Are You Afraid of the Dark?

by trixiesshow

Rating: everyone
Tags: Carrot Top, Trixie, Comedy, Twilight Sparkle, Lyra, Cheerilee, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Alternate Universe
Length: 10349

The group tells scary stories around the campfire.

Nightmare Night is kid stuff. So Trixie is taking her friends into the Everfree to celebrate the season correctly, with Scary Stories and maybe a few illusions. Ditzy and Dinky are decorating, Raindrops is on delinquent watch duty and BonBon has several last minute orders to fill. It seems the night is over before it started, but Carrot Top suggests Twilight and nopony objects. After some convincing of the local librarian, the 5 mares head into the forest to share some stories and good times.

Chapter 5 and 6 haven't been updated to match the style of the first 4, however I have made them in sync with each other unless I missed something so at least its a consistent story now. I may still go back and overhaul them but at this point, I'm happy with the overall concept of what I have down. I'm thinking of releasing the final chapter Halloween week. Just seems more appropriate to wrap it up when it's actually supposed to take place.

This is aNONCANON story in RainbowDoubleDash's Lunaverse

Published 2014-10-06 13:40:05 UTC
Last updated 2014-10-06 13:40:05 UTC

1. That's What Nightmare Night Is All About, Trixie Lulamoon

The light blue unicorn was staring out her window. Autumn had released her artistic presence and the trees fully expressed it. The sun was setting and added its own hue of orange to the vibrant colors below. The littlest bit coming through the window seemed to make her normally pure white hair a tad more similar to a particular carrot farmer. Autumn had the leaves turning one color, while the afternoon light decided to up the ante. This beauty escaped Trixie though as her attention fell to the ponies in the street below.

Nightmare Night was less than a week away now and everypony was getting ready. One tiny unicorn’s parent was teaching him how to use his magic to carve his first pumpkin while a little filly next door was hanging cob webs on her window. Trixie's gaze had been fixated on three little fillies who were going all out on decorations on their house. They’d hung up little black triangles, (she supposed these were bats) a sheet on a string, (a ghost?) and a green burlap sack, (no clue). She was disgusted.

Every year, Trixie felt the showmare in her slowly suffocate at the sight of plastic vampire teeth and tomato sauce attempting, crying out, for ponies to believe it was blood. Such a waste of potential, those things aren't scary. Ponies are wanting to be scared but haven’t the slightest idea how. But Trixie knew how and wanted to share it.

She had tried to convince Mayor Scrolls to allow her to put together a haunted house full of Trixie’s own personal illusions. But the mayor had turned her down on the silly grounds of nopony wanting what Trixie was offering. What a fool, it had taken Trixie hours to get that illusion of a corpse she showed to the mayor to look and smell just right. “The mayor must just be holding something against me” she thought to herself.

“Admiring the window he put in today, boss?” Trixie heard her unicorn assistant call from behind her. She'd lost herself in thought, plus if she acted distracted he was slightly less inclined to ask her to do her job.

“It's amazing how Windowpane still does such an amazing job, even after this many times. Then again, I think you might be putting his kids through college. Gives him a reason to keep a sharp eye on his work” Well it looked like he was going to keep talking so she might as well humor him.

“No, I was watching everypony set up for Nightmare Night.” She answered to a truly disinterested Pokey sitting at his desk, although he did seem somewhat surprised at her answer.

“Why? You've seen a few gourds wasted on decoration and bedsheets with holes in them, you've seen it all, haven't you?”

“Yes, I have! And that's exactly the problem!” Trixie shouted as she flourished her cape. “It’s supposed to be a night to terrify and astound! To truly horrify ponies with what hides in the shadows out there, and in here!” Trixie said as she got face to face with Pokey and tapped a hoof to her head.

“I know what's in there horrifies me.” Pokey said without a flinch at her quick rush although he did let a laugh slightly slip. He never did miss an opportunity to rib her and, although she'd never admit it, it was a small price to pay for somepony who basically did all her work for her.

“Hardy Har, Pokey. You know what I mean!” Trixie said with an eye roll that almost took them right out of her head as she regained a more comfortable composure while striding back to her desk.

“Yeah I do, but that's the fun of Nightmare Night, Trixie. It is hokey and corny, and that's the point. It's enjoyable because it's relatable, but it's not too real. Ponies have enough to dread in their everyday life, it's nice to get away from that.” Pokey wisely observed and shared this all with Trixie.

She had zoned out quite a bit before this. Probably around the time he’d said a horn pun. Also the reasoning didn't really interest her, so she continued as though he never responded. “So the others and I are going to go have a camping trip in the Everfree! We're going to tell scary stories and I'm going to scare them all to death using my haunted house illusions. It's going to be great! You're free to join us if you want.”

She wasn't sure, but it seemed as though Pokey actually did perk up for a fraction of a second. Regardless his response was a no. “My name is on the list to patrol the neighborhood looking for teenagers up to no good. You know how they get around Nightmare Night and tonight is one of my nights.” He explained as he trotted over to the cabinet to perform the daily update on the Rainbow Dash files.

Trixie admired how Pokey always seemed to selflessly help the town. A feeling she felt, but perhaps not as strongly as he did. “Awfully generous of you, Pokey. Except even the element of generosity is coming with me, so maybe you're exerting too much effort.”

Pokey chuckled as he pulled out the files he was looking for. After putting his back into it, he managed to levitate some of the stack onto his desk. “Maybe so, but the element of honesty is working the same block as me, so we're even.”

“WHAT?!” Trixie let out an ear piercing screech and charged Pokey yet again though with less panache than last time. This news came as a complete shock to her obviously.

Pokey slowly leaned to the left and looked past Trixie at the window. “Oh good, I was afraid you shattered it with that yell.” As his eyes came into focus much closer to his face, he met Trixie's fiery gaze. Nothing new here. So he let his eyes fall to page seventy-eight of section eight of the Rainbow Dash chronicles as he continued. “I thought you knew, she's been on the sign-up sheet since they issued it. She does it every year. She scares some of the delinquents so it’s nice to have her around. Cheerilee’s also helping.”

“Cheerilee too? Are my friends determined to ruin my night?” Trixie yelled as she trumped over to her liquor cabinet.

“How incredibly selfish, am I right?” Pokey sarcasm however was lost on Trixie.

“I know! Now I'm left with only four ponies in my party! But I guess it probably does help keep the vandalism down.” Trixie hated to admit it, but they were doing more good staying here than drinking in the Everfree. But she had to keep her attitude, less Pokey get the idea she’s caving to civil responsibilities “We'll just have to make do without them.” she carried on triumphantly as she loaded her bourbon into her saddlebag.

“Do all four of you really need a bottle of Bourbon each tonight?” He shot from over her shoulder.

She turned around with a confused look on her face, “What do you mean? These are for me.”

“Of course, I should've known.” She turned around as he finished just in time to miss his eye roll that would've given her a run for her money.

She grabbed the rest of her supplies and loaded them into her bag as she asked one more time, “Are you sure you don't want to join us? I'm going to give everypony nightmares for days with what I have planned.”

“I'm not missing out, working with you has given me all the nightmares I need for a lifetime, Trixie.” Pokey said dryly as his gaze dropped back to section forty-seven.

Trixie gave her typical pout as she trotted out the door. From the corner of her eye, she was certain she saw a smile on the edge of his mouth as she turned back to shut the door though.

2. Hairy Potter, and the Prisoner of Ponyville

BonBon's Confectionarium was never at a loss for business, but Nightmare Night brought out the ponies in droves. There may have still been a few shopping days left but they were still crammed in every square inch of space available in her shop and the lines stretched outside the door by a few ponies. This was candy season and as one of the few places that made treats, she was a proud member of the candy oligopoly of Ponyville.

Upon glancing at the crowd stuffed in the little shop, Trixie facehoofed that she had suggested this be their meeting place for tonight. Trixie wasn’t about to stand in line to get in nor fight through that mob.

She could go around the back but it would surely be locked. Trixie smiled to herself as she considered the challenge, what kind of showmare would she be if she hadn't picked up a few spells to render locks useless. She'd learned both variaties, of course. One was really just a finely tuned telekinetic manipulation of the locking mechanism while the other was a simple transmutation spell that turned the vital parts essentially into dust.

Then there were the picks she hid in her hat. Her grandfather had gotten her the set when she was just a little filly. He’d never gotten the chance to teach her how to use them, but she considered the skill his gift to her none the less.

“Trixie, why are you staring at BonBon's?” Trixie heard a voice come from behind her, she didn’t need to look to see who it was, anypony would’ve known. “If you're here for candy, you can have some of mine?” Carrot Top, it was clearly Carrot Top.

“Carrot Top, I appreciate that, but I don’t need candy, I need to get inside.” Trixie said to Carrot Top and she walked up next to her.

“Well the line looks like it probably won’t take more than five minutes.” Carrot Top offered with a smile.

“I was thinking something quicker with slightly more burglary.” Trixie said while dropping her hat into her hooves and levitating her picks out.

“I haven’t seen a Ferrow’s brand M2000 set in quite a few years. Are we breaking into BonBon’s?” Cheerilee said without the slightest bit of surprise on her face. Cheerilee’s shadowy knowledge base always made Trixie curious but she never quite found the right time to ask about it.

“Yes, actually. But Pokey said you were on the list to patrol tonight. I thought you weren’t coming.” Trixie said with slight surprise in her voice.
Cheerilee seemed delighted to give Trixie good news. “No, my night is tomorrow night.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear. I was going to have some strong feelings if it was just going to be the five of us.” Trixie gave a sigh of relief.

Cheerilee seemed less delighted to respond to Trixie’s next statement. “Well I hope those feelings were of bliss and joy because Ditzy isn’t joining us either. She’s decorating the post office with Dinky.”

Trixie let out a groan, that made a few ponies in the vicinity turn their heads. Though she did realize how much it probably meant to Dinky to spend the night with her mom. Foals tended to have a special place in Trixie’s heart, but Dinky reigned supreme. She wasn’t just Trixie’s magical assistant, she was one of her best friends. Though the age difference made her reluctant to admit that.

“Alright, well let’s just go get Lyra and BonBon and try to do what we can with who’s left.” Trixie huffed as she stomped off towards the back of the shop. Cheerilee and Carrot Top exchanged glances and fell in her wake.

Most ponies would have taken longer to unlock the door with the actual key but Trixie seamlessly sailed through as though it weren’t even locked. They found a frantic BonBon running around the kitchen trying to stay on top of all the different goods she was preparing. She was distracted enough she didn’t even have time to yell at Trixie for committing a class A felony on her door.

They watched her dash back and forth in silence for a few moments before Trixie decided to be Trixie, “Alright BonBon, go grab your stuff and get Lyra, we’ve got to get moving if we want to make it to the site before dark.”

“Trixie! Do I look like I have any time to put up with you at the moment?!” BonBon yelled while putting the molasses on the stove and running over to pull the taffy.

Cheerilee slowly stepped in front of Trixie just in case while Carrot Top saw to the molasses and inquired what was going on. “BonBon, I don’t remember it being this busy. What’s going on?”

“Well I have my normal Nightmare Night demand, plus the candy I made for the festival got ruined in yesterday’s debacle, and Filthy Rich has offered to distribute two hundred pounds of my bon bons to his stores if I can get them finished before tomorrow night.”

Trixie yelled out from behind Cheerilee, “Why isn’t Lyra helping you back here then?”

“Somepony has to run the front of the store, Trixie. I can’t run this place on the honor system. Besides, Lyra burns everything she touches.”

BonBon said while taking a short break from the taffy to slide a tray into the oven before returning.

Cheerilee smiled as she dropped her saddlebags in the corner. “Put us to work then!”

“But Cheerilee, it’ll almost be dark if we take much longer.” Trixie whispered.

“Well then you better get your hooves dirty, Trixie.” Her laugh contrasting with Trixie’s pout.

Things had settled down in the kitchen a bit by the time Lyra trotted in a while later. “Alright, the crowd is taken care of and we’re officially closed.” She said with a heavy exhale but her demeanor seemed bright enough.

“Then lets wrap this up and hit the ole’ dusty trail!” Trixie said while dropping the illusion of a bowl she been pretending to mix in front of her.

Lyra scoffed at Trixie, “Did you miss the ridiculous amount of things we have to do here? There’s going to be no camping trip for us tonight.”

Trixie stomped her hoof and did the best impression of a filly she could accidently muster, “I’ve been planning this for weeks, and then I find out Raindrops isn’t coming, then Ditzy isn’t.. but that’s for Dinky so it’s alright.. and now you and BonBon? Why can’t I just have one good night in this terrible season??”

“Because we’re adults and sometimes things suck, Trixie.” Lyra said with all the maturity and civility she could muster.”

“You should still go, Lyra.” BonBon called from across the room.

Lyra walked across the room and placed her hoof on BonBon’s withers, “Are you sure? I haven’t even packed.”

“You ruin more than you make.” BonBon said with a laugh, “Don’t worry about, I’ve got it from here anyway.”

Lyra leaned over a nuzzled BonBon and then headed upstairs to pack her bags.

"We're still several ponies short though, we don't even have enough to fill the night now." Trixie continued her pout.

After a few moments of a gentle whine emitted by Trixie, Carrot Top broke the silence. "Well what if we brought somepony else. What about Fluttershy, she could use the fresh air!"

Trixie shook her head. "Not with what I have planned, we'd never be able to get her outside ever again. Let's not ruin her progress."

Carrot Top looked perplexed for a moment but then her face lit up as she had an idea. "How about a different housebound pony, but one who's there cause she can't leave. Sparkle!"

"What about Sparkle?" Lyra asked as she rejoined the group.

"We're going to invite her to come along." Trixie agreed with the idea.

Lyra nodded, "Sounds good to me. It's getting dark though, let's get moving!"

* * *

The four mares approached the library. The tree still retained its normal green foliage in defiance of season in resided in and the only decoration Twilight had put out was a lone pumpkin. Uncarved. The four all stood around it, staring down at it in silent astonishment.

“That's the saddest thing I've ever seen. It's like it’s not sure if it wants to be a decoration or a pie ingredient.” Cheerilee said unblinking as she tapped the pumpkin with her hoof. They all flinched in anticipation Twilight had charmed it to do something amazingly scary.

Nothing, it was just a pumpkin.

Trixie chuckled after they resumed their staring, “It's Sparkle, what do you expect? Pinkie levels of dedication? I say we give her credit for putting the pumpkin out at all.” She'd found herself being the closest to Twilight and felt no hesitation speaking in her defense.

“I can tell you one thing for certain, Sparkle would hate Pinkie if she ever spent any extended time around her.” Lyra called out from the back of the group.

The four all nodded in agreement as Trixie opened the door and they headed inside. The books were all neatly categorized and put away, an effort that owed it's doing entirely to Twilight. In the center of the floor, sat a purple unicorn with a deep violet mane deeply engrossed in a book, seemingly unaware of their entrance.

They all stood in silence, waiting for her to greet them. After exchanging glances, Trixie decided she wasn't going to grow old waiting for Twilight to not be Twilight. “Happy Nightmare Night, Sparkle!”

“Happy Nightmare Night, girls.” Twilight responded without looking up.

Lyra and Cheerilee had gotten bored and started perusing the shelves while Carrot Top and Trixie continued to stand near the doorway waiting for Twilight to engage them. Trixie wasn't one to let somepony make her be silent, but after the last time when she barged in and interrupted Twilight reading, she had found herself staring at the her front door before she could blink. The two had an understanding.

Finally Trixie gathered the strength to walk back to the library if she found herself teleported away. “We actually came to talk to you, Sparkle. If you have a moment?”

“Oh, I'm sorry girls, I just assumed you were here to check out some campfire story books. You should've said something.” Twilght said hopping to her hooves and rushing to greet everypony with a genuine look of embarrassment on her face.

Trixie rolled her eyes, “I would've except last night I came to talk to you while you were reading, you teleported me to my house.”

“Yes, Trixie. Because you ran in and started yelling at me about you're newest trick that involved fire, which you had brought with you into my TREE house.” Twilight blankly responded.

Trixie nervously laughed, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that part. It was an amazing trick though, and completely safe, I assure you.”

“I'm sure it was, so what's going on?” Twilight smiled as she look between the four.

“We came to invite you on our camping trip. We're going to tell scary stories and drink.”

“Well I'd love to but I actually have a whole stack of manuscripts prepared by Clover the Clever I wanted to work through tonight. There's one on Star Swirl's amniomorphic spell I wanted to learn.” Twilight said, beaming with the biggest smile they'd ever seen from her and levitating the manuscript in question emblazoned with Star Swirl performing the spell on the front.

Everypony just stared at Twilight except Cheerilee who laughed. When Lyra raised her eyebrow at her she simply muttered they wouldn't understand.

Turning back to Twilight, Trixie continued on, “Well that's.. boring. But we really want you to join us. You need to celebrate Nightmare Night!”

“I'm sorry girls, but I really need to study. Plus I'm kind of hesitant to drink after my welcoming party. Whatever you gave me was way too strong.”

Ignoring that Trixie had given Twilight punch. Study for what was the question that passed unspoken between them. Twilight didn't have any obligations to learn anything on a deadline, and she certainly wasn't short on time to study given her house arrest.

“But Sparkle, remember when we were in that other universe and you said you wanted to learn more about the magic of friendship? Well here's a great opportunity! You actually have to be around friendship to study it.” Trixie artfully argued, and while it may not have been up to Twilight logical requirements, she knew Trixie was right. So she conceded. “Alright, well let me run upstairs and pack a few things and I'll join you but I'm not drinking.”

A short while later, the five mares made their way out of the library and into street to head towards the Everfree. Lyra took the opportunity to build her friendship with Twilight by doing something they'd both enjoy. She fell back towards the back and proposed her plan to Twilight.

“Hey Sparkle, I know you said you don't want to drink, but I was going to sneak one of Trixie’s bourbon bottles tonight and I want to share it with you. It'd really get under her skin.”

“Well I'm still against drinking, but.. messing with Trixie seems worth it, so sure!” The prospect of aggravating Trixie seemed to be enough convincing for her.

“Now we just have to figure out how to sneak it away from her.” Lyra muttered more to herself than Twilight while sidestepping a rock in the road.

Sparkle's horn barely glowed and Lyra felt her saddlebag get heavier by about the weight of a bourbon bottle. “Probably something like that will do. I replaced it with that rock” Twilight said with a smile.

3. BeWare the Pony-Wolf (Lyra)

The group had almost arrived at their campsite. What Trixie had claimed to be a short walk had turned into a rather taxing journey. She claimed she was just looking for the right spot, but it was pretty obvious she’d forgotten where she’d planned to set up camp.

Cheerilee had occupied herself by asking if they were there yet every thirty seconds. It seemed an appropriate punishment from a school teacher who has heard that question more times than she can count from field trips.

Lyra had posted herself about in the middle of group, being entertained by Trixie’s torture but eavesdropping on Carrot Top and Twilight’s conversation in the back.

During the long trip though, Twilight and Carrot Top had passed the time talking about herbology. Twilight seemed to at least know enough to carry her own with Carrot Top, Ponyville’s resident botanical genius.

“Wait, so Lilium haudmirum cures scalpendi spores?? I had no idea. That information would have been extremely useful a few months ago.” Sparkle grumbled with an expression on her face that looked particularly uncomfortable.

“I’m always happy to share my herbal knowledge!” Carrot Top said with a grin. “Nopony else really ever seems to be interested.” She said with forlorn hint to her tone.

“That’s totally not true Carrot Top, we don’t want Sparkle to think we ignore you sometimes.” Lyra called out from ahead, also catching the attention of Cheerilee and Trixie.

Carrot Top shrugged and put on her most understanding face. “You girls do, but that’s ok.”

Cheerilee nodded in agreement with Lyra, “Name a single time any of us hasn’t been willing to talk about herbology with you.”

“There was last week when Trixie had those strange weeds growing in her garden and after we got rid of them, I started explaining what they were, but she suddenly had to go.”

“I had a huge stack of licenses I had to approve before the end of the day.”

Cheerilee agreed, “Yeah, plus that’s Trixie, she’s rude to everypony.

“Hey!”

“And two days ago when Lyra got a sore throat and I made her that drink. Then when I started explaining what was in it she told me she needed quiet.”

Lyra felt this one wasn't too bad and had a decent excuse, “I needed my rest to get better!”

“And then there was earlier in this conversation when Sparkle said she’d been reading a book Northern Equestrian Flora, and you all sighed when she and I started talking.”

Trixie thought she’d field this one, although about halfway through it she realized Carrot Top was right. “That’s cause we all.. exactly at the same time.. got winded from our journey..?” Maybe she bought it.

Carrot Top laughed at the hopeful look on Trixie’s face. “Nice try girls, I appreciate your effort though.”

They finally came up on the site. Trixie leapt upon a fallen tree and announced this was the spot. Since she had organized the trip, she’d felt the need to manage every aspect of it. That would’ve been fine had Trixie ever camped as a filly, or gone into the woods, or just generally had physical activity. “Alright, Cheerilee and Lyra, you two make places for us to sleep. Sparkle, make some fire happen. Carrot Top, gather some edible stuff!”

There was a collective sigh from everypony. They all turned to Carrot Top, who actually had quite a bit of knowledge about the Everfree and sleeping there on the occasion her ingredient gathering had taken her too far in. She smiled at Trixie and proceeded to try and salvage command. “That was really good Trixie, you had all the right parts. Like Trixie said, Lyra and Cheerilee can set up our tents over there in that clearing. Sparkle, if you want to gather some wood, those trees over there look like good material. And Trixie, if you’ll follow me, we can find some water and maybe a few edible plants to nibble on later.”

Trixie sadly shambled off her improvised stand and followed Carrot Top. A little while later they had their campsite set up and Trixie cheered up when she used her new fire trick to light the fire.

“See Sparkle, I told you it was safe”

“I think you singed the end of my mane”

“Well it still has some kinks, of course.”

As they all took their place around the fire, everypony pulled their drinks out and settled in for the event. Lyra and Sparkle both shared a smile as they poured Trixie’s bourbon into their glasses and quickly hid it back in their bag. Then Lyra pulled her lyre from the thin air and began to play a simple melody to give them all a tune to talk to.

“Where were you keeping that?” Twilight asked in astonishment.

“About three feet from my bed. Why?” Lyra dropped her head to play while still making sure Twilight knew she was still in the conversation.

“That’s miles away! That must be the longest summoning spell I’ve ever seen.”

Lyra responded without changing her playing composure. “You teleported an Ursa Minor several miles.”

“Yes, but that was taking something I could see and putting it somewhere I couldn’t. Doing the opposite is much harder. You’ll have to teach that to me when we get back!

Lyra was glad that between the lighting and the angle of her head, nopony could see she blushed. She didn’t really need a pony’s approval, but she knew Twilight was a snob when it came to spells. This was the same pony who’d become a fugitive stemming from her strong opinion about Trixie, the element of magic, and her magical skill. To know something Twilight was envious of, now that was an honor.

Trixie levitated a bottle of bourbon out of her bag without inspecting it and noticing that it was one bottle short.
“So who’s telling the first story of the night?” She said with a smile on her face and monsieur bourbon holding her tight.

Lyra held her head up to respond to Trixie. “How about you, oh great and magnificent leader?”

It clearly went over her head, as Trixie legitimately seemed flattered. “It’s great and powerful leader, but good improvisation, I like your effort. I can’t go now, I have to go last, because my story is the crowning achievement of this event. Also thanks for volunteering.”

Lyra scoffed, however she was fine with going first, she just didn’t like rewarding Trixie. So she racked her brain for a moment and ran her idea by the group. “Does anyone mind if I tell a ballade instead?”

Everypony nodded and Cheerilee added her auditory confirmation. “And miss a free one mare concert? Go for it!”

Lyra picked a few notes, they sounded pleasant enough. It had a childlike quality to it. It almost sounded like the melody that would accompany a scene of the a little yellow sun shining on a tiny green hill with birds in a tree. And then she began to sing.

Come here to Littleroot, where we worship the moon
To get here is easy, just follow the trail
Our elders warn of a time nopony should want to relive
When the Beast stalked our families and children would wail
Though it’s said in the end, good came to prevail
The elders don’t say how, but we young sing this tune
Though who really believes that, it’s just some old tale
Here live we happy ponies who worship the moon

Lyra played a few notes to finish the cadence, but after a beat of silence it immediately shifted. The new cadence started much darker, but her voice still had a slight edge of hope.

Though tonight the Moon is red, and the Beast is now active
But we’ll pray to it still, and all will be well
So guard your hearts, don’t let them misgive
But the Beast has just took our brothers back to wherever it hails
With so few ponies left, were certain to fail
And though the darkness of night is not opportune
As long as it watches over, we won’t be afraid of that veil
Though we’re in fear, we’ll revere the moon.

As the cadence came to a close, her voice still sounded hopeful. Yet this seemed only superficial, it was hollow now and appearance seemed all that was left. After a few notes, she picked up the speed and started quickly into the next cadence.

I’m the last one left, and I’m on the defensive
The Beast lunges and clamps but I jerk and I flail
He suddenly flees, but I gain new perspective
When the sun was around everything was always well
This curse came from the moon, how’d we miss that detail
So now I’ve been bitten, it’ll all be over soon
It never helped us once, even after all the years of travail
How did we not know, it was always the moon

The music now trailed. She almost held the notes too long, and in a completely monotonous tone, she uttered the last cadence.

So don’t come to Littleroot, don’t follow the trail
My friends are all gone, and my mind’s been consumed
So heed the elders warnings, hear their old tale
As for me, I’ll stay here in darkness, just me and the moon

Lyra finished and smiled at the group. “So what’d you think?”

Carrot Top was the first one to contribute her opinion, “It was great, I really liked your main, theme!”

Trixie’s faced was scrunched up as though she were trying to solve a riddle, “It was pretty good. But it was a bit of a blasphemous song, isn’t it? How’d you learn that one at the academy of the princess of the night?”

Lyra looked around the group a little guiltily, though nopony knew why, “I didn’t, I heard it somewhere years ago. It supposedly came from a sun cult still loyal to Corona to mock Luna followers.. Actually, now that I think of it.. it wasn’t a ballade, it was a ballad.”

Cheerilee leaned forward, as the resident ex-partier, she typically knew when it was time for a pony to check out. “Alright, Lyra. Hoof over your drink.”

“No, no. The original was a wordless ballad, a type of song, which can be done without words, though it’s rare. I accidently made it a ballade, a kind of poem from a few centuries ago.”

Twilight looked like she had been physically slapped with an illogical statement, or their hoof. That was probably the same thing to her. “You didn’t notice the difference between a melody and actual words?”

“Not really, they sound the same to me.” Lyra beamed at the group.

Cheerilee joined her smile and ruffled her mane. “Look at our little local musical genius”

Carrot Top spoke the sentiment of the rest of the group. “I don’t think anypony here is surprised though, we all knew you were amazing!”

Author's Note

A ballade is a sung medieval poem that has 3 cadences with the rhyme scheme of ababbcbC and a fourth and final cadence of bcbC. I've taken a good bit of liberty with the rules but thats basically the idea.. key word being 'basically'. It is possible for ballads not to have lyrics, though that's rarely, if ever, the case nowadays. It was more common several centuries ago.

4. Working En Hallo (Cheerilee)

Everything had died down from the excitement of Lyra’s song and everypony was conversing between themselves. Lyra and Carrot Top were discussing the idea of timberwolves and the precautions Carrot Top had taken. Cheerilee and Twilight were very deeply engaged in a conversation about some book writer. Who cares? While Trixie just seemed to be listening between taking sips from her bourbon bottle and occasionally wearing a look of content that would suggest she’s had too much to drink.

“Wow Cheerilee, I had no idea you’d read Ponies and Prejudice.

“Yeah, I loved it, and I've read all of Jane Austin's works. Why do you sound so shocked though? I’m a teacher, we have to teach something.” Cheerilee said with her typical infectious laugh.

Twilight chuckled but innocently responded in a way any normal pony would have none was inappropriate. “Yeah, but you teach foals..”

“So?” Cheerilee’s voice had taken a much sharper tone now though she tried not to let her feelings show.

“Typically, the smart, hardworking ponies get their doctorates and teach at the universities.. while the ponies that slacked off teach the foals..” Twilight seemed to say this all reluctantly but with same attitude as though it was a simple fact that everypony shouldn’t have any confusion concerning.

“So since you’ve just admitted I’m smarter than you thought, you must have thought I’m not be very hardworking either?”

“No, that’s not what I’m saying. Just maybe if you took your education more seriously you could have gotten a higher position.” She was again took the same tone as though she were offering helpful advice even though nopony would have made that same mistake.

Cheerilee certainly didn’t think it was helpful anyway, she raised her tone enough that everypony else suddenly became aware of the feud that was developing before them. “I’ll have you know I had the highest marks in all my classes, Sparkle. And while Luna herself didn’t hoof me my diploma, I did graduate at the top of my class. I could have done anything, I chose to work with children because that’s what makes me happy. Maybe if you found something worthwhile that makes you happy, you wouldn’t be an antisocial bookworm.”

She had struck a chord with Twilight on that last note. “I’m not an antisocial bookworm! I’m a scholar, who has sought to push the boundries on what we think we know and expand upon the works of those who came before me!”

“Yeah, well at least I didn’t waste my knowledge by selfishly chasing trivia facts in forbidden libraries. Cheerilee said with the most arrogant tone she could muster.

Carrot Top had finally decided maybe it was time to stop this atomic reaction before it went critical. “Girls.”

Twilight leaned forward, her eyes throwing daggers. “At least I didn’t waste my knowledge by teaching pointless concepts to foals!”

“Girls!” Carrot Top tried again, though she was drowned out by the other two.

“Come over here and say that!” Cheerilee had hopped to her hooves and clearly looked ready to fight over the insult to her students.

“GIRLS!”

Carrot Top had finally caught the attention of the two bickering ponies.

“Listen, you both chose to go about using your knowledge in different ways that mean something to you. Can’t you respect the other’s intelligence and wisedom enough to admit that, though you may not understand why, you made your decisions with the best intent.”

While Carrot Top dispensed some much needed wisdom, Lyra leaned over and whispered to Trixie. “Sparkle’s got guts, I’ll give her that.”

Trixie rolled her eyes and quietly responded, “Try fighting a universe destroying monster with her.”

Lyra looked less confused and more put out with Trixie’s point. “That doesn’t really refute my observation.”

“No, I mean she’s annoying.” Trixie said plainly.

Meanwhile Carrot Top’s points seemed to have hit home “… so say it.”

Cheerilee had taken on a much sweeter looking face than moments ago. Weather it was cause or effect concerning her foals, she was very good at having an unparalleled kindness to her voice at times. “I’m sorry Sparkle.”

“I’m sorry too, Cheerilee.” Twilight said sheepishly. It was hard to make any assumptions about this, but it seemed as though she hadn’t shared too many moments like this and almost didn’t know how to act.

The moment didn’t linger very long though before Trixie hopped to her hooves and with a look of continuing her night, “So on that note of forgiveness for all, Cheerilee, it’s your turn to tell a story.”

“On what grounds?” Cheerilee tilted her head.

Trixie plopped back down on her flanks and reached for her bourbon bottle. “I want you mentally occupied for our safety.” She said while taking a long draft off the bottle.

Cheerilee resumed her seat and thought for a moment. Suddenly it came to her and she knew exactly what she should tell at Trixie’s campfire. So she leaned forward and began to speak.

“It was a dark and spooky night. Three colts were sitting around a campfire. Bill turned to Jed and asked him to tell a scary story, so he leaned forward and began to speak. “It was a dark and spooky night. Three colts were sitting around a campfire. Bill turned to Jed and asked him to tell a scary story, so he leaned forward and began to speak. “It was a dark and spooky night. Three colts were sitting around a campfire. Bill turned to Jed and asked him to tell a scary story, so he leaned forward and began to speak. “It was a dark and spooky night. Three colts were sitting around a campfire. Bill turned to Jed and asked him to tell a scary story, so he leaned forward and began to speak.””””

“Cheerilee!!” Trixie screeched much to the enjoyment of everypony there.

Cheerilee took her amusement in Trixie’s annoyance. “Sorry, Trixie. My class always loves that one though.” After taking a second longer to appreciate the look on Trixie’s face, she started her story.

“There once was a mare who had a troubled past she could never stop thinking about. While she had managed to put it behind her and make a new life for herself, she knew it was only a matter of time before it caught up with her. It so happens that her fears came back one night when she started her normal shift waiting tables at the bar. Lingering in the back corner table was a slender colt that stood head taller than her, with a charcoal colored coat and hollow look in his gaze that met hers immediately. Intimidating though he was, she didn’t let that stifle her courage as she pretended nothing was the matter and went about her job. “Greetings, and welcome to En Hallo. He didn’t respond, he just stared at her, unblinking. There he sat, watching, and he returned night after night, acting the same.

“She watched him out of the corner of her eye over the next few nights. Ponies sometimes joined him at his table, but he never responded to them nor broke his stare at her. After this had gone on about a month, she decided she was going to confront him. Respectfully as she could muster, she inquired as to why he’s here. Knocking her back, he charged her and emitted a scream that shook her to her core. Legs buckling and hooves to her ears, she withstood it for what seemed to be an eternity till, for whatever his reason, he stopped. Examining her for just a second with a look of anger in his eyes, he vanished.
“That had to just all be in her head, otherwise how did nopony else respond to that just now? Allowing herself a moment to compose herself, she strolled back to the bar. Keeping her cool, she removed her apron and called to her boss as she headed for the door. ‘Excuse me sir, but I’m not feeling well.’

“As she was exiting, a sharply dressed colt passing by the front of the bar called out to her.

“’Hey miss, why were you in that building?’

‘I’m a waitress here at En Hallo.’

“Kindly as he could, he put his hoof around her.

“‘En Hallo burned down a month ago.’”

Silence permeated the group in a way that almost weighed down on them. Trixie seemed genuinely pleased while Lyra’s eyes were as big as saucers. Carrot Top was visibly trembling but.. Twilight looked occupied with something she was thinking about.

Finally Carrot Top broke the silence with much adulation. “Cheerilee that was amazing! That was like something from one of those old thriller novels!”
Cheerilee seemed extraordinarily pleased with herself and thanked Carrot Top before turning to Trixie, “Is that good enough for your little campfire?”

“I suppose it was decent..” Trixie quietly half conceeded. She had no intention of letting Cheerilee know she approved too much. Otherwise she might have this thrown in her face during a future debate.

Everypony then looked to Twilight who still seemed to be trying to line something up in her head before a smug look covered her face. “Yeah, I thought it was really good. But I especially liked the sentence structure..”

Everypony had a look of total confusion on their face except Cheerilee, who had just taken on the guiltiest smile anypony had ever seen her wear. “I couldn’t resist, Sparkle.”

A few more seconds of silence passed while everypony tried to read Twilight until she broke into a laugh as warm as that normal of Cheerilee. “That was pretty clever actually.”

The two shared a laugh for a moment and clearly had some mutual admiration for each other that had formed subtlety over the past few minutes.

“I really am sorry for what I said earlier Twilight.” An odd moment for Cheerilee to call her by her first name, though it didn’t seem worth considering.

“Me too, I respect you Cheerilee, I didn’t mean to imply I didn’t earlier. We may have made different choices but those differences are what make us stronger.” Twilight said joyfully.

The two shared a hug, while everypony else stared on in bewilderment.

Lyra joined in their laugh. “Well I have no idea what just happened, but I’m glad they’re getting along now.”

“I love a happy ending.” Carrot Top said while wiping away a tear.

“UGH!! You’re all ruining my night!!” Trixie whined.

Author's Note

I've tried to make Twilight and Cheerilee's fight at the beginning seem like a slow escalation brought on by Twilight's insistence on what she perceives as right and the idea that nobody should ever carry incorrect ideas. If it seems like either one was mean without provocation, that was not my intent. They are still friends, and sometimes friends disagree with each other on life choices. I specifically had Lyra and Trixie's early conversations about Lyra's music career in mind.

Concerning Cheerilee's story. Twilight was talking about having pulled the first letter from every sentence. I tried to make the story misleading as to what was going on, but also vague as to what really happened. Since its a story within a story, I wanted it to be fun and I want everyone who reads it to come away with a different interpretation.

Concerning Cheerilee's first 'story'. My friends happen to be extraordinarily like Lyra, Cheerilee and Twilight. And one of them has told that "Dark and spooky night" story to annoy people since we were kids. So I had to put it in there for them.

5. Physics of PonyHell (Twilight)

“So wait, if the place was burned down the entire time, why was only that one pony haunting her.” Lyra stopped her friend.

Cheerilee wasn't slowed at all by Lyra's reasoning. “It's based on the listener, Lyra. It doesn't have a firm, hard and set reason. But I would presume that maybe she was personally responsible for him not making it out.”

"I thought that he was just the embodiment of her guilt." Carrot Top chimed in.

"Maybe, but I don't think it all fit its genre very well. Whatever that would be." Lyra refused to concede on this one.

“It definitely had some foundational psychological thriller elements to it” Twilight volunteered. She had perked up when it was being told. Something about that type of story had engaged her to some degree.

“Thank you Twilight! See Lyra, that's two against one. Everypony here loves my story.”

Lyra scoffed at one of her oldest and dearest friends. She had no particular issues telling it like it was to Cheerilee. “Well Trixie seems to be the official dictator of the night, why don't you ask her.”

Cheerilee hesitated, but she turned and looked to Trixie for her opinion.

“Next!” Declared Trixie without missing a beat. She had, as Lyra suggested, unofficially designated herself the leader of the other four mares sitting at the campfire .

It was well past dark by this point. The autumn air seemed to not pass around them, but completely through them as if they weren't even there. The leaves were dancing overhead as if it were the Grand Galloping Gala. Without all the political intrigue of course.

“Anypony care for a refill?” Lyra asked the group. Everypony passed except Twilight who levitated her glass over. They both shared an joke between themselves concerning this as Twilight considered how the night had gone. She wouldn't have seen any of this happening had anypony asked her ahead of time. However she was really enjoying herself. She'd bonded with Carrot Top over Botany. She'd already developed an inside joke with Lyra. The last major development was she and Cheerilee had fought and then forgiven each other. And while she couldn't speak for Cheerilee, she did feel closer after the fight than before. Certainly an odd concept. Maybe there was a lot she didn't understand about friendship.

Trixie turned to Twilight, who was secretly enjoying Trixie's bourbon, and goaded her on “Come on Sparkle, now that you've got your confidence juice, it's your turn.”

“Shouldn't you go, miss queen of the campfire?” Twilight responded. It was hard to tell if this was her normal antagonistic dialogue with Trixie or if the bourbon was rebelling against its old master.

“I've told you all, I'm going last. We have to end the night on a high note.” Trixie said with her normal flair, you could almost feel the phrase 'great and powerful' floating in the air. “Plus you love to lecture everypony.”

“It's not lecturing, Trixie, it's a story!.. And I do not!” Twilight said with a huff, although she did love to have the floor. That much was true.

Carrot Top nudged her, “Come on Sparkle, show Trixie up and tell us a great story!”

Twilight didn't need any encouragement. She looked excitedly at the group, cleared her throat as though beginning a lecture, and began her lecture.. I mean story.

“What happens to us after we die?

We bury you and the atoms that make up your body return to the ground. But these are no more you than every other atom that has ever been through your body. You're just the random right combination of atoms, and when they're just right, you are you.

Now statistics tells us this is nearly impossible for the right atoms to randomly fall in the correct order to make you. Except the universe is going to last forever. And in view of those circumstances, it doesn’t matter if something will only happen once in quadrillion trillion years. Assuming an infinite amount of time, it will not only happen once. It will, in fact, happen an infinite number of times.

So in practice what this means is that one day, you will be laying on your deathbed, all of your teary-eyed grandfillies around you, and you will close your eyes for the last time. Only you will open them again, your body haven been reassembled by chance an arbitrary number of years later.

But theres's the hook! A trillion years from now, every single star in the universe will have gone out. All of the galaxies will have been ripped apart by the inexorable, unstoppable expansion of the universe. The only thing that will be left will be darkness and almost absolute cold. And it is this, and only this, to which you will one day be reborn.

So you'll close your eyes for what you think is the last time, only to open them up again in the middle of a sea of total darkness and absolute cold; not even so much as any air to breathe. You will feel all of your blood vessels exploding from the pressure—your lungs will collapse from the lack of air, and you will die in absolute agony.

Only to open your eyes again in the middle of a sea of total darkness and absolute cold, without even so much as any air to breathe.
Over and over again.

...Forever!!”

Silence pervaded the group for quite a while. Nothing but the crackle of the fire and the occasional pop or snap of a jumping spark. Until, in almost some sort of collective consciousness that formed in the group in response to Sparkle's presence, everypony burst into laughter.

Sparkle looked absolutely confused till Trixie mustered the strength to speak while holding her sides. “Only you would find some idea like that scary Sparkle!”

“That's not just some idea, Trixie! I found that in the forbidden theoretical section during my old library hopping days.”

“The forbidden section? So you knew it was so boring, they locked it away, and yet you told it anyway?” Trixie elbowed Sparkle, although clearly of the two, only Trixie was amused.

Carrot Top put on an understanding face and tried to the best of her abilities to comfort her, “I thought it was pretty good, Trixie! I really liked her main, idea!” she failed.

Lyra chuckled at Carrot Top's third exact response of the night. “CT, you've said that verbatim about every story tonight.”

Carrot Top simply smiled at the observation, she wasn't going to put down a pony who was giving a concentrated effort! After all, it was scary to them, what more could she ask from them. “Well Sparkle took the time to think of something she really thought would scare us. Plus, it's an absolute perfect story to drink and think about.”

“More drinking is the only thing that could've saved that story, Carrot Top.” Trixie sang out from across the fire. Though her words didn't carry it, her tone did. It was obvious at this point that she was giving Twilight trouble. At first Sparkle was miffed, but she thought back to their conversation earlier and smiled to herself. She really was making friends with everypony, and despite the annoyance, she was having fun.

She decided to play along and defend her theory,“Don't be daft Trixie, that was much better than anypony else's story!”

“Your right Sparkle, that was better than my story. I didn't get nearly this great of a reaction out of everypony.” Cheerilee threw out with the sort of support and kindness a teacher would muster for her students when they were being harassed by the class. Nobody wanted to push too many of Sparkle's buttons and they couldn't read her tone to know for certain they hadn't already.

Sparkle smiled though. She had a look on her face that told she had thought of the perfect response to put everypony in their place. But to deliver it she quickly took on a solemn look, closed her eyes, and with her muzzle raised just high enough in the air to convey her attitude she stated, “I should have known that would've been over all your heads though. I bet none of you have ever studied metaphysics, if you've even heard of it at all.”

“Yes, we had to study it briefly in the music program, Little Miss Know-It-All” Lyra chuckled, as she played along with Sparkle's faux arrogance.

“Then you should have found that horrifying!” Sparkle joked back, though an undertone of surprise was heard in her voice. She probably had about as much respect for Lyra's profession as Trixie used to, but was certainly more tactful about it.

Lyra simply smiled as she leaned over and tapped Sparkle's glass with her hoof, “Or perhaps you've had too much of Trixie's Bourbon?”

The smile dropped from Trixie's face. “..You drank my Bourbon..?”

Cheerilee broke the silence, “See, now that's the cornerstone of true horror.” She giggled as she swiftly reached into her bag, pulled out an extra bottle and tossed it to Trixie. “Oh calm down, Berry contributed some extra for our night. Besides Mister Bourbon can see other ponies besides you all the time, Trixie.”

Trixie hugged her new bottle “You simply don't understand, Cheerilee. Monsiour Bourbon and I are strictly monogamous.”

Author's Note

I wish I could claim credit for Sparkle's theory, but alas its simply a creepypasta I stumbled across. It seems like the kind of thing she would take very seriously though so I threw it in.

Here's the original Theory.

Also, for those of you who's inner nerd loves stuff along these lines. This story is pretty amusing.

6. A Nightmare Carol (Carrot Top)

While another round of drinks had been properly poured the conversation passed on for awhile. Twilight had told the history and process of making Whisky, which surprisingly everypony was very interested in. This especially struck Trixie who had gotten that crazy look in her eye. She clearly envisioned herself and Sparkle being able to manufacture unlimited amounts of bourbon. Her mood faltered when she heard how long the whiskey has to sit though.

“Yeah.. I'm not that patient, I need my bourbon within at least three hours of getting any paperwork related to Rainbow Dash.” Trixie spoke as she quickly let her dream die.

Sparkle nodded slowly at Trixie and then promptly ignored her, “Hey Carrot Top, you haven't told a story yet!.” She was trying her best to include everypony.

“Mmhmm, and I was doing a good job until you pointed it out.” Carrot Top responded flatly

Friendship is complicated.

“Oh come on Carrot Top!” Cheerilee nudged her friend, “Everypony else.. Except Trixie.. has told a story.” Cheerlee said as she shot a sideways glance at Trixie.

“I've told you guys over and over, I'm going last! Haven't you ever heard the adages, best for last. Last but not least. First come first served. Don’t let the cat out of the bag. Adding fuel to fire. Strike while the iron is hot....” Trixie continued with no particular direction, though her eyes did keep wondering back to the fire..

“Well Trixie has had enough,” Lyra managed to say to the group whilst simultaneously looking only at Trixie.

“Shut up, you're ruining Carrot Top's story.” Trixie fussed back.

Sparkle attempted to help her friend as she leaned over and whispered, “Uh.. Trixie, she hasn't started yet.”

“Shh, I knew that.” Trixie yelled back probably louder than intended.

Carrot Top glanced at everypony, she seemed almost lost. “I don't really know any stories you girls would find scary. I've been thinking all night and nothing has come to mind.”

Cheerilee offered her help, once again the teacher in her shown through. “Well hasn't there ever been a story that particularly shook you? Maybe you could just bring that out and share it with us.” Everypony nodded and Carrot Top gathered herself.

“Well there was this one story from when I was a filly..” Nopony spoke so Carrot Top took it as her cue to continue. She took a deep breath and steadied herself.

“Once upon a time there was a mean pony. He always thought only of himself and never gave to anyone. He was hopelessly selfish. We'll call him Trixor,”

“Hey!!”

“Hush Trixie!!”

“One day Trixor came into his workplace.. He's the boss, did I mention that? Yeah, so he's getting ready to leave work only to read his last memo of the day. It's from his best employee, a selfless colt who always does his best to give everything he has for the benefit of others. We'll call him Cody Thomas. Well Trixor reads the note and it says that Cody is asking for time off. Cody has never once asked for a day off, but Trixor gets angry nonetheless. Scary angry! He walks out and smashes the flower pot on Cody's desk. “Cody!” he yells, “You want tomorrow off?” “If quite convenient, Sir” The polite and respectful Cody responds. “You want a day's wages for no work?” The ridiculous Trixor asked, albeit rhetorically. “Well it is only once a year sir.” The encouragable and brave Cody stood up to his boss. “A poor excuse for picking a man's pocket every... year... on this.. the day of Nightmare Night!! OOOooo!” Trixor said as he headed for the door. “I don't see how that's relevant since Nightmare Night isn't an officially recognized Equestrian business holiday sir. Also the noise and waving of your hooves seemed inappropriate” The industrious and honorable Cody pointed out to his cruel boss. “Quiet Cody!! But I suppose you must have the whole day. Cursed paid vacations.. Be here all the earlier next morning!” Trixor yelled as he slammed the door behind him.

“That night Trixor ate dinner alone because no pony loved him and he'll probably die alone. Anyway, his old work partner comes swooping in!! Oh and he's dead, so this is a ghost, keep that in mind. His friend comes sweeping in, “Trixor!! I've come to haunt you cause your miserable and mean and ask WAY too much from Cody.” and then he shook his chains nd then the walls started to ooze green slime!!..”

“Alright, Carrot Top. We're satisfied, you can stop.” Cheerilee cut her off.

“So the atmosphere is good? I can move on to the next part?” Carrot Top beamed. She was clearly pleased with the sufficiency of horror in her story. While everyone did share her smile, it wasn't for the same reason.

“No, I mean stop the story. You've successfully wobbled out of control attempting to make this tale scary. Quite an uphill battle considering that it's a Hearth's Warming Eve story.” Cheerilee barely finished before slowly breaking out into laughter.

“Oh..” Carrot Top's smile dropped but only for a second before she went on, “But that story IS scary! I couldn't sleep at all the first time I heard it!”

“Did you also happen to hear it ON Hearth's Warming Eve? Because no filly sleeps on Hearth's Warming Eve.” Trixie added without the eye roll she so badly wanted to include, but quickly reassured her friend, “You are the element of generosity though, it makes sense you would have been deeply disturbed by that story. Especially since that's the lesson of it and it was really well written.”

Carrot Top laughed, “Oh yeah, I suppose that's true. I never thought of that.” She furrowed her brow and continued, “Scary stories are hard to come up with though. That story scared me half to death but fear is so subjective.”

Lyra nodded, “It's kind of like music, there just isn't a perfect good.”

Sparkle looked over at Lyra and added her two cents, “Aristrotle's teacher Polo might have some strong feelings about that statement.”

They all stared at Sparkle.

“Polo's 'The Form of the Good'?”

Unspoken between them was an understanding that this was the best way to respond to her. And as a bonus, the lack of debate clearly drove her nuts. By this point they'd even gotten the timing down too.

5, 4, 3, 2...

“UGH!! Fine! I'll hush!” Sparkle groaned on cue, though it was obvious her annoyance was more for show than anything else.

“Anyway” Lyra continued, unphased by Sparkles interruption, “Don't worry about it, I'm sure you'll think of a great scary story before next time.”

Carrot Top grinned, “Actually, I already thought of one. It's about this horrible green monster with a head that's not screwed on right that lives just outside of a village, who sneaks into their houses one night..”

Trixie patted her friend on the withers with a smile. “Hold onto it for next year, Carrot Top..”

Author's Note

I pulled up A Christmas Carol side by side with my sheet when I was writing Carrot Top's story. I wanted it to be as close to the intro as was allowable given the focus constraint. Many of the lines come straight from the original story though.