Chapter 9: Colts and Fillies of every age; wouldn’t you like to see something strange?
It seemed strange to some that a week could pass by in Ponyville without something completely ludicrous happening and the odds that it would happen were so astronomically high that only the richest ponies in Canterlot dare make a bet; it was said the Fancy Pants won an exorbitant amount of money that week.
And now after that week had taken place it was now time for a holiday; and for a certain Alicorn goddess it was the best holiday ever or as she put it “BEST HOLIDAY EVER!!!!!!”
Twas nightmare night in Ponyville and all of the town’s inhabitants were dressed up in various costumes ranging from silly to scary. Children ran around screaming in terror and laughing as they were scared by some and given candy by others. It was easy to see why this town loved this holiday it gave a nice sense of community.
As for where I was during this; well for now I was hidden. There was a plan I had laid out and I couldn’t spring it early. I have to bide my patience for now but my time will come…I wonder how Twilight is doing; she hasn’t seen me since last night so my guess is that she is probably panicking heavily.
MEANWHILE
“Rarity are you sure this is necessary?” Twilight asked her alabaster friend
“Why yes darling this is how your costume goes I am simply following instructions.” She said as she carefully maneuvered needles, thread, and all sorts of sewing equipment around in her bluish magic aura.
“What do you mean instructions?” Twilight asked curious of how her friend worded that last sentence.
“Ah ah ah Twilight any more questions and we might run late. And we wouldn’t want to run late tonight or we might miss Princess Luna. And who knows; if you’re late she might tell Princess Celestia that you were tardy.” Rarity put on a coy smirk as she talked.
“Alright Rarity I get it no more questions; no need to say things like that…” Twilight said in a quietly; she knew her friend was joking but some part of her was still a studious student that never liked being tardy.
“Trust me Twilight you are going to look just gorgeous in this costume. You’ll probably have a few stallions looking your way…maybe even a certain human.”
“Wha!…What is that supposed to mean!?!?” Twilight asked blushingly. She wondered why that comment had set her off so much; it wasn’t like she had never read about romance before.
“Only what you want it to Twilight dear, I can’t possibly claim to know what goes on inside your mind.” Rarity joked before going back to her work. Twilight was about top say something else but was interrupted as the door to her bedroom was knocked open and a disgruntled Pegasus poked her head in.
“Jeez Rarity; Nightmare Night is going to be over by the time you’re done, can you pick up the pace a bit?” Rainbow was never known for her patience; and her unicorn friend took the time to remind her.
“Rainbow Dash!!! Twilight has a brilliant costume that’s has many small details. Details that take time and precision; I’m sorry that all costumes can’t be like yours!!!” she said barely turning her head to the door while she finished up Twilight’s costume.
“And what is that supposed to mean? This costume is awesome!!! I saw a picture of it on Dan’s tele thingy and I knew that it was so cool and awesome that I had to have it!!! Plus it sort reminded me of me.” Dash proclaimed strutting into the doorway to show of her costume.
It looked like something Pinkie would wear on a day like to day. Dash’s head and forelegs were visible while her midsection except for her wings was covered in what looked like a square pastry with frosting on one side.
“Wow Dash that has to be the weirdest costume I have ever seen you wear to Nightmare Night” Twilight commented from the view she had. “Usually your costumes are Wonderbolts themed.”
“Yeah well this year I figured I should do something different; and Dan gave me the perfect inspiration!!!”
“Ah there finished Twilight; feel free to see how amazing you look now my dear.” Rarity said as she moved Twilight towards the mirror in her bedroom.
“Oh rarity I’m sure that I look…oh wow.” Twilight finally caught a glimpse of herself and was surprised at what Rarity had just pulled off. She was wearing a dress but it wasn’t something you would normally see Rarity make. Honestly it didn’t look good at all. It was made from random pieces of fabric of all different shapes and colors. But the patchwork dress was only part one of the costume; part two was what was on Twilight herself. She had makeup on that made her look paler but what really caught her eye was that on several places over her body were things that looked like stitches. All of them together made her look like she was sown together.
“Rarity this is incredible I look like a doll sown together or something!!!”
“Oh I’d just knew you would like it; I have to say doing the stitching parts with out actually stitching you together was difficult but I believed I pulled it off pretty nicely if I do say so myself.”
“Wow Twilight that does look pretty good on you…You trying to get all the stallions lookin huh?” Rainbow said as the three girls walked out of the bedroom back to the main area of the library.
“Rainbow!!! Seriously first Rarity and now you; why is everybody saying that?” Twilight’s blush was more apparent with her paler fur.
Before they could say anything the sound of an acoustic guitar reached their ears. They all looked to the far side of the room to see Applejack in her costume playing a guitar.
“Well is sure took you girls darn long enough I was afraid Nightmare Night was gonna be over. Oh and don’t worry Twi; if them stallions start ganging up on yah trying to get your attention I beat’em off of yaw.” She said hefting up a pretty large wrench that was also part of her costume.
“Why does everyone keep on saying that…oh and thank you for the offer Applejack.”
“It’s no problem Twi; I solve practical problems. By the way Rarity what is your costume supposed to be?”
Rarity had on what seemed to be a sort of latex cat suit with the legs cut off and around her legs were a type of stocking with a design of a bat in them. Also on her back were a pair of fake bat wings and there was a mini version around her head to match.
“Well Applejack if you’re so curious; like Rainbow Dash I also got some inspiration from Dan’s…what is his device called again Twilight?”
“It’s called a telephone.”
“Yes his telephone, anyway I this drawing of a human female that he told me was from this one game back where he was and her image and the attitude it presented sort of resonated with me. So naturally I thought it would be perfect for Nightmare Night.”
“Hey girls speaking of Dan has anyone seen him today?” Twilight asked her friends who in turn gave expressions of deep thought.
“Honestly I can’t say I have Twilight; this whole week he has been a bit…mysterious.”
“Yeah I flown all over town multiple times this week and I have barely caught a glimpse of him.”
“And I would know if he was hiding in the orchard; which he isn’t.”
“I thought he wanted to do something tonight…I wonder where he could…” Twilight was interrupted by a knock at the door.
“I wonder who that could be?” Twilight said with a smile as she opened the door and was buffeted by screams of kids.
“NIGHMARE NIGHT!!! WHAT A FRIGHT!!! GIVE US SOMETHING SWEET TO BITE!!!” the kids belted out. This group of kids however unlike some of the past ones was made up of easy recognizable; even in their costumes.
“Hi Crusaders, Pipsqueak, and Dinky how’s your Nightmare Night going?” she said to the costumed kids as she levitated candy into their bags.
It’s goin awesome Twilight!!!” Applebloom spoke up for the whole group. “Dan’s costume ideas for all of us were fantastic!!!”
Applebloom along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were wearing this sort of white shirts with black pants but over them they all wore capes colored blue and white with a symbol from Prance that looked sort of like and arrow; also all three costumes cam with large hat with feathers in them and three fake rapiers; one for each girl.
“Yeah and these ninja costumes worked out really swell for Dinky and I!!! Right Dinky?” Pipsqueak said from beneath the mask that covered his face.
“Yeah they are totally cool!!!” Dinky said.
True to words both Dinky and Pipsqueak were dressed as ninjas; although their costumes were different colors and some aspects were different. Pipsqueak’s costume was this yellow kind of vest armor which continued up into a hood where a yellow mask covered his mouth. He had two swords which crossed over his back; and on his right front foreleg was an arm guard an on the bottom of it was a toy spear head on a chain.
Dinky’s costume was quite the opposite. Her costume was smoother and was a shade of blue including the mask. She didn’t have any weapons but instead she learned some magic from Twilight about making ice and used it as Dan had instructed her.
“The group of fillies and colt looked to the group inside the library and saw the others there with Twilight.
“What do you kids think of our costumes?” Twilight asked the group.
“Rainbow Dash your costume is awesome as always” Scootaloo piped up from the group to throw her idol a compliment.
“Heh thanks Scoots I knew someone would recognize the coolness of this suit.” Rainbow gave a smirk to her friends who were laughing a bit.
Twilight stopped laughing and looked back to the group to notice that Pipsqueak was staring at her intensely.”
“Is something wrong with my costume Pipsqueak?” she said to break him out of his trance.
“Oh ah no Ms. Twilight it’s just that you look really nice in that costume…” if Twilight could see through his mask she would be able to see his blush. After Pip had said this; the rest of the group joined in.
“Yeah Twilight you look just like a doll or something with the weird stitches on yaw.”
“It’s not as awesome as Rainbow Dash but it kinda cool in its own way.”
“Oh it gorgeous in its own way.”
“Ms. Twilight it does look very pretty on you.”
“Oh thank you girls; I guess like your costumes mine also had a little inspiration from Dan.” Twilight said turning back inside to look at Rarity who looked away sheepishly. “Speaking of which kids have any of you seen Dan today because none of us have.” She said turning back to the kids who all shook their heads no in unison.
“No Ms Twilight not one of us has gotten a measly glimpse of him all day…do you think something is wrong?”
“No not really I think Pinkie Pie’s pinkie sense would probably tell us and as usual she’s…”
“RIGHT ON TIME!!!” Pinkie said pulling one of her normal appear out of nowhere. She had her costume on and there was a lot of green covering her bright pink fur. It was sort of like Twilight’s dress except all the patchwork on it made it seem like the outfit was crazy and discombobulated. And atop her head was a pretty big green top hat the widened a bit at the top.
“Wow pinkie that’s a nice costume; did Dan help you out too?”
“Yeah he called it the….oh wait I can’t tell; that would ruin the surprise for them!!!”
“Pinkie who is th…..never mind” Twilight started to ask but then remembered that it was never a good thing to try to get a straight answer out of Pinkie. “Anyway Pinkie how do you know that your on time?”
“Oh that easy Twilight; I have a watch!!!” Pinkie said pulling out a nice sized pocket watch out of one of her many pockets. It was interesting to look at mainly because I had a large crack going through it.
“Uh Pinkie you do know that your watch is broken right?” Twilight said with a sheepish smile.
“Oh of course Twilight; but look closer it broken when the time is six thirty; which means that when I arrive for me it’s always six thirty; SO I CAN NEVER BE LATE!!!”
Everyone stared at Pinkie for a bit before they all burst into laughter.
“Alright now kiddies how about we go get us some more candy?” the kids cheered at Pinkie suggestion; it was a well known fact with the kids of Ponyville and Pinkie that there is never such a thing as too much candy.
“Well then….CHANGE HOUSES!!!” she shouted and all the kids scrambled in different directions towards the next candy giving domicile.
“Well girls I guess that’s our queue to head out; I know Spike is out there too; so how about we go have some fun.” She said as her group walked out the door of the library and into the spooky decorated town.
The girls walked around passing by people they knew and talking about costumes. They saw Lyra and Bon Bon who were dressed as plumbers in different colored clothing; Lyra in red and Bon Bon in green. The Cakes were dressed as chess pieces; Cup and Carrot were the king and queen while their twins were pawns. They also passed Vinyl and Octavia who were also in duo costumes; they were in dark suit which mirrored each other. Octavia’s hair was slicked back a bit more than usual; as for Vinyl she was wearing a small black afro with matching facial hair covering her mouth.
It was a bit of walking and talking before they reached the town square where the festivities were. After searching they found the dragon they were looking for.
“Spike there you are!!!” Twilight said to the dragon. He was wearing an orange martial arts outfit and a black wig on in which the hair was weirdly pointy.
“Oh hey Twilight nice costume...”
“Oh thank you Spike; nice to know someone truly likes it without..”
“You trying to get a date now or later?” Twilight shut up for a sec to let the stress go about everyone saying something about her costume and stallions.
“Anyway…” she said with a hint of anger in her voice “Me and the girls were wondering if you have seen Dan; it seems like no one has today.”
“That’s because no one has; I’ve been asking around and no one has seen a six foot two human anywhere today.” Spike’s words started to set of Twilight’s worrying.
“Oh that’s not good; maybe he’s lost, or hurt, or both!!! I should send a letter to the princess.”
“Princess Luna” Spike said.
“Maybe one to her to so we can increase the number of people to look for him and…”
“No Twilight I mean look its Princess Luna.” Spike said grabbing her head and turning it towards the sky to see a chariot pulled by two night guards and carrying the princess of the night.
Cheers were heard from the ponies in the town square as Luna’s chariot landed. Twilight and her three friends rushed over to greet her as she stepped off.
“Princess Luna it so good to see you I didn’t know if you were going to come this year.”
“Well Twilight Sparkle; I was so happy with what happened last year I thought that I would make this an annual event for me.”
“Oh well then we hope that we can make your visit even better than last year.”
“Oh no doubt I think since I’ve already acclimated to what happened at least the first half will be better.” The princess chuckled at her words; remembering how her first Nightmare Night in Ponyville almost ended in disaster and the abolishment of the holiday itself.
“Princess Luna!!!” the princess heard the voice of a small child get louder. She looked out and saw a small yellow ninja run ahead of a group moving towards.
“Pipsqueak?” she laughed “Is that you beneath that mask?”
“Sure is Princes; glad to see you again. Do you like my costume?” he said as the princess gave him a quick nuzzle and then looked him over as well as the other kids he was with.
“Yes I have to say that your costume does look very nice as do the rest of your friends. Also Twilight you and your friends costume look fine; how did you all come up with these ideas?”
“Well princess to tell the truth I think that all of us had a little help from Dan giving us some inspiration.”
“Ah yes Dan; how has he been doing recently; is he getting used to pony life?”
“I believe so; although no one has seen him today and it’s kind of worrying me a bit; I was going to start looking for him.” She started to freak out a bit; but a hoof on her back calmed her down.
“Do not worry Twilight; Tis Nightmare Night and many are looking for a good scare. Perhaps he is simply hiding in a great spot looking to scare unknowing fillies and mares.
“I guess that could be the….wait why didn’t you say stallions?” Something poked at Twilight’s curiosity.
“Well for one I didn’t think he would swing that way so I thought he would scare the fillies for fun and the mares for…you know…”
“Princess just what are you imply…” Twilight felt the blush on her face before she was interrupted.
“Attention citizens of Ponyville!!!” the mayor’s voice rang out over the loud speaker.
“We shall talk more later Twilight Sparkle; but for now your mayor has something to say.”
“Hello everyone of Ponyville and welcome to our annual Nightmare Night festival!” the people cheered the mayors words as she spoke. “Just like last year we have the honor of hosting one of our gracious leaders; Princess Luna!!!” applause was thrown Luna’s way as she headed to the stage to say some words.
“Why hello everypony surely this is a lot better entrance than last year.” The princess said jokingly getting laughter from the crowd. “This year I think will be an even better celebration; so let the fun doubled!!!” she said before she started to walk off stage.
“Oh princess can you please wait a second the mayor asked before Princess Luna had stepped off the stage. He nodded and waited while the mayor went back to the microphone.
“Now besides the princess we also have another guest tonight; who is here for his first Nightmare Night; our resident human hero DAN!!!” cheers went on for awhile before everyone noticed that Dan wasn’t around.
“Um Twilight where is Dan?” the mayor asked from the stage.
“He’s not here at the moment but he may be soon?” Twilight answered trying to hide the fact that she didn’t know.
“Well while we wait for a bit I will continue. Anyway since Dan came we can say that it has seemed a bit better and tonight is no exception. During the week he came to me and told me about something they do back where he was from on a holiday that is basically the same as this. I’d like to point your attention to the scarecrow we have on stage.”
She pointed to a scarecrow that had been set up on stage. It was in the shape of a human and for the head there was a pumpkin jack-o-lantern with a menacing face carved into it.
“Dan told me that during times on the holiday people would light scarecrows like these on fire to pay homage to the old spirits that they believed in; so I thought that to welcome him to our town on this holiday we would observe one of his traditions.” The crowd applauded at the idea; Dan had done them a great service and turned out to be a really nice guy so far so it was the least they could do.
“Princess Luna; would you like to do us the honor?” the mayor asked the night princess.
“Oh it sounds like a wonderful idea.” Luna said taking a step forward. Her horn charged with magic for a second before a beam fired out and hit the effigy in the chest and it caught fire. The flames danced on its body as they spread and the townspeople looked at it in awe. And then something scary happened…it talked.
“Ah it’s been so long since someone set me ablaze.” It said as it then got off it pole and began walking around the stage. “Oh well this is a new sight; little colorful horses…and they look so easy to scare.” The pumpkin mouth was moving to the voice that was coming out of it. It looked at the different ponies before it; each one flinching a bit in fear.
“Excuse me but would you mind telling me who you are?” The fiery scarecrow turned and looked to see a slight bigger pony with a more regal look to it.
“Oh why hello I didn’t see you there. My name is Jack. And by the looks of it I can guess that you are some type of royalty?” he said giving a bow.
“Yes I am Princess Luna; may I ask what you are doing here?”
“Well you summoned me here princess; and my job which comes once a year is to scare.”
“Oh well I am sorry but I cannot allow you to harm any of my subjects.”
“Harm them!?!? Why would I do that; there no fun in harming someone when you scare them; it takes all the fun out of it. I mostly just tend to pop out of the shadows and such and give people a good fright; I am very good at my job.”
“Oh I see then there has been a bit of a misunderstanding I apologize. Do not fear ponies this creature only wishes to join us in our haunting merry making.” The crowd calmed down a bit at this revelation; they were thinking that they had some new type of monster to deal with.
“Oh but Jack isn’t it hard to scare people with you on fire?”
“Oh why yes your majesty this form is really one a one time scare deal which in this case seems to have worked. Now if I could just find a bit of water.” The creature looked around before seeing the big bobbing for apples tub. “Ah that will work nicely.” It said before it started moving towards then end of the stage while picking up speed. When it reached the end of the stage it jumped high into the air flipping twice before diving into the tub. Ponies looked in surprise as a different figure then rose from the tub.
This was not the same scarecrow though; instead of the rag it had on now it was wearing a large black formal suit; except instead of a regular bowtie there was a spider. And instead of a pumpkin for a head and sticks for limbs now underneath the clothing was a skeleton with bones of pure white. It eyes were large as a ponies and looked cavernous.
Upon arising from the tub it stretched before saying anything.
“Ah now that feels better to be back to my old bones.” It long legs carrying it out of the tub; stepping over many ponies and getting back to the stage in only a couple of steps. “Does this look more suitable for the events of tonight your highness?”
“Yes quite; you look like a very handsome skeleton jack; although I have to say I still think I will scare more ponies than you will.”
“Oh really?” the skeleton said his eye sockets changing in size to give off the impression that he was raising an eyebrow.
“Yes really” the princess answered.
“Oh really?”
“Yes really…snrk.” The princess laughed a little.
“Oh really?”
“Yes rea heh Hahahahahaha I’m sorry I can’t hold it anymore I tried.” Princess Luna started laughing and made all of Ponyville confused as to what they were witnessing.
“Uh Princess what exactly is going on here?” Twilight and her friends had made their way onto the stage and like everyone else; had no clue what was happening.
“Oh perhaps it’s time for me to explain or rather show you.” Jack said to the group of ponies on the stage. He then reached behind his head and put his hands at the base of his skull and then pulled. Instead of his head just popping off; there was a small flash of magic and the face became like a mask. And underneath was everyone favorite human.
“Dan!!! It was you under there!?!?!” Twilight was astounded; as were probably most of the other people around the stage.
“Yeah it was me all along. Hi everybody HAPPY NIGHTMARE NIGHT!!!” he shouted to everyone. Silence was the only thing he got in return.
“But how is this even possible I know your not that skinny…or a skeleton.” Rainbow Dash asked.
“I believe it would be better f I filled in those details Rainbow Dash.” The princess stepped up along side the human.
“Princess you’re in on this charade too?” Rarity was dumbfounded.
“Yes Rarity I am. See about a week ago Dan sent me specifically a letter; in that letter he told me about a plan he had for Nightmare Night that required my help. So over the past week I have been communicating with him and setting up the enchantments for his costume.”
“Wait so Dan here has been the scarecrow that has been here all day?” Applejack asked.
“Yup AJ I’ve been here all day waiting for the events to play out as they did” it felt weird to me that I hadn’t had to go to the bathroom all day; but hey when you get a good opportunity to scare go for it.
“And what exactly was the point of all that?” Twilight pinched the brow of her nose with her hoof.
“To have fun on Nightmare Night and scare some ponies; Twilight what else.” I said turning to the crowd. “Hello ponies of Ponyville!!! Did I do a good job?” I waited for a minute until I heard cheers, applause, and laughter come my way. “See Sally they like what I did.” I said looking at Twilight.
“Who’s Sally?” Twilight looked at me confused; I thought she knew where her costume was from.
“The costume you had on is based on a character named Sally from the same movie where my costume is from.”
“Oh I didn’t know; Rarity told me she got the idea from someone; I assumed it was you.” Now it was Dan’s turned to be confused; the only person who could have told Rarity anything was one of the princesses; and why exactly would they make her costume match with his. It was a mystery to be solved later cause at the moment he was being flanked by his friends and also many colts and fillies that were in awe of his costume.
“Alright then colts, fillies, stallions, mares, and of course you princess; how about we have some Nightmare Night fun?” hey got a resounding “Yeah!!!” from all sides.
The night went on and many fun things happened; Dan got to scare some ponies; have a ton of candy; do a little dancing; there was an awkward moment during the duo costume dance where he dance with Twilight in his arms holding her by her two front forelegs; laughs, cheer, and some “Aww”s were heard; and he wasn’t sure but Dan swore he heard camera’s going off too.
After all was said and done Dan along with five of the mane six sat at a table with Princess Luna talking as they took a rest.
“Oh everypony by the way I have an announcement from Tia and I. We wanted to give you these.” She said magicking something out of the air. Five golden tickets sprung out of the ether and landed in front of the each of the girls.
“Princess these are Grand Galloping Gala ticket…your letting us go again?” Twilight asked nervously; remembering the events that played out last time she and her friends went to the gala.
“Why yes Twilight; from my sister’s accounts the last gala was made more enjoyable by the antics of you and your friends; and this year we are making some more…suitable changes for everypony that isn’t a noble or high class socialite. We want all ponies to be able to enjoy themselves there not just the stuck up idiots and snobs.
“Hear hear!!!” me and Rarity both said in unison, me because I hated people…and ponies like that, and Rarity because of one certain prince who absolutely did not live up to any reputation.
“Oh but Princess what about Dan; doesn’t he get to go too?” Rarity asked the question I hadn’t though about yet.
“Why of course; I was saving him for last cause his invitation is special.”
“Special how Luna?” I was now curious; seeing as how I didn’t think I golden ticket could get any more special.
“Well we thought it would be better if you would also be able to bring friends; so your invitation allows for you to bring up to ten ponies with you. I suggest you chose wisely though…oh and before I forget Twilight there is one more invitation I have.”
She magicked up two golden sheets one made its way to me and the other went to Twilight who read it.
“This is for…Pipsqueak and his friends?”
“Yes; like I said we are making the Grand Galloping Gala more accessible to all ponies; there will be things to do for ponies of all ages.”
“Wow that’s very nice of you Princess I’ll go Pipsqueak right away.” Twilight said as she rose from the table and went of to find the children; her friends following after her.
“Twilight wait up!”
“Yes dear don’t run so fast you might ruin your costume!”
“Ah don’t worry Rarity it’ll be an easy fix.”
As soon as they were out of ear shot I asked the princess a question that had been on my mind since I saw Twilight tonight.
“Ok Luna so who’s idea was it to make Twilight’s costume and mine match tonight; I know that I can cross Shining of the list since he probably wants to kick my butt to Tartarus and back.”
“And you would be correct at that sir. But as for the first part of your question I’m afraid I have been sworn to secrecy.”
“Oh really?” I said giving here a hard stare; she didn’t even flinch at my attempt.
“Well fine I’ll leave you to your secrets.” I said with a chuckle as we sat at the table; I looked away and towards my gala invitation; playing with it in my hands. “The Grand Galloping Gala…and I get to bring friends…” I said looking over to Twilight and the group talking to the kids whose jaws had hit the floor with the news they had been given. I put my mask back on and gave the menacing grin which reflected on my skeleton face.
“Now this is going to be fun!!!”