//------------------------------// // Bonus Chapter: Nightmare Night // Story: Fiddling with Her Heart // by Kevinltk //------------------------------// It was that time of the year again. Nightmare Night had descended on Equestria, and Ponyville, like the rest of the land, were getting ready to celebrate the holiday. While Ponyville had a smaller community compared to many other cities, no place else could match the fervor the town did for the holiday. Thanks to the efforts of a certain pink pony and Princess Luna herself deeming Ponyville her favorite place in Equestria to celebrate the holiday, Nightmare Night had become a huge occasion for the town. With the evening and the festivities rapidly approaching, the ponies of Ponyville were scrambling to get ready for the night of scares and fun, and that included the ponies at Sweet Apple Acres. “Ahhhh! My mane! You’re pullin’ my mane!” “Applejack…” “It hurts so much! Please stop!” “Applejack.” “Why are you doin’ this to me?! What did Ah do to deserve this?!” “Applejack!” “Yes, Octavia?” “I haven’t even started yet,” Octavia remarked with a deadpan glare and a manebrush in her mouth. “Ah know.” “Then why are you crying like a foal?” “Because it’s no fun unless Ah make a fuss.” “Before I even touch you?” “Ah figured it would’ve been rude to interrupt once you started.” Octavia rolled her eyes. “You really are spending too much time with Rarity. I swear, you’re more dramatic than her.” “Aww, you know you just bring out the best of me.” Applejack turned around to quickly give Octavia a hug. “More like the worst,” Octavia replied with a chuckle. “Now sit still, we need to make sure our costumes are perfect, and I will tie you down if I have to.” “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just you wait till it’s my turn to work on your mane.” Octavia removed Applejack’s hair bands and began brushing the wheat-colored mane. It did not take long before Octavia started softly humming. Being up close and feeling her marefriend’s beautiful mane was something that she had found both soothing and enjoyable. Contrary to what some ponies thought, Applejack did take quite good care of her mane. It was just tougher to maintain with all the wear and tear she accumulated while working in the orchards. After untangling a few knots and a copious amount of brushing, Octavia eventually finished working Applejack’s mane into a distinctively familiar style. Just as she was about to do the same to Applejack’s tail, a colorful glow coming from the door made the both of them look up. At the door was a filly-sized pony with a big sheet of fabric draped over her entire body. With two eye holes cut in the front, it was obviously a ghost costume, however, instead of a clean, white sheet, the pony used one that was somehow glowing with a variety of different colors, making it look like she had taken a bath in a radioactive rainbow. It would have been difficult to tell who was under the sheet if it were not for the orange eyes peaking out of the two holes and the huge dark-pink bow on top of its head. “Apple Bloom, what are you doin’?” Applejack asked. “Ah’m just wearin’ my costume,” came Apple Bloom’s voice from behind the sheets. “Ah figured that, but where in Equestria did you get the idea to wear somethin’ like that?” Octavia sighed and muttered, “Wait for it…” A few seconds later, another glowing rainbow ghost appeared in the doorway. This costume was adult-sized, and where the eye holes should have been were instead a pair of magenta shades. “Sup, fillies,” the bigger ghost greeted. Octavia and Applejack both buried their faces into their hooves. “Vinyl, I’m grateful that you are going to look after the fillies tonight, but what are you and Apple Bloom supposed to be?” Octavia asked. “Um, duh? We’re ghosts?” “I can see that, but why are you so colorful… and glowing?” “We’re raver party ghosts.” Octavia sighed again. “Of course you are…” “So, how did you get those sheets to glow?” Applejack asked. “Glowsticks.” “You’re wearin’ a bunch of glowsticks underneath those sheets?” “No, of course not. That would be silly. We just broke a bunch and poured the glowy stuff on the sheets.” “Vinyl, aren’t those things toxic?!” Octavia cried out. “Don’t worry, I used the nontoxic ones… I think…” Two lumps under the glowing sheets went up and down as Vinyl shrugged. “Eh, it’s not like it’s a big deal. I use glowsticks all the time, and look how well I turned out.” “Not helping your case, Vinyl.” “Relax, Tavi, I got this. I’m a grown pony, and the fillies love me. We’re not going to have any trouble, right, Apple Bloom?” “Yep! Come on, Vinyl, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Spike are waiting for us. We’re going to try to get as much candy as we can tonight!” Apple Bloom said with excitement. “Yay candy! Let’s go!” Octavia sighed as the two glowing ghosts ran off on their quest for sugar. “I have got to stop letting Apple Bloom play with Vinyl so much. I don’t know what I’m going to do with that filly and all the trouble she causes.” Applejack chuckled. “Gee, and Ah thought Ah was protective of Apple Bloom, and she’s my sister. She’ll be fine. She has good friends, and she’s a strong filly that’s able to take care of herself.” “I was talking about Vinyl.” “Oh, right… Yeah, Ah don’t know what to do with her either except tell you to give her a good smack for me the next time you meet with her.” “Already planned on it,” Octavia replied as she picked up the manebrush again. “Now, hold still while I finish your tail. After you do me, we still have to make sure our instruments are ready for the performance tonight.” “Oh, Ah’ll make sure to do you really—Ahh! My tail!” “Oh look, it appears that my hoof slipped.” “No, it didn’t! Ah was just jo—Ahh! Stop that!” By the time Octavia and Applejack finished their costumes, it was almost time for the Nightmare Night festival in Ponyville to begin, and after grabbing their music instruments, the two of them rushed to meet up with the rest of their friends. As Octavia and Applejack walked through the streets of Ponyville, they marveled at the transformation of their quaint town. Ponies went all out with the decorations, creating a blend of creepy and festive. Amidst the decorations of ghosts, ghouls, and other scary creatures, stalls and tents of various fun attractions and amenities were set up all over the town, ensuring that anypony would not be far from being scared and having the time of their life. Groups of costumed fillies and colts were already running from house to house, in an attempt to amass hordes of candy that would make their parents weep over the upcoming dentist bills, while other ponies were partaking in the many games and activities that were set up, such as apple bobbing, spider tossing, or pumpkin catapulting. When Octavia and Applejack reached the town square, they heard the sounds of music and cheers of ponies filling the air. Among the attractions and stalls, a group of ponies were playing various instruments from on top of a decorated stage, and a large space in front of the stage was cleared so ponies could either dance along with the music or just sit down and listen. The Nightmare Night stage was set up to allow any musician, no matter how experienced they were, to get the opportunity to play on stage with other ponies. Since many ponies who signed up were randomly assigned to various groups, the event had become a bit of a test of a musician’s ability to adapt and think on their hooves. Yet despite the somewhat chaotic nature, every participant agreed that they found the activity fun to participate in, and more often than not, they end up making a new friend in a fellow musician. Octavia had volunteered to play on the same stage last Nightmare Night and remembered how much she enjoyed it. She had worn her Fiddlesticks disguise as her costume, and she borrowed Applejack’s fiddle to complete the look. She had volunteered to play again tonight, but this time, Applejack had agreed to join her. To top it all off, they had even came up with a little special something to do for the show. But that was not until a bit later. For the time being, Octavia and Applejack had to meet up with their friends. After a bit of looking around, they found their friends already chatting with each other near a candy stall. As they approached the group, Rainbow Dash, who was dressed up as some sort of armored knight, noticed them and immediately fell to the floor laughing. “Bahahaha! That’s what you guys are going as?!” Rainbow Dash cried out as she continued to laugh from the ground. “Don’t be like that, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity chastised in her vampire costume. “It’s actually really sweet to see them dressed up like that.” “You two are adorable. You must have spent quite some time fixing your manes like that,” Twilight added, donning colorful robes to probably resemble some important magic theorist from long ago. “Oh, and Fluttershy sends her regards to your performance tonight from under her bed.” “I’m so excited to hear you two play again!” Pinkie yelled as she bounced towards the pair. “I mean, we all knew Octy was super good, but then you came out of nowhere and surprised us with your fiddle, Applejack. You’re super good as well, so when you two play together, it’s like super, super good! And now you told us you’re saving some super secret surprise for tonight? Well, it’s tonight now, what’s the surprise, Applejack?” Octavia chuckled as Pinkie kept on asking Applejack’s questions at her. “Sorry, Pinkie, but I think you’re talking to the wrong pony.” “Huh? Octy?” Pinkie backed up and scrunched up her face. A moment later, she gasped loudly. “Wow, Octy, you look just like Applejack!” “That’s the point, Pinkie,” Applejack remarked, chuckling as well. “Octavia and I are dressed up as each other.” After removing Applejack’s hairbands, Octavia had shaped her marefriend’s mane and tail into her own likeness. She had even tied one of Applejack’s hairbands into a red bow, fastening it to a white collar around Applejack’s neck. As for Octavia’s costume, Applejack had tied Octavia’s mane and tail into her usual ponytails, and to complete the look, Octavia wore the white stetson Applejack gave her when she posed as Fiddlesticks. “As for the surprise, you’ll just have to wait, Pinkie. You’ll see it when we get on stage,” Octavia answered. “By the way, that is a fantastic cake costume. It looks so real.” “Thanks! It took me all day to bake this.” “Wait a minute, bake?” “Well, duh! How else do you make a cake?” “So you’re actually inside a really big cake?” “Yep!” Pinkie took a large chomp into her costume. Crumbs sprayed out of her mouth as she chewed noisily. “Mmm, delicious! Anypony want a bite?” Everypony just stared at Pinkie as she continued to eat herself. That is, until Rainbow reached out and tore off a chunk of Pinkie’s costume. “Hey, this is pretty good,” Rainbow said after stuffing a piece into her mouth. “Rainbow! That can’t be sanitary!” Rarity said, backing away from Pinkie and Rainbow with a grimace on her face. Rainbow shrugged. “I’m hungry, and it’s Pinkie.” “Who else wants to try eating me?” Pinkie asked, pointing at herself. “Come on, I’m even all creamy on the inside!” Silence fell on all the ponies around her, including a few passerby who stopped to add to all the wide eyes staring at Pinkie. “What?” Pinkie asked, looking all around her. “Um, Octavia and Ah are just goin’ to go and prepare for the show now…” Applejack said as she slowly back away. “Yeah, we’ll uh, see you girls later. Bye,” Octavia added, mimicking Applejack’s retreat. The two of them bolted away, escaping from Pinkie’s big mouth and headed to the nearby stage. Moving around to the area behind the curtains, they were greeted by the other musicians who were assigned to their group. After a quick round of greetings and discussing what kind of music they could play with the other ponies, Octavia and Applejack stepped to the side to start unpacking their instruments. “Ready for the stage, Applejack?” Octavia asked as she took her cello out of its case. “Kind of, Ah guess. Ah’m actually still gettin’ used to playin’ in front of others,” Applejack replied as she also unpacked her fiddle. “Relax, this isn’t like a regular performance. We haven’t played with these ponies before, and nopony is expecting some grand show. We’re all just here to play together and have fun. Besides, we have a little surprise to show everypony. Remember how surprised all our friends were when you finally showed them you can play the fiddle?” Applejack grinned. “Ah know, and Ah can’t wait to see the faces of everypony when they see the surprise we cooked up.” After finishing with their instrument preparations, they spent the remaining time chatting with the other musicians. Eventually, the music from the stage stopped, and shortly afterward, the group in front of them came through the curtains. Octavia and Applejack looked at each other and nodded before grabbing their instruments and following the other ponies in their group onto the stage. When they stepped out from behind the curtain, Octavia saw that a small crowd of ponies were already awaiting the next round of music. To her delight, their friends had found spots in the front, giving her and Applejack a clear view of their. It did not take long before surprise was written on all of their faces when they got a good look at what Octavia and Applejack were holding. Octavia chuckled as she raised Applejack’s fiddle up to a ready position and checked to make sure Applejack was properly holding up her cello. They had been planning for this moment for quite some time. Dressing up like each other was only half the fun. They had went a step further to exchange instruments for the night to become more like the pony they were copying. While Octavia had already learned how to play Applejack’s fiddle, teaching Applejack how to play the cello was a bit more complicated. Octavia had been secretly coaching Applejack on how to play the bigger instrument ever since she came up with the idea. Despite a bit of frustration, the two of them had fun teaching and learning, and Applejack was glad to get a taste of Octavia’s music style. Octavia and Applejack readied their exchanged instruments when one of the other ponies started counting down, and when the pony reached the end, music started filling the air again. Given the impromptu nature of their performance, each of the musicians took turns in taking the lead, while the others follow. While the music was simple, it was lively enough to get ponies dancing or bobbing their heads along with the beat. When it fell on Applejack’s turn to take the lead, Octavia glanced over at her marefriend to check on how she was doing. Even after a lesson dedicated entirely on just learning how to keep her balance while playing, Applejack was still swaying a bit as she tried to remain standing, but the apple farmer managed to keep on playing a lively tune. Applejack even glanced in her direction at one point and smiled back when their eyes met. With the fun Octavia was having playing alongside her marefriend and jamming with other musicians, it seemed all too quick before it was time for them to bow out and let the next group have their turn. Walking back through the curtains, Octavia and Applejack wished the next group good luck, congratulated the other members of their own group, and packed up their instruments. When they exited the backstage area, they were quickly mobbed by their friends. “You two were fantastic! I really loved how you let each other play your prized instruments. It was like you exchanged your hearts as well!” Rarity gushed. “It’s so romantic!” Rainbow chuckled. “Yeah, it was pretty cool to switch things up like that, even though your getup is still a bit too lovey dovey for me.” “It was great! Octy was the best Applejack, and Applejack was the best Octy!” Pinkie cheered within her now half-eaten cake costume. “Thanks, girls,” Octavia replied. “It was well worth all the effort just to see the reactions on all of your faces.” “So, what should we do now?” Twilight asked. “There’s still plenty of time for fun before they start cleaning up.” Noticing something in the distance, Octavia said, “Well, while all of you decide that, I just need a few minutes to talk with somepony. I’ll be right back.” Breaking off from the group, Octavia headed towards a glowing ghost with a floating bag of candy in front of it. “Hello, Vinyl.” “Sup, Tavi!” The Vinyl ghost greeted back. “Just got out of a pretty sweet haunted house. Not only do they have some nice scares, but look!” The bag of candy floated closer to Octavia and shook, loudly rustling. “A whole bag of candy!” “Good for you, Vinyl. I suppose you’re having fun, right?” “Sure am!” Vinyl replied as a hooffull of candy floated under her glowing sheet and was followed by the sounds of loud chomping. “And nothing bad has happened?” “Nope!” “Mhmm… Vinyl, where are the fillies?” “The fillies? They’re right…” Vinyl’s voice faded away as she made a complete turn. Octavia could only guess what kind of face Vinyl was making behind her sheet and shades. “Oh, the fillies,” Vinyl repeated with a small chuckle. “Well, you know how they are. I’m sure they’re just—” Vinyl did a quick turn and darted away in the opposite direction. “Wow, I’m a bit surprised that actually worked,” Octavia muttered to herself. “Where’s Vinyl goin’?” Apple Bloom asked when she, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Spike emerged out of a nearby tent, stuffing their faces with funnel cake. “She just thinks she lost all of you,” Octavia replied, watching the easily-trackable, glowing pony running through the crowd, pausing every now and then to look in every direction but right where they were standing. “You all know you should’ve at least told her what you were doing before leaving her side, right?” Three fillies and one baby dragon all chuckled sheepishly as they shuffled around nervously. “Well, just be careful next time. There’s no real harm done, and I’m sure Vinyl will see us and come right back.” The sound of Vinyl yelling, “I’m coming, fillies!” echoed from down the street as the glowing pony ran farther and farther away. “Ah don’t think she’s comin’ back,” Apple Bloom said. Octavia sighed. “Would you all please go after her and make sure she stays out of trouble?” The four troublemakers giggled and nodded before chasing and yelling after the frantic Vinyl. Octavia heard Applejack chuckle as she watched the little ones run off. “Tell me again, why did we put Vinyl in charge of the young ones?” Applejack asked, stopping by Octavia’s side. “Because despite her quirks, she loves spending time with them, and they, in turn, love spending time with her.” Octavia turned her head to Applejack. “So, did the others figure out what to do yet?” “Not quite, Rainbow wants to go do some prankin’, Rarity would like to check out the costume contest, and Pinkie somehow still wants more snacks after eating most of her costume. Twilight is havin’ fun just tryin’ to organize a schedule to do all of that.” Octavia chuckled and sat down. “In other words, we have some time.” Applejack nodded as she sat down next to Octavia and wrapped a hoof around her back. “Thanks for trustin’ me with your cello.” “You allowed me to handle your fiddle even before we were special someponies. It was the least I could do. I take it that you had fun up on stage?” “Ah got to meet some nice ponies and pretend to be a fancy, uptight cellist. Ah’d say it’s been a good night. How about you?” Octavia’s eyebrow reached up for the stetson on her head, and her mouth formed into a smirk. Clearing her throat, she replied, “Well, Ah do say it’s been a hoot of a night for me as well, but it ain’t complete without an apple. In fact, Ah could go for some apples right now. Apples, apples, apples.” Applejack snorted before clearing her throat as well and pointed her nose straight into the air. “Well, I do declare that you have the most horrid accent I have ever heard. Please, refrain from speaking again and offending my delicate ears,” Applejack said in a higher-pitch voice and ending it with a loud “Harrumph!” Octavia playfully pushed Applejack as the two of them broke down into laughter. “Hey, lovebirds!” Rainbow Dash yelled at them. “If you two are done over there, we finally decided to check out the haunted house, you coming?” “Yeah, yeah, we’re comin’. Hold your horses,” Applejack replied as she got up. She looked back down at Octavia and extended a hoof out. “Shall we?” Octavia smiled and nodded, taking Applejack’s hoof. As Applejack helped her up, Octavia went in for a kiss on her marefriend’s lips. They lingered on each other’s lips for a few seconds before pulling back and smiling at each other. Turning their attention back to their friends, the lovers rejoined the group to continue their night of scares and fun.