Teufort. October 31st. 6:30 PM

The legendary battlefield known as Teufort sat in an empty, abandoned silence. The RED side, with its' red wood farm-style building, sat across from its' vastly different, more industrial twin once occupied by the BLU Mercenaries. The two sides were connected by a simple, wooden covered bridge that sat over a sewer system that ran under both buildings. In the night skies above, the moon sat in its' dark cradle in full, revealing the dark gray pockmarks that littered the lunar surface. The silence was almost eerie; the kind you'd experience when you roamed an abandoned building.

Suddenly, a portal of magical origins ripped into existence in the middle of the wooden bridge, swirling in a combination of pinks and purples. Striding forth from this portal was a young woman, clad in a series of wizards' robes and artifacts that dangled from around her shoulders and neck. Tied to her chin was a false, long silver bead. Her lavender eyes opened in amazement as she exited the portal, gazing around the close-quarter battlefield.

"Wow! Another place aside from a high school! This is just amazing!" she gawked, her small hands clasping together as she skipped forward a bit in eagerness.

"Calm down brainiac, this place ain't anythin' special." called a young man as he exited the portal, his accent heavy of the Boston region. As he walked out, he was covered from head to foot in wrappings, aged to look ancient and withered. As he stood, he looked around the area, unimpressed. "Yup, same ol' Teufort." he grumbled.

"Cheer up Scout. You're home!" called a raspy voiced girl as she ran out of the portal in a dark jumpsuit, bomber jacket, and flight goggles. However, her small gait was cut short when she suddenly stumbled over her new legs, sending her crashing face-first to the ground. Groaning in pain a bit, she shakily gets back onto her feet and clutches onto the nearby bridge railing for support. Once balanced, she looked around the area, an eyebrow raised in questioning. "Wait. You guys live here? Jeez this place is a dump!" Rainbow Dash said, her voice carrying the same tone of being unimpressed, her arms folding across her bust.

"It may not be glorious, but its' home." Engineer called with a chuckle as he stepped out, his hardhat replaced by a stetson that had teeth and glowing red eyes. His left hand, normally exposed and ungloved, was covered by a false metal prosthetic hand and forearm. "'Sides, we never get tha chance ta fix the ol' place up, on account of bein' shot at most of the day." he added on a slightly grim note. Behind him, four more girls in costumes with seven other men, also in costume, emerged from the portal. Once everyone was assembled, and the new arrivals got used to being on two legs, Twilight turned to speak to them all.

"Okay, so I can only keep the portal open until morning. So, let's not waste anytime!" she said eagerly, a smile stretching across her lips.

"Oh! This is so exciting!!" Pinkie cheered out. "I've never been to a party in another world! Well, there was this one dream where me and Miss Flour Sack went to this really high end ball and it was all, like, BORING! So I pulled out, like, twenty-party cannons and then the ball became this crazy slobber-knocker of a party..." Pinkie Pie ranted on, her form dressed as a...giant chicken...

"I can't take her story seriously with her in that outfit..." Sniper grumbled, decked out in his Camper Van Helsing costume. "Not that I can even take her seriously in the first place..." he added. Spy snickered a bit, pulling a cigarette from an inner jacket pocket and lit it. He pulled a drag from the cigarette and released the smoke.

"Partake?" he asked Sniper, offering his cigarette case to the Australian. Sniper nodded, picked a cigarette and leaned over as Spy lit it for Sniper.

"Thanks mate." he said, taking a drag. "I still prefer my pipe though." he said, flicking away some ash.

"Well, the moment has passed. Come comrades, let us party!" Spy called joyfully. The others all agreed with his statement and began moving towards the Red base. Once everyone was in the Intelligence Room, Engineer sat behind the desk and pressed a concealed button. The drab overseer office had dual-sided walls that rotated around to reveal party favors, food, and drinks. Halloween themed balloons and decorations seemed to pop out of their own little cabinets, filling the corners with black and oranges. In front of the large windows that overlooked the operations floor, a DJ booth raised and powered up.

At that moment, Vinyl Scratch stepped out in a scantily clad, form fitting vampiress outfit. Once she reached the turntables, the mute DJ placed her signature headsets over her ears and picked a record. Placing the needle on top of the vinyl surface, the music began blasting from the large sets of speakers, along with a group of laser projected skeletons of various colors that danced to the beat.

"Now it's a party!" Scout cheered, immediately rushing to the dance floor and breaking into a spontaneous break-dancing routine. As Scout danced, Heavy moved up to the dance floor and began doing the dance of his people; the Kazotsky Kick. While the Bostonian and Russian had their dance off, the others all split up and grabbed their food and drinks.

"Engineer? How do you keep things from spoiling?" Twilight asked as she bit into a black-frosting cupcake.

"Oh that's an easy one. There's massive refridgeratin' units behind tha panels. We just take tha time ta restock the food an' drinks, then keep it cool until a party happens." the Texan explained as he munched on a cookie.

"That's smart thinking right there. Although I'm surprised you find the time to bake or make the drinks." she says, crumpling up the cupcake wrapper. Engineer chuckles and shakes his head a bit.

"We mostly do that stuff at night when the ceasefires' go inta effect." he replies. Nodding, Twilight looked out to the party, observing her friends mingling with the mercenaries of Red Team. Her eyes landed on Rainbow Dash as the athletic girl tried to dance-off against Scout. But, being being the athletic type she was, Rainbow Dash didn't quite have the rhythm in her.

Still, she looked like she was having a good time, even as she got tripped up and fell on her rear, laughing all the while. Rarity was busy talking with Spy about fashion choices and styles they both enjoyed the most. Pinkie Pie seemed to be partying her head off with Demoman as the two got into the drinks, blending together liquid atrocities and delicacies. Fluttershy seemed to be entranced and frightened by Pyros' minor ability to wield physical flames with only his hands. The effect was enhanced by the fact that Pyro was dressed up in a scorched dress with a burnt wig, making the pyromaniac look like a nightmarish version of Goldilocks. As for the rest of the mercs, they were simply enjoying the party, seeming to be glad that they could relax for the first time in a while.

However, Applejack looked like the odd one out in the party environment.

Walking to the Scarecrow girl, Twilight tapped her shoulder.

"You alright Applejack?" Twilight asked, furrowing her brow a bit.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah Twilight, I'm alright." Applejack said, rubbing her forearm a bit. "Just...not used to..." she gestured to her human form. "This." she finished.

"I understand Applejack. It took me a while to get used to being a human when I first arrived in this world, but it eventually becomes second nature." she says, her tone full of reassurance for the farmgirl.

"Are you sure?" Applejack asks, looking to her friend. "It all feels so weird. It's one thing to be seein' things from a different height, it's another to have these-" she says, flexing her new fingers. "-And to be on mah rear legs." she finishes, stamping her foot once.

"Believe me, you get used to it quick." Twilight says with a giggle, understanding Applejacks inability to quickly conform to being a human. Seeming to take her word as truth, Applejack nodded and casted her gaze to Rainbow Dash as she sauntered over to the drinks and asked for a drink from Pinkie Pie. The chicken-girl already looked absolutely sloshed, and gave the Shadowbolt a tipsy grin as she grabbed a cup of punch for her friend.

"It maybe a different world, but it sure feels like home." Rarity says, walking up to Twilight and Applejack. "I could get used to living here. Oh, just imagine the fashion possibilities I can bring to his new world!" she adds hopefully.

"I'm afraid your counter-part is already ahead of you on that one Rarity." Twilight says with a small smirk. The phrase seemed to deflate Rarity a bit, but she nodded in understanding. The three girls all looked to Rainbow Dash as she tried to pry a brown liquor bottle away from Pinkie Pie. Nearby, Demoman was already down for the count, having collapsed in the corner surrounded by countless bottles. Rarity glanced to Twilight, then took a double-glance at the bearded wizard girl. The girls' eyes were slightly glazed over, her lips curled in a small smile as she watched the Shadowbolt.

"Oh darling, it's painfully obvious." Rarity says simply, waving her hand in a gossiping manner. The statement snapped Twilight out of her trance and a furious blush raced across her cheeks.

"Wh-what!? What are you talking about?!" Twilight says, waving her hands in a defensive manner. "I-It's nothing like that!" she adds.

"What's goin' on over here?" Engineer asks, approaching the girls with Sniper and Spy accompanying him.

"Oh, Twilight has a crush on our Rainbow Dash, that's it really." Rarity says, taking a dainty sip from her drink.

"Heh, I bloody knew it. You owe me Frenchie." Sniper says, nudging Spys' side. The Frenchman grumbled as he rolled his eyes and withdrew a twenty dollar bill from his inner pocket and passed it to the Australian who pocketed the cash.

"You guys were betting!?" Twilight says in a shocked manner, revealing the fact that she did indeed have an interest in Rainbow Dash without actually saying it.

"Sugarcube, ya' should see tha red that paints ya'lls cheeks when ya' see Dash with her hair back in a ponytail." Applejack says with a snicker.

"Oh, you mean like now Applejack?" Rarity points out with a finger. Her gesture causes all of them to look at Rainbow Dash as she pulls her long rainbow hair back into a high, tight ponytail. The simple movement made her adorableness factor increase by 20%. Twilights' entire face erupted into red within seconds.

"If I may give some advice madame. Do not wait to tell her how you feel." Spy said simply, placing an encouraging hand on Twilights' shoulder.

"Please darling. The waiting will start to hurt if you do not tell her soon." Rarity says, then leans in. "That, and it will bring Pinkie's fanfiction to life. I want to see her reaction when she hears about you and Rainbow." she whispers with a giggle. Looking to her friends and the mercs, Twilight nodded a bit as she timidly stepped forward towards the girl of her desires. Once across the dance floor, after having to maneuver her way around the furiously dancing duo of Scout and Heavy, the two girls began to talk.

"Well, looks like we've planted the seeds. Now it's up to them to let it bloom." Rarity says. The others all nodded in agreement with the statement as they watched the two girls.

"Well come on ya'll, let's keep this party goin'!" Applejack cheers as she moves her way onto the dance floor. Immediately Engineer follows, starting up a square dance with the farm girl. The rest of the mercs and girls followed suit, moving onto the dance floor and starting their own forms of dance with one another. As the club music about spooky skeletons came to a close, a much more happier song began to play, bringing a 'feel good' mood with the blaring trumpets and catchy beats. The girls and mercenaries continued to party into the night, enjoying themselves with drinks, food, and conversations.

At one point, another club song began to blare from the speakers. While being a very simple and repetitive beat, the Mercenaries couldn't help but jam out to the song. The girls stood off to the sides while the men danced and jammed, laughing and cheering them on.

Eventually, the hours began to wear on, and exhaustion began to overcome everyone. At some point, Vinyl Scratch had fallen asleep at the turntables, having curled up under the DJ stand as the records continued to spin, playing nothing but static and the occasional skip of the needle. At some point, a fight had broken out, and Demoman was draped over the drinks table, his form unconscious and unmoving. Nearby, Solider was laid out flat in a corner, a sizable dent present in his helmet; a likely result from getting smashed in the head by a beer bottle from Demo. Heavy was busy emptying the contents of his stomach into a nearby trashcan while Medic was pouring a pink liquid into a small cup, passing the consumable to the large Russian.

"Here's some Pepto Heavy..." Medic grumbled as a twinge of pain shot through his head, forcing him to pinch the bridge of his nose to alleviate the pain. The Russian accepted the tiny cup, knocking back the chalky pink substance in one go.

As for the rest of the men, they were scattered about the room, nursing themselves or sleeping off the after effects of the hard partying. Pyro and Spy were the only ones who weren't severally hung over, rather they were cleaning up the mess that had become the Intelligence Room. The girls who had come through the portal with them earlier in the night were all sitting on a ledge where Sniper normally stood during combat hours against the Blu Team. Their young faces conveyed exhaustion, but all had happy grins on their faces.

"That was...the best party...EVER!" Pinkie tried to cheer, but she quickly gripped both sides of her head from a severe headache that plagued her.

"You bet Pinks..." Rainbow Dash said, looking down to the purple hand interlocked with hers. Twilight had fallen asleep at some point, having rested her head on Dash's shoulder as she lightly snored.

"I must say you two look quite cute together." Rarity said, giving Rainbow Dash a thumbs up and a small smile. Rainbow returned the gesture, careful as to not move to much.

"Ya'll realize, we have to go home here soon..." Applejack said, gesturing to the incoming sun rise.

"Yes dear, we do. But let us savor this moment. It maybe the last time we have any peace before going back to Equestria and dealing with Smert'." Rarity said, her voice carrying some slight annoyance at Applejack's statement.

"I agree with Rarity...I quite like it here...I'm more sad with the fact that Twilight said there can't be two of us here or else there'd be issues..." Fluttershy said, pulling back a few loose strands of her pink hair behind her ear.

"We have a home to get back to." Twilight suddenly said, waking up and stretching a bit. "As nice as it is here, we have a duty to perform to Equestria." she said, looking to her exhausted friends. With a smile, she pulled them all into a group hug and gave them a hard squeeze. Releasing them, she spoke again. "Come on girls, let's go wake up the Reds." she said, standing up in one fluid motion. Down on the wooden bridge, the magical portal back to Equestria continued to pulse, but was visibly losing its power.

After getting all the Mercs awake with the help of Spy and Pyro, the nine mercenaries quickly switched out of their ruined Halloween costumes and into the heavy winter combat apparel Rarity had made for them back in Vanhoover. Armed and ready, the nine men and six girls all entered the portal back to Equestria as a group, ready to get back into the fray.

Author's Note

I know I said this was going to come out on Halloween last year, but I got swamped by school and my responsibilities as a boyfriend.

Sorry for the delay guys, I really am!