The Hauntfest Mazeby AgentDiamondDustChaptersThe Oh So Great Idea - Part One of FiveConvincing...Convincing...1...2...3... - Part Two of FiveThe Shadow Bolts - Part Four of FiveThe Wonder Bolts - Part Five of FiveLet The Games Begin - Part Three of Five.The Oh So Great Idea - Part One of Five"Blair blair blair!" "You know he never actually said that right?" "You're just a joy kill." "Come on Spike, at least I'm honest." "Whatever Sunset, I look awesome and you know it!" "Ha oh yea Spike those fangs and the cape are like the real thing." "Dears will you please stop arguing? I simply can not work with all of the negativity." A white unicorn with a curly purple mane complained to the pair while she was trying to customize a Nightmare Night costume for Twilight. "But honestly Spikey Wikey, we do have to find a much more fitting costume for you." "Heh, if you say so Rarity" "Suck up" "Shut up" "Spike!" Twilight stepped out of the dressing room in Raritys' Boutique; "Watch your language" she chided, much to Sunset's content. "And you stop provoking him." "But Twilight whatever have I done?" Sunset snickered as she watch Rarity make a few changes to Twilight's warrior costume. "Sunset dear you're up after Applejack and I'm sure Twilight will be more than happy to give you a lecture on it while she waits for you" Rarity chimed in. "Hey Spike I'm sorry your Dracula outfit is totally awesome" "Wow congratulations, you have earned the medal for the most sarcastic pony in existence" The dragon huffed as he crossed his arms. Sunset looked horrified, "A medal!? I should be getting a trophy! What I do takes serious skill." "Seriously?" The little dragon was not amused. "Ha much as I love talking to you erm 'Spikey Wikey'" The red and orange Alicorn smirked "I should see how Indigo and the others are." Rarity looked up from her work at Sunset "Don't be too long dear, I simply can not design you a costume without you here." "I'll be back soon, don't worry." Sunset answered as she trotted up to Twilight to give her a quick kiss. Rarity jumped in front of Twilight "Ah ah ah, no back off of my masterpiece! You can kiss her all you want after my costume is off." Sunset chuckled, "Okay okay, bye Rarity, bye Twilight and bye Spikey Wikey" The Alicorn grinned and forced the grumpy dragon into a hug. "Get off me!!" Sunset pulled a face of fake hurt and trotted out of Raritys' Boutique. "Awwww" As Sunset walked down from the Boutique everypony she walked past gave her a smile and a wave, making her grin at how far she'd come since that very first day of coming home. She trotted up to Twilight's castle while she thought about the memories that seemed like they were made yesterday, when really it was moons ago. Sunset opened the castle doors and trotted to the main hall to be greeted with the image of her very bored looking Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, Sugar Coat, Sour Sweet and Diamond Dust listening to a Draconequus while Rainbow Dash was laughing hysterically in the air. "Oh yay finally somepony that can give us answers" A pink and green earth pony walked up to Sunset "You'e useless Discord." She snarled back. "I disagree Sour Sweet, you're just stupid." Discord huffed as he crossed his arms and looked away. "Excuse me?" She replied in a bitterly cold voice. "It's all arguments today isn't it?" Sunset chuckled. "What we're you trying to explain Discord?" "I was just innocently passing by the castle after tea with Fluttershy and I thought 'Hey why not pay Sunset and Twilight a visit? They are after all some of my bestest friends" Discord explained as he hugged two plushes that looked like Sunset and Twilight. "Gee thanks Di -" "So me being the most caring friend; I was on my way to the castle and then I bumped into this one" Discord pointed to Rainbow "Who asked me where I was going, I used the lessons Applejack herself taught me and I was brutally honest, which wound up with her following me somehow.... anyway in the castle we found these ponies here dressing up for Nightmare Night but only they were calling it 'Halloween'." Discord frowned, "I told them there was no such thing as Halloween and then they started asking me all these questions, It's no surprise I was overwhelmed" A fainting couch appeared and Discord dropped onto it. "Sunset what is Nightmare Night?" Sunny Flare asked. "It's like a more chilled out Halloween." Sunset replied simply. "BORRRING" Indigo snapped, "You have no Halloween here? No Hauntfest Maze Competition? No special effects? Nothing!?" "The apple family does maze that's sorta like that......No special effects or really scary stuff though. This is more of a holiday for the kids." Sunset stated. Indigo rolled her eyes "Ugh how can you be in a world of magic and not have special effects???" Rainbow landed next to Sunset "S-special effects? What are those? And what in the hay is a Hantfest Maze?" "Something that made decorations more.....scary I guess. It would be things like sharp flashing lights to make something more scary, smoke to add effect and holograms to make things appear and the Hauntfest Maze Competition was basically another time that Canterlot high and Crystal Prep came together and tried to scare the other school using a maze. Each school would have a maze and used special effects to make it as scary as can be in order to 'out - scare' the other team." Sunset smiled, "It was quite fun actually." Rainbow flew up into the air "That sounds AWESOME!! We have GOT to try that here!" "Didn't Sunset say it was a holiday for kids?, Why would we make a maze like that just to end up giving kids nightmares?" Diamond Dust spoke up. "What's wrong with a good Nightmare?" Discord grinned. Rainbow Dash thought for a minute "All the filly's go in at about 8, why don't we do it after then? Sunset can create those special effect thingys with her horn. Or whatever they're made with." "That doesn't sound like a good idea, what mazes would we even use?" Sunset discouraged as she listened to Rainbow's idea. "If we split into two teams, my team could use Applejacks' maze and the other team could use the maze Discord used to tear me and my friends apart" Rainbow glared at Discord. "Remember Dashie, I'm reformed" A fake halo appeared on top of Discord and ridiculously big angel wings sprouted from his back. "Whatever..." The Pegasus rolled her eyes. Diamond Dust perked up "That sounds like an awesome idea! At least this Nightmare Night wont be so lame" "OOOOO and Who will the teams be?" Discord grinned. "Well that's obvious, Rainbow's team will be Twilgiht, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Discord. My team will be Diamond Dust, Sunny Flare, Sugar Coat, Sour Sweet and Indigo Zap." Sunset started; "Hey why do I get the Draconequus?" "Will Fluttershy be able to make it then?" "Probably not, but she might be able to help with making the maze!" Rainbow countered. "Okay then if Fluttershy can make it, Discord can be a judge." Discord appeared behind Sunset in something Sunset would assume was a judges' costume. "I shall do my best," "If it keeps him outta my team, I'm in" Rainbow beamed as she turned towards the door, "I'll go tell the others! This is gonna be awesome." She grinned as she flew out the door. Convincing...Convincing...1...2...3... - Part Two of FiveAt Sweet Apple Acres "So wait, ya'll wanna use my family's maze so you can do some competition? And you want me to help you in this competition? I don't know if it's such a good idea RD" Apple Jack said after hearing Rainbows' plan. "Eyup" Big Mac agreed with his sister as he helped stack hay bales to make the family maze. "Oh come on Apple Jack, it's a harmless little competition, what could go wrong?" Rainbow grinned at her friend. "Well don't get me started...." "I won't, come on AJ you love a competition, we get a chance to scare the hay outta those Crystal Prep ponies." Applejack looked suspiciously at Rainbow, "You're sure its not gonna cause any damage?" "I can practically garantee it!" Apple Jack looked at her brother who just shrugged. "Fine Rainbow, I'm in." "Great! Now we just need to convince the others!" Rainbow Dash grinned as she flew up into the air and did a victory dance. AJ gave her an odd look. "Wait a minute, ya'll haven't even told the others yet Rainbow?" Rainbow stopped in mid - dance, "Heh, I thought it would be easier to come to you first, what's the point in breaking it to the others if we don't have a maze." Apple Jack rolled her eyes; "Fine fine" At Canterlot Boutique "Well Dear I simply can not ever dream of ruining these delightful costumes." Rarity argued with Rainbow. The Pegasus countered: "Oh come on Rarity! This is meant to be Nightmare Night, not a fashion show! It's supposed to be fun! I mean Pinkie and Twilight totally agree with me don't you?" Rainbow turned to the other two ponies. "YEP YEP YEP! That sounds like a superific idea Dashie! This is gonna be so fun! Almost as fun as the time I threw Twilight the surprise 'Welcome To Ponyville' party, I mean nothing can be as fun as that because that was just like 'Woah' and it was so totally the best party ever!" Pinkie Pie bounced next to Twilight. "I think it sounds like a great idea, I'm sure be fun." Twilight agreed a little less enthusiastically than her friend. Rarity huffed and turned from her friends; "Oh no no no no, I will not ruin this fabulous Mermare costume." "Oh but Rarity" Applejack chimed in "Sunny Flare is on the other team; but if you don't wanna help us then -" "Oh...It... Is...ON!!!" Rainbow grinned, "Looks like we're all in agreement then....all except Fluttershy." Applejack looked at Rainbow as if she was mad, "Are you kiddin' yourself? That mare ain't gonna come out on a night like this after last year, she don't wanna do Nightmare Night." "Aaand she won't be, I was going to ask if she could just to help with the maze, she doesn't have do deal with any scary stuff" "Good Luck tellin' her that..." Applejack frowned. "Heh don't worry, this is gonna be AWESOME!" At Twilight's castle "This is going to be a DISASTER!" Sunset groaned as she paced around the throne room; "Something is going to go wrong, I just know it." "Don't worry Sunset, this is gonna be harmless, you've just gotta let loose a little. You're being weird" Diamond Dust chuckled and stuck her tongue out at Sunset as she lazed on Rainbow's throne. "Pfft excuse me? I am not being weird and are you sure you're allowed up there?" Diamond just waved her off; "Yea yea me and Dashie get long just fine." Sunset gave her a blank look "Yea I am sure she totally forgot about the time you- " "Come on Sunset you need to loosen up, our team is waiting for us to help with ideas for the maze over at the Canterlot Gardens' maze." Diamond interrupted as she spread her wings and flew towards the door. "Everything will be fine, just sit back and enjoy the roller coaster." The Pegasus muttered as she flew out. "I hope you're right." Sunset whispered as she took of and flew beside her friend. The blue and white Pegasus rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Sunset, when haven't I been right? This is going to be tonnes of fun and It'll all work out." "How are you so sure? We've got Sunny Flare and Rarity up against each other not to mention you and Indigo Zap annoying Rainbow Dash." "What can I say? Rainbow's a little up herself and I am happy to wind her up about it." The Pegasus giggled, "Okay maybe I am a little harsh on the pony. But seriously; what's the worst that could happen with Rarity and Flare? What are they gonna do angry put makeup on each other and then agree on how 'fabulous this emerald green is'." Dust imitated Rarity's glamours voice sarcastically. "Like I say, it's like a roller coaster, you can't stop it midway; you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. Sunset looked down on the streets of Ponyville to see all of the little fillies running around looking for the perfect costume. "Maybe you're right, Nightmare Night is only in a few days." Dust smirked and bumped Sunset "Exactly! So we best start on this maze, we are so gonna win!" Sunset bumped Dust back, "You are so weird." "Some of these ponies are weird." Sunset just chuckled. The Shadow Bolts - Part Four of Five"Why are we doing our maze first?" Sunset questioned her friends. "Because they said it would be easier." Sour Sweet stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world as she adjusted her gargoyle wings. Sunset thought for a moment "But we were already at their maze?" Indigo rolled her eyes as she sat in her purple uniform "Guess they just wanted to make sure that they don't do so awfully compared to us. I still don't get why you didn't let me install those apple shooters Sunset." "Because that's just mean, it's not even scary, an apple in someone's eye could hurt if it was shot hard enough." Sunset groaned. "Here they come" Sugar Coat stated simply as Twilight's team trotted up to the maze. "Right, so we do yours first so that way when we've done ours you can go home and get some rest." Twilight beamed. "Get some rest?" Sunset questioned her marefriend. "Hehe you'll see." Pinkie bounced. "So can we finally start the maze Sunset?" Diamond Dust asked enthusiastically as Sunny Flare, Indigo, Sugar Coat and Sour Sweet looked eager to get started. "Alright, you shouldn't need a tour guide for this maze" Sunset laughed, "It's not a big one. "We'll be waiting at the end with Discord." Sunny Flare stated as her group started to walk around the maze. When Sunset's team was out of view Rainbow grinned "This is going to be a piece of cake, I can't wait to see their reaction to our maze they're gonna be so scared, glad you could come up with some amazing ideas Pinkie, didn't know you and Fluttershy had it in you." "Hehehe what can I say? It's a talent." Pinkie grinned as she bounced into the maze. Twilight and the others followed behind Pinkie who slowed down and walked beside her friends. A clearly fake skeleton dropped from above it had one fake eye in the socket, Rainbow couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Seriously!? This is a special effect?" Water squirted out of the eye drenched Rainbow. "Well there's your effect dear" Rarity and the others giggled at the drenched Pegasus. "Whatever" Rainbow couldn't help but giggle herself. Just as Rainbow was about to reply a loud snickering giggle turned the atmosphere cold, the ponies slowed down the hallways of Brush and kept their eyes peeled. The end of the path only let them take a left turn, and Rainbow - of course - was the first to zip through it. "Woa...." "What is it Dashie? A horrible toothy death defying monster!??" Pinkie said with absolute excitement as she bounced around the corner and stopped in her tracks. "Wooow" Pinkie said as she bounced round the objects in the small clearing. It's an old circus ride that was run down, rusty and gave of a creepy vibe. "Wow" Rarity said as she came up to the old ride, "The pattern on this is absolutely incredible I'll have to clean it up a bit but I must ask Sunset if I can borrow that." "Great, at least SOMEONE is happy." Rainbow groaned, "Come on." she said as she started to fly down another path, her four friends followed her. The fairground ride started to spin, making a quiet squeak. Twilight turned around to see no difference in the ride but for some reason she was drawn to it. "Twilight come on! We wanna finish this before we're 80!" Rainbow shouted back at Twilight after realizing she'd strayed from the group. "Coming" Twilight shouted back and turned to be whacked in the face with another fake skeleton. "Oh for bucks sake." She pushed past the skeleton and cantered to catch up with her friends. As Twilight was almost at her friends the ground gave way under her. Twilight couldn't breathe as she collapsed into the ditch and landed in the mud; making a loud ouff sound as she did. Twilight tried to fly out but something was stopping her, she couldn't get more than thirty centimeters off the ground no matter how hard she flapped her wings. "Twilight!" She heard her friends call her and run towards the ditch, Rainbow flew down into the ditch to help Twilight but stopped halfway. "Rainbow?" Twilight questioned as she watched Rainbow slowly fly down facing her with a terrified look on her face. "What's wrong?" Twilight stiffened as she heard a breathy growl from behind her. Twilight turned to see a creature with no fur, just grey skin. It had a hunched back and stood on all fours, it had the face of a rabid wolf with jagged teeth. It dragged one of it's back legs behind it as the creature begun to approach Twilight. "Twilight come on lets fly." Rainbow tried to speed back up but found she was unable to. "What the hay?" Rainbow tried several times to get off of the ground, each time the grey creature took a step closer. "Come on I see a path. Applejack! You and the others go ahead!" Twilight called and the Alicorn cantered down the path which looked to be held up by tree roots. With Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity "We better think of a way to help Twilight" Applejack mumbled to Pinkie pie and Rarity as she watched the grey creature chase after Rainbow and Twilight. "While that's a quite alright idea dear, I think we might want to help ourselves first" Applejack turned around to her friend when the grey creature was out of sight. "Why Rarity? Whats-" A wicked giggle interrupted Applejack, the same giggle from the beginning of the maze, only this time they could see the culprit. A glowing orange face with a wide grin stared at them from the other side of the hallway. "A pumpkin?" Applejack started to move backwards with her friends as the pumpkin moved towards them. Pinkie squeaked "Ruuuuuuun! It's gonna eat us alive!" Pinkie bolted away from the pumpkin followed by Applejack and Rarity. As they ran down the hallway another pumpkin appeared in front of the trio. Pinkie screamed and she, Applejack and Rarity galloped down another hallway they stopped for a moment when they saw that three turnings we're available Pinkie looked behind her to see the two pumpkin heads following her. "I see the exit!" Applejack called as she started to run down the pathway that was to the right, Pinkie and Rarity followed close behind as they got closer to the exit more little tricks popped out of the bushes, making them giggle and squeal as they ran past. Applejack was the first out, followed by Pinkie and Rarity. They were greeted with a view of the Shadow Bolts laughing with Diamond and Sunset just shaking their heads. "Oh Sunset! That was great." Applejack said between laughs. Although she noticed the lack of a certain Draconequus "Where is Discord?" Sunset beamed at her friends, "Discord is basically 'observing' so he can tell which maze is scarier or whatever. Did you have fun?" "Yes dear that was quite a fun ride." Rarity said to Diamond and Sunset as she calmed her giggling down. "The look on Rainbow's face when she saw the grey monster, PRICELESS!" Indigo couldn't stop her snickering. "That was EPIC!!!" Pinkie cackled as she looked back into the maze to see the pumpkins gone. "Where's Twilight and Rainbow?" Applejack asked. Diamond grinned "They're on their way." Back in the underground tunnels, under the maze. Twilight slowed down and gasped for air, "I think we got away." Rainbow smiled nervously, "I don't get why we couldn't just fly out." "Me neither." Twilight mumbled as she carried on walking ahead down the dark path. Twilight heard a loud thump. "Ouch" Rainbow's voice whimpered. "Rainbow are you okay?" Twilight asked a little concerned. "I think I walked into a tree root." "Hold on" Twilight cast a spell to light up her horn so they could see where they were going, as Twilight was able to make the room brighter she saw what she was facing a giant eyeball which made her jump at first, but after looking at it she couldn't help but titter as she carried on walking forward, the pair came up to a stair case. "We can finally get out of these tunnels." Rainbow said as she trotted towards the stairs. "Hey guys, how did you enjoy the tunnels?" Sunset smiled at the pair as they came up the stairs. "How did you get a huge monster in there!?" Rainbow demanded. Indigo started laughing again "Your face when you saw that hologram was hilarious." "Hologram?" Rainbow questioned, Sunset pulled out a small device and pressed a button on it and the grey skinned monster appeared again. "It's fake see;" Sunset put her hoof on the creatures paw and her hoof went straight through it. Rainbow stared at the hologram in disbelief; "I can't believe it.....I was scared of something that I could walk through!?" Twilight couldn't help but giggle at her friend's disbelief. "Hmmm yes Rainbow Dash the ordeal was quite amusing, The Shadow Bolts have set the bar high for you." A bat said as it morphed to reveal Discord. "And you admit you were scared?" Indigo mocked with glee. "Not as scared as you're gonna be when you try our maze!" Rainbow countered. The dark blue Pegasus grinned "Well then Rainbow Dash, lead the way." "I will." Rainbow dash started to fly towards Sweet Apple Acres while everyone but Twilight and Sunset left. Ponies from both Canterlot and Ponyville gathered around the maze dressed in costumes of all kinds. "Is the Maze open yet?" A blue and purple pony asked the pair. Twilight and Sunset both looked at each other and nodded, "Yep, it's open to anypony!" Twilight beamed as ponies started to go inside. "Come on. Time for our maze Sunset." Twilight trotted ahead to catch up with the others and Sunset followed. The Wonder Bolts - Part Five of FiveAll of Sunset's team gathered outside the ominous-looking maze to be greeted by Twilight who was dressed in a worriers costume and standing as stoically as possible. Sunset couldn't help but giggle at how funny Twilight looked. "Well you've put a lot of effort into this." Sunset noted as she looked around seeing the decorations and masks hung around the entrance of the maze. "Must've gotten some of these decorations from Zecora." Sunny Flare frowned at the decorations, "Yes well it's not as good as our maze, these tacky decorations don't hold a candle to what we made." Flare's comment just made Twilight and Sunset both roll their eyes. As Twilight pulled out a torch and shined it on herself. "Welcome to the Maze of Cupcakes!!!" Twilight said in the most creepy voice she could muster. "The maze of....cupcakes??" All of the shadow bolts started laughing, "Well at least we're gonna get a laugh." Sour Sweet smirked as she walked past Twilight and into the maze with the other shadow bolts leaving Diamond, Sunset and Twilight just outside of it. Diamond rolled her eyes, "Best go in with the morons, honestly Sunset you must've met these ponies in a real 'special' place." Diamond mumbled as she trotted into the maze. Leaving Twilight and Sunset alone. Diamond stopped for a second and then trotted back out to see the pair gazing into each others eyes. Diamond rolled her eyes If I keep having to roll my eyes they're gonna fall out of my head she thought. "Sunset, this is Nightmare Night not Hearts and Hooves day." "R-right." Sunset blushed as she looked at her hooves, "Twilight are you supposed to be touring us?" "Oh! Right!" Twilight bolted into the maze to catch up with the Shadow Bolts and Sunset walked past Diamond as she opened her mouth. "Don't even go there Dust." "Heh right." As Sunset and Diamond walked to the maze there was a heavy, eerie silence filling the it. Both ponies carried on down the halls made of hay, corn plants and dead grass. They saw almost no decorations, no 'pop - up' ghosts. They didn't even hear Twilight or the Shadow Bolts anymore. The deeper they delved into the maze the thicker a mist begun to appear, it only reached up to their chests but it had a bitter chill to it that seemed to freeze their lungs and made them struggle to breathe. As they we're about 5 minutes into the maze they found three paths. One forward, one left and one right. "Shoot, which one did everyone go down?" Diamond frowned. Sunset looked down every pathway and didn't hear anything down either one, "I don't know Dust, maybe we should just keep going forward?" Diamond nodded and started her way down the path; "Good plan." Sunset walked behind her friend, her stomach twisted nervously. Diamond laughed "What were they planning to do scare us with silence!?" As soon as she bellowed that a loud sickening crack made itself notable causing both ponies to freeze in their tracks. "You had to ask didn't you?" Sunset groaned. "Well it is supposed to be a scare maze so they could at least try to sca-" Before Diamond could finish her sentence she heard a quiet, whisper of a voice appear. Who once worked as a team must work alone, it is thee who must free her friends from stone. "Well what the hay does that mean?" Sunset asked as she looked around. "...Dust?" Sunset turned to see the Pegasus gone. "DIAMOND?" Sunset asked panicking slightly. "Dust this isn't funny!" Sunset was only met with a deafening silence. "R-right okay, I'll just go ahead...yea I'm sure she just went ahead." Sunset said trotted quickly down the path as she felt paranoia creep up her neck. When Sunset came to the end of the path she realized what she was in an circular opening, with four different paths available to her now. 'Geez how big is this thing?' Sunset wondered trying to ignore her gut feeling to run. Sunset approached the middle of the opening to see a statue of a terrified Alicorn. That looks an awfully lot like Twilight, but surly she wouldn't have a whole statue carved of her; that's not her style. Sunset walked through the dead grass and up to the statue, prodding it with her hoof to feel a warm sensation. That's not right. Statues are supposed to be cold because they're...well..statues. "It is thee who must free her friends from stone." Sunset recalled out loud. "B-but it can't be! This is your maze!" Sunset pressed her hoof on the statue. The Alicorn panicked as she couldn't believe what she was feeling. "No, this is a game....I think." Sunset turned refusing to believe it was actually Twilight and cantered down a path, not even bothering to think which one would be best. Sunset slowed down as a foul smell invaded her nostrils. As Sunset slowed she tripped over a wire causing a loud bang. Sunset lifted her head, expecting a ghost or something to be the result of the bang but found nothing. Sunset frowned as she walked further down her chosen path - a little more scared than she'd like to admit. On the other side of the maze "What the hell is this Indigo!? What did you do that for??" An angry Sugar Coat shouted at the Pegasus, Sugar coat rarely got angry. Indigo tried to hold back her laughter. "It was an accident! I swear!" "Come on you two, play nice." Sour Sweet said "Before I rip your eyes out." She mumbled behind her back. Crack Sunny Flare turned from her amusing 'friends' and looked behind her; "What was that?" "Probably nothing, come on this maze has been a total bust." Indigo groaned and turned around to be greeted with a silhouette of an earth pony. "Ugh finally one of Twilight's team is here to take us out of this crappy maze." The earth pony stepped out of the shadows and the sight made all of the Shadow Bolts stand back. In front of them was a pink pony with a wicked, toothy grin on her face, the scary thing was that her hair no longer stood up, and blood was matted in her mane and on her coat. "Hehe come on silly's! Let's go and make cupcakes together! I'm going to show you my secret ingredient now we're friends!" The Shadow Bolts just looked at each other for a awkwardly until Sour Sweet spoke up "Well you said you're sooo brave Indigo, and because this is suuch a 'crappy maze' why don't YOU go first hmm?" Indigo just looked at the pink pony who seemed perfectly content bouncing around in circles; "Yea but - she's crazy and I really hope that's ketchup." "Well of course it's ketchup!" Sugar Coat snapped; she thought for a moment and grinned "Oh so maybe Rainbow was right and you're not one of the most daring ponies out there?" "Fine! I'll go first" Indigo put on a fake smile and walked to the the earth pony, "Hey there.......you doing okay?" Pinkie stopped bouncing around and stood vacant for a moment before turning around and looking at Indigo, "So you can make cupcakes with me!? That's super! Hehe come on, lets go to the kitchen!" Pinkie giggled and bounced down the maze's hall. "There's a kitchen in this thing?" Indigo thought as she followed Pinkie down the hallway, her friends close behind. As they turned the corner that Indigo saw Pinkie turn down the Shadow Bolts saw skeletons of ponies and griffons, hanging on the bushes, Indigo saw a bunting of Pegasus wings, making her tuck hers tightly into her back. The one thing that the Shadow Bolts saw that struck fear up their spine was a rainbow colored mare, hanging from a table as blood trickled down her sliced stomach and drained into a rusty, metal bucket; making a sickly dripping sound. "Okay this is creepy, I'm outta here" Sunny Flare turned to run but stopped in her tracks as she saw a demented Pinkie Pie standing in her way, holding a tray of cupcakes, one of which had an eyeball as a decoration causing Sunny Flare to let out a scream snapping all of the other Shadow Bolts out of their trance. "Run!" Indigo zipped over Pinkie as all the other Shadow Bolts ran past her. "Wait! I thought you wanted to make cupcakes!!!" Pinkies voice faded as they galloped down the hall seeing an opening at the end of it. Back to the other side of the maze. Sunset felt as if she had been walking for hours, while it had only been a few minutes. She stopped dead when she heard an ear piercing scream coming from a different part of the maze That sounds like Sunny Flare Sunset thought. But that wasn't the reason she stopped, the reason was the 'too close for comfort' howl that joined the screams. Sunset heard heavy breathing behind her, and the foul smell hit her harder than before. She didn't even need to turn around to see what it was. Timber Wolf Sunset heard footsteps come closer and she bolted, following any path ahead of her until an exit came into view. Near the exit of the maze Diamond wandered down the hallway that she had been placed into. She had no clue how she had been separated from her friend and had come across next to no decorations. She frowned when she saw the exit of the maze. Dust trotted towards it a little disappointed that nothing even came close to making her jump, let alone get her scared. Diamond felt as if she had been trotting for a good five minutes but the exit seemed no closer than before; she looked down to see her hooves moving and the ground changing so she knew she was moving forward but the exit had not budged. Dust looked back up to see the exit further away than before, Dust started to feel nervousness grasp her stomach as she tried to gallop towards the exit but she got no closer to it than before. Diamond heard a loud bang noise which seemed to trigger something, she heard what sounded like a cage opening. Diamond slowed down and slowly looked behind her to see a pack of shadowy wolf figures descending upon her. Diamond's eyes widened and she picked up her pace again; galloping towards the exit. But Diamond noticed that the wolves were getting closer, but the exit was getting further and further away causing her to gallop faster, her lungs burned as she tried to force her body to move forward, to no avail. She skidded to a stop realizing that suddenly she was out of the maze. Confusion hit her as she could clearly see Sweet Apple Acres, she looked around the Maze to see her friends running in completely different directions, Sunny Flare screaming like a banshee and Sunset looked just as confused at Diamond. While Twilight and her team just stood there laughing and had smug looks on their faces; even Discord stood behind them chucking. Sunset Shimmer still wasn't quite sure. "What the-? Huh? But?" She heard a crash and turned around to see all of the Shadow Bolts on the floor. "What did you do that for!?" Sunny Flare growled at them. "Maybe if you shut up I could hear myself think!" Indigo snapped back. Diamond just facehoofed and Sunset considered braking up the argument, but decided against it. Outside the barn she could see Rainbow laughing her head off while the others joined in. Sunset sighed in relief when she saw Twilight giggling with her friends. "Guys, I think we know when we've been beaten." "Heh" Indigo and the others blushed, "Yea you're right Sunset. That was one of the scariest mazes I have ever been in! Those were some creepy magical illusions. " Sunny Flare looked at Indigo as if she had lost a few screws. "One of!? I'd say that was THE scariest maze I have been in, Rainbow Dash was hanging while she was being drained of all her blood!!! And that EYEBALL!!" Sunset giggled as she watched her team argue about how scary the maze really was, They still have a lot to learn about getting along "Sunset!" Twilight called over to the red and orange Alicorn. Diamond trotted next to the red and orange Alicorn with an amused look on her face. "Go on, I'll make sure nopony kills anypony." Sunset spared her friends one last look as they argued. Sunset nodded to Diamond and trotted up the small hill to get to the barn. "Wow Twilight, I'm amazed you all pulled something like that off, I don't think they've seen anything like it before." Sunset mused as she nuzzled her girlfriend in - literally - shining armor. "This has been an fun Nightmare Night Sunset, I'm glad you mentioned this to Rainbow actually." Twilight nuzzled her back. "It was AWESOME!" Rainbow interjected. "And it gets better for you Rainbow, Usually the winning team get's to ask the other team to do one favor for them. So I guess it would be the same here right?" "Sweeeeet!" Rainbow simpered as she fantasized about all of the humiliating things she could get Indigo to do in public. While Sunset almost read Rainbows' mind. "Try not to be too harsh on her Rainbow. Twilight what do you want?" Sunset laughed. "Next year I want you to actually wear a costume." Twilight grinned. "Yes it appears you evaded me in that area dear, even though I had a time slot for you." Rarity murmured. Sunset blushed at her marefriend and nuzzled her. "Okay, next year I will wear a costume. What about you Pinkie and Applejack?" "I don't really need nothin' I'll let ya'll know if I do." Applejack replied honestly. "Well Sunset I could really use some help with making cupcakes next week, I was thinking maybe Sour Sweet could help?" Pinkie pie asked innocently. "Sour Sweet? Really? Okay, good luck with that Pinkie. What about you two?" Sunset turned to Rarity and Rainbow Dash. "Well I have something planned for Indigo Zap" Rainbow smirked evilly. "As do I for Sunny Flare." Rarity winked at the Pegasus who winked back. "Best Nightmare Night EVER!!" Pinkie pie shouted. Let The Games Begin - Part Three of Five."And we can't come!? But Applejack!" a little filly with a big bow in her hair complained as her friends sat behind her. "I told ya'll that you can have a sleepover instead, you can't come." Applejack groaned back at her little sister. "Fine." "Fine." "Eyup" Big Mac chimed in. Granny Smith smiled at her grandchildren. "Applejack it's eight o'clock didn't you say you needed to go somewhere or is the ol noggin messin' with me again?" "Yea I best be off, see ya'll later and Applebloom you and your friends better behave." Applejack shut the door of the barn behind her as she trotted back to the maze her team had made. Twilight and Rainbow were standing outside the maze talking about a few 'touch ups' "Howdy ya'll, how's the maze comin' along? Need help with anythin'?" Twilight smiled and shook her head. "No AJ, you setting up the maze was enough, besides we're almost done, lucky we managed to drag Fluttershy out of her cottage." "Yea we only had to promise to go to the next five butterfly migrations, I can't wait for that." Rainbow grumbled but her mood rapidly changed to excitement as she saw Pinkie setting up a few touches to the maze. "This is gonna be so awesome!" "Don't set your hopes too high Rainbow, it's just a maze." Rainbow groaned. "Twilight, you and Sunset are such joy kills, you're perfect for eachother." Two Pegasus ponies flew above the group, one with a dark blue spiked mane with red highlights landed next to Applejack while the white and blue Pegasus stayed airborne. "Hey Indigo, Hey Diamond, here to check out the competition? Worried you might loose?" Rainbow grinned triumphantly. Indigo chuckled. "Pfft hello, you're talking to a Shadow Bolt here, lets get real." Diamond rolled her eyes and landed next to Indigo. "Buuuuuut we are here to see how you're getting along, we're done and its eight, the posters have been up and ponies are starting to show to see the mazes." She chimed in. Pinkie popped up behind Twilight gleefully. "I've juuuuuuuuuuuust finished hiding my surprise SPOOOOKY cannons" She said waving her hooves in the air. Twilight squeaked and jumped in surprise, giggling when she realized it was only Pinkie "That's great Pinkie so when can we start?" Twilight smiled at the pink pony. Pinkie laughed evilly "WE. ARE. READY." She said as lightning struck behind her.
The Oh So Great Idea - Part One of Five"Blair blair blair!" "You know he never actually said that right?" "You're just a joy kill." "Come on Spike, at least I'm honest." "Whatever Sunset, I look awesome and you know it!" "Ha oh yea Spike those fangs and the cape are like the real thing." "Dears will you please stop arguing? I simply can not work with all of the negativity." A white unicorn with a curly purple mane complained to the pair while she was trying to customize a Nightmare Night costume for Twilight. "But honestly Spikey Wikey, we do have to find a much more fitting costume for you." "Heh, if you say so Rarity" "Suck up" "Shut up" "Spike!" Twilight stepped out of the dressing room in Raritys' Boutique; "Watch your language" she chided, much to Sunset's content. "And you stop provoking him." "But Twilight whatever have I done?" Sunset snickered as she watch Rarity make a few changes to Twilight's warrior costume. "Sunset dear you're up after Applejack and I'm sure Twilight will be more than happy to give you a lecture on it while she waits for you" Rarity chimed in. "Hey Spike I'm sorry your Dracula outfit is totally awesome" "Wow congratulations, you have earned the medal for the most sarcastic pony in existence" The dragon huffed as he crossed his arms. Sunset looked horrified, "A medal!? I should be getting a trophy! What I do takes serious skill." "Seriously?" The little dragon was not amused. "Ha much as I love talking to you erm 'Spikey Wikey'" The red and orange Alicorn smirked "I should see how Indigo and the others are." Rarity looked up from her work at Sunset "Don't be too long dear, I simply can not design you a costume without you here." "I'll be back soon, don't worry." Sunset answered as she trotted up to Twilight to give her a quick kiss. Rarity jumped in front of Twilight "Ah ah ah, no back off of my masterpiece! You can kiss her all you want after my costume is off." Sunset chuckled, "Okay okay, bye Rarity, bye Twilight and bye Spikey Wikey" The Alicorn grinned and forced the grumpy dragon into a hug. "Get off me!!" Sunset pulled a face of fake hurt and trotted out of Raritys' Boutique. "Awwww" As Sunset walked down from the Boutique everypony she walked past gave her a smile and a wave, making her grin at how far she'd come since that very first day of coming home. She trotted up to Twilight's castle while she thought about the memories that seemed like they were made yesterday, when really it was moons ago. Sunset opened the castle doors and trotted to the main hall to be greeted with the image of her very bored looking Sunny Flare, Indigo Zap, Sugar Coat, Sour Sweet and Diamond Dust listening to a Draconequus while Rainbow Dash was laughing hysterically in the air. "Oh yay finally somepony that can give us answers" A pink and green earth pony walked up to Sunset "You'e useless Discord." She snarled back. "I disagree Sour Sweet, you're just stupid." Discord huffed as he crossed his arms and looked away. "Excuse me?" She replied in a bitterly cold voice. "It's all arguments today isn't it?" Sunset chuckled. "What we're you trying to explain Discord?" "I was just innocently passing by the castle after tea with Fluttershy and I thought 'Hey why not pay Sunset and Twilight a visit? They are after all some of my bestest friends" Discord explained as he hugged two plushes that looked like Sunset and Twilight. "Gee thanks Di -" "So me being the most caring friend; I was on my way to the castle and then I bumped into this one" Discord pointed to Rainbow "Who asked me where I was going, I used the lessons Applejack herself taught me and I was brutally honest, which wound up with her following me somehow.... anyway in the castle we found these ponies here dressing up for Nightmare Night but only they were calling it 'Halloween'." Discord frowned, "I told them there was no such thing as Halloween and then they started asking me all these questions, It's no surprise I was overwhelmed" A fainting couch appeared and Discord dropped onto it. "Sunset what is Nightmare Night?" Sunny Flare asked. "It's like a more chilled out Halloween." Sunset replied simply. "BORRRING" Indigo snapped, "You have no Halloween here? No Hauntfest Maze Competition? No special effects? Nothing!?" "The apple family does maze that's sorta like that......No special effects or really scary stuff though. This is more of a holiday for the kids." Sunset stated. Indigo rolled her eyes "Ugh how can you be in a world of magic and not have special effects???" Rainbow landed next to Sunset "S-special effects? What are those? And what in the hay is a Hantfest Maze?" "Something that made decorations more.....scary I guess. It would be things like sharp flashing lights to make something more scary, smoke to add effect and holograms to make things appear and the Hauntfest Maze Competition was basically another time that Canterlot high and Crystal Prep came together and tried to scare the other school using a maze. Each school would have a maze and used special effects to make it as scary as can be in order to 'out - scare' the other team." Sunset smiled, "It was quite fun actually." Rainbow flew up into the air "That sounds AWESOME!! We have GOT to try that here!" "Didn't Sunset say it was a holiday for kids?, Why would we make a maze like that just to end up giving kids nightmares?" Diamond Dust spoke up. "What's wrong with a good Nightmare?" Discord grinned. Rainbow Dash thought for a minute "All the filly's go in at about 8, why don't we do it after then? Sunset can create those special effect thingys with her horn. Or whatever they're made with." "That doesn't sound like a good idea, what mazes would we even use?" Sunset discouraged as she listened to Rainbow's idea. "If we split into two teams, my team could use Applejacks' maze and the other team could use the maze Discord used to tear me and my friends apart" Rainbow glared at Discord. "Remember Dashie, I'm reformed" A fake halo appeared on top of Discord and ridiculously big angel wings sprouted from his back. "Whatever..." The Pegasus rolled her eyes. Diamond Dust perked up "That sounds like an awesome idea! At least this Nightmare Night wont be so lame" "OOOOO and Who will the teams be?" Discord grinned. "Well that's obvious, Rainbow's team will be Twilgiht, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity and Discord. My team will be Diamond Dust, Sunny Flare, Sugar Coat, Sour Sweet and Indigo Zap." Sunset started; "Hey why do I get the Draconequus?" "Will Fluttershy be able to make it then?" "Probably not, but she might be able to help with making the maze!" Rainbow countered. "Okay then if Fluttershy can make it, Discord can be a judge." Discord appeared behind Sunset in something Sunset would assume was a judges' costume. "I shall do my best," "If it keeps him outta my team, I'm in" Rainbow beamed as she turned towards the door, "I'll go tell the others! This is gonna be awesome." She grinned as she flew out the door.
Convincing...Convincing...1...2...3... - Part Two of FiveAt Sweet Apple Acres "So wait, ya'll wanna use my family's maze so you can do some competition? And you want me to help you in this competition? I don't know if it's such a good idea RD" Apple Jack said after hearing Rainbows' plan. "Eyup" Big Mac agreed with his sister as he helped stack hay bales to make the family maze. "Oh come on Apple Jack, it's a harmless little competition, what could go wrong?" Rainbow grinned at her friend. "Well don't get me started...." "I won't, come on AJ you love a competition, we get a chance to scare the hay outta those Crystal Prep ponies." Applejack looked suspiciously at Rainbow, "You're sure its not gonna cause any damage?" "I can practically garantee it!" Apple Jack looked at her brother who just shrugged. "Fine Rainbow, I'm in." "Great! Now we just need to convince the others!" Rainbow Dash grinned as she flew up into the air and did a victory dance. AJ gave her an odd look. "Wait a minute, ya'll haven't even told the others yet Rainbow?" Rainbow stopped in mid - dance, "Heh, I thought it would be easier to come to you first, what's the point in breaking it to the others if we don't have a maze." Apple Jack rolled her eyes; "Fine fine" At Canterlot Boutique "Well Dear I simply can not ever dream of ruining these delightful costumes." Rarity argued with Rainbow. The Pegasus countered: "Oh come on Rarity! This is meant to be Nightmare Night, not a fashion show! It's supposed to be fun! I mean Pinkie and Twilight totally agree with me don't you?" Rainbow turned to the other two ponies. "YEP YEP YEP! That sounds like a superific idea Dashie! This is gonna be so fun! Almost as fun as the time I threw Twilight the surprise 'Welcome To Ponyville' party, I mean nothing can be as fun as that because that was just like 'Woah' and it was so totally the best party ever!" Pinkie Pie bounced next to Twilight. "I think it sounds like a great idea, I'm sure be fun." Twilight agreed a little less enthusiastically than her friend. Rarity huffed and turned from her friends; "Oh no no no no, I will not ruin this fabulous Mermare costume." "Oh but Rarity" Applejack chimed in "Sunny Flare is on the other team; but if you don't wanna help us then -" "Oh...It... Is...ON!!!" Rainbow grinned, "Looks like we're all in agreement then....all except Fluttershy." Applejack looked at Rainbow as if she was mad, "Are you kiddin' yourself? That mare ain't gonna come out on a night like this after last year, she don't wanna do Nightmare Night." "Aaand she won't be, I was going to ask if she could just to help with the maze, she doesn't have do deal with any scary stuff" "Good Luck tellin' her that..." Applejack frowned. "Heh don't worry, this is gonna be AWESOME!" At Twilight's castle "This is going to be a DISASTER!" Sunset groaned as she paced around the throne room; "Something is going to go wrong, I just know it." "Don't worry Sunset, this is gonna be harmless, you've just gotta let loose a little. You're being weird" Diamond Dust chuckled and stuck her tongue out at Sunset as she lazed on Rainbow's throne. "Pfft excuse me? I am not being weird and are you sure you're allowed up there?" Diamond just waved her off; "Yea yea me and Dashie get long just fine." Sunset gave her a blank look "Yea I am sure she totally forgot about the time you- " "Come on Sunset you need to loosen up, our team is waiting for us to help with ideas for the maze over at the Canterlot Gardens' maze." Diamond interrupted as she spread her wings and flew towards the door. "Everything will be fine, just sit back and enjoy the roller coaster." The Pegasus muttered as she flew out. "I hope you're right." Sunset whispered as she took of and flew beside her friend. The blue and white Pegasus rolled her eyes. "Oh come on Sunset, when haven't I been right? This is going to be tonnes of fun and It'll all work out." "How are you so sure? We've got Sunny Flare and Rarity up against each other not to mention you and Indigo Zap annoying Rainbow Dash." "What can I say? Rainbow's a little up herself and I am happy to wind her up about it." The Pegasus giggled, "Okay maybe I am a little harsh on the pony. But seriously; what's the worst that could happen with Rarity and Flare? What are they gonna do angry put makeup on each other and then agree on how 'fabulous this emerald green is'." Dust imitated Rarity's glamours voice sarcastically. "Like I say, it's like a roller coaster, you can't stop it midway; you just have to sit back and enjoy the ride. Sunset looked down on the streets of Ponyville to see all of the little fillies running around looking for the perfect costume. "Maybe you're right, Nightmare Night is only in a few days." Dust smirked and bumped Sunset "Exactly! So we best start on this maze, we are so gonna win!" Sunset bumped Dust back, "You are so weird." "Some of these ponies are weird." Sunset just chuckled.
The Shadow Bolts - Part Four of Five"Why are we doing our maze first?" Sunset questioned her friends. "Because they said it would be easier." Sour Sweet stated as if it was the simplest thing in the world as she adjusted her gargoyle wings. Sunset thought for a moment "But we were already at their maze?" Indigo rolled her eyes as she sat in her purple uniform "Guess they just wanted to make sure that they don't do so awfully compared to us. I still don't get why you didn't let me install those apple shooters Sunset." "Because that's just mean, it's not even scary, an apple in someone's eye could hurt if it was shot hard enough." Sunset groaned. "Here they come" Sugar Coat stated simply as Twilight's team trotted up to the maze. "Right, so we do yours first so that way when we've done ours you can go home and get some rest." Twilight beamed. "Get some rest?" Sunset questioned her marefriend. "Hehe you'll see." Pinkie bounced. "So can we finally start the maze Sunset?" Diamond Dust asked enthusiastically as Sunny Flare, Indigo, Sugar Coat and Sour Sweet looked eager to get started. "Alright, you shouldn't need a tour guide for this maze" Sunset laughed, "It's not a big one. "We'll be waiting at the end with Discord." Sunny Flare stated as her group started to walk around the maze. When Sunset's team was out of view Rainbow grinned "This is going to be a piece of cake, I can't wait to see their reaction to our maze they're gonna be so scared, glad you could come up with some amazing ideas Pinkie, didn't know you and Fluttershy had it in you." "Hehehe what can I say? It's a talent." Pinkie grinned as she bounced into the maze. Twilight and the others followed behind Pinkie who slowed down and walked beside her friends. A clearly fake skeleton dropped from above it had one fake eye in the socket, Rainbow couldn't help but roll her eyes, "Seriously!? This is a special effect?" Water squirted out of the eye drenched Rainbow. "Well there's your effect dear" Rarity and the others giggled at the drenched Pegasus. "Whatever" Rainbow couldn't help but giggle herself. Just as Rainbow was about to reply a loud snickering giggle turned the atmosphere cold, the ponies slowed down the hallways of Brush and kept their eyes peeled. The end of the path only let them take a left turn, and Rainbow - of course - was the first to zip through it. "Woa...." "What is it Dashie? A horrible toothy death defying monster!??" Pinkie said with absolute excitement as she bounced around the corner and stopped in her tracks. "Wooow" Pinkie said as she bounced round the objects in the small clearing. It's an old circus ride that was run down, rusty and gave of a creepy vibe. "Wow" Rarity said as she came up to the old ride, "The pattern on this is absolutely incredible I'll have to clean it up a bit but I must ask Sunset if I can borrow that." "Great, at least SOMEONE is happy." Rainbow groaned, "Come on." she said as she started to fly down another path, her four friends followed her. The fairground ride started to spin, making a quiet squeak. Twilight turned around to see no difference in the ride but for some reason she was drawn to it. "Twilight come on! We wanna finish this before we're 80!" Rainbow shouted back at Twilight after realizing she'd strayed from the group. "Coming" Twilight shouted back and turned to be whacked in the face with another fake skeleton. "Oh for bucks sake." She pushed past the skeleton and cantered to catch up with her friends. As Twilight was almost at her friends the ground gave way under her. Twilight couldn't breathe as she collapsed into the ditch and landed in the mud; making a loud ouff sound as she did. Twilight tried to fly out but something was stopping her, she couldn't get more than thirty centimeters off the ground no matter how hard she flapped her wings. "Twilight!" She heard her friends call her and run towards the ditch, Rainbow flew down into the ditch to help Twilight but stopped halfway. "Rainbow?" Twilight questioned as she watched Rainbow slowly fly down facing her with a terrified look on her face. "What's wrong?" Twilight stiffened as she heard a breathy growl from behind her. Twilight turned to see a creature with no fur, just grey skin. It had a hunched back and stood on all fours, it had the face of a rabid wolf with jagged teeth. It dragged one of it's back legs behind it as the creature begun to approach Twilight. "Twilight come on lets fly." Rainbow tried to speed back up but found she was unable to. "What the hay?" Rainbow tried several times to get off of the ground, each time the grey creature took a step closer. "Come on I see a path. Applejack! You and the others go ahead!" Twilight called and the Alicorn cantered down the path which looked to be held up by tree roots. With Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity "We better think of a way to help Twilight" Applejack mumbled to Pinkie pie and Rarity as she watched the grey creature chase after Rainbow and Twilight. "While that's a quite alright idea dear, I think we might want to help ourselves first" Applejack turned around to her friend when the grey creature was out of sight. "Why Rarity? Whats-" A wicked giggle interrupted Applejack, the same giggle from the beginning of the maze, only this time they could see the culprit. A glowing orange face with a wide grin stared at them from the other side of the hallway. "A pumpkin?" Applejack started to move backwards with her friends as the pumpkin moved towards them. Pinkie squeaked "Ruuuuuuun! It's gonna eat us alive!" Pinkie bolted away from the pumpkin followed by Applejack and Rarity. As they ran down the hallway another pumpkin appeared in front of the trio. Pinkie screamed and she, Applejack and Rarity galloped down another hallway they stopped for a moment when they saw that three turnings we're available Pinkie looked behind her to see the two pumpkin heads following her. "I see the exit!" Applejack called as she started to run down the pathway that was to the right, Pinkie and Rarity followed close behind as they got closer to the exit more little tricks popped out of the bushes, making them giggle and squeal as they ran past. Applejack was the first out, followed by Pinkie and Rarity. They were greeted with a view of the Shadow Bolts laughing with Diamond and Sunset just shaking their heads. "Oh Sunset! That was great." Applejack said between laughs. Although she noticed the lack of a certain Draconequus "Where is Discord?" Sunset beamed at her friends, "Discord is basically 'observing' so he can tell which maze is scarier or whatever. Did you have fun?" "Yes dear that was quite a fun ride." Rarity said to Diamond and Sunset as she calmed her giggling down. "The look on Rainbow's face when she saw the grey monster, PRICELESS!" Indigo couldn't stop her snickering. "That was EPIC!!!" Pinkie cackled as she looked back into the maze to see the pumpkins gone. "Where's Twilight and Rainbow?" Applejack asked. Diamond grinned "They're on their way." Back in the underground tunnels, under the maze. Twilight slowed down and gasped for air, "I think we got away." Rainbow smiled nervously, "I don't get why we couldn't just fly out." "Me neither." Twilight mumbled as she carried on walking ahead down the dark path. Twilight heard a loud thump. "Ouch" Rainbow's voice whimpered. "Rainbow are you okay?" Twilight asked a little concerned. "I think I walked into a tree root." "Hold on" Twilight cast a spell to light up her horn so they could see where they were going, as Twilight was able to make the room brighter she saw what she was facing a giant eyeball which made her jump at first, but after looking at it she couldn't help but titter as she carried on walking forward, the pair came up to a stair case. "We can finally get out of these tunnels." Rainbow said as she trotted towards the stairs. "Hey guys, how did you enjoy the tunnels?" Sunset smiled at the pair as they came up the stairs. "How did you get a huge monster in there!?" Rainbow demanded. Indigo started laughing again "Your face when you saw that hologram was hilarious." "Hologram?" Rainbow questioned, Sunset pulled out a small device and pressed a button on it and the grey skinned monster appeared again. "It's fake see;" Sunset put her hoof on the creatures paw and her hoof went straight through it. Rainbow stared at the hologram in disbelief; "I can't believe it.....I was scared of something that I could walk through!?" Twilight couldn't help but giggle at her friend's disbelief. "Hmmm yes Rainbow Dash the ordeal was quite amusing, The Shadow Bolts have set the bar high for you." A bat said as it morphed to reveal Discord. "And you admit you were scared?" Indigo mocked with glee. "Not as scared as you're gonna be when you try our maze!" Rainbow countered. The dark blue Pegasus grinned "Well then Rainbow Dash, lead the way." "I will." Rainbow dash started to fly towards Sweet Apple Acres while everyone but Twilight and Sunset left. Ponies from both Canterlot and Ponyville gathered around the maze dressed in costumes of all kinds. "Is the Maze open yet?" A blue and purple pony asked the pair. Twilight and Sunset both looked at each other and nodded, "Yep, it's open to anypony!" Twilight beamed as ponies started to go inside. "Come on. Time for our maze Sunset." Twilight trotted ahead to catch up with the others and Sunset followed.
The Wonder Bolts - Part Five of FiveAll of Sunset's team gathered outside the ominous-looking maze to be greeted by Twilight who was dressed in a worriers costume and standing as stoically as possible. Sunset couldn't help but giggle at how funny Twilight looked. "Well you've put a lot of effort into this." Sunset noted as she looked around seeing the decorations and masks hung around the entrance of the maze. "Must've gotten some of these decorations from Zecora." Sunny Flare frowned at the decorations, "Yes well it's not as good as our maze, these tacky decorations don't hold a candle to what we made." Flare's comment just made Twilight and Sunset both roll their eyes. As Twilight pulled out a torch and shined it on herself. "Welcome to the Maze of Cupcakes!!!" Twilight said in the most creepy voice she could muster. "The maze of....cupcakes??" All of the shadow bolts started laughing, "Well at least we're gonna get a laugh." Sour Sweet smirked as she walked past Twilight and into the maze with the other shadow bolts leaving Diamond, Sunset and Twilight just outside of it. Diamond rolled her eyes, "Best go in with the morons, honestly Sunset you must've met these ponies in a real 'special' place." Diamond mumbled as she trotted into the maze. Leaving Twilight and Sunset alone. Diamond stopped for a second and then trotted back out to see the pair gazing into each others eyes. Diamond rolled her eyes If I keep having to roll my eyes they're gonna fall out of my head she thought. "Sunset, this is Nightmare Night not Hearts and Hooves day." "R-right." Sunset blushed as she looked at her hooves, "Twilight are you supposed to be touring us?" "Oh! Right!" Twilight bolted into the maze to catch up with the Shadow Bolts and Sunset walked past Diamond as she opened her mouth. "Don't even go there Dust." "Heh right." As Sunset and Diamond walked to the maze there was a heavy, eerie silence filling the it. Both ponies carried on down the halls made of hay, corn plants and dead grass. They saw almost no decorations, no 'pop - up' ghosts. They didn't even hear Twilight or the Shadow Bolts anymore. The deeper they delved into the maze the thicker a mist begun to appear, it only reached up to their chests but it had a bitter chill to it that seemed to freeze their lungs and made them struggle to breathe. As they we're about 5 minutes into the maze they found three paths. One forward, one left and one right. "Shoot, which one did everyone go down?" Diamond frowned. Sunset looked down every pathway and didn't hear anything down either one, "I don't know Dust, maybe we should just keep going forward?" Diamond nodded and started her way down the path; "Good plan." Sunset walked behind her friend, her stomach twisted nervously. Diamond laughed "What were they planning to do scare us with silence!?" As soon as she bellowed that a loud sickening crack made itself notable causing both ponies to freeze in their tracks. "You had to ask didn't you?" Sunset groaned. "Well it is supposed to be a scare maze so they could at least try to sca-" Before Diamond could finish her sentence she heard a quiet, whisper of a voice appear. Who once worked as a team must work alone, it is thee who must free her friends from stone. "Well what the hay does that mean?" Sunset asked as she looked around. "...Dust?" Sunset turned to see the Pegasus gone. "DIAMOND?" Sunset asked panicking slightly. "Dust this isn't funny!" Sunset was only met with a deafening silence. "R-right okay, I'll just go ahead...yea I'm sure she just went ahead." Sunset said trotted quickly down the path as she felt paranoia creep up her neck. When Sunset came to the end of the path she realized what she was in an circular opening, with four different paths available to her now. 'Geez how big is this thing?' Sunset wondered trying to ignore her gut feeling to run. Sunset approached the middle of the opening to see a statue of a terrified Alicorn. That looks an awfully lot like Twilight, but surly she wouldn't have a whole statue carved of her; that's not her style. Sunset walked through the dead grass and up to the statue, prodding it with her hoof to feel a warm sensation. That's not right. Statues are supposed to be cold because they're...well..statues. "It is thee who must free her friends from stone." Sunset recalled out loud. "B-but it can't be! This is your maze!" Sunset pressed her hoof on the statue. The Alicorn panicked as she couldn't believe what she was feeling. "No, this is a game....I think." Sunset turned refusing to believe it was actually Twilight and cantered down a path, not even bothering to think which one would be best. Sunset slowed down as a foul smell invaded her nostrils. As Sunset slowed she tripped over a wire causing a loud bang. Sunset lifted her head, expecting a ghost or something to be the result of the bang but found nothing. Sunset frowned as she walked further down her chosen path - a little more scared than she'd like to admit. On the other side of the maze "What the hell is this Indigo!? What did you do that for??" An angry Sugar Coat shouted at the Pegasus, Sugar coat rarely got angry. Indigo tried to hold back her laughter. "It was an accident! I swear!" "Come on you two, play nice." Sour Sweet said "Before I rip your eyes out." She mumbled behind her back. Crack Sunny Flare turned from her amusing 'friends' and looked behind her; "What was that?" "Probably nothing, come on this maze has been a total bust." Indigo groaned and turned around to be greeted with a silhouette of an earth pony. "Ugh finally one of Twilight's team is here to take us out of this crappy maze." The earth pony stepped out of the shadows and the sight made all of the Shadow Bolts stand back. In front of them was a pink pony with a wicked, toothy grin on her face, the scary thing was that her hair no longer stood up, and blood was matted in her mane and on her coat. "Hehe come on silly's! Let's go and make cupcakes together! I'm going to show you my secret ingredient now we're friends!" The Shadow Bolts just looked at each other for a awkwardly until Sour Sweet spoke up "Well you said you're sooo brave Indigo, and because this is suuch a 'crappy maze' why don't YOU go first hmm?" Indigo just looked at the pink pony who seemed perfectly content bouncing around in circles; "Yea but - she's crazy and I really hope that's ketchup." "Well of course it's ketchup!" Sugar Coat snapped; she thought for a moment and grinned "Oh so maybe Rainbow was right and you're not one of the most daring ponies out there?" "Fine! I'll go first" Indigo put on a fake smile and walked to the the earth pony, "Hey there.......you doing okay?" Pinkie stopped bouncing around and stood vacant for a moment before turning around and looking at Indigo, "So you can make cupcakes with me!? That's super! Hehe come on, lets go to the kitchen!" Pinkie giggled and bounced down the maze's hall. "There's a kitchen in this thing?" Indigo thought as she followed Pinkie down the hallway, her friends close behind. As they turned the corner that Indigo saw Pinkie turn down the Shadow Bolts saw skeletons of ponies and griffons, hanging on the bushes, Indigo saw a bunting of Pegasus wings, making her tuck hers tightly into her back. The one thing that the Shadow Bolts saw that struck fear up their spine was a rainbow colored mare, hanging from a table as blood trickled down her sliced stomach and drained into a rusty, metal bucket; making a sickly dripping sound. "Okay this is creepy, I'm outta here" Sunny Flare turned to run but stopped in her tracks as she saw a demented Pinkie Pie standing in her way, holding a tray of cupcakes, one of which had an eyeball as a decoration causing Sunny Flare to let out a scream snapping all of the other Shadow Bolts out of their trance. "Run!" Indigo zipped over Pinkie as all the other Shadow Bolts ran past her. "Wait! I thought you wanted to make cupcakes!!!" Pinkies voice faded as they galloped down the hall seeing an opening at the end of it. Back to the other side of the maze. Sunset felt as if she had been walking for hours, while it had only been a few minutes. She stopped dead when she heard an ear piercing scream coming from a different part of the maze That sounds like Sunny Flare Sunset thought. But that wasn't the reason she stopped, the reason was the 'too close for comfort' howl that joined the screams. Sunset heard heavy breathing behind her, and the foul smell hit her harder than before. She didn't even need to turn around to see what it was. Timber Wolf Sunset heard footsteps come closer and she bolted, following any path ahead of her until an exit came into view. Near the exit of the maze Diamond wandered down the hallway that she had been placed into. She had no clue how she had been separated from her friend and had come across next to no decorations. She frowned when she saw the exit of the maze. Dust trotted towards it a little disappointed that nothing even came close to making her jump, let alone get her scared. Diamond felt as if she had been trotting for a good five minutes but the exit seemed no closer than before; she looked down to see her hooves moving and the ground changing so she knew she was moving forward but the exit had not budged. Dust looked back up to see the exit further away than before, Dust started to feel nervousness grasp her stomach as she tried to gallop towards the exit but she got no closer to it than before. Diamond heard a loud bang noise which seemed to trigger something, she heard what sounded like a cage opening. Diamond slowed down and slowly looked behind her to see a pack of shadowy wolf figures descending upon her. Diamond's eyes widened and she picked up her pace again; galloping towards the exit. But Diamond noticed that the wolves were getting closer, but the exit was getting further and further away causing her to gallop faster, her lungs burned as she tried to force her body to move forward, to no avail. She skidded to a stop realizing that suddenly she was out of the maze. Confusion hit her as she could clearly see Sweet Apple Acres, she looked around the Maze to see her friends running in completely different directions, Sunny Flare screaming like a banshee and Sunset looked just as confused at Diamond. While Twilight and her team just stood there laughing and had smug looks on their faces; even Discord stood behind them chucking. Sunset Shimmer still wasn't quite sure. "What the-? Huh? But?" She heard a crash and turned around to see all of the Shadow Bolts on the floor. "What did you do that for!?" Sunny Flare growled at them. "Maybe if you shut up I could hear myself think!" Indigo snapped back. Diamond just facehoofed and Sunset considered braking up the argument, but decided against it. Outside the barn she could see Rainbow laughing her head off while the others joined in. Sunset sighed in relief when she saw Twilight giggling with her friends. "Guys, I think we know when we've been beaten." "Heh" Indigo and the others blushed, "Yea you're right Sunset. That was one of the scariest mazes I have ever been in! Those were some creepy magical illusions. " Sunny Flare looked at Indigo as if she had lost a few screws. "One of!? I'd say that was THE scariest maze I have been in, Rainbow Dash was hanging while she was being drained of all her blood!!! And that EYEBALL!!" Sunset giggled as she watched her team argue about how scary the maze really was, They still have a lot to learn about getting along "Sunset!" Twilight called over to the red and orange Alicorn. Diamond trotted next to the red and orange Alicorn with an amused look on her face. "Go on, I'll make sure nopony kills anypony." Sunset spared her friends one last look as they argued. Sunset nodded to Diamond and trotted up the small hill to get to the barn. "Wow Twilight, I'm amazed you all pulled something like that off, I don't think they've seen anything like it before." Sunset mused as she nuzzled her girlfriend in - literally - shining armor. "This has been an fun Nightmare Night Sunset, I'm glad you mentioned this to Rainbow actually." Twilight nuzzled her back. "It was AWESOME!" Rainbow interjected. "And it gets better for you Rainbow, Usually the winning team get's to ask the other team to do one favor for them. So I guess it would be the same here right?" "Sweeeeet!" Rainbow simpered as she fantasized about all of the humiliating things she could get Indigo to do in public. While Sunset almost read Rainbows' mind. "Try not to be too harsh on her Rainbow. Twilight what do you want?" Sunset laughed. "Next year I want you to actually wear a costume." Twilight grinned. "Yes it appears you evaded me in that area dear, even though I had a time slot for you." Rarity murmured. Sunset blushed at her marefriend and nuzzled her. "Okay, next year I will wear a costume. What about you Pinkie and Applejack?" "I don't really need nothin' I'll let ya'll know if I do." Applejack replied honestly. "Well Sunset I could really use some help with making cupcakes next week, I was thinking maybe Sour Sweet could help?" Pinkie pie asked innocently. "Sour Sweet? Really? Okay, good luck with that Pinkie. What about you two?" Sunset turned to Rarity and Rainbow Dash. "Well I have something planned for Indigo Zap" Rainbow smirked evilly. "As do I for Sunny Flare." Rarity winked at the Pegasus who winked back. "Best Nightmare Night EVER!!" Pinkie pie shouted.
Let The Games Begin - Part Three of Five."And we can't come!? But Applejack!" a little filly with a big bow in her hair complained as her friends sat behind her. "I told ya'll that you can have a sleepover instead, you can't come." Applejack groaned back at her little sister. "Fine." "Fine." "Eyup" Big Mac chimed in. Granny Smith smiled at her grandchildren. "Applejack it's eight o'clock didn't you say you needed to go somewhere or is the ol noggin messin' with me again?" "Yea I best be off, see ya'll later and Applebloom you and your friends better behave." Applejack shut the door of the barn behind her as she trotted back to the maze her team had made. Twilight and Rainbow were standing outside the maze talking about a few 'touch ups' "Howdy ya'll, how's the maze comin' along? Need help with anythin'?" Twilight smiled and shook her head. "No AJ, you setting up the maze was enough, besides we're almost done, lucky we managed to drag Fluttershy out of her cottage." "Yea we only had to promise to go to the next five butterfly migrations, I can't wait for that." Rainbow grumbled but her mood rapidly changed to excitement as she saw Pinkie setting up a few touches to the maze. "This is gonna be so awesome!" "Don't set your hopes too high Rainbow, it's just a maze." Rainbow groaned. "Twilight, you and Sunset are such joy kills, you're perfect for eachother." Two Pegasus ponies flew above the group, one with a dark blue spiked mane with red highlights landed next to Applejack while the white and blue Pegasus stayed airborne. "Hey Indigo, Hey Diamond, here to check out the competition? Worried you might loose?" Rainbow grinned triumphantly. Indigo chuckled. "Pfft hello, you're talking to a Shadow Bolt here, lets get real." Diamond rolled her eyes and landed next to Indigo. "Buuuuuut we are here to see how you're getting along, we're done and its eight, the posters have been up and ponies are starting to show to see the mazes." She chimed in. Pinkie popped up behind Twilight gleefully. "I've juuuuuuuuuuuust finished hiding my surprise SPOOOOKY cannons" She said waving her hooves in the air. Twilight squeaked and jumped in surprise, giggling when she realized it was only Pinkie "That's great Pinkie so when can we start?" Twilight smiled at the pink pony. Pinkie laughed evilly "WE. ARE. READY." She said as lightning struck behind her.
