October 30th, 999
For most ponies, Nightmare Night is a carefully metered holiday. Sure, it is one of the scarier ones, and it isn't uncommon to see a pony dressing as a ghost, or walking around openly wielding a weapon, clad in armor. Other ponies might wear the most horrifying thing they can think of, like when Applejack dressed up as a fruit bat a couple years ago. Most are dressed in whatever costume they have on hoof, or traded with one of their neighbors to get a little variety. A couple of the costumes are incredibly detailed, worn year after year by ponies enamored with their idol. Which manage to be quite varied, as Princess Celestia intentionally deters ponies from dressing up as her.
Everypony enjoys wearing the costumes, and telling spooky stories to the fillies and foals about the big bad Nightmare Moon. They try not to be too scary, instead focusing on how they should dress up and give her candy in order to forestall her wrath, her threat to gobble them up. And then, when the fillies have gone to sleep, trying to top each other's scary tales, see which ponies could mare up and stick around for the entirety.
It's a good thing living next to the Everfree Forest prepared them for the monstrosity shuffling out of the Carousel Boutique.
The only thing keeping the Ponyvillians from running away, screaming for a guard at the top of their lungs is the fact that the mares responsible had gone around town earlier that day, warning that this dream foal of Doug's was, to put it mildly, wildly disturbing. A lot of them had laughed that off, just Pinkie being Pinkie. Or Rarity worried that she missed a thread on one of their costumes, the entire thing now liable to fall apart. After all, how outlandish could you get? It's not like the Everfree Forest spat out cute cuddly manticores that just wanted hugs.
Most ponies don't dress up as creatures from the Everfree for two reasons. One is that while they might be scared initially, and perhaps run away, they would always band together to defeat the monsters that came out to attack the town. Sometimes with outside help, if they needed it. The second is that it is seen as a 'cheap' scare tactic, kind of like dressing up as Nightmare Moon. OOoooh, she's so scary she got demolished by Celestia! The scariest monsters were the ones that you knew were coming, and could hear coming, but couldn't do a thing about. Monsters from the Everfree? You just fight back. Maybe you die, maybe you win, but you aren't helpless.
It also helps that his pack of fillies are surrounding him, chattering excitedly about the candy they are going to get, oblivious to the implications of the costume he is wearing. Or, as the less charitable might speculate, so inured to his tendencies that they don't bat an eye when he crosses a line. Or several.
Each filly is wearing a unique costume, corresponding to their favorite food or drink. Apple Bloom is, almost obviously, a large red delicious apple, with a green leaf replacing her normal mane tie. Applebaum is dressed as a bottle of apple cider, though her dam swears that it is instead a bottle of apple juice, despite the tiny bubbles the filly has painted on. Pomarbo is either a bowl of applesauce or, as Applebaum claims, pomace left over from making cider. Applejack only smacked the filly once for that comment, the mare's grin letting on more than she wanted, since she herself is in a bottle labeled 'freeze distilled apple juice'. With, if one looks closely, a thin line crossed through 'juice'.
Lemon has a white, wavy costume reminiscent of a bowl of meringue. Meringue, on the other hoof, is dressed as a lemon. Pinkie Pie, though she claims her favorite food is actually cupcakes, and her boots are cupcakes (nopony has asked whether or not she will eat them at the end of the night), is wearing a lemon meringue pie, complete with serving knife and stack of plates in case anypony gets hungry. It gives her a very saccharine smell, not helped by the candy she plans to drop wherever she walks.
Rarity thought there would be something slightly off if she went as a giant cucumber, and instead has two pieces of wheat bread, buttered with mayonnaise of course, on each side of her. Her body is in line with a single large green slice. Rarity insists a proper cucumber sandwich has a single cucumber slice at each point one would bite, as to not have to cut through the cucumber with one's teeth, but doing so for her costume would instead make her look like some sort of gooey monster. Sweetie Belle is a quesadilla, a similar design to Rarity, with two half tortillas on each side. The inside of the costume, spread along her back, is a cheesy mess with various green peppers studded in the mix. Which makes her look like a green spotted cheese monster.
Fluttershy blends in nicely to her orange jello dessert, the yellow difficult to make out from the jiggling mess. Hers, along with Pinkie Pie's, are the two costumes made to be eaten afterwards, and is covered with a wrap to keep anything from contaminating it. Hedge had a harder time deciding, and ended up going as an acorn, the kind she loves to help the squirrels find and hide away. Scootaloo looks unhappy with her choice, the orange filly hidden inside her potato costume. She grumbles to herself as she walks, that she should have chosen something cooler like fries or hash browns instead.
Rainbow Dash is a bit more gruesome sight, as she chose the Cajun rhoa as her favorite food. A few spots along her ribs and flanks, the major muscle groups, are painted a charred brown, almost black, with a textured appearance to look like the strips of meat. To stay in line with Doug's costume her forelegs are painted black, with a small red ring and white circle at the joint. One wing has the same treatment, the limb held slightly away from her body to give the appearance that it is missing entirely, again with a red circle between the black and cyan. She has a canvas collar around her neck and a metal chain hanging from her 'good' wing, a hook wrapping around the joint. Her body reeks of apple smoke, one of her favorite flavors when Doug cooks the rhoa.
Doug stands as he exits the Boutique, his six foot frame having to hunch over to fit through the doorway. His dark red hair is stained with grease and soot and styled with spikes pointing away from his head. Dark bruises in the shape of a hoof mottle his face and chest, signs of a vain struggle. A few of his teeth are painted black, his normally pleasant smile now downright creepy. A few splashes of red mark his mouth and neck, though his hands are remarkably clean.
He is wearing a heavy canvas apron that covers from the upper half of his chest to just below his knees. The canvas is stained with blood, the dark spots hinting that this particular garment has been in use for years. The more recent stains sting eyes and tongue with an acrid taste, more authentic than any glamour would provide. Two metal rings on the top on the top of the apron hook to the strap looped behind his neck. He has a wide shoulder pad that helps hide the brace wrapped around his chest. Strapped to his side are two large cleavers, only the dark spotted handles visible from their sheathes. On his other side dangle two chains, the meat hooks clinking back and forth as he walks. A third chain runs from his waist to the metal chain around Rainbow, though it is not actually attached to her wing should she need to fly away.
He lumbers away from the Boutique, a limping gait mostly due to the extra weight he is carrying. For Rainbow is perched on his shoulder, looking to the world to be the latest of a long number of victims caught and kept alive while being slowly devoured. The mare has a bucket in her teeth, though this has a strap to rest the weight on her neck instead of her jaw. The smile on her face belies the expression one would expect a pony actually in that position to have, which helps diffuse a little of the impact of seeing the two.
Rarity shudders as she looks, shaking her head from side to side. "Darling, if I didn't help design and create that costume for you, I would be positively terrified right now." She gulps, "I still am, a little, to be honest. Are you sure about this?" The various fillies and mares around them also take a second look at the costume, most of them nodding along with Rarity. "How do you think the other ponies are going to take it?"
Doug shrugs, Rainbow moving up and down on his shoulder. At least most of her weight is distributed through the brace to his back and hips, not all on the arm helping hold her up. "Well, I think of it this way. If I'm comfortable enough to be seen wearing it, that's because it's okay, it's a topic that they can talk about and joke about. If it wasn't okay, then there's no way I would wear a costume like this, right?"
Rarity slowly nods, "I suppose I can see that reasoning, but, do you think the other ponies will do the same? I don't know that they will, how shall I say, be able to think about it because they are already running away in fear."
"Well, it's not like it's a secret I can eat meat." Doug motions to the Nightmare Night area, a lot of ponies milling about in the brightly lit plaza. "I suppose this will be an unpleasant reminder of it. I just hope your earlier warning was enough."
Rarity nods, "Yes, dear, you and me both." She nervously smiles, "I guess we'll put it to the test."
The loud clanking chains quickly draw everypony's attention. Motion comes to a halt at the festival, all eyes staring at the towering biped. The silence is broken by a single foal crying, a few hoofsteps as fillies are ushered behind their dams. All the other ponies continue standing still, hoping that they don't draw this monster's attention, even if a part of their brain knows who it is.
A blue stallion with a darker blue mane courageously steps up. He takes a deep breath, Rainbow looking down with a curious expression. He stammers, "So, um," before taking another breath and grinning, "That is a wicked costume! You have any other ideas like it?"
Doug laughs, "Well, let me tell you about this guy, Jason Voorhees."
The rest of the ponies breathe a collective sigh of relief, a few of the mares smacking each other that a stallion was the first one brave enough to confront the 'monster'. Doug and the rest of the herd laugh as a few more mares come up, complementing Rarity on the quality of the costume, how well everything goes together, and the authenticity of the smells. Doug and Rainbow trade a nervous smile at that as the rest of the herd disperses, starting to mingle among the games.
The ring toss and spider toss go well, both Doug and Rainbow able to toss the object in question from their varied vantage points. Bobbing for apples is slightly more difficult due to Doug attempting the feat while Rainbow is still on his shoulder. At least Rainbow got an apple out of it, Doug unable to get his mouth to dip low enough while still holding onto Rainbow. And the mares running the stand got a laugh out of it. The fillies love the costume as well, once they get over their initial fear. And the smell.
The younger members of the herd soon grow tired, the festivities proceeding long after their normal bedtime. The herd heads back to the Carousel Boutique, the fillies carrying baskets filled to the brim with candy. Once they enter the Carousel Boutique Doug holds out a bowl. Each mare takes a piece of paper, reading the short lines to themselves as they head upstairs. Tonight is Sweetie Belle's room in which the fillies will be staying, spread out on the floor on various sheets and pillows. Then, once the fillies are all tucked in, the mares return to the party. Each gets a glass of tomato juice from the refreshment table.
The mares gather around in a circle, Rainbow Dash still on Doug's shoulder. The room is quiet, the windows covered by the various shelves and fabric. "Well, I would say this has been a very productive Nightmare Night," Doug says, motioning to the baskets of candy left by the entrance. He pauses, what he was about to say interrupted as the clock tower strikes nine. After the first two strokes he continues, "I think the costumes were excellent. Great job, Pinkie Pie and Rarity as the lead designers." He raises his glass, each pony following suit and stomping their hooves as the clock tower stops ringing. "To a suc-"
The lights in the Carousel Boutique go out, leaving the entire room pitch black. A gurgling sound, followed by a loud crash and the pained cry of a pegasus. The loud jingle of a glass hitting the hardwood floor and a splash of liquid.
The lights abruptly come back on, four mares still standing where they were before. Rainbow Dash grunts as she pulls away from Doug's prone body. The pegasus slowly backs up, one hoof squelching, a horrified expression on her muzzle as she tries to figure out what just happened.
A blood curdling shriek splits the night as Rarity spots the pool of red expanding from around Doug's head.
Pinkie Pie shouts, a completely unnecessary base drum roll accompanying her, "DUN DUN DUNNNN!!"