Friday the Thirteenth

by BoredAuthor817

Chapter 3

The girls made a quick swing by the Dash residence to drop off their stuff before heading off to Halloween City.

“So,” began Rarity, “I know Sunset, Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight don't have any costume ideas yet. What about you two?” She gestured to Rainbow and Pinkie.

“Oh, I've got a few ideas narrowed down” smiled Rainbow, “Just haven't quite decided on any of them yet. But, once I do, shouldn't take me long to finish it up.”

“I've got mine all planned out” replied Pinkie, “Just need to put on the finishing touches.”

“Good,” Rarity sighed, “at least we won't be starting from scratch with everyone.”

Fluttershy slowed down as they approached the entrance to the parking lot. Turning in, Pinkie let out an excited squeak. “They have a Bulk Country!” she smiled.

“There's also a grocery store at the other end of the plaza” said Rainbow, “Plenty of places to get drinks and snacks.”

Twilight turned to Sunset, who sitting next to her. “You've been rather quiet. Everything okay?”

“Hm? Yeah” Sunset gave a weak smile, “Still just trying to gather myself. You want to check my pulse again?” She held out her hand.

“No, I was satisfied last time I checked it. Just keep drinking.” She pointed to the half-empty water bottle in Sunset's hands.

Sunset raised the bottle and looked wearily at the contents. “I swear, you're trying to drown me. I've poured so much of this stuff down, I don't think I can take in any more.”

“Okay,” Fluttershy said, turning the engine off, “you girls want to hit the snacks or costumes first? We're parked equal distance from all three stores. So, no competition, or extra walk times for any of them.”

“Of course” Rainbow rolled her eyes.

Sunset raised her hand. “I vote costumes first. That way, if Pinkie or Rainbow want to head out for snacks early, they can.”

“Works for me” said Applejack.

“Same here” agreed Pinkie.

“I get the feeling we're all in agreement here” said Twilight.

“Sounds good to me” Fluttershy said and exited the van.

It was a pleasant surprise when they walked into Halloween City to see that there weren't a ton of people there. Rarity made a beeline to the costumes with Twilight, Sunset, Applejack and Fluttershy in tow. Pinkie and Rainbow hung back to check out all the cool lawn animatronics and ornaments.

“Now then,” Rarity said, glancing at the various costumes, “what sort of ideas did you have in mind?”

“Well,” began Twilight, “Rainbow and I were texting last night and we got thinking about something from Daring Do's latest book.”

Rarity gave a thoughtful hum.

“I was thinkin' of tryin' somethin' different—for me” said Applejack, “You know, bein' somethin' completely outta-character for me. Somethin' no one would ever imagine me wearin'.”

Another thoughtful hum.

“Wow, AJ” remarked Sunset, “That's very brave of you.”

Applejack gave a shrug. “Figured this will be our last year to trick-or-treat, might as well make it memorable.”

“Okay, Sunset,” said Rarity, “what about you?”

“I dunno” Sunset rubbed her arm, “I used to dress-up for Nightmare Night as a filly, but they were all characters from Equestrian history and folklore. This being my first Halloween on this side of the portal, so I want to have it based on something from over here. Just not sure what yet, but I want it to be unique to here.”

“You've been here for years” said Applejack, “You've never celebrated Halloween? Not even at school?”

Sunset shook her head.

“Why not?” asked Twilight.

“Well, no friends, for one.” There was a twinge of pain in her voice.

“What did you do every Halloween, then?” asked Twilight, though only after did she regret saying it.

Sunset winced. “Hide away and plan my conquest of Equestria, like I did pretty much every other night.” She tried to chuckle lightly to soften the mood. Still, an uncomfortable air hung over them.

“Okay,” said Rarity, “moving on, Fluttershy?”

“Um,” replied the timid girl, glossing over the costumes hanging on the rack, “something not scary...?”

“Right...” pondered Rarity. “Well, Twilight, you want to do something from the latest book. Any particular character you had in mind?”

“Brargoth.”

“Wait,” interjected Sunset, “isn't he that the ancient alien cyborg Daring Do found in the polar ice? You actually liked that?”

“I know many fans hated A.K. Yearling bringing aliens into the series (myself included). Which is a shame because the character is good—just doesn't belong in the Daring Do universe. Anyway, I was thinking of doing it with a twist.”

Applejack raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Gender swap!” Twilight pulled out her phone and showed them. “There are already a few people who went to con as a female him. Rainbow is contemplating dressing as Daring Do, gender-swapped Dr. Caballeron, or, even, gender-swapped Daring Do.”

“Okay,” continued Rarity, “Applejack, I have an idea for you. We'll discuss it later, just because I don't think there is from here we'll need for you. Sunset, I think for you right now is to just peruse through and see if anything comes to mind. Fluttershy, you're with me. I've some ideas for you, which should be quick. Twilight, I guess you have a pretty good idea of what you want to do. You might as well look around with Sunset. I'll take care of Fluttershy then more on to you two.”

“Guess I'll go catch up with Rainbow and Pinkie” said Applejack, “Apple Bloom wanted me to pick up some decoratin' supplies while I was here. Could use their help.

“Catch up with ya later.”

Twilight and Sunset wandered through the stacks of costume pieces.

“Hard to believe this store is an empty shell all the other eleven months of the year” commented Twilight.

“Seasonal stores are like that” said Sunset, “Though, that's just the brick and mortar. Their websites are up all year long.”

“Hey, uh, Sunset?”

“Yeah?” There was a timidness in her friend's voice. It unnerved Sunset a bit. Twilight's sudden change in body language didn't help matters either.

“I just wanted to apologize. For what I said back there.”

Sunset's shoulders dropped. “Twilight...”

“No, don't try to hide it. I know how it hurt you. I didn't mean for it to hurt you...”

“You just spoke without thinking” Sunset tried to let out a laugh to lighten the mood, “But, it's fine, really.” She put her hands on Twilight's shoulders. “I know it's almost been a year and, yes, I was a little sore about it at first. But, please, don't think you need to tread on eggshells. Besides,” she brushed away a lock from Twilight's face, “why would I want to suppress the one thing we have in common?”

Twilight looked away. “We have other things in common...” she murmured.

Sunset leaned in closer and whispered: “But this we don't share with anyone else.”

That got a laugh out of Twilight. “Okay, okay. You got me there.” Her face lightened a bit and she returned to the store shelves. “So, any ideas yet?”

“Well,” Sunset put a thoughtful finger to her lips, “the thought of being a she-demon is beginning to come to mind.”

Twilight quickly spun around “What?”

Sunset laughed.

“Hey, you two!” Pinkie Pie poked out from one if the adjacent aisles, “How's it going?”

“Well,” said Sunset, “Twilight has a pretty good idea of what she wants to do. I'm still just trying to sort it all out.”

“Did you see Applejack?” asked Twilight, “She wanted your help to pick out some stuff for her family's barn party.”

“Oh, yeah” waved Pinkie, “we're already on it. I just came over to say hi. So, Sunset, still nothing?”

Sunset shook her head. “Funny, huh? I come from this crazy world with wondrous beasts and magical beings and I struggle to come up with a costume.”

“Well,” Pinkie looped her arm around Sunset's “let me walk around a bit with you and see if we can get some of those thought juices flowing!”

“That sounds disgusting” Twilight gagged.

The trio moved to the back of the store where the walls were decorated to the ceiling with masks.

“Here we go,” grinned Pinkie, “let's start out with these and see if anything happens.”

“Something tells me you just want an excuse to have fun” grinned Sunset.

Pinkie let out a gasp, clenched her chest and almost fell backward. “Why, Sunset, how could you? I never!” She grabbed a mask and pulled it over hear head and began to giggle. “I never need an excuse to have fun!”

Sunset and Twilight couldn't help but let out a snicker. Sunset looked at the wall. There were so many, she didn't quite know where to start.

“Just grab one, silly” Pinkie nudged.

Not really looking, Sunset pulled a mask from the wall and put it on. Peering into the mirror, she saw she had grabbed a political mask. She recognized it as one of the candidates from the last federal election. She had the candidate that lost. Though, scary-looking, Sunset couldn't help but note that the victor was equally as frightening. She took the mask off and replaced it. “Politics really isn't my thing.”

“Hey, Sunset!” Twilight called out.

Sunset turned to see what she assumed to be Twilight only to be met with a black nose surrounded by fur. Stepping back a bit to see, Sunset saw that Twilight had donned a wolf's head. “Hey,” she said, “That looks pretty good.”

“Really?” asked Twilight, “I can't tell. Had to take my glasses off to put it on.”

“Hang on” Sunset pulled out her phone and snapped a picture. “Now, where are you glasses?”

“Huh?”

“Just trust me.”

Twilight handed over her glasses and Sunset delicately placed them on the wolf's face. She then took another picture. “Okay,” she said, removing the glasses from the mask.

Twilight took off the head and replaced her glasses, eager to see the pictures. She laughed the most at the one of the wolf wearing her glasses.

“Sunset, close your eyes.”

“Why?” Sunset turned to see Pinkie Pie standing suspiciously with something hidden behind her back.

“Just trust me” the party girl said, “Close your eyes and don't open them till I tell you.”

Sunset sighed. “Okay.” She felt a mask being pulled over her head and Pinkie's hands grab her arms.

“I'm gonna move you to the mirror” she explained, “Just keep your eyes shut till I say so.”

“Okay...”

It was a short shuffle to the mirror. Sunset could hear the stifled laughter of Pinkie and Twilight behind her. She felt Pinkie walk away and the two gave into giggling.

“Okay,” Pinkie tried to control herself, “you can open now.”

Sunset opened her eyes. It was a bit hard to look out of the mask, but after some slight adjustment, she could finally see what it was she was wearing. It took her a moment to see that there was a horse looking back at her in the mirror. Then, she saw it. It wasn't a horse—it was a unicorn. At this point, Pinkie and Twilight fell into full blown laughter.

“Very funny, girls” Sunset put her hands on her hips, trying to control her own laughter, “Har, har!”

“Oh, come-on Sunny!” pouted Pinkie, “You gotta admit it's a little funny.”

“Yes,” Sunset removed the mask to reveal a broad grin on her face, “yes it is!” She examined the mask. It appeared to be well-made with a keen attention to detail. Perhaps, a bit too much so. It sent a shiver down Sunset's spine. The thing looked almost real. A wicked smile formed on her lips.

“Uh, Sunset” Twilight's voice quivered, “What are you thinking?”

“Know what would be a good Nightmare Night prank?” Sunset's voice was deep and devious, “Wrap this up in a box and send it over to Princess Twilight. So when she opens—”

Twilight was aghast. “You're horrid!”

“She'd get a kick out of it!”

“You'd get a kick out of it.”

“Well, yeah...” She looked over the mask again, “Dang it, I'm half tempted to buy it, now!”

“No!” Twilight snatched the mask from Sunset's hands and put it back on the wall.

Sunset let out a laugh and shrugged to Pinkie. “Not like I would be allowed to wear it to school, anyway.”

Pinkie only shook her head. “You're crazy, Sunset.” She wrapped an arm around the other girl and pulled her in. “Good thing you're with good company! We're loonier than the moon!”

“Moon?” Sunset paused for a moment, rolling the word around in her mind. Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Pinkie!” she exclaimed, “That's it! You're a genius!” She gave the girl a strong hug “Thanks!” and quickly ran off to find Rarity.

“You're welcome!” beamed Pinkie, “If I only knew for what...” She pulled out a hand-full of Halloween candy from her hidden stash and offered some to Twilight.