“Applejack, ah’m headin’ out now!” Apple Bloom said as she opened the front door to her house and stepped outside.
“Hold up! Ah’ll walk ya ta town,” Applejack said as she approached Apple Bloom, only for the filly to let out a frustrated groan.
“Sis, ah’m not a lil’ kid anymore! Ah can walk ta town on mah own!”
“But Apple Bloom, it’s dark out, an’-” Applejack sighed. She knew she wasn’t going to win this argument, and she didn’t want to get her sister upset. “Alright, but ah want ya ta stick ta the path.”
“Ah know,” Apple Bloom said with a roll of her eyes.
“Also… are y’all really goin’ out lookin’ like that?” Applejack asked, looking over her sister’s costume, which consisted of a tiara on her head and her mane styled like a certain little rich filly that the Apple family all knew very well. Her flank had a sticker attached to it with an image of a tiara crudely drawn on.
“Of course! That Diamond Tiara made fun of our costumes last Nightmare Night by sayin’ they looked silly an’ ugly, an’ we know she’s gonna try ta do it again! But we’re one step ahead of her.” A grin crossed Apple Bloom’s face and she chuckled as she turned around and walked down the path leading away from the farmhouse.
“Jus’ be back by ten!” Applejack shouted, before retreating back into the farmhouse.
“There she is!” Scootaloo shouted as she pointed over to Apple Bloom approaching her two friends. “Alright! We’re all in costume!”
Apple Bloom looked over her two friends. Scootaloo’s costume was similar to hers, only her wings were hidden by a pink sweater with red hearts on it, and Sweetie Belle’s was similar except for it being more professionally done. The tiara was real silver and was sparkling, as opposed to cardboard, her mane was dyed the right colours, as was her tail, and her Cutie Mark was painted on as opposed to crudely drawn onto a piece of paper.
“Wow,” was all that Apple Bloom could say in response to Sweetie Belle’s costume. “Somepony sure went the extra mile.”
“It wasn’t my idea,” Sweetie Belle argued. “Rarity said that if I was going to dress up as one of my classmates to stop her from picking on me, I should do it right.”
“Still, it looks real good,” Apple Bloom said, nodding her head as she circled around Sweetie Belle, admiring every single aspect of the filly’s costume. The way the tiara glittered in the moonlight, the way the Cutie Mark was drawn on both flanks – a feature that Apple Bloom forgot about – the way the filly’s blushing face just made her young heart flutter-
Apple Bloom stopped in her tracks. “What’s wrong?” Scootaloo asked, waving a hoof in front of Apple Bloom.
“… I-Is it jus’ me, or is Sweetie Belle cuter than usual today?” Apple Bloom asked, her face heating up as soon as the words escaped her mouth.
“W-What?!” Sweetie Belle squeaked. “Am not!”
“Actually, I thought that, too,” Scootaloo said, blushing and kicking the ground with a hoof. “Not just her. When you got here, my first thought was like ‘dayuuuuum’.”
“Really?” Apple Bloom asked with wide eyes. “… Now that I get a closer look, ye’re pretty cute right now, too.”
“S-So it’s not just me?” Sweetie Belle asked, half-relieved and half-worried. “What’s going on?”
Apple Bloom put a hoof to her chin. “What could it be? Ah ain’t never felt this way ‘bout you girls before. No offence.”
“I don’t know what it is,” Scootaloo said. “It’s just, when I saw you coming towards us with that tiara and your mane styled like that…”
“Wait! Ah got it!” Apple Bloom exclaimed. “It’s the costumes! That’s what’s making us feel this way!”
“It is?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Actually, now that you mention it, my first thought when I saw Scootaloo was how much I admired her Cutie Mark. Then I was thinking how I wanted her to hold me and-”
“Okay, Sweetie Belle, let’s keep this PG-13,” Scootaloo said. “But anyway, how can we be sure?”
“Only one way ta find out. Everypony, costumes off.” The three girls hastily removed their costumes. “… Anythin’?”
“Nah,” Scootaloo said. “Sweetie’s still cute, but more like in a pet puppy way.”
“You two are back to being tomboys now,” Sweetie Belle said with a smile.
“Yeah, ah don’t have the same feelin’ anymore either. Alright, now costumes back on.” The girls quickly gathered up their costumes and put them back on. “… Mah heart feels like it’s gonna fly right outta mah mouth.”
“Why do I suddenly want to write poems for you?” Scootaloo asked. “I don’t even like poetry!”
“I… I think I just want to skip Nightmare Night and cuddle with you two, instead,” Sweetie Belle said.
“That settles it! It’s the costumes!” Apple Bloom declared, slowly backing away from Sweetie Belle, but fighting hard not to fulfil her friend’s request.
“So what does that mean?” Scootaloo asked.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Apple Bloom asked. Her two friends shook their heads. “It means…” Apple Bloom sighed. “It means we gotta go pay somepony a visit.”
“Another Nightmare Night, another great haul,” Diamond Tiara said as she looked into her bag at all of the candy she had collected over the night. “My Sailor Moon costume was great, as expected.”
“Well of course,” Silver Spoon said as she examined her own haul. She was standing beside Diamond Tiara in her black cat – or ‘Luna’ – costume. “Well, it’s been great, but I should probably head home now. I’ve got to get back before mum does so I can hide all my candy.”
“Oh yeah. Your mum’s has a thing against candy, doesn’t she?” Diamond asked as she closed up her bag. “I guess I’ll head back too, then. See you tomorrow?”
“You bet.” The two proceeded to say goodbye by means of their ‘secret hoofshake’.
“Bump, bump, sugar-lump rump!”
“Later!” Diamond waved goodbye to her friend and then turned to leave, a big smile on her face. Or at least, it was on her face, until she rounded a corner and almost collided with three fillies running haphazardly through the streets. “Wha- Blank flanks?!”
“Diamond!” Apple Bloom shouted, panting heavily as she came to a stop. “We found ya! Finally!”
“‘Found me’?” Diamond stopped to examine their costumes for a second. “Wait a minute, why are you all dressed as me?!”
“Long story!” Scootaloo said. “Listen, we need to tell you something!”
“When we all met up earlier, we all felt weird feelings for each other,” Sweetie Belle explained. “Like, our hearts were racing and we wanted to do romantic things together.”
“Ew,” Diamond said. Her eyebrow arched as she took another look over Apple Bloom’s costume. ‘But damn, she can pull off that look really well.’
“But then we realised it wasn’t each other. It was the costumes!” Apple Bloom added. “And that’s because we… we love you,” Apple Bloom said, taking a step closer to Diamond Tiara along with her two friends.
“W-What?!” Diamond Tiara shrieked, taking a step back.
“It’s true,” Scootaloo said. “I didn’t notice it before, but you drive me crazy with the way you talk and act like you’re in charge!”
“And you make my heart flutter every time I see you,” Sweetie Belle said.
“Ah dream about ya every night when ah go ta bed!” Apple Bloom shouted. “… Too creepy?”
“A tad,” Diamond Tiara said. ‘W-What is going on? These blank flanks like me? They love me? What should I do? I should turn them down, right? But then… they really do look so cute right now. Is it the costumes, or have I just been so blinded by their blank flanks that I failed to notice how attractive Scootaloo is, how reliable Apple Bloom is, and how adorable Sweetie Belle is?
‘Wait! Could it be? The reason I’ve always been focussing on their flanks is because…’
“D-Diamond?” Apple Bloom asked, tears starting to form in her eyes. “You don’t like us, do you? I-It’s okay… Y’all can jus’ say so, an we’ll jus’ pretend this whole thing never hap-”
“No, wait!” Diamond shouted, more on instinct that out of rational thought. “Uh, I mean… I guess I could give you all a chance, since you clearly have good tastes. And… I guess I kinda might have feelings for you, too… maybe.”
The three Crusaders all smiled and jumped forward, each one grabbing a hold of Diamond Tiara and smothering her as they fell to the floor. “This is so great!” Sweetie Belle shouted.
“This is awesome!” Scootaloo said.
“Ah’m so happy!” Apple Bloom declared.
“O-Okay, I get it! You’re all happy!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Now get off of me! Your herd leader demands some air!”
The three fillies gasped and quickly scrambled off of Diamond Tiara. A few awkward seconds of silence passed. “So… what now?” Diamond asked.
“Ah think ah should probably get home, before Applejack starts gettin’ worried an’ has the whole town lookin’ fer me,” Apple Bloom said.
“Yeah, it is getting pretty late,” Diamond said. “So… we’ll see each other in school tomorrow?” The Crusaders nodded, and one-by-one, they leaned forward to kiss Diamond Tiara goodbye before leaving off into the night. Diamond brought a hoof to her lips, and then smiled. With a spring in her step and glee in her heart, Diamond Tiara turned around and began skipping her merry way home. “This is so going into my diary,” she said with a small excited giggle.