Chapter One: Trick or Treat?

“Rarity?...What exactly are you wearing?”

“Oh, do you like it, Rainbow Dash? Thought I'd try something a bit daring this year, a sort of stylistic, industrial look.” The marshmallow unicorn off-hoofedly responded, as she carefully adjusted the overly-mechanical seeming goggles resting upon her brow.

“What?”

Rarity, still quite busy adjusting the finer points of her outfit, could scarcely look up as she responded “Very très chic, if I do say so myself. A perfect blend of elegance and style with the rugged inventiveness of our Griffon neighbors, wouldn't you agree? I think before the night is out, I may very well of set off a whole new fashion trend here.”

“Uhhh...you do know that this is supposed to be a costume party? Not some sort of frilly fashion...thing, right?” Rainbow Dash pointedly asked of her unicorn friend, gesturing a hoof towards her own very knightly set of armor. Or rather, the costume that resembled a knightly set of armor.

Rarity ended up giving a small roll of her eyes at that “Well, of course, Rainbow Dash. But that's no reason not to-”

“What Ah don' git, is why you need all those buckles and what not. Can't help but be left thinkin' that you gotta be cinched up tighter than a bale o' hay under all those things.” Applejack noted from her side, before gesturing her hoof towards the unicorn's somewhat overdone outfit “And what's with all these gears you got stuck on your outfit? They ain't even connected to nothin'.”

Now pursing her lips now in mild annoyance, Rarity found herself turning her nose up a bit “It's a stylistic choice...and considering your current wardrobe, Applejack, I might refrain from offering up too many criticisms. Glass houses and throwing stones, and all that.”

“Hah! I think I'm hearing some sizzling, AJ! Cause you just got burned!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

“Now darn it! You promised you weren't gonna laugh, Rainbow Dash!”

“Oh, come on! How exactly am I gonna manage to do that with you all gussied up like that?” The hovering pegasus pointed out around her chuckles.

All this lead to the down-to-earth Earth pony casting her own annoyed gaze across her own outfit. It took sometime, as the bright pink and blue gown was covered in enough frills, bows, and ribbons to make a dozen more dresses. It was poofy. It was impractical. It was uncomfortable. And Applejack was stuck in it “...Consarn that dumb bet. Never shoulda let you talk me into it...”

Her sharp ears catching the muttered complaints of her Earth pony friend, Rainbow Dash dropped down a bit lower, before resting a hoof across Applejack's withers “Heh! Yeah, sorry AJ. But a bet's a bet and it's a bit late to try backing out of things now.”

“You just enjoy this while you can, Dash!”

“Oh, I'm gonna. Just don't forget your super-sparkly crown, AJ. You can't be a super-frilly princess without it!”

Frowning mightily at the pegasus' continued laughter, the Earth pony angrily reached a hoof to her back before pulling out the gaudiest piece of jewelry she'd ever found herself burdened with. With a quick motion Applejack forced the goofy looking tiara on top of her head.

“...You know? It really does bring the outfit all together, Applejack.”

“Uh-huh. Thanks.” Applejack sourly replied to Rarity's well-meant observation.

Before the unicorn could offer anymore encouragement to the grumpy farmpony, their attention was redirected to the sound of trotting hooves. Quickly approaching them was the smiling Twilight, sporting a top hat and a rather dapper tuxedo fit for any stage magician's act “Okay girls! I think we're just about- where's Pinkie Pie?”

Quickly darting her head back and forth, the young Princess quickly noted a few more absences “And where's Fluttershy? And the kids? It's almost time to head inside.”

This quickly brought a pause to the various bits of teasing and nitpicking between friends as they tried to figure out where two mares and a small herd of foals could be hiding. There weren't that many places to hide, when one was standing just outside the main entrance of Canterlot Castle; it was something of a design choice. There only remained a steady trickle of ponies that were still heading inside for the festivities, so it wasn't exactly as if one could be lost in the crowd, even when everypony was dressed up for Nightmare Night.

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity suddenly called out, breaking up the groups attempts to spot the missing ponies “We discussed this, Sweetie Belle! No wandering off while we're in Canterlot!”

“Applebloom! Now come on out now! We're gonna be late!” AJ added in a moment later.

After a few moments of consideration, Rainbow Dash took a moment to adjust her costume's helmet “You think they got foalnapped or something?”

This immediately lead to wide-eyed looks being directed towards that off-hoofed comment from the two resident older sisters.

“Rainbow Dash!” Twilight quickly chastised.

“What? I'm just saying, it could-” The pegasus tried to defend.

“We have no reason to think something like that, Rainbow Dash.” Twilight swiftly admonished, before turning back towards the unicorn and Earth pony mares “I'm sure they just got distracted and-”

“What are you guys still doing out here?”

Snapping her gaze back around to the main gates, Twilight's jaw dropped a bit when she saw her friend, Pinkie Pie, leaning out the gates. Interestingly, her surprise had nothing to do with the fact that her pink friend was dressed as a tree “Pinkie Pie! What are you doing already inside?”

“Waiting on you guys, obviously!” Pinkie cheerfully replied, setting the fake leaves on her over-sized headpiece shaking.

The young princess had to shake her head at that, quickly realizing her error “But- Pinkie when did you get inside? I never saw you go in through the main gate.”

“Oh, that! We went on an adventure!”

“That was a short adventure” Tracking one's gaze to the origin of the somewhat snidely delivered remark, would reveal a certain pink filly dressed up as a one of the ponies of the Royal Guard standing just behind Pinkie Pie “And just wandering off doesn't count as an adventure.”

“I dunno, Tiara. That's kind of how it worked out that way the last time we got lost.” Scootaloo remarked after pushing her own way up beside Diamond Tiara. For the pegasus filly's part, only her wings, mane and tail could be seen under her Ghostly Wonderbolt costume, an outfit put together from a foal's Wonderbolt costume picked up from Filthy Rich's Barnyard Bargains and some expertly applied make-up done by Rarity.

“That's obviously different. We almost got eaten on that stupid trip!” Diamond Tiara quickly rebutted.

The little pegasus filly had to consider that for a moment “Well, I guess it wasn't really all that fun...though Mr. Shield's the one that almost got eaten.”

“Not to interrupt, but please tell me Applebloom is still with you.” Applejack quickly interjected.

“And Sweetie Belle?” Rarity added a moment later, still quite worried by Rainbow Dash's ill-thought out remarks.

“Of course! They're right here!” Pinkie quickly exclaimed, before pushing open the doors to the castle a bit further, revealing the aforementioned fillies plus little Silver Spoon “You guys didn't think I'd lose anyone, did you?”

Both AJ and Rarity gave audible sighs upon sighting their younger sisters, before sending mildly annoyed looks in Rainbow Dash's direction.

“What? All I said, was that it could have happened. I'm just calling them as I see them.” The pegasus defended, crossing her forelegs over her chest as she did so.

Twilight couldn't help but exhale in relief, before smiling up at Pinkie Pie “Of course not, Pinkie. Everypony was just a bit concerned when we couldn't find all of you, that's all.”

Pinkie Pie smiled at that “Silly-goose! I've been here the whole time! I couldn't be anywhere but where I am, even if I tried!”

“What? You just got done trying to drag us through half the castle before that guardpony stopped us!” Diamond Tiara quickly objected.

“Huh?” The pink pony replied, before suddenly letting out a loud gasp “You're right! I have been all over the place, and I wasn't even trying! What if I can be anywhere, even when I'm not there?!...Just think of all the parties I could go to!”

While Diamond Tiara was left sending a look of utter confusion towards the arboreally-garbed pony, Twilight quickly took the opportunity to speak up “Pinkie...you do remember what happened the last time you tried to be in more than one place at a time?”

Pinkie Pie was given some pause at that “You're right, Twilight! That was a real disaster!...I'll have to make sure I only use my powers for good then.”

“...Can you just try to stick to being in one place at a time, Pinkie? For tonight?” The young princess implored.

“Okie-dokie-lokie!”

“Are you slowpokes comin' or not?” Applebloom called over, as she adjusted the antennae of her Breezy costume with a hoof.

“Are we getting some candy or not, DT? Or are you gonna spend all night arguing with Scootaloo like an old married couple?” Silver Spoon added a few moments later, leading to a fit of snickering with Sweetie Belle at her side. They cut an odd picture laughing together, with Silver Spoon dressed as the legendary detective Fetlock Holmes and Sweetie Belle wearing a surprisingly adorable changeling costume.

“What?! We're not arguing!” Diamond Tiara shouted back, which just lead to more laughter from her fellow foals. Pursing her lips in annoyance, the little pink filly held her nose up as she marched past them “I'm going to go see if Delicacy has already arrived.”

“Hey, yeah! We still haven't gotten to meet-” Applebloom began.

“She's just trying to get to the candy before the rest of us! Catch her!” Silver Spoon quickly declared, pointing a gray hoof in her best friend's direction accusingly.

This elicited a quick yelp from Diamond Tiara as she began to dart away with the rest of the foals taking off after her, the sounds of their laughter following not too long after.

“Hold on! We should head-in together!...We haven't even found Fluttershy yet!” Twilight tried to call after the small herd of fillies to no avail.

Applejack could only raise a hoof to her face, as she watched her younger sister again disappear. Rarity, already at her side, took a moment to use her magic to adjust the farmpony's fake tiara “I'm fairly sure they're going to be fine, now that we know they're in the castle. Princess Celestia's invitation was quite insistent on the point that children would be welcome. I'm sure she has already made the appropriate preparations.”

“Ya, Ah don' know anypony that can really be called 'prepared' for Applebloom and her little friends.”AJ quietly rebutted.

Rarity gave a smile at that, all too aware of the mischief her own little sister could get into “Well, at the least, we can be reasonably sure that they're safe.”

“Yeah. Not like with Fluttershy. Maybe she really did get foalnapped?” Rainbow Dash interjected.

Applejack had to shake her head at this, still annoyed by how her pegasus friend had gotten her all worked up “Nopony's been foalnapped, Rainbow Dash!...And Fluttershy ain't exactly a foal anyway!”

If she was bothered by the chastisement, Rainbow Dash didn't show it and merely kept on speculating “I don't know about that. I mean, just think about all the dark, shady figures that could just be waiting to snatch her away.”

“Eeep!”

The delicate, squeaky sound drew their collective gaze towards a trembling section of hedge. Quickly approaching the expertly maintained hedge, Twilight brought her magic to bear to push apart the branches revealing the last cowering member of their party.

“Fluttershy?” The princess gently intoned.

Another quiet squeaking noise escaped out from under the wide-brimmed witch's hat the butter-coated mare was pulling down around her face, before a hoof lifted the headwear revealing a pair of blue eyes.

Rainbow Dash quickly darted through the air over to the hiding spot. A moment later, the pegasus was giving a heavy roll of her eyes and a deep sigh “Fluttershy...what are you doing in there?”

Looking a bit sheepish as she looked up towards her friends “Oh, uhm, well, I just- I thought perhaps I might have heard- uhm...”

The shy mare steadily trailed off in her faltering explanation, before falling into embarrassed silence under the wry look her fellow pegasus was sending her.

“Rainbow Dash.” Twilight called, already sure that her manner of approaching the situation wasn't helping, before pushing past her hovering friend further into the bushes. Carefully watching to make sure she didn't catch her rather fancy outfit on any branches, the princess leaned in towards her friend with an offered hoof “Here, Fluttershy. Let me help you out of this bush.”

“I-...I think I might be alright just staying here. Just until the party's done and-” Fluttershy began, already looking for a way to avoid leaving her current sanctuary.

“Come on, Fluttershy.” Twilight implored in as kindly a manner as possible, while withdrawing her hoof “I promise that everything is perfectly safe.”

“I don't know, Twi. I'm not sure anything can be perfectly safe. I mean-Gyah!” Rainbow Dash began before suddenly being yanked down to the ground by her tail “What gives?!”

She was met by an annoyed look by Applejack, the culprit behind her sudden landing “Are you tryin' to freak her out, Rainbow Dash?!”

“What? No!” The pegasus quickly denied “I'm just not gonna pretend something couldn't possibly go wrong! You know? Like how it always does around us!”

“Don't ya think that perhaps she doesn't need to be hearin' that right now?” The farmpony sharply countered.

“Well, I'm not gonna lie to her, Applejack.” Rainbow Dash pointedly replied.

“Ah'm not sayin'-”

“If you two will excuse me?” The two arguing mares were brought to a sudden halt in their discussion, as Rarity pushed her way past the duo.

Leaning into the bushes, while still being conscientious of her own outfit, the marshmallow unicorn approached Fluttershy with an extended hoof much like Twilight had “Come now, dear. Let get you of this messy bush.”

Having grown more and more upset seeing the fuss that she was causing, Fluttershy ended up ducking her head down a bit “I...I'm sorry, everypony. I'm being such a bother and-”

“Nonsense, Fluttershy.” Rarity quickly denied, leading to a brief flinch from the buttery-pegasus. Putting on a warmer smile for her friend “You'd never be a bother, dear. If anything, it should be us making it up to you for dragging you out here.”

“What?”

Rarity gave a firm nod at that “Most certainly. Knowing how uncomfortable you are with Nightmare Night makes it very unfair of us to have pressured you into coming along.”

“Oh, but you didn't pressure me.” Fluttershy quickly tried to deny with a shake of her head, not willing to let her friends take the blame for her being out here.

Rarity smiled at that “All the same, it just means that we would have never of tried to get you to come along if we didn't think it was absolutely safe for you to come along.”

“...Really?”

“Well, of course, darling. Is there any place safer in all of Equestria than in Canterlot Castle?” Rarity confidently offered up.

Twilight suddenly blinked as, she realized the point her friend was trying to make “Rarity's right! I mean, both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are just inside. Along with who knows how many guardponies.”

“Exactly.” Rarity easily agreed.

“Isn't Chrysalis supposed to here too, though?” Rainbow Dash reminded, which was quickly met with a hoof jab from AJ, leading to an annoyed response “Well, she is!”

Twilight had to resist rolling her eyes before focusing back upon Fluttershy, intent on settling her concerns before they could foment “Queen Chrysalis probably is going to be somewhere around the Castle. But that's alright, remember? She's-...mostly good, now...Sort of.”

Flutterhsy still seemed a bit skeptical at that.

“...At least, I don't think Chrysalis dislikes you, Fluttershy. I mean, she's helped us before.” Twilight offered with an awkward smile.

“Uh, yeah! That was what I was trying to say before AJ started jabbing me in my side.” Rainbow Dash interjected, while sending an annoyed look towards the farmpony “I mean, she's way scarier than Princess Celestia. If anything showed up looking to cause trouble, the Queen of Mean would probably chunk it out a window! Just like that!”

“Well, I suppose...” Fluttershy began to hedge.

“And besides, we're all gonna be in there with you. Right at your side, ready to clobber anyone dumb enough to mess with one of our friends.” The azure pegasus reminded, with such certainty one couldn't help but take her words as fact.

“Huh...can't actually argue with any o' that.” AJ admitted a moment later.

Touched by the support all of her friends were extending her way, and unable to really bring an argument against anything they had to say, Fluttershy started edging out of the bush. Pulling her witch outfit clear of some clinging brambles “Maybe you're all right...I think maybe I was just-”

“And besides, there's probably way less bush-monsters hiding inside Canterlot Castle!” Pinkie Pie suddenly exclaimed, from over Twilight's shoulder.

“...B-bush-monsters?”

“Uh-huh! Horribly mean and hungry bush-monsters, hiding in all of Princess Celestia's bushes, waiting for the perfect moment to strike! Causes they look just like regular bushes, right?” Pinkie cheerfully explained to an increasingly worried Fluttershy and an increasingly bemused Twilight.

Shaking her head of these thoughts the young princess reached a hoof out to her...imaginative friend “Pinkie...I don't think-”

“So, just when you think you're crouching down in a regular old bush, you'd never even suspect that a terrible bush-monster was getting ready to snap.” Pinkie elaborated, steadily sidling into Fluttershy's hiding spot, even as the pegasus cast a worried glance about her hiding place.

“And just like that...CHOMP!...Out come the teeth.”

“Waaahhhhahahaaaa!”

A moment later, Fluttershy had leaped clear of the hedge and made a quick beeline for the entrance to the castle, with no mind for the branches tearing at her witchy-outfit.

Everypony let their collectively reproachful gazes land upon the pink Earth pony.

“...Pinkie, why would you say something like that?” Twilight finally asked.

“It's the backstory for my costume, silly!”

“What?” The princess blurted out, saving everypony else presence from having to do so.

“Uh-huh! I'm totally dressed as the legendary tree-knight Sappy, who has traveled far in her journey to rescue Princess Celestia from the meany bush-monsters!”

After several moments of bemused silence from the group of friends, AJ raised a hoof up “Okay. Ah admit, Ah didn' pick up on any of that from your costume, Pinkie Pie.”

“I'm thinking about writing a book!” The party pony enthusiastically declared, before bouncing after Fluttershy, completely oblivious to the confusion and disapproval of her friends.

“Come on guys! Before Fluttershy eats all the candy!”

Applejack gave a loud sigh, before adjusting her overly-poofy dress once more “Well, Ah guess that's one way to get the cows out ta pasture.”

A few minutes later...

“I absolutely promise you, Fluttershy, there are no bush-monsters anywhere near Canterlot Castle.” Twilight helpfully reassured her still quite shaken-up friend, before gesturing to their surroundings “I mean, I've lived here for years and never run into anything like that before.”

Fluttershy merely gave another shaky nod at that, as she worriedly watched another costumed party-goer pass their group in the hallway.

“Plus, wouldn't a monster that looks like a bush standout a bit? You know? Like anywhere that doesn't have bushes?” Rainbow Dash thought aloud “It'd be kinda weird if we just saw random bushes everywhere, right?”

“It probably doesn't bear overthinking, dear.” Rarity pointed out, even as she once more found herself adjusting her somewhat overdone outfit.

Twilight didn't pay any mind to their thoughts, still focused on calming her skittish friend down “Trust me, Fluttershy. You are perfectly safe here. There's no safer place than at Princess Celestia side.”

“I suppose...” Fluttershy conceded with a light nod, even as her gaze wondered over the spookily decorated castle, with its eerie lighting, spooky wall-hangings, and presumably fake skulls and spider webs.

“We can even ask her about this whole bush-monster business, and she can tell you that there's nothing to worry about.” The purple princess pointed out, as they entered the main foyer. Which was rather well-timed, as one could quickly spot the Sun Princess waiting at the base of the stairs “There she is! Princess Celestia!”

Turning her attention from the latest group of guests to be headed up the stairs, the Princess of the Sun seemed to light up at hearing Twilight “Ah, Twilight! I've been so looking-oh!”

Celestia came to a rather abrupt halt in her greeting, as her student quickly wrapped her hooves around her in an affectionate hug “I see we're doing hugs.”

Blinking a bit at the awkwardness her actions seemed to cause, Twilight pulled back a bit “Oh...Was that- it's just with everything that's been happening lately-”

She was met with a reassuring smile and an affectionate hoof from her mentor across her withers “It's quite alright, Twilight. I was just a bit caught off-guard. I've been greeting so many nobles this night, I suppose I was getting too used to the formality of it all...”

A quick glance and Celestia was leaning in conspiratorially and with a slightly mischievous grin “Some of them can be a bit stuffy, as I'm sure you well know.”

Twilight, far too busy accepting this explanation, failed to notice the knowing looks shared by the two nearby guardponies.

“And I see you brought all your friends with you!” Princess Celestia exclaimed, as she turned her attention to Twilight's costumed comrades.

The young princess rose a hoof to her lips in concern “That's alright isn't it? The letter said-”

“Of course your friends are welcome, Twilight. We have a very special night planned for all of you; we couldn't have started without all of you here.” Celestia quickly cut-in.

“Uhm, speaking of all of us, Your Highness?” Applejack interjected with a raised hoof, her normal sense of reserve around the Sun Princess overcome by her worry about her little sister's whereabouts “Sorry to interrupt, but Ah don' suppose Applebloom and her friends came through here?”

Princess Celestia gave a single elegant nod at that “Indeed, I sent them along just a few minutes ago. We made sure to come up with some fun activities for the young ones and you can rest assured they're in good hooves.”

“Oh...Well, that's good then.” AJ admitted after a moment, finally able to relax a bit now.

“In fact, if you will all come with me we can get started.” Celestia added with a smile.

Before the Sun Princess could even finish turning towards the waiting stairs, she was brought to a pause by a distinctly timid yelping noise.

There, crouched down and pressed up against Rarity's side was Fluttershy with her hooves forcibly pulling the wide-brimmed hat of her costume down around her eyes. This left the ghoulishly-costumed castle servant, the presumable cause of this latest bout of cowering, uncomfortably confused as they walked past the group.

“Is she alright?”

Twilight glanced between her fretful friend and her mentor “Oh, uhm-...just a moment.”

Taking a few steps closer to Fluttershy, Twilight found herself leaning down towards her friend with as reassuring smile as possible “Fluttershy?”

“Oh!” Startled from her futile attempt at making herself as small and unnoticeable as possible, Fluttershy looked up with a big, watery eyes. Realizing how she was inconveniencing her friends once more, she ended up hanging her head again in shame “Oh, Twilight. I'm terribly sorry-”

“None of that now, dear.” Rarity quickly admonished, even as she let her roof rest upon the pegasus' shoulder.

Nodding in agreement with her unicorn friend, Twilight used a hoof to guide Fluttershy back into a standing position “Come on, Fluttershy. You remember Princess Celestia.”

“Of course, I do. But-” Fluttershy quickly agreed.

“Is everything well?” Princess Celestia interjected, having approached a bit closer without being noticed.

Frowning again in embarrassment and worry, the butter-coated mare couldn't help but button her lips tightly. Seeing this, Twilight quickly tried to take the lead for her friend “Uhm, Princess Celestia? There wouldn't happen to be any...bush-monsters around Canterlot Castle, would there?”

“Bush-monsters? Wh-where would you get a notion like that, Twilight?” Celestia asked, clearly confused by the question.

Twilight was briefly tempted to gloss over that, before deciding to just forge ahead “Uhm, apparently, Pinkie Pie's writing a book about horrible bush-monsters that live around the castle and-”

“What are you talking about, Twilight? I'm not writing a book on bush-monsters.” Pinkie Pie exclaimed with bewilderingly earnest confusion directed towards the young alicorn.

Rainbow Dash had to shake her head at this, before taking over for everypony “Uh, Pinkie. You were just going on about how you got the idea for your costume from the book you want to write about weird plants fighting each other.”

“Oh, my book isn't about that! That's just the idea for my costume!” Pinkie helpfully corrected.

Tilting her head as she tried to process this information, Twilight found herself gawking at her excitable friend “But...if you're not writing about bush-monsters or tree-knights, then what kind of book are you writing?”

“It's a cookbook!” Pinkie proudly proclaimed.

Rarity visibly considered this revelation, raising a hoof to her chin as she thought about it “...That would actually make sense for Pinkie Pie.”

The eponymous pink pony nodded at that “Right? It's going to have all kinds of down-home Pie family-farm recipes!”

“Doesn't your family live on a rock farm?” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“Uh-huh! I got the idea from all the neat Apple-family recipes that Applejack is always going on about.”

Shaking her head, to clear away any thoughts of this bizarre tangent, Twilight focused back upon her mentor “Anyway, the castle is perfectly safe right? Fluttershy doesn't have anything to fear being here, right?”

“Of course, Twilight.” Princess Celestia easily agreed.

Pleased, Twilight turned back to her friend “See Fluttershy, there's no such thing as-”

“There shouldn't any manner of bush-based monsters within a thousand miles of here.” Princess Celestia continued on.

Twilight blinked at this “What? Wait...There is such a thing as a bush-monster?”

“Well, there are some creatures that could be described as such.” Celestia gave a mild shrug.

“Th-there are?” Flutterhsy quietly asked, with a tremor in her voice.

“There are many strange creatures in the world, my little pony. Many of which are quite dangerous...but few of which would have any reason to be here. Of that, you can be sure.”

“Oh...so?”

“You're perfectly safe here, Fluttershy. I'll see to it personally, if need be.” Celestia finished with a kindly smile, which was slowly returned by the pegasus. Glancing about a bit, the pale alicorn leaned in a bit conspiratorially “And, would you like to know a secret about Nightmare Night?”

Her fears finally overcome by her curiosity now, Fluttershy gave a tilt of her head at this “What is it?”

“Well, the reason everypony is supposed to put on scary costumes this time of year?...It's to scare away all the really scary things that are out there.”

“Really?” Fluttershy asked.

“Yes, indeed. The scarier, the better. Even the scariest of monsters might think twice, if they're not sure whether it's a mere pony they seek to prey upon...or a terrifying witch luring them into a trap.” The Sun Princess explained with a wink towards the pegasus' outfit.

“I'm...terrifying?” Fluttershy asked, as she cast a doubtful gaze upon herself.

“I'd say there's scarcely a monster out there that would come after you.”

Considering this for a moment, the mare hesitantly adjusted her hat “Uhm...that's good?”

Celestia gave another nod at that, before turning back towards the stairs.

“Now if you would all follow me, we can head towards the main event.”

A few minutes later...

“Wait! Come back! I need you for eating!”

Twilight watched in utter bemusement, as a certain pink pony bounced after a flying bowl of candy, while wearing a tree costume.

Lifted up by magic, the dish was quickly floated up beyond Pinkie Pie's reach, as a matter of fact. This fact was proven again and again as pink hooves failed to even touch the bowl at the height of the Earth pony's impressive bounces.

Letting out a quiet chuckle at this, Princess Celestia used her magic to float the bowl over to herself “I'm terribly sorry, Pinkie Pie, but these candies are strictly reserved for the foals tonight.”

“Awwwwww! Really?” Pinkie mournfully intoned.

“I'm afraid so. These bowls of candy are going to be playing quite the large role in entertaining the little ones.” Princess Celestia explained, as she used her magic to levitate the bowl back to its pedestal, where it could continue to sit between the two costumed guardponies.

“Oh! But I'm kind of little, right? I mean I'm much skinnier than you, Princess Celesatia. And shorter too! I'm practically a foal already! And everypony's always telling me how immature I can be!” Pinkie excitedly pointed out, as she continued to eye the bowl of tantalizing candy.

“Pinkie!” Twilight interjected.

“Twilight!” Pinkie mirrored back in the same tone.

Raising a hoof to her brow, before accidentally brushing it against her tophat “That wasn't a very polite thing to say.”

Tilting her head in apparent confusion at this, setting the piles of leaves atop her head a shaking, Pinkie sent a questioning look the young alicorn's way “Huh?”

“I think what Twilight's trying to say is, that Princess Celestia is looking very lovely this evening. And is in no way out of her proportions.” Rarity tried to supply for her princess friend, even as Fluttershy endeavored to stick close to her side.

“Well, duh! Princess Celestia always looks that way!” Pinkie countered with a gesture of her hoof.

Before Twilight could go on trying to explain why one doesn't go about calling the Princess of the Sun fat, she was brought to a pause by the aforementioned Princess' amused chuckling “Princess Celestia?”

Dropping to a slightly out of breath giggle, Celestia waved her student's concerns away with a hoof “It's quite alright, Twilight. After all, there's no getting around the facts.”

“Oh, well-...I suppose, it is empirically true that you are-” Twilight thoughtfully began.

“Yeah! And Princess Celestia is looking a bit chubbier than usual!” Pinkie cheerfully added, to which the young princess immediately winced.

But, again, the only reaction this garnered from Princess Celestia was some mild amusement “Yes, well, I suppose I am getting a bit soft in my old age.”

“...What exactly counts as old for an alicorn anyway?” Rainbow Dash muttered to Applejack, as they watched from the sidelines.

“Question for the ages, Ah'm sure.” AJ replied with a shrug that ended up jostling her froufrou outfit.

Princess Celestia took a moment to clear her throat before addressing Pinkie Pie once more “In any event, if you really can't wait for some treats, you can always head down to the dungeons, I suppose?”

“The dungeons?!” Twilight blurted, taken a bit aback by the casually delivered line.

“Yes, Twilight. We've got quite a few treats and snacks laid out down there. I can even arrange as escort so she doesn't get lost.” Princess Celestia calmly elaborated with a gesture towards the two waiting guardponies.

“Oh, well-”

“Treats and snacks?!...And an escort?!” Pinkie excitedly exclaimed, before quickly grabbing one of the two stationary guardponies and beginning to drag him away “To the dungeon!”

“Pinkie!” Twilight futilely held a hoof out after her friend, as she disappeared around the corner with the surprised stallion.

Princess Celestia quickly came alongside Twilight “There's no need to worry. Everything has been arranged to be quite safe down there. It's just another part of the celebration really.”

“But...didn't you want to, I don't know, introduce us or something?” Twilight reminded, thinking back to the invitation's call for all six of them to attend the party.

Again, Princess Celestia simply seemed amused “Twilight, I hardly think any of you need an introduction. It will be fine.”

“Well, if you're sure.”

“I am. Now let's be off so we can get to the main event of the evening.” The Sun Princess suggested before taking the lead once more.

“So, just why is it that Princess Celestia needs a dungeon?” Rainbow Dash again asked Applejack.

“Eh, probably just came with the castle, Ah'm figurin'.” AJ offered.

Raising a hoof up to shift her fake helmet around a bit, Rainbow Dash pondered that for a moment “Yeah, okay...But, why would you have a bunch of snacks in the dungeon?”

Before the Earth pony could offer up any more insight into the matter, Celestia's voice carried back to them “There's no need to worry. Everything will start to make sense shortly.”

“...Well, that's not ominous.” The hovering pegasus noted.

“And here we are!” Princess Celestia cheerfully declared, as she stopped in front of a large set of double-doors. Each of the Royal Guardponies on either side of the door, gave a somber nod to all those present, lending the whole moment a touch more formality than was expected. The Princess of the Sun, as radiant as ever, nodded in turn to both of them with a smile and turned back to Twilight and her waiting friends “I hope you're all ready for an exciting night.”

“But-...not too exciting, right?” Fluttershy hesitantly asked, earning a sympathetic pat and an understanding look from Rarity.

“Oh, we'll have to see about that.” Celestia responded with a warm smile, before turning back to the waiting doors. Twilight's own ears gave a light twitch, at the sound of magic at work, before it was overtaken by the heavy doors opening. As well-maintained as they were, there was nary a squeak from the hinges, but just the sound of the displaced air was noticeable and made the entryway to the throne room seem even larger.

And darker. It was very dark. That was a decidedly apparent facet of the room ahead.

Twilight managed to spare a glance for Fluttershy, as the yellow pegasus let out a tiny sound of concern, before looking back to what she could see of the waiting throne room. Which, again, wasn't much; there was scarcely more than the dimmest bit of moonlight shining through the many windows of the normally grand room. And what little light did reach into the room did nothing to reveal its contents, outlining the barely distinguishable mass of shuffling forms along either side of the large room.

It was eerie, to say the least. A small amount of light shone from the hallway, revealing the lack of the usual red carpet leading into the chamber. Which was just as well, given that she couldn't even see the throne that the carpet normally lead up to.

“Uhm...Princess Celestia? What kind of event did you say this was going to be?” Twilight quietly asked her long-time mentor. She'd expected some spooky decorations and costumes, so this was decidedly more ominous.

“Come on and see for yourself, Twilight.” Princess Celestia offered in an almost inappropriately light tone. Casting her gazes towards the purple princess's gathered friends, she gave a reassuring smile, before welcoming them in with a gesture of her hoof “I promise, everything is perfectly safe.”

“Uh, right. Of course. Why wouldn't it be?” Twilight awkwardly asked aloud, to nopony in particular. Giving a crooked smile for her friends, the young alicorn took a moment to tip her tophat back a bit “I mean...'Tis the season, right? Girls?”

“Uhm, why yes! Rightly so, Twilight. This all seems...harmless enough.” Rarity quickly chimed in with a bit of forced levity. The fashionista seemed ready to take a step forward, only to be reminded of Fluttershy, who was now clinging to her side tightly. Giving an uncomfortable chuckle, she lightly adjusted a few pieces of her complicated outfit for a moment “And...we certainly can't keep the festivities on hold on our account.”

“Oh, come on!”

Everypony, save Princess Celestia and the two guardponies, gave a start at the sound of Rainbow Dash's loud exclamation. Having gotten their attention now, the speedster gave a roll of her eyes before moving to Twilight's side with a quick flap of her wings. Setting down easily, she turned back to the gathered group of friends.

“You guys aren't buying this, right? You couldn't have a more obvious set-up for a Nightmare Night prank if ya put a big sign out front!” Rainbow Dash pointed out to the others, with a gesture of a blue hoof towards the doorway. Leaning back a bit and tilting her nose up slightly “I mean, I would figure after all the times I've pranked you guys, you'd be able to see something like this coming a mile away...Err, no offense.”

Twilight had to let out a huff at that, her earlier anxieties admittedly defused by her friends antics “Rainbow Dash...”

For Princess Celestia's part, she merely lowered her hoof and gave a hearty chuckle at Rainbow Dash's words. Touching a hoof to her mouth briefly, as she composed herself, Celestia gave a light shrug towards the brash pegasus “I suppose you can't blame a princess for trying. I should have known that one of Ponyville's #1 pranksters would see right through me.”

“Heh, really? Well, it's not like it isn't a good first try. I mean, I could give ya a few pointers, if you wanted for the next time.” Rainbow Dash preened a bit at Princess Celestia's words.

“Oh, really? Well, I hope I'll prove a fine student then.”

“Now there's somethin' that's real scary, Dash. You teachin' Princess Celestia how to go about prankin' everypony? Ah'm already shudderin' at the thought.” AJ noted, as she trotted up to join Twilight, careful to mind her hooves around her impractical outfit.

“Eh, she'll probably use my teachings for good anyway.” Rainbow Dash flippantly countered.

“No promises.” The Sun Princess easily chimed in with a smile for the group of friends. Turning back towards the doorway again, she gave a nod of her head to gesture for them to follow her in “Anyway, while I'm a bit disappointed that I was seen through so easily, there is still a surprise that I'm sure you're all going to enjoy.”

“Sorry about that, Princess Celestia.” Twilight intoned on behalf of her unrepentant friend, even as she trotted after her mentor.

“Think nothing of it, Twilight. It's all part of the night.”

Seeing that and already having the mood disrupted by Rainbow Dash's antics, the rest of the small group shared a look with one another before trotting after the two alicorns. Even Fluttershy only lagged behind a few steps, though that could have just been an attempt to stay with the group.

To their shared surprise, the Sun Princess came to a pause not too far into the room. Even more curious, she'd yet to bother with using her magic to light their way any further into the room, despite them reaching the edges of what little light was coming from the hallway.

“So, uhm...What's the surprise, Princess Celestia?” Twilight eventually asked, looking up to her mentor curiously. Clearing her throat briefly, the young princess couldn't help but glance into the surrounding darkness; she could see dozens of shapes milling about beyond where her eyes could see, but little more than that.

“Uh, is anyone gonna come out? You guys know we're already on to you, right?” Rianbow Dash haltingly called out to the unseen masses.

Swallowing down a touch of growing anxiety, Twilight looked back up to her mentor's face, the little bit of her serene smile she could see still eerily frozen in place. A bit worried now, she moved a purple hoof to maybe prod the Sun Princess into responding, despite the impropriety of it “Is everything-”

And then she was plunged into darkness.

As were Twilight's friends, if she was to go by the sounds of surprise and confusion coming from behind her. And of course, the shrill little squeak of fear that could have only come from Fluttershy. Resisting the urge to pointlessly whip her head about to gaze into the darkness, the purple princess steeled her nerves, before bringing a magical glow to her horn.

Princess Celestia was gone.

Leaving behind nothing but a bare floor where she once stood, Twilight quickly glanced around for any sign of her mentor. She scarcely noted the many masked and cloaked figures her horn ever so briefly illuminated, as she tried to make sense of this “Princess Celestia? Princess Celestia?!”

The young alicorn's attention was brought back around to the rest of her friends, as a small white light lit up from the tip up Rarity's own horn. Giving a gentle pat on the head of the trembling, yellow pegasus that was clinging to her side, the fashionista looked back towards the front “Uhm, Twilight...I don't suppose you happen to know what's going on?”

The small group of friends crowding around each other now, as they collectively cast their gaze out to the mysterious figures surrounding them, it was AJ that next spoke “Oh, why don'tcha just ask Rainbow Dash here. Since she's such a huge expert on pranks.”

“I mean-...This is still a pretty obvious set-up. Definitely still a prank...Yeah...” Rainbow Dash responded a bit shrilly, even as she adjusted her costume's helmet to peer outwards.

“It's alright, girls. I'm sure- I'm sure this is all part of-...whatever is supposed to be happening.” Twilight called back, even as she slowly retreated towards the rest of her friends. Her horn held down just a touch defensively, Twilight had to remember to adjust her hat as it tilted forward awkwardly “I'm sure that Princess Celestia is-”

“YOU DARE REFER TO US AS A MERE PRINCESS!?!?!”

Twilight, and indeed all of her friends along with her, stumbled backwards from the sheer force of the words, that even now echoed through the great hall. Their little group now hugged against one another in a mixture of shock and confusion, there was little comfort taken in how the teeming masses of shadowy figures also seemed to turn at the bellowed question.

“P-Princess Celest-”

“YOU SHALL REFER TO US BY OUR PROPER TITLE...!!!” Came the booming voice once more, shutting down any attempts on Twilight's part to speak up. A bit dumbfounded and staring now, the group of five friends held their tongues as the voice continued “WE SHALL ONLY EVER BE REFERRED TO AS...!!!”

As if on cue, two massive braziers that had been set on either side of the entryway lit up with sudden bursts of light, that soon resolved into dancing orange flames. But they could scarcely take in anything more of the room by the two new sources of light, before another set of braziers lit up, side-by-side and further into the chamber. And then another. And another. Each set leading closer and closer to where the thrones should be waiting. In time with this, wall-mounted sconces saw their own torches lighting up along the walls of the massive chamber, swiftly meeting the braziers at their shared endpoint.

“...YOUR ETERNAL QUEEN!!!” These brief few moments of taking in this bewildering sight were cut short, as an even greater fire burst up behind the great throne at the far end of the chamber. Briefly casting the throne and its occupant as silhouettes, the flames died down to a dull roar, revealing the dark figure that looked out over the filled chamber.

“...Our Eternal-” Rarity began to repeat aloud.

“YES!!! YOUR ETERNAL QUEEN!!!” Princess- or rather, Queen Celestia outstretching a hoof as she reiterated her dramatic declaration. Her normally colorful mane replaced by hair seemingly made of fire, the eldest alicorn was now clad in blackened armor that was covered in what was probably an impractical amount of spikes “AND WE SHALL SUFFER NO MORE BACKTALK FROM TREASONOUS REBEL SCUM!!!”

Twilight, still confused and increasingly worried by all of this, took a step forward “Treasonous?!? How can we be-”

“Oh, my dear, sweet student...”

The group of costumed friends turned as one, save Fluttershy, towards the voice to find “P-Princess Celestia?!?”

There, greeting Twilight, was the same serene, warm smile she'd seen on her mentors face countless times before, on the face of Princess Celestia. But, even as bewildered as she was, it took the young princess only a moment to put it all together “No. It's-”

“...are you ever going to not fall right into my clutches, Twilight Sparkle?” The white alicorn asked, her beautiful, kindly smile turning into a sneering, smug grin that seemed utterly out-of-place.

“Chrysalis!”

Still smirking down at the group of confused ponies, the faux Princess Celestia gave a shrug, before being engulfed in the recognizable green flames of a changeling's unique brand of magic. And as surely as Twilight had deduced, there stood the Queen of the Changelings herself, Chrysalis.

“What is the meaning of all this, Chrysalis?!” Twilight immediately exclaimed, stomping her hoof to punctuate her demand.

“All in due time, Twilight Sparkle. Soon you will-”

“Hold on a gosh darn minute! Ah thought you were supposed to be on our side now! What in tarnation is this all about!?” AJ abruptly interjected, trying to step forward herself, even as she struggled for a moment with her overly frilly costume.

Chrysalis paused for only a moment, before rolling her eyes, her smirk still intact “Oh, come now. Surely you don't expect me to reveal every portion of my evil scheme right out of the gate, do you?”

“This isn't funny, Chrysalis!” Twilight snapped, giving a flap of her wings to approach the Changeling Queen, to meet her eye-to-eye “Why is Princess Celestia-”

“If you want your answers, Twilight Sparkle...” Queen Chrysalis began, tilting her head towards Twilight and her friends. A moment later, Twilight had to resist the urge to let out a yelp, as a distinctive green aura wrapped around the coattails of her costume and dragged her back down to join her friends “...you'll need to play by my rules.”

“ENOUGH OF THIS CEASELESS PRATTLE!” The fiery figure sitting upon the throne suddenly declared, drawing the collective attention of everyone present. Extending a hoof clad in black, spikey armor the 'Eternal Queen' stood “NOW, MY LOYAL SERVANT! REMOVE THESE TRAITORS FROM MY SIGHT!!!”

“Of course, my Eternal Queen!” The group of friends had to whip their heads between the two imposing figures they were caught between, to catch sight of Chrysalis offering up an over-done bow towards 'Queen Celestia'. Turning back to Twilight, the changeling gave a toothy grin as she leaned in “I do hope you enjoy the little game I've arranged for you and your friends, Twilight Sparkle...Mmmwahahahahaha-Mmwahahaha!!”

Momentarily taken aback by the, admittedly impressive, evil laugh that Chrysalis seemed to be leaning into, Twilight and her friends could scarcely react, as they were surrounded by dancing green flames “Wait! Chrysalis! What is-”

Twilight's voice and the maniacal laughter were cut-off in an instant, as the green flames converged and engulfed Chrysalis and the group of costumed heroes. As the green fires dissipated, there were no traces left of Twilight, her friends, or the changeling that had abducted them.

“...I say, they are putting an impressive show on this year.”

Chapter Two: Mostly Trick

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“Yaaaah-Oomph!”

That effectively summed up the response of the tangle of costumed ponies landing on the stone floor of the not-terribly-spacious cell. The ball of hooves, wings, horns and various pieces of clothing soon started to roll apart, as the group of friends worked to separate themselves and make sense of their situation. Twilight in particular had to let out several groans as she extricated herself, and her wings, from her friends, before haphazardly groping for her fallen tophat.

“This must bring back so many memories for you, Twilight...”

The sound of a certain Changeling Queen's voice quickly roused the group of friends to movement, each stumbling over the other to take action. Fluttershy in particular, loosed a shrill squeak, before burying her head back into Rarity side and clinging to the fashionista's elaborate costume. And a certain Earth Pony was busy trying to tear herself free of her encumbering gown, as she angrily tried to make her way towards Chrysalis.

“Let me at that no-good, lyin' varmint!”

“AJ! Wait!”

“Wait? But she- Oomph!” Applejack let out a strained grunt, as she once again stumbled over her excessively frilly gown, landing face-first into Rainbow Dash's side.

“Awww...Is someone having trouble getting around in their ridiculous outfit?”

“Chrysalis! Not. Helping.”

“I'm not trying to help.”

“Ah-Owwww! Applejack! You're stomping all over my wing!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, even as she shoved the stumbling Earth Pony off of her, as AJ tried once more to clamber towards the offending Changeling Queen.

“Yaaah- Oomph!...Consarn this stupid dress!” Applejack loudly grumbled, after her tumble from atop of Rainbow Dash lead her flopping onto the stone floor. Struggling, as she found herself even more tangled up in her costume than before, the farmpony was very evidently trying to rip herself free of the dress in an effort to just stand up “What in tarnation- Jus' how many stitches did ya put into this confounded thing, Rarity?!”

“Just the one, I'm afraid.” Rarity off-hoofedly called over, her attention more taken up with comforting the trembling yellow pegasus that was clinging to her.

“Wha- How in the-”

“It was a backstitch. I was worried you might trip over it, and I didn't want you to have to worry about tears or rips.” The fashionista continued, gesturing with a free hoof, that soon went back to its task of soothing Fluttershy's terror.

“That's all well-and-good, but how am Ah supposed to get up when-” AJ started to rant a bit, as she wriggled about in her cloth cocoon, very much trying to intentionally tear the clothes she was wearing. Only to be cut-off, as the light-blue of the unicorn's magic washed over her, lifting Applejack off of the ground and deftly untangling her gown. A few moments later, the Earth pony was back on all four hooves, with her overly poofy dress once more in pristine condition.

“...Uh, thanks.” Applejack managed to reply, as she glanced down at herself, finding herself fully-righted and untangled once more. Giving a shake of her head, the Earth Pony quickly recalled exactly why she'd been tripping over her dress just a few moments ago. Glaring once more, AJ started to stomp towards the still smirking Chrysalis, more than ready to give her what-for “Now you listen here, you despicable, no-good, schemin'-”

“AJ! Stop!”

And the farmpony did indeed come to a very abrupt stop, going a bit wide-eyed in confusion, as Twilight intercepted her and physically held her back with her forehooves.

“Twilight?! But- What are ya-” Applejack sputtered, giving voice to her surprise at her friend's attempts to stop her.

Giving a light flap of her wings, as she took a step back and lowered her forehooves to the ground, Twilight managed to take in a deep, calming breath. Letting it out slowly, seeing that she had managed to gain some control over the situation now, the young alicorn finally turned her gaze towards Chrysalis expectantly.

“...Oh, you're no fun.” The Changeling Queen replied with a roll of her green eyes.

Applejack furrowed her brows mightily, as she watched her alicorn friend merely send a reproachful look the changeling's way, a farcry from the reaction the farmpony thought the situation warranted. Giving a shake of her head, AJ had to start gesturing at this peculiar sight with a forehoof just to fully express her emotions “Just what in Sand Hill is going on here, Twilight?! Isn't anyone the least bit upset, that this-”

“You dropped your tiara, dear.” Rarity chimed from one side, easily floating the headwear towards the Earth Pony, even as she continued to idly pat Fluttershy's back.

“Wha- Not now, Rarity! We got bigger problems than some fake jewelry! This giant snake-”

“Now what did snakes ever do to you?” Chrysalis interjected, before leaning forward, and having her long, forked tongue dart out briefly.

“Chrysalis! Will you please just...explain?” Twilight finally asked in a resigned manner.

“Explain what?” AJ demanded, looking between her friend and the changeling again.

“I almost want to wait and see how long it takes her to figure out...” Chrysalis idly noted with an upturn of her nose. Giving a tilt of her head at the look Twilight was giving her though, she nodded in turn “...but, I suppose we really should be getting on with the main event.”

“Wha- Are you tellin' me this was all some kinda set-up!” The Earth Pony demanded.

“Only in the sense that I specifically set all of this up.” Chrysalis easily agreed with another smirk. A moment later, she gave a shrug and gestured with one of her hooves “But, I wouldn't call it a set-up...”

Before the farmpony could raise a word to this, the reins of the conversation were taken from her, as Rainbow Dash took to the air. Raising the visor on her helmet, before pointing a hoof towards the changeling “Hah! I knew it! This is just some huge Nightmare Night-”

“Oh, please. You knew nothing.” Chrysalis interjected with a roll of her eyes.

“What?! I totally saw right through you!” Rainbow Dash countered, gesturing her own hoof back towards the Changeling Queen. The sudden gesture did lead to her visor falling back down, leading to the Pegasus having to pause to push it back up. Crossing her forehooves this time, as she hovered in place, she turned her nose up just a bit “I mean, sure you got some good production values going on here. But I can sniff out a prank from- I never made that face!!”

Having just noticed the flash of green magic, Rainbow Dash had turned back to catch the sight of a perfect copy of herself looking back at her.

With a look of utter terror on her face.

“Oh, won't somepony help me!! Celestia's become evil now! Whatever will we do! Protect me, Applejack! Protect me!” Rainbow Dash's doppelganger shrilly exclaimed, bringing her hooves to cover her eyes and shrinking away in apparent fear.

“I-I never even said any of that!!”

Another flash of green fire and Chrysalis was back to her usual self, looking entirely satisfied with herself as she replied “You didn't need to. The look on your face said more than your words ever could.”

“What?! My face didn't say anything like that! If anything, my face is saying how bored it was with-...with that totally lame prank!”

“Ohhhh, and now your face is telling me that, you are deeply embarrassed by all of this and are worried what the Wonderbolts will think of you now.” Chrysalis continued with a predatory smirk.

“I-...wait. The Wonderbolts were there!?!” Rainbow Dash shrilly demanded.

“Dash, if you can stop worryin' about that for just a second, Ah still got some questions for this over-sized varmint!” Applejack stomped forward, before looking up to meet Chrysalis' gaze “Like, where's Applebloom and her little friends?! And what in the name of Tartarus are we doing in this cell?!”

“Hold on! Hold on! The Wonderbolts know that I'm not-”

“We've got more important things to deal with, Dash!”

“All I'm saying is, I wasn't that scared!”

“Ah'm not worried about you bein' scared! I'm worried that-...”

From the sidelines, Chrysalis looked on with a look of satisfaction on her face...Which soon fell away when she noted that the very apparent scowl Twilight was sending her way. A moment later, she gave another roll of her eyes and a heavy sigh before trotting forward.

“Alright, as amusing as this is for me, your little sister is perfectly fine.” The changeling eventually declared, pointing a hoof towards the aggravated Earth pony. Thinking for a moment, she brought a hoof to her chin in thought, before shrugging “In fact...I'm quite certain she's looking forward to the part she's going to be playing in the main event. Much like all of the other little colts and fillies, I'd say.”

“What? What part? What main event?” AJ demanded.

“Now, now...I can't give away all of the juicy details before-”

“Chrysalis!” Twilight snapped again.

“Oh, fine...” The Changeling Queen gave a huff of annoyance at the admonishment being sent her way from the young alicorn. Turning back towards the farmpony, she brought a hoof to her chest “...Little Applebloom, and all of the other dear foals, are now a part of my new army of loyal little changelings.”

“Chrysalis!”

“What? It's true.”

“Please, will you just-”

“And they are going to be helping me with my part of the main event.” Chrysalis continued, before Twilight could finish.

AJ furrowed her brow once more at this “So...Hold on, are ya telling that this is all part of some sort of-”

“A game? Oh, good. You finally caught up with Twilight.” The Changeling Queen noted, earning another look of annoyance from both the farmpony and the young alicorn. One that she largely ignored, as per the norm.

Furrowing her own brow and pursing her lips in frustration, Applejack visibly seemed to struggle between just continuing to voice her issues with the changeling and actually getting on with things. Ever practical, AJ eventually gave a huff, before waving her hoof towards Chrysalis “Well, are ya gonna tell us about the little game ya got planned, or aren't ya?”

“No-”

“What?!”

“-not until you manage to break out of this cell, at least.” Chrysalis finished smoothly.

“Break out? Why do we need to break out? Isn't this just part of the game?” Rainbow Dash asked, taking flight and moving to the front of the group again.

“Indeed it is. As is breaking out of this cell. After that, then the real game can begin.” Chrysalis elaborated for the pegasus with a wave of her hoof.

“And if we don't manage to break out?” Dash pressed, holding out her own hooves as she posed the question.

“Then it will be quite the dull night for the lot of you.” The Changeling Queen replied with a shrug. Before anypony could respond to that, she gave a pointed glance towards Twilight “Don't worry. All you need to do to break out is solve a simple riddle...You see, Twilight? I can be considerate of others when I feel like it.”

“Wha- Coming up with a riddle for me to solve is your idea of being considerate?! After imprisoning me?...Again?!” Twilight blurted out, surprised that this was how she was brought back to the forefront of the conversation.

“...Yes?” Chrysalis turned her gaze more fully at this exclamation, sending a questioning look towards the young princess, as if she was explaining something obvious “You like riddles.”

“I- Since when?” Twilight demanded forcefully this time, taken aback by this authoritative declaration of her own interests. Giving a shake of her head, Twilight trotted forward, before giving a wide gesture with her hoof “When I have ever given you the idea that I like riddles?”

“Wait...Don't you like riddles though?” Rainbow Dash chimed up herself, giving a quizzical tilt of her head towards her brainy friend.

“I-...well, I do. But not so much that I'm comfortable with being imprisoned in a dungeon, just for a chance to solve one.” Twilight eventually clarified, recognizing that, yes, she actually did enjoy the odd brainteaser now and then. But, really, that was kind of beside the point by now. Shaking her head clear of those thoughts, the purple alicorn refocused back on the Changeling Queen in front of her “And if all you wanted was for us to solve a riddle, was all of this really necessary, Chrysalis?”

“Yes.”

“And you needed to impersonate Princess Celestia, just to set us up?”

“I was in costume.”

“And you just needed to scare the wits out of my friends?”

“Alright, just a reminder...I wasn't that scared.” Rainbow Dash interposed herself between the two royals, to remind them of that detail. Seeing the two of them staring back at her pointedly, after her little interruption, the pegasus held up her hooves “What? I really wasn't! At worst, I was...startled. And that was mostly just because everyone else was freaking out and-”

“Moving along.” Chrysalis said dismissively.

“And there's another thing, Chrysalis...You couldn't just tell us beforehoof what was going on? So we could be prepared for it?” Twilight resumed.

“I didn't want to place an undue burden on you or your little friends. Your reactions seemed much more genuine this way.”

“That's because they were genuine!” Applejack reminded from one side.

“And everypony there was surely impressed by your very genuine performances. Bravo.” Chrysalis countered in her condescending tone, as she briefly gave a flutter of her wings to give the farmpony a slow clap of her hooves. This naturally miffed the Earth pony even further, but she didn't get much of an opportunity to say as much, as Twilight herself wasn't finished.

“Alright then...So all of this was necessary for this game you have in mind then?”

“As I've said, yes.”

“...And Princess Celestia knew the entire time? You had her permission for all of this?”

Chrysalis seemed to be briefly taken aback by the question, leaning back in apparent shock, as she raised a hoof to her chest “Why...Twilight, I'm not entirely sure I like what you're implying.”

“Chrysalis. That's not an answer.” The purple princess pointedly replied, not letting herself fall for the deflection “Did you let Princess Celestia know that you were planning on tricking us?”

“Honestly, Twilight...do you really think I could arrange all of this myself and not eventually have to let Celestia in on the little surprise?” The Changeling Queen paused, before giving a light chuckle at that. Waving her hoof to the side, she gave a nod to herself “I mean...if anyone could do it, it would definitely be me. I will grant you that I am rather impressive in that regard.”

Twilight gave a wry look at Chrysalis' attempts at self-aggrandizement “So...I'm just going to assume that you not answering the question means that-”

“Please, Twilight...I thought you knew me better than this.” Chrysalis said, before trotting forward and leaning down to eye level. Giving a smirk, the changeling loosed another chuckle “You should know by now, that if I was going to lie to you, I wouldn't bother evading your questions and dodging the truth. I would just lie to you.”

“That-”

“What in tarnation kind of bass-ackwards nonsense is that?!” AJ loudly interjected with a stomp of her hoof. Seeming to struggle between mild outrage and frustration, the farmpony seemed to be struggling to find her words “Ah mean- How could ya- Who in their right mind even thinks like that?!”

“Applejack...” Twilight said with just a hint of exasperation. The young princess could readily and easily grasp why anypony might be flabbergasted or taken aback by Chrysalis's words. But, at the same time...she was a bit annoyed how reasonable the argument the Changeling Queen was making actually sounded to her.

If Twilight had learned one thing, it was that Chrysalis could talk circles around just about anypony, including herself. And being so dedicated to subterfuge and deception, and having been gifted with a prodigious lifespan, it wasn't too hard to recognize that Chrysalis just naturally plotted and schemed on a ridiculous number of levels. Twilight was only just recently getting used to successfully parsing out Chrysalis' true meanings on a regular basis.

And that was something she could admit to taking a certain amount of pride in.

So, the idea that Chrysalis might just be purposely being evasive and indirect in order to sow confusion and suspicion seemed perfectly consistent to her. Even if Chrysalis had let Celestia know ahead of time what she was planning, Twilight couldn't put it past her to act like she hadn't just to annoy and vex. Chrysalis just reflexively seemed to slip into that kind of thinking, without even trying, and Twilight knew it.

Plus, Twilight was quite aware that changelings in general had different views about lying.

And more specifically, she also knew that Chrysalis in particular was an excellent liar when she wanted to be. Indeed, even after having spent months trying to get to know the Changeling Queen better and come to understand her, it was a simple matter of fact for Twilight. Chrysalis herself had drilled it into her head on multiple occasions that she would have no problem lying directly to the young alicorn's face if it suited her goals.

And if anything, it sometimes felt like Chrysalis was both trying to teach Twilight how to be better at spotting deceptions and subtlety encouraging Twilight to practice such skills herself. The mere fact that the purple princess was finding it easier and easier to think on these levels, suggested that Chrysalis was making some headway, if she was being honest with herself...

Twilight let out a heavy sigh as she let these thoughts leave her. She could spend all night thinking this question over and get nowhere.

That was another little lesson Chrysalis had tried to impart on her, or so Twilight suspected. That sometimes, there was no point in thinking a matter over any further. Sometimes one just needed to act.

“Alright...Alright, Chrysalis. If you're saying that you really did let Princess Celestia know ahead of time...I believe you.” Twilight finally conceded, finishing with a nod of affirmation towards the changeling.

“Really now?” Chrysalis countered with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah, really?” Rainbow Dash quickly parroted the sentiment, while sending a questioning look towards Twilight.

“Really.” The young princess repeated with another firm nod “If Chrysalis really wanted to lie to my face...she would probably just lie to my face.”

“Uh, what?” Dash reiterated her confusion.

“What I mean is...if Chrysalis really was lying about telling Princess Celestia her plans for the evening, she probably wouldn't have bothered with trying to be evasive about the question. She'd just lie.” Twilight tried to clarify for her friends. Though now that she thought it, it felt more like she was more just trying to translate for the Changeling Queen than anything else. Shaking that thought away, she gestured a hoof towards Chrysalis “So, that would mean that she's just trying to avoid the question to purposely make us suspicious...because she kind of enjoys messing with us.”

“Very well reasoned, Twilight.” Chrysalis added, as she leaned back with a visibly pleased smile crossing her face at this. A moment later, she did take a moment to visibly give it some thought “Granted, I did basically spell it out for you.”

“Hold on. Hold on, hold on, hold on!” Applejack interjected again, waving her hoof at that, as she visibly tried to wrap her head around this argument “So, you're sayin' that the reason we can believe her, is because she's a liar?”

“I think what Twilight is trying to say is that Chrysalis is a huge jerk.” Rainbow Dash corrected.

“That too.” Twilight agreed without missing a beat.

Perhaps surprisingly, this comment only seemed to elicit an amused bout of chuckling from the Changeling Queen. Giving a smirk and a tilt of her head towards the princess, Chrysalis continued “It feels like I'm finally starting to get through to you, Twilight Sparkle.”

Seeing this reaction coming from Chrysalis, Applejack found herself furrowing her brow and giving a bit of a huff at that; it certainly did seem like this was just the Changeling Queen's own infuriating sense of humor on display. Glancing to the side, AJ took a moment to raise a hoof to adjust her hat, only to be reminded that it was a sparkly little tiara sitting up there. Giving a sigh, the apple farmer sent a scrutinizing look towards Chrysalis “So...Ah'm guessin' you really did clear all of this with Princess Celestia after all?”

“I'd say we had a more than fruitful conversation about the events planned for this evening.” Chrysalis replied in a confident manner, brushing a hoof on her chest, before giving it more attention than she was giving Applejack.

“And she definitely, absolutely said that she was alright with this cockamamie plan of yours?” AJ pressed, leaning her head back and pursing her lips, as she looked up to the large changeling.

To which Chrysalis gazed back for a few moments...

Several days ago...

“Soooooo, how are preparations coming along?”

“Here to micromanage, as per the norm?”

“Not at all, Chrysalis. I was just-”

“Need I remind you that, you're the one that asked me to do this, Celestia?”

“Of course. I'm sure you have everything handled...I suppose I just have some thoughts on the start of the evening?”

“I'm telling you, you do not need to do an 'Evil Laugh'. You will already be plenty scary.”

“It's not that...But, I do think I could- No, nevermind. I just wanted to make sure that Twilight and her friends know the plan.”

“What do you take me for?”

“Chrsyalis...you do plan on letting them know ahead of time, don't you?”

“Everything will be taken care of.”

“So...you'll be letting them know?”

“Celestia...they will be more than prepared for this little party you insist on throwing. Of that, you can be sure.”

“...Alright then. I'm looking forward to it.”

Present...

“...Well?” AJ eventually prompted again, shaking the Changeling Queen from her recollections.

“I can honestly say, that Celestia believed that the lot of you would be more than prepared for this little party we're throwing. Of that, you can be sure.” Chrysalis finished smoothly.

AJ pursed her lips at this response, giving a tilt of her head as she openly scrutinized the changeling, clearly skeptical of this response. But in the end, her ability to parse apart whatever layers to this conversation that Twilight was referring to were beyond her. And it was starting to feel like it was nothing but an exercise in frustrating herself.

“Fine, Ah guess. Ah suppose we'll all just have to take yer word for it then.” Applejack eventually conceded, feeling herself deflate a bit at that admission.

“See now, was that so-”

“But we're still not done yet!” Applejack exclaimed before jabbing a hoof towards the changeling before she could finish, and eliciting an expectant look from Chrysalis.

“Is that so? I suppose you would have more you wanted to say...” Chrysalis replied with a wave of her hoof and a roll of her eyes.

“Yer darn right, Ah got more to say. Ah still haven't heard anything like an apology from ya.”

“Oh, so you think you deserve an apology then? And just what do you think I should be apologizing for?” Chrysalis leaned back, giving a tilt of her head.

“Ahem!” Rarity sounded, before Applejack could, gesturing her hoof to the butter-colored pegasus still clinging to her side.

This actually seemed to bring some momentary pause to take over the changeling, as she pursed her lips at this. And Twilight was reasonably sure as to why, as it was normally her fashion-focused friend that seemed to have the easiest time dealing with Chrysalis. Rarity's practiced eloquence and constant interactions with the haughtiest of the Canterlot and fashion world elite served her well, in her interactions with the Changeling Queen.

So, the unabashed look of reproach coming from the unicorn carried a fair bit of weight it seemed.

“Hey, yeah! Even I know better than to get Fluttershy wrapped up in some prank!” Rainbow Dash quickly seconded, crossing her hooves over her chest as she hovered in the air.

“To think...the lot of you have so little respect for her.” Chrysalis lamented, bringing a hoof to her chest, before dipping her head down.

“Excuse me!” Applejack bit out.

“No, no, there is no excuse for it.” The Changeling Queen quickly replied, before lowering hoof and beginning to canter over. Side-stepping both AJ and Ranbow Dash, she circled around the still huddled form of Fluttershy at Rarity's side.

“And here I thought you had more faith in your little friend here. I perhaps thought it best to simply treat her like the hero she is. But, I suppose you all would have had me singled her out and treated her like a helpless little filly.” Chrysalis continued on, holding up a hoof, even as her comments managed to get Fluttershy to peek out from under her costume's hat for a moment.

While Twilight knew well-enough by now when the Changeling Queen was making an obvious attempt at baiting somepony, she had to fight the desire to rub at her brow. She was very nearly tempted to not bothering to intervene, if Chrysalis continued to antagonize her friends.

“Maybe, I should have just set up a fun little petting zoo for your friend here. Just filled to the brim with spooky little animals for her to cuddle and pet and fawn over.” Chrysalis continued to pace around Fluttershy, before leaning her head back and gesturing widely with a hoof.

“Alright, now. Nopony's sayin' that-” AJ began.

“We could have cats and kittens, frogs and toads, rats and bats, owls and crows, snakes and big, fuzzy tarantulas, all of them dressed up in spooky costumes. It would be almost sickeningly adorable!” Chrysalis continued.

“Chrysalis, if you have-” Twilight tried to interject.

But the Changeling Queen, took to the air and started tilting her head from side-to-side as she continued “There could be snacks and treats to feed the animals. And handlers that could tell you all about the little critters, about what they like and how one should go about taking care of them.”

“This is getting kind of specific.” Rainbow Dash noted, with a furrow of her brow.

“And it would all be up in the castle gardens, with plenty of other guests and plenty of guardponies around to make sure everything was completely safe...” Chrysalis finished with a gesture of her hoof upwards, in the presumed direction of the castle gardens.

“That...actually sounds kind of nice.” Fluttershy eventually chirped, as she looked up from her spot at Rarity's side.

“Excellent. Problem solved.”

“Uhhh...what?” AJ blurted out.

“What part of what I just said do you need me to repeat for you?” Chrysalis asked of the farmpony, looming over her and adopting a saccharine tone.

“Are we to understand that you...did all of that?” Rarity asked, giving a tilt of her head, as she put to words what everyone was wondering.

“Is that so hard to believe?” The Changeling Queen countered, leaning back again and giving a tilt of her brow at that.

“Yeah, definitely.” Rainbow Dash interjected easily.

“Oh...now that's just hurtful.” Chrysalis replied, holding a hoof to her chest with a look of faux sadness.

“It's just-...” Twilight began haltingly, holding up her own hoof to try to elaborate, before pausing. Opening and closing her mouth, the young alicorn visibly considered this before looking back towards the changeling.

“So, you really did all of that just for Fluttershy?” Twilight asked, just a shade incredulous, as she continued in her efforts to piece together Chrysalis's motives.

“Well...It isn't just for her.” Chrysalis noted.

“It does sound lovely though.” Fluttershy added, looking just the tiniest bit enthusiastic for the first time in the evening.

“It actually does sound lovely...” Twilight admitted, letting her eyebrow creep upward, as she looked over the changeling. Pursing her lips for a moment, the young princess held out a hoof towards Chrysalis "...Are you feeling well? Or, you know...lying?”

“I am feeling perfectly fine. And you can trust me when I say, Twilight...” Chrysalis responded, before turning her attention back fully towards the young alicorn. Looming over Twilight, she soon brought her two forehooves together to rub them together “...You and your little friends are going to have an absolutely delightful evening. One way or another.”

“...Why ya gotta make that sound so menacing?” Rainbow Dash eventually blurted out.

To which Chrysalis gave a light chuckle before tilting her head towards the hovering pegasus “Hmph...'Tis the season.”

“Well, that's all very nice and all-” AJ began.

“Such a relief for me that you think so.” Chrysalis chimed.

“-but don't think yer gonna pull a fast one on me. Ya still owe Fluttershy a proper apology for all this nonsense.” AJ pointed a hoof accusingly, even as she pursed her lips.

“Silly me. You're right.” The Changeling Queen easily agreed, which instantly rang as insincere to Twilight's ears. All the same, Chrysalis turned back towards Fluttershy, leading the anxious pegasus to lean back warily.

“Oh, uhm- It's actually alright w-with me if you don't-” Fluttershy began to say, leaning back into the safety of her wide-brimmed witch hat.

“No, no, no, Princess Applejack is right.” That remark earned a scowl and pursed lips from the farmpony, before she glanced back down at her outfit in annoyance.

“I- Well, maybe-...” The butter-coated pegasus continued to hedge, not entirely comfortable with the attention now.

“I think that's enough, Chrysalis.” Twilight soon asserted on behalf of her friend, seeing how uncomfortable the changeling was making Fluttershy.

Chrysalis gave a little chuckle at that, before retreating from Fluttershy's personal space, to the pegasus' relief. Giving a tilt of her head towards Twilight, along with a rather sinister grin, Chrysalis turned back towards Fluttershy once more.

Unsurprisingly, this earned a slightly worried squeak from the all-loving lover of animals.

“Allow me just to say this then, to Fluttershy...” The Changeling Queen began, bringing a hoof to her chest as she started. Sparing only a glance for the suspicious group of friends, Chrysalis focused back on Fluttershy “...I apologize for carrying my little Nightmare Night prank too far and frightening you.”

“...Oh?” Fluttershy blinked.

“Indeed.” Chrysalis confirmed for her.

“...Is she bein' sarcastic again, Twilight?” AJ asked as she leaned over to ask her alicorn friend.

“I'm not sure...” Twilight admitted.

“I'm being quite genuine. I was just so dedicated to making sure that this turned out to be the most enjoyable Nightmare Night possible. And along the way I forgot to consider that some, like yourself, might not enjoy being frightened.” Chrysalis continued, tilting her head back a bit as she leaned in again to address Fluttershy.

“I-...I mean, I didn't want to ruin anypony else's good time.” Fluttershy admitted.

“Of course not. And I merely wanted to make sure that everypony that was invited had a good time. But I really should have been more considerate of your feelings.” Chrysalis continued on with a smirk, as she gestured idly with her hoof. Holding up that same hoof, before rubbing it against her chest “I really could have toned things down, to not be so scary for you. I'm sure everypony would have understood.”

“Oh, no. It's alright. I don't want to be a bother.” Fluttershy quickly objected.

“It wouldn't have been a bother...” Chrysalis held up a hoof again, before gesturing to the door to the cell “Once you and the rest of your friends escape, you can spend the rest of the evening playing with cute, costumed-critters and relaxing in the gardens.”

“That does sound nice...”

“And I can even arrange an escort for you. To make sure you get there safe and sound.” The Changeling Queen offered.

“And th-there isn't anything else that's too...scary planned?” Fluttershy asked hopefully, ducking her head, even as she peeked out from under her hat.

“You won't need to attend those, you have my word.” Chrysalis finished with a nod. A few moments later, she turned back towards Applejack with a smirk “Was that a suitable apology, your Highness?”

“...Ah'm not entirely sure, to be perfectly honest.” AJ admitted after a moment, ignoring the dig about her costume.

“Yeah, I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.” Rainbow Dash agreed right after that, her own eyebrow creeping upward.

“I thought it was nice.” Fluttershy chimed up, finally standing on her own four hooves once more.

“And isn't that what's really important here? That Fluttershy thought it was a nice apology?” Chrysalis asked of the group, in a slightly dramatic fashion.

“I suppose we couldn't possibly ask for anything more than that.” Rarity conceded, making a few more adjustments to her elaborate costume, now that it seemed that Fluttershy had bounced back.

“Well, you could...but I feel like I've exhausted my sense of generosity for the evening.” The royal changeling noted with a shrug. Flipping her mane back, Chrysalis began an easy trot around Twilight and towards the door “Now, if any of you happen to have anymore questions-”

“Yeah, where's Pinkie Pie?” Rainbow Dash chimed, holding out her forehooves.

“-they'll just have to wait. At least, until you manage to escape your cell.” Chrysalis finished easily.

This elicited a mild huff from Twilight and a roll of her eyes, before she turned back towards her friends “I imagine Pinkie's somewhere else in the dungeon.”

“You'll know soon enough, Twilight. Once you solve my little riddle, we'll have the perfect opportunity for all of your remaining questions to be answered.” Chrysalis said, she turned her back to the door to address the group of ponies.

“And is this just an opportunity to have our questions answered, or are ya actually gonna be answering any of our questions?” AJ demanded with a furrowed brow for the changeling.

“Now you're learning.” That and a chuckle was the only response Chrysalis gave, before her horn lit-up with green magic. A moment later, and she disappeared in a burst of emerald flames.

“Well, that's unhelpful.” The farmpony noted.

“I still can't tell when she's actually being helpful or not.” Twilight lamented, rubbing a hoof at the spot below her horn, before adjusting her hat again.

“In any event, I can't imagine Pinkie Pie feeling too distressed. We are still attending a party after all.” Rarity noted, before taking a few steps forward and leaning in more closely to examine the door to their cell “Now let's see what we can do about this little puzzle that has been laid out before us, hm?”

“Seems to me like she ain't leavin' us much choice.” AJ noted as she hitched up the hem of her dress, and cantered over to take a looksie.

“It looks like she had the riddle engraved into the side of the door...” Twilight noted, before running a hoof along the combo lock situated on the wall beside the door “...I hope Chrysalis at least got permission first, before doing all of this.”

“What's it say, Twilight?” Fluttershy prompted from the side, rather eager to be getting out of the dungeon now.

“Let me see here...” Twilight quietly said to herself, as she leaned in closer and had a small glow light-up the tip of her horn.

“The path to your freedom lies beyond this door. Let nothing dissuade you from this core.”

“Six of you there may be this eve. But it may only prove one of you that helps you leave.”

“Before one of you, let the answer arrive. In the end, this will allow you to save the other five.”

“Near the end, of doubt there can none. Granted, at the end it need not be only one.”

“By this riddle, do not be misled. Much of it could have gone unread...”

Twilight had to admit it was slightly eerie hearing her voice echo off the walls of their stone cell, as she read off the inscribed riddle to her friends. She was once more left wondering as to just how she could have gone so long living in the castle, without exploring more of the place.

The young alicorn put those thoughts to the side for now as she turned back to her friends “Anyway, that's it. Any ideas, girls?”

“...So, I heard a lot numbers in there. Those the clues, I'm guessing?” Rainbow Dash pointed out to the others.

“Seems kind of obvious, Ah would say. How many digits we got on that fancy lock there?” AJ quickly agreed, before gesturing to the lock on the door.

“It looks to have...six dials.” Twilight confirmed for her friends, sparing a glance before gesturing with her hoof at the lock.

“Alright, so we just gotta plug the six numbers out of that there riddle into the lock and we should be outta here then, right?” Applejack suggested.

“That would seem the obvious course...” Rarity observed from the side, before pausing to adjust one of her many buckles. A moment later she brought a hoof to her chin before gesturing to the combo “...correct me if I'm wrong. But I only noted five numbers in the riddle.”

“None is zero. Easy.” Rainbow Dash pointed out, giving a flap of her wings to get a bit closer..

“Perhaps...” Rarity hedged, bringing her hoof back to her chin as she visibly considered the rhyme.

“Well, doesn't hurt us none to try, Ah'm figurin'. Go ahead and plug that in, Sugarcube.” AJ said, gesturing towards Twilight.

“Alright, we'll see...”

Truth be told, Twilight rather agreed with Rarity's skepticism in this case. It seemed just a little bit too easy to be a riddle. But sometimes that was the trick behind such things, that you'd overlook the obvious answer for something more elaborate. And it certainly cost her nothing to spin the dials in place.

“Nothing.”

And it was good that it cost her nothing, as it netted her nothing too.

“Huh, maybe there's a trick to what order they gotta be put in...” AJ noted.

“I put them in the order they appeared in the rhyme. Maybe there's more to it than that.” Twilight offered.

“Figures the Queen of Mean couldn't make it easy for us.” Rainbow Dash complained, adjusting her plastic helmet, before crossing her hooves.

“Wouldn't be much of a riddle, if we got it on the first try, Ah reckon.” Applejack added, before rubbing at the back of her head with a hoof. This inadvertently reminded her of the delicate tiara sitting on her head, and earned a minor grumble.

“Alright, so maybe the riddle has some clues about the proper order those numbers are supposed to go in?” AJ added, after settling her hoof back to the floor.

“Wait a sec!” RD abruptly exclaimed, slapping her forehead with her hoof as something visibly occurred to her. Throwing her hooves upward, she then gestured to Twilight “We can just have Twilight teleport us out!”

“Somehow, Ah don't think that's the answer to the riddle, Dash.” AJ sardonically noted.

“So? Chrysalis just said we had to escape. She didn't say we had to solve her riddle.” The pegasus pointed out, crossing her hooves again as she hovered in place.

“She didn't?” Rarity asked with an upturned eyebrow.

“Eh, who remembers?” Rainbow Dash countered. Rolling her eyes at the others balking at this obvious solution “I mean, Chrysalis obviously planned a big night, right? I doubt she'd want us wasting the whole night away trying to solve some dumb riddle.”

“Sounds like the same kinda thinkin' that overgrown varmint prefers.” AJ countered with a frown, not liking the idea of following the kind of example Chrysalis usually set.

“Is that the worst thing in the world?”

“Generally, yeah.” AJ replied, giving a gesture of her hoof towards the hovering Rainbow Dash.

“How about we just save using magic as a last resort?” Twilight offered as a compromise. In truth, the idea of going straight to cheating after only a couple of minutes did rankle her just a bit.

“Sounds good to me.” AJ agreed easily.

“Fine...” Rainbow Dash said with a heavy sigh, as she let her hooves dangle down at this decision. Pursing her lips for a moment, her brow furrowed in thought for a moment, before she focused back on her friends “But I'm gonna see if we can get anymore hints.”

“Pray tell, how are you-” Rarity began, her eyebrow creeping upwards.

But before she could finish, Rainbow Dash gave another swift beat of her wings, covering the distance between herself and the door. Nary a moment later, she was easily hovering beside the barred window of the cell. Tipping her helmet up again with a hoof, she visibly peeked through the bars.

“Hah! Called it. There's a guardpony out there.” RD crowed, pleased that her idea seemed to already be paying dividends.

Twilight took in a breath at her friends antics, only speaking up after letting it out “I'm pretty sure we can figure this out on our own, Dash. We just need to-”

“Hey! Hey! Yeah, you! Can you come over here?” The azure pegasus soon began calling out, even waving a hoof through the bars where she could.

The Pony Princess let out another sigh at this, before giving a couple of flaps of her own wings, that she might peek through the window herself. And sure enough, what seemed to be one of Luna's batponies was easily trotting over to the cell door.

“Yeah, what's up?” The batpony mare asked, with an easy smile, catching Twilight a bit off-guard with how casual her manner was.

“Uhhhm...” Twilight hedged, bringing up a hoof, as she considered how to deal with this.

“Yeah, we were wondering if you could give anymore hints with this riddle?” Rainbow Dash easily seized her opportunity.

The batpony gave a chuckle at that, before giving a shake of her head “Nope. Sorry. I've got direct orders about that kind of thing.”

“Awwww, come on!” RD very persuasively argued her case.

“Can't help ya with the riddle. Sorry.” The batpony gave another laugh at that, looking not at all sorry about the situation. The batpony gave a shrug at the circumstances, before gesturing towards the two hovering ponies on the other side of the door “Is there anything else you guys might want though?”

Rainbow Dash gave a defeated sigh at this, before rolling her eyes “I mean...can you at least bring us some snacks, while we try to figure this thing out?”

“Ooooh, sorry. Not allowed to leave this post. Not until you guys get out.” The Night Guard denied, again in a very chipper tone.

“I told you, Dash. Chrysalis wouldn't make things that easy for us.” Twilight told her friend, before glancing through the barred window at the waiting batpony “Thanks anyway.”

“Not a problem.” The batpony gave an easy wave, before turning away from the cell door to apparently keep watch on the hallway. Before giving her wings a rest, she caught the sound of the Night Guard starting to hum a jaunty tune.

Setting back down on the floor, she looked back to her friends with a reassuring smile “I'm sure we can figure this out without any hints or cheating, girls. We just gotta break this riddle down and do a little...outside-the-box thinking.”

“Twi is right. Ah'm sure if we put our heads together on this, we can figure this out. Fair-and-square.” Applejack very pointedly directed that last part towards Rainbow Dash.

“Yeah, yeah...” The hovering pegasus unabashedly brushed off the comment with a wave of her hoof. After only a few seconds, another thought occurred to her “But...are we sure that guardpony's just gonna let us go?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Rarity chimed in, taking a moment from her own contemplation at that remark.

“I mean, when we're escaping from the dungeon are we gonna have to, you know...subdue her?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“We're not jumping a guardpony, Dash.” Twilight quickly shutdown that line-of-thinking.

“What was that?” The concerned voice of a certain batpony called out.

Twilight's eyes went a little wide at that, as she realized she'd spoken a bit too loudly. A quick flap of her wings, brought her up to the bars again “Nothing, nothing! Don't pay any attention to that.”

“If you say so...” The batpony called back with a touch uncertainty.

The alicorn princess had to resist the urge to cringe a little, at that faux pas as she settled back on the floor of their cell. Bringing a hoof to her forehead, she had to let out a quiet groan.

“Perhaps we should just focus back on our immediate issue of getting out of this cell first.” Rarity offered.

“Right, right...alright. Does anyone have anymore thoughts on the riddle?” Twilight asked, deciding to try to take a smidge more control over the conversation.

“I do have some thoughts...though they're still percolating.” The fashionista at her side admitted, as she idly tapped at the side of her chin in consideration.

“Alright...Fluttershy?” The purple princess asked, deciding to focus on the one pony that had kept quiet through most of the discussion.

“Hmmm?” Fluttershy blinked as her attention was drawn away from her thoughts.

“Did you have any thoughts on the riddle?” Twilight gently reminded.

“Oh! Sorry, Twilight. I was just so caught up wondering about the animals in the garden, that I-” Fluttershy began to explain.

“Oh, come on! We're not gonna get to checkout the party at all if we don't figure this riddle out, Fluttershy!” Rainbow Dash lamented, even as she flung her hooves up in the air.

“Rainbow Dash!” AJ quickly admonished the frustrated RD for her tone.

“I-I'm sorry, I just-” The bewitching yellow pegasus quickly began to stutter.

“No, no...I'm sorry” Rainbow Dash quickly relented, waving off her fellow pegasus before she could apologize. The azure pegasus let out a long sigh “It's just...none of Pinkie's parties were ever this hard to get into.”

Fluttershy shifted her cloak around anxiously for a moment, before looking back to her friend “Oh...Well, maybe if we asked real nice-”

“That's it!”

“What? What's it?”

“What you were just saying, Fluttershy. That's the answer.” Rarity quickly clarified for her delicate friend.

“It is?” Fluttershy blurted out in confusion.

“It is?” AJ quickly echoed, before Twilight could do the same.

“Indeed. I dare say, Fluttershy has hit the nail on the head.” Rarity reaffirmed, even as she trotted over to the cell door.

A moment later, she carefully reared back on her back hooves, ever careful of her dress. Soon bracing her forehooves against the door, Rarity took a moment to clear her throat before calling out “I say, are you still there, dear?”

“Yeah?” Came the curious voice of the batpony.

“Excellent. And would you happen to be carrying the key to this door?” Rarity continued with absolute confidence. And it was in that moment, that Twilight found herself leaning back as the pieces all came together for her.

“That's right.” The batpony called back.

“Rarity, you're a genius!” Twilight happily exclaimed.

“Thank you, dear.” Rarity spared a moment, to reply to her friend. Clearing her throat once more, she focused back on the bars to the cell “Now, as I was saying...would you mind letting us out of this cell?”

“...You guys aren't going to jump me, are you?” The Night Guard hesitantly called back.

“What? Of course not!” Rarity quickly replied, her good mood slightly thrown-off by the batpony's question.

“Oh, good...Then, yeah. One second...” The mare on the other side of the door called back, which was soon followed by the jangle of keys.

“Wait, seriously?!” Rainbow Dash blurted out.

“Exactly so.” Rarity easily replied, her smile restored as she was proven right.

“Hold up. Ah'm actually with Dash on this one. That's how we're supposed to escape?” AJ quickly followed up.

“Indeed.”

“Wha- Well how'd ya figure out somethin' like that?” The farmpony demanded, being reminded now of how a certain Changeling Queen liked to avoid answering her questions.

“It's all thanks to Fluttershy.” The fashionista clarified, with a gesture towards the yellow pegasus. Pausing for a moment, Rarity brought a hoof to her chin, before gesturing again “Well...It's in part thanks to Fluttershy.”

“What did I do?” Fluttershy asked, quite entirely lost with the conversation.

“When you suggested that we just needed to ask nicely? That was the key, Fluttershy!” Twilight quickly explained, easily catching up to where Rarity was now that she had a few moments to think it through.

“It was?” The butter-coated pegasus blinked at that.

“Indeed, it was...And my apologies for cutting you off like that before, dear.” Rarity quickly spared a moment to apologize for interrupting her friend earlier. Seeing Fluttershy give a tilt of her head at that, she gestured back towards Twilight “Anyway, the answer to the riddle was right there in the first line.”

“Exactly, the path to our freedom lies beyond this door.” Twilight reiterated for the rest of her friends excitedly. After a moment, she gestured towards the door again “And what was lying on the otherside of the door?”

“...The path to our freedom?” Rainbow Dash offered with a shrug.

“The guardpony, Dash.” AJ clarified for her friend. Though, after a moment the farmpony's face also twisted in thought, before she gestured towards the door “But what was the rest of the riddle goin' on about?”

“It was just meant to distract us from the real answer.” Twilight elaborated. Taking a step closer to the door, she gestured towards the combo lock again “And I'd wager this lock doesn't even have a combination that would unlock it. It's probably just for show.”

“The last line of the rhyme even hinted at this. Much of it could have gone unread?” Rarity reminded the group “It was telling us right there to ignore most of the riddle.”

“Huh...Okay then. Ah think Ah'm followin' now.” AJ nodded along at that.

“And there we go!” The batpony again called out, as she pulled open the cell's door. Settling her hooves back on the floor “Sorry that took me a second. They gave me way more keys than I really needed.”

“So...that's it? That's how we're supposed to escape?” Rainbow Dash blurted out again, gesturing both her hooves towards the now open door and waiting batpony.

“Yep! You guys managed to figure it out all on your own!” The Night Guard replied with an oblivious grin.

“Oh, don't be too modest now. You did give us that itty-bitty hint there at the end.” Rarity lightly teased.

“...I did?” The Night Guard blurted out.

“I-I mean, yes. The part about not being able to leave until we got out?” The over-dressed unicorn reminded. Seeing the uncomprehending look on the batpony's face, she waved her hoof towards the door “Because you would need to be here in order to let us out...?”

“Oh, darn...I did say that, didn't I?”

“That wasn't intentional on your part then?” Twilight asked the batpony with a furrowed brow.

“Uhhhhhh...” The Night Guard hedged for a few seconds, avoiding eye contact with the rest of the occupants of the room.

“So, that wasn't you giving us a hint?” Rarity eventually pressed, holding out a hoof towards the batpony.

“...Okay, so let's not tell anypony about that. Or changeling for that matter...” The batpony offered with an awkward smile. After a few moments, the smile dropped a bit, as she held out a hoof “Seriously. She's kinda scary.”

“...”

“...Great! Let me show you guys to the party!”

A Nightmare Night in Canterlot

by dungeonguy88

Chapter One: Trick or Treat?

Chapter Two: Mostly Trick