Nightmare Night

The night sky sparkled with the shine of glimmering stars overhead as a soft and chilly breeze swept through the atmosphere. The evening was young, and the last rays of orange sunshine were barely visible as they disappeared below the horizon. Nightmare Night was here. Above the sound of chilling wind arose waves of glee and frightful screams. In the center of town, a carnival had just begun to take place in order to celebrate the very special occasion of spooky sights and monster bites. Ponies dressed in all sorts of creepy and fun costumes pranced around in their own fright filled wonderland, aiming to receive as many prizes and candy they could. The creepy carnival was decorated with pumpkins and ghosts, spiders and bats, skeletons and zombies! Various games, booths, and attractions littered the grounds with ponies of all ages gathered around. Shrieks of terror could be heard coming from the haunted house. Giggles and chatter came from the various contests and game booths spread out along the grounds. Various hoofsteps and startled cries echoed from inside the miniature corn maze. The night of tricks and treats was making its own chilling debut as the air filled with howling and laughter on this Nightmare Night.

Of course, along with the lights, frights, and colts in filly tights, there had to be treats. And Basalt was going to find them. A stallion on a mission, his eyeballs were liberally applied to each and every single food booth, for their succulent morsels shall be sampled: no popcorn left on stick, no cotton candy left twirling in the wind, no caramel apple left not stuck to teeth, and, perhaps most importantly, no funnel cake left ungobbled.

The day of frights was one where even the adults had the opportunity to play dress-up and not be judged. Ephemeria Spring took that occasion to come with a simple outfit that fit within her simplistic needs and adorned a basic ragged lilac dress, accompanied with a gentle dye around the exposed parts of her coat to create a pale appearance. She topped it off with a large scissor-blade, close to two feet in length and painted red near the tip to simulate the visual of blood. Luckily, the blade was fake. The mare wouldn't dare potentially hurt another because of a need to be overly realistic. She chose to walk around quietly, every so often running up to a stranger with loud skittering steps, before waving the half-scissor prop with a hiss, at often distances a little too close for comfort if a real weapon had been in its place. The fright of Nightmare Night would be her spirit in guidance!

Neon was in her evil queen costume. Her three foals wandering around. Their bodies completely covered in pumpkin costumes. The only foal not wandering around was Cornflake who was upside down and struggling with his hooves flailing in the air. Neon sighed and helped him on his hooves where he ran off

*Glaciem had been on a hilltop overlooking the scenes all night on his usual nightly payrolls. He watched in amusement as all the ponies made their annual rounds for treats.*

*until this year he barely had any idea what Nightmare Night was. He wanted to understand first hoof what made this night so special. And so he walked off the hill, into town, toward the line that lead into the haunted cornfield.*

*Dolly had gotten on her homemade bumblebee costume, and was handing out candy to any trick or treaters, (as well as little bundles of cloth to keep them warm in the coming months!) Maishi was hiding out at the edge of the house, dressed as a mythical being from her homeland. Ready to scare off any who dared to intrude around the house for pranks.* *Symph, was, against her will, dressed up as skeleton. Custom made for a Siren. Hymn was in her Gator costume! Running around with Symph and Fallen and the pets who had their own little costumes!*

*Weeeeelllllll, he was running off until he was knocked back over by Lily, who was in her super hero costume! She licks his face as she bowls him over landing on top of him, and yipping happily!*

Cornflake felt weird at first but quickly felt comfortable with Lily. He was now looking around for Hymn

*Lily curled herself up on top of him now, as Hymn makes her way over, dressed up as a rather silly looking alligator, with Fallen Ash on her back*

Acry hadn't had much of a chance to celebrate Nightmare Night before, not even as a foal, so she jumped at the chance to enjoy it now. She didn't really have a costume, but she had her art supplies, and some inspiration from a movie she watched with Ray. So now here she was, trotting into the Carnival with a ragged blue ribbon tied over her forehead and around the back of her head into a bow, if anyone asked what she was, Acry would have a chance to spook someone, and she was quite excited by the idea! The little mare glanced up and all around, taking in everything, her smile growing, as soon as she spotted the sweets she excitedly rushed over. It was already looking to be a wonderful evening!

*This was it! Pinkie had finally gotten a potion from Zecora that would keep her from transforming at night. She'd taken it beforehand, and slipped into her jester costume. She was bursting with excitement! This would be the first time in forever she could go out at night and be aware of what was going on, and without causing any... pain to others. She zipped out into the night, eyes widened at how beautiful it was! It'd been so long since she'd seen the beautiful night sky! With said carnival in full swing, she was even more excited! So excited she could barely stand it, she raced over to the festivities, and to have fun with her friends! She felt tears welling up in her eyes. Happy tears of course! She ate yummy food, participated in the games, and just enjoyed herself without having to worry about anything. She felt so at peace, just having fun. It was wonderful~*

Acry was not alone in her mission to collect as many treats as possible. Of course, the foals all around were excited, but most of the older ponies were here to supervise or mainly enjoy the attractions. Acry would get to them in time, for now, the rainy-day savings in her bit purse were about to get lighter. She would have sweets to enjoy for days! Her eyes were especially drawn by some large, fresh cookies that were coated in thick decorative icing to make them look like cartoony spiders and monsters, she just had to have one!

Cornflake climbed onto the gator's back and booped the batpony

As everyone else was enjoying the festivities, Sky seemed more interested in the snacks. Ok the snacks were pretty much the only reason Sky was there because lets face it, carnival games are rigged. However he still dressed up in some bright red and gold...not to mention very heavy looking armor. While never intended to be a prty decoration, combat armor was the best he could do on such short notice. Not like he could just buy a fitting costume anyways.

Pidge was out very last second to get her costume. Nightmare Night was just hours away and so far she was still just going as "Pidge". Going from store to store she searched for the one specific costume she had in mind. It wasn't a specific costume so to speak, but rather a specific idea for a costume. She wanted to be extra - and risk potentially upsetting some ponies - but it was all worth it for Nightmare Night! Rummaging through a box of older costumes that were on sale and the last of their stock, Pidge finally found what she was looking for - the perfect costume for her: a King Sombra costume. And not only that; it was a perfect fit! Feeling relieved and excited she grabbed the costume, paid for it at the counter and hurried home to prepare for the night's festivities. .

*Hymn hums and leans her head back to nuzzle the pumpkin! Seems this batpony is just a decoy! A toy!*

Cornflake was confused but didn’t mind at all. Meanwhile Saphirra and Irn caught onto what Cornflake was doing and caught up with Hymn

Ah hah! A bundle of pumpkins eh? *she smiles, leaning her head down towards the little ones* You’re getting big, aren’t you?

Just because she decided to be a ghost didn't mean she couldn't be a ghost that also wanted to slay dragons. Ephee walked up to Sky and yelled out, "Engarde!", whacking him with the prop scissor blade only to watch it snap in half as the tip then began to fly off into the distance. "...oh." She ran off and picked up the broken piece to tape it back together. The next time she'll be more prepared!