//------------------------------// // The Night of Halloween // Story: Queen of Halloween // by Raven Blackwood //------------------------------// It was a normal night in the neighborhood. Or it would be if it weren’t for the fact that it was Halloween. Trick or treaters were starting to become so hyped to get started to bring as much candy home to give themselves a sugar rush. Children and teens were going to have one heck of a night to get candy from every house. Of course, it was not just about getting a costume on and finding houses that would dish out delicious, mouthwatering sweets. It was also to have a great time in partying like there was no tomorrow. Who wouldn't enjoy hanging out with their friends on Halloween night? “Who shall wear this costume that I created?” A voice said. “I must find the one who shall be Queen of Halloween.” There was a mysterious figure who was walking down the sidewalks carrying what appeared to be a notepad that contained every child and teen in the neighborhood. This figure was covered from head to toe. His clothes were all black, and his face was covered with a mask. No one would be able to identity this man or woman. Who was this person? And why would the figure cover him or herself up when it is almost time to Trick-or-Treat? No one knows. The black figure went through the notepad to select the right teen or child to give the costume for Halloween night. After going through numerous names, the figure put a finger on one of the names. The name of the individual was Dyanna Jimmerson, a teenager who is 17 years old who loves Halloween and is known to be a lovely young lady to everyone in the neighborhood. The figure then looked at the address to see where Dyanna lives to give her the costume, stored in a rectangular box that was black and had a symbol that looked like that of an insect. The figure continued to conduct its mission to look for Dyanna. It was turning its head from left to right to find the right number that marked the house that Dyanna lived in with her parents. Not that it was hard, but very easy to know which house was which. After several minutes, the figure was able to find Dyanna’s house. Her house was just across the street. The figure went across street with no sign of any cars driving right by to see who this figure was. As the figure went up the stairs, it took out a box from its sleeves and placed it down in front of the door. Then, rung the doorbell for Dyanna or her parents to come get the box that had the costume. Before there could be a chance of anyone opening the door, the figure turned around and walked away from the house. After that, there was what looked like insect wings that suddenly popped right out of the back of unknown individual. Once that happened, the figure flew in the air as far away as possible from being detected by people on the ground. “The Queen of Halloween will be coming soon. Let this be a night to remember.” The figure never looked back. It disappeared into the clouds and was never seen again. -------------------------- Finally. Halloween is about to get started. I can't wait to meet my friends at their Halloween party. It's going to rock! I’m gonna dress up as a vampire this year. If the kids start to come to my house, I'll give them the scare of their life. It'll be too awesome to give kids one heck of scare before getting a phone call from my friend Max that the party will start at 8:25. And since it's only 7:30, I have plenty of time before the party starts. While on my computer, I could hear the doorbell ringing for me to answer. I wonder who could that be? It couldn't be Max. He said he would give me a call on my phone. Might be just one of his friends wanting to hang out with me. Might as well see who it is. Getting out of my chair, I made my way to front door. Opening the blinds, I didn't see anyone at the door. However, there was what appeared to be a box that was in front of the door. Strange. Gotta see what it is. Probably one of Max’s friends giving me a Halloween gift. Might be just candy. I unlocked door for me to get a better look of the box. The box had a symbol of green insect of some sort. Like, I don't know. It looks like a hybrid horse that was turned into an insect. Now that's something I’ve never seen before. I've seen a lot of symbols for many things, but this one just made me scratch the back of my head. I grabbed the box in my hands to see a letter on the right side. Hello there, Dyanna. If you must know, what's contained in this box is a very special ‘gift’ I want you to have for Halloween. I am sure you'll love this costume I made for you. Happy Halloween, Changeling Changeling? What type of name is that? Sounds like a creature that I'm guessing changes into different forms. Well, that's just a lucky guess. I didn't see who this person was, but I don't think it matters now. I'm wondering what this costume looks like? Might look nice, but that's for me to find out. I closed the door behind and made it back to my room. I'm glad my parents aren't home. They would want to see what might be in this box. I placed the box on my bed and started to lift the lid off from it. What I found was…..incredibly beautiful. This costume….I couldn't find the right words to describe it. The costume was green and black. I took it out to get a better look at it. It was extremely well made. Putting my hand on it, it was very soft. I didn't see any signs of dirt or anything for me to clean off. But there's something that was still making me think about this costume. How did this person know my name? How did this person know where I lived? That's what I'm wondering about. There appeared to be some labels that were on the back of the costume. Getting a closer look, I started to see what the labels were saying. Hello there! This is the costume that represents Queen Chrysalis from the hit TV show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. This costume will make you the most beautiful and lovely Trick-or-Treater in your neighborhood. CAUTION: Please be sure that the costume has not been tampered with before putting it on. Please keep it away from small children. Wait a minute. I think one of my friends told about this show. Not that I watch it, there was that one time where my friend Jackie wanted me to just look at a season finale that had the villain who is Queen Chrysalis. What was it she said about her? Chrysalis was able to drain the love from others to make her powerful? I think that's what she told me. That was only a couple of weeks ago. Hmm. This costume doesn't seem to be that bad. I also noticed that it contained a mask looking disturbingly similar to Queen Chrysalis. In addition, I noticed that it had insect wings that looked...very realistic. Like, almost as if the wings were real. Who ever this person was knows how to make details look good. There was also another thing. What would have been where I would put my feet in were hooves. How can someone be able to walk in this costume? I'm not even sure how this might work out. Examining more of the costume, the mane and tail also looked too real. Pressing one hand on the mane and the other on the tail, they were still soft just like the rest of the costume. This must be a high-quality costume. If I were to think of a price estimate, I could say the costume was somewhere around $190 or more. It's not a costume that you would, much less COULD, buy at Target or Walmart. Looking at the clock, it was almost time to go. Since Max’s house was about half an hour away(no thanks to Halloween traffic), I would have to leave very soon. Maybe this costume could be better than my vampire costume. I've made my decision. I'll go as Queen Chrysalis. Don't want to disappoint whoever it was that gave me this costume for Halloween. I unzipped the back of the costume, to where I would be able to get in it. Of course, I had to remove my shoes before going in it. Wouldn't be comfortable to walk around in a costume that had hooves and not just regular feet. Slowly getting into the jumpsuit, I was able to zip up the zipper. Next was to get the mask on. Grabbing it, without dropping it, I successfully placed the mask to where it would hide my face. “Well, it doesn't feel bad like I thought it would,” I said to myself after donning the fake hooves. "At first I thought that my feet would be cramped up, but they seem to be doing fine.” I looked at myself in the mirror to see how I looked. “Not bad. Hehehe. I really do look like Queen Chrysalis from the show.” But something still didn't feel right. My gut was telling me something didn't look right about this. I didn't feel different. It's just a costume. Nothing else. Yet the feeling didn’t leave. I then felt sick to my stomach. Everything around me was starting to get fuzzy. What the heck is going on?! I fell to my knees and felt only sharp pain coming to my head. I was hyperventilating all of a sudden. That couldn't be right! I haven't been in this suit for that long. Only for a couple of minutes and now I feel ill. My vision was getting darker by the second. Then, I drifted into the dark. ------------------------ “Ohhh…..god,” I was getting up to feel only a small bit of pain from my head. “What just happened?” Looking at myself in the mirror, I looked…..awry. The costume looked more realistic. As in it didn't feel like it were a costume anymore. My eyes. They weren't brown anymore. In fact, they were bigger than usual. Their color was light green as opposed to their typical hazel. Placing my hand on my face, I felt…..like the costume was part of my body. It wasn't soft anymore. It was hard, like it were made of the chitin that makes up a beetle’s exoskeleton, but much thicker. I then decided to pull my mask off. It felt VERY painful while doing it. This can't be right. No. No. No. This….isn't right! I must be dreaming! Yeah! This is just a dream. I'll just close my eyes and everything will go back to normal. I closed my eyes and waited for the right moment. Opening my eyes, I looked in the mirror to realize that I still had the costume on me. I was shaking my head. This can't be happening! No, it can't be happening! This is impossible. Nothing like this can happen to me. I got closer to the mirror to notice I had things that were white like that of the wall. I think my heart skipped a beat when seeing these thangs up close. Even more, I noticed that I had a horn sticking out of my head. It had holes in it, but it didn't affect it in anyway. I also noticed that my ears were now on top of my head. “This isn't getti---” my voice!! It's...it's changed! First I realize that I've become one with the costume and now my voice has now that of Queen Chrysalis!? “I'm….no longer myself. Now I'm Queen Chrysalis.” I sighed as put my hands on the dresser and looked down. “How are Max and his friends going look at me when I'm at the party? How are….my parents going to react when they return from their jobs to see their daughter is no longer….their daughter they loved and cared for all these years?” I wanted to cry. I wanted to rage and smash the mirror with my fist, but I would only end up hurting my hand. But that wasn't going to solve anything. None of it was going to help me go back to my normal self. I'm an anthropomorphic Queen Chrysalis. No point denying it anymore. I need to face the fact of accepting this curse. If this was a curse from the start. I need to be brave. This is Halloween night. I'm not going to cry like a little girl. That's not who I am anymore. Looking at the mirror, I inhaled and exhaled to relax. “I'm not gonna let this ruin me. This person may have won, but that isn't going to stop me from enjoying Halloween with my friends. I just need to act cool. Don't think of anything negative. Just think positive.” Before I could think of walking out of my room, I heard a buzzing noise. Turning around and looking behind me to see the mirror, my insect wings were buzzing just for a few seconds until they stopped. My tail, on the other hand, seemed to go back and forth in a normal way. Maybe this isn't as bad as it seems to be. Time to get out of the house. I looked at the time to see that I only had twenty-five minutes to make it to the party. I could hear cars going right by my house. This is definitely not good. Traffic and kids makes this a big problem. I'm going to need a coat or something to keep me from being seen. Good thing my windows in my jeep prevent anyone from knowing who's driving. Leaving my room, I went into the kitchen to grab my keys and my phone that were on the counter. There was no sign of Mom or Dad in the house. Least that's good. Now I just need to get a coat from the closet. As I got to the closet in my bedroom, I turned the lights to see if there was a coat that might be perfect for me to wear to hide my myself. “Hmmm. So many coats to choose from. Which one…..AH-HA! This might be the coat that's worth putting on.” The coat was dark black and also had a hoodie to keep my face from being shown out in the open. Perfect. “Now that I have both my keys and coat, I'll be able to make it to Max’s party. Hopefully traffic ain't that bad.” I began to walk to the garage that had my Jeep for me to drive. As I was in the the garage, I activated the garage door for me to see how and traffic really was. There were cars all over the place. This isn’t worth giving up on, I told myself. I made my way to my blue Jeep Wrangler. Putting my keys in the lock, I grabbed the door handle and sat in the driver's seat; then I closed the door again and locked it. “This might be difficult to drive now with hooves and not feet.” Just need to take it slowly. I put the key in the ignition and started the car up. Ok. That's good. Then I placed my right hoof on the brake so that could keep the car from moving. “Alright. Doesn't seem to be going that bad. Now to carefully place my hoof on the gas gently.” Slowly but steady, my hoof pressed the gas pedal. The Jeep began to move forward. “Phew,” I said under my breath. “I'm getting the hang of this in my new form.” Maybe the person didn't really want to feel sad about being turned into a cartoon character. This person just wants me to enjoy my favorite time of the year. I looked both ways to be sure that there was no signs of cars or coming my way. None were coming right now. I quickly got out of the driveway and was now on the road. I only had twenty minutes left to make it to the party. Not gonna be late! Mark my words. ----------------------- Several minutes were going by fast. Traffic remained a pain to get through. I had to be careful when children were walking in the road. Good thing their costumes had those reflectors to make it easier for drivers to know someone was walking in the road. I turned my head to the right to notice all sorts of Halloween decorations for each house while driving. It was a lovely sight to see. Pumpkins with scary faces that would make kids want to not get candy from said houses, smoke screens that prevented people from seeing the ground, even the sound effects that were of zombies and ghosts gave chills to everyone, even me. This is why I love Halloween; to enjoy seeing children have a scare of their lives. Paying attention to what was in front of me, I could see where Max’s house was located. There was only one parking space that I could find that seemed to be perfect to park my Jeep. Making my way to the parking space, I drove up and then turned my wheels to the right to get into my parking. Looked front and back to prevent my jeep from hitting the two cars that were in between me, I successfully parked without any trouble. I put my jeep in park and pulled the emergency brake up. Then I finally took the keys out of the ignition switch to turn the jeep off. Before I could think of getting out of my car, my phone started to ring. Grabbing it from my coat pocket, I looked to see who it was. It was Max! Pressing the button on my iPhone, I allowed him to talk to me. “Hey, Dyanna,” said Max. “The party is going great! We have all sorts of people from the neighborhood enjoying this year's Halloween party! I'm looking through the windows and I can see your Jeep parked right between my car and one of my friends cars. Get up here and enjoy the party. It's a killer! Woo!” “Max,” I started. “We need to talk. It's urgent.” I ended. “Dyanna? What's wrong with your voice? You sick?” His voice sounded worried. “Well, not exactly sick. Is it okay if we meet behind your house to talk?” I asked. “Um, sure, Dyanna. I'll be there like you asked.” “Thank you, Max.” I hanged up on him and put my phone back in my pocket. I had to make sure their were no kids or anybody that might see me. I didn't see anyone so far. Getting out of the jeep, I crouched down to not see anyone walking right by me. “1…….2…...3…...GO!” I ran as fast as I could behind Max’s houses. I was now hugging the side of the house while making sure no one was seeing me. Now I was behind the house. “Good. No one saw me.” I sighed in relief. “Dyanna? Is that you?” that was Max I was hearing. Turning around, I could see he was wearing his MW2 costume of Ghost. Yeah, I remember playing a few games with him two months ago. Guy knows how to play without losing in a single multiplayer match. “Yeah. It's me, Max.” I walked over to him. “Why are you keeping yourself hidden with that coat of yours? It's not that cold outside.” He wondered. “There's a reason as to why I'm keeping myself hidden like this, Max.” I told him. “Did something bad happen before you got here? I mean, I'm not gonna be angry or anything. Just tell what's wrong and maybe we can both fix it.” His voice was so nice to hear. Like a river of love going up the stream. “Do you promise that you won't judge who I am and won't run away from me?” I asked him. “Now why would I do that? Both of us have been together since going to elementary. You were always the one girl that I liked the most since then.” I was feeling a sensation of….I don't know. Was it his love I was feeling? If I remember what Jackie said, Queen Chrysalis and her race are able to feed off of love from other life forms. That can only happen when individuals start to really like one another. Which would then cause Chrysalis to get stronger every second. “I'm gonna take my hoodie off for you to see my face. Just promise me you won't react in a negative way. Please?” “I promise.” With his words, I immediately showed him my face and opened my eyes for him to see who I was now. “Before you think this is a joke, Max. It's not.” I began explaining to him about what happened when I was at home; from the box, the costume, and how I'm stuck like this for who knows how long. I was telling him that I've become an anthropomorphic Queen Chrysalis for his Halloween party. “If that isn't enough, I want to to place your hand on my cheek to see that my skin isn't what it feels like anymore.” He slowly nodded and carefully placed his hand on my left cheek. He was feeling how it was not smooth, but a hard surface that replaced what used to be my skin. Not only that, he looked at my eyes to see how they weren't right anymore, my feet that were now hooves, tail, insect wings, horn, etc. “Do you know now why I told you to meet me behind your house, Max?” I asked him. I was waiting for what he was going to say to me. I hope he doesn't think of me as a monster that came from a cartoon show. Granted that it's in the anthro form. I just don't know how this will end right here, right now. He put his hand on my shoulder to say, “Hey, I'm not gonna run away from you, Dyanna. You may have turned into this Chrysler-” “Chrysalis.” “Chrysalis figure, but that doesn't mean that I'm gonna push you away from me.” He kissed me on the lips and I wrapped my arms around him as our lips locked. I didn't let go of him or the kiss. It felt…..lovely. His lips tasted like blueberry mixed with a hint of strawberry. The flavor was impossible to resist. I wanted to be with him...forever. I don't want to be separated from someone I love and care for. And I know he didn't want to be separated from me either. “Will you stay with me, Max?” I said after departing from his lips. “Of course I’ll stay with you, Dyanna. Anything for you, my love.” We started to dance together in the moonlight of Halloween night. No one was coming out of his house, nor was there anyone watching over us while enjoying our time being ourselves. I was his queen, while he was my king. Together, no force will separate us. This night has been perfect for me and for my king. And I will forever remember this night till I part from this world of ours. “Happy Halloween, Queen of Halloween,” said a voice. “And never lose the one you love as a king.”