Morsel of Truth

by Pen Stroke

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life, Main 6, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic
Length: 4376

There is a bit of truth to every legend, though the ravages of time can bury it deeply. One of Equestria’s oldest legends is the core of Nightmare Night. Yet, how much of the old legend is true, and how much is fiction?

There is a bit of truth to every legend, though the ravages of time can bury it deeply. Myths and lore become twisted, melded, and torn the longer they are around. One of Equestria’s oldest legends is that of Nightmare Moon. It is the core of Nightmare Night and the excuse for children to go out asking for candy with a single, common rhyme.

Nightmare Night, what a fright. Give me something sweet to bite.

Published 2016-10-31 00:10:02 UTC
Last updated 2016-10-31 00:10:02 UTC

Morsel of Truth

Pre-read & Edited by

Illustrious Q, El Oso, Winston, BronyWriter, Magical Trevor

====================

Listen close, my little dears. I’ll tell you where you got your fears,
of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary. Of dark creatures who make you wary.

The festivities of Nightmare Night were echoes on the wind, lingering now only in memory and the few jack o'lanterns whose candles were still burning. Ponyville had celebrated the holiday once more, and once more found itself the happy host of Princess Luna. The princess of the night reveled, laughed, and probably had a few too many sweets, like almost everypony.

Twilight Sparkle smiled at the memory of it as she made her way towards the front door of her castle. She had taken off and put away her costume, and she was now going to bring in the pumpkins from the castle’s front steps. Nightmare Night always did seem to go by too quickly, but the memories she made with her friends would linger on well past the dawn of the following morning.

Cracking open the front doors of the castle, Twilight stuck her head out. The night was fairly bright, illuminated by the bright glow of Luna’s moon. All was still, all was quiet. Only the gentlest of breezes tickled Twilight’s face as she cast her levitation spell. With a single gesture of her magic, she snuffed out the candles in the four jack o'lanterns and brought them inside. Carving pumpkins was always one of Spike’s favorite parts of the holiday, at least until it became time to eat all the candy. He had carved two ghoulish faces into the pumpkins he selected. Twilight’s was a happy grin, and Starlight’s was a little less traditional, bearing a trio of bat silhouettes instead of a face.

Twilight lined the pumpkins up against the wall near the door, and gently closed it. She was about to lock it, when there came three gentle knocks. If she had been any further from the door, she may not have heard them, but out of habit alone, she cracked open the door again and looked outside.

On the doorstep was a small pony, wearing a simple sheet over their head as a ghost costume. There were two holes cut for eyes and a slightly larger hole for a mouth. It was so dark inside the costume, though, Twilight couldn’t make out any details about the pony within.

“Nightmare Night, what a fright, give me something sweet to bite,” the little pony chimed. Twilight could tell it was a filly. The young pony used her mouth to pick up a woven basket that had been resting beside her, in which was already a fairly nice supply of candy.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, but I don’t think we have anymore. We didn’t think there were any more little ponies out this late.” Twilight’s eyes moved up, scanning the road that led up to her castle the nearby buildings. She didn’t see anypony, and didn’t see any lanterns or light spells. “It’s a bit late to be out by yourself, where are your—”

The words caught in Twilight’s throat. The filly had disappeared. She opened the door wider, taking a step beyond the frame to get a better look. With such a white sheet for her ghost costume, the filly should have been easy to spot, but Twilight saw no one; no running filly, no parent calling somepony home. The night was just as it had been when she first opened the door to retrieve the jack o’lanterns, and yet… she couldn’t deny the unease in the pit of her stomach.

Twilight retreated back into the castle. The door swung shut and latched, but the characteristic click of the lock didn’t occur.

There was no one there to lock the door.

~~~

Every year, we put on a disguise, to save us from her searching eyes.

Fluttershy awoke to a gentle knocking on her door. It was past midnight, which in her mind, meant that Nightmare Night was officially over. She had curled up with her cute animal friends inside a pillow fort, and spent the whole evening enjoying a good book until she finally drifted off to sleep. Now, as Fluttershy awoke, her cottage was still and quiet. Any of her nocturnal animal friends were out and about for the night. All the other animals were fast asleep. Angel was curled up into a cute little ball, and Fluttershy had to fight the urge to nuzzle him. He was just so adorable.

Three more knocks came from her door. Fluttershy gingerly slipped out of the pillow fort, maneuvering around the many sleeping critters to make her way through the house. She didn’t know who would be knocking at this hour, but it wouldn’t be kind to leave them standing outside.

“Hello?” Fluttershy asked as she gently cracked the door.

“Nightmare Night, what a fright. Give me something sweet to bite.”

Fluttershy yelped, jumping up to the rafters of her home and clinging to one of the beams. She stayed there, trembling for a few seconds before daring to open her eyes. She looked down to her door and saw the horrible, terrible, gruesome ghost that had scared her. Or rather, as she was able to get a good look at what was standing on her welcome mat, she realized it was just somepony under a sheet: a little ghost costume.

“Oh… I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to shout. You just startled me.” Fluttershy descended from the rafters and glanced back at her many little animal friends. They were all still sleeping peacefully, and that made her smile. She was happy she hadn’t woken them, but her smile weakened a little as she turned to look at the filly standing on her doorstep.

The little filly used her mouth to pick up her woven basket and held it out expectantly to Fluttershy. It looks like the filly had a nice supply of candy, a fruitful Nightmare Night. There was even one really big piece of candy, a wax-paper-wrapped glob of taffy.

“Isn’t it a little late for you to be trick or treating, and where are your parents?” Fluttershy asked.

The little filly gently shook the basket she was holding with her mouth.

Fluttershy sighed and took a step back from the door. “Well… I hate to make you come all this way for nothing, but you have to promise me you’ll go straight home.”

The filly nodded.

“Okay, then give me a moment.” Fluttershy departed from her front door, leaving it open as she gently and silently flew to the kitchen. She rummaged around a bit, but she wasn’t one to keep a lot of sweets around. Discord always brought the snacks for their weekly tea, and she had finished off the last few cookies from last time while she had been reading.

Still, Fluttershy eventually returned, smiling at the little pony. “Okay, here you go.” She gently placed a slightly misshapen carrot into the filly’s basket. “I’m sorry it’s not candy, but I don’t have anything sweet right now. Still, I had one of those carrots earlier and it was wonderful, and eating that won’t give you a tummy ache like all that candy.”

The little filly set down her basket and just looked at it, lifting a hoof and prodding at the carrot through the fabric of her ghost costume. Fluttershy watched, waiting for a thank you, or for the little filly to just leave… but the pony just stood there, staring at her basket and poking at the carrot.

Fluttershy cleared her throat very quietly to try and get the filly’s attention but was unsuccessful. She tried clearing her throat a little louder. Still, the little pony just stood there. Fluttershy lifted a hoof to maybe reach out and touch the filly, to ensure she was alright, but… something was eating at the back of her mind. Some ancient survival instinct that was telling her touching the filly would be equivalent to poking an ursa major with a stick.

“Well… have a good night, and hurry home. It’s far too late for a little pony like you to be out by herself.” Fluttershy began to close the door, the hinges squeaking a little from how slowly she was doing it. The little filly on her welcome mat was still just staring and poking at the carrot, as if she simply could not understand what she had been given.

Fluttershy lost sight of the filly as gap in the door became smaller and smaller. She placed her hooves on it to close it firmly, and the latch clicked shut.

The clicking of the front door latch made Angel Bunny lift his head. His nose twitched, and he glanced around, looking for Fluttershy. When he couldn’t see her, the little bunny quickly hopped over to the door and opened it. He saw nothing outside. There was no sign of Fluttershy or really anyone except for a single, lone carrot that was resting on the door mat. Angel sniffed at it a moment before shrugging, picking it up, and carrying it back inside. He used a little bunny kick to shut the door before returning to where he had been sleeping with his unexpected midnight snack.

~~~

Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by.

“Nightmare Night, what a fright. Give me something sweet to bite.”

Rainbow Dash rubbed her eyes and yawned as she stood in her open door. She was still partially in her costume, having chosen to just crash on her couch after getting in. She had pranked a lot of ponies, and it had been awesome, but being a top Nightmare Night prankster wasn’t easy. She had been exhausted when she got home, and it had only been the firm knocking on her door that managed to rouse her from her Daring Do themed dream.

She looked at the filly, in the simple ghost costume, holding the woven basket with her mouth. The basket had a lot of candy in it already. On top was a sugar cookie, delicately wrapped and decorated in bright, pastel colors. “Huh, I wonder who was handing out whole cookies?” Rainbow muttered to herself before looking at the filly.

“Sorry kid, I don’t really got anything. I’m not the stay at home and give out candy kind of mare.” Rainbow gently waved the pony off with a wing before shutting the door. The sound of the latch clicking was… oddly loud to her, like she had slammed the door. But she hadn’t closed it with that much force. Still, not wanting to be mean to some kid, she opened the door again.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to be a grump.” Rainbow began taking off the bits of her wendigo costume, tossing them into a corner near the door. “But I don’t even really decorate for Nightmare Night. What are you doing out this late anyway? Ah, what am I saying? I was your age once. If I could have given my parents the slip, I probably would have stayed out trick or treating all night.”

Rainbow finished removing the last of her costume and chuckled a little. “You know what, I’ll see if I can’t rustle up something for you. A kid like you, out this late, being a rebel. You deserve to get something for all the trouble you're going to be in tomorrow morning.”

Rainbow didn’t have to go far, knowing exactly where to find the thing she intended to give the pony. She zipped back to the door in just a few seconds, holding up an autographed picture of herself in her Wonderbolts uniform. She gently dropped it into the filly’s basket. “Now you can tell all your friends you got to meet one of the greatest fliers in Equestria, Rainbow Dash the Wonderbolt.”

The filly made no movement, no gesture. She just stood there, staring at Rainbow. She gave the basket a little shake, and inadvertently a small breeze caught the autographed photo. The photo took off and was beginning to fly away when Rainbow quickly caught it.

“Whoa, be careful, you don’t want to lose it.” Rainbow took a step towards the filly, hoof reaching into the basket. “How about I just put some candy on top of it to hold it down.”

Rainbow’s cloud home thundered as if it was part of a great and terrible storm. Rainbow screamed, and then nothing. The silence of the night returned. The door to Rainbow’s home hung open, and her signed autograph lay burning with putrid green flames on her doorstep.

~~~

So if she comes, and all is clear, you are safe another year.

“Really, of all the nerve. A mare like me needs her beauty sleep,” Rarity complained as she stood in her open door. She used her magic to close her nightgown around her more tightly, trying to fight off the chill of the evening. “A pony letting their filly run around, knocking on doors at this hour. And what parent hasn’t taught a filly like you proper manners? It’s rude to wake ponies up, especially so late at night.”

Rarity fumed a little, looking at the filly in as plain of costume as she could imagine. It was no more than a bed sheet with holes cut in it... lopsided holes, at that. Perhaps this filly’s parents didn’t believe in Nightmare Night, or were trying to be politically correct now that Princess Luna had returned. The little filly may have snuck out of the house, not even realizing the hour; a little pony that desperately wanted to be with her friends on such a fun and sugar filled evening. Yet, because of tragic circumstances, she was not able to sneak out of the house until after Nightmare Night was all over.

The drama that was filling Rarity’s imagination was enough to distract her from the irritation of being awoken. “Well, I’m afraid I don’t really have any candy I can think to give you. I do have a box of chocolates, but those aren’t individually wrapped and I’m afraid I’m not in the mood to give you the whole box. Still… how about you come in for a few minutes, take off the costume, and I can spruce it up a little. And while I do that, you can tell me who your parents are. I really should escort you home to make sure you're safe, and to give your parents a piece of my mind.”

Rarity stepped to the side, gesturing towards the interior of her shop. “In any case, come on in and let’s see about that costume of yours.”

The filly didn’t move, only shook her basket with her mouth, causing the contents to shift and rattle slightly.

“Dear, didn’t you hear me? I don’t have any candy, but I can make your costume nicer if you just come inside.”

The filly shook her basket.

“I don’t have any candy to give you.”

The filly shook her basket.

Rarity puckered her lips and furrowed her brow. “I. Do not. Have. Candy. To. Give. To you.”

The filly shook her basket.

Rarity grumbled a little as she reached out a hoof to grab the filly by the shoulder. “I haven’t had enough sleep to deal with this. Just come inside already.” She tried to tug on the costume, but it wouldn’t budge. The filly didn’t move and the sheet of fabric was firmly fixed on her body. Rarity blinked a few times and then gave it another tug, but the result was the same.

“Now come along. This isn’t a game,” Rarity said firmly, calling on her unicorn magic to try and levitate the filly into the boutique. Yet, even that wasn’t working. The filly stayed anchored, like she was a hundred times heavier than she appeared. Still, Rarity’s sleep-deprived and now frustrated mind didn’t think to question this. She just planted her hooves and tried harder, training her neck to try and levitate the filly off the ground.

Her stance and the amount of effort she was applying backfired. Rarity’s hoof slipped, and her whole body tumbled back as her hind legs suddenly swung out where her head had been. It was a half-back flip, which meant Rarity crashed firmly on her back with a painful smack. Her hooves flailed at the moment of impact, and one of them accidentally kicked the filly’s basket, causing some of the candy to spill out.

A dark and guttural roar shook the boutique, like a chorus of hungry manticores.

~~~

But if you're caught, do not be distraught.

“Hello? Hello!” Applejack stepped out into the yard, calling out into the night, leaving the ghost-costumed filly standing by the door. “Whoever’s filly this is, y’all should’ve had her in bed already. No pony with any sense is gonna still be giving candy out at this hour.”

She huffed, turning her ears forward as she tried to listen, but all she heard was the gentle rustling of the leaves of the apple trees. “Is anypony out there?” she shouted again, her voice echoing into the night, but there was no answer. She didn’t hear a voice, or hoofsteps… nothing but the sounds of the family farm… and even those seemed off. The farm was quiet at night, but not this quiet. At that moment it seemed muted… distant… as if the world itself was scared of making noise.

“Tarnation,” Applejack said as she turned around and looked back at the front door, where a little filly in a ghost costume was standing. The small pony gently shook her basket, making the candies within rattle around a bit. “Well, if yer parents aren’t going to have a lick of sense, than I guess I’ll have to have it for them. You’re coming inside, you’re taking off that costume, and y’all are going to get a lecture about being out so late by yourself.”

Applejack began marching towards the costumed filly, fully intending to take the basket of candy from her and remove the costume.

~~~

Fill up her belly with a treat or two. Do that, and she won’t eat you.

“Nightmare Night, what a fright. Give me something sweet to bite?”

Pinkie Pie smiled down at the little filly. “Aw, that’s such a cute ghost costume. I bet you made it yourself. You did a really good job. I remember a year I made myself a costume like that, but my mom said I couldn’t use any of the white sheets. So I had to use an old yellow and red polka dot one. I said I was the ghost of a clown that year. I even found a little toy horn to make the little honking noise.”

The little filly shook her basket.

“Oh, right, of course, you want some candy.” Pinkie went to the candy bowl next to the door of Sugarcube corner, but found it was empty. “Oh, looks like the Cakes put it away for the night. I don’t have anything to give you.”

The filly shook her basket.

“Hey, don’t be sad. I’ll tell you what, I can’t give you candy, but how about we trade for some candy? I promise you’ll end up with way more.” Pinkie Pie quickly bounded up stairs, and returned with her own massive bag of candy. It was a ten pound flour sack filled to near bursting with sweet treats of every variety. The little filly at the door actually dropped her basket, the little cut out ghost-eyes of her costume staring at the horde of sugary treats.

Pinkie Pie dug her hoof into the mouth of the bag, eventually pulling out a few small bags of gummy bears and some fun-sized chocolate bars. “Okay, I’ll give you these for one piece of candy. You can pick which one from your basket you want to give up.”

The filly made a little nodding notion, and looked down at her woven basket. After a few moments, she selected a piece of purple taffy, and gently set it on the ground, just inside the door frame.

“Ooo, that looks like great grape taffy. It’s a deal.” Pinkie dropped her promised part of the trade into the filly’s candy basket. “Now, what next? Do I spy a caramel apple? I love caramel apples. Well, actually, I love candy everything, but if you got that from Sweet Apple Acres, then that’s a really good caramel apple.”

Pinkie rummaged in her bag a moment before producing a dozen individually wrapped caramel candies. “There we go, caramel for caramel. I think that’s a fair trade, don’t you?”

The filly nodded and did the same as before. She gingerly removed the caramel apple, with its plastic wrapping and red ribbon bow, and placed it just inside the door frame. She then gently pushed her basket forward, so that Pinkie could have an easier time dropping the caramels in.

“Okay, now that’s looking like a proper Nightmare Night candy haul. Be sure not to eat it all at once. Trust me, being sugar sick is no fun.” Pinkie’s smile weakened a moment as her mind tripped back to memories of one such Nightmare Night where she had gone too far. “Yeah… not fun at all. Anyway, let’s keep going. It’s your turn. So what will you give me for… a couple full sized chocolate bars?”

The filly gently reached into her basket and produced a large marshmallow with purple frosting.

“Ooo, I’ve never seen one of those before. It looks delicious though. Deal. Okay… well, that butterfly sugar cookie is looking super tasty too. I bet your mom gave that to you. I don’t want to take it if that’s the case, but if you're willing to part with it… how about I just reach right into my bag and give you three… no, four big hoof-fulls of candy.”

The filly offered up the sugar cookie, nodding her head to the trade. Pinkie gladly kept up her end of the bargain, dumping four big hoof-fulls of candy into the filly’s basket, which was now just about ready to overflow with treats.

“Now that’s the right amount of candy to be getting on Nightmare Night,” Pinkie Pie said with a happy nod. “I got some really cool stuff too. I don’t know where you got these candies, but I bet they’ll be delicious.” She looked over the things she had traded for. A hunk of purple taffy, a caramel apple, a sugar cookie, and a frosted marshmallow: four tasty looking treats she couldn’t wait to eat. “Well, you should be running home now, and this pink pony needs to catch her forty winks before they can get away. So happy Nightmare Night.”

Pinkie began closing the door, but before the latch could click, Pinkie heard the filly shake her basket. Opening the door again, Pinkie saw the filly was holding out one additional item, some rainbow colored rock candy.

“Ooo, I do love rock candy. My sister Maud and I always trade rock candy necklaces. It’s a family tradition. So, what do you want to trade me for?”

The little filly shook her head, and gently set the rock candy down just inside the door.

“Aw, are you giving it to me?”

The filly nodded her head.

“Well, that’s very sweet of you.” Pinkie picked the rock candy off the floor, and set it over next to the other traded treats. She then reached out through the door, and gently patted the filly’s head. “Happy Nightmare Night.”

“Happy Nightmare Night,” the filly replied before picking up her basket. Pinkie watched the filly walk away, a gentle smile on her face as she put a hoof on the door. She waited until the filly was almost at the end of the block before finally taking a step back and closing the door. The latch closed, and Pinkie suddenly heard a series of thuds.

She spun around, looking behind her to the table where she had set down her traded-treats. There, sprawled out on the floor, faces frozen in fear, were her five friends. “Girls! What… what are you doing here?” Pinkie quickly went up to them. She waved her hooves in front of their faces. She tried shaking them. She would have shouted, but she didn’t want to wake Pound or Pumpkin Cake.

“Girls, girls… are you alright?” She glanced once more at the table, then furrowed her brow. “Hey! Did you eat the candy that sweet little filly just gave me?”

~~~

Listen close, my little dears. I’ll tell you where you got your fears,
of Nightmare Night, so dark and scary. Of dark creatures who make you wary.
Every year, we put on a disguise, to save us from her searching eyes.
Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by.
So if she comes, and all is clear, you are safe another year.
But if you're caught, don’t be distraught.
Fill up her belly with a treat or two. Do that, and she won’t eat you.

And if you think this tale speaks of Luna’s dark side,
then this simple truth, in your mind, I shall transcribe.
How could Luna, sealed in her heavenly sphere,
be the cause and the source of your gobbling fear?

Author's Note

I'll admit, this story may not be my strongest, but I hope you enjoyed it all the same. Happy Halloween and/or Nightmare Night 2016, and I'll see you soon.

And as always, if you notice technical errors with the story, please PM them instead of dropping them in the comments. The extra bit of effort is truly appreciated.

P.S. BronyWriter pointed out to me during the process that another author on this site already did an idea similar to this in a much more mature tone. Though I haven't read the stories personally, I feel it's appropriate to give a little shout out all the same. So if you want to see this idea taken to a much, much darker level, I would direct you to Knackerman and his Something Sweet to Bite series.