The sun had now almost fully set and the sky was nearly pitch black, except for a few stars to keep it illuminated. Children of all ages began taking to the streets with multi-colored bags & baskets, ready for night to fall and the festivities to begin. The streets were ornamented with glistening orange lights and every house had its own distinct set of festively spooky decorations. Twilight and Spike were currently using Rarity’s bathroom to change into their costumes, while everyone else was in the lounge waiting to leave for the party. She hadn’t seen any of her friends in the outfits yet, as there were all told to wait in the bedroom while someone else was getting changed for surprise effect. Since Twilight was the last one to pick a costume, she was the last to get changed. Rarity had gone first so she could help out her other friends with their costumes and make-up afterward. Twilight didn't even know what any of her friends were going to be dressed as, but was sure the outfits would look great regardless and was beyond excited to see what everyone looked like.
“Are you almost done in there darling?” Rarity called, patiently standing outside of her bathroom door dressed as Frankenstein’s Bride. She wore a ghostly-white gown, her darkest shade of black lipstick with matching nail polish, equally dark heels and had stitches painted across her chin and neck. But the best part of her already impressive costume was easily her hair. Most people would have purchased a simple wig, but Rarity decided that she wanted to go the extra mile. She first dyed it completely pitch black with snowy highlights later added in, then had curled and pinned it into the right position before rapidly spraying it with multiple cans of hairspray. It was certainly a tricky thing to pull off, but once her friends saw the final result, they could all agree it was completely worth it.
“I’m almost finished!” Twilight responded excitedly, before opening the door to reveal herself. She wore a tatty lab coat covered in small blood-red stains, with lightly smudged black face-paint across her cheeks, coal-black rubber gloves, a pair of grey goggles atop her head and her once organized hair now extremely frizzed, ragged and almost as spiked as Rarity’s was. Feeling completely in the moment, she decided to let out a maniacal laugh at the top of her lungs. She then exhaled and looked down to notice a fearful expression had come across Rarity’s face.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” Twilight apologized guilty, as Spike stepped out behind her wearing a small dragon outfit that sported the same shades of purple and green as his Equestrian counterpart.
“No need to worry, you're simply in character!” Rarity quickly replied, “I told you that It was a good costume choice.”
“Yeah, I guess this mad scientist thing kinda suits me. you look amazing!”
“I know, do you like your costume Spike?”
“Hmm, not bad at all” He cockily replied, admiring himself in the mirror and pretending to roar fearsomely at his reflection, which made the girls chuckle.
“How’d you come up with the dragon idea?” Twilight asked, picking up her dragon-dog and petting him.
“It was Pinkie Pie's idea actually, she had a hunch and I went with it.” Rarity answered, she didn't understand most of Pinkie's idea's but this one seemed to pay off.
“It is a pretty cool costume” Twilight admired, “I just hope I look okay in mine.”
"Don't doubt yourself, you look great Twilight!" Sunset complemented, walking up the stairs to check on the three of them. Sunset had decided to wear something a little more basic this year and was going as a simple cat. She wore a black latex suit with false claws on her fingers, a black collar with a small golden bell attached and a fake fluffy black cat tail sewn onto the back of the suit. She also wore a matching feline ears headband and had a cat-like nose & whiskers painted on her face by Rarity.
“Thank you Sunset!” Twilight smiled in return, “you look kinda adorable."
"Thanks, I think it's purr-fect" Sunset joked, with Twilight snickering as Rarity playfully rolled her eyes, before the four of them ventured downstairs to see the rest of their friends. Eventually, they all managed to get out of the door and started walking to school. Twilight usually didn’t leave the house on Halloween, so she was filled with childlike wonder looking at the seasonally decorated town around them. But out of all the frightfully festive sights around her, she was still the most impressed by her friends' costumes that Rarity had made. Each one looked amazing in its own individual way.
Rainbow Dash had decided to go as Daring Do, which came as a surprise to nobody. She wore a Khaki Pith Helmet with Moss Green stripes, A Short Sleeve Tactical Dress Shirt and Camel Brown cargo pants, along with carrying a satchel filled with prop replicas and memorabilia. She had been very specific to Rarity about making her cosplay as accurate as possible, this includes the exact number of holes in Daring Do’s hat in the sapphire stone and their exact placement. Rarity wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or concerned by Rainbow’s incredibly detailed knowledge of the fictitious heroine, but she couldn't deny her friends' dedication to the character.
Fluttershy was dressed as a vampire. Her face and hands had a light-colored foundation applied to make her look as pale as a corpse. She also wore blood-red eye contacts, dark eye-shadow and the fangs Rarity had given her earlier, which now seemed less pale compared to her face. Her usual soft pink hair had been ruffled and darkened, along with a gloomy dress and a traditional ruby-red pointy vampire cape. Fluttershy had actually always wanted to dress up as a vampire, but was always too nervous in the past. While hesitant at first, she decided to go through with it this year and was actually frightened the first time she saw herself in full costume.
Applejack had always secretly loved pirates since she was just a little girl and, after her friends discovered this, was convinced by Sunset & Rarity to be one this year for Halloween. She wore a hickory brown tricorn pirate hat with a bright red feather attached, placed over her chaotically messy hair and the black eye-patch she'd received earlier, which felt quite awkward at first but she'd now gotten more used to. She also wore an authentic buccaneer jacket with a golden amulet necklace done up over a cut-up blue & white striped shirt, a pair dusky cavalier boots, dark leggings and a belt which carried a malleable swashbuckler sword that had been specially designed with an apple on the pommel. Applejack had been rehearsing her 'pirate voice' all evening, which the rest of the girls began to find quite annoying after the first five minutes.
Finally, Pinkie had by far the most colorful get-up of the bunch, dressed as a comical clown. But not one of the creepily designed clowns usually seen on this night, she’d gone for straight-up goofy circus smiles. Her usually frantic hair and been condensed into a small afro under a cheerful blue bowl hat and her face had been painted completely white with baby blue rings around her eyes, candy red lipstick and the bulbous rubber nose she hadn’t taken off since receiving. Her outfit was consisting off a large hot-purple jacket with foam buttons on the front, a large violet bow tie, over-sized green pants with white polka-dots that were barley held by up by a duo of pastel orange suspenders, a plastic water-spraying sunflower attached to the jacket and a pair of giant floppy yellow clown shoes. She also carried many clown-esque items with her, such as colorful balloons, juggling balls, a unicycle and a few cream pies to possibly throw later.
The Girls slowly began to approach the front of the school and noticed the statue had been redecorated into something reminiscent of the classic headless horseman story. The schools' entrance wore giant false cobwebs on its side and bloody hand-print stickers on the windows as they walked inside.
"Huh, that's funny." Pinkie stroked her chin, "I don't remember putting these up!" The group continued to wander the halls, in search of the gym, as Pinkie continued to notice more impressive decorations on many of the walls, doors and lockers, that she have anything to do with. While she didn't expect herself to be the only one decorating, whoever did this was almost as skilled as her.
"You know, the school halls are always kinda spooky when they're abandoned like this!" Rainbow kidded.
"It's probably cos everyone's already at the party, stop tryin' to scare us." Applejack replied, playfully punching Dash's arm.
"Still, it is a little creepy." Twilight smiled, "I feel like something's gonna jump out at us."
“Boo!” A sudden rouge male voice appeared from within the shadows, scaring the girls and their dog before revealing himself to just be their friend Flash Sentry playing a prank. He was dressed as a werewolf, wearing a scruffy red checkered shirt, ripped denim jeans, his regular trainers, a wolf nose painted on and brown fur attached to his hands, chest and up the sides of his face. The girls all sighed when they realized who it was, as he began to approach them in a friendlier manner. “Sorry for scaring you girls like that, I just couldn't resist. you all look great!" he complimented, as the girls all thanked him.
“Did you make this?” Sunset questioned, inspecting his costume, “I had no idea you were capable of something so impressive!”
“Yeah, thanks! I also put up a few extra decorations around the school before you all arrived” Flash answered, “I’ve been helping Pinkie Pie out in the decorating club lately and I figured I’d surprise her with a little something.”
“I’ve taught you well, my young apprentice.” Pinkie wisecracked in an elderly voice before following it up with her usual youthful high-pitch giggling.
“Yarr! Come on matey’s, we be missin' that party!” Applejack spoke in a gruff deep voice, receiving slightly irritated looks from her friends in return. “Sorry, I got to stop doin’ that.” She awkwardly chuckled in her normal country-girl voice as they all approached the gym. The room glowed like when they opened the doors as DJ Pon-3, whom was dressed as a mime to suit her usual silent antics, was blasting her tunes on the dance-floor. The room was filled with various costumes from all the students, from witches to skeletons to classic horror movie icons. One student even came dressed as a pony, which both delighted and disturbed Sunset. The food table was filled with toffee apples, cakes, candy bars, Halloween-themed punch, pumpkin spiced cookies, eyeball looking lollipops and tubs for games of apple bobbing were also scattered around the hall. The Girls and their dog all stood in the doorway, completely speechless at the wondrous sight.
“I may have set up a few more things for you.” Flash smirked at Pinkie.
“Looks like you've got some party planning competition.” Rainbow teased before receiving a nudge in return, as Twilight suddenly noticed someone covering her eyes and could only hear small giggles from her friends.
“Guess who?” a young man's voice spoke, whom she instantly recognized as she removed the hands.
“Hey, you guys made it!” she cheered, turning to see her boyfriend Timber and his sister Gloriosa standing in the doorway before giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. Timber wore a Navy-Blue Fleece Vest over a Paprika Red T-Shirt with gravel grey shorts and a white cap with a picture of a blue tree on it. Gloriosa wore a Magenta sweater with a shooting star on it and a purple pencil skirt. Twilight knew she recognized their costumes, but couldn’t quite put her finger on where she'd seen them before.
“We just arrived, thank you so much for inviting us.” Gloriosa smiled nervously, as the rest of the girls said their hello's to the Camp Everfree sibling duo.
“No problem, now let’s get this party started!” Twilight announced cheerfully, as they all went to join in the festive antics. Applejack and Rainbow instantly began competing in the apple bobbing, Rarity was showing off her costumes to all the other students before Pinkie began playing pranks on them, Twilight and Timber were flirting with each other on the dance floor while Spike kept trying to interrupt and Fluttershy & Sunset made small talk with Flash and Gloriosa. But then, the room went unexpectedly quiet when Vice Principal Luna walked up to the podium dressed as a devil. She wore a simple red spandex suit, a pair of devil horns of her head, dark-red eye-shadow and was holding a plastic pitchfork in her hand.
“Good evening students.” she grinned, “Can you please all give a warm Canterlot High welcome to Princess Celestia”. After the strange announcement, Principal Celestia was lowered from the ceiling by a stage-rope as angelic music began to play. She wore a puffy glowing pink dress and a shiny silver crown atop her head. She landed on the stage and was greeted by cheers and giggles from the students.
“Thank you Luna, Good Evening my royal subjects!” she spoke in a fake regal voice, “this celebration you’ve put on is simply extraordinary!”
“Is this what Princess Celestia is like in Equestria?” Twilight muttered to Sunset jokingly.
“It’s not how I remember her.” Sunset chortled, as Principal Celestia comedically rambled on.
“Now without any further a do.” She wrapped up, “Let the party commence!”. The students all applauded as the upbeat party music returned and everybody headed towards the dance-floor. The girls all continued to chat, dance, prank and even tell a couple of spooky stories between them. Most of the students fell victim to Rainbow and Pinkie's pranks, as Pinkie had even done some undercover research into some of her fellow students' fears to further guarantee an effective scare. She discovered some unexpected results, including Snails' fear of balloons, Bulk Biceps' fear of spiders and especially Twilight's bizarre fear of quesadillas, which her friends playfully teased her about. Luckily, the pranks were met with positive feedback as everyone had a great time and the party felt like the highlight of the school term.
Meanwhile, the neighborhood houses were constantly riddled with costumed children trick or treating. One of these houses was the Apple family farm, as Big Macintosh would step out in a mummy costume for any children who’d drop by. He would always try his best to scare them first but wasn’t very good at it, usually leaving them laughing instead of screaming in fear.
The children he was being currently was being visited were none other than the CMC, who were known tonight as the Canterlot Monster Club despite the fact none of them were actually dressed as monsters. Apple Bloom was dressed as a scarecrow. She wore a tatty striped shirt, patch covered ripped denim jeans, a straw hat and had stitches painted on her mouth and cheeks. Sweetie Belle was a fairy. She wore a parakeet green dress, matching heels, with glittery patterns painted up her face and a handmaid pair of wings that her sister had made from scratch. Finally, Scootaloo was embarrassingly dressed as a chicken. She wore a furry white spandex suit, a white cap with a rubber chicken comb, a tale sown on and a strap-on beak that covered her nose. She didn’t like wearing this costume, but her friends had tricked her into it. She did start to feel better as the night progressed, since they were having so much fun, and she knew she’d somehow get them back next year.
“Trick or Treat!” they yelled simultaneously as Apple bloom's brother slowly opened the door, attempting to create a creepy atmosphere. He began growling at them before uncontrollably following it up with one of his discount "Eeyup’s" which caused the kids to start giggling. Big mac simply sighed and happily handed them the candy as the three young girls thanked him gratefully and ran giddily towards the next house on their journey.
“We’ve all got so much!” Sweetie Belle squeaked, admiring the massive amounts of candy they’d all collected that night.
“We must’ve set some kind of record or something by now!” Scootaloo cheered.
“Hold on, the nights not over yet!” Apple Bloom pointed out, pulling out a map of the town. “We’ve still got a few more houses to get, then the last stop is the school party.”
“That’ll be enough candy to last us 'til Christmas!” Sweetie Belle squealed as the girls all high-fived each other and continued their quest.
“So, where’d you wanna start heading next?” Sweetie Belle inquired.
“I know, let’s go to my aunts' place.” Scootaloo suggested.
“We’ve already been to your aunts' you dodo!”
“Yeah, but I’m sure they won’t mind giving us some more.”
As they walked along the town, they passed by a small creepy-looking forest. Sweetie and Scootaloo simply kept walking but Apple Bloom paused and stared as she noticed there was a strange faint light emitting from within it.
“You guys seeing this?” she asked curiously, drawing her friends' interest towards the unusual glow. “What is that?” she questioned as the light slowly began to fade.
“That could be a lost kid!” Sweetie Belle worried.
“Or it could be a ghost!” Scootaloo shivered, followed by Sweetie Belle mockingly impersonating a chicken.
“Come on, let’s go take a look!” Apple Bloom proclaimed bravely as her friends begrudgingly followed behind her and they entered the mysterious woods. The further in they got, the louder the howling wind became and the exit seemed harder to find, it was like a maze. Eventually, they located where the light was coming from. What they found were multiple moths surrounding what looked like a dusty tombstone in the center.
"What is that?" Sweetie Belle examined.
"Looks like some sorta headstone, but what's it doin' here and who's it belong to?" Apple Bloom puzzled. She knew they should’ve started heading back a while ago but her curiosity got the better of her as she started to walk towards the monument. She began dusting the tombstone, causing the moths to scatter, as she saw what looked like some kind of bizarre ancient language carved onto it, which she then clumsily attempted to read aloud. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and the wind started rapidly picking up like a hurricane around the area the CMC were standing in. The girls all panicked and started to back away, but one of them found her body completely frozen in place.
“I…I..I Can’t Move!” Apple Bloom screamed as there was flash of lighting and a mysterious thin figure appeared in front of her. His skin was shadow grey with pitch black and blood-red eyes, jagged teeth, long seaweed -green hair that covered his face and seemed to be wearing a torn robe of sorts. His presence was simply bloodcurdling as the figure just stood in front of the girls, before slowly taking a deep lengthy breath. Finally, he looked directly at Apple Bloom and spoke. His voice was warped, low pitched, croaky, soft-spoken and had an extremely unsettling feel to every single word he uttered. “Thank you.” he said, with a threatening smile growing across his face, “I’ve been imprisoned for so many moons, It feels so good to finally be free!”.
“Run!” Apple Bloom quietly instructed her friends, with pure fear in her eyes. Her tearful friends nodded and sprinted away to find help, as the creature grabbed hold of Apple Bloom's arm and pulled her towards him. “Now!” He whispered, “You’re a strange-looking thing, guess I’m not in Equestria anymore”. That sentence put one huge puzzle piece into place. Apple Bloom tried calling for help but before she could open her mouth, she felt her body start to change as the creature began sniffing the air. “I can smell magic here and you’re going to help me obtain it!” he grinned menacingly, before his enchantment finally took full effect. Apple Bloom was suddenly much more pail, with a dead expression across her face, her pupils shrunken and was unable to speak other than zombie-like groans.
She was now completely under his control.