Chapter 31
– Nightmare Night –
“Come on Ocellus! We’re gonna be late!” Comet said, pacing back and forth outside her friend’s dorm.
“But my hat has a stain on it!” Ocellus yelled out from inside the room.
“I’ll cast an illusion spell so no one can see it.” Comet said, rolling her eyes.
The door opened and a hat appeared, held by magic. Comet looked it over and found a tiny little stain. Honestly, you have to know it’s there to find it. Comet sighed, casting her spell and making the stain disappear.
Ocellus pulled the hat back inside and opened the door, coming out with her hat on her head. Her costume was a simple witch’s robe and hat, with little insect pins adorning it. Comet’s costume was a witch as well, with a shooting star pin holding her robe together.
“Art thou ready to descend upon this poor town sister?” Ocellus said, with a funny elegant accent.
“We are always ready. Come sister, we shall show these prattling mortals true magic.” Comet said, in the same funny accent.
Both girls giggled at themselves before beginning to walk through the hallway. The halls were full of students in all kinds of costumes. Nightmare Night was in full swing, and Comet was super excited. She had many plans for tonight.
As they made their way to the great hall, Ocellus stopped Comet to point at the wall. Comet immediately blushed as dozens of ponies were admiring her artwork that was hung on the wall of the school. Comet immediately grabbed Ocellus and ran for the door before anypony noticed them.
Trail finished putting on the vest and swapped his regular hat for the explorer’s hat that Rarity was kind enough to make him. He looked at himself in the mirror, and thought he looked good. He walked out of his room and down to the living room.
Valley Trail was sitting peacefully waiting for all of them. She had outdone herself with her costume idea. She rigged fake electric pylons onto her wheelchair, and with a bit of makeup and mane-styling, she looked like Frankenstein’s bride.
“Feeling alright Mom?” Trail asked.
Valley looked at him, “I am fine Trail. Stop worrying so much. I love Nightmare Night. You know I never miss a chance to go out and enjoy the festivities.”
“I know I know. I can’t help but worry. Just let us know when you need to rest.” Trail said.
Before Valley could answer, Tala flew down the stairs and posed in the air. She wore a large belt around her chest strapped across her shoulder, and a mask.
“And here she is mares and gentlecolts, the undefeated champion of Equestria and Griffonstone beyond, the terror of the sky, the one and only Sky Claw!” Trail shouted like a sports announcer.
Tala posed again and again, Valley cheering from below.
“Thank you, thank you. I love my adoring fans.” Tala said, landing next to her Mom.
“You look so fierce dear.” Valley complimented.
“Thanks Mom.” Tala said, grinning.
“You truly know how to ham it up Sister.” Zala said, appearing at the top of the stairs.
She had truly outdone herself. Her mane was done up in several braids and long strands. She wore her usual jewelry, with some added pieces here and there. She also had a skull mask covering half of her face. Her dress was black and simple, with a bit of a sheen to it.
Tala whistled as the zebra came down the steps, “Dang Sis, you’re gonna give everyone a heart attack with that outfit.”
“Darling, you look spectacular!” Valley said, rolling over to hug her daughter as she reached the bottom of the steps.
“I agree Sis. You look fantastic. Makes me feel like the odd one out.” Trail said.
“Nonsense Brother. Daring Doo was always an inspiration to you. I think you pull off the look quite well.” Zala said, giving her brother a pat on the shoulder.
“Yeah. But my goodness, Zecora really came up with a great costume idea. I can’t wait to see you two on stage telling stories to the children.” Trail said.
“Yes, I also look forward to it.” Zala said, smiling to herself.
“Yeah, I bet Zecora is looking pretty good in her costume, eh Sis?” Tala said, floating behind Zala with a wicked grin.
Zala blushed and turned to swat at the griffin, but she was too slow.
“Alright, no more teasing. You all look wonderful. Now come along, Comet is waiting for us.” Valley said, rolling towards the front door.
Trail nodded and everyone soon left for the festivities in town.
“Comet!” Trail shouted as he saw his daughter and her friend Ocellus.
Comet immediately rushed to hug everyone in her family, admiring their outfits. Ocellus came by and shyly waved at them.
“Ocellus dear, there is no need to be shy. Come, I have something for you.” Valley said, reaching for something on the back of her wheelchair.
Ocellus looked curiously as Valley pulled a small plastic container from her wheelchair and placed it on her lap. She opened it and Ocellus could immediately smell the fresh baked cookies that lie within.
Valley floated out a cookie and gave it to Ocellus, who immediately took it in her own magic. Her mouth drooled a little at the smell and she took a big bite. Her eyes sparkled with delight.
“That is the best cookie I’ve ever had.” Ocellus said in a daze.
“I want one Nana! Please!” Comet said, begging at her grandmare’s hooves.
“Of course sweetie.” Valley said, giving her grandfilly a cookie.
Comet eat it in one bite, smiling brightly at the taste of the world’s best cookie.
Zala slumped, “One day, you will teach me your secrets.”
“One day dear. Alas, not today.” Valley smirked back at her daughter.
“Hey, I hope I’m not too late!” Another voice shouted from a ways away.
Everyone turned to look at the newcomer, and Trail’s heart stopped for a moment.
Starlight Glimmer appeared from the crowd, and not in the typical witch outfit one would expect from a talented magic user like herself. No, her costume was a bit unexpected.
She wore a black and red dress, simple but elegant. Her mane was done up in a special style with sparkles of glitter with it. She actually wore makeup, eyeliner making her eyes stand out. She smiled and fangs were visible in her teeth. She wore several pins of bats and rubies in her mane and on her dress.
Trail was stunned. She really looked amazing.
“Umm, Trail?” Starlight asked, waving a hoof in his face.
Trail didn’t respond until a certain lion’s tail gave his flank a subtle whip. He jumped and stuttered a little before regaining his senses.
“I’m sorry, what?” Trail asked.
“I asked what you thought of my costume? It’s not too much is it?” Starlight asked, looking a little concerned.
“No! No! You look amazing. I wasn’t expecting your costume to be something like this. You look incredible.” Trail said, not really thinking before he spoke.
Starlight blushed a deep red, “Oh thank you. Trixie helped me with the idea. Rarity made it for me, and Trixie helped with the glitter and makeup. I’ve never really been one for makeup. The glitter is a bit much, but Trixie said it would be fitting.”
“I’ll say it does. You’re a total knockout Glimmer.” Tala smirked.
Starlight blushed even more, looking away. Trail was still staring at her. She was stunning.
Comet saw all of this and grinned. Her talk with Trixie had truly paid off.
“So, what shall we do first?” Valley asked.
Comet refocused on the matter at hoof, “Well, Ocellus and I don’t have to be at the maze for another hour or so. Can we go play some games?”
“Of course sweetie. Come, everyone.” Valley said, leading the pack towards the center of town.
Several games were laid out across the square. The first one was the spider throwing competition.
“I’m gonna try this one. Ocellus, let’s throw it together.” Comet said to her friend.
Ocellus smiled and joined her friend to throw. They both threw at the same time, managing to just barely hit the web, making the fillies pout.
“It’s alright girls. Just takes a bit of practice. Here, watch me.” Trail said, getting his own spider.
He goes to throw the spider, but he put a little too much strength into it and it landed past the webbing, and landed right on Mayor Mare’s head. The Mayor looked around the webbing and glared at Trail Blazer.
“Oh, sorry about that, Mayor Mare.” Trail said apologetically while rubbing the back of his head.
The Mayor nodded and went on her way.
Comet grabbed Starlight by the leg, “Starlight come on. Try it.”
“Ok ok. I’ll give it a try. Don’t think I’ve ever played this before.” Starlight said.
She moved up next to Trail and checked the distance. She then threw her spider, and amazingly, it hit right on a bullseye.
“I did it!” Starlight cheered.
She immediately hugged the closest pony to her, which just so happened to be Trail. Trail hugged her back in joy, so happy for her. They didn’t even realize how close they were until they both looked at each other. They looked into each other’s eyes for a few moments before they separated, blushing profusely.
“Alright, nice work Starlight. Now, I see a pumpkin catapult calling my name.” Tala said, pointing to another game across the square.
Everyone moved towards it while Comet and Ocellus stayed back.
“Nice work on the attraction spell. No one even noticed it.” Ocellus said.
“It was really hard not to make it too obvious. The spider landed just right.” Comet smirked.
The two scheming fillies caught up to the group at the pumpkin catapults, and to no one’s surprise, Tala went first. Loading the pumpkin on the catapult, she grinned back to her family.
“Check this out.” Tala said, firing the catapult.
The pumpkin flew across the field, landing directly in front of the target, splattering into chunks. Tala stared at the sight, and slowly looked back at her family.
Trail, Zala, and Valley were all trying to hold back their chuckles.
“Not… a… word.” Tala said darkly.
Valley moved up to the catapult, “Oh come on dearest. It’s all for the sake of fun. Surely it is more difficult than it seems.”
Valley loaded her own pumpkin and released her catapult. Everyone watched as the pumpkin flew and landed square on the target. Valley smiled as she wheeled herself back to her original spot. Tala was dumbfounded and glared at her mother. Valley simply smiled back.
“Alright. Trail, your turn.” Tala said slowly.
Trail moved to load the pumpkin, but something caught under his hoof and he tripped. Before he could hit the ground however, he found himself wrapped in a light blue magical glow that put him back on his feet. He looked to see that Starlight was looking at him, horn glowing and blushing a little. He blushed also and moved to load the pumpkin again. He succeeded this time and launched it, managing to hit not quite a bullseye, but close to it.
Starlight cheered, as did Comet. Trail smiled at himself before receiving a knock on the head from Tala.
Everyone moved on and Comet once again grinned, throwing away the banana peel that she hid from everyone.
All according to plan.
“Alright you two, it’s almost time for the haunted maze. You better get going.” Trail said.
“Roger that Daddy. Come on Ocellus, we’re gonna scare the manes off of everypony!” Comet said gleefully.
Ocellus nodded and the two were off to the maze.
“They really are excited for this. Comet’s been talking about it all week.” Trail said happily.
“Yeah. She couldn’t stop talking about it during our lessons. She really enjoys Nightmare Night.” Starlight said.
“It’s one of her favorite holidays. She loves scary stories, monsters and the like. She knows just about every creature in Equestria.” Trail said.
“I didn’t have that many Nightmare Night memories as a filly. Despite that, this night has been a lot of fun.” Starlight said, looking at Trail.
He smiled back at her. It truly was a great night.
“I see I have arrived just in time, such happiness is so sublime.” Zecora said, appearing behind the group.
Her costume looked almost identical to Zala’s, only her mane was down straight rather than braids.
When she and Zala saw each other, both looked starstruck and did not move or speak for several seconds. A cough from Tala woke both from their stupor.
“Zecora, you look stunning.” Zala said, smiling at the other zebra.
“Oh you are too kind, it is you who are much refined.” Zecora said, blushing at the compliment.
Both zebras blushed at each other for several seconds before Zecora spoke again.
“The time for stories draw near. Come, so we can bestow fear.” Zecora said.
“I’d be delighted.” Zala said.
She turned to Trail, “Tell Comet I will come to the maze after our stories. All of you can come see the second show later tonight.”
“Gotcha. Break a leg Sis.” Trail said encouragingly.
Zala smiled, and also shot a glare at Tala who was making kissy faces at her while Zecora wasn’t looking. She went with Zecora and left the rest of the group to head to the maze.
“You sure this is a good idea Comet?” Ocellus asked.
“Positive. You saw how they were looking at each other. This will finally make them see how much they love each other.” Comet said, getting the last bits of her plan in place.
“If you say so.” Ocellus said, a burst of flame signifying she was in her form for the plan.
“Daddy will be so happy.” Comet said, smiling to herself.
“So, do you know what Comet has in store for us?” Valley asked.
“She wouldn’t tell me. So, we will just have to see.” Trail said.
Trail, Starlight, Tala, and Valley all stood at the entrance to the Haunted Maze. They knew all of Comet’s friends had made their own part of the maze to scare ponies, but they honestly were so excited to see what Comet had come up with.
The maze started out small, with some critters wandering the path, courtesy of Fluttershy no doubt. The group continued along until the ground shook beneath them. Valley gasped a little and saw a large figure heading toward them, followed by another smaller figure.
The larger one roared and stomped the ground again, making the group shake once more. Two yak horns were unmistakable among the blue starry sky paint that adorned their fur. Yona had dressed as an Ursa Minor, rampaging around the path. The smaller figure was a timberwolf, jumping around and circling the group before escaping into the maze. Sandbar did a great job with the costume, all you could really see was the tips of his hooves.
As the two disappeared, Valley took a deep breath and laughed. The rest of the group laughed as well.
“Well done Yona, and Sandbar. You got us good. Mom looked like she lost a few years there.” Trail said, earning him a flick on the ear.
Starlight giggled at Trail’s joke and his punishment before the group continued.
The next bend in the maze came within a few minutes and Tala’s ears perked up as she sensed something flying towards them. She looked to the sky as something came barreling towards them. She ducked just in time as a feathered figure flew over her. The blue coloring was hidden mostly by fake brown feathers, with extensions on his wings. A mask on his head had a large beak.
“Nice one Gallus. You almost got me, kid. Nice Roc outfit too.” Tala grinned.
Gallus almost did a flip in the air after getting praise from his idol. Alas, he stayed in character and dove at them again, making them turn to the small pool of water. As they stared at the pool, bubbles hit the surface as a figure emerged slowly. A dark green form emerged, covered in seaweed and slime. Fake fangs were visible as she made a cute hissing noise at the group.
“Silverstream, that is the best kelpie costume I have ever seen.” Trail said.
The hippogriff squealed and returned to the depths.
Onward the group went, awaiting the next creature they would encounter. They would not have to wait long, as a screech could be heard, although it sounded more like a growl. The family looked to the sky as a flame emerged. A costume that looked to be on fire with large fake wings held by clawed hands as they flew, the fire lighting up the sky.
“Wow, Smolder went all out. Good thing dragons are fireproof.” Starlight said.
“True. I’m impressed.” Trail said.
Smolder flew down over the group and gave out another growl/screech. However, she flew a little too close to the maze and caught some of the hedge on fire. Starlight was about to light her horn and put out the fire, but Rarity suddenly appeared with a fire extinguisher.
“Smolder, not so close to the maze! You’ll burn the whole thing down!” Rarity shouted, putting out the flames.
Smolder chuckled nervously and went back to her hiding place.
Trail and the others shook their heads. Smolder may have overdone it a bit, but it was the most impressive costume yet.
And the last group should be Comet and Ocellus. Saving the best for last.
Trail looked around as the maze’s exit came into view, not seeing any sign of his filly or her friend. Though as they all seemed to let their guard down, a fog soon appeared around them. Purple in color as they all got a chill down their spines.
“You think you can just leave our maze?” A voice said, not sounding like either filly.
“We will not let you escape so easily.” Another voice rang out.
The family looked around, looking a little scared. From the fog, two figures emerged, one was a tall black furred Alicorn with bat wings and fangs. Light blue armor adorned her body with a helmet. The other was also an Alicorn, her mane was pure fire, coat white as snow with orange jewelry adorning her body. The whites of her eyes were black with piercing yellow eyes.
“We cannot allow these ponies to escape, right Sister?” Nightmare Moon chuckled.
“No little sister. We most certainly can not!” Daybreaker shouted.
Both Alicorns flew towards the group and Valley let out a scream. Tala jumped in front of her mother and tried to look brave, but even she looked nervous.
Both sisters seemed to vanish as they neared the group. Trail looked around frantically to find them, but saw nothing. Then Starlight screamed as Nightmare Moon appeared behind her. She jumped backward to avoid her and landed directly on Trail. After that, both sisters started to laugh like fillies, even starting to sound more like them.
The fog lifted and revealed Comet and Ocellus, both in a costume of Nightmare Moon and Daybreaker respectively.
“You little sneak! You got us good!” Tala laughed.
“Comet, my goodness. My old heart was about to give out.” Valley said, putting a hoof to her heart in jest.
Comet and Ocellus giggled more as they heard this.
“Hey Trail, come on. You gotta admit that was a good one.” Tala said, looking to where her brother and Starlight were.
But neither pony said a word. Starlight was still on top of Trail, looking down into his eyes. Trail looked stunned, but with a hint of something else in his eyes. He stared up into Starlight’s blue eyes, drowning in them. Starlight stared into Trail’s blue eyes as well, never looking away.
Comet grinned widely at this. Everything she had planned for was coming to fruition.
Starlight couldn’t help but smile a little, with a blush. She started to lean down closer to him.
As she got closer to him, his heart started to beat faster. A part of him wanted to lean in as well, but he didn’t know why. She just looked so beautiful tonight. But as he began to lean in, a pit opened up in his chest.
Memories flashed before his eyes, showing him things he wished he could forget. And when his vision returned, all he could see was “her” standing above him, that wicked grin on her face.
“NO!” Trail screamed, pushing Starlight off him.
She hit the ground and he bolted out of the maze, his face pale as a ghost. Valley, Tala, and Comet called out to him, but he didn’t hear them. All he knew was that he had to run. Run far away from the pain.
From her.
Starlight laid on her side, her face a mix of emotions. She looked like she just been slapped in the face and had her heart ripped out of her chest. Tears flowed as she lay there, unmoving, not even blinking.
Only one question was going through her mind,
Why?