//------------------------------// // Nightmare on Gem Street // Story: My Little Universe // by EquestrianKirin //------------------------------// Beach City, and Ponyville both were pretty much calmed down for both sides. Within the Beach House, the Gems had been relaxing. Since not many things had come about, there wasn't too much to do. In the main room, Steven and Fulgurite were actually playing a video game together. Steven was easily beating up Fulgurite in the game, given that the Gem was just recently learn what a video game was, let alone how to play, and soon Steven beat up yet again. "Whooo!" "Dang it," Fulgurite groaned, hand to forehead. Over on the couch, Lapis Lazuli was actually checking out some of Steven's manga, having some interest in it for a little while. She was a little distracted by Fulgurite and Steven when they were done but got right back to it. However, as Lapis was, Pearl came back from the Warp Pad, checking on a few things, when she saw Lapis looking through the manga. "There you are." "Oh, hi Pearl. Something wrong?" Lapis asked. "I'm trying to find Amethyst, she disappeared on me. Had any of you seen her?" Pearl asked. Fulgurite, Steven, and Lapis didn't know where she went off to exactly. In fact, they didn't hear much of her all day. However, their answer came around when the front door opened up to a white land: telling them the portal was opened. Soon, Amethyst came through, but she moved surprisingly fast past Pearl. Pearl suddenly had what looked like a monster right in front of her face! Amethyst looked very different: her teeth had sharp fangs sticking out of them, she had a long black cape which looked like wings when she spread out her arms, and the sudden jump scare was enough for Pearl to fall back onto the ground. Amethyst laughed herself silly, as Pearl got herself back up. The portal back to Ponyville closed up after Amethyst rushed in. "Amethyst!" Pearl snapped. "Oh man, that was rich!" Amethyst said between laughs. However, the costume Amethyst was in did catch their attention. Lapis closed the manga to see Amethyst dressed up like she was. "What are you wearing, Amethyst? Doesn't look like your own outfit," Lapis said, obviously confused. Amethyst lifted up her black and red robe. "Good ol' Rarity gave me this. Something about getting in holiday." "Holiday?" "She said they're having something called "Nightmare Night". All of Ponyville's dressed up for it, must be the main gimmick," Amethyst said. Steven began to put two and two together and got a mix of confusion and excitement. "OH, Halloween! But that's not for months now." "Halo-what now?" Fulgurite asked. "Halloween: it's when everyone dresses up, goes around their neighborhood, and collects candy," Steven said. That was the main idea anyway. Though, mentioning the collecting candy bit. Amethyst wasn't told that part. "Well, Rarity told me the same stuff, so, guess they got their own thing for this 'Halloween'." Immediately, Steven had a huge smile on his face, and stars in his eyes. This was indeed exciting news, as Steven got right up to his feet, and rushed down to the main floor. "Halloween in summer!" "Where're you going?" Pearl asked. "Getting a costume! OOO, Connie's going to love this," Steven said, rushing out the door to get himself ready. Halloween in Ponyville? What news this was! ~~~~~~ Within Ponyville, the preparations were getting well underway for the upcoming night. There were many sorts of decorations being set out around Ponyville: bat streamers, jack-o-lanterns, various activities for the night being set. It was close to sunset at this point, Twilight Sparkle and Spike both working together on the preparation for a little bit. Both Twilight and Spike were already in costume, as with the other ponies working on the decorations. Twilight Sparkle was in an old wizard get-up: with a long grey beard, and with a blue rode and large hat with various stars and moons. The hat was lined with yellow bells, something she worked hard on. As for Spike, he simply had on some fake doggy ears, and a cute collar on his neck for his costume. Not really much, but it works. "Spike, did you finish setting up the bats?" Twilight asked at one point, as Spike was trying to get some fake bat props up on the treehouse library. "Almost got it," Spike called, placing the last bat in its spot. After that, Spike slid down the latter, landing just fine on the ground. "Nice job, Spike. Nightmare Night's going along just as planned," Twilight said, looking around at the other ponies setting things up for the celebration that night. While they were handling the decorations, suddenly they saw a square door open up and appear in front of them both. Apart from the event, this didn't seem too odd to them. "Looks like the Gems are going to spent Nightmare Night with us," Spike said, a bit eager to see them again. Soon, the first person that rushed out to see them was Steven, dressed up in his costume. Steven had a sort of sheet over himself, colored mostly a sea green, with a light underbelly attached to a mouth cut for Steven to talk. There were some paper fangs on the sides of the mouth, with some stitched-on paper 'claws' for the hands. He also had on some clawed boots for his costume. Steven began to happily run around like a cute little monster, with some roars and growls, though he looked more cute than scary. "Rawr Rawr! I'm going to eat you!" Steven playfully said, looming over Spike. "Steven, glad you can make it," Twilight said, smiling at Steven's little outfit. "Cool costume, the others will love it!" Steven said, smiling. Before Twilight and Spike could say anything, someone else then stepped out of the portal, and into Equestria: Connie. Connie was wearing a green dress-shirt over a blue shirt with light-blue pants and large brown boots. She also wore a cape, an eye patch, a belt, a glove on her left hand and bandage wrapped around her right arm. She had the look of an experienced warrior. "Wow, impressive, Connie!" "Thank you very much, Twilight, I've worked hard to get it right," Connie said. "What're you two supposed to be, anyway?" Spike asked. "I'm a lizard man! Rawr! Ger!" Steven said. Connie smiled before answering. "I am Lisa, a young girl with the magic powers of the witch from 'The Spirit Morph' saga. A girl with the inner strength of a hundred men, and a heart of pure gold, on the quest to save her father from the evil one-eyed demon." Connie explained, pulling out her fake sword, a little more dramatic and passionate than needed to be. Twilight though was rather impressed over this "Lisa" character that Connie was dressed up as overall. "That's very interesting, Connie! Is that a book series?" Twilight asked. Connie put her sword away. "I can lend you some copies if you'd like," Connie offered, which Twilight easily agreed to. "What about you, who are you supposed to be?" Steven asked. It was Twilight's turn to explain, as she too smiled. "I am the legendary Unicorn, Starswirl the Bearded. The most important conjuror of the pre-classical era, the father of the amniomorphic spell, the very unicorn with over two hundred spells to his name!" Twilight explained, also a bit more passionate than expected, but, felt needed. Connie was interested in this 'Starswirl the Bearded', as Spike and Steven were playing around as their respected character. "He sounds like a great unicorn," Connie said. "I know, Oh, I wish I could meet him, we'd have so much to talk about!" Twilight beamed, a little lost in her mind until she got herself back. "Er - uh - the other Gems, where are they at? Aren't they coming?" Twilight asked, blushing a little. "They'll be around, they still need to figure out what they're wearing," Steven said. "Okay then. Say, the others are going to meet at the fountain for Nightmare Night, want to come along?" "Sure! But I think the Gems might want to know where we're at when they get here," Connie said. Twilight agreed, and Spike quickly got out a piece of paper and quill ready to write. "Thank you, Spike. Just tell them that we're going to be at the Ponyville fountain for when they arrive," Twilight explained, Spike writing it down right away. However, he was just about to send it off with his fire breath, when Twilight levitated it away. "Let me send it this time, this is for the Gems," Twilight reminded, her magic working out the letter into a paper airplane. With a simple throw, the paper airplane flew around Steven and Connie and then right through the portal. Good thing too, the portal then just closed up soon as that airplane had gone through. Soon as it did that, they went right off to the fountain, confident that the note had gone through. ~~~~~~ While going through Ponyville, eventually Steven, Spike, Twilight and Connie arrived at the fountain in question. For the celebration, the bat streamers connected to the top of the stone pony in the middle. Along the fountain, Twilight's friends, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, were waiting for her, and saw Steven and Connie come over as well. Both ponies were dressed up well for Nightmare Night: Rainbow Dash looked like a sort of war mare: with a blue general's coat and large hat. As for Rarity, her hair and mane were in elegant barbs, looking like snakes rather than actual hair, with a long, ancient Greek, lavender dress to match her main costume. "Hey Rarity, Rainbow!" Steven called, running over to them. "Steven, Connie, glad you two make it for Nightmare Night," Rarity said with a grin. "Great to be here. Are the others here too?" Steven wondered. "They'll be around in a bit. What about the other Gems, they showing up or what?" Rainbow asked. Before they could answer, suddenly the familiar portal opened up nearby them. "Here they come," Steven said in excitement. Soon, the other Gems went on through to meet up with Steven and Connie. First one to go through was Fulgurite, in her own little outfit after learning on it. She was in some sort of black suit, her shoulders down her arms checkered in black and white and had on a red belt. She also had on a cool cap, with the number "42" on the front. It was rather obvious on what Fulgurite was being for Nightmare Night. The others followed in after her, with Amethyst still in her Vampire outfit. Pearl's outfit actually looked a bit familiar to the Ponies there, her outfit consisting of armor of gold. The armor was on her chest, with armored gloves and shoes, along with a golden helmet on her head. With her staff, she had the perfect look of a Canterlot Guard (a human version, anyway). As for Garnet ... Well, she looked the same. "Aww, no costume Garnet?" Steven asked, disappointed. "Is it required?" "Well, not exactly..." Garnet didn't reply. "... Soooo, where's Lapis?" Connie asked. "She needed to spruce up on her outfit. She didn't say what it was going to be though," Pearl said, thinking about it. Before they could continue, the Gem in question flew through the portal, and right over to the rising moon, her water wings spread. Lapis Lazuli also had her costume up and ready as well, though had a look of beauty to her, though the costume itself was more of a pattern sense. Her dress was striped with large, smooth, white and cyan blue stripes, even looking like they were made of scales. Her hair was a bit longer that time, most like from a body alteration on Lapis' part. Her hair flowed down her back, sparkling much like her wings were in the night sky. She had a little seashell tiara on her head, and some small blue and green scale necklace aligned on her neck. She gently landed down in front of them, her wings still spread out, as she looked to her friends. Everyone there was simply staring at her in amazement, including Garnet herself. "Oh my Celestia," Rarity gasped, walking over to her. "So ... How do I look?" Lapis asked, still smiling but really was a bit unsure if she got the costume thing right. "You kidding? You look absolutely Magnificent!" Rarity complimented, looking at Lapis' amazing outfit. The look on everyone else's faces said it all, Lapis got it right. "How'd you even come up with such an amazing design?" Pearl asked, equally amazed as Rarity was. "I got the idea from looking around the ocean. It's amazing how many beautiful creatures are found in there," Lapis said, her wings retracting back into her Gemstone. "Well, everypony, we're here! Ready for the awesome Nightmare Night?" Rainbow said, hoof in air. Everyone else was ready to go, but some others weren't there. "What about the others? Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, aren't they meeting us here?" Fulgurite asked. "Eh, Pinkie and Applejack will be around. Fluttershy ... Well, she's not gonna be joining us," Rainbow explained. She still remembered finding Fluttershy's door being completely sealed just for this night alone when she showed up. Still, Fluttershy won't be joining them for this holiday. ~~~~~~ Soon, the night festivities began. Everypony around the Gems themselves all wore many different outfits, giving off a very creative outlook for the holiday event. As the Gems were observing everything going on, from bobbing for apples to the classic trick-or-treat by the fillies and colts. Even if this wasn't a human tradition exactly, it was still one that got their attention. This was indeed the night for some cool times. Nightmare Night Twilight, "Welcome to our night." Rarity, "Our special, true delight." Rainbow began to fly around the Gems, acting a bit scary as some other ponies went on by in their costumes. Rainbow, "Skeletmares, and Ghouls, and Vampires too." Twilight, Rarity, and Rainbow, "All here, to say hello to you!" The ponies continued dancing around to the tune, as they continued singing. "Keep an eye out, for the Pony of the night. The mistress of your dreams will surely give you, her fright. The god will arrive soon, here to leave you doom, on the night, of Nightmare Moon!" The ponies aimed their hooves to the moon, the silhouette of Nightmare Moon being seen by the Gems, the Gems themselves getting a better idea as the ponies continued to dance around. It sure was a display of how much they liked Nightmare Night. Soon, Fulgurite, Connie, Lapis and Steven all were joining in on the dancing, in synch. "Come on through the night, Enter you and I, O the real delight, Of Nightmare Night!" Connie, Steven, and Lapis went over to the Gems to continue singing. Connie, "Enter if you dare," Lapis, "Handle on with care," Steven, "Prepare to be scared," All 3, "On the Nightmare!" The Gems were getting a good beat, with Amethyst dancing it out with Pearl walking along with the beat as Garnet simply tapped her foot. Admittedly, it was a good beat really, with many a pony (along with the Gems dancing) going along with the song. Unexpected, yeah, but a good surprise really. Fulgurite, "Watch your back, take a turn on to the left, and the right." Steven, "Watch your back, as the ghosts and ghouls come over to rise." Soon, Lapis flew upward in a spiral, her shiny water wings reflecting the moon in a way night magic would. "Keep an eye out, for the Pony of the night. The mistress of your dreams will surely give you, her fright. The god will arrive soon, here to leave you doom, on the night, of Nightmare Moon." Lapis gently landed, every Gem and pony now into the beat. Fulgurite,"Come on through the night," Steven and Connie, "Enter you and I, Twilight, O the real delight, All 4, "Of Nightmare Night!" Amethyst, "Enter if you dare," Pearl, "Handle on with care," Rainbow, "Prepare to be scared," All, "On the Nightmare!" ~~~~~~ Nightmare was beginning to get into full swing, and the group started to go around to get their own experience for the nighttime of fun. For the moment, Amethyst and Rainbow Dash both ended up together as they went through the celebratory event. Both were having a pretty good time so far, and Amethyst couldn't help but wonder on how much candy there actually was to eat, licking her lips in anticipation. "So, Rainbow, there's candy on Nightmare Night, right?" amethyst asked. If Nightmare Night is like Steven's Halloween, then there must be candy somewhere to eat. "Oh, sure there is, chocolates, candy corn, lollypops, the usual stuff. But hey, let's try out some of the games first," Rainbow insisted, aiming a hoof to one of the events going on: apple bobbing. A number of ponies were already doing the events as Amethyst and Rainbow went right on up, but Amethyst wasn't sure how this exactly worked. "What's this?" "Apple bobbing, just jam your head in those buckets and get out as many apples as you can," Rainbow said, as some ponies were trying to do just that. Amethyst thought a little bit about what to do, observing the ponies doing it before Rainbow and Amethyst went up. After some thinking over, Amethyst began to get the idea on what to do. So, looking at the bucket of apples floating in the water, Rainbow and Amethyst began. At first, Rainbow did a fairly good job, getting five apples after thirty seconds. However, Amethyst had a little different idea on the exact concept. Instead of just grabbing one apple at a time, she ended up opening her mouth wide, and shoved her head into the bucket. Rainbow flew back quickly as her mouth gobbled up all the apples at once, including all the water. Rainbow just stared at Amethyst, her cheeks like water balloons until she swallowed every bit of it. The large amount of water and apples barely effected her apart from a swollen gut. "HA, too easy." "Uh, Amethyst? You don't actually eat the apples," Rainbow pointed out. Amethyst looked down to her bloated belly, full of water and apples that she gobbled up. All the Gem did was shrug and walked off to see what else was new. So much for another turn at the apple bobbing. As they went, Amethyst began to think over the idea of getting candy from other ponies. Then, another idea got into her head, snickering to Rainbow Dash. "Rainbow, you trick or treat?" "Nah, that's filly stuff," Rainbow said, waving her hoof at the idea. "So you think you can't trick or treat, eh?" That comment got Rainbow's attention. "Hey, I can't trick or treat circles around every filly and colt in Ponyville if I wanted to!" "Wanna bet? I bet I can get more candy before the night is over. Winner gets the loser's stash." Rainbow grew a smile on her face, matching Amethyst. "Deal." ~~~~~~ As the night events were in full swing, the Gems and ponies were having a good time with the events. Pearl and Lapis ended up alone as they explored the event going on, seeing the many sorts of sights and activities go on. Lapis was getting quite a number of stares from everypony due to just how beautiful she appeared to be with her own outfit for the night. Her face, although plenty blue already, did end up blushing a deeper blue in the face. She liked it, but, maybe all this attention wasn't the best idea ever. "Pearl, they're all staring at me," Lapis whispered to her. "Don't worry, Lapis. They're just a bit new to you," Pearl said, trying to comfort her. Yet, the Gem had a bit of a hard time ignoring Lapis herself. With an eye for perfection, Lapis' unique look kept her attention too. As the two continued onward, soon, they saw someone else over by a larger wagon. Lapis and Pearl quickly recognized the particular farmer earth pony nearby, as some ponies began to get into the hay-filled wagon. The pony nearby was Applejack, with Big Macintosh ready to pull the wagon. Applejack's outfit, which was mainly her in a deep black robe. she also had a bit of a full body suit to accompany it, and some eye shadow of yellow gave her the good appearance for her character - the pony of shadows. As for Big Mac, he had a outfit more fitting to a logger; a red plaid shirt and blue pants, with a red beanie on his head. Lapis and Pearl went right over. "Hi, Applejack," Lapis said, waving her hand to get her attention. Applejack looked over to Lapis and Pearl in their costumes. Applejack was impressed by them both in their costumes, Lapis especially. "Howdy, partner. Sure got somethin fancy this year, don't ya?" Applejack complimented. Lapis ended up blushing again. Her first nightmare Night outfit, and everypony is giving her more credit than she expected. "Well, it's our first time ..." "Well, you both did a dang good job. Got a royalty idea goin here," Applejack pointed out. It did seem like that, Pearl as the guard, and Lapis as the princess. Made sense really, and the two got the idea quickly. "Oh, well, thank you. What are you?" Lapis asked. "I am (acts spooky) the pony of shadows," Applejack said, acting like a ghost while she revealed herself. Big Macintosh looked back to the wagon, seeing the full seats on the wagon, and began going off on his way. "You ponies sure love being festive," Pearl said, looking around a bit more. "Darn tootin! Everypony loves these sort of get-togethers, can't get enough of em," Applejack explained. However, seeing Big Mac go off without her, made Applejack realize what she missed. "Seems so," said Pearl. "Yep. Sorry to cut it short, but, I gotta get goin. Handling some catering for Nightmare Night, ya know?" "Okay, see you later," Lapis said, as Applejack galloped off to catch up with her brother. It was a bit short, but, at least they knew what Applejack was up to for that night. ~~~~~~ Connie and Steven were having their own fun as well, as they both continued going through Ponyville. It was a lot of fun to see so many ponies going along for the event itself. Soon, the two found themselves over nearby the edge of town, checking out the decorations as they went through. As they were, Steven was happily enjoying the amount of candy he got while going about. "This is great, isn't it Steven?" Connie asked. "Yeah, it is," Steven said, taking a bite from a candy bar. As they went through, they found themselves nearby a neat-looking building. The whole entire thing looked like it was baked, and placed down into Ponyville. The roof, walls, door, everything seemed like that of a gingerbread house rather than an actual house. Connie, and Steven went over to the house, some other ponies going by as well. They did see Amethyst go in, and come out with a lot of candy before going off, peaking their interested. "Trick or Treat!" Steven called, running to the house, and knocking on the door. However, the door into the building just moved open on its own, looking inside to see a sort of bakery outlook. The lights themselves were on, plain as day, yet nopony was there (how cliché did you expect?). Connie and Steven both looked into the building, not seeing anypony in. "Hello?" Connie asked. Soon, they both noticed something else inside: a batch of cupcakes out for whoever wanted some. Didn't seem to be up for any grabs, yet, there were only two left on the plate. Connie and Steven went inside, heading right over to the cupcakes left on the table. As the two got over to the cupcakes, the two were just as the counter when somepony jumped up into view, giving them both a bit of a startle. The pony spook was actually, after a second look, Pinkie Pie. However, the pink mare's costume was a bit odd: she had a full dress on for her costume. The thing was though, her costume had multiple marks sewed in, each one having a different picture on it. Her outfit also consisted of three sets of wings, each a different color as well. "Pinkie!" Connie gasped, realizing who it was. Pinkie chuckled after that. "Hi Connie, Steven, cupcake?" Pinkie asked, showing them both the cupcakes on her plate. Connie and Steven both looked to each other before they took the cupcakes off of the plate. "Why aren't you out with them?" Steven asked. "I am, I am, just baking up sweets for Nightmare Night's super duper extra spooky oopie doopie Nightmare filly trip," Pinkie explained. "Filly trip? What's that?" Connie wondered. "It'll be happening in about five minutes, just find zebra Zecora and you'll find the filly trip," Pinkie said with a big grin. Suddenly, Pinkie realized what she herself was saying, and quickly rushed off to start making some more treats for the night to come. Connie and Steven did find that part a bit interesting, as they both went on out with their cupcakes, Steven starting to eat his as they left. They didn't want to bug Pinkie on her own sort of baking spree. ~~~~~~ On hearing the idea, Connie and Steven went right off back to the main grounds, looking for said zebra. It was a bit new to hear that they had zebras as well, but hey, they were new to the whole thing. While they went around, they did see Rainbow Dash going house by house fast, getting more candy as she went, yet they didn't bother with her. After walking around for a bit, Connie spotted the pony in question, leading a group of fillies into the nearby forest. She was a zebra, like Pinkie Pie had said. She didn't look too different from a zebra (apart from size of course), yet she had golden rings on her ears, neck, and front left leg. She was also in outfit, looking like a witch doctor. Connie and Steven went over to her, thinking she was the right one. "Excuse me? Are you Zecora?" Connie asked. The zebra turned to them, giving them a gentle smile. She had a sort of calming, mystical look to her as she walked over. "Ah, so it is true what the ponies say; two young humans venture here to play," She said. The two nodded. "That's right. Are you doing a sort of 'filly trip'? Pinkie said you were going to," Steven asked. Zecora nodded. "Follow me, and very soon, you'll hear the tale of Nightmare Moon," Zecora said, beginning to go on ahead with the other fillies and colts behind her. Connie and Steven followed the zebra. It took just a minute or two, but Steven and Connie did eventually were brought to a stone statue. The statue looked like a alicorn, like Twilight but thinner, taller, and more menacing. Zecora stopped, and the group listened to what the zebra had to say. "Listen close, my little dears, I'll tell you where you got your fears of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary." Zecora then pulled out a sort of odd green dust from her costume pocket, and blew it in the air, the magic mist beginning to form into the same figure as the statue. "Of Nightmare Moon, who makes you wary." The green fog began to surround them all, as Zecora continued. "Every year, we put on a disguise, to save ourselves from her searching eyes." A evil smile began to appear behind Steven and Connie, the two spooked upon seeing it appear. "But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing!" Some of the fillies, backing up slightly, back into another colt, as the three screamed themselves. "Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year!" Zecora said, the green mist nightmare moon flying up to the moon, and disappearing. "However, my little friend. For Nightmare Moon you must not offend." Zecora blew out a little more of the green mist. "Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!" The alicorn figure opened her mouth wide, filled with sharp teeth, but disappeared just before it could "eat" anypony. The fillies and colts, and Steven in the end, gave some candy to the statue. Connie, however, didn't have any candy to give, and everypony finished up. Zecora started to bring the group back to Ponyville, yet Connie thought it over for a little bit more. She wasn't one to believe in stories like this, but, with the world she was in, she might as well listen to advice. All she had was Pinkie's cupcake, so, she placed the little treat down on the pile of candy, before rushing back to join Steven. ~~~~~~ Soon, back in Ponyville, Applejack and Big Macintosh eventually made their round. Even if rather uneventful, it really was a nice Nightmare Night for the two. Soon, Big Macintosh stopped to rest, as the number of ponies got out of the wagon Big Mac was pulling. The two stopped by the apple bobbing tubs, not aware of the results yet. "Getting tired, Big Mac?" Applejack asked. Big Macintosh turned to his sister. "Nope," Big Mac replied. "Well, you can relax now, big brother," Applejack said, trotting over to see how the Apple bobbing was doing. However, one look made her stop, seeing the tubs completely empty! No water, no apples, nothing! Applejack rushed over, and looked into the tub for something, but it appeared like it wasn't filled with anything to begin with! "What in tarnation?" Applejack gasped. Then she turned back to Big Mac. "Big Mac, you sure you filled these up?" Applejack called. Her brother nodded, assuring her that he did indeed fill them. Applejack didn't have a forsaken clue as to what happened, but, before she could think on what could cause it, suddenly she then began to hear something zoom by her, though was too quick for her to notice. Still, after that, Applejack turned around, and then noticed somepony standing happily in place. The pony was Pinkie Pie, still in costume and having a plate of cupcakes balancing on her forehead. "Oh, howdy Pinkie. See you got your cupcakes ready," Applejack said, looking to the colorful cupcakes balanced out in a delicious pyramid of frosting, dough, and sprinkles. "I know, I worked all day, perfecting my super duper secret recipe! Where's the filly trip, ooo they'll LOVE IT!" Pinkie beamed, hopping in place, the cupcakes and plate bouncing up and down on her head. However, Applejack began to rub the back of her head before answering. "Sorry, sugarcube, they've finished up a while ago," Applejack said. Pinkie Pie stopped hopping around, and stood still, the plate and cupcake pyramid still balanced out perfectly on her head. A bit bummed out for missing the event. "AW! Oh well, everypony else will love these!" Pinkie Pie said, but before she bolted off, she saw the empty tub. "OOOO, you setting up?" "No, I swore they were ready," Applejack said. Pinkie Pie hopped in head first, the plate of cupcakes landing on her tail as she looked around inside the tub like a dog would. Suddenly, she spun upright, so quickly that the unmoving cupcake plate was back on her head again. She jumped out, and quickly made a move like a dog pointer would, aiming right at the culprit. Applejack looked over, and saw Amethyst still at it, getting a lot of candy from another pony for trick or treat. Applejack groaned a little bit, but, didn't bother to get at her for doing so. Besides, water and Apples were abundant back on the farm. "Well, I can get some more apples back on the farm. Thanks, Pinkie," Applejack. "Okie dokie lokie!" Pinkie said, rushing off to get her cupcakes eaten by other ponies. Applejack then began to head back to the farm for more apples. Speaking of Amethyst, She began to head back to Rainbow Dash with her huge load of candy. It did appear that Amethyst had gotten a huge amount of delicious candy. While as much as she wanted to just eat it all right there, she wanted to at least get Rainbow Dash to see her pile. As she did go, she was unaware of the two in front of her, and ended up tumbling into them, the pile of candy ending up in a huge pile on them all. Amethyst popped her head out, but two others popped their heads out, which were Pearl and Lapis. "Amethyst!" Pearl snapped, as Pearl and Lapis got themselves out of the candy pile. "Where did you get all this?" Asked Lapis Lazuli. Amethyst took one piece, and bit into it with her fake fangs. "Trick or Treating," Amethyst answered, swallowing one piece from her pile. However, while Lapis and Pearl got out of one pile, another one soon showed up. Lapis and Pearl got out of the way that time. This pile belonged to Rainbow Dash, as the happy Pegasus confronted Amethyst with her pile. "There you go, I win!" Rainbow concluded. That was, until, she saw how big Amethyst's pile was. Compared to her own, Amethyst's pile was just slightly bigger than her own. So much for her own. "Looks like I win," Amethyst said, smirking. Rainbow rolled her eyes, and flew out of her pile. However, licking her lips, Amethyst immediately went full on gluttony on the pile, gobbling it down fast. The ferocity of Amethyst's eating left all three a little bit unsettled, some of the wrappers flying by them. "Uh ... Lapis? Can you get Garnet?" Pearl asked. ~~~~~~ Meanwhile, in Ponyville, Garnet was still chilling out where the group met up; the Ponyville fountain. Garnet was sitting down by the fountain until the Gems were finished having their fun. She simply watched the other ponies having their own fun as time went on, As she was sitting there, Connie and Steven both showed up by Garnet, the tall Gem getting up when they approached. "You two enjoying yourselves?" Garnet asked. "Yeah, it's pretty great. How has it been for you, Garnet?" Steven asked. Garnet just shrugged. "It is getting late," Garnet pointed out. Both Steven and Connie knew what that meant, but, before Garnet could say it, Lapis was seen above them, landing nearby them. "There you are, Garnet. Can you come back for a second?" "What's wrong?" "Eh .. You'll find out when you get there." "Is it Amethyst-related?" "... Yeah." Garnet then began walking off to get her, Lapis, Connie and Steven following her. It didn't take too long until they found where the Gem was. Pearl and Rainbow were still there, though a few other ponies were there as well, including Twilight, and Fulgurite too ended up finding her. What they did see was Amethyst finishing off both piles. She didn't care who's watching, the candy was delicious! However, the Gem looked about ready to pop, her body rounded out like a blimp. Amethyst was laying down on the ground, on her back, looking ready to pass out in a food come. Her mouth was open in a funny grin, completely satisfied. Her tongue was still lapping up some of the chocolate on her face. Pearl and Rainbow didn't change their expressions until Garnet got their attention. "Has this happened before?" Twilight asked. "More often than you'd think," replied Garnet, as she walked over to the stuffed Gem. Amethyst looked up to Garnet. "Hey, sup Garnet?" Garnet just sighed, her fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. "Okay, we're good, going back," Garnet said, lifting Amethyst up onto her shoulder as if she was a huge, soft boulder. Course, Garnet carried her pretty easily. It was bound to come to that anyway. Steven and Connie looking over to Twilight. "Sorry, we have to go. It's getting late," Connie said. "That's alright, Connie, you can always come back whenever you wish to," Twilight assured. "Same to you guys," Steven replied. "Come on, Gems, we're going." "Come on, can't we stick around a little longer?" Amethyst asked. "No," Garnet bluntly said. If she let Amethyst stay any longer, than all the candy on Ponyville will be eaten up by her. she might as well just bring everyone back. So, pulling the key out from her pocket, she flicked the key in the air like a coin. The key landed into the ground, as the portal back home was opened up. "Have a good Nightmare night," Lapis said, before flying through the portal, the other Gems following as the ponies waved goodbye. Now was a good time as any to go off. So, in no time, the other gems went on through the portal. With a wave from Steven, he too jumped into the portal as the last one, the portal closing up. The trip was a bit for everyone, though ending a bit abruptly thanks to Amethyst, yet, the other ponies still had a long night ahead of them. As Twilight turned to leave, and the door closing, suddenly the key was shot up, and landed in Twilight's sight. However, this key didn't belong to Garnet (the Gem took her key as she jumped in anyway). This key had, low and behold, Twilight's head at the end of it. Twilight levitated the key to get a better look, recognizing the similarities between one and the other. "Guess I can go back after all," Twilight thought, a smile on her face before she began to head back to the others.