My Little Fortress: Night of the Living Dead

Ponyville, October 30th.

Stepping back from the cart with a smile on her face, Applejack took one last look over of her apple stand. The lights she had hung were glowing black and orange as they adorned the stands' wooden sign. Hanging from said sign were some paper bats and jack-o-lanterns Apple Bloom had made in school earlier in the week. On the stands' counter top, sections for the various Nightmare Night snacks Granny Smith was making were set up, ready and waiting for the delicious stock of mini-apple pies and caramel apples. Applejack turned her gaze from the apple stand to the rest of Town Square. The various vendors that neighbored Applejack were also getting their stands and stalls decked out in Nightmare Night decorations, readying for the massive party that was going to be held in the Town Square. Over by Town Hall, Vinyl Scratch could be seen carrying her various musical equipment in a white levitation field as she approached the skeleton of her DJ stand.

"Isn't this gonna be the greatest party ever!?" screamed a shrill voice. Applejack yelled and spun around to see who the perpetrator was. As she should've expected, it was Pinkie Pie, dressed head to hoof in a candy covered witches' outfit.

"Land's sake, Pinkie! Ya'll nearly gave me ah heart attack!" Applejack retorted, putting a hoof to her rapidly beating heart. "And who are ya' suppose ta be, anyway?" she adds.

"I'm the witch from the fairy tale 'Hansel and Gretel'!" Pinkie Pie said cheerfully, giving a quick spin around to show off the rest of her costume. Applejack raised an eyebrow.

"Come again?" she asks simply.

"Oh! It's this story of a colt and filly who go into the woods and find this candy house! There's this mean ol' witch who lets them inside to have some candy, but what she's really doing is fattening them up so she could eat them up! Except I don't give candy to colts and fillies to eat them, I give candy because candy is so sweet!" Pinkie says, giggling at the end of her rant. Applejack snickers a bit and shakes her head.

"Well, nopony can't say that ya'll ain't creative." she says. "But ya' do know tha' Nightmare Night is tomorrow, right?" she asks.

"Well duuuuh! But I just can't wait to get things started!" Pinkie says, bouncing in place. She suddenly stops and looks around the area. "Hey, have you seen Dashie anywhere? We have to finalize our plans!"

Applejack just raises and eyebrow again. "Plans for wh- ya' know what, I'm not even gonna ask. Yes, Ah've seen Rainbow Dash. She's over with Twilight next to Mayor Mare." Applejack says pointing Pinkie in the way of the three mares across Town Square.

"Thanks Applejack! See you later!" Pinkie says, bouncing off to the three mares.

"...and Vinyl Scratch will declare the party on. Anything else, Princess?" Mayor Mare asks, looking up from a clipboard.

"One thing, you don't have to keep calling me 'Princess', Mayor. You've known me long enough." Twilight says with a small giggle. "Other than that, I do not think that we're missing anything else. This party is going to be great!" she adds. Mayor Mare nods and walks off to help with other preparations.

"This party is going to be sweet! Especially when Pinkie and I set the fireworks off." Rainbow Dash said with an eager smile.

Twilight nods in agreement. "I know! It's going to be even greater with the fact that a Blood Moon is due to rise tomorrow night. It'll add to the atmosphere!" Twilight says with an eager smile of her own.

"Uh, what's a 'blood moon'?" asks Rainbow Dash.

"Well, it's when the planet passes between Celestia's sun and Luna's moon. The planet casts it's shadow on the moon, giving it a red coloring from the sun being behind the planet." Twilight explains going into full bookworm mode.

"Jeez Twilight, you really need to get out more..." Rainbow Dash says with a small snicker as Twilight scowls.

"You asked, and I answered!" Twilight retorts, stamping her hoof a bit to the ground.

"Yeah, yeah. Don't get worked up, Twilight. Hey Pinkie!" Rainbow Dash says, waving at the pink mare.

"Dashie! You ready for tomorrow night?" Pinkie asks happily.

"Of course I am! The Dash is always ready! You got those fireworks, right?" Rainbow Dash asks. Pinkie produces the fireworks in question from her saddlebags under the costumes' skirt.

"Yup! We just gotta get them all set up, and when the time is right; KABLOOIE!" Pinkie cheers, putting the fireworks away.

"Good job Pinkie! Let's go take care of setting them up now. I'll catch you later Twilight." Rainbow Dash says, trotting away with Pinkie to the back of Town Hall. Waving good-bye to the pegasus, Twilight began her trot back to the Library, humming a small tone as she went along.

* * *

Badlands, New Mexico, 2Fort Facility, October 30th.

"This. Sucks." Scout said simply as he hid behind a wall, his Baby Face's Blaster held close to him. On the opposite side, the enemy Heavy was laying down a hail of death from his Tomislav as he stood in front of the desk where the Blu Intelligence was located.

"You're telling me..." Spy said as he lit a new cigarette.

"How can you be so calm about this!?" Scout asks angrily, taking a pot shot.

"I am used to this sort of thing. He'll eventually run out of ammo and we can storm in. It's all about patience; something that you severally lack." Spy replied with a small smirk.

"Go ta' hell Spy." Scout said sourly. Suddenly, the roar of the Tomislav ended and Scout looked at Spy with a glare.

"I told you." Spy said, going invisible, whistling an ominous sound. Scout rolled his eyes and ran in, blasting the Blu Heavy with his Blaster. The Heavy tried charging Scout with a pair of spiked knuckles, but screamed in pain as he fell to his face, a Big Earner sticking out of his back. Jumping over the body, Scout landed on the desk and grabbed the Intelligence, and strapped it to his back.

"The Intelligence has been taken!" cried the voice of the Administrator. Scout let out a groan as he began his run out of the Blu base. He could hear the jeers and cries of the Blu Team as they gave chase.

"Have at 'em, lads!" scream the Blu Demoman as he charged Scout with an unsheathed Eyelander, and a bloodied Chargin' Targe strapped to his left forearm.

"Ah crap!" Scout yelled as he ran for the door way. The whooshing of the Eyelander could be heard as it slashed through the air, aiming for Scout's neck. Scout ducked and slid along the floor, blasting the Blu Demoman with his Blaster. The Scottish cyclops yelled in agony as the pellets struck his legs, falling to the floor in a heap.

"Medic!" cried the Blu Demoman.

Scout regained his footing and blitzed out of the Blu Base, running for the Red Base.

"Sniper! Get 'em! Get 'em!" Scout called to the perched marksman.

"I got ya' Scout!" Sniper called, raising his Hitman's Heatmaker. A muffled shot shot rang out, striking home in the forehead of a Blu Pyro. Scout managed to make it into his base before a shot from the Blu Sniper caught him in the ankle. Scout went down in the hall with a scream of pain.

"Someone take the briefcase!" he yelled. Pyro came up and knelt down, taking the briefcase from Scout's back.

"Thanks Pyro. I owe ya' one." Scout said with a smirk. "Where's Medic?" he asks, clutching his bleeding ankle. Pyro was suddenly enveloped in a blueish cloud of smoke, emerging from it as the Blu Spy.

"I do believe I had just killed him." Blu Spy said as he leveled his Diamondback at Scout's forehead.

"Oh for-" but before Scout could finish that sentence, Blu Spy blasted his head to pieces. Everything went black, then came surging back from the darkness as Scout respawned in the Red locker room. "Fuckin' snake!" Scout yelled in frustration, stomping a foot on the tiled floor.

"You've failed. Such a disappointment..." muttered the flat voice of the Administrator. Scout sighed and sat down on a locker room bench, waiting for his teammates to come in. About five minutes later, the other seven members of his team came in, sharing the same looks of shame and disappointment with Scout.

"I was so close...if only I was a bit fasta'." Scout said with a scowl as Engineer sat down beside him.

"Don' take it personally, son. We're not always going ta' win. But look on tha bright side, we've got Halloween tomorrow, so that means ah ceasefire. Ya'll can get your rest and try again later." Engineer said with an encouraging smile.

Scout chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Hardhat. I bet I can get a sugar rush with some candy when I try again." he said, planning his tactics in his mind. Engineer chuckled and stood up, going over to his locker. Scout looked to Heavy, who was enjoying one of his sandwiches. "Hey big guy, think you can go in with me next time? Spy wasn't all that great this time around."

Heavy took a bite of his sandwich and nodded as he ate. "Da, tiny Scout. Heavy will help you." he said. Looking around, Heavy frowned a bit. "Where is Spy?" he asked to the others. The others all stopped and looked to each other, realizing that they hadn't seen their french teammate come in with them.

"He vasn't with you on the vay out?" Medic asked Scout. Scout shook his head as he opened a can of Bonk! and took a sip.

"Nope. Fancypants went in with me, but he didn't come out." Scout said.

"Is someone asking about me?" Spy suddenly asked as he entered the locker room, putting out his cigarette.

"Where have ya' been, laddie?" Demoman asks.

"I'm not too sure, but I think I felt a surge of...magic, while in the Blu base. I went to investigate and followed the feeling to the Blu's Command Center. I entered and the feeling immediately became stronger. As I approached the Blu's map of the world, I began hearing strange voices; as if they were speaking in tongues. I recorded them on my Red Tape Sapper." Spy said, pulling out his sapper and pressing the 'Play' button. Immediately, the locker room became filled with harsh whispers and unclear sayings. The recording abruptly stopped. "That was all I could get before I ad to leave." Spy said, tossing his sapper into his locker nearby.

"I'm not going to be able to sleep tonight..." Scout muttered, his tone carrying that of slight fright. The others all agreed with him in small mutters and grumbles.

"With the ceasefire tomorrow, I may try and get back in there to investigate more." Spy said as he lit a new cigarette. "Gentlemen." he said, taking his leave.

"Well, get somethin' ta' eat boys. We should get our Halloween shipment in the morning." Engineer said as he took his leave as well, going towards the kitchen to get a bite to eat.

"Who's turn was it to cook anyway?" Sniper asks as he and the others went towards the kitchen as well.

"It is Heavy's turn to cook!" Heavy said happily, cracking his knuckles.

"Ugh, can we please have somethin' else besides sandwiches?" Scout asks sourly.

"Tiny Scout will eat Heavy's sandviches, or Heavy will eat Scout for dinner." Heavy growled dangerously.

"Right! Got it! Oh boy, I can't wait for those delicious sandwiches!" Scout said in a suddenly eager tone, raising both thumbs up with a fake smile. Heavy seemed to accept this and enter the bases' living area. As Scout entered and lock the door with the fifteen various locks and deadbolts, he stopped at the sound of someone whispering right next to him. Looking around, Scout saw he was completely alone in the hallway, the sounds of far off chatter in one of the rooms farther down the way.

"That totally wasn't creepy..." Scout muttered as he walked to the dining area.