As The School bell rang, telling all of the little Fillies and Colts, that class was over and their Nightmare Night had begun. Miss Cheerilee closed her planner and looked out about her class.
“Well that’s the day. and sense it’s Nightmare Night, I have a treat for you.” Miss Cheerilee smiled. “No Homework or test this week.”
Kohaku cheered and whooped about along with his other classmates. He hated going to school, he never understood why his mama would make him go. He would have been glad to have been homeschooled like he was with his old family. But the advantage was that he got to spend more time with his girlfriend. He just had to keep his eyes on the teacher rather than her.
“Okay my little ponies, you all have a great time tonight. and please be safe,” Miss Cheerilee said in her pleasant voice. “And Kohaku, please use the door. No wait!!”
Kohaku just smirked and leaped out the window, grabbing the flag pole and swinging himself over to the jungle gym.
“That boy is going to give me a heart attack one day.” Cheerilee moaned, rubbing her hooves on either side of her temples.
Pearl only sighed in exasperation as she watched Kohaku jump out the window. “Boys,” she grumbled as she and the rest of the class left the normal way. She was as excited for Nightmare Night as any filly or colt her age would be of course.
Come to think of it, she might’ve been even more excited than normal. This would be her first holiday since moving to Ponyville a few months earlier.
And not only that, as she zoomed home to drop off her things before making a beeline for Carousel Boutique, she even had an invitation to a special party being held for a select few outside the small town.
How often did you get one of those? Not very, and with mom and dad out for the evening, Pearl could take all the time she wanted at the party. The thought made her giggle as flew toward the Boutique
Outside Kohaku hung upside down from the top bar of the jungle gym by his three tails. swinging back and forth as he watched the others dash out readying for a day of trick or treating.
“Hey Kohaku, you want to join us this year?” Rumble asked as his friends came up to the fox. Like them, Kohaku always was a bit of a troublemaker. “Or are you joining the CMC’s on their candy run.”
“Actually I have an invite to a special party.” Kohaku flipped himself about and with a backward somersault landed in front of the little gang. Kohaku didn’t mind them, he just didn’t care for their kind of pranking.
“Oh like that so-called Haunted Hotel you went to last year?” Rumble smirked. “Funny how nobody could ever find it again.”
“Oh it was there. And it was a blast. But no, this year it's in a graveyard.” Kohaku grinned wide. “And unlike you, my adventures don’t involve being dragged home to my big brother by the town guards. You could at least be a little more inventive with your pranks. I mean egging houses that don’t give you enough candy. oh please. I’ve seen more imagination in Miss Cheerilee’s end of week tests.” With a snap of his paw fingers a bright green flare of foxfire erupted in front of Rumble’s eyes.
“Now if you excuse me, I have to see my girl and pick up my costume. How's your girl… Oh right, you don’t have one. laters.” Kohaku said laughing
Walking about through the town he watched everypony getting themselves ready for the night. New games being set up all over. He watched as his ‘neechan Applejack set up the apple bob and apple toss games. Judging the size of it he thought she expected a large turnout. Giving her a wave, he zipped about toward the Carousel. A smirk crossed his lips as he saw a familiar red headed pegasus land in front of his destination.
“Hey Pearl!” Kohaku shouted out as he walked forward. “Wouldn’t have guessed to see you here. Most ponies have their costume already.”
“Yeah well mine’s taking a little longer,” Pearl said rather stiffly, quirking her eyes at the boy. “So what brings you here.”
“Oh don’t be that way. I’m not going to cause trouble or anything.” Kohaku reared back a little and held up his two front paws peacefully. “I’m just here picking up my costume. Sweetie Belle said it would be ready today. And i’m kinda invited to dinner too.” a light chuckle escaped his lips as he sat down and put his two front paws on the ground in front of him. “This will be your first holiday since moving here. Am I right?”
Kohaku smiled as Pearl simply nodded. “Well you're in for a treat, Ponyville has the best holidays in all of Equestria. I still remember my first holiday here, Hearth’s Warming. I hope you enjoy it, as for myself. after I’m suited up and fully fed, I’ll be off to a special holiday party.”
With a swift snap of his fingers, a small flicker of emerald foxfire erupted upward producing an identical invite that pearl had on her. “I got one of these last year. it was wild, a full Haunted Hotel. This year it’s at a graveyard. I wonder if I’ll see some zombies.”
“Wait? You got one of those too!” Pearl leaped up and ran up and snatched it from his paw. Great, I was hoping to get away from his antics tonight. Pearl thought as she observed Kohaku chuckle as he sat down on the ground. Examining it over it was indeed Identical to hers. The only difference was that his had a series of puzzles on it. “what’s the deal with all the puzzles on this thing. Mine just has a map.”
“Not sure, my last year's invite had the same thing.” Kohaku said, taking it back and putting it into his vest pocket. “I don’t mind, I enjoy puzzles and other such things.”
Pearl nodded slowly. She had often seen him working on puzzles during recess at school. It was the one time he wasn’t overly annoying others with his antics. “Do you think others from our school get these?”
“Nope, I doubt they would. I’m not sure what makes us so special.” Stretching out like a cat he scratched a bit at his neck with his front left paw.
“You said you were getting your costume, what are you going as?” Pearl watched him a bit. seeing those black claws for a brief moment made the fur on the back of her neck stand up. “What does Sweetie Belle see in you?” she said under her breath. She thought the pair was as odd as you could get. A poor wild child with a girl from a rich family
“Well, just to name a few things.” Kohaku smirked as he looked at Pearl. a chuckle crossed his lips as her eyes widened. “I have large, soft and dexterous paws that are perfect for massages. Three very long and plush tails and a soft furred body that can keep her warmer then any down comforter. not to mention a very skilled tongue just ment for…” he would have continued but pearls hoof pushed against his mouth.
“Oh for the love of Celestia stop. I didn’t need to know all that!” Pearl cried out while shivering from the thought. “How did you hear me anyway.”
Pushing away her hoof he grinned “Fox ears,” said as he wiggled his ears back and forth. “And I was just going to say Kissing.”
Groaning, she moved toward the boutique. “I know… let just get our costumes and get going.”
“Alright. lead the way my dear.” Kohaku just made a small bow and jestrued to the door. “Mama always said it’s polight for the lady to go first. Come to think of it, Sweetie Belle always says the same thing.”
As much as Pearl wanted to see her costume in all its glory, she was also polite enough to knock first.
“Come in.” The lovely voice of Rarity replied. Pearl was quick to push the door open and rush inside with Kohaku slowly following behind her. In her excitement though, she made sure to wipe her hooves first.
As he walked in, Kohaku’s paws ignited in thick emerald flames which vanished as they touched the showroom floors. He knew what a stickler Rarity was for cleanliness and wasn’t about to get on her bad side by leaving so much as a speck of dust on his paws.
Rarity smiled as she watched the pair. “Thank you, darling. I just wish another Pegasus,” Rainbow Dash, she grumbled just loud enough that Pearl heard her. “Or a certain apple farmer I know, was nice enough to do that.”
Pearl couldn’t help but roll her eyes. She might not have known Rainbow as well as Scootaloo did. But some of her habits were rather well known around Ponyville. She often wondered if Kohaku took lessons from Rainbow Dash on how to be so annoying.
Rarity turned her head and looked at Kohaku who was sitting by the door with a smile on his face. She never could tell what was behind those liquid amber eyes but she did know what her sister saw in him. “Sweetie Belle isn’t here just yet Kohaku, But your costume is upstairs in her room.”
Faster than he could move Rarity blocked his path and looked down at him. “You’ll see it later, she wants you to model it for her.” A raise of her hoof quickly silenced the boy before he spoke. “And yes I did check it over, it’s not quite my quality, but passable I’m sure you’ll enjoy it. Now go upstairs and wash up, dinner is in an hour. Sweetie Belle made something special for you.”
“What?” Rarity couldn’t help but suppress a giggle at watching Kohaku cringe a bit. “Sweetie Belle made something for me? Sweetie Belle, a kitchen and food prep… no good can come from that.”
“Don’t worry, I was guiding her every step of the way. She didn’t want to mess it up.” Rarity placed a hoof on the boy’s shoulders as he let out a sigh of relief. “I’m perfectly sure it’s edible, although neither of us will dare try it. She said it’s your favorite snack.”
Gasping loudly, Kohaku’s eyes went wide while licking his lips. “She made me honey roasted crickets?! OH wow I can’t wait to dig into them.” Before Rarity could answer, Kohaku had leaped upward and bounced off the mare’s back with all the skill of a feline and the lightness of a feather before heading upstairs.
“So?” Pearl asked, almost hopping in place once Rarity had finished with Kohaku.
Rarity rolled her eyes as she went to get the costume. “Yes, Pearl, it’s ready. I admit that, for all I know of this, I probably wouldn’t have gotten this far without your help.”
Pearl blushed at the praise. She was no expert on any of this, not by a long shot. But she liked to think she knew something.
While Rarity had done most of the work on the costume, Pearl had been more than happy to help when and where she could. She had been able to spot several mistakes that Rarity, by herself, might have missed.
Far from being upset, Rarity had been more than happy to take the pointers and criticism. “Nopony ever went far in this business without taking some,” is how the unicorn had explained at one point.
Rarity returned a moment later, cradling Pearl’s costume in her magic. “I must admit, Pearl. I asked Princess Celestia and Princess Luna for their input as well.”
Pearl was confused. “I mean, I don’t have anything against them, but why?”
Rarity shook her head. “To be fair, they are two of the few ponies who have actually met Tiamat face to face. Or face to faces, as it were. They were actually really impressed with how accurate you had her pictured. Down to things that even they hadn’t noticed before.”
Pearl puffed out her chest in pride at that. That made her feel ten feet tall. Her excitement rose even more as she watched Rarity unfurl her costume with her magic. It looked even better than she had hoped.
Rarity smiled as she saw the filly’s wide eye look. “Now if you don’t mind, Pearl. We can do your final fitting. I know we just did this a few days ago. But it never hurts to do it again just to be sure. And this will be your first time fully wearing it. Now we’ll know if anything needs to be adjusted.”
Pearl still found it all a bit odd, but did as she was told, as rarity unfolded the costume so Pearl could slip into it.
Carefully, so as not to rip or tear anything, Pearl slipped her hooves into the costume’s feet, First the front, and then the back. Pulling her wings close, Pearl relaxed as much as possible as Rarity closed the opening behind her, sealing her into her costume.
With a little effort, Pearl worked her head up into the neck of the red head, and with a little help, she was able to push her face out of the hole designed for it. Wiggling, she was able to unfurl her wings, the appendages slipping comfortable into the customer's own wings.
Turning around trying to get a good look at herself, Pearl almost tripped over her own tail. How dragons did this, she’d never know. The other heads of the costume bounced around as she did a full circle.
Rarity’s smile grew as she watched. “So? How does it feel? Not too tight or anything?”
Pearl shook her head as she spread her wings. “It feels great. Almost like a second skin.”
Rarity nodded as she took a much closer look at the costume. Everything seemed to be in order. And maybe it was just a trick of the light, but the costume almost looked alive now that Pearl was wearing it.
Rarity smiled as she stepped away. “If you’re happy with it, Pearl. Then I am more than happy to officially give it to you.” Her brows rose as a thought occurred to her. “What do you plan to do tonight? I hear that there’s something special going on that only a few select are going to?”
Pearl nodded. “Yeah. I got an invite to that. No idea why I would though. Mom and dad are out for the night, so I’m on my own. So I’m planning to get as much candy as I can, and then go to whatever this special thing is.” Her smile grew even wider as something came to mind. “I really wanna show this to Princess Twilight and Spike, I hope they like it.”
Rarity chuckled as she helped Pearl out of the costume before leading the filly toward the door.
“Hey Pearl, it looked good on you.” Kohaku said from the stairway, tossing a paw full of crickets into his mouth. “See you at the party.”
Pearl smiled as she looked back at Kohaku, trying not to look sick at what he was eating. “Thanks. I’ll see you there,” and was gone.
Maybe it was just too much work recently. But Rarity swore that Pearl’s costume was glaring at her as she disappeared.
Moving next to Rarity he looked up at her worried face. “you saw it too huh? it sent shivers down my spine.” Before he could hear Rarity reply Kohaku turned around and walked back upstairs, his fear and dislike of dragons was very well known throughout ponyville.
Twilight was looking over the balcony of her castle. It was Nightmare Night once again, one of her favorite holidays, and Princess Celestia had traded over to Princess Luna for the night a little while earlier.
From this high up, Twilight could already see some foals out and about, hoping to get the best pick of the candy. A gift the princess was more than happy to hand out.
And was it too much to ask for that nothing strange or bad happened tonight? As much as she might roll her eyes and try to put up with him, Twilight also knew that Book Knight had a point about what could go wrong tonight.
Not that she would ever tell him that of course. She would never hear the end of it. Twilight also trusted Kirouac to keep him out of too much trouble.
But if the alicorn was being really honest with herself, there was one pony she really wanted to see tonight and her costume.
While she wouldn’t call herself and Pearl the best of friends, the two were friends for sure. The filly’s love of reading was a match for Twilight’s own, and with how much Pearl loved dragons, she and Spike got along great.
It had been Spike who had really been the catalyst for the filly’s costume choice. As he had said to the two of them, all dragons instinctively knew that face.
“I was raised by ponies. But I’d know the Mother of All Dragons blindfolded. It’s in my blood. I couldn’t resist it even if I wanted to,” is how he’d said it to them.
It was also Spike that had really been the one to convince Pearl that Rarity would be ideal to help make the costume. He was right, as it turned out.
Rarity had already said the costume was perfect and fit Pearl to a T. But there had been something else too. Something that had Twilight worried.
“I swore that the costume’s heads were glaring at me as she left this afternoon,” Rarity had said.
Twilight had shaken her head. “You’ve been working on all of them for a while. Maybe you were just seeing things? Or maybe it was a lack of sleep?”
Rarity had shaken her head. “Twilight. Kohaku said he saw the same thing. One is dumb luck or I’m seeing things. Two is not either of those.”
Twilight could not argue that. Maybe it was nothing. But something told her that it wouldn’t be that easy. It never was, especially if Kohaku had seen the same thing. She knew his fear and dislike of all dragons better than anypony. He would never joke about something like that.
Shaking her head, Twilight pushed the thought aside. She would look into it later, but right now, it was time to stop staying up here and go down and enjoy the fun.
And even as she turned away from the balcony’s edge, she spotted a rather distinctive costumed pony make her way to the castle’s front door. Perfect timing, she thought with a giggle, as she teleported down to the front lobby to greet the filly.
“Hello, my faithful student.” Twilight said with a giggle. One that Pearl was happy to share.
The filly still wasn’t sure how it had happened. Friendship wasn’t a problem for her, and Pegasus magic was something that Pearl knew by instinct. While she may not have been Twilight’s student in the same sense as Starlight Glimmer, Pearl was more than happy to be one.
Pearl still didn’t know what she would do with her life (heck, she didn’t even have her cutie mark yet), but Twilight was more than happy to help teach her and help her learn as much as she wanted to. Their shared love of reading more than helped.
Pearl did a quick circle. “So? how do I look?”
Twilight chuckled. “It looks wonderful, Pearl. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was talking with the real deal.”
Pearl’s eyes iit up as she grinned, before looking around. “Where’s Spike? I wanted to show him too.”
Twilight shook her head. “He’s around town somewhere, helping Starlight. This is her first Nightmare Night in Ponyville after all.”
Pearl poked the ground with a hoof. “Darn. Maybe I’ll see him before I head for that party I got the invite to.”
Twilight frowned slightly. “Pearl, listen. I won’t stop you from going to it. But promise me you’ll be safe?”
Pearl rolled her eyes. “Twilight.”
The princess shook her head as she placed a hoof on the filly’s shoulder. “No buts, Pearl. I promised your parents I would look out for you when I made you my student. Even if I can’t go like you, I don’t want to have to tell them something happened to you.”
The two locked eyes for a moment, before Pearl sighed. For all she grumbled, she trusted Twilight to know what she was talking about, and she trusted her to not let anything happen to her. “Fine. I promise I won’t do anything dumb or dangerous.”
Twilight pulled her into a hug, which was rather hard with Pearl’s costume. “That’s all I ask for. And I expect lots of candy too,” she giggled before shooing her on. “Now go on! Don’t spend all night with little old me. Go have fun, and I’ll see you later.”
Pearl giggled as she rejoined the festivities. “You don’t have to tell me twice,’ she shouted back before she was lost in the crowd.
Twilight rubbed her eyes, trying to hold onto what she had seen But that couldn’t be right. One of the costume’s heads had turned around and looked directly at her before Peal was out of sight.
Kohaku had spent the remainder of the daylight hours at the Carousel Boutique with his girlfriend. Fitting himself and modeling his costume for her. He even enjoyed a dinner prepared by Rarity, but once the sun had fully set, Kohaku felt himself grow more alive then he ever had and left for the party.
The full moon was like a mother to him, it’s brilliant silver made his amber markings shimmer brightly. Running about he yelped out in joy under it’s glow. He took many advantages to playfully play a prank or two on younger colts and fillies. nothing too serious, just giving them a fright by changing rubber spiders and snakes into real ones.
“Come back here you villain!” Kohaku lifted his head and smirked. In front of him had to be the ugliest alicorn he had ever seen dressed up as All-Might dashing toward him at full gallop. “You won’t escape for I AM HERE!!!”
The young Naruto dressed fox grinned from ear to ear. lowering his body slightly, he dashed forward to meet this opponent head on.
Just as he was in hoof range of All-Might, Kohaku leaped up. pushed all four paws against this ‘hero’s head and backward summersaulted. While he flipped in the air he crossed his front paws in the shape of a cross and yelled out “Shadowclone Jutsu!!”
What landed in front of the Kirouac All-Might was not one, but three identical Naruto Kohaku’s.
“You want us, come get us Hero!” they all said in unison and dashed off in different directions, laughing.
The gigantic blue half dragon gave chase after one of the trio, taking a lucky guess as to which was the real one. Even after a lengthy chase, he couldn’t catch him due to how worn out he was..
After escaping All-Might, Kohaku dashed toward the end of town. Taking out his invitation, which was tucked next to his cardboard kunai knives and throwing stars. Leaning up against an old oak he went over it again and again trying to work out the clues to lead him to his new Nightmare Night adventure.
Kirouac was breathing heavily as he sat down, trying to rest for a minute. “How the heck does Book do this?”
“Not as easy as it looks, is it?” Kirouac turned around to see Book sitting behind him, looking well rested. “You have to be on call 24/7, keep track of an entire town, handle all kinds of petty complaints, and all of the paperwork tossed on top of that makes for a wonderful time.”
“Don’t worry about that one, he’s harmless. He likes to play pranks on unsuspecting ponies and dares us to catch him. I’ll speak to his mother later, but I doubt anything will come of it. It’s Nightmare Night, the one night of the year she gives him free reign.”
“I see that you are having fun.” Kirouac said while looking at Book with a sense of discouragement.
“I let the mayor know what Twilight did, had all of my stationary forwarded to her, went to Canterlot for a week, learning that she can’t discharge me without a good reason, and could only enforce the break. So I spent this last week working on a new passion project of mine. I wish I had more time, I would have been able to put more little accessories on my costume.” Book said as he held up a cup of coffee. “How about you? How are you handling this?”
“Oh… and what is your “evil” plan?” Kirouac asked, like Book was the hero Slayer.
“Watch you burn?” Book asked with a chuckle before sitting up. “Actually, I am finding some intel that may help us understand last year, and I figure somebody has to be there.”
“well..” Kirouac got up and started to flex. “As The Number One Hero, I Shell, Stop There Evil Dudes And Bring Peace Back To PonyVille!” He said like he was All-Might.
Book rolled his eyes at the sight of him doing this. “Good point. I’ll go too. Now listen very carefully as I try to explain this.”
Kirouac nodded. “Yes!”
“Some ponies are talking about a party in a cemetery west of town. Now, I will admit that I have heard and even participated in a party in a place like that, but I wanted to be able to know what I was looking at when the party happens, and who in this town would be intrigued by such an idea. Guess what I found?” Book asked as he leaned back in his seat.
“What… their decorations are not up to code?” Kirouac asked. “They have candy with peanuts in them?”
“Nothing. No party organizer, no reason why ponies would go there instead of the one in town, and no cemetery.” Book explained with a large grin. “Now, I don’t know what happened last year, but maybe this can tell us what’s going on, and maybe we can stop it.”
Kirouac raised an eyebrow to this. “What do you have in mind?”
“Here’s my idea. Reporting this now would cause mass panic, speculation, and will get us both in trouble since I am not supposed to be working, and you weren’t supposed to ask me for any help. So, why don’t we learn what’s going on in there first hoof? If there is somepony running this, we take them down. If it’s an artifact, we secure it or destroy it. Either way, it can give answers that we need desperately.” Book offered, looking very serious about being there.
“What about Twilight?” Kirouac asked. “And… what she asks for a check up on you?”
Book chuckled. “I didn’t lie two weeks ago when I said that I was going to work on my costume. If she asks, I have plans to go to a party. If something happens, it’s my duty to respond to an incident that needs my immediate response. Celestia made that clear the last few times the guards were caught with their pants down. Now, are you in or out?” Book asked as he looked at Kirouac with a confident smile, like he knew that he was holding the better hand.
Kirouac knew that Book wouldn’t let this go, so at the least he could keep an eye on him. “Ok, let’s do this.”
“Good. You go in with the crowd, and I will be watching from a distance.” Book explained as he got up. “We both must play to our strengths after all.”
“Yes, cause I’m a master at blending in.” Kirouac said before walking ahead of Book.
“You let me worry about being stealthy.”
“What do you…” Kirouac was shocked when he turned around to see no trace of Book. Only a map on the table he was at that pointed to where the party was.
Kirouac sniffed the air before taking the map and walking off.
“Like, Zoinks Light HeartDoo.” Flash said while talking like Shaggy. “There like.. so much candy here!” He said as they were walking down the streets in their new costume.
Light Heart chuckled as he held up his box of homemade Scooby snacks. “Ro re ran rave rese ror rater?” He asked, doing his best Scooby impression.
“I don’t know.. if you save them, they may be taken by the two little monsters that sleep in the room next to mine.” Flash said before gulping and acting like he was scared.
“Ront rorry! I’ll eat rem ry re end of re right.” Light promised him, occasionally pausing to think of how to phrase his words.
“Well, save some for me.” Flash said as they were trying to decide what candy to bring to the party. “I know they are for our costume, but I want to try out these snacks you made.”
“Alright, but out of character, how do we get to the party again?” Light asked, wondering how to get to this place outside of town.
“Um… we just go outside of town… away from the everfree of course… and it will… be obvious.” Flash said, realizing that he didn’t remember to ask for directions.
“Fair enough.” Light said as he bought a bag of chocolate for the party. “As long as you know where we are going.”
“Yes.. don’t worry, I know they way.” Flash said before walking ahead. “I just hope I don’t need to keep you on a leash.” He said before laughing.
“Funny.” Light said as he followed after Flash.
Flash started to walk ahead hoping to find somepony that was going and knew the way. He glanced up to see some strange orange green thing near the trees. “What the…?”
A small fire burned in Kohaku’s paws, in it he watched as the paper burned and swirled about.
“I should have known it would be there,” Kohaku said to himself. Having worked out the clue to the location of the Halloween party. “Silly of me to not think of it first. But why use that old burned out lot and not a real cemetery? Oh well I guess I’ll find out when I get there.” Once his fire burned out he dashed outward running at full speed toward the Everfree Forest.
While running at full speed he amused himself by performing acrobatic maneuvers. working to get himself in character for the party. Half way there found himself dashing toward somepony walking an equally large canine.
Skidding to a full stop he tripped over his own tail and landed directly in front of the pair. Shaking his head he looked up and gulped loudly. slowly pushing his way backwards muttering aloud as he found himself face to face with the dog of the group.
“good doggie, good doggie… just my luck, I ran into a dog twice my size.” his whole body trembling as he felt a cold sweat down his spine as he stared up at Light. I think next time I’ll spend Nightmare Night under oneechan’s bed. She always does have a cozy hiding spot there this day.
“Don’t worry, he wouldn’t bite you.” ShaggyTruth said. “That is.. if you show him the way to the party!” He asked before Laughing.
“Rah, I’m Rot a Rad Rog.” Light-do said with a wag of his tail
“Do you know that way?” ShaggyTruth said. “My brother!”
Nodding slowly Kohaku sat down and took several deep breaths. turning his eyes to the shaggy looking pony that was leading the dog. “Okay, I’ll take your word for it. so I take it you’re both heading there too. I only just worked out the clues on the invitation. they were rather tricky but thankfully not too difficult.” lifting one of his three tails he pointed in the opposite direction the pair were walking in. “well if you're going, you were going in the wrong direction. the party is actually that way. toward the everfree forest in an abandoned lot made up to look like a cemetery.”
“So.. we didn’t know the way!?” ShaggyTruth said before laughing.
“If you were headed the opposite way, then no” Kohaku chuckled as he pulled out his invite. “Didn’t you solve the puzzle on your invite? once you do it tells you the location.”
ShaggyTruth looked at Kohaku’s invitation. “No, ours just said ‘Go to the fake Cemetery!’.” He explained.
Sitting down, Kohaku stretched out a little. “Oh, that does seem a little generic though.” Shrugging he put his invite back in his kunai pouch and looked up at the pair. “But that might have been intentional for adults who knows.”
“I suppose so.” ShaggyTruth said.
Sighing softly Kohaku took the lead and started off toward the forest. “Well follow me, I’d hate for you two might get lost if you go on your own.” He didn’t wait for the pair to answer and just kept moving forward. Smirking a little as he heard the sounds of their hooves behind him.
Kirouac was walking towards his destination, but was stopped by the strangest of sites. “Now what do you have here?” He asked the little pegasus. “I didn’t know that Tiamat had a daughter. Especially a little cute one.”
Pearl blushed. “Hey.. I’m not cute, I’m toff, Raww!!” She said, trying to look as intimidating as she could
“Oh no..” Kirouac said, acting like he was scared by shaking in place. “Please, Dragon Queen Tiamat, forgive my defiance of our dragon nature and my father’s as well.” He said before bowing to her.
Pearl laughed. “So who, and what, are you supposed to be?”
“ohh” Kirouac gets on his back hoofs. “I Am, All-Might! The Greatest Hero Ever!” He said in a booming voice while posing.
“So are you a dragon or a pony? And also how do you make your claws move like that?” Pearl asked.
“I am actually both.” Kirouac explained.
Pearl gave him a flat look. “I don’t believe you.”
Kirouac smirked before getting back on his back hoofs, unfurling his wings and then breathing some fire out into the air, toward the sky.
Pearl seemed to get it then. “You’re a half dragon? I didn’t even think a pony and dragon could do that. I thought they were just a myth.”
“Well you know.” Kirouac placed one of his claws on her shoulder. “When a mommy pony and a daddy dragon love each other very much…” He started to say.
Pearl rolled her eyes. “I already got the birds and the bees speech big guy.”
“Good, because I don’t want to have to go on,” Kirouac said with relief
Pearl sighed. “Maybe I should’ve just stayed with Twilight. Less crazy ponies with her.”
“Oh you know the princess!?” Kirouac asked. “Let me guess.. Pearl?” He asked her.
She nodded proudly, standing at her full height. Which wasn’t much as it turned out. “The one and only. I don’t know if you could call me her personal student or not. Not like Starlight is. But she took me under her wing not long after I moved to Ponyville. And I haven’t regretted it since.”
“Yes, and by the way she’s been talking about you and how much you like dragons, You might even have a crush on her #1 Assistant?”
Pearl tried not to gag at the thought. “Me? Have a crush on Spike? I like him and we’re great friends. But I am way too young to be thinking about mushy stuff like that.”
“Yes, yes, but I can give you some pointers about half-dragon kids when you two finally get married.” Kirouac offered before laughing.
Pearl rolled her eyes. “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. Why are you out here anyway? Are you going to the same party I am?”
“I would hope so.” Kirouac said. “If not… why are you here, and should I take you home?”
Pearl shook her head. “I’m going to whatever this special party is all about. Why I was invited, I don’t know. And I can take care of myself. Growing up on the docks of Fillydelphia, you either learned to fend for yourself. Or you were toast.”
“mhmhm..” Kirouac nodded before a scary sound was heard from the darkness.
Pearl gulped, and dropped her tough girl facade, showing the filly underneath.
“How about we go to the party together, so we can protect each other.” Kirouac suggested.
Pearl nodded. “Good idea.”
“How about you stay on my back.” Kirouac asked her before his horn started to glow and levertated her onto his back. “You can call me your steed!” He said before taking off in the direction where the invitation said the party was at.
It might have just been the wind. But Kirouac swore that one of Pearl’s heads hissed at him at one point.
“Raggy? Where are we?” Light asked as they were nervously following the young boy who was leading him.
“Zoinks, like we are in a forest Light HeartDoo!” ShaggyTruth said.
“You all are really dedicated to these roles, aren’t you?” Kohaku said while sounding a little annoyed.
“Like.. what’s the point of putting the costum on if you aren’t going to play around with it?” ShaggyTruth asked.
“Yeah, it takes away the fun if you realize that I am a teddy bear alicorn.” Light said as he pointed out his horn and wings.
Kohaku paused and looked Light Heart over. “Oh.. umm… sorry.” He said before bowing his head down to Light slightly.
Light rolled his eyes as he used his magic to lift the kid up. “Not royalty. Just a toymaker.”
Kohaku paused and looked around before asking. “Wait… how does that work? I thought all the Alicorns around here were Royalty.”
“Do you really think that being an alicorn is an instant promotion to a crown? There are peace negotiations, mountains of paperwork, having to be everywhere at once, and I don’t fit any of that criteria.” Light explained with a sigh. “I’m happy being down here on the ground floor. It’s a lot less pressure.”
“No, I know all that. Father used to take me out to the Alicorn Isles all the time when I was younger. I just didn’t think there were anymore around outside of the usurpers of Amaterasu and Tsukuyomi, not to mention Ponyville’s own purple princess” Kohaku said softly.
“There are more ponies like me outside of Ponyville?” Light asked in confusion. “Well… I guess knowing that I’m not an endangered species is a good thing.
“Heh, you want to talk about endangered animals, I’m the only one of my kind in all of Equestria.”
“Oh… I’m so sorry.” Flash said sympathetically, having adopted two orphans of his own.
“But still, there has to be some kind of promotion to this.” Flash said with a sense of confusion.
“There is more to being an alicorn than being a king.” Light said as he thought about the Shrek analogy. “We essentially have layers. We are picked at a specific time and place… and if I know why the heck I was giving a pair of wings, I’d tell you.” Light said as he remembered that he still had no understanding about this.
“Wait wait wait, you became an alicorn?” The young fox stopped in shock. his eyes wide. “How is that possible, Alicorns are born not created. At least that’s how i remember it”
“Tell that to Twilight’s birth certificate.” Light said with a sense of shock. “Where are you from anyways?”
“The Everfree Forest. My clan rules these lands for over thirty thousand years. Then I get put to sleep by my sisters, I wake up and everything is all topsy turvy.” Kohaku slumped to the ground. “Father would have a field day with all this kind of stuff.”
“T… thirty thousand… this sounds like a Twilight thing.” Light said as he rubbed his forehead. “She’s better with… alicorn level stuff.”
Nodding softly, he gave a quick stretch “Well at least if she’s to go by anything, I know Alicorn’s aren’t much more powerful now then they were back then. So once I get my ninth tail, in a few hundred years. I won’t have much to worry about in terms of magical competition.”
Light looked shocked and embarrassed at this seemingly young kitzune saying things that made him look like the child. “Well… you won’t find a magical challenge from me. namely since I was always bad at it.”
“I could tell that just by looking at you, you don’t seem all that strong.” He said, giving Light a playful push with his paw. “So, you're a toy maker huh? Do you like doing that?”
“I’m good at it, find it a fun job, even though I don’t make much. I just keep down to earth.” Light admitted with a small smile.
“He’s also struggled at magic since birth and is afraid of heights. Yet he was blessed with wings.” Flash said kiddingly as he petted Light’s back, knowing that Light has long admitted these things.
“Wow, that’s odd. But who am I to judge? I was cloudstriding with my father before I could walk, and I always did like to rough house with the Pegasus’s in Cloudsdale. those boys were fun.” Looking across the dark landscape he saw their destination. “not too far now. about another ten minutes and we’ll be there.”
“Yeah… so how many ways are there to become an alicorn?” Flash asked, secretly wishing that he can join Light and be one.
“If I knew, I would tell you.” Light said bluntly.
“Well, Zoinks, if I ever ascend, they would only need to give me that earth-pony stroth and a pair of wings.” Flash said before lifting his front hoof up, making his crystal horse-shoe glow, and levertating Kohaku.
Kohaku blinked a little as he was lifted up. “Okay that’s a bit impressive. Never seen an earth pony do that kind of magic before. How are you doing this?”
“I’m not an earth-pony, I’m a crystal-pony, and I use my crystal horse-shoe to do magic like the unicorns.” Flash explained.
“And for a moment I thought artifact use was dead.” Kohaku asked before turning to Light. “Can you do anything impressive?”
Light blushed, knowing that Flash was far superior in the skills of magic compared to him. Then again, many kids could be considered better than the teddy bear alicorn. “Well… I brought a stuffed animal to life once. Does that count?”
“Wow!” Kohaku said. “You can give life to inanimate objects!?” He asked.
“Um… kinda?” Light said, not admitting that he had no clue how he does it, and can't control how he does it.
Flash laugh. “Beware, He will bring his army of plushies down upon you, little fox!” He said in a spooky voice, before laughing evilly.
Kohaku smirked and chuckled. “oh really?” Twirling his tails a bit, spheres of emerald fire erupted from them. whistling in a soft spooky tone, the sound emanating from his voice caused the grass to sprout up into thin spears that poked at feet of Light. “Would those plushies prefer death by fire or grass? Take your pick?” The young fox grinded up at the adult.
Light was starting to shiver and getting more and more scared, his wings clamping down onto his side. “And ponies ask why I don’t go out on nightmare night.” Light muttered to himself softly.
“Please don’t scare my friend.” Flash warned the fox.
With a chuckle he tossed the sphere of flame into Flash’s face. The foxfire was no hotter than a splash of shower water. and with a second long whistle his grass spears thrusted up and didn’t so much as break fur. “Oh please, I’m a trickster, not a killer. Grass can’t be made into steel so the tensile strength is still the same, and my fire doesn’t get any hotter then what you just felt.”
“ha ha..” Flash laughed in an annoyed smile before looking around, finding a little mouse, and beckoning it to him. “hey.. Kohaku, can you please close your eyes for a second.” He asked nicely.
Taking a quick look at what Flash was doing he nodded and closed his eyes. He felt a light tugging on his body and took a quick guess at what was trying to be done. A devilish thought crossed his mind and let his power slowly flow outward. Taking a deep breath he felt himself getting lighter and lighter. A not long while he felt as if he was being held upside down and heard a few squeeks next to him.
Opening his eyes he saw that he was now no larger than the mouse, and was behind held upside down by Flash. Turning his head Kohaku smiled, “Hey Mickey. how’s the wife?”
Listening to the mouse squeak a bit he chuckled. “Pregnant again huh? well that happens. you be sure to bring her along to Fluttershy’s, I’m sure it’ll be a healthy litter.” Looking up at Flash he chuckled. “I have to say, this is rather impressive. I’ve never transmuted into a mouse before.
Flash looked at Kohaku. “I… I turned you into a mouse… no no, you were supposed to be swapped with the mouse.” Looking on at the young fox he saw him conversing pleasantly with the mouse floating beside him. “You’re taking this well!?” His mind was reeling at what had just happened. His spell was supposed to swipe their souls around, not change him into a mouse.
Swinging himself back and forth slowly he just crossed his front legs “Eh. I’m a minor shapeshifter, of course the only things I can turn into at the moment is plant life. Of course I was a parakeet once, but that was only for a few moments.. so the chance to be some other mammal is rather interesting.” Kohaku just smiled watching the older pony work himself up into a slight panic.
“well I hope you know how to change back.” Flash asked him as he paced back and forth. “because I don’t I’m still trying to figure out where I went wrong.” He told him with worry in his voice.
Laughing out loud, Kohaku taped Flash’s shoulder from the opposite side as the naruto dressed moused vanished in front of the unicorn. “don’t worry, I can change back easily.. or rather cancel out my illusions.” Reaching out he gave the mouse a quick high five. “Thanks for helping out Mickie.” He watched the mouse nod and scurry back toward the forest.
Flash fell down breathing heavily. “A… fiuuu…” He said while panting. “You did that? I thought.. oh boy. Kid, I have to admit, your good. you had me fooled.” a lighthearted chuckle escaped his lips.
“I felt your magic working on me, but nothing was happening. I didn’t want you to feel disappointed. Of course Mickie helped a little, he told me what you were doing.” resting a paw on Flash’s shoulder he smiled. “So, shall we get going to the party, the night’s waning fast and I’m eager to have some real fun.”
“Umm..” Flash said, trying to hide the slide anger he had to the joke that was planned on him. “Let’s go!” He said before running off, starting to see the Cemetery.