“Nightmare Night is for foals!”
“Yeah!” An agreement was made by the group of seven adolescent fillies and colts.
“I don’t wanna dress up anymore, it’ll be stupid!” Apple Bloom yelled from the top of Crusader’s clubhouse.
“Yeah!” Came once again, the group cheering in agreement.
“But what about the candy?” Came a cockney question from within the crowd.
A low muttering followed in response.
“Alright, Alright. So maybe we still want to get some candy, but there has to be another way to get it than just trick or treating for it, right?” Scootaloo asked the crowd, only to be met with more mumbling and half-slighted glances.
“There’s always Princess Twilight’s Halloween party. We could go there and try to get some candy!” Snips chimed in, already scheming up a plan to get as much candy as possible.
“Yeah!” Once again, everypony was in agreement. They began to make their way towards their goal, which was housed in Twilight’s party.
Once they got to the party, they were greeted by spike, who was barely visible in the moonlight due to his costume. The first ponies that walked up the steps jumped when he said, “Are you guys on the list?”
Sweetie Belle, who was one of the ponies startled, looked around this way and that, but could not find where spike’s voice came from, “Spike?” She called out.
“Yeah?” His voice was close, but she still couldn’t see him until a pair of red piercing eyes popped out of nowhere right next to her.
Sweetie Belle screamed, running back down to hide behind the group.
“Hey, hey!” The red eyes disappeared, revealing that familiar purple dragon from underneath some mysterious type of fabric, “Did I scare ya?” He asked, a small, devilish grin on his face.
“N-No!” Sweetie Belle retorted, albeit while shaking, “You just startled me cause I couldn’t see where you were!”
“Well, good. That’s what I’m going for. Those scary red eyes, hiding in the bushes, right before you get jumped by some big monster!” Spike chuckled, “Anyway, are you guys on the list for Twilight’s Party?” Spike asked again.
“List? We didn’t know there was a list. We just kinda thought that since our sisters were here, that we could kinda goin in with them with some friends of ours.” Apple bloom walked up to spike, trying to get a glance at whatever list he was talking about.
“Nope, you gotta be on the list. It’s mainly there so Twilight knew how much food and candy to get, so I don’t think it real-,”
“You got candy?!” Snips interrupted.
“We want candy!” Snails retorted
“Well you probably won’t be getting any!” Spike huffed, “Like I was saying,” He glanced to the rest of the group, “You guys can come to the party, but don’t expect much from it. Maybe, MAYBE Twilight has some extra candy, but you are gonna have to ask her yourselves. Come on in!” Spike opened the door, showing more of his costume, that being a cloak that blended in real well with the background surroundings, so well that it was hard to see the part of him that was still cloaked even in direct light.
Everypony thanked Spike before walking into the madhouse that was Twilight’s party. Ponies were filling the foyer, grouped up here and there on the interior balconies, dressed in various costumes. It was packed, but not to the point where the group couldn’t stay together, searching for Twilight in hopes of getting the candy they so desired.
Eventually, they went off into pairs, in hopes of getting more information as to where Twilight was. Finally, Featherweight and Pipsqueak got news that she had gone into the library. They immediately rushed to find everyone to head on down there.
Apple Bloom led the way towards the library, since she’s been through the Castle the most out of the group for Twilight time.
They came across a door marked library and slowly walked inside to find twilight in a chair, reading.
“Well, I would say I’m surprised, but this is Twilight.” Scootaloo whispered, gaining the attention of Twilight.
“Huh?” She looked up from her book, “Oh, hello crusaders,” She peered behind the trio, “And friends...what are you all doing here? I thought you would be out trick or treating by now.” Twilight said, looking at the clock, “Oh it’s late. Reading always does make you lose track of time.”
“We are too old to be trick or treating. It’s for young foals. We don’t want to go running around in silly costumes like a bunch of foals.” Sweetie Belle explained, followed by an ‘mmhmm’ from the group.
“But we still want candy!” Snails added, looking around the library in hopes of finding some hidden somewhere.
Twilight giggled, “On the contrary, Nightmare night was made by the village ponies all around Equestria to ward off Nightmare Moon’s spirit from infecting other ponies or from her somehow coming back to Equestria. Foals, mares, stallions, everypony participated by dressing up as monsters that they knew Nightmare Moon feared. It really isn’t for foals, but I understand your wanting to mature. I assume you came here of all places because you thought you could get some candy without having to do any work?” Twilight asked with a sly, knowing smile as everypony avoided eye contact with her and mumbled again, “That’s fine, I don’t mind,” Everypony sighed, glad that they didn’t offend the princess, “But I would like you all to try to enjoy the party before I do.”
They all nodded, starting to head back to the party until Featherweight piped up, “Um, Princess Twilight?”
“Yes, Featherweight?” She replied, setting her book down on the table next to her seat.
“Why aren’t you at the party?” He asked, getting a small chuckle out of her.
“Well, you see, I wanted to throw this party, but I didn’t realize how long it was going to go on for. Of course, over the years, with Pinkie as your friend, you develop quite a stamina when it comes to being at parties, but that’s usually when she puts them on. I’ve been up for quite a while now, about two days at this point, getting prepared for this party, and I’ve got to say, I’m already worn out. I came in here to read some scary stories to help rejuvenate my partying spirit.” Twilight smiled, holding a book called ‘the headless horse’ up with her magic.
“Scary stories? Can you tell us some?” Pipsqueak asked, “I promise I won’t get scared,” The rest of the group, all except Snips, seemed to want to hear some as well.
“Well, if you won’t get scared, then the story isn’t all that good at being scary, is it? Come and find a seat, if you’d like.” Twilight gestured to the empty chairs and couches that were haphazardly placed around the library.
Everypony quickly grabbed a seat or sat next to somepony on a couch.
“Tell us about the headless horse!”
“No, the one about the mad doctor’s monster!”
“No, how about th-”
“Guys, guys,” Twilight hushed the energized group, “How about I tell you all about those stories are so scary.”
Everypony grew quiet, a confused expression on their faces.
“Let me explain. Those stories, those old campfire tales, were created as warnings, as cushions keeping you from being even more scared than you would be if you hadn’t heard those stories. They were placeholders for the unknown.” Twilight looked around, still seeing some confused expressions.
“What do you mean, for the unknown?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, think of it. If you heard a crack of a stick while walking down a long winding road, who do you think it was? An animal? A pony? The headless horse? If you were scared enough, you could think it was the headless horse coming after you, ready to attack!” Twilight made a sweeping motion with her hoof. “You would run, right?”
Everypony nodded.
“Right. Exactly, you would run out of fear. Now think of it like this. What if you didn’t know about the story of the Headless Horse, or any scary story for that matter? What would you think that noise was? The wind? An animal? Nothing to be scared of, right?”
Everypony nodded again.
“But what if it was something dangerous? What if that little unshakable feeling that you have while walking down that lonely path meant something, was screaming for you to run, that you were in danger, but you just thought it was the wind? What if there was a pony there that meant to harm you? A foalnapper ready to snatch you up and take you away!” Twilight scooped up a bunch of books with her magic, “Never to be seen again.” She popped them out of existence.
By this point, the group was intrigued, some, mainly Sweetie Belle, even scared already.
“Every old story of make believe has little bits of truth to them that warn the reader or listener of something. A haunted woods where ponies go in but don’t come out, might not be haunted with ghosts, but infested with Cockatrices and Manticores. An abandoned house that is said to have angry demons who will scratch at you if you come in, might not have any demons, but rotted floors and walls that could cut and harm you, maybe even make you sick. These stories are placeholders, not only for the unknown, but for reality.”
“Reality? What do you mean? Why would a story be less scary than reality?” Snips asked, finally getting invested in what Twilight was saying.
“Let’s go back to my first example. The lonely path. Would you be more scared of a headless horse chasing you than a normal adult pony?”
“Headless horse.” Everypony said in unison.
“Exactly! Because you think the headless horse is scarier, you are more likely to run faster to get away from them. Even though it is fake, you still run away from it. The foalnapper, on the other hoof. That’s a pony. That’s someone you might know. It could be a total stranger. What if you got foalnapped and taken to some far away land, would that be scarier than getting chased by the headless horse?”
“Y-Yeah” Sweetie Belle quivered, thinking about being taken away from her family.
“What about getting turned to stone, in the middle of the woods, where no one even knows where you are, hoping as you wait out eternity, that someone remembered you, that someone finds you. Is that scarier than getting spooked by a couple of ghosts?”
Everypony was silent, thinking about themselves, paralyzed forever in an expression of fear.
“See, we subconsciously know these scary stories aren’t as scary as what the reality of the situation is otherwise, but we believe that they are so we don’t have to think about what could actually happen. In a story, it’s fiction, it’s not real. It couldn’t ever be real, but we hold that little suspension of disbelief, like maybe it could possibly be real, so that way when we get out of the situation, we can believe that it was all in our heads and we were just overreacting. For that moment of fear, we are believing in a fantasy, because reality could be too terrifying.”
“But if reality is so scary, why aren’t we always scared?” Apple Bloom asked, shifting in her seat like there was somepony watching her.
“Because we distract ourselves from reality.We see things the way we want to see it. For some ponies, that is reality for them, blissfully unaware of what is actually going on. For others, they can’t distract themselves enough. That’s why they develop phobias. Phobias are considered irrational, but isn’t there always something about that phobia that you can be afraid of?”
The entire group of ponies were sweating, squirming in their seats, starting to feel uncomfortable in their own fur.
“These stories take what ponies already fear and amplify them to a near fantasy level to help them cope. As all of you get older, you will realize that the make believe monsters are far less scary than the monsters that are hiding in reality. Sickness, hopelessness, death, loneliness. All of these things you will be worrying about, fearing, expecting. All parts of the reality of life.”
A moment of dead, wasted silence filled the library as everypony got lost in their own minds. Twilight took this time to get up, accidentally knocking a book off of the table next to her, making everypony scream. “Oh! Sorry.”
Everypony in the group was huddled together, not wanting to break free of each other, keeping something they knew in their reality.
“I think this counted as engaging in the party. How about I go get you guys some candy? Does that sound good?” Twilight asked.
The group whimpered a bit, the thought of the only adult leaving them alone not one that was comforting.
“Oh, don’t worry. I have some in here. I always keep a stash of Nightmare night candy hidden in here so I can have some if Spike eats all the other candy.” Twilight started walking up the ladder to go get the candy when all of a sudden there was a knock on the library door, causing the group to scream once again.
“What the? Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo? You guys were in here!” Twilight emerged from the door, wearing what looked to be a self made ursa major costume. “Spike told me you guys were looking for me so I could give you some candy? What were you doing in here anyway?” Twilight looked at the dumbfounded and scared fillies and colts, “And why are you looking at me like that?”
A soft whisper went through the groups ears, “Remember~”
“We...were...Reading scary stories! Yeah. Reading scary stories.” Apple Bloom said. “Sorry, we lost track of time!”
Twilight gave them a skeptical expression, “Are you sure? You look like you guys saw a ghost. You’re all shaking! Are you sure everything’s alright?” Twilight asked once again.
“Yep! Everything’s fine. Nothing wrong. You have extra candy?” Scootaloo asked, trying not to think about it.
“Yep! Though I didn’t know there were this many of you, how about you wait here while I go ge-”
“NO!” Everypony yelled.
Twilight stopped.
“No, we should come with you. After all, you walked all this way to come find us. We don’t want you to have to walk all this way again, right guys?” Sweetie Belle asked, the group immediately nodding and hustling over to the library entrance.
“Alright, then. Follow me!” Twilight began walking back towards the party, “Have I ever told you about the origins of Nightmare Night?”
The door shut as all of the fillies and colts walked with Twilight, each coming up with their own reality of what just happened. No one would really know what happened in that library; no one except for a certain omnipotent creature of chaos that was disguised as a book. A devious grin was plastered on the book’s front cover. With a snap of fingers, Twilight’s form appeared, then with another snap, Discord finally emerged from the woodwork, maniacally cackling as he teleported away, part of his laugh echoing throughout the library as he vanished