//------------------------------// // VI - The ultimate night for free candy! // Story: A New Kind Of Party // by Wolfie 03 //------------------------------// End of October, 1004 A.D. (After Discord) After the issue of being tardy with her schoolwork, Twilight made sure to leave extra time for sudden social activities as well as plenty of time for studies; this came to be tested not even a week later when Pinkie Pie appeared on the balcony where Twilight was studying the stars that night. The lavender unicorn had just finished finding one of the stars that was part of the Sagittarius constellation and turned to mark it on her star diary when she found a pink earth pony standing between her and her target. “Waah...! Oh, uh, hi Pinkie Pie.” The hyper mare smiled at the unicorn before stepping aside to allow Twilight to stare blankly at the book, having forgotten the star's position in her surprise. “Hey Twilight! What are you going to be?” Twilight paused in her return to the telescope to stare at her marefriend in confusion. “What am I going to be?” “Oh, wait wait wait! Don't tell me! It's more fun to be surprised when we see each other!” The lavender mare could only stare opened mouth at the now bouncing earth pony before waving a hoof to slow the excited giggles. “Hang on, what's more fun? Aren't we seeing each other right now?” Pinkie rolled her eyes with a grin before slinging a hoof around the lavender mare's neck. “Twilight~! We're not in costume right now! We gotta see each other on Nightmare Night for it to be a good surprise!” The studious mare blinked in surprise, not having realized how soon it was to the night of scares; having lived a very inclosed study-filled life before, the unicorn had forgotten that most ponies celebrated a night devoted to frightening each other. “Oh, well, I wasn't really... planning... anything....” Purple eyes rolled in place at the sudden dejected face before her and Twilight could feel her plans suddenly shifting around to appease the pink mare. “Sigh, alright Pinkie, I'll make sure to be able to go out on Nightmare Night with a really good costume and everything.” Pinkie Pie gave a shout of glee before hopping around the unicorn while gushing about the things they would be able to do. “Oh my gosh, it's going to be so much fun! You'll be able to get candy and see everyone else dressed up and you won't be able to guess who they are sometimes and there's games and food and really cool music and we'll be able to do stuff together! It's going to be great Twilight, just wait and see!” With a swift peck to Twilight's cheek, Pinkie bounced down the stairs, past a surprised dragon and back home to make sure her costume was in prime condition. “What was that all about? I didn’t even see Pinkie come in.” Twilight glanced at the young drake with a frown before looking to the town where they could barely make out the pink baker bouncing home. “So she surprised you too huh...? Well, it seems she wanted to be sure we were prepared for Nightmare Night; I hope you have a costume in mind since we're going to be celebrating along with everypony else.” Spike looked to his care-taker in surprise before jumping slightly in the air with a shout of joy. “Oh boy! We get to actually dress up and everything?!” Twilight rolled her eyes at the glee before looking sternly to the youngster. “Yes, we'll be dressing up and everything. But I do believe that it's rather late and a certain dragon should already be in bed.” Spike lost his joy and became demure once more. “Oh, is that time already? Uh, I hadn't um, noticed....” The purple dragon trailed off and tried a different tactic at the deadpan from the unicorn. “Twilight! Can't I stay up a little longer? I could help you with your work?” “Spike, you know I have Owlowiscious to help me with my work at night...” “I have one last comic before reaching the end, can't I finish it?!” “Spiikkeee...” “Sigh, alright.... Good night Twilight...” “Good night Spike.” With this final statement, the unicorn turned back to her telescope while making a note on her list to check that Spike had actually gone to sleep, her owl swooping by with another reference book. “Thanks Owlowiscious; oh and please check that Spike has actually gone to sleep later.” The brown owl hooted in response as he sat on the railing, watching his owner get back to work for the night. Pinkie could hardly contain her excitement when the big night arrived, slipping into her hoof-made chicken costume with little issue. After checking on Gummy, who promised to stay and give out candy to the foals that stopped by, the hyper mare grabbed her bag and hopped down the stairs. On the way out the door, she came across Mr. and Mrs. Cake as they prepared a cart of baked goods for the festivities; they were dressed as a matching set, a pair of raggedy dolls. “Hey Mr. and Mrs. Cake! Those are really neat costumes!” “Thanks Pinkie, yours looks good too...” Mrs. Cake wasn't sure why their young apprentice was dressed like a giant chicken but they knew it was just part of who she was. “Well, I gotta go! There's a new filly and a new colt in town and it's their first Nightmare Night! Gotta make sure they have a lot of fun!” The older bakers rolled their eyes with amused grins at the hyper mare's mission of fun and continued their preparation for the night. It was still early in the evening, but it was the perfect time for all the foals to gather to travel in safety. They picked up Nio (dressed as princess), Erroria (an astronaut), and Pina Colada (a ladybug) before making a stop at the new family in town; Pipsqueek and his parents came from Trottingham, wanting to get away from the bigger and busier city. Pinkie reassured Pipsqueek's mom in her usual rapid manner, much to the young colt's amusement; once bedtime and basic safety was agreed upon, the group of candy-seekers continued on to pick up the other new filly in town for their group. Pinkie Pie wasn't sure where Dinky came from, but Derpy was definitely trustworthy so the hyper mare didn't question it. “Dinky, are you sure you'll be alright?” Derpy was kneeling beside the pale-purple gray unicorn, adjusting the firepony's hat she wore with it's corresponding coat; the yellow maned filly smiled shyly before giving the older pegasus a brief nod. “Yes, I want to try.” Derpy smiled at Dinky's attempt at bravery and looked to the pink baker who smiled back assuredly. “Don't you worry Derpy! I'll make sure nothing happens to Dinky or any of the others! It's all in good fun and if somepony got hurt it wouldn't be fun, which is something I'd never let happen!” The older pegasus smiled at the assurances before waving to the foals and Dinky who continued on their way. Once they had most of the group in tow, they found the Cutie Mark Crusaders along with Granny Smith at the edge of town; the girls had really wanted to get candy this year but their sisters were already doing stuff and couldn't take them, so the elder mare did instead. “Hey girls! Oooo, those are pretty neat costumes!” Pinkie leaned forward on her hind-legs as she peered at the trio who looked back happily; Scootaloo was a wolf-pony, Apple Bloom was the bride of Frankenpony and Sweetie Belle was Dracula. Granny Smith hadn't tried to dress up and merely waited with the girls for the giant poultry to stop hopping around and went further into town to start the night’s adventures. After making sure everypony in the group knew one another, they began to make their rounds for treats; the newest additions to the town had never taken part of Nightmare Night before and had to be coached through their first few homes. It took extra time to give the foals the needed time to gather their courage to shout the traditional phrase of the night, meaning that when they finally reached the tree library, Pinkie was behind the group after checking that everypony was doing ok. When they knocked on the wooden door, Spike opened it with a flourish only to be shocked at the shout of the foals. “Nightmare Night, what a fright! Give us something sweet to bite!” After gathering his breath, the young dragon went to get the bowl of treats set aside for the costumed foals. Twilight was surprised as well when Pinkie came forward for her own share of candies; she hadn't expected the pink earth pony to take such a literal part in the festivities of the night. “Enough chit chat, time is candy!” “Pinkie Pie, aren't you too old for this?” “Too old for free candy? Never!” Twilight rolled her eyes at the seriousness of the hyper mare before giving her marefriend a piece of candy as well; though as soon as Twilight's attention was distracted for a moment, Pinkie went after the rest of the treats in the blue bowl and continued on her way, promising to meet up with the unicorn later. Pinkie Pie was even more excited as they went from house to house, leaving poor Granny Smith in the dust due to her speed and zeal; not only had Twilight taken part in this year's Nightmare Night, but she made her own costume (though she wasn't sure if the studious mare had her facts straight, it didn't seem like the usual wizard's costume at all). It was as they passed through the market square that the large poultry came across the lavender unicorn talking with Spike; Pinkie couldn't help but zip up and show just how well things were going so far. “Twilight, Twilight! Look at our haul! Eeee, can you believe it! We’ve been going around the WHOLE town, getting candies from everyone, like Cherry Berry and then we went to Vinyl and Octavia’s place! And then we had gone to Cherilee's place and got a bunch more goodies, didn't we Pip?” The young pirate agreed excitedly before the hyper mare continued her explanation. “And then we had to stop and wait for Granny Smith and then-” A loud crack of thunder interrupted Pinkie's speech, startling her into flight. The children following her stared towards the fleeing figure for a moment in surprise at the sudden movement before following after her with screams of their own. After getting four blocks down from the source of her scare, the hyper mare slowed her pace and turned to find the children running up to her (Granny Smith was once again left in the dust). “Ms. Pinkie Pie, why... why did you run away like that?” Dinky quietly asked which earned her a grin and pat on the head. “Because sometimes it's really fun to be scared; for example, I know it was Rainbow Dash who went and made that thundercloud go off, we did a prank like that before. I Pinkie Promise that you guys are going to be safe with me, and we're going to have lots and lots of fun!” Both Dinky and Pipsqueek tilted their heads in confusion at the term, which Pinkie correctly understood and explained. “A Pinkie Promise is the most severe promise a pony can make ever; one doesn't break a Pinkie Promise. It goes like this: Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” The older mare demonstrated the movements to the foals who watched amused; once the older farmer found the group, they set off for more candy. Once their sacks were nearly full, they went back to town square where the stage was set up in the midst of the festivities. By the Mayor's suggestion, they all followed Zecora out to a clearing that wasn't too far inside the Everfree Forest; while most of the foals were scared of the forest, being led by the zebra, Pinkie Pie and Twilight made them feel safe in the clearing. The hyper mare soon became so engrossed in the tale that Zecora described that she tried to hide from the magical dust used to explain where the legend came from by burying her head in the ground. As the green dust leapt towards the children, Pinkie panicked and shouted for them to follow her example. “Gaaah! Everypony, let's dump some candy and get out of here!” The hyper mare emptied out her bag at the foot of the mountains and backed away just as quickly, waiting for the kids to do the same before rounding them up to return back to town. Just before they could get away from the statue of Nightmare Moon, the sky darkened and thunder crashed through the skies as a chariot came speeding by, heading for the nearby town. With her keen eye sight, Pinkie was able to guess who rode the gold chariot and stiffened in surprise and 'fright'. “Gaasp! It's Nightmare Moon! Run!!!” When the older mare ran off, the kids were close behind her, having expected a reaction like that and able to keep up (helped by the fact that Pinkie made sure she never truly outran the foals). The hyper earth pony could barely hear her marefriend shout after her but didn't stop, wanting to be sure the youngsters were safe first in case it was a baddy coming after them. Once back in town, Pinkie went to the main square to find out what was going on; when she saw that it was indeed Princess Luna and not Nightmare Moon, the pink earth pony thought that the best way to help the over-stressed Princess enjoy the night was to take part in pranks and scaring each other. “Did you hear that everypony?! Nightmare Moon said she was going to feast on us all!” The pink mare rushed out of the square with the children in tow as they ran to safety; Pinkie gathered them all inside Sugarcube Corner and had them settle down properly before making sure they knew what was going on. The baker made sure each foal had a baked good before them and inside their stomach before going on before explaining; she didn't want anypony to think something really was wrong after all. “Ok, gather round my little friends! Princess Luna has come and wants to play! So anytime we find her, we're going to act like she's Nightmare Moon and she'll chase us for a little and maybe even gobble us up!” The children could tell the hyper baker was joking due to her extremely large smile and exaggerated winking at the possible outcome of an encounter with the Princess of the Night. “So, we're just pretending to be scared?” Pipsqueek asked as the group looked to the older mare who in turn nodded rapidly with an even larger smile at the understanding. “Yep! Ready to go? We better get more candy to make sure Nightmare Moon doesn't get too hungry!” The kids smiled at the suggestion and followed the pink earth pony back out to the streets, going to both old and new houses to gather candy to appease the Lunar Princess with. As they started their second rounds of candy gathering, a pegasus dressed like a shadow bolt flew down to hover nearby. “Hey, Pinkie Pie!” At the amused shout, the large poultry gave a curious squawk and searched the nearby area for the owner of the sound. “Backa?” The kids helped to search as well, before noticing Rainbow Dash who flew closer to the group in order to be found easier. “Pinkie, over here.” Once Pinkie Pie identified the source of the mysterious floating voice (which made a lot of sense since Rainbow was flying), the pink mare grinned up to her friend who had leaned towards the group conspiratorially. “What if you went to Fluttershy's cottage to hide from Nightmare Moon? It's just on the way to the statue where you could try to offer candy so she doesn't get you.” The large poultry brightened at the suggestion and turned to the gathering of children beside her. “What do you think guys? Let's go to Fluttershy's and hide!” With an agreeing shout from the foals, they rushed off to find refuge in the timid mare's home. When the group trotted up to the grass covered cottage, it was to their great surprise to find Princess Luna and Twilight standing outside with Fluttershy limp in the Princess' hooves. Pinkie was able to guess why Rainbow had suggested they go to the small home and decided to play along. “GASP! She's taken Fluttershy's voice away so she can't scream as she gobbles her up!” The children were getting used to the joke and screamed shortly after the exclamation, running after their guardian who went back towards town. Once they were safely away, Pinkie suggested they continue gathering candy to give the Princess. Granny Smith had decided that enough was enough and returned back home, leaving the hyper mare in charge who was only just starting to notice that something was wrong when Dinky spoke up from the midst of the group. “Ms. Pinkie Pie? Pipsqueek isn't here...” “Oooh, I knew we were short a pirate or two! We better go find him, even the bravest of pirates can't face the deadliest of foes all alone!” With a smile at her silly antics, the kids followed their poultry leader back to town square where they found the colt in question hanging from the Lunar Princess' mouth. “Eehhh! Nightmare Moon is gobbling Pipsqueek, everypony run!” “Help! My backside has been gobbled!” The young colt squirmed out of the Princess' grasp and ran to catch up with the others who fled at the supposed 'gobbling'; Pinkie could barely hold back her laughter at the activities, the previous year's festivities not having been anywhere near as exciting as this this one. Pinkie drew to a sudden stop (causing a few of the kids to run into her puffy tail) at the sounds of frustration and blind terror. (That doesn't make sense, it sounds like somepony got really really actually very real scared.... I heard Dashie's storm cloud, did she really surprise somepony? Oooh noooo! That sounds like a giant candy is falling! GASP! That can't be right -) “Let's go check what's going on everypony!” With a flare of her fore-hooves, Pinkie swiveled on her hind-legs and ran back to where most of the festivities were to take place only to find it in ruin and Princess Luna standing in the center, shouting for everyone's attention. “BE STTILLLLL!!!!” The candy-seeking group shrank back from the yell and in the aftermath, Pinkie could clearly hear her marefriend trying to help. “Princess remember, watch the screaming!” “No Twilight Sparkle, we must use the traditional royal Canterlot voice for what we are about to say.... Since you choose to fear your Princess rather than love her, and dishonor her with this insulting celebration, we decree that Nightmare Night shall be cancelled FOREVER!” All the ponies watching couldn't move due to shock and fright, and it was only after the Princess of the Night had flown away that what she said sunk in. Most of the children's parents were in town square, making it so Pinkie only had to contact a few of the parents and explain what happened (though most couldn't understand the rapid speech that was told as Pinkie passed by in a blur). Once everypony knew what happened, the large chicken went back to the main square to see if there was anything she could do to help (like extra candy that needed to be taken away); as she searched, one piece with a yellow wrapping seemed to gleam in the torchlight. Once Pinkie Pie made sure it was safely tucked away (in her stomach of course), she found a whole trail of them! With little mind to why there was a trail of candy leading into the nearby alley way, the large candy-searching poultry pursued the candies only to be pinned to the wall, causing her to try and shout a warning 'baka' but was stopped by a purple hoof. “No! No shrieking. No squealing or screaming either, ok?” “Ohkhayh...” “There's something I want you to see and I promise that it's safe, but you really really can't shriek. Do you promise not to shriek?” Pinkie could see the frustration in Twilight's eyes, she was annoyed with how the evening was going and wanted the pink baker to behave; to appease the unicorn, Pinkie Pie nodded and watched curiously as Twilight backed up and waved a hoof to the Princess. “Pinkie Pie, you remember Princess Luna right?” Her role as a chicken almost took over the hyper mare but Pinkie remembered her promise to not freak out, stuffing her traitorous mouth with both hooves to hold back the shriek that wanted to escape. Once Princess Luna saw that Pinkie wasn't about to scream and run away, she stepped forward shyly. “Ah, the ringleader of the frightened children... hast thou come to make peace?” Pinkie could see the sincerity in the Lunar Princess' eyes and hesitantly reached out a hoof when there came a clap of thunder from above the Princess. Pinkie couldn't help but think that it was a good prank (to have Rainbow waiting nearby for added effect) and took off down the alley with a shout, not really noticing Twilight's shout from where she ran from. “Nightmare Moon! Bababakaa!” The lavender unicorn shot an extra glare to the the pegasus who was laughing on her cloud before focusing her attention on the fleeing poultry; with a bright flash of dark-pink and a poof sound, she landed in front of the pink earth pony and grappled with her; Pinkie tried to escape but Twilight had a strong grip brought by desperation and frustration with her marefriend. “She's changed Pinkie, she's not evil or scary anymore! And she definitely doesn't want to gobble you up!” At the last sentence, Pinkie Pie paused in her struggles and deadpanned her captor. “Well duh!” “Huh?” “I know that. Sheesh Twilight, I'm almost as big as her, how's she gonna gobble me up?” The party mare could barely hold back her laughter at the confused gaze from Twilight as she tried to understand what was going on. “So, why do you keep running away and screaming?” “Sometimes it's just really fun to be scared!” The pink baker could see the gears turning in the studious mare’s mind, trying to compute what she meant. “Fun...? Pinkie Pie, you're a genius!” At the description, Pinkie became concerned for how well Twilight understood what each costume was supposed to be and decided to humor the lavender mare. “No I'm not, I'm a chicken! Baka!” With a roll of her eyes at the usual goofy kind of response, Twilight turned back to the Princess and described her latest plan that was forming rapidly. “Alright, Pinkie you go ahead and make sure the kids go back to offer their candy to 'Nightmare Moon'. Princess Luna, if you could come with me; you too Rainbow Dash.” Pinkie gave a salute with a soft 'bakaa' and took off back into town, hardly noticing that the cyan pegasus also saluted and followed the lavender unicorn. Pinkie could barely hold back a frown at all the sad faces as she trot through town square seeing all the children stare dejectedly at their candy, when a light bulb went over her head; with an excited wave of all four hooves, the large poultry went in search of a magical zebra. “Zecora, Zecora, you gotta help!” The black dress wearing zebra turned from where she was picking up some destroyed decorations to look at the party mare. “Ah, hello there Pinkie Pie; I see hope in thine eye.” “Yeah, I'm totally full of hope! I've got a great idea that may help the kids have fun again!” Zecora's eyes lit up at the joyous tone and she straightened to look at the barely controlled excitement of the mare before her. “An idea you say? Something to hold the sadness at bay?” “Yep! And I'll need your help to make sure it goes well!” Zecora smiled and nodded her consent. “Then I most certainly will say yes; you had better explain so I can be at my best.” Pinkie smiled even larger and slung a hoof around Zecora's neck, leading her further in town. “Ok, so I'll need you to get all the kids and take them back to the statue in the forest! They still have to give their candy to make sure they aren't gobbled up!” The zebra smiled at the suggestion and nodded before leaving to gather the children who had stayed in the area while they dejectedly watched the older ponies trying to clean up the mess. Once the younger ponies followed Zecora and the Mayor, Pinkie looked at the remains of the festivities with a pensive frown. (Hmmmmmmmm, this won't do at all! If I know my Twilight (which I totally do), she'll be able to fix this whole thing! But if we want to really have fun, we'll need the proper party place and that means clean up and set up!) In a flash the large chicken was on the move and cleaning, passing by in a blur of feathers and clucking leaving slightly stunned ponies in her wake. With the sugar high still remaining after all the candies she had, Pinkie sped up the cleaning process by a hundred fold and tested out her party cannon 1.2 to reset the decorations. Once that was done (with a few streamer covered ponies standing by in shock), Pinkie went to make sure everything was well stocked (nopony could have fun on empty stomachs after all!). A joyous shout came from the Everfree Forest and Pinkie hoof-pumped in glee at the well executed plan before running up to an embarrassed Applejack. “Hey AJ! I hope you have lots of yummy apples left! Everyone is going to be coming back soon!” The farmer raised an inquisitive brow before adjusting her hat and pointed behind her to a bucket full of Sweet Apple Acres' best. “Shoot, Ah got plenty of apples.” The pink mare searched around the area suddenly with a hoof to her brow to help her sight. “Wait a second! Where's Rarity?! She made lots of awesome costumes, shouldn't she be out here having fun too!?” Applejack's face fell at the mention of the fashionista before becoming embarrassed again. “Oh, uh, she said that she was busy with work an' couldn't make it.” Pinkie tapped her chin at the explanation before smiling once more. “Oh, ok. We'll just have lots of fun and then bring her candy later!” The orange mare chuckled at the suggestion but nodded all the same before going to make sure the stations she was watching were well stocked. The party mare watched the farmer walk away and turned to check the other stations when suddenly Pinkie felt her heart speed up and a pleasant warmth spread from the tips of her hooves to her ears; with an even wider grin, Pinkie raced to the edge of town to meet the returning ponies and leapt at Twilight with a tight hug. The lavender mare was surprised at the sudden attention but smiled all the same. “Hey Twilight! You ready to have lots of fun!?” Twilight shook her head with a smirk before following the hyper mare back into town. “Sure Pinkie, I guess the rest of the evening is now free; what did you have in mind?” "Only to have the most fun on this candy and fright-filled night as we possibly can!" The unicorn shook her head at a not so surprising answer and smirked at the earth pony who processed to pull Twilight in many different directions to get the most fun possible. As the group returned, the parents of the children came by and collected them for the night. With a bright wave to each, Pinkie continued to lead the way to the festivities where there was now only just grownups. For usual Pinkie Pie reasons, a lot of the games stayed the same as when the foals were out: pumpkin slinging, bobbing for apples, hayrides, spider toss, knocking over candles and more. The two mares rushed from one game to another, all while Pinkie was feeding Twilight sugar-buzz inducing candies and goodies so she could keep up. By the time it was the middle of the night, the couple was laughing like madmares and planning to go home when Princess Luna floated down before them. “Twilight Sparkle, may I have a moment of your time?” The unicorn looked to the mare at her side before they both looked at the Princess in curiosity. “Of course Princess Luna, is everything ok?” The dark blue alicorn shifted slightly before responding with a nervous gaze towards the two mares. “I see now that the ponies of Equestria do enjoy one night of the year, but I am not so sure that this is the same the rest of the time. You often stay up late studying and know more of the world, what do you say about this?” Twilight frowned thoughtfully as she gazed at Pinkie Pie, unsure if she was indeed the one to ask this. “I think they do... A lot of ponies work during the night now and other ponies like to party well into the night -” “You bet they do! Why, you could ask the latest and greatest of DJs!” As both Twilight and Princess Luna gazed at the pink mare in confusion, Pinkie Pie reached out a hoof and pulled over a passing mare. Vinyl Scratch hadn't dressed up for the night since she was one of the performers but wore her signature glasses; once she realized who had her in their grasp, she smirked and hoof-bumped the party mare. “Hey Pinks, what's going on?” “Hey Scratchie! You gotta tell Princess Luna about your latest rave!” The Princess raised a confused brow at the term while Vinyl bowed briefly to the royal. “Oh, hello your majesty; you wanted to know about raves huh? If you could come this way I'll tell you all about it; I have to set up for the last song of the night but I can explain a thing or two for you .” The white unicorn led the now curious alicorn towards the stage while Pinkie hopped rapidly in place at the sound of the last musical performance of the night. “Oooooooohh! Twilight, we have to see Vinyl perform, she's really good!” Twilight smiled at her mare's excitement for the entire night and decided that one last thing before going to bed wouldn’t hurt. “Alright, we'll listen to one more song; but afterwards we really should call it a night, I don't think this much sugar is good for a pony's body.” The pink earth pony gave one last hop of joy before grabbing a lavender hoof and leading the way to the stage. “Hey everypony! This song is in honor of our beloved Princess visiting our town for the night, let's give her a hoof!” At the shout from DJ Pon-3, everypony who was still awake gave the Lunar Princess hoof stomps to which Luna accepted with a bashful wave. While Vinyl started a solid beat and base, a gray-tan earth pony with brown mane and tail that had red highlights stepped forward and started to welcome the crowd in a singing manner. “Welcome fillies and gentlecolts, no reason to scream, your favorite Princess is back, she's walking up on the scene ...” Soon after the first chorus was finished, a tan pegasus with green and yellow mane and tail stepped forward and started to sing as well, leading all the costumed ponies to dance and sway in place. Princess Luna wasn't sure what to be more shocked at, the lyrics (which were made up on the spot in honor of the visiting royalty) or the reaction of everypony else who thoroughly enjoyed the song. Twilight hadn't heard music like this before and tried to join in the dancing, though she and Pinkie Pie soon had a wide circle of space to do so in. By the time that the song had finished and everything was wrapping up the couple found themselves exhausted from the activities and in front of the fireplace on the second floor of the library. Due to the slightly chilly weather of the season, Spike had started a small fire before settling down in front of it. With a small chuckle at the sight of the young dragon curled up in front of the fireplace, Twilight put Spike to bed properly and joined the pink baker in the spot where he had resided. They had made sure to take off their costumes once inside and laid next to one another, pleased with the evening. “Thanks for making sure I didn't miss Nightmare Night Pinkie, it was a lot of fun.” Pinkie Pie smiled at this as she leaned into the unicorn. “That's what I'm here for! To make sure everypony has fun, especially my little star.” Twilight blushed and nuzzled closer, no plans to move or start on her studies in her mind.