A Night to Remember

"How is it now?" Fluttershy asked.

"A little more to the left... no, higher," Rarity instructed her. "Wait, now the letters are being obscured. Oh, this just won't do."

"Well, maybe it's a good thing for the banner to be a little hidden. It makes it look more spooky," Twilight commented.

Rarity looked back to her friend. "But if ponies can't read it, how will they know that THIS is the spot of the Nightmare Night Festival?"

Twilight giggled a little. "Well, with all the other decorations on the town hall, I don't see how they couldn't."

Taking a step back, Rarity did notice how the entire building had been appropriately decorated for Nightmare Night. Cobwebs adorned the windows, hemlock moss hung from the roof and several carved pumpkins lined either side of the front doors waiting for the night to fall and lit candles to illuminate their expressions from within.

"Per...haps you're right, Twilight. It's fine where it is, Fluttershy."

The yellow Pegasus left the banner as it was and hovered back down to the ground. Nightmare Night came but once a year so Twilight and her friends were doing their best to make sure everything was perfect. Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight helped decorate the town hall and some of the buildings in Sugar Cube Corner while Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie prepared other activities for the celebration.

Twilight turned to examine the rest of Ponyville. "Things are even livelier than they were during the last Nightmare Night," she remarked. Ponies all moved about the various buildings and structures of the town, some setting up displays and others pulled carts full of materials in and around town square. Several pegasi swooped down from above to adorn a storefront with a giant spider web. The fabric it was made of sprung back as they pulled it around the edges, instantly giving the structure an older and scarier vibe.

"It makes sense for their to be this much activity on this night," Rarity said. "While Nightmare Night comes every year, this night happens to be the one-thousandth anniversary of the original one."

"The one-thousandth anniversary?" Twilight asked. "I didn't know there had been that many."

"Yes, although it wasn't always known as 'Nightmare Night'. There are towns and cities all over Equestria that celebrate this day but the one here in Ponyville is where the night got its name and the one-thousandth anniversary of it is very important. There are even ponies visiting here from Canterlot," Rarity explained.

"And I hope they brought they all brought their apple-tites!" Applejack said, wheeling her sales cart over to the group. "Ah made sure bring out the extra stock so I'd have enough for tonight! Folks are gonna be hungry for some candy but I figure ain't nothin' can be sweeter than a fresh apple, so I made sure to stock up!" As Applejack had proclaimed, her cart was full of apple-based treats. Among her usual fare were some Nightmare-themed items: caramel apples drizzled in chocolate meant to look like creeping darkness, fritters in the shapes of ghosts and an apple pie with a menacing grin etched into the crust.

"It all looks delicious, Applejack but I hope selling all these things doesn't keep you away from the festivities," Rarity said.

Applejack waved away her friend's concern. "Nothin' ta worry about! Granny Smith's gonna take over for me when she and the others get here," she informed the group.

"Granny Smith's coming, too?" Twilight asked. "This really must be a special occasion."

"Eeyup. Wouldn't miss the anniversary of the first Nightmare Night for the world. Speaking of, where's Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash?" the farm mare asked.

"Rainbow Dash is busy managing the weather for the evening. She and the rest of the pegasi want to make sure the view is absolutely perfect tonight, so they've been clearing the sky for most of the day," Rarity said. "Pinkie Pie on the other hoof-"

"WHERE IS IT?!" a voice shouted from down the street. Fluttershy instinctively hid behind something. The group turned to see Pinkie Pie stomping through the road on her back hooves, a look of pure rage frozen on her face. "I'VE LOOKED EVERYWHERE AND I CAN'T FIND IT!!" Several ponies in the street stopped to stare as she passed by.

"Pinkie, why are you yelling?!" Twilight asked as the pink mare approached. "What's wrong?"

"I had my perfect costume for tonight picked out and IT'S GONE!" she was panting as she raged in the middle of the street, clearly exhausted with anger.

"Calm down there, sugar cube," Applejack cautioned. "Where did ya last leave it?"

Pinkie Pie took a deep breath. "All I did was set it down for a minute next to Gummy to try some of the punch Zecora made and then it disappeared! I've searched EVERYWHERE from here to the center of town and it's NOWHERE!"

Rarity walked over to pat Pinkie on the back. "I would've made some costumes myself but I found my store short of materials this year. There being such a huge demand for fabric, I won't be able to order anything new until at least next week."

"That doesn't matter..." Pinkie said, almost sobbing now. "This costume was PERFECT! And now it's gone..."

"It's okay Pinkie," Twilight said. "We'll help go help you look for it."

"Okay," Pinkie said, starting to cheer up. "Like I said, I left it next to Gummy when..." she paused. Her eyes went wide as if she just now realized something. "Gummy! GUMMY!" Pinkie shouted. "He must've run off with it!"

"Wait, Pinkie wait for us!" Twilight shouted but the pink mare already had darted down the street. The others could do little more than follow after her.

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