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// CMC TAKES NIGHTMARE NIGHT - revised 
// Story: Two Years After Dreamfall (Shorts) 
// by hujan86 
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Featherweight happily galloped down the sidewalk. “Dad! Dad! Look!”
Lionel stopped from decorating the lawn with Nightmare Night-themed ornaments and looked up at his son. “What have you got there, son?”
The former blank flank showed the cutie mark on his flank. “See? I finally got a cutie mark!”
“Why, that’s great-” The father’s joy faded as soon as he saw Featherweight's cutie mark- a needle and a spool of thread. “Oh…”
Lionel found this hard to swallow. A few times he had imagined what kind of talent his son would develop but all of it were colt-oriented. Sewing is the last thing to come his mind. It must have been from all the time the foal spent with Diamond Tiara.
“Hah! What kinda talent is that!?”
Both father and son recognize that voice. On the sidewalk stood three fillies that make up the Cutie Mark Crusaders (CMC). In the past, the mischief resulting from the trio’s quest to find their cutie marks is a cause of great annoyance to many, including the neighborhood patrollers, Flim and Flam.
“Yeah, pipsqueak!?” Featherweight angrily responded to Scoot’s mocking. “At least I’m no longer a blank flank! Unlike you talentless three!” 
“Still workin’ on it,” Apple Bloom mocked back at the colt. “And when we all do get our cutie marks, it’ll be way better than yours!” 
“Yeah!” Scoot said. “Besides yours is so silly it’s only worthy for dumdum ponies.”
“All right, all right! That’s enough!” Lionel scolded the CMC. “Fillies of your age shouldn’t be trash talking!”
“Dumdum-” Before Scoot could finish, she abruptly received a smack at back of her head from an irritated Sweetie Belle.
Sweetie Belle stepped forth past her peers.
“We apologize,” she said to Lionel. “And we’re just about to leave.” 
The remaining CMC wanted to protest but Sweetie Belle jostled them away from the house.

Satisfied, Tirek placed the diamond ring on the counter display case. 
“I agree with your analysis,” he grinned widely. “This is definitely the right ring for her! Now about the price, can you…?”
Silver Spoon mused briefly before saying, “For you, I could…give you just above the wholesale price.”
“I’ll take it!” the centaur proclaimed happily.  
As Silver Spoon processed the transaction, Featherweight came into the boutique.  
“Oh, hi-” That was when Silver Spoon noticed Featherweight’s sad face.  “What’s wrong, Featherweight?”
“It’s this,” Featherweight said, as he showed his cutie mark to her. “Is it wrong for a colt to know how to sew?”
Diamond Tiara appeared, carrying a box of Nightmare Night decorations which she planned to decorate the boutique’s exterior with later on.
“Did somepony teased you about it?” she asked the colt.
“Uh-huh,” Featherweight nodded. 
“Ah, you reminded me of my childhood, Light Feather,” Tirek said, as he thought he could give the colt a word of wisdom or two. “When I was of your age, my peers called me a centaur-girl because of my interest in cooking. If you remember Nova the changeling, he himself was teased at school due to his shape-shifting ability. Some youngsters are so ignorant they tend to tease others without considering their feelings.”
“So what did you do, Mr. Tirek?” Featherweight asked.
Tirek said to the colt, “Ignore them. That’s my advice to you. For one day, when you grow older and wise enough to learn to convert that talent into skill, for sure at least some will appreciate you for it.”
“I’ll try.” Featherweight's mood was still down so he forced himself to smile. “After all, what right do they have in making fun of my talent when they themselves don’t have any? They don’t call themselves Cutie Mark Crusaders for nothing.”
Silver Spoon grimaced at the mention of the CMC. “The blank flanks? Really?”
“I don’t recommend you making enemies with anypony anyway,” Diamond Tiara advised Featherweight. “Either you ignore them or…”
“Or what?” Silver Spoon interjected. “Making friends with those three? Get real, Tiara. For all we know they might rub off their bad influences on Featherweight and it’s going to be the repeat of what happened three years ago.”
Silver Spoon clearly remembered the incident three years ago when Apple Bloom’s cousin from Manehattan, Bab Seeds joined the CMC. Together they hijacked a carriage in order to replicate a scene an MPD Blue episode and while being pursued by the Flim Flam brothers throughout Canterlot, they almost ran her over.
“It’s worth a shot,” Diamond Tiara said. “One of them is Rarity’s little sister, if I remember correctly.” 
She had recalled Rarity mentioned of having a sister named Sweetie Belle back when they were competing for a place in Manehattan Fashion Week several years back.  
“Yeah,” Featherweight confirmed.
Diamond Tiara mused at length.
Silver Spoon looked upon her foster sister quizzically. “What’re you thinking, Tiara?”

Rarity was sleeping soundly on the table until she awoke startled after Sweetie Belle gave a light pat on the back.  
“Sweetie Belle?” she moaned, rubbing her eyes. “What time is it?” 
She looked at the clock then at the unfinished costume on the sewing machine. “Oh, I’m so, so sorry, dear. Please give me a little more time. I promise I’ll finish it before tomorrow.”
Sweetie Belle saw the hard hat and tool box on the floor. Today Rarity was given a rare day off. No doubt last night in her haste she had neglected to put her stuffs in its proper place and went straight to work all night trying to finish Sweetie Belle’s Nightmare Night costume.
Ever since Rarity got involved in the Battle of the Royal Sisters, everything went downhill afterward for the family. Her behavior changed drastically, to the point of neglecting the Carrousel Boutique and Sweetie Belle. Currently, she worked as part of the Boy Builders’ crew to make ends meet for the sisters.    
“You know what, sis?” Sweetie Belle said with obvious sympathy. “I’m really not up it anymore. It’s your day off. You should rest, not put up with my act.” 
“Sweetie, I can manage it,” Rarity insisted.
It was then that they heard a knock on the door.
“Who could that be?” Rarity wondered before she went to open the door.
To Sweetie Belle’s surprise, it was Featherweight coming to visit her.  

Apple Bloom and Scoot both were crossed at Sweetie Belle for violating the sacred rule of only club members are allowed into the treehouse. They were not interested at all to know what is inside the box Featherweight brought with him.
Sweetie Belle pleaded her friends to let Featherweight stay. “Please! Give him a chance. We’ve been working hard on this all day.”

At last, Nightmare Night came...
On the street, Apple Bloom, Scoot and Sweetie Belle appeared as Supermare, Wonder Pony and Mare-do-Well respectively.  
“Ah take it all back,” Apple Bloom said. “Dis here are mighty fine costumes y’all made for us, Sweetie Belle.”
“Featherweight should’ve been here by now,” Sweetie Belle mentioned, then looked around for any sign of the colt.
“Maybe he decided to ditch us in the last minute,” Scoot said in derision. “After all, he has his own friends,” 
“But-”
“Come on,” Scoot urged Sweetie Belle. “Candies won’t wait for late-goers.” 
She walked off followed shortly by Apple Bloom.
Sweetie Belle could not be certain whether Scoot was right or Featherweight was simply late. The colt did promise to her that he will show up with his costume. But not wanting to be left behind, she trotted up to Apple Bloom and Scoot.

They began their trick-or-treating by visiting the nearest house to them, which turned out to be Gilda’s treehouse.
At the door, stood Gilda dressed up as an ancient Griffonstone warrior.
“We’re the Justice Crusaders, here to say,” the CMC made a hero group pose, “trick or treat!”
Gilda thought the costumes were interesting. Unlike the other foals who visited earlier, these three fillies were dressed as superheroes, not the usual supernatural entities and whatnots. Though she admitted she is not familiar with the characters from any comics she read before. Even so she decided to give each of them extra candies anyway.

Silver Spoon regarded the CMC with slight disdain.
“Give me one good reason why I should give you more,” she demanded.
Sweetie Belle spoke in a raspy voice, “Because I’m Mare-do-Well!”
Silver Spoon shrugged and gave what the CMCs wanted. The sooner they leave the boutique, the better. For her.

Despite her convincing performance, ‘Nightmare Moon’ failed to scare away the CMC. They simply brought up their bags to her and demanded candies. The Princess of the Night sagged her head in gloom. It looks like her antics are beginning to wear off.  

It was now near midnight. The amount of candies the CMC accumulated for the night was so abundant they had to use a cart wagon to carry it around.
“Ah can’t believe we all got so much candies tonight!” Apple Bloom gleefully said.
“I know!” Sweetie Belle proclaimed. “These superhero costumes are the bomb!”
Suddenly something or someone whizzed past them. The next moment their bags of candies were all gone. The culprit is revealed as a colt on tricycle costuming as one of Mare-do-Well’s arch nemesis, Deathstroke.
“Secure the loot!” the colt instructed his cart wagon-riding gang, Bane and Scarecrow before passing the bags to them.
Sweetie Belle had no problem recognizing the masked colt’s voice. “What do you think you're doing, Featherweight!?”
“Being the bad guys,” Featherweight said casually. “What are superheroes without their nemesis causing trouble?”
“Whatever! Give us our candy back!” Scoot demanded.
“You’ll have to catch us first!” With that, Featherweight and his gang sped away.
The CMC looked amongst themselves and nodded.
Making a hero group pose, they proclaimed, “Justice Crusaders, awayyyyy!”
A chase through the trick-or-treaters-filled street ensued. The colts were actually just playing and not making any real effort to get away. They pedaled/kicked only hard enough so that the CMC can remain in pursuing them.  

Later, the CMCs and Featherweight’s gang helped themselves on their shared loot of candies. Bane and Scarecrow had taken their masks off and are actually Snips and Snails respectively.  
In the meantime, Rarity was having the restful sleep she deserved.

And what of Princess Luna? The next day, she just sagged in dejection, facing a corner in the throne chamber, drawing worry from Blueblood, Trixie and Princess Sunset Shimmer all morning.