The clock over the blackboard slowly ticked and ticked away. Cheerliee's lecture had become a steady stream of droning background noise. There was only about fifteen minutes left in class but it felt like a year and a half had gone by that day. Most of the other kids were getting as antsy as the Crusaders by now, though Scootaloo's face falling hard into the book on her desk was probably proof enough that she was on the verge of going crazy.
You really couldn't blame them though. Tonight was Nightmare Night! Candy, costumes, pranks and scares...it was every kid's favorite night of the year! Why Miss Cheerilee insisted on teaching until the final bell like it was any other day was just another one of those mysteries of the universe.
"Scootaloo," a voice called out. The filly snapped her head up in a flash. "Are you paying attention?"
"Err, yeah, Miss Cheerilee! I just, uh, saw a fly on my desk and went to squish it!"
Unconvinced for some reason, the teacher simply glared at the pegasus. "Uh huh. You realize we do still have some time left before class is done today, I hope."
"Sure! Wouldn't miss it for the world!"
"Good. Because I'd like to talk about something that I'd like you all to do tonight while you're out running around gathering candy." A loud groan filled the room. "Now, now, it's not homework. It's for fun more than anything, though I do hope you find it as interesting as I do."
Cheerilee opened the textbook on her desk and flipped to the correct page. After looking over the pictures for a moment, she took a piece of chalk and drew several dots of various size on the blackboard, connecting several together with lines and forming some basic shapes.
"I've always found astronomy fascinating. Old explorers would use constellations – patterns and designs we've mapped out in the sky – to help them navigate, and some of the stories behind them can be quite intriguing. This constellation here is called Ursa Major, just like the giant bears that live in the Everfree Forest. These two stars point to the North Star, which happens to be the tip of the tail in the constellation Ursa Minor."
"Like the one that somepony dragged to town once," Apple Bloom chimed in, causing everypony to glare at Snips and Snails, neither of whom seemed to notice the two dozen eyes staring death at them.
"Erm...yes. Just like that one," Cheerilee murmured, remembering the rather interesting events that surrounded a certain traveling showpony. "Anyway, the North Star never moves in the sky. It's what our star charts are centered around. Now, the Ursa Minor is mostly surrounded by one of the largest constellations in the sky: Draco the Dragon. Legend has it that the dragon guarded over a tree that grew golden apples in an ancient garden, but was killed when a strange mythical creature came to steal them and now watches over the Ursa Minor."
"A strange mythical creature?"
"What'd it look like?"
"What was it called?"
Miss Cheerilee shrugged. "Unfortunately, we're not really sure. Many of those stories' origins have been lost to time. But that just means you can use your imagination and fill in the blanks if you like." She pointed to the creature's stellar design. "Draco's killer is this one here, named Hercules, and it can be found right next to Draco, pitting them in an endless battle. Another one of those ancient creatures is represented by one of the most famous constellations in the sky: Orion. It can be easily spotted by its belt, which is made of three very close stars, and because it contains two of the brightest stars in the sky: Rigel on one end and Betelgeuse on the other."
A white unicorn squirmed in her seat. "Blech!"
"Something the matter, Sweetie Belle?"
"Betel...geuse?"
"That's right."
"Why would ponies name something after what sounds like...bug guts?" the little unicorn asked, sticking her tongue out at the idea. The rest of the class giggled at the grotesque description.
"Well, the ponies who named it haven't been around in a very long time, and I have a feeling the original meaning of the word didn't have anything to do with bug guts. Stories tell of Orion being a great and powerful hunter, who–"
The last bell finally rang out, much to the delight of the children.
"Before you all go," Cheerilee interrupted, "do a little reading before you go out tonight. We'll talk more about the stars tomorrow, but it could be fun looking around for some of the constellations tonight too. Have a safe Nightmare Night!"
With a loud cheer, the quickly room emptied. Following behind the stampede were the Crusaders, chatting about their evening plans.
"So where were we going to meet up tonight?" Sweetie Belle asked.
"Come on over to Sweet Apple Acres. Granny's gonna be makin' some chocolate chip cookies for any guests. But honestly, we've never really gotten many visitors. The farm must be just too far out of town for most ponies. We could probably have a few before we go out."
"Sounds good to me. What are you guys going as?"
"Rainbow Dash was able to hook me up with a Junior Wonderbolts outfit! I'm going to look so awesome!" Scootaloo squealed, her little wings buzzing as she hopped in the air.
"Ah'm going as Mare-Do-Well. Ah gotta say the hat looks pretty cool on me. What about you, Sweetie Belle?"
The filly hung her head and curled her lips miserably. "Rarity's been putting together a princess gown for me for the last couple days."
"Yeesh," Scootaloo winced, "sounds awful."
"Yeah. But hey, as long as the candy rolls in, I'll just deal with it for one night."
"Eeyup. Ah'm gonna head home and get things ready. See you girls tonight!"
-----
The trio was headed back to town through the orchard, just passing their clubhouse, with some snacks in their bellies and bags hanging around their necks that they hoped would be filled to the brim with treats by night's end. They couldn't wait to see all the fun games and creepy decorations around town. Maybe if they were really lucky, they'd bump into Pinkie Pie again and go running around acting nutty like she usually did every year. Or every day. Who can keep it all straight with that one?
"So where are we going to go first?" Sweetie Belle spoke up.
"Bon Bon always has some really good candy."
"Ah heard that Sugarcube Corner is givin' away some free samples of cake and ice cream and canoles and stuff. We could go there."
"That does sound pretty good."
Scootaloo quickly put on a snarky grin. "You sure? I mean, those don't have any...bug guts in them."
"Have you been working on that since we got out of school?" the little unicorn snapped back.
The pegasus shrugged. "It's been swimming around in my head for an hour or so. I'm just glad that Granny Smith didn't make her cookies with any betelgeuse!"
"Ewwwww!"
"Betelgeuuuuse!"
"Quit iiiiit!"
"C'mon, Scootaloo, cut it out."
"Betelgeuuuuse!"
"Scoota–"
KRACKOOOOOM!
"...loo?"
As the strangely empty heavens erupted once again, the fillies darted into each other's grasp. A sudden bolt of lightning came from out of nowhere and struck the earth only a few feet away, freaking the girls out even further.
"W-w-what's going on?!"
The ground began to bulge up from below, as if something was trying to claw its way out from the dirt. A laugh echoed through the air as a pale, decaying hand burst forth and then another. Whatever it was pulled itself out from underneath the ground and triumphantly threw itself into the air, somehow floating without the use of wings. The rest of what looked to be its skin was as rotten as its hands, and its faded yellowish hair stood raggedly on its head. After a moment, this bizarre entity, wearing a black-and-white striped outfit, landed on two legs before the horrified trio, cackling like a maniac.
"It's showtime!"