//------------------------------//
// Scare Master 
// Story: Flash Sentry, Defender of the Peace S5 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

Nightmare Night, many ponies of Equestria's favorite night of the year. The night where you get to dress up in whatever you want to be, all for getting candy. It was a thing of beauty, ponies everywhere in Ponyville helping make the last few preparations as the sun began to set.

Everypony...except Fluttershy.

The pegasus mare was known for disliking the holiday, and today was no different. As the moon began to go into the sky, she was walking through the normally very unscary town. Balloons with ghosts, pumpkins with carved scary faces and posters of skeleton ponies were now gracing every bit of the village, the sights making her shiver as she slowly trotted around.

"Nightmare Night, what a fright! Give me something sweet to bite!" She turned to the sound of the voices, now seeing a trio of young ponies. There were nothing but smiles, only for the mare's eyes to see fangs peeking out of their mouths. The sight made Fluttershy scream, quickly spinning around before running away, leaving a cloud of dust for the foals.

As always, this day would be a true trial for the mare.





Big Mac and Granny Smith were busy filling a cart with hay, Mac picking the bales up before looking up and seeing a very frightened pegasi walk by. "Fluttershy?" The mare opened her eyes, shivering as they continued, "What're you doin' out and about? It's Nightmare Night, remember?"

"How could I forget?" Fluttershy whispered as she twiddled her hooves, "Oh, um...I don't suppose I could borrow a few pieces of hay from you? I forgot to stock up on food for Angel, and you do seem to have quite a lot."

Granny chuckled in response, "Well, we need it for the Apple Family Haunted Maze." Her voice started to shift as she waved her hooves around, "The scariest maze that there ever was." She then shot up to Fluttershy's face, the two now nose to nose. "Who knows what lurks inside?"

Fluttershy's face shook like a leaf, a long gulp down her throat, "Oh...I'm sure I don't wanna find out."

She then froze as Granny pointed behind her. "Is that a mummified pony that just leapt out at ya?" Fluttershy screamed as she fell to the ground, grabbing a hay bale to hide under. Granny then started to walk over, her hooves cracking against the hay, "And what's that crunchin' sound beneath yer hooves?" Fluttershy let out a whimper as she tried to open her eyes as Granny continued, "Maybe it's the bones of ponies that didn't make it out alive!"

"B-B-B-B-Bones?!" She jumped back to her hooves, ready to take flight as Granny leaned up to her again.

"And are those peeled grapes or a thousand slimy eyeballs starin' at ya from beyond the grave?!"

"Please tell me they're grapes!" Fluttershy covered her face with her wings, vibrating so much that you'd think an earthquake was occurring below her.

But Granny just giggled at her, "Oh, I'll never tell." She then let out a fit of maniacal laughter, which was highlighted by a crack of thunder and a bolt of lightning exploding behind her. This caused Fluttershy to let out a cry before running off, Granny just blinking at her speed, "Huh. I wonder what got stuck in her craw."

Mac just gave her a deadpan stare, the look saying: 'are you serious' before getting back to work with the cart.

Fluttershy kept running, not even looking where she was going as she let out a barrage of weak sobs. She didn't stop, only to hit by something, knocking her to the ground. She let out a 'eep' as a voice called out, "Shrimp?"

This made her eyes slowly open, her hooves parting her mane as she looked up to see her boyfriend staring down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh..." she began to crawl under him, "Hello Iron." She tried to disappear into the shadow he was casting, her teeth chattering as she put a hoof to her mouth.

"Are you okay?" He asked as he tried to move away, only for her to yelp and crawl underneath him again, "What are you even doing out here?"

"I ran out of food for Angel," she whimpered as she hugged one of his hooves.

"Ran out of food?" he then went wide-eyed as he smacked his head, "Ooooh. I was supposed to pick some up yesterday, wasn't I?"

"Yes, you were." It was rare for Fluttershy to glare at Iron, but she was definitely doing it here...for just few seconds before hugging his hoof again, "I-I-I shouldn't be out here because of that Iron! I should be hiding away in my safe space right now instead of being out with all the g-g-ghosts and g-g-ghouls."

"You mean all the fake ghosts and ghouls," Iron pointed out as he shook her off and tried to help the mare up, "Fluttershy, don't you think it's a little silly to be scared of this foal stuff? I mean, you've faced off against scarier stuff than a few kids in costumes."

"B-b-b-but what if there's a real m-m-monster out there?!" she shook again as she started pushing herself back along the ground. "Hiding amongst all the fake monsters, it's the perfect opportunity to sneak up and attack me!" It was here that she felt herself push against a tree, letting out a scream as she leapt away. "Aaaah! Its got me!"

"No it doesn't." Iron sighed as he trotted up and slung his hoof around her neck, "Come on, let's get you home."

"But I need to get some food for Angel. He-"

THOOM!

Another burst of thunder and lightning crashed through the air, making her scream before zipping into the sky in fear. "Fluttershy!" Iron yelped as he saw her fly away, "Wait!"

What followed was a long chase scene across the town, soon reaching the edge of town, the pegasi now running up to Castle of Friendship. "Oh, I'm sure Twilight will have something I can get Angel." But as she reached the castle's giant doors, she felt a small shiver go down her spine. Her hooves tapped the doors, only for Iron to come up to her side. He put his hoof over her shoulders as she pushed the frames open, only to gasp as she saw that the castle was now pitch black inside. "Twilight? Hello?"

As her words echoed into the castle, a loud scraping noise replied, also echoing through the crystal halls. They turned to the source, now seeing a large shadow come out from around the corner, the silhouette of a hunched over creature with spikes and a clawed arm that grew bigger with each passing second. Fluttershy let out a scream before leaping behind Iron, expecting him to pull out his Celestic Gear.

But the knight remained perfectly calm, letting out a snort of air as the shadow walked out to reveal Spike. Like last year, Spike was wearing a dragon costume, but this one was trying to portray a twin-headed dragon with a muppet style fake head coming off his left shoulder. "You think it's scary now, just wait until it's done." Spike chimed in as the fake head then fell to the floor, making him lean down and try to rebalance it on his shoulder.

"That's okay," Fluttershy squeaked out, "I'll take your word for it."

After a few failed attempts to keep the fake head up, the baby dragon suddenly gasped before pointing at the mare, "Hey, wait a minute! It's Nightmare Night and you're here and not holed up in your cottage!" A bright smile appeared on his face, "Does this mean what I think it means?!"

"I wish," Iron grumbled as he pointed at the drake, "Sorry short stack, but she's only out because I forgot to get some food for the fuzzball. She got spooked in town and ran all the way here."

Fluttershy did a small nod, "I was uh...hoping you might have some lettuce I could give Angel. And maybe Twilight would be willing to teleport me back home so I wouldn't need to go back outside with all those horrible monsters."

"Oh..." Spike's form began to deflate at the statement, "I thought you might have decided to come out with us tonight."

This made Fluttershy's eyes go complete wide, "Goodness, no! I couldn't be out tonight!" She shut her eyes as tightly as she could, "I...I just couldn't!"

Spike and Iron both shook their heads out, only for Spike to snap his claws, "Well...technically speaking, you already are out right now."

He then made the fake dragon head nod as Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes, "Oh...I guess that's true."

"So what if you stayed out a little longer with your friends? I know they'd be super excited."

Fluttershy put her hoof to her mouth, "You...you think so?"

Iron hugged her shoulders, trying to show a big smile, "You know they will. I mean, you've faced the actual embodiment of Nightmare Night and came out victorious because you were with them. Not to mention all the other terrifying things you've fought against."

"Huh..." Fluttershy looked away, her body shivering as her mind started to battle over what they had just said.

Seeing this, Spike walked up and shined a huge smile, "You would make everypony so happy if you joined in. They wouldn't believe their eyes! Come on Fluttershy, what do you say?"

Fluttershy bit her hoof, her eyes darting around before glancing at Iron. He did a small nod, making her sigh as she started to twiddle her hooves, "Um....alright. I uh...I'll give it a go."

"That's my girl!" Iron patted her back, quickly trying to nudge her away from the door, "And who knows, you've never really given Nightmare Night a try. You might find you actually really like it."

"M-m-maybe..." Fluttershy muttered as she looked back at the castle's doors, her head shifting between it and Iron. But as she did this, her ears picked up the sound of her friends' laughter down the hall, making her glance back at the hall. The noise made her shaking slow down, Iron noticing this and taking his hoof off her back.

It was here that they got into the library, finding the lights turned off and her friends in a circle with only a firefly lantern keeping them illuminated. The mane seven where there, alongside Springer, Lightning and Wild. Pinkie let out a mild scream as she fell onto her back, Fluttershy gasping before reaching out to turn on the lights.

Everyone screamed at the sudden light, turning around to see Fluttershy. She did a small wave, "Um...hi everypony."

"Fluttershy?!" Twilight gasped before she and Flash stood up, "What are you doing here?!"

"Yeah!" Flash nodded in agreement as they started to walk up to her, "I thought you were allergic to Nightmare Night."

Both Twilight and Iron shot him a glare as Twilight then asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Everything is fine. In fact, it's more than fine." She replied before trotting over to the others, a bright smile illuminating her face. "I've decided to join you in your Nightmare Night festivities."

The statement caused them to go wide-eyed, Rainbow scoffing as she flew over the pegasi, "Seriously?! You?! Out tonight?!" Rarity trotted over and nudged her in the side, but Rainbow continued to look like she was about to burst out laughing.

"She has a point." Lightning chimed in, "The others say you usually just hide away whenever this night comes around. What's different about this time?"

Fluttershy blushed as she twiddled her hooves, her voice trembling as she said, "Well um...every Nightmare Night, I shut myself in my cottage and refuse to come out until morning. But...well...it's just like when I was afraid to sing in front of anypony. If I...if I hadn't given it a try, I never would've found out how much I enjoy it."

"And we would have missed out on how great you sound," Applejack added, Fluttershy's face growing redder at her comment.

"Fluttershy with us on Nightmare Night?!" Rarity gasped, tapping her hooves in anticipation. "Why, that's positively the most wonderful news I've heard in ages!"

Fluttershy nodded before Pinkie zipped up next to her, cheering as she started hopping in a circle around her. "Hooray! You can get dressed up in a costume with us and play Nightmare Night games with us and eat candy apples with us!"

"Don't forget the best part," Applejack continued as she wrapped her hoof around Pinkie's neck. "Goin' through my family's corn maze!"

Fluttershy's eyes shrunk at this, everypony noticing as she muttered out, "Oh...right. The maze."

Applejack's face scrunched up, quickly trotting over to her, "Uh, only if ya'll are up for it."

"Oh, I am!" Fluttershy immediately replied, everypony seeing sweat come down her face while there was a blaze in her eyes, "I...I am ready to take on Nightmare Night!"

This statement caused a loud cry of joy to come from all but her, though the sudden outcry startled her into diving to the floor defensively. Springer blinked at the sight, asking, "You okay?"

Fluttershy turned to them, letting out a nervous giggle. "Just practising."

The others all shared a look, Rarity being the one to walk over and help her stand up, "Come along darling. The first step to enjoying Nightmare Night is finding you the perfect costume to wear."

"Costume?"

"Yeah," Wild chimed in, "Think of it like this, if you're wearing something that hides what you look like, you'll be extra well hidden from all the scary things you want to avoid."

"Oh...okay. That sounds good."

Seeing Fluttershy's understanding, Flash stepped up to Iron, "You know, if Fluttershy's getting into the spirit of the holiday, maybe you could lighten up and put on a costume too."

"No way Sentry, I'm not-"

Iron's words fizzled out as Lightning put a hoof on his shoulder and whispered into his ear, "Come on dude, it might help her if she didn't have to do this alone."

The defender let out a low growl, gritting his teeth as he replied, "Fine..."

"Hurrah!" Rarity cheered before glancing over at Twilight, "Twilight, could you?" The alicorn nodded before warping them all to Carasoul Boutique, everypony except Fluttershy and Iron running over to where their costumes were waiting. All except Spike, who was already in costume, who decided to going candy collecting with the CMC.

Rarity was the first to return, wearing a long blue and purple dress with seas shells on it. She quickly moved over to a rack of costumes, "Mummy? No," she pushed it aside. "Headless pony? No. Vampire fruit bat? Ugh, definitely no." All throughout this, Fluttershy shrunk at the sight of each piece of clothes.

Iron rolled his eyes as Rarity pushed the rack away. "Isn't there something a little less...terrifying you can give her?"

"Of course," Rarity replied, putting her hoof to her chest, "You see Fluttershy, the beauty of Nightmare Night is that you don't have to dress up as something scary." She spun back around, pulling a new rack of costumes into view as it accidentally slapped Fluttershy with the tail part of her dress. "Ooh! This will work!" She pulled a large fluffy dress off the rack. "This one will look gorgeous on you." She held the dress up to Fluttershy, Iron actually thinking it would look great on her. "Period costumes are all the rage this year." But she then saw Fluttershy, the mare flinching at the costume, "What? No good?"

"What if we encounter something terrifying and need to get away quickly? All those layers could slow me down, or worse, make me trip!" Fluttershy's eyes started to tear up, Iron and Rarity exchanging frowning glances.

"Oh. I never...considered that." She spun back around, her tail slapping Fluttershy again. "Never fear!" She hummed as she looked through the rack, "Ooh, now this is a real stunner!" She showed Fluttershy a black dress with a fancy looking mask and feathers. "I call it Masquerade!" She floated it over to Fluttershy, placing it over her, "Just a simple black dress underneath, but with this ornately decorated mask!"

Fluttershy looked through the headgear as it floated in front of her face. "A mask?"

Rarity did a tiny sigh as Fluttershy pushed it away, "No?"

"Its just...they can be so difficult to see out of."

"Yes, but..." Rarity floated it back in front of her face, "This one has eyeholes."

"W-w-what about being able to see what's to the left or right of me?"

"I suppose your vision would be somewhat obscured." Rarity placed the mask to the side, "It's your first Nightmare Night out and about, and we'll do want you to be comfortable."

"What if I just wear the dress?" She held up the article of clothing, only to turn around and go into the changing room.

Rarity sighed at her decision, "Oh um...sure dear. That's...fine." Once Fluttershy was inside the changing room, she whispered to Iron, "To be fair, it's so plain it's frightening."

Iron just shrugged, "Eh, whatever makes her feel comfortable."

"Yes...I guess you're right." Rarity sighed before looking back at the costume rack, "Now, what should we put you in? Anything in particular you'd like to go for?"

Iron let out a low growl, "Just...make it something nopony will be able to recognize me in."

"Aw, come on Iron! Where's the fun in that?!" Flash barked as he and Springer walked into the room. Flash was wearing the same thing he wore every year, a white-sheeted ghost costume. As for Springer, he was dressed like his battle form. It was a hoodie Rarity had made or him, which was mainly yellow in the centre and had blue sleeves that were black at the end. The arms had spikes on the back along with having a spike on the zipper. He pulled his hood up, showing it had fake ears and black lines where they'd be in his battle form. It had taken Rarity many days to get the costume right, Springer glad his aura could heal Rarity's needle pricks when making clothes.

Soon enough, everypony else revealed themselves in their costumes. Pinkie was dressed in a roller disco costume, Twilight in golden gladiator armor. There was also Rainbow, who was in an astronaut costume while Applejack looked like the cowardly lion. Wild was dressed in a suit of dark blue armor with a knight helmet covering his eyes, each of his puppets having been replaced by knight puppets. Finally, Lightning was dressed like a wolf with lightning bolt patterns running down his body.

Rarity clapped her hooves at the sight, "Oh my, look at all of you! My costumes fit you to a T!"

"Hoo-wee!" Applejack cheered, "We're gonna have the best time!"

It was here that Fluttershy stepped out of the changing room, now wearing the black dress. "Uh...Fluttershy? Where's your costume?" Rainbow asked as her voice was distorted due to the helmet she was wearing.

"I'm wearing it," Fluttershy answered, the others just staring her as they tried to figure out what she was supposed to be.

But then, Pinkie let out a gasp. "I get it!" She used her rollerskates to fly past her, "You're a robber escaping into the night!" Fluttershy shook her head, Pinkie then skating past her again. "You're a ninja escaping into the night!" Fluttershy shook her head again, Pinkie now rolling right up into her face. "You're black liquorice escaping into the night!"

"Close..." Fluttershy pushed her back to a safe distance, "I'm going to a masquerade ball...without the mask."

"Oh...that's great." Twilight muttered out before nudging Rainbow in the side, "Isn't that great everypony?" Everypony began mumbling their words of agreement, not one of them willing to look Fluttershy in the eye. Fluttershy just smiled in response, soon turning to Iron as everypony started smirking at him.

Iron took a deep breath, "Alright, let's get this over with." The boys grinned before pushing him into a nearby changing room, Springer following them while carrying a box.

"What's in the box?" Rainbow asked Rarity, the mare shrugging in response.

"Just a little something Springer asked me to make a while back. I had no idea it was meant for Iron."

"What can I say?" Springer's voice called out from the changing room. "I thought he looked good in it the first time. I sent the other one to Trixie and Flash is...well...too attached to the bedsheet."

A few minutes later, Iron was pushed out of the changing room, everypony now getting a good look at him. He was wearing a yellowish-orange bodysuit, which was covered in dark crimson sleeves that had orange streaks running down them. The entire style made him look like a being made of molten rock, lava leaking out of the cracks. His face was masked by a red helmet, which had an orange eye visor and a large stag beetle horn.

"Wow..." the girls all whispered as they stared before Rainbow asked, "Is that-"

"Kamen Pony Magma," Flash replied as they stepped out of the changing room. "Pretty sweet looking costume Rarity."

"Thank you darling, it was quite fun working on it. The helmet was tricky, but I managed to get it done." She then turned to the others, "Now then, shall we get on with the Nightmare Night fun?"

They all nodded before walking out of the boutique, only to spot Grand trying to pull toilet paper off of a nearby tree. "You okay?" Flash asked as he watched his mentor try not to rip the paper, now glad his costume was hiding the smirk on his face. But there was no hiding the laughter that almost everypony let out when a large amount of the TP fell out of the tree and buried the pony, making him grumble as he pulled his head free.

"When I find the hooligans who did this..." Twilight's horn began to remove the paper off the defender, placing it in a pile as Grand got up, "Thank you."

"You sure you're okay doing solo detail?" Lightning asked him, Grand scoffing back.

"Please. Compared to what goes on in Canterlot on Nightmare Night, this'll be nothing. You kids just enjoy your night."

They all nodded and continued their journey, soon reaching Sugarcube Corner. As they went there, Fluttershy made sure she was surrounded by the others the whole time, shivering as Iron stayed by her side. And as they entered the bakery, Pinkie hopped in front of them, "First thing's first everypony, its time for pre-maze entertainment!" she took out a roll of paper and unfurled it onto the wall, revealing a cartoon version of Nightmare Moon, this one without her horn and a goofy face. "We'll start with 'Pin the horn on Nightmare Moon'! Who wants the first go?"

"I do!" Springer cheered as he took a fake horn from Pinkie, the mare now tying a blindfold around his head before spinning him around.

As he spun, everypony else started singing. "Round and round and round you go, where you stop nopony knows!" Springer now came to a stop, now extremely dizzy as he began to stagger to the wall. Once there, he stuck the horn on the wall before removing his blindfold. A big frown began to form as he saw that the pin was not on the poster, but just outside pointing at her flank.

This got a bunch of childish snickering out of Flash, Rainbow and Wild while the others just rolled their eyes, Spike and Springer both raising an eyebrow. "What's so funny?" The little dragon asked, Twilight butting in before Flash could say anything.

"Nothing. Nothing's funny at all." She shot the perpetrators a glare, the trio quickly zipping up. Twilight took her turn next, followed by Applejack, Wild, Flash, and then Lightning.

"Not that I'm complaining," the electric unicorn said after taking his turn and getting out of the way for Rarity. "But isn't this a little...tame for a Nightmare Night party?"

"I know," Pinkie started the blindfold Rainbow. "I figured I'd save the really scary games for next year when Fluttershy's more used to it." Fluttershy blushed at this, Twilight now putting a comforting hoof on her back as Pinkie spun Rainbow around and they all sang the song again. "Okay..." Pinkie grabbed Rainbow and stopped her from spinning, "GO!"

Rainbow did so, doing some mission improbable stunts that made the music begin to play in everypony's head. She eventually reached the poster and slapped the horn down, taking her blindfold off to see it had landed on the alicorn's nose. "Yes! Good luck beating that, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy did a large gulp, now twiddling her hooves as she replied, "Well...um...it's just that...if I'm blindfolded and somepony were to leap out in front of me, I'd never have the chance to defend myself."

Everypony shared a glance, Springer then chiming in, "Would you even be able to defend yourself if you could see them coming?" This question was met a wing slap from Flash. "Ow!"

Rarity took it upon herself to speak up, pushing Pinkie away and making her roll into the wall. "That's fine darling, you don't have to do anything you don't want to."

Twilight nodded in agreement, "We're just glad you're here."

Pinkie took this moment to roll by again, a bucket of apples now appearing on her back. "We don't have to finish that game. I have another one I know you'll love! Bobbing for apples!" She dropped the fruits into a large bucket filled with water, Fluttershy gulping again at the sight.

"Fluttershy?" she turned to Twilight, "What's wrong?"

Flash spoke up next, "If you're scared you'll end up drowning, we won't let that happen."

"It's not that. It's just that, um..." She looked into the bucket, shivering at the sight of her own reflection. "What happens if, when my head is deep down in the water, some kind of scary monster appears? How would I even hear to know I was under attack?"

"Oh, come on!" Lightning barked before getting nudged by Iron. "What?! She's blowing this way out of proportion!"

Fluttershy shrunk at his statement, only for Pinkie to appear at her side, "Forget that Fluttershy, its time for candy!"

"It is?" Fluttershy watched her roll over to the counter before taking out some paper bags.

"I made candy bags," she dropped them on the counter and they saw each had their faces drawn on with crayon. "Each bag has been made with you in mind, complete with each of your favourite candies!"

Everypony looked inside, Rainbow letting out a laugh before saying, "Awesome!" They each took their bag and began snacking, Flash licking his lips when he saw Pinkie had packed his with turkey delight, his favourite.

The only pony left was Fluttershy, Pinkie pushing the bag up to her. "Here, take it. What are you waiting for?"

Fluttershy shivered as she stared at the bag, "Well, it's just...what if when I'm eating one of these chewy taffies, my mouth becomes glued shut and I can't scream for help?" She looked over at the others, seeing each had stopped their candy munching. Lightning was about to yell again, but karma chose this moment to glue his mouth shut with the taffy he had been eating. Fluttershy put a hoof over her mouth as she continued, "Oh goodness, we've only just started to celebrate Nightmare Night together and I'm already taking all the fun out of it, aren't I? I...I better just leave."

She then started trotting to the door, Pinkie trying to roll after her. "You're not taking out all of the fun."

Rainbow nodded, "You're just taking like, ninety per-" She didn't get to finish as a piece of candy clanged off her helmet, now seeing everypony glaring at her before she whispered out, "...some of it."

"I really wanna do this." Fluttershy muttered at the door. "But there's just so many things that terrify me about tonight. I couldn't possibly predict what might upset me."

Iron moved over to comfort her, Twilight rubbing her chin to think at Fluttershy's statement. That is, till a bulb shined over her head, "Unless...you were the one doing the scaring!"

"Her? Scaring us?" Rainbow replied before bursting out into a fit of laughter. But as she did this, she quickly realized she was alone in her laughter. "Oh. You're actually being serious."

"I'm with Rainbow," Flash spoke up. "How's that supposed to help her enjoy Nightmare Night?"

Twilight shook her head before turning to her friend, "Fluttershy, the thing you hate is being scared, but if you're the one doing the scaring, then..." She rolled her hoof through the air, Fluttershy quickly gasping as she caught on.

"Then I can help you all have fun and I can still be a part of Nightmare Night!" This caused the first genuine smile to appear on her lips of the night, everypony else happy seeing this.

"So, you like that idea?"

Fluttershy nodded in response. "I think I do! And I don't want to get ahead of myself, but I think I have the perfect idea for how I'm gonna do it!"

"Really?" Pinkie asked, practically vibrating with excitement. "Oh, this is so exciting!"

Fluttershy then tried to put on a sinister expression before speaking in a spooky voice, "Meet me at my cottage in an hour!" She slowly trotted backwards out the door, only to them lean back with with a big grin, "Oh, I'm so excited to see everypony soon!" She pulled back as everypony else shared a smile, Lightning finally pulling his mouth open.

"You know, I'm actually curious to see how this turns out."

"I'm sure Fluttershy'll surprise us," Flash added. "Heck, maybe she'll ask for Discord's help."

"Now that sounds scary," Iron grumbled, wanting to follow after her...only for Flash and Lighting to pull him into other games that Fluttershy would be too scared to enjoy.





One hour later...

When they got to the cottage, Twilight tapped the door, the door slowly opening in response. Glancing inside, they saw just a set of table and chairs. "Welcome..." their ears perked up at the sound of their friend's echoing voice, "to Fluttershy's tea party!"

"Of terror?" Flash added.

"Err...sure. Fluttershy's tea party of terror!"

"Seriously?!" Rainbow asked, Twilight shrugging in response.

"It sounds like it's a...scary tea party?" This caused Rainbow to sigh before heading inside.

"Have a seat. Don't be scared of what awaits you." They all took a seat that had their names written on them, blinking at the sight. "Go on. Pass the sugar." Rarity stared at the sugarbowl and picked it up, moving it over to Applejack. "Oh no, there is none!" Applejack turned the bowl over and saw it was empty, "You're a terrible host!"

"Well this is terrifying..." Lightning grumbled.

"I'm sure she's building to something," Rarity whispered, nudging his side.

"Rarity, put your coat on!"

Rarity raised an eyebrow, "Why would I do that?"

"You need to cover up because no one has complimented your dressssssss!"

Lightning turned to smirk at Rarity, "Is this meant to be a slow build-up?"

"Pinkie Pie, look to your left and ask your best friend to pass the cucumber sandwiches!"

"Huh?" Pinkie looked over and spotted the one empty chair at the table, "I can't. There's nopony there."

"That's right. Because she didn't care to show uuuuuup."

"What?"

"A friend who didn't come through. That must scare you to the coooore."

"Not really," Wild replied. "I mean, yeah that's sad, but it's hardly scary."

Springer nodded in agreement, "You're gonna need to do better than that to scare us Shy."

"Quick!" Everypony jumped at the sudden outcry, "Everypony, look behind you!"

They all turned around, now seeing several cardboard cutouts fall down from the ceiling, each one having the image of a pony drawn on them. "Uh...what are those?"

"They're unplanned guests. Your woooorst nightmare. You don't have enough food for them!"

"Err...Shrimp?" Iron took his helmet off, "Maybe you wanna quit while you're-" He didn't get to finish, as something suddenly whacked him before falling onto the table. "Huh?" He turned to see a wind-up cat toy, which was laying on its side moving its legs back and forth.

"Oh, no! There's a tiny kitten that needs a home! But you are over-scheduled right now. You don't have time to help!" They heard Fluttershy pause as if waiting of something. "I said, 'You don't have time to help!'"

Everypony just stared at each other before Flash broke the silence. "Erm...ahhhh."

The rest looked over at the source of Fluttershy's spooky voice, the mare hiding behind a couch, "Why don't you look terrified?" She then stepped out, "You showed up to a party and everypony was extremely disappointed in you. Can you imagine anything more upsetting?"

She shivered at her words, Lightning being the one to answer her. "I can probably imagine about half a dozen worst things than that." He felt his head being hit by two different teapots, one from Rarity and the other in Iron's hoof.

"It was a really good try, darling, but the scares at Nightmare Night are of an entirely different nature."

Twilight nodded as she walked over to Fluttershy, "It was really creative though. I never would have thought of..." She looked around the cottage at all the 'spooky' decorations, "All this."

The mare just let out a sigh in response, "Oh, I'm just not cut out for this." She pointed to the door, "Just...just go on without me."

Rarity shook her head. "Oh, no darling. We couldn't possibly-"

"You have to," Fluttershy interrupted as she went to the door. "This is the night you look forward to all year long."

"We could...stay here?" Rainbow glared at Pinkie's suggestion, only for Fluttershy to shake her head.

"It's okay. I really want you all to have fun. This is how I spend every Nightmare Night." She opened the door, "Please go. I'll be fine." Everypony sighed before heading out the door, the only one staying behind being Iron. "Iron-"

"I was only doing this for you," Iron took off his helmet. "I'm not really a big fan of this stuff anyway. I just...wanted you to try it."

Fluttershy gave him a weak smile as Applejack pushed Pinkie to the door. "Eh, it's funny." The party pony told Applejack, "I actually thought she had an idea for something really scary for a second there."

"She definitely tried her hardest," Applejack replied before Fluttershy closed the door.

"I did try my hardest," the mare muttered as she leaned against the door. Iron was about to go comfort her, but a rapid thumping sound made him turn to see Angel on the table with crossed arms. "Or...maybe not." he looked back at his girlfriend, "I suppose I could have gone with something a bit scarier."

Angel nodded in agreement, Iron smirking as he picked up his helmet again, "Don't think that way shrimp. Do you really want to scare them?" Fluttershy looked away at his question, only to do a tiny nod. "Good. Then let's show them that you can be just as scary, if not the most scary of the group."

Fluttershy stared back at the defender, seeing the confidence on his face. Her eyes narrowed as she replied, "You're right! I've been taking baby steps! I think it's time for grown-up ones!" But as she said this, she hid behind her mane, "But um...I don't suppose you have any ideas on how I could do that?"

The Metal Guardian and rabbit from hell shared a smile, Iron pointing to himself, "First, leave the guys to me. If they end up getting scared, they'd probably try blasting whatever you threw at them."

"Oh...that makes sense. I don't wanna be blasted." She put a hoof to her chin, "I'll just try and scare the girls then. So...what do we do first?"

"First, it's time for a costume change." Fluttershy raised an eyebrow at his statement, only for her eyes to go wide as she heard Iron and Angel's plan.

"Oh...oh my."





Meanwhile...

As the town clock struck ten, everypony watched as the younger ponies were ushered home. It was here that they met up with Spike on their way to the corn maze, the dragon announcing that the CMC were all at the castle enjoying the candy they hadn't offered to Nightmare Moon. Applejack shined a huge grin at the sight of the corn maze, seeing a line at its entrance. "Everypony's linin' up for the corn maze, ya'll! Let's go!" The others followed suit, arriving just as the line was nearing its end.

"Yes! I can't believe we're finally doin' this!" Spike cheered as they walked up and saw a hooded figure at the entrance. The hood soon went down, revealing Granny Smith wearing a dead-eyed horse's head mask.

They all let out a scream, then started laughing as Granny pointed them into the maze, Rainbow now saying, "It's a good thing Fluttershy isn't here, she would never be able to handle this!"

They spent the next few minutes aimlessly wandering, Springer asking Flash, "See anything?" while tuning out his aura to not spoil anything.

"Nothing yet," Flash replied.

"Guess it makes sense," Lightning added. "Give us a few minutes to feel like we know the maze, then-"

"Boooo!" The lot jumped as something leapt out of an indent of the maze, only to step into the light and reveal itself as Big Mac in a mummy costume. "Eeyup."

Everypony laughed at the sight, continuing through the maze as Mac got back into position. They kept walking for another two minutes before something new caught their attention, that being a loud crackling sound coming from all around them. "What...is...that...sound?" Rarity asked, her eyes darting around.

"That would be the sound of something cracking," Flash pointed out with the others rolling their eyes.

"I meant what's making the cracking sound?" Rarity growled as Pinkie rolled in front of her, the sound repeating again under her hooves. "There it is again!"

Pinkie looked down an gulped, "It looks like...bones!" This statement was met with a volley of screams from the group, only for Rainbow to take a closer look at the 'bones'.

"Looks like a bunch of dried sticks painted white to me."

Applejack then nudged her, "Hey! Try to keep up the illusion, would ya?"

They all took the next turn, Lightning, Rarity and Spike at the front as they came upon a kind of corn cave. A few steps in, they found themselves now completely blind. "Looks likes somepony forgot to pay the electric bill," Lightning joked as he and Rarity lit their horns. In doing so, they spotted a bunch of spheres hanging down from the ceilings.

"AAAAHHH!!! They're floating eyeballs!" Rarity screamed before running ahead, the others following her while making their way out of the cave.

As they did this, they began to start laughing, Pinkie cheering as she rolled across the ground, "Whoo! This is so much fun!"

"Fun, fun, fun," Wild's puppets repeated as Pinkie bumped into him.

Quickly helping her up, they continued through the maze, only for Applejack to suddenly feel a whoosh of wind flow behind her. "Huh?" She spun around, but saw nothing in sight. "What was that?"

Spike looked back at her, "Don't you know?"

"Uh...o-of course I do." Applejack replied as she began to backpedal. The group had all gotten into a huddle now, looking around for any sign of something. "It was, uh..."

She didn't get to finish, as in that moment, a bunch of luminous ghosts floated towards them. The groups' eyes shrunk at the sight, seeing no strings or anything that could have a body inside the ghosts. A bluster of wind then flared up the ghosts' bottoms, now showing nopony inside before they charged at the group.

"YAAAAHHHH!" They all screamed before running away, rushing blindly through the maze as the ghosts were in hot pursuit. At one point, they thought they had lost them after looking back, only for the ghosts to reappear in another corner. "AAAAAHHHHH!!!"

"Keep going!" Flash yelled as he, Springer, Lightning and Wild stood at the back of the group. As the girls turned another corner, the boys looked back and saw the ghosts had disappeared again. "Where'd they go?" The boys came to a stop, only for the ground below them to suddenly disappear.

"WHOA!" The four yelped as they fell down and hit a slide like construct, which they quickly began rolling down.

After what felt like an hour of rolling, the four came to a stop and landed in a heap inside the pitch-black tunnel. "Ugh..." Springer moaned as he pushed somepony away, "Get your flank out of my face."

"Sorry..." Flash moaned as he moved around.

Wild grunted as Flash shifted his weight, then tried to move his back hooves...but they wouldn't budge. "What the-" He reached out until he touched the hooves, but he didn't feel the touch. "I can't feel my hooves." He started shaking them around, but felt nothing. "I CAN'T FEEL MY HOOVES!"

This was met by a groan from Lightning as he sat up behind Wild. "That's because they're my legs." He pushed the puppeteer off him, Wild's legs having been stuck under him.

"Sorry..." The four then picked themselves up, Lightning and Wild both banging their heads on what appeared to be a low ceiling.

"Where are we?" Springer asked, only for Flash to light his hoof with his Sacred Light. It was here they saw it was some kind of tunnel, but as they looked up, they also saw that the slide opening was gone.

"Ooookay, this probably wasn't part of the maze. Be ready." Flash added as they started to trot down the tunnel, only to soon find themselves in a large chamber that had several other tunnel entrances.

"What now?" Wild asked as a whistling sound whizzed into the chamber. The four all got into guarding positions, their eyes darting around as they looked the chamber over, "What...was...that?!"

Lightning gulped, "That was...obviously the wind. Must be blowing in through an entrance and rocketing through the tunnels."

"That makes sense," Wild added, only for the ground to start shaking.

"Whoa!" Springer yelped as he almost lost his balance, "What was that?!" The others didn't have a chance to come up with an excuse as another shake occurred, this one even stronger than the last. This was followed by another shake, then another.

"Are those...hoofsteps?" The rhythmic stomping grew closer now, the four turning to the tunnel it sounded like it was coming from. And as they stared, a green mist began to flow out, now filling the chamber.

Flash pulled off his ghost costume while Springer removed his hoodie and took his proper battle form, the green mist now taking semi-humanoid shape before large black eyes opened up and stared down at them. "GET IT!" Flash launched a burst of his Sacred Light, only for the light to fly right through the creature. "What the-"

"Aura Force!" Springer shot an aura laser, the attack flying through the creature as well.

"Static Spear!" Lightning launched the electric javelin while Wild fired a burst of magic, both flying right through the creature and hitting the back wall. "What the-what is this thing made out of?!" Lightning didn't get his answer, as at that moment, the creature began to charge, making Flash yell out only one thing.

"Run away!" They spun around and ran down the opposite tunnel, the creature hot on their tails. The four ran as fast as they could, going through every bend and turn they came across. But as they glanced back, the monster remained close behind. "Keep going!"

It was here that they reached an upward-sloping tunnel, spotting moonlight peak out from above. "Come on!" They ran up it and out of the cave, right in front of another entrance that had echoing screams filling it. And as they flew out, Spike and the girls ran out with similar looks of terror.

"Flash!" Twilight screamed as she ran up and hid behind him, Pinkie doing the same with Wild while Rarity jumped behind Lightning and Spike behind Springer.

"Something's in there!" The dragon yelled as he pointed at the cave they had run out of.

"There's something in there too!" Springer did the same with their cave, only to then hear another voice echo through the night.

That voice came in the form of a sinister laugh, which made them all look up at the source. There, they saw a something hanging upside down from a tree, the figure spreading a pair of bat-shaped wings before taking to the skies. The defenders all prepared for battle, only to suddenly feel the earth under them sink, consuming them until they were knee-deep. "What the-" They all started trying to pull themselves free, but couldn't break the ground's hold. It was at this moment that the figure dive-bombed the group, ripping off Spike's fake head before flying back up.

Screams of terror followed this, the group all huddling together around the trapped defenders as they shook. But as they this did...a new voice spoke up, "Oh my!" This statement made them all look back up, watching as the thestral flew down and landed. Doing so allowed them all to get a better look at her as she said, "I'm so, so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

"Fluttershy?" Applejack gasped, Rainbow's jaw dropping to the ground in shock.

"It was you the whole time?!" Fluttershy did a small nod in response. "I...I can't believe it!"

Rarity just stared at her with a gaping mouth, "That...was..."

"THE BEST THING EVER!" Pinkie screamed, Wild nodding in agreement.

"That was totally WILD!"

"Wild! Wild! Wild!"

"It wasn't just her," they all turned to the cave, now seeing Iron and Grand walking, the older pony smirking as he tapped the ground with his Celestic Gear. The ground instantly let go of the other defenders, letting them stand back up.

"That was totally nuts," Flash added.

"Heck yeah it was!" Springer cheered.

"It was way more terrifying than the most terrifying thing I could have thought of!" Rainbow continued.

"Ya'll out-nightmared the scariest part of the corn maze!" Applejack finished.

"How did you do all this?!" Twilight asked next.

Fluttershy giggled as she pulled the fake bat-wings off of herself, "After you left, I realized that I wasn't ready to give up on Nightmare Night. So I asked Granny Smith if I could try to make the maze even scarier for my friends."

"You came up with all of this?" Rainbow asked, causing Fluttershy to blush.

"I had some help." The ghosts from before floated into the area, the sheets flying off to reveal a bunch of birds beneath them. "Angel was the scary figure that kept scurrying after you in the maze," The bunny in question leapt onto her head and did a bow. Fluttershy then pointed at the spider on her side, "Fuzzy Legs made the sticky wall that made it difficult for you to see and move." It was then that a large monster stomped out of the cave, making everypony get into battle positions. "And, of course, Harry was the especially scary monster." The monster reached up and pulled its head off, revealing the friendly bear they all knew.

"What about us?" Flash asked, the others nodding as Iron and Grand chuckled.

"Oh, that was us."

Grand nodded in agreement, "Iron came over and asked if I could lend a hoof scaring the fur off you kids. He asked me to construct this tunnel system and to trap you in it."

"That makes sense..." Lightning grumbled. "But what about that monster that attacked us?"

Iron laughed before taking out some green powder, "You mean this monster?" He blew on the powder, which puffed into the shape of the earlier monster. It just stood there for a minute, only to then fade away. "Gift from Zecora."

"Wow!" The Princess of Friendship started clapping, "That was incredible! I would have never guessed!"

Lightning crossed his hooves, "I've gotta admit, you really surprised me. Who knew you had it in ya."

"You have to do this every year!" Pinkie cheered, everypony else agreeing wholeheartedly.

Iron then patted Fluttershy's back, proud she managed to find a way to enjoy the holiday with the others. But when he looked at her face, he saw nothing but...doubt. And as he was about to ask why, she spoke up, "We could celebrate Nightmare Night together every year. But the truth is..." she started removing the rest of her costume. "I really don't want to."

This statement made everypony gasp, Pinkie asking, "You don't?!"

"But you've done it!" Rarity added, "You found a way that we can all have a fabulous time together."

"Yes...but I've also realized something. You all may love Nightmare Night and I may be good at being a part of it, but it's no fun for me to see my friends feel like they're in danger, even if I know they're not. I...I really don't like it. It's just not my cup of tea."

Pinkie took this moment to roll up to her, flashlight in hoof. "Spoooooooooky tea?"

"No," Fluttershy turned to light off. "Just regular tea." She pushed Pinkie back over to the others, only to shake her head, "We do lots of fun things together, but I'm afraid this just isn't gonna be one of them. Actually, I'm not afraid. I'm perfectly fine with it."

"Then we are, too." Twilight instantly replied, the group of friends surrounding the pegasus before giving her a hug. It was here that Barry came up and pulled them into a tight bearhug, which lasted a good few seconds as some of them started turning blue from no air.

"What about you?" Flash asked Iron, "You wanted Fluttershy to enjoy Nightmare Night more than anypony."

"I wanted her to give it a try," He pointed out. "She has, and has decided she doesn't like it. That's all I wanted. Besides, I know something better to do tonight."





A little later...

Once everypony had finished asking about each detail of Fluttershy's plan, the group all split up to enjoy the rest of the night their own way. This included Fluttershy and Iron, who had returned to her house with the animals to enjoy Nightmare Night their way.

They were currently under Fluttershy's bed, the pegasus leaning against Iron as she read a book aloud for everypony. "I don't know why I doubted myself for a second," she said between chapters. "Now this is what I call a perfect Nightmare Night."

"You said it," Iron agreed as he laid back, the two cuddling as the moon continued to shine over the night.