How the Foundation Ruined Nightmare Night

Chapters

1 - A Simple Request
3 - Jack o' Luna
4 - Cinnamon Coating
5 - It Could Be Worse
2 - Jack o' Lanterns and Gingerbread Ponies

1 - A Simple Request

"Testing chamber is clear?"

"Confirming testing chamber is clear."

"Right, then. MP field looks stable...readings good...aaand away we go."

Above an isolated pedestal a large, metallic device descended from the ceiling. Bulbous and covered in spheres of multi-colored fluids, it arced with flitting streams of purple and blue magical energy. A great cacophony of noise filled the otherwise pristine, featureless white room, muted by the thick, reinforced glass that allowed viewing from the control center.

"Primary mixing in three...two...one."

The machine whirred and clanked as streams of different-colored fluids were mixed in precise amounts in a central sphere. The rainbow of colors mixed and flowed for a moment before being spun into a solid, burgundy-colored fluid.

"Mixing complete. Preparing to administer fluid."

As the great machine roared even louder, a single drop made its way from the metallic tip, gathering so slowly as to almost be painful to watch. Finally, it coalesced into a droplet, and promptly fell the six inches between the machine and the subject.

"Fluid administered. Retracting catalyst."

The commotion shut off all at once, leaving behind a deafening silence as the machine retracted into the ceiling. Two panels closed behind it, leaving behind no trace of the device ever having existed in the first place.

For a long moment, nothing happened. The observers eyed each other, unsure if all their planning and preparation had been for naught. Then, slowly, their tiny subjects began to glow a soft, ethereal blue. They flickered with pseudo-motion, their glow becoming brighter and brighter, before finally fading to nothingness. All hints of change gone, the observers wearily stepped into the test chamber.

"Please let the record indicate that Test Subject Sierra Two-Zero-Six has been fully exposed to the compound, and appears to have undergone an unknown mutation. I will now approach Two-Zero-Six and attempt to test its viability."

Slowly, carefully, the lead researcher stepped over to the pedestal and, with a brief flaring of magic, levitated one of the subjects into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, determined to put the experience into words.

"Initial findings are promising...pleasant mouth-feel, sugary but with a fair amount of texture. Base flavor appears to be...chocolate. Dark chocolate, judging by the slightly bitter flavor. Preliminary results should be--wait, flavor is changing. Initial sweetness is giving way to something decidedly more earthy. Mixture of flavors is not particularly pleasant. Chocolate flavor has now faded almost entirely. Secondary flavor seems to be...to be..." He stopped chewing, his eyes going wide. "...parmesan?!"

Beside him, his assistant burst into laughter. "Chocolate and parmesan-flavored candy corn! Now there's a winning formula!"

Dr. Willow Wisp spit out the vile concoction of flavors into a napkin, making a sour face at the lingering aftertaste and gritty bits that were left behind. "Blech. I despise parmesan." He was not nearly as amused as his counterpart. "I'm glad I could entertain you, Dr. Bramble. At least somepony is entertained by our repeated failures."

Bramble, Dr. Wisp's long-time assistant, simply chuckled. "Eh, what's science without a little failure every now and then?"

Willow simply lifted an eyebrow. "Were it simply 'every now and then' I would not have to adopt a mood to match the taste of chocolate-covered cheese crumbles." He motioned up at the ever-present camera in the corner. "That's the fifth experiment this week!"

"Oh come on, Willow. You say that like they were disasters."

"The last experiment bloody exploded!" Dr. Willow shouted, waving a hoof in the air for emphasis.

"Hey, that quiche had it comin'. Just sayin'."

"And then Dr. Flask's egg salad sandwich became haunted! HAUNTED!" From a few doors down he heard a voice that was still trying to do its best to sound scary.

"WoooOOOoo, I'm a GHOOOOOOOST!" it repeated to everyone who passed by.

"I thought they were supposed to throw that garbage out yesterday."

"I still say you shoulda let me eat it," Bramble quipped.

"Let's just...take a break, shall we? I dare say I'm slowly being driven daft by my environment." The white contours of Willow Wisp's lab jacket stood in sharp contrast to his orange coat and brown mane. One of the researchers from another laboratory had joked that he was one color away from being candy corn himself. That researcher had ended up having a mysterious accident involving a voice-changing formula.

Willow waited for his assistant and oft-begrudged friend to take his leave -- fighting back the urge to gag as the bag of mutated candy was swept off the pedestal and into a waiting hoof -- and stepped out of Test Chamber Six into the main hallway. "Fourteen years in the Foundation, and here I am chewing on cheese-flavored confectioneries," he grumbled. "Countless hours of dedication and study at work..."

"Cheer up, Willow!" Bramble's voice interrupted, hi cheery demeanor decidedly grating to Willow's ears. "Look on the bright side: you could be down in the dregs with those poor bastards who are trying to come up with a way to make tree bark into something edible."

Dr. Wisp rolled his eyes. "Yes, forest smoothies . Truly the next frontier of science." He watched in morbid fascination as his partner popped a trio of off-flavored candy corn into his mouth. "I can't believe you're actually eating those things. Disgusting."

"Eh," the other shrugged, "I've had worse."

"I'm sure."

A few years younger than his vitriolic best friend, Bramble was an enthusiastic earth pony with a cream-colored coat and two-tone orange mane who had a decidedly more optimistic outlook most of the time. Depending on the situation, it could be a curse or a blessing, especially when Willow was involved.

A pair of researchers passed by with polite nods, the purple badges hanging from their lab coats identifying them as Telekinetic specialists. Wisp waited until they were out of earshot to continue. "We have twenty-four hours. Twenty-four. Imagine the humiliation if we fail to deliver Princess Luna's requirements! Nightmare Night is her holiday!"

Bramble attempted to reason with his colleague, listing off the accomplishments they'd successfully created so far. "It's not all doom and gloom, you know. We finished that jack o' lantern project, and very successfully at that."

"Right. Even managed to get it to sing," Wisp replied with a small smile.

"Exactly. And then there's the manticore stuffed animals, the flowing night cloak, the glowing vampire teeth...uh, not counting the ones that thought they were actual vampires and tried to bite us. Thankfully rounded plastic isn't very good at puncturing skin. Really, all we have left is this damn candy corn. Though I gotta admit, I'm curious as to why Luna wanted such a thing in the first place."

"Because nopony likes regular candy corn," Dr. Wisp answered.

"I do..."

"Yes, well, you also appear to like cheese covered in bitter chocolate, so your culinary tastes are effectively null and void. Besides, far be it from us to question why the princess wants what she wants. This is her one night of the year to really interact with the young ones. Make some scares, have some laughs, that sort of thing." He reached up and adjusted the small, circular glasses resting on his nose. "Even something as...trivial...as different-flavored candy can potentially be a stepping stone up to the higher levels of the Foundation. Dr. Beaker started out in Testing and moved up to Arcane Research, for example. Let us not forget that."

"Mmhmm." Bramble shook the nearly-empty bag, tossing it into a waste bin on their way to the staff lounge. "S'pose you're right. Assuming we get this candy thing right, what then?"

"Then, my friend, we simply need to find a suitable mascot for tomorrow night's events. A bit of magic here, an animate spell there, and Robert's your mother's brother." He chuckled to himself, though the joke was lost on his colleague. "Ahem. Right. Griffon joke." A keycard levitated from his labcoat pocket in a shimmering field of orange energy and was swiped through the scanner. It beeped with a pleasant tone and a green light. "I fear we may be burning the proverbial midnight oil at this rate. Even if we do finish, Miss Melody in Elemental Binding has a rather large piece of kit she needs help assembling. Celestia knows how long that will take."

Bramble patted his friend on the back reassuringly. "One thing at a time, Willow. Luna will get her fancy toys, don't you worry."

***

Seven floors below, in the containment and storage section of the sprawling Foundation for Spellcraft and Alchemy building, a single, jolly jack o' lantern bounced around its containment room, given life by an animation potion in the early hours of the previous day. It sang to itself as it thumped off the walls, unaware of its eventual purpose as part of Luna's Nightmare Night celebration.

Outside the small room, Junior Researcher Starshine considered the clipboard attached to the wall. She leafed through it, amused by the bounding pumpkin.

"Hmm...Test Subject Sierra 201. Animated jack o' lantern." She smirked at the hastily scrawled addendum added below the official line that read 'Happy Lantern'. "Happy Lantern, hmm? Those colts in Testing, I swear." The living pumpkin bounced off the one-way mirror, briefly giving her a scare. "I really need to get more sleep. Right, let's see here...subject is considered safe and only quasi-sentient. Shows attraction to other Nightmare Night-themed objects and will attempt to bounce around said objects until distracted or removed. Cleared for royal request form B-1443-2, 'Nightmare Night Attraction'. Interesting."

Through the thick window she could hear muffled singing, but the words were difficult to make out. Even still, she found it oddly alluring. "Well, I guess if it's good enough for Luna, it's good enough for us." In the back of her mind she began to consider tossing in a bucket of candy and seeing what would happen, but decided against it. "Leave testing to the testers," she thought to herself.

Still...that pumpkin sounded so joyful. She couldn't quite put her hoof on it, but it was there. With more than little apprehension she edged toward the entrance door, a bowl of hard candy held against her chest. "Nopony wants anything that isn't chocolate anyway..." She could toss the bowl in. Just to see what happens. For science.

The containment door swooshed open as she pressed the button on the wall. The bouncing jack o' lantern paid her no attention, even when it bumped into her. It just kept moving, kept singing, only now she could definitely make out the words.

If you should go out on Nightmare Night, you're in for a scare, you're in for a fright...

She slowly stepped into the center of the room, toward a small depression in the floor. As she set down the bowl she was struck by what felt like a huge revelation -- there was no reason to be worried. After all, the clipboard had said the subject was safe, right?

The darkness is moving all around, shadows are creeping across the ground...

"I...I know that song! We used to sing it in Talent School!" She turned toward the pumpkin, watching it bounce all around her. "You know the whole song?"

Nightmare Night, come one, come all...

"Well aren't you a funny little fellow? I think Testing have really outdone themselves this time. Do you want some candy?" She smiled brightly as the happy little pumpkin proceeded to flip over the bowl, snatching every piece of candy from the air in its mouth. She clopped her hooves together with joy, wishing more than anything that she could take it home with her, if only for the night. Princess Luna could have it tomorrow!

"Excuse me, little pumpkin," she said as if speaking to a child, "how would you like to get out of this dreary little room, hmm? Maybe you and I can prepare some little candy bags for the fillies! Oh, it would be so much fun!"

For a moment the jack o' lantern did nothing. For the first time it stopped bouncing and singing, stopping to stare at her with big, triangle eyes and a carved smile.

"That's right! Come on, let's get you out of here. Oh, but where am I going to hide you? Hmmm..." She looked around the containment level, tossing aside empty trash bins and stacks of papers. She didn't just want to find a way to get that adorable little thing home, she needed to find a way. It almost didn't feel real, like watching herself from the outside.

"Now, where could I--oh!" She turned around with a start, surprised to find the jack o' lantern latched on to her flank with its funny-feeling mouth. "That's my cutie mark, I'll have you know. Perhaps it should have been a feisty pumpkin instead of a silly falling star. Come on, off you go."

Once it plopped to the floor it immediately began to sing again, circling her as she finally found a way to sneak it out: a pillowcase from a storage closet. If she could tuck it under a blanket, and just say she was pulling an all-nighter...

"Perfect! Now, if we do this, I could be in a lot of trouble if they find out. So I need you to stay quiet until we've left the facility. Understood?" A part of her rejected the entire idea, arguing that it was more trouble than it was worth. Was this little bit of magical entertainment really worth her job?

"Oh...oh dear, perhaps I shouldn't...this might be--" Abruptly the pumpkin changed songs, singing in a slower, deeper tone.

The dark of night, it calls to me...

Suddenly, things became clear: Of course it was worth the risk. How could she live without such a wonderful creature in her life? She could have so much fun with it! Just as quickly as it had started, the song stopped. But now she understood why -- she needed to finish the song. The little test subject quietly jumped into her open pillowcase, not making a sound or a single movement as Starshine continued the song she hadn't heard since she was a school filly, but somehow knew every word to.

"...when shrouded sun, will ebb and flow..."

Sliding her keycard through the security door, she trotted down the empty hallway with a singular purpose.

"...embrace of shadows, set us free..."

She didn't notice the swirling, colorful drops of liquid that slowly began to absorb into her skin. As she rode the elevator to the main level, she thought only of sharing her new friend with her family. They would love it as much as she did. She just knew it.

"...night eternal, we will know..."

3 - Jack o' Luna

Bridle Falls was a panicking mess. Everywhere they looked, Willow and Bramble saw groups of pumpkins bouncing after unfortunate townsfolk, or scarfing down piles of candy, or swimming in the apple bobbing tubs. Their victims turned into more pumpkins in flashes of light and the sound of strangely joyful songs. Then there was the slight issue of an enormous, living holiday cookie smashing through buildings and chasing costumed ponies. Salvation seemed to finally be at hoof, though, as Princess Luna descended from the sky in her carriage, looking for all the world like Nightmare Moon.

"Come on, Willow, we can explain things once she's touched down!"

Willow wasn't sure if Luna had a dungeon, but he pictured himself being thrown into it regardless. "I do hope you know what you're doing!" he shouted as he ran alongside his partner. "Frantic ponies who run at royalty tend to end up with rather unattractive stab wounds!" Part of a storefront collapsed in front of them, showering the road with furniture and writing supplies. Willow jumped over a stray rocking chair and kept going. "Where in the bloody hell is this thing?! I wouldn't imagine a four-story-tall beast would be particularly adept at hiding!"

"Hell if I know," Bramble answered between breaths, "but if it wants to stay gone I won't complain!"

"Fair enough!"

Off in the distance, Luna and her guards finally touched down. They seemed incredibly unaware of the danger surrounding them -- maybe they simply thought it a part of the festivities. The princess wasted no time in making a show of her arrival, with her bat-cloak and lightning making a grand display. Too bad everyone was busy running for their lives.

A deep, rumbling sound soon met their ears, followed by an echoing roar. When the gingerbread monster finally pushed its way out of the treeline, a small group of ponies ran past the two researchers. One of them recognized the Foundation badges and stopped.

"What...what is that thing?!" a unicorn mare shouted above the noise, pointing a hoof back toward the monster.

"My lunch," Bramble said plainly. "It's a long story."

"Your lunch?! This isn't the time for jokes!" She levitated a piece of broken armchair and ripped out the stuffing, then jammed the fluff into her ears. "Don't let those pumpkins sing to you! They're hypnotic or something!" With that, she ran off and disappeared behind a corner.

"Why do I have the feeling that particular problem started with the pumpkin we experimented on a few days ago..."

"Oh for...that damn thing wasn't even on the same level as the gingerbread pony! How did it get out? And for that matter, since when was it able to turn others into carbon copies of itself?!"

"I dunno, bud. One thing at a time!" The giant cookie creature was headed directly at Luna, with dozens of the happy pumpkins bouncing around and on top of it. Her guards were nowhere to be seen. They wouldn't just leave her like that, would they? His thoughts quickly shifted as a large group of jack o' lanterns threw themselves at Luna. One of them got lucky and bit down on her. She didn't appear hurt, just surprised, and quickly shoved the offending pumpkin off. Bramble hoped and prayed that she would be different, somehow -- maybe she was powerful enough to resist the effects of the pumpkin's bite! She was a living deity, after all. If anyone could turn things around, it would be --

"Aww, crap." Any hope of a quick end disappeared with a blinding flash. Willow and Bramble shielded their eyes from the light, and by the time they turned back Luna was gone. "So, uh, I think we just indirectly turned Princess Luna into a pumpkin."

Willow's face went pale. "Oh. Marvelous. I've always wondered what the stockades were like."

"Maybe we can help her. Somehow." The pair galloped at full speed to Luna's carriage, calling out to her, but it was worryingly quiet...with the exception of yelling ponies, singing, maniacal jack o' lanterns, and a huge cookie stomping around. "Princess Luna! Princess Luna! We're here to...oh." Bramble peered into the carriage. Peering back was a dark blue pumpkin wearing a small, black crown. Curiously, it still had Luna's flowing, ethereal mane and tail, along with her crescent moon cutie mark, albeit much smaller than usual. "Uhh...Your Highness?" It stared at them for a long moment. Bramble braced himself for it to come leaping at him.

"...Twelve-hundred years," it finally said, Luna's voice clearly sounding from its carved mouth. "That is how long I have been alive. And yet, I can say with absolute certainty that I have never been turned into a glorified squash." It -- she -- had a surprisingly expressive face for a pumpkin. At the moment, it was not a very pleased one. "One supposes there is a first time for everything."

Willow nervously fidgeted with his glasses. "Good evening, Princess. How...how are you feeling?" he asked with a feigned smile.

"I am a carved vegetable," she replied flatly. "What do you think?" She spun in place to look around, having to jump into the air to see over the side of the carriage. "It would seem I have managed to keep my mind intact, at least. Help me out of this carriage, citizens."

"Does this mean we can call you Jack o' Luna?" Bramble snickered.

"Only if you wish to not speak again for the rest of the night."

Bramble and Willow carefully lifted the transformed princess and placed her beside them. She only came up to their knees. "It is an honor to meet you, Princess Luna, despite our...less than ideal situation," Willow said. "Allow me to introduce ourselves. I am Dr. Willow Wisp, Test Lead for Lab Six, at the Foundation for Spellcraft and Alchemy. This is my associate, Dr. Bramble. It would seem there was a slight--"

"The Foundation," Luna interrupted, "was supposed to supply some simple items for tonight's festivities. Curious...I don't recall making a request for voracious pumpkins and building-destroying monstrosities." The gingerbread pony roared somewhere in the distance. "Am I to take it that said monstrosity was to be the night's mascot?"

Bramble chewed on his lip. "Sort of..."

"Wonderful. I would ask what happened to cause such a disaster, but for some reason I am more concerned with not being a pumpkin. Perhaps after things have been sorted out, we can have a discussion." Even with her big, triangular eye-holes, Bramble could feel her gaze boring into him. "A very long discussion."

Visions of iron bars and dungeon walls filled Willow's mind. Maybe, he thought, they would let him have two crusts of bread on good behavior.

Luna continued, "Never-the-less, it is fortunate you have stumbled upon myself and my former guards. I take it you have a way to reverse this unfortunate transformation?"

The pair looked at each other. "Sort of, Your Highness. It's only a theory, but it's the best we've got." When Luna didn't say anything, Willow carried on. "Without going into the details of the chemistry involved, we used a combination of extracts, chemicals and infusions to prepare the would-be mascot -- and other items you'd ordered -- for an Animate potion. A simple jolt of concentrated magical energy later, and you have a normal, everyday item that is suddenly 'alive', in a sense. It's not true life, or sentience, of course, but a close facsimi--"

"He means 'yes'," Bramble interrupted. "In theory, that swirly magical stuff should be able to reverse the effects of animation on the gingerbread pony, but it needs to be evenly distributed, and we just don't have enough of the formula to do so." Luna was less than thrilled to hear it. When she made her concerns known, Bramble was quick to clarify. "But, uh, that's not to say we can't fix it! If we can find a large enough water source, we can dilute the formula while still keeping it potent enough to reverse the effects."

"Ah, excellent," Luna said, sounding just a bit more confident. "How much water will you require?"

"Uhhh...about a thousand gallons?"

The confidence evaporated. "'Let us travel on Nightmare Night', I told my guards. 'It will be a night of...fun' I said. Perhaps next year I shall stay in the palace and join my sister in eating her own body weight in chocolate instead." She let out a sigh. "Assuming I still have control of my magical abilities, my good researchers, I am not sure they will be enough to lift such a large mass of water and contain it until it is needed. A test is in order. Do hold still." There was a chiming sound as Luna focused her magic, and midnight-blue energy swirled and sparkled around her festive form. She strained with effort as Bramble was wrapped in a blue aura. He began to protest at the strange, tingly feeling, but she ignored it and pushed on. "If I can just...lift this weight..."

Bramble began to giggle at the sensation. "Hey! That tickles! Cut it out!"

Willow conked him on the head with a hoof. "Need I remind you you're being levitated by royalty? Do try to behave as such."

'Levitated' would have been putting it generously. Instead of hovering over the ground at a great height, Bramble was just barely floating above it. He could even kick his hooves in the dirt. Then suddenly, just as fast as it appeared, the magical field vanished. Luna grumbled to herself at the failed test of her power, bouncing her transformed self up and down in frustration.

"Not since my return to Equestria have I felt so...useless. The power to move celestial bodies at a whim, to walk amongst the dreams of our subjects, all gone." Her voice raised until she was shouting, a physical wind billowing from her mouth. "And now we have been reduced to a living vegetable with BUT A FRACTION OF OUR PAST GLORIES! WHO, PRAY TELL, WOULD BOW BEFORE US NOW, ROBBED AND USELESS IN THYNE EYES BUT BEFORE THE PASSING OF--" She stopped in mid-sentence, seeming to catch herself. Luna waited a moment before clearing her throat and continuing at a normal volume. "Dr. Bramble, Dr. Willow," she said finally. Bramble had latched on to Willow's rear leg to keep from being blown away, his mane and tail swept back and shocked into a solid line of hair. He hurriedly tried to make himself presentable once he realized things were back to normal-ish.

"We...I...did not mean for such an outburst to occur. It is unbecoming of one such of myself to lose my temper in such a way, and indeed, improper for royalty to appear before her subjects when under such duress. For that, I must apologize."

Willow fixed his mane with a quick burst of magic, getting an annoyed mumble about 'fancy-ass unicorns' from Bramble in the process. "It's quite alright, Your Highness. Given your current situation, I would say you have more than enough justification. Goodness knows I wouldn't be nearly as in control as you are right now. Quite literally, given the state of the others who have been transformed." A small group of said townspumpkins bounced in the distance. "Speaking of which, even if we can solve the issue of the rampaging confectionery, there's still several hundred ponies that would prefer to not be jack o' lanterns anymore."

Bramble shrugged. "One thing at a time."

"Right. I suppose we'll be needing--" he glanced behind him and immediately shoved Bramble to the side. "Bramble, move!" Just as he did, a pumpkin with a thundercloud cutie mark flew past them, a silvery helmet hanging loosely from its top.

"Sir Stormfront?!" Luna shouted in surprise. It made another leap at the untransformed ponies, just barely missing Willow's side. "I demand you cease such actions at once!" Her guard-turned-gourd ignored her completely, of course. It attempted another leap at the pair before seeming to give up in frustration. And then it began to sing.

Immediately, Willow placed his hooves over his ears, as did Bramble. But something about the song compelled the latter to listen. He fought the urge, straining against his own body, struggling to keep the song out of his head. It was so familiar, somehow...

"Bramble!" Willow shouted. "Dr. Bramble, you must not listen!" It was no use -- Bramble had stopped in place, standing ramrod straight, as the singing jack o' lantern rolled toward him. "Oh, bugger it! My apologies, Princess!" With a flaring of magic and a pull of his hooves he ripped into the large cushions of Luna's carriage, yanking out a chunk of fluffy stuffing, and shoved it into Bramble's ears.

Which, unfortunately, left him unable to cover his own ears for the duration. He braced himself for the song to tug at him at any moment, to take control of his mind and body. The singing pumpkin noticed his lapse in defense and seemed to smile even wider as it made a short hop toward him.

And yet, oddly, he didn't feel any different. He didn't even attempt to cover his ears after a few seconds. If it was possible for a carved pumpkin to look frustrated, the one before him certainly fit the bill. Confounded by the song's lack of effect, the creature gave up and simply attempted to spring toward its victim. But Willow was ready this time."Right! That's enough out of you, you insufferable decoration!"

With a quick turn he faced away from the pumpkin, peering over his shoulder to keep it in sight, and cocked his hind legs in preparation. The creature was nearly on him, its mouth wide, when Willow thrust out his legs in a powerful buck that sent the pumpkin flying across the town and into the forest beyond.

"Sweet Celestia!" Bramble shouted in amazement, shaking his head as the song lost its effect on him. "Thanks for that. You sure you're not a farm pony with a horn glued to your face?"

"Drastic times call for drastic measures, my friend. It was the first thing to come to mind."

"An impressive display of physical prowess," Luna complimented, bouncing in place to get a better view of the town. The immediate area was clear, though bright flashes a few streets down made it clear that things were not going so well elsewhere.

"My apologies, Princess. I hope I did not hurt your guard."

"This form I find myself in is surprisingly pliable, I am sure he has endured without injury. Now, about this cure you're going to provide. And you will provide it."

"Of-of course! We can provide the necessary chemical treatment, but, as I've said, the small matter of a thousand gallons of water is going to be harder to come by."

Princess Luna looked thoughtful, at least for a jack o' lantern. "Forgive me, my good researchers, but Bridle Falls is named for its primary attraction, is it not? That will be our ready supply of water for your experiment." One day, she told herself, Equestria would go more than three or four months without some town-destroying creature or embodiment of chaos or ancient evil wreaking havoc. Today, it seemed, was not that day.

"A fine idea, Your Highness, but there is the small matter of carrying that water and dumping it on our giant friend. Given your rather, ah, limited magical powers at the moment, I'm not sure what we could do aside from hollowing out an entire building and dragging it out there."

"A fine idea! Hook yourself to the royal yoke and we shall begin," Luna replied, completely serious.

"I think that was a joke," Bramble added.

"Yes, well...forgive me if I am not in the mood for such things, seeing as how I remain a pumpkin."

The trio stood in awkward silence until Bramble spoke up. "So, uh...what if we don't bring the water to the cookie, but instead, bring the cookie to the water? You know, lure it out?"

"Cracking idea," Willow answered, stomping a hoof on the ground in approval. "Now how do we go about doing so?"

"Uhhh...I'm not sure. I didn't think that far."

"Of course. Well then, if nopony else had a better idea, I believe we should return to the Foundation complex. Perhaps between the three of us we'll find a solution."

***

Princess Luna had experienced many things in her life. There was the Great Dragon Migration of her youth, where the massive creatures had been so numerous as to blot out the sun as they passed overhead. There was the rise and fall of Discord, prior to his return and subsequent quasi-reform under the guidance of the yellow pegasus. There was the vast, dangerous expanse of the Everfree forest that she and Celestia had explored in great detail before her fall to darkness and banishment for a thousand years. There was even the time she had stepped into a field of Poison Joke and found herself controlling the sun in the middle of the night, much to her sister's surprise.

She had never, however, been transmogrified into a sentient vegetable. The experience of being jostled in a saddlebag of a citizen of Bridle Falls, unable to simply fly or teleport to her destination, was humiliating. At first the pony named Bramble had made jokes about the situation, but they'd quickly stopped after she'd reminded him that while Nightmare Night was temporary, her memory was eternal. And she was not in the forgiving mood just then.

The Foundation for Spellcraft and Alchemy was a deceptively large facility, a sprawling twenty-level complex built mostly into the ground. From the outside it was a simple, three-story building of concrete and brick, with a large shutter and two small entrance doors, watched over by a guardpony in a small booth -- which was currently empty -- and a series of cameras overlooking the site. Normally home to over two hundred hundred ponies -- and a few griffons, zebras and deer -- it currently resembled a ghost town deep within its sprawling, labyrinthine hallways. Orange warning lights flickered and flashed in the now dimly-lit hallways, the majority of the site's staff locked up safely in one of the half-dozen containment rooms that were impervious to all but the most determined threat.

"The conditions here are deplorable," Luna said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"I assure you, Your Highness, it is not usually full of rubble and broken office chairs, among other things." Willow Wisp trotted slightly ahead of Bramble and his passenger, who was tucked semi-comfortably into her saddlebag carrier. "Elevators will no-doubt still be down, so we'll have to take the stairs. If I may be so bold, we should start at our laboratory."

They carried on down the hallway and descended the six levels to the Animation wing. Nothing but the ever-present gaze of security cameras greeted them.

"Humor me, Sir Bramble, and tell me how, exactly, it was decided that a...gingerbread pony...would be the mascot for tonight's festivities."

Bramble rubbed his neck nervously. "Heh heh, uh, that's...that's actually a funny story."

"'Funny' is relative," Willow added.

"Hey, she didn't ask you." Bramble turned to look at the princess who hung at his side. "So, yeah, originally we had a more appropriate figure set up. It was this sort of scary tree. It looked pretty neat. So much so that I, um, might have...taken it...home...temporarily..."

"What was that, citizen? You will have to speak up, I am rather hard of hearing without any actual ears."

"I said I kinda took it home! Uh, Your Highness."

"...you took it home. You were aware that it was official property, correct?"

"Well--"

"And that it was to be used for my one night of the year when I get to celebrate with Equestria's citizens?"

"Yeah, but see--"

"And how, pray tell, was it decided that an appropriate replacement would be a Hearth's Warming confectionery? Please, help me see the leap of logic in such a decision."

Willow jumped in before Luna could banish Bramble to the dungeons for more than six or seven centuries. "I'm afraid logic played no real part in it, Princess Luna. We were panicked -- or rather, I was panicked -- and we needed a replacement post-haste. With our options rather limited it became a matter of necessity. Thus, one application of a magical concoction later, we had our new mascot. It was rather small back then, though it did not stay that way, obviously."

"He means it blew up like a freakin' balloon. Uh, pardon my manners, Princess."

"Indeed. As my colleague so elegantly put it, It did not take long for the creature to escape, grow exponentially in size and break its through cell, leading to our current situation . Our current, extremely unfortunate situation." Willow wondered if the dungeon would have a window to let sunlight in. Probably not. It was, after all, a dungeon.

"Curious. And what of the pumpkins?" Luna asked.

"Honestly, we're not sure. The first one was created by us, yes, but it was by no means a threat. In fact, it was rather charming. How it managed to escape its cell, nevermind change ponies into copies of itself, is beyond me." A blue light marked where their lab was, just down a hall and surprisingly intact considering what it had been through. As they trotted over they were accosted by a familiar, pseudo-ghostly voice still trying its hardest to sound intimidating.

"STOP." Luna commanded her escort. He did so immediately. Jumping on his back for a better view, Luna leaned over and stared into the metallic garbage can in fascination. "You there, creature: identify yourself to your Princess."

"I'm a ghooost!" it answered once more.

"You are not a ghost. You are what appears to be a slightly moldy egg salad sandwich."

"I'm a--"

"You are an expired food item. Cease your nonsense immediately or I shall be forced to alert the authorities."

Authorities? Bramble mouthed to his friend. Willow simply shrugged. Somehow, the haunted sandwich was silenced for the first time in three days. The two researchers didn't even ask.

"Curious. Your research appears to have created some rather odd subjects. I should I like to hear more about them in due time. For now, we must examine your laboratory."

Willow pulled the keycard from his lab coat pocket, sliding it through the sensor. It beeped pleasantly and flashed a green light before the automatic lock disengaged from the other side with a metallic 'clack'. Despite the mayhem, the lab was relatively untouched, save for a large crack lining the eastern wall where the rapidly-growing monstrosity had bashed its way out of the adjacent holding cell.

"Here we are, Princess. Home sweet home, so to speak. To your left is the mixing room, where we create the various potions needed to fulfill a purpose, and directly before you -- behind the shatter-proof glass, of course -- is the applicator itself. We call it 'The Beast', mostly because it amuses us."

"Humor can be hard to come by sometimes when you're pulling a sixteen hour shift," Bramble added.

"Quite so. Our dear machine is responsible for mixing the constituent formulas and potions created to your left. It does so far more safely and effectively than any of us could hope to. Usually."

"Usually?" Luna asked.

"Well, besides the whole 'destroyer of worlds' rampaging above."

The princess bounced over to the control panel, eyeing the knobs and switches. "This machine is quite interesting. Pray tell, is it portable?"

"I'm afraid not, Your Highness. The metallic bits you see here are just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. The actual assembly extends four rooms to either side and two stories up. The good news it that it still appears to be functional, so we can continue to create more of that serum that caused such an uproar in the first place. Doctor Bramble, if you would be so kind as to start the process?"

"Sure thing. How much ya reckon we'll need?"

"If my theory is correct, the potion will cause a reversal of the initial effects if it's applied judiciously enough. Given the creature's immense size, and the original application, I'd say we'll need roughly thirty-six ounces of the end product, which can then be dispersed equally in the previously discussed amount of water. Do you think you can do that, my friend?"

Bramble scratched his chin in thought. "I dunno...that's a lot of mixing. Do we even have enough snapvine extract or aether dust for all of that?"

"We should. If you need more you can always pilfer some from an adjacent lab. I'm sure they'd understand. On a related note, I believe the mixture should also cure the transformed citizens of Bridle Falls, provided we can, of course, get them to follow after us."

"If you say so. It's gonna take some time to make all this, though. With you mixin' and me churnin', or vice-versa, we're looking at twenty minutes at least."

Luna was not pleased, turning her gaze on the two researchers. "Twenty minutes. In ten minutes I am to be in Canterlot. In half an hour I am to be in Ponyville. Instead, I find myself a hapless gourd with a monstrous treat rampaging through the streets and my guards turning others into carbon copies of themselves. I trust you can see why time is of the essence."

"Absolutely, Princess," Willow answered quickly. "I promise you we shall have this taken care of in due time, but the process is delicate, and even with my extensive experience in creating said potion -- or many like it -- it will still take some time. At best, it will be fifteen minutes if everything goes to plan. At worst, it will result in all of us being broken down at the subatomic level and reduced to brightly-colored puddles of goo on the floor."

Bramble nodded. "And that would just be inconvenient for everyone."

"Yes, to say the least. Then all we have to worry about is transporting the concoction without spilling a drop, finding a way to lure the creature to the falls, and dispersing our payload in a manner that ensures proper distribution that also doesn't result in some horrific, unseen effect on the local environment." Willow gave a weak, half-despairing laugh, already feeling the metal bars around him. "So, let us begin, shall we?"

***

As it turned out, it only took ten minutes to mix the appropriate amount of potion and refine it into an elixir that could be safely transported in a glass jar. Unfortunately, it took fifteen extra minutes to wait for the mixing machine to slowly churn the various fluids in the proper amounts and methodically drip out the contents.

Princess Luna, it seemed, was not a patient mare at the best of times. Unable to do anything but watch and offer encouraging words and vaguely threatening ultimatums, the princess of the night had begun to think aloud about how she might go about remaining on schedule. Teleportation of herself and (hopefully) her soon-to-be-fixed guard cadre seemed ideal, though teleportation sickness was decidedly unpleasant for those who were not used to the intricacies of bending reality to your will. They would get over it. Probably. Perhaps the children would think it part of the game!

Bramble and Willow had both decided not to argue any ideas the princess had, lest they give her even more reasons to banish them to the moon once she was cured. If she was cured.

Now clear of the Foundation's main entrance, the trio set out on a mission to find the gigantic gingerbread pony and draw it to the falls. When Luna and Willow had failed to come up with a plausible solution, it was Bramble who had come to the rescue.

"Hear me out," he'd argued as they'd taken the long flights of stairs back to the entry level, "I know it sounds crazy and probably more than a little stupid, but what if...what if we coat ourselves in cinnamon? Huh? HUH? Come on, it's genius and you know it. And so simple, too."

"I'd love to know what brought about that idea," Willow had replied, more than a little skeptical.

"Baking! My dear ol' aunt, may Celestia -- uh, and Luna -- bless her, always says you shouldn't mix nutmeg and cinnamon when you're baking. The flavors don't mix except under specific circumstances. That got me to thinkin': our cookie friend smells like nutmeg, and since it's, you know...alive and stuff...maybe it's retained an intense hatred of cinnamon! So all we gotta do is coat ourselves in cinnamon, find the thing before it kills everyone, including us, dodge the evil jack o' lanterns, lure them all back to the falls, and get them to jump in the water without them devouring or crushing or polymorphing us! Admit it, you're impressed. I'm impressed, and I thought of it."

It had been a very long climb up far too many stairs before Willow had answered. "I'm relatively sure none of that makes any rational sense, in any dimension, under any circumstance, when spoken by anypony."

In an unexpected turn, it had been Luna who came to the rescue. "The earth pony has a plan, Sir Willow Wisp. You do not. Presently, neither do I. While I hesitate to truly call it a 'plan' in the traditional use of the word, it is the best we have given the current situation. We shall act upon Sir Bramble's idea with all due haste, lest we find ourselves wasting any further time."

And with that, the arguing ceased. Princess Luna's word was final, and although Willow thought the idea of a giant nutmeg-scented vampire cookie chasing a slightly chubby earth pony covered in cinnamon was hilarious by its own merits, he was forced to concede that he did not, in fact, have a better plan.

Thus, they had set out to Bridle Falls' finest bakery-slash-office supply shop, Cupcakes & Clipboards, to find as much cinnamon as they could get their hooves on. The odd combination store was surprisingly intact, although the open front door and baker's apron lying on the ground suggested the owner was now merrily bouncing around somewhere in the area, less concerned with brownies and pies and more concerned with biting flanks.

"A-ha!" Bramble exclaimed triumphantly, returning from an unlocked storage room with half a dozen bags labeled "CINNAMON". "See? I told ya it would be easy. And I only had to break, like, half a dozen fax machines and power mixers to find 'em. They've probably got insurance anyway."

"Oh, good. I was hoping to add 'destruction of property' to my list of offenses for the day. What now?"

"Now we find the thing and get its attention. Then I dump this stuff on myself and hope for the best."

"You're volunteering to act as bait? Are you sure?"

"What else would I do, make you do it instead? Come on, Willow, it's my idea. The responsibility for it falls on me."

"Well, I would say it would be a matter of 'asking me' rather than 'making me' in such a situation, but yes, I suppose so." Willow placed a foreleg around Bramble's neck. "I am simply concerned for your well-being, my friend. Are you sure you're up to this? We both know I move faster in a gallop than you, and speed may be of the essence."

"Eh, I could do with running off a pound or two anyway. Besides, you're the one with that fancy-ass magic. If we have to get the princess out of the immediate area you could always, I don't know, chuck her like a hoofball or something."

Luna jerked in his saddlebag. "I find it distressing that you speak of me as if I am not right here. There will be no princess-punting tonight! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Princess!" they answered as one.

"Good. Carry on, then."

Bramble reached up and unhooked one side of his saddlebag, then passed it -- and Luna -- to Willow. The unicorn fastened the straps so that his cargo would be secure and decently comfortable, then adjusted his glasses so they stayed snug against the bridge of his muzzle. "So, if you're going to be the bait, we need to discuss what will happen between finding the creature and drawing it to the falls."

"Besides running and screaming?" Bramble asked only half-jokingly.

"Yes, besides that."

"I believe I may be of some assistance." Luna jumped out of her carrier and landed on the floor with a thump. "Though my magic is reduced to a somewhat humiliating level, there are other aspects of royal power that may still be of some use. Sir Bramble, Sir Willow, if I may?"

4 - Cinnamon Coating

Finding an enormous Hearth's Warming treat the size of a building shouldn't have been difficult. Where does something like that begin to hide? In the town of Bridle Falls, the answer was apparently "wherever it wants". For nearly twenty minutes the trio had searched for it, wandering between partially crushed buildings and along the town's outskirts with not a single soul in sight. The entire town, it seemed, had been turned into sentient jack o' lanterns, with the mega-cookie as their leader of sorts. Where one went, the others followed.

It was mixed fortune, then, that they'd stumbled upon the first sign of it along a trail leading to the dark expanses of the Whitetail woods. Trees had been scattered and tossed aside like playthings, with large hoof steps on the ground marking where the creature had passed through. Alongside the large imprints, countless circular indentations showed where the gingerbread pony's pumpkin followers had bounded around it.

They found it at last in a clearing just outside of town. It was seated on its crumbly haunches, loudly tearing at a pile of cookie dough that was at least the size of three ponies with its faux-vampire fangs. Its back and head were covered in bouncing, rolling pumpkins that sang to each other and twirled happily in place.

Bramble, Willow and Luna took cover behind a fallen tree, peeking over the top.

"Where the heck did it get all that dough? Ya don't just mix up three hundred pounds of it on a whim."

"I haven't the foggiest, but that's not important. The important bit is that we've finally located the creature. The good news it that he hasn't grown any larger, at least not that I can tell. The bad news is that he's surrounded by the entire town's population turned into jack o' lanterns."

"Eh, could be worse," Bramble shrugged. "Don't ask me how, but it could be." He pulled two large bags from across his back, then set them on the ground and tore them open with a small knife he'd procured from the bakery. "As plans go, I gotta say: this one smells pretty good, though after tonight I'm probably never gonna want to smell cinnamon ever again."

"Are you sure about this?" Willow asked.

"No, but what other choice do we have? Even if that thing doesn't actually hate cinnamon and my aunt is full of crap, the smell of all this stuff will get its attention. Speaking of which, we should hurry this up before it catches wind of us."

Willow patted his side to make sure the saddelbag containing one half of Equestria's ruling demigoddesses was still secured. "Princess, are you snug back there?"

"I am," Luna answered. "Let us make haste, lest we fall prey to the machinations of a living foodstuff. Sir Bramble, I wish you the best of luck in your endeavor. We shall be ready to play our part when the time comes."

Bramble nodded, then took a deep breath. "Alright then. Here goes everything." Clenching his eyes shut, Bramble hefted the bag of cinnamon and dumped it over himself. A cloud of sweet-smelling brown powder erupted from the cascade of spice, causing Willow and Luna to cough and choke. "You think that's bad," he said between hacking coughs, "try being at the center of it. It's gonna take a week to get this stuff offa my coat! So...how do I look?"

"The coverage is good, my friend, but you missed a large patch near your flanks. Best to cover that as well."

"Great. Bottoms up, then." Another cloud of cinnamon puffed out, this time drawing a roar from the gingerbread pony across the way. "I, uh, think it noticed me. How about now? Am I covered?"

"You were covered the first time," Willow snickered, "I just wanted to see you dump another bag of cinnamon over yourself."

"...I hate you. I hate you so very much, Willow."

"Right! No time to waste, the children are awaiting Princess Luna's return! Hop to it, old boy!"

"Yeah, yeah..." Bramble muttered, but stuck out his hoof anyway. Willow bumped his own against it. "See ya soon, 'old...old...AH-CHOO!" A blast of cinnamon struck Willow squarely in the face, coating his glasses with more powder. "Old boy," Bramble finished with a chuckle.

"I suppose I deserved that."

"Yeah ya did. Now, let's take care of this thing and end this nightmare. Oh, right, before I forget." He reached into the saddlebag opposite Luna and pulled out a pair of ear plugs. "Just in case."

Ducking back down behind the broken log -- and removing his glasses to clean them with a small rag -- Willow peeked just high enough to watch his friend trot over in the direction of the creature. Soon, likely very soon, it would be chasing the cinnamon-coated pony. Willow took a final look, made sure Luna was secure, and galloped back to the entrance of the forest.

***

"'You missed a large patch near your flanks,' he says. Jackass." With less than a hoofball field's distance between himself and the massive thing that used to be his lunch snack, Bramble was feeling decidedly cross about having to put himself in such a situation in the first place. It was sort of his fault, but at the same time Willow couldn't exactly claim to have been innocent in all of it. Not that any of it mattered at the moment; what mattered was drawing the creature out to let Willow and Luna do their thing, and then hoping the rest of the plan, such as it was, went smoothly.

Already vaguely aware of Bramble's presence, the gingerbread pony spotted the hapless pony seconds later. At first it sniffed the air loudly, jerking its head back at the concentrated cinnamon smell emanating from the intruder that had dared to get so close. Slowly it stood up on its baked hooves, absolutely towering over Bramble, and roared deeply. Hundreds of pumpkins turned and looked with their unblinking, carved eyes, remaining still as they waited for their impromptu leader to do something about the approaching, un-transformed pony.

Working up all of his courage -- and eager to get ten pounds of increasingly sticky cinnamon off his body -- Bramble shouted as he stopped in place. "Hey! You!" The creature took a step forward. "Yeah, that's right, I'm talking to you, you overgrown pile of junk food! The heck do you think you're doing out here? You belong in my stomach, nutmeg brain! You smell that? That's the smell of your imminent demise! And also cinnamon. But mostly your demise!" It roared again, loud enough to make Bramble's vision blur. "Looks like tall, dark and crumbly has a bit of a complex! Come on, then! I'm right here! Come and get me if you think you can!"

The gingerbread pony lowered its head, and hundreds of former townsfolk came bounding after Bramble all at once.

"...uh oh."

Bramble spun in place and immediately broke into the fastest gallop he could manage, back the way he came, with streamers of cinnamon powder trailing behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the jack o' lanterns managing to keep pace; behind them, the giant cookie creature was picking up speed as its huge form bounded in pursuit.

"Faster...have to...move faster!" he said to himself between heavy breaths. "If I make it...out of this alive....I am never...eating gingerbread...AGAIN!"

By now the pumpkins had begun to sing; a single, harmonious tune that came across as mercifully muted thanks to his ear plugs. He prayed that they would stay in.

For what felt like a very long time he ran, getting a second burst of energy from seeing the entrance to the outskirts of Bridle Falls looming closer.

"Willow! I'm comin' out, and I've brought a whole lotta friends with me!"

***

Near the opening to the forest, Willow and Luna anxiously awaited Bramble's return. It would be a long trot -- or more likely, gallop -- to Bridle Falls' namesake attraction, and part of their impromptu plan involved a dangerous unknown. Luna had brought it up on a hunch, but even she couldn't be entirely sure it would work.

"You know, Princess, I've been thinking about why those pumpkins couldn't entrance me like the others."

"Indeed? I am curious as to your hypothesis," Luna said.

"Well, we know that they sing Nightmare Night songs to lull others into a sort of false comfort, yes? What if their song is some sort of, I don't know...trigger, perhaps? Everypony else in town has grown up here, or at least in the greater Equestrian mainland. For them, Nightmare Night was a regular occurrence, a yearly holiday that foals and parents grew up enjoying -- and learning the songs to. I, however, did not grow up in Equestria for most of my life. In fact, my parents have lived in Zevran for the last twenty-five years. I only moved out here a few years ago to join the Foundation. Nightmare Night was entirely new to me. Thus, I have no connection to those songs."

Pumpkin-Luna looked thoughtful at the idea."Interesting. If your theory holds true, then it is most fortunate that you are with us. Perhaps we can discuss it at length once this has been cleared up. Among other things."

"Heheh...right. Of course." Maybe he'd at least get a larger straw pile to sleep on when they threw him in the dungeons. Saving hundreds of ponies after dooming them had to count for something, right? He thought it over while expecting his friend-turned-possible-cell-mate to come barreling from the forest path.

They didn't have to wait long. With a hollered warning Bramble emerged from the forest with a trail of cinnamon spraying behind him.

"Ya better keep up, 'cause I ain't stoppin' for ya!" he shouted as he met the others, still in a full gallop. Very soon after, the massed jack o' lanterns bounded into view and the towering form of the gingerbread pony burst through the trees with a great snapping of branches and rustling of leaves.

Willow broke into a sprint, slowing down just a bit to stay side-by-side with Bramble. The heavy smell of cinnamon still made him gag. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking over his shoulder. Standing on all four sugary legs, the gingerbread pony was even more enormous than it first looked. It was chasing after them with dogged determination.

"I'm fine! Or I will be once we get rid of this thing!" A pumpkin leapt up onto the creature's shoulders and hurled itself at the two ponies, barely missing their flanks. It was followed by three more, all missing by a hair's breadth. "You two ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be!" Willow answered. "Princess, if you've come up with a better plan, now would be the time to voice it!"

"Our trials grow by the moment, yet I am without adequate means to properly facilitate a more elaborate--" A pumpkin with a falling star cutie mark zipped by the transformed princess, landing face-first in the soft ground. "Nevermind! I am ready! You may...throw me."

Bramble hid a laugh -- for his own sake -- while Luna hopped out of her saddlebag and bobbled on top of Willow's back. The Princess of the Night, now reduced to being telekinetically hurled by a unicorn who was partially responsible for turning her into a jack o' luna. It was absurd to think about, and equally amusing.

"Right then, Your Highness, on three!" Willow focused his unsteady magic on Luna, struggling to keep his mind from darting between too many thoughts until she could fulfill her part of the plan. Sparkling, light brown magic formed around her and wrapped her in a veil of ethereal energy, gradually lifting her off his back.

"One...two...three!"

With a flaring of light Willow sent a surge of magic through his horn, tossing Luna into a high arc that took her above the creature. It snapped at her as she zipped by. For a few seconds she became a blue dot, floating high above the chaos. Then, gradually, she began to fall again. Using what little magic she had, Luna slowed her descent and landed on the gingerbread pony's back with a thump. It didn't seem to notice, still tirelessly pursuing doctors Willow and Bramble.

The first thing she noticed was the smell, a coyingly sweet mix of spices -- namely nutmeg -- mixed with the wafting scent of Bramble's cinnamon coating. It was, she decided, balancing on a fine line between pleasant and noxious.

The second thing she noticed was the four dozen pumpkins that formed a circle around her where she'd landed. They stared at her with unblinking eyes, seemingly confused by the new, darkly-colored addition to their number.

Luna cleared her voice and focused her minuscule magic into one of the few things she had left -- The Royal Canterlot Voice. If she was right, the others would listen to her as some sort of leader. If she was wrong, Bramble and Willow would soon join their ranks.

"CITIZENS OF BRIDLE FALLS,," she shouted, a strong wind bellowing from her mouth and knocking over several of them, "HEAR MY WORDS! I, PRINCESS LUNA, PATRON OF THYNE NIGHT AND ALL ITS GLORIES, DO HEREBY COMMAND THEE TO CEASE THYNE ATTACKS THIS INSTANT!"

Silence. She hadn't expected them to speak in return, but some sort of reaction would have been useful. Instead, they kept staring at her.

"FOLLOW NOT THE FALSE IDOL OF GINGERBREAD, LEST YE BE TURNED ASTRAY FROM GOODNESS AND KINDNESS AS HAS BEEN THE WAY OF EQUESTRIA FOR COUNTLESS GENERATIONS! FOLLOW THYNE PRINCESS, AND--"

Half a dozen pumpkins ignored her entirely and threw themselves at the ground. Bramble and Willow dodged out of their way and the great cookie roared in anger. More and more of the transformed citizens began to turn away from Luna and continue singing their festive songs, and she bounced in frustration.

"WHY DO THEY NOT LISTEN?!"

Then, it struck her. The songs. They were the basis of everything the pumpkins did. If she could get them to pay attention to her alone, she might be able to keep them occupied until her compatriots could draw the gingerbread creature into the falls -- and with it, the pumpkins themselves. She spent a long moment considering what song it should be. It had to speak to her power and grace while still being a Nightmare Night song. It had to resonate with the memories of all around her. With a deep breath she lowered her voice to a much gentler tone, still projecting it far and wide, but with care and confidence at its core.

"Come little children, I'll take thee away, into a land of enchantment..."

Immediately several of them turned to face her once more.

"Come little children, the time's come to play, here in my garden of shadows..."

A few of them hopped closer. It seemed to be working.

"Follow, sweet children, I'll show thee the way, through all the pain and the sorrows..."

***

Down below, Willow had noticed that no more jack o' lanterns had thrown themselves at him for several seconds. He ventured a look over his shoulder and saw dozens of them gathered around Luna, absolutely still. Even those following along on the ground had taken notice of her, gazing upward as if in a trance. He prodded Bramble with a hoof.

"They've stopped singing!"

"WHAT?!"

"I SAID, THEY'VE...oh, forget it." He yanked the earplugs from Bramble's ears with a magical tug and set them back in a saddlebag.

"Hey! I need those!"

"No, you don't! That's what I'm trying to tell you! Listen!"

It was hard to hear with his own heart beating in his ears and the gingerbread pony plodding behind them, but it was definitely there. A beautiful song, much more gentle and feminine. "Is that Luna singin' that?"

"I can only assume so! Mission accomplished, I suppose!"

"It's beautiful. The song, I mean."

"Indeed it is. The Princess is many-talented, it would seem! We're nearly to the falls, my friend, don't give up on me now!"

"I'm still here," Bramble said, his breathing heavy.

Luna continued her song far above them, keeping the townsfolk occupied and interested in her to the best of her ability. Unfortunately, the gingerbread pony was unaffected by her soft, comforting tones. It continued chasing Willow and Bramble, who were slowly but surely growing more and more tired. Soon they would be exhausted and unable to escape, leaving them helpless before the plodding hooves of their pursuer.

A cool, wet breeze blew in and kissed their faces -- the falls were just ahead. Soon the roar of the water could be heard above the noise of their frantic escape, and with it came a renewed sense of purpose. A second wind gave the researchers the push they needed, and soon they were several paces ahead of the creature.

Willow reached into the saddlebag opposite where Luna had been seated with a glowing of magic, pulling out a jar of swirling, rainbow-colored fluid that bounced against the glass confines as he continued at a full gallop.

"Are you prepared, Dr. Bramble?" he asked his friend.

"If it means getting all this cinnamon off me, then I'm prepared for anything, Dr. Willow," the other laughed.

"Then once again I wish you the best of luck."

Bramble nodded and watched Willow peel off, hoping the gingerbread pony wouldn't follow. Fortunately, it seemed far more interested in the cinnamon-coated pony directly ahead of it, roaring and snapping in vain.

"I do suggest you make haste, Sir Bramble!" Luna shouted as she was about to finish her song. He just needed a few seconds more. He strained his eyes to find the falls. It was around here somewhere, if only he could -- there! Hidden by darkness and obscured by plant growth, Bridle Falls loomed ahead surprisingly close. A cloud of mist billowed from the pool at its base, rolling over the ground like a living thing, fed by the cascading water falling from above.

"Almost there..."

***

Willow popped the lid from his precious cargo, eyeing it nervously as he stood beside the roiling waters. The waterfall's pool was surprisingly deep, and wider than it looked, but his timing had to be perfect; if he dumped the potion too soon, it would become diluted and dissipate before the creature could get to it. Wait too long, and the concentrated fluid might just make the situation worse...and possibly cause everything in the area to grow to an equally monstrous size.

"We're comin' in!" he heard Bramble shout, the gingerbread pony still hot on his hooves. "Get ready!"

***

It was close, now. Too close. Sensing the pony's weakness, the creature snapped with its pasted-on vampire fangs, yanking hairs from Bramble's tail.

"Hey, personal space!" Bramble yelled back over his shoulder. Willow was ready with the jar floating off to the side, ready to be mixed into the waterfall. He hoped Willow knew what he was doing. He hoped they were right about the magical fluid being its own counter. He hoped they would keep their jobs and not end up banished to whatever dungeons Luna had in mind for them. Most of all, he hoped he would never smell cinnamon again.

"Come on, ya walking culinary disaster! You want me, then come get me!"

Bramble's hooves touched the edge of the pool. He held his breath, pushed off, and dove into the water.

***

Princess Luna finished her song just as the gingerbread pony she was atop threw itself after the cinnamon-coated researcher. For a few seconds she was airborne, falling without say as to where she would land, her magical resources tapped to their very limits. Briefly, with the sort of gallows humor the holiday invited, she wondered if she would taste like a regular pumpkin pie, or something entirely different, once she splattered against the rocks below.

Blueberry, she decided. She would have a hint of blueberry.

***

Willow waited until just before Bramble hit the water, then poured the magical concoction into the swirling water where the falls met the pool. For a second it did nothing, getting taken under and mixing with the foaming torrent. Then, with a bright flash of blue, pink and orange light, the pool rapidly began to change color, becoming an opaque blue-black. There was no going back now.

He braced himself as Bramble splashed into the pool and immediately began to swim for the other side, and not a moment too soon. The gingerbread pony dove in after him, its massive body creating a loud splash and kicking up a short wall of water in all directions. In a glimpse of abject horror he saw Princess Luna falling in after it, followed by hundreds of bouncing, rolling pumpkins that cheerfully bounded in with small splashes.

"Hell yeah, nice job there, Willow!" Bramble shouted, still kicking his way to the other side. He didn't have time to take in a breath before he was immediately sucked under.

"Bramble? Bramble!"

5 - It Could Be Worse

It almost felt like a dream. Clouds of brown cinnamon lifted from his coat and mane, gently drifting before his eyes before disappearing. Pulled down into the dark water, Bramble felt his right hind leg being yanked by something large and powerful. He looked down, and saw the large, white, triangular fangs of the gingerbread pony latched onto him. Immediately he began to panic, kicking with his free legs and doing his best to hold what little breath he had.

A pumpkin sank with him, gently, its mouth open wide to latch onto his flank. Bramble tried to shove it away, but he was too weak, too tired. It brought its squishy mouth down on him, and there was a bright flash.

***

"No no no no, this can't be happening! Bramble, where are you?!" Willlow waited several agonizing seconds, then tossed the empty jar to the side. "Oh bugger this." With only a slight hesitation he threw himself into the water and dove for the bottom. It was so dark, darker than it even looked from the surface. He flailed a foreleg to try and feel for something, anything, that would indicate Bramble was there.

Startlingly white flashes and bursts of light came from below. A few here, a few there. Then, all at once, the entire pool of water became a lightshow, as if hundreds of flash bulbs were going off one after another. His lungs ached, his head swam, and in a final attempt he kicked out a leg -- and felt hair. He followed it to its source, a decidedly equine shape, but something was different. The figure felt slick, as if covered in oil. He ignored it and wrapped his forelegs around the pony. Moments later he breached the surface and gasped for air, coughing and gagging.

"B-Bramble, are you--" He jerked his head back. It wasn't the cream-colored coat of Bramble. It wasn't even male. The pony was decidedly more feminine, a sky blue color, with a falling star cutie mark.

"...Miss Starshine?"

Equally to his surprise, she appeared to be wrapped in a bubble of some sort that contoured her body and sparkled with a dark blue energy. She was breathing normally, despite the fact that no real amount of air should have been available in the confines of the bubble in the first place. He quickly swam to the pool's embankment and set her on the ground. The shape-hugging bubble popped and disappeared, leaving the sleeping Starshine lying on the grass.

"Right, back in."

He took a deep breath and dove once more...and immediately felt himself being lifted back to the surface. Dozens, hundreds of ponies were floating up to meet him, all wrapped in their own shimmering bubbles. The sheer amount of them pushed him back, and he scrambled for shore.

The water slowly began to clear as he watched in astonishment. And then it struck him -- it had worked. The potion had worked! He hollered and laughed in victory, overjoyed that their one shot in the dark had actually succeeded. A short distance away, the slightly plump form of Bramble bobbed to the surface, and Willow ran over and pulled him to shore. The sustaining bubble popped, and Willow shook the other awake.

"Bramble! Wake up, it worked!"

"Wha? Whataya mean it...wait, how'd I get up here?"

"I pulled you to to shore! Well, after you and everypony else somehow became encased in life-sustaining bubbles of some sort. I had tried to dive in after you, but then, well...this occurred. What happened down there?"

Bramble rubbed his eyes and coughed up a small bit of water. "I don't know. I was being pulled down by that...that thing. Had its mouth around my leg. Then this jack o' lantern bit down on me, and the next thing I know...I'm up here." He pushed himself up on a knee and looked around. "Well I'll be damned, it really did work. Is that the entirety of the town?"

"It would seem so. That was a cracking good job leading that creature into the water, my good researcher."

"Heh. Who woulda thought? Come on, let's start dragging these ponies to dry land."

They splashed back into the shallow end of the water, venturing out to drag back Bridle Falls' citizens two at a time. It would take a good while, but they'd be safe. Or rather, it would have taken a while.

"...You hear that, Willow?" Bramble asked.

"I do. Whatever it is, it's coming from the water."

A blue shining of magic gradually neared the surface, growing ever brighter, accompanied by a loud, tinkling, chiming sound. With a splash of water and a rush of air, Princess Luna emerged from the water, returned to her former glory. She burst from below and spread out her wings, spraying water over the entire area. Her eyes glowed white and her horn shined brightly with triple layers of midnight-blue magic, and all at once she raised the town's floating inhabitants with a dramatic raise of her forelegs. Slowly, and gently, she set them on the grass around the falls. For a time she remained in place with great flaps of her wings, surveying the surrounding area.

"Sir Bramble, Sir Willow Wisp: I believe your potion theorem was correct. Verily, congratulations are in order."

Willow bowed. "Thank you, Princess. Are you, uh, feeling alright? No side effects of your transformation?"

"Aside from a lingering aftertaste of pumpkin, my mental and physical faculties seem to have returned to their former state." She pointed to the masses of ponies sleeping or groggily waking up around the waterfall. "It was most curious; when the potion changed me back, it was as if a great weight had been lifted from my mind. With it came a moment of clarity I cannot adequately put into words. I simply knew what had to be done, and thus the citizens of Bridle Falls slumber easily beside the water."

"That was very quick thinking. You likely saved their lives."

Luna landed beside the sopping wet researchers. "So it would seem. It was, however, your potion that changed us back in the first place, and for that you have the gratitude of the royal court -- especially myself. Had it not been for your efforts, I would still be a carved vegetable trundling back to Canterlot. The surprise on my sister's face would have almost been worth it. Almost."

"We're just glad we could get this mess sorted out," Bramble said. "On a side note, I've never been more happy to be clean in my life. Dumping ten pounds of cinnamon on yourself ain't something I'd recommend to anypony."

"Look on the bright side, my friend," Willow added cheerfully, "your daring -- and somewhat bizarre -- scheme actually worked! We'll have to thank you aunt some time."

"Yeah, well, after tonight, I think I'd rather her stick to holiday-appropriate desserts. Just sayin'."

"Duly noted."

Willow hadn't noticed Luna take into the air once more. When he turned to speak with her she had already landed on the opposite side of the pool, where her four bat-winged guards still rested. Somehow, they'd managed to keep their helmets on during the whole affair.

The two researchers galloped over, arriving just as the royal escorts were getting to their hooves.

"Arise, Sir Thundershield. How do your colleagues fair?"

Thundershield looked around wearily. "Uhh...we're alright, I guess. Where are we, Princess?"

"Bridle Falls," Bramble answered, tipping his head in a greeting. "The actual falls, matter of fact."

"The falls?" he asked, clearly confused. "But we were flying over the town...and there was this...this thing...and these pumpkins..."

"It's a long story. Uhh, it may also have been our fault. Also a long story."

Willow raised a hoof to get their attention. "Speaking of our gargantuan gingerbread friend, what happened to him? Or it, rather. The potion was supposed to rectify its growing problem; it's a happy coincidence that it also reversed the effects of the pumpkin transmogrification. To be honest, that part of the plan was always a bit...iffy, we'll say."

Bramble motioned to the rapidly clearing pool. "That thing tried draggin' me down with it. That's the last I saw of it. In any case, at least--"

"Is this it?" A bat guard asked, lifting something from the ground on a hoof.

"Looks like it..." Bramble said, crossing over.

"This is what bested us? Really?! This stupid little...cookie?!"

"Like I said, it's a long story. Here, lemme see it." Bramble took the gingerbread pony in his grasp, staring at it in equal parts disdain and amusement. It no longer moved, no longer roared, and, best of all, no longer tried to eat him. It was just small and crumbly once again. "Can you believe it?" he asked as Willow trotted up beside him. "So much trouble from something so ridiculously harmless looking. A cookie that ain't even related to Nightmare Night."

"Indeed so. To think that our bit of improv could lead to this honestly surprises me, even as I stare at the aftermath."

"Yeah..."

"So, what are you going to do with it now? Eat it as some sort of revenge? Toss it in the garbage to keep our sandwich friend company? Keep it as a memento of this utterly bizarre night?"

"Hell no!" Bramble shouted suddenly, causing Willow to jump back. "I'm gonna stomp the everlovin' crap outta this thing until it's indistinguishable from the dirt!"

With that, he dumped the gingerbread pony on the ground, reared up, and brought his hooves down with a satisfying crunch. He punctuated each stamp with a shout. "Lousy! Stupid! Nutmeggy! Thing!"

"Are you alright, Bramb--"

"NEVER! EATING! GINGERBREAD! AGAIN! YA HEAR ME, YA STUPID MOTHER--"

"Uhh, right. We'll just leave you to that for the moment." Willow turned back to Luna and her guards, even as the sound of Bramble's raging continued unabated behind them. "Right! So. What now?" He dreaded hearing the answer.

Luna rubbed her chin with a hoof. "I believe I yet owe these citizens a Nightmare Night visit, although their spirits may be understandably dampened by their transformation and subsequent destruction of property. It is a...complicated situation. I believe they need to awaken first. After that, we will be too far behind schedule to even think of completing the night's ceremonies in any town on our list. I am perplexed and less than thrilled by the thought of such disappointment."

Luna felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see a young mare with a sky blue coat and a falling star cutie mark looking up at her.

"My apologies for interrupting, Princess, but I believe I may have a solution. If you'll follow me?"

Luna did so, disappearing around the corner behind a tall thorn bush. There was a muffled sound of conversation, followed by refined, royal laughter. Willow went pale.

"Oh dear..."

The mares appeared a moment later. "Yes, I believe that will be sufficient. You are a mare of great intellect, Miss Starshine!" She motioned to her bat guards. "My good sir guards, there may yet be hope! The royal chariot will have to wait. We are henceforth going to be teleporting to our destinations!"

There was a general mumbling and groaning but they fell in with the princess anyway, forming a circle around her.

"Before our departure, Researcher Bramble, Researcher Willow, I must thank you for saving me from the gingerbread menace, and from suffering the fate of being a gourd for an unseen amount of time. The experience was...interesting. Let us not repeat it next year, hmm? I shall return, but in the mean time, Miss Starshine has some information to pass on. I do suggest you listen."

With a flash of dark blue magic the Princess and her guards were gone, leaving no trace of their having been there in the first place. All around Bramble and Willow the ponies had begun to wake up en masse, confused and groggy to the last. Starshine prodded the two stallions with a hoof.

"Oh you're going to listen, alright, or so help me, a magical cookie will be the last of your concerns."

***

"Rejoice, ponies! Your offerings of sweet things has appeased me! There will be no gobbling of foals on this Nightmare Night!"

The gathered crowd gave a roar of approval, stomping their hooves on the ground and cheering as Luna reverted back to her normal self, her magical armor and predatory fangs dissipating in the wind.

It had been a full week since the events of Nightmare Night, and the damage to Bridle Falls had mostly been fixed, thanks to a very generous donation of time and money by the Foundation. Specifically, two researchers. Their contribution had been extensive, whether or not they wanted to contribute in the first place.

As was planned, Luna had pushed back Nightmare Night to give the ponies there time to recover. She admired the citizens for their willingness to forgive and their resounding constitution in the face of what was, undoubtedly, the most bizarre thing to happen to the town in a very long time. In the end, everyone had emerged unharmed, and buildings could always be fixed.

Now, two hours after the sun had set, Bridle Falls had come out in force to welcome back Princess Luna. It was a celebration larger and more elaborate than any other. Luna welcomed it and the joy it brought to all involved. Even Celestia had shown up to watch, floating high above the town in a royal chariot and laughing at the group of foals who ran from Luna's quasi-scary roar. Large bars of chocolate and bags of sweets floated into each of their candy bags, and they chased Luna around the town's fountain with giggles and shouts.

"Now, my good citizens," Luna shouted, using her royal voice to be heard far and wide, "let us gather 'round to watch the tale of the Giant of Bridle Falls and its army of ne'er-do-well pumpkin followers!"

Out from behind a stage curtain, an exasperated Willow trundled out in a large, comically overstuffed jack o' lantern costume. The laughter of dozens of foals was his reception.

"If you should go out on Nightmare Night," he monotoned, wishing he could be anywhere else, "you're in for a scare, you're in for a fright. I hate my life."

"Roar! Stomp! Roar again!" Out came Bramble, dressed up to look like the half-vampire gingerbread pony he'd unleashed on the town. "I am a holiday-inappropriate dessert come to destroy things! Roaring! And stuff!"

"I can't believe I have to do this," Willow mumbled.

"Oh come on, pal. Show a little holiday spirit! The foals think you're hilarious. Besides, you could be in a dungeon right now. So there's that."

A piece of candy corn bounced off Willow's head, followed by laughter from the Foundation employees who had come to watch for their amusement.

"I think I'd prefer the dungeon."

2 - Jack o' Lanterns and Gingerbread Ponies

"Right, that's another task completed. Only one task left, then: the mascot."

Bramble quickly prepped the potion delivery machine for another go, carefully filling the various glass spheres with a rainbow of brightly-colored potions. "Why would Princess Luna need a mascot for Nightmare Night, anyway? Isn't she the mascot? I mean, it is her night after all."

Willow Wisp shrugged at his side. "Bugger if I know. So long as the royalty continues to cut the Foundation a dirty great big check every quarter, we'll keep doing as they ask, I imagine."

"True enough." With a final adjustment the long arm of the machine clicked into place, a small light blinking to show it was ready. "Alright, let's get this thing done with. Luna's due to stop by in a couple of hours." The jacketed pair stepped through the security door and into the main observation room. Bramble pulled out a small box from beneath the counter, filled with various objects. "Alrighty, lemme just find the thing here..." He pushed aside a collection of seemingly random items; an orange ball with pink stars, kitchen utensils, letter blocks, even a scarf. "Uhhh...hmm."

"Any time you'd like to produce the item to be animated, Dr. Bramble."

He gulped, frantically searching through the box. "Uh, right, the item. To be animated. By us. Heh heh..." In a fit of inward panic he realized he had left the object -- a haunted tree with a scary face -- on his counter at home. Which, of course, shouldn't have been there in the first place, but he thought he could set it up next to his little Nightmare Night panorama at home and get some pictures with it before coming back to work. To the best of his knowledge it was still sitting there, scaring the little plastic figurines in his haunted village.

"...Bramble...you did bring it with you, right?"

"Umm..."

"Oh bloody hell. You forgot it, didn't you?"

"I might have."

Willow put a hoof to his face, letting out a deep exhale. "Wonderful! Just...wonderful. You do realize we're without a proper mascot now, yes? Those potions are meant to be applied to that specific item." He sat on the floor in defeat, removing his glasses with a magical field and rubbing the bridge of his nose. "There goes our bonus for the year."

"Maybe I can still go home and get it," Bramble offered. "Pretty sure I know where it is."

"Much as I wish such a thing were possible, we're under strict orders not to leave the facility until we've been given the all-clear by our department heads. Far too important of a night and all."

Bramble swore under his breath, sliding the box of useless items to the corner. "I'm sorry, Willow. I swear I meant to bring it back..."

"Yes, well, that does us little good now, my friend."

They sat in silence for a long moment before Bramble spoke up. "Hey, I think I have an idea."

The other perked up at the mention of a potential solution. "Really? By all means, do tell."

"I think it'd be better if I show you. Just stay here for a minute, I'll be right back."

Willow stood up, adjusting his glasses. "Very well. I do hope your idea is a cracking good one." Bramble was already halfway out the door, practically running down the hallway. He pushed past a small group of researchers with a quick "sorry" before making a sharp right turn, his hooves skidding on the polished tile. Four doors down and off to his left, he quickly slid his keycard through the security reader, rushing into the room before the door had fully opened.

Half a dozen of his colleagues turned to look at him. Not many ponies had ever barged into the employee break room.

"Oh, uh, hey there." Bramble could feel his face turning bright red; he tried to play it off, whistling nonchalantly as he trotted to the fridge and pulled out a small, blue lunch pail. "Wanted to, you know, make sure my food was still here. And it is. So...happy Nightmare Night! We'll be sure to...to do that thing. Yeah. Bye!"

Dr. Wisp heard his partner's frantic hoofsteps coming back down the hall. He sighed to himself, wondering what in the world could replace the very object they were meant to give temporary pseudo-life to. A familiar, muffled bellow sounded along with the hoofsteps as Bramble passed by a garbage can.

"WhooOOooOOoOoo! I'm a GHOOOO--"

"Yeah, yeah, scary ghost, whatever. I'm busy."

The door whooshed open, and Bramble nearly tumbled to the ground. "Back so soon, my esteemed colleague?"

"I got it!" he exclaimed victoriously, lifting the pail up. "Wasn't sure if it'd be there, but I got it!"

"...your lunch?"

"No, not my lunch!" He popped the lid back, reaching in to grab something. "Played it totally smooth in the break room, too. Shoulda seen me."

"I'm sure."

"Alright, Willow -- Dr. Wisp, or whatever you'd like to be called right now -- I present to you...Nightmare Night's new mascot!" He thrust out his hooves, the object of his "brilliant" idea clasped between them with a big grin on his face.

"...a gingerbread pony."

"Yes! I mean...no, not just a gingerbread pony, a Nightare Night gingerbread pony."

"Please tell me you're not serious." He buried his face in his hooves. "Please."

"Why not? It could work."

"Where did you even get a gingerbread pony? Aren't those usually associated with, you know...Hearth's Warming? When i think 'gingerbread pony' I don't think 'Nightmare Night'."

"My aunt baked 'em. They're great! Here, try it."

Willow pushed the cookie away. "Need I remind you that even if we end up using such a ridiculous idea, a gingerbread pony with a bite taken out of it is--" He glanced up at Bramble, a chunk of the would-be snack's foreleg already missing.

"...whoops."

" Outstanding. Well, there's that idea in the bin."

"No no, it can still work! Watch!" A bag of mixed candy was dumped on the counter, and Bramble quickly set to work fashioning a makeshift foreleg from bits of taffy and cherry licorice. "Just gotta shape it like so...little bit of sugar powder to hold it in place...aaand done!" For a final touch he cut the white tips from some leftover candy corn pieces, affixing them to the cookie's mouth. "There, see? Now he's a vampire...gingerbread...cookie. What? Oh come on, don't give me that look. It can still work."

Willow sighed in defeat. Clearly, his associate wasn't going to give up on this. "Fine. Fine. But if this goes south, it's entirely your idea. Understood?"

"It'll be fine. You'll see."

"Let us hope you're right. Very well, then. Please place the object on the pedestal, and we'll give it the old college try." Willow muttered to himself as Bramble stepped into the test chamber, the makeshift mascot clenched between his teeth. He set it on the pedestal, then locked the door behind him.

"Room's all set. You wanna start the checklist, or should I?"

"It's your bizarre idea, so I say you should start it."

For what felt like the hundredth time that day, they went through the motions of preparing and administering the proper amounts of magical fluids and raw magical energy, the complicated, expensive machinery mixing everything with exacting precision. If they had calculated correctly, the mixture should bring temporary, quasi-sentient life to the impromptu object. Of course, it wasn't the same size as the haunted tree figure. Or material. Or shape.

The researchers went down their checklist, one item at a time. Everything was going well -- the fluids swirled together perfectly, the magical energy arced and crackled.

"Magic particle saturation looks good. This may just work."

Bramble nudged Willow with his shoulder. "See? I told you we had nothing to worry about."

"We shall see. I'd suggest holding back on the celebratory champagne until your gingerbread pony gets up and walks about on its own."

Bramble blinked. "...we have champagne?"

"Well, no, but if you'd really like some I'm sure we can purchase a bottle from Dr. Brighteyes." Bramble started to answer, but was interrupted by Willow putting a hoof over his mouth. "Just a moment. I believe we may have some movement..."

***

Hours away in Canterlot, Princess Luna was preparing for the night. Her night. The one night of the year she could truly feel like all of Equestria was glad she was back. She would do as she'd done for the last five years, making her rounds from city to city, village to village, stopping at each place to interact with the foals in all of their little costumes, small donations from their sweet earnings piled together to appease Nightmare Moon, lest she gobble them up. Or so the stories went.

Luna was more than happy to oblige, and indeed, she'd come to enjoy Nightmare Night. Now that Nightmare Moon was all but gone from the depths of her being, she was free to have fun again. So she'd land at each location on her nightly tour with a fantastical showing of thunder and lightning, pulled by her magically altered bat-pony guards, and she'd call forth the tiny remnant of her former self, just enough to transform into a visually and verbally exact copy of the tyrannical Nightmare Moon, and make a great showing of candy-related threats and dark promises of retribution if she was not appeased. Then, once her part was done, she would join the fillies and colts and laugh and play for a short time before returning to the sky, ready to repeat the process with the next town.

"My Princess, I have completed the route for tonight's festivities." A pegasus guard, sans armor, trotted toward Luna with a clipboard in hoof. "As per last year, we will begin with Bridle Falls, then Canterlot, then head south toward Ponyville, Stalliongrad, Manehattan and Fillydelphia, before turning due east to stop by Seasaddle, Westbuck and a few smaller villages after that. If all goes according to schedule, we will return around midnight."

Luna looked over the schedule, flipping the pages with brief flashes of magic. "This will do nicely," she stated with authority. "You are sure this flight path is optimized? I do not want any negativity associated with my visits."

"Absolutely, Princess," the guard answered confidently. "I have double and triple checked it myself."

"Very good." She raised a hoof to her chin in thought. "And what of our special order to the Foundation? Have we heard from them recently?"

"That we have, Princess. We will be making a brief stop by Bridle Falls to pick up your ordered items before continuing the tour. I believe your list caused some...confusion...amongst the staff."

"No confusion was necessary," Luna replied indignantly. "T'was but a few simple requests."

"Yes, Your Highness, as you say."

The guard placed his silvery helmet upon his head. Within a matter of seconds his entire appearance had been altered by the magic-infused armor -- his feathery wings became thin and bat-like, his eyes turned to black slits on unnatural fields of yellow, and his teeth elongated into pointed fangs.

"I believe we are prepared, Princess. We may leave at any time." The other guards nodded to him, their transformations taking effect just as fast as his own.

"As you say, commander. Do be sure to remove your helmet before arriving home to your wife in the morning this time," Luna said with a hint of a smile.

His colleagues snickered and chuckled behind him. "Uh, yes, Your Highness. Of course."

"Very well, then. Let us be off!"

The pegasus-turned-bat guards hitched themselves to the royal sky carriage and gently lifted off the ground. "Don't you worry, Princess, I have full confidence in the Foundation. I'm sure any concerns are unwarranted."

***

"We are dead, Willow! We are so dead!" Alarms blared through the sprawling complex as frantic work staff rushed down the hallways. An automated message system repeated the same message over and over. Warning: Test subject anomaly detected. Please report to your containment stations. This is not a test.

Bramble yelled at the damnable, calm voice that blared from the speakers. "Shut up already!" It had only been a few short minutes since their would-be Nightmare Night mascot -- and Bramble's one-time lunch snack -- had grown to an enormous size and burst from its containment room. In the process, it had freed half a dozen other subjects that were now free to roam the facility or escape through the front entrance...which had also been breached by the giant gingerbread pony. "How was I supposed to know a friggin' cookie would become the harbinger of our impending doom?! It's a cookie!"

Dr. Wisp hastily trotted alongside him, ducking to avoid a string of festive bat-shaped lights that flew past his head. "I told you those potions were calibrated for a specific object! If we survive this little diversion -- and manage to keep our jobs -- I am implementing a ban on any and all food in the test facility! Especially gingerbread ponies!"

They skidded to a stop in front of the nearest elevator and jabbed the button. "Oh, blast it all! The bloody elevators are offline! That figures."

Bramble nudged his shoulder. "Stairs are down here, come on." It was a long climb, nearly six flights of stairs. Half-way up they met a middle-aged mare who was nearly speechless with panic.

"GIANT. COOKIE," she managed to gasp. She grabbed Willow by the collar of his lab coat. "IT SMELLED LIKE NUTMEG! NUTMEG!" With a shout she ran out into the nearest hallway, knocking herself out on a low-hanging sign with a resounding 'clang'.

"Jeez! Should we...help her?"

"That's probably best left to the professionals." A trio of ponies in orange and yellow security vests ran over to her and helped her on her hooves, then escorted her out of view. "Quite the fine mess we've created..."

Three flights later they were at the main level of the facility. Rubble lined the hallways and warning lights flashed their orange glow as teams of security and research personnel hurried to their assigned places.

"We're just off to the left here," Bramble said, turning to make for the room in a sprint. Willow stuck out a hoof to stop him.

"We're not going to the containment rooms."

"What? Why?"

"Because, you loony bastard, we caused this. It stands to reason that we have to fix it!"

"How in the hell are we supposed to do that? I'm not exactly a warrior or a royal guard here!"

"I hadn't noticed," Willow deadpanned. Fifty meters ahead of them, illuminated by blue emergency lights, was a hole. A very large hole. A very large, pony-shaped hole. "Would you look at the size of that! I can only speculate that it's continued to grow, and now it's free to tromple around Bridle Falls!"

"I don't think tromple is a wor--"

"Not the point! If there were some way to reverse the process, we could minimize the damage to the town. Any ideas?"

"...bring the giant machine thingy with us?"

"Brilliant. Now tell me how we go about doing such a thing."

"Uhhh..."

"That's what I thought. Any other ideas?"

"We could ask it nicely to follow us."

"Somehow I doubt it's the type of monstrosity to listen to reason, Dr. Bramble. If only we could figure out what caused that rapid growth in the first place..." Willow tapped his chin in thought, only to be interrupted by a loud crunching. "...What are you doing?"

"Wha? I'm eating. I didn't get to eat lunch because somepony let my gingerbread pony turn into the destroyer of worlds."

"It was your idea!"

"Eh, details." He loudly smacked his lips before reaching into a small saddlebag slung across his back. "Fortunately, I had another one ready to go. See?"

"Yes, fascinating, I'm sure. I don't think this is the time for snacking, Bramble."

"Mmmm...nutmeg-y."

"Come, we'll see if we can't get past--wait, nutmeg?"

"Yeah," Bramble said between loud chews, "my aunt loves the stuff."

"That mare in the stairwell mentioned nutmeg as well...I wonder; Bramble, stay here for a moment, would you? I need to retrieve something."

"Sure thing. And when you come back, bring something to drink with you. Dang thing made me thristy."

***

Princess Luna glanced over the side of the sky carriage at the dark forest below. Bridle Falls was always one of her favorite places to visit, thanks in large part to the big, beautiful waterfall at the edge of the forest that gave the town its name. Even as high up as she and her guards were, the cool mist washed over her -- she took a deep breath and smiled, thankful for the refreshing moment, however brief.

"Bridle Falls is just below us, Your Majesty. Shall we begin our descent?" Small points of light from windows and festive candles dotted the landscape, and the sounds of good-natured screams and frights drifted to their ears.

"You may proceed, commander." Luna nodded to the lead guard, then donned her jet-black cloak that would conceal most of her features until her grand entrance was complete. As the sky carriage drifted down through the light cloud cover she closed her eyes and focused her magic, turning the small, puffy clouds into a slowly swirling vortex that grew darker and more menacing. Small flashes of light dotted the sky -- a good start.

"Wasting no time this year, Princess?"

"Indeed," she laughed lightly. "I must admit, Sir Stormfront, that I have missed it greatly. Soon we shall be amongst the denizens of Bridle Falls, up to our knees in candy and adorable costumes. Though I must say, I would prefer to see some more frightening outfits this year. What was it that young filly in Ponyville wanted to be upon my first arrival? A zombie, was it? I do believe she's been the same thing for the past four years. Perhaps she's convinced her friends to join her!"

"I guess we'll find out."

"Mmm. But first, the children of Bridle Falls require my attention. If you would, Sir Stormfront, please take a few guards with you to pick up our order from the Foundation. I believe you know the place."

"Of course, Your Highness. It shall be done, don't you worry."

"Marvelous! Now, then..." She drew upon the last vestiges of her old self, feeling the dark influence struggling to be free -- but she was far stronger than she used to be, and her willpower kept it at bay, letting through just enough to alter her appearance. She felt herself grow taller, stronger. A surge of magical energy swept over her mane and tail, transforming them into ethereal, flowing visions of the darkest of nights. To complete the look, a set of sharpened teeth went over her own -- menacing fangs that glinted in the flashes of lightning around her. "Let us pay a visit to Bridle Falls."

***

Bramble waited patiently for the better part of fifteen minutes, leaning against a wall as he watched groups of researchers, security guards and contractors rush about. He went over the list of chemicals and extracts they had worked into the potion, double-checking them for some sort of reaction, some reason for the chaos that was playing out around him.

Everbright, Shadeblossom Extract, Focus Serum, Particle Booster 811-B...

Willow's voice interrupted his thoughts. "Dr. Bramble! Dr. Bramble, I believe I've found something!"

Bramble perked his ears up. "Did you? I've been sitting here trying to figure out what we did wrong." He paused. "It was the nutmeg, wasn't it?"

"What? No, don't be ridiculous," Willow said. "Where would you get such an idea?"

"Uhh...you kinda ran off after this 'eureka' moment involving it."

"Unconnected, I assure you."

"But--"

"Unconnected, my esteemed colleague." He adjusted his glasses before adding quietly, "it was anise."

"What?"

"Nothing. The important thing is that we made a mistake in the chemical mixture: we were supposed to use Mantiberry extract diluted in a mixture of--" There was a loud crash from further down the cavernous entryway; several guards in firefighting outfits rushed to the scene, levitating extinguishers. "Oh screw it. Long story short, my friend, we bungled something that was supposed to go un-bungled, and now we have a gigantic doom cookie wreaking havoc through Bridle Falls, along with who-knows-what else."

"I noticed. So what do we do about it?"

"If my theory is correct, the process can be reversed if we apply the same mixture, albeit diluted, to the subject with a safer medium. It will counter-act the old application and revert it to its normal size. That, or make it grow even larger...the science behind it is still somewhat...foggy."

"Foggy. Great."

"There's also the teensy problem of a larger portion of said medium. Most anything will work, as long as it's inert to the chemicals. Even water."

"...how much 'larger' are we talking?"

Willow Wisp smiled nervously. "Ah...about a thousand gallons?" He glanced at the giant hole in the entry shutter. "I do hope you brought a large bucket, my friend."

***

Princess Luna descended from the sky with flashes of lightning and cracks of thunder. Already she could hear the shouts of terror and the stamps of countless hooves around her. As her sky carriage touched the ground, she leapt out dramatically and tossed aside her cloak, which turned into a cloud of bats and scattered with the wind. Her eyes closed and her held held high, she recited the words she'd memorized years ago.

"Pathetic mortals, who dares summon Nightmare Moon on this most unholy of nights?! Who dares tempt the wrath of the Queen of the Night?! All those who wish to be spared, hear me and obey: bring forth your sweets, that I may feast upon them, or so shall I feast upon you!"

The terrified screams continued, and Luna smiled inwardly. I must be in particular form tonight. She waited to hear the sound of candy wrappers rustling at her hooves, maybe the giggles of children who had taken part in the festivities before. After a long moment she cautiously opened an eye.

"Make haste, or your queen shall...shall..."

There were indeed ponies panicking all around her, but none of them seemed to even notice her presence. She turned to her guards. "Exactly what is happening here? These citizens are not reveling. They should be reveling!"

"We seem to have landed in the midst of some sort of crisis, Your Highness," one of the bat-guards answered. "We were not informed of such a thing. We shall make all haste to determine--"

There was a great booming sound, one after another. The ground shook with each burst of noise. In the distance, emerging from a copse of evergreens, was an enormous creature. It roared as it approached, cloaked in the darkness of night. "What in the world is that?!"

Luna's eyes went wide; the creature towered over every building in the town, even the tall belltower of City Hall. "By the heavens..." She shook herself alert, pointing a hoof at the lead bat-stallion. "Guards! Subdue that creature at once!"

A guard in the back yelled back. "I'm sorry, Your Highness, we brought no arms! It was to be a night of festivities, not combat!"

The massive creature came into view; it was a dark brown, vaguely pony-shaped, with gleaming red eyes and large, bright-white fangs on each side of its mouth. One of its legs was oddly colored, brighter and with a different texture to the rest of the thing. Luna squinted at it, an inkling of its nature tugging at the back of her mind. "It almost appears to be..."

"A gingerbread pony?!" one of the guards finished for her in surprise. "No, no, that can't be right!" He unclasped himself from the sky carriage assembly, flapping into the air for a closer look. He flew a quick circle around it, avoiding a leg that swung up at him. "It is! Princess, this isn't the mascot you were speaking of, is it? Because I imagined something...smaller. And more holiday-appropriate." He sniffed the air. "Smells good, though. Like nutmeg."

"My mascot? When I put in the request I had expected a small creature, Sir Thundershield! Certainly not this!" As she took to the air for a better look she noticed a small horde of oblong, bouncing objects surrounding the...gingerbread pony. There were dozens of them, and they were all singing. "Curious. I will have to have a word with the Foundation about appropriate sizes, though I am not sure--" One of the pumpkins jumped up at her, singing some song or other. She dodged out of the way with a flap of her wings, only to have a hoof-full of others come at her. "I...am not...amused!" she said as she dodged their attempts to reach her. "I specified friendly, not smothering! I dare say such displays of affection are unbecoming of simple carved squashes!" There were now dozens of the little jack o' lanterns under her, bouncing up at her joyfully, all while singing their song in unison. She looked over to her guards, who were bobbing their heads to the song. "I am glad you can find some entertainment in my surprise."

None of them looked back at her, or responded in the least. One of the guards removed himself from his harness, followed by his colleagues. He muttered something to no-one in particular about the song sounding "familiar". Luna hovered in front of them, sticking out a hoof and ordering them to stop what they were doing. They didn't react, continuing their march toward the pumpkins. One after another, the jack o' lanterns tried to bounce up at her, but she simply flew above their reach.

"Guards! Your Princess orders you to cease your movement immediately and return to the carriage! Guards! Such behavior is--" she had to duck as a pumpkin flew over her head. She glanced back and saw the little creatures throwing themselves at her from the back of the giant gingerbread pony. Curiously, she caught a glimpse of a stylized falling star on the side of the pumpkin as it passed by. Another one joined the first, with a harp on its side. "These pumpkins have cutie marks?" she asked out loud. "Unusual, to say the least..."

Below her, her entranced guards were being mobbed. They didn't seem in any particular danger, or even concerned about the situation; they simply stood in place, letting several singing pumpkins idly gnaw on their flanks and sides with their squishy mouths.

"Yes, well...perhaps there's no reason for alarm after all. The giant confection, however, may be problematic." No sooner had she turned to keep track of the gingerbread monstrosity than she noticed her guards disappear, one after another, in a flash of blinding light. When the light cleared, four jack o' lanterns stood in their place, still wearing helmets, with cutie marks emblazoned on their sides. "This may be an appropriate time to consult with somepony else..." She bellowed down to her pumpkin-guards. "I SHALL RETURN SHORTLY, BRAVE SOLDIERS. I MUST...SEEK AID. YES." In truth, Luna had no idea what to do about any of this. To her left, a gigantic, evil cookie was stomping its way through town and making a mess of things, and on her right, a horde of polymorphing pumpkins were turning everyone in town into more pumpkins! There was only one place to start seeking answers: The Foundation. With steadfast determination, she declared to no-one in particular that she was going to save Nightmare Night, and from this night forward the town of Bridle Falls would be remembered for its bravery. True bravery!

Or she would have, if a pumpkin hadn't flown out of nowhere and latched onto her.

"Oh! Get off of me, foul vegetable creature! The royal flank is none of your concern, particularly when I am monologuing!" She pushed the stubborn thing off with a hoof, watching it fall to the ground and bounce harmlessly. "Now, to find the pony responsible for this mess!"