Tricks and/or Treats

Author's Note:

Cute little story I wrote for Halloween

Sprinkle Flake smiled into the mirror. Looking at herself, dressed as one of Princess Luna’s thestral guards, she viewed the big black bat wings attached to her back. Adding in a pair of fake fangs, she grinned again, displaying the elongated canines. Her blue armor looked rather realistic.

When she got downstairs, her mother was holding her bag. “Thanks for getting that, Mom,” sprinkle Flake said, taking the bag.

“Have a nice Nightmare Night honey. Hope you have fun” her mom called after her as she headed out the door. Sprinkle was ready. Nightmare Night was the best holiday of the year, and this was the first time she was going out with only her friends for company. She was so excited for the candy, scares, and all kinds of fun. Traveling a few houses over, she knocked at the door of her friend, Summer Leaf. The golden unicorn filly answered the door, dressed in a breezie costume.

“Ready?” Sprinkle asked.

“Sure am.” Summer walked out the door. She had a small bag she was tying across her back. As soon as she was done, she called to Sprinkle, “Race you to River’s!”

“You’re on!” the earth pony replied. She galloped off after her friend, laughing. They chased each other through the streets. Their friend River Mist lived several blocks away. The fillies, running along, were oblivious of the shadowed figure following at a distance.

River was already outside when Summer and Sprinkle got to her house, panting. Both fillies were grinning, smiles reaching from ear to ear. River looked at her friends. Her deep purple witch costume was well matched with her pale blue coat, and deeper blue mane.

“Hey,” the filly said

“Hi!” Sprinkle returned cheerfully. “River, when you’re ready we’ll start.”

“Readier than ever,” River replied.

The three fillies headed out They stopped at the first lit house. Gathering their candy, they made back for the street. As they walked down the steps, however, Sprinkle spotted something in their path. “Spider!” she screamed.

All three fillies backed up in terror. The spider was massive, the size of a hoof. It was black and hairy, with glittery black eyes. The fillies were preparing to sprint away when Summer noticed that the spider wasn’t moving. “Wait, I don’t think it's real,” She told her friends as they watched the spider stand stiff and motionless. Walking tentatively up to it, she tapped the spider lightly. It remained motionless in the path.

“Who put that there?” Sprinkle asked. All three fillies looked around. The spider hadn’t been there when they arrived. However, when they saw nobody in sight, they shrugged and moved on. Sprinkle thought she saw a pony in a dark cloak, but when she turned to look, it was gone. Down the block they went. At each house, they rang the doorbell, saying “Trick or Treat.” in unison. Each time they were greeted with smiles and bowls of candy.

Finally, they reached the end of the street. Here sat a little grove of trees. It had been decorated well, spider webs hanging from trees and little eyes peeking out of the bushes. The little grove gave a haunting impression.

“I dare you to go in there,” Sprinkle told Summer.

“Only if you go with me.”

“Why? You a scaredy cat?”

“Are you?”

“Fine.”

“Now don’t you go anywhere without me,” River called after her friends as they trotted into the grove. She raced after them. The trees became closer, the darkness eerier, and the further they went each sound became more disturbing. The trees appeared to have faces, and the bushes rustled with hidden animals. As they stood near a bush, it began to shake like wild. As the girls hid behind each other, a head popped out. An owl rushed out of the bush, hooting as it went. They all sighed, relieved. They walked on, each unnerved by the haunting surroundings. Once they could have sworn they saw a ghost.

As they headed deeper into the woods, two glowing eyes appeared in a tree branch. A bat fell out of the tree, shocking the fillies. They scampered quickly away. Peering out from behind the tree, they saw the bat still hanging there. Hanging on a string. However, when the eyes peeked out from the tree, and a figure in a cloak dropped out, glowing yellow, all three turned tail and ran the other direction, screaming.

When they were finally standing in the street again, River looked at the other two fillies. “We are never, ever, doing that again,” she said firmly.

“Agreed.” Sprinkle Flake nodded. “You know, we should get back to collecting.” and so they did, moving from house to house through Ponyville. Every once in a while, they would stumble upon something new. A glowing, grinning, Jack O’ Lantern popping up in front of them, a skeleton hanging from a tree, a couple of cobwebs it their face. They spotted the cloaked figure a few more times. Finally, they all returned to Sprinkle Flake’s house to sort their candy.

“What a night,” Summer commented as they walked up the porch to Sprinkle’s home.

“Agreed,” replied River, but through her candy it came out something like, “Agweed.” all three fillies snickered, before Sprinkle rang the doorbell. It was answered by her mother, smiling.

“How did you girls enjoy your night?” she asked.

“It was really fun,” Sprinkle told her, “Though we kept being scared by this cloaked pony. I wonder who it was?”

“I do too,” Her mom said.

They followed her inside, dumping their candy on the floor. They began sorting, trading candy and stuffing it in their faces. They laughed, thanking Sprinkle Flake's mother as she handed them each a cup of water. Then all three noticed Sprinkle’s mother’s Nightmare Night costume. She was a vampire in a black, red silk lined cloak. The cloak seemed familiar.

“You!” Summer cried, “You were the mysterious pony?”

Sprinkle’s mother smiled, she pulled up the hood of her cloak. “Trick or Treat, young ones.”

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