//------------------------------// // Chapter 16: Nightmare Night (Equestria's Halloween) // Story: A Sparkle's Little Dusk III: Everlasting Family // by Mister E-Nonymous //------------------------------// Chapter 16: Nightmare Night (Equestria's Halloween) Coming back from school to the Castle of Friendship, Dusk, Nyx and Daylight were looking around the place. They saw the ponies of Ponyville setting up some decorations. "What's going on?" Dusk asked. "It looks like Ponyville is getting ready for Nightmare Night," Nyx said. "Huh?" Dusk and Daylight asked in confusion. "Right, sorry," Nyx said. "I keep forgetting you didn't originally grow up here." She then sighed. "Anyway, Nightmare Night is a holiday celebrated all over Equestria. All of the ponies here dress up in costumes, play games at the festival, and go door-to-door collecting candy." She then noticed Dusk and Daylight, looking at each other with smiles on their faces. "What is it?" "Sounds a lot like Halloween," Dusk said. "Really?" Nyx asked. "You two have a holiday similar to Nightmare Night?! Well, that's cool." "Well, I never got to celebrate it," Dusk said. "I was being a personal slave for my aunt and cousin. They wouldn't even let me leave the apartment." "And every time I want to do some trick-or-treating, all of my candy gets dropped in the ocean when the boat hit a big wave," Daylight said. "Wow," Nyx said. "So, we got a few days until it starts, so we should head on over to Rarity's so we can get our costume designs." "I'm not too sure I can do Halloween in another world," Dusk said. "I don't even know what I can dress up as." "I'm sure that we're gonna figure something out," Daylight said to Dusk with a smile. "C'mon. Let's go." Then she headed on off towards Carousel Boutique. Dusk then followed. "Hey, you two! Wait for me!" Nyx said, following the two. Meanwhile, on Earth, at a boarding school, Devon was asleep in a room all by himself. The room he was in had bars on the outside of the windows so he couldn't escape even if he wanted to. Then he woke up and went to the bathroom. But he didn't know what was going down the hallway of the boarding school's dorm, walking down the hall were some guards. But then, something took them out, one by one. The guards didn't know what was going on and tried hitting what was there before they could get hit, but none of them succeeded. But in a light blue magical aura, a clipboard was levitated and looked at. Coming out of an invisibility spell was Starlight Glimmer, who was reading the clipboard with an evil smirk. "There you are... Devon Henderson," Starlight said. She then grabbed the keys from the guard, looked for a certain key, and unlocked the door. Devon woke up and looked towards the door in confusion. He then said, "It's the middle of the night. Come back when it's morning." "Oh, I doubt have time for that," came Starlight's voice. Devon looked towards the door and saw Starlight Glimmer standing there. "No way," Devon said. "I've been here so long, I'm starting to see and hear things." "I don't think so," Starlight said to Devon. "I'm breaking you out of here." That woke Devon up completely. "Why would I want to go anywhere with a unicorn?" Devon asked. "They don't exist here." He then put his head back down on his pillow. "Not... where I'm from," Starlight responded. "But for the why reason, I have something that might interest you. What do you know about someone named... Henry Calvin?" Devon raised his head in surprise and asked, "My cousin and personal slave?! He's dead!" "His body might have died in this world, but he has been reborn in the world I'm from," Starlight responded. "And let's just say, he's now a part of royalty now." "That no good kid is living the life of royalty while I'm stuck in here?!" Devon asked. "He doesn't deserve anything good!" "So, you interested?" Starlight asked. All Devon did was smile darkly in response. Starlight then walked towards Devon, put a hoof on him, and the two of them teleported out of there. At Carousel Boutique, back in Equestria, Daylight was getting fitted into a costume. She was eager when Rarity was working on it, shaking in excitement, making Rarity a little irritated. "Now, Daylight, I know you're excited, but you must stand still," Rarity said. "Your brother is getting into his costume as we speak." "Sorry!" Daylight said. "I'm just really excited!" "So, this outfit you got was from an old comic book your father had?" Rarity asked. "Mm-hmm," Daylight said. "Dad had them in storage until we started living on the boat, and he had already given most of his belongings away to good people he knew. I kept his comic books and are waiting for a certain time for us to read all of them." "So, who is this character I'm dressing you as?" Rarity asked. "This character's name is Shuri from the Marvel Comic: Black Panther," Daylight said. "She is the younger sister of T'Challa, the King of Wakanda and the superhero known as the Black Panther." "Ooh," Rarity said. "And that's why you had Dusk's outfit more cat like." "I got the comic right here," Daylight said, pulling a comic book from her saddlebags. Rarity then took a look at it. "Oh my," Rarity said. "Well, at least I made pockets for his wings so they'd fit comfortable in there. Of course, I had Nyx help him into the outfit." "Whoa! Careful there, Nyx!" came Dusk's voice from the dressing room. "That tickles!" "Oh, is that so?!" Nyx asked. "Well then..." "Whoa! Hey!" Dusk said, laughing. "St-stop that! Ha ha ha ha! Pl-Please! Ha ha ha! I don't want to wet myself!" Rarity giggled and called out, "I would do so myself, Nyx! You don't want him to ruin his own costume!" "Oh, fine," Nyx said. "I'll just wait until he gets out of his costume." "Don't even think about it!" Dusk said. Rarity and Daylight giggled at that. "So, what do you think?" Rarity asked. Daylight looked at herself in the mirror, and saw that she was in an outfit that was worn by Shuri in the movie, Avengers: Infinity War. "Wow," Daylight said. "It's... It's amazing!" "I know," Rarity said. "I might as well display these two outfits when you're done with them." "Maybe," Daylight said. "I can't wait for this Nightmare Night to come." Then Dusk and Nyx came out of the dressing room they were in, and Dusk was dressed up in a costume a lot similar to Black Panther. He didn't have the mask on. "Wow," Dusk said. "This suit is really tight." "It's probably because of the wing pockets," Nyx said. "That makes sense," Dusk said. "And nice touch with the toes, Rarity." "Of course, darling," Rarity said. "If it's themed after an animal, I might as well make it more like an animal. Now, go ahead and take it off so you can wait to use it for Nightmare Night." Dusk and Daylight nodded and headed back into the dressing rooms. Rarity then looked over at Nyx and said, "What do you want to be for Nightmare Night?" "I have no idea," Nyx said. "It's going to be a tough decision for me just to pick one." "Well, follow me," Rarity said, heading over to a rack of costumes for fillies. "I'm sure that we'll find something for you to go out on Nightmare Night." She then thought about it. "Which is weird because it's basically based around..." She then tried finding the right words. "The Rarity from my Equestria said the same thing last year," Nyx said. "A lot of fillies and colts were wanting me to take some of their candy." "They didn't!" Rarity said in shock. "Oh, I doubt that the Twilight from that Equestria wouldn't let you eat all of that candy. She stopped you, didn't she?" "Actually, I donated all of the candy to the hospitalized fillies and colts so they wouldn't feel left out and get some candy," Nyx said. "Aww," Rarity said. "That's so sweet." "Learned it from you," Nyx said. "Well, from the other Rarity." "True, true," Rarity said. "Now, let's see what we can do." She then looked through the costumes. "Let's see what I have." She then pulled out one costume and asked, "How about a superhero costume? Since your brother and sister are going as superheroes." "Nah," Nyx said. "I'm not sure that I'd want to do that." "Okay, okay," Rarity said. She then pulled out a different costume. "How about a goddess warrior?" She was holding out a costume that consisted of a white long-sleeved shirt and a gold chest plate with a plastic crown with feathers. "Nah," Nyx said. "I don't think I'd look good in that kind of outfit." "Well, how about a mad scientist?" Rarity asked, pulling out a costume that consisted of a lab coat, a dark navy blue shirt and a pair of goggles. "Nah," Nyx said, shaking her head. "I was that last year." "Of course," Rarity said, putting the costume back. She then thought of an idea and asked, "How about... this?" Rarity then pulled out a costume that looked like a couple of Night Guard outfits. Nyx thought about it and said, "Well, since Twilight is going to be a royal guard for Hearth's Warming, I might as well be a Night Guard." "Oh, yes," Rarity said. "Now, let's see if it fits you." Rarity then put the costume on Nyx. "Of course I'd have to get a helmet from a unicorn costume and armor from a pegasus costume so it'd fit on you." "Yeah, that makes sense," Nyx said, unfolding her wings. "Since I got these." Rarity then put the armor onto Nyx's body. Then she put the helmet on Nyx's head, making sure that the hole was over the filly's horn. She then held out some horse shoes. "Would you want these to go with your outfit?" Rarity asked. "It would complete it," Nyx said. "Along with some blue bat wings," Rarity said. "On Nightmare Night, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and I will be coming over to the castle, so I'll be able to help you get into your costume." "Sure," Nyx said. "Thanks, Rarity." "You sure are welcome, Nyx," Rarity said. "How much do we owe you?" came Daylight's voice. Rarity looked towards the dressing rooms and saw Dusk and Daylight coming out with their costumes in their individual magical auras. "Oh, you don't have to worry," Rarity said. "Twilight had already prepaid for the costumes for her and all of your costumes." She then took the costumes in her magical aura and put them in their own individual bags, and marked the bags with tags that had the Cutie Marks of the three foals. "Now, run along home. You got a few days until Nightmare Night." "How come you didn't mention Fluttershy when you said you and Mom's friends would be coming to the castle?" Dusk asked. "Oh, about that," Rarity said. "Fluttershy... is afraid of Nightmare Night." "What?" Dusk and Daylight asked in unison, raising an eyebrow each. "It's true," Nyx said. "She usually barricades her door and hides under her bed. I know because I asked her that the day after Nightmare Night. She took the legend of Nightmare Night way too seriously." "Indeed," Rarity said. "Now, head on home." Dusk and his sisters nodded and headed out of the Boutique. Days had passed, and Nightmare Night had came. Dusk, Nyx and Daylight were in their costumes. Luckily, Rarity helped them into their costumes before they headed out of the castle. They then met up with the rest of the Crusaders. Apple Bloom was dressed as a platypus, Sweetie Belle had an outfit that made her look like Marie Antoinette, even had a mole, and Scootaloo was dressed as a Wonderbolt. "Whoa-ho!" Scootaloo said. "Interesting costume, Dusk! What are you supposed to be?" "Dusk is dressed as a fictional superhero back in our world," Daylight answered for Dusk. "He's the Black Panther, and I'm Shuri, who happens to be the sister of the Black Panther." "Good choice," Apple Bloom said. "What are you dressed as, Apple Bloom?" Nyx asked. "Is that some kind of beaver duck or something?" "I believe it's a platypus," Dusk said. "Yep," Daylight said. "I saw a bunch of them when the Cruise Ship was docked in Australia last year." "Well, who's ready to go and get some candy?" Sweetie Belle asked. "We all are," Nyx said. Then the six of them headed on out to the town, going out to get some candy. The six foals headed towards the town, getting treats from the ponies around Ponyville. Although, when they reached about every house in Ponyville, the group went towards the Apple Farm for the Apple Family Haunted Maze. Nyx's candy bag was much bigger than the others. "You really think it was necessary to TP the tree of your sister's Boutique?" Dusk asked, looking at Sweetie Belle. "I have a feeling that she's going to have you clean it up." "She always makes me clean it up since I turned six," Sweetie Belle replied. "C'mon, everypony," Apple Bloom said. "We gotta get ta the Haunted Maze mah family's set up." She then rushed ahead. "Hey, Dusk," Nyx said. "You might helping me out with my candy bag?" "Sure, Nyx," Dusk said. He then took Nyx's candy bag in his own magical aura and they headed on towards the maze, going to enjoy themselves. Back at the Castle of Friendship, later that night, Dusk, Nyx and Daylight had returned home, heading to their rooms. All of them were exhausted. "Wow," Dusk said. "Who knew donating candy to the sick foals in the hospital would be more exhausting?" "I know, right?" Nyx asked before she yawned. "I'm so tired." "Me, too," Daylight said. "Help me get my... costume... off... before..." She then passed out on the floor. Dusk and Nyx followed suit. Twilight came down the hall to see Dusk, Nyx and Daylight passed out on the floor, all still in their costumes. Twilight smiled and shook her head. She then used her magic to teleport the costumes off of the three foals in front of her, and she used her magic to put them to their rooms, starting with Dusk. She tucked him in and kissed Dusk on the cheek. She then took Nyx and Daylight to their room, and put them into their beds. She tucked them in and kissed them on the cheeks. She then took their costumes and put them into the laundry room, where Spike was. "Hey, Twilight," Spike said. "Are those the costumes of Dusk, Nyx and Daylight?" "Yep," Twilight said. "I was coming down the hall, and I saw them passed out on the floor. They must've been exhausted. They must've been really tired after tonight." "Yeah," Spike said, picking up the helmet of Dusk's costume. He then chuckled and said, "Daylight showed me her and Dusk's human dad's comics. I know what this guy is. The Black Panther." "You read their comics?" Twilight asked. "Yep," Spike said. "I have read just about every one of them. Even the ones that they're not old enough to read." "Wow," Twilight said. "Well, you are mature than the others. And I'm pretty sure Nyx is on the verge of a certain biological age as well." "Oh, yeah," Spike said. "Since she wasn't born like any normal pony." He then put the mask on. "Whoa! It's a little loose here in the front." "Because it was meant for a colt, like Dusk," Twilight said. "Now, I better get these cleaned up. Head on up to bed." "Alright, Twilight," Spike said. "Good night." Then he headed out of there. "Good night, Spike," Twilight said. She then used her magic to put the costumes into some baskets. Meanwhile, outside, Starlight and Devon were outside, looking up at the castle. Devon was getting angry and headed for the door, but Starlight stopped him. "Hang on, Devon," Starlight replied. "All good things come to those who wait." Devon looked towards the castle and said, "My cousins always get the good things they don't deserve. Because of Henry that I was stuck in that prison of a boarding school." "Don't worry," Starlight replied. "Besides, next up, I'm going to get your mother out of that horrible place. Then when the time is right, you and your mother will get those children back." Then she used her magic and she and Devon were teleported away.