Chapter 1
A beautiful fall afternoon was preceding what Pinkie Pie was sure would be the most super-duper spectacularly candy-filled terrorific Nightmare Night ever. The bright reds, golds, and browns of the leaves still desperately clinging to their branches served to set the atmosphere perfectly for a night of fun, friendship, and most importantly: candy.
If there was one thing that Pinkamena Diane Pie loved about Nightmare Night above all else, it was the candy. Whether it was chocolate, caramel, taffy, jawbreakers, lollipops, or what have you, the party pony was all about the sweets.
Her mouth watered as she imagined all of the different delectable goodies she would indulge in in just a few short hours.
Now, however, she was concerned with the creation of a different kind of treat, one which she had made many times before, but which she put her heart and soul into each and every time: cupcakes.
She needed a few very special ingredients to make her very special extra-yummy Nightmare Night cupcakes, which was why she was on her way to the marketplace now.
As she trotted happily down the streets of Ponyville, she imagined all the fun she would be having later in the evening. Twilight, in one of her all-too-common sleepover ideas, has scheduled a special best friends Nightmare Night slumber party that she had told Pinkie was sure to be appropriately scary.
“I’ve done all the proper research and calculations” the unicorn had said, floating a clipboard in front of Pinkie’s nose. “I believe I have found the perfect candy consumption to ghost story ratio that will make this my greatest sleepover yet!”
Twilight said that about all of her sleepovers, of course, but Pinkie was no less inclined to attend because of it. She was sure that it would be a fantastic party, even if it wouldn’t be quite as good as one of her own.
All of their others friends would also be attending. All except Fluttershy, that is. It was a well-established fact around Ponyville that the shy mare refused to leave her cottage during Nightmare Night, even if it was to travel to the safety of another one.
“Oh no… I couldn’t” she had responded when asked, hiding behind the veil of her own pink mane. “It’s far too dangerous to go out on N-N-Nightmare Night.” Even saying the words seemed to frighten her.
Time and again Pinkie had tried to convince her to give the festivities a try, but Fluttershy was adamant. Surprising, really, considering how wishy-washy she usually was. Oh well, they could still have fun with only 5 friends. Fluttershy wasn’t really one for scary stories anyways.
As she made her way through the various carts and street vendors filling the main square, she looked around for Bon Bon. She was the only one who sold the little rainbow candies that Dashie liked so much, and as her number one customer, Pinkie always got a discount for buying in bulk.
She spotted the cream colored mare and trotted over, but before she could reach her destination, a voice called out to her.
“Pinkie! Hey Pinkie!”
She turned, and who should it be but the mare of the hour, Twilight Sparkle and… Fluttershy? A smile blossomed immediately upon Pinkie’s face at the sight of two of her best friends. She bounded over immediately.
“Hiya girls! What brings you here?” asked Pinkie. “Especially you Fluttershy! I thought you were too busy being a scaredy pants to come out on Nightmare Night!”
Fluttershy averted her eyes and blushed softly. “Oh, I, um… I needed to buy something and it’s not nighttime yet, so…”
Twilight rolled her eyes and looked pointedly at Pinkie. “I tried to talk her into joining us tonight, but she’s as stubborn as a mule- oh, no offense Matilda”
“None taken dearie” replied the passing donkey.
“Come on Fluttershy! It’ll be fun! There’ll be cupcakes and scary stories and pillow fights and-“
“No thank you, Pinkie” Fluttershy said resolutely, her eyes hard. Pinkie was taken aback at her friend’s sudden forcefulness, but seeing that she was serious, Pinkie decided enough was enough. She didn’t want to put Fluttershy into an awkward position.
“Ok, you win. I guess we’ll just have fun without you” she replied, sounding disappointed.
Fluttershy’s gaze softened immediately, replaced by her usual demure attitude. “I’m sorry” she said. “I didn’t mean to sound so rude. It’s just that… I can’t.”
Pinkie considered pressing the issue further, but decided against it. Fluttershy obviously had her own reasons for not wanting to participate in Nightmare Night. If she was this worked up about it, then it was probably better just to let things be. Pinkie smiled again and regained her pep in an instant.
“Aww… that’s ok. I could never be mad at you! If you don’t wanna come that’s ok. It’s too bad though, you won’t get to try any of my super special cupcakes! Ooh! I know! I’ll just give it to you tomorrow!”
Fluttershy smiled. “That sounds wonderful Pinkie.”
“Oh! That reminds me! I still need the things I came here for. My super special cupcakes won’t be very super special without their special ingredient! Sorry girls, I have to go or I won’t have time to make them at all!”
“That’s alright” said Twilight. “I probably shouldn’t leave Spike alone any longer anyways. Somehow the library always seems to end up a mess when I’m not there. How one baby dragon can get into so much trouble, I’ll never know.”
“It’s nearly feeding time for my animal friends” said Fluttershy. “They get antsy if their lunch is late…”
They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways. As the two walked away, Fluttershy whispered to Twilight. “Are you still going to do it? It seems a little mean to me…”
“Pinkie’s the master of pranks, I’m sure she can take it” replied Twilight. “It’s only some harmless fun.”
~~~
Pinkie bid her two friends farewell and turned to leave, smiling cheerfully. She had only taken a few steps, however, when suddenly her knees began to wobble, her mouth went dry, and her nose began to itch. She paused.
“Huh? I’ve never felt that Pinkie sense before… I wonder what-“
She shivered as an icy chill crept up her spine. At the same time, an inexplicable sense of dread washed over her. It was as if claws were gripping at her heart. Suddenly it seemed as though the light of early afternoon was dimmed and took on a sinister intent.
Every shadow was something waiting just out of sight. Every passing face was twisted and malicious. Every beat of her heart was a freight train, threatening to burst out of her chest. She fell to her knees as the foreign sensations assaulted her. Her body shook and her breath came in short, labored gasps.
Then all at once it stopped as soon as it had started. Pinkie slowly rose back to her hooves from her position on the ground. She glanced around her quickly, noting the faces of other ponies looking at her strangely. She quickly excused herself from the area.
“I’ve definitely never felt that Pinkie sense before…” she said to herself. “I don’t know what it means, but it felt like a doozy!”
A little bit paranoid, Pinkie purchased her candies from Bon Bon, all the while casting furtive glances about herself.
The rest of her afternoon was not quite as carefree as she had imagined it would be. Her experience in the marketplace had unnerved her. She had never felt anything like that before, and she didn’t know what it meant. Her Pinkie sense had never been wrong before though, and whatever it was, it didn’t seem like anything good.
By the time she made her way to the library, however, her uneasiness had subsided substantially. Donning her Nightmare Night costume had helped tremendously. She knocked on the door and was received by the hostess herself.
“Pinkie… A chicken again? That’s the same costume as last year! I thought we agreed to go as our Hearth’s Warming Eve roles!” said Twilight, dressed herself as Clover the Clever.
“Oh… Heheh, you did say that, didn’t you?” came a voice from behind them. They both turned to find Rainbow Dash, dressed in her shadowbolt costume again. “I uh… I forgot.” She grinned sheepishly.
Applejack and Rarity arrived shortly thereafter. As it turned out Rarity was the only one who had remembered Twilight’s costume suggestion. Leaving Princess Platinum and Clover the Clever to be accompanied by a royal entourage of one shadowbolt, one chicken, and one scarecrow.
Despite this, however, they had soon forgotten about their costumes entirely anyways, too caught up in the various events and attractions Nightmare Night had to offer. Princess Luna had conjured up a beautiful night for the occasion. The moon was out in all its glory, and it cast an ethereal glow over everything. The weather teams had obviously been hard at work as well. The perfect layer of thin, wispy cloud leant the evening an undeniably spooky atmosphere that made it all the more authentic.
By the time the group finally returned to the library, having indulged in every festivity they could find, and then some, they had all (even Rarity) consumed more than their fair share of candy, especially Pinkie. The pink party pony was as energetic as ever.
Twilight wasn’t as enthusiastic. “It’s late, shouldn’t we go to bed?”
Rainbow spoke up immediately. “Bed?!!? Are you crazy!?!? We haven’t even gotten to tell scary stories yet! No way am I giving up the chance to scare the tails off of all of you!”
“I agree darling” Rarity chimed in. “Even if Rainbow’s way of putting it is a bit… rough. It would hardly be appropriate if we didn’t even do what we planned on in the first place after all.”
Twilight sighed and acquiesced. “Fine. Who wants to go first?”
“Is there even a question?” asked Rainbow. “Me, of course!” She stepped to the center of the room, motioning for Twilight to hit the lights. In the darkness, the beam of a flashlight cut through, illuminating Rainbow’s face.
“There are few that know of the true history of Nightmare Night” she began, her voice low and serious. “Today we offer up candy to Nightmare Moon so she won’t gobble us up. But it wasn’t always like that. Long ago, it wasn’t candy that was offered, but ponies.”
The group shivered in spite of themselves. Rainbow really had a knack for this.
“Once a year, when the boundaries between our world and the spirit world are weakest, the Nightmare can muster enough strength to break through, and visit her terrible vengeance on the ponies who imprisoned her. Many years ago, in this very town, a ritual was held every year. One pony would be selected from the population, and offered as a sacrifice to quell the Nightmare’s hunger. They would be tied in the middle of town, and left to the mercy of the dark one.”
At this point Rainbow touched down and got in the faces of each of the mares present.
“But one year, the sacrifice escaped. The Nightmare was incredibly angry, and she promised punishment for all the citizens of Ponyville. You all know the next part of the story. The Nightmare possessed Princess Luna and tried to bring about eternal night, so that she would have a sacrifice every night, instead of just once a year.”
“Princess Celestia banished her to the moon, but before she did, the Nightmare placed a curse on Ponyville. Once every year, she would return to possess one of the citizens, and exact her payment as before.”
Rainbow returned to the air, and swept her foreleg across the room, indicating all of her friends.
“Nopony knows who the Nightmare will choose to possess, but it could be anyone. It could be you… or it could be me!”
At this point, Rainbow’s audience was practically shaking in their seats. Pinkie and Rarity had resorted to hugging each other in fear. As the lights came back on and Rainbow returned to the ground, she was met with applause.
“That was great Dashie!” said Pinkie, a huge smile on her face. “I even almost believed you! It’s a good thing none of that’s true. That Nightmare sounds like a meanie!”
“Yeah, like some stupid ghost or whatever could possess me anyways. I’m way too awesome to be- hrgh!”
Suddenly Dash fell to the floor and began to shake. Pinkie looked frightened for only a moment before she realized what was happening and started to laugh. “Heehee! Good one Dashie!”
Dash continued to shake and began to foam at the mouth.
“Um… Dashie?”
The rest of their friends stood around watching, horrified, as Dash finally ceased her mad convulsions and lay still.
Now ordinarily, Pinkie would have still assumed this was a prank. Dashie was nothing if not thorough when it came to her pranks. This was exactly the sort of thing she would do.
She would have assumed that, had her Pinkie sense not chosen that exact moment to make a resurgence. The same icy terror from earlier crept up her spine, and she was gripped by a mad desire to run from the building. She resisted this impulse only by being concerned for her friend’s wellbeing.
Applejack was the first to reach Rainbow. She shook her and lightly tapped her face, calling her name. “RD! Can ya’ll hear me? Wake up!”
“Huh? Wuzzat?” Dash slurred as she slowly opened her eyes. A immense sense of relief immediately washed over Pinkie at the sight of her friend regaining consciousness.
“What in tarnation happened there RD? Ya’ just started shakin’!”
“I… I don’t know. One second I was standing there and the next I’m here on the floor.”
“Well? How do ya’ feel?”
“I feel… I feel…” suddenly, Dash’s eyes unfocused and her voice changed. In a deep, scratchy tone she said: “I feel… HUNGRY!”
Without warning, Dash lunged upwards from her position on the floor and clamped her teeth onto Applejack’s ear. With a powerful tug, she yanked her head backwards, ripping it off entirely. Applejack screamed and fell to the floor, clutching the side of her head and the bleeding nub that was her ear.
“DASHIE!” yelled Pinkie.
Rainbow turned, her eyes, now glowing red. “Dashie? Oh, you must mean this body. Let me assure you, your friend is now nothing more than my vessel.”
The Nightmare stretched and spread its wings.
“Oh, it’s been quite some time since I’ve taken a Pegasus. I forgot how liberating it is to have wings.” She flapped them several times for effect. “Now, where was I? Oh yes, I believe I was just about to devour this tasty morsel right here. Don’t worry, the rest of you are next.”
The Nightmare grinned, showing pointed fangs, and began to laugh. A cold, piercing laugh that chilled Pinkie to the bone. At that moment, only one thought ran through her mind: RUN! She turned tail and bolted for the door, bursting out into the cool night. Without looking back, she ran as fast as she could.
Back at the library, the 4 remaining ponies paused. The Nightmare had a confused look on her face. “Wow… I didn’t think we’d get her that good.”
“I know. Pinkie gets scared easily, but she always knows it’s just having fun…” added Twilight. Her horn, which had been glowing for the last few moments, ceased. Rainbow’s eyes turned back to normal, as did her voice and her teeth. “I hope we didn’t go too far…”
“Nah” said Rainbow, now back to her usual self. “She’s the one that’s always going on about laughing at the monsters and all that. She’ll be fine.”
“Ah don’t know RD…” said Applejack, removing the tape holding her real ear down against her head. “That bit with the fake blood was a little much, don’t ya’ think?”
“Oh please. That was the best I’ve gotten her in ages. Just wait. Tomorrow we’ll be laughing it up about this. Now where are the rest of those cupcakes?”
~~~
Pinkie ran and ran, disregarding the alarmed looks on the faces of the ponies she passed. The only thing that mattered was putting as much distance between herself and the Nightmare as possible.
Heedless of all obstacles in front of her, she ran until her legs were about to give out. When she finally bothered to assess her surroundings, she realized that she had run all the way to the opposite edge of town. She could see the edge of the Everfree forest several hundred feet away.
“Wait, if that’s the Everfree, then I must be close to…” she turned, and sure enough… “Fluttershy’s house! She’ll know what to do!”
Pinkie ran up and began furiously pounding on Fluttershy’s front door. Her knocking was met with the customary: “GO AWAY! VISITORS NOT WELCOME ON NIGHTMARE NIGHT!” she chose to ignore this and kept right on knocking.
“Fluttershy! Open up! It’s me! I need your help! Dashie’s been possessed by the Nightmare!”
The door opened a crack. “Oh, Pinkie, it’s you. What are you doing- Oh my!” She noticed Pinkie’s disheveled appearance and immediately opened the door wide. “Oh my goodness! What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
“Not a ghost! A N-N-Nightmare!” replied Pinkie, her face pale in spite of her bright pink coat.
“Nightmare?” She frowned. “Oh, I told them it was a bad idea.”
“Told them what was a bad idea?” asked Pinkie.
“Oh, um… you should come inside, I’ll tell you.”
One cup of tea and one explanation later…
“So you’re saying that it was all a joke?” said Pinkie, confused.
“Yes” said Fluttershy. “It was Dash’s idea. She wanted to do something big for Nightmare Night and… well… yeah…”
Pinkie wore a look of intense concentration for a moment. She didn’t move, as still as a statue. Then all at once she broke out into a huge grin and started to laugh. Soon she was rolling around on the floor, holding her sides and struggling for breath. Fluttershy just looked on, confused.
“Um… Pinkie? Are you ok?”
“Yes! Haha! It’s just- heehee- so funny! Oh, it hurts to talk!”
“You aren’t um… mad?”
Pinkie sat up. “Of course not! Why would I be?”
Fluttershy just looked incredulous. “They just pulled a terrible prank on you! They made you think that Rainbow Dash ate Applejack’s ear! Doesn’t that make you angry?”
“Not at all! The way I see it they were just having some fun! And boy did they get me good! I’m going to have to pull out all the stops to get Dashie back for this one!”
Fluttershy simply stared for a moment, and then smiled slightly. It was so nice that her friend was so easygoing about things like this. She had been scared half to death and now she was just laughing as if nothing had happened. But slowly Fluttershy’s smile faded and a look of sadness replaced it.
“I really envy you for being able to let this go so easy. You really are a good pony. And you’re right; they probably didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Of course not” replied Pinkie. “I’m sure they’ll even say they’re sorry later! But it’s ok. I forgive them!”
“That’s what makes this so hard…” said Fluttershy quietly.
“Makes what so hard?”
“It’s such a shame that… they’ll never get the chance…”
Pinkie paused. What? That didn’t make any sense. “Why wouldn’t they get to tell me?”
“Because… because you can’t leave here now…” said Fluttershy, her voice slightly melancholy.
Pinkie stopped a moment. Then she laughed. “Ha! You almost had me again Fluttershy! That was a good one from you! Nice job! Heeheehehheh heh eheh…?”
Pinkie slowly stopped laughing when she realized that Fluttershy wasn’t joining in. She took a step back warily. “You… are joking… aren’t you?”
“I’m sorry…” said Fluttershy. “It’s just… it’s been so long since I’ve had… a decent meal. It’s been so many years since I’ve had the chance…”
Pinkie was starting to get genuinely scared now. Fluttershy suddenly shook her head and groaned a bit. “No… no, I’m not sorry! Curse this weak, pathetic mare! Her kindness is like a disease!”
Pinkie didn’t need to hear any more. She turned and bolted for the door, but she found it locked. Beginning to panic, she turned and ran to the window, but it likewise wouldn’t budge. All the while, Fluttershy stood in the center of the room, unmoving.
“You must have wondered why I never leave the house on Nightmare Night, haven’t you?” she said, her teeth slowly beginning to lengthen into fangs. “It’s not my choice, I assure you. Every year, I’m only strong enough to take over this sorry excuse for a pony. But even so… the element of kindness is somehow able to keep me at bay.”
Her eyes narrowed, starting to glow red.
“Trapped in this cottage every Nightmare Night, no ponies to sink my fangs into. I’m so… HUNGRY!” she spat the last word.
Pinkie was trying every conceivable exit in the house, but Fluttershy had locked them all, no doubt in an effort to keep the Nightmare inside.
There were tears running down the side of Fluttershy’s face. “I’m so sorry Pinkie! You shouldn’t have come here!” she shook her head violently again, her voice changing. “NO! Be quiet you insect! You will not keep me from my prey!”
It was at this moment that a sad truth occurred to Pinkie. Her Pinkie sense had tried to warn her about this. It really never was wrong. But in her fear, she had failed to realize its true meaning. She slowly backed up into a corner as Fluttershy advanced on her.
“Oh, it’s been so long! I can hardly wait! You’re going to taste so GOOD!”
Pinkie simply whimpered in response. A tear rolled down her cheek.
“Aww… don’t be scared” said the Nightmare, leaning in close. “What was it you always told me? Oh yes…”
She grinned wide, baring her fangs.
“GIGGLE AT THE GHOSTIES!”
Pinkie screamed.