"Grandma Rainbow, Grandma Fluttershy, look at my costume!" The small orange filly with a purple mane said excitedly as she ran in dressed in a pointed hat and cape, or at least she tried to, she wound up tripping on her cape and falling over.
"Sparky, I told you you needed to be careful," an older mare with orange fur and a short purple mane said as she came in and helped her daughter up.
"Hey Scootaloo, finally got the kiddo in her costume I see," Rainbow said with a chuckle as she watched her adopted daughter and granddaughter. "She give you any trouble?"
"Oh you have no idea," Scootaloo said with a groan as the hat fell down over Sparky's eyes a little. "She gets excited at the very idea of getting candy, its like having a mini Pinkie Pie."
Sparky just giggled as she pushed the hat back out of her eyes. "I'm gonna be the world's best magician!"
"Yes you certainly are," Fluttershy said with a smile as she and Rainbow watched the two. "You just have to pratctice a lot."
The two older mares smiled a little, they had gotten Sparky a magic kit the year before for Hearth's Warming and she had been trying to figure it out ever since. She usually wound up making a mess instead of doing any actual magic, but she had a lot of fun with it.
"Do you two mind watching her while I go track down Day Break?" Scootaloo asked, Day Break was her sister and Scootaloo had promised to get everything ready for Nightmare Night this year. "Sweetie should be back soon and we can all gete going then."
"Sure, no problem, anything to spend time with our favorite Granddaughter," Rainbow said with a smile as Scootaloo headed off to find her little sister.
"Here, lets get this secured," Fluttershy said as she helped straighten out the hat so it fit on the filly's head better. "There you go, all better."
"Thanks Grandma Fluttershy," Sparky said with a smile as she looked up at her grandmas with her big purple eyes.
Rainbow smiled a little, it had been years since they had been married and adopted Scootaloo. Sparky was only about 5 years old now and was a joy to be around, Rainbow smiled and ruffled the filly's mane gently.
"So, are you being good for your moms?" Fluttershy asked.
"Maaaaaybe," Sparky said with a giggle.
"Good, give her some retribution for all the trouble she gave us when she was growing up," Rainbow said teasingly.
"Rainbow, don't encourage her," Fluttershy said but she was trying hard to suppress a laugh.
"So, why don't we tell you a story to pass the time?" Rainbow suggested.
"Like what?" Sparky asked as she tilted her head curiously.
"How about the time..." Rainbow started to say when she got a look from Fluttershy. "Oh, I know, how about we tell you about the first Nightmare Night we had with your mommy Scootaloo?"
"Oh?" Sparky asked, her ears perking up in curiosity. "I don't think you've ever told me that one!"
Rainbow smiled and looked at Fluttershy with a nod. "Well Sparky, it was just a few months after we adopted your mother."
00000
So were you all getting ready for Nightmare Night Grandma Rainbow?
Well, not exactly, see this was back before your Grandma Fluttershy was as confident as she is today so...
"Come on Fluttershy, you can't stay in there forever," Rainbow said as she tried to get Fluttershy out of their bedroom. "Me and Scootaloo are waiting for you."
"You know I don't want to come out," Fluttershy said softly from inside the room.
Wow, you were really like that Grandma Fluttershy?
Yeah... I wasn't very good around Nightmare Night, I was always afraid that somepony would try and scare me.
But that changed right?
Hey, no getting ahead in the story!
Rainbow sighed a little, this was going to be their first Nightmare Night together as a family and Scootaloo was excited at the prospect. They were going out with the rest of the CMC and their sisters to go to Pinkie's big Nightmare Night party.
Wait sisters? What about Grandma Rarity?
Oh see, this was before we knew Rarity was your mommy Sweetie's mommy. Now can I please tell the story? Thank you.
"I'm coming in," Rainbow said as she opened the door to the bedroom slowly to find Fluttershy laying under the covers scared. "Hey Fluttershy, are you okay?"
"I'm okay, I just, don't really know if I want to go is all," Fluttershy said softly as Rainbow moved the covers off her.
"Why? I thought you were really excited to spend time with Scootaloo and her friends," Rainbow asked confused as she hugged Fluttershy gently.
"I was, but..." Fluttershy said and trailed off a little. "I just don't know is all."
Rainbow sighed a little as she hugged her wife and pulled her in close. She wasn't really sure why Fluttershy was always so scared around Nightmare Night, she hadn't ever really wanted to talk about it even after they had gotten married.
"Fluttershy, its okay, you don't have to go if you don't want to," Rainbow said as she brushed her wife's mane out of her face. "But talk to me, I know its not easy for you but I want to know why. If you don't mind telling me."
Fluttershy paused for a long moment before looking up at Rainbow and sighing a little. "When I was little I loved Nightmare Night but then my brother and his friends decided to play a really mean prank on me..."
Aww, why would Uncle Zephyr do that to you?
Well, umm... see, I had kind of accidentally broken his favorite toy and he was really mad at me for that.
Hey, who's telling the story here?
Oh, sorry Rainbow.
"He and his friends dressed up as monsters and when I was leaving they kept jumping out at me..." Fluttershy said softly. "They didn't even stop when I tried to run away and I, well, I don't really like talking about it."
Rainbow looked sadly at Fluttershy and pulled her into a hug again. She had no idea that Zephyr had done anything like that when they were growing up and she was making a mental note to have a word with him next time they saw each other.
"Fluttershy, just because you had one bad experience doesn't mean you should let it color your opinion of Nightmare Night," Rainbow said as she pulled Fluttershy in close. "You're not like that, I've seen you face down ponies that would make some of the bravest ponies in Equestria cower. You actually stared down a Dragon once, an honest to Celestia Dragon and I think he nearly wet himself. You've faced down way scarier things than anything you'll see out there tonight. You are the bravest pony in Equestria to me, its one of the things I love about you."
Fluttershy looked up at Rainbow, she was a little surprised and honestly she hadn't thought about that. Rainbow Dash was a brave pony, she had no idea she thought that way about her.
"You really mean that?"
"I do," Rainbow said and leaned in and kissed Fluttershy.
Ewww, adults are so gross!
Hey, don't knock it until you try it kiddo, you'll be kissing some lucky stallion or mare someday.
Gross!
They broke the kiss after a moment and Fluttershy smiled at Rainbow with a bit more confidence in her eyes. She still wasn't entirely sure of herself but she knew that she'd have her family by her side.
"So what do you say Flutters, do you want to come with us or stay here?" Rainbow asked. "I'll stay with you either way."
Fluttershy thought for a moment before nuzzling Rainbow with a smile. "Lets go have fun with Scootaloo, as a family."
Rainbow smiled and helped Fluttershy up. "Okay, come on, lets go," she said as they headed back out of the bedroom.
Scootaloo was waiting in the living room dressed in a Wonderbolt costume, she looked at Rainbow and Fluttershy with a smile. "Hey moms, is everything okay?"
"Yeah, everything is fine, your momma Fluttershy just needed a little boost," Rainbow said as she pulled Scootaloo and Fluttershy into a hug. "So are your friends ready?"
"Yeah, they're down on the ground waiting for us," Scootaloo said with a smile. "Are you sure everything is okay?"
"Yeah, everything is fine," Fluttershy said as the three Pegasi headed out of the cloud hose and down to the ground with Scootaloo on Rainbow's back.
"Hey, they're here!" Sweetie Belle said as they came in for a landing near them, she was dressed up like Shadow Spade while Apple Bloom was dressed like a zombie. "Is everything okay?"
"You were up there for awhile darlings," Rarity commented.
"Yeah, everything is just fine," Fluttershy said with a smile. "I just needed a little help getting ready to go from Rainbow."
"Well, Ah'm glad ya'll made it," Applejack said as she straightened out her hat. "Besides, Pinkie would have a fit if ya'll didn't come ta her party."
"Don't worry, we'll be there," Rainbow said with a nod.
"Come on, this'll be tha best party ever!" Apple Bloom said and they all started towards Sugarcube corner.
00000
"The party itself was a blast," Rainbow said with a smile as she nuzzled Fluttershy. "And Fluttershy hasn't missed a Nightmare Night celebration since."
"Cool!' Sparky said with a smile as she adjusted her hat again. "So did Princess Luna and Lady Nox show up?"
"Did they? That was the first year Nox was part of Luna's Night Guard," Rainbow said with a chuckle, Lady Domina Nox was Luna's wife, she was a bat pony mare that had started as a member of the Night Guard. "They came and scared almost everypony but Grandma Fluttershy."
"That was, I think a few months before she started courting Nox," Fluttershy added with a smile, Nox had rescued Luna from an assassination attempt and the two had become close after that before getting married.
"Yeah, I've met her, she's really nice," Sparky said with a smile.
"Yeah, she really is," Scootaloo said with a smile as she came into the room with a yellow Pegasus with a blue mane with pink highlights dressed as Daring Do close behind her. "Sorry, we had to find the hat."
"How do I look?" Day Breaker asked with a smile.
"You look great," Rainbow said with a smile as she and Fluttershy hugged their daughters and granddaughter. "Just like the real Daring Do."
"Yay!" Day Break said with a smile as she hugged back.
"Yeah, Rarity did a great job on these costumes," Fluttershy said as she looked at the fillies with a smile. "A magician and an adventure archaeologist, you two look great."
"Thanks!" Sparky and Day Break said with a smile.
"I'm home, is everypony ready to go?" Sweetie Belle asked as she opened the front door to the house.
"Yeah, lets go, come on you two," Scootaloo said with a smile as they headed for the front door.
"I've heard Cherry helped Pinkie with the party this year for the first time," Sweetie said with a smile. "They really went all out from what I could see."
"Sounds great, I can't wait to see what they cooked up this year," Scootaloo said with a smile as Sparky climbed onto her back. "Are you ready Sparky?"
"I was born ready!" The cute filly said excitedly as her wings buzzed. "Lets go!"
Scootaloo smiled and nuzzled Sweetie Belle. The two mares had been married for just six years and they still had a lot of love between them.
"Come on, race you there!" Scootaloo said with a laugh as she ran out the door with Sparky on her back.
"No fair!" Sweetie said with a laugh as she ran out after her wife and daughter with Day Break close behind.
Rainbow looked at Fluttershy and smiled, nuzzling her gently. They had a wonderful family that loved each other more than anything. They were proud of what Scootaloo had done and what Day Break's future held for her.
"Come on Flutters, lets go have some fun!" Rainbow said and the two mares followed the others out the door and off to the party.