her head, and a small flag attached to her back. The flag towered above her head and reminded you of something the tour guides use, to pinpoint the guides location to the group.

The flag was green, with a cartoon pony's face drawn on it, and the words:

"HYUUGA NIGHTMARE NIGHT FESTIVAL" written on it in yellow.

"Nightmare Night? More like Hearth's Warming Eve..." Rogue Fire, as he calls himself again, chuckles to himself as he winds his way through the busy Lastochkan streets down to the docks. He'd made sure to leave early so that he'd get there in plenty of time, as from experience he knew that no plan survived contact with the old gang he'd be seeing again here.

As he approached the ship, he couldn't see anyone he recognised yet, but he was early after all, so that was to be expected. "Excuse me officer, am I in the right place?" he asks the girl with the clipboard, showing her the invitation on his smartphone. When said smartphone starts playing Charlie Schmidt's Keyboard Cat on YouTube, Rogue quickly turns it off "You've got to be kidding me, this's a completely different phone..."

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J---aiyznGQ" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Rogue pulls out a paper copy of the invitation which he'd printed off earlier, just as a precaution in case his recent spate of bad luck with technology continued. "Sorry about that, question still stands though" he says to the girl, showing her the paper copy.

Fire was at a nearby bar telling storys and singing loudly as she goes. Telling tales and spinning legemds to open ears and eyes. A small cup of rum sits in her hand as she talks. If Rogues ears were keen he could hear the large robots speakers crack as she sung a tad too loudly.
.
Rain (who dragged or took harle with her) was sitting at a diner talking over a menu curious about what to order.

Violet sits in front of a Café fireplace drinking a pumpkin spice latté. Her cane on the floor in beween her legs as she sips alone.

Near the ship, two ponies were moving towards the ship, a duo of unicorns. One with blonde fur and mane, wearing a fine tux. He seems more chipper about the event then his companion, a purple horned mare in a dress and a coat over her shoulders. She was shuffling forward, trying to keep the two away.

"You know" She started. "We don't have to go to this party, we can go to a restaurant, book a hotel room, watch some netflix and chill afterwards." She let out a nervous grin.

"No series on the television can match what a meeting like this could hold!" The blonde stallion started. "It will be the first meeting of that crew in such a casual situation. How could you not feel excited?!"

"I can think of a few reasons" The mare started, beginning a flashback...

(Start flashback)

Twilight sat down in her office, contacting a secretary.
"What's on the agenda today?" She spoke.

From the intercom, the reply came. "Today is empty, boss. It is empty for the next few days, in fact."

Twilight seemed rather surprised by this, as she contacted again. "Nothing? What do you mean? What happened?"

The intercom happily speaks. "There is one thing, it will come in soon."

That moment, Angelo stuck his head into the room. "Hey princess, how are you?"

She blinks. "Angelo? What is the meaning of this?"

He looks playful as he holds up a ticket. "Take a guess what we're gonna do this weekend."

Twilight looked at him, and her face gained a frown as it dawned on her. "Sonovabi-"

(End flaskback)

"Anyways" Twilight begins again. "I really think there's better things to do. Why not an amusement park?"

Angelo took her hand. "Because the scent of open sea!"
Twi: "Salt and fish, I can smell that on the market."
Ang: "Activities with the greatest!"
Twi: "I rather get an amateur circumcision."
Ang: "And casual talk with the heroes of Adel-"

"TO HELL WITH THOSE HEROES!" Twilight snaps, pulling her hand back. "They have only brought problems with their acts to everyone in the world!"

Angelo took a step away. Twilight glared at him. "I'm going back to Equestria." She says, turning around.

With a screech and a loud thud, the TARDIS materialises, becoming part of the Docks busy atmosphere without attracting attention. A grey Pegasus with a mustard coloured mane and a pink eyed changeling stumble out, a small grey filly with dark red hair and bright emerald eyes that betrayed her changeling side in tow.

They looked around, the filly checking a device that bleeped with enthusiasm.

Derpy took a deep breath of the salty air, her black dress billowing in the sea breeze. "We made it! I'll admit, you're getting better at piloting."

V'tara gives a grin, locking the TARDIS behind them. "Ever since we found that manual, things have been a lot easier. Why it was propping up a vent in the engine core I'll never know... How's it look Sable?"

The filly glanced up from her device. "What Mum said- we seem to be in the right place. Temporal signature seems ok, no sign of anything that could destabilize the Tardis... How about we ask her?" She said, pointing towards a very irate unicorn who seemed rather familiar.

"Sable!" Said Derpy, scolding her daughter, "How many times have I told you not to point? Hang on... HEY! TWILIGHT!"

The door to the cafe opens a little too violently as a mare bursts inside and pushed the door closed behind her. She's dressed more like she should be living in a warmer climate. The only thing looking like it would provide warmth is the poncho draped over her shoulders. It appears frayed and torn at the end, but deliberate instead of just being weathered.

"Holy mother that is cold!" she exclaims with a shiver.

She orders a coffee then looks around for a place to sit. Spotting the fireplace she makes her way over to the fireplace and slides into a seat. The flacon she had been holding hops on to the back of the chair.

Both hands wrapped around the mug and leaning towards the fire she looks at Violet

"Cold enough for you?"

"Hey, wait a minute!"Angelo said.

"Why?!"Twilight retorted. "So we could see how everyone has a bone to pick with eachother?"

At the call, she turned around with a frown. But upon seeing the figures, her facial features softened. "Oh, so you guys are still alive I see."

Violet gives a warm smile and laughs quitely, "well living in constant night of nyx I would almost say so." She adjusts in her seat taking a sip from her cup, "i'll admit though I wish i had packed a warmer coat!" She notices her clothing, "where do you come from? You aren't normally up north. Nor do i think you're from equestria. Then again I have never been to the so called holy land so I might be wrong."

"I'm from the other Nyx. The massive desert south of Equestria." She smiles "So really anything besides risking getting a heat stroke when stepping outside is cold to me. My name is Alessandra by the way, but feel free to just call me Sand."

"And that's Ornstein," She briefly glances back at the falcon, "So, I take it you're here for the party then"

She laughs and raises her brow, "I normally get owls around my farm. Dont see falcons apart from the rare occassions where the sun rises in nyx." She picks up her cane. It looked to be made of solid aluminium. There looks to be a pair of latches at the heads base as well as a decent handle signifying that its length hid a sword or possibly a dagger. The piece that you would lean on was shaped like a mango and had a bronse color to it. She sets it on the side of her seat, "so a desert goer huh? You really aren't from around here!"

Derpy laughed as they walked over to Twilight and her companion. "Yup, still kicking! It's good to see you Twilight, how long has it been for you since..." She trailed off, looking sheepish.

"Since the Slavegear incident." Said V'tara, also looking rather awkward. "Judging by your technological progress, a lot's changed? Its been a busy five years for us, time travel tends to make things all..."

"Wibbly wobbly?" Said Sable, piping up with a shy smile, putting her device away into a large, battered satchel she wore on one shoulder.

"Exactly." Derpy finished, gesturing to Sable. "And before I forget, allow me to introduce our daughter, Sable. We've told her all about you!"

Moon slowly walked through the port town, looking around. She had to admit, it was a very pretty little town, and in her opinion the type of place one would retire to, had it not been so cold. She was pretty sure she could see Twilight, but it didn’t feel like a good idea to approach her at this time. Moon had recently been responsible for a very expensive art theft, and was pretty sure anyone who knew her knew she had done it. Her large boots made a heavy sounding noise as she walked down, looking at everyone. Moon wore a thick and very expensive looking blue coat, and her hair was swaying loose around her face.

Perched on the roof of a building was Mist, watching everything that went on below. This place was way too cold, but at least the ship looked cool. She pulled her old jacket tightly around herself and shivered, her feet shifting a bit. “Why the hell am I even here?” She mumbled under her breath.

"I'd say that's an accurate description, and that is exactly why I'm here." She looks into her mug for a moment then back up with a grin "Freeze my butt off for a piece of history, what could be better than that?"

Fire spots moon and calls her over, "MOON Get your imortal ass over here and drink all the booze I cant! Come get wasted for me!" She yells out to her from the door.

Violet gives a weak smile, "Its funny how the world works you know?" She looks down at her cup, "I traveled Aldihide with both General Runner and Commander Brown, Princess Twilight too" she sighs, "I did my best, even crippled myself in the process and I dont think my name got mentioned anywhere it was just, "Heros of Aldihide save our city again!" She chuckles, "I guess thats just the bats curse." Her golden eyes flick up, "oh... excuse me... I tend to wander off now and again."

Moon turned and noticed Fire, and bursted our laughing before walking over to Fire. “Nice to see ya. How’s the girlfriend?” She asked, a smile on her face.

The girl with green hair by the pier looked up from her clipboard and released a bright smile:

"Yup! You're in the right place" she happily called, then reached for a small megaphone, pinned to her belt and called over the pier:

"Hyuuga is now boarding, Hyuuga is now boarding. Please leave your luggage at the pier and our crew will carry it to your quarters.
Please begin boarding, the Hyuuga will set sail in 20 minutes"


She lowered the megaphone, smiled to Rogue again and waited for more people to gather, before she cheerfully waved:

"Hello everyone, my name is Ashley Stanford and I am the Executive Officer aboard the Union Destroyer B-031 Hyuuga.
I'm seeing many new faces and many familiar ones, if anyone remembers me, I was the Executive Officer aboard the B-401 Bodewig as well.
Allow me to be the first to welcome you to the ship. We are very excited to be hosting this festival and hope you have a great time!"


Ashley released a very bright smile: "Kaylee wanted to meet you as well, unfortunately she's been delayed and is still working at the bridge aboard Hyuuga.
If you follow me, I could give you a quick tour of the ship and we could visit Kaylee on the bridge.

If you have any questions at any time, please feel free to ask" Ash brightly smiled.



Inside a nearby diner, Harlequin looked up from the menu, as she heard the megaphone earlier and nodded to Rain:
"..we should be going, wouldn't want the ship leaving without us" she released a loving smile, looking at Rain.

Harlequin was without her mask, dressed in plain yet beatiful clothing. Dark coat and a dark suit. She continued to lovingly look at Rain for a moment, then briefly checked her cellphone:

"...mm" she mumbled, reading a newly arrived message: "..Rain, it seems the Equestrian Councilor will be attending the festival as well.
It seems she wants us to attend a small Council meeting aboard Hyuuga at some point. Nothing too major or overly classified, just to finalize a few things about the contracts Nyx has with the Union"

"And that's the queue" Sand downs the rest of her coffee and bolts up "Assuming you're going to the party I'll see you on the ship. If not, it is was nice speaking with you."

She tosses a bill on the table beside her empty mug before scooping up Ornstein and running out the door.

Once outside Ornstein takes flight while Sand makes a direct line for the ship. Anyone who observed Sand would have seen this oddly dressed girl free running in a mad sprint for the ship. Despite any of the iced up areas, she kept her balance exceedingly well. As soon as she reached whatever line may have been to board the ship she returned to a normal pace.