Nightmare at the Gala!

The night is October 31st, 2013. The Grand Galloping Halloween Gala is about to go under way. The city of Canterlot is crawling with fillies and gentlehooves dressed in costumes, as they were inspired by Rarity, who is attending the Gala herself. Everypony arrives at the Gala, excited to see Princess Celestia's dress, which was hand designed by Rarity. Just as Twilight and the other five arrive at the Gala, Princess Celestia is about to begin her grand entrance, beginning the worst night of everypony's lives! Before we go further into that night, lets flashback a few weeks.

The day is October 13, as the welcoming Autumn season starts to blossom down at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack returns to the farm with a whole wheelbarrow full of fresh, ripe apples. Her younger sister, Applebloom, trots behind her, only carrying a small bucket of apples. "It's a good thing Fluttershy voluntarily asked us to help her with todays pickin', ah wonder where she could be, she didn't bring anypony else, did she?" asks Applejack. "She said she'd be here just about now, big sis. Ah reckon that she would bring another pony to help, the more the merrier!" says Applebloom. "Yeah i guess you're right!" says Applejack. Just then, Applebloom sees Fluttershy over the horizon. "There she is big sis!" yells Applebloom. "Just on time, but it doesn't look like she brought any help." says Applejack, squinting. "Hmm.. Ah don't know, you might wanna look again." says Applebloom. As Fluttershy trots down to Sweet Apple Acres, a group of her rabbits follow her.

"Fluttershy, when Applebloom and ah assumed you'd bring more ponies to help, ah didn't think you were gonna bring your animals." says Applejack. "Oh.. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you. My rabbits like to work hard and I brought them here to help you." says Fluttershy. "It's no problem at all! Ah'm gonna empty out my apple wheelbarrow. Applebloom, you and Fluttershy go into the North Field and pick more apples, there are more buckets inside the farm. If you need any help, just holler." says Applejack. "No problem big sis! Hopefully all this pickin' will help me get my cutie mark someday!" says Applebloom. The two trot off into the woods as Applejack empties the wheelbarrow while whistling to a familiar Apple Family tune.

"I...I hope it's not a bother that I brought my rabbits along with me" says Fluttershy. "It's no problem at all! Ah for one am glad you did. The more the merrier." says Applebloom. The two stop in an open area with trees on every corner they turn. Her rabbits pick up apples along the way and eat them. Fluttershy is about to apologize when AppleBloom bumps in. "No worries Fluttershy, ah'm sure they're hungry after all that trotting we just did. We have more apples than we can spare." "Oh... a-alright... as long as it's not a problem. We should get started." says Fluttershy. Applebloom observes the trees and picks out the one with most apples. "You know what they say, first time's the charm!" She bucks the tree and all of the apples come falling down and into the buckets, without a single miss. Fluttershy looks in amazement. "Did you see THAT Fluttershy?! That took me months to master! Ah can't believe I finally did it!" yells Applebloom. Just then, a light shines from her flank.

Back at the farm, Applejack just finished her work and starts trotting towards the North Field, but after hearing a faint scream in the distance, trotting turned into sprinting. Applejacks frantic sprinting caused her to trip a few times, but she makes it to where Applebloom and Fluttershy are. "What happened?! Ah heard a scream!" says Applejack, who's out of breath. Applebloom is enthusiastically jumping around Applejack. "Ah did it! Ah did it! I got my cutie mark!!" On Applebloom's flank are two buckets filled with apples. "I guess your true talent was pickin' apples after all Applebloom! It just took some time. YEE-HAW!" yells Applejack. Fluttershy is excited as well. "This is so great! I can't wait until we tell the others!"

Just then, a deafening whistle is heard in the distance, Applejack cringes at the frequency of the whistle. "What in the name of Equestria is that sound?! It's unbearable!" Fluttershy is suffering through the sound, and so are her rabbits, but Applebloom is blocking her ears. Applejack turns around and sees an object flying towards them. "DUCK!" she yells. Fluttershy ducks, but Applebloom didn't hear her. The whistle gets louder as an arrow soars over Applejack and pierces Applebloom's right eye, slamming her entire body against the tree behind her. "APPLEBLOOM!" Screams Applejack and Fluttershy. The two run over to Applebloom and get her head off the tree as they lay her down on the ground. "Ah cant believe it, my little sister is... gone... she just got her cutie mark too, she wanted it so bad." Fluttershy starts to tear up as Applejack rips the arrow out of Appleblooms right eye. "All because of this darn arrow!" She examines it, only to see the words 'You're Next' engraved in the arrow. She tosses the arrow in front of her in fright and backs up into a tree adjacent to Applebloom, and apples fall to the ground. The sound of the impact attracted the rabbits as they run over to the apples and eat them. All of then sudden, the rabbits heads start to swell up. "Fluttershy, cover your eyes." says Applejack. Before she can even lose her eyes, the rabbits heads explode and the two ponies get covered in blood. Fluttershy starts screaming in terror to the point where she cant speak. "Why is this happening Applejack?! WHY?!" Applejack looks at Applebloom, and then the rabbits. "Ah... Ah'm not sure! We need to get out of here before anything else happens." Applejack takes Applebloom and carries her on her back as they run away from the North Field.