//------------------------------// // 2. Hairy Potter, and the Prisoner of Ponyville // Story: Are You Afraid of the Dark? // by trixiesshow //------------------------------// BonBon's Confectionarium was never at a loss for business, but Nightmare Night brought out the ponies in droves. There may have still been a few shopping days left but they were still crammed in every square inch of space available in her shop and the lines stretched outside the door by a few ponies. This was candy season and as one of the few places that made treats, she was a proud member of the candy oligopoly of Ponyville. Upon glancing at the crowd stuffed in the little shop, Trixie facehoofed that she had suggested this be their meeting place for tonight. Trixie wasn’t about to stand in line to get in nor fight through that mob. She could go around the back but it would surely be locked. Trixie smiled to herself as she considered the challenge, what kind of showmare would she be if she hadn't picked up a few spells to render locks useless. She'd learned both variaties, of course. One was really just a finely tuned telekinetic manipulation of the locking mechanism while the other was a simple transmutation spell that turned the vital parts essentially into dust. Then there were the picks she hid in her hat. Her grandfather had gotten her the set when she was just a little filly. He’d never gotten the chance to teach her how to use them, but she considered the skill his gift to her none the less. “Trixie, why are you staring at BonBon's?” Trixie heard a voice come from behind her, she didn’t need to look to see who it was, anypony would’ve known. “If you're here for candy, you can have some of mine?” Carrot Top, it was clearly Carrot Top. “Carrot Top, I appreciate that, but I don’t need candy, I need to get inside.” Trixie said to Carrot Top and she walked up next to her. “Well the line looks like it probably won’t take more than five minutes.” Carrot Top offered with a smile. “I was thinking something quicker with slightly more burglary.” Trixie said while dropping her hat into her hooves and levitating her picks out. “I haven’t seen a Ferrow’s brand M2000 set in quite a few years. Are we breaking into BonBon’s?” Cheerilee said without the slightest bit of surprise on her face. Cheerilee’s shadowy knowledge base always made Trixie curious but she never quite found the right time to ask about it. “Yes, actually. But Pokey said you were on the list to patrol tonight. I thought you weren’t coming.” Trixie said with slight surprise in her voice. Cheerilee seemed delighted to give Trixie good news. “No, my night is tomorrow night.” “Oh, that’s good to hear. I was going to have some strong feelings if it was just going to be the five of us.” Trixie gave a sigh of relief. Cheerilee seemed less delighted to respond to Trixie’s next statement. “Well I hope those feelings were of bliss and joy because Ditzy isn’t joining us either. She’s decorating the post office with Dinky.” Trixie let out a groan, that made a few ponies in the vicinity turn their heads. Though she did realize how much it probably meant to Dinky to spend the night with her mom. Foals tended to have a special place in Trixie’s heart, but Dinky reigned supreme. She wasn’t just Trixie’s magical assistant, she was one of her best friends. Though the age difference made her reluctant to admit that. “Alright, well let’s just go get Lyra and BonBon and try to do what we can with who’s left.” Trixie huffed as she stomped off towards the back of the shop. Cheerilee and Carrot Top exchanged glances and fell in her wake. Most ponies would have taken longer to unlock the door with the actual key but Trixie seamlessly sailed through as though it weren’t even locked. They found a frantic BonBon running around the kitchen trying to stay on top of all the different goods she was preparing. She was distracted enough she didn’t even have time to yell at Trixie for committing a class A felony on her door. They watched her dash back and forth in silence for a few moments before Trixie decided to be Trixie, “Alright BonBon, go grab your stuff and get Lyra, we’ve got to get moving if we want to make it to the site before dark.” “Trixie! Do I look like I have any time to put up with you at the moment?!” BonBon yelled while putting the molasses on the stove and running over to pull the taffy. Cheerilee slowly stepped in front of Trixie just in case while Carrot Top saw to the molasses and inquired what was going on. “BonBon, I don’t remember it being this busy. What’s going on?” “Well I have my normal Nightmare Night demand, plus the candy I made for the festival got ruined in yesterday’s debacle, and Filthy Rich has offered to distribute two hundred pounds of my bon bons to his stores if I can get them finished before tomorrow night.” Trixie yelled out from behind Cheerilee, “Why isn’t Lyra helping you back here then?” “Somepony has to run the front of the store, Trixie. I can’t run this place on the honor system. Besides, Lyra burns everything she touches.” BonBon said while taking a short break from the taffy to slide a tray into the oven before returning. Cheerilee smiled as she dropped her saddlebags in the corner. “Put us to work then!” “But Cheerilee, it’ll almost be dark if we take much longer.” Trixie whispered. “Well then you better get your hooves dirty, Trixie.” Her laugh contrasting with Trixie’s pout. Things had settled down in the kitchen a bit by the time Lyra trotted in a while later. “Alright, the crowd is taken care of and we’re officially closed.” She said with a heavy exhale but her demeanor seemed bright enough. “Then lets wrap this up and hit the ole’ dusty trail!” Trixie said while dropping the illusion of a bowl she been pretending to mix in front of her. Lyra scoffed at Trixie, “Did you miss the ridiculous amount of things we have to do here? There’s going to be no camping trip for us tonight.” Trixie stomped her hoof and did the best impression of a filly she could accidently muster, “I’ve been planning this for weeks, and then I find out Raindrops isn’t coming, then Ditzy isn’t.. but that’s for Dinky so it’s alright.. and now you and BonBon? Why can’t I just have one good night in this terrible season??” “Because we’re adults and sometimes things suck, Trixie.” Lyra said with all the maturity and civility she could muster.” “You should still go, Lyra.” BonBon called from across the room. Lyra walked across the room and placed her hoof on BonBon’s withers, “Are you sure? I haven’t even packed.” “You ruin more than you make.” BonBon said with a laugh, “Don’t worry about, I’ve got it from here anyway.” Lyra leaned over a nuzzled BonBon and then headed upstairs to pack her bags. "We're still several ponies short though, we don't even have enough to fill the night now." Trixie continued her pout. After a few moments of a gentle whine emitted by Trixie, Carrot Top broke the silence. "Well what if we brought somepony else. What about Fluttershy, she could use the fresh air!" Trixie shook her head. "Not with what I have planned, we'd never be able to get her outside ever again. Let's not ruin her progress." Carrot Top looked perplexed for a moment but then her face lit up as she had an idea. "How about a different housebound pony, but one who's there cause she can't leave. Sparkle!" "What about Sparkle?" Lyra asked as she rejoined the group. "We're going to invite her to come along." Trixie agreed with the idea. Lyra nodded, "Sounds good to me. It's getting dark though, let's get moving!" * * * The four mares approached the library. The tree still retained its normal green foliage in defiance of season in resided in and the only decoration Twilight had put out was a lone pumpkin. Uncarved. The four all stood around it, staring down at it in silent astonishment. “That's the saddest thing I've ever seen. It's like it’s not sure if it wants to be a decoration or a pie ingredient.” Cheerilee said unblinking as she tapped the pumpkin with her hoof. They all flinched in anticipation Twilight had charmed it to do something amazingly scary. Nothing, it was just a pumpkin. Trixie chuckled after they resumed their staring, “It's Sparkle, what do you expect? Pinkie levels of dedication? I say we give her credit for putting the pumpkin out at all.” She'd found herself being the closest to Twilight and felt no hesitation speaking in her defense. “I can tell you one thing for certain, Sparkle would hate Pinkie if she ever spent any extended time around her.” Lyra called out from the back of the group. The four all nodded in agreement as Trixie opened the door and they headed inside. The books were all neatly categorized and put away, an effort that owed it's doing entirely to Twilight. In the center of the floor, sat a purple unicorn with a deep violet mane deeply engrossed in a book, seemingly unaware of their entrance. They all stood in silence, waiting for her to greet them. After exchanging glances, Trixie decided she wasn't going to grow old waiting for Twilight to not be Twilight. “Happy Nightmare Night, Sparkle!” “Happy Nightmare Night, girls.” Twilight responded without looking up. Lyra and Cheerilee had gotten bored and started perusing the shelves while Carrot Top and Trixie continued to stand near the doorway waiting for Twilight to engage them. Trixie wasn't one to let somepony make her be silent, but after the last time when she barged in and interrupted Twilight reading, she had found herself staring at the her front door before she could blink. The two had an understanding. Finally Trixie gathered the strength to walk back to the library if she found herself teleported away. “We actually came to talk to you, Sparkle. If you have a moment?” “Oh, I'm sorry girls, I just assumed you were here to check out some campfire story books. You should've said something.” Twilght said hopping to her hooves and rushing to greet everypony with a genuine look of embarrassment on her face. Trixie rolled her eyes, “I would've except last night I came to talk to you while you were reading, you teleported me to my house.” “Yes, Trixie. Because you ran in and started yelling at me about you're newest trick that involved fire, which you had brought with you into my TREE house.” Twilight blankly responded. Trixie nervously laughed, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that part. It was an amazing trick though, and completely safe, I assure you.” “I'm sure it was, so what's going on?” Twilight smiled as she look between the four. “We came to invite you on our camping trip. We're going to tell scary stories and drink.” “Well I'd love to but I actually have a whole stack of manuscripts prepared by Clover the Clever I wanted to work through tonight. There's one on Star Swirl's amniomorphic spell I wanted to learn.” Twilight said, beaming with the biggest smile they'd ever seen from her and levitating the manuscript in question emblazoned with Star Swirl performing the spell on the front. Everypony just stared at Twilight except Cheerilee who laughed. When Lyra raised her eyebrow at her she simply muttered they wouldn't understand. Turning back to Twilight, Trixie continued on, “Well that's.. boring. But we really want you to join us. You need to celebrate Nightmare Night!” “I'm sorry girls, but I really need to study. Plus I'm kind of hesitant to drink after my welcoming party. Whatever you gave me was way too strong.” Ignoring that Trixie had given Twilight punch. Study for what was the question that passed unspoken between them. Twilight didn't have any obligations to learn anything on a deadline, and she certainly wasn't short on time to study given her house arrest. “But Sparkle, remember when we were in that other universe and you said you wanted to learn more about the magic of friendship? Well here's a great opportunity! You actually have to be around friendship to study it.” Trixie artfully argued, and while it may not have been up to Twilight logical requirements, she knew Trixie was right. So she conceded. “Alright, well let me run upstairs and pack a few things and I'll join you but I'm not drinking.” A short while later, the five mares made their way out of the library and into street to head towards the Everfree. Lyra took the opportunity to build her friendship with Twilight by doing something they'd both enjoy. She fell back towards the back and proposed her plan to Twilight. “Hey Sparkle, I know you said you don't want to drink, but I was going to sneak one of Trixie’s bourbon bottles tonight and I want to share it with you. It'd really get under her skin.” “Well I'm still against drinking, but.. messing with Trixie seems worth it, so sure!” The prospect of aggravating Trixie seemed to be enough convincing for her. “Now we just have to figure out how to sneak it away from her.” Lyra muttered more to herself than Twilight while sidestepping a rock in the road. Sparkle's horn barely glowed and Lyra felt her saddlebag get heavier by about the weight of a bourbon bottle. “Probably something like that will do. I replaced it with that rock” Twilight said with a smile.