> The MMMystery of the Headless Horse
>  by Matthais Unidostres
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The MMMystery of the Headless Horse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Halloween/Nightmare Night to you all! Oh, wait, it's only September at the time I'm publishing this! Anyways, I hope that when that day comes; you really enjoy yourselves, have some parties, and get a lot of candy. Just remember to stay safe when trick-or-treating, and also be sure to save some for the offering to Princess Luna! Oh, and speaking of treats, I have a treat for you! This fanfic, which is a mystery! A mystery you get to solve along with Twilight and Pinkie Pie! So, what are you waiting for! Let's solve this mystery!


The MMMystery of the Headless Horse


The exciting night known has Nightmare Night had finally returned, and it promised to be even better than ever before. As usual, Fluttershy had chosen to stay at home. Also as usual, Rarity was too exhausted from making so many costumes, as well as unable to handle seeing so many home-made fashion disasters to peek outside, so she simply went ot bed early for some beauty sleep.
Meanwhile, everypony was ready for the night of scary fun. After the incident involving the Marzipan Mascarpone Merengue Madness on the Friendship Express, Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie decided to dress up as the famous Sherlock Pones and Dr. Watson respectively. However, they didn't simply put on hats this time. They went all out, with complete outfits. Twilight wore Sherlock's coat and held a bubble pipe, and Pinkie wore the Doctor's sweater.
"Let's solve this mystery!" Pinkie Pie cheered, bouncing around the town.
Twilight rolled her eyes, "Pinkie, there are no mysteries around here."
Pinkie Pie pressed her face against Twilight's, "Not yet, but ya never know!"
Twilight gently pushed Pinkie Pie away, "Come on, let's see how Applejack is doing. Come on Spike!"
Spike came running behind, moving rather slowly, considering that he was on all fours while balancing a big bowl of candy on his back. The dragon had decided to dress up as a pony this Nightmare Night, a purple pony with green hair to be exact. He had given up on wearing the "hoof gloves," for they had made it difficult for him to pick up the small pieces of candy. 
"Wait up! Twice the legs doesn't mean twice as fast!" Spike panted as he did his best to catch up.
When they reached the center of town, where all the action was, they eventually spotted Applejack near the pumpkin launch game. Applejack had decided yo dress up as a cow, painting herself with white, washable non-toxic paint, leaving a few orange spots. She also wore a Scottish hat, or tam, instead of her usual cowgirl hat.
"Well, howdy everypony! Ah wanted to do a Scottish ackscent, but it was way harder than it looked!" Applejack said as the ponies and dragon in pony suit approached.
Crash!
Applejack didn't even flinch at the loud sound and flash of light from behind her. She sighed, "Ha-ha, very funny Rainbow, ah know you're there."
Rainbow Dash flew down from the thunder cloud she had been hiding behind. She was wearing her black spandex suit, which had a few holes torn in the legs. Her wings were covered in a thin, wispy fabric. Her face was covered with black face paint, and she had a gnarly horn on her head. Dash had gone all out to make the best Changeling costume ever.
Dash looked very frustrated. She stomped the ground and said, "Aw man! I don't believe this! I've been trying to prank ponies all day, and I keep getting nothing! What's going on?"
"Maybe it's because you've done the same old joke so many times already, its just gotten too boring," Twilight suggested.
Dash raised her right hoof into the air, "Okay then! I'll just think of a new, better, bigger prank!"
"Or you could not pull any potently harmful pranks and just have fun?" Twilight suggested.
"Pranks are fun, Twilight!" Dash replied. She flew up back up to the thunder cloud and said, "You'll see! I'll pull the biggest, scariest prank in the history of Equestria! Even if. . .if. . .if I have to get somepony else to help me!"
As the group of four watched Rainbow Dash fly off, Applejack remarked gravely, "Oh nuts, ah got a really bad feeling about this."



Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were busy bobbing for apples. Scootaloo was dressed up as a Cockatrice, wearing a plastic beak, a red rubber coxcomb, and a plastic green scaly suit that was complete with the dragon-like wings of the bizarre creature. Sweetie Belle was dressed up as Sapphire Shores, with shoes, dress, and hair style that matched the Pony of Pop's look to the smallest detail. It sure paid to have a fashionista for a big sister. Applebloom decided to use her big sister's idea from last year, and dressed up as a scarecrow. Applejack even let Applebloom borrow her hat for the night, as long as she promised to take it off when bobbing for apples.
Sweetie Belle was currently competing with Diamond Tiara in the tub of green colored water. The rich filly had actually  decided to dress up as Princess Celestia. Her hair was died a the colors of the rainbow, she wore smaller replicas of Celestia's shoes and breastplate (all made of real gold and set with real gems of course), and a pretend horn was straped to her head.
Everypony cheered when Sweetie Belle was the first to come up with an apple in her mouth. Diamond Tiara shook the water out of her multicolored mane and humphed, "Whatever! It's not like I like Nightmare Night anymore anyway."
"Huh? Why don't ya like Nightmare Night! It's so much fun!" Applebloom replied.
"Princess Luna, of course! Isn't it obvious?" Diamond Tiara said, but then she smiled and put a hoof up to her mouth, "Whoops, I forgot, no brain!"
Applebloom glared at her, "Ah ain't really scarecrow, your Royal Meanness. And why don't ya like Princess Luna! She's fun!"
Tiara groaned, "I don't believe you all! She tries to take over the world, she tries to bring eternal night, and we're supposed to be friends with her? You gotta be kidding me! If I were the real Princess Celestia, I'd lock up in jail where she belongs!"
The three fillies were shocked by this statement.
"How can you say that!" Sweetie Belle gasped, "She was just upset that nopony liked the night."
"But now we do!" Scootaloo chimed in.
"Yeah, and Luna's really nice now!" Applebloom said.
"All an act," Tiara said with a wave of the hoof, "She just doesn't want to be punished. Trust me, she's Nightmare Moon, and she always will be Nightmare Moon."
"Stop right there, criminal scum!" a voice cried.
Everypony turned to see Pipsqueak scampering towards them. This Nightmare Night, he was dressed in plastic armor and bat wings. He looked just like one of Princess Luna's royal guards.
He pointed an accusing hoof at Diamond Tiara and said, "Thou darest to insutest the most fairest Princess in all of Equestria? You violated the law! Pay the court a fine or serve your sentence!"
Diamond Tiara held her nose up high into the air. "Hmph! Whatever! You babies and adore Nightmare Moon all you want. Personally, I would really enjoy it if something happened to ruin Nightmare Night completely. Now, if you don't mind, I'm off to find somepony who supports my opinions before she gets here!"
As Diamond Tiara swaggered away, the Crusaders focused their attention on Pip.
"Nice one, Pip! You sure showed her!" Scootaloo said, giving Pip a high-hoof.
Pip smiled and saluted, "As one of the royal guards if the Mistress of the Night, it is my sworn duty to protect her honor! Believe me when I say to you, that anyone who has ever wronged or hurt my most favorite Princess ever will pay dearly!"
The fillies exchanged nervous glances, a little creeped out with how serious Pip sounded.



Spike had given up on walking on all fours, and returned to standing upright, which looked weird while he had the appearance of a pony. He took his place in front of the pumpkin catapult, took a deep breath, and jumped onto it. the pumpkin sailed forward a few feet, but landed just sort of the target.
"Aww, better luck next time Spike," Applejack said, "Hey Big Macintosh, why don't you give it a go?"
The red stallion was dressed as a knight in armor, complete with a helmet that covered his face.
"Eeyup," he said, his voice echoing from inside his helmet. He lifted his front hooves high and slammed them down onto the catapult. The pumpkin went sailing through the sky, completely overshooting the target, heading towards the stage where ponies were playing music. The musicians quickly dived out of the way as the pumpkin skidded across the stage and rolled under the curtains.
"Whoops," Big Macintosh said.
Everypony, even the musicians, had to laugh. 
However, their laughter was cut sort as it suddenly became very dark. Everypony looked up to see that dark clouds had rolled in front of the shining full moon. And then, an unearthly laugh echoed throughout the area, chilling the blood of all who heard it.
Some ponies screamed as the pumpkin was kicked out from beneath the curtain, splattering on the ground.
Then, came a deep, bone chilling voice, "I don't need a pumpkin. . ."
Everypony looked as an evil breeze blew through the curtains, causing them flutter like the robe of some ethereal ghost.
"I want. . ."
The curtains were thrown open violently, reveling a black pony that had a pair of black wings. He had a wispy, ghost like tail that had the appearance of a creepy fog. A black cloak that was red on the inside was flowing from his neck. But most prominent of all, was that instead of a pony's head on his shoulders, he had an evil looking jack-o-lantern instead.
"A HEAD!" he roared in a booming, echoing voice, fire bursting out of his carved eyes, mouth, and nose.
Applejack looked as if she were about to go insane. "IT'S HIM! IT'S THE HEADLESS HORSE! EVERYPONY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.
The whole town was thrown into chaos as everypony ran in every possible direction. Pinkie Pie was running in the exact opposite direction of the stage, but the Headless Horse just seemed to appear in front of her.
"Pinkamena Diane Pie! Give me your head!" he said while standing over the terrified mare.
Pinkie Pie could only shudder and shake in fear as the phantom towered over her. She stared up at the apparition with wide eyes, wondering if this was it. . .
"Eenope!" came Big Macintosh's voice.
The Headless Horse turned just in time to have his pumpkin head bucked off by the big red stallion.
The now truly Headless Horse snarled before disappearing in a puff of smoke. The cloudy skies cleared up as well. . .



Everypony was able to quickly calm down once the phantom was gone. After Mayor Mare, who decided to dress up as a clown once again, assured everyone that the phantom was no more than some elaborate practical joke, everypony began to get back into the swing of things and enjoy the Nightmare Night celebration. However, not everypony could just relax and do nothing after that.
Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, and Spike gathered together within the Library, where they talked about what they experienced.
"I'm telling ya, Twi, that was the Headless Horse! Just like in yer story!" Applejack said as she trembled, pale beneath the paint.
Twilight used her magic to flip through a book she levitated in front of her, "But that's all it was, a story! It's just a legend, he never really existed. It says it right here in this book of Ancient Superstitious Tales, it's a legend!"
"Yeah, like the Mare in the Moon!" Spike said nervously with wide eyes.
"No! Not like the Mare in the Moon! Urgh! What good will reading the story do us anyway!" Twilight grumbled as she carelessly tossed the book over her right shoulder.
"What does it say, old bean?" Pinkie Pie asked calmly.
Everypony stared at her.
"The costumes," Pinkie said as if it was obvious.
Twilight was hit with realization, "Oh right, right, Sherlock Pones. Okay. Hmm," Twilight blew a few bubbles with her pipe, "Well, the legend says the Headless Horse is a ghost of a pony had his head crushed in a cave in while mining gems for Princess Platinum."
"And that helps us, how?" Applejack asked nervously.
"It doesn't," Pinkie "Watson" Pie said, tapping the side of her bowler hat with her hoof, "We need to find real clues if we wanna solve this mystery."
"Clues? Mystery? What mystery! There's a ghost out there! Mystery solved! The end!" Spike said in a panicky tone.
"But there's no such things as ghosts. That's why Granny Pie told me to giggle at them!" Pinkie Pie said.
"So why didn't you giggle at the Headless Horse?" Twilight asked.
"Because he wasn't a ghost, silly! He was a mystery somepony who's plotting something for this Nightmare Night! Geez, maybe I should've been Sherlock!" Pinkie replied.
"Well, what clues do we have?" Applejack asked.
"Well for starters, why, with all of the ponies running around, did the Headless Horse come after me? He even knew my name! And why would a stallion want a mare's head?" Pinkie Pie explained.
"Hmm," Twilight said, "Well, we should probably get out there and search for more clues. Come on everypony, the game is ahoof!"



Just when the group exited the Library, dark clouds began to fill the sky again.
"Oh no, not again," Applejack moaned.
Somepony shouted, "It's the Headless Horse again! RUN!"
Ponies began to run around in a panic once again. However, this quickly stopped as a brilliant flash of light appeared in the sky.
"Look!" somepony shouted.
Out of the flash came a black chariot, being pulled by tow ponies with bat like wings. Sitting in the chariot was the Princess of the Night herself.
Cheers erupted throughout Ponyville as the chariot landed smoothly in the center of the town, and the Princess got off of the cool looking vehicle. Luna was instantly mobbed by ponies who were screaming, yelling, and shouting all sorts of things. Confused, Luna's head turned this way and that as more ponies rapidly approached her desperately trying to tell her something. Luna was able to make out a few words, but was unable to pick out any coherent sentences. Fed up with that cacophony, Luna did the only thing she could think of.
"BE STILL!!!!" 
The ponies instantly fell back and closed their mouths at the sound of the Royal Canterlot Voice. Once the echo faded, Luna took a deep breath and spoke in a normal tone.
"Well, what is the meaning of all this apparent urgency? And what is this 'Headless Horse' thou speakest of?" she said.
Twilight teleported in front of the Princess. "Well, you see, we believe that some sort of headless ghost of a pony appeared in Ponyville," Twilight said timidly, "I know it sound crazy, but we all did see something. And we heard his voice too."
Applejack pushed through the crowd and ran over to Twilight's side, "Uh-huh! That's right, your Majesty! It nearly took our friend Pinkie Pie's head! Please, you gotta protect us all from him!"
Luna blinked, appearing a bit confused. She then broke into a pleasant smile. "Oh, I see! Ahem!" Luna cleared her throat and announced in a loud, clear voice, "Citizens of Ponyville, I, your fair and great Princess Luna, shall protect you from this headless menace!"
Everypony cheered in response, except for Twilight and Pinkie Pie, who merely rubbed their chins in thought.



Luna had a wide smile on her face as she allowed everypony to challenge her to any or all of the games Ponyville provided. Meanwhile; Spike, Applejack, Twilight, and Pinkie were busy planning what to do.
"Perhaps something suspicious happened right before the Headless Horse appeared," Twilight reasoned.
"Rainbow Dash was in the air at the time, maybe she saw something?" Spike asked.
"But I don't see her anywhere," Applejack said as she scanned the land and sky.
"Maybe she went to check on Fluttershy, come on," Pinkie Pie said as she took off in the direction of Fluttershy's cottage. The other four quickly followed.



The group was walking up the path towards the door to the yellow pegasus' home, when all of a sudden a huge burst of smoke appeared in front of them. When the smoke cleared, the now pumpkinless Headless Horse was standing in front of them!
"Pinkamena! Give me your head!" he shouted in a harsh voice.
"RUN!" Applejack shouted.
The group scattered, but the phantom made a beeline straight for Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie made a long jump across a mud puddle, and turned around with a smile, expecting the Headless Horse to sink right into the mud. However, and to her horror, the Headless Horse ran right across the surface of the thick mud.
"The mud is really thick. If you're light enough, you probably could run across it if you move quickly," Pinkie thought before turning and running.
The pursued and the pursuer ran in circles around Fluttershy's cottage. This went on for minute or two, and then-.
SMACK!
The door swung open, causing the Headless Horse to run right into it. Fluttershy looked out at Pinkie Pie and asked, "Oh dear, what's going on. I heard yelling and screaming."
The sound of angry growling caused Fluttershy to look behind the open door. At first sight of the Headless Horse, she screamed and rushed back into the house, slamming the door behind her.
The Headless Horse turned in to the left, where the rest of the group was returning to aid their friends. The phantom growled and disappeared in another puff of smoke.
"Are you alright, Pinkie?" Twilight asked.
"That's Dr. Watson, and yes, I am fine Mr. Pones. And I think I'm beginning to get somewhere with this mystery," Pinkie said as she dusted her sweater off.
Twilight blew a few bubbles with her pipe and said, "Well, I'd say those smoke screens are clues."
"And I'd say, there's somepony spying on us from the Everfree Forest!" Spike exclaimed, pointing to a retreating figure in the shadowy woods.
"Catch him!" Pinkie shouted.
The group quickly took off in hot pursuit of the retreating figure. After running a few meters, they came to a clearing, where the figure stood at a distance with it's back to them.
Twilight gasped. It couldn't be! But that cloak! That hat! Those bells! That beard!
"Starswirl the Bearded?" Twilight gasped, and she instantly started running toward the figure.
"Twilight! Wait! Be careful!" Applejack shouted after the unicorn.
As Twilight ran, she exclaimed, "Starswirl the Bearded! I've always admired you! Your time spells are amazing! Did you use one to come here? Is it because of the Headless Horse? Did you come here to help lay his spirit to-?"
Twilight skidded to a dead halt when she finally got a close look at the figure.
"You!?" Twilight gasped.
The azure unicorn stroked her fake beard and said, "Twilight Sparkle. We meet again."
The rest of the group ran up to Twilight's side.
"What are you doing here?" Applejack said in disgust.
"The Great and Powerful Trixie does not have to answer to the likes of you!" the unicorn said, she then smiled at Twilight and said cheekily, "Well, well, well. It seems my magnificent costume is so flawless, that it even fooled you, the so called 'most powerful unicorn in Ponyville'."
"For your information, I dressed up as Starswirl the bearded last Nightmare Night," Twilight replied.
"Oh, so you are jealous the The Great and Powerful Trixie's costume is better than yours?" Trixie said haughtily, jingling the bells on her costume. 
"Why are you even here?" Twilight shot back.
"I planned on putting on a surprise show in this town for Nightmare Night. However, now that the Princess Luna is here, I'm afraid there would be no point in trying to put on a show," Trixie said with a bit of venom in her voice.
"Well you also brought an Ursa Minor into town!" Applejack said angrily, "So I doubt anypony would bother watching your show anyway!"
Trixie glared at Applejack and said, "Be silent, you feeble cow! I have no time for this! I must be off to find a more suitable location for my Nightmare Night show! The Great and Powerful Trixie bids you all farewell!"
A puff of smoke appeared where Trixie stood. When it faded, she was gone.
"Well, that was a waste of time," Applejack commented dryly.
"Maybe, maybe not," Twilight said suspiciously, "Come on, let's go back to Ponyville."



The four mystery solvers returned to Ponyville, where the games were in full swing. Ponies were competing in the spider toss game. High scorers could select a prize from a nearby bench. There were pastries, small medals, flags, shinny bells with ribbon, even a few gems.
"Haha! I am the top scorer!" Luna cheered as she tossed another spider into the exact center of the web, scoring major points. She then turned to the mystery solvers. "Ah, Twilight Sparkle and friends! Where have you all been?"
"We went to Fluttershy's house-," Twilight began, but Luna interrupted her.
"Ah yes, I trust you saw young Pip there," Luna said with a smile.
"Uh, no?" Twilight replied.
Luna looked confused, "No? But I sent Pip to collect Fluttershy. I wished to become better acquainted with her. Aha! Here comes young Pip now!"
The young colt, dressed as a member of the Night Guard, scampered up to Luna, "I'm sorry, Princess. I couldn't get Fluttershy to come out. She wouldn't even answer the door."
Luna sighed, "Ah well, perhaps I should come visit her during the day."
Pinkie Pie whispered in Twilight's ear, "Psst! Isn't it weird that we didn't see Pipsqueak when we were there?"
Twilight shrugged, "He probably showed up while we were talking to Trixie."
"Hang on," Applejack said out loud, "Weren't we trying to find Rainbow?"
"Yeah that's right," Spike said, "Where could she be?"
"Let's check her house," Twilight said.



The four of them arrived under Rainbow Dash's cloud palace. They approached the front of it, and Applejack called out to a dark figure coming out of the front door.
"Hey Rainbow!" she shouted.
The pegasus disguised as a Changeling jumped in surprise, dropping huge black bag she was carrying. The bulky bag landed right on top of Spike.
"Get me out of here!" came Spike's muffled cry. Rainbow Dash flew down to help free the little dragon.
"What the hay is this?" Applejack asked curiously. The bag was barely twice the size of the average pony.
"Nothing!" Dash said sternly, snatching the mysterious bag up, "I just, um, forgot to take out the trash! That's it. Gotta go! Bye!"
Dash zoomed off towards Ponyville, carrying the bag on her back as she flew.
"Whoa, you can barely see her! That black Changeling costume blends in with the night sky!" Spike commented.
"Come on, let's get back to Ponyville. We still haven't found any real clues!" Twilight said, bringing her pipe back up to her mouth to blow a few more bubbles.



As the group approached Ponyville, screams could be heard once again. Before anyone could say or do anything, the Headless Horse galloped right by them, and off into the Everfree Forest.
"Ah! Is he gone? Is he?" Spike shouted with his eyes closed as he hugged Applejack tightly.
"Yeah, he's gone. You can open your eyes now," Applejack said.
"Hmmm, why didn't he stop to attack us?" Pinkie asked thoughtfully.
"You wanted him to attack us?" Spike asked in disbelief.
The conversation was interrupted when a crowd of ponies ran over to them. 
Pipsqueak was with them, "Hey Pinkie! Did ya see the super scary Headless Horse! Did ya!" he said excitedly.
"I think we all saw it," Twilight said dryly.
Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked really worried. "Scootaloo's gone! We can't find her anywhere!" Applebloom said nervously.
Pipsqueak rolled his eyes, "Yeah, I know. I remember you somehow thinking I was her and pulling me in to hide behind a garbage can with you."
"You both have bat wings in your costumes," Sweetie Belle said pitifully.
Pipsqueak smiled, "Well, it actually worked in your favor. You had a strong member of the Night Guard protecting you!"
Mayor Mare smiled, "It's true actually, this young colt acted very brave, positioning himself between those two fillies and the galloping Headless Horse."
"Hey, girls!" shouted a voice.
"Scootaloo!" Applebloom and Sweetie Belle cried as they ran to hug their friend.
"Sorry if I made you worry, I was watching what was happening from, uh, er, a roof!" Scootaloo said quickly.
"How'd you get on a roof?" Applebloom asked.
Scootaloo looked around nervously, "Um, did I say roof? I meant that I, um, well- a cart! That's right, I hid behind a cart- I mean under it! So it was like I was under a roof! Yeah. . ."
Princess Luna suddenly flew in and touched down gently. "I lost the Headless Horse in the Everfree Forest. However, I doubt he'll be coming back. Even if he does, I doubt that he could do any harm as long as I am here."
"Excuse me, Your Majesty, but I am afraid I lost sight of you during the Headless Horse's attack," Mayor Mare asked gingerly.
"I was flying above the town, waiting for a chance to swoop in. However, I was unable to do so. Too many ponies and obstacles in the way." Luna answered smoothly.
"You're the best Princess ever!" Pipsqueak cheered, "You always look out for everypony! Like how you saved Pipsqueak the Pirate from drowning and facing a soggy fate in Davy Jones Locker! Arrrrgh!" Pip temporarily put on his pirate voice for a touch of nostalgia.
Luna chuckled, "Oh, Pip. I was merely doing what anypony would do. You needn't constantly thank me in all of those letters you've sent me."
Pip looked over at Spike and smiled, "Thanks again for letting me send all those letters!"
Spike smiled bashfuly, "Aw, it was nothing."
Pip looked up at Luna with adoration in his eyes, "Well you were the only one who actually did it! Oh! And Luna- I mean Princess, could you bring in your two Royal Guards! I wanna see how much my costume matches the real thing!" Pipsqueak piped up.
Luna smiled and nuzzled the little colt, "It would be my pleasure."
As the group began to re-enter Ponyville, Twilight held her friends back.
"I found a clue! Look what the Headless Horse dropped!" she said gleefully, holding up a small bell with her magic. "I know who it is!" Twilight sang.
"Ah don't know, Twi. Ah got mah own suspicions," Applejack said.
"Me too," Spike said.
"Sherlock Pones!" Pinkie said harshly, "You're going to base an accusation on one piece of evidence! I knew I should been Sherlock!"
"Alright, alright! Don't worry, I'll gather more evidence first!" Twilight said defensively.



Luna cheerfully brought in one of her two Night Guards. Armor, bat wings, and all. Everypony oohed and aahed as they gazed at the strange looking officer. Pipsqueak ran up alongside the guard, grinning widely. 
The guard chuckled, "Heh-heh, not bad!"
Pipsqueak nodded, "Yeah! I wanna be one of Princess Luna's guards one I grow up! It would be so awesome!"
Suddenly, maniacal laughter filled the air something cast a shadow on the happy scene. Everypony looked up to see the Headless Horse standing on a roof top. Ponies screamed as the headless phantom jumped off of the roof, landing on the ground, and charged towards Princess Luna. Luna's eyes were wide and fearful as she quickly backed away from the approaching phantom.
"Oh no you don't!" Pipsqueak shouted as he suddenly made a leap for the Headless Horse. He landed right on the phantom's cloaked back and held on as tight as he could. The Headless Horse snarled and growled as he flapped his wings and took flight towards the Everfree Forest.
"Pip!" Luna shouted, and she took flight as well and headed after the ghost.
Ponyville was in an uproar as they began talking amoungst themselves of what just happened.
"Nopony move!" Mayor Mare said through a megaphone, "Let the Princess handle this! Everypony just stay calm and relax!"



"Okay, this just got serious," Twilight said as twirled her pipe around, "Now foal-napping is involved."
"But who would want to kidnap an innocent little colt?" Spike asked.
"The Headless Horse! That's who! He wants his head!" Applejack shouted, looking very freaked out.
"There's no such thing!" Twilight shouted, she then turned to Pinkie Pie, who sat with her hooves tapping her bowler hat. "Well, 'Watson', don't you have anything to say? Don't you have any theories?"
Pinkie Pie put a hoof to her lips, "Shhh. . .eyes and brains. Eyes and brains. If you had been using them, you'd now the answer by now."
The conversation was interrupted when Scootaloo suddenly ran by in a panic. "Run! It's the Headless Horse! He's back!"
Ponies gasped and screamed as the Headless Horse galloped towards the town. The ponies ran and ducked for cover as the Headless Horse entered the town. This time, the phantom had his black hood up, making him look even more frightening. 
"Come on!" Twilight said, motioning for the other three to follow her. Pinkie Pie complied, but Applejack and Spike were too scared to even move.
The two friends, dressed as Sherlock Pones and Watson, slowly approached the Headless Horse.
"Where's Pipsqueak?" Twilight demanded.
The Headless Horse merely chuckled, and put his hood down.
Twilight and Pinkie Pie backed away in horror at what they saw.
The Headless Horse was now wearing the tiny head of Pipsqueak. With an evil smirk twisting his face, and eyes glowing an evil red, the phantom threw his new head back and laughed maniacally.
"AH TOLD YA SO!!!" Applejack screamed.
"RUN!!!!!" Spike shouted.
The four friends split up once again, and once again, the phantom was in hot pursuit of Pinkie Pie. Pinkie knocked over some barrels to impede the phantom's progress, but he merely jumped over them and continued his pursuit. They soon came up to a pile of pumpkins. Pinkie cleared the it with a hop, skip, and a jump. The phantom made a huge leap over it.
"What amazing feats of acrobatics! Who could possibly have the strength to do this!" Pinkie Pie thought.
Pinkie soon came to the pumpkin launching sight. She slipped on a splotch of slimy smashed pumpkin and fell to the ground. She looked up, and saw the the phantom standing over her, holding an empty jack-o-lantern in his mouth. The phantom was about to jam the pumpkin over Pinkie's head, when all of sudden. . .
"Eenope!"
The phantom turned to see the brave knight Sir Big Macintosh with his hooves ready to stomp on the other end of the. . .
The phantom's eyes widened as he looked down to see that he was standing right on the launching end of one of the catapults!
Big Macintosh stomped down hard.
The catapult went up.
The phantom went flying through the air, and landed with a huge splash in the tub used for bobbing for apples.
Everypony came out of hiding a cheered for the brave knight in shinning armor. The red stallion blushed inside his helmet, not used to being hailed as a hero.
The four mystery solvers approached the soaking wet phantom.
"Well then," Twilight said, "It's time we found out who's behind this mask!"
Twilight reached out with her magic and gave firm tug. . .


TO BE CONTINUED!!!


Yup! That's right! It's up to YOU to try to figure out who the villain is before I reveal the end of the story on October 1st! That's right! I will publish the next part on October 1st! Then, we will see how many of you are good detectives. Just remember to read through the story carefully and look for all the clues. Some clues can be really subtle, so be careful in your investigating! Well, I guess I see you back here in a month! Good luck in solving the MMMystery of the Headless Horse!
	
	
	
> Part 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, it's September 30th. I said I'd update on October 1st, but I won't have time then so I'll do it now. It's time for us to see how many of you were able to solve the mystery! Well, let's not waste any time!




"Well then," Twilight said, "It's time we found out who's behind this mask!"
Twilight reached out with her magic and gave firm tug. The phantom groaned as the pulling of Twilight's magic moved his head forward.
"Um, Twilight," Pinkie asked, tapping Twilight on the shoulder.
"What is it Pinkie, I'm busy unmasking here!" Twilight said irritably.
"Um, you're doing it wrong. It's more like this." Pinkie then grabbed the phantom's cloak with her teeth and pulled it off.
The surrounding ponies all gasped.
"Pipsqueak?"
Removing the cloak revealed a wooden frame in the shape of a horse, with hinges where all the joints should have been. At where the head would have been was a large harness-like contraption in which Pipsqueak's body fit perfectly. His hooves were connected to the wooden frame's legs with smaller harness and ropes that moved four-bar linkages , which in turn moved the legs in sync with his legs.
Pipsqueak squeezed himself out of the contraption and smiled, "Gotcha!"
Twilight's mouth had dropped open at what she was seeing. She closed her mouth and shook her head quickly to get over the shock, and then looked around in complete confusion. "No! This is impossible! Pipsqueak was there when the Headless Horse attacked! This doesn't make any sense!"
Pipsqueak cocked his head in confusion, "Sure it makes sense! That Headless Horse was just the real one. That's all!"
"Real one?" Spike asked nervously.
Suddenly, dark clouds filled the sky. Ponies began to look around fearfully as darkness overtook Ponyville. A chilling breeze blew through the town, bringing in an eerie fog along with it. 
And then, without warning, and with a huge burst of smoke, the Headless Horse appeared. With his black wings, dark cloak, and jack-o-lantern head, he reared up on his hind legs and roared in a loud deep tone. Lightning flashed over him as ponies screamed in terror.
"To quote Princess Celestia, RUN!" Twilight shouted.
(Nearly any mystery involving characters dressing up as ghosts or monsters and chasing other characters around is a Scooby Doo spoof, so I figured, why not go all out and throw in some chase music! Thank you TheGreatBelcher for the awesome PMV!)



Spike clung tightly to Applejack as she took off running. He turned around to see the Headless Horse right on their tail. Spike screamed in terror, causing Applejack to run even faster. The pair ran into an alley, and the Headless Horse followed. The pony and dragon ran in and out of the alley ways, apparently defying the laws of physics and logic at certain points, until Spike somehow ended up riding the Headless Horse instead of Applejack.
Applejack shouted in fear, causing Spike realize what was going on. Spike screamed as the Headless Horse stopped, and his jack-o-lantern head spun around to look at him. Twilight suddenly teleported in and used her magic to pick up Spike and run. 
The Headless Horse turned to see Big Macintosh waving a hoof at him to "bring it on." The phantom ran towards the knight, apparently oblivious to the catapult in between them. When the ghost stepped onto the end of the catapult, Big Macintosh stomped onto the other end. . .only to have the catapult snap like a twig in the middle.
The Headless Horse laughed, and then apparently teleported inches away from the stallion. Big Macintosh actually screamed like a filly and ran off in pure terror. The Headless Horse was then pelted with toy spiders. He turned to see Pinkie Pie with her gang of children throwing the spiders at him. The horse charged, causing the group to disperse quickly. 
The phantom was chasing Pinkie Pie once again, this time right through the center of town. The phantom was just inches away from Pinkie Pie, nearly close enough to touch her bowler hat, when suddenly. . .
Sproing!
Pinkie Pie skidded to a halt and turned around fast. A bunch of wooden boards had been nailed to a nearby candy stand, extending out a few feet. Rope were attached to it, which were also attached to a net that had been hidden under a bit of dirt on the ground. The net had been triggered at exactly the right moment, catching the Headless Horse and suspending him upside down in mid air.
"CUTIE MARK CRUSADER GHOST CATCHERS! YAY!" shouted the three fillies.
Everypony cheered the three girls as they ran up to a get a closer look at the Headless Horse.
"Aw, we didn't get out Cutie Marks," Scootaloo moaned.
"Who cares! We caught the ghost!" Applebloom said excitedly.
Twilight used her magic to gently lower the Headless Horse to the ground and remove the net from his pumpkin head.
"I can see your eyes through that jack-o-lantern," Twilight declared strongly, "And it's about time we all got to see your face!"
Twilight used her magic to remove the pumpkin from the pony's head. . .


TO BE CONTINUED


That's right! I did it again! This time you have to wait until October 31st to find out the answer! Review the clues one more time, and you might be able to solve this mystery! Good luck!

> Part 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Happy Halloween/Nightmare Night! Thank you for staying with me for this story. Your patience will be well rewarded! Please enjoy the conclusion of this mystery! Also, congratulations to everyone who solved it!

Twilight used her magic to gently lower the Headless Horse to the ground and remove the net from his pumpkin head.
"I can see your eyes through that jack-o-lantern," Twilight declared strongly, "And it's about time we all got to see your face!"
Twilight used her magic to remove the pumpkin from the pony's head. 
Everypony gasped even louder than before as they saw who the Headless Horse really was.
"Princess Luna!?"
The Princess pulled herself out of then net and smiled, "Citizens of Ponyville! Wasn't that fun!"
"NO!" came a loud reply from the citizens of the town.
Luna blinked, looking very confused, "But. . .I thought. . .that thou likest me to scare you?"
Twilight was at a loss for words as she just stared at the Princess of the Night, "But. . but. . .this can't be! I was sure it was Trixie!"
"I thought it was Rainbow Dash!" Applejack said.
"We thought it was Diamond Tiara," Applebloom said as Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded.
"I thought it was Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash working together," Spike said, "Well, that was what I thought before the first one turned out to be Pipsqueak, but-."
"I knew it was Princess Luna and Pipsqueak all along!" Pinkie Pie boasted with a smile.
"What! No way!" Twilight objected.
"Yes way!" Pinkie said with a wink.
"Alright then, prove it! How did you solve the mystery?" Twilight challenged.
"Okay, Sherlock!" Pinkie said, she then snatched Twilight's pipe, wiped it clean with a sanitary wipe, and blew a few bubble. "Alright," she began, "First of all, whenever the Headless Horse showed up, storm clouds would appear, and Luna has the power to summon storm clouds. Also, When the Headless Horse showed up literally with no head, either whoever it was was small enough to pull their head down into the costume, or could use magic to make their head invisible. Another clue was how the Headless Horse ran across the mud puddle without sinking in. He had to be small and light, and Pipsqueak's tiny body and lightweight wooden frame were light enough to do that. Also, Luna mentioned that Pip went to Fluttershy's house, but we didn't see him, because he was dressed up as the Headless Horse. Also, when Pip mentioned that Spike has been sending letters between him and Luna, that was the perfect way to put together this brilliant plan!" 
And there's that bell the Headless Horse dropped. Twilight, you thought it came from Trixie's Starswirl the Bearded costume, but remember, the spider toss game gave out prizes, and among the prizes were bells with ribbons tied to them. Luna's really good at that game, so I'll bet she won a bell, but it somehow came untied from the ribbon and fell off. Also, a big huge clue was when the Headless Horse took off with Pip. Luna was afraid! Why would the big, powerful, Princess of the Night be afraid? The answer. . .she wouldn't! She had to have known what was going on, and did a little acting to make it look good. Too good! It backfired big time!"
"Hold on!" Applejack said, "If Pip and Luna were there at the same time, then who was that Headless Horse?"
Pinkie smiled, "Simple! Only one Royal Guard came to compare himself to Pip's costume, but we know that there were two guards pulling Luna's chariot. At the time, I knew it had to be Pip and Luna working together, so I figured Luna ordered one of the guards to dress up as the Headless Horse and carry away Pip for the final part of their plan."
Twilight looked very impressed. "Wow Pinkie. That's all very good reasoning. But you're forgetting one thing. The motive!"
"Revenge!" Pinkie Pie shouted dramatically.
Everypony gasped yet again.
"What! Revenge? Why?" Twilight said, clearly baffled.
Pinkie explained, "Well, first of all, Pip was the master mind of it all. Luna didn't want any revenge, she just wanted to have fun. Anyway, I heard Pipsqueak say that Luna was his favorite Princess ever. Also, just this night, he said 'anyone who has ever wronged or hurt my most favorite Princess ever will pay dearly.' And when I heard him thank Luna for saving him from drowning in the tub of water, it all clicked into place! The Headless Horse would usually make his target. The time he went after other ponies, or ran right by me, had to have been when Luna was the Headless Horse, but Pipsqueak was the other times."
Twilight groaned, "Pinkie! You're not making any sense! Why would Pipsqueak want revenge on you?"
Pinkie gave Twilight a serious look, "Twilight, remember how frustrated you got with me last Nightmare Night?"
Twilight nodded, "Yeah, sure. . ."
Pinkie nodded, and she explained, "Sometimes, one of my parties will be so much fun and fantastically awesome exciting super duper great, I'll actually not realize what went on until after it's over. It's kinds weird actually. Anyway, I think this might have happened to Pipsqueak. Maybe a few days later, he thought back to what happened on the Nightmare Night.  He would have remembered me screaming and telling them to run away from Luna whenever he showed up, which, when you think about, actually sound kind of mean. He then would have thought of how nice Luna was when he got a better chance to really talked to her. He would have felt bad for running away from her all of those times. And then, the piece de resistance! Luna saving him from drowning in the apple bobbing tub. But did he ever get the chance to thank Luna for saving him? No! Why? Because mean old Pinkie Meanie-pants Pie came along and yelled that Luna was trying to eat him. He was so caught up in the excitement, that he actually ran away from his rescuer! And then everything literally came crashing down in a panic!"
Pinkie Pie shuffled nervously and said, "Like I explained, I didn't really notice the crying and broken stuff at the time, er, but I did afterwards. And so did Pip, and I'll bet ya a million corn cakes that he blamed for everything that went wrong."
"You bet I did!" Pipsqueak suddenly shouted at Pinkie Pie, suddenly becoming angry, "You nearly ruined Nightmare Night forever! Princess Luna almost canceled it because of you! So i decided to get back at you by making you scared for real! Not fake scared you used to hurt Luna's feelings and hog all the candy for yourself, but real big time super run through walls scared, you big, stupid, mean. . .stupid!"
"Pipsqueak!" Twilight shouted in shock, she then turned to Luna, "Princess! Why the Tartarus did you ever agree to this?"
Luna opened her mouth to speak, but Pinkie Pie spoke up first, "Don't you remember what we quote-unquote 'taught' Luna last time. That it's fun to be scared and that we all like it. Remember what Pip said: 'scary but fun!' So, Pip said that it would be 'fun' to really scare Ponyville next time. And Luna agreed, thinking 'scary=fun, so more scary=more fun'! And so they planed everything through their letters. Of course, Luna didn't know about the revenge plan, so the Headless Horse only went after me when Pip was wearing the costume."
"And I would've gotten away with it too, if it weren't for you meddling grown-ups! And your dragon!" Pipsqueak said angrily.
"Actually, you kinda did!" Pinkie replied.
"Huh?" Pip said.
Pinkie bowed her head sadly, "You were right, I was being mean. I just wanted to have fun and get as much candy as I could. I should've known that after being Nightmare Moon for so long, with nopony caring about her or her nights, that she would want to be friends with everypony now that she's herself again. But I only thought of making Nightmare Night full of scary fun, at Luna's expense. So instead of making her smile, I made her sad and glum. And what's worse, is that I never even apologized for it."
Pinkie approached Princess Luna and bowed, "I'm really really really really really really really sorry you Highness. I won't ever be mean like that ever ever ever ever again."
Luna smiled and nodded, "Apology accepted, my little pony."
Pip's eyes widened as Luna walked over to him. Luna sat down so she was eye level with Pip. "There, now do you see the proper way to interact with someone you're upset with? Let them understand what they did wrong, and give them a chance to apologize. Wasn't all of that scheming too much, and didn't it do more harm than good? Do you understand?"
Pip nodded, "Yes, I see." Pip then looked over at the crowd around them, "I'm very sorry everypony. It was silly of me to get so worked up and do a crazy revenge plan. But Nightmare Night is still going on. Can we go back to having fun together?"
The crowd all nodded and said various forms of yes as smiles began to form on their faces.
Luna jumped into the air and hovered there, her wings flapping, and announced, "Very good! Now! Let us continued our celebration of our most wonderful of nights!"



As the party really took off in full swing, Twilight and Pinkie Pie took turns in spider launching.
"Wow Pinkie Pie. You really should have been Sherlock," Twilight said.
Pinkie shrugged, "What can I say? I'm a master detective!"
Applejack scratched her chin, "Ya know, there's still something bothering me. What the hay was Rainbow up to?"
As Luna hit the target with a pumpkin once again, Pipsqueak asked, "Hey! I bet you're not afraid of anything, right!"
Luna smiled and winked, "Of course, young Pip! The Princess of the Night is absolutely fearless!"
Suddenly, a huge hulking beast fell from the sky and landed right in front of Luna. It was a huge centaur, and it roared loudly in Luna's face.
"LORD TIREK! RUN FOR YOU LIVES!" Luna roared in the Royal Canterlot Voice. Her eyes were filled with terror as she ran over to the apple bobbing tub, knocked it over, and hid underneath it.
The centaur pulled off its head, revealing none other than Rainbow Dash.
"Ha-ha! I pranked the Princess! I pranked the Princess!" she cheered in a sing song voice.
A zipped opened up in the centaur's belly, and Scootaloo stuck her head out, "Don't you mean we pranked the Princess?"
"Scootaloo! Get back in! You're throwing off the bal-," Rainbow shouted urgently, but she was too late, and the whole thing; the costume, the two pegasi, and all; fell with a resounding crash to the ground.
Everyone couldn't help but laugh at the hilarious scene.

THE END