The Nightmare Tree

by TopWanted

Rating: everyone
Tags: Zecora, Diamond Tiara, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Silver Spoon, Mystery, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Adventure, Crossover, Babs Seed
Length: 11276

A fable for the young at heart about a most wonderful holiday with tricks and treats.

One Nightmare Night, Apple Bloom and her friends go out on their own. Only one problem, no sign of the last member of their group. Join the fillies and colts as they follow sights of ghosts and monsters in an attempt to chase down their lost friend. But don't worry, these children are accompanied by a familiar face. Or is it?

Based off of the brilliant Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree. A story that is just as important to the young and wondrous is to Halloween as the old and disenfranchised is to A Christmas Carol.

Published 2016-10-10 12:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-10 12:40:01 UTC

A Small Town

Author's Note

For all those who haven't read Harry Potter. Thestrals are bat ponies, like Flutterbat.

A Small Town

It was a small town by a small farm, so pleasant the hummingbirds could rest on your arm. Here our story begins on a windy fall night. Where eight children meet and prepare for a fright. Dressed up in costumes both scary and mysterious, these young fillies and colts gathered by the flower shop’s wisterias.

“You’re late!” Sweetie Belle shouted as Apple Bloom ran to meet up with her friends. Already Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were at their meeting place and looking raring to go. “What took you so long?”

Apple Bloom shrugged, her costume’s hood falling slightly and obscuring her eyes. “Babseed isn’t feelin’ too well so Ah was hopin’ she’d feel better and we could come together. Applejack scooted me out of the house after that sayin’ Babs needs her sleep.”

“As long as she makes it before the night is out,” Scootaloo said. “So what do you think of my costume?”

The other two looked on at her with raised eyebrows. The orange Pegasus was decked out in twigs and leaves and bits of mud, two of which pointed straight out of her head like antenna and two she had taped down around her muzzle. “You’re goin’ as a pile of leaves?”

“I’m a timberwolf, dummy!” Scootaloo insisted with a huff.

“And I’m a thestral!” Sweetie Belle proclaimed proudly. She flourished the silky bat wings strapped to her back and the plastic fangs in her mouth. “I made the wings myself.”

“Ah’ll bet Rarity helped a little.” The wings were way too well done and stylish to be done completely by the younger sister of Ponyville’s greatest fashion designer.

“Maybe…”

“Do we really have to wait for the others?” Scootaloo asked testily. “The suns already setting. If we don’t start going door to door soon we won’t get as much candy as the others.”

“Besides I’m pretty sure those two can get all the candy they want,” Sweetie Belle muttered under her breath.

“We at least have to wait for Dinky and the boys,” Apple Bloom insisted.

As she said this the sound of a pair of hooves approached followed by a quick halt. A pirate slid into their midst and fell on his face in the dirt followed closely by a walking pile of white. “You okay there?” the white mass asked.

“Just fine,” the pirate replied with a woozy head.

“Pipsqueak, you went as a pirate again this year?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Pipsqueak saluted with his toy sword. “Argh! That I did, Miss Belle! Me mum didn’t have time to make a new costume.”

Apple Bloom narrowed her eyes through her veil at the white mass. “Button? Is that you?”

“In the flesh,” he greeted. “Or should I say frost?” He obviously expected one of them to understand his joke but none reacted. “I’m a windigo!”

Scootaloo frowned and tilted her head. “I guess I see it? All that cotton is snow right?”

“That’s my icy trail.” He pointed behind him at the cotton balls glued to his tail.

Sweetie Belle chuckled at him making the colt blush. “Either way that’s two down, four more to go.”

“Sorry I’m late,” came a soft voice from behind them. The group turned to see a witch approach them with her head down.

“Dinky? That’s a really good costume!” Sweetie Belle cheered. The filly was dressed in a gray robe with tassles and a corded rope around the waist. On her head sat a pointed hat that seemed to fall over her eyes every time she moved.

“It’s a little big,” Apple Bloom added. “You sure you can walk around in that?”

Dinky nodded shyly. “I think so. Thanks for inviting me again.”

“No problem,” Scootaloo said as she wrapped a hoof around Dinky’s shoulder. “Besides if we have more ponies then we can get an even bigger haul than last year.”

“I got a ton of candy last year!” came a new voice. Several eyes lowered and some widened as two new fillies joined the group by the flower shop. Two fillies bedecked in sparkly gowns and crowns.

“Oh come on, Tiara,” Scootaloo shouted. “How is that anything different than how you usually look like?”

Diamond Tiara scoffed slightly. “For your information, I’m going as Princess Celestia.”

“And I’m going as Princess Luna,” Silver Spoon seconded.

Now that they really looked, there was a similarity. The gowns they wore were cheap and for children but they bore the same colors as the princesses. “The princesses aint scary,” Apple Bloom insisted. “You’re supposed to be a zombie or a goblin. Somethin’ like that.”

Diamond Tiara drew back. “And look all dirty? No thank you. If I want to look amazing I’ll look amazing.” She gave a sinister smile that made her companion nudge her in the chest and cough. Tiara pouted slightly. “Uh… sorry.”

“It takes some getting used to, this whole being nice thing, huh?” Sweetie Belle asked causing tiara to shoot her a frown.

“And what would you be?” Tiara asked Apple Bloom.

“Yeah, I’ve been wondering that myself,” Button asked.

Apple Bloom moved her hoof in a flourish to make her cape jump in the wind. It was long and black with a hood and a veil that covered her face in black, hiding most features. “Isn’t it obvious? I’m a shadow pony!”

“Like that thing that supposedly lives in the castle of the two sisters?” Dinky asked.

Pipsqueak backed away slightly, his plastic sword chattering on his belt. “That’s not funny. Shadow ponies are everywhere. My grandpa told me about them appearing on the moors in Trottingham.”

“BOO!” Diamond Tiara popped up behind Pip making the colt jump in surprise before running off behind Button. Tiara laughed at this until she noticed all the eyes upon her. “Sorry.”

“Is that everypony?” Button asked.

“No, where’s Babs?” Apple Bloom asked.

“You just said she wasn’t feeling good, right? Maybe we should just go start without her?” Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “But she came all the way here form Manehattan just for tonight. Ah’m gonna go home real quick and check on her. Babs wouldn’t miss a Nightmare Night for anythin’.”

She turned to dash off down the road, her friends following closely behind. “Hey, wait for us!” Dinky shouted.

“My dress better not get dirty,” Tiara grumbled as she and Spoon led up the rear.

Babseed, a friend from the coast on Equestria’s end. Once an enemy but now a beloved friend. Though she lived far away, for this night only did she come to stay. Though some of this group may not know her too well, they’d heard story and tale from Scoots, Bloom and Belle. Young Babseed was like them, a filly without purpose, until they met and her true self bubbled to the surface. They’ve still kept in touch, crusaders through and through, but tonight may yet test this for tonight something of Babseed’s is past due…

They arrived on the hill overlooking Sweet Apple Acres only to stop at the top. “What’s going on?” Button asked as he looked down at the house with Bloom and the others.

In front of the house, Big Mac and Granny Smith had been gathered with Big Mac pulling the cart for loading hay from the barn. They were too far to hear anything but murmurs from the two grownups.

“Look!” Pip shouted. “Is that your sister?”

From the front door, a frazzled looking mare came out carrying a small bundle of something in the crook of her arm. She jumped into the back of the cart and out of sight, but not before the fillies caught sight of a freckled face. “Babs?!” Sweetie Belle shouted. “Is she okay?”

Apple Bloom frowned beneath her veil. “Ah… don’t know.”

Before they could react, Big Mac took off running carrying the cart, Applejack and Babseed onto the road. “Wait!” Scootaloo shouted and ran after them. But they were already out of earshot. The stallion was fast when he wanted to be.

Dinky rubbed her hooves nervously. “W-Was that really Babseed?”

Apple Bloom’s frown deepened and she turned and ran. “Apple Bloom?” Scootaloo asked before following after her.

“Hey!” The rest followed suit, fleeing the hill as quickly as they could before anypony saw them.

Apple Bloom passed Tiara and Spoon as she ran, catching them off guard. “Wait! Where are we going now?” Tiara shouted. “Ugh!”

Apple Bloom stopped a little outside the farm, in a grassy plain between her home and the Everfree forest. She slumped to the ground and bit her lip to keep her emotions back. Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were the first to reach her, the others following after.

Scootaloo wrapped an arm around her shoulder. “Hey, she could be okay.”

“I’m sure your brother and sister are doing all they can,” Dinky suggested.

Apple Bloom wasn’t listening, her head a swirling mess. The only thing she could do was tilt her head around lazily as her friends provided emotional support. That’s when it caught her eye. A small movement of something, just behind that tree. Apple Bloom stood and narrowed her eyes at the Everfree. “Babs?”

The others looked up at where she looked and noticed it as well. A figure so small and ethereal that it almost went overlooked. Hiding behind a tree the freckled face of their friend looked out at them and frowned waving them away before dashing into the forest.

Pipsqueak’s knees wobbled. “Um, what was-”

“Babs!” Apple Bloom shouted and hurried after her. She turned just briefly to wave her hoof at them. “Of course, that had to be some kind of prank! Come on, guys!”

“That did look a lot like Babs,” Sweetie Belle reasoned with herself before running off as well. Scootaloo, Button and Dinky soon followed. Tiara and Spoon arrived last once more only to find the others running off and Pip alone.

“We’re going into the forest?” Tiara complained.

“Oh, it might be fun,” Spoon smiled as she followed a little faster. Tiara gave a stare at the frozen Pip and grabbed him by the eyepatch pulling him along behind her as she followed reluctantly.

The Everfree, a forest rich in danger and black. The menacing eyes of monsters ready to attack. Shades of dark and dim and dusk, the only smell a beastly musk. To venture here on any day would be a dare, to course this forest tonight, all must beware. For here darkness dances and light dies, when the full moon is out and nightmares rise…

The children tumbled through a thicket into an unfamiliar clearing. Tiara complained about her dress but was unacknowledged as the other seven pairs of eyes were glued to the structure jutting from the earth before them. Spires of black stone and darkness pierced the stars with bricks of mortar and shadow layering the outside. It was a rather clear night but only here did the sky feel clouded, like all things dark and dreadful were drawn here like a magnet.

“Is that the Castle of the Two Sisters?” Dinky asked.

“I think so,” Scootaloo replied. “Look!”

Just across a rickety rope bridge they saw the quarry they’d been chasing. Babs ran to the other end, her hoofsteps not even rattling the ancient rope. She took one last second to turn to them and wave them away once more before running around the side of the towering building.

“Where you goin’, Babs?” Apple Bloom shouted after her. “We can help you!” But no response came. “Come on, lets follow her.”

“I don’t like where this is going,” Dinky said reluctantly.

“Finally, we share an opinion,” Tiara agreed. “Let’s get out of here and maybe we can catch some last minute candy.”

They all looked at the sky. It was getting later than they had expected. The sun had fully set and the moon was out in full. Apple Bloom sighed. “Fine, you guys go. But Ah’m stayin’. Babs is mah cousin and Ah’m not leavin’ her alone.” With that said she straightened her hood and rushed across the bridge with her eyes shut. When she reached the end alive she let out a shuddered breath and went on.

“Can’t believe I’m going through with this,” Scootaloo muttered before doing the same.

Sweetie Belle looked to Button and Pip who were quite happy with where they stood. “Fillies first,” Button said with a forced smile and his hoof out.

Sweetie rolled her eyes. “Colts,” she muttered as she and Dinky stepped hesitantly onto the bridge and followed.

Once more, Tiara, Spoon and Pip were left alone as the others crossed. “Fine! Go ahead! We’ll just be going back to town and having fun, right, guys?” she turned to the other two only to find that they were walking across the bridge. Tiara looked at them in bafflement before hearing a howl in the forest behind her. She shrunk slightly and hurried after them.

Apple Bloom and the others followed where Babs had gone all the way around the crumbling castle. Dinky pulled herself a little closer to the main three and shivered. “D-Do you think there’s really a shadow pony that lives here?”

“There’s no such thing,” Sweetie said defiantly looking up at the tall looming walls. “Right?”

“Shush!” Apple Bloom held a hoof to her mouth and all eight halted at her command. She peered her head around the corner carefully and let her mouth drop. “You might wanna see this.”

All eight poked their heads out around the corner and stared in stupefaction. Behind the castle, standing almost as tall, was a tree. No tree they had ever seen before. Bark as black as midnight. Branches that seemed to thin and dissolve into the sky itself. The only leaves on it were yellow and brown like aged treasures of rust and gold. And hanging from every inch were swirling orbs of blue that shown like moonlight. It all seemed to undulate in the windless night as if dancing to a song only it could hear.

Piles of leaves scattered the area around it and by one of them they spotted the indistinct image of their friend. Babseed was making her way closer to the tree, and the closer she became the more the tree began to sway.

Apple Bloom reacted without thinking. “Babs!” she shouted. Babseed grabbed the first branch and turned to her, vehemently waving her away before climbing higher. She passed multitudes of branches just for the chance to get a little higher.

Apple Bloom darted across the open lawn to catch her before she hurt herself only to fly back as one of the nearby leaf piles burst to life and grabbed her arm. Apple Bloom screamed and spun in place to look at her captor. Leaves cascaded off the figure like rain water revealing a tall but familiar striped face.

“Filly, what are you doing here? Do you not understand that the moon draws near?” Apple Bloom frowned in confusion.

“Zecora?” The zebra gripped her arm with a strength she didn’t identify with the mare. As Ponyville’s resident witch doctor, she had dressed oddly before but her outfit now was confusing to say the least. She dressed in a long black robe with two tails, a tiger eye stone tasseling the garment at her neck. Her hair was down, as like last Nightmare Night, but there was none of the festive spider ornaments adorning it. Trailing behind her was an enormous dark cloak that seemed to flap to the same imperceptible wind the tree felt. She did not seem dressed for Nightmare Night, though she did look frightening. It was in a different way. More solemn than scary.

“Young filly, did you hear my query? Or has the night already made you weak and weary?”

Apple Bloom shook herself out of her stupor and pointed to the tree. “Please, Zecora! Ah need to go get Babs before she hurts herself!”

The zebra finally looked up at the tree her eyes widening in shock at the small pale image scrambling up its branches. She let go of Apple Bloom and stomped toward the tree, both her cloak and the wooden limbs surging with the unseen winds of a storm. “You will descend, you foolish phantasm! Or you will surely fall into that chasm!”

Babs didn’t seem to notice her words as she crawled her way across a small limb to a small orb that glowed a faint pink with its blue. She snatched it from the tree and held it close as Apple Bloom ran to join Zecora. She saw the zebra’s eyes furrow into a frown that would scare away anypony.

Zecora spread her hooves and let her long cloak catch the wind making it swell and tumble behind her like great wings. “SO YOU TRY TO STEAL WHAT CAN NEVER BE YOURS? FINE! IF THAT IS WHAT SHE TRULY PREFERS!”

The rest ran to Apple Bloom’s side as they watched the clouds above twist and curl with the wind, diving down and spiraling into a funnel. Babs tried to hold on as tightly as she could but the massive amount of wind now threw her off the branch.

They all gasped in fright as Babs body went tumbling off but then seemed to be caught by the upward draft. The funnel of wind and clouds cocooned around her and carried her off into the distance.

Apple Bloom watched in amazement and shock until Zecora’s cloak fell and she let out a disgruntled huff. “Why’d you do that!?” she shouted to Zecora.

The zebra turned on her, her face without the normal joviality it showed around the children. “I did nothing to that spectral defector, it was forces from outside that came to collect her.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Yeah, Zecora, what’s going on here?” Scootaloo added.

“I’d just like it on record that I don’t need to know what’s going on,” Tiara stated with a slightly pale face.

“Seconded,” Pipsqueak added.

Zecora stared into the curious and expectant eyes before her and narrowed her own as if to drive them off. Only Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo kept their eyes on her. Zecora sighed. “You obviously care deeply for your little friend, but her fate right now you cannot suspend. She has taken something very important, you see? And for that there must come a fee.” Clouds began to gather around the full moon, blotting out most light as Zecora lowered her head to the children’s level. The pale glow of the tree outlined every curve and edge of her face in terrifying detail. “But if this fate of hers you wish to forsake, then you should follow me on this journey we’ll take.”

Button raised an eyebrow curiously. “What kind of journey?”

Zecora smiled, in a way that she never had before. It was slow and wide with a hint of jocundity the fillies and colts found uncomfortable. She lifted her head and pointed to the moon as the clouds passed beneath it. “Past land and rock lies seas of brine, we go there first to pass through time. Twixt event and place your friend doth dwell, just pray she does not end in hell.” She looked back at them. “But one caveat must be assigned, when we find dear Babs that orb is mine.”

Pipsqueak shook in his boots, hiding between Tiara and Spoon who were just as terrified but tried to keep straight faces. Dinky moaned slightly and hid behind Scootaloo as Button held onto Sweetie Belle. Apple Bloom could equally feel the fear in the air as Zecora told them what needed to be done, but she also realized that if they didn’t act then Babs would be in danger. “Alright, Zecora. You got a deal.” Zecora smiled eerily again and turned fluttering her cloak.

“Hold on! I don’t want to go on a journey!” Tiara shouted. “It’s Nightmare Night! We’re supposed to be getting candy not… chasing a ghost!” Everypony looked at her with an expression of anguish except Apple Bloom, her head down. Tiara bit her lip as her words died in her throat. It was obvious what Babs was when they chased her but nopony wanted to say it. “Um… so how would we even get there? To the sea?”

Zecora paid no attention to their sad faces as she waved her hoof at a pile of leaves. A gust of wind blew and picked away the pile leaving a mass of tarp in its place. “Take the branches and canvas sheet, make a kite for all to seat.”

“A kite?” Dinky perked up slightly, a smile on her face. “I love making kites. My mom and I play in the park every week.”

“Well, I hope you know how to make one big enough for all of us,” Button muttered.

Dinky walked over to the tarp and eyed the strewn branches around her. “I don’t think it should be too hard.”

Apple Bloom gave her a salute. “Just tell us what you need, Captain Dinky.”

They went about their task collecting twigs and large branches to make a beam. Each child grabbed an edge of the tarp to spread it across the wooden beam as Dinky went around to each of them and helped to tie them down. They moved much faster than expected as a team and completed it in a hurry.

“Wow!” Button said enthusiastically as he admired the handiwork before him. “Proved me wrong.”

It was five times the size of any of them and the tarp gave it a dark green color. Pipsqueak looked at its head in fascination. “It’s like a dragon.”

Dinky blushed slightly at the compliments but frowned. “There’s still one problem. It needs a tail.”

Zecora stepped over to the children, a mirthful laugh echoing from her as she grinned. “Fear not, for this great beast needs no tail to fly.” She waved her hoof and the wind began to pick up making the kite lift off the ground.

“Woah! Wait!” Dinky grabbed the tail end of the kite and held tight as Button grabbed her followed by Sweetie, then Apple Bloom then Scootaloo, Pip, Spoon and Tiara. It rose into the air and Zecora grabbed the hem of Tiara’s dress as she joined last.

“It is you who will guide it through the sky!”

Past land familiar and land forgot, eight children go where no adult can spot. Leaving home and hearth behind so far, they travel westward toward sea and star. The winds pulse and whirl as they spin and swirl. Through darkest night high above the world. On a solemn journey to find a pal, these eight will arrive in exotic locale. Many stops we’ll make this night of nights, to save a friend or do what’s right.

Pirates And Witches

Did not take long to get to sea. One kite took eight fillies as far as can be. Beneath their forms were patterns of rolling wave, a guided arrow pointing to the one they wish to save. They follow the storm cloud, a light in the dark. But the journey has just begun, and it will be no walk in the park.

Since Tiara was hanging by the end of the tail of the kite she was swung around the most as it flew through the sky. Every time she looked down at the rolling sea below she would get nauseous and purse her lips to stop herself from losing her lunch. “This is just great,” she muttered. “I could be at my daddy’s Nightmare Night party right now, but I had to agree to hang out with you guys tonight.”

“If you didn’t want to hang with us you should have just said so,” Scootaloo shot back.

“I didn’t expect that I’d be roped into flying across Equestria on a kite!”

Sweetie Belle frowned and shrugged. “You have to admit this is a little strange.”

“Thank you! Honestly, I could be showing off my costume right now.”

“Ah still don’t think dressin’ as the princess is a costume,” Apple Bloom said from the top of the tail.

Tiara frowned at her. “Well… it’s better than Pip’s costume! At least the princesses can be scary when they want to be. Pirates aren’t scary.”

“Hey!” Pip shouted back. “Pirates are so scary!”

“Are not!”

“Are too!”

A low mirthful chuckle came from the back of the tail and everypony turned toward it. Zecora smiled spookily at them. “You think a dog of the sea is nothing to fear? Those rugged cutthroats, thieves and mutineers?” The storm ahead of them seemed to stop and hover above a small ship lingering in the middle of the sea. Zecora pointed down to it. “The storm rests above that boat. Perhaps your friend has found some place to stay afloat?”

Apple Bloom looked down at the tiny vessel on the choppy waters and nodded. “So how do we go down th- WAAAH!” Before she could finish the kite changed course. It dipped and flew straight down toward the boat. Everypony screamed as it looked like they were going to crash. But at the last moment, the wind reared the kite up and they all tumbled lightly onto the deck. Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom landed in a pile with Pipsqueak and Dinky rolling together. Button landed in a compromising situation, his head shoved beneath Tiara’s dress with his body on top of Spoon.

Tiara’s face went red and she kicked him in the head. “GET OFF!” Button went rolling off, rubbing his nose.

Apple Bloom was the first to get up and look around, the first thing she saw being Zecora as the zebra used her enormous cloak as a parachute to light down gracefully on the deck. “You said she could be here.” Zecora shot her a glance then pointed to the crow’s nest above. A little pink light emanated from it. “Babs!”

Scootaloo got up and brushed the dust off her, looking around wearily. “Guys, I don’t like this. Where’s all the sailors?”

Dinky looked to the astern of the ship where the steering wheel was set. “I don’t see a captain. Does anypony know who’s steering this thing?”

But Apple Bloom was already racing to the mast. Sweetie Belle tried to reach for her but she was fast. “Wait! Apple Bloom!”

As they stood there on the deserted deck, a mist appeared unnaturally fast around them. Pipsqueak and Tiara backed into each other as their eyes darted around in fear. “Does anypony else hear that?”

They all looked to the mist and heard the sound of something else rocking on the waves out there. Slowly but surely, the dark silhouette of a giant ship carried through the fog. At the top, a flag waved in salty wind, bedecked in a skull and crossbones.

“Is that what I think it is?” Button muttered with wide eyes.

Zecora walked over to the group and pointed at the ship with her cloak. “In the days before Equestria was found, unicorn and earth pony came from seabound. They’d build ships to cross the vast expanse, aware of the dangers but leaving them to chance. For you see, the waters were home to more than monster or beast, they were home to criminals, their darkest desires unleashed.”

The fog faded and revealed the rest of the massive ship. Many glowing red eyes stood on the prow, blades in their teeth and ancient sea faring clothing. They all watched in astonishment before Dinky pointed to the ship and shouted in surprise. “It’s coming right for us!” They all lurched as the prow of the pirate ship slammed into the side of their own, tipping the deck and making them lose their balance.

Apple Bloom was half way up the mast when the ship shook making her lose her grip and her footing. She slipped and screamed but grabbed the handles of the mast again before falling too far. Above the pink light in the nest flickered weakly. “Hang on, Babs!”

“Apple Bloom!” Scootaloo shouted insistently. “This really isn’t the time!”

All the children took steps back from the edge of the ship as tall dark figures boarded it silently. The only sound they made were grunts and growls as they locked eyes with the children. Their sunken eyes made them look like skeletons, their clothes hanging off their body from lack of muscle tone. A giant figure stomped his hooves down on the deck and stood up straight surveying them all. He was dressed in a black waistcoat that ended in tattered trails and a large black captains hat covered his eyes, his dirty beard traveling to the floor. A scrappy parrot on his shoulder rolled its one eye in its socket, resting on the children then it squawked. The captain lifted his head to show two hollow looking eyes and grinned, a mouth full of disease and blood.

Tiara put her hooves on Pipsqueak’s shoulders and ducked behind him. “Okay, so maybe pirates are pretty scary after all.”

The captain yelled incoherently and the rest of his ragged crew shouted as well, holding their swords aloft. “RUN!” Button shouted.

The pirate crew advanced as they ran back for the kite. The horrific crew chased them to the prow of the ship just as the wind began to pick up again. Dinky grabbed the kite’s tail as it lifted off and Tiara and Spoon grabbed each other as it lifted them into the air. Button grabbed their tails and held out his hoof for Pipsqueak. “Come on!” he shouted.

But a skeletal hoof slammed down on the small colt’s tail pinning him in place and making him fall on his face. He flipped around to stare in horror at the gruesome pirate about to bring down his sword. But just as it did, three ponies swept in and pulled Pip loose, running with him to the receding tail of the kite and jumping off the ledge of the ship to catch it. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo breathed a heavy sigh of relief as they held on to Button’s tail for dear life. Pip at the bottom, sticking his tongue out at the pirates as they faded into the mist.

“That was too close!” Scootaloo shouted at Apple Bloom. “Pip could have been hurt!”

“But Babs was there!” Apple Bloom insisted. “Ah know it.”

Dinky peered her head around. “Wh-Where’d Zecora go?”

Everypony looked around in bafflement, a sinking feeling hitting them. “Oh no! Did we leave her on the ship?” Sweetie shouted.

A boisterous laugh echoed through the sky and a black figure like a bird sailed above them. It dipped down through the wall of clouds and revealed itself to be Zecora, her hooves spread wide and her cloak acting like wings as she soared like the kite. “Do not fear for me, young filly. My self is fine, though a tad chilly. And worry not for your dear friend, for she will meet us at journey’s end!” With that she soared ahead of them, seemingly leading the winds.

“I’m gonna level with you guys,” Button said. “This is the weirdest Nightmare Night I’ve ever had.”

Past sea and foam is land forgotten, where ponies once roamed and played and fought in. The mist shall carry these adventurers there, through time and space as well as air. Before pilgrimage of old comes life before, in that land forgotten is life of yore.

Dinky narrowed her eyes as she spotted a bit of green fast approaching. “Hey guys! I think I see land!”

Everypony looked to where she was pointing and sure enough the mist parted to reveal a mountainous shoreline. Waves crashed against tall cliffs carved from millions of years of surf. Atop the furthest cliff that jutted out was a small pink light, a lantern in the night for them to follow.

“HA! You see! Babs is there!” Apple Bloom shouted.

“That could be any pink light!” Spoon insisted.

“It is a little bit too much of a coincidence,” Sweetie reasoned. “Zecora? Can you see who it is?”

The flying zebra at the head didn’t respond before the light retreated down the cliff and into a vast moor. “Whether tis Babs I cannot say, but it appears our light has lost its way.”

“We gotta follow it,” said Apple Bloom.

They soared over the cliffs and above the grasslands. Tall boulders and hills dotted the countryside with an ethereal fog obscuring everything five hooves in front of their face. The pink light was still visible but just barely through the heavy haze. Apple Bloom kept her eyes out as she trailed the light, unaware of the closer the boulders got to the kite.

At the end of the tail, Pipsqueak yelped as his body nearly swung into a tall rock. “Um, maybe we should get a little higher?”

From the top, Dinky tried fiddling with the kite but it made no response. “I think it’s falling!”

A slab of rock appeared from the mist in front of them and the kite slammed into it, splintering and hurling them to the ground. Everypony rolled and landed in a heap on the wet marshy grass.

“Ugh,” Scootaloo moaned. “What happened?”

“MY DRESS!” Tiara shouted and jumped from the pile. “It’s covered in stains!”

Spoon got up next and looked dejectedly at her dress before spotting something behind Tiara, her eyes widening. “Um, maybe you should be a little quieter?”

“QUIETER!?” Spoon slammed a hoof into Tiara’s mouth and shushed everypony else, pointing to the place where their kite had gone down. Ponies in robes and decorative wooden masks walked from the mist, investigating the noise and finding only the remains of the kite.

All the children hid behind a large rock and watched as more masked ponies joined them. They cleared away the wreckage and began to plant small stones with symbols in a circle around the large slab the children had ran into.

“What are they doing?” Button asked.

“They are setting the runes for a tribute of the moon’s.” Zecora suddenly appeared behind everypony, Button jumping at the sound of her voice.

“Why do you have to do that?” he hissed. “Nearly gave me a heart attack.”

Zecora chuckled playfully and pointed back to the ponies in robes. Now they had prepared a fire around the slab and formed a circle around it. The mist above began to clear and the moon was visible in the sky. “What are they?” Dinky asked.

“Witches, little one,” Zecora replied. “Like the kind you play for fun. But these mares have no pointed hats or cauldron spells, instead they have different beliefs in where magic dwells. Before Equestria and ponies united, every race in pony kind were quite divided. Unicorns were solitary, pegasi were scarce, but earth ponies were the most sparse. They had no magic to call their own, so they called upon the help of gods of stone. Gods of nature and sea and sky, for years of good fortune they would vie. This was the duty of witches back then, to deal with beings and issues beyond mortal ken.”

Everypony watched as the witches performed rituals before them. Bowing and clapping the hooves in odd rhythmic patterns while some danced to the firelight. As the ritual went on, the fire seemed to dissolve the mist around them, clearing the sky more and more.

But that didn’t stop Apple Bloom from keeping her eyes open. She spotted the pink light again further down the moors. “There she is!”

Apple Bloom ran after the light, her voice catching the witches’ attention and making them turn their masked faces to the children. “Um, love the costume,” Sweetie Belle chuckled nervously.

One witch screamed in a sharp voice and pointed at them. The rest followed her command and ran toward them. The children all screamed and ran down the moors, Apple Bloom at the head following the light. “Babs! Just wait up and talk to us!”

“She does realize we’re being chased by witches, right?” Spoon asked Sweetie as they ran alongside each other.

They ducked and dived around the obstacles of rocks, the witches just on their tails. As they ran further and further in, the fog began to return filling the space before and behind them. After a few more minutes of running Scootaloo stopped to breathe and paused looking behind her. The witches were no longer there. “Guys! I think we lost them.”

Everypony stopped running and slumped to the ground in a heap. Even Apple Bloom at the head of the pack stopped and plopped her butt down on the wet grass. She had lost sight of the pink light a while back. “She was right there,” she muttered. “Why wouldn’t she stop for us?”

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo looked at each other then put reassuring hooves on her shoulders. “We’ll find her,” Sweetie said. “Don’t worry.”

Tiara stomped up to the three, a look that was equally angry and scared on her face. “In the meantime, does anypony know just where the heck our tour guide went?” They all looked around, Zecora was nowhere in sight.

Thestrals, Timberwolves, and Windigoes

Into mist and moor these children do roam, on this night of terror so far from home. Lost in more ways than one can describe, only trust in each other will keep them alive. So they walk as one, these eight little tykes, unaware that above something flies waiting to strike.

“Mumble mumble mumble,” Tiara groaned as she trudged up the rear of the group. Apple Bloom stayed at the head, keeping her head out for the sign of the pink light and seeming completely unaware of the attitude building behind her.

“Do you have something to say, Diamond?” Scootaloo groaned.

“Yeah, I kind of do. WHY ARE WE HERE!?” She threw her hooves up, pointing at the vast expanse of nothingness all around them. “Past the sea and stranded half way across the freaking world!”

“We’re looking for Babs,” Sweetie replied.

“Are we? Really?” Everypony stopped walking and turned to listen to her. “Think about it? Have any of us actually seen her since this started? We saw her fly away in a twister but that could have put her down anywhere! Who knows if Zecora was telling the truth!”

“Zecora isn’t a liar!” Apple Bloom shouted at her. “She’s just… actin’ a little weird cause it’s Nightmare Night.”

Tiara was about to shout at her but Spoon elbowed her in the stomach and cleared her throat. Tiara rolled her eyes and sighed. “Okay, fine. But we need to admit that we’re at least lost. And Zecora’s been no help in finding us.”

Apple Bloom glared at Tiara but caught glances from the rest of her friends. They were kicking their hooves at the ground and avoiding eye contact. “Come on, guys. Ah know we’re close. Just one more hill and we’ll find her, Ah know it.”

Dinky, Button and Pip shared uneasy looks with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle before the white filly sighed. “Okay, Apple Bloom, let’s go.”

Apple Bloom smiled hopefully and went back to leading them. As they walked, a slight breeze brushed up Dinky’s backside and her robe fluttered. She took in a shuttered breath and looked up at the sky, the flash of a silhouette streaking by above the mist. “D-Did anypony see that?” Nopony seemed to hear her as they walked and she hurried to follow.

They arched the hill and as Apple Bloom had said, there was something there. Small cottages dotted a basin-like valley, a single unpaved road down the center. In the distance, they could see a line of trees forming the border of a vast forest.

Pipsqueak spoke up. “Well, where do you suppose we are now?”

“Nowhere close to getting any candy, that’s for sure,” Spoon mumbled. Tiara gave her an incredulous look. “What? Just because I’m polite doesn’t mean I can’t be annoyed by the same thing as you.”

“This goes way beyond being polite,” Tiara muttered.

Apple Bloom began to walk down the hill toward the town. “Maybe Babs is in th-”

“STOP!” Dinky shouted as she tackled Apple Bloom and they rolled down the hill in to a bush.

“Dinky?” Sweetie shouted in surprise, before a swooping noise from behind caught her off guard. A pair of hooves flying above in the mist barely grazed above her before twirling and spinning back into the ethereal white fog. They heard more wingbeats behind them. “Everypony move!” They all followed Apple Bloom and Dinky’s example and rolled down the hill into the brush.

When they’d all slid in, the extent of the sound became clear. A large group of shadowy winged figures flew past the crest of the hill where they had just been and swooped down toward the village, letting out whoops and shrill cries.

“What now?” Button asked.

“I don’t know!” Sweetie insisted.

“Ah, but you should, little Belle, for these are the creatures you impersonate so well.” Everypony let out a shocked cry and turned in the brush to see the tall form of Zecora hiding above them, a grin on her face.

“Now I know you want to kill me!” Button shouted.

But Zecora simply slid her body through the tangle of branches and ponies and wrapped it around Sweetie’s shoulder, pointing to the squadron of shrieking forms in the air. “Thestrals, ponies of fang and claws, fly through the night sky without a trace of pause. Their tales arise from nights much like this, over-exaggerations that ponies would reminisce. For take a good look at those forms in the sky, they may not be monster but they certainly can fly.”

Sweetie narrowed her eyes at the flying figures as they came upon the village, dropping rocks and snatching up ponies that dared to travel out of their homes. The mist obscured their features to be sure but the more she looked from this safe distance the more they came into focus. “They’re pegasi.”

Zecora chuckled. “Indeed they were, a tactic most grim. Covered in mud and paint, they would scare ponies to the brim. For this was back in those days so barbaric. When it was everypony for all making everypony hysteric.”

“So, the stories of these raids got passed down through time and became legends about bat winged ponies?” Sweetie asked. She blinked and smiled. “Cool.”

“I don’t think this is the time,” Tiara hissed.

“Yeah! Look!” Apple Bloom pushed herself to the forefront and pointed to the edge of the village. A filly with a pink light in her hooves ran for her life through the raid toward the forest line. “BABS!” She shot out of the brush before anypony could stop her.

“What is she doing?” Pipsqueak squeaked out.

“Apple Bloom, wait!” Scootaloo shouted and ran after her. Sweetie groaned and ran after as well leaving the rest alone with Zecora. The zebra turned her head to the five who gulped at her gaze.

“I’d follow, if I had half a mind. Best not dally and get left behind.” She laughed and flung herself from the bushes, following the three.

The five all looked at each other. “When will this night end?!” Tiara shouted in aggravation and ran out, the rest of them trailing.

“Babs!” Apple Bloom shouted through the shrill shrieks above. She still had the filly in her sights but she had made it to the tree line and entered the forest.

A Pegasus screeched from above aiming toward Apple Bloom. Scootaloo saw this and panicked, running a little faster and pushing her out of the way. Sweetie Belle caught up with them, the others not far behind her. “We need to get to cover.”

Apple Bloom pushed Scootaloo off of her and pointed to the tree line. “There!” She shot off into the trees without caring about how impenetrably dark it was inside.

Button looked at the tree line and slapped his forehead. “You have got to be kidding me.”

Sweetie rolled her eyes and grabbed his hoof, pulling him along. “I know, but there’s no time.” Everypony ran into the dark forest, the sounds of the raid fading behind them.

The inside was pitch black, the thick branches and leaves obscuring any available light. Apple Bloom ran ahead while the others kept back. “Babs?” she called out without a care as to what could hear. “Babs?”

Everypony winced each time she would shout and glared at Sweetie and Scootaloo. The two looked at each other and sighed as Scootaloo approached Apple Bloom. “Hey, maybe you want to keep it down? I mean, we have no idea what’s in this forest.”

“But Babs is in here too. Ah saw her.”

Scootaloo grabbed Apple Bloom by the shoulders and spun her around to face her. “That’s great. Really. But we need to think of our own safety too. So maybe you shouldn’t just go running off like that.”

Apple Bloom looked at Scootaloo then saw the faces of everypony behind her. They had the same look of exasperation. She gave a sigh and hung her head. “Yeah, alright. Ah get it. We should probably be more careful of… Hey, where’d Zecora go?”

Everypony reacted, Button especially who flung himself around peering everywhere. When he saw that the zebra was nowhere in sight to scare him he gave a sigh of relief and wiped his forehead. “Whew! Okay, I think I’m mentally prepared for her to pop out now.” A low growl echoed out from the darkness behind him and the rest stepped away from where he was standing. Behind Button, four sets of glowing yellow eyes appeared out of the black. Button didn’t turn around as he blinked. “There’s some monsters right behind me, aren’t there?” They all nodded.

A sharp toothed mouth made of stones and twigs snapped out and attempted to bite down on him. Button yelped and jumped away just in time for the monsters to come into view. “TIMBERWOLVES!” Spoon shouted.

They ran as the fearsome creatures sprang from the dark with glowing eyes and ravenous teeth. They barked and chased after the children, snapping at their hooves. They ran until Scootaloo spotted a light in the forest. “Everypony this way!” They all followed Scootaloo’s example and headed for the light.

Scootaloo fell behind the rest as she made sure they were all there. When she was sure, she took off running again, but this time tripped on a root and rolled into a puddle of mud. The dirt splashed all over her and her nature-made costume. Sweetie Belle spun around to see her on the ground. “Scootaloo!”

But it was too late to go back. The timberwolves had caught up and quickly surrounded Scootaloo as she sat in the mud. The filly stood perfectly still, the look of terror on her face disguised by the mud mask and twigs adorning it. Carefully, one of the timberwolves approached her, sniffing her head and then nudging her back. Scootaloo stiffened even more, a shiver going up her spine. This made the creatures growl return as they lowered themselves and prepared to attack.

Just then, a loud roar came from the trees above. The timberwolves looked up to see something giant fall to the earth through the foliage. It was covered in blankets of moss and sticks, standing at least a hoof or two taller than the biggest timberwolf present. At its head were two holes cut out through the moss like eyes, flickering lights emanating from within. It looked like a monster. The thing roared again and reared its legs making it look even bigger. This made the timberwolves shrink back, losing their heart and then running back off into the forest.

Scootaloo watched the creatures go and sighed with relief before she realized she had to deal with this thing now. She gulped and looked back at the monster, it setting its feet down once more and staring at her through those hollow eyes. It leaned close to her like the timberwolf did, everypony letting out a gasp as they weren’t sure what it would do. Scootaloo closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable. “Boo. It’s good to see you.”

Scootaloo opened one eye. “Huh?” The monster threw off its blanket of moss to reveal a familiar zebra bedecked in black. In both hooves she held fireflies, their eerie light producing the flickering eyes. “Zecora!”

The zebra grinned and blew the fireflies off of her hooves, letting them take off into the sky. The rest of the children ran up to her with wide eyes. “What was that about?” Dinky asked.

“Yeah, how’d you do that?” Pipsqueak asked as well.

Zecora chuckled. “In times of old, ponies would scavenge. But braving the forest would prove quite a challenge. Beasts like the timberwolf were prevalent back then, so the art of disguise became a pony’s best friend. A little mud here and a little moss there, with a little blustering and a costume they could give those monsters a scare.”

“I guess I’m lucky you came by,” Scootaloo said as she wiped the mud from her.

Zecora tutted. “That’s not at all true, sweet Scootaloo. There are many reasons for a costume and I’ll name a few. To hide our faces is the reason on this night, but survival is one other, another is to cause fright. You were dressed as a timberwolf, one of their pack, the mud helped a little to convince them of that.”

Scootaloo smiled as she looked at her costume. “Wow.”

“That’s all very nice, now can we leave?” Tiara stated.

Apple Bloom shook her head. “She’s right. We gotta find Babs!” Everypony let out a collective sigh and walked back toward the exit as Apple Bloom quickly led the way.

As they walked out of the trees they were each hit by a sudden chill. The landscape they had walked out onto was flat and barren. Dead plants sprouted from various clusters of frozen rock and the earth they stepped on felt solid and cold.

“Wh-Where are we n-n-now?” Spoon asked through chattering teeth. “It was j-just warm enough a s-second ago.”

A blast of icy wind cut through them and they all had to shield their eyes. Zecora stepped ahead and whipped her cloak around them all to block them from the weather. Apple Bloom looked up to thank her but the zebra’s face had lost it joviality. Instead she stared ahead at the tundra before them with a narrow gaze. “This is a place where time and pony forgot. Forsaken from disharmony and the coldness it wrought. An empty and dead land where only ice dwell, go further than this and it may not end well. We’ve come to a point of no possible return. Past this land lies things you may not want to learn. If your friend waits past here then her situation is dear, for there are creatures now that are something to fear.”

In the distance, the children watched as the winds and clouds coalesced and faded around each other. They made unearthly noises like neighs as the forms in the wintery void struggled to take the form of white stallions, their cries echoing disowned voices that made them all shudder to hear.

Everypony looked at each other wearily. Tiara was the first to speak up. “Really? You heard her, there are monsters out there!”

“There were monsters back there and we faced them,” Apple Bloom retorted.

Button stepped up to her. “Those are windigoes, Apple Bloom. I may be dressed for the occasion but even I’m scared of them. You know the stories.”

Zecora leaned down to whisper to them. “They say the windigo are souls of the dead. Lost in the world for things left unsaid. Picked up by the wind, the only comfort left to claim, they search out emptiness and any pony that feels the same.”

Apple Bloom looked to her two best friends. “Come on, guys. We need to find Babs. She would do it for us.”

Sweetie looked past Zecora’s cloak and saw no sight of the pink light they’d been chasing. “Apple Bloom, it’s getting late. We should really get back home before sunrise.”

“But Babs…”

“We can talk to Applejack about it in the morning,” Scootaloo added. “She’ll be able to think of something.”

“Face it, there’s no telling where she is now,” Tiara butted in. “I don’t see her, do you?”

Apple Bloom frowned at her then at everyone else. “Well, Ah don’t care what you all think! Ah’m goin’ to find Babs and you can’t stop me!” She ran past Zecora’s cloak and into the tundra, the snow and ice freezing her tears before they could even fall. The sound of her friends behind her quickly vanished as she stepped deeper into the cold storm.

Time and Shadows

Ice and snow, one flutters, one flows. The cold of winter that comes in force after fall, does not care for the yellowed leaves or green grass at all. A sheet of white that washes away the warmth. Memories disappear as the sun too conforms.

Apple Bloom trudged deeper and deeper into the wintery landscape, her black costume a juxtaposition against the sea of white around her. She was freezing, her knees knocking together and her head shaking from the cold. Yet she still pushed on, calling her cousin’s name. “BABS! BABS!”

She saw the figures in the snow as they formed and reformed before dying again, but she paid them no heed. So what if they were lost souls. There was only one soul she was worried about right now.

Still, her friends slipped into mind. She didn’t want to leave them. She wanted them to stay together, but she also wanted to find Babs. She couldn’t leave a friend behind, she just couldn’t. “BABS!!”

After what felt like hours, she dropped to a knee and began to rub her shoulders. “S-So c-cold.” Her eyes were barely open but she was sure she saw a flickering pale pink light through the snow. “B-b-babs.”

All around, figures in the storm writhed and twisted toward her. She felt their icy touch as they blew across her back and face, but she was too tired to do anything. Right now, she just wanted to go to sleep… to go to sleep… to go to…

A burst of wind caught her off guard, slapping her in the face with a warm air and seeming to bat away the curious spirits. She blinked tiredly as she looked up to see a massive black robed figure flourish her cloak back and forth, seemingly waving the cold away like a fan. “Zecora…” When she had finished, the tundra was bare. No snow, not even the slightest sign of cold. Instead the air felt… empty. It was the most barren feeling Apple Bloom had ever felt. She struggled to her hooves. “Thank you, Zecora.”

But the zebra didn’t respond. She had her head pointing straight for the flickering pink light not too far off. Apple Bloom noticed as well and ran to it as fast as her legs could carry. She fell down by her cousin’s side, now close enough to see her. Babs was like a ghost, her body translucent to the point of almost being invisible. Her face was wracked with pain and fatigue, much like Apple Bloom’s. Still she clutched the small glowing pink orb in her hooves like her life depended on it. “Babs! Talk to me, Babs!”

“She will not answer, for she cannot.” Zecora walked over to them slowly, her form seeming to grow more and more dark and imposing as she came closer. “Ponies can’t run forever from me, this lesson must be taught.”

Apple Bloom gulped and shoved herself in front of Babs to protect her. “You’re not Zecora.”

The zebra narrowed her eyes before throwing up her hood and shading her face in darkness. “We had a deal, my child. You would dare for it to be defiled. That orb is mine by right. Would you seriously take it with a fight?”

“Just tell me what’s goin’ on!”

The zebra was silent for a moment before looking up at the sky. “The sun and moon may not seem to frighten, but they record a force to you I must enlighten.” Above the moon began to move at a supernatural speed and retreat over the horizon. Then the sun rose just as fast, then receded. This began to repeat, going faster and faster. “Time is ancient, there for better or worse. To some she is a gift and to others a curse.”

Apple Bloom watched the dancing celestial bodies as they sped through night and day, faster and faster. And with them the landscape began to change. Growing plants and streams from seemingly nothing. Massive trees sprouted from rocks and seemed to scrape the skies. Meanwhile the mare’s body began to change, her striped fur growing longer and whiter until it simply fell out. Her cloak seemed to grow as well, wrapping around her body and enveloping her limbs in blackness. She dauntingly stood above Apple Bloom, all mannerisms of the zebra she knew stripped away. “I am far older than that. Before the very first pony counted the hours I was there at her back. A shadow on the wall.”

The massive shadowy figure stood like a giant above the trees and plains. She seemed to take up the whole sky with her presence. “Your friend’s time is up. She delays the inevitable and strains her soul with her efforts. Give me the orb and let her pass on.”

Apple Bloom felt her body tremble but she stood her ground. She set herself in dirt and narrowed her eyes at her. “Ah’m not doin’ anythin’ for you! Now if you’re so smart then I think you know how to help Babs!” The dark figure was quiet. “Please… Ah’ll do anythin’.”

The figure lowered its head from the clouds and stared at her with pitch black eyes behind a shaded hood. “Tell me, little one. What are you most afraid of?”

Apple Bloom was taken aback at the question. She considered everything she and her friends had been through tonight. They were all pretty scary but there was one thing that haunted her mind all night long. She looked down at Bab’s fading form, her eyes closed in concentration just trying to keep herself together. “Ah…” The figure cocked its massive head. “Ah’m afraid of losin’ this time Ah have left with mah friends. Ah don’t want any of them to miss a single moment. It’d just be too cruel to look back one day and suddenly find we’re grown up.”

The figure stared at her for a few moments before a laugh echoed from its hood. The laughter grew and it threw its head back, reverberating into the sky like thunder. Apple Bloom shook at its force but still stood her ground.

When it finally finished the figure lowered its head once more. She couldn’t see it through the darkness of its hood but Apple Bloom swore she saw a smile. “That’s certainly a fear to be lauded. Many think this night belongs to Nightmare Moon, but they are wrong. This is my night. A night to honor and celebrate a hidden emotion. Harmony brings ponies together but fear strengthens the self. Do not be afraid of the feeling. Embrace it and let it help you to grow.”

Apple Bloom stared wide eyed. “So, can Ah go home with Babs?” The hooded figure peered past her and Apple Bloom turned to see that Babs was already gone. “Hey!”

“Your friend awaits you back home.” The hood rushed up to her and she threw her hooves out as it swallowed her whole. It seemed to lift her off the ground and make her tumble through the air. Then her face hit something familiar. Grass.

“Apple Bloom!” Sweetie Belle came running down the hill with Scootaloo and Tiara close behind with the rest. Apple Bloom got to her hooves and spit out the grass that got in her mouth. She looked around in confusion as her friends all circled her.

“What happened?” she asked, rubbing her head.

“You fell down the hill!” Tiara shouted in earnest, catching herself. “Um, not that I was worried.”

Apple Bloom looked around. She was back on Sweet Apple Acres. And just beyond those couple hills was her house. A little to the other way was the edge of Everfree. The edge where they had entered searching for Babs. “Ah… Ah thought Ah… and we…”

“Tarnation! You children slow down!” From around the corner came a familiar old green earth pony. “Just because you’re goin’ out on your own tonight doesn’t mean Ah’ll allow any tomfoolery.”

“Granny!” Apple Bloom ran to greet her and hugged her close.

Granny Smith raised an eyebrow but reciprocated the hug. “Aw, child, Ah just saw you ten minutes ago.”

Apple Bloom pulled back. “What? But that can’t be! Me and everyone else chased after Babs into the Everfree and flew on a kite and met pirates and witches and timberwolves and windigoes and-”

“You sure you didn’t hit your head?” Button asked.

“What’s this about chasin’ Babs?” Granny asked.

Apple Bloom’s eyes widened. “BABS! Where is she?”

“Calm down,” Granny waved her hooves at her. “Babs was moanin’ so Applejack and Big Mac took her to the hospital.” Everypony gasped. “Now calm down! She was moanin’ because she snuck a bunch of candy from the house.”

“Huh?” Everyone uttered.

“Gave her one massive stomach ache Ah’ll tell you that much.”

“So… she’s alright then?” Apple Bloom asked.

“She’ll be fine. If you want, you kids can visit her at the hospital later tonight.”

Apple Bloom looked back at her friends then to her grandmother. “Ah think Ah have a better idea. Tiara?”

Tiara looked up in surprise at her. “What?”

“That was some dumb thinkin’, right there,” Applejack uttered from next to Babseed’s hospital bed.

“Eeyup,” Big Mac responded.

“I don’t need to hear it again… ugh,” Babs moaned as she writhed in bed.

“Well now, the doctor says the stomach medicine should kick in in a little bit.” Applejack leaned back in her chair. “You want anythin’ to eat?” She gave her cousin a smirk. Babs simply moaned again.

A knock came from the door and a nurse popped her head in. “Miss Babseed? You have some visitors.”

Babs looked to the door as eight children walked in and ran over to her bed. “Argh, I can’t believe you guys are seeing me like this.”

“You kidding?” Scootaloo asked with a smirk. “This is hilarious.”

“My mom always says candy rots your brain,” Dinky spoke up.

“Rots your stomach too apparently,” Spoon added.

“What are y’all doin’ here?” Applejack asked. “Shouldn’t you be goin’ around town by now?”

Apple Bloom looked over to Tiara with a smile. “We had a change in plans.”

Tiara looked slightly sour, but sighed and cleared her throat. Immediately several ponies in butler and maid uniforms entered the hospital room and began to deck the place out with Nightmare Night decorations. Applejack and Big Mac looked on in puzzlement as they heard voices from outside and saw that there were more in the hallway and other rooms of the hospital wing. Ponies in bed watched in confusion as their rooms became decorated in cobwebs and bats and candy corn and cauldrons.

Apple Bloom spread out her hooves, showing the decorated room off. “We didn’t want you to feel left out on Nightmare Night. So we brought it here for you!”

The first set of servants left and a second set came in pushing a rack of costumes of every color and shade. There were spiders and scarecrows, monsters and manticores, every costume imaginable and they were being shown to everypony on the floor for them to pick out and choose.

Babs looked at the scene agape. “You… you guys really didn’t need to do this.”

“That’s what I said,” Tiara muttered. Spoon elbowed her and the filly rolled her eyes. “Just… consider it my own little apology.”

Babs looked at them all, a smile growing across her face. “So what do you say? Wanna get dressed and get started?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“You bet!”

Babs picked a spider costume from the rack and joined her friends as they went from room to room, dropping in on the patients and doctors and asking for candy that Tiara’s servants had left in each room. Everypony they met smiled and laughed as they made their way through the hospital.

When they made their way to the lobby Apple Bloom stopped as she noticed somepony out of the corner of her eye. “Is that Zecora?”

Scootaloo looked where she was looking down the hall. “Yeah, I think so.”

“Ah’m gonna go say hi. Be with you guys in a minute.” She waved to her friends and bid them continue as she walked over to the zebra. She was talking to a doctor, undressed for Nightmare Night and but looking bright. “Hi, Zecora.”

The zebra finally noticed her. “Oh, Apple Bloom, so nice to see you so soon. I hear this Nightmare Night is your doing. You’ve certainly made the hospital worth viewing.”

“It was all of us really. Especially Diamond. But what are you doin’ here?”

“A late night call from a doctor friend. It seems he needed my potion’s special blend. I regretted not making this night’s festivities, but you have more than made up for it with your activities.”

Apple Bloom smiled but looked around before asking her next question. “Um, Zecora, do you believe in ghosts?”

Zecora laughed. “Ghosts are nothing to be afraid of. Even though nopony knows what they are made of. If you’ve had an experience you can’t comprehend, perhaps it’s best to look at it as a gift from a friend.” She winked at her and strolled down the hall.

Apple Bloom frowned and scratched her head, more confused than ever. “Come on, Apple Bloom!” Pipsqueak shouted from the stairwell. “We’re bobbing for apples downstairs.”

“Comin’!” She decided to let it go. After all, she had her entire childhood to figure it out.

Past darkened forest and haunted bridge, rests a crumbling castle upon a ridge. Behind it rests a certain tree, that blooms one night per year by some decree. But as this night reaches its end, we see a mysterious figure come to tend. They stop to watch as each orb fades, a pink one resting by its neighbor red in shade. As all lights go dark and the sun begins to rise, they turn their hooded face to the skies. “Another year gone,” they utter aloud. “Best run along.” And back they go beneath their shroud. The cape flickers and flattens as the sound of trap doors moan. When the wind finally rests, no sign of life is shown. Just a massive black tree behind a crumbling castle wall. And there it will be, at least until next fall.

Happy Halloween