Not Her Element
Nov. 21st, 2015 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
twilightponyThat was a fun Nightmare Night with my friends. Even Fluttershy joined us for a while... with mixed results. I should explain what Nightmare Night is.
After the harvests, when food is plentiful, it's another way to celebrate, relax and party. It was also a way to defuse the terror of the eventual return of the slumbering Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon. During Nightmare Night, everypony puts on disguises, decorates the town with scary faces, and gives out candy. This way we make two paired associations: fear with fun, and the unknown (disguised ponies) with reward (candy).
For extra measure, we sweeten the deal by making a sacrifice, giving some of the candy to Nightmare Moon, for the common good. Thus, we say we go in disguise so Nightmare Moon wouldn't know who gave her what candy, prompting her to spare everypony equally.
It's pony psychotherapy. It's also a lighthearted way to calm the nervous nellies everywhere. There are always a few. Disguises also encourage pranking, which adds to the fun. But nopony really remembers these little details anymore. So when the Mare in the Moon was no more, nopony thought to cancel Nightmare Night. It has taken on a life of its own, an excuse for a fun costume ball with games and generous gifts of candy.
The Tree Castle is really far off the foal candy-quest circuit, so it doesn't get that many visitors on Nightmare Night. We decided to meet here at sundown before heading over to Rarity's Boutique to put on the costumes she'd made for us this year. Then Fluttershy showed up, looking to "borrow" some carrots for her bunny. That was a surprise. Usually she doesn't even answer the door on Nightmare Night. It's too scary for her. It was a whole new level of surprising when she volunteered to join us.
I put out a big bowl of candy by the door. Spike (who already had his costume on) went questing in town, and the six of us went first to Rarity's place for our outfits and then to Sugar Cube Corner for fun and games. That didn't work out to well for Fluttershy, who was anything but relaxed, even though Pinkie proposed very mundane games. I got an idea. Since we couldn't come up with anything, maybe if Fluttershy was the pony pulling the strings, she would be able to join us by running the game, but since she would be trying to scare us, she wouldn't be scared. It was worth a try. It flopped.
We wandered around Ponyville while Fluttershy set up in her cottage. We took in the sights, munching on sweets, then we went to Fluttershy's place. Her dinner theater social disaster set up was just not scary. Inventive, but something that would not keep me up at night. We moved on to collect Spike and go try the Sweet Apple Acres corn maze, without Fluttershy.
The corn maze was fun, but not that scary, until Fluttershy, with the help of her critter companions, scared the oats out of us. I guess paired association kept us from keeling over from shock when we realized it was Fluttershy stalking us and we weren't all going to die.
Long story short, Fluttershy has tried Nightmare Night and she still doesn't feel that it's fun to be scared, or to scare others. It's not her thing.
After the harvests, when food is plentiful, it's another way to celebrate, relax and party. It was also a way to defuse the terror of the eventual return of the slumbering Mare in the Moon, Nightmare Moon. During Nightmare Night, everypony puts on disguises, decorates the town with scary faces, and gives out candy. This way we make two paired associations: fear with fun, and the unknown (disguised ponies) with reward (candy).
For extra measure, we sweeten the deal by making a sacrifice, giving some of the candy to Nightmare Moon, for the common good. Thus, we say we go in disguise so Nightmare Moon wouldn't know who gave her what candy, prompting her to spare everypony equally.
It's pony psychotherapy. It's also a lighthearted way to calm the nervous nellies everywhere. There are always a few. Disguises also encourage pranking, which adds to the fun. But nopony really remembers these little details anymore. So when the Mare in the Moon was no more, nopony thought to cancel Nightmare Night. It has taken on a life of its own, an excuse for a fun costume ball with games and generous gifts of candy.
The Tree Castle is really far off the foal candy-quest circuit, so it doesn't get that many visitors on Nightmare Night. We decided to meet here at sundown before heading over to Rarity's Boutique to put on the costumes she'd made for us this year. Then Fluttershy showed up, looking to "borrow" some carrots for her bunny. That was a surprise. Usually she doesn't even answer the door on Nightmare Night. It's too scary for her. It was a whole new level of surprising when she volunteered to join us.
I put out a big bowl of candy by the door. Spike (who already had his costume on) went questing in town, and the six of us went first to Rarity's place for our outfits and then to Sugar Cube Corner for fun and games. That didn't work out to well for Fluttershy, who was anything but relaxed, even though Pinkie proposed very mundane games. I got an idea. Since we couldn't come up with anything, maybe if Fluttershy was the pony pulling the strings, she would be able to join us by running the game, but since she would be trying to scare us, she wouldn't be scared. It was worth a try. It flopped.
We wandered around Ponyville while Fluttershy set up in her cottage. We took in the sights, munching on sweets, then we went to Fluttershy's place. Her dinner theater social disaster set up was just not scary. Inventive, but something that would not keep me up at night. We moved on to collect Spike and go try the Sweet Apple Acres corn maze, without Fluttershy.
The corn maze was fun, but not that scary, until Fluttershy, with the help of her critter companions, scared the oats out of us. I guess paired association kept us from keeling over from shock when we realized it was Fluttershy stalking us and we weren't all going to die.
Long story short, Fluttershy has tried Nightmare Night and she still doesn't feel that it's fun to be scared, or to scare others. It's not her thing.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-22 01:51 am (UTC)If I do scare someone, it would be very rare and very light.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 01:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 05:02 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2015-11-23 08:39 pm (UTC)While I do like scary stories and stuff like that, I can understand how some folks wouldn't enjoy it.
no subject
Date: 2015-11-26 12:38 am (UTC)It's the same for you?
no subject
Date: 2015-11-27 12:28 am (UTC)Stories like "The Thing" are mainly told for entertainment purposes. The key to creating a good horror story, at least over here, is to have just the right amount of humor mixed in, in order to balance the scares.
Or build up great, sympathetic characters and then introduce a horrifying monster and scare the crap out of the audience for the rest of the story, like "Alien."