Today was the day.
Fluttershy took a deep breath from her position underneath the couch in her living room. For weeks she had been preparing for this single day, and all day she had been preparing for this single moment. She had jet black sheets of paper taped over each and every one of her windows, preventing light from passing in or out of the small cottage. She had the door locked, and had Angel Bunny on guard duty, armed with a carrot that he may or may not have already eaten half of.
Fluttershy shivered as the doorbell rang out for the first of many times that night. She only hoped that they would go away without ringing it again, but if Pinkie Pie was out there, Fluttershy knew that the pink pony would ring the doorbell multiple times in her attempt to get to the reward hidden in the cottage.
The last time Fluttershy had tried to keep Pinkie out, the pink mare ended up climbing down the chimney and getting Fluttershy anyways. But not this time. Fluttershy had a contingency plan; a life-size doll of herself made by Rarity, with a bowl of candy sitting in its hooves. That would keep Pinkie distracted... at least, that's what Fluttershy hoped.
Fluttershy swallowed hard, and she slunk further back against the wall as the doorbell rang a second time. There was a pause for a moment, and Fluttershy risked peaking her head out from under the couch to look when-
BAM. BAM. BAM.
Fluttershy scrambled out from under the couch, eyes widened with fear, and she galloped to the kitchen. On the kitchen floor, she had left her armor from facing the dragon there, in case of an emergency. She donned the torso padding and inner tube, carefully placed the helmet over her long, pink hair, and pulled the floaties over her hooves.
The doorbell rang a third time, and Fluttershy quickly glanced over her shoulder at the door, pupils shrinking as the door cried out in pain once again.
BAM. BAM. BAM.
Leaping into the air, Fluttershy used her wings to avoid making noise by walking on the creaky floorboards, landing at the bottom of her stairs. She ducked behind the bannister as she peered between its bars at the door.
The doorbell rang out one last time, and then all was silent.
Fluttershy breathed a sigh of relief and went to walk back to the couch, when she was frozen in place.
She heard the door unlocking. The doorknob was jiggling, and Fluttershy could tell that a key was being placed in the lock.
Oh no, oh no, oh no! She thought, turning a full 360 and galloping up to the top of the steps, where she stopped as she heard the door open.
"Fluttersh-AAAGH!" She heard the figure cry in a shrill voice, as Angel Bunny let out a fearsome battle cry, which came out more like an agitated squeak.
The butterscotch mare peaked around the corner and gasped, as she watched as Angel Bunny was in deadly combat with a horrible wraith! Garbed in a black cloak, the Wraith stumbled back through the doorway as it was assaulted by the carrot-wielding bunny.
Fluttershy took this moment to run further back into her house. She ran past the doors to her bathroom and bedroom on her left and threw open the door to the hallway closet. Gripping a broom in her teeth, she heard the door to one of her many birdcages open.
"There," The Wraith smugly said, "Now I bet you won't try that again."
Fluttershy heard the cage shut, and then footsteps began to approach the pegasus's position. She yanked the door to her bedroom open and slammed it shut.
As the footsteps drew closer to the door, Fluttershy leaped over her bed to the closet in the back corner of the room. Opening the door quickly, she shut it as the door to the room opened.
Encased in darkness, Fluttershy could see nothing, and could hear only the beating of her heart as the Wraith's footsteps drew closer.
With a gulp, the mare tightened her hold on the broom in her mouth.
The steps walked closer, then stopped. The telltale sound of a spell being cast, then being dropped. Footsteps further from the closet, then the spell again, and the sound of her dresser opening. The steps turned and came closer to the door to the closet.
"Fluttershy?" The Wraith asked, in a familiar voice, "Are you in there?"
The butterscotch pegasus tightened her leg muscles, preparing to pounce. If she was going down, she'd go down with a fight.
She heard the spell activate one last time, and the door opened, sending light flooding into the closet.
Before the Wraith could react, Fluttershy leaped towards the creature, tackling it to the ground. It yelped as Fluttershy pinned it to the ground. The pegasus craned her neck back to swing the broom, and looked down at the Wraith to see...
...Twilight?
Time stood still, as Fluttershy slowly realized she had the lavender unicorn pinned to the ground. There was no Wraith in the first place, she realized.
"Uh, Fluttershy?" Twilight asked, a small smile gracing her face. "Are you okay?"
With a gasp, Fluttershy dropped the broom and backpedaled off of Twilight.
"Oh my goodness, Twilight!" The pegasus squeaked, "I'm so, so sorry! I-I thought you were-"
"Fluttershy, it's okay." Twilight said, getting to her hooves. She wrapped Fluttershy in a hug before the pegasus could protest. "You were just scared, that's all."
Fluttershy hesitated for a moment before returning the hug.
"Thanks, Twilight." Fluttershy sighed, pulling away with a loving smile. "But... what are you doing here?"
"I came to get you for the Nightmare Night party Pinkie's throwing." Twilight explained, levitating an invitation from the top of Fluttershy's dresser. "I thought we were going to go together this year."
"Well, I... uh, don't really like Nightmare Night too much..." Fluttershy muttered, looking down at the floor. "Could we maybe stay here this year? Please?"
Twilight grinned as she nuzzled Fluttershy lovingly.
"I could think of worse ways to spend Nightmare Night than trapped here, alone, with you..." Twilight replied in a sultry voice, her eyes narrowing slightly and her mouth curling up in a mischievous smirk.
"O-oh my."
