“Rule one, have fun out there and collect as much candy as you can.” Celestia holds up a fist with just her pointer finger raised while barring the door to a night of what I am sure will be pure hell. Having to deal with these three pint sized bags of energy will be taxing enough, but to add that there are going to be other… people out there as well, no thank you. The trio I’m going with crowd me for some reason on the large couch, with the orange skinned girl almost fully on my left thigh while the mustard colored girl is on my right and the porcelain hued teen is taking up the middle. All three are smiling widely, despite my frown.
“Rules two and three, Do not get yourselves separated, especially you two, Moonshade and Lily. Also, do not talk to strange adults who approach you on the street.” As if we need to be reminded of THAT danger, well, maybe the other girls do. “Now, are you ready for a night of fun?”
A chorus of excited yay’s answer her, almost ripping the house apart it seems. As the others get up eagerly to get out and do… whatever, mom stops us with a smile. “Before we release you monstrosities onto the world outside, it would be prudent if we get some pictures first outside the house.” Great, just what I wanted, I just hope this doesn’t take too long.
The front of the house is covered in cobwebs and spiders. On the porch sits a couple skeletons with their eyes glowing a bright red. In the yard sits a couple fake, dead trees, ghosts and tombstones with some of them sporting extended arms from piles of dirt.
The first set of pictures is of just me and Lily, who is nearly vibrating with energy and has the goofiest grin on her face. While I stand there with my arms folded she stands behind me, tilting my head a little with her mouth open as if she were about to bite my neck. Mom, Celestia and Chrysalis snap multiple photos of us using their own phones, mine and Lily’s.
The next set of pictures include myself with the troublemaking squirts, who crowd in front of and around me uncomfortably before taking some silly poses. The third picture is Lily with Sunset and her gang, again taking silly poses.
The final pictures are of all twelve of us in one big group, the younger girls standing in front of their sisters with me and Lily in the center. Lily is standing in front of me and after some arguing I finally relent and wrap my arms around her neck and let them dangle limply down her chest.
“Okay girls, a few last minute rules,” Mom turns to the smaller group, which I’m a part of. “You four will only be allowed to stay out for two hours, tops and will be allowed to have three pieces of candy from what you collect. You other girls, you can stay out as long as you want, but don’t miss the party at Sweet Apple Acres.” The three younger girls groan and complain, though they are quickly silenced by a stern look from Celestia.
With a round of hugs for everyone, even myself, we finally part ways. “Alright, I’m so going to get the most candy!” Scootaloo shouts as we approach our first house.
“Ya wish, Ah’m gonna git me two bagfuls before the hour is up.” the trio not really concerned about the fact I’m using a knee walker as they drag me with them in a hurry despite my surprised shouts of protest.
The first house we visit is two stories and actually made of brick which has been painted just light enough so the red barely seeps through the white. The windows on the lower level are large with the tops being rounded and surrounded by red drapes, skeletons and ghosts stand menacingly behind them. The porch is pretty basic, only a could feet wide and a long and lined with a white railing. For the holidays the house is draped in black spiderwebs, age cracks, and other supposedly spooky decorations.
“Trick or Treat!” The trio hold their bowls out expectantly as they greet the elder homeowner energetically who opens the door after they knock energetically.
“And I hope you three are staying out of trouble tonight.” The man smiles as he drops a couple handfuls of candy into each container. “And who is this young lady unfortunate enough to be joining you?” Unfortunate is right.
“Go on, Moonshade, he won’t bite.” Not exactly what I’m afraid of, but if it will get us off his porch, fine. At the insistence of the squeaky voiced girl I hold my pillow sheet up, though my mouth stays in its perpetual frown.
Despite me standing there like a begging idiot the man stands there without dropping any candy into my case so we can leave, almost as if expecting something. “Go on, Moonshade. Ya have ta say the line first.” The young hick says as her and her friends laugh at something.
“Fine. Trick or treat.” The words come out with not much enthusiasm as I stand there, frowning as I don’t even try to make eye contact. Again, the man stands there, seemingly not impressed. What is it going to take to get off this porch? I already feel like a complete idiot, and it is only getting worse with each passing second.
“Moonshade? Is… is everything alright?” The high, squeaky question interrupts what could have been a quickly devolving internal dialog, thankfully.
“Huh? Oh, sorry uhm… Sweetie Belle, was it?” The young teen and her friends stare at me, sporting looks of equal parts confusion and concern. The two tone haired girl nods as the trio approach me, I guess to try and offer some comfort or support. “I’ll tell you later, okay?”
Again I say the stupid little jingle, but I manage to offer a smile and I manage to say it in a more chipper tone. The stranger must have been appeased because soon a couple pieces of candy duly thunk against the bottom of my bag. Mumbling my thanks the four of us step off the porch, but once we get someplace that offers some privacy the girls turn to me, with mom watching us carefully.
“Okay, Moonshade, what is wrong? Are you not having fun?” The direct line of questioning stops me for a minute, definitely not something I expected from the athletic girl with purplish hair.
Deflating, I blow out a sigh of nervousness before I look at the girls, biting and chewing on my bottom lip before finally answering. “I… this is new to me, being out in public, participating in events like this and being around people who care about me. My life before coming here has been… hard. Most of it I won’t go into detail, because I don’t want to think about and it’s stuff that girls of your age, or any age, should have to hear about. But, I will tell you what I can and feel comfortable telling you, okay?” Not really.
“Sure, we’ll hold ya ta it, Moonshade. But fer now, think ya can try an’ loosen up fer the rest o’ the night?” The teen farm gives me a light hug before looking up at me with sorrowful eyes, as if she has guessed already some of the hell I’ve been through. What is wrong with me? There is something about these girls that makes me want to actually tell them and seek their comfort.
A partial smile, which is returned by one from mom along with two thumbs up, is plastered on my face as the trio drag me along to the next house. This time I don’t have as much issue with following their lead with the silly line, and it seems to come out a bit happier after our little talk.
Soon enough I’m finding that I am actually enjoying myself a little as I look down at my bag after we have left our fourth house. “How much candy have you three gotten so far?” What is it about these three that makes me feel so… different?
As the four of us gather around and show off our bags of loot, something catches my attention and it just so happens to be on the edge of my peripheral vision and something starts to feel… off, though I don’t know why. Unfortunately, as I look around nothing seems out of the ordinary enough to have set off my inner alarm, no matter how hard I look due to it being gaggles of kids running around like wild animals or a good number of kids escorted by a couple adults. The one thing I have noticed is that we are dangerously close to a pretty dark alleyway. Another thing starting to worry me is the fact that I can’t see mom or Chrysalis.
“Girls, lets… lets go b--!”
“MMPH!” The muffled shout quickly draws my attention and standing right there behind Sweetie Belle, covering her mouth while holding both of her arms behind her is a man, one who looks faintly familiar.
“Now, before if anyone screams I’m going to hurt this lovely girl, which will be unfortunate, so be quiet and follow me.” With a grin he drags Sweetie with him, leaving myself to follow with Apple Bloom and Scootaloo behind me fearfully. “And by the way, it is good seeing you again, Moonshade.”
Shock hits me as I recognize the person, and immediately I growl out while tensing up, despite my still healing injuries. “What do you want? Why are you even here? Just leave us alone.” Has to be a way to get out of this, or get word to someone.
“H- who is this, Moonshade?” Apple Bloom cowers behind me, along with Scootaloo, my arms outstretched in a protective manner.
“How does he know you? What does he want with you?”
“Come now, Moonshade. Don’t be shy, introduce me to your three new friends. I especially like the one with the cute, country accent.” Taking his hand away from Sweetie’s mouth he smirks while leering at both me and Apple Bloom. “Better yet, I think they should introduce themselves, starting with the country girl.”
As much as I don’t to give him what he wants, unfortunately cooperation is the key to have the best chance to get away. Taking a quick glance down the alleyway, I notice that while it is blocked off, there is a single door to a building that could be his possible exit route. Lining the walls of the buildings are dumpsters and the usual assortments of trash, the stench already hitting me and presumably the girls as well. Nothing of use to help in here. Hmm, how best to make some kind of noise or something to get someone’s attention? Maybe that could work, these girls have quite a pair of lungs on them. “Go on, girls. Tell him exactly who you three are.” Please let them get the hint.
“A- Ah’m… Apple Bloom.” They aren’t going to do it, they’re too scared. Can’t blame them, though.
“I’m… Scootaloo.”
“I- I’m… Sweetie Belle.” Come on girls, you have to do it, and do it loud enough.
“Nice meeting you three. And I’m sure that we’ll become even better acquainted soon enough, though you have no need to know my real name, yet. For now you can call me Mr. Buck.” As he continues he gives me a disappointed shake of his head. “It is unfortunate that you and Lily left as you did, Moonshade. You two were the organization’s most favored pair after all. Maybe you can convince them to let you live.” Creepily he drags his tongue slowly up Sweetie’s cheek and I can imagine how repulsed and horrified she must be at that.
“You two forgot the most important part, what group do you three form?” With my head turned away from the sight of him licking the unfortunate girl I have the perfect opportunity to whisper what it is I wanted them to do, and it seems they have caught on, judging by their widened eyes and slow nods.
“Mister, Ah don’ know what ya have in mind, but ya should know me an’ mah friends have a special name fer the group we have created.” Do it, Apple Bloom. This should get someone’s attention.
“Moonshade! Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom! Scootaloo!” Perfect, they sound close enough. And it seems it isn’t just mom and Chrysalis, either. I can barely make out Applejack’s drawl and Rainbow Dash’s rough voice with them.
“We are known as the-” All three take a quick, deep breath, which he doesn’t seem to notice as he’s more focused on the voices of those searching for us. His right hand goes down to reach into his left pocket, but before he can get there they let loose with their signature group greeting. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!”
Their shout must have startled him, or made him nervous enough cause whatever he was getting out he dropped in shock. “Damn you three, you’ll have to be punished for that.” Roughly he begins to pull Sweetie Belle with him towards the door near the back. “Now, unless you want your friend to be killed, I suggest you follow me, and no more surprises like that.”
I can tell by the jumbled shouts of the others that they are quickly closing the distance. And from his reactions, he knows it as well.
“Hi! Where you going with Sweetie Belle, huh?” *Gasp* “Is this a game? Are we going to be playing hide and seek? Oh, silly me, I forgot to introduce myself.” Both myself and Mr. Buck let out a yelp of surprise at the appearance of the pink menace behind him. “Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! I haven’t seen you before, are you new? You must be new here,” *Gasp* “I need to throw you a welcoming-” Unfortunately for me, not having my grip on the knee walker combined with the unexpected surprise means my jump finds me landing hard on my butt, but still in front of the other two.
“Okay, Pinkie, you can stop now. Thank you for distracting him.” Standing there, flanked by Applejack and Rainbow Dash are mom and her girlfriend. The two teens are snarling, as if they want to beat the living hell out of him.
“I don’t know who you others are, but unless you want this girl’s death on your heads, you’ll let me get out of here, with Moonshade and the other three.” He’s trapped and he knows it, the door is too far back, and Pinkie is blocking him. To make his threat more real he grabs Sweetie Belle by her forehead as the arm around her arms moves to her neck, making it plainly obvious he is ready to snap her neck.
“And if you do, there will be nothing left to keep us from taking you down. Not to mention homicide is grounds for a life sentence.” Both Apple Bloom and Scootaloo run towards their sisters, embracing them tightly. My attention right now is focused on Mr. Buck as I sit there, at least until mom comes up and helps me back up and onto the walker.
As the standoff continues the other girls show up, announced by the alarmed scream of the group’s fashionista as she sees what is unfolding. “SWEETIE BELLE!”
Surprising not just myself, but everyone else as well I force my way closer to the man, my lips twitching in anger as I get closer until Sweetie is the only thing between us. “Let her go, now.”
“Or what? The only way I’m letting her go is if you come with me, peacefully. And that we are allowed to leave without anyone following us or the cops being called.” I can tell he is getting desperate, which is a state I’ve never seen him in before, meaning he won’t see what I have planned coming.
“Fine, but if you want to move quickly, then you’ll have to carry me, I can’t go too fast with this thing. Just… leave her and the others alone, permanently.” Judging by Sweetie’s face and the gasps followed by the shouts of confusion and attempts to get me to reconsider they didn’t expect me to do that. To tell the truth, I didn’t either, this plan is risky and on the fly. If it fails, either I’m dead, or I’m back in the life of hell I ran from.
Releasing Sweetie Belle he makes an immediate grab for me, which ends with me being held almost exactly like Sweetie, only he is supporting my full weight on my shoulders as he holds my arms awkwardly behind me. Thankfully the extra room between me and the ground gives me some clearance to get a good, forceful swing in with my legs.
Thankfully the boots I’m wearing have thick, hard heels, though I only have one, maybe two swings. With a grunt I swing my leg as hard as I can, I guess my aim was somewhat effective, cause I do manage to land my first heel kick with enough force for him to loosen his hold. My second kick is more awkward but with it he releases me and falls to his knees, though I find myself falling face first onto the filthy alley street, my head thunking off the filthy cement and landing in a pile of trash before I black out.