It was a sunny morning in Ponyville.

The daily activities were about to begin as tomorrow was a very special day. As everypony was eager to prepare the town for a rather eventful night the proceedings went fairly easy though they still had difficulties it was nothing they couldn’t handle.

There was peace; everything was good in good old Ponyville.

However, peace like that rarely ever lasted in Ponyville. As Applejack opened the door to smell the fresh air… a new scent caught her nose. It was rancid and almost smelled like rotten apples to her.

“The hayseeds?” Applejack said as she looked around to pinpoint where the smell came from. She then took a whiff of her own breath and realized that she forgot to brush her own teeth. It could wait for today was Nightmare Night Eve which would be followed by one of the most profitable days of the year for her family.

Twilight liked Nightmare Night. True she’d much rather live in peace during it’s time but she rather enjoyed the fun that came from it. It also would stem from the fact that in Canterlot she rarely visited others during this time of the year during which she would mostly stay in and study… but now she finally was able to have some fun like she did last time when Princess Luna showed up and she had to help her adjust to normal living.

“Okay Spike? Is everything ready?”

“Yep.”

“Candy?”

“Check.”

“Surprise jump scare?” Twilight asked. Sighing, Spike went over to another on the side of the library and opened a door and out jumped a cackling witch pony with mottled green skin.

“Check….” Spike deadpanned. “and it’s still not scary Twilight.” he added to a roll of his eyes.

“Nonsense. Witches are absolutely scary towards ponies.” Twilight said with a smile as she adjusted her beard to her Starswirl costume.

“Yeah…. maybe two years ago but nowadays it’s nothing that scary Twilight.”

“Let’s see, once again,” Rainbow Dash said while looking at herself in the mirror.

She was sporting her “classic” Shadowbolts uniform from the last year. It felt cheesy to repeat a costume two years in a row, but it looked so damn good on her; contrast of colors to her fur and mane, the goggles, the lightning bolts. Even if the actual “Shadowbolts” were just an illusion of Nightmare Moon, a darker and edgier version of her heroes, the Wonderbotls, had its appeal to Rainbow. Also, dark and edgy was just the perfect thing for her during this night,

She did a few poses for the mirror, then a few more while trotting from her room to the living room. Rainbow looked at the sunset, right on time for the last rays of sun to disappear and give space to the darkness of the night. She grinned at the thought of a full night of pranks and tricks. Rainbow Dash loved Nightmare Night.

Rainbow went to the main door of the house, looked back at the room, said “don’t await me awake” and flew down to the town.

Pinkie Pie was excited about Nightmare Night as it’s one of her favorite times of the year. She always enjoyed dressing up in over the top costumes to make others around her smile and laugh, especially the fillies who see her. Last year’s was one of her best costumes; a simple chicken outfit but she played it off so much that it worked and was a huge hit. The only downside was that she had to find something that could top it.

What could possibly top being a real chicken?

“Oh, I know!” she announced. “I shall become… a clown.”

“Hey Gummy! Stop me if you heard this one before!” Pinkie said to her baby alligator who just blinked one eye at a time. “There is this ninety-year-old stallion on his deathbed.” She opened her dresser, retrieving some of her funny colored clothes. “and next to him, holding his hoof as always, his wife.” Pinkie started with an orange shirt.

“So, the stallion says: dear, we’ve been married for sixty years.” She put on a purple jacket to contrast the orange shirt. “When I was hit by a carriage, you were by my side.” From inside her hair, Pinkie drawn a green bow tie and tied it around her neck. “When I lost every bit in the stock market, you were by my side.”

Pinkie trotted to her drawer, sitting in front of the mirror and started to apply white make-up on her face. “And now,” she kept talking anyways. “Here, on my deathbed, you’re by my side.” A red lipstick later and Pinkie back flipped towards her bed, like an expert acrobat, and landed next to her night stand. “The stallion looks at her wife in the eye.” She pulled a can of spray paint and tinted her mane and tail green. She turned around to Gummy, grinning widely. “And he says: Dear, you’re a jinx!”

Pinkie cracked at her own joke while the pet alligator barely gave signs of consciousness. She then took her yellow water flower and placed it on the suit’s buttonhole.

“Okay, are you ready, Ponyville?” Pinkie was about to open her room’s door, but instead, she jumped out of the window.

“Hahahahahahahahahaha!”

“Prenez garde au creeper,” Rarity recited before putting down her last book.

It wasn’t one of her usual reads, but something she caught Sweetie Belle reading. It wasn’t even a book, but one of those comics she and her friends read. However, this one was definitely not for fillies. The comics was set a during the bohemian revolution and told the story of a mare donning a surrealist-inspired costume and putting the city of Prance upside down in retaliation against the upper class. When Rarity read through the comic filled with murder and sex, she immediately took away from Sweetie Belle. However, she got caught with the story and bought the rest of the series.

It also gave her an idea for this year’s Nightmare Night costume and, if things worked out, for a new design.

Keeping the comic opened in a splash-page showing the bizarre, yet eye-catching design of the protagonist’s costume, Rarity went over her own version adorning one of her mannequins. Leather boots and gloves painted in green with an arrange of red feathers adorning the back, shoulders and head. Rarity then took a comedy theater mask she painted yellow and put it over. She rubbed her chin. The costume sure had the same surrealistic vibe without being the same of the comic, which was the idea, but there was still a detail missing.

“Let’s see,” she wondered out loud.

Rarity magically levitated the pieces and put them on. The boots and gloves were easy, but the feathers gave her some minor troubles before fitting the green straps around her shoulders. Finally, she adjusted the head feathers with a tiara and put on the mask. She looked at herself at the mirror. Again, the feeling was there but there was something missing. In the comic, the Creeper was a brave and bold mare, ruthlessly fighting a personal war against the abusive upper class and that was what gave the concept the more impact, also getting Rarity’s attention over it. But in real life, the visual alone didn’t have the same thrill, the same panache.

“I will think of something on the way.” She gave up after looking outside and realizing she was already late for the celebration.

Dumbbell began stirring as whatever he was given be. At first, he couldn’t feel anything beyond a numbness around his body, as he tried to open his eyes. Dumbbell started to remember the previous night, trying to recall if he really drank that much. But there was nothing in the back of his mind beyond hanging out with his friends and then, a big black void. He tried to open his mouth to savor what kind of drink he had, but he couldn’t. After a few tries, Dumbbell realized his mouth was tied shut with duct tape.

He opened his eyes, but there was only darkness in front of him.

Dumbbell tried to force himself to move, despite the numbness. That’s when the sharp flash of pain appeared in almost all of his joints at the same time. It was like a cold shower. Little drops of hurt all over his body, like a river of knives cutting their way through his body, opening wounds that burnt with the might of a thousand of fires over him. Each time Dumbbell moved, even in the slightest way, he felt his body being toss into the pain again.

“Shh,” something poked Dumbbell’s chest, making him feel the contact like a new knife. “Soon the pain will end.” And it was true. Despite his best efforts to stay awake, Dumbbell could feel how life escaped him, as the cold embrace of death was now claiming his harmed body.

His killer took a last look at the three pegasi, all of them tied with barbed wire to the wooden posts, wearing the same cloth bags with nooses around their necks and a skull painted over the cloth. As the sun began to raise, forcing the shadows to retreat, they were left to die in the aftermath of Nightmare Night.

Author's Note

Alright so this is my Halloween story for the year. Everyone else seems to be doing one so I figured why not give it a shot so here I am giving you this. Hope you stick around for more on this story as it develops everyone!