//------------------------------//
// Breaking Out 
// Story: Lucky Breaks: Nightmare Night 
// by Emeral Bookwise 
//------------------------------//

"Nightmare Night, what a fright, give us something sweet to bite!"

A chorus of costumed foals stood at the front door of the Golden Oaks library, their goody-bags held out in eager anticipation.  A lavender-coated unicorn in a large bell-ridden hat and matching blue cloak levitated a candy treat for each of them.  The children smiled in brief gratitude before quickly running off to poach more delicious loot.

Twilight Sparkle smiled as she closed the door and set down her bowl of candies.  It was a simple pleasure to be able to bring such joy to others, but she'd also be glad when the evening's frivolities were finally over and she could snuggle up in bed with a good book.

Of course it wasn't long before another knock sounded, and so she once again levitated the bowl of sweets before opening the door… however, it was no foal that greeted her this time.

"Nightmare Night, what a fright, gimme somethin' sweet to bite!" chimed the full grown mare with a gray coat, mossy green mane, and the widest toothiest grin a pony could imagine.

"Lucky… aren't you a little old for this?"

Clover Charms, also known by her ironic nickname, Lucky, shrugged, "You're only as old as you feel, and besides, tis the season, as they say."

It was the wrong holiday for that particular expression, but against such an infectiously enthusiastic smile, Twilight couldn't muster anything more than a bemused sigh as she shook her head. "Well, feel free to help yourself to some candy anyway.  There's more than enough to go around."

"Don't mind if I do," said the earth pony as she strolled into the library.  Setting down a wrapped bundle she'd been balancing on her back, Clover snatched up a hoof-full of candies before adding, "Don't s'pose you've got any mustard to dip these in?"

Twilight could feel her stomach turn a loop, but did her best to smile as she answered, "In the kitchen, second cupboard on the right and third shelf down." She didn't really mind indulging her friend's bizarre pallet… at least so long as Clover didn't try sharing.

Moments later Clover sat dipping toffees into the jar. "By the way, nice reverse Trixie costume.  I especially like the beard, way to stick it to that ol' nag."

Briefly rolling her eyes, Twilight suppressed the urge to again remind her friend that she no longer bore any grudge against Trixie.  It was kind of Twilight's fault anyway for instilling that sentiment in the first place, seeing as it was only because of her own ill-conceived scheme to oust Trixie as a supposed fraud that she'd  ever met Clover in the first place.  Besides, it was far more pressing to address that this now made the seventh pony tonight who had misidentified her costume.

"I'm not Trixie; I'm Starswirl the Bearded."

"Oh yeah, that old fogey you're always on about who invented magic or whatever.  Guess maybe I should have dressed up as his clever apprentice or something and then we could match."

"He didn't invent magic; although, his research and theorems did revolutionize it." Belatedly, Twilight also realized, "Hey, why aren't you wearing a costume anyway?"

Clover grinned, or rather her omnipresent grin widened, "Oh, that's my surprise for you!"

Unwrapping the package she'd broaught, Clover revealed a long mass of green sequined fabric with various gemstones stitched into it.  Two protrusions that looked like leathery wings adorned the middle.  One end tapered off into a pointy tail, while the other seem to vaguely resemble some kind of horned reptile.

"Umm," Twilight hesitated choosing her words carefully, "that's… great… but what exactly is it supposed to be?"

Clover gave the head a shake causing the vacant beady eyes to rattle about, "It's a dragon. That fussy unicorn who runs the boutique made it, not that she was happy with me ordering it so last minute."

Twilight tilted her head from side to side, as she looked over the costume.  It certainly looked like a rush job, but the gems still betrayed the stylings of Ponyville's resident fashionista.  One thing still seemed off though, "Isn't it a little… big?" she asked.

Impossible as it seemed, Clover's grin only widened all the further, "That's the best part, Tenbs…" she replied with baited excitement, still using the nickname derived from the alias Twilight had given when they first met.

Twilight had long since accepted that her quirky friend would probably always address her by some variation of that name.  While in some ways it was an unfortunate reminder of a past she was trying to put behind her, but in many other ways she'd come to find it endearing… even if it was still a bit awkward to explain around others.

She didn't have long to ruminate over the matter though before Clover, who had been pausing for dramatic effect, finally finished her excited declaration "…we're busting you out!"

"What!?" Twilight stammered in wide eyed alarm, "Clover, no… we've been over this before.  I want to pay my debt to society, not go back on the run."

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Clover said waving a hoof dismissively, "But I didn't mean permanently, just for tonight. You can't stay locked up with these dusty old books all the time.  You need to get out there and live a little."

"I do get out," Twilight insisted defensively, "Part of my community service entails helping out ponies around town whenever I can."

Clover huffed as she continued waving off the protest, "Oh please, I don't mean that boring stuff supervised by some official escort.  I mean actually going out for an honest to goodness night on the town, especially on Nightmare Night.  This is the one holiday that's actually supposed to be about breaking the rules in the spirit of good fun."

"That's hardly the same," replied twilight taking on a lecturous tone, "Just because some foals like to engage in lighthearted mischief on this night doesn't mean I can get away with breaking the terms of my parole."

"Come on, Tenbre, just this once," begged the earth pony as she held up the costume in her hooves and rattled its googly-eyes, "You can't let me down, not tonight, not after all the trouble I went through, and besides, you'll be in disguise the whole time so it's not like anypony will ever need to know."

"Clover, I… well, I appreciate the gesture, but…" Twilight really was torn.  Her resolve was firm, but she didn't want to disappoint her friend either.  Glancing back at the enchanted security bangle on her hind hoof, however, reminded her she still had an easy excuse, "That is rather to say… I couldn't leave even if I wanted to… remember?"

"Hmph…" Clover never frowned, but her smile wilted ever so slightly, "Guess only a big ol' dummy could forget something like that."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," Twilight said consolingly, "Anypony can make mistakes."

"You're right, Tenbs…" Clover replied as she dug a hoof into the back of her curly mane, "But fortunately I'm not just anypony."

Twilight stared dumbfounded, not because of what the other mare had said, but because of what Clover was now holding.  The magic bangle Twilight wore was enchanted with a warding alarm which normally restricted her movements to the library unless she was accompanied by her assigned parole officer, Trixie.  There was, however, also a second bangle, which was meant to allow Trixie to assign temporary proxies to act in her stead.

As Twilight's brain finally rebooted though, she scowled. "Clover… you can't just go stealing that!"

"I knew you'd say that, Tembs, and that's why I got this the official way," Clover clarified, while holding her hooves up to either side of her head to mime a pair of air-quotes

"Official?" Twilight asked, echoing her friend's emphasis, although already dreading the answer.

"Yeup, by conspiring with Piercy to sneak all the forms into a nice thick stack of other boring ol' papers his boss was signing."

"That's not any better, Clover," Twilight retorted, one eye twitching in agitation, "Tricking Trixie's secretary into helping you bend the rules is still wrong."

"Trick?" Clover replied while holding a hoof to her barrel as if wounded, "Gimme more credit than that, and besides, it was his idea in the first place."

Twilight raised a single hoof, taking in a deep breath as she mentally prepared to deliver an appropriate lecture, yet before she could start she paused with her mouth hanging open.

Clover never frowned, yet somehow despite that she'd managed to fuse a pleading pout with her lower lip, while still retaining her upturned smile at the corners. The seemingly contradictory contrast was so absurd, Twilight found herself struck dumbfounded.

Seizing the opportunity, Clover stuck a hoof under Twilights slack jaw, puppeting it as she poorly imitated her friend's voice, "That's an excellent point, Lucky, you're so thoughtful and the best friend a pony could ever have."

Shaking herself out of the stupor, Twilight swatted the hoof away, "I can't just…"

"Please."

'It wouldn't be…"

"Plleeeaaasse."

"If we get caught…"

"Pllleeeeeaaaaassse."

Her shoulders slumping, Twilight's head drooped to the floor in defeat as she reluctantly conceded with a long sigh, "Fine… "

Without warning Clover hug-tackled her friend, squealing in delight, "Yay! This is going to be so much fun!  The two of us are gonna have the bestest Nightmare Night ever!"

Gasping for breath in friends embrace, Twilight channeled a spell through her horn.

*POP*

Teleporting out of the earth pony's grip, Twilight collected herself with a stern expression, "But only this once, and then never again."

Clover nodded enthusiastically, "Don't worry, I promise you won't regret this."

Returning her friend's beaming grin with a half-hearted apprehensive smile of her own, Twilight worried she might be regretting it already.





What might be perhaps the gaudiest dragon ever conceived strolled down the streets of Ponyville.  Still, amidst all the various costumes, from the finely crafted to the makeshift, it didn't stand out too much.

Even though there was no way anyone would recognize her as part of the eight legged lumbering beast, Twilight still felt very self-conscious about being out in public like this without permission.  It hardly helped that she had to occasionally swat Clover's tail out of her face, but at least being in the back half of their shared costume made it all the less likely her cover might be inadvertently blown.

The festivities for the evening were well under way.  Mayor Ivory Scrolls was on a stage regaling foals with a tail of the origins of the holiday in an exaggeratedly spooky voice that didn't at all mesh with her rainbow-wigged clown costume.  Meanwhile other ponies were running all manner of carnival attractions.

"Ooh, isn't this so exciting!" Clover said, "What should we play first?"

"Doesn't make much difference from back here," Twilight replied glumly.

"Don't be like that, Tenbs. The night is young and full of potential. Hey, look, there's CT running a bobbing-for-carrots stand," Clover said pointing out the local farmer in a devil costume, "We should go say hi."

Twilight had never really extended her grudge to Trixie's friends, but the bearers of the Elements of Harmony were the last ponies she wanted to be anywhere near while trespassing outside the library.  If anypony were likely to recognize her, it would probably be one of those six.  Before Clover could lead them over to certain doom, however, a boisterous cry called out from the other side of the street.

…

"Come one, come all me maties and have a ball. Three tosses fer a bit and if ye can sink me lovely first-mate into the brine, ye can win a share of me booty," Declared Lyra Heartstrings, dressed as a bearded pirate captain in full scallywagging regalia while balancing expertly on her hind hooves as she swung around a wooden cutlass with one hoof.

A pair of foals, dressed as a ghost and mummy respectively, walked up to the minty-colored unicorn mare, but just as one began to reach for his money, both of them froze in fear before quickly galloping away.

"Arr…" the costumed pirate pony groaned, "Bonnie, ye be scaring away all the customers."

The cream-coated earth mare in a blue-striped shirt and red bandana sat atop the dunking booth, scowling with her fore-legs crossed.  She turned her frightful glare from the passerbys to her marefriend, "Lyra, just because you talked me into this doesn't mean you should expect me to be happy about it."

"Arr, me Bonnie, where be yer Nightmare Night spirit?"

"Back at the shop, where I'd rather be. This is always one of my busiest sales weeks of the year. I'm exhausted and I'd just as soon turn in early instead of freezing my flank off up here."

"It ain't be that cold a night."

"You're not the one who has to end up soaking wet," BonBon retorted bluntly before adding, "And would you cut it out with that fake accent; it sounds ridiculous."

"Oh phooey," Lyra said in her normal voice, "You're just no fun, Bonbon… although… you certainly didn't seem to think the accent was so silly last night when we were trying our costumes on… or rather when we were taking them back off."

As her marefriend unsubtly waggled her brow for emphasis, Bonbon flushed at the recollection of the intimate events of the previous evening.

"Besides," Lyra continued, "It was either this or spending the night with your folks passing out your mother's homemade, umm… candies."

This second reminder made Bonbon blanch.  She loved her mother dearly, but the older mare's experimental vegetable flavored candies were a confectionary atrocity.

"Arr…" Lyra declared, slipping back into her faux accent as she spotted a new potential customer, "There be a serpent off our starboard bow. How 'bout it; ye think ye have what it takes to win a piece of Beardmare's treasure?"

…

"This is a bad idea," Twilight whispered apprehensively.

"It'll be fine," Clover whispered back, "And if anypony's gonna get us caught it'll be you if you keep dragging your hooves like that, " then, affecting an exaggeratedly deep baritone, Clover bellowed, "Rar! I'll take on that challenge you scallywagging cur!"

"Oh ho, ho, beasty, best be anteing up a coin from yer own hoard first."

"Or you could just run along and find some other game to play," BonBon interjected, "This one is rigged."

"Arr, don't be minding me cabin wench's slander. Beardmare runs the fairest ship on all the high seas."

Clover paid the silver bit, then took up one of the painted black balls in hoof. Squinting her eyes as she pinched her tongue between her teeth, she reared back and let her pitch fly.

The ball flew wide, missing the target entirely.

"Ha!" BonBon couldn't keep the mocking laughter at bay, "I must have been worried for nothing if that's the best you've got."

Taking the second ball in hoof, Clover pitched again, this time rattling the edge of the target but not enough to dislodge it.

Nervously biting back her previous taunt, BonBon pleaded, "See… I told you… rigged… but if you give up now I'll offer a five… no make that a ten percent discount on your next visit to the Confectionarium."

"Oy, Bonnie, what ye think ye be doin'?"

"Staving off pneumonia!"

As the couple bickered, Clover whispered back to Twilight, "Hey, how about some magical assistance on this last shot?"

"What… but Clover, that would be cheating."

"Not if the game really is rigged. I swear that last shot should have dunked her."

"No, your trajectory was just off center."

"Trajectory, sm'jectory, I'm still an earth pony, so that shot should totally still have been strong enough."

"It's not just about strength, you also need the proper angle to get the correct leverage."

"Alright then, miss smarty pants, why don't you use your magic to show me how it's done?"

"Oh no, no, no," Twilight trilled, "I'm not letting you con me into breaking any more rules tonight."

"What rules, there isn't any sign saying no magic."

"It's an unspoken rule."

"You're just making excuses"

"I am not."

"Please."

"You're doing it again, aren't you?"

"Doing what?"

"That lip thing, you aren't facing me, but I can hear it in your voice."

"I have no idea what your talking about."

"Liar."

"Plleeeaaasse."

"No."

"I'm about to pitch the last ball."

"I said, no."

"Pllleeeeeaaaaassse."

…

A bell rang followed by a splash.

"Arr, ye bested Beardmare's challenge," Lyra said as she levitated a miniature chest full of foil wrapped chocolate coins, "Here be yer share of me pirate's booty."

As the pair in the dragon costume sauntered away, Lyra went over to help her marefriend out of the tank, dropping her accent, "See, that wasn't so bad, now was it?"

BonBon's teeth chattered as she shivered, "Says the pony who's still dry."

"Don't be such a sour grump. I promise I'll make it up to you later."

"Fine, whatever, but if that was Clover in the front, then who was in the back?"

Lyra shrugged, "Probably Twilight."

"I knew it!"

"Oh, come on, BonBon, you wouldn't rat her out, would you? Everypony deserves to break a few rules on Nightmare Night."

"No, not that, I meant they were cheating. I heard a twinkle on that last pitch, and that means Twilight must have used her magic."

"Twilight would never do that."

"I know what I heard, and if it wasn't Twilight then who…?"

A none too subtle whistling and a pair of averted eyes made the answer all too obvious.

"Lyra, how could you!?"

"Aww… don't be that way BonBon. It was all in good fun, and besides… somepony had to help you get that pole out of your flank"

BonBon scowled as she climbed her way back on to the dunking bench, "Is that so?  Fine, but when we get home tonight, missy, we'll see just who has the pole up their flank."

"Arr, shiver me timbers" Lyra grinned, slipping back into her accent, "Looks like these chocolate coins won't be the only booty o' mine getin' plundered."