Nightmare Night, What a Fright
Vinyl woke up on a cold autumn morning, her mind set on one thing. She shook her marefriend awake and smiled when the grey earth pony looked up, her eyes narrowed and a scowl across her face.
“What do you want, Vinyl?” the mare asked, slightly annoyed. Vinyl beamed.
“It’s Nightmare Night!” She said cheerfully.
“Vinyl, you’re a grown mare,” Octavia said, her tone stern. "You don't need to recognize a holiday meant for foals."
"You're celebrating it." the DJ pointed out.
With a deep sigh, and a roll of her eyes, the cellist shook her head. "Yes, the reasonable way most grown-up ponies do," she countered.
"Please," Vinyl smirked. "I saw your movie collection, and last I checked, 'The Nightmare Before Hearth's Warming' wasn't even a Nightmare Night movie."
"It is so," Octavia argued. "and besides, just because we don't share the same taste in holiday films doesn't mean anything. You’re still too old to go around acting like a foal.”
“I don’t care what you say,” Vinyl said with a smirk. “I’m going to be a vampony and you can’t stop me! Besides, Bonnie and Lyra said-”
“BonBon and Lyra are very reasonable ponies. I’m sure neither of them have any interest in running around asking mares their own age for candy.”
"Actually, Bonnie's gonna dress up as a witch 'cause she's tired of dealing with the brats, and Lyra's gonna be one of those freaky humans." Vinyl countered. "Derpy's gonna join in on us too."
Octavia rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. "At least Derpy has a valid reason to go parading around the streets, she has a daughter to look after," she pointed out. "As for the rest of you..." She just shook her head. "I don't know what to do with you."
"Come on, Tavi, it'll be fun!" the DJ quipped, lightly nudging her marefriend. "You would make the sexiest Batmare, y'know..." She nuzzled Octavia's neck and began peppering kisses along the way. "In all tight black and spandex..."
“Vinyl Scratch, I am not going to dress up as Batmare, no matter how...sexy you may think it would be. I am going to stay home and hand out candy to foals like any pony my age should be doing.” Octavia let out a little huff, turning over in bed and muttering about Batmare under her breath. Vinyl rolled her eyes and wriggled out of the bed sheets, prancing to the closet. She was dead broke, and the only thing she could afford for a costume was the plastic fangs for her signature vampony look. Sure, it'd be better than nothing, but pulling off the real deal with something extra spooky was what made the creature so deadly terrifying...
She needed a little something else.
Just to make it work.
Shifting throughout the sweaters, scarfs and bowties, Vinyl was beginning to give up as she finally came across a certain something hanging in the far back of the closet.
"Hey, Tavi, what's this?" the DJ questioned, levitating out the garment, only to take notice that it was a black cloak. Octavia, finally getting herself out of bed, looked to her marefriend.
“It’s a cloak,” Octavia said, a ‘no duh’ tone to her voice.
“I know that,” Vinyl sighed. “I mean, what is it doing in our closet? It’s not mine. All I own is my killer shades and the glitter pants you never let me wear.”
“Because those pants are ridiculous,” Octavia huffed. “The cloak is mine from...from before I met you, back in the early years of college.”
“What did you even use this thing for? You’re not the cloak wearing type.” Octavia looked away quickly.
“How about some waffles for breakfast?” She said quickly, avoiding eye contact with Vinyl.
"Tavi, food is one way to distract me, but not now," the unicorn declared. "What would you even use this thing for?" However, before the question could be answered, she noticed the label on the inside of the cloak and stifled a chuckle. "Looks like somepony was already Batmare."
Octavia couldn't hold back a blush, but nonetheless scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I was in college," she defended. "I was a bit wild at the time, can you blame me?"
"You, wild?" Vinyl smirked. "Yeah, right, sure, Octavia, I can see you up in the dorm rooms, playing beer pong and waking up with your marker on your face after a crazy night."
The cellist let out a groan. "Vinyl, I'm not you," she defended. "and I never did anything like that. So what if I went trick-or-treating a few times after I became a mare?"
"So why you badgering me for it?"
"Because," Octavia declared. "One, you're older than me and two, you're almost twenty-six years old. Most ponies stop at sixteen."
"They do not!" the DJ argued. “You were like, what, eighteen in college?”
“Nineteen,” Octavia corrected. “But it was only the one year.”
“Well, if you get to be Batmare, I get to be a vampony.” Vinyl smirked. Octavia opened her mouth to argue, but there was no point. Once Vinyl set her mind on something, she usually went along with whatever it was, whether Octavia liked it or not.
~XoXo~
Vinyl hopped around, Octavia’s old cloak tied to her neck and fangs glued to her top teeth. Her eyes were covered with bright red contacts that she normally saved for her shows.
“This is preposterous,” Octavia groaned as she opened the door. BonBon was wearing a tall pointed hat with a purple cloak tied to her neck and horseshoes that lit up as she walked. Lyra was wearing a terrifying mask that she called ‘Obama’. If Lyra was to be believed, he was some important human figure.
"Nice costume, Vinyl," Bonbon pointed out. "At least you did something normal." That said, she shot a glare to her marefriend, who simply shot a hoof into the air.
"YES WE CAN!" Lyra exclaimed.
"I'm not even going to ask what that means," the candymaker droned.
"I feel your pain." Octavia muttered as Vinyl once more attempted to 'suck blood' from her neck. "Vinyl, if you're going to go get your free candy, go - don't turn me into a victim of it."
With a low, dark chuckle, the DJ gave a playful wink.
“Where’s Derpy?” Vinyl asked as she noticed the ditzy pegasus was missing from their group.
“She couldn’t decide if she wanted to be paper or plastic,” Lyra said, her voice muffled by Obama. “We told her to be a pumpkin, but she insists on being a bag.”
“Dinky is going to be a pumpkin though. She’s such a sweet little thing. I wish her father were around more often to watch her grow up,” BonBon sighed. Vinyl shrugged.
“My dad was never around much and I turned out fine. Now c’mon, let’s go!”
“You’re too old for this,” Octavia said with a roll of her lavender eyes.
“Too old for free candy?” BonBon asked with a dramatic gasp.
“Never!” The three mares shouted. "I'm surrounded by idiots." the cellist declared as she treated herself to a Three Maresketeers from the candy bowl and watched as her friends trotted off into the night.
~XoXo~
"So, which place should we hit first?" Vinyl questioned. "What place is sure to give us a boatload of sweets?"
"Sugarcube Corner's giving out cupcakes and candy bags," Lyra said, pointing in the direction of the confectionery shop. Bonbon, however, shook her head and nodded down the street.
"Colgate has bowls of candy just sitting outside the place," she declared. "I say we grab them and run for it."
“Colgate probably has all this tooth-healthy stuff,” Vinyl said, eyeing Sugarcube Corner. “Is it worth the risk?”
“Colgate leaves out the best candy,” Lyra corrected. “The more candy the foals take, the more their teeth rot and the more bits she makes when she has to fix them. I say we go for it,” The three mares nodded and trotted off towards Colgate: Ponyville DDS.
The bowl was unguarded, unless you counted the stuffed Headless Horse that was slouched on the floor beside the bowl. Vinyl rolled her eyes, but kept her distance. She picked up a large helping of candy in her magical grip, feeling less like a scaredy-pony as Lyra did the same. BonBon, however, walked right up to the bowl and was about to pour it into her bag when the Headless Horse moved, leaping at the Earth Pony.
"Raah!" it screamed, causing Bonbon to let out a squeal and drop the bowl of candy, running off, much to the amusement of Vinyl and Lyra, in addition to anypony walking by.
"Not bad," the DJ observed as she scooped up what was still left in the bowl and dumped it in her own bag. The Headless Horse moved once more, but the unicorn just stomped on it's hoof and walked off, with Lyra in tow. "Stupid mechanics."
“We could do so much better,” Lyra said with a nod.
“You’re already more terrifying than anything around here, even without the mask,” Vinyl teased. Lyra pushed Vinyl slightly with her hoof and looked around Ponyville.
“I’m serious. Look at all the unsuspecting ponies! Think of how easy it would be to scare them!”
“We came for candy,” Vinyl reminded the mare.
“Come on, Vinyl! Where’s the rebellion? Where’s the fun? Let’s make Nightmare Night about something other than candy. We’ll start with that one,” she pointed a hoof at a white unicorn with a purple mane, dressed as though she could live in the Playmare Mansion.
"Hmm," Vinyl pondered the fact and glanced over to their next supposed spot - and the line for Sugarcube Corner was going out the door, literally.
It wouldn't kill her to scare a few ponies, would it?
After all, free candy wasn't the only perk about this spooktastic night...
"Fine," she relented. "But only a few, and then we're getting our free candy."
"Fair enough," Lyra smiled. They spent the next few minutes finding Bonnie and calming her down enough to tell her what was going on. The earth pony bit her bottom lip.
“I don’t know you guys. Scaring ponies isn’t really nice...”
“Who cares about nice? It’s Nightmare Night, it’s about fun!” Lyra started bouncing around her marefriend. “C’mon, Bonnie-Bunny!”
“...I guess if we don’t mean any harm, it’ll be alright.” BonBon said finally. Vinyl and Lyra hoof-bumped and the three discussed their plan of action.
~XoXo~
Vinyl levitated the bucket, hooking it to the door and nodded at Lyra. The mint mare adjusted the two bags on either side of the door, making sure the rope BonBon had set up would pull them down. It was a foalish prank, but the three mares would be amused either way.
“The glue is all set up, right?”
“Yup. Are the feathers?” Vinyl nodded and looked to BonBon.
“The strings are all set up, right?” The earth pony nodded and the three hoof-bumped, taking their place in the bushes to wait for the Playmare, who had gone out to buy more candy.
“There, someone’s coming,” Vinyl pointed to the shadow that was approaching the Carousel Boutique. A tiny filly was stumbling over her hooves, her pink and purple mane styled in a high Disneigh Princess updo.
“She’s gonna trigger the trap,” Lyra giggled. BonBon shoved her marefriend angrily.
“That’s just a foal! She won’t understand it’s just a joke!”
"Oh, come on, it's not like she's five," the lyrist defended. "She's definitely old enough to understand how pranks work."
"Still - it's not nice," Bonbon muttered. "Haven't you ever heard of picking on somepony your own size?"
Lyra huffed and rolled her eyes, turning to her marefriend. "It's a joke, Bonnie, learn to take it," she grumbled. "Besides, nobody's gonna get hurt, it's just-"
"Will you two be quiet?" Vinyl hissed, knocking her friend upside the head. "Do you want them to hear us?"
A loud crash was heard, followed by two shrieks and the three mares poked their heads out of the bushes, only to see the Playmare and the Disneigh Princess filly covered head to hoof in glue and chicken feathers.
"Score," the DJ smirked, just she and her friends ran off before anypony could notice them.
This continued for three or four more different ponies, each one ending up covered in feathers. Vinyl and Lyra were in hysterics after each successful prank, but BonBon was getting more upset the longer they went on.
“Can we just go back to getting candy now?”
“One more,” Vinyl said between snorts of laughter. “Then we’ll get some more candy and head home. Maybe we can catch the end of Nightmare before Hearth’s Warming.” BonBon opened her mouth to protest, but Lyra and Vinyl were already busy setting up another bucket at the door of Sugarcube Corner.
The three had been waiting for what seemed like hours when Mrs. Cake finally started walking towards the door, balancing a tray of cupcakes in her mouth.
“We can’t let the cupcakes get ruined,” Vinyl said, jabbing Lyra in the ribs.
“Operation: Save the Cupcakes,” Lyra said, tightening her mask. “Fillies Next Door, move out.” And with that, Bonbon was shoved out of the bushes, urged on by Lyra and Vinyl waving their hooves frantically, in desperate need of delicious cupcakes.
With a huff, the candymaker marched over and attempted to create a diversion of sorts, however, it was too late, Mrs. Cake had already stepped over the trip wire and then, suddenly, the world seemed to move in terrifying slow-motion as the bucket of gunk fell down towards the decadent pastries.
But, somehow, with some stupid nerves commanding her to jump out, Vinyl had emerged from the bushes and rolled over, snatching the tray just as it was only inches from the gunk...
...however the same couldn't be said for poor Vinyl and Mrs. Cake.
Both mares were now doused in the disgusting mixture that was not only itchy but slimy.
“Are the cupcakes okay?” Vinyl asked groggily.
“They’re okay!” Lyra called, her voice muffled by the cupcakes Vinyl had just saved. “Ohh, vanilla!”
“I told you this was a bad idea,” BonBon muttered. “I just wanted candy but no that’s not enough for Lyra and Vinyl.”
"You three set this up?" Mrs. Cake declared, in a voice that seemed very unlike her normal sugary sweet tone. Why, it was actually quite harsh and bold, something nopony had ever heard her use before...
A moment of silence passed, only before Lyra gave a nonchalant shrug.
"Maybe?" she said with a mouthful of cupcake, thus summoning Vinyl to hit her upside the head once more.
And with that said, Mrs. Cake snatched the tray from the DJ and shook her head disapprovingly. "Consider yourselves banned from my store for the rest of the week," she muttered, stomping back into the bakery.
~XoXo~
“I told you so,” BonBon said disapprovingly.
“Yeah, we get it,” Vinyl muttered. “How do the pegasus ponies deal with all these feathers?” Vinyl wiggled in her cape, trying to get the feathers to fall off, but the glue was doing its job far too well.
“You look ridiculous!” Lyra snorted.
“Shut up!” Vinyl snapped. “This is all your fault, so you can explain to Octy why I’m like this.”
"Explain to me what?" Octavia said as she opened the door and gasped at the sight of her marefriend. "Vinyl... what happened to you?"
"Blame it all on Obama over here," Vinyl grumbled. "It was her idea to prank ponies."
"Change you can believe in!" Lyra said, shooting a hoof into the air once more, confusing her friends.
Rolling her eyes, the cellist led her marefriend inside and tsk-tsk'ed. "I told you not to go out," she pointed out, with a smirk. "And this is what you get for it."
"Oh, come on!" Vinyl exclaimed. "Like this never happened to you in your college days?"
"Actually..." Octavia gave a sly smile. "Ironically, I was arrested for egging a house."
"Batmare, in jail?" the DJ pouted. "Tavi, that story's not making me feel better."
The earth pony sighed, taking a cautious step away from her marefriend. "Go clean yourself up, and then we can watch a movie, alright?" she suggested. "I also got Foal's Play, your favorite."
"You got any Butterhooves?" Vinyl muttered.
"Plenty," Octavia chuckled. "I actually saved all of the candy for myself."
“There’s a reason you’re the best,” Vinyl said, leaning in to kiss her marefriend. Octavia wrinkled her nose and pulled away.
“Shower first, Vinyl. If I wanted to kiss feathers I’d have gone out with that Wonderbolt three years ago.” Vinyl was about to protest when the doorbell rang. Lyra swung it open with her magic to reveal a light grey pegasus pony.
“I decided to be leather!” The pony said cheerfully.
Author's Note
Got a bit bored and a bunch of Nightmare Night ideas started swirling around in my head. Then, me and Toni got to talking and...well, this was born. Now, seeing as I am currently sick, behind on homework, and in need of serious sleep, I'm going to read fanfiction for several hours and eat M&Ms.
