Months after the Friendship Games, the team members of the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts have become good friends, but their first Nightmare Night together may not be what they expected.
One cold and dark Nightmare Night, Lemon Zest, Sugarcoat, Indigo Zap, Sunny Flare, and Sour Sweet get together at Lemon's house to celebrate the holiday with a slumber party. But things take a terrifying turn when a long-hidden secret is revealed about one of their members...
I'd like to thank Bootsy Slickmane for not only pre-reading, but also being a terrific brainstorming partner, and providing cover art. What a guy.
"Once, a long time ago, there was a girl who thought that going out tonight, Nightmare Night, was no big deal. She thought that all of the stories about what happened to girls who went out alone were all made up to keep her in line... boy was she wrong."
"She snuck out of her parents' house at a quarter to ten. At first, nothing happened. She walked around the neighborhood, taking in all of the scary decorations, and hitting up the few houses that still had their porch lights on for some extra candy. It's no big deal, she kept saying to herself. All of those superstitions are stupid nonsense."
"Then, at ten o'clock, she heard the whispering. It was soft at first, so soft she couldn't make out what it was saying, even though it sounded like it was coming from right behind her. She looked back, but there was nothing there... and no matter how fast she tried to walk, it kept getting louder. She walked faster, and faster, and faster, but the whispers wouldn't stop. She began to jog, and then to run with all of her might, but still the whispers got louder."
"She ran as hard as she could towards her house, and some say she very nearly made it. But she wasn't quite at the door before she felt the shadows take her by the shoulders, halting her in her tracks... and suddenly the voice rose above a whisper..."
"YOU'RE MINE FOREVER!" Indigo Zap thrust her arms into the air with the loudest scream she could muster. Sour Sweet yelped and tumbled over backwards from her pillow on the floor, while Lemon Zest began coughing and pounding a fist on her chest over her tub of buttery popcorn. Sunny Flare's eyes widened, but she quickly composed herself with a hand over her lips, while Sugarcoat's eyes widened only slightly before returning to their normal, bored expression.
Indigo almost fell over laughing with her hands on her stomach. "Hahaha! I got you girls so hard! I told you I'm the master of Nightmare Night stories!"
"Oh yes you are the master, Indigo, the master of screaming like a freak!" Sour Sweet huffed and folded her arms over her chest.
The group of them were in pajamas and nightgowns in the middle of Lemon Zest's living room. The Friendship Games had come and gone, but in its wake the group of them had decided that, in the end, they had quite a bit of fun together on their CHS excursion aside from demonic students having an epic ultimate clash of good and evil. So they began spending more time together, a couple of months now, leading up to tonight. Indigo's favorite night.
Sugarcoat reached up to adjust her slightly skewed glasses. "I'm going to have to agree with Sour Sweet. Your juvenile jumpscare tactics are the kind of thing children use to scare each other."
"Oh yeah?" Indigo snickered. "Then why is Lemon Zest still freaking out?"
"She's choking to death on a popcorn kernel," Sugarcoat pointed out flatly.
There was a moment of silence, aside from Lemon's gasping and wheezing, before Sunny leapt from the carpet to the couch behind her and wrapped her arms around her stomach, giving her the Heimlich maneuver until a single popcorn came shooting out of her throat to land right in the middle of the group.
"Gaaahhh...!" Lemon Zest gasped for air. "Oh man that is so much better. Thanks Sunny!"
"Don't mention it." Sunny jumped from the couch back to her pillow in the girl-circle.
The crisis averted, Indigo Zap crossed her arms over her chest. "Anyway, if any of you think you've got better stories than me, this is the night to tell them. I want to be scared."
Sour Sweet clasped her hands in front of her. "Oh, how could we possibly come up with a better story than that?"
"That's a great question." Indigo stuck out her chest proudly.
Sour Sweet stuck one finger up in the air. "Oh wait, I think I've got one! Roses are red, violets are blue, your story was stupid, and so are you!"
Indigo rolled her eyes. "No need to get all defensive about getting scared, it happens to everybody."
Sugarcoat interjected again. "I think I have a scary story you all might enjoy."
Indigo laughed. "You? Seriously?" When Sugarcoat raised her eyebrow she raised her hands calmingly. "Hey, no offense, Sugarcoat, but you don't exactly seem like a storyteller to me."
"Aw, don't listen to her, I wanna hear your story." Lemon Zest popped a couple more popcorn kernels into her mouth. "The more the merrier."
"Yeah, go on. I wanna hear it too." Sunny Flare settled onto her stomach on the floor with her arms resting on her pillow, looking at Sugarcoat.
"I didn't say she couldn't tell it." Zap turned to Sugarcoat with a challenging smile. "Go ahead and scare me. I want it."
"Very well." Sugarcoat cleared her throat into one hand and made herself more comfortable on the carpet. "This is a story that took place a long time ago..."
"Once, before the modern age, before technology, before electricity, a girl was out for a night on the town with her friends. Times were very different back then. Danger lurked around every corner, without police monitoring or security cameras. She had no idea that among her friends, an unassuming boy named Vlad Impaler was hiding a secret. If she had known, she probably wouldn't have had her massive crush on him."
"It was because of this crush that, one Nightmare Night while they were out partying with their friends, she agreed to let him take her aside for a private talk. She expected a makeout, what she got instead was a savage attack. You see, Vlad Impaler craved blood, and once he got her alone, the hunger took him over and he pounced. She had no hope of escape, his strength was too great... he bit her, right then and there... but to her surprise she didn't die."
"Vlad vanished from town the next day, but she was still there. She started having strange thoughts and cravings... and sometimes she even dreamed of stalking her friends. Hunting them through the darkness. Cornering them. Conquering them. Drinking their blood. The thirst never overtook her enough for her to hurt anybody... until the next Nightmare Night."
"So it has been for the last three hundred years. She makes her friends, chooses which ones she will get alone on Nightmare Night... and feasts on them before moving onto the next group. You know, it kind of feels good finally telling this story to somebody. You see, the name of the girl in this story? Her name is Sugarcoat."
The room was deathly silent as Sugarcoat's eyes flitted between the rest of the group, as if sizing up a selection of juicy stakes.
It must have been ten seconds before Indigo Zap felt her heart slow and her breath even out enough to speak. "H-heh, hehe, wow, dang Sugarcoat. Okay, you really got me going there. Geeze, I didn't know you had that in you." Lemon Zest, Sunny Flare, and Sour Sweet finally released their own tension in quick, nervous giggles.
Lemon Zest rubbed her head with one hand. "Yeah, dude, that was a heck of story. With the way you always tell the truth, I didn't think you'd be so good at stories."
A wry smirk tugged at the corner of Sugarcoat's lips. "I simply see no reason to ever lie, Lemon Zest. Especially to people who'll never be able to tell anybody else the truth... after all..." Without warning the lights in the living room went black, plunging the whole room into pitch blackness. Sugarcoat's next words floated out of the darkness in a sharp hiss.
The screams split the air in unison as the four girls scrambled to get out of the living room through the darkness. "Everyone, get out! Run!" Sunny Flare shouted.
"Women and children first!" Indigo Zap screamed.
Sour Sweet growled back, "we're all women and we're all the same age!"
"Then Indigos and Zaps first!" Indigo's hands found the staircase near the hallway, and she gripped the rail as she bolted up the steps in the dark. "Come on girls the stairs are over here!"
Her heart was pounding as hard as her legs as she took the stairs two at a time, coming out on the top floor, which was thankfully illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the window at the end of the hall. She charged for Lemon Zest's bedroom and jerked the door open, holding it for her other three non-vampiric companions before slamming and locking the door behind her.
The panting and the pounding of her heart echoing in her own ears was all Indigo could hear for what must have been several minutes. She gulped to try to calm herself, but it was Sunny Flare who calmed down enough to speak first.
"Hahaha, oh man... what are we doing?" Sunny put a hand to her chest. "We just ran away from Sugarcoat after a silly Nightmare Night story. We must look like a bunch of buffoons."
"Hah... hah..." Sour Sweet gulped in her own breath of air. "Y-yeah, you're right... she's probably down there laughing her twiggy butt off at us."
"Or she's a vampire who's going to come after us to eat us!" Indigo Zap pointed out.
Sunny laughed and shook her head. "She's not a vampire, they don't even exist."
"Then how do you explain the lights going out?" Indigo insisted. "They went out at the perfect time!"
Lemon Zest put a finger to her chin. "Is that even a power vampires have? Turning off lights?"
"Maybe! Have you ever met one? I sure haven't!" Indigo rushed to the window to pull it open, sticking her head out. There was a tall tree just within reach. "Let's get out of here girls, before she comes up here to find us!"
"Are you being serious right now?" Sunny walked up behind her. "We're not leaving the house in the dead of night because you're freaked out by a vampire."
"Are you serious? Do you want to be a member of the undead for the rest of eternity!?"
"Oh yeah, it totally does!" Sour Sweet swept up beside them. "I can't wait to be rejected from society and hunted like a dog for the rest of my life!"
"Please tell me you're not getting into this too..." Sunny Flare grunted.
"Come on, we can go out the window, it's not that far down." Indigo Zap pushed Lemon toward the window.
"Aw, come on! I don't wanna go, I wanna be a vampire!" Lemon whirled back toward Indigo in defiance. "I'm not going!"
Indigo put her hands on her hips. "I'm sorry Lemon, but you'll thank me for this later." She reached out, placed a hand on Lemon's chest, and shoved her out the window.
"Gyah!" The sound of snapping tree branches were followed quickly by a dull thud from below. Glancing outside, Indigo saw the girl lying on the grass, dazed, but unharmed.
"Come on girls, let's get out of here!" Indigo jumped up to the windowsill.
"Indigo, come on, this is ridiculous! Sugarcoat is not a vampire! No matter how good a setup it was!" Sunny Flare declared.
"If you wanna take that risk, go right ahead. We'll be getting somewhere safe for the night." Indigo jumped out toward the tree, clinging to it and making her way smoothly toward the grass below. She knelt down to help Lemon Zest to her feet, lifting her from the ground with both arms.
"Turquoise taco tambourine..." Lemon Zest's eyes spun around her head as she wobbled against Indigo's side. By the time Lemon was on her feet Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare had reached the grass.
"So where exactly will we be safe?" Sunny Flare demanded.
"We can go to Twilight Sparkle's house, she was there when all that magic went down at CHS, so she'll believe us about this, and she seems nice enough to help. Come on, I know where it is!" Indigo dragged Lemon Zest along with her as she led the way down the sidewalk.
The night was dark and cold, with the bitter chill of fall cutting at their exposed skin, and even blowing right through the thin fabric of Indigo's pajama bottoms and t-shirt. She had always liked Nightmare Night, but it was late, and all of the porch lights were turned off, but many of the decorations were still lit. Ghosts, jack-o-lanterns, and ghouls of all descriptions leered at them as they passed. These familiar decorations sent a chill running up her spine, especially when she spotted several plastic vampires with glowing red eyes.
Twilight Sparkle's house wasn't far, and was one of the few that had no decorations out front at all. Indigo led the way up the porch to pound her fist on the door.
Twilight Sparkle opened the door after a few more hefty pounds, yawning and rubbing her forehead over her thick-rimmed glasses. "H-hello? Indigo Zap?"
Indigo looked down at Twilight's pajamas incredulously. She was wearing a full-body set of purple pajamas, complete with attached footsies. She spoke in unison with Sunny Flare. "Seriously?"
"Hey, it's comfortable." Twilight blushed. "If you came just to make fun of me..."
"No, no, sorry." Indigo shook her head. "We're not here for that, we sort of need to hide out here."
"Hide out?" Twilight looked back and forth between the four of them in surprise. "Hide out from what?"
"Sugarcoat's a vampire!" Indigo exclaimed.
"And Indigo won't let me become one!" Lemon pouted, having regained her senses on the walk over.
"A vampire?" Twilight hid her lips behind one hand for a moment. "Did she come from Uranus by any chance?"
"What? I don't know... maybe..." Indigo gasped. "Holy crap, an alien vampire!"
Sunny slapped the back of Indigo's head with one hand as she stepped past her. "Trust me, I know it sounds ridiculous, but the truth is I'm tired, it's cold, and these three won't go back to Lemon's house. Please, Twilight." She hugged her shoulders tightly against the chill wind, clad in a white ankle-length nightgown herself.
Twilight nodded and stepped aside to let them in. "Of course, come in out of the cold." Once they were all inside Twilight closed the door behind them. "Make yourselves comfortable, I'll get you some cocoa."
"Thank you, Twilight. We owe you one." Sunny Flare settled down on the soft sofa in the middle of the living room.
"Yeah, Twilight, thanks." Sour Sweet sat down on the chair beside the sofa. She blinked when she realized everyone was staring at her expectantly. "What? I mean it. Sheesh. You people."
After Twilight had disappeared into the kitchen the four girls settled into the living room to catch their breath, letting the central heat warm them after being out in the cold air.
"You all realize this is completely insane, right?" Sunny commented as she hugged her knees to her chest on the couch. "We can't hide from Sugarcoat for the rest of our lives."
Indigo Zap stroked her chin thoughtfully for a moment. "She said she only does it on Nightmare Night, we just have to stay here until then. Maybe she'll be back to normal tomorrow."
Sunny sighed. "Right. Back to normal."
"Phooey..." Lemon grumped with her chin in her hands.
"Does anyone else think Twilight's been gone a while?" Sour Sweet looked up curiously. "I'm getting thirsty."
"I'm here, sorry." Twilight made her way into the living room with a tray of four cups, setting it on the coffee table in front of the sofa. "Took me a little while to find the cocoa powder."
"Don't worry about it, you did this for us after all." Sunny took her cup, blowing the steam off the top with a short breath.
"Don't mention it, I couldn't leave you out in the cold. You can stay as long as you need to feel comfortable." Twilight turned to head back to the kitchen. "Does anybody want a snack?"
"I'll take some cookies or muffins or something." Lemon raised her hand.
"Isn't it a little late for sweets?" Twilight turned back toward them at the kitchen door. "You'll never get to sleep."
"Come on Twilight, it's nightmare night. You gotta be a little b-" Indigo Zap stuttered to a stop when she saw a shape moving behind Twilight in the kitchen. She could see a black cape moving towards her, topped by two long white pigtails. "T-T-Twilight... Twilight..."
"What?" Twilight raised her eyebrow curiously as the pigtails drew ever closer to her back. "Are you okay, Indigo?"
Sour Sweet whispered harshly, her hands yanking at her hair. "Twilight... behind you... look behind you!"
Twilight giggled into one hand. "Come on, I know I'm new to this 'friendship' thing, but you'll have to do better than that to get me with a Nightmare Night prank."
No sooner had she spoken than Sugarcoat's arms flung her black cape open, and wrapped around Twilight's torso, yanking her back toward the kitchen. Twilight screamed and gripped the doorframe with both hands, struggling against her grip. The other four girls screamed and stumbled back away from the sofa as the struggle ensued.
"Oh gosh! Please no! Noooooo!" Twilight howled as her fingers gave out and she vanished into the kitchen, which suddenly went dark and silent.
"What... the..." Indigo gripped her chest, whirling on Sunny Flare. "Now do you believe it!?"
"N-no!" Sunny was panting just as hard as the others however, gripping her own chest. "It's still a prank, still a-"
She trailed off when Sugarcoat appeared in the light from the living room lamps, moving towards them slowly from the kitchen. The black cape was draped around her shoulders hiding her body from view, but there was now red liquid staining her lips. Her eyes swept over the four terrified girls in front of her as a smirk tugged as the side of her lips. "So... who wants to come to me first?"
Indigo grabbed Lemon Zest suddenly and shoved her forward. "Lemon Zest does! She totally wants to come with you!"
"Waugh!" Lemon Zest stumbled forward in surprise and collapsed to her knees. No sooner was she down than Indigo was out the door, with Sunny Flare and Sour Sweet flanking her on either side.
"That was cold, Indigo!" Sunny shouted as they ran.
"I don't see you going back for her!" Indigo pointed out.
"Just shut up and keep running!" Sour Sweet growled as they charged off into the night, in search of a new safe haven, if indeed there were any to be found.
Sugarcoat stood with her arms crossed over her chest in the middle of Twilight Sparkle's living room, peering curiously down at Lemon Zest as the other girl slowly climbed to her feet.
"Does it hurt?" Lemon asked as she stood up straight, twiddling her thumbs in front of her. "You know... becoming a vampire? Because I'm not totally against the idea."
"Um..." Sugarcoat hesitated.
"You know what, I don't care if it hurts... just do it to me. I want it." Lemon stepped forward, baring her neck at Sugarcoat. "I want to join you, bite me!"
Sugarcoat stepped back as the other girl stepped forward. "Hey, this seems a little short notice... I really feel like we should get to know each other better first or something..."
"You'll bite Twilight but not me? Come on, that's not fair!" Lemon Zest jumped on her, trying to pull her head toward her neck while Sugarcoat struggled to free herself and hold the shorter girl back. They stumbled into the kitchen, Sugarcoat's back hitting the center island in its center.
"Lemon Zest! Get off of me! I'm not going to bite your neck!"
Suddenly the lights turned on and Lemon Zest paused, looking up to see Twilight Sparkle standing with a finger on the light switch and her other hand covering her rapid giggles.
"Twilight? You've already turned?" Lemon gaped.
"I didn't turn into anything, come on, get down from there." Twilight approached to gently pull Lemon down off of Sugarcoat. "When you showed up out of nowhere I called Sugarcoat for the real story, and she asked me to help her with this little prank."
"Prank?" Lemon Zest blinked. "It was all a prank the whole time?"
"It wasn't intentional at first." Sugarcoat reached up to shift her glasses back into place on her nose. "You guys just reacted so strongly to my story I thought it might be fun to keep it up."
"Dude..." Lemon Zest cackled. "You're amazing! That was the best prank I've ever been a victim of!"
"Thank you." Sugarcoat put her hands on her hips. "Now we really should go find the others before they freeze to death out in the cold."
"Oooh! Let's hunt them!" Lemon rubbed her hands together eagerly. "We can bring them home after we scare the crap out of them a bit more!"
"I could go for a little more fun." Sugarcoat smiled. "But we need a way to find them."
Twilight raised a finger. "I don't think that'll be a problem. Spike knows what you all smell like by now, he can track them wherever they go."
"Excellent. All that leaves then is getting you two dressed appropriately."
It wasn't long before they set out into the night, each clad in a black cape with their hair properly done up in knots against their heads. Twilight's dog, Spike, led the way, his nose sniffing the sidewalk quickly as they went, but his gait was quick and sure. They made their way through the cold darkness, soon making their way up the steps towards Crystal Prep Academy. Spike stopped at the front door, looking up at the towering building.
"The scent goes inside here." He stated definitively.
Sugarcoat crossed her arms with an approving nod. "It makes sense. It's warm in there, and there's lots of room to hide. Very strategically sound."
"Not enough room to hide from us, isn't that right Spike?" Twilight knelt down to scratch her puppy behind the ears appreciatively.
"Heh, you know it, Twilight." Spike's tail slapped against her arm happily.
"Come on, lead the way." The school doors let them in easily and they made their way through the darkened hallways, letting the lights from Sugarcoat and Twilight's cell phones light the way, along with the high windows on the walls letting in the soft moonlight, while Spike sniffed his way forward.
There was an uncomfortable stillness in the air, almost casting an ominous pall over the school. Sugarcoat couldn't help but think there was something she was overlooking here. The hallways of Crystal Prep were all familiar to her, of course, but the ones Spike was leading them down looked extra familiar. They were being led towards the gymnasium, in fact. It seemed strange to hide in such a wide-open section of the building instead of a classroom full of desks.
"Hey, Sugarcoat?" Lemon Zest's voice cut through the stillness.
"Yes, Lemon Zest?"
"We're going to the gym... isn't that where they keep the archery gear?"
No sooner did she speak than the soft thwip sound signaled the release of an arrow from its bow. All three of them yelped in shock, and Twilight dove for Spike as the arrow sailed, barely visible, right past them through the light from Sugarcoat's phone.
"Yes. Yes it is!" Sugarcoat whirled to run down the hallway away from the gym, Spike clenched tightly in Twilight's arms as they ran. The sound of several more arrows being fired followed them, followed by the sound of the arrows rebounding off of the stone walls around them. One came so close it bounced off of the floor and smacked sideways into Sugarcoat's ankle, getting between her legs and sending her tumbling to the floor.
"Sugarcoat!" Lemon Zest grabbed her and hauled her to the thankfully close hallway corner, where Twilight joined them with Spike moments later. The three of them leaned against the wall, panting and stunned.
"Twilight..." Sugarcoat panted.
"Yeah?"
"I feel like we've gravely miscalculated."
"Agreed."
From the hallway past the gym they heard another thwip sound, and they barely got out of the way before the arrow skidded across the wall they'd been leaning against with a horrifying scratching noise.
Lemon Zest waved her arms in the air furiously. "Stop firing! We're not vampires! It was a prank!"
"Oh right, you're not vampires now that you're on the receiving end! Suck wood blood-suckers!" Sour Sweet's voice echoed down the hallway as a storm of arrows flew towards them.
The three girls jumped to their feet and charged down the hallway again, narrowly avoiding the small hailstorm of arrows from one of Crystal Prep's most decorated archers. The wood bounced and scraped off of the walls and floors all around, and more than once an arrow passed right by where Sugarcoat had been moments after she lurched to one side.
They found the next corner and whirled down it, but didn't stop running this time. "We've got to get out of here!" Twilight huffed, out of breath.
"The door isn't too far! Keep going and we can outrun them!" Lemon Zest surged ahead of the other two, skidding out into the main foyer only to come to a dead stop, staring ahead toward the light from the windows on the front entrance.
Twilight and Sugarcoat joined her to see Indigo Zap crouched on one knee in front of the doors, an arrow already nocked and trained on the three of them.
"Indigo, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for this to go so far." Sugarcoat raised her arms over her head. "It was all a prank, we're not vampires."
"Yeah, that's exactly what a vampire would say." Indigo pulled back on the string. The breath caught in Sugarcoat's throat and Twilight squeaked, wrapping Spike in her arms and turning him away from the arrow. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the other exits from the main foyer being covered by Sour Sweet and Sunny Flare, coming down the hallways with their own arrows nocked and ready to launch.
Sugarcoat huffed despite her terror. "Indigo, listen to me. You're being stupid and gullible. Stop it."
"Wouldn't I be gullible if I listened to you and then got eaten?"
"She has a point there." Lemon Zest chimed in.
"Nobody asked you." Sugarcoat glared at her flatly.
"So what're we gonna do with them?" Sunny Flare asked as she reached the end of the hallway. "Shooting them doesn't feel right. I mean... what if they're telling the truth?"
Sour Sweet's hand on her string almost looked like it was itching to let loose. "Let God sort 'em out."
"Wait, I've got it." Indigo glanced up at the clock handing above one of the doors. "It's almost sunrise. We can tie them to the flagpole outside, and if they don't explode when the sun hits them, they're telling the truth."
Twilight Sparkle sighed wistfully. "It wouldn't be the first time I was tied to that flagpole anyway..."
Sugarcoat let herself be escorted outside with her two companions, followed by the three archers until they all surrounded the flagpole outside, where the Crystal Prep Academy flag flew proudly over the courtyard. Sunny Flare grabbed some rope from a janitor's closet and tied the three of them to the flagpole with Sour Sweet's help, while Indigo kept her bow at the ready. Thankfully their black vampire capes gave them some protection from the chill wind.
"Come on, isn't this a little extreme?" Spike paced around the flagpole nervously as the two girls tied their knot. "I'm not sure what vampires are, but I know Twilight isn't one. Twilight's amazing!"
"Maybe you're a vampire and we should tie you up too." Indigo smirked.
"Don't you dare!" Twilight snapped as Spike whimpered and ducked behind her legs.
"You know, I've never been tied up before." Lemon Zest jerked at the ropes. "It's actually kinda-"
"Please don't." Sugarcoat leaned back against the cold metal as she met eyes with Indigo. "You know, I didn't think this friendship was going to work out when it first started. But honestly? I think I've really had a lot of fun tonight."
"Yeah?" Indigo finally lowered her bow and arrow to her side now that the ropes were secure. "Why didn't you think it was gonna work?"
"It just seemed frivolous to me. We had almost nothing in common, we don't even share most of the same classes. I didn't understand how it could possibly work. But yeah, over time it..." She trailed off when she looked beside her and saw Twilight Sparkle beaming brightly with a toothy grin. "You look really smug right now."
"Sorry, I don't mean to interrupt... it's just I sort of felt the same way when I met my new friends." Twilight smiled. "I barely knew what to expect when I transferred to CHS, but it's been absolutely amazing. I'm just glad you guys got to find what I found here."
"You could always come back to Crystal Prep, Twilight." Indigo suggested.
"No thank you... lots of memories... but if you guys want to hang out outside of school some time, I think I'd be up for that."
"Yeah, sure... if you don't burst into flames in ten seconds." Indigo glanced toward the horizon, where the first golden rays of the sun were just emerging.
The light grew brighter by the moment, watched by the six teenage girls and their hiding dog in the middle of the Crystal Prep academy courtyard. It rose into the air, until at last the light moved over the girls directly.
"AAAAAHHHHH!" Lemon Zest let out a powerful shriek of agony that nearly made Sugarcoat's heart stop. Indigo Zap, Sour Sweet, and Sunny Flare dropped their bows in shock, then quickly fumbled for them, but by the time they got them trained on Lemon Zest the scream of pain had faded into riotous laughter.
"Holy crap, I am so sorry, I couldn't resist!" Lemon laughed with her head leaning against the pole. "Your faces are too perfect!"
"Geeze..." Indigo let out a puff of air and lowered her arrow. "You almost got three new air holes..."
"It looks like we're not vampires after all." Sugarcoat pointed out. "Can we get off this pole now?"
"Yeah, sure." Indigo, Sour, and Sunny quickly removed the ropes binding the other three girls, letting them move away from the pole and stretch out.
Sour Sweet let out a loud yawn, putting one hand over her mouth. "Oh man I didn't sleep a wink last night... with all that excitement I really need to snooze, badly."
"I think we could all use some sleep." Sugarcoat agreed.
"Let's head back to my place and get some shuteye," Lemon Zest offered. "This was supposed to be a slumber party, after all. And you're welcome to come too, Twilight."
"I'd like that..." Twilight giggled as Spike left into her now-free arms. "As long as you don't mind dogs."
"Naw, he's a cutie anyway." Lemon Zest scratched Spike behind the ears with one hand. The dog grinned, his tail pounding Twilight in the chest as he leaned his cheek against Lemon's chest and licked at her chin.
The group of girls moved to head down the sidewalk in companionable silence, until Sunny Flare moved into step beside Sugarcoat.
"There's still one thing I don't know." Sunny Flare commented. "How did you make the lights go out at the perfect time after you finished your story?"
Sugarcoat yawned, hiding a smile behind her hand as she kept walking.
"S-Sugarcoat?" Sunny's step faltered a bit.
"Let's hurry up. I really need some sleep." Sugarcoat smiled to herself and rushed ahead of the group, knowing the others would keep up with her.
This was the longest Nightmare Night any of them had gone through in their lives, but strangely it was also the most satisfying. Perhaps Twilight was right when she talked so much about the magic of friendship. Well, she wasn't sure about magic, but it certainly made life more interesting.
