Where ponies fear to trot... (part 1)
It was in the early evening, as a reddish-colored sun set over the rolling hills of Ponyland. The various towers and citadels throughout the land, shuttered their windows and barred their doors, hoping to keeep the restless forces of the darkness at bay. For while there were in Ponyland many nights which one did not want to be out and about in, this dark and sinister night was the worst of them all.
There was another time, long ago, when this night of nightmares had been one where ponies actually enjoyed being scared. It was on this night, that poines embraced and celebrated all of the things that frightened them, under an open and starry sky. Those days were long over with, however. And the horrors that dwealt out in the darkness of this night were far more terrifying than anything the wildest of imaginations could conjure up.
Within the safe and secure walls of Dream Castle, the Halloween celebrations were well under way. Lit jack-o-lanterns were on every tabletop, their mischievous grins aglow with an inner light. The sound of music and laughter eminated from the ballroom, where ponies in costume danced the night away, and the cider flowed freely.
Groups of young fillies and colts, dressed in various costumes, went from apartment to apartment inside the castle, gathering sweets in bags and pails. The rooms and hallways were bathed in the glow of torchlight, as adult ponies in costumes handed out sweet treats.
"Come on girls, we still need to hit Cheerilee's Place!" Surprise, who was dressed as a clown with a big rubber nose, snorted to the fillies with her. "We need ta get as many sweets as we can before midinght!"
"Yeah! Let's go to Cheerilee's next!" Baby Gusty exclaimed, pushing up the brim of her witch's hat. "This is her first Halloween here, and I wanna see what she's gonna give us!"
"Yeah! And I wanna see her costume, too!" Baby Half Note chimed in, hopping around in her ballerina's tutu. "Maybe she's dressed as a fakie zombie!"
"Whatever she's dressed as, I hope it's not too scary!" Baby Shady whimpered, trying to hide her face under her fairy princess's costume. "That skeleton costume Galaxy was wearing was scary!"
"Aw, c'mon! That was really cool how she made part of herself invisible, so only her skeleton showed!" The white Pegasus chuckled. "Now shhh! We're here!"
The mare knocked on the door, as she and the fillies opened their treat bags and held them out. The door suddenly clicked, and swung open with a creak.
"Trick or Treat! Smell my-" The ponies suddenly stopped, puzzled that nobody was standing there.
"W-where's Cheerilee?" Baby Shady asked looking around inside.
"Ahhhhhhhh! PONY BLOOD!" Cheerilee hissed, suddenly popping up in the doorway with fangs and a spread black cape. "I zo vanted to have a bite tonight!"
"AHHHHHHHH!" All four of the girls screamed, before three of them fell back laughing.
"Wow! Great Costume, Miss Cheerilee!" Baby Gusty exclaimed. "Vampires are awesome!"
"Yeah, really cool how ya scared us!" Surprise added, pulling herself back up on her hooves.
"Thank you, girls!" The pink teacher in pigtails smiled. "But aren't you a little too old for this, Surprise?"
"What? And miss out on the cool costumes and getting scared?" At that, all of the other ponies stared at her. "What?It's not for the candy! Sugar makes me hyper!"
"Anyway, I have some chocolate bars here for you!" She tossed three Filly Ruth bars into their bags. "Happy Nightmare Night, girls!"
"That's happy Halloween, Miss Cheerilee!" Baby Half Note corrected her. "Though this night can give me nightmares!"
"Hey Baby Shady, don't you want any candy?" Baby Gusty asked, looking when there was no response. "Baby Shady?"
The pink earth filly had passed out, frightened by the sudden appearence of vampire Cheerilee.
"Oh dear..." Cheerilee exclaimed, staring down at the twitching pony child. "Are you all right, Baby Shady?"
"HA! Way ta go, Cheerilee!" Surprise giggled, falling backwards with laughter. "You got that little fraidy cat GOOD!"
....
As the little fillies and colts were busy with the trick-or-treating, most of the adult ponies had gathered in Dream Castle indoor theater for a diffrent sort of Halloween entertainment. Many of them were gossiping among themselves, as they waited for the show to begin.
From the royal box in the Balcony, Queen Majesty signaled the stagehands for the show to begin. As the lights dimmed and the curtains opened, an orange unicorn with a tambourine cutie mark trotted up onto the stage.
"Hello zere, darlinks!" The veiled mare with a coin belt around her waist whinnied in a sultry tone. "In ziz magical und myzerterious realm of Ponyland, zere are many strange ztories und frightening ledegends! Tonight, I, zee zpectakular Gypsy, vill now relate to you von zuch tale!"
The lovely mare leapt across the stage in circular arcs, banging her levitated tambourine with her hoof. Every mare in the theatre admired her graceful and acrobatic dancing... while every stallion admired her swaying and shifting hips.
"Var, var to zee north of Dream valley, nestled deep vithin zee Vispering woods, lies zee village of Hollow Shades!" She smacked her tambourine. "In de golden age of Eqvestria, ziz little town vas already a creepy place, but in de zenturies zat followed, it became a dangerous und voreboding place, avoided even by zee goblins und vitches!"
"In ziz old vorld of ours, most ponies who have died cross over zee great barrier to zee other zide. Ze good und just go to zhier reward in zee great horsemater's stable, vile zee wicked go to join zee unspeakable evil beyond zee gates of Tartarus!" She leapt in the air and spun, before shaking her tambourine again. "But zhere are zhose who are in a limbo betveen life und death... ponies who had unvinished business, or just aren't ready to end zee party yet!"
As the audience sat spellbound, Gypsy narrowed her eyes. "It is zaid zeez spirts gazer at zee sight of Hollow Shades every Halloween night, to zelebrate az zee living do, behind zee zaftey of zhier valls! But... it is alzo zaid zhat a trio of ponies- a brave heroine, a coward, und an idiot- may approach zee zight of Hollow Shades, and see the wonderous sight of zee dead dancing in zhee moonlight!"
Gypsy suddenly burst into song, grecfully dacing and jangling her insturment, as she wove a tale of spookiness and shadows. But as the unicorn mare continued, three mares slipped from the hall unnoticed, and quietly trotted their way towards the castle's drawbridge.
...
"Ohhh, what're we doing out here, Gusty?" Shady wailed, as she and Fizzy followed the white unicorn deeper into the woods. "It's really dangerous out here, and I'm really scared!"
"Shady's right!" Fizzy added, her usual bubbly and carefree tone sounding subdued. "I'd rather be back at the party, bobbing for some of Applejack's apples!"
"Don't you guys wanna see a ghost? That's what we came out here for in the first place!" Gusty snorted. "Honestly Fizzy, listening to you two's whiny voices is givin' me a headache!"
"So says the pony, who has a voice like Bart Simpson when she talks!" The Blue unicorn snapped back, referring to the human world TV character Megan had shown them. "At least we don't sound like our noses are stuffed up when we whine!"
"Eat my shorts, guys!" Gusty yelled back angrily. "Look, I wouldn't a dragged you two along, if Gypsy hadn't said I needed a coward and an idiot with me to see the ghosts at Hollow Shades!"
"W-well, I understand why you dragged me along then." The pink earth pony shivered. "But why bring poor Fizzy out here?"
"Hey Fizz!" Gusty yelled back at the unicorn. "How does that little light in the back of the fridge turn off and on?"
"Ohhh, that's easy!" The mare with the pink and green striped mane giggled. "A little man turns the light on and off when you open and shut the fridge... though I haven't been able to catch him yet!"
"That should answer your question." The unicorn with the green and pink striped mane replied, before trotting ahead.
The three of them continued along the path, quickly leaving Dream Valley behind them, and approaching the towering trees of the whispering woods. The clouds seemed to blot out the moon as they hurried along, and a chilly wind started to pick up, whipping through their manes.
"That does it, Gusty!" Shady whinnied, shivering. "I've have enough of this scary stuff! I'm going home!"
It was at that point, that the distorted sounds of a young filly's laughter echoed through the branches, carried on the back of the wind. As the three mares turned to face the way they came, they began to hear soft, excited voices.
"Look girls! It's three mares with their cutie marks!" The first voice whinnied, sounding close and at the same time, far away. .
"That earth pony has a pair a sunglasses on her flank!" Another distorted voice giggled. "And that blue one has some milkshakes on hers!"
"G-gusty..." A wide-eyed Fizzy gasped, her eyes wide in terror. "Who... who said that?"
Shady, scared out of her wits and unable to speak, was on the verge of hyperventilating,
"Ah know! Let's go see they cain halp us get our cutie marks!" A third voice finished, speaking in a southern accent.
At that exact moment, three small, translucent shapes emerged on the path behind them. The three mares could immediately tell they were fillies- unicorn, a Pegasus, and an earth pony, from the looks of it. But the one small detail that made the hair on the back of their manes stand on end... was the fact that they radiated a slight glow, and the three mares could see right through them!
The heads of the three transparent fillies spun around to face the mares, and the small trio suddenly began galloping right towards them!
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! It's the ghosts! " Gusty yelled to the other two screaming mares. "Guys, run for your life!"
The three terrified ponies tore off down the path in a run, as the laughter of three chilling apparitions from beyond the grave followed closely behind...